Chapter 1: Waking up in a Dark Place

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“From the depths of ashes we are suppose to rise? Well, how do you rise when you know nothing about the world you have been returned to. Sometimes, time forgets you and you have to adjust.” -Raul Frost, Fallout: New Vegas

ooOOoo

Date Unknown After Megaspell Bombs

“Sunrise, get up. You have to go!” An unfamiliar voice called to me from somewhere in my mind. The world around slowly came into being. I didn’t know where I was, but I felt the sensation of floating in liquid.

I was breathing through a mask, plastic and hard around my muzzle. The air was stale, but rich at the same time. It felt like breathing recycled pure oxygen through an airplane emergency mask. It flowed through the mask and into my lungs and kept me just warm enough inside to not feel like I was freezing.

A vat of gelatin-like fluid surrounded my body. I was numb from the cold, but not painfully so; more like when you sleep for too long and try to get up. My body stirred and twitched, swirling around the transparent blue-green liquid. Bubbles filled the fluid around me and protested the sudden impulsive movements. I let out a heavy exhale that pushed past the mask, adding to the chaos of watery orbs. My eyes finally fluttered open, trying to see through the viscous substance. The nearly non-existent light in the tank didn’t yield any details.

“Sunrise, come on, snap out of it. NOW!”

Huh? What? Where am I? A stasis tank? Who… who are you? Wait, how can I hear you? My thoughts were jumbled along with my senses. I shouldn’t be able to hear this voice, my ears were filled with fluid still.

“That isn’t important! I didn’t pick you to sit here as Stable-Tec’s experiment!” Whoever’s voice it was, they were older and a much higher-pitched mare than I was. She wasn’t talking in my ears, either, but directly going through my thoughts.

Am I hearing voices in my head? Have I lost my mind?

“NO!” Before I could hear the rest of the sentence or reply; the container’s outer walls whined and it started to open. A blinding light hit my eyes and I raised my hoof to shield myself from it. The fluid shifted and bubbles echoed against my face. The tank shook heavily when the outer doors stopped, almost throwing me against the inner walls. A rumble resounded through the fluid as it started to drain. A dull distant buzz sounded repeatedly through the liquid as gravity lowered me to the tank’s bottom.

I settled onto the pod’s floor and immediately forced the mask from my snout. With a deep inhale of real air, I collected myself enough to start moving. I looked around and saw dozens of white, egg-like containers in neat little rows. Each pod had a monitor in front of it, attached to the floor and a walkway.

The pods showed the life signs of the ponies inside, along with their names and designation numbers. Each number started with “043-”. As the last of the fluid left, I could hear the buzzing of an alarm going off. It went from a dull, distant, annoying noise to a blaring siren. How long have I been out?

“I don’t know.” The voice of a pink ambiguous blob in corner of my vision pulsed with each word, I was convinced it was the one speaking. I couldn’t make out the creature, but as I turned my head, whatever she was stayed in the corner of my vision. It was like looking at some sort of floating puddle that wasn’t interacting with the environment around it. I thought it might be an imaginary friend, or I might have gone insane.

The glass opened with a groan of crystallized sand grinding upon metal ball bearings. Cold air washed over my soaked coat, sending chills down my spine. My eyes adjusted to the light better without the glass acting as a filter. My vision cleared and my hooves came into view: white-tipped hooves with a green coat.

What? Green? This can’t be me? This has to be another memory orb... I had to be sure. I took a step forward, then waved my hoof back and forth in front of my vision. Nope, not a passenger. I can move freely, this isn’t pre-recorded. That means this is real!? Why am I green? I was white when I went to sleep. What happened to me while I was asleep?

“Sunrise, we don’t have a lot of time! You need to move, and quickly!” The pink cloud form within my vision pulsed slightly with each word. The large egg-like chamber was open and ready for me to leave it. I slowly moved my hooves forward with pained stretching.

I was shaky from my time in stasis. My muscles were so weak. I could barely stand. I was finding it hard to get my legs to remember how to work. The pain slowly passed as my hooves met the metal walkway outside the tank. A set of yellow arrows were painted on the floor and pointing off to my right, with bright runway lights indicating the direction to move.

I know this place. I’m in Stable 43! We’re..we’re safe here. At least, from everypony but those Stable-Tec staff. And Agent 9... I shivered from the thought of that mare. My legs wobbled slightly when my strength waned. I sat on my flanks and put a hoof up to my swimming head. I needed to steady myself and resist the urge to fall down or pass out.

“Sunrise, get moving, now!” The pink cloud screamed so loud it gave me a splitting headache.

Whoever you are, you can hear my thoughts, so have some patience! I hate waking up from the tank, always feel the need to... I didn’t get to finish my thought before sickness overtook me. My stomach churned violently. I produced dry heaves that made me tear up in agony. Whatever I had eaten before getting into the tank came flying out and plastered itself back into my stasis tank. Okay, nopony’s around, so there’s no need to be discreet. It was just puke.

Right as I wiped my mouth off with a hoof, a mechanical grinding broke through the alarm noise and I could see a PipBuck being extended from my stasis pod monitoring panel.

‘Wandering Sunrise’ flashed in the top corner of the device’s screen. I recognized it as my name. I placed my right hoof into it and snapped it shut with my left. The Eyes Forward Sparkle turned on automatically as the bottom of my vision lit up with red dots over a 360-degree compass. Little green markers indicated 5 degrees with digits every 20 degrees from North.

Hold up, RED! Red usually means it intends to hurt me.

“Yes, Sunrise, red bad!” The voice spoke to me like a child being mock scolded. I hated being spoken to like that and growled in response. “If they catch you, all of this will be for nothing! Now, run!” I was very confused but a sense of urgency took hold and told me to move. My fear escalated as another distant rumble shook the room. It wasn’t just shaking the room, it was shaking the entire bunker! My hooves had to steady themselves against the near earthquake that was rocking my world.

An earthquake? No. That was an explosion! At least a class-2 explosive, caused by a missile or maybe a one pound block of plastic explosive. I blinked and stopped. Wait, how do I know that?

“I’m responsible for it. Now, Sunrise, head opposite of the arrows.” The pink figure was starting to take shape, but not to the point where any real details could be made out, other than it was a pony.

Why? Unless it’s more Stable-Tec ponies coming for experiments, we should be safe here. I mean, it’s not like I can escape at this point.

“Sunrise, they think you caused the explosion!”

What!? I’ve been in my stasis pod this entire time like a good filly! Just as I finished that thought, hoofsteps reached my ears from a cat-walk above the pods. A full-sized stallion galloped at top speed through the room along the suspended observation walkway.

He had a traditional white lab-coat with the obnoxious blue/yellow Stable-Tec logo on the pocket and his back. His soft gray coat didn’t quite seem to match the vibrant orange mane and tail that danced in the wind of his gallop. He was wearing a visor covering his eyes completely. It that had some sort of specialized output from a PipBuck hooked into it. A thick wire with metal tubing ran from his foreleg to the visor, taped to him to keep it from tripping him up. He slid to a halt as soon as he saw me.

“There she is! Guards, hurry!” he shouted at the top of his lungs and pointed a hoof at me. “The mark is on her!” The anger in his voice was only tempered by a sense of fear about it. The reason for his fear made itself known quickly.

Giant rats, almost as big as me, were running down the catwalk with teeth as long as my snout and sets of claws as big as my hoof. They were barreling towards the stallion who called for the guards. A snarl from their jaws rose above the commotion to draw everypony’s undivided attention to the vicious leathery creatures.

H-HOW!? When did rats get that huge? The Stable-Tec stallion produced a big revolver from inside his coat. He shoved the gun trigger into his mouth and started shooting at the onrushing rats.

“Do you see now!? Sunrise, run!” I was already bolting while the pink entity encouraged me to go faster. I dashed in the opposite direction of gunfire, directly contrary to the arrows and lights on the walkway. The steel and concrete walls of the stable that had always appeared impenetrable; now had a massive hole. The hole was large enough for three stallions to walk through side by side without touching.

Broken and shattered bits of armor littered the floor around the blast hole. Cooked pony meat had been scattered from inside the armor. Whoever this was had died from the explosion. There was one thing in particular about it, the explosion looked like it had come from inside the armor; not outside. Wait, how do I know that? I don’t know that much about explosives, right?

There was a scoff from whatever this voice in my head was and I thought I had lost my mind. I didn’t have time to dwell as I barreled towards the broken pieces of metal and pony.

The armor was painted blue with yellow stripes, where it wasn’t blown into pieces and charred black. I recognized the model, T-54B. Did that power-armored guard explode? What happened? Why are they after me? Where’s Mom? Dad?

“Sunrise, those are questions that will be answered later! For now, just run and don’t look back!”

The pink entity faded from view as I stepped over the pony leg-shaped armored plating. The Stable-Tec jumpsuit started to cling against my fur coat as the wind from running whipped against me. The barding was still damp and irritating my flesh. I strained against it to flee the stable. I didn’t look back, only rushed forward along the metal walkway towards the exit.

The sound of alarms and gunfire were getting distant. The intense rhythm of my pounding heart synced up with the echoes of my hooves galloping over steel. I dashed for the hole blown into our safety bunker. There was nothing but blackness beyond that exit. Even the laboratory lights couldn’t penetrate outside the destroyed stable wall.

What could have blown a hole in a stable? Are the zebras invading? What is going on!? My hooves carried me through the hole into blackness. Something wet touched my face and washed over my nose as the blackness was pushed back by a dim light.

I looked back to see a pair of very large eyes narrow at me and another explosion washed out of the hole towards me. I picked up into a sprint towards the darkness. Then nothing more.

ooOOoo

Aww...what a nightmare. What happened? Why does it feel like a frantic gremlin just drove a railroad spike through my brain? Also, I’m... wet? Is that what I’m feeling?

The icy water refused to be ignored and I opened my eyes to discover that I was shoulder deep in it. The chill in my bones and pounding headache made it difficult to see or realize what was around me. I felt my barding clinging to me uncomfortably and my tail was matted down against my flank as it floated just on the surface of the water.

My eyes strained to stay open against the throbbing in my head. Slowly the tunnel vision went away and the aching twinges subsided to reveal the rest of the dimly lit room. Torches around me flickered against a griffin wearing a sun bleached desperado sombrero straight out of one of those old Appleloosa movies.

He was laying in the pool inches from my nose. He wore a brown, weathered leather duster draped over his back. I wasn’t surprised to see an old six shooter hanging off his belt. He was groggily getting up and rolling over to his belly in the pool of water. I had never seen a griffin this close before. He stood to his full height and I understood just how much larger he was than me.

Some prey instinct kicked me in the back of my mind and I started to retreat. As soon as I took one step back, I ran into two sets of hooves behind me. My head snapped to my hindquarters. My hooves were touching two very different zebras. The two were both unconscious and both stallions. They only started to move when I touched them. My hind legs were resting against a foreleg belonging to each.

Both zebras looked so radically strange from each other they may as well have been two entirely separate species. One’s mane was a short mohawk while the other’s was longer and braided. Even the way their stripes were set contrasted: one straight pink striped zebra without scars, the other with stripes that swirled in circles and wore an eye-patch.

The pink striped zebra was pristine, while the black-swirl striped one had a three pronged claw scar across his chest. The tonal difference between them was as clear as day is from the night. They each bore a cutie mark—They’re called Glyph Marks, Sunrise!— that I couldn’t understand or clearly make out.

After our awkward moment of physical contact, the pink zebra snapped awake and pulled back from me. Once he realized I meant no harm, he nodded at me, respectfully and gently. His darker counterpart, however, jostled to his hooves and threw my hoof back at me, shouting,
“Hey! Keep your hooves to yourself, kid.” A splash of water resounded from our struggle. I felt hurt and looked at him, expecting an apology or at least some reassurance. He just callously snorted and jerked his head away.

Maybe it would be best if I just pulled away from them and got out of here. They don’t seem to have any particular interest in me. I skulked away slowly in the water, trying to sneak out of their sight. My bones ached and my body felt like it might collapse back into the cold water as I struggled to stay quiet enough to stay beneath their notice. This completely failed. I am not a sneaky pony. I had three sets of eyes just watching me and I looked at them, smiling nervously. What I wouldn’t give for a horn with an invisibility spell right now.

The room was so much larger than I thought, a fact that was somewhat concealed by these three around me until I finally got clear of them. My jitters only got worse when the griffin and black-striped zebra squared up in the water and began to stare each other down.

Oh no, do they actually dislike each other? Have I been dropped into a friendship camp by the Ministry of Morale!? Oh, please, don’t start fighting. The tension in the room was starting to build. It was clear somepony or another was going to strike, and soon.

Wanting to avoid being caught in the middle of it, I backed into a large brown rock and came to a sudden stop. The sudden bump caused a ballistic glass visor to slap down over my eyes and nearly popped me in the nose.

It was then I realized that my barding had changed drastically. Something felt off in the space between my flanks and the rock. I looked over my sides and noticed a leather duster was hooked into the barding over my stable-suit. It felt rough against my coat and flanks. I will admit the extra coverage would be wonderful once it dries off. Especially if it turned out to be cold outside.

The second thing on my self was a riot control helmet, the kind used to put down protests about the war. If its visor hadn’t flopped down, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the helmet. It was fit so perfectly for me that I didn’t even notice the extra weight.

“Ow...okay, note to self...” I started to grumble out loud, unable to finish my thought due to a fresh wave of sharp pain piercing my skull. Once that subsided, thank the Goddesses, the rest of the room came into view and my eyes adjusted to the torches. They were all burning, except one.

Why was that one out? I pondered, staring at it. Was someone just lazy? We have bigger priorities to deal with than potentially fighting. How do I get them to help each other escape? We need to find out who dropped us all in here, too.

I lifted my right hoof and looked to my PipBuck, pausing for a few moments as the emerald green of my coat reflected against the display in the dim light. Aside from the killer headache it failed to display, it was showing I was perfectly okay. Explain the headache then! Or the fact I’m the wrong color still. Seriously, somepony needs to start giving me answers that make sense.

My attention was eventually drawn back to the rest of the chamber as the pounding in my skull started to die down some more. My heart skipped a beat as the rock I was leaning against started to move. It wasn’t a rock at all! It was some huge beast!

I tried to back away only to be washed over by a wave that crested over my shoulders and submerged me for a brief moment. A diamond dog four times my size rose up right next to me. He was wearing biker leathers and his own duster covered in segmented steel plates. He was getting up slower than I had as his eyes blinked rapidly to adjust to the light around us. I eyed up the massive body of the diamond dog, awestruck by his sheer mass. My awe quickly passed when I found myself staring into his hard yellow eyes.

I was momentarily paralyzed by the eye contact. A shiver of pure fear passing down my spine. I need to look anywhere else right now, absolutely anywhere else, because he is the scariest thing in here. Hoping he wouldn’t think much of me, I kept my gaze moving upwards. I saw how we got down here and it gave my mind something else to focus on; besides the monster in front of me.

Above us, a good 30 or 40 feet, was a hole large enough for the griffin to fit through if he folded his wings in. It allowed a dulled beam of overcast daylight to shine down into the room, though it wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the area outside of the center of the pool. Just how deep is this hole?

“Dammit, my box got wet!” cursed the cardboard shipping container next to one of the zebras. It was roughly large enough for one pony or two foals to fit into comfortably, though now it was submerged knee-deep and shifting about.
Oh, a talking box. How nice... Wait! A talking box? And it’s moving? Why is a box—addressed to be shipped to Canterlot no less—moving and talking?

To my surprise, it moved again before being lifted up by something inside it. A set of four hooves, all solid white sprung out from the bottom flaps of the box. There’s... a pony in a box?

“Times like this that make me wish I was a unicorn, then I could dry it in an instant.” Huh, I practically had that same thought earlier, so I’m guessing she’s an earth pony, too? The box rolled like the pony inside had shrugged their shoulders. The box moved to get out of the shallow pool we were all standing in towards the edge around the side of the room.

Okay, still not quite the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

The griffin grumbled as he walked toward the edge of the pool, “Someone is going to have hell to pay.” The griffin spoke with a voice that sounded like gravel being crushed in a heavy industrial machine. It was grating on the ears no matter how much you wanted him to sound pleasant. I don’t think that is his normal voice. I think he’s forcing it or he has an injury. As he flexed his wings, his matted, white-tipped feathers clung close to his body. Not immediately flying out and abandoning us, eh? Well, at least not till those dry.

Just be friendly Sunrise, I thought, hoping I didn’t seem nervous to the others, what’s the worst that can happen? Surely the world hasn’t gotten any worse since the megaspells went off, right? How long could it have been since I’ve last stepped into the stable?

I checked the date on my Pip-Buck. C.E. 1211. Strange, that’d make it about 182 years after we went into the stable. No way that’s right. Must be a bug in the system. It would explain why it can’t detect my head injury if it can’t even tell what the date is. The room got a whole lot more tense when the zebra finally spoke.

“Okay, which one of you put us down here! It was you, wasn’t it?” The black-striped zebra jumped across the water, his nose snorting menacingly as he took on an aggressive stance in front of the griffin. The zebra was upright, on his hind legs with his forehooves coiled near his chest. It was so strange to see a pony stand up and balance like that, much less fighting that way.

“What are ya accusing me for? I woke up here same as you! Besides, I’m a regulator, it’s my job to investigate ponynappin’, not cause it,” the griffin shot back, practically beak to nose as he returned the zebra’s glare.

I’ve gotta do something or they’re gonna tear each other apart, and I’ll get never any answers!

Against my better judgment, I stepped between them and held up my PipBuck clad leg, pointing it in the direction of the zebra then at the griffin. They were poised to strike, but no pony dared make the first move. Okay what now? Maybe say hello? Just get to know them and it’s less likely we’ll end up in a fight.

“Uh, h-hi everypony!” I started. All eyes turned towards me and suddenly whatever confidence I had started to dwindle. I felt this creeping sensation they might strike me instead.

“Wait a minute,” the zebra said, both he and the griffin turning to me in unison. “It was you!” The harsh squawk and enraged whinny echoed in the room around us. I cringed and wanted to be anywhere but here!

“Yeah, come to think of it, you were already awake when the rest of us started moving,” stated the griffin. Suddenly, they all stepped towards me, a very murderous look on each of their faces. My ears folded back in fear, and I splashed my way backwards to the edge of the pool. That’s when the diamond dog broke any chance of them wanting to pick a fight.

He picked his cowpuncher hat off his head and dumped the water out of it and onto my head.

Geez, guy —I’m already soaked! No need to make it excessive. They all stopped as soon as I was soaked. They were much too busy looking at the big beast now instead of little ol’ me. Slowly, I turned around and came face to face with the dog, who was leaning down eye to eye with me. He had a big toothy grin on his face that made my skin crawl. Oh, please, don’t tell me diamond dogs eat ponies.

“I’d be su’prised if’n that little filly ponynapped ‘s. She ain’t a wasterlander, she’s stable pon’.” The diamond dog used his clawed hand to turn me around to look at the others in the room. They all looked between each other and there was a nod of confusion. The pink-striped zebra stepped up between myself and the other three.

“I believe that the big sand dog is right, she is not responsible for our plight.” The pink striped zebra genuinely tried to calm all of them down. “To find a way from this cave of dirt, we must move together in concert.”

With water dripping off me, I mentally counted to five and took a breath. Calm down, Sunrise, you’ll be fine. They aren’t gonna fight right now. We just need to get them to work together.

The diamond dog was quick to forget all of us, and jumped onto the landing instead. His focus and mine were drawn to a nearby doorway, one that was barred and barricaded with a lit torch on each side. I took another look around. That doorway appeared to be the only way out of this room we could access.
It was thanks to those torches that I was able to spot something glinting off the surface of the pool, a reflection where the diamond dog had been lying.

The glint belonged to a set of pony skeletons at the bottom of the pool. I stood there, transfixed upon them. My knees started to shake and my stomach began churning. There were dead ponies in the water with me. Or at least their skeletons? Where and when am I? I thought my PipBuck dates were out of whack? Could it really have been that long?

The darker zebra looked around as he took to his hooves and sighed. “Great. I’m soaked to the bone in a cave with a bunch of strangers. One of which I’m convinced is responsible for me being here.” He shot me a look of suspicion that still could kill any pony with his good eye. How do I convince him I’m not responsible?

“Don’t dwell on that right now silly, focus on getting out of here. Who knows, stay on their good side and they might just become your friends,” the voice from the tank echoed in my head.

Great… Now I’m talking to voices in my head. The griffin and black-striped zebra took a minute to review their surroundings. As they did so, my focus returned to the pony skeletons in the water that my hoof was now resting against. Yeah, those are skeletons of ponies, and they’re definitely REAL!

I’d never seen a dead pony —nor their skeletons —much less a pile of them laid completely bare. By the way my hoof felt against its skull, they seemed real too. I wasn’t sure if I should inspect them closer for curiosity’s sake or scream. The diamond dog growled at something behind me and made the decision for me.
“C-c-corpses!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs, backpedaling as fast as my waterlogged legs could take me. The sounds of movement and awkward silence between the creatures was shattered with the ear piercing shriek of a terrified filly. Also known as: me.

I turned and bolted for the edge of the pool, yelling my head off hysterically. I had been in that soup, with the remains of ponies! Even if the little logic pony in my mind was shouting, They’re skeletons, it’s fine. Not like you can get sick from them or anything.

Right as I was about to escape from the pool, the griffin grabbed me by the hind leg and pulled. My yelp silenced by a gurgle of water as my face went under. When I came up I started protesting, “N-no! Let me go! I didn’t do —” He shoved a talon into my mouth, forcing me to be quiet. He then held me upside down like a child’s toy or a piece of meat roasted over a fire.

Everypony else gathered around to watch a frightened filly gagged and frozen in his grip. He’s gonna kill me right now isn’t he? This is it, I’m gonna die to some griffin mercenary right now and not know why!

He forced my leg up to tilt his sombrero back and I got a good and up close look at his face. He had a hole where his right eye should be, just a vacant blackness to stare into. I stared into that abyss which led to somewhere darker than any pony should ever go. Another knot formed in my stomach. The taste of bile hit my throat, and with it having nowhere to go, I was forced to take a long disgusting swallow of my own vomit. Both zebras and the pony in a box just stared at me as though I’d broken some unwritten rule.

“Geez, calm yourself girl! Have you never seen a dead body?” Unable to answer the griffin properly, I shook my head. “This is the wasteland, how have you managed to survive all this time without seeing a dead body?” he stated incredulously with a glare that could cut flesh. He still had that talon over my mouth while keeping me suspended upside down with the other one. All I could do was point a hoof at the ‘43’ on my stable barding.

Surprisingly, the griffin then set me down gently and removed his claw from my mouth. My little pony lungs started to hyperventilate “I’ve never seen a dead body before! This is my first time out of Stable 43!” My shouting left me feeling a bit silly as I blushed and looked away from everypony else.

The others worked their way onto dry land. My legs were shaking from the knees down as I tried to process the dead bodies behind me. With an effort that felt like moving a mountain, I placed both hooves onto the dry cave floor and hauled myself out of the water. If anything, I wasn’t the strongest pony and the edge of the pool was at my shoulder height. Fine, I admit it... I’m short and not that strong for an earth pony.

I was kind of hoping for a distraction from the dead bodies behind me, and a deep accented voice provided just that. “Any y’all know ‘way to put thes’ back ta’gether?” The diamond dog pointed his paw at a large pile of metal pieces on the floor next to a green metal box marked ‘10mm Ammo’ in bright yellow text. There were three equestrian standard issue 10mm pistols and what appeared to be the parts for another one.

The parts must be disassembled 10mm pistols! Without a word I ran over to the box, sat down, and started to parcel out metal bits. The two zebras and the griffin took the intact pistols to check them. The sound of clips being loaded made my skin crawl. I focused on something that was easy to understand: machines.

These were cruder, larger, and ramshackle compared to the smooth, sleek ones I’d tinkered with back at my father’s mechanic shop. I frowned in frustration trying to match an over-sized receiver to a worn barrel that didn’t quite fit.

Just how long had I been in the Stable? How long have we been unconscious in here?

Despite having the know-how, I hadn’t ever put an actual gun together before. By the time I was done, the end result looked like some lopsided monstrosity that would fall apart the first time someone squeezed it a bit too tight. Seeing no other way to proceed, I took it apart and started over.

About halfway through my second attempt, the griffin nearly caused me to nearly jump out of my skin. He placed a talon on my shoulder and leaned in to look at what I was doing. Feeling uncomfortable, I turned my head and glared at him, “Can I... help you?” He was in my light, stopping my work from proceeding. All I got was a snort in return and him leaning out just enough for me to have my light again. Great, how did I offend you now?

Just like me, the diamond dog seemed to be making himself busy. Only difference was that he was trying to figure out how to open the door. The diamond dog pounded away with his claws at the wooden barricade and the steel door behind it. “Stupid pony doors, always gettin’ locked at da worst o’ times!”

As the diamond dog resumed working on the door, the pony in the box, however, kept poking one of us after the other as they wandered around. He… she… the pony inside got no direct response from any of us, myself included. I mean, how do you talk to a box that moves and prods you? They just kept at it, prodding us and moving on to the next when each creature continued to ignore them.

Perhaps to clear the air, the two zebras got into a conversation, only it was in what I assumed to be Zebrecian. All I could gather from the inflections of their voices was that the black-striped one was much more serious than the pink one. They were at least being friendly to each other, which was a good sign for us all.
Don’t have to like each other, just tolerate one another until we can find a way out. Then we can just go our separate ways and—

“No! Sunrise, you are going to do what is right and give them the benefit of the doubt! Or else your parents would disown you.” The voice from back at the stable interrupted my thoughts and shouted my thoughts down.“And besides, they’re all you’ve got to go on right now!” As fast as that irritatingly cheerful voice was there, the presence it brought with it was gone again before I could say a thing.

The griffin kept standing over me, like a guard dog that was too attached to its owner. Would it kill you to at least talk, instead of keeping a talon on my shoulder?

Funny enough, what little activity that was happening in here produced a cacophony of strange noises blending together: a shuffling box, sand dog claws on steel, two distinctly different zebras speaking an alien tongue, my hooves working to piece together a pistol, and the rasp of the griffon breathing down my neck.

Great, I’ve been out of the stable for all of what feels like twenty minutes and already I have a babysitter. Can I please be treated like I’m older than a blank flank foal? I mean, I get that I was the last in my class to get their cutie mark, and still don’t have it yet, but at least give me some respect.

My hooves moved quickly as I finished effortlessly assembling the weapon. I hummed an old Canterlot musical to myself to the rhythm of the noises the others were making. An abrupt sudden snap from the pistol stopped any hopeful mood, though. Immediately I was drawn back to the pistol in my hooves, head cocked to the side. Huh. Everything looks about right, so that noise shouldn’t have happened…

The very next moment —and I can not stress enough how I don’t know how this happened —the whole thing somehow detonated like a firecracker. The loud bang was ear piercing, shrapnel tearing out into myself and the armored duster of the griffin. All I could do was flinch, as hundreds of small pieces of twisted metal pinged off plates in my barding I had only noticed moments ago.

After dropping the crumbled and broken bits of what used to be a gun, I slowly lowered my hooves again and rose to survey the damage. The pistol was completely destroyed and my hooves had minor black burn marks on them. They stung but were in no way incapacitated.

Okay, so that just happened... is that how the laws of physics gets its kicks, or did reality just blink there for a second? I thought as I looked at the last remaining scraps spread across the floor.

Wait. Ew… something is in my mouth.

I bit down and immediately regretted it. My teeth protested in torment and I spat it out. A piece of metal hit my hoof. I was now holding a bent firing pin with a few drops of my blood on it. Alright, apparently reality wants to play it that way today.
Everypony came over to investigate, save for the pink zebra. He was alone and talking to... thin air? Weirdly enough, I could hear another voice, but there was no obvious source for it. I squinted my eyes to make out the voice’s owner but found nothing in the shadows. I couldn’t make out any of the words, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on over there. Great, a pink-striped zebra that talks to invisible beings lurking in shadows in a language I can’t understand. Could he possibly be any more strange?

I became self-conscious of all eyes were trained on me, everypony expecting something of an explanation that I couldn’t give. Maybe I should take advantage of this opportunity and get some names, as well as an idea of who I’m helping exactly.

“Hi, everypony! Sorry about the pistol, no idea how that exploded. Anyway, I’ve already tried to introduced myself earlier —I’m Wandering Sunrise, in case you forgot —so... who are the rest of you?” I nervously waved and hesitantly let out a chuckle, in hopes of removing some of the awkwardness. Great job, Sunrise...you just blew up a pistol in front of them. I sure hope they’re super friendly, and especially understanding.

Funnily enough, the first one to react was the pink-striped zebra. He stepped towards us and stopped talking to his invisible friend. He wore a leather cloak that carried the shadows with him, giving him a dark, menacing look despite the sweet pink stripes. “You may call me Chifundo by name, zebra shaman of the lands which remain.” Chifundo gave a bow of respect as he crossed a hoof over his chest while he spoke.

Progress! Someone broke the ice, and it was a zebra who isn’t trying to murder me. Guess the war is over?

“I’m Buddy. I’ma merc from de Apple’oosa ‘and dog clan,” the sand dog added, pushing his shoulder against the door in an attempt to open it.

Should probably make a mental note not to mention I thought he was a sand dog till now? Buddy was clearly mustering all his strength, yet the door still refused to budge. His massive toned legs scraped against the cave floor as they slid back from the effort of his muscles against the immovable object. The same door the moving talking box was sitting in front of, poking and prodding with hooves from under the box’s edge.

The griffin turned to me and tipped his sombrero. “I’m Alguacil. I’m gonna assume the exploding pistol wasn’t some party trick.” The large griffin towering over me pulled back his duster and extended an open talon towards me. Inside were three knives, all with screws currently not attached to their hilts. “Can you at least refit these blades to their handles?”

He’s staying friendly at least, even if the pistol blew up like an apple grenade. Knives are much simpler machines than these guns. Wait, the griffin is trusting me now?

“Mm, yeah. I can do that. It’d be easier if given better tools, though,” I replied automatically, trying to get keep my thoughts clear of the skeletons in the water. The fact that Chifundo was likely talking to a spirit that might be a dead pony wasn’t helping.

“My name is Nyota, and has anyone tried just unbarring the door?” the gray and black striped zebra mentioned in a monotone tenor. Between the limited answer and considering the dimly lit room, I didn’t know what to make of him. I pointed a hoof at the sand dog in reply to Nyota and nodded at the zebra.

At least they had been nice enough to introduce themselves to me. I resumed putting together weapons, first the knives which were rather easy to do and only took a few minutes. They were a simple slide into the hilt. Seeing as I didn’t have a screwdriver on me, I had to improvise by using the blades to turn and screw them into place.

Once that was done, I picked up what intact parts remained from the exploded pistol, tossing aside the shattered, bent, and broken pieces that wouldn’t function any longer. I determined I could slap together one really nice gun out of the remaining parts.

My newly acquired duster served to polish and clean the individual pieces as I put them in place. You know, where did I even get this duster? And who ARMORED my stable-suit barding? I mean the plates are nice, but are they really necessary?

Once the pistol was together, it looked like it was fresh off the factory floor. I felt a deep satisfaction as I loaded rounds into a clip. The pistol took the rounds so smoothly it did not even click when it locked in place. I looked at Alguacil and smiled, “See, not gonna do anything funny. I mean, we can hopefully find somepony to show us the way out, right?”

“I think we’re all on the same page, and we’ll get the bastards who did this,” Alguacil shot back. Nyota gave a snort and an affirmative nod while I looked horrified at the two of them.

I flinched, then spoke meekly. “I mean...I don’t really wanna hurt any pony if we don’t have to. I’m not hurt yet, so... can’t we all just be friends?” Those words shot out of my mouth before they could be process through my brain filter.
Sunrise! Where was your filter? Also where was their filter? They were cursing in front of a filly? I was still me, right? The one who’s not quite an adult? They do realize this don’t they?

Everypony belted out a laugh like I had just taken a hoof to the face. Buddy turned around from across the room and tipped his hat at me through the dim light, “Sunrise darlin’, ‘ey took ar’ shit, they ain’t friends.”

With great effort and a loud shout of anger, the diamond dog finally removed the barring against the door. With that obstacle gone, he then took a large paw and slammed hard. I jumped a little as the door swung out with enough force to clatter on the hallway walls outside our chamber.

Unlike the cave-like structure we were in, the hallway outside had tiled flooring and metal walls. There were slots for piping and several torches for light. Who was taking the time to light all these torches? I could see where light fixtures would go as well; it slowly started to feel familiar to me, through I still couldn’t place it.

Buddy didn’t wait for the rest of us. He walked through the doorway, his heavy claws scraping across the tiles before he used one to grab the first torch he came across off the wall.

Alright, this has been bugging me to no end. As the others filed into the hallway ahead of me, I spoke what was on my mind.“Does... everypony use language like that now? Can I get away with saying stuff as colorful as the rest of you?”

No one bothered to answer.

Thinking I could use some light of my own, I moved to grab a torch. Chifundo, for some reason, went to investigate the one torch that wasn’t burning. I shrugged and worked to get a torch off the wall. I jumped up as high as I could, though my hooves could barely reach the torch. I did managed to snag it. While I was trying to to tie it into my barding knot where a backpack or a set of saddlebags should have gone, there was a grinding rock sound. I stopped and snapped my attention in the direction of the racket.

The exact spot where Chifundo had been moments ago, only now there was a wide open entrance that wasn’t there before. Inside I could make out two things lying on the floor between the door frame: a shotgun and backpack. A shotgun that looked like it was my size hung next to a large brown backpack with a sunrise painted on it. As I looked at it, a memory flooded back to my mind.

ooOOoo

“Now hold the stock tight against your shoulder, breathe deep and slow, and don’t forget to use the iron sights.”

Standing where I was, I couldn’t see the pony behind me that the voice belonged to. I had a shotgun in my hooves and there were tin cans set up across a dusty field at around 20 feet away. The memories ran through me as vivid as any lucid dream.

I found myself looking down at the small-sized shotgun, certain that it was the exact same weapon. When I pressed the butt of the gun to my shoulder, it lined up perfectly with my eye to aim down the length of the barrel. It was like this weapon was made exactly for one pony: me.

“Go on, Sunrise, if you’re going to survive out here, you’re going to need to learn how to shoot.” The voice was very prim, proper, and definitely that of a male, though I still couldn’t say if I met him before. My mind mouthed the words “Mr. Claus.” But who was Mr. Claus? I pulled the trigger with my tongue and the shotgun fired a roar of buckshot out. A tin can clattered to the ground from the impact of the pellets as the memory fled from me.

ooOOoo

“That shotgun...” I murmured and then turned to the others that had started into the hallway. They had moved nearly out of sight in the darkness of the metal halls. “Hey everypony! Come back, Chifundo found a secret room!”

I trotted towards the secret room happily. I wish I hadn’t. The smell hit first; the smell of decay, long since sealed up and made stale, washed over me. My hooves wanted to get me out of there ASAP, but my eyes however couldn’t be torn away from the three bloated bodies. Bodies of ponies. One earth and two unicorns who, were it not for the post mortem bloating, looked perfectly healthy.

I could see hoof scratches at the door-frame just inside, most of the marks around the floor edge to the doorway told the story of a futile attempt to escape. One of the corpses was desperately holding onto their throat. Had they died from asphyxiation?

My stomach twisted one more time, and that was all I could take. I vomited up everything my insides had in them into the pool we woke up in. I must have eaten recently because it took a while before I was dry heaving. I was there long enough for the others to return and everything within 5 hooves of me inside the pool had gone from crystal clear water to puke green rancid bile floating on the surface.

The others decided to talk amongst themselves and I only succeeded in making one part out. “Only lawbreakers have secret doors,” Alguacil declared as I looked into the room where the living and dead now mingled. I spat a few times into the water, then wiped my mouth clean with a hoof.
“Get that shotgun, it’s mine...I just... skeletons aside, I’ve never seen a dead body till now,” I managed. I left the pool and worked my way over to the door before attempting to close it. At least I could be the rear guard right?

“Aww... man... I had eyes once,” the disembodied voice said. I glanced around at that, wondering if somehow I’d catch a glimpse of that young mare if I looked just the right way. Try as I might, my eyes revealed nothing. All the others but Nyota went into the room, beginning to take items in a process I guess can only be described as looting.

I trotted over to the doorway back into the tiled hallway, away from the dead bodies. Nyota was standing guard there. I started to say something but his hoof was shoved into my mouth before I could utter a word. RUDE! The torch lit by Chifundo was flickering out. The rumble of stone echoed through our ears again. Nyota’s eyes bounced from the doorway to the torch, as I realized that the two were connected.

I rushed forward and pulled the torch I’d dropped. I just met these ponies and if I lose any of them now or get separated then there’s no promise I’ll get out of here! Gotta keep this torch lit! I got up onto the wall with both hooves and held my burning torch to relight the door opening one. The door’s decent slowed somewhat, but it still wasn’t stopping! I couldn’t talk with the touch in my mouth or try to encourage them to hurry.

Alguacil apparently recognized what was going on, he walked past me and grabbed the piece of wood that was barring our way out before. He dragged it along the stone floor with a strength I could never hope to match. Soon the wood was wedged upright in the way of the secret room’s rock sliding door.

“Hurry up in there! My feathers don’t know how long that plank will hold or if the little one will be able to keep the torch lit,” he said to Chifundo, Buddy, and the box pony. I still cannot believe that some pony was under a box and that was all I knew them by.

“Hey, how long have I been dead?” the disembodied voice asked.

Chifundo started to think about it and got a date. “I would guess about 3 years, if I can trust my eyes and ears.” The thought hit me like a sack of bricks.

Is he really that Insane? No, he can’t be, I heard the voice too. Think on this later, get them out of this door slamming situation.

“How long has it been since the megaspells went off?” I slowly spoke between the torch in my lips to make sure I could be understood. The pony under the box, who was the first to get out of the room, seemed to tilt its head. Don’t ask how I know that, just the way the box over it moved.
“Like, 180 years ago,” the box pony had a certainty to them; like they were either playing an elaborate joke or dead serious. At that moment the realization slammed into me like a brick wall.

My jaw was dropped to the floor and my eyes felt like they were bulging from my skull. The sound of the torch that had been in my mouth hitting the floor echoed through the room.

“How... what... I....” I couldn’t find words, my mind was completely blown. 180 years? What the BUCK!? How in Celestia’s Glorious Sunbutt Flanks did that happen? How could that happen? Was the date in my PipBuck actually accurate? I was brought back to reality by the dropped torch slowly starting to burn against my coat. I yelped and jumped away, the torch above sputtered and died with a sizzle.

There was a creak as the door began to squeeze on the heavy timber. Alguacil threw his shoulder into it as the timber started to groan and crack under the weight of the door. “HURRY UP!” the Griffin growled out as he strained against the rock. Buddy scrambled around, kicking aside piles of bones and the refuse of knows how many ponies that had been buried alive there.

The wooden bar cracked louder, splinters forming along its length. “No more time!” Alguacil screamed out, as Buddy finally turned around, diving through the door. With a huff the griffon rolled out of the way, letting the stone crush the board, closing the tomb off once more.

“How awkward is it to say I remember a time before the megaspells fell,” were the first words to form a conscious thought and exhale from my mouth. What had become of my parents? How long had I really been asleep? How was I alive? I knew the stable put us in and out of stasis between the few dozen doctors exams and shots but....180 years? 182, a number at the top of my Pip-Buck reminded me.

“I’d say you’ve bin soakin’ a few too many rads, darlin’,” Buddy replied as he dropped a pile of weapons, saddlebags, and the backpack with the sunrise painted on it.

“No, I think they may have put us in and out of stasis over and over again. I guess... longer than I thought.” I was starting to calm down on the outside, but my entire world had been flipped. Now I knew I had NO concept of what the world I had gotten into was now that I was out of the stable; much less the creatures around me.

“Well, I’d say I’ve heard crazier stories at bars. But certainly not this,” Nyota, for once, did not have a borderline hostile tone. He still spoke in a direct monotone that was all serious all the time.
Alguacil took a moment to observe my PipBuck as well as the stable-barding. He seemed to be lost in thought for that moment before speaking. “I have heard of stables doing experiments on the ponies inside, but nothing like that. I mean there was that one tale where they supposedly took all the foals and raised them to believe the person in charge was a god or something like that.”

I dropped my rear flanks to the ground and hung my head. “Those of us who didn’t have cutie marks yet were sent somewhere else in the stable, away from our parents. They did things,” I hesitated as a chill flushed down my spine. I wasn’t sure what information these creatures could be trusted with. Nor did I know what memories I wanted to drag up right now. “I...I really do not wanna go back there. I don’t know why, but I don’t. The idea is terrifying!” I don’t know why but that is making me shiver right now. Hopefully they don’t press for answers, please don’t ask because I’m not 100% sure!

“D’en don’t,” Buddy blurted out simply, working to get what was his gear and distribute what was ours to us.

“Are your parents dead?” The pony in the box asked me with a poke of her white hoof.

“I… I don’t know,” were the only words I could form. I couldn’t help myself as two tears rolled off my cheeks and struck the floor. “This world I woke up to is a horrible, awful place. Why are my choices ‘talk about killing others’ or ‘stay and be experimented on’?” My coat had been white when I last saw my parents, now it was an emerald green. That isn’t natural, even if I am missing as much time as my PipBuck says. “The world really sucks doesn’t it?”

“Welcome to the wasteland kiddo,” Nyota said to me, nudging the shotgun into my hooves. I pulled it up to my shoulder and it fit like the one from the memory, like it was meant to be there.

“That’s why I’m in this box! The box protects.” The box pony sounded extra cheeky with her statement, like we should all know that already.

“This will make a very nice pack, let me help it onto your back.” Chifundo adjusted the collar of my barding to fit the backpack. My back stretched and adjusted like a familiar weight was lifted to it. That sent a chill down my spine. These things were mine.

“I guess that explains why the mole-rat with the top hat was saying I’d need to know how to use this.” Immediately after saying that, my face contorted in confusion and I blinked.

WAIT! What did I just say? Something about a mole-rat? With a Top Hat? That could talk? How far off the deep end was this? This can’t be a dream, I got slightly burned by that torch earlier —I should have woken up from pain, right?

Once again, I found the griffin talons of Alguacil grabbing me. This time he lifted me up until I was eye level with him, finally staring eye to eye with the scary griffin. He kept his heavy, one-eyed stare square on me, not letting me look away for even a moment.

“Look, Kiddo, this world is literally kill or be killed. Get used to that right now or you won’t make it far.” His gravelly voice sounded like murder in my ears now that they weren’t water-logged.
I sucked up the tears and let out a sniffle. He was right, I had to be stronger or this was going to get ugly fast.

“My parents were killed right beside me. This is going to be the most unpleasant dump you could find yourself in,” the box nudged... no... pressed into me. Almost like the pony inside was trying to put a hoof around my flank to hug me but was box-blocked.

A dangerous thought occurred to me. “Is… is this one of the reasons none of you have shot at each other yet, or because you all want to get whoever put us in that pool?”

“Ya havn’t done nothin’ bad yet,” Buddy replied, trying to calm us all with some sincerity in his voice. “Till ya do, ya ‘elp us git out of here, ta’gether.”

“Well, you’ve done nothing too loony... and you have been a friendly pony,” Chifundo gave with a sagely nod.

“I still hold some suspicions, but you’re friend of mine so long as we have a common goal or foe,” Alguacil’s gravelly voice made me shudder. He let go of my shoulders and nudged past me. I started to grasp at the danger I might be in now.

What had I run into? What kind of world was this going to be for me when I got out of this cave?

I hung my head and fell into line near Alguacil. At the very least he had tried to wake me up to the reality of the situation. I was at least willing to trust somepony that was being nice enough to be truly honest with me. The dark hallway loomed ahead as we walked out without another word to face our destiny.

Notes:

Trait Discovered: Wild Wasteland - You thought the Wasteland was weird before? You were not truly ready for this nor how unusual your adventurers are going to be, were you? While the world will still make sense, just be prepared for the occasional oddity or exploding pistol.

Author's Notes:

Something you should know, this is based upon our tabletop live stream on Wednesday Night at 9pm EST located on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fiaurathetankgirl
Every single character is played by a REAL PERSON. All of these actions are not arbitrarily decided, I am simply the author who interprets them. They did help me make this and I thank them.

That said, please, leave comments if you feel I should make edits or why you feel like it's terrible.
If you like it, let me know with an upvote, if you hate me downvote it.

Thanks to Dead Tree Studios for the FoE Tabletop game and Kkat for creating this world and giving us permission to work with it.

Also thanks to Hasbro and Bethesda for the permission to publish this one, so yes we're hard at work editing all of it again! Hence why I asked for the help.
If you are interested in getting your own copy, link is this sentence.

Chapter 2: A Relic Thrown Violently back into the World

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“Wake up and realize you aren’t where you fell asleep. You then know it’s going to be a long day. Well, this day has to start with a bit of Violence and Bloodshed for the unprepared.” -Pecos Bill

It turned out destiny was short. We came to a halt when Buddy stopped. He was the lead of our group and large enough that going around him would be incredibly difficult. We were at a junction, and the right branch was bathed in the flickering light of torches that glinted off the unfinished metal wall, while the left was consumed in darkness. This realization should have been obvious, but I suppose dead bodies had kept me distracted. I had a PipBuck!

With practiced precision, I pressed a button and the light cut on. The room lit up much brighter now, and we could see for a good ten paces without issues. Well, at least ten Sunrise-sized paces.

There were some glints as I swept my PipBuck over the corridors. The steel walls reflecting the light, and distant gleams in the shadows giving hints of what lay beyond; but the flashlight was so much better than any torch light could ever be. To the right there was the reflection of small objects in the darkness beyond the torches. To my left and ahead was another junction with two doors on either side of the hallway.

Chifundo trotted over to the door on our left and opened it. I stood beside the door as Alguacil stepped inside quickly and looked around. “What do you think, Chifundo?” Alguacil asked, keeping his voice lower than normal.

“I feel this room is safe to venture in, the spirits of the dead inside are thin.” Chifundo replied in the rhythm the zebra seemed to keep to. Great, am I going to have to have a whole dictionary just to get everything the pink zebra says?

Curious, I peeked my head in, and the room had gotten as quiet as a bunch of foals in front of Nightmare Moon. Chifundo shrugged at us and walked out into the hall again. The walls here were made of metal and I got a vague sense of deja vu again.

Why do I feel like I’ve been here before? What is going on? I swear I’ve seen hallways like this before. Something here was similar to a stable, but it wasn’t quite right.

It was more like an incomplete bunker without reinforcing or furniture. I turned around to see Alguacil had gotten out of the door, giving me a chance to examine the room while he decided to look through the keyhole of the door across the hall. In a moment or two, though, he raised a talon and motioned for us to come closer. As soon as I took two hoof steps, the griffin motioned to stop us.

“Mole-rats, a few of them. Looks like a supply closet,” he whispered in a voice that could grate cheese. My ear flopped onto my face, one of them hitting my eye and forcing me to close it. What in Celestia’s wildest dreams? Why had it done that, twitching that way?

Without saying anything, Nyota and Buddy got right up against the door while Alguacil and Chifundo positioned themselves behind them. From how swift they responded, I was certain they’d done this sort of thing before. I turned around and looked down the hall where we had come from. I wasn’t quite ready to see the violence this group was capable of.

I was still dealing with the bodies in the pool down the hall. The image of skeletons reflected beneath the water’s surface… it was an unforgettable one. Didn’t help that the torches in the pool room kept a grim vigil beyond the end of the PipBuck light.

Before I knew it, the door flew open as Buddy and Nyota charged in. I didn’t have to turn back to know what was happening, I could hear the snarl, followed by the snapping of bones and the high pitched scream of some creature that was cut off with a sickening squelch.

Alguacil spun the barrel of his revolver and shouted, “DUCK!” before three bullets quickly blasted out of the .357 magnum into the room. With every pull of the trigger I heard a rat’s high pitched squeal of pain and a heavy splatter from the impact. What was he firing at, that was large enough that I could hear the impact?

This was how the world was? I thought. I’m a tiny little mare, completely unprepared for this. I’m not even sure if we’re the good guys.

The box opened up a pair of holes on the sides and two single-shot shotguns popped out and fired. There wasn’t a scream or anything in response to the massive bang of those two rounds. The only sound beyond the door was a splatter echoing afterward that sickened my guts. Whatever Box Pone hit, it didn’t have a chance to let out a death cry.

Right as all the noises seemed to settle, however, I heard a mole-rat shriek and a shrill whinny of pain from Nyota. My perked ears swiveled in the sound’s direction, before I turned around.

Quickly, I poked my head in and immediately saw the horrific scene. A mole-rat, a big one, was mauling the gray-black zebra, and had him pinned to the ground. It must have landed its fangs on something vital, because next thing I knew, blood and sinew flew up into the air while Nyota neighed out helplessly. I panicked, yet at the same time—and to my surprise—my mind reacted instead of sputtering to a halt. I brandished the pump-action in my hooves and leveled it to the mole-rat, and my PipBuck reflexively activated S.A.T.S.

I had never activated that particular PipBuck program—short for Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell—before, so I didn’t know what to expect. There was an outline on the mole-rat red, while Nyota was outlined in green. A filled in yellow circle targeting reticle popped up that lined up with the end of my shotgun barrel. More importantly, time seemed to have slowed down and I could think and process more quickly.

The picture before me was like a perfectly frozen frame of a horror movie. S.A.T.S. was helping me compensate for the close quarters of combat by highlighting the outline of every creature in the room. I could see a green outline extended from my weapon’s barrel that had a label above it: ‘Shotgun Blast Zone’.

While the area was no bigger than a hoof, I knew exactly where to aim to hit the vicious filly-sized creature and not strike Nyota. I aimed at the spine of the creature, the sight of its leathery hide making me want to scream in disgust. While the frozen frame of action made me want to cover my eyes, I queued up the shot, only to then hesitate.

“Release the spell! Let it fly, Sunrise. Save that zebra.” Oddly, the voice in my head was foreign and not my own this time, though I didn’t get a chance to ask it anything.

“GET OFF OF HIM!” I heard myself scream, my voice muffled by the gun trigger in my mouth. The trigger pulled with the release of S.A.T.S. The mole-rat stopped its vicious mauling and looked up just as S.A.T.S. ended and time resumed. It was like it had somehow heard me or knew of its impending fate. I could see the moment in time when the barrel lit up with fire reflected back from its cold, dark-black eyes.

The impact of recoil drove the stock into my mouth and shoulder with a pain I swore I had felt before. The creature flew into pieces as the buckshot ripped into its spine. Its blood flew out in every direction, splattering across the supply boxes in the room. Nyota in particular was covered in a pool of gore, bone, and body fluids mixing with his blood.

I dropped the shotgun and ran forward at full speed. I looked at my PipBuck for the inventory in my backpack, and thankfully it showed I had bandages in the left pocket. I ripped them out with my mouth, my shaky hooves immediately starting to apply them to the wounds.

“Nyota...are you gonna be okay?” I asked in a panic, just wanting the profuse bleeding to stop. My hooves were working frantically to tie the bandage and apply pressure.

He pushed me back after I had badly applied the bandage and pressed down with a hoof on the bite wounds. I could see slack in the bandages and knew I was no medical expert. “I have a healing potion. It will be fine, calm yourself.” Nyota coolly stated as he stood up. There were half a dozen bite marks, and several of them were soaking the bandages. I kept wanting to help, not entirely knowing how. I just wanted him to be okay.

He reached into his saddlebags and took out a purple potion in a red bottle with a set of butterflies on its label. After biting the cork off and spitting it out, the zebra downed it in one gulp. I watched in amazement as the bandages slowly were pushed off him and fell to the floor. He… he wasn’t bleeding anymore. While his coat was drenched in blood and had holes in it still, the wounds themselves had miraculously closed without scaring.

Chifundo got up and placed a pink striped hoof over my shoulder. He was much larger than I was, so he had little difficulty turning me around.”Come with me, Sunrise, my young friend, our friends have leather pelts to tend.” Chifundo led me out of the food storage room.

I could see several bits of food everywhere, as well as a total of five dead mole-rat bodies. Well, what I assume to be the guts and gore of five. My brain was still processing the wounds those creatures had inflicted.

How and when did mole-rats get that big? Last time I checked, they were about half the size of a full grown pony. I turned back to get a look at Nyota as he pulled out a knife, the same knife I had fixed earlier. He was using it to… skin the dead beasts. I couldn’t bear to look as he started stripping flesh and skin from the bones; the sounds his action produced made my ears fold up in vain attempt to block out the noise.

“Mmm~ Good eatin’ if we cook it right,” Buddy said as I looked at him with dismay.

“B-but ponies don’t eat meat!” I blurted out, picking up my shotgun in one hoof and passing it to my tail to stow the weapon. WAIT!? Since when could I grab things with my tail? Did my tail just put the shotgun in the holster? I turned my head to see my orange, white-highlighted tail put the shotgun in its holster before sliding a shell into the chamber to replace the one I had fired. Yep... that happened. Not the oddest thing that’s happened today, but let’s get back to that later.

“Listen ‘ear little lady. Ya can eat meat, so it won’t hurt ya ta try it,” Buddy said, practically brandishing a slice of dripping mole flesh at me. The fur at the back of my neck stood on end at the thought of putting that anywhere near my mouth. I choked back bile before I could give my reply.

“No thank you!” I shot back, my face that of pure disgust as I felt my stomach twisting into a tighter knot. Once we get out, will I ever be able to eat at all?

“Hm. You’ll have to get used to it if you wanna survive out here,” Alguacil replied as he worked to strip the last mole-rats of their hides, teeth, and meat. I stepped out into the hallway and tried to put it out of my mind.

A few minutes later, everyone stepped back outside the door into the hall, all covered in the mole-rats’ gore. Nyota had a few extra splotches of blood from his insides mingling with the gore from skinning and butchering. I could see the distinct difference in red with my PipBuck light. At least this pony is alive and friendly, Sunrise. Now, try to calm down.

Buddy took point again and we started down the hallway further into the unexplored depths. The dim, sometimes flickering, light provided a sense of foreboding. I stood in the center of the group as we came up to a junction that was beyond the cross-hallway doors. Buddy came to a stop, along with the sound of hooves, claws, and paw pads.

“Which way do ya wanna go?” Buddy called back to the rest of us.

I thought about it and shrugged, “Left seems to be the best bet, I say.” It was only logical: the left was illuminated by torches while the right was nothing but pitch black. As the others quietly discussed my suggestion amongst themselves, I took this moment to activate my PipBuck’s Eyes Forward Sparkle and tag everyone as friendly.

The visor in my helmet seemed to be the easiest way for the spell matrix to adjust to my vision and display the information. I saw five other green pips over the compass labeled with my companion’s names. Not sure if we were friends yet, but this gave me some information to keep up with them in the dark. They were friendly for now; not to mention not being mean for the sake of being mean.

Chifundo nodded as he looked to the right. “I am agreement with the tiny runt, the right houses spirits we should not affront,” Tiny Runt! I swear I’ll punt... If it wasn’t obvious, what he said didn’t sit well with me… I turned back and looked up at the pink-striped zebra with a strained smile and narrowed eyes.

Right as I was about to say something, Alguacil drew a revolver. He gave its cylinder one good spin and nodded with the loud cocking of the firearm’s next shot locking into the place. “Get moving that way, then, but stay together. Whoever took us and put us in that pool… most likely they’re still here.”

And get moving we did. For the first half a dozen steps we took down the hall, things were fine. However, we soon had to turn around when a shout of pain came from somewhere behind us. We spotted the box just lying there, and it seemed shorter than before.

It hadn’t moved, and it took a moment for me to realize that the pony previously inside was missing. I dashed past Chifundo and around the corner, forgetting my PipBuck was our only light source. Buddy’s torch flickered out and died as he turned to follow. “Great, you just left your friends in the dark,” was what the tiny pony in my head said.

I rounded the corner and my empty stomach twisted into a knot again. Please let me at least have one minute without feeling like I need to vomit, please, Goddesses. There laid a pony on the ground, holding her foreleg and biting her lip. This small mare was slightly larger than me, but definitely another earth pony filly. She had a pearl white coat and a snow white mane with matching tail. Also, she was a blank flank, like me.

Her eyes were the color of honey and, to be completely honest, I didn’t see why she would hide under the box. She was quite pretty for a filly. Although… I did notice that her pupils weren’t circles, but squares. This is going to keep me up at night later trying to figure this out!

I took a few moments to inspect her. She was holding her right foreleg and, from the unnatural way it was bending, it was clearly broken. I felt my stomach lurch when my eyes went back to the cripplingly twisted foreleg. As I examined her leg, my stomach twisted into a knot. She had two additional joints to her leg, beyond a knee and ankle. Wonderful; more death, injuries, and gore than I have seen in my entire life in, what, an hour? Maybe two? Goddess, can you have something nice happen today?

“Are you okay? What happened?” I asked as I heard the others trotting up behind me.

“I tried to open the door, and when I kicked it...” she chewed her lip to push back the pain.

Nyota walked up to the light of my PipBuck and smiled. “Calm down Sunrise, I can take care of this.” The zebra stallion informed me as he took out a couple of pieces of pipe, and I handed him my bandages. I did all I could to help before he turned my head away to look at box pony’s eyes.

Her eyes! Dear Celestia what is going on with her eyes? I stared into them and started to think that they were more cube shaped pupils than just squares. It was too freaky for me to stare for too long and I had to look away just to keep my sanity.

I thought of something to say to start a conversation with her in order to hopefully keep her mind off the pain. “Hey... wha-what’s your name?” I asked with the grace of a mechanic’s daughter.

“Sugarcube Serenade, though I sometimes go by Corners or Box Pone, for the great box keeps me safe,” the filly replied. Great, she’s either completely twigged or absolutely insane.

“Corners, can you please not wander off again?” I asked, looking at my PipBuck real quick. Huh, turned out I tagged the box instead of her. Luckily, it was a simple matter of removing the tag from the box and applying it directly to her. At least my Eyes Forward Sparkle, E.F.S., would keep track of her from now on, and not her box.

“I just got curious, wondering what was this way. Chifundo said bad juju and I really wanted to know,” the filly replied earnestly.

“Well, don’t—” my voice was silenced by a sickening crunch and the sight of Corners biting her lip to not scream. Well, I certainly unwittingly did my job; Nyota had set the bone and used me as a distraction. REALLY! I’m the distraction now? I’m your random mare? Was this a sign of friendship for a zebra?

“There, you won’t be able to run on it but you can at least move,” Nyota informed her coldly.

I hung my head before slowly walking back to get the box. Grabbing it between my teeth, I pulled it towards the two while Nyota gave Corners instructions. Our box pone was another mare, at least, and a smaller one like me to boot. Wait...was I even a filly anymore?

I had just found out I was 182 extra years old, yet I looked the same and I didn’t remember much of what happened at all. Now that I had stepped out of the stable these were the questions I had to find answers to. I hadn’t grown at all. What had those doctors done to me? Why was my coat now green? I had a vague memory of the color changing but not when. How long was I in stasis and not in stasis? How old am I really?

I put the box over Corners and gave the best reassuring smile I could. It must have worked, as the eyes inside the box looked a lot more warm from inside it, “There, you’re in your box, protected again.” I was trying to be as reassuring as possible, what with my friendly smile. I noticed Alguacil was looking inside the door’s key hole, the same one Corners had broken her leg on. How do you break a leg on a door? Seriously?

“Nothing inside but ponnequins with some old armor on them,” he stated bluntly before trying the door. Locked, it didn’t budge.

“Any y’all know how to pick a lock?” Buddy asked with a puzzled look.

I stepped forward and looked at my Pip-Buck. The inventory matrix said I had a screwdriver and several bobby pins. Those would work for that, right? I thought as I searched my coat pockets, fishing out a bobby pin with my teeth while my tail held the screwdriver out for my hoof. Thanks! ….wait. I shook away the thought of my tail having a mind of its own and the ability to act with it; setting to my work instead.

Putting what I’ve seen in old movies and read from novels into practice, I leaned forward and pressed the screwdriver into the lock. With one hoof I held it in place while also using the bobby pin in my mouth to fiddle with it. I kept at it for nearly two minutes before—SNAP! The bobby pin broke and I simply shrugged. I’d need to practice this or I suppose someone else would have to prove to be better at it.

“I... guess not,” I had discovered I had no knack for picking locks. If anything, I was downright terrible. The lock’s tumblers refused to move due to the broken bit of pin wedged inside it.

Right as I scratched my chin in thought, Buddy pushed me back, sliding my hooves over the tiles. The mighty sand dog stood up to his full height and brought his weight down onto the lock with a mighty crash of force.

His claw impaled the wood around the lock, and he gripped it tight. There was a wooden wrenching sound as he twisted it and he tore the door open with a mighty wail. The wooden door slammed against the steel wall as it violently swung open; the sound being similar to that of a sledge-hammer splitting firewood.

With the way open, the others all went in first and cleared the room. I took a few steps of trepidation behind them as my Pip-Buck light lit up the room. There were a dozen pony-shaped ponnequins of stallions in Canterlot royal guard-styled armor. The old armor was made of metal and slightly rusted.

The dust in the room was heavy as the six of us trotted inside, slowly leaving prints in it. I darted forward to an alcove off to our right and discovered that it was empty. I turned around to find Alguacil walking up to each of the ponnequins and stabbing them through the head with his knife.

“Do you feel the need to stab everything you perceive?” said Chifundo, who I noticed was staying by the door. The pink striped zebra just kept repeating in rhythm, “This voodoo is bad juju.” He shook his head between the beats of his canter. What is with this zebra?

“When a zebra says bad juju, you take no chances,” Alguacil replied and resumed stabbing the unmoving statues.

Just then, I noticed a door past the older griffin and walked over to it. As Buddy was stripping the armor off one of the ponnequins, I trotted past the older griffin and looked into the keyhole as Alguacil had done earlier. Oddly enough, the hole was right at my height. Huh, so there are advantages to being short.

At first I spotted nothing but shadows and a few bits of furniture on the other side. Right as I was about to pull away from the lock, however, a pony walked past my vision. A hoof grabbed something from a table before hearing a loud munching sound indicative of someone eating food. A...a pony was in there! Maybe they’re trapped down here, too!

Excitedly, I knocked upon the door without a second thought, loudly. I felt four sets of eyes from my five new friends staring at me quite suddenly. That’s right, four. Two of my companions seemed to have found a way to lose alternate eyes. I was incredibly self conscious as Nyota moved to the side of the door on my left. Buddy bolted upright and got on the right side of the door. Both were standing in a position like they were ready to put paw and hoof violently to anything that came out.

“Kid! What in tarnation? Do you have a death wish!?” Alguacil said in a harsh whisper at me.
There was a long, pregnant pause as I heard hooves on the other side of the door moving and shuffling, while all of us sat there, dead still.

The tension in the air was palpable. The response from the other side of the door, a voice sounding surprised and actually upset with us being there. As far as I could tell, it was a male adult voice.“What the hell? Hello?” Whoever he was, he sounded very confused.

I didn’t hesitate at this point. Hey, when you’re four hooves in the water, may as well swim, right?

“Oh, hi! We’re lost down here and wanted to know if you knew the way out—or are you lost too?” I turned to look for my companions’ approval; only to notice Alguacil had his beak slacked wide open and Chifundo was matching his expression.

There wasn’t a response right away, and I felt a twitch in my eyebrow as a feeling of someone else looking at me made my hoof itch. Wait...my hooves itch? Apparently now they do. I heard a hushed voice from beyond the door, a different voice, this one a mare?

In the dim light I swore I saw some eyes reflecting my PipBuck light from the door crack. “It’s a filly? When did we get a filly? I don’t remember the green one either.” This was followed by somepony shouting through the door, “Yeah, stay right there, we’ll show ya out. We’ll show ya out real nice.” At this point the twitch in my eyebrow was matched in rhythm by the itch in my hoof.

Nyota motioned for me to step back a bit. I was confused, but decided it was best to listen to the zebra. I took a few steps back and let my excitement go to my head. My filly hooves shook with it as I waited for the other ponies to come out to us. I scratched at the itch in my right forehoof as we waited.

The anticipation was torture, but soon the door flew open and before me were two shadows in the darkness and one pony. The pony was a beige and brown pegasus with a dozen scars over his body, and what looked like a half-crippled wing. He had a solid green mane and a long, rusted saber in his maw, caked with old blood.

Before anything else could happen, Alguacil leveled his revolver while Nyota rocketed like a coiled snake assaulting its prey. He grabbed the pegasus by the hooves and they tumbled through the air for just a second. Nyota slammed the winged stallion onto his back in the blink of an eye.

The pegasus’ rusty saber clattered to the ground and slid right at my hooves with a metal-on-cloven-bone clang as it stopped. The other two shadows cried out in surprise and gave out a yell of, “NOPE!” in unison before disappearing with the slam of a door in the distance.

“E-hey!! L-let me go!” the pegasus shouted, trying to get out from under Nyota. The zebra had him expertly pinned down by the shoulders and wings with his hooves.

“Stop moving or else you die.” Alguacil walked up to the struggling pegasus and pressed his revolver to the temple of the pegasus.

I blinked in disbelief at this. “WHAT!? Shouldn’t we talk to them first?” I demanded. If these five had turned out to be my friends, what is to say that they couldn’t make friends with this pegasus?

“Pipe down, Sunrise,” Buddy declared. He motioned his claw to Chifundo, me, and the door we came in through as he closed the door the scarred pegasus had come through.

Chifundo took me by the flank and led me out, and in doing so, I felt the duster had ridden up. When I turned to my flank, it had been exposed from under my duster. My brows knit as I realized I had, at some point, gained a cutie mark!

Wait, when did I get that? This… this was going to take some real explaining, as I didn’t even know where it had come from. It was a unicorn pony clad in silver power-armor, exploding from the inside-out. All emblazoned upon my flanks.

I looked over my shoulder to see Alguacil staring at me with a raised eyebrow over his EMPTY socket. He nodded to the cutie mark on my flank. “We’ll talk later, Sunrise,” he said, as if to say we would talk not only about the pegasus but about what was on my flank.

I suddenly felt self conscious about my cutie mark as we stepped outside. Chifundo turned to me and started to purposely talk over the hushed voices on the other side of the door.

“You have a sixth sense which is new, a skill to know before you view.,” Chifundo talking made my hoof itch more and I tried to scratch it.

“The sense? What do you mean?” I questioned back.

““Your hooves twitched and your tail shook, before the raiders got a look. I have seen these signs before, foresight is your skill, for sure.”Chifundo stated flatly, in a way that could only make my coat crawl. I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure what to make of Chifundo at this point, and just wanted to strain my ears to hear the voices inside the other room.

That was apparently all the time they needed through. Buddy opened the door after a couple of minutes. “Y’all can come back in now.” They still had the pegasus pinned down with a gun to his temple. Chifundo put his hoof around me and led me back inside like he was escorting a little foal.

After staring down at the pegasus for a spell, Alguacil sighed. “Alright, you, we’re gonna take you with us to lead us out. But before we do, I’ve got to break yer wings.”

I was shocked by what I just heard. I broke out of Chifundo’s hoof and rushed forward. “NO! He hasn’t hurt any of us yet!” I yelled out, loud enough that I’m pretty sure the entire cave heard it.

Alguacil looked surprised that I moved that fast, or that I would protest. “This is a raider! What do you care?” he demanded.

“Please, don’t break my wings. I mean, my left one is bad enough, I can barely fly as is,” he pleaded through the hold Nyota had around his forehead and throat.

I didn’t know what a raider was, but that didn’t stop me from staring up at Alguacil in frustration. “Look, we’ll compromise,” I said as I turned to the pegasus.“Would it be okay if I tied your wings to your body? Just till we can find our way out?” I looked between Alguacil and the pegasus with a nervous smile. I hoped they couldn’t see just how upset I was at the idea of having to hurt another pony or my companions. Can I call them friends yet? They were inflicting damage on this pegasus that I wouldn’t dream of.

“Alright, Sunrise, but if he makes a wrong move...” Alguacil wasn’t able to finish that veiled threat. I took out a rope and began working it around the pegasus’s body, securing his wings. I wasn’t entirely sure what Alguacil meant by his would-be threat but with a flick of his wrist, he had a magnum revolver against the pegasus’ head. He kept it pressed to the back of the pegasus’s head as I worked. He is doing that just for show, right?

“What’s your name?” I asked our captive, looking at his cutie mark. It was a set of soft clouds and a full rainbow over it. It was rather chipper, in contrast to his badly mangled wing, knife-wound scars, and a bullet-wound scar on his chest.

“Spring Bronco,” he replied with a relieved sigh. The expression on his face got slightly less tense when my hooves finished their work.

“Were you forced into attacking other ponies? And why did we wake up in the pool back there? Did you put us there?” All of my questions were meant to get to know him better and hopefully make Alguacil want to shoot or maim him less. Buddy grabbed the end of the untied bit of rope and used it to lead the pegasus forward towards the door we had come in through.

“I needed the caps. Boss said get those who look strong and gather ‘em up for what he needed. I don’t remember putting you in there, though we do sometimes get a filly or a scrawny-looking pony as a joke,” he said with what sounded like a hint of remorse.

We made our way back to the hallway and my questions at Spring Bronco were mostly just rebuffed with the same old answers: “I’m a bad pony, Sunrise.” Or “I needed the caps, I only did it because I needed them that badly.”

I wasn’t sure if the sadness in his voice was remorse or if he was simply upset he’d been caught. We moved down the hallway to the door at the end, passing another junction and ignoring it as the pegasus opened the door into a large room. We looked at an elevator door to our right, and daylight coming from a set of double doors at the top of two flights of stairs to our left.

“Yeah... Sunrise, was it? I’m not a good pony. I don’t think I ever will be.” He let out a regretful sigh, approaching the elevator door. Once we moved into the open atrium-like room, Buddy tightened his grip on the rope around Spring Bronco’s sides. Alguacil, meanwhile, had moved to his side and placed his pistol to the back of Spring Bronco’s head. I really hoped the griffon wouldn’t need to pull that trigger. I didn’t think I was prepared for that.

“Surely you can come back from it. I don’t care what you’ve done, you can always be better,” I replied with a smile, placing a hoof against his cutie mark. “You have a mark that seems like you have a right to be happy.”

He looked down in my eyes and shook his head. There was my reflection deep in his pupils, and a single tear rolled down his cheek before he closed his eyes. I could feel the pangs of regret coming off him, and my hoof started itching again. He seemed to be resigning himself to some unseen fate. He had led us out, right? He had started down a path to redemption, right? He could be a good pony if he really wanted, couldn’t he? My soul ached for something good to come out of all this, something that would let me know the world I escaped to wasn’t completely devoid of kindness.

Coming to a closed gate, Bronco moved to the wall next to it. He rose onto his hind legs and placed his hoof against a switch. “No, Sunrise. I’m a bad pony. I can’t come back from that.” He apologized before flipping the switch.

The gate opened slowly, and I could hear the winding up of something robotic as we looked into the PipBuck-lit room. To my surprise, Spring Bronco switched from gray to red on my E.F.S. and another red dot appeared in the direction of the door. Gears ground as the gate rose, whining in protest to pull out of the way.

First, I could see heavy, metallic treads as the storage room opened. The door moved upwards slowly and steam hissed from the other side. Each moment that passed revealed more of a towering, dragon-shaped steel chassis. Spring Bronco had just opened the Gates of Hades, and here was the demon to drag us in.

Its right arm was equipped with a missile pod, loaded with four warheads poking out. Its left arm was a mini-gun, slowly winding up. At the top of its frame was a pair of red lights and a speaker behind what looked like a metal roll cage. All of its upper torso was shaped like a dragon, and covered in spikes that were caked with long-since-dried blood.

“Intruder detected! Powering up weapons!” A chipper, robotic voice declared before several things happened very quickly.
Bronco’s eyes widened as Alguacil pulled the trigger and the revolver’s hammer fell. The pegasus’s gaze was resting on me as the hollow point entered his skull. With his other talon, Alguacil leapt forward and slammed the switch in the opposite direction.

The gate fell back down and sealed the sentry bot on the other side of the door. I recognized the robot model from before we went into the stable. It was new type of heavy security and military assault robot, one that had been advertised by the Ministry of Wartime Technology.

This was a Sentry Dragon Mark 2. Were it not for the smashed eyeball of a pegasus sliding down the visor to my helmet; I would have been in awe at having seen such a marvel of technology in person. Spring Bronco’s gaze had never left my own when his head exploded in his final moments. Bits of blood had hit my mouth and tongue, and I could smell the gore. My throat gagged, tasting pony remains. “What... why... he... did...” I couldn’t believe it.

With a gun to his head, his wings tied, the remorse in his voice, Spring Bronco had just betrayed us, knowing full well he would die. What kind of ponies were these? Was this what raiders were? Is this what they’re like? What had just happened!?

BOOM!!!!

The gate in front of us started to dent, and a burst of fire lit up from under the door. My brain registered it as a missile from the sentry bot, and several rounds pinged off the steel gate. I was standing right in front of the gate, staring at the headless corpse of what was once a whole pegasus just a few seconds ago.

“Sunrise! MOVE!” Nyota shouted at me. I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t process what had just happened. The eyeball continued to slide down my visor, hanging onto the edge by a few pieces of nerve endings.
BOOM!!!!!

This is too much! What was I supposed to do against insanity like that!? We warned him that if he did anything, he’d die, and Alguacil had just executed Bronco to prove that he… they —we meant it!

Buddy’s two arms wrapped around my unresponsive body, picking me up and rolling with me in tow as he took cover next to the doorway. Buddy set me down, and out came his claws. I stood next to him, motionless and flabbergasted as he pressed his back to the doorframe.

“What do we do!?” Chifundo shouted, notably the only time he didn’t rhyme, as my tail pushed something red, hard and plastic up to my eyes. I looked down, and there was a bundle of dynamite. A glance at my PipBuck revealed that I certainly had a bundle of dynamite this entire time and that this wasn’t an illusion. I should check my own inventory more often... Also, MY TAIL CAN PICK UP TNT? And...and it knew I had it? Listen here, Miss Tail, we’re going to talk about this later, but not right now because—

BOOM!!!

The door wasn’t holding up very well. Several holes had been blown into it, and a tear was running down its center. It couldn’t take another impact like that.

Running off the new found surge of adrenaline, I checked my PipBuck inventory again and found a lighter. While my hoof went to get it, I took the bundle of five extreme boom sticks from my tail into my mouth.

“Thank you,” I said before realizing I was thanking my own tail. Quickly dismissing that, I lit the fuse as a fourth and a final boom echoed through the room. The gate flew off the mountings as the metal was torn free and landed with a crash near the base of the stairs almost forty feet away. Without even thinking, I threw the bundle of soon-to-be-exploding sticks into the room the sentry bot was in. My legs moved on instinct now as I turned, bolting for the stairway towards the sunlight-outlined door.

“RUUUN!!!” I declared at the top of my lungs, the rush of air from the gallop making the eyeball finally fall from my visor. I felt something inside me die at that moment, but didn’t have any real time to figure out what it was exactly. All I knew was that Bronco’s eyeball dropping to the floor was far heavier on my soul than any tear I had shed in all my life.

I turned to look back, seeing Nyota, Buddy, and Corners hard on my tail, Corners having left her box in front of her as a decoy. Within seconds, the dynamite exploded, and the world shook with the force of a magically enhanced alicorn belly flop. Recovering from my hurried run brought on by the explosion, I looked back as the sentry bot was engulfed in a massive gout of flame.

Its missile launcher was ripped open and torn to pieces, rendered useless. The right side of its treads were completely blown apart, with road wheels scattered and hunks of armored plating from the body falling off. The room it was in was tiny, and the walls’ reinforced metal and concrete had lead to the concussive waves hitting the robot inside over and over again. Despite all that, though, the sentry bot was still moving.

The ensuing waves of fire inevitably died down, with small flickers of remnant flame illuminating the machine of destruction. It rolled out slowly, much slower than it should. The death machine was dragging its right side. Its wheels were rolling off of the tread away from the death-spitting machine. The heavy leviathan shell it was encased in was cracked in several places. However, the mini-gun still seemed functional as it revved up to full speed, prompting Alguacil to try to beat it to the punch by firing off three shots at it. We were all still in full flight as revolver shots rang out in rapid succession.

The first two hit the sentry, yet the armor plating didn’t appear to care. After the third shot, we all heard a yelp from the gravelly-voiced griffin. The gun chamber exploded in his talon, as the revolver cylinder was either not in place properly or just too badly damaged to function. The griffin squawked out in pain above the explosion as his blood flicked on my helmet visor.

The minigun roared, and Corners’ abandoned box was suddenly being riddled with holes. If she had been in there, she most likely would have been dead. Instead, the bullets shot through the box, embedding themselves into the grout tiles behind it, tearing up a mess of ceramic and bits of dirt.

Buddy pulled out an energy weapon I didn’t recognize and opened up with it, as Corners fired her shotguns mounted to her flanks with a bite on the bit in front of her mouth. All of their shots connected, through they didn’t seem to do any real damage. Corners turned to me and pulled out a pair of grenade launchers and tossed them at me. “USE THIS!” she ordered over the roar of gunfire.

Things were moving fast now as the sentry bot turned its minigun from the ripped up cardboard box to the next nearest target: Buddy. My mind flashed with the image of the sand dog, the creature that had been so nice to me. We had only known each other a short while, yet he had looked out for me and tried to be as soft about the reality of all this as he could. Now I was getting a vision of bullets rending him to bits and pulverizing his body into meat salad. The barrels began to spin... and then there was a loud CLICK!

It was like divine intervention! The minigun had mercifully stopped with a mechanical grinding, a noise indicating that the weapon’s gears had failed. The sound of machinery ripping filled the air as the gun feed jammed and tore the mechanism apart. Dozens of unspent shells fell onto the ground. Either the explosion had done much more damage than what we could see, or the Goddesses were looking out for us right now.

I let out a sigh of relief as everyone bolted past me. Behind us were a set of stairs leading out of this large, vacant atrium room. Alguacil fired off three more shots, then popped his cylinder to load in another six rounds. I picked up one of the tube rifles into my mouth and my tail scooped up the second one.

I ran past Alguacil and lay on my belly, raising the tube rifle with my hooves as I checked to see what ammo was loaded. More shots rang out as I read ‘25mm HE’ on the casing inside. Grenades! This is a Grenade Launcher? I slammed the breach closed and looked through the sites. Buddy was still down range near the sentry bot, closing to attack it with his claws.

“BUDDY! GET CLEAR!” I yelled, my mind operating on survival, rage, and the need to protect these ponies. They were my only hope of surviving, and that robot had just tried to kill them! Bronco’s attack, betrayal, and death, the mole-rats, the dead ponies in the lake; all of it flashed before my eyes in that moment as Buddy stopped just in front of me. I went to aim, only to stop myself from biting down on the firing bit.

“Buddy, get behind me! If I mess up I don’t want this going up your...” I didn’t finish the sentence, it didn’t feel appropriate to do so. WHAT!? I’d never called someone’s ass, well... their ass. My mother would have had a fit for me to use that language. Oh, right, death bot coming, pay attention!

Buddy looked back in time and jumped out of the way. I took aim again and activated S.A.T.S., this time making sure my aim was spot-on. Surprisingly, all it took was the lightest touch to pull the trigger, time speeding up again while S.A.T.S. worked its magic. The weapon produced a loud thump.

I could see the the heavy round flying through the air. It lit a fiery explosion as it slammed squarely on the death machine’s chest. My shot was highly effective; the cage around its red murder eyes fell apart as the detonation ripped at it. I noticed in numb shock that the HE grenade also incinerated part of Bronco’s body.

I looked to Alguacil as I reached for my tail to get the other rifle. His three shots followed. The first bounced off. The second went right into one of the red lights, shattering it. The third flew into the area where its internals were exposed, deeper into the machine. There was a pause as the massive death trap stopped and began to make much louder grinding noises. I knew it was its engine or spell matrix breaking apart.

There was a sudden loud warning sound from the crippled agent of destruction. The air around the sentry bot began heating up radically. It got so hot we could see the waves of thermal energy rolling off it.

“SELF DESTRUCT ACTIVATED!” It shrieked as I aimed the next grenade. At that moment, staring down the sight, my tail shielded my eyes. A bright flash filled the room. The spell-matrix of the sentry bot overloaded and detonated like a mini-megaspell. The wild magic lanced towards the six of us with a rainbow colored fury that would surely kill all of us. The world moved in slow motion, and as all this happened I could only stare in awe.

I saw my death coming right at me and couldn’t move. Fate seemed to have other plans, though, as a wall of dark black fur and flesh moved in front of me and blocked out the explosion from my sight.

Two familiar arms lift me up and pull me into the chest of this warm, large creature. Buddy? The outward wave of force soon washed over us, and he was absorbing it all, his body taking the full impact of the explosion as he shielded me. The world sped back up and Corners wailed in agony at the top of her lungs while the wave of flames passed over us.

Just as soon as it arrived, the explosion dissipated, and I stared up at the sand dog, my eyes full of tears. I felt like I had a friend now, for certain. This sand dog, Buddy, had just saved my life. There was a long pause as he held me tight, till I realized it was hard to breathe from his hug.

I managed to free a hoof from his grasp and used it to tap desperately at his side. “Buddy...air...” I sputtered through my compressed lungs.

Thankfully, he got the message and dropped me to my hooves. Buddy shook off his duster and stood upright like a tough dog. I looked at him through the tears that I had to force back, suppressed for later. He was covered in burns. Cuts scattered his body where his skin had been torn open by the blast. He was bleeding anywhere that hadn’t cauterized from the heat.

Overwhelmed by concern, I scrambled to take out bandages. Immediately, I tried to wrap them on him. My body shook and nothing was steady; all I could think of was the pain he must be in. “Buddy...you....thank you. Please, please, please stop bleeding,” I chattered through my teeth. Every glance at the horrific wounds only making me cry more.

“I need a sewing kit! And does anypony have heavy bandages?” I heard Nyota’s voice and turned around. At the stairs he was standing over Corners. I couldn’t make out why, but Corners was on the ground, screaming in agony. The faint ringing lingering in my ears was deadening the screams to me. I looked at my PipBuck; there was a sewing kit and magical bandages in my pack. I still don’t know where all this stuff came from! What all had I done to get all these things?

“Nyota, backpack! Inner pocket next to the kitchen kit. There are magical bandages and a sewing kit.” I declared as I forced all the emotions away from my mind and worked to stop Buddy’s bleeding. My hooves moved frantically; I wasn’t trained for medical work at all. Buddy didn’t seem to mind and just smiled down at me.

I lifted my bloody and ash-caked visor so I could see better and kept working, with beads of sweat on my brow. My helmet fell off when I bumped his claw, though I could care less in my frenzy.

Buddy reached down and placed a paw onto my mane and started to softly pet me. “It’s okay, little ‘un. ‘ll be fine. Go help Nyota.” He reassured me and we stared into each others eyes.

He looked as though he saw something beautiful that he wanted to shield from the world. His dark green eyes were staring into my bright violet ones. I saw my reflection in his. My body covered in blood, gore, and soot. It was the same look Spring Bronco had, but something about it was slightly more... pure.
I envisioned something in his soul there; I felt it grow. It warmed my heart and stilled my shakes. All of it rang within me and I gave a nod acknowledging his request. “Okay, but please, bandage yourself.”

I ran up to Nyota and reached out to help him as he was stitching along Corners broken leg. The stitches went all the way around, from one end to the other—a warning that the leg had nearly been severed. I got the magical bandages and prepared to apply them as he finished his work. My mind was in pure work mode and I didn’t have time to comprehend the damage done to Corners. With the purity of the exchange with Buddy, my emotions remained still and I found myself operating on logic to get every creature with us through this.

I felt helpless compared to Nyota. He was a field medic—if not an outright doctor!—compared to me. My tail took a healing potion from Nyota to give him more room to work. After swiftly uncorking it, I shoved the potion into Corners’s mouth with my tail and tilted her head back with my hoof back to get her to drink it all.

This area wasn’t as well lit, so I let Nyota direct my PipBuck leg around to keep the light where he needed it. Let this be right. I don’t want her to lose that leg!

Nyota finished after what felt like an eternity. Already I could see the flesh starting to heal. Regrettably, there was definitely going to be a scar. Corners would have a horrific slash across her leg for the rest of her life. I handed the bandage back to Nyota to finish up with the wound and looked at Corners’ box near to us.

The explosion had sent it airborne and it somehow hadn’t been turned to dust. There were some holes it in and it was singed. Other than that, it was surprisingly intact. I took it and placed it on her head and Corners curled up against the box. All but the leg that Nyota had stitched up was now concealed from this underground hell hole.

“It’ll be okay Corners.” Nyota gave a soft, reassuring smile. I realized this was the first time I’d seen him show any emotion. He nuzzled the cardboard box she was in and looked me over, “Go on, Sunrise. You check outside for us with Alguacil, make sure it’s clear.”

At least he has some decent bedside manners. I logically followed his direction, still emotionally cut off. If I stayed any longer and I’d have a chance to think about our party’s horrific wounds. I’d certainly find that my stomach might not be completely empty if that happened.

I slowly walked up the stairs and stood beside Alguacil. The griffon’s left claw was wrapped up in several bandages. He must have treated his wound while I was tending to Corners. He shot me an acknowledging nod. I gave him one in return. He pushed open the doors with his undamaged claw and reveal a dull and cloudy day.

Level up:

New Perk: Tail Trick – Your tail seems to have a mind of its own. In addition to this, it can act like a hand/hoof for items that can be operated by 1 hand/hoof/claw/talon/etc.

New Trait Discovered: Pinkie Sense – You get random itches and/or twitches about you that indicate danger or potentially something that your other senses can’t quite detect yet. This also gives you a presence that is slightly off putting till people get used to you. The DM rolls gives you a luck roll at -2 and tell you if you have a twitch when something is amiss. Also all NPCs are at -1 to disposition when you first meet.

Chapter 3: Breaking Many Cherries

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"If you ever find yourself in over your head, just remember one task at a time and you can get through it."
—John 'Steel Driving' Henry

I wasn’t the only one struggling to move hoof over hoof up the dirt-covered concrete stairs. Our party was hastily bandaging tender wounds, or in my case, tiny less-than-fully-developed muscles struggling to haul myself, my pack, and my weapons up the climb. Why did the equipment that had my name on them have to be so darn heavy? Had my muscles atrophied in stasis? By the time I managed to finally pull myself over the top, my hooves ached with the bite of stairs that were crudely improvised and far too steep for comfort.

Flopping down to take a long, hard nap was about the most tempting idea I’d had since the invention of the deep-fried sweet onion ring and roasted potato taco. Sadly, my newfound friends didn’t seem willing to indulge in my brilliant nap idea. Well, when ya can't beat them or convince them, you just have to join them, right?

We trotted beyond the entrance, out into the slate quarry. I wasn’t sure if what was behind us was a cave or a bunker, judging from the construction equipment around us. Really, couldn’t they have at least swept up their front porch and made it look a bit nicer than just a hole in the ground? With a sigh, I stood back up, trotting after my friends as we sought out clear skies.

Despite the day being extremely cloudy, I couldn’t help but feel my spirits lift as Celestia’s blessing washed over me. It had been a long time since I had been outside again. If these people and my PipBuck are to be believed, it’s been 182 years since the last time I felt Celestia's warmth. Just how much time have I been kept occupied inside those memory orbs the stable’s stasis pods had? Was it even possible for somepony to stay that long in a stasis tank, perhaps even centuries? The Stable-Tec personnel were also using them when they slept, so how was this possible? I couldn’t linger on my thoughts any longer, as I was snapped back to reality when Alguacil called out to those behind us.

“It seems clear up here, nothing but rusted out machines, a few trailers, and rocks. This bowl we’re in is probably the bottom of a bit mine,” he called back.

I ignored Alguacil for a moment and instead looked around. I took a seat to let my muscles rest a moment and rubbed my Pipbuck leg to stop a building cramp. Anything was better than worrying about how much time had passed, or marching out to go look for another fight with these creatures I wanted to call friends. I needed to get my mind off the date on my PipBuck somehow.

Everywhere I looked were plain, uninspiring hills of slate and gray stone. It was like staring at a blank piece of paper while a nightmare’s shadow loomed behind you. The hard rock face behind us held the cave we had come out of. Eventually I turned around to look at the hole we emerged from and realized the exit doors were improvised steel from the machinery in the quarry.

The doors looked like the two of them had been taken from a passenger carousel spell matrix cover and a piece of construction equipment. I only managed to recognize them because, well, I'd seen them before. It gave me pause as I cocked my head to the side, Why would somepony use carousel parts for a door? There were far better uses for the spell matrix hood than that.

Great, dad is rubbing off on me harder than I thought.

I slowly looked away from the cave and spotted a makeshift guard tower right next to us. Beyond that was a row of intact trailers with Stable-Tec decals on them, all colored in that obnoxious blue and yellow Stable-Tec loved so much. But all of that, however, paled in comparison when I spotted two massive mechanical earth movers. One was a massive bucket crane and the other was and even larger lift crane with a heavy stable door attached to its platform. This… this is an incomplete stable! No wonder I recognized the interior. We must have woken up in what was either going to be the water filtration room or the chamber for rain collection.

The two construction pieces were obviously left exposed to the elements for ages, as they were both covered in brown and black rust. Their caterpillar road wheels were mostly there, but turned from shining chrome to dull unsightly rust. From this distance, I could see that one of the wires holding the stable door looked frayed. Despite all that, they looked like they were in good shape beneath all those layers of rust and neglect.

The hole behind us was meant to be reinforced and made into something to withstand the megaspells. Now it just had a set of rusty metal doors improvised from scrap covering it. In addition to this, there was a guard tower built from scrap metal: a ladder torn off the machinery, and a lifter basket at the top for someone to stand watch in. Cascades of rock and slate dotted the immediate area along with what looked like well worn paths made from the earth movers tracks. I could see places the bucket crane had smashed away ages ago, as well as more recently.

Wait, recently? Had that thing moved recently? That would explain the tracks ar—

I let out an eep of surprise, jumping forward when I felt a cardboard edge bunt against my rear. I spun around, ready to shout and scream in painful anger as I could feel the throbbing, sharp pain of a shallow cardboard cut along my flank below my cutie mark. When and how did I get that cutie mark again? Was that part of those files on my PipBuck? Corners was sitting there, two sheepish eyes gazing at me from the slit of her box.

“Don't knock on doors! You're going to get us all killed!” she declared. I looked at the filly, very surprised to say the least. Just for that I'm knocking on every door before we go in. That hurt, and it’s time to explain to this little mare just how much.

“We should demolish this tower. If it belongs to those other raiders it will at least keep them from using it,” Alguacil suggested, causing me to look at him with a confused expression. Were we really gonna break their stuff? I mean, they had tried to kill us, apparently. WAIT!? They had tried to kill us, why did I feel awful about breaking their things?

“Hold on, Alguacil, there may be something useful up there. Let me go look,” I tried to hide how scared I was in my voice but with how my words quivered, pretty sure I failed. I didn't want to hurt somepony if we could avoid it, and I hoped he wouldn't realize I was lying.

“Good ideer, darling. Go on up thar and check fer us,” Buddy said, giving my flank a pat exactly where Corners had left the papercut. OW!!! Come on, can I get a break today? I've already seen—nope, not thinking about it, not going to deal with that right now.

Just then, something inside my visor had moved past my left eye. Hey wait a minute. Well… this is embarrassing, I guess all the commotion earlier had me forget that I’ve been wearing it this whole time.

I started up the ladder rungs and took off my helmet. The side of it had Stable-Tec’s logo and the word “security” was below that in bold white text. There was a clip on the back of the helmet, which made it easy to hook to my pack while I resumed climbing. Whatever had moved wasn't there on the visor and wasn't out beyond in the quarry. Forget about it for now and just get a move on. I climbed the ladder to the top of the tower, then I got an idea in case there was some pony waiting to ambush me. My tail tossed the helmet up to the guard basket while I continued to stare up to the top of the ladder rungs.

There was a heavy thump on the wood and I listened intently just under the rim of the platform. Nothing. I guess it's safe… that or they aren't just going to randomly shoot at a helmet or the first thing that appears at the top of the ladder.

Carefully, I pulled my hooves over the edge and hoisted myself up to the platform. Up here, vision into the quarry was much better, and there was quite a few nice things in the tower itself. The tower was, thankfully, empty of any pony. Instead, there, next to my helmet, lay a scoped rifle, blood stained mattress—wow, whoever slept here had some bad cherrychangas—green ammo box, and a thermos. I picked up the my helmet and looked at it closer. The blood and brains of Spring Bronco on it made me cringe. I tried to wipe it away with a hoof but all that did was smear the blood and left a red film.

I have to clean this off. This wasn't my fault. He hadn't been killed by me. He made his choices. You offered him a second chance. Were all griffins just murderers? Who tried to kill them in return, and now I was caught in the crossfire? How can I function like this?

The emotions welled up inside and I couldn’t fight them down, not untill my helmet was clean. Not untill Spring Bronco’s last moment wasn’t smeared over my head piece. My thoughts faded and my heartbeat slowed when the visor to the helmet finally had no more blood on them. Bronco's body gore was on my stable-barding instead. At least I didn't have to look at a reminder of Spring Bronco's final moments.

In the bright sunlight—it was bright to me and brighter than that half-finished Stable—I could see the modifications to my stable-barding reflected in the visor. I still looked like the Wandering Sunrise I knew. There was a vault 43 number on my collar, two fitted shoulder pads with metal plates, along with knee pads, and several pieces of additional reinforcement along my flanks as well. My face however, was where my attention was truly drawn.

I could see the hurt in my eyes and the feeling of despair creeping into my mind. In the last few hours I had been forced to come to terms with molerats the size of my body, ponies murdering other ponies, and extremely angry robots trying to kill the only friends I had. Were they even my friends? Or had we just banded together because survival had been more important at that moment? Slowly, I put the helmet back on. At least behind the visor they can't see the hurt in my eyes; only just child-like wonder that a filly should have, right? I pulled the visor down and started to move again.

I looked out the tower, circling over its plank railing. I was above the lip of the construction site inside here, as I could see out beyond the slate and gravel. This was a land left with a combination of blasted to bits with craters still embedded in the soil. The mountains in the distance looked like a blasted hellscape stalagmite instead of a snow-capped sleeping giant.

At least I could see the path out of here made for the heavy cranes. Anywhere had to be better than here, right? I mean, not everyone could be like... I shivered at the thought of Spring's last moment. No, I'm sure there are plenty of nice ponies, we just have to find them. It had to be that simple, ponies were better than this I had always believed.

Even still, I couldn't help but stare at the rifle, remembering the shotgun resting against my backpack or any of the sheer number of weapons my new friends carried. Every pony seemed ready to kill at the drop of a hat. Still, I had to salvage everything that we could, Buddy kept saying so and they had even talked about eating meat. Regardless of how you feel Sunrise, the Sand Dog has been a friend so far and you owe him for shielding you from that blast. I felt a smile creep onto my face. I realized he really was a friend, but that fell away when I looked over my back from the shift in weight I sensed, only to see my tail had picked up the rifle on its own.

“How are you doing that? N-never mind, I think if I ask you less questions about how and only what and when, then it won't break my mind. What's in this?” I thought out loud to my tail and put my PipBuck up to the thermos. I had no idea but that robot down in the tunnel had given a few clicks from the PipBuck's rad counter. I wasn't about to let radiation hit me, that had been the whole reason we had gone into Stable 43 in the first place.

There wasn't any ticking, so I opened it up and gave it a cautious sniff. Ginseng tea, it smelled lovely and, surprisingly, was still warm. I took a swig of it and recognized that it at least tasted good. Ha! You're all wrong, I don't have to eat meat, I can still find plenty of veggies!At least if my luck holds out, that is.

I stopped and greedily sucked down the rest of the thermos as my stomach got heavy from the tea. Sadly, there was a growl from it. Oh come on, I don't have anything more solid right now. Can't you be happy with what I give you, tummy? I ignored the grumblings from my insides and flipped open the ammo box. Once one of the bullets was in my hoof, my tail seemed to know to bring the rifle to me. I pulled the bolt back and it fit. Good enough, let's get down and regroup before they start to worry. I climbed down the ladder and saw four sets of eyes from five different creatures all looking at me, quite worried.

“Took long enough, what did you find?” Alguacil asked suspiciously. I quickly took out the rifle and thermos into my hooves.

“That's a good find! We can keep you far away from danger,” Chifundo said, pointing a hoof at the scope mounted on top of the gun. I stared back at him, aghast. They expected danger? Was what happened in the half-built stable not an isolated incident?

Buddy walked over to the tower and started to shove the base of the tower. He pushed, hard enough for the wood to groan under the sand dog's assault. Alguacil dodged a snapping rope that flew his way, moving rather gracefully and fast for a creature his size. The boards finally could take no more and the structure split along the four corner logs holding it up. Finally, with one last great heave, the entire tower tumbled over and crashed to the ground. I raised my hoof to cover my mouth as the resulting dust rolled and the ground shook with the force of the impact. Nyota and Corners let out coughing fits and Alguacil flapped his wings, flying above the debris. Corners just closed the slit in her box.

“Ther', stupid raider ponies won't be able to use that any mor.'” Buddy puffed out his chest, looking rather proud of himself. I surveyed the devastation our sand dog had caused and was reminded: DON'T make the sand dog mad... he can smash you. The guard tower had been turned into wooden scrap that you wouldn't recognize as anything other than just random discolored planks and sundered lumber.

“Well if nothing knew we were here, it knows we are now,” Alguacil declared as he adjusted his sombrero and shifted his eye over to the largest lift crane. “I'll go up there and get a good look around.” He extended his wings and gave them a hard flap, bringing him to top of the crane. He was barely in shouting range up there, but at least the griffin seemed determined to keep an eye out for us rather than fly off. At least he’s staying and not proving a total mercenary.

I looked at the big earth mover and my eyes went wide in childlike wonder. The large bucket crane was like an ancient creature that this quarry had worn away at but refused to bow down, still standing proud like an alicorn princess in Canterlot. I trotted off towards it to get a better look.

“Hey Buddy,” said Nyota. “You, Corners, and Chifundo go check the trailers. I'm going to see if we can scavenge anything from the bucket crane.” Hearing hoofbeats behind me, I took a gaze over my shoulder and Nyota was following, catching up quickly. His stallion hooves were able to take much bigger steps than me and I only heard them now that we were away from the group. Wow, for a full grown zebra he sure is light on his feet. You don't think that—

No no no, Sunrise, calm down. Dad said not all zebras were bad and he also emphasized that I shouldn't judge any pony untill they prove themselves, one way or the other. Nyota hasn't given you a reason to be afraid and he did fix up Corner's leg, twice now. I'm sure he doesn't mean you any harm or anything. I'm sure the Ministry of Morale slogans were wrong, right? I mean, they couldn't possibly all be right. Not all Zebras were bad, many lived in Equestria when the bombs fell. An image sprang to my mind, one of Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie looking down at me.

“Stripes! You Should Have Gripes!” All around her were zebras with various vicious-looking implements. I shuddered at the thought.

“Little one, something wrong?” Nyota asked, the sound of his walking having stopped.

I didn't look at him, I couldn't let him see the conflict on my face. “No, it's fine. Let's see if this thing works.”

Just keep focused on the work, make yourself useful and make sure you aren't being too much of a bother. These ponies are still strangers to you, Sunrise.

On one hoof I had my dad talking to me, telling me to give every pony, zebra, griffin, and sand dog a chance. Dragons too? On the other I had my mother, screaming at me to be careful and not to trust them. I could hear both their voices clearly. When I find them, I'm going to have do to some serious counseling. I swear, the fights between my parents always surprised me that they never resorted to blows.

These thoughts were carried with me all the way up to the operator cabin and I had to jump up the last bit of the ramp since it was missing. Working to pull myself on top of the machine to get around to the engine compartment was a task untill Nyota nudged my flank the rest of the way up. Nyota stayed down there on the landing outside the operator's nest. I looked over to see him using his eye to keep watch around us.
“Go on, Sunny.” I winced at being called that, for some reason it felt demeaning. “I’ll keep the cost clear, you take a look.”

I looked over the lip edge of the engine deck, “Don’t call me Sunny.” Nyota shot a glare at me with his one uncovered eye. “Please?” I added, with a hint of remorse in my tone. He snorted at me and motioned behind me as if to say, get to work.

I had to use the rope inside my pack to hook around the hatch handle. Note to self, set time aside to see what else is in this pack. It was awkward pulling on it and lifting the heavy steel plate engine cover took all the strength my muscles could manage. Finally the rusted shut compartment gave and ground against its hinges with a shriek of rusted metal on metal. I ended up succeeding, as my efforts did force the spell matrix engine compartment to open up. It hung there half open when I stopped, the rust would not let gravity win apparently. I approached the now open compartment as dust and rust settled outward.

Slowly, I peaked up and expected a mess…

ooOOoo

14 Months 1 Day 14 hours untill Megaspell Day

“Sunrise dear, get that number 6 wrench for me.” There was no hiding the stress or fatigue of the stallion that called out to me. We were back in the mechanic shop with my father working on a pegasus passenger carrier, a Sky Tourist Mark 3. It was one of the first publicly available models and this one was owned by the City of Stalliongrad. They hadn't bothered to upgrade the fleet to the newest Mark 7s. Why fix what isn't broke right? I trotted over and picked up the wrench under the black bold 6 number from the fire engine red tool box.

I placed it into his hoof with my mouth and let out a giggle as I crawled underneath. “Dad, you know I have almost no talent for this mechanics stuff. Why do you and mom always bring me to work during the summer?” I asked as I got under the carrier with him. I was still plenty small, and unlike him, it wasn't cramped for me. Still, I was careful to not hit the levers or controls for the hydraulic lifts holding up the malfunctioning machine.

“There’s always a chance, my Little Wanderer. I mean, you have managed to go this long without your mark. I suspect we'll find the thing you’re really good at soon enough,” he said as wings held the part in place before his mouth took the wrench from his hoof give a to twist.
I got up on my step ladder and used my hooves to help hold the new capacitor in place. He chuckled through the wrench and let his other hoof hold the wrench in place for a second.

“Come on Little Wanderer, it can't be that bad can it?” he asked with his usual 'dad smile'. “You look like a sad sunrise to me about right now.”

Great, dad jokes, just what I needed. I wasn't a tiny filly anymore, but I wasn't a full grown mare either. Just hadn't earned my cutie mark yet, is all. Ya’ know, that one thing that is suppose to help determine what you're really good at? Well, I was the oldest pony at school to not have it. I should have been happy to be at work with dad instead of at school, though. Here I wasn't the center of every bully's attention to pummel or pick on. The adults didn't pick on me about it, instead they simply viewed it as unrealized potential. Maybe it was the lack of fresh baked berry fritters mom would be making in case I came home with a black eye or a chopped mane today.

“Dad... really? Have you ever even seen a sad sunrise?” I asked as he finished with the part.

“Can only say I've only ever seen one. I think you were still too little to really remember it.” The stallion wiggled from underneath the carriage and dusted himself off with his hooves, which did nothing other than smear his coat in grease. His wings flapped and put a bit more black smear onto my white coat. I didn’t flinch, just looked back and grimaced in frustration. “Come on Sunrise, let's get lunch. This one’s done.” He walked towards the front of the shop where his office was.

I looked around at the other mechanic ponies and even a pair of mechanic zebras working inside dad's shop. My mom had always been a concerned mare about Perileth and Netherbloom and they were always a source of contention in our household.

I smiled at them, they smiled back. We still did this, even though we could clearly see the image of Pinkie Pie in the background, looking at all of us. That poster was staring at us, and those big pink eyes were horrifying to behold. Pinkie Pie's eyes would always meet your gaze and follow you around the room; every one of us could see and feel it when those posters were around. This one showed Pinkie Pie glaring at us while her two forehooves were putting a zebra firmly into the dirt. The words, “Beware, Beware, BEWARE!” etched over the top and bottom. The zebra certainly looked in pain, but just beyond the mare zebra's mouth on the ground was a rolled up scroll with the word ‘secret’ written over it.

“Dad?” The sound of the office door closing shot any chance I had to talk. Dad was already inside, ringing up the city official for the work we had just finished. I wasn't supposed to be up front, I was suppose to duck into his office. He always said it was for insurance reasons, but right now, I had to talk to him. That poster disturbed me that much.

He took the bits from the city rep while someone else in the shop got the Mark 3 ready to be lashed and pulled off. “Rainbow Rise,” I said as I walked up to him. He turned to me with a concerned face. He'd heard his name from his daughter's voice. Anytime I called my parents by their name, they immediately knew something was wrong.

“Yes my Sunrise,” he asked in a deep gentle voice as the city rep walked out to collect the carriage. There was a pause between us as I hesitated. It was written on my face that I was bothered, upset, possibly even angry.

“Dad, can we take down that Ministry of Morale poster?” I asked, not able to look up at him when I said it. I felt my cheeks burning with embarrassment, knowing a customer could walk in and see us any moment. Please don't yell. Please don't be mad. Please don't let this be thing that makes the fight happen tonight.

“No hun, we have to keep it up per the Ministry Mare's rules. Does it really bother you that much? I’m not allowed to take it down, but I can move it,” he offered as I felt his hoof press against my chin and lift my face to meet his. He wasn't angry or upset, he was looking at me with love and concern.

“No, it's just,” the hesitation only made my body tense up more; I had to get the thought out now or I would explode in a puff of white fluff. “I know it bothers Perileth and Netherbloom.” The words were mumbling out of my mouth, but because he was holding my head up, I could be heard clearly. “That mare and stallion have to put up with so much else outside of work. Can't we make it any better for them?” I whimpered out, not sure if I would get a pat on the head or a slap across the snout. I got neither, much to my surprise. Instead, I felt two hooves on my shoulders and two wings firmly around me. I felt safe as I realized my dad had pulled me into a hug. He protectively pressed me into his strong stallion mechanic chest, smearing more grease onto my white coat.

“You are such a daddy's filly, aren't you? I'll go talk to those two and see if they can think of somewhere I can put it where they won't have to look at it. Then, I'll speak to your mother about it tonight and make sure we can manage to get away with moving the poster to some corner out of sight. Does that sound fair, Little Wanderer?”

I looked up at him with big filly eyes, staring in approval into his warm loving ones. I only nodded and smiled a bit better. I carried that smile over my shoulder and at the two zebra mechanics who tilted their heads at me all confused-like as they just smiled back. It felt good to be nice to some ponies I barely knew.

“Never let what others tell you be what you have to accept. Always give every pony a chance. If that’s all you ever learn from me, keep that,” he whispered in my ear. Rainbow Rise gave me a nuzzle against my ear, let me go, then trotted back into the workshop. “Go on and wash up. I'll be back shortly to eat lunch with you. Your mom said she packed some berry fritters in there.”

ooOOoo

I cranked the wrench one more time, then inspected the wiring. My cleanest hoof wiped a tear from my cheek as the memory faded away. “Yeah, that isn't supposed to go there,” I thought out loud before starting the rewiring. It was tedious work, but it had allowed me to recall the last time I had worked alongside zebras. Nyota's eye patch was above the rim of the engine deck and I thought his head was following me, almost like an eye was still there. Both zebras sets, past and present, had been quiet, but nothing terribly creepy or off putting about that. I was making a decision right now: until I see my dad again, I'll do my best to make him proud, at least. Judge every pony for myself and give them a chance. Even if my friends were determined that someone was guilty up front, I'd keep this policy as best I could.

“Nyota, do you see a battery anywhere nearby?” I hollered over the engine deck to the zebra stallion. I moved to the edge of the crane and looked down over the operator's cabin to get my eyes on him. Surprised the glass for this thing is still intact.

“I do not see one, nor do I know what they would look like,” Nyota replied, gazing back with a neutral expression. Every time I blinked his expression didn't change, but I seemed to see something else in it too? Hard to read, much? Can you give me something. Please? It would be nice if I could at least get an idea of how you felt right now.

I smiled at him nervously after our long, awkward stare. “Right... zebratech’s different from ponytech. Let's go check with the others. As far as I can tell, this thing should start now, assuming...” I trailed off and had to focus on the climb down, putting my hooves onto his back to make it easier. “I did my job correctly,” I finished as my first rear hoof touched creaking rusted yellow metal. Nyota for his part, didn’t move away but instead reached one hoof out to help me down and I detected the faintest hint of a smile on his face. You smiled! I saw it! You aren’t all tough. Oh come on, don’t frown extra hard now to hide it.

Finally, I got down onto the platform, barely able to fit next to Nyota. I wasn't full sized yet so there was just enough room for us to squeeze onto the ramp landing. “Thank you Nyota. I'm sorry that some of the buckshot hit you earlier. I just, I thought you were—”

A hoof hit my lips and he shook his head, but there was a again smile. The slightest, smallest smile I've ever seen, but dammit, you smiled! I turned and opened the cabin. Surprisingly, on closer examination, the glass around it was completely intact. No cracks or anything. The steel frame held the windows in place that gave the pilot a panoramic view. The controls inside were just as well preserved, if somewhat dusty. I looked and counted, checking to make sure all the pedals moved. The clutch took some effort, but I could feel it depress, and the brakes sounded with a grinding noise. We didn’t roll as I played with the gear shift to make sure every gear locked in place, especially the three reverse ones. Even the panel wasn't missing buttons, and the springs had not popped out beyond their normal console slots. I will never understand how someone built something this sturdy. But, hey, if it still works, it works.

I popped the glove box and grimaced in confusion at what I found. Why are there gloves in a glove box? I swear I've never found glove in a glove box. The leather hoof covers were on top of the instruction manual? My lucky day!

I grabbed the manual and poured through it, losing track of time as I tried to commit it all to memory. All the details on the operation of this vehicle were here; every control and lever. It was even a stick shift transmission. This was wonderful. If I had done the repairs right, and the engine cylinders were all still sealed by their gaskets, she’d be able to start up, and I was reasonably sure I could drive her.

Once I had finished, I closed the manual and I sighed. Right, a battery. Let's go find out what’s going on with Buddy, Corners, and Chifundo. As I set the book down, Nyota knocked against the glass and I turned my head. He motioned his head towards the trailers where Buddy and Corners had re-emerged. I got out and followed Nyota's fresh tracks in the dirt towards the three trailers. My head was still hung and I stared at the ground instead of up at the others. A battery? Could a spark battery of that size last that long? Could it still have a charge? Would all the work I did be for nothing?

All but walking into it, my heart skipped a beat as there was battery attached to the end of the trailer where Buddy was standing. That would work perfectly! I plugged in the test tool from my PipBuck and it returned a charge at 78%, according to the read out from the maintenance program. Now, how do I move something nearly as big as me up to the top of that bucket crane and get it inside the battery holder? I turned to Buddy and looked at his bulky biceps, “Hey, I need a battery for the earth mover, can we take this one?” I blurted out in my excitement.

Buddy scratched under his cowpony hat and looked down sheepishly. First time I’d ever seen that expression from a sand dog, even pre-war. Total confusion. “You want 'er battery?” Her? Who was her? Was someone living in this trailer? Buddy kicked the dirt and straightened out his hat as he regained his composure. “Listen, little lady, we made that ghoul pony rather upset, and I—”

“What's a ghoul?” I interrupted with the curiosity of a naive filly.

Corners snickered and smiled under her box. “Why don't we let her talk to that mare and find out herself?” Box Pone couldn't manage the sentence without belting out several giggles.

I looked at Corners skeptically before turning my head to Buddy, who just shrugged at me and motioned with both hands towards the door that led inside. The blue trailer appeared mostly intact, though I couldn't see through the windows due to the dirt and grim. The tires were all flat, so the rusted Stable-Tec trailer was most certainly not rolling anywhere. I walked up to the door that looked like it was barely on its hinges, got onto the single step with one hoof, and rapped my leg against it three times.

A few heavy hoof falls on the floor inside later and an irritated voice called out, “What do ya want now? Can't a pony get—” the door opened and the raspy, irritated and harsh mare's voice came to a halt as the two of us looked at each other with stark realizations.

I was looking at a unicorn, only this one looked like a shriveled, rotten prune. Her flesh had partially rotted away, and the unicorn’s nose was almost completely missing. Her eye sockets were hollowed out and drawn back as though extremely dehydrated.

My eyes went wide in shock as I took the sight in. In front of me had to be a corpse; a moving, walking, talking corpse. How was this possible? What in Celestia's name was this? I mean HOLY HORSEAPPLES!? Why would any pony do this to another pony? How could a pony survive this? She looked like she was going to drop over dead any second now.

She shuttered in a raspy, harsh tone, probably from the damage to her vocal cords, “I... I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I mean, I promised the filly scouts I’d pay for cookies soon,” she echoed out with a tone that was genuinely afraid of me. I looked down to make sure I wasn't covered in the same abrasions I saw on her skin, HER SKIN! She didn't have a coat of fur! That was the skin that was supposed to be underneath!

I hesitated before I spoke and pointed to the yellow number 43 on my Stable-Tec barding to emphasize the barding. “I'm not a Filly Scout. Not here to collect for cookies,” I replied with a nervous smile, hoping this creature wasn't about to eat me.

There was an audible sigh of relief, and she pressed her hoof to her chest like she was trying to calm a fast beating heart, “Oh good! Thin mints are good and all, but not worth dying for.” Do ghoul hearts still beat?

My jaw visibly dropped as I heard my voice inside me get really high pitched in response, “I... they kill ponies over cookies!?”

“Oh ya know, post war and megaspells, the Filly Scouts collection efforts got really aggressive,” she said, and she noticed the impression this had left on me. “Right, stable dweller; well, at least you're cute. Though your cutie mark had me going for a minute. What can I help you with?”

Will ponies stop reminding me of my cutie mark? That had more questions to it than answers. Things like, when did that happen? How did that happen?

"Play it cool and look at your own flank in a minute when no one else is looking," the pink pony finished my thoughts for me.

“I umm...” I need to stop staring. That is very rude. Have questions to ask about the spark battery. My thoughts raced and I bordered on freaking out only to calm myself just enough to continue speaking. “I was wondering if you would be willing to trade something for the battery attached to your trailer. It looks like it will fit the earth mover over there, and I just finished fixing her up.”
It was the ghoul mare's turn to drop her jaw; it unhinged, going far enough down that it was past her collarbone in a freakish display. I could see into her throat, and there was even a hole that let light in halfway down. The long-since dried out and cracked skin glowed a disturbing neon green in a few places. I gave her a nervous, “Please” type of smile, in the hope of bringing her back to the moment with filly cuteness.

“You want my battery? For that old earth mover? How did ya know how to fix it?” she asked, trying to collect her composure. Well that wasn't about to happen.

“Yeah, my dad showed me a lot of how to fix matrix-tech stuff at his shop before the bombs fell,” I stated that fact like it was common knowledge. I looked up at the mare maintaining the cutest smile I could muster, “By the way, what's your name? I'm Wandering Sunrise.”

“You were... alive... before... I mean... I...” She took a minute and looked at her Stable-Tec uniform. It read 'Construction Employee 110-774-C'. She pulled the tag off and tossed it back into the trailer, “Frieda Waffles. And, I mean, if you were willing to get my neighbors to be quieter, then yeah. I'd be happy to trade my battery to ya. I mean, it would be kind of interesting to see that thing move again.”

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. My mane bounce off my helmet. That was it? A battery like that must either be common, or her neighbors were really loud and rowdy. Either way, I wasn't going to argue. “That's it? I mean, sure, we can talk to them and have a conversation to take care of that for you.” I gave Waffles a blush at her sheepish grin that looked like something straight out of a Nightmare Night horror movie. Why does this feel like an R-rated Nightmare Night movie suddenly?

Waffles smiled and nodded, then wordlessly closed the door. I swore I heard a laugh from the other side as I looked at my cutie mark. Just when did I get that? Wait, a better question is why? Why would I get a cutie mark that was a steel ranger exploding from the inside out? I guess the answer must lie in that week’s worth of missing memories.

I looked down at my PipBuck to see the status screen, checking to see if there was anything else going on with me I should be aware of. Something was blinking in the data section of the screen. I scrolled to it and found... encrypted files? At least a dozen of them. Weirdly enough, I couldn't even read the file names.

There was, however, one clue to them though. All of them were dated for the last seven days on my PipBuck's calendar. That was the first clue as to how we had gotten gotten here or what had happened in the last week. My memory held glimpses of a few events—getting out of the stasis pod and checking the dates on my PipBuck, before looking up at a stallion in a lab coat. A stallion who was being attacked and shooting at something? Everything about him was a shadow, I couldn't clearly see his colors or his face, just a vague shape.

Next thing I remember was suddenly waking up in that pool with the others. These files told me that there was something in them from the last week that I had to know. Sunrise, it has to wait, wait untill we get somewhere safe before you start picking at those files. It would have to wait, what we were in for right now had to be resolved.

I walked back over to Buddy and looked up at him, smiling still, as I had some direction for once. He spared me only a quick glance, then turned back to Corners, the box pone busy talking away at him.

“I don't know if she knows that. Besides, she’s younger than me,” Corners said as I trotted up and the conversation stopped. Great, they’d been talking about me. I smiled at the two of them and pointed at the next trailer.

“Alright, well we have to make her neighbors in the other trailer calm down and be less rowdy,” I explained as Buddy walked over and put a paw onto next door trailer... which growled at us.

Wait, the trailer was growling? No, Sunrise, something inside is growling.

The growl was low and made my legs tremble. Whatever that was, it had to be big, scary, and angry. Buddy took his paw off the trailer and cautiously backed away. I looked around the trailer, hoping I’d find an electric box on one of its walls. I didn't find one, but I did see a flickering light inside through a window, so something had to be feeding it power. ...Wait? If there is a battery, it’s still running? I pressed an ear up against the side of the trailer and heard the sound of a hum from a generator. Yes, it’s running if my ears are right.

“Dat sounded angry,” was all the sand dog managed to say, obviously referring the growling from inside earlier. He motioned Nyota to follow him before I pointed a hoof at Alguacil, who was still keeping watch out for us.

“I’m not loud enough, can you call him down here?” I asked Buddy, the shake then shaking, followed by what sounded like a feral animal ripping something apart.

“Hey! Algu! Git 'own 'ere. We got a job!” he called out, prompting the griffin to fly down with a speed I hadn't expected from a creature that large. You learn something new every day.

We quickly gave Alguacil the rundown of everything we’d found out. The fact that I had managed to repair the earth mover caused him to look at me with shock. The griffin seemed to lose his cool for a second, only to regain it a moment later.

Ha! I found a way to get under your skin. Wait, was that a good thing?

Alguacil picked me up and shoved me onto his back, right against his neck feathers. I struggled at first—earth pony off ground, not happy—but I fit like a proper rider. My forehooves naturally wrapped over his neck and my rear hooves tucked into the cleft of his wings. Wait... why had I let him... oh Goddesses, flying now! We were airborne and on top of the trailer in less than five seconds, looking at a skylight that was part way open. I dismounted from the griffin, something I never thought I would have to say. A tiny pink pony jumped in excitement in the back of my head, shouting “Do it again!”

“We can look in through the sunroof and hopefully find out just what we have gotten into,” he explained. The griffin walked over the rest of the way to the skylight and a talon lifted the window fully open.

I walked over and immediately regretted it. I was so glad I hadn't had any solid food, as the smell alone would have murdered a manticore. I’ve smelled the corpses from the room earlier and those memories came flooding back into my mind. Who were those ponies? Why had they been killed? And why was this similar, yet somehow more rank?

The creature had cold dead eyes of a pony in a funeral casket, only these eyes were moving and still aware of their surroundings. Alguacil was talking to me, his voice coming from the long dead pony's mouth as the vision faded. “Sunrise, look in through here. See that, thats a feral ghoul. These are the things you’ll have to learn to shoot at.” Alguacil's fatherly tone reminded me of a more jaded, larger version of my father. He took out his lever-action shotgun and I took out my 20 gauge pump-action. I peered over the edge of the skylight, poking the gun over the rim.

Inside was the largest stallion I'd ever seen, but this one was like Frieda Waffles in the sense this earth pony was rotting away, his flesh even falling off in some places. I’d seen Big Mac in a parade once, and this stallion was certainly bigger than him. What was this creature?

It snarled and bit into the couch, chewing it. I looked down and heard a few clicks from my PipBuck. Radiation was coming off this creature, all while it was trying to eat a couch that looked like it had been soiled by, well... everything. Flesh, feces, piss, and there were stains that would make me blush to talk about. Bones of ponies were cast around the room without care, and if the intact skeleton lounged on the couch could have an expression, it’d be one of horror and pain. Also, I realized the ghoul was actually chewing the last bits of flesh from the long-dead unicorn.

“How... what happened to him?” I shuddered, straining to keep my teeth under control as I wrapped my mouth around the trigger of the shotgun and took aim. Okay, Sunrise, this creature is feral. It’s killed other ponies, and it will kill you if given the chance. It’s clearly not like Waffles. Calm down and end this creature's suffering, Sunrise. Make sure it can't hurt any more ponies.

“Sunrise, you're going to have to learn sooner rather than later. There are two kinds of ghouls. Feral and Not-Feral. Waffles is friendly still and hasn’t gone feral yet. They all turn eventually, but still, try to learn the difference, alright? And remember, if you ever go feral, would you want to be left that way?” Alguacil stabbed a claw down towards the ghoul as it walked away from the couch. He made sure my eyes were on it before continuing. “Put them out of their misery, okay? Make sure the non-feral ones have a good life, and when they start to turn, don't leave them that way if you can help it.”

Alguacil talked like he had deep personal experience with ghouls. He sounded like he was coldly laying out the facts, but something clearly troubled him, as there was a break in his voice when he spoke. Without uttering any further words, he raised his pistol, took aim, and ultimately shot the ghoul inside.

The trailer shook, and soot and dust flung up around the skylight. Chunks of flesh ripped from the neck and shoulder of the ghoulified stallion. It roared to life and leapt up towards the sky light. Acting almost entirely out of reflex, I jumped back and slipped into SATS. Everything switched to slow motion as the lunging creature got closer and closer. I queued up one shot directly to its face, as its teeth gnashed hungrily. With a flash from my shotgun’s muzzle, the world gradually sped back up.

My weapon’s roar deafened my hearing for a second, as huge chunks of stallion ghoul flesh was sheared off of its skull. The stallion's face flesh was completely shredded off, exposing the bone underneath. Fragments of black ichor stained the floor, while fragments of bone and shriveled ghoul muscle splattered the walls. I watched, caught in the moment, as the stallion flew back towards the floor, the recoil from the shotgun having propelled me in my jump, causing me to nearly fall into the rear sky light of the trailer.

I looked up in time to see Alguacil fire one more shot through the skylight, hearing the dull set of thumps of bullets meeting flesh and the vibration of something heavy falling over inside. Blinking through my visor, Alguacil turned away. I could see my shotgun end was covered in black goo, charred like ash around the barrel opening. Was that the blood ghouls had now?

I slowly rose to my hooves, more groaning reaching my ears when I then saw it on the Eyes Forward Sparkle. Two more red blips had appeared, both moving around under us. Red meant bad things, right? I guess E.F.S. could be used to help figure out if somepony wished to hurt me, right? I got back up, Alguacil extending a talon to help me to my hooves, as my tail took my shotgun back into the holster.

We gathered at the door, which Buddy lined up and slammed into with the force of a wrecking ball. The flimsy trailer door didn't stand a chance, and it flew off its hinges. Friendly, loud reminder to not piss off the sand dog. There was a loud slam and a pulping noise as the door impacted into the corpse of the other pony inside. I looked around and realized that Corners and Chifundo weren’t anywhere near us. I looked at the E.F.S. and two dots lined up in front of me, either inside or on the other side of the trailer. These two were marked as the two ponies in question.

I tapped Buddy on the hip to get his attention before he and Nyota stormed inside. “Okay, over there are tw—” my speech was abruptly interrupted by two shotgun blasts and a pistol shot, followed by one of the red blimps on the E.F.S. fading out. “One! There’s one more inside,” I corrected myself. Did this happen often? Were we going to have to deal with pony zombies this often? Was this life now? I hope it gets better than this.

“It has to, right, Sunrise? It always can be better!” said the Pink Pony in the back of my mind.

Buddy and Nyota storm inside as a ghoul came out of a back room, running right at us. Both of them acted in unison. Nyota used his rear hooves to strike both the ghoul’s legs, while Buddy brought down his claws like mighty hammers. The ghoul pony was turned into pulp in seconds.

My nose wrinkled and I recoiled in horror, as the smell was so much stronger here at the door. If I had had anything solid in my stomach I would have lost it, but as hungry as I might have been, I found that I suddenly I wasn't.

Okay, Sunrise, just get through this, go in and check the battery in this trailer; you might be able to use it. Go inside, get over it! You have to. This was your idea! Sunrise, GO! By the time I had finished the thought I was standing in front of the circuit breaker box. Wait, had I walked in here subconsciously? Oh gods... that smell. My eyes wandered over to the door, where I looked at the couch beside it.

There was definitely a body under it, the body of that stallion we had blasted with shotguns repeatedly. At least I couldn't see it. Buddy was moving the body of the other ghoul back to the room it came out of, while Nyota and Chifundo were searching the trailer for anything worth salvaging.

I pulled the master switch and the trailer lights all died. After carefully removing its wires, I discovered that… yeah, this battery was HEAVY! I mean, this thing was like lifting a massive weight. It must at least be seventy pounds! My PipBuck indicated it had a charge at 71%, which was good. That meant the alternator of the earth mover should keep it powered. Suddenly, however, with all my effort to move this battery, I was in the air. None of my hooves touched the floor as I dangled above it, holding onto the power cell for dear life. Ground, where did you go? Why was I— Buddy looked at me with a smile as he leaned over to me, “I got 't little filly,” he assured me.

“Can you put me down?” I asked, feeling like I may have walked into a cartoon for a second. He lowered the battery untill my rear hooves touched trailer floor, then he picked up and carried the battery in one paw like it was a toy. How strong was he? I had to use my entire body to drag that battery across the ground. He could lift that and me with one paw. Note to self, DO NOT ever make the sand dog mad, times two at this point.

We got back outside and I happily left the feral ghouls corpses behind. I felt a pang of guilt, as we didn't do anything for the bodies, but at this point, I really just wanted away from there. I kindly approached Waffles's trailer and knocked a few times. There were some hoof steps as Waffles undid the barely-held-together lock and opened the door.

“Oh! Its you again, Sunrise,” her raspy voice said with a cheery hint in it. A thought disturbed me, that there might come a day that I would have to kill Waffles, if, no Alguacil said when, she went feral. I realized now how much more precious life had to be with a sword hovering over the back of your mind; ready to impale and end the person you were. Turning you into the... the creature that stallion had once been. I hadn't even taken the time to look at his cutie mark, if it was even still there.

“Sunrise, she’s staring at you. Speak now,” the pink pony said, insistently poking my head with my own tail.

“Hi! So your neighbors apparently went feral. I'm sorry about that, but they shouldn't bother you or any other pony anymore. I just hope it helps.” I looked away from Freida Waffles, as I couldn't bare to see her face right now. You can at least tell her the good news. It didn't count as murder if the pony inside them was already dead, does it? “Also... we don't need your battery anymore, so you can keep it. We took the one from their trailer and it’s still good. I just...hope it helps,” I earnestly conveyed like a broken record.

I gave a nervous smile and looked back up, not sure how Waffles would take the news. To my surprise, however, the mare seemed to have a genuine weight lifted from her shoulders. She stood taller and her face shined into a smile that this time I knew was real. Her facial features became lighter, and for the first time ever, I actually thought this ghoul was alive. Granted, a very starved and dehydrated unicorn, but alive all the same. Her eyes seemed to fill their hallowed sockets completely.

“You... you did all that and don't want the battery anymore? I mean, I suspected that Big Hoss and his family had gone feral from the screams the other night on that unicorn. I could have never brought myself to put them out of their misery. Thank you, little filly. Uh, hold on!” she exclaimed before trotting away from the door. In short order the ghouled unicorn returned with two bags. She passed me one, and the PipBuck registered 300 caps in it. I stared at the little bag in my hoof for a moment. Then it registered a memory orb inside the bag as well.

Caps? Like, why would I want caps? And I need a re-collector for reading that. What kind of world is this?

“Here, take these too,” she said, handing me something warm and wrapped in tin foil. I held it up and smelled it. Cookies!

“I, well, thank you,” was all I could manage as I handed Buddy the caps and a covered plate of cookies. He took them and gave me a toothy grin in return.

“'reat we can pay to 'ave Corners leg get fixed. WHOO Cookies!” he exclaimed, grabbing one and biting into it. He appeared to be lost for several seconds in that cookie. Like the world was suddenly brighter. As he chewed, his eyes darted from side to side, and I swear his pupils had dilated as well.

“U've got to try deeze!” Buddy shoved the cookies under my nose and I took another whiff. I took one into my hoof and examined it. Oatmeal raisin? I guess there is a chance that something nice survived after all.

I took a bite and suddenly everything got a lot darker around me. I felt strange, and my eyes went out of focus. I lost almost all my peripheral vision. The shadows of every object came to life and animated in a way that was terrifying and made me recoil away. The window behind me opened as Waffles put her fore-hooves and head out, “Now which cookies did I... oh... have fun, deary!” she shouted out, closing the window with a noise that sounded ten times louder than it should have been.

The world grew darker still, and more shadows moving in from all sides. The sunlight through the clouds got duller and more close to twilight through my narrowing vision. I could only see what was immediately in front, as my peripherals failed completely. My body felt foreign, like the connection to my brain was not working at full power. Rocks came to life and gnashed their teeth intent on devouring me. The images of the pony skeletons in the water appeared and they were moving. They stalked toward me, murderous intent of red eyes inside their skulls, the red eyes of the sentry bot.

“Why didn't you save us?” their bone-chattering voices filled my head. They kept shambling towards me, chanting it over and over again. A hoof grabbed me, and I turned to face Spring Bronco. His head was in pieces, yet he spoke perfectly. The gore dripped onto my stable-barding as he leaned in close, the one eye still attached to his skull pressed into the visor the same way the one in the cave had. He spoke with words that chilled me to the very soul.

“Why couldn't you convince me to turn from my evil ways! Why couldn't I get a second or third chance! Why! Why, you stupid little filly?” he shouted at me. His frayed mouth opened and lashed out around my throat.

I screamed and the world went black.

Level Up!
New Perk Extra S.P.E.C.I.A.L. - Not the short bus kind of special but at least we know you are a special one. Attribute Chosen: +1 INT

Chapter 4: The Relic That Could

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“What do you mean you forgot it? It’s the holy grail, for Christ’s sake!”
-Dr. Jones Sr.

“Sweet little Sunrise, can you please arise?” Chifundo’s deep, stern voice called out to me.

I opened my eyes hesitantly, not knowing what I’d see. With my eyelids rising, the darkness and chattering skeletons were replaced by welcoming pink stripes and a white furred coat. The gentle sky blue eyes of Chifundo were looking down at me, making sure I was alright. It is almost poetic. Score one for dad being right. The vision had been powerful and my mind was still having issues with the shadows.

“What... happened?” I asked, looking to Chifundo, then to the rest of our group.

“You freaked out a bit. I think the cookies were baked with a little Peyote,” Nyota explained, examining one of the aforementioned cookies carefully. Nyota took a cautious nibble, then his eyes lit up before he eagerly swallowed it in one bite. “Yep, and drugged in a good way, too.”

I looked to him, utterly confused by the strange new word. “Pee-what?!”

“A spiritual vision plant. It gives you a vision from the spirits and stars, when you eat one,” Nyota replied, looking at Chifundo with a knowing grin. “Seems you went on a bad trip.”

I realized now I was curled into a fetal ball and could feel that my barding sticking to me with sweat. I slowly got onto my hooves again with the help of my two striped friends. Chifundo dusted off my stable-barding, and they led me over to the earth mover where Buddy was working out how to put the battery in. Poorly, I might add!

They didn’t let me out from between the two of them and guided my steps in the direction of the bucket crane. Nyota would catch me if I stumbled; my hooves were still unsteady, and the drugs weren’t completely out of my system.

The shadows still loomed in a way that twisted them into monsters, but Chifundo kept fussing over my mane and trying to soothe me by softly applying a hoof to my neck and shoulders. It was like he could sense when the hallucinations might start to get bad. Every time I thought I saw something in the shadows Chifundo brushed against my mane to cover my eyes for a second then moved it away.

“Or maybe it’s just written on your face like an open book.” The pink pony in my head was bouncing across my compass as she registered this with me. Regardless of that, the real question was whether or not these two stallions actually cared about me. Despite our bleak surroundings and the fact the world had ended, that was — out of all things — I felt like I had some genuine friends.

I got up onto the earth mover with help. They nudged just right and moved me in a way that forced my hooves to keep climbing up the ramp and onto the side of the massive machine. At least until I was on the engine deck, out of range from their hooves and noses. I pushed Buddy to let him know I could take it from here. I had to use all my might to get his attention for him to move aside. I put my hooves to the wires and guided the battery onto its casing properly. And when I say ‘guided’, what I really mean was that Buddy’s paws were guided by my hooves while he actually held the battery. Once this was done, my wrench went to work securing the circuitry holding the block in place.

By the way, why did my tail keep passing me stuff from my backpack that I wasn’t even sure I had. Where did I even get them in the first place? And I wish I had proper PipBuck training to understand how it keeps inventory or how all the functions work.

I put on the leather hoof protectors from the glove box, hoping to get the last wire in place and connect the circuit that would start the electrical flow. This was the moment of truth. If the light above the battery turned red—or didn’t turn on at all—then all my work up until now would be for nothing, and this machine wouldn’t have a chance of moving.

There was only one way to know if it worked. Luck seemed to be on my side, as the green light for the battery came on and a soft hum started, indicating that the spark battery started to feed into the alternator of the engine. I cautiously got down into the operator’s nest fighting the edges of vertigo and closed the door before taking out the manual.

“Okay, let’s hope this works,” I thought out loud. I turned the key in the ignition. Any number of things out of my control could go wrong, or the engine could in fact be completely shot. I wouldn’t have blamed it for refusing to live again after 180 years of neglect and a megaspell apocalypse. A few whining cranks of protest growled from the engine. After I was sure it wasn’t gonna catch, the thing turned over and the spark battery made the magical generator move.

The first thing to happen was the engine going from an electrical hum to a dull firing roar. The cylinders caught and began firing their magic gems with a loud bang as they protested against the rust inside them, but their gaskets held in the energy. There were several sputters and two harsh shudders that shook the entire machine. On the third shudder, I released the key, and our luck held out as the mighty machine roared to life with the anger of a cornered beast screaming to the world, “I LIVE AGAIN!”

The entire machine vibrated and shook on it’s own. An awesome fury rumbling out to vibrate my seat that made my heart beat faster. I could feel the pride in my work swelling up in my chest, and the smile on my lips was infectious. We’re in business! It works! Thank you, Dad; I may not have a mechanic cutie mark, but your know-how certainly rubbed off on me. The machine vibrations got smoother and more rhythmic as the engine settled down, and a century of rust was worn away in a few breaths of life from a little filly with a lot of tender loving care.

It worked! After 182 years, I can safely say that Stable-Tec definitely built them to last. Wanting to figure out everything the manual described, I touched the controls and the mighty crane arm moved. I must have been in there working for a good twenty minutes, testing just about everything I could.

I pressed the accelerator forward towards the floor, just enough so that the engine started to sound louder as the revolutions increased. My tail released the parking break with a slam that made the cabin and vehicle vibrate, its rust-covered brake being forced to let go of its century-long hold. Here goes nothing, let’s see if she can move.

I eased the vehicle into first gear. The caterpillar tracks moved with a sheering squeal as ancient rust was cast aside. I had gotten barely up to five miles an hour when Buddy’s paw banged against the door to the operator’s cabin. He made a motion at his throat, signaling for me to kill it.

I opened the door. “Something wrong?” I asked, my tail killing the engine with a turn of the key. Please tell me something didn’t break or give, I don’t know if I can fix it twice. The engine slowly wound down and we rolled to a stop as my tail pressed the parking brake to the floor. As I did so, I felt my tail give off a twinge of exertion from it. Wait? Tails can feel muscle pain?

“Darlin’, we got comp’ny,” he said, shortly followed by fire from what sounded to be Alguacil’s magnum revolver. I looked up over the console and motioned Buddy to put me on top of the engine deck again. The engine was still dying when I climbed up and took out the hunting rifle. I laid down flat onto the warm vent surface; it was just hot enough to be pleasant without it being painful or burning through my barding. I looked through the scavenged rifle’s scope—never thought I’d look down a rifle sight—only to discover what Alguacil was shooting at.

A wave of mole-rats being herded by what looked to be three ghouls hungering for flesh charged closer to our position. Alguacil fired another shot; the pistol wasn’t really intended for long range, but that didn’t stop the griffin from managing to nail a ghoul right in the head. The twisted creature tumbled, its head nearly spinning one hundred and eighty degrees. My guts twisted at the taking of life. At the back of my mind, I understood that they were going to hurt my friends if I didn’t, but that wasn’t comforting at all. Us or them, I hate this new world.

I tried to steady my emotions with a deep exhale. I could feel the frogs of my hooves covered in sweat as they slipped to put the trigger in my mouth.

Sunrise, if you do nothing they will kill your friends. Listen, they aren’t really alive now, the mutations have made them no better than bugbears or manticores. You have to fight now, period, or would you like to live mindlessly craving pony meat like they do?

Despite now having its head on backwards, the ghoul didn’t break stride and just kept coming. What! How can it? No, that is beyond unnatural, that is pure evil! That thought steeled me and prepared my mind for what was necessary for survival. A mole-rat jumped above its shoulder, one that I noticed had tons of glowing green cracks across its leathery hide. Whatever that was emanating from it, I doubted I wanted to find out.

I took aim and slipped into S.A.T.S. Oh, how much that little PipBuck spell helped as I pointed the indicator right over the glowing rat head, queued a shot, then activated it. The rifle ate my entire S.A.T.S. spell with one shot. S.A.T.S. released and my shoulder exploded in pain with the crack of the hunting rifle. Even prone, my small body physically moved back half an inch.

The .308 round screamed through the air. The mole-rat seemed to have sensed its impending doom. Claws worked to drive it back into the dirt in the second and a half before the explosive roar of the rifle slammed a bullet into the target. The creature was about to get away when the shot found its mark, severing its glowing head completely.

The speed and devastation was so complete I could make out the creature’s spine through the scope, poking out of where the base of the neck should be, and ripped nearly clean of its flesh entirely. The head of the creature was probably still below the surface, while the rest of its body bounced and spasmed on the ground above. The decapitated head barely hanging onto the body by a strand of muscle made my empty stomach want to lurch. There was nothing there as I got light headed.

Gore and radioactive blood scattered across the ground around the burrow it made. My eye was forced shut by the rifle as it was way too high powered for me and the scope slammed into my eye. I thought it might have poked it out, but only my eye socket was damaged.

Note to self: high powered rifles are not something I should fire regularly. This was beyond painful. I heard two more shots ring out as I opened my throbbing eye slowly, and the mole-rats and ferals had gotten a lot closer.

Their charge was being answered by shotgun blasts from Corners that ripped apart a ghoul and blew its legs completely off in one volley, though the creature still crawled to get at us in a horrifying display of determination. Two more shots from Alguacil’s perch rang out and I could see small objects falling from him; his brass casings as he reloaded the revolver. Buddy gunned down the crawling ghoul with some sort of energy weapon that he had been keeping inside his duster. Wow, they really are bright! Lots of firsts today, aren’t there?

Working through the pain in my shoulder and eye, I forced myself to bring the rifle back up—this time holding it a few inches in front of the bruised eyeball. I lined the crosshair in the scope up to the earth pony ghoul as my display from the PipBuck showed S.A.T.S. had recharged.

I slipped into the magical program and swore for the briefest moment that this ghoul could have been my cousin or uncle. I could see where the ghoul had taken some shots and just absorbed what should be painful or lethal wounds.

“Sunrise, painless death is all you can do. There’s nothing else you can do for them. Their minds are gone. You wouldn’t want someone to leave you that way either. Pull the trigger and end their suffering. You know if there’s anything left in them, they would want this.”

My mind coached me through it, the pink pony speaking to make sure I understood. I heard two more shots, and through S.A.T.S. I could see in slow motion two bullets ripping through the air from Alguacil’s perch as his rounds arrived on target.

I took aim at the one that evaded Alguacil’s deadly precision. While I was aiming, Alguacil cracked off two shots quickly. In achingly slow motion, like a frame by frame film or memory orb I had no control over, S.A.T.S. let me witness rounds slamming into the ghouls. One after the other their heads mercifully exploded. The zombie state of their living nightmare ended in a hail of black ichor blood. Rotting flesh ruptured and brittle bones snapped under the sudden explosive force. What was once a pony, now a ghoul, became nothing more than a corpse right before my horrified eyes.

It had a strange, macabre beauty playing out in slow motion. Like you would watch a piece of art that is repulsive, yet your curiosity won’t let you look away… that or a train collision. There was certainly something happening here that—if not for the fact that had once been a living breathing pony—would have been something you would see in a museum as the centerpiece for an art show.

I entered my shot into S.A.T.S., aimed square on the eyeball of the other ghoul. I activated it as quickly as I could and watched as the round left my rifle, my shoulder erupted in pain once again. I had steadied myself better this time, however, and the scope didn’t slam into my eye. I knew it would eventually dislocate my shoulder if I kept firing it, though.

I watched as Buddy and Nyota charged ahead of the rest of us, throwing themselves into the mix of surfacing mole-rats. Buddy’s massive claws rent apart flesh from leathery hide in a whirlwind of destruction.

Meanwhile, Nyota sprang at the last moment and caught a leaping mole-rat right in the skull with a full body buck, sending it flying. He wasn’t done though, as Nyota spun in place and bolted at a 90 degree angle from the group of filly sized vermin. There was a shout of something in a language I didn’t understand.

I switched to my shotgun. They were too close to properly use the scope anymore. At this range the buckshot should shred them. Shots flew overhead from Chifundo’s pistol. In my haste to change weapons, Nyota had been pinned down and was getting mauled by one of the mole-rats.

My hooves trembled as I leveled my shotgun in their direction. This time around, he was doing a significantly better job of keeping them off his belly. The zebra swept his hooves hard to get up and stagger away. The vicious creature on him clung to his flank, trying to rend into his flesh again.

He kept the rest back with punches into the air, preventing an opening while making sure he didn’t end up jumped on a second time. With a hard buck, the one clawing his flank was sent flying back next to the other one. With precision I didn’t think possible, the zebra had timed it so they slammed into each other, and the second mole-rat bit his comrade in arms.

Wanting to help, I fired off a shotgun blast as fast as I could sight it in. And missed! I-I more than missed—I shot Nyota! Oh, buck me with Luna’s HORN! How could I screw it up that bad?

“Sunrise, LANGUAGE!”

Nyota used the impact to reposition himself. He glared at me with eyes that I swore would shoot lasers and kill me right then. The buckshot had mostly been stopped in his saddlebag, but I could see where it had peppered around it into his flesh. His rage was redirected at the stunned mole-rat, thankfully, as he proceeded to plant kick after kick into its leathery hide. The first jab crushed its forepaw and pinned it in place. The second one smashed two ribs that I could visibly see give. Nyota’s third strike was a headbutt that sent the creature’s neck spinning with a crack.

Nyota’s precision in his strikes was amazing, even with him snorting in rage from my accidental shot. He raised his hoof for the final blow, and the mole-rat skull sunk against the ground as it caved in. Its blood spewing out of its mouth and eyes popping from the leathery face. Nyota didn’t notice the other mole rat pouncing with lethal intent, as it drove through the the air. I could see its vicious front teeth, designed to tear meat away from prey even if they were still alive. They were poised for the back of Nyota’s head, as if ready to sever his neck bones.

Sunrise, don’t screw this up! He doesn’t have a helmet, so do not miss!. You’ll accidentally blow Nyota’s head off and you won’t forgive yourself, and no one else will either.

I heard S.A.T.S. ping, which signaled that it recharged. I activated it, and stepped back into the slowed down world. Time came to an almost stand still, save for Nyota’s berserk fury, his speed almost reasonable to my S.A.T.S. focused eyes. With practically all the time in the world, I could appreciate now just how quickly and devastating those kicks were from Nyota. In his fighting style, all I could see was the black of his stripes and not his form when they blurred together.

Once queued, S.A.T.S. was released and did its work to steady and adjust my aim. My tongue punched the trigger. The discharged buckshot shredded the mole-rat’s flesh off, virtually disintegrating it. Chunks of radiation-altered mutant flew apart, like a careless butcher working too fast. A few pellets bled through the creature and hit Nyota right at the collar of his leather barding.

They had lost their lethal velocity and he didn’t seem to register their sting. He seemed more shocked by the feeling of warm blood and gore bouncing off his mane. The zebra’s eyes were wide in disbelief as he was showered with rodent debris, all of it staining his mane and leather barding.

Nyota glared at me, and it was pretty obvious that he was upset with me. Within moments, however, his features softened once he got a look at the buckshot-hammered subterranean predator corpse that flopped to the ground at his side. With his realization came a smirk; I had just saved him another painful encounter with a mole-rat mauling. Sunrise, dammit, you’ve got to get better at this—you’ve shot him twice now! We all breathed a sigh of relief as every feral ravenous creature had fallen. This was life now, wasn’t it?

It was done, the creatures were dead and we were all still standing as I dropped the shotgun into the earth and panted, my entire body shaking from hoof to ear. I couldn’t look away from the bodies though, they were gore-covered messes scattered across the quarry. I helped cause this massacre?

Nyota wrapped his wounds in bandages with healing potion on them. The magical aid ensuring he wouldn’t scar. I moved to operate the earth mover again. Alguacil had taken one last look around, then came down to take a look at the glowing mole-rat. The mighty griffin was slashing his claw through anything that looked like an intact skull. I remembered how he had stabbed those ponnequins in the cave earlier. He was lingering over the glowing one, observing it carefully when I motioned him over to the cabin.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we sealed up the entrance to that cave?” I suggested, not wanting to kill any living ponies if I could help it. “They wouldn’t be able to get out and hurt any other ponies, and we wouldn’t have to kill them. We can just come by and check on their progress getting out right?”

There has to be a way to save them, just think. How would you save raiders and make them good ponies again? I’m hopeful that there’d be a way, but I just don’t have enough information. They had water in there, even if it did have skeletons in it... My PipBuck didn’t alert me to any radiation, and it appeared good enough to drink. They probably had food, too. I mean, this was the least violent option; there was even a hole in the ceiling, so they wouldn’t suffocate.

Alguacil seemed to think it over for a second, then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, Sunrise. At least this way we don’t have to go in there and clear them out!” he added before flying over to the entrance.

Oh good, the blood-thirsty griffin was amenable to this idea. As I worked the earth mover to cover it up, Buddy joined in. I took my time filling up the entrance, having to occasionally give the manual a glance or two to make sure I was doing it right. It really wasn’t that much different than working Dad’s tow truck. This just happened to be a lot bigger, and it moved dirt instead of sky carousels. Finally there was enough room for one pony at a time to get out of the cave and I stopped, turning off the engine so they could hear me.

“Hey! Call down to them, give them a chance to come out and give up,” Even I could hear the vain hope in my request. Buddy and Alguacil both gave me a look like I was stupid. I maneuvered the crane bucket in the way of the cavern entrance we had just emerged from and waited. I could see Buddy yelling in, followed by sound coming out of the cave. I couldn’t make it out very well over the noise of the crane engine slowly churning to a stop. Buddy looked back at me and shook his head. He called out to me, giving an order I hoped wouldn’t be necessary.

“Seal ‘er up, darlin’! They don’t wanna throw out their weapons or c’mout,” he shouted at me.

With a depressed sigh, I made the movements for the last bits of dirt and slate to put in the way. I still added another layer, making sure to cover the edges so it wouldn’t be easy to get out. Had I just doomed a bunch of ponies to starvation? No, they should be able to dig themselves out with hooves alone. You didn’t pack the dirt tight. You gave them two chances to be better ponies. We have to keep our friends safe, Waffles included now.

I motioned for everypony to get onto the earth mover and asked Alguacil where to go. He nodded in reply, then pointed a talon in a direction midway to the cloud-covered setting sun.

“That way, I saw a settlement,” he said. “We should head there to get more of an idea as to where exactly we are. I saw some ponies coming this way while you were working the entrance, but they ran off when they saw the crane moving.”

I looked to the others, checking to see if anypony had any objections. Nopony had any, and I even noticed what might have equated to a nod of encouragement from Corners inside her box. With that decided, I closed the cabin door, then slipped the mighty mover into drive. The rust was wearing off, but it would take quite a bit of tender loving care to actually fix her up proper. Steadily, the caterpillar tracks hauled us towards the quarry’s exit ramp.

To my surprise, the mighty crane got up to nearly twenty five miles per hour. Maxed out, the speedometer only went to thirty! It shocked me that it could pull this kind of speed and not be in danger of tipping over or falling into an unusable position. About an hour later, during late afternoon, we arrived. Not like there was much that would want to chase down a bucket crane going down the highway and not inhibited at all by the holes in the road. Were these supposed to go this fast, or was the transmission going bad and we’re playing fast and loose with her drive?

The wooden walls of the settlement slowly loomed in closer as the mover made its way down the fractured road. A symbol that looked like two fangs and a trio of claws rested upon the flags that were positioned at the gate and every fifty feet or so along the surrounding wall. Two guards pointed their rifles at us, then lowering them, only to point their weapons at us again. I shut off the engine, and I was kind of amused to see their expressions of purely dumbfounded disbelief. My eyes could make out more about the two earth ponies in front of us, both clad in similar red and silver armor.

The machine wound down slowly, and I waited until most of the vibrations stopped before dismounting from the operator seat. The little green filly that could — me! — walked right up to the two ponies with my chest puffed out all proud. One of them was a gray earth stallion with a black mane, covered in the half painted black metal armor bearing the symbol in red of talons and fangs on the side of his barding. He had a service rifle with a short range scope and a pair of goggles.

The second one had bright yellow eyes and was the color of mashed potatoes, complete with speckles in his coat to match. His mane, though, was a vibrant red that reminded me of the color of blood. Oh Goddesses—blood! ...Okay, Sunrise. It’s either start a conversation now or drift off to Bronco’s…

“H-hi there! I’m Wandering Sunrise, and we just got out of the raider camp back at the incomplete vault. I was wondering if somepony here would be interested in trading for this earth mover we got working?”

“How cute can you possibly look right now? Because 90% of what you just said would be unbelievable if I hadn’t seen it myself.”

Shut up pink pony! Not right now! If I start talking out loud to you, everyone will think I’m insane. W… what if I am?

The gray earth pony dropped his jaw in shock. The other one took a step back and looked at Buddy, who walked up beside me, while Alguacil landed next to me and tipped his sombrero to them.

“I... wait... what?” said the first guard, his voice sounding like it had broken into soprano for a moment. He forced himself to regain his discipline, however, enough to grab a walkie talkie taped against his shoulder with a hoof and talked into it. “Boss, we got something here way above my paygrade. Like, Celestia’s golden white ass, above my paygrade.”

I flushed at the colorful language and could feel the burn in my cheeks all the way down to my neck. The guards stood there, not talking. If we made any further effort to speak, they’d hold up a hoof to tell us to stop. It was almost five minutes of awkward silence and shushing before another a pony walked through the gates.

This one was a mare that had a dull gold coat and sparkling silver mane. I also noticed she had pegasus wings, with one of them looking heavily scarred. She wore similar armor to the two earth pony guards. Hers had a set of twin golden bars on the shoulders and was completely painted. I tilted my head as she took in the rest of the creatures beside me. I caught myself staring at the multiple healing scars on her left wing. She didn’t have a spot on her left wing that didn’t look like it hadn’t been healed at least twice. Were all pegasi scarred like she is?

Hoping to avoid coming off as rude, I cleared my throat before addressing her. “Hi there! I’m Wandering Sunrise. We just got out of a raider camp, and well... I was wondering if any of you would be interested in this here earth mover. Also, do you happen to have a doctor? That pony in a box there is injured and needs her leg looked at.” My smile was less nervous now and pleading that she was a nice pony. I mean, anything was better than the last five minutes of awkward silence.

“You put a pony in a box!?” the pegasus mare exclaimed, drawing a .44 magnum pistol as the guards raised their weapons.

“No, no, everypony, hold your horses—”

“Wow, could you have said a worse pun, considering you’re now looking down the barrel of a gun?”

Sunrise you got this; roll with it.

“Isn’t it strange how your larger, more experienced friends are willing to let the small green filly do the talking?”

NOT NOW, pink pony in my head!

Acting before the others would respond too hastily, I pulled off my helmet, set it on the ground, and raised my PipBuck leg above my head in a show of surrender. “U-um… she’s in the box because… well, she wants to be. We didn’t put her there,” I explained as Corners got off the digging crane and walked up to us. She of course did this while staying in her box, creeping up to us. While I couldn’t see it, I could hear the limp against one side of the box as she moved with the improvised bracing Nyota had used on her leg.

“We just want a place to sell our salvage, get our friend’s leg set, and see if anyone is interested in the crane I managed to get working,” I explained to the two guards’ captain. My raised hooves shaking, I shut my eyes and awaited the worst. Thankfully, however, I managed to convince them of our peaceful intentions, as they they lowered their weapons. What have you gotten yourself into, Sunrise?

Level Up Progress - Level 3 Achieved!

New Perk - Mad Bombermare - You have learned how to make explosives and unlocked the crafting list for making more boom. I hope your cutie mark is for this kind of thing.

New Trait Discovered - Stable Dweller from Before - You’re a stable dweller from before the War ended. You have a PipBuck as well as a few other pre-war items that are incredibly useful and you have training in how they work.

Chapter 5: Old World Money for Old World Machines

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"Every person has a price. It's just a matter of enduring them to get to the price." -Richard Nixon

The mare looked at me, then at Alguacil, then to Buddy. Each one of us got a good, long, hard stare from the mare. It was unnerving. She had a way with those soft ruby eyes; there was a hardness—a jaded aspect—to her stare. I really hope this isn't her ‘should I still shoot them or not’ stare. Please, we haven't done anything bad, right? Okay, maybe it is strange. Wait, has no one rebuilt yet? Is that why—

“Alright, come on in. Just the filly and the regulator.” The pegasus paused and pointed her wing at us as she spoke. “Assuming you really are what your duster says you are. Everyone else stay put,” she declared like it was a military order. I started to move when Alguacil's talon stretched out to stop me.

“No, we can talk here, in front of us all.” Alguacil’s sentiment echoed with mistrust thick enough I swore that scissors could cut the tension.

The two guards started raising their rifles to point at us, and just as they got to the point they would aim down the sights, the mare shrugged. “Fine, we can talk here. You wanna explain this to me? From the top?”

“Only if you wanna give us your name first, because we gave you all of ours,” Alguacil shot back.

"My mercs call me Queen Bitch... or Queenie. They KNOW how it vexes me." The grizzled Pegasus sighed and then gave a broad, powerful smile, "My name is Sparrow. And yes, I do live up to that name," as she spoke the pegasus fluttered her wings just enough that she hovered off the ground for a moment, kicking up dust all around us. Then Sparrow settled back down as another flap of her wings threw more soot into the air to intimidate us. “Now, your story would be nice.”

Alguacil started us off, talking about waking up in the pool and giving the location of the raiders. I let out an indignant squeal as he mentioned the pistol exploding. Buddy chimed in about the molerats and raiders, even up to the part where Bronco had committed suicide by magnum. Is that what we were calling it now? Why did it still not feel okay to have executed him? An execution... that is what Alguacil had done. Nyota spoke up about treating Corner's injury and talked about watching me fix up the earth mover.

Finally, as Nyota finished talking about our encounters with Freida Waffles, they all turned to me as if expecting me to reveal some grand tale or provide an ending that brought all their stories together.

I just told them that the instruction book was in the glove box, and from there it was just a matter of mechanical know-how from my dad's garage before the Stables sealed. At this we were made to pause as the mare held up her wing to stop us.

“What do you mean ‘during the war’? You certainly don't look ghoulish to me.” Sparrow stated quite bluntly. She leaned forward and took another examination of me, her eyes rolling over me from snout to tail. Like she was looking for some sort of tell-tale sign of a disease or modifications.

I hesitated and then pulled on my Stable barding collar to show its number, 43. “I was in and out of stasis. Miss Cheerful Chorus had us learn a lot about Equestria with stories when we were out of stasis. It was kind of like school, except I think Stablet-Tec made that her job for us.” I explained as the mare gave us a judgmental frown.

“Stable 43? No one has found that one, at least that I know of. Where was it?” she asked, leaning a bit closer and taking a step towards us. The step looked like a combination of curiosity and re-balancing to spring into action at the same moment.

“North in the mountains above Stalliongrad,” I gave a blithe certainty. I knew where I was from at the very least.

All three of the mercenary sets of eyes went wide, bulging from their sockets a bit at the declaration. They took a few moments to exchange glances with each other and then back to me. Why am I getting all the attention? I'm just a filly who did what her daddy taught her.
“A pre-war filly from a Stable nearly eight hundred miles away, across the northern wastes or over the ocean, wearing Stable-Tec barding no one has seen before, who can fix up a piece of earth moving equipment pre-war?” The pegasus turned to the guard that had called her on the radio and snickered. “Ya know what, Glint Scope, I owe you twenty five caps. You found something above all our pay grades.” Sparrow smacked her lips indignantly and then turned back to the rest of us.

“You found a pre-war little mare, who isn’t a ghoul, and can apparently fix pre-war machines to boot. I don’t know what else to say other than, let them on in.” Sparrow turned to walk away. We all stared at them dumbfounded while they opened up the gates as wide as they would go so we could fit our earth mover inside. There was a long pause as Sparrow stopped at the threshold to go into the town.

“Call Hornsaw, tell him he's got a new patient and to take care of: the filly in the box.” Sparrow turned back around to look at me and her gaze bored into my chest like a dragon ready to strike if I moved wrong. “Sunrise, was it? Pull that piece of equipment inside and park it somewhere. Don't do anything funny with it, we'll have rifles trained you on when it’s moving,” Sparrow stated to us and then gave a salute across her chest with her right wing to the other two guards. “You won't want to end up like them,” she declared, walking away from us and pointing the other wing to the raiders on the wall.

I hadn't noticed it before, but now I saw it clear as day; ponies in barding like what Spring Bronco, improvised different pieces of leather. They were dead and nailed to the wall with spikes, just to make a point! The one that truly got to me, that forced me to look away, was the filly among those bodies. She didn’t even have a cutie mark yet; but there was the corpse of a little filly, so much smaller than me, mounted like a trophy and a warning.

Sparrow is really just that ruthless, note to self don’t cross her if we can ever help it. I felt my stomach lurch as the sickness of looking at those recently deceased forms set in. I am never going to want to eat now, am I? I keep seeing these things as soon as my stomach might think to remind me that food would be nice. I had to focus on moving through the gate with the earth mover. I was the only one trained to drive it. She started back up no issue with just two cranks on the starters then slid forward. I took the directions from the guards who motioned me through the gates. As the control cabin cleared the walls, I saw the town sign, “Welcome to Silver Fang Shanty.”

Nyota took Corners, over to a deep burgundy-coated unicorn, who welcomed the two of them into his operating room. Once I had the digger parked, my tail grabbed the keys, and then Chifundo and Buddy escorted me into the merchant's square as quickly as my legs would move.

Alguacil had disappeared; he’d muttered something about the local regulator office. Meanwhile, Chifundo separated from us to negotiate away the various bits of salvage or looted gear we had gotten off the molerats, raiders, as well as odds and ends we had stumbled into. How and when they had the time to collect so much, I have no idea, but between the two of them we had at least 100 pounds of gear, hides, and meat. EWWW, MEAT! Ponies shouldn't eat that!

Meanwhile, I asked around about anyone who could use the earth mover. Sparrow said we would find someone here, and sure enough, there was a very well dressed traveling merchant whom had been spending a significant amount of caps. CAPS! Really? That was what we used for money now? Were bits so hard to make? Authenticate? I mean didn't we literally have millions of them everywhere? But no, sparkle cola caps—or caps for anything, it seemed, so long as it went on a bottle. I could literally think of a hundred things better to use than caps.

The town looked like something out of a Daring Do movie crossed with a science-fiction novel, where savage looks mixed with high technological bits. There were neon signs powered by horse sized hamster wheels, mixed with metal grabbed from chariots to make houses. Where ponies in primitive clothing, far from the standard stitches and factory outfits I was used to, negotiated for goods and services. It was like one massive fair trade day, except it was the normal everyday routine. No one seemed to think it was weird, though, as they moved from stall to stall, and from shouting merchant to shouting merchant. Prices were haggled, deals were hammered out. There was that even an auction over a jar of Zap Apple Jam! I walked through the market in amazement, hardly aware of Chifundo just powering ahead, eager to sell off all the stuff we have gotten in the half-finished Stable. But I paused as a thought struck me: Had we been looting?

As Chifundo approached and called out to a zebra wearing a fine checked suit, we got a surprise. His cloak and barding had obscured his skin from us until he turned and we could see the rotting flesh of a ghoul. He drew up like a proper Canterlot socialite or noble and his cloak mixed with the clean checkered suit framed his form like they were tailor-made. He may have the flourish of a gentle-stallion but with the mixture of ghoul flesh it was just a gross illusion. This one repulsed and caused my stomach to resume its backflips as I realized how twisted the world had become.The shriveled up flesh didn't match the zebra stripes on him at all. He, unlike Waffles, still somehow had much of his coat, at least the parts of him that were not covered in clothing. From the way he moved and his body flexed, I suspected his barding concealed a lot, and had been padded in places in order to hide where he lacked flesh, muscle, and fat. The smile from him was off-putting. There was a mixture of genuinely being welcome He looked at Chifundo and stomped up to him with a swagger practiced that looked straight out of canterlot from before the stable to me, “Well hello there, what a cutie!”

He joined Chifundo and moved spoke just outside of earshot. Buddy and I looked on, until a pink-striped hoof pointed in my direction. I approached and blushed a bit as the wealthy ghoul zebra and Chifundo watched me intently. Chifundo gestured for me to hurry up, and I broke into a light trot forward."Sunrise is the one who made the machine purr, the credit all must go to her." There was a hint of a prideful tone towards me, which only served to make the white blush flare to burn harder against my cheeks. I saw a reflection in the metal shop stand near me, to see my cheeks had blushed white.

“Hi... I... I'm Wandering Sunrise, I am the one who fixed up the earth mover.” I felt so self conscious under the gaze of this zebra.

Buddy nudged me towards him with a paw pressed onto my flank, “Go on littl’ darl’ng, yall should talk to da zebra ‘ere. I’ll go git us some supplies.”

I sure that Chifundo acting like a parent wasn't helping. The way the noble ghoul looked at me made me feel like I was being sized up for more than just a mechanic. He was looking at me, not in the sense of looking at me with his eyes so much as with desire. It was so strange to realize I was being checked out by a stallion and a stranger; I felt vulnerable and it made my skin crawl coming from something that resembled a wasteland monster. I felt like I had to keep my guard up and be prepared to strike him at any moment.

“Well the cuteness continues to adorn me today!” the stallion zebra replied. “I'm the Curator, or Mr. Curator. And you are just adorable!”

Okay, something about this Zebra creeps me right out! But, if he will take that earth mover off us, good. It means we won't attract attention from everything, especially the creatures that have tried to kill us.

“But you will attract attention of a different sort!”

“That big, rusted, but rather cheerily painted yellow machine is what you are talking about, right?” He took a pause and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I haven't seen a Sand Dog 3500 moving in nearly two hundred years, I think. That is one very magnificent masterpiece of Spell Matrix Engineering that I sincerely miss hearing rumbling near a building foundation in progress. The Society would be most interested in such a vehicle, and it would be lovely in my collection. Especially when I tell them such a beautiful looking mare-in-waiting had been the one to fix it up.”

Adorable and cute I could handle, I was used to those, but the other flattering words were something different. I felt a sheepish blush at being called beautiful or a mare-in-waiting. He wasn't doing this in the way you would expect an adult stallion to do to a filly, no, this was flirting. WAIT! I'm being flirted with? By a Ghoul? A rich Ghoul that is probably way older than me, not counting years in stasis. Chifundo, I swear, this had better be worth it. I gave Chifundo a harsh look, the harshest look I could give when I had turned nearly sunburst white in my blushing cheeks.

“Now, do you think you can show me how to operate it? And can I get a test drive in exchange for, say, fifty caps?” He leered intently at me with lecherously flirty eyes. I had no idea, so I looked to Chifundo and motioned my hoof to defer to him. Anything to get Curator's attention off my form.

Chifundo looked at me, “You had best show him the ropes, otherwise, without help, he’ll have no hope.” Chifundo replied. I nodded like a shy breezy and then hoped the subject could be changed to something besides me.

“Well then, filly! Come on, let's talk about that SD 3500. How does she handle? What all work did you have to do to her?” He turned all business as I escorted him over to the SD 3500. Chifundo never strayed more than a few feet away from me.The following barrage of questions caught me way off guard. “How are the road wheels on her doing?”

“I mean, they’re rusted, but I managed to get them to move, and the tracks are lined up still,” I replied with a nervous smile.

“And her body? Dents, or firm and pristine like yours?” The ghoul wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. I felt a burning in my cheeks again and saw the reflection that looked like my original white completion in the rear view mirror. Deal with it later, just get through this.

“I... um... well... I mean as good as you could expect for 180 years.” It wasn't just the questions but how he was asking.

“And how does she handle? Like an old gentle stallion or like the bouncy little spring filly you are?” his flank brushed against my side, right where the barding ended, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was so thankful when we got to the ramp up to the operator's cabin.

I started doing some basic movements, showing him that all the gears worked in the transmission, as well as that the bucket worked by scooping up a patch of dirt, then unloading it and flattening the road back out. A mare came out of a nearby shop, shouting about me tearing up part of the 'road', and my only thought was to lean out of the cabin and shout, “I'm sorry!” to her. Oh dear Goddesses Sunrise! You are showing Curator right up your rear. My tail shot down and covered my flanks as much as it could, which enticed a half-hearted sigh of disappointment from Curator.

The way this Zebra keeps looking at me, I think I would rather have the guards training rifles in my direction as opposed to those 'Come here, let me ‘show’ you a stallion’s fun'. It's almost over; he'll make an offer, and hopefully you will be rid of this creep! Just bare with it Sunrise.

Finally—THANKFULLY!—we dismounted and trotted just clear of the SD 3500. This reminded me of something my mother had said as I stared off into space.

ooOOoo

T-Minus 13 Months 6 Days Till Megaspell Day

“Sunrise, hun. We should talk,” called out Shadow Window. I sighed, as I knew every time I heard those words, in that tone, something was about to dropped onto my head that would haunt my dreams for the next two weeks. I trotted up the stairs, out of the utility room where I had been reading my dad's Gear and Bolts, the latest issue. I didn't care that I was covered in grime, grease, and a bit of paint.

“SUNRISE! Wandering Sunrise!” My mother burst into a fit as she rushed over with a rag and started to try to get some of the mess off my cheek and neck. She tossed the rag at my face with a disappointed snort. “I swear, you are never going to get a stallion to like you if you keep ending up covered in your father's work.”
I grabbed the rag in a hoof and rubbed it over my face; at least it was warm, wet, and a bit soapy. Great, a dish rag literally right out of the sink. “Maybe I don't want a stallion,” I replied, muffled through the cloth.

“What was that, young lady!? Do you really think there is a mare that would you take you, either?” My mother scoffed lightly, and then regretted it almost immediately. With a soft exhale she started up again. “Which is what I wanted to talk to you about.” Now she had gone from scolding to quite the serious tone. “Sunrise, dear, we need to talk about Hearts and Hooves.”

I kept the rag on my face to hide my ruby red blush. How I had ended up with my coat color and mane was beyond me. My tail was the same as dad's, orange with white stripes. My mane we could explain away as a mixture of mom's amber one and dad's orange forming a red. But dad was a very brilliant gold and mom was black as the night. My coat ended up pearl white. Which meant bath time was always extra long! You ever try to get black grease out of white horse hair?

“Mom, do we have to go over this again? I haven't had any of the colts flirting with me yet. My distinct lack of a cutie mark sees to that,” I said as I felt the burning of the blush fading away and lowered the rag slowly. I could hear the ringing cries of 'Blank Flank!' echoing through my mind. I said a prayer to the Goddesses for anything to bail me out.

The front door slammed and I could hear the hoofbeats of my father; they were heavy and he was shouting, “I swear! She has got to be kidding! They have worked for me for years! I refuse—” Oh, thank you so much, Celestia, or Luna; whichever one of you.

“Rainbowrise, hun, calm down. What is going on?” Window asked as our conversation abruptly ended and she trotted over to him. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and looked rather concerned as her midnight black seemed to weave into his golden beige. The two looked like opposites that were meant to be together. And here I was, their only daughter, a grease-stained, too-old-to-be-a-blank-flank filly.

“The Ministry of Wartime Technology is what is going on! Who does that mare think she is? She wants me to fire Perileth and Netherbloom. Also, Zancha; I just hired him!” he stomped his hoof hard enough that the floor shook with his frustration, he left one slightly cracked tile where he’d struck. “I've worked with Perileth since he came to Equestria, before the war. But, if I am to be a part of this special project, they all have to go.

“How do they get off thinking that every zebra is a spy? And just who does Applejack think she is? I don't care if you're a ministry mare, you aren't going to make friends if you keep giving them nowhere else to turn to!” As my father spoke, his voice got harsher, louder, and angrier with every single word, until it came to a crescendo that shook that windows. He stomped his hoof harder and shattered a tile in the kitchen. A piece of the ceramic clattered off a window and into the sink with a distinct ring.

I hung my head and let out a whimper. Please don't fight, not right now. I had stuck up for the two Zebras earlier, and even felt it was right to do so, I didn't want to see them suffer. Who had come into dad's work and made him so upset? Maybe I could talk some sense into them, blank flank and all! “Dad! COOL IT!” I shouted, more of a whine than a shout, but still it got the point across.

My two parents looked at me, shocked and wide-eyed. I'd never yelled at them. I don't think they had ever even heard me yell. I looked up to see my mom's violet eyes and the harsher rose colored eyes of my father staring right at me, both of their jaws slacked to the floor. “Who told you that you had to get rid of them?”I demanded at my parents, standing up high as my legs would allow me.

“That Ministry Mare, Applejack. Said that I had to, since they want to use my shop to help with some secret project called Dead Tree,” he replied with a bitter note. I looked at him and tilted my head quite a bit, till you would think a crick should form in my neck.

“Dead Tree? What would someone want with a Dead Tree?” I asked quite bluntly. Suddenly, I felt like a pair of eyes were staring right at me.

“I can't tell you, sweetie. I have to keep that part a secret.” He looked away from me, like he was ashamed to face his daughter. “Yeah, I suppose... without a choice, I'm going to have to fire those three tomorrow. Hopefully I can give them some extra pay or something to make sure they will be okay till they get new jobs. The Ministry of Wartime Technology has promised to give me compensation and to get new employees in less than a week,” he replied with a resigned sigh and hanging of his head. I could see the shame in his eyes and on his facial features, hidden behind his frown.

“I'm sorry to ruin your night, you two. I'll let you carry on with your conversation. I need to go write up the statements for the ministry to look over and make sure they can see all my financial statements for the last six years for tomorrow,” my dad said as he started to leave the kitchen.

“Hun! Stay, we need to give her the talk!” Shadow Window called to him as he slowly made his way out.

He only turned his head and shook it, “When she gets her cutie mark, is what I told you to wait for. We'll have to give her the Hearts and Hooves talk later. If I don't make arrangements, I may not have a business tomorrow unless I work with the ministry.” His avoidance of my budding maturity was a bit scary, but he was right; I didn't even have my cutie mark yet. Mares and Stallions alike were beyond me when it came to flirting. It was nice that I had friends now at school, even if I still got picked on about my missing cutie mark. I was the oldest filly to not have my special talent yet. Why was that?

“Fine, Rainbowrise, but before the end of July we are going to talk to her about Hearts and Hooves!” my mother declared, and followed my dad out of the kitchen. From the sounds of it, I was on my own for the rest of the night, dinner included. At least I got away with all the daisy sandwiches I wanted, right?

I heard another voice join my parents, someone I didn't hear come in the front door, as I started upstairs to eat. “You did well, Rainbowrise, and you won't regret this. You can even rehire them after the war.”

ooOOoo

Mr. Curator was lost in thought as my head came back out of the clouds. I had showed him all the controls, but my mind was on autopilot, stuck in my own memories as I tried to avoid his gaze and how he looked at me. Finally I dismounted, and he started talking to Chifundo again. Even with Chifundo, the Curator was quite touchy-feely, and then I heard words that filled me with pride.

“Well, she runs smooth. It drove all the way here from the quarry. The spark-battery is good. And that little filly sure knew her way around it. Not to mention I'd be the only one in the Society to have a fully working Sand Dog 3500. How does 6000 caps strike you?” He said. Buddy was approaching us and stopped dead in his tracks, his heavy paws dropping into the ground with two thuds. I turned my attention behind me to him and Chifundo standing beside each other with mirrored jaw drops. Judging by the expressions on Chifundo and Buddy's faces—must be a huge amount.

“Is that a lot?” I asked them curiously, as I shifted to looking at my two friends then the Curator and then back.

Buddy looked down with a snaggle-tooth grin. “Darling, th're just 'bout nothing we can't buy with that many caps. At least we could get better equipment and everythang.”

I felt my tail poking at my cheek again, and looked to see it held the keys and the instruction manual for the machine. I took them into my mouth and walked up with both the heavy, two hundred page book, as well as the keys.

“Wait! You have the instruction manual, too?” Mr. Curator said, and I thought for a moment his ghoulified stripes might actually fall off him.

I put down the keys and book at his hooves and looked back up at him. “Yeah, I read the whole thing to make sure I knew how to operate it, and then when I wasn't sure on something, I'd open it for reference on the way here,” my sheepish expression could not be hidden, and I felt the burn of blushing return. You just learned how to operate a bucket crane in only a few hours. You realize that couldn't all be from dad's wrecker, right? “It survived, sealed away in the glove box.”

“By the stars themselves. They seem to have made this day a quite glorious one! Chifundo, I will offer you another 600 caps since you've got the book. I'm sure the Society, Collegiate, or Eggheads will appreciate exactly what I have here, and will want to study it.” Mr. Curator declared with gusto, and thrust two bags of caps out of his saddlebags into Chifundo's hooves before he could say anything else.

I felt a sense of pride come over me, knowing that somehow all this had been by my hoof, when I felt a poke of Mr. Curator's hoof against my shoulder. I looked up and didn't care if he was a ghoul who kept flirting with me; the little filly inside would not be contained as I leaped up and wrapped my hooves around his neck.

“Oh! Here I thought you might not like me,” Mr. Curator replied as I Squishily! hugged his neck. Chifundo joined in the hug as well after a moment, much to the Curator's delight. Extra Squishy!

Oh dear, I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's like hugging a stuffed animal made of flesh and filled with jello, instead of feathers or cotton.

“Nyota! So good of you to join us. Are these your friends?” Mr. Curator cheerily shouted out as he extended a hoof. I didn't look back, seeing as I was still somewhere between realizing that ghouls smelled bad and Chifundo needed a bath. “Come on now, you know you wanna join in,” the zebra noble encouraged him as I let go of his neck and got back down onto all four hooves.

Note to self, never hug a ghoul unless you really mean it. At least that is what my stomach was now saying.

“Hello, Curator. Hooves to yourself and where I can see them,” Nyota responded with a look of disdain. He sounded completely hostile to Curator and it was the strongest emotion he had expressed yet, pure anger.

“Oh, why do you have to be like that? Surely you and your friends—wait a moment. Have you made friends? Are these your friends, Nyota?” His tone grew lighter and more friendly, with a sense of surprise that bordered on fanaticism for something wonderful about to happen. The raspy baritone voice seemed like something that would come out of a cartoon.

“Traveling companions. I have traveling companions; five of them.” Nyota said and then looked at me as I lowered my head, realizing I might not ever hear him call any of us friend. “Four of them, and one friend, I suppose.”

Wait, did people have to shoot you for you to call them friends? Did the 'I'm a little foal all short and sad face' actually win you over? Am I even allowed to say I have that face anymore?

My thoughts were interrupted by Nyota’s next declaration, “I would appreciate it if they were unmolested, as well.”

“You wound me, good sir! I may have quite the hedonistic streak, but I have never done anything anyone did not willingly say yes to! Besides,” Mr. Curator gave a sly smile, “I just bought your Sand Dog 3500. Do show some respect; I might go back on my transaction.” The amount of indignation in his voice told me that there was something there, even worse than the night the Ministry of Wartime Technology showed up at Dad's work.

“Oh, my apologies are given. Now, if your business is done, I'd like my friends and I to go take care of Corners' bill.” Nyota appeared to be quite forceful about what he had to say at this point. He yanked us all away from Mr. Curator and gave a snort to dismiss him. Curator took a dejected look and raised his nose in response, walking towards his new trophy. The ghoul noble mounted up into the operator's nest and started the SD 3500, pulling away from us with a slow rolling of the heavy treads as he left town.

Alguacil landed next to us as the machine rolled to the gates. “Come with me, we have to report to the regulator's office for a bit.”

When we arrived it was more a tent reinforced with metal plating less as structure and more as armor. There was just a sign above the entry flap that wasn’t even straight, ‘Regulators’ and a five pointed star crudely drawn next to it.

Inside was full sized unicorn mare in an old police uniform for ponyville. She wore a wide brim hat like Buddy’s but unlike his, her’s had armor plating on it. She got up from her seat behind a long bar with wanted posters dotting a makeshift wooden board behind her. “So I hear tell yall killed a sentry bot? Alright I just need statements from everypony here to, wait, this little mare did it?”

I stepped up and nodded, “Yes, I did. I threw a full brick of dynamite at it and then my friends here put enough fire into the broken plating that it self-destructed.” I’m still unsure if it was the way I stated it or the fact it came from my high pitched voice but the mare shrugged and held up a hoof.

“Okay ya know what? If that little filly says it happened, I don’t care. I’ll get your caps so long as the dangerous lot of you agree to cause no trouble. That sound fair?” She stated and walked behind the wooden board into a flap that was located separating off the two segments of the tent. Alguacil crossed his talons like they were quite satisfied with that answer. The rest of us left, heading out back to the market bazaar.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. Our hard earned caps were spent re-equipping all of us with armor, weapons, supplies and other necessities for the road. All of our things got repairs, my duster got armored up with metal plating, and I got some sparkle cola. Alguacil found that none of the weapons would fit me properly so we just had to use what I already had. I found myself outside of the gunsmith, two hours later, waiting for him to finish working on a customized weapon. Considering I was now holding 12G rounds instead of 20G, the size of them scared me a bit.

I stayed at the gunsmith while my shotgun was being worked on, and was left alone with my thoughts. My first day out of the stable I could remember, and according to my PipBuck, I could remember my eighth, as well. Which means I was missing a week of my life. A week? I was missing 181 years. All that time in stasis, what had I been doing? Who had been taking care of us while we slept? Had the scientists traded knowledge for generations from one to the next, all trained by Stable-Tec to continue their work while we were sleeping? Had I really slept that long, in a seemingly endless dream?

Could that be where that memory about my shotgun came from? What had Stable-Tec done to me? I mean, there are obvious changes; my coat was pearl white when I went into the stable. What had they done to my parents? They separated us when we went in, those scientists put me with the rest of the blank flanks. I checked my flank where the exploding power armored pony was emblazoned on me, permanently. Where and when had I gotten my cutie mark? Why was it so violent?

Had I become a violent pony and didn't know it? I held onto that thought for a while, clinging to it as I mulled over all my actions since I woke up. Everything added up to one answer right now: No. Yes, I shot my friend by accident. But something is deeply wrong in Equestria. I knew these weren't memories, nor was I in stasis anymore. The thoughts of my escape rushed back and I felt like I was fighting for control to not drift off into a memory orb. I wanted to go back to that stable escape, but it felt like putting on a recollector and losing touch with reality altogether. I stomped my hoof on my tail to inflict just enough pain to keep me here in the present.

No, this is very real. There were so many pieces of the puzzle missing, and some of them looked like they were buried on my PipBuck. Where do I go from here? I kept processing my thoughts as the gunsmith walked outside to where I had taken a seat on his welcome mat and brushed my shoulder with his hoof.

“Hey there, little filly. Here ya go, should work just fine now, if you can handle the extra kick.” The old, gray-maned stallion passed a heavy version of my shotgun into my hooves. I looked it over: the barrel was bigger, and the hammer was sturdier. He also had added some extra padding to the stock.

A voice that wasn’t my own came into my head, “Oh yay! The Angel with a Shotgun has returned, good! Can’t wait to see where this leads.” There was a short pause as I searched frantically for the source of the voice. “At least where it leads, THIS TIME!” It was playful, like a child wanting to invite you to the playground.

I looked around searching for who had said that, I thought I saw a figure, a very pink pony in my vision. But it had vanished behind a corner before I could get a good look. My eyes wandered around now, looking from shanty building to building. Everything here looked like it had been constructed out of scrap, random bits of wood, or what used to be vehicles and houses before the war.

I got up and started to draw, adding something to the side of the gunsmith's shop. A rainbow sunrise in chalk. Then I took a moment and drew just what I had heard the pink figure call me; a pony with a halo and wings, dressed in white robes, holding a shotgun in its hooves.

Once I was done, I took some gunpowder from the ammo bench nearby and a bit of glue to put on it, sealing the chalk against the weather. The gunpowder acted to accelerate the glue and seal it before any dust or dirt could get in. The pristine picture shined and declared, “I was here” to the world. I don't know why I did it, or why I decided that was what I would leave behind, but I had a whole lot more questions than answers, and a group of friends waiting for me at the inn.

Fan Artwork for the Chapter - Box Pone in her Natural Habitat

Level Progression to 98%
New Trait Discovered: Random - Your life is random. Events happen with little explanation and with little predictability. Roll with the punches or die under the wave; your choice.

Chapter 6: Breadcrumb Trail

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"You have left a trail of breadcrumb clues which will lead you to the place where your purpose and passion have already met and are simply waiting for you to find them. -Jacob Nordby

Any questions would have to wait. I ended up with Buddy dropping me off after getting weapons fixed, armor worked on, ammo, and traveling supplies. Now I was sitting on the floor in a ramshackle excuse for a hotel. I suppose ramshackle by the standards of what was before the megaspells. The interior certainly matched the exterior much to my dismay. The room looked like it was cobbled together from heaps of scrap. Even the bed was assembled from 4 different colored metals with a repeatedly repaired mattress on it.

The mattress needed to be hosed down with bleach and a pressure washer. Then dipped into industrial strength turpentine for good measure. In the end weariness in body took over and I doubted there was anything better here, I reluctantly slid up onto the bed and wished for sheets. The sound of the springs made me wince though, I winced in pain and then got off the bed to get under it instead.

Silver Fang Shanty wasn't so much a village as it was a large colleciton of salvage cobbled together into a town. There were over forty buildings, most of them individual homes. Several shops marked with signs made of neon lights, wooden backdrops, and shaped metal rods; this was their bazaar. I was frankly surprised that so much could be constructed from, well, junk. It was late afternoon and the sun had started to set below the clouds before any of my new friends began to trickle into Hearthfire's Fireplace, the flophouse I now found myself inside of.

Before he dropped me off, Buddy was showing me exactly the things I would want to buy with our newfound caps. Weapon wise was mostly upgrades since only my shotgun and a modification to pistols were small enough for me to wield effectively. My stable barding, light leather duster, and the security helmet to a blacksmith for modifications to become better armor. Buddy had helped with the shopping and just kept repeating to me, “I gott' make 'ure you're prepared, darling.” or his other phrase, “Wanna make sure you have 'nough protection for a sweet filly.”

To say the least it was odd and I was surprised how thorough he was. Before he dropped me off at the flophouse, I felt like I'd been through a montage from Wandering Sunrise, sweet little filly to Wandering Sunrise, bringer of death! Shotgun turned in to be rechambered for 12 gauge, check. 10mm pistol we had scavenged replaced with Alguacil's reliable police revolver. We had turned it in to be modified for somepony my size as well as some more cushy leather applied to the handle so I could take the recoil.

The .357 felt a lot heavier than the salvaged 10mm, I wondered how much more it would kick when I fired it. The duster I had salvaged had been given to a tailor for almost three hours to have reinforced steel plating woven into key places. Also they put hard leather plates on the shoulders and collar so that it came all the way up to my chin. My Stable-Tec barding received similar treatment and felt like the armored coat of Mad Mare Maxi than a simple jumpsuit. I gave a small smile having found a good friend in Buddy if he was paying so much attention to detail for my sake. My own reflection in the helmet I could still recognize as I rubbed my hoof over the black back of it.

A Sunrise had been painted on the left where the ear holder was. It had been made with oil based pre-war paint and still had the smell of a freshly applied coat of colors. A beautiful bright yellow sun surrounded by orange and red hues, a sight that would be hard to miss. On the other side, there was an angel. It looked like Celestia with a halo and all white hair, holding a black shotgun just like the one holstered against my saddle bags. I had no idea where I had gotten the idea. Do I have a guardian angel? If I do, the image of Celestia flying overhead with a shotgun protecting me is quite poetic and silly. Had the Goddesses ever fired a weapon? Why would they, they were alicorns, not like they needed a gun.

I tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable spot on the floor to no avil. Grumbling about the lack of comfort, I brought up my PipBuck. I hoped for some work to do if I couldn't sleep yet. There was still that list of encrypted files inside waiting for me. All of them were from last week and my friends had confirmed it had been 181 years. These dates were right. Deal with it Sunrise, calm yourself and deal with it. You only get going because you keep going forward. Mom, what I wouldn't give for you to be here. I kept tinkering with the encryption until the words were green blurs instead of letters.

Then my eyes stared at the password options I hadn't tried. I flopped back onto the mattress and regretted it immediately as an old rusty spring slammed into my naked flank right into the cutie mark. Oh for Celestia's sake give me a break! I rubbed at my bruised flank and groaned. "I hate beds so much." I resumed my scrolling through the various combinations of letters and numbers. One literally said '12345'. There is no conceivable way that someone would use that as a password. This was like something an idiot would use on his luggage! I shrugged, I had three more guesses before I'd have to back out of the encryption process and start over for the twelfth time. 'Access Granted'

What? Who played this cruel joke on me? What idiot would possibly make their password 12345? Or are they truly a devious genius? This is something scary. Either the pony who made these was a completely buffoon or a chessmaster. I would never use such a stupid password... wait! … who was playing with my PipBuck and how long did it take to put these files on it? None of these thoughts made me the slightest bit relieved or happy.

Suddenly the map function on the PipBuck opened up and marked several locations all around Equestria. No matter how I looked or drew lines between them, they had no rhyme or reason, just random markers, some in the middle of no where. No details about them, no names on them, no information in the file, just the coordinates.

Every one of them were improperly marked, I had to adjust them to make the PipBuck pick up the coordinates properly. Even beyond lacking any proper details, the Z axis on these markers was completely missing. They could have been anything from cloud cities of Pegasi to the deepest Sand Dog caves ever made. One of them even registered it was on the moon. Really? The moon? No Pony had ever gotten there right?

I looked up and out of the window. The clouds blocked any hope of seeing the moon in the early evening sky. A slow smile crossed my face at how silly it would be to make it to the moon. Then again how awesome it would be to set hoof on it. Imagine if it were actually made out of cheese? A deep and rumbling snoring noise broke my thoughts. With a sigh, I walked over to the snorer's cot. Buddy must have come in at some point while I was working on decryption. Apparently he was happy to have any old bed and he snored harder than a power drill.

Me? This bed was covered in stains. Blood, check. Smelling of piss, Check. A brown smear I am reasonably sure came from someone's rear, check. Stains I was too embarrassed to admit, double check! This is the world now Sunrise. It sucks right? Go to sleep, we can talk to them about the coordinates in the morning.

I wasn't going to sleep in that bed, not if the last spell power matrix battery in all of Equestria was at stake. I took to checking through my backpack and found a bedroll, sleeping bag is a better term. At least it's clean, way too clean to be from the wasteland. A big Stable-Tec symbol with the number 43 was emblazoned in the center. It was that odd Stable-Tec blue with bright yellow lines on the zipper. That night I decided to sleep under the bed out of sight of the rest of the room. I crawled into that sleeping bag and held it tight to my nose; it smelled like my mother. Why does this smell like mom? Who cares, it is something to hold onto. I curled into the inner folds as tight as I could and drifted off remembering my mom.

ooOOoo

T-Minus 12 Months, 3 Days, until Megaspell Day

“Sunrise... Sunrise! Come on dear we have work to do if you are going to attend the school gala tonight.” Mom called to me. I walked out of my room into the hallway, pushing the door with a dull thud against the wall. I hung my head ashamed to look at her. My mane looked awful, the colts at school had taken their “fun” to it.

They had brought all the tools of hair torture and clearly planned this in advance. There were two straight razor cuts on my right ear, gum wrapped into the white highlight streak, choppy safety scissor cuts where my bangs should be and six different spray paints used as hair dye all over my mane. One streak of obnoxious purple ran from my forehead to my shoulder. I heard Shadow Window gasp when she saw her filly. I looked up with eyes full of tears and shook my head without saying a word.

“Sunrise, I didn't know it was...” There was a pause and then she gave huff of determination. “Well we have to make the best of it,” the mare declared with a finality of a mother's executive decision. Her horn glowed picking up a brush, a pair of hair scissors, bottle of white dye, and a set of combs. I looked up at my mother and the warm glow off her face through my tears. Her horn was giving the illumination of hope and love that a wounded soldier would beg for on the battlefield. I wish I had inherted her horn or dad's wings. At least with magic I would have that sort of special talent right? Or with wings I could outrun my bullies. Nope had to be like both my grandma's, full on earth pony. I felt the brush and that made me relax. My shoulders let down but then recoiled in horror, the hairs from my mane falling down beside me. I started to back away in dread that my mother was joining in with the bullies from school. There wasn't much less to cut unless you completely destroyed my mane!

“Don't move Sunrise,” she put a hoof against my head to make me stay still. Shadow Window resumed working till finally there was a probably more of my mane on the floor than still on my head. The hallway between our kitchen and my room would need a cleaning to get all the pieces up. There was a burst of hair spray sending me into a coughing fit when I inhaled unprepared. Great she is just humoring me. I probably look- The mirror did not show the pony I expected. I looked wonderful.

My hair had been restyled into a tight pixie cut, not the butchering it had been moments before. I was almost 100% sure that I would be considered a carpet munching mare with that hairstyle. What? Stereotypes are a thing for a reason, Even with my mare loving thoughts, it still looked wonderful. Short thick spikes on my restructured bangs combine with the natural white highlight along with the red as a solid straight mohawk all the way down my neck to my shoulders.

“Mom, why? I don't have a date and-” I started before a firm black hoof was right on my lips.

“No dear, you don't but you know what? We can't always get what we want.” She paused and her horn floated out several sets of clothes from my closet. Several dresses and styled blouses with skirts hung in air as she moved one against my chest then the next one. Her smile still glowed and her eyes lit up like the bright spheres you looked for in the darkness of a storm. “You have to keep moving forward regardless of how bad it gets. And I'll be damned by Cerberus himself with Luna's blessing no less, if my filly is going to let some bullies make it where we can't have a good time on her special night.” She took out one particularly new dress and measured it up against my white coat.

How lucid is this dream? I know it's a dream right? Can I, nope my hoof isn't moving. Is this a memory orb? Has my mind started dreaming memory orbs? Is that how much I've been exposed to them while they kept us in stasis? Is that why I feel like looking through a host inside a recollector?

“Mom, are you sure?” I asked as the dress was presented to me. It was the most beautiful piece I'd ever seen; at least of any dress that was meant for me. Three rubies adorned it as a broach which caught my eye immediately. Scanning over the garment, a cascade of silks from the darkest midnight blue into navy along the body to sweet baby powder at the hem where my hooves would poke out. I worked my way into it and found that one ruby resting on each of my shoulders and a larger center one against the center of my breast between my two lungs.

My mother held up the mirror to her daughter and I couldn't possibly believe that was me looking back at myself. The mane appeared alien and natural at the same time. It was as though it belonged to somepony else a lot tougher and more cocky than the filly, Sunrise; but the colors were most certainly mine. The dress I knew was mine; I'd worn it that night, but now seeing the memory so clear and perfect, I was at a loss for words.

“Sunrise, never lose your soft heart dear, and never let somepony keep you from moving forward. I won't have you as a daughter if you let that happen,” she took a breath as her horn expertly hemmed the dress just right and finished fitting it to my flanks. The adjustment made me realize there was a slit cut that showed off my flanks, my blank flanks. I looked at the slit then back up to my mother with big 'Please Don't make me do this eyes'.

I could feel it, this was just like a memory orb. Had I been exposed to so many of these at this point that even my own memories worked this way? I could sense my own memory as though I were in a host and this was an orb. That would explain why this is so clear and this dream felt just like an orb... unless someone had placed a memory crown on me while I was sleeping.

Shadow reached up and lifted my chin till our eyes were forced to catch each others. “You should strive to be better than those who wish to keep you down. When anypony bucks you down, you don't just buck back harder.” Her hoof stroked my face with love and care, “You buck back at the problem they have created and show them the mercy of the twin sisters.” Her horn glowed and grabbed the makeup kit from the bathroom.

“Now let's make those colts that picked on you, now regret it because they want to ask you to dance,” As soon as the first makeup brush hit me, I snapped out of the memory/dream I was in and back to the waking world.

ooOOoo

“Sunrise, get up. Come on, it was hard enough to find you, don't make this hard too.” Alguacil's voice sounded like talons on a chalkboard compared to mom's.

No! Please No! Dammit! I wanna be with mom, let me be with my mom for just a few minutes longer.

“Get. Up. Now!” he growled and pulled the sleeping bag hard enough that my hoof hit the bed frame I had curled under.

OW! Buck you with Celestia's flowing mane Alguacil!

“Sunrise, let's not use that language till it's warranted.” The voice from the stasis pod said.

Wait, whose voice was that? My eyes snapped opened as I let the pain win and looked up at the griffin's face. If it was a horrific sight when the sombrero was on; it was so much worse with his hat off, especially first thing in the morning.

Between the missing exposed eye socket and the heavy scaring all over his face, I really didn't know if breakfast would be my first stop. There were jagged tracks of scar tissue, deep cuts from knives, a few bullet holes, and I was convinced his eye had been shot out of his head. He was just too stubborn to die of shock. From this angle I could clearly see the exit wound of a hollow point round out of the side of his head. Whoever had done the surgery work on him afterward clearly had amazing skill to ensure he was patched up nearly this well, even if they were missing a piece or two.

“Never mind that thought, I think putting Celestia anywhere near you would be a disservice to the Goddess.” The first words grumbled from my mouth on day three of being outside the Stable, at least for the days I remembered since meeting my companions.

The griffin gave me a confused, indignant look. Is he gonna hit me now? Then his beak cracked a smile. “Good at least I know you are facing reality. Now get up, we need to eat and decide where we are going. I don't keep the law by staying somewhere safe. You can either get up and get moving or I can leave you behind,” Alguacil declared and walked away from my sleeping bag.

I groaned. I wanted to throw something at him. Can't I even get a day to relax? Recover? Alguacil I swear when I understand griffins... wait he was the only griffin I'd ever met. I guess this is how they all act? I let my thoughts go and focused on getting up. Sleeping bag rolled up and put back with my saddlebags so all my things were in one nice neat pile. Everything was still there, no one else in the room of ten beds had bothered them. Note to self, to feel less paranoid; get private room next time even if it costs more.

As I left the flophouse and stepped into the rising sun, it was so much brighter than mid day. Without the clouds obscuring it, the sunrise was just as I remembered. This is why they named you Sunrise isn't it? Not because it was a hand me down but because it was something still beautiful in our world, despite the war going on with the zebras. And this wasteland could not even take away that beauty. I looked up to the clouds, I wonder what has become of the princesses.

I took an apple from my pack and held my PipBuck up against it, no clicks. At least they were clean and looked tasty. Expecting the sweetness of an apple I took a bite and instead I got a combination of sweet fruit and bitter radioactive after taste. Oh come on, can you not make apples taste bad wasteland! This was not the not the golden sweet taste I was used to.

With a very bittersweet and unsatisfying breakfast finished I found myself milling about as Buddy, Nyota, Alguacil, Chifundo, and Corners, were debating what to do and where to go.

“Well them is some raiders reported by Sparrow. Apparently there have been a lot more of 'em and they've been git'n more aggressive,” Buddy said while I played with the PipBuck to make sure the coordinates were right.

“Yes, but that doesn't give us a direction and our party isn't completely suited for such a confection,” Chifundo replied flatly.

“It is the best idea we seem to have at the moment at least till we have a clearer way,” Nyota's monotone delivered the facts to us.

“And it is my job to clear out the lawless,” Alguacil pointed out as I felt his shadow over my shoulder. Then his talon took hold of my PipBuck and looked at the map I had been working on. “What's this?”

I looked up from my work and all eyes were suddenly on the very small green filly with the computer on her foreleg. “I, well, I decoded one of those files on my PipBuck last night after the rest of you had gotten to sleep. It contained these coordinates.” I pointed to the screen on my foreleg where everyone could see the map of Equestria and the blinking markers. “This one here,” I pointed the tip of my hoof to one of the flashing points and then adjusted a knob to zoom it in. “Is the closest; near Las Pegasus and Applewood; between them actually,” I replied looking up at the others having never been to those cities of dreams and stars.

Corners walked up and slipped a hoof out from under her box, which now I realized she had reinforced with metal we had salvaged from the armors in the cave. “Then that is where we go.” The filly inside the box declared.

I shrugged and jerked my foreleg back from Alguacil, “I decoded the oldest file first and got the coordinates from there. They look like they have no relation to each other. But there has to be something here. Maybe it will give us a clue why they are in that cave together. And hopefully something there will help me decode the other files,” I replied to Corners. “It's also the only clue we have.”

Alguacil looked at me, then the PipBuck and seemed to be lost in thought. “Get to work on decoding the rest. But you are right. This gives a direction to begin, unless someone else has a better idea?”

Chifundo and Nyota both looked at each other and exchanged something silent between them. I couldn't tell if it was body language or some way zebras had of communicating without talking. Maybe zebras are secretly telepathic as far as I know. “I know what it is I must do. But for now I will stay with the little one. If she says go, I go,” Nyota said in a way that didn't put any of us at ease one bit.

“If that is a provided way, then I must say. I agree and say we take no delay,” Chifundo declared in his sing-song way. Oh great now I'm doing it! Are all zebras this strange? Every time Nyota talks I feel a piece of my skin crawl a little bit and Chifundo somehow gets into my head this sudden need to either create a poem or sing. Zebras are so... so... different! At least from the ones that had worked in Dad's shop didn't talk in half-riddles and make me want to keep an extra eye on them.

Alguacil grimaced at us. “That is a very long walk. We're looking at a few days. There may be a town on the way and we can clear out raiders, slavers, and bandits on the road; so I can do my job,” the griffin stated in agreement more out of exasperation than anything else. He really doesn't like civilization does he? Can I call this town made out of pieces of sky carousels and husks as civilization? Had Alguacil found so many monsters that at this point he himself had become a monster? I guess keeping a monster on your side isn't a bad thing.

Buddy stared back from under his hat at us as all eyes were on him now, thankfully. Even if everyone had a hoof, talon, or paw still on my PipBuck; I was glad their eyes were on Buddy instead of me. Algaucil's one eye had a way of always judging everypony he stared at and I didn't like being the object of his stare. We all waited for Buddy to speak in the mean time while he mulled it over with a rolling of his lips and tongue.

“Well, since y'all seem to have the plan together and I ain't got nothing better ta do, I am sure I can make some caps off the salvage, especially around dis little filly,” Buddy stated with a smirk and picking me up off the ground. While I was comically small compared to him, I had not realized I could be lifted like a newborn foal to him. Hooves off the ground for a pony who doesn't fly; NOT HAPPY! I squirmed and panicked to get down, trying to break his grasp. All to no avail considering how much stronger he was than me. “'sides I gotta make sure the little missy here gets looked after till she is used to da wasteland.”

He started to lower me back to the ground and I stopped my flailing when my rear hooves touched the ground. The big sand dog pointed his index claws in opposite directions while crossing his arms over his chest, “'hich way?”

I looked at Eyes Forward Sparkle and tagged the coordinates marked in my PipBuck. A bright green dot appeared in my vision. My tail passed me my helmet. After the repainted black security helmet was secure my tail lowered the visor. The E.F.S. responded by displaying across the hardened bullet glass and made all the pieces of the HUD easier to read. The dot gave me a clear direction and I pointed. So our adventure was to begin again.

Fan Artwork: The difference in Chifundo and Nyota

Level Status - No Experience, just one of those days

New Trait Discovered - 'Bay 'Plosions - Your world is just more Explodey. Double the AOE of all explosions within your sensory range, regardless of who set it off.

Chapter 7: Hard Lessons in Exploration

View Online

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. -Marcus Tullius Cicero

We kept walking for hours. The road, if you could call it that, was more a well worn path made by hooves, paws, and talons. Buddy was leading the way while I kept motioning for changes in direction to keep us on the path. Nyota kept hovering around to shield me from prying eyes. Anytime I forgot to cover up the PipBuck, a zebra hoof would remind me to pull the duster around my right foreleg. He also insisted I keep the helmet on and stayed in the center of the group. Corners was bringing up the rear as Alguacil stayed flying over us. Every time I started to talk, Alguacil would land and motion for us to be quiet as his eye looked for something.

It turns out whatever he was searching for wasn't here immediately around us. Nyota tensed just before he landed each time. Finally I just snapped on the fifth time these two showed signs of paranoia.

“Can we at least talk and carry on while we walk! The silence is driving me nutz!” I shouted out at the top of my lungs only to have two zebra hooves and a griffin rear paw on my mouth.

Note to self, road dust is not the most tasty thing.

They were stubborn, completely and utterly unwilling to do any talking or something that could make noise. Chifundo and Nyota forced me to march along as they all crowded around me preventing me from moving from the group's center. With a frustrated sigh I was marched off with them for hours until finally the bleak wasteland was broken up by a farmstead in the distance. Alguacil flew overhead and landed near us as we approached it.

“There is a pony at the well, other buildings than that look safe. The sun will be setting soon. We should see if we can stay at that farm for the night, no sense in traveling late if we can help it,” Alguacil advised as we approached together. How can you see the sun or know it's 4:37pm in the afternoon? I thought checking my PipBuck. He and Buddy still lead the way while the Zebra's walked beside me. I was a little self conscious realizing that Corners had a good view of our hind quarters. Nothing really to do about it except hope she wasn't just staring at all of us.

There were four buildings plus the well. Three were built from scrap metal, pieced together from old pieces of vehicles, buildings, and even horseshoes. A fourth structure looked newer, it was made of unpainted lumber. At least the first building I'd seen constructed from fresh wood. The building was still ramshackle at best, but the planks looked like they had been cut for the house instead of cobbled together. The house had a picket fence around the back side protecting it from the wasteland. There was a brown cow hump just above the top of the fence. The scrap structures could be described as a very large two story metal barn, a small probably one or two room storage shed, and some L shaped building rounding it out that left a space nopony could fit between it and the shed. A fire might spread around and burn this whole place down. Lastly there was a cooking fire with a pot sitting in front of the shed and metal L shaped building, the fire wasn't lit right now and I couldn't make out what the green stuff in the pot was.

The buildings were arranged in such a way that with that fence there were only two ways into the compound. One the way we were walking, large enough for a whole herd of cows to walk side by side through and the other across the courtyard in-between the wooden home and the L shaped metal structure. In the center was a gray and black stone well with a pony sitting against it, his back pressed into the stones that made up the well.

The pony was a unicorn a dirty black coat and a pink mane with white highlights, he was certainly a stallion. Bad Sunrise! You aren't old enough... that argument doesn't hold weight anymore does it? You're older than most ghouls in the wasteland, much less the age of consent aren't you? Dear Goddesses help me am I really having this conversation?

“Yes you are!”

As I was thinking a little pink pony with a fluffy pink mane appeared at the edge of my vision. Pinkie Pie?

“Yes Sunrise! I'm here to... umm... reasons! Anyway you are having this conversation, and well you should probably give it some thought tonight after the chaos.”

Chaos what chaos? Just like that, the pink pony was silent but had the smile of 'I know something you don't know' written all over her face.

Just as I thought that the Pinkie Pie left my vision and I noticed the PipBuck on the unicorn's foreleg. I dashed forward and his eyes went wide as plates. He braced for impact as I slid to a stop not realizing just how fast I was going. I really hope I hadn't given you a start, please be a nice pony.

“Hi! I'm Wandering Sunrise. Are you okay?” I looked him over. He had several scratches and freshly healing wounds. In addition to this, he was shaking hard enough to break a stone. I tried to give him a reassuring smile to calm him down.

“I, Hi! Just getting some water. You came from out of nowhere.” The stallion replied with his teeth chattering. Wow, talk about nervous, oh no, please let me do this without panicking him. I heard the familiar sound of hooves, talons, and paws coming up behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see the zebras and Alguacil looming over him. “You live on this farm?” the griffin asked as his one eye glared.

“Do you mind if we stay the night, until tomorrow's daylight?” Chifundo fired off without thinking.

Nyota let out a huff and a snort. Buddy smiled and waved his hand over his head, “Howdy there partner. I'd like to know if we can fix some dinner here soon.”

Okay you four do realize that this pony is supremely nervous and suddenly crowding him is going to get us the worst possible reaction! I mean seriously can we give him some space?! I wanted to scream at them to be nicer and less presumptuous. I wanted to make all them back off and let me do something on my own.

“You are older than them. Use your filly seniority!” Pink's high pitched shriek pierced my mind.

The Unicorn stood up to his hooves and jumped into the well. Wait WHAT!? Did he just- “Good luck! Hope you live!” the stallion shouted as he disappeared into the well.

“I got you! You aren't-” Nyota was right on his heels leaping into the well when we heard a gunshot and blood sprayed out from Nyota's flank; hitting right across my helmet visor. The gunshot had come from the house beyond the well. Five ponies who had emerged from the buildings, while we had been speaking. My eyes locked on the one who had shot Nyota's flank with a smoking varmint rifle. They wore that strange “raider barding” I'd seen back at the walls of Silver Fang Shanty. The same kind of barding that Alguacil had told me never to wear or he'd shoot me. We had walked right into an ambush.

I dove for cover behind the one piece within reach, the stone well two stallions went tumbling down. As soon as I felt cold stones on my flank, my head peaked over the cover and hit SATS to get a good view of what was going on. I had no weapon out but SATS would buy me time to observe. Two raiders looking over the fence, using the wood as cover with rifles, I recognized them as rifles straight out of an old recruitment poster. Standard Equestrian military service rifles; cheap and effective. Two more raiders stood outside the house one with a pool cue and the other a scoped varmint rifle; held in their mouths.

The a fifth was coming from the L shaped building with a nasty looking double barrel shotgun, this one was a unicorn using telekinesis to hover the weapon above her head. She was green, a sickly colored green, not the bright emerald I was. She also wasn't wearing a helmet like the others though. I could clearly see the all black mane and scarred cheek before I noticed there was a third barrel on the bottom of the caravan shotgun, a grenade launcher.

The others had taken the same idea as I looked around scrolling between possible targets. Alguacil and Chifundo had taken cover with me. Buddy was starting to move forward towards the farmhouse. I could see the rear legs and taught Bad Sunrise! rear of Nyota going into the well. One quick glance showed the big farm building had no targets but several gray dots were on my E.F.S. inside. Another look to my right to confirm, no one was coming out of the small metal shed. My E.F.S. also registered nothing in that direction. All total I found 5 green, 5 red, 8 grey dots on E.F.S. Five green were my friends, five red had guns pointed at us, and eight grey I could not see. I hoped this thing was as accurate as Stable-Tec claimed.

Nyota disappeared into the well after the jet-black stallion as soon as I released SATS. What do I do? What do I do? my panicked mind raced as rounds from the service rifle bounced off the well. My tail offered up one of the stick grenades we had bought yesterday. How do you always have a good suggestion? Without thinking further about it, I pulled the pin and my tail threw it into the farmhouse. My tail pointed at the metal shed and I started running for it. I could see the door on the other side of a large slate rock and it was currently the only hope of having cover from all directions.

I bolted into the shed. A heavy thunk came in reply to my grenade from the direction of the raiders. The green unicorn had launched a grenade and was putting another into the launcher. I felt the heat and shrapnel press into my backside. The force of the blast propelled me into the shed even faster as my duster and stable-barding armor was pelted with debris and shrapnel. My hooves hit the ground once to dart around a set of rocks large enough to be a griffin. I got into the door and a second thunk echoed over the sound of shouting and rifle fire. I looked back to see another explosion where I had been, all of my friends caught in the blast.

Oh Goddesses NO! Please No! The rifle fire was silenced by the explosion. Just like that? They're gone? Without a word or even a whimper? All I could do now was stare outside the shed door as dust obscured completely Chifundo, Alguacil, and Buddy had been standing. Please don't be dead. You can't all be dead, not just like that. I need you, please by Celestia please. I said a prayer to Celestia and Luna, hoping it would be answered.

The defiant roar of a magnum revolver blew the smoke away and shattered the silence. For a brief moment the outline of Alguacil was illuminated through the dust by a flash of gunpowder. Then his revolver was silenced by a much louder explosion. My eyes went to the farmhouse where my grenade had been thrown. The shadows of the two raiders inside the farmhouse were lit up through the doorway. Their bodies tossed away by the explosion like dolls thrown by an angry child.

A pool cue suddenly slam through the wall of the wooden building, charred with ash and covered in blood. A single hoof fell into the doorway, belonging to the pony whom had been holding said pool cue. If that pool cue is there and his hoof is there, that would put his neck, oh... that is through his neck isn't it? Did I just kill a pony?

I heard another varmint rifle firing, this one crisper and without the sound of a rusted bolt moving. Chifundo emerge from the dust, using the well to steady himself. His leather barding had stopped most of the shrapnel but he did have cuts on his face and down his neck. The pink striped zebra however wasn't letting his injuries stop him from shooting at the ponies behind the fence. A blur that was in the shape of a sand dog dashed through the remaining smoke and dust. Buddy was across the yard faster than I'd ever seen any thing move before, pony or sand dog. He ran into the L shaped building and I noticed the unicorn was no longer in the door. There was a shotgun blast that pelted him with buckshot in the doorway. Buddy did not even slow down; the mighty sand dog unphased by the pellets.

Sunrise you can clearly see these ponies are trying to murder you and your friends. You just ran into a building that may have more them in it and you haven't even checked it. Sweat formed on my brow as more fear crept into my mind. This was different than the fear of losing something to mortal peril. For all you know, that feeling of dread is because there is a pony right behind you, right now, with a machete ready to cut your head off!

I span around and had my shotgun out in a flash. Bead of sweat fell across my brow as my tail held up the shotgun, wrapped around the pump-action. The bit had the taste of leather and salt on my tongue as I panted for air. My eyes darted around wildly searching for the slightest hint of movement.

No one was there.

I started into the building turning on my PipBuck light. The room had several chemistry sets boiled away with colors of blue, red, and green liquids. It smelled awful as I inhaled the stale air. That smell, where was that coming from? Its so rotten! There are four counters built into the walls and is that a still? Are they making alcohol? One of the counters was an island in the center, which was right at my head height. Unless some pony was ducked down behind it, this was clear. Slowly I started making my way around the island in the center when I heard the roar of rapid bullet fire. I dropped to my belly and looked around as the series of shots rang out in two short bursts. What in Luna's Shadow was that!? Did some pony have a machine gun? Or a cannon?

I rose back up and rounded the island to discover the smell. A pile of pony skeletons stacked nearly as tall as I was, bleached by the sun and elements. The skeletons were not the worst part. Those bones were underneath the corpse of a fresh pony. The poor pony had been killed by a gunshot to the head. He had his body sliced up by clean cut butcher's knives like pieces of flesh for serving to carnivores at a restaurant. His back was laid onto the skeletons and I could see he was missing his stallionhood as well with a bloody stump.

My shotgun clattered onto the steel plates of the floor while I screamed like a filly scout in front of a spider. This was just some random pony! Oh dear Goddesses are those maggots in their eye? Those are maggots! What in all of the hells of the sun and moon? Are those butcher marks? Are they eating ponies!? This can't be real.

“This is the Wasteland Sunrise. This is the world you woke up to. What are you going to do? Lying here shaking seems to be not helping,” the pink pony in my head said finishing my thoughts. I covered my eyes and started to pray that Pink was wrong and this was all just a bad dream. When a hoof touched my mane. I jumped up spinning towards the direction of the hoof and clutched for my shotgun.

Chifundo's pink stripes and soft stallion smile greeted me. He had his hoof pressed against the barrel of my shotgun to keep it pointed at the ground. He was covered in scratches, bruises, and cuts everywhere his barding did not cover. A piece of shrapnel embedded into his neck like a sewing needle halfway through a fabric strip. It's my fault you have that wound.

“Come on Sunrise we need to get outside. They need our help.” I was trembling worse than an earthquake as I followed Chifundo outside, and he ran behind the rocks I had avoided getting in here. I looked to see one pony still up on the fence whom fired their service rifle a few more times in our direction. I jumped to the rock as 5.56mm death riddled the shack where we came out of.

The machine guns roared again and this time I knew where it was coming from. The metal box that contained Corners had two barrels flashing like a rave poking out on each of her eye slits. They blazed away at the picket fence where the raider who had just fired at me was.

In slow motion, bullets stormed into the body of the stallion. His unicorn horn shattered under the barrage as his body spewed out a fountain of blood, painting the fragmented remains of the brown fence crimson. The entire scene looked like brown Swiss cheese covered in the gore of ponies. As the machine guns died, there was another shotgun blast; this one extremely loud, from inside the L shaped building. Then the battlefield grew quiet with the echo of the shotgun ringing outward from inside the metal structure.

Alguacil moved towards the L shaped building that Buddy had gone into and Chifundo bolted back to the well. He was helping Nyota out of the well along with a now unmoving black stallion. His chest is moving and his nose twitched, Nyota hadn't killed him. I moved to the corner of the L building away from the door. You failed once, you aren't going to fail again. You will not just flee from your friends Sunrise. My hooves were shaking and I felt myself wanting to hyperventilate again. I could still see the partially butchered decaying body back in the shed. I had to shake my head loose in order to break the imagine away.

They did that to a pony. You have to make sure they aren't going to do it to anypony else! A pool of blood was spreading out from under the door drapes. There was a creeping silence coming from a building, accompanied by the pounding of my heart. Alguacil's razor focus was completely on the door. Every bit of his stance screamed violence waiting to be released with the slightest hint of movement.

"Dis is very bad Juju, bad juju." Chifundo was echoing from his position at the well; loud enough we could here and he wasn't rhyming either. Just like in the incomplete stable.

Where was Buddy? Why didn't we just go in? The green raider unicorn jumped into the doorway. The black mane mare's shotgun levitated as it pointed at my face. A red dot moved into view on the HUD from E.F.S. Why didn't I just pay attention to Eyes Forward Sparkle? It is there to save you from this.

I stepped into S.A.T.S. slowing down time so I could think. I watched the motion of the caravan shotgun slowly rolling into position to be pointed towards my head. You don't have to kill her, just disarm the mare! I focused the S.A.T.S. up hard, away from the center mass it wanted, past her head and horn of the unicorn. I ignored her physical ponyself completely. I went up to aim at the shotgun with my own buckshot cannon. The one shot would completely consume the S.A.T.S. spell. I'd only get one shot and I doubted that raider mare was going anywhere less than lethal back at me. I have to give her a chance, I have to be the better pony. There is no way she is that suicidal.

I released S.A.T.S. The like new 12 gauge rechambered gun roared to life for the first time. With a deeper, harder BOOM! than my ears were ever prepared for. If not for the specialized stock and the grip being custom made for me, I would have been driven onto my haunches or even sent flying.

The buckshot slammed into the double barrel and sent it flying with the same smash of a sledge hammer into the building behind her. Alguacil reacted a second later, pouring two shots from his revolver. They tore into the mare's shoulder through her barding, spitting blood from the holes.

“Give up! It's over!” I declared only to have the mare charge me. Her horn lowered as she slammed herself into me at full speed. Her eyes were wide and wild, shaking me to the core as I caught a glimpse of total insanity. I felt both of her forehooves and horn smash against my armor plates. The next thing I knew was a brief trip through the air and a slam into the wall next to me, my breath driven from my lungs and my shotgun clattered across the ground into the unlit cooking fire, ringing against the pot.

Luna's wrath she hits like a freight train!

I could feel the bruises but metal plates were harder than unicorn horn. The mad mare hadn't managed to pierce my armor. My bones arched from the impact and my legs refused to answer the call to move. Before I could get up, a hoof grabbed me by the collar and hefted me up. I wanted to thank whoever helped me up but instead of having a chance to speak, I felt the slam of steel into my visor face.

I felt the impact of the iron shoes slamming into my head three times before the security helmet finally flew off. I could hear gunshots and each time my vision had cleared just enough to be greeted with the sickly green colored unicorn pounding into my faceplate. Her barding was penetrated by shot after shot but she was ignoring it. Finally with the visor clear of my head, I could see her eyes, they were pinpricks. Drugs!? She is so high and frenzied she doesn't even know anything except rage!

The hoof raised in slow motion, ready to bash my face in. I started to see my life flash before my eyes when her forehead exploded, showering me in brains and blood. I fell to the ground in a heap, stunned. My eyes were burning with her blood in them while the mare's body fell on top of me. I scrambled to get out from under the body. My hooves kicked and treaded against hard packed dirt. The flowing river of blood coming out of the raider's bullet ridden body ran over my armor and hooves. My panicked forehooves wiped frantically only making my vision burn more. I was desperate to get the irritation from my eyes and face, the irritation of having another pony's blood flow into my eyes and over my cheeks like tears of a broken mother. Three days and I've been covered in someone's brains all over my face!

I felt the weight lifted off of me as I looked up to see Chifundo standing over me. He was holding the corpse with one hoof. His other hoof extended to offer to help me up. Very sheepishly, I took the hoof and pulled myself from under the dead unicorn. My tail collected my helmet and I shoved it back on while picking my shotgun back into hoof.

Chifundo approached me around as I heard a dragging noise across the dirt when Corners joined us. “Come Sunrise. We have to look at the one who gave us the surprise,” Chifundo spoke leading me towards the well. I wanted to look at the dragging noise but Chifundo has his hoof around my shoulder and was keeping my head facing forward back to the well.

“Oh look! Old Yeller!” Corner blurted out with a high pitched filly laugh.

“Don't look Sunrise! The surprise isn't ready yet! And you wouldn't wanna spoil the surprise party would you?”

Where did this pink pony come from and why was it in my head? Pink was in my view staring at me expectantly.

“I don't guess I do wanna ruin the party,” I grumbled as Chifundo gave me a questioning look. Pink jumped with glee. The pink striped zebra stashed me next to Nyota who was working on repairing the eye socket of the black stallion. It looked like his eye might have even popped out with how Nyota was moving his hooves. What the BUCK? Nyota how much damage did you do to him?

“SUGARCUBE! If I ever hear you do anything like that again, I'll consider you a raider or a pony whose been twigged! Either way I will personally put you down and claim the bounty. Do I make myself clear?” Alguacil wailed and then there was a shot of his pistol. “The next one won't miss, now get out of my sight.”

I started to look over at the commotion when Chifundo forced my head back to the Nyota and the unconscious unicorn. I wanted to ask Nyota how he had hit him. I knew how much damage Nyota could do with those hooves from the ghouls and molerats, but just what types of acrobatics could the zebra could perform while doing it? Had he really hauled the unicorn up a well alone after beating him unconscious, all in such a small space? I looked up at him with an expression of 'let me help' written across my face.

“Sunrise, see if you can wake up him, gently. Do you have any extra bandages?” Nyota started to growl as Corners and Chifundo crowded around. “The rest of you go check the building we haven't been into and stop crowding my patient!”

I had never seen Corners nor Chifundo move that quickly. I had enough sense to know how to help at least. I flipped on my PipBuck light for Nyota and then looked at the PipBuck on his arm.

“I can't really wake him up if you are working on him but I can check his PipBuck to see what's on it,” I said as I moved to where my light could shine over as much of his injuries as possible while plugging in the extension connector to his PipBuck.

It was offline, the spell matrix needed to be reset. I took a few tries to get it to boot up, but once it did; I had full access to everything. Which as it turned out was almost nothing. I could see his status, his name 'Colt Chaser'.

That was it, there were no files, no logs, nothing. This thing had been wiped! You only get this much of a wipe if you were to use a magnet. Someone intentionally took a magnet against the drive and used it to wipe the spell memory matrix clean. Why would you do that? You could ruin the PipBuck if you got that too close to the operating unit. I tried a file recovery as I noticed that Nyota had stopped working and was just waiting for his efforts to take effect.

“Sunrise, keep him covered.” Nyota declared and looked over my shoulder to behind me “Anything?”

“There are some ponies in cages inside. We should let them out,” Chifundo called back.

I pulled out Alguacil's no, it was my revolver now. I didn't cock it or release the safety, I just place it against the black stallion's head and hoped that would satisfy Nyota.

“See if you can find the keys. Also this unicorn is wearing an inhibitor ring, find the key for it too. Not sure if I wanna break his horn yet or not,” Nyota yelled out.

Break his horn! You just fixed him up! Now you have me pointing a gun at his head and are talking about breaking him again?

I stayed there as my friends were busy with searching the dead raiders. I could hear the sound of a shovel working somewhere on the other side of the well. Every time I started to peak up around the stones the pink pony in my mind would tell me, “No you'll ruin the surprise!” in the cheeriest sweetest voice I had ever heard.

Soon there was a group of ponies walking out of the metal barn being led by Chifundo and Corners. They looked like the most ragged group I'd ever seen, all came with thousand yard stares. They were filthy, so bad in a couple of cases I couldn't tell where their coat started and the dirt ended. They had wounds both festering and fresh all over them as well as old and badly healed marks on each and every pony. They shuffled their feet through the dirt, barely lifting hooves. Each of them hung their heads low into the dust and groaned as they moved. They looked like soulless husks compared to the sharp eyed purposeful movements of my friends.

Alguacil walked beside me, his talons covered in dirt and sombrero covering his face, “Buddy is taken care of.”

I looked up at him, “Where is he? Is he alright?” I said with as much hope as possible. Was this the surprise? Had Buddy found something amazing? Or was the inside of that metal building just bigger than it looked.

“Sunrise, he's dead. I buried him along with the other farm ponies behind the house,” he coldly snapped off.

I finally paid attention to my E.F.S., 4 green dots, 6 gray, no red.

Right then and there, my world came crashing down. I dropped the revolver into the dirt and I felt my hooves give out. Air drove from my lungs with my belly's impact into the ground. This is your fault! If you hadn't panicked you would have moved to back him up! Wait how? How did he die?

“What!? How? How did he-” I started as my mouth moved and the rest of my body didn't. I could feel the tears in my eyes welling up and rolling down my cheeks.

“The shotgun, caught him in the head. It wasn't pretty but it was quick Sunrise,” the griffin stated keeping his hat lowered to cover his face.

Chifundo walked past us toward the farm house. I dragged myself over to the unicorn and laid down next to him, putting my head between my hooves and just sobbing. I am pathetic, this wasteland is going to get me killed, along with everypony else.

I heard a groan and remember the unconscious pony next to me. The stallion started to move lifting his head. Suddenly guns were on him from Alguacil and Corners while Nyota had him by the throat with her hoof.

“Give us one good reason we shouldn't bash your skull in,” Nyota demanded, the threat in his voice was terrifying even to me.

“Please... please don't. I was just doing what they asked. They said if I did that, they wouldn't hurt the others,” he blurted out adverting his gaze away from everypony. This full sized stallion was sounding as pathetic as I felt. “They just used whichever one of us looked the most helpless. Please I don't remember anything else.”

“I say we smash his horn off right now! Go on Alguacil shoot it,” Nyota declared as I heard the click of the revolver's hammer.

“The first surprise is now!” I heard the pink pony say as I simply reacted.

I pushed the stallion's head down and knocked Nyota clear of his throat. I moved so fast, I felt like I was going Nyota speed. Even I was surprised by what I was doing. A magnum revolver was now pointed at my head along with a pair of machine guns. Alguacil's eyes went wide and he quickly moved his gun to not be pointing at my head and Nyota took a step back.

“ENOUGH!!! No more killing today! I don't care if he was really working with them or just protecting those ponies! NO MORE!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs. Everypony had their eyes on me as I pulled out my shotgun and pointed it around. I pointed the buckshot cannon at my friends. Tears streamed down my cheeks and my voice cracked with every word. I gritted my teeth and growled as best I could through the emotional wreck of my mind. I pumped my shotgun to get a fresh shell into the chamber as the spent round from earlier bounced off the ground. My mouth released the bit long enough to speak, “Anyone who wants to hurt this unicorn is going to be shot, by me!”

Fan Art by Box Pony:

Level up Status - Level 4 Achieved!
New Perk - 'Ah Fixed It! (Earth Pony Only) - You can take any item with a copy of itself and improve it granting an addition +2DT, +2 Damage, or +5 to any skill so long as the item is armor/clothing. Use of this skill requires a repair check and you destroy one of the items in the process (Player Choice on which is destroyed fail or succeed).

Chapter 8: Coping Mechanism - End Act I

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"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." -Walter Winchell.

The tension was worse than waiting for the raider leader to come through the doorway to us. Everypony was staring at me and stunned by my reaction. I pointed my shotgun to Alguacil first, then to Nyota, and finally at Corners. My seething rage demanded some sort of penance. My tail came up to take the trigger from my mouth so I could speak.

"Buddy died already! I'm sure he wouldn't want us killing or hurting the ponies he died for! BACK OFF!" My voice was a shrill of shouts and veiled threats at my friends.

"You are threatening your friends." Pink said in the right side of my view.

They aren't my friends if they aren't willing to back down. I don't care what this Unicorn has done, he clearly deserves another chance.

Pink started to make an argument, stopped herself and went back to munching on popcorn.

Alguacil uncocked his magnum and Corners retracted her machine gun barrels. I let out two huffs and then a snort to drain some of my own anger out. My tail however kept the shotgun at the ready, still pointed at Corners.

“He deserves another chance.” I grumbled as my legs started to get weak again. I could see the shaking in the shotgun now, how much I was barely holding onto my feelings from becoming a burst of death.

“Chifundo, take off his inhibiting ring,” Nyota said, giving me an indignant snort and stomping away. His hooves leaving deep prints in the dirt that wouldn't just be blown away by the wind. “I'm going to cook dinner. If this comes back to bite us, I'm holding Sunrise responsible.”

Alguacil pushed my shotgun down so it was pointed harmlessly at the ground. “Calm down Sunrise. No sense in getting so hasty on your friends.” Yeah because pointing a firearm at my friends was just getting hasty with them.

I passed my shotgun to my tail entirely, removing my hoof from the pump action. There was a smooth leather on metal sound as it slid into the holster on my saddlebags. I stepped off of the black unicorn only when I was certain no one was going to harm him. “Colt Chaser, it's okay. We're not gonna hurt you,” He gave me a baffled look for the words.

“I'm Mauve... who is Colt Chaser?” he asked, rather puzzled.

“It was the name on your PipBuck. Do you remember how you got it?” I asked leaning in so my head was next to his. I wanted to see what he had to say about it as Chifundo used the release key upon his horn and removed his inhibitor. He too walked off afterward and I laid back into the dirt next to the black stallion. Great you just alienated your friends too. Congrats on that one, these farm ponies had better be worth it.

Alguacil stood there as Corners led the freed slaves over to the campfire. There was a faint stench on the air and Chifundo talking to somepony; the words were far enough away to be indistinct. Alguacil kept shifting his eye towards me and Corners's eye slit never left my return stare. “Sunrise?” Algaucil started but stopped immediately as my eyes shot to him. I removed the stare and lay there against Mauve, trying to comfort him or seek some solace with dealing through the events of the evening.

Then I heard Mauve's deeper, yet softer, unicorn voice, “What is that smell? That isn't the zebra cooking is it?” The tremble in his voice was still raw unadulterated fear. There was a calming down happening slowly when Alguacil approached as quietly as possible. I noticed him but Mauve either didn't or didn't want to look at the scary griffin again.

“No, I set the raider bodies to burning after I took their ears,” Alguacil interrupted, placing a talon tightly onto Mauve's spine making the Unicorn flinch and try to shift away in protest. The griffin was having none of it and put his weight into him to hold the pony still. “If I ever catch you helping raiders, slavers, bandits, or any creature doing anything like this again; I don't care what Sunrise says. I'm taking your ears and putting you on the pyre as well. Do I make myself clear?” As the griffin spoke he moved down to head level with Mauve and had his eye directly into Mauve's face staring him eye to eye and giving him that terrifying griffin glare.

“Ye-ye-yes sir. I won't be, never again.” Mauve's teeth chattered through the entire experience but it was clear he got the message.

“Sunrise come on, let's get you two over to where the food is. Crying and not eating isn't going to make this better.” Alguacil said as he extended a talon to help me up.

“No, Mauve go over with the others. Alguacil, show me Buddy's grave,” I demanded, looking up at him with pure determination in my eyes. I want you away from Mauve right now and I want to see Buddy.

He didn't say anything just started walking behind the farmhouse and I followed. There behind the grenade damaged home were six graves; all had been dug recently. Five? I thought there were only two dead in the barn? Where did the other three come from?

My head was running through events when I saw Buddy's hat pinned down by a rock. My mind blanked out completely any thought I had was just gone. All I could do was walk up to it and lay down, sobbing against the hat as I looked at the larger grave. Tears rolled down my cheeks in streams, splattering against the churned earth of his final resting place. My heart wrenched with remorse and my stomach twisted with failure upon seeing each one of the pellet marks that had penetrated his hat.

I could see it all, him ripping and tearing with his claws at the raider, forcing the mad mare back. Then he missed one shot, missed one of his attacks and that was long enough for the caravan gun to be leveled at him. The unicorn in a spit second taking aim at his head and her magic pulling both triggers. He never knew what hit him, Buddy's head simply disintegrated into a red, white, and pink pulp. I wanted to rush forward, to put my flak between Buddy and the blast. I wanted to stop it, I wanted to get Buddy to buy a helmet and armor him up like he did me.

I screamed out a cry of agony, rage, and despair. I'd had so few friends in life, so very few. Now, I had one less. Nothing could compare to the pain I felt right now. NOTHING! It was a combination of a dagger thrust into my heart and twisted mixed with a brass hoof to my head for every decision I could have made that might have stopped this. I wailed till my voice couldn't find anymore then just sobbed into his hat as both my hooves gripped onto it and tugged at it's anchor beneath the rock Alguacil had used.

I don't know how much time had passed before Chifundo approached me. Alguacil was gone and the pink striped stallion placed a hoof on my shoulder.

“Sunrise, he is at peace and that is not something that comes with ease. He doesn't regret his pact, Buddy knew he may not come back,” Chifundo soothed to me. His hoof rubbed at my side then softly stroked my mane trying to calm the sobbing. I could hear the sound myself; I hated the sound of my sobbing. “I spoke with his spirit, please trust me with it. He doesn't regret, except how soon his depart.” I could feel his hoof stroking across my head, down my mane. I looked over at him and shuddered when I looked like his shadow moving on it's own. The entity slithering away; but his face was bright and welcoming. I tried to pull myself from the grave only to slowly turn back towards Buddy's resting place.

I looked up at Chifundo and remembered the cave. He can talk to spirits, that shadow of his is just the spirits playing with it. I wonder what that is like, to have them talk to you. I want to hear it one day, in Buddy's own words. I guess I would have to trust him for now. I doubted my mind was ready for such an experience yet. I would have to trust that Buddy had no regrets save for him leaving us so soon.

“Come join us, when you feel purpose,” Chifundo gave me a squeeze, and walked away towards where I could hear the campfire crackling behind me. I sniffed back the last few tears, a faint smile crossing my face as the scent of Nyota's cooking drifted over. Maybe it was the draining of sorrows or just the long march but food started to overtake every inch of my mind.

Eventually I dragged myself towards the cooking pit. The former captives were huddled together away from our group and the zebras were having an argument over what to do with them.

“We should get them setup here and make their lives better here,” Nyota tried to be the authority in the situation.

“We could take them back, and see if the town can help them find a knack,” Chifundo shot back.

I took in the surrounding buildings, at least what was left of them. My mind was piecing it all together as I poked Corners or rather her box, “Could you repair the buildings while I work on getting a proper fence in place around here? That way they can defend this place.” I pointed at pieces of fencing we had torn up as well as a couple of places that may need to be reinforced. She turned around and looked at my tear stained face. I however was glad to have anything to talk about other than Buddy's death and just started to ramble away ideas.

“We would have to give up the weapons we looted from the raiders as well. Is everypony okay with that?” I suggested as I forced the grim business of death out of my mind. I needed a focus and making sure these ponies would be okay was just that. I buried myself working on solutions, mechanics, buildings, was better than feeling the caked blood on my tear raw face. It's your fault.

“I'm sure I can build it better and easier to fortify than what is there right now,” Corners chimed in and I could see the smug smile under the box. I want to slap that metal box to see if it will ring like a bell you little brat! But we'll talk about that later when I'm not angry at myself. Don't think for one second that Old Yeller comment is going to get a free pass.

"Time and place Sunrise. Go on get your idea out there." Pink interrupted with a burst into my view from above, upside down in my vision without anything holding her there. Yep totally crazy, Pink defies gravity now.

“Alright let me ask what they wanna do and we'll figure it out from there,” I stated as I looked to see if they were all in agreement.

There were nods all around from the rest of our party and then I approached the huddled group of hungry, abused frightened ponies. “Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. I promise." First thing I had to say, to make sure they stayed calm and I didn't make them run away. "Now do all of you wanna stay here and make a life here or should we escort you back to Silver Fang Shanty?” I put on the most reassuring smile I could muster and prayed to the Goddesses it worked.

How threatening could a little filly look right? Your face is caked in the blood of your enemies and you threw a grenade that demolished the inside of that farmhouse. Not to mention Mauve looks like a freight train hit him. You also had no issue pointing a shotgun at the ponies whom you came here with but sure you can totally prove you aren't here to hurt anypony right?

Mauve stepped forward, he held his head low and wouldn't look me in the eye at first. There was a tense silence between myself and the unicorn while my friends were talking behind me. I tuned them out, putting all my energy towards Mauve. You should have been there to help your friend. SHUT UP! I can't fix it but I can at least make his sacrifice mean something. So either give me something useful brain or by Celestia's Bucking hooves shut up! I pressed a hoof up against Mauve's chin and lifted it so he would have to look at me with his charcoal eyes. “It's okay Mauve. Tell me what you want to do?”

He turned his head to the other ponies and then back to me. For the first time this stallion smiled, nervously but he was at least smiling. “I think it would be best if we headed back with your group. This place has too much pain and suffering for us now,” He timidly rubbed at his left forehoof while he talked. My own hoof wasn't applying that much pressure but it was enough to offer resistance when he tried to look away again.

I looked deep into his wounded eyes and smiled, before giving him a hug around his neck with both my hooves. The sudden hug caught him off guard and put an expression of shock onto his face. I leaned up so I could whisper into his ear, “We've got you. You all should relax. We'll get dinner out and keep watches.”

Nyota had somehow managed a decent vegetable stew and I served it till every pony had their fill. I wasn't eating myself yet, too much of my gut twisted up when I thought about it. I have to make up for not being there fore Buddy.

I found out that many of them were missing caravaneers; apparently that is what they called traders and merchants in the wasteland. They had been captured by the raiders similar to how we had been ambushed. The amount of pain in camp was devastatingly heavy.

Talk of the bodies in the shed brought tears to their eyes and cries of painful turmoil when I talked about them. It was like they knew those who had been taken from them were dead and I was just confirming it. None of them wanted to go inside any of the buildings once they knew about the deaths. Everypony laid down eventually under the stars, either passing out from emotional exhaustion or relief to just not be dead or in a cage.

I took first watch but I wasn't spending it watching. With all the strength I could muster, I decided to follow Alguacil's example. I put a blanket from one of the gore ridden cages over the corpse in the shed. I could barely hold down the few bites of food I had managed from Nyota's stew. With strength I never knew I could muster I drug it over to where I found the graves. I found myself scanning around with my PipBuck EFS turning in a circle looking for any red blips to pop up. Sunrise, your friends are making you paranoid. I admonished myself, but they have proven being paranoid was a good idea. That sobering thought kept me checking my EFS after every single shovelful of dirt I lifted.

Two hours later, there were four more shallow graves. One for the corpse and three for the skeletons I had put together. I don't wanna do this, ever again.

"You will have to Sunrise but the important thing is to never get used to it. If you truly have what it takes to be my friend, you will never get used to it." Pink stated and that left me confused. Was Pink just a figment of my imagination or was she really a different entity? Something like the spirits that Chifundo talked to, that could talk in my head and was something utterly separate from my person. What was that pink fluffy maned pony?

Finally I put the shovel back against the metal building and checked EFS again. I wasn't sure if the task being complete or the ting of metal signalling it's finale, but my thoughts were back to this moment. I span in a full circle and checked every single direction. Please let this stupid Eyes Forward Sparkle be more reliable than my eyes, or at least able to keep them safe while I do this. I dragged a bunch of rocks over Buddy's grave, then finally got the largest one I could move and pinned his hat down at the edge of it.

I drew the image from my dreams. The red-orange sunrise over the horizon of a green field. An angel pony holding a shotgun floating just under the cloud. With the chalk on the rock, I used gunpowder and oil to seal it against the weather. “There. Now at least the world will know you were here,” I said and falling down onto my haunches to stare at the grave marker. I checked my EFS all around one more time, ten green dots and one gray one still.

“Buddy, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to face the danger. You prepared me as best you could and I wasn't ready. It... it... cost you-” Tears and sniffles silenced me for a moment as I drew in a ragged cursed breath. “Your life.” The tears were rolling down my cheeks like Rainbow Falls water as I forced the words out loud. They washed parts of the raider blood off my face with them. “I don't know why you did it, you barely knew me. But we are friends and I'm not going to say were because I still think we are. I hope that one day I can make up for it.” Every word spoken brought more tears. Every bit of pain in me was pouring out.

You barely knew him. For all you knew he was trying to use you to atone for something he'd done.

“Yes but he was good to you regardless Sunrise. Kindness gives kindness.”

“Buddy I promise I will force myself to act next time. If for no other reason that I don't want to ever do this again. Please, rest now. You've done everything you could for me and so much more.” I gave another loud sniff and sucked up a few more tears. “I've only known you for two days but, I can say you were a good dog.” I took a set of smaller rocks and placed them around the brim of Buddy's hat to hold it down completely and resigned to myself to dragging my hooves away.

“At the very least, I'll make sure the world knew you were here.” I then checked my EFS again through the tears I was wiping away. Eleven dots lit up the bottom of the HUD, ten green and one gray; no red. I checked the time on my PipBuck one final time. My shift was over an hour ago according to the chronometer on the PipBuck. At least everyone else could get some extra rest on my account.

I gently poked the gray and black zebra. His eyes snapped open, Yes I said eyes because I swear there is something behind that eye patch. You can't see it but you certainly can sense it when Nyota looks at you. He was on his hooves in a split second. I fell onto my flanks and opened my mouth to yelp when Nyota's hoof snapped out to keep my lips closed and he shook his head very slowly side to side. I followed his other hoof to where he was pointing at the sleeping former slaves.

“You'll wake the others. Now get your rest. It is my turn to watch over us.” the zebra stallion coldly whispered in one breath. I nodded through my mouthful of hoof and then started towards my saddlebags before I was stopped by a hoof on my tail. I turned to see Nyota holding my tail.

“No, the noise will wake up the others. Leave your sleeping bag in there and use mine.” He released me and walked over to the fire looking like a sentinel pony statue. If not for the occasional slow fluffing out of his chest and flattening it to breath; you would think he was a perfect black and gray zebra statue.

I simply curled up in his bedroll and started to drift off to sleep. Sleep wasn't hard and came on quickly. Between emotional and physical exhaustion, I just wanted to be lost to the world for a bit.

ooOOoo
???

A classroom? Where was I? What was this? I seemed to be in a classroom, but it wasn't one I remembered. The ponies and surroundings were just off. The place was clean and pristine, it sparkled like gemstones and the teacher sparkled like that as well when she closed the door as the bell rang. I looked down to the corner of the vision and I had red hooves at this desk and yes I was a colt. Well this is different. Not sure I like how it feels to have a-

My eyes followed back up to the front of the room. The mare was a lovely shade of sapphire blue and had an odd reflection about her. Wait? Reflecting light? Like a crystal? Where am I? I checked my own hooves again out of the corner of my eye as my host moved to look at a piece of paper. My host reflected as well, bright and shimmering.

What is this place? What kind of ponies are these that they reflect light? Was this an orb from the Stable? I think so but where did it come from? How did they get it? The teacher interrupted my thoughts and my host sat up straight when the mare started talking. I got a sense her name was Shimmering Lantern from the host.

“Alright class, today we will talk about the Crystal Fair and just what it is meant to do,” the mare up front started her lesson. "Now think carefully, what do all of you know as the purpose of our fair?"

She was drawing upon the chalk board as she spoke when the outside light got dark, incredibly dark. “What in the world?” I felt a hoof poking my side and my host chose to ignore it.

My hosts head turned to the window away from the hoof as dark clouds gathered around, the daylight completely blacked out by the surrounding clouds. The ground erupted in a dark black crystal and then another. I felt fear and horror in my host's mind. The colt I was riding headed for the door out of the classroom and then-

ooOOoo

“Sunrise get up, now!” Nyota ordered poking me with a hoof repeatedly.

I checked my PipBuck, just over an hour had passed. “Nyota it's only been an hour, what-”

“Listen!” Nyota declared and I heard it. The sound of insects? No, yes, something with many legs and carapace moving towards us chirping loudly. The noise echoed through the buildings and had a volume that could only be generated by hundreds of bugs. I looked to see all the rescued ponies were still fast asleep but my companions were already up and moving.

The tension was rising as the noise came nearer. Alguacil took to his wings and got onto the nearest building. Chifundo quickly used some overturned boxes to get onto the farm house roof. Cautiously the zebra checked the tiles to make sure they would support him. After a few steps to be certain, he laid down to scope out the shadows with his varmint rifle. He was aimed in the direction Nyota pointed. I stepped around the sleeping refugee ponies and took out my shotgun. Sunrise, EFS turn it on. Now. I flicked the PipBuck and my vision was overrun with red dots along the interface. It was less individual pips and simply one moving mass of something and there were hundreds of them.

I turned and dashed over to Mauve. My hooves were on his side shaking him awake, “Get up now! Get everyone up! Nyota, move them anywhere but that way,” I said while pointing a hoof to the open area we had come in through.

The panicked stampede of farm ponies drew Alguacil's eye as they thundered past him, squeezing through the buildings towards the impromptu graveyard. He flew down and landed next to me as I looked up with terrified eyes. “What is it?”

“So many, I don't know what it is but there are a whole lot of them!” I exclaimed and looked back at the dark shapes moving beyond the edge of our light.

The griffin pulled out several bottles with paper and rags stopping them up. “Will these help?” I looked at the bottles and then inhaled their smell. Gasoline. These are molotrots.

“How many of these do you got?” I looked around starting to formulate a plan and get the pieces in place. My mind started visually placement of several between the farmhouse and the L building Buddy died in. I was trying to piece together it all just right so that I could get maximum burn and not destroy the graves.

“Over a dozen,” the gruff law-griffin was business as usual. I was already darting around and planting the molotrots onto the ground in places to create a burn zone. I stepped into SATS and time slowed down for me, this gave me time to think. My eyes analyzing exactly the right spots to put those infernos in a bottle. If I place them there between those two buildings, I could protect the graves and put a wall of fire between us and the horde. I just have to set it up.

"Glad to know I gave you the right cutie mark! You little wasteland style party pony." Pink exclaimed for a second then was gone again.

“Alguacil, get working and move everyone out of here. Corners with me, we have to plant these,” I said passing the box pone three of the explosive cocktails. I glanced back with my PipBuck light on and could make out the wave of roaches only they were massive. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of one of the creatures in the light of our campfire. Roaches? Are these what roaches look like now? The size of a school foal!

Ponies galloped around us, running for the clear fields beyond as I set up the last linchpin to my little fire trap. Deeply focused on the approaching horde, I passed the last molotov back to my tail, which somehow knew to hold it upright, fuse sticking out towards my mouth. My hoof grabbed my lighter from my kitchen kit and lit the fuse.

I glanced up at the incoming onslaught of red. What had been off in the darkness minutes before was now practically on top of us, the flickering lights of our campfire reflecting off their chitin. Each of them was half my size, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how three of them could rip me to pieces, turning my heart into a cold lump. I could see it clearly now, not just shadows of oversized bugs and roaches but actual roaches. They were half my size, as big as my shotgun or my saddle bags. Dear Goddess what are these things and why are they so huge! Is this what radiation does to them?

“Rad roaches,” Alguacil spit towards the molotov field. “Probably drawn here by the smell of the bodies. Sunrise, wait till they get a little closer and then light-”

I was already ahead of him and it was too late to turn back. My tail hurled the light firebomb into the air, watching it tumble end over end. The world moved in slow motion with the flicking light of fire slowly drawn to the ground by gravity, in the exact right spot.

“You might only have one match but you can start an explosion!” The little pink pony in my head sang out as I watched a fireball erupt between us and the rad roach overrun campsite. The chirping screams of rad roaches filled the air as they were incinerated instantly if they were inside the initial blast. A wave of heat washed over me and singed the edges of my manes as well as my eyebrows.

I stumbled back a few steps from the firestorm. The rad roaches rushed into the flames, trying to get at their cooking comrades; all of them driven by hunger. I took another step back and felt Buddy's hat at my hoof. I stopped there. No! You won't get him! I don't care how many shells I have to waste, this is as far as you get. None of you are going to defile my friend's grave.

I kept my shotgun pointed at the creatures through the firestorm. They hurled themselves at the burning flames that slowly consumed them. A few got through the flames only to fall to the ground just as quickly. They had fought through the fire and brimstone only to cook inside their own carapace. The RAD counter on my PipBuck clicked a few times but I dismissed it as nothing dangerous; nothing that would have made me back away from defending Buddy's final resting place. Even as I felt a slight tingle on my face between the flames that I knew was magical radiation poisoning me.

The smell was oddly, good. It smelled of cooking meat like I would expect to get from a sand dog tavern or in Griffinstone. Dear Goddesses, meat smelled good! I'm a pony! The roaches couldn't get through the flames and soon stopped trying, instead they started eating each other as they cooked.

What madness is this that bugs don't have sense of self preservation? I hung my head and felt the tears well up as the screaming of magical radiation mutant bugs saturated the air. I turned around now that I was certain the firestorm would keep Buddy's resting place safe and I bolted away from the fire to catch up. Soon only my PipBuck light was illuminating the world around me.

Alguacil landed next to me and I felt a talon pushing me along by the flank. I just hoped we had done enough that Buddy's grave would be protected from the ravages of time for a bit longer. I kept trying to take a look back only to have Alguacil's gaze meet me through the light telling me to keep looking where we were going and not to the burning horror scene of the rad roach assault.

Slowly the flames faded leaving us in the dead of night and eventually my PipBuck light caught the end of a flank belonging to a pony still moving. Nyota was bringing up the rear to ensure none of us were left behind. They had slowed at some point, I looked back and could make out the barest light against the black night clouds where the farmhouse burned.

I traveled for over an hour with my PipBuck light still on before Nyota approached me. “Cut that off, if something is out there; they will be able to see us long before we are able to see them.” His tone struck me like a whip, leaving me flinching from his direct order. I reached down and cut off the light much to the moans and complaints of the freed ponies traveling with us.

“Nyota, is it always this cloudy?” I asked looking at him once my eyes got used to the darkness. I was hoping to get something out of him besides borderline rage.

“The pegasi above have sealed the clouds. When the bombs started falling they did so to keep us from them, and prevent any further megaspells from hitting their cities. Now we on the ground must suffer the eternal cloud cover,” Nyota explained with something that sounded like a grudge directly against the pegasi above. He was clearly mad about it but then again, he was mad about everything.

“Can I ask you, why you're so angry all the time?” I asked hesitantly.

“And you are not? You woke up to a world devastated, turned into the wasteland that took Buddy and so many others like him. You are a filly that is supposed to be attending school in the pre-war time. Now you are forced to use firebombs to exterminate bugs that would devour you in your sleep.” Nyota coldly deflected. You could just say, I don't wanna talk about it. Not make me feel like I should be upset as well.

Chifundo put a hoof around me and pushed me over towards the ponies that were walking behind us. “Surely you do not think it all as bad as Nyota? Look at the ones whom walk with ya?” he began as I looked at them. They were a sad lot. Two stallions, Mauve included, three mares, and two fillies. Any colts had been among the skeletons I had buried next to Buddy, the raiders had taken particular glee in tormenting them for some reason.

None of them walked with their backs straight or heads held high. They looked broken; like something inside them had been shattered. The filly closest to me, she had a golden brown coat and soft purple mane that should have been well cared for, instead it was ragged. I could see the cuts and scrapes along her flanks and face. Those silver eyes reflected a pain that I had never experienced. There were stains in her coat that I recognized as something from our Hearts and Hooves class. Had they, raped her too? What kind of fucked up thought was that! Raiders weren't that bad were they?

“Sadly little Sunrise, yes they are. They are some bad ponies. You should remember, raiders are bad ponies.”

Dammit pink pony I didn't ask you! My eyes drifted up to Chifundo's face in the dark, it was hard to make out his expression. All I could really see was that it was him and his bright blue eyes next to pink stripes.

“Yeah, but what safe haven are we taking them to? Since I've been awake I've found ghouls, molerats, rad roaches, raiders, and killer robots. Not to mention I'm reasonably sure I've taken just enough radiation to equal a year's supply of Sparkle Cola. No, survival isn't enough.” I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. Sunrise, you have to know what that vault did to you. You've been lucky and some of the things that have happened shouldn't have happened. For right now that is what you live for. You aren't just surviving, you have to find out exactly what happened. Buddy died for that, you can't let it be in vain.

Nyota snorted at what I had said. Chifundo looked at him and snorted back mockingly. Nyota stomped his hoof on the next step. Chifundo did the same and then intentionally rolled head over flank like an acrobat back to his feet. Nyota stared at him and growled angrily. Chifundo growled back, only his was playful.

All of us had stopped in the dark to stare at the two zebras who had lost their minds. That was until I felt a smile curling on my lips and both of the little fillies burst out into laughter. Laughter, that was something I missed. Smiles and cupcakes were another thing on the list. The two zebras stared at each other as Nyota's anger stopped and Chifundo had a smile that I could see even in the night. The other ponies gave half-hearted smiles and nervous chuckles. Corners was giggling like a school filly and my heart was lifted a bit.

“Now Sunrise, show them the sunrise.”

What? What are you- My tail was holding my thermos full of coffee, freshly brewed at dinner and warmed by the fire while we slept. I grabbed it with my hoof and undid the cap, pouring enough to split as I passed it around to the shattered ponies. Their spirits started to lift, I could see it in their faces despite the lack of light.

Happiness has it's own light even in the dead of night... Chifundo I hate and love you so much right now. I kept smiling, enjoying the thought of maybe putting some joy back into them. Even if I spoke in my own mind with Chifundo's cadence. I looked in my pack, there were cookies from Freida Waffles and three sweet cake rolls; like something straight out of my world before I went into the Stable.

I took my thermos back, now empty and handed out the cookies along with two of my sweet cake rolls going to the pair of fillies. “You do remember those have drugs in them right?”

Yes of course I do, but I can hope they get a reaction like Buddy got instead of the one I got right. If they do, then it will brighten their smiles even more. The pink pony in my head nodded and grinned ear to ear as she darted out of my sight. Almost like the mare was encouraging the use of drugs.

Nyota stared at me and then at the slave ponies. He put a hoof to his face and I heard the slightest bit of a chuckle that he was trying to stifle. The golden brown filly walked up to me and shyly scuffed her hoof across the dirt, not quite making eye contact. The filly was blushing like a school filly with a crush. “My name is Nuka Nugget. I didn't know there were ponies who would be nice to strangers,” Her words were timid, almost like she expected me to lash out and hit her at any second. I moved to hug her neck and she winced until she felt my hooves around her shoulders and pulling us filly to budding mare.

“Of course Nuka. More ponies should be this way,” I said and felt her hooves around me in return. They were clinging tightly as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. I could feel them dotting my neck, sliding into the reinforcement plating around my Stable-Tec barding. I held her close and could feel her soul growing through me at that moment. The fire inside restored and hope brought back to her body. I softly stroked her mane and the party had come to a stop. Alguacil landed among us.

“What is the hold up? You need, oh,” He paused as he noticed the filly hugging my neck. He took stock of the situation and then looked at Nyota. The black striped zebra had a smile on his face for the first time I'd ever seen as the night itself felt brighter and less oppressive.

Alguacil shrugged and Nyota shrugged back at him as the two exchanged a weary smile. They were both utterly confused at the laughter and suddenly warm spirits but neither could deny they needed it. I watched the two of them for a while, my mind wanting to ask them both a hundred questions but none of them appropriate right now. “Alright Nuka, we need to keep moving. We're already tired and we won't be safe till we get to Silver Fang,” I was reminded as a red dot pipped up on the PipBuck. It winked out a few seconds later.

As we started moving, I kept looking for that red dot and sure enough it came into view every so often. Nyota sensed it too, looking with his eye and turning his head in that direction when the pip would appear on EFS then looking away as it faded. We got another hour of walking and the red dot was joined by a second now, from the same direction. Why didn't some pony think to give EFS any information beyond Hostile, Friendly, Neutral? Seriously! Distance, type, species, anything at all? But I doubt anyone could have planned needing a giant cockroach, an undead pony, or a psycho-raider setting.

We walked for nearly another seven hours before Silver Fang came into view. Thankfully the red dot was just that, fading in and out. Not that it helped our frazzled nerves, but every pony else got 5 hours of sleep, while I had barely nodded off before the swarm came for us. Not to mention our two one-eyed members paranoia, I could see the hairs of zebra mane and griffin's feathers peaking up.

Sparrow came out to greet us as we arrived at the gates of Silver Fang Shanty. The pegasus leader looked at the battered ponies, then back to us, then back to them. “Are you bringing in refugees now? I thought when you left this morning that would be the last we saw of you. What are we supposed to do with them?” The pegasus merc asked as I walked up to her.

“Well, they probably want some payback at the raiders that did this to them. You sounded like you could use the recruits. Imagine the PR.” Assuming the Wasteland still cares about PR or reputation. “You could play it up around the merchants that stop by. Silver Fang Shanty takes in and recruits former raider prisoners, mercs with a heart they are!”

Alguacil pointed out as I slowly walked forward, still bright eyed and looking chipper despite my brain screaming, SLEEP NOW! The griffin used the last of his words in a different voice as if to mimic a grateful merchant.

Sparrow took a few moments to examine me. She could clearly see the blood stains on my face, helmet, and barding. It seemed like she was staring at me for what was an eternity. I wasn't sure what she was studying. The sleepless blood shot eyes, the brains and blood smeared all the way down to my collar. The bushy-tailed smile I gave to try to make it seem like everything was perfectly fine. Do I really look that bad?

“Hi Sparrow, glad to see you too.” I broke the silence as she looked at me much closer than she had in the past. The voice made me stumble back and shake her eyes free of me. Sparrow's gaze swung over past me to the filly next to me, she trotted up to Nuka Nugget and I looked from the older pegasus mare to back to the smaller filly. I swore they were family somehow, even down to their matching set of silver eyes. Nuka's lack of wings did not spur or knock away the feeling the two were somehow related, very close if the impression I felt was right. You wouldn't piece it together looking at them separately but right next to each other, it just clicked.

“Unless this little one has parents here, I'm taking her in,” she declared and I saw it for the first time. Not a look of relief or laughter out of need to find something to cling to, but genuine hope. It filled Nuka Nugget's eyes and the hardened merc mask of Sparrow was slipped away. I never would have guessed her to be the motherly type but once the facade was down; there was no denying it.

No one spoke up, so she took Nuka under her wing and pulled her tight to her flank against the black armor with the white fang marks. They walked back through the gates with the sun rising up before them on the other side of town. The heartfelt moment was almost framed by the rush of bright light from the morning sun. It was poetic or ordained by fate, either way my eyes darted from rescued pony to rescued pony; they looked like ponies now. The spark of magic had returned to their souls.

“You guards show them some quarters and figure out what roles we need filled by the adults. Also if the other little one doesn't have a parent among them, get them one.” There was that hardcore merc attitude back. Then with a voice that could shatter metal, she turned her head, “That's an order you lot!” The gate guards jump to and started checking on the group of bedraggled ponies behind us.

I let out a sigh of relief and started to walk through the gate when a blip on my EFS made me stop again. The red dot on my PipBuck kicked up again. What was that? Had it really shadowed us all night? We were safe inside Silver Fang right? Whatever it was couldn't get inside if it intended harm right?

Quest Perk Acquired - Coffee Addict - Who knew coffee could be a drug right? Well guess what, for some reason when you think of something to spark yourself or pick yourself up, you go right for the black nectar of the Goddesses.

Chapter 9: A Mystery Mare's Mystery

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Fore life and death are one, eve as the river and the sea are one. -Khalil Gibran.

I awoke to the incessant poking of a broomstick against my cheek. Rolling over I muttered, “Go away broom, I wanna hug mom-” A sharp yelp shattered the air as the insistent stick poked me right under the tail, my cry shrill enough to wake even the dead.” Flailing wildly I turned to give the stick holder a glare that could melt power armor. There were some places you just didn’t prod on a young filly!

“Sorry 'bout that. We come in every eight hours and poke some folks to make sure they are still alive. We've had a few, expire, on the bed here,” the flophouse mare, whose name escaped me, pulled the broom in close and started to sweep. She had a coat of soft purple with a mane of pure green and a tail that was short chopped off. She looked at me with big brown eyes and kept moving the broom idly.

“Then why did you poke me after I moved?!” I snapped, still quite flustered from the near encounter with the handle.

“Well a mare has to have some fun around here...” she trailed off with a smile as she swept. I could imagine out here there wasn’t exactly a lot of jester ponies bringing smiles to faces. I dunno, something like that. The whole “I got poked in the ass for a rude awakening and don’t say anything about it” seemed weird to me, considering her reaction.

Wait? Expired? “You mean there are ponies that... that die in these beds?” I let out a gulp as my eyes slid down to the mattress I was laying on. The dark stains I had thought were more embarrassing and less lethal. My started my lips to quivering, the feel of fear creeping in, imagining the shades of all those dead ponies looking down upon the bed's occupant, waiting for me to join them.

“Yeah they come in bloody and barely alive thinking they don't have a need for Doc Bonesaw to look at them. Then they don't wake up and I end up with a bloody mattress and quite a bit of salvage. So we check every eight hours to make sure they are still alive or a corpse.” The broom stopped as I screamed and leaped into the air. The covers flew up in a rush as they landed in the floor and I pounced on all four hooves with a squeak of the springs inside the old bed.

I could hear myself hyperventilating as lungs burned for air. Eyes darted around the mattress but failed to find a stain as I gasped for breath. “Calm yourself sweet heart. I saw the stable suit so I knew better. I made sure we put you into a clean bed.” There was reassurance in the voice, almost motherly talk. Slowly my eyes rolled over to the flophouse mare and I let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank you, I guess...” my voice trailed off searching for a name. A look of realization appeared across the mare's features as she interrupted any further talk I had.

“Honey Hearthfire, and you're welcome. Go on down and get your brea... well I suppose it's lunch now. You've been out most of the day. You passed out next to your griffin friend and didn't look injured so we hefted you to a bed.” She hooked a hoof with the broomstick and yanked my weight from under me. With a surprised yelp I crashed onto the floor hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. “No standing on the beds! You'll wear them out and make me have to replace them,” Honey Hearthfire voice echoed with the bouncing springs of the bed and the echo of my body's crash to the floor. She made me blush and feel like I was genuinely guilty of a crime. Just like my own mother, she had a capability of cutting a pony down with nothing more than a guilt imbuing glare and a few snappy words, leaving me feeling lower than a parasprite who just ate the last cookie.

She wields guilt like a Megaspell launcher. If only we had her during the war; the zebras would have surrendered like embarrassed foals. How can you manage to have a voice as sweet as honey and an inflection that literally drips with the venom of 'I'm disappointed' in the same breath?

“She does have a cutie mark that is a bed with a gavel on it. Also, Sunrise she is looking at you. It is rude to not at least say something!”

“Dammit Pink Pone! I'm thinking here!”

I didn't realize I had said that last bit out loud until the purple mare raised a green eyebrow in confusion. I shifted around sheepishly on the floor and crawled back up onto my hooves. The only real wound I had was pride and feeling like a scolded foal. “Sorry, just got a little carried away thinking out loud,” my voice was low with embarrassment as I was simply desperate to get away from the mare now I searched for a polite way out. “My friends are out in the mess hall downstairs?” My head kept hung down trying to hide the light green turning white blush that was burning into my cheeks through my neck.

“Whoo, you blush back to your original fur color! There is no hiding that one,” Pink interjected as though she could see me from an omnipresent perspective.

Honey looked at me and poked my rear, “Go on, grab your stuff and get down to your friends. Everyone probably wants to know what the massive slam into the floor was, Angel with a Shotgun.” The mare said and the name made no sense to me, I looked at her perplexed and then groggily collected my stuff.

The PipBuck beeped as saddle bags and backpack settled onto my flanks. The shotgun found its holster, along with a click of the a buckle to hook helmet chin strap into belt loop. The weight was both familiar and comforting.

My sides ached, my head felt like it was swimming in fog thick enough to drink, and I remembered seeing the sunrise before passing out; it was the first sad sunrise I'd seen in this new world. I knew now what my father meant when he said he had once seen a sad sunrise. It was like the beautiful colors were a reflection of gun blasts into of solar radiation breathing life into the world.

***

Earlier that morning

I understood now how something so beautiful, with colors of life giving reds and sweet safe blues, could be twisted into something of pure depression and absolute nightmarish to watch. All the stark, horrific colors and blight sky taken in as I slammed my hoof repeatedly into the scrap metal that served as a door.

Inside I hear the armorer shouting, annoyed at me as he trotted over to the door, cussing up a storm the entire way. As he opened up I held up the bag of bottlecaps, the helmet, and put on my sweetest, poorest filly eyes that I could. I knew it was early, but it couldn’t wait, and I had no idea how long it would take the gruff, burly looking stallion to refit the helm for a griffin.

No one else gets to die like Buddy if I have my way.

As I left the armor maker when he was finished, I looked up to the sickly sunrise, barely powering through the dark, unnatural clouds, the haze in the morning air giving the light an unnatural cast that shook me to the very core. I can't stand to look at a sunrise, my namesake, and want to pluck out my own eyes to look away.

***

As the memory of the morning came back, I felt tears dropping onto the wood floor as my hooves carried me on their own towards the stairs. These halls were lined with planks of wood that I could not tell if they were stained with blood or wood culture paint. I got to the bottom of the stairs when the tears stopped and my hooves dragged me into the tavern mess hall.

Chifundo was sitting there at a table, eating what looked like veggie slop from an improvised bowl that might have been a coffee table at some point. The wooden table used to be a park bench, as all the other tables in here were. Every single piece of furniture in here was a patchwork of plywood repairs and thin board nailed over cracks or holes. There was even sawdust glued into any gouge smaller than a hoof. I got up to the table and saw an apple that looked absolutely pristine. Thank the Goddesses! Fruit still exists!

I picked it up into a hoof and just before I could sink my teeth into the delicious looking red skin, somepony knocked it out my hooves. I slammed my teeth down with a pain that only resulted in my entire jaw screaming. Who am I about to want to buck in the crotch!?

“Sunrise! Look at it.”

My head shifted towards the apple on the table and saw the hole in the bottom now, it was made of wax. Am I so tired I can't tell the difference in wax and real food? While I was staring a griffin talon put a real apple into my hoof now. Algaucil leaned down to see my tired eyes and smirked.

“For someone named Sunrise, you sure don't wake up bright eyed,” the sombrero wearing feathered creature said as he took up the bench next to me.

“Just because I'm named Sunrise doesn't mean I am a morning pony.” My thoughts were interrupted by a lovely delightful smell. Coffee! That still exists! I looked away from the apple that, while ripe had a few extra bumps of growth on it and my PipBuck let out the occasionally click as it rested in my right hoof.

Nyota walked right up with metal mugs in a paper sleeve that breathed succulent scented steam into the air with grayish white clouds. “The vendors have a coffee shop outside with the real stuff.” He held up the 4 mugs. “Would anyone-” I grabbed one greedily before he could finish and was already halfway through it before he ended that sentence, “like a cup?”

I could feel his questioning eye and did not care one bit. Even black this was something delightful that the cheap stuff I'd bought the day before was sludge in comparison. Wonderful black liquid of the Goddesses made of the most bitter beans that bring me to life. Please never leave me again.

After getting the cup down to a third left from a full twenty ounce mug... Okay it wasn't that big right? It still tasted lovely and I felt like at that moment I could take on the world as it warmed my insides. “Thank you, Nyota. I hope you got enough to last a while,” I gulped down another long drought of sweet black nectar and as I could feel my flanks melting into the bench.

Chifundo let out a giggle and poked my PipBuck as I moved to take a bite out of the apple. “Turn on the radio, with a bit of gusto,” he urged and I gave him a suspicious look, taking the bite and munching slowly while my hoof moved and flicked the switch. I was rolling over the taste of the apple as I scrolled through the radio stations. Wow, it's sweet at first and then turns tingly and bitter. I do not like these new apples.

Chifundo pointed at the “Ten Pony Tower” frequency on the list of incoming signal. The tail end of 'Hearts Strong as Horses' by the Cutie Mark Crusaders played as another voice came on, a voice I recognized with quite a bit of shock.

“Greetings Equestria Wasteland! This is your host with the most, D, J, Pon3! Broadcasting live from Tenpony Tower with a lovely piece of mint muffin cake and here is some news from the wasteland.

“Now I had to verify this story from three separate sources because otherwise it would be outrageous. You cannot say that DJ Pon3 is not vigilant with his research.

“The mercenary city of Silver Fang Shanty reports that a piece of Stable-Tec construction equipment, model Sand Dog 3500, rolled up to the settlement under its own power. Arriving at around two in the afternoon two days ago with a small green filly driving it. Said filly was reported to be wearing Stable 43 barding.

Now children, NO PONY knows where Stable 43 is from. But the filly was looking to sell said piece of equipment and sure enough the citizens of Silver Fang Shanty report it worked right as rain.

“A particularly rich ghoul zebra that those from the area will know as The Curator, purchased the piece of equipment for “His Collection”. So children if you ever need a deep hole dug perhaps you can talk to The Curator or find this green filly to get another one working.

“Now this story was strange already, but it gets stranger. Apparently said filly set out with the companions of a griffin, a sand dog, two zebras, and a pony in a box. According to witnesses, they heroically engaged a group of raiders lead by the renown 'Double Headshot Brain Soup' and have returned once again to Silver Fang Shanty. With them were no less than seven additional ponies including two fillies they had rescued!

“Now children there is more to this story but for now, the rescued raider captives have been taken in by the Silver Fang mercenaries as new trainees while the fillies are reported to have new parents to look after them. Let's hear it for the Silver Fang; they have a heart even if it's made of caps.

“But more importantly who is this filly and why are the rescued ponies referring to her as: “The Angel with a Shotgun”? I'll give you more information as this story unfolds.

“In the meantime children, let's listen to an old one but a good one, I ain't Addicted Yet.”

What? He was talking about us? And who had told him? I looked up as I realized during the broadcast I had dropped the apple in shock.

“Where does he get his information? And why did he call Corners an Angel with a Shotgun?” I questioned, when Alguacil motioned a dark olive green unicorn with an orange mane and silver highlights over the dull caution cone color.

The stallion trotted over and I couldn't help but notice the scars on his body around his barding. Even his face was not spared, with what looked like a badly stitched cut across the top of his muzzle from lip to opposite lip.

I looked the olive stallion over and then looked at Alguacil with a raised eyebrow. My eyes were full of questions, but I wasn't asking any yet.

“No one is ever sure where DJ Pon3 gets his information but Corner's doesn't have have a shotgun anymore, Sunrise,” Alguacil looked from the stallion to me then back to the stallion with his one eye.

“Then who is he talking about?” I asked trying to adjust to the taste of wasteland apples with a final bite. At least the taste is consistent all the way through.

“Little one, you don't get it. You're the filly he gave a hit. You little 'un, are the Angel with a Shotgun.” Chifundo pointed out and I stared at him in complete shock.

What!? I'm on the radio? Why? What did I do? How did he know? Why hadn't he mentioned the death of Buddy? DJ Pon3 do you have any idea how much more confused you just made me?

Buddy... I, right. He isn't here anymore and can't hear me. Are my parents, gone too? ... No surely they got put in stasis as well right?

“You have hope Sunrise, until proven otherwise you have hope. Investigate the files, and also push against Alguacil's suggestion.”

What was that Pink? How do you always? Are you the one in control of my tail?

“Sunrise, you are the stable dweller out in and about. Stable dwellers seem to have this special place with DJ Pon3. At least that is how I've always heard it,” Nyota explained as he sipped his coffee after adding a white liquid labeled 'milk' and 'sugar' packets to it.

I looked at them confused then noticed the full grown stallion had been sitting there the entire time. I took a another look at him, taking in the fact he was a unicorn which made me smile inside. Nice to know unicorn's aren't all evil. His facial features were young, he was older than me but just from what I can tell. His eyes however were the thing that drew attention. There was a hurt there, like something that he struggled to earn and was denied. He had cut something off in his life; something that hurt more than he had ever admitted. It was like staring at a wounded soul, laid bare beyond those orange orbs just over the jagged scar upon the bridge of his nose. That scar seemingly acting like armor to divert focus away from the hurt in his eyes.

My gaze directed back to Alguacil and now that I felt the caffeine kicking in; I could see that his injuries from last night had disappeared. There was even signs of the feathers on his body being better groomed, even repaired. I looked back at the unicorn and cocked my head to the side.

“Hi... I'm Wandering Sunrise, if you can tell I'm not a morning pony.” My weariness was so obvious a school teacher would have kept her eye on me, just in case I fell asleep in class.

“Hi yourself. I'm Quik Stitch, I fixed up your friend over there,” the unicorn replied back ill prepared and off footed forced nicety. He was a soft baritone and I could tell that maybe even had a little singing talent with the way he had a rhythm to his speech.

I pointed at a hoof at Chifundo, then Nyota, outside where I assumed Corners was and then to Alguacil, “Which one?” All of them secretly need some medical attention, probably.

Alguacil raised a talon with his expression not changing to anything other than a smirk along his beak. Quick Stitch as nodded his horn towards the larger non-pony at the table.

I looked at one then the other, very confused. “You willingly let someone put medical expertise to you?”

“It got rid of the headache,” Alguacil said lifting his hat and then pointing his talon to the helmet I had made for him this morning. He was just making sure I knew he took it. “Also, they are in them healer's robes.”

Looking down past Quick Stitch's face, towards his neck and over his body, I was taking him all in now. The yellow barding with armor plates had a set of three butterflies on the chest and another set on the flanks. It was in oddly good shape compared to all the other bardings ponies wearing. I like felt my eyes were going to burst out of my head when it clicked in my head whose armor that was.

“The Ministry of Peace still functions?” I thought out loud while looking at Quick Stitch.

No one seemed to know what I was talking about for quite a few moments but then the darken green stallion got that I was addressing him. “I am not a member of the Ministry of Peace but I follow Fluttershy and her code. And yes I am a doctor.” My hoof pointed at his armor, then at his face, then back to his armor, then back to his face. My mouth fluttered agape, searching for words, until I finally gave up, shrugging and unable to argue. I let out a sigh.

“As far as I am concerned, so long as that armor is on you, you are a follower of Fluttershy and she is the only ministry mare I ever thought wasn't completely off her rocker.” I looked to Nyota and Chifundo implying their thoughts on the subject when I finished speaking.

“Umm...thank you?” Quick Stitch was clearly confused. “I never met Fluttershy personally but I have read some texts about her and the Ministry of Peace's code enough to get an idea that is a compliment from a stable dweller.”

The table got very quiet as Chifundo and Nyota appeared to be speaking their weird silent zebra language with just movements of their eyes and hooves. I looked up at Alguacil and poked his shoulder with a hoof.

“I assume that you want him to join us?” The hesitation in my voice was quite apparent and then I felt a talon on my head petting me softly.

“He's alright by me, you?” Alguacil asked, earnestly.

Did an adult just ask for my approval? What was this place and why was it upside down land? Sparrow went along with my idea for taking in the foals and training the refugees to join the Silver Fangs had gone over rather easy. She was especially happy to take the trainees when I offered the rifles we salvaged. Now, our regulator, whom I had gotten that helmet made for as a panic response to Buddy, was asking for my approval of traveling companions. DJ Pon3 had called me the “Angel with a Shotgun, reminding me of the drawings I had been leaving around the Wasteland.” I don't know why I was leaving them behind or where I had gotten the idea but now I was that to these ponies. An Angel with a Shotgun.

“Oh Sunrise, everyone is looking at you, expecting an answer. You've been keeping them in suspense for nearly five minutes. Equestria to Sunrise. Calling Sunrise. It is time to reveal the dawn.”

Oh right, thanks Pink.

“I, well, if he is a medic and Alguacil trusts him, at the very least we can hopefully prevent losing someone else... or patch up Corners when she smashes her leg on a door again.” I replied then extended a hoof to Quick Stitch.

He took it and we shook, for better or worse we had a medical pony that could do more than just slap a bandage on and force a brew down our throats. I looked at Nyota to see his expression, he was smiling just long enough to be caught.

“At the very least, Nyota will have someone else to work on him if he gets shot again,” I commented with an expression to say to him, I saw that!

Quick Stitch shrugged and smiled while Alguacil mutter something under his breath. I scrutinized him for a bit, both impressed with Quick Stitch's work but also sensing he wasn't telling us everything. “So have you all been busy this morning? Are we still going to try for the coordinates near Applewood and Las Pegasus or did someone get something else that we need to look at?”

Chifundo shrugged while Nyota pulled out a combat helmet like I'd seen on Equestrian Army recruitment posters, shining it up with a hoof. Quick Stitch nudged Alguacil and the griffin let out a disgruntled growl. Before he could speak, a familiar box now covered in scrap metal plates walked up and dumped a bunch of junk onto the ground next to me.

“Hey, what's this?” The box mare interrupted us all with Corners pulling the box up and tossing aside scrap metal, rusted springs, and even half of a plastic pony bank as she seemed to be looking for something specific.

Alguacil and I looked at each other and then to the pile of junk till I picked up a the black looking toy gun. Hey this is one of those guns the zebras have in the posters. It uses darts! Alguacil pointed at it as I made this realization, “That is a needler pistol.”

“It is in awful shape through, I doubt it will fire without a lot of repair work done to it.” I passed the gun back to Corners. She took it into the box with the cutest expression behind that vision slit I'd ever seen, like a filly who just realized someone gave out full size Horseshey bars for Nightmare Night.

“Alguacil, you were saying?” I pried curious as to what could have his feathers in a matted wad was peaked up.

“Well, there is a job at the regulator office but I don't like it. It's fishy to say the least.” He mused. “Something rubs me the wrong way when they won't give any details until you meet them.”

Curiosity officially peaked to the point that I cannot let it go! You are in for a wild ride now Alguacil. “Fine, let's meet with them.” I stood up and trotted for the door just as I got to the point I was halfway in and out of the flophouse I shouted back, “I'm gonna go meet them.”

Alguacil looked at me dumbfounded at the announcement. It didn't seem to register to him that I had hijacked his mission till I was out of sight.

I heard talons and heavy griffin paws doing a quick jog to catch up to me and the gravel that was this griffin's voice call out, “Hey now wait up! Let's talk about this, I got a bad feeling.”

We kept talking as we made our way down the path to the regulator's tent, seemingly in the process of being upgraded from a bunch of canvas to a scrap metal shack to match the rest of the town. “Alguacil, we hear them out. Worst case, we turn down the job after we hear it.”

“I don't think it works that way kid,” the griffin replied as I kept walking.

“Well the last time we didn't investigate one of your hunches, we lost...” I trailed off unable to voice the thought.

“Push past it, now. Say it out loud or you won't ever be able to.”

Pink, don't push me right now.

“We lost Buddy when we didn't listen to your hunch. You got a bad feeling, I think we should check it out.”

Alguacil was taken aghast at this type of logic. “That is the thing, I don't think we should look at this one.” He went to block the entrance to the tent and I slipped right under his talons. He hadn't accounted for how short I really was.

“And the last time we didn't look into something that you had a bad feeling about, Nyota got shot, you got your face mauled by an explosive and BUDDY DIED!” The last part I shouted as we stepped into the tent. The blue unicorn sitting at the desk jerked up, levitating her colt pistol pointing right at us but then raised an eyebrow as watched us arguing with each other.

“I understand that but this one is different. You have to understand,” The unicorn got up and go behind a curtain to the back room of the puke green tent. “I got a feeling that we shouldn't take this one and it might not work the way you think it should.”

“And I'm curious, you got a bad feeling, we hear them out.” I slammed my hoof against the hard packed earth and with that shut the door to the griffin's complaints. The navy mare coming back in and adjusting her honey colored mane with a box of Apple Bombs munching away at them. She was watching us like we were some form of entertainment. “What is the worst that could happen, we turn it down?”

I got the glare of justice at that moment. “Don't ever say those words again!”

“Which ones, there were a lot of words there.” The shot back was both sarcastic and serious just to see if I could get under his skin at this point. He was more stubborn than an earth pony and a mule pulling a carriage in opposite directions.

“What is the worst, that is just inviting something bad to happen in the wasteland,” the griffin leaned down to emphasize his words and get eye to eye with me.

“Fine, I won't. But we still hear them out.” My focus turned to the mare who was smacking loudly on the apple flavored candy cereal.

“If you two are done? I don't wanna interrupt, seemed important,” the unicorn replied.

I smiled and walked up to her, “The special job, call them up, see what we have to do to meet with them.” My head turned back to Alguacil as we stared each other down for a bit. Waiting for him to confirm and relent, the mare didn't move, as she also looked at him.

“Fine, but I will hold my I told you so, for when the time is right,” Alguacil replied and then turned to the deep blue unicorn to give a nod.

“Alright let me see how long it will be. You will probably have to come back tomorrow considering how late it is.” The regulator sheriff closed her eyes and her horn glowed. The room became much brighter as her magic manifested. Then the horn glow eased away and the unicorn's eyes opened back up.

“Seems you two have a lucky charm, the client will be here in an hour if you want to wait.” The blue unicorn slowly let a satisfied grin spread over her face while another dried Apple Bomb was tossed into the air and caught it.

Alguacil and I stared each other down as we took a seat. He sat upon a chair that looked like it was cobbled together from several other metal desk chairs. It had wheels from one chair, a support rod connecting the wheels up to two halves of a green and black office chair, all welded together like a piece of abstract art. I took my seat in the leather pillow with feather stuffing sized up like a bean bag chair. It only took testing with one hoof to see how soft and responsive it was, before I did a full on belly flop onto it like a newly released foal.

The hour would have passed in silence as Alguacil and I kept exchanging wordless glares. The mare at her desk would munch on an Apple Bomb as the loud crunch drew our attention to her. The sound was just enough to release the tension. I swear Alguacil if she says kiss already I'm gonna strike you harder than that steel ranger could have ever hoped! Then figure out how to kiss someone with a beak. I started thinking the last time I'd been this mad at someone as my conscious thoughts glazed over and a memory overtook my thoughts.

ooOOoo

T-Minus 11 Months 9 Days till Megaspell Day

I was behind a Sky Carousel, a new Mark 7 to be exact. The machine was in a state of disassembly, and I was sitting in the spell matrix compartment. However the heavy tiled and concrete wall at the back of the shop was slid up and revealing a hidden room. The lights were out and the shop was closed while my head eased the hood up so I could see into the secret room.

Why am I here? I remember this but this is my own body right? Wait... are memories suppose to be this clear? And what if the mystery person shows up while I'm here? Why does my own memory feel like a memory orb from a recollector or the stable stasis tank system? What is Alguacil seeing right now when he looks at me?

“Sunrise focus on the memory.”

Beyond the secret door laid a set of stairs spiraling downwards, with machine shop sounds echoing from below. I could see the dim edges of lights shining up to the landing of the metal stairs. I felt my host, me, echoing the thoughts about my father spending all night at his shop. He was getting home closer to 3 or 4 in the morning, sleeping till 10 and going back out. Even on days he normally wouldn't work, and I had to know why.

Today when he had sent me home, I'd snuck back into the shop and gotten into this carousel's engine compartment. This wasn't a well thought out plan, just an improvised one and surely Mom would notice me missing, call Dad, and he would discover me. Till then, I had a chance to spy.

With the hesitation of a mouse wanting to scurry during the moment of silence on the Summer Sun Festival raising, my host eased from the compartment. Her head rotated to check both ways; left then right and left again. A feeling of fright pulsed with every heartbeat as each hoof as they took a soundless step towards the stairs. The nerve racking fear made my nose numb and a desire of wanting to be anywhere but here ate at my mind. Slowly the hooves moved up onto the railing of the spiral staircase and looked down; no pony there.

All metal stairs in a tight spiral surrounded by concrete and lit by a bright light at the bottom. There was a dim metal door at the bottom I had never seen before with an insignia I did not recognize on it.

If you go in there, you won't have a way out except the way you came. I could feel the hesitation every second until the hoof touched the first stair down. Then it was a mad scramble.

I remembered that scramble being a lot longer than this. The noise made from hoof on metal grate all the way down to the gray concrete at the bottom and it roared like a summer storm. You were trying to be sneaky! That was the most unsneaky way to do this! With a wince, the host eased towards the door, the trepidation returned with a vengeance.

A white hoof reached for the door and eased the long handle down, there was a click and the door swung open as if pulled by someone else on the other side. Rainbowrise stood behind the door but my attention was devoted to the other pony in the room. A pink furred, white mane pony in all black armored barding. This mare did not hesitate.

She leapt forward and slammed into my host as the world went for a tumble. I felt a hoof upon the throat and slowly choking out as my host struggled to move. Full blown panic spiked as the feeling of life ebbed away. This was not meant to put me unconscious this was to kill!

“Sunrise! Get off her! That is my daughter!” I heard my father's voice yelling but sounding miles away, the shouting was barely heard over the ringing in my ears and the dimming of the world around me.

“What do you mean? How did she get in here?” The stern mare's voice was direct, her hoof pressed harder into my throat and I could feel my windpipe wanting to give out.

“Get off her or I will not work for you!”

The weight shifted as the sound of a meaty twack rang out. The host's air was completely cut off, just long enough to drop to blackness.

ooOOoo

The memory faded with a jolt. My throat ached and body felt sluggish. The pain of the memory was coursing into me, like it had just happened. Was that the last time I was met someone mysterious? Who was that pink mare again? Why did she-

“Sunrise STOP! You were almost gone an hour as is. You realize your brain and memories are working funny!?” Pink yelled at me.

Wait what are you talking about and how deep are you in my head?

“Oh Sunrise, you'll figure that out if you live long enough. But get into the here and now worry about Pinkie 71 later.”

My eyes drifted over to Alguacil, who looked back at me disapprovingly and then huffed. He turned his head to the entry flap a second before it moved.

I could see a pony under hood and cloak walking in. They stopped and raised a familiar dull gold hoof apprehensively hesitating before finishing entering the tent. There was a shrug and roll of the pony's shoulders, body language that my instinct recognized but couldn't place. She reached up and removed her hood, revealing herself as the mercenary captain and runner of Silver Fang Shanty, Sparrow.

“Well I did not expect it to be you lot,” she said and made her way in. Sparrow did not sit but stood in front of the two of us instead. The unicorn regulator's horn lit up and my eyes were drawn to the pop of the telekinetic envelope wrapped around the tent flaps. After a few flicks of the mare's horn, the tent was tied closed for our privacy.

“Alright I don't have a whole lot of time and you can come by my house later to ask questions,” the pegasus paused for a bit and closed her eyes. “My husband is missing, has been for almost half a year. I want to send somepony out to find him.” She hesitated again, this time for a long period. I started to speak up but she cut me off, “I doubt he is still alive but if he is bring him home; otherwise find out what happened to him.

“He was a Dashite from the Enclave. He disappeared one night without sign of struggle or a sound. I climbed into bed next to him, curled up against my Hot Cross Buns and when I woke up, he was gone. I know in the days leading up to his disappearance...” A tear rolled down her cheek unto her cloak. This wasn't the same jaded pegasus commander we had known when we entered town, nor was she the shewed detective to ensure who we were and lastly certainly not the no non-sense mother we had encountered at the gates this morning. This was what she looked like with her guard down and her heart exposed. “He kept looking over his shoulder and searching for shadows from the west. He'd fly out in the morning and always checked west.

“I didn't think much of it at the time, everypony here has something they're always worried about. But he was downright obsessive, up with dawn, flying patrols to the west no matter the weather or risk.

“He kept telling me he saw shadows out coming from the west, from the ruins of Los Pegasus.” Sparrow finished and finally took a breath. She spoke with a fury that if she didn't get it all out in one go it wouldn't happen. She placed her head into her hooves and held it there covering her face.

“Did somepony here have it out for him?” Alguacil coldly fired as he adjusted his sombrero so she would have to look into his eye.

“He was a Dashite so I assumed the entire Enclave would be after him. He also got into squabbles with earth ponies here.” She paused for a bit and lifted her head. “There were some earth ponies that were openly hostile. The only reason they didn't strike him was because he wore our mercenary uniform.” She banged her head a few times as if trying to remember exactly.

“There was a high end merchant, eccentric, that showed up on the day he disappeared. He had Talons escorting him and they didn't seem to care for pegasi at all.” The pegasus lifted her head and looked at us with a desperate expression.

“Do you have an exact date when he was taken? Do you keep a log book of traveling merchants in and out?” Alguacil demanded, his own interest starting to peak up at the mention of Talons, whatever those were.

“Yes we keep a log book you can speak to the quartermaster about it. He should know plenty. As for when he disappeared,” Sparrow inhaled. “I last held my Buns 137 days 12 hours and 24 minutes ago.” She spoke the exact time like it was a moment she refused to let go of and her day of the year wasn't a normal calendar but how long it had been since she held her lover.

“He also occasionally spoke like they might come get him one day. I thought he meant the Enclave...” Sparrow took another breath and moved to get out of the chair onto her hooves. “I just never thought it would happen. Least of all, him disappearing from our own house,” the pegasus hung her head for a moment then looked up at us. “If you want the job, it's 1000 caps.

“You can ask more questions tonight when we have some privacy at my house.” Sparrow stood up and put the hood back up to conceal her face. “You can talk to me at my house tonight.” She hefted the cloak to cover herself back up. “Nugget will be happy to see you before you leave as well. If you want to the job stop by for more questions and I'll make your group dinner.”

She must really be driven crazy by the thought of her lover leaving. I know if my parents had disappeared in the night like that... I looked at my PipBuck and saw the section labeled, special files. Oh wait I do and I know exactly how she feels. How many had turned her away or told her to give up? No, I don't care what it takes even if all we find is a body it is better than living this that both of us are enduring. My parents will take a long time to solve, much longer than just looking for a pegasus.

“Well we are heading west tomorrow anyway, we'll do it Sparrow.”

The pegasus looked rather startled that we didn't have more immediate questions. Alguacil snapped his attention to me like a hawk about to strike. “We will?”

“Alguacil we are heading that way anyway and if there is a chance we can help this place out even more, why not take it?” I turned to Alguacil with a smirk and a winked at him with my eye away from Sparrow. “Besides isn't there a bounty from the Regulator's that covers ponynappers and rescuing the kidnapped?”

“I can't believe I'm saying this,” he grunted to try to get past that point. “But fine kid. You've got some sort of head on you.” His head lifted up with what looked like hope in his eyes for the first time since I'd met the griffin. “And well I suppose if he was ponynapped, it would be part of my regulator position to make sure justice was served.”

“Well then it is settled. What was his name? Do you have a picture or can you describe how he looked? Anything about him that is unique besides his cutie mark?”

Alguacil chimed in to interrupt me, “What was he looking for in the west?”

Sparrow held up a hoof, “Hot Cross Buns was a plain brown stallion, like a piece of baked dough and his mane was salt and pepper.” She took a breath before continuing. “He kept it cut short, like it was buzzed by one of those old spell-matrix shavers.” The tent filled with the sound of Sparrow's voice breaking. “My husband had a hot crossed bun, literally like a dinner roll with white cream on top for his cutie mark. But it was branded over on his right flank with a black lightning cloud with rainbow marks around the cloud. He also had a heavy ring around his neck from where he wore his necklace all the time, he never left without it.”

Sparrow took a moment to collect herself before continuing, I could feel the hard time she was having, like if someone mentioned the name Buddy to me. “He never left without this necklace,” The pegasus pulled out a small ruby necklace with a rainbow sculpture inlay. “He never went anywhere without it. That is why I know that he likely didn't leave of his own accord. He never left without it.”

Alguacil made a motion with his talon to continue with her answers. Sparrow nodded and obliged, “Every time I asked why my Buns kept checking west his response was that he got a bad feeling coming from Los Pegasus. But that is at least a day away flying and so much more by land. I couldn't believe that somepony would head to those ruins or come all the way out here.”

I nodded and looked at Alguacil to see if he had any more questions. When he remained silent I chimed in. “I don't see why we can't help. We're going out to Los Pegasus anyway; may as well look for Hot Cross Buns while we are out there.” I gave the best, bravest smile I could to the mare. The kind you give someone to tell them you've done this a hundred times before. Sunrise just don't get anymore of your friend's killed.

Sparrow shook her head at both of us, “Stable dwellers, always the hopeful ones that make even the hardest of us have a heart.” The mercenary commander pulled the tent open with a twist of her head and walked out as quickly as she had entered.

Alguacil watched her leave and then started to speak only to be silenced as I put a hoof up to his beak. “Talk to me about it later, when we don't have an audience treating us like their personal entertainment.” I gave him that cute filly smirk I knew worked so often, especially on people older than me and trotted out into the crowd to see that Sparrow had disappeared. Alguacil's talons and paws were not subtle as they could be heard behind me.

“Alguacil, you go check the merchant's log books and find out anything you can,” I told him at the junction between the flophouse and the bazaar. You will at least know what to look for while I would have no idea how to examine a merchant's log. I only got a grunt of acknowledgment and started towards the flophouse to gather our friends.

“Sunrise you do realize you just made a major decision about this journey without consulting your friends?” Pink casually whispered in my ear.

I can't stand the idea of leaving a pony in distress. Besides... Sparrow adopted Nugget. Even if we fail, isn't it better she has some hope to inspire that little filly? To know that life can be better? She has been a good pony, she deserves ponies to be better to her. Pink shut up and slowly drifted out of my sight. Well more bounced like a squishy squeeze ball across my vision till she was beyond my sight. You do realize you are absolutely insane seeing Pink and hearing her? Though I suppose al of us have our quirks, I wonder if Nyota and Alguacil have something like you, Pink?

By sunset, we had gathered Chifundo, Nyota, and Quick Stitch at Sparrow's home. It was easy to find since it was the one marked, 'Commander and Queen'. Mares what an Ego! We shifted around nervously, looking this way and that for the large griffon, wondering what would make the relatively disciplined regulator late as the minutes ground on.

Suddenly a gunshot echoed from the direction of the flophouse. Everyone turned and stared in the direction of the tavern as had everypony elese in Silver Fang Shanty for a brief moment of silence. Then the silence ended and they went on about their business as if nothing had happened.

While my friends went back to their various tasks I kept looking in that direction till I saw Alguacil flying through the air. He landed right next to us and I gave him a hard stare at him, expecting an explanation. The others were talking but I was ignoring them glaring at him like he had glared at me.

“Did you explain it to them?” The griffin wiped his talons while he spoke, I noticed the ear poking out of his duster pocket, fresh and bloody.

“No, I just told them we had to meet Sparrow. I thought I'd let you explain to them if we were taking the job or not, with what you learned out about the merchant.” My eyes looked away from Alguacil in disgust. How can they kill so easily, callously, or without a second thought?

“Well then kid fine. But this is the last time I am the one to relay the decisions you make for us.” He adjusted his hat and patted the helmet on his waist. “Even if you get us protection, you still need to face the consequences of your decisions.”

Way to give me the guilt trip! You and I both know we are doing this because it is the right thing to do; even if I had to kick you in the beak to make you realize it. “We can still walk away and they don't have to come with us if they don't want to.” I snorted back, though the hurt in my voice was obvious to anyone with any sense.

Alguacil eyed me with his patented glare, then turned to everyone else present, “Alright, where is Box Pone?” He reached up to scratch the back of his head against his ear.

“No idea, I haven't seen her since we worked on improving her box,” Nyota replied chewing on a cigarette in his mouth.

“Well this is what is going on, Sparrow has asked us to go find her husband, Hot Cross Buns.” I hesitated at this point and let out a sigh as Alguacil continued on. “Since we are heading towards Las Pegasus anyway and that is the direction she thinks he went. Sparrow isn't sure if he was taken or left. She has been kind enough to offer us dinner as we talk to her about all of it.” I looked at all of them, from face of friend to friend to well, Quick Stitch was a new found friend right?

Nyota shrugged and smirked, “So long as it is on the way.”

Chifundo looked at Nyota then mirrored his shrug and body language, “I am not opposed, it is like one of goodness I suppose.”

Quick Stitch shook his head, “Well if I am going to help the griffin, I guess I am stuck with the rest of you.”

What did you do that Alguacil has bound you to us? Do I have Alguacil or DJ Pon3 to blame for this one?

“Does it matter Sunrise? You are making friends! Just keep doing what you are doing and be the better pony!”

Dammit Pink! Fine, wait, “What is your name?” Pink was already gone out of my vision and I couldn't find her anymore.

I turned and knocked on Sparrow's door with a hoof twice. Before the third hit of my hoof Sparrow opened it with a jerk and I had to avoid clopping a hoof onto her chest. “Sorry!” I yelped out as the pegasus looked at me with a gotcha grin.

“Oh, it is not like I wasn't listening from the other side of the door and waiting on you for nearly half an hour, with dinner already made and Nuka Nugget munching down on veggie stew.” The sarcasm in the air made everyone of us roll their eyes. When Alguacil and Nyota roll their eyes do they move the eyebrow that lacks an eye? Sunrise! Focus on the task.

“Well don't just all stand there, come inside and let's have a conversation about my Hot Cross Buns.” The way the mare said it, it sounded like we were talking about sex, and not her husband. It got a blush from me, a questioning look from Nyota and Chifundo, and another eye roll from Alguacil. His other eyebrow does move!

We all shuffled into the shanty house, which as it turns out was built on an actual house, or what used to be one from before the megaspells fell. We could see the remains of the foundation as well as the steel beams reinforcing its structure. Inside were several pieces of improvised shanty furniture mixed with pre-war pieces.

The chair was a repaired lazy-pony patched with enough duct tape to nearly cover it completely, while the coffee table looked like a box that had most of the sides cut off so you could stick your hooves under it. Meanwhile there were a couple of nightstands that were made from ammunition crates with the words Canterlot Armament faded on their sides. The room was lit by electrical lights being run by a spell-matrix generator in the corner. At least she had electricity. The kitchen was also now attached to the living area, with an old pre-war stove that somehow still worked.

Nuka Nugget was by the counter with her dull gold mane that really came close to matching her new pegasus mother's. No wait! She is brighter. Nugget looks almost exactly like Sparrow now that she... she... had a bath?! How dirty is the wasteland? How bad do I look without having bathed in the last couple of days? Makes me appreciate showers or long baths now. Add them to the list of other things I miss now.

AsNugget got out bowls made from various pieces of metal, I took a smell. Carrots and Potatoes! They still exist! I dug into the soup with gusto and I savored every spoonful. Somehow Sparrow had gotten rosemary and pepper, as well as a decent amount of salt. Either way, the combination of tomato base with potatoes and carrots was delightful. While I ate, rather noisily might I add, everyone else took their time picking at it while asking questions of Sparrow.

“Did he have any features besides the necklace impression on his neck?” Nyota prodded as he took a bite of potato.

Sparrow shook her head, “Not that I can think of and I know every inch of my Buns.”

Chifundo got up from his seat and started to walk towards the exit to the common room, a hallway made of scrap metal, “May I check upon where you last saw your Buns, so that we may have a better chance of returning him to his huns?”

Sparrow blinked a few times at the pink striped zebra then looked up at me, as I had a mouth full of soup I just shrugged and chewed. The mare turned her head to Alguacil who nodded to her. “He has some sort of ability to talk to spirits. He hasn't been wrong yet about them.”

“I commune with lost spirits, wisdom imparted by their visits.” The curious way of Chifundo replying and always so fast, it was like he had two million rhymes ready to be issued out of his mouth at a month's notice. I sipped on the soup, muddling this over when Nugget walked up to me and poked my side.

Without hesitating I did what I would have always wanted to do to a little sister, I tackled the gold filly into heap and started using my hooves to tickle away at her flanks. The outburst surprised everyone in the room and relieved some of the tension for the rest of us.

My friends all reached for weapons and I heard the cocking of pistols before the stream of forced laughter came from Nugget and they saw our smiles which were fading under the gaze of pistol barrels on us. I used my other hoof to motion for them to put those away and then returned to tickling the little filly under me.

“Mare! MARE! MARE!” Nugget cried and I stopped tickling her and gave a gentle hug. It is nice to have a filly close to my age who isn't obsessed with boxes. I helped the filly up and grinned at her before ruffling her mane with a hoof. Yep, wish I had a sister now!

Sparrow pointed a hoof to Chifundo, “Go ahead then and do your thing then Chifundo. If it helps you discover where my Buns is, then I see no harm in it.”

Chifundo started to speak to the air, “Hello spirit, I do not mean to make you bear it. But can you remember back to the day when the one called Buns was made to leave his lay?”

There was a shuffle from Chifundo's hooves as we all watched and waited. “Some of my energy? I believe I can spare it like a friend with a berry.” We could all see the heat in the air around Chifundo rolling off of him before my eyes.

I felt dizzy, like that raider smashing me in the head with that hoof. My vision became blurry and Chifundo's words became distant. I heard the words “Back when I remember,” and I realized they did not belong to Chifundo right before the world went black.

ooOOoo

I was inside a host body, but it felt strange. Like I didn't have a physical form, just one that existed. When my host looked down for a moment to investigate a rat, I saw why.

I'm in a spirit!? I have no body, how do I exist? What is this? Chifundo you have some explaining to do!

Is this what it's like to be dead? You don't feel your body so much as your mind just free floats? This is, way too strange, and note to self; if I ever feel this panic or find my body and hope I can be brought back!

The host looked up to see Sparrow with a wing wrapped around a stallion that was slightly smaller than her. He was certainly a plain brown, like a cookie or wet sand. It must be nice to have wings, you can do things like cuddle without using a hoof. … Seriously Sunrise, this is a ponynapping investigation and that is what you focus on?

Suddenly my host turned to see the window opening up and a device hurled inside. It bounced twice and on the second bounce, there was no sound. My host staggered and I felt like I'd had the wind bucked out of me. Two creatures in sleek, all black armor, it faded in and out of sight; like it had some sort of camouflage that made it almost invisible. I couldn't get a feel for the size of the two creatures, their constantly shifting fields made it impossible to tell if they were even ponies or something else.

A weapon came out from under the cloak shield, at the head level of the two sleeping pegasi. I saw a hoof emerge and push the lips of Hot Cross Buns closed in his sleep. His eyes popped open as another hoof came out and held a gun. The needler gun! That looks like the exact same one Corners found. A dart hit him in the side of the neck followed by another that hit Sparrow. The two figures grabbed onto Sparrow's wing and lifted it out of the way.

The first figure took Buns by the shoulders and dragged him out of the window, without taking flight or making a sound, just walking out; climbing up the wall. The second creature followed after removing the darts. They stopped and took a knife out of dresser; turning the blade around in pale moonlight before taking the blade into the armored cloak which shimmered to adjust. I could see the hoof now and knew it was a pony.

They took the device off the ground, it looked like a large apple with a pair of speakers on it. As they left the room, sound returned and my host felt the distress of having just watched the ponynapping.

ooOOoo

I slammed forward and my body felt like it had been injected with a dose of pure nausea. I couldn't take it and vomited into the bowl of soup I had just had. Soup never tastes as good on the way back up! Why, why could I not simply have a meal without something happening. I didn't lose everything but the foul taste in my mouth meant I wasn't hungry anymore. As I looked up, every eye was shifting between myself and Chifundo.

“Chifundo, can you give me some warning next time you are going to use some zebra magic and pull us all in with you.”

“What does the little pony mean, pull you all in? I was the only one who was meant to see where to begin.” The pink striped stallion gave me a questioning look as did everypony else in the room when I spoke.

“So did everyone see what happened?” I asked aloud before seeing a mass shaking of heads.

“We thank you kindly spirit, you have proven merit,” Chifundo spoke to the air and then waved it away. I thought I saw a wisp of smoke then nothing. “Sunrise, I know not how you entered the vision but you were not meant to go beyond the great division.”

I blinked away the sickness as I felt two hooves touching me. One belong to Quick Stitch, the other Nyota. I looked from olive green stallion to black striped stallion, then back. Great both the medical ponies are now concerned. Quick divert attention elsewhere.

“Why don't you tell them about the vision and whatever that, spirit was it?” I took a moment to get approval from Chifundo before continuing. He motion a hoof and nodded in approval. “Yeah, the spirit, what it showed us.”

Chifundo took his time relaying to the rest of us, in complete rhythm. It was pure torture on me, to the point I think I might prefer a broken knee. No, No, I refuse to think in the way Chifundo talks! When he finished he seemed most disturbed as he put a hoof up against his chin.

“I think the device was something used by my kin of stripes. Thus the spirit heeded the call of its pipes. The device's purpose to make quiet, the crimes of the ponynappers sought to hide it,” Chifundo finished speaking and we remained quiet for a time.

“Well that settles the matter. We have ponynappers to catch, for justice,” Alguacil stated quite coldly and I swore I heard the spinning of a snake rattle somewhere. It was like this griffin was a walking talking embodiment of a wild Appleloosa western.

“I talked to the merchant book keeper, Quarter Keeper.” He took a long draw of air. “His books had been fixed by someone who was a former raider and sold out Hot Cross Buns then fixed the books. All for just 300 caps.” His stern look went from pony to pony as he waited to continue. His eye focused on Nugget for a bit and then I realized what he was about to say.

I jumped up and covered Nugget's ears with two hooves as the gravel grated on steel voice spoke again. “Quarter Keeper then did what I should have done in the first place. He took a baseball bat to that damn piece of lying shit till all his legs were broken,” Alguacil took a glass and sucked down the water. “Then that stupid piece of horse shit mentioned he should have done it for 700 caps so I shot him. Blew his brains all over the flophouse table and scalped his ear.”

“There are FOALS IN HERE!” Nyota and Quick Stitch shouted in unison as they looked at Nugget and me. I was listening and glaring at Alguacil while Nugget was toying with her piece of potato in the soup. She was completely unaware of anything going on while I kept my hooves firmly placed against her ears.

“I ain't gonna spare any details on their count. They need to know the truth, the cold hard truth,” the griffin replied and stared at all of us to challenge him on it.

“Let's get going, we have bugged Sparrow enough I think and made her night quite eventful. We can speak to you tomorrow if we need anything before we go right, Sparrow?” I turned my head at the sound of a bottle uncorking and Sparrow was turning up what looked like a dark red wine to her lips.

Sparrow, oh no you don't, you don't get to hide in that right now. I huffed, stomped over and grabbed the bottom of the bottle trying to tug it away.

Sparrow pulled it down with a heavy gulp, “Oh you want some?”

I could feel the eyes in the room staring at me. I felt the expectation was that I was going to say yes. “No, but you don't get to do that anymore. Not in front of a foal at least!” I declared and nodded my head towards Nugget. The poor foal had a face of shock that another filly was standing up to a full grown mare with that much defiance.

“Sunrise has a point. You have a foal in the room, and we aren't gonna let Alguacil off the hook anymore than you!” Nyota was judgmental enough that you could feel the guilt trip attempt tugging on your throat. Holy cow! There is a whole lot more to that quiet zebra that any of us ever give him credit for.

Sparrow stared at me hard, then looked at the foal and her eyes softened. She put the cork back into the bottle of wine, while staring at me with a glare the entire time. She deposited the bottle into the coffee table next to her couch. The sound of metal on glass rolling till there was a tink as it came to a stop inside.

The mare then looked over at her foal, “Nugget dear, go to your room. It is late and you need to get ready for bed.” Her tone was a motherly, defy me at your own risk declaration.

Nugget let out a discouraged aww, then looked up and nodded, “Okay mom. Sorry Sunrise but I have to do-”

“Its okay Nugget, I'll see you when I get back.” I paused for a moment, “With your new dad, Hot Cross Buns, in tow.”

“You don't even know if he is alive! You saw the wasteland take Buddy and only knew him for 2 days! You can't possibly be-”

Shut up Pink. We saw him leave here alive still, I'm bringing him back. I have to do better than.. than..

“Headless friends that you bury?”

Yes, and I need to make sure that little filly gets the hope I have restored to her. I don't care how but I would rather her be hopeful than think none of us are coming back or that her mom won't see her Buns again. I had a mom and dad, she needs one too.

As soon as we heard Nugget's door close, Sparrow took her wing into the table and the wine bottle came back out. She resumed glaring at me, daring me to say something as the cork came undone, spitting it across the room. Then took a long swig, never once did that piercing death stare leave me. Once she finished the bottle, she set it back down.

“You lot should see yourselves out. I need to go tuck in Nugget and be alone for a bit.” The pegasus walked past us and there was silence in the room. I noticed Quick Stitch's horn glowing and saw the dishes wash themselves clean as well as stack themselves up perfectly into the drying rack. Well he can't be a bad stallion, he did just clean her house for her. As I finished my thoughts, the pickled-olive stallion's cleaning spell finished up. It wasn’t exactly what mom would have considered acceptable, but it was definitely far better than anything I had seen since I woke up in that miserable pit. At the very minimum the dishes were done and I could see the floor.

We had a plan now and at first light I would begin to execute my sixth day in the wasteland, to head to Las Pegasus and find Sparrow's Buns. All while we figured out what that strange coordinate were and where my parents were.

Fan Artwork: Alguacil Hit!

Level Progress - 22% of the Way to Level 5.

Chapter 10: Minefields, Secret Stables, and Geckzillas OH MY!

View Online

Even if a minefield or the abyss should lie before me, I will march straight ahead without looking back. -Zhu Rongji

I woke up groggily as Honey Hearthfire rolled me over by the shoulder. At least it isn't a broomstick to my nethers, I thought bitterly. The flophouse owner stole a smile towards me and glanced her eyes towards the door. There was no fighting her, unless you want to deal with a guilt trip that could cause a Saint or a goddess feel like they had abused a hundred innocent foals. Today however was much easier to get up from, though my head was cloudy still for some reason.

Coffee would be nice. Let's get downstairs and get some coffee.

My belongings were all accounted for, with the addition of several more pounds of coffee, the kind Nyota had gotten yesterday. I hefted my packs and walked out, leaving Hearthfire to her cleaning and myself free from her weapon's grade glares. In the mess hall, all my friends were already awake and gathered around a table. I guess I would consider them friends regardless, of our differences. Even Corners and her box cuts. They were gathering together and they were waiting on me. Do I really want to take them on this quest? This adventure into a place that has proven lethal to them? I have to make sure they want to do this.

Taking the open seat between Quick Stitch and Alguacil, I stared down the coffee on the table, the steam smelled of heavenly clouds but looked like hellfire sludge. Making a face, I took out my kitchen kit and made the coffee Nyota had bought on the hot plate.

Mmm, Coffee. My mind was still foggy with sleep, but as I poured the nectar of the goddesses into my thermos I could already feel it clearing from a scent beyond the heavens. No one else wanted any so that meant I would get two cups this morning!

“So, are you all really willing to risk your life for these two mysteries?” I took a sip of coffee as the group stopped speaking among themselves and turned their full attention to me. “What these coordinates are and to find a ponynapped stranger you don't know?” I took a breath and inhaled the steam of my tart liquid as I savored its warming effect on my body; while my mind almost immediately cleared of any form of morning fuzziness. “There is no shame in not going.”

Immediately Quick Stitch leaped to his hooves in dramatic fashion, “yes, I'm pretty sure I want to go. Some pony has to make sure you all make it there and back in one piece.” The unicorn sat back down a bit embarrassed at the small scene he had made. “Also this Hot Cross Buns could need medical attention.”

My jaw dropped, our new found follower of Fluttershy was not one to back down easily. His voice was stronger now and I could pick up the cultured of a city stallion.

“Where there is ponynapping there be slavers, raiders, or law breakers,” Alguacil gave his revolver a small pat, as if assuring himself that it would be put to good use soon. “Anyway you sink your beak into it, my job is to bring them to justice.” Alguacil let the last word end in a harsh growl that truly hammered home his dedication.

I couldn't put a hoof on it, but something seemed different about my friends from other ponies I had met before the stable. Every pony in the wasteland seemed... weird... but I had a feeling that when they looked at me, it wasn't the same way they did every pony else. I got a sense of being a reminder to them of something long since gone that they wanted back.

My thoughts were derailed by the smell of smoke and the flicking of a lighter. Nyota was taking a long draw from a cigarette before speaking. “Kid, if it means not being in this town.” he paused and took a puff of the smoke, “I'm not letting you go alone either.”

Chifundo just gave a nod and patted my head. Sugarcube Corners gave a giggle, “And the Great Box God says go with you.”

Okay What the... ya know what it's better I do not ask. If there is a Box God, then I will take all the help I can get. I just wish he had helped Buddy more. I let out a sigh resigning myself to the fate of having this group with me. Then looked up with a smile, “Alright, well let's eat, check our gear, and get going before Sparrow wakes up from her hangover.” I was certain that Sparrow didn't just drink one bottle last night, that was a safe bet. The way she started before she tucked Nugget into bed, she probably had quite a few.

I guess these are real friends, make sure you don't abuse them, Sunrise. Hopefully you can pay them back one day. We talked about equipment and made sure everyone had some sort of healing items, food, ammo, and our equipment was in perfect shape as well. I made sure everyone had a helmet, hats are not shotgun proof. I had no idea when we would have a chance to come back, and none of us truly knew what was at the Las Pegasus and eventually Applewood. A sense of dread lurked at the back of my mind. I couldn’t help but have a nagging sense that I would lose something else out there, something truly irreplaceable.

We headed out of Silver Fang Shanty keeping a low profile. “Even I couldn’t help but agree that we had far too much to do, and we couldn’t let everypony of the settlement drop their troubles on our lap, which was bound to happen between Sparrow’s task and the radio broadcast... dammit Chifundo! Everyone was quick to move along our walk, not just to get away, but to warm our bodies in the brisk, early dawn light. We headed towards the rising sun that warmed our faces while retreating night cooled our flanks.

“Quick Stitch, what is your story? Where are you from?” I asked quite directly and looked over to the olive green unicorn. He was a much more sickly color here in the light, here in the light, a mixture of jet black and green that looked more like tainted obsidian. It did not match well at all with his custard yellow Ministry of Peace armor. Somehow even the bright pink normally quite cute butterflies adorning the armor just made the fashion faux pa so much worse!

Studying him now, I saw the stitching scar over his nose wasn't the only one scarring on his body. Quick’s right ear looked like someone had severed it, cut off with a clean edge like a knife. His neck was ringed with a daisy chain of smooth slashes. Lastly I noticed his rear knees, they were misshapen, battered, and knotty. He moved stiffly, his coat covered in silvery scar grown hairs. He had all the evidence of a hard life. Are you one ponies we rescued? No way you got that armor... No you are somepony else.

“Oh ya know, I've had a hard life and the wasteland is a wild bitch without mercy. But I feel like if I am kinder, better pony it might change a small piece of the wasteland.” His smile was genuine and he nudged my flank with his, “what is your story?”

I blinked a few times, ponies had asked where I had come from, who I was, but never the whole thing. Well, he's gotta learn sooner rather than later. I told him of the time before the megaspells, my dad's shop and mother's work as a veterans affairs legal adviser, after she finished her tours in the military. Even down to her raspberry cream oatmeal and financial work she did for Rainbow Rise. The mare who didn't know when she had used all her energy.

Quick Stitch was suddenly prodding and poking me, I was under a full medical examination while we were walking. “You're a remarkably well preserved ghoul! No signs of radiation burns or mutation, is that a heartbeat I detect?” My hooves slapped away the stallion to make him stop.

“I'm not a ghoul! I'm from Stable 43.” I retorted to him and the party stopped for a moment while I frustratedly flailed to get Quick Stitch off.

“Then how have you survived for so long? At filly size?” He shot back and took a few hoof steps away as the rest of the group looked ready to spring.

“Stable 43 had stasis pods and used memory orbs to keep us content. There is a missing week of our lives that appears to be dated with the encrypted files on my PipBuck!” I took a breath and started walking again to get the group moving and break the tension. “Any other questions Quick Stitch?”

The stallion put a hoof to his chin for a moment while we walked. He shook his head, “I'll talk to you about it later. I'm still gonna need to understand how you survived for so long if I'm to be your regular doctor.”

Regular doctor? Am I fully trusting this new pony blindly? Why not? Spring Bronco was just one bad apple right, he surely was a good pony.I'm not a blank flank child anymore either, I don't know what I am yet but they aren't coddling me like a child either. But I do know I shouldn't give up the ideals my parents so easily.

We had been walking and talking for nearly three hours. Maybe that is why I was so willing to throw myself into small talk with Nyota. I prodded him about the wasteland and got plain answers in return. Why the clouds were always present, what he normally traveled around for. He prodded back about life before the megaspells. What it was like, who my parents were, how the ministries really were to me.

Suddenly Quick Stitch stopped and grabbed me. “STOP! Everypony!” The whole group looked at him and drew weapons unsure if they should point them at him or some new found unseen threat. I raised an eyebrow when he pointed out with his other hoof. “What are those mounds?”

I shook my head and looked around, for nearly the entire Canterlot Grand Avenue; there were mounds in every direction from us. Pink bounced into my view against the HUD provided by the EFS. She was eating popcorn in a lawn chair, leaning in to see if I would figure it out. Mounds like that are usually, LANDMINES! I looked up at Quick Stitch, “Those are landmines, I think.” Pink was far too happy that I had figured it out so quickly and even held up a exam paper with a red A+ stamped on it. Taking a look around it quickly became obvious we were standing in a mine field, not just at the edge, somehow we had walked right in and not set anything off!

“Alguacil! This could be an ambush!” Nyota shouted and Alguacil took flight, he kept his head on a swivel and circled above us. There was no signal of danger from the griffin even after several circuits above us.

“Okay, no pony move! I need to figure out if these are pressure or proximity mines then how we can get out of here.” I stated looking from pony to pony. I knew it was going to be hard, considering how mines were designed to be not disarmed once they were in place.

“Sunrise, you have a unicorn with you,”Pink stated quite bluntly.

Maybe I should be asking you Pink. How I know all this stuff about explosives and land mines?

“Oh! You'll find out one day how you know exactly what land mines do! But in the mean time, I suggest you focus on disarming them. It should be entertaining for me as well,” Pink replied and took out a bag of popcorn from seemingly nowhere.

“Quick Stitch, I need you to lift one of the mines up, I need to know if I am dealing with motion sensors or pressure mines. Just find the metal object and levitate it.” I instructed as I took a step back and let the stallion front and center. His horn glowed and a mound of dirt nearly 40 feet away from us lifted up into the air. As the sand cleared, a skull emerged.

“A skull? Is this a graveyard? Lift another one, I wanna make sure.” I instructed. With a quick nod of his head, his horn glowed once more. The dirt quivered as he lifted out a worn and cracked brick. I walked right up and plunged my hoof into the soft upturned earth. This was completely careless and without any worry, not ever a second for safety. With a cocksure smile I grinned at the death’s mask of the pony’s skull, relief flooding through me as my guess was right. Slowly the smile faded, as I looked into those blank holes were eyes should have been, and the worn yellowed bone in my hoof.

You're holding a skull! As a snap reflex I hurled the skull as far away from me as I could.

BOOM!!

The dust and debris flew into the air at the end of my throw, the skull triggered a lethal landmine. I hit the deck, covering my head with my hooves. As the last bits of gravel and dirt plopped back to earth I looked up and growled as I rising back to my hooves, “Some pony is going to get smacked for this! They laced a minefield with skulls and bricks! Are you kidding me?!” I screamed out and threw my hooves into the air with a frustration that bordered on rage.

As I voiced my rage to the heavens Alguacil touched down with grace among us. “Look I can just fly us over the field. Well except Corners. Between her battle saddle and the box, she would have to leave the box behind till I made another trip for it.”

We all looked at Corners and could see her shaking like a leaf in the wind before releasing a squeal of distress, “I can't leave the box! The box is safety! The box is life.”

I looked around as everyone started to berate her. I had to act, I had to clear us a path. I could see where the mounds ended just over a city block length away. Sunrise you can do this. You know explosives! Your cutie mark is for them. It is just like turning off a spell matrix without the key. Just unlike a spell matrix that won't turn off; these explode if you clip the wrong wire. Mentally reassured, I took several steps forward, cautiously checking the field for any signs of mines or other hidden explosives.

I nearly jumped clean out of my own hide, tumbling over in a heap, unable to hold back a terrified scream as something slammed into the back of my head. Did I just explode? Dear Goddesses the headache. Fumbling around, my hoof felt something solid against it in the dirt, a very square shaped pony skull. I looked behind me, my head throbbing and I could taste a bit of blood in my throat, Chifundo and Nyota were both scolding Corners at the top of their lungs.

“What did you do that for? Are you trying to kill her!?” Nyota's shouting echoed into the distant wasteland.

“What you have done, is most unwise hun.” Chifundo struck the side of the box with a hoof. It wasn't apparent if the box, Corners, or Chifundo had taken more damage. “You should not distract the minesweeper, that is if you want to keep her.” There was a chilling statement under toning Chifundo's words.

Corners wouldn't want to kill any of us right?

“It slipped, I'm sorry. I was trying to hit a mound off in the distance.” Corners let out a half hearted apology.

Really Corners? I'm creeping up to sweep mines and you go off to do that? When I'm done with this I'm going to get you back in spades. That wasn't even funny in the slightest and now I have a massive headache. My hoof moved to turn around and I never heard the click, only the sudden shock wave of force that slammed me when I took my next step. There was a total disconnection from the world under me as I was sent spinning.

I was flying. I couldn't move, my ears rang, and my eyes burned. My right foreleg felt like it was hanging on by a thread from shattering into bits. Every part of my form sent signals of pain in and my right foreleg hurt most of all. The ringing got louder and louder as my sense of gravity returned with a vengeance. I was falling.

With a blow that drove the air from my lungs; my back impacted to the ground next to Chifundo. My foreleg was mangled and damaged in front of my eyes. I could feel my nose bleeding, and my eyes were straining to stay awake.

My helmet rolled against my shoulder. I was gulping down air in quick, shallow, panicked breaths, my heart beating a mile a minute. Oh I'm still alive! Slowly I rolled to my belly. Everypony's eyes were staring in horror at the little green pony that had just been blown sky high.

Lips were moving but I couldn't understand anything being said. I wasn't sure right now if my barding and helmet had saved me or if I was only going to live long enough to have my friends watch me die.

I lifted my right foreleg and found that while my barding there was intact, the screen on my PipBuck was scratched, my hoof was split and bleeding below past the ankle. The barding reinforcement was held together by scraps of leather, the metal plates hanging loose. Pieces of rocks, sand, and dust rained down around us.

Quick Stitch was on me in a flash, starting to help me up when Corners got close to us and pinned me back down. As I looked past her hooves I saw her machine guns poke out of the metal reinforced box. Oh Goddess is she really going to?

Corners pointed her machine guns past me and started to fire at something I couldn't see. Round after round screamed down range while slow staccato pops of Alguacil's revolver joined in. The roar of guns this close cut through the ringing as I curled up, hooves over my ears in agony. My body was shaking as the aches in my right hoof shot up my leg while my ears felt like they were exploding.

“CORNERS!!! BUCKING STOP!!!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs. The machine gun fire ceased a moment later, as a distant explosion echoed around us. Nyota gingerly helped me to my hooves.

“Sunny calm down, it's alright.” He hushed and used a hoof to stroke my mane softly like a concerned parent.

“Oh no Sunrise, that isn't how a parent does that.” Pink piped up. While Quick Stitch took a look at my leg. I looked in the direction of the explosion and that is when I saw it, the blasted, shot, and mangled remains of a scorpion.

By the Goddesses! That thing is massive! What in Equestria-! The scorpion was bigger than Alguacil. It was covered in chitinous carapace looked as thick as power armor. The creature was colored a dull black, it didn't even have a reflection from the cloudy daylight. Its stinger was as big as my head, the pincers could have easily cut me in half. “Celestia buck me!”

I turned around and saw five smaller brown scorpions, and by smaller I mean as big as myself or Corners, fly out of the ground less than twenty feet from us. “Oh for Luna's Sake! More of them!” I shouted and pointed my injured hoof towards them.

They were fast, far too fast.

Chifundo was the closest prey for them, their claws snapping at the Zebra’s rapidly dancing hooves. I went to draw my shotgun when my right foreleg exploded in a whole new form of pain. I looked to see an orange-yellow pincer as big as a stallion's maw locked onto me through the barely hanging on armored knew pad just above my PipBuck. The other pincer came up and slashed across my collar bone.

My body spasmed and barely kept to my hooves. I staggered and swayed, causing the pincer to dig into my leg and the tail strike to glance off my shoulder plate. Fuck! That hurt, I'm bleeding, oh Goddesses that is a lot of blood. My BLOOD!

“GET!” My left hoof slammed into the offending pincer that kept us locked together.

“OFF!” Another heavy strike crunched the stinging tail into the pincer, injecting it with its own poison.

“ME!” Another, and another, I lost count as I fanatically beat that pincer till I heard a satisfying crunch. The pincer was crushed into pieces under my hoof.

The scorpion staggered back; it's left claw completely severed and oozing sickly orange goo. “BUCK YOU!”

To my right, Corners's box lit up with muzzle flashes, all contained inside her box sanctuary. I could hear the echoing machine gun fire muffled by the metal, red pony blood and orange scorpion ooze came out from under the edge of the box in some mingled, toxic looking ribbon.

The orange armored creature in front of me raised its tail to strike again and a revolver round slammed into it's head, exploding four of its eight eyes off the body in a spray of gore.

Sunrise, shotgun NOW!

Chifundo had a stinger embedded into his throat and fell to the ground in a heap. Nyota swayed and stumbled to the ground as 10mm pistol rounds went off behind me, my ears screamed. Near me another one of the beasts raised its pincers and closed in on Chifundo's fallen form.

“GO TO HELL!” I tried to scream out only to find my vocal cords were not working. My tail tossed my shotgun into my teeth and I stepped into SATS; time slowing to a crawl. I queued up a shot at the Scorpion's head and took careful aim, consuming the entire SATS spell with one shot. I released the spell and the 12G roared, slamming back into my shoulder as I pulled the trigger. I had finally fired this newly rechambered gun in hatred and anger. DIE DIE DIE! GET OFF HIM! AND DIE! My hoof slid the pump and I immediately discharged a second round.

The beast's eyes exploded in a fountain of orange blood flying onto the pincers. Its carapace shattered under the rain of buckshot as the insectoid swayed and staggered. The creature released its grip on Chifundo's hooves but did not fall. I felt the glow of magic next to my flank and turned my attention towards it.

Quick Stitch was laying his magic over Nyota, each shimmering aura glowing brighter and brighter till an overspell formed over it, like a spark that had ignited a firestorm. Another spell surrounded the wounds on Chifundo's body. With a cry of strained anguish from Quick Stitch, Nyota and Chifundo's eyes snapped open as the wounds on their bodies healed. It was just enough that they could stand in front of their attackers. It's like a miracle.. magical healing can do truly amazing things. I just hope we haven't already burned out Quick Stitch.

Chifundo grabbed his 9mm pistol off the ground and discharged round after round from the Barehoof pistol into the blinded scorpion; it fell onto its belly motionless even with the pink stallion firing till the click of a dry magazine echoed in our ears.

I heard the slam of hooves and crunch of carapace as another revolver round echoed. Nyota was going full blown assault zebra, his hooves flying faster than my eyes could follow. His fury smashed the orange foal sized arachnid with precision that could not be matched. He dodged its pincers and with a single strike ripped them off at the elbow.

But no, we needed to be certain they were dead. I shoved the shotgun into the hole of the one that had slashed my still bleeding throat and gave it another buckshot blast. Gore sprayed out from the base of the tail as the pellets ripped apart the insides looking for an exit. The wave of munched guts back blew out of the hole around my gun barrel into my face but I honestly did not care. I had to know it was dead.

Nyota pounded onto the hoof battered scorpion in tandem with the buckshot colonoscopy. The crunch was like fried chicken. He brought down his hooves in mighty double strikes and broke the carapace apart like a cheap piece of drywall.

I collapsed onto my flanks and dropped my shotgun. Just like that, the massive scorpion ambush and their horde had been slain in seconds, and seconds before it looked like we might all die.

Quick Stitch's hooves were on my neck as he applied a bandage, then Chifundo collapsed to the ground. “I got it,” I tried to say but what came out was an intelligible whisper. I could taste blood and when I tried to talk, drops of red life hit the dirt. I gasped for air and my tail passed a healing potion up to my lips, forcing me to drink down the grape flavored mixture. Grape tastes awful can we please get these in strawberry or apple or anything else?!

Quick Stitch moved to Chifundo and applied a magical bandage to his wounds. The shaman slowly opened up his eyes and gasped for air. Just as it seemed he might bolt straight upright, his eyes rolled back and his body fell back to the earth. I heard the pained groans for air and then spasms of shock as his body quivered in and out; hovering on the edge of life.

“Chif-” My voice cut off as the burning in my throat intensified. The potion was trying to do its work and I wasn't letting it. Chifundo woke up and coughed up more poison and blood before he collapsed again. The blue-black mixture he hacked up flowed into our pools of blood and turned it black where it touched.

“Chifu-” hacking and coughing echoed around us as I felt like my throat might burst, when suddenly a soothing pressure echoed on the inside of my wind pipe. The healing potion had closed the life threatening slash over my collar bone then was working towards my damaged vocal cords.

Chifundo's eyes rolled back into his head, “CHIFUNDO!” My scream must have snapped something lose. The pink striped zebra puked up more blue-black muck which Quick Stitch slammed a healing potion into his mouth. I saw the telekinetic envelope surround the zebra in a pale light and tilt his head back. He drank, thankfully and then snapped his eyes open, coughing up a lung but he was alive.

My face was numb, I could feel the trembling throughout my form. Sunrise, breathe, this is you going into shock. Breathe. A long gasp caught my eyes and for the first time since the mine went off they were not ringing. My deep breaths reminded me I was alive as I took a step onto my PipBuck hoof; then I bit my lip, the magical healing potion hadn't work its magic everywhere. The only reason I did not face plant was the tight bandage supporting the badly damaged ankle.

What in the Goddesses' living hell was that!? Scorpions bigger than ponies? Pack hunting monsters the size of foals? I knew roaches were huge but scorpions! What's Next? Spiders? Hornets? What all in Equestria has been warped into some vicious pony murdering machine? I shuddered at the thoughts, frozen in place. The living nightmare all around me, and before my eyes the unmoving box Corners hid inside of. Red pony blood and sickly orange scorpion fluid leaked from under it in equal measure.

Nyota lifted the box as he finished chugging the healing potion hanging out of his mouth. He reached a hoof inside then dropped the box back down. The zebra approached me, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up. “She's alive, bloody but looks like a magic healing potion and a bottle of water worked to keep her alive.” He took a long drag on the smoke, “Corners should be fine as far as I can tell, it didn't sting her. That got torn off by the box top.”

I nodded as Chifundo staggered up to his hooves. He could drop over dead at any moment if he wasn't careful. Alguacil had landed while I was recovering from shock, the griffin was hacking at the scorpions with his knife. He took their venom sacks out as well as the meat from under their carapace. Sick! You can eat that? These... these, things? The end of my shotgun barrel was covered in blood, scorpion ooze, and anthropoid guts. I pulled a strip of my stable suit off, using the rag to slowly and carefully wipe down the gun, letting the zen practice of cleaning wash away my flustered thoughts.

Alguacil looked at us, “There aren't more coming but if Corners is unconscious, I can't transport her, that battlesaddle, and her box over without getting her out from under it. That would be three trips alone.”

“Alguacil, Chifundo isn't flying anywhere. Not without possibly dying in the process. We're going to have to walk out of this minefield.”

Something snapped in me. I have to get these ponies out of here! I don't care how. They are my friends; we are in a hell of a mess. We need out of here. “Alguacil, fly cover for us!” he gave me a questioning look and started to speak. “Now! Quick Stitch, can you ignore Chifundo for a moment. I have an idea and I need your help.”

The unicorn looked at me with a frown like I had lost my mind. “Listen, I need you to use your telekinesis but this time I want you to just push the first half a hoof of sand all the way to the edge of the field. As hard as you can!”

He blinked at me a few times and then got the hint. His horn glowed to life as he stopped bandaging and tending to Chifundo. Then we felt the ground tremble as an overglow extended around it. I placed a hoof up against him and started to pray.

Goddesses, if you are there, give us a break please let this work.

Pink stood up and started chanting, “Quick Stitch, Quick Stitch! You got this! You got this together!” Over and over again that stupid pink figment of my imagination chanted as I started to chant under my breath as well.

Chifundo began speaking in Zebrecian, at least it sounded like it to me, as I remembered the muttered words of Perilith and Netherbloom. Some sort of song or language that went on and on with no ending note.

A surge of energy engulfed myself and Quick Stitch. I could feel it, the presence of some other pony. No wait, this wasn't a pony, it never had been. I didn't understand what the pink striped, barely alive companion was doing but whatever it was, the strength provided by his chanting was real. A voice echoed from within my head, “It is done. Don't kill yourself in the process.”

It seemed familiar, but alien at the same time, like something I had heard in some forgotten dream as its slow, deep, deliberate words rolled through me. Each syllable was hung upon and it was clear that Chifundo heard it too. He gave a nod of acknowledgment and spoke in a language we could understand. No, he spoke like it did; directly into our minds without needing to pass by my aching ears. “Then my friend trigger your spell, so we may all speed along well.”

The sand exploded in a blast of furious wind as Chifundo wobbled and fell onto his face. Everything from where we stood to the edge of the field was laid bare. Skulls and bricks few out of the way; but three land mines could be seen now, completely uncovered.

One had a red crystal opal on top and a set of buttons beside it. There was a circle disc with a large spiky half ball sticking up under the crystal. The other two, had clear blasting cap plates on top of them, not crystals, and a panel marked 'Arming'. I was surprised I could read it from this distance.

“Okay, Quick Stitch, tend to their injuries. Hopefully I don't get blown up.” That or I do end up as pony chunks and all of you get to go on with your lives, without me not putting them in harm's way. NO! Bad Sunrise, don't think that way. You got this!

I got down onto my belly and started to crawl towards the mines. A lump formed in my recently healed throat and sweat beads were already forming as my hoof took the first step towards the closest mine. That is a motion sensor mine and you know that. All you have to do is appear below its height and weight setting and you can disarm it without risk of it going off. One hoof at a time, take your time.

Agonizing second by agonizing second passed as I counted to five with each hoof step. One, lift half inch up. Two, inhale. Three, move hoof slowly. Four, stop hoof. Five, put hoof down and exhale steady. Each step was agonizingly barely an inch and I had four hooves to move. I was moving a total of maybe three inches a minute.

Pink was on the edge of her seat, looking at me with wide eyes. But thankfully that Pink figment of my imagination was quiet. Even if I froze when she dropped some popcorn, afraid that Corners had thrown something at me again. Just two more steps and you'll be in reach. Those last two steps were an eternity longer compared to the first fifty to get here. My hoof was within reach of the buttons on the mine. To the left was a red one with the word 'Arm' under it. To the right was a green one marked 'Disarm' upside-down and opposite from me.

My hoof inched forward. I could feel the pain in my nerves while my injured right leg supported me. The wobble started, I saw the red crystal start to flare and then click. My hoof depressed the disarm button, the flaring crystal went dark and there wasn't even time for the thing to beep a warning. One Down. No wait! Double check this.

My hoof went forward and held the mine in place but did not lift it. Slowly and carefully I removed the sand, dirt, and earth from beneath it, holding the mine right at the level it was at. Then I swept my hoof underneath, nothing. No secondary detonation system, okay good enough for me. There was a safety switch under the arm button, flipping it I pocketed the mine into my saddlebags then looked up with a happy smile back at my friends. I motioned them forward as I trotted up to the next mine.

I moved faster this time, I could see the pressure plate on it and no magic crystals that looked like the motion lens on the other one. Within the six inch trench it was easy to see that there were no mines. Planting them deeper than half a hoof would be pointless, the ground would absorb most of the blast.

The second mine was a dull, brown color, stained from the Goddesses knows how long it was buried, even after the storm blew it clean. I could see a heavy hoof shaped plate on top of mine as well as a switch that said 'Arm' in the position the black switch pointed at. There were two other settings, 'Delay' and 'Safe'. That wasn't how these worked through is it? These need to actually be disabled don't they?

Pink giggled and nodded, “Yepperooni! You have to cut the wire!”

Thanks Pink, something useful for once. I got up to the mine and began to look for an access panel. There was one, as my tail passed me a screwdriver. I shrugged, “You do it.”

My tail turned in a peculiar way, I felt like I wasn't quite in full control of it. I nudged the screwdriver with my nose and the tail moved forward. This is so weird! Careful now, ease that panel open. Its just like the movies right, cut the red wire? The panel opened with a protest, rusty hinges groaning loudly. Inside there were four wires, ALL RED.

Oh you have to be kidding me! Okay I have to figure out which one is linked to the plate and therefore will set it off. The wires were a jumbled, confusing mess, tangled over one another, and without a single label or diagram anywhere in sight. How are you suppose to disarm these? They don't even label or mark anything. My tail put away the screwdriver and pulled out a set of scissors from my sewing kit. Not precise but beggars can't be choosers. I looked at all four wires then thought about it as Pink jumped up.

“You don't know which wire to cut or even if you cut the right one at all! How are you going to disarm this?” I looked up at the pressure plate Pink was dancing on. A smile curled on my face and I reached up under the pressure plate then snipped at what connected it to the mine. Hard steel on steel broke the silence.

Come on Sunrise, think how do you disarm a mine like this? Wait! My mind went back for the briefest of moments, not enough to drop into a full blown memory but enough that I got a glimpse into a magazine from the stable. I pushed the memory out of my mind. Not Now! The glimpse was crystal clear, 'Ponitrots Cookbook' and there was information about mines on the page; '3^rd wire disarms.'

Great is that the third from the top or bottom? Does it matter it is 50/50 I disarm or blow up now. Pink which one-

Pink already had a hoof pointing at the lower of the two wires I was debating between. My tail willed forward and cut it without hesitation. I pressed my hoof against the pressure plate; no click. “Rip it like a band-aid!” I did just what Pink suggested and the mine did not explode.

Confident and proven now the third mine proved to be easy. What was

a confusing jumble before seemed so clear as I calmly snipped the wire and picked up the deactivated explosive. Underneath though was a piece of paper attached to this third one.

I opened it, a bunch of scribbles in Zebrecian. Frustrated I resolved to ask Nyota or Chifundo to read it to me later as I stuffed it into a pocket. I walked to the edge of the minefield and put all my effort to make sure that every single inch around us didn't look disturbed at all. Pink jumped up and down, “YA DID IT! I knew you could!”

Quick Stitch was helping Chifundo walk towards me through the cleared path. I hung my head low, seeing how injured Chifundo was and feeling like it was my fault for leading us this way. Before my mind could get lost in thought again, a gentle nudge hit my cheek and rolled up my head to my ears. I flinched away to see Nyota right up next to me. “Don't sweat it Sunrise. We are alive now. Because of you.” He gave me a pat on the head and stroked my dirt covered mane away from my face to reassure me physically as well as verbally.

“Yeah I got us out of the minefield after I exploded and drew those monsters on top of us.” Before I could continue a zebra hoof silenced me with a hoof to the mouth. I swear if you're going to keep doing that! At least wash your hoof more often!

“We should have been on the lookout for the ambush after all the noise. You not here, we walk into this mine field and we don't come out.” As he assured me, my tail had snaked into the pocket with the note and pulled it out, pressing it to Nyota's hoof.

“Can you read this?”

He took it into his hoof and opened it up. There was a chuckle, “It says: To whom it may concern, buck you. Sincerely, One Very Tired Zebra.”

I started to laugh, then Nyota. The sound of laughter was infectious between us as Quick Stitch and Chifundo looked at each other bewildered.

“I thought I may be insane, but they are in the membrane.” Chifundo pointed to us then the mine field then Quick Stitch. “To tell you I am disinclined, if I tried to explain how I helped our bind, you would surely lose your mind.”

After the laughter died down and we gathered up, Alguacil asked us to take a rest.

“We are barely 3 hours on our way and it may be a whole day before we get there. You can't mean to stop already?” My whining made them all look at me with a combination of disdain and concern.

“Sunrise, darling, Chifundo and Nyota dearly died. You've been blown up and haven't let Stitch here look at your wounds. Not to mention Corners I pretty sure is drop dead asleep.” The griffin pointed a talon at everyone as he referred to them then back to me, his eye looking close with concern. “We need a rest Sunrise.”

I hate that tone. That final, we're doing this tone when his gravel over a harp voice declares it. “Alright fine, we can take a couple hours for lunch once we get out of sight of this minefield alright? Just get over the next rise where we aren't so exposed?” I pleaded with the biggest wounded filly face I could muster.

Alguacil looked away and lowered his sombrero. “...alright fine, you make a good point.”

I took the note from the ground. My hoof pulled it into view when Pink made drawing motions on it. Really? Are you responsible for making me want to draw that everywhere we go?

“Nope! But you know you want to!” The glee in Pink's voice was toxic to say the least.

I hung my head, as my tail passed me the chalk box. Once it was in my mouth the drawing happened automatically. Within a few minutes, the back of the note had a sunrise in chalk on it along with the image of an angelic pony holding a shotgun. In big bold letters under it, I drew black chalk letters 'Mines'.

I took the slip and pinned it to a nearby cactus. I can't take the time nor do I wanna risk disarming this entire field but I can at least put up a warning.

As I was watering both myself and the cactus, Quick Stitch placed a hoof on my flank. He was shaking, trembling even. “Sunrise, where did you get that symbol?” His voice was quaking with the essence of fear.

“I don't know honestly.” My tail took the chalk and put it back into the saddlebag pocket. “I just have had this urge to draw it when something significant happens. Like a marker or a call to say where I've been. I know it is something I used to do when I was a little foal, but I'm not sure why I do it now.” I took a breath to look at Quick Stitch and see his honey colored eyes welling with tears, a few rolling down his cheeks. His eyes were closed before he spoke.

“I woke up two days ago, at sunrise in a grave. When I crawled out of a shallow grave, there were several others. One larger one with a cow punching hat and a rock about the size of you,” he took a breath and trembled a bit. “It had... it had that mark on it.”

He has clearly had to deal with something horrible.

“Sunrise! Quick Stitch was buried alive!”

“You, drew it? There at an abandoned, burned out farmhouse?” Quick Stitch questioned as he turned me to face him and squared our shoulders.

“Yes, that was Buddy's grave. Which means-” Immediately my lips stopped working as it dawned on me. He was lying there under the earth just a few hooves away. Alive, buried ALIVE! You didn't check, you didn't look to make sure they were all dead. You just-

“I only made one grave.” Alguacil chimed in as he turned his head around.

“Alguacil, it isn't like you to not notice something as far as I know. You buried Buddy next to three other graves. I buried all the bodies and skeletons afterward while you all slept.” I paused as my mind drifted. I did not realize how long I was struggling with it but Alguacil was snapping his talon in front of me over and over again to get my attention.

Quick Stitch looked at me with concern now, slipping into full medical doctor persona instead of friend. “Sunrise what is wrong with you?” the olive colored stallion asked as he was examining me and sniffed my breath. “We've been trying to talk to you for a while. Your eyes just kind of glazed over like you weren't here.” He continued to poke and prod when I realized I had been bandaged over the cuts and bruises that hadn't been examined yet.

“I was just remembering, making sure I didn't drag you out and bury you with the others.” I shook my head to clear to it up. “I just get lost in my memories I guess.”

Quick Stitch looked at me clearly not impressed by my efforts to play it off. Even if I was answering honestly, I couldn't help but feel he was right that something was wrong. A gap in my memory, remembering events now with crystal clear thought, not seeing anything happening around me while I remember, all of that was adding up to something I may want to have looked into when we had a proper doctor. One that wasn't Bonesaw or Quick Stitch's field kit.

I had been moved now that I took my surroundings in, apparently carried and set back onto my hooves. Nyota was cooking something and dang did it smell good. I had to learn how this zebra cooked one day.

“Quick Stitch doesn't someone else need tending to? I mean I had a healing potion and you bandaged anything major-” I hissed and lost the train of thought as my right foreleg was lifted and forced to stretch out between the stallion's hooves.

“Right, your barding and PipBuck took the brunt of the force but you have a mild fracture probably. I'll he-” I shoved my left hoof into his mouth and leaned on the pained leg for support between his hooves holding me up. I guess Nyota's bad hoof in mouth habit is rubbing off on me.

“No, I don't want anyone to worry.” My brain was going a million miles an hour now. “Just tell them I got lost in shock and the adrenaline that finally caught up to me.” That is by far the worst lie you've ever come up with and you've always been terrible at lying. “We just came a hair's breath from death. How is Chifundo doing? The poison gone?” I looked over at the rest of our group. The healing potions really did do wonders for ponies, made it look like no one was close to death a moment ago.

“Chifundo is fine, the poison seems to have been coughed out of his system. Another day or two and it will be like he was never stung.” Quick Stitch set my hoof down now and looked at me concerned.

“Corners is gonna live?” My eyes moving to settle on the box plopped down near the cooking fire.

“She will, but her ears are damaged beyond my ability or a healing potion to repair. The sound of LMGs against the inside of the box has done some real damage.” He saw my hoof reaching up to check my own ear. “Yours are fine, just a bit of shock from the explosion, nothing too bad.”

“Alright, I don't like the idea of lying or making it out that I'm tougher than I look but I think they need that right now.” I gave him a bright confident smile like I was cocksure of myself. “Also remind me to check graves from now on, make sure that whoever is inside is really dead.” I gave Quick Stitch a peck on his cheek along with those big cute foal eyes to really sell it home.

I joined them for lunch, we needed a break and a way to make sure everyone thought we had come out better than it looked. Ignoring the pain was going to be a lot harder than I ever expected.

ooOOoo

T-Minus 11 Months 8 Days till Megaspell Day

Okay where am I... oh dear Goddesses my HEAD! I realized I was in a memory again and this time, waking up with a headache that could only be described as devastating. Where ever I oh, I remember this now. Oh Goddesses what is with all the lights! It feels like I'm staring at the sun in any direction I look.

“Good, your awake, we wondered if our agent had done permanent damage.” I couldn't see the mare speaking to me through the wall of lights pointed at me, only the figure of her sitting across a metal table from me. She was nothing but shadows and blurs with several sets of wall mounted spot lighting spraying us from her direction. I looked down at the table to avoid the bright sun wall.

I started to move and discovered my hooves were chained to the table. All four were chained to the same point and each other, what made it worse was that my rear hooves were extended and unable to move them back for comfort.

“Wandering Sunrise is it? Daughter to Rainbowrise and Shadow Window?” Her voice was mocking as she stated facts she already knew. “A blank flank still? Picked on mercilessly at school and yet, here at your father's shop; you snuck up on the operation. Do you know how much trouble you are in? Especially if you saw anything?” she drummed her hoof on the table incessantly in rhythm with her syllables.

“I don't-” My voice was unsteady and interrupted by a hoof raised to stop me.

“We would normally just Memory Extract you to find out what you saw.” The mare took a moment to let it sink in that they could just pry from my mind what they wanted. “However, due to your father's need to work for us and the fact you are a blank flank, that is against ministry policy.”

The shadowy mare pointed a hoof at me just enough I could see the black suit covering it. She slid the chair back and stood upon all fours. The mare faced away into the bright lightning. “Now how about you be a good foal and tell the truth. We promised your dad we would not hurt you but, that promise is not one we have to keep.” The amount of malice in the voice was slowly building till I could feel daggers impaling my ears with every word. I swore this mare could make your ears bleed with her words alone.

When she mentioned promise I saw two glows emerge behind me, one on each side of my head, and I recognized them immediately as unicorn horns. I felt the creeping of something in my mind, piercing me from the inside and diving deeper. I screamed out at the top of my lungs in agony. It was like an ice pick shoving its way into my mind and trying to break a piece of my mind off.

My vision got blurry and tears formed at the corners of my eyes. I struggled to fight back, gritting my teeth and shaking my head violently side to side. The bright glow of the horns grew to the point I had to close my eyes to shield myself from the light in the room. No matter what I did the pain grew, every shake of my head just seeming to drive the spike harder. The lights shielding the mare and the unicorn horn glows were like they were staring at the sun. I felt consciousness starting to edge away, my veins pumped and pulsed in my head. The hammering of the ice pick grew more painful for a brief moment and then stopped.

It stopped so suddenly that my efforts to resist just made me collapse onto the table with a dull thump. I felt the horn glows still present with a stallion spoke, “I can't get in. Even with 88's help.”

“What do you mean you can't get in 71? She is a blank flank! Surely her mind isn't that complex!” the shadowy mare demanded.

“I am unsure, I had thought this would be easy to penetrate but no,” the stallion known as 71 answered. “She is incredibly resistant and resilient. I do not believe we can access the memories without causing the same harm we do to criminals and zebra detainees.”

Criminals! Zebra detainees! You mean I'm a prisoner and being subjected to the same stuff they do to murders and traitors? Dad please what are you involved in? Why is your daughter in here? Please dad, rescue me.

“I can assure you,” the voice of the mare to my left started. “He is not coming to rescue you. He is on the other side of the interrogation mirror watching. 88 you can get her surface thoughts?”

“I can, but I can't stay in without causing her pain.” 88's expression was full of concern. “Maybe if we get her to let us in willingly and just talk to her. We can read the surface to make sure she is telling the truth.”

I don't know what was more disconcerting the idea of them being in my head or the fact the way she says her it sounds more like I am just an object.

I slammed my hooves onto the desk as hard as I could which even though I was an earth pony wasn't exactly enough to leave a mark. “Listen here! I am a pony and I won't have you treat me as anything else!” They didn't react, there was a pause in the air before the shadow lined mare gave a chuckle, that slowly burst into laughter.

“A foal with this much spunk? I swear if every soldier was that angry and resilient the zebras would be running in terror from us.” She slapped her thigh as 88 and 71 gave nervous laughter with her. Then slowly it died down before the mare returned to her seat.

“Alright Sunrise, tell me what you saw and if you don't fight the unicorn's won't hurt,” She offered while motioning a hoof to each of the unicorn's next to me.

“What's your name?” My teeth gritted through the reply and my eyes stared at her hard, I was clearly not having it today.

“You have quite the set of hooves on you there to have the mane to ask that,” the shadow pony motioned to the chains as well as two unicorns on each of my sides. “Chained. Surrounded by foes. Yet, you think you can ask the questions? Fine, I will humor you just because it will break up the monotony of these interrogations. I am 9. Now question for a question, what did you see?”

I relayed what I had seen in my father's shop. The secret door, the stairway down into the depths of a basement I didn't know we had. Lastly, the door my father and the pony in black came out of before I had been strangled unconscious. The horns glowed while I spoke and the pain tendrils, while dull and not as intense, were there with every word I spoke. When they flared up I would stop speaking and wince in pain.

A story that should have taken maybe ten minutes to finish was nearly an hour long with constant bouts of pain to deal with. Every time the unicorns would relent only when 9 lifted a hoof. I gritted my teeth through it, slammed my hooves onto the table with metal on cloven bone clangs. Anything to keep them from getting too deep into my mind.

Why am I fighting so hard? I don't have anything to hide?

I heard a hoof step back from 71, the mare shook her head. “She is creating that thought to confuse us. I'm sure there is more under the surface.” The unicorn on my right stepped forward. I could see her snout and horn were the color of sunflowers. “Permission to penetrate deeper?”

“Sunrise, tell me the whole truth, NOW!” 9 slammed her hoof onto the table. She stood up and looked past me as the ringing of the blow had a door opening interrupt it.

“9 if I may?” The voice was familiar. Not like someone I had met but certainly I had heard before, over the radio or a projector, maybe even television?

“What is Stable-Tec doing here? And why do I have the honor of Applebloom herself on an interrogation of a foal?” 9 asked as she walked past me. The unicorn light flared up so bright I had to look away unable to see 9 at all beyond the wall of blazing magic.

“I think this particular foal and her family would be a perfect set of candidates for our Stable program.” There was a pause in the speaking and the cadence was that of a farmhand mixed with a professor level scientist. No! There is a singer in that voice. I've heard it before, 'Raise this Barn'. That is certainly Applebloom! What is a famous pony like that doing here?

“And what makes you think she isn't a security risk?” 9's voice was cold. I could sense a killer in it and my body shook with fear. I knew now what I was in for and what I had been fighting. I jumped as my side was poked with a sharp pain. Beads of sweat started to form on my face and my hooves.

“I highly doubt that.” The bite of the pain went away but was still a dull throbbing, like having been given a shot or sprained a hoof an hour ago. I wanted to reach back and rub at it but the chains prevented it.

“Ther'! I just applied what is needed and as such, your ministry will respect Stable-Tec's wishes.” The accent came out thicker when Applebloom sounded authoritarian. “We are gonna need ponies like her if we ever have to activate those stables.

“Now 9, if nothin' else needs hashing out release her to her father, preferably unconscious and without any more mental violations on my test subject.”

Test subject! You mean you just injected some sort of experiment into me? Why am I being treated like a slave, I have rights!

“No you don't,” 88 whispered into my ear gently and below a level anyone else could hear.

There was an audible scoff and a stomp of an indignant hoof. “How dare you! This is our prisoner and we will not have-” number 9 cut off.

Prisoner! I'm a prisoner... well that does explain the chains, interrogation, these two unicorns who can hear my every thought. Yep I'm a prisoner. And my dad is watching? The reality of the situation was starting to sink in. Whatever my father was into, was a national secret for Equestria. A secret that ran so deep people were willing to kill over it.

The door opened again before I could get much further, “Stop hurting my daughter!” Dad oh by the Goddesses I've never been-

My world went back to black and I woke back up in the wasteland.

ooOOoo

I woke up to discover myself playing with the encryption on the PipBuck files. The file dated for the day after the one I got the coordinates from. Everyone else was starting to clean up camp, I wasn't sure how much time had passed but enough to for ponies to finish eating and even catch a nap. Last thing I remember was sipping water and opening my PipBuck up and it reading 10:34am, the clock now read 1:03pm.

I've been in a memory for almost 3 hours and no one noticed!? What, how? There was no orb, my mind has been doing this repeatedly since we woke up in that pool? What did Stable-Tec do to me? Had I just drifted off to sleep or did this happen and I looked still awake, just glossy eyed inside an orb? So many questions and no answers.

“Time and place Sunrise,” Pink replied to my thoughts. “Right now you need to make sure to keep up with them and solve this mystery later.”

We had been moving uneventfully nearly the entire day. My EFS was broadcasting the exact spot we needed to head to. We were getting close, turning my head just to my shoulder made the point move enough to be off track in the display. We were off the road now as well, traveling through raw, untamed wasteland. Unlike the road, which was badly torn and broken; this was smooth under my hooves. It was like walking on an uncut hill between desert and the plants that tried to reclaim it. Had ponies actually been the ones who kept everything looking so lovely and well trimmed?

We were approaching a mountain when Alguacil landed nearby.

“Sunrise, I think I found what those coordinates are and you aren't going to like it,” he announced and our group sped up considerably as the mighty griffin flew over us and led the way directly at the mountain.

Between two large stones was a deep recess. It was covered in well masoned stones. All of it clearly designed to be an open air tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a Stable-Tec door. There wasn't a number on the door, instead a symbol. The sight of this hit me like a dive bombing pegasus being chased by a dragon. The door wasn't blue-metal or shiny like the one I knew, this was brown metal. It matched the stone of the mountain along with the walls. How did Alguacil even spot this? Guess things in the air look a whole lot different.

I checked the EFS marker and looked away from the door, the marker stayed right on it. I looked the other way, it stayed on the door. Pink was no where to be found. Guess no advice from the pink monster in my head.

“Well stop just standing there, let us see what we have in here,” Chifundo stated and started to trot towards the door. I couldn't move, a dread I had been pushing back since we left, distracted by needing to look tough, the minefield, the scorpions, came rushing forward. I was numb in the face, my hooves refused to move.

I felt a hoof push my flank, right under the tail in a particularly sensitive spot. I bit back a yelp and turned my head, it was Quick Stitch urging me forward.

“Hold up, this isn't a standard stable!” I shouted to get everypony to stop, they turned to look at me a bit bewildered.

“Quick Stitch, you and I will go check the external command panel to figure out how it opens. Everypony else, stay out here and keep watch.” I eased my way into the tunnel next to Quick Stitch, keeping silent till we were out of range of the others.

“Thank you.” The words barely left my mouth before Quick Stitch's flank brushed against my own.

“No thank you, if you lot hadn't cleared out those raiders-” I didn't let him finish the sentence instead brushing my flank against his armor.

“Careful now, they will think we are giving each other looks that we certainly shouldn't,” I giggled and wiggled my eye brows at him. “I only did what everypony should do.”

We got up to the yellow access panel with a bunch of buttons, knobs, and three levers. There was also a speaker attached to it and I could see the jack for my PipBuck. I took the attach wire from behind and slid it into the slot. The dust and dirt from years of neglect were brushed into the air around us as my hoof moved across the console.

“Alert! Unauthorized User Detected! Back away from the door!” the speaker blared with a racket and warning sound that would have driven any pony to flee. Any pony except us.

I checked my PipBuck to try to access the back door maintenance protocols like you would any home mainframe. Ya know for when you forgot your password and tried to find the right one to access the computer. But my PipBuck was unable to find the maintenance mode.

I pulled the plug and the siren stopped.

“Quick Stitch, help me see if there is another access panel on this thing.” Already Quick Stitch was on the other side of the console working around till another panel fell off onto the ground from the back with a metal clatter onto the ground.

He pointed a hoof at it, “You mean like this?”

I leaned around to see the panel on the bottom. My PipBuck's connector slid right in and brought up lines of code over the screen. I rubbed at the scratch from the land mine then started to move the dials to take a guess at one of the phrases for passwords. Everything punched into the console was a full on phrase without spaces, 47 characters the shortest one. Great, super secret ultra hard passwords the first time I use this since the Stable. Congrats Stable-Tec, you officially suck!

When I guessed wrong once there was a shriek from the console again, “Unauthorized Access! Step away from the door immediately!” Red lights popped on at the entrance to the tunnel. They swiveled around with a directional cone inside like warning lights of a battleship or a bunker.

I pieced together another password that I thought might work, had Quick Stitch look at it and then agree with me. When it was wrong a grinding sound echoed in the tunnel, I tried to keep working when Quick Stitch forced my head up.

A heavy chunk of stone was slowly lowering at the entrance we had come in through. The racket in the room was almost enough to make my ears scream in pain. I looked at Stitch and my tail yanked the plug to the console. “RUN!”

It was like something out of a Derring-Do movie, bolting down a hallway towards a closing door. We can make it, it's only a forty, thirty-five, thirty-

And just like in the movies, I tripped head over hooves, my helmet clattered against the wall and dug into my flank as my face hit the stones hard enough to make me see stars. Blood was in my mouth and leaked out onto the floor when I felt two hooves scooping me up and back onto my hooves.

“Sunrise move! Now!” Quick Stitch shouted and pushed on my flanks. Alguacil fired shot after shot into the top of the stone wall. Yes, shoot the rock that will help! We heard something grind and a spark flared against what looked like a gear at the top of the door. The sliding down door stopped for a brief moment.

We ran like our lives depending upon it, Nyota leapt towards us, hooves fully extended while I slid under the door with Quick Stitch shoving across the threshold. I tumbled through the ground and life slowed down.

Nyota dove past me and slammed into the wall with a force I thought would break his leg. Instead the wall gave and a chunk flew out of it, a chunk that I followed and saw why, Quick Stitch slid though but not before his leg twisted and snapped. The bone sounded like it shattered with the echoing sound of the stone door hitting the ground. I could see a chunk of bone jutting from his knee.

The world sped back up to Quick Stitch screaming, wailing in agony so loud I though the ripples in his snout might rip open his scar. I shoved a hoof into his mouth to silence him and wince when he bit down on the still tender right foreleg. OW! Teach me to keep shoving hooves in mouths... why don't I do that?

“Nyota, thank you but see what you can do about his leg,” I whimpered out, trying to not scream as my hoof were being bit down on. “Quick Stitch, please stop biting my, OH BUCK!!!!!!” My own screams joined the muffled shouts of Stitch when Nyota set the leg as Stitch bit harder to get through the pain. I could feel him opening up my leg as I starting to bleed.

The big stallion whimpered now as Nyota began to apply bandages to him where his Ministry of Peace combat medic armor hadn't saved his leg. I removed my hoof from his mouth and took out a canteen. While Quick Stitch was bandaged, I rinsed my leg and bite wound. He hadn't cause that much damage, just re-opened the wounds from earlier. The growing red blotches on my bandages just made me tune out any emotion I felt.

Nyota had a look of purpose in his eye, like emotion had been restored to him somehow as he finished his work. I looked away, wondering how much more was hidden under the jaded veneer.

This was the second time today I'd seen my blood, especially this much of it. I felt my emotions stay off as I changed the bandage and Alguacil landed next to us. He looked scared.

“We need to go now!” As the griffin spoke, a shrieking I did not recognize rose up. The cry vibrated in my bones like a subsonic assault. It was then that I realize that it was a roar. The roar something extremely larger than a pony.

I looked down at my EFS and saw all the red blips moving towards us, in addition to a VERY large blip that looked like it was the size of a building. An idea struck me. We might have a way to deal with whatever animals we had stirred up. “Alguacil, I need meat, give me the scorpion pieces we got earlier.”

He tilted his head back like a bird would when completely confused. “Kid we don't have time for-”

“Not to eat Alguacil, give me the fresh meat from those scorpions.” I repeated as the sound of more wasteland creatures echoed around us. He didn't argue further and took out several wrapped pieces of scorpion meat. “The rest of you get moving now!” My tail pointed in a direction that my EFS didn't show any red blips. “That way is the safest bet, I'll catch up.”

I took the wrappings from the griffin's talon and my tail pulled out a pressure mine. He took flight and I saw everyone else starting to run, except Nyota. The mine's wire was easy enough to tie back in place, “Nyota, I said run. Now get going I'll-”

I swear I'm already starting to get used to the taste of Nyota's hoof in my mouth. At this rate I might start to enjoy it. “No kid, I'm making sure you get out of here. Now hurry up and-” Click! While he kept talking my hooves continued to work, having repaired the wire and turned the switch to armed and now put a pincer shaped piece of scorpion flesh onto the pressure plate. The cries of whatever those creatures got closer as I worked frantically to set the second mine.

Once set, I bolted as fast as I could go, the fresh bandage on my leg started to turn red and I could feel the pain shooting up my leg again. At this rate, it's going to get infected.

We galloped, never looking back until there was a set of explosions. I glanced over my shoulder to see a lizard, bigger than me with a mouth that could have swallowed both my front legs in one instant. But what was coming around the mountain scared me even more. Another one of these lizards, covered in golden scales head to toe.

This one was bigger than a building, if I had to guess as tall as a buck ball field is long. It smiled from disturbing ear to ear. When the mouth opened to lick those twisted, yellow eyeballs. I felt my skin crawl. I stopped looking back and instead focused on running as fast as I could. Nyota kept nudging me every time he caught up, making me go faster. “You would think that with how many stallions keep nudging your flanks, you were quite a moseying mare.” I blushed at what the Pink said, hoping no one would notice and just assume exertion.

Pink I swear I'm gonna punch you one day if you ever get a physical form do that to!

The gold lizards never ran past the sealed door where I had laid the mines, they were instead left in a feeding frenzy in the distance behind us as they cannibalized their exploded fellows. Nyota forced me to catch up to the others and we continued to run till the mountain and what Pink referred to as Geckzilla were almost out of our sight.

Alguacil took a long flight around to make sure we were safe as we setup camp near a trio of trees that had started to sprout up. This had been one very long day.

Quick Stitch's horn glowed as he worked on his leg to make sure it healed properly. He frowned at me and nodded towards my own leg. The bandages were stained with blood and dirt, needing to be changed after everything I had been through. At this rate we might go through a whole lot of bandages in just one day. I plopped down onto my flanks and hung my head between my PipBuck and my tail.

Nyota put a hoof onto my side and then pulled my head up. “You alright kid?”

I bit my lip and heard one of the trees overhead whine with Alguacil landing on it. “Oh I don't know, I've lost a friend two days ago. I have nearly cost Quick Stitch his leg in the last hour-” I would have kept ranting except that Nyota hoof flavor hit my tongue again.

“Sunrise,” Nyota voice was much more comforting than anything else I could have asked for today. “This is the Equestrian Wasteland. Our lives are at risk everyday. Magical radiation, rad scorpions, land mines, bandits, raiders, there is a very long list of things that might want to kill us.”

Chifundo just smirked and nodded in my direction, he had some color back in his face at least. “He is quite right, this place is full of plight. It takes only one error, to fall before the terror.”

I winced and unroll the Stable-Tec sleeping back from my pack. “I am never going to get used to this place.”

I lifted up my PipBuck and looked at it. Today had been oh such a colossal failure. There were still six more encrypted files all dated for the days I was missing in my memory. I picked at the second file, hitting the PipBuck's decryption program and began to piece together the second one's password. Immediately on my first guess: 'Unauthorized Access Attempt. Please Contact Administrator to Access'.

Locked out? On my first guess? Are you kidding me!?

“I HATE THE WASTELAND!”

Progress to Level 5 - 68% of the way there!

Trait Discovered - Discord's Luck - You have a 5% increase to chance to critical BUT anytime you critically fail, it is an epic level failure!

Chapter 11: A Tale of Heart's Warming in Fallout: Equestria

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"Even War must take a break on Christmas, to abide by the rules of decency at the very least, sir." - Winston Churchill 1914 Winter Trenches

Out on the field we arose to a clatter, I sprang from my sleeping bag to see what was the matter. Shotgun drawn in a flash, I scanned over the terrain and threw on my saddle bag sash.

Dammit all to hell Chifundo! I swear I'm not sure if the dreamless night makes up for waking up with these rhymes in my head! In the field was some sort of vehicle that looked like a veribuck gyro-copter had a child with a rocket sled and the driver seat of a pony drawn carriage.

My eyes were drawn to the hulking figure that I swore was Buddy working on the strange contraption, “Oh Great! The fuel element is out!” he shouted out in a voice that was a mix of a giant sapient gummy bear and a Alguacil wit an even rougher smoker's croak. At least that is what I think Alguacil would sound like if he smoked and if he was also a giant lump of sentient gelatin sugar.

The rest of our group had scrambled up, weapons drawn, and began to stirred the night with frantic efforts to figure out what all the racket was about. I put the shotgun to the holster while my tail secured it. I can't believe I've gotten used to my tail doing things on its own or predicting what it would do! Even while all my friends kept firearms trained on the hulking creature, I trotted over to the sand dog without hesitation. He was wearing a big bright red leather jacket and even had a sock hat on, with a white fur ball bell on the end. It even rang with a cheer you think a filly with a new ball would have when he bobbed his head over the sled's engine.

“Hello? Are you okay? I'm-” I started to speak and he turned around with a start. His fur was bright white with rosy red cheeks and he was rather fat for a sand dog, at least in comparison to Buddy, the only sand dog I'd even known up close. He looked rather soft and he had a fat little belly. Which as he turned to face me it shook even jiggled like a bowl of jelly. Okay ya know what Chifundo, I hate you right now so much. I really truly hate how much of your speech pattern has infected my mind.

“You're Wandering Sunrise, that is Nyota on coming up from your left, Chifundo too. Each of you double checked as Nice, even if you recently adopted colorful language Sunrise.” He paused as his gaze fell over Corners. She was inching forward, the metal box shifting over the ground almost sheepishly as the sand dog’s gaze leveled on her. “Sugarcube Corners, naughty list. You tried so hard at times only to disappoint me.”

I could hear a sniffle coming from under Corner’s box as the sand dog’s words cut her to the quick. Even I felt slightly wounded by the way he spoke to Box Pone. If the sand dog noticed, he paid it no mind as he went back to working on his vehicle, which was loaded with velvet red bags stuffed with colorfully wrapped presents beyond their capacity. “Quick Stitch, come on let's give him a hand,” I said looking to the olive green stallion in the dark.

We approached and my PipBuck light cut on with a soft click. The glow of light was enough to almost make it as bright as my father's workshop with flood lighting or a high noon day. My legs trotted over to the sand dog while my tail pulled out a set of work tools wrapped in leather. Where did I get this again? Why do I keep pulling stuff out of this backpack that I still haven't taken an inventory of? Somepony explain this to me!

“So you know who we are somehow, what is your name?” I asked as I crawled under the machine and motioned for Quick Stitch to pass me a screw driver.

“I'm Sandy Claws! Have to make a trip to see all the good foals and bad ponies tonight!” he replied with a deep jolly laugh that seemed to quake not only his belly but my hooves as well. He seemed entirely nonplussed by my incredulous look, staring back at me with his bright eyes. I would have asked if he was serious, when I saw what looked like rainbow fluid slowly leaking from one of the rocket pods.

Rainbow Fluid? That doesn't make any sense? That shouldn't be there. “Hey Quick Stitch, what fluid is this?” I had never seen it in a vehicle, or ever for that matter, and my PipBuck started clicking anytime it got close to me.

I felt two hooves grabbing me by my flanks, one hoof on my cutie mark and one on a much more sensitive section of my haunches with a sudden yank from under the vehicle in one of the pull. I tumbled from under the vehicle with all the grace of a bulldozer smashing into a skyscraper.

“Hey what-”

“Sunrise that is taint and it is the last thing you want to be exposed to!” Quick Stitch had a look of wide eyed shock and heart pounding fear plastered to his face. I heard Alguacil's cock back the hammer of his revolver, as Nyota dropped to his combat stance next to me facing off against Sandy.

“Whoa ho ho. Let's not be hasty here, Alguacil! I can explain to all of you exactly why there is taint in my vehicle.” His speech made it look like his stomach jiggled and it reminded me that this was the first fat person I had met in the wasteland. “Sunrise, it is awfully nice of you to offer to help but let me close off that fuel valve and then you two can get under and take another look.”

“Your vehicle is fueled by taint!” Nyota shouted at the top of his lungs.

I looked from Nyota's confused features to Quick Stitch's concerned ones, to Alguacil's razor angry glare, does he ever have an emotion other than angry... oh right, justice. Angry justice, and back to Sandy Claws. “What is taint?”

There was a giggle from the box. “Stable dwellers don't know anything,” Corners declared and continued to snicker while I looked at everyone for an answer.

“Sunrise, don't get exposed to it. You think radiation is bad, taint is so much worse and not something you ever wanna touch,” Quick Stitch explained while looking up at the sand dog indignantly.

I looked to the red and white dressed creature as he worked a wrench, “He's right Sunrise, but I have invented a way to use it for rocket fuel.” There was one more turn on of his wrench and a slight hiss that cut off abruptly. “Thar we go, now get under ther' and take a look.”

I crawled back under and took a look. There was a small pool of rainbow fluid on the ground with turpentine bleeding out around it. In addition to this, I could see where the rockets had blown a set of gaskets that made them useless for keeping a propellant sealed. There was significant amounts of rainbow fluid leaking around around them even after the fuel line was shut off.

I grabbed a wrench and started my work. It was difficult going, avoiding the rainbow fluid and having Quick Stitch hand me tools as I needed. Screws were tightened, lug nuts were reset to their best position, connectors undone, checked, oiled, and reconnected. I even took a moment to examine the transmission and could tell it was from a vertibuck, I haven't even fixed a vertibuck before but it turns out labels are a thing and this is labeled with a hover setting gear! Once I had done all that work I took stock of the rocket exhausts and then slid out.

“Alright well, I've got all the work done that I can for minor repairs and preventative maintenance.” I took a breath as Nyota moved to dust me off and fussed over how dirty I'd gotten under there. I returned the last pieces to the tool belt while my tail rolled it up to put everything away. “But it really is gonna need two brand new rocket tubes if you want that to work again. Also some wonderglue to attach them and scrap metal to remold the parts to fit.”

“Dammit! I knew I blew out the rocket element.” He kicked his vehicle on the driver side door. “Now what am I gonna do to get the rest of these presents delivered! It's Hearth's Warming Eve and Sandy Claws isn't coming to town!” He continued his fretting rant as he stomped around his vehicle and started to check for anything that would work as a rocket exhaust. “All the foals will be so disappointed in me!”

I looked at my PipBuck and the pony on it was wearing a festive hat and swinging a tiny bell with the PipBuck graphic for snow fall landing around the PipMare, the date was right, 12:03am December 24, 1212 CE. Wow, it really is Hearth's Warming Eve 182 years after the bombs fell. But everypony knows Sandy Claws is something you just make up for little blank flanks!

“Yes Sunrise! It is Sandy Claws! And you need to help him save Hearth's Warming! Get to it. Go out and find Sandy Claws some new rockets so he can make his deliveries,” Pink shouted out with glee as she was dressed in a fluffy red and white coat complete with festive sock hat and a big white curly beard.

Oh you have got to be... This is the wasteland, some sand dog has taken it upon himself to pretend to be Sandy Claws and is going around delivering presents. There is no way this can be bad. Assuming he recognizes good ponies from bad ones the same way we do. Well... he did say Corners was on the naughty list.

“That I did Sunrise,” the sand dog called back to me with his back turned as he kept going through parts in his tool kit.

Everypony looked at me, then to Sandy Claws then back to me. I let out a sigh, “It can't wait till morning can it?” I yawned tiredly wanting to curl back up in my stable 43 sleeping bag and get a few more winks.

“By then it will be too late! No I need the rockets tonight,” he paused his speech and took out a set of mugs. The sand dog poured them full of a sweet, berry smelling black liquid and passed them out. “Keep the mugs and this should wake all of you up!”

I took another smell of the liquid and lifted my PipBuck up to it. It smelled harmless enough and my PipBuck didn't click when placed near it. I took a sip and instantly wanted more. As the liquid hit my tongue it was like an orgy of mountain berries meeting the spring cherries all covered in sweet caffeinated nectar of Celestia's own brew! Within moments of ingesting the full mug of magical beverage, everything lifted. The fog of fatigue from too little sleep was cleared from my mind like as if Celestia shined her light with god rays to the spot my hooves stood upon. I have to admit even my saddle bags felt lighter.

Nyota was talking to Sandy Claws about what we had drank when my PipBuck lit up The map function was active and showed me the exact location of Ranger Station Eighteen inside the White Tail Woods. I blinked a few times, wondering how it knew where that was ,or why it was seemingly that close to our location.

I looked up at Alguacil then Quick Stitch, “Do you think there might be some spare rockets there?” The griffin thumbed his revolver back from cocked and holstered it away but kept his gaze on the sand dog and his talon ready to draw.

Can you not be in 'Fresh off the Train to the Badlands' mode for once in your life?

Alguacil shrugged, “Maybe. Might have been picked clean decades ago. Either way there is probably at least some good scrap there.”

Quick Stitch nodded to me, “I mean your PipBuck has led us to exactly where we needed to go so far.” He placed a hoof on my shoulder then used it to bring my attention up to his honey colored eyes. “If you think we should help him and your PipBuck is right, then I say we follow it.”

I started at Quick Stitch. He was being extremely nice to us for someone brand new. Wait! Since when am I... Right, DJ Pon3 had labeled me the leader and I really had to ask him in person one day how he had survived for 180+ years like I have. I am completely way too young for... Nope that excuse doesn't fly anymore. It is step up now Sunrise or don't. They will follow, I will look into this mystic of stable dwellers later.

“Sandy Claws, we'll go to the ranger station and see if we can find something to replace your rockets.” Sandy Claws turned and gave us the warmest smile. “You have to make your deliveries after all, it wouldn't be fair if everyone woke up and found out the Angel with a Shotgun refused to help save Hearth's Warming.”

He chuckled once again as I blushed, well at least I've accepted my title now. Baby steps right? Yesterday I was being blown up by landmines. Today I'm working to save Hearth's Warming for all the good little fillies and colts.

“Well then be safe and be quick! Tonight, it's not Rudolph whom is my guiding light, but it's the Sunrise!” He chuckled wholeheartedly.

We headed off to the east towards the point lit up on my PipBuck EFS. The green marker dot was not terribly far away, 318 meters. For once we saw something that surprised every pony but me, trees. What? I am used to seeing trees full of green the wasteland is so foreign, it is nice to see something growing still.

They weren't as lush as I remember them being before but they at least had leaves and a natural healthy glow to them. I was amazed that within less than 40 meters we were in a forest. This was like Nyota sneaking right up to me and bopping my nose.

“This is strange, perhaps we are deranged?” Chifundo mused to the rest of us.

“I agree, every one be on their guard,” Nyota declared as I saw him drop into a combat stance that was becoming familiar at this point. The tension grew as we crested the hill and saw the steep drop off towards the woodland edge.

There had been a hill between our camp site and the woodland verge, but the single tree Alguacil roosted in for the night was not the only one near us. I marveled at the resilience of the White Tail Woods as we approached. We could see signs of civilization ahead as beams of golden light made their ways through the pine needles and soft green maple leaves along with shapes of windows. That was certain to be where the ranger post was.

Trotting ahead we could make out a wooden watch tower next to two other buildings. An all metal, no lights on the inside garage shed that could have contained several vehicles. A garage, a cheap prefabricated one made of sheet metal, completely dark without sign of occupation. It could have contained several vehicles, five, maybe six. The garage doors as well as the side office to the building reflected the edge of my PipBuck light crystal clear in the dark night. Several windows near the roof were broken and areas had rusted through to the point there were holes in the building.

Next to that, the wooden guard tower reminded me of the one back in the quarry, just with far sturdier and much more uniform wood. It even still had the white ranger station paint on it. Wait that is unnerving, that paint looks fresh. It is like it was done in the last week, there aren't chips falling off and it doesn't look like it is starting to wear away.

I slowly approached the ranger station and found that what I thought was a wooden tower was in fact several add ons to what was likely the original steel outpost. The windows were intact and I could make out something on top that might have been a gun.

A gun? Is that a turret? There are lights on in the windows, somepnoy is here. Lets see if they are friendly. My friends stopped and hesitated. They all stood there for a bit as Alguacil spoke, “We should sneak up on them and investigate what is going on here.”

Nyota for once, nodded in agreement, “Ya know you might be right, they could be-”

I marched right up, and Box Pone trotted beside me when I felt a trip wire snap and flood lights flashed on! Oh Goddesses my eyes! Are those turrets!? My thoughts were broken by steel cylinders with the words, “Mark II Anti-Pony” written in white on them. A patchwork collection of spell matrices on each side of them encased in enamel colored smaller half cylinders next to a tri-barrelled minigun with the words 5000 rounds 5mm in bright white text under the barrel. And a red-dot sight to show where it was pointed, right at my chest with an angry glare of a death pony itself. Please don't fire!

With both turrets aimed right at my chest a shotgun popped out of one window joined on the other side by an M1 Grand Gala repeating rifle. I froze in place gazing from one weapon pointed at me to the next to the next, unable to take another breath or flinch a muscle at all.

“Who goes there?” An older mare's voice called out to me.

“Well hi! I'm Wandering Sunrise and-” The mare however was going to have none of my old world introduction.

“No, no, no are ya raiders, or are ya slavers or are-” Okay fine two can play at the interruptions game!

“I'm the Angel with a Shotgun and these are my friends!” I shouted back at the loud of my lungs, not sure if I sounded like a fully grown mare enraged or a little filly trying to be heard.

“You do realize that if they are raiders themselves they are going to blast you to bits?” Pink said rolling over the EFS under my eyes that were marking six dots on it that were not my friends, all gray. Corners shifted next to me nervously in her box while I sensed my friends wanting to dash forward to shield us.

The tension mounted in the air for a few moments. I felt sweat starting to form on my forehead as I stared down two chain-guns, a shotgun, and a heavy rifle all pointed at me. Time stretched out for every single heartbeat sounding like a hammer stroke only interrupted by the nervous shifting of Corner's inside her box. The air become as thick as peanut butter as I heard talon behind us rubbing over revolver. Then with a relief of waking up to find the bombs hadn't fallen, the double barrel boomstick lifted to point towards the sky.

“Well I'll be a dragon's aunt on an ice cream cone!” the mare declared exuberantly, “Weapons down and turn those turrets off. I can't believe it, somepony that DJ Pon3 talked up on the radio visiting us on Hearth's Warming Eve!” Oh dear Goddesses I can't believe that worked! Thank you so much DJ Pon3! I think I'd be full of lead right now without you.

The rickety steel door opened up to reveal a bright red colored mare with a baby blue mane. She had a weary smile across her face and motioned us forward, “Come on in! Pokey Dasher, get our guests some plates set out!” She shouted back with a grimace, “I swear boy I'm gonna show you the right way to treat guests if it kills me.” There was a commotion going on inside as our motley group approached and the mare let us in.

“Hello, Wandering Sunrise. I'm Heart Warmer,” she declared with the glee of a fan girl. Alguacil was the last to come in, the mare following in our wake. The house was decorated in a hodgepodge display of ornaments and hoof made tinsel. The furniture all looked crude but with a rustic charm hand crafted, nothing in here was from the old world, at least that I could point to and remember. All of it had been made by hoof, rather poorly in some cases, although there was a definite improvement with each piece. You could almost cite a timeline between the over fluffed feather cushioned couch to the uneven legged coffee table to a dining table you might find in a I Hocka store for next to rock bottom prices.

The center of the room had a oak sapling in it, one that had been replanted into a pot there, covered in odd shaped glass balls of various colors and a few light bulbs that had been painted so they provided different colors. Inside I could hear the generator desperately chugging to stay alive and keep the lighting on. However all of this paled in comparison to the smell of food.

It might have all been canned, some of it even cooked in the can, but it was a veritable feast. There were carrots, broccoli, a few daffodils, a plate full of iguana's skewered on a stick, most unappetizing thing on the menu, and a half dozen other veggies lining the table from end to end. I saw a set of three colts that could have been triplets, each of them was stumbling over each other in their haste, setting down cans of reheated food, and a few large serving platters. One was red coat and red mane, the second blue, and the third green and all of them right about my size except blank flanks. They bolted past us and one of them, the blue one, ran smack dab into me, bowling me over into a heap. I yelped and Nyota jumped in but he had a smile on his face.

He rolled around with the colt and ended up on his back. He held the colt up just out of reach of his smaller legs, and tossed him lightly up a few inches then caught him. Both were giggling gleefully and I couldn't help but blankly stared in disbelief.

Nyota, is being friendly, NO, downright playful! What in this world? I could have swore that zebra was stone cold all the time and yet here he is, playing with these colt like he was their dad.

“Huey! DUEY! LUEY!!!!! Calm yourselves and go wash your hooves, we have guests and dinner is ready,” Heart Warmer's mom said so tone and a flick her blue mane to one side was all that she needed to get the three of them scrambling. Another colt, well older than me but not quite a stallion walked up next to her. “And Daffodil Dream, get those youthful legs moving for your mother and show them some Hearth's Warming spirit!”

Daffodil Dream had a solid darkened sanguine coat and a soft green mane, similar to my own coat. He blushed a deeper olive green that matched Quick Stitch and rubbed his head with one hoof, “Awww mom, can we not embarrass me in front of the guests?” His whining however only got a hard look and a growl from the motherly mare.

“I swear! I'm stuck with all colts and your dad did it on purpose! Show some manners, it is Hearth's Warming Eve!” With that the triplets all dashed off, leaving me blinking at their sudden departure. Water splashed around the corner they disappeared, jostling and cries as I could picture them fighting over the faucet. Just as suddenly as they bolted off, they returned, skidding to a halt over the well worn floorboards.

The kids resumed playing an impromptu game of tag with the dark sections being lava for the game. Daffodil worked to straighten up the table and make room for us. As the triplets were playing, Nyota took out some fresh fruit and a fresh potato to add to the feast. Chifundo walked up and started to work with the radio, but got almost nothing but barely intelligible static until Corners moved over, took it under her box, then popped it back out. The reception was crystal clear now and a Hearth's Warming carol was playing, bringing a tear to my eye and missing my own home. But this was all interrupted and all I could do was stare with my jaw agape when Nyota led the charge for everyone to gather and sing together:

Silent Night, Starry Night

All is calm. All is bright

'Round the forest, parents and young

Gentle creatures everyone

Home in burrows deeeppppp

Home in their burrows deep

Silent Night. Starry night

Snowfall makes the meadows white

Huddle close to keep family warm

Tomorrow's Dawning brings Hearths Warming Morn'

Now the day is done

Now that the day is done

Silent Night, Starry Night

Leaves are still in Luna's sight

Dreams are born as the lights fall closed

Tomorrow's gift is that nopony knows

Sleep in beautiful peace...

Sleep in beautiful peaceeeee

Oh-whoa

Sleep in Beautiful Peace

Oh-whoa-oh-oh

Sleep in Beautiful Peace

Oh-whoa-oh-oh

Sleep in Beautiful Peace

Oh-whoa-oh

Sleep in Beautiiiiifullll Peeeaacceeeee

Sleep in Beautiful Peaceeeeeeeeeee

Sleep with Luna's Beautiful Peace

By the end of the song all of us had joined in. Even I was shocked at the idea to be singing Hearth's Warming carols with anypony, considering the wasteland outside. Well everypony had joined in with us except for Alguacil. You'd think that griffin was a wendigo or the great Scrouge. He sat at the table, refusing to join in with the singing.

We were off key, especially the triplets, belting their hearts out with little care for pitch or harmony. But with all of that distraction, I had to admit one thing, it was the most beautiful sound I had heard since we woke up in the pool with my new friends. All of our travels so far and I had found pony magic that needed to be preserved.

“See Sunrise, this is worth keeping. Always and forever.” Pink echoed in my head as she finished singing the song as well.

The radio continued onward with another carol but we left it alone as quiet gentle background noise while moving to the table with a warmth inside our souls that hadn't been there before. We were quite the contrast amongst our hosts sitting at the table. They were not wearing barding, all of them looked relatively clean as well, probably provided by the ranger station's water supply. Nor did any of them have weapons on their person, those were kept by the windows. In complete opposite, all of us were wearing armored barding of some sort. We also had a plethora of weapons and our gear hadn't been set aside, we looked like we were ready to go right back into the wastes at a moment's notice.

Yet here, in this place, I had never felt so close to a group of ponies since the last Hearth's Warming I shared with my parents, Rainbowrise and Shadow Window. I felt the wet, warm salty tears rolling down my cheeks as days of pain poured from my body. Tears continued to stream but I did nothing to halt them. I felt Nyota place a hoof on my shoulder and I shook my head, really don't wanna ruin the mood.

Sniffing a bit and wiping away a tear I looked out the window to see a bright moon managing to pierce the clouds and it was one of the most beautiful sights I had even beheld. Mom, Dad, I hope I make you proud when I see you again. I hope that all this pain and the secrets we uncover is truly worth it. I know you are still out there, and I pray to the Goddesses that you see the same moon I see right now and feel the same way.

I picked at the food while Chifundo and Nyota dove in with a hearty appetite. Quick Stitch noticed and nudged me. “So we are looking for some rocket exhausts and parts for a flying rocket; you wouldn't happen to think that you might have that lying around? Or would it be in the maintenance shed?” I asked expecting the answer to be a resounding no.

The triplets and Corners had turned her box into a foal's table. They were eating off of it while playing happily between chewing mouthfuls of canned vegetables and slurping soup loudly. Nyota was even joining in like he was apart of the foals at heart.

Daffodil spoke up, “We've done what we can to add extensions, farm, and defend this place. But that maintenance shed,” He paused to munch on a preserved roll that I was surprised something like that could survive for 180 years much less still be edible. I guess whatever they preserve those with really works, wait what does that do to my insides? He continued through a mouthful of bread, “I imagine if you can get into the shed you might find something. We never could jimmy the lock, and it seems silly to just punch a hole in the wall, not knowing what’s inside.”

Hearth Warmer nudged him hard, almost hard enough to push him off the bench. “Hey now, don't talk with your mouth full! You'll set a bad example for your siblings!” I giggled at both of them till Hearth glared at me. I realized that if she were my mother, I should have reason to be scared with the fear of Nightmare Moon herself.

I saw how playful the triplets were and tossed them one of my chalk boxes. Corners's eyes went wide as her box suddenly being drawn on. The smell of markers hit the air and I realized that wasn't a box of chalk, it was Sharpie Claw magic markers. Whatever they were drawing on her box wasn't ever going to come out. But it was causing her no end of distress and knowing colts it was likely to be covered in everything from flowers to dicks.

Nyota lit up a smoke and took a long draw as I got up and stepped outside. I could hear the triplets playing behind me, the flirting starting between Chifundo and Heart Warmer. I have shut that dialog out of my mind permanently. You do not want to hear a zebra rhyming as he flirts with a milf, talking back in a pure applebuck country accent. Oh dear Goddesses did I just call her a milf!? Seriously Sunrise, you would... she is old enough to be your mom and change! What is... nevermind she isn't old enough to be... am I old enough to be... where is this chain of thought going and why is it derailing my life so hard.

Seriously get a grip! What if DJ Pon3 could hear this conversation in your head right now? I mean how she finds out all her other information I wish I knew but do you seriously think-

“Oh hi there, am I interrupting?” A voice that was robotic and completely alien startled me out of my pondering. I jumped onto all four hooves and spun in the direction of the unfamiliar voice my tail reaching for shotgun.

“WHO... what?” My confusion was amplified as I saw a floating robot that was at eye level to me. A sprite bot! It had soft transparent insect wings of soft pink combine with a solid steel globe for a body. Those wing colors did not go with its metallic body, nor the cage across the visual receptors. A set of speakers had been mounted on top of it along with the various sensor spikes that shot out of its back. I knew they also provided a means to hover similar to how a pegasus could do it with little effort. Dad had worked on a few of these; always for ministry forces, never civilian or non-government.

“Oh, hi I'm Watcher. I'm the one who informed DJ Pon3 of your exploits.” The voice was robotic and there was no way to tell if it was meant to be male or female. I poked the sprite bot with my shotgun to make sure it was real. “You aren't going to shoot me are you?”

“As long as you aren't shooting at me first, no. Watcher? So you aren't the sprite bot are you?” Then the realization hit me, “You've been spying on me! You stalker!” I growled at the sprite bot.

“Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not your enemy. I'm here to help,” the robot pleaded back as it hovered up and down. “I'm glad you made friends. You should keep it up and hopefully make sure you have made the right friends.”

The right friends? What is this robot talking about? They are my friends to choose aren't they?

I gave it a hard stare and then sat on my flanks, “I can't believe I'm talking to a sprite bot. Of all the random events of the last week, this one takes the cake.”

“Well, if I take the cake then I would hate to see what happens when you meet something like Sandy Claws or Geckzilla.” Watcher saw the look in my eyes and the sprite bot shied away.

“You realize I am on a mission from Sandy Claws to get some replacement rockets, and that Geckzilla stopped us from being able to get into the secret stable we found after I got blown up in a minefield and gutted by bark scorpions!” My shouting drew Alguacil out into the night and I shied away from his gaze as he searched for me in the night, suddenly ashamed that I had interrupted their Hearth’s Warming Eve dinner.

I pointed a hoof at Watcher and turned back only to see the sprite bot had vanished. Oh come on how typical. My insanity has reached- I could however now see the mist its hover system, kicked up in its rush to get away from me. Nope that was certainly a sprite bot and it was here and the thing called itself Watcher. I better leave this alone in front of that griffin or his justice boner will kick in and have us hunting down the sprite bot instead of actually helping Sandy Claws.

Did I just reference Alguacil's justice boner? Sunrise seriously get a hold of yourself. Also pick a gender and be attracted to one or the other; not everything that walks across Equestria that isn't ghoulified.

“Sunrise what was here?” Alguacil moved a talon to rub at the dust in the air.

“A talking sprite bot if I'm entirely honest. That knew a particular lot about us.” I looked up and Alguacil just snorted with the curse of Chifundo rhyming off my tongue.

“Explains DJ Pon3 I suppose, why are you out here?” he prodded me with a talon like it was a bad idea.

“Come on, let's get over to the shed, see if we can get inside,” I changed the subject and started to march over to the maintenance garage. It was significantly larger than the ranger station even with all the Warmer family additions. But despite its size, I could see all the locks on the vehicle doors as well as the side office door bearing three separate keyhole mechanisms. Guess they would have had the larger building for a house if they could have gotten in there.

Alguacil got to work on the locks while I worked on a screwdriver carving something against it and curling it with a second screw driver. I've got an idea that might help this situation quite a bit. After several broken bobby pins I stopped him from continuing the lockpicking and handed him the modified screwdriver which had a curl to it now and was designed to push tumblers precisely in the way I thought locks needed to be turned. “Alguacil try using this.” I stared at my PipBuck and saw it was 1:37am now. How long was I working on that screwdriver and where had that idea to make it come from? Why-

Click! The first lock came open. Alguacil wasted no time getting to the second one as his featured softened for once with a sense of accomplishment. He looked genuinely pleased with himself and started to work on the next lock which was thankfully much quicker. Corners walked up rubbing her box with a wet cloth and growling, “Sunrise WHY!” A rare thing to see the solid white filly outside her cubical environment.

I turned my head to see the box had crude child drawings in magic marker all over it except for one drawing. That one wasn't stick ponies and crudely drawn shapes to make foal's games. It was an incredibly detailed depiction of the group, surprisingly well done for a foal using colored markers on the cardboard underneath her metal armored slabs but to my eyes it was one of the beautiful things tonight.

I looked up at Corners who was quite distressed that the marker wouldn't come out. I didn't think I had markers I thought it was harmless chalk but ya know what, you deserve it!

“You know why! The skull in the minefield!” I shot back as the sound of the final lock clicked into place.

Nyota and Quick Stitch were trotting up, both snickering at us as I felt self conscious for having held a grudge now.

“Oh Sunrise, you shouldn't bottle up your anger at anyone, let it out. Especially for your friends!” Pink declared then she looked at the marker on the box. “Though this is hilarious!” Pink was rolling in laughter across my vision before my attention turned to the two stallions standing behind Corners whom were hiding their snickering.

“Are yall done? We can get in here now,” Alguacil declared in a gruff irritation.

Great the 'I'm Angry all the Time' griffin is back. Do you have another emotion!? It's Hearth's Warming Eve for Luna's sake!

“Sunrise they are doing that looking at you waiting for something, thing.” Pink was playing around in my head eager to get us to go inside while Alguacil had already ducked in.

Within Nyota watched the door, looking around in the dim light of the clouded night sky, the moon being the only celestial body shining through to us. I switched on my PipBuck light and donned my helmet marching in with the visor down to protect my eyes. Inside was a sight I was slowly getting used to, two dead pony skeletons. I really don't want to get used to this sight!

One on the ground, a unicorn with a hole through his skull right next to his horn. The other in a chair, hole in his skull from the side, slumped down in a faded green office chair against an office desk. A 9mm pistol was cast carelessly to the floor next to a long since faded stain of red across the chair, concrete, and a nearby locker.

He killed himself! He killed the other pony in here and then blew his own brains out all over this place! What could have driven him to that?

My eyes dragged themselves away from the sight of the stallion skeleton in the chair to the computer terminal that was still running. I knew they built those to last, its been two centuries and still running? I could use that... to get into the file from an admin lock out by making the file think the admin was that computer! I just have to, get past the dead body.

“I, Quick Stitch could you?” I was fumbling with my words unable to put voice to it just yet. Get over it! Say it! You know if you don't say it, it will be just like Buddy. You need to address this! Quick Stitch stepped over to me and leaned up expecting an answer. I hesitated until finally Corners nudged my rear right where I'd been hit with a broomstick three days earlier. “Can you please move the skeleton so I can work!?” I yelped out in surprise and turned to glare back at the box, who that was giggling at me.

Quick Stitch rubbed a hoof against my head and ruffled my mane. He walked over to putting two hooves onto the chair. Rather than use his magic, he pushed the chair aside like I would have with a smoth shove and used his horn to gathered up the 9mm pistol.

Alguacil walked over and leveled a to glare down at Corners, “Go wait outside with Nyota.”

Corners giggled all the way to the door as the box shuffled away. I took a swing at the air in Corners's direction. I swear I'm gonna deck you so hard! I gritted my teeth and then turned back to the computer, carefully stepping around the blood stain to get up to the terminal and immediately my hooves hooked the PipBuck in and I pushed the thought of dead ponies out of my head.

The password was so simple it was insulting, “ranger”. We are in a ranger station! Are you kidding me? Who comes up with these passwords? So far I've had 1234, ranger, and MagicWord. Can we seriously analyze our security better? There was one log entry dated 1039 CE. It was full audio and the maximum recording length for a single holotape, 11 minutes 59 seconds.

I clicked play on the tape and the terminal began to broadcast:

“Well we are down to eight additional days worth of rations. I'm pretty sure at this point it is Hoof Hook. I mean we've been locked in here for nearly a year! All because he lost the fracking key somewhere. Now our rations are down to eight days worth. Not to mention his accidental discharge of the anti-tank round into the Sand Scorcher!

“When he gets back from my the shitter, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind and let him know exactly how I feel about it.”

The tape was silent for around 33 more seconds as I started to upload the encrypted file I had been locked out of into the terminal. Then the voices kicked on again, loud:

“Hook! Listen here, I know you've been sneaking the extra rations! Where is that damn key?” There was the sound of a pistol cocking and a tense snort between them. Two hoof stamps echoed in the room, then the sound of a charging pony. Two gunshots echoed through the room, then the sounds of violent struggle as two ponies tossed around the room, slammed into doors and lockers. From what we could hear there was a whole lot of anonymity and everypony else had gathered around me to listen.

“You stupid wife stealing bucking idiot! We're in this because of you!” The first voice shouted. The sound of a hoof pummeling flesh and someone bouncing their head off a locker echoed through the room.

“I didn't steal your mare! And I didn't lose the key for the last time! It was Jolly who did that!” The second voice I assumed was Hoof Hook.

The sound of another pistol shot rang out, followed immediately by a meaty impact as the slump of a body onto the floor hit the audio speakers. All I could do was stare at the terminal in disbelief as as I heard the unnamed pony settle into the office chair, his ragged breathing dragging out over the holotape.

“Well, that went worse than I expected. He punctured my shoulder with his horn. Damn idiot also 'Lost' the medical cabinet key too. The wound is deep and likely to get infected.” the sound of a pistol cock and a round clattering to the floor hit our ears.

“Since I can't get any of our medical equipment and I doubt I can keep this wound clean or even patch it... yeah I didn't wanna go out this way. If you get this to my wife, tell that Mare to go fuck herself with Luna's horn.” There was a gunshot followed by the sound of the pistol clattering to the floor. We were at the 4 minute 51 second mark and it just kept going.

He... he took his own life after killing his only friend. This can't be real? No way this is...

“Sunrise when ponies are pushed like that, with nowhere to go and nothing to do, even the slightest argument over food can become a mountain of differences. Don't let your friends become like these two friends.” I could feel the tiny hoof of the pink pony on my shoulder, like she was really there.

They were friends? How do you know?

“Because Sunrise, I am the Pink One, I am not restricted by time or space like you are. Trust me, Pinkie Pie knows. They were good ponies once, till their friend betrayed them and went to grab Lemon Limes's wife. However that story you will find out later.”

What do you mean find out later? A griffin claw shutting off the ambient noise holotape log interrupted my train of thought. I let out a sigh and hung my head. “Thank you, Alguacil.”

Get your mind off of it focus on the task. I heard him going through a locker while Quick Stitch got a ladder from somewhere and was climbing onto the roof. I shook my head, refocusing before I started to work on the decryption of that locked file. Sure enough the admin trick worked and I as back to hacking away to find the correct password. I managed to reduce it to two words and two guesses left. There was no way I was going to mess this up. I clicked one, 6/27 match. When I say passwords I mean pass whole sentences. Clicked the second and it read: 9/27. LOCK OUT!

“Are you freaking kidding me! There was no other choice, how in the Goddesses am I suppose, was the only one-”

The audio speaker kicked on, “Voice Print Recognized, Decryption Process Initialized”.

“left...” I looked around the room and saw the same level of confusion across all my companion's faces.

“What in the wide grasp of Discord's snake scaled ass?” Alguacil called out, hlating mid locker check.

“Hello, Subject 014 Stable 43 Name 'Wandering Sunrise' it is good to hear from you. Decryption process underway, standby.”

The scene displayed a single green bar with a time to complete at 22 minutes and a percentage amount of decryption.

Did that computer just recognize me? Did it just open because I spoke? And why only THAT time that I said something? I don't, Subject 014? What designation was that? Am I- Like an answer from the heavens my PipBuck beeped and I looked at it, the Ponygram on the screen showed a new name at the top, for the wearer:

'Experiment Subject 043-014 Wandering Sunrise'

'Experiment Status: Successful'

Experiment Status? What experiment? Is that part of what I'm seeing in my dreams? What could all of it possibly mean?

“Sunrise, you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Quick Stitch asked putting down a couple of bags of caps, an SMG and a few small boxes of bullets labeled .357. Alguacil held up a set of keys labeled “Ranger Maintenance Garage” on them. Two separate sets. Keys were here the whole time? Hook and Lemon had no reason to... they fought and died for nothing? I forced the thoughts from my head with rapid shakes and took the keys Alugacil passed me. Nyota had come in and motioned us behind a nearby locker, something was on the other side out of sight.

On the other side of the locker, just past where I could see, was a door with a long push bar handle. He placed a talon against the handle and pressed it open. On the other side was a preserved shop of true wonders, at least for my friends who stared in disbelief. I had to force flooding memories back away from my mind as the shop reminded me of life before the stable.

Several bright red toolboxes lined the walls with drawers pulled open and lids propped up, as if mechanics long since dead would be back to grab a wrench at any moment. Gears, road wheels, slabs of metal, armor plates, all sorts of components for modification, repair, and assembly of three distinct vehicles were spread over the garage in the well ordered chaos of a grease monkey's space. My face lit up as I recognized which the three vehicles, things I had dreamed of working on with my father one day. The Dingo all terrain recon, a little four wheeled two pony vehicle that could go incredibly fast, almost 80 kph if I remember right, only a pegasus could keep up with it.

The second set of parts I recognized as belonging to a Murky Aura Mobile Bunker. That little number if I remembered correctly had three rubber wheels and a set of tracks at the rear. It was shaped like a horseshoe and designed for ponies to get on board from the rear and then disembark. It also could take a beating as evident by the plates that were as thick as my forelimbs, which should have gone over the engine compartment in the front.

Alas, these were only parts and outer cases for such vehicles, the two of them were not here. But the third bay had a vehicle and I found myself slowly trotting towards it, starring wide eyed in awe. A Sand Scorcher Mark II light assault tank. 75mm cannon extended from the front, that is how I knew it was a Mark II, developed mid-war to replace the mark I with enough armor piercing that it could take on a medium or, with a lucky shot, a heavy tank.

The side of the turret had a guided missile launcher that could retract inside for reloading. It would likely contain missiles under combat conditions. Missiles I can use to make rocket exhausts once I get those warhead off! I'm not gonna hand Sandy Claws live missiles when I can use the explosives for something more productive. Not to mention I don't want him having another accident with live missiles.

This Sand Scorcher wasn't moving though, the right side had a hole blown in it, right where the turret control fusion core would go. That meant the spell matrix was likely damaged too. They also needed new tracks and several road wheels were in the process of being replaced. The possibilities hit me like a runaway train on the Appleloosa Express!

I dashed up to the vehicle and started to jump all around it in a blur. I wasn't sure how I was moving this fast! I just seemed to be looking at one piece, ranting out, “A Sand Scorcher Mark II!” Then I just appeared at the gun, it seemed like I had just teleported in the blink of an eye, from floor to sitting on the barrel. “With a 75mm Anti-Tank, Infantry Support Cannon!” in the blink of an eye I was next to the missile rack, “With Anti-Tank high yield 202mm missile racks!” in a flash my eyes were on the engine compartment, “And nearly 400 Horsepower beating in those engines!”

My squeal was so loud I thought I might break a window before my lungs started screaming for air. My vision narrowed as blackness closed on the edge of my eyes, my head swimming as I was dimly aware I needed to breathe, a heartbeat before I stumbled and slumped over to the ground. Everything was fuzzy now, barely able to see anything.

“Looks like somepony has discovered one of the Pinkie Pie powers! The squeal! Now get ready, the hammer is gonna fall, also remember to breathe in deep next time before you start the squeal.”

What are you-Oh dear Goddess what in Equestria's name was that! That hurt! I could taste blood, my nose was leaking as I got to my hooves. Corners was standing over me, my blood on her hoof as her foreleg finished its slapping motion. Her other hoof was holding me by the collar, “There, she's awake now.” Sugarcube declared and slid back under her box.

“OKAY THAT'S IT!” I screamed out and popped up to my hooves. “You and ME! Right now Corners! RIGHT HERE!” My screams of pure rage echoed off the walls and killing the reverberation of my squeal earlier.

Corner laughed and got out from under her box, showing off the battle saddle and shook her flanks from side to side mockingly, “What? Little Stable Pony don't know nothing. You little weak pipsqueak. I can knock you down with one good buck and keep you there, Stable Dweeb.”

Oh no, that is it! All those bullies, all those times I spent at school being humiliated for being small or lacking a cutie mark. I'll show you Stable Pony! I sized up Sugarcube Corners now. She was physically bigger than myself, her muscles were much better developed. Not only that, but she clearly moved with a bit more confidence than I did.

Quick Stitch walked up to me and started to address my nose but I had none of it and kept trying to push him away. Alguacil reached out and pulled him out of the way. Nyota piped up, “Hooves only! Take your weapons and barding off.”

“Gotta let this happen Quick Stitch, it's been a long time coming,” Alguacil declared and moved him aside to make sure he was well clear of either of us. I shifted out of my barding, helmet, tossed my backpack, saddlebags and shotgun to the ground. I could see where my fur had been covered with barding for several days and what hadn't been. I need a shower so bad... ew! What is, nevermind, kicking Corners butt for it. There was a distinctively brighter green shine to it and a lot less dirt. Stable suits were good at one thing, keeping dirt out, apparently. I flung the duster over the pile of my stuff and turned my attention back to her.

Not taking off the boxing tape, I'll need it probably for this.

“What's a matter Stable-Dork! Cockatrice got your hooves or are ya scared of me? You know I'm gonna beat your little stable butt! I might even toy with you while I'm at it,” The white foal declared. BUCK YOU!

I charged with a raged fueled scream as I brought down both hooves where she had been with all the fury of a nerd who had taken too much. I missed but the concrete under my hooves cracked and several flakes of it flew up into the air.

Corners however slammed into me and rolled us to the ground. I fought for control to get my flanks and hips over her own before I realized it didn't matter who was winning the grapple. I just had to smash her face in!

I reared back and slammed a hoof forward. The impact into Corners's throat made her gasp for air and let go of me for a second. Now it was on! Blow after blow hammered into her. Ribs, face, eye, shoulder, and then I got a lucky uppercut right to her nose. I felt it, the compression of nose bone and cartridge cracking and buckling. The sickening crunch only drove me to want more.

“You want to act like Daring Dash, Jumpy Bean, and all the rest?! I can put you in your place, just like I should have done to those stupid colts!”

Corners didn't respond and rolled us over only to have my rear leg go in against her belly. I kicked as hard as I could and found purchase, in her nethers.

The cunt kick made Corners whimper and bite her lip, which I took advantage of as our tumble came to a stop. I was on my back but my forehooves were still free, and that is all I needed to pummel her again and again, the final blow chipping a tooth and sending half of her molar out of mouth.

“You want to give me a cardboard cut!” I vented as a hoof slammed into her gut.

“You want to hit me with a skull and make a land mine go off on me!” Another shot to her mouth.

“You want to slap me so hard it gives me a busted LIP!” I screamed as I clopped her already blackening eye again.

“LET ME BREAK YOURS!” Both hooves bucked right into her shout at that final cry.

That was my mistake. Both of Corners's own forehooves grabbed mine and pressed them together. Despite the pain she pinned my forehooves to the ground under me and I raged out, feeling myself foaming at the mouth wanting to break her hold and go at her some more. “SUNRISE STOP! I GIVE! YOU WIN!” Corners shouted out, her voice cracked and broke as she spoke. A single tear drop rolled off her cheek and bounced off my own, it was like a hammer breaking the glass of my rage.

What? I win? It was then I saw the extent of the damage. I had bruised her throat in several places. Her cheeks were sporting several hoof shaped bruises. A blackened eye was hammered down till it was nearly swollen shut. Her nose was turned at nearly a 90 degree angle, clearly broken and hard snapped. Lastly, her lip was hanging onto a piece of tooth held in by a single strand of root. She looked like the filly had been hit with a cheese grater to the face. My mood softened and my life came into focus, the red rage that lined my eyes faded.

“Sunrise please... just stop. Stop. I give, you win,” Corners said. I snorted back only to feel more of her tears hitting my face. I realized it was blood mixed tears, blood I had drawn out. I had hurt my friend so badly now that she was crying like a foal in need of her mother. I wanted to reach out and hug her but found myself restrained and moving only made her cry more.

“I... Corners, I'm good. Let go, I'm good.” My words were broken and cracked as Pink came into view again.

She looked like somepony had just shot her dog in front of her. She didn't need to speak, I understood. It was like a crash of reality mixed with enough guilt to cripple a pony. I had done that? How, how had I done that? How could I have done that to my friend? Unless... she's not my friend.

I slowly got up. I had expected the release of all my rage and frustration to feel good, productive even. Instead, it just felt like I had cross a line somewhere that shouldn't have been crossed, a line I couldn't trot back over and act like nothing happened. I walked over and Nyota helped me back into my stable barding and strap my gear back on. There was a gleam in his eye, even a happier spring to his step. For me, I just felt wrong.

“Why are you so happy?” I looked at Nyota with what felt like a combination of raw anger and a glared to wonder his happiness.

“It's Hearth's Warming Eve and I just got the best present ever. That stupid Box Pone got her comeuppance! I didn't even have to... oh.” He paused and looked at me with a sort of empathy that I had never experienced before. “I know it's hard for you to understand Sunrise but that needed to happen. Even if it means Quick Stitch will have to work on Corners, but if any pony was going to do that, it was best you do it.”

He took a breath and raised my head so I had to look him in the eye, “Sunrise, you doing it means that Corners might finally straighten up and learn her lesson. Otherwise she was on the path that might end up at being a raider. It may feel awful right now, but you also show you've got some skills at skullbucking. Maybe enough to be worth teaching, but you will see what good comes out of this later.” The zebra explained in the most I'd ever heard him talk in one day, much less in a single minute.

“Nyota, are you, opening up to me?” I asked nervously with my head tilted curious at him.

He nodded and pulled out a cigarette which he lit, then his hoof held up some stale caramel popcorn from a tin on the floor. “A bit, maybe one day I'll tell you the whole story,” he said and I took a bite of the caramel popcorn. It tasted awful, like burnt old popcorn mixed with a chocolate bar that had started to mold.

“This is terrible, where did you get this?”

He giggle, “I found it while the two of you were fighting. You're right, it's terrible but it seemed appropriate to munch on it while I watched my Hearth's Warming Eve entertainment.” He paused and popped another kernel into his mouth and chewed on it. “Go on, go talk to Sugarcube over there, I'm sure the Box Pone will want to talk about what just happened with you as well. Even if it was well deserved and funny as buck.”

I glared at him then looked to see Quick Stitch's horn glowing as the mending to the bruising was taking place right before my eyes. Quick Stitch moved between us and snorted, “The filly fight is over. Sunrise get away from my patient.” I didn't know him well yet but I could clearly see from his features he was upset with both of us. Me most of all since he thought I was going to start the fight back up.

“Sunrise you became the bully. You can't-”

Shut up PINK! My parents would be embarrassed of me right now! I have to make this right. I don't care what you have to say Pink.

“I know the fight is over. Quick Stitch move out of the way, I don't intend to fight anymore.” I pressed a hoof against his shoulder to move him out of the way. He relented and let me approach the white, blood stained filly. I slowly extended my hoof to her, “Truce?”

Corners didn't grab my hoof, instead she leapt onto me, right into a tight hug, sobbing softly against my mane and smearing my coat and mane in her tears with a bit of blood.

The word was like a bomb diffusion gone perfect. The tension between us evaporated instantly and there was a soft sigh of relief as I held her still. My hoof started to stroke her head from ear to shoulder over and over again. “Shhh... it's okay, not gonna hurt you again. You alright with not acting out anymore?”

She nodded into my coat and I pressed my shoulder up so that Corners's face was clearly visible to Quick Stitch. I looked around her neck and motioned him over, “Go on patch her up. I'll keep her still and calm.” My assurances to Quick Stitch paid off as his horn glowed and more bruising started to fade away from Corners's face. Magic is a clear miracle, I'm so glad we have some of that magical power with us now. I just hope we don't lose someone else because of my errors.

When he had finished I set Corners down and slid her box back over her. I understand now, it is your safe space. I gave a few pats to the box and then walked back over to the tank, trying to put what I had just done behind me. We had a mission to complete and this was it. “Nyota help me up there, we need to get inside and see if any of its missiles are still in there.”

I didn't realize it but the zebra was already next to me and without saying a word. Two hooves hit my flanks and shoved me up towards the lip of the tank body. Damn you! Why are you always so quiet! If I hadn't recognized the hoof from being in my mouth so often I would have squealed in protest. From there it was easy to clamber up against the circular turret and pop the hatch.

The stale air hit me like a wall death. There were no dead ponies inside but it hadn't been disturbed in over a century. There were dozens of controls and switches, even a set of helmets you would expect for a tank crew. The vehicle had a clear gunner's seat, commander's communication panel, and the driver's seat was down in front along with the co-driver. Lastly, the majority of the space was dedicated to the ready arms rack and breach of the gun, for the loader.

I clambered in, queezing tightly into the interior which was cramped even for me. I looked up through the hatch to see Nyota looking down at me, as my hooves moved from the ladder to the floor. He seemed puzzled how I could fit in there, “How do I get in? How did you manage to?”

I looked back up and grinned, “Tankers were not selected because they were full sized stallions. Most of them were mares, and smaller ones at that.” I looked up at him and just got a frown, “Look once I figure out what we need to fix this tank, we can maybe modify the insides to be more roomy. But for now stay there and I'll pass you any missiles I find.”

Nyota snorted down at me, “Fine but I don't like you being in there alone, kid.”

I snorted back and stamped a hoof like Chifundo had done the night Buddy had died.

His face turned into pure confusion then a frustrated smile. He didn't know whether to laugh, scold me, or just shout; that much was written onto his face. I grinned and set to work, moving to check the ammo load. Near the gun breach were several unspent shells, as well as a full rack of rounds, on ready racks around the breach. All of them pointed up at the top of the turret, a design thatmade sure if they went off they would penetrate the thin top armor and exit the tank rather than explode inside. There was a panel for where the missile launcher would go in and out of the turret for loading. In addition another rack on its side with three missiles in it.

Two had labels with a steel beam being penetrated by an orange beam, one side of the penetration looked like it exploded outward. Armor-Piercing Anti-Tank. The third one however had a symbol on it that set off warning bells in my head.

Pink appeared in my vision again and made a WHOOOAAA! Face and sound at the top of her lungs.

What is it Pink?

“That is a mini-megaspell based on the balefire egg!”

A WHAT!? You mean designed to-

“Wipe out an entire building.”

Mark II's didn't normally get these, they were too valuable and if one went off accidentally, you'd lose the entire recon platoon. Why is this, nevermind let's get them out and disarm the warheads.

I took the first missile and wrapped my tail around it, placing it against my back and hefted it up to Nyota. The rest quickly followed and I exited the tank. With the missiles laid out on the concrete I started to work.

“What are you doing? Let's just give them to Sandy Claws and be done with it,” Quick Stitch declared.

“And give him the explosives as well? He just needs the rocket propellant and the exhaust housings. Also we just met him, do you really wanna give him explosives?” I asked as I took the first casing off and saw the various wires and parts that engaged the warhead to the missile array. “Do you really think it's a good idea to have Sandy Claws able to megaspell anyone he considers naughty?”

“And do what with the explosives, leave them here?” Quick Stitch shot back.

“Of course not, we give them to the small child,” Nyota replied in the most deadpan voice I had ever heard.

Did we just say that statement dead serious? Give the explosives to the small child!? WAIT Did you just call me a small child! Seriously!? I'm the one you are all following but I mean- I looked at the missile and saw my reflection while the absurdity of the situation was so insane it distracted my hoof and I nearly hit the wrong wire. Dammit Nyota, I swear if you get us all killed... I looked up from Quick Stitch to Alguacil to Nyota and then to Corners. “I swear if one of you makes me cut the wrong wire and we are all blown to bits, I'm going to get all of you back in the afterlife!”

The room grew quiet and only there was the sound of my screwdriver, wrench, and wire cutters working away at the warhead. Finally I got the first two anti-tank warheads off the missiles before moving to the next last one.

This one had a different set of wires and panels, upon flicking it open my PipBuck clicked once. Then it clicked again ten seconds later. Great I have to work fast or risk exposure.

I worked as fast I could with the unfamiliar systems. Is this what a magical fusion engineer goes through? No they have proper gear and know exactly what they're doing.

I kept working and was left with eleven red wires. All of them identical in every way, with the same serial numbers. The only way to know the difference would be with a manual. One I didn't have. I clipped the first one, and suddenly the missile started beeping loudly, a bright red shinging light lit up on the tip of the missile.

“Oh, that's bad. Everypony we've got a problem!” I shouted and everypony did look at me with a concerned gaze as the beeping grew louder. One... two... three... I scooped up the two AT warheads and their exhaust manifolds before dashing for the door. Four... Nyota was pushing me from behind as Quick Stitch was getting Corners moving when Alguacil grabbed the beeping missile and flew out of the window.

It is hard to describe how he was doing it, but somehow the griffin was moving incredibly fast. Looking like he was just taking an afternoon stroll even as I knew he was blazing by at break neck speeds. Five... Six... He flapped his wings slowly and trotted gracefully out of the window but his speed through the air could only be described as breakneck. He disappeared from sight and I stopped running.

Seven... We all stared and waited.

Eight...

Nine...

There was a massive explosion, briefly turning the darkest night into the brightest day, with Alguacil coming crashing back through the window he left through.

Nyota and Quick Stitch dashed forward and caught the falling griffin in their hooves. He looked ragged but no worse for the wear, just wounded pride.hH hadn't gotten back inside in time to avoid the explosive shock wave.

Everypony looked at the garage like a bad luck charm, and we were eager to leave it behind. On the way out I stopped by the computer gathering up my now decrypted file onto my PipBuck for later. The name on my PipBuck changed, 'Subject: 043-014 “Wandering Sunrise” Experiment Status: Successful.' What had this file done? Why was I ton here? Please some pony start making sense. Once the place was locked back up, we headed off to find our rather talkative member who hadn't joined us in the garage.

Chifundo was still being flirted with, but he hopelessly had no idea he was being hit on. Heart Warmer was so obvious even I could see it. Come on Chifundo! At least own up to being a pretty stallion.

I explained what the explosion was and that they shouldn't have anypony go out into the area for a couple of days to let the radiation go away. Apparently Alguacil had just leveled a few trees, nothing serious. Heart Warmer didn’t seem to want to let us, or at least Chifundo, go, but with a heartfelt goodbye we managed to pry ourselves away, explaining we were on a Hearth’s Warming Eve mission from the Goddesses.

We arrived back at Sandy Claws, whom was more than grateful for the missiles and thanked us for the efforts. Within less than ten minutes I had his “Sleigh” as he called it ready to rocket back into the sky. He took off in a flash and was gone beyond our sight in less than a minute. Never knew a skycarriage to move that fast, then again that MacGuyer machine shouldn't exist!

The effects of the drink he gave us wore off and the world became hazy as fatigue caught up to all of us. I trotted tiredly back to the campsite and curled up in the sleeping bag, passing out before my head even hit the ground.

When dawn came, we all found a small present lying in front of us, wrapped in reds, greens, and whites; each one had our name on it and though they all contained a personal gift. It was like waking up with a family I never knew I could have. They are just that aren't they? The closest thing you have to family right now. It's only been two weeks and I would happily spend another Heart's Warming with these ponies.

“Even Corners?” Pink teased at me as she leaned in for an answer.

Yes, even Corners. Pink I think she needed that.

Mine contained a small bag of 150 caps, a healing potion, a box of five perfectly preserved fresh donuts, two fragmentation grenades, and a note: “You only get to keep one of those warheads!” I checked my PipBuck and sure enough, there was only one warhead in my backpack. So he was real or at least he really does exist in the wasteland and last night wasn't some mass dream after all. A brief glimmer of hope in our lives that we desperately needed.

It could very well be one of the last bright spots in our lives for a long time. WAIT! That sand dog took explosives from me! I need those!

Season Appropriate Fan at by Stew Art

Fan Art By: Shadow

Level Up Progress - 97% of the way to level 5

Quest Perk Unlocked - Pinkie Squeal - Anytime in which you become overly excited, distressed, or filled with terror you can unleash a squeal at the top of your lungs that actually causes tangible damage. Make an END check, if successful, all glass within 50 yards of you shatters with the repercussions of glass per fragmentation grenades. In addition to this, all creatures within that range must pass an END check at -3 or suffer -20% to all actions for 5 rounds from the high pitched stunning of the scream.

Quest Perk Unlocked - Pinkie's Dash - Anytime you are searching for something or become extremely excited about something you see, you can instantly dash from one part of it to another. This can only be done in instances in which your character is not under threat or potential harm. Any combat situation or situation in which harm is at risk, this power will not activate.

Chapter 12: Radiation Blues

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Radiation is a creeping death. You won't realize it's killed you till long after you've been exposed to too much - US Soldiers Guide to Radiation Poisoning

Last night really did happen didn't it? That sand dog is really going around being a giving of gifts on Hearth's Warming Eve? Alright then, I'm glad he thinks we are good ponies. I slid the contents of the gift into my saddlebags and joined my companions at the campfire. Nyota had been cooking and once again it smelled was delicious. He had also placed my thermos against the fire already so the coffee inside was heated, even if it was three days old.

At least I didn't have another memory rush through my sleeping mind. But I think I'd rather have a memory than feel this ragged and tired. I plopped down and took the vegetable soup he had made. I need to get him a spice rack if we are only going to eat canned veggies every meal.

“At least they talking about you eating meat anymore,” Pink cartwheeled into view along the EFS compass at the bottom of my vision.

Touche Pink, Touche. I ate peacefully in the silence of the early morning with a grateful sigh that we had good non-irradiated food. Alguacil was taking a patrol flight, Corners was cleaning weapons, Quick Stitch worked on making our bandages stretch out, and Chifundo hummed a tune to himself while staring into the sky, at least as far as I could tell.

I was scrolling through the files on my PipBuck, specifically the one I had unlocked last night. It contained a list of 19 ponies, six griffins, two diamond dogs, and five zebras. The list only mentioned them as subject numbers starting with 043- and ending in sequence. It also had their names and ages, all under the age of 13. I was subject number 043-014. I got very little detail was given about them beyond just a name, subject number, and experiment status. All of them except mine were either failed or pending on their status. The rest was a jumbled mess of corruption or still encrypted but I couldn't tell where file corruption started and encryption began.

Out of all of this, what was most alarming was my PipBuck labeling me as 'Subject 043-014 Wandering Sunrise. Experiment Status: Successful'. What experiment? What had they done to me? Why? I looked up to see my friends still working out getting up this morning. We were all moving slow, the events of last night seemed fantastical. Why was my experiment successful?

I chewed over the thoughts while sipping on the veggie soup Nyota had made this morning, a big decision lay before us and we needed to decide where we were going this morning, now. I had to put those files aside for later and a full examination when I had them all decrypted.

“Go on Sunrise, they look to you for direction if you don't say something they will just mill around waiting on you all day.” Pink was being incredibly impatient about this, like time was suddenly of the essence. I clicked the files away before looking up feeling like someone was watching me extra carefully. Nyota was giving me a look with his one eye, like he was sizing me up or expecting me to burst forth with tentacles all of a sudden. When I caught his gaze he blushed a soft pink and looked away.

Did our strong silent zebra just blush? Was there more to him than just angry brooding? I mean he was caroling with the best of them last night. And he does take the time to make our meals very good. I suppose maybe he isn't all bad.

“SUNRISE! Task on hand! You're worse than me!” Pink clopped her hoof with each word then threw up her legs in a T shape of exasperation before falling backwards and I swore the dust on the ground kicked up with her body's impact into the imaginary ground.

“Alright! I'm breaking the silence, are we going to try to get into that secret stable again? Because I have a plan.” Everypony turned their attention in my direction and stopped what they were doing. I locked eyes with each while I waited for Alguacil to land so I could talk in a normal voice. “Or are we going to follow that lead Chifundo has on Hot Cross Buns?” I pushed the still steaming bowl of veggies aside as my brain went full ADD on me. Green beans and tomato soup aren't bad but getting old since I've had them just about every morning for the last two weeks.

“SUNRISE!!!!!” Pink sat up just enough to scream at me and twitch her eyebrow while chewing on her lip.

“Well if I am entirely honest, Hot Cross Buns is the most pressing task promised,” Chifundo piped up first. He approached Nyota and myself to stand near us. They looked at each other, that unspoken zebra body language I would never understand passed between them. Nyota gave a curt nod at Chifundo and turned towards me to speak.

“The spirit speaker is right, Hot Cross Buns is potentially in mortal danger. That stable isn't going anywhere.” Nyota paused and started to reflexively put his hoof towards my mouth but I made no indication of speaking which stopped his hoof mid-air. “So long as you make sure you have the stuff you need to get into it.” Nyota gave an over exaggerated wink at me when he finished as his hoof returned to the ground. What expression on my face is there to make a one-eyed zebra wink at me? Wait, how do I know it was a wink and not just a hard blink?

Alguacil gave a hard clap of his wings to catch our attention while giving Chifundo a hard grimace, “Well you told me you had a clue for the direction we needed to go, where is it Chifundo?” His talons stitch over the ground with the same destructive force his voice had on our ear drums as he walked the rest of the way to us.

“I will consult with the spirits of the land, this way we can go on as planned.” Chifundo turned and stepped carefully to avoid every single leaf, stick, and slight pebble on the ground. One he found his spot he began to speak rapidly and closed his eyes as he sat on his flanks with rear legs crossed. The pink striped shaman placed his two hooves together below his chin as his chant grew louder and less intelligible while the wind around him blew like a small cyclone just in his immediate area.

We gathered around him while this took place and kept our distance. The air rippled before our eyes like a clear lake suspended in the sky. A stone thrown into the waters just to burst forth waves. As those ripples faded, the grassy green and heavy brown shimmering light turned to a solid. It became something both completely unreal but was certainly there enough to touch. An oak tree, healthier than any I’d seen since before we retreated into the stable, stood before us. This was a tree, however, was made four hooves, a leafy green mane, and long, flowering borough of a tail made of the colors of Autumn. Two sweet sky blue eyes without an iris opened through the bark like skin and slowly a mouth formed into a grin made of solid amber gems. What is that?

“Are all of you seeing that?” I asked quite bluntly. Everyone shook their heads in my direction while our pink striped shaman remained in a trace. I stared back at the spirit not removing my eyes from it now.

Despite the appearance, it was nothing like a timber wolf of the Everfree forest. I felt no fear from this creature, it brought a sense of calm and ease. It was so soft, there was intelligence in it's eyes and grace in how it moved. The bark had a finish to it and was much more refined, like it had been hoof smoothed lovingly with a find sandpaper. The mane was made of fresh sweet green leaves attached to neatly pruned vines. While the tail was made of the same vines with all the leaves creating a beautiful rainbow of Autumn. Even the eyes reminded me of liquid molasses colored the sky blue I remembered when the clouds were gone. Her teeth added a gleam of gemstones formed from ages of pressurized wisdom. You're so beautiful and alien all at once, why have I never seen something like you before?

The creature smiled at me and flicked its playfully mane with a swift nod in my direction and quickly turned to Chifundo, “Why have you summoned me shaman?” The creature's voice was truly alien. It sounded like a dozen ponies all speaking at once but even the chorus spoke as a single entity. The voice was overwhelming, it crashed over me like waves of an ocean and pierced the air till it was the only sound any pony could truly hear; drowning out the conversation of my on looking friends.

“We require a direction, oh great nature's adaptation.” Chifundo replied with a low bow, and placing his right forehoof over his chest. He did not leave his cross-hoofed sitting position to make the bow either. How do zebras bend that way? The creature of bark and spirit started to turn and look at the rest of us then back to Chifundo.

“And them? Is this for you or all of them as well? I must know for whom I toil,” the spirit's demand was clear and concise, by far the sweetest and most welcoming call I had ever heard, and it was also the most in-equine echo my ears had ever listen to all at once.

“It is for the group, so please help this noble troupe?” Chifundo replied, still bowed before the tree pony. He didn't look up from the ground to speak or negotiate with this being. The tendrils of blue energy, like a faint unicorn spell, were pulsing between our pink striped zebra and the speaking oaken entity.

“Then I will require a seed, I will not work for those whom cannot perceive us, without a payment for our services.” The spirit turned to me, like she knew me and knew I was to the one to speak to. I unconsciously looked down at my PipBuck to read the inventory screen. Apples have seeds, carrot works, WAIT! That works! Even as I thought it my tail was a step ahead of me, a potato was already held within the prehensile appendage as an offering.

Chifundo stared at me in disbelief as did the spirit. I shrugged at both of them as though nothing were wrong. “Technically it is a seed, if you plant it, the potato will grow.”

Chifundo started to giggle while this tree pony spirit shot a silencing glare at both of us. It took the potato from my hoof and planted it. “I am going to accept this,” the creature paused and looked right at me with an angry glare. “This time, because that thing you have with you is cute. Even if it is deadly.”

Wait? I'm deadly? Since when? What does this thing know that I don't?

While I was lost in thought the creature planted the potato in the ground and swept it covered in dirt. A moment later, in made one smooth motion into the earth and pulled the potato free, except this was solid navy blue now. The same blue as in the color a pony turns when they have the flu. What kind of magic turns a potato blue? The creature passed it to Chifundo as several others sprouted out the ground like some sort of magical harvest.

While we all stood there flabbergasted, Chifundo gathered the potatoes and placed them into his pack. “Thank you spirit, I hope you appreciate our merit.” The zebra shaman took a low bow. The plant creature phased back into the ground without so much as disturbing a bead of dirt.

“Chifundo, I am scared to ask what I just witnessed, or where those potatoes came from, or what they-” I was cut off by Chifundo eating one of the potatoes without a second thought. My jaw was agape as he munched the raw blue potato down with the loudest, crunchiest munching racket I'd ever heard. His eyes glazed over and turned blue themselves. I mean blue as in two giant blue orbs you would expect to see on a bug or a shark not pony eyes anymore. Just like the blue eyes of the tree creature as a matter of fact.

““Let go while we still have day!” Chifundo declared and started to march off West by Northwest. Not quite the same way we had gone last night to get to the ranger station but close to it. The tracks we had made in the darkness slowly diverged from our path till within an hour they were out of sight. I began to wonder if the Hearthfire family were playing with their Hearth's Warming Eve gifts or sleeping off the feast. After fruitless seeming hours, following Chifundo's sickly glowing eyes, we spotted ruined buildings in the distance. Alguacil winged down and pointed towards the horizon while my PipBuck beeped and had labeled our location as “Outskirts of New Las Pegasus.”

This is horrific! Is this all from the megaspells?

The city buildings were blown out and heavily damaged. Once proud skyscrapers were reduced to rubble, or missing several floors. Several had another smaller building leaning against them, threatening to collapse both at once under the weight. Glass shards had been pushed out of the road by travelers or ground into silicon dust. The road itself was cracked, destroyed, and lacked any traffic lines, all long since worn away.

The worst however was the smell. Even over my hadn't bathed in nearly two weeks and barding that had not left my flanks in that time, I could smell it. The scent of decay, not death mind you, but rather what a society long since gone should smell of. Mold, moss, rust, and ash; all permeated the sense of smell in one foul concoction that could only be described as decay.

We saw dark clouds that hung well low of the layer I had gotten used to. They were in the distance with tell the tale haze of rain pouring down in the distance. Alguacil took flight towards them, “I'll see if I can break it up or make it clear out of our way,” he shouted back and head towards them. I looked to Nyota, who smiled and nodded.

“Sunny, I think we should take cover just in case he fails.” Nyota had his head on a swivel looking for somewhere to take cover. “That is one massive storm and I don't think one griffin is gonna make it go away.”

“Nyota, it's just rain, how bad could it be?” I replied with a shrug as we kept following the path Chifundo led us down. Nyota however grabbed Chifundo and stopped us at an intersection.

“Just in case, how about we take cover in here?” the zebra motioned to a shop. Well what used to be one. I could barely make out the faded letting but with effort it read: 'Applewood Saint Street Donuts', in dulled pastel colored letters. The insides had two sitting bars in front of a large frying kitchen. Torn ruby red cushioned stools sat out front along with several damaged tables. The old musty stale stench wafted from the kitchen, not rotting food but something long since decayed. There were two doors on the opposite wall, both had big bold black letters: 'Employees Only' or well that is what their signs would have said if several letters were not missing.

We took a moment to label out a place we could relieve ourselves as well as check for anything moving inside. When ya gotta go, you need to know where! Quick Stitch and Nyota went to watching out of the windows while Corners, Chifundo and I gathered at the counter. Alguacil flew in with a crash and barely managed to stick his landing. His hard one eyed glare gone from an expression of exhaustion and fatigue. The griffin's visage looked sickly and a few of his feathers fell to the floor.

“I'll be back as fast as I can be, I have an idea.” He took to flight and within minutes of the griffin vanishing from our sight, rain started pouring down.

I took a few steps out and my PipBuck started clicking, slowly. Wait? Since when is rain? Radioactive? Oh! I stepped back inside after the first few clicks and stood at the door, looking to the sky for any sign of our griffin. I ignored the occasional radiation tick and kept a vigil for Alguacil. I even flicked on the PipBuck light to make sure he could find us in the rainstorm.

Nyota approached and put a hoof over my shoulder, “I know you're worried about him.” My eyes turned over to the zebra and he looked back at me with care and compassion.

Pink rolled into view and leaned in with a bright eyed, “WHOOOOOOOO.”

Pink what the hell? Is there something I should know about?

“Nope not at all!”

I looked at Nyota again and gave him a tight clingy squeeze as I let out a sigh of worry. He had started opening up and was becoming far less jaded since Buddy had... left us. “I'm just worried. My PipBuck is clicking even from here just outside the rainfall. He already looked like he lost a fight with a chicken pluck-matic. I... will he even be able to get back through all this? What is he doing? Why did he just take off? And why do-” I swear that I'm already familiar enough with this flavor to actually say I might be starting to enjoy hoof in mouth, Nyota brand flavor.

“He'll be fine, just have faith Sunny,” Nyota reassured and removed the offending hoof. With a tight squeeze he guided me to sit next to him on the ground. Without thinking at some point, I found myself laid against his shoulder his foreleg around my shoulder. The silent vigil was nicer with someone staying with me. Even when I would stand up at a hopeful noise or glimmer of something in the sky, Nyota was kind of enough to keep a hoof hooked over my back reassuringly. He kept his vision to immediately around us, like he was a sentry to keep us safe. I just stayed focused on looking up for Alguacil.

Almost two hours passed before our friend returned, to the relief of our worried faces. He was wearing a solid white cloak with pink butterflies over his body. The griffin landed and a few more feathers fell from his body. He wearily smiled like some sort of unseen victory had been achieved at great cost. I approached to hug him, as the clicking on my PipBuck picked up in the rain but he stopped me with a talon to my chest, radioactive rain dripping off of us. Alguacil ushered us all deeper inside, away from the windows and doors where the clicking stopped completely before allowing any explanation to any pony.

“I found several Ministry of Peace hazard cloaks back in all the lockers of the ranger station.” He pulled out a few more of the cloaks like the one he was wearing, four in total.

“These should help with the rain,” Alguacil spoke and I looked at him with quite a lot of disdain. It bothered me, thinking that he had gone back to the Ranger station, and probably stole those cloaks from the kind family that welcomed us so warmly last night. Surely their foals needed the protection from the elements more than we did.

“Alguacil, don't run off again without telling us where you are going okay?” I reprimanded him, staring him down just inside the doorway to the doughnut shop.

“Kid I don't need your permission to go do what I...” The griffin tailed off and was looking past me. Nyota was staring him down with the fiery spite of Caesar himself. Alguacil matched it with the stone cold glare of his justice seeking eye.

“I looked both left and right, my face a mask of childlike confusion and worry, not understanding why they couldn’t just get along. As I turned my head from one to the other, Alguacil blinked when he caught my expression and finally the griffin deflated, “Alright, I'll let you know so you don't worry.”

I growled and put a hoof forward, “And the family we left last night, surely they need these more than we do?”

Alguacil hesitated for the longest moment as his face took this comtemplation in, “Yeah, maybe, but we can make it up to them later when we come back with Hot Cross Buns.”

We all moved further inside towards the warmer air. Corners moved to look at one of the employee only doors. Going off alone again? Hasn't she learned better yet? I'm not helping if she breaks her leg again. I walked into the kitchen turning away from our Box Pone and calling out, “Everypony have a look around, see if there is anything useful and make sure we are alone in here.” I checked the doughnut fryer and saw the gelatinized grease inside. Wait a minute, if I take this and add some wonderglue to it, boil it down into a liquid then put in the right amount of ammonia, I can get-

“Napalm!!!” Pink screamed out with glee. I glared at her bouncing into vision along my EFS compass.

I was going to say ANFO high explosive. But I suppose if you used turpentine instead of wonderglue you could achieve napalm as well. WAIT? Pink how the hell do I know this?

“Oh reasons! Quick get it together so you can carry it with you!” There were three nearby buckets all turned upside down on the floor. I picked up one of the ten gallon buckets and jumped back as five mid-sized rad roaches crawled from under it.

In a flash, Nyota was on them, crushing one in its leap to get to me. Before I could even recoil away, he had planted a hoof squarely onto each of them and crunched them into roach smears. All except the last one that was nearly on top of me, as I skitted back away from it, a pink and white flash moved in the way.

Chifundo slammed forward and pivoted at just the right moment to deliver a full on applebuck that sent the last one flying towards the wall. The poor creature flew out of the last intact window that shattered in a roach shaped hole. In the distance we all heard a splat over the gentle pouring of the rain outside. Wow Chifundo do you always have to go for the comically insane version of everything Nyota does?

I looked at the two of them and felt myself being self-conscious as I blushed bright white. While they stared at me with raised eyebrows, I looked away, my tail automatically cutting out chunks of the solidified grease, until my blush faded and the bucket was full of industrial grade ancient donut fry grease.

“What are you going to use that for Sunny?” Nyota inquired as he walked over to take the heavy bucket from me. I winced a bit at the name, Sunny, but let it slide for now.

“I can use it to make explosives, something much more potent than the dynamite and grenades I have,” I explained and then smiled at him with the cutest expression I could muster. “Thanks for carrying it for me.” Nyota just smirked and attached it to his saddlebags by the heandle. The peaceful moment was shattered by Corners letting out a squeal of dismay combine with a slamming door as she rushed towards us.

“What in the hells?” Nyota called out as Alguacil flew past us carrying a chair that looked like it was made of some hard plastic stone. We approached to see the griffin barring one of the employee only doors. There was an in-equine growling on the other side of the door. The growling shook me to the core as I recognized it from somewhere.

With another roar my PipBuck clicked rapidly and I felt the tingling in my face and chest. A green wave of smoke rushed through the air around us and then dissipated quickly. Radiation!? WHAT!?

“Corners you done went and ticked off a glowing one!” Alguacil shouted as we all looked at the door in shock. The banging was getting louder and faster. The door was shuddering under the creature's relentless assault. I wasn't sure if it was my fear or if I was truly seeing the door splinter in front of my eyes.

“What is a glowing one?” My question made everyone look back and realize this was day number nine out of the stable for me.

“It's a ghoul, kid. One that has absorbed enough radiation to become a generator of it themselves, get cover!” Nyota ordered as there was a stillness in the air of the shop, as it waiting for the next incoming blast of radiation.

I grabbed the environmental cloak that Alguacil had come back with and threw it over myself when Corners approached. She lifted the box and motioned me inside. With no other choice, I slid in and the world got darker as the two of us huddled under the cloak. Then everything got so much brighter when the PipBuck counter crazy as another dose of radiation washed over us. My upper left side of the EFS showed a brief moment where we were still taking ten rads a second for just two or three seconds. I could feel the unnatural tingle in my face, even as my stomach churned with the sensation of a boiling pot.

Okay, enough of this! I got out from under the box and walked up to the door as a pony hoof exploded through it. I could see the decayed green glowing remains of the ghoul on the other side and its frantic efforts to punch through to us. My tail offered up a steel shaped apple grenade as well as a cookie from the present we got last night.

I placed the cookie into it's hoof first and that yanked through, there was a munching greedily of it before the hoof returned covered in radioactive slobber. My PipBuck kept clicking and I started to feel sick like I wanted to puke when I pulled the stem of the apple and put that in it's hand. The ghoul yanked it back through the door, making the hole even larger. I started for a moment before my brain started putting one and one together with the click of my PipBuck.

“EVERYPONY GET TO COVER!” I dashed like mad and dove behind the counter of the shop putting it between the door as Nyota, Chifundo, Quick Stitch, and Alguacil joined me. Morbid curiosity drove me to keep peaking up over the counter as I felt an environment cloak draped over me. I needed to confirm whatever it was, was dead. My eyes watched as the ear ringing blast finally went off.

The door flew into splinters while the chair landed behind us, smoking but intact, as green smoke washed over us. The clicking of my PipBuck amplified to a fever pitch. EFS registered twenty-five rads a second. All of my companions were following Quick Stitch out of the door at a breakneck speed. I stared at the chair for a few moment. The clicking of my PipBuck telling me I needed to flee as the green miasma slowly encroach across the room. Bits of ghoul could be seen inside the gas on the floor and dripping from the ceiling.

He said put them down if they were feral, that was feral. But this chair survived that explosion? Is it, could it be made from-

“Stubbornite!!! Sunrise grab the chair and run! It will come in handy!” Pink shouted at the top of her lungs.

I grabbed the chair and my tail secured it to my flank while I bolted to catch up to my friends. We were in the rain now, even through the ministry environmental cloaks I could feel the tingles rolling over me. The glowing one had washed me in radioactive waste and now I was taking a rad shower. It didn't take long to go from upset stomach to blurry vision, I wasn't sure if it was the rain on the helmet visor or-

Suddenly I hurled up everything that was still left in my stomach from breakfast. My hooves were getting weak. Nyota hooked a hoof under me just so I could keep walking.

“Sunrise stay up, we'll find shelter soon.” He soothed as Alguacil tried another building door and found it barricaded as well. No matter where we turned we couldn’t find shelter from the rains. Each and every building was either buttoned up tight, or a bombed out shell that did nothing to save us from the elements. The chair banged off my barding plate with each step and I could barely stay on my hooves as my packs started to feel twice and then three times their weight.

Nyota took them from me and distributed their weight to everypony else. He wrapped the cloak tight around me and then took his own off as I looked down to find my whole coat had gone from a bright emerald to a sickly sludge color. Even my hooves tipped in white had changed to the color of sewage.

I started to speak back and smile at him only to cough up blood onto the pavement. My eyes watered and I could feel the tingle of radiation wasn't just on my skin anymore, my insides were protesting against it too. The pony on my PipBuck looked sick and the rad counter indicated I had reached advanced poisoning levels. Great... almost getting to the lethal levels as is. I already feel like I could fall on the ground and stop now.

Nyota wiped the blood from my mouth and throat, he looked on me with concern while making sure his eye checked both of mine. Not only was I coughing up my liquefying insides but my blood was significantly thinner. Now I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. Radiation poisoning tastes distinctly worse then zebra hoof as a side note.

“Quick Stitch, Sunrise isn't looking so good what do we do?” he asked as the medical pony turned around. Quick Stitch's horn glowed and we shared gazes as he touched it to my forehead. He pushed my visor out of the way and forced his hooves to open up my eyes.

The olive color stallion took out a medical bottom marked Rad-X and handed me two pills, “Take this it will slow your radiation intake.”

He shook his head with concern at Nyota, “She is showing signs of going septic and her body is severely poisoned. If I didn't know any better I'd say she doesn't have any natural resistance like the rest of us.”

Corners trotted over to us as the group stopped. “She can get into the box, it's protecting me rather nicely,” The eyes on the other side betrayed a smile back at the rest of us.

“Corners after last night, I don't think that is such a good idea. We should-” Nyota stopped talking as he looked at Alguacil beyond my narrow tunnel vision.“Alguacil are you?” Coming into view, our justice griffin looked almost as pale as I did and his eye had a yellowing to it that made it clear he was sick. He walked past my view and the noise of a talon on another barricaded door echoed around us through the beating rad rainstorm.

Oh buck us! He got exposed to the rain cloud, he may have taken close to as much as I have from sticking around after that ghoul exploded. And the rain is poisoning us. My thoughts couldn't stay coherent as I fells forward, caught by Nyota. The pressure on my stomach was enough to make me void my insides once again, so much bile mixed with blood. Why does puking my guts out make me feel better when I'm dying?

“Who goes there?” a voice shouted at us above the gentle rainstorm.

“Sunrise move, get forward now. Protect them.” Pink shouted in my ears. She sounded so distant. Something inside spurred, like I had to move. I bolted from Nyota's grasp with strength I didn't realize I still had. I got up to the front where a spotlight shined through the rain into my eyes. I couldn't see anything more than four or five shadows in the rain, all armed.

The light was coming from a concrete structure that looked like it had been reinforced all over with scrap metal. It took a minute to realize it but that ramshackle construction was once a parking garage for drawn carriages and sky carousels. These ponies had turned this once open air structure into a mostly environmentally tight scrap castle! Complete with a massive draw bridge like gate and a moat, filled with the radioactive water pouring onto our bodies I am truly amazed a earth pony ingenuity! Oh right, radiation killing me, make this fast!

“Hi!” I found the strength to shout, even if drops of blood sprayed out into the rain. “I'm Wandering Sunrise, these are my friends.”

There was no response forthcoming, so I stepped up close while my friends all walked into the spotlight. “I'm the Angel with a Shotgun.”

Pink please tell me that this is gonna work.

“Oh you poor thing! Open the door, get them in here.” A mare called down with naked concern.

The large ramp dropped down and crossed the distance from the eroding road to the structure over the moat. Inside were two fillies armed with guns and security armor. From the shadows came an earth pony stallion wearing the same riot police barding carrying a sledge hammer, made of rutted pig iron, in his teeth and a pair of heavy rifles mounted into a battle saddle at his flanks. They stood their ground and when I started to approach, the fillies raised their rifles to us.

I looked at my friends rather confused and they were just as confused by the half friendly, half hostile welcome. As the confused standoff threatened to drag on, a unicorn mare stepped between the two groups and stood on the no man's ramp. She had a solid red mane and the lightest shade of gray for a coat. This was oddly matched to burgundy colored eyes and heavy reinforced leather armor. She had a set of knives along her forehooves in a tight wrapped bandoleer on the the left and on the right was another PipBuck just like mine. She stood out among the group and had the full focus of my attention.

“Well, what are you waiting for, let's get them inside. This rain must be doing a number on them!” she ordered. The stallion snorted before lowering the mechanical sledge hammer to the ground, which echoed with an electric hum as it discharged harmlessly into concrete.

What in the name of the Goddesses is- I was interrupted by the adrenaline rush leaving my radiation poisoned body and falling face first into the nearest mud puddle. Okay, that's it, rain officially sucks!

Suddenly my connection to the ground was gone and levitated towards the door. Hey! Whoa, wait a minute! I'm not dead yet am I?

My struggles were weak against the gray telekinetic shroud surrounding me. I looked up to see the unicorn mare's horn glowing and her walking me through the door. “Earth pony! FLYING! NOT OKAY! Stop! Put me down, I can walk!” I protested at the top of my lungs before coughing up another glob of my own insides. Which was held by the telekinetic shroud long enough to splatter back into my own face. Oh come the buck on, can my own blood not taste awful!

“Don't be silly! You little filly need to be taken straight to Doc Hornsaw right now,” she commanded and led us up a ramp into a waiting doctor's office, a ramp that used to be used for carriages and was a dozen ponies wide to accommodate two way traffic. Every inch of this four deck complex had been utilized to build additional smaller houses inside. They were made from the concrete support beams, additional concrete slabs, sky carriage panels, wooden planks, all sorts of additional pieces used to make the inside of the garage into a living breathing city. Even an old carriageway sign had the writing on it replaced with the words, “Town Hall.”

Everypony inside was armed, from the youngest filly or colt to the oldest stallion, had a firearm, melee weapon, or explosives. They all carried them like they knew how to use them. “Is everypony here armed?” I asked while still floating in the unicorn's wake. I was too weak now to break the hold on my body nor did I care at this point as my friends were all around, racing to make sure they kept up with the unicorn.

“Oh that is how we make sure no one does anything hostile or dumb, everypony here is armed and knows how to use their weapon,” the mare replied as we arrived at the door to a building marked with a trio of pink butterflies. She took us inside and put me down onto an examination table.

My body tensed up, somehow being in a hospital bed was triggering something, a memory of some sort that made the tension ramp up inside me. I felt the memory hurling itself to the forefront of my mind, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, till finally all my sensory input was glazed over by something that happened before.

ooOOoo

T-Minus 11 Months 6 Days till Megaspell Day

I snapped awake, this was my own body. I recognized that immediately. Then the heavy dull pain echoed through my head. It was like the scorpion's pincer slash on my throat except this shot down my spine. I was lying on a bed, my past self moaning in agony and struggling against leather restraining straps keeping me on my belly. Rainbowrise's half rainbow, half red mane cascaded into view then my father's face. I felt his wing coming around to gently stroke my mane while his hoof caressed my cheek.

“Shhh... It's okay Sunrise. Daddy's here. They made Shadow stay outside because she is a unicorn. They let me in.” He paused for a bit and rubbed a kept rubbing wings over my form, then his hoof lifted my head. “I promise you're going to be fine. The ministry agents let you go into a Stable-Tec hospital.” My host felt like I did when the memory came up, sick, tingling all over, except I could tell the difference in radiation poisoning and being pumped full of drugs.

“Why Sunrise? Why did you have to try to sneak in? You know since the ministries came in what I've been working on was top secret, especially at night!” My dad fretted like a mare over her first newborn. I swear he was certainly the take care of daddy's little girl type. This must have hurt him so much. To see me, his little blank flank being taking from him and he was only allowed to watch while they poked, prodded, and tortured me. OH NO! This is that memory! The ministry is going to-

Suddenly my father was pulled away from my side, the foreleg looked so strange to me now as his hooves slid away from me. His white coat against my white coat, no PipBuck on that leg. It was like a piece of my innocence was being yanked from me unwillingly. Several doctors in lab coats surrounded me and started taking blood pressure, pulse, cut a piece of my mane and tail away. They were placing little bits of me into various sealed containers, mane, tail, coat, even probably a full pint of blood, and all three physicians ran out as fast as they had arrived.

I looked over to my father across the clean medical room. So clean it creeped me out, having spent so much time in the dirt of the wasteland. Dad please no, leave. I don't care if this is a memory, Chifundo, Quick Stitch, even this crazy mare that carried me in here, somepony! PINK! ANYPONY! Please make my father leave, please now!

The pristine lighting in the room suddenly went out and I knew what was coming next. Two unicorns along with a pegasus appeared, masked by shadows. The voice through sent chills into my spine, “Hello, Subject 043-014. Hello Rainbowrise.” Three sets of hooves echoed off the floor just out of my sight. But I knew that voice and it chilled me to the bone. “We thought you should know that even if Stable-Tec is protecting you, we can still touch you if we want to.” My head turned to see the shadow of 9 along with two unicorn shadows against the bright light of the hospital outside the door.

Rainbowrise rose to his hooves up and snapped his wings hard. He slammed down between me and the three pony shadows. “Leave my daughter alone. I agreed to continue work on your project, just leave my family alone!” he snorted hard and then struggled against two magical envelopes wrapped around him. All I could do was watch as the telekinesis slammed my father away from me into a wall without making a single sound. He hit the ground and tried to struggle to his feet.

“For an engineering genius you really are a feather brained pony. You would relegate yourself to working in a mechanic shop! Your expertise is going to win us the war.” The mare paused as I saw a knife come out and gleam in the lights coming from the hallway. “But this little filly's defiance must be punished to ensure that such a transgression against the Ministry of Morale will not go without consequence!”

“71 and 88, you two can make sure that anything I do here won't scare or leave this blank flank with any permanent physical scarring right?” 9 questioned as she took several hoof steps towards my restrained form. My body snapped and thrashed against the leather restraints. They groaned in protest but refused to give as the memory played out, much to my horror. I tried to scream only to find no voice and see a magical field around my nose and mane.

“Oh little fourteen, you would think we would let somepony hear you scream? No I'm sure that 71 has that handled.” 9 turned her head to the still dull magical glowing horn which nodded to the mare to proceed. The knife mercilessly dug into my foreleg and cut from hoof all the way up to my shoulder.

My screams echoed helplessly in my mind, with nowhere else to go as I was trapped with Nine and her sadistic, skilled knife. We were locked away in silence as my father was forced to watch his daughter be tormented. The agony was worse than anything the wasteland had done to me yet. 9 moved the knife in a way that made it strike additional nerves and turned the blade at just the right places to make the jagged cut hurt even more. She struck the bone a few times as well. Her precision found just the right spots for cutting into the hardened calcium. My eyes rolled back into my head only for brief moments, before the pain would come down just enough I wouldn't lose consciousness.

The only sound in the room was the groan of the leather straps, the cutting of the knife, and the creaking of the bed springs. Every time she altered that knife direction, the bed creaked and reminded me, I couldn't scream. Every creak made my father flinch and cringe. Every time a spring protested against the knife or my flinching, it drove the pain home.

My ears associated immediately that sound, the sound of bed springs, with that pain of that knife. It was why I kept the barding on when I slept now, it was why I hadn't stayed in a bed unless someone else moved me to it. This pain, it's too real, please. Dad look away!

Dear Goddesses WHY! This was never suppose to be something I relived! Why! Why was this mare so determined to make me hurt. Please any pony wake me up! I'll even talk to Pink and consider it reasonable just not, not what comes next.

But the memory continued, the agonizing pain was blinding white, my eyes barely held onto any vision at all, except for my father's face. His hooves fanatically beating against the forcefield that separated us. His wings flapping back to make him impact soundlessly with his whole body against the shield. I could make out his voice as a distant echo through the pain, “Sunrise! Hang on! I'll get you out of there! Just hang on little wanderer.”

I could see the tears in his eyes, the remorse in his voice clung to my heart like a dagger. I held back my tears through, I wasn't about to give 9 the satisfaction of seeing me cry. The knife withdrew and I gasped for air. I watched as blood poured from my leg at a pace I knew would kill me without medical attention. So much red life gushed from the wound that even as my vision came back from the pain, it went blurry again as I got light headed.

The stallion figure approached and his horn glowed a soft black, my foreleg healed right before my eyes. The only indication I'd been injured was the pool of blood that soaked the white hospital sheets. I gasped and heard my ragged voice as the tears in my eyes demanded to be let go and I refused. I opened my eyes further to keep the tears in as I looked to my father. He brought his hooves down onto the shield over and over again, the glow of it starting to crack but it still remained up.

“Remember this Rainbowrise,” 9 said and I saw a red tongue pushing out of the edge of the shadows, licking the blood from the knife.

You sick, twisted bitch! You were the first pony I wanted to truly hurt! I swear if I find you're still alive I will make it ten times worse than what I felt here!

“We can get to you or your family anytime. Even if Stable-Tec says we can't remove them anymore, we can always get to them. They may survive with a few additional scars that you won't ever be able to see.” 9 finished what she was saying and the shield dropped. In a flash all three pony figures were gone and the lights came back up.

My farther buried his face into my mane and balled like a wounded colt as he held me tight. “Sunrise I'm so sorry, if I'd known what I was getting into, I wouldn't have! Please, can you ever forgive me, please my little filly?” He begged and begged but all I could do was watch the memory. I felt his wings coming around, acting as living blankets to shield me from the world. But all my past self did was lay there on the bed, unresponsive and unmoving. If anything right then I wanted to hug and hold him, but back then, before we went into the stable, I wasn't ready for anything nearly this painful.

Rather than leave the memory though, I hung onto it. Watching my father care for me. The feeling of his hoof stroking through my mane, the smell of his grease soaked coat against my nose, the softness of his feathers warming my flanks, even the bitter warm tears in his sobbing. I held onto it, stayed there as long as I could. This truly bit of fatherly love was something to cling to in the hopelessness of the wasteland.

Dad, if I ever find you, I forgive you. Please, when I find you, that will be the first thing I say. Just let me find you alive, please, that is all I ask!

That was my last thought before I came crashing back into present world.

ooOOoo

Special Announcement! From the game of Prance credit himself! We have a Prance Card! Soon available for sale at and beyond Babscon 2018! Special Thanks to Sky for this one it is a real honor. (Link To Follow Soon)

Level Status - Level 5 Achieved!

New Perk - Hit The Deck! - You take 1/2 damage from explosives, this includes concussion, fire, and shrapnel generated by them. At least you have a sixth sense for ducking at just the right moment.

Chapter 13: The Roof in a storm

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ooOOoo

The first feelings from the waking world were the waves of misery and nausea still coursing through my veins. I moved a hoof and felt the tug of an IV in my foreleg as an IV of orange colored fluid was being pumped into my left foreleg. The hospital bed creaked and I flinched. I felt tear stains on my cheeks, my senses were coming back to me as I broke out of my mind's prison.

“I forgive you,” I muttered to myself as the tears dried up.

Nyota was next to me, along with Chifundo and Quick Stitch. All three stallions were looking at me with concern as they sipped on pouches of green-orange mixed fluid marked with crude letters, 'Rad-B-Gone'. It felt like something that should be a group of friends meeting for a drink on a hot day instead of an emergency hospital visit.

“You forgive me? What hurt did I decree?” Chifundo blurted out and looked at me like I had shot his dog.

I shook my head, “No I-”

“Sunny, I know you don't like it when I call you that but I didn't realize-” Nyota started to say and I decided to get him back with a little hoof to mouth. Ew! Stallion Slobber is thick! Wait do I slobber on hooves like that?

“No, I was-”

“You do realize I was only trying to-” Quick Stitch began and I quickly realized I'd run out of hooves at this rate.

“No, I was remembering something! Dammit let me SPEAK!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs. “None of you have done anything wro-” the shouted devolved into coughing mid sentence. The anger in my voice hurt, physically throughout my throat and from the expression on their faces, emotionally. I gasped for breath and was relieved when the coughing stopped and there was no blood taste. Well that is a good sign right? Unless I've run out of blood to give.

“Right Sunny, we were just a little concerned was all. You were completely unresponsive there for a bit,” Nyota explained. His hoof moved up to rub against my mane, softly stroking it. I froze up a bit and stared at him, realizing I was starting to tear up. “We just wanted to make sure the radiation hadn't done anything to your mind.”

My Mind!? Radiation can do what we encountered back in the minefield, and the doughnut shop, what could it to do a brain?

“Oh ya know, things we don't wanna discuss tonight Sunrise. You should just focus on your friends.” The way Pink said friends was both creepy and surreal all at once. She felt somewhat vicious about it even.

I shook the tears from my eyes and looked at Quick Stitch and finally Nyota. “Any long term effects? I thought I'd been exposed to quite a lot of radiation, well beyond what would be considered a safe limit.” I felt shiver pass through me as a unicorn magical glow squeezed the Rad-Away bag and forced more of it to pump into my veins.

“Well I am pretty sure we got the Rad-Away into your veins in time.” The mare that had levitated me in here was prancing up, and holding the Rad-Away bag within her magical aura. “You were the only one who needed Rad-Away, everypony else just needed a couple bags of our home-made radiation remover.”

I raised her hoof to stop her from talking further for a bit, “What's your name? We never formerly were introduced. I'm pretty sure my companions didn't shoot you because we were badly outgunned,” The mare looked aghast at me and I slowly lowered the hoof.

“Oh! Sorry about that, I just got so concerned when I saw a filly that looked so close to death from radiation poisoning! I'm Picline!” she smirked as Chifundo started to push everyone away from me.

“Alright, Sunrise is fine, seems to be we are out of this bind.” He declared, starting to nose the other two stallions away. He then turned to Picline with a grateful expression upon his face, “What do we owe for Sunrise's woe?”

“Well it is rare a pretty stallion like you comes along, but we can discuss that in depth. The Rad-B-Gone isn't terribly expensive since we can cook it ourselves, but Sunrise's Radaway may be a bit, costly.” When she said costly, Picline leaned in towards Chifundo and fluttered her eyes at him.

Is she flirting with our strange pink zebra?

“We can cover it, we are not exactly without profit,” Chifundo replied as he was talking to her like he would any merchant.

“Oh I'm sure you can,” the mare purposefully paused and trotted a few steps fluttering her eyes, “After all a handsome stallion like yourself is certainly worthy of keeping healthy.” Picline replied and turns her flank to swish her tail in his direction. She batted her eyes at him again.

He didn't blush, nor look away. The stallion wasn't reacting to the looks at all. “I'm sure you will be reasonable, what do you believe would be feasible?” Chifundo spoke like none of the flirting that any of us were seeing was even happening. Picline rolled her eyes and looked a little wounded.

Is he that oblivious? Really Chifundo? You can sense the moods of spirits but you can't tell when a mare is flirting?

“Oh yes, quite feasible,” Picline moved and brushed up against him, blatantly. This wasn't just flirting it was outright hitting on. All of us saw it and everyone of us looked to see Chifundo's reaction.

The pink striped zebra only took a moment to adjust his weight from the brushing of the mare against his bare flank. “How much do you think, would cover our medical drink?” He negotiated, ignoring the fact Picline was trying the hardest to get his attention.

“Sunrise, you aren't imagining it. Picline is hitting on him and he's clueless!”

I got out of the bed and walked behind Chifundo, I saw that Picline was staring right at his hind quarters. I must confess I even stole a look myself. WHAT THE!? Oh dear, that explains a whole lot that I did not expect! That is why he looks like a stallion but has this really girlish overtone to him!

I stepped in front of him, dragging the line of radaway on the rolling I.V. cart with me, “Chifundo, are you that thick or just plain dense!” I said and startled him quite a bit, he looked at me and raised his eye brow.

“Sunrise what is the matter, this is a delicate barter?” He was quite flustered now and I saw a slight pink blush that matched his stripes.

“She is flirting with you, downright hitting on you! Are you that oblivious?” I giggled at him and looked at Picline with sly a wink.

“Sunrise I am a high doubter, this is a part of normal chatter,” Chifundo replied indignantly, he even put a hoof up as if to stop me from talking. “And what would a filly know, about the ways hearts whoa?”

I grimaced at him and looked past the stallion to Picline. The mare gave the most wounded look I'd ever seen. I darted my eyes to Chifundo's stern expression and back to her, mouthing the word 'Date' to her. The mare nodded cartoonishly back at me several times. I puffed my chest out and stood up on my forelegs tippy hooves. This made my head nearly a full hoof higher in the air.

“Sunrise I know not-” Chifundo stopped talking when I facehoofed hard enough I might have actually given myself a bruise. “As I was saying, you know not what-” I slapped his ass with my tail to get him to shut up and Picline giggled gleefully.

“"I haven't had the hearts and hooves talk yet,” My voice started low and suddenly I was shouting him down. “Chifundo! Spirit Shaman of the Wasteland! I am telling you right now, that mare wants you to ask her out on a date! Take a hint! I haven't even had a proper hooves and hearts talk yet and it's completely obvious to me!” I snorted at him and stared down the pink striped stallion. Every pony else in the room stared at us and then snickered.

His blush turned from just his ruffled cheeks to all the way down to his hooves. Chifundo looked over his shoulder back at the mare that was clearly checking out his hind quarters and tucked his tail down. The zebra awkward trotting around to face her with his chest instead of his rear. “I, well umm... what about, would you like to go on a date tonight?” HA! If you fluster him enough he doesn't rhyme!

Picline jumped up and hugged him so fast I thought she might kill him from the impact. “ABOSLUTELY YES! You are the most handsome fine example of zebra I've seen ever!” She hopped down to all fours. Quick Stitch and Nyota were picking their jaws off the floor at the display. “Not to mention the traveling companions you are with are quite wonderful. You're all stuck here till the rain passes anyway,” she glowed like a beacon now in the medical office while I took a seat next to the bed and let the IV of Rad-Away work to restore me further.

Picline dashed for the door in a full gallop, “I'll see you tonight Chifundo! At 7;30! Use the clock in the market square if ya need one.” She shouted back at us as the doors didn't even have a chance to close by the time her red mane was out of sight. I did notice one thing when she went between those doors however, a PipBuck on her arm and it was on with her name on the screen. Stable Dweller? Maybe, oh dear Goddesses my stomach.

Once Picline left and Chifundo was standing there dumbfounded for quite some time, another pony walked up to us. Earth pony with medical labcoat that was in good shape actually with those three pink butterflies across the chest and another set on each flank. He was much older than the rest of us, even with a salt and pepper mane and a long beard from decades of experience. He dragged his hooves along the floor like he couldn't quite lift them. His face at first was a deep lost depression. Then his eyes drifted up to me and he lit up like a grandpa who just saw his grandchildren for the first time. A smile so warm, it could break the ice on even Corners's heart brightened his features before he spoke.

“Ello there, I'm Doc Hacksaw, father of Doc Bonesaw. I got a letter informing me who your group was from him at Silver Fang Shanty.” He took a long drawn dry breath and smiled a bit more. “So, with your zebra friend here, Chifundo was it?”

“That is the name I hold in this domain.”

Doc Hacksaw snorted at him, “Right the peculiar sort I have to admit but Picline has never been known to go for the normal ones.” He looked right at me and nodded, “I suppose you are the leader of this group. Now considering how happy he made Picline, I'm willing to give ya a discount.” My eyes and face brightened up at that comment. “It'll be 400 caps for all the anti-radiation meds ya consumed.” Then immediately the world came cashing back down around me.

That is a third of the caps we set aside to treat the group with! That is a whole lot more than I thought we'd spend in just a few days. If we kept this up we'd be broke in less than a week and still manage to be maimed, cut, or radioactive in the process.

“Maybe he knows about Hot Cross!” Pink chimed in my head and I rolled my eyes.

I swear you always have some direction to push me in, that if I go that way, it's going to lead to more danger.

“Yes, but remember I'm apart of you. I wouldn't give you thoughts, questions, or directions if you actually did not think about them.” Pink pointed out which silenced any other thought I had or protest I could make up to that figment of my imagination.

Chifundo didn't even protest, he just took out the caps. “How do you make the Rad-B-Gone? Can we get the recipe for ourselves?” Quick Stitch chimed up while Chifundo was counting caps onto the bed I'd been laying on.

Hacksaw chuckled and nodded, “Of course ya can, 25 more caps for that one.” Doc Hacksaw was just like talking to a grandpa as well. He looked at each of us and he would brighten up for a moment. Then as he spoke his weary of the world expression would creep back in till one of us talked again. “And what about you Sunrise? I see a question on your lips and you haven't asked it yet.”

Are you a mind reading Earth Pony?

“Have you seen a brown pegasus with a hot cross bun cutie mark pass through here?” Even as I spoke the question, Hacksaw didn't light up this time. Instead he got a very grave worried look.

“Yes, yes, he was here,” his age was showing as he spoke and his voice was overly concerned. “He was here, badly injured. His wing was nearly torn off completely and he was heavily radiation poisoned. But he was here.” There was a long pause as I started to speak, Hacksaw cut me off, “He disappeared from our medical ward in the night. I don't know what happened to him but pending any further injury, he is quite alive and was here two days ago.”

Well there is hope yet, he was spotted two days ago! That is less time than we've been in the wastes. I may make good on that promise to Nugget yet. I smiled a bit of relief as another shiver hit my veins from the drip of the Rad-Away.

Chifundo blushed a bit and rubbed his head after a few minutes, “I think I should head out, and powder my snout.” The pink zebra sheepishly watched us all while he backed out of the office and left us. Nyota raised an eyebrow over his eye patch and Quick Stitch shrugged. His eyebrow does work! Wait, does that mean the eye is there?

“Think it will go well?” I looked at Nyota after Chifundo was out of sight.

“No idea, but I suspect he will be fine,” Nyota replied and I could swear his patched eye was somehow still looking right at me.

Corners was out of her box. Well that is extremely new! She actually comes out of the box? She had her cutie mark and was looking at it, pressing hoof to it and rubbing her flank. On there was a cutie mark now: A box with several wrenches sticking out of it and metal plating it on. She had gotten her mark.

“You seem awfully proud of that,” I teased with a grin.

“Aren't you proud of yours?” Corners shot back and looked at me like I was stupid.

“I don't even remember how I got mine,” I replied and looked back at the mark of a power armored earth pony exploding from the inside out. All of it plastered on my skin permanently. I don't know how I got you, how many ponies can say that? Almost every pony I know remember precisely how and when they got their mark. I haven't the slightest clue where I got you or where this insane knowledge of explosives comes from.

“Well I feel like I should share where mine comes from,” the voice of Quick Stitch was cracking as he spoke, breaking from some emotional weight we couldn't see.

“You should listen close to this! He's about to open up his heart a bit.” Pink said and was wearing what looked like a reporters trench coat and angler hat. A set of notebooks poking out of her hat as she herself had a notepad and pencil in hoof.

Where do you get that stuff? How do you know? Nevermind, I'm gonna have to learn to just roll with you aren't I?

“SHHHH!!! Details to get!”

Did the figment of my imagination just tell me to shush? Did that just happen? Are you serious right now? Pink since when do you think you have the right to-

“I said be quiet! Right now! I have details to get!” I thought Alguacil or Nyota could be scary, Pink screaming was the most intimidating thing I'd ever experienced. Her head got three times the size and she looked like an absolutly nightmarish monster. The expression closet boogie pony came to mind.

Okay! I see why the zebras are afraid of you!

Quick Stitch during this time had been trying to work up the courage to speak. He bit his lip and looked to me. I pulled the now empty IV out of my arm and approached him, placing a hoof onto his shoulder and then giving him a soft embrace to hold the medical pony against my barding. He was without his MoP armor so this was the closest we had ever been. I held him for a bit and then released with a soft gaze and reassuring smile, “It's okay Quick Stitch, take your time.”

Quick Stitch let a tear roll down his cheek onto my hoof and that was enough as I wiped his tears away. I felt my own heart ache seeing him in pain. “I got my cutie mark when I was with my parents, Scorchmark and Meat Slab. They were, raiders. All my scars are from their torments to get a cutie mark for fire magic.” The olive stallion hesitated and winced like he expected us to strike him or something. I reached up brushed his cheek with a motion to go on.

“I had been tortured by them all my life." I kept a hoof on Quick Stitch's shoulder, something inside me wanted to keep him reassured and I had to keep it there. I wanted to hear this as much as I felt like he needed to get it out. "Then one day, they captured a mare, some earth pony who didn't know better to run.” He looks lost in thought, hurt in his eyes. His lips quivered while he continued to speak. "They sent me in there and locked us in private." He hesitated and I simply reached up and rubbed his cheek. "They wanted me to torture her with fire till I got a cutie mark or she died."

Nyota moved up behind me, I took a moment to look. Hacksaw, old as he was, just sat there with the saddest expression I'd ever seen. Chifundo was still in shock from Picline and this wasn't making his shock any better. "Well, go on Quick Stitch," Nyota didn't sound like he had a lot of patience right now for this. My tail batted him in the face and I gave him an angry glare which stopped anymore comments from him.

Quick Stitch nodded, his face filling with grim determination, like some little piece had changed inside him, "I didn't torture her. I told her if she wanted to live scream." He stood up tall and proud, like he had done something amazing. "I stitched her wounds closed, did my best to heal her, and then shoved her out of a hole in the back of the torture shack. I was so busy working on her I didn't notice my cutie mark had appeared." He paused and looked down at me into my eyes, "I had to create a lie, so I burned a crate into a pile of ash. When I stepped outside, everyone was celebrating that I had my mark."

"They never knew it was for healing, not torture or fire." Quick Stitch stopped and chewed his lip. Nyota approached and placed a hoof over his neck against my own. This made the olive medic pony brighten up just a bit, the tears in his eyes dried just enough. “That night, I snuck out the camp and never looked back. Till I found you, Sunrise.”

I felt the impact on my shoulders like a mountain falling and me expected to carry it. He hasn't dealt with any of the pain. He hasn't even considered the damage it has done to him. He needs to let all this out. Mom would be furious if I let anything close to this build up inside and not release.

“Go on Sunrise, show him what you showed those ponies you rescued.”

I leapt up at Quick Stitch and he flinched expecting a blow that never came. My hooves around his neck as I nuzzled up against his cheek. Nyota pulled in closer and turned this into a tight group embrace. I sighed lovingly into his neck. While Nyota stroked his mane. “I've got you Quick Stitch, I promise,” I whispered into his ear and just held him there as he wept openly into my mane and shoulder.

The radiation sickness was starting to get to me again. I could feel my body's weakness wanting to take over and I refused it. There would be time for rest later, now was the time to make sure my friends were cared for. Even Corners was outside her box and rubbing at our sides. Quick Stitch brought her in close and made our group hug last as long as I could stand.

We stayed there till Quick Stitch stopped crying and we all shared in drying his tears on our fur coats. With a sigh I took to all four hooves and then gathered my equipment. Out of all of us, I still hadn't removed my barding. I looked to Quick Stitch, Corners, and Nyota; there were marks of dirt and grim on their coats in the shape of my armored plating sown into my jumpsuit.

I headed into the second floor where the market was. Many merchants were preparing closing time. There were just several things that needed to be done, so I had to be quick. High quality bits for a pump action shotgun, a stable-suit with a utility belt, and several other random parts I needed as well were put together for upgrading equipment. I took them all in and stopped when I saw a book vendor finishing closing. He still had one book on the counter that caught my eye: 'Equestrian Army Officer's Basic Guide to Decorum, Discipline, and Tactics.' I'll need something to read while the chemicals cook for explosives and armor augmentation.

With all my new found parts, I started to leave when I noticed the tailor was still open. This was one of the stand alone buildings inside the parking garage. The walls were much more uniform and the sign was even made specifically for that shop: 'Cross Stitch Exquisite Designs'.

At that moment, I ran smack into Chifundo. The chair strapped to my saddlebags, everything in my mouth and tail, along with a few pieces from my backpack flew up into the air. I wanted to squeal but only got a rush of air from my lungs. Chifundo's hoof caressed my cheek as he scrambled to help me gather up the bits.

“My apologies Sunrise, you caught me by surprise.” Chifundo replied with a bow towards me.

“It's alright Chifundo, getting ready for your date?” I was genuinely curious but my gaze was not on him. Instead I was scrolling through the inventory on my PipBuck to make sure I had everything.

“I believe I am ready, unless you have a suggestion breaker of day?”

Great, more of that rhyming, I really hope Picline doesn't mind the way he talks. I took Chifundo's visage in and saw he was wearing nothing. Oh no! You're going to do this date right.

“Chifundo, go inside that tailor shop, I'll be back in a second.” I stayed and made sure he went in then trotted off to put away all bits and bobbles I had. There was a workshop with lockers in it and cost me 10 caps to rent a locker to store everything inside there. Then darted back and poked inside the tailor shop.

“Yes little mare what can I help you with?” Inquired a unicorn ghoul as the measured up Chifundo's inner hindleg. The zebra blushed and made me realized it was going around a sensitive area.

Always ghouls? Really? How many old world relics are there that we are going to run into? Oh wait, I am literally an old world relic aren't I?

“Oh Sunrise, you have to learn exactly how much they matter to the world. Now answer his question instead of looking at him like he's lost his mind.” Pink's reply put a shock onto my features while I took in the unicorn and fumbled for words to answer his question.

I giggled, “Oh nothing, should I help pick out stuff for my friend and his date here?”

The shrivel skinned unicorn looked at me and then up to Chifundo, “Is she your date? Isn't she a bit young for a middle aged zebra like you?”

I fell onto my belly and rolled across his floor laughing. The two of them looked at me rather perturbed at my reaction. “Oh, No no no no” was all I could get out. Dear Goddesses please, kill me now if I ever date that rhyme machine! I wasn't sure how long I'd been laughing when I finally got control of myself. I kept giggling and snickering between words, “I needed that, thank you...” I trailed off looking for a name as I waited for the unicorn to reply.

He flicked what was left of his decayed blonde mane aside and straighten out his suit, as though I had flicked dirt on him with my laughter. “I am the great one and only, Cross Stitch! Renowned across...” He trailed off for a brief moment, “Well I suppose after 180 years I am not renowned as I used to be. But yes, Cross Stitch will do.”

I hadn't stopped giggling here or there, “We have a stallion named Quick Stitch, I assume no relation?” And like that, almost on queue, Quick Stitch and Nyota behind us walked in. I looked at him and burst out laughing again. Oh by the Goddesses this is gonna get so very good! After a few moments of the giggle fits, an odd thought struck me. Both of the new arrivals looked at me like I was some cackling mad old granny.

“Chifundo, would you prefer a suit like Cross Stitch or something more like what I'd wear to a date?” I teased through the heckling as my insides began to hurt from how much I needed to let this out.

Cross Stitch looked at me a bit distressed and then reached back to lift Chifundo's tail while he blushed furiously. The zebra stallion squirmed and tried to put his tail back down for modesty. Then the unicorn huffed and used his telekinesis to bring over additional pieces of template fabric, this one for dress forms. “Don't worry, I will measure you for both and fashion something that will be quite stunning. Wait, who is your date?”

“I am going out with Picline, tonight to see how well we will dine,” Chifundo replied with a bashful grin.

“OH! Picline! Well then, I shall have to make sure something special is ready for her to see!” The entire demeanor of the tailor changed. He got brighter like a light had been cut on over his head. He moved with a purpose that could not be doubted this was a very special task.

“I have the very reason of inspiration now!” He declared and scissors began to furiously cut away at fabrics. Two sets of clothes, one a stallion suit and the other a blank dress form. “Go on, step back there and try both of these on then come out and show us!” Chifundo took the suit and dress onto his back and trotted out of sight.

“Is, Chifundo going to be wearing a dress or a suit?” Quick Stitch questioned with a very confused look. Chifundo nearly fell head over hoof getting behind the curtain.

“Apparently if I understood Cross Stitch right, both.” I turned to the olive stallion and giggled. “I also assume no relation?”

Quick Stitch blinked at me and growled a bit, “No, I highly doubt I am related to-”

“To be honest, yes he could be.” Both of us turned to the ghouled unicorn with a dumbfounded expression. He continued to cut along a pattern and was making Chifundo's suit-dress in rapid succession. “I got around before the megaspells went off, I think I must have bedded at least 100 mares back then. I would not be surprised if he was related to me.”

The case of my giggles continued and seemed to have nowhere to stop in sight. “Oh, if you really are related to Quick Stitch, I swear, I'll make him never pay for anything ever again! Alright, Quick Stitch make sure-”

Nyota was standing there, having snuck up to us and put a hoof in my mouth to shut me up. Now with improved brass shoe flavor? He looked at me, then at Quick Stitch, then back to me. “I've gotten our room arranged,” he spoke removing the hoof and that apparently broke my giggle case. “Sunrise, 100 caps says Chifundo looks better in the dress.”

I blinked at the black striped companion a few times and then put my hoof out, “I don't have 100 but 50 caps I can wager on that one.” We shook hooves and sealed our bet then waited for Chifundo's appearance.

Did I just strike a bet that our zebra shaman looks better in the dress? Well no I bet against that. Then again I've been looking at him as a stallion and does that mean Nyota has looked at him as a... mare?

“Oh My GOSH! That is so adorable!” Pink squealed and tossed a bucket of ethereal popcorn around my vision.

Chifundo exited first in the dress form. It was an elegant pearl white with a set of soft red roses arranged from the v-neck collar. Those flowers ran from the zebra's breast to hem at the bottom with his rear hooves. He twirled and pranced with the best mare's I'd seen at a gala. Then Chifundo froze and blushed before retreating behind the curtain. Quick Stitch stared in awe while Nyota nudged my armor plated shoulder, “Also Sunrise, you can get a shower and the inn here does laundry for free with a room.”

I placed a hoof up against my stable-barding under my duster. While the collar and chest were visible, the leather armored cloak kept most of it hidden. I don't wanna take my jumpsuit off. I feel like it's the last thing I got from my parents. Even if Stable-Tec issued them to us all. The thought of removing it is just, chilling.

Chifundo stepped back out in a sharp black suit, he looked handsome. Even I might ask him out if I didn't have to deal with his rhymes. The suit covered and complimented his stripes despite his pink color. There was a tall top hat to finish the ensemble along with a cane in his hoof. I looked at Nyota and almost asked him for the caps then and there.

“Ya know, as much as I would like to put you into the dress, I simply do not have the right fabric or material for it.” Cross took a breath and then smiled, “But my inspiration is to have a very interesting blend between the two.”

I grinned from ear to ear at Nyota, “Ya know if my mother was here, she could work some amazing magic with a bit of makeup and a slight trim of his mane.”

“Make Up! How can you have joke, when I am the one you poke?” Chifundo blurted out which we ignored him. Nyota even chuckled a bit at Chifundo's expense.

“But since Shadow Window isn't here to make him even more fabulous,” I turned to Nyota and extended my hoof. “50 caps.”

Nyota handed me the caps and then walked up to the counter and put Nyota's 50 and my 50 together. “For the suit-dress.” He and Quick Stitch stayed and began to converse back and forth. I made for the door. As much as I wanted to stay to see the final product, there was a lot of work to be done tonight.

“I'll meet you at the inn when I finish working.” I called back through the doorway as my friend's vanished from sight. Outside, every single filly, colt, stallion, and mare carried weapons. They had guns, magical energy pistols, or vicious looking melee weapons.

A crudely drawn sign drew my attention outside the workshop, 'Keep your weapon at all times. An armed Society, is a Polite Society. -Sincerely, Management of The Roof' The Roof? Is that where we are? I checked my PipBuck map and on it, a marker had appeared for this parking garage, 'The Roof'.

How does it do that!? Seriously, like how does it know that needs to be done and where this place is? Never mind, probably something programmed into the spell-matrix so it's hard to get lost. I let out a sigh and walked into the noisy workshop. There were workbenches, tools, even electrical power tools and sanders available. It appeared public so I just started working once I had recovered stuff from the locker.

I set a Bunsen burner to work cooking up the gelatin oil from the doughnut shop. I opened the office manual and started to read while the chemicals cooked and mixed. I wasn't sure if it was books or memory orbs that let me know so much about explosives but here I was making bombs. The stuff gathered would make a molotrot bomb and homemade plastic explosive. Even the sprinkle packages we had would come in handy. They were so stale with a little bit of soldering to harden them, they would make good shrapnel.

Pink was way too happy, giving advice and pointers about each individual concoction in order to make the mix as pure and stable as possible. I took my shotgun apart and looked at all the different bits. I took a new firing pin and fire hardened it first, then put it into the custom sized pump-action. My revolver got a new barrel which using the welding torch and a bearing screw, I lined up the cylinders to be an exact match to the barrel.

I finally took off my Stable-Tec barding, with a lot of reluctance. The feeling of cool air against my skin was unwelcome at best. I used the trashed jumpsuit I'd acquired to perform repairs to cloth fabrics. I added more armor plates while removing the ones that were damaged. I was surprised how easy this came to me and how good the repairs looked. I couldn't even tell that the right foreleg to my barding had been hit with a landmine. Guess dad's shop work paid off.

“Hey you aren't a resident are you?” an unfamiliar mare asked.

I turned to her and shook my head at the baby blue coat and dark brown maned unicorn mare. “Alright then,” she took out a notepad and handed me a slip of paper when she finished writing on it.

'This is a ticket confirms payment of the 25 cap fee for use of the workbenches for non-citizens on this day after Hearths Warming.'

I blinked at the note stunned and then turned my head back to the mare who was wearing some rather heavy plating that had the word 'Police' stitched into it.

“You gonna sign your name to that? So no one thinks I just made it up?” I asked suspiciously and the guard mare took the note back and scribbled down onto it, '-Fancy Cannon'. I looked at the name then at her, she had no weapon, no cannon as it were and this made the hairs on my mane stand up.

“Oh! She doesn't need a gun, she is the gun!” Pink declared with a giggle.

I passed her the caps and shied away. I don't want to find out why they call her a living cannon. When she trotted off and I went to resume my work, only to be interrupted again. Alguacil came in and took the back support of the chair with him.

I didn't mind, I took the chair seat and a blowtorch to flex it down to smaller plates. These replaced the steel plating inside my duster with. Making them lighter and more flexible without losing any of their resistance to damage. Oh stubbornite, how I missed you. So much fun to work with! Lighter than steel, stronger than hardened battle plates. I love this stuff so much! Why did we make chairs out of it?

I must have been working, reading, or experimenting well into the night as I was the last one still in the workshop and I looked around to see Fancy Cannon was still standing there. She was one very persistent guard at least. I looked over at her when I finished putting together the final bomb I could make. “You going to stay here till I'm done?”

“Requirement!” She touted off with a salute of her hoof at me. “I have to stay here till all non-residents are finished. However at midnight I have to charge you an additional 25 cap fee, which is in 10 minutes.” The mare rubbed the back of her head nervously and winced. “I also wanted to make sure you didn't blow up the workshop without somepony here to shield you.”

I blushed and nodded to her, “I'm just about finished, I'll clean up this bench for somepony else to use. Sorry I kept you up.” The mare grinned at me and then gave a flirting wink which made me shiver. Nope! Not touching that one.Pink is that everything?

“You know that Buddy would be proud? He taught you this the first day out of that pool you woke up in. Now look at you? Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.” Pink replied as she bounced back into my view.

Have you just been staying out of the way to not distract me?

“Absolutely! You're playing with things that could explode and make a very bad day! In their most unstable states to boot! I would certainly not want to get in the way of that! Though even I am SUPER DUPER insanely happy that you managed to rediscover the art of the Surprise Super Boom with Sprinkles!” The pink pony's smile was somewhere between too much and killer creepy. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

If I ever understand you Pink, I'll let you know. I wiggled back into my barding and got all my gear placed on. It was lighter now with stubbornite instead of steel plates. I felt like I could move easier too!

I had used the last parts to reinforce the Ministry of Peace cloak and weave clips on it to the inside of the duster. This way it wouldn't inhibit my movement or cover up my stable-barding. This also meant that the bright white color wouldn't be visible from miles away. “Well duh, no sense giving the sniper a bullseye on you Sunrise!”

I arrived into the room and only Nyota was present. I set down on the floor and unrolled my sleeping bag. An exasperated sigh rolled from my lips and I slumped onto my Stable-Tec bedroll against the concrete floor. I lowered my head and took a long examination of the dimly lit room.

There were additional beds, one for all our group. We honestly did not know if Chifundo was coming back here tonight. His date might take a turn we had not expected when we first arrived. None of us knew where Corners had gotten off to, and Alguacil had just taken the chair backing then vanished again. I suspected that Quick Stitch was taking care of some medical business somewhere as well.

That left just the two of us, when something really started bothering me that Nyota had mentioned at breakfast when I had not been paying close attention. “I um, what did you mean by your tribe call you a demon?”

Nyota rolled over the bed, the springs groaning made a shiver crawl up my spine. What is wrong with beds again? Why haven't I slept on one willingly yet? He took a long hard look at my face from his comfortable position. The simple question had caught him off guard and he was searching for some ulterior motive to my question.

He gave me a sad smile of resignation finally when he decided to the answer. "Ah, that is long and boring story Sunrise, but the short version is a bit more interesting." he slid up into a meditative position, The zebra sitting upright with forehooves out to his side and his rear legs crossed. Nyota took a deep long breath before continuing, "Would you like to hear it?" He asked sitting cross legged with his eye closed as he took in a breath to relax.

I sat up in the Stable-Tec sleeping bag and pressed my back to the wall for support. After making sure we could see each other I spoke. "I'd like to hear the full story if that is okay, I like knowing more about my friends.” I chewed the words as he opened his eye and I felt like some sensitive subject that should have stayed buried had been dragged out of the ashes. “And you can always ask questions back." I added hopeful it would let his guard down.

He nodded gently to me, "Well it will take a while and we both need sleep, so I will speed things up a bit." He managed to tweak down the tension one little racket at a time with each word. His words were doing more than offering exposition, they were being spoken in a way that was soothing. "The first of the Starkaterri, my ancestors, used forbidden magics and rituals. They called down the stars, raised the dead, and lay waste to those that opposed their rise to power. The other tribes stood united and through years of war eventually our tribe was brought low. They were scattered to the winds to ensure we could never gain such powers again."

He spoke continuously without taking a break or either of us moving. Then the zebra turned his head took a look out of the window into the rest of The Roof. I could see a few ponies passing by but most had already gone off to bed. "We are the unnamed, the outcast, and shunned. The thirteenth tribe marked for our hubris. We have a unique bond with the dark, death, and all negative emotions."

I tilted my head in a bit of confusion at this, there were so many foreign concepts hitting home and I had to know. "So just because of who your ancestors were and nothing you did, means you get punished?"

"Most care little for the squabbles of the tribes, but yes. Most zebras would find me particularly unsettling, an ill omen or demon come to lay destruction, famine, or even death upon anypony nearby." He let out a chuckle and shook his head as he turned back to me, "When in actuality? We're just zebras with funny stripes."

"That sounds like a horrible thing to be told. So how do you deal with it? Have you been alone before you met us?” I asked getting up onto my hooves and turning to face my friend on the bed.

"Physically yes, spiritually though..." he paused and his gaze took me in. It felt like that look he gave through his eye-patch was piercing into my soul. My skin crawled a bit when his hooves reached to his face. Nyota removed the leather from his eye for just me to see in the dim light. I cut on the PipBuck light to give us a better look at each other.

His milky jade colored eye danced with faint glimmers of starlight. It brought upon me a chill and a sense of wonder I hadn't felt since I woke up. It was like I could see the things Chifundo talked to looking back at me. We recognized each others presence not in a physical sense but the in sense of two sentient creatures seeing each other for the first time. The gaze was alien and beautiful all at once. "I am never alone." Nyota spoke and interrupted my staring.

After a few blinks and I managed to take all this in. My lips were dry when I wanted to ask a question and I held back for a bit, waiting to get the right question. "What is that? I've never seen anything like it. I thought you were like Alguacil and were just more modest about it."

"It's a mark of my tribe's pact in blood.” Nyota gave a grimace as if expected a blow that never came. I understood now why it felt like he could see through the eye-patch. I moved and that eye followed just like his other one. “My tribe gradually goes blind to the physical realm with age. Our sight is replaced with what dances beyond the veil. I cover it to prevent others from being unnerved and to shield myself from the tortured souls that wander freely among the world when we destroyed it long ago." His honesty and openness shocked me for a bit.

I realized now he only acted gruff to keep his distance. In fact, if we just asked, he was an open book. At least to me he was. Furthermore, I could hear it in how he spoke and the fear in his voice. There something about the mix of emotions. “Sunrise! He isn't that old! He is barely older than you are!” Pink was right, Nyota wasn't some old battered stallion, he was a young buck at his oldest.

I stared into the eye for a while. I expected something to happen. Nothing jumped out at me, just the sense of wonder filled to the brim. There was no fear from it, no sense of dread, just wonder at a truly alien new concept that I wanted desperately to explore. I had to let him know, I fumbled with the words at first and then found exactly what I should say, "I-we... I mean... I can see how others might be unnerved. But...I..umm don't think you should cover it when we are together with just the six of us. I think it's apart of you that is quite beautiful to behold."

"I would were it not for the souls wandering the wastes," he offered his eye-patch to me. I refused and pushed it back to his grip. "I found this in a box not unlike those we received this morning, it blocks my sight of the spirit world and has been a boon to my sanity. If you wish it I will remove it while we travel but I'd rather not share this with the others."

I rubbed a hoof behind my mane and felt a conflict rising up inside me. Nyota was sharing something deeply connected to himself. Far deeper than I suspected he'd ever shared with any pony else. "I suppose if given the choice, I would rather not interact with that world.” Given that so far it has been freaky, made me throw up, and generally felt just wrong! “It is not about what I wish in this case, I thought you were doing it because you were afraid of what others would think."

"A bit of both honestly," he said with a smirk. "And as you've discovered why I prefer to cover my eye, I would like to discover why you prefer sleeping on the ground.” Nyota pointed a hoof at my sleeping bag on the floor. “It seems odd that anyone would forego the comfort of a bed no matter the state of it and even more so when the bed is this clean." He gestured to the mattress he was sitting on and it certainly looked rather clean. They even had sheets on it that were soft and welcoming. I still felt a sense of foreboding towards the bed, from my experiences in the Stable and before. "Could you tell me why?"

My guard was lowered and I shrunk my head towards the ground. I started to recall and then stopped myself, NO! You are not going into a full memory right now! This is your friend opening up to you and freely speaking. Talk back and keep the memories at bay. This memory thing isn't normal ya know?

“Sunrise! Deal with it later, he's waiting for you to reply! So reply already before I kick your flank!” I'll give Pink credit, she knows how to push my buttons.

"Earlier when I was remembering, in the Stable if you were sleeping on a bed was when they would do experimentation to you. If you were going into a stasis pod it meant the release of memory orbs to keep you dreaming and you didn't have to worry about waking up; altered." I pressed a hoof onto the mattress. When a spring groaned, I winced and retreated back. The same kind of wincing I'd done in front of Honey Hearthfire at Silver Fang Shanty. The same kind of wince that had induced the memory earlier that night. "I don't feel safe on a bed." My last words were hallow and felt like some empty broken thing inside me had been exposed.

"Would it be easier if you were held?" Nyota reached out to touch my cheek lightly as he spoke. I looked into his face full of concern and worry not sure if I should back away or press forward. "Sleeping on the hard ground has been taking a toll on you Sunrise and if it helps I will make sure you do not wake up 'altered'."

His words frightened me enough to staggered back. I stumbled and nearly fell over backwards with hooves slipping on my sleeping bag. Alright fine, if he is going to open up and be honest, I should too. Only fair right? Friends should trust each other with sensitive things right? The thoughts raced through me as I tried to piece together my combinations of emotions and my stomach felt like butterflies were prancing through it.

"I don't think it would.” My lips quivered and I could feel the shaking of hooves into the floor. “Not till I understand what they did. I mean, I didn't have a sentient tail when the door was sealed." I felt a weight and a piece of cold steel against my cheek. My tail was offering one of my canteens. One day I'll understand how you always know! I took a sip and my tail resealed the canteen on its own. That would have calmed me if I didn't get feelings from my tail. I could feel it, every nerve ending moving, how it manipulated the bottle and then tucked it away. But I had no direct control over it.

It made my skin crawl to feel my tail doing something but not have direct control over it. I took a breath and continued describing the changes I'd noticed. "And my coat was white. I certainly didn't have some pink pony in my head. And I have no idea where I got all the information about explosives."

Nyota chuckled at me softly and both of his hooves moved to pull me back into a hug. He was forceful to get me close then gentle. My head softly pressed into his chest while he held me. "I do not mean to make light of your past Sunrise,” his slow deliberate breathing calmed my nerves only a little. “But what I can say is that the knowledge you have has saved us all on more than one occasion. Even if it seems strange?” He released me from the hug and let me get back under my own weight but I didn't move. Both of us found my forehooves clinging to him and not wanting to let go.

“You are you, Sunrise. Despite your physical differences between then and now.” Nyota pulled my head back so I had to look up at him. “And honestly? You're the reason I'm still here.” There was some final word to that, like I couldn't be sure if he meant alive or with our companions. It was so strange to have a feeling that friend might be alive because of me. Like having responsibility for a life and for happiness thrust on you but a responsibility you were honored to take.

“I wasn't sure at first that any of you would be someone I called friend, but in you I see a kindred spirit. Someone raised on the ideals of friendship and harmony, and unlike me..." he let out a soft sigh and it was like some sort of signal to release my hold on him. "You still have hope that that way of life may come back."

"Yes but I still got Buddy killed." My thoughts came rushing back about how I was responsible for leading them on our journey for some reason. Every step of the way had either been my suggestion or my fault, "I feel responsible for all of you being here and if Chifundo wants to say because he likes Picline, I would be happy to know he was safe." I looked down at the floor and saw the dirt on my own hooves as something that might one day be blood. "It has only been three months since that way of life was lost to me."

Nyota let out an angry snort and rapped me on the head almost hard enough to bruise, "You didn't get Buddy killed anymore than the rest of us did. He rushed into a situation without help instead of waiting for the rest of us.” His hoof rubbed where he struck me to make sure it wasn't going to hurt for too long. “What happened is regrettable, but you cannot beat yourself up about the actions of others." He gave me another three baps on the head and then pulled me into a hug again. The squeaking of the bed springs made me flinch trying to get away. This time though, Nyota held me tight and refused to let me squirm away.

"Friendship and joy are rare in the wasteland and death is depressingly commonplace." Nyota sensed I hadn't gotten more comfortable and released me. He made sure I was on all four hooves before continuing. I just hoped he couldn't see me shaking with emotional turmoil. "Before I met the rest of you? I spent my days traveling from place to place delivering packages and parcels before finding a bed and perhaps enjoying more... adult pleasures."

I held my hoof to my opposite leg and sheepishly looked away from his gaze. "Yeah except I panicked and ran for cover. Even after all of his fretting and taking the time to make sure I had good protection, I left him high and dry when I should have moved to help him." I stopped myself and then felt the conflict inside of wanting to blame myself or admit that Nyota was right. I couldn't determine what to make of all the other information though. Nyota was quickly turning from a rubix cube to a rubix tetrahedron. “At least I learned the lesson to help even if it means facing gunfire.” My heart felt like it was dropped off a cliff before I could get the next words out, “Even if it cost Buddy everything.”

"And you can say sex around me.” I bap his chest to drive the point home. “Goddesses only know what all memories are in my head from those orbs." My tail had pulled out the book and was prodding me with it.

Finally Nyota gave a smile and then he blushed when I rapped his chest, "Uhh right... sex," he turns to look back out the window, "You should probably take that book, seems like something important."

I took the book under hoof from the tail and growled at it. I'm not quite done talking to Nyota yet so back off. I know I need to finish reading the tactics section but it can wait! For once you are wrong tail! My tail shrunk back at the mental beat down it had just received and it looked like I had wounded it. Yes! My tail gave an emotional expression at me.

"Did you want to get some sleep? Or is something else on your mind?" I prodded while setting the book onto the floor.

"No, I'll keep an eye on you while you sleep tonight," he said while putting his eye patch back in place. "I... I don't know," he returned to looking at me with his normal eye now; but his expression was more thoughtful than examining. "I guess I just..." he started before trailing off and for the first time ever, I saw Nyota's confounded expression. He was tongue tied.

"I'll listen, I haven't got a whole lot better to do at this hour,” I offered while sliding the book out of sight into my sleeping bag. My tail started to protest till my eyes shot it a look that could kill.

"Have you ever wanted something you know you cannot have?" he asked hesitantly.

"I've been a filly till I woke up. I'd say 80% of the time anything I wanted I got told no to. So I would say yes, intimately. Why?" I mused for him to continue.

"Ah, I suppose that's close," he said and reached into his bag at the edge of the bed. He pulled out a small box and then a the picture still in its frame. Nyota offered the picture to me and I took it. "The oasis... my home is gone, and even if we remove the legion from it? The legion will come back..." The picture showed two zebras that looked very similar to him. His parents?

They looked so much like him down to the odd turned and curled stripes. I could clearly recognize the much younger Nyota smiling happily. All while they posed for the picture and held Nyota. His head was cutely nuzzled into his mother's chest for the portrait and the other zebras in the background were clean. The area around them was lush, green, and very much like the idyllic 'wish you were here!' sort of image. I would even call it a postcard for a family that couldn't make it for a visit. Like something straight out of the time before I went into the stable.

I turned up to him and smirked with an idea. "Then we stop the Legion. For good. We find out what these coordinates are, why we ended up in that hole, what Stable 43 did to me, and where my parents are. Then we stop the Legion for good." I spoke with certainty that these were our clear objectives and I had set my mind to it.

Nyota looked at me with a new expression. Like I had grown a second and third head. Then he burst out laughing and reached out for another one armed hug while uncontrollably cackling.

"Sure," he said through his deep chuckles. "We'll just get our ragtag group together and face down an entire army.” He was tearing up through the laughing for lack of taking a breath. "Walk right up to the Caesar and tell him to stop being a meanie because we should be better than our ancestors." He slapped my back with his hoof and had to steady himself from rolling off the bed.

I struggled to get away. All my wiggling to no avail, even when I started bapping the shoulders of the zebra to let me go. "I mean it! Look we're already going all over Equestria to get into what are apparently secret Stables. In the process of rescuing a ponynapped pegasus.” Nyota started to calm his laughter and looked at me trying to take me seriously. “Then I'm gonna ask you all to come with me to Stalliongrad, where Stable 43 is, right next the border where the Zebra-Equestrian War's front line was.”

I paused as I finally got him to realize I wasn't joking. I was dead serious about all of it. “It isn't like we can't go a few more days travel, free Oasis, and face down Caesar!" I gave the most determined my mind is made up look I could. What was I getting myself into?

"Sunny...” he stopped himself when he saw the glare. “Sunrise. It's not that simple, the Caesar, and by extension the rest of the legion? Wants nothing more than the eradication of everyone that isn't legion. Pony? Dead. Griffon? Dead. Anyone that isn't already legion? Dead. They're about as reasonable as a hydra and much more dangerous."

"Nyota, I'm sure by the time we reach them we can do something to change that part of the world. If you are willing to follow me, then I should help you. How can I say no?” I waited to see if he had an answer then continued speaking on my position. “You are all following me right now and I don't know if you will accompany me all the way to Stalliongrad or Stable 43. But if it comes to that we'll cross each bridge when we get to it right?"

I was trembling from head to tail, the thought of going back to Stable 43, the feeling of dread the memories I kept suppressed from that terrible place that slowly reviving. All of it wanted to come flooding back and I pushed it aside with a bite of my lip to force pain to keep me thinking about something else. My eyes closed and I turned my head away from Nyota. My entire body expected a blow that never came. Only soft words.

"I'd much rather find a quiet home and a mare to love, maybe start a new oasis after exacting my revenge on the ponies of the legion that razed my home." He stopped and I could tell he sensed my distress as I opened one eye to look at him, "Are... are you okay Sunrise?"

My defenses crashed down and I laid my head into his chest, even if my back gave an uncomfortable shiver at the sound of bed springs. "The prospect of having to return to Stable 43 scares me, terrifies me even. I'm hoping we can do anything else to locate what happened to my family before I consider we may have to go there.” I hesitated to speak further and then glanced at my stable-barding before looking to my Stable-Tec sleeping bag with the obnoxious 43 across the front.

“I wear the barding because it smells of my father and the sleeping bag has my mom's scent but the place..." I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence. I could feel the memories wanting to come forward but refused to let them. "Right now though, my friends are the closest thing to family I have."

"You'll have friends with you," he spoke with an honesty that rang me free of fears and shakes just to listen to it. His words were not just honey, but the genuine article of care. Care I missed from before the Stables. "You won't have to do it alone. So... don't let it bother you so much, and if you need someone to talk to, I'm always willing to listen."

I leapt at him and hugged his neck tightly, I didn't dare speak above a whisper while I clung to his neck with all my strength, "A part of me feels my parents are dead or something horrible has happened to them. I'm glad I'll at least have friends like you if that is the case, and you remind me, there is still a hope, no matter how slim.”

He reached up and gently stroked the red half of my mane, "Well, one way or another you'll have some closure." He was patting my back to signal me to let go. Apparently tonight is the night of hugs! "And I'm glad that you're not gonna call me dad or something... that would make things awkward."

"Ya know you started off as cold as Alguacil, instead you've been the warmest nicest pony underneath that layer of coldness. Why don't you relax and act that way around the others?" I put my forehooves onto the bed. Part of me wanting to climb up there and relax on the soft sheets. I froze like a leaf in winter the moment the springs creaked under my weight. I couldn't bring myself to get up there or move away.

"Because I generally don't like any pony. You grew up like I did." I pointed at me then at the rest of the room like one of these things doesn't belong. "But like I said, you still have hope that the world can get better, I've seen most of the world. I am jaded. I accepted that I couldn't change things. But you've brought that hope back and you're... cute." He finished speaking and turned a bright pink, pinker than Chifundo's stripes.

I was taken aback and tilted my head sideways. My thoughts lost in confusion as I stared at the zebra trying to understand. Slowly I pieced it together and suddenly felt deeply insulted and rage began to build up inside me, "Cute? Ya know what," I wanted to hit him. I was cute!? Cute like a little filly who thinks she can take on the world. "Fine." I darted down and threw my sleeping back onto the bed. The clatter of the book tossed into the wooden wall shook his blush away. I wiggled free of my barding and took a moment to notice the very distinct lines where the barding had been and where my coat had been exposed to the elements. There were several shades of green on me now, you could tell which layer of clothing had been protecting where. I moved back to the bed and put both hooves up on the bed before the sound of the springs froze me in place again.

"Uh... did... did I say something wrong?" Nyota took the time to remove the sleeping bag that had landed on him to the bed properly. "S-Sunrise?" His words were hesitant and his expression was thoughtfully trying to figure it out.

"No, you're right. I grew up, I slept in a bed. I didn't wear armor when I slept or for that matter for weeks on end.” I told my legs to move but they wouldn't budge, it was like my body was protesting against my conscious mind. “I should be willing to sleep in a bed, in my sleeping bag, next to a friend." The force in my voice was a stark contrast to the struggle to make progress onto the bed. "Otherwise I am just cute, a cute idea."

"That's... that's not what I meant Sunrise." Nyota shoved a hoof onto my bare shoulder and everything stopped. The feeling of another pony against my shoulder without the barding separating us was so alien now. "I meant cute like..." he trails off and sighs, "Look I'm sorry that you took what I said the wrong way, I didn't mean to upset you."

I turned my head to the much brighter less dirty part of my body he was touching, then back to his gaze. I could see the hurt in his eyes and I stopped my struggles. My rage deflated and suddenly I felt like I was in the wrong. "Then what did you mean? And you didn't upset me, you proved your point from the start. If I can't do this, I can't get into that secret stable. I can't save Hot Cross Buns. I can't figure out what Stable-Tec did to me or how to undo it. I can't-

I swear at this point I know this taste so intimately it is basically my breakfast.

"I meant you're cute physically, and I wasn't trying to prove a point I was curious..." his gaze was someone clearly giving the same look that Picline gave Chifundo when she first saw him. I could feel the burning blush pushing into my cheeks. I'm attempting to crawl into bed with a stallion who isn't my father, who thinks I'm cute. This couldn't possibly be more awkward could it?

“Oh Sunrise, you don't know the half of it! If I told you my stories-” Pink wasn't going to be allowed to finish her sentence.

"I'm here to help you, I'm sure the others are too. I would have followed you regardless but you're also a cute mare. So... yeah..." Nyota replied rather bashfully and I was surprised to see him looking away, then stealing a glance with his eye while blushing. “I think you're cute in that way.”

Stunned at this revelation, I collapsed under my own weight onto the bed. All my efforts now deflated completely. "I... I've never had someone refer to me as cute as anything other than a filly." I chewed my lip against the mattress for a bit and a playful thought was loaned to me by Pink. "If the Ministry of Morale caught me even being friends with a zebra I'd be shipped off to a camp." I rolled my eyes at him. “I'd be deported if I was found dating a zebra.”

“Go on Sunrise, take the chance, get onto that bed.”

I am! Give me a minute to find the right words you little pink play monster inside my head.

"But they don't exist anymore. Help me up."

He blinked repeatedly at the statement and request. After a tense moment, Nyota grabbed my hooves and helped me forward. "Yeah, well, if I were alive back then I would have been shipped off to a friendship camp so we never would have met." Every single creak of a spring made me hesitate again, till Nyota got me up onto my sleeping bag and set me down on my own weight. His words though kept my hooves from retreating back, "I'm glad I woke up in that pool you know?"

Finally I settled in and continued to roll the joke for comfort, "You're right and that would be a shame. I'll need some time to think about what you said, but we'll talk about it when the rest of our friends can't walk in on us at any moment." I slid into the stable-tec sleeping sleeve then curled myself into Nyota as close as the winterize fabric would allow.

Nyota for his part was very careful with me. One leg supported my head while another wrapped around my shoulders. He was very gentle and took his time to make sure every piece was placed in the most gentle colt fashion possible. It was like he was treading a minefield, "Well I probably wouldn't have said anything but I don't like seeing you angry." He replied once we had gotten still.

"I don't know last time was pretty great, I broke Corners nose and she stopped acting up so much." There is a sigh, "Nyota can I ask one last thing?”

He simply nodded against my head.

“Can we train in the morning? Hoof to Hoof? I'd like to be more capable than this next time I need to box somepony in the nose.”

He gave another sheepish nod and I listened to his words as best I could as the world around us faded away and I felt an extra blanket land over us.

"Rage with purpose is a useful tool, rage without purpose is the flame that consumes. G'night Sunny. I look forward to training with you as well."

ooOOoo

0 Days till Megaspell Day

We had been called to the Stable in the early morning. This didn't feel like a drill, it was just as Celestia had begun to raise the sun. Stable 43 had nearly 200 ponies waiting to get inside. Everyone had foals my age or younger without a cutie mark and we were walking into the stable as quickly as possible. We could see various mares and stallions in white lab-coats with the Stable-Tec logo on their right breast as well as their back. They had clipboards asking us all questions and checking off citizens as they got to the huge gear shaped stable door.

Inside, my father took a stable jumpsuit and got into it himself. His wings had to get out of special slits cut for a pegasus. Then he turned and helped me into one. By the time we were done, I had been rubbed with his cologne he had put on before the drill was called. Mom's deep black fur contracted well against the obnoxious Stable-Tec blue. She flicked her white and orange mane aside with a grin. That smile didn't last though as she get beyond the outer doors. Something new about this drill which upset everypony going in.

There were two lines just past the outer doors, one full of foals and one for our parents. Both led deeper into the Stable, but the foals were not happy about being separated from their parents. Mares were protesting and stallions looked like they had been taught lessons by Stable-Tec security. Shadow Window was stopped by a Stable-Tec mare and her voice sent a chill down my spine, I know that voice but it can't be!

“Hello there, the requirement is that foals be separated just in case they have been exposed to radiation. They are much more vulnerable to it than their adult parents.” This mare explained to my mother. I knew that voice, and it wasn't a voice I would ever welcome.

Mom was having none of it, she wrapped two solid black hooves around my white neck and pulled me in tight, “That shouldn't be necessary, this is just a drill isn't it?”

Rainbowrise stepped past us and started to speak when two security officers, one unicorn stallion and one unicorn mare both stepped up. I couldn't make out much behind their riot helmets and heavy plated armor. He looked at the two of them, both had solid black clubs floating in the air along with 10mm pistols on their side.

“Now look here, no need to threaten with violence we just don't see any-”

The lab technician waved a hoof in front of him to silence him, “Mr. Rainbowrise, you will fully understand that as apart of this-”

She was interrupted by a rumble in the distance. A flash washed over us and everypony turned their attention back to the city. I looked past my mother, past the line of families waiting to get inside, all the way towards Stalliongrad. Way in the distance beyond the base of the mountains at the river, a mushroom cloud was slowly rising from the city as a giant red shield slowly enveloped the entire city.

It all started happening so fast from there. Hooves of the lab-tech grabbed me and something about them. the way they were cut and manicured caused me to realize this wasn't the first time they had touched me. Agent number 9? No this can't be, her voice, her hooves, they they...

I froze in fear and she tugged on me to get my mother to let go, but Shadow Window would not relent. Stable-Tec riot guards ran past us to stop the impending rush into the stable while a loud speaker kicked up, “All stable residents! Keep orderly, form a line with foals on the right, adults on the left. The faster you do this, the faster we can get you inside.”

Rainbowrise looked fearful as the two security ponies pushed him aside while Agent 9 and Shadow Window had a tug-o-war over me. “Listen here Shadow Window! Regardless of what you think, I I must keep to regulations!” She went so far as to strike at my mother on the nose. “You will see Wandering Sunrise on the other side of decontamination! Now let go before I have security make you let go!”

I could see my father fighting to get them to let him go. My mother desperately gripping to hold on as the earth pony was proving stronger than my unicorn mother. Then mom launched herself forward and into the pegasus and bumped her off of me completely. With space between the two mares, she held me tight and all I could do was shiver in terror. Agent 9 clopped her hooves and security guards began to approach us as she grinned. That smile could only be described as bone chilling.

“Hold on, look, let me say a few words to Sunrise and then we can go into the separate decontamination areas okay?” Her horn glowed as she spoke and a magical shield appeared between us and the guards stopped. The orange glow film encircled the world beyond and the guards looked to Agent 9 for instructions. She motioned a hoof at them to back off.

“You have 10 seconds,” Agent 9 told my mother. Shadow Window hurriedly hugged me and kissed my forehead. She held onto my shoulders tightly and the warmth of her smile put some of my fears to bay.

My father flapped his wings in hopes of gaining some traction and Agent 9 turned her attention to him at the sound. She used a hoof to motion to let him go. Rainbowrise blitz through the air over to us and hugged me tightly as I looked very confused. “Please, don't let me go with her, she is-”

“It's alright Sunrise, we'll see you soon, on the next sunrise at the latest, we promise,” while her words tried to sooth me. My father wrapped his wings around my body to hug me from the odd angle. I just started at Agent 9 out of one eye. She stared back, there was an amount anger going between us but her smile sent goosebumps down my spine.

“That's enough, other families are waiting and more megaspells are likely to go off soon.” Agent 9 told my mother who held onto me protectively as long as she could. As soon as I was out of her hooves, Rainbowrise rushed forward to guard me. The security ponies were having none of it and immediately pressed the black batons against his chest and held him back. I walked sorrowfully away, tears falling from my eyes to the concrete floor. I looked back as my parents went into their decontamination room and could see the flashes of explosions miles away. The mushroom clouds rising from the city we called home to the sky. All against the backdrop of the sunrise. On that day I learned what dad meant by a sad sunrise.

I turned to what was in front of me and a bright white decontamination light blasted my face, back to the waking world.

ooOOoo

Fan Art - Hell Hound Deathclaw! For reasons to be explained soon™

Level Progress: 22% of the way to Level 6.

Chapter 14: Laid Bare

View Online

"We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing our own skin." - Andre Berthiaume

I struggled to move and found myself lying in the bed, still flinching at the sound of the springs creaking. I winced and groaned. When was I going to have a peaceful night's sleep and stop reliving these memories? Why couldn't I have the happy memories? Why couldn't I just relive my life from start to finish, instead of skipping around to wherever seems convenient?

“Memories don't work that way, Sunrise, and besides this was one of the least painful—”

No Pink, it wasn't! That was by far one of the most painful! That was the last time Stable-Tec let me see my parents! You have any idea how painful that— Now it was my turn to be interrupted.

“Why yes, Sunrise, as a matter of fact, I do! You wanna know how I died? I died on the day I was supposed to go get cleaned up off my Party-Time Mint-Als. I was clinging to a figurine of my best friend, the friend I had sent a note to, begging her to walk me to the clinic.” Pink got quiet, she drifted off and was looking through not at me with a thousand yard stare. “I never saw that friend again!”

For once, the super-happy facade cracked and she had tears rolling down her cheeks. Her mane deflated into straightened hair and I could only stare at the corner of my vision where she was contained. She grabbed one of the bars on my status indicator and blew her nose with it. “I firmly wish I’d done it sooner; that I’d stopped and realized the damage I was doing. Sorry, Sunrise, you don’t need my regrets.” She put the leg damage indicator back, “Let’s make sure you don’t have the same regrets okay?”

I paused and looked at the pink pony in my vision, my EFS read I was dehydrated and my mind was a bit numb, still feeling disconnected from my body. I'm sorry Pink, I didn't mean to upset you. Thank you for trying to be my friend.

“I know you didn't, but I wanted you to know that I know your pain in a different way. I wouldn't try to help you if you couldn't understand my happiness as well as my pain.” I blinked awake now, with the need for some of that special coffee we had gotten. Pink had poofed her mane back up and looked all happy go lucky once again.

Chosen me? You’ve chosen those who, who, can-

“Of course, silly, but when I say I’ve ‘chosen’ you, you had all the right conditions to start to feel everything I did and learn all my abilities. You were what Stable-Tec wanted anyway, and now that you exist, they are spending quite a lot of resources to find you, and no longer hurting those other poor fillies and colts.” Pink started this conversation by bouncing around my E.F.S. compass then she slowly that stopped. She looked thoughtful at the word Stable-Tec then her mane deflated again by the time she stopped talking.

So I need to stay loose and I need to get DJ Pon3 to be really loud about me, don't I?

“Well, I mean, just keep doing good deeds. I'm sure Watcher and all of the other agents DJ Pon3 has will get the information to him. Now we just need to find a way to tell Stable 43 that you are who they are looking for.”

Great, something else to mull over. Kidnapped pegasus, secret stables, Pinkie Pie picking me out of a bunch of fillies and colts, being actively hunted by what was left of Stable-Tec. Ya know if this list doesn't start getting shorter, I'm going to start getting very upset with life in general. Right, things to do.

I rolled over to find Nyota not in the bed. The creak of bed springs made me flinch like sleeping on a bed of nails. I realized Nyota must have gotten up and put two of the beds together. Once I cleared the beds and got onto the floor I saw Nyota coming back in with my clothes and a fresh pot of coffee.

I grabbed the black nectar of the gods and started to take a big gulp, then stopped and sipped it instead. If you take your time drinking it, it gives you an excuse to stay here longer. "Morning."

"Morning." He had a warmth to him, glowing pleasantly next to me. First time I'd seen him not simply grunt at us while cooking breakfast. "I hope I didn't wake you."

I shook my head and was grateful to not have the aches from sleeping on the ground, not to mention the comforting warmth of having being held during the night. It was relaxing; my world got a little less stressful. I was able to close my eyes. Nyota’s presence now provided a piece of care I felt like I’d been missing my whole life. "No, which is the scary part. My PipBuck must have woke you up last night.” I was looking at my PipBuck now and seeing lots of different prior warnings in the night, ranging from high heart rate to outright dehydration warnings that were going down now.

"I was going to ask about that. Have you had to deal with this since we all started traveling together?" Nyota sipped at his coffee and I took the chance to as well. It was bitter, earthy, and altogether entirely satisfying to indulge in for a while. "You also went... away again. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't remember it for once, thankfully." I took another sip of hot, bitter, black liquid. "I can recall it verbatim if you like. Torture at the hands of the Ministry of Morale, memories before I had to go in the stable with my parents, memories of the experiments inside the stable.” I stopped and shuddered at the thought of beds creaking, straps groaning against my movement and needles in my flanks. “As for how I deal with it or when, I don't know when it started but the moment I woke up in the pool, all of the memories started and I just thought it was suppose to be this way.”

"Wow..." Nyota walked over and took a seat on the floor next to me, "Did holding you help at all?"
I thought about it for a bit and rolled my shoulder which made the bed squeak and me flinch at the noise. “It didn’t do anything for my mind, but at least got me into the bed.”

Nyota chewed his lip a bit before taking another sip of coffee. Something on his face was written a need to say something but he didn’t know how to. “I mean, we can talk it out, Sunrise. The others are already up and have things to do. You’re the last to wake up.” He paused and I reached out away from the bed to grab his hoof.

He grabbed mine back as we held coffee in our opposite limbs. “I umm… I think that will take some time for me open up about. One piece at a time okay?”

Nyota nodded and released my hoof to ruffle my mane, “When you’re ready, Sunrise.”

I shrugged and looked up at him as uncertainty flowed through my mind. "Maybe if I start to share them they will go away?"

"Thank you for trusting me to help you," he says honestly and rubbed my back lightly. Oh wow, do Zebra hooves applied gently feel nice. "If you think it will help? Then by all means, I'm all ears."

"Yesterday when I was sleeping, I was in an interrogation room.” I paused for a moment to make sure I got the details right. “Someone calling themselves Appleboom had just injected me with some fluid that made my insides cold while
Ministry of Morale agents 9, 71, and 88 were interrogating me while they argued. They were trying to get me to confess to being a zebra spy attempting to sabotage or steal my dad’s work.” I took a breath and finally looked up at Nyota. “That’s the basics of it; there are other memories of torturing me with cattle prods, unicorn magic, and everything else to get me to say what they wanted.”

“Appleboom argued that I was her experiment subject now and they had to stop under her orders. It was a constant back and forth: those three would show up in the Stable-Tec hospital, at my house... even in the stable.” I took another sip of coffee to clear my throat. A jumble of memories rushed through me with the sip of black liquid paradise. I couldn’t piece it all together, but I remembered that knife.

A shiver passed through my spine and urged me to keep talking as nerves started to fire pain signals for something that wasn't there. “Finally, some other voice—a very booming female voice, with some sense to it that if you disobeyed you committed a mortal sin—told them to do as Appleboom ordered. I never quite figured out who that other voice was, but after that, it all stopped. At least it stopped on that day.” I just looked at the little bit of my coffee I had left. It was a release from a self imposed prison to talk it out, but to finish the coffee felt like it meant the talk was over.

The feeling of having the torture out in the open made it feel like the scream you gave when you broke a bone. That release of painful shrieking somehow dulled the pain and made it real at the same time. Nyota was right, I needed this. I needed to air out all of it; I felt like the sooner the better. My mind raced to put together words, to assemble feelings, and I just ended up spinning my head a bit. Finally I stopped and just watched Nyota take it all in.

Nyota listened intently and the clear look of mortification crossed his features at what he heard. "They... they tortured you?" He put his coffee down, took a step towards me and wrapped me up in an protective embrace. I felt tears on my cheeks I hadn’t noticed before as he stroked my mane. There was a silence between us but that silence bore an understanding: he would protect and heal my mind if I did the same for him. I felt a swimming sensation in my stomach, not the kind that makes you sick but the kind that comes from an inner warmth. I closed my eyes and softly sobbed against his neck. I felt all the pain, anger, and hate of those memories pouring out. I didn’t wanna let go.

“Yay! The great night of hugs has continued into the great morning of hugs!”

Pink! Don't ruin this for me.

"No wonder you have nightmares... at least the cleansing fires took care of those horrid ponies." Nyota declared sharply and with a certainty of his declaration. "Sunrise, I won’t let them hurt you again. And if they are still around, or any pony tries, I’d be happy to finish the job the bombs started."

I looked into his eye with a combination of comfort and horror, "I think they are. I think, when I escaped, they were still performing their experiments. And yes, I was tortured. My dad even had to watch them do it to me." I stared at the coffee as my throat dried out. My eyes were still rolling with tears which splashed into the last bits of coffee in the cup. I couldn’t stop now, no matter how much it hurt. This had to get out, it had to, or else I wouldn’t be able to stand up today. I felt such shame and regret at being so helpless.

My hoof started to shake and Nyota grabbed it, he held my hoof tight and stopped the shaking. I felt him nudge my cheek in a nodding motion to silently encourage me. “I don't want to let them win. If given a chance, and they were genuinely trying to fix their mistakes, I wouldn't kill them. I think they can be better ponies and they should be allowed to at least try.” My hoof steadied as the seriousness of such an act rolled over me. I couldn’t hate them, I don’t know why but in that moment I felt a deep pity for the Ministry of Morale agents and even Stable-Tec. I really wish mom or dad were here right now, I know mom would at least be screaming for blood. That felt like it should be what I want but no, I can’t hate them. I still can't raise my shotgun to another pony to kill. Did I actually believe that such awful, unremorseful ponies could become better?

“If you didn't, Sunrise, you wouldn't say it.”

"No. They weren't ponies, they were monsters, and monsters need to be put down." Nyota tightened his grip and resumed the protective holding. His voice was borderline foaming rage. His emotions were on full blast now; he wasn’t his normal super calm or collected self. I felt a tear roll down my own neck, his tear! He moved like he was shielding my body from some unseen assailant.

I felt welcome, but at the same time like I was still being babied. I wanted to tell him to let me get it all out, and now he was slowly cutting off my air. I tried to shift in his grip and he just held me close. I smelled his coat with the sandalwood scent and started to slip into a state where some little part of me felt like it had finally been allowed to see the light of day. That slowly grew and I just wrapped my hooves against his neck and held him back, at least till I was almost choking.

Nyota! Air! I need! Just at the thought he sensed it and released his hold just enough for the hug to be a protective shield of zebra between myself and the world. For the first time in weeks, I felt safe.

"What did your dad do for work?" I could see he was trying to change the subject from something unpleasant to something else. He loosened his grip on my shoulders and stood apart from my seat on the bed again. He had the expression of a curious foal who just found out how to put the shapes in the right order.

"It made sure we got a place in the stable which was supposed to be safe. I never got a complete picture of what the work was, and I believe it is something that caused the war to get worse. He was working on some sort of new powered armor." I felt the tension still in the air, but it was tension that was leaving my body. Then, something he said bugged me and boiled to the surface. "Nyota, I have to know. Are you saying you wouldn't give them a chance to make it right?"

"Given what they've done willingly... would you? I wouldn't want to run the risk that they would simply go back to torturing and abusing ponies because it's for the greater good," he replied and looked at me with a question that couldn't be voiced. Nyota resigned himself to a sigh and hung his head. "But, I will give them the chance, if that's what you want.” Nyota steeled his gaze at me and I could feel the shield of hardness coming back to his features. “Unlike Alguacil, I'm always tempted to give someone another chance, but personally I draw the line at hurting children."

"Everyone deserves a second chance." I paused for a bit and then groaned. "Even if they are a murdering psychopath. Before I would be willing to kill them, I must give them a chance to surrender and do better. Mercy is a part of me, and I feel if I don't give that chance, I'm no better than anypony trying to hurt us.” I chewed my words carefully, I wanted to make sure he understood. That driving need to see ponies be better than what they were. Even Pink was now on edge staring at me, silently taking it all in. Nyota took a half step forward and looked into my eyes with his own, even if one had a patch I felt it’s gaze. I welcomed it more than anything to know I had his full attention. “I have to be certain that any pony who dies at my hooves or the hooves of my friends truly deserves it.”

"Then I will do my best to follow that, but if that second chance leads to you getting hurt, there is nothing that will stop me from ending them." Nyota looked at me and the way he spoke sent a chill down my spine all the way to my hooves. "Because no one hurts my friends willingly and lives to tell the tale."

"Ya know, I can respect that. You are at least honest with me about it.” I shifted off the bed and stood up in front of him. It felt so much lighter now on my hooves. It was like talking it out and letting another pony bear the burden actually made it magically not as hard on my mind. I grinned up at him, no longer just a friend but a protector, one I welcomed. I blushed as his breath rolled over my nose, and what started this line of trust rolled back to the surface. “So did you wanna talk about the ‘cute’ remark, or what I've read in the tactics section of that officer training manual?"

"I think you're cute. It's as simple as that." he blushed a bit as he said that. The big zebra even shifted his hooves like a nervous little colt on his first day of school, "Does it bother you?"
I felt my cheeks burning brightly and I could see the white forming along my green coat. "It’s the way you said it. I want to make sure I'm taking it the way you meant it."

"Well then maybe this will clear things up a bit." Nyota said as he topped off both our mugs with some of the hot coffee from the pot. "I think you're cute, not as a filly but as a mare. People have to grow up fast in the wasteland and you've been adapting to how... insane the wasteland is far better than I did.” He passed me the mug and continued speaking while I stared at him with my jaw to the floor, completely flabbergasted. “I admire that you're strong willed, cute, and compassionate. All very attractive traits on their own, but you're also the first person to honestly apologize to me for accidentally shooting me. So, definitely scored some points there." Nyota finished this with a chuckle and a pat on my shoulder.

Is he really serious about this? I ruminated over the coffee in my hoof while the zebra waited for a response. At least he is being patient and Pink isn't interjecting. I Suppose I should just flatly tell him whatever comes to mind.

"Alright, then I'll be clear and honest. It’s flattering and a completely new experience for any pony to refer to me as cute in that way. Ponies my own age picked on me for lack of a cutie mark. Ponies older than me referred to me as cute filly who had potential when I grew up like I still wasn’t old enough to make my own decisions. All because I didn’t have some silly mark on my flank." I took a few moments to breath and inhale. Every word we had spoken played back for me. I couldn't believe how much nicer and yet intense a morning could be in a parking garage town. “What about you? How do you feel about all this?” I leaned up closer to him, practically touching.

I tried to search him for something to reveal what he had to say before he said it. All I got was a welcoming smile and his hoof pushing me away just enough to give him some space. With nothing coming out of him yet, I decided to keep rambling in hopes of getting a response. "Which is why this is completely new to me, and I am going to say, you’re the first pony I have considered staying with outside of my family as more than a friend." I took another breathe and finished my coffee. "That much said, you are a handsome zebra whom I would like to get to know better, even if that means getting to know you better via minefield and raider sniper fire."

"Well, we've already put one of those behind us. Let's hope that sniper fire isn't something we have to deal with, because I don't do well at distances." Nyota laughed again and this time it was a spark of hope. "All that said, thank you. I'm grateful that you weren't weirded out by my confession."

Not sure if I should be mortified at the darkness of the joke of sniper fire or if I should laugh at his comment on range preference.

Finally, after much internal debate and Nyota looking at me realizing I wasn't laughing, I smiled at him. This was the most surreal moment of my life and I didn’t really want it to end. "Honesty is the best policy, sleep gave me some time to think. I just hope no one else notices the spring in my step. Then again with our friends, they’ll notice immediately.” I hung my head and saw a reflection in the bottom of my cup. The series of different shades of green where the layers of armor started and ended.

“The spring in your step, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep that cold calm wasteland stallion demeanor anymore.” Nyota ruffled my mane while chuckling half-hearted but he noticed what I was looking at in the cup. “Sunny, you gonna be okay? You look like some pony shot you after all that.” I looked up at him as a burning need to rub off the outside filth rose. It became like that dirt I could see, represented a piece of me I wanted to wash away. I felt his hoof reach down and lift my head back to look at him. “I take it you don’t like how you look right now?”

“Do you think the showers’ warm? I think I'd like my coat to match in color." Sunrise says referring to the two tones between where her barding protected from most of the elements and her areas exposed during travels.
"Sadly no, they're cold, but at least the water's mostly clean." He set his coffee aside and stepped over to stand in front of me. "I don't know if there are separate showers but I'll keep an eye out while you clean up." He extended a hoof to help me up and I took it with a frown on my face.

"You have no idea how much I miss hot showers, toilets, and clean wate-"

I paused my thought on that last word.

“No peeking right?"

"Oh believe me, I do know, and if you haven't noticed? Most of us walk around naked, if anything I was planning on offering to scrub your back. it's pretty difficult to reach and I'd be a perfect gentlecolt." Nyota mused pleasantly. "If you want I could even shift my eye patch so I couldn't see you."

I furrowed my brow and looked him over like I didn't trust him, or even suspected he might bite me if I wasn't careful. Then my tail moved up and poked at Nyota's chin almost like a police officer accusing him of some wrongdoing. "I would normally guess my tail is telling me it could do it and you should stay out." My tail returned to a normal position. "But instead I think it's betrayed the fact I'd rather you have your eyes open in case someone else comes in."

"Oh right, I forget that your tail is prehensile..." he has the good grace to look sheepish and leans down to nuzzle my cheek, "But you're right, I should be alert so you're safe."

Sunrise nudged him with her flank, "That meant I would rather have you in there where I can see you instead of around the corner. " I paused and looked at him, "Unless you didn't want to let me prove if you were a gentlecolt or not?"

"Ah, sorry, this is just... new to me." Nyota admitted with a sigh. "I'll take that as a challenge to my honor Sunny," he teased as he turned towards the door and I followed him, leading the way to the showers through the busy parking spaces used as streets now. There must have been at least sixty ponies in there.

I think I get what Picline was looking at in a way when she was behind Chifundo. I felt my cheeks burning all the way to the showers and the constant need to stifle a giggle. We got to the showers and I stepped under the running water. This gave me a whole new reason to stifle my voice in pain, the cold water chilled to the bone instantly. It felt like standing in freezing rain during the dead of winter! My teeth chattered and every part of me was shivering in this new icey hell. "You weren't kidding! It's like ICE!”

Nyota stepped up next to me and grinned, "Certainly has its advantages though, you're definitely awake now." He took a seat in the spray and started to rub my back with one hoof while I struggled to adjust to the water. "You'll definitely get used to it, or I’ll get to make fun of you a lot more." I looked at him and gave a grimacing frown.

I shook my head rapidly and defiantly, slinging ice water around us. "No I won't! I swear when I find a hot shower, I'll stay in it for a week!" Then I tensed up when the soap made it where I couldn't see Nyota for a bit. My body began to shake for a whole new reason and I moved away from him just a bit. Something about this shower, the way someone else was scrubbing me, it was setting off a memory I didn't want right now.

"Relax Sunrise, I'm not going to hurt you."My zebra friend tried to reassure me as he stepped closer to continue to scrub the dirt from my coat, " If you stayed in a hot shower for a week, we'll have to bring you food that's not going to get soggy."
I scrubbed the soap from my eyes and turned my head to an uncomfortable position so I could see him, "I hate to ask this, but can you move where I can see you while you work?"

Nyota nodded and started to walk to the front of me, “Though that is going to make this more challenging.”

I lowered my head to make it a little easier and kept my eyes looking at up him, watching his face and every little movement while he reached one hoof past me to rub my mane, "In the stable, when someone was doing something like this it was prep for an experiment." I gulped and nervously shifted my hooves to keep my balance under the terrible chills.

“A tech in a labcoat would wash a filly or a colt clean head to toe. Then take notes.” The cold made me unable to really feel my emotions and kept my rage cooled, I spoke so evenly now that it made Nyota stare at me, concerned. “Like they were creating some baseline before their next test or something. Then it was time for strap downs, shots, agony, pain, and—” I found out that Nyota still tasted like sandalwood on his hoof in the water. Then again a mouth full of soap only make me take a half step away and glare at him as I tried to wash it out and look intimidating at the same time.

"Well," he smiled down at me in as friendly a manner as possible and offered a hug, though he left it my choice to take it or not, much less aggressive than he had been in the room. My guard dropped a bit as I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to take his hug yet or not. Something in the back of my head screamed ‘It’s a trap!’ but it wasn’t Pink saying it. It was an instinct.

"Did they ever offer you a hug?" Those words were all I needed to drop my guard now.

I shook my head and then hopped up to wrap my hooves around him, shaking in the water, "No, and I appreciate them. Even your hoof in my mouth or forced hugs are better than none at all."

He sat while we embraced and when I got back onto all fours he resumed cleaning my coat. The soap and water was a simple means to an end, it cleaned my coat and I felt the dirt being pushed from my body. I could feel the weight of two weeks worth of wasteland falling from my shoulders. The shower was the final release valve. It was like the ice water washed away the blood, explosive residue, and dirt and that represented a final reprieve from the pain, anguish, and torment I had felt carrying my memories on my own. "I'll leave cleaning your tail and other parts to you. But at least your coat matches in color again.”

I nodded, "Thank you." My tail did the rest of the work while I stood in the freezing water, allowing myself to be taken by its heavy icy rhythm that beat over my body and head.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder after a few minutes and turned to look at Nyota, who had cleaned himself off as well. "You're most welcome Sunrise. I have a towel back at the room, you can use it to finish drying off.” Nyota finished rinsing himself off and started to the door, “plus I think the inn should have finished our laundry.”

I quickly followed him out. "I'm gonna have to get used to saying thank you to you, aren't I?" The shivering cold penetrated everything as I walked, the water had pierced my very being to its core, and the cool morning air wasn't helping.

"Not if you don't want to. I'm not doing this for gratitude," He replied as we arrived back at the room and wrapped me in a towel while offering me the hot coffee again. "Besides, I should be thanking you; you're willing to tolerate my advances."
I took the coffee and looked at him dumbfounded, "Advances?"

"I like you, Sunrise," he fired back bluntly, "You're not like other mares in the wasteland. You don't see a scarred and jaded zebra when you look at me, you see a friend. I may hide behind bravado in front of everyone else, but I'm just as lost and afraid of this world as you are. Unlike the others this hasn't been my home my whole life." He took a breath like he expected me to reply to his admission. I just used a hoof to motion him to go on.

"And I feel like I can be a normal pony around you. Like maybe the part of me I lost in Oasis can actually come out and see the daylight again. I may be blunt, crass, and rude about the realities outside, but I don't want you to lose your hope for a better world. I want to stand beside you and make that vision a reality."

I blinked a few times as I took it all in. Well this is certainly a first for me to think about. How had I made other ponies feel since we'd been meeting them in the wasteland?

“Equestria to Sunrise! Nyota is sitting right there waiting on you to reply! GET TO IT!”

Pink don't you rush me or I'm gonna smack you to Tim-Buck-Two! Not sure how yet but I'll do it!

I looked over to Nyota and met his gaze while I spoke, looking him eye to eye as it were. That pun is terrible on so many levels! "I thought you said I wasn't old enough to be 'liked', but I suppose being 196 and not a ghoul is different enough. I mean, you don't look at me like I'm Waffles or the Curator."

Nyota blushed quite a bit at me, using his own words against him, "Yes I did... and that's because honestly? Even as messed up as this world is, there are some things that are still... taboo." He let out a nervous laugh but I kept looking at him with the seriousness of a gravekeeper.

I took a deep inhale of uncertainty. Words failed me for a bit. Both of us took a step away, I wanted to try to figure out what was going on. I finally hung my head, “Nyota, it will have to wait. It will have to wait till I know what I've become since the Stable closed.”

Alright, then let me ask you a point blank question before I have Hacksaw and Picline look me over. Am I a filly or an adult?" There is no kidding or joke hidden here just a harsh stare waiting for his response. He looked shocked and like I might have just tripped a question that shouldn't ever be asked. He bit his lip back and nodded to me.

"I see you as an adult, you have your brand of destiny, what ponies call a cutie mark, and you're a warrior on par with the rest of us," he stood his ground and stood upright. He looked like a soldier waiting for the judgment of a superior officer, judgment I was suppose to give.

“Why? Why do you view me as an adult and others don’t?” I put on the best mare-in-charge voice I could. I wanted to prod him for answers and know. He had a point, but something about his point needed to be driven home and understood.

“Your physical age and size belies your maturity and comprehension of the situations we find ourselves in. Not to mention you are older than any one of us and still cute, not ghoulified or in some other state of decay." He finished the statement and held his chest out proud.

“Oh Sunrise! You are so silly. If you actually knew how old you really were you wouldn't be having this conversation!” Pink tortured me with delightfully mocking glee.

Pink, how old am I? I shot back and she clapped both her hooves over her mouth and clammed up. I choose my next words carefully. "I think the maturity part might be from experiencing 182 years of continuous memory orbs and having to push them out in order to maintain the pony I am away from all the memories I've been bombarded with. And, we'll see how the others feel after I see the doctor." I started slipping my barding on along with my equipment,my armor including the new lining of my duster, and set my helmet and shotgun onto their straps. With a final check of my PipBuck for inventory, I turned to Nyota. "Thank you, if anything it gives us both a reason for not dying anytime soon. At least till I give your question an answer."

Nyota just smiled at me and gave one last hug after I'd gotten dressed, "Indeed, at the very least you understand why I put myself between you and harm now." He ruffled my mane and then brushed it aside. The scent of sandalwood filled the room but also the scent of 'Stallion Allure' filled my nose when I realized my freshly washed barding still smelled of my father somehow.

I got to the hospital uneventfully and Picline was in there, but Hacksaw was not. She had a spring in her step and a bright glow to her expression. “Well hello there, Sunny! Checking up on me after Chifundo took me on a night on the town?” I grumbled at being called Sunny by some pony else. It made me wanna smack some pony for it.

I shook my head. There was no way in all of Tartarus that I wanted to hear about Chifundo’s date right now. “I've been having some issues with drifting off into memories and my friends wanted to get my head looked at. Would you mind giving me an exam?”

“Oh, for a cutie like you? After last night? Not at all! Take off your barding and get on the table.” Picline didn't even wait for me to move before heading to gather several medical instruments.

She did treat me earlier, even if I was unconscious and barely standing. Maybe we should trust her? Oh I really wish Nyota was here. Wait! Was he really the first one I wanted here this morning? Seriously?

“Well Sunrise, I think I would call this a little filly crush if you weren't so much older than you look.” Pink replied and giggled quite a bit, blushing red as she did so.

It took every ounce of my strength to get out of the barding and onto that table. It felt like the table was lava and this mare had asked me to sit in it. I prefer the cold shower right now, as opposed to this cold, leather covered table.
Picline gave the usual exam. She checked my vitals, took a blood sample, tested it for radiation and found I was nearly completely rad free. Wow, that orange stuff really does work a miracle. Once she had run all the physical exams the unicorn nodded with a smile, “You're perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. I mean aside from bumps, bruises, and maybe a minor scrape; nothing to see a doctor over.” Picline looked at me and leaned in close like I was suppose to whisper in her ear. “What exactly is bothering you?”

I back away for space and looked at her slightly weirded out, “Well, since I have left the stable, I've been having moments where I relieve memories or memory orbs I've seen. I zone out, and it is just like probing into a memory orb with a unicorn or a recollector.”

“Well, have you had your first estrus yet?” the mare asked as she turned around with a clipboard and started to check off a few things on the list.

“Well, no, I haven't, is it that big a deal?” I asked rather bluntly and looked at her with my head tilted to one side.
Picline stopped and stared at me dumbfounded. She checked the chart she’d been making a second time and then looked at me. “Do you have some birth control unit or something from Stable-Tec?” Her horn glowed close to my more private area. I flinched and tried to pull away but a hoof stopped me. I wanted to get back, but couldn’t with a hoof holding my flank still.

After just a few seconds she pulled back, “No you don’t. Yes, that may be a problem. You could be a late bloomer, radiation exposure is a possibility, as is taint exposure, but without any other symptoms that makes no sense.” I suddenly felt very self-conscious. Memories of the Stable-Tec doctors tried to rise up within but I pressed them down at Picline’s words and suppressed them as she moved a few things on the chart.

“In any case, I would want to keep you for observation, maybe have Bonesaw do an exploratory probe. Nothing too complex.” I started to get up and walk out, but I had to stay and get through this. I shook my head slowly side to side. My hooves itched and some pressing sense wanted to make me move. Pink popped up in the bottom of my Pip-Buck with a large watch that was pointing to a noon point with the 12 replaced with a “Urgent” sign that pulsed in red.

What? What do you mean urgent? I asked as Pink seemed in a near panic.

“Tell her no and say it out loud. We have to go, time is running out!” Pink bounced around the screen in a near panicked pinball fashion that ricocheted at the edges of my vision.

“No, we can’t stay yet, something pressing is why we’re here and we have to hurry.” I have no idea why we were in such a hurry, Hot Cross Buns has been missing six months why the urgency now?

“Well alright, you are well past the age the first one. I’d put you easily at 16 on physical appearance but without a proper DNA test no idea.” She paused and made some notes on the chart. I watched her nervously, the sense of urgency Pink was giving getting more pressing and my hoof itched even more. “Should have happened from what I can tell, probably at least two years ago. Unsure why you haven’t hit another growth spurt yet, the first one can be quite intense if you are unprepared.” Her horn glowed and she levitated a small plastic bottle out. She removed 3 pills from it and then resealed it before wrapping those in a set of tin foil and placing it into my lap. “There ya go, those will suppress it for 12 hours each, but after that it will hit back worse than a hellhound on buck.”

She shuddered and giggled a bit, “There have been mares known to do some crazy things when their first one hits, why when I was...” She turned to me, “Hey wait did you say stable?” I was watching her features and at the mention of stable her demeanor changed drastically. It was like the mare's visage got darker and angrier at the mention of stable.

I nodded cautiously and didn’t take my eyes off her. Suddenly her horn glowed as she got very close to me and I felt it, the sharp cold of metal against my throat.

My eyes hadn't seen where the knife had come from because all my attention was fully on the mare. Her stare was wild, not quite like that of the raider's drug induced one, but close to what I expected it was like to see me enraged. “Little mare, I think you're fine. I mean you’re a stable pony so you’ve got another reason for visiting don’t you?”

I slowly move my head side to side, pulling back to get just enough space to move between blade edge and throat, “I umm, have been having a few episodes in my sleep. Just some memories coming up is all.” I replied as I felt my tail starting to pull my revolver from my pack on the other side of the table.

No, bad tail! We can diffuse this, calm down. She is just a bomb—a living breathing bomb—that needs a little diffusing before the timer hits zero and I lose my head.

“Oh, really? Because if I didn't know any better, I'd say some precious little mare was looking to see how the date with their friend went. Or how I felt about it or if their friend was going to stay with me and worried about that.” Picline pressed the knife deeper and deeper as she spoke; it was very close to cutting through the skin and slicing my throat wide open. “I mean that is why you are really here isn’t it? Nothing to do with a Stable righttt?” My eyes never left hers.

Okay, a flat-out insane bomb that has completely lost her mind!

“Sunrise, just be very careful what you say: our lives depend on it.” Pink looked like she was strangling as she spoke, holding her throat and turning colors. I could feel a cold sweat breaking out on my skin.

“Picline, I didn't come in here for any other reason. I assure you, I assume Chifundo was a perfect gentlecolt and you two had a lovely time. I mean, if you wanna tell me about it, you can,” I assured her and tried to look for a way to get away from the unicorn. With her body blocking my rear legs from moving and the knife at my throat, I was running out of room to lean back. “Or since you have given me a clean bill of health, I can just, ya know, be on my way.”

Picline sneered at me and her eyes looked over my face. She was chewing over the words, and she bit her lip before I felt the knife pull away from my windpipe and the steel stopped warming against my skin.

Picline took two steps back, and that was all I needed. I snatched my belongings and didn't stay to put them on. I was out the door faster than a pegasus diving to get the last cider cup. I stopped outside, hyperventilating and doubled over on the street. Quick Stitch and Nyota found me there, with Chifundo coming up behind them. They all looked at me, concerned, and Nyota seemed like he was ready to attack someone. His facial expression was subtle, but I’d seen him be paranoid enough to know he was close to striking. After our talk earlier, I suspected he was going to be extra protective now too.

“What is with all the clatter and what is the matter?” Chifundo asked as he stepped over to help me up. I motioned him away and looked up at him. His face was still glowing, despite the look of concern.

Pink, what do I do? He looks so happy despite his worry for me.

“Sunrise, I hate to say this, but don't tell him. Just play it off as radiation sickness from yesterday filtering out of you. I don't care how you do it, but don't ruin Chifundo's happiness right now. Picline isn't that bad. You've trusted me before, trust me now.”

I forced a few coughs and then looked up at him, “Oh, nothing! Just a side effect from all the rad poisoning we got yesterday. I'll be fine.” I assured him and then went to stand up fully. “Besides, I've got a training session with Nyota while you gather everyone else.” I told him and gave a half hearted smile.

I went back to our room to drop off my things, and Corners was in there prepping her own gear. An idea hit me for a way to say thank you to Nyota. I trotted up to Corners and hugged her box, then I reached into Nyota's pack and pulled out his armor. The stuff was heavy!

This is an Equestrian sergeant's combat gear! This stuff is made of steel plating, and you might as well be a miniature tank against smaller caliber weapons. But how can he move in this?

I took the stubbornite chair—now turned into a stool by all the slicing up and re-purposing done—and then turned to Corners. “Here, this is Nyota's armor and the last of the stubbornite we have left. Take it to the tailor and get it tailored for him, then replace as many of the plates as you can with the stubbornite.” After I finished giving her instructions, she cautiously took the armor in under her box.

“I'm trusting you, Corners. You said you wanted to be a better pony; now go prove it.” I stared at her sternly and then she nodded and started to prance out. Then the box pone stopped moving and turned her box around.

“How will I know his measurements?” Corners asked, rather confused.

I looked out of the window to see Nyota with his eye patch towards me while smoking a cigarette. I stepped into SATS and got a precision outline of his figure. SATS was pretty easy to use from there to get some rough measurements. Once I tweaked the settings, it gave me in inches and centimeters the various lengths of his legs, body, and head as I scrolled between targets.

This was probably never something the creators of this spell ever intended. But now I know you can use SATS to get precise measurements of stuff you can see! At least as close to precise as anything you could target to blow apart.
I stepped out of SATS and wrote down some measurements with my pencil and paper. This process took about three times going in and out of the targeting spell, but once I was done, I had a fairly good idea of Nyota's dimensions for his armor. I handed the note to Corners with a smirk on my face, “There we go, that’s his measurements. Now get moving before he gets suspicious.”

We headed out of the tavern and Corners went to the right towards Cross Stitch's tailoring salon while I turned left to go see Nyota. Nyota immediately welcomed me with a hug and a smile as the cool air hit us. It was strange to me, now, to be out of armored barding.

Nyota motioned me to follow him as soon as I exited the tavern and we headed near the entrance to The Roof; there was more space here, less shacks and no shops on the first floor. Most of the floor was dedicated to built-in defenses. They were ready to hold off any number of raider assaults at the very least. This open area gave us plenty of room to move and not accidentally hit another pony.

The training session was brutal. Nyota forced me up onto my hind legs and lean to balance in the way of a combat stance. He took the time to instruct and force me out of my physical comfort zone to start to master the brutal arithmetic of hoofticuffs. It felt awkward and I was certain I was getting every movement wrong or off. Mentally, I understood how to do it; physically, it was awkward. How zebras manage to rise up onto their hind hooves all the time was challenging to comprehend, even when I'm watching Nyota do it! How am I supposed to do it? Even after two hours of dancing on my hind hooves, bouncing and swinging with one hoof on the ground, and Nyota's relentless strikes, I only felt a little more confident in my ability to fight back.

“Come on, Nyota, I know this is my first lesson but can you not take it easy on me?” I teased with a grin only to get a roundhouse hoof to the chest that sent me flying. That was the first and last little quip I could afford to give him. From there I was always struggling to block, dodge, parry, or land a blow back. By the end of the lesson, I was breathing harder than I ever had before, and Quick Stitch used his horn to heal my bruises.

I'd landed one real blow on Nyota, and it had surprised him. The connecting strike to his cheek had not only managed to give me just enough space to breath, but left a very deep bruise under his eye patch. While Quick Stitch worked to heal my strained muscles and bruised flesh, Nyota played up the bruise as nothing. He tried to look tough and stern, refused the ice pack Quick Stitch offered, and didn’t rub it. I reached up and pressed a hoof against the bruise and it made Nyota neigh in pain. I giggled at him, “Don’t act so tough, I know it hurts. Just ask Corners.” Now he was blushing sheepishly and actively hiding the bruise under a hoof. Quick Stitch grumbled at me.

“Sunrise, stop trying to make me laugh or else I might pull a muscle for you.” The unicorn gritting his teeth and even biting his lip while I giggled.

What had strained me the most wasn’t the amount of exercise, it was moving and flexing in ways I had never done before. I found whole new regions of my limbs could ache; parts that were not even joints or high stress points normally now protesting against the heavy use they had just experienced. I was panting for at least half an hour afterward. In the time that had passed, Alguacil, Corners, and Chifundo had all arrived and were ready to go.

Corners approached the black striped zebra while Quick Stitch turned his efforts to repairing the bruise under his cheek.

From under the metal reinforced mini-bunker that Corners walked in, she produced the combat armor I had given her earlier. We must have been practicing for at least two hours, because the frontal chest plate was replaced with Stubbornite, and it had several new enhancements, including strap adjustments, sawing down the edges, re-angling of the plating, and a whole lot of minor snips here or adding ballistic fabric there.

Nyota looked at her, stunned, and then looked at me, and then back to Corners. Don't tell him it was your idea, no matter how much he suspects! I shrugged at him when Quick Stitch's horn stopped glowing, “Thank you, Corners. You did all this by yourself?”

“Nope! Cross Stitch did the fabric work, I just changed out the plates with what was left from the chair,” she explained with a giggle as Nyota took the armor into his hooves.

“How did you get my measurements?” Nyota asked questioningly, as he seemed to think back to the previous nights.

“I'm real good at guessing,” Corners flat-out lied to him as he started to put on the armor, wiggling into the barding.

Oh, please! Let us get away with this. She did do all the work—at my suggestion—but I really want to let her prove she wants to be better.

Nyota finished getting his new barding on, and even I could see it fit like a glove. Iguess S.A.T.S. measurements aren't half bad! He let out an excited whinny and then gave Corners a hug, his armored stubbornite breast plate against her metal armored box. Two smaller hooves came from under the box and hugged back at what they could grab. It made me grin and smirk a bit that Corners might be a good pony afterall.

The two separated, and I let out a sigh of relief. The rest of our party had finished gathering everything they needed and I went to get geared up, myself. Once I had my gear on and saddlebags in place it felt nicer after the modifications last night. The weight was lighter with the stubbornite and the cloak fitted to me properly lining the space between duster and armored Stable-Tec barding. At least I can say that I learned one thing from Buddy: be prepared.

We set out and began to follow the path we had been on before. Chifundo ate one of the blue potatoes about 30 minutes out and seemed to find the path we were looking for. an interesting question popped into my head under the dulled cloudy sky.

"Corners, where did you sleep last night?"

"Doc Hacksaw bedded me for the night. He was kind enough to do that, and I didn't want to bother the lot of you." Corners looked deeper into my eyes and smiled in her box. "So, you in heat yet? I can safety say that you are old enough."

Quick Stitch choked slightly at the comment from the box. "That's, ah, not really a polite question to ask, Corners..."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around, somewhere between enraged and flustered, "Why is everyone's first concern always estrus with me? Also, he bedded you?" I turned and tilted my head, giving all my companions a curious look. I glanced at Quick Stitch, Nyota, and Chifundo for an explanation, wondering if they knew what was up.

"You know, the first ti—" Corners stopped herself from getting too far. "Never mind. You'll find out soon enough."

"Box, you do have a bad habit of bein' rude t' folks for no reason than t' be rude" Alguacil growled back at us.

Nyota shrugged slightly at the look I gave him, and he glanced at Corners, then snorted. "I'm not above a little ribbing at the personal lives of other ponies, like our Casanova over there," he nodded towards Chifundo, "but prying into things like that is a little rude, Corners. If Sunrise wants to talk about it, I'm sure she will. Otherwise, just let it drop."

The snort from inside box could only be described as indignant, "You calling me ‘box’ is a bit rude, and yes, I am being brash... but It is kind of dangerous..."

"Maybe when you've done somethin' decent t' th' people around you, without prompting or needin' t' get the shit kicked out of you first, I might start callin' ya somethin' else," Alguacil replied, gruffly brushing her off. His accentburned out of him with the emotion he had. The madder he got, the more he sounded like an uneducated country pony. "Yer still in the red in my books after that one incident," he tacked on with a scowl right at the box pone.

Corners gave a noticeable lift of the box around her. It kind of shifted back and forth before she spoke, "If it comes to it, I can always just put her in here until she calms down.” There was genuine hurt in her voice now as she continued, “Alguacil, I'm trying to do better, but I’m a bit rough around the edges."

"...Was that a pun?" Alguacil inquired.

"What do you mean?" Corners replied, but even I could see the toothy grin inside the box.

Alguacil facetaloned hard and shook his head, without any further to do about it.

"Break it up you two, it’s a fair question, just more blunt than is polite,” I spoke up as we kept walking and I tried to regain my composure. “And yes, it was. I agree calling her ‘box’ is as rude as calling Nyota, ‘demon’, calling you ‘Lawbird’, or calling me ‘Sunny’. It just grinds on the nerves." I hoped this was enough to get them off each others backs and turned back to Corners "So, what do you wanna us to call you, and what was the original question post derailment?"

"Are you in estrus yet?” Corners replied.

I shook my head and resumed our pace once more, "I suppose the answer to that is no, because I would notice, wouldn't I?" I pulled out a wrapped piece of foil with a big E and a heart, "Picline gave me these to suppress it for 12 hours at a time if needed."

"Yanno...on that topic line...I kinda feel bad for Chifundo. No offense to you, but it must really suck if you go through both estrus and rut at the same time" Alguacil said, flatly pushing that odd thought into our brains. "That aside, why are we even discussing this stuff?"

Quick Stitch shook his head and mutters just above his breath, "Because Corners has no mental filter on her mouth is my guess..."

"Lovely. Can I ask one more 'rude' question to Quick Stitches?" Corners piped up with an enthusiastic giggle.

Quick Stitch paused, sighed, shrugged, and nodded. "Why not? As long as we're on a roll, it seems."

"What did ever happen to your ear? Was it a bad boxing match?" Corners replied.

Quick Stitch stopped and turned to Corners, and he looked angry enough to headbutt stab a pony. His ears flattened behind his eye, eyes narrowed, and his voice turned into a guttural growl. "Why is this so important to you? I don't hear any questions about why Alguacil is missing an eye?" He gestured to the surrounding area. "It's the wasteland. Not all of us were lucky enough to have a vault or a box to grow up in." He paused when his eyes went wide in horror and he bit his own lip. Slowly he turned to me and looked like he expected me to become the boogiepony. "Sorry Sunrise, I didn't mean it."

Alguacil spoke up before I could respond. "I told you why when we all first met,. If'n you wanna know, my dad carved it out with a kitchen knife when he was in a drunken rage one day, ‘cause he found out I'd managed to scrounge caps and had bought a gun and some ammo with it."

"I don't trust new ponies. Especially with scars like that. Last time I met someone like that I... don't remember," Corners words were easy to see though, she was lying, and didn't want to talk about it.

I trotted over to Corners and raised a hoof, only to bring it down in a patting motion on the top of the box. Then I looked over to Quick Stitch and said, "If you don't want to talk about it, answer it with that, don't lash out at the rest of us, okay? And you wouldn't want to be in Stable 43. None of you would, with the memories I keep reliving.”

Quick Stitch facehooved and shook his head, having clearly missed my explanation completely. "Fine, since it's sharing time," he said, and took a calming breath to try to center himself. "Look, it's a sensitive topic, and in all honesty, probably the worst in a long line of bad memories. On my 10th birthday—" He was shaking and had stopped walking while he was talking.

He started to continue, but I moved quickly to cover Quick Stitch's mouth before he could continue much more. "Share it when you are ready, not right now."

Corners approached us and smiled behind the box, "That's all I needed." It took a second, but she finally came out of the box to hug Quick Stitch. Her battle saddle tangled us both into a group hug, whether we wanted to or not.

Quick Stitch went completely stiff for a moment, but grudgingly accepted the hug and shared it. "Sorry, Corners. Didn't mean to snap at anyone," he mumbled in the white mare's ear.

Alguacil approached us and patted Quick Stitch on the head. "I can… relate to that. If you want dibs on your parents should we run into them, just say so." he said simply before shrugging off the hug and moving away.

I swear, I did not sign up to be this group's therapy councilor! Wait, did we even get a chance to sign up, or were we just thrown together? These are questions I want answers to, later.

"That said, I think we all have scars from our past, be they seen," The griffin pointed out and then darted a talon to his missing eye before motioning to Quick Stitch's missing ear, "or unseen from the things one's gone through," he added on, quickly pointing at Sunrise and Corners. "Not sure about the other two, but yeah, the wasteland's badge of participation is the scars that're carried forward."

Quick Stitch nodded in respect towards the griffin. "I appreciate it, Alguacil, but I don't need to call 'dibs' on anything." The olive colored stallion gave his head a scratch and looked noticeably uncomfortable. "To be honest, my mother still terrifies me, even more than ten years later. I'm no pony to advocate killing another pony, but..." he shook his head. "She's one that could only make Equestria better with a bullet in her head and a nap in the dirt."

Alguacil gave us a both a nod, "That's th' case with all real raiders, and not everyone can handle doin' that deed" he says with a shrug "Plus, with healers ya don't gotta worry about shootin' ya in th' back or tryin' to steal yer kidney's. It’s always a good thing"

Corners stopped the hug and broke away from us. "You were a raider?" Her hair covered her face as she fought the anger within her. "I... hate... raiders..."

I gave all of them a glare. I had more sympathy for Corners in this case, but Quick Stitch and Alguacil I outright stared down. "I expected a follower of Fluttershy to be better than that." I felt that same rage I had felt when I wanted to hurt Corners boiling up in me. I pushed it down so I could talk this out rather than actually come to blows. I held one forehoof to the other and, slowly deliberating, lowered my head to her. My eyes and face just glared at Corners while my shoulders stayed slumped deliberately to avoid appearing as a threat. "I understand that some ponies have done awful, terrible things, but let me ask this. Alguacil, you talk about lives like they are expendable." I stomped my hoof onto the pavement to make sure I had his attention, "What if I had a bounty on my head?"

"It depends on who put the bounty out. Among raiders, us regulators have bounties on our heads,” his words were nonchalant and without any care or concern in them. "And he's not a raider any more than I am. Raiders aren't healers, they’re drug-addled, murder-fueled rape machines"

"They killed my parents... my last memories between the darkness was their deaths. I felt safe in their arms as the bullets rained down on us. The moment I looked up... there were the raiders." Corners slumped down and became unresponsive. The confidence in her eyes and actions was depleted.

Quick Stitch looked at me, hurt and clearly feeling guilty because of what I had said. "Sunrise, I AM better than that! I want to make an Equestria where ponies don't have to hurt each other just to survive!" He hung his head and looked away, unable to look at me any longer. "But Scorch Mark..." He stole a glance out of the corner of his eye and saw that I was not backing down or even giving him an inch. "My mother spent a decade abusing me and trying to teach me how to do the same to other ponies. More than that, she's done the same and worse to countless ponies in her lifetime. That's one pony that I can never justify giving a second chance. I'm sorry Sunrise."

"The one who gave me the box told about what they did to me, but I never remembered any of that. He said it was for the good of my mind. Sunrise... those ponies are too far gone." Corners appealed to me.

"Hell, Sunrise,” Alguacil started and took a stern stance towards me. “Look at that bastard that sold out Hot Cross Buns, he was a true 'ex-raider', cared only about himself and what he could get from a situation t' the point of sellin' people into slavery or such. When given a final chance, instead he squandered it, sayin' that the next time he'd charge 700 caps instead of 300.” Alguacil's voice had risen from a growl to a angry squawk, and now he was full-on shouting at me.

"That's what a raider is at it's core, they ain't people any more when they embrace that lifestyle, they’re monsters at that point."

Corners crawled back to her box, refusing to say anything else, instead closing herself off from the world. I looked at all of them and realized I was standing on my own now. "I can't live and believe life works that way. There has to be something we can do. I'm sorry, Alguacil, but even if it gets me hurt, I'd rather not believe a pony can be so far gone or they can't be saved." I looked at Corners and patted the box a few more times, "If that were the case, I wouldn't let Corners stay. But I see, little by little, she improves."

“Sunrise....you've never been in a raider den, have ya?” Alguacil prodded and crawled towards me. “I mean a clear as day 'this is raider turf' style raider den. Yanno how they decorate? By nailin' live folks to their walls and then cutting them open or disembowelin' them, then spreadin' that stuff to 'paint' an entire room before nailin' parts of other folks up in other places. That's what a raider is."

Corners let out a sigh and clicked her hooves before rubbing my leg from under the box. I turned my attention directly to her, "Sunrise... Sunrise. Do you know what rape is?"

Nyota put a hoof up towards Alguacil and shook his head. "That's enough, from everyone. Sunrise doesn't need to know all of that."

"It's better she knows before she becomes a decoration,” the law keeper fired back at our zebra friend.

Oh thank the Goddesses! Please, Nyota, step in and help me out, here.

There was an audible tinge in the air. The box seemed a bit more hollow and empty inside. It almost felt like she was suffocating in it. I looked at Nyota and nodded to him before turning back to Corners, "Yes, I know what that is, and no, Alguacil, you know full well where I've been since I've left the Stable."

"I wasn't sure how long you'd been topside,” Alguacil replied and then tipped his sombrero to me.

"So, yes, I know from looking at all of you that you have endured some pain that should have never come to pass. I know from the look in all your eyes, there is some hurt that you don't want to voice, but you must feel." I took in a deep breath and then looked up to meet everypony’s stare, "That doesn't give you the excuse to start thinking that getting revenge is the way to do it. If Quick Stitch wants to end his parents lives, I hope he does it in a way that speaks of forgiveness and love, not anger and hatred." My gaze ended on Quick Stitch and stayed there with him. He looked down and anyway, unable to return my gaze or even look at me after I looked away.

I turned to Alguacil, now, and stared into that one eyed law maker hard enough that I swore I could see his soul. "I really hope I haven't been traveling with a griffin who would shoot me and take my ear without hearing my side of things, or at least only open fire if he was given no other choice. Even then, I'd expect him to stop short of a death blow if he could."

“This, my friends, is getting a little too heated, let us calm down before understanding is defeated,” Chifundo told us as he turned around from his scout duties.

"I'd say that's a right good idea, Chifundo,” Nyota nodded to us.

"If it was a decoration... hopefully you'll be dead first." Corners declared and disappeared deeper into the box.

When I looked back to him, Quick Stitch turned completely away with his back to me. I could sense the guilt pouring off the Fluttershy Disciple, as well as his sense of failure permeating the group, "Look, Sunrise, I'll try. One more time, but... I can't promise anything but to try to be a better pony.”

I trotted around to in front of him and put a hoof onto Quick Stitch's chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes. I wasn't angry or glaring anymore, simply showing sympathy. "If you believe one day you can promise that, then I can believe that one day I'll see Rainbowrise and Shadow Window again."

I could see the weight being lifted off his shoulders and the weight being added back to it as he bit down on his lip, "Okay, Sunrise..."

I smirked at him and then turned the chin lift into a hug. I just held him there, not speaking for a while, stroking his mane and letting the silence work to fix whatever damage it could.

After a few more moments of silence, Cornsers recited a speech, and I assumed it had some significance to her Box God," 'For the horrendous conditions you faced in the wastes, I shall grant you salvation only once. Not many are worthy to receive the gift of a fresh start, nor the youth too, but I believe you can and that's all that matters. This comes at the price of complete loyalty to my cause and your identity before this shall be ceased.' "

"I have to believe...” Corners finished and trailed off.

What a weird God you have there. I must admit, interesting oaths as well. Maybe one day I will let you tell me of this Box God and all the oaths it made you take and why.

Nyota finally spoke up to turn our attention back to the road, "Chifundo, are we still on the correct path?"

“The way I am sure, the Blue haze I endure,” the pink striped zebra replied over his shoulder.

I got back down to all fours and shuddered, "I can't suspect those blue potatoes are good for you, or what they do to your insides." I looked at Nyota and bumped his flank, walking past him. I made sure to drag the bump out and rub our flanks together for a bit. Nyota jumped back and looked at me like I was a stinging scorpion then lowered his head to conceal a blush and a smile. It was so faint that unless you looked directly at him, you wouldn’t have noticed. The rest of our group didn’t as he got near Chifundo and blended against his stripes.

Hey, at least he is fun to tease, and thankfully he just saved me from this conversation to keep us moving forward instead of wallowing in our pain.

"But we should continue on and talk while we walk, if I understand Nyota."

Nyota glanced to the pink zebra as we got to walking along again. "For now, at least, I agree on keeping moving. There's no telling if we'll have enough potatoes to make it to our destination." He then smiled at me; he even took the time to make sure my violet eyes met his green one to a few moments to gaze at each other. "And if our resident shaman starts to have any problems, I'll make sure to keep him patched up."

Nyota then turned away from us. "It would be prudent. Stopping and making a lot of noise generally attracts aggressive attention," he said easily being the only one to have avoided the exposition bug that was floating around.

Chifundo nodded, waiting for everyone to be ready walking again, and started following the trail only he could see right now. At least I didn't have to have all this heart-to-heart with having to see the spirit world Chifundo is lost in right now. I'm so glad it only comes and goes.

“Oh Sunrise! One day you will get it and be able to step in and out of that sight whenever you like.”

I prodded Nyota with a hoof, bringing his attention away from looking over the ruins and horizons for potential threats. " I know why you've been quiet, but you aren't off the hook till I give you an answer."

"I know, Sunrise," he says softly and ruffled my mane again. He felt so nice now getting used to letting him do that. "And I'm trying." He patted his eye patch after a few steps, "It's still comforting to not see that even if you think my eye isn't ugly."

I came up to Chifundo and stole a wink at Nyota then put my attention back to the Pink Striped Shaman, "So question, does the potato taste blue now? Do you get to taste the rainbow? Is that a thing? Do colors have flavors?"

"Wasn't that the slogan for some prewar candy 'Taste the Rainbow' or somethin'?" Alguacil replied with a soft laugh.

"I don't know how you might feel about it, but according to my mentor, there might be a way for you to have two eyes again someday... in theory of course." Quick Stitch mused to all of us thoughtfully.

Nyota smiled a bit at that, as he walked closer to the medical stallion, "Cybernetics, I'm aware, Quick Stitch, but... there's something about replacing parts of me with machines that feels like I'm giving up something important." He looked over at him, "And, honestly, there are other reasons I would prefer to stay completely equine."

Quick Stitch blinked for a moment, before quickly shaking his head. "Oh, no, no I meant your eye. Glue, the unicorn who taught me medicine, said that his teacher could use healing magic to regrow body parts that had been..." he drifted off awkwardly before clearing his throat. "lost."

“The potatoes taste of the earth filled with its worth. They smell of the life around, texture of the souls that surround,” Chifundo replied to my questions which wasn't an answer so much as making my head hurt.

Alguacil actually cracked a grin at that name, "Now that bit of irony with th' name, that's somethin' I can appreciate some."
Nyota chuckled and lifted his eye patch for all of us to see his left eye. It was still present but clouded with milky white that left his eye looking like an orb of pale jade, though there were some disconcerting flickers of starlight on the surface despite the dull light of the day.

"I haven't lost it, it just doesn't see the world you do."

Even after a second time, that eye is still a wonder to me. An alien beauty that is something I wish he would let out into the world, and they would understand it just as much as I see it.

Quick Stitch cracked a smile and grinned at the griffin. "He used to say 'Well, how else are you gonna stick a pony back together?'" He turned back to the zebra. "It's just hearsay as far as things go right now, but it's a spell I've been chasing after for years now, without success."

“The spirits offer many ways to heal; the ways of pony magic is my zeal. Perhaps one day we might discuss, how to repair Nyota’s eye without too much fuss?” Chifundo fired back at us over his shoulder.

Nyota sighed "It doesn't need fixing, it just sees something other than the real world," he said as he looked at the others and put the patch back over his eye, "Besides, I'm used to it. If you're looking for ways to help people regain things they've lost? I wouldn't mind helping."

The gryphon simply nodded at Quick Stitch before that slight grin disappeared. I, however, was not about to have any of this talk of replacing Nyota's eye, "Nyota's eye is actually one of the more beautiful things I've seen in this wasteland." I looked at him then to Chifundo. "I mean, it has the colors of the stars and I find it a marvel to even be allowed to look at." I blushed at the comment, realizing just how much bigger the world seemed learning about his eye last night.

The rest of our group all shot me odd looks that inquired if I had some hidden meaning. I felt my burning cheeks get brighter and looked away. I needed a different subject. “I umm… did Chifundo just say that colors have a taste?”

“Perhaps, if we find the need, we can find a way to help, indeed. Life is a riot of sensation, these potatoes are but a small representation,” Chifundo shot at my words.

Nyota shrugged at me, "Dunno, never figured out the whole rhyming thing." However the conversation had brought a smile to his face.

“But for those unprepared a nightmare in store for those who dared,” Chifundo's wisdom at this point was giving me quite the headache to intake.

I swear I will never think in rhymes! I will never think in rhymes!

My jaw fell completely slack and I stared at the two zebras, stunned. "You mean to tell me, that this whole time, those silent looks you give him isn't some secret language that zebras share!?”

Chifundo smiled at me with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Corners pulled out a caravan shotgun and rolled it in her hooves outside the box, taking a look at it in the light.

"Well, we can both see the same thing, so I understand a bit better than most, but most of the time I'm just as lost as everyone else." Nyota replied while I looked at the shotgun Corners was examining as we walked.

"Something off, Corners?” I prodded, noticing the grenade tube on the bottom of the shotgun and felt it was something familiar.

"It’s nothing... just thinking,” Corners replied and was halfway out of her box.

"There are different sighs, and they all mean different things," Nyota explained then turned his attention to Corners,

"We've got nothing but time, might as well talk about it." Quick Stitch turned around as he spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Corners hesitantly offers up the shotgun hesitantly, "Its Buddy's shotgun..."

"Ain't that the one that....Brain Soup used?" Alguacil asked looking at the shotgun quickly before looking toward Nyota and myself to confirm it.

Quick Stitch saw the gun and curiosity was plastered across his face, but he kept his muzzle shut. Clearly it bothered him the way we all reacted to that weapon. I even started to back away from it. Alguacil raised a talon like it might bite him, Chifundo’s concentration and overly happy expression faded and died. Corners held it like some sort of prized artifact or trophy.

Nyota raised an eyebrow at Alguacil and took a look at his gun. I noticed now that it had a certain glow or sparkle to it that wasn't there before. Nyota then turned his gaze to Corners, "Oh. I think it's better in our hooves than anyone else's. Use it to keep the people you care about safe."

I felt the rage building inside, the need to release it, and how they all talked so casually about such a weapon. "You kept that! That thing? Why? Why would you keep the weapon that took him?" I moved to put Nyota between myself and the weapon, not wanting a repeat of Hearth’s Warming Eve.

Nyota paused his walking and put a hoof on mine, gently pressing down to hold any anger from me. "Easy there,

"Sunrise, would you rather have it out there with someone that could use it to do the same to someone else's friends and family?" he said softly, "Sure, it has terrible memories for us, but we can make it a weapon for good."

I might have a place for letting ponies try again, but a weapon like that, with Buddy's name carved into it like some sort of trophy or kill mark! No, that isn't worthy of being in our ranks! Corners why would you—

"I kept it so I don't forget. I knew that you'd be mad if I kept it so I hid it. If it comes down to it , this weapon is going to be for me." Sugarcube withdrew the weapon from sight and holstered it in her leg pouch.

“Corners..." I couldn't finish the thought or words. I felt rage and anger building up, I couldn't stand the idea of my friend doing that. It wasn’t the rage of being bullied, no it was the rage of betrayal. Corners just turned to keep walking. Her head was hung to the ground and she grew silent.

"I think she means for her to use,” Quick Stitch deflected to try to ease the tension.

"You know that's not the case." Nyota shot at him. Corners distanced herself from the pack by a few feet and even shied away from me. The words hit home, the rage died down. I suddenly didn’t know how to show I cared or how deeply such a suggestion cut into me.

"And how would Buddy feel if you committed suicide?" Nyota shot to Corners, "Wasting the life that he paid the ultimate price to protect?"

Even Chifundo stopped at that, sensing the growing discord in the group, and looked at Nyota, “Now, Nyota, sharp words can cut deep when the soul does weep.”

"Yes, Chifundo, the truth hurts, but if she's just going to waste the life Buddy gave his to protect? She might as well go back and piss on his grave!" Nyota was shouting now.

At this rate, if there anything out there that wants to hurt us, it has heard us.

I stopped and turned around to look at Corners, fighting back tears. "I didn't kick your ass and earn your respect just to have you waste it." I looked at Nyota and walked past him. I trotted right up to Corners and extended my hoof, "If it comes to the need to end your life for any reason, I'll do it. Give me that gun." The weight of the words alone felt like an anvil had just crashed into my mind. I wanted to drop then and there but something drove me to keep trying to reach out to Corners. I wanted her to walk without that box around her one day.

“Wounds of Blood and Bone heal fast, but a wounded soul will out last. Take care that words of good intention do not become death's invention.” The pink zebra said as he walked up to the growing crowd of our group around myself and Corners.

"I was wondering when you would ask that." Sugarcube morbidly smiled underneath the box. "Here. I would have it no other way than you, Sunrise."

No other way? Oh I'm gonna show you another way you little minded mare! I'm gonna show you what you should have done with this thing, and how you should treat yourself right now!

"And it was such a good morning too..." Quick Stitch started to groan till I took the shotgun and started taking it apart right then and there. I completely disassembled the weapon down to nothing but springs, a pipe, and stock. I just started throwing the pieces in random directions. There wasn’t any care to it; I wanted this weapon to never be useful ever again.

Finally, I came down to the pipe and passed it to my tail, which tucked it into my backpack. "If it comes to anything close to that, I'll save you before I even considering killing you."

Alguacil opened his beak to protest the casual discarding of a working weapon and components, but it only took a glare from me to shut him up instantly.

Corners nudged into my flank in a playful manner. "We’ll make a wastelander of you yet," she joked.

I started to walk away from her and got beside Nyota before I was confident enough to speak without my inner rage coming out. "No, Corners, we'll make a pony out of you again." My words were cold, so icy that the shower this morning was practically boiling in comparison, and I saw every stallion around me shudder at how deep those words had cut, much less the pony they were directed at.

“The filly in the box still had expected the opposite, but that’s you, Sunrise. I never know what exactly to expect, which is why I'm so glad I got put with you!” Pink replied and rolled around in excitement.

Shut up, Pink. I watched her mane deflate and her face turned to one about to cry. You can be happy later. Nyota perkeds his ears up and flushed with anger, gritting his teeth at Corners' words, before stamping a hoof and moving on.

“Nyota, your anger is plain to see, Words and actions you do not agree. a pony of sugared box so soft, a wounded soul kept aloft. A pony of sunrise with much to learn, but knowledge they will earn. If time they have, time will tell. You may want to yell, but anger will drive us apart before they have a chance to start.” Chifundo explained to all of us and made us all quiet down.

Nyota put a hoof over my back and pulled me tight to him. I could feel his anger pulsing, but slowly dying off. "I'm still trying to be better, but it's hard to be kind to someone that uses the threat of suicide as a test of friendship." His pointed right at Corners like a sniper's scope as he kept me tight to him protectively.

“Know that I judge you not, For your temper runs very hot. I know it comes from a right place, but our pasts must we all embrace,” Chifundo mused at no one in particular.

I swear, if I ever understand how he does this, I'm not going to truly understand.

"You're right, but something about that stupid white mare is worth saving." I said loud enough for everyone to hear, and I pulled away from Nyota a bit, not wanting to be coddled. "I'll have your answer for you soon.”

I'm reasonably sure what the answer already is but not yet. I have to be sure in this horrific wasteland.

Alguacil pinched his beak some. "Look, kid in the box, being a 'wastelander', as you put it, isn't the same as askin' others to kill you. It's about bein' strong enough to weather all the waste has to throw at you and spitting in its face"

Nyota looked at me and waited to catch my eye before nodding and saying. "Alright." He smiled and continued to look for the next set of tracks, following the path that only Chifundo could see clearly, but that he was clearly able to see parts of as he walked nearly right on top of Chifundo.

Sugarcube had plenty to say but none of the words grasped her tongue. Conversations like these only went south the farther along she spoke. The mare in the box moved on and switched her tone in an instant. "So... how was Chifundo's date?"

Quick Stitch almost tripped a little at the sudden change in topic, but at the same time, it was an improvement over anything else. "Corners, remember what I said about prying into other ponies' personal lives…?" He started, but a grin quirked at the side of his face. "That said," the unicorn glanced towards the pink zebra.

Chifundo just gave us all a sheepish smile as he trotted along. "I'd say that things ended well indeed since he didn't come back to the rooms last night," Quick Stitch ribbed at him with a giggle, and then his tone did a 180 and he frowned. "The duck was a little weird, but I'm not one to kink shame."

“When in the wastes, care is due, so dinner does not eat you,” the pink stallion shot back.

Nyota chuckled and trotted on. "Fair enough, Chifundo. Fair enough. And there is truth in that," Nyota looked at the rest of us with a smile finally reaching his lips. Not a subtle one, but a big one. "I think I can make some scorpion cakes if we have any of the meat left when we break to make camp for the night."

"Sadly, I don't. The big rad scorpion claws I had were....used....to hold off that monster of a gecko,” the griffin explained with a lick of his beak.

"And the others were too small or damaged to get anything useful out of," Nyota sighed out and shrugged, "Oh well, it was a good thought."

"If you are open to more gamey meat, I got some iguanas that've had a kebab run through 'em. Tail and all, even still got the bones fer calcium,” the griffin detailed out all of the pieces of the meat he had tucked away in his pack.

I shuddered head to toe. "Can we please keep to the veggie stews? I don't care if they are canned, but anything other than gamey," I stuck my tongue out at them and made the most convincing ‘blagh’ face I could.

Quick Stitch let out a laugh and shook his head. "It's really not so bad, but I'm not going to force you to eat it. I do worry that you're lacking proper nutrition given that you're not consuming protein." He hummed a bit before looking at me,

"Maybe eggs are more your preference?"

All I could do now was grumble and then I looked around at the group and mumbled under my breath, "What I wouldn't give for a daffodil sandwich with a slice of cheddar."

"Cheese did survive the end of the world." Corners piped up with a giggle from behind us.

I perked right up and smiled broadly, "And bread? And Daffodils?"

"Bread is something I can make if I have the ingredients and time, but daffodils... I don't think they survived." Nyota explained with a pleasant humor to his voice like there was a hidden joke there I should know.

"Bread needs milk, and the only cattle now have two heads, and uh....your guess is good as mine on daffodils. Never really cared much for flowers, don't like the thought of eatin' a plants junk,” Alguacil copied my ‘blagh’ face and shot it right back at me.

"Actually, milk isn't necessary. With the appropriate oil, acid, eggs, and salt, bread is pretty easy." Nyota explained to all of us in a matter-o-fact sort of way. It made us all feel better he was opening up more and being less serious all the time.

Oh, thank you so much! Thank you, Nyota, for giving me some hope of getting a sandwich again one day. I'm also glad to know that anything editable you apparently can make even better. My tail pulled up and handed me one of the snacks from the Hearts Warming Package. I checked it and found no rads from my PipBuck. Inside the package was a gingerbread pony which I gobbled down to keep the hunger away. It was the best tasting thing I'd eaten in days.

"Huh....well that's good t' know. Didn't get my claws on many cook books growing up, and had no real interest in trying to find any after I started on my path,” Alguacil said as he sharpened one of his talons against his beak.

I looked from Nyota to Alguacil and Quick Stitch with pleading eyes; for one of them to save me. "Please don't tell me I should eat meat, for any reason. An egg, maybe, but nothing that was actually alive."

"My parents taught me to cook." Nyota looked at me, "I won't make you eat meat, but don't hold it against me if I do. There are some things that you get used to when there's nothing else."

"And there's a lot more energy per pound in meat than in plants." Alguacil replied with a shrug, thinking for a moment. "I can't say any reason. Ponies at least should still stick with plants for the most part." Pausing, he winced and gave me a knowing look, like I wouldn't like what he was going to say. "But if you're starving, Sunrise, a tiny bit might save your life..."

I glared at him, "I will personally make sure we have more food than we ever need, just to make sure that never happens." Then I turned my attention to Nyota and smirked, "You can eat it all you want, just don't expect me to touch the stuff if it can helped."

"Well, I have over twenty cans of fruit and veg, so it's unlikely we'll run out any time soon," Nyota said with a smile and a nod. "I'll admit to eating meat in the past. It's not something I prefer, but just remember that it can save your life, Sunrise. that’s all I ask."

I grumbled and bemoaned my fate, like a filly being told to eat her brussel sprouts, "Fine, if it comes down to it, I'll do it. But don't expect it to be a regular thing!"

"With luck, it's never going to come to that," Nyota replied.

"Why does this suddenly feel like we should burst into song and dance right now? Or is that just my old world blues hitting?" I shot at the rest of the group with a cocksure grin.

"That seems kinda dangerous. There's plenty of beasts around that might hear that," Alguacil suggested to get us to tone it down.

If they haven't heard us at this point and aren't running to us, then they aren't coming!

"I'd say we wait until we get to the next inn, and then we can make the locals uncomfortable," Nyota suggested to us, still laughing. "A good song lightens everyone's spirits."

And just like that we go from talking about something dire and deep between all of us, to something trivial and probably pointless.

I brushed my flank up against Nyota with a giggle, "You did a fine job with Huey, Duey, and Lewy; almost like you could harmonize with anyone. I wonder if Corners, Chifundo, your voice and mine would sink up."

"Heh... yeah, song was always something you could count on at home." Nyota said as he carefully bumped me back, despite his size he was restrained and surprisingly graceful.
Quick Stitch sighed with a smile, looking at me. "You know, I've never really done much singing, but I suppose I could learn."

I looked at him and let out a filly giggle. "You'd like it, it is something that is one of the most beautiful pieces of Equestria I have ever experienced. Just being with your friends and playing an instrument while others start singing. It feels so wonderful to just letting what you feel right at the moment out for everypony else to enjoy." The reminiscing helped me forget about all the issues we'd just dealt with and the group was walking close together once again.

"I know how to play an instrument!" Inside the box there a few clangs and other various sounds before she stops. "My ears are ringing... nevermind.”

We all laughed and continued onward, not knowing the grave events at the end of this trail.

Fan Art By: Dreyzilla

Level Progress: 47% to Level 6

Chapter 15: Old World Fate Meets Enclave Hate

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We had only been walking a bit further into Las Pegasus. The air was stifling hot and being in all my armor did not help one bit. Slowly, our group had grown quiet and Chifundo had gotten apprehensive. Occasionally my PipBuck clicked and we had to change direction, but Chifundo kept within line of sight of our path.

“I sense we were near, to the one Sparrow considers dear,” he called back as we heard voices up ahead.

Alguacil held up a talon while Quick Stitch pointed a hoof to a baby blue coated pegasus with his back to us. His armor looked like a lighter version of the combat armor that Nyota now wore. There was a symbol on it in white against the all black armor: two wings separated by a circle of stars and a E in the center, with the middle line of the E broken into a series of stripes. A second pegasus was next to the stallion, digging into a crate, and all we could really see of him were a set of daisy yellow wings sticking out over the top of the wooden box.

“Enclave,” Alguacil said out loud and looked to the rest of us.

“En-what?” I repeated very confused when Nyota stepped up.

“They are the ones who closed off the sky, pegasi who make our lives miserable and consider us no more than animals and savages.” He paused his explanation. “They usually shoot the vast majority of wastelanders they encounter on sight.”

Oh great, another set of ponies that are just as likely to kill us as talk to us. Well, I'm gonna do the stupid thing and try to go make friends. I looked at Alguacil, Corners, Chifundo and the others. We need a plan, let’s try out that stuff I read in the book I bought.

I took a few moments to examine our surroundings. For a start, there was not one intact building anway nearby. A sign next to overflowing dumpsters read: “Welcome to Las Pegasus.” Except the Las was X’ed out with red marker and New was put in its place. The two pegasi that were scavenging were doing so in the barely standing walls of a diner restaurant. The only clue to this was the cafeteria style counter that still stood in the center of pieces of wall no higher than two bricks stacked in any place. Off to our left was the main roadway and several most intact buildings were nearly 200 yards away.

There was a glimpse of movement there but staring for a while revealed nothing. Okay so we have several alleyways, mostly ruined buildings, and these two scavenging next to an old counter. Let’s think about this.

“Okay, listen up, I'm gonna go say hello, but I'm not doing it as stupid as I have before and end up getting shot.” I made sure I had the attention of all my friends before continuing, “Alguacil and Chifundo, get ready for covering fire if I need to run. Corners, be ready to pin them down, make sure they can't take flight or do anything stupid. Nyota, I don't wanna be able to see or hear you, but I want to know you’re there” I paused when I turned to Quick Stitch, “Quick Stitch, don't get shot, if this goes poorly we’ll need you to keep anypony we can alive. We don't wanna kill any of them if we can help it.”

Everypony grumbled considering my last statement, but did as I asked. I saw Alguacil and Chifundo had rifles out and had a bead on the pegasi. Corners looked locked and loaded, with machine gun barrels pointing out of the top of her box, while Nyota was suddenly gone. I felt his gaze upon me, but I could not see nor hear the zebra. Alright, here goes nothing.

I pulled my helmet off my saddlebags and slammed it on. EFS changed to display on the visor when I brought it down. The two dots in front of me registered as one grey and one red. Red is usually a very bad thing, right? I trotted right up towards the two pegasi, before a piece of wood gave under my hoof just far enough away that I could run up to them in one good bound.

They both popped up and looked at me. “Halt! Who goes—what the heck?” The pegasus stallion not digging through the box said, as he turned and started to raise his magical energy rifle my way before stopping. I recognized it as a model Sparkle-4, but slightly modified with a smaller caliber chamber and a cheaper plastic material than the usual composite.

“Kid, what are you doing here? This area is off limits!”

“Oh, I'm looking for somepony, maybe you could help me out?” I asked, and the pegasus looked at me like I was the ghost of Celestia asking for a glass of milk.

“What the heck, Silver Raindrop? Who are you talking to?” The stallion inside the crate asked. The pegasus shouted "OUCH!" and bumped his head on the top of the box trying to get out. The pegasus talking to me remained grey on my E.F.S. but the one inside the box turned to a red dot. Oh boy, please let me talk this down.

“Listen, kid, get out of here.” Silver Raindrop ordered. I couldn't make out a whole lot under his armor and helmet. His black visor obscured his eyes and any facial expression beyond a sour frown at me. It is so unnerving, talking to a pony when you can’t look at their eyes or face; especially with a laser rifle pointed at me.

I must be a hell of a sight for this pegasus. An incredibly heavily armored filly, touting a shotgun and several grenades on my duster. I'm surprised he hasn't fired a warning shot or something yet. I looked at him in a downright offended manner, and he looked back, surprised, before blushing under the brim of his visor. He shifted his head away to avoid my gaze.

“Oh come on, Sunrise! Win them over; surely they aren't bad ponies.” Pink rolled into view against my compass with a grin.

Let’s hope so Pink.

A radio squawk interrupted any conversation we were having for a moment. “Recon team three, anything to report?” The voice was that of a mare and she seemed very hostile to even her own squad.

Silver pressed a wing to his radio, “Yeah, some kid here says they are looking for some pony.”

“Kid? What kind of foal is it?” the mare shot back impatiently.

“Well armored dirt pony, ma'am,” he replied and his other wing went like it was going to salute.

Dirt Pony? That is just downright-

“Shoot her and be done with it,” the voice on the radio ordered with a stern finality to it.

Shoot me! Seriously? Just shooting a pony when you see them? What was this Enclave? Highly armed raiders?

“Alright, kid, you better get out of here, now.” Silver ordered me as he raised his gun; not quite aiming it at me but just in my general direction, ready to fire.

“Look, I just want to ask about a friend, maybe you give me a direction and I head on my way. How hard is it to be a nice pony to another pony?” I asked with a genuine shrug in his direction, hoping to diffuse our situation. My eyes didn't dart to the rifle in his hooves, just back and forth between is face and his own gaze at me.

The other stallion pulled himself out of the crate. His dot is still red, please turn gray or green. He stood up with rifle in his hooves, pointed it right at me and growled.

“Oh, fine, I'll do it!” The other pegasus declared, with a deeper grizzled voice. I didn't have time to move or react, as a beam of super-heated light punched right into my chest splashing against stubbornite chest plate now guarding my heart. I could see the line as the incendiary spell started to fade. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end while my chest felt warm, hot enough to make me flinch. I could feel the heat through the plating but a half second later I took a breath. I felt my heart beating still and my lungs filling with air, never have I been so relieved to hear my own heartbeat.

“What the flank? She didn't go down?” the yellow pegasus said for his final words as his head exploded. I winced and looked away, memories of Spring Bronco flashing to mind as some of the blood hit my hooves. I wanted to scream out for everypony to stop but all I could do was cower there and bite my lip in sympathy. Rifle shots echoed over the ratta-tat-tat of Corners' twin machine guns. I winced and looked away as another smaller caliber rifle fired, and I could hear the squelch of brains splattering onto the ground inches away from me.

The gunfire died down less than a second later and when I looked, the blood stains on the wooden crates told me all I needed to know. There was no movement from either of the pegasi, I bit my lip and wanted to move forward but couldn't.
They shot at you, they deserved it, right? There was no reason your friends shouldn't have protected you.

“Sunrise, they were going to be bad ponies. They shot you and turned down any invitation to talk with threats. They are also the ones who took Hot Cross Buns.” Pink declared and looked at me snorting as she ramped a hoof across the invisible ground under her.

No they weren’t! Whoever the yellow one was, was the one who tried to hurt me. SIlver Raindrop was being reasonable and didn’t want this. He even blushed when I stared him down! Pink, these aren’t bad ponies!

“Sunrise! You have to-” Pink snapped upright and looked at my E.F.S. pointing off at the rising number of red dots at the corners of it. “Get ready!”

I looked down at my E.F.S. and spun to the right to see nothing. When I looked back left, over a dozen red dots lit up the bottom of my display. Oh, that must be the others on the radio.

“Sunrise, you’re not readyyy…” Pink called out in a mockingly childish tone, just before the radio came to life and chirped at us.

“Squad three, report, we heard gun fire. Squad three? Private Silver Raindrop, report!” The voice of that impatient mare echoed off the decayed buildings around us. I hadn’t noticed Corners sneaking up while having my argument with Pink, till heard her voice, replying into the radio.

Oh, Corners, please no! Don't-!

“Hi! Everything is fine,” She started. She doesn't even sound anything like either of those stallions, oh no! “Your friends are, umm, dead. Please don't send any reinforcements through, everything is fine.” My jaw was on the ground as Quick Stitch stopped in his tracks beside me and mirrored my expression. “I swear we didn't do it, I promise we just arrived and they were dead. But don't send reinforcements, everything is fine.”

“Sunrise, you choose the absolute best and worst companions at the same time! I can't wait to see how this plays out!” The pink pony in my head declared while doing cartwheels across the EFS compass at the bottom of my screen. Everytime her hooves touched the compass marker another red dot appeared under it. That was a whole lot of red dots after going across the compass 4 times. There was a collapsed building that shielded the red blips that had just cropped up, when I heard the groan of ghouls.

Oh no, please no, not ferals. I don't think I can handle that right now.

Nyota was still completely beyond my senses, but I heard a rock cascade down a building and suspected that was his own way of expressing being stunned. Even the best laid plans never survive the wasteland. Yep, need to do more reading if we survive this!

“Are those feral ghouls? I think those are feral ghouls, yep. They look hungry.” Pink exclaimed at the top of her lungs as the first decaying, flesh-dripping-from-bone ghoul shambled into view dragging a hoof. At this point, it was like ruined buildings came to life, and beyond the cafeteria bar, ghoul ponies came out of every single nook and cranny of the destroyed city right before our eyes.

The dangers of approaching Las Pegasus were becoming more apparent with each passing second. Eight earth pony ghouls charged out at the two pegasus corpses just out of view of us, where the brain splatter and blood stains were. They began to messily devour on the corpses of the two pegasi we had just slain. My brain couldn’t register it all, like a scene straight out of ‘Night of the Unliving Ponies’ playing out in real life. I suddenly understood why the characters in the movie were staring, dumbfounded, as I did while others watching the movie would scream for ponies to run. You couldn’t run, you couldn’t act, it was all too surreal to process. Only raw horror and trembling fear controlled my pony brain, and because of that I was frozen.

My horror started to mount and I wanted to turn to vomit. You don’t do that to ponies! Please, no, is there no mercy, even in death? I understood now; ghouls were not alive as Alguacil taught me when we first met the feral ones in the trailer. They were beyond saving, and as much as I wanted to believe otherwise, he was right. If I was a decent pony, I had to put them down and end their suffering.

I continued stared in horror, transfixed upon the scene in front of me. Alguacil fired a shot from his rifle, as did Chifundo. I could see box pone's modded-up armored box trying move away from the corpses. My tail passed up two items: one molotrot cocktail and one apple-shaped grenade. I stared at them and then looked at Pink.The amount of perplexion on my face could have matched a zebrican code decrypter. I stared at the objects knowing exactly what do with them but not wanting to kill any pony with them.

“Trust me! It will work wonderfully to make this party really start.” She pulled out a multitiered pink frosted cake that had dynamite sticking out of for candles. “Everypony make a wish!”

I took out a lighter and lit the rag on the end of the bottle as I moved away, my teeth gripped the pin that was the apple stem. I used the lighter in my hoof to light the bottle and my tail reared back. With a flick of my head and tail, the pin to the grenade pulled both went sailing straight and true over the counter and the heads of the ghouls. One even jumped up at it like a dog trying to catch the apple bomb.

My body moved on its own at a full gallop closer to the ghouls! Oh no no no! Wrong way! My mind cried before my body was diving behind the former store front counter with my head firmly down, as the wave of fiery heat washed overhead.

I could feel the heat as the fireball just beyond the crates slam like a tidal wave of force. Even with cover my little body still ached and screamed from its impact. The crates blew apart at the top and lit on fire everywhere else. My head was firmly tucked into the corner of the island in the storm of deadly alcohol-wonderglue mix exploding into the air. Grenade shrapnel was slamming into the counter so hard that it actually penetrated the bar and smacked off my helmet, putting me into a daze. The impact cracked my visor corner and made the world slow to a crawl. Every part of me felt distant yet still there, like all the nerves were firing but no one was picking up the phone.

A dozen feral ghouls all shrieked at once, and then there was silence save for ringing in my ears. I looked behind me with my back against the over engineered furniture piece. I swear, I'm so happy for earth ponies engineering everything beyond what’s necessary right now. Nyota was standing in the open, having revealed his location, unsure if he should move to join me or retreat back. My heart raced to catch up as I started breathing again. The heat in the air was unbearable, the inferno next to me spread out much further than it should be. The haze faded and I started to rise.

I heard a feral to my left, and saw that Corners was frantically trying to fend one of the pony ghouls off of her box. My shotgun came into my muzzle, I got the grip in my mouth just right, and then it was like reality blinked, again! My hooves tripped over each other and I fell forward, while the gun came out of my mouth. I watched in horror as my tail reflexively went to catch the tumbling barrel that was moving to point at my own face, and then the weapon propped itself between the ground and my chest as my tail caught it. The gun let out a roar of pure rage, directed at its owner.

My chest plate exploded in pain and agony, and the wrath of a shotgun blast directly into my own form sent me flying into the counter as all the air was driven from my lungs. I slumped against the counter, shotgun collapsing right into the crease of my right foreleg and shoulder. The heat of the barrel burning on my flesh as I tried desperately to take another breath. I could feel bits inside me, shifting around. I knew something had penetrated.

Am I dead? Is this what dying feels like? Panic welled up inside, suppressed only by an inhale that brought new pains to me. My breathing stopped from the agony. My chest burned as I tasted blood in my mouth, my eyes strained to stay open. My heart wasn't beating at all, everything felt numb as I saw my own blood oozing from under the armor plates. Then I took in a breath and my heart suddenly began to pound in my chest again. The ringing in my ears stopped and all I could hear was the steady rhythm of pulses from inside refusing to die. I'm alive, oh dear Goddesses, it hurts, but I'm alive. My armor plating, it held. But it still hurts so much. The taste of hot metal hit my tongue, and I coughed once, propelling three buckshot balls out onto the ground from my lips.

The feeling in my limbs returned as the burning inferno of molotrot cocktail raged and chewed across the ground towards me. I gasped for any air and moved to suck in colder air than the fire was making. The a breeze opposite the fire and cover I had, washed over my body. The sound of wing beats filled my ears to the right. The ghoul and Corners were duking it out on my left. Rifle fire from a smaller gun, followed by a much higher caliber shot, re-awoke my hearing and replaced the ringing. I recognized it as Chifundo and Alguacil’s rifles firing in tandem. The ringing of the shotgun explosion slowly left my ears, replaced with the sizzle of laser fire and Corners’ machine guns rattling off a dozen rounds of ammunition.

The world came into focus: I could see four pegasi raining down laser bolts at my friends from the sky. Even the two who were just hovering hardly above the counter I was hiding under had opened fire. Pegasi rained down deadly lances of red that sizzled the air, silencing my friends’ rifles and pinning them down. Either they don't see me, or they are ignoring me.I need to get their attention! I know I have more armor than any of my friends. I stared in awe at the firefight of bullets versus magical energy rifling through the air. Chifundo was struggling to get off shots when six different red blasts threatened to turn him to ash.

Nyota had disappeared again, but there was a dead pegasus without a single bullet wound or explosive burn on him—only bruises around his neck. He was motionless. Alguacil got off one shot, only to have more shots returned than I could count, nearly blowing the dumpster he was behind apart. Corners racked the sky with gunfire to no avail, as pegasi dodged her fire, but at least they couldn’t shoot back without a hail of bullets flying from her at them. Quick Stitch was behind a building, firing blindly with the needler as fast as darts could be put in it.

My mind raced for an idea, a distraction to unpin my friends.. Do they think I'm dead? What was that reason they called Hot Cross Buns a dashite, was that because they referenced Rainbow Dash?

My tail passed me something from a three days ago, the bouncing betty motion sensor mine. “Go on! Let's find out if they can play frisbee! It shouldn't be powerful enough to kill them, just maim them bad enough to bring them down to you!” Pink shouted with a sadistic glee that could only be described as genocidal insanity.
I growled at Pink, then hung my head as I nosed the aim button. How do I get their attention? The mine started beeping, indicating it was arming.

“Call em Rainbow Dash! They will absolutely love it!” Pink clearly had some ulterior motive by the expression painted on her face, but she hadn't led me wrong yet right?

“HEY!” I shouted out at the twin pegasi who were firing lances of deadly energy at my friends, “Rainbow Dash wanna-be’s!”
I hurled the mine as I spoke, and the beeping got more intense until it stopped.

The first pegasus mare looked down. “Excuse me, you little—” she was cut off by the mine going into her mouth and starting to a different beep, not the arming one, the detonating one. The world slowed to a crawl as the two pegasi flying next to each other stared into each other's eyes. The mine opened, and in slow motion a large egg-like orb covered in spikes shot out into the air.

“Dammit, High Wind,” These were the pegasus next to the one who catch the mine as the flash of a new sun brightened the sky above us. The battlefield fell silent, and all firing stopped. That wasn’t a standard bouncing betty, it was an anti-squadron bomb. Made not to maim but annihilate an entire fire team in one blast. The wave of explosive force washed over me and shrapnel bounced off my armored plates. I shielded my eyes with a hoof, and I felt a weight in my tail's grip as my eyes returned to looking at where the two pegasi had been. Red and pink rain dropped all around me.

“Oh, Sunrise, I didn't mean to...” Pink didn't finish the sentence because I was screaming at her, out loud.

THAT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO DISABLE THEM! Pink, are you insane? They... they... they... I couldn't think, I couldn't move, all I could do was stare as two beat up energy rifles bounced onto the ground next to me, while blood soaked into the brown leather duster covering my stable suit. I saw the reflection of flame in my visor and thought somepony was shooting at me now.

“Sunrise! Pay attention! Snap out of it, I got a—”

SHUT UP, PINK! That wasn't supposed to kill anypony! And now they're blown to— my thought never got to finish as I saw my tail holding a lit molitrot cocktail. The rag fuse was almost burned all the way into the bottle lip. My tail panic-threw it, right into the counter I was using for cover. The world erupted in pain, burning horrific pain.
I couldn't move. All my nerves were screaming in agony, while fresh blood sizzled off me and I felt just how sensitive my tail was. The pain seared all the way from the tip of my tail! Whatever stable-tec had done, my tail could feel just like a hoof or my mouth! I screamed.

“Stop, drop, and roll! Sunrise! Stop, drop, and roll!” Pink screamed out repeatedly, but all that came from me was incoherent screams of torment. My armor heated up, I could feel the searing of my body against the plating. I felt somepony bite my tail and that just elicited an even louder scream! My scream was just an incoherent wail that filled the air louder than any gunfire. Even my own ears range with my voice shrieking in pain at a pitch that could break glass. All feeling rushed back when I inhaled a mouth full of water.

The noise of laser fire faded as I was submerged, and I saw Quick Stitch standing over me, horn glowing while he pulled me back to the surface. I felt my body start to cool off and his horn continued to glow as my wounds closed. The burned flesh being regenerated off made my armored jumpsuit uncomfortably squishy inside. Oh dear Goddesses, is this what it feels like to hug a ghoul bare flanked? I shuddered when a flash in the distance brought a whole new world of pain to my chest. A sniper was shooting me, and they were looking for a chink in my armor to exploit.

My chest heated up, while the water Quick Stitch had thrown me into caused my PipBuck to click once, before the next bolt of death lanced at me. The pegasus sniper found his chink in my armor. Even as gunfire roared out nearby, my body shuddered as I felt something inside me resisting the sudden need to fall to pieces. It was like being pulled apart all at once, resisting the urge to just cease to exist as everything burned from tip of my nose to my hooves, all at once. I let out a silent scream of defiance, a final cry to demand to stay whole. Everything went red for an instant, while my vision flashed with the next laser bolt right at my eyes.

Am I dead? Did they disintegrate me? Is this what that it—OH, GODDESSS!” My vision came back into clear focus as I fell forward, my right foreleg not supporting me at all. In my vision, though, was a sight I didn't want to see: Quick Stitch bleeding from his flank and nose, two clear holes punched into his shoulder through his armor. He was losing blood quickly while his horn tended to me.

The sniper's scope gleamed once more, but she didn't get a chance to fire. Two cracks—one from a revolver and one from a light rifle—slammed into her body. The mare holding the sniper focused beam rifle took aim again, to finish me or Quick Stitch off. She screamed out as shot after shot penetrated her from the two rifles, followed by a stream of tracer fire from Corners. She fell to the ground and even a hundred yards away, I could see Corners hail of fire was bouncing off her armor, and only the rifles had penetrated. The pressure of fire, however, were driving the pegasus into an unrecoverable tail spin. The pegasus tumbled through the air, screaming in agony like I had, before impacting into the ground just out of sight.

Her death spiral drew my attention to something in the distance. I started trembling at what was in the distance beyond the sniper. With dirt flying out around them, two creatures emerged from the ground.

Their claws were as long as my PipBuck. Their teeth were jagged, and each mouth could easily swallow both my front or hind legs in one gulp. They were covered in scars, and their fur was growing wild and forming curls on the end. Each of them had eyes that narrowed into a slit instead of a round pupil, bloodshot and a sickly yellow. They were covered in pieces of metal for armor and their hulking forms could only be described as a nightmare on legs. If a diamond dog could be turned into a demon, that was what I was staring at.

They wore domed metal helmets on their heads with dozens of pronged spikes sticking out all over it, power gems glowing at the end of each spike. On each of their necks was a solid metal ring choker collar with a box and a light on it. Is that an explosive on their neck? I could see the tell-tale signs of explosives, something akin to a square grenade, against their throats. My body shook with fear as I stared at the two creatures. A new wave of pegasi—six in total—flew towards us, along with a string of zebras all sporting the Dashite branding described by Sparrow. The Enclave calvary had arrived, and they brought with them demons straight from Tartarus itself.

“Sunrise! The thing, the thing you rigged, get it out!” My leg roared with a whole new kind of pain, and when I looked, my tail had stuck a syringe of Med-X into it. As the appendage depressed the plunger, all my pain vanished in a second. My mind grew a bit hazy, and then everything cleared up. I couldn't feel any pain, and I barely registered the water against my hooves. I stood up, and while I noticed my leg was weak, I didn't feel the pain I thought I should.

Pink, I don't think that will be possible. I can't, I just killed two...

“SUNRISE! When I say do this we don’t have time or room to debate for morality’s sake! Because if you don't, all your friends are going to die! Yes, I lied! Get over it! Your stupid Old World hang ups are getting them killed! Push past it right now, or I’ll do it for you, and then you can deal with the consequences of what I do with your hooves!” Pink’s screaming ultimatum came with a dark presence in my mind. A presence I feared. I knew she was right deep down; this new presence threatened to dominate me if I didn’t do something. Everything in me screamed to try to beg for parlay, but knew it was futile all at once. Suddenly, the world around us seemed to grow slow, so slow that everyone froze. I looked at the HUD provided by my Eyes Forward Sparkle, and saw that the bar for S.A.T.S. was active.

When did I—

“You didn't, I DID!” Even the laser rifle bolts racing at my friends moved at a speed I could follow. Bullets in the air slowed so much I could count their rotations as they span from their rifling. The S.A.T.S. bar was burning slowing down, I didn’t have a whole lot of time.

I stared back at her. Pink, are you sure about this?

“No, Sunrise, but if you don’t do something, everypony you like dies. Now, I only have your tail, so you will have to work the bomb.” Pink replied, and as I looked at my inventory screen, I saw what bomb she was referring to. Out of all the grenades, molotrot cocktails, IEDs with sprinkles, even the Sparkle-Cola RAD bomb I'd made last night. 'Special-4 Fuse Configured' – 5 lbs.' I stared and saw Pink who was running and leaving glowing S.A.T.S. hoofprints in the dirt for me to follow. I locked the action in S.A.T.S. and it took over. I followed Pink, running through the remains of a pegasi, closing my eyes and trying to not think about how the insides crushed under my hooves.

I could feel duct tape coming out and strapping together my explosives to make this new bomb. Pink save the Sparkle-Cola RAD bomb, I thought in my gallop as I ran past pegasi firing, who stopped and stared in disbelief as I ran through their lines. Pink rolled her eyes, and I felt something returned to my saddlebags. More explosives were pulled and taped together in my full gallop. I held the improvised explosive tight against the small of my back while my tail worked to create a boom bigger than anything I’d ever imagined doing.

I saw Nyota choking out another zebra, as another zebra dashed out to stop me. Zebras? Where had they come from?

Why were they helping these pegasi kill us? The zebra mare in Nyota’s grip had her head explode in a hail of gunfire from Box Pone's machine guns.

Quick Stitch called out, “Sunrise! What are you doing? Your leg!” His concerns fell on deaf ears as Med-X drove me to ignore all pain.

“Push it aside, Sunrise. Show them the wrath of a desperate mare!”

“What is she doing?” Alguacil shouted out as I charged into the thick of every pegasus within 30 feet of the massive hulking demon sand dog.

“EVERYPONY! GET DOWN!” I called out, as I clipped a lighter against the fuse and my tail let the explosive fly. My hooves dug in and did a one hundred and eighty degree turn. My vision caught three additional zebras running towards us through the pegasi lines ahead of the demons. Their eyes went wide as the explosive flew past them. They dove for cover while I ran back towards my party. I saw the sniper whom had shot us, she was dazed, her armor had held in more places than I had seen before she crashed.

The mare was pressed back up against the building she crashed into. She was a soft looking sky blue mare. Her black armor did not match her mane or coat, the tips of her feathers colored rainbows along her wounded wings while her mane was a sweet autumn leaf color. Her wounds couldn't be ignored, though; they were seeping blood, and a pool of red was forming around her. The mare was lost, trying to stand only to fall down. Her helmet had flown off. Corners machine gun fire hadn’t penetrated her armor, just riddled it with bullets that stuck out like mini-caltrop spikes. I stopped next to her. My gut twisted and I felt an urge to help her. If I could get her clear of the blast, I could at least save her.

“Sunrise, no! You're not strong enough, and that explosive is everything you had left over turned into a cocktail of death! RUN!” Pink knew what I was thinking. How could she not.

“COVER FIRE!” I hollered out. My teeth gripped the armor of the pegasus and pulled at her. The mare only groaned in pain as she lost consciousness, and I couldn’t summon the strength to move her. Corners positioned herself just right to rain tracers along my flanks to not hit either of us, shooting through the thin remains of wall this pegasus crashed into.

“Sunrise, leave her! She doesn't deserve—” Pink started, but I wasn't about to hear it.

SHUT UP! I'm not killing anypony I can save! I don't have to kill her. I pulled on her again as the cracks of gunfire died down and the sizzle of laser beams went silent. My eyes were drawn away from the mare I was trying desperately save by a glare off something in the sky.

A pegasus in all black armor was flying straight up to the clouds. The armor was thick, segmented, and had a scorpion-like tail. Shadowbolt Power Armor? The Shadowbolts still exist? The snap of the jaws of one of those creatures caught my attention, as it picked up the explosive in its maw and darted into center of Enclave reinforcements.

They didn't get the warn—

“Sunrise! MOVE, NOW!” Pink screamed at the top of her lungs.

HELP ME!

“FINE! You're going to get us both killed!” My tail finally came around, singed as it was, and added its strength to the effort. The mare moved and moaned as her pain increased. I finally pulled her limp form onto my back. Even through the Med-X my leg screamed at the effort and threatened to just give out. I saw Pink pulling on my damaged foreleg, and swore I could feel some sort of support from her efforts. She somehow got me to move fast enough to reach the pool of knee-deep water Quick Stitch was standing in.

His eyes were wide in disbelief as I pulled the mare who had just tried to kill both us to the edge of the blast zone Pink estimated. He forced himself on top of my smaller frame, pushing me into cover as the mare fell under me. I struggled and wiggled to get my hoof to lift her head above water, before my PipBuck let out one click of radiation warning and the world went silent.

The blast wave sucked the air from my lungs and popped my ears. As the lip of the pool that had just put a fire on my body shielded us only slightly. The water evaporated under the intensity of the heat, and my body shuddered and rippled as every nerve rose above the Med-X to cry warnings of pain. The regeneration spell still holding me together sloughed off my dead flesh, and I felt my lips crack and eyes water till they bled. My leg felt like it might be torn off if not for being held down my Quick Stitch, and sandwiched against the wing of the sniper mare we were shielding.

“Whoooooo... that was bigger than any—WHOA!” Pink was blown from my sight as though the explosive could affect her. Dust kicked up around the three of us as we held tight to each other in the improvised fox hole, the puddle of water almost completely gone. My PipBuck clicked twice more, then stopped. The wave of destruction died down almost as suddenly as it began.

My ears were ringing, my body shuddered, and I tasted blood, ash, and... feathers? I saw there was a pegasus feather in my mouth, a black wing feather from the pegasus we were shielding. Oh please, by the Goddesses, be alive! I pulled her head up and the mare took in a deep breath. Wasteland, don't take this from me! “Quick Stitch! Patch her up, make sure she lives.” I ordered him and glared as he looked at the pegasus who had shot us both.

The stallion's features distorted in a mix of hate at the mare and surprise at me. I kept looking at him, glaring, as the earth rumbled under our feet. It stopped and I shook my head. “You can't say no to this one. Save her.” The cold determination in my words shook my friend to his core. He snorted and a bit of blood came out of his nose, but his horn glowed and a magical bandage started to wrap around her wounds. Be mad at me later, be a better pony than she deserves right now.

The rumble in the earth under us returned as I watched Quick Stitch work, and the battlefield grew silent. Alguacil, Chifundo, and Corners approached our forms as the two of us staggered to our hooves. With an effort that could only be described as Herculean, I got that mare back onto my flanks. The wasteland, however, wasn't going to go down without a fight, as the rumbling returned and intensified till the earth itself exploded just a few feet away from us.

Oh, please no, not another one of those—All thought was cut off by gunfire from Corners' machine guns, as the box moved with a purpose, and brown carapace flicked with sparks of bullet ricochets. Another scorpion, only this one wasn't like the rad scorpion we'd seen in the mine field, nor the small bark scorpions we'd run into. This was the brown-orange of the bark scorpion except it was massive, the size of a house.

It had pincers that could easily grab me and clip my entire body in half, from the chest to the rear flanks. Its stinger rose up, and the tip was larger than my head, and likely had enough poison stored in it to replace all the blood in a pony.

Alguacil opened up with his revolver, Chifundo worked the bolt on his rifle till it clicked, and Nyota ran back and lined up to charge it.

The creature turned to Corners and took a swipe with its pincers, ripping apart crumbling ruins on the outskirts of town and silencing our guns. There was no laser fire, either; all the pegasi were dead or had fled. How am I supposed to deal with something like that? Where did it come from?

“Ohhh, I know! It was drawn by the explosions! Ya know, because where there is explosions, there are ponies, and it eats those!” Pink squealed at the top of her lungs with a gleeful smile that I swore had a clown nose squeak to top it off. I just glared at the figment of my imagination in my vision.

How insane was she? Wait, was she a part of my own thoughts or not?

“Why am I having an existential crisis right now? That thing is about to turn you into a pony shish kebab!”
I turned and ran full gallop towards where we had arrived, the ground exploding behind me as the scorpion’s stinger slammed into the pavement and ripped it apart.

“You've gotta be bucking kidding me!” Alguacil shouted as the roar of bullets resumed. I agree! How many mutated creatures want to murder us? My tail pulled something from my packs: the sparkle-bomb. It fizzed inside the bottle as I stepped into SATS with a tap of my foreleg mid-gallop. My hooves slowed back to the ground and I queued the spell. The world sped up and my tail took a hard shake of the bottle; the contents started to fizz and my tail flicked the bottle at the scorpion, right on target. The blue fizzing bottle wanted to burst as the mixture inside started to go critical from shaking, right as the glass shattered on the scorpion’s carapace.

The roar of gunfire was silenced by the mini-megaspell detonation, accompanied with a small mushroom cloud. There goes the last of my class 3 explosives, I thought to myself as I watched the creature bathe in shiny baby-blue radioactive hellfire. The massive creature shrieked in agony as I continued to put distance between us, and Box Pone never let up her machine gun fire.

“Over here, you stupid wanna-be spider!” Corners shouted over the hail of high-velocity lead. I could see the hole, bigger than a pony, blown into the side of the monster's hardened chitin hide. Flames were kicking up around it, blue fire from the sparkle-bomb rising up over its head like a mouth of hell opening up to swallow the beast into the depths. But this beast was much bigger than the hellmouth and refused to submit!

Instead, chitinous legs thrashed, and it turned those hate-filled eyes upon my fleeing form. I could see the gash the explosive had torn in its side, orange blood leaking out. The carapace had been blown so wide open that Alguacil might have been able to fly inside the creature. No way it could survive the fire burning around it, cooking it from the inside out, but it wasn't dead; not yet. The brief moment we locked eyes was gone as the machine gun fire peppering into it made it turn its full attention back to Corners.

My leg was starting to swell with pain, beyond what the dose of Med-X could suppress. It had only been one minute since I injected myself, but the burned muscle under my armor, combined with the strain of a full-on gallop for my life while carrying an unconscious full-grown pegasus hadn’t done me any favors. Gritting my teeth and wanting to scream, I bolted past the firing line of my friends, and Nyota reached out to stop me.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. “I have to keep this one safe!” was all I could get out of my mouth through the agony coursing over the painkiller. I didn't want to know how much it was hurting without the drugs.

“What in the buck has gotten into you? Keep this one safe, are you stupid!?”

Pink, I have to be better than her; ponies aren’t suppose to kill each other. I have to give her another chance. Pink grew quiet and sat down on her flanks as a silent spectator to the scene now.
I saw the remains of a fallen-in building we had passed walking through the ruins of Las Pegasus. I darted inside. Please, Celestia and Luna, watch over me, let this building be empty. Inside it was dark enough that I clicked on the PipBuck light. I laid the mare down, as the gunshots and the roars of some other creature demanded I return to the fighting.

She's gonna be out for a while, I need to get back out there. My friends are facing the things from Nightmare Moon's own personal nightmare!

I took a few steps, shotgun held against my shoulder by my tail. I turned my head to check where we had come from: Nothing was there except the destroyed ruins of a once-proud suburb. I looked back to where the gunfire was coming from: One of the mutated demon dogs had emerged.The two monsters fought with a ferocity of two nightmares demanding dominance. The swiping of its claws made the scorpion turn and launch both pincers at the demon. He caught both of them in his claws bigger than my head and held his ground, driving his heels into the dirt. The fact that the Demon Dog was surrounded by blue and red radioactive hellfire only made that term seem much more appropriate. It was like I was watching a Cerberus from hell itself or the legends of old, trying to drag a monster into the Hades for its final judgment, while the monster refused to go quietly.

The scorpion’s stinger lashed out and penetrated the skull of the sand dog mutant. That metal helmet didn't protect it from the scorpions death strike at all. The Demon Dog’s limbs went limp, and it was only held up by the stinger’s raw mass. When the scorpion withdrew, the sand dog fell to the ground inside the fire, incinerating in seconds as a final grasp of hellfire shot into the air like a soul leaving the body. The scene was exactly what I would expect from banishing a demon back to the pit, as the Demon Dog turned to ash before my eyes.

Nyota turned to me, and took one step towards me before pulling off his eye patch, revealing the eye that saw the spirit realm. He handed it to me with a reassuring smile and a nod. “Sunrise, you're cute,” was all he said, and then turned away at full gallop towards the gun line holding the scorpion at bay. I stared in disbelief, a blush filling my cheeks that could be seen through the caked layers of blood. What are you about to do? Nyota, no, it just tore through a building. You can’t stand up to that… I couldn’t finish the thought, I couldn’t look away. I only could stare at the action like a trainwreck.

Nyota began to charge forward, past the gun line Chifundo, Quick Stitch, and Alguacil were formed in to try to put the monster arachnid down. Nyota kept going towards where this scorpion was doing battle now, engaging with Corners. Its pincers destroyed a home—one large enough to be where I'd lived in before the stable. Walls buckled and the entire building threatened to collapse, before the tail barb as big as a pony lashed through at the flashes of automatic weapons. Nyota leapt into the air, passing through the flames, and I could see the fire trying to burn its way into his armor just before he disappeared into the scorpion through the hole my explosive had made.

“NYOTA! What are you doing!?” I shouted, charging forward. Memories of what had transpired since I'd known him flashed before my eyes. His careful looking after me while I was working on the Sand Dog 3500. The way he kept shoving that hoof into my mouth to shut me up when I was rambling. Him leaping down the well to subdue and then save Mauve. All the events up to this point, including remembering last night, nearly two weeks outside the stable and being held in his hooves. The first stallion in my life to ever call me cute, disappearing into darkness and certain death.

The gunfire ceased as the massive creature thrashed about with renewed fury. We all stared in awe, and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I wanted to look away, only the shrieks of the scorpion and the roar of the fire around it, making the situation impossible to ignore. The ground trembled as Alguacil raised his revolver, and it clicked and clicked again. He needed to reload. I tried to pull the shotgun up, but found my will faltering, and it dropped to the ground. Nyota… no… I didn’t answer you yet. All my feelings overwhelmed any coherent thought; Pink was gone and I was alone. I felt like the world just got a whole lot smaller and worse off. Nyota, no, I can’t lose you, too! I fell forward onto my wounded chest and whimpered, while my eyes refused to leave the trashing beast’s death throe.

Corners moved her box and then opened fire once more. They were spraying round after round into the terrible creatures eyes. He's gone, he's cooking alive inside that thing's flesh! I felt my vision running red with rage, anger, and loss. I could feel my veins pulsing and threatening to burst as my heart beat with renewed determination.

“Sunrise, stop. Hold and wait.” Pink ordered from somewhere out of view.

WHAT!? Pink are you insane? Why would I do that? That thing just killed Nyota! I can never-

“Sunrise, I know I messed up earlier, but trust me this time?” Pink reassured and I felt my own tail moving away from the shotgun barrel and stroking the back of my mane. It only calmed the edge of my fury. Chifundo fired his rifle, and Alguacil had managed to reload. Quick Stitch was firing his dart gun, to little effect. I was the only one not shooting.
Moments passed and I watched, before a hoof emerged from the back of the Scorpion. It looked tiny compared to the scorpion at this range, but there was a hoof shooting up through the hardened carapace. Even Corners stopped firing as the creature screamed, and was cut off with the harshness of an artillery explosion, before it collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Another hoof shot out of the back of the creature’s armored hide. The fires around died down as Nyota's head popped out from under the chitin plating, his teeth holding some organ that he spat out, and it burned into charcoal in the dying embers of the fire from the sparkle-bomb. He drug his form out, half-digested fur clinging to his skin, coated with the blood of the creature. As Nyota pulled his way free, I felt a rush of new hope come crash over me. He’s alive! Oh thank the Goddesses, he’s alive! Now I’m gonna kill him! I took one determined step and my foreleg finally refused to work. I fell onto my PipBuck as the bone inside broke, and I fell onto my ribs in a silent scream while a mixture of emotions overwhelmed anything I could think or feel.

I noticed three zebras sneaking up on us when a rock rolled against my hoof. They now stood there, staring in awe at Nyota. Almost in unison they spoke one word: “Demon.” Chifundo trotted up to them nonchalantly, and started to talk to them in the strange zebra tongue. Are they not going to kill us? He even rhymed in it, not that I could understand a word. Just that his syllables somehow rhymed in that language too. I wanted to rush forward and hug Nyota while screaming obscenities at him, but all I could do was drag my leg slowly and use my PipBuck as a brace.

“Sunrise, the pegasus. Go check on her before she comes to,” Pink told me, and I grit my teeth. I turned my back to my friends and limped towards the building I had stashed the mare in.

“Quick Stitch, come on. I'll need a hand.” He stared at me questioningly before my tail made a hurry up motion at him. Inside the building, my PipBuck provided the only light. I took her scoped version of a magical energy rifle away by the gun strap, then her knife, and took her helmet off as well. Quick Stitch’s horn glowed and began working to stitch up the wounds while accelerating her healing. He may have even been making new blood for a mare that had tried to kill us both.

“Sunrise, are you sure about this?” he asked, looking at me as his horn finished its magic.

I cast the helmet aside. “No, but I know that if we hate them back, it will only justify their attempt to kill us.”

He blinked at me and shook his head side to side in surprise. “She nearly did kill us both! Your leg should have disintegrated! They tried to kill us just like—”

I spun to him and growled, the pain in my leg driving me to levels of rage I didn’t know I had. Nyota’s suicide attempt was still fresh in my mind as I put my blood-covered nose up to his and snorted harshly enough to force his eyes closed. “That doesn't make us better ponies, if we just kill them without mercy! I killed two ponies for sure today, I don't know how many didn't get out of the explosive blast, either! I didn't mean to kill anypony!” Tears washed my vision into a blur, feelings of wanting to tear myself apart added to mixture. I had killed ponies for the first time. At least, creatures I could consider ponies. Was killing molerats, ghouls, then raiders... was this just a natural progression into actually killing ponies?

“I'm a teenager! I shouldn't be fighting a war or killing anypony; no pony should be doing this. Now, make sure she is healed. Let me know when she comes to, I need to speak to her, and we need her alive.” I stomped a hoof into the debris under us to cut off any further conversation. I muttered under my breath, “Even if just for my own conscience to be at ease.”

“Sunrise you realize she might wanna kill you when she wakes up right?” Pink said to me as I glared at the mare shrugging in the bottom of my vision.

No, and I have no clue what I’m going to do with her once she is awake. I just hope she isn’t spiteful and actually grateful we went through the trouble of saving her.

“Well about that, ya see I might have a few ideas on the plan from here.”

Once I'd heard out Pink's plan, I studied the mare's features, while Quick Stitch stood and watched over his work. She had a surprisingly long mane underneath the helmet. The pegasus started to groan and my tail grabbed for the shotgun, shoving it right into her mouth. We stared at each other, my eyes full of spite and determination, while hers burned with hatred. Her wing revealed a steel apple with a red band around it. Her other wing set to pull the stem. Incendiary grenade, great. I figured I wouldn’t miss a hidden grenade, being the explosives expert. If I was gonna get her to talk, she would have to put that down.

“I just want to talk. I'm gonna take this shotgun out of your mouth and you're going to not pull the pin. You're going to hand that over to me, nice and easy, unarmed.” I ordered, and pressed the shotgun slightly further into her head. “Just nod if you understand. I'm not gonna hurt you if you agree to this.”

The tension mounted up as I could see her wing ready to rip the stem off the apple and let the napalm explosive fly out.

I don't know if we'll survive that explosion, or not burn to death after the fact. This mare certainly won't. What do I do?

“Ya know, the truth might actually work. That and some assurance you aren’t gonna hurt her.” Pink said rolling across my view and pointing at her with both hooves from top to bottom.

It only took a few seconds to piece something together and talk out of my flank, “Hey, don't be hasty here. I'm gonna pull the shotgun out and you hand me the grenade, with the stem still on it. No pony is gonna hurt you, you have my word.”

Slowly my tail pulled the end of the barrel out of her mouth and my tail kept it trained on her, ready to pull the trigger.
There was a trail of saliva between the end of the boomstick and our captives lips before she spoke. “Alright, I'm handing it over now. Stupid dirt pony.” Slowly, she passed the grenade towards me and I extended my good hoof, taking it from her, pin still inside.

Alguacil walked in as Quick Stitch let out a sigh of relief. I looked at him and gave Quick Stitch a hug, wincing as my leg wasn't quite prepared for the effort. “Alright, thank you Quick Stitch,” I whispered into his ear, while my tail stole another shot of Med-X from his saddlebags and used it immediately. He gave a questioning look as the rush of cool relief passed through my leg.

“When you're done, come see me,” he whispered back. “Doctor's orders.” The last words were audible by everypony in the room as the stallion walked out past our griffin regulator.

“Alright, Sunrise, I'm gonna interrogate her and take her ears,” Alguacil declared, taking out his revolver and spinning it into position. The mare glared at me with hate filled eyes, the glare clearly spelling out: you lied.

I grabbed his gun with both hooves, wanting to cry out in pain when my foreleg throbbed with pain through the painkiller. Instead, I used all my might to wrestle the griffin’s aim down. “No, I made a promise, we aren't hurting her!”

“Sunrise, darling, what in tarnation!” The griffin declared and scowled at me. I glared back, ready to draw blood. “I'm a regulator, she broke the law. The law says I take her ears after you’re done with her.”

I growled at him, “We need this mare alive, and I didn't go through all the trouble of saving her just to have you kill her. So, unless you're gonna shoot me too, we aren't hurting her.” As I spoke, I trotted between the two of them, facing down my friend while looking away from our captive. If the pegasus wanted to hurt me, now was her chance. Alguacil made a show of pointing his gun up to the half collapsed ceiling and slowly lowering his weapon into the holster.
I turned back to the mare, “We're gonna talk for a bit, understand?”

“I'm not talking to the dirt pony, I'll only talk to the bird brain,” she shot back with a stare at me that could have killed. Oh come on! I just saved your life you ungrateful racist!

Alguacil and I looked at each other then back at her, “Alright, fine. Alguacil, ask this pony her name and why they shot at us.”

Alguacil stared at me with a dumbfounded expression and raised a talon in a 'what' type of mentality. “If she won't talk to me directly, we'll do this. At least till she has some trust in what we say.”

Alguacil looked at the mare. “What's your name, and why did you shoot at Sunny?” I grimaced at him calling me Sunny, but I'd let Nyota get away with it, too. I felt like I was in over my head, making decisions no pony had business making: ones that meant life and death or would end friendships.

“We were under orders. Shoot any dirt pony or traitor down here that approached,” she looked to me and spat at my hooves. “Nothing personal, damn savages.”

I started to pull my own revolver and then stopped myself, No, she wants me to shoot her. Prove this stubborn pegasus wrong. I steeled myself against her antagonizing and kept my weapons holstered.

“Perhaps we have gotten off on the wrong hoof. I assure you, you'll be free to go, unharmed, even rejoin your ponies in the sky when we leave.” The pegasus didn't stop glaring at me, her eyes following every moment of my hooves and tail as I spoke. The amount of hatred there would make any pony feel offended, just seeing those eyes. “Now, can we talk directly?”

She didn't answer, and Alguacil pulled out his back-up pistol. I turned to stop him, when he fired a shot into the ceiling. He easily pushed me aside now that he saw me coming. He pistol whipped her across the muzzle and held me off with the other talon. I did everything in my power, but couldn’t push past him, like some bully in the schoolyard holding me off by the forehead. All I could do was watch in horror as he pressed the smoking, heated barrel of his backup revolver against the mare's nether regions. She howled then pulled his arm with both hooves. “More! Go on!”

“Alguacil! Knock it off and get out!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. The griffin withdrew the pistol and holstered it but did not leave the room. “Quick Stitch just patched her up. I didn't ask him to do that just to have you hurt her more.” The two of us stared each other down, my eyes glaring into his. Neither of us wanted to move or back down. I wasn’t sure I could trust him anymore, and I wanted to smash his face as hard as I’d done to Corners. The pegasus insults drove the two of us to be more angry than we should have been. Then, something unexpected saved us from blows.

“Alright, I'll talk to the filly.” Both of us turned to the mare with raised eyebrows and expressions of surprise. “If it will get me out of here faster, I'll talk to the damn child with all the high explosives.”

I sighed and looked away from Alguacil; I couldn't keep up with that regulator's stare, nor his anger. “Deal with it later. You need to get Hot Cross Buns and get out of here, Sunrise. You can talk to the griffin on the road.”

Dammit, Pink! Stop making so much sense! My attention fully turned to the mare and I moved so my body was between her and Alguacil again. “I'm Wandering Sunrise, what's your name?”

She sat her back straight against the wall at attention, “Private First Class, Black Hawk, Pegasus Grand Enclave. Alpha-7-7-6-Phi-8. 17^th Recon Squadron.” I saw a radio pulling up with the other wing, her hoof getting ready to push the broadcast button.

“Don't do that. Look, if you do that now, I'm gonna have no reason not to let Alguacil shoot you. Do you really think your friends will get down here to rescue you before he does that?” I said a short prayer to Celestia when I finished speaking, and she slowly lowered the radio, which I took from the mare. I tossed it into the pile of things I'd already removed from her.

“Alright, Black Hawk, listen. Where is Hot Cross Buns?” I asked and leaned in, hoping she had the answer. The mare bit her lip and didn't answer. “Look, that pink striped zebra led us here. Said Hot Cross Buns was really close before I started talking to your friends. Now, please, is he here and alive?”

The pegasus chewed her lip a bit and nodded. “Yes, he's alive. He's in the building that used to be the town hall, locked up with the rest of our prisoners.”

I let out a sigh of relief. We found him. We had managed something seemingly impossible.

“What prisoners?” Alguacil shot back, trying to step closer to the pegasus and finding my body in the way.

“We had to interrogate them about the weapon. We were told to get him and drag him back.” The mare took a breath and looked at us like she was expecting me to hit her. I motioned for her to continue. “He talked, and this morning I drew the straw to execute that traitor, but I wasn't gonna do it on an empty stomach or during daylight hours, so I was waiting till after dinner.”

Joy to the world, we made it in the nick of time. While I was enjoying Hearth's Warming dinner, that poor pegasus was being tortured. While I was puking up my guts and setting Chifundo up on a date, he was spilling his guts and convinced no one was coming to save him. I rolled my eyes to push my guilt aside and looked at Alguacil. The griffin huffed and started towards the mare again.

“Alguacil!” I shouted, and the room echoed with my voice. He stared at me and growled. I looked him in the eye, as deep as my vision could pierce into his soul. “Go find the prisoners they have and make sure Hot Cross Buns is tended to.”
The much larger regulator looked me over, from my tail up to my snout and then back into my eyes with his. The silence only made the tension thicker, before long I swore we were all breathing barely held down rage instead of oxygen.

“Sunrise, when you're done here, we're gonna have a long talk.” He stormed out past me before I could reply and shoved me aside, almost into Black Hawk, who slid against the wall to avoid touching me.

Corners walked in and the griffin stopped and snorted at her. “Out of my way.” The box pone shuffled aside. Alguacil stood there for a minute and then picked up the combat knife I had taken off Black Hawk. He slammed it down into the door frame hard enough that the old wood splintered and that part fell onto the floor. I lowered my head and was glad that was over.

“Corners, I have never been so glad to see you in all my life.” Corners smirked behind her box slit and gave a shrug.

“Listen, I need you to rig a box of some sort with a timed lock, can you do that? Do you have the junk you need for that?” I asked her placing a hoof against the side of the box.

She nodded inside the box and smiled. Then she set to work, looking around for a box within the two other rooms of the half-collapsed structure.

I took out a rope into my teeth, while my tail got my revolver and pointed it at her. She got up onto all fours and I moved in close, and within moments—just like Spring Bronco—her wings were tied to her body. I took the SMG and loaded it. “Now look, I'm gonna leave this and your radio in here, with a timer set for a little over two hours. Then, I want you to call up to your Enclave.” I paused and took a breath as I spelled out Pink's plan. “You're going to call them to come get you. Say you were injured in the explosion during a raider attack and just came to. You're going to tell them that Hot Cross Buns was killed in the crossfire with the raider band, and you're going to go home. Got it?”

Alguacil was still in the doorway, and he turned to give me a vengeful, angry staredown, his eyebrow twitching at me. It was the same look he gave when he mentioned raiders or slavers, and how much he hated them. He pulled a talon up and pointed at himself, then me, his claws making a talking motion between them, and then left.

Alguacil got out of my sight as Corners approached, with a suitcase that had the combination lock replaced with an egg timer. Ingenious, I thought to myself, and then looked at the other filly, giving her box a hug. “Alright, thank you, Corners. Now, can you give me a spare low caliber weapon, some ammo, food off one of the pegasi, and water?”

The box lifted and within a few moments of shuffling around inside, Does she have an entire store in there?, the items rolled from under the box. A 9mm submachine gun, a box of 9mm ammo, and the other things I asked for. “Thank you, Corners. Go on and go scavenge what you can, but make sure somepony is watching out for you while you do.” She giggled and started to shuffle out of our temporary interrogation room.

The mare stared at me, dumbfounded, the look on her face comical by the comparison of everything else that had happened today. “These are all for you when we leave. So just sit tight and wait, got it?” I repeated to snap her out of her stupor.

She shook her head lose and nodded, “Yeah, I got it, Sunrise. You're serious about giving me a weapon?”

I grinned and handed the 9mm to my tail. Without having to tell it what to do, the tail pressed the barrel against my side where the stubbornite plate was. There was a bang and a dull impact into my ribs.Then a twinge of pain I hadn’t expected, somehow I prevented myself from wincing. That hurt a lot more than it should have. The SMG pulled away, and I pushed a hoof against the impact point to hold a flattened 9mm slug out to the pegasus. “What I'm leaving you with can't hurt me in this armor. So, I'm not worried.”

The pegasus looked at me like I was a two headed cockatrice. She was clearly terrified of the filly that was just over her shoulder in height. I stuffed the items into the suitcase and then scribbled down a note. Pink's plan had one piece that I actually liked: the part where I was going to follow the example of Big Mac and Fluttershy.

I'm sorry we had to shoot at each other. I doubt we'll ever be friends. Go on and return to your people, if you ever wanna talk I'll be tuned to radio frequency 144.3 FM at 7:33-7:40pm on my PipBuck, just call down. I won't be able to talk back but if you wanna meet at a town, I'd be willing. Otherwise forget about us and everything that happened down here. I know burying your friends won't count for much but hopefully we at least can respect each other.

Wandering Sunrise

Something hit me as I looked up at Black Hawk and that Enclave E on her armor called out to me. In a flash, I was in a memory.

ooOOoo

Unknown Date

I was standing in the rain, but mud wasn’t on my hooves, blood was. This was somewhere else... no, this was here, in the ruins of Las Pegasus. This very suburb, unchanged since before we arrived, save for the collapse of two more buildings.

This pegasus mare was pink with a bright orange mane. She was clad in the same armor like Black Hawk, except her brains were blown all over the ground.

What is this? When is this? My host looked down: it was me, with green coat and all. I was wearing the stable 43 jumpsuit and a shotgun dropped to the ground from my mouth. It was my shotgun from before we modified it for 12 gauge. Agony pulsed through me with each heartbeat. Something about this was all too real. Blood dripped from my snout and mouth; my blood.

A host of ponies I did not recognize rushed forward. Before I got a good look they became shadows, so that I could barely see anything other than darkness about them. I staggered towards them. A foreign but familiar voice of a mare called out to me, “Sunrise, oh no, Sunrise.” I fell forward into the Enclave pegasus. My vision looked into her blown out eye socket and the pony brain leaking into the mud and blood. Something inside gave when I fell, my lungs rasped and then refused to function. I couldn’t breathe. A blue earth pony in a filly scout uniform picked up my head.

I strained to get a view of the face, all I could make out were tearful brown eyes and an unkempt brown mane. A name came to my lips, my lungs deflating slowly and refusing to take in a fresh breath. “Coffee Stain…” The words felt strained just to get out; rapidly, my brain was disconnecting. Limbs grew cold. My whole body began to shake and shiver as my heart tried to beat and my lungs burned to work but couldn’t.

“Oh, Sunrise, please don’t, don’t go again.” Again? What do you mean, again? This doesn’t make any sense? How is this my memory? This is the wasteland? Why, why am I-

ooOOoo

I was interrupted by a confused looking Chifundo and Nyota both poking my cheek and nose. The vision of the two friendly zebras was certainly more welcoming than anything else. I looked from one to the other, and they both let out a sigh of relief. “Sunrise, my friend, you were gone for a bit, perhaps you can tell us the reason behind it?” Chifundo said.

I shook my head slowly. “I wish I could really explain it. Let’s worry about that later, and get to moving.” I racked my brain to get the memory loose, and left the strange mare in there. I was wincing with every step, now, my right foreleg screaming like I was being tortured. “Chifundo, can you go see if those zebras are willing to help us now? And what the story is behind them and the Enclave?” Quick Stitch joined us outside and left Black Hawk in the ruined house alone.
“For prisoners, they have been most cooperative, I think with Nyota that was quite decisive.” Chifundo gave me a nod and turned with a flourish to trot back towards the three dashite marked zebras. “I shall work with them and their help implore, for that possibility, I think, they are more than willing to explore.”

I looked up at Nyota and Quick Stitch and I was immediately embraced into a hug. I gritted down on my teeth to bear through the agony that radiated from my thigh to my shoulder. "One of you, I don't care which one, needs to patch my leg. Alguacil is about to come out with a lot of rescued ponies. I don't want them to get demoralized by the fact that their rescuers are too badly hurt to protect them."

Nyota nodded and looked at Quick Stitch. "I think you should keep your magic prepared for a possible ambush," he said, then reached into his saddlebags with his mouth and fished out a potion. "Do you have a medical brace or splint?"
Quick Stitch Shook his head, and the unicorn's horn glowed with the soft, flickery orange I was familiar with. As he started to work, my tail put Nyota's eye patch back on him and gave the zebra something to smile about. "Save the potions for when we need them." He tipped his head towards my leg and Nyota picked it up with two hooves to hold it straight and steady. I felt the washes of energy as he mended the bone and forced my muscles to regenerate. "We're really going to have to get some extra padding for your legs if this keeps up, Sunrise."

While I was being healed, I peered across the ruins towards Chifundo and the zebras that he was speaking with. He noticed my curiosity, and cast me a reassuring smile and wave, but was too engrossed in discussing something with the zebras to stop and speak with me. I almost wished he would come and talk, because the healing was starting to hurt. At least from the expressions on the new zebra’s faces, they were certainly getting along. I thought for a second that Chifundo had even told a joke, because they were laughing together. Sharpness of pain brought me back to reality of my broken leg.

I could feel the bones inside moving—painfully might at add—back into place. Every little fragment gathered up one at a time and was put back into place. The muscle tissue was being forced to grow, and that hurt worse than any growth pain I'd ever endured. When the tendon was being mended back together, it felt like Quick Stitch was literally sewing flesh and sinew back into place, and my insides were his string to sew with. Of all the ways to hurt a pony, I never suspected that magical healing would be one.

I pointed with my other hoof to the PipBuck, and then to the leather gloves I'd gotten from the construction site. Then the pain of having a bone set shook me into a scream I only stifled by biting my lip down hard enough to draw more blood. Nyota worked to roll up the armor plating and expose as much of my right foreleg as possible.

“You still shouldn't be walking on that leg. I know you don't like it, but someone should probably carry you until we're sure you're fully healed." Nyota insisted, with grim determination plastered across his face.

My PipBuck had shielded my leg below the knee, but above, the scorch mark penetrated straight through armor, plating, and muscle, straight to the bone. There was a blackened hole in my armor the size of a carrot top. I looked at the PipBuck and had to strain my neck to check on the screen to see that it was fine and functioning. This whole time, Nyota was staring at me, expecting an answer. "I can rest it at camp tonight. Right now, just like the last time we rescued some ponies, they can't see how badly we are injured. Especially Black Hawk." Both stallions raised eyebrows at the mention of the name before my tail pointed back into the collapsed home, “The pegasus we captured.”

"Then allow me to carry you,” Nyota spoke, and I could hear the emotions spilling from his voice, and the tears he was fighting back. “You're not weak for accepting a friend's aid. You shouldn't be walking on that leg."

I let out a disgruntled grunt at Nyota and then looked at Quick Stitch. "How far can I safely run on it before you would be too concerned that I should get off it?"

Quick Stitch winced at the burned muscles his horn was working on. Even for him, MEW burns were no joke to fix, as his brow furrowed and strained to complete his work. The stallion wavered slightly in his concentration, speaking as the glow of his horn dimmed. "Ideally? Now. But your leg is set and the bone is healed." He nodded his horn towards the leg and tapped it, which elicited a yelp from my lips. "Just remember that the more you move it, the more it's going to hurt when I stitch it back together tonight."

"Please, Sunrise, pride will only hurt you more this time, the fact that we're walking away from this at all is more than impressive enough," Nyota demanded and set my leg down while stomping his hoof in the dirt.

"A lot of other ponies didn't. You almost didn't. I almost didn't." Looking back, Quick Stitch took note of the two black circles burnt on the left side of his armor and hoofed at them, trying to scratch under his armor. "The leg is fixed, but good as new is... beyond me, still. You'll need me to do some minor repairs every time you walk on it till the healing is done."
Nyota hugged me tight to his chest and whispered against my ear just loud enough for Quick Stitch and myself to hear him, "Let us help you, let your friends carry your burdens this day, Sunrise."

I looked at Nyota then craned my neck against his clinging legs to Quick Stitch, "We almost die everyday out in this hellish world. Look, Nyota," My tail pointed for me at the refugees emerging with Alguacil. All of our attention were on the ponies, especially a pegasus that looked like Hot Cross Buns, covered in injuries and part of his wing broken off. A motley group of ragged survivors were gathered around in various states of torture and neglect. There was another pegasus stallion, two female unicorns, two earth ponies—one a grandpa and the other a blank flank—and three more mare earth ponies, all three different ages. The curious one was a teenage dragon, larger than a full sized pony.

I had to stick to Pink's plan, or as close to it as I could. "This isn't about pride. If they are convinced we are in no shape to keep them safe, what is to keep them trusting us to keep them safe?"

"The fact that we already have, the fact that you're resting to make sure you're prepared for the possible fight to come, and the fact that we're leading them somewhere safe should be more than enough reassurance.” Nyota tried to make me understand. “That and the fact that we're not demanding payment for our services."

Our unicorn friend nodded in agreement, "On top of that, I'm going to go to each of them and make sure they're all healed up and ready travel before I go to bed." Quick Stitch let out a heavy-hearted sigh and hung his head. "I'm sorry to say it, Sunrise, but if we weren’t here to protect them, most of them would either be severely hurt or dead already..." He trailed off like he wanted to say something else, but didn't finish the sentence.

I grumbled under my breath and snorted at both of them, "Then who’s gonna carry that baby dragon? We'll have about an hour and a half at most before that timer I set lets that pegasus call and report the story she is supposed to feed them.” I looked from stallion to stallion, expecting an answer, and then stomped my hoof. Immediately I regretted that, as it just made my next words crack with the pain I was suffering. “We need to be at a full gallop until my PipBuck chimes up with whatever she says."

"On that leg? You simply cannot do that, if needs be I can carry you both," Nyota shot back and then booped my nose before inserting a hoof into my mouth. "You worry too much about image and not enough about yourself."

I am actually starting to like the taste of that. Should that be happening? My thoughts were lost at the feelings of how much extra effort he’d given to me. Wait, is he babying me? I shook my head and got the hoof out of my mouth.

“Nyota, I can take care of myself. Let me walk on my own.” I know I can’t, but dammit, I’m not about to let him baby me or treat me like a little filly.

Quick Stitch blinked at the statement, looking to Nyota, and over his shoulder to the rest. "Sunrise... That's a lot of weight to put on your own shoulders. I don't think any of us would ever actually bring another to harm, whether you were here or not.” Quick Stitch stepped up next to me and thrust his chest out like a soldier reporting for duty. “I can't pretend to understand why you're having so many doubts about yourself, but I'm with you, and I'm sure that the others would say the same thing."

I shook my head lose and got the hoof out of my mouth. "I didn't realize how bad Alguacil was till today, nor did I know that I could ever aim to kill anypony." I cast a glance at my tail, which had chosen this moment to go into hiding on the opposite flank. "Then my stupid tail threw that landmine, and the next explosive got easier, and easier, and... how easy it must be for all of you."

I paused and turned my gaze to Corners, who was scavenging stuff from the bodies. "I realized at some point afterward that Alguacil might actually kill Corners, just like he was about to do that pegasus I went out of the way to save."

Quick Stitch looked to at me. "I'm not going to lie to you. I know you don't agree with me when I say that there are some ponies that the Wasteland would be better off without." He frowned and surveyed the battlefield. "Killing another pony is never easy," he rubbed a hoof against his leg, not wanting to keep talking. "Even when you’re brought up to do it." When he got to Alguacil leading the ponies in our direction, he gave a false smile at the two of us. "Our gunslinger might be impulsive, but I don't think he'd ever just stop and shoot a pony." Squinting, he spotted the glimmer of the pistol at his hip. "Especially with that justice spirit whatsit he's got now."

Justice what? When did that happen?

“Later, Sunrise, we have things that have to be done right now.” Pink bounced into view now, pointed at a dry erase board with a series of instructions, and what looked like a buckball play drawn on it. “Focus on the plan!”

I looked over to the pegasus sitting just inside the doorway of the house I left her tied up in, "You didn't see him torturing that pegasus mare we busted our flanks to save."

"Maybe not," Quick Stitch rebutted, "but I have to believe that a Regulator would at least have restraint; for my own sake if nothing else."

I looked at Nyota now, and stared into his eyes so we could share what each other felt. I felt lost and confused, wondering if I had much choice left with what to do about the conflicts I had with my friends. "Any zebra wisdom? Because I'm open to suggestions. And I want to know I can rely you two to make sure Alguacil doesn't do anything that sends him off the deep end."

Nyota chuckled finally to break the tension. "Sunrise, if you're looking for zebra wisdom, you should talk to Chifundo. I'm not going to lie to you; Al isn't a typical Regulator... he's too zealous in his definition of justice.” He paused and set me down onto all four of my own hooves again, then puffed out his chest like Quick Stitch had done. “I will step in if necessary but I cannot say I blame him." I started to speak only to receive that hoof into my mouth again, as he said, "They attacked us with little to no reason. If they'd been willing to talk, everyone would still be alive.” I struggled to try to get the hoof out, only to have him hold it perfectly in place to keep my mouth shut. “But they've closed up the sky. They're the reason we only rarely see the sun or moon, they're the cause of all the rain and gloom, and they treat us like animals. We gave them the chance to be better, and they squandered it. It may get easier to throw the grenade, but it never gets easier to bear the weight of a life taken." He looked down at his other hoof, staring at the injury still there.

"The only reason I let you go after Sugarcube was because I felt it needed to happen, and I knew that there were plenty of us around in case it escalated.” I kept grumbling and tried to get loose, only to have him putting that other hoof onto my shoulder to get me to stop struggling. “I would never let any of us hurt another pony in any serious manner without stepping in."

Finally, I brought my good leg up and removed the hoof from my mouth. "I swear, I'm getting used to the taste of your hooves!" I almost shouted at him, then remembered to lower my voice back down. "No reason to prove them right. The pegasus gets let go, in one piece. I left a radio frequency with a time of 7:33pm that I'm suppose to listen to, in case she wants to talk, as well as a meal and that beat up grease gun we found in the tank." I took a hoof-free breath and smiled at him, with the signs of surrender written over my face. "I'll ride on your back, someone else will carry the dragon but ONLY if that mare leaves here without anymore torture or any reason to hate us. We also need to tend to the dead bodies somehow, but I'm not sure we can."

Quick Stitch bit his lip for a second, taking a glance around once more us as Nyota and I turned to him for ideas. "They're all kind of a mess at this point. I know it's not something everypony agrees with, but I've gotten into the habit of burning bodies." he trailed off, knowing that he was likely to get a retort from the earth pony.

Nyota looked at Quick Stitch. "Given the time we have left, we won't be able to do anything for the dead without neglecting the living. The pegasus will remain unmolested until we go. After we leave? It's up to her ability to survive in the wastes while she waits for her kin to pick her up."

At least they agree with me on this one and aren't fighting me on everything. Right, so we’re using Pink's plan, just modified slightly.

I looked around the buildings and saw a cellar door, which struck me with an idea. "Quick Stitch, would you consider putting pony bodies into a basement and burning the building down a good burial? That way they are under the rubble and underground?"

The unicorn blinked and looked clearly shocked. "I'd still say it was better than leaving a pony to rot. At least that way no animals would get at them, and they wouldn't be spreading diseases to make others sick. I'm not saying it's the best way, just that it is a way."

"I guess I'm the outlier in this instance,” Nyota spoke up and a smile had finally crossed his face. He gave a satisfied grin and I rolled my eyes, smiling despite myself. “Creatures die all the time and nourish the others either as meat, or as food for the soil to grow stronger plants. Burning and burying deprive one or both of vital nutrients... and again, we're on the clock. Unless you know some way to collect all of their pieces, it's better to let nature take its course."

Look at Nyota and then Quick Stitch. "It will have to do. Big Mac is reported to have buried the zebras he fought against and had somepony give them last rights.” I looked over at Chifundo, who was still talking away at the other zebras that had surrendered to us. I noticed a brand over their glyph marks: a cloud with a lightning bolt on it, like Sparrow had described, and it looked the same as the brand on Hot Cross Buns. The group of rescued ponies sitting around Alguacil and the last
zebra looked like a ragged group. To think, I would have been cursed to no end for pulling

“I think Chifundo can do that. If you can convince the other zebras to help us, it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to move all the bodies into that cellar and Chifundo can do a mass last rights. I'll make a grave marker, and Quick Stitch can get ready to ignite the place." I looked at the two stallions after I finished explaining my plan. "Maybe we can even convince Black Hawk to help."

Nyota shook his head and let out a gentle laugh. "I doubt she'll cooperate. Remember, we're no better than animals to them. At the least I can try to convince the zebras to help." He reached out ruffled my mane. That feels nice, I have to admit. "But, while we're busy, you find a shady mostly clean spot to rest. You shouldn't be on your hooves right now, unless you want me to carry you around with me."

Quick Stitch paused once more before turning to Black Hawk again. "I know you don't like it, but at least you can know that we did what we could in the time we had," he said quietly, before going to help collect bodies.

I leaned on Nyota with my bad leg and started to walk towards the other ponies. Time to get everyone else on board.

Fan Art of the week:

Notes:

Level 6 Achieved! +1 Earth Pony bonus Perk.
Demolition Expert - You can now cook off grenades and other explosives to make them detonate precisely when it is most advantageous. You can also now modify explosives blast radius to up to +5 yards or -5 yards with the help of a workbench.

EP bonus Perk - Explodee Mc-Gee! - You really really like the world to go boom! Gain +2d10 damage on any explosion you set off, even if they are environmental.

Chapter 16: Explosive Consquences on a Soul

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Alguacil had several ponies whom I did not recognize in a flurry of activity in front of us. I recognized Hot Cross Buns by a workbench, pounding away at some metal. I could see part of his left wing was missing, cut off somewhere past the mid-joint. Wow, what could do that to a pegasus wing? Any thought of looking after him was put on hold by three zebras along with Chifundo stepping between us. Was that a dragon? A teenage dragon?

“Hello, little angel, we thank you.” The zebra took a bow at my hooves. I stared at her, completely taken aback and lost. My tail tugged on a rope, and I looked back to see that at some point a rope had been tied around Black Hawk, keeping her wings secured to her body while my tail was holding the other end.

“Alright, everypony listen up. We need to take a moment and bury the dead. Move the bodies into that cellar,” I pointed my braced leg over at a building with a set of steel doors leading into the earth. A twinge of pain echoed into my shoulder from forcing the movement. Nyota grabbed the leg to support it back into his grip. I looked to the pink-striped zebra, “Can you perform last rights for all them?”

Chifundo looked at me, dumbfounded. “Sunrise, this I can commit, but are you certain we have time to permit?”
“Make time,” I replied, while Quick Stitch began organizing the lot of them together. I leaned on Nyota heavily as I tried to put weight on my injured hoof, and he refused to let me walk on my own. I grumbled in his direction, and he met my gaze with a stare that would dominate Princess Celestia herself into submission. I lowered my head, knowing I couldn't win this argument. At least it doesn’t hurt as much.

“Nyota help me over to the shed. Black Hawk, stay with us.” Slowly, we made our way over to the shed and I took a piece of old wood. Corners passed me a knife and I smiled at her. “Thank you, Corners. Go see what else you can scavenge, especially on the roof. See if they got anything stowed up there.”

Pink giggled, but I stared her down to stop her from speaking. There was no need to talk, just the exchange of raw emotion was enough to quiet the pink pony. I started carving into a hunk of old wood from a building. “Just stay close to me, and make sure your former prisoners don't get any ideas.” In front of us, beyond earshot, bodies began to be dragged down into the cellar. It might not have been much, but it would be a final resting place. Everypony deserves some final place to rest. I pushed back the loathing accusations of murderer floating in the back of my mind. We can take time to grieve later, just get this done and keep yourself together, here Sunrise. You have to.

Chifundo continued speaking in a language I did not understand, while I started my work into the near petrified wood. “Black Hawk, what were their names?” My voice was cold and emotionless, it took the effort of a titan to talk right now and if I let even an iota of emotion through, the damn would break.

The mare made a whinny of surprise and stepped up beside me, while my tail tighten the grip on the rope, in case she tried to jerk away from me. Nyota followed her every movement, not letting down his guard, even if she was cooperative and tied up. “I don't understand, what do you mean, names?”

“Your squad, what were their names? If I'm gonna bury them, I want to know,” my reply was even colder, despite tears that ran down my cheeks as I fought away the pain in my leg. I felt Nyota's familiar hoof against my mane, trying to provide some comfort. He knew that my voice was well beyond it's normal happy go lucky way of speaking. None of us deserved what just happened. I have to make it right. Even if nothing will ever make it right. Nyota's grip intensified when my hoof flexed as I stumbled to stay on my hooves while working the blade into the support beam with my mouth.

I felt a cut against my cheek and winced when I lost control of the crude knife. I didn't let Nyota touch it and resumed working as much as I could waiting on Black Hawk's answer. The knife may have only cut the surface but I could feel that twinge of pain as real as if it had just cut me into my heart and ripped a piece out. Tears started to drip down as I relied on the comfort of Nyota and Pink to keep my emotions pushed back.

“Just put Pegasi soldiers of the 'Grand Pegasi Enclave'. I don’t want their names listed,” Black Hawk turned away and I could see tears in her own eyes. I nodded, and assumed it was some security protocol. My mouth worked through the tears until I was done. Tears had dried against my cheeks and slowly stopped, the work becoming my focus instead of the act of dwelling upon the guilt. It was like some weight was lifted from my shoulders and I could breath easily. I wasn't sure how long it took, because my PipBuck was currently being held away by the nicest zebra I'd ever met. He really is nice and cute, maybe I should say something.

Pink leaned in with big, starry eyes, and a long silent cheer on her lips, waiting for me to finish the thought as I traded the knife for a piece of chalk. Slowly, I drew the sunrise and a little pony angel with a small shotgun across the gravemarker. The hooves of this angel were clasped together, praying for the souls of the fallen. Then I took out another piece and highlighted the words I'd written. Every single movement felt like an anchor pressed into my soul and demanded that it's own pound of my psychic be drawn out.

"I'm Sorry it came to this. If any other way had been present, know I would have taken it."

My heart goes out to the ponies who fell here, regardless of whether they are of the wasteland, Enclave, or the old world.

We should take this as a reminder to be better ponies.

Wandering Sunrise

Where did I learn to write something like that? Why? Have I done this before? My thoughts were interrupted by my injured foreleg moving to be draped over Nyota's back as he started to push under me. “Hey! Hold up. Earth pony not on ground.” These were the only clumsy words I could manage to get out as I was lifted and hefted up. A few panicked horse noises later, my ribs were supporting me in a rather undignified position.

Black Hawk snickered as I found myself being laid across Nyota's back like a fresh hunter's kill. I looked at Black Hawk, eye-to-eye now, with our breath rolling over each other's snout. My expression was of indignation and disbelief, but the pegasus just grinned broadly. She could burst out into laughter, my tail yanked on the rope interrupting her instantly. She almost lost her balance and fell over. I grinned at her, now with a mutual understanding of who would be laughing in the end.

“Little angel, we need to show you something!” The zebra mare that had spoken to me before came forward. I raised an eyebrow and looked at the zebra, very confused.

“You know me? How? The radio? I'm very confused. Who are you?” The questions came faster than anypony had the ability to process and were only stopped by a zebra hoof in my mouth. Ya know, her hooves taste different, but I can distinctly tell the difference between zebra and other pony hooves now. Great, I can identify breed of pony by hoof taste. What's next, identify their tracks by taste?

“I am Serves-Many-Lords,” she replied, and nodded to make sure I would remain quiet. Then, the zebra removed her hoof from my mouth. “Every zebra knows of the small green mare. You are the angel with a shotgun, who has traveled the wastes and defended our kind in times of great need.”

I laid on Nyota's back, staring at the zebra like she was a huge, pink elephant. I looked at Nyota for an answer, and he looked at me and shrugged a shoulder into my rib. She didn't have a whole lot of distinctive features from the other zebras, save for the fact that she was the only mare. All three had their right flank branded in place of their glyph marks; The same lightning bolt with a cloud brand that Hot Cross Buns bore.

Serves-Many-Lords approached Nyota and gave a bow of respect, “Please, can you follow us? We have something to show the little green angel.”

Nyota shifted his shoulder to get a response from me. I took my good leg and stroked his mohawk mane, “I see no reason not to trust them. They stopped attacking us and are showing some sort of reverence? I don't wanna say ‘friendship’ yet, but we have trusted them this far.”

"Alright Sunrise, just be aware I'll throw you from my back so I can fight if she proves untrustworthy." Nyota replied and I stroked his mane with my good leg while holding the brace away from his flank so it wouldn't bang off of it. It was so strange using another pony as a mount but I got why he was doing this.

I motioned Serves-Many-Lords to lead on, as the three zebras took us into a building that had a damaged radar dish sticking out of its roof.

Within the building were the remains of what had once been an Equestrian military listening post. The roof was caved in, along with several computers that had been destroyed by debris and gunfire. Desks and chairs were in various states of destruction or ransacking. There was a Ministry of Wartime Technology poster plastered onto the wall, torn and faded. All of that wasn’t what drew my undivided attention.

The symbol I had been drawing—a sunrise with a pony angel holding a shotgun—was on the wall. It was made of chalk covered in gunpowder and wonderglue to preserve the drawing. It was my hoofwork, for certain; that or an incredibly good copy. There was no memory that came forward, no explanation, nothing. Just every indication that I had been in this place and felt compelled to mark it.

Nyota turned his head and looked at me. It was clear from his facial expression that he expected some sort of revelation. All I could do was shake my head and look at him in shock. The other zebras took a look at the symbol then gave me a bow. Black Hawk stared at the symbol, then looked at me, then the zebras. “Is there some religious thing going on here with you tribal savages?”

This brought a swift dash at Black Hawk from one of the silent zebra stallions, but Nyota raised a hoof and that stopped him mid-move. It looked similar to the Fallen Caesar style of combat, but without him completing the attack there was no certainty to how he would fight. "Black Hawk, I have about as much explanation as you do right now."

Pink, I'd like some sort of explanation right now!

“Well, if that were the case, you would think it would be that simple. Sunrise, do you think this is the first time you've been out of that stable?” Pink’s voice came out of the zebra who had just tried to attack Black Hawk and all of us stared at him stunned.

“Pink is that—” I started to say, but didn't get far.

“Me! Yes, it is. Hi, Sunrise!” Nyota let out a distressed whinny and staggered back a step. I placed a hoof against his mane and softly pressed forward to steady him. “You've been out more than once, silly! The memories are somewhere inside that memory-orb-rewritten mind of yours.” The Pink possessed stallion stood on her hind legs and made a noogie motion against his head. “You just gotta find them!” Black Hawk's jaw slacked to the ground, while we tried to take in what was happening.

“Pink,” I stated to get this creature's attention. Serves-Many-Lords and the other zebra both took up positions like they were going to attack at any second.

The high pitched mare's bizarre voice continued, “We just have to jog the memories loose.” She bounced up and down like a coiled spring towards us. Nyota took a step away and kept her at a distance. “Then all those events you keep dreaming of will make sense, and thennn we—”

“Pink!” I shouted finally, and Nyota winced since my mouth was right next to his ear. Every pony else in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Even Pink ceased her hopping.

“Yes, something wrong?” the possessed stallion replied with a giggle that would only be fit coming from a school filly.

“Pink, ask permission before you possess somepony!” How bucking freaky must it be for him? He suddenly isn't in control of his own body, nor is he even hearing anything close to his voice when he speaks? I'd be about ready to flip right out or need a good psychiatrist. My thoughts raced and I tried to piece it together wanting to understand exactly what was going on. I understood what Pink was now, she wasn't a figment of my imagination. She was something else that I had yet to fully grasp.

“Oh, it's fine, Sunrise. He is perfectly okay with it!” Pink was so enthusiastic that her reply was infectious, in a twisted way. Like you wanted to smile and nod. I shook my head to regain control of my morals and senses.

“Pink, ask permission, NOW!” Each word snorted with a second of pause as my anger at Pink became more heated. The stallion gave me an indignant grimace, and then suddenly looked very lost. His confusion amplified by the second till he nearly fell over, staggering around like he had just been put through a bladeless blender for an hour.

“Who, what, where... oh, great pink spirit who terrifies me to the core, what can I help you with?” The change in his voice was jarring. Even if it was what I had expected him to sound like, it still hit the sense as something unnatural had just occurred.

Good to know that Chifundo isn't special in that regard. Another zebra talking to the air. “You wish to use me as a vessel? Of course it's fine.” He suddenly snapped to, loosing his dizzy spell and his voice changed radically back to Pink’s.

“Oh, see, Sunrise? I told you it was fine! Besides zebra stallions are particularly fun!”

I glared at the Pink-possessed zebra with eyes that promised murder. Pink stopped giggling and stood at attention in reaction to my stare, even giving me an Equestrian Army salute. Serves-Many-Lords and her unnamed friend both dropped their guard, finally relaxing. Instead, they wore broad smiles across their lips and started to clop their hooves in jubilation.

I leaned in close to Nyota’s ear, “Does any of this make sense to you at all?” Nyota turned his head and slowly shook it side to side. I looked at Black Hawk, whose jaw was dropped to the floor. If not for the last week or so, I’d be you right now Black Hawk. Then, I turned back to the Pink-possessed zebra.

“Oh, Sunrise! You old kidder! I promise, you’ve had a whole lot more experiences out here in the wasteland than you can even fathom! Now, I've got to get back into your head.” Pink paused and her host made a face like she’d eaten a terrible tasting cake. “And I can only tolerate stallion bodies for so long!” Just like that, Pink was back on my HUD, and she started doing cartwheels along the individual compass degree indicators. She even moved up and down with the difference in 1, 5, and 10 degree lines.

“Sunrise! Get up here! I got something to show you!” I have never been more thankful in all my days to hear Corners' voice. I looked at Nyota as the celebratory cheers of zebras surrounded us; he didn't show signs of moving yet. Great, is he lost in the same level of crazy? Time to snap him out of it. My rear hooves nudged into his sides, and he snapped to me with a look of utmost reprisal.

“What? If you are seriously going to insist I lean on you and that you carry me around, did you not expect me to say giddy up?” I teased him, only to get a snort of zebra rage in return, before my zebra steed started to walk in the direction of Corners' call. My tail tugged along Black Hawk as a flurry of activity resumed near the prison. Ponies and that teenage dragon—Just where had a teenage dragon come from? I was always taught not to mess with dragons. To them we are crunchy and taste good with ketchup—were working busily to repair armor, make weapons, and Hot Cross Buns was fashioning something that looked like a wing.

“Sunrise, hurry up, you have to see this!” Nyota followed the sound of Sugarcube's voice, up the stairs of a building that lacked two walls. As we emerged onto what was left of the roof we were greeted by quite the sight. A large oval-shaped craft with two wings, each with propeller engines at the tips of the wings. A vertibuck. It wasn't in operational shape, but it was still mostly intact.

“Did you know this was here?” My eyes were on Black Hawk.

“Well, yeah, but it doesn't work. We were using it for parts for our main transport,” Black Hawk stopped and looked at me with a confused expression. My eyes were going over it, looking at the vehicle for everything on it that might work.

I looked at my PipBuck under the file I made from the Ranger Station two nights ago. 'Tank Parts'. “Does that Vertibuck have a class 1, 2, or 3 spell matrix, and does it still work?” I asked, looking at the pegasus.

“I'm not really sure, but, I mean, we could check?” The pegasus was genuinely offering. I was surprised she was being helpful but I wasn't about to turn down work that could distract me. As I slid off Nyota's back, —to a combination of my relief and his annoyance—he caught my chest before my forehooves could hit the ground and lowered me the rest of the way.

With the help of my tail later, the pegasus was untied, and I backed away slowly to see how she would react. Her wings unfurled and stretched out as she arched her back and pressed her hooves out. With a couple of flaps of her wings, the pegasus rolled her neck and let out a groan. “That feel better. Come on, give me a hand with this.”

Corners popped out her machine guns, and there was a click as the safety was removed. Nyota gave me a questioning look, while I looked back at him and nudged Black Hawk’s flank, almost falling out of Nyota's grasp in the process. “You know, you gave me a brace. I think I can walk on it.” All I got was a snort full of hot zebra breath and a glare. Right, whether I like it or not, if I want to do things, it’s my his way or I can sit in the corner.

Black Hawk had climbed up inside the vertibuck passenger compartment and removed a panel. “Come on, give me a hoof with this.” I trotted over—and by that I mean had Nyota hold my right foreleg while the rest of me moved forward. “I need a magical fission cell or a core to test it out.” I shook my head and leaned onto Nyota as I reached out and grabbed my PipBuck connector port. I offered it to the Pegasus.

“Oh, come on, that's cheating,” she moaned and took the connector to her mouth before clicking it into place. This was truly an awkward position: medical brace extended leg, trying to crane my neck to view the PipBuck screen, all while attempting to operate the device with my other hoof. I felt two hooves under me, pressed against the stubbornite chest plate in my armored duster and holding me up, and I was grateful for them. How does Nyota balance on his two rear hooves without help or support?

The screen tested the spell-matrix, and it came back with readings I needed, 'Vertibuck Operating Matrix 1187-62-2.' That last two was what I needed to know: it was class two, so it could be reprogrammed to operate the sand scorcher systems. “Yep, exactly what we need. Corners, can you take this spell-matrix section out intact?” I asked, and the little mare saluted inside her box at me like she had suddenly signed up for the Equestrian Military.

“Thank you, Corners for being a good pony,” I said, and she slowly eased her way out of the box. Box Pone slid her way up to me and wrapped her hooves around my chest. There was a soft awkward hug between us while I was still attached to the vertibuck and held up by Nyota. In spite of that, it was the best feeling I'd had all day. Finally, my leg gave a shot of pain and I had to pull away from Corners with a yelp. She winced and reared back like I had become lava and was about to explode all over her.

I smiled and looked at Black Hawk. “Unplug me, we got what we need.” A wing reached up and there was a click before the connector was pulled. We headed back towards the large group of rescued ponies along with Quick Stitch and Alguacil.

Quick Stitch had Hot Cross Buns on a table, working on his wing. The pegasus had a leather-wrapped piece of scrap metal in his mouth and was screaming out in agony into the bit, as his teeth ground into the leather.

Quick Stitch's horn was glowing and he was clearly working some sort of spell upon the pegasus and causing him a great deal of torment. The olive stallion's brow was furrowed harshly, while sweat dripped from his mane. The magical spark on his horn glowed brightly but was held steady as the intense surgery proceeded.

Chifundo stopped us and kept us all at a distance. Every pony here was armed with combat knives and improvised pipe rifles, and salvaged recon armor adorned their hides as well. The unicorn sisters were standing by Quick Stitch, using a rag to clean his brow and while another kept Hot Cross Buns pinned down. I looked away, wincing at the surgery that was transpiring.

I looked away and bit my lip, the sounds of tortured surgery enough to cause the pain in my leg to surge up; any amount of med-x pumped into me earlier was doing no good. Quick Stitch may have mended the leg but it certainly wasn't fully healed. That, combined with the memories of 9's attacks on my body, was all too much.

I've killed ponies today! I've gone to rescue other ponies and taken dozens of lives! And now I have to listen to this, this—

A hoof against my mane brought me back into the waking world before my memory could fully take shape and drag me into a trance. Nyota had me pressed to his chest, and though I was smaller than him, he still had to hold my head down to keep me there. I whimpered when a cry of dismay pushed the bit from Hot Cross's mouth. It was the final scream before the activity behind us died down. The glow of Quick Stitch's horn shot up brightly for just the briefest of seconds before it dimmed out completely.

Nyota shushed me and held me tight, “I've got you, Sunny, don't worry. They are helping him and it's over.” I pulled away from Nyota and turned back to see the group approaching me. Chifundo on my left, Quick Stitch walking right up the center, and Hot Cross Buns on the right, with extra space as he flapped his wings and winced. Slowly, he took flight for just the briefest of moments, and then let himself back to the ground. His left wing was a full quarter made of metal and wires.
“You, made a cyberwing in just a few minutes? Since we let you out?” I questioned, and then looked at my PipBuck. It had been almost an hour and a half since we had started to gather the salvage and scavenge everything. How long had I let Nyota hold me? I looked at the swirl-striped zebra, who just blushed and looked away like he knew something I did not.

“Not a full cyberwing, it's just a crude metal replacement.” Hot Cross Buns explained. "But I can't go back to her broken."

“Yes, nothing like this,” the taller dragon stepped up to us while he spoke. He was covered in scars across his gray scales and yellow scaled belly. He was about a head taller than a pony and walked upon his hind legs. That, however was a stark contrast to his left arm, which was made of robotic parts. Unlike the crude metal folds that I imagined were extremely painful, and lack any electronics to support them, this claw was a true marvel of the old world.

Jackal had tanned leather for his scales with a set of ruby red ones running down his spine sticking out as spiked plates. His blue eyes were filled with hurt and pain of things long since passed. His left claw was completely cybernetic, all the way from the elbow down. By ‘baby dragon’, I think we all meant more like a, ‘teenage dragon’, now that I was close enough to see him face to face. He flexed his claw and then resumed speaking, “At least he can get airborne again, but I wouldn't trust Hot Cross to outrun any pegasi anytime soon. Now, are we ready to go?” This dragon creature was impatient, and Hot Cross placed a wing over his chest.

“Down, Jackal. These are our rescuers.” Once Jackal backed down, Hot Cross turned back to us. “Besides, the Enclave will take time to assess and try to determine what happened before they send any more teams down.” He pointed around and we could hear the squawking of radios asking for a report, but none was coming. Nyota kept me propped up while we spoke, and my stomach started to twist at the thought of what could be powerful enough to shear off a dragon's leg or a pegasus wing.

“Oh, Sunrise! You're always so squeamish! No matter how many ponies you blow up. I love how pure you remain.” Pink teased while laying across her belly with forehooves propping up her chin while rear hooves swayed in the air. She appeared to be the size of a mare, and the other ponies even seemed to step around or avoid directly touching her. If they could not hear or see her, they certainly sensed her. She shrank back down before my eyes and pulled out a lawn chair to watch my actions from the bottom right of my HUD.
Pink I swear you have lost your marbles. While I want an explanation whatever you mean by that keep it! I'll figure it out later when I have time to digest it. I was trying to hide just how much her words stung. I wanted to cry out in agony right then and there, burst into tears and curl up in a ball. I had just killed ponies, ghouls, and whatever those demon things were. None of which sat well with me.

Hot Cross looked at me like he was expecting something, and then gave a bow, “I'm glad you showed up when you did, thank you all for rescuing us.”

I held up a hoof and shook my head. “We were sent here, by Sparrow.”

“She...she hasn't given up on me? You mean she knows you are here looking for me?” He bit his hoof and looked around nervously as he started to pace, “She really waited all this time?” He paused and flexed his newly repaired wing. “I, I thank you Quick Stitch. I couldn't go back to her broken.”

Chifundo piped up and stepped between us, “She has been waiting so long, in hopes that were not permanently gone.”

How? Right now, I wanna know how you manage to rhyme without a second thought!

“Please, we are here to make certain that you end up in Silver Fang Shanty,” Chifundo offered him a hoof and a delighted smile.

“Jackal and I were convinced we were not going to get out. We didn’t expect some escort was going to show up and save us. It's been months, she still held out hope?” Hot Cross looked at us, stunned, as the dragon walked from behind him and tugged his wing.

“Thank you, whoever you are. I just hope you don't turn out to be more bad ponies,” The dragon almost snorted at us and his words cut only slightly less because we were there to save them. Though, with the volume of dead, I didn’t feel like a hero.

“I'm Wandering Sunrise.” I pressed my good forehoof to my chest and then motioned to the ponies around me. “These are my friends, who you already met. And yes, we are here to save you all and get you back to someplace safe.”

I looked at Black Hawk. “You are supposed to make sure they buy the story that we are raiders, and all these ponies are dead. Unless you don't think that will work and you'd rather stick with us?”

Black Hawk rubbed her hoof against the opposite foreleg and looked away with an embarrassed blush. The mare hesitated and then slowly turned back to look at me, “I don't think it will work. They are likely to just interrogate me and kill me.” She pushed her wings out and growled threateningly at me, “You should have just let me die!”

Alguacil approached us and pushed the pegasus away from me with a talon, then growled at me as he lowered down to look in my eyes. He looked like he might draw his pistol and shoot us both right then and there. He hesitated and my tail started to reach for the shotgun in the holster; I stopped it. Pink, this is my friend, I’m not shooting him! Even if he shoots me first. There has to be a better way and we both need to hear this. "You hear that Sunrise? You should have let her die! You've given her a fate worse than death and you gotta live with that!"

His words made me flinch. Nyota and Quick Stitch stepped between us and I didn't respond. I hadn't considered that some ponies would consider saving them a fate worse than just letting them die. I felt the tears starting to well up when Pink touched my cheek, "No Sunrise, not yet. Keep it together a little longer okay? We have to get safe first."

I returned to looking at Alguacil, holding back my tears of agony and just gave him a nod. He was right but I couldn't say a word right now, not without breaking down and losing myself to my own self-loathing. We kept staring each other down for what felt like hours till the noise of Corners dropping the spell matrix out gained my attention.

Alguacil's glare shifted off of me, and he stomped off in a huff to investigate the noise. Great, he's pissed at us saving her as much as he would be for us killing her. My head got light as the adrenaline left my body and I staggered into the arms of two familiar zebras. “Come on, let's get going, it will be well past nightfall before we return and when those radios stop squawking, none of us want to be here.” Nyota declared set me back onto my own hooves.

Nyota turned and presented his flank as Quick Stitch and Chifundo hefted me up onto his back, and within just a few minutes I felt something, the way his body moved it reminded me of being close to a pony and dancing.

ooOOoo

10 Months 28 Days Before Megaspell Day

This memory? Was after the Stable-Tec hospital, dad wouldn't let me out of his sight for nearly a whole month. We're at the gala?

I was surrounded by dozens of high society mares and stallions. My mane was stiff with hairspray, but done up to cascade just right over my shoulder. This dress covered my bare flank; if no pony knew me, they would say I looked like a fine, young, court-able mare. This dress was made of a sweet black veneer, infused with magic so that the pattern on it moved and shifted with my mood. That pattern currently was a detailed expression of rainbows, mixed with a slow-orbiting sun emitting the rainbow down from my shoulder to the hem at my rear hoof.

My mother had designed it, while some shop called Rarity's Boutique had made it here in Canterlot. I knew she was a ministry mare, but I doubted Rarity herself had worked on it. Something about all this made me uneasy; my father, here, a mechanic and engineer among these royal ponies and nobles? A slow waltz was played by a live band, and I looked to see Octavia leading them by her double bass. Of course some famous pony would be playing, wouldn't she? My thoughts were broken by a hoof extended to me, sweet gentle silver hoof and I looked up to see a stallion in military dress uniform.

A pegasus like my father, but with a scar running from his eye down to his chin in a crescent hoof shape. He was smiling at me expectantly while his suit didn't completely cover his flanks just halfway down in the dark blue of the wonderbolts. He had a curly white mane and tail mixed with his silver coating, and the initial S.Z. inscribed on his wonderbolt insignia to his left side. His cutie mark was that of a solid white-gold bow firing a platinum arrow, with the wind kicking up in white dust rings around it.

“Hello there, little mare, you must be Sunrise. Would you like to dance?” His voice was older than my father, or perhaps war-weary in comparison. I hesitated and then took his hoof as he dragged me gently forward.

Hoof-in-hoof we moved. he led, and I felt like I might stumble repeatedly, only to barely gain my footing at the last moment. Compared to this pegasus I was possibly the least graceful looking dancer on the floor. I looked up at him and blushed, the soft pink burning in my cheeks as I glanced away from him, “Did my dad put you up to asking me to dance?”

He gave me a mockingly wounded look, and then hung his head near mine, “Yes he did, but I thought I shouldn't take it easy on you.” We took another few steps and my rear legs were getting the hang of his complex movements before I was span around and brought into a backwards dip, supported by one of his hooves and his wing. My vision fell on the crowd around us. In all my stumbling, I hadn't realized we had slowly been given quite a wide berth on the dance floor, complete with onlookers. “Might I add, you are indeed a pegasus's daughter with how well you move. At least, more graceful than any earth pony I've ever met.”

I blushed once more as he used that hoof and wing to ease me back to all fours. A few ponies starting giving us a half-hearted clapping of their hooves. This was all interrupted by some pony's protests on stage and a microphone blaring out. Everypony turned their attention to the stage, and Octavia was standing there at the microphone to the horrified look of the band with her.

“Everypony, may I have your attention,” she began in an accented very educated way of speaking. “Mares and gentlecolts, this war has gone on long enough. Stallions like Silver Zoom of the Wonderbolts come back to us scarred and permanently damaged, while many ponies don't come back at all. Even with the loss of Big Macintosh, that doesn't give us the right to continue the brutality of bloodshed!”

Canterlot guards were rushing the stage now. I heard a set of hooves stomping into the room with heavy jeweled horseshoes. Princess Celestia herself moved into view and I stared at her in awe, I couldn't look away even as Octavia's voice sped up. “We must sue for peace! This has to stop! We have to avoid—” the microphone was cut off and silenced as the ponies around let out distressed gossip and murmurs.

When Celestia stomped her hoof, the whole room went silent and she turned her gaze onto Silver Zoom, who was standing next to me. I could see the cracks in the hardened marble floor under where she stomped. A deep sense of guilt filled me that any pony had dared anger an Alicorn much less something as beautiful as Celestia. “Now listen here, Silver Zoom, do you have any involvement or knowledge of this?” She demanded, turning her vision upon us. She looked at both of us sternly and stomped a hoof clad in gold armor.

“Your majesty,” Silver Zoom took a low bow and stepped just one hoof step in front of me. I saw my father being held back by the guards, while Octavia was being escorted off the stage by the security forces in their golden armor. “I knew she was going to do something, but nothing like—”

I felt a push, like some force had moved or compelled me to move. My body moved on it's own; I stepped between him and Princess Celestia, looking at her determinedly. There was a collective gasp from everypony around as my father dropped his jaw in disbelief. Princess Celestia looked down over her muzzle at me, staring a hole into my violet eyes with her own. I began to shake and quiver as she gazed down at me. There was a long, pregnant pause, and I felt like I might be smote into ash by an alicorn at any moment. Then, finally, her gaze softened.

“You, little mare, we're going to have a talk later. Silver Zoom, I suggest you recommend your musicians more carefully in the future.” Her voice was a commanding one, one that felt like if I disobeyed I'd be breaking some sacred oath. Celestia paused and looked back at me, turning her head slightly, “Your father is Rainbowrise, isn't he? Come along, I believe you should talk to some pony.”

Guard surrounded the two of us, and I was shoved next to Princess Celestia, “Do you want her detained, Ma'am?” one of the royal guards offered, and she laughed.

“Heavens, no, gather her father and have him wait outside my chambers. She is to come with me. A certain pony needs to meet this one.” Like that, we were led out of the dance hall by a dozen armed guards. I felt like I was going to a prison for having violated a high law against treason. Celestia refused to let me talk and the guards kept my hooves exactly in step with her's. A bright light hit my eyes and shattered the memory back to the waking world, no matter how much my mind wanted to hang onto this memory. A bright light hit us as we stepped out of the castle gathering hall and I was brought back to the current world.

ooOOoo

The spotlight shined onto my face as Nyota was nudging my face with his nose. “Come on, Sunrise, they need to see you to let us in.” I groaned out in protest. The memory, dream, whatever you call it, was one I didn't want to leave. The light hurt my eyes to even get them open.

I really hope I get to fully remember that when I sleep tonight. I slid down Nyota's flank and onto the ground, he caught me by the injured leg. I stifled a scream by biting into my lip, while Nyota slowly let me down rather than the quick impact the other three hooves had done. I looked at him and smiled wearily. “I'll be giving you that answer later.” He looked at me and blushed as he pulled away just enough that the spotlight shined back onto my face.

“Hey, open up. We're back.” I looked at my PipBuck and saw it was after 8pm. It was well after dark now when the drawbridge dropped and a certain mare came charging right out. She ran past us in a blur and tackled Chifundo into the concrete, rolling him across the dirty drawbridge, and the sloppy noises of them making out filled our ears. I looked at Nyota, who looked a combination of sickly pale and mortally embarrassed at the same time. We didn't know what to do or how to proceed, until Alguacil came up and poked at Picline with a claw.

“Okay, you two, get a room inside where we don't have to watch this,” he ordered, and then snorted at them while crossing the bridge. Within a few minutes we were inside, and I separated from my companions, going right up to the inn. Chifundo and Picline were already making enough noise to cause any pony to be embarrassed.

Seriously! I didn't know Chifundo could sound so feminine and sexually aroused at the same time! Good Goddesses, please, any pony shut them up! My cheeks burned while we heard the noises of the two of them till the mare at the counter got a silencing talisman onto the door handle of their room. The mare that ran the inn pulled up a checklist and looked at me.

“Is your friend paying for the silencing talisman, or are you?” She demanded, tapping a hoof against a clipboard that looked like it was from before I went into the Stable. I pulled out a bag of caps and counted twenty out for the talisman, and then another one hundred onto the desk.

“I need two rooms with locks, one for myself and one for another mare who will come in here later; black armor, pegasus, blue coat. Ask if she is Black Hawk,” I requested, and she gave me a key labeled with a big '2'. She took a few notes and gave me a second key with another big red '3' on the cooper-gold metal. I took them both, and saw the deep blood stains over my white hoof tips. The events of the day came rushing back as I hung my head, walking for the doorway with a red two on the dull steel key.

The work of the day and travel had worn at me, and now I was reminded I had seen something truly beautiful in the past. Well before I had done anything to hurt any pony. Now, I winced as I laid my sleeping bag in the corner and curled up inside it, still wearing my armor. I only kicked off my helmet and bounced it across the room as I lay there. I looked at my hooves; they were still stained in blood.

There were four beds in the room. It was the same one we'd slept in last time, except now I was alone, curled up in the corner and staring at my blood stained hooves. I couldn't look away. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut a dozen times. My whole life since I woke up seemed to have been leading to the point I'd kill a pony. Molerats, a sentry bot, Spring Bronco's death, killing the feral ghouls bothering Waffles, the scorpions, the raiders I tried to get to surrender and then throwing a land mine right at a pegasus. What were you thinking? It was a land mine! He was wearing virtually no armor compared to you! Neither of them were! You murdered those ponies! And PINK! You traitor! I wasn't supposed to—

“Sunrise, I know you were not supposed to kill other ponies. I knew if I told you they would probably die from it, you wouldn't have done it. But seriously, Sunrise, I had to get you through that. They were shooting at you, they would have killed you without a second thought!” Pink was screaming at me to shout me down and keep me silent.

I listened to Pink yell and shout me down, countering every argument I had, until I just started to sob and then outright bawl like a foal who needed a nap. I wailed and cried out in emotional agony while, Pink realized at some point she’d gone too far and started to stroke my mane with my tail. My mouth moved with the words of exactly how I felt, "I murdered those ponies. I'm not better than a raider." I felt like my world was crashing down, as the feeling crept into my mind that I would never be able to reclaim my life. I had done something unforgivable and the blood stains on my coat would never be washed away.

I had no idea how long I'd been like that, but the sobbing turned to a dull sniffle and the tears eventually dried up when I had no more. That didn't stop me from trying to keep crying, the sound of pathetic dry sniffles echoed through the room. I felt so tiny, so insignificant. I wanted to never get up from that floor; I wanted to replace those bodies in the cellar we left in Las Pegasus; I wanted them to live and me to be gone.

Level Progress - 12% of the Way to Level 7

Fan Art of the week: We have a plushie now!

Chapter 17: Sanity Saved by a Friend

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My eyes just stared at the blood on my hooves and the wall behind. I let out a slow sigh, and then I heard a hoof hit the door. “Sunrise, can I come in?”

“It's your room, the door isn't locked,” I called back, and Nyota entered. He looked at me curled up in the floor against the corner of the room and placed a hoof gently onto my shoulder. He rolled me over to face him and he stopped to stare at me. His face turned to dismay, and he pressed a hoof against my chin to lift me up so I'd have to look at him.

“Sunrise, I didn't... I didn't know you were so upset. What's going on, exactly?” He asked, but the only thing going through my mind was watching him hand me that eye patch before leaping to what I assumed was certain doom. I saw him entering into the hole blown in the scorpion again and I wanted to strike him so badly.

“Nyota, what is it?” My voice was so cold and devoid of emotion.

“Oh, Sunrise! You're so cute when you’re mad. We both know what you are gonna tell him,” Pink bounced into view with a spring in her step, and I knew where I'd seen that pink pony before. It really was the same pink earth pony that the zebras had feared.

Pinkie Pie! You’re her! Aren’t you?

“I was once, but right now, talk with Nyota. We’ll discuss all of this soon, and by soon I mean... well. You’ll find out!”

“I, um, come on, we have training to do, and you clearly need to talk,” he offered, and I got up on my own, without taking his hoof.

“Fine, we'll train, but first thing is first,” I raised my good forehoof up, and he looked at me, taken aback, before I slapped him as hard as I could muster. It left a hoof-shaped bruise that looked like what I'd done to Corners' earlier. He stared into space, stunned.

“Never do that again!”

He grumbled and sighed, “I probably deserved that. So are we gonna...” His voice carried off as the door slammed behind me. I didn’t make it far as he grabbed my flank and stopped me. My leg still hurt, my heart ached and yet this touch was nice.

“Nyota, you didn’t deserve that. You don’t deserve my ire, even if what you did was stupid,” I spoke, unable to look at him, and my head hung.

“Sunny, please talk to me, you can’t train with your head like this.” He walked around to face me and I stared up at him.

“Nyota, when you handed me your eye patch, I made a decision.” I replied as I felt the mountain of conflicting feelings welling up. I didn’t know how to deal with all of them and kept them repressed as best I could to put my thoughts in order. “I have things I want to talk about but I need to make one thing clear.”

Nyota raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to go on. “You’re cute, too,” I said. His jaw opened as he started to speak and I used my hoof to force it closed. “And, the answer is yes.”

***

"So, was that the answer you were expecting?" I could still feel the raw anger coursing through my veins keeping me standing, as we had been sparing for close to an hour when my question stopped us. That bruise in the shape of my hoof on his face was joined by a dozen others; I was getting better and not pulling my punches. This was the first time we'd spoken since starting our training session, and it was nearly ten at night by now.

“I want you to talk to me, less venting with your hoofs to my face.” He was panting and giving a sheepish look in response to the rage I had been unloading. “Vent how today was unfair, work out the frustration with less violence, and come away less frustrated, but with that hopeful self I've grown to like.” His words touched me deeper than anything I’d ever felt before. I could feel my anger subsiding. I slowly eased myself from a battle stance. I started to say something, and if I had been in range, a hoof would have been in my mouth again. “The wasteland is unfair and tries to eat everything that makes you better than a raider.”

Nyota motioned me closer and eased himself up onto his hind legs, standing head and shoulders over me. He moved his hooves for me to follow his movements in stretching out, “You still tried to talk to them; even saved one when they shot at you. They honestly didn't deserve it. So talk to me, Sunrise. be that hopeful mare I met back in that pool.”

I hung my head and didn't follow him in stretching, slowly I walked up to him and I jumped up to hug the zebra, holding him tightly as he eased us back to the ground. “Would my parents recognize me? Anypony I knew before the stable?” My sobbing echoed through the isolated area on the ground floor of The Roof. We were alone here, save for the guards patrolling, and I had found a pony I could break down in front of.

“Yes,” he whispered, and I felt the soft comfort of a hoof rubbing through my mane. “You've changed, matured, and still you try to be better. Sunrise, it hurts because you still try.”

All I could do was sob; the rage was gone. The emotional tidal wave of having taken another pony's life overwhelmed me. It took a while before my panting and sobbing calmed down. “I'm sorry for not talking, but I truly am freaked out. I've never killed a pony, and I thought I'd lost you. Please, I don't know where to go from here or if I should just lay down and hope it all—” Nyota silenced me with a shake of his head.

“The world won't go away just because you wish it,” he replied with a gentle, loving smile. “I wish it would. I wish it would go back to the way it was but...” he pulled me close with a tight squeeze. “Then I wouldn't have met you.”

I stared at him, wondering what was so special, and then felt my heart beating faster. A blush had crept up into my cheeks as I looked away, then stared at him from the corner of my eye. “I never realized you felt that way till you said I was cute. Sure you still want me? What do we tell the others?”

Nyota shrugged at me and kissed my forehead, “Do you want to tell them? I think they suspect but if you want to officially announce it, I won't say no.”

Welcome to this new place that I never suspected I'd be! I wonder if, before the stable, I’d be too terrified to do something like this?

“Sunrise, he's waiting for an answer you silly mare! Get yourself together!” Pink hadn't even left my HUD. She was on her belly, rear legs in the air with the girlish, gossipy look plastered on her face.

I shook my head at Nyota and sighed, “No. I suspect they already know. I mean, we did share a room last night, and we were in a bed together.” I got down onto all four legs. So many questions of my own morality combined with this new feeling that made my nethers tingle and my heart palpitate. Right, so this is what it’s like to let somepony in.

“Fix this one issue at a time. Deal with Nyota's actions, then each consequence. I picked you for a reason, now show me that willpower you had in my office!” Pink explained. I remembered what Pink was talking about. The first pieces of what I need to say pieced themselves together.

“I need you to promise me, no more suicidal maneuvers in the heat of battle,” I stared at him with that disappointed mother look I learned from Honey Hearthfire. “Not that it didn't leave an impression, just...”
Nyota nodded to me and nuzzled my neck reassuringly, “I will do my best, and I did not intend for such a thing to push your decision,” he looked out through a gap in the wall towards the wasteland, and I saw the flush on his face. “I'm very happy you, umm, I didn't think you would... uh, return that feeling.”

I shook my head and groaned at his starry-eyed, love struck look, “Great, two young lovers who have pissed off this Enclave thing, and I can almost certainly say DJ Pon3 is going to hear about this and announce to the world what we've done.”

Nyota reached over and ruffled my mane with a hoof, and then pulled me back into a soft hug, “I doubt DJ Pon3's broadcasts reach all the way up to the Enclave. That, or they actively block it.” I looked at him questioningly till my tail grabbed around his flank and pulled us back tight. We sat there, at the dark clouds that loomed overhead. I wished to see the stars, maybe even the moon but only an occasional twinkle shined through.

“I think we should leave as soon as possible in the morning, no need to take the risk. If one of DJ Pon3's agents spotted us, he'll announce it as soon as he can,” I took a look at Nyota up and down, sizing him up. “But I also get the distinct impression I'll be dragged into a bed again.”

“Unless you'd rather sleep on the floor?” Nyota chuckled, and his blush eased away after his hearty laugh. “I want to help you piece together that past of yours and get over the things that haunt you.” The black-striped zebra moved a hoof up and pressed it against my chest, making my pounding heart still. “But it's up to you, I want you to want that as well.”

Well aren't you just the perfect gentlecolt! Why couldn't I have met you sooner? I raised my hoof to speak back and saw the stains of red blood deep in my coat. I stared at it. I couldn't look away from the burned soot and red stains. I felt everything Nyota had just given me deflate completely. I moved my hooves out of my sight and stared into Nyota's eye, “I know I can't do it on my own.”

He brushed my mane away and removed his eye patch, letting me look into that sphere of wonder. “Sunrise, I told you, you're not doing this alone.” Nyota warmly kept smiling and let me look as long as I liked while his hoof moved up and booped my nose. “We're all here with you, and even if I'm the only one that helps you through your memories, I'm not going to let you do it alone.”

Alright, let's see if he can help. I've got pieces that need to be put into a puzzle. I moved his hoof away from my face and looked at him, “You want to help? Alright, I had a flash. A memory, I think when I was interrogating Black Hawk; it wasn't pretty.” I leaned in close, now, and nuzzled against him so I could whisper. “That, combined with the zebras showing me the mark I’d left in the station, as well as Pink's reaction, indicates I may have gotten out of the stable before and not remembered. I don't know the things I've done.”

Nyota wrapped his hooves back around my neck and held me there, not letting me pull away, in a soft and loving embrace. “I don't know what to think on that yet. Please don't think yourself in circles about it.”

Oh, like it’s that easy! What am I—

“No, Sunrise, he's right.” Pink said. I wanted to scream at them both, but then all that crashed down at Nyota's next words.

“Sunrise, you don't see horns, wings, or stripes. You see ponies. It is what makes you special to all of us,” he replied and grinned. I felt that grin spreading against my neck.

He's right. I still remember before; what am I talking about. Before the stable, to me, feels like two weeks ago! I pulled back just enough for us to look into each other's faces. “I see the same things I saw before the stable, when everything was ready to snap but ponies tried to make life work. Except now it's all snapped, it's all wrong! Me finally killing another pony today nearly broke my will to go on.” I looked away, unable to meet his loving gaze anymore. I felt shame, sadness, and disgust. “I dropped that cocktail right at my own feet and shot myself with my own shotgun on accident. I'm no soldier. I'm not ready for this.”

Nyota lifted my head back to look at him, and as much as I tried I couldn't look away without using force. I didn't want to pull away from him. “None of us are really ready to fight, except maybe Alguacil and Corners to a lesser degree,” he mused, and waited for me to agree and look at him.

“Quick, Chifundo, you, and I? We're all just normal ponies in abnormally terrible situations. I'm a courier, Quick is still a doctor. Chifundo's a shaman. None of us were always fighters. The wasteland forces you to do that.” He pulled me back into his legs and held me tight. “You're still learning, and don't let the ponies who tried to kill you keep you from picking yourself back up and keeping that hope you have from inspiring us.”

His words dug deep and pulled out a thorn in my mind. I can talk to this pony, just like we were closer than any of my other friends

“Well, duh, silly! This is still the first time you've fallen hoof-over-flank for another pony! Part of calling him cute back and trusting him!” Pink exclaimed jubilantly and sprang to her feet, reaching through my vision, and I swore I felt her hoof patting my head.

“So, what happens when I screw up? How do I know which ponies to kill and which ones to take a chance with?” I started to raise my voice but Nyota's hooves soothed me into remaining calm. My emotions wanted out, but they were diffusing slowly instead of exploding. “I don't think getting lucky will keep getting us very far.”

“Have they tried to kill you without warning? Have they told you how they're going to murder you in explicit detail and how they are going to horrific things to your dead body?” He asked, and my eyes went wide in horror. Pink giggled, and then yelped when I mentally slapped her. “You won't like to hear this, but they're probably folks you should kill, if only to release them from their own torment.” He looked out into the wasteland again and his face became incredibly stern. “If you screw up, you'll have backup.”

I looked at the ramp to see a pegasus. Not one we knew, but he reminded me of a burning question. “What about Black Hawk? I saved her, and yet I think Alguacil and her are going to kill each other.” I turned to look into the wasteland with him and laid my head against his shoulder, his warmth comforting and soothing away all my torment.

“Black Hawk is a special case,” Nyota stole a glance at me as he spoke, “From what little I know about the Enclave, they don't treat failure well, especially if you drop below the clouds.” I felt his hoof starting to rub my back, his touch finding the knots under my armored plates somehow. “You saved her life, but she's at risk from her former friends and she is mad at Al. While you were out, he talked about how he wanted to mutilate her and he threatened her. No pony would be happy after they heard something like that.”

I groaned . “I get the distinct feeling that, one way or another, I'm gonna be butting heads with Alguacil a lot.” I paused at another thought, on the words Nyota used. “Do you make nicknames for everypony you meet?”

“Not all of them, it’s just a pain to pronounce his.” He let out the most girlish giggle I thought he might ever muster. “Sunny is cute, and it fits the cute mare attached to it.” I looked at him with pleading eyes, which brought him back to the subject at hand, “You want to believe that ponies can be better, but for Al the law isn't to be broken, and breaking laws puts you on his list for a bullet.”

I could see his full face, even from this angle—including the bruise I left on his cheek—and nodded to him. “Hopefully I don't end up clocking Alguacil, too.” I softly reached up and rubbed the hoof mark where I'd slapped him, like an unspoken apology.

Nyota moved the hoof that was rubbing my back and moved my hoof from his face. “It's alright, Sunny.” His hoof moved onto my back and found the thinnest point in the plating of my jumpsuit and duster to scratch at. Damn, does that feel nice. “It's not the first time I've been hit. It is the first time I've been struck by a mare who is as cute as you...” he trailed off and blushed with a mumble that I swore might have been 'that I like a lot’ but wind from the hole we'd been looking through made sure I didn't hear it clearly.

Pink leaned up and looked like she was on the verge of witnesses a moment. He's laying his heart on the line! And I'm being as oblivious as Chifundo! “Nyota, is this really the first time you've liked somepony?”

“Like this? Yes. Either my stripes kept others away, or I was too young to really understand it all.” Nyota turned his gaze back to me and kept stroking that spot on my back, which I leaned into. “I'm not old, I'd guess barely two years older than you. But I got big faster than others I knew.”

I shook my head and smirked, “I didn't think you were that old, just had the look of a weary soldier coming back from the front,” I explained, and felt my own blush flushing my face, but I stopped myself from hiding it.

“You sure know how to flatter another pony, don't you? I may be weary of the wasteland, but it gave me the chance to meet friends, and you.” He finally stopped paying attention to my back and pulled his hoof away. “Besides, weariness has some very easy methods of relief.”

I looked at him and grinned, “Are you trying to flatter me now, or suggesting something naughty?” I mused up at him, and shifted my shoulders when my back stopped being scratched.

“Just being honest. if I hadn't met you,” he leaned down and put his nose against my own, “I'd still be running packages to random places: bored, lonely, and aimless.” He nudged me with his nose and pulled back to a standing position. “I think some pony needs a massage and a bath. Living on a farm you know when some pony is over-stressed.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded, as my brain tried to process his suggestion, and I felt an itch I wanted to scratch but refused to acknowledge right now. I swear, I can feel the smoke pouring out of my ears! I didn't realize I was looking at Nyota as the myriad of emotions rolled over my face, and the final result was a deep blush and a confused smile.

“S-so,” Nyota faltered and looked away as it dawned on him what I was thinking and feeling. “I mean, if you want to, or we can just talk.” He backed away slowly and mirrored my hesitation. I felt there was something more echoing between us, beyond just talking. His trepidation wanted to coax a response from me.

“Sunrise! You do realize this is where love starts, right?”

LOVE! What are you talking about? I don't—

“You silly mare! You have a crush on him and he has one on you! TAKE THE HINT!”

I swear to you, Pink, if I ever—

“You aren't as new at spotting this as you think you are! Now, take the leap!” Pink slammed her hoof across my vision and I swore I could physically feel her slapping me. I looked up at Nyota and pushed away frustration, wanting him to know I was genuinely relieved.

“Thank you, sorry, I was having an argument with Pink.” I rubbed a hoof against the back of my head while Pink threatened to smack me again. “I suppose if I go with the customs of where I'm from, a proper date would require us to talk, have dinner, and do something besides just meditation and beating the snot out of each other.”

Nyota raised a hoof. “It would be customary to seek your father's approval of our courtship,” he corrected before going on, biting his tongue and turning away while his sheepish blushing grin returned, “I mean, if we wanted to be traditional.”

It was my turn to place a hoof on his chin and turn him to face me. “Well, I'm sure Rainbowrise would love to have you take my hoof,” I paused and bit my own lip, “Though I imagine the Ministry of Morale would be up in arms.”

Nyota nodded in my hoof, and his blush looked so adorable that I wanted to kiss him. “That is true, but I think I'll just be glad they are no longer a concern.” He pushed my hoof away and then held his out for me to take. “Might I ask you to join me for dinner?” I could see his youth now. He was bigger than me, but certainly not older. He only looked older, and now it came out all at once: his inexperience, his sheepishness; my brain added it all up.

“Well, if for no other reason than to make our friends stare in disbelief and to see the look on mom's face when we find her, I would say yes.” Nyota looked wounded, and started to stammer something, before I held a hoof up to silence him.

“But, those reasons are selfish and a horrible way to frame you. I think I'd certainly like to hear about life in Oasis,” I paused and reached forward to grip his hoof. I gave him a soft bow, much like I'd been shown to do at a gala, “Over dinner with the cutest zebra in the wasteland.”

“I w-would be honored,” he stuttered like a colt who'd just been given a trophy he didn't know he earned. He blinked when the words finally left his mouth, and then, shaking, Nyota pulled my hoof up to his lips and kissed it nervously.That caused me to flush from head to hoof, I swore my entire body blushed white in that moment, and I looked almost like I had before the Stable. “I heard the restaurant here is quite the place, or would you rather I cook?”

“Sunrise! That was mean! You can't play with—”

Pink shut it, I wanted to make sure he was serious. Besides, it was fun to see him blush.

“I don't think it's appropriate for you to cook dinner, though I imagine every pony in The Roof will gossip.”

His blush deflated, and he let out a sigh of relief all at once. “Restaurant it is, then. A little bit of privacy before, to get cleaned up, though I don't have anything to wear like Chifundo's stallion dress.” He teased at me, and I felt my blushing slowly ebbing back as I saw my leg turn back to the grassy green it was now. “Would you join me for a shower, or would you rather do so alone?”

I looked at my hooves and the raw streaks of blood mixed with ash, “I-I don't think I'll forget the expression on those pegasi faces before that mine went off.” My words had lost that flirty tone, and instead were full of a haunted tone, back where this conversation had started.

“Sunny, I know it hurts,” Nyota pulled my hoof out of my eyes and covered it with his own. “I know it feels terrible, and it won't feel better if you keep dwelling on it. “But this right here proves you're better. They wouldn't have felt bad if they turned you to pink ash. You do. Don't let this be what crushes you.” I looked up and stared at him in awe. He was right, and I couldn't find an argument to fight back. “Let's get cleaned up, have a nice dinner, and enjoy a peaceful rest.”

“None of that makes me feel better, but I have to say you're right.” I looked away and mumbled to myself, “If I ever hope to make that promise to you come true, I have to get over this.” He started to pull away and I yanked him back, wrapping his hoof around my head, “I really do promise too much, don't I?” I took a step forward and completed the most awkward hug ever.

“Yeah, but you do your best to make good on them.” He held me and turned the awkward hug into something more comfortable. “So, think we can make a way to heat up that water? Would be nice to have a place to get hot showers.”

I blinked at the change of subject and my mind worked out several possibilities quickly. The sense of relief to have a task at hand—a machine I could fix, at that—removed my emotional turmoil. “I mean, if we had materials I could make a boiler or a spell matrix to attach to the water talisman. That might work.” I shook my head at him and gave a disapproving look.

“You really want to spend our first date building a boiler?”

“It was something to think about. Maybe we could take another day here to make things a bit better.” Nyota stopped talking and held out a foreleg for me to take. “But enough talking till later: dinner first, maybe some dancing, and then sleep.” He blushed and gave me a broad smirk, “But please go easy on me, I've got four left hooves.”

I giggled and took the extended leg as we walked hoof in hoof towards the showers, “If you've got four left, I have four right. You also said dinner, talk, and sleep.” I returned his sly grin, “Now it's dinner, dancing, talk, and sleep. You keep adding to it, like you don't want to get to the sleep part.”

Nyota nudged my cheek and kept his smirk grew into a smile. “Maybe I don't want our first date to end. Not everyday I get to enjoy your company for fun instead of travel, fighting, healing, and dealing with the wasteland.”

I felt so light on my hooves, like a bright glow echoed out of my very being to every pony around. I giggled at him, and then a thought that might restore our hope and cap off our evening creeped into my head. “I have one condition.”

“Alright, fine, what is your condition?” Nyota asked as we got outside the showers.

“We watch the sunrise in the morning, and I talk to you about my parents over it.” I looked at him, carefully observing his every reaction, but also because I couldn't take my eyes away from him.

He nodded to me and let me lead us towards the waiting showers, “If the clouds allow it, I'd be happy to join you.” He paused and gripped my hoof tighter, “I thought this would be more stressful, but it's getting easy the more we talk.”

I let out a giggle and nudged his shoulder, “This is what ponies are suppose to do. Talk, sing, and dance, not fight. At least, that was the world I wish I had woken up to.” We got to the showers and I started to try to get my armor off, only to discover that the duster and stable barding shoulder plating was fused. I struggled and grunted but couldn't get them off no matter how I wiggled.

“Nyota, help me get this off, ponies aren't supposed to wear armor either!” My distressed neighs were answered by him moving to help and finally force the joint to slide off my leg. I didn't realize how hard I was pulling till I tumbled cartoonishly head over flank through the shower doors and into a stall with a bang of flesh on concrete. I put a hoof up to my temple and tried to shake loose the dizziness.

“And, no, ponies are not supposed to wear armor,” he said, following behind with concern written all over his face. “You're gonna need to get this worked on, otherwise it will chafe you raw or get hung up at the wrong moment.”

“Right. Blow torch, a little sewing, and...”

Nyota offered up a hoof to help me up, “No, you let an armorer do it tonight.” I took the hoof and got up, “Now brace yourself.” he said before the cold water cascaded onto my back. I stifled a yelp and bit my lip through the pain of ice cold water. He started to walk off, and I stopped him, reaching up to his armor straps and starting to undo them. I knew exactly where they all were. It wasn't my first time with standard Equestrian combat armor.

Plate after plate fell to the tiles under us, and Nyota nuzzled my cheek while I worked in the cold water. “Thanks, Sunny, I didn't know you were familiar with this sort of armor.” I took a deep inhale and could smell the sweat, blood, and combat fabrics, and yet there was a faint hint of sandalwood.

I smirked a bit and nodded, “Combat armor, tanks, vertibucks, power armor, pegasus battle armor. My dad's shop was converted from civilian to pure military use near the end.” The last plate fell to the floor and Nyota swept it clear of the water, “If it was broken, he had to fix it, and by extension , I had to learn how.” I paused as my body was adjusting to the chilly water, and a flirty thought hit me. “How do you think Corners got the measurements for you?”

“Oh, I, umm... didn't really think about it.” Nyota rolled his shoulders now and stretched out starting towards the water and I could see a deep scar across his chest from something that cut deep.

“Yeah, I was surprised that SATS would actually give me measurements, but oddly enough, it does.” I explained and giggled as I shivered in the cold and finally leaned back into the water to let it soak my mane.

He took a few blinks at me as some realization dawned on him, “I-I hope that wasn't too embarrassing, because, ya know, it means you've seen me...” He trailed off and I couldn't help but push against him for warmth in the cold water.

“I never knew a zebra could blush, but then I met you and Chifundo.” I hid a grimace in his neck at the pain of the chilled water. I felt the warmth of his flush against my cheek, and that was the comfort I needed.

“I mean, you've got my measurements so you've seen me... umm...” He gulped heavily enough to be heard over the water.

I felt wounded that he would think I would violate his privacy! I started to fume and growl at his stupidity, before Pink interrupted and deflated me. “Sunrise, you have a HUD because of your PipBuck, they aren't common anymore. He doesn't know how it works.”

I blinked a few times and slowly deflated, both from the insult that wasn't an insult and the realization. “SATS only measures stuff I can clearly see.” I rolled my neck in the water and was thankful it was covering much of my expression with damp mane. “Which you wouldn't know, because PipBucks aren't on every street corner.” I added, hoping he would realize what I meant by it.

Nyota let out a deep breath of relief and nuzzled my neck, “That's good! Let's get cleaned up.” We got silent and started to work sandalwood soap over ourselves, and gave each other privacy to clean private places. It was soft, gentle, and intimate without being sexual. At the end, Nyota had to break my concentration from me scrubbing my hooves until they were slightly raw. “Come on, let's get a towel from the inn and I'll escort you to dinner.”

I looked at him and nudged his neck. The thought of how I got his measurements came back, suddenly, and I wanted to reassure him somewhat, since we'd been silent for nearly twenty minutes. “I want you to know, I won't violate your privacy. Besides you've been with other mares, haven't you?”

He placed a hoof to his chest, “You mean to ask if I'm a virgin? Yes, I am.” He replied plainly and let out a sigh. “As much as I put up a veneer of bravado, I've only seen seventeen harvests.” He took a pair of towels into his mouth and dropped one on me, which my tail set to drying off with.

“You mean you were kidding about enjoying the company of another mare on the road!?” I felt perplexed and shook my head at him in disbelief.

“The adult pleasures I was referring to were more... intoxicants, not sexual,” He covered his face with the towel, which I suspected was his way of looking away without looking away. “I was an addict at one point a year ago, and I may fall down that slope again.”

The smokes and you looking like a wild-eyed, drugged out raider earlier make a whole lot of sense, now. I pulled the towel away so I could look in his face. “I see. You know, after taking that dose of Med-X, I can't possibly say being an addict is that bad, is it?” Way to sound like a naive little filly!

Nyota frowned at me and snorted, “When it consumes your life? When all you can think about is your next high? It is insidious and vicious.” He punched my shoulder with a hoof. “Enough of this depressing talk, what kind of surprises do you like?”

I looked at him, rather startled, and snorted back while batting his hoof way from my shoulder. “Surprises? I'm a bomb pony! Surprises are generally when I leap for cover, and typically very bad.” I felt my tail plop my towel onto my head and I glared at Pink, who was trying so very hard to not giggle. Nice try, Pink.

Nyota ducked under the towel and pressed his lips to mine in a gentle, quick kiss before pulling back from under the cloth. I flushed once more, and my heart skipped several beats. I lost the ability to stand and thudded on my flanks, utterly stunned. Pink just started laughing hysterically. “Nyota and Sunrise, trotting in a meadow, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-”

SHUT IT or I will shut it for you! I mentally slammed at her though my panting and pounding heart.

“Surprise!” Nyota called out from beyond the white cloth over my eyes and I shook the towel off. My instinct to jump out of my skin at the shout was suppressed by the fact I couldn't make myself move.

“I-I-I...” I saw his face and the sweet fire that had built up in him. “I might start to like surprises if this keeps up.” I beamed at him and finally started to reach for my armor, “Mom's gonna kill me, going on my first date and I have nothing to wear.”

Nyota put a hoof up to his chin in mock thinking, “Well I think there's a solution to that. I mean, we have a particularly fantastic tailor in town.” He picked up the towels and passed them back across the counter where somepony would collect them.

“She would also pitch a fit that you're a zebra, and how much the Ministries are going to flip out.” I pulled the hoof from his chin and pushed it up against my fluttering heart for him to feel. “Why not go as a pony would from my day? Without clothes! Show off our marks and flanks?”

Nyota smiled at this and closed both of his eyes in a happy grin, and he placed his eye patch in with our gear and tossed them into the room, “Well then, we'll have a leg up on most ponies, considering we're clean.” He took a breath and looked into the room, I followed his eyes to the eye patch on top of our clothes. “And it's about time to stop hiding things. My eye patch stays here.”

I closed the door for him and locked it. “It can't be worse than having a HUD everywhere you look, or having an insane pink pony talking at you all the time.” Pink stopped her teasing and giggling looks and gave an indignant grunt.

We trotted to The Roof Eatery, and Nyota held the door open for me as our conversation continued. “It's very similar, I imagine.” I stopped beside him while he was holding the door. We exchanged a looks and he motioned for me to go inside.

“Aren't you going to go inside?” I asked, rather puzzled at him.

“After you. Mares first, ya know.” He leaned against the door and motioned for me to head inside. I looked at him and then realized it was something any gentlecolt would do. I took a few steps in and he followed as we seated ourselves, and a helpful pony came by to drop off menus.

“So, have you ever had curry?” Nyota asked as the waiter pony stayed and his horn glowed while he held a notepad and pencil. “I think you'll like it, especially if it's spiced the right way.”

I felt a weight in my tail and turned my head to see an apple; the last apple I had and the last of my fresh food. How is that still fresh after two weeks? Explain this? Somepony get into the wasteland and explain to me how an apple is fresh two weeks later. I held it out to the waiter pony, “Sure, I guess I'll try the curry. Can you use this?”

The waiter unicorn snorted at me and shook his head as the apple was enveloped in his telekinetic bubble, “No, that is for something sweet. We'll use this apple to make you a fine dessert, and will that be two curries?”

Nyota licked his lips and nodded. “Spicy as you can make it!” He declared with glee as the unicorn trotted off, and the zebra rubbed his hooves together. He stopped and hollered off to the unicorn, “Make sure it's veggie curry!”

I looked at him and grimaced, and Nyota just sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with a hoof as his mohawk started to dry out. “If I knew you liked it so much, we should get you a preserved spice rack. You are our cook, after all,” I teased and kicked his hoof under the table.

“Those are expensive. Sorry for yelling, but I want to try to make sure you don't have to eat meat if I can help it,” Nyota yelped back through the pain of having his hoof kicked.

“Thanks, and yeah, I know they’re expensive, but I think it would be worth it. Might make that canned food taste a lot better. That, or we can have you cook it, then jar it for us to open up later.” I just wanted to keep talking to him, and the thought of not having to eat the same old canned food over and over again was a welcome one.

Shortly after that, two hot steaming plates of orange, sauce-covered broccoli and mystery veggies were placed in front of us, along with an apple-oat crisp in a worn pie tin, along with a small bowl of sweet cream. I took a deep inhale and almost choked at the scent of peppers. Nyota dug in wholeheartedly and let out satisfied humms of delight from the taste. He slowed his eating and looked up at me, waiting to see my response. I took a cautious bite and chewed twice. The taste was delicious, quite earthy and very much provided a soft, hearty meal to bite into, with one exception.

My hooves grabbed for the glass of water and I drank half of it, screaming into the liquid, “GODDESS! HOT!” I panted for air, and Nyota giggled at me and let out a smile as I swore steam pushed out of his ears.

“Almost as good as mom used to make,” he teased while I caught my breath.

I groaned at him and looked at the food. It was delicious, but my tongue felt like an entire layer of skin was gone. I'd be going through a whole lot of water to finish it. “Like Mom used to make? This stuff could burn the tongue off a dragon!” I finally declared after two more bites and finishing an entire glass of water.

Nyota kicked my hoof under the table playfully, “Well, yeah, curry is hot, spicy, and so filling. The spice makes you drink water.” He pointed a hoof at me then my empty water glass, “You've been drinking a whole lot of coffee and not near enough water lately.”

I groaned out at him as the waiter offered another glass of water, which I had to pay him eight caps for before he would actually pour it. Eight caps! Eight bits for a glass of water would have been highway robbery. Wait, if you can’t drink the rain water, does that means they are using a talisman? How rare are those, now? Pink started to talk and I didn't listen, instead focusing back on Nyota.

“Yeah, but the coffee we got back in Silver Fang is sooo good...” I could feel myself drooling at the thought of drinking that coffee again. Something about it made it so delicious, like I couldn't go without it.

“Oh, no argument here, and I won't stop you from drinking it but...” he reached over the table and ruffled my damp mane again, “You should drink more water.”

We finished eating and I put the apple crisp between us. “This is gonna taste so much better than the apples you're used to!” I let out a squee of delight, but then Pink had to ruin it.

“And it's your last one.”

Nyota saw the drop in my demeanor as I looked down at the sweet baked treat, and his hoof grabbed onto my own, “It is a truly generous gift, Sunrise. I must admit, I've never tasted apples not preserved in syrup.” He waited for me to take the first bite, my hoof tearing off a piece of the small treat that would normally be for a single pony. I dipped it into the cream and let out a sigh.

“Hot Cross Buns and all the other ponies have somewhere to stay tonight?” I asked cautiously, realizing I had abandoned everypony the moment we had gotten through the city gates. Abandoned them all to go feel sorry for myself for killing a pony. Really, Sunrise? With so much else to do, and yet the first thing that truly goes wrong happens, and you vanish again.

Nyota nodded with a mouth full of apple crisp. He'd put a whole lot of cream on it and the oats added a kind of depth to the sweet apple and cinnamon. He motioned towards my mouth, as he was saving the bite then to his own cheek. I reached down and blushed to find I'd smeared cream halfway up my jaw. “I-I... well, I have quite a sweet tooth.”

My zebra date—Oh Goddesses this really was a date!—snickered at me and covered his mouth to be polite. He swallowed and shook his head. “Then I will have to get the first sweet thing we come across to tuck away for you.”

I looked up from the plate with the final piece between us, as we both awkwardly paused eating. “This is the last one that doesn't have the radiation aftertaste.” The pause between us just got thicker and stretched on like the flow of a river. Neither of us could interrupt it if we wanted to.

Nyota reached forward to reassure me and picked up the plate with the apple crisp on it. “Then we'll find more eventually. When we rebuild and settle down at a new Oasis.” Nyota motioned our waiter over and wrapped the rest of the crisp into a napkin for later. “Come on, Sunrise, I paid for dinner already.”

You what already!? I glared at him and wanted to say something, but his hoof found my mouth again and I swear it still had apple on it. “I didn't know If you were coming or not, so I paid for us both and would have brought it up to the room for you if you said no.”

“Fine. You go prep the room, I'm going to go and put our armor in for repair work, then join you, okay?” I was hoping I could at least push some of this onto him to let me do that much for him.

I got to the workshop with our armor, and there was an older pony still minding the shop. The Roof was busy enough that I suppose armor and weapons would be available to be worked on round the clock. It was nearly eleven thirty at night, now. The pony had a simple form to fill out with options for rush, next day, or when he could get to it. I marked rush and paid the extra 50 caps to have our things ready in the morning.

Quick Stitch walked in and took an exam of my leg. “Thank you, Quick Stitch. You are truly a talented doctor and medic. I'm glad to have you,” I told him as he finished the exam.

He stared at me, perplexed, and shook his head. “I'm not that special. I mean, you could have died when you dropped that firebomb, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I froze up and hesitated, because that fire terrified me. But, I knew you needed somepony to save you.”

I placed the freshly healed and repeatedly examined hoof onto his shoulder to prove to him it worked. “Yes, but I didn't die because you acted. You dove right into the fire and put me into the water. If not for that, I doubt I'd be alive right now.” Quick Stitch didn't speak, he just wrapped his legs around me and pulled me into a tight hug. He held me tight and close until the shop owner grunted at us to wrap up our business.

“Call it old world friendship. Even if you don't think you can do it, you can for a friend.” I paused in odd places while I spoke to make sure I had the olive-green unicorn's attention. He held onto me for a time longer, and then let me down to all fours.

“Then let's hope that this friendship manages to keep us all alive a lot longer,” he said, and I nodded in agreement. I finished filling out the repair work form and put the total price of caps for Nyota's armor onto the table. I turned to leave and rushed to Quick Stitch for one last good, tight hug.

“Please, I trust you to keep your oath to do no harm,” I said, nervously separating from him to back away slowly. He's a doctor, and no matter what he always will be.

“Sunrise, not all doctors are bad. Remember Hacksaw and Bonesaw?”

And 9, and 71, and 88, and Stable-Tec's host of doctors? Yeah, I remember them all! No need to remind me, Pink. Pink skulked away, out of my sight and my mind. I returned my gaze to Quick Stitch, “Just remember, please be better.” It was an old saying from the Ministry of Peace. Quick Stitch nodded to me and I watched him as I backed away slowly. I couldn't look away. He was my friend, but he was a doctor. He stared at me, rubbing his destroyed ear and muttered, “Be better...” trailing off as we parted ways with the closing of the door.

I made my way back to the room; the room where my night started with tears. I started to put the key in and stopped. I knocked softly with one hoof, and Nyota opened the door. Inside he had pushed two of the beds together, and our sleeping bags were zipped together. He walked back and hopped on the new twin beds in one smooth motion. “I figured this would be okay.” he said as I closed the door. “If you'd rather not share a bedroll, I can fix it.”

I looked at the two beds then the bed roll, and slowly I trotted up to the bedside and smirked at him. “I feel like if I said no it would be strange, considering I slept on your back most of the way here.” The sound of bed springs as Nyota moved to the edge of the bed unnerved me. It made my skin crawl and I wanted to back away. Something about seeing the swirl striped zebra's hooves extended to me helped me stay, and removed the dread that filled me when I heard the springs protest.

“Sunny, there is a difference between exhaustion from needing to heal and willingly sleeping in the same bed.” He nuzzled against my cheek and stroked my mane lovingly, “I will understand either way. Would you like help up?” I stared into his eyes, both of them, one natural—a sweet welcoming blue—and the other a wonderful gaze into the essence of the cosmos. I saw what looked like a comet streak across his eye and slam into another, creating a spark that I swore started a hundred thousand new lives. I couldn't look away, and my hooves moved on their own and grabbed onto his.

Nyota moving his head to nuzzle me again brought me back to reality and made me speak to him. “Nyota, you've been a perfect gentlecolt since we woke up in that pool. You've helped me, watched my back, and not once have you done anything to make me think you were not a genuine friend. I trust you.”

It didn't mean a whole lot to me, considering I gave benefit of the doubt to every pony. I trusted them all easily, but Nyota was different. I wouldn't trust a random wastelander with my life, but if Nyota asked me to let go and fall from a cliff, I would do it. He smiled at me and gripped my hooves to help move me up beside him. “One thing I remember being taught was the difference in fillies and colts, and my parents would damn me to ages of torment if I ever took advantage of a mare. Especially my closest friend I'd ever made.” He added the last part for good measure and started to pull me up. I took advantage of the moment, though, and dove forward.

My lips met his and I held myself there, embracing him this time. We held the kiss and used it to move me onto the bed. My ears perked up at the noise the bed springs made, but I kept going. Nyota tried to pull away and I kept holding our embrace as long as a pony could. My heart fluttered, my eyes closed, and I let Nyota guide me forward. Nothing in all the wasteland could separate us, and that is what mattered in that moment. Then, when I was forced to pull away to breath, a squeak of the bed made me freeze.

My heart pounded with a compound mix of fear and exhilaration. I couldn't decide if I wanted another kiss or to flee the room. Nyota blushed at me and just sat still, watching me. He didn't move, and then his hoof patted my Stable 43 bedroll, “Come on, Sunrise, I promise I won't let you come to harm while I am here.” He drew me into another kiss, holding me there as his hooves guided me into the sleeping bag. Each crinkle brought a set of goosebumps that were driven back by a flush of blood rushing to my cheeks and body. When it was all done, I was in the sleeping bag along with Nyota, pressed close to him as the kiss released.

“I-I...I'll hold you to that. Nyota, thank you, I want you to know you are more beautiful than you ever give yourself credit.” My head was pressed to his chest, up against the place where he had his scar. Nyota just kept stroking my mane reassuringly as we sat perfectly still, other than the butterflies in my stomach and his soft gentle touch. “Especially your eye. You choose to cover it, but it is one of the most wonderful things I've seen since I woke up. Just like the zebra it's attached to.”

“If it were anypony else saying that, I wouldn't believe it. But you're uncharacteristically honest and straight forward.” I could tell the extra care he took in moving to make the mattress be quiet. “It's quite refreshing, honesty like that, and your drive to be better. It is so rare in the wasteland to have friends like those we have close.”
I pressed my head into his chest and slowly nuzzled up against him till I opened my eyes again and looked up into his own. It was so strange, like looking at two different zebras with our noses splitting my vision. Like a mirror, or two brothers, because of his different eyes.

“Whooo... I'm going to commit this one to memory. It's a face I hope you wake up to more often!” Pink exclaimed, rolling into view, but a quick mental slap and she left my view. I wanted to reach my PipBuck and cut the HUD off but couldn't. I just maneuvered it clear of us and put a pillow between it and both of us.

“I'm glad to have friends I'd take bullets for, just wish I didn't have to.” I paused and considered his words, letting them sink in along with the kisses we had just shared. “I agree, I value your friendship... but you had to go and call me cute.”
Nyota groaned and stopped stroking my mane, “That is true. Cute, desirable, intelligent, and easy to get along with. You didn't mind me being quiet and distant, and when I opened up,” Nyota kissed my forehead and turned his words into the softest whisper, “you didn't turn me away. You embraced me instead.”

“Nyota, what do you expect from me? I mean, I could never imagine ponies referring to me as an angel, much less that I would choose to have something closer than friendship with what others called a demon.” Nyota placed a hoof against my mouth to make me still and quiet again.

“I don't expect anything, Sunny.” He gave the most honest reassuring smile he could muster right then. “The only thing I know is that I want to be with you. Whatever the future holds, one day I'd like to be your mate, if you'll have me. Beyond that, I want to help you on your path and keep you safe.” He pulled the bed rolls up over my shoulder and patted my neck softly. “Maybe warm when I can, too.”

“At least you promised no more suicidal attacks; otherwise, we wouldn’t have something so wonderful. I'd like to have you around long enough to really decide that.” I looked at him and the blush never left my cheeks. I could see in his blue eye a reflection of how I looked: white around my cheeks and neck from blushing. In his spiritually awakened eye, I saw something else, deeper, like looking at a soul. Me with a pair of wings and a halo, holding a shotgun. I floated in the air in that eye, my hooves blackened along with a spot on my chest, while the halo looked battered, like it might fall off. His voice brought me away from the vision and back to reality.

“I will keep that promise, so long as you do.” Nyota stopped as I yawned and nestled against the warm stallion breast in front of me.

A smile spread across my face, as I found one more thing to say to him. “At least long enough that, when I'm ready, I have to explain to my parents that their grand foals might be zonies.” My memories flood forward as my body let exhaustion take it. I couldn’t fight it, I was too tired. Simply put, one moment I was looking at my PipBuck clock past Nyota’s head. The next, I was somewhere else staring at a clock with a very similar digital readout.

ooOOoo

10 Months 27 Days till Megaspell Day

The clock struck midnight as I was left outside the door inside the Ministry of Morale. Celestia and her royal guards were gone, and only Silver Zoom and two guards remained. They had escorted us clear of the onlookers, and the princess’s presence alone had kept me silent. I could see the Pinkie Eye cameras trained on us from two different angles. There was an earth pony in full power armor, 51-B style, painted in bright obnoxious pink with white M.O.M. letters across their flanks. I couldn't see what weapons they had, as those were concealed inside the armor plated saddle bags. The door opened and I shuddered at the sight.

A pink earth pony with a very fluffy, curly mane and tail with streaks of white running through it showing her age was standing there. Three ponytron robots stood at attention nearby as she looked down at me, then to Silver Zoom. “Sliver, you were not supposed to bring her right up to me.”

Silver Zoom nodded and gave a sharp salute with his wing, “I apologize Pinkie, but there was an incident at the gala, attention was brought to us, as well as Octavia. I was forced to have agent 17 act and put the target into the spotlight.” I looked between them, utterly confused. Wait, I remember this, I was the target—
“I have a name, you two know? It would be nice if you used it,” the sound of my voice brought their conversation to a halt and Pinkie Pie looked down at me.

“Right,” she turned and began to bounce towards a desk at the far end of the room. Now that the much larger Pinkie Pie was out of the way, I could see the room. It was covered from one end to the other in ornate oak.

Pictures of the six ministry mares decorated her walls. The desk lacked a computer all together, instead only having rows of notepads on it. An ornate stained glass window of Luna with the six ministry mares holding the ground she walked upon guarded the outside world. On the desk next to Pinkie Pie were rows of tins marked P.T. Mint-Als. She opened a tin and tossed one of the small, pink pills into her mouth, crunching down upon it.

I saw dozens of books in shelves that were built into the walls, some marked with labels that said: 'For Review' and others 'Not for Public'. Silver Zoom nudged my flank and urged me forward. My vision rested on him. “What do you mean, put me on the spotlight?”

Silver Zoom took a brief moment and stared off into space for a bit, then his vision returned to the present. “Agent 17 is a unicorn, she implanted a suggestion to you, so we could get out of there. If anything, we would have preferred to not be noticed. Agent 17 informs me the suggestion was to slip away though, not challenge Celestia.”

“Yes, but you were nearly compromised, and suspicion is going to be heightened with tonight's activities,” Pinkie Pie replied, and continued to look over her hooves at us, judging us and re-evaluating the judgment everytime we moved or spoke.

“Octavia's outburst put us into the position before I could escort the target into the crowd. Agent 17 requested a course of action, that course was to implant a suggestion for the subject to move and act. Instead of withdrawing though, Agent 17 informs me she sought to challenge the princess. I am unsure why.” They both turned their attention to me and stared, like I was supposed to give some response to an unspoken question.

“I just acted, okay? What do you mean, implanted a suggestion? Are you talking about mind control? Besides, I couldn't just let anypony bully somepony who was already in distress.” Pinkie Pie held up a hoof to stop me speaking. The room grew quiet, and I wanted to fume at this mare, the very mare responsible for 9 and the things she had done to me so far. I remember this meeting, how you didn't lift a hoof to stop it yet. You should have, damn you, Pink. We're gonna talk about this when I wake up!

Pinkie sat down, slowly pressing her forehooves together and then releasing them as the door closed by itself behind us. I took a few more steps and her hoof made a motion to stop both of us. “Stable resident 043-014, commissioned there by special request of Applebloom herself.” The way Pinkie Pie spoke it invoked a sense of pure fear and a compulsion to answer her all at once. I nodded to her. “Wandering Sunrise is your name, and what I will call you so long as you are a good pony. Tell me, Sunrise, has agent 9 interrogated you?”

Something about Pinkie Pie's face made it obvious her questions were redundant. She was reading into everything around her deeper than you could ever read a book. She knows the answers to these questions. I didn't know, then, but she knew every answer before she ever asked! “I-I—”

A hoof slammed onto the desk and the Pink Pony stood up, forehooves on the desk, leaning across the heavy polished oak, and shouted with a voice the shrilled into the night, “You listen and you listen good! I know what you are going to say before you say it! I am always watching!" Her eyes darted out of her head unnaturally at me and caused my skin to crawl at the sight. "And right now, you need me to investigate Agent 9. If I'm going to investigate 9, you're going to answer my questions truthfully and directly. Or you can get out of my office and stop wasting my time!”

Something inside snapped, like the memory coming unraveled. I realized, this entire conversation actually happened and what came next was as surreal as meeting Celestia herself. I bolted across the room and slammed both forehooves of my own onto the desk. I had to use my rear hooves to reach her height, but I got into Pinkie Pie's face and glared into those pink eyes. “You listen to me! I'm sick and tired of this! My parents are tortured because they've seen me hurt! I haven't even seen mom since I tried to sneak into dad's shop!”

I paused, and heated breath after heated breath rolled over her snout as I felt, for the first time, the raw rage building up and needed to be unleashed. This time it was only with words, but the first time was the most peaceful. “9, was it? Yes, that mare interrogated me, she tortured me, along with 81 and 77. They helped her!” I shouted at Pinkie Pie, who was slowly sitting down in her chair while Silver Zoom finally caught up to me. He'd been stunned by my initial bolting forward, the ponytrons not vaporizing me and now my screaming.

I may be a small earth pony, but ain't no pegasus going to convince me to back down. “So yes, Pinkie Pie, do you want the details about how Applebloom said I was off limits, about how my dad flew me here tonight all the way from Stalliongrad because he was worried, or—”

Pinkie Pie put a hoof up to my lips—not in my mouth but just up to them—to silence me. Silver Zoom finally yanked me down and into the seat and snorted at me as the room grew quiet. Pinkie just kept slowly pushing her hooves together and then rubbing her temples, as her eyes started to come alive with other thoughts and processed what I'd said. “I'm doing an internal affairs investigation of abuse of power. 9 is the highest ranking agent of the Ministry of Morale whom may be abusing her position.”

She pointed a hoof out to me and even touched my nose with it, “You are my star witness. As such, Silver Zoom's retirement from the Wonderbolts is being played up as an injury. He is being assigned to Stalliongrad.” Silver Zoom stood up and pushed his chest out with another winged salute at Pinkie Pie, then he looked at me.

“He is assigned as Special Party Pony number 22. S.P.P.'s report directly to me and only to me. His job will be to supervise the situation and keep me informed until we have enough evidence to discredit and move on 9. Silver Zoom, by consuming this badge, you become my newest SPP.” She passed a badge across the table to him, which he took into his mouth and then folded it in half. With a gulp, it eased down his throat, and even I could feel the magic slowly echo from the pegasus and fill the room. He glowed with a pink aura for just a few moments, then returned to his normal self.
“Sunrise, I need you to work for us simply by continuing to be who you are.” Pinkie Pie leaned across the table and smiled, “Your father will be waiting for you. Hand him this note.” The aged earth mare pulled out a note from seemingly thin air. “It has quite a few bits attached, as well as instructions for him to return to Stalliongrad tomorrow.

“You are to continue to investigate what he has been doing and why,” she paused and looked away, out the window that I couldn't see out of at all. “Silver Zoom, use the recollector to get her memories, but do not harm her. Make sure Sunrise keeps those memories and make sure 9 has nothing to suspect.” She turned her head just to see us out of one eye and after glaring one to the other finished, “Do not disappoint me.”

Silver Zoom produced a crown-looking device with several memory orbs on it, all of them completely clear and unused as of yet. They lacked that subtle mist that swirled inside the ones already filled. Suddenly, I was lost to the black mist of sleep as the recollector was placed upon my head and reality warped to collect the memory. I guess a ponies mind is not able to inception a memory within a memory, is it?

ooOOoo

Level Progress - 22% to Level 7

SPECIAL Reveal! - Charisma - 6 (7 in Armor) (5 Base + 1 For Pinkie's Disarming Gift)

Chapter 18: Trail of Assassins

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My PipBuck vibrated me awake, the memory had long since faded. Slowly, my vision focused to the scar across Nyota's chest. All night, for once, I hadn't moved. My body felt peaceful, as if it hadn't been ravaged by the memory. I was warm, in a soft embrace, and—most of all—safe. Nyota's eyes popped open as soon as I shifted to stop the vibration. The sound of a bed spring broke the silence of the room. I winced at him, and he held up a hoof to his mouth with a shush motion.

Carefully, he helped me out of bed to make as little noise as possible. I took the que and followed his hoofsteps as closely as possible. In spite of this, I tripped over my helmet, dropped my revolver, and clattered my hooves over the grenade belt. I was like a clumsy bull in a china shop! Nyota rolled his eyes and we looked at the other two beds. Either Alguacil and Quick Stitch were heavy sleepers, or had been out so late that nothing could wake them. I am not a stealthy pony.

He locked the door behind us and we made our way to the outdoor top floor of The Roof. In the predawn hours this place seemed tranquil. Insects were quiet, the gray clouds had a silver lining to them, and occasionally a star winked through the layer of grey fluff at us. It was like having a cloudy night and waiting for the sun to rise and drive them away. Nyota made a campfire, and the scent of coffee filled the air. He handed me a cup, and as I looked at him we exchanged a smile.

The warmth of the coffee in our hooves was matched shortly by the warmth of sunlight hitting our skin. We stayed in this ruin of Las Pegasus and looked on at the dawning light. I leaned against Nyota and he leaned back; a feeling of warmth spreading through me and I could sense a reduction in the tension in both our bodies.

We didn't talk or move, we just softly let out long slow breaths and took droughts of coffee. There were butterflies floating in my stomach while goosebumps rolled down my back. The view of the rising sun was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in days. Sweet red rays mixed with beautiful orange and a hint of white crossed the horizon as our eyes stared at the very beginning of sun’s arrival.

The warmth of a new found day embraced by warmth of a friend against my body. The goosebumps were suppressed by Nyota's hoof caressing my back muscles, right where they wanted to rise up. I didn't argue; a back rub felt amazing, a new sensation I hadn't truly embraced until now. We had so little to care about in that moment, gazing at my namesake slowly rising into the cloud layer. The joy that filled me was something I had never experienced before and I simply did not wish to let go.

Hot Cross Buns was safe, at least for now. Nothing was pressing us to hurry or move quickly, and by the Goddesses I wasn't about to right now. Hmmm... back rubs, cuddles: these are things I can appreciate. So nice. My thoughts were interrupted by the EFS registering three reds dots. They were not there for long, just a few moments but it was enough to pull me from my stupor. Nyota noticed the moment I shot upright with a renewed alertness to an unseen danger.

His expression had already changed before my EFS had even registered whatever was going on. I really need to learn to look at that more often! You'd think it would show things like rad-roaches under buckets or a horde of ghouls just beyond my vision. Nyota nudged me as I took another sip of coffee, staring in the direction of those red pips but seeing nothing.

What was the range of EFS, again?

“Sunrise, I think we need to get inside.” Nyota started to move away despite my whimpers of protest. “Get some breakfast and gather our friends to get moving towards the shanty today.” I took my last sip of coffee and made after Nyota, who just kept looking at me as he walked. I swore he trotted into the doorway, but he did not, his hooves guiding him smoothly aside like he knew it was there the whole time.

Breakfast at the restaurant from the night before, started out with us walking in to find Chifundo and Picline. The scent of their previous night washed over us. Even I could tell what they had been up to, and the smell was only masked by the coffee taste on my lips. Which I eagerly sipped another cup of, it wasn’t the food or Nyota next to me, but the coffee that was keeping the scent of mating at bay. We took a seat with them and soon had ordered real food.

Pancakes that were dripping with honey and some form of butter I wasn't familiar with. Coffee; this blend not as good as the black nectar from Silver Fang Shanty. Its taste was still delicious, but something about it did not quite scratch that itch for coffee I had. I had no idea where they got their stock, but they also had Apple Juice, REAL APPLE JUICE! Somehow it had none of the wasteland-bitter radiation after taste, and was the purest, sweetest thing I'd ever tasted.

Picline and Chifundo were wonderfully happy, but as the meal was halfway through Alguacil arrived and dragged a chair over to our table. “Chifundo, dear, how many of your friends are depth-perception challenged?”

Nyota and Alguacil both glared at her. I scoffed, but Chifundo was as oblivious as ever. “What do you ever mean, you can't possibly speak of my friends to demean?”

Picline laughed and shook her head. Oh I'll give you something to laugh about! You sound just like those high society ponies that I didn't care for at the Gala! Why you—

“Sunrise, I think we should take our breakfast elsewhere,” Nyota said before I could protest anything. I looked at him and started to speak, but then I saw the look in his eye. The same look he gave when he was about to strike one of those enclave soldiers. Any pony could sense that if we didn’t leave, there might have been a physical fight on our hands.

“Nyota, are you sure we can't just explain and overlook it?” I pleaded, hoping to not start a fight.

Alguacil snorted at the suggestion. “Sunrise, if he can't take a joke, maybe he doesn't need to be here.”

Okay then! Had not expected that one!

Nyota and I left in a hurry, eating our breakfast as we gathered gear from the workshop. Still, pancakes were so delicious after days of canned foods. I felt like some part of the old world had come to life for just long enough to say 'Hello,' and then was gone again. I did try to slip 50 caps into Nyota's saddlebags. He noticed almost immediately and grabbed my hoof before I could complete repaying him.

“Don't worry, I made quite a haul making potions last night,” He reassured me with a nuzzle of my cheek, and his hoof moved the bag of caps back to my saddlebag. “It was a nice thought, though,” he added, while I just made grumbling noises about him paying for everything.

We gathered at the exit to The Roof slowly. Guards watched cautiously as the group got larger and larger. Ponies I hadn't had a chance to learn the names of, Hot Cross Buns, his teenage dragon friend called Jackal, and our group. Well, all our group except Corners.

I called the group of ponies to order by slapping a hoof on concrete a few times. The echoing noise made the guards pay even more attention to us, and two of their stallions got out weapons. They approached us as I called out, “Has any pony seen Corners?” There was a murmur of confused ponies, and my friends all looked at me. “The Box Pony.” Now they caught on to who we were talking about. After a quick check, no pony had seen Box Pone or heard from her since we arrived at The Roof.

“I'll go find her,” Nyota volunteered as Chifundo and Alguacil approached me. Quick Stitch chased after Nyota.

“I'll help you, hopefully she hasn't hurt herself,” Quick Stitch called out. They continued on out of sight, towards the inn.

Alguacil was apparently still fuming as he stepped in front of me. The tall griffin towered over me and I felt like a Twilight charging Nightmare Moon. We stared each other down for what felt like hours, then I broke the silence.

“Alguacil, something wrong?” I asked through gritted teeth as I felt the eye of regulator glare me down. Surely he's not still-

“You called us raiders! What kind of sick bucking joke do you think that is?” The griffin shouted out, loud enough that all the murmuring stopped. Everypony stared at us. Chifundo started to take a step forward, only to have Hot Cross Buns stop him. The pegasus shook his head and Chifundo backed down.

“It was the first believable thing I could think of. I just wanted the Enclave to have no reason to—” Alguacil however wasn't going to let me talk or finish that statement.

“That said, Sunrise. It took me a good bit to calm down,” he spat at my hooves and cocked his beak at me like a predator about to snatch its prey. “But I can't help but yell at you about it! Don't! EVER! SAY! WE! ARE! RAIDERS! EVER! AGAIN!” Each word was punctuated by a stomp of a talon that started to break the concrete. He stepped closer towards me with every hammering blow to the floor, and Alguacil lowered down till the two of us were muzzle-to-beak.

“Alguacil, please, I didn't know it was that sensitive for you.” I had hoped to keep speaking, but just pausing to take a breath was enough for the regulator to interject.

“Sunrise, I've killed so many pieces of raider trash, I can't even count 'em anymore!” He didn't let up and put his body weight into me, forcing me to sit on my flanks or fall over. “Th' shit I've seen that those animals pretending to be—,” He paused and grabbed my shoulder in a threatening squeeze. Even through the armor I felt him threatening to punch into my skin. “—PONIES! Or whatever they claim, it ain't right! I don't care what else you say, but I will not be called them, even as a ruse!”

I slid back away from him enough that I could stand up, my mane standing up on end and my spine feeling a chill of death down it. How do I calm him down? Just admit you were wrong and hopefully we can move on? “Look, I'm sorry. I was just trying to make sure they had no reason to come after these ponies. I won't do it again.”

“Sunrise, you don't understand!” This time the griffin flew his wings out to full length and raised up on his hind legs.

“Sunrise MOVE!” Pink screamed and I did as Nyota trained me to. I rolled backwards away from him as his talons stomped down where I had been to end up on my hind legs in the fighting stance of Fallen Caesar. It was awkward but quick enough to clear. Everypony gasped and thought a real fight was about to start. Chifundo started to rush between us and Alguacil held up a talon to stop him as he lowered his head. His words were not screams but still cut deep, “‘I'm sorry’ doesn't cut it. How do you think a police pony would take you calling them a drugged-up, murderboner rapist! How would he take it!?”

Nyota, thankfully, arrived with Quick Stitch as he shouted this. I felt like I'd hurt him in some way we never knew, like his blind quest for vengeance was burned in him deeper than any of us had ever suspected. Nyota was carrying a box in his mouth, the one Corners normally took shelter in. Nyota looked from me to Alguacil. I could see the springs of his muscles starting to coil.

“Alright, Alguacil. I'm sorry, don't break us apart over my ignorance, okay?” The griffin just squawked at me and took a few steps back. Can I keep trusting him like this?

The box in Nyota's mouth dropped to the ground. “What the hell is wrong with you Alguacil!? Did you just try and strike her?” He rushed forward and stood between us, on his hind legs and ready to deliver a strike. I put a hoof against his flank and shook my head.

“No, Nyota, it's over and it's fine. Let it go, okay?” I tried to be as reassuring as possible and looked at Chifundo, Quick Stitch, as well as everypony else present with a reassuring, nervous smile. “I'm sure we'll work it out later, when he is more calm.” I am completely not sure of that, but it's the best I can do. Please, please don't fight. Alguacil snorted and stomped off towards the exit, standing there looking through a slit at the road outside.

Chifundo, Nyota, and Quick Stitch all grouped around with the box and physically put themselves between Alguacil and me. I rubbed Nyota's neck with a hoof to keep him from jumping the gun, “Please, what's in this box exactly?”

“We haven't checked yet; it was left for us, according to the innkeeper,” Quick Stitch replied and nudged it open. Inside was a large note on top of several smaller boxes. Nyota picked up the note and read it aloud:

To my friends,

Thank you all for sticking with me. I'm sorry that I did this in the middle of the night, but the thought of saying goodbye in pony was too much to bare. I want to start a life, I wantto be happy, I want to be loved. I need to spread the good word of the box religion and of the actions of Sunrise. 'Be Better'. I have left to focus on my priestess duties. We will meet again,

Sugarcube Corners, aka The Box Pone.

There was a somber note played between us as Nyota finished reading the note. We all took a long moment of silence to draw in what felt like losing a friend. I failed. I hadn’t convinced Corners she could be saved. She left us, because I was a terrible friend. I… I can never make it right. PInk deflated in my vision, her hair seemed to pop like a balloon; sound effect included. I could feel my tail sag as I stared at the ground, fighting the urge to cry.

Maybe I can still find her! I looked at my PipBuck and its tag tracker. Corners was just inside range for only a few seconds, almost 2500 meters away. It would take us nearly ten full minutes at a gallop to catch up to her. That assumed the ruins of Las Pegasus were cooperative and we ran into no trouble. Then, the tag winked out as she went beyond range.

I have the direction, at least, and she is heading the opposite way we need to go. Towards the battlefield from yesterday. It took her hours to cover that distance, it would take all day to catch her. Is this really goodbye? I took a good look around at my friend's faces as I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. Only Alguacil had dry eyes, but no pony spoke; even the rescued ponies and dragon were silent. There was a collective sigh of resignation between the five remaining members of our group.

We had little choice but to accept this, as right now a search for her was out of the question. We had a small horde of ponies and a teenage dragon that still had to get back to Silver Fang Shanty; including Hot Cross Buns. Corners was heading in the opposite direction with a 2.5 KM head start minimum. We can look for her later, and she is strong, she’ll still be there. We have to get the rest of these ponies to safety, first. I looked at the rest of my friends, seeking the words to comfort them and hopefully give some form of strength in order to make us not dwell on our missing companion.

I stumbled over my words as I spoke, fighting tears that could be heard in my voice, “We'll see her again. If a radscorpion the size of a house can't kill her, we'll see her again.” I assured my friends and wiped the tears away that hadn’t fallen to the ground. “We'll find her, and when we do, we can hug our friend tight.” The crudely wrapped paper packages called to us; they had our names written on them in the markers that Huey, Duey, and Luey had used on the box.
Each of us took a box and opened it in turn. My note said, “Tell me how zebra dick is.” Dammit, Corners! Seriously!? We haven't—I haven't even—YOU LITTLE—! When I get my hooves on you!

“You'll what? Whisper the answer in her ear while you hug her tight?” Pink giggled and all I could do was glare at that stupid, pink pony. I realized I was turning white with a blush as everypony looked at me, expecting me to read the note out loud. Quick Stitch took a step towards me and looked at the note, then burst into laughter.

“Oh, Goddesses! That is good!” He laughed, and I kept trying to bat his nose, only to hopelessly miss because I was too embarrassed to actually hit him. “Go on, Sunrise, how is it?”

“I wouldn't know horny head!” I looked over to see Nyota shifting from his normal deep black to Chifudno’s solid pink stripes. Chifundo cracked up as he looked over his fellow zebra's shoulder to read the note in his hoof.“My question is not one I shall waste, exactly how does a Sunrise taste?”

Nyota and I could only look at each other, slowly turning more blushy by the second. Everypony around us was laughing, cheering, or jeering at us. Nyota looks away, still with a dumbfounded expression on his face. I made a decision and starting moved forward at the moment; one there was no coming back from.

I closed the distance and hopped up onto the box with my forelegs, Nyota turned to lean down into the box but only made it halfway before I stopped him; with my lips. I kissed him on the cheek, gently and softly; just enough to let him know I was there. Nyota froze in stunned stillness as he blushed even harder; almost to the point we could not tell him and Chifundo apart from colors alone.

I held the gesture only for a few moments, but that was long enough that my cheeks began to burn. I pulled away and both our eyes darted away from each other. We blushed as pink as Chinfundo's stripes all the while stealing glances at each other. I stared at him like he was going to pass judgment over my actions, which thankfully never came. His star filled eye drew my gaze before I shyly turned my head and hid my blush behind a hoof The moment passed soon enough, as reality set back in and our task at hand continued to unravel.

Beyond the notes, there was only a rubix cube inside my little box. It didn't actually work, as it wouldn't twist. Quick Stitch and Chifundo had invitations that I didn't understand, but we did get to see the Chifundo blush a lovely color of red between the pink stripes. Alguacil just growled and tossed an empty boxed away with the word “Bucks” written on the side of it. “Figures, nothing I didn’t expect.”

We all exchanged long, sorrowful looks, and then Quick stitch spoke. “Well, I guess that is goodbye,” he sniffled as he spoke, but I put a hoof up to his shoulder and Nyota placed his hoof on mine. Chifundo continued the improvised ritual chain to each of us and we all looked at Alguacil. The griffin hesitated, then huffed and placed a talon on Quick Stitch, completing our impromptu show of solidarity.

“It isn't goodbye, not this time. It's until next time, agreed?” They all looked at me, expecting something inspiring, and all I had was what the ministry mares taught us. “When you separate from your friends, so long as you draw breath, it isn't goodbye. It's just ‘until next time’.” We nodded in agreement and Nyota gave me a coy look from the corner of his eye. I smirked back at his look.

“Where did you learn that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A book, by Twilight Sparkle.” The smirk on my lips calmed down everyone down, and we set out from The Roof towards Silver Fang Shanty. With us was Hot Cross Buns and Jackal, the teenage dragon, both of whom were keeping to themselves. They wouldn’t really talk, and anytime I tried to talk to Hot Cross Buns, I found a dragon’s cyber claw blocking my way for a private conversation.

In addition to this, we had the pair of unicorn twins, Emerald Eye and Ruby Reader. One was colored dark gem-green with a deep red mane, while the other was the opposite. In addition to them were an earth pony named Wild Salt and his grandcolt, Rock Salt. We were quite a collection once you added my companions and myself to the mix. A very large group, that was heavily armed and armored; even Rock Salt had a pistol, a knife, and a foal-sized flak vest. I doubted anypony would want to mess with us without a whole lot of extra friends. My PipBuck marked the path we needed to take, for some reason, a feature I couldn't decide whether to find creepy or reassuring.

We were barely two hours from the roof, when those red blips returned to my EFS. Quick Stitch and Nyota got ready, but nothing happened after another hour of waiting. Pink kept trying to stomp those little blimps out of my HUD every time they popped up, and they acted like pogo springs. We staggered ourselves apart based upon what I had read in the officers tactics manual. Our group of five was separated out in the lead of the other survivors and Hot Cross Buns. Nyota was somewhere ahead, but none of us could really see him. Only when he popped out a hoof from behind a rock or a bit of brush to assure us to continue forward did we notice him.

Chifundo and Quick Stitch were at the rear of the pack ,while Alguacil and I were at the front. The discussion we had earlier hadn't solved the tensions between us. Any chance I had to talk to the ponies behind us was silenced by EFS red blips popping up. The same two who moved strangely behind us and then either side before vanishing again.

Everypony with us was armed to the teeth, and now that I had a good look, I could see just how crude the attached metal wing was for Hot Cross Buns. It wasn't pretty at all. His muscles clearly strained to keep the weight up against his side.

“We should make camp soon, off the road,” Nyota spoke to our group loud enough for us to hear, but everypony looked to me for a decision. Why am I the one who has to make this decision? I’m the smallest, not the most experienced? What did I do? I nodded to him in agreement. Within ten minutes we were just beyond the sight of the road, covered by a set of brush that grew in spite of radiation poisoning.

Our silent trip had been full of paranoid eyes and constant looking over our shoulders. Ponies gathered around the camp tightly, and I found myself sitting between Quick Stitch and Hot Cross Buns. Nyota was cooking dinner for all of our ragtag group while Alguacil walked a long patrol. The veggie soup was as nice as ever; bland, mostly tasteless from years of being canned, but it at least filled our stomachs and lacked radiation.

I nudged Hot Cross Buns, “Alright, the question that has been killing us all. Why did the Enclave abduct and torture you?”

The camp around us got quiet and we all looked at him, staring for a while. “It's a weapon, something the zebra technicians put together mixed with unicorn and pegasus magic. It’s really quite a marvel and very advanced,” He hesitated and gave a half-hearted smile. “But you shouldn’t worry about all those details.” I pressed him for more, but the pegasus clammed up like I was some sort of interrogator. He wouldn't even answer questions about Sparrow. He got teary eyed and withdrawn.

“Hot Cross, why don't you go ahead and turn in. You've been through a lot and need to make sure you are well rested before we get back to Silver Fang Shanty,” Jackal suggested and put his large scaley weight between myself and Hot Cross Buns. The amount of relief on the pegasus's face was only exceeded by him hearing that Sparrow had sent us to find him. He trotted off. I really wanted to know more about this weapon and why ponies would kill for it. Furthermore, I felt like we had a right to know why we had risked our lives to save him. That, however, was interrupted by a flash of white in the corner of my vision. Quick Stitch had pulled out something bloody and wrapped in a cloth.

His horn levitated out a white ear from the cloth. It had been cut for the left side of his head to match where he had lost his own ear. A quick scan around the camp revealed no ponies were missing an ear, so I got up and pressed a hoof against his flank to get his attention. “Where did you get that?”

“Corners' present had it inside. It's incredibly well preserved, and as far as I can tell, it will fit with some minor adjustments.” He explained, and a horrifying thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

“You don't think Corners—”

Quick Stitch snickered at me and shook his head. “No, it's too large for her and my magical examination says it likely came from a donor with my blood type. Corners when I healed her didn’t have my blood type” He explained as he levitated the ear and held it up, slowly rotating it while his magic started to get out medical supplies.

“Do you have a doctor's kit?” He asked. I checked my PipBuck and shook my head. “Pity, I used our last one on your leg and couldn't get the supplies to replace it in The Roof. What about a sewing kit?”

I reached into my saddlebag and got my mouth wrapped around the cloth that contained my thread and needle. Quick Stitch took it from me and levitated it up and he cast some sort of spell on it that made it significantly cleaner in the blink of an eye. “There we go, now I need a way to use this before it goes bad. I'm not sure how long the preservation spell will last.” I pulled out a syringe of med-x along with a healing potion.

“You wish to assist me?” he asked and I nodded.

“If it helps restore part of you, then yes. I'll help, just tell me what you need done.” We didn't banter any further, he injected the Med-X against the base of his ear. Then the stallion started working to cut the remains of his own ear away. Blood poured from it while I held up the sewing kit's mirror. I had to use my tail to soak some of the blood, getting it matted through the appendage. Thankfully, my tail was cooperative, or at least Pink was being that way. I watched in morbid fascination, for once not grossed out by the blood pouring from my companion's head.

It felt like, somehow, this was restoring a piece of him; a piece of his very soul needing mending. It wasn't perfect, it would scar and the ear color would be different, but a sense of wonder filled me up as I witnessed the spectacle. A few other ponies watched, but I was biting my lip and staring at him for every second that passed while holding the PipPuck close and keeping the mirror steady. His facial expression turned to pure determination, and he didn't stop simply because it hurt.

Quick Stitch kept working his knife till his ear was cut precisely in the shape required to receive the transplant white one. Nerve endings stuck out with blood vessels, as the scar tissue had been cut away. He worked every one of them, my eyes drawn to watching the precise movements that happened on a scale that I could barely perceive.

I wasn't sure how long the surgery was going on, but the fire started to die down. I turned on the PipBuck light and contorted myself to an awkward angle. Between holding up a mirror, dabbing away blood, and now being the source of light, I'd say I looked like a flesh and blood autonurse. Quick Stitch kept working, his horn’s aura getting brighter. The strain on his face began getting heavier.

I grabbed a cloth and kept the sweat from his eyes. The sewing kit was difficult to work with, especially since the smallest needle I had was far larger than this work needed. He made do, though, and eventually he tied off the needle and thread. Quick Stitch packed the sewing kit away while I cleaned the last of the blood with the healing potion soaked bandages.

“Sunrise, it doesn't fix what my mom did to me, but...” he flicked his ears a few times, even pressed it against his head. A smile slowly spread across his face as his horn glow faded. “But it does feel much nicer to be more physically whole. I will have to thank Corners deeply for this.” He started to tear up and I smirked at him as Nyota approached us.
“It's been almost six hours since ponies started to turn in, Quick Stitch, can you take watch now?” He asked. Nyota! RUDE!

“I suppose I—” He began, but I wasn't about to have that.

“Nyota, I'll take watch. We won't get to cuddle as much, but Quick Stitch is probably close to burn out. He needs rest after a surgery like that,” I replied to him and stood up. Nyota looked wounded but nodded to me. We stared each other down for a bit, and despite the eye patch I could see his star eye under there looking into my soul. My heart fluttered and I blushed, as there was some longing between us that had started to build. Now, this was the stare of disappointment, and it filled me full of guilt. I'm gonna have to make this up to him, somehow.

Quick Stitch rose to his hooves and got his own bedroll out. Within a few minutes he was out like a light. Chifundo and
Alguacil had already gone to bed; they had been asleep for a while. I clicked off the PipBuck light and found myself trying to occupy my time while Nyota zipped our sleeping bags together. He stood up and looked at me expectantly.

“Nyota, it's my shift. You need sleep just like the rest of us. I'll wake up Alguacil in four hours.” I said over my shoulder.

Look at me. Commanding some pony to sleep, staying up on watch with a shotgun at my hooves. Every pony counting me on to... Dammit! That zebra is right. I'm growing up and having to make decisions that I would have no business making before Megaspell day.

“HA! You finally got it, didn't you? You aren't fourteen anymore, you're...” Pink trailed off quite a long time not finishing her statement. I waited with anticipation and then she let out a squeal which caused me to jump and looked at EFS in every direction. I panicked for a bit but when nothing revealed itself, I growled at her. “Sorry Sunrise, I almost gave it all away but you aren't a little filly anymore. Haven't been for a while, let's just say you'll find out later.”

The argument between myself and Pink persisted for well over an hour, with neither of us making any headway. I even talked out loud through pieces of it, but I got no closer to knowing the truth. I only found out I had been out of Stable 43

“Several Times”, and each time was different. Pink finally stopped talking and trotted off out of my vision. I checked the EFS, and saw nothing. The night went by uneventfully. Alguacil protested when I woke him up as well.

“Why don't ya get your new boyfriend to take watch,” he declared indignantly, rolling over to go back to sleep.

“Because he already took it while Quick Stitch worked on his ear. Come on, Alguacil, I'm tired. I've been arguing with Pink for nearly three hours. I wanna go to bed,” I whined, and even tried the pathetic upset filly face on him. But this was Alguacil, it worked about as well as flirting with him would; that is to say like trying to make a balloon full of lead fly with concrete as filler.

“Fine! But, tomorrow night, we'll decide watches before we go to bed.” Alguacil snorted with a huff as he stomped off to do his patrol. I let out a sigh of frustration and nodded. Slowly I got out of my armor while the griffin got up and put his on. It felt so strange, now, getting out of armor to sleep. My helmet off and duster taken away, next the armored leather socks were taken off my rear hooves. I got all of the armor stuffed against my saddlebags before climbing in. I tried very hard not to disturb Nyota. That failed horrifically: as soon as my hoof lifted the noisy, winterized fabric his eye was open.

I took a look around with my EFS, nothing but green pips. Not even gray ones anymore, all green. “Anything happen?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Just red pips occasionally, but nothing approaching us,” I explained as the zebra shifted to give me more room.

“Like when we've been walking around?” Nyota leaned in curiously as he spoke. I nodded, then crawled closer to him. The ground was rough but his warmth was welcoming. It made me feel like some semblance of safety was achieved; despite no longer wearing all my armor plating. Nyota grumbled as I felt his hooves against my head.

“You aren't taking off your barding?” He shifted against the stubbornite plating of my armored jumpsuit.

“No, not while we aren't somewhere completely safe.” My tail adjusted my weapons to be within its reach and I shifted in closer, once again fading to sleep in the zebra's embrace.

***

Day two also passed with nothing except the flickers on my PipBuck. Every single time I saw those red pips, every pony around us tensed up. The one thing I can say? It wasn't the same as camping. Chifundo and Quick Stitch spent their time trying to figure out where the ear came from. Alguacil took first watch this night while Nyota and I spent time together. Hot Cross Buns and his other freed prisoners kept to themselves.

They were not overjoyed or overly happy; they were paranoid, not only of any potential noise around us but of us five. It was disturbing that every time I tried to talk to them, I got rebuffed by Jackal or Hot Cross. They didn't like me or take any special time to get to know me. It was like I creeped them out, or some pony had told them I was horrid. It reminded me of lunch at school, where many other ponies refused to associate with me, all because I was nearly old enough to be a mare and yet still had no cutie mark. Maybe they really didn't like zebras or ponies they perceived as zebra lovers.

Nyota lifted my chin and broke my thoughts as he turned me to face him. “Sunrise, pay them no mind. They have only known us for a few days and only in circumstances that are life threatening.” Nyota softly rubbed my mane, as he had done for the past few nights, but it didn't relax me tonight.

“Yeah, but it's like the other foals at school or like other ponies treated zebras.” I said. Nyota placed his head on top of mine and pulled me close while we sat by the fire.

“Sunrise, two days ago, they were being told they were going to be executed. Now, they are traveling with improvised arms and armor, along with a bunch of ponies who stormed in throwing bombs everywhere.” He held me close and whispered,

“Would you trust any pony so easily after all that?”

I looked up at him, “I trusted all of you, didn't I?”

Nyota's face scowled and he flustered, “I—umm...”

I looked at him and shook my head. “No, Nyota, something else is going on here and we'll find out when they are ready to tell us.”

“Why so suspicious, Sunrise?” he asked but I shrugged and curled into him tighter as every other pony started to lay down to sleep. We had covered a lot more ground today and my body was screaming for a break from the walking. The PipBuck EFS beeped and I saw two more red pips moving around.

Damn EFS shadows! I swear this spell is defective! I've reset the matrix twice today, and yet two....THREE! There are three now. Nyota's head was already on a swivel while my own looked in the direction of the three dots which winked out one by one till they were gone. Nyota let me go and stood up on all fours stretching our and arching his back. “Shall we get to practicing while we take our watch?”

The campfire gave us something of a dancing rhythm, crackling flames turning materials we gathered to ash. We moved with the sounds of the fire, and our dance of practicing death kept hammering. We made almost no noise except huffing out air and starting to draw ragged breaths. The red pips occasionally popped up and our practice of the brutal arithmetic of combat stopped. Nyota could sense something and so could I. Some pony was out there, certainly, as the pips retreated beyond my Eyes Forward Sparkle range.

I started to resume and Nyota held up a hoof to stop me from attempting to strike him. “That's enough tonight. I'm no master and you're learning rather quickly.” I smiled and swayed on my flanks. I'd gotten used to getting up on my rear hooves, as well as the movements Nyota had shown me with how to buck and twist. It all still felt awkward, but wasn't as hard has it had been the first night. “You must have some pegasus blood in you, or at least some very agile earth ponies for parentage.” He paused and mused a bit with a grin. “Maybe even a zebra in your ancestry.”

I giggled at him and walked up to him, giving a soft hug. “Perhaps, instead of more training, since those red pips keep popping up, I should tell you about my parents?”

Nyota gave a queer look at the term red pips. Soon enough, he understood what I meant and smiled at me; leading towards the campfire where we took a seat. We had agreed to stay up and take the first two shifts, meaning we'd get to sleep in when it was time to move tomorrow. “So, both my grandmothers were earth ponies,” I turned my head to him.

“My parents as you might have guessed, are a pegasus and a unicorn.” My voice hesitated at the end. It was always strange to explain to others why I lacked wings or a horn. I never truly wanted either of them; but it was still difficult and surreal to let those words roll off my tongue. Seeing mom or dad, I never noticed his wings or her horn till they did something to make themselves known. I always just saw; mom or dad or the parents they tried to be.

Nyota stared at me like I was about to explode into candy corn, or burst forth with rainbow sparkles that healed the entire wasteland. “Your parents are a pegasus and a unicorn!? How are you somehow not a pegasus or a unicorn?”

I shrugged, “Since my grandmothers were both earth ponies, my parents both had the earth pony genes in them. So I ended up, well, like this.” I said and he took a measure of me. “If I’d had a brother or a sister, they likely would have been more like mom or dad, but I got cut right down the middle.”

“So you ended up being the most agile, smartest earth pony I'd ever met, and we should probably work on some strength training?” He added the last part like it was some sort of surprising fact. I growled at him, but Nyota nudged my neck in response, my defensiveness melted instantly. You're already learning to press buttons I didn't know I had! Not fair!

“Sunrise, you can barely hurl a grenade more than fifty feet, and that shotgun of yours almost takes you off your hooves every time you fire it. You can't tell me you aren't missing some of that legendary earth pony strength.”

I let out a sigh and hung my head. He's right, I have dad's flexibility and knack for fixing things, and I got mom's brains and none of my grandmothers' strength; just their looks. “I...yeah. I don't have the strength that is suppose to go with being an earth pony.”

Nyota smiled and nudged my cheek, “We can put some extra weight on your saddlebags as a start, maybe train with you wearing weights or heavy saddlebags on your legs, too.”

I looked at him and gave a half-frown half-smile. Then I gave in. “Ya know, I've seen your parents in that picture you carry. I can say they would be very proud of you now, because I feel like my parents would be proud that I chose you.”
“Sunrise, what do you mean, you chose me?” He blushed and hid his face against my mane while continuing to speak. “Last I checked, I called you cute and asked you about being more than friends,” he replied, and I nodded.

“While true, I could have said no.” I teased him and ruffled his mohawk with a hoof. My tail even joined in teasing the eye-patch on the other side of his face. “Not like I haven't taken time to think about the flirty eyes I get from others. Or how one mare treats me like a foal and another mare checks out my flanks while I'm covered in explosive residue.”

We went on for a while, and he asked what Rainbowrise's shop had been like. What legal cases and law research Shadow
Window worked on. How our lives had been before Stable 43. I even went over the memory dream from going into the stable I had while we had been under The Roof. Nyota listened intently through the entire memory and was thoughtfully tapping his chin when I finished.

“Sunrise, you've been through more than I thought.” He moved his hoof up to me and pulled my chin to look at him. “They tortured you? You certainly don’t show any of the physical scars.” Then he pulled me in for a gentle hug, “But, that more than explains why you don't like beds. It isn't the feeling of them; it's the sound, isn't it?”

I nodded back to him and my PipBuck started to vibrating. I looked at the time on it: 01:01 am. “Nyota, yes, and perhaps this discussion can wait. If we are going to travel tomorrow, we need to sleep.” Both of us walked to the griffin that was sleeping, and woke him as gently as possible. We had the same argument we had the night before until Alguacil realized we had let him sleep since just after sundown till now.

We started to curl up and Nyota nudged my stubbornite breastplate with a smirk. "I thought it was a bit silly when I first met you, but it has grown on me." I blinked at him, confused, while he nuzzled my chin and neck as we curled up under the cloudy sky.

"What was a bit silly? My stable-suit?" I asked. Nyota nudged the plates again and kissed my cheek before responding.

"The suit. It's just cloth, there was nothing to protect you. Now, though?” His hoof smacked the stubbornite plate and then the reinforced shoulder pads. “Now it's proper armor, and you even made sure that I was effectively protected."

I looked down at my plating and then took a look at his own. I blushed, rather ashamed of a secret I'd kept from everypony else. "I've kept it because it still smells like dad. Only slightly, but I miss his tacky grease and cologne smell.” I winced, expecting Nyota to laugh at me like I was childish. Then, when he just stared at me, expecting me to say something else, I continued. “The obnoxiously blue stable-tec sleeping bag has a faint smell of jasmine, like mom. So, yeah, I had to keep them, armor them up somehow. Make them something to last."

I measured his expression as he kept examining my plating and the Stable-Tec jumpsuit. Then it hit me like a sack of bricks, "Wait a minute! You are actually concerned I'll get hurt? This is how you're... you're... showing it.” The loud voice made several ponies shift in their sleep and Alguacil shot us a look. After everything quieted down, the griffin resumed his patrol.

"I may be blunt, but I don't enjoy hurting ponies or seeing ponies get hurt. I really just want ponies to get along." He took a breath and nuzzled into me to hide his blush. I wasn't going to have any of it, though, and pulled him back so we could look into each others eyes again. "So of course I am... even more so,” He rubbed the back of his head, trying to speak and licked his lips like they had dried out. “Now, you mean a,” Nyota stopped and gulped hard. “A whole lot to me.”

I mumbled at him incoherently under my breath, but couldn't help but keep my eyes on his. I stared into the eye patch, knowing it could somehow look through that leather back at me, as well as his sweet emerald eye. His words brought warmth to my cheeks and goosebumps down my spine. "Are you really that worried I'll blow myself to kingdom come, or some pony will shoot me and leave me crippled for life?" I spoke and puffed my chest out a bit. I felt nearly invulnerable in my armor, and no pony could really hurt me through it, right?

He nodded and he lifted the chest piece of his own armor with one hoof. Then with the other shifted some of the coat of his chest to the side. There was the puckered scar there, the one I'd rested my head on just a few nights ago. "Even the best armor gives against a powerful weapon."

I didn't speak at first, just leaned in and nuzzled the scar. I felt so very special that he shared his hurt with me, and he shared his worries like they were something that needed to be liberated. "Maybe, one day, you'll tell me where you got this. But, for right now, I guess I have reasons for going out of my way to protect you." I pressed my hoof against his armored plating and grinned at the craftsponyship Corners had done.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek right on the jawline. "Mhmm... I think we both do." He let out a happy whine as softly as he could and then kissed my forehead. Then, his mouth got up against my ear to whisper, "And, not to lie? I'm actually kinda curious about the answer to Corner's question."

Butterflies pulsed in my stomach, my heart fluttered, and I felt tingling between my hind legs. It took a while to collect myself enough to speak and resist the urges that I wanted to act on, right then and there. The whole time I turned white with a blush that I swore went down to my hooves. "You may only be slightly older, but when the whole estrus thing hits I suppose we'll know, right?" I couldn't get more out, just grumbles, mumbles, and stifled protests that no pony could understand. I felt so meek and yet so safe right now, despite being out at night, in a sleeping bag, potentially surrounded by all sorts of lethal creatures.

He kept up his bombardment of nuzzles, even as he whispered into my ears. "It is rather curious that you haven't had your first yet, given you're more than old enough." He pulled the sleeping bag up all the way to my chin and over his shoulder. I looked around, not wanting it that high but he held the covers there. My face looked quite a bit worried. I shot a pleading expression to him and even let out a soft meep. Nyota raised a hoof to my lips, gently this time to keep me quiet. "Don't worry, the angry chicken of justice has the watch now."

I couldn’t help but giggle as the tension left me, and it was enough to break my blush. I looked at him and pulled back enough we could see each other again. "Corners was a bit more blunt than I had ever thought..." I trailed off again, trying to put thoughts into words. So many conflicting physical feelings and emotions.None of them bad, but all of them making me question every word I wanted to say. Finally, I curled into the bedroll tightly and my free hoof gripped onto his mohawk striped mane. "Nyota, how long would you be willing to, umm... wait on finding out the answers for Corners?"

Wow, Sunrise! What a way to phrase that!

"I must admit, I'm curious, but it wouldn't be to find out for Corners," he looked at me warmly, with something in his eyes I could not identify. "I would be finding out as a tangent to making you feel good. So, I'm happy to wait until you're ready." His words were the happiest I'd ever heard him. What he didn’t know was how high my heart was soaring to hear them. I had never expected to feel so loved and respected all at once.

"I, umm, haven't really explored a whole lot other than the occasional fantasy," I managed to say through stammering lips and trying to suppress the need to embrace him then and there. I looked around quickly for anything to save me and nothing came. Something about the difference in how ponies treated me now and before Stable 43 just felt completely off.

"I hadn't even been asked out on a proper date, since I hadn’t had a cutie mark, well, every pony thought I was off limits."

"Oh, well, we've both had our first date just two days ago," he replied with a smile, "And I've had more than a few fantasies myself.” He stopped talking for a moment and lowered his chin to stare at me. “So, any fantasizing about me?" he asked with a sly grin. He still had a warm glow to his cheeks and stripes but also decided it was time to tease him a bit.

I got really flustered now, and felt my coat turning a bright layer of white. The rush of thoughts I'd had about Nyota that I'd kept to myself flooded my mind. I pulled my head against his chest and clung there. He just stroked my mane softly and waiting for a reply. "That note may have suggested one or two. But, I, umm... what about you?" I asked with a teasing smirk.

"Well, I am a stallion, so as awkward as this is to admit..." he reached up and scratched the back of his head, then tried to hide his own blush in my mane. "Yes," he finally confessed and then brushed up to whisper in my ear, "Though I'm sure my imagination pales in comparison to reality."

"Just because you're a stallion doesn't mean I assumed you had fantasized. You do an awful lot of meditation while I lay here with butterflies in my stomach and..." I trailed off again, and my blush hadn't gone away, "... and other feelings I've had to fight when we were kissing."

"Meditation is to try and focus my mind, but it doesn't keep me from having urges or lewd thoughts..." he paused and his face seem to be putting thoughts together, fully registering everything I said. "I... I uhm..." he stammers softly, "You feel funny when we kiss? I either feel really happy—”

"Happy, yes. That is a good word, but also like, ‘urges’ I guess, is another good way to describe it." I blushed so much it hurt. Finally, I had to break this and act, it was like an instinct as our lips met for just a moment. Nyota murred into the kiss in return, and gently pulled me closer by my mane. We held it just long enough to get my urges satisfied, and I pulled away as quickly as it had started. Now I could talk and communicate with just a taste of Nyota on my lips. The taste of well seasoned sandalwood mixed with a hint of sweat. I liked it, I wanted another kiss but held myself back. "And immediately afterward, I guess you would call them lewd thoughts. I wish some pony had talked to me about this stuff."

"I learned a bit from my parents,” The zebra replied as he blushed and squirmed against me to shift for a comfortable position on the ground. I could clearly feel why, and it made my cheeks warm with a blush. “But it was mostly stuff like 'you'll understand when you're older.' or 'don't be in such a rush to grow up.'” He rolled his eyes and spoke in a mocking tone when he quoted what he had been told.

“Well... I'm in kind of the same boat as you... I know about sex from what I managed to find in magazines...” We both blushed, as I knew the magazines he was talking about, and he was embarrassed to admit it. “It's fun... but other than that? I'm just sure that I don't want to jump in to learn something new, especially if it's going to hurt someone I care about because it was rushed." I looked at the scar on his chest and realized now that there was more to that story that he wanted to tell yet.

"Nyota, don’t take this the wrong way because I really REALLY like you, but," I bit my lip to try to process the words. "As much as my heart screams at me, I assume the effects you have on my body are hormones. I'd like to at least wait till we are in a safe, private place.” I snuggled up against him and laid my head over his neck. “And I'd like to get used to the idea that some stallion finds me cute."

"Agreed, out here it's not safe, nor private," Nyota wasn't going to just let me lay on him through. He moved so I was now against the sleeping bag pillow and he was on top, not smothering, but protectively. "I still want to hold you, though. It seems to help you a little when you wake from the... dreams." nodding slightly he looks around for a moment, "Also, it would be pretty rude to wake the others with the sounds that we might make," he shuddered from head to toe. I held him close and smiled as he managed to get more words through dry lips. "I'd rather be somewhere we can indulge without interruptions."

I felt the blush building but ignored it. I simply clung to his chest and waited for the rush of hormones and butterflies to pass. "Goodnight, Nyota. I think...I think this is what they call love, isn't it? If so, I like it." I couldn't wait for him to reply, and finally I embraced the sweet darkness of sleep. My memories rose up and it was time to sleep; while they played havoc on me.

ooOOoo

10 Months 26 days till Megaspell Day

“So Stalliongrad didn't realize ponies could get in and out of there so freely,” Silver Zoom broke the silence as we flew in the Sky Carousel Mini Mark I. She was over a decade old, but my dad had gotten it for free and fixed her up. This bucket of bolts was probably older than me, come to think of it. Anytime I'd gone anywhere that required flight, it had been in this old iron passenger car. Mom normally sat where Silver Zoom was, he looked at me like there were questions on his lips. I ignored him and stared out at the clouds of early winter below us. We were wrapped in jackets with a heating blanket draped over us, as the Mark I lacked atmospheric controls. It was still sealed by metal and windows, but it lacked any amenities from later models; ya know, radio, heating and air, windows that could roll down, hydraulic assisted turning or electric locks.

“I've seen the siege for almost a year now. School was cancelled two months ago. We've got ways in and out of the city that the zebras can't stop, but they haven't let up.” I looked out the window in the distance, the bright sun creating wonderful silver linings across the white clouds around us.

“Sunrise, you're what, fourteen?” Silver Zoom asked and pulled me back away from the window.

I shook my head at him, “Thirteen actually. I'll be fourteen at the end of summer.”
“Wandering Sunrise, let me ask something,” I hate it when ponies use my full name, it always means something bad. “Is there a time you remember when there wasn't a war?” All I could do was shake my head at him. Everyday, from the earliest I could remember, there was news from the front. New weapons being used, zebras pushing in and then being pushed back. News that the war was almost won, with the Equestrian army getting closer to breaking the Zebracian backs, and Caesar would be forced to negotiate.

I'd heard that almost a year ago now, yet Stalliongrad was still under siege. Boats came up the Stalga, and tunnels we had dug for trains allowed traffic in and out of the city. It was like the siege was some distant news story associated with the war. Even mom had stopped practicing law and doing legal research work for drafting up new bills. No, her days were now almost exclusively devoted to the emergency medical brigade. She always came home washing blood off her hooves and clothes. Her horn always sparked like it was on the verge of burnout.

Life finds a way to continue, somehow. I was lost in thought when Silver Zoom nudged me. “Sunrise, hey. The war really is close to an end. We've been using Stalliongrad as a linchpin for the zebra army for nearly a year,” He explained while we broke through the clouds. “They keep up the siege. They keep trying to find the relocating tunnel network and failing. They know the entrances are all the way back in Manehattan. They just don't know how to target a tunnel that moves itself,” Silver Zoom explained, and I looked at him.

“Yeah, pretty crafty, but I wonder what will happen if they ever do,” I mused while looking down, away from him.

“A tunnel that magically teleports itself and everything in it, every hour. That repairs itself from any damage and shields occupants.” Silver Zoom laughed and shook his head. “Your generation will never know what it was like for sieges before. Starvation and lack of supplies are a thing of the past. There we have a city that can shield itself in a moment's notice from harm. Megaspells are amazing.” He made a broad gesture outward as we dove down and arrived in the inspection line to enter the tunnel to Stalliongrad. This was the first of six lines we'd have to pass through before entering the tunnel itself.

The layers of security meant that if one inspection line was damaged you could be moved ahead to the next one and still get through it on your way along the undercity. Soon we would be enclosed in layers of earth and reinforced concrete for several hours.

“Yeah, you're right. I wouldn’t know what it's like without these wonders. I also don't know what it's like to not be at war. Peace is the word, isn't it?” Silver Zoom looked taken aback and hung his head. He shuffled underneath the blanket and then looked out at my dad as the inspection occurred. Dad flashed his travel pass and they opened the mini to check us.

A standard anti-zebra inspection was to have a unicorn check everything with their magical auras. Water splashed upon our faces to ensure that everyone was not dying fur coats to hide stripes. Unpacking all our luggage, and that inspected as well. Then, finally, our entire carousel along with driver were soaked in a spray of water to see if any invisible figures appeared in the downpour. We had to go through this another five times to reach the tunnel that would take us under the Celestia Sea, across to what used to be Griffonstone station; now it was Stalliongrad, on the renamed Stalga river.

For some reason, back when the war started, an unknown stallion held Griffonstone Station for six days against two entire companies of zebras. He fell as the Equestrian army finally sent reinforcements. Three days later, the zebras were pushed back across the river, and slowly the city of Stalliongrad formed to support the frontline. I was born there when both mom and dad were in military service.

Now, we were in a line of various vehicles from individuals to families, walking or flying down a tunnel to get back to the city born and forged in war. As we finally got to the tunnel and dad took flight again, we watched bright lights pass by while covering another two hours of flight to get to the city.

As we got close, Silver Zoom changed our conversation, from history I'd learned of Stalliongrad and the life I'd had, to how things were to change with the Ministry of Morale mission. “Sunrise, I know Pinkie Pie asked a lot of you. But, you have to understand, if it goes public that one of the top ten in the M.O.M. have gone power hungry...” Silver Zoom trailed off, and I nodded at him.

“Yeah, and my family's choices were cooperate and help, or get my brain zapped of half of the memories of the last two months. So, what did you think I was going to—” I drifted back to Silver Zoom but what I looked at sitting beside me wasn't the silver-coated pegasus. Instead, he was bright yellow now, with a solid red mane. His cutie mark had changed to a raincloud, and he was taking off his Wonderbolt clothing. “How did you...?”

“Something we picked up from the zebras. Invisibility is a bit hard, but a magically infused disguise pill,” he chewed a few more times and swallowed. His eyes changed last, to a violet color that matched my own. “And suddenly, I'm Rain Bolt.”
His words were not comforting, and I just glared at him in distaste. He let out a gulp and couldn't meet my gaze as his brain put two and two together.

The expression on his face was simple: How Much Damage can an Earth Pony do in a confined space? “Look, I know Pinkie Pie didn't offer you a lot of options but, could you at least not want to kill me over it? Not like I get much choice in assignments at my new job, either.”

“Just go over what I need to do again, for clarity's sake?” I asked, looking at the pegasus with my hoof testing his coat to make sure it was real.

“You just need to be you. Do what comes natural and everything your parents say. 9 has to believe that no pony is investigating her. We need more evidence than just the memory orbs I got from you,” He explained, for the fourth time since we'd been in Pinkie Pie's office. “Just know that—”

I put a hoof into his mouth. “I know already! I'm saving ponies doing this. I have to play my part, just like Rainbowrise and Shadow Window have to play theirs! I get it.” I looked at him and wanted to smack him. “I'm not as young as you or every other pony keeps thinking I am. I just don't have a cutie mark.” I looked away from his stewing with my forelegs crossed.
Silver Zoom stroked my red mane with a sigh, trying to get me to turn back to him. “Yeah, I noticed that. Listen, when this is over, I'll make sure you get all the counseling you need. And if you want the memories removed, we'll have the best doctors in all of Equestria to take care of that.”

“Silver Zoom, just make sure she gets a chance to be better.” I looked back out the window; the tunnel was coming to an end, according to the signs. We'd have inspection checkpoints to go through again shortly.
The former wonderbolt turned spy shook his head and groaned, “I swear, Sunrise, you're full of surprises. Just hopefully not explosive ones.”

Damn, if only Silver Zoom could see me now... is that noise my PipBuck? Time to get up? One thing about these dreams, I gotta say, I miss not having a HUD across everything in the world. If I could safely take my PipBuck off from time to time, it would be nice.

ooOOoo

Another overcast day, like it had been every single day in this accursed wasteland. Nyota and I slept, holding each other again. It was by far the nicest feeling I'd ever had. Except, when I woke up and he had already gotten up to cook breakfast. We ate the canned food in silence and I finished off the last of the coffee we had prepared before we left The Roof. Yay! Fresh Coffee Tomorrow! This was the last leg of our trek back to the shanty. We had circumvented the minefield, and now that we knew where we were going, it was faster as well.

It was just after noon when my EFS lit up with signals all in front of us as well as behind. Nyota and Quick Stitch stood at attention and were both looking, tracking towards those red dots on my navigation bar. Alguacil jumped onto a nearby rock with a flap of his wings, while Nyota gave a signal to Chifundo. The pink-striped zebra took out his rifles. But, for all of this, we saw nothing, even when the road in front of us lit up with red pips. I looked at them, confused, and the ponies with us gathered around Jackal and Hot Cross Buns as we tensed up.

“Quick Stitch, stay with Hot Cross, make sure they are alright. Alguacil cover us. Nyota,” I turned and he had disappeared.

“Yeah, that.” I motioned Chifundo with my hoof to follow me forward. Slowly, we crept up until I thought I was right on top of those red dots. There wasn't anything there, though. I looked at Chifundo and leaned forward just slightly.

“Umm.... Hello?” I called out, looking at Alguacil, then Quick Stitch to make sure they were in position. The group of rescued ponies were huddled around, like circling the wagons, and then I heard a wire snap and my attention was brought back to the front of us. Then, my chest exploded in pain.

I was frozen in place, and I felt light headed. Slowly I looked down at my chest and saw metal shards sticking out of my chest plate. I staggered back and groaned. Nyota appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and started pulling the sharp shards—which were shaped like little stars—out, while pushing a healing potion into my mouth. He and Chifundo exchanged looks, both of them discussing something in that hidden zebra tongue. I felt the wounds heal, but my chest still hurt; the bones behind my chest plate had probably been damaged from whatever those metal stars were.

A gunshot caught all of our ears, we all looked up to see white smoke billowing out around Hot Cross and his group. Quick Stitch disappeared from view inside it. Alguacil fired off another shot and Chifundo did the same. We couldn't see what they were firing at. Nyota disappeared again. I watched the red blips in front of us disappearing off my E.F.S. There were still two red blips in front of us, as Quick Stitch emerged from the smoke along with all of Hot Cross Bun's group at a full gallop. Jackal was bringing up the rear, as a bipedal dragon couldn't outrun ponies.

Nyota just appeared beside me again and nodded to me. “I've disarmed the traps ahead, motion them to go on.” In the chaos I heard Alguacil squawk out in pain as Quick Stitch dashed that direction. Chifundo fired another shot, but we still couldn't see our assailants. “Sunrise! S.A.T.S.! Use it!” The world slowed down as my tail activated S.A.T.S. I scrolled through the targets, all green except for one. That one S.A.T.S. registered as some question marks, but it was a red pip at the same time, with the faint outline of a pony.

“That's it, Sunrise! That is the pony who threw the smoke bomb! Get her!” I looked at Pink and raised an eyebrow. I checked my inventory and selected a molotrot cocktail. Pink rolled her eyes. “Use some real explosives, silly!”

No! I have to give them a chance to give up. I felt the world speed back up as S.A.T.S. ran out, and the molotrot flew through the air. It impacted and dispersed the smoke in every direction, pushing it aside with the force of the blast. A pony figure emerged after shimmering against the flames that tore at their body. There were zebra stripes on their nose under the cloak they wore. I felt my tail pulling out something from my saddlebags.

“Sunrise! These are bad ponies! They want to kill you all! I'm taking over!” Pink shouted at the top of her lungs.

You're what!? I turned to see a pair of the jury rigged magical fission cells; the same ones I'd rigged into grenades when we were in The Roof. Their energy bars turned red and they started to whine. NO!

I reached a hoof towards the grenades and hit one as my tail flung them. The other one was on target. I was in conflict with my own body as the overcharged MFC bomb landed barely two hoof steps away. Pink! NO! I leaped forward and dove on the grenade, pressing my duster's outer plating against it. Rifle shots echoed from Chifundo as he worked the bolt as fast as I could.

“Sunrise, WHAT ARE YOU—” Pink was interrupted by my world becoming one of burning, raging pain. I thought for certain that the plasma detonation should turned me to pink goo or rainbow colored ash. Instead my layered, plated duster absorbed the green death blast. My ribs and side felt like they were on fire. My legs were burned; badly charred fur clung to my skin that screamed in rage. My eyes stayed closed. I didn't wanna open them and find out the damage to my face, which felt like I had bathed in an inferno. I shuddered and slowly opened my eyes, surprised they were still working. I saw the zebra, covered in a cloak, on fire, and charging.

That zebra mare took one second to slap a hoof into my side and I felt a rib give. Blood welled up into my mouth, while agony overwhelmed my senses. “Stupid dirt pony, wish I could have killed her. Now to take care of the targets.” My whole body erupted in pain, and I could barely keep my eyes open. The world was black with tunnel vision, and I couldn't drive myself to move.

I'm still alive! I could feel dozens of plates in my armored jumpsuit and duster fused together. When I tried to move, they were rigid and ground into my damaged ribs. I tasted blood from my nose and somewhere deeper inside. Any attempt to move made me cough up more of my life essence. My legs were numb or disconnected for the moment.

“Sunrise, you idiot! These ponies literally will kill you! Get up! You have to save your friends!”

The sounds of Jackal crying out in a roar of agonized distress hit my ears, and adrenaline started flowing in response. I staggered to my feet to see Chifundo shooting the flaming zebra that had kicked me. He worked the bolt as fast as possible to fire another shot, while every pony around her was emptying pipe weapons and magical energy blasts into her.

The armor underneath her stealth cloak was thick and deflecting the rounds. She was feeling it, but just barely. Nyota ran through the pack of ponies that were pumping out gun fire. He pushed Jackal aside with his flank and pivoted to do a full on rear legged buck. Both of his hooves found their mark on her head, like a hoofball player going for a home run. Time paused, Nyota in a full on buck while the sound wave of a snapping neck brushed out through the air. I realized I was in S.A.T.S. again.

We hadn't used the full charge earlier, and now the spell was giving me the exact moment that zebra died. Her head was turned completely around at least twice. The cloak from her head fell off, and I could see the wide eyed surprise through the broken visor. The zebra infiltrator helmet hadn't saved her from Nyota's freight train assault. She was looking right at me, and I was looking at her while time moved at less than 100^th the normal speed. The life burned out of her eyes, agonizingly slowly; I watched her soul depart in that piece of frozen time.

“Sunrise, do you see now? She thought you were dead, and she left you there. Just gave you a good kick and that broken rib to make sure you were dead.” Pink walked into view, wearing a square scholar’s cap and carrying a teaching ruler. She was slapping the image before my eyes, like Miss Learned had when I was in the schoolhouse. Except this was very real, no matter how cartoonishly she interacted with it.

“Sunrise, I know deep down inside you wanna save ponies, and not hurt any pony. But that doesn't mean they won't hesitate to do it to you.” Pink took another breath. “This one is handled, but there are two more red dots on your Eyes

Forward Sparkle. One of them is about to kill Alguacil. Now get up and go save him!”
I don't want to kill any pony, Pink, I just want to stop them. If I kill like they do, it proves nothing. I need to show them mercy! A better—

“Sunrise! NO! You are a good pony, the only ponies you've killed are either by accident, or you warned them before the bomb went off and they ignored it.” Pink did a full facehoof and shook her head, “You need to find a better way than just accepting that everypony is worth saving. Some of them aren't!”

No, Pink, I refuse to accept that. Turn off the S.A.T.S., let's go save Alguacil. I felt a prick in my side and a sudden coolness that my nerves welcomed. My tail had spiked two shots of Med-X into my flanks. One where it should go, and the second one onto the broken rib. Pink then dropped S.A.T.S. for me, and I rushed to my hooves, running towards the blip that was marked as Alguacil on my EFS. There was a red pip next to him along with one off to our left, somewhere down the road we had come. I blitzed forward, my tail brought my shotgun out and I cleared the rocks with a pain in my side that was agonizing, despite the drugs. I felt something digging into my barrel, while my insides screamed and more blood flowed up to my lips. My body whined against me, my head pulsed with each pound of my heart. My body wanted to lay back down as the initial adrenaline rush faded.

Another mare held a glowing, rainbow colored knife in her mouth. Our griffin justicar was covered in deep slashes, and his armor had deep cuts through it. I hit S.A.T.S. and hoped there was enough left for a shot. I was barely eight hooves away. The knife was moving, and I queued up a shot at the foreleg of the would-be assassin. However, immediately that unqued and the shot realigned for her armored mask faceplate.

Pink? You can do that? No, I refuse! I'm not going to kill her! I won't let you trick me again!

“Sunrise, you have six seconds in S.A.T.S. to decide.” Pink glared at me angrily and pointed at the knife. Time slowed down even more, till it stopped somehow. “You can decide to spare this assassin, who wants to kill you, your friends, and those ponies you rescued. Or, you can save Alguacil. No middle ground!” The angle the knife was already at and the momentum were obvious; it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that if I shot her in the legs, Alguacil would still be stabbed. Whatever knife that was, it had cleaved through his armor like a blowtorch. The griffin regulator was bleeding from several places, he was shaking, and his eyes looked shocked and surprised. A wrong cut might finish him off.

Pink I don't want to-to-to KILL A PONY!

“Sunrise, choose! Alguacil, or this pony trying to kill you!” I didn't think about it anymore, I just let the spell go and closed my eyes. The shotgun slammed into my shoulder and that was it, my ribs couldn't take anymore. I fell in a heap, holding my side, eyes shut tight to the world. I was barely holding on to consciousness; the plasma grenade had done more damage than I thought.

It was hard to breath, and my eyes slowly opened up to see Alguacil looking towards the rocks, aiming his pistol and firing off two shots. He coldly turned to me and tapped his sombrero at me. He had just double tapped the pony I'd put buckshot into. I had no idea where I'd hit her, or if I had killed her or if Alguacil had done it. I didn't want to know. All I wanted was the taste of my own blood out of my mouth.

Nyota helped me up slowly and my tail put a healing potion up to my lips. Quick Stitch rushed over and stopped me from drinking it, his hoof pulling it away. His horn glowed and I felt him shifting around my damaged ribs inside me. “Sunrise, you can't take healing potions right now. Not while your ribs are this bad off.” He kept moving his horn, and I felt my insides shifted sickeningly again. Nyota tried to get his hooves in to help my sides, but fused armor plates not only ground against my damaged bones but prevented him from getting to close.

I groaned in agony and clung to him. He'd been super zebra, today, and here I was, barely holding myself together. This wasn't like when I first met him, molerats tearing him apart and me saving him. Now he was paying it back. Quick Stitch helped me off the rocks while Alguacil searched the bodies of our attackers. There was still a red pip on my E.F.S., but that faded as it got further and further away. “There is another one... down the path where we,” the E.F.S. dot winked out, “...came from.”

Nyota looked and stared, then Chifundo approached. “Nyota, our attackers were legion, I’ve never heard of them in this region?”

Nyota shook his head, “No, legion would have attacked us all. They went right after Jackal and Hot Cross Buns. They were assassins. Enclave likely sent them in.”

It was that moment, the Med-X decided to stop working. The extreme agony drove my conscious mind away like a rat from a sinking ship. Nyota sounded miles away, even if he was right next to me. Quick Stitch was speaking, but I couldn't hear his words. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I felt the scream in my throat as they looked at me before the world went black.

***

I awoke being carried by Nyota again, but he didn't insist I stay there. Instead even Quick Stitch insisted I try to walk. He injected my ribs with Med-X, which felt so amazing. I wanted more than what he’d given me, but I didn’t ask. It hadn’t completely dulled the broadcasts of pain, but it was enough that I could walk. We blazed a trail as fast as I could move. Everytime I started to slow down, another sweet embrace of Med-X was injected into me by my tail, much to Quick Stitch’s dirty looks.

We kept going well past the time the sun set. Everypony was on edge, and my E.F.S. returned with a red pip every few minutes. Something, or some pony, was chasing us. It was well after dark, my PipBuck read 9:58pm, when our salvation came into view: Silver Fang Shanty’s walls.

Level Up Progress: Level 7 Achieved!
New Perk: Egghead - You think about stuff way too much and study it far too in depth. Gain +2 Extra Skillpoints per level.

Cosplayer at babscon who played Corners made a cosplay of Box Pony:

Chapter 19: Love, Lust, and a Hoof Full of Buckshot

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We arrived, and I got Hot Cross Buns separated from the other rescue ponies. It was after ten, going on eleven at night now. Alguacil had gone off to the regulator's tent to get signed statements handled for all the other ponies with us, while the rest of us gathered around the outside door of Sparrow's house. I motioned Hot Cross Buns to get behind us. Sparrow's gonna love this. If we’re going to do this correct, let’s do it like a movie for her. I could feel the excitement coursing into my bones, I was almost shaking with it. Pink had hidden herself in a mini-pony sized cake, ready to explode out of the cake like a surprise party.

Once everypony was in position, I started pounding on Sparrow's door without mercy. My hoof working as fast as it could to hit the wooden planks and metal plating. I had to stop myself and look embarrassed when the door jerked open.The angriest face Sparrow could possibly muster stared me down. “What in the hell!? I just got Nugget to sleep!” She screamed loud enough that it echoed off the walls of Silver Fang Shanty. She was in an evening gown with her massive revolver in her right wing. I, however, had no doubt that what I was about to do would dispel any feelings of malice.

“Hi, Sparrow!” I said in as friendly a manner as possible, with the biggest grin I could manage. She did not look the slightest bit entertained. “Remember, you sent us to find your husband?” I fluttered my eyes at Sparrow and she growled.

“It's late, I just got Nugget to bed, and you are annoying me!” Sparrow cocked the revolver and pointed it halfway between the clouds and me. “So get to the point!”

My tail motioned at Hot Cross Buns, and he leaped up into the air above our heads, “Hi, Honey!” The deep rumble of Hot Cross Buns’ voice was accompanied by the sound of the pistol hitting the ground. I felt my spirit’s rise as far as Sparrow’s jaw dropped. Sparrow took a hesitant step forward, her lip quivered and tears swelled up into her eyes. Hot Cross Buns hovered there for her to get a good look at him. He smiled nervously, then Sparrow was on him in the hardest hug I'd ever seen. I double winced, once for the pain that must have caused, and once more because my ribs hurt from the shifting of my side to wince away.

She was kissing him frantically while the rest of us looked at each other, smiling. The sighs of relief, the feeling of burdens being lifted. The wasteland had tried so hard to take him away. We had fought through minefields, geckos, Stable-Tec secrets, and giant killer roaches to reach his Enclave captors. I'd broken my ribs, which painfully reminded me they still needed attention as I turned to square up towards the reunited couple. Not to mention, Quick Stitch had repaired my right leg, twice! Corners had gone her separate way. All of our party had nearly died. Even if Alguacil would never admit it, I knew another slash of that rainbow glowing knife would have finished him off. This was the payoff we had been hoping for. At least, even if our quest wasn’t done, this part was worth it.

“Sparrow, you should go wake up Nugget and let her meet her new dad.” Nyota declared and the two paused their intense reunion. We all turned to him and I smiled. He’s right, Hot Cross Buns will want to meet her. I thought of how much better life would be for Nugget. I wondered if this feeling would be same one I would feel if I ever saw my parents again, or at least found out their fate. The feeling Nugget would get from having a mother and a father to take her in.

“Wait, who’s Nugget?” Hot Cross Buns asked.

I started to speak when Chifundo interjected, “She is your new daughter; if you wish to deny it, I would not bother.” Hot Cross Buns looked at him, stunned, then at Sparrow with so many questions painted across his face. Sparrow blushed and nuzzled him, then helped him back onto his hooves.

Sparrow ran inside and Hot Cross Buns looked at all of us, “I didn't—there is no way she was pregnant when I got kidnapped. She had just finished estrus!” Hot Cross Buns looked offended and hurt at Sparrow. “And I certainly didn’t touch her while she was that crazy.” Sparrow blushed at him with a knowing smile then bolted inside. I realized what he had thought, and wanted to step in.

Nyota beat me to the punch, with a pat on his shoulder. “She adopted her when we went out to look for you the first time. We didn't find you, but we did rescue several ponies and Nugget was one of them.” Nyota explained, and obviously wanted to say more but Sparrow came running back in distress. She scooped up her revolver at the doorway and checked the cylinder.

“Nugget's missing!” She exclaimed to the horror of all of us. Nyota started to look around the house. Chifundo and Quick Stitch both had weapons out, but I didn't. They all looked at me while I scanned my Eyes Forward Sparkle in all directions. Not a single red dot anywhere along the compass. I entered tag mode: something I had done with every single rescued pony and all of my companions was tag them on my PipBuck.

With Tag mode active, my H.U.D. lit up with outlines of ponies and their names under their hooves. In the distance was a green outline of a small pony nearly 200 meters away, “Nugget”. She was well within the maximum tag’s 2,000 meter range, and still inside the walls of Silver Fang Shanty.

“Every pony come with me, Sparrow and Hot Cross buns go on inside,” I looked at Hot Cross and he nodded back at me. Sparrow shot a look at me indignantly angry and stomped a hoof. I let out a sigh, remembering that not every pony could see my H.U.D. or the tags on my PipBuck. “Sparrow, she is just over this way. I have her tagged on my PIpBuck.” I explained and pointed at the heavy block computer on my right foreleg. Which I am still convinced is a bullet magnet!

“Maybe she got scared or upset. Let me go get her and you stay here; make sure Hot Cross Buns is updated on life and ready to meet her. Does that sound fair?” I asked and looks at the two pegasi hoping this was satisfy Sparrow's rage.

Sparrow let out a snort and then Hot Cross Buns wrapped a wing around her, “If she is afraid and supposed to be our new little one, let Sunrise go take care of getting her back. She hasn’t met me yet, dear.” Sparrow turned to him as the rest of us looked at Hot Cross Buns, my eyes were wide in surprise. “Let her see a familiar face, and let Sunrise take care of it; we need to catch up before I meet my daughter.” He reassured her after ruffling his feathers around the word ‘daughter’. I think he was embarrassed at the idea he was gonna have to be a dad. Sparrow deflated and hung her head with a few slow nods to Hot Cross Buns. I wanted to wipe my brow and let out a sigh of relief, but that wouldn’t keep her reassured. Well, at least she hasn’t shot any of us yet.

“Sunrise, are you stupid!” Pink bounded into view, shouting at me. Her eyes had turned red and nearly were pin-pricks. She had literal steam coming out of her ears while she yelled at me. “You’re hurt!” Pink looked genuinely panicked at the thought. “The Med-X is gonna wear off any second now! Looking for a lost foal is stupid and you know it!” I felt my tail trying to grab onto a metal wall to try to hold me in place.

Pink, I never promised I had common sense. Nugget isn’t in any danger, let’s just go take care of this. Pink blinked at me. She was stunned and at a loss for words. I actually took a twisted sort of pleasure that I had managed to stun Pink silent for once.

I smirked to myself about Pink’s silence as we walked in the direction of Nugget’s tag. Somewhere along the way, I felt the Med-X wear off and my rib grinding against my insides. I could taste blood in my mouth, but that was nothing new. It was a pain I could grit my teeth through. I felt guilty, looking at Nyota and not expressing the pain I was in, but we had to find Nugget and make sure she was safely home. Just get through this, and then you can let them fix you. Pink looked afraid; she could possibly feel the pain I was in. Her coat was draining of its color more and more with every movement.

We approached a building marked with a metal sign and red lettering, 'Water Shack'. The door had three different locks on it. Two windows had a light on inside, very dim, almost like a candle in the way it flickered. “She’s in there, and it looks like no one is with her if my E.F.S. is right.” Every one of my friends stared at me, questioningly. “Hey! It found Corners when we first met her and she wandered off. It found the Enclave soldiers and it gave me warning for where those assassins were. I think we can trust my PipBuck, most of the time,” I replied to them which they exchanged looks of concern towards each other.

All except Chifundo, who just walked up and knocked on the door. There was no answer and the lights inside quickly cut off. We could hear the stumbling of small hooves inside, then silence. I stepped up next to Chifundo, “Hey Nugget, it’s Sunrise, why don’t you come on out?”

“SUNRISE!” The reply was instant and the locks on the door popped off in a hurry. A golden brown flash shot through the air and slammed into my chest. While I was flying through the air, wanting to shriek in pain, I regretted many life decisions. One of those decisions being standing within range of the door to be glomped by a small earth pony filly with unusual amounts of raw strength and speed. This decision was now at the top of that list.

As I flew through the air, I heard a rather strange sound: a long moan that reminded me of one awkward evening on Hearts and Hooves Day, when I’d stayed up later than normal after my parents had sent me to bed. It made my cheeks burn at the thought. Then I impacted the ground just as Nugget squeaked a happy, “Oh Sunrise! I’m so happy to see you!”

The ground was unforgiving and without remorse. My breath was driven out of my body and I slammed down hard enough to see stars. Any conscious thought I had at the moment was just gone. Nyota yanked her off of me before any more damage could be done, “Nugget! She has broken ribs, get off of her.” Quick Stitch helped me to my feet as Alguacil facetaloned and Chifundo let out a chuckle. While Quick Stitch checked me over, Nyota held Nugget square to his shoulders, “What’s gotten into you, why did you run off in the middle of the night?”

Nugget looked up at him and rubbed a hoof against her opposite foreleg nervously. “Well, mommy was sad. So I thought if I got somepony else to be her special somepony, she wouldn't be sad anymore.” She turned and pointed a hoof inside the water shed, “So I made a love potion for her.” While there was a level of innocence in that voice we couldn’t possibly be mad at, the words she spoke were extremely alarming.

“To help her find a new special somepony?” I repeated very slowly as the icy touch of Med-X kicked in again and calmed my torment. It really felt good and nice, almost like drinking our coffee in the morning, except calming instead of the caffeine rush. But that icy touch was accompanied by a colder chill at the possibility of what a ‘love potion’ meant.
Slowly I got up and looked at Nugget with a thousand yard stare. Alguacil asked the obvious question, “You brewed it inside the watershed?”

“Well, yeah. I put it in the filter system a little bit ago, and was making another batch to give to mommy. That way her new special somepony would be able to find her.” Nugget nuzzled up against Chifundo and giggled. Then she hugged Alguacil’s leg, staring up at him with a cute smile.

We all looked at each other, worried, and I stepped forward and saw a book just inside the room on a foal sized table. The rest of the room was a large boiler with several pipes sticking out of it that ran into the ground. At the bottom of the boiler was a water talisman encased inside a glass chamber that glowed as it purified water running through it. There was a full cauldron that boiled with a purple brew. Attached to the talisman chamber was a funnel pipe for inserting liquids directly into the water supply.

I walked up and looked at the book. 'Love Poison' was the page it was turned to. Oh no, please no. I don't wanna walk out and find... My ears now identified what the moaning sound had been, and the moaning was getting louder with more voices added to it.

“Oh NO! I don't think any pony has ever seen what an entire town will do under the effects of love poison.” Pink rolled into view and looked at the book. “It's either going to be the best party ever or the worst. Considering I don't even know if they’ll ask consent first...” Pink trailed off and sat on her flanks, deep in thought. A few moments later I heard a dragon's roar followed by a mare's whinny; both in passion.

I stepped outside to a comical display of Chifundo covering Nugget’s eyes while Nyota covered her ears. Quick Stitch was trying to separate two ponies, one of which was mounted to the other one... Oh dear Goddesses, they are going at it in the streets, aren't they? How do we stop this! The moans got louder as I took over for covering Nugget's ears from Nyota. “Nyota! Love poison! It’s in the entire water supply. Quick Stitch, you're with me, let's get to Sparrow's house and make sure they don't drink any!” I was having to shout over the moans of sexual bliss as ponies were mating in every building, on most buildings, and in the streets between the houses.

Nyota looked at me and tilted his head, then his eyes slowly widened with realization. He ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders square to his. Ow! I need— My tail beat me to the thought and injected more Med-X into me. The cooling sensation was so delightful. “Love poison, are you sure?” Alguacil took flight and started to scout around, a surprised expression decorated all over his face as he moved above us. I nodded very slowly and deliberately and my tail pointed at the book I left on the counter.

“The book is open to the right page for the love poison. See if any of your potion knowledge can brew up something to counteract it,” I told him as Quick Stitch and I started moving slowly, trying to keep Nugget's eyes covered. I need to be going to a doctor right now, not trying to haul a filly through the streets and protecting her innocence! This is the last thing I could have imagined happening! I lost balance when Nugget’s flank dug into my damaged plating too much. Nugget's eyes were revealed to the world. Quick Stitch moved to catch me and his hooves came off her ears. Now she could hear the rampant sounds of sex around us.

“Sunrise, you should be in a hospital, or at least in bed. You can't mess with broken ribs.” I pushed Quick Stitch away as he spoke and nudged Nugget on her rear to get her moving again.

“Fine, as soon as this is over, I will see Bonesaw and he can patch me up, just like he did for Corners.” I added the last bit to reassure him that I would actually follow through and we went as fast as possible back to Sparrow's house.

Quick Stitch broke off from us outside. “I've got a cleanse spell, I’ll go test see if it's effective. If it is, I can clean up enough people to get some help.” I nodded to him and went for the door to Sparrow's home.

I opened the door and bolted in with Nugget as quick as I could nudge her into moving. To my horror, Hot Cross Buns was downing a cup of fresh tea. “Oh dear Goddesses, Sparrow, please tell me you haven't had any of the water.”

Sparrow raised an eyebrow and then looked at her husband. Hot Cross Buns’ eyes had changed radically. They were nearly all pupil! He let out a snort that shot a heart shaped rainbow colored smoke puff out.

“What's going on, Sunrise, is Nugget—” Sparrow started to say, only to have Hot Cross interrupt us both.

“Oh, honey, you look amazing. Have I told you that recently?” I had to act or he and Sparrow would be incapacitated like the rest of the town. I rushed forward trying to get between him and Sparrow. He took a step forward at the wrong time. Oh no! This is gonna hurt so much! Hot Cross Buns turned to me just in time for us to collide. My thoughts were shattered by the amount of pain that forced its way through the Med-X.

Hot Cross Buns went to throw me off and yelled, “No! I must make her mine!” We began to struggle, I felt an urgency rush into me. I have to stop him, I can’t have him do something terrible.

“Hot Cross Buns! Stop! You aren’t in your right frame of mind! This isn’t right!” I shouted back at him. He delivered a punch to my jaw to try to dislodge me from on top of him. Okay that’s it! Between Pink, Sparrow now screaming at us, my ribs, and that punch; I had enough today. I started to hammer into him as hard as I possibly could. Time and again, rolling with him while slamming my hoof right into his jaw.

We rolled and tumbled, I wanted so badly for this to stop. The only way I saw out was to knock him unconscious. I heard Nugget run up to Sparrow, who put her under her wing. Hot Cross Buns and I were in a wrestling match for dominance, one I was losing. We were on our sides, and he was putting pressure onto my broken rib, threatening to make it fracture again. I couldn't pin him down, and he managed to get on top of me. Just as the horror that he might pin me down and use me instead of Sparrow, another pegasus rushed in. He headbutted Hot Cross in the wing. Whoever this pegasus was, I didn't care, because Hot Cross Buns needed to be knocked out right now.

I raised my hoof to strike him again, this time just out of pure spite but was stopped by Quick Stitch’s magic wrapped around my leg. “No Sunrise, I've got a better way!” Hot Cross Buns used the distraction to jab into my painfully suffering ribs and dragged his body out from under me. I got hit right in the face with fully erect stallionhood as he stood up and turned his attention back to Sparrow. That sent me flying away in disgust. I wanted to buck him right in there but held myself from doing so. She took a step back holding Nugget tight to her with a wing.

“Sparrow, I can honestly say, I wanna pound you into a cloud right now! Ya know like we did when we first met!” Hot Cross Buns made a kissing lip motion in her direction while myself and this other pegasus struggled to hold him down. Sparrow blushed and then recoiled as she shielded Nugget with a wing. Even I felt sorry for her, also him when he had to explain this. He collapsed in a heap and pissed himself while Quick Stitch's magical aura worked through him. I winced at the convulsions he went through before finally, he was unconscious.

Sparrow started to extend a hoof to him. “Love? Hot Cross Buns, are you—” She didn't finish, because he started snoring with long, drawn out breaths. We both shot looks to Quick Stitch for an explanation.

“I put him under a cleanse spell, but the love poison is really strong. Any pony I've done it to so far has dropped unconscious.” He was panting and trying to catch his breath, I could see the strain on his face. Quick Stitch looked like he might drop himself right then and there. I knew what the magical sparks from his horn meant: he was about to suffer from burnout. I was just glad this was over, with less violence than I expected it to be.

“All right, we'll just have hope Nyota can make an antidote, and defend ponies till he can, or until this wears off.” I started to drag Hot Cross Buns and couldn't hide my wince. Note to self, broken rib is raw pain that I never wish to experience again. Our newcomer grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him from my grip.

The new pegasus grimaced at me. He was a grey-blue combination with a frizzed out brown mane. He was covered in black painted leather armor and had a hunting shotgun across his back. He stared at me for some sort of exposition. When I didn’t offer one, he choose to introduce himself. “I'm Cloud Piston, how can I help?” He moved Hot Cross Buns to Sparrow and passed him off to her. Well, at least this much is over and done. The sense of relief I knew was temporary but I would take any break I could get at this point.

“I, um, thank you. Keep them safe?” I looked at him, very confused, then turned to Sparrow and Nugget. “Sparrow, do you have a room with no windows or doors to the outside?”

“Yes, we have a closet security room. Why?” She guided Nugget with her wing while her hooves picked up her husband’s weight from Piston.

“Good, we'll move Hot Cross Buns in there. You should stay in there with him and Nugget, till this is over.” I gave a nervous smile. “We'll get it fixed, okay?” Sparrow looked very confused and then gave a solemn nod before going towards their security room down the hallway.

I sighed and explained to Sparrow and Cloud Piston exactly what had transpired and where we found Nugget, and then checked my PipBuck. Oh, great, the poison has been in the supply for just long enough to saturate the town by now. Sparrow leaned down outside the door after and bapped Nugget on the nose with her hoof. “Why would you do that? Seriously, what could have possibly motivated you to use a love poison on me?”

Nugget looked down and blushed pink around her golden-coated cheeks. “ Mommy, you were so sad, I just thought if you had a special somepony you wouldn't be so sad anymore.” Sparrow gave her another rap on the nose and then pulled her in close with her wings for a tight hug.

“Alright, listen here, you. I adopted you to help you have a place to stay, not for you to try to fix my problems, alright? Mommy loves you, but we need to fix this.” Sparrow held Nugget tightly until Quick Stitch grunted to get their attention.
“Less making up and potential child disciplining, and more moving to a safe room.” Sparrow nodded to Quick Stitch and the two disappeared the security room; a hard slam of a heavy metal door meant they were safe. I took a drink out of my canteen and followed them.“Stay in there till I get back.” I heard a hoof tap on the door in response along with a muffled ‘Yeah got it’. I couldn’t tell who said it from the thick door plate.

“You should plant a landmine to keep them safe.” I stared at Pink in horror. The thought that I might kill some innocent pony with a landmine! She giggled and pointed towards the way out of Sparrow’s house. “You’re gonna be needed out there! And—” She drug out the and like it was some sort of game for both of us. “Well it's better than diving on your own grenade because you wanna stop me from killing somepony.” I glared at Pink who was covered in some dripping white substance. “What? I dove into an icing cake!” I got the sense that wasn’t cake icing in the traditional way.

Pink, what's up with you?

"You know, something's been bugging me." She pulled out a fly swatter and smashed at some flying insect I couldn’t make out for the size of the two of them in my H.U.D.

Well no, but I guess you’re gonna spell it out?

"Yeah. It's a real pest from the past.” She smashed the insect into a gooey stain, that actually stayed on my H.U.D. like a fly on a chariot windshield.

Is... there a point to all this? I was just irritated now, and slightly grossed out.

"Absolutely! Check out your right ear!" My hooves started to itch and my ear flopped down into my eye, painfully. I grumbled at her but she just continued running her mouth, ignoring me. I really wanted a way to punch Pink at this point. I even briefly considered how to strike my own tail." Something's coming, and I think it's gonna really put a bee in your bonnet!"

"Great, I love it when you’re cryptic. It means broken ribs and angry pegasi.” I growled at her while she worked to clean the bug stains off my vision.

"Consider investing in fly swatters!"

Pink how could you possibly know that? Seriously why would you...Okay nevermind, I'll take those random signals as you're right. I choose not to plant the landmine, no sense in risking someone’s life when I couldn’t warn them about the explosive.

Quick Stitch seemed to sense whatever was irritating my body as well. He and Piston headed outside, and by the time I got to the door, Piston had flown on top of Sparrow's roof. A low buzzing filled the air coming from the north. I looked at Quick Stitch and he looked back at me. The buzzing got louder as several earth pony guards scrambled towards the walls. At least some ponies got the warning about the water in time. A loud bell started clanging and ringing out from the town center. Across the night sky, we could see some sort of horde of creatures. A low buzzing started to fill the air as they began to block out much of the horizon. I couldn’t make any of them out, or what they were. There as the glow of magical radiation on a few of them but it was very faint. That faintness grew brighter, like a warning, whatever these creatures were; they were moving closer with a quickness.

I felt a chill down my spine. This was some creature that I knew just from the sound, I should be very afraid of. Not again, changelings! NOT AGAIN! I screamed inside. Memories of the changeling attacks when I was a tiny foal flooded forward. I had to fight to keep myself in full control. I remembered seeing ponies I thought friends replaced by changelings and Ministry of Morale stepping in to stop them. I had watched schoolmates turned into dead husks after they were ‘rescued’. I will not allow this! NO!This creature is pure evil, only here to consume love and from the looks of it, flesh. I felt renewed purpose over any injury I had, a pure rage. Not the kind of rage I got when Corners finally pushed me too hard. No, this was righteous fury. The kind of anger you only felt when you knew you were facing something of pure bile from the depths of Tartarus.

Quick Stitch pulled out some new pistol that swirled with orange fluid and had a spout like gun. “Sunrise, I don't know what's coming but you should do your best to—” Quick Stitch started to say, but I screamed out in agony as the buzzing drowned him out for a brief second. Something massive blindsided me with the force of a full on Bulk Biceps style wrestler. I was sent flying into the wall, hitting the door and slapping it shut with my body.

My ribs exploded in a whole new kind of pain, and I coughed up blood. I couldn’t breathe or move as seconds passed. Then my lungs inflated again as adrenaline kicked in and refused to let me die just yet. Quick Stitch sprayed fire out of his new pistol as he threw a healing potion at me. He covered one of the black creatures in flame, and it screamed in agony before dying. My tail grabbed the potion and forced it down my throat, “Sunrise, you’re not allowed to die until we have a real party!” Pink was way too enthusiastic about a party at a time like this.

In front of me, trying to claw at me and bite through my armor, was a changeling, except its eyes were bloodshot red over the blue-green orbs. Its hide had growths sprouting out of it, and its hooves were more claws. “Husks!” I heard guards shouting as shots started ringing out from everywhere around us. The creature in front of me swiped again and again, and I used my shotgun’s stock to block the first one, then my PipBuck the second from my prone position.

“You can’t have my friends!” I screamed, slamming the shotgun barrel over it’s jaw. I released the barrel from my mouth and let my tail catch it while I headbutted the creature for distance. I used to momentum to spring from the ground with all my might, grinding down the walls of Sparrow's home with my armor plates to put distance between myself and this changeling. I landed on shaky hooves as my tail put my last shot of Med-X into my flank. “You’ve got until this wears off,” Pink said as I felt the coolness fighting the fires of torment in my insides. I really wanted more, but my PipBuck HUD showed I was out.

The husk hissed at me and I saw the long blue tongue shooting out as it roared to charge. S.A.T.S. froze the world around me as I took aim. Quick Stitch was burning his way into another changeling with his flame pistol. A guard was screaming in slow motion: to my horror, three husks were clawing and biting at him. His screams died in a slow motion gurgle as I saw his throat ripped out, and his life essence sprayed out of the gaping wound onto the black carapace of our attackers. I scrolled back to the creature in front of me; it was moving still, despite S.A.T.S. I released S.A.T.S. without queuing a shot right now: I’d need S.A.T.S. for later. Instead I just pulled the trigger at point blank range.

It stopped the charge to me and staggered away three steps. I pumped the action as it let out a roaring hiss to charge me again, then unleashed a second blast. The creature swayed on its hooves and I racked the action again.There was no choice, no chance to give it mercy, and I fired a third time. Shotgun pellets sent orange blood into a fine mist that scattered through the air. The husk creature fell with a thud against the scrap metal wall of Sparrow’s house. A sense of relief washed over me as it collapsed. The adrenaline left as fast as it had come, and I felt all the pain of my encounter. The Med-X couldn’t protect me from it anymore. It felt like my insides were ruptured, and the bit for my shotgun trigger was covered in blood. My nose was bleeding and I could feel fluid in my lungs making it hurt even more.

A PipPony appeared in my display. The pony had bandages around it’s torso along with holding a sign in her mouth. ‘Warning! Seek Medical Help!’ I looked very confused by this and realized what it meant. Pink pointed at it with a horror on her lips. “The device is right! You’re super hot! And not in the ‘ooh, gurl, you fine’ sort of way!”

I ran beside Quick Stitch, who had fended off several husks with his flamer pistol and was switching out a fluid tank. I had a few minutes left before pain would be too unbearable to fight on. Quick Stitch stopped after his reload and shoved another healing potion in my mouth. “Drink this now, and we'll deal with your ribs in a bit.” His horn let half the potion go in before he pulled it away. “Not all of it, I don't want you to heal up and that rib heal wrong.” I felt better, and I wasn't tasting blood—for right now, at least. But ‘better’ was a relative term: my insides were screaming like a blender had run through them. Tears were in my eyes, and I could see the black edges of unconsciousness in the corner of my eyes. My ears rang with every sound, and I could hear the blood rushing through my pounding temples. The fact that I was even standing was a miracle.

Movement caught my eye as we approached the downed stallion pegasus that was being devoured. A husk rushed at us and I blasted it with my shotgun. Immediately, I felt twinges in my insides as the shotguns recoil slammed into my shoulder. My body was not prepared to handle the violent recoil, and the healing potion’s efforts to stave off blood loss failed as I coughed up more blood. Quick Stitch stepped up and bucked the husk away from us, then burned it to a crisp with a burst from his pistol. It screamed in torture from the flames as it died.

“They're changelings, Sunrise! And that shotgun is killing you, literally! Use your grenades!” Pink screamed, and I felt my tail reaching into my saddlebags for explosives. For once, I was in agreement with Pink.

“Where did husks come from?” Quick Stitch muttered under her breath. No one answered while more guards, earth ponies and unicorns joined into the fight.

I stared at the terrible shape the changeling body was in. Covered in sores and radiation burns, it still glowed with a faint hint of magical energy. It’s eyes looked like it may have even been blind. The only thing it can see is what it hungered for. I felt terrible for it, even if it was something of pure evil. I still never wanted somepony to suffer that kind of a fate. Are husks what happens when a changeling turns into a ghoul?

"Exactly! If you thought Changelings were awful before, getting irradiated to undeath definitely didn't improve them! You're gonna have to handle them just like the feral ghouls. Remember, it's a mercy." My tail offered me two of the magical fission cell bombs I had crafted at The Roof. I took one and my tail took the other, and both bombs flew right into a pack of husks as they descended upon a wounded Stallion. He screamed only once before a death gurgle told me he was gone.

“Fire in the hole!” I shouted and pulled Quick Stitch back a few paces before the rush of plasma filled the air. The taste of magical disintegration hit our tongues while we watched as the cloud of pink death swirled around. The one husk and the stallion vaporized in the instant; the other two husks inside the blast staggered but were still standing despite that parts of their carapace had been completely turned pink goo on the ground. They turned and hissed at us starting to charge. Even if I used S.A.T.S., I wouldn't be able to get the shotgun up in time or throw another grenade—not before they slammed into us. We needed a miracle.

A revolver shot answered our need and blew one of their heads apart. The second smoldering husk turned at the sound of rapid fire rifle shots. Three bullets slammed into its side and one into its head. I looked up to see Alguacil hovering above us, turning and firing in every direction as fast as he could. In the distance, under a dim light, I could see Chifundo with his rifle, popping off shot after shot as fast as he could work the bolt. The two of them in tandem had saved us.

This fight wasn't over by a long shot. The Silver Fang mercenaries were rallying and starting to drive the husks back to the wall, and we heard screaming from Honey Hearthfire's flophouse. I bolted in that direction, with Quick Stitch hot on my trail. “Sunrise slow down! We have to get you to a doctor!” he called out, but I was moving too fast. I slid to a stop just inside the doorway to Hearthfire’s Bunkhouse and hit S.A.T.S. Now was the time to make shots count.

I suddenly wished I hadn't engaged S.A.T.S. In slow motion, immediately in the door were two very different scenes. To my front left was Nyota engaged in hoof to hoof combat with a husk. Nyota was mid parry, while the husk was reacting to him sinking a hoof into its chest plate. He had that fight easily. To my right, however, was the scene I could have lived without.
Jackal, the teenage dragon dragon we had rescued, had a husk by its head. What he was doing with it, no decent pony would ever want to describe, much less see or do. I wanted to vomit but I held it inside. Oh dear Goddesses no, I don't want to see this. Nugget we’re gonna have a talk about this image you’ve now got burned into my brain!

My S.A.T.S. yanked my vision back to the fight Nyota was in, and I targeted a shot on the husk's head. But every time I've fired at something fighting Nyota in close combat, I hit Nyota.

"Sunrise, for once, we're in total agreement! No if's, no but's, no coconuts!" As Pink spoke, my shotgun steadied, and I felt more focused than I had ever held it before "You're always too hasty to pick your target. Always afraid of the decision!" I could feel a hoof reaching over my vision, pressing against my cheek and holding the shotgun for me. It was Pink’s hoof, I saw it, felt it, against my own. My mind looked to her and she stared back, as if in that moment; I realized how very real she was. "This time, we're both working towards the same goal. You want to save the pony you're falling in love with. I agree, he’s a good pony, plus,” She rolls her eyes and her other hoof came up to caress my cheek. I wanted to nuzzle into it, like I had my mother’s or Nyota’s but resisted the urge. “I can see he’ll help make you stronger!

Tougher! More like me!" Pink tried to make a mean face, but ended up giggling instead. Even in the heat of life and death, she somehow found a way to make me crack a smile. "Well, you know what I mean. So," The hoof on my cheek steadiested my eye down the barrel of my shotgun, right into the iron sights. She moved to look down the barrel with me, our eyes almost touching., "Let's agree that you can keep trying to be a good pony, but only if Nyota isn't going to get hurt because of it. Okie dokie?"

Okay, Pink, I'll agree to that. I keep trying to make friends and show mercy, but so long as Nyota doesn't pay for it. Pink seemed to be at peace with that deal, and I relaxed as I released S.A.T.S. and let loose a blast of buckshot at the husk's head. The world sped up, the shotgun roared to life, and the husk ducked to bite Nyota. He didn’t make it that far, as his jaw caught the full blast of my shotgun. . Its snout, tongue, and lower jaw were completely gone. My insides churned as I spit up more blood from the impact of shotgun stock into my shoulder, which had rippled into the injured ribs. Even through the Med-X I felt echoes of raw agony. I couldn't imagine what I was feeling without the painkiller.

The walking changeling corpse refused to die, and the shotgun blast hadn’t finished it. I staggered to pump the shotgun for another shot, but Nyota slammed his hooves into the stunned creature to finish it off by crushing its skull in two. He rushed up to me as Quick Stitch caught up from behind. Nyota looked horrified, seeing all the blood my armor was covered in, but I was smiling at him. The weight on my shoulders felt lighter, and my heart beat harder with renewed sense of purpose. Goosebumps ran up my forelegs as he was near. “I didn't hit you this time,” I mumbled while I let instinctual feelings take over and nuzzled up against Nyota. He nudged me outside, and my body bumped into Quick Stitch. I was stumbling and could barely muster the energy to stand now. We heard screams from multiple directions and adrenaline kicked back in; what I felt might be the last of my reserve.

Alguacil flew overhead towards our right, heading over the the building. He called back to us. “Sunrise! Behind the Bunkhouse! Towards Bonesaw’s Medical Shack! There is more husks! Hurry up!” His squawking was cut off by a panicked mare’s scream. Several revolver shots filled the air from Alguacil’s hand cannon.

I noticed Quick Stitch had his needler out now instead of the flamer pistol. They both looked at me with concern, but I just put the shotgun bit into to my mouth and looked at Quick Stitch. “Go with Alguacil, we'll head around the side towards the screaming. We’ll meet in the middle at Hacksaws, okay?” Quick Stitch grimaced at me and shoved the healing potion into my mouth, forcing me to drink the rest of it. Can I just say, I really hate the flavor grape? Like really really hate it! I felt the magical energies surging inside and then stop. My insides protested against the magic and only a few more bruises and my skin breaks seemed to be healing. Oh, that is not good.

“Well no duh! I could have told you that, buttt—” Pink dragged on the word for a bit. “You wouldn’t listen till you were lying flat!” I wanted to groan at her while she gave that big dumb cartoonish smile. Wait, how do you smile that big and make it look natural?

A scream broke my train of thought, “Questions for later! Saving ponies time!”

Quick Stitch dashed around the corner out of sight. Nyota moved ahead in the opposite direction towards the screaming. I ran to catch up to Nyota in the alleyway, and we moved out towards Doc Bonesaw's medical shack. We came around the corner to see two unicorns, the sisters we had just brought into town. They were fending off three husks in melee combat and not doing well. The salvaged armor Hot Cross Buns had assembled for them was torn apart, they were bleeding from multiple places, and the husks had them pinned to the wall of Doc Bonesaw's place.

Nyota jumped on one of them and I steadied myself before pumping blast after blast from my shotgun into another one. That left one that was still free to attack, and it was leaving brutal bites and slashes all over the emerald unicorn. Her red sister screamed with the roar of the shotgun blasts. I felt each blast, and each time, I felt my insides giving. The husk staggered, as round after round hit it. The hide on them however was tough, I didn’t think the pellets were penetrating deep enough to inflict major damage. The husk turned towards me, taking one step and leaving the wounded mare where she was. The emerald unicorn unleashed a blast of black magical knives at the one my shotgun had ripped apart.

Nyota had finished smashing one husk's face in as my shotgun clicked and I pumped it again, with another click. The husk I was blasting fell over on its own as the last one was cut into ribbons of carapace. I took one step forward and my right foreleg gave out with a shrill of pain that registered beyond the deader in my system. My body wasn’t going to stand up anymore. My weapon clattered to the ground, catching Nyota’s attention.

My faceplate hit the dirt, “Dammit, Sunny, you haven't even let that leg heal properly yet, much less fighting with broken ribs!” Nyota fretted over me as I felt his familiar hooves trying to help me up.

The unicorns were holding each other and drinking down purple healing potions that Nyota had tossed to them. Slowly I got back to my hooves, and the pain really hit. I hadn't noticed before, but the plating on my right side was fused and immobile. Every movement of my broken ribs had been grinding against them since I took the grenade hit. The Med-X was out of my system and the pain set in with unforgiving vengeance. I could feel how hard it was to move against the stubbornite and steel plating lining my duster.

Nyota lifted my head and pushed my eye open to look into it. I coughed and blood hit Nyota's face. My shotgun fell into the dirt, my tail moved and put it into the holster. “Alright, Sunrise, the job is done. You've saved all you can, and the husks are heading for the hills.” Pink gave me a fond pat, right along the opposite side where I felt Nyota doing the same. “Let Nyota take care of you now.”

Nyota started to hug me then stopped as he remembered my injuries. Instead he started working to put the weight off the side that had broken ribs. “Thank you,” I managed through a cough that brought the taste of blood to my mouth again. Whatever this the recoil did to me on top of a broken rib from the grenade blast, I never want to have happen again.
“Diving on grenades is almost always a bad idea, ya know!”

“Of course, Sunny,” Nyota assured me and helped me another step which made me whimper in pain. “Let's get you inside and have the doctor take care of you.”

I wanted to talk, I wanted to give a nod to Nyota to let him know I wasn’t gonna protest but my mouth wasn’t move till he lifted me off the ground. He kicked his own Saddlebags off his back, and rolled his bedroll over himself. Nyota lifted me from the ground to his back, laying me as gingerly as possible. I pressed my weight into him, my breathing was shallow and hard to do. I felt light headed; my vision had tunneled as I stared into the most concerned face I’d ever seen on Nyota. After a few extremely painful steps, I found I could work my mouth again and spoke very slowly, deliberately.

“Nyota, I will be okay.” My mind was racing from one subject to the next. I was trying to do or say anything to get it off the pain. Even Chifundo would be able to see through my desperate efforts to change the subject, if he were nearby. As I fumbled through the words, Nyota nuzzled his head into my cheek to get me to stop talking. He was being the most delicate and gentle as he possibly could.

“Sure you will Sunny, just calm down; let me do all the lifting from here on till you are better.” He tried to reassure me but as soon as he took another step, a shot agony tore into every part of my being. The grumble turned into a stifled cry of distress. What I wouldn't give for more Med-X right now!

“You're right and so not fair. You're using my injury against me. If I-” There is the taste of zebra hoof again, this time with his brass shoe gently pressed to it and a hint of changeling blood!

“I'm not hugging you, despite my urge to,” he removed the hoof and resumed his slow pace walking to nuzzle me and remove my helmet. My tail took it and hooked the headpiece into my saddlebags. “Come on Sunrise, doctor is just a few more steps away.”

I looked around considering what the love poison had done to the town and then looked at Nyota, “Nyota, how bad is it?” I felt the edges of consciousness wanting to fade away as I spoke. Nyota pressed a hoof to lift my chin and made me open my eyes back up.

He nervously smiled and closed his eyes, “Sunny, it will be fine, just keep talking to me okay? Stay awake for a bit longer.” He slowly opened his eyes back up. Nyota looked like he was barely holding it all together. I felt terrible that I’d made him fret this much over me. He examined me again, undoing my saddlebags and dropping them into the dirt. “What do you wanna do after you see the doctor?”

“Hold you, that would be nice. Play with Nugget.” My sentences were short, it was all I could muster. I felt Pink trying to tease me awake but it wasn’t going to work. My PipBuck was blinking warnings all over the screen. I couldn’t make any of them out; but it didn’t make it any less worrying as my mind fought my body to stay with Nyota. It finally dawned on me, I might be dying.

“I think that would be really nice,” he softly assured me. “I’m sure you’ll be able to do those things tomorrow.” He took a step to up the stairs and I nearly slid off his back onto the ground. Thankfully he was fast and made it a gentle set down onto the ground. I felt a nagging worry about my armor. I’d worked so hard on it; hospitals cut clothing off. I wanted to keep it. My strength took a bit to muster while Nyota tried to figure out how to get me up the couple of stairs.

“Nyota…” He leaned down to me and got face to face. “My armor... off. I don't want it cut.” My words were barely intelligible and I had to press out every single word like hurling a large stone. He flushed completely and instead of speaking, just started to pull my duster off. I wanted to scream as soon as the plates moved against my muscles. I fell over in the dirt as the pain overwhelmed me. The agony didn’t stop as the duster fell in a heap of plates and leather next to me. Nyota started to pull the jumpsuit off, and my screams filled the night. I felt like I was going to pass out then and there.

Every tug and pull made the armored plating and leather reinforcing grind against the two ribs that were pushing into my organs. My world was white-hot, searing agony for several seconds until he stopped. I laid on the ground, crying. My Stable-Tec jumpsuit wasn't moving, and I felt parts of my insides trying to come out with it when it did.

“Sunny, I can't get it off, ” Nyota explained. He staggered back and fell onto his ass against the stairs. He looked around panicked finally; he’d lost his ability to remain calm. Suddenly he was out of sight and there was a loud pounding. My world was spinning, my thoughts were gone. I tried to move only to find my body wasn't responding anymore. My heart pounded in my ears and my insides felt like they had all been shifted. The sound of rushing water returned to my ears, louder this time; like a roar. “Doc, there's a patient for you! It’s an Emergency! HURRY UP! We have caps up front!”

Nyota’s frantic pounding continued and I felt like I had to do something. It took all of my strength to muster one word. “Nyota...” I groaned meekly as he rushed back down the stairs to me. I felt his hoof stroking my mane and I whimpered a bit as unfamiliar hoof beats echoed on wooden floorboards behind him.

“Get her to the community workshop center! Hurry, the doc has set up an emergency hospital.” It was Sparrow and I heard the sound of her wings beating to bring her to a landing.

“Sunrise!” Sparrow winced and let out a loud sympathetic hiss. “How is she moving in that state?”

“I apologize for the pain, Sunrise we aren't gonna be able to get that jumpsuit off you cleanly.” His voice was shakey at the best. He and Sparrow talked in hushed tones, quickly. I couldn’t hear them right now, I could hear running water in my ears instead. I couldn't talk right now. I could taste blood again as my internal wounds were aggravated, and my throat was cracked from shrieking in pain. The pain was gone, which was the scariest part. It didn’t hurt anymore, like my nerves had just stopped working. My breathing was getting shallow, and my body struggled to keep my heart going. “Alright fine, help me with her.”

I heard a dragging noise out of the corner of my vision. I felt wings and hooves lifting me, the pain was immense. Then I was laid onto my back against a stretcher. It was makeshift at best: a bed sheet strung between two pipes with a bridle attached to pull it.

Sparrow started to yell at him, “NYOTA! Get a—” Nyota snapped at her with his hoof as he moved to hook himself up to the stretcher.

“Hush, alright! We don't need to make her panic.” Nyota snapped back at her. I looked between them and started to speak.

“Nyota? Am… I… that… bad?” I whined and could feel my vocal cords refusing to work. while being moved onto my back on the stretcher. He didn’t reply, and simply cradled me down onto the sheet that strained against my weight. He walked out of sight as Sparrow looked down at me. She didn’t move as I was pulled away, and I watched her get smaller and smaller. Sparrow never stopped looking at me, like you would a friend you were never going to see again.

***

Inside the workshop turned emergency medical ward, gurneys were laid out in neat rows. Several ponies were on mattresses and improvised beds. A pony or two had been laid out onto a crafting bench instead of a bed. Nyota trotted up to a pony I couldn't see. “DOC!!! Critical now! We need a surgeon!”

Surgery? How bad is it? My vision wasn't good right now, but Pink was crystal clear in a nurses outfit with a clipboard. She bit her pencil and started to chew through it. She was eating that pencil like a sharpener on the highest setting. Pink, I can't move my head down to look. How bad is it?

"Well, on a scale of 'owie' to 'sweet Celestia!' you're about a 'goodness gracious!” Pink stopped to give the creepiest smile I’d ever seen. “Only with a heaping lot of extra exclamation marks." She squinted at me, "The fact that you're still breathing at all is super-duper lucky. Count your blessings!" She said, giving me a gentle pat on the head.

What did all this do to me? Why hadn't I noticed? Had the Med-X been that effective?

Nyota dragged my stretcher further into the center, behind a curtain. Quick Stitch was inside, along with another doctor. Both were covered in blood and changing the sheets for freshly cleaned ones on the surgery table. Quick Stitch looked shocked as Nyota brought me inside.

The unknown doctor had a nametag on his shirt that read 'Hacksaw' in poorly written letters. Nyota spoke quickly to Quick Stitch. I couldn’t hear either of them as their mouths moved rapidly. The two of them gave me concerned looks as I laid there on the stretcher. I tried to stand back up, forming all the willpower I had left. I got a single hoof to move. Quick Stitch shoved his way past Nyota towards me. The zebra rushed after him and both of them stopped me from doing anything.

“Sunrise, no. You need to stay down right now,” Quick Stitch advised and started to try to push me back into the gurney.
“I… I’ll be okay.” The weakness in my voice was obvious even to me. I felt warm liquid trickling down my legs as I was wrapped in a telekinetic blanket and lifted onto the surgery table.

“Nyota, I know you're concerned but you need to get out, now,”Quick Stitch pointed for him to leave the tent while I was being moved towards an operating table. They were washing it with rags, the smell of Abraxo hit me like a truck. My voice wanted to scream to be put down, but all I got was a wheezing sound. I reached for Nyota, who stood his ground while Quick Stitch was trying to usher him out.

“Look, I know you were her medic before me. And I know what she means to you, Nyota,” Quick Stitch said and nudged him under the jaw. “She is going in for surgery right now, she is too torn up to risk waiting.”

I'm too torn up? Pink... Nyota... somepony tell me how bad it is... why is it getting hard to hold my eyes open? I was set down onto a bed and wanted to flinch from the noise but couldn't; my body wasn't responding. I felt a mask put over my mouth and I inhaled something that tasted like berry roots mixed with the color pink. Yes, it actually had a flavor that I can only describe as a color.

“That's it, Sunrise, breath deep. Let the healing powder do its job. Stitches, come on, we've got work to do.” This was Doc Hacksaw’s older voice, but it was much more flirty. He nudged Quick Stitch towards me. Nyota tried to push past them, only to be stopped by both of them moving to block him. I was staring at them from behind as they squared off. I took another inhale and Pink let out a whimper.

“Nyota, get out, you haven't been sanitized and you aren't going to assist with this one. ” My vision was fading fast as I watched my two friends argue and fight. Pink started to tear up and rivers of tears erupted from her eyes the moment Nyota was forced to leave. She pulled a doctor’s coat from thin air and blew her nose into it. My PipBuck cut off as my vitals were giving out.

Nyota snorted at Quick Stitch and then turned walking beyond a white curtain that a guard mare pulled around us. “Nyota... please... no...stay...” I begged through the mask with all the effort I could. Quick Stitch placed a hoof against the left foreleg that was stretching out towards where Nyota had been. He held my hoof gently as a syringe of Med-X hovered into view.

“Sunrise, please, trust me. Stop straining yourself. Nyota is just outside.” I saw him jab the needle into my leg but couldn't feel it. “Now rest, Sunrise, and let us take care of you.” The Med-X started kicking in and I was too weak to move or make use of it. My eyes closed as I felt Quick Stitch using his magic to turn me onto my back.

Med-X feels real good, I mean really good...

ooOOoo

I stood in a blanket white void with soft gray mist forming around me. It felt strange, then I started to move my hoof and it moved. Not a dream, not a memory. Where am I? With a full spin, nothing revealed itself, the white void gave nothing and offered no explanation. Several second passed and then the most irritating high pitched voice I knew broke the silence.

“There's nothing outside, silly! Let's go inside, quick!” Pink was behind me, and when I turned there was a door frame with a bright yellow wooden door there. No building attached to it, just Pink standing in the doorway motioning a hoof to me. I approached the door and she closed it in my face. “You gotta knock~!” She squealed from the other side.

I facehoofed and stood there, the door between us. The mist rolled by without a noise and the air was cold, stale. “Pink, really? I had hoped to have a memory again, maybe see dad or hopefully see mom this time. You are the last thing I want to see.”

There was an audible scoff of irritation from the other side of the door, and I swear I heard a facehoof from beyond the wooden entrance. “Oh, boo hoo. We can’t always get what we want, Sunrise!” She paused for a bit, and I could hear her hum as she considered something, and the smell of smoke from someone's ears hit my nose. For some reason I actually imagined she was baking her brain. I shook it loose and decided to try to negotiate with her and hopefully get her mind off whatever she was lose in concentration over.

“PINK!” I shouted at her from the other side of the door. She giggled and I hung my head. After mulling it over for a bit, I needed to get one thing straight before I come in. “Pink, I'm gonna ask a few questions, and if I come in, I want honest answers. Okay?”

It was like hearing a balloon deflating on the other end of the door. I couldn't see her, but I knew I had just shot any plan she had down. “You've been given enough drugs that I promise you, I couldn't lie even if I wanted.”

I groaned, and without further exchange between us, rapped on the door three times. The pink mare popped the door with a flourish of mane and tail. Immediately, I was nose to nose with her. She grabbed me into a sweeping hug, spun me around, then put me onto my hooves inside the door. “Sunrise! I'm so happy to see you! It's been so long!” Each phrase was punctuated by a higher pitch of forced enthusiasm.

Beyond the door wasn't the white abyss, instead it was a lovely home decorated for a party. There weren't any other ponies, but music was playing, punch and snacks were scattered on tables, and a disco ball lit the room with a strobe lighting making it twinkle. We got a few steps inside and I stopped. Pink looked at me, confused. “Can I get you something to drink? Something to eat?”

“It's been fifteen seconds since you were chewing through a pencil while they were preparing me for surgery.” I took a deep inhale and stared at her. The music stopped with a record scratch, the lighting changed to a normal set of house lights, and Pink’s normally floofy curly hair turned straight and dropped to the floor. She gave an expression like I had just shot her. Her head dropped to the ground and she looked like she might burst into tears.
“Do we have to do this now? Can’t we just—”

“No. No, I can't this time. The expression on the faces of my friends was not pleasant. They weren't telling me exactly what was wrong, either, so I really have to ask: am I dead?” Pink’s expression of sadness changed in an instant to a thoughtful one. It was like, for once, Pink was actually weighing the gravity of what I had to ask.

“Oh, no. Heavens, no! We wouldn't be having this conversation if that were the case. You would be having a conversation with your dearly departed mother and father.” The first words made my guard drop a little, but the second set was like a train slamming into my chest.

“Excuse me?” There is no way, that isn't possible, till I see it—

“What? You can't talk to yourself while you're dead, silly!” Pink said, looking genuinely confused by my protest.
“But you said ‘dearly departed’ mom and dad. They're dead?” I prodded at her, my hooves grabbed onto her chest, and she batted them away with her own hoof.

“Well, yeah. They're not ghouls, probably.” She half-laughed, and gave a half-smile at the thought, but the other half of her expression was inscrutable and icey. I wasn't smiling, and the desperation in my voice only elevated.

“I'm not dead! How do you know they are? They went into the stable with me.” My voice slowly got quieter the more I spoke. The realization that they might actually be dead started to dawn on me. My world felt shattered and tiny.

“Well...” Pink took a long pause. Her hoof came up and lifted my chin, “Sunrise, how long have you been out in the wasteland?” Pink sighed and trotted towards the kitchen, holding my hoof to guide me behind her.

“I know that no matter how I answer that question, it isn't going to be the right—” She didn't let me finish, instead stopping and turning to me.

“No, Sunrise, how long have you been out in the wasteland? It's all jumbled up and silly, so I need your answer.” I shook my head, surprised that she didn't already know. She seemed to know an awful lot more than she ever let on.

“I've only been in the wasteland for about a month,” I replied and gave her a hard look.

“Oh! Then they're probably okay! Sorry, it’s hard to keep track, sometimes.” Pink smiled at me, this time trying to reassure me. I, however, was even more puzzled.

“Wait, you just stated you don't know. So you don't know everything?” I prodded the pink pony with a hoof to make sure I could actually touch her. She turned it into a soft hug, and dragged me inside a kitchen. It looked exactly like the one I grew up in, right down to the tacky yellow tiled floor.

“Well, no, it's more about specific things that you should know or that you have forgotten,” She shrugged and giggled a bit. “You're so silly, no pony could know everything. I'm not all powerful! I'm you, or part of—”

“NO! NO, you are not! What are you?” I demanded as I slammed my hooves onto the tiles. It was time for an answer. I stared her down till she replied.

“I'm a spirit, of—” She was trying to think of how to phrase it but I wasn't having her take time to speak anything but the plain truth.

“Yes, of Pinkie Pie, of the Ministry of Morale. I figured that out, but why is Pinkie...” A thought slammed into me like a sack of bricks. “You're not really Pinkie Pie, are you?”

“Well, I'm part of Pinkie Pie, but I'm also not Pinkie Pie.” She took a long exaggerated inhale. “Look, I'm not about to sit here and explain zebrican shamanism to you.” I started to protest and found I had hoof-in-mouth syndrome again, with a giggle from Pink. “I'd have to explain a lot of terms and existential concepts to you, as well as a bunch of super-boring technical mumbo-jumbo that you wouldn't understand. And also, it's kind of a thing we have with the zebras, and I feel like we would be cheating if we let you in on it.” Pinkie cast me a wink. “You could say we’re exclusive.”
She took her hoof away, “Okay, so—”

“A spirit that strong doesn't die, it persists! But Pinkie was laughter. Laughter doesn't stay in one spot, it spreads,” She explained to me like she was talking to a classroom full of foals.

“But I'm not laughter. I'm the furthest thing from it,” I replied with an expression of 'REALLY' painted all over my face.
“Laughter isn't always funny,” Pink said, and we both let out a sigh as she continued, “Laughter just needs to bring joy, and you're very, very good at bringing joy.”

I took a few seconds, piecing it together and trying to turn Pink into something tangible I could talk to her about, “So you're my tail, my scream, that whole stunt darting around the tank, you're those things?”

“Oh, that was me!” Pink replied with a smirk and her eyes rolled.

“So, why you, and why me?”

Pink laughed the loudest she had ever and patted my shoulder. When she saw I wasn't laughing she snickered a bit, “Why you? You think you're somepony special? Nope, no reason. It happened by pure chance.” I stared at her, flabbergasted, and she cackled some more. “Only by the time that LittlePip comes out and finds me, I will be long since gone. You, on the other hand? You just so happen to be the last earth pony the Pinkie Pie version of me thought of before she died.”

She pointed at my hoof like it had something on it. “Your file fell and hit her hoof, she read the name as the pink cloud closed in. Then she thought of Twilight, who died before she did; so by default.” She turned in a way I only thought snakes could. “You got the golden ticket! Well, I guess it’s more of a pink ticket.” Pink turned away with a sigh, “You're nothing special.” My head dropped low and my ears drooped. What I thought might be something amazing was just nothing at all.

“You mean by sheer, dumb chance, I'm stuck with you?” I whispered into the tiles, as my flanks collapsed and I took a seat.
“Pure, bucking coincidence!” She said that like it was venom pouring from her teeth.

“You don't wanna be here either?” I asked, looking up at that stupid pink face with moronic blue eyes.

“There are so many different ponies I could have gravitated towards. A literal sea.” She was making a cup of tea now for herself now, pouring it fresh and hot. “You sure I can't get you something? A scone? A Cinnamon bun? I baked them fresh.”
“We're gonna be here a while, aren't we?” I asked, finally looking up from the tiles. No matter how upset I get, she is gonna be so infectiously cheery.

Pink let out an exasperated sigh, “Yeah, that surgery is gonna take some time.”

“How bad is it?” I hoped for a straight answer this time.

“Well, you're not dead. Quick Stitch is way more competent than that.” She chewed her lip for a bit and stifled her giggle. “Whether that competence comes from actually knowing what he's doing or the sheer fear that Nyota will fist him to death I'm not sure.”

I stared at her horrified, “Wait? How and why would Nyota fist him to death? Nyota—”

“Oh right, ponies have hooves! Sorry, Nyota would 'Hoof' him to death.” Pink corrected herself and punctuated the word hoof with air quotes from her own hooves.

“I need to make sure Nyota doesn't go murdering ponies for my sake.” I put a hoof to my lips trying to think of how to do just that.

“I'm totally gonna stay around and watch that happen,” Pink twirled to a microwave and pressed the start button on it.

“Gonna make some popcorn. It’ll be really good.” I wasn't entirely sure if Pink was speaking of watching Nyota hoof Quick Stitch to death or my surgery with the way she was speaking mixed with her facial expression.

“Ya know what,” I looked up at her. I was going to give in eventually, why not start now. “Do you have some soda? I haven't had soda and popcorn in a while.”

“Sparkle Cola?” Pink replied with a giggle and opened the refrigerator to get it.

“Umm... no, I'm from Stalliongrad, we prefer Sunset-”

She bolted upright with an expression of pure murder on her face. “Eww! You want Sunset Sarsaparilla?”

“Well yes, Pink. I'm from Stalliongrad, and it is our soda of choice. You went to Stalliongrad, didn't you? You sent an agent there with me. And Agent 9... she's not dead, is she?”I inquired. She now wore the look of confusion, while I stared at her with eyes that could murder.

Something faint and muffled came from the broom closet, but Pink rushed over to turn my attention back to her with a hoof on my cheek. Her eyes pulsing freakishly back and forth in her head as she spoke, “Agent 9 is fine. Agent 9 will be dealt with in time.” She turned her gaze away, not looking at me anymore. “Would you like a proper Stalliongrad Sunset?” In her hoof was a bottle of vodka.

“I don't think... you're about to tell me I'm a total drunk, aren't you?” I asked with a glare in my eyes, making her unable to get away from my stare.

“Actually, no. You're surprisingly conservative. I dunno how you do it. If I’d seen the stuff you’d seen, I’d drink all the time!” Pink replied as she started to pour the vodka into a glass. I wanted to strike her.

“Pink... how long have I been awake, really?” I stopped her from pouring the vodka and pulled her square with my shoulder. “How long, or how many times have I been out of the stable? Please, give me this?”

“Do you want to know, or do you want to keep living the happy lie?” Pink replied and set the vodka down.

“Pink, I wouldn't be looking for my parents or trying to find out why my PipBuck was registering me as an experiment if I didn't want the truth.” My voice was flat, direct, and without emotion. At this point, that tactic seemed the best way to get a straight answer. The world seemed to take a breath, wanting to not release the information to me yet. “Pink, I'm gonna wake up, and they're gonna tell me stuff about my insides that I'm not ready to hear. Please, help me find some strength to get through it.” Pink chewed her lip now, and I could see tears in her eyes she was fighting to keep back. She looked like a parent who had to stare a child in the eyes and tell them their dog was dead.

“You have died twenty-seven times.” She paused and held her breath as my eyes went wide. It was like my entire world had been broken, fallen down onto me, and I was left there to be crushed by it. I started to speak only to have Pinkie hold up a hoof and stop me, “I'm not going into any more detail or telling you anything else about it. Not answering any questions on the matter.” Her hair pinned straight up, like a bolt of lightning had struck her as she held my mouth shut. “There are some things you never need to know. But know this: you have died in various ways exactly twenty-seven times. Every time you come back, and I truly do not understand the why or the how.”

“I'm sorry I don’t know. I'm not Twilight Sparkle,” She had tears rolling down her cheeks, and for the first time ever, Pink looked like a sad pony. “Twilight could answer this licky split, but I have no idea.” She smiled at me bitterly. “You know, before the war, all I wanted to do was bake and make ponies happy… and I ended up like this.” She gestured to her body and then pointed at my head. Then motioned at the house around her. “I wish I could bake you a real cake, and make you feel better, but all I’ve got is this Sunset Sarsparilla and a bottle of vodka that your brain let me conjure up. I wish you dreamt of baking more often… but here we are. So, want some liquid fortification?”

I dropped onto my belly and held my head in my hooves. My world was split into a combination of emotional agony and earth shattering explosions. “Buck it! Vodka would be nice,” I managed through my own tears rolling out. Thoughts of my parents potentially being dead, of having to explain this to Nyota, or any pony for that matter, were simply too much to bear right now. She poured some vodka into the other half of the glass with my Sarsaparilla and passed it my way. I reached past her and grabbed the bottle of vodka, then took a long swig, and regretted it immediately.

The burn was one thing, but the taste was downright awful! Every part of my mouth wanted to vomit and couldn't, so I made myself swallow and winced as it burned down my throat. All the way to the empty pit of my stomach and to the bottom of the bottle. I slammed the bottle away and while coughing and sputtering to speak, “Oh, Celestia's breath mints! How do ponies drink this?”

“Try it with the soda.”

“It's like inhaling piss set on fire with napalm.” How I knew what that was like, I had no idea, but I imagine Pink did because she giggled and shot me a wink.

“Here, silly, try it with the soda.” I looked at her like she had lost her mind, and took a sip of the soda/vodka mix. It was better, until the burning started when I swallowed. At the same time, something inside me moved, and while it didn't hurt, it felt like a rib was being shifted around. I shook my head and sat down the emotionally sobering alcohol.

My insides shifted again, and I groaned, “Oh...somepony just moved my ribs...”

Pink made a hissing sound and grimaced, “Oh, I guess Med-X doesn't stop sensation. Listen, you're fine. Nothing hit your vitals. Any of them.”

“So, if nothing hit my vitals, why am I coughing up blood?” I asked, changing the subject from morbid to more pressingly morbid.

“Oh, that's weird...” Pink replied, thinking on it.

“My shotgun is caked in my own blood,” I shot back, sipping on the soda, vodka mix. I didn’t like the taste but I didn’t hate it either.

“They're probably gonna have to open you up,” She said, with another giggle, and clearly had something else on her mind.

“They couldn't get my jumpsuit off, they're certainly going to have to open me up a little.” I said leaning forward and looking at her up close, so she would have to look back. Even if all Pink did was look out of the corner of her eye, we still made eye-contact.

“I think you're gonna have to say goodbye to the Stable-Tec jumpsuit.” Pink replied with a snicker and I was suddenly in a world of agony.

ooOOoo

“Quick Stitch, another dose! She can't wake up like this.” My ears perked up at the words but all I could feel was massive amounts of pain. My eyes slowly opened to see the mask still around my face. I felt a prick in my arm while inhaling more green powder. “Clamp that artery!” A tug on my insides hit me like a train. My eyes focused to see my stomach cut wide open and my insides now on the outside. The world faded to black again rapidly. “Keep working, save her lung first, then work on the ribs more. Quick Stitch more blood, no...” Darkness my old friend, you won again. The rush of Med-X and healing powders took me back into the dreamscape. Back to my conversation with Pink.

ooOOoo

Chapter 20: Ten Hours - End Act II

View Online

ooOOoo

I was back in the kitchen with Pink, like we'd never left. “By the way, where did Quick Stitch come from?” She leaned over and I put the glass down to give her a questioning look. “He looks so shell shocked. Remember the look in his eyes?” Something about the question was just wrong; so wrong feeling that even I didn't want to answer it. But I'd have to, if I was being fair to Pink.

I nodded, “He looked like we might shoot him. He only recently calmed down a bit.”

Pink pulled the glass over and took a sip, “Even I never thought you could make a friend at the clip of a hoof.”

“Well, ya know, I couldn't make friends at school, but I made friends with my dad's zebra mechanics or mom's social club.
Seems natural for me to make friends in odd ways, I guess.” I took the glass back from her and took my own sip. Yep, still tasted like burning piss, just now it had sugar and soda bubbles.

“Well yeah, once you let your guard down, you're a pretty likable mare, but...” She took a minute and went back to grabbing the glass for more drinking. “The wasteland is the wasteland, right?

I kept thinking about it. We had been at each other's throats when we woke up. It was a slow, uneasy truce that settled into friendship, “I don't like where this thought is going. Are you...” Pink just spaced out for a while. A few minutes passed as I gave her a look to examine to see if she was alive or not.

“You said you don't like Sparkle Cola, right?” She replied with a smile and went looking through the fridge again. “Do we have any Gin or maybe some Sparkle Grape?” Her words only served to drive me further into confusion.

“Pink, are you alright?” I got up to follow her to the fridge and nudged the door aside. It was so full I couldn't tell what was what! Some fruit looked a bit smashed, but everything looked fresh, and the inside was clearly bigger than the outside.
“Oh, yeah, I'm fine,” she closed the door with a pair of cola six packs in her teeth.

I sighed and nodded. “Pink, can I make an agreement with you?”

She tilted her head. “What's that?” she finished her sentence with a popping of a soda cap.

“Can we agree that if somepony needs to be shot at, that we both agree they need to be shot at? I don't want to dive on any more grenades.” My speech was brought to a screeching halt. Something inside me jostled as what felt like somepony was moving my insides continued.

“I mean, we can try?” She took a swig of the Sunset Sarsaparilla and made a disgusted look, tongue sticking out included.
“I just...I don't think we'll live long, this time, if we are fighting each other constantly,” I said with a wince.

“You gotta get it through your noggin, Sunrise, that sometimes things are gonna have to get messy." She said that like it was a fact from a act of royal decree. I stared at her like I wanted to smack her. I got up onto the table with the most determined look on my face at her. “That is the way it was, and that is the way it is, and that is final. Fineto. Fin.”

“I, I mean we didn't have to kill Black Hawk. And she's actually turned out nice, right?” I asked with an expression of pure hope in my eyes.

“Black Hawk wasn't those zebra cleaners.” She loomed over me, getting larger and raising her voice with each word. “Black Hawk doesn't hold a candle to those assassins! BLACK HAWK WAS STILL A NICE PONY INSIDE!” She was impossibly huge for a moment, then shrank down to normal pony size again. "The entire Enclave isn't even half as evil as those nasty ponies."

I hung my head. “You’re right, those were awful ponies.” I paused for a bit. “I, umm... does saying your first curse words out loud count if it's in a conversation with you?”

Pink giggled and then broke into hysterical laughter for a bit while I gave her the stink eye. She stopped and snickered, “Oh, you were serious? I mean, it doesn't count if it's in your own head, silly.”

I wanted to get back to the subject at hoof, when a thought hit me. “We have S.A.T.S., why not hit it, and then we have a discussion to avoid killing ponies if possible.” I figured for once Pink might like my laughter.

“You saw-”

I motioned my hoof for us to move along, “So, can we agree that next time, I hit S.A.T.S. and we talk this out?” I asked, trying to get some sort of answer that would satisfy a truce between us.

“Fine, you can hit S.A.T.S. and then try to change my mind,” Pink replied and set me on my own hooves again.

I stared up at her from the corner of my eyes with a dissatisfied frown. “Best I'm gonna get, isn't it?”

“Yepperoni! Ya know what, do you want me to leave you alone for a day?” Pink replied, back to her infectiously sadistic cheer.

I stared at her and started to tremble, fear creeping up inside me that I couldn't explain, “No.”

“How about twelve hours?” She offered again, and I just got more and more terrified. It was like one of my closest friends, whom I had a love/hate relationship with, might be gone.

“No Pink, I don't—”

“I'm just offering twelve hours where you can make all the decisions, and call all of the—” It was my turn to issue hoof in mouth syndrome, hard.

“NO! You don't understand. If I went twelve hours without you bouncing across my PipBuck display, acting out, my tail doing something weird, or you giving me a thought,” I couldn't keep talking as the fear overtook me. I dropped into a trembling mess while it all dawned on me: I needed Pink to survive. Not just survive, but to function as a pony, I needed her right now. She took my head and pressed it to her chest. Finally words came back to me, “I get it, we're stuck together. Just please, let's be good friends instead of this love/hate relationship okay?” I spoke half muffled against her chest floof, she smelled like cotton candy when I inhaled to wait her answer.

“Okay, Sunrise, I get ya.” Pink raised my chin to look at her with a hoof as gently as possible. “When we can’t come to agree, we'll hit S.A.T.S. and talk it over a cup of tea?” Her other hoof offered me a cup of hot tea while I looked at the warmth of her pink mane and coat.

A sudden, intense pain washed over me, like nothing else that I'd experienced while under. I was knocked to my knees, trembling, and screamed in pain. "What the hell is Quick Stitch doing?!"

"I have no idea, but it's killing you! I'll stop him, hang on!" Pink's eyes closed for a moment as she clutched me close to her chest, and I buried my muzzle in her fur and cried in agony. The pain suddenly stopped, leaving me trembling and weak. Pink opened her eyes and frowned at me. "Heya, Sunrise. You feeling okay, now?"

"What was that?" I managed between gasping breaths.
"I don't know. I had to hit him with our—your tail to make him stop," Pink said, running a hoof over my back until my trembling stopped. She smiled at me. "There we go. Auntie Pinkie Pie made it all better."

"That's... gonna be fun to explain when I wake up," I said with a weak giggle, and Pinkie laughed out loud, patting me on the back.

"Oh, Sunrise, you've got a whole fun cocktail of drugs in your system right now. I think you can explain it away pretty easily!"

I nodded against her chest while the fear slowly passed. She cooed and shushed me, humming a lullaby. For once, I was hugging this damn Pink pony, because something inside my mind couldn't live without her. “I... I'm not gonna feel good when I wake up, am I?” The smoothing in her voice keeping me grounded enough to speak as I thought about what they might be doing to my insides.

“If Quick Stitch remembers to,” Pink stopped and took a brief inhale, even inflating her head slightly in a comical manner. “PUSH THOSE PAINKILLERS!” She shouted at no pony in particularly and slowly pain and fear went away. After almost a minute, I felt wonderful again.

“That, feels, better....” I rolled the r and deflated like a balloon in her hooves.

“You might be addicted to Med-X when you wake up...” She replied with a smirk.

“Well, you've been the one sticking me with it, most of the time,” I growled into her shoulder as she released me and looked at me like I had become an angry wild animal.

“Well, I mean, everything was on fire in the control roo—” She stopped herself and a light-bulb appeared above her head. “Right! I should show you the control room!” She opened the door we had come through from the living room, grabbed me by the hoof and dragged me back out of the house. From the door we had come in, into another room that was somehow there now. Inside was a room full of computers, switches, knobs, and a large view screen that, at the moment, was completely dark.Several of the lights on the view screen were cutting on and off, while switches beeped. I looked at the view screen, then Pink, feeling very confused.

“Oh, it's because your eyes are closed.” She stood up on a desk overloaded with computer print out sheets, “Welcome to the control room!” I looked around in wonder as she came back onto all fours on the desk. Pink gestured to the rows of terminals and computer print out sheets, then the view screens. “All of that—yeah, all of it—was on fire until I injected you with Med-X. And when it started to wear off, it caught fire again.”

I stared around with my jaw dropped in amazement. In the center, under the view screen, was a workbench with the most gorgeous set of tools I'd ever seen. All of them looked immaculately taken care of, and there was everything you could want: from the smallest 1/100^th wrench nut to a hoof'n wrench-sized for tank road wheels. Lastly was a book, as big as a pony, with letters sized for a half-blind dragon that read: 'The History of Bombs and Explodey Bits'. I was truly amazed at how Pink viewed the inside of my head. This mare was either completely crazy, or 100% sane, and both prospects set terrifying precedents for me.

“I umm... well ya!”

“What? Zebras train themselves their entire lives for this sort of journey into their souls and minds. You just had to almost die and take all of the drugs.” Pink said with a giggle and patted me on the back.

“Are you saying this is my brain? Or my soul?” I looked at her as I picked my jaw up off the floor and Pink rolled her eyes.
“Well... an artist's interpretation of it, yes.” She nodded her head overly enthusiastically.

“You... You have direct access to the controls of my brain?” I suddenly wanted to pick at the hairs on my mane and shave my tail in hopes of getting control of my body again.

“Oh, I don't have administrative privileges, if that makes you feel better. I got the tail, yes, and I can put in suggestions, buttttt....” She rolled the last word and her head in a big circle until she came nose to nose with me, “You have direct final say so.”

“So you're implanting all the ideas on how to make bombs?” I asked, pointing to the massive oversized book.

“I have been reading you recipes out of Granny Pie's old books.” She smirked and snickered, “Ya know, the original author and publisher of the Anarchist's Cookbooks!” Slowly, it dawned on me with things I may know without even realizing it. I looked at Pink with a slow turn of my head, my eyes wild, as I started to piece together where I had learned all my bomb knowledge.

“Wait... there totally is all the recipes for all the bombs I’ve made in here?” I said, approaching the book, and Pink darted between me on her hind legs, foreleg out in a T shape.

“Well duh! It’s one of the best Cookbooks ever!” Pink replied with a playful slap onto my head.

“So, you totally have a bomb in there,” I pointed at the book and started to walk towards it. “That can make a cloud that an earth pony can walk on don't you!” I felt a devilish grin ease its way onto my face. “I can negotiate with the Enclave directly!”

“No!” Pink dashed between myself and the book. She was struggling to keep me from getting past her. “We can't go back to up to Cloudsdale, well not Cloudsdale it's destroyed but no! We can't!” I stopped and got down onto my hooves and looked at her angrily. She hesitated and sighed, “Well you may have a bounty of over 10000 caps on your head from the Enclave.” I stared in disbelief, I started to scream about what I could have done and she held up a hoof. “They're pretty sure you're dead, they think they got you...” he paused and thought on it, “The third time.”

“Pink, you're gonna tell me if I run into some ponies who think I'm supposed to be dead, right?” I sat on my flanks and crossed my hooves at her expectantly. I felt like a mom scolding her foal over telling a fib. Pink looked a bit hurt, but understood what I meant.

“I promise I will let you know if things are about to go tails up.” I nodded at her and decided a deal was needed. She seemed sincere enough but something in the back of my mind creeped up and wanted to challenge her.

“Pink, you’re gonna have to do better than that.” I replied, leaning up so we were nose to nose. She could see the scrutiny in my eyes, trying to find her motives as well as intentions. I could feel my own gaze hard into her reflected back from her orbs at me.

“I will make you a deal. I will not ask about my previous lives, or anything you’ve said you won't tell me, if you make sure to tell me if somepony thinks I'm dead and we meet them.” I stared her down and she looked wounded and dumbfounded now.

“Sunrise, I know you. I can't keep this a secret forever!” She shouted and fell back onto her spine in exasperation.
“I know, but it's a waste of our time to ask since you won't talk until you have to. So, deal?” I extended my hoof as she sat up and looked at it warily.

“Only if you Pinkie Promise to not tell the others what I told you in here; about dying twenty seven times.” I bit my lip and nodded at her and she took the hoof I was offering. We had struck a deal, and I felt like it was some binding contract that could only be broken by death. After a moment passed between us, I hugged her around her neck.

“I think I'm about wake up and be in a whole lot of pain...” Pink held up a hoof and walked over to one of the tickers coming out of a computer.

“No, I think you're gonna be okay on pain. Looks like Quick Stitch did it right, and you're on a whole lot of drugs right now.” She replied with a snicker, “Almost like Party Time Mint-Als meets pure Alcohol. You're probably gonna feel like you just tried to each a billion apples or ingested a whole case of Party Time Ment-Als.”

I looked aghast and shook my head, “Pink, I know you're probably gonna correct me, but I don't know what sex feels like yet, remember?”

“FUN!” She threw the ticker tape into the air with a squeal.

“I feel like if I talked to Nyota about this, it would,” I hung my head as my thoughts went to that stallion's warm face with his eye patch, and a pile of cigarettes at his hooves from his nervous waiting. I couldn’t bare to finish the sentence. My heart ached at the slightest thought of harming Nyota in any way.

“Sunrise, I had a crippling Party-Time Mint-Als addiction. I watched all my friends walk out on me then was begging for them when it ended.” She reached up and placed a hoof onto my shoulder, “I know what stress, worry, and pain can do to a relationship.” Pink softly embraced me, holding my body close. The warmth made her next words that much more reassuring, it was like knowing she meant it. “I’m not going to let you make my mistakes.”

“You can say you don't know to this one, but, am I ever gonna see my parents again? Is Nyota gonna be okay with all this? Is... is life ever gonna be happy again?” I asked slowly, starting to tear up as the thoughts of what I was doing to all my friends tore at me. I hadn't considered it until now, just how much it hurt them to see me torn up by gunfire. How they felt when I dove on a grenade. How Nyota must feel seeing me collapse. What my parents think of their little filly now, the one who’d killed ponies? What terrible burden I was putting on Quick Stitch’s shoulders to put me back together.

“Sunrise, I don't know. But, if they are still alive, I know they would be proud.” A spark of hope lit up within me. It didn't matter that her voice was grim, the spark was there. I looked up at her and nodded. I wanted to cling to that spark, to make it into a roaring fire as I smiled in the tight hug we’d been keeping.

“Then, so long as we don't know, there is hope that, one day, I'll have to explain to my mom that her grandfoals might be zonies.” I kissed Pink on the lips, she tasted like cotton candy. I didn't know why, I didn’t know what came over me. I just did it, for the longest moment I poured out emotions and this was how I was doing it. Pink laughed out loud as we broke the kiss.

“Dammit Sunrise, you know for a mare so cute, you are a good kisser too. Nyota is lucky you aren't all into mares.” I blinked at her and slowly turned white with a blush which only made her snicker more.

“Ya know, you're mom was quite the wild mare when she was at my parties those two times. She might ya know, look at you and ask if she can take a turn.” Pink replied with a giggle. I looked up at her, eyes so wide I felt like they might leave my skull. “I mean ya know, your mom might try to buck your boyfriend just like she did me.” There was another awkward pause as I glared at her, “What? I said yes of course. Your mom was, and probably still is, hot.”

“Wait what!? You mean, mom and you and...” suddenly I felt very very sick to my insides but the image in my head was gone and wouldn't come back, no matter how hard I thought on it.

“Oh no Sunrise, I'm suppressing that one. You don't need to know any bit of that.” Pink reached up and ruffled my mane as she turned this into a soft hug once again. “Some secrets I will never reveal, let’s file that under there. Just remember, anytime you need to get something out, I’m here.”

I smiled, I felt something reaffirming had been done. All this conversation had brought my sanity back and then Pink whispered in my ear, “I am and always will be your friend.” I looked up at her stunned, that some pony would tell me that. “You are worthy of that much.” Pink faded away and I slowly started to wake up to a world of pain and a mask that kept me alive.

ooOOoo

I woke up with the taste of vodka, Med-X, and lack of water on my tongue. I smacked my lips as the room came into focus. I was on the gurney again, this time with a pillow and fresh linens. A sheet along with a blanket covered me up to the neck. The familiar weight of my Pip-Buck resisted me picking up my hoof as I raised it to my head.

I rolled my vision to the right: a chair with my things was there. My duster looked torn up and frayed but could still be worn. My jumpsuit, though, was cut open and shredded to tatters. The entire belly section was just gone. My saddlebags and backpack lay under the chair. No one here... Oh. I turned to the left, and Nyota was lying against me with his head resting on mine. He was asleep on his hooves I reached up as gently as possible and stroked his mohawk mane.

He flinched away and then stopped as soon as he recognized me. His breath smelled of cigarettes; no telling how many he'd smoked. “Hi... water...” was all I could manage through the various tastes in my mouth and my parched throat. Nyota pulled out a metal canteen and pressed it up to my lips. The cool water hit my lips and I felt like life itself was working back into my throat. My throat burned from dehydration, suddenly drenched and soothed. I had to stop to give a labored inhale. I felt like it might actually be my last breath for a few seconds. Finally, to my relief, my insides let out an exhale to prove I was alive, then resumed swallowing more water.

Something inside my belly tugged as I swallowed too much and made me stop. It didn't hurt, but I realized I wasn't able to really feel Nyota rubbing my shoulder while I was drinking. He removed the canteen and smiled at me. “You're mad at me, aren't you?” I looked at him as I asked the question, ashamed of myself. I failed you, I was severely hurt and didn’t listen. Denied it was happening and pressed myself nearly to death. I hid it under Med-X and—

Nyota started to speak and my thoughts were interrupted seeing him open his mouth. He stopped and thought about it with a hoof on his chin. He went to speak again, and stopped, finally he just nodded at me vigorously. I stared at him, stunned that he wasn't chewing me out; instead he just accepted that I made a mistake. “I'm not gonna hear the end of this, am I?” Nyota nodded again, smirking this time. I looked away unable to meet his gaze as the guilt washed over me. I let out a long sigh and he pulled my chin back around, forcing me to meet his eyes. One covered in a patch but the other soft green hue staring into my soul.

“I understand why you did it. You had to save other ponies.” He took a breath and reached up, I flinched as the bed creaked until he started stroking my mane. I felt his hoof there, and even with the dulling of the Med-X against it, it was lovely. I pulled my head closer to it and let out a low murr; the feeling was the best I'd had in a few days. For once, being petted without the immediate threat of something on my E.F.S. turning red was so welcome. I didn't realize it until now, but my HUD was off.

It was the first time I'd looked at Nyota without a HUD. Somehow it felt more serene, like I would look at a pony I had a crush on before the bombs fell. If not for the dirt floor or the thought that outside was the wasteland, I could have imagined that this was after a peace with the zebras had been made and the war was over, without the megaspells. Nyota leaned up against the gurney while gently wrapping his hooves around me. The warmth was the thing that made me feel the most alive, just the warmth of his chest was enough to relax me. He pulled back and kissed me, the soft embrace of his lips was something I had longed for since we started running after the assassin’s attack on the road.

Quick Stitch grunted at us as my heart kept fluttering. The butterflies in my stomach couldn't decide if they were painful or pleasant. Our kiss broke and we turned to him. “At least you’re awake,” Quick Stitch took a second to grin like he was seeing an old friend for the first time in ages. “And haven't lost any of your memories or your mind.”

Nyota snorted at him and sighed, “So, ya gonna tell us how bad it is?” He asked and Quick Stitch shook his head. We both tilted our heads and bonked against each other's foreheads. I rubbed my head with a weak hoof, Nyota's head was clearly harder than mine. At least I thought it was, he stumbled, staggered, and then fell over. Nyota looked like he was seeing stars. Both myself and Quick Stitch stared in disbelief. Wait, my head is harder than his? Nyota winced as he got back to his feet; while Quick Stitch laughed. He didn't just laugh, it built from a chuckle to an infectious cackle like Pink's. The two of us couldn’t help it and joined in with him.

We were all laughing, sense of relief washing over us. Death had been evaded and this laugh was what all of us needed. I laughed even through my insides pulsed with pain, but shortly I was coughing. Nyota and Quick Stitch both stopped and turned to me. Nyota put a hoof against my own and held it tight. I gripped back while Quick Stitch trotted forward to tend to me. He levitated over a fresh canteen to my lips. This water was somehow ice cold and I took a sip to clear my throat. I drank it slowly and he pulled it away after a few sips. I really wanted more of that ice water, it was the best water I’d had since we woke up in the pool together. “No laughing, we had to fix a punctured lung.”

I spat the last sip of water back out, my eyes wide in shock, “A punctured WHAT!?” I immediately resumed a coughing fit from the strain, and Quick Stitch just facehoofed. Nyota had a different air about him, though. He just calmly stroked my mane and lovingly pressed a kiss into my cheek. It was warm, and sweet sensation somehow made the coughing easier to supress. The chills down my spine from the gentle stallion's efforts to make my head relax. I whimpered when he stopped, and he stifled a giggle.

“Oh my, Sunrise, he relaxes you! Makes you forget about all that damage under the sheets, doesn't he? You are past the crush state, aren't you?” Pink teased like a schoolgirl friend about a new boyfriend. She stood on hind legs talking to me from the foot of the bed. I blushed at Nyota and Pink, struggling to find words to talk back.

Pink... this is...

“Love? Probably. I mean, we'll find out later.”

“Alright, Sunny, this is no laughing matter and no screaming either. Also, I'm gonna be escorting you everywhere, no if’s, and's, or but’s about it.”

I looked to Nyota, who just blushed under my gaze. He tried to hide behind my own hoof, he nuzzled up against it like I was supposed to pet him. I groaned and lifted my hoof then he looked at me like I had caught his hoof in a cookie jar.
Dammit! Why are you so cute even if I'm upset with you.

I felt nature's calling and Quick Stitch helped by levitating me up off the bed. This was the first look I got at the healing flesh sticking out of the edge of the bandage. I was gonna have a scar, and everything between my forelegs and hind legs was covered in bandages.

It was so odd to be walking on the ground while a unicorn levitated most of your weight up. This must be how pegasi feel walking on clouds. I relieved myself and was ushered right back onto the gurney. Doc Hacksaw arrived, brushing his blood red mane which was hopelessly frizzed out. He forced a smile to greet me with, even if he looked like the world had finally taken his last buck.

He changed the IV and pushed my stuff out of the chair to pull it up to the makeshift bed. “Was told you don't like beds, so we made sure to keep you in a sheet gurney. Ya know, without springs. Now, how are you feeling?”

I gave the doctor a nod and took a look under the sheets again getting a full view of my injuries a second time, “I, umm... I'm feeling better, just really tired and weak. A bit disconnected, too.”

Hacksaw nodded and shuffled several papers in his hooves up to bloodshot brown eyes, “Alright, glad to hear it, we should, umm, talk about you and your insides a bit.” He hesitated while I gripped Nyota's hoof tighter and pulled on him to get closer: his warmth was the only thing keeping me from crying right in that moment. The way Hacksaw was talking, this was bad news, and he let out a long sigh. “Well, you had a punctured lung, dislocated shoulder, ruptured kidney, three broken ribs, 18 pieces of metal fused into your hide, and several bits of cloth stuck in your injuries as well.”

He took an extended breath and patted my right shoulder. The fact that it didn't hurt was the first thing that came to mind. “Thankfully, myself and this cutie here aren't bad at what we do. All of that should heal,” the doctor explained. My face lit up and I started to get up, only to have him and Nyota both put hooves on my shoulders and hold me down. “Provided you rest. You were in surgery for ten hours. There are some other things we have to bring up and deal with. They aren't things you are gonna like, exactly.”

He pulled a light hanging from the roof and held up a black sheet to it, showing an x-ray to us. “You see that black gap behind your heart, about two inches across?” He asked and I nodded. “Do you know what that is?” I shook my head and he moved the x-ray away from the light. “Well, it's in there good, fused to your spine and linked to your heart, no less.”

I looked around for Pink for an answer but she was nowhere to be found. Nyota looked horrified as I felt my heart rate rising. The doctor leaned forward and whispered, “Look, we don't' know what it is. Inside you is a small black cube about two inches across. It's fused into your C4 vertebrae, as well as the veins around it and a small piece of the right chamber of your heart.” He explained and let it all sink in. All we could do was stare at him as the doctor went on, there wasn't anything to say or any coherent thought that came to mind.

“It's tied in there pretty hard, and when we tried to remove it, but all your vitals plummeted. It nearly killed you. We had to reattach the vein in a hurry because your heart pounded hard enough it might explode. Whatever it is, it's tied into your vital functions and I'm almost certain that if we removed it, it would kill you.” He took a breath, letting it sink in. He let out a sigh, “Alright, well, there is something else that I need to talk about. Last time you were here, somepony mentioned you hadn't hit estrus yet, right?”

I nodded slowly, my heart rate rising and my breathing getting faster. Nyota held me close to his chest, moving more to get closer and nuzzle my cheek. “Well, I'm gonna be honest. It took Quick Stitch and our nurse Stitch Flank taking a look to verify,” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “But everything works down there since you've had a cesarean.” My breathing accelerated and I started hyperventilating.

I what!? I've had a c-section!? A FOAL CAME OUT OF ME!? WHEN! Pink, where are you? I need answers! My gasping only got more intense and louder as I gripped Nyota's hoof in a death grip. He shushed me and whispered into my ear, “Sunrise, I've got you. I'm not going anywhere, breath like I taught you. Inhale slowly, breath out slowly.” I took in a deep breath and my panting slowly stopped. My ribs screamed and my lungs burned from the exertion, but Nyota just kept repeating those words in my ear. My eyes slammed shut, I wanted all of that to stop, the world to stop. I’m a mother! I’m a terrible MOTHER!

“Sunny, breath. You are water, coursing softly down the river. All is well.” A soft orange glow hit my eye lids. Slowly all the pain stopped and I felt pure serenity.

“Damn drama queen ain’t she?” The doctor said as my eyes opened. Quick Stitch glared at him but Nyota didn’t even flinch. In a heartbeat I went from feelings of absolute panic to a completely placid lake, Quick Stitch pulled his yellow glowing horn away from me and Nyota just stared at him. I realized now just how hard I was holding onto Nyota's hoof. I released the tightness in my grip, but he didn't react to it. Way to be all stoic and stalwart. What changed? You've gone from cold almost uncaring to the warmest nicest stallion I’ve ever met.

Pink's voice hit me in the back of the head, “He has you, silly. That stallion loves you, and you love him!”

Oh, you’re back now? Can you... I felt that her presence was gone again. She sure knew how to frustrate a pony whom had more conflicting emotions right now than the shoot-out at the Okay Pony Corral. I wanted to scream in rage, cry in sorrow, punch a wall until it collapsed, and cling around Nyota's neck until we passed out. The only two things keeping me in check was Quick Stitch's worried gaze and Nyota’s hoof holding. I stared into Quick Stitch's honey colored eyes, Doc Hacksaw pulled out a package of Mint-Als and downed three from the tin.

“Alright, Stitch, I suggest all of you get an x-ray if possible.” His sky-blue face a careful mask of neutrality, and his voice was pure monotone; like everything he’d said was just another annoyance. Chifundo trotted into the tented off area and looked around, confused. Nyota nodded to Hacksaw and then started to try to pull away; my hoof had a grip on him, though, a grip I didn't think I was even capable of. I just held on, and Hacksaw sighed and shook his head. “Alright, come on, Sunrise, you can stay with Nyota and your friends while they get checked out.” I had enough, this was it, it was too much. I bit my lip and growled.

“You have the worst bedside manner! You know that!” I winced in pain from my ribs straining against the yelling. Nyota put a hoof into my mouth and kept me quiet. He let me take a few breaths as even Chifundo looked put off by my shouting. It was like somepony had broken some rule.

“Alright, fine. Come on, Sunrise. I know you're going through a whole lot right now, so come with me.” Doc Hacksaw explained and helped me from the bed to follow him.

***

It’s took three days of eating what they dubbed ‘applesauce’, which I doubted had any apples in it at all, to get to the point Nyota wasn’t fretting over every little movement. Finally, I woke up when the doctor came in to take the x-rays and explain the results.

I held Nyota's hoof silently as he stood on his hind legs and took the x-ray with another unicorn. We all had them. My stomach grumbled, and Nyota frowned. “Sunrise, when was the last time you ate anything solid?” The mysterious tension in the air interrupted by his question. Quick Stitch was focused upon the x-rays and comparing charts, while Chifundo was meditating and communing with spirits. Whatever he was saying, I couldn't understand a word of it, but Doctor Hacksaw seemed to.

I looked at Nyota and motioned for my saddlebag. He hoofed it to me, and the rubix cube from Corners dropped out onto the bed. I swept it aside and started to reach in for some sort of veggie I might have. There was nothing in there, just the box of sweets from Sandy Claws. I started to get a cookie out of there and Nyota grabbed onto my leg to stop me. “No, Sunrise, I'm gonna make you a proper breakfast.” He tossed me the officer's book out of my bags instead. “Read that to take your mind off of it, I'll be back in a minute” he started to leave when the pegasus, Piston, walked in.

“Anything but Cinnamon Buns, okay?” I called out to him. For some unknown reason I had this impression that cinnamon buns were something I’d never want to eat again. I didn’t know why but it bugged me even as I said it. Nyota looked at me, perplexed, and Pink giggled like she knew why. Even I didn’t understand it, but for some reason, I never wanted a cinnamon bun ever again. He snickered and laughed at me.

“Okay Sunny, no cinnamon buns.” The amount of indignation made me wanna scream out. Thankfully, Piston brought my focus elsewhere and helped fight my blush down as Nyota departed to make breakfast.

“Hey, where is your griffin friend?” Piston had a thick accent, and while he wasn't hard to understand, he rolled his words: all of them. I could see that he didn't have a cutie mark behind his armor plating, now that I had a moment to look, but instead there was a branding of a cloud with a lightning bolt inside it. Hot Cross Buns has that, is that a Dashite brand?

Nyota turned to him as Doc Hacksaw approached. “Yes, Sunrise should eat, a healthy appetite and I'll let her out of here if she can walk.” He nudged Quick Stitch against the flank to get his attention, “Stitchy-poo, I'm gonna get some sleep. Can you take care of any more patients?” Quick Stitch snorted back at him—clearly hating the nickname—and nodded, trotting out with Doc Hacksaw.

Chifundo stood up and approached. He gave me a gentle hug and a soft rub on each of my cheeks. It was strange, like the motions you would expect your parents to make when you were a little foal. "Are you going to be alright? My worries have kept me up for three nights!" He prodded at me and looked over at Nyota from across my bed.

I nodded to the pink striped zebra, and he gave me other light hug around the neck, making sure no pressure was put onto my ribs. “That is good to hear. You were in for the worst, we feared.” He took a few steps back, “The spirits, now, I must address, to find out if they know of the black box we possess.” I nodded to him, not wanting to deal with the rhythm of his speech at the moment. My brain was feeling the waves of emotional exhaustion hitting time and again.

“Sunrise are you well, you were out for quite a spell?” Chifundo prodded me and I stared at him. I didn’t get to answer, as we turned hearing Nyota raising his voice.

“She doesn't need this right now, whoever you are.” Piston still talking in a hushed tone to him. Whatever they were on about was clearly distressing Nyota at the moment. Quick Stitch had left the room along with Hacksaw who had put my things back into the chair. I finally leaned up and gave Chifundo a soft nudge.

“I'm fine, I know where I am, go on and do your spirit thing, Chifundo. You're safe, and that is what’s important.” I weakly hugged him to reassure him ,and this was the first time I'd felt just how weak I was. All I could do was put two hooves around his neck, so he would know I was alive. Chifundo pulled away slowly, carefully. It was like he was worried he would break me. Chifundo trotted off and only turned to give me a wink before passing out of the sectioned off room. Nyota walked back to his spot on my left, while Piston took the space where Hacksaw had been sitting a moment ago.

He gave me a nodding bow, “I have sworn a life debt to your friend, the griffin. I wonder if I can help you?” Nyota snorted at him and I looked at him warily. We had picked up Quick Stitch without much talk or a second thought, but Nyota has a bad feeling about this pegasus? I raised an eyebrow and looked from one to the other. My neck and ribs let out a complaint of strain. Maybe I should ask for some more Med-X?

"Uh oh! Somepony's got a craving for that sweet, sweet Med-X!" Pink mocked from out of view.

“Okay, before I ask how, can you do me a favor? Move to the side of the bed Nyota is on. Kind of a bit of a strain to talk to both of you if I have to look from one end to the other.” He didn't question it, the pegasus just trotted over and was suddenly uncomfortably beside Nyota. Nyota wasn't comfortable with this at all, his hoof was wrapped around Nyota's neck and they were pressed way to close. Nyota looked stunned and confused. Slowly his eyes rolled over to Piston’s face, his confusion turning to agitation. Piston just grinned completely unaware with a happy satisfied look on his face. “Okay, now I feel like I should hit you.” I suddenly felt like this pegasus had no sense of any social decorum.

In the most surreal moment of my life, Nyota turned and slammed a hoof into Piston's head and sent him reeling onto his belly. He landed in a heap next to the gurney I was on and make the IV bag in my leg shake. I stared at the two of them, stunned, and Nyota had a broad grin on his face like he'd done something perfect. Piston got up to his feet rather quickly and his wing was holding his jaw while he looked at me. “Right! No touchy boyfriendy!”

I looked at Nyota. My face was pleading with him while my hoof motioned for him to step in and do something. He looked back with a sheepish smile from ear to ear and just stroked my mane. “Weren't you gonna get me breakfast?” My voice was one of irritation but my eyes were firmly darting to and from Piston. I hoped he got the hint to not dart out yet. Nyota giggled like a school filly and nodded. THE ODDEST SOUND you’ve ever heard from a scarred grizzled zebra.
“Yeah, when Piston here leaves you alone.” We both turned and glared at Piston, whom looked very confused. He gave an exaggerated nod as he realized we both were waiting on him to speak.

Oh thank the Goddesses! He can take a hint and doesn’t abandon me at the slightest reason. Please never change! I thought with a sense of relief when Nyota had taken the expression on my face and motion of my hoof to heart.

“Oh right, I umm... I wanted to ask if I could fix your armor?” My head slowly moved over to the jumpsuit that looked torn apart, missing belly plating and my duster riddled with holes. Additionally, the plating completely fused on the right side, so the duster and jumpsuit couldn't be separated. “I mean, I have some ideas on that, but if you want to hear them I can explain.”

I turned back to the two stallions waiting my reply. Nyota moved to softly nuzzle my cheek, and I let out a deep sigh. “Alright, Piston, what's your idea?” I wanted to humor him long enough to get rid of him. If Nyota didn't trust him, that was one thing, but I was hungry!

“Well, what if I get a flak vest, and then use a jumpsuit to fill in the missing bits of your own? It won't exactly look flashy, but it will provide you with protection beyond what that duster can do.” I looked at him and started to put the pieces together then nodded at him.

“Let me think about it and talk to Alguacil okay?” I just wanted him to leave!

Piston bowed and turned away, walking his gray pegasus flank out. I looked, and Nyota had a grimace on his face. “Nyota, I know, something ain't right about him. We'll talk to him after breakfast, okay?”

I picked up the book I’d gotten at the roof, The Equestrian Officer’s Guide to Tactics and Military Dress, and was out like a light shortly after.

***

Nyota kissed me awake. My eyes popped open in shock at the sensation of his lips, the smell of pancakes, and the feeling of drool against the pages of my book. Nyota had a hoof holding the book up, but there was no sign of how it had been held up before. I had apparently passed out falling forward into it. Did my tail stop the book and me mid air? That would have kept me from hitting my own ribs or falling out of the angled gurney.

My heart accelerated as we held the kiss and the surprise wore off. My thoughts on the matter were shattered away. I closed my eyes again, but this time not because I was tired, but because it felt nice. The warmth filling my chest and cheeks was so very welcome. My insides were full of tingles and flutters as I gasped for air through my nose to keep the kiss going. My lungs started burning from breathing this way, but I held on, even when Nyota started pulling away. Nyota gently placed a hoof to my cheek to break the kiss and I refused. That is to say until he pulled out of range without me falling out of the makeshift bed.

The zebra picked up a plate and held it to me. Pancakes! They smelled like the real thing, like the ones we had gotten in The Roof. I reached forward and grabbed hold of the plate, then wolfed down an entire pancake all at once. It was so mushy, and there was a sweet hint of syrup or something, and then the strawberry flavor hit. He'd made it with preservatives! Oh, Goddesses, have I missed this! No canned veggies today! I wolfed down another pancake quickly as Nyota offered me a cup of coffee but kept it out of reach.

“Sunrise, we may wanna stop drinking this coffee,” My heart skipped a beat and I felt the wave of disappointment wash over me. “It's been laced with dash and buck to make it addictive.” I stared at him and tilted my head to the side, my face searching for an explanation that wasn't forthcoming.

“Huh? Laced by who? The people making it?” Nyota nodded at me and I recoiled a bit. I had that sweet black nectar within reach if I just leaned for it. “Who?”

“The filly scouts, apparently, which means we may have an issue.” I couldn't look away from the coffee. It had been at least two days since we'd had it, and I kind of really needed it. With a burst of speed, my tail grabbed it, spilling some onto the rubix cube next to me before it pressed the cup to my lips.

I had drank half the cup before I realized my tail had even moved. No, Bad Pink! BAD! I pulled the cup away from my lips and felt a sense of guilt wash over me. The taste was always something else, like it scratched an itch at the back of my throat or removed a craving on my tongue. The liquid was in my head, and deep inside a voice screamed that I was required to satisfy my morning wake-up ritual. I can't stop drinking this, not without help.

Even as I thought that, I felt pain, a dull wave or throb of it. I felt like maybe some Med-X would stop it from escalating.
“Alright, Sunrise, if you're gonna criticize me for coffee, I'm gonna do the same to you about Med-X. Lay off it, deal with the pain.” I wanted to scream how that was different, how I needed it, how it helped me save ponies. Then I stopped before I could form the thoughts.

No, that is the need for the drugs talking. Right now you are safe, and Nyota would be disappointed if you used it over this dull pain. I looked up from my cup at Nyota, realizing I had no idea how long I'd been lost in thought. I smacked my lips to clear the taste of coffee from my mouth. “We should probably talk to Quick Stitch, we've had a lot of this in the last two weeks.” Nyota nodded at me and I nodded back.

“Yeah, quitting it cold turkey might hurt us or aggravate your injuries. Maybe even... kill you from the symptoms.” Nyota's reply was like a hammer blow to my ego and my pride. I felt tears starting into my eyes and pain intensified. “We should probably have him mix it with regular coffee or something else and cut it down until we wean ourselves off it.”

Great! I need drug counseling and treatment in the wasteland. Not only is the coffee potentially bad for me, but I really REALLY could use some Med-X now. I leaned over and kissed Nyota on the cheek, and then I started to wolf down another pancake. Hacksaw walked in and saw my mouth full of an entire pancake.

“Oh good! You have an appetite, I see. We were gonna try solid food today but if you keep those down.” He slowly walked over towards me and just smiled at us. “That means all you need to do is prove you can walk, or can walk with assistance at the very least, and I can be rid of you. Hey, what's that?” He pointed at the rubix cube and I looked down to see the stickers peeling off, revealing a black, smooth cube underneath. My tail grabbed it and offered it up to me. I set the coffee onto the plate Nyota was offering. I kept chewing the pancake and peeled the stickers away. Soon I was holding an exact 2 inch by 2 inch solid black cube. It felt like onyx and was smoother than cut obsidian. “That's... that's the box in your chest! Where did you get it?”

Hacksaw was on me and looking at the cube up close. Nyota was holding him back, trying to prevent the doctor from injuring his own patient. It felt almost weightless. His magic tried to envelope it, but the cube dropped through the telekinetic glove. The piece could not be interacted with by magic. I set it down and looked at him while Quick Stitch and Chifundo both walked in. They looked like they had been through the wringer. Both unicorn and zebra had different aspects of them that showed fatigue. Chifundo's hair wasn't braided together, and his tail was matted against his flank from sweat. He hung his head, but he still had a brightness to his eyes and his normal hop in his step.

Quick Stitch, on the other hoof, had bloodshot eyes, his forehead furrowed, and his steps were dragging along the ground.. They both stopped in their tracks when they saw the black box. “I... I... I got it from Corners, it was the gift she left!” That TRAITOR! I screamed in my own head. My heart burned with fire and fury. She knew something all along! All that talk of the Box God and this, this thing... she was in on whatever experiment this is! When I find her, I’d box her ears till she tells us!

Quick Stitch peered at the black box while Chifundo spoke up first as I stared at it in horror. "That simply could not be same kind of box! Maybe Corners made it from black rocks?" Every pony approached and leaned in to look at the box.

I reared up to throw the cube, but my tail and Nyota's hoof stopped me. Chifundo and Quick Stitch jumped back away from us; while Doc Hacksaw stared, unphased. I glared at Nyota, and he glared back. There was a sort of silent communication between us. He knew I was angry; so was he, but he was calm enough to realize that if I damaged that cube, I might destroy our only lead. So did Pink, apparently, who appeared for the first time since I’d woken up. She was standing on her hind legs, making slow motions with her hooves towards the ground. “Come on, Sunrise, put it down.” Nyota and Pink spoke in stereo, their voices mirrored precisely.

Did you possess Nyota? She shook her head. Slowly, I lowered the cube down into Nyota's hoof. He passed it to Hacksaw as I jumped up out of the bed; the movement hurt my ribs, but I couldn't stay in here. Alguacil was coming in as I was leaving, and I nearly ran into the big griffin. Seeing him, for some reason, calmed my rage enough for Nyota to catch me and hold me up. Even with the huff I was in, my heart strings could be picked and bring me back to a calm.

“You're lookin' real spiffy for a filly that just got her insides rearranged and then put back together.” He punctuated the last word with an 'ar and even tipped his sombrero to me. My anger softened for just a moment at him being polite, and Nyota began stroking my mane.

“Sunrise, calm down, you're gonna irritate your wounds.” Nyota whispered in my ear. I looked at him and took the awkward time to walk around and get on the side where my right foreleg was against him. The one that had been broken twice, and dislocated as well. Ya know, if I didn't know any better, you'd think my Pip-Buck was an injury magnet! Nyota took my leg and make sure there wasn't any weight on it as I looked up at Alguacil.

“Don't argue, don't ask why. I have no patience right now, and my emotions are pretty drained.” I stated flatly to the griffin. Alguacil leaned down and got eye level with me. He softened his hardened glare at me and nodded to show me some respect. He isn't coming down here to insult me, he's here to give me respect and and... that's a first.

Pink was making motions at me and trying to keep me on track, with a literal piece of cartoon looking railroad track and a sign on a set of cars trudging by.. “Alguacil, go get an x-ray. Quick Stitch knows what to look for. I need some air.” He nodded and as Nyota and I disappeared out of the craft center, leaving our friends in the room with my things.

***

I was pacing around Nyota, outside of Hearthfire's Flophouse. The exertion was making me breath hard and Nyota was turning in circles to keep us face to face as he watched me with a worried expression. “That little... LITTLE,” I coughed twice, and Nyota held me up when my strength failed. “She fed us lies and everything.” I wanted to scream but my lungs couldn't take it. The pain inside was building up as I ranted. “She knew! She had to know, that explains it all. And she, she,” horror and dread filled me. “Nyota, what if she took this from some pony and killed them?”

Nyota put a hoof on hoof on my shoulder and stopped my pacing, “Sunrise, what if she didn't leave those notes and this is from her? What if—” I stopped him right there with my weakened hoof up against his lips.

“No, Nyota. She is alive, and she knew something. She knew exactly what these were, that we all had them, everything. Think about it,” I let it sink into his head for a bit. “She started fights with us, she acted out on purpose to turn us against her. She tried to kill me with a land mine and that skull!” I coughed again before continuing. “Then that scene on the road, with Buddy's shotgun? She wanted us to hate her. She had a guilty conscience. She knew what she was doing, that it was wrong, and when we didn't hate her, when we welcomed her in...” I paused and searched Nyota's eyes. I swear, now that I know it's there, I can follow and see his star swirling eye under the patch.

Nyota stomped his hoof and growled. “Fine, I'll admit it. You've got a point,” he said looking away from my gaze, “But I can't help but feel like there is more to this. I mean, if she was feeling guilty about it, maybe she isn't a bad pony.”

I lifted a hoof to stomp and stopped myself when my stitches tugged. My hoof lowered slowly and I let out a huff at him. “There is one other thing, the thing that makes this so very wrong.” My heart picked up a beat as I said the words. I felt something inside feel like it was twisting. My throat started to dry out, and I wanted to scream while bursting into tears. I not sure if it's the surgery, recovery, or actual pain, but I really really want a Med-X right now. Nyota leaned in and lifted me up a bit more, and he pulled me into the gentlest hug he could and held me close.

My head laid across the back, and I stared down at his flanks and admired him. He was much more sturdy and well built than I was. I drew on the strength in his figure to fight back the scream, but tears rolled from my cheeks into his neck. “I... I may have three ponies to look for, now.” He stroked my mane softly, all the way down my back.

“I know, Sunny, I know. If you do have a living foal, we'll find her, your mother, and your father.” I kept petting me lovingly, and I let out a gentle sniffle as my tears slowly abated. The feeling of comfort he provided made the pain die away slowly. The sorrow was still there, filling me with the need to sob. “Sunny, I'll be here for you. Until you tell me to go away or we can't be together anymore.”

The words fell on me like a sledgehammer, the rollercoaster of emotions I was riding wasn't helping. I felt his love, my sorrows, the betrayal, the need for something to make sense, and it all overwhelmed me.

“Oh come on Sunrise! Just say the L word already out loud!” Pink exclaimed and I glared at her. Then I felt his hoof on my cheek. That was the only feeling keeping me from screaming right now. Nyota’s tender loving care.

I could hear Alguacil talking angrily at some pony behind us, nothing new. I kept sobbing, inhaling his scent of sandalwood. It was comforting and it was all I had to hold on to right now. My insides hurt, they hurt something awful. I couldn't taste blood and I wasn't getting weak, but everything hurt right now. “But I want to go with you two.” Piston's voice hit my ears, elevated like Alguacil's. My heart pounded and Nyota just held me there until we heard Alguacil and Piston arguing behind us.

“Sharpshooter? Piston, I watched you fire an entire shotgun tube and not hit a husk at point blank range!” Alguacil fired off at him as he was being followed tightly by Piston.

“Yes, but I owe you a life debt, I want to repay it. Let me prove it to you.” Alguacil growled at him and raised his voice in harsh squawks in return.

“I'm not interested in a slave! Take your life debt and shove off!” Wow, I've never seen him this mad, except for at Corners. Piston got up in his face and I heard the revolver click.

“You aren't gonna scare me off with that, I can shoot it up with the best of them. Why won't you let me come?” Piston growled back at him through gritted teeth.

“Sunrise, stop this! NOW!” Pink pulled my tail and I followed, moving so fast I didn't even see the ground between us, I was now standing between them. I saw Nyota looking bewildered a dozen hoofsteps away. I growled at them, glaring from the big angry bird back to the feathered pony.

“Enough! Both of you!” I shouted and felt my insides screaming back at my brain to stop. That's it! I'm letting it all out right now! I had to, no way around it, it was time to let it all out. Even if it was on the wrong pony. “Listen here Piston. If Alguacil says you can't shoot for shit, I believe him!” The shouting was hurting my throat, and I didn't care right now.

Screaming now, Med-X later. “You have a shotgun in that holster and couldn't hit one of those things at point blank range. I heard the booms, now that I think about it.” Remembering back to the fighting the night and early morning before, there was another shotgun, close to me, firing over and over again.“According to Alguacil you barely walked away alive. So your idea with my armor is your one shot to prove you're useful.” My hoof itched and my tail cocked up like Pink had something to say. “Alguacil, watch him. Make sure he does it right and doesn't do anything weird.” The tail relaxed but my rear hooves still itched. “ Unless you prove yourself to be an amazing repair pony, I don't want a pony who can't defend themselves with us.”

I growled at him and got right up in Piston's face. Nyota recovered from his stupor and moved to stop me while Alguacil put his revolver away. Was that gun glowing now? “SO FIX THE ARMOR AND I'M NOT LEADING A PONY OUT TO DIE!” I shouted loud enough that my voice rang out and ponies nearby stopped to look. Then my lungs gave out and I fell forward. My vision pitched black as I felt a talon around my gut and three hooves against my chest.

They weren't fast enough, and I went from the after taste of pancakes and rage to dirt and rage. “Sunny, stop. Please, calm down.” Nyota whispered while holding the rest of me from smacking into the hoof worn trail between the buildings. I wasn't angry anymore, all I knew was pain. Anguish rocketed through me like hot searing knives fresh from a blast furnace. Tears welled up from the pain and I fought to stay awake.

Slowly my vision came back, first white hot pain into the blackness. Then I saw Nyota's face. He'd turned my head so I would look at him. He nodded past me and I felt the talon lift off of my gut. “Come on Sunny, let's go, you need rest.” I started to protest and one of the hooves holding me up moved to my lips. That familiar taste in my mouth again, except this time it was mixed with cigarette ash. “I'm not taking no for an answer.”

I let out a sigh. There are things that need to be done today. Things that can take my mind off of this. I stared into his eyes, I'd never seen him so determined and so full of tears at the same time.

“Sunrise, do as he says. You realize how much it hurts him to see you this way, now?” Pink was in my view again, and as she looked at me I could feel her hoof against my cheek. It was such a weird feeling, no matter how many times it happened, seeing her as a tiny pink pony and yet feeling a full sized hoof rubbing down my neck. “Alright, Nyota, but not back into the hospital. Let's get my things and head over to Sparrow's.” He looked at me, a bit confused, and then he growled at me in frustration and I felt his grip on my mane tighten.

“Sunrise, no more stress, you need rest. Please don't make me get Quick Stitch and Hacksaw out here.” Nyota was getting angry ,and I could feel him fighting the urge to make me do what he thought was right. I hung my head into his hooves and leaned up as I saw Alguacil escorting Piston back into the craft center.

“Nyota, I promise I will rest when I get there, and I won't do anything stressful if it can be helped. I'll play checkers or cards with Nugget and Sparrow, okay?” I promised half heartedly, but Nyota nodded.It was enough for him to hear me say that, and he escorted me to get my saddlebags. Piston took my shredded armor, and we left the crafting area and arrived at Sparrow's within a few minutes.

I knocked softly and Sparrow opened the door with a start, a revolver held in her wing. She held herself coiled and ready for anything, but when she looked down at me, her whole facade dropped. She lowered the gun into a holster. “Sunrise... you're alright?”

Nyota nodded for me. “Do you mind if we come in? I miss Nugget and I promised I’d play with her every time I stopped in town.” I could see Hot Cross Buns and Nugget in the living room. The two were rolling around with each other, playing a close range game of tag, when Nugget heard my voice and looked up with pure excitement on her face.
“Sunrise! YAYS!” She squealed and started to rush to me. Nyota yelped and stepped between us and he held up a hoof to stop her.

“Gentle, Nugget. Sunrise just left the hospital here Nugget looked like she had just had her trophy taken from her by a school teacher. But Nugget nodded and walked up, as the smile returned to her face and she wrapped her hooves around me in a tight hug. Okay, Nugget! He said gentle! I get those earth pony arms are freakishly strong, but seriously, does it need to hurt this much? The pain started to go away as Nugget let go. We trotted inside and Sparrow made a chair available for me. It was made from putting two Lazy-Stallions together, but even in that worn state, it was comfy.

Nyota sat down on the floor beside me, as close as possible. He's like a shadow that I actually want. I leaned over to nuzzle him and my ribs twinged with pain from the exertion. “Whooo! Sunrise has a boyfriend now!” Nugget called out and I blushed white as Nyota turned pink. Pink just giggled in the back of my mind as I looked at her with a sly grin.

“Yes, that’s true. Nugget, can you set up checkers for us?” I turned to Hot Cross Buns and saw Nyota was giving a pleading look out of the corner of his eye. He knows my actual motive for coming here now. No turning back now. “Hot Cross Buns, I need to know why the Enclave took you for so long and tortured you.”

Hot Cross Buns shifted nervously and I felt like he was suddenly hiding something. He shifted his wings and looked at Nugget, then Sparrow. Neither of them spoke up or tried to interfere after a few moments. Nyota even looked like he was interested to know. “It was about a weapon. I wasn't always a bakery pony, ya know?”

I nodded but Nyota spoke up first. “Hot Cross Buns, we lost a friend saving you. And we had to take a whole lot of pony’s lives.” I gritted my teeth and bit my lip, trying to not start an argument in Sparrow's household about Corners. I felt it was my fault she left, but I really wanted to blame Hot Cross Buns for losing my friend. Even if it made the pain in my heart worse to not say it out loud. Nyota continued, “I think we are entitled to know what this weapon is and why they are likely going to come after you, with Legion-trained assassins, no less.”

Wait, Nyota knew what those zebras who attacked us were? Maybe I should talk to him about that. Hot Cross Buns interrupted my thoughts with a wave of his wing and a look that begged for sympathy. “You do, but I honestly don't know what they wanted from me.”

That was a lie. I could see it written all over his face. I looked at Sparrow, who avoided my gaze like it might actually hurt her to return it. My anger and rage built up faster by the second. I wanted to grab that ruddy brown pegasus and smash his face in, for real this time. I was tired of mysteries. I was sick of lies and half-truths this morning. I was completely fed up with questions without answers. I had almost died, Buddy was gone, Corners had betrayed us and left us. No! I couldn't take it anymore.

I stood up. Nyota tried to sit me back down because I was standing in Fallen Caesar fighting stance: on my hind legs, just as he taught me. Nugget perked up to full attention, ignoring the improvised checkers set. The little foal leaned in close, pure curiosity written on her face.

Sparrow started to move towards me. Nyota kept tugging at my flank, to trying to sit me back down. Each tug sent shocks of pain to my nerves, and that just made me more upset. I wasn't having any of his protesting. I didn't care that Nugget might hear what I had to say, and Sparrow wasn't about to stop me. Right now, only pure pissed earth pony drove me.

I pointed a hoof at Hot Cross Buns, like some lawyer pony in a courtroom. My face grimaced and eyes narrowed to steeled, tortured determination. All of this finally boiled over with one single word, at the top of my lungs and as loud as my throat could manage. The word rang off the walls, echoed in our ears, and as every pony grew still and silent with the realization of just what that one word meant: “Bullshit!”

End Act II.

Level Up! - Congrats through sheer stubborness you've survived this long.
Level 8 Perk - Move Like Water (Earth Pony Only) - Gain +5% Dodge against all attacks, and all enemies lose 10% chance to critical hit against you. - Wow that Zebra training is paying off! That or those "Live Fire Exercises" the wasteland keeps doing to you.

Quest Perk - Focus Fire - You read half the officers guide so far congrats!
Benefit: Spend 20AP to designate a target for all allies, they gain +10 Hit that target for the duration of combat or till you designate another one.

Artwork by Ravvij - Official Character Reference

Chapter 21: Few Answers, More Questions

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Chifundo opened the door as the echo of my screaming voice bounced off of every wall. Sparrow dropped a cup onto the ground, which shattered, while Hot Cross starred with eyes wide as saucers. Nyota even pulled away from me indignantly. Nugget, however, was the first to break the awkward silence. “Sunrise said a wordy dird! Do it again!”

Hot Cross Buns pointed a hoof at Nugget, shooting her a stern glare. I stood up and felt the boiling rage hitting me. “You and Sparrow have double talked, half-truthed, or flat out misled us on every turn!” My lungs strained from the effort of yelling, and Nyota was trying to sit me down, which just got him pushed away. I gave him a quick apologetic glance, and then turned, fully focused on Hot Cross Buns.

“Buddy is dead! Corners left us! You are gonna give me a straight, truthful answer, or I don't know what I'll do, but we'll find out!” I was panting from exertion and my head was getting light. Balance finally failed me, and all my huff went out with a puff as I slumped back into the chair. Nyota jumped up to my face as Chifundo crossed the room and I held up a hoof to signal them I was alright. “Just need to catch my breath.”

All of us turned to Hot Cross Buns and stared at him, waiting for the answer I sought. “Dammit, Sunrise, I don't—”

“Daddy, swear jar.” Nugget piped up interrupting him.

Hot Cross Buns glared at her and rolled his eyes, then shook his head, “When I finish.”

“Now, Sunrise—Celestia's golden flanks—I don't have to answer anything about any of this!” He puffed his chest out and looked proud as can be. His eyes directing at me a call for challenge him on any of it.

I got up, tore away from Nyota, Quick Stitch, and Chifundo as hard as I could. With only a my backup revolver tucked against my PipBuck, there wasn't a whole of equipment to back me up as I got right up into his face. “You listen! I risked life and limb, my friends risked it all, for your sorry ass!”

“The buck has gotten into you, Sunrise,” Quick Stitch asked, putting a hoof against my cutie mark. All that got him was a harsh kick in the leg, and I put myself nose to nose with Hot Cross Buns.

“I just had to put my friends through hell to save you, and Nyota had to wait ten hours to find out if I was gonna live or die.” I put my hoof down harshly onto his, hoping it would leave a bruise. “Answer. The. Question. Now.” My teeth didn't even separate as I spoke with a growl. Every piece of me wanted to box his ears in to find out what we had risked our lives for. My lungs burned with the stress of shouting and my heart was racing as my healing injuries protested.

Hot Cross Buns looked at me like I was a horrific monster from his nightmares. He backed away and I followed, pressing nose to nose against him. We kept up this tango of retreat and advance until he was pressed into a wall and had nowhere to go. I stared into his eyes with all my frustration and feelings of loss, tears welling up in my eyes as I shook in anger.

Nyota, Chifundo, and Quick Stitch put hooves on me and pulled me back. They were physically dragging me away from him. “This is not the anger you desire, that was fuelled by Corners' ire.” The red boiling up into my vision dissipated as Chifundo spoke, and my brain tried to process what he said. I looked at my friends, all three stallions’ appearance almost comical at the amount of effort it was taking to move the weakest earth pony in the wasteland away from Hot Cross Buns. My hooves groaned against the wooden floor boards before I finally relented and let off my resistance.

All three of my friends lost their grip and tumbled into a heap behind me. Nugget let out a filly cackle at the scene as three stallions were on the ground in a heap behind me while I turned my head to look at them. In all my rage, I felt like I’d gained strength I’d never possessed.

“Alright Sunrise, you're right.” Sparrow walked forward as she stopped laughing. “Honey, tell her. Explain it in detail, or you'll have to deal with me.” Sparrow turned to Hot Cross Buns. I shot a surprised glance at Sparrow, and she gave me an apologetic shrug, rolling her eyes in exasperation at Hot Cross Buns.

Hot Cross Buns hung his head with a guilty wince, and began to speak. “The weapon they wanted was armor piercing ammunition based upon a chemical compound made in the clouds. This stuff, in theory, should punch through power armor with a .308 or higher caliber round.” He let it all rest in one breath and kept his gaze away from any pony in the room.

I stared at him, processing this. Everypony else jumped up asking questions.

“Wait, punch through how much armor?” Quick Stitch inquired.

“What chemicals must I take for this weapon to make?” Chifundo inquired as he got up to pull me back down with Nyota.

“Come on, Sunrise, you’ve got your answer. Calm down and breath.” Nyota assured still focused upon me.

He held up a hoof, “No please, the less you know the better. It isn't complete and they wanted me to finish it.” I got up and walked over to him with a nod, placing a hoof onto his shoulder. Something inside me wanted to protect him, he wasn’t trying to do better yet. He at least still felt guilty. When you could feel guilt, there was hope to be better. He wanted to take this secret to his grave and that is something I respected. Sharing secrets that could get other ponies killed was not okay in my book. I felt like he needed a break and he needed to know something that would reassure him.

“Do you think the Enclave will still hunt for you or assume you are dead?” I asked as everypony turned to the question like a ghost had emerged.

“I mean once they dig through graves and check for bodies maybe. But I think those assassins will report back that I’m not dead.” Hot Cross Buns explained, and it wasn’t him I looked at with concern. It was Nugget. She had just gotten a new daddy and she would be a pretty vulnerable target if the Enclave chose to attack.

How do I stop flying attackers like that? Does the Enclave still have the Equestrian Air Force machines? I wanted badly for them to not be vulnerable and to give Hot Cross Buns a chance to live out the rest of his life. But at the same time, I knew we couldn’t stay here and complete our own quest.

Pink rolled onto my view screen holding up a chalkboard she deployed and the world around us slowed down. I saw the bar for SATS appear across my HUD and realized what she had done. “Sunrise, lookie! This will work out really well!” Pink was pointing to a diagram on her chalkboard. It took me a second to understand but that was schematic for a balloon with a bomb in it.

Barrage Balloons? But those were only ever used against dragons. Won't that kill—

“Absolutely not! I took that into account, this includes a concussion bomb. Non-lethal, but they will crash to the ground, probably at high speed, and be severely injured.” Pink explained nervously. I gave her a questioning look and she shrugged. “I mean, it's the best we can do under the circumstances.”

I didn't sit right with creating a sky minefield but at the same time, I knew in my heart that the Enclave might glass the entire town to get at Hot Cross Buns. Alright, Pink, I'll get a prototype made and give him the schematic. Let's get everypony out of here and take inventory, finally.

SATS died and I was being stared at as I touched Hot Cross Buns. “Alright, I'm gonna get some plans together for barrage balloons and make them. This should help give you some protection from the Enclave flyers.” I looked around the room to each of my friends and smiled reassuringly. Nugget looked disappointed, and I smiled at her. “Hold on, let me talk to my friend's first and I'll be right back, Nugget.”

I stepped out with the rest of my friends and closed the door so we could talk. “For now, I think we should all take time to relax, heal, recuperate, and enjoy a bit of regular applications from my healing spells.” Quick Stitch declared and looked at me, getting close so we were eye to eye. “You need time to rest, or the healing is going to leave more than just scars on your coat.” Nyota snorted in agreement, Chifundo held up a hoof to his chin with a careful thought.

“Quick Stitch makes a fair case, welcome would be a break from our frantic pace.” He took a breath and started to walk away, “I could also use the time to work on a project of mine.” Nyota's next words though made me want to strangle one of those striped stallions.

“With the book Nugget used, I found some recipes I would like to peruse.” Nyota immediately facehoofed and shuddered, “Great, he's got me doing it.” They all burst out into laughter. I grumbled and then got a smile on my lips as well, and was soon laughing along. My ribs ached from the movement, and I had to force myself to stop laughing. I turned to Nyota, “You did that just to get me to laugh and admit I need time to heal when it hurt, didn't you?”

He shook his head and kissed my cheek, “No, though I'm glad you admit it. The nice thing is that Sparrow has a place in mind where you can rest without needing to be in the infirmary.” He took a moment to give me a gentle reassuring hug and an innocent-seeming look. I bought it, for now.

Quick Stitch pulled out a cloak and sewing kit as he started to follow Chifundo, “I'm not gonna follow you around, so long as you check in a few times a day, but we aren't leaving. Not until you are fully ready to travel.”

I hung my head and nodded, “Alright. You all should go get lodging. Nyota, come on back inside with me. We'll stay here tonight to watch over them, just in case the Enclave shows up.” Nyota nodded in agreement and helped me up to my hooves.

As soon as we got outside, Nyota nuzzled me immediately and I winced from the pain of flexing my ribs against his strength. I took a seat against the door next to him and he curled against me in return. “Please tell me that butterfly in stomach feeling will pass away, because it actually hurts while I'm healing?”

Quick Stitch raised an eyebrow and his horn glowed, as I felt something tingle inside me, my PipBuck wasn't clicking so it wasn't radiation. Chifundo snickered a bit, “Loves first true kiss, is something you will never miss.”

Quick Stitch finished his examination while Nyota shrugged, “Honestly? The butterflies are probably gonna stick around, and I've been dealing with them since you said yes.” At least I'm not the only pony feeling this torture.

“Now I can understand how Sparrow feels about Hot Cross Buns,” Quick Stitch rubbed his hoof against the opposite while I felt a blush building up inside. “I guess I'm gonna have a Wicked Scar now?”

Nyota smirked and kept nuzzling me reassuringly as we took a breath and laid on the cold ground for a bit. It genuinely felt nice to be out of my armor and not wearing plating. That combine with Nyota's warmth, I almost forgot that I had a healing scar and the world around us had burned to the ground. “Maybe, Maybe not, but you're still cute.” Nyota said and before I could retort, he kissed me deeply and pressed my head into the back of the door. My breath was stolen away with his affection and I tried to shake him lose as I felt like I might die of embarrassment.

Chifundo and Quick Stitch both let out stifled chuckled and then looked at each other, I could detect a hint of blush between between them. We broke kiss and I felt those butterflies screaming to be let out. I laid my neck across Nyota's shoulder and made a long blowing snort, “Great, I just had to say yes to the one who likes public displays, didn't I?”

Chifundo immediately piped up, still chuckling and suppressing his own laugh, “To explore your nature is a wonderful thing, to find love can take you upon Celestia's wing.” I looked right at him; that was the mixture of emotions right now, flying on Celestia's wing while every pony could look right up my dress with telescopes.

Quick Stitch flicked his eyes over to both of us and smiled, he nudged me on the cheek, “Sunrise, I'm not stopping anyone. I had my hooves inside your chest, so I wouldn't be worried about PDAs from Nyota.” I blinked at him a few times and slowly realized that if any pony heard that out of context, they would assume I'd had sex with Quick Stitch before Nyota. I hid my head into Nyota's chest, nuzzling his own chest scar to keep myself hidden from the world.

I heard a snicker from inside the house, and was convinced that Sparrow and Hot Cross Buns had their ears pressed to the door. “A kiss and a squeeze is not taboo, so do it when comfortable to you!” Chifundo bopped me on my nose and then Nyota too as he spoke. Slowly I felt my self conscious state retreat. Chifundo and Quick Stitch were right.

Pink just snickered and pulled out her popcorn, a sign held up by her tail that said: 'Just Buck Him Already.' I wanted to fume at her, but I felt more at peace and ease. Even with her irritation I couldn't actually be mad or upset. I just nuzzled into Nyota, “I can't be upset with you. Nyota, thank you... though if Quick Stitch's checkup agrees with Doctor Hacksaw, we've got three ponies in Equestria I'm looking for.”

Nyota nodded and looked back at the door like he sensed our eavesdroppers too. “Your mom, dad, and...” He let it play out for a bit and I nodded to him. The pain of guilt slammed into me.

I'm a mother... and never even...

Pink pressed a hoof up against my cheek, “Sunrise, you should talk to Doc Horses after you inventory tonight. You will want to know all the details, but you're a lot older than you thought you were. We just need to work your memory back in slowly, one piece at a time. Like eating a really big cake!” I felt like I mentally nodded and agreed with Pink. She was right, I needed to know.

***

Doc Hacksaw was leaning on his cane, half asleep, when I trotted in. He grinned a bit and took out a Mint-Al, which he crunched in one bite. “Oh, you're back again. Figured you would be. What can Gregory Horse do for you?”

I raised an eyebrow, “Gregory Horse? But I thought your name was Hacksaw?” I was now incredibly confused. He pushed his chair into me and it caught me awkwardly.

“Right, new to the wasteland. Hacksaw, Bonesaw, those names are ranks. Gregory Horse is my actual name. My son's name is Herald Horses.” He took a breath and used his hoof to pet my head softly.

I got a hint of a distressed stare. “Yes? Something you need right now?”

“I want to talk to you about the medical stuff concerning my age, and other things you discovered.” I felt goosebumps creeping up on my spine as I said the words. I wanted burst into tears and felt my hoof searching for Nyota or any of my friends right now. There was no pony here, though, but I had to deal with this now or I wouldn't be able to sleep. Dread pushed at the back of my mind and I had to force it back as Horses worked out how to explain the details.

“Well, all right, I'll just say it all at once. You're probably closer to thirty or forty years old, and with all the testing we did I'd estimate you’re around closer to thirty. Physically. Which explains the mental maturity. While you can't remember the experiences detail for detail, you certainly have all hallmarks of a grown adult in terms beyond the physical.” He took a breath and shrugged. “Based upon repairs we did, and examination, you've had at least one foal. As far as I can tell, no more yet. Where that foal is, I don't know, but you certainly gave birth with the help of a c-section. Once that rib is healed, well, you and... Nyota, was it?”

He started holding up a hoof to his lip. I nodded to him, trying to take all this in. It was just the two of us in here, thankfully. “Yeah, he and you are good to go. Your body seems in a state of homeostasis. The blood samples we took show no signs of aging, but your coat does.” He shrugged and I remained quiet, trying to take it in and not freak out. “We have a computer running your DNA but from what I can tell, you stopped aging a very long time ago.”

My heart was starting to race and becoming hard to suppress. I wanted to scream that everything was just wrong. Part of me prayed for Celestia to just let me wake up. Pink, on the other hoof, found my cheek and rubbed it softly. I looked up at her, and she was wearing a weary smile. "I was really worried about you finding out all of this, but I guess it's better if you know. I'll do my best to tell you what I know!"

Pink, answer one question. Are they alive? It was the first real question that came to mind. Pink gave me a perplexed look and shrugged. Pink, are my parents and my foal alive?

“Well, the foal was alive when last you saw, but I have absolutely no real way of knowing! Look, let’s take one little hoofstep at a time, okay?” She was trying to comfort me again, and to be honest, I was very glad to have her there. I had to resist unconsciously nuzzling into the hoof as it stroked my mane.

“Anyway, if I had more answers, I'd give them to you. maybe The Brains in Megalopolis or the Doctor's Collegiate in Manehattan can give you more accurate answers. You should go by there sometime.” He finished and took out a cigarette, lighting it up and taking in a long puff.

“One more thing; Nyota said you were from Stable 43. Where is that, exactly?” He was holding a clipboard and asking things like nothing had just been discussed or transpired. His non-nonchalant attitude was so unnerving.

“It's near Stalliongrad, up in the mountains north of the river Stallion. What happened to it?” I was talking but my emotions felt so dead after everything I’d been through. It was taking everything in my power to keep my emotions suppressed.

“Oh, you should know then; Stalliongrad was reduced to ashes.” He checked his clipboard and made a note. “Yeah, the Equestrian military reduced it to utter ruins, and then the zebra bombs hit. Somepony in the Equestrian military miscommunicated that they had betrayed Equestria at the end.” He took a breath and shook his head.

“They say the military at Stalliongrad just refused to take the order to activate their megaspells. So, the orders from on high were to make sure no other cities took their route. Once the shield failed, balefire bombs did the rest. Nowadays, travelers say there is almost nothing left except Stable 42.” He took in a breath. “ Besides a few shops, the whole place is still heavily irradiated, and may not ever heal. No pony has mentioned finding a Stable 43 either.” Horses tossed some Party Time Mint-Als back and shook his head. “Such a waste.”

I wanted to say something. I wanted to scream, but I held it all inside. I needed out of here. I got up and hung my head. “Thank you for everything. You said I should go by the Doctor’s Collegiate in Manehattan?”

“Yeah that would be a good place to stop if you can make it there. You gonna be alright? I know some patients that would, not be around, after this kind of news.” He muttered in a way that ground my nerves.

“I’ll be fine, thank you again.” I walked from the doctor’s office and Nyota was outside waiting for me. I dash to him, in spite of my injuries right up to Nyota. My hooves moved on their own, wrapping tightly to his neck.

I clung to him and cried. The knowledge of the city I was born in, we likely wouldn't find anything left. I cried for my lost neighbors, for the mechanics at my dad's shop, for every pony I knew blown to atoms. The feeling that no pony but me even mourned for them anymore. That I was all that was left to remember them by. I cried for my lost memories and most of all, the biggest weight upon my chest. The denial of my right to be a mother by this cursed place.

Pink and Nyota just kept stroking my mane and head, trying to provide comfort. His chest fur was damp with my tears. I wasn't sure how much he'd heard outside the doctor's office, I just knew I needed to let it all out. I don't even remember falling asleep from the emotional exhaustion, just that at some point his hooves were carrying me to a bed. I felt him cuddling me tight, with no explanation for my tears yet.

ooOOoo

10 Months 17 Days until Megaspell Day

I was with mom while I saw Silver Zoom overhead, shadowing us. Anytime we'd enter a building, we'd wait for him to land, then go in just ahead of him. I remembered today; it was nothing terribly special, just myself and mom running errands.

We bought groceries, saw the doctor for a check up, and we were on the way to the brigade. I just walked with mom and we talked. “Sunrise, you okay? You've been a whole lot different since you and your father got back from Canterlot.” I looked her up and down as we waited to cross the street.

“Mom, we literally have a pony following us to catch other ponies being bad. How are you so calm and okay with this?” I looked up at her and she pulled me into a soft hug.

“I am worried, but we were told to act as normal as possible. You need to stay calm and let that pegasus do his job. They'll catch them.” I felt this instinct to scream at her, to shout about the torture and how this made so little sense. Why not just arrest them outright? They have all the evidence they need, right? I hung my head.

“Mom, I know, but you weren't on that bed while they—” Mom put a hoof as gently as possible up to my mouth. She shook her head and the light for the carriage street changed. We crossed in silence and continued on. Every time I started to speak, mom shook her head, all the way until we got to the emergency civil medical brigade building. Dull thuds echoed off the vibrant pink city shield, puffs of smoke billowing outside them. If not for the sound, you'd never realize the city was under siege.

I remembered how surreal it really was. Even under siege by zebra assault forces, the city acted as a linchpin. The zebras couldn't break us, and the Equestrian Military constantly used that as a way to assault their lines elsewhere. The war was a distant thing, something that we didn't acknowledge was happening. The closer we got to the emergency medical building, the more intense the the thuds against the shield. This building was set up as close to the defensive lines as possible.

We could see the shield edge and the battle beyond. Rows after rows of trench lines, bunkers, and hardened defensive points all set up to defend the city. This wasn't set up before the war, I'd been told. I could barely remember the days before the shield went up. None of the defenses were built before then.

I remembered just before the military arrived in force, my parents rushing off in the morning and me being left alone. School was cancelled as every adult that could rushed to defend the city.

Now, a battle raged outside the shield. Buildings that had been bombed out were converted to military use. All the houses and businesses at the edge of the shield had been converted into ammo dumps, hospitals, command buildings, and other necessary structures. I saw a pegasus flight coming in to land. A piece of the shield opened up like a chariot garage door, separating itself from the shield and opening for them.

Then a shout, “Close the shield! Break off! INCOMING!” A unicorn dashed past us, but it was too late. A round flew in through the shield. The world moved in slow motion as I watched the round coming at us. A large black object hellbent on our destruction.The world exploded as the concrete street under us erupted in debris. There wasn't a sound, just a concussion that sent mom and I flying. I felt myself hurled into the building. All the world went cold and distant. It wasn't painful, it was just traumatizing.

I saw my mother, lying in front of me, bleeding and unconscious. Ponies were dashing towards us, and the pegasus flight altered course towards us, and then everypony stopped. I started to scream at the ponies to come help us, but I couldn’t hear my own voice at first. The pegasi turned and flew overhead and veered off. I turned my head to where we had been standing. In the ground was a warhead from an artillery shell. The round hadn't detonated.

I got to my hooves, struggling to move, and some pony shouted, “Don't move! Wait for the bomb technicians!” They were all keeping their distance and directing other ponies away. The doors to the medical brigade were closed and blast shields were lowered. Some unicorn mare looked out through the reinforced window at us, pleading with me to stop moving. I shook my head and started to walk towards the bomb.

I don't know what I was thinking or why I was moving. I reached into mom's saddlebags and took out her first aid kit. She carried it in case the brigade summoned her during an emergency. I wanted to cry, fighting back the tears. That is my mother, and she is dying. I have to do something. Some instinct drove me to do this; something deep inside burned and demanded I act.

I walked right up to the bomb. I have to disarm this, I can't risk it. No pony will help mom otherwise. How? Some unseen hoof felt like it was guiding me. I saw the panel on the back of the warhead and flipped it open with a hoof. This felt instinctively right. It felt like a calling that I had no real knowledge of, just riding that feeling. The wires inside were a confusing mess but I was reminded of a few tricks to disarm explosives from magazines at my father's mechanic shop: Grandma Pie's Patriot Cookbook.

It took stopping the explosive shell timer, working through to disconnect the detonator from the explosive package, and then finally cutting the link between the two chemicals that would result in a chain reaction. I snipped the final wire with mom's surgical knife and took a step back. Two earth ponies in full on bomb suits were charging forward as I sat on my haunches. “I think... I think I did it.”

My flank started to itch and then burst into an intense burning. I felt myself shaking and something inside trying to come out. It felt like the magic from a unicorn burning me from the inside out. My eyes went white with pain. What!? What is this? One of the earth ponies tackled me away from the shell but I didn't feel it. Everything in my body already screamed in agony. The pain was so intense, Agent 9's torture session was mild in comparison.

I screamed, and held my scream for what felt like hours. “Hey hey, it's okay little mare, we got you. Nibble Nook, what do we got? What did she do?” The earth pony's eyes went wide as he started to back away from me.

“She... disarmed it. Look at her flank, it's glowing like a cutie mark.” The glowing intensified and bled through my shut eyes. I kept screaming until my lungs ran out of air, as my entire form felt like it was ablaze. The world faded into blackness as the real life called me awake.

***

I awoke in a cold sweat. My first time working with explosives, I'd disarmed a bomb and my cutie mark had failed to come out…or it had been stopped from coming out. The pain had been all too real, even now my insides still burned a bit. That day wasn't unremarkable; it was the day I should have gotten my mark. Instead, whatever Applebloom did to me stopped it. I started to move and open my eyes when I realized Nyota wasn't up and already moving. I also felt something else poking me in the back.

I checked under the covers and felt a blush rising up my cheeks. Nope, that is, umm… I should leave. I slowly pulled myself free of his forelegs and got out of the bed to stretch. This, of course, backfired. I am not a sneaky pony in the slightest. Nyota woke up and immediately realized what was poking me. He looked rather embarrassed. He shifted under the covers to try to hide himself. I snickered and looked up at his face. I had been starring probably for a couple of minutes at this point and could understand his embarrassment.

“You saw, didn't you?” Nyota asked sheepishly, his head hidden under the covers in embarrassment.

I nodded at him holding in a laugh, “Why are you so embarrassed, it's not like you are like that every morning, is it?” Nyota nodded more as his cheeks burned brighter. I stopped and looked at him. Something inside me was making every movement I made in front of him very very self conscious. It was like he could see part of the way through me, and him looking at me was somehow much more intimate now. My own cheeks started to burn, “Is it because of... me?” The words stumbled out of my mouth like an avalanche.

“Yes... it is, I've, umm... kinda been this way since you said yes.” Nyota stumbled over his words, trying to speak. I approached him as he started to ramble and I put a hoof up to his lips for once, stopping his embarrassing mumbling. I gave him a simple nod and smiled.

“I'll give you some privacy, and we'll talk about this later.” I made my way out to the craft center, and when I arrived there was quite the sight. Piston was holding onto a ponnequin for fitting armor, cuddling it in his sleep. There were signs of slobber and sloppy kisses on it as well. I rolled my eyes and then set to work. I didn't know a whole lot about sewing, but I did know quite a bit about explosives.I drew my blueprint for barrage balloons, then started to sew one together from pieces of cloth we scavenged. Nyota joined me after about an hour with coffee and breakfast. Nyota stayed quiet, just watching me work, and blushing every time I turned to look at him. He even hid his face if I started to speak. Great, I've turned my stallionfriend into a terrified sheep.

Piston woke up and joined us, taking our breakfast scraps and looking at Nyota and I. “So, Piston, how did that armor turn out?” I asked him, and he smiled proudly before presenting me with a most gorgeous set of new armor. My jumpsuit looked brand new, the flak jacket had been reinforced, and it had been enhanced with plating of all sorts, including an ablative plate on the outermost layer. My leather socks had been virtually re-engineered into a complex, form-fitting set of armored leggings. There was even a space for my PipBuck to poke out without interfering with the dials and buttons on it.

I stared in awe. He might not be able to fight, but, wow! That is the most impressive work I've seen in a while. I can't even see the stitching! I leaned in and sniffed the jumpsuit. The scent of my father's cologne and grease still was there. It made me remember a time before the Ministry of Morale and the end of the world. a sense of happiness filled me. This wasn't a new jumpsuit; it was mine, fixed up.

“Go on, try it on and wear it for the day. Tomorrow we can finish the refit once you know exactly where it pinches.” He said, and I looked at Piston from head to hoof, then to his flank and the Dashite brand there.

“Piston, you're a dashite? Why?” Something about him felt off. He was a talented armorsmith, he wanted to come with us, and he was a pegasus dashite dropped out of thin air, just after we had a fight with the Enclave. I needed to know more; curiosity demanded it. Despite wanting to trust everypony to get along and be friends, I felt like I couldn't do that anymore.

Piston sighed. “I wanted to leave to learn the old earth pony ways that the Enclave needed for farming.” He paused, looking away from me with a frown. I knew that expression, it was the same one Hot Cross Buns wore when he was trying to not talk about something. I pressed a hoof to his shoulder and nodded for him to go on.

“When they learned of my secret flights down, they kicked me from the clouds. Now I still want to learn, explore, and make armor for ponies, but if they won't help my research, then I shall take it on myself to go and learn. That is why I want to travel with you.” Him reminding me of that did not sit well in my stomach. He was one of three pegasi here in Silver Fang Shanty, and one of four I'd seen, period. Pink rolled into view and shook her head, waving hooves at me in a back away motion.

“Listen! If The Enclave finds out you're alive, we're gonna be in a whole mess of trouble. It's bad enough you rescued a Dashite, having one traveling with you is a very bad idea!”

Well what do you want me to do? Break his hopes and dreams? I asked Pink, and she put a hoof up to her chin, considering her options before a lightbulb appeared over her head.

“Look, you've got a day to think about it, and possibly two while you’re waiting for your ribs to heal. Let's get the armor on and go test out moving in it. Then, we can come up with a way to let him down gently.” I sighed and nodded, then gave Piston a hug.

“Piston, we'll talk about it tomorrow, okay? I need to go over everything with my friends first. So, I'll meet you back here tomorrow morning and let you know our decision while you fit me up.” Piston agreed, and helped me into the plating. It was heavy, and I was having some trouble moving. All told I think I put on over fifty pounds of armor plating.

Piston pulled out my helmet, the cherry on top of it all. It still had the designs I had put on it, but I saw places where it had been taken apart and reinforced, and it was heavier when he put it on. “There we go. I reinforced the frame of your helmet. You can take a grenade right to the chest and be fine!” I could feel what he meant. All the armor did make it awkward to move, but I felt nearly invulnerable.

Nyota and I departed and headed out to find our friends. We were stopped by two ponies outside of the market house. That smile faded when the filly scout uniformed ponies stopped us cold. There was one incredibly large earth pony blank flank—as big as Big Macintosh—wearing a filly scout uniform and a second, smaller unicorn filly. She was a brighter gold than Nugget while having very piercing violet eyes that spoke less of experience and more of hope. The smaller filly was the first creature I’d seen since I woke up that was full of hope. The bigger mare also did not have a cutie mark. The smaller filly smiled at me. “Wandering Sunrise, how are you doing?” The scout asked me, and I felt a twinge of something from our past. I remembered Waffles when we first got out of the unfinished Stable. “The Filly Scouts got really military after the war.”

I looked at Nyota, and he gave me a sheepish look. “Yeah, they showed up after your surgery yesterday, and I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to upset you while you were recovering. They said they want to talk with you.”

Before I could reply, the smaller scout interrupted us. “Precisely! If you are who you say you are, an older scout wants to meet with you. If you are willing to head to our base and meet her, we would appreciate it,” she explained. I looked at the overly cute little filly. Something about her reminded me of the way ponies acted from my time. My time, wow, I can’t believe I’m referring to my life before the Stable as that now. I turned to her massive yellow furred and pink maned friend. The other filly scout was huge, and she made Nyota look small and made me look tiny. Wait! She's a blank flank! That means when she gets her growth spurt, she is gonna... Oh, boy.

“I, um... what are your names? And who is it that wants to meet with me?” I looked them over, trying to judge their reactions.

“This is Buttered Toast.” She said and paused as if expecting what came next.

“I like buttered toast!” The very large filly cried out enthusiastically and started to look around, her eyes wide and searching..

“No, Buttered Toast, there isn't any around. We'll get you some in a minute. I am Cutie Patootie.” I laughed out loud when she said her name. She shook her head, and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I've heard all the jokes. Now listen up! One of our oldest, Eternal Scouts would like to meet with you. Would you be so kind as to come see her? If you are who you say you are, you know her.”

My tail coiled and I paid attention to Pink's next words. “If it is who I think it is, you can't trust her. She will help you but only so long as it serves her.” Pink explained and I took it all in.

Pink, I'm trusting you. I looked at Nyota for some input and he shrugged, “It's your decision, love.” He said the word! Oh wow that feels, so...

“Focus, Sunrise!” Pink slapped me and I physically felt the pain in my cheek as the goosebumps faded with the pain.

“Right, no, I'm not willing to go to your base. No offense, but we've had quite a few close calls recently, and I'm fresh off an operating table.” I explained and pulled myself close to Nyota. I wasn't sure what the overly large filly would do, or was actually capable of, nor did I want to find out. I wasn’t sure that Nyota nor I could actually stop that filly if we had to.

“Well, what if she comes here, and meets you in the flophouse tomorrow?” Cutie was being very insistent, and I had to admit, I was having trouble refusing her due to her charm alone. I shook my head to try to get the sheer amount of cuteness this filly projected out of my head.

“I suppose that will work. I hope you can understand my suspicions?” I asked, and she nodded.

“We saw you on that operating table. I can accept that. We'll get a message through to our fortress, and she'll see you tomorrow night, at sundown.” The two fillies turned and left us.

“You sure about this Sunrise? The Filly Scouts aren’t the nicest organization in the world.” Nyota took out a cigarette and took a drag from it. Something about the meeting had unnerved him and the smoke was helping.

“I’m never sure about anything till we try to do it.” I replied with a smirk at him as his eyes shot out wide in surprise. His lips slacked and nearly lost his smoke. “But I do know trusting a pony till they prove you shouldn’t trust them is the better way to go through life." Shortly thereafter, another filly to be replaced the scouts.

I didn't hear her running up to us but Nugget full-on tackled me into the dirt. My ribs exploded in pain as I let out a distressed whinny, while my helmet rolled off my head and bounced against a nearby building. I gasped for air as Nyota's hooves wrapped around the golden-furred filly hugging me. “Sunrise!!! Hey, wait! I wanna play with Sunrise!”

“Nugget, I will gladly play with you, but my ribs are kind of still healing, so please be less rough, okay?” I didn't taste blood, and the pain quickly faded. There wasn't even the dull throb of a bruise. At least I know the armor works.

“Sunny, you alright? That looked a bit violent.” Nyota asked while he pulled the overly enthusiastic Nugget away from me. I could hear the concern in his voice and smiled at him. Nugget looked both disappointed and worried, and she brought her hooves up to her mouth cutely and blushed deeply.

“Oh, Sunrise! I didn't mean to hurt you.” She sounded on the verge of tears. Gotta make sure she doesn't cry over this. She's had enough drama at this point. I sprang up to my hooves as fast as I could, ignoring the twinge of pain. My ribs were protesting but I wasn't about to let that deter me.

“I'm fine, Nugget! Just not fully healed. So we can play plenty, just gotta be careful about tackling, okay?” I teased her and petted her mane, my eyes looked at Nyota and I nodded to him. He released her from his protective grip, and Nugget nuzzled right up against my cheek. She was getting big; not as big as me, but in just over a week she was definitely at least an inch taller.

We played tag and drove Nyota nuts dancing around him. It felt so nice having the wind in my mane, moving and testing out the flexibility of the armor. I could feel where it pinched when I flexed hard or when I overdid it. I knew after an hour of playing with Nugget exactly where I'd tell Piston to make modifications on the armor to make it fit perfectly. Also, I have to admit, after what had happened this morning, my curiosity was piqued. As I chased Nugget underneath Nyota’s belly, I intentionally stole a look upward. I imagine he'd make it in a copy of Playfilly, if that still existed. It also sent some waves of excitement to certain parts of me, which were interrupted by Chifundo's voice across a radio.

“Nyota, are you there with Sunrise? There is information for her that must be reprized.” The radio squawked, and I looked at my Pipbuck not realizing his voice wasn't coming from there. Nyota pulled a two way radio from his saddle bags and passed it to me. My tail took it and I held it up.

“Hey Chifundo, something wrong?” I asked, pressing the button with my tail. At least Pink is cooperating and working with me, now.

"Miss Sparrow is having a very bad day, perhaps you would bring yourself this way?" Chifundo spoke and I tilted my head in confusion. I looked at Nugget, who just shook her head, and then at Nyota, who shrugged.

“Explain, please.” I hoped I wouldn't regret asking that.

“She met with someone at the gate, they called themselves Agent Eighty-Eight.” I dropped the radio and started to shake as fear gripped me from head to hoof. My body shuddered as hundreds of jumbled memories rushed forward. Pieces here and there, chunks of horrible feelings pulsed into me.

“If Eighty-Eight is alive, then Agent Nine is. If Agent Nine is alive, then... oh Celestia, no. Please, no,” I managed to say, before my mind was overwhelmed and I dove into events from the past.

Chapter 22: The Why of Sunrise

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ooOOoo

9 Months 28 days to Megaspell Day

I was running, in a full on gallop. I had been at dad's shop when Agent 9, 71, and 88 had all appeared. They were dark cloaked figures, but I recognized them from their voices. I saw a dark pegasus flying overhead against the shield. Please be Silver Zoom, save me. I kept running; dad had said not to stop until I was home, safe. I kept moving through the nighttime streets of Stalliongrad, which were virtually vacant this close to curfew.

I rounded a corner on my way to dad’s shop and there was a dark stallion standing in front of me. His horn glowed with a sickly blue overlaid in black. He grinned, white teeth against the shadows. “Where do you think you're going? If not for Applebloom, you'd have had your last Sunrise already.” His void-like form had a level of menace to it that made my spine crawl with each hoof step he took, advancing towards me.

I took a step back and something clanged hard against my hoof. I winced in pain while turning to see a set of stick grenades all taped together in a massive balloon flower. I remembered this trick from the “cookbooks” I'd been reading since disarming the artillery shell. A way to create an anti-tank grenade in the field without access to proper AT weapons. I grabbed the eight-warhead bomb and held it in my mouth, standing my ground.

I'd been running from this stallion and his friends for three months. They had tortured me, assaulted my parents, tormented our lives and dreams. I wanted to scream a threat, but with a mouth full of stick grenade, all I could do was growl. “Oh really? You think you have the guts to dare? Better ponies and zebras have tried. You are just a speed bump we can't kill, only toy with.” He took another step towards me with a confidence that drove my fear higher. “Now put down that before you hurt yourself.”

He took a step forward and I pulled the pin with a hoof, holding my teeth hard against the lever that would start the fuse to blow the bomb. The stallion stopped, and I felt ready to throw the bomb with all my rage behind it. The emotions of torture and powerlessness were now on the other hoof, but then he started to laugh. A chuckle at first and then an outright cackle. “Silly little mare! You aim to be a soldier? An agent against us? You seriously think that I am frightened for even a moment? First of all, you don't have the guts. Second, even if you did, it's useless.”

I didn't know where this bomb came from, but I was sure this thing would work, and all I had to do was throw it. It might even kill me in the process, but it would be worth it. In that moment, I lost the fear of death and was more afraid that I wouldn't act. I wanted this stallion gone, and for the first time ever, I felt the need to kill. It was a terrible, horrifying feeling. If I kill him, there is no turning back. I have no choice though, if I don't act he won't leave me alone. It's me or him! I felt something else, telling me to be better than this, but it was too late.

I felt a rush of wind on my back—something approaching rapidly—but before it could get there I threw the grenade. I screamed out, only to have the scream cut off as something pushed into me that drove the air from my lungs. Earth Pony! Not on ground! Not happy! My mind cried, and I was climbing into the air. I looked up to see Silver Zoom in his disguise.

Below us, there was an explosion large enough that the entire street for a city block was filled with fire and light. I watched as Agent 88 screamed and howled in the fire, consuming him in just a couple of seconds. His body was annihilated before my eyes. I could still feel the edges of the blast wave, even flying at high speed away from it. Silver Zoom tried to talk, but his voice was drowned out by the ringing in my ears.

As the ringing died down I felt him lift with all his might to pull me up to his face, “Sunrise, you okay?” he got through to me while the bells echoed. I felt my limbs protesting, but they moved. I looked at my body and saw no wounds, then nodded at him. I felt the burning inside me again;I wanted to scream immediately, as it was more intense this time. My flank burned with agony as something tried to surface. Silver Zoom held me close to his chest.

“I've got you, Sunrise, it's okay. Is that a cutie mark?” He asked as I glowed and fought the pain. I looked at my flank to see the symbol of some explosion with a pony in it starting to come into existence, then fading back out as quickly as it appeared. The pain was so much worse this time. The wind whipped around me while he moved at high speed towards my house. I panted for air, trying to release some of the agony that slowly faded into a dull burning sensation.

“What have they done to you?” Silver Zoom asked. I groaned in pain in response as we finally landed. I couldn't stand at first, my legs were too weak. I panted for air and tried to stand as the former Wonderbolt smiled warmly and helped me up to the door.

“Listen, I've got to go back and make sure your dad is okay. There are agents watching the house, you should be safe.” I nodded to him and mom welcomed me at the door. I wasn't sure how much time had passed as I nestled my head into her hooves and chest floof. She just softly petted my mane, until a voice that chilled both of us echoed from inside our home.

“Well... that was quite painful. We can't kill any of you, but I shall have to make sure you pay for that one. Right now, as a matter of fact.” Agent 88's cold voice pierced me to my soul, and I shook violently in my mother's hooves.

It was a long night. Only with the sunrise hours later was I ever allowed any relief from the torment. He made my mother watch and listen, helplessly. The last image from the dream I had was staring at her as the sun rose, and she was finally allowed to pull me into her hooves. Her horn began working magic to suppress my memory as quickly as it could.

I am truly grateful that so many pieces of that night are completely gone and hopefully something i can never recover.

ooOOoo

Nyota was holding me up off the ground, checking my eyes as I looked at him, stunned. My body was still, and the world slowly pulled into perspective. “Sunrise. Come on, Sunny. You can get through this, it's okay.” I felt cold at first, then slowly warmer as he held me close. “Please, Sunrise, don't be gone. Pink shouldn't control you, please tell me you are okay.” I slowly raised a hoof and I felt warmth passing through me. The memories were causing me to shake and shudder; the sheer amount fear in my mind was overwhelming, and I had to force it back to function.

I locked onto Nyota's closed eye, his expression of pain and sadness. I knew that face he was making, and I wanted it to stop. There was only one way to stop it. “Nyota, I'm back. Please, my ribs...” I managed and kissed his forehead. His warmth against my lips and holding me tightly to him broke the spell. Suddenly I was aware and able to move,as his grip loosened and the cold was swept back by a feeling I couldn't describe. Something he radiated into me gave me strength, and my heart started to race. Not with the adrenaline of fright or battle but with a swimming in my stomach that I was starting to become familiar with.

He kissed me deeply on the lips and his hold slowly become more gentle as I kissed him back. His strength became enough to drive the fear away. I felt, safe in his hooves. For the first time since I can remember that night in my father’s shop. I felt safe. I released the kiss to breath, and he set my shaky hooves on the ground. I was covered in dirt and I nodded to him slowly, purposefully. “Let's get to Sparrow's, okay?”

Nyota stopped me before we moved at all, “Pink took over for a bit, you wanna explain that one?” I stared at him as anger at the Pink pony rose up to boiling.

You said you couldn't do that! I screamed at her and I could hear myself starting to growl.

“Sunrise, I'm sorry, you were having a mental breakdown. You needed to know why and I couldn't just leave you defenseless. If you want, I can leave you alone for a bit.” She offered to try to placate me.

No, Pink. We deal with this first off and second, if you left me alone I wouldn't know what to do, I might even panic. Don't even do that again. You understand? Help me through it but leave me in control. I wanted to punch that pony and thought I did mentally as she reacted to the words like I had just bucked her in the face. She held her cheek and nodded slowly and the look on her face was so apologetic that I actually felt bad for a second.

Nyota looked at my face while all these mental gymnastics were going on. He was deeply concerned, but also expecting an answer.

“Nyota, I...I had a mental breakdown. I think I should explain,” Nyota lifted a hoof and then nodded firmly at me. He was holding my shoulders, not allowing me to move till I gave him answers. “Agent 88 is, a Ministry of Morale agent from before the war.”

Nyota’s gave looked me over very concerned, I looked back at him. The ghosts of my past had finally come back, and it was the last thing I wanted to have to admit. “Sunrise, what are you not telling me about this MoM agent?”

I hesitated. He pulled me in closer to him, and I felt his heart beat in his chest against my own, even through my armor. I hesitated and felt the tears coming to my eyes. I can’t, I can’t say it. I can’t get it out.

“Sunrise, if you don’t get it out, you won’t even have dealt with it, have no doubt! You need to scream and sing it to the heavens!” Pink rolls right up in front of me. “If you don’t say a word, even to your coltfriend, I know you won’t even be able to function with me taking over! You want my Pinkie Promise? You tell him! No ifs, ands, butts, NOR COCONUTS!” Pink crossed her forehoves over her barrel. Her screaming at the end drove me deeper towards Nyota. I had received an ultimatum from Pink. She had never given me something like this. I had no choice.

I let out a soft deep sigh, “Nyota, if I tell you, do you promise to never ever say this to another pony without asking me first?” The words were cold, it was the only way to get them out, as cold and direct as possible. Thinking on them too much or trying any other way would make me burst into tears. The desire to talk to Nyota was barely outweighing the fiery anger of the fear.

He was trying to read what was going on in my head for the near full minute Pink and I were fighting. I suppressed my rage and gave Pink a nod, which also made me physically nod at Nyota. He held my hoof and refused to let it go, even while we walked to Sparrow's. Pink stayed in view, but remained quiet.

“Nyota, I was tortured by them. 71, 88, and 9 all were rogue agents. Applebloom did something to me.” I took a breath and pushed back just a little to be able look him in the face. “Applebloom made me untouchable. Dad’s project was so vital to the war that I didn’t even know.” Nyota raised a hoof to stop me and smiled, “One bit at a time Sunny. I know what is going on; you can describe it all to me if you need to-”

It was my time to raise my hoof and shove it in his mouth. He looked stunned as I stared into his eye. I could feel some malice, no callousness. That feeling was burying a desire of raw unfettered rage. “No, you have to understand. I killed 88 and 71, I remember that. They don’t stay dead.” As I finished speaking to him, my cutie mark burned, like it had when Silver Zoom rescued me. A deep rage wanted to come forward, when Pink stroked my mane. I felt it, her hoof moving through my mane. It was so surreal and I felt myself deflate as she did.

“That’s enough for now, Sunrise. Let it go. Baby steps. You have my Pinkie Promise now, not to take control again. Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I paused and looked at her, stunned, as my breathing slowed and I realized I had raised my hoof to strike some pony. I pulled them away and my breathing returned to normal.

“Nyota, that is all for now. We’ll talk about this more soon, okay?” He hugged me tight and stroked my mane. I don’t know how long we were there in the dirt street between buildings, even Nugget now pressed a hoof to my side and joined in the hug. I felt… safe. I cried. I bawled my eyes out and didn’t stop for some amount of time.

***

We arrived at Sparrows to find that all our friends were there, including Alguacil, who had been missing for the better part of the last day and a half. There were also two unicorns in the room, the same two whom we had rescued the other night. Sparrow was hurriedly making tea for everyone. Hot Cross Buns was sipping on a cup as we entered.

“Oh, hi, Sunrise! Would you like some tea? Let's get you some tea.” Sparrow said in what felt like a maddened force of habit that shouldn’t exist. The way she offered hospitality was creepy, beyond that it was unnerving. Nugget looked very confused, as did all of my friends.

Quick Stitch looked at me with a confused expression. “We mentioned the Ministry of Morale and Agent 88—” he paused as he noticed the name had a visible effect on me. I shuddered and felt the fear of those memories and the torture of that night creeping back. It took holding onto Nyota—holding on the love he had shared with me—to keep me from being lost to another memory. “—and, well, she has been making tea ever since in a panic. I can't tell what is wrong, but,” he motioned to the red and blue unicorn mares with matching opposite manes, “the twins here say it's some sort of really advanced and powerful mind compulsion. They can't undo it.”

The Twins came forward and curtsied to me. They had opposite coloration, one blue coat with ruby mane while the other was red coat with pearl-cloud white mane. They each had a streak down their manes, one of red and one of blue that matched the coat they wore. The red unicorn mare rose from her curtsey. "Hello, my name is Coriander." Her sister rose from her bow. "I'm Mai-Tai. But you can also call use Red and Blue. Most do."

I nodded to both of them with a wan smile, before turning my attention to Sparrow. I'd seen this before. Agent 88 had the ability to create rather strong compulsions in ponies. I shuddered and wanted to cry, fighting back the tears by gripping Nyota's hoof until I swore I was cutting off his circulation. He didn't grunt or protest, he just nuzzled my mane and tried to reassure me with touch and warmth. He was looking at me, full of silent worry.

“Listen, I've seen this before, and the best solution is get her to bed. We just need her to get some sleep and it should pass, so long as nopony mentions him.” Hot Cross Buns started to get up and Nugget protested to stop him. The twins shrugged and nodded in agreement, and they started to leave and get out of the way. Both of them turned and winked at Quick Stitch on the way out, and he blushed deeply at their teasing.

“I think Sunrise knows how to fix Mommy, okay, Daddy?” She was so cute. I stared at Nugget, suppressing the need to look lost and horrified. I could barely function, I couldn’t think that deep beyond base emotion. Yet here was the innocence of a child, Nugget, my friend. The one whom I’d rescued, who had this expectation that I could somehow rescue Sparrow when I couldn’t save myself from this hell. I shook my head slowly at Nugget.

“I think that Hot Cross Buns has the best idea, he knows Sparrow better than I do. Nugget, I think we should let daddy take care of mommy, okay?” I said very quietly; my voice was devoid of emotion as the horror was dawning on me. Everypony looked to me to save them. Who was going to save me?

The muddy brown pegasus walked over to his wife. “Come on, honey, that is enough tea. How about we get to bed, okay?” They disappeared down the hallway towards the bedrooms. Alguacil pulled Chifundo and Quick Stitch near us while Nugget listened in. “I've been at the regulators' office. There were quite a few bounties on all of us, placed by raiders, regulators, and Stable-Tec. I think you've got some explaining to do, Sunrise.” As he spoke I slowly had backed into the corner and laid down on my belly. The memories of trauma and feelings of fear rising up in me were overwhelming. I found myself surrounded by my friends, all of them looking at me with concerned expressions, and I fought the memories away as I shut my eyes tightly.

“Please... don't let him find me. I don't want it anymore. Please, if he finds me, she will get her hooves on me.” I felt compelled to repeat it over and over again until Nyota pressed himself against me. Chifundo reached a hoof forward and gripped my shoulder as I felt Quick Stitch's magic stroking my mane and back. Alguacil kept his distance as my friends brought me out of my stupor and all looked at me, full of worry. The dread was being pushed back by their comfort.

Finally I felt like I could speak as I pushed everypony back just a little bit to give myself room to breathe. “I suppose I have some explaining to do to all of you?” I said as my eyes slowly opened. Nyota hugged me and nodded carefully while Quick Stitch made his way to a chair and pulled it towards me, along with Chifundo doing the same. Alguacil stood and apparently had a wing over Nugget. For the first time ever, I saw something in his eye that wasn’t focus or hatred. He looked at Nugget like a brother seeking to ensure their sibling was protected. “You’re rubbing off on him, Sunrise,” Pink teased and I glared at her to not ruin the moment.

“You know that I'd follow you anyway, just to keep everypony healed, but it would help to know what we are up against. I don't want us relying on luck if we can help it.” Quick Stitch pointed out, while Nyota held me as tightly as he dared.

“To helping you I am committed, for as long as it is permitted. Consumed us have events, more knowledge suffering will prevent.” Chifundo—for once—made a whole lot of sense, and I wasn't sure if that scared me or provided comfort.

I let out a deep exhale to calm my body and prepare my mind to go over everything. I felt like I should withdraw from every pony in the room, but Nyota held me firm and wouldn't let me move. Finally the words spilled out as fast as I could put thought together,. “I didn't think they were still alive, but Agent 88 is directed by Agent 9, and they are Ministry of Morale agents that went rogue leading up to the end of the war.” I shook heavily, but something inside me had given way, and I started to feel the horror subside. Tears welled up in my eyes and I hesitated to continue.

“I never considered I might not be the only one running away from something,” Quick Stitch furrowed his brow in thought and leaned in close, motioning for me to continue. I still felt like I couldn't. Something in my mind restrained me, and I pulled back and cowered in Nyota’s chest while my friends talked. The coldness inside spread and made me shiver with each passing word.

“Though our time together is short, many dangers have we thwarted. The bond that we have strong, to not assist you would be wrong. From us, what do you need? Help, I will indeed.” Chifundo spoke and stood tall over me, proud to take a position near me and Nyota as he approached from his chair.

“If there's traitor's runnin' around and breakin' the law, then I will pass it through the regulators. Give them hunters on their tail.” Alguacil’s act of bravado forced out more of what was coursing through my mind and got me to speak again.

“No, you don't understand!” I shrieked so loud Nyota cowered back just a bit then renewed his nerves and pulled me close. His presence filled me with courage and steeled my will against what I was afraid of. “Applebloom, Pinkie Pie, and Silver Zoom couldn't stop them; no pony could. I blew 88 into fragments and saw him again, fine and healthy—even remembering I'd done it—less than an hour later.” The presence in my mind fought for control, fought to silence me and right now I let it. I had given all the courage I could summon and now it was gone.

Nyota didn't speak, he just kept fretting over me and trying to keep me calm. Quick Stitch got up and joined Chifundo, “Doesn't matter if they’re unkillable, we're stronger together and we’ll face him down with you, no matter what.”

Chifundo stroked Nyota's head, then mine, as he spoke up, “The pink one has explained, of why behind your chosen mane.” He looked at me and petted Nyota again reassuringly. “To receive her gift so strong, to help you right that which is wrong. To return from the dead is a type of juju to dread.”

Alguacil grunted at us. “It may have something to do with them black boxes in us. A kind of fail safe or something. Cloning tech or whatever,” he said, trying to make sense of it all.

I shook my head, and felt like a terrified filly back before I entered the stable. I wanted to cry, scream, and curl up in a ball all at once. Then I gripped onto Nyota tightly and felt just enough strength to speak, “Not clones, not undead. They were still themselves. They had their soul.” That was all I could manage before trying to back away from my friends again, the instinct to be alone driving into my heart. They wouldn't have any of it.

Chifundo got close and looked at me with the eyes of a friend who just wanted to help, “Sunrise, this conversation has much depth, are you sure you wish to talk at length?” I flinched at the touch, but then something inside finally snapped. It was like the terror battering at my mind was suddenly pushed away, as reinforcements arrived to protect the final line of defense.

Nyota was nuzzling my cheek, Quick Stitch and Chifundo softly rubbing my flanks in a hug.
Alguacil nodded to me and kept his distance as Nugget jumped up and smiled. She was like a little cheerleader, cheering on her favorite team. All of this was the straw that broke through all the terror and forced me to realize it. The love my friends were showing was overwhelming. I let out a long sigh, “So you mean it, you’re all here to see me through this.” Nyota pulled his nuzzling away and drew close.

Nyota and I exchanged a kiss, and then I looked to each of my friends with a sigh. I had my answer. "You all have burdens, too. It might be best if we all know what's after us, so we can be prepared. I've told you everything about my past that I remember. Let's clear the air, right now, while we still can." I nuzzled up against Nyota's cheek affectionately as the life inside me returned, and I felt a deep sense of compassion and the desire to help those who were holding me up.

Alguacil was the first to speak up. “There is the fact that pretty much every one of us has a bounty on 'em. Quick Stitch, I had the 'official' ones expunged on ya. Ya ain't no raider anymore, after all. That said, some griffin wanted to know where I am and was willing to pay 2500 caps for the information, so I claimed the bounty on myself.” Alguacil puffed out his chest with pride and we all stared at him like he was about to explode into bits.

“You wouldn't happen to have checked the names on those bounties, would you?” Quick Stitch asked while Nugget was backing away from Alguacil. I started to speak and shook my head. Should I send Nugget away? No, her mom, it's best if she knows this too in case he returns.

“Well, I already said what I know; the underworldy types ain't to happy I killed their little plant, and some ol' griffiness is apparently willing to pay to find me, so I say we stay and wait for her.” Alguacil replied with a sneer that could have cut glass.

Alguacil turned to Quick Stitch and nudged his flank, as if to tell him to go first. He shook his head and sighed, “I hate to break it to you, Al, but I haven't been a raider since I was twelve. The bounty for traveling with Sunrise might be one of mine, but if my mother found out I was alive... well'm that is a whole other story.”

Alguacil nodded to him, “That is why I had them wipe the record; cause you ain't a big ol' jerk.” He replied and looked at me. “Can't say I'll give this griffiness a chance to talk, cause I'm pretty sure what she's looking to do if she's payin' so many caps just to know where I'm at.” He shrugged as we looked at Chifundo who shook his head.

“I cannot possibly have anything to surmise, no pony I know would want my demise.” Chifundo explained in a way that was so earnest it couldn't be anything but genuine.

I nuzzled into Nyota and rested on his forelegs while he held his head on my mane; the protection he was offering was keeping my inner demons at bay. I stared into space while I spoke. “So, let's get this straight, Nyota has enemies from the legion, Chifundo has no enemies, Quick Stitch's mom might wanna kill him.” I took a moment to look at Alguacil from the corner of my eye, “Alguacil has some old bird who may be here any moment to talk to him, and I have pre-war Ministry agents looking for me?”

Nyota chuckled and nuzzled me with a kiss to the forehead, “Absolutely accurate on my count.” Chifundo rubbed a hoof against his opposite leg and mumbled just loud enough for us to hear.

“Exile is my punishment, for thoughts and deeds not compliant.”

I looked up and pushed out of Nyota's cuddle. “Exile? Explain.” Chifundo braced himself visibly.

“I'm curious as well. I would think a shaman of your caliber would be in high demand. Why are you in exile?” “Born to shaman wandering tribe, as foal the spirits I describe, from the elder shaman I learned, ‘stick to tradition’ I was informed. Word of pony magic made me think, how do shaman and pony magic link? Curiosity drove questions to say, told such thoughts would lead me astray. Driven in thought hidden I kept, though elders my research they detect. Position of respect I held, direct exile was thankfully withheld. Forced by honour’s rules to take, a spirit journey to partake. Until my drive is spent, for to combine pony and zebra magic no longer my intent.” Chifundo looked completely drained as he belted it all out at once.

We all started at him stunned as our brains tried to comprehend the rhyme. I was shocked at how masterfully crafted it was and at everything he had revealed to us all at once. “Did anypony understand all of that?” I asked, trying to unfuse the nerve endings in my brain.

Quick Stitch nodded, “I think, from what I understand, as a foal he was interested in finding a way to combine arcane and shamanistic magics. When he continued to ask and dig, the elders sent him on a spirit journey to cleanse his thoughts, and won't let him come back until he has stopped questioning their ways.” Chifundo nodded back to Quick Stitch with a soft smile.

“You are close, more I will disclose. As foal I showed great potential, spiritual strength was evidential. Apprenticed to the spirit keepers, to learn the way of the spirit speakers. In years recent past, Shaman Zecora from years vast, I learn of her ambition, for pony magic to be spirit's addition. Taboo was my curiosity, and exiled, I was, with great velocity.” Chifundo finished his explanation and we took it all in while Alguacil did his best to translate the rest.

“Basically he wanted to do somethin' the elder's didn't like, but instead of doin' a full exile, they saw his potential and sent him adventuring to get it out of his system,” Alguacil explained, and Chifundo gave a nod of approval as he grew silent. Having taken all this in, I started to rise as Nugget jumped up and stopped being quiet.

“Sunrise! Your friends are so cool! Please don't go, I wanna stay up and play!” She exclaimed as Hot Cross Buns walked back into the room.

I nodded to her and smiled as I checked the time on my PipBuck, “Alright, we'll play for a bit. Listen, thank you, everypony, but I think we should turn in for the night. Thank you all for helping me. I only hope I can help all of you just the same.”

We said our goodbyes as my friends made their way out, leaving just myself, Hot Cross Buns, and Nyota. I set up a checkerboard and explained the game to Nugget. We played for hours. At first she realized I was letting her win, then it turned into some kind of epic struggle. Smoke coming out of both our ears in Pink's vision as she sat on edge eating popcorn and sucking soda. Pink and I started having a conversation when she realized I was prodding at the memories, to see what was there I couldn’t remember.

“Sunirseee… don’t scrape at the icing! You’ll ruin the cake underneath.” I started losing games now at this point, concentrating on Pink and my conversation.

What do you mean? I think I should know this. I stared at her in the corner of my eye. She dragged a filing cabinet into view and closed it; then locked the cabinet.

“One memory at a time, just like eating a gourmet pie. Eat too much at once, Sunrise, and you’ll get an upset tummy!” She replied, while pulling a pie from seemingly nowhere and consuming the whole thing at once.

I wanted to protest and complain, and then Nugget exclaimed, “Queen Me!” and I returned my focus to see she had set herself up to win.

Finally when I was too tired to play another game, Nugget beat me the last time. 14/27 times to her credit.I gave that little filly a good hug and promised more of my time soon. Nyota and I headed to the flophouse tonight, in a private room and for once, cuddling into a dreamless sleep.

***

The next day passed in a blur. Piston fitted my armor precisely right as soon as we had breakfast in our bellies. It was then that I came to a decision. He really was at home here, working on armor and weapons, not adventuring into the wasteland. I had so many supplies saved up for repairing the Sand Scorcher Mark II back at the ranger station. They would become his new starter resources for making plating and upgrading weapons. He got everything I could offer except the spell matrix. I laid down most of the caps I’d made, too! Piston was now set up in the community craft center as the town's new head armorer. I had never seen a happier pegasus. If he cannot protect himself in combat, he can at least protect others with a skill that is so welcome to us in the wasteland.

I turned over the plans for the barrage balloons to Hot Cross Buns and Sparrow, and they were thankful. The balloons seemed to work and the plan was put in place for them to position the balloons at just inside the top of the cloud layer and just before exiting at the bottom. With enough of them, any pegasi that meant to attack them would be repulsed, or at least disabled.

Nugget and I spent the afternoon with Nyota decorating my flak vest and armored socks. They were a mess of rainbows and coloration. There was my pony angel holding a shotgun on the flank, my cutie mark on the front, and my name appeared in several places. I nearly exhausted my markers and half my chalk supply, but the black armor was now the most horrific, colorful piece of gear that you couldn't miss me if you tried.

Quickly, the meeting with the filly scouts approached, and we headed to the flophouse to find them already waiting for us. Quick Stitch and Chifundo joined Nyota and myself, and we sent Nugget home. The last thing I wanted was for her to be recruited into the scouts. The feelings that Pink had instilled in me about them indicated I should be careful.

At the table a slightly familiar and slightly foreign filly stood there. She had a cutie mark of coffee spilling from a cup onto a table, a white coat and a dark brown roasted-coffee mane, complete with a tail a long as two of my legs. She was surrounded by filly scouts—eight in all, including Buttered Toast. Pink whispered something to me and gave me an idea. She wore dark sunglasses that concealed her eyes and left us guessing at her true expression.

“Ah, Sunrise. We can begin?” The scout with the sunglasses started to speak I darted off and went up to the counter. I put 10 caps on it and ordered buttered toast. Five slabs of “toast’ and ‘butter’ were given to me on a plate. I darted back and offered them to Buttered Toast whose eyes lit up like street lamps. I smiled and had to jump up onto her shoulder to give her a few pets along the mane.

“Yay! Sunrise good pony!” She called out and grabbed me into a tight hug. I squeaked and was so very glad for the thick plating, but breathing was becoming an issue. I saw my friends all wincing as she squeezed me.

“Buttered.... Toast... Air! Please...” She let off the hug and looked ashamed as I hugged her back as gently as possible.
“Just be gentle with me and you can hug me all you want, okay?” Buttered Toast nodded enthusiastically. I trotted back over to the group, listening to the noisy sounds of Buttered Toast eating. Pink smiled and danced like we had done something amazing, and Buttered Toast didn't stop beaming the rest of the time we saw her.

“Alright, Sunrise, now can we talk?” The voice was vaguely familiar, like I had heard it before. Not long before, either. Words slowly formed on my lips as the filly approached and asked, “Don't you recognize me?”

“Coffee Stain?” I asked finally as her voice connected with the same mare I'd heard in my dream . She looked so different, just as I did now. Before she had been blue with the coffee roast mane now she was white.

“Well, I do look a bit different, but yes, it's me. So it is you! I remember that face and those eyes, through your coat being green is new.” I slowly approached her and felt memories lost in time being with the filly scouts. Both before and after the war. Coffee Stain had been with me before the Ministry of Morale turned my life to hell. And now I remembered back at the battle in Las Pegasus, our struggle with the Enclave then and my... death. The death I had remembered when we fought there before. When the zebras showed me the symbol, no, my symbol.

A pony angel with a shotgun, I could hear those words, Coffee Stain’s words: “Oh, Sunrise, please don’t, don’t go again.”

“Sunrise, I feel my curiosity rise. Do you know this pony, for something here feels phony.” Chifundo spoke up. I looked at him with a glare that could cut, while every Filly Scout in the room started to reach for weapons. Coffee Stain raised a hoof to hold them off and shook her head. I turned back, trying to put my first words together.

“Coffee Stain, how are you alive? You aren't a ghoul. I don't understand, how are you alive?” I asked while my friends all marveled at us; two mares defying the ravages of time and coming back together. It was so surreal, and yet here she was. She lowered her sunglasses, her eyes were black pools that swirled with motes of light like stars, just like Nyota's, which made us all flinch. They were hypnotic to stare into. I looked at all my friends.

“You're necromantic. How is this possible?” Quick Stitch asked, stepping up towards us, and his horn began to glow. Several filly scouts reached for weapons. Quick Stitch let his spell go and backed away slowly before their weapons were fully out. “I’m sorry but she is covered in necromancy magics mixture of Zebrican and Equestrian. It is beyond anything I’ve ever seen!”

Chifundo physically moved away, reaching out to pull me along while looking like he had been physically struck. “A spirit of death is not something we should keep in our hearth.”

I pulled my flank away from Chifundo and looked at him very sternly. “I understand your concern, but she is clearly somepony I know, and I know her to be mostly good natured. At least what I can remember.” The last part I added under my breath hoping everypony else wouldn’t hear it.

Chifundo looked hurt but didn’t withdraw completely. He nodded finally and accepted this, staring at me full of concern.

“It's fine, girls. Sunrise, do you understand what an Eternal Scout is?” I shook my head side to side. I knew it was the highest rank you can achieve in the Filly Scouts, and it only came out shortly before the bombs fell. I had already graduated from the scouts, but Coffee Stain had had another year to go.

“Let's just say that through arcane energy and shamanism,we are made… eternal . It changes us forever. I'm one of the oldest scouts still alive. We are the inner circle that runs the Filly Scouts around Equestria.” I looked at her and then at the filly scouts. I recognized that their vests were modified flak vests. They were almost in a military style formation, though carefully planned to look natural. I looked at Nyota and Quick Stitch with surprise. Chifundo glared like he had known all along, ready to accuse them of worse but didn’t speak quite yet.

“Yeah, you are more a mafia than anything. Running drugs, lacing our coffee to make it addictive, and doing the same with your cookies,” Nyota spoke up, rather blatantly irritated.

“Hey now. We do not advertise our products to be drug free. After all, Scouts, what is a Scout?” Coffee Stain called out like a military drill instructor.

“A scout is honest, a scout is prepared, a scout is loyal!” They all shouted in unison.
Even Buttered Toast got through the words without fumbling. I looked at Chifundo, then Nyota, then Quick Stitch. All of them were stunned and so was I at the level of trained fanaticism they had achieved.

“Tell that to Waffles. You managed to get a ghoul addicted! She is a poor, old, sweet ghoul for crying out loud,” Nyota declared and stepped up closer to the Filly Scouts, looking angry.

I looked at Nyota and gave him a stare down in order to get him to back off, but he was having none of it. Quick Stitch looked surprised by Nyota’s aggressive stance, and Coffee Stain appeared unphased. Nyota growled at Coffee Stain and I felt something in the pit of my stomach. Did she make us addicted to the coffee knowing we would have to rely on her for it?

“Sunrise, you can't trust them, period. No matter what Coffee Stain says, only trust it if it's in writing, and only if you have something she wants.” Pink explained as I looked at her with a firm mental nod. I steeled myself against anything that was coming.

“Look, now that I know it's you again, I think I should express the gratitude that the scouts owe you,” Coffee Stain explained. “We would like to provide you with resources and a reward for all the service you've done for us.” I thought I would be reaching for my shotgun, but instead I was left incredibly confused as Coffee Stain hugged me, and I was half heartedly hugging back out of instinct. I shook myself lose of her grasp, trying to break through my confused emotions.

“Thank her? For what work? What did any of us do?” Quick Stitch demanded, and took a step forward to provide me with a way to separate myself from Coffee Stain. Pink was glaring at her.

“That meanie! If she even confesses to half the things she’s had you do, I'll be shocked! Shocked, I say!” Pink declared and growled loud enough she almost drowned out my thoughts.

“Sunrise...you don't remember, again?” Coffee Stain asked, as if some hope had been lost with Quick Stitch's words.

“Coffee Stain...how many times have we met?” I fumbled through this statement, feeling myself wanting to be called away to a memory but refusing to let that happen right now.

Coffee Stain gulped and said, “We've had to do this four times. You've died five times, to my knowledge.” She nervously shifted and rubbed the back of her head, as though aware that she didn’t expect any of us to believe what she had just said.

“WHAT!?” Nyota yelped out and took steps towards Coffee Stain. But before he could get another word out, Chifundo help up a hoof to stop him.

“Sunrise, what is this pitch, are you a lich?” Even Chifundo's meter was slightly off at the surprise. Quick Stitch looked at me and shook his head;, his eyes were as wide as saucers, and I could see that our two zebra friends were in a similar state of shock.

“Yeah, you should probably learn how all this happened, and that I am ready to answer any questions you might have.” Coffee Stain's offer caught me completely off guard. I had learned of all this from Pink already and was still processing it. Now I had to try to actually put it together, because somepony confirming my deaths made it all too real.

“Sunrise, that can't be true. She's lying,” Nyota declared and pressed a hoof against my flank through my armor plating. I turned to him and bit my lip. He looked at me as I hung my head.

The words had to come out. I had to be honest with my friends and special somepony; they had a right to know. Guilt was written on my face as I looked at my stallionfriend and nodded before the words made it to my mouth. “No, Nyota. She's right. Except it isn't five times; Pink says it's twenty-seven.” Even to me, the words were like being shot with a gun at point blank range. The fact that memories I had experienced involved me dying, remembering what it was like to actually die. I knew what it was like to feel my life end.

I turned back to Coffee Stain and Pink's shouts of distrust filled my mind. This conversation could answer so many questions, or she could spew so many half truths that it would create further confusion. Then, something deep inside pushed its way to the front of my thoughts: 'You're not ready.' Inside, I felt that was right. I looked at my friends; I was not the Sunrise that had come here before. I might remember who that Sunrise was eventually, but I wasn't prepared for another information dump.

“Coffee Stain, I appreciate it, I really do, but I don't want to know. I will learn it later, in bits and pieces, but I don't want to know what happened or who I was before.” My friends all looked at me with shocked expressions. Even Coffee Stain, despite knowing more than I could fathom, was at a loss. “Thank you, Coffee Stain.”

Coffee Stain chuckled and shook her head, “Dammit, Sunrise, you always drop bombs that nopony expects. You know what? Things might go differently this time if you don't know who you were.” She explained, and she gave my shoulder a playful punch with her foreleg and then sighed. “Alright, Sunrise. A scout always repays her debts. So, what can we do for you? Anything at all, just name it.”

I looked at her and nodded. All sorts of requests came to mind but then I remembered how terrified that poor ghoul had been of the Filly Scouts. “Coffee Stain, I want two things. One, I want coffee without any drugs mixed in with it. And two, I want that ghoul forgiven of all her debt.” Coffee Stain took a step back and tilted her head perplexed.

“What fun is Coffee without some drugs in it? And Sunrise there are loads of ghouls in the wasteland, you're gonna have to be more specific.”

Quick Stitch growled like an angry mother and stomped his hoof, “You got my friends hooked on your drugs. I want that coffee exchanged for coffee without your additives.”

Nyota and I nodded to Quick Stitch in unison. There was no telling how much long term exposure was going to hurt us. I looked back to Coffee Stain. “Frieda Waffles is her name, and she lives in the quarry that is attached to a half-finished stable outside of town. I want her debt completely forgiven.” Coffee Stain took a breath and nodded.

“Done, we'll exchange your coffee for unlaced coffee, and offer to sell you the stuff without our mix in it.” That wasn't good enough, Pink had already taught me unless she said it and I had it in writing it didn't count.

“No, I'll have it in writing, and I want—in writing!—that Waffles' debt is forgiven.” I declared with earnest determination as I took a step towards Coffee Stain and stared at her with a glare that dared her to challenge me on it.

“Alright, fine, you've got it.” She said with a prolonged sigh. “Frieda Waffles debt is forgiven, and you'll have your coffee exchange program; in writing. Boom Gloom, get it written it up for her, exactly as I just declared.” With that settled I let out a sigh of relief. The Filly Scouts certainly were making me feel like a greasy used-cart salespony. Pink had been right; I couldn't trust them.

Once I had the contract, Coffee Stain gave one last hug and the Filly Scouts left.

We sat down at the table, exhausted, and looked at each other before starting to chuckle softly. Life could only get better and weirder from here, right? Alguacil joined us once the Filly Scouts left; he explained that he didn't like them at all. We told him everything and he started to take a walk until Nyota approached the table with several glasses of blue liquid. “Hey! I found this at the bar for a cap a cup. Looks like decent drink. Let's celebrate!”

“Celebrate what? Not being dead?” Quick Stitch asked sarcastically. Nyota nodded and grinned, as did Chifundo. He passed us each a glass and Alguacil looked at it suspiciously before stomping off to the kitchen.

“I need to know what this is, right now.” Nyota offered us all a toast and I hesitated as everyone else downed the drink. Within seconds, the effect was apparent. Chifundo was giving Quick Stitch goo goo eyes, and they both got up and got two more glasses, then went into the kitchen. He came back with the twins following them both upstairs. Chifundo paused to cast me a saucy wink, blushing profusely. I stared wide eyed as Alguacil came storming back.

“Who in all the hells did this!? Whose drink is this?” When no pony piped up, he grabbed the pitcher and glasses, along with the caps, and stormed off. “Trying to drug ponies! I swear!”

Nyota walked over to me as I stared at the liquid. There it was: an excuse to get over my hang-ups. To ignore my inhibitions and just enjoy being with my closest friend. No need to dance around it anymore, just pure drug-addled love in a glass. “Sunrise, I can feel it taking hold but I’m fighting it. It's watered down a bit, at least,” as he spoke the sounds of moaning mares echoed down from the upstairs of the flophouse. “If you drink it, through, there won't be any turning back.”

“Yeah, but then we can indulge and my hang ups will be gone. I mean, what's wrong with that? It’ll be fun, won't it?” I asked him, hesitating as I stared at the liquid. Pink was holding up a massive sign that read: 'Just Do it!' I ignored her, she would encourage me to try all the drugs and I knew it.

“Yes, but it won't be like you saying yes. You won't feel like you have a choice.” A moan from Chifundo loud enough to break off our talking echoed through the flophouse. “It's your choice, but at least then I can figure out your flavor.” The thought of finding that out right now made me feel sick. I poured the liquid onto the floor. Pink deflated disappointingly and stared at me, looking indignant.

Nyota and I made our way up to sleep that night. The sounds of creaking beds and slapping bed frames filled the flophouse. There was no telling how many ponies had drunk the watered down love poison. Jackal the dragon came out and shouted, “Whoo! Party! Hell yes!” He was covered in various fluids, ranging from alcohol to more interesting ones... and I really wished he had been wearing pants. He stomped back into his room and the sounds of intimate encounters got louder. I insisted we keep the sleeping bag between us and as we curled on the bed, back to back. Neither of us were getting any sleep; me from the noise, and Nyota from his drink.

I turned over and looked at him, moving my hooves out of the sleeping bag to hold his hips and back still. “Do you wanna talk, since we aren't sleeping?”

Nyota flushed with embarrassment and shifted uncomfortably. He kept his back to me and the sleeping bag prevented us from touching. “Sorry, I just figured it would be fun; this is not what I was expecting.” He held his head down with a guilty tone to his voice. “I'm glad I stopped you from drinking it.” I started to stroke his mohawk to comfort him. I felt helpless to do anything. I certainly didn't want him to suffer like this at all. “I'd very much like to rut you into the bed, but I'd like prefer to get over this and hold you normally until you're ready.” He shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable but clearly unable to do so.

I blinked in surprise, this was not the first time we talked about this, but certainly was the most frank we'd been. “I'll assume that is not just the drugs talking on the first part,” I told him, shifting and moving exactly as he taught me to control another pony's hips with my hooves. I'd learned my lessons well in unarmed combat, and he wasn't moving anymore unless I let him.

“If anything, the drug is removing my reservations from telling you. Without a cold shower, it has been rough keeping myself and my urges hidden.” He looked completely ashamed, like I'd punched through some veil and found a dirty, hidden secret.

“I only noticed recently. Do you want me to get you a bucket of cold water?” I grinned at him, my attempt at humor failing horribly.

“I don't sleep as well as you do, it's generally why I wake up and come back with coffee and a smile.” He admitted and whimpered. “It's so hard to be a gentlecolt around you, you smell so nice and you're so soft. Even over the scent of cordite and nitro, you just...” he trailed off, lost in thought, and he bit his lip and shut his eyes tightly. I watched as he bit it hard enough that a trickle of blood rolled down before he could continue. “It's still embarrassing to tell you.” my hoof kept petting him and I tried to provide some measure of relief to the noise going out beyond the thin walls.

“So... yeah, I think you're cute, as you know, but you didn't know I think you're sexy. Your confidence, stubbornness, maturity, the finding out that you are actually older than I am, the direct nature,” he was virtually forming at the mouth as I tried to silence him, but all my efforts did was encourage him to keep going. “You're so vulnerable, yet you don't act like it. You don't even seem to think you can die, but I want to protect you. I also wanna buck you into that mattress until you can't move right now, too.” I took it all in. It was like being hit with a wave of reality I had never considered.

Everything we'd learned over the last few days was shocking, to say the least. And now, this next part was going to come to a head, here and now. I felt bad for him. I felt a deep connection as well; a need to make him feel better without compromising either of our principles. I moved to whisper into his ear and let his body be free to move. “Nyota, listen to my voice. Be calm, relax. It's not the least bit embarrassing to me. I might have stolen some looks.” I blushed at admitting that, but he had a right to know. “I think talking about it in the open will at least let us address it. It might even help a little with the poison to at least not have to hold it all by yourself.”

But my words were not chosen well, Nyota squeaked and pulled the covers up to his nose, blushing so deep it ran a warmth from his cheeks to his shoulders. “You looked? I-I-I mean I've gone out of my way to avoid it, I've tried to be good, I just...” I let out a guilty sigh against his neck that silenced him again and made him shiver.

“I've stolen a few glances, yes. I thought it best to come clean.” I whimpered a bit and felt like judgment had been wrought onto me for when I took advantage of the situation with Nugget earlier. “You haven't looked at all? Even if my tail makes it pretty easy?”

“Mom and Dad were clear, unless someone wanted you to look, you didn't, period.” he replied earnestly. He had gone out of his way to be a gentlecolt in every possible way.. Nothing he could have done would have made me not love him right then.

“Nyota, you really are looking out for the long term, aren't you? Even if we fight a lot.” I had to admit it to him, we had a whole lot of disagreements in the last week. My decisions to save Black Hawk, the effort we went through, the diving on a grenade...he had a whole lot he could be mad at me for.

“Everypony disagrees from time to time, but I'm with you as long as you'll have me,” he finally leaned back into my embrace and let himself be held without resistance. “I trust you, Sunrise. I wouldn't have told you about my past or my eye if I didn't.” I felt a little tension leave him, but certainly not enough. I just held him close and did my best to avoid my PipBuck pressing into him.

“Thank you. I want you to know I appreciate your opinion and your right to make it louder. If you can, please be more vocal about it.. The last thing I want is blind faith or trust, okay?” Nyota just nodded and let me hold him for a time. I silently nuzzled into his cheek, and for once I was the big spoon in our cuddle. “I'm sorry I didn't come clean as soon as Pink broke her promise. I'm sorry I didn't prepare you for all that news at the meeting. I didn't know what you'd do or think when you found out.”

“I wondered for a bit, but my companions I see have been certain that this is my first walk in this world.” He moved a hoof to grip mine and held onto it when the racket next door got louder. “Honestly, I'm shocked you took the news of having died so well.” I bit my lip and buried my face into his mane.

“I had a very long conversation with Pink while I was in surgery. I had a couple of days to take it all in.” I wanted to change the subject, and the only thing that presented itself readily was not going to be helpful to him. Pink and I still had an agreement and we had to keep it. “I have to admit, that potion was tempting, just to get me over any hang ups.”

“Well, if you're not sure, don't push it.” He murred at the nuzzling, not realizing I was using him to hide in there. “But if you really want, my tongue bath offer is open,” he teased back and pressed into me to emphasize the point. I felt my blush getting very warm, all the way through my body.

“It isn't about what I want, it's more an Old World values, or tradition, as you would call it, making me say no.” Nyota finally turned over and took a look at my blushing form. He smiled a smug smile.

“Then I won't push the issue. So, just my flank?” I pulled the covers up over my face and shook my head as I spoke with a voice so meek, a mouse might have been louder in the presence of a cat.

“I stole a very detailed look when I chased Nugget underneath you earlier. And it's a tradition we need to discuss if it will help keep you distracted.” Nyota looked at me, raising an eyebrow as I stared into his starry eye deeply.

“You mean getting your folks' blessing on our courtship?” I wanted to offer him something else to focus on. I wanted to say anything right then to let him know I still cared when he tapped my PipBuck with his hoof. “Look, figure out your PipBuck's files and we'll stop the Enclave here in the meantime, and then we can find your parents. Pretty simple, really.” I started to shy away when a hoof gripped my shoulder through the sleeping bag. He held me firm.

“Sunrise, it's been over a week and as much as I would love to make you my mare...” he had to stop and fidget. He shifted around trying to clear his thoughts and speak, “I can wait...” Nyota cringed at that last statement and looked like somepony had just smacked him in the gut. “And I will. If meeting your parents is that important to you, then right now it's doubly so. That Phi Stable will have the answers for us.” He curled up into a ball as he spoke and whimpered as he tried to still his movements.

“Nyota, it is, but I also feel like Old World values may not be the best. They've gotten me shot, stabbed, and even blown up.” I moved to comfort him and helped him uncurl from his pained position. My gut pained me, knowing I was the source of his discomfort right now.

“I've dealt with this every night since you said yes, I can't lie to you. I want to so badly, but I will never coerce or push you into feeling like you have to. I want that to a be a happy point in our relationship and the two of us welcome such an embrace, always.” He shuddered and pulled away from me just enough that we were not pressing together anymore.

“Nyota, if I'm honest,” I placed a hoof against him and shifted so we were pressed together again, “It's kind of hard to not notice you have a fifth leg in the morning.”

Nyota nodded sheepishly and very slowly, he was fighting his own blush in order to keep his attention to me and my comfort. “I hoped I'd been more subtle, I appreciate the honesty, Sunny.” He shifted and turned his head so our eyes could meet again. It was very nice to just look at him and let our eyes convey exactly how we felt: mind, body, and soul.

“Nyota, I wanted to drink it and throw caution to the wind, but I didn't because you insisted.” I bit my lip and avoided his gaze as I tried to not think about how much it could be hurting him. “I want to hold onto those values of the world I’m from because they have kept us together and alive so far.”

Nyota kissed me on the nose and smiled warmly, “I wanted you to be certain and while this is not pleasant, I’m proud of you.” I leaned in and couldn't help myself but to kiss him on the neck. His train of thought was interrupted and paused for a bit as he collected himself again. “I want you to be completely ready when you make that decision, and if I must wait for your father’s approval, I’ll wait.”

I rolled my eyes at him and wanted to laugh at the thought. “Nyota, thank you. Maybe one day everypony won’t need to carry a gun. At least if I have my way.” I paused as I looked him up and down.

“Oh, come on, Sunrise, how many more signs do I have to give you! Go for it! Buck his brains out already! He's literally putty in your hooves!” She declared, and I felt a hunger deep inside rising that really wanted to take Pink’s advice.

Shut up, PINK! No way in hell right now. It isn’t right, and I’m not ready. I couldn’t possibly do that. I shrieked at her and stared down the pink horse. She crossed her hooves and stared back with beady eyes.

“Fine, at least say the words! And I’ll leave you alone.” Pink threw her hooves up and groaned in frustration.

“Sunrise,” he saw the look across my face and it worried him. “I've never done this before but I know I want to wait for you.” I pushed Pink out of my attention and to the back of my mind. I took a deep inhale and let it out very slowly.

“Nyota, I love you.” The words felt strange and at the same time relieving. I could breathe again, suddenly, and the butterflies in my stomach got a lot more active. I started to speak again when Nyota put a hoof up to my lips to make me be quiet.

“I should have said it earlier, I just thought my actions spoke loud enough, but hearing the words.” He smiled at me and kissed my lips when his hoof moved. The briefest touch before he pulled away. “I’ll be here to wait for you when you are ready, I love you too, Sunny.” he softly kissed me on the forehead and then each cheek.

“Thank you, Nyota. You're almost too perfect for words, you truly are a wonderful gentlecolt.” I kissed his lips softly, again making sure to not linger too long to tempt either of us too much. He ruffled my mane and let out a soft chuckle.

Nyota then pushed us apart and started to reach for his bag, “I have a gift for you.” He ruffled around inside the saddlebag without looking and pulled out a garment that I wasn't expecting. It was a silk sleeping dress, ruby red with purple lace around the edges and black frills on the straps. The negligee was certainly something I never recalled wearing or owning. It was a gift that I never would have expected. I grabbed it before he could say anything and his eyes went wide as I dove off the side of the bed, scrambling into it.

The piece fit like a glove, clinging and massaging my skin with material so soft it felt divine. Oh this, this feels like something that Celestia herself would wear. There was a matching panty as well, which made it feel even more like achieving a rank in goddesshood. I jumped back onto the bed and didn't wince at the squeak of the bedframe; I was too excited and Nyota was right there. He just stared at me and stammered. I looked down, realizing he was staring at me. I felt desirable! I felt like a proper mare, now. Nyota's body responded in a very obvious manner, as I watched his eyes get as big as saucers. A blush filled me and I stammered back, “I did mean to, it's just it fits so nice and feels so...wonderful. I mean, I can take it off, if that helps.” I immediately regretted those words.

Nyota couldn't stop staring for a while, until we heard a bed crash and some cursing from Alguacil outside. Then Nyota chuckled as the spell was broken, “At this point? Leave it on. At least it will block us if we get frisky in our sleep.” He leaned over, flexing his body out for me to see everything from his chest up as he whispered into my ear, “If you take it off, though, can I watch?” I squirmed into the sleeping bag to hide, meeping and squeaking, unable to give a retort beyond a final indignant growl. The level of embarrassment and attraction mixed my emotions almost to a boiling point. “So, how about that massage I promised?”

I squirmed and snuggled into him with the fabric of the wonderful sleeping dress and sleeping bag between us, “I'm sorry if I teased you, I just got really excited.”

“Oh no, I don't mind one bit. It's really nice.” He leaned over and nipped my ear. “Just doesn't help with the raging erection. I'm perfectly okay with that.”

I bashfully nuzzled into his chin and couldn't help myself from enjoying his compliments. “I hope you don't have to deal with umm... that fifth leg every night.”

“This is pretty normal for stallions, especially around somepony who is so special, and happens to be cute, alluring, and who smells fantastic. Yes, even if you always smell like a walking bomb, there is something deeper than that.” He took an inhale and then continued to ramble. “And you make me feel foolish, really chatty, but yeah, I sneak off to—”

“Masturbate and shower. That is why you always smell like sandalwood soap, isn't it?” Nyota nodded with a sigh. “Even when we are camping on the road on the way here, you snuck off and dry washed, didn't you?” He nodded a second time and I processed it all. It made too much sense. I was a late sleeper and slow riser. There were more questions this raised, and a genuine concern for his health if something found him when he was off alone.

“I wake up before all of you, and yes, I... take care of that business and then clean up and make breakfast and coffee. Otherwise I'd be way too pent up. Why do you think I'm always so friendly in the morning?” He shuddered as I shifted against him. Okay if I’m gonna get over my hang ups, maybe it would be better if I sate some of my curiosity. An idea struck me, of something I could do for him. I got up and walked to the opposite end of the room.

“Nyota, I’m not ready to actually do that with you, but would you mind if I... watched you?” I trembled speaking the words, my nerves wracked at the very thought, and I didn’t know what to expect. I had to admit, the idea of watching him was hot under my chest floof and flanks.

"Uhh..." he looks at me for a moment and blinked several times, "You want to watch me... masturbate?" he blushed so furiously an inferno couldn't match the color in his cheeks. He was practically glowing from the amount of blood rushing between his face and his... pride. "I guess that's okay, but it's not really exciting..." he reached into his saddlebags and took out a soft towel that I'd had never seen before. "It gets pretty messy...”

All through this, my heart skipped a few beats and I couldn’t speak. We kept trading looks at each other with every movement. He would pause and motion towards me, I would nod for him to continue. This felt like the most awkward exchange between two ponies I ever thought possible.

I let him get setup while I walked all the way across the room and stood there to watch. Again he resumed pausing until we were both comfortable. Then finally he relaxed and the blush left his face. I was the one blushing now. What I witnessed that night was something that I can only describe as truly sexy. I occasionally moved to give him a better view of me and his eyes never left me. It was wonderful, right up until he hit me in the eye from across the room.

Once I'd cleaned up with the sink, he met back in bed. Nyota furiously apologizing for everything and I let him. I didn't wanna interrupt him to tell him was wonderful or how truly beautiful sexy what I'd witnessed was, only let him ramble. Then, when the subject of my parents approval crossed his lips, he hesitated. “Sunrise, I have something else we need to talk about now.”

I looked up at him with hopeful eyes and blinked a few times, “Chifundo communed with the spirits while you were out, came back to me, and brought me into the communion.” Nyota gave me a look like he was baring his soul out to me, “My parents are still alive.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded and curious. “Sunrise, they are still alive, and the spirits say they are slaves to the Legion. Can we save them?”

How could I possibly say no? How could I deny him? I loved him and he shared my pain right now. “We have to try,” I said.

Pink held up a sign that deepened the mystery around us. “Quest Added: Save Nyota's Soul.”

Level Progress - 18% to Level 9.

Quest Perk - Artwork Bonus! (Wild Wasteland NOISES!)
Due to all the artwork of your character, any items featured may receive +1 Damage or +1 DT from the ponies routing for you to not die.

Chapter 23: Scrambled Eggs and Buttered Toast

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I rolled over in the morning, there was still some noise from the previous night, but I felt nice. Nyota was still wrapped around me. The feeling of separation the sleeping bag was suppose to provide was counteracted by just how wonderful the sleepwear he gave me felt when he shifted. The noises next door bothered me, so I opened my eyes to see Nyota staring back.

“Nyota? How long have you been up?” I asked as he smiled and ruffled my mane.

“Long enough, apparently they are still going,” he replied, rolling his eye in the direction the noise was coming from. A loud crash jarred me from half awake to fully aware, followed by the distinct incoherent shouting from Jackal.

“Damn Pony Beds! They can't handle it!” Honey Hearthfire was screaming, and we heard several hooves stomping past. The commotion died down and the two of us just stared at each other.

“Just how potent is that stuff? Should I be worried about you?” I stroked his mowhawk and it sprung back into place. Nyota shuddered and then winced at me.

“I mean, a full strength dose can kill if it isn't dealt with properly.” Nyota replied and, before I could inquire further, he held up a hoof to my lips. “Let me finish, you'll likely die of dehydration or exhaustion unless you were prepared for it.” He smirked and nuzzled my cheek as his hoof moved away. “Don't worry, Chifundo and Quick Stitch should be fine. But the poison makes you keep at it regardless of the needs for your body.”

“I don't, you mean you would, all night?” He leaned in and kissed me softly, the levels of dread and confusion passed with our lips meeting.

“If it came to that, I'd hope you stop me, no matter what you had to do.” All I could do was nod back at him. The prospect of having to stop him, physically, was terrifying. “Until you're ready, no matter what happens, if I try to push you, stop me. I don't care how you do it but promise you'll stop me.” All I could do was stare in disbelief as I realized the possibility of having to shoot him. I'd accidentally shot Nyota before, but not on purpose. I found the courage to nod, for his sake, but I doubted I could bring myself to shoot him.

I wanted to hug him tightly and tell him I couldn't but right now I didn’t want to risk provoking him while he was still feeling some of the drug. “Can a simple drug really make a pony do something that awful? To somepony they a love? Could the coffee? Your smokes? The Med-X?” Nyota shook his head with a reassuring smile. I started to calm down. I was blowing this out of proportion.

“No, this poison specifically pushes the individual to do things they wouldn't ever think of doing. Unless both parties are under the effects, then it just brings out underlying desires and removes all inhibitions.” Nyota gave me a pet across my mane. “You’re over thinking it, I'm sure Chifundo and Quick Stitch won't have regrets. Sex is really fun, feels really good, and relieves a lot of stress.” I gave him a skeptical look and felt he knew exactly what he was talking about. He and Quick Stitch would know, they were medical ponies to some degree.

“Yeah Sunrise! Nyota here probably knows exactly all the right buttons to press and how to press them!” I started to blush from head to toe.

PINK!!! Seriously we were having a moment here and then you, you, you, made it slightly better. I melted into Nyota's hooves as he started to rub my back and send waves of relief to my muscles.

“Sunrise, when was the last time you remember... relieving yourself?” he was blushing as I let out long moan. He’d found a particular spot in my spine.

“Mom and dad kind of disapproved of sex, especially for me. They couldn't even get the whole fillies and colts talk out of their mouths when they caught me. They acted like some colt caught with a hoof in the cookie jar when, I umm... made noises and got busted.” I explained, but him moving his hooves across the tension in my muscles just made me moan as I melted into the bed. It felt so nice to not carry the weight of the world.

“Well then don't worry about being scolded by me. If you need to let off some steam, I'm not gonna judge you.” He stopped the massage and moved up to nuzzle my cheek. “Your parents at least tried to explain it to you. I only had old magazines and an anatomy textbook.” I snickered at him and rolled over stretching it out and feeling the last of my muscles leaving.

“Oh I had those too, as well as a couple of holotapes and even found their recollector with a few memory orbs!” I suddenly had the realization of what I'd just confessed and felt the need to be completely invisible. Without another thought I hid in the covers and felt like I might die of embarrassment.

“Sunrise, what were the orbs of?” He asked lifting the covers enough to see my face.

I slid out just enough to put my eyes into the light, “They were various ponies with a couple of different things. And the recollecter which I assume dad used and mom shared at the same time. I never knew griffin's bent that way.”

Nyota raised a hoof, stopped and looked absolutely disturbed, “I didn't need to know that. So you've actually experienced it through memory orbs?” I nodded and blushed even more than I had ever thought possible. “You're already more knowledge than me, love. Which reminds me, the way your memories interrupt your sleep and even when you're awake. I mean I thought you were having a heart attack from what your PipBuck was screaming out.” I heard his concern and tried to shake it off when Pink jumped in.

“You can't ignore this for much longer! You realize how it interrupts your life? He's right Sunrise.” Pink was tapping her hoof like mom had caught me slipping off with the recollector.

“Listen Sunny, you wake up exhausted and short tempered too,” I held up a hoof and nodded to him, taking the hint from the two of them double teaming me.

“Look first chance we get, we find a brain specialist and I'll get looked at alright?” My groan at the end emphasized to him that I was admitting defeat on the subject.

Nyota got up finally as I followed him, “Come on, let's go get a shower.” Turns out this town had hot water now, since the last time we were here. Nyota and I got at least a warm bath. I went first and put the sleepware back on afterward, which clung right to me. Nyota tried to avert his eyes and I turned his head to look right at me.

“Nyota, it's okay to look.” I'll admit it, I like it when he looked at me. It felt nice to have him looking. He went off to shower and I passed the bartender 5 caps every few minutes to extend his shower time. An hour, and nearly 100 caps later, I flipped a cap up into the air and as it came down, I was in a different place, in a different time.

ooOOoo

Unknown Date

The cap clattered to the metal floor and my eyes fell onto Coffee Stain. “Sunrise, why are you still going out in the wastes? You should be stocked up here in the fort.” Coffee Stain asked as I looked at her. She was blue now, with the coffee brown mane and wearing a filly scout uniform. I looked at my body and, yep, there was a deep scar along my belly. I realized now this was a past version of myself. The version that had already had a foal. There was no image of the foal, nothing about it came to mind. Just the painful stitches still sewn across my belly.

“Coffee Stain, I know I shouldn't; but who else are you gonna trust with explosives?” I looked at her and felt harsh pangs of guilt that echoed with every movement when the stitches pulled. A firm mental block kept me from knowing anything about where that scar had come from, almost like the same dread that crept up from the mention of Agent 88.

I felt really hungry as I inserted a cinnamon bun into my mouth. Oh no, please no not that taste! I wanted to hurl mentally but my host was thoroughly enjoying the cinnamon bun. I have never ever enjoyed one that much till I felt the sensations rolling from my past self.

Okay this is so strange! Wait does that mean, my foal is a filly scout? I wondered as Coffee Stain placed a hoof onto my shoulder. All attention went to her.

“Look Sunrise, you've done a lot for the scouts. Above and beyond, know that we will owe you a debt. Now I suggest you take a break, go to the doctor and get checked up.” I looked out the door into the wasteland, away from Coffee Stain.

Coffee Stain nodded, “You really need me alive don't you?” I felt a twinge of guilt pulsing through me. A few flashes of dealing drugs, cookies, equipment, wheeling and dealing, flat out swindling ponies. I shook my head and got a good look at the room. All metal construction, pieces of stubbornite in places. This was the fortress. As far as the eye could see, everything was metal, even the streets were laid with sheets of scrap. The ponies walking around were mostly filly scouts, I only picked out three cutie marks in the field of ponies.

“Look, we both know my foal is out there somewhere... where, I don't know. Who they even are, I can't remember. But I have to find them.” Coffee Stain nodded and picked up a weapon, her railroad sticker. A huge six barreled rifle that had a hydraulic pump feeding it with railroad spikes, which would pin a pony to a wall like a teddy bear with a nailgun. The worst part, they were usually still alive afterward.

“Alright then, off to Las Pegasus,” Coffee Stain said, and I nodded to her picking up my shotgun. It was the same shotgun from the unfinished stable, the same one I had on my back now. Just it was still chambered for 20 gauge and not the 12 gauge rounds I used now.

Coffee Stain gave me a hug and a tender kiss upon the lips. My eyes slowly closed in the embrace and I leaned into it. But I found as I opened my eyes, I was kissing another pony.

ooOOoo

Nyota was kissing me on the lips and I blinked in surprise. I wasn't sure how long I'd been out but he snickered at me as he broke the kiss. “Thanks love, but I don't think the towel will help me at all.” Nyota said with smirk on his lips. I realized he was still dripping from head to toe. His shower time must have just run out. I was almost completely dry now, and the nightie no long clung to me from the damp coat of fur. He smelled lovely, sandalwood. How much of that soap does he really have. I took a few moments to examine myself.

I felt twinges of guilt and pain well up in my mind. I could barely see the c-section scar even with the negligee lifted while he wasn't looking but my mind felt so untouchable towards it. I couldn't remember anything, who the father was, how the pregnancy went, was my foal even a filly or a colt? None of it. I felt this sense of dread, that I had been a terrible mother or something awful happened, so terrible I couldn't remember.

Nyota rubbed a hoof across the scar, “It's okay Sunny, we'll find him.”

I looked at him perplexed, “How do you know it's a him?” I stared at Nyota completely lost as he pet my mane softly. Nyota just nuzzled me while Pink bounced into view with a few hops shaking her head. Pink? My child is...

“He doesn't know and neither do I. Just let him reassure you, okay? You need it.” I gave Pink a mental nod and frown at Nyota. I am not a good actor, either.

“I don't but I do know that if we call your foal we haven't met an it, that won't make you feel better so for now, let's just call him a boy?” I smirked a bit at him and nuzzled into his still soaked chest when I heard the squawk of a walkie.

“Sunrise, Nyota....” Chifundo sounded like he was in pain, trying to choke the words out. “Butter Toast has snuggles like a python has cuddles. HELP!” Wow, Chifundo was in enough pain he wasn't even keeping in rhyme! We both bolted out towards the market only to told that they had headed for the flophouse, somehow missing each other in the small town.

“Goddesses Bucking Dammit! This had better not be death by snuggles! Chifundo needs to learn to keep it in his sheath!” I almost stumbled as I heard Nyota cursing like a seasoned Equestrian naval officer. Nyota! Really!

Pink rolled in laughter as I glared at the two of them. It is the strangest feeling to try to keep vision to run around ponies and buildings while glaring at your stallionfriend as well as the pink demon with one eye each. I nearly went cross eyed from the effort as we bounded into the flophouse. The scene in front of us was both pain wincing and hilarious all at once. My own cringe level had reached a whole new high.

Buttered Toast had Chifundo draped over her shoulders like a fur coat, petting him so aggressively he had started to bruise from forehead to tail. “Pretty, Pink, Zebra.” She was so fascinated by her new 'toy' that she wasn't even paying attention to how much she was potentially hurting him.

“Do we, do we help him?” I asked Nyota before Quick Stitch appeared next to us from seemingly nowhere. When did he get stealthy? Also why hasn't he done anything?

“Sunrise would you try to take her new cuddle toy from the giant filly barbarian? Who can smash your head with her knee joint?” I gave a mental nod of ‘Point Taken’.

Wait! Buttered Toast! She really likes that, distraction time! I ran up to the bar and threw down 10 caps as fast as I could get them out of my bag. “I need buttered toast as fast as you can make it!” I called out to the kitchen. Honey Heartfirelooked at me like I'd lost my mind. I stared at Chifundo anxiously while Nyota and Quick Stitch looked on helplessly. Quick Stitch was especially antsy, it was like Nyota, watching me, get surgery... Did they do more than just have love poison fun?

Finally, after what seemed like an hour of watching new bruises appear on Chifundo's pink stripes, a pile of toast arrived on the counter for me. I took it in a hoof and walked toward seeing an older filly scout. Her coat reminded me of a Sunburst through the clouds with the hooves white tips like the very clouds concealing the sun. A violet summer flower bounced against her back that was her mane, I swore she was so clean if I smelled it; it would smell of lavender. The part that made me recoil a bit was the purple liquid filled syringe on her flank. Her eyes were the one thing that rendered her a bit unfriendly, she had dark blood red. “Hi there Sunrise, I umm... would like to talk to you.”

“That's nice,” I looked at Nyota then to Quick Stitch. “Either of you able to get close?” We all looked at each other like it was time to draw straws. I turned my head to see Chifundo getting a black eye when Buttered Toast clumsily patted him. She wasn't hurting him intentional but that filly was so very rough.

“I, can get him. Buttered Toast won't take a second thought at another Filly Scout near her.” The unknown mare offered. I looked at her and gave a soft nod.

“Who are you?” All of us asked at once looking at the yellow mare very perplexed.

“Oh I'm Scopola Mina, I'd like to talk about going with you.” She flicked her mane with a hoof in reply and started to slink around behind Buttered Toast. Honey Heartfire was at the bar leaning over watching the drama unfold.

“That will have to wait till our friend is safe again.” Nyota replied as Quick Stitch took out some magical bandages in preparation. I approached Buttered Toast and extended the plate full of toast. She looked at me fearfully and stopped petting Chifundo.

“Pretty Pink Zebra. Sunrise, for me?” Buttered Toast slowly moved a hoof towards it.

“Yes, Buttered Toast, just be gentle.” Nyota waited on the tips of his hooves as the first piece of toast met Buttered Toast's lips. Scopola Mina grabbed Chifundo's hooves and eased him off her shoulders as she took the second piece very gingerly. “See Buttered Toast, Sunrise is nice and friendly. I promise you buttered toast and you can hug the pretty pink zebra, just be gentle okay?” I assured her. I stood there while she ate every bit of toast I had.

In the meantime, Chifundo had been stolen away and Quick Stitch was tending his overly heavy petting bruises. Nyota was on the ground laughing while Scopola Mina snickered and tried to suppress her laughing. Buttered Toast looked distressed when the toast was gone and even more upset as soon as she noticed Chifundo wasn't on her back anymore. “But, I want pretty pink zebra.”

I held up my hoof to her and got up onto her shoulder where I could stretch to caress her mane. “It's okay Buttered Toast, his name is Chifundo and I'll bring your Chifundo back soon; I promise.” I was doing everything in my power to be honest and not anger this mighty giant of a pony. “Scopola Mina, take Buttered Toast here back over to the Filly Scouts okay? Then come back and we'll talk.” As she left I headed upstairs while Nyota and Quick Stitch tended to Chifundo.

I came back armored up, equipment on, and walked up to Quick Stitch. “Care to give me an examination and a clean bill of health?” He blushed and looked away, then back at me, then away again as he slowly turned pink.

“Oh, I'm sure you're fine. I don't think I need to give you an exam.” Quick Stitch's uncharacteristic reply had me worried. I leaned up and scrutinized him.

“Sunrise, he thinks you and Nyota boinked last night! You sly silly filly!” Pink squealed in my ear and I felt a deep rage shooting up into me.

“What kind of mare do you think I am?” Quick Stitch winced as Nyota rushed over to grab my shoulder and try to calm me down. Chifundo wrapped hooves around Quick Stitch protectively in response. He looked just like Nyota holding me when somepony upset me. Nyota wrapping his hooves around me in response.

“No! I didn't say that, I just thought with the lingerie and with the love poison, you two had, maybe, possibly, I mean—” He stumbled with words till Chifundo put a hoof up to his mouth and then kissed his cheek. What all happened last night, and this morning, with you two? Did that love poison do that much?

“Remember Sunrise, it removes inhibitions but the feelings were there already. Likely those two had a lot of deep conversation between rounds with the twins.” Pink explained and I felt a twinge of hypocritical guilt for judging them.

“We didn't, but also how are you gonna explain this to Picline?” I asked looking at Chifundo rather upset at him now too.

“The spirits to Picline have advised, that I keep honest about how we acted.” Chifundo replied rather nervously and Quick Stitch hung his head nodding.

“I must own up for what we did and just hope Picline isn't too mad. Even if it was under love poison, we still made the decision.” Quick Stitch was twitching as he spoke only to have Chifundo work to calm him down. The two of us looked at each other while a zebra tried to shield us both from each other.

“Sunrise it's okay, calm down. Even if we had, there is no need to defend your honor. Lovers do what lovers do.” I stepped back surprised, the events of last night really starting to set in. I looked at Nyota wanting to be upset, wanting to scream but inside knowing he was right, we just stared into each others eyes. “If Quick Stitch wants to start a herd, he's more than welcome to do so.” I heard loud snickering from behind the kitchen bar, and saw one of the twins quickly ducking out of sight.

“You're right, what they do in the bedroom,” I paused for a bit. “May not be our business but in this case, with the drugs, it is our responsibility too. They are our friends.” I turned my head and looked at Chifundo and Quick Stitch, the two stallions blushing furiously while Nyota stroked my mane.

“We'll cross that bridge when we get there.” Nyota whispered while Pink was snickering so loud that I wanted to buck her right in the smug lips.

“Sunrise we are on this journey together, it is bound to happen that we become closer.” Chifundo replied and stopped his protective hugging of Quick Stitch. He pointed at me then Nyota, “Life is unconstrained by our expression of day, as the spirits have taught; it finds a way.” I deflated along with my anger towards him. They were right and I knew it, there was no sense in being upset with what other ponies thought.

He stroked my mane once with a hoof and my desire to make sure he knew I cared filled me. Slowly and gently, I leaned forward in my armor. It was awkward to move, even perfectly fit, but that didn't stop me from kissing him. He patted the plates and admired their craftsponyship as we made out. He pulled away, and I tried to keep the kiss going, though my armor and his height made it impossible.

“Well that is some real nice armor! I wish I could have found a bomb suit in your size but you're just a bit small for standard Equestrian military armor.” I puffed up and growled, all three stallions burst into laughter. I looked from Nyota to Chifundo and then Quick Stitch.

“What is so funny? I swear I could wear a bomb suit if I had to!” Nyota patted my mane patronizingly and leaned down to nestle his head against my mane. He took an inhale of my scent and relaxed his chuckles.

“Sunrise, what was the required height for the Equestrian military soldiers?” Nyota prodded as Quick Stitch and Chifundo both leaned in.

“4'3” minimum height.” I grumbled through grinted teeth.

“And how tall are you?” Nyota pulled back and pointed at my shoulder up to my head with a hoof. Quick Stitch walked over and ruffled my mane.

“I'd say about 3'2” but that is my opinion.” Chifundo had to hold his laughter in as I made the angeriest puffed up face I could.

“I'm 3'3” thank you!” I blurted out like 1 inch was going to make a difference. WHICH IT DOES! Seriously 1 inch is the difference in actually reaching the counter sometimes.

“The point still stands, doesn't it?” Nyota piped up and I lowered my head with no retort as Nyota stroked my mane softly. “I wouldn't have you if you changed yourself Sunrise,... besides your height makes you cuter.” His reassurance just made me more self conscious as I felt the burn of my own blush. Quick Stitch gave Chifundo a nuzzle. Wow is that what Nyota and I look like? It's so mushy but sweet at the same time.

Scopola Mina returned alone and took a seat between the two couples on the floor. She looked at Nyota and I then to Quick Stitch and Chifundo then back to me. “Hi! I'd like to talk to you about going with you when you head out.”

I stared to Scopola Mina and then looked at my companions. “I mean, is Coffee Stain sending you just to keep eyes on us?” I genuinely felt suspicious. Coffee Stain's actions and what I remembered didn't seem to make the best image of her. Was I her lover before? Is that what Pink meant by her comment about me and mares? I looked over at Pink in the corner of my vision who just stayed quiet and avoided my gaze with a guilty look on her face.

“Well no, I just felt it was finally time to move on. I've got my mark and all, not to mention I'm one of the older scouts.” Scopola Mina moved her hoof and gave the more disarming smile she could manage. I could hear something in her voice, honesty.

“You know we aren't going anywhere safe right? I mean we are certainly likely to get you killed.” Nyota stepped up between us and stood halfway blocking my view of Scopola Mina.

“Your group has a reputation around here for doing the impossible.” All of us were taken aback by that statement. Have we really? We just rescued a few ponies and managed to get Hot Cross Buns, half a year after he'd been missing. “And, to be honest, travel would do me some good. Coffee Stain mentioned that Sunrise was a former scout and I should consider going with her. I am eager to find new chemicals to make, I also heard you could use a decent cook, well here I am!” Scopola Mina puffed her chest out all proud and as if to demonstrate her determination.

“I don't know, I mean, we've had an awful lot of ponies trying to go with us since we got back to town.” I hesitated and looked at Quick Stitch or Chifundo for help.

“Genuine mare if she can protect, I see no reason to object.” Chifundo chimed in support of Scopola Mina. I stared at him and furrowed my brow. I couldn't tell if I should be more upset that I was actually understanding him more, or that he was encouraging more ponies to put themselves in the line of fire for us.

“Sunrise, we're gonna need all the help we can get,” Quick Stitch gulped when he looked at me to see the expression on my face. “Maybe we should consider it? Have Alguacil see if she can defend herself and then maybe decide?” He winced at me then looked at Scopola Mina like she was suppose to speak up.

“Oh! I'm pretty good with a laser rifle.” Her horn glowed a pearl white and floated out a HP AER-12 laser rifle. HP standing for High Power. They are made to blast through armor. I marveled at the device as she placed a gem pack in and I heard the high pitch whine of power up. She kept it pointed at the ground and I could see the safety was still on.

“Whoa! Shiny! We haven't seen a decent MEW wielder in quite a while.” Pink leaned and reached out to pet the rifle. I swore it dipped just slightly from her touching it.

I grumbled, not sure I wanted another pony with us but having little choice if all my friends were in, I let out a sigh through my gritted teeth. “Alright, if Alguacil says you can defend yourself, you can come with. Just please be careful, please?” I hinted at and Nyota booped my nose.

“Sunrise, you're always so worried about anypony except you getting hurt. I'm beginning to think you don't believe you can die.” Nyota leaned down and the realization hit me. I've never considered the possibility. Ponies say I've died before but I don't remember that. I didn't even think I would die when I dove onto my own grenade. I took a step back from Nyota and felt a shock of fear echo through me.

“Sunrise, don't let that get into your head! You aren’t invulnerable butttttttttt...” Pink carried the last syllable of but till I paid attention to her instead. “Neither are any of the foes you're gonna face. You can do this! Just keep faith in your friends okay?”

I felt utter dread piece me. My heart accelerated and I felt a very real need to be prepared to defend myself. The possibility of dying, the idea that Nyota was mortal; horrified me in a way that I had never considered. I'm not concerned about dying so much as I'm worried about what will happen to Nyota if I'm gone. I extended a hoof and Scopola Mina turned the hoofshake into a hug. Alright I guess I like her, only in the world before the Stable would you get a hug to make a new friend. We went out looking for Alugacil and ran into a griffin in tears passing us, holding his gun. He was wearing a Silver Fang uniform and we heard Alguacil shouting in the distance over gunfire.

“Where is he?” Nyota asked, the traumatized griffin pointed back towards a shooting range with Alguacil shouting like an Equestrian drill sergeant at the guards doing target practice. We approached to discover nearly a a pile of empty casings at each of their feet from how long they'd been here shooting.

“Alright, you maggots! If you wanna survive an enclave assault, shoot their wings!” He grabbed a rifle in the hooves of an earth pony and helped him aim. Then did the same with a unicorn mare's telekinesis.

“Alguacil, what did you do to that poor griffin?” I asked as I approached them.

“He knows what he did! He better be back when his gun is fixed.” Alguacil shot and continued giving loud shouting instructions to all the guards, working and drilling them. We found out they had been doing this everyday since we had gotten back to town.

Alguacil handed me a set of armored dusters, “You earth ponies know how to make things better by tearing stuff apart right?” I looked at him then the dusters and some instinct was kicking in. My eyes saw pieces of plate that were wrong on one, correct on the other. The griffin pieces of over-armor had faults between them, but my mind was automatically putting together how to tear both apart and put them together.

“Yeah, I can, give me a minute.” I lost track of time and zoned out any conversation anypony was having as I ripped apart one of it's good qualities or flaw fixing pieces and put it into the one I thought was in the best shape.

“Chifundo, Quick Stitch, Scopola Mina,” I called the three of them over and they all looked at me stepping up.

“While I work on this, I need you to go to the filly scouts and negotiate for a set of Mama Dueches, LMGs and a lot of ammo for them. Lastly, at least two punt guns with buck and slug shot.” I kept working and they hadn't moved when I looked up at their confused faces.

“Who is Mama Deuches, I do not get your purchases.” Chifundo replied and I just facehoofed.

“Right, slang used in officers manual is not the same as the wasteland.” My hoof dragged down my face while Nyota hugged me with a chuckle.

“Go on Sunrise, explain it. I don't even know what you are referencing.” Nyota replied and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Alright, Chifundo you three need to go acquire for the town, using me as the bargaining chip, at least three M2 heavy machine guns, .50 caliber with at least 500 rounds of ammo each. In addition to that, some Hoof Breaker-15's like what Corners used on her battle saddle with ammo and lastly, ask specifically for punt guns with at least 20 buckshot shells and 5 slug shot shells each.” I explained the idea Pink had given me while I was being massaged. With that much firepower they could actually fight off a razorback class sky ship. The machine guns could easily put up enough fire to prevent pegasi from assaulting them and the punt guns with slugs would put holes in assault airships and vertibucks.

The three of them understood, now, and trotted off to get what I needed while I resumed my work to the rhythm of gunfire behind me. When I finally looked up, I saw Sparrow approaching with several of her company. Jackal was in chains, his cyberclaw removed and in the center of them.

“Well, Alguacil, you lot keep improving things around here, I'll have to actually buy them more bullets if they keep getting better.” Sparrow mocked while Alguacil tipped his armor plated sombrero.

I looked up from my nearly finished work of sewing and combining plates, “Well, I have a few more ideas about that courtesy of Pink.”

Almost on que the radio squawked, “Sunrise, I require you to talk, they seem to be about to balk.” I stitched the last couple of plates in place and looked at Sparrow.

“Give me a minute, I'll ask why Jackal is in chains and what is going on in a second.” Nyota offered me the radio and I took it. Nyota and Sparrow began to talk as did Jackal. I couldn't hear what they were saying as I made my way somewhere slightly private to talk over the radio.

“Chifundo, give the radio to Coffee Stain.” I asked him and a moment later Coffee Stain came over the radio.

“Sunrise! How are you? How can I—” I slammed the button and cut her off with a high pitched whine of protest from the radio.

“Coffee Stain, cut the crap. Chifundo asked for heavy machine guns, .50 caliber, punt guns, and a few LMGs. I gave specific model numbers because they were Equestrian military standard. Now you said you owed me and assured me the Filly Scouts would do whatever they could.” I took a breath as Sparrow approached. “This town needs defenses, real ones beyond just bodies with rifles. What's it going to cost?”

“Well I mean... wait, you want a punt gun? You mean a Duck Murder-8000? And M2 heavies? Those aren't just lying around, they are rare and expensive.” Coffee Stain squawked back over the radio while Sparrow looked at me stunned. I looked at Sparrow and clicked it back.

“Sparrow, I know we've given you more mouths to feed and haven't exactly been subtle about stuff. But we did get Hot Cross Buns back and you have an armorer now. I figure you won't object to the trouble caused by the love poison and other inconveniences, if I make sure nothing can ever happen again.” I felt genuinely guilty that we had likely brought the Enclave down on the town eventually not to mention there was likely some reason that Jackal was in irons. I was pretty sure her adopting Nugget and her making the love poison was likely going to be blamed on us too. Not to mention all the things DJ Pon3 was saying on the radio by now if I just turned it on.

“Sunrise we need to talk when you get done with Coffee Stain on that radio.” Sparrow replied and her wing was holding that 45-70 gov revolver. After a second, I recognized it as a HH-7 submitted by Colt Firearms. It was made to put down a Diamond Dog or even a teenage dragon in just one shot. The same size dragon that was in irons surrounded by guards right now.

“Coffee Stain, what can you get me?”

“Well I mean, we could get you six 5.56 machine guns and maybe a 2 gauge for around 1000 caps.”

I looked at my PipBuck, it read 2783 caps between my personal caps and the bag of caps I was keeping for our potential companion expenses. But what Coffee stain was offering was useless. “Sunrise, don't take that! It's a terrible deal and she didn't include ammo. Make sure you get her to repeat what you are getting verbatium and get it in writing from Chifundo.”

“Pass the radio back to Chifundo.” I told her and waited.

“Chifundo hold this close to your ear and turn the volume down.” I took a breath and counted to three. “Listen here, you tell her the following you want in writing, I will give her the schematics for my bombs, let them make a schematic for my shotgun, and negotiate from there. In exchange, we want two Duck Murder-8000s, with 20 buckshot rounds and 5 slugs, four .308 machine guns, six 5.56 machine guns with 1000 rounds for 5.56 and .308 for each. Negotiate from there and call me back when you get something solid.” I cut the radio and looked up at Sparrow.

I knew Chifundo could be a very pretty stallion and we'd seen him negotiate good deals before. I just hoped he wouldn't be as trusting as we had been in the past. Dealing with Coffee Stain now felt slimy for some reason. “Sunrise, Jackal here has caused quite a lot of trouble and your friend, that pegasus that showed up has kinda used all our scrap to make armor for a couple of ponies and you.”

I shook my head, “Your new Armorer, he's not really a friend but he is staying here.” I corrected only to have her cock the gun. Oh come on! I didn't do anything wrong right?

“We appreciate everything you've done but we need to talk about getting a resupply of metal and this dragon friend of yours has a few things to answer for.”

“Oh come on! Nyota can vouch for me, it's just a bed.” Jackal called out to us angrily. I looked at Nyota who had moved away from the group. His embarrassment was plastered over his face like a colt with his hoof in a cookie jar. I walked right up to him and Sparrow followed.

“Nyota, we'll talk with Jackal, in a second.” I turned around to Sparrow. “Alright fine what do you want?” Sparrow releases the hammer on her gun and let it slide into place.

“Well I'll give you this, you've done a lot of good. Your group has really done a lot of good and I figure you can give me something better than just plugging this dragon in the head and fixing the various problems he and you caused with his scales in place of metal.” My jaw dropped. I had expected they might lock him up for a bit, they might even like kick him out. Kill him!? Over a some bedroom antics.

“I see, you aren't used to wasteland justice.” She replied as I even saw Honey Hearthfire over there with a double barrel shotgun pointed at Jackal. “Well here's the deal, we need scrap and Jackal here says he knows where it is. You are gonna help him go get it because I trust you. Or if you aren't up for it, I'm putting a bullet in his brainpan.”

Alguacil stared stunned as everyone had stopped firing on the improvised range. Nyota trotted over towards me. I felt a deep seeded rage building up, put into a no win situation. Either help this dragon or watch him die. Sparrow was even trying to pass the buck for killing him onto my head. She may be pulling the trigger but I was going to be making the decision.

“Okay, fine, but I have a couple of conditions.” I rolled over my tongue to try to put it all together. Pink help here!

“Sunrise, you're nicer than ever could be! I’d leave him to die while throwing a road party on the way to the secret stable! But you’re not me and that is what makes this more entertaining!” Pink sighed and rolled her eyes and I mentally prodded her to continue while Sparrow stared me down. She shrugged and hung her head. “Make Sparrow put him under her wing as a soldier and forgive him of all his wrong doing. That way she can't just shoot him next time he screws up and she does it in exchange for the weapons and barrage balloons for defending the town.” I winced at the thought that my efforts for charity were not going to be used as a political decision to save this dragon's life, for a second time.

Sparrow tapped her hoof expectantly while we debated and Nyota stroked my mane trying to keep me in check. “Alright in exchange for whatever weapons we get from the Filly Scouts for the town's defense and the salvage Jackal claims he knows where it is; then you will agree to make him to take him on.”

Sparrow grumbled, “I will forgive him and consider making him a merc with us.”

I growled at her and stomped my hoof, “Sparrow you know that isn't what I meant!”

Nyota dug into my high thighs to keep me from moving and attacking Sparrow. I could feel him inhibiting my stance to make sure he had control over my body movement. Oh come on! I've only nerd raged out twice! I'm not about to hit her, I just need to make sure we are clear. “Look, you take him with you and tell him he proved himself and I'll agree to put him in a uniform if he wants it.”

“Well then uncuff him and release him to Sunny's custody.” Nyota chimed up as he released his grip on me.

Sparrow put her revolver away and motioned her wing. The chains came off and Jackal growled, “And give me my claw back along with the attachments.” One of the earth pony mares reached into her saddlebags and produced the cyber claw along with a few other things. Jackal growled and snatched them away. I swore as soon as he was in possession of them, he grew two inches in height and bulked up a bit of muscle.

“Alright Sunrise, he's your responsibility. He does anything; I hold you responsible till you get back.” The Silver Fang mercs all turned and left as a group, leaving my friends and Jackal along with a whole lot of explanation to be given out. Chifundo, Quick Stitch, and Scopola Mina arrived back with a smile on their lips of a job well done. “Now get him out of my town before dark and I change my mind!” Sparrow called the last bit like a veiled threat which meant we were setting out, today.

“Nyota, you've got some explaining to do!” I shouted which deflated the smiles of all my friends almost instantly. I pushed myself up to a very nervous looking Nyota who started to back away only to have Jackal standing behind him.

“Ya know Nyota, you've got one very nice flank here.” Nyota immediately shifted to where he was standing perpendicular to us. I was on his left, and Jackal on his right. There was a click of the cyberclaw reattaching. It powered up with the whine of a spark battery. I was quite upset that he hadn't mentioned this several days ago, considering we had encouraged Jackal and his antics repeatedly.

I growled while Jackal gave him a set of 'Hey Baby' eyes.

“Okay look, we used to run together before I became a courier. With Stripes leading us along with Crackers and Helmet Joke.” He looked at me trying to look for a way out of this and then finally hung his head. “Listen Sunrise, I've done some things I'm not proud of. Including a lot of drugs that I used to do with these guys.”

“Oh, Nyota! Seriously, a lot of drugs? Let me tell you, this guy was the life of the party! The sheer amount of dash and stampede he could take and keep going. We all thought for sure he'd kill himself but nope.” Jackal reached over and was giving Nyota a noogie, which made him wince and try to shift away from him. I grabbed onto Nyota's shoulders and held him still, Jackal stopped as I gazed into his eyes.

“Nyota, I love you. I wouldn't have let you hold like you do or talked about what we did last night if I didn't.” I lifted his head while propping myself on his shoulder to be eye level with him.” Next time, tell us, all of us.” I kept our eye contact and felt a certain softness for him. He hadn't told me because he was afraid I'd judge him. Deep down though, my heart ached for his touch and yearned for him to be better than this.

Nyota kissed my forehead and let out a soft blow as he rubbed the back of his head. “Alright, love I just thought you would be more upset than this.” I was upset honestly but not in the same way he thought I was.

“I might be quite upset with you, but I'm more upset you didn't trust us, your friends, especially me, with this.” I wrapped a hoof around him while our friends and Jackal watched this tender moment. Jackal decided to interrupt it by thrusting his hips into Nyota's rear which made him jump forward without warning and kiss me deeply.

“There! Now Buck already and get it over with you two!” He declared in a gruff roar. Chifundo and Quick Stitch snickered, while Alguacil grabbed him by the ear, and dragged Jackal away from us who just kept chanting 'Ow Ow Ow!'. Alguacil was having none of it through and got him just far enough away that he could stand between us and him.

I didn't break the kiss through, I just held it there and my eyes fluttered closed while I pressed our chests together. The feeling of his heart beating faster in rhythm with my own made me feel a warmth and depth of love I'd never felt before. Nyota's displays of affection had always embarrassed me before but now I didn't care. I wasn't sure how long we were kissing but Scopola Mina grunted and cleared her throat to get our attention. That ended the moment and I looked at them. With a few pushes of my body armor to straighten out the outer fabric and shaking my head to remove the light headedness as well as remove the thought of just how horny I was right now.

Thanks for reminding me body that you really really wanna let him. But no, it is important to me; that I know my parents are okay with this. So much happened during the war, a zebra of all ponies to fall in love with. I have to restrain myself, I have to know my parents are going to support us and I have to know they are safe. I took a long exhale and got back to the issue at hand. Reminding myself that this was one more step towards finding my parents and seeking out said approval.

“So umm... what did you guys manage to get Coffee Stain to agree to in writing?” I prodded to change the subject away from Nyota and I's public display of affection, even if Quick Stitch looked all misty eyed at us and even Alguacil had a slightly softened expression on his face. Jackal just snorted and started to speak only to find a griffin talon around his snort keeping it closed.

“Coffee Stain has made a written agreement, but she requires metal of earth pony magic containment.” He explained and Scopola Mina stepped up.

“Alright, let me lay this out in simpler language. I spoke up because Coffee Stain was trying to pull a fast one. She isn't happy that I showed loyalty to you over her.” Scopola Mina took a breath and gulped. “Alright, she has agreed to get you six light 5.56 machine guns with 300 Armor-piercing rounds each. Two medium .308 machine guns with 300 rounds each. Two Duck Murder-8000 1 gauge punt guns with the ammo you asked for. And I convinced her to turn over a SEGA turret but we're gonna need stubbornite, a lot of it and 2000 caps.”

Nyota, Alguacil, Jackal, and myself all looked at her perplexed, “What in tarnation is a SEGA turret?” Alguacil squawked as he spoke and glared at Scopola Mina like he shouldn't trust her.

“A SEGA turret is 6 combat auto-shotguns rigged together into an armored ball turret. It has an ammo changer for slug and buckshot.” Scopola Mina shivered. “I've seen in turn ponies into paste with a single burst so it should keep any pegasi or anything really from getting too close or just put up so much flak that no pony wants anywhere near it.” My jaw dropped as a memory of such a weapon shot into my head for the briefest of moments.

I saw the walls of the Filly Scout fort, Fort Mint Cookie. It had six such turrets along the walls, with a pony in them 24 hours seven days a week. Anyone who attacked the fort at anytime would have at least two if not three such turrets blazing away at them.

They were made out of the old veritbuck side ball turrets, using their mechanisms for power and gyro-movement while replacing the 5.56 LMGs that are normally mounted there. Instead they had three full auto shotguns on each side that had two firing modes. All firing blazing away and tandem, left – right side shooting. I rubbed my forehead to shake the memory and was back with my friends all looking at me concerned.

“Sunny, you alright you spaced out there a bit.” Nyota asked while running a hoof back and forth across my face. I shook my head lose and smiled.

“Yeah, I think that sounds fine. We just need some stubbornite.” I replied to them with a exasperated sigh.

“I mean where we are going, there is supposedly a Q-Series Mare Minivan Mark III.” Jackal rattled off and I thought about it. Q-Series? Mom considered one of those if she could find it. It was made of stubbornite frame and plating. Way too heavy for her to move through. I remembered the last time we looked at a carriage, mom had tried to move one of those. Nyota smacked me in the back of the head softly to keep me here.

“Focus, Sunny. We have to get moving, not let you day dream.” Nyota reassured me. I walked up to Jackal and held my PipBuck up to him as I brought up my map. “Mark where we are going on here and we can get moving.” I leaned up to the dragon. In all honestly I didn't know if Sparrow would actually turn around and kill him or not. He used the scroll wheels to maneuver the cross hair over what used to be Blight-wood. I took a second to look at the marker.

“So what is there exactly?” I looked up at the teenage size dragon. “And just how do you know Nyota?”

Pink flashed up into view with a sign: 'Your reputation isn't sufficient with Jackal to have this information.' “Well, ya know, We just ran together for a while, ask him if you wanna know.” Jackal shifted around and then turned to the rest of us. “As for what is there, it's the Blight-Wood Parking Pavilion. There is a whole mess of scrap there but they also have raiders there too.” He explained and tried to nervously rubbed his head.

I looked at Nyota who blushed and shied away from my gaze. I felt like there was something deep inside him that he had hoped would never see the light of day. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and the guilt spread across his face. I had inner demons, they were obvious and often right in front of our faces. But here, Nyota's were laid bare and it was like a dam breaking that he had wanted to keep protected.

Chifundo approached him and placed a hoof onto his shoulder, “Nyota you do not have to tell, we are fine waiting on for your reveal.” Quick Stitch joined in with a hug of Chifundo and Nyota. They all looked to me expectantly and I trotted up to squish against them with armored plating. Scopola, Mina and Alguacil stood to the side, looking at each other uncomfortably. When the hugs were released we all stood around but the moment would not last.

“Can we go now you bunch of ponies, all this hugging is making me itchy.” He scratched at his scales and shifted walking towards the town gates.

***

The road was a hard and long walk, to say the least. The closer we got to Blight-Wood, the stranger it became. First were the back paths and side roads we were taking instead of the main highway. Anytime we got close to the main highway, my E.F.S. would pop up with red pips while everypony drew weapons for combat. Jackal would then immediately steer us deeper into the wilderness.

We came to a halt when something shocking appeared over the next rise.

With a name like Blight-Wood you would expect desolation, maybe plantlife that wanted to kill a pony. Instead it was like a barrier between worlds, of bountiful grass, brush, and trees appeared before us. It was strange as we came over the rise to the Blight-Wood, a straight unwavering line separated the wasteland dirt and this fertile grassland. The line was so straight that even a professional carpenter would be impressed.

Everypony looked to me as I approached it. Nyota took a few steps ahead, into the grass. He was misty eyed and moved his hoof over the grass a few times, scraping it. Then he knelt down and took a bite of it, chewing carefully. We all stared at him shocked.

I would have welcomed greenery a few weeks ago, now I was suspicious. I cross the barrier and expected tons of magical radiation or some other form of tingle on my skin. Instead, my rad counter registered zero. Absolute zero.

No background radiation at all, not even a hint of magical contamination. I scrolled through my PipBuck scanner settings looking for anything Gamma, Theta, Beta, Alpha, even just solar radiation from the sun. Only the solar was higher across the line as I waved it back and forth.

“Sunrise, this place, it's scaring me!” Pink was chattering her teeth over her hoof with little flakes of it flying off like flash against a metal cast figure.

I wanted to ask Jackal if he was sure it was this way, but my map marker told me what I wanted to know. We were going into Blight-Wood, whether we liked it or not. Everyone was staring at me playing with the PipBuck this whole time waiting for my response, except Nyota who was enjoying the feeling of grass under his hooves. I have to admit I would have, too, if not for the unnatural angles and Pink's reaction.

Jackal rolled his eyes, “Come on ya stupid ponies! If that thing's rad counter isn't clickin.” He shoved me out of the way and everypony followed along with him. Nyota and I exchanged glances.

“It's like Oasis, before the legion came. Green, alive, wonderful.” He took another mouthful of grass and chewed on it. It probably didn't taste the best but I was just as curious. I took a tentative bite, it was sweet to my surprise. Like morning honey dew with a velvet cake texture. I spat it out and shuddered. A feeling of ice cold paranoia ran through me.

“This, this isn't normal grass. It shouldn't taste that way, hell it shouldn't have any good taste at all!” Nyota looked at me perplexed, and shrugged. He took a flower into his mouth and chewed on it.

We caught up to the rest of the group and entered into Blight-Wood. The city was overgrown in vines, buildings in some places burst with them. Some of the taller structures were collapsed, only held in place by the overgrowth. In one case a skyscraper had the top dozen floors suspended by vines growing out from it.

Our pace slowed, there were no red pips, only gray and blue ones. Jackal was still gray to me, my friends blue, and then there were dozens of other gray and blues ones that scattered before us as we moved through the side streets and alleyways. The light was fading as we walked in silence. I could feel the tension, we were all afraid of what would come along if we made noise. The bunnies and field mice that ran past us didn’t even look at us. They were running from something scarier than we were.

Chifundo broke the silence, “So where does a dragon get a claw that is made from Iron's Maw?”
I looked at Chifundo confused, not sure if he was referencing a place or the material.
I swear if I ever have an entire day without Chifundo puzzling me, I will consider a second apocalypse on the way.

Jackal looked a bit off guard and Nyota stopped in his walk. His face was spelled out with dread as he turned to Jackal. “I mean there is this city called Megalopolis. Protected by layers of shielding and tons of egghead ponies. They have a whole lot of tech from before the bombs fell. Apparently the bombs only managed to damage the mountain it had been built into.” He paused and flexed his claw, visible upset as Nyota ran up to him and put a hoof against his side. Nyota shook his head at him and Jackal threw him back with a claw.

“None of your pony touchy-feely shit! They only promised what they would take, not what they would add.” He growled at him and stomped his foot. A red pip appeared on my E.F.S. behind us. The growl echoed around us down the streets and the red pip faded away, chasing the echo. I flinched at the dragon’s yell and moved to Nyota's side. “If you knew half of what they did to me for this claw and all its random little attachments, you wouldn't want to touch me. Damn ponies.”
Creature noise started to pick up. Birds at first, then guttural chirps and harsh territorial shrieks. Jackal held up a cyber-claw to his lips, “We need to find a place to rest. There are mole rats here as big as Sunrise and geckos that can swallow entire ponies whole, around here.”

Alguacil drew his revolver and spun it, taking flight overhead. “Stupid griffin, I'd fly it I thought it was safe. Somepony motion him down here.” Jackal growled with a contempt towards the rest of us. Chifundo went about flagging him back to earth. “Worst of all is the Manticores and Hydras. Not to mention the bugs here are bigger than what you even see in the wasteland.” Jackal pointed at Nyota, “That rad scorpion you killed in Las Pegasus is about their average size round here.”

“You didn't feel like that was worth mentioning? Did you know about this, Nyota?” Quick Stitch pressed in at us as Alguacil landed and joined us.

“Nyota didn't know and that's the truth.” Jackal huff and little electrical bolts shot out of his nose to punctuate his point. “So let's keep moving before one of those creatures realizes we're in their territory or some shit.”

This place is so beautiful, overgrown without ponies, wildlife running free. But hidden in that beauty, is something deadly isn't there Pink? I looked at her and she was shivering, huddled up in the corner of my vision wrapped in a blanket fort. She nodded and zipped up her blanket fort to hide there.

At that exact moment, a dumpster flew out of an alleyway just in front of us, and smashed into the vine encrusted wall. It crumpled like a tin can and centuries-old garbage smashed with it onto the moss covered street. We all jumped, there wasn't a pip on my E.F.S. Everyone dashed to take a look. Nothing there, nothing at all. Everyone stayed tense , weapons drawn. We waited for nearly two full minutes in dead silence for what had thrown the garage can at such high speed. You don’t want to go looking for whatever does something like that, you prepare in case it’s looking for you.

“I think we should probably look for somewhere secure to bed down for the night.” My suggestion cut the silence. We exchanged silent nods of agreement, Jackal included, as each of us spread out to look at the various store fronts and buildings. One of them had to be safe, secure and accessible. Many of them were overgrown with vines and trees. I noticed a bush with pretty white flowers on it and started to approach when a metal claw grabbed my flank.

“Stop there little pony. Don't be stupid and touch those. Bushes with flowers on them will knock you out, then start to seed inside you. I've seen ponies and dragons turned into plant food by their seeds. Feelers or something sense you and shoot you with a cloud of pollen that puts you out.

They keep pollinating you to keep that way while using your for food.” I stared at him, wondering how something that beautiful would be so deadly. Nyota coughed and hit his chest as if trying to spit out the flower he ate earlier. Chifundo and Quick Stitch gave solemn nods. I thought I even saw Chifundo giving a prayer under his breath.

Wow, even the flowers wanna kill me here in the future.

Scopola snickered, “I wonder what drugs I could make out of those flowers!” I turned to her and wasn’t sure if I wanted to hit her or hug her for that comment.

I walked up to a convenience store, its windows all crushed by thick bark covered vines that formed solid walls preventing entry. A door was still there, and a quick test proved its lock was too. My hoof kicked something.A small device with a couple of very thin long prongs similar to the screwdriver I'd modified. I picked up the object only to have Alguacil's claw snatch it from me.

“Hey! Nice find, kid, this here is an autopicker. We can use it to get this door open.” Alguacil pushed me aside, grinding my hooves over the stone stairs ‘til I was on the road pavement, stumbling in my heavy armor. Our companions gathered from where they were searching for a way to get in any other structure as Alguacil worked the autopicker. I noticed old dried blood on the storefront entrance. It had blended with the muddy brown paint, more than any pony could survive losing.

“Alguacil, are we sure this is a good idea?” I asked hesitantly, Nyota gave me a worried look as Quick Stitch took out his flame pistol. Chifundo walked up to the door, his rifle in hand before laying down and bracing to use his new larger caliber hunting rifle. The same rifle I had found in the guard tower almost a month ago, now modified for his use with a scope and sleek new bolt. Jackal stood behind Alguacil trying to give him pointers and Scopola Mina pulled out a Magical Energy rifle with her magic, floating it nearby. A brand new looking AER-7 infantry light assault gun at that.

There was a loud click behind us and we all turned to see the door easing open. The silence and tension were shattered by the loudest alarm I'd ever heard. My E.F.S. lit up like a Heart's Warming Tree, except all the lights were red. Panic welled up inside as we scrambled through the door, towards some of the red dots. “Sunrise, find the terminal and turn that alarm off!” Quick Stitch called out to me as my friends and Jackal moved to bar the door with their bodies.

Massive slams of some creature on the other side threatened to break the metal door down and left dents in it. This was a medium sized grocery story, a Whinny's Needs. I recognized it from before the Stables. These had most everything one could need at hours after midnight; food, chems, tape, office stuff, and even beer. My nostalgia was shocked back by another slam into the door as my body kicked in to race behind the clear counter.

I found a terminal on there along with three speakers on the ceiling broadcasting the alarm. Another slam and the door whined as metal started to strain. I tried to login to the terminal and it asked for a password. A posted note drifted down onto my hoof, flipping it over there was a passcode and username provided. User: Clerk 002, Password: 12345Six. At least they were creative with the six.

I hammered the keys as fast as my hooves could move and saw the disengage alarm command hitting it first. The pounding to get in stopped and the red lights muddled around outside. My head hit the counter with a sigh of relief. “That could have been worse.” Jackal and Nyota at the same time patted my head while the group spread out to search the room we were in. It was small, just three isles including the ones along the walls. I clicked on my PipBuck light as I pulled back to my side of the counter away from our group. My hoof covered my mouth failing to stifle my squeal.

You would think that eventually I would get used to skeletons and dead bodies but no, I will never get used to it. Nyota, Alguacil, and Jackal were over the counter to see the pony skeleton in the powder blue Whinny's uniform. They all looked at me with stares that could kill. The clamoring to get in resumed and the door whined while the walls echoed with banging of some sort of claws and hooves. The racket was deafening and we all looked in every direction to try to see where something would come in. My shotgun was out, bit in my mouth while Nyota and Jackal held the door closed. Chifundo was on the counter rifle braced, Scopola Mina her laser rifle out and my E.F.S. screamed with lines in red in all directions.

This was going to be a very long night.

Level Up Status - 88% to 9

Fan Art of the week

Sunrise Splatter Art, now available

Chapter 24: Haven in a Moss Covered Hell

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Haven in a Moss Covered Hell

The screaming outside had died down and the dead pony inside the shop with us had been placed into an hardened steel safe we found. I’ve seen safes, this one took the cake. The safe contained 88 bits, MRE packs, a .32 revolver with two boxes of bullets, six cartons of cigarettes (which Nyota split wit Jackal), some factory-sealed bottles of scotch, and enough baked beans to end world famine. There was another .32 we found with a single spent round and the skeleton we were certain took his own life. There was a raging suicide note as well:

“This stupid company didn't even have the decency to give us a shelter. There was a sign downstairs pointing at the foundation marked shelter, behind a bucking shelf. But ya know what was there? Solid concrete! The sign was just there for show! It has been absolutely miserable working for these stupid ponies. This is the worst, and I want the world to know that I died for no other reason than corporate cost cutting. Not that cost cutting does anything for them since everypony is dead!

Signed

Employee 003213-A”

We still didn't have a name for this pony and Chifundo said he couldn't find a spirit of the deceased around at all. Which made him as creeped out as me not seeing any RADS at all on my PipBuck. What made this most creepy at all was finding the painting of an Angel with a Shotgun next to a Sunrise inside the safe. I froze when I saw it and had to be dragged away by Nyota. Which is where I have remained for the last hour, curled up against him, shivering. I've been here before, and I don't know what to do nor do I have memory of it. I couldn't talk, I couldn't move, I just clung to him with my hoofs for support and to stop myself from screaming.

For Nyota's part he just kept petting my mane, and holding me tight while Scoploa Mina fixed dinner; a mixture of veggies for myself and the other ponies while a few skewers of squirrel were ready for Alguacil.

Chifundo was meditating repeating strange words that I did not understand, as the safe door closed on the dead pony he smiled and walked over to it, tapping it twice with a hoof, “The spirit here is not restless, they have chosen the Goddesses's caress.”

I moved from Nyota, almost on instinct, like something said we had to be more reverent to the dead than just putting him into a safe. He'd watched the world end, felt the flames of destruction pour over all of us. He had no one in his final days. I looked at each of my friends, from Alguacil's cold straight-forward demeanor to Nyota's loving embrace and on to Chifundo's mystery or Quick Stitch's need to help ponies; it was a beautiful thing The whole time I'd been thinking I hadn't realize I was writing and drawing on the safe.

Pink reached out through my vision and ran a hoof against my mane, I felt it. Not something new to feel, just something that reminded me she, too, was here and alive. “Oh little Sunrise, this time is playing out completely differently. I’m so excited I might run out of popcorn!” Pink reassured me I was doing the right thing through her loud popcorn munching. I drew the Angel with a Shotgun along with a Sunrise on a Cloudless Day onto the safe to make his place and that we were responsible for his interment.

I'd gotten better at drawing that symbol too now, it felt right and less like an attempt to scream ‘I am here’ and more of an attempt to hope that some wastelander would see it and feel like they were not alone.

That is what we are, isn't it? Not Equestrians, not pony or zebras, wastelanders. I paused as this revelation washed over me. I got to the end of my writing, and looked up at Alguacil, spitting out the chalk, “Alguacil, did he have a name?”

Alguacil held up a wallet with pictures in it. He had been quite a handsome stallion. His entire ID was written in a language I didn't understand. Scrolls of lines that didn't make letters to me along with dots and a few apostrophes. What was certain, none of it was Ponish. The rest of our group took a look at it and Nyota snorted, “Saddle-Arabian, probably no chance any of us understand it.”

I picked out the line in it that made the most sense as his name, then we placed the wallet with him. I took out a picture of the stallion... he was young, Nyota's age... we sealed it, the picture and the safe. “Alright yall let's get watches setup. I'll take-”

I held up a hoof, “I'll take first watch for myself, and Nyota's too.” I spoke up and Nyota looked at me with a grimace. Quick Stitch stared at me like a mother ready to scold me. He only stopped when, Scopola brought us freshly cooked food. Jackal just sat in the corner and snorted out a puff of electricity into the air. I took the time to check out the Trotting-Quik which had most of its shelves emptied. There was a side room with a dining area, along with a backstore room that had a basement.

While the others enjoyed their hot meal, and Chifundo tried to insist I come over to eat, I setup my three improvised claymores. Lunchboxes I'd converted into bombs using fire-hardened stale sprinkles as shrapnel and scrap metal directional plating.Trip wires rigged on the three entrances I could see to our room. Paranoia satisfied, I took a seat and Nyota passed me the veggie soup. It was good... better than his, even. “Scopola where did you learn to cook so well?”

“Do ya like it?” She replied and slurped down another string of beans.

“Your cooking is quite sublime, and your company has been a quiet divine.” Chifundo openly flirting with our new friend. Quick Stitch turned to Chifundo with a deep blush. I looked at Nyota and recieved my own reason to be embarrassed.
“Huh, I wish you would flirt more with me in public.” Nyota whispered against my ear. I blushed and shifted around then turned to him with a soft smile.

“If you insist, mister insist on shielding me from the wasteland then trying to kill me with embarrassment.” His only reply was to make everyone’s cheeks burn but especially mine with the most gentle kiss he could muster. Just barely touching me and pulling away. “I’ll remember that when I finish both our watches tonight.”

He gave a mock expression of being wounded and shook his head while going to help Scopola cook us something for dessert.

“Well thank ya kindly, I just hope I can provide something substantial to your little group here and maybe find some of those old world recipes.” Scopola's accent was thick, Appleloosian if I wasn't mistaken, but they were quite a ways south.

Jackal smacked his lips clean of the meat and grinned at all of us, “Reminds me of our time with Stripes! He was such a good cook when we were in.” He gave Scopola a pat on her flank with the cyberclaw. “Whatca think Nyota, she is a good looker compared to Stripes isn't she, not ta mention that sweet little mare you got with ya too!?” Scopola took a physical step away from the teenage dragon. I felt very creepy feeling wash over me, the same feeling when Curator had looked at me and flirted with me.

“Please, keep ya hands to yourself, I don't exactly know any of y'all very well yet.” Scopola shied away from all of us physically. Stripes? Who’s that?

“Let's get the focus on somepony else and away from Scopola. She isn't exactly a party-pony type.” Pinkie Pie interjected and I couldn't agree more judging Scopola Mina's reaction.

I took my food and looked between Nyota and Jackal, getting up to make a show of moving around. Every eye focused on my flanks as I turned between Nyota and Jackal. Scopola Mina looked significantly less uncomfortable but still had a deer in the headlights expression. Chifundo sat on his haunches and crossed his rear legs as he closed his eyes to meditate. I gave Nyota and Jackal a nod, then asked my loaded question. "Who is Stripes?"

Nyota nearly choked on his soup and Jackal leered at him, “You ain't told her yet? Oh this is gonna be rich!” Jackal slammed his haunches down onto the floor and put a bit stick of meat into his mouth, chewing it loudly as the silence set in and every eye was on Nyota. Even Chifundo opened one eye to look at him.

Nyota gave a nervous smile to me and then helped Scopola to a seat and then let out a heavy sigh. “She's a friend, an earth pony that's likely more heavily modified than Jackal here.” Nyota took a breath to think on it. “She is probably less pony than machine by this point. She is a mare that believes everypony should be given a second chance and before you ask, Siro's her lover; but I'll talk about him later.”

Quick Stitch playfully nudged my flank with his hoof, “Sounds like another mare we know, sans the cybernetics.” He chuckled and looked over at a magazine rack with only a few porno magazines in it.. “Hhhmm... what does your hornoscope say about you?” He muttered flipping over a tabloid article from one hundred and eighty years ago.

Nyota perked up and turned to face him, “It says you're horny! I'm horny! And Sunrise is currently waiting for parental approval.” The roar of laughter from all of us echoed off the walls, I turned bright white at the warmth in my cheeks but it felt good to laugh.

That is, until the metal trash can impacted into the walls at such high velocity to silence all of us immediately. Guns were out, Nyota and Jackal were back to back in combat stances. The room grew quiet and when nothing assaulted the doors or tried to get in, we quieted back down.

“Guess they aren't one for jokes, just keep it in yer pants tonight, the locals are feisty.” Alguacil spoke up and holstered his gun as he walked over to me and patted my armored flank. “While a good thought with givin' folks second chances, raiders and criminals don't make good on em, always back to their old ways.” He spat into the fire with a sizzle to emphasize his point.

“A judgment so quick and rich, given the presence of Quick Stitch.” Chifundo's voice sounded like something out of a dream compared to his normal chipper tones. It was like he could flirt even me to take my armor off for him. “Perhaps demon should finish his story, lest angel not get her apology.”

“Why you always gotta be so cryptic! He's willin' to do what needs t' be done to his parents should that arise, Quick Stitch is alright in my book period.” Alguacil stomped his talon and swiped it across the floor. I let out a sign of disapproval while Chifundo hung his head like he knew what was coming next.

Nyota stomped his hoof and stood right up into Alguacil's face as he got between us. “So let me get this straight! Since Quick Stitch was born into it and wanted to leave, he's only acceptable because he's willing to kill his parents?” Nyota snorted at him and dragged his hoof like he was prepared to charge.

“What about me? I was an addict for three years! I remember when it started, and when it stopped; all the parts in between are a bit fuzzy.” His shouting gave us a growl from outside, I stepped up to try to stop him only to be pushed back by Quick Stitch. Scopola Mina whimpered in the corner. I looked at Quick Stitch with eyes pleading for me to stop this. I felt like Nyota and Alguacil could very well come to blows finally; like I might lose them both. Nyota growled through his gritted teeth as he leered up to meet Alguacil face to face. “Am I just another set of ears for you to claim as soon as I slip up?”

My heart sank so hard, I felt like an anchor would float better. Chifundo got up from his meditation stance, “I simply caution you on your choice of label, as judgement from their use resentment can enable.” He stared to make a motion at each of them to take his hoof, Alguacil pushed him away. He snorted harder into Nyota's face. “Nyota, did you go around murdering, raping, and butcherin' folks to use their dead bodies for decorations?”

“Alguacil please, the pony themselves is what count, when their deeds we do account.” Chifundo pleaded and I wanted to step in but Quick Stitch held me close.

He leaned down and whispered, “Look if it comes to it, I'll fix them up but I can't do that if you're not keeping overwatch while I work.” Quick Stitch put me down and stepped between all of us. He growled as he spoke up to separate the two of them. “I never killed anypony as a raider, it's about choices you make, not the ones forced on you.” Quick Stitch stood up tall and put his chest out, he stood beside Nyota and I felt my heart lift a bit.

“Don't worry Sunrise, worst case they both end up with a broken nose and you get to make fun of Nyota going, 'Owe' everytime you kiss him for a week!” Pink interjected, the loudest she had been in a very long while. The thought both terrified me and make me giggle a bit, though my giggle wasn't heard over the argument.

“No I don't remember but things get hazy on stampede. What I do remember clearly is being very upset with ponies like you.” Nyota pushed Quick Stitch aside and got back into a fighting stance, squared at Alguacil as he rose up to his hind legs in his Fallen Caesar attack style. “Completely black and white, overzealous applications of justice, ready to kill just because they thought they were right and didn't ask questions.” He pointed a hoof at me and growled, “I don't know why Sunrise tolerates you, or what she sees in you as a friend, but I certainly could do without you!”

Scopola Mina smiled nervously at the two of them, she was about to speak and found herself closing her mouth. Chifundo closed back up into his meditative stance, while the stand off continued. He closed his eyes as Alguacil stepped up to meet himself beak-to-snout with Nyota, “I mean, I ain't the one huffin' jet in the middle of a fire fight or so strung out on rage I turn on my allies. No, I think that might have been you?”

Nyota leapt to strike and Quick Stitch stepped up to meet him, glancing the blow off his armor. Chifundo hummed his meditation tune and ignored it while I expected some pony to have a broken bone. Nothing happened through, Nyota looked horrified he'd struck Quick Stitch and Alguacil took a step back. “I caution against anger at this time, we know not the menace outside that does pine.” We all looked at Chifundo and Nyota stepped away towards me hanging his head as he glared at Chifundo.

“I appreciate that, Chifundo, but I'm sick to death of his black and white world view. It isn't as simple good and evil.” He turned back to Alguacil and growled. “And if he can't see that, I am only gonna tolerate him as long as Sunrise wants to.” He looked at me, raised his head just a little, “Love, I'm sorry, but until he can see that, I can't be friends with him.”

I felt a twinge of guilt, like Nyota was expecting me to judge him. My heart really reached out to them both and I couldn't find words to say anything comforting to either of them without feeling like I was turning my back onto the other.“If he can't see that everypony has done things they regret and are trying to make up for, then I don't know how to show him. Not to mention that it's the ones who don't have regrets that he should judge or be worried about.”

“And that's what raiders are Nyota! No regrets. What do ya think I was doing' giving that talk to Sparrow or just wanting to put Jackal down.” Jackal snorted indignantly like his entertainment for the evening had suddenly been soured. “Fer every creature I've saved, I've had to put a dozen down. Call my focus zeal if ya want but at least I have a goal in mind, a simple one. At least I got a reason for why I do what I do beyond chasing a mare's tail.”

I wanted to suddenly spring to life and smack the griffin. Nyota snapped and almost charged him, only stopped by my hoof against his glyph mark holding him steady. “And we don't!? You really think I'm doing all this because I want to buck Sunrise!? Why you stupid bird brained-”

Chifundo held up a hoof and opened his eye to look at Nyota, “Hardened clay does not soften with a blow, but with gentle water's flow.” He flipped his hoof over from a stop motion to an extended invitation to take it, “Your frustration I share, but the better griffin I try to prepare.” He then turned away as we all stared at him,. “I believe Alguacil spoke with a lack of grace, as we all desire an Equestria with softer pace.” With his last words, the room deflated, the tension let out.

I didn’t want to strike Alguacil anymore, maybe give him a stern look at worst. I might not understand everything you say Chifundo but you do have a way with words.

“From where I stand,” Oh please Alguacil, let it go! Just let it go! “The only two other than me that've goals in mind fer anything are Sunrise wantin' to know her past, and Chifundo wantin' to go find Zecora's hut.” He said rather flat and stern, like any emotion he had about everything that had just happened was non-existent.

Chifundo hummed, I now wanted to hit him but knew that wouldn't do any good. Pink tried to reassure me, I expected her to come up with some brilliant idea and she just shrugged her shoulders.

Nyota turned around, standing legs spread and squared in a charge position. I have to admit, Pink is right, he does have a nice...

“Sunrise! They're about to fight and you're thinking about his ass!? Seriously!?” Pink screamed at me and I felt her slap my face, hard enough to turn my head. I got a funny look from Quick Stitch and Scopola at the motion of my head, Chifundo just grinned.

“Because you never bother to ask any of us! You don't try to get to know us, Alguacil.” Nyota took a deep breath and then let it all go slowly in a prolonged exaggerated exhale. “You want a goal? It's nothing so lofty as your 'justice.'” He mocked the word just enough to make Alguacil stop leaning on the wall.

“I want to make a safe place for myself, the ponies I love and care about. I want to start a family and a farm, feed ponies and teach them how to make more for themselves.” He took a step back and pressed his flank against my shoulder where I was sitting, leaning on me like I was some anchor in a storm for him. I was more than happy to be his place of calm.

“Until Sunrise can join me for that, I'll stand beside her, aid her, and protect her; sometimes I'll lean on her.” He turned to look at me, our eyes meeting in a long slow gaze. I saw his anger visibly wither and love fill him. “And I know she will keep me from hurting myself.” I leaned up and gave Nyota a kiss, Pink threw confetti into my vision but I ignored her and closed my eyes to hold the kiss for a minute. Then pulled away stroking his chin as Nyota finally sat down and let his anger subside.

“Alright fine! What about you Quick Stitch? And why is the filly scout, is it Mina? Scina? What's her name? What are yer goals?” Alguacil stamped the floor indignantly as he walked up to take a seat back at our small pot of soup on hot plates warming our room.

“I want to see an Equestria where I don't have to pull bullets from ponies or mend laser burns. I wanna see a place where foals aren't thrown into a life of conflict and expected to survive.” He looked around at the group of us, he gave a gentle sign and smiled. “I'm here because even if I have to keep sewing her up, Sunrise has the right idea on how to go about things.” He drifted to Alguacil with his vision, which the rest of us did follow where he looked. I felt a twinge of pride at that statement, that somehow I had inspired a pony to be better. “But there's going to be broken eggs along the way.”

Alguacil shrugged, “Honestly, unless she can open the cloud layer, I don't see raiders going away anytime soon.” Oh for Celestia's sake Alguacil! Can you stop stomping on our hopes and dreams already? Just let us have this one.

Scopola Mina steps up as she starts to collect the soup for us to eat later. “The Filly Scouts are trying to help as best we can. It's hard to wipe out all the raiders with a lot of young fillies. We just try our best to make it happen.” Alguacil snorted at her and stomped off to where he set aside to sleep tonight. Scopola gave him a genuinely hurt expression and looked very flustered. “I'm sorry! I'm new here.” She winced when Alguacil got close and walked past him. “I just don't want any trouble, please.”

Alguacil found his corner and laid down, turning to face us with his hat on instead of his helmet, lowering it to where we couldn't see his face. “Your actions of the past as a Filly Scout, have your methods to cause many to doubt. But you own your soul, forward is your own path to stroll.” Chifundo tried to reassure as he let out another exhale and inhale in his meditative stance.

Quick Stitch moved to sit down, rubbing at his flank through his Ministry of Peace armor plating. Nyota took a seat next to me and laid his head against my shoulder, I just reached up and caressed his mane.

“Chifundo has a point, it'll be good to be out on your own, and maybe you can find exactly what you are looking for.” Nyota replied half muffled into her ear. Scopola gave each of our zebra friends a half hearted smile and they returned it to her.

“I just hope it's a tasty meal every night, and not as heavy on the conversation.” Scopola said and with the argument settled, I raised up my PipBuck and started playing with it, their conversation droned out by my focus to crack the next file. It wouldn't give in, no matter how much effort I went through, the files refuse to yield their secrets. I didn't lock myself out this time, though.

Finally, after another hour I felt a nudge from Nyota and turned to him, “I've got more explaining to do don't I love?”

I looked at him and grimaced, then gave him a nod. “After everypony gets to bed and I've done my watch okay? Just let me think for a bit.” I realized now that Chifundo and Scopola had bedded down in their separate areas.

Alguacil had finally come to a where he was gonna start his watch from and probably sleep at the same time. “Nyota, surely you think better of me than what ya said so far?”

Nyota turned back to him, away from our intimate whispering, and raised his voice again. “Nope, because you've never given me a reason to think that you're not just some law obsessed zealot without a soul.” Oh Nyota! Please! Ponies are just getting to sleep, don't start it up again.

Alguacil shrugged and grinned, “If I didn't have a soul, I wouldn't 'ave gotten pissed when Sunrise told that pegasus to say we we're raiders.” He looked up from under his hat, “And I wouldn't have taken her advice to give 'em a second chance.”

Nyota stood up, moving away from me and I gave him a whimper, which they both ignored “That's all well and good, but when was the last time you felt joy?” He made air quotes at the word joy and groaned. “Ever enjoyed a hug? The simple pleasure of sharing a bed with someone and just sleeping? A kiss?” Nyota gave him a snide smile and turned his flank to him in a manner that mocked the griffin. “From what I've seen, you've gone out of your way to distance yourself from any happiness to the point you no longer have a heart.”

Alguacil got very indignant and actually stood back to his talons at that, lifting his hat where we could see the unkept scarred hole where his eye used to be. “Nyota, you remember why I'm missin' my right eye, right?”

Nyota didn't even hesitate, “Because your dad was a prick! Doesn't mean everyone is?” He paused and took a breath. “And it doesn't give you the right to be judge, jury, and executioner over it.” Nyota stomped his hoof and pointed at Alguacil accusingly, “What about that griffoness at The Roof? Did you even give her a chance or did you break her heart and never take the risk?”

Alguacil lifted his talon in a full fist at him, “My only escape from the pain was in books. Few happy moments I got from reading! The last time I let myself care about anyone other than myself, it ended terrible. That's all I'm saying. I'll be in my fifties in a few years, and I've been through more than any of you lot have the right to know much less ask!”

They're still at it? Oh come on, that's it. I stepped up between them and they both adjusted their gaze to me. I clicked my PipBuck to back out of the file and instead shoot a look at both of them, “Alguacil. Nyota. Knock it off.”

Quick Stitch raised his head from his pillow, “The same fight, for nearly two hours.”

Nyota exhaled and hung his head, “Fair point love, Al can you do me one favor? Just one?” Nyota held up the point of his hoof to emphasize his words.

“Depends on the favor.” Alguacil laid back down quietly as he spoke bag as Quick Stitch rolled over in his sleeping bag.

“The next time we're in The Roof, go ask her out.. Have a drink, and at least apologize to her.” Nyota walked up to him and put a hoof against his shoulder softly. “If you can relax, see where it leads.” The way Nyota actually looked at him, I realized they might actually be friends.

“I'll think about it.” Alguacil turned to me and shook his head, “Sunrise maybe in time but for each scar you see, there are two you don't see. I think I'll try to catch some winks before my shift. Really hard to break down that door and your mine should go off if something does.”

Nyota pushed me back and stepped back over to Alguacil, putting a hoof against his chin and forcing him to look up into his green eyes, “You're a stubborn ass but you're still a friend,” he yanked the griffin close and hugged him tight against his chest scar. “Stop hiding from us and talk to us, sooner rather than later.”

I didn't hesitate, I felt the tug in my heart. The tug that said, your friend needs you right now. The moment was here, the moment to maybe finally get through to this damn hard headed griffin. I charged forward and leaped up to hug them both. “You're trying to match me for stubbornness, you'll lose... trust me.”

Alguacil went stiff, he couldn't move and his expression was pure confusion. “Group hug!” Nyota called out and every=one approaching us and all of them, even Scopola, embraced him. Scopola Mina was shaking and I just put a hoof against her head then nuzzled her cheek.

“I would like to put any bad feelings behind us, Mr. Alguacil, if that is alright?” She managed to say.

Alguacil let out an indignant squawk, “Could I get some space please? This is making me rather uncomfortable!” He spread his wings and every pony took a step back giving him enough space that he could spin and not touch us with his wings. Chifundo somehow gracefully going back to bed while Quick Stitch and Scopola both hung their heads back to their cots on the floor.

Nyota went away and started to zip our sleeping bags together for the night. I watched him, he has a really nice toned stallion rear, what's not to watch? But even as the perverted thought hit, my heart was tugged back to Alguacil. I placed a hoof on him.

“Alguacil, I'll leave it be on one condition. You give me a hug every morning and night, till you open up about what really hurts you. Does that sound fair?” Alguacil huffed and ruffled his already distressed feathers.

“Alright fine, you win kid. One hug in the morning and one at night till I open up about what hurts.” He turned in a circle and made a place for him to sleep, then dropped back onto his pillow, pulling his hat to cover up from my PipBuck light.

Quick Stitch leaned up, “None of you are allowed to die by the way! Not till we all know you can do so in peace, got it?” He specifically glared at Alguacil with the stern look that a mother hen gives to make you feel the guilt. Alguacil gave a smile, but the kind of smile that was clearly not used to giving. The face would have turned a hardened soldier into nothing but a gibbering mess in his own excrement.

Scopola recoiled at it, “Just don't smile, I think that scares me more than anything you've done.” That got a little chuckle out of a few of us and I took my position to guard for the night.

“Stupid pony shit, I wanted to see a fight.” Jackal cracked at us and rolled over from his position watching us. He snorted out a bolt of lightning into the wall quietly. “Let em fight next time.

****

The night had been quiet. I kept looking up at sounds of the wind, but kept myself quiet too. I spent over two hours getting to the end of my Equestrian Army Officer Tactics Manual. Once I closed the book, I turned on the radio on my PipBuck to see what the news was. After a couple of songs, and adjusting the volume so only I could hear it, I was rewarded with DJ Pon3's voice:

Hello Equestrian Wasteland! This is your host with the most D J Pon 3! Just a brief midnight interruption to remind you all to be better ponies. Today's lesson, Generosity! Next time you see a pony whose got nothing, just a bit of generosity to get them through the night goes a long way; especially in reducing how many ponies turn raider. And now, the News:

Some pony calling himself Red Eye, has begun taking over Fillydelphia. I mean if he can clean up that crater and make life better who are we to argue? Though I'd still be wary of them, there are rumors of slavery and potentially 'Converted Raiders' working under him to bring order out of that chaos. Why doesn't some pony head over that way and check it out, for good ole DJ Pon3 and let me know?

Steel Rangers are being reported sending out scouting parties, be careful around these lot. They would just assume kill you over a computer or a laser rifle as they would help stop a raider attack. Just be careful, there are reports they have some sort of airship near the ruins of Baltimare. If you see it in the air, just assume they aren't exactly friendly if you brandish any technology. If ya catch my drift

Next, rumors of the Angel with a Shotgun continue to surface, though I want her to come up to my studio to clarify everything going on. There have been reports of a huge battle near Las Pegasus, involving Enclave, Hellhounds, Ghouls, and even a three story tall Rad-Scorpion if you can believe it! The level of reports coming in are fantastic to say the least if not for the number reporting the exact same series of events.

What we do know, is there is a new memorial there apparently written by the Angel herself. In addition to this, reports say that she and companions rescued over a dozen Enclave prisoners who are now safely relocated to various towns well beyond Las Pegasus. DJ Pon3 knows where but not about to reveal that information over the open airways. But there are families reunited and the Angel is back out on the road again, somewhere in Equestria.

Now here is some- 'Click'

I walked over to wake up Quick Stitch. He bolted up as soon as my armored hoof touched him. “That time?” I heard Nyota roll over and stir, probably awake and pretending to sleep now as both of us looked at him.

“Yeah, it should be-” I saw movement out of a small uncovered window we hadn't noticed. My shotgun was out and Quick Stitch's horn glowed. I looked at the nearby shelf and started to pull on it, unsuccessfully. Quick Stitch soundlessly levitated it and moved the shelf to block the part of the window that wasn't overgrown with vines.

“There, that should keep us protected.” As he put the shelf down, a bunch of 9mm rounds bounced off the shelf. I picked them up and the PipBuck counted 68. Quick Stitch snickered and tossed in one more 9mm round which caused the counter on my PipBuck to change from 68 to 1 Giggity. Pink cartwheeled into view and giggled quite a bit.

“I wondered when some pony would find that feature! Do ya like it?” I stared at the counter and blushed quite a bit. I added 1 9mm round to my bags from Quick Stitch it changed to 70 but if the number was 69, it said 1 Giggity. I kept flipping back and forth to confirm this was a feature and not a glitch.

How very mature Pink. It's not like Nyota and I have... I started to turn very white with a blush. Quick Stitch rubbed at the burning in my cheeks as if inspecting to see if I was sick. I pushed him away and glared at him.

I was watching a set of red pips on my E.F.S. and his good mood went sour when he heard the wind howl. A creature in the distance. I did a patrol around the building to see if any of the red pips were inside. Pink got very quiet and hid inside a box fort with a sign on it, 'No one home!' She was scared, more scared that I'd ever seen her.

“Nothing on E.F.S. is inside, so long as we stay quiet and keep the door barred we should be fine.” As I spoke the red dots moved on, whatever they were, they were not interested in us yet. My screen red clear again, just our five blue dots inside the room with us.

I walked to bed with Nyota and found it incredibly frustrating to try to take off the armor plated socks I was wearing. I couldn't get a grip with my teeth nor my tail. “Need a hand love?”

I nodded, and he reached up to help. The amount of relief I felt, physically and emotionally, as he got the rest of the armor off was amazing. My coat felt like it could breathe again, my flanks felt wonderful and even my cutie mark stopped aching. I shook myself from head to tail and stretched out, flexing my back in every direction I could. I even raised my flanks in Nyota's direction in order to stretch them out. “Wow, I did not realize I was that stressed.”

I crawled in with him and let out a big yawn. He looked at me, “So you and Pink had a long conversation while you were in surgery or something? You seem to be getting along with her better or at least fewer outbursts.”

I looked at him and nodded, “She did and she talked about you too while they worked on me.” Nyota paused and held a hoof up to his mouth, then motioned me to go on. “She said that my mom might ask if she can share you.” I managed to fumble through the words despite the face my cheeks felt like they might explode. I squirmed and he just leaned over to kiss my forehead.

“Even if I start a herd one day, you will always be first in practice and in my heart, you the only mare for me.” He whispered into my ear and as my cheeks burned more but also my heart fluttered and my body wanted to get closer to him. I stopped myself though, I held myself back and waited as he stroked my mane.

“Did you get all the stress out of your system in the shower or...” My eyes went wide as I realized what I was asking him, I wanted to look down but resisted looking away from his eye, while my hoof moved up and brushed away his eye patch so I could see him star gaze.

“The stress from the road? Fight? Yes but no, the stress you are referring to is...” he murmured at me and pressed close enough to reach under the blankets and pinch my flank on the cutie mark. “Quite alive.”

I stiffened at the pinch, my body tingled, my heart sped up, every one of these feelings I welcomed. I wanted so badly to kiss him right then and there but needed to let the feeling pass. I wanted him, not just wanted him, I wanted to be his mare right then and there. I didn't look away from his eyes, and saw the stars collide in his right one. That collision was exactly what my heart wanted at that moment, “So if I look down, you're gonna have a fifth leg aren't you?”

Nyota chuckled low and petted my mane more as he pressed close to kiss my lips gently and then pull away, “I'm surprised the others haven't noticed or they are just entirely too polite to mention it.”

I giggled at him and enjoyed the kiss, like a firecracker going off between us in my mind. “I think they're just too nice, and I'm pretty sure between how I smelled and the silk nightie, Quick Stitch will be forever convinced we mated already.”

Nyota looked outright offended and blinked at me a few times. “I hoped you would think more highly of my care and love for you than that.” He paused and rubbed at my ribs where the surgery scar should be but wasn't, he admired the fact it wasn't there, “besides, I think that would have broken your ribs again. It is rather difficult to control myself around you, love.” I watched his eyes, the same as the ones that Curator had on me weeks ago. However, this time, I liked that he thoroughly checking my form.

I felt a warmth from my core and a sweet delightful heat forming between my thighs. I pushed them back and shook my head. No not yet, we lost so much during the war. There were so many lines that you didn’t cross, and one was making sure your parents were not stressed. Even during the siege, mom always told me to be certain and introduce them first. I have to keep that promise, if anything. I want them to know I didn’t give in when I find them.

Calm yourself Sunrise, clam down. Breathe. Let yourself cool down. I stopped and looked at Nyota with a frustrated grimace. “I really want to give in, and just, make love but I also want my parents' blessing, dad asked for that a long time ago.” I let out a deep disappointed sigh and looked away from him.

My heart sank a bit and then picked back up when he brushed my hair. Pink was sitting in a movie theatre seat, on the edge of it leaning in. “You are always one heartbeat away from bucking him till you break his fifth leg! Go on tell him how much you love him.” I raised my head to look into Nyota's lover eyes once again.

“Nyota, in all honesty, I'm a hoof's breath away from raising my tail to you and finding out how long it takes to break your pride.” I managed through rising heavy breathing. I could smell him, it was musky and full of sandalwood, it smelled like sex. I didn't know that from a book or experience I remembered, just from instinct.

Nyota just smiled ear to ear with the stupidest goofiest grin he could muster, “Only if I can treat you to a proper tongue bath.” His teasing only served to make me put my head into his chest, my hot spot blazing away wanting to give in.

I listened to the others and once I was sure Quick Stitch was the only one awake, I managed to speak, “Nyota, I don't think I'd stop if you did that, even if some pony walked in, I can barely control myself right now.”

Nyota shifted uncomfortably and pressed his chest into me while keeping our rear legs distinctly apart. “I'd like to believe you're wrong, but to be honest, the cage I'm keeping the lust for you in, is getting far too tight,” he leaned up to my ear and I felt the need to press close to him and indulge rising as his breath rolled over my ear, “It's taking everything I have not to find somewhere safe and well, give in.”

I looks him in the eyes, pleading with him to not make me choose. “I take it, yourself maintenance isn't helping anymore? Because the two times I've gotten alone, it doesn't help for long.”

“An hour, or two...” Nyota trailed off and my heart felt a pain of guilt. I had looked, I had teased him, I had gone out of my way to even encourage him. Yet here we were, not ever going past kisses and cuddles.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you stressed, or suffer-” Nyota put a hoof up to my lips and silenced me. Not only had I gotten used to that, but I have to admit, from him, I was starting to like it.

“It's not suffering, it's patience. It's not fun but necessary. Especially considering what I promised you,” he reached up and ruffled my mane with the same hoof. “Besides we may have to visit Cross Stitch again when we do, because I'm gonna tear off those clothes without hesitation and find out the noises you make.”

His words were too much and I slammed my head into his chest, screaming as a quiver went through my body from head to toe. I felt so many new delightful things all at once and couldn't control them. The sleeping bag filled with a scent, “Oh I know this smell! It runs in the family!” Pink exclaimed as it took every ounce of willpower to not give in right then and there. I heard Nyota speaking and that broke his spell on me.

“Goddesses... let us find something in Phi, I don't want her hopes crushed, I want some lead something so that she and I can finally give into what we feel. Please let us find her parents and I'm so sorry for her suffering I've cause... please Goddesses Celestia and even you Luna, save her suffering.” Nyota prayed and I looked up, completely mystified by his words.

“Nyota... you pray to the Goddesses? Not zebra spirits?” My confusion and curiosity distracted me from my body's needs and desires, I leaned up curiously, closer to him. I studied his face and gazed over his features as he looked at me as confused as I was. The focus besides on my raging hormones was nice and I was spending it with him.

“I... I said that out loud?” He asked extremely confused and his own cheeks flushing with a blush that was too familiar to my face at this point. “Your hopes are mine, find our parents, save them, and then settle down.”

“Nyota, don't change the subject, I”m virtually inside your mouth, if you whisper anything I'll hear it. You were praying to the Goddesses, Celestia and Luna.” I perked up and brought my forehead to meet his in a loving soft embrace.

“Y-yeah... my parents were exiles, outcasts, we still honor spirits and our ancestors, but the sisters were who we prayed to in hope they would help return and restore Equestria one day.” He went silent for a moment as we held each other in a timeless embrace. “Mmm-most zebra don't but we, my tribe was abandoned by our people, hunted down like animals in the worst cases. So we turned to those who would accept...” He trailed off as his smile became frustrated and his face grew hot. I felt his breathing get a bit more ragged, “you smell really good, it's hard to focus. Like a cinna-”

“Nyota, sorry. It's easy for me to latch onto something and distract myself, lose myself in work or a curious question.” I felt tears coming on, Nyota looked like he was in physical pain and couldn't move. I curl against him, pressing my cheek against his chest where the scar that nearly took his life was buried.

Nyota shook his head and kissed my forehead as gently as he could, I felt him take a deep inhale of my mane and shiver, “Love is one thing and I feel it no matter what. I want to protect you, I want us to know when the time is right to release lust, but until then; this is enough. Knowing you are safe, Sunrise. Knowing I can say I love you and hold you tight.” He held his embrace tighter and lovingly strokes my mane as we laid there.

“Nyota,” my forehooves moved around his neck and held him back gently clinging against his shoulders. “Listen carefully, I'm always safe near you and we have a laundry list of things to do okay? Jackal seems okay, doesn't talk much but he seems like he just needs some guidance. You say he is a good dragon but I think we need to have a long talk with him eventually.”

I paused for a while and I held him close, “Apparently I have a foal I should be looking for, both our parents, and figuring out these mystery boxes inside us. Yet here we are, in a life threatening situation, in a sleeping bag, wanting to buck each other's brains out, doing nothing to fix it! Why is this so hard!” My emotions ran hot and my squeals made Quick Stitch come over and press his hoof into the sleeping bag to check on me.

“It's fine, Quick Stitch, please make sure we stay safe.” Quick Stitch gave a disapproving whinny and walked away.

“Sunrise, Jackal is obnoxious, rowdy, horny, and brash... but a good dragon. He doesn't deserve death, and we have a habit of not ignoring the plight of the innocent.” He softly reassured me and held me tighter. With a soft sigh from both of us, “And I don't regret anything about you love. I'm restraining myself because I love and respect you, through you are completely irresistible tonight.” He tried to buck away from me and I slid my hooves down like he's shown me. My body slid into him and I ignored the obvious problem between us as I finally pushed closed to him and lovingly held him. My hooves moved and held his hips still using the technique's he'd taught me. I'd learned my lessons well as Nyota soon found he couldn't do that anymore.

I tried to reverse the conversation and keep us away from the obviously hard subject in the room, “Nyota, if you're sure he's worth saving, we'll save him-”

“Oh come on Sunrise, you've had a C-Section! You've obviously had to buck some stallion in the past. Stop tormenting him and let him inside!” Pink screamed out at the top of her lungs and I wanted to strangle her as my most private of places twinged. My tail felt it took, rubbing against my inner thighs. I gritted my teeth through it and shifted against his back, never separating my teeth as I hissed. “PIIINNNKKK...”

After several moments, Nyota reached back and brushed my mane again, “Pink please stop torturing Sunny and give her some respect.” My tail in response put itself outside the sleeping back zipper and closed it up in such a way to stay outside the sleeping bag.

“Fine, but if you two still aren't bucking and you hit estrus, I'm not going to let them lock you in a room for weeks! I will assume direct control!” Pink was extremely pissed and stopped off away from my view, for once I didn't feel her presence so close. Instead it was just on the bleeding edge of my mind, like she was there waiting for me to fall asleep.

Nyota looked at me expectantly and I felt I should share, “And now she is threatening to take control again if I lose control during estrus.”

Nyota shook his head, “And I will stop her. Because she isn't you. I don't love her, I love you. I don't care what you look like or what happens to you, I love you.” Nyota was fumbling to get more words out of his mouth and all I did was hug him tighter to me and feel our hearts pulsing in more ways than one between us.

“Nyota, you are so perfect, the best gentlestallion any mare could ever hope for.” I spoke softly and gently.

“YOU TWO ARE RUINING MY SHIP!” Pink called back and I heard a typewriter break in the back of my mind, making me smile softly.

“Nyota, thank you so much.” I felt my body warming up, I knew what my hormones wanted and how hard it was to fight it. But the itch went away and instead it just felt good to be, horny. I knew what I wanted but I also knew I couldn't have it yet and I'd finally reached a point where it just felt nice to be aroused. To just be near Nyota was enough to drive me for what could come later.

“Sunny, you're really warm,” He raised a hoof and checked my forehead, “It's not a fever,” He looked concerned and then inhaled the scents in the air. The hunger returned to his eyes as well as the loving soulfilled gaze of a heart beating with mine.

I rolled him over and pressed up against his back, instructing Pink to guide me. Nyota protested at first when the tail gave me examples of what to do but all that faded quickly. Apparently, my hooves are really really soft compared to his. He's right stallion's smell afterward. But he passed out like a light and we both slept soundly through the night, well he did at least.

ooOOoo

Unknown Wartime Memory

Whose body am I in? It's not mine, this one is certainly male. In walked several ponies in black suits with pink ties or bow ties. Everypony had a Ministry of Morale badge with a number on it. My host looked down and I caught his badge out of the corner of my eye, 88. No? I got a memory of 88? How and why!? Wait why does this body feel so familiar? Like, the one from the classroom!?

“Agent 88!” The voice that called was shrouded in darkness and now I realized it, the ministry agents didn't use shadows; they were bathed in them. It was Agent 9 and I couldn't make out anything about her, she was bathed in shadows that seemed to emanate off of her faster than the light could consume them to reveal her. Only her Ministry badge was visible, a gold plate with a bit white 9 stapled across it. The room we were in was like a police conference hall, chairs lined up in rows and several Morale agents gathered around. Their numbers ranged from as low as 302 all the way up to 9 standing at the front.

“Yes Mistress 9?” The stallion replied, his voice was gruff and coming from my throat quite a shock. I'm never gonna get used to stallions, the way they walk or the way they sit. I wondered how Nyota could sit down the way he did or move his hips in Fallen Caesar style.

“About Applebloom's interference, the Sunrise case, have you placed the object inside her for testing?” My host stood to his hooves while I felt like putting all ears into getting every last single detail correct. The tiles in the room protested against 88's weight.

“Yes, her mother believes it was another torture session but I have placed the object inside her. There were complications though.” Agent 88 hesitated and didn't wanna continue speaking. I felt something inside him growing nervous and apprehensive.

“Her soul is currently the only one attached, something about the bonding process caused the others to be rejected.” Is he talking about my soul? Attached to what? The box, in my spine?

“Agent 88! You need to solve this quickly. The rest of us in the project need results; and we need a replacement for our existing implants. I suggest you find her again and take care of it.” Agent 9 preached while every other shadow figure agent in the room looked at 88. There was something wrong here, a shimmer over them all. They were engulfed in shadows like 9 but there was something else about this that was wrong.

“I will do my best to get it done, may I get to it immediately?” I could feel my host sweating, a life threatening fear filling him.

“Yes 88, get to work, you are dismissed. The rest of you, we have much to discuss.” Suddenly the room was gone and 88 was standing alone, in his office with a desk and tons of paperwork scattered onto every single shelf, table, and desk. There was Silver Zoom standing in front of him.

Wait!? Silver Zoom? No it can't be? That isn't, he was... I couldn't finish the thought, “You got all of it 88? On the recollector?” 88's hoof reached up for the recollector over his own vision.

“Yes, confirmed she is operating as we thought.” And then the memory ended as the recollector was shut off.

ooOOoo

“Breakfast is ready yall,” Scopola called out and I groaned turning over. Nyota wasn't in my forehooves anymore, he was up helping Scopola with breakfast, which smelled nice. I found my emotions running hot and a mix of everything from love for Nyota to the pain that Silver Zoom may have betrayed me.

Had Silver Zoom betrayed me? Had someone pretended to be him? Had Agent 88 really been helping me this whole time? What happened then? Why had that memory orb been inserted into my pod? Or when I had seen this?

“Sunrise there was so much going on you didn't see and that you still don't, that if you knew it all; you would begin to wonder how your world stays in one piece.” Pink reassured me, then she flinched as the wind howled by. “I won't be much use to you here, just stay on your toes Sunrise! And listen to what Jackal has to say, for Pete's sake!”

Whose Pete? But even as I tried to talk to her, Pink was gone.

Our companions all had this knowing look about them towards the two of us. One at Nyota, then their eyes would roll over to me, they kept that up all morning. I got up and took a seat alone for the moment, trying to piece my thoughts together.

“Alguacil, you've already had two. You sure you want another one?” Scopola teased at Alguacil as he took another cinnamon bun and smiled.

“I'll watch what I eat when hell freezes over, now don't give me another reason to have two smiles in a decade.” Alguacil said with a happy smirk on his face, it was still uncomfortable to look at, like muscles that hadn't worked in a long time.

Nyota nudged me softly and nuzzled up against my neck, “Do you mind if I take a seat here?” I hesitated and pulled away from his nuzzles despite the fact it made me feel warm inside and gave me the best chills to have Nyota touching me.

“Well I think Nyota helped a bit to make sure this food is as good as it gets. Hopefully we got all the rads out of it.” Scopola reassured Alguacil and then they noticed I hadn't said anything in response to Nyota. The group all turned to me interested in why I was so quiet.

“Nyota, you and I owe each other an apology.” I spoke in monotone as I looked into his green eye and he stared back at me. “I don't know if I'll ever crack these codes and I haven't kept all of you in the loop about everything you should know. You did the same,” I looked at Jackal who gave a surprised shocked expression. I smirked at him while leering out of the corner of my eye, “I'm sorry for that, deeply; but no more secrets between us, especially about ponies we know from our past. Okay?”

Chifundo smirked as he finished his cinnamon bun, “Thank you Mina for your endeavor, your work seemed to be a pleasure.” Nyota lifted my chin into a soft kiss; I felt all my emotional turmoil deflate in that moment. It was like he could take the pain, confusion, and dismay within my body; then make it into a feel of peace and love that pushed it all away.

“Agreed sweetie.” I out of the corner of my eye while kissing Nyota, Scopola Mina pulling out the helmet we acquired back in town and she had the words, “Born to Cook” in sharpy marker onto it. I was still holding that kiss, even as Nyota tried to back away, I held us there till we both needed to breath.

I looked at her and tried to oatmeal, it was actually really nicely done. A hint of rosemary with sugar that flowed off the rich oats. My mouth was in shock that instant freeze-dried food could taste this good! I looked up with Scopola with thankful eyes, “Thank you, Scopola, it's quite good.”

Scopola just blushed at me and motioned her hoof as if I was flattering her. I did notice she was taking a look at Nyota's rear and then shifting her gaze away when she saw I'd noticed. I don't mind dear, you all don't know how much you've pulled me away from the thoughts I've had this morning. My curiosity peaked now way up, “Alright Scopola, I have to ask, what horrible awful thing has happened to you? Why are you a filly scout? Where is mom and dad? Who or what are you looking for?”

Nyota took a seat as Alguacil started to walk in a circle around the busted out store, “Come on, Alguacil, take a seat and join us.”

Quick Stitch shook his head and pointed the spoon of oatmeal at the griffin, “I think he's had enough socialization for the week, leave him be.”

Scopola looked at all of us as we turned our attention back to her, “I don't think anypony is looking for me. One of the scouts told me they found me in a foal carrier strapped to a dead unicorn, clinging to life.” Scopola took a deep breath and I could see the pain in her eyes rising. “I would like to think of the scouts as my parents now and they've looked after me.” She cheered up a bit and turned up to look back at us as her eyes dried. “They did not even know why I was spared or how I'd stayed alive, no clue who my father was,” Scopola Mina tried to smile but it died away quickly as she sighed out and I felt her sense of loneliness filling the air around her.

I hadn't realized just how much pain you could be in for never knowing them. She must truly be feeling lost. I started to get up and walk towards her but Nyota stopped me, “Scopola, forgive my rudeness but why did you leave the scouts? You're still young. Aren’t they still your family?.”

Scopola shook her head, “I'd like to know where I came from, and I'm at the age where it's awkward to stay on too much longer without forming my own troop, or risking being asked to leave.” I nodded to her and got up, walking over and offering a hug to Scopola, but she shied away from me; not wanting it. I nodded to her and felt like I should understand. I wasn't exactly the same sweet filly that had woken up in that pool. I was certainly more scary than I realized.

“You don't look that old through Scopola? I mean what are you, the same age I look? 15, 16?” I asked curiously and she just snickered at me.

“I've been a Filly Scout for 26, almost 27 years. I was three when they found me.” Nyota choked on his cinnamon bun. We both just smiled at him with an evil girlish expression.

“Oh my! If Mina has had a foal, Nyota is really into flirting with cougars! You've got the perfect young stud zebra. I mean you are one and I knew that but this makes it priceless!” I looked at Pink and shrugged not quite understanding what the term milf meant, then snickered and thought I should share.

“Hey Nyota, Pink just pointed out that if Mina has had a foal, that means you're been flirting with nothing but milfs... whatever that means.” I walked back and sat next to him while Scopola Mina exploded into laughter and Nyota turned beet red. Pink leaned up to my ear and explained what a milf was and even I felt a bit of warmth flushing my cheeks; but that just made it even funnier for me to giggle as I sat down next to Nyota. My tail reached over and swatted Nyota's rear to get him out of his blushing stupor. I gave him my most innocent, 'I didn't do it' expression I could muster.

He let out a squeak and jumped just a bit. If looks could kill. Quick Stitch was focusing on his food, and hoping we would ignore him in this moment. Chifundo on the other hand, finished slapping his thigh in laughter and gave his own devilish smirk, “The demon Pink, makes Sunrise shrink.” He then turned to Mina who looked very concerned as we talked about a demon. It was like he could see the emotions inside before she spoke, "Worry not, Scopola Mina, it is a just spirit of Pinkamena."

Nyota licked my lips in response. The level of embarrassment I felt building inside me might make me explode like one of my grenades. I quickly looked for an out and went for it, “Hey Chifundo! Why don't you explain Pink to Mina?”

Quick Stitch let out a huff and put his bowl down hard to make a show, “It's all mystic mumbo jumob to me. I stick with real science, and I think Scopola should too.” I wanted to ring his neck right then and get him to explain to me then that I was completely crazy and Pink had not possessed that zebra outside Las Pegasus. Thankfully for all of us, Chifundo saved the day somehow.

“Sunrise and myself see a spectre past, a creature of mirth whose spirit out lasts. Pearls of wisdom she does deliver, though at times only for humor to consider. Malicious intent is always, rare this spirit humor Sunrise does bear. Pony of pink is the creature's appearance, uncertain is its insisted to Sunrise adherence.”

“Wait are you saying that you two can see a pony that we can't?” Scopola looked very confused by the prospect and turned Quick Stitch for support that we were just twigged ponies.

“My tribe speaks of those who see, through rare it is true to concede.” Chifundo reassured her and adopted the meditative stance he had the previous night. I stared at him, while Nyota grinned at me. Following along with Chifundo was always difficult for me but now that I knew what he was speaking about, it was easier.

“Chifundo, I will never fully understand you.” I turned my attention to Scopola Mina and smiled at her, “Mina, you observe my tail right?” Almost on cue, my tail lifted up for her to see and flexed as it grabbed onto my helmet and put it on my head. “I don't tell it to do stuff like that, it does it on its own because Pink is in control of it. I've tried, but I can never do it myself.”

Nyota raised a hoof to stop me, “I know who she is, and she terrifies me.” I motioned for him to continue with an expression of waiting to laugh at him coming on. “She's known to my tribe as the Pink Demon, but to most ponies she is Pinkamina Dianne Pie, former bearer of the element of laughter and the Ministry of Morale's leader, in spirit form.”

My tail took it from there as Pink assured me “Watch this.” It curled up and pressed against Nyota's muzzle with cartoonish lips formed from my tail hairs that started kissing him, complete with smacking kiss noises. Nyota looked scared and then relaxed as he eyed the tail, cautiously reaching over to ruffle my mane while my laughter died down.

“So right now, there is a pony here that some of you can see and hear that lives in your tail?” Scopola didn't take her eyes off my tail while Quick Stitch rolled his eyes and Chifundo shook his head, smiling. Alguacil stopped his pacing and let out a few short snorts in my direction and then gave Chifundo an expression of disapproval, swiping his claws on the tiles.

“Come on you ponies, we should get moving.” Alguacil nudged me to try to get me to my feet. Nyota reached over and wrapped a hoof around my shoulder.

“Fine, let's get packed up when Sunrise finishes her breakfast.” But to Nyota's dismay he heard me put down my bowl of oatmeal I'd been snacking on this whole time. I reached over and downed my juice in one gulp and smirked at him.

I disarmed my lunchbox claymores and there was a loud beeping noise that caused all of us to flinch. Alguacil grumbled as there was a rumbling, rolling past us. He looked at me, “Sentry Bot, probably, based on the last robot we encountered.” Nyota handed me coffee and I looked at him with a are you sure? And he gave me a nod which assured me drink the wonderful tart black liquid like it was a nectar of the gods.

Pink made herself scarce, in the worst way. I hadn't asked her to go away but I could only feel the faintest bits of her presence as I donned my armor. It was like the act of leaving our temporary sanctuary was reminding her to be terrified. A heavy groan echoed from the basement of this Trotting-Quik. I felt this kind of impending doom return to us.

Chifundo shuddered and shook his head, “I have that bad juju feeling, it is causing spirits to be reeling.” Nyota nodded to him and we opened the door, I licked on my PipBuck light and we started into the basement. Stone stairs greeted us and at the bottom another growl met our ears, just beyond the employee washer and dyers was a pony, lying on a cot. He was rolled over facing away from us and there were signs of decay, rot, possibly full on ghoulification about it.

The rest of the group gather around and stood back, ready just in case as I eased ahead and put on a friendly face, “Umm... hello, I'm Wandering Sunrise, are you okay?” The pony creature stirred to life, easing up till I saw it. This was a ghoul, growling and feral. A series of branches grew from his chest and his foreleg, the one we hadn’t seen was massive. His cold gray coat was covered in mane hairs that fell off in sloughs that left him nearly bald when he moved. But his one leg, was nearly the size of my entire body. It roared at us and charged me in a rage, slobber raining from its lips.

I raised my shotgun but I was too slow. The creature's full body weight impacted into my chest and I was carried off my hooves as gunfire erupted all around me. The lights dimmed out from the impact as my visor cracked under the strain. The next slam, into the wall, left me seeing stars and my entire body felt like fine china. I felt his hoof grip my helmet, skull and all; pulling back to deliver another slam into the concrete wall. Back into the world of pain with an all new horror to deal with, this is gonna be a painful day.

Chapter 25: Taintwood's Dangers

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The world span and I tried to push past the pain. My ears rang with the sounds of Alguacil's revolver, and the blackness around my eyes faded as I focused. I was being lifted by the creature and my hooves struggled to find something, one of them struck a very familiar piece of wood; my shotgun. I grabbed it and bit in, freeing me in a roar of buckshot. I was separated from the beast and struggling to get to my feet.

I hit the ground, and the mutated pony roared. I looked up shocked and frozen for a moment, my body certainly was not used to pain like this and I could barely find my footing.

“Sunrise, move!” Pink shouted, and I felt an invisible hoof pushing my side. I rolled with it as the mutant’s hoof slammed into the concrete foundation. It’s hoof and leg, three times the size of a normal pony’s and loaded with muscle, left a crater in the concrete. . I shuddered, realizing the damage it could do to me, even through my armor. I’d just end up a crushed can of pony; if it managed to hit me.

Chifundo's rifle cracked, but at this range he couldn't keep the scope on target. Round after round slammed into the wall behind the mutant. Nyota ran into it and delivered a massive buck straight into its jaw. The mutant’s strength was scary enough, but now its speed showed; that massive hoof slammed into Nyota and sent him sprawling till a second blow from the massive leg pinned him against the wall. Nyota whinnied in despair and pain.

Jackal hammered his cyberclaw into the leg and pulled on it hard, “No you don't! Nyota you don't get to die today!” He put his full body weight into pulling at the creature's arm to inhibit its ability to crush him. I felt a boiling rage swelling up inside me.

“Get your hoof OFF him!” I shouted as Alguacil fired another round. I couldn't take it anymore. My vision blurred a much deeper red. I wanted to break this creature apart with my bare hooves. I let out a roar that I didn't realize I could muster. The gun shots stopped and even the mutant paused. He rushed forward with one purpose, murder. My muscles felt like they were bulging with power, power that was hidden within an earth pony. The creature pushed Jackal off with a massive effort and reared its massive fist at me.

S.A.T.S. activated on its own, or maybe Pink did that one, so I queued a shot at its knuckles and committed myself to bucking just like Nyota did. The training with him kicked it as the spell was released and my body moved.

My body flexed and reared, spinning in slow motion before I released S.A.T.S. Life moved still at a speed that felt like I never released the spell. Both of my hooves connected with his massive one with the sound of sledgehammers meeting.

My friends starred and the mutant looked confused as our hooves met, my two versus his one pony sized one and held there for aching seconds.

I felt the impact through my body, it rippled across the two of us. My joints screamed, my ribs felt like they could crack, my hooves were numb. The two of us separated almost instantly. I couldn’t feel my rear legs but they supported me, barely. I growled at the creature as the two of us stared at each other.

“Leave HIM ALONE!” I screamed at it while the sound of laser fire filled the room. Scopola Mina's laser rifle finally found a mark and hit something vital.

I hadn't even noticed the filly scout had been pumping out bolt after bolt at him. The incineration spell had left dozens of scorch marks during the fight. The creature started to cry out and froze as it turned to ash, disintegrating from its chest out along the rest of its body.

Pink was way to overjoyed as the hot pink ash floated away and covered us. Nyota was stunned staring from myself to Scopola then back to me. Jackal clapped him on the shoulder as he steadied himself.

“Hey! Just like old times! Almost die, and then something completely unexpected saves us all!” The dragon chuckled and put a claw onto Nyota’s shoulder. I gasped for air and wanted to collapse. I could see some damage had been done to my legs. Nyota glared at Jackal and shrugged the claw off his shoulder.

He approached me and wrapped his hooves around my neck. I felt Quick Stitch near us almost. He was pulling his fully mom doctor mode and his horn glowing. Both of us could feel the power of his healing magic tingling through us and working to heal bruised muscles, cracked bones, and stressed tendons.

I just listened to Nyota’s heartbeat, calming my rage and nerves. My vision returned to normal and my breath sounded so ragged that I must have sprinted miles when it had only been a few seconds in combat.

Nyota stroked my head and I realized he had been speaking and whispering to me. “Shhh, calm yourself.” He whispered and then shushed me again. “I've got you, it's over. We’ve got you.” He held me tightly and softly reassured me further as the feeling in my rear legs returned.

Alguacil spoke up first, “What in the wild world of Equestria 'as that?” He kicked the pink ash away and then looked at me. “And when did she 'get that strong?”

Nyota shrugged and Chifundo giggled as he tilted his head. “A mare of that size taking on a foe like that is a surprise. Sunrise is obviously a berserker, but her friends will not desert her.”

Nyota pulled back just a bit and looked a little scared when Pink rolled across my compass, “Oh! It's finally come out! The inner destruction!” Pinkie did her best impression of an angry dinosaur, which is to say it was more enthusiastic than good.

“Well that is something we're gonna have to temper and focus.” Nyota replied and there was a collective sigh of relief while Alguacil went to searching the room. I broke from Nyota's grip and approached the cot this mutant pony had been using.

“What do you mean I’m a berserker? I wouldn’t hurt anypony if I could help it?”

Chifundo sagely nodded to me, “Of this I have no Doubt, evidence of your kindness is all about.” He gestured to all my friends surrounding the two of us. Then pointed directly at me and tapped his hoof against my heart. “But locked deep in your heart’s cage, is a very powerful and passionate rage.”

I took a moment to pick apart his words and realized I’d be watching myself from here on out. I had to make sure that whatever this inner demon was, it didn’t come out or if it did, it wasn’t on the wrong ponies.

Quick Stitch continued to work and nod, “My time with raiders would tell me the same thing, the kindest and softest individuals often have the biggest amounts of rage to draw on. You’re the nicest pony I’ve ever met, I always wondered if you would just snap one day.” He finished and pushed a hoof against my flank to test my legs. “There the bruising should be healed now.”

My leg certainly worked again. My breathing had barely slowed down and I started to pray to the twin sisters. Chifundo joined me in silence as I wished the soul of the pony we’d just turned to ash, would find peace.

We left the room behind; and prepared to leave the store. Disarming the mines I'd laid to protect us was an easy task since I had not only laid them but they were a form of explosive I'd actually created. Then, we prepared to open the door, unsure what horrors we would face, in this garden of monsters.

***

It was overcast, outside. Plants and moss had overgrown the buildings leaving everything beneath the grey skies solid green as far as I could make out. Every step, our hooves crunched under us. Jackal winced, “Keep an eye out for flowers, they will do stuff awful to you.” He explained to all of us. I looked at him with a frown.

I smelled something beautiful and I started towards it when Jackal's cyberclaw stopped me. “Stupid pony, look and don't smell.” He pointed his claw and my eyes followed it to a mostly decayed body. Vines and roots sprouted from every orifice of the pony, revealing wonderful yellow flowers.I thought I saw those vines move, and twitch. “Especially don't touch the blue flowers.”

I looked at him horrified, “What do the blue flowers do?” I asked nervously, seeing one twitch nearby. I stepped away and shuddered I felt some instinctual urge that, Plants Aren't Suppose To Move.

“Oh, they have ferns attached that just straight up eat you.” Jackal shot a glare at me, and I wasn't sure if he was serious or just saying that to scare me. Then I saw a fern move towards me and jumped. Nyota caught me.

He steadied me and shook his head, “Don't flinch like that love; sudden movements might draw things in”

I got back on my hooves and began to scan the area around us.

Something flashed from the corner of my eye

I dove into Nyota to move him. A heavy metal object slammed past us, a pre-war trashcan. The noise of it hitting the brick wall, crushing with a wet squelch and a metallic clang mixed together. Every creature was on high alert looking in the direction of the thrown can.

A severed head slumped out of the trashcan.

I winced and took out my shotgun. Every pony had their weapons, when Scopola revealed her modded AER 12. It was a medium range to close quarters laser rifle unlike the standard variants made more for sniping. The important difference was its rapid fire and lack of skill required to aim compared to earlier models. It levitated near her head, her eyes searching.

“Algaucil, Quick Stitch, you two see anything?” I asked, considering that they had always been the two with the best eyes for seeing something before it happened. Geckzilla, The Roof, The Ambush in Las Pegasus; those two were on the ball. That book on Equestrian Officers was pretty good; and I was starting to learn from it. There was a growl and then thunder overhead.

No please, no, rain now would mean we are stuck indoors; trapped near whatever that thing was. Just as I thought that, Pink opened up an umbrella as rain drops hit the visor on my new combat helmet. I paused, expecting the click click of the PipBuck, but none came. Now I had soaking wet armor and the stable suit was being put to the test for its waterproof quality.

I looked to the others who moved underneath the nearest thing that would keep us dry. Alguacil extended a wing over Quick Stitch as the two of them kept looking around.

A red dot winked into view on E.F.S. and I drew my shotgun, pointing in its direction. The red dot seemed to be able to see me but I could see nothing but the highlight from E.F.S. The rest of our group proved how well armed they were with various clicks and charging power packs drawn.

“Sunrise, what's wrong? I don't see nothin',” Alguacil asked and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“My E.F.S. is showing a red pip but if you guys can't—“ Just as I had been speaking the red dot winked out of existence. “It's out of range now. I don't know but it keeps showing up, just like yesterday since we got here.”

Nyota and Jackal looked at each other and then turned towards me with Jackal speaking, “Well, Taint Wood ain't exactly known for being nice. The plants around here will straight up eat you. The pollen from the flowers is poisonous and keeps you unconscious while it bloats your body into a spore hub for spreading it.”

I nodded, the dangers and horrors of this place slowly filling me up. I felt my facial expression of terror welling up inside and kept suppressing it to a disappointed frown.

Nyota placed a reassuring hoof against my shoulder plate. I had started to learn, I could not hide my feelings from him. Jackal resumed speaking, “You really shouldn't touch the ferns, they turn you mad and feral with direct exposure.” He leaned in close with a mischevious grin on his lips and in a whisper made to scare me finished what he was saying. “Just think about the creatures that can live in that sort of environment? Such as the Charger in that basement, think about what lives out in the open.”

I gulped and nodded to him. Nyota held me close and whispered, “We've got you love, don't let him scare you.” My mind went wild with the possibilities of what taint could do considering the warnings about it and what I'd seen it do to changelings. We started forward again, in spite of the light drizzle, stranger still; No radiation was present here.

I had narrowed the bandwidth of detection down further and even background non-harmful radiation was present here. My skin was crawling, my nerves were high strung, and I just wanted to leave. It was like the sun itself didn't reach here through the clouds but somehow, every footstep was accompanied by the crunch of moss, leaves, or some other living plant life under hoof and claw.

I stayed near Nyota and kept him reassuring me after Jackal's speech and kept looking for any dangerous or sign of where we were supposed to be going. Jackal was just behind me, almost breathing down my neck at some points to keep me steered onto the same path rather than the direct route my PipBuck kept giving us.

This entire game of cat and mouse with the red pip on the E.F.S. continued the entire trip. I felt so unnerved, feeling eyes watching us. Whatever had come out at night in hordes I didn't wanna run into.

I flinched when Jackal stopped me from stepping on a vine. The lovely flowers that were coming off of it had slipped my mind while we worked towards the settlement in question to acquire the trade goods and see if Jackal was true to his word.

My map marker was getting closer and a very large parking deck appeared before me. Parking decks make sense for settlements when I think about it. They are hardened reinforced concrete bunkers,and easily survived the bombs.

As we grew closer, Alguacil took flight and came back down, “No one make sudden moves, they've got some heavy weapons on us.”

Scopola pulled out a inhaler of some sort and snorted it up. Her eyes glazed over and then suddenly looked very very focused. So she samples the Filly Scouts own substances? That can't be good for her. A very drugged out pony stepped forward when the talons and hooves came to a halt. I saw the griffons next to a mare, they looked like the old Talons from the war itself. The mare however, looked like she was on many more drugs than Scopola Mina.

“Who are they?” I asked and my hoof stepped on something, that moved. Alguacil drew his gun faster than I could react and fired. My hoof felt the wind of the bullet as it glanced off my armor and splatters of blood hit my face, my ballistic goggles protecting my eyes from the spay.

Screams and cries raised around us of creatures I recognized the noises from when I had first woke up, the things that had tried to killed Nyota, Molerats.

The ground exploded around us, even concrete and road pavement was no match for them, as nearly a dozen of the creatures lit up my E.F.S. all around us. They acted like living lethal landmines ready to rend us apart.

Scopola moved at a speed I didn't think possible, laser fire lighting up two of them in seconds and turning them into ashes. I saw the body under hoof and stomped down. Images of Nyota being ripped open flooded my mind and with it a rage I didn't think I had within me.

Nyota was in hoof to hoof with four of them, S.A.T.S. activated, my tail came up to help the shotgun as I drew it. I queued the shot, it still took all of S.A.T.S. power to pull 1 shot from this thing. I waited in slow motion as one leaped behind him, he didn't see it coming.

He turned in agonizingly slow movements to it. I could see the expression on his eyes when he realized he wouldn't make it in time to stop the blow from hitting him in an unarmored spot the barding I'd made for him didn't cover.

BOOM!

The creature exploded into bits from the solid slug that exited the barrel. Solid Slug! What? I loaded you with beanbags and buckshot, why? How? Pink snickered in the back of my mind as the world sped back up. Nyota smiled at me.

“That's twice you've been right on target, love.” He smirked while using his brass hoof to fill the mouth of one of the mole rats trying to bite him. I watched it's teeth break against the brass. There was a need to wince and feel bad for how much that hurt, until he ended it's life by snapping its neck with a single blow.

“You're keeping count!” I called back at I had to use the shotgun barrel to block one of the creatures and then brought my hoof up exactly as Nyota had been showing me, right into its gut; driving the wind from it.

Alguacil's revolver roared again and again, as molerats exploded around us. The oversized hand cannon rounds ripping their bodies clear in half or completely disintegrating their heads. More exploding concrete and asphalt ruptured around us.

How many of these things are there!? I stumbled back and realized now I was back to back with Nyota and Quick Stitch. Chifundo had formed up with Scopola and Alguacil.

Chifundo's varmint rifle only seemed to stun them, but that was enough for Scopola to hit them with repeated laser fire from her AER-7 and end their lives. Quick Stitch sprayed his flamer pistol around us. He wasn't trying to him them, only set the vegetation on fire and create an area of denial. He was protecting our backs while Nyota and I worked through them one at a time. I kept my gun moving fast to ones that freshly flew out of the ground.

Meanwhile, Nyota worked at keeping the ones that got to us back. The battle raged and my shotgun clicked. I reached back and pulled out my .357, Buddy's Last Gift, and fired it over and over again. The police revolver echoed around us with pops that didn't come near that of Alguacil's hand cannon as the symphony of battle kept going.

My armor rang with teeth trying to tear through it. The new plating was proving it's worth when they couldn't penetrate. Their weight nearly knocked me over several times but again the weight of the armor proved to anchor me in place. My revolver clicked at the next shot.

I hadn't been paying attention to the ammo counter on my H.U.D. I hadn't got used to the goggles and how they changed the display. We were far too close for explosives without hurting my friends, I could only resort to hoof to hoof. Nyota shoved the two creatures that were desperately trying to find a way into my armor off and Quick Stitch lit them ablaze before they could recover.

They died screaming in agony, Nyota growled and looked at me, “Reload! I'll cover you.” He called out and I had a better idea. Pink got the idea and took out a tail full of shotgun shells, I didn't care what they were, one at a time, I loaded and fired.

Scopola squealed out with glee, “WHOO!!! Love the smell of cooked molerat! So yummy right now!” She spoke in a squeaky and high speed voice that ground on my nerves and somehow rang out above the sounds of combat. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

Finally, the molerats appeared broken at the sheer number of them falling and making no progress to get at us. Chifundo was covered in scrapes and scratches, Alguacil's wing looked bad but not broken. My armor had held and while Nyota was covered in blood, most of it wasn't his.

The creatures dove into the ground and the sound of our heavy breathing was all that echoed around us.

I wasn't sure how many bodies were around us, Quick Stitch quickly working to heal Chifundo and Scopola. He was looking around expecting another attack. Nyota checked me over and found that my armor had held. None of the bites had managed to get through. I felt a sense of pride at my own engineering. At least I could protect us from the dangerous creatures of Equestria.

Jackal, who I'd lost track of in the flurry of combat, was licking his cyberclaw while munching on a molerat corpse. That is so gross! We all glared at him as the sound of his jaw crunching bone echoed around us. I looked away and kept suppressing the need to hurl. There will be a day when something doesn't make me wanna hurl, but today is not that day.

A horde of gray and red lit up on E.F.S. before us. I paused, and the little red pip that had been pursuing us disappeared. I shifted back to look where it had been and noticed a metal tin can rolling towards us. Alguacil seemed to notice it too, He pointed his revolver in the direction of the building. I gulped and turned back to the sound of hooves and talons approaching.

“Who the fuck are you? Why are you here? This is ours!” The mare declared and I frowned. I wanted to protest, or even whine. My own tail grabbed my mane and pulled to stop me from immediately protesting.

The talons could have been twins. They both had deep grey feathers with white heads. Their armor was certainly pre-war talon gear. That or I wouldn't be surprised if the Griffins can still make it. The mare was wild eyed with dark blue eyes at the edge of her pinpricks for pupils. She had a luke warm blue, almost a turquoise coat and her pink mane was caked in debris that left white spots and black pieces stained in.

“You gonna answer or what?” She demanded and the group turned to me. I sighed and nodded, stepping forward and raising my ballistic goggles to make it easier to see my face.

Nyota and Alguacil as one, grabbed onto my shoulders and made me turn and look at them. They both had an expression as if to say, Don't Trust This. I nodded at their concern but these new comers hadn't caused any trouble yet.

Jackal shrugged, “It wasn't occupied when I came here last.” He had a look of genuine innocence even if his face was infinitely punch-able right now. If only I was closer to him and taller I might decide to make that happen.

I approached them slowly, when talons drew their weapons. One of them held up his talon to make me stop. The service rifles even with armor piercing rounds wouldn't have much of a chance of hurting me without a precision shot. “That's close enough.” I realized now that griffin was female, I couldn't tell since she looked exactly like her counterpart.

The tactics manual came to mind, making themselves look the same so you couldn't tell which ones were injured or who was really in charge. I looked at them, nervous, and nodded to each of them.

“I umm... you mind if we talk this out instead of using violence? Alguacil, put the gun away.” I didn't even have to turn around to know he had it out. There was a loud click from him unpriming the hammer. “We just came in to see about a salvaged Q-Series, that's all we wanted to know if perhaps we could trade for it.”

The mare spit, “The Q-Series! I've got a mechanic hard at work on it.” She turned her head and yelled back into the garage where I saw an open door they had come out of. “Who better be working on it!” Her words were a bit off, her mannerisms clearly indicated someone who was twitching or drugged right off her eyeballs.

“You can't have it! Get lost!” She shrieked at me and growled. I calmly took one step back, giving her some space and then steadied myself back up.

I made sure to smile softly and appear inviting. “Look, we are reasonable ponies, no need to scream or threaten violence. The dragon here promised some salvage that I need to have in order to pay for defenses over at Silver Fang. I'm sure we can negotiate some trade and food from them to you if you want.” I was working under the assumption they would be reasonable. I had spoken as calmly and gently as I could muster. This would hopefully disarm her.

This seemed to calm her down. My smile and hopefully some of my softness had helped. The talons looked at the mare and lowered their weapons, the one who hadn't spoken even holstering their's. “We didn't agree to fight the angel, much less the fact she just wants to trade. You should consider it.” The rough talon from earlier said.

“Greava, you do your job at the sergeant of your unit and do what I say, so you will get your pay!” The mare ground out through gritted teeth. She turned back to me and sighed, “Yeah we've heard of you. Now, let me see what we can figure out that we can give up in trade. You said Silver Fang might wanna start a trade route with us? Food for scrap?”

My smile broaden and I felt genuine relief that apparently this reputation from the radio had preceded me. “Yes, I can negotiate it for you.” She spat at her feet. “Assume that damn Filly Scout with you isn't gonna make them come around with their cookies again!” Nyota winced and Scopola Mina looked genuinely hurt by the comment.

I held up a hoof and shook my head at her, when she tried to speak. I mouthed to her, “Time and place, time and place.” She nodded with smiled before inhaling another dose of the drug she had just before the molerats arrived. Apparently she wanted to keep the high going.

I'd have a talk with her about drugs, then I felt like a hypocrite. I myself relied on Med-X and still wanted that laced coffee in the morning.

Pink hit me upside the head with my tail, “Time and place Sunrise.”

I approached the mare who seemed to be in charge, and extended a hoof. “Hey, I'm Wandering Sunrise, I guess DJ Pon3's mentions of The Angel precede me.”

Minty Fresh took the hoof and smiled, “Minty Fresh, and I ain't got no nicknames.”

I held her hoof for a bit and looked into her eyes, “I was curious, is there a reason you're so nervous?”

She shook her head and looked around like a paranoid, “Nervous? Whose nervous? No I'm just, ya know aren't you the nervous one? We've got so many guns pointed at you.”

I shook my head, “I don't think we're gonna come to blows.” I said releasing the hoof and looking up at her. Minty Fresh nodded at me and then looked back at her talons, they holstered their weapons. This is going better than I had hoped.

I looked at my friends. Scopola was intentionally looking away. Jackal had his jaw dropped and needed to be picked off the ground apparently. Alguacil still was cocked and ready while Nyota let out a sigh of relief. Chifundo had been quiet and staying behind Alguacil this whole time. Quick Stitch just shrugged with an expression of, “At Least I don't have to heal anyone.”

“Let's talk about what we could—“ A lion's roar interrupted me from behind. Our group turned around to where the molerat bodies were scattered on the pavement. The weight of heavy step from creatures three times the size of Alguacil shook against our hooves.

I saw their long insectiod tails over their heads, dripping with green poison. The mouths the size of three ponies. Manes that easily could have been twice the size of my body. Lion heads and bodies that pulsed with danger. One word came to mind, Manticores! Why did it have to be pony devouring manticores!

Three manticores were on the ground, they walked towards us and roared again. I took a step back, talons and hooves back where Minty Fresh and her guards were clattered till we heard a door slam closed.

The three massive creatures seemed uninterested in us. Jackal slowly backed up to me and leaned down, “They are the biggest threat here, these things grow much larger than normal ones here. We need to get away fast!”

I held up a hoof and noticed one of the molerat corpses had been knocked close to us while the ground tried to push me back, I took step after step forward, trying not to interrupt their meal.

Nyota frowned, “Sunrise, What, Are, You, Doing?” He said punctuating each word through the corner of his mouth. I motioned a hoof back at him while my tail took out one of the most powerful explosives I'd ever made.

I didn't look back at them, “Get ready to run, on my signal.” I took the explosive from my tail with Pink smiling at me and jumping behind some sandbags that had just appeared in my vision. I held in my hoof, the improvised explosive from the doughnut grease and Abraxo cleaner.

If I was right, this could level a two story house on it's own. I winced and held vomit in my mouth as I picked up the molerat corpse, one of the manticores looked up at me and growled. My tail held up a motion that looks like stop and it tilted it's head with a questioning meow.

I shoved the explosive down it's nearly severed neck and set the egg timer for twenty seconds. I held up it towards the feline murder machine and swallowed my vomit. With a rasp in my voice to get over what had just happened with the bile, I whistled to it. “Here kitty,” I held up the corpse and wiggled it for the creature. “Good kitty, catch!” I pressed the button to start the timer and tossed it.

The group started running, while I desperately tried to catch up. A count down started on my PipBuck H.U.D. I watched as the cat swallowed the corpse whole in one snap. They could swallow ponies whole if they wanted, no surprise it could just eat a whole molerat at once.

My tail lowered my ballistic goggles and I bolted as fast as I could. We turned the corner and put the structure between us and the manticore. I was bringing up the rear and I was so much slower in the heavy armor plating than everyone else.

The explosion took me off my hooves stumbling head over tail, the impact drove my wind out and my eyes slammed shut as pain echoed through me. My friends likely felt it but continued moving. The stun didn't last long from what I could tell.

I heard bells and slowly opened my eyes, “Uggg, what, happened?” I managed as my consciousness came back and Quick Stitch was standing over me, Nyota trying to scramble to help me up.

“Done, she should be able to move fine now.” Quick Stitch said as Nyota helped me to my hooves and started to drag me into a run.

“Come on, we have to go!” He called he tried to keep talking but a roar made the bells in my head ring painfully and drown out anything he or Quick Stitch said. Alguacil's gun fired in silence to me at something behind us as Nyota lost his grip and I tripped into the pavement. My armored helmet taking the impact and preventing my face from scrapping the asphalt.

On my back, I saw it coming. I hit S.A.T.S. and they were still very much moving quickly in the spell. Their names appeared as well, “Tear” was the one bearing down on me. “Rip” was right behind it. The dead one behind the wall, was apparently “Stubs”.

The two manticores, Rip and Tear, who hadn't swallowed a molerat-explosion-surprise, were right on top of us. One of them landed and it's mouth opened wide. Their roar in slow motion sounded awful. Pink held up a sign that read “Translation: Kill Green Ponies” between the ringing of the bells in my head. Even in S.A.T.S. my vision blurred as I struggled to move.

I shot my hooves out and held its mouth back. Adrenaline kicked in and I pushed it back, getting to my rear hooves and being compacted down into a cube of pony and armor plating. I felt my muscles surge and hold the beast back for just a few seconds. Saliva dripped into my goggles and I felt the fear of being eaten alive setting in and desperately worked to stop it from happening.

It was long enough for me to see the expression of horror upon Nyota's face, a bullet slammed into the beast but it didn't care. Blood splattered onto my face from inside it's throat where the bullet had penetrated. Sound returned and the ringing died down as all I could hear was growling and the churning insides that were trying to claim me. Another gunshot cleared my ears.

“SUNRISE!!!” The group of my friends screamed in unison before I felt my forehooves slip off it's jaws and then I looked up into the dooming darkness. I felt a paw as large as my flank scoping me off my hooves. Upward I traveled into certain death.

“Oh Sunrise! Your life is going to end this time like a bad date: With way too much tongue involved!" Pink called out with giggles and enthusiasm; that somehow only made the act of being swallowed alive more horrifying! Fear and terror gripped me. This manticore didn't care that I was alive or not, I was reduced to meat. Meat that it was eating; RIGHT NOW!

Level Up Progress - Level up to 9! Congrats!

Perk - Bombermare - Your Luck with Explosives is Legendary! You can now cook of grenades and explosives with uncanny precision. Also, if you critically fail or fail an explosives check, you get to re-roll! You have to keep the second result even if it's worse.

Cover Art for the Book Back:

Chapter 26: Belly of the Beast

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Oh Goddesses, where am I!?Why can't I move!? Am I dead? The questions raced through my mind. My vision cleared but I couldn’t make out anything but blackness. I could feel a sticky fleshy prison around me. I tried to move, but nothing worked. A rising terror filled me and then I realized I was wearing a radio headset. My body moved on its own, groggily. A whole new terror set in. A memory? NOW?! Why?! What has triggered this one?

As if on queue, I heard Coffee Stain's voice over the radio, “Sunrise! Sunrise, listen we're trying to get up there to you. Hang on! Scouts, Pegasi, get in the air! Bring that manticore down!” I took in my surroundings. It was pitch black, I couldn't even see my hoof in front of me. I realized I was in my own body. The air around was stale and reeked of decay.

There was a heartbeat, that echoed in my ears. I could feel the labored breathing of the creature that had eaten me, pushing up against my hooves and then exhaling out. I was either going to suffocate, be crushed by the stomach muscles, or dissolved in the acid.

I flinched hard when I felt something liquid burning against my flesh. My previous self switched on the PipBuck light and the world lit up with some sort of fleshy membrane. The air was getting hard to breathe. I saw the ribs and the pool of green liquid. My coat was dirty but white like I remember it before the stable. Yep, I'm in a memory... but where? The world jostled around and the body I was in coughed as a wave of the bubbling liquid rolled towards me.

The wave of liquid made my flesh burn in agony. I struggled immediately to get my head above it, anything to get away from the sheer pain. It was a tingling, eating sensation that rose to a burning fire raging against my flesh. My coat and flesh were flayed away. Slowly trying to turn me into nutrient soup for the manticore.

My previous self gasped for air, only to inhale this acidic substance. It burned so much, inside and out. My lungs were on fire, I could taste blood as well as feel the bubbling of flesh along the lining of my mouth and throat. The thrashing to get out of the liquid intensified.

My head breached the surface and the radio crackled, “I said bring it down! I don't care how! Save Sunrise! I won't lose my Sunrise again!” She was screaming into the radio and my damaged end made the crackling worse.

I managed to get out of the liquid to a dryer side of the dripping wet chamber. I felt my strength wavering. My flesh was seared all over. The armor plating was giving and several pieces of my skin floated on the acid for a brief moment.

I watched as it pulped and fell below the pool. I knew blood loss must be starting to mount as well. This is a memory of me dying, isn't it? Pink? Are you here?

“YES! It really is.” Pink appeared in the memory and it seemed to freeze. “Don't worry though! You're gonna wake up in the same situation!” She let out with glee and then seemed to immediately deflate, hanging her head.“I don't know what else to say, you need to ride this one out. I don't want you to repeat the mistake.” She seemed to slap the memory with a loud pop, like it wasn’t real but projected onto a chalkboard. “So pay attention!” She yelled with another thump of her hoof against the stomach wall, which caused the memory to resume playing.

“Coffee Stain, I'm gonna detonate a bomb, have a flyer ready to catch me.” It was my voice, the voice of the eyes I was watching this though. There was a lack of kindness or care in the voice. It was also raspy from the acid, like you’d just spent an hour vomiting.

“Sunrise! What if that kills you? Please, don't leave me again.” I could hear Coffee Stain's tears in her voice despite the crackle of the barely working radio. I felt my teeth clench and grind as my hooves searched my pack. They located a package and held it up in the dim light. It was a bomb, exactly like what I made that destroyed the ghouls and buildings at Las Pegasus.

I wanted to reply but the radio microphone on my end was destroyed. “Dammit,” I screamed into the useless piece and reached for the necklace she had given me. It was a piece from the old world, a beautiful ruby teardrop set in purest silver. I had to constantly clean it to keep the thing from rusting or degrading.

Coffee Stain kept sobbing and then paused as the radio crackled and the world toppled again, a wave of acid hitting my chest and burning through the armor plating. What made it worse was, I could feel my flesh being flayed off. My strength was waning as my tail pulled the det-cord of the explosive package.

“Coffee Stain,” There was a tenderness now in my voice. It was my voice, no doubt. The same kindness and caring that I always felt. The same worry for others over myself. The necklace snapped, the ruby fell from its mounting into the acid. The very symbol of our promise to each other, destroyed.

The tears on the radio seemed to die down a bit, but the strain was still in Coffee Stain's voice. “Sunrise are you there? Please, hang on.” Panic rose within the body I was hosted in. I couldn’t talk back in spite of trying over and over again as I surfaced from the pool a second time.

There was a confident laugh. I could sense it wasn't false, my previous self fully expected to get out of this situation. It was masking the deep pain inside my heart. The pain that Coffee Stain was crying.

I realized the terror I was feeling, was my own and this memory was of a Sunrise who was vastly different from me. “I'll hold you again tonight, I swear it!” I said to myself. I felt the strain of muscles prepare, this was going to hurt.

The memory slowed down, it was like a life flashed before my eyes. A life, not mine, and yet somehow it was." Memories of events with Coffee Stain. Her railway rifle, firing spikes that pinned ponies to walls. My work with her around a brothel. I was an enforcer for her mares of the night. This was so strange. Was all of this real? It felt so very wrong yet completely true.

The last bit was the night before, holding Coffee Stain. The scent of sex heavy in the air and her pressing her muzzle firmly against the back of my neck. It felt wonderful, the same feelings I had when Nyota held me. I've had a lover before? I've been a whore before? I've helped the Filly Scouts like this, before? So many questions filled my mind with the brief flashes of memories filling my mind.

Everything rushed back as I watch the explosion, it's flames consumed me. My strength completely faded and failed me, blackness closed in. The pain was indescribable, being burned alive by acid while the flames of the explosive hit. The manticore might die but I was certainly going to perish here. Then, nothingness.

Pink appeared before me, “Sunrise, you've done so much before you aren't even aware of. I can't stop all the memories from leaking through, especially when you repeat previous traumatic events.”

There was a long pause as the world around me faded back in, “Don't make the same mistake, twice!”

***

Now I knew why Coffee Stain was so hurt now when we met. How many times had she been through this? Losing me? Having to re-educate me on our life together? Having to have her lover relearn her? Now, she wasn't even getting to do any of that; she must feel abandoned.

How would Nyota feel if I died right now? He wouldn't get to do any of that! I'd just be dead! I don't know why I keep coming back but my previous self was dead and gone! I wasn't about to let the stallion I considered my first love, lose me. Not like this!

I thrashed around, realizing I was still in the throat of the manticore. Surrounded by powerful muscles that were proving far too much for me to resist. The throat was slimy and the wall of flesh impossible to find purchase on as I tumbled deeper and deeper. I made sure my ballistic goggles were in place and tightened my helmet.

I splashed into the bubbling acid and it burned my face and neck. Any part of me not covered in armor plating screamed in pain. I was glad for the goggles and their air-tight seal. This time my armor wasn't melting away. Stubbornite, this time I'm better armored. We'll see who comes out of this alive.

I looked at my PipBuck and turned the light on. I rapidly scrolled through my explosives list. The Anti-Tank warhead from Sandy Claws was still there. As I reached for it, the world around me shifted hard. It was as if the manticore had been hit by a freight train. The creature screamed out as it staggered and the stomach I was in jostled.

My hooves slipped and I lost the warhead into the acid. The initial area I was on, was only hoof deep and I would have to dive into the pool to get to the explosive. The world shook and shuddered, rolling. The balance upon my hooves was tenuous at best, each rock nearly tumbling me over.

I held my breath and jumped. The acid burned so much, I could see it eating away at the seal around my goggles. Where are you? You're a directional explosive! The only one I have! I hoped that the acid couldn't get inside the environmental sealed saddlebags. My armor was letting it in and it burned so much. My hoof grazed something metal and I latched onto it with my frog.

I had the explosive and struggled to figure out which way was up. My PipBuck light flickered as another semi-truck impact slammed into the manticore and by extension, me. I was slammed out of the acids and felt like I'd just been kicked by an enraged yak. My mouth was forced open and acid poured into my insides.

OH FUCK! PINK, HELP! I screamed out when my tail grabbed something and pulled hard, hard enough that parts of it gave. My head got above the acid. Coughing and sputtering, I pulled myself back onto the shallow end of the stomach. I knew this would change as soon as the manticore re-positioned itself.

It fell, the beast fell to the ground and the weight of all it's muscle ground onto my skin and pushed me downward. I couldn't hear the gurgling or the labored muscle moving anymore. I realized now that it had stopped breathing. The rhythmic muscle movements were not just the stomach trying to crush and pulp me, it was the thing's heartbeat. It had stopped.

“Sunrise! If you're gonna blow that thing, do it now! Before the muscles collapse!” I felt something push into me, something clawed and sharp. I jumped away from it and my armor stopped whatever it was from penetrating.

Is it dead or is that a death thrash? I don't know but this is a shaped charge, it shouldn’t blowback, right Pink? I flipped the switch and armed the warhead, it started to count down. I activated S.A.T.S., now was not the time to drop this thing. I have to make sure it hits just right.

S.A.T.S. indicated a 70% chance of hitting the sphincter where the upper intestine would start. Pink went wide eyed, “You're going out that way!? You can't be.”

Pink it's towards the back end or towards the thing that clawed at me, which one do you think is a better idea?

There was a pause as I watched the S.A.T.S. timer tick away. She held up her hoof, then put it back to her chin. She repeated this motion three times then shrugged, “I don't have a better idea, and this is by far the best one we've got. You sure about a bomb again?”

It's a shaped charge. So long as the warhead is facing away, you can stand behind it and it won't hurt you. I explained and queued the shot. S.A.T.S. ended and I let the warhead fly. It didn't hit dead on; but explosives are less like bullets with a name on it. Explosives are more ‘To Whom It May Concern’. The warhead was facing the right way and close enough.

I covered my ears and the muffled explosion rocked the chamber. The acidic liquid blew back and washed over me again. I knew I was swimming for my life now. It burned so much, I felt weakness filling my body.

The muscles around me pushed down and starting to apply pressure. Even if the creature was dead, it was still heavy and the muscles inside were fighting to not die. Now I was grinding against flesh and trying to head towards the hole the explosive had made. I felt like I was swimming in a sea of muscle, stomach walls, and acid.

Every piece of my body screamed. My legs and skull echoed with pain as they felt like they might snap or crunch under the pressure. My skin was gone in some places, and yet sheer will pushed me through. Then my hoof felt it: cold open air.

I felt a chilling, metallic claw grab on and my other forehoof fought through the sludge of nutrient soup to get out when a familiar foot grabbed the raw flesh, making me wince when both heaved to pull me out. With a disgusting slurp and squelch, I was pulled free of the hole and into the dull light of the overcast day. My body shaking and shivering as adrenaline left it. I couldn't stand up as Alguacil wrapped around my torso with his arm. Jackal and Nyota worked together to pull the rest of me free.

I wanted a bath so badly and yet I was just glad to still inhale. I regretted that a moment later when I smelled manticore intestine and stomach acid against the cool air. I gasped for breath and coughed up bile. I couldn't tell which bits were my own and which were from my would be predator.

Nyota grabbed and hugged me tight. I screamed in absolute torment. My body fired every single nerve from hoof to ear that I was in pain. My scream was muffled behind the damage done to my ears. Quick Stitch rushed to me, his horn aglow as he started to pour healing magic into me.

Nyota shoved a healing potion into my mouth as he stopped his hug and forced me to drink it down. What I thought was a healing spell from Quick Stitch was actually a clean one, as I felt the slime of the manticore's insides cleaned off my body. It was like taking a bath without water and it bothered me a little bit.

There is just something primal about feeling the water cascade off and cleanse away your filth. It’s like rinsing away the pain, stress, and anguish with it. That is so far beyond what this clean spell could do.

The healing potion started to heal my flesh and remove the burns. Quick Stitch began a full exam, taking off my armor plating. I looked and saw where the other manticore was riddled with bullets, laser burns, and even set on fire in some places. The smell of cooked manticore hit my nose, and it actually smelled slightly tasty but gross all at once.

I leaned over Nyota and couldn't hold it in anymore, vomiting up everything I'd had for breakfast and anything I'd swallowed inside the beast. He just patted my back, I could hear Jackal chuckle as I looked up at the teenage sized dragon. He had claw and bites into his scales while he was sucking down a poison antidote. I could see manticore guts covering his waist and legs.

I kept wheezing until my insides were completely empty. I firmly believe I'm keeping down less food than I'm hurling back up. Nyota kept rubbing my back and nuzzling up against my mane.

“There there, it's over. We're all alive, you're fine now.” I twitched as he spoke, coughing up the last bits of anything in my throat. I panted for air and I felt Quick Stitch's magic poking and prodding around to make sure he hadn't missed spots. My fur coat was slightly restored by the healing magic but there were definitely patches that were much shorter than others.

Nyota held me close, like he was scared he was going to lose me. His grip was tight, uncomfortable but so very welcome. I took the opportunity to whisper to Pink and she replied by making my tail inject Med-X into my throbbing flank. The coolness surging through from my body was so welcome.

It made the discomfort go away and the still tingling feelings of skin seared by acid fade away. My head cleared and I could think, it was such an enjoyable sensation. The healing potion and spells worked their magic. This stuff is just too beautiful for words. I thought as my eyes glazed over and I finally relaxed.

Nyota seemed to sense the change in my muscle tension and relaxed his grip. He whispered in my ear, “I've got you, I'm not ever gonna let you go.” He had tears in his eyes. This hardened Zebra had tears, for me.

I reached up with a hoof and wiped them away, then I leaned up and kissed him. This wasn't a simple I love you. It was a deep passionate embrace, a desire to let him know, the decision had been made.

I had experienced all of the flashes of a previous life, something behind the wall in my mind that Pink spoke of. I knew that I'd done things before and I wasn't gonna hesitate anymore. I would let him know, I loved him completely. If he was willing to face a manticore in hoof to claw for my life, he was worth keeping.

All this tender loving embrace was interrupted by something that made my blood run cold, a low meow. My head snapped in the direction, and I tried to push Nyota away. I failed to get his grip to let go but saw a small manticore cub. It was not some oversized puppy. I saw it as a lethal killing machine and felt pure fright at the sight of it. It was nudging its head against the dead body of the one I'd been swallowed by.

“Awww, I think you killed its mommy Sunrise.” Pink had tears in her eyes and had one of the most mocking voices I'd ever heard. I felt a deep seeded need to kill it here and now. I pushed against Nyota again and managed to get him to relent. I picked up my shotgun and went to point it at the creature when Scopola stopped me.

“It didn't do nothing wrong, Sunrise.” Her long draw style of speaking made me want to slap her.

“Yeah... yet! Its mother just tried to eat me alive! It's a manticore! It will try to eat me one day.” I growled. I felt Nyota's hoof on my shoulder and turned to see him glaring at Scopola.

“You really wanna stop her? This is one of the few times I think we've agreed. Shoot first, ask questions later.” Nyota declared.

Quick Stitched walked around him and stood between the two of us and the baby manticore. He huffed and gazed at both of us, “It can be trained to not eat ponies. It has done nothing wrong and I won't stand here and let you just kill an innocent child.” He stood up tall, taller than I'd ever seen him do. “The oath I took says Do No Harm.”

I stared at the two of them, gritting my teeth and growling under my breath. Alguacil stepped up and it just devolved into a heated argument before he could even speak. “It is a manticore! They grow up to eat ponies! Just like it tried to do me!” I spat venom with my words while staring at the two of them.

“Now listen 'ere, I agree with Sunrise. We should put it down. Gently and fairly though, I don't think a shotgun blast is necessarily merciful.” He tipped his hat at me and winked with his non-existent eye. Which just made my skin crawl a bit. “Now, Quick Stitch, Scopola, surely you two can come to an agreement 'ere on this.”

Scopola snapped at him and threw her laser rifle on the ground in defiance. “No way in Tartarus! I refuse to kill an innocent creature.” She looked back at manticore cub, “Besides, its venom can make some useful drugs for us.”

“For us! How about food made for it from our bodies! Are you insane?” Nyota chimed back and I grunted in agreement.

Quick Stitch stepped between the two of them and used his magic to forcibly separate us, “No you listen Nyota. Can you hear yourself? We just killed its parents and I don't care if they are wild animals, there has been enough killing today!” We were getting nowhere and arguing in circles when I noticed, Chifundo wasn't with us.

“Where's Chifundo?” I asked looking from pony to pony to griffin and then to the manticore cub. Chifundo was petting it and the cub was playfully nuzzling into his hoof. I dropped the shotgun and started to run towards him when Nyota grabbed me.

“Stop! Do you wanna startle it?” He whispered into my ear as we all turned and watched Chifundo in unison, horrified and worried.

I looked at him and Alguacil who readied his gun, he took very careful aim while the rest of us refused to move. After a few moments of careful petting, Chifundo offered the creature one of Nyota's rations; the kind with meat jerky in it. The cub devoured it heartily and then followed Chifundo back to the rest of us.

“The manticore creature's name is Snuggles, and it simply wants help with its struggles.” I stared and my jaw still hadn't completely fixed itself from the last unhinged moment.

Snuggles, as the manticore cub was called, walked right up and nuzzled my leg. I jumped back with a terrified squeal as the thoughts of being crushed and burned alive by the stomach shot back to my mind. “Look! If you wanna keep it FINE! Just keep it away from me!”

Snuggles made a protesting upset meow and hung its head. Chifundo softly pet the creature with a reassuring hug around the massive scorpion like tail that wrapped lovingly around his barrel. Why is that so cute and yet so horrifying that I'm afraid it's going to try to eat Chifundo one day?

I curled up as close as our armor would allow to Nyota while I stared in disbelief of the scene. I was not ready for today.

“Little manticore one it will be fine, I promise to be your new lifeline. Sunrise may now chime, but she just requires time.” Chifundo explained to the creature.

It seemed to talk back to him with chirrs, meows, and a slight low sounding roar. I would swear the way it talked, there was a language there. Chifundo seemed to understand it perfectly; not that the rest of us seemed to grasp anything the creature said.

I looked at Nyota and started to open my mouth only to find I was tasting zebra hoof and his brass shoes. I am really finding it strange that is a comforting taste now.

“Let's go see if they still wanna talk.” I suggested in order to get us past the manticore cub. I started to limp towards the door and Nyota put my hoof over his back. Before I could protest or say a word, I found myself lifted up again on his back and laid over him like a firepony carry.

“No you don't, we'll let somepony else do the talking, Sunny.” I opened my mouth and found the taste of zebra hoof again.

I swear one day, I'm gonna bite it!

“No, you need a minute and some time to recover period.” He insisted as Alguacil and Quick Stitch stepped ahead of us and Minty Fresh along with four talons this time came out to greet us from the parking garage security door.

Minty Fresh looked pretty ticked off and glared at us, “You managed to survive all that! Well I'm still not given up the Q-Series, I swear we'll get it fixed!” She turned with a twitch in her step back at the door. “Ain't that right, ya mechanics!” There was a scared yelp from inside the parking garage beyond where we could see.

Alguacil stomped his talon hard enough that I thought the concrete might give, “Now listen here ya thick headed varmints!” He paused long enough to draw in his breath. “We just banded together, came out here for some stubbornite and scrap metal from the nearest settlement! Silver Fang Shanty!” He gestured to all the manticore and molerat corpses around us.

“We just killed three of them manticores,” He pronounced each syllable of ‘manticores’ like it was its own separate word. “And our tried and true zony shaman there just befriended a fourth! Not to mention, this little green pony here is the Angel with a Shotgun, that one green pone 'ere who managed to DJ Pon3 to talk about her like she is the second coming of the Alicorn Sisters!”

I stared at him with my jaw agape again. Today is just full of surprises I am not prepared for. Alguacil let the words sink in before continuing to talk.

“I'm the Long Eye of The Law! The one and only! And she has sworn to me to try to talk to yall even if you look like raider and drug types!” He squawked and spread his wings out. “With me is Nyota and Jackal who just went claw and hoof against a manticore in close quarters and tore it apart in a way that I'm mighty proud to say they are on my side!”

It was Nyota's turn to look like he'd just been slugged with a hoof and then given a trophy at the same time. “To top it all off, Scopola Mina here is a filly scout whom Coffee Stain herself, leader of all the Troops in New Pegasus trusted personally to watch after the Angel with a Shotgun over 'here.” He pointed from Scopola Mina to me. “Mind you, this is a pony that can sit down with that mafia boss who invited her just for tea and crumpets!”

He then pointed at Minty Fresh with a harsh finger, “And if you'll excuse me but Quick Stitch can you purge her system because I think she needs it to think STRAIGHT! Considering I've seen you regenerate Sunrise's fur and get that acid off in seconds, I don't think it's beyond your power and I would appreciate to not talking to a drugged out mare!”

I stared in absolute disbelief as the talons even staggered back. Minty Fresh looked around rather paranoid and frightened. Quick Stitch walked right up, lit his horn up and Minty Fresh was puking her guts out within seconds.

When she finished, Quick Stitch offered her a bottle of clean water which she took gingerly and looked at him warily. Alguacil resumed to finally finish, “So, we came here to TRADE and establish trade relations with you and Silver Fang! Because Jackal,” he pointed at Jackal with a shaking angry talon and spit the words more than said them at this point. “Needed to be taken off the hook for the damages he caused. She reached out her heart to a dragon she didn't even know; so you better start considering your options because I'm through taking no for an answer!”

I leaned up to Nyota, “Did, did he just talk about us all in a way that indicated he likes us?”

Nyota talked back out of the corner of his mouth with a happy smile, “Cherish these moments Sunrise, cherish them.” Pink burst out laughing and rolling around. I glared at her and waited for her to explain herself.

“Sunrise! You had a positive impact on that damn griffin! You might even get him to go on a date at this point!” I blinked at the statement and looked at Alguacil with a sense of pride. This was the closest he had ever come to calling somepony a friend. I got off Nyota's back, who was too stunned to stop me and walked up beside him.

Minty Fresh got up. A small pony approached us from the door inside. She barely the size of a teenager and covered from hoof to ear tip in soot, grease, and grime. She leaned up and Minty Fresh leaned down while still drinking water. She gave a look of surprise at what this newcomer had to say and nearly spat the water out. “You sure?” Minty was audible enough for us to hear and the small filly nodded.

“You, Sunrise was it?” I nodded.

“Alright, I'll deal with you, but not birdy here. He scares me.” I stared in disbelief and then looked up to see Alguacil smiling. Anytime he smiled it always felt wrong.

“Well, I would like to offer you food, trade right negotiations, these three dead manticores as well as the molerats and anything else we've killed around you.” I reached into Alguacil's pack and then Nyota's looking through it for spare weapons, armor, or bits we had. It turns out we had several accumulated shotguns, a couple of service rifles, and a few sets of rolled up leathers. Not to mention three AER-9 laser rifles from the enclave. I put all of it on the ground and gave a nervous smile.

Minty Fresh stepped away from the unnamed dirt covered earth pony and inspected what we had. “All that plus the three manticore corpses?” I nodded slowly in response. I was trying to be friendly. I knew after Alguacil's bad cop routine and Quick Stitch's reinforcement, it was time to show the carrot instead of the stick.

Minty Fresh rummaged it over a bit and then looked at the small filly, “You sure it won't start?” To which a shaking of the head was the only response. Minty Fresh looked up at us with a smirk.

“Alright fine, you can have the Q-Series and whatever scrap we can fit into it. The manticore corpses are worth a lot more than some old stubbornite and I want a trade caravan here in a week with food and untainted water.” There was a collective sigh of relief from our group as I extended a hoof towards Minty Fresh.

“Deal.”

***

The talons as it turned out were named Power and Glower, they were twins from the same egg. Nyota was having a smoke with them while we waited for Minty Fresh and her filly friend to deliver the goods.

Jackal was excited and actually gave me a hug. “You stupid crazy dirt pony! I can't believe you did that. Much less that you did it for me!” He kept encouraging as I explained that he knew Nyota and I would do it for any creature in trouble who would genuinely make sure to not get in trouble again.

I made him agree to serve as one of Sparrow's recruits and keep to her rules. I wasn't gonna bail him out again either.

The car was delivered, the tires inflated, and while it wouldn't start; I could see most of the frame was still intact as was the paneling. The Q-Series of Equestrian Auto-Carriages was made with the Buckball Mom who wanted to drive through a war zone in mind. It was armored with nearly 4 inches of stubbornite all over. It was also one of the very first fission powered vehicles.

I got into the back seat while Alguacil decided he'd rather fly overhead. Chifundo put his new manticore pet, 'Snuggles' in the front seat with him. Quick Stitch worked with Nyota and Scopola to drag it along. Once we were clear of the garage which was called Upsville by the residents, I got out to examine exactly what we had.

The engine as it turned out was in good shape. It only required me changing the connection of a few wires with the alternator to get it to turn over and start the fission spell matrix. The car engine should power on now that the spell matrix was running. It was like an alternator from old combustion engines. It acted like a constant generator and battery charger, so long as there was a spark to start it.

It had some unusual features. There was a nameplate of the owner, “Dr. E.L. Brown”. It was embroidered in gold plating and screwed into the dashboard. Further down the console were several buttons that certainly would not be in a standard auto-carriage. There were five marked Ejector seat and arranged in a U pattern. This was likely arrange based upon the seats here.

Furthermore this vehicle had additional features labeled on it’s console, “Booster” “Fly High” and “Defense Shield” labelled in big words upon black, red, and blue buttons. Well that makes this interesting, I wonder if these are post-war or pre-war modifications.

I opened the console and started checking it, Sure enough all the buttons were wired and ready. It was nearly in perfect repair. Its was like Minty Fresh didn't realize they had crossed a couple of wires between positive and negative. Then again, the wires weren't labeled and Alphafording brand cars were notorious for reversing standard wiring. A post-war pony probably wouldn't have known that. Thanks Dad, all my time in the shop is paying off!

I got out from under the hood and closed it. “Alright which one of you knows how to drive?” I asked looking from pony to pony to griffin. Not one of them had a clue. I sighed and hung my head, “Who wants to try?”

Nyota stepped forward, “Hun, I know you repaired the Sand Dog 3000 but for that you had parts, time and—“ I ignored him and just turned the ignition switch and the engine roared to life almost instantly. Nyota’s jaw dropped open and he stared at me dumbfounded. Snuggles, the manticore cub, jumped back and growled at it. Chifundo just gave her a few pets to calm her down.

I looked at Nyota with a, ‘You were saying’, smile across my face. “They already did all the repair work, they just crossed some unlabeled wires. Uncross those and well, we get a wonderful roaring engine.” Quick Stitch reached into the glove box and our luck held out. A very waterlogged manual was inside. He started to read and we all got into the vehicle. The doors were heavy and the windows incredibly thick. This thing was an armored tank in small personal car form. Nyota and I were in the back now. I laid across his lap and sighed, closing my tired eyes.

Chifundo sat up front with Snuggles and Scopola next to us. Alguacil still insisted on flying overhead instead of cramming into the car. While Quick Stitch went over the manual, I felt Nyota's petting starting to set in and the smell of sandalwood on him was rather nice. My mind had been through too much today and just as Quick Stitch got the car rolling with rattling of scrap metal scattered across the floor and stuffed into the truck, I went to sleep.

ooOOoo

I rolled over and realized, yes I was still in my body but I was in another memory. There was Coffee Stain and some pony I didn’t recognize, talking very casually. I was being held tenderly by Coffee Stain. My body closed its eyes and the thought was to play like I was asleep. I got the feeling that I knew the mare next to me. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the manticore incident.

“Where did you find her?” Coffee Stain asked as quietly as possible.

“Under a bridge, barely clinging to life. I wasn’t sure how long she’d been there.” The voice of the strange mare explained.

“Well Breakfast Blend you know what I’m gonna ask.” Coffee Stain fired back and I could hear the scoff of the mystery mare. I felt the need to sneak a peak but the body I was in did not attempt to do so.

“Why is she grey? I don’t know but it’s her. I couldn’t mistake that cutie mark or that look in her eyes anywhere else.” Breakfast Blend approached us with heavy boots on the floor while asking that question.

The mind that was making decisions felt cold, emotionless and very logical. I was scared, and wondered who this mare was. Why do I feel so cold? Inside it just feels dead in this body or at least the mind.

Pink rolled in front of my view and I realized she wasn’t apart of the memory again. “Sunrise if you keep scratching at the wall, it’s going to make holes.”

Pink can you stop interrupting these memories please?! I need to know my past.

“Nopie! I have to! Because I don’t want you to turn out like the previous 27 times! You’ve gotten further than you ever have before.” She paused to let out a squee and fire off streamers which made the conversation between Breakfast Blend and Coffee Stain impossible to hear. “It’s actually exciting!”

I growled at her as I tried to hear the memory again, “Listen, you owe me for this one. My sister Foam Art had to agree to become a mutant for those things to let her go.”

A Mutant? What is she talking about? Who is Foam Art? I looked at Pink who shrugged as they kept talking.

“The Filly Scouts will make sure you get what you want, access to that Stable right? The one where they are growing those weird trees supposedly?” Coffee Stain replied. I didn’t hear anything back as there seemed to be a bit of tension pulling me tighter for a moment.

“I think she’s awake and can hear us.” Breakfast Blend walked over and nudged me with a hoof.

“I don’t care, I’ll figure this out and where she went after the manticore got turned to meat salad. Maybe one day we’ll figure out why she keeps coming back.” Coffee Stain softly stroked my mane as the body I was currently in shifted. It was a conscious response to Breakfast Blend’s cold boot, the mind I was riding was attempting to keep them deceived that I was still asleep and not eavesdropping. The coldness of it, the calculation of it; sickened me.

I chilled to the core at how cold the heart of this version of myself was. I was glad to welcome the blackness of dreamless sleep.

“Sunrise, you are capable of wonderful things but also terrible awful destruction. Please, keep yourself in check and know your capacity for both.” I felt another chill, this one down to my soul. I felt a voice trying to push through and I denied it. Whatever part of me this was, I wanted to keep it caged, forever.

ooOOoo

The car stopped twice , waking me both times. The first time, Quick Stitch got out to gather some moss that Jackal swore was completely immune to fire. The second time was a whole lot more eventful. As the evening started to set upon us and Quick Stitch turned on the headlights; there was a roar of Alguacil's revolver and a heavy thud bounced off the car. I woke up with a start and Nyota held me down, “Shhh, it's okay. I've got you.”

“What was that? Quick Stitch what did you hit?” I forced Nyota's hoof and opened the door, stepping out.

“I don't know, it just fell from the sky.” I could barely hear him, the timing belt on the spell matrix needed replacement. The lights were illuminating a very dead earth pony. His skull was smashed in and a .44 magnum round had been driven right through his sternum. He was dead. The stubbornite on the hood hadn't even dented.

I checked the time, 8:25pm. It was nearly completely dark outside and I let out a long sigh. Quick Stitch got out and started to search the deceased while Nyota placed a hoof on my side.

“There there love, I don't know where he came from but he likely didn't suffer.” Nyota reassured me.

Scopola seemed rather giddy as she found a set of dash inhalers on this mud brown earth pony. She also squealed when she located a bottle of buck. While Alguacil landed next to us, “I just saw him diving out of the sky! I didn't know if he was a threat or what! I don't even know how he got up 'here.” Alguacil tried to explain.

Quick Stitch held up a set of talisman's. Small gems with engravings upon their surface and two of them were glowing with a warm orange light. The other six were cold and dark. “Flight Talismans, if I had to guess one of them failed at the wrong time and he didn't activate the others in time.” He pocketed the talismans while I broke from Nyota's grasp and pulled out a shovel from my pack. I started to dig a grave.

Nyota used his brass shoes to help and Chifundo joined in. We stood over the sight long enough to bury him in a shallow grave beside the road. Chifundo spoke over the grave, “Little one your time here is gone, please do not linger on. Go forth to your resting, and you should embrace your testing. Prepare yourself for the next life, as this one's at the end of it's strife.”

He seemed to be casting something and I felt magic in the air. I didn't know what it was but there was certainly something to this zebra shamanistic practice. I was beginning to learn it was much more than superstition.

Jackal took the broken talisman from Quick Stitch and ate it, munching the gem loudly and jumped onto Alguacil's back to go airborne again. We drove the rest of the way, seemingly in peace as I slept through most of it. I did wake up and read for a while on the second day back. Quick Stitch was afraid to really push the car beyond a steady slow pace. I tried to listen out for Black Hawk at The Roof around 8:30pm-10:00pm there was a message trying to get there,w but a whole lot of interference.

Instead I ended up reading and finishing the 'Equestrian Army Officer Basic Guide to Decorum, Discipline, and Tactics.' There were genuinely useful tips in there and I had managed to get through the book over the course of a week, though it was heavy enough I could crack a skull with it. I felt more confident with those around me and started to process how each one of them fit together as a squad.

Our Adventure in Taintwood was over, a new settlement named Upsville was there and Silver Fang would have a new trade partner. I'd found out when we arrived our entry was denied. The Silver Fang guards demanding to see me before we were going to be allowed into town.

A very stern looking Sparrow was there to meet me, along with four guards. What did I do this time?

***

Progress to Level 10 – 6%
Bonus Perk (From Book) – Combat Coordinator – Add 1 to your Initiative and you may switch Initiative with any party member each round resetting and switching at the start of the round.

Bonus Perk (From Book) – Focus Fire – You may use 20AP to mark a target until they are dead or combat ends: All attackers against the marked target get +10% to Hit.

Pinkie Pie Perk Unlocked! (From Turning Raiders to Settlers!) - Pinkie Pie's Guard Letter Downer – Add 1 Charisma and you have a +1 to your disposition once a creature or entity deems you not a threat and knows your name. This only applies when over 80 Karma.

Karma Track – 87/100 – Paladin of the Wasteland.

Chapter 27: Roadside Revelations

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Quick Stitch pulled the car back. We got out to set up camp after we were informed that Sparrow would not be back till the next day. The way the sun set, allowed for just a brief little bit of seeing it as it dipped below the clouds. This was one of two moments in the day we could actually get direct sunlight through the haze.

I was still groggy when he offered me a towel and a bottle of something. He gave me the towel, it was warm and wet but he took the bowl away thinking twice on it. He replaced the bottle with his canteen. “Here, it’s sanitized. You were sweating and fretting in your sleep.”

He was right my armor was sticky and even the stable suit felt soiled with the sweat and other things that had gotten into it. “What in Equestria were you thinking, exploding your way out? We would have had you in just moments.”

I looked up at him and groaned, “It was digesting me. I didn’t have moments, and you would have been pulling a corpse out.” I replied and took a swig of the water to my mouth only now realizing how dry it was. “And you're trying to get me out, through its mouth!”

He was taken aback by the scream and Scopola looked at me as she stepped out with a half eaten cookie in her mouth, “Sorry we didn’t get you out faster.” She hung her head and now I felt bad that I’d complained about being saved. Especially to her, none of them deserved that.

I started to get up on my own power but Nyota refused to allow it and threw me onto his back; I started to protest but I knew that any protest would just result in him having Quick Stitch insist I take a break.

“At least you didn’t frighten Snuggles, a wild manticore cub inside the car would be hilariously bad!” Pink teased at me and looked like she was hiding behind sandbags

Alguacil landed and grumbled at me, “At least you ain’t dead yet. How many folks can say they done got et’ by a manticore and didn’t die.” He was sitting on the roof on the car as it groaned against his weight. He was writing something on an old notebook that the rest of us couldn’t see.

I walked over to Nyota and curled up into him. What does Sparrow want, and why can’t we go inside? The worry was painted across my face. My brow was furrowed hard enough that my eyes had trouble being open all the way and any resemblance of happiness was devoid from me. I just glared at him but held a blank expression all at once. He reached over and softly stroked my mane.

“Well anyone that’s saying something about it obviously survived,” Nyota snarked back at Alguacil, “Thankfully we made it out okay and we have the strap; not to mention our little engineer,” he nuzzled between my ears and kissed my forehead. I have to admit, this kind of treatment was not something I wanted to ever give up. “Got the car working too.”

Quick Stitch’s horn glowed and worked over my body again as we stood outside in the cool air. “Well, as a doctor’s recommendation, can we please fight creatures from the outside from now on?”

Scopola Mina mumbled something to herself and Chifundo nudged Snuggles towards me. I moved away and absolutely refused to allow the creature near me. That thing is terrifying and honestly, I don’t want anything to do with any manticore if I can help it.

Quick Stitch lifted Snuggles in his telekinesis and pulled it away while softly petting the thing. Snuggles protested till Chifundo was offering a piece of cooked meat on a stick, which Snuggles pounced.

Scopola showed no fear in relationship to the creature as she took out some jerky and gave it to Snuggles. While the kitten ate, she scratched under its chin, “So Mister Chifundo, what do you plan on doing with this kitty cat?”

It’s not a kitty cat! It’s a baby killing machine! And it won’t always be a baby? It’s going to grow up just like it’s mother! Pink just snickered at my thoughts and seemed to be able to pet the manticore as well.

“That is a thought I have yet to finish, but leaving Snuggles would cause my soul to diminish.” Chifundo replied as they took turns feeding the one day to be monstrosity that was for now, sickeningly adorable.

Alguacil groaned at this and shoved himself upright onto the car, “No thanks! I told you not to get attached, that thing is a menace waiting to happen.”

I can’t believe I agree with Alguacil.

Scopola scoffed at him and shook her head with a certainty, “We already killed the bigger ones and we can’t just leave this thing to fend for itself. I refuse to be heartless!” She turned to Chifundo and gave him a nuzzle against the cheek, “Chifundo is a zebra of compassion, something missing from this world that we really need!”

Alguacil was fuming by now. I tried to slip away from the group and get let them decide Snuggles fate without me. Nyota grab me by the mane and shook his head. I stared at him to let me go and winced a little bit from the pain of having my mane grabbed. He glared back while not making a sound so as to not draw attention to us.

His eyes conveyed a message of needing to hear this and without saying a word between us, I relented. For his own assurance he shifted himself under me and laid me across his back, making it impossible to escape as he stood back up and we re-joined the conversation. I started to protest when he looked at me and kissed my cheek, “Sunrise, you need to stay and hear this out.”

It was like being punched in the jaw, I couldn’t protest him. I knew he was right and as much as I wanted to just be away from here; there was no escaping it. This was another challenge, I’d have to face head on.

“Manticores are dangerous wild animals! And last I checked none of yall were that one yeller pegasus mare, why—”

Quick Stitch gave him a light kick into his side and that made him shut up with a squawk, “There are documented cases of manticores being tamed in the past. I understand your trepidation, but we did make this our responsibility.”

“I am always trying to follow Sunrise’s wake, trying to detour her is not a mistake I’ll make. Our responsibility to all we meet keeps us strong, to tarry in action would be just wrong.” Chifundo speaking gave me just a little bit of sympathy for the manticore and I started to realize that my friends were acting more like family. All save for the one that had called me cute.

“Our responsibility! Our responsibility is to put that thing in the ground! I get it’s cute now but when that thing grows up; what’s ta stop it from bein’ just like its mom?’” Alguacil started to pull his gun and I moved to grab his arm preventing him from leaving it.

“Alguacil, please be better.” I looked at him as the group turned to stare at me surprised. My mind raced as I debated whether he would shoot me as well for this one. I broke the tension as I slowly pushed his gun back into the holster. “Show mercy and love before you draw your gun. It hasn’t done anything wrong yet; we can’t judge what might be, that isn’t fair.”

“Chifundo is right, it’s our fault it’s an orphans. I can understand how it feels and why it latched onto the nearest friendly creatures. It needs us and I have faith in Chifundo’s abilities.” I turned towards Snuggles and flinched as she playfully pawed at me, “Just don’t expect me to be friends with it.”

Alguacil interjected between us both verbally and physically; “Let me ask you this, any of y’all hear any stories of people havin' tamed manticores since the war ended? It's better t' be ready and prepared for a 'worst case'' scenario.” He said all this with his full air of authority and standing as erect as a soldier at attention.

Nyota growled at Alguacil and stood beside him, “Al, we get it! You don't like this. But for the love of the Goddesses, SHUT UP!”

Chifundo became visibly upset and shook his head in the way you would expect a guilt wielding mother. “It was once said to me, by a helpful elder, for balance to be seen; kill who must end, and save those you must defend.”

Pink two things, what do I do? And since when do the zebras pray to the alicorns? Pink was just as stunned as I was and didn't reply. Nyota and Chifundo stood side by side between Alguacil and the manticore. Both of them getting to their full height and trying to stare down the much stronger and larger griffin.

Scopola Mina was playing with the baby monster behind the two zebras with a smirk and seemed to be talking to no pony in particular as she spoke. “Just because no pony has tamed a manticore in a long time does not mean we can't! I want a merit badge for it, just so I can say I can!” The purring of the kitten creature and her cooing with a case of the giggles, were completely tone deaf to the stare down behind them.

Scopola please tell me you are really really high on drugs right now? I thought as she continued to play with Snuggles, ignoring the conversation behind her.

“Alguacil's instinct is to kill and survive but law is your compass and guide. Tell me what crime this creature has committed, for its life to be so quickly forfeited.” Chifundo expressed to him, trying to talk calmly and cool the tension. I started to relax because for just the briefest of moments I thought Alguacil might reach for his gun.

What would I do if they actually came to blows? How could I deal with that? How could I stop them? These were my friends and the threat of violence rising was not a comforting one.

Alguacil's talon returned to ground and I heard his gun click safe instead of drawing it. For the first time, he wasn't going to violence first. “The fact that they can cause so much harm to so many folks without a second thought. They are completely unreasonable to tame!” Alguacil’s squawk had a heavy hint of experience with it. He was speaking now like a retired elder to a new generation. “Nyota all ya ever do is try and tell me t' shut up, yet I don't treat you with that level o' disrespect now do I?” he paused his words to see if Nyota reacted or responded. Nyota just snorted and Alguacil continued his rant, “I didn't have t' look into bounties on yall, didn't have t' give Sunrise that docket on Stable-Tec either! Th' times yall've ignored my warnin's on how thing'll go and it happened like I predict'; what happens when it gets someone killed?”

His words were intentionally trying to wound all of us and Chifundo who stepped between the two of them, “Alguacil if you speak to my kin, by birth Nyota has committed the greatest of sin. Yet here we band, Nyota's morals I will stand.”

I had to stop this, before we lost a friend one way or another. I had to get them to listen to some compromise, “Alguacil, Chifundo, Nyota; stop it!” I called their names and stomped my hooves against Nyota's back as I was still laid across it.

Everyone of them turned and looked at Nyota’s back, he winced from my hooves stomping against his back and ribs. I felt him take a stutter step to ignore the pain as I waited for all of them to give me their full attention. Even Scopola Mina stopped playing and Snuggles went completely still.

“Ignoring you, we usually end up in a life or death fight. Followed by us making friends with half the ponies we were in a fight with. Then proceeding to returning to a town with a bunch of new citizens for them. On top of this, I get shot, stabbed, punched, kicked, grenaded, burned, exploded, and honestly I really am liking Med-X. I can just add partially digested to the list.”

I got all this out and dropped my head against Nyota's back petting his mohawk with my face. My cheeks burned from the poking hairs of his mane. I was crying, I had been crying the entire time. I was frozen because of the welling up emotions of my best friends openly fighting; nearly coming to blows and my reaction had been to freeze.

“Now, how'd yall think Silverfang will respond to folks comin' into town with a manticore cub in tow! I don't know how manticores work but what if it's daddy ain't dead?” Alguacil proposed pointing out the danger that an adult manticore parent might pose.

Scopola piped up with a smirked up at him and tugged on Chifundo's tail, “Well let us see what we have here,” She kept rubbing at the belly with a grin. “Well it is a colt? Nope, wait, it's a Chifundo!” I swear I heard this weird musical chime and looked around as I realized what Scopola meant.

“Al, the reason I'm telling you to shut up is because you've been harping on about this we left the garage, you haven't made a case that's going to change anyone's mind and it's getting on my nerves.” He paused and turned back to me with a half-hearted smile; then grimaced when he returned to Alguacil. “I'd rather not listen to you bitch and whine the whole way back. So please, just drop it.”

Chifundo turned around Scopola with a gasp of shock, “I must know how, I became a gender now!”

I rapped a hoof over Nyota's head, “You two would argue, till you were both blue.” I blushed and hung my head, “You made me pull a Chifundo!”

Alguacil just huffed and started to walk away, “I'm tryin' t' talk s'me damn sense int' yall and yall won't listen! I swear if not for me, yall would all be dead.”

Chifundo scoffed at him and they clearly were not listening to me as the anger levels continued to accelerate, “Alguacil, when do the actions of the mom, make us punish the son?”

Alguacil grumbled but finally let his points go as we all knew he was backed into a corner. I looked at the kitten and grimaced when it sought attention from me, “Doesn't this thing eat meat, and therefore ponies?”

“A base nature is to eat meat Sunrise, you just try to not do so. I am still concerned with all the weapons that hit you; you aren't getting enough protein.” I held my tongue on him being over protective and shook my head. I wasn’t about to give into the whole meat thing unless there was no other choice.

“A base nature is to survive, it had a mother who supervised. We observed its family situation and others take close consideration.” Chifundo explained and I was starting to understand what our Manticore-dun-dee was getting at.

I relented and nodded, “Fine, you can keep it. We killed its mother, even if she did eat me.” I shuddered hard at remembering what it was like to be inside a manticore's stomach, twice. My eyes snapped closed on their own and I talked through gritted teeth to get through the painful recollection, “If it comes down to needing to be done, I'm sure Chifundo can do what he has to.”

Chifundo looked very proud at this statement when I opened my eyes and he stared back determined, “I will do what I must, for this you may trust!”

Alguacil seemed to finally give in at this and Nyota gripped my hoof, “Hun, I'm here for you. What's wrong.”

“Bits and pieces, flashes of memories I don't have anymore. Digesting inside a manticore for one. The larger issue is realizing Coffee Stain and I were lovers every time I've come around for a long time.” I looked up at him with a guilty expression but he just smiled at me.

“That would explain her hurt expression when you failed recollection.” Chifundo spoke as he walked away to deal with his new pet.

Nyota stroked my cheek and smiled, “How many times have you been out in the wasteland love? I would be surprised if you hadn't found security in another's arms before me.” The words made the confession hurt so much less and made me actually finally smile.

“I didn't know how you would respond when I remembered it. I should have told you sooner; all of you.” I looked to my friends, blushing a bit but realizing that airing it out felt so much better than holding it in.

Nyota just ruffled my mane as the tension from our earlier disagreements abaitted and started to process our actions from the previous day. “You worry far too much about what others think, if everyone doesn't like your actions; that's tough. They can get bent.” I blinked a few times and it took a moment to process what he meant and then I hid as I hadn't told him the decision I came to while Quick Stitch had been tending me.

Chifundo came back from the manticore cub and laid a hoof on Nyota and my own shoulder, “Sunrise affairs of the heart are yours to keep or tell, Nyota's reaction speaks for your relationship to be well.” He shifted away and I felt a sense of relief. I wondered what else I needed to tell him but hadn't remembered yet.

I was genuinely surprised by their reassurances. I had completely expected the narrowing eyes of Alguacil and his growling. But Chifundo and Nyota were supporting me and the shame of things with Coffee Stain faded immediately, “Nyota, thank you. You constantly endeavor to make me love you more with how understanding you actually can be.”

My attention turned to Alguacil. His eyes were looking for answers but his face was still just has hard as a stone. “Alguacil, have you ever loved someone?”

She grumbled and spat at the ground, “If'n you mean like my parents 'showed' love toward me, then no. If'n you mean like they did toward each other, then again, no.”

I slid off Nyota without a word, he started to stop me and found my armor gave nowhere to grip. I jumped up and hug Alguacil around his neck and he was more flustered than we'd ever seen him. I wasn't sure if it was the affection or the fact I still smelled like manticore stomach, cordite, and gunpowder. “You need to open up and let somepony show you what love actually is.” I looked up at him, his feather were rough and uncared for. He didn't return the hug, it seemed like he didn't know how to react.

“Alguacil I get the way you show you care is your concern and making sure we don't get hurt but this is mine.” I explained and slowly released the hug waiting for his response as I seemed to be frying a his brain with a hug.

“If I didn't care I wouldn't offer advice but I don't know how to op'n up more.” He remained stiff as if expecting me to strike him.

I disappointed him with another tighter hug, tears forming in my eyes as the weight and depth of pain he had live with hit me. He had never felt or seen love from another creature. “Alguacil if you don't learn to hug me back, I promise I will hug you everyday no matter how uncomfortable it gets and say something nice about you when I do.” The threat was very real despite my weakened state. I wanted him to feel and be able to express himself in something besides angry squawks.

Alguacil gave me a small pat on the head and then the stiffest hug I'd ever felt. It was a start but both of us knew it wasn't enough. “Alright, is that what ya wanted?” I shook my head.

“Alguacil, we want you to open up to us. Tell us why you seem so hateful.” I replied looking up at Alguacil through my tear filled eyes.

“Fine I'll tell what made me this way!” He squawked and shoved me away to stop the hugging.

He took in a deep breath and I released the hug while the group gathered around to listen, “I had to put them down like dogs. My father's the' reason I'm missin' my right eye, he carved it out with a kitchen knife. My mother slapped me in it when I was going to the town doc to get the wound cleaned. She refused to pay him so she could get another dose of jet. I can't say what kinda folks your parents were, but they cared enough about you to try and be decent.”

He let out a long exhale and I realized how blessed I'd been. Even if it were before the megaspells, my friends hadn't been nearly as fortunate with their fates in relationship to their parents. I was certain all of them had something terrible to say about those they came from or something awful happened to them.

“Sunrise, there is a lotta orphan in the wastes, not many say their parents died while tryin' to get 'em to safety, and if'n your parents are alive, frozen like you were. It's worth trying.” He paused and leaned down. “That is why we don't mind seeking out your parents. It's something rare in the wasteland, and rarer still that they was good folks.”

Scopola Mina had approached and looked us both over before joining us in a renewed hug, “Alguacil, do not let your parents cruelty shape your whole life. There are those of us who care.” A grin spread across her face that I could barely detect as she whispered, “We're still keeping the kitty.”

We broke the second hug and I looked up at Alguacil, “It's a start, but no. I want you to learn to mean it and understand why I hug you.”

“I get why ya do it, doesn't mean I have to like it.” Alguacil replied with a frown and pushing the two of us back slightly.

Quick Stitch had been quiet for quite a bit and thankfully stepped in to save Alguacil from further discourse about his feelings. Even I felt like he had taken too much. “So when Sparrow gets here, what do we tell them about the raider's dive we just traded with?”

Scopola snickered and smiled, “Well I say the truth. I am sure our law griffin will report in and I should let the Scouts know what happened as well. SO there is no real reason to tell Sparrow if she doesn't wanna know.”

Nyota held up a hoof and shook his head, “No, I agree with Quick Stitch. Everyone should be aware of how they acted, and what is out in Taintwood. Not to mention it might turn out they aren't as bad as we thought.”

Quick Stitch stomped his hoof and looked rather determined about his position, “I don't think they should be allowed to continue unchecked. I can't say it's a good idea to try and use force to deal with them. It's really not a safe place at all.I think any outside trade or contact would at least do them some good.”

Alguacil squawked at Quick Stitch, “I'm pretty sure they aren't raiders. If they are, they're the smartest raiders I've ever run into.” He placed a talon up to his chin before continuing, “They armored up th' garage, and took steps ta keep th' wild life out, on top of that they didn't shoot at us. I think a regulator just needs ta do some investigation.” He added on with a shake of his head. “Yeah they just felt like mercs and druggies, I didn't see any raider decor around it.”

Quick Stitch nodded in agreement and seemed to be satisfied by this, “Even if there were no obvious signs maybe an investigation and a trade caravan?”

Chifundo smiled and nodded, “Then to sparrow we talk about her giving a trade walk!” I felt better now that we had come to an agreement regarding the place in Taintwood. We didn't even know the name of the settlement.

Scopola nudged me, “Why not get on the radio and see what DJ Pon3 says about you?”

I smiled and nodded, I'd take a listen tonight once we got settled in. Maybe he could give some perspective.

“I'd say no to trade till some proper recon is done and the investigation regulator does their thing.” Algaucil stuck his chest out all proud of himself, “I've done my job right if I put enough fear in their hearts that they stop from being raiders. ”

Well he was right, if we had stopped them from being raiders maybe they would develop into a settlement like Silver Fang or The Roof. I realized I hadn't tuned into Blackhawk's frequency since we'd been in Taintwood. I would need to fix that tonight, I set an alarm on my PipBuck while they continued to talk and discuss the fate of the place we had just been.

Something was nagging at me and while I stared into my PipBuck, everyone got very distant.

ooOOoo

I was back in my own home. Mom and Dad were seated at the table staring at me. It was like I had just announced I was pregnant without ever introducing them to a stallion-friend. “Sunrise what were you thinking!? How long have you been in this deal with Pinkie Pie?” My father demanded standing up and stamping his hoof on the table hard enough that the plates physically lifted from it.

I winced at him and realized I had started a family fight. They hadn't know that Silver Zoom was using me for bait. They didn't know Pinkie Pie was using me as an agent to catch 9, 88, and 71. They asked who had saved me the week before and why I'd had used a grenade; I had told the truth.

“Since we went to Canterlot and I was whisked away from the party.” I replied looking away, rather ashamed I had deceived my parents.

“Dammit Sunrise, I get the ministries don't get along all the time, but I had no idea my own daughter would be working against me!” Rainbowrise declared and stomped over and stood in front of me. “Explain yourself right now!”

I looked down, unable to meet his stern gaze that cut me down to the soul. “Dad, I was under the impression I didn't have a choice. Pinkie can be very persuasive,” He forcefully pulled my chin and made me look into his eyes. He motioned with his other hoof for me to continue. “I thought it was the only way to stop them from tormenting us.”

There was a pause in the house as my mother came over and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “listen you were right about how the ministries treat zebras. I feel I'm right about this, we aren't going to get through this by not communicating what is going on.”

My dad grimaced in frustration and his eyes slammed closed under a furrowed brow. “I thought I'd done my job in Canterlot and this would be resolved. Just like when they took her the first time for interrogation.”

I didn't want to burst his bubble but I had to do say something, mom was right. “Dad, you didn't get me out of being sent to a friendship camp or worse.” He opened his eyes stunned at the words, he reached up and gripped my shoulder, his face searching for the answer desperately. Even mom was caught off guard.

“Sweetie, what haven't you told us?” Mom asked and reached up to loosen my dad's grip on my shoulder before he bruised me.

“While they were interrogating me, a pony named Apple-Bloom from Stable-Tec came in and gave me an injection. She said I was now under her jurisdiction and the Ministry of Morale had no right to attempt to challenge her on it.”

My dad's jaw dropped and he looked at my mother, who nodded to him. He reached into his work jumpsuit and pulled out a couple of slips of paper. “I had thought my work for The Ministry of Wartime Technology had granted us entry.” On the paper were several Stable-Tec logos and the number 43 notarized in obnoxious yellow. “But it appears you are the reason we've been granted entry in the event of the worst. I think it's time we all came clean about what I've been working on and your interactions with the Ministries.”

My mom nodded to him and nuzzled his cheek, “It's the only way we can know for sure what is actually going on.” She paused and turned her gaze to me, “Regardless if you have your cutie mark or not; we're gonna have to treat you like an adult, you understand what that means Sunrise?”

I nodded softly and dad moved his hoof to give me a soft hug. “Alright. So Sunrise, tell us everything.” So I told them, all of it. All the interactions with Pinkie Pie, Princess Celestia, Silver Zoom, what was actually going on with the Ministry of Morale; all of it. I didn't skip the parts of torture even if they knew already. When I finished both my mother and I turned to Rainbowrise and he nodded.

“My turn I guess, I'm working on a device to achieve immortality for our soldiers.” Immortality was impossible wasn't it? At least not for anypony except the alicorns, right?

“Immortality? What? How?” Before he could explain he and mom became distant. So very distant that I couldn't hear what he was saying and I was back in the wasteland.

ooOOoo

Scopola Mina and Nyota were both shaking me as I snapped out of the memory. I looked at them and smiled, “Sorry just, remembering something. I'll be alright in a bit.” I stretched out and realized my body must have not moved the entire time I was back with my parents.

I wasn't sure how I was certain this was real but it had to be right? In the memories I had no control, no feeling, no ability to make a decision. Here if I lifted my hoof, which I did just then to look at it. I lifted it by choice, not because the memory said so.

I blinked away the feelings and finished my stretching while my friends looked on me with concern, “I just need a stretch see, we can talk it over around dinner, right?” I looked at Scopola Mina to try to get some reassurance and confirmation. I didn't know how long I had been out of it but at least I could deflect long enough to get some time to process what just happened.

Scopola Mina brightened up and looked in the distance at the reflections of the setting sun through the cloud layer, “I'm sure I can whip something up if you wanna take a stretch with mister Nyota.” She smiled to Nyota with a bit of a glint in her eye.

Nyota silently grabbed me by the hoof and led me away from the group. He turned back to Scopola, “I'm sure a walk and talk isn't out of the question, let us know if Sparrow shows up.”

My armor noisily creaked and ground against its plates as we walked away. I could feel the frazzling of the experience with my parents still reflecting upon me. I had lied to them or at least not told the whole truth to that point. They had done what they thought was best but hadn't known about my deal with Pinkie Pie or Apple-Bloom nor the reason why Silver Zoom had been hanging around us so closely.

I couldn't repeat that mistake. I needed to tell the whole truth to my friends today. But first I needed a clear head. Nyota led me out of earshot of our group so we could talk privately through. “Thank you, yes it would be nice to walk and talk.” I replied, gripping his hoof tightly and looking him over. He had saved me at least twice so far that I could count, how many more times before I would say how I really felt about him.

“Come on Sunrise, we can do some form practice over here, where no one can really see us.” He explained and I looked up at him with a shake of my head.

I stood up on my hind legs, still getting used to the poses and positions he had taught me, “We aren't here for form practice, really, are we?”

Nyota starting moving his hooves and I knew that was my queue to follow his motions. “We are, but I think talking while we practice would help. You looked terribly shaken up and it took a great deal to snap you out of whatever it was you were experiencing.” He used his hind legs to make a circle around us and indicated to not move outside the circle. “What shook you up so badly?”

I started stretching and adjusting to the heavier weight of the new armor mixed with learning the Zebrican martial arts. “You mean dying inside the manticore or the fact I deceived even my parents about what the Ministries and Stable-Tec were doing before the megaspells?” My usual cheer was gone and I was very somber in tone. I could feel how heavy the frown weighed on my face and how much all of this was eating at me.

His usual confidence faltered almost immediately. Recent events had shaken loose my memories, it was like a slowly crumbling wall inside my own mind. I was starting to see through the cracks. Pink was unusually silent and not commentating on anything, she was present. I could feel her and sense her listening but she wasn't making it where I could see or hear her.

“Nyota, there is a whole lot to unpack,” I lowered my guard and stood on my rear hooves. I was starting to find my balance with this stance. “I mean, I remember it so clearly, the death inside the manticore; it was real.” I could still taste the acids and I wasn't sure if they were recent or the memory.

“I can see why that would bother you, I wouldn't be nearly as chipper as you, knowing that I keep coming back every time I die.” He stepped over and took the stance in front of me and we began our dance in slow punches. Every time I moved wrong he would adjust it and help me block correctly then show me how to strike back in kind. “Your resilience to the insanity of your life is yet another thing to admire. Please Sunrise, have faith in your friends. Okay?”

I was clumsy with my movements as he spoke. My body felt weak from earlier still and the brutal arithmetic of hoof to hoof combat was still foreign to me. Even in slow motion, it looks like I could genuinely hurt some pony. “Nyota,” I stopped our motions and slowly wrapped my hooves around him, missing the block but it certainly didn't hurt as this speed. He adjusted his hoof to caress my cheek. “You are too perfect,” I whispered softly in his ear as I starred back at our friends, particularly Chifundo playing with the manticore cub. “I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with Snuggles near me.”

He held me close and nodded softly, “If it comes to a choice between the cub and your comfort with the rest of us,” He followed my eyes and turned his head enough to look back at Chifundo. “The manticore can go, Chifundo will understand. I only really spoke up to irritate Alguacil and because you’re rubbing off on me.”

I looked at him and shook my head in disagreement. “It did nothing wrong, I shouldn't be terrified by it. I just, ya know, being digested alive isn't comforting at all and it's mother was well...” I trailed off and separated from our embrace, trying to find my balance again. “That was the first time the possibility I might die came to me. All the other times, I was certain I would be okay.”

He helped me into the stance and took a few blinks as he made sure I had proper balance and wouldn't falter then resumed our very slow motion faux combat. “Well at this point I can say you've taken a lot of effort to throw yourself into harm's way for everyone else. It's just now sinking in that can be dangerous?”

I nodded as I got the block correct and we moved on to the next strike, “Sunrise maybe you should put yourself first more often instead of being so quick to sacrifice yourself to save others? I love you and I don't want to lose you.” He was phrasing himself very carefully, almost stumbling over his words to avoid the very fumbling he was doing. “Don't take this the wrong way, I have become quite fond of the idea of spending the rest of my life with you; cutting that short now would be a tragedy.”

My stance completely dropped and his slow motion strike pressed into my cheek as I felt my face flush completely. I simply stood there blinking while his hoof pressed at the corner of my mouth. “Did you just, what I think you said?” I asked him, almost falling over backwards from him pressing against me if not for his other hoof moving to catch me. “We haven't, you haven't,” I stammered out words trying to find something to say and not finishing a sentence several times over.

He just softly brought me close and stroked my mane, “I've said it before, I want to settle down, start a farm, feed people with the love of my life.” He lifted my chin up and looked into my eyes, carefully removing his eye patch so I could see the cosmos of his star sighted eye. “Right now, I'm certain I want you to be that love.”

I took a step back and dropped down to all fours, looking up at him, very coyly. I was studying his every feature and staring into that eye before the schoolgirl blush finally overtook me. “You really know how to make me feel like a million bits.”

He blushed back and wrapped his hoof around my head to softly caress through my mane, “I try and until I met you, my dreams were all the same. Reliving that day I lost everything, every night. Then one night I actually slept, holding you. I dreamt of rolling hills filled with plants and a simple fence. I sat on a porch and a pair of soft green legs with little white hooves draped around my shoulders. I saw your face in that dream,” He paused to take in a long breath. “I don't know if it will come to pass but I would like it to.”

The picture he painted I could see it. I wanted it to. It felt so appealing to live a simpler life. Maybe not exactly as he described it but certainly felt beautiful. The shock and trauma of the day faded away as my mind raced with the possibility of happiness. My hooves slowly reached up and I embraced him, feeling a need to protect him as much as he did me. “I would like that.”

“Well I wouldn't make the offer if I didn't mean it. I'm not asking you to drop it all now and start but in the future, if you'll still have me?” He stroked my head softly and I pressed into his chest, the smell of sandalwood a very welcome one as we smiled at each other when I looked up at him. The apprehension was gone and instead we were exchanging a genuine feeling of loving embrace between each other. It felt so nice, his warmth, listening to his heartbeat with one ear, staring into his eyes and imagining the possibilities. A life of peace, was it possible still in the wasteland?

“Nyota, I'd be honored to be yours.”

Fan Art of the Chapter:
By Maxwell

By Dawnfire

Progress to Level 10: 19%

Quest Perk Gained: Nerd Rage, Sunrise Edition - When you drop below 30% HP or your lover falls in combat, your strength because 13 and you gain 10 DT! "Let's take this all the way to 13!"

Chapter 28: Life Altering Decisions

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“It's a shame that your armor is necessary, but we're not safe out here.” He said with a soft smile, brushing my mane as we stayed in that embrace for a long time. I had become irritated we could not be closer with my armor plating in the way and it was chafing in spots from how long I'd been wearing it. He broke the hug reluctantly so we could both take a moment to collect ourselves.

“Actually I wanted to talk to you about something, important.” I smiled back at him as I blushed and rubbed my forehoof against my other side. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and the absolute feeling of potential despair if he rejected the idea.

“While we dance perhaps? Or would you rather talk first and dance later?” Nyota moved to give me a soft hug. I noticed that in the distance all the rest of our company were staring at us. As soon as I looked at them, they all scrambled their attention to something else, Quick Stitch even falling over his own hooves to look busy. Scopola blushing and snickering at him as she started to whistle, adding to the suspicion of their eavesdropping.

“First, you said you couldn't dance. Second, it's about our quest goals and our relationship.” I kept feeling the butterflies rising making it harder to talk by the second. I moved my hoof up to my PipBuck and hesitated. A part of me wanted to jump headlong in and just see what happened. The other half was very concerned if I didn’t ease into this, he’d flee from me instead. Both sides fought for control and I did my best to not show this conflict to him.

“Well... dancing is like practicing martial arts but together right?” He asked, oblivious to my internal struggle, instead setting up a practice circle for us to resume our work out. “I mean you want to find information about your family, figure out how to stop the agents, rescue your parents, find my family, and figure out what the box inside us is; that's it right?” He finished spelling out my thoughts and stopped our work out.

I slowly raised my head and solemnly nodded to him, “Well, if we find nothing on my parents in that Secret Stable with the Phi symbol, I want to reverse the order of our goals. It’s selfish of me to take my parents first. We don’t know if they are alive, but we know your family is. We also know they are in danger and being tormented.” I started our practice but he stopped me.

Instead Nyota insisted upon leading me in a music-less waltz. I knew the steps from the Canterlot Gala. I took the lead when he didn't quite know all the motions. I guided him as best I could while pressing my head into his shoulder. It both hurt and felt like a relief to admit any of this.

I wanted to hunt down my parents and hug their neck. Putting that on hold seemed felt like I was abandoning them. However, helping the one who gave me these butterflies felt so very right. It also meant if my parents were gone, I would still save the ones who gave me this wonderful zebra. There was another major thing I wanted to talk to him about but this needed to be done first.

“We've got more leads on your parents than mine. I know my parents are alive, but not where.” As he spoke, he was learning the moves quickly to dance with me. It was the nicest feeling in the world. I now knew what my parents felt when they danced together in the living room. It is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world but nerve wracking at the same.

The simplest waltz, one step after the other felt like the most surreal moment of my life. If not for the feeling of Nyota's rising and falling breath; I wouldn't have believed this was real. Tears of absolute joy fell from my eyes as I finally just got to relax and be close with him.

“Nyota, my parents are likely in stasis, like I was. Yours are in the wasteland, vulnerable, and time is not on their side.” I paused for quite a long bit as the tears turned to pain at a very disturbing possibility. “I have to accept the possibility that we will fail and my parents are lost. Please let me give you this, because you've given me more than I ever had the right to ask.” As soon as I finished the sentence, I missteped.

He didn't seem to notice and just smiled as he nuzzled my mane from above. “I will agree if we find nothing. Now let's enjoy the dance. There's so much hurt in the wasteland, let's add some moments to make us smile okay?”

I wasn't going to have any of his reassurance or blissful moment, not yet. “I need to say one more bit, is that fair?"

He nodded and nuzzled into my cheek. "Sure, Sunny. Go on." I could tell he was humoring me to get to the part where I would finally just relax into bliss.

"The memory I had, of Coffee Stain and the doctor explaining that not only am I much older than I appear and apparently have a child somewhere... I wanted to say this.” I gulped heavily and stopped the dance for the briefest moment, brushing my hoof against his neck very gingerly down to his muscular shoulder. I knew he could feel my trembling and his hoof moved to steady my own.

I took strength in him and decided to take my leap of faith. “Nyota, I don't want to make you wait anymore on me being ready nor my father's approval. The memory I had proved I shouldn't hesitate or restrain myself.” I bit my lip hoping he fully understood exactly what I was getting at.

He held me tight to his chest, right over his scar. I could feel my blushing running through my cheeks so hot it might burn him. I clung to him like my life depended on it as soft tears of happiness rolled from my eyes and I slammed my vision closed to just listen to his heartbeat.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get the chance, for now relax. Let us enjoy the time we have here and now.” He turned us so we could look into each other's eyes. I could see my nearly stark white face against my green coat in his cosmic eye reflected back to me. He held the goofiest smile, one of the most magical things I'd ever seen upon his face ever. I reached down and turned on my PipBuck, finding some dancing music.

My tears dried as I focused and I could see clearly again. He knew what I meant when I took in the rest of his face. The spiritual eye of the Starkatteri, always fascinated me and I considered it one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. It had truly distracted me from the rest of his expression. He was in such a deep blush that not even Chifundo's stripes could hope to match that shade of pink. I just matched his goofy smile and we resumed the waltz to music now playing from DJ Pon3’s station.

He just kept his smile as the music slowly wound down; I hadn't stopped blushing and our company hadn't stopped staring at us both. “I mean it, I love you, and I'm ready.” He brushed against my flank softly and my tail with a mind of its own reached over and grabbed his like a hoof-hold.

“Well looks like that's a long time off for later tonight.” He said with a soft laugh as our dance ended. He let my tail have its way with his. “Whatever Scopola Mina is cooking smells good.” We walked back to the group, while Scopola Mina snickered at us. I realized my tail hadn't let go.

Scopola Mina fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh a little bit of everything for the lovebirds. At least what I can make out of an MRE, plus your other supplies.” She held up a bit of skewered meat and smirked more. “Something for those who want meat and...” She stood up high on her legs and puffed her chest out proud as she pulled up the second pot of food. “Veggies including baked beans for protein for the rest of us.”

I felt my flush return at her words and turned my head away from Scopola Mina, still looking at her knowingly from the corner of my eye. “He made me feel wonderful, some decisions were made, and well... he'll get an answer when we get to town.”

Nyota quickly changed the subject, “I think it went very well. We're going to Stable-Phi once we get Jackal settled in. We will need a plan to deal with Geckzilla as well but I think it would be best not to cross paths with that gargantuan eating machine.”

Jackal looked like he heard his name but was standing away from us, in deep thought. He glanced at me and met my gaze, then turned his head away quickly. “Well, there's always my way of handlin' it, after all it's a big threat t' folks in the area, and well, got a notable bounty on its head too!” Alguacil spun his revolve cylinder and popped it in place to emphasize his point.

Nyota shook his head and looked at me, “I think we'd be better off leaving it alone to a larger better equipped group. As much as that bounty might help us, I'd rather not try it with anything short of a megaspell bomb.”

I shook my head. My knowledge of explosives was at work and my cutie mark itched as I spoke, “A dozen 127mm Equestria anti-tank rounds would probably work, but I don't think we have those either. Even if we did, we lack a gun to fire them with.”

Alguacil spit out something from his meal and shook his head, “It's probably just got extra thick scales for soakin' bullets. There's a reason gecko skins make good armor.”

There were banging and crashing noises behind the car. Chifundo emerged with Snuggles chewing up a poor radroach and eating the poor creature whether it was still twitching or not. My stomach churned and I struggled to keep my own food down.

The grilled veggies were delicious but I had to force myself to take the next bite. Chifundo just sat down with a smile and nodded to me, “Three radmites is plenty of feed, more than that, Snuggles does not need.” He petted the manticore which made me cringe even more; to say I was green would have been an oxymoron. At this point, I wanted to stop eating and just get away from that manticore.

Scopola Mina joined in scratching the kitty behind the ears as she took out an inhaler and fired it into her mouth. “Did our little kitty find some prey? Who's a good kitty.” Chifundo let Scopola Mina have the petting while he ate.

Quick Stitch chuckled, “At least Snuggles can be our new resident pest control.”

So long as they take care of it, keep it away from me and it makes them happy, sure; we can keep it. The moment that thing gets close to me, I'm going to shoot it!

Alguacil grumbled and shook his head, “Right, like runnin' around with a manticore cub is a great idea.” He spat and dragged out the word great till he was out of air. He pointed at the manticore to emphasize his point. Snuggles growled back at him and there was a stare-down for just a few moment.

I moved behind Nyota to hide from the sight of Snuggles and having to look at the cub. The very sight of any manticore was disturbing me. An image of Snuggles all grown up caused me to shiver and my stomach to lurch. Everyone took a moment to observe both my change in demeanor and me moving to hide.

Quick Stitch reached out to take over petting duty for the manticore, “While I don't like the idea of leaving Snuggles for somepony else to care for, we do seem to find ourselves in danger more often than not.” He looked at Chifundo, then at me. I ducked out of his view. “I wouldn't want the cat to accidentally find a land mine or otherwise because of us.”

Nyota glared at Alguacil, as if daring him to say something, while his rear hoof softly pressed against my shoulder to comfort me. I realized just how much this creature meant to them even if it made me want to panic and run. I held my ground and, shaking in my armor, I started to speak words I prayed I'd never regret, “Chifundo, you can keep Snuggles. So long as you keep it away from me and take care of it. Oh and train it to NOT eat ponies; even the bad ones.”

Chifundo laughed rather loudly and shook his head, “It does you no good to always be so tense, Sunrise it will dull your sense!” I knew what he meant but Snuggles seemed to mean quite a great deal to them.

Scopola Mina approached me, cleaning up what was left of our meal for later. “Miss Sunrise, I understand why you dislike Snuggles so much. I can't say I wouldn't feel the same if what you went through happened to me. But, I'm glad you're letting us keep it.”

Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder and shook his head, “It's getting late and until Sparrow gets back we aren't allowed in town.” He explained as I heard his bedroll unfurl and he opened the zipper. “It's okay if you wanna cry, I'll give you a shoulder.” His whisper was low enough that I hoped no one else heard the part he added.

I looked back at my friends who were a good 10 hoof paces away, “Thank you for the food, it was really good.” It was, but Snuggles had ensured I couldn't revel or really indulge in the taste. I took out a canteen sucking down half the water inside quickly and then slipped myself some Med-X to stop the painful shivers I had. The cooling feeling that coursed into me from the Med-X deadened my fear somewhat. My body felt so distant and that distance was welcome. This stuff feels so good.

Jackal jumped off the car roof and finally joined us. He had been there since we started our way back. He looked at each of us suspiciously then walked up to Scopola Mina and extended his claw with a gruff look on his face. She passed him a bowl of meat soup and several skewers of meat chunks using her telekinesis.

He looked at her, then at me, then back at her. “Pony, I swear if this is poisoned with any of that Filly Scout drug garbage, I’m gonna see how quick your skull snaps in my cyberclaw.” The adolescent dragon clamped his claw to emphasize his point.

Scopola Mina jumped back, genuinely hurt, and she started to slide away. I jumped at Jackal and came within just a few steps of him growling mad, “Jackal, knock it off. We just went through high hell and I nearly died because Sparrow was gonna shoot you if we didn’t make you useful! Why would we bother to poison you at this point?”

Jackal looked down at me, I was the only one significantly smaller than him. He grimaced and leaned in. “You’re just gonna give up all this scrap and stubbornite for a town you barely know and for some dragon your stallionfriend happens to know? What is this horse shit?”

I wanted to hit him, I felt my blood boiling up but I held back. That would just prove his point and make him feel justified in his paranoia of us. I looked at Pink who had leaned in from the edge of my view, eyes wide. She wanted to see what I was about to do and didn’t dare interrupt the moment other than to make it known she was watching closely.

“Jackal,” I felt my mouth dry out. I didn’t like this ungrateful ass of a dragon. However, he deserved a chance to be better. He hadn’t done anything wrong and went with us to fix his mistakes. “I’m from the Old World, before the bombs. I remember what it is like to be determined to help others. Even though I lived my whole life through the war itself.” I paused and carefully considered my words, “I barely remember what it was like before the ministries, I remember the teaching of the Elements of Harmony as the highest form of morality.”

I reached up and used my hoof to open his cyberclaw so I could place it in it. He resisted at first but relented when he realized I didn't have to strength to make him. The metal was ice cold and made my skin crawl but I held it there. I looked him dead in the eyes and just gave him the softest look I could must. I prayed to Celestia this was the right move.

Jackal stared me down as I spoke to him, it was as if he were expecting a threat with him holding a gun to my head. “Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty together will create Magic. That means right now I’m trusting you to have the kindness and honesty about yourself to not have a reason to crush my hoof in your claw. I’m providing the generosity of a second chance and hoping that will bring some loyalty out of you.”

Pink’s eyes went wide as saucers with a face that said she was seeing magic for the first time in her life. She immediately went to biting the edge of her hoof and staring at what I was doing. Dozens of hoof filings dropping to the ground. The tension in my body and instinct to pull away from scaly skin only adding to my worry Jackal would actually choose now to break my leg.

Nyota walked up behind me and looked up at Jackal, “And I’m hoping you are still loyal to me, your friend who went to The Metropolis to get that claw for you.” Scopola Mina watched intently and Alguacil winced at the statement, almost like it hurt him to hear that.

"Yeah well," he tensed up and his claw got a bit painful but the Med-X made it where I didn't show it. "They took a lot more from me and added bits I don't wanna talk about."

Nyota shook his head, "But we didn't know that, now let Sunrise talk." Jackal looked suspiciously to Nyota and slowly turned his head to me. We stared at each other, my gaze soft and trying to be welcoming, his still hard and angry.

I looked at Nyota and smiled nervously. Slowly I turned back to Jackal, “Most of all, my father taught me that everyone makes mistakes. We all deserve a second chance, we all deserve to have some mercy given if we’re willing to atone. Jackal, you are getting a second chance, at my expense. Why not take it?”

Jackal sat there, frozen and dumbfounded. His anger dropped like a wrecking ball hitting a clay wall. His claw slowly started to clutch at my hoof, he looked away trying to hide his face. I expected him to crush me and leave me with a shattered hoof. He didn’t squeeze that hard, just hard enough so I could know he was in pain, “Stupid ponies and your mushy stuff!” He didn’t let go, I looked up and saw a tear roll down his cheek, it sparked with a lightning bolt between his cheek and the droplet as it departed from his face.

Pink’s jaw hit the compass at the bottom of my vision and she plopped down onto her flanks. “Dragons don’t cry! How, did you…” Even the pony who embodied laughter, could not take this moment in passing or with a joke. She was purely stunned by the single tear shed by a great scaly beast.

“Jackal, was that a yes? You’ll be better?” Nyota placed his hoof against my other forehoof and nuzzled my cheek.

Jackal nodded and grumbled under his breath, “Yeah but I won’t keep this mushy stuff up.” He sniffed and forcefully dried his tears.

Chifundo chimed in, “With that we have created a paradox, a first of his kind to find an equinox.”

I stared at Chifundo and considered it, He is right, a dragon might finally find a balance between emotions. Might!

Jackal finally released my hoof and smirked, “But I’m not stopping having one night stands and don’t expect me to stop enjoying the dash!” He huffed and looked at me like he’d just won a fight with me.

I just smiled and walked away, “Wouldn’t expect it for the world, enjoy the food. Hopefully Sparrow gets back soon and lets us all in.” I felt Jackal staring at my backside, but I also enjoyed feeling Nyota alongside me.

“I’m sorry for all the heart attacks I give you.” I whispered barely loud enough for him to hear.

“Between Jackal and the manticore you’re gonna make me an old buck before we ever have time to really enjoy each other’s company.” He teased me further by nipping on my ear and making me jump. I stared back at him, mocking actual hurt and then finally giving a school-filly giggle.

I dropped my helmet into the dirt and took the ballistic goggles off my face. I could feel the wind upon it where they had been. I imagined you could see the difference in the dirt on my coat too. “Don’t drop your helmet Sunrise, ya need that.” Quick Stitch called out in a mocking manner. I felt my tail pick up the helmet and attach it to my hip.

It is still the weirdest feeling in the world when you do that. Like it’s a miniature out of body experience, Pink.

“Oh! How so miss pokey?” Pink pried back with a gesture that could only be described as, Lewd.

Well it’s like having your leg move or your mouth operate a screwdriver but instead of you telling your body to do, it just does it. You know it’s happening, you can feel it but you have no direction or control as it happens. So yeah, slightly out of body or like my tail is attached but only by glue and nerves that tell what it’s doing something. Pink just laughed and shook her head, walking out of my vision.

I looked at Nyota and nuzzled him softly, a felt a weary smile spread across my lips. His warmth was wonderful, especially after the rollercoaster of a couple of days I’ve had. I looked up at him with a smirk. He looked down at me and blushed, “I like seeing you smile.”

I looked up at him and kissed his chin underneath. “I suppose you want me to tell everypony about our talk?”

He let out a chuckle and shook his head, as we separated just enough to start to get me out of my armor. Only the outer plating though. “Only if that is what you want, I just like seeing you smile.”

“And I think it’s wonderful when you blush,” Nyota nodded at me and kissed my forehead. I heard Scopola Mina giggling and turned to see her hiding a grin.

“Sunrise, it’s good to see you not having to wear that heavy plating, you have a wonderful form underneath.” Nyota teased and bumped me with his hip.

I felt a twinge in the back of my head, something felt off and I knew what it was, “When did you stop calling me Sunny?”

“I meant it as a term of endearment but it seemed to bother you, would you rather I continue?” He was speaking softly, trying not to be heard. I could sense the ears of Scopola, Quick Stitch, and Chifundo leaning in to try to get a listen.

I looked over as Scopola said something about chemistry but that was the only word I caught as they all suddenly burst into looking busy. I knew they were pretending to not eavesdrop. “It grew on me. I’m starting to like this new Equestria, at least in some places.”

“Just kiss!” Quick Stitch called out to us teasingly which only caused Chifundo, Scopola Mina, and himself to burst out into laughter. Both Nyota and I glared at them while blushing furiously. I wanted to say something, I felt it trying to fight its way up my throat. I held it back through. He was right, I should just kiss Nyota.

I quickly pecked him on the lips and pulled back, he gave me a completely star struck look. He looked so cute, with glossy-eyes and unsure if he wanted to smile or run away and hide. The blush made his stripes look as pink as Chifundo’s again and his coat as red as Alguacil’s sombrero stripes.

“You better—” I was silenced and driven onto my back hooves when he embraced me in a full unrestrained kiss.

I resisted the urge to pull back from the surprise. He placed a hoof on my head and ran it through my mane. Every touch of his sending electricity through me from lips to the base of my spine. I felt the goosebumps ripple across my skin. I would give anything for this moment to last forever. I felt my rear hoof raise itself off the ground nearly touching my flank.

We only stopped when Scopola falling over and laughing interrupted us. I turned my head and glared at her as she tried to hide her face from embarrassment. Jackal huffed loudly, “Nyota come on, just bang her already.”

That stopped the laughing and both Nyota and I scoffed at him. I turned back to Nyota and looked up at him, “He used to be your friend?”

Nyota nodded, “It was a different time and I was a very different zebra. Hopefully he will become a better dragon now.” He made sure that Jackal could hear the second sentence. He choked on his food and coughed repeatedly till a spark of electricity came out of his mouth. The meat inside flew out and looked extra burnt to a crisp. This gave all of us a giggle and a bit of a marvel to find out Jackal was an electric dragon.

Nyota moved to whisper into my ear, “Don’t ever feel like you have to hold back, Sunny.”

I looked at all our friends and back to him with a wonderful feeling of butterflies and burning cheeks. I felt very warm all over. My armor had gotten extremely stuffy very quickly. “Nyota, I said I was ready, I didn’t mean make it hot in my armor!”

The chuckling continued and Chifundo calmed them down with just a few words, “Seeing the joy and love you share, the two of you are a beautiful pair.”

“Just make sure it’s an appropriate time an’ place,” Alguacil piped up from on top of the car as he kept look out towards Silver Fang and rotated to look back into the wasteland.

My mind raced back to the memories with Coffee Stain and what that would mean if I didn’t come clean to her and Nyota. “I have to talk with somepony first and explain to them what is going on.” I rubbed a hoof as I was down to my stable-suit and all its extra armor plating.

“Do you want me to come with you for this talk?” He asked with a smile and nipped my ear, making me jump and squeak. The squeak just made him smirk and ruffle my mane. I thought over what he just asked.

“Well, everypony here hopefully. I just want you to know before hoof, that I love you, very much.” I pushed back from him just enough to separate the two of us. I looked at him to, as my mind went to committing every aspect of his face to memory. I felt a twinge of guilt and hoped what I had to say to Coffee Stain wasn’t about to ruin any of this. I wanted to have this feeling every night.

“Life with you, Sunrise, has been a whirlwind, I am not sure what you are destined.” Chifundo paused and look a breath, “But for Nyota to leave your company, is not within the realm of possibility.” Our whole group turned to look at him dumbfounded by his expression. The silence over the camp stayed for a long time. Even Jackal had stopped eating to look at the shaman like he was about to reveal the mysteries of life and the universe.

Chifundo, get out of my head! I wanted to scream at him, not sure how he knew what I was thinking at that exact moment. There was an odd chime I heard and I looked around trying to find it. Nothing I could see or hear afterward.

Without missing a beat, as though the chime hadn't been heard by anyone else, Chifundo turned to Quick Stitch and smiled, “Quick Stitch, I have had some time in thought, the box should have a closer look sought. The one black as night, from our friendly cube of white.”

Quick Stitch nodded to him and pulled it out with his magic. He started to poke and prod only to have it shock him back and refuse to release any secrets. “Chifundo, if Quick Stitch is doing that, I need you to ask the spirits about Nyota’s parents. See if you can give us a clue where to start with them.”

I can’t believe I’m putting faith in zebra spiritualism. If you had told me zebra shamans had this kind of power before the incident with the potato, I wouldn’t have believed you.

“And now you know why it was so hard to beat them; and why they seemed to know everything. They made my job harder than a super stale pound cake.” Pink explained with an overly exasperated sigh.

“To do this will take much preparation, but this request has filled my determination.” Chifundo nodded at me, and motioned for me to move to the blankets with Nyota.

“One other thing, unless something extremely pressing comes up. We need to head back to that Secret Stable.” Everyone looked at me as I continued to present out my plan. I had their undivided attention, even Jackal raised an eyebrow. “We have a lot to do, get Jackal set up here in Silver Fang with his second chance. Go by and see Black Hawk and Picline too. Then once we get done with whatever is in Stable Phi, we head for Ten Pony Tower and get the information DJ Pon3 has. From there, we decide if we are going to help Nyota’s parents or figure out how to help mine. Does anyone have an objection?”

No one said a word. They started to nod as Chifundo and Quick Stitch returned to examining Sugarcube Corners’ box, and Scopola Mina started to clean up the food as well as her mobile
canteen kitchen.

“Sunrise, as long as I’m still here to keep you all in one piece, I am along for the ride either way.” Quick Stitch toyed with the black box then held it up as if to ask for help.

“Yes but this isn’t a dictatorship, I want to know what my friends think and if they have better ideas on what we should do.” I had stopped now, as romantic as Nyota and I had been. As much as I wanted to just jump into a sleeping bag with Nyota right now; I had to make sure everyone was on the same page.

“Sunny, I’m more concerned for your parents and what Stable-Tec might be doing to them, but I agree with your plan.” Nyota explained as my stomach kept swimming and I felt the heat calming down. “Come on love, you can discuss all this in the morning.”

He was making sense and I had to agree that sleep was something we all deeply needed at this point. I found myself curled up against his chest, sleeping upon the scar he bore there. I enjoyed listening to his heartbeat as he fell asleep.

ooOOoo

I was somewhere else, it smelled of cinnamon buns. I slowly opened my eyes and saw my mother’s face. She reached down and stroked my cheek softly, “Hey, Little Wanderer, how are you doing?” She looked upon me warmly and I looked back but something felt off.

“Mom… Dad calls me that.” I complained and she winced, pulling the hoof back. Something didn’t feel right. Her touch was that of a stranger!

I recoiled.

Her face changed to one of disappointment and there was a flash of unicorn magic in a white glow. Mom’s magic is orange like my tail, not white. I was staring at a pony I did not recognize, the rest of the room came into view. The same interrogation room I’d been in before, without any table or chairs this time. This new pony, blue with a white mane and sunburst yellow eyes growled.

“Dammit! She saw through it far too quickly. What are your orders 9?” The mare said in a cruel voice as her hoof slapped my cheek and she stormed off behind a shield of blinding lights.

“I don’t know. I know Pinkie is onto us, but she needs evidence to move against us. Wandering Sunrise, would you be so kind as to tell us who Pinkie Pie sent with you to investigate us?” The voice, it was Agent 9.

It was my tormentor's.

Why? Why this memory? Why now? What triggered it? I was scrambling onto my hooves as my mind scrambled to piece together why this memory. What was it? I shook my head and raced haphazardly to put distance between us.

I didn’t get far before struggling to stop myself from the edge of the interrogation room. The concrete was going to be unforgiving and I knew this. I barreled to a stop and slammed my shoulder into it, hard enough to bruise and me to let out a whinny of pain.

Whoever the unicorn was spoke next, “She saw through the illusion in seconds, even if I misspoke. I could sense she knew it was wrong somehow. We can’t harm her anymore, Applebloom is getting suspicious.”

Agent 9 stomped her hoof, I still couldn’t see her, “I would just torture her or tell you to do a deep mind probe and leave a husk if we could. But if we do that, they will figure out what is going on.” She growled at me and even her breath could be felt even this far away.

I felt unadulterated pure fear. Even instinct told me to flee but I had no where to run. The fear kept pressing against me, I could feel the walls closing in around me, ready to crush me into a pulp.

That is what did it, the fear from Snuggles. Pink! Please if you can hear me, pull me out! There was no response as I felt my panicked mind looking for my parents or a way out.

The Agents turned their shadow figures towards each other and then back to me, “Well then, why don’t we let her answer? Come on, little pony. Your white coat doesn’t need more scars. You don’t need more of us trying to play with your mind, do you? Why not just tell us who is helping Pinkie Pie investigate us?”

Both of the unicorn’s horns lit up and pressed close to my forehead. I felt an extreme pain in my head, the same pain from the first memory in this room. I could almost see their faces through the light this close but the pain was blinding me. I fought it, I fought so hard to keep them out. Darkness started to take over, the pain was forcing me to choose between fighting back and remaining awake.

No! I won’t tell them. I can’t! I must protect them! Thoughts kept racing through my head, avoiding the name and doing all I could to keep the pressure of the mind probes out.

It was like two knives trying to drive through my skull, right between my eyes; and using just my thoughts to keep it out.

Their horns both flickered, and the knives stopped. I felt my hooves getting unstable and I could finally start to breath again. There was no strength on Equus that could keep me standing.

I collapsed to the ground with a thud and gasped for air as they stopped. Both of them stomped their hooves in frustration, almost in unison. That made it all the more unnerving to watch them moving in such a identical rhythm. I panted for air, struggling to keep myself awake.

“She is still resistant and refuses to give in. What do you wanna do with her?” Agent 71 asked. I knew who she was by voice now. They may have kept their faces from me but I could tell them by voice alone.

9 grunted and let out a dissatisfied harrumph, “We will have to break her if Stalliongrad has hope of achieving independence and getting out of this war between Equestria and Zebrica. Return her home for now, we must ensure her parents do not realize she was gone.” I felt my strength fading as she gave orders their orders.

They could pretend to be my mother and father, what did I do to make sure they were still my parents? Come on, tell me, don’t let this memory go just yet!

A magical telekinetic blanket wrapped around me and lifted me off the ground. The weightless feeling was enough to remove me from consciousness and end the nightmare. A distant honking noise seeming to draw closer and closer.

ooOOoo

I woke up to Alguacil squawking. Nyota was already out of bed and making breakfast when I looked over to Alguacil and then out into the distance he was pointing a talon at. Sparrow was flying towards us while a small band of earth ponies and unicorns were walking on the ground. There was also a griffin among them.

About time. We’ve been outside for a full day. I slowly dragged myself from the warmth of the sleeping bag. I could still smell Nyota upon the bag and it was the last thing I wanted to do was get back into the cool air of the wasteland.

Every movement out was agonizing as the warmth left and the cold of the world returned. Sleeping on the ground had been bad, doing so in my Stable-Suit with it's armored plating made it even worse to get up. The aches and groans of my body made getting up extra painful. Nyota trotted up to me and held me close, warming me up and petting my mane softly to try to fix it.

I did't move much, just kept watching Sparrow approach quickly from the air and land in front of us. She looked at the car, then Jackal, and then at all the scrap metal scattered inside and on the roof of the vehicle. Sparrow flapped her wings and turned me, “So, the stupid teenage dragon wasn’t lying? You have what was promised to the Filly Scouts so we can get those weapons?”

I nodded slowly, Jackal stomped up next to me. “I’m not a teenager, I’m just poor!” He declared. I tilted my head and wanted to test this. My tail flicked a bag of 50 caps at him. He caught it and then I swore he grew a full centimeter right in front of us.

“Well if that is the case, he can leave. No questions asked.” Sparrow declared and started to walk past us. I stepped in her way and removed myself from Nyota’s grip. She stopped and looked surprised at first. Then her gaze hardened when she tried to walk past again and I blocked her a second time. The larger pegasus was stared down at me like I had lost my mind. “What?”

“Sparrow, Jackal risked his life for us and you. He went out his way when he didn’t have to and he atoned for what he’s done.” I stared back at her and leaned up till I was almost nose to nose with Sparrow’s yellow coated face. All of this in spite of me being significantly shorter than her.

She recoiled slightly as I felt a bit of determination and anger even build up inside me. “You are a mercenary leader, and your company having a dragon on its roster would go a long way. You agreed to take him on, he’s agreed to be better.”

I turned to Jackal who looked down at the ground and had a very long frown written across his face. His eyes looked up, rather hopeful this conversation would bear fruit, “Now we’ve done what you asked with change. So you are taking him on, as you promised, and giving him a new lease on life.”

Sparrow growled as her ground forces caught up to us to listen in. She looked at me, then the dragon, then her wing pulled out her HH-7 revolver and twirled it around. It was massive with a chamber almost as big as my shotgun barrel along with only holding 4 bullets. It was called a buffalo killer since it could put one down in one shot. If she points it at him, I’m gonna have to dive in the way and take the bullet. Come on Sparrow, I’ve done a ton for you; don’t do this.

The tension in the air built as she twirled the revolver again and her other wing came up to her chin, stroking it slowly. I could see her ruminating it over in her head, I grit my teeth. My body tensed ready to leap in the way of any hostile action Sparrow might take. She took note of this and then looked at the company with her as the earth ponies and unicorns caught up and stopped behind her.

On the third twirl she holstered it and let out a sigh while hanging her head. I could see the sense of both defeat and victory in her eyes. My body loosened up and the springboard I was on eased out instead of firing off. Sparrow stood up to her full height and looked down at me with a glare.

“Fine, you win. You’re all allowed in now. Come along and let’s get those weapons from the Filly Scouts.” She started to walk past as Jackal. He just stared at her stunned till she purposely bumped into Jackal with her armor plating, “Come on, Private Jackal, fall in and get inside for armoring! Worst case, we can use you as a bullet shield. That way, you'll work at least once.”

The second half of Sparrow’s speech was more growled in his direction than actually spoken to him. Sparrow didn’t stop walking but kept going towards Silver Fang Shanty.

Her shout made Jackal scramble to get in with the unicorns and earth ponies as they all headed for the gates. We broke camp and drove our car inside, ready to meet the scouts and I was honestly ready for a warm bed, compared to the rough ground we’d slept on.

Done by Lost in the Trees as a Full Sized Poster

Progress to Level 10 - HA! You thought you got XP for this? Kidding, Quest Complete 39% of the way to Level 10

Chapter 29: Wasteland Surprises

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“No, I’m not ok. I am still here though. I’m still breathing. For me, sometimes, that will have to be enough.”
-Clementine von Radics

We got into town and honestly, I knew within moments I wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. The amount of apprehension I felt looking between Nyota next to me and Coffee Stain in the town square made sure of that. Coffee Stain was flanked by Buttered Toast and a half dozen other Filly Scouts. They had been waiting on us since we showed up outside yesterday.

Our group scattered about various pieces of business quickly. Jackal was gone to the drilling range. Alguacil off to the Regulator office. Scopola Mina to restock our supplies. Chifundo said something about communing with the spirits, while Quick Stitch said he needed to go check in at Doc Hacksaw’s office.

I thought his name was Hornsaw?

That left Nyota and myself to perform the exchange with the Filly Scouts. Those weapons and wall reinforcements would ensure Silver Fang could defend itself. I turned and stared at the scouts, dry-mouthed, I could feel a heavy blob forming in my throat. I also had to face Coffee Stain.

I saw Coffee Stain and felt the flood of feelings welling up inside me from the memories. I remembered what it was like to be in her hooves. To hold her back. To know that we would both be together eternally. The memories of my past lives fighting with the feelings I had at this moment.

I got out of the car and stood next to Nyota. I was fighting with myself, holding back all this outpouring of feelings. What do I do? I want to… I want to… I rushed forward full tilt. The Filly Scouts around Coffee Stain were caught off guard and moved to defend her.

I slid under Buttered Toast just like a baseball player. My heart soared and fluttered when my lips met Coffee Stain’s. My body felt electric sparks shoot around me. Coffee Stain’s eyes shot open wide and in full surprise but I didn’t care. This mare had meant something to me for a long time.

I remembered what I had to tell Coffee Stain. I felt my heart sink to a pit so bottomless that I could not bear to keep the kiss any longer. I pulled away just before her hoof would have stroked my mane. Both of us were blushing furiously. She was red as a cherry, I was white as a sheet.

“Okay, so, dinner and we’re having a talk about this.” Nyota didn’t get any further as Coffee Stain’s blue hoof shot out to the side to shush him. I couldn’t say anything and the two of us just let the wind blow across us.

The sunglasses that protected the dark magic indicators in her eyes fell to the ground. I knew what Nyota’s spirit eye reminded me of. I don’t want to do this, I have to do this.

I didn’t look back at Nyota, I couldn’t imagine what he might be going through. I was caught between two lives, one in front of me and one behind me. I had made this decision, this choice. Now I had to say it..

“Coffee Stain, I’m sorry, I remember—” She placed a hoof up to my lips and shushed me. I felt bewildered and surprised as I wanted to stumble back and she shook her head.

“No, don’t. I’m always afraid to ask.” Coffee Stain was physically shaking. I could never remember a time I saw her tremble. I pressed a hoof against hers to reassure her. “It’s messed with you a few times, I understand.” Coffee Stain forced the words out, my touch seeming to help her.

She changed the touch into a hug and a nuzzle against me, “I’m sorry I didn’t remember when I first saw you, I know this isn’t fair.”

“No, no, no, it’s okay. You found me now.” I noticed the rest of the Filly Scouts looked at us with expressions of total shock. “It’s been 150 years since we met.” Coffee Stain let out a very long sob as she fought back tears.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had you not know who I was. I just, I always though, my Sunrise would wander back to me. Everytime you died or disappeared, I always thought you’d come back.” The last few were forced, like she could hardly bare to say them.

Coffee Stain removed her hoof and looked past me, I knew she was looking at Nyota. A look that could kill crossed her eyes. She softened her face and let out a defeated sigh, “Yet here you are, your heart belongs to another, this time. Honestly, you have a mission. You need to succeed this time.”

I nodded to her and removed the hoof from my lips, “That means I might make different choices. I remember a lot of things now, including what it was like to be with you.” My lips were dry, the lump in my throat made it hard to talk but a sense of relief hit me like a shot of Med-X; the more the two of us shared with each other. “I will never stop feeling a love for you. But my heart already belongs to another.”

I slowly turned around, dragging my hooves back towards Nyota. I felt like I was falling into a pit, further and further with each step. Coffee Stain touched my armored flank and I turned my head right into her embrace. “Now you listen here zebra stud. Nyota was it? You better not hurt her or break her heart. You do, and there will be no place on Equus that you can hide.”

Nyota audibly gulped, I wasn’t sure what look Coffee Stain gave him but boy did she sound mad. “One day, you may come back to me. I am an Eternal Scout after all, killing me is nigh impossible. Until then, just be happy for me.”

Only when we released the embrace did I realize she had been crying. What the Eternal Scout magic did to her though, made her cry tears of blood. I saw that my stablesuit was stained with it and it was a stain that would never come off.

I looked up at her and started to speak again, Coffee Stain shook her head slowly, “No, we can all talk over dinner. I need time to process. Filly Scouts get the scrap and the stubbornite now. Do not take more than one ounce of what is owed and no fudging. Honest scouts are honest, especially with the green small one.”

Coffee Stain turned back to the two of us, “But no more talking, you and Nyota come to dinner tonight. This is an offer you can’t refuse.”

I knew what that meant. Her enforcers with her would make sure we were at dinner. There was no escaping an Eternal Scout’s request.

“Come on Sunny, let’s start getting the parts they need unhitched.” All I could bring myself to do was nod. My body going through the motions silently as Nyota kept brushing my mane or my flank to reassure me. We all started unloading the car, weighing out the metal and taking off the stubbornite panels. Just as promised, the Filly Scouts only took exactly what I had promised them.

The rest we delivered to Cloud Piston. He’d set up a new armorer shop and the settlement was more than happy to have him working again to improve their protections.

We kept a good chunk of the stuff for ourselves, something I’d be working with later tonight. I was happy with how unexpectedly well that meeting had gone. Nyota and I were being very quiet, at least until we were alone. The two of us got in the car, closing the door for privacy.

“Sunrise, are you okay?” Nyota asked me as I sat there staring forward. I felt his hoof on my shoulder while his other foreleg reached and gripped at my left hoof. I reached over and turned my PipBuck off. My H.U.D. winked out. I could see Nyota without any arcane magics giving data or interference.

“I don’t know, are we okay?” I felt like I’d just kicked him in the guts and he had every right to tell me to never see him again. Then he leaned over and kissed my forehead.

“Sunrise, I don’t know who you were before. You don’t know who you were either.” He paused and looked out the car window, staring off into space. “I have to be okay with that if I want to be with you. The doctors say you’re a lot older than you look. You constantly surprise me with your memories.”

He chuckled and shook his head with a soft blush, “The way you fret in your sleep, I can only imagine what you’re going through. I’m gonna ask that you start sharing those memories with me. Every single detail.” He turned back to look at me and nuzzled my cheek. “Yes, we’re okay. I get that in other lives you’ve always come back to Coffee Stain but you don’t remember those other lives.”

He placed a hoof against my plated chest, right where my heart was. “Just follow your heart and promise me to tell me stuff before it happens next time. Especially if it’s from the past you don’t remember.”

Since the encounter with Coffee Stain I had just been going through the motions. Now though, I felt so relieved and would have agreed to jump off a building if it meant ‘we’ were okay. I lunged at him with a furiously fluttered heart and tightly clung around his neck. “YES! You’re too good for words!”

I knew what love was now. It wasn’t just about the good. The daily routine of meditation, combat practice, walking with each other in the wasteland, even dancing. No, those were the good moments. Love is about sacrifice and compromise.

I was learning that, with every step I took beside this stallion. Sometimes you screw up, sometimes you just have to understand, and others; well you had to come to terms. Taking laser fire, bullets, manticore claws, that was just the wasteland forcing you to show how much you were willing to give up.

Nyota held me there, even as the car got stuffy we still held onto each other. Slowly we eased ourselves apart and he stroked my mane, “I love you, Sunny. Just promise me to remember that.”

I nodded at him and let my heart slowly pull itself back off cloud 9 to where we were. My breathing returning to normal as I reached over and clicked the PipBuck back on, “I have to admit, you look better without my H.U.D.”

Nyota tilted his head, “I do?”

I looked at him and smiled, “Just more pure, or natural, I guess. Instead of having little bits of data all over you.” I reached for the door handle and we stepped out of the car; hoof in hoof.

My tail did it’s own thing again and found his more tappered one, wrapping them together and holding his tightly with a squeeze. “You’re gonna have to teach me how your tail does stuff.”

I laughed and shook my head, “I don’t know, it does it on its own. I assume it’s Pink’s doing.” There was a certain Pink sounding laugh in the back of my head as we started to walk together. “Let’s go see what our friends all rushed off to do.”

We found Quick Stitch first, flanked by two mares. The same two mares whom we had rescued in the alley between the inn and the doctor’s house during the husk attack. One emerald with a ruby mane, the other ruby with an emerald mane. They snickered as Nyota and I approached their gaggle.

Ruby and Emerald spoke in unison, “Oh Hi Sunrise! We were just getting reacquainted with Stitchy-poo.” They dragged out the last word and I looked at Nyota who appeared to share my expression of please tell me we aren’t like that.

Quick Stitch tried to hide his blush and sheepish smile, behind his hooves. To hopefully avoid his embarrassment, he pulled out two pendants on thin dog-tag chains. One was a shaped ruby, the other a shaped emerald. He gave one to each twin.

The twins jaws hung open as they stared at the gems while Quick Stitch said sheepishly, “You told me to bring back something shiny; I did my best.”

The twins could only mutter to each other the best I could make out was handsome, something terribly lewd that made me blush and my ears burn, followed by both of them turning to him, “We should bring you home to meet mother!” Again talking in stereo to the point I could not tell them apart save for their coloration.

I looked at Nyota and started to drag him away, “I’d say Quick Stitch is fine, we should let him get reacquainted, what do you think?”

Nyota picked up his pace nodding enthusiastically. We didn’t get far before running into Chifundo and the manticore cub, Snuggles. A guard stopped and stared at us, as we exchanged a hug and I shied away from Snuggles a bit. He didn’t stop staring at Snuggles the entire time.

We were outside the trading post the Filly Scouts ran as Buttered Toast started to head inside. That is when Buttered Toast stopped and saw Snuggles, “Tiny cute thing,” then there was an audible inhale that made Chifundo flinch.

The roar of Buttered Toast was that of Tyrannosaurus-Rex. “PRETTY PINK ZEBRA!!!” The massive size of Buttered Toast trembled on the ground as Snuggles hid behind Chifundo when the gargantuan filly praced up to them. Snuggles cutely tried to roar, sounding terrified instead. Buttered Toast just picked them up.

All I could do was stare in awe and sheer terror at the power and strength of the massive Filly Scout. She was so large that Chifundo, a full-sized zebra stallion, fit under one leg effortlessly while Snuggles could barely be seen trying to wiggle out from under the other one.

Buttered Toast just kept repeating tiny cute thing and pretty zebra over and over again. All while holding the two in her hooves and sitting on her flanks. Aggressive snuggling would be an understatement for what was occuring.

I rushed forward out of my roar induced stupor and grabbed onto Buttered Toast’s foreleg pulling at her, “Buttered Toast! Gentle! Gentle! You’re going to break them!” I kept tugging on her legs as Buttered Toast stopped and looked at me, confused.

When she looked at Chifundo and Snuggles, she realized how hard she was squeezing and calmed down. I could feel her muscles getting more gentle with the two of them, sighing in relief relief when Chifundo started coughing and breathing again.

Scopola Mina appeared from behind Buttered Toast and I looked at her, “How do you keep Buttered Toast from doing that?”

Scopola Mina just snickered, “Oh this? This is pretty controlled.” I stared at her dumbfounded and wide eyed.

Are you kidding me!? This is controlled? What does she look like completely uncontained? All Scopola did was smirk at me. Buttered Toast kept started repeating the two phrases towards Snuggles and Chifundo.

Nyota stepped over, “Just remember, if you’re gentle, you can do this more often when we come back to town.” This only caused Buttered Toast to start swaying side to side in a way that made all of us back away from her. All we could do was watch helplessly for several minutes.

Nyota slowly backed away, “Why don’t we go get us some rooms at Honey Hearthfire’s Flop House and just let this place out. I assume you have it, under wraps Scopola?” Scopola just nodded and slowed Buttered Toast’s swaying by guiding her with her hooves and magical telekinesis.

Nyota’s comment reminded me that the flophouse had limited space and we had limited caps. I pulled out a small vial of the semi-clear blue liquid from the night of chaos. I had three left, and slid it into Chifundo’s bag, “Here, for later tonight, in case you or Quick Stitch needs it.”

Chifundo raised an eyebrow but was quickly reminded by a slightly stronger squeeze that Buttered Toast had him in her grip. She dropped the manticore and reached towards his saddle-bag. “Can you share?”

“No Buttered Toast, it’s not for you.” She put Chifundo down and started to undo his saddlebag so she could get inside.

“Buttered Toast want some!” I heard the tiny giant cry and without even thinking I slapped her foreleg that was thicker than my head. Chifundo side stepped away from Buttered Toast. There was a moment of pure shock upon Scopola and Nyota’s face.

Buttered Toast immediately went to strike me while Nyota dove between us and desperately deflected the blow into the ground. All of us lifted off the ground from the impact. Nyota slid back and only stopped when he slammed into the town market wall.

I wanted to panic and run but I had to do something, something to stop her. This was unbecoming behavior of anypony, especially one that was still a blank flank! “Buttered Toast! Now, you listen here. You do not hit ponies when you don’t get your way!” Buttered Toast growled at me in response and that just made me rise up more.

I marched right up to her and right up her chest while she still sat on her flanks. I kept ranting till we were eye to eye, “You especially don’t go through other pony’s saddlebags or their belongings just because you want something. Particularly when you’ve been told no! Do you understand me?”

Buttered Toast started to recoil but I was having none of this. I was mad as a hornet and more importantly somepony had to teach her to be better than this. “You are a Filly Scout! Filly Scouts are not thieves, they are honest! You are better than that! Now Apologize to Both of the zebras right this minute!”

The overgrown filly fell onto her back while I stood on her like a small mare conquering a giant, kicking up dust and leaving an impression where the child kaiju impacted with ground. She whimpered as I slowly backed away, staring her down with eyes that could weigh down Atlas with guilt alone. “S..Ss….Sorrry…” She mumbled so low that even I could barely hear it.

“Apologize where they can hear it and say their names when you do!” I declared, getting off her barrel with a light hop onto the ground. Buttered Toast dragged herself over to Chifundo like a scared puppy.

Only when she was out of my reach did she get up. “Buttered Toast, Sorry Nyota for hitting. Sorry Chifundo for trying steal when I told no share.”

“That’s better, now you can gently hug pretty pink zebra all you want.” I pointed at Chifundo who looked terrified and like he might bolt any second now. “But do not go through this things, especially if they are his and not your’s.”

“Please don’t phrase it that way, you fill me with dismay!” Chifundo exclaimed but it was too late. Buttered Toast’s limited attention span kicked in and she was already power snuggling Chifundo before I could say another word. This continued with this three fold nuzzle, cuddle, snuggle thing between both of Buttered Toast’s hooves, her chin, and her cheek.

I swore after five or so minutes of this. Chifundo looked like he was an extra inch taller and seemed much more stretched out than before.

Nyota approached back and Buttered Toast offered a hug, “Do you accept apology?” Nyota nodded and gave her a hug. This was much more gentle and lasted not nearly as long. “Sorry for sending you into building.”

“Someone should train you to wield that strength properly.” Nyota stated and Buttered Toast just looked very confused.

“Buttered Toast need training?”

Nyota nodded at her, “Yes, to make better use of that strength you have.”

Finally Buttered Toast’s handler from earlier came out, nodding and with the most apologetic look on her poor face. I noticed now that there was a rope around Buttered Toast’s sash and a pile of weapons on a sled behind her. The weapons we had negotiated for the town.

“Remember to get the sega turret, light machine guns, and the punt guns all set up. Make sure they know how to use them, and how to keep the brass to make ammo for themselves. Just like we agreed.” The Filly Scout pulled out a contract which in very fine detail spelled out all the obligations the Filly Scouts had and that we had completed our end of payment.

I signed where it indicated, and she motioned Buttered Toast, “Come on, we have to go see Sparrow, you can play with the pretty pink zebra when we get back.” Chifundo gulped heavily at that and the two were off.

Nyota ran up and stopped them, “Hold on, I heavily suggest you train Buttered Toast in Iron Hoof combat.” The Filly Scout looked at him very confused. He rolled his eye, “Ask Coffee Stain about it.”

“Alright, but I don’t even think she knows what you’re talking about.” They trotted off towards the firing range with all the weapons and emplacements for Silver Fang in tow. Leading the titan away from us.

We headed off to get rooms for us, which was actually uneventful and painless. Fours rooms, one for myself and Nyota, one for each of our companions. We walked outside to figure out what to do or where to go from here.

This conversation barely started with, “Nyota what—” when Alguacil’s gun fired with an overwhelming echo throughout the town around us. Everypony turned and looked in the direction of the discharge while the two of us bolted towards the sound.

Great, now I’m running towards explosions and gunfire! This seems unhealthy behavior.

“But unhealthy behavior is so much fun! There are explosions! And cake! And DRUGS!” Pink happily squealed as she hopped across my screen. We ran towards the second gunshot and could hear Alguacil arguing with someone in the doctor’s office but not make out any words.

We burst into the room, “What ‘n th’ literal FUCK! Is that monstercity of an abomination?” Chifundo, Quick Stitch, and Scopola Mina all made it there behind us.

“Keep it down, they’re gonna notice!” Doc Hacksaw explained, “You’re going to scare the child.”

Hacksaw looked over, “Ah yes! Ze Father!” He ran up and grabbed Quick Stitch while we all looked in utter confusion. Then Alguacil moved and I felt pure unadulterated panic.

“Twitty wanna meet daddy.” Whatever this raspy low thing was that said those words was not a pony.

This creature was small and equine in shape but covered in armored hide plating that ran along it. It wasn’t chitin but it sure looked like it. Covered in some slimy substance and with a tail that extended out to a stinging point, with serrated spikes down it with a long spear tip on the end. Each of its hooves had claws, tiny claws for now, extending from it. Lastly it had black silver lined fangs from its lower jaw and a hellish underbite for ripping apart meat.

All Quick Stitch could do was look between the three of them, Alguacil, Doc Hacksaw, and this creature blinking repeatedly. He looked completely stupefied. I felt myself mirroring his expression. Alguacil speaking snapped us both out of it.

“Please, tell me you have nothin’ to do with this, Quick Stitch.” Alguacil declared trying to point his gun at the creature. Hacksaw refusing to let him do so by keeping it turned with his other hoof.

“I, um.. can’t.” Quick Stitch was completely confused.

“Oh for King Grover’s sake!” Alguacil growled. He lowered down to look Quick Stitch in the eyes. Just like he’d done to Mauve at the farmhouse.

“Look down, maybe you should go lay down and sleep off the mint-als. Let the adults handle this.” Algaucil snapped at him with his beak to emphasize the point.

“The drugs make me more fun to be around!” Hacksaw seemed to mull it over for a minute and added, “Besides maybe you should take some and knock the edge off your beak!”

“I’d rather not take things that mess with my good sense.” Alguacil leaned in with a sneer across his face.

“Then get the justice pike out of your ass!”

“Twitty scared.” Hacksaw immediately shoved Alguacil aside and moved to softly pet and console the horrific baby monster.

“It’s okay, you did nothing wrong. I will take care of you.” He cooed, which just made all of us recoil.

“Don’t touch that thing! It could be lethal, or disease ridden!” Alguacil was only stopped when Hacksaw seemed to be able to block him with his off hoof rather well.

“Fuck you! In the absence of his father, I have been the closest thing creature has had!” Hacksaw’s eyes looked mad with both insanity and fatherly love. This was some twisted perversion of the latter I had never encountered. I was so very puzzled and repulsed at the same time. Whatever that thing was, it hadn’t done anything wrong... yet. It seemed intelligent as well which made it all the more scary with its myriad of lethal appendages.

This especially considering it was the size of a small dog like a corgi or a terrier. “What in the world is that?” I asked, breaking the tension between the other three close to this thing called Twitty.

“It is Twitty.” Hacksaw declared and picked it up. He walked it over to Quick Stitch and offered the small creature to him.

“Quick Stitch, I suggest you put a bullet in it’s head, right now!” Alguacil demanded at the top of his lungs.

“I already tried that,” Quick Stitch replied just as repulsed by the creature as I was. He backed away from Hacksaw till he was against a wall.

“Twitty want daddy.” The tiny thing declared and I pulled out my shotgun expecting to have to shoot it.

“Your child just wants some affection, can’t you give it some?” Hacksaw demanded of Quick Stitch.

“That is NOT a child! It’s a monster!” Alguacil shouted only to have the creature whimper.

“Bird face very mean. I eat bird face?” Twitty curled into Hacksaw’s arms to hide away from the rest of us.

“Yes, bird face is very mean. You are very astute Twitty.” Hacksaw glared at Alguacil like he was this thing’s mother and Alguacil had just insulted both him and his child. “And who are you to say who is anyone’s child or anything? Your species shits out eggs that you cannot tell one from the other!”

“We lay eggs and that thing is an abomination!” Alguacil shot back.

Nyota chimed in, “Correction, it is a parasite.”

Hacksaw turned with a sneer, “Wouldn’t that make all children upon Equus parasites as well to their parents?”

“By—” I shoved my hoof into Nyota’s mouth to stop him before he finished that sentence.

“I’m just gonna go sit in the corner and pretend none of this is happening.” I’d had it! I could not possibly stand anymore of this sort of insanity. Whatever this creature was, was none of my business and freaked me out far too much to be near it.

As Quick Stitch took it into his magic and started to pet the creature I shot out my hoof, “And that is where I draw the line! Manticore, fine! But that thing?! You can leave it here in someone’s care but it ain’t coming with us.”

“Umm, doc,” He said as he held the dog sized creature. “This Twitty fit in a jar, three days ago doc, just before we left.”

“I… may have given it chemicals,” He purposefully took a pause to consider his words extensively. “To increase its growth rate.”

At the mention of drugs I sat completely upright, “You gave it what? Party Time Ment-Als? Hydra? What did you feed it?” It was only three or four days old and already the size of a full grown dog. How big was this thing going to get?

“No... ummm…”

“Doc Doc poked Twitty with blue, purple, yellow, and yellow burn too!”

“And I’m sorry about that. Do you remember what that last one was? We worked on saying the word, what was it?” I couldn’t tell if this was genuine parental affection or absolute madness. I wanted to just fire the shotgun but instead I slowly holstered it.

This creature hasn’t done anything wrong, yet. I can’t just shoot it and put it down. I’m not Alguacil, I’m better than that. I thought with so much hesitation around putting the holster lock onto the shotgun.

“Raaaaa,” The creature struggled to say the word.

“Oh come on, Rain, rain what, you know how to say it.”

“Rainbow!” Twitty exclaimed happily and chirped like a cricket with a bounce in Quick Stitch’s hooves.

“Rainbow! That’s a good Twitty.” Before Hacksaw could continue he had to fight to keep Alguacil from pointing his gun at it.

“You injected that thing with TAINT! I’m killing it right now!” Even Quick Stitch pulled away and tried to shield Twitty from Alguacil.

“Just to speed the growth rate. It will be fine, nothing will go wrong now. It hasn’t had any other physical changes that I’ve seen.” I however had enough of this insanity and stormed off.

I stopped at the door, “You listen here Quick Stitch, whatever that thing is, it’s your decision what happens to it as far as I’m concerned. It freaks me right out of Tartarus and I don’t like how it got that big that fast. But ya know what, this isn’t my concern.”

“Sunrise, should we not shoot and then away we scoot?” Chifundo suggested as he nudged his rifle and then pointed back at the creature.

“Chifundo, if we shoot it and then don’t shoot Snuggles we’re a bunch of hypocrites.” I replied reflecting upon the decision about the other wasteland monster we had with us.

“This thing is a monster born of taint!” Alguacil spat in my direction as I stood in the door. “I doubt Sparrow would be okay knowing you were experimenting with taint in this town!”

“Sparrow signed off on it.” Hacksaw replied. Scopola Mina who had been standing motionless for most of this stepped towards it and then looked at Hacksaw.

“How much did you give it?” She inquired while picking up a syringe of rainbow colored fluid off one of the counters.

“Just enough to get a reaction. It was a very controlled amount to speed the growth rate. Which made it go from three days of growth to three months.” He looked very smug and happy about that.

“Hacksaw, I told you two things to not expose Twitty to, Ment-Als and taint. Yet here we are, I can smell the Ment-Als on its breath and you admit to giving him taint.” Quick Stitch leaned up to Hacksaw like a father who had not been told his child’s surgery was a success but didn’t know he was a father in the first place.

“Hacksaw, they wouldn’t let me touch taint at all and the horror stories I heard about it on Hearth’s Warming made my skin crawl. What in name of the Sun and Moon were you thinking?”

“Well ya see,” Hacksaw pulled up a stool as he sat down to tell us all a story. “Based upon some pre-war documents I… prospected from a clinic along with most of my supplies, I surmised that Equus had been visited by an alien species. I remember the lab notes read off something very similar to what Twitty looked like. They just hadn’t seen the larva stage before.”

He shrugged and looked from Twitty to Quick Stitch to Alguacil then back to me, “I had a hunch and took it. So far everything is falling within expected parameters.”

“We would wish you to us to cement, the end result of the experiment?” Chifundo demanded, for once looking rather angry as he took a step forward and started to get out his rifle.

“No one actually knows, mainly because your kind blew Equestria to dust.” While Hacksaw talked, Alguacil tried again to shoot Twitty with his hand cannon.

Quick Stitch’s horn glowed and Alguacil would have fired through the roof but it went click and didn’t discharge. I got up and approached towards the creature standing between it and Alguacil. I gulped down my fear and couldn’t turn away now.

Whatever this thing was, it could be the only of its species. If I was willing to give Snuggles a fair chance. I had to give it one too. I stared into the now open solid water blue eyes. The same kind of blue that the changeling husks had stared at me with murderous intent. “Do you promise to not hurt any pony that doesn’t try to hurt you first?”

Twitty looked back and blinked with an amount of intelligence in those eyes that seemed to register what I was saying. “I Promise.”

Alguacil flew out of the building angry with the rest of us. Scopola shouting at him, “You should aim that in the air!”

“It is fine! There is just a disagreement between me and the gun.” I was now more confused by Alguacil’s statement

He has disagreements with his gun?

I left and nudged Nyota, “I’m done with this, this is a bit too much for me. Alien life? Parasites that are sentient? I need to go calm down.” Nyota remained there with Chifundo, Scopola Mina, and Quick Stitch while I slowly walked away to try to piece my thoughts together.

*****

Nyota caught up to me outside of the flophouse, “So dinner? Yes?”

I let out the most exhausted whinny as I had grown a headache trying to wrap my head around the possibility of alien life. “Dinner sounds lovely, so much easier than that!” I pointed back at Hacksaw’s house. “I mean talking to you and Coffee Stain should be a breeze compared to that.”

Nyota nodded and smiled before nuzzling my cheek, “Certainly easier than dealing with moral quandaries of sapience and the justifications of euthanasia of an alien species.” He paused and looked at me. So I’m thinking Coffee Stain is easily more normal than any of that. Perhaps we just roll with whatever happens?”

“Nyota I just hope I make you happy tonight. We’ll roll with what happens but please, I don’t want this to go completely sideways.” I blushed deeply as I realized the double entendre.

Nyota bumped into my flank and send a lightning bolt through my body before he nuzzled into my cheek, “You always make me happy, Sunny. Coffee Stain is a fine mare, if a bit terrifying.” He bit his lip and smirked at me. “I’m sure I’d have to awkwardly introduce you to my ex’s too if I had any.”

I softly found the encouragement to bump him back and knew he was right as I turned to embrace the nuzzle. “Before you start on dinner can you help me out of this armor? It’s hard to get off now with the extra plates and socks.”

He started helping me out of the flak vest and then the socks enough that I could get the rest off. Once he’d set me up, I was able to leave the room and return in just my stablesuit, which was skin tight and left little to the imagination. This had become a nightly ritual for us but tonight felt special.

Nyota was humming a song as the smell of light curry, not nearly as spicy as before, filled the air in the community kitchen on the walls of the flophouse eating room. It was one I knew, one that played on the radio. It was a cutie mark crusader song, ‘The Light of Your Cutie Mark’.

I tuned the radio till I found some matching music without words. I was genuinely surprised how many broadcasts existed in the wasteland. My PipBuck apparently found almost ten full music stations. Two of which just played wordless music. I sat down and simply watched him cook, something I had little to no idea how to do properly.

Nyota changed the song with the beat of my PipBuck’s radio to ‘Hearts as Strong as Horses’ while smiling at me, “You should sing more often, it sounds lovely.”

I paused and blinked a few times, “Is that a request?”

He nodded so I slowly picked up the melody where he left off. I didn’t hesitate and instead took it to heart, singing the song just as we would at school. No one stepped up to sing with me by the end of the song I stopped and became very self conscious as a ghoul came on the radio with a raspy voice.

I didn’t hear the words the DJ spoke through, everyone in the flophouse had turned to stare at me. There was a slow clapping of hooves on the wooden floor. They were clapping and even a few cheers. I’m not that great of a singer. Why are they, applauding?

“Sunrise, they lack this happiness in the wasteland! Only ghouls remember how we used to burst into song as a group! You, you’ve got the spunk! You’ve got the power! You remember how and you still have your voice! Go on, dance and sing! Bring them merriment!” Pink said all of this putting my PipBuck on another tune and even firing her party cannon across my H.U.D. covering my vision in confetti that disappeared after a few moments.

Nyota blushed and pulled me down from the table into a kiss, much to the cheers of everyone gathered around. He pulled me as tight as he could through the Stable-Tec skin tight suit and reinforced plating built onto it. “You look ravishing love.” He whispered into my ear breaking the kiss and holding me in a hug with one hoof while pan flipping his cooking with the other.

I was whiter than a ghost as I tried to comprehend everything going on and all that came out of me was a soft meep. He kissed my forehead and slowly the crowd died away when they realized I was in no way going to give an encore.

Coffee Stain emerged from the crowd and walked up with a smile but a very unsure look in her eyes. “I didn’t realize you had remembered how to sing that well. I umm… well you would, and he would, and-and-and…”

She was clearly uncomfortable and I realized why, the stable-suit wasn’t exactly what one would consider casual barding to be wearing. Not to mention the fact that my boyfriend was right there, cooking for us. I would be literally quaking in my shoes if I was her. My stomach lurched and told me to do something and quick. I walked up and stopped her stammering with a gentle hug. “Coffee Stain, I know. I know it’s not exactly ideal. I know we both need time to process. But you insisted on dinner and I feel I owe you this. If you want to leave at anytime, I’m okay with that.”

I held her tight and whispered into her ear. “There is nothing that is really going to make this situation okay. The only reason I’m dealing it with is how messed up my life really is and this is helping get my mind off of everything.” Coffee Stain squeezed back and tight for just a little bit.

“I mean… ya know, I have had to watch you die, repeatedly. Knowing I would never be able to die with you and not knowing if you would come back or when.” Coffee Stain explained looking me up and down with a bit of a worry. “Not to mention that is the exact same Stable-Suit you were in when you died every single time. I have no idea how that thing keeps getting replaced. It’s a little freaky to see you without additional armor.”

I realized now that Coffee Stain hadn’t seen me outside of the flak jacket or the duster. The only other time she had seen me, I was in a hospital gown or like most ponies when they felt safe; nude. A state that I didn’t do well at all. I looked at my plating, marveling at how reliant I had become on the weight and feel of the stretched synthetic fabric and the metal/stubbornite plates on my body.

“I don’t understand how you could feel right now. I’m missing too many memories to even begin to comprehend it.” I couldn’t really look her in the eyes. Even with the illusion it was so difficult to meet her gaze. I only became more and more self-conscious of just how much the Stable-Suit showed off mixed with the feelings of awkward and terrible judgment I felt she must have towards me.

“Don’t ever become an Eternal Scout. That is how I feel every day, but this makes it so much worse!” I noticed now since we’d been talking the rest of the patrons of the flophouse had cleared out. We had the tavern section to ourselves.

“Yes but as you said, you always expected me to come back and now, oh boy.” I couldn’t finish thoughts now, at least not out loud. I slammed my head into the table at full speed with a loud bang just to try and put some physical pain into me. The sheer emotional turmoil of everything finally hit home.

She felt for me, just as Nyota did. Except this was now magnified by having spent so much time with me for countless lifetimes. Now, all of that was denied. She had insisted upon dinner and now I doubted I could eat a single bite.

“Yes, I assumed the universe would keep giving you back to me. I wouldn’t have to share and now I have to share.” She bit her lip and pulled my head from the table, nursing the bruise on my cheek. “The universe gave you back to me and it’s just one giant cruel joke.”

The color in her blue coat started to drain as she made a back and forth pumping motion with her hoof. Pink was dying laughing and I shuttered her to the back of my mind so hard she may as well have been fired out of a cannon. Funny to you! Terrible to me! You wanna be an ass, you can sit in the corner!

“Yeah, one cruel horrific joke that someone is laughing at. I am wondering if I am the universe’s jester now.” I took my seat and hung my head into my hooves when Nyota put the food down and softly rubbed at my shoulders. He didn’t speak just let us keep talking as he prepared plates for all of us.

“Except this time you survived encounters where you really should be dead. So you aren’t dead this time, so you went exotic. I mean you found a zebra!” Coffee Stain tried to make light and forced herself to chuckle. It was the most unconvincing laugh I’d ever heard.

“Coffee Stain, I have to ask.” I slowly rotated my head towards her. I stopped myself realizing what information she might hold might end up killing me. “No, I don’t have to ask.” I grabbed her hoof and sat her down next to me. Not across but next to me opposite Nyota upon the bench. I felt like the glue that kept them civil. “If I ask, I might make the same mistakes that ended this journey prematurely before. I think it’s better to not know going in so I can make different decisions coming out.”

“Sunrise, not everyone in the wasteland is your friend. You’ve made some enemies, just keep your guard up.” She took a bite of the curry and smiled, “Been a while since I had food from zebra country.”

“Probably not, I didn’t expect you to be either. I mostly expected you to hate me when I got back today.” I took a bite, it was still very spicy. Hot enough I could breathe very easily now but it tasted absolutely lovely. A hint of tart with a mix of garlic and then a massive amount of raw pepper. Just hot enough I didn’t need to guzzle water.

“No, fate is a cruel mistress and you’re fate’s jester. Everyone around you has a reason to laugh at the cruel twists your life throws on you.” She chuckled to herself and shook her head. “Wandering Sunrise, always destined to come back but no two Sunrise’s ever look exactly the same.”

There was a strange exchange of feelings as we ate without speaking from there on. We would look at each other. While I couldn’t remember exactly what Coffee Stain could or did, I did remember how we used to do this in school together.

This strange ritual began everyday even after vacations and breaks like we hadn’t missed anytime at all. Eating, looking at each other, smiling. Then we would frown after a moment and snudge each other’s shoulder like someone had done something to offend.

Nyota observed and gave a smile before breaking out into a laugh, “You two, it’s like two friends who never really left. Now you’re sitting side to side.” Both of us turned to him and physically shied away. We leaned so hard we almost fell off the bench while we both were looking at each other blushing profusely to the point i thought my cheeks might explode. It was like he had broken some unwritten rule.

After a few more awkward moments we both sat up and finished our meal, “Coffee Stain, are you going to be okay?”

“Ha! This is pot calling kettle, are you?” She shot back with a gaze up and down my form.

“I’ve given up on okay, I’m happy to live and just try to find happiness.” I finished the last bite of curry covered rice.

“Welp, I see that lesson has stuck.” She was licking her spoon before taking and sucking down another glass of the filtered water. She gave me a hug when she set the spoon down and held me for a bit.

She went from blue to white to red as she looked at Nyota behind me, “I umm,” She looked down at all her armor and uniform. I hadn’t noticed it but she hadn’t changed clothes this entire time. “I suddenly feel very overdressed.”

I turned my head to see Nyota. I didn’t take the time to really observe him but now he was without barding or armor, just his normal self. I knew why that would make her uncomfortable. “Don’t worry Coffee Stain, honestly being in armor for so long kinda chaffs.” Nyota snickered back and patted her head.

“I am torn between asking help out of mine with a cheeky look or hiding inside it like a turtle when it’s scared.” Before she could move, I reached over and decided to make her more comfy by removing a couple pieces of her armor plating for her.

I was freaking out and feeling all the pressure to hopefully make this less awkward. A little voice in my head kept telling me this was making it worse! I didn’t know what else to do, save for make her feel better. But in that moment, I was acting like a complete idiot. “Umm I… need an adult but I guess I have one stripping me.”

I got her down to just her filly scout uniform and stopped. “I’m sorry—” I tasted Nyota hoof in my mouth as desert with a hint of our meal on it. I wanted to kick him so bad and nearly did.

“Honestly, you’re probably the closest thing to an adult in this town.” He addressed Coffee Stain and stopped me while holding me tight and releasing my lips. “Sunrise, calm down it’s okay.”

“Shut up! I’m an Eternal Scout, that just makes it so much worse knowing I’m 213 now! Yet I still have these trivial issues like I’m 21 again.” I grabbed onto Coffee Stain and held her close to my heartbeat, just like Nyota did to me when I needed to feel safe. Nyota held me and I held her. She slowly calmed down and all the awkwardness slowly faded away in our minds.

“Nyota, you aren’t mad at me are you?” I leaned up to look at him.

“How many times do we have to go over this?”

I pointed at the 43 on my collar. Coffee Stain looked up at me with a giggle.

“What number are you at?” She teased to us.

“Seventeen?” Nyota mused and thought about it for a moment. “Yeah seventeen seems right.”

“Oh boy, you two are gonna be at this for a while.” Coffee booped my nose as she spoke to emphasize the point. I just sniffed and wiggled it to get rid of the tingling feeling after the booping.

“Look, whatever happens is what happens. You’ve got your memories of your past lives but you are you. Past lives are behind you and I wish to take you as you are. Hopefully, you remember or experience things that will make you more complete.” Nyota shrugged and ruffled my mane to help me calm down. Further reassuring me what he was saying he actually meant. “All I ask is that you stay honest with me.”

I nodded in to him in return, “I can do that.”

Coffee Stain laughed, “You got another one of him lying around, because I wanna make one for myself if you don’t. He’s far too nice and too understanding to be a regular zebra.” I physically winced from the way she said zebra, now understanding another reason she made Nyota uncomfortable.

Nyota shook his head, “I’m a Skatterri.”

Coffee Stain looked aghast and shuddered, “Okay that explains so much. The curved stripes, I assume the eyepatch is for your spirit eye?” Nyota stared completely caught off guard and nodded. “Yeah and your understanding is from years of being rejected by Equestrians and Zebricans alike isn’t it?”

Nyota nodded another very slowly. “Yep makes sense now. You found a pony who accepts you without being racist and you aren’t evil. Sunrise would have noticed if you were. So what is the spirit you carry with you?”

I raised an eyebrow and turned up to Nyota, “Ember, she is a spirit of calming fire.”

Coffee Stain looked like she had him in a vice and was ready to twist the leg right off. Her face leaned in close with a detective about to solve a murder declaration on her lips. Then she stopped, “No, Sunrise deserves to learn this on her own and make the decision for herself.” She turned to me as she completely deflated and let out a defeated whimper. “Sunrise, he’ll take good care of you. But you’re gonna have to learn about the spirit world or else you won’t be prepared when he gets older.”

I wondered what she meant and why, I looked at her then Nyota for answers. Neither said anything as Coffee Stain reluctantly pulled away. “Nyota, take good care of the Angel with a Shotgun. Or else I’ll make double upon my threat.”

“Coffee Stain, please explain,” I stopped her from leaving and she shook her head. “I know how to clone multiple Nyotas, but we don’t wanna do that. It’s been 213 years for me. There have been weird things happen. Like when we found the mirror pool and we cloned a spirit.”

“And let’s be honest we got Buttered Toast because of a Skatterri. Oh, buck me!” She grabbed the nearest beer she could reach and just chugged it down in one go. “Needed that so much.”

“Tonight is not going to stop being awkward.” I hung my head back into my hooves and stayed there the whole time. “Please tell me you two have another subject because I’m out of ammunition and I have no bombs to drop.”

I reached to grab some water and offered it to Coffee Stain. Nyota grew a face of pure mischief and laughed, “Alright fine, Coffee Stain; squeaker or screamer?” I didn’t get to swallow, I was spewing it across the table it even came out of my nose! The sheer level of embarrassment to a question I couldn’t even remember the answer to was the highest it had been ever as far as I could remember!

“I mean she does this thing where if you use your tongue just in the right manner. She turns into an audible gasping breathing catatonic mess. I mean I should stop talking now before you die from embarrassment.” Nyota motioned Coffee Stain near as I felt like my face was on fire and my heart wouldn’t stop pounding in my chest. She whispered into his ear while I just kept turning every shade of white under the sun and moon.

I didn’t know what to say or how to respond. I slowly pulled away from the two of them and sat beside myself as she detailed out to Nyota so many secrets. The expressions on his face lit up with amusement and questions like “What if I..., or how do I..., or can you show me that motion exactly?”

Coffee Stain finished with a giggle that could belong to any gaggle of girls, “That’s the only freebie you get from me.”

“Ah well, all of that is gonna take some practice.” Nyota shot back with a wink.

“I mean I’ll teach you, on me.” My head slammed into the table and I just started meeping as my entire brain went into total embarrassment overload. It was officially my turn to be turned into a squirming completely flushed mess and Coffee Stain wasn’t holding back.

“Well that would be a decision for Sunrise to make.” Nyota reached over and his hoof rubbing me eased some of my flushing away. He was being gentle and nice while trying to remove the physical tension from the back of my head. The fact he valued my opinion that much meant just a little more to me.

“Well if she ever says yes, she’ll be thankful.” Coffee Stain took a bow in my direction that I could see between the table and my foreleg that was hiding my face.

I raised a hoof towards the ceiling, “This is not the conversation I was prepared for.”

“Ya know what, I don’t wanna give you too much and I really don’t want to make her remember anything tonight. So with that, I should get going while I leave you two be for the night.” She reached up and gave me a tight hug, adding with a whisper, “Please be happy for me and enjoy your life this time around.” She pulled back and trotted off.

“Coffee Stain, before you leave,” She stopped as a Filly Scout opened the door for her. “Do you happen to know anything about the black boxes inside us?”

Coffee Stain dragged her hooves back to the table and motioned the door closed. I sat up and took an interest now. My earlier roasting leaving my mind as Nyota had struck a note with my curiosity. “I knew you were going to get there.”

“Well, they umm.. I don’t know as much as I’d like.” She took a moment to chew over her thoughts and stopped herself. “Sunrise give me your leg for a moment.” I extended my left hoof slowly as she approached and she pushed it away. “The other one with the PipBuck on it.”

I cautiously offered the other leg. She grabbed it and pulled out a spherical arcano key. She put it into the slot on the underside and twisted the key with a click it released from my leg. With a panic of a mad woman who had just dropped her children rushed and slammed it back in place.

My H.U.D. only winked out for a moment while my body shuddered and my arm felt so strange to have been exposed for those precious few seconds and then suddenly trapped into the steel computerized prison again.

“Sunny, I need to borrow that. I can’t crack open one of those logs if it’s still on your leg. I’ve done this like five times for you and they just keep resetting.”

I hesitantly allowed the key to remove the PipBuck. She sat it onto the table and punched in a couple of passwords for the log files I hadn’t been able to get at. I was hyperventilating while Nyota held me still the whole time. Without the H.U.D. I felt lost and slightly trapped. Without warning my entire world suddenly felt like I couldn’t understand any of it.

There were a couple of times I’ve turned it off but only in privacy and only just for a moment or two. This was completely strange and foreign. The world looked so different without green bars all over it. I kept randomly checking spots I’d been hurt in the past two months for injuries here or there.

I couldn’t hear Nyota’s words because my ears were full of nothing but raw fear and my pounding heart. Coffee Stain seemed miles away with the device that would fix it. I couldn’t explain my reaction either, it was like undergoing some form of extreme post-traumatic stress. I wanted to flee, I wanted to fight tooth and nail to get it back. The only thing that restrained me was Nyota gentle stroking my mane and reassuring me with his other hoof holding me still.

“There ya go,” She reattached the PipBuck and suddenly all the panic stopped. My vitals were spiking on the PipBuck and then slowly calmed back down as I heard myself breath. “Everytime she takes it off I swear. I never understood why.” The H.U.D. turned back on and so did E.F.S. which flickered with every lifeform around me turning red for a brief second till they registered properly as greens, greys, and yet there was a red somewhere in the distance that winked out after a second.

I looked at the file she had unlocked, file #4.

‘Titled: Project Gatekeeper Official Mission Statement

File Reads:

“Project Gatekeeper is the theory that using magics of all four pony races. Souls can be made into a device which will allow a single pony to carry an entire army with them. It means that a dead soldier is no longer dead, they learn from their death and return knowing how to be better soldiers. That or they transform into another soldier whom has a different set of skills that may success where another has failed.

Furthermore, officer assassinations no longer work. You can kill a general but if he gets back up the point of killing him was fundamentally useless. By trapping the soul in a jar and allow magic to replace missing parts which over time will fully regrow as the artificially sustained body is kept alive; we can heal the dead outright. No longer can mission critical personnel be destroyed and even possibly the alicorns can be made truly immortal.

Effects on psychological issues with long term immortality are currently unknown. Psychological effects of resurrection from remembering your own death are also unknown. We have no idea if this will even work or if we are sacrificing ponies for no reason. Further study must be conducted and to do so, we have a little army of stasis ponies waiting.

[Redacted]

Researcher Note: I believe this project is impossible. Everything we need to do is well beyond any magical device ever conceived! This is pure insanity that Stable-Tec has agreed to change entire Stable experiments for the purposes of this device. If I ever find this Agent 9 I’m going to kill her for ruining my research.

This is post war and post megaspells, this is beyond the time to do theoretic research or completely rewrite facility purposes for new projects. My promised work is ruined now for this piece of utterly mad science. I’m a Stable-Tec scientist and even I think this is insane, stupid, or just plain non-sense.”

End of Log.’

I stared at it, lost in thought. That explained so much. I pulled my hoof away and looked at Coffee Stain with horror, “Have we ever opened all 7 of these?”

She shook her head, “No, you usually only get to five.” I made a mental note to not open five now, at least not till I had more answers and this made so much more sense.

The raw terror that filled me about what I might be and how many times I did. The reappearance of my gear, all of it made horrific sense. “Sunrise, you okay? Where do you go from here?”

“Well, I need to figure out these files, find mom and dad, and apparently I’ve had a c-section which means I have a foal somewhere, and that foal has a father. I have no idea if either of them are alive. Not to mention the Agents may still be alive,” I shuddered heavily on that note. “I really hate that thought.”

“But first if we don’t find anything in that secret stable, we’ll be heading to see if D.J. Pon3 knows anything.” Coffee Stain looked at me puzzled and I looked back at her, “What? He’s pre-war like the two of us and talks about me on the radio. He probably knows something and I’m willing to bet he’d see me if I went to him.”

Coffee Stain awkwardly shrugged at me. She nudged my cheek, “Sunrise you’ve got a lot to think about. I suggest you two get upstairs and take your mind off of it for the rest of the night.” She turned to Nyota, “Really don’t leave her in a room alone or she will think this to death and forget to eat.”

Nyota nodded and with that, Coffee Stain left us alone. She turned her head at the door, “Please Sunrise, take care and if you ever need an old marefriend, just let me know.” There was no formal goodbye or a hug, it was left hanging. To me, it felt like Coffee Stain was saying, till next time.

Nyota took me up to the room, almost carrying me as I tried to talk. I would give the details of what happened that night but it was magical. I changed into the sleepwear he had bought me and well, when a mare and a stallion really love each other.

He fired early, I had to give him a diluted love poison vial. I broke the silencing talisman. Those are the only secrets I’m willing to tell.

I did however in all the chaos of the day forget to do one very important thing. Something I’d forgotten to do for three days now. I didn’t check the radio frequency for Black Hawk. That was a decision I would regret very soon.

Level Progress: 77% of the way to level 10!
Note: You’re at the point completing a quest doesn’t level you up anymore!

Fan Art of the Week:

Chapter 30: Race to The Roof

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I found myself alone when I woke up. The bed was still warm and I could hear raised voices downstairs. I didn't like how it felt to wake up alone anymore. That feeling of dread that I may not see Nyota again started to creep over me. I was still warm through and I really wanted to wait for his return.

After what was probably an hour of fighting to go back to sleep, I reluctantly crawled from under the covers. My hooves dragged along the floor towards the door. Where is Nyota? I thought he'd be here when I got up. I got to the door, my legs aching, especially in certain places. We'd nearly overdone it. When I opened the door, on the floor was a shattered talisman.

I picked up the magical device and lifted it to inspect how it was broken. Where did that come from? I discarded the device into a hallway trash tin with a twang and closed the door behind me. I really hope that wasn't anything bad to break. The stiff coldness outside made me realize I had no stable-barding on, or for that matter nothing at all. Ponies may go around naked, but I still had this feeling that was not something I could quite do. This was especially true after last night's activities. I stepped back into our room and got dressed. My modesty protected, I headed downstairs. Nyota's voice yelling stopped me halfway, “That is ridiculous! Your shotty talisman is at fault and we didn't even ask for it!”

Honey Hearthfire didn't yell back, she spoke very softly and clearly, “The other guests complained and therefore, I had to go with their complaint. Then you two broke it with her shrieking. Now pay for it.”

Nyota grumbled and started to speak again until he saw me out of the corner of his uncovered eye. He stopped himself, then reached into his pack to start counting out caps. I walked up next to him and nuzzled up against his cheek, stopping him from paying more with my hoof. I purred into his ear and enjoyed the softness while I started to count out caps. I was still flush with caps from The Roof and rearming us the last couple of days. Not to mention, I swore some of these were still from The Curator. I paid the rest without a second thought and put a bag of one hundred into his saddlebag.

“Oh, Sunrise! You've got my squeal, now you need to learn to control it.” Pink giggled in the back of my mind, bordering on bursting out into laughter. I mentally frowned at her and gave her a wary glare.

Maybe I like letting it out. I shot back with a mental smirk at her. She stopped the laughter and I swore I felt some sort of complete confusion coming off of her. I'm starting to understand why I'm funny now, too. I was in a wonderful mood, no one was going to ruin it.

Nyota nuzzled up against me, “Go on and shower, love. I wish you hadn't gotten dressed, I'll get Hearthfire here to wash your barding.”

“Okay but don't pay for too much.” I got out there and started the shower, knowing that I was on a timer. At least the water was hot, even if it made my PipBuck click. The warmth reminded me of what it was like to be held by Nyota as the scent and dirt of yesterday was washed away.

***

While I was waiting for myself to dry, I took a seat at the bar and watched Nyota's hot water timer. Everytime that it got low, I pushed another two caps across the table. He must have been out there for a full blown 35 minutes. Hearthfire only stopped taking caps when a shower que had formed.

Even Pink snickered at this, “He's gonna be so pruny and squeaky clean! He'll squeak like a doggy toy!” Just as she said that, Nyota's soaking wet hoof touched my shoulder.

You liar! He's stealthy even when soaked to the bone! I jumped around and looked at him. He just smirked and stroked my still drying mane. Even when I don't hear or see you; you're there.

“Thank you love, you didn't need to do that.” His hoof smelled of sandalwood against my nose. He had really scrubbed himself clean. “However, I'm going to suggest we get a better silencing talisman of our own, and ball gag, or a bridle for you in the future.”

He said this so loud that everyone in the inn turned to us with a glare. We had interrupted all of their sleep. Some of the glares were less angry and more intrigued or even showing encouragement towards Nyota. I blushed until I felt like I might explode and he just kissed my lips. I swear, I'm not sure if I like PDA or not!

There was something brushing against my leg, it felt like a cat. It forced me to break the kiss to investigate it. There at my hooves was Snuggles, the manticore. Every fiber of my being wanted a weapon right then and there to kill it. My mind raced back to the memory of its mother rushing at me. The feeling of dread as my hoof slipped and I went down a manticore's gullet. The disguist made me feel like the water upon my flesh was the stomach acids. The memory of my death and Coffee Stain's tears. I couldn't take it.

With a scream, I jumped as far away as I could. I physically impacted into the counter and it moved several paces. Every other patron's breakfast was interrupted with my squeal: “Get that AWAY!!!” All the words I could form in my mad dash as Snuggles jumped away from me. She wasn't screaming or panicking through, the small manticore was growling intently at me.

Chifundo stepped between us before anything further happened. He wrapped a hoof around Snuggles, turning his back to me. He acted like a parent scolding a child, “Shame! I told you not to surprise, the pony we call Sunrise.”

All I could do was hyperventilate and push the memories back from my mind. My heart pounded in my ears so loud, a drum section would have been quieter. I couldn't help myself, my vision blurred and the edges became pure blackness. My world was crashing down and it was taking all my willpower to not drop into a memory.

Nyota wrapped his hooves around my neck and stroked my wet mane, “Shhh, it's okay. It's just Snuggles. You're fine Sunrise, nothing bad is going to happen.” He kept whispering in my ear, doing his best to calm me down. Eventually, his voice proved to be louder and more clear than the sound of the pounding from my veins.

“Sunny, Sunny, are you there?” He looked into my eyes as I took in the world around me finally. My head slowed down and the pounding went away. The edges of my vision became clear and my breath normalized. He had been what I clung to, his words in my ear were all that kept me from taking a trip on memory lane.

“I—...I'm here.” I managed through an emotionless, shaky voice. Nyota smiled holding me gently against this neck.

“I've got you, Sunny. What was that? You looked like you were just lost in space?” Nyota's concern could have made my mother feel lacking in affection.

“A memory.” The shake in my voice retreated as I held my head and let the feeling of panic completely die down.

“That isn't normal.” Nyota paused and held me where he could look into my eyes. He was checking me like a doctor would, poking and prodding at my face, eyes, and neck through an improvised examination. “You should have your head looked at by an expert. It was like you were going into a memory orb or a recollector.”

“Well duh! She's been doing it this whole time! You just now noticed! Her head is completely screwed up worse than a corkscrew that is bent into a hairpin turn!” Pink shrieked at him and then covered her mouth. I hadn't noticed her come into view above my pulse and body indicator.

Pink, what do you know? I prodded ignoring Nyota for a moment. I was trying to draw some inkling of knowledge from the elusive ghost in my head.

“Oh! I know a bit but telling you might break a wall or four. I really would rather not ruin it for the rest of the wasteland, especially my primary audience of one.” Pink giggled hysterically as she spoke and I looked around for a moment to find her 'Audience'.

There aren't more spirits in my head are there? I asked in defeat of locating any particular audience.

“Nopie lopie dopie! You wouldn't get that yet, you may never get it! But moving on, yeah your head is really messed up from the 180 years of memory orbs you were exposed to in the stasis tank! You should find an expert to examine your noggin.” I glared at her and returned to the world around me instead of continuing this fruitless conversation.

Nyota poked and started looking around my eye sockets as well as my head under my mane. I shook him off annoyed, “Nyota, okay. Stop poking and prodding me. You aren't a memory expert. We can look at my head when we find an expert on the subject.” I pushed his hooves away and noticed our friends were gathered around a table eating breakfast. We joined them.

The silence was only broken by Quick Stitch when he looked at me and pushed the onyx cube Corners had left us onto the table. “We had a look at it, I think Chifundo can explain this better than I can.” Quick Stitch looked on rather grimly as he turned to Chifundo.

“We accessed its outer layers, within we found magical players.” He began and collected his breath then started speaking without pause. “It locked down its internal matrix when we tried to compile its helix. The spiritual markings are bold, they trap within many a creature's soul. I cannot sense who they are in the midst, only that many personalities exist.” I stared, trying to put all his words together and truly understand what he was getting it.

“There are elements of Zebrican works, earth pony built into its quirks. Pegasus and Unicorn elements are present, although their purpose is beyond my discernment. Much to my lament. There is an internal artificial spirit, it rages until I fear it. In addition, there is a memory orb interface, for new knowledge brought into its embrace.

“It is a piece of technology most frightening, but its works are certainly enlightening.” Chifundo finished and took a breath while all of us were trying to piece all his words together.

Nyota spoke up first, “So it's a soul jar and something else?”

I knew that phrase. Soul jars were created to imprison a creature or put a piece of your soul into an object. They were dangerous and self destructive! If those boxes inside us were soul jars, they were created by ponies who ignored all the rules around scientific ethics and morals. They were highly illegal! I felt physically punched by this realization.

“Yes, but so much more, and more advanced. Earth pony magic that was used to make stubbornite is there, too. They are virtually indestructible. We tried with Alguacil's gun and even an anti-material rifle Sparrow has. It didn't even scratch the surface.” Quick Stitch took a sip of coffee when he finished his words. Well if you could call the sludge that The Flophouse served ‘coffee’.

I realized that Alguacil hadn't joined us yet. I heard the scrape of talons loudly on the wooden stairs. I turned my head to look behind me and Alguacil was making his way down, fully geared up already. He looked at all of us and took a seat at the table, grabbing a skewered squirrel on a stick.

“Alguacil, why are you already geared up?” Nyota looked at him puzzled while I just had a mouth full of what they called: Applesauce. It wasn't but it was close enough.

“Another griffin lady is looking for me, so I turned in the bounty on myself while you all were enjoying your night.” I turned my head to him rather puzzled and took a sip of coffee. He patted his gun in its holster, “I got ready just in case she came calling today.”

A thought occurred to me, “Alguacil have you considered she may be friendly, or actually just want to find you like I want to find my parents?”

Alguacil snorted at that, “You don't place a bounty on folks when ya just wanna get a hug or find someone you care about.”

I shook my head and Nyota snorted, “Did you just not get hugs as a child or something?”

“My parents are the one who took my eye! My dad STABBED IT OUT! My mother complained she would have to spend caps to get me to a doctor instead of getting more drugs! You listen here, I didn't get this far being so trusting and—“ I'd had enough, and jumped up to hug Alguacil, wrapping my hooves around his neck burying my face into his chest plumage. All he could do was sit there and twitch uncomfortably.

I don't know what had come over me, but I felt some deep pain for him. I knew what a loving home was like, Nyota did too. He didn't. He had the worst pieces of the world thrust upon him from birth. He never knew what it was like to be wanted or have someone care about him beyond just being a regulator. I wanted to take his pain away for him. I wanted to see if somewhere under his anger and all that wasteland armor, he had the ability to express something besides his rage.

The more I thought about it, the tighter I held Alguacil. He was so much bigger than me; it was comical to think about holding him in place with a hug. I felt a talon on my head and looked up to see a stern yet very confused face, “What's this, exactly?”

“It's called a hug,” Nyota chimed in and approached to join in, giving Alguacil a group hug. “She wants you to know she actually cares and is worried about you and your ability to feel something outside of paranoid rage.”

Am I that much of an open book? I didn't realize I'd been tearing up or shedding tears for Alguacil while I'd been holding him. I slowly released the hug and nodded at Nyota's comment. “Alguacil, have you never been hugged by anyone else?”

Alguacil shook his head slowly from one side to the other, “No. No, I have not. It’s strange, and fills me full of a weird warmth.” Nyota and I facehoofed in unison. I couldn't believe him, he'd never opened himself up or really truly been friends with any creature else.

“Alguacil, we care about you. Don't you care about us?” I looked up at him very confused and wanted to plead with him; hoping he had an emotional side.

“Of 'ourse, someone has to keep an eye on all of you. You're capable of massive amounts of destruction. Gotta make sure ya stay on the right side of The Law.” His words told me everything. That was all he knew how to express affection or care for any creature else. He didn't know how to be soft.

I have to fix that.

“YOU!? Fix that? You can't make everyone think or act like you, Sunrise. But as for Alguacil, I think the closest he'll ever feel to your version of love will be letting some other creature wear his hat for a day!” Pink was rolling in laughter at me and cackling it up. This didn't discourage me, it only told me I had do more. I had to figure out how to get through to him.

“Alguacil, thanks for reminding me.” I took a breath and hugged him tightly. "Gotta keep this up everyday, till we find some softer side of you.” The smile Alguacil cracked was one of a truly unsure and completely panicked lost child.

I let out a sigh, he wrapped a talon around me. Finally Progress! “Ther', is that what ya wanted?” It was weirdly mechanical for him. He didn't put expression or warmth into it, just the act of putting a leg around my neck. I shook my head at him and released Alguacil, finally taking a couple steps away from each other.

“It's a start.” I felt like it was a start to helping me retrieve a piece of himself he never knew existed. I didn't know a lot about griffins, but I at least knew that they showed some sort of care for their children. He needed to find a surrogate family, and if we were gonna be it, that was all I could hope for.

“Aww, Sunrise is being a Sunrise. I wonder if this means she's gonna be screaming again later.” Coffee Stain chirped up. I hadn't realized she had entered and I turned around, shooting a glare towards her. “Oh, come on, I've seen happier and sluttier. After I’ve heard you like that, these tender moments just make it really fun to reminisce. I hope Nyota put those tricks I gave him to work.”

I let out a squeak of distress when Nyota walked up and gave me a hug. It was against his touch I felt how deep my own blush was. My stomach started to rumble as well, not in the happy or hungry way, but in an upset way. The butterflies weren't helping either.

Coffee Stain kept talking but I couldn't hear her. My ears were giving a dull ringing, like I was at high altitude and suddenly hit a pressure wave. My stomach churned and flipped twice. Whatever I'd eaten was completely not agreeing with me. I grasped onto my stomach and doubled over in pain. My throat swelled and I felt the warmth leave my face.

The first thing I heard was, “Sunny, are you okay?” The next thing I knew I was vomiting for no other reason than an upset stomach. Nyota grabbed a bucket as I emptied my insides. Everyone stopped eating to stare at me. I didn't know why I was sick, but this felt unusual. Compared to the other times I'd vomited, this was heaving until all my insides were completely emptied. The contractions echoed through my sternum and the amount of pain involved was the worst I'd ever felt. Even breaking my ribs or getting shot didn't permeate my being as much as this.

Once I stopped, I looked to see all my breakfast was gone into the tin receptacle. I wiped my mouth and washed it out with water. Coffee Stain stopped her teasing and had moved on, leaving us alone. Thank the Goddesses for that!

*****

The first pony to find us once we got me to hold down food was Cloud Piston. He had several modified carriages around him. They had been turned into armored battle wagons with hitches for ponies that were completely enclosed and surrounded with plating. It was like a wasteland tank, powered by ponies instead of an engine. They even had rotating turrets with machine guns on top. “Hey there, Sunrise! Me opening a shop here has been one of the best things to ever happen!” I looked at him and then all his creations.

Many of the guards I noticed had improvements to their armor, or flat-out new armor. While it wasn't quite machined right out of factory, it was fairly good for someone performing blacksmithing without a blast furnace. I nodded to him with a smile when he passed me a schematic for a helmet. I looked it over and it took me a minute to piece it together. His crude drawing was proposing using a reinforced framing system to provide direct internal absorption to impact. If he was right, this could make it so armor piercing rounds would have a much more difficult time punching through a helmet.

I immediately got to work improving my own helmet. I asked Chifundo to go negotiate with the Filly Scouts to get me some heavy duty materials, as well as using the stubbornite we'd recovered from Taintwood. The other thing I did was take a .50 cal ammo box and add armor plating to the outside while putting reinforced padding inside. It replaced one of my saddlebags, but this was where I would be putting all my explosives from here on out.

Once I'd finished, I started tuning my radio for some form of music when Blackhawk's voice cracked through, “Hello! To anyone out there! Please find Sunrise, we need the Angel! The Roof is under siege! Please respond if you are receiving this!” The voice was desperate, and the radio static made me listen to the full message three time before I got all of it. I stared in disbelief. While we had been adventuring in Taintwood and securing Silver Fang Shanty, while I had been making love to Nyota for the first time, they were fighting and dying.

I bolted out and stopped my friends from all their various activities, gathering them up outside Sparrow's. Once I had access to her radio, I dialed in the frequency so I could actually talk back. The PipBuck could receive transmissions, but without a broadcaster attachment, I couldn't talk back. “Hello, Blackhawk, come in. Come in.” I waited through the static, praying we were not too late. The silence was killing me.

It took almost two full minutes before I got a very tired Blackhawk talking back. “Sunrise? Is that you?”

“Yes, you're under siege? What is going on?” I clicked off the microphone and waited to hear back.

“We're under siege by someone calling themselves The Goddess with a Gun.” The name struck me, I felt like I knew it but nothing came to mind right now. I hesitated and waited for her to finish. “Please, we need help, can you send us an army?”

I looked at Sparrow, who shook her head, “I'm not in a position with all the retraining, thanks to Alguacil, to really provide more than a token force. You're on your own here, ground pounder.”

I growled at her when Hot Cross Buns walked in and spoke up, “Well, I was saving this for something else.” Sparrow motioned for him to stop talking, and he pushed her aside with his wing. “I've got a military grade Spell Matrix, you might be able to fix up a vehicle at The Roof with it and make a wasteland-style tank.”

I heard the words and started to process what he said. Another thought occurred to me, a very dark one. Pink giggled and nudged against my mind. “You could do that with it, too.”

I'm not going to repeat the mistakes of the past. I won't do it, Pink. I growled seeing the image of the 'Granny Pie's Anarchist Cookbook'. There was a page in there, about how to convert industrial or military spell matrices into bombs; a dirty megaspell bomb. I kept the thought to myself. I was determined to use the spell matrix to possibly fix up the tank at the ranger station. Hot Cross Buns was right, we could use it to get a larger vehicle running and use that as a wasteland tank; at least until I could get back to the Sand Scorcher II.

We got packed up and hit the road within just a few more minutes, including our entire Q-Series truck to fit the Spell Matrix in it but we had a Military Grade Class-3 Spell Matrix. It could power a razor airship or a heavy assault tank. “Or it can be converted into a 50 kiloton boom boom!” I glared at Pink with daggers that should have killed her on the spot!

*****

We were silent on the drive. We didn't truly know the situation, there were only six of us. How we could possibly make a difference in a siege likely involving more than 500 attackers laying siege to The Roof. Nyota looked at me concerned and I looked back at him. The Roof had between two hundred to three hundred creatures in it, and was a well fortified place with limited entrances. But to outright surround and keep them besieged?

How long did they call for help before I responded? How many were dead? How bad was it? Why hadn't I remembered to turn the radio on every night like I promised!? My thoughts kept racing as we drove along. The Q-Series vehicle was durable, but its suspension was rough after 180 years, to say the least . Surprised this thing still runs.

Chifundo was seated with me up front, being the smaller of the party besides me. I was using my PipBuck to guide Quick Stitch while he drove. He was the only one who had experience driving, and even then, I felt like he certainly wouldn't pass his driver's test.

A loud bang echoed off the door. I hit the deck and put on my helmet as several loud pangs echoed off my side of the vehicle. We were under fire! Alguacil rolled down his window, firing back with his revolver. Quick Stitch sped up and started to swerve evasively, but I grabbed the wheel and shook my head. “Keep it straight, the car is armored.” I looked at my weapons; none of them had any real range except one. In my PipBuck it was labelled: Noob Tube. I picked up the grenade launcher. It had been so heavily modified since Corners had given it to me. Chifundo was working his rifle, Scopola fired laser bursts over Alguacil's shoulders adding to the volume of fire coming from our vehicle.

I motioned Quick Stitch to a depression to pull over. Rounds were still scattering onto the car when I leaned out of the window. All I could target was one of the flashes from guns firing at us. The launcher thunked out the grenade. Only a couple of seconds later, a massive explosion silenced the rest of the gunfire completely.

Pink, what in Tartarus!? I loaded a regular frag!

“Oh, you did? I could have sworn you loaded a EX-High Explosive.” Pink squealed and laughed at me. The gunfire stopped from both sides. The size of the blast was Much larger than a 25mm grenade should have generated. I could feel the heat from here, rolling over us in the depression. The smoke and orange fireball rose and slowly turned soot black.

I have those!? I realize the quiet that had settled as the debris rained down from the explosion. There were some bits of creatures and charred globs of clotted blood in the rain of dirt and chunks of stone.

“You do now! Along with extra spicy cake icing!” I had no idea what she meant by extra spicy cake icing. Finally, as the wasteland settled back into quiet; a white flag made from someone's dirty underwear was raised up in the distance near where the explosion had been.

I decided to break the silence, shouting out of the window and cupping my hooves to my mouth to project my voice, “Hey, why are you shooting at us?”

There was a pause, I could hear shuffling in the distance. Finally a stallion shouted back, “We, umm... didn't realize it was you guys.”

Alguacil shouted back, “Ya mean ta tell me that you didn't realize it was The Angel and The Long Eye of the Law! You raiders, I outta come out there and put all yer heads onto PIKES!” Alguacil's accent really came out when he spoke with anger.

There was silence and I looked at Alguacil, if he was going to be bad cop again; I would be good cop. “Alright, come on out. We won't shoot if you don't.” I called out and sincerely meant it; I just prayed to the Goddesses that they would actually come out. Alguacil went to raise his gun and I reached behind the seat to lower it, shaking my head at him.

Some very filthy looking ponies in full raider hide armor came over the edge of the depression. They looked ragged and absolutely lost. Two of them were dragging along wounded; one I was pretty sure was dead, since he was missing both his hind legs. “We just thought if we dressed up like this and acted like raiders, we could take stuff and no pony would bother us.”

Alguacil growled and went to lift his gun only to find my hoof still on it, “You stupid dirt-napping pieces of garbage. I outta execute every one of ya!” He hesitated and then spat at them. “But this green pony with me won't let me do that. Now throw off that armor and throw down your weapons, all of em!”

Slowly, one at a time, they disrobed their armor and placed their weapons into a pile. I got out of the car, while Alguacil, Chifundo, and Scopola kept their weapons on them. I heard another door shut and looked around, Nyota had pulled his disappearing act. I could sense he was nearby, somehow.

“Sunrise what are ya doing? We should kill em for going raider.” Alguacil shouted at me as I walked up and counted their number. I saw eighteen ponies. Three were pegasi, eleven earth ponies, and five unicorns; four of them didn’t have cutie marks. Alguacil's coldness made me want to punch him and break his beak. No one should be that heartless, especially if creatures were willing to attone.

“No, I've got a better idea.” I filtered through the weapons picking out some baseball bats, smaller pistols, and a couple of varmint rifles. I started taking them apart. At first the group of ponies started towards me in protest, but Nyota appeared in front of them and that scared everyone back.

Quick Stitch leaned out of the car, “Sunrise, we're on the clock! Come on, we have to—“

“We have to what? Rush to The Roof? Yeah, I know, but if we compromise ourselves getting there, we're no better than those laying siege.” I took out a breaking firing pin from another weapon to replace a pistol's. “I'll be an hour tops.”

Once I was done administering repairs, I took out a piece of paper and a pen:

'Dear Sparrow,
I know you need more recruits. These ponies are more than prepared to fight they just need to be shown how. Give them a chance on me.
Sunrise'

I folded the note up and looked at the ponies around, who all shifted nervously while Alguacil kept them at gunpoint and Nyota looked like he was ready to spring at a moment's notice. They were not a threat to us. More importantly, they had surrendered. There was no point in killing them if they could be better.

“Which one of you is in charge?” I asked looking at the lot of them and they didn't reply. They nervously shifted and kept looking at each other, expecting one to speak up over the other. I let out a sigh of exasperation and pointed at the nearest pony to me.

“You, what's your name?” The orange coat and blue maned unicorn looked at me like I'd shot her. She stepped back and Nyota stopped her, shaking his head slowly.

“I, umm... I'm Magic Blaze.” She was hesitating and the nervousness in her could have made a building shake like an earthquake.

“Hi, I'm Wandering Sunrise.” I extended the note to her. “Take this note to Sparrow at Silver Fang Shanty. Follow our car tracks to get there.” She took the note very hesitantly and I pointed at the tracks to make sure she could see them clearly. “Tell her I sent you and if she doesn't believe you, tell her about the car, the fact we are on the way to The Roof, and that I spared you.”

I turned my head to the car, “Chifundo, we should give their dead last rites. Quick Stitch, get out here and patch up anyone whose wounded.” I turned around to Magic Blaze. “Those weapons, take them with you. Sparrow is always looking for recruits willing to fight and she will provide training as well as honest work. She owes me more than she will ever admit. Do not mention all of you going raider for survival.”

Magic Blaze started to tear up as she read the note and looked at me with astonishment. “You mean, honest mercenary work?”

I nodded approvingly, and I started to turn to get to burying bodies when a set of hooves wrapped around my neck and clung to me. Magic Blaze was sobbing against me and I felt a renewed warmth fill me. I knew what my mother must have felt like in that moment, everytime I said thank you to her. I stopped and let her cry it out, petting her softly and smiling to myself.

“I can't believe that just happened. You just stopped ponies going raider and brought them back from the brink of the cake oven. How? How Sunrise? This makes no sense!” Pink protested, and I mentally booped her on the nose.

I proved you wrong, Alguacil, so very wrong. I kept looking at Alguacil, who stared at me, stunned, while we slowly cleaned up the mess in the wasteland around us.

*****

It was night before we got moving again. The wasteland was quiet around us, Scopola had Snuggles asleep on the floor in front of her. Snuggles was purring to the rhythm of the car engine. As much as the sound of the feline freaked me out, it was soothing in an odd way to see the predator not on high alert. At 8:30pm, the normally scheduled time, I turned on the radio as we drove through the night. All but Quick Stitch and I had fallen asleep. I was not sure how much rest we would get.

“Sunrise, I hope you are getting closer. We have—” There was an explosion and static for a moment. “They've got some heavy artillery, now. We're holding out but we need help before the night is out. I think they might actually be able to punch the door with those cannons.”

I reached up and started to take apart the car's radio. Chifundo stirred, “Sunrise, it is well past sundown; surely you should lay down?” I ignored him, taking the radio out and taking it apart for various bits. I just started ranting about what I was doing.

“If I take these tubes out of the radio here with the transistor there; I can convert this into a smaller two way radio.” The screwdriver broke the cassette tape player wide open, then I shoved my PipBuck connector in and jury rigged the connection, boosting the signal. Finally, I ripped open the two way radio and plugged the transmitter into the improvised wiring.

Quick Stitch stared at me like I had just committed a mortal sin of technological destruction. The rest of our party had woken from their car naps from the fury of activity and my ranting . “Blackhawk come in, Blackhawk come in,” I called into the improvised two-way radio.

There was static, and I thought I'd messed up when a voice I didn't recognize came through, “Hello? Who is this?”

“This is,” I hesitated. Wandering Sunrise was a heck of a name to say over the radio. I needed something simpler they would recognize. “This is Angel calling The Roof, Angel to The Roof. Is Blackhawk there?”

The voice was ragged and he was very strained through the waves of crackles from the speaker. “Oh, that is blood, I really need to take it... right, we're under siege. Raiders led by someone calling themselves The Goddess. I, umm...”

Chifundo reached for the radio but didn't press the broadcast button, “I must be informed through this line, what is the status of my Picline!”

I stopped him and shook my head, “I know Chifundo, I know. But one thing at a time.” I stayed on the radio and had to come up with a plan. I looked at my friends, we needed an opening. A way into the siege if we were going to help those inside.

We had plenty of ammunition between us, lots of explosives. We had so much food, water, and medical supplies, too. We were stocked for a journey enough that diving into a Stable with no way to know if we could simply walk back out would not be an issue. I scrolled through my PipBuck checking my inventory, as well as the inventory of everything in the car. Yeah, even I didn't know it could do that!

I had an idea. “Listen, is your doctor there? Anyone at all?”

A voice came over the radio, it was Picline. Chifundo looked relieved and more worried at the same time but he kept quiet for now. “Sunrise! This is Picline, how far are you?”

I looked at Quick Stitch who checked our speed, “Around forty to fifty minutes.” I thought about it and nodded to him.

“Can you promise me we will get there around that time?” He smirked and suddenly slammed him hoof down, we accelerated to dangerous speeds as I looked at all the buttons on the dashboard of this car. Whoever had modified it had done it completely mad scientist style.

“Alguacil, can you fly ahead of us? Get some recon and provide the roof with some sniper fire?” I asked him. He pulled out the old hunting rifle from the quarry.

“Alright, Picline. Listen we're gonna be there soon. Alguacil is gonna have the radio, he'll signal you. When he does, we need all the covering fire you possibly can put out at twenty degrees from true north. If we're going to get inside, we need all the cover we possibly get.” I let the static filter for a moment. “Got that?”

“I think we can do that. We'll keep you covered.” I pulled the radio from the live wires and put it back together, handing it to Alguacil.

“I've dialed in their frequency. Cut if off to keep the battery charged. I may have messed it up with all the jury rigging. When you see the car coming, call in to put out the covering fire.” Alguacil opened the door and was pulled out of the car with a loud bampf of his wings. Nyota pulled the door closed. We ate in the car in silence and just listened to the radio. There was chatter from what we assumed the other camp about a sniper from the cloud hitting some of them. Alguacil was doing work. The Roof came into view and my stomach twisted at the sight.

Surrounding it were lines of trenches lit up by torches. Huge salvaged guns, 75mm to 150mm by my estimate, were arranged around, at least six cannons. They fired in very erratic salvos as crews of ponies around them worked to keep the guns working and reloaded. I wasn't sure how many were in those trenches but they were not very far away, maybe four or five hoofball fields.

Machine guns and rifles sounded firing upon the roof, riddling it with blankets of bullets, lasers, and some sort of shot that left blue streaks in the air. Are those gauss weapons? I didn't have time to worry about it through, we had to get inside.

The Roof exploded with gunfire in our direction. Our covering fire tamped down any lights or return shots from the trenches in front of us. One of the gun batteries exploded into ash and flame from a lucky shot, lighting up the night clear as day. The flashes from the old parking-garage-turned-settlement made the building look bright as full daylight. Brighter than I'd ever seen it.

Quick Stitch stepped on the gas and reached over to hit the button that read: “Nitro”. A cap flipped open on the console leading to the fuel tank from the mess and sound. Quick Stitch pulled out the 'Rockit Fuel' we got from Sandy Claws and poured it all in.

The car lurched, protested, and the engine stalled. We heard it dying and all our fears rose that this mission would be over before it began. I saw my life flash that we'd die in a hail of gunfire when the trenches turned their guns around. My hooves started to sweat and my mouth ran dry. I said a silent prayer to Celestia and hesitated.

Chifundo, didn't hesitate. He slammed his hoof into the center console in pure anger and the vehicle sprang back to life with a vengeance. We accelerated well beyond what the speedometer could read. Chifundo didn't stop there, he kept pushing buttons and I tried to stop him.

“Chifundo, no! Stop, before you—“ I didn't get to finish the sentence, I didn't get to do anything else as he pressed the button for the emergency ejection seat. The roof opened up and our chair shot from the car. We flew high above, watching helplessly as we drifted towards the ground on a parachute. Quick Stitch and the others sped through the trench lines, jumping over the holes and anything in their way. I felt an increasing sense of dread and dismay.

Chifundo and I roughly landed and rolled into a nearby siege hole. Inside were three dead ponies, recently shot. I scrambled away from them and lunged at Chifundo, rage full in my heart. “WHY!? Why would you do that!?”

We were almost three hundred hoofs from The Roof. Our friends made it inside, but now the two of us were alone and isolated.

“I just wanted to get to my Picline, I did not know the buttons had a land mine,” Chifundo said. I rolled my eyes and growled at him.

I picked him up by the collar and leaned in close as I got nose to nose with him, “You IDIOT! We're stuck behind their lines now. Our one chance to get inside and instead we're surrounded and without help!”

“It worked once before, I saw no reason to not do it more.” I dropped his collar and pulled his helmet off his saddlebags, shoving it roughly onto his head. I did the same with mine. I started checking our gear. “What are we to do now, please answer before you beat my brow?”

I put a hoof up to his lips and shook my head. Oh I was pissed, I was enraged, but realized more shouting might draw unwanted attention. I may not be a subtle pony or a stealthy one, but I wasn't dumb. Without the sounds and distraction of covering fire, any noise would make us sitting ducks. “Keep your mouth shut. Get your gear ready, we've got to find a way inside or at least some way to communicate with them.”

What a task this was going to be. My mind already was trying to put together what to do from the officer's handbook I'd read. We had to somehow get through the siege lines, across the no-pony’s-land between the trenches and The Roof, and get through the reinforced door. I had to do all that with the pony who I always had trouble communicating with. The very one who had put us in this situation in the first place.

I saw the reinforced door to The Roof close up. Our friends were safe for now, at least. Chifundo and I, however, we were in the worst possible place we could be. All around, I could already hear the sounds of hooves and clattering armor closing in towards us.

"Chifundo remind me to explain to you, why Earth Ponies don't fly." I said as I started to take in our surroundings and figure out how to get us out of this mess.

Notes:

Level Progress: Level 10 Achieved!!!

Karma 100! You are a Paladin of the Wasteland!

Quest Perk: Artwork Bonus - For all the artwork of your character, any armor in artwork gives you an addition +1 DT and you receive +1 Natural DT.

Quest Perk: Worst Earth Pony EVER! - Anything that would cause Rairty to whine about filthy in relationship to Dirt: Sunrise will wine unless she passes a CHA -1 Check. On a fail she loses 5 in all skills till she gets clean. On a critical fail, a nearby object will act as a fainting couch for her. On a critical success, she dives so far into the dirty task that she is considered unsanitary for 1d6 days regardless of shower or bath.

Chapter 31: Sheep Among Wolves

View Online

"Surrounded? Good we can fire in every direction."
-Scottish Paratrooper Commander, D-Day.

The covering fire was dying down and the situation was starting to get to me. We were deep inside enemy trenches without a way to contact our friends. Panic started to fill me and I knew only one way to get my emotions out.

I went to throw a punch at Chifundo; only to slip on the mud, instead of a punch I ended up nuzzling against his chest. He patronizingly pet my head almost comically and I yanked myself away indignantly.

“Chifundo, why!?” I squealed at him, pushing his head down into the nearest siege trench. We rolled in the mud and blasted landscape over a sandbag. The sounds of battle slowly died down to dull thuds of sniper fire and popshots. The artillery barrage stopped and the suppressive fire from The Roof died off once the car was safely inside. I wasn't sure when or how our car entered The Roof but it wasn't visible from the outside. At least they made it and we aren’t dead.

Chifundo was sheepishly by himself and he looked away from me. I shoved him into the nearest siegework I could find. This was a trench dugout, the occupants were dead, their forms riddled with bullets and long forgotten. The sounds of battle echoed outside and now I could really take in our surroundings inside the dank musty dirt bunker.

We were in a typically dug trench. There was a heavy wooden step to get up onto the edge to fire and then step back down to conceal yourself safely inside cover. Thick boards lined the floors, to keep trench-hoof away by letting you stay dry. We were in a sleeping dugout, a place for soldiers to sleep safe from artillery shells and machine gun fire. It was dug to be underground, reinforced with sandbags and scrap metal along the ceiling. Someone had come in and raided this place, leaving the occupants dead.

It must have happened tonight, because no one had come in here to check on the dead unicorns inside. They were wearing uniforms, actual uniforms! Their armor was colored with deep green with a tree drawn over their chest and flanks in white. It was standardized equipment; military Mark 1 Combat Armor. Not the kind you found just lying in the wasteland either. This stuff was recently manufactured and still had its heavy magical searing marks where the kevlar and steel plates merged, covering the chest, lower legs and shoulders in heavy anti-rifle armoring. Their weapons were just as new, two lay dead with service rifles but one had some weapon I didn't recognize. The strange weapon was like a car engine and a box of electromagnets had been fused together along a gun barrel. Someone just made those? Where did they get the equipment to mass produce this stuff?

I picked up the strange gun and tucked it away. I heard the heavy pants of Chifundo. Chifundo gasped for air desperately, and I realized he was starting to panic while hastily wrapping a bandage around a non-existent wound. Without hesitation I slapped his across the muzzle, and his look of shock told me, I reached him. “Snap out of it! We don't have the luxury of panicking. So tell me why you hit the ejector button?”

My voice carried and I realized that I may have given our position away. Hooves thundered across the wood towards us and I snuffed out the lamp keeping this dugout lit. “I thought it was the rocket boost, I did not know we would leave the roost.”

I blinked several times and then covered his mouth, pressing our backs next to the doorway. I gripped my shotgun’s trigger between my teeth. If they walk in here and see us, we're done. There are far too many for just us two to do anything about. The sound of heavily armored hoofbeats hit the boards outsides. A flashlight pierced the darkness around us. I readied for a fight.

“They've already left here, those bodies inside are fresh. We should go looking for them, which way did we not cover?” I could hear a grizzled-voiced stallion giving orders and analyzing the situation.

He thinks the bodies are fresh. I observed the flashlight that they held, hoping it would not drift our way. I held a hoof to Chifundo's mouth and he nodded. Slowly I pulled away to let him breath. I noticed he had no close combat weapons, so I slipped him my hold-out pistol, the police revolver Buddy had modified for me. I had other options, he did not. He took it and put it uncomfortably in his mouth. The trigger was personally crafted for me, not him. It would have to do.

The ponies outside headed away with pounding sprinting hoofbeats. Chifundo and I slowly relaxed the longer we listened to the dull wind blowing outside the safer it seemed. I looked at Chifundo, who shrugged, “I am at a loss but to apologize, Sunrise I only ask you do not chastise. I just hope your clever mind has a way out of this bind.”

I sighed and analyzed his words. Great, I'm behind enemy lines with the one pony who I have a communication barrier with.

“Oh, Sunrise! You are so silly! Just go with the flow, work with him ya nilly filly!” I blinked a few times and slowly tilted my head. Pink giggled more and rolled with laughter. My brain went to pure bewilderment as I tried to grasp at what she just said.

Chifundo tugged on my leg, “The Pink one I can hear as well, perhaps we can escape from this hell.” I honestly had no idea what either one of them were getting at. I just hoped I figured it out quickly.

I slowly poked my head above the trench to take a look around. A set of binoculars were taken from my pack. My tail held up them up to my eyes, giving me a better view of our surroundings. We were around 631 meters from The Roof where we stood according to the laser range finder. We would have to get much closer if we hoped to cross the no-pony land. Sounds of occasional sniper fire echoed around us. The smell of artillery explosives lingered in the air along with the smell I hated. The smell of dead creatures, untended and not laid to rest.

They had demolished numerous buildings around The Roof to make fortifications and siege battlements. The mostly intact buildings had additional scrap metal and a few machine guns points poking out of them. I could see a heavy artillery gun pointing over the lip of a building’s roof. All pointed to the settlement we wished to defend.

I got down from the trench step and turned to Chifundo, “It's going to be nearly impossible to get inside without help. I'm not stealthy enough to cross that no-ponies land. We need to get a radio and get communications with our ponies inside. Let's see if these guys have a radio.”

Chifundo nodded, rubbing the back of his head, “My knowledge of technology lacks compared to mythology.” I took a moment to take in what he had to say.

“So you're saying that you are technologically inept?” I offered back, and he nodded. I took a second to look around the trench we were in. My ears perking to listen intently for any signs of hostile life.

The trenches were made of sharp right angle turns connected it to other trench lines. I could see rifles and other weapons poking above the trench lip. There was also a mounted machine gun nest with several additional sandbags stacked around it like a pillow fort to stop bullets. This trench was fortunately empty and the rest of the ponies that should have been here were scattered searching for Chifundo and me.

A plan was starting to form in my head, “Alright, we'll need to locate a radio, and that is likely near a command dugout. We may even have to put on their armor and uniforms, or at least put their markings on us.” I looked Chifundo over, then looked at myself. Something seemed off about the two of us.

Chifundo held up a hoof and pointed at me then himself before speaking, "I do not think you have realized, but we stick out in anypony's eyes. My pink stripes are hard to ignore, and your green coat truly comes to the fore. Perhaps, like Nyota, we make the dark our friend, and seek the shadows to achieve our end."

"What?" I asked, trying to make sense of his words.

"He says you two stick out like sore hooves, and you should be sneaky, instead of tricky!"

"Oh. Thanks, Pink." I looked to Chifundo. "You're right. We stick out too much. Thanks, Chifundo! Good plan!" We moved to the darker side of the trench and watched for dugouts to duck ourselves into anytime we heard gunshots or voices.

I led Chifundo through the trench, snuffing out lights as we went. We wanted to use the darkness to our advantage until I knew how to interact with whoever this army was and make them believe we were on their side.

The wet boards and caked dirt ate at my leather armored socks. I was very glad for them. Then I noticed Chifundo’s bare hooves were covered in muck and grime. I winced at him and hoped we’d be inside soon where he could wash off. “Sunrise, how do we proceed, should we run into a foe who impedes?”

I shook my head, “Pretend to be one of them? Hopefully we can use the gunfire to mask any firefight we get into.” I poked my head above the trenches again and it rang like a bell. I flew back and landed on the trench boards with a heavy loud smack. My head rocked and ached as my mind registered someone had shot me. Great! They don’t realize we’re friendly!

Chifundo pointed at my helmet, “You should be glad for your helmet, it has ensured you have not heaven met.” Chifundo rushed up to me and I held up a hoof. My helmet had stopped the round. The modifications to it were proving very resilient. I had a headache and I could hear bells ringing. I was having trouble hearing anything else around me and my eyes were blurry from being stunned.

“Sunrise, please tell you’re alright, otherwise we won’t make it this night.” Chifundo rubbed at my head I started to work off the stun that hit me.

I nodded very slowly trying to shake off the impact damage. He helped me up and I groaned regaining my balance on the wooden boards under us. I leaned on him, not just for physical support but for the emotional weight to kill any panic that might well up. I’d just been shot in the head, most ponies would flee or be dead.

“Wow, Sunrise, I didn’t think that helmet would take a high powered rifle! I’m genuinely impressed by you; for once.” I growled at Pink but that just made the headache worse. We took a break, moving into a dugout. Oddly this one was completely empty, no soldiers, no bodies, just a couple of worn wasteland mattresses and a cooking pit.

We took a moment to eat and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead, knowing our allies were just as likely to shoot us as the wolves around us in the trenches.

I took out the weird rifle I’d picked up earlier to check it out. Several cylinders lined the barrel, almost like a oil powered carriage engine. There was a set of numbers on the back end and a power button. I slowly reached up and flicked it, the thing started to hum and a couple weapon vibrated with raw power and engine. It was as though it were ready to explode. The numbers lit up on the back. The double digits quickly climbing from 00 to 99 in only a single second.

My PipBuck registered the weapon from weird rifle to ‘Gauss Carbine: Celestia’s Hammer’ along with 27 ‘2mm EC’ rounds inside it. Gauss Carbine! If this is the carbine I don’t wanna try to handle the full size rifle! Where did somepony get one of these? I thought they were just prototypes? Wait why does this one have a name? Pink snickered with that laugh that meant she knew something she wasn’t telling me. I rolled my eyes at her and checked the weapon, it wasn’t in terrible shape, just needed some cleaning here and there. Along with quite a bit of TLC to ring some dents out and reinforcing of the non-ferro magnetic containers to prevent it from drawing every piece of metal towards it. I turned it off and tucked it away; hoping I wouldn’t have to find out just how dangerous this new pocket cannon was.

*****

A short meal and a Sparkle-Cola later and we were ready to go. Yeah, I knew it was bad for me even before the couple of clicks from my PipBuck hit my ears. This was for the caffeine to help clear my headache. We started moving again once the migraine abated. We kept creeping through the trenches looking to avoid any ponies and always making detours to head around voices, gunfire, and anything that might result in a confrontation. I was just hoping we were getting closer to The Roof, not further away as we moved.

I dared not poke my head above the lip of the trenches again. Another gunshot echoed out and I flinched when the bullet hit the dirt next to me. “Oi! Who goes there?” I froze. We had been found and challenged. “Where’s yer uniform?”

I looked for the source of the voice and saw a unicorn standing around the next bend. He couldn’t see Chifundo as he still was concealed behind our previous turn. I took a step back, frantically thinking of an answer.

Pink rolled into view, “Hey! Challenge him back! Call him out on firing at a superior officer!” I blinked a few times. I didn’t have a better idea and it might just work.

“Who are you to challenge me!” I shouted at him with a heavy growl and pushing out my chest for emphasis. “Don’t you know an officer when you see one? Do you not have any sense but to shoot at your superior?” I stomped towards him mad as a hornet. He staggered back, surprised at the outburst and even lowered his weapon.

The stallion hesitated and I could see his bewildered eyes in the dark light. I was so close that the two us could feel each other’s breath. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t—”

“It’s ma’am to you! And you didn’t what! I should have you flogged! Shooting at the Lieutenant of the Goddess,” I prayed that I could casually refer to this Goddess with a Gun like that. “Now shape up and get out of here before I decide you’re worth my time!”

He cowered before me at the mention of the Goddess, and his battle rifle dropped into the mud as I pretend to stomp after him. I grabbed the rifle in a hoof and threw it behind me towards Chifundo. I didn’t hear it thud into the mud so I assumed he caught it. “Dropping your rifle in the mud, too! That’s it! My escort will keep your rifle, and you’re gonna have kitchen duty for the next two weeks to get it back! Now OUT OF MY SIGHT!” My voice bellowed and echoed over the trenches to the point that even the gunfire died down a little.

“Way to over do it, Sunrise! Now everypony is gonna be checking to see who just screamed like that. This is gonna turn into the biggest exploding cake everrr!!!” Pink rolled and her confetti cannon went off to emphasize the point. The shards of paper covering my vision and actually requiring me to shake them loose to see clearly again. The stallion had disappeared and Chifundo checked the battle rifle. It was an M1 Grand Apple, 8 rounds with a distinctive ping when the magazine ejected. Not to mention it packed quite a punch with the .308 round.

“We’ll get a scope for it later, but it’s a drastic upgrade from your varmint rifle and will fire faster than the hunting rifle. Now, come on.” Chifundo nodded and gave me a hug as we turned the opposite direction of the T-intersection that the stallion had bolted down. We had only really made around 100 meters of progress towards The Roof. It was nearly midnight between our rest and slow progress, and I wasn’t sure we would make it before the dim daylight that shined through the clouds gave us away.

Chifundo tapped my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. He pointed at a corpse that lay against the trench side. This one was fresh, its heart was still letting out death spasms as blood oozed from its skull. I could make out the impression of a hoof that had crushed the mare’s brains in. I reached up and poked at her. She didn’t move. “This may be a trick of the mind, but does that type of blow not remind?”

I took a second to process his words and nodded, “Yeah it looks familiar, I can’t quite place it but I’ve seen that sort of damage before.”

Chifundo winced, “I pray we do not have an encounter, I doubt we would be the survivor.” I nodded to him in agreement and started to check the body for anything useful. Outside even in the dark, I could get a good look at their uniform insignia. It was a tree that had a banana, orange, apple, and a pear all growing from it. It was so strange to see a uniformed army much less this kind of odd symbol. Two healing potions, a couple of shotgun shells for me and some .308 rounds for Chifundo’s new gun. I also found his M1 Grand Apple and passed it to Chifundo to pocket so we could use it for spare parts.

I slowly poked my head above the trench next to the dead mare slumped over the lip. She had only made it halfway out of the trench before bullets had riddled her. She smelled horrific and the touch of cold clammy flesh against me was unsettling to say the least. I was using her for cover and to conceal that I was looking around. I saw the point we needed to reach, the closest point to The Roof. There was an outcropping in the trench several turns down from us that would put us around 120-130 meters away from The Roof. Just close enough we might make it across the battlefield. The roundabout circle we were taking meant it would be much farther.

I checked on Chifundo, “You okay?”

“There is much death around, it is making my senses cloud.” He replied through haze filled eyes. I gave him a light hug, I couldn’t imagine the pain of having to deal with all the spirits, not just Pink. Through Pink gave me an inkling of what he was going through.

“Alright, if you need a break let me know.” I set my hooves back onto the duckboards and we kept walking through the muck. Our hooves not just caked in mud but drying blood. My head slowly poked around a corner and the sight that greeted me was even more disturbing.

Six total bodies lined this trench, all in the same condition as the first mare we had just passed. Their heads were all caved in and each one had taken a single blow directly to the skull. These were also fresh—not as fresh but the blood wasn’t dry yet. That is when we heard it: a loud whistle, over and over again. Someone else was making these bodies, and while they were helping us, they were putting the enemy on high alert.

Chifundo grabbed my shoulder and pulled me close, “Here come their hoofbeat, we must hide or be dead meat.” I went with him and we ended up in a dugout. This one had a fire going inside it, which I dashed to and doused with my canteen, letting the smoke billow to help conceal us and stifling my coughing. My smoke stung eyes adjusted to the dark and I readied my shotgun in case they came inside. My tail put down a claymore mine right at the edge of the entryway. Chifundo setup with the battle rifle across a dead body. There were 3 bodies in here and he setup at the one furthest to the back, which hadn’t even gotten out of bed before its skull was caved in.

“Holy Luna’s Hairy CUNT! What the hell? They’ve been this way, find that commando team! These are the freshest dead yet.” I watched as a mix of two dozen of ponies dashed past us, even pegasus joining in. Two stopped at the dugout and shined a flashlight in. I motioned Chifundo to hold and prayed.

The light hit Chifundo and stopped cold. I stood next to the door and Chifundo’s eyes went wide trying to adjust to the sudden blinding light. “Hey you okay in there? It’s alright, the commandos aren’t here. Come on bud, calm down.”

They think he’s with them. What are they gonna do when they realize he’s not? They slowly stepped in, not looking to their left where I was standing, one hoof on my shotgun, bit in my mouth and ready to fire. Pink held the claymore detonator in my tail and I could feel the tension waiting to squeeze. One little pull would trigger the anti-personnel mine to go off. Wait for it, we need to make sure we get both of them. Please, start firing those big guns, right now. My ears strained for any sound to mask to our impending firefight.

Almost as if on command, or perhaps the universe heard me, two of the artillery pieces fired. Massive booms shook loose dirt and filled my ears with a high pitched whistle that silenced the world around me. I didn’t hesitate anymore. My tail squeezed the detonator and all hell broke loose. The first pony, the unicorn holding the flashlight, didn’t even have a moment of clarity to realize what happened. I entered S.A.T.S. and watched in slow motion as his life ended. Steel balls slammed into his body, from his chest all up over his head. His armor provided not near enough protection as his body was pulped. The slow motion gave me time to wonder if, one day, that would be my own fate. I shoved the shotgun barrel into the mouth of the second one, but the earth pony mare was already dead. Half of her face was missing as S.A.T.S. ended and the world sped back up.

I heard Chifundo’s weapon echoing off the walls, silencing the whine in my ears. Our ambush was masked as another artillery round boomed overhead. I grabbed the dead mare, yanking her body inside before it fell. My shotgun bounced off the dirt while I hid the dead bodies inside the dugout. I looked at Chifundo, who was as shocked as I was. Both of us scrambled to set back up. We weren’t sure if anypony has seen or heard that any of that.

We waited there. Moment after moment passing as nothing happened. A few more booms from the artillery battery marking off the seconds as each one was around five seconds apart. Each vibration of the guns that shook my body, resetting my count.

Their loaders are kinda slow. The first thought I had finally after the adrenaline died inside me. I could breathe again without hearing my heartbeat in my ears between the artillery blasts.

Pink responded with a giggle, “Yeah, I’d say they are either really carefully aiming those shots or trying not to damage The Roof too badly. Maybe they have limited shells, too! Like surprise party uses! You only get so many before everypony expects it.”

I rolled my eyes at Pink, Or they could just be bad at it. Not like you regularly get to setup and use artillery in the wasteland. She just shrugged as I started to check the bodies. Nothing really useful except a couple of caps and some healing potions. Their weapons were the wrong caliber for both of us. Chifundo passed my revolver back.

“I have this rifle of battle, I won’t be needing a pistol to sabre rattle.” I took it, stared at it longingly. My PipBuck registered, ‘Buddy’s Last Gift’ upon my H.U.D. and I winced at that. It really was the last thing he gave me, and I still had it months later.

Chifundo moved slowly, closing the eyes of the corpses in the room, one at a time. I could hear him praying over each one, “With this blessing and bow, I ask you to go in peace now. Your work is done, I ask you to begone. You need not linger, your next life has sent its bringer. Only rest awaits, I will take your burden’s weights.”

I listened to his words and held onto them. He had more heart in him that I ever suspected. Even ponies who were threatening his special mare he was treating with respect and mercy. A sense of pride filled my heart to call him friend. I slowly exhaled and sat there speechless as I let Chifundo conduct his work. I wasn’t about to interrupt a shaman whose dedication extended to his enemies, even in the most life threatening of circumstances.

Pink softly stroked the bruise on my forehead, “There there, Sunrise, he’s taken your example. It’s wonderful to see your gifts keep giving.” She held out a present. I looked at her, confused, not having time to actually play her game and open it.

A shot resounding nearby told me we needed to move. No more time to reminisce or reflect. I looked at the dead ponies and let out a sigh of discontent. “I am sorry we had to do that. If there was another way I would have taken it.” I whispered into what was left of the ear from the pony I’d blown to smithereens. We immediately cut into a sprint. Now the trenches were quite alive. Torches and flashlights darted around that we had to carefully duck and weave to avoid.

“Find that commando! That striped bastard!” I heard a voice call while a whistle blew somewhere towards our ejector seat. No time for sneaking anymore; it made us dash for dear life. I cut on my PipBuck light, turning the settling to the color of a flashlight. I just hoped they believed we were more soldiers searching the trenches and wouldn’t take a closer look.

I motioned Chifundo to pull his hood over his head. Unless they shined a light directly at him, we should blend in and they won’t recognize his stripes. A group of ponies rushed towards us, wearing the enemy uniforms. They didn’t look at us but kept going, Chifundo and I stepped to the side to let them pass. I could feel the sweat on my brow as the wind from their running hit my neck and face. I held in my panic and lifted a rear hoof to grip onto Chifundo’s leg, hoping to keep us both calm.

They kept going the direction we had seen the bodies and we resumed moving away from them. My hoof itched a warning and I ignored it. I don’t have time for— I stepped into the next intersection and immediately felt an impact into my left flank that sent me off my hooves. My breath was driven out and my body recoiled in pain. The world moved in slow motion as I tumbled to the ground. My ribs screamed about the impact and I was left stunned hitting the duckboards like a carriage had crashed into me.

My tail slapped the S.A.T.S. button and my status pony on my H.U.D. showed I’d take some damage. I looked at Pink who pointed at Chifundo and then at the four ponies two of which had fired at me. In slow motion I heard, “FOUND HIM!”

Another whistle flew as I looked at Chifundo and choose not to shoot but to speak. I released S.A.T.S. and the spell forced the words I’d chosen from my winded lungs, “Chifundo hide!” I impacted the ground hard and rolled over several times. Splinters of wood chipped up from the boards on the trench floor, my heavy armor proving too much for the salvaged wood. My lungs screamed for air and I wasn’t sure if the armor had been pierced or not, while pain in my ribs robbed my sense of anything else in the world.

“Did we get her?” I couldn't move, no air. I heard slow cautious steps towards me. “Should I double tap?” I felt my lungs inflate as my mouth worked again. The fire of oxygen deprivation sated with a sudden rush of air. I rolled as another bullet hit the floorboards where I had previously laid my head.

Additional gunfire erupted from the squad of ponies, the shotgun pellets bounced harmlessly off my armor, stinging my flesh only slightly underneath. The rifles missed at this range, and they were too close to adjust their sights fast enough. I felt my hooves finally touch something solid enough to use as a springboard just as Nyota had taught me. I had to keep them away from Chifundo, I had to keep him safe. “Come and get me you discount raider trash!”

I ran away from where I hoped Chifundo had hid, praying I was drawing them along for the ride. “Raider Trash!” The one asking questions barked and I heard hooves moving towards the corner I just jolted past. They had taken the bait it seemed.

“Discount! You little bitch! I’ll put that mouth to good use!” I didn’t stop to find out if he was all talk. My tail took a grenade and threw it, keeping hold of the pin.

“Well, The jig is up! Time to party!” I winced and grunted in disapproval at Pink who chuckled. “Oh come on! You know they need a final time out, permanently!” She had a very vicious almost sinister grin on her lips. The kind of smile you get from a clown about to murder you. Her eyes twisted to look opposite directions and her hair deflated into long straight lines for a moment as another grenade flew from my pack.

“Oh fuck! Gr—” He didn’t finish as the first of two grenades went off, I kept running when a third one detonated. There was no gunfire masking the explosions, whistles sounded out from all directions as I saw dozens of lights turning on, brightening the night around us to almost daylight.

I whipped out my shotgun and looked at Pink, I don’t like fighting but I hope you loaded this for an ursa major. Pink snickered and even flat out cackled as the first of these troopers rounded the corner almost right into me.

There wasn’t time to aim, the shotgun barrel touched his chest and my tongue punched the trigger. I wasn’t sure what came out, but man did it kick like no other round I’d ever fired. His chest exploded out of his spine and he tumbled onto the trench floor with a thud. My heart fell with remorse at taking a life I never even found out the name of. I could see the light leaving in his eyes and taste it on my tongue through the trigger guard. I felt like he was on the right side of things. This was no raider; he was a soldier with faith in his cause.

I could feel his remorse and his regrets coursing through me. I understood now what Chifundo felt in earnest as every soul left a body around us. The feeling of regret and that they had fought for what they believed in.

Is this what Chifundo experiences? Am I seeing, smelling, tasting, TOUCHING! a soul as it leaves a body? My mind recoiled at the thoughts and feelings, it took all the effort I had just to keep myself together.

“Yes, Sunrise. Because of me and Chifundo, you’re starting to awaken to the spirits all around us. It’s going to take getting used to.” Pink reassured me and began to push the sensations out of my head. She was working to keep the dam from breaking while I moved to keep my distraction going.

I left the smoldering and dead pegasus on the ground, unable to stop and give him any second thoughts. “Can’t handle me? Come on, come and get your piece of The Angel with a Shotgun!” I have to keep up my act. Pink, Chifundo, give me strength; I need it to keep you safe.

I kept the bit out of my mouth long enough to shout and strained through the bruising along my flank and legs. The armor had held, but it was gonna hurt everytime I moved. Another gunshot slammed into the wall above my head as I passed an intersection. Ha! For once, I’m glad I’m short! I lowered my ballistic goggles and raised my helmet’s face protector. My tail was leaving a string of grenades with explosions for them to follow as I kept running for my life. Utter chaos erupted around me.

I rounded a bend and ran into a gunpit. The dug-in area housed one of the mighty cannons that had been bombarding The Roof. I couldn’t tell the caliber, but the gun crew stared at me, dumbfounded, while I skidded to a halt. I stared back at the four sets of eyes who had stopped mid-work on reloading the weapon. My eyes drew to a pile of wasteland-assembled artillery shells, and then back to the gun crew... then back to the shells, then to the gun crew.

They all slowly turned to the shells. When they looked back, I had changed out my shotgun for a apple on a stick grenade. Their eyes slowly opened up wide, staring at the bomb in my mouth. Almost comically they rotated back to the shells stacked nice and neat. They turned back to me and the moment held like climber on a cliff holding on with just his hoof-tip. No one dared move, as I thought about what I was going to do. One of them nervously raised his hoof, “Hi, now let’s not be hasty. Think about it, you would—”

I didn’t let him finish. Instead, I flicked the pin on a grenade and chucked it at the shells. “Run, you fools!” I shouted while barreling through the weapon emplacement.

I saw the looks of shock turn to pure horror, followed by screaming and scrambling out of the trench. They didn’t even bother to stay in cover, just trying to get away from the ammo storage that had seconds to blow. The mad dash got them shot at while I rounded another corner. That is far as I made it before my hearing rang like the great bell of Britannia's Tower to the Sisters. The heat from the blast washed over the trenches where I was safe, but every part of me was heavily singed by waves of ashen flames. Smoke billowed up and I hoped all of them made it out of the blast zone. Well, if they were unsure where I was, they really know now! Please be okay, Chifundo. I staggered to get back to my legs as I prayed in desperation. My hooves were numb from the shockwave. Adrenaline being the only source of strength to keep me standing.

Pink I really hope we aren’t just randomly killing a ton of ponies. Please tell me we aren’t doing that? Pink shot me a look like a mother telling a child they should know better, and I was thankful that I wouldn’t have to see the bodies. It still hurt inside, knowing that any pony after me now wasn’t being given a chance to stop or think it over. I was going to make many enemies tonight.

My thoughts were so jumbled with dodging that I didn’t check my way before I came to another turn. I just turned and had to struggle to come to a stop myself from slamming into the wall. I didn’t succeed, instead hitting my bruised flank into the trenchworks and letting out a yelp of pain. I forced myself to ignore the misery and turned around to run back the way I had came. Hoofbeats and a voice made my blood run cold. A voice that I recognized. “Get her! She went this way! You four double back down the trench end, just in case!”

It was a mare, one with supreme authority. I knew that voice from somewhere, and even Pink’s attitude changed as she whispered one word, “Goddess.” My tail threw a grenade down the opposite end, well beyond where we heard the voice from. Meanwhile I shut off my PipBuck light, hoping to vanish. I pressed myself against a board that held up the fortification wall, sinking into the mud on the floor and the wall itself; hoping to look like a long dead body in the trench work. I was panting into my facemask, gripping the shotgun into my teeth hard and praying to Celestia as the grenade went off.

A flashlight shone down the dead end towards me. Hooves approached as the light made its way towards me. Is this how it ends? Is this where they corner me? I saw a pebble fall into the trench from above with a soft thud right at my hooves. I couldn’t see or hear anyone up above the trench lip, but I smelt sandalwood.

From down towards the intersection in the trench a voice bellowed. “We demand to know whom is there, this instant!” I felt a twinge in my mind and a compulsion to move forward down the trenches. Resisting it sent pin pricks and needles directly into my mind. It was the worst pain I’d ever felt. Like a migraine made from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Something said if I obeyed it would stop, and it was too hard to resist. That voice had an air of authority that matched the regal commands of the princesses. The flashlight accelerated up to me and caught my hooves. I couldn’t help myself and stepped fully into the light, gritting my teeth against the shotgun and hoping I looked at intimidating as possible.

There was a laugh that made my blood run cold as a tall figure, taller than any normal pony illuminated its horn. I was staring face to face with something half-unicorn, half-pegasus. A creature I only believed there to ever be two of in existence. An alicorn.

This alicorn was green from hoof to eyes to mane, and looked looked utterly enraged at me. She stood much taller than the two mares and stallion next to her. “The Goddess demands you drop your weapon and submit!”

I felt that compulsion again, as railroad spikes pushed into my mind. This alicorn was trying to get into my head and force me to do as it commanded. This time I knew what it was, shaking my head and pushing whatever this voice was out. You are not them! I’ve met the Sisters! You are an imitation! You are a MONSTER! Get out of my head! NOW!

“And what are you going to do if we refuse! You are an earth pony, a pathetic little filly at best! You can’t possibly resist the will of The Goddess!” This alicorn was in my head, but I had learned a thing or two about mentally slapping creatures from Pink. I raised all the will I could and slammed it down into the presence trying to force its way into my mind.

“Oh? This one has fight in her, she has pushed US, the great representation of The Goddess, from her mind!” A shield went up, not a bubble but rather a solid wall between myself and the ponies bearing down on me. Gunports opened up in the shield and the three ponies with this monstrosity slipped through weapons into position, “Go on silly filly, don’t surrender to Us and see what our will does to you.”

This was a firing squad. There would be no dodging them, I doubted my shotgun could penetrate a magical shield that looked as thick as my leg. I was lit up by horn lights, a flashlight, and the green glow of the shield. I may as well have had a beacon that said SHOOT HERE written over my chest. This is it Pink, I hope it’s been a fun ride.

S.A.T.S. triggered and Pink walked up to me with a soft hug, “You’ve fought well, Sunrise, but I don’t think this is it. Look at that birthday candle there!” I looked at what her hoof was pointing out: it wasn’t a candle, it was a muzzle flash. It was coming from the top deck of The Roof. I recognized that muzzle flash, it was so bright from here that it was its own beacon of hope. Only one weapon could throw fire that bright: Alguacil’s revolver. In slow motion, I watched as the alicorn creature’s head exploded and the shield immediately dropped. The light dimmed in the pale imitation’s eyes and blood flew towards me.

My heart swelled and I knew in this moment, I had to fight to survive. Alguacil had just bought me a second chance.

“What in Tartarus!? Barista Foam’s dead!” One of them shouted in the slo-mo of S.A.T.S while another bullet, this one much closer, slammed into one of the mares. A second shot followed by the ping of a battle rifle emptying its clip. The rounds moved at such a pace, I could see it physically in the air speeding towards her. S.A.T.S. drew out her end for me, in a way I never wish to repeat. It hit her right through the neck and exploded out of her collar bone.

A striped hoof holding a brass shoe shot from the trench lip and caved in the skull of the stallion. It was a precision strike that I didn’t have time to marvel at. That name, Barista Foam, was bothering me and memories were rushing up. It was like a wall might crash down and let loose a volley of images that I couldn’t stop.

I started to fall into a memory and pushed it back with all of my might as I fired the shotgun blindly, once, twice, three times, four. My mouth holding the trigger as S.A.T.S. died and I slam fired the weapon by just working the pump over and over again. CLICK! The shotgun was empty. Oh no! WHAT!? A buckshot blast hit me square in the chest and the remaining stallion who I hadn’t been shooting charged at me. Both mares, the alicorn, and a stallion who had just rounded the corner were lying on the trench floor; torn to ribbons.

I lost my precious shotgun and stumbled to the ground as he charged. He reared up his hooves to bash my face in and I heard S.A.T.S. ping. I hit it and the whole world slowed down. Pink queued up four shots, all with ‘Buddy’s Last Gift.’ The world sped up and as his hooves came down, the first shot from my hold-out reverberated through my body and ears. The bullet punched into his leg and stopped it cold. He didn’t get a chance to redouble his efforts as my tongue worked the trigger while my hoof fanned the hammer in a way I never thought I could do.

S.A.T.S. was helping move my muscles and making it as efficient as possible. It was so strange to have a gentle force telling your body how to operate, much less as you gunned down another living soul. It felt like Pink throwing grenade for me, except this force wasn’t doing it with glee. It was cold, calculated and completely without a soul. Bullet after bullet embedded into his chest. On the fourth shot I took the hint from S.A.T.S. and didn’t stop fanning the hammer until all six shots were gone. He fell on top of me, spouting blood from his mouth all over my goggles.

I tried to breath but my lungs strained against his heavy weight and compressed armor plate. My nose could only smell the carnage around me and the stench of muddy dirt. I couldn’t see, my goggles were covered in bits of my foes. My hooves trembled to push his body off of me.

He was dead, I was still alive. I dragged myself from under his corpse and retrieved my shotgun out of the mud. I grabbed a grenade and waiting for the next pony around the corner. The pinned pulled, holding the spoon to prevent the timer from starting.

A striped figured walked towards me from the darkness, standing up tall. I recognized the stride and sound of the hooves but I didn’t dare try to remember where I knew them, from fear a memory would overtake me. “Stay back! I’ll blow us both to kingdom come!”

“Well, you did that last night in the fun way.” Nyota’s voice hit me like a sack of bricks and he picked up the flashlight to show me his face. I almost dropped the grenade from being stunned, then I remembered it would be live if I let go and scrambled to find the pin. Nyota walked forward and scooped up the pin, slipping it into grenade and taking the steel apple from me. “Would hate for it to not be the fun way, through.”

I jumped at him and wrapped my hooves around his neck, clinging to him needily and gasping for air in his ear. He stroked my mane not covered by armor and smiled, “There there, Sunny, that’s all of ‘em who know where you are anyway.” His voice was like an angel rising from the dead to hold back all my fear.

I opened my tear filled eyes and Chifundo was standing there, putting another magazine into his new battle rifle. I slowly released Nyota and started reloading all my weapons, “How did you find us?”

Nyota chuckled, “Well, I didn’t at first. I kept having to sneak by or kill guards to get to your ejector seat. Alguacil’s been putting down a lot of cover fire too. Once I got there, I could figure out which set of hoofprints were yours and Chifundo’s. I followed them but, umm, yeah, eventually the explosions told me where to go.”

“You do realize, it’s generally unhealthy to run towards explosions?” I teased him while I worked the shells into my 12 gauge. He poured water out of his canteen and used his hoof to clean my goggles and muzzle. I blinked at him, getting a good look with clear sight now; he was just as dirty as I was.

“Yes, but you’d never accidentally hurt me. I’m here for you, Sunny, always.” It was in that moment that I realized, even if I could not see him, Nyota would be there. I hugged him again and raised my faceplate to kiss him softly. He didn’t let me linger, “Time for make out later, we have to get going before they realize the wild goose chase they are on.”

“Fair enough, also, Alguacil should check his targets, I think he hit me once.” I grumbled in dismay and rubbed at the bruise on my forehead. Nyota looked at my helmet and rubbed right where the bruise was against my head.

“Yeah, but even he can’t hurt your hard head.” Nyota started to lead us towards the no-pony’s-land and I looked at him. He looked at Chifundo and who gave me nod.

“Nyota found me while you led our foes away, and we have been in the wake of your fray.” Chifundo snickered a little bit. “I must concur, your path was easy to discern.”

I glanced at him, finally starting to understand his way of speaking crystal clear for once. I walked up to him and kissed his cheek. “And I am honored to call you my friend and battle brother.” He blushed! He blushed so pink that even Pink wasn’t that bright. Nyota and I laughed in unison as we walked to the trench lip.

“Thank you, Sunrise, the pleasure is mine. Now, let's return to The Roof and our kind” Chifundo explained and I tilted my head; then we both looked to Nyota. Chifundo joined us and we all looked at The Roof sitting there, just shy of 133 meters away according to my binoculars.

“Well you’re about as stealthy as a balefire bomb hitting on a peaceful spring day in the center of Canterlot.” He stopped and winked at me with his uncovered eye. “Which is what we’re counting on.” I looked at him with a blush, a nod, and then total confusion.

“The Roof is going to provide cover fire when I throw the signal flare. Here, use this,” He passed me a talisman: a magical gem on a necklace that radiated with a spell. It was made of ball bearing string and the heavy gem was shaped like a shield made of emerald. There was a button on the center point of the three pointed shield. “Press the button to activate a magical shield, we’ll rely on that for your protection, along with the armor. Chifundo and I will sneak in while you play bait and bolt for the open door.” He pointed across no-pony land at a heavy metal service door that was held open.

I stared at him completely dumbfound. I mean, I get I’m the super armored one, but now I’m BAIT?! Really, love?

“It’s the most logical plan, Sunrise. He and Chifundo can sneak in while everypony is focused on you. With the cover fire and the shield, you should be mostly okay.” I groaned at Pink, but in the back of my mind, the officer manual had said to use your most heavily armored units for distractions and bait.

“Alright, here’s hoping we pull this off,” I said as Nyota pulled out a flare gun and fired it straight up. I watched the flare going up and up until a parachute deployed and it burned bright as a miniature sun. When I looked back, Nyota and Chifundo had vanished. “I love you.” I said, putting my facemask back on as automatic weapons fire erupted in mass towards the trenches around me. There was a lane of safety between the tracers of suppression fire. I jumped the trench in a mad dash. My hoof touched the shield talisman and a green bubble of protection wrapped around me.

I could hear and feel the shots hitting the shield with metallic pangs while I ran like mad mare. Bullet after bullet tried to pierce and get at me; those that managed to punch through the shield bounced off my armor harmlessly, most of their lethality gone. My legs received bruises, my butt felt like dozens of bees were stinging it. My helmet echoed with what sounded like miniature rocks bouncing off from an avalanche.

I was somehow getting to safety. 120 meters. At 80 meters a light inside the door came into view. At 40 meters I saw Nyota and Chifundo slip inside, safely. Right as Chifundo’s tail vanished a loud boom echoed behind me. My shield flickered on and off, painfully heavy rounds hit my marebits under my tail. The armor may have held, but that didn’t stop the bruising from hitting my guts. I wanted to double over and cry, but my survival instinct kicked another dose of adrenaline into me.

The pounding my in ears from my own chest told me this was do or die. I couldn’t stop now; my hooves all thudded into the ground. All four of my hooves itched a warning that drove me crazy. I didn’t know what to do except speed up. They just itched more and more. Then everything stopped.

My world went sideways as all feeling in my body left. My hooves were not touching the ground, I was flying. Every part of my being erupted in pain as the shield died with a roar. An explosion rocketed my ears just long enough for me go hear my bells ringing and then static silence, the painful quiet. My body clattered to the ground and rolled as I saw Pink gasp, but I couldn’t hear her words. I felt warmth trickling down my cheeks while I rolled head over flank, over and over again. I didn’t stop rolling until I slammed into the wall next to the door hard enough that I thought it killed me.

My lungs burned hotter than the fires of Applejack’s forges. Everything hurt so bad, and even my armor felt like it was going to fall off. A set of hooves reached out and yanked me inside the door that I couldn’t hear closing behind me. I was hazily looking at Quick Stitch’s face as his horn lit up with magic. The only source I could make out was the glow of his horn.

He kept trying to talk as the tingle of my body being knitted coursed into my flesh. It was the first thing I could feel. I couldn't hear him, all I heard was the buzzing. My nose lit up when my sense of smell returned with cordite and gunpowder. Finally, the buzzing popped and I heard his voice, the one thing I really had wanted the whole time. “Sunrise, can you hear me?’

His voice came through bells and echoes, like he was hundreds of feet away in a canyon. My ears hurt so much as his horn glowed brighter and suddenly the ringing stopped. All replaced with the tingle of healing magic and the static electricity he was pouring into my veins. It was like drinking a healing potion, just a lot more potent. “Sunrise, can you hear me?”

I nodded very slowly with a “Huh, what?” As a collective sigh of relief echoed around us. Nyota pressed a hoof to my lips before I could speak more.

“Shhh, we weren’t the only ones doing raiding tonight.” His voice carried with it some danger that made my skin crawl.

Chifundo checked his new battle rifle. Scopola had her laser rifle levitating around her, ready to be used and Quick Stitch drew his flamer pistol. I slowly pulled my shotgun and checked to make sure it wasn’t damaged. It was just covered in soot and ash but appeared to be working. What hit me?

“NOT NOW! Sunrise, you’ve got bigger problems.” Pink had a commando helmet and radio as if she were calling in heavy support.

Chifundo looked back at me, “Sunrise, we have gone from being a wolf among the sheep, to the wheat about to be reaped." My skin crawled as I fully understood his meaning and I desperately said a prayer for all my friends inside The Roof.

Quest Perk: Shamanism Apprentice - Chifundo is rubbing off on you and it's really starting to effect you. Add +5 to Shamanism and you may now put ranks in it!

Chapter 32: Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)

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“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?”
-Ronald Reagan

My eyes were adjusting to the near total darkness inside The Roof. The eeriness infected me and made my heart beat with trepidation. At all hours, this place was normally loaded with ponies working, gossiping, or otherwise occupied with their day to day lives. Instead, the silence and darkness was only broken by the occasional gunshot or cry of agony. Every one of them made me want to jump and check, only for the sound to echo in a way that prevented me from knowing where it came from.

The stench of death filled our noses. It was mixed with cordite, gunpowder, ash, and burned blood. My stomach twisted in knots.This wasn’t like the trench. This wasn’t supposed to be a battlefield. This place was where I wanted to call home. Yet now it was a battlefield, where even innocent foals were not spared. My heart sank to my hooves. I wanted to scream, and charge in, but my experience in the trenches and the officer’s manual teachings told me to stay and move carefully.

My armor was already battered and my body was only minimally healed by Quick Stitch. It hurt to move, so much that I couldn’t resist anymore. I rolled down my armored glove sleeve and shot the liquid chill of Med-X into my leg. Within seconds, my body welcomed the feeling and the itch at the back of my mind slowly ebbed away.

I looked at my friends and asked, “Is Alguacil still on the uppermost deck?” Scopola Mina nodded.

“He was coordinating the cover fire to get you inside. They’re pretty secure up there but down here, the raiding parties get in.” She pulled out an inhaler with the word “Dash” crudely inscribe on it and shot it into her mouth. Then she pulled out a cookie and I recognized the scent. ‘Volcano Crumbles’, called that because they were loaded with a drug specifically made to make you hit harder and pump more adrenaline to your muscles, ‘rage’.

We grouped up, I took point. Nyota disappeared into the darkness again. I know now, even if I can’t see or hear you; you’re there. Quick Stitch and Chifundo took the center while Scopola Mina kept checking our rear. Her laser rifle levitated and hummed ready to unleash death as she kept one pointed in every direction just in case.

“Alright listen up, we’re going to move and clear this entire floor as well as secure every single door. We have to be completely sure we everyone is safe.” I told every one of them and we started to make our way through the darkness.

I turned on my PipBuck light and smiled at my friends, “To draw their fire. I’ll be the light in the darkness, and make sure YOU shoot to wound where you can. Otherwise, I’ll be the light at the end of their tunnel.”

“Sunrise, I think the Wasteland is starting to get to you. Though I have to admit, that was still funny.” I glared at her, she just kept giggling till it was almost a cackle then stopped herself.

Yeah, well, maybe it is a little. After this we need some real reflection time. I told her.

Pink pulled out a pen and paper pad, making a notes, “You should get some rest after the siege, I’m taking notes.” She kept scribbling as she spoke.

Great, so you’re my secretary now? She just snickered and ducked out of sight.

We made our way through the darkness, and I shuddered when we found some unarmored bodies. They were residents. A mare, cut from tailbone to the back of her head with some sort of blade. She was clutching two children, a filly and a colt, just as dead. The horror of the situation made my blood boil. Inhaling the scent of dead children is something I will never forget. They must have died days ago, caught in the initial assault. All three were mercilessly cut down with whatever that bladed weapon was.

I’m going to destroy whoever did this!

I could feel Pink in the back of my mind, she was scared of me. “Sunrise, you’re the Angel, don’t become an Angel of Wrath.” I wanted to listen to her, but I even I could not issue mercy to someone who’d done this, maybe forgiveness but NOT mercy.

Suddenly heavy hooves started towards us and I shoved my PipBuck arm in that direction. The light glinted off something huge and metal held high in the air. “You’re mine, stupid filly!” He had a very long sledgehammer levitating in the air with his telekinesis. I raised my shotgun and fired, and with it came a hail of lasers, bullets, and flamer fire, which ripped at the stallion. Within moments of our salvo he was shredded to bits of flesh and blood, and whatever wasn’t torn apart was scorched by Mina’s laser gun.

I heard a cry above me, and I turned to see an earth pony mare. She was flying at me with a sharp metal club as big as I was! No, it was a carriage bumper that had been ripped off, smashed flat, and converted into a giant sword! Her face was curled in a snarl and at any moment, I was going to feel her wrath.

Nyota slammed into her face from the shadows. Her neck cracked so loud, the echoing gunfire sounds died immediately. Her head snapped back and the neck shattered till the head was just held on by flesh and muscle around it, ragdolling around unnaturally as she hit the ground with a hard thud. The sound of the neck snapping made my stomach churn and heart drop at the loss another life. This is senseless! Why are they sacrificing themselves so desperately?

Nyota turned to me with a smile and I saw it, another one with a sword. His eyes were bloodshot from drugs and his pupils were pinpricks. He was coming down on Nyota.

There was no time to stop it. This wasn’t S.A.T.S. I was watching Nyota’s life flash before my eyes. Desperately I threw my body into Nyota, and his head moved just a couple of inches. It was enough.

The blade the size of a pony came down and glanced off his helmet before it landed square onto his back, sending him straight to the ground.

The next blow came for me. My leg shot out like our training and stopped it on my armor plating, it still hurt so bad and my PipPony said my ankle was sprained. I could feel it through the Med-X, but there wasn’t time for that. I slam fired the shotgun as my tongue held the trigger for dear life, while my good forehoof kept racking out round after round.

The blade wielding stallion staggered with each impact until his combat armor was blown off and then blood flew along with bone and kevlar as the shotgun shells punched through. Buckshot, a slug, a depleted crystal round, and the last shot slammed a gout of flame out of the barrel as a dragon’s breath round superheated my weapon’s barrel. I threw it to the ground and pulled out Celestia’s Hammer and flipped the power switch.

“YOU BASTARDS! DIE!!!” All I could see was the same rage that had consumed me when Corners had enraged me at Hearth's Warming Eve. As soon as the large red number indicator on the back read 99 I pulled the trigger. The recoil made me stagger back as the round left the chamber. His life liquids splattered across my faceplate and chest.

I was caked in his remains. His blood, bone, and sinew reduced to a pink mist clinging to the air and my armor. Panting for air, I dropped Celestia’s Hammer from my mouth. I felt the rage leave me and a soothing coolness envelope me as the hatred left my body. The stallion I’d shot was completely unrecognizable as a pony anymore. I felt the utmost horror at the destructive force this weapon possessed. It was beyond anything that should ever be turned on a living creature. Maybe a machine or a tank but firing this at a living creature was simply too much for my heart to bear and I had to look away.

“Nyota are you okay!? Please be…” I whisper in desperation to pray that he wasn’t apart of the smell of death around me. I fell silent, blinking my eyes to see him standing there. Quick Stitch’s horn glowing but that wasn’t stopped me cold. It was the way they were looking at me. They looked concerned and afraid of me at the same time. My rage and passion to protect Nyota or avenge him had made me lose it completely.

Tears coated the inside my ballistic goggles as they had nowhere to go through the air tight armored seal. I wanted to save them, and I didn’t want blood like this. Why are we fighting exactly? What do they really want? I kept struggling with these questions, as I slowly calmed down. I suppressed my rage and realized then, I had a monster instead. One that once angered, there was no stopping it from going on a rampage or thinking of other’s safety. Nyota in trouble was the trigger to release it

*****

We finished sweeping the lowest level, securing all the doors with chains, ropes, or whatever we could. In one case we blocked it with the remains of a house and lots of duct tape. There was one door, however, that made us all hesitate.

It led downstairs. On the stairs were a pile of ponies with the uniforms from the besieging force, all dead. There appeared to be no cause of their death. Their bodies were all piled onto the landing.

Black roots had grown into the concrete, teething is an energy that I didn’t want anything to do with. Some energy there told us that this was an awful place. Chifundo refused to come anywhere near the door. The way he felt spirits, this was simply too much for him.

I closed the door and noticed it had a lock on it, from this side. They aren’t locking us from going downstairs! They’re trying to keep something down there! I closed the lock and then used chains to secure it in place. Even the concrete structure out here was infected by the dark magic roots, but as soon as I closed the door they flinched like I’d slapped them. It was so surreal seeing the tendrils of black growing through the concrete suddenly flinch like I’d punched them.

They withdrew back behind the door, and radiated with an evil I could only call supernatural. Is Chifundo’s connection to spirits rubbing off on us?

“Well it’s either him or me! Probably both actually, now that I think about it.” Pink commented with that slightly sinister smile across her lips. I mentally wiped the smile from her lips and shook my head.

Help me fight the darkness, don’t tell me to embrace it. I shot at her and felt my heart sinking.

Pink physically caught a heart in the corner of my eye and suddenly I was reassured. “Will do.” She saluted me upright and held the heart up. It was like I could feel somepony physically hugging me and whispering into my ear that was it going to be alright. But that’s the thing: this was the feeling of that without any of the words. “It’s getting too dark around here anyway. A bit of light helps and if I’m the bright spot; we’ve got all sorts of party pooping problems. I suggest you show them that it’s darkest before dawn, and the dawn is coming. ”

We made our way upstairs, only to find found several guntraps pointed at us along with a half dozen landmines on the stairs. I disarmed the mines easily while Nyota took care of the gun trap tripwires. We rearmed when we were past them. The guns belonged to the residents of The Roof. They looked like a ragged bunch; I couldn’t see one creature who wasn’t missing fur or feathers from a recent wound healing. Several had bandages on minor wounds rather than straining unicorns for more magical healing.

There were dim lights and torches keeping the path lit, but the feeling in the air was one of hopelessness. Even with me arriving in, some showed recognition for who I was. Most however, did not brighten their spirits. The sense of doom was so pervasive that even Picline did not run to us with enthusiasm, but dragged her hooves while Chifundo dashed to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“We’re here to help! I’m sure we can do something.” I assured Picline trying to sound excited and happy to see her face.

“What is there to be excited about? Now we just get to die together.” I paused, shocked that the fiery mare had the fight taken completely out of her. I took a stagger step away from Picline and tried to fathom what we could possibly do.

Chifundo looked like he’d been punched and shook his head, ”Chin up, little one, don’t be so terse. Be reassured we have all survived worse.”

“Chifundo, how is she going to deal with nearly a thousand raiders? We barely have 250 residents left, and the lower basement has been claimed by something evil. They have numbers, and artillery!” She looked around at all the ponies there when I trotted up and huffed my chest out.

“Nothing is ever hopeless! Put Quick Stitch to use healing. Nyota can help put some of your residents back on their feet. Scopola Mina has an arsenal of combat drugs, make use of them on those who are likely to be able to handle it. Chifundo! Go get Alguacil and distribute our excess ammo and rations. All of it, even if we cannot spare it. Give them hope.” There are far too many of them to be more than a drop in the bucket but it might count for something. Every drop of moral will help us. I turned back to Picline and snarled at her. “And get me a radio! I’ve got a plan even if I can’t talk them down!”

Everypony seemed to raise their spirits just a bit and like lightning we were off doing our jobs. Picline lead me inside the doctor's office where a makeshift command center had been setup. Blackhawk was the first pony that looked genuinely relieved to see me. She flapped across the room and gave a proper Equestria Military salute. I tilted my head to her and then snapped a salute back.

“Looks pretty grim, but I've seen you take on far superior forces in direct combat. If any pony can pull us out of this, it’s you!” I nodded to her and approached the radio.

“Do we have a frequency to talk to them?” I moved to look at the board. They had mapped out the artillery gun pieces pretty preciselyThrough they hadn't updated it since Chifundo and I had destroyed one.

“Yeah, we got one, but they keep threatening to level us to the ground if we don't give them our water talisman.” She was dialing in a frequency till it became crystal clear. “Hey! You Goddess lot, got somepony who wants to talk to you, A-S-A-P. Over.” I took the headset off her and took a seat next to the microphone.

“Oih, whadda ya want?” The radio snapped back. He sounded as foul as the creatures who had slaughtered a mother and her children.

Sunrise you have to be stern, you have to intimidate this pony. I tapped the microphone, “You listen here! I'm the pony that just hammered through your lines, blew one of your artillery pieces to kingdom come, and rushed through your gunfire across no-pony’s land into The Roof. Even took a direct hit from one of those cannons you got, and I'm barely scratched!” I hesitated to continue, both unsure how and hoping that last part wouldn't be called out as a lie. My armor needed maintenance and was certainly frayed or dented in quite a few places. “I want to negotiate with your leader. There is no sense in more violence if we can avoid it.” I barked across the microphone.

“I umm... well alright. I'll go get The Goddess.” I paused and realized that green alicorn monster was not their Goddess. I was very confused as to who this Goddess was or how to proceed. Also why does it seem like there are two of these ponies with The Goddess as a title?

A few moments later a very thick Stalliongrad accented mare came across the headset. This was something I’d only heard from Crazy Mac since I woke up. It was a thick heavy handed piece of home hitting my ears in the nightmare of the wasteland. Despite her tone this gave me pause to relax. “Who’s this and what do you want?”

“This is Wandering Sunrise, I want to find a peaceful way out of this for all of us.” I replied and waited. The wait dragged on and on, no pony responded for several seconds.

When the microphone squawked back it was an entirely different tone, one of pure anger. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here! You stupid little green bitch!” I recoiled and looked at Pink who only shrugged and shook her head in that 'Don't ask me but I know' type of way. “What makes you think for two seconds I'm willing to negotiate with you?”

I bit my lip, Pink! This pony knows me and you know something. Tell me.

“NO! You told me to stop you from becoming a monster! I don't wanna have to be afraid you'll jump out of my closet at me. If you go through with this, you’re on your OWN!” Pink stormed off and I could barely feel her in the back of my mind. I looked at the radio, stunned and tried to find words.

“Look, I just want to prevent more death. Your raiding party is down; all the entrances are resealed and battened down. You've seen the destruction I caused on your lines. Surely there is a peaceful resolution to this.” I pleaded, trying to show some sincerity without showing desperation.

“Just for you being there! I ain't negotiating anymore! Not till every pony inside there is in chains or dead! I'm killing me an Angel before this is over. You little unfair piece of old-world trash! You're nothing but a relic and now it's time for the Goddess with a Gun to get a trophy made out of angel wings!” Her words both stunned and made my blood boil.

The radio went dark as the other side changed its frequency. Blackhawk sat there stunned, and I looked at her just as perplexed. “That sounded like she knows you.”

“I think she does, but I don't know how.” Before we could exchange another word, a very strong memory overtook me. I couldn't fight it; I didn't even have time to recognize it. I was waking up quite suddenly somewhere else.

ooOOoo

162 Years Post Megaspells

I grabbed onto the wrench and kept working. This crazy experiment had better work. It seems like a terrible idea, but an everything-tree sure sounds nice. A heavy hoof grabbed onto my shoulder, I turned to see Breakfast Blend. Her armored lab coat was unmistakable, “Yeah BB?”

Breakfast Blend shook her head at me in disapproval with a tsk tsk tsk from her lips. “You don’t have faith in this project, do you?”

There was a scratch inside my head, like what Pink did to get my attention but trying to be more subtle. “Barista Foam! Get out of my head!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. The noise of my scream echoed over the bunker doors and their bulkhead shape funneled the noise all the way to the upper level. “As for you Breakfast, look, if you can seriously engineer a tree that can make all the fruit you claim; it will save the wasteland. But getting anything in this rusted out secret-tech stable to work? That will be a miracle.” I spat as I spoke, down at my dirt covered hooves.

Green? This is the first memory I’ve been green in? What does that mean? I wiped my brow while the memory kept me locked inside. I could feel the grime and slime of the machine on my face, now, and smell the putrid waste that had been inside this bunker.

“Look. You and I both know you can fix it.” Breakfast Blend replied, as she pulled out some charts. “Let the biologist and ornithologist do the work on the tree parts; you just get the machine working, engineer.” She spoke in such a way that there was no way to give any reprisal; as if a judge ordering you to jail and you had no say in your trial about it.

“Just keep Barista Foam out of my head. There’s only room for one “Little Green Monster” and she ain’t little no more, not after whatever The Goddess did to her.” I turned back to move a wrench but was interrupted by heavy hooves slamming against concrete and steel walkways towards me.

“And what makes you think you can keep US out?” It was the booming voice of Barista Foam. I turned back around, looking at the pure repulsive green figure. She was an alicorn and green from nose to mane to tail. This wasn’t my lime grassy green that welcomed people. This was a mix of puke and pine needles with hints of diarrhea that you simply were repulsed by. What was worse, I’d see three other green alicorns like her and all three were identical I couldn’t tell the difference.

How am I remembering that? Who am I talking to? How? What is going on?

“Oh! Lookie here, my passenger is trying to figure out I’m talking to her! Yeah, that’s right, I figured out some of Pink’s power and enslaved that stupid mane. Now I can abuse her abilities, including talking to you while you watch what happens here.”

I was completely dumbfounded. Who are you? This doesn’t make any sense? Something cackled at me in the back of my mind. While this creature wearing my skin turned to the alicorn. I could feel the rage and murder in her mind pushing at Barista Foam’s presence. Suddenly I was very aware of the second presence inside my host’s head. That presence writhed in pain and agony.

“Just because you can get into my head doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you!” My voice shouted with sadistic glee as the alicorn recoiled in dismay. The massive creature staggered and put a hoof to her head as we felt her presence leave the shared mind I was in.

“Fine! But let it be known that we do not trust you.” Barista Foam shot back and snarled in our direction. “We know you are The Little Green Monster! You’ve locked the Angel away; we want the Angel for Unity, but you, you we despise.”

I laughed in her face and then spat on her hooves. “You wish you could add earth ponies like me to Unity.” There was another laugh and I pulled up a dash inhaler, shooting it right up. I felt the rush, the sudden mental speed. Everyone around me felt like they were moving in slightly slow motion. I talked faster too, almost comically, “You listen here, you just keep me supplied with Scholar and Dash; we'll talk about my real payment later. Oh, and get the fuck out of my sight, Barista Foam.”

I turned around to Breakfast Blend, “Keep your sister in check. Celestia knows what Coffee Stain would do if she found out I had killed her mother.” I shot a glare back at Barista Foam, “But boy I sure would. I won’t if the war dogs would have a problem with Alicorn meat. That or them really angry cannibal griffins.”

Once they both left the room, I was working on several wires, trying to get a gene sequencer device. I felt my mind searching to make sure it was alone then a mental push against me, the passenger along the ride for this memory. “Oh so you are still here. And you're the Angel version, aren't you?”

I shook my head trying to wrap around how I was talking to myself in a memory with a creature whose mind left nothing like my own. The drugs addling me combine with the rapid change in personality to something that felt disturbed, alien, and just vicious made me very unsure I wanted to respond. Yes... I think so. Why are you in my body? Are you the reason I'm green?

“So it's the version of me who is a softy pantsy. A little piece of dirt paladin who won't take what she wants and live in the moment.” There was a mental scoff directed at me and if you could spit on someone while you were inside their mind; that is what happened. “Listen here you little shit. Get good and ready because you let me out the moment you activated that megaspell bomb. Go on, try to fight me off. You can't!”

I took a few seconds to soak in what was being said and then whipped back, But I can, if this is a memory and I'm in the future; I'm green there too.

The hostile presence quickly turned both confused and sad. “You stupid wimpy cunt! You figured it out! You figured out how to switch our personalities based upon our appearance after the regeneration!” There was a distinctive pause and a long exhale by this thing. “Well just means when they expect the Angel; I'll be there instead. Now, why don't you get out of here before I have to do some serious 4^th wall demolition?”

Wait! What do you mean, detonate the megaspell. How can you know about that? What exactly are you and what did you know? How are you speaking to me? This is a memory!? What do you mean regeneration process? I don’t understand?

“Oh Ho! She did it? She put up the wall that has been keeping me suppressed and all your old memories too? Good job Pink, wherever your drug riddled slutty ass is. I’m going to enjoy some necromancy on you later when I get out!” There was no response from Pink. Whatever this thing was, it was much angrier and had none of my inhibitions to it. The thoughts I was getting from this presence in my mind were so disturbing I had to shut them out just to think clearly. It felt like the raiders I had killed back at the farm when we lost Buddy. She was acting exactly like them.

“I'm the side of your personality that split when you made that megaspell. You don't remember that either, do you?” I felt a presence pushing into me. It hurt like all hell, as though someone was wrenching a wine cork remover down the middle of your forehead then using it to try yank your memories right out.

I gasped for air and fought with all my might. I felt Pink moving to interfere, fighting with me to hold this green monster at bay. “You keep away from her! I put up the wall to keep you out! And I'm never inviting you to my parties!” I felt Pink slam full force into the green monster. Both of them wrestling for control of my mind, Pink kicked me back with all her might. “Get out of here Sunrise! GO NOW!”

ooOOoo

I slammed back into the world of the living with a start. Blackhawk was poking me, along with Nyota and Picline. All of them jumped back as I scrambled for protection. Blackhawk prodded me one more time and I resisted the urge to buck her, instead shouting at her over my shoulder. “Knock it off!” I reached out and realized I was on my back, on an examination table. I slowly felt the rest of the room come into focus.

“You were pretty hard gone, little miss Angel. Almost for a solid hour!” Picline remarked with a catty glare towards me.

Nyota nodded and stroked my mane, they had removed my helmet and outer layer of armor, “Quick Stitch is working on doing some field patching to your armor. He is saving as much of his magic as he can for the battle ahead. You okay?”

I nodded, as my heart sank again. An idea popped into my head that even Pink jumped up and wanted to stop me from doing. “Yeah, I'm alright. But I know what we have to do.”

Within a few minutes the entirety of our group were gathered around. Alguacil had quite a few additional notches on his gun handle, and everyone looked very much worse for wear. I brought them all into a close huddle and made sure no one else could hear us.

“Alright, listen up. I have a plan, but I really, really, want any other plan we can find. So if you guys have ideas, I'm all ears. In the meantime, Quick Stitch,” I paused and took a long breath as my heart felt like everything inside was wrong. I had to fight with myself and Pink to get the words out. “Bring me the spell matrix we intended to use for the tank.”

The silence that followed told me everything I needed to know. They knew what I was planning and none of us liked it. “Whoa thar' Sunrise, I tried sniping their leaders and that didn't work. I killed a 'hole entire crew on one of them guns. What ar' you suggesting doing?”

I looked at him with a long stare. Alguacil's accent came out real thick when he was worried or troubled. I wanted to know what was bugging him. The stare I was giving him through made even him take a step away. “Sunrise, darling, are you sure you can do that, and are you sure it's worth the cost?”

I nodded to Scopola Mina and sighed, “Worth the cost, I don't know. But I do know I can do it or I wouldn't have the cutie mark I do. I can make anything explode.” I tried to be as confident as possible. “Look, come up with another solution... a non-lethal one if we can. We are outnumbered five to one. They have artillery, we don't. They just declared this a genocide.” I paused and lowered my voice. “Look around us, these ponies were on the verge of collapse when we got here. They have no fight left. We’ve got to do something drastic.”

I looked at Chifundo and Alguacil, “I studied their ammunition for those big guns. It didn't look very stable. So I want you two going out and finding a good, concealed sniper post here inside The Roof. Load some incendiary or explosive shot; I'm sure Crazy Mack has got it. See if you can get a couple of their guns offline by blowing their ammo.”

I turned to Scopola Mina and Quick Stitch, “You two are great with medicines and chemicals, figure out a way to incapacitate them with a chemical bomb. I'm sure you'll come up with something, and I won't have to do this.”

I looked at Nyota, “Go about and show these ponies a trick or two with hand to hand. Make sure everyone eats; give them the illusion we have so much we can just blow it and not care. Make sure their food is nice and warm. Also, I know you know chems too; it might help if we figured out something non-addictive that can help pick up morale, okay?”

Nyota nodded first and smiled, “I'll do what I can Sunny. I mean my charming good luck and super happy demeanor always help.” I rolled my eyes before snickering. The rest of our group started to laugh. It wasn't the kind of laugh you give when something is actually funny. It was a kind of desperate laugh you give when you need something that isn't doom and gloom.

Even Alguacil, for all his gruffness and angst, gave us a chuckle. Pink slowly crawled out of her corner and gave him a look like your mother telling you; we're gonna have THE TALK soon.

Our laughter was interrupted by the sound of heavy guns. We immediately hit the deck next to each other and The Roof shook to its core. My bones rattled as I tried to stay standing. The ground under me felt like it might give out before I did. Soot and dust fell around us and I had to hold my breath to avoid inhaling it. Ponies all around us huddled in tight as we clung to each other, praying the fortifications held. Over and over again, the place shook and all of us gripped tighter to each other as a circle of friends hoping our number wasn't up. When the shelling stopped, the cries of the wounded started.

I slowly broke the huddle and we set to work. Quick Stitch started patching ponies up, along with Nyota using his knowledge to ease pain where he could. Picline ran up to me, “We haven't seen Cross Stitch in three days. I need somepony to go to his shop and check on him.”

I nodded and looked at Alguacil, “Alguacil, you're with me. Scopola Mina, get to work on chemistry. Chifundo, help raise their spirits or put the dead to rest till we get back. We'll start enacting the plans as soon as we check on Cross Stitch.”

Alguacil and I moved as a team, clearing each corner and every room we walked by that wasn't locked as we made our way from the doctor's office to Cross Stitch's boutique. Two ponies in the armor of The Goddess were working on trying to open a heavy metal security door that was slammed down over the shop.

“Have you got it yet?” One of them whispered rather loudly. His partner was still fumbling with the lock.

“Will you shut up and let me concentrate?! No one knows we're here, and the rest of the raid is dead.” He kept working as even I managed to sneak up to them. I pulled out my shotgun and I could heard Alguacil's revolver click from behind me.

“That was the lock, right?” The first stallion asked with a curious tone in his voice.

The lockpicker shook his head. They both slowly turned around to see us with our weapons pointed at them. “Surrender, and you get to live.” I said and put my shotgun bit into my mouth, waiting for their answer. Their answer was to start dashing towards me.

Alguacil was faster on the draw than me and fired three quick shots into the leading stallion. Two in the chest and one in the head. The triple tapped pony tumbled head over hooves while his horn shattered and flew off into the darkness.

I shot at the legs of the second one and he skidded to a halt just a few steps away from me. He looked up stunned from the shotgun blast taking him off his feet and blew his mane out of his face as I lowered the gun, “I umm, surrender? Parley?”

I slammed the gun barrel across his head, knocking him to his knees. He wasn't unconscious, but he was pretty heavily stunned. “Alguacil, take him back to Picline and the others. Tell them to interrogate him.” I almost let him leave at that, but I remembered how Alguacil interrogated prisoners. “No torture. We've had enough death for one day and I don't wanna give in to my rage anymore.”

It only took a couple of minutes for Alguacil to return. He started to work on the locking mechanism for the door. He seemed frustrated and for once worried. I tilted my head and poked his side to get him to stop his lockpicking.

“Hey what’s going on with you? I’ve never seen you like this, are you afraid?” I asked as his mask fell for just a moment and the worry on his face turned to outright fear in his eyes.

“They had an Alicorn, an Al’corn! You realize how dangerous those things are?” He set his picks down and pulled his hat over his helmet to conceal his face.

“No, I’ve never encountered one that I remember, explain?” Alguacil dipped down checking my face in disbelief. He seemed very disturbed and even rubbed a talon up and down my head, as if checking me for damage to my skull.

“You ain’t ever encountered one?” I shook my head and he scoffed. His eye darted around like he was afraid someone would hear him. Once he was satisfied we were alone, he spoke in a hushed tone. “ ‘lright well... they are pretty rare. But the short is, they all work for some Goddess figure. I don’t think it’s ‘his Goddess with a Gun but a different one. They’re really powerful with magic too! The only reason I got a kill on it was because it turned the shield to block you and not its back.” He spat out and grunted his throat clear. “The legends of ‘em make them seem indestructible and so potent they can vaporize ponies into atoms, not just ash like a laser rifle.”

I gulped as I realized just how much trouble we were in. Alguacil nervously scratched at his shoulder under his armored duster. It was my turn to give a confession. “I sensed that, her voice alone almost made me walk right up to the firing squad she had ready for me. A creature like that, which works for somepony else, means?”

Alguacil nodded at the suggestion I had hanging on the end of my sentence. Alguacil audibly gulped and took out his canteen to get some water. His eye was full of a fear I’d never known from him. “We are in real trouble with how much power this Goddess with a Gun wields.”

I patted his shoulder to reassure him, “Well, we killed that one. Let’s hope they don’t have another one.” Alguacil didn’t speak but calmed down enough he wasn’t shaking anymore. He turned back to picking at the lock and I took out a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. He was calmer now but I kept my hoof on his shoulder to reassure him; I had his back. With a loud click, it popped and we both slid the door open.

Without warning I took a bright green flash right into the chest that sent me flying back into a nearby wall. The force jarred my teeth together in pain while my chest burned like fire despite my armor plating. I thought back to when my leg was burned into nearly breaking at New Pegasus and felt like my chest might be able to do the same thing.

The explosive force of the energy delivering a shock to my system and a very bad singe to my armor. I smelled burning horsehair and slightly toasted pony. My breath took a second to come back, and finally I inhaled. Okay, not dead! Not sure how, but not dead! My body refused to give out just yet. I coughed a few times, struggling to get myself to move again. I felt like Nyota might have bucked my chest with a power hoof set. Well that's a first. I guess those things pack a hell of a kick.

Pink snickered a bit, “Keep this up, and the Wasteland is gonna owe you a free ice cream sundae before the sun comes up!” She teased and even dragged a banana split into few, devouring it at an insane speed. I swore that pieces of the cream and custard hit my face and even made my eyes blink they were so real.

“Gawd dammit Cross Stitch! It's us! Oh tell me you didn't kill her!” Alguacil squawked and walked over to look at me. I looked at him and saw double for a moment then shook my head clear. He put his talon on my hoof and, very compulsively, pulled me to stand up. I groaned and leaned on him till I got my balance back. “What the hell was that thing!?”

Cross Stitch scoffed audibly at us, “Well I'm sorry but you should announce yourselves before breaking into my shop! And it's a plasma-gauss projector!” My mind try to process the words together. Plasma was a technological invention to put a disintegration spell into a weapon. Gauss was a magnetically accelerated slug that could penetrate most anything with just sheer kinetic power.

Who in their right mind came up with that combination of technology to be put together!? I mentally shouted but couldn't get my vocal cords to move.

Pink poked me in the forehead, “You did, that used to be your gun.” I paused and looked at Pink then at Cross Stitch then at Pink.

“Right, you don’t remember. About thirty some odd years ago, I'd say 5 or 6 of these cycles back when you had a half broken plasma gun and a mostly working gauss rifle. You made about six of them and... well Fancy Pants over there, got one of them.” I blinked a few times and shook my head lose.

Let me guess, The Goddess with a Gun, has one too? I asked rather perturbed to have been shot with my own gun.

“Yepperoni misses pony! Except hers is the canon version.” Pink squeed out with unwarranted amounts of excitement.

I turned back to Cross Stitch “So that is where you know me from, I made you that gun.”

Cross Stitch nodded and lowered his weapon completely, “Never thought I'd be shooting you; Sun and Fun. Why are you here?”

I shook my head loose and turned to Alguacil, “Well here right now Picline sent us to check up on you. As for here at The Roof, Blackhawk put out a mayday so we came a scramblin'.” Cross Stitch nodded with a huff.

“Well, that's fine. But I will do this the Canterlot way, I'm staying in my shop and they can pick it from my cold undead made re-dead hooves before I leave it. Yall are fine, just lock up when you leave.”

Alguacil and I looked at each other perplexed. Honestly after being shot with that gun once, I didn't want a repeat experience, so we closed the shop door. Alguacil picked the lock back into a locked position. I headed for a workshop room while he went to tell Picline that Cross Stitch was okay, as well as to start his sniping attempt.

Scopola Mina used her telekinesis to bring me the spell matrix. She might only have one spell but damn if she couldn't operate as a living forklift. I went into the deepest room and locked the door behind me.

What I was about to do would require no interruptions and anypony too close would get irradiated. I took some Rad-X and set to work. Pink bounced into view as I loosened several outer casing bolts.

“Sunrise! Are you crazy!? Do you wanna commit the worst sin the Old World ever did, all over again!” She screamed at me, but I felt no need to just talk back to her mentally. I needed my brain for what I was working on.

The tension between us built up and Pink moved to completely block my view. I growled at her and let her have all of my frustration all at once. “Pink, give me another option! Give me another way! Give me a way that hurts the fewest creatures!” I flipped the casing off and my PipBuck started to click, slowly since the core was mostly inactive but the fuel was always slightly hot.

I examined the crystal and looked at how I needed to rig it. I put some water into a nearby beaker and started to boil it, adding an alkaline fluid so it would become heavy water. “Well?”

“I don't have an answer to this party but this isn't it! You watched your home burn from these! How do you ever know how to make one? This should be locked behind the wall!” She was screaming so loud it was hard to concentrate. Her body was more animate than a jackrabbit on dash and her face was taking up half my vision as I worked.

“Then we’ve got no choice! Cancer and infertility rates are gonna go up. Every pony after this that walks through where we set this thing off for the next 50 years, will die because of me.” I talked it out, fighting back the tears. “I’m going to betray what my father believed in. I’m going to betray the reason for the megaspell’s creation and shame its creators further. All of that for a short term solution to a problem we shouldn’t even have to deal with!”

I turned to Pink in rage and hatred, not for her but for myself. “And I’m going to have to kill hundreds of ponies to save this place. I get it Pink, I’m going to become the monster that wholesale slaughters in the name of peace. I get that logically this is the worst thing we should resort to long term and short term; I’m repeating the mistakes that gave us the wasteland. So tell me, what other option do I have?” I waited, letting my words echo off the walls around us in the brightly lit room while I stopped my work just long enough to shout her down.

Pink stayed quiet and looked like I’d shot her. I huffed and let out a long sigh, “Besides, I remembered now what I had to do to stop her last time.” I replied and kept working on rearranging the wires inside to help it build an overload. I got the fuel out and separated it, before walking it over to the machine table. Now the clicks on my PipBuck were concerning, concerning enough I went ahead and drank one of our few RadAways. I might actually need more than 1 before I was done.

Pink's stunned silence said it all to me through and I turned to her, “Your wall is crumbling, isn't it?”

Pink rolled her eyes, “Well of course it is dummy. If a cake is made of nothing but icing and if you keep picking an icing with a fork, eventually it all comes crashing down into a puddle.”

“Do you have a better option?” I asked working a bunch of scrap metal into a single rod, before pulling out Celestia's Hammer. I used the spark battery and magnets from it to turn the solid rod of metal into an electromagnetically charged hunk of steel. Once the charge was sufficient and I was sure it wouldn't destabilize anytime soon, I walked it back over to the matrix with the vial of heavy water. I poured the water in first and then setup the rest of the overload around the magically radioactive core with the magnetic rod now ready to plunge into it. I began to build the trigger mechanism next.

Pink paced around my view as I worked, “Come on Sunrise, you can't possibly be serious about this! You shouldn't do it!”

Her response made me incredibly mad, “Then give me anything else!” I shouted at the top of my lungs and growled at her. “Because I know I shouldn't do it. I'm fully aware this is wrong. This is the wrongest thing I could possibly come up with!” I knew every pony outside could hear me seemingly shouting to myself. “So you tell me Pink, what better option do we have? I'm relying on my friends to come up with one, but failing that! Now you tell me, what choice do we have?”

“Well I don't know yet, but there has to be something better than this! This is the same insanity that gave us the wasteland. This is the dark path my friends took!” I felt a coldness wrap around my soul. It wasn't foreign: it was something deep inside me, long since suppressed and not something I wanted to embrace but I knew was there.

“Well then,” I clicked the trigger mechanism into place and put the plate back. The Roof shook as artillery shells exploded against the outer armor. One of them shook the floor and I staggered as I started to undo the next panel. “I've only got 3 cores left for you to find me an answer.”

I poured myself into the work, not speaking another word to Pink's constant protests.

*****

We had assembled upon the top deck, exposed above us was the moonlight night covered in the constant overcast. My friends had gathered around with their various solutions. Scopola had used a bomb casing I made her and some explosives to make some sort of love potion chemical warhead. Not poison, according to her, but a potion.

Quick Stitch had the car up on the roof of the upper deck. I had no idea how he got it up here, but there were a set of skid marks along the concrete that seemed to suggest it dropped right out of the sky.

Quick Stitch smiled as he pointed at the nameplate on the driver’s console, “Well whoever Doc Brown was, he sure did put a lot of gadgets into this car. Almost makes me wish he was here to explain to us how all of it worked.”

I looked at Quick Stitch, “Are there more ejector seats? Can we use them to propel Scopola's bomb safely towards their main camp?” I said pointing out the building they had positioned three of their guns on top of and the direction my PipBuck indicated the radio frequency was coming from.

“Probably, I mean, it's not the best idea. We only have 1 seat left and if it fails, how are we gonna get your bomb out there.” He pointed at the Spell Matrix which had a big red button on top and the words: “Do Not Press Unless Absolutely Sure” written on the side of it.

I grimaced at him and looked outward towards the trenches and camp, “Well I'm not entirely sure. How many guns did you two knock out?”

Alguacil and Chifundo shook their heads in unison, “We only got two with our shots so precise, before the crews became wise.” I hugged them both, Chifundo happily, while Alguacil seemed begrudged to take it.

“Alguacil, it's after midnight. One a day isn't gonna kill you.” I motioned Quick Stitch over and we took a good long look.

“Yeah well, they started counter-sniping us for the last 30 minutes, and we have just had to take cover till they gave up.” Alguacil spat back and I looked over to see two broken hunting rifles, clearly hit from gunfire. Chifundo's meshweave cloak also had two bullet impacts in its hood, clearly starting to break the hybrid fabric.

“Alright, well do we have a way of rangefinding?” I took out my binoculars and look a good long look trying to figure out how to use our completely untested catapult.

Quick Stitch poked me, “That's why there is only one seat left. I used the others for rangefinding to get it exactly on target with a big heavy weight of metal to represent a bomb.”

We all looked at him confused, “Hey it was hard enough to get the car up here at that angle.” He pointed at it and I took in the fact he had it backed onto another destroyed car at a 30 something degree angle. “We had 3 more seats, we only have one left now.”

I tried to do the math and winced, “So what happens if we need my bomb?”

Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder, “We'll figure that out if we need it, worst case, Alguacil does an aerial drop.” I shook my head.

“No, if he's within 400 meters give or take when it goes off; he'll be dead.” There was a long pause as everyone turned to me with the new deadly information presented to them.

Scopola Mina was the first to speak up, when she did I noticed her eyes still had the indicators of dash coursing through her. “Umm, Miss Sunrise, just what kind of bomb did you build there?”

I shook my head slowly side to side, “The kind you build only as a last resort, that no pony has the right to ever use.” I couldn't bring myself to say the words. A megaspell bomb. A very dirty radiation heavy bomb. It would leave more radiation than actual explosive force. Something I felt terrible shame over. Something that Pink was giving me the silent glare for. She was sitting there, on my ammo indicator, hooves crossed and sitting on her flanks. She just kept glaring at me through the corner of her eyes.

“Sunrise, how long 'xactly do we have once you press dat button?” Alguacil audibly gulped saying the words. I knew he understood what I meant.

“I'd estimate 23 seconds before it builds the overload, after that every millisecond is a blessing.” I honestly doubted it would get past 23.02 seconds before the overload cracked the casing and let loose the most powerful weapon ever devised by ponykind. The same kind of weapon that the monsters who destroyed my world used on each other. I shuddered at the thought and felt Nyota and Chifundo's hooves against my shoulders. I pushed back the tears, the moment that we might have to use the bomb creeping up on me. We haven't used it yet and aren't going to need it.

Scopola set up her bomb into the last seat inside the car. She gave Quick Stitch the thumbs up and got the radio detonator I gave her for this out. Quick Stitch slowly took some time aiming the car and preparing it.

The moment of truth was almost upon us. I really hoped Scopola Mina would succeed where we had failed so far. I didn't want to use a chemical weapon against any pony. But she assured me, it would just incapacitate them till they dehydrated and fell asleep in a cuddle puddle. Long enough for us to head out there, disarm them and convince any who were not affected to surrender, that or clean them up.

Quick Stitch leaned out of the missing passenger seat, “Ready up Mina!” We all took cover near the lip of the upper deck's edge barrier. “Pull!”

“HOLD!” I screamed and everypony looked at me. “I can’t do this, not without giving them one last chance.” I raced into The Roof, down to the medical tent where Blackhawk and Picline were both shocked to see me. I grabbed onto the radio and turned to the two of them.

“Get everypony into cover. No exceptions, we’re about to launch the weapons.” I slowly turned to the ham-radio set and whispered under my breath, “Assuming they won't listen to reason.”

I pressed the broadcast button and hoped we could end the death and destruction. “Hey, Goddess with a Gun. Listen, up we need to talk.”

I waited for the response on the other end. The static made the waiting worse, I felt every second I was about to be ignored. The radio suddenly crackled to life, “Unless you are offering to surrender; this is a waste of my time!”

“I have a megaspell bomb.” I spoke slowly and as clearly as I could, making sure the words had the full gravity of truth. The silence on other end was telling. I would feel inside how those words must has stunned her.

“Bullshit! There is no way you have one of those! If you had it, you'd use it!” She screamed back at me so loud she popped the microphone. “You couldn’t possibly have another one of those!”

I knew her voice now, I knew that cry of rage. I knew something was far too familiar about all of this. It was Breakfast Blend, from the memory I had, her voice was triggering those memories. Now that I knew what was doing it, I changed the bass on the radio to alter her voice and make it not nearly as recognizable.

“You know I don’t lie about explosives. Stand down and leave The Roof alone. No one will pursue you, no one will seek out revenge. That is all I ask.” The static filled the radio waves, everyone in the room moved to me and we waited. We kept waiting.

After what felt like an hour, but had only been moments, a very angry voice came back over, “No Surrender, No Quarter! You dare launch that and I will ensure that every living soul in that place is dead! You hear me! Surrender and I enjoy making you, Angel with a Shotgun, my pet!” Her words were sprayed with such vitral that I could feel the spit even through the radio waves. I could hear the absolute determination in her voice that had made this decision without any remorse.

I felt a pit in my stomach, knowing there was no other option. We weren’t being given an alternative, we had to carry out and I hoped that something besides our megaspell would actually end this siege. I got off the radio and ran back to the top floor where my friends were waiting.

“Alright Quick Stitch, they just threatened us all with death and me with enslavement. They aren’t turning back.” I told him and then looked at all of our friends. “Please, forgive me for this.”

Nyota huffed at me and shook his head, “You did nothing wrong! Let’s use this thing and end them!” I was shocked by this, it was like he didn’t understand how upsetting it was for me to use a megaspell weapon. They had ended my world before and here we were again, repeating the same mistake. We all got into cover and Quick Stitch made ready to press the ejector seat button for Scopola Mina’s chemical weapon solution. This isn’t much better, it may even make us worse ponies for using it first. I just hope it works and no one has to die for it.

He pressed it. The ejector seat fired with a long rocket shooting out of its bottom. The chair flung the massive bomb casing as a trail of pink followed it. The smoke from the bomb releasing some of its chemical payload. I watched as the weapon arch towards its final destination, the center of their trenches.

A massive explosion of sickly pink mixed with the image of a poison skull shot up from the site. Within moments the sounds of screaming could be heard as the gas filtered through their trenches. There was so much of it and their screams were so loud, that even 300 meters away I could hear them almost crystal clear as through they were right upon us.

I thought that cloud might start to pull in towards The Roof when the wind shifted and blew against Breakfast Blend's forces. It kept wrapping them in the cloud of sickening chemicals. We waited, the screams grew louder and changed from passion and pain to rage and hatred. I pulled out my binoculars to zoom into the situation.

There were several of the soldiers inside the trenches caught in the throes of passion, just as Scopola Mina promised, but they paled in comparison to the number crawling out of the trenches and roaring with absolute hate in their eyes.

I looked at Scopola, to which she looked back at me, “Y'all might wanna have a plan B. I think I put too much poison joke in and well; this is about to get really ugly.”

I hesitated and took a stagger step backward. “We don't have a plan B!” I shouted, looking on in horror as the sheer number of ponies made me question why they laid siege in the first place. “Quick Stitch, there aren't any more seats inside the car, are there?”

Quick Stitch shook his head and scrambled to the inside of the vehicle. I heard the engine start at the same time as the ponies gathering on top of their trench broke all form of restraint and charged as a massive wave of flesh towards The Roof.

The defenders got to working their weapons to stem the tide. There was no way they could hope to stop them all, not before we were overrun. Chifundo started working his rifle, “It is time for you to rise, we must have a plan awaken. Our forces cannot compromise, what do we do to stop from being taken?” Chifundo worked his new battle rifle as he emptied the clip and went to load another one. I did this, I've killed us all.

Alguacil grabbed my grenade bag and took flight. His revolver never stopped firing at the front rank over and over again. He threw frag grenades indiscriminately hoping to stop them. NO! I can't use that! I can't! Anything but that!

My self doubt had me paralyzed as my mind raced with all the possibilities of what to do. How do I not become like my ancestors? How do I prevent myself from being a monster?

Nyota grabbed onto me and wracked my shoulders, “Sunrise! Now! We need a plan now!” He screamed into my fair but I could barely hear his words. I was too far lost in my own thoughts as a murder-rape intent horde raced to claim its prize.

I'm going to kill us all or destroy the world just like those before me. We're doomed. Doomed to repeat the cycle. There is no saving this place. I'm just as terrible as the monsters who made the wasteland. I'm a Monster. A little green demon. A relic of the past doomed to make sure we never recover from our sins. Quick Stitch slapped me and suddenly and I was back in reality.

“Sunrise! Activate the bomb and throw it into the car.” I operated on pure logic and robotically did as he told me to. I saw the overload starting to build on the Spell Matrix read out console. 20... 19.... 18... 17...

Quick Stitch pushed me back away from the car as Nyota called to Alguacil, “Get out of the sky! Get to cover! We're going to use the megaspell!” I wanted to scream out to stop them. 16... I wanted anything but this! I was powerless to move on my own, Nyota was forcing me back towards the door ...15... I finally found purchase and held my ground. ...14...

“Sunrise! Save them! Save them all! I don't care what you have to do but don't repeat the past. Save them!” Pink's words finally shook me from my stupor. ...13...

“Nyota! Get down there and get everypony into cover, the further away from that side of the building the better!” ...12... I shoved ponies off the roof and almost threw Chifundo to the ground to get him moving to get inside. Alguacil flew past us ...11... into the fortress like insides of the parking deck.

...10... Quick Stitch threw a brick onto the gas pedal and pressed the jet booster button with his magic. …9... The car took flight and right off the edge of The Roof, flying towards where the love poison chemical bomb had blown. ...8...

“Come on Sunrise, let's get inside now. You won't survive up here either.” I grabbed onto Quick Stitch and just as Nyota had shown me; threw him to his back. ...7...

“NO! You go! I have to make sure it goes off!” I turned and looked as the car slammed into the center of the trenches. 6... Dirt, bodies, and even a artillery piece all flew into the air. The shower of ...5... bits was beautiful to look at. Quick Stitch hesitated to get up but suddenly found himself scrambling to my side. ...4...

“What are you doing, I said GO!” I didn't get another word out as he shoved Rad-X into my mouth. ...3... He pulled me down against the edge of the still intact parking barrier. We huddled together ...2… “I've got you Sunrise, hold on tight.” He whispered. His horn poured out healing magic into both of us. ...1...

...0...

The world white as the bright flash slammed over us like a tidal wave at its apex. I pulled myself above the lip with the initial danger past, my PipBuck rad counter went crazy as I built over 100 rads in a second, only to have Quick Stitch's magic see-sawing it back out of it. The burning and tingle of radioactive waves washing over me. The burning tingle of radiation waves washed over me. His same slight tingle giving me pain as it removed it, in a losing battle between the two sides.

I felt the heat upon my hooves and face, through my armor. It was like the outside air had become an oven. I ignored all of it, a piece of my soul inside dying as I heard the screams of a thousand souls die in an instant.

A mushroom cloud that towered above the city structures still intact rose up. Three buildings crumbled, including the one which contained the artillery batteries. They fell to the ground in a cascade of death and destruction. I saw window fragments incinerated by the bomb that exploded just barely almost half a horizon away. The blast range of the dirty bomb was just over half that, but even here; I knew it could be lethal.

The physical damage wasn't what I felt through. Every shard of falling glass, every fragment of destroyed concrete and wood, even inch of trench was consumed in hellfire; all it ripped little tears into my soul. My very being felt betrayed and destroyed. Everything I held near and dear felt meaningless. Even my love for Nyota couldn't save me from the damage I felt now.

I had become just like those who had fought a war to the final mutually assured destruction 184 years ago. I had become something far worse than them. They died and took their sins to the grave. I was going to live, I was going to have to live with the knowledge I had done the most unholy act ever. I had used a force made for the good of every creature and twisted it. Twisted it into the world ending god-like power before me. And I had used that power for one purpose: Murder.

I had become the very monster I fought against. My mind flashed to the day I went into Stable 43. Seeing the flashes from behind us and looking back at the city that had been my home. Death raining down on it. I could barely make out the buildings from how far away we were, but the dozens of mushroom clouds that dotted the sky told us all we needed to know. Here it was again, a mushroom cloud. The same force that had destroyed my home, that had killed my friends and family, that had ended my world.

I was using that same force now. I was betraying my upbringing in the name of ending conflict. They believed in their cause, whatever they were fighting for. I had sensed it in their spirits as I claimed their lives in the trenches. Now the screams of a few hundred souls shot up like a chorus. I understood they were not bad ponies now. They were just determined for some reason that was beyond me. I couldn’t silence it like I did in the trenches or in the lower floors of The Roof. I may have saved The Roof, but I’d done something terrible to do it.

I’d repeated the mistakes of the Old World. Everything south of The Roof from 500 meters to a full kilometer now would be just as irradiated as the world just after the bombs fell. I had caused that, I had killed all those ponies and anyone who walked through that area for the next 50 years, would die because of me.

A single tear rolled down my cheek. The coolness of it fought through my mind and with it; I felt the stain upon my soul. It sickened me and in that moment, I wanted to leap off the building. I took a step forward to do just that. When Quick Stitch wrapped me in his magic and yanked me into the air.

“No! You bastard! I'm supposed to die with them! I used it! Let me die!” I screamed out in despair, fighting with everything I could to break his hold. He recoiled at this and lost his ability to hold me. Scopola Mina caught me before I fell too far and with that, I was pulled into the darkness of The Roof's inner workings. The only sound I could hear, that of my PipBuck clicking.

If there was the sound of a soul begging to die and being denied; I heard it just as we entered the darkness.

Level Progress - Level 11 Gained! - Yes you just killed a few hundred enemies, did you expect to not get a level?

Level 11 Perk - Leader - All Allies around you gain +2DT and +1 Agility. Welcome to making all the hard decisions, whether you like it or not.

Chapter 33: We've Been Here Before

View Online

Nuts!
-Anthony McAuliffe

ooOOoo

I was awake, working on a bomb madly. This wasn’t a spell matrix; no, this was the real thing. This was an undetonated megaspell bomb. “Sunrise, hurry up! They’re coming!” Coffee Stain pleaded with me. I nudged my head in her direction and wiped sweat from my brow. My hooves and mouth continued to piece together broken wires, hoping I was rigging this thing right. If I was wrong, one little wrong wire combination and there wouldn’t be anyone left alive to know I had messed up.

There was an electrical click, and my heart skipped a beat. Either it arms, or we die right… now! There was a steady hum that made my heart start to beat again, and I let out a relieved sigh. I looked at it nervously and hesitantly took a step back, still expecting it to explode. Coffee Stain placed a hoof up to my unarmored flank and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned to her, feeling like I was pleading for a miracle from her. “It’s started, we need to move.” We bolted through the double wide ship style bulkhead door.

I slammed around the corner inside the narrow metal walled hall and realized where I was: Breakfast Blend’s gene sequence research facility. Viewing windows looked over rows of hydroponics facilities, all testing recently spliced plants for a new hybrid. A door on my right told me why I was rigging this place to blow. ‘Warning: Taint Exposed Plants’ was plastered over the silver metal in big, bold, black letters. The hydraulics that would open the blast door were locked with extra security to prevent exposure to everyone else.

Barista Foam was standing there at the end of the hallway. She growled at me and her horn lit up with magical energy. “Sunrise, you traitor! You have hampered our work for the last time!” She reared back with an arcane bolt ready to fly.

“No time to fight or talk! That megaspell bomb is live! Good Luck!” I shouted, dashing right past her. The Alicorn dropped the spell and looked at me, completely stunned. She almost fell over when Coffee Stain caught up and brushed her leg with her heavy railroad spike gun. I heard the air tank on it release and spring to life. A flash of magic behind us indicated the Barista Foam had just teleported somewhere else.

Coffee Stain and I ran, my foreleg reaching back and holding onto her's. I drug her to try to help her keep up and held on for dear life. I couldn’t let her go, not again. We stormed up a set of narrow steep stairs towards the exit. I turned to look into her eyes while our hooves clattered to a stop on the steel walkway. “You forced the monster out. Now I need to fix this.” I felt something in my mind fighting to be set free, and it was keeping Pink distracted as she was trying to suppress it. Something evil, with my voice.

We came up to the stable door, a giant cogwheel with a huge crane that would roll it out of the way. It probably weighed at least four tons and was thicker than two stallions end to end. There was no way to get it open, and the specs said it could take a megaspell right on the doorway and not give out. I plugged in my PipBuck at a console next to it, my hooves feeling the rusty control panel and working the keys to open the door.

The walkway started to extend while the crane came down to start the opening process. Yellow caution lights flashed overhead and a warning siren echoed around us. Gunfire erupted into the room, racking my nerves as a bullet grazed my flank and then my knee. It made it hard to stand, but my hooves resumed their work. Coffee Stain's railroad spike gun went to work as she moved between me and the gunfire to shield my hindquarters. It used compressed air and a primitive barrel to launch spikes of iron at speeds that would pin a pony to solid concrete.

“Sunrise, hurry up! We have to get out of here!” She declared while the system forced me to reboot and keep working furiously on something I had no idea would actually work or not. Wrong password, dammit, that's not it. What was it again? While I kept trying to brute force my way in, suddenly the large crane started to move the door, grinding it back against the track to open it. The words: “Door Opening” flashed across my PipBuck screen while below those two words, it read: Access Denied.

“Good work!” She called to me when I jumped for cover. The problem was, I didn’t do anything. I had no idea how that door finally got the last lock off and opened.

“Coffee Stain! Get down! That wasn't me! Someone on the outside opened it!” She turned to me, looking completely lost, when a bullet slammed into her skull.

I paused and the world froze as she stood there, twitching.

“Coffee Stain, NO!!!” I cried out and rushed towards her, black ooze seeping out of her head from the entry and exit wounds that ran through her temples.

She held up a hoof and I came to a halt. I was completely stunned that she could still move, or even remain standing with an exit wound the size of a hoof in her head.

“What? How are you—?” Coffee Stain shook her head and ran towards the catwalk. The massive cogwheel door rolled open,with sparks flying and steel whining as it moved out of the way. It rolled with loud shearing of metal on metal that made our ears scream in protest.

Outside stood twenty power armored ponies, all with Steel Ranger logos on their chests. All of them were wearing T-54B models, upgraded. The armor was completely enclosed with several lights upon the helmets. It covered them from head to toe in total protection, just as you would expect a tank. Their armor had attached battle-saddles loaded with weapons, from miniguns to grenade launchers and rocket launchers. Segmented plating allowing full coverage over their bodies while allowing perfect movement, and hydraulics steamed out as they moved with more power and speed than should be normally possible.

“In the name of the Steel Rangers,” A voice projecting authority and military discipline over a artificial speaker on his armor boomed, overriding the pain in my ears. “You are ordered to surrender all technology and submit for processing! Any resistance or escape attempt will be met with deadly force!”

I ran right at them, miniguns whirled on their sides to stop me. “Hey! I'd love to submit for processing! But right about now, there is a megaspell bomb that is going to go off in a minute or three inside that bunker. SO! Running is a VERY GOOD idea!” I quickly rambled off and much to my astonishment, they didn't shoot. They all lurched back onto their haunches in the oversized heavy plated armor. It was almost in unison, and in any non-life threatening situation, would have made the armor look comical and amateurly operated. I believe that posture in power armor is referred to as: completely stunned.

I held Coffee Stain tight by the hoof as we kept running out into the wasteland. Tears welled up in my eyes. The pain of things I’d done rushed to my mind and I fought them down to keep myself focused on getting us out alive. I felt the familiar coolness of Med-X entering my leg and making the running easier.

I stutter stepped, and it was enough that Coffee Stain took the lead. She was now pulling me along. Keep going! There is no time for you to feel guilty. Survive now, get out of the blast zone.

Our hooves echoed over the rocks we hit in the bottom of the cavern. Whatever this secret stable had left, it was going to die. Lights were flickering to keep the cave lit as a firefight erupted behind us. Explosions and gunshots echoed around us in the cave and spurred us on to move faster.

I couldn’t remember much since I arrived in this place. I was along for the ride in this memory and probing into what those terrible things were just gave me a blank slate. I did remember being in a cold dark place with some sort of monster bearing down upon me. Chains kept me from doing anything, but they were the kind of chains you feel in your mind, not physical ones. I could still feel the presence of that creature clawing at the edges of my mind.

Coffee Stain's voice had called to me and snapped the chains. I ran to her and now I was running to keep us both alive. My mind was calculating the blast range of a low-yield class 2 megaspell bomb when planted underground into a solid steel structure and concrete surrounded stable. The odds of our survival were coming up pretty low.

When I looked at Coffee Stain again, the bleeding from her head had stopped. She was alive, but covered in the black goo that she called her blood. Her illusion of white with brown spots was shattered, unable to hold up the magic with the head wound draining her. Instead, I could see the twisted visage of deep sea blue mixed with twisted swirls of black. Her fur and body color rotating over her flesh like a spoon slowly stirring a layered drink till it seemed to all blend together. Every part of her form’s color ended in unnatural right angles and shapes that just made you feel wrong looking at a creature that was from another dimension.

“Coffee Stain, what are you?” I asked, but she shook her head. She pointed at her wound and then made a throat slitting motion across her throat. More gunfire came from behind us, and this time; in our direction! Grenades landed just short of us as I dove for cover at the cave entrance. The Steel Rangers had snapped out of their stupor and decided we were worth killing. Bullets rained out of the cave entrance as we broke into the cloud covered day. The ground began to rumble and then an earthquake of force shot into our legs.

I was thrown off my hooves when the earth itself rose up. The ground cracked like cheap plaster and brittle rusty metal. Coffee Stain lost my hoof and jumped into the air. My hooves didn't come back to the ground, instead I was falling into a pit. A sinkhole opened up and I was tumbling into darkness. My PipBuck clicked maddeningly. 100 rads. 200 rads. 300 rads. 400 rads. I was feeling sick and my flesh felt like it was boiling me alive.

I'm dead, if the fall doesn't kill me; the rads already did. I thought to myself as the number hit 700 and kept climbing. The rumbling earth turning into a deafening roar.

“SUNRISE! I LOVE YOU!” Coffee Stain shouted as my mind became slower and slower. My eyes got heavy and my feeling of falling all but stopped as the heat intensified. I saw her face as she was leaning over the pit, desperately reaching for me, but I was long out of reach. I reached for her hoof with all my strength as the light faded.

“I love you, too.” My voice was far too weak to reach her over the roar of the explosion underground. It all stopped with the sound of a bone shattering crunch.

OoOOoo

I snapped awake. I was back in The Roof and my PipBuck was still clicking. I'd only been gone for a few seconds, as the roar of the explosion was still echoing in our ears.

Quick Stitch shoved a bag into my hooves, which was brown with the words ‘RadAway Special’ printed on it. I put the straw into my mouth and was pleasantly surprised that it was apple flavored, and according to my PipBuck: much stronger than normal RadAway. He watched me intently until I drank every single drop.

I looked at him sheepishly through the entire process as he nudged me further down the ramp towards the inner workings of The Roof. The clicking on my PipBuck slowed down as we went deeper. . “You and I are going to talk after all of this is said and done. You’re not allowed to kill yourself.” He wasn’t whispering either, as the words gave me a gut-punch and every one of our friends around us turned to stare at me in disbelief.

Nyota approached me and I looked away in shame. I stared at the ground and wanted to be anywhere but here right now. The thought of jumping into that inferno cloud even crossed my mind again. My body felt cold and unresponsive while everything around me grew dim. Nyota lifted my chin, “Is this true?” His words cut me deeper than any knife. All I could do was nod as I felt in that moment, I might lose them all.

Tears started to well up in my eyes and my heart felt like it might explode. I had the thought of all of them abandoning me right now, or worse, going back to treating me like a child. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pull away and run right then, or just fall to the ground to sob. I looked between my friends and saw nothing but judgment being cast at me. They couldn’t possibly understand how I felt, how it felt to kill hundreds and doom future ponies to cancer or mutation.

Before I could speak or push myself further into depression, Nyota pulled me into a tight embrace and held me against his chest. All I could see were the scars under his chest coat, the sound of his heart rate slowly beating calming my turbulent emotions, and the scent of sandalwood overpowering that of the wasteland and ozone from outside. My scent of cordite mixed with it and fit perfectly.

I felt safe for the first time in a long while. My body felt distant and my stomach churned, both from the realization of surviving, and the acute radiation poisoning I was suffering. I felt the weight of another bag of RadAway pressed into my hoof while I held onto Nyota. Quick Stitch wasn't about to let us sit there too long with DNA mutating gamma rays soaking us.

I reluctantly released the embrace, but he held onto me. He kept me close, and my heartache swelled until tears rolled onto his burly chest. I could feel the coolness of his own tears hitting my mane. He wasn’t going to let me go, and I realized I shouldn’t let him go so easily, either.

“You did a good job, Sunny, we're all safe now.” I felt like I'd been punched again with that statement. I wanted to scream why it was all wrong. Some little voice in me reminded me of the 50 to 80 years of radiation poisoning I’d done to the land. Pink cut it out and I felt her hooves matching the soft stroking Nyota was doing. “It’s okay. Let it out, Sunny.”

Our tender moment was interrupted by something brushing against my leg. I looked down when I felt an insect like tail that sent goosebumps crawling up my leg. I immediately jumped back and broke our embrace. Snuggles, acting like a normal house cat, rubbed against my leg to comfort me. My mane stood up on end as I stared at the feline, and Snuggles’ scorpion tail raised at me ready to strike and she hissed at me. I pulled out my shotgun and pointed it at Snuggles, panting heavily, a rush of fear and the drive to fight rose within me. The flashes of Manticore stomachs I’d been in pulsed to the top of my mind and needed to be pushed out. My breathing accelerated and my heart hammered, It’s you or it! KILL IT! I flipped the safety and took aim.

Nyota stopped me, forcing the barrel of my weapon away from Snuggles, while Chifundo swept Snuggles aside. Somehow Chifundo managed to move Snuggles behind him and shield her from me. I spat the trigger out and snarled in rage, “You stupid creature! Keep it away from me, Chifundo, and keep that thing in check or I’LL KILL IT!”

Nyota rapped my head, hard enough that through the helmet I could hear it ting. “Sunrise! Be nice! Snuggles was just trying to comfort you,” Nyota snarled at me and I glared into his eyes. My heart still pounding and I could see my breath rolling over his skin. My PipBuck was still clicking, as it wasn’t cold, but the radiation particles in the air made our breath visible.

We decided to move ourselves deeper into The Roof before continuing our conversation. We hastily sucked down our diminishing supply of RadAway as we got deeper. Quick Stitch was wrapping a bandage around Scopola’s leg, as she didn’t wear nearly the same amount of armor I did and apparently took a nasty piece of shrapnel in the chaos.

Our situation had not actually improved very much. There were signs of battle still all around The Roof’s internal town. The ponies, however, looked up to us with eyes that had actually started to show signs of hope. There were no screams of battle or ringing gunshots. Many ponies had left the outer metal covered walls. They had started moving deeper within the fortified parking deck to where it was much safer from the radiation.

A sense of relief and safety rose among us. E.F.S. was flicking in and out, the magical rads compromising it temporarily. I was still dealing with a mixture of emotions when two very large stallions approached us. They had matching full manchu beards down below their chins. Their manes were cut short, buzzed down their necks. One was dark brown in coat, with a blonde mane while the other was the opposite. They both had those piercing blue eyes that made you take a step back if they stared at you too hard.

“I am Franzpone and this is Hanzhoof, ve have met your stallionfriend, Nyota.” Franzpone, the blonde maned one, pointed at Nyota and then back to the rest of us. “We met him in the showers and made sure he was ready for your date!” They both extended a hoof towards me, lowering their heads down in a slight bow. “Ve are honored to meet The Angel with a Shotgun.”

I wasn’t sure what to do, as they had surprised me. I stared in shock, as I wasn’t sure why they were honoring me. I’d just resorted to a level of violence that should have destroyed everything, yet they were humbled by my presence.These stallions, a full head and a half taller and twice the barrel thickness of Nyota, were humbled by someone not even a third of their size.

I took off my helmet and bowed to them instead; it was all I knew to do. “There is no honor to be given, and thank you for this, but please; do not shower me in praise like that. I have done—” I wasn’t allowed to finish the sentence as both of them scooped me up into a tight hug.

“FRAULINE! You are more amazing in pony than we could ask!” They tossed me up into the air and I yelped out in dismay as several ponies gathered around to watch me be raised up and celebrated. The overly enthusiastic stallions tossed me a second time then brought me into a bone crushing hug. “She is far too humble! She must truly be an angel!” They cheered as they held me tight.

I thought I might actually become a sardine tin filled with pony as the armor plates groaned in protest. My body felt like it was bruising all over. I felt my eyes bulging out of my head and my lungs burned for air. It took all my strength to gasp out, “AIR!” Nyota repeatedly tapped Hanzhoof in the shoulder till he was punching him. Finally, Hanzhoof got the hint and released me. Without any strength from oxygen in my muscles, I collapsed in a very indignant heap. My rear was high in the air and my face firmly planted into Franzpone’s hoof.

“Oh! I bet Nyota doesn’t mind this view.” I couldn’t even think of a quip or to tell Pink to shut it. Instead, my only response was just the slight burn of a blush that wasn’t from lack of air or bruised flesh welling up on my face.

My brain itched for Med-X from the various pains, something I could fall back on, but I resisted the urge to shoot up. I coughed finally when my armor plating shifted back to its normal positioning from my body uncompressing. “Thank you both.” I managed through some wheezing.

We headed towards the medical ward on the third floor and at the heart of The Roof. It was the most protected point inside this place there as well. I was trying to get away from the two very enthusiastic accented stallions. “Nyota, who were those two?”

“Oh,” Nyota looked away blushing till his stripes might match Chifundo’s. I nudged his leg, not playfully but to try to get him past his hesitation. “They umm, helped me get ready for our first date. They’re just really nice Germane stallion brothers.” Quick Stitch stopped us before I could inquire further. His horn lit up with magic as one of the raider trooper corpses next to us lit up with magical energy.

I paused and looked at the unknown stallion. His body was a discharged heap on the side of the walkway, among a few other long dead ponies. He was covered in blood and scratches. “Quick Stitch what are you—” The trooper took an inhale that caused us all to pause. He was alive!

I scrambled forward, pulling his armor off and Nyota stared shocked at me, “Sunrise, he’s dying, his spine is crushed. Come on, Quick Stitch, you can’t possibly save him.”

I turned and glared at Nyota, “You don’t get to decide if we can try! I don’t care, we need to save as many as we can. Especially after what I did!” Quick Stitch kept working his magic while I didn’t have near enough knowledge to treat him. I just knew it was easier to do surgery on someone if they weren’t wearing armor or barding.

Hanzhoof and Franzpone rushed up, “Ve shall deal vith him!”

“He shall regret ze life in his BODY!” Franzpone was mid stride to assault when I stepped in the way, shotgun out and pointed at both of them. They struggled to come to a halt before they hit me, and finally stopped with the barrel tapping against Franzpone’s chest. Both of the brothers looked very confused and reached up to tug at their beards in unison. “Sunrise, frauline, step aside. Ve have duty to perform on that raider’s skull.”

“No, you don’t.” Nyota stated and stepped next to me. I didn’t even have to remove the shotgun, and I felt my heart warm. Even Nyota was starting to take a hint of mercy in his actions. “For whatever reason, Sunrise spares as many ponies as she can. This raider isn’t a threat to anyone, and I doubt he’ll ever walk again. Let Quick Stitch try to save him.”

I hesitated to say anything, as it appeared Nyota had said all that was needed. The two brothers deflated and sat down, looking rather cross at us. Nyota was taking my side, even if he was expressing his disagreement with it. Then a very nasty thought entered my mind, one I hadn’t accounted for: How many frenzied ponies slipped inside during the explosion?

I took my mouth off the trigger and licked my lips, “Listen you two, go gather as many guards that are in good shape, and go look for anypony we can save. Friend or Foe.” I took a long breath and then continued. “Be careful though. That blast may have done a ton of damage and silenced most of their guns, but it’s very likely some of the frenzied ones made it in. It’s also likely that we have a lot of our own wounded who aren’t being taken care of.”

My heart felt like it had been punched and I winced, “We should go on a patrol to secure all entrances. At least till we can get whoever is still in charge of their army to a parley table. We may have wait for daytime to survey the damage outside.” The Germane brothers huffed in agreement and started trotting off to go about searching the building for more signs of hostiles.

There was a crunch that sickened me to the core. The knot that hadn’t left my stomach found another loop to twist in. I span around and watched as Quick Stitch’s horn blew up bright as a sun in an overglow of magic as sparks flew out of his horn that could have been mistaken for a welding torch. Another crunch echoed around us from the wounded raider’s back. The stallion’s spine was starting to align back in place. One vertebrae at a time, Quick Stitch healed the injury Nyota had inflicted.

Quick Stitch’s horn started to cool down, and he was panting from exhaustion as the light of his magic slowly left the room. I could feel the heat radiating off of him from nearly ten steps away. I ran up to him with Nyota alongside me. We steadied him before he fell over, slumped down with half his weight on each of us. The stallion below was softly breathing and slowly his eyes opened. Scopola pointed her laser rifle at him and we heard the electrical charge as she flicked it on. Her telekinesis providing the light by which we could see, “Nice and slow there, y’all wouldn’t wanna make any pony itchy.”

“Scopola, escort him to the medical wing and make sure Blackhawk keeps an eye on him.” I took a breath and nodded to Scopola Mina to make sure she got the message. She nodded back with a sweet smile and took a shot of dash from an inhaler. “After that, rejoin us, we’re going to look for survivors.”

“Alright come on, pretty stallion boy. Sunrise said to take ya to the medical ward, and I aim to make sure I don’t lose my merit badge in loyalty.” Scopola Mina nudged his flank with her laser rifle to emphasize the point and they trotted away.

Quick Stitch got back on his own hooves as his breathing slowed down, and he shook his head to clear it. He was clearly too tired to keep working, as we had been up for nearly twenty hours. “Hey, Quick Stitch, why don’t you take a break?” I rubbed his shoulder and neck with a great deal of concern at how much Quick Stitch and pushed his magical limits. I didn’t want our medic to break himself.

“Sunrise, thank you, but I am fine. I just need some water and a little breather. We’ve got more work to do.” I motioned Chifundo and Alguacil over to us. If I had my way, Quick Stitch would at least take lighter, easier duty and not burn himself out.

“Alguacil, Chifundo, escort Quick Stitch around looking for survivors up here.” I felt a shiver of fear when I saw Snuggles poke out from behind Chifundo. “And keep Snuggles with you.”

I turned to Nyota and smiled, “You are our secondary medic, we can both head out and Scopola can catch up to us. We’ll take down below, where we know it isn’t secure.”

Alguacil scoffed at us, “Hey! It’s more dangerous down ‘ere. Just two of you?” He demanded and I held up a hoof to stop him.

“My armor will stop almost everything they can throw at me. Nyota is invisible, even to my PipBuck tag when he wants to be. We’ll be fine.” I really just wanted a dangerous task to do and to keep all of them out of harm's way if I could help it. Any excuse to not have to explain myself to them. “Quick Stitch is more important,” I explained and Alguacil snarled but relented as he led Quick Stitch away.

Chifundo turned his head to us, “I suggest you come back alive and well, death will not stop Alguacil’s fury spell.”

I gulped as Snuggles turned and made a playful cat scratch in the air at us. I stuck my tongue out at the feline. Nyota chuckled and shook his head. “Come on love, you probably want to have a long talk with me.”

Before I could start to explain myself, I tasted Nyota’s zebra hoof again. It wasn’t unwelcome, just rather disconcerting. I expected now I was going to get a preaching to that only someone who loved you could possibly give. My eyes wandering up his leg to his uncovered green orb. He slowly shook his head side to side, and I gulped. I tried to put on a innocent smile and darted my eyes away to not have to look at him. He moved his hoof to force my attention to him. Then he put his hoof against my chest, right where my heart was. “Just know you aren’t allowed to kill yourself. That is all the reassurance I need from you, and we’ll leave this nasty bit of conversation behind us.”

I nodded very slowly and deliberately to him. He kissed my forehead very softly and I couldn’t look away anymore. He was being more than understanding, and I felt like trash for trying to throw myself away now. I held the tears in and sniffled, feeling a soft warmth radiating from inside me that drove back the coldness I had been using to cover us my feelings. “I know the wasteland will get to you, just like it gets to me. We’ll have a long talk after all is said and done.” Nyota whispered into my ear while giving me a gentle hug.

We stayed there for a bit, letting me softly sob and expel my emotions. Exhaustion started to fill my eyes and mind, but Nyota released me before I could get too comfortable in his embrace. “Come on, Sunny. We’ve got work to do.” He pulled my leg and gave me a candy bar. It wasn’t much, but it was something to keep me going at least.

*****

The task was before us was grizzly. There must have been one hundred bodies on the first floor. “Oh come on Sunrise! Think of it as a surprise gift party! You’re most likely to get stuff you don’t want! Buuuttt you will find a piece of candy occasionally.” I glared at Pink while keeping my weapon ready while Nyota worked. My E.F.S. was completely fried out, as the magical radiation meant my PipBuck would need a scrubbing and a reset to function properly. Due to that, all I had was its dim light that kept flickering off and my eyes to keep Nyota safe.

My shotgun was held tight in my mouth as I peered into the darkness. Pink, this isn’t going to be good if we get ambushed. I thought, realizing I couldn’t see more than a few steps away from me. I flicked towards every shadow, every little hint of motion around us, even if it was made from my own flashlight.

“Sunrise, I doubt anypony is alive down here. You’ll be fineee, mostly.” Pink shrugged at me while in a mechanic’s uniform with a wrench working on a PipBuck in the world of my own headspace. I doubted she could actually interact with it but she could at least pretend to be helpful. She kept looking at me concerned, and then gave that ‘Everything is Fine!’ smile before resuming her cranking away in the corner of my vision.

Nyota motioned me over, “Sunrise, give me a hand. I think we’ve got a live one.” I holstered my gun and approached him. There was a griffin with a regulator star on his chest. His weapon still gripped in his hand, a high caliber revolver I didn’t recognize. There was some rubble pinning one of his wings and shoulder.

“See if you can pull him free when I lift this off him.” Nyota took a chunk of metal pipe that had fallen off the wall and wedged it under the rubble to get leverage. With a heave, both of us grabbed the wounded griffin out from under the chunk of debris.

He groaned in response and I took out a healing potion, administering it slowly with Nyota guiding me to make sure he didn’t choke on it. The griffin slowly came back to life as the magic worked to restore him and he sat up, holding his head. I touched his talon and tried to get his attention.

He swung his gun around and pushed it into my cheek. I felt a nervous twitch and gently reached up to lower the revolver, “Hey, it’s okay. Listen, there are some stairs around the corner. The mines should be disarmed. Just walk up there and you’ll see some friendly faces.”

The griffin growled and pushed me back, storming off towards the stairs without saying a word. “Well, what crawled up his high and mighty feathered ass?” Nyota scoffed and rubbed my cheek where the gun had been pressed.

“It’s okay love, I think I’d be a bit testy too if I woke up in near complete darkness after I should be dead,” I hugged Nyota and the two of us went back to checking for the living.

We move around a corner and heard a machine grinder going. Nyota and I looked at each other perplexed. Ahead of us three houses down, there was an electric light and a long trail of blood. We started to follow it, covering each other’s back as we checked rooms and corners. The blood was thick and still wet, which made it more concerning. We were expecting trouble when we got up to the door.

The light was coming from a makeshift ill-fitting metal door. Like many of the other internal houses and shops, this was made from whatever was available. One wall was made of brick, but most of that was based around scrap metal and pieces of other buildings from outside The Roof.

I leaned my ear against the door and inside the sounds of manufacture and an sparkle generator droned out anything else. I looked at Nyota and motioned for him to become scarce. If this was a trap, it would be best if they only saw one of us. As soon as I’d checked my surroundings, Nyota had vanished. I could sense his eyes watching me but could not see him or had a clue where he went. It’s always going to be reassuring knowing you are there. I knocked on the door hard and loud, trying to get over the machinery.

“Get the Fuck Outta here ya raider trash!” A thick Stalliongrad accent shot at me and a grenade flew over the space between the top of the door and its frame. I felt Nyota starting to move towards me. It wasn’t a physical feeling but an instinct. I heard his hooves skipping rocks along when I held up one hoof to stop him and casually kicked the grenade around the corner.

I’ve gotten too used to explosives and he didn’t prime that thing at all. The steel apple rolled out of view and I pressed against the wall for cover while I waited for the heavy brick side to absorb the shrapnel and concussive force. An explosion never came, the machine inside the building stopped.

“Are ya kidding me!? A dud?” The thick accent came back and I growled back at him.

“Hey! We’re friendlies, and who are you?” I demanded rather upset as I tried to open the door and found it barred from the other side. Angry hooves stopped up to the door and I heard the heavy board falling on the ground with a wooden echo.

“Why you, I oughta—” All the rest of his words were lost by the dust and sound of the steel apple grenade finally going off. I didn’t have time to realize what was going on when a shotgun fired into me. I gasped stunned as my armor absorbed the blast but I was flying into the air. The solid slug hit me in the chest but I didn’t hit the ground, instead I found myself held in the air. Alguacil was behind me, holding me in one claw suspended off the ground.

“Hold yer fire!” Alguacil glared back with a snort. “Glad I came back anyway.”

“Oh Shit! I’m sorry, I thought you were—” The stallion attempted to respond before I cut him off.

“ASSHOLE! I said I was friendly, check your fire.” I looked up to see a very burgundy stallion covered from head to toe in heavy winter clothing. A Stalliongrad military jacket and I recognized the commissar star hat on his head. He had piercing green eyes, the same kind of piercing stare that my own magenta ones bore. A trait for those from Stalliongrad that made us easy to recognize.

“Celestia dammit, you stupid pone this is an active war zone! I didn’t know which side you was on.” My chest burned with fire as he spoke, my armor might have held but the plate was at least dented. Nyota was at my side, checking my chest, and he nuzzled my cheek when he was sure I was alright.

I coughed a few times from the bruising and got back onto my own weight. I looked over at Alguacil who glared at me. “I came down and left Scopola Mina up there with Chifundo and Quick Stitch. I don’t want just you and Nyota to get ambushed.”

It was in that moment that I realized, this was Alguacil’s way of saying he cared. He didn’t know how else to do it yet, but he was acting well out of character. “Alguacil, I left you up there because if they got in trouble, they would need a heavy hitter.”

Alguacil snorted at me, “Like you and Nyota don’t? Besides, they’ve got guards to help them.”

“Is this how you show you care? Ignoring the party consensus to come rushing to our aid against hillbilly shotgun ponies who can’t tell friend from foe?” Nyota playfully punched his shoulder and the unknown pony swelled up.

“Excuse ME! Hillbilly! Why I outta blast you right in the head, you damn zigger!” He raised his shotgun threateningly at us and I sprang forward, slapping it down with my own.

“Knock it off! Before you give us away. I’m from Stalliongrad too!” This made the unknown pony stagger back. He stared at me and I glared right back into his eyes. The two of us never stopping looking at each other. My chest still burned and ached from being shot. My voice echoed around us, the dust still settling from the explosion and rough introduction between us. ”I ain’t a raider either. I’m bright and colorful, look at my armor!”

“And you’re covered in blood! Look at yourself! Truly, Stalliongrad would be honored to see such a fine mare of battle. But you are a sight that would cause anypony to shoot.”

“No No No! I am covered in rainbows, child’s graffiti, the word Angel is plastered over my chest, and there’s an angel holding a shotgun on my flank. I am, by the very definition, the OPPOSITE OF A RAIDER!” Even Alguacil was taken back by how intense I despised those words. I knew why Alguacil got so mad the first time I suggested he might be a raider, and now I was on the receiving end. He might have the same accent I do. He might be from Stalliongrad and my only link to home, but I’ll be damned if he was gonna treat anyone like this; especially me or my friends!

“Umm Sunrise, not to offend, but ya do realize everything around here is bright and colorful except me and the wasteland, right?” Alguacil whispered into my ear and all I could do was point a hoof at him to tell him to stow it. I was mad. I’d been shot, called a raider, done an unspeakable atrocity, and now I was not about to have Alguacil trying to make a good point to me. Especially knowing he would find a way to gloat about it for a literal month.

“Look at yaself! Ya covered in scrap metal, armor plating, blood, gore, cordite scent, and bullet dings. By the Twin Sisters my rusty flank are you looking like the opposite of a raider right now!” I huffed up and puffed my chest out looking as indignant as possible.

Alguacil leaned over and whispered, “Sunrise, I don’t think he can read.”

The angry Stalliongradder pointed at Alguacil with a snarl, “Bitch Griffin! I will take out my dick and smack ya with it across your ignorant beak! Haven’t you ever heard a Stalliongrad accent, bevore?”

“No, he hasn’t, because I have been trying to speak proper Ponish without an accent, I’m from Stalliongrad too.” I snarled back at him and stepped right up to meet him face to face. He took a step back and looked stunned. There was a long pause as the world around us faded away and we just stared.

“Sunrise, maybe you should calm down. Chifundo said there was some spirit here in the floor below that you should be warned about.” Both myself and our new friend turned to him.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” I stared at him still rather upset.

“Well he said that the monster they let loose might make ponies more edgy and also,” Alguacil leaned down and tapped my PipBuck. “It is jamming your E.F.S. because the creature is hostile to all life, period. It is in the air around us, making everything read as hostile.” He took a snort and spat off in the distance. “At least that is how I translated the Chifundo speak.”

“Wait, so dickless here shot me because some spirit might be influencing us to be more hostile to each other?”

“Oh, go fuck yourself princess.”

I shot a hoof in his direction, “I could have just hurled a grenade in and seen what happened. I’ve had a hell of a night already and you’re not making it better!”

Alguacil put his face firmly into his talon with a hard smack, “With all the ammo and explosives in there, you’d have blown the entire Roof down around all of us.”

I let out a long sigh and hung my head, “Okay fine. I turned back, look you, I need anything you can donate to help us defend this place. We haven’t checked after I dropped that megaspell on them, but we don’t know that they are done since I only hit the main camp in their lines.”

“Well then princess, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got bullets, bombs, and shells for every gun you own here at Mad Mac’s Arsenal Emporium!” He motioned behind him, where the walls were lined with firearms. I could see in as he stepped from the doorway, and it was a treasure trove of weaponry. Lasers, shotguns, rifles, were hung from every nook and cranny while there was an entire wall with cases of ammo stacked from the floor to the ceiling, each stack a different type of ammo. “Once the raiding was done earlier, I made my way back to my shop and started working again.”

“Well then, it’s free till we get you some salvage after the fighting.” I spat back and he turned and leaned down.

“What makes you think Mad Mac is willing to do that? Are you killing raider scum and assholes sieging The Roof?”

In unison all three of us answered, “Yes.”

“Well then the payment is a dead raider for every loaded gun you take.” He slapped my shoulder and winked at me. “What’s yer name, princess?”

I felt the shoulder slap through my armor, OUCH! His hooves are hard, and had to keep myself from showing it hurt underneath. “I’m Wandering Sunrise. This is Alguacil and that is Nyota.”

“Well, I’m sorry ver shooting ya and think of this as my sorry ver that. Also, didn’t mean to offend your bird friend or your zebra bodyguard. I hope he didn’t take the zigger slur to heart.” Nyota faux punched at him on the last comment.

“Hey hey, friend it’s okay; maybe we can ya know have a smoke over it and laugh it off, promise I won’t use that word around ya no more, Ny-yote-e.” The way he stretched out trying to pronounce Nyota’s name was the most comical part about all of this. “Ya do have some smokes, right? Because those would be greatly appreciated.”

Nyota pulled out a full four pack carton and held it up to him. “Yeah I’ve got some, maybe we can work it out over a couple of lights.”

“I will greatly appreciate them! I smoked an entire carton yesterday from all the shelling. I mean they can’t hit the broad side of a parking garage, but man does it make you nervous when one of them blows a metal panel out.” He reached for the carton and Nyota played keep away.

“After you and Sunrise are done getting things sorted.” Nyota teased with a wink at me. I looked at Nyota and then at Mad Mac. I had no real reason yet to believe we were still under threat but the fact was, they had encircled The Roof and that Megaspell had only hit the Northern area where their artillery was concentrated. It was highly likely there were still maybe a hundred or more in the army outside gathering their strength and figuring out what to do. We were going to need to clear them out, and more firepower would help.

“Well that just ain’t fair! I mean, ya can’t tease a stallion like that.” Mad Mac moaned and kept trying to reach for the cigarettes. I softly got between the two of them and shook my head with a tsk tsk tsk.

I got them separated and Nyota put a stupid grin on his face, like he’d just gotten a sibling in trouble with his parents. I held up my shotgun to him, “Look, I’m sure Nyota will share with you but I need some shells. I’ve been going through them pretty fast and it keeps firing stuff I didn’t load into it.”

“You mean round robin roulette style?” Mad Mac looked at my heavily modified weapon and smirked. I nodded slowly and he pointed at my tail, “And your tail does that on it’s own?”

I heard the distinctive click of bullets sliding into a chamber and turned to see my tail reloading Buddy’s Last Gift with ammo from a box labelled: JFP Hoof-Load Special. I growled out, “PINK!”

“What? I thought you wanted to use all these different ammos so I figured they should be a SURPRISE every time you fire without checking first.”

I felt raw anger building up and wheeled all my rage towards her I could muster, Let me get this straight, the reason why this thing randomly fires slugs, dragon’s breath, or any other special round without warning is because you keep randomly loading it?

“Yesss… what’s wrong with surprise coconut in your lemon cake?” She blinked at me with a super sweet innocent smile and the expression of an expecting puppy on her face.

We’re gonna talk later. I turned my attention back to Mad Mac who was just perplexed and snorted.

“Right, you are absolutely a mad mare. Anyway, I have something special for you, in exchange for shooting you.” He walked behind his counter and tapped on the wall three times. A false panel opened up and he took out a box and a briefcase. He put the box of shells onto the counter and it rattled with a mixture of different parts and shells inside. “This is flechette rounds, a couple of anti-robot pulse slugs, stick-n-shock stun rounds, bean bag rounds, buck magnum max load, the Stalliongrad special plasma slug, and a dozen explosive ball rounds. Just a standard strange load of stuff, this however;” he paused and pulled out the briefcase then opened it.

Inside was 2 dozen custom shotgun shells with black casings. All of them were inlaid in foam in their own personal holders with the words: War Crime, etched in crude yellow ink on the side. Then scattered a bunch of other types of rounds next to them.

I looked closer at the impact on my chest plate and could see the faint hints of clear gemstone shining through under one of the plates that was heavily dented. “Well, stubbornite is known for taking quite a beating.”

“Oh, yeah, but normal armor doesn’t stand a chance.” I nodded and pocketed the rounds. “But I will have to charge you for them.”

“But you shot me!” I growled, wanting to see how far I could possibly push the wounded pride bit mixed with guilt of accidentally shooting a friend.

“It’s cost o’ materiale, simple as that. I only am offering them because I shot you.” He grumbled and I took a moment to fling my mane like Chifundo did when he was negotiating with The Curator.

“I do get a discount then.”

“No Bitch! You just shoot me back or you take the opportunity to buy these, yer choice!” He put a revolver in my hoof and made sure to level the barrel back at him. I stared at him in shock and immediately dropped the revolver onto the counter.

“No, I’m a better pony than that!” I sheepishly whimpered and had to stagger-step away as the words lingered in my mind. It felt like he was right, I had the right to shoot him back. But a large part of me told me that such a thing was just wrong.

“Mad Mac, she’s with me. She’s the one who just set off that Megaspell too.” Alguacil put his talon between us to interject. He nudged me with his shoulder almost playfully to emphasize the point.

“Oh, I didn’t know she was with you, Al. Yeah, she gets a discount then. Friends of the family gotta stick together.”

“Wait! Alguacil, you knew him already?” I turned towards Alguacil with a look of shock and Alguacil rolled his one eye at me; having to fully turn his head to do so made it slightly awkward to make the motion.

“Yeah Sunrise, I met him the first time we was here. While you and Nyota were goin’ on your date, I got useful stuff done, like gettin’ my gun improved.” Alguacil almost looked hurt by my comment. I wanted rage and correct him on belittling my relationship, but I calmly reminded myself, time and place. Also not just time and place but there is a spirit apparently making you quicker to anger. So start checking your gut reactions!

“Speaking o’ modifications, that shotgun vhere missy.” Mad Mac pointed at my weapon still in my hoof. “That has a vhole lot o’ mods to it and looks like it’s got some history. It got a name?”

I shook my head slowly side to side. I have never thought to name my weapons or my armor. He smirked, “Well then Sunrise, I’d call that your Sunray if I were you. Seems appropriate that someone like you call it something like that.”

Without even me doing anything, my PipBuck registered:
-1 Modified Pump Shotgun
+1 ‘Sunray’ (Shotgun)

As an inventory change across my H.U.D. I will never get how it does that but okay then.
“Alright there, Sunrise. Ve’ll have a long talk after this is said and done about Stalliongrad things, for now, vhy don’t you and Al’ here help get that pile of guns and ammo at the end of the counter upstairs and distributed.” I nodded in agreement and just before I picked up the first load of guns, I turned to Mad Mac who was lighting up a cigarette off of one Nyota had started. The scent of tobacco smoke filling the air.

“Sorry how we met, you’re alright Mad Mac.” Mad Mac tipped his commissar hat to me, which if he understood the meaning of that hat; meant a whole lot more than any words we could share. It was the sign of a officer bowing his authority to an enlisted soldier, a way of saying; you deserve my respect and I am unworthy of your’s. That is, if he knew what tipping a commissar hat meant.

I could hear him and Nyota arguing if it was safe to smoke in a gun shop or not as Alguacil and I headed back upstairs.

*****

One other new piece of weaponry was inside that pile of guns that we distributed that I kept. It was a standard 25mm single shot grenade launcher but my PipBuck registered it as ‘Newb Tube’ and it had a few modifications on it. Not to mention almost 20 grenades with it split between HE and Frag. I got it locked and loaded, finding that the extra pockets on my armor was coming in real handy to keep everything I had organized and from weighing me down too much. It was getting closer to 3:30am.

Chifundo approached me as I was cleaning my weapons and trying to fix my armor. We hadn’t taken a break or slept yet. I could feel the weariness wearing into me. He sat down and I looked over.

“I suppose you’ve got something to tell me about the spirit down there? The one affecting all of us?”

Chifundo nodded, “It was locked away to be kept dormant, the raiders opened the door ignoring the warning’s warrant. The seal only became partial when we closed it, a proper ritual needs to be done for atonement. I am not sure if now is the time, or if the siege is still in its prime.”

I nodded to him, “Yeah I saw the black tendrils in the walls before we closed the door. Real freaky stuff.”

It was then that Chifundo sprung up and grabbed my shoulders. He looked into my eyes and took our lantern up to shine so he could see. It felt like when I looked into Nyota’s spirit eye. That feeling of searching deep into the cosmos except I was on the receiving end. Some sort of energy he was pushing passed into me and then he let out a sigh of relief. “Okay Chifundo, what was that about?”

“I feared a star child had you possessed, but you appear to be very blessed. Perhaps my presence with you had created enough exposure, that you too can see into the spiritual enclosure.”

I took a long breath, “Earlier when we were in the trenches, I could feel something different when I killed in close quarters. I didn’t want to kill anypony but I could taste something, smell it, and even sense their parting thoughts. It was so weird, like I could feel beyond what I could see.”

Chifundo nodded, “Yes, perhaps it is Nyota’s blood or my talent, but you can now see beyond the mortal pageant. I fear if you learn too much without assistance, it will threaten your sanity’s existence.”

I hugged him softly and smiled, “Then you will be here to guide me and help me understand what I am seeing now.”

After that we finally got some sleep, lying down to wait for the next day when the guards and scouts could tell us if everything was over or if we still had more fighting to do. It was almost dawn but I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

Alguacil and Nyota both helped me to bed, but I insisted that everyone stay in their armor and keep their gear close. We didn’t know if this fight was over or not; nor did we know the consequences of the weapons of mass destruction had unleashed or what they would cause. Nyota held me through our armor and I rested on his inner leg. There weren’t enough beds to go around so our outdoor sleeping bags and the concrete floors would have to do.

*****

We were awoken by a roar of pain and screaming in a language I did not recognize. Adrenaline hit me and I was reminded where we were immediately. I didn't stop to think, or question, I just reacted, charging towards the screams and throwing my gear on as fast as I could. Honed reflexes from the wasteland taught me, screams were something I needed to run towards and stop. Picline was throwing knives with her telekinesis out of a window towards the ground.

“Franzpone! Stay down!” She cried out as another blade was loosed from her telekinetic grasp. I stopped at the window and peered out. The two Germane brothers were fighting for their lives just outside the walls on the ground below us. Franzpone was flat on the ground. He was bleeding from his head and his ear was lopped clean off. A dent in his head the size of a hammer with blood rushing from multiple parts of his head indicated he was dying fast. Hanzhoof bucked right into a frenzied trooper's jaw and snapped his neck with a crunch I could hear from here.

How do we get to them? We're three stories up, if we run down they'll be over run before we get there! I frantically looked for a way down when my tail pushed my flank forward.

“Just jump! Your friends will catch you.” I didn't stop to think on it. I just pressed my hooves forward and jumped.

“Scopola! Catch me!” I shouted back then ripped ‘Sunray’ out of its holster. My hoof hit S.A.T.S. The world slowed down as Scopola's magenta magical aura engulfed me. I felt weightless for a time but began falling ever so slowly. S.A.T.S. was running out but allowed me a moment to process the situation by keeping time close to a stand still.

They’re absolutely drug frenzied, I can’t stop them with non-lethal attacks. This is just like that raider that killed Buddy!

“So, we are in a agreement, Sunrise?” I queued up a shot at the berserk raider nearest the two very large stallions and released.

No more Buddy’s! Pink and I said to each other in unison as we released S.A.T.S. and let the targeting spell do the work.

My shoulder ached from the recoil without proper anchoring to the ground. The acceleration towards the ground was slow but steady thanks to Scopola’s magic. I saw the buckshot pepper into the raider's spine, breaking it and his back bowed like a cheap card table. His rage left him as the agony took over and he shrieked in dismay.

When I got within around 10 feet of the ground, the magic of Scopola was too far away and gave out, making me freefall till my legs slammed into the ground.

It wasn't me being an earth pony, but the sturdiness of my armor that kept my legs from snapping as the soft earth gave way to make an impact zone from my fall. Every part of me screamed for a respite but there would be no time for that. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep but my muscles were telling me sleeping in armor was a bad idea.

A screaming slathering chem-addled raider was nearly pressed to the end of ‘Sunray’s’ barrel. I racked it and punched the trigger, sending him flying back. My shoulder screamed from hammering out a solid slug instead of buckshot.

Even with my eyes shut in pain I could still feel the backblast that washed over me by being too close to my target. The thud at my hooves as I was driven into the muddy earth. A crack of thunder echoed over the sky and the feeling in the air sagged. By the time I opened my eyes, rain was pouring over us. My PipBuck wasn’t clicking, so I wasn’t sure if it was still in need of a reset or if for some reason the radiation wasn’t getting to me.

Think on it later! Save lives now! I moved next to Hanzhoof. who was currently holding down one of the troopers in his forelegs. He kept headbutting the raider to death while a second raider was scissored into his rear legs, slowly having the life choked out of her. I steadied myself till my rear hoof touched his shoulder. I was in a position to be the shield for him and his downed brother. His blonde mane flicking against my leg hard as he rolled to his hooves to stand upright.

Nyota dropped in next to us, aiming himself to land with all four hoovers into the head of one particularly unlucky beserk mare. My stomach had a whole new reason to churn from the sound of crunching mare skull, much less the sight. I never needed to know a crushing skull sounded like a coconut breaking open.

Alguacil swooped overhead and let his revolver fly as Quick Stitch jumped off his back. Quick Stitch rushed past Nyota and I, desperately kicking and shooting to keep the small horde back. I could feel the heat from his magic working to save the cracked skull stallion.

I was searching for an exit strategy, a way out. It was hard to think or move between fatigue and the initial jumpstart wearing off. “Quick Stitch, can we move him? I don't know how long we can hold out here!” I shouted over my shoulder while I switched weapons, moving to Celestia’s Hammer and flipping its power switch. The weapon still shocked me when the impact pulped and eviscerated my nearest target. The feeling of blood on my hooves went from metaphorical to literal as the bodies piled up.

They were enraged, all sporting snarls of hatred and anger, none of them were going for weapons; they were using bare hooves. I couldn't back up any more if I tried, Quick Stitch was right there, trying to save a pony who should be dead. “No, we can't.”

My tail gave me an answer to a prayer. A detonator and two homemade lunchbox claymores. “Nyota! Alguacil! Cover me!” I screamed while laser fire from overhead disintegrated one mare into a puff of ash. I slammed down the mines, and scrambled to arm them. Alguacil’s revolver roared to life and he swooped in for another kill, fanning his hammer to empty half a chamber into one of the raiders.

In the rush, I almost crossed the detonator wires, but an itch on my hoof told me to double check. Nyota parried a blow that almost hit my head and I flinched, hoping I didn’t cross a wire when I did. He nodded to me, “Hurry up, Sunny. We can’t keep them off us forever.” I nodded to him and made quick to work to double check my wiring job. I flipped the detonator on and hoped it still had juice in its gempack.

Nyota charged in and proceeded to pummel kick a raider, left, right, left, right, until he fell back head over ass onto his back, letting out a whinny of distress. I stood upright and held the detonator in my hoof, ready to click it. “Everyone! Get behind me!” I screamed as Nyota leapt from where he was to right next to me in one bound. Alguacil banked hard over my head and bounded along the walls to The Roof to keep from crashing into them. Hanzhoof pressed his back against me from opposite Nyota to make me aware he was clear. I pressed the switch. Forgive me!

The earth shattering kaboom was not good for our ears as the word became a deafening ringing. My body quivered and pulsed from the detonation that threatened to throw me off my hooves with blow-back. My teeth clattered against each other and my heart skipped a few beats. I slammed my eyes shut as the smell of dirt, blood, and cordite filled my lungs.

I couldn't hear anything and my world was dim as my eyes fluttered open. All around us were bodies. Finally support fire came from the walls of The Roof, besides Picline's knives and Scopola's laser. A wall of bullets, mixed laser fire, and even Cross Stitch’s Plasma-Gauss rained down so hard that the downpour above us was cut off by the volume of flame and death. They removed anymore frenzied creatures from our path. I fell to my knees, my body spent. My radiation counter started-clicking higher and health display showed damage to every one of my legs.

I just want a break. I thought panting for dear life as I turned back to Quick Stitch; who was performing field surgery right there. His doctor's bag was out and his magic was going with delicate precision. He was slowly piecing the parts of Franzpone’s skull back together.

Hanzhoof’s massive fetlocks nearly tripped me as he rushed over and they swept against my legs. My shin cried out in dismay as I lashed out and held onto his rear hoof for dear life to stop him. “STOP! He’s performing surgery!”

“Franzpone, Franzpone, please don't give up brother. Fighter, help is here.” Nyota rushed in front of Hanzhoof used his enough body to stop Hanzhoof.

“Come on Hanzhoof, he's safe for now. Let Quick Stitch work.” He whispered and the stallion nearly twice his size turned to look at him, weeping like a mother losing a child. He squeezed Nyota tightly and Nyota grit his teeth and bore it like a champion. I was beside myself, watching this unfold. I released the extra hoof and let the heavy muscular stallion weep into Nyota’s shoulder while sitting down onto my haunches.

My heart was pounding in my ears as the ringing completely stopped. I was still in survival mode when I realized my hooves were shoving shells to reload my shotgun, but it was full and wasn't taking another shell. I dropped the buckshot round and holstered the weapon into my side. I am beginning to understand why you smoke, Nyota.

I took off my helmet and face protection, letting the rain-cooled radioactive air hit my face. Quick Stitch ever mindful of us, threw RadAway at all of us while he was looking for another surgical tool. I placed it into my mouth and started to suck it in. The flavor of grape was a pleasant surprise while the tingling along my skin started to go down as the magical energies were purged from my body.

My stomach stopped feeling like it was boiling, and even the air itself felt chilled to the bone. The soothing refreshment rushed through my throat as the air I was inhaling was being scrubbed by the magic of RadAway. It was like the twin sisters themselves had come down and relieved me of my duties for just the briefest moment. I wanted this moment to last as long as it could. Then the RadAway ran out, and slowly I began to feel the terrible shape my body was in.

I felt the dirt in my mane actually cascading down against the nearly airtight collar of my armor. I looked at my hooves, caked in gore and mud then up to see Quick Stitch still working away. He was bandaging the head wound now, and Hanzhoof was on his haunches being consoled by Nyota. Both of them, while in between sobbing and patting down tears, were slowly sucking through their own RadAway pouches.

Scopola Mina emerged from The Roof, her laser rifle scarred with burns along the square projector end. It had been firing so much, the weapon itself had nearly caught fire. “Sunrise, darling, put your helmet back on. It ain't safe out here.” Scopola insisted by levitated the helmet over my head and plopping it down unceremoniously onto my skull. I grumbled toward her and relented, pulling the strap into place under my chin.

“Scopola, good. Can you levitate him gently out of here?” Quick Stitch was putting away his doctor's tools and cleaning them as we turned to Scopola.

She huffed and looked rather indignantly at us, but she didn't say a word as she picked up Franzpone in a soft TK bubble. Scopola then huffed as she pranced back inside, the whole time holding him perfectly level with her magic. “What's her problem?”

Quick Stitch pondered rather perplexed at the behavior. I shrugged and he issued us more RadAway while ushering us back into the concrete walls that would provide some protection against the fallout. I watched my rad counter going up and then following back down, until the tingle across my flesh stopped and the counter read 177. The fatigue of nearly two full days was settling in on me.

We'd been going since the previous morning and it was nearly 3am on my H.U.D. Clock. I nearly dropped to the cold floor but Alguacil grabbed me by a backplate and held me up. “Dang it girl, you're heavy as a quarry stone in that armor!” I smirked and shook my head slowly from side to side.

I genuinely needed to laugh right then. I needed some emotion besides pain, turmoil, or disgust, and Alguacil had delivered.

*****

It was 9:22pm. We’d slept through the entire day and into the next night. Yet, it felt like I’d only gotten an hour. My muscles ached and I wanted to get more rest, but Picline came to get me. We were starting to think it was over, that the siege had been lifted. There was one problem though; none of us wanted to go outside to find out.

“Sunrise, you got a radio call. There is a lot of static though.” I started towards the door when Picline stopped me. “Thank you, Sunrise. All your help has been monumental. I thought we were finished.” He took a deep inhale and was clearly trying to hold something back. I could see tears forming in her eyes and she sniffled which made me stop to look at her. “I don't know how he did it, but Quick Stitch saved Franzone, and Hanzhoof has been overcome for the last 20 minutes. I'd avoid him, he might squeeze you to death for those heroics of yours.”

I looked at her a bit confused, “How did they get outside in the first place?”

“Well, you all didn't tell us you were launching a megaspell and a few ponies were about to head out to do another raid; not knowing the ruckus you and Chifundo-baby had kicked up out there.” She leaned down and dusted off my mane with her hoof. “I owe you an apology.”

I took a step back and my heart palpitated a few times, “You aren't gonna threaten me again are you?”

“No, never again. Not after you did all this to save my home. You took care of Chifundo too, thank you.” I didn't feel like I should be thanked.

I didn't say what was on my mind, and I just nodded to her and gave her a hug. The hug was ceremonial, as my heart wasn't in it. I was going through the motions, and Nyota was soon right at my side.

Picline put a hoof onto my shoulder and pulled me into a tight hug, her eyes rolling tears down my neck and shoulders. The cool tears and soft sobs made me do all I could do, and embrace her back. “And you brought my Wicker back from the dead.”

I was very confused and now, rather than wait I needed to know what she was going through. “Your Wicker?”

“My son. All my foals were dead and buried. I refer to everyone here in the roof as my children because they are, but my son of my flesh and blood. You found him after years.” I blinked repeatedly and pulled back from the hug.

My heartbeat slowed and I felt like I was missing some vital piece of information, “Who? What?” Picline grabbed my hoof and led me over to a cot where the stallion raider we had saved lie sedated.

“This is Wicker Reed, my son. He left, said he was going to go find something to save the wasteland. I don’t know how you didn’t know who he was, but you found him and saved his life.” She almost fawned over me. It was the strangest experience to have a mare who had gone from threatening me with a knife over a stallion to having her hugging and crying into my shoulder. This felt so surreal I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real, and I did that with the damaged armor plate on my chest just to make sure.

I sat there and let her cry it out, until Chifundo approached and helped her off my shoulder and onto his. “I am unsure I am ready to be a step-father, but if it is asked I will see to be that much stronger.” His words to Picline were the trick that made her dry her tears and she blinked repeatedly.

“Chifundo, are you saying you want to, with me?” Picline’s words were hesitant and I had to try to piece together the sentence.

“After a few more dates and this siege is lifted, I wish to have my heart gifted.” Picline and I both got that message and both of us shared a blush and stunned look to each other. I slowly backed away.

“I’ll leave you two, to discuss some things.”

All this happened while we had been stitching our wounds, sucking down more RadAway until my PipBuck stopped clicking and checking our gear. We should be sleeping or getting ready to rest, but some tension in the air told us this wasn't all over yet.

I walked through the medical ward and Hanzhoof was right there holding Franzone's leg, squeezing it when he noticed me. He dropped it and stormed across the room, I thought I was about to be pounded into the shape of an armored sardine tin. He was massive up close, a full manchu beard that stretched down well past his chin. His coloration was deep brown with a blonde mane while his brother was the opposite. He glared down at me with deep blue eyes and snorted.

“Are you ze one whom leapt down to aid us?” I slowly nodded in response, trying to place his accent. “Vell, I am Hanzhoof and you have saved mein brother. For that, I owe you ze greatest of debts.” He bowed so low I thought he might tip over and kissed my armor clad hoof. “Name any service and I shall perform itz well beyond yer expectations.” He declared and rose back up to his full height.

I nervously took a stutter step away. My heart felt like it might explode from the attention. I wanted to protest, I wanted to scream for him to be mad at me. I wanted to understand why everypony was thanking me for using a weapon that should have never been made. I instead solemnly bowed my head, “Thank you, but please go be there for your brother.”

He huffed and jumped to his hind legs in a display of his agility for a stallion that was clearly all muscle. He placed his forehooves together with a clap and took a bow to me. “Of course mein fraulein! Should you need me, I will be heare!”

I waited patiently for him to finish and go back to his brother. Once I was certain no one else was going to come running up to make me feel like a megaspell was ever a good option; I slipped into the radio room with Nyota in tow.

The older stallion doctor from before, Bonesaw, was sitting next to the ham radio set, tuning it to try to get through the interference. “Dang fritzing thing. That megaspell put all our electronics into da worst fit I ever seen. Where's a toaster repair pony when ya need em!” I blinked a few times and my tail prodded me with my small toolbox.

Pink, you do realize if I fix this one, he's going to try to make me fix all their stuff right? I prodded back at the hiding Pink pony in the back of my mind.

“Yeah, but it'll be great experience!” She squealed in return. “Besides, it's hard to talk on a radio that won't even let you tune it like a zamboni!” I wanted to ask what a zambone was, but kept my mind shut on the matter. Instead, I started the process of actually getting out the right pieces of repair tools and scrap electronics.

Chifundo came in while I was working on the radio, getting the frequency just right. I figured he had something else to talk to me about, but it would have to wait. The radio suddenly crackled to life and I was surprised when it did. Apparently there was just a busted connector and I had pressed the screwdriver in just right to complete the electrical circuit.

Bonesaw stared and scratched at his chin, “That ain't bad or my name isn't Blood Work!” I stopped what I was doing and turned to him.

“I thought your name was Bonesaw?” He tilted his head and then snorted at me with enough force I felt his breath.

“Bonesaw is my title! We wasteland doctors gotta prove our education level! There is Hacksaw, Sinewsew, Blood giver, Bonesaw, Hoofheart, and Life Giver! You think all the doctors in the wasteland are named Bonesaw or Hacksaw or something?” I was stunned. Everyone called them by their rank, knowing full well that Hacksaw was the lowest rank.

“Heh, get it Sunrise, Hacksaw because he might be a‒” Pink could feel the glare I was giving her and refused to finish that statement. A strange thought of giving her a literal lashing for that terrible pun crossed my mind. Such violence was actually off putting but I calmed my nerves and returned to Blood Work.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know. From the Old World and all, only have a couple months of wasteland experience.” I made such to be as sheepish as possible, hoping I could end this embarrassing conversation faster. I didn't want him to notice the burning blush in my cheeks or the skittishness in my voice.

The radio crackling to life saved me, “Hey! Is that stupid green bitch there or what?” The voice of The Goddess with a Gun made both of us turn to the radio set. “Any of you even alive for me to skin for this one?”

I nervously reached up and clicked the transmitter, “Hey, ummm... Breakfast Blend, can we talk civilly now?”

“CIVIL! You wanna talk civil now? That makes twice you've dropped a megaspell on me! When I get my hooves on you I swear I will—” I hit the transmitter to stop whatever overly exasperated threat she was going to deliver. I looked at Blood Work, who was at a loss for words.

I shrugged at him and leaned up to the microphone, “So how about we parley now? There isn't any sense in more bloodshed; over.”

I released the button and felt the tension in the room escalating. All four of us felt like we were being slowly pressed in by a pike into our hearts. I felt sweat forming on my brow as someone on the other end was suppose to respond.

Finally the radio crackled to life, “You know, if you're going to go on a rant you have to push this button first.” There was a shot from what sounded like a cannon over the radio that caused it to peak out. We heard the report of the shot inside The Roof a half second later, whatever that weapon was; it made one hell of a noise.

“Listen here, you bitch. I don't care what you have to offer, we're committed to this now. I’ve lost too much to turn back now! One of us will be dead before this is over, permanently!” The radio went silent. I felt like I'd been struck. “But ya know what! We’ll setting this like proper Old World Mares!” My heart tightened and I felt like this was a build up to something I wasn’t fully prepared for. “We meet out in No Pony’s Land at High Noon! If you don’t show up, I’ll just blow The Roof Up! We got enough extra shells and just to prove my point, you’ll get a present you thought you destroyed. Be there for our DUEL! Winner decides the fate of this stupid parking deck!”

“You've got to be kidding me? I hit her with a megaspell. I literally hit her with the most powerful weapon ever made! All of her siege guns are gone, and yet here we are; she still wants to fight.” I slumped back into a chair and stared at the ground. I felt defeated. Everything I knew how to do had failed. No diplomacy had worked. No direct combat had worked. Scopola Mina made a chemical weapon and it failed. I made a megaspell and committed to an unforgivable sin. Yet even that wasn't enough. She still has troops left to fight with? She still wants a fight?

I felt Nyota's hoof softly pressing against my shoulder and slowly followed up his leg to his face. I could smell his scent of sandalwood mixed with mine of cordite and ozone. I clung to him like my life depended upon it. He was my anchor right now in this storm and I had no clue what it would take for Breakfast Blend to give up. “There there Sunrise, we'll get this figured out.”

Just then, the sound of incoming artillery shells resounded through the air and we all dove for the floor. Our midnight wake up call was the sound of raining artillery shells. It was going to be another long, sleepless night.

Level 12 Progress - 22% of the way to a Level Up.

Earth Pony Bonus Perk - Karma Beacon - Your Karma level has DOUBLE the effect that it should have. Giving you significantly stronger reactions based upon your karma level.
(Reminder, You’re at 100 Right now! Paladin of the Wasteland Right?)

Fan Art:
Surprise! Fan Meme Templates!

Chapter 34: The Cost of Iron Will

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I’m the sort of person who, if I arrive in a city under siege, in the middle of nowhere, I’ll always find my way to be the leader of the rebels. I just don’t know how.
-Simon Sebag Montefiore

I sat there in the chair, as the building shook with the explosive force of two distinct artillery guns firing in tandem. They wailed away, and yet the building wasn’t going to fall. It was like massive frag grenades hitting the concrete outside: They wouldn’t actually bring the building down, just shake it and fracture the concrete.

I could tell they were actually trying now, but the bombardment was coming from the south, not the north where we had dropped the megaspell dirty bomb. Creatures were all diving for cover except me and Nyota. I sat there in the radio chair, waiting through the shelling, my knowledge of explosives making me fully aware we were perfectly safe here.

Once the shelling stopped the radio dial scrolled on its own to a new frequency. I started to speak when the static cut through to something disturbing:

“Oh you lot! The Roof siege is going pretty good! That Goddess with a Gun is willing to take on more of ya! Just get there already! Raider Radio officially endorses the idea of turning that stupid parking garage into a stronghold for ponies like us. So go sign up, at least long enough to enjoy the rape and pillaging!

“If you’re into murder and vengeance, that Long Eye of the Law bastard and that stupid little Angel with a Shotgun are both inside that place too! Perfect opportunity to put that Old World Bitch’s mouth to better use than…

“What do you mean they set off a megaspell? Who the fuck is they?” There was a shuffle and the cocking of a gun’s hammer heard over the microphone.

“Oh Shit! I didn’t cut it off, I’m sorry boss. There can’t be that many—” His voice ended with a gunshot. The sound of hooves approaching the microphone echoed around us. Three more gunshots hit and then the radio went to static again when the broadcast cut off.

I looked at Chifundo and Nyota, and they looked back at me just as confused. Alguacil walked in with a grumble, “Damn Raider Radio! I’ve seen over two hundred Regulators die from trying to take that place out.” He spat on the floor. “Ya know how we have to end this siege, right?”

I looked up at him and my gut twisted. The possibility of actually having to kill somepony face to face sent goosebumps rippling over my skin. He was right and my heart didn’t want to speak the words. Alguacil stared at me, his face turning to a grimace. “Say it Sunrise, say it out loud or I will.”

“We have to kill The Goddess with a Gun.” I said the words, my body running cold from lips to spine. Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder as I felt the tears forming. A pit struck in my stomach and my heart sank to my hooves. Our course was set: Kill the Goddess or lose our friends.

Pink popped up with a wooden sign in my vision: ‘Quest Added: Justified Killing’.

*****

I tuned the radio frequencies along my PipBuck, trying to see if our enemy had any frequency for their communications. I fiddled around until the sound of a ghoul who chain smoked too many cigarettes filled my ears. “Welcome to Raider Radio!” I paused and listened intently. There was something off about the way it sounded. “Today’s news involves dat siege at Da Roof.” There was an extra crackle in the background.

Is this an underground radio network for raiders? Wait! That crackle! I’m not tuned into Raider Radio, they are! I’m listening through one of their broadcasters! I realized I’d managed to scroll to an extra frequency to get into The Goddess’s Army communications. This was either dumb luck or their sheer stupidity.

“Sunrise, if they start talking about ‘Our Leader’; turn it off.” Alguacil snapped at me as I kept listening in. “Just trust me on that, we don’t—”

“Alguacil, you’re going to explain that to me, now. I detonated a twenty kiloton bomb yesterday. There are no secrets right now inside this town.” I glared at him as the radio kept crackling.

Alguacil grabbed me with both a talon and a wing, concealing both of us while ducking his own head down into his wing band. “Listen Sunrise, they are being led by someone who commands the respect of an Alicorn. You don’t know how dangerous those are. I do.”

“Shut it, I remember the Twin Sisters.” I was not having his high-and-mighty, knows-better-than-you anymore. He needed to be on the level with everyone if we were going to survive. “I know how dangerous they can be, Celestia and Luna had the power of a hundred megaspells. So what is this version of an Alicorn?”

Alguacil staggered back, looking stunned. “Alright fine, you remember the sisters. Well this version is power hungry and angry.”

“So why don’t we just walk up and talk to them? I mean, Celestia and Luna were often quite reasonable.” I looked at him with a smile on my lips. The same smile he’d always seen when I walked right up to introduce myself to a pony.

“Sunrise, no! Not these. Do you know what taint is?” Alguacil face turned to pure horror. His eyes narrowed and his face pulled back with all his wrinkles and divots extended into his features.

“I mean as far as I know, it’s a form of rocket fuel that you refused to let me touch for some reason.” I explained. It was my one and only encounter with taint in my life. The night we met that crazy diamond dog and ate dinner at Hearthfire’s. “I mean, doesn’t it cause mutation?”

“Well, that is what it’s suppose to mutate creatures into.” Alguacil’s lips quivered as he spoke, as though he were afraid someone would hear him.

“I fail to see the problem Alguacil, what is so bad about turning a pony into an alicorn? It would seem like a massive advantage you would want to have.” I declared, stamping my hoof and trying to push his talon off of my chest.

“They aren’t good folks.” He spoke to me like an adult trying to speak to a child. That only made me want to smack him across the face. “They are very very bad. Like they enslave entire towns because they can bad.”

“So just a twisted version of everything else in the wasteland we’ve run into. What is to stop us from being friends with them or turning them to be better?” I pressed my snout up to his beak, staring into his eye. He recoiled as I narrowed my eyes to only hammer back into him. I glared down Alguacil for the first time in my life.

“Algaucil, till I know otherwise; I refuse to assume any creature is innately evil. Period. Now get out of my face, I have stuff to do. Where is everypony else and what are they presently up to?”

I pushed pass him heading to the medical tent, my PipBuck clicking rads here and there as several hot spots slipped through the concrete and seeped into the area.

*****

I saw the nearly broken ponies and their expressions of despair. Each one turned to me and I saw a glimmer of hope spark in their eyes. A sense of relief washed over their faces, Nyota was right; they needed me to act. I felt so strange, but Pink pushed me to not back away from them. The recent bombardment and renewed siege had everyone’s moral down, yet I was like a literal beacon of hope walking among the destitute and desperate. I held up my head and forced a smile to my lips. “That’s it Sunrise, a good leader knows not to show just how scared they really are.”

It’s not that Pink. These ponies need something to hold onto. I have to be better, and make them believe we can win. Even if I know that victory will kill me inside.

“You’re becoming like me! Careful-careful, we all know how that turned out.” I didn’t reply, instead trying to keep any memory from coming up for fear I would get lost in it.

Nyota was having an argument with another patient when I opened the tent flap. “I said sit down, let me check this out.”

“You stupid zigger! Get away from me!” I was there in time to see Nyota take a punch right to the jaw. He was done, Nyota brought his hoof down and then his eye met mine. I saw him in slow motion, adjust his blow to strike the unicorn in a glancing blow across the skull.

The pony went limp while Scopola Mina was holding Picline back with her TK, “Get away from my son! You killed him! He’s—”

Nyota held up a hoof and then showed he was still breathing, Scopola raised an eyebrow as did I. Did he just, NOT kill a pony when he should have? Wicker is an enemy soldier and just hit him hard enough to bust his lip. Yet, he didn’t kill him?

Scopola and Picline went to tend to Wicker as Nyota glared at Picline as he spoke, “He’s your son, deal with him. Next time, I’ll make sure he’s dead.” Nyota snorted as he approached me and the two of us silently stared at each other. There was a sense of apprehension and he looked ashamed then hung his head.

“If not for you Sunny, I would have killed him instead. You’ve shown me I need to be better.” He embraced me tightly and clung to my neck. “I may not like him, but it feels a lot better to not kill a patient who busted my lip trying to treat him.” He whispered this low and I was too stunned to hug him back.

Slowly, I raised my hooves and stroked his mane gently. We didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity. Only when Nyota started to sob and let his pain out into my mane did I say a word, “I love you and have never been more proud of you.” I let him sob into me, and I felt like his heart and soul became lighter than they had ever been before.

His touch was so gentle, each sob his grip on me loosened as he released a pain I hadn’t known he carried. I could feel it; everything inside me told me, I had done the right thing. It took this moment for my way of doing things to sink in.

This big stallion, tough and gritty was sobbing like a baby in my hooves and he was smiling through his pain he was letting out. I held him there as I watched Scopola Mina and Picline examine Wicker’s unconscious body. “He lived? I haven’t seen anyone live when Nyota hits them.” Scopola expressed in wonder.

“He’s got a hard head like his momma,” Picline was incredibly proud while Scopola marvelled at Wicker. I dared not correct them, it felt better this way with the amount of wonder in Scopola’s eyes.

Pink walked up Nyota’s shoulder and held up a sign, “Quest Complete: Save Nyota’s Soul.” I felt that impact into my heart, like a weight slamming down only to be lifted immediately. I clung to him tightly and just stayed there for a while.

Picline and Scopola were still tending to Wicker’s injuries together, something about the way Scopola looked at him in a way that made me blush. I realized it was the same way I looked at Nyota. I smiled softly as I held onto Nyota and saw Scopola look impressed at Wicker.

I wanted to tell her that Nyota actually pulled his blow but I didn’t have the heart to. Pink turned her sign around, “Karma Rank Achieved: Savior of the Damned.”

*****

I sat there, looking out at the wasteland around us. The shelling had stopped, only a two ponies had been injured and the reinforced concrete held. The recent siege blasting made the sight of the wasteland feel even worse. They had done all that wrath and fury, and yet I could see the crater I left. A scar in the land that would never truly heal. I was the cause of the massive crater north of The Roof. No telling how many creatures had died because of my actions.
I’m no better than those that ended the world.

“No Sunrise, you’re better than me.” I paused my stream of thought and turned to Pink rather stunned.

How? How could I be? I’ve made the same—

“The same outcome? No. The same methods, maybe. You’re better than me Sunrise. I did what I did, all the interrogations. The literal mind rapes of every captured zebra, without remorse.” There was a pause as Pink and I stared into each other’s eyes. I could see her soul, the soul of a spirit is different. Think of a Spirit as just a person without a body. No the soul of a ponyis the measure of their worth versus the measure of their cost.

I could see it written all over her, the regret. She wore the feeling of absolute loss and there was nothing she could do to fix it. She was too late to heal the damage she had done. The very reason why she was stuck with me now, and I was stuck with her. “I died and all my friends lost their lives because I couldn’t see the end coming. I should have, all of it was there. Yet here I sit, attached to you, and none of them are alive for me to ask forgiveness from.”

Pink stopped as tears streamed down her cheeks as she grew from a vision in the corner of my eye to a full size pony before me. “You have remorse for your actions. Every one of them. You pull a trigger on a raider and lose sleep over it.” She paused and brushed her hoof down my cheek softly. I closed my eyes and relaxed at the touch, it was welcome. “I’d shoot them with a sharpnel confetti cannon and cackle while doing it.”

Pink no longer felt like this foreign entity I had to share a body with. She felt like a companion, a friend who walked alongside me. A judge and jury who would help act as my conscience and correct my guilt trips. “I could never walk in those shoes. That bomb was the headliner they needed. You’ve given this settlement a fighting chance, now you have to finish the dance party. ” I opened up my eyes as a tear rolled down my cheek.

Are we friends now? I cautiously held hope that she would return the feeling.

“Sunrise, you are such a silly filly. We aren’t friends Sunrise, we’re family. The most dysfunctional set of rocks in a head that can be; but as thick as granite.” She gave me a noogie on my head bringing a smile to my lips. She shrunk back down to being my little PipPony in the corner of my screen showing my body’s health status. “Oh look! Nyota is coming! It’s time to get back to business and run this party to a satisfying explosive climax! My Party Paladin of the Wasteland.”

A wild whistling hit the air quickly drawing closer by the second. I knew what it was immediately, “Incoming!!!” I shouted and dove behind the nearest piece of metal plating. The world went silent as the area around me shook with the furry of an eighty-eight shell exploding just hoof-steps away. I felt bruises under my armor forming as a piece of shrapnel bounced off one of my side plates.

The explosions rocked the building and dust fell around us. I couldn’t figure it out, why was this building still standing? The sound from the explosions I found surprisingly nice but something odd hit my ears as I listened in close. Pink giggled, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you liked the sound of explosives!”

No, these shell sound wrong. The whistling might be from the 8.8 cm gun but the explosions have a lot more twang in their sound. It dawned on me where I’d heard such an explosive before, back in the cave when we first woke up. The Sentry Bot and my bundle of TNT. These aren’t the complex plastics you would find in artillery shell! They are wasteland scrap together shells!

“You figured all that out from the sound? I mean I get the cutie mark, but damn Sunrise. I’m genuinely impressed with how you put that icing on this C4 cake.” Pink was actually holding a block of cake shaped plastic explosive with pink icing on it. I stared at her with an ‘Are you serious right now face?’

*****

The shelling stopped and I started to head down the ram. Just as I turned the corner and ran right into Nyota face first. I blinked a few times and he had what appeared to be the entire spell matrix of a vehicle on a pallet behind him. “Oh, Hi Nyota.” I felt a blush rising through me. I felt my body starting to tingle with seeing him and a sense of relief washing over me.

“Where did you get that?” I asked checking it out. It might work for a replacement for the one I just blew up. The words Whinniebeigo etched onto the top of it’s plastic engine cover. “Is there a Whinniebeigo in here?”

“Yeah…” Nyota drug out his explanation. “I mean there was someone doing repairs on it in here; and it’s missing some wiring and it needs a jumpstart but I have a replacement spell matrix.” I also noticed a very shiny red tool box attached to it.

He pulled it around and opened it, showing me a true mechanics toolkit. “Sweet Celestia where did you find this!? Every single wrench I could ever want, a set of screwdrivers more diverse than zebra stripes! Oh they have Allen Wrenches! Nyota, this is amazing.”

“It was with the Whinniebeigo and it was the only way I could get this thing out. But yeah I thought you might could use it love.” He slid the toolkit across to me and I gleefully reached into my pack and removed the household kit I’d been using, carefully taking out a couple of tools I really liked and put them into the professional’s toolbox. Then I attached the much larger box to my saddlebag straps. It would make noise when I ran but it was a very nice thing to acquire.

A sense of relief and accomplished washed over me and cleared my mind. I looked down at my PipBuck to do a check on what I had and how I was doing.

“Do we have any extra RadAway?” I asked checking my PipBuck radiation meter. Between the Spell Matrix work and the actual detonation, I had lost my appetite mentally, but now I knew why I felt it physically. I had exceeded my radiation limit for the month! As I looked at it, my stomach started to boil. Without adrenaline running through me or an extreme focus of my mind; my body was letting me know just how much it hated me.

I puked. Everything in my stomach, which was mostly bile, right onto Nyota’s chest armor. My body convulsed and shuddered as the world spun, I felt his hooves steady me. He looked at my PipBuck screen. For the second time at The Roof, I had hit moderate levels of radiation poisoning. “Doc! DOC! We need a doctor!” Nyota called out. “No Sunrise, I don’t have any RadAway but we’ll get you some. When did you have time to accumulate that much radiation!”

I coughed twice and threw up again, this time it was red, laced with blood from my stomach lining. I felt myself freezing and sweating at the same time as I shivered in his grip. “The spell matrix, I exposed the magical core to work on it. It had to be turned on while I did it.”

Picline trotted right up to us, whistling a tune. She looked at me then gave a playful scoff as she plugged a Rad-B-Gone straw into my mouth. “Oh she’ll be fine. I’ve seen much worse. Go on ya big baby drink up.” The herbal radiation cure was actually doing its job; just a lot slower than medical RadAway. It took seven packs to bring me down and expunge the radiation from my body. It would have only taken two RadAway. Honestly, the strange orange tangy flavor of the RadAway would have been more welcome.

While I drank, Picline’s horn lit up and I felt the tendrils of magic wrapping around my stomach and internal organs, knitting them back together. “Oh dammit it’s so hard to get at this little filly’s insides through all that armor! Where is the Quick Release!”

I shook my head with the straw in my mouth, genuinely afraid of what might happen if I said I didn’t have one out loud. Nyota smirked at me, “You should install that.”

Once Picline was done with stitching together the radiation damage. My PipBuck was reading less than acute levels of radiation poisoning. It is so much better than the moderate poisoning I just had. Nyota and I found Alguacil, we needed to discuss what to do. We found him talking to a griffoness regulator, The Roof’s new sheriff apparently.

“Listen here Al, you’re a good bird and all, but that isn’t how this has played out! Now calm your feathers before it blows your hat right off!” She wasn’t talking to him like a co-worker, there was something in her voice.

“I ge’t that! But we should look for this Goddess, an’ shoot her too!” He argued back with an angry snap of his beak. “Stormy, what part of dat do you not understand!”

“The part I don’t understand is why YOU have to risk your tailfeathers more than ya have already. We have an entire town to do that with!” Stormy accentuated her point by repeatedly hitting Alguacil in the chest with her talon while she spoke.

I saw the look in Stormy’s eyes. It was the same one I gave Nyota and the same one Scopola Mina gave Wicker. Pink giggled and smiled, “Oh nothing like constant life threatening danger to bring a group of creatures together!” I felt my blush returning and hoped it was just a blush, and not more skin tingling radiation. Once my PipPony didn’t show any signs of poisoning I snickered and started to laugh.

Algaucil and Stormy both snapped to me, “What’s so funny?” They said in stereo which didn’t help me laughing.

A guard leaned up and coughed a few times, I noticed he had a head wound and one of his eyes were covered. “Well Stormy, if you don’t like Al’s idea; we can keep shooting at them ineffectively like we have for the better part of a week.” I walked over to the stallion and gripped his collar to help him towards the medical building inside The Roof.

“Ya know Sunrise, he’ll never ask her out if you don’t push him into the lava of love.” Pink mused at me.

I know, but I think this might be something he truly needs. I got an idea.

“Alguacil come with me.” Nyota and Alguacil started following as I walked the stallion over to the The Roof’s hospital. He needed to be looked over and I thought maybe some rest inside would do him some good. Blackhawk grabbed the injured guard and pulled him along inside her medical ward. I stopped outside and looked at Nyota. “Nyota go on in and I’ll be behind you shortly.”

Nyota gave me a queer look and I motioned him along. Once he was inside and hopefully out of earshot; I turned to Alguacil, “Ask that griffon out to dinner.”

Alguacil staggered back from me as though he’d been shot. His feathers sprung out in all directions and a few even broke off and fluttered to the ground. “Excuse me!”

“Alguacil, you don’t smile. You don’t have anything to live for except your next mark. You don’t have anything that I’ve ever seen that makes you happy.” I paused and took a breath to let that sink in. “That griffon cares about you. If we get through this, you’re going to take her out on a date. An actual date.”

Nyota came back out the door and looked at me, then at Alguacil who was staggered back with his shoulders firmly against the wall to the medical tent. “Oh so you had the same idea I did? Yeah Alguacil, it might help get that stick out of your ass.”

Alguacil snorted at both of us and got back off the wall, “Sunrise, I don’t have time for that and what if I, ya know, and create little Alguacil bastards to run around—” Nyota and I shoved our hooves into his beak to shut him up.

I looked at Nyota, he looked at me. We both grinned and slowly turned back to look at Alguacil. “I think Nyota is right. I also think that you need something besides your gun and killing raiders to live for.” I took a deep inhale and looked at Nyota, as if asking permission to continue. Nyota motioned his hoof to tell him to get to my point.

“Alguacil, soldiers, regulators, merchants, and doctors are required for life to exist.” Nyota tilted his head and started to speak so I moved my hoof to stop him. “Let me finish love.” I turned back to Alguacil, “However: poets, musicians, artists, craftponies, and someone to love are required if you want the soldiers and regulators to have something to fight for. For the merchants to have something to sell, and for the doctors to have something worth saving.”

Alguacil’s hard glare at me softened as Nyota moved his hoof away and so did I. “I’m not asking you to take her to bed. I’m not asking you to love her. I’m not even asking you to make her happy. I’m asking you, to take her out on a dinner date and see what happens. I’m asking you to find a reason to fight for something besides just fighting.” Alguacil deflated and stared at me stunned. I stared back waiting for my answer.

Nyota leaned over and kissed my cheek, “Well said love. Well said.” He whispered in my ear and nuzzled up against me.

Alguacil for once looked vulnerable. He let his shoulders relax and growled low under his breath like a wounded animal, “What if I’m just as terrible as the awful pieces of trash that brought me into this world?”

I placed a hoof onto his shoulder and moved slow to hug him gently. He tensed up and flinched as I spoke, “You know what not to do. If you take her on a date and you fall in love; I’m sure you’ll know how to be better than your parents.” I released the hug and waited for my answer.

“Alright, I won’t promise anything else but I’ll take her out if we get through this alive.” I trotted back to the regulator office to find Stormy, a song in my heart and a better step in my hooves. My body might have felt like it had been hit by one thousand bricks; but it wasn’t about to put a damper on making Alguacil finally open up.

I found Stormy and motioned her to me. “Hey come here.”

She raised an eyebrow and approached standing fully upright. The way a griffon does when they want to intimidate a pony. “So Alguacil agreed to take you on a date.”

She tackled me into the air, flapping her wings and squawking with a level of joy I’d never seen a griffon do before. “Thank you thank you thank you!!!”

I softly pressed my hooves again her, “But listen, he only agreed to dinner okay? It’s a big step for him so don’t put any more expectation on it okay?”

Stormy unceremoniously dropped me to the ground and let out a gruff grunt. I was glad my armor could absorb impact, but had to take a breath as I looked up at the visibly dejected griffon. “Okay, okay, I get it. Not the news you wanted to hear entirely but I’m just telling you not to get your hopes too far up.”

“You have any idea what Alguacil’s reputation is? He’s the Long Eye of the Law! He’s a living legend! And he is taking me on a date then you tell me NOT to expect anything more!” She leaned down and snorted in my face, causing me to cough as I got glared daggers into. “You’re a very silly pony if that is what you expect me to feel. Listen here you, don’t get a girl’s hopes up if you aren’t sure he will deliver!”

I placed a hoof against her cheek and pushed her away to give me some space. “Okay, fair enough. But first, we have to get through this seige, alive.”

“Are you kidding? Now I’ve got something to actually live for besides paperwork after this fight! You think I’m gonna die now? Oh hell no!” She exclaimed and landed on the ground. “Now I’m gonna make sure I get through this in one piece.”

“Well Sunrise, it worked for at least one of them!” Pink was tossing in laughing and rolling over the compass at the bottom of my H.U.D. “Just you got it to work for the WRONG ONE!”

No Pink. Her laughter stopped and she tilted her head. I got it to work for half of them. I was smiling as I trotted back to rally our little group together and come up with a plan. A plan to end this seige.

*****

I found Scopola Mina last, off alone moping in the chemistry lab she had setup. There were a few spent dash inhalers on the counter next to a broken beaker. One wall was covered in chemical compound calculations using marker, chalk, or crayon. She was softly sobbing but stopped when I approached her. I took a seat next to her, “Scopola, you okay?”

“I umm, feel like I’ve failed.” She spoke with a very long drawn as I reached over with what appeared to be the cleanest cloth in the room to dry her tears. She wouldn’t turn her eyes to look at me, she looked away. The rejection on her face made me feel like she expected me to tell her to go away and never come back.

“Well, ya didn’t.” I carefully thought about my words carefully right now. “It did exactly what you said it would. We were just hoping it would do more than that.” I let the words rest and waited for Scopola to compose herself. She finally turned her gaze back to me.

The pain in her eyes was the same pain I felt knowing what we’d just done a thirteen hours ago. Scopola Mina broke the silence, “I was kinda hopin’ we wouldn’t have to blow up the wasteland at all.”

“Yeah I think we all were.” I hesitated and felt a tear roll down my own cheek. Images of my world dying in the bright flash of megaspell death raced through my mind. I realized it was the image I had witnessed of my own making. The image of the megaspell I had just set off. “Now I know what it felt like, to press the button that ended the world. I hate it.”

“I’ve got something worse I need to talk to all of us about. Apparently, I can’t negotiate with raiders.” I sighed and hung my head.

Scopola lifted my head with a hoof and she took the cloth in her TK to wipe my own tears away. “I suppose you’re going to tell us all.”

I nodded and smiled, looking into her eyes now that she would look at me. I pushed the cloth away, “Yes, but I want you to know; you did the best you could. The chemical you made did exactly what you promised on the box.” I paused and took a deep inhale. “I know now, I have to listen to you when you tell me anything to do with chemicals. I want you to know; I was wrong, you were right.”

“Still not what we wanted but yeah, I was hoping they would just buck each other, and not well…” Scopola Mina trailed off and I tapped the Filly Scout sash she had on at a blank spot.

“Next time we see Coffee Stain, we need to get you a chemical warfare badge.” That actually brought a smile to Scopola Mina’s face. She looked at the blank spot as I continued, “And to tell her to promote you to Scout Master.”

“I’m too old to be a scout now, I should—” I stopped that thought right there in its tracks. I shook my head and smiled at her.

“You’re not too old, especially if you are leading your own Scout Troop. You clearly know what you are doing with chemicals and you have shown yourself to be a great survivor. As well as a true friend.” I softly hugged her and motioned her to follow me. “Let’s get with every pony else and figure out how we are going to deal with this Goddess with a Gun.”

*****

Blood Work, the doctor with the title Hacksaw, and the rest of the group were finally gathered around. It was quiet as everypony was looked at me, waiting for an explanation of what I was gathering them for. “So, Chifundo knows what’s going on.”

Before I could say more, Blood Work grunted, “Now listen here, there is a defacto celebration about to go on in your honor. Why are we here?”

“Because those raiders are still wanting to fight, and if I don’t do out there tomorrow at noon to duel their leader, they’re going to level this town and kill every creature in it. They aren’t going to get what they came here for anymore, they just want revenge.”

Blood Work looked at me and laughed, “Oh, well I’m sure you got this! Just load up on healing potions and start with your best explosive!”

My jaw dropped open and I was physically stunned by his words. “Are you serious!?”

Blood Work just nodded and took a sip of his drink. Alguacil shrugged, “Or we just go out tonight while they are still getting organized and finish them off now.”

“First of all, I think I need an exam from Quick Stitch just to make sure the radiation hasn’t mutated my hearing in any way. Second, I’m in no way-shape-or-form prepared to go out and duel a pony to the death. Third, Alguacil, that might be a viable plan if we had more soldiers who were not sitting in a hospital right now.” I wanted to punch Blood Work, and at the same time, hug Alguacil for the only sound tactical advice he’d ever given.

“Oh I never said anything about one on one or to the death. I’m saying we’ve got a few marksponies here and I’m a flyer. We just go assassinate this Goddess with a Gun with layers of snipers and be done with it.” Alguacil sat back in his chair and crossed his arms like he’d just declared checkmate at a chess game.

“Alguacil, as much as I wasn’t trying to challenge this raider to the death, I wanted to convince them to just leave and stop this violence.” I hesitated. I was in a terrible position. It was either go against the word I had given or keep my word and go against my moral code. Either way, I was damned; I was going to have to kill more ponies to save some. My lips quivered as I spoke, “Alguacil, I, umm, I, I am not going to go against my word.”

“Sunrise you didn’t give your word!” Scopola shouted at me.

“Sunrise, this is a raider, they are not a pony anymore. They just wanna stab you in the back!” Alguacil snarled at me. “If they are demanding a duel, they gotta be brok’ something fierce from our last strike.”

“Anyone else got an opinion?” I asked while holding my head with my hoof. I wanted any other thoughts of a way to get out of this situation and end this siege.

“What was it yall promised if yall lost?” Scopola Mina piped up in her very long draw.

“The Roof to surrender unconditionally.” I whimpered out, feeling the real weight of the previous radio conversation finally coming down on me.

“It seems to me, they are after The Roof, not you.” Scopola replied and shrugged.

“Right is our Filly Scout of drugs, they consider you a little bug.” Chifundo replied nodding in my direction. “They truly only want The Roof’s place, and will win it with any arms race.”

“Sunrise, they lost the right to be considered ponies period.” Nyota spoke up, “I think we go out there right now, when they least expect it and fight our way through. They have to still be crippled and disorganized.”

I weighed each plan in my head and slowly looked around the room. “Can I give an opinion, I know my last one wasn’t all that great of a choice.” Scopola walked up to me as she spoke and I motioned for her to go ahead.

“Scopola Mina, your last opinion was an expert one that did exactly what happened. So as far as I’m concerned you are batting ten out of ten. Go ahead.”

“I gotta agree with Mr. Alguacil, they wouldn’t attempt a duel if, ya know, they could take us with sheer numbers.” She paused and inhaled. “They weren’t sure they had the numbers before we arrived. They sure don’t got the numbers now.”

“Sunrise how are ya talking to ‘em by the way?” I pointed at the ham radio in the back of the room at Alguacil’s question. “Ya mind if I talk to ‘em?”

“Alguacil are you going to say stuff that is going to result in there being another dead pony on our heads?” I made sure to put as much sarcasm and vitral into how I said that to him to emphasize what I expected him to do. I really hoped he would surprise me, twice in one night might be nice.

“I might make it so your conscience isn’t as hurt anymore than it already is.” I shook my head. I took a slow deep inhale. Slowly rolling my head back and shuddering as I hung it down to the ground in shame. All trying to analyze a way to express just how I felt, about keeping my word or for that matter that keeping my word meant to kill or be killed.

I felt a very deep remorse but I had to speak the words, “Alguacil, there are over a hundred dead bodies or carbon scarred shadows that were once living creatures on the ground outside right now. That I’m responsible for. There is nothing you could say, or do that could crush my moral compass more than I already have.”

Scopola scoffed at me, “You’re not completely responsible for all those deaths.” I shook my head at her.

“I made the decision, I took it from your hooves. We’ll discuss blame later, we need to solve this now. Nyota, how do we raid them in the middle of the night?” Everyone in the room turned to Nyota as I tried to give the most certain reassuring looking I could to Nyota. I believe in you. You are the best one to talk to about stealth. You have probably done this type of attack before.

“Well before I explain that. I’m going to have to correct you. You are not one hundred percent responsible for this. They made the choice, they live that life.” Nyota and Quick Stitch both approached me as they spoke.

“He’s right, I made the bomb that made them charge. Nyota and Quick Stitch setup the car. You built the bomb, and if I recall, Quick Stitch gave the order to fire; not you.” With Scopola’s words, I felt like I was being relieved and attacked at the same time. Yet I had no room to argue. I just kept my head to the ground, unable to look into their eyes.

“You didn’t even push the button Sunrise, I did.” Quick Stitch shot and that was the one that broke the camel’s back.

“And you wouldn’t have had the option to push the button that ended the world, if I wasn’t here to build it!” I growled out and lifted up to look at all of them. My heart was full of hurt and rage. The hurt that I’d killed so many ponies could never be made better. I felt a deep rage that they didn’t seem to understand how painful it was to create that weapon. The very weapon that stole my life away, the very creation that created the wasteland hellscape I lived in now. I was ready to punch any one of them in that moment. I wanted some outlet or to be hated for what I’d done. Just like I hated those who did it before me.

“No Sunrise, but there are a number of points in time, if you hadn’t been here; we would all be dead.” All of my rage deflated instantly with Nyota’s words. “Stop being so hard on yourself.” I felt incredibly small when I realized his hoof was touching my face. He wiped tears of grief and anger away. My body softened and nearly collapsed under the weight of my armor.

He’s right. “Okay, you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence yet and sighed. “We are going to raid their camp in the middle of the night? Is that what we are doing?” I was asking, seeking an answer. I couldn’t make a decision at all myself. “I am not making this decision right now. I am not in the best frame of mind, somepony help me out here.”

“If I’m honest about this, yall should send out some scouts to see what is left, and find that last couple of gun emplacements.” Scopola Mina nudged Nyota on the shoulder. “We’re fighting way too blind here.”

“I don’t think any of us should do anymore killing.” Quick Stitch made us all turn to him and look stunned at him. “But we have to do what needs to be done to save this place.”

“I agree with Mina, Alguacil can go take a look at the camp from the top floor, see what’s left through his scope. The balefire and flames should light up most of the camp nicely.” Nyota turned to Alguacil then back to me. “So you talk to Mad Mac, see what he has available and I’m gonna go check for more wounded. Then I’m tending to you till we make a decision.”

“I like Nyota’s plan, let me go scout and figur’ this out.” I nodded to Alguacil as he walked past us with Chifundo in tow, both taking scoped rifles with them. Nyota put me into a seat and kissed my cheek. I mechanically, almost instinctively kissed him back.

“Listen love, sit here and wait for a minute. Let me check on the wounded then we’ll have a long chat okay? Get your fighting spirit back.” Nyota and Scopola left the room while Quick Stitch was checking me over, his horn lighting up and examining me from head to toe.

Blood Work groaned out, “Alright, I’ll get the party stopped and say those weren’t parting shells. Celestia dammit; we need some more wrath of Luna.”

Level 12 Progress - 47% of the way to a Level Up.

Bit O Fan Art:

Chapter 35: To Challenge a Goddess

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“May your god bless and keep you; because this Angel sure as Hell isn’t!” - Numbers 6:24 misquoted by a crazy guardian Angel.

I was waiting for Nyota for quite some time. I watched closely as my stallion took a seat next to me and took out a sponge, starting to scrub my armor. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rubbing an anti-radiation scrub onto your armor, to hopefully detox any dust or particles on it from continuing to give you more rads.” He said, and I stopped him, shaking my head.

“No point, we’re about to go back outside. Rad-X and go. We don’t have all night.” We could hear shots in the distance followed by some sort of electrical discharge. I raised an eyebrow as Nyota stood up.

“Okay, well, no more suicidal thoughts and no more blaming yourself, then.” I froze as I looked at him. The words made my blood run cold and stopped any thoughts I had of doing anything. He stared at me, waiting for an answer with the expression of an expecting parent talking to their child.

I licked my lips as my mouth dried, and I felt the words cutting deep into my very soul. “I...I can’t promise that. There should have been a way to find a non-violent answer. Instead, I have only repeated the ultimate mistake of the past.” I looked away from him, unable to face his gaze anymore.

I felt his hoof slap me, hard. “No! You’ve done everything you possibly can, Sunrise. You’ve taught me, and now I’m going to teach you; there are some of those in this world who just want it to burn. You try to appease them, they take more!” He shouted and glared at me. “Let me tell you a story. They came to my village, my home, Oasis. They said if we ‘Funika Kaisari’ and gave half our shamans they would leave us alone. Each year they came and did this. The day we resisted and said no; they took everything from Oasis and burned it to the ground.”

He took a breath and looked me over, “If we had you there, ready with a megaspell and your fighting determination. Oasis would still be standing. Sunrise, you are a force for what is right and should be!” He called out to me and used his hoof to shift me to face his gaze; eye to eye.

“You are an avatar of what the Old World wishes it could have been. Not some ghoul preaching about how it used to be, no, you are a living being seeking to make it that way.” He released his grip and shifted towards me. “You are a force of will for change. Already you have healed a town, now you defend another! What you did, yes it was evil, setting of a megaspell is a last resort but you did it as a last ditch effort to save those whom we all care about.”

He took a deep inhale, “Now, you seem like you’re broke and have lost your way, but let me tell you right now; you are The Angel with a Shotgun. I did some research, a little reading in the journals of some of those who are gone. Then I spoke with the zebras who reside here now.” His hoof pressed up against my chest over my heart. “I fell in love with you because you are willing to do what is right, even if it hurts you later. Sunrise, you want to know the other names they call you?”

I nodded slowly and he smiled. “To raiders you are known as: The Little Green Monster. They fear you more than they fear Alguacil.” That one made me recoil and stood the hairs up on end. “To zebras you are called The Old World Shield. The Enclave has a ten million cap bounty on your head, alive only. If Alguacil found that out, he might just turn you in for it.”

Nyota let all that sink in as he raised my chin and kissed the cheek he had slapped. It was still stinging and warm to his touch. My heart skipped a beat and I felt the butterflies return for the first time since the siege had started. “I love you because you will go out there and face the worst the wasteland has to offer, yet you aren’t corrupted by it. Every single creature we have to kill, you still feel just as torn inside about it as the first. You refuse to let it change who you are inside.”

“According to your own PipBuck, it says right here: Savior of the Wasteland. It’s like even Stable-Tec knows they can’t stop you from fixing it. You don’t just fix armor, repair guns, and make megaspells; you fix hearts and change minds. Everywhere you’ve been.” I felt my spirit starting to lift and I wrapped my hooves around Nyota, clinging to him tightly and sobbing softly as I held tight to him. “You are my angel, and I am your demon, but sometimes we need to switch roles to keep the other one sane.”

As he spoke, I felt warmth returning to my body. I couldn’t mope anymore, he was right. I had done the most terrible thing because there was no choice. “Now, let’s go finish this fight and you can atone for your sins by making sure that the wasteland heals from it.” I nodded at Nyota and sighed out. Another gunshot hit our ears, then a smaller higher-pitched gun behind it. Another electric twang echoed through the air.

Nyota escorted me up to Alguacil on the top floor. The open, cloud filled night sky overhead mixed with the dust being kicked up from the recent explosion and made it hard to see. What was worse was my PipBuck clicking. Even with the Rad-X, I knew we couldn’t stay up here for more than an hour without getting cleaned.

Our clothes and armor need to be scrubbed down too, I thought, feeling the tingle and slight burning sensation of radioactive dust. Alguacil and Chifundo were both looking out with scopes. Alguacil cursed as his shot rang out, only for a purple energy field to emerge in the distance. It was like watching air become water made of purple light, and even had a ripple effect over it from where the bullet impacted.

“When in the griffins hind ass did they get shields?” He shouted out and then dove to the cold concrete floor as a return shot zipped by us. Nyota and I kept low and dashed up to the wall with Chifundo and Alguacil. I raised the face mask on my helmet and pushed it back halfway off my head so we could talk.

“Shields? What do you mean, shields?” I asked, walking up as Nyota handed both of them pouches of Rad-B-Gone as well as Rad-X pills.

We all pressed our backs to the hard concrete wall for cover from the snipers, “They have shields now? When did they get those?”

“I don’t know but most of their gun emplacements they have left along with their new command center have a matrix class shield over them. Our rifles are useless against them.” I thought about it. old world shields were quite resilient. Even a megaspell or balefire bomb would bounce off of a powerful enough one. They had two faults...

ooOOoo

2 Months 22 Days 1 hour till Megspell Day

I was standing at the edge of the Stalliongrad shield. Dad was working with a construction company to repair a breach in the ground from a zebra tunnel team. I was there, helping with mixing concrete as well as looking over the charts dad made of the new engineering architecture.

He was teaching me to design everything at this point. We didn’t know how much longer the siege would last or the war would go on. We did know, however, that the zebras were getting more creative and deadly with how to penetrate the city. “Dad, why do we have to do this?”

Rainbowrise turned away from his crew he’d come out here with and trotted up to pat my head as I struggled to understand the blueprint. “Because, little wanderer, the shield has to touch down at level ground. With a breach like this, it creates a point you can crawl under it. Here, let me show you.”

He led me over to where the crew was working, “Hey, Mountain Jack, show Sunrise here where the shield actually is.” A very large earth pony, the size of a mountain himself, stood up until his construction hat hit the edge of an invisible barrier that became very visible and lined with bright red light that covered the air in a blanket; separating me from the trenchworks outside the city. Where his hat hit, an electric buzzing noise filled the air and ripples echoed across the shield as it held the hat from rising further. Mountain Jack was exactly halfway between each side of the shield as he stood in the crater of concrete bits that they were working to fill.

“Shields this powerful sadly can’t work with uneven ground, hence why there is this concrete ring here.” Rainbowrise held up the blueprint showing me a clear defined white ring that was both on the X and Y axis diagrams. “The zebras blew a hole in it here and we don’t have enough construction crews right now to work on everything. Since I got all the armored vehicles done till the next push, they sent us out here.”

I sighed heavily and hung my head, working out the details. “So, Little Wanderer, what kills shields?” Rainbowrise asked. I rolled my eyes at my dad.

“Uneven earth and anti-matrix weapons.” I replied mechanically, having listened to this lecture at least three times on the way here. We were surrounded by a squad of Equestrian soldiers near our worksite. They were armed to the teeth with Mark II combat armor plating, helmets, and various weapons ranging from battlerifles to Tommyguns. One even had a rocket launcher with twin barrels and a guidance computer attached to it.

All while six ponies worked to prepare this area to receive new concrete and put rebar in place to reinforce the molds they were making. A shot echoed, and one of the soldiers dropped as I saw the hole in his helmet, blood and brain matter oozing out.

“Oh buck! AMBUSH! Everypony down!” The soldiers shouted and I looked up in horror as one of our molds exploded, and three zebras perfectly camouflaged in the rubble erupted out. In just a few moments, I saw three of our workers flying back as zebras struck them in hoof to hoof combat.

One of the zebras had Mountain Jack around the throat, even if he was half the earth pony’s size. The red pony struggled to stay standing, then went limp with a loud sickening crunch when his neck snapped, and his blue mane fell to the ground for the last time. My heart sank. I’m going to die, I thought, as soldiers fired wildly at a sniper and into the pit, hitting our workers and the zebras with bursts of shotgun, rifle, and pistol rounds. One of the zebras burst over the crater edge and landed right in front of my dad.

He drew his .45 pistol and tried to fire it, but the colt pistol was knocked out of his wing and I saw a blow stagger my dad to the ground. My blood ran hot. I just wanted to live my life, I just wanted to have friends and not deal with the massive shield overhead every single day. I saw the zebra standing over dad, rearing back to deliver a blow to his face. My world slowed down. My blood boiled over and everything in me screamed to act. Just like I’d done with the artillery shell. I let it all out in one colossal scream.

“STOP IT!” My voice rose until it was ear piercing and drowned out the gunfire. The soldiers and remaining two zebras all stopped to stare in disbelief. The zebra raised a hoof to her ear, stunned by the deafening shriek at this range. I charged forward at him and leapt through the air.

The zebra mare raised a hoof to defend herself, but she raised it too high, and both of my forelegs impacted into her chest, staggering her to the ground with me tackled on top. I got to my hooves and just started punching her face over and over again. “YOU STUPID FUCKING ZEBRA! I just want to be in peace!” I emphasized each word with a blow right to her face. Her nose crunched under my fury, her eye was beat shut.

I stopped, huffing and puffing as she clung to life under me, bleeding from half her face as my left hoof had beaten it until she was almost unrecognizable. “Go on, kid, kill me; become the monster all you ponies are. Funika Kaisari.” I held my hoof up, wanting to deliver the blow and realizing that was wrong. I wasn’t going to kill anypony, even in a fit of rage.

A soldier ran forward and put the shotgun to her face. Without thinking, I pushed it away, “NO!”

My next shout echoed on a dull street, made silent by the sudden end of furious combat. “Kid! Get out of my way, that is the enemy and—”

“I said STOP IT! That meant you too!” I snarled and moved in his way, putting the shotgun against my chest. I knew this beast, it was the same one that had unleashed the fury upon Corners and the fury I would need to finish the siege of The Roof. I stepped off the zebra mare and turned my head, “Leave, NOW!” I turned back to the soldier. “This war doesn’t end because we keep shooting each other. This war only ends when we stop. You want to kill her, go ahead, kill me.”

Rainbowrise came to his senses and got up, quietly covering me with his wings. I turned and the zebra was gone except for the pool of blood I’d beaten out of her. “Storm Flower, call this in and tell them to get another work crew out here. Don’t report the kid.” The officer of our squad of defenders called out from the other side of the shield. “You two, get out of here. Now, before I change my mind.”

Rainbowrise started to pull me away and I looked at dad, “Come on, Sunrise, we need to go.” We ran home, not stopping until we were at the door. Rainbowrise didn’t open it, he turned to me panting just as hard as I was.

“Sunrise, what is your last memory before the war?” He asked me, and I tilted my head in a very perplexed way at him.

“Dad, I was born two days after the war started. I don’t remember any time before the war.” Rainbowrise wrapped his wings around me and covered my face with his mane. He was sobbing into my mane, I felt warm tears rolling down my neck as my dad cried and shivered, gripping onto me for dear life.

“What are we doing?” He sobbed into my ear. “I take you to work, in hopes you will get a cutie mark in something of craftspony or some constructive profession. Mom takes you in hopes you will get writing or a creative endeavor. We’ve seen the marks of your classmates.” He cried more and his sobbing got harder as he held me tighter. His grip was almost too tight till he adjusted to just cling me to his body. “Half of them are for warriors, soldiers, or of violence. One of them is for chemical warfare! A child whose destiny is to make weapons of mass destruction. Celestia help us, Luna save us; what have we done to our children.”

He kept sobbing against me, “Please, Sunrise, please, don’t become a monster like my generation. Please, Sunrise,” Rainbowrise begged through his tears and froze against me. I reached up and held my father by the shoulders, hugging him back and shifting to alleviate some of his death grip. “Please, show mercy like you did today.”

I felt waves of guilt rushing over me and at the same time, a smile across my lips. Something about seeing your loving father break down into a broken mess strikes at your very heart and soul. I felt his wound and everything in me wanted to heal it. “Dad, I promise, I promise I will show mercy to everypony.” Dad smiled a bit at my efforts to show him I was listening.

“No Sunrise, not just mercy, but love. Like I love you, my little girl.” He kept close to me. His rainbow mane that faded away to the rainbow streak down the left leg of my armor. I was back in the wasteland.

ooOOoo

I was back out of my memory, only moments had passed. I knew what we had to do now. “Alright, we have to get on the ground, get up to the shield and find places where the ground is uneven beneath the shield; then we can get under it.” Everyone looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I’m going to go talk to Mad Mac, see if we can come up with some anti-matrix weaponry.”

“Alguacil, Chifundo, find Scopola Mina and Quick Stitch; Nyota, meet us at the gate. We’re going to go with Nyota’s plan.” I got up and sprinted towards the door, throwing my helmet back on. I staggered towards the ground when a ding echoed in my ears, a round bounced off the back of my helmet. The thick armor plating held and I got my footing to continue sprinting back inside.

Nyota caught me halfway down and I turned to him. I wasn’t used to the weight of my new armor and skidded to a halt, running into another pony carrying several lunchboxes. With a clatter both myself and the unicorn scattered across the floor in a pile of empty pre-war steel boxes. I got my bearings and noticed she was the guard, Fancy Cannon. I’d met her when I was here for the first time.

I looked at the lunchboxes and winced. They were covered in Stable-Tec and Ministry of Morale propaganda. The kind that dad was forced to hang up in his shop that was incredibly racist against zebras. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was tuning it out, but even the walls of The Roof had old posters with reminders to keep an eye out for Zebrican spies.

Nyota helped me up to my hooves and I looked up at him. Then at the propaganda. The hairs on my neck stood up, the realization finally sinking in. “You...you have such a harder time than I do; don’t you?” Nyota looked surprised and shocked at me.

“Hey! Ya gonna help me up?” Fancy Cannon asked.I nodded to Fancy Cannon and helped her up, as well as helped put her load back into a net which she headed to the kitchen with. Then I turned back to Nyota. “You have to constantly look at old posters and pieces of anti-zebra propaganda; the difference is unlike me, it is all targeted at you.”

Nyota blinked a few times and gave a slow nod, “Sunny, where are you running off too so fast?”

“I am going to Mad Mac’s place but I wanna talk to you about this later okay, love?” I could see the shield that pushed it out of his mind falter. His eyes bore a hurt in his soul from just this moment of realization how much he had to deal with, every waking moment. “Just remember, I love you no matter what the Old World stuff tells you, okay? If I mess it up, correct me, alright?”

Nyota smiled at me and just kissed me on the lips with a quick peck and a soft tear in his eye. “I got ya, Sunny, now get going.”

I bolted straight for Mad Mac’s place, stopping at the door to yell at him, “Mad Mac, it’s me! Don’t shoot!” I came inside, panting again and smiled at him.

“What in Tartarus is all the running and hurrying for?” Mad Mac demanded with a gruff cough as he choked on his cigar. He shifted his Stalliongrad jacket and I looked at him. His voice was suddenly familiar, much more than I wanted to admit. “Wait, Mad Mac, do I know you? I mean, from before the megaspells?”

He looked startled at me and coughed a bit, hiding a blush behind his hoof. “I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me from before. Yeah, you know me. We’ve met twice before here at The Roof. I was actively avoiding you when you arrived last time.”

I tilted my head, “Why would you..” I trailed off. He hadn’t adjusted his jacket right and underneath the collar I could see the blue leather. The obnoxious yellow numbering on the collar of a jumpsuit under it, with the number 43 and a yellow stripe sticking out. “You, you were in the stable, MY STABLE!”

I felt the hairs on my neck stand up and goosebumps ripple through my body. I drew my shotgun and Mad Mac held up his hooves, “Hey hey hey, it’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like! You worked for them didn’t you!?” Mad Mac shook his head. I lowered my shotgun and looked him up and down. Something inside me told me to shoot him still, but something else—curiosity?—made me stop.

“I found it on a body outside of the Stable, yes it’s 43, and yes, I know where it is.” He paused and took a breath, “Because it's warm, it breathes, and it doesn't chaff." He took a long draw of his cigar and blew the smoke out in a puff. “Do you remember how cold Stalliongrad gets?”

I nodded to him and sighed, “Fine, but we’re gonna have a talk about where that Stable is; I’m gonna have to find it one day.”

I had more questions but Pink interrupted any further thoughts.“Less questions about Stalliongrad, more question cake about how to kill a shield. Preferably with Anti-matrix icing on top.”

I grumbled and gritted my teeth.“I’ll have questions for you later, you’re the first real clue I’ve had about my parents. Right now, we need to make an anti-matrix weapon. I have to kill shields.”

He nodded at me and thought about it.“I mean I had an idea but never quite put it together.” I trotted up to the counter and he pulls out several shotgun shells with sickly green bands around the middle of their red hulls. “These are plasma slugs, but if I can figure out how to change the energy field to release electro-magical energy, it can act as a new type of shell.”

I thought about it and immediately pulled out my new toolbox, popping one of the slugs open. My PipBuck started to click when the contents of the shell were emptied. “Hey now, watch out, that is live plasma slug! The wrong tick can set it ablaze and it’s radioactive outside the lead lined shell hull!” Mad Mac took a step back and then saw me just working away.

“I know that, but plasma slugs are like mini-spell matrices you find on a plasma rifle. If you adjust them you can convert it from plasma to EMP.” I replied and kept fiddling with it. The slug had a glass cover that was green on the inside with the swirling magical plasma in it. I kept working and felt it click open, exposing the plasma core.

My PipBuck started clicking faster and I looked up at Mad Mac, “Quick get me a radio transistor and a spark battery.” He hesitated and then nodded smashing a radio off his shelf and giving me one of the transistors out of it along with a battery and a set of jumper cables. I set the transistor next to the slug, hooking the negative end up to it and then hooking both ends onto the battery, taking the last positive end and steadied my quivering hoof as I slowly edged it towards the glowing pulsing core of plasma.

Too much and it will explode, too little and it won’t change the charge to an EMP. Mad Mac pulled out a bullet shield with a vision slit and slammed it into the floor, getting behind it and looking at me with a nervous smile behind his screen. I touched the positive end to the pulsing ball of plasma no bigger than a golf ball. There was an audible click, and a spark of electricity jumped, hitting me in the chest and sending me flying across the roof!

“YEOW!” My whole body seized up with pain as the spark battery sent a charge into me. I lay on the floor, unable to breathe. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even hear my heart beating. Everything just screamed in pain and I felt a rising panic as I wasn’t sure if I was going to die or not.

There was an audible POP, like opening a soda can with a hammer. I twitched on the floor, feeling my heart suddenly restart. The only sound in the room that of me taking in a deep breath. “Holy Buck, Kid! You did it!” Mad Mac exclaimed, running to help me to my hooves.

“Huh? I did?”

“Well yeah, we probably should have put on rubber gloves and grounded you first, but look.” He pointed at the plasma slug, and inside now instead of a sickly green it pulsed with a deep sky blue hue. We quickly slid the other half of the slug over it and slid it into its shell hull with wadding. The shell sensed the change and the green band on it turned to the same blue as the core now.

We made twenty-two more of those pulse slugs, as it was all he’d let me make. I headed upstairs to meet with the rest of my group, now with a secret weapon loaded as the first shell in ‘Sunray’.

I checked my weapons on the way up the stairs. Sunray was ready. ‘Celestia’s Hammer’ read 100% charge and I loaded it with the special 2mm EC rounds. I hadn’t fired it before but I knew that gauss weapons supposedly could penetrate quite a lot of armor and were the reason for personal energy shields. Lastly, my third option, ‘Newb Tube’ was loaded with an incendiary grenade. I figured the best bet to make sure we had light during the battle tonight was setting something on fire.

I arrived at the camp edge next to my friends. There was one problem: no one was sure where Nyota was. Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina had several doses of Rad-X and RadAway ready for us and passed it out to make sure we all had enough. I looked at my PipBuck, I was already at 120 absorbed rads on the geiger counter. 200 was acute poisoning, 400 moderate, 600 deadly, 800 critical, and 1000 was 100% lethal no matter what. I would have to keep a close eye on that number.

“Sunrise, good, you’re here.” Quick Stitch motioned to me, “Isn’t Nyota with you?”

I shook my head, “Check your PipBuck, where is he?”

I blinked a few times and looked at my PipBuck, I changed the setting to locate TAGs. Four of them were right here with me but the fifth one was 200 meters, outside The Roof. Towards where Alguacil had been shooting, and it proudly displayed the word: Nyota, under the tag dot.

It started raining outside and there was a blast of erie green lightning across the sky that made my PipBuck click. What the hell? Can radiation make a storm now?

Chifundo shuddered and closed his eyes, “The storm isn’t natural, it is a living spiritual.” We all turned to him, disturbed.

“Say what?” Scopola Mina piped up at him.

“The storm is a spirit, unleashing it’s wrathful merit. I cannot attempt to calm, for it raises a fist, not a palm.” Chifundo explained opening his pink eyes back up.

One of these days I’m going to find out if there are ever any spirits that are nice to us!

“Well I’m going to go with that being bad.” Quick Stitch explained, passing out more RadAway, Rad-B-Gone, and Rad-X to all of us. Another roll of thunder and another flash of lightning answered my question, three more rads registered as absorbed through my Rad-X. Alguacil turned to me, then back to the door out, “Sunrise, we can’t go out ther’ in this. Dat rad-storm will kill us all for sure!” Alguacil declared and I gritted my teeth, shaking my head at him.

“Nyota is already out there, the rain will cover our approach. Even if we have to keep just sucking RadAway through it, we have to go stop him from doing something stupid.” I hesitated and looked around. “Do any of you know why he is out there?”

Scopola spoke up, “Well I was discussin’ with him about creating a potential antidote for my gas. Then I said I’d need a sample of it and when I turned around he was gone.” I looked at Scopola, dumbfounded, and physically facehooved in front of her.

“He’s out there getting your sample. We’ll just have to avoid the gas for now and rescue him from, well, himself. He probably thinks he can sneak in there but that shield will reveal him as soon as he touches it.” I gave the order and pulled out a RadAway, sucking the orange tasting liquid down my throat immediately, reducing my rads down to near zero.

Dad, I don’t know if you will ever know this. I don’t know if you can hear me, but hold on a little longer. I’m sorry for what I’m about to do; forgive me if I have to kill someponies to save others. I just hope I will get to show some mercy before the night is over. I felt like his wings graced over my shoulders in that moment, as though he heard me and his gaze was turned to me.

We ran into the cold dark rainstorm, my PipBuck clicking with radiation warning. The air was so irradiated I could taste metal upon my tongue. I prayed to Luna I hadn’t just doomed us all.

*****

The mud squished under my armored hooves as we fanned out towards Nyota’s tag. Alguacil flew high overhead. Quick Stitch hung back behind us, around twenty hoof steps to rush forward and heal anyone who needed it. Chifundo stayed beside him while Scopola Mina and I took the lead.

The rain didn’t let us see very much. We were closing with Nyota using my PipBuck tag to guide us. His sneaking was slowing him down while we were just hoping the rainstorm and night darkness kept us from being noticed. I cut my PipBuck light on and turned the color to a dark purple that blended with the night. Unless you looked directly at it, you wouldn’t notice the light source until it was almost on top of you.

The rain wasn’t cold either, it was warm and caused my skin to tingle under the armor. It was like an extra soapy bath. Is this what it’s like to feel something that is killing you?

“Insidious, isn’t it?” Pink offered, now suddenly wearing an executioner's hood with a yellow smiley face on it where her face should have been.

The fact that I’m being exposed to radiation and yet it feels so warm and slightly comforting?

“Yes! Think about it. Weapons of Mass Destruction like Scopola Mina’s chemical blast or the megaspell bomb; the ponies don’t know they’re dying. They die in absolute ecstacy in Scopola Mina’s case. In yours, it just makes you really wanna lay down and take a nice, sweet nap on a cloud.”

The true sickness of these weapons started to dawn on me. You wouldn’t know you were dying, unless you knew what tasting metal and the tingle on your skin meant. In the case of Scopola Mina’s chemical weapon, they didn’t know they would die from mating.

We watched the rain wash away the cloud of death still present. Well, at least we don’t have to worry about inhaling it. Just don’t fall in any puddles.

My PipBuck’s clicking got louder as we got closer to the fires of the camp. We could see the top of the shield lighting up; keeping the rainwater out. A puke green lightning bolt echoed across the sky. It lit up the night around us and illuminated our path for a brief flash. I saw Nyota, at the edge of the purple energy field, digging to try to get under it.

We approached him as a group, “Nyota, get over here.” I motioned him towards us as my PipBuck started to give me warnings of hitting radiation poison. I grabbed a RadAway bag, sucking it down as the anti-magic pulsed through my body to purge the radiation.

Nyota didn’t hear us and disappeared into the darkness. I felt an itch, a pre-emptive itch for Med-X, and pushed it away. No, not unless I need it.

“But don’t you neeed it?” Pink’s teasing did not help as my tail pulled the syringe, and I stared at her with a shake of my head.

As tempting as it is, Pink, not unless I need it for the pain. We kept creeping towards the edge of the shield when suddenly it zapped out as we got within 30 meters. The entire shield failed and rain flowed freely into the camp. Dinging of rainwater on tents echoed around us. There was a loud bang and what sounded like a generator misfiring that echoed over the rainfall.

Two bullets whizzed past me and made me hit the ground. A yelp from a nearby tent echoed above the camp. Nyota had done something, he’d taken down the shield, but someone had found him.

I have to buy Nyota time to get out. How? I looked at my available weapons. Can that act as a mortar? I dove into a nearby crater in the earth. My hooves quickly pulled out ‘Newb Tube’ and activated S.A.T.S. I aimed it up towards the sky and my PipBuck showed the area of effect as well as where the grenade would land. I adjusted the barrel’s angle like a mortar. I moved the S.A.T.S. indicator until it was directly over the largest tent.

Then I queued the attack and released the spell. With a dull thump the round fired out of the barrel. The bright flash of gunpowder lit up the night like a beacon. I watched in slow motion as the fusing grenade streaked through the darkness like a flare signalling for help. Its fuse ran out twenty meters in the air and the grenade burst into a giant wall of falling flames.

The water had no effect on the falling flames that covered the camp. Nylon tents may be incredibly good for repelling rain and elements, but fire is very bad for them. The canvas, nylon, and cloth tents ignited in a blaze that lit up the night like a lighthouse beacon. Wow that burns fast! Any thoughts of beauty I could have had by the sight of the flames was silenced by the screams of ponies on fire.

Ponies in uniforms, just as I’d seen in the trenches, ran from the three tents set ablaze, screaming out. Bullets whipped overhead from behind me, flying right through exposed heads as two of them dropped. Chifundo and Alguacil’s rifle sounds barely noticeable over the pouring rain. I checked my left with Scopola lining up her laser rifle and Quick Stitch pulling out his flamer pistol. The same one he’d used to kill the husks at Silver Fang Shanty.

I worked to reload my grenade launcher and fired off another incendiary round with the same result. My heart whimpered and I gritted my teeth, knowing that dozens were going to burn to death tonight. The element of surprise was gone; they knew we were here and the brawl about to break out was kill or be killed.

Despite the flames providing light, I couldn’t see Scopola or Quick Stitch; I only had their E.F.S. dots telling me where they were. It wasn’t comforting. E.F.S. only told you if something was alive and within 100 meters. It didn’t tell you if they were injured or what was happening. Nor could it discern range to any particular dot. There was a sea of red along my compass of the H.U.D., red dots that wanted to kill us.

I scrambled to get my bearings but the clicking on my PipBuck suddenly shot up. I looked down to see my hoof in a glowing green puddle. I lifted it out and the clicking went down, I could clearly see a piece of the core from a spell matrix, a tiny piece no larger than a single piece of buckshot. I looked behind me where the flames were illuminating, a slope down, almost a sheer slope. My heart skipped a beat.

They set up their primary camp near one of the craters! It wasn’t the megaspell crater but rather one created by a collapsing building. The bomb I’d set off was no more than 20 or 30 kilotons of TnT, but now I understood what made it all so terribly lethal. I suppressed the need to panic by putting away the grenade launcher and getting out my shotgun. My heart pounding in my head as the loneliness started to set in. My legs felt weak and I gripped Sunray tight while sucking on a fresh bag of RadAway.

I was out here, unknown where my friends were and shots were raining out in all directions. Their pips are still here, Sunrise. They’re fine, you need to get up and fight. You’ve done this before, just with others standing at your side. Then a burst of laser fire caused cries of agony to rise in place of gunfire. I poked my head above the slope. Scopola Mina was advancing, putting down a layer of burning red death, her laser rifle firing so fast that the rainwater was steaming off it from the excess heat.

I raised my shotgun and aimed, pulling the trigger, and my shoulder rippled with a much heavier than I expected thud. I hadn’t fired a pulse slug, that was something else with a lot more recoil. I hit S.A.T.S. to figure out what had just happened and wished I hadn’t. The round exiting the shotgun in slow motion was a solid chunk of crystal. The tip of that chunk of crystal was starting to pierce the stallion’s armor, right where his crotch protection was.

I could only feel sympathy and sorrow for him. Unlike my armor, which had sufficient protection for that area, he was just wearing standard freshly made Mark 1 Combat Armor. Wait, freshly made? Why does all their armor look like it just rolled off an— Oh Celestia! His FACE! I’m SO SORRY! The round punched right through and ripped open his under belly and ribs. He was sent his barrel plate and chest plate flying into the mud.

S.A.T.S. was burning out, I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t help but feel his pain. His face was contorted in a final gasp of raw agony and surprise. The rain casting around him blended with the blood slowly ripping out of him as gravity took over. S.A.T.S. may have only been ten real world seconds but that was ten seconds forever burned into my mind. A death I had caused, the unicorn dropped his gun pointed in Nyota’s direction as time sped back up for me. It, along with the unicorn, dropped into the mud.

“Surrender! Give up and We’ll show mercy!” I shouted out, trying to get above the rain and the gunfire. The marauder soldiers almost turned to me in unison, not to surrender, but to kill me. Gunfire rained out in my direction, pelting my armor plating with pings and heavy impacts into my body. I ducked down knowing no one could stand up to that kind of firepower outside of power armor. I could feel the bruising under my stable suit as the pain from their hail of death told me their answer.

I fought back the tears knowing that the stallion I had killed was not the last one I’d have to kill tonight. The fire on me kept my head down until a burst of flame erupted from Quick Stitch’s oversized pistol and the gunfire was replaced with screams.

When a pony screams from being burned alive, it’s very different from some creature screaming about anything else. Broken bones don’t excite the level of torment from their lips. This was the kind of pain that only one thing could induce: the agony and panic of fire. It relays a primal fear that comes from the days we lived in caves and open fields. The fear of dying from burning to death. I had never experienced it myself, but in their voices I could truly feel all the emotional distress and raw anguish they had that moment.

There is no way or necessity to describe this type of scream any other way besides: that is the howl of a pony cooking alive. I offered them mercy! This didn’t have to happen! I stood up with a warcry yell as I pulled Newb Tube out and thumped it once, rapidly reloading another High Explosive grenade as the first detonated and shot another one out. Pony screams silenced over the roar of detonations, and even the rain paused. The battlefield was brightened temporarily by the explosions and their secondary booms from ammunition or grenades going off with them.

Quick Stitch let out a whinny of pain as a twelve gauge magnum round went off and slammed into him. Scopola Mina returned fire at the shotgunner with a volley of laser that kept going until his entire form lit up in a bright flame. As she stopped firing, left before us was an ash statue of the soldier. He was converted by the laser weapon into dust that the rain simply washed away before my eyes.

In the burning mess of incendiary rounds and the battle around us I couldn’t find Nyota. His pip was there on my H.U.D. above the compass with a lot of red pips between myself and him. I do not know if he is alive or dying, just that he is still breathing. That is how E.F.S. works, it just shows intent and a pulse. I lifted myself back above my shell hole and fired the shotgun again.

I fired at the nearest target, watching as he stiffened and fell over dead before something hammered into my shoulder with a loud pop. I staggered and thought my armor had been penetrated. I looked up to see a soldier with a gauss carbine. It looked similar to Celestia’s Hammer but had smaller magnets along its barrel. I heard the whine of the charge over the rain.

My H.U.D. flashed with warnings that my shoulder ablative plate was broken. Another hit there from that thing would punch right through. I braced myself for a shot to shred through there and ripple my insides apart. The soldier aimed and then his jaw exploded. His hoof reached up to it as his lower mouth fell to the ground. A second shot rippled through his neck. A moment later, I heard the echoing of Alguacil’s and Chifundo’s rifles through the rain.

We pressed forward, fighting through the flickering flames. Quick Stitch used his magic to mend his own wounds and then moved up to check mine. A few more bursts of accurate fire from us and the raiders around us broke. They fled.

An electric hum hit the air as smaller green and purple shields erupted from several tents. These shields only covered those tents, though. Quick Stitch moved up to me as we got to the burning tents. “Sunrise, can you bring that shield down?” He asked, pointing at the purple one surrounding a large tent with a radio antenna sticking out of it.

“You want me to bring it down?” I hesitated, thinking on just how to destroy a shield that large.

“We should find Nyota first, but—”

I cut him off by pointing my hoof in the direction of his tagged dot on my H.U.D. “Eyes forward says he is that way.” I wedged Newb Tube into the ground and angled it up. I pulled out my maintenance kit and got the bolt cutter out, using it to align and stabilize the weapon.

I looked up at Quick Stitch, “Those shields with generators like that are made to take bigger hits, but continuous damage on them overloads the spell matrix.” I explained to Quick Stitch as I popped in another white phosphorus grenade. “Light it on fire and it will literally cook the shield away.” There was a dull thud as the round fired and landed right on top of the shield, cascading blazing white hot debris all over it.

I knew the rainwater wouldn’t extinguish the flames; you need salt and sand to smother them instead. The yellow shield started to flicker and I turned to Scopola Mina, “Everything you got, fire that rifle till the shield shatters!” Scopola Mina huffed an inhale of dash and raised her rifle. Deadly precision of laser bolt after laser bolt burned through the night. The rainwater evaporated off the solid line and ozone filled our noses as the first few bolts were all it took to send the shield into overload with all the fire covering it.

The outer shield shattered with the deafening roar of glass. The laser weapon had struck right at the focal point the shield originated from. It was like standing in a glass house and all of the glass suddenly gave way from a sonic rainboom passing too close.

Scopola’s third bolt struck another shield, a green one on the inside of the shattering purple one. How many of these things do they have!? She kept firing relentlessly. I could see the signs of her AER-6 laser rifle heating up, and the barrel was white hot as she stopped when the final shields around their command tent shattered with the same eruption of glass reverberating around us. She found its magical focal point again, and again her laser rifle in overcharge mode overloaded the shield generator’s capacitors.

I’m glad she is on our side, and that the zebras never had laser weapons to break our shields like that.

“This is fun! Is there a merit badge for shield shattering?” Scopola Mina exclaimed far too enthusiastically for myself and Quick Stitch. We looked at each other, confused, and I heard a grenade from Nyota’s direction. My head snapped that way to see the number of red dots on the compass around him had gone down; significantly. When did you learn to use grenades? I thought to myself, but now wasn’t the time.

I pulled out a molotrot bomb, roughly five times the normal size of a regular cocktail. I’d made from all the extra grease and burnable liquids into a solid jug. I pulled the cork, shoved a rag in, and held it up to the end of Quick Stitch’s flamer pistol he was still levitating in the air. “Go on, light me!” I declared and he gave a short burst of flame to light the rag. I hurled it with all my might. The glass shattered upon the radio antenna and cascaded flaming jellified donut grease across the battlefield, adding to the white phosphorus and creating some primitive form of napalm that would burn all night.

Within moments, the wet nylon tent was going up in flames and ponies came out of it, fleeing while lit on fire. “Don’t let them suffer! Save them or end it quick!” I yelled out as sniper fire from Alguacil and Chifundo answered, putting down the first two to emerge from the tent.

A hail of bullets erupted from Nyota’s direction and I dove in front of Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina, trying to absorb as many of them as I could. Round after round pinged off my armor and I staggered from it. My foreleg found the mud with a heavy thud. The muscle was numbed by the impacts. I felt the bruises and prayed my left shoulder and left rib ablative ceramics would hold.

The camp was fully ablaze now. A rainstorm coming down around us as fire spread out to anything that would burn. The battlefield was a bright beacon in the night, like a lighthouse calling to all ships to avoid it. We could see the flames unyielding while rifle and submachine gun fire erupted and bullets strayed out from Nyota’s position on my H.U.D.

There were only a few red dots still left after all this. More were winking out by the moment as they succumbed to their wounds. A battle saddle wearing mare appeared with two medium machine guns pointed at us. I dove into Quick Stitch pulling us both into the mud as rounds filled the area around us. The roar of machine guns removed anything else we could hear.

Dozens of rounds riddled the mud beside us, “Someone! Help! We are PINNED DOWN!” I shouted, seeing Scopola Mina in the same mud hill as Quick Stitch and myself. The mud was being eroded by the rounds hitting it. It wasn’t a question of if we were going to get gunned down, but when the dirt and slime protecting us would be whittled away.

A round punched through the dirt and plinked off my armor; two more rifle cracks and the machine gun fire ceased. Then another rifle crack; this one right on top of us, there was a cry that pierced the night. Alguacil crying out in pain. Our sniper cover had finally been countered.

I got up and saw a unicorn mare with an Iron Hoof heavy rifle still smoking. I raised my shotgun, aiming below her red mane at the brown furred face. I wasn’t aiming to maim or incapacitate. I was aiming to kill. I screamed in rage into the trigger as I punched it. She raised her gun just enough that the solid slug that exited my shotgun ripped her rifle from the purple telekinetic field and sent it flying.

Flares guns thudded with their contents whistling into the sky. Soon the night was lit up almost as bright as day. Both the mare and myself were distracted by the flares as another high pitched firework whined to life and my shoulder felt the impact. The armor singed and burned with a crackling flare shot into me, designating me as everyone’s primary target.

The mare’s horn lit up and arcane bolts of death fired from her horn towards me. The magic missile exploded the flare inside my armor’s outer cloth into sparks as it was hit. A cascade of hot burning aluminium sparks and bits into the air around me. I screamed and staggered, dropping my shotgun into the mud. My eyes were trying to adjust and my body winces away from the white hot phosphorus that burned at my face and made me feel like I was wearing an oven.

Arcane bolts kept hitting my right leg, right above the PipBuck, driving shot after shot into my armor. My leg from shoulder to the knee screamed in pain and agony. I staggered. “Come on! Is my PipBuck a bullet magnet?” My tail took the opportunity to shoot Med-X directly into a chink in my armored leg to dull the pain. I glared at Pink but the sweet cooling chill gripped my mind. The dull haze made it easier to think and removed the pain from my mind.

A raider jumped into the way of the next volley. He had a massive bumper sword in his teeth just like the ones who had raided inside The Roof. The unnamed stallion fell over dead as the mare didn’t let up her bursts of arcane bolts for him, instead magically machine gunning the bolts of arcane death into him still trying to kill me.

Quick Stitch stepped in the way and unleashed a volley from his flamer pistol until the tank inside drained out completely. I couldn’t see anything happening, only hear the screams of the mare on the receiving end. Rainbow bursts of death from the mare’s horn bounced off Quick Stitch’s armor harmlessly, the deadly beams not finding purchase against the magically hardened Ministry of Peace medic armor.

Another unicorn emerged from the darkness and before he could charge his horn, Scopola Mina pierced him through the face and skull with repeated laser rifle bursts. The series of shots were grouped so close together, it would have easily earned a markspony badge. He dropped in a heap with smoke rising from the holes that were once his eyes and forehead.

The next unicorn from the darkness was met by the higher pitched crack of Chifundo’s rifle and punched through his skull, dropping him instantly. Nyota darted from around a tent set ablaze, a hail of tracers following him. I was glad for the plating I put on him as sparks shot off his armor from bullet strikes. He grabbed a pony by the neck emerging from a flaming tent and threw him into the way like a bulletshield. The poor raider never knew what happened while his ‘friends’ gunned him down in the fog of battle.

Nyota disappeared into another tent, this one not on fire yet. I could see a trail of blood in the dirt from him; I hoped he was going to be okay.

There was a flash of neon blue magic as a pony teleported into the battlefield. I immediately recognized her. The deep grey coat mixed with flowing yellow curly mane. Her eyes glowed a blue that pierced the night from her over use of magic and radiation exposure. She raised a Chiacolt Typewriter towards Scopola Mina. The .45 caliber submachine gun had a full drum magazine and was ready to go.

A burst of fire ripped into Scopola Mina before we had a chance to react; the submachine gun easily penetrating her armor and sending ribbons of red into the rain around us. I found a memory welling up inside me and I fought for control to shove it back down. I watched in horror as Scopola Mina dropped to the ground. The Goddess with a Gun teleported away while my heart sank to my hooves. I should have killed you when I had the chance! NO!

Quick Stitch slammed a healing potion into my mouth before I could start to scream. He sucked on one himself while dashing over to Scopola as I tried to think fast. I have to stop the teleporting! Now! Or we’re all dead! I hit S.A.T.S. and checked my inventory while the world slowed down around me. I had six improvised claymores with sprinkles. I’ve got an idea. I marked the points in S.A.T.S., carefully judging angles and distance around Scopola Mina and Quick Stitch, creating reference markers for me within my H.U.D. to plant them just right.

I released the spell and made a mad dash. My tail scooped up my shotgun while I slammed mines down in place, rigged to a series of detonators I passed my tail. Mentally noting each mine with a number and its facing. Whoo! Fortress Minecrafting! I like it: you attack the wall and it explodes like a double surprise cake! I wanted to scream at Pink to shut up, but she was correct. There was now a ring of claymores armed around us on hair triggers, waiting for the next teleport.

I had to fight back the memory from The Goddess with a Gun with all the will my mind could muster, while keeping my senses ready as I watched the S.A.T.S. recharge. I counted my breathes while the battlefield quieted down.

Raiders from behind the tent emerged with combinations of battle rifles and service carbines. The ones who had been gunning for Nyota. Scopola Mina opened up with her laser rifle even as Quick Stitch was working to remove bullets and heal her. The drugs she was on made sure she was conscious, and though her legs may not have fully worked, her horn still did.

I was quickly receiving the education on why the laser and plasma rifles were so feared by the zebras. The amount of firepower they could put down was horrific. Dozens if not a hundred bolts of rainbow core red-hot death ripped into the ranks of the raiders. One turned to ash, another two dropped where they stood from the relentless volley Scopola Mina put up. Light armor was not something that could stand up to that weapon; you needed reflective or heavy plating to survive in the open against one of those.

The final stallion dove for cover inside the tent Nyota went into. I saw his tracers whizzing out of the tent and wild machine gun fire was cut short by a loud crunch. The stallion flew out the way he came in, his rifle crumpled into his smashed face. Nyota’s hoof just barely exiting the tent flap where his full on buck sent the poor cover-seeking stallion catapulting into the mud. A dull thump on the ground was the last sound that one made.

All around me was the horror of death and battle.I pushed it out of my mind. This wasn't like Spring Bronco, I had to fight on. I had to act. I would not allow another companion to become like Buddy. Where I got scared and failed to act; and my friend died for it. It didn’t matter how many we had to kill; they had to be broken. I had to save Nyota from his foolishness and these raiders had to be broken. We had to save The Roof.

I wasn’t sure how long we could keep this up. Scopola was being worked on by Quick Stitch, Alguacil wasn’t firing back anymore. My armor was broken as I sat in my mine fortress, and Nyota was wounded as well. The next stallion to appear found Nyota on him from the tent in a flash. I watched as Nyota held him down and pummeled his face, then crushed his neck. The sharp edge of the brass shoe slicing clean through it and bleeding his remaining life essence away. He never had a chance to even respond beyond lying on the ground, bleeding to death.

My heart pounded in my ears, my mind raged against every action; wanting to retreat into a memory or run away screaming. My eyes had to look away from dead bodies only to see more dead bodies. All while we waited, waited for The Goddess with a Gun to return.

A whistle blew and we heard the sound of soldiers moving towards us, “Alright boys! Get em! Drive them into the mud!” The battle was far from over.

Level Up Progress - YOU DON'T get your XP till the fighting is over NICE TRY!

-My Badge from Bronycon by the Vendors after they heard I fainted.

Chapter 36: Angel versus Goddess - End ACT III

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“The True Warrior fights not because he hates what is before him, but because he loves what is behind him.” -Shaka Zulu.

I heard the flapping of wings through the rain squall and two pegasi emerged, heading for the pieces of flares around me. They flew right at me, and I saw blades lining their wings. Like swords built specifically to fit onto their wings and made for slashing or decapitating creatures on the ground. They wore the same standardized armor of the rest of the soldiers-turned-raiders.

I felt more memories trying to well up and I had to shove it down while they closed right at me. I stood up to my hind legs just as Nyota had trained me. My tail held onto the detonators while I raised my shotgun to block. With a clang that shook me to the core the first pegasus impacted and I found myself tumbling backwards. I was off the ground as my tail slapped S.A.T.S. and slowed the world to a crawl.

The second pegasus was closing in and would strike me without giving me an opportunity to block, and with no foundation to stand on. I watched him closing in while the first one was grinding off my armor plating. He’s going to cut me in half! What am I going to do? My PipBuck suddenly lit up with a queue for a melee hoof strike. I scrolled through the options I had, one of them said: “Body Check”. Well, that might work; I got nothing else!

I targeted the pegasus grinding his blade across my barrel and let the spell do the rest. With the full force of an Earth Pony bucking, I slammed into the pegasus with my hips and my hoof clipped him right in the groin. I could feel his pride smashed under my hoof as he curled up mid-flight and plummeted back while I kept flying towards the dirt.

The sudden course change of his wingpony caused him to tumble right into the second pegasus. The two of them went flying as they bounced off each other. The one I hit slammed into the dirt where I’d been standing, while the second flew over my head. I watched as he dive bombed face first, right in front of one of my claymores with sprinkles.

I slowly rose to my hooves with a groan and checked my tail to make sure it still had the detonators. I held it up at the pegasus still recovering in front of my mine. He saw the red button in the dim flare light. “Move and I blow the mine! Stay down!”

I turned back to the other pegasus I’d kicked and he stood up, shaking it off and snorting at me. Rifle fire riddled against my armor. The plates still held, but the bruises were getting bad; bad enough that I wanted more Med-X. Scopola Mina’s laser rifle mixed with a sudden gout of flame from Quick Stitch’s pistol silenced the rifles, at least temporarily.

I stood up on my hind legs. My shotgun was lost in the mud. Pink, if that Pegasus moves, press the button. I will not be mad.

“WHOO!! I get to fire a party mine! It’s almost as good as a party cannon!” Pink shouted with glee and waved a salute to me just at the corner of my eye. The pegasus leapt from the mud right at me, swinging his hoof in a haymaker and throwing his wings at me as well. The wingblades—without the velocity of flight—couldn’t find purchase against the stubbornite plates, but they did slice right through the kevlar fabric. I ducked his punch and hit him in the gut.

My fist pressed in and I found out he wasn’t wearing a rifle plate; only cloth kevlar. I watched the wind go out of him. “Stop! Please.” I turned to see the other pegasus stand up and start to pull out a Horse and Keller - 5, HK-5 9mm submachine gun. My tail flicked the switch and in an instant; the pegasus went from being there to just smoke and fragments as the explosion of the homemade claymore lit up the night.

The rainbow color of sprinkles dotted the mud beyond while dirt flew up all around where he once stood. There wasn’t anything left, his very being was simply annihilated by the blast. His friend stood there in shock as the firefight died down around us. It was a moment that was burned in my mind. “Dog Fighter! NO!!!” The pegasus in front of me screamed and ran towards the dust settling.

Dog Fighter’s wingblades were scattered everywhere. His armor was loaded with holes and rainbow sprinkles, all fire hardened to make penetration possible. The submachine gun lay in the mud, crumpled and wrecked. The pegasus I’d been fist fighting broke out into tears and held the armor against his face. I could see the smear of blood along his cheek as what was once a living pegasus dropped from the clothing.

My stomach wretched and my whole body was covered in goosebumps. I’d just done that. I’d created that weapon. I’d taken ice cream toppings and a child’s lunchbox and turned it into a killing weapon. Celestia forgive me! He never stood a chance!

The pegasus holding what was left of his friend just wept into the bloody, pegasus-meat-covered clothing. He couldn’t look away, I didn’t understand just what he’d lost. But I knew it was my fault. A bullet hitting my stubbornite rifle plate on my chest forced me to move.

I dove for the dead raider with the bumper sword I’d downed earlier. He was right next to my shotgun. I moved up to use the dead body as a bi-pod, “Oh, come on! Just surrender or retreat already!” I declared. The bullet had snapped me out of the horror of my actions and reminded me of what we were here for.

Sunrise! The orders here are simple! Kill or Be Killed! Pink declared, and I felt my tail tighten the grip on my shotgun. ACT! Or lose your friends! I’ll monitor the mines for the Goddess with a Gun!

I pulled the trigger at flashing lights in the darkness . The strangest ammunition came out. Instead of the usual kick and volley of shotgun pellets or a slug, a gout of flame burst forward. It went almost 20 meters from the barrel. The grip on the shotgun heated up from use of this round. Pink bounced in my vision with glee, Dragons Breath rounds! With REAL Dragon’s Breath! His name was Smash Claw before we made him ammunition!

I wanted to cringe at Pink. I had no time, as a more heavily armored soldier stepped into the blazing firelight. His hoof held a humming magnetic gauss pistol and his helmet had three sergeant chevrons on it. He pointed at me and fired. My rib exploded in pain; even the Med-X couldn’t deaden it. I fell onto the side opposite where I’d been hit, with a yelp. I wasn’t sure how bad it was until the initial shock passed. My hoof reached down to find no blood.

I stayed down behind the dead body that was absorbing hits for me as the volume of fire renewed. I kept checking my ribs where the round hit. My PipBuck indicated minor damage while it showed a hole in my armor plating. It penetrated but it didn’t penetrate? I was very confused when Pink walked into view looking like a tank on hooves with a giggle.

“Your armor broke but it didn’t have enough left to break you! You’re literally a walking, talking, mini-tank!” I wanted to be upset about the ‘mini’ part but she was right. My right side was now dangerously exposed. The stubbornite plating there was cracked and broken. There was no promise it would stop another bullet. I could feel my bruised ribs, and at least everything from my chest down had been bruised by the gauss pistol.

I took a moment to look over our enemies. With the flares up and the burning fires around us, the area was well lit, despite the rain and nighttime darkness. They all had the same uniforms, same combat armor, and similar weapons. It was so strange to see that in the wasteland. Even the Silver Fang Mercenaries were not this uniformly equipped. The Roof guards were equipped as varied as our party of ne'er do wells. But these soldiers were no raiders; they were outfitted like an Old World military.

We’re in trouble. There are a lot more of them than us and we’re starting to fall apart. The sergeant with the gauss pistol noticed me but he didn’t have time to turn. Alguacil’s gun sounded his revival to the battlefield. Chifundo’s higher pitched varmint rifle echoed close behind. The sergeant fell dead into the mud from a volley of fire from The Roof’s defenders; our support had seen the flares and fires and knew who to shoot.

There were quite a few ponies pinning down Scopola Mina, Quick Stitch, and myself ,but now they were scattering or falling dead as every long range weapon in The Roof laid down a withering barrage. My PipBuck crackled, “Sunrise! We’ve got ya cover’ed! Take th’ fight to ‘em!” It was Alguacil, squawking out.

Scopola Mina didn’t need any more encouragement. Quick Stitch was done fixing her leg enough to stand and she rose up, loading a fresh gem pack into her laser rifle. Another pony bearing sergeant chevrons stepped forward. “We aren’t finished yet! Drive them—Yeowwww—” Before he finished the command he was already taking laser fire. Scopola Mina was relentless, pulling the trigger as fast as her chamber would cycle the blasts of death. The rain steamed and sizzled off the beams of light. I watched as the stallion’s leg turned to ash, then slowly Scopola Mina worked her way up his body, every part of him flashing to ash. His gear, flesh, and bones all incinerated.

The new officer of The Goddess with a Gun was nothing but bright pink ashes the color of bubble gum. Any attempt at return fire towards us resulted in a volley of fire from The Roof ripping apart tents, crates, and anything that was being used for cover. If a gunflash wasn’t from one of the three of us, its wielder was volleyed down by the overwhelming fire from The Roof.

Quick Stitch and I joined in, him spraying his flamer pistol and me pouring fire from my shotgun as fast as I could load more shells into it. Nyota burst from behind a tent, smashing another pony to the ground. He grappled him by the neck and held him up as shield against the flaming camp. I took aim, but even with S.A.T.S. there was no clean shot to hit the pony struggling with Nyota. All we could do was keep their side suppressed.

With a headbutt and a kick to Nyota’s pride, the stallion broke from his grasp. He lunged for a gauss pistol, the same one that had penetrated my armor. Nyota’s armor wouldn’t stand a chance against it. He missed, amd the gauss round blew apart what was left of the dead pony’s head I was using for cover. Nyota didn’t miss, bucking him in the jaw hard enough to break it and followed up with a set of punches to the stallion’s throat. He fell face down in the mud, unmoving.

“Nyota! Fall back! Get to cover!” I shouted, then gripped and fired another shot at a flash in the darkness. Nyota sprinted towards us, not needing anymore urging. A stallion stepped between us, a baddle saddle with twin machine guns on it.

“I got you now, Zigger!” he growled, moving to bite onto the mouth trigger.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!” My rage boiled over. The visions of dead flashing before me. The thought Nyota could be turned to a pulp like Dog Fighter moments ago. I couldn’t stand it. I shoved whatever round I could grab into the shotgun and fired. My shoulder went numb, the Med-X keeping the pain away but not stopping the muscle failure. That was no solid slug or even a magnum buckshot round; S.A.T.S. was scrolling suddenly as I saw a pure quartz crystal; turned black from depletion of its magic. The crystal was flying towards the stallion and punched right into his rear end armor, ripping him from groin to his ribs.

He fell screaming in a high pitched voice that belonged to a school filly, not a full grown stallion. There seemed to be another lull after that shot as Nyota dove into the shell crater and mud behind me. “Sunrise, we don’t shoot creatures ther’. Even I think that was unnecessary.” Alguacil squawked over the radio. Nyota winced in the corner of my eye and Pink giggled like she knew a secret.

“Sunrise! That was Mad Mac’s war crime round! Depleted crystals are used to penetrate high armor tanks! You just cookie-cuttered that stallion like a can of biscuits!” I was furious, and Pink’s laughter died down. She shied away as I growled and my fury grew manifest.

I was as mad as I had been at Corners on Hearth's Warming Eve. I released my shotgun trigger to scream, “GODDESS!!! Show yourself! END THIS!” I didn’t want more ponies to die. Not because of some blood feud I didn’t remember between Breakfast Blend and myself. “Get out here! Face ME!”I bellowed as loud as I could. My voice carried with the rain and even the gunshots grew quiet. I know you heard me. Now show yourself. The sudden quietness of the battlefield reminded me the entire time we had been fighting; my PipBuck’s rad counter had been clicking. There was a lot of radiation we had absorbed. The iodine pills would not be enough; we needed more RadAway and soon.

A gun nest suddenly opened fire, twin 40mm flak cannons ripped across The Roof. Flak and explosions lit up the structure. Our support fire silenced while the volley suppressed them.
Another shotgun, not mine, echoed in the air as Nyota picked up a dead body and used it to advance against the weapon. Blast after magnum-loud blast rippling apart flesh of his dead shield. Nyota threw the remains into his attacker and then started to repeatedly punch and kick him.

I could see the blood and bruises forming from the brass shoes. One good blast from the shotgun caught Nyota and I thought he was gone from how his head snapped. I fired at two other gun flashes, trying to regain our momentum. “Nyota! Please, no!” The shotgun of his assailant clicked and didn’t fire as I rushed towards them. Nyota rolled his head back. His face was cut and bloody but he was alive.

He slammed his hoof down into the pony under him with all his fury, and kept hitting the soldier until his face was half-buried in the mud. The AA gun fell silent, then I heard the crack of several rifles from The Roof. Our snipers had found the AA crew and now the gun was silenced.

The Roof began their suppressive storm again; the firelights were starting to die down. I searched around us for one of the flare guns, then quickly loaded and fired it to light up the sky again. I searched for more flares and felt Pink tug at me. I’d stepped outside our minefield ring, almost pulling the det-cord out of my tail’s grip.

I grabbed Nyota and we retreated back. The last of their guns was silenced with an explosion; one of The Roof guns found their shell storage and got a direct hit. Scopola kept firing, ripping apart any of their soldiers dumb enough to step into the light. Her laser rifle was turning a searing white-hot and I was afraid it would melt its metal containment shell.

Quick Stitch searched for a weapon, his flamer pistol was out of fuel and his dart gun was no good against their armor. I tossed him my back up pistol and three rolls of bullets. He looked at me distastefully as his telekinesis picked up the weapon and ammo. “Quick Stitch, no time for morals; even my own. It’s kill or be killed now. Keep us healed but defend yourself if you have to.”

I turned, scanned for Breakfast Blend, the so-called Goddess with a Gun. She had to reappear soon. Her soldiers were getting decimated. I’m sure we had dead back at The Roof and we certainly couldn’t keep up our fighting much longer. I reloaded my shotgun and flipped the charging switch on my gauss carbine to fully recharge it. Quick Stitch’s horn went to work on Nyota, but he was sweating; that wasn’t just rainwater on him. Quick Stitch was starting to burn out, his limits well beyond being tested.

If we tried to retreat across the open field, we were done for. If we stayed, we were done for. I was out of miracles, Nyota had lost the element of surprise, Quick Stitch’s magic was at its limit, and Scopola Mina’s rifle was dangerously close to melting. I looked to the pegasus, still holding what was left of his friend, weeping in tears. Then a bullet bit into my flank right at my cutie mark, without hesitation, I set off a landmine in that direction and hit S.A.T.S.

Breakfast Blend was sitting right there, with her tommy gun, firing at me and looked on in shock as her horn lit up to teleport her. The milliseconds played out, as the explosive went off in slow motion. I could see the sprinkles tearing towards her, along with a sheet of flame and smoke. Some of the sharpnel ripped at her and she dropped her Manehattan typewriter, as she was there one moment and gone the next.

S.A.T.S. released and the world sped back up. There was no sign of Breakfast Blend, except the crumbled gun on the ground and some blood in the mud. The rain stopped as the night grew slightly darker and the fires burned dimmer. “COME OUT! Face me!”I screamed out, knowing that the blast had wounded, but not killed her. A final two ponies charged me, the mares screaming as they threw grenades which I immediately kicked back.They fell to the ground, screaming in agony, as the two explosives went off beside them. There was a flash just after the grenades, this one more controlled and dimmer.

Breakfast Blend stood there, her clothes a bit ruffled as a solid blue shield extended around her. In her horn’s grip was a teacup along with a gauss cannon, the gun she was famous for. I knew it, because I remembered that I had built it. It was the same weapon that Cross Stitch had hit me with a grazing shot. A gauss weapon normally used 2mm electro-magnetic cadmium-tungsten rounds, 2mm EC. This one used 10mm and surrounded it with a field of plasma, like a plasma rifle firing its disintegration spell. A direct hit from that thing and I’m dead, even in my armor. It will kill any one of us.

“Well, you have my undivided attention now, Sunrise.” She was a grey-coated mare with a blonde, curly mane. The flash from her teleport cleared and I could see her more clearly. Several sprinkles from my mine were embedded in her armor; armor I made for her. I could see where her soldiers got the armor design they had. Hers was more elegant, but also thicker and much higher quality. Little bits of beige stubbornite pressed out of the damaged kevlar fabrics.

Sniper bullets slammed into her shield harmlessly. She spun the cannon in her TK towards The Roof and fired, “Ya have to do better than that, bird brain!” She tried to shout over the deafening roar of nearly a full megawatt of electricity firing a round at ten times the speed of sound. The Roof had stood strong through the siege. Where the round impacted however, several plates of metal and chunks of concrete the size of a car were blown apart and hammered into the ground.

“Dammit! Dat stupid shield! Sunrise, I need a medic!” Alguacil screamed over the radio.

“Thank you, I made it myself. Now, how to deal with finishing you off?” Breakfast Blend shouted, thinking she could talk back to Alguacil.

What do I do? Her shield is keeping us out. Pink shoved a round into the shotgun and I saw her appear on my H.U.D. with a huge electric tesla coil, shooting off sparks around her.

“Well! It is a spell matrix for that shield talisman, I think those new pulse rounds you made for their shields might just do the trick.” I smiled and nodded, sliding another round into the shotgun and cocking it to clear the chamber of my previous round.

“Really now, Sunrise? This isn’t some Old World action movie. That is just a waste of a shotgun shell and you know it. You can’t scare me.” She rotated her cannon back in my direction with a sinister grin on her face. “I’ve been looking forward to this. Though I would have liked to do it my way, but you seem awfully entrenched with doing it right here and now.”

I fired the shotgun without a word in response. The pulse round fired off like a lightning bolt from ‘Sunray’. The round hit the shield, and with a loud metallic pop the pulse slug punched right through the shield, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air. Her armor stopped the slug but it stunned Breakfast Blend and made her stagger back. “What!? Impossible!”

Nyota jumped forward and bucked the gun in her grip with all his might, “Leave my mare ALONE!” He was just a second too short as the cannon returned fire. Between Nyota’s buck and the recoil from my shotgun; the cannon didn’t hit me directly. It grazed within a meter of my face. My ballistic goggles blew apart as did my muzzle protector and my helmet cracked under the strain.

My eyes watered, but I was alive, and I blinked away the tears as blood ran down my cheeks from my skin cracking. My ears rang and even through the Med-X wearing off, my entire body shuddered with pain. “That was a graze!!! Sunrise, what crazy party cannon did you make her?” I hit the mud with my breath driven out of my lungs and scrambled to try to get back to my hooves.

Scopola Mina fired off laser blast after laser blast right into the chest plate of The Goddess; but Scopola’s gun sparked out and the spell-matrix overloaded inside it, preventing it from firing further. The stubbornite turned to pink ash with her final shot, drifting in the wind. The Goddess with a Gun was vulnerable.

The tent fires had burned out and the flare died. Breakfast Blend cried out in agony and a high pitched shot echoed from Chifundo’s rifle. That broke the ringing in my ears to hear the cannon fire again, lighting us back up and Nyota whinnied out in pain. We plunged into darkness and I hit S.A.T.S. only to find the electro-magnets from her gun was causing my PipBuck to malfunction.

My light went out, leaving us all in total darkness. I slowly got back up, mud and blood dripping from my face. My armor creaked and groaned in my ears, and every sound felt like it was amplified with my roaring headache. My tail pinched my flank through a hole in my plating and I felt the icy chill of Med-X coursing through me. It was like my mind needed that just to relieve all the tension.

My PipBuck light cut back on with a few flickers. The light stabilized as Breakfast Blend got to the edge of it. On one side of her was a broken teacup, held in her TK. On the other side, the gauss cannon. She shot down the last sip of her coffee as I gripped my shotgun in hoof and brough the trigger up to my mouth. Breakfast Blend threw the cup on the ground and spat out the liquid after rinsing her mouth out.

“That was the last of Sergeant Dunken’s special blend. Ya know, he died when you launched that megaspell at us.” She took a breath and I knew if she fired that gun at me right then; I’d be dead. There were no more snipers to cover us. Scopola Mina let out a wheeze of life as her drugs wore off and her injuries along with fatigue caught up to her. Quick Stitch stumbled and I could hear him shuffling for potions even if I couldn’t see him. I didn’t know where Nyota was, and I hoped he was alive; somehow. “I have to give credit, hurling that car at us with that bomb? Great plan. But now you’ve cost me all my best lieutenants and the last of my sergeants. I’ve got no officers left except me. Now, you wanna have this duel?”

“Honestly, no. I came here to rescue Nyota from getting into too much trouble, and this just turned into one giant battle I didn’t plan on.” I replied and racked the shotgun to clean the spent shell, which thunked into the mud.

“Oh, I think he’s dead. That or his stealth is beyond even my PipBuck. Now, to deal with you; permanently!” She raised her gun and I fired my shotgun into the mud. The dirt kicked up in a cloud that covered me as I dove for the ground and shut off my light. The cannon fired over my head, I could feel my tail hairs burning away as it passed close to them. But she missed.

“Would you just die already! Sunrise, you cannot withstand the storm! Lay down and die!” She screamed searching for me. I knew it would take several seconds to recharge that gun and I had to move. I dropped ‘Sunray’ and pulled out ‘Celestia’s Hammer.’ It had overcharged to 120%. The shot might damage the gun but it would kill anything it hits.

The Med-X made it so my muscles would work, and I felt the presence of the thing from my memories with her. The monster deep inside me wanting to come forward.

I almost let it through to help me finish her. I bolted to where she last was. I was rewarded with the glow of the magic from her horn.

“I am the storm.”

She turned just in time as the gauss round pulverized through what was left of her helmet, her face exploding into fragments. I hit the ground and Pink flicked my tail to turn on my light. The headless corpse of The Goddess with a Gun fell into the mud.

Suddenly, the world around us grew brighter. The sun poked through the clouds just enough for us to see it rising in the distance. Is it over?

Level 12 Progress - Level 12 Reached, Because the GM is being nice about you killing a boss!

Perk Gained - Team Leader - All members of your party so long as they are within 1 movement range of you gain +5% to all Skills! BUT you do not get the bonus yourself, come with being the leader.

Stat Reveal - Sunrise only have a 4 Strength but a 9 Intelligence.

Quest Perk Earned - Matrix Casting - You can combine efforts to cast with other ponies in order to make magical spells work with increased potency equal to your own. Don't Ask me how you're going to do that; ya know NOT being a unicorn and all. But this will allow you to build spell matrices assuming you have a unicorn to cast the spells; while you make the mechanic parts.

END ACT III

Chapter 37: Picking Up The Pieces

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“I suspect the Soviets never did want to use those bombs. The most Stalinist of Soviet hard-liners — Stalin, for example — must have realized a nuclear war would be a hard thing to clean up after.”
- P.J. O’Rourke.

I stood in the mud, Breakfast Blend’s headless body lying in the dirt and grime under me. Why did it have to come to this? Why couldn’t we just talk this out? My light kept the area so picture-perfectly illuminated for us. Scopola Mina checked around us for of Breakfast Blend’s troops. No more showed up. Nyota emerged from a tent limping, Quick Stitch was on him already working on his injured leg; two bullets were pulled from him and I could hear the bone setting inside.

I started reloading my weapons, putting more grenades into my bandoleer and finding places for us to take cover. We used the shell hole with the landmines surrounding it to hole up in; waiting. Tension built between us in the silence. “You beat the boss! You won! What don’t you get about that?” Pink exclaimed out loud and I growled at her.

It’s not a video game or a board game! That isn’t how this works! I growled back. I knew what soldiers during the war felt like on the frontline; the waiting was worse than fighting. Nyota was the first to press a hoof onto my shoulder.

I turned to him and he smiled at me, “I think we did it, they aren’t coming.” We waited another 10 minutes, bringing us up to a full hour since I killed The Goddess with a Gun. I climbed out of the foxhole and a small force of The Roof’s militia approached us, with Alguacil at its head.

“Sunrise, we’ve scouted th’ siege lines, thy’re surrend’ring or retreatin’ on all sides.” Alguacil smiled, and honestly it was still just as disturbing to see on the first one. I smiled back and looked at the rest of my friends. Alguacil stepped further into the light, showing his cheek was cut deeply and his right wing was wrapped in bandages. Chifundo had a cast, split, and crutch on his left foreleg.

Quick Stitch gave a weary smile and snorted, “I’ll get to work fixing them.”

Nyota stopped him, “No, let me do traditional medicine. You get a break; you’ve saved enough lives tonight.” He started to protest and found out what zebra hoof tasted like. I was beaming and smiling at someone else learning that flavor.

“Scopola, help me gather supplies and bury the dead. Chifundo, start giving last rites to those you can. Everyone else, bury bodies or get us some carts to make sure we salvage everything we can.” I looked up at them, my long smile beaming in the night. “We’ve got rebuildling to do.”

***

Cartloads of stuff were hauled in. Weapons, food, armor, salvage, scrap, medical supplies, you name it; we salvaged it. In addition to this, six carts that contained trees with words on the cart: “Defend with your Life” or “Future of Equestria” inscribed on them. Franz came out to help us and in the commotion, I lost track of Breakfast Blend, The Goddess with a Gun, and her weapon. None of us were sure who buried her or where her grave was.

None of the former Goddess soldiers had proper name tags. Some of them did have wasteland style dog tags and we used those for names on their gravemarkers. No one got a mass grave, I saw to that; we made a proper graveyard. All of us were outside working until nearly 10am. It wasn’t pretty or glamourous. It was work that had to be done.

Nyota insisted we all check into the medical ward once we had finished. “You’re going to get rest, Sunrise, after all of us get medical check ups. Healing potions are only good for emergencies.” He paused and hugged me as we approached the ward doors.

We didn’t get inside though, Blood Work burst out and started yelling, “Picline! COME QUICK! He’s AWAKE!” Nyota and I staggered out of his way. I stared at him incredibly confused. “PICLINE!!!” Blood Work called out sounding as though he would shoot his voice out if he did it again.

Picline stumbled down the streets of The Roof towards us and through the door. We followed and the medical ward was surprisingly quiet. Scopola Mina pushed ahead of us. The first words that filled the room were from an unknown voice. “Hey, mom. How are you?”

Picline squealed at the top of her lungs and we watched her launch herself into Wicker, her patient from earlier. Scopola Mina stood next to them marveling at both of them. Nyota grabbed me and started to try to pull us out of the hospital, then I knocked over an IV stand. I’m such a clutz!

Picline was on top of us within moments and hugged Nyota tightly while holding a scalpel near his head in her telekinesis. “You saved my boy and he’s awake!” Nyota looked incredibly uncomfortable as he stared at the scalpel and then rolled his eye back at Picline nervously as she held onto him. I gently patted Picline on the shoulder. Chifundo took the opportunity to gather the scalpels from her TK field, as well as her nurse bandoleer.

When they finally separated, Picline didn’t have the usual wild look or forced happiness in her eyes. She was glowing and smiling from ear to ear. “You brought one of my babies back. Thank you.” Nyota looked completely surprised and then glanced at me with an expression that was begging for me to save him.

“Picline, maybe you should go spend some time with him.” I suggested while stroking her mane. She turned her head, slowly releasing Nyota’s neck. “Nyota and I need to see a doctor and make sure we’re patched up.” I helped pull her away then Chifundo took over, guiding Picline back to her son. Picline was already talking with Scopola Mina and they were laughing; well out of earshot to hear what they were laughing about.. I smiled, I couldn’t hear the conversation but Scopola Mina was glowing, and that was a new sight.

Nyota leaned over to kissed my cheek. I snapped my head to make sure he caught my lips instead with a surprised look on his face. Out of the corner of my eye, Scopola Mina was staring at us; not with envy but something else I couldn’t quite place. “Oh yes, all Filly Scouts are such voyeurs.” I flushed immediately at Pinks comment before we headed to the line of creatures seeking to get examined who did not have critical injuries.

***

I was busy looking through the various pieces of equipment we had recovered. I had taken off most of my armor, save for my Stable-Suit and its built in plating. There was a lot of ‘spoils’ to even start to inventory. Hans and Franz were approaching from outside. Picline and Blood Work had insisted we take first pick of the salvage. Chifundo took the battle rifle that had shot Alguacil. It was a freshly manufactured A1 Grand Apple. I’m excited to see if it pings like the stories about it.

I took the two gauss weapons, going to use the parts for fixing up ‘Celestia’s Hammer’. I did not see Breakfast Blend’s gun at all; no one had. Several other parts and bits of scrap were taken here and there in order for us to repair armor, weapons, and for me to make new explosives.

Franzpone arrived being helped by Hanshoof to find direction. He had a massive bandage around his head. "Hey, Kumpel, danke Dir ! Wo willst Du den ganzen Bergungsschrott hin?"

Hanshoof shook his head and sighed, “Zere is some brain damage, he is having trouble with Ponish so we resort to speaking Germane.” Hanshoof hugged me, and then Nyota as he was helping carry away the pieces we were taking with us. “He wishes to say, zank you, Frauline. He wishes to know where to put this load; it is the last of their things we cleaned up.”

I hugged them both back, gently. It was strange to be out of my armor and safe. My armor plating was all up in Mad Mac’s workshop being repaired or in states of disassembly. When I left, Mad Mac was still counting the hits and determining the amount of plating we’d need to replace. I took some coffee and Nyota walked away with the pieces of scrap. “Anywhere really; it all belongs to The Roof. Did you find The Goddess’s gun?”

“Nein, frauline. But we did find four of zier AA guns that were not destroyed. I still cannot believe you saved mein brother.” He pulled out a large caliber round in his massive hoof. It looked small for him and his muscles but when he passed it to me, it was half the size of my shotgun. ‘40mm Flak’ was engraved onto the side and bottom of the round was the symbol for H&K.

I took a long drag of my coffee, taking a step away from the piles of salvage and looked it over, “I am glad to disappoint you. You said four of them?” I looked at the piles of weapons and noticed some wagons containing trees with several pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables spilling out.

“Ja, four of them in double sets, with mounting and everything!” Hanzhoof was extremely excited as he spoke. “It may even make me take up learning to shoot; they are big enough for me to get pumped up moving ze bullets!”

Then I saw the eight total 40mm barrels with their muzzle breaks poking up out of the pile, each one attached to another, making four total guns. “Well, The Roof has some heavy firepower now.”

“Sunrise, what about those fruity tooties; that looks fresh! And Untainted!” I shook my head and looked at Pink slightly upset.

I will deal with it later. It’s food for us, for now.I finished collecting parts and offered Hanshoof and Franzpone a cup of coffee, which they enjoyed

“Alguacil! Where are you?” I knew that voice as I heard it over the commotion and we turned in the direction of a very upset griffoness. “Stormy Gailforce is going to make you keep that promise!” The regulator stormed up to me, talons scratching at the concrete under her. “Where is he?”

I shrugged and shook my head, “Sorry Sweetie, my guess would be The Roof, but I haven’t seen him since we were burying bodies.” I looked down at my hooves, covered in mud and grime still from the work. We had completely ruined Quick Stitch’s impromptu cleaning earlier and would need proper baths soon.

While Franzpone was sorting the cart to empty the scrap into various piles of guns, armor, food, medical, or other; Hanshoof offered me an open box. “We found zese, and they are amazing!” I looked up to see a half-eaten box of fresh donuts. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“You found them?” I asked, touching one and finding the glaze was still gooey. “I was hoping for ice cream one day, but I’ll take a donut instead.”

“What is ice cream?” Hanshoof asked with a puzzled look upon his face. I stared at him, stunned, and nearly lost the grasp on my donut.

I shook my head and sighed, “Right, 180 years and no refrigeration. Maybe I’ll find some that isn’t expired one day and tell you.” The donut put me back in time, back to a place that I had long since missed.

ooOOoo

I was sitting in an ice cream shop on a stool at the bar. In front of me was the glass that shielded the display refrigerator. Rows of colors made of flavourful ice cream lined the frigde from end to end. My dad, Rainbowrise, sat on one side of me and on the other, Shadow Window, my mother.

They were beamingly happy. Slowly I realized where this memory was, it was 15th birthday. Just before I was due to start my final year of high school. The war still waged outside of Stalliongrad, but the defenses and defenders had nearly completely broken the siege. Only one flank of the city still had siegeworks and trench lines on it.

Creamy Treat was working behind the counter and looked at both of my parents, “It has been a long time since I was allowed to go beyond just a few flavors, much less something this elaborate.” He slid the cake up to me, and started lighting the two candles, one was in the shape of the number 1 and the other the number 5. “I would say ‘there ya go, filly’ but you’re a little mare, now, aren’t you?” Creamy Treat teased as he slid the cake across the counter.

“That’s the first ice cream cake I’ve served in fifteen years. For you, young mare; you deserve it.” He said rather happily. There was a gleam in his eye, like a master craftsman had just made something truly special and was waiting for the client to react.

I reached up with a white hoof and white leg. Wait, I’m, I’m me again. There isn’t anything terrible here is there Pink? Pink remained silent and absent. The memory just played before my eyes.

“We know you don’t have your mark yet and your destiny is uncertain.” Dad said before he nuzzled up against my ear and kissed my forehead. “But you mean so much to us; we wanted you to know whenever you get your mark; we’ll support whatever it is.”

Mom tapped my shoulder with her hoof and I turned towards her. She was still wearing her field medic kit, just in case. Nothing had happened for over a month if I remembered correctly. The zebras couldn’t penetrate the shield anymore and were being gradually pushed back. “Wandering Sunrise, hun, the war will be over soon and then finally you can see what peace is like.”

I felt a warmth surge through me. I feeling of pure delight and joy. I had heard what peace was; but never seen the city I lived in, Stalliongrad, be at peace. I looked at the cake and beamed as I reached across and touched the tray it was on.

“Go on, Little Wanderer, make a wish.” Dad whispered in my ear and my heart skipped a beat as I blew out the candles. I remembered the special dinner we’d had, a bowl of ramen with tofu; real tofu. I had been so used to the more bland food we could get; that my stomach was still protesting it. Now I had this lovely cake made of ice cream in front of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I even had ice cream much less a cake made of it.

Dad cut the first piece and I could see the cake melting around the knife. He laid it before me and smiled. Dad looked over my head at Shadow Window with a very loving glaze in his eyes. I understand that look now, it's how I look at Nyota. They both waited for me to taste ice cream cake for the first time in my life. I knew the looks would mean me going to my room early tonight but I didn’t care, my mouth approached the piece of cake.

I took a bite, and the frosting was like donut glaze. The ice cream itself was hard then soft, almost like a layer of whipped cream was between two pieces of an ice cream sandwich. There were hard pieces of cookie chocolate chips, frozen harder giving it a crunch and something to chew. All while letting it melt in my mouth. I was genuinely in heaven, this was the best birthday ever.

Just me, my parents, a day out, no worries about the war. A celebration was in the air. The newspapers reported over land routes into and out of the city were established. The zebras were falling back and for the first time in eleven years; Stalliongrad could breathe a sigh of relief. The city shield wasn’t constantly under hammering and I noticed the other ponies walked lighter in their steps or even congregated in the street together.

The magical tunnel restrictions no longer in place; since the first train arrived. The war was on the horizon but we knew the zebras would no longer be able to threaten our city with conquest. I could get used to this, peace thing if it meant ice cream cakes and tofu at least once a month.

And this is the part where the memory ends, at least this time. By the way, I had a tummy ache for two days from the amount of that cake I ate. Yes, it was that good.

ooOOoo

I was back at The Roof with Hanzhoof waving a hoof in front of my face. I looked at the donut, then up at Hanzhoof. It was in that moment, I knew why I had that memory. I’ll never see ice cream ever again will I? I’ll never know what that peace thing actually is, will I? I started to tear up and dropped the donut on the asphalt floor.

My heart sank to my hooves. “Nyota, zebra friend, come zere. Your mare is upset.” Hanzhoof called. I was staring at the floor, the donut on it as tears dropped from my eyes and bounced off of it. Everything felt wrong as Nyota’s hooves came into view, he lifted my chin and tilted his head.

“Sunny, hun, what’s wrong?” He started to wipe the tears from my eyes and I shook my head, pulling away just a bit.

“Sorry, the donut is delicious; it reminded me of something special. Now I feel like something special can never happen.” Nyota and Hanzhoof looked at each other confused, then back at me.

“Sunny, what is it you miss so much?” Nyota asked and stroked my mane as he pulled me close into a hug.

“Something I never had or knew; peace.” I whispered into his ear through sniffles and holding in the need to pour out all my emotions.

“I can help you find inner peace, Sunny.” Nyota whispered back, his voice trying to reassure me but he was missing the point.

“No, Nyota. Not that sort of peace.” I pulled away and looked at him, Hanzhoof had recovered the donut and was dusting it off. “Peace from war is what I meant. I have never known it; I was born when the war started. I went into the stable when the war ended. I woke up to find this place a battlefield at every turn. I have never known what peacetime is like.” I inhaled and tried to talk more but my lips quivered, my emotions wouldn’t be held back anymore. Instead what came out was a wail of anguish and loss. I pushed my head into his chest and balled my eyes out, matting his fur and letting my heart bleed out. I needed to let this out and he was content to just stroke my mane and let me.

Dad’s dream, mom’s hope that I would see peace; gone forever. Why? Why is all this stolen from me?

A voice I’d never heard before in the back of my mind spoke up. “Because ponies are fuck ups. They don’t know when they have a good thing and their greed is the reason you live in this hellhole. Admit it, ponies are awful and you should fight for what you want and screw the rest of them.” I shuddered and stopped my weeping at the voice. I felt this sudden need to beat it down and shove it back into its cage.

No, it has to be better than that. We have to be better, go back into your cage! I felt Pink helping me put that thing in my mind back into a locked box; removing its presence and ability to keep speaking.

I looked into Nyota’s eyes and he smiled, “It’s okay, Sunny. It’s okay, you’ll get there, we will get there. I like the sound of that. And maybe a couple of little ones on a peaceful farm.” I just solemnly nodded at him as Hanzhoof offered me the donut with a bite out of it.

“It is dusted off fer you, frauline.” I smiled and took it into a hoof, still hugging Nyota and slowly eating the sweet cake treat.

Nyota kept patting me and somehow the donut was more comforting now. I kept still and Nyota just softly patted my back; lovingly rubbing on me and never leaving my side. Alguacil started to walk past us with a set of ears on a string; ears recently removed from their owners.

I jumped up and stopped him from walking into The Roof. He looked at me confused with a raised eyebrow. “No, you are not turning those in; return them to their bodies.”

“Sunrise, it’s my job! How else do ya expect me to make my caps?” Alguacil squawked back defensively and started to push me aside.

“Alguacil, no, not like this. No one should profit off the death of others. You and I both know it’s wrong and we’ve got plenty of payment here!” I pushed through his talon, the tears starting to return while my blood ran hot.

Alguacil took a step back and then tried to walk around. I stepped up between him and the doorway. “No, Alguacil, I’m not giving an inch on this. There is a difference in holding up the law and exploiting it for greed. Put. Them. Back!”

Nyota came up to me and started to try to pull me aside. Alguacil stared at me, both perplexed and surprised how mad I was. He had an expression that you get when you expect someone to strike you to prove their point. “Come on, Sunrise, it isn’t worth it. Let him have his bounties, even if it is in poor taste.”

“Sunrise! You need to come see this!” It was Quick Stitch and Scopola shouting at me from the door. I stared at them perplexed, then motioned to Alguacil to indicate I was busy. They shook their heads and insistently motioned me closer. I sighed and grimaced at Alguacil with an expression to indicate that we would discuss this later.

I walked up to them and Quick Stitch levitated a pair of binoculars in front of me. I looked out and he pointed with his hoof towards something in the distance that shimmered. In the very small clearing, I could see find a small, freshly and hastily made wreath of various exotic flowers. In the center, there was a burned out candle. Out in front, a single cut pink rose. Between the rose and the wreath, a small folded piece of paper.

A wreath? In the middle of nowhere? Why? “What in the world?”

I looked at both of them and they just shrugged. I started to gather my gear and put on my armor. “Sunrise, it could be a trap.”

I nodded, “Probably, but we can’t just leave it out there without checking it.” I checked my shotgun. Most of my body armor was still being repaired, so all I would have is the underlying armored stable-suit.

“Come on, get your stuff together. We just saved this settlement.” I pulled my helmet on and looked up at my friends. Alguacil approached us seeing me dressing for combat. “I won’t lose it to some random token in the distance, or have the remnants we didn’t capture start being raiders.”

Nyota nodded and slipped on his brass shoes. I smiled at him. “Nyota, disappear and scout ahead for us. Scopola, keep me covered. Alguacil, do a flyby. Quick Stitch, get the medical team ready just in case. Chifundo, get up top with your new rifle.” There was a pause as my friends all looked at me and I held up the officer’s manual I’d been reading every night before the siege. “I’ve started applying what’s in this book. Now, let’s get going.”

***

We arrived and stared at the wreath from a hole in the ground. One that we had probably blown the night before considering the camp ruins around us were burned to a crisp. The smell of long-since-burnt corpses hung in the air and made me gag. Nyota appeared and jumped into the hole, giving myself and Scopola a start. I turned to him with a relieved sigh, happy that we weren’t being ambushed in melee in our own fox hole.Honestly, I nearly turned and shot him.

“Jumpy much?” Nyota teased with a broad grin at my half-raised shotgun.

“Wouldn’t you be? I have to remember even if I can’t see you; you’re there.” I sighed and hugged him, then look a step back, “So, how is it?”

“Well, it isn’t trapped; no explosives, no mines, no surprises, nothing. I’ve been checking it for half an hour just to be sure.” I nodded to him and slowly emerged from fox hole, approaching the wreath. Inside was a note. I grabbed it and began to read it aloud:

“Heroes. Breakfast Blend.”

I stared at the writing in disbelief. I killed you! Quick Stitch approached and looked at me, then at Scopola, “I think Chifundo and I have some explaining to do.”

***

“You What?!”

Back at The Roof, Quick Stitch and Chifundo gathered nearby, both of them looking at me, then at each other. Finally Quick Stitch signed and nodded at me, “So the box we found is a soul jar, according to Chifundo, and has an unholy amount of magic in it.” He paused and gulped. “Dark magic; magic that requires blood sacrifice to activate. But it’s all healing magic I don’t understand.”

“Why do you not understand it?” I asked leaning up at the pause is his sentence. He spoke as though I should understand this but I was not a unicorn; I did not use their magic spells.

“Dark Healing Magic shouldn’t exist. It should be necromancy but it’s not. It is genuinely healing magic that required blood of another to create.” Quick Stitch nodded to me with an expression of a teacher catching a student who didn’t do their homework.

Was he testing my knowledge of magic? Wait. I hesitated with my next question. “How much blood did they use?” I knew blood for magic required it to be fresh, fresh from some creature still alive. Quick Stitch didn’t respond and the pregnant pause in the room built a tension. Every second implied heavier and heavier for the sacrificer of the blood, to be dead because of our boxes that kept us alive.

“Wait, are you saying it’s a blood ritual to heal? That is something from my tribe; something forbidden.” Nyota spoke up, saving Quick Stitch from answering the question as well as our sanity. stepping forward and pressing a hoof against Quick Stitch.

“What we did was suspect, we were unsure was correct. With Breakfast Blend’s resurrection, we can now confirm the connection.” Chifundo explained then motioned to Quick Stitch.

“Before I found you all, I woke up in a shallow grave. Not sure how I got there, at a burned out farmstead with a mess of dead radroaches and a cow pony hat pinned under a rock.” My blood ran cold, so cold that I physically began to shake and shiver. “Chifundo and I kept that from you for fear of how you would react, but I surmised I wasn’t there by accident.”

“You...you woke up in Buddy’s grave? How?” My brain was trying to process it all and I couldn’t pin it down.

Pink rolled into view and pointed at me, “You’ve been dead twenty-seven times! You’re around 180 years later! This makes perfect sense as to why you can’t STAY DEAD! You’re like a zombie but a million times better!” Everything grew distant, my body felt numb. I kept trying to put the pieces together but the puzzle refused to stay.

Nyota hugged me, stopping my mind from racing. The feeling of his touch restored some warmth to my body. His smell of sandalwood over the sweat and gunpowder brought my mind back to the present. I reached up and hugged him back. “Okay, so walk me through this. The boxes inside us resurrect us, but not always as the same pony.”

Quick Stitch pulled out a book. It contained the x-rays from Silver Fang. “These four are our boxes.” Quick Stitch used his telekinesis to hold up and light the x-rays so I could see them. He held up the box we had received from corners; it was no bigger than the donut I’d just eaten. “All uniform in size and design to this one. Now,” he pulled out a fifth x-ray and held it up separate from the others; then slowly layered it over.

This one x-ray had a larger box with a different rune engraved on the side. It wasn’t so much larger that it dwarfed it, it was just large enough that you could tell it was bigger than the other one. “This larger one is yours, Sunrise. I suspect the reason it is larger is because it only contains one soul instead of many, but it has to keep that soul intact and resurrect it with all the memories of the previous lives.”

“Wait, what? Then why can’t I remember anything?” I asked. Quick Stitch shrugged and looked at Chifundo. Pink giggled and I turned my attention to the pony only I could see.

“You asked me to start over, so that is why. NOW stop scratching at the walls! You’re almost further than you’ve ever been before! You’re going to ruin the surprise, and the frosting on the cake to boot!” I wanted to scream at her but in that moment, with a pop in my ears, Pink was gone. I could feel her hiding in the back of my mind but not see her. It was like knowing someone was in the house but you can’t find them.

Quick Stitch touched my shoulder, “Maybe after so many times, the box resets or something was done to it.”

Chifundo stepped forward, “Pinkamenia Diane Pie, would be the one in this lie.” We all turned to him, rather perplexed. “Just as you, I can hear her, it is a part of being a spirit seer. If my history is remembered right, she created the memory orbs in which we delight.”

I nodded towards him as he continued, “The Ministry of Morale where that your father worked, Pink must be involved with this latest piece we’ve perked.” Pink was dead silent as we put all the pieces together. Chifundo was right; it explained so much, but the power of resurrecting the dead? That was still something beyond what should be possible. The puzzle pieces were fitting better but still not holding. I resolved to put it to the back of my mind.

“Alright, well, it’s a good theory, but till we physically see a creature get up after it’s dead, I don’t think we can really believe these boxes do that.” I managed through quivering lips and hesitant steps of logic.

Quick Stitch nodded, “I agree, but the circumstantial evidence is strong. I suggest we put this to the back of our minds until we finish cleaning up The Roof.”

We moved back inside with Scopola Mina taking apart the flower wreath for ingredients. I remembered something back from an old Stalliongrad Post paper. Something about zebras no longer leaving the memorial wreath at battlefields. The wreath was a throwback to that tradition, the two sides would leave a wreath for each other’s dead.

I looked at Scopola as she was taking apart the wreath, “Can you make a wreath of some sort and put it out there on the easel.” Scopola blinked at me a few times. I sighed, “It’s an old tradition before the war went too far; armies would leave wreath on the battlefield to commemorate their dead.”

Scopola Mina nodded to me and we resumed heading inside. I poured a fresh cup of coffee from the inn. I inhaled it and a slight tinge in me missed the drugged Filly Scout version. I watched as the mug heated and the image on it turned into a very Hearth’s Warming Eve scene, with snow and Fluttershy, leader of the Ministry of Peace, in a red and white reindeer outfit.

I fondly remembered the night we encountered Sandy Claws. My mind drifted to Corners, and I wondered where she was now. I wanted to know if perhaps I had been too harsh on her. My tail pulled out a shot of Med-X, and I licked my lips thinking about it. Thinking about the coolness it would bring, how I wouldn’t have to deal with these complex feelings. I almost said yes, if not for Nyota giving me a strange look as he poured his own cup of coffee.

“Sorry, I miss the tingle the Filly Scouts coffee gave us.” Nyota shook his head at me.

He reached across and placed a hoof against my own, “It’s addiction, Sunny. I remember what drugs were like; how it was to carry packages to get my money for my next high.” He leaned over and hugged me, setting our coffee cups down onto a table.

I pushed him back, “So how do I deal with it?”

Nyota smiled at me as reassuring as he could, “You come to me, we talk it out, I hold you through it, whatever it takes till your body doesn’t want it anymore.”

I sighed and sat down against him. He pressed against my back and held me as we slowly drank our coffee to prepare for a long night. It was night, and slowly the craving for the coffee went away. It was nice, his warmth drove away the chill. His touch stopped the goosebumps and instead made butterflies in my stomach. His voice stilled my heart from pounding in my head. The gentle rise and fall of his chest was like a magic that made the tingling pain in my back stop.

I had begun to understand why my parents looked at each other like they did. If I could have this every time I felt a crisis, everytime I felt like I needed support, I would do anything to keep it.

***

In the salvage were over 200 footlockers. I’d already decided we were only going to take useful gear. Any personal mementos, journals, anything else we would either put into the growing library here at The Roof or take out to bury with the bodies. We had to make a way to remember everyone here; let none of them have died meaningless deaths.

I have to atone for that bomb.

Alguacil found the contract for the Breakfast Club: Breakfast Blend, along with another 100 ponies, all had bounties on their heads. We’d only collected around eight of them. Apparently there was some break in their organization with Breakfast Blend and the rest of the club. Barista Foam had followed her on orders from some other Goddess to observe.

Inside the boxes was also the contract to work for Breakfast Blend, it offered 4 caps and 3 coffee beans a day; as well as a full diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, un-mutated by radiation or taint. This struck me particularly hard. Where is she getting the fresh fruit and veggies?

I listened to the music on my Pip-Buck until there was a record scratch and an interruption.

“HELLLOOO!!! Equestrian Wasteland! This is your pone with the most, the one with all the news and goings on; the only D-J Pon-3! Here today with some very important news that just came in from Las Pegasus.

“The army of The Goddess with a Gun is No More! It took an entire megaspell apparently from the one and only Angel with a Shotgun! That’s right, the Angel and Goddess with a Gun showdown happened at a place called The Roof. It apparently used to be a parking garage.

“Witnesses say it was as epic as you think it was. Like an old school Equestrian army versus Zebrican Legion battle to the bitter end, megaspell included. The Goddess’s army has been dissolved, surrendered or dead; with the Angel doing the unprecedented of creating and detonating a megaspell to save the town.

“I really advise you to go there now if you don’t believe me. I wish I could broadcast video evidence over a radio but ya know, limitations of technology. Now if you’ll excuse old Pon3 I’ve got a little song for you; all the way from Stalliongrad in honor of our angel.

It’s Called: Katyusha by one Starlight Glimmer.”

Everyone turned to face me, while I was stunned. I could feel my eyes physically widening in shock. How does he know already? I looked around, trying to find some pony with a camera or a memory capture spell active. I couldn’t see one.

They all view me as a hero, but if this is what a hero feels like; I don’t want it. I hesitantly reached down and turned the song down. It had been one of my favorites during the war, but for now this report was more of a shock than anything. I felt the coffee wearing off; fatigue setting in. The sudden rush of attention made me feel self conscious; starting to examine my body.

My eyes felt heavy and my body felt weary. I wanted out of the public, away from all the eyes that were now looking at me, idolizing me in some cases. I scrambled up to The Red Roof, the inn inside The Roof. My heart was pounding, my eyes were watery and my body shaking as I walked into our room. My vision was narrowed into a tunnel. I could feel my breathing getting shallow and my heart pounded against my skull.

Why do I feel so… I got into Nyota and my room; blackness said it was time to crash right there.

***

I woke up slowly, feeling Nyota’s leg across my bare chest. What, where am I? I turned and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Hey, Sunny. You passed out from exhaustion.” I blinked a few times and he nuzzled up against my cheek. “Comes with drug use and overcoming it. You stay awake because you need it.”

I hesitated and started to try to speak; I found the taste of his hoof in my mouth. “It’s okay, Picline and Blood Work said you’re going to be fine and agreed to keep it quiet that you passed out. You feeling better?”

I tried to move and my body responded by aching all over. My back, legs, neck, jaw, all felt like I’d been hit by a truck. I groaned in pain as half of me was really warm from being held facing Nyota, and the other half was just lukewarm from the blankets. “I guess not that great, why don’t I give you a massage before we start the day?”

My heart felt lighter at his offer and I nodded softly to him. If all of my days start with his massages, I think I will gladly stay in bed another hour.

****

Level 13 Progress - 0% HA! It's the start of Act IV and you just killed a boss; you think I'm giving you XP Now?

Chapter 38: The Breakfast Club

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“There is a Nobility in Compassion, a Beauty in Empathy, a Grace in Forgiveness.”
-John Connolly

Once out of bed I had started repairs and work on the group’s armor first. I still had a full two kilograms of bullets pulled from my plating, and Mad Mac hadn’t even gotten to work on it yet. While I was saddened that all of Nugget’s artwork was shredded off, the task was one of the most tedious but also gratifying things I’d ever done.

There was some strange pleasure to know I had made this. Now I was finding rounds embedded in it that I hadn’t even realized hit me. Shotgun pellets, pistol slugs, grenade fragments, small caliber rifle rounds, all had simply impacted and either stuck in the fabric or had fallen to the ground, leaving a barely perceivable dent.

One part of it was the material; stubbornite, as it was notoriously hard to break. When I had made this armor, I’d needed a plasma torch focused on it slowly and meticulously. Random bullet strikes would not break this eight to eleven centimeter plating. Even armor piercing tungsten rounds would have trouble with the material, but it was incredibly rare and required forging techniques that earth pony magic had to be infused into.

Now I was seeing the results of all that work into my armor, as well as with the others’ armor. Nyota’s armor had three bullets stopped that would have pierced his heart. Scopola Mina’s had six shots that her helmet absorbed. Quick Stitch’s armor had been pierced twice, but both had been stopped by his ribs. Chifundo’s cloak was riddled with holes through its light plates but underneath it, his combat armor had held just enough to keep him alive.

Alguacil’s was the only one who lacked the stubbornite and it showed. His armor had been pierced a dozen times and the armored cap he wore under his hat had a deep gouge in it where a bullet had grazed along it. You got lucky, Alguacil. I wish I could convince you to wear something heavier and learn to fly with it. I kept working for half the day to make repairs. I dropped the spent bullets into a bucket, and by the end I needed two more..

Once our armor was done, I took out my gauss carbine and started working on it using the one we had recovered. Celestia’s Hammer had every single damaged part taken out and replaced with a newer, freshly cleaned piece. She was my crowning achievement when I finished. ‘Celestia’s Hammer’ looked fresh off the factory floor and sucked the sound out of the air around her when she charged now. A silence that indicated something was about to die. Well I don’t have to get point blank anymore.

The rest of our intrepid group spent the day helping the town clean up and organize after the siege. Pony waste had to be removed, blood stains needed to be cleaned, bodies still had to be buried, and were getting ripe, while Quick Stitch worked on getting the heavy batteries mounted on various positions and floors of the garage. Every single part had to be done.

Scopola Mina had started a public soup and fruit kitchen with the abundance of food we had acquired. I came up to see her serving stuff, but Scopola looked quite singed and flustered. I smiled at her and tilted my head confused. “Are you alright, Scopola Mina?’

“I ummm, yeah. That stuff flares up quite a bit when it’s too close to fire.” As Scopola spoke I realized she was talking to something that was around three feet to my left. It was like she couldn’t see straight. I took a step left and Scopola’s head turned, still talking off to my left.

“No, Scopola. I am right here, not over there,” I said. Scopola shot me a glare and looked even more disturbed by this revelation. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I, umm, y’all are a little blurry and to the right—I mean left!” Scopola snapped as she passed me seven grenades that were elongated and shaped with a magnet down one side. Then she passed me a bowl of soup and a fresh apple. “Here! I made some thermite grenades just in case we can’t get into that stable y’all talked about!”

I stared in disbelief. “Scopola that’s genius.” I started to realize why she was having trouble seeing. “Maybe you should go see Quick Stitch, you might have a concussion or eyesight damage.”

“Naahh, y’all are silly Sunrise, I already saw the doc.” She paused and took a breath, “He said I should be fine in about a day or two. ‘Right as rain’ he called me, not that rain has ever been right.”

Oh boy, her Appleloosa accent is really coming out. I think I might be able to help her? I gulped and nodded, “Thank you, Sun and Fun, for the soup and grenades.” I set the food and grenades down, looking around for a set of reading glasses. Oddly enough, one of the scouts had a set on her sash.

“Can you hand me those?” I asked, and the Filly Scout shrugged and passed them over to me. I turned and slipped them onto Scopola Mina. “Here, Scopola, try these.”

Scopola Mina blinked several times as the world around her cleared up. She shook her head in disbelief, “Ya know, the world looks a whole lot better now!”

“Scopola did you wear glasses before?” I was fairly puzzled now and wanted to see if she really did need an eye doctor to take a look.

“I mean, I could read if y’all put stuff really close.” She smacked her lips, tasting her own soup.

“Can you see far away now?” I raised an eyebrow and leaned close for the answer.

“Surprisingly enough, yes. These glasses make y’all a whole lot clearer.”

“I think you should wear glasses,” I took a breath as I picked my things back up and pocketed the thermite grenades. Make sure to check these later.

“I don’t want everypony calling me a nerd, especially y’all,” Scopola Mina said. I shook my head at her with a smile.

“Scopola, I think you will be fine. I am pretty sure I am the nerdiest one here.” I replied with a broader smile and slipped off into the crowd to find somewhere quiet to eat.

It was bad enough with ponies patting me on the shoulder or calling out my name when they recognized me. I got over a dozen unwanted hugs and two slaps on my flank that made me jump and blush. I felt some pressure on me to perform and just wanted to hide in the shadows instead.

I ended up eating lunch in the workshop of Mad Mac. I was breaking down the armor of Breakfast Blend’s former troops, when Stormy entered with a look upon her face, “Sunrise, I need to ask you a question.”

My head slowly turned to her and she closed the door to the shop. Her talons fell heavily onto the ground as she approached. “What do we do with the prisoners?” Mad Mac put on a pair of headphones and we could hear Stalliongrad-style marching music playing off of them. I knew the city’s anthem by heart.

“I’ll come talk to you and Alguacil about that before dinner.” I replied as I started to examine the armor Breakfast Blend’s forces wore. It was Stable-Tec design! These collars lack numbers but that blue and yellow underneath! It was all freshly machined, almost factory printed. There was no denying it; these were Stable-Tec designed heavy security uniforms. All modified to look like standard soldier fatigues and armor gear.

I set them down and held my head, fighting with a memory. Stormy grabbed my shoulder, “Hey, Sunrise, you okay?”

I shrugged it off as my rad count flashed a warning on screen, “198 Please Seek a Medical Professional.” Nyota came in and I smiled, feeling a little relieved. Right, Radiation from Megaspell; I was downwind while we were digging graves.

“Stormy, I’ll be fine. I’m sure Nyota can take care of me. I’ll see you about the prisoners in a little bit.” I was trying to avoid what was bothering me. Seeing the Stable-Tec barding, even without the numbers, was reminding of something. There was a distant scream inside my head: A scream I was making. Whatever that memory was, terrified me.

Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder and I noticed the grime and metal dust that fell off me onto his arm. Without hesitation I leaped forward and kissed him, smearing his freshly showered chest in my workshop grease while metal dust covered his face and mane. I hadn’t realized how dirty I was and I didn’t care. Slowly we broke away and he chuckled, “Well, someone needs a bath.”

I blushed a this comment, not that I thought he could see it. I nuzzled up against him and he just laughed more, “Sunrise! You’re going to make me need another bath, I just got out!” He couldn’t stop laughing and his laugh, mixed with the touch, helped me push through the screams in the back of my mind. Slowly the screams died and the memory went back to the depths where it belonged.

I finished my meal and went with Nyota to the shower. This will hopefully clean off the radioactive particles and I can have some RadAway later. Yes, they still worked and they were wonderfully hot. Not just the water, but Nyota in there too. No, I’m Not Writing that Down.

*****

“Alguacil, I do not think punishing them would be appropriate.” I replied with a grim resolve. “We forgave Black Hawk and Wicker hasn’t been punished at all.”

“Look, I ain’t saying we don’t forgive ‘em but I should have the right to interrogate ‘em till they tell us everything about this Breakfast Club I wanna know.” He growled at me and lowered his head until we were eye level, making me stare into his one eye and the socket where the other one should be.

I shook my head, “No, we can question them, but I am not about to let you interrogate them your way. They deserve to be forgiven and allowed to help us rebuild. Their army is destroyed and their leaders have abandoned them.” Alguacil snorted at this and turned back to working on the lock to open up a footlocker we had recovered.

“Sunrise, I swear you don’t let me do my job half the time.” He slapped the foot locker with a claw in frustration when the bobby pin he was using snapped. I reached out and handed him another one to replace it so he could keep working.

“Alguacil, that might be a good thing. Prevents you from doing something you’ll regret.” I replied while we kept working. Alguacil finally got the particularly difficult safe open with a loud click. He slipped it my way to examine the content while moving to work on the next locker.

I stared at what was inside. A pack of coffee marked ‘Sergeant Dunkin’s Personal’ and a journal with the symbol of a tree encrusted on it; a special treeI thought I should recognize made of crystals. Underneath that tree was the symbol of the letter Phi, the same symbol on the secret stable we’d found. Oh, she knows something, I thought. The color of the journal was Stable-Tec blue with the obnoxious yellow coloring the edges of the page.

I reached for the book and slowly opened it. Inside the first page read: ‘Property of Breakfast Blend’ underneath in blue ink read, ‘The Goddess with a Gun, read this and die.’ I slowly opened it and began to read:

‘The everything trees are nearly ready. We will hopefully be moving soon. I cannot stay at this new stable for risk of someone showing up for the old world tech here. Barista Foam has arranged to destroy this place when we leave, much as Sunrise did the last one. I should thank her for the idea. That explosion she set off helped create the radioactive substances we used to splice the trees together. They are the future of the wasteland; we cannot afford to waste them.’

Everything trees? Okay, that might explain the fruit and vegetables. I closed the journal to take in what I’d just read and tucked it away to read later. I kept going through the various pieces of trying to figure out how to satisfy Alguacil. I let out a sigh to ease some of the tension I felt building between us.

I could feel as the screams started to try to pull themselves through in my mind. A laugh as well; the laugh of Agent 9. I shuddered and looked around, trying to see if she was near me or not. I shivered at the thought of any of those three watching me, or worse, had come back to visit Sparrow again. I need something to do, something else, anything!

“Alguacil, let’s go talk to Wicker. You and me. Picline can be there too, to act as referee.” Alguacil turned and smirked at me. I grunted to remove his smirk before I continued, “After we head to the regulator office and expunge the bounty on every single prisoner we took.” He didn’t particularly like the sound of that; not that he had a choice.

*****

It was well after dinner when we had finished filling out all the paperwork to alleviate the forty-six bounties on prisoners we had taken. I walked up to Picline with Alguacil next to me inside the hospital of The Roof. I couldn’t really call it a medical bay or first aid station anymore. They had already used some of the scrap to make another two rooms and were in the process of sterilizing and sealing them up.

Wicker was still on a medical table. His chart read his full name: ‘Wicker Weave’. Scopola Mina was there talking to him, and we had apparently interrupted Picline and Chifundo’s conversation. Chifundo had several marks on his neck and it reminded me to pull up my own collar. “Picline, Wicker, if it is okay with both of you, Alguacil would like to ask Wicker some questions.”

Nyota came in. He was no longer wearing his eyepatch and Picline jumped when he saw it. “What the fuck is wrong with your eye?”

Nyota snickered and smiled, “Nothing, all my tribe possesses the spirit eye. You thought I was missing an eye, didn’t you?” Nyota was beaming with satisfaction at Picline. It was like he had just smote some cruel foe and we were all meant to praise him. I was proud he wasn’t hiding who he was. I just wished he hadn’t possibly angered somepony whose cooperation we needed.

“Picline, stop being freaked out by something like that. His eye is actually quite beautiful and wonderful to look into.” I replied and placed a hoof upon her shoulder. “Now, Picline, can we speak with Wicker?”

Picline groaned and stared at me, I stared back. Nyota walked up next to me and stared with me. I wasn’t sure if it was my determination or his eye that caused her to look away and back down. She looked out of the corner of her eye with the stare of a mare scorned. “Fine, but you better stop if I say to stop.”

I looked into Wicker’s eyes: they matched his mother’s. “I promise nothing stressful or straining.” I picked up his bag while I talked and pulled out a fresh apple. These were not the slightly mutated or strange looking pieces like in Silver Fang Shanty; these were new and lacked that radioactive taint. “Primarily what I want to ask is where did you get this?”

“The apple in my bag? I don’t know. I got it off one of the carts.” I handed him the apple and slowly handed his pack back to him.

“You have fresh apples?” I stared at the apple like it was some holy relic that shouldn’t exist.

“Yeah, I think I’ve got a pear in here, too, and a few carrots.” He pulled out the food in question. All of it looked freshly picked and without the wasteland browns or grays added to its color mix. They didn’t have the DNA mutation of the wastes at all.

“How? How is it not tainted or radioactive?” I was starting to stutter as I handed the fruit to Nyota. Wicker shrugged, took a bite out of the carrot, and passed it to me.

“Here. It isn’t poisoned.” I took the carrot from him and bit into the next part. The taste was marvelous. I stared in disbelief before devouring it like a ravenous goat. This was just as I remembered before I woke up.

Scopola Mina shrugged, “Yeah did you not check out the carts? Inside there are all sorts of fruits and veggies, they’re delicious!”

I just stared at my hoof then slowly looked up at Wicker, “It tastes just like I remember, from the Old World.”

“Well duh silly, what did you expect?” Wicker snapped another piece of carrot while he was talking.

“Wait, you are not freaked out that I remember the Old World?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, why would I be? The Goddess with a Gun knew about it, and so did Barista Foam.” My jaw fell agape and would have hit the floor if it wasn’t attached. Pink rolled into view with a huge smile on her face.

“You’re putting the puzzle together! And it makes less sense assembled than it did all in pieces!” She squeed while leaning up to listen to the conversation, her rear facing me as she waited for Wicker to continue.

“You see five years ago, Breakfast Blend started recruiting to this stable she found. It didn’t have a number.” He paused and took a sip of water from Picline with a smile. “Thanks mom. Anyway, she wouldn’t let you talk about the Ministry of Morale or Stable-Tec too much, as that was grounds for running laps. The job came with all the fruit and veg you could eat, along with training, gear, and pay of one cap and three coffee beans a day.” He paused and stretched out.

“What was the job?” Nyota asked, taking one of the carrots and letting out a murr of delight when he started to eat it.

“Protect the trees.” Wicker replied and waved his hoof to get everyone to not ask anything. “Breakfast Blend, ya see, had re-engineered those trees to grow everything. Carrots, apples, and oranges are a little rarer than we’d like. But bananas, pears, lettuce, potatoes, and onions grow rather well. Those carts each contain fresh good soil, those trees, and a watering system for them. We had hoped to find somewhere without radiation to plant them permanently.”

“So all this fighting was fer a damn set of trees!” Alguacil snared with a disgust.

“Those trees are the future of the wasteland, still are. It was honest work; and all we wanted was a water talisman.” He shot back and snorted.

“What Stable?” I stepped forward and Wicker physically backed away from me. “What all did you do in there? What was it used for before?” Wicker looked even more uncomfortable as I advanced. “What happened to the previous residents?”

Picline stepped between us before I could get closer, “I think that is enough questions for one day.” We stared each other down.

Is she going to finally knife me over this? Nyota and Scopola both draped a hoof over my shoulder and pulled me outside into the common area. I wanted to go back in and fight but they wouldn’t let me.

“Sunrise, calm down. Look, y’all done worked him up and he’s clammed up. You’re gonna have to wait for answers after he gets situated again!” I flinched and wanted to scream at her. “You’re being more Alguacil than Alguacil!”

I stopped myself and slowly realized she was right. Pink wandered off, “You got this now, Sun and Fun! Gotta go check on that memory!” I stared at Scopola Mina, slightly hurt by the comment.

“You are right, Scopola. Sorry.” I whispered to her and slouched against the wall. Nyota was petting my mane and it felt nice, reassuring that I hadn’t stepped too far out of line. “Scopola, you’re a good scout and a very good friend.”

Scopola Mina gave me a half hearted smile. Nyota looked up at her and turned his head where she could see his earthly seeing eye, “And a damn fine rifle pony.”

Scopola shook her head and then banged her horn against the metal wall. “I used chemicals to poison almost a 100 ponies and got them killed. How can I still be good?”

I shook my head, “No you did not. They made the choice to fight us. You did what I asked and it did not work out.” I slowly stood up and stopped her from hitting her horn against the wall a second time. “Stop that, it has got to hurt. Now listen, in there is a pony who needs someone besides his mom to tell him he did not do something terrible.”

She looked over at me and I had to reach up under her new glasses to wipe away a tear. Nyota pulled her into a light hug, “I think we know who that pony is, don’t we?”

Scopola turned to him then back to me and then back to Nyota. “Look, Scopola, I’ve seen you since we came back last night.” Nyota nudged her head and ruffled her mane as he let her out of the hug. “You haven’t left Wicker’s side unless you absolutely had to. So why don’t you go in there and help fix it?”

Scopola hesitated and then shook her head, “If they were really raiders I could live with it. They weren’t no raiders and that makes me feel worse.”

I smirked at her and Nyota put a hoof up to my mouth. “They spent no effort to step back from the situation to deal with The Roof like good honest traders.” He paused to take his hoof from my mouth and lifted Scopola’s chin up. “Doesn’t matter who shot first, doesn’t matter what happened. They were turning into raiders, taking what they wanted without care and threatening to slaughter this entire town. They were going to lay waste to every single mare, stallion, filly, and colt in this place for no other reason than water.”

Nyota took a breath and smirked, “You stopped that. You stopped this from becoming another Oasis. We did what we did to protect the people here; that is more than enough justification for me. I have finally atoned for losing my home.” He said all this with a smile.

“Scopola, I made the call, period. I have to live with that, now go back in there and enjoy your time with Wicker.” I smiled at her and gave her a soft hug. I hung my head and started to walk away as Nyota ushered Scopola Mina into the hospital again.

Nyota kept talking to her, “This is something that is going to weigh on you. It is up to you to look at it in a good light or a terrible light. What we did saved a whole ton of creatures in The Roof. We removed a lot of terrible creatures from the world who wanted to hurt The Roof.” He stopped her at the door.

“I can’t believe anyone who would massacre an entire settlement, have any interest in making The Wasteland a better place. Now do what Sunrise said, go on and see Wicker.” Nyota returned to me and lifted my head. “That goes for you too.”

I stared out, having listened to him. His words were a gut punch of reality to me. Scopola had used a chemical weapon and it did not have the intended effect at all. I, however, had used the very weapon that destroyed my world and gave us this hellscape called The Wasteland. I hesitated until he turned my head to look at him and force an answer out of me. “I can never build one of those weapons ever again.”

“Sunny, if that is the way you want to look at it, just do yourself a favor.” I fought back my tears as my heart sank. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but least of all did I want to be reminded of creating a megaspell bomb. “Go see all the ponies you saved. Talk to Hanzhoof and Franzpone, you saved them both. See the expression on Picline’s face when she looks at her son.” He took an inhale, “Cross Stitch and Mad Mac too are alive because of you. All because one pony couldn’t take no for an answer.”

I wanted to tell him he was wrong, I wanted to find some flaw in his argument. I couldn’t, I had no reason to say he was wrong despite all the blame I felt like should fall on me. He kissed my forehead and whispered, “If you want someone to blame, blame Breakfast Blend.”

He was right. I didn’t want to tell him but he was right. Nyota stood up and kissed my forehead again, “I’ll see you when you come to bed.” He said with a reassuring smile across his lips.

I stayed for a while, reviewing every action I had taken. I was starting to understand Nyota’s perspective. He had seen his home destroyed over water. Mine had been destroyed because of coal and fanaticism. I wasn’t sure how long I was reviewing my actions, but Pink came back and Alguacil walked up at the same time.

“Sunrise, Wicker said you might be interested in this.” I opened the cover and inside was a Stable-Tec sticker along with a Ministry of Morale approved logo. I couldn’t resist it anymore, and finally plunged into the memory I’d been fighting.

ooOOoo

Unknown Time, Stable 43

I was in the stable, my stable. I was awake and strapped to an examination table. Two IV’s were inside my legs, pumping some green and purple fluids into me. My body felt cold, so cold I wanted to scream. I looked over to see a shadow, somewhere deep inside, I knew that the shadowed pony was Agent 9. “Test subject is reacting surprisingly well.”

Her voice was cold and made my spine unnaturally chilled well beyond what the fluids they were pumping into me. Another technician, the one from when I woke up out of the stasis pod and fled the stable, he walked into view. I could see him clearly, I wasn’t sure why Agent 9 just appeared as a shadow of a pony moving around. “Yes but her cutie mark hasn’t emerged yet.”

Agent 9 scoffed verbally and waved her hoof at him, “It will be fine, Probability Driver, we only have six subjects that have reacted this well. Already the probabilities around her are warping.”

The scientist looked around with a groan, “Do I have to keep that moniker when it is just us? I much prefer Agent 88.”

Agent 9 physically shoved him, “Just because only those I wish to perceive me can, doesn’t mean we can take chances like that. If the Stable-Tec staff figure out who we switched with, we’re all dead.” I wanted to speak but found that I was a passenger still. The two of them turned to me.

“I believe it is time to install the prototype in her.” Agent 9 suggested and pulled out a small black box. The block box that was inside me. I know that is mine; those symbols, and its size. No doubt that cube is what is attached to my spine.

Agent 88 scoffed and took a step back, “Are you sure we can get away with that? There are only eleven total prototypes for the guardian class and three of them are in us.”

“I want to make sure we get everything we can out of this brat, that means she gets a prototype and we make sure these damn things work.”

I looked around as a Pink cloud came into view, the PipBuck H.U.D. cutting on and at the top read: ‘Drug detected, muscles numb. Damage, None. Please inject stimulant.”

“And if it kills her, just blame her as another failed experiment.” Agent 88 nodded to Agent 9, he reached over a cabinet starting to take out surgical tools as the door opened and I watched the shadow over Agent 9 leave the room.

Agent 88 moved to a medical cabinet and took out a series of knives and scalpels. “Well fuck, ya know, why did you have to make my life difficult?” He let out tsks as he spoke, clicking his lips and then moving a scalpel to where I could see it floating in his magical TK. The dark purple aura around it even more foreboding than the actual doctor’s implement.

“Oh right, you can’t talk right now, nor can you scream. Which means if you die during the surgery…” His voice implied a threat that made me wish to gulp or speak, maybe. I couldn’t make my throat move, much less lift a hoof to stop him. He waved the scalpel back and forth in front of me. I stared down the point of the blade for agonizing second after agonizing second.

Agent 88 groaned and pulled the scalpel away, “But, Agent 9 will likely still waste a cube on you and will notice if I make any purposeful mistakes. Do me a favor, just give up and die while I work,” He paused as I felt cold steel against my chest. “Also I’m not giving you any sedatives; you can’t move, but you can sure feel the pain still.” His voice trailed out as my eyes shot out of my head from a searing white hot pain that pushed into my chest slowly.

As the pain erupted a small pink cloud appeared; I recognized it as Pink before she took form. The same cloud that guided me out of the stable. “Oh, hello there! Looks like we’re stuck together now. I must admit, I’m surprised, buttt…” The pain overwhelmed her next words and then the pain stopped. My mind slowly adjusted to the sudden loss of sensation as the feeling of pressure rippled through me when my chest was being opened. Blood was pouring out and Agent 88 started to sweat as he worked feverishly to open me up for his new part to add to me.

“There, that’s better, I cut off the pain. Now, this is quite the surprise party to walk into. Why don’t you tell me exactly what has been happening?” I hesitated and the pain started to seep through whatever Pink was doing to stop it.

It started a while ago—

“I know where it started, silly, I mean since you went into Stable 43. Oh Goddesses, do you not know who I am, silly filly?”

No, but, it started with—

ooOOoo

The memory slowly came to an end and I woke up shivering in the cold former parking deck that was The Roof. I looked around and saw Pink tapping her hoof, “Wellll…”

Thank you, Pink. Thank you for everything and reminding me why I have to stop monsters. I replied with a smile. Pink nodded and I could feel her hoof stroking my mane, almost in a motherly way.

“You’re welcome, knuckle head, now why don’t you go see that stallion friend of yours. He’s incredibly well behaved and a credit to zebras everywhere.” Pink was beaming with no hint of sarcasm. I blinked a few times and she smirked.

“Even if you never find your mom, you can at least say that you made the closest thing you have to one right now, is proud of who you picked.” I shook my head.

I’ve never thought of you as my mom.

“I certainly act like your mom or your conscience. I prefer mom, because let’s be honest, you beat yourself up better than a full hoofticuff boxing team ever could hope to.” She stopped rubbing my head and slapped my ass. “Now giddy up little filly!” I shuddered and started to trot towards where I knew Nyota was.

I walked into the Red Roof Inn, book in one hoof and poked my head inside the door. Nyota was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at a cup of tea he was sipping on. I walked up and nuzzled against his stomach then his chest. I was so happy to feel his warmth. It was so much better than the cold table in my memory. “Thank you, love.”

"Get some rest, hun, it's been a crazy couple of days." He said as he ruffled my mane, "I'm gonna try and get some answers from my associates."

“Your associates?” I asked and he smiled with a nod.

“Yes, the other couriers and the courier offices.” I rubbed my hooves up against his chest and down his arm, searching for his hoof till I found it. I gripped it softly and felt an odd warmth emanate from my chest.

"I hope you like the improvements to your armor and shoes." I spoke with a big yawn and started to crawl up into the bed with him. If anything the memory had helped me alleviate some of the feelings I’d had earlier. Honestly, right now, I just want to feel you beside me.

"I do, I like it quite a lot." He started stroking my mane, slowly easing my fears and then darkness started to engulf me. “Go on, Sunny, I’ll protect you all night long.” Even the creaking of the bed springs didn’t freak me out, not with Nyota holding me and letting my heartbeat sync up with his.

The voices were raised, slowly pulling me from my dream. I rolled over, searching for Nyota, who wasn’t there. “Nyota?” I asked, looking for the warmth that wasn’t there. His voice turned my ears towards the slightly ajar door to our room.

*****

“Look, this is the first decent rest she has gotten in four days. If you lot disturb her, I will not be held responsible for my actions.” He was stating something incredibly grim and angry at whoever was there. It made me smile.

My fierce defending demon, ready to make sure I sleep. It warmed my heart and scared me at the same time that he was willing to go out of his way just to make sure I got sleep. I smirked and roll over, slowly dragging myself to the edge of the bed. My PipBuck registered it was 01:22am. I was still drop dead tired.

I slipped over to the door, looking out of the door. Wicker and Picline saw me first and held onto each other, looking afraid at Nyota. “Quick Stitch…” I started grogigingly, playing dumb about Nyota’s threat. “Scopola Mina… oh hi, sweetie.” I said looking up at the very gruff looking zebra. I started shaking my mane side to side and rubbing the sleepy out of my eyes. “So what are we talking about?”

“We may have a found ourselves way, to make things back to being happy and gay.” Chifundo spoke up from around the corner of the door. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him. I just motioned a hoof outside the door for him to go on. "We went out to the top of the roof, hoping to spend some time being aloof. Wicker came with and spotted something amiss."

Wicker slowly piped up and stood upright, “Well the group that gets tasked with staying behind is called The Bagged Lunch. They deal with stragglers and prisoners. They are on the horizon and may want to parley with the rest of The Roof.” I grumbled and sighed. He started to keep talking but I held up a hoof as he got to talking about breakfast options.

“Okay, I get the picture, can this not wait till morning?” I groaned, stretching out and forcing my body to move. Wicker shook his head and I rolled my eyes as I went back to cleaning the sleep out of my other eye. “Where are they?”

Wicker nodded, “Oh, about two miles away. We can talk to them on the radio.”

I checked myself, discovering I was nude; not that that was a problem. Most of my gear was still downstairs with Mad Mac. “Chifundo, can you get a radio for me? My stuff is downstairs.” Chifundo nodded and darted off. I looked at Nyota, who had an expression like someone had just pissed on his birthday cake. “I meant give me his radio, but...okay, guess he went to get mine.”

Nyota’s glare kept all of us quiet while we waited for Chifundo to return. He did not come back with just my radio, but all my saddle bags, my weapons, my armor, and the ham radio Blood Work owned. “How she can move with all this, I haven’t a clue in the slightest!” Chifundo exclaimed as he came back into view.

“Thank you, Chifundo.” I smiled at him and took my radio as he dropped the pile of gear at Nyota’s feet. Nyota wasn’t letting anyone approach past him to get towards me. I tuned the radio to Breakfast Blend’s frequency and started to talk into it.

“Hello, anyone out there with Breakfast Blend?” I waited and then remembered radio etiquette. “Over.” I punched back through.

There was static for a minute then the sound of something getting smacked in the background. It wasn’t Breakfast Blend but an older stallion, “I’m afraid this is not The Goddess with a Gun. I am her chief advisor, though. Over.”

I smiled to myself sleepily and walked closer to a nearby window. The group of ponies around us spread apart to let me walk past them, and Nyota moved behind me to block them while I got up to the window. “Oh, hi there. So, umm, real sorry about the whole ‘shooting at you’ thing, and I didn’t actually want to blow up the megaspell bomb. Over.”

“I’m sorry it happened how it did. Over.” His voice was incredibly raspy.

I couldn’t tell if he was sorry because he lost or genuinely sorry for the pain they had inflicted. You don’t know him, give him the benefit of the doubt like you do everyone. I thought to myself as Pink pulled up sandbags onto my H.U.D. and looked to be hunkering down for a fight. “Did you want to talk, maybe work this out? I mean, I have Wicker here.”

“Wicker Weave is alive?” The unidentified stallion asked back with a cough that sounded like he inhaled a cigarette too hard.

“Yes, we tried to save as many of you as we could. I think forty-six in total are here in The Roof. We granted them amnesty on the grounds they stay and help rebuild for at least two years.” I replied, a slight smile coming to my face. Forty-six that I know we didn’t kill. That is better than zero. Thank you, Nyota.

There was silence on the backend as I looked at the rest of the ponies. “Did Breakfast Blend leave anything behind?”

Chifundo held up a feather and the reef from outside. “Yeah, a feather and a wreath.”

There was a thump of a hoof against something metallic on the other end, “No, not those. She’d leave a note, what did the note say?”

“Oh the note, it just said Heroes. Over.” I replied, hoping it was the answer he was looking for.

Chifundo and Quick Stitch looked at each other, “What? I didn’t see a note.” Quick Stitch replied rubbing the back of his head.

There was something mumbling in the background of the radio. “Okay, outside you should see a plume of smoke coming from our cooking fire. We want to invite you to breakfast, to discuss the terms of our group’s parley.”

I looked at every other pony around, Alguacil walked up with a raised eyebrow. Nyota and Chifundo both shook their heads in unison. Scopola Mina shrugged. “No offense but hold on a second.”

I shrugged back at everyone else, “Do we trust them to go out there again? I mean I do not want to continue to make decisions that get us shot.” I double checked to make sure the broadcast button on my end was released.

“I would like to speak with leaders there, but I do not suspect a trap in the air.” Chifundo said and Scopola Mina giggled.

I raised an eyebrow then grinned. Chifundo, that was a pun, wasn’t it? “I mean I want to hear everyone else out about this.”

Nyota cleared his throat, “I’m going just to make sure when this is a trap you get back safe.”

“Well, I want to know what my only darling surviving son saw in them.” Picline spoke up and I held up a hoof.

“Picline, I would like to know, if we go out there,” I took an inhale to process my words as my brain was starting to come alive. “That whatever agreement we come to, The Roof will honor.”

Picline sighed and rolled her eyes then turned to Wicker, “Did you put her up to this?” Wicker staggered back.

“No, mom, I—” Picline didn’t let him finish.

“Look, I don’t care that they are your friends. I don’t care what they offer. They cannot have one of our water talismans.” Picline snarled at him.

“But why, mom? Tell me that.” Wicker stood up straight and put himself nose to nose with his mother, staring her back down.

“Because the water talismans are the only thing that keep our hold over this region.” Picline went white as she realized we were all standing there and covered her mouth. Wicker looked shocked.

I dropped the radio and snarled in rage, biting my lip to try to hold it in. Picline started to blush deeply as Wicker stared her down harder. “Yeah and that is an important thing to have, because if you don’t have something to trade, the settlement disappears.” Nyota explained.

Wicker and Picline were arguing but I wasn’t hearing any of it. I walked up to Picline and cleared my throat. Both of them looked over in unison as their spat had built, “What!?”

“Picline, explain to me what you mean by ‘hold over this region’ and ‘one’ of your water talismans?” I demanded, tapping my hoof against the ground.

“Well, we umm, we have twelve talismans total scavenged from around here.” Picline replied with step forward to try to reassert her dominance.

I wasn’t having this. I grabbed her by the collar as my rage built to a crescendo and pulled her down to my height shoving her head back with my forehead against her horn, “You have twelve? You have twelve, and you would not trade one for completely normal, non-irradiated food and a tree to make more of that food?”

For the first time ever, Picline shrank before me. I glared into her eyes, staring past her and into her soul. I wanted to beat her face in, then and there. Scopola Mina grabbed onto me and pulled me back with her TK, which was surprisingly powerful. “Ho there Sunrise. Y’all might wanna break her face for that, but the Filly Scouts said there ain’t no sense in crying over spilt milk, or spilt blood.”

As I was made to let go, Chifundo picked up. “Picline, I must inquire, how many does The Roof require?”

Picline sighed, “We have four in use. Two for The Roof’s needs, one to pay the guards, and one to trade with.”

Wicker slapped his mother’s shoulder, hard. “Mom! We have wagons full of agriculture and UV lamps. Our gardener could have supplied you with enough food to feed all of New Pegasus!”

“Picline!” I shrieked and broke free of Scopola Mina’s TK. I was seeing red, much as I had when I had beaten up Corners. Nyota grappled me and held me to the ground before I could inflict a blow. “You’re telling me, all the fighting, the two hundred or more dead outside, all of that was because you were being selfish! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS SHARE!”

Picline groaned and rolled her eyes, backing up slowly away from me, “It wasn’t just my decision.”

Nyota kept his hold on me, “But you were on the side of no, I take it.”

Picline lowered her head in shame, “All of us voted no.”

“Why didn’t you just go out and have them show you what they had?” Quick Stitch demanded while Nyota focused on keeping me from tearing her throat out. I was getting better at negotiating his unarmed talents. If not for the fact I wanted to rip Picline’s throat out, he might have been proud.

“They wouldn’t bring it up to the settlement and their tale was too fantastic to believe.” Picline turned to look away as I started to calm down. “I wouldn’t have believed you could have set off a megaspell bomb. Look, I’m sorry, but we—”

I slowly got Nyota to let me go, “I am calm, calm enough. Now, we are going to go out and talk to them. We are going to negotiate a peace and an exchange that you and them are going to abide by. Got it?”

Picline bit her lip and groaned, her head twitching in an irritated way, “Fine. I’ll even go get the burned out ones.”

Nyota placed a leg across my chest to hold me back, “You mean you have burned out talismans, right?”

Picline nodded, “Like six, yes, but no one here knows how to recharge and rebuild the matrices here. Even Cross Stitch doesn’t know how to do that.”

“Wicker, hold on. You have some pretty unique talismans to have those shields from the battle, who made them?” Nyota prodded and I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean, Berry Blend, Breakfast Blend, and Barista Foam were the ones who kept those charged.” Wicker replied, starting to smile as he went with the direction.

“Well, why don’t we go out there with those talismans and have them recharge them; then give them half of those talismans.” Nyota finished and I felt slightly better. I wasn’t sure if my rage was fully justified anymore. “In exchange, they can come in and help you all rebuild, fortify, and repair the damage they caused.”

Picline grumbled, “I mean, I guess that could work, but they stay outside.” She turned to face us and I frankly wasn’t having any conditions placed on this.

“NO BUTS!” I growled through gritted teeth and now understood why Pink was hiding in her bunker. She knew I was about to get angry. “Not. One. Single. Condition. On. This.” I punctuated each word with a hoof against Picline’s chest, physically driving her back while Nyota kept deflecting them just enough to make sure I wasn’t inflicting physical harm on Picline in the process.

I stormed off, gathering up my things and preparing to leave. I got onto the radio, “Hey, we’re coming out. If we see weapons, we’re going back in. Over.”

“Alright, my name is Cinnamon Toasty, ask for me when you arrive. Over and Out.” I put the radio away and shut it off. Alguacil came up to Wicker and stopped him as we gathered to leave at some unholy hour in the early morning.

I put myself physically between the two of them and pushed on Alguacil’s armored chest. “Alguacil, leave him alone, he’s had enough.”

“If he calls me a turkey again, I’ll have ‘nother talk with him.” Alguacil snapped back with a stare at me.

“Well sometimes, ya know, you act like a turkey, so I’ll give him credit there.” I smiled broadly at the feeling of how much that burned him to hear.

“If’n it weren’t the fact I considered you more than an acquaintance at this point; I’d be havin’ a talk with you, too.” Alguacil lowered his hat while I rolled my eyes and smiled, looking at Wicker. I even winked at him to reassure him more.

I pulled up the radio and flicked it on, “I’ll see you in about an hour. Over.” Then I got ready to leave.

“What are we gonna tell ‘em in an hour?” Alguacil replied with a stern snear.

“By what we talked out with Picline, whatever we work out with them will do. We are not giving them much of a choice.” I replied and stretched out, getting ready to leave.

“Would you prefer tea or coffee?” The radio piped back up.

“Two black teas and four coffees. Over.” I replied back, taking a measure of our group.

Quick Stitch snickered with a smile, “Cream in both holes.” Chifundo turned brighter pink as Quick Stitch winked in his direction. I nearly dropped the radio again, this time from laughing. It was truly something we needed, to take ourselves less seriously now; even with my lack of sleep.

I hugged Scopola Mina with a smile as we laughed out our pain and made our way to feeling better again.

*****

We made our way out to the sickly wooded area inside what used to be a very large city park. There was an encampment established there. Several mutant trees were inside uncovered wagons, with many different fruits and vegetables growing from them. The aberrant looking tree trunks even had potatoes, tomato vines, berry shrubbery, and lettuce growing out of it. It was wonderfully beautiful but completely horrifying at the level of genetics required for each of its massive limb-like extensions to grow all the different vegetation out of it.

I had to stop and marvel at it. This was what they spoke of. This was the saplings in those carts we recovered. My heart skipped a beat as the possibility of what such a set of trees could do for healing Equestria started to set in. Nyota nudged me and pointed to the camp at the base of the tree, where there was a small fire going to illuminate the night.

Around the camp were several ponies, all wearing the same uniform of Breakfast Blend’s forces. There was an older blue unicorn, a Pinkie Pie copycat, one emaciated orange pegasus, and a very large, well-fed griffin.

I waved hello to them and we approached. Alguacil was watching them like a hawk, particularly the other griffin near them. I motioned him to stop staring. “Well if’n you could see the sins on others backs, you’d understand.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to face them, slowly stepping out to meet them at their camp edge.

The older unicorn didn’t speak, he just approached with six mugs. He immediately stopped and took a long sip out of each mug before offering them to us. He had signs of ghoulification, but they were few compared to his wrinkles and aged look. “Hello, anything else I can offer you?” His voice was just as raspy in person as it was on the radio.

I shook my head and tasted the coffee. It was real coffee, and it tasted wonderful; like a blast straight from the past. “Well, to business then. I offered them some saplings, smaller carts of herbs, and other things. We brought them samples of the fresh food. They would not give us a water talisman.”

He sighed heavily through his rasp, “This was the second time we tried to trade. The first time, they,” he rolled his eyes and emphasized his next words. “They politely asked us to leave, at rifle point with warning shots.”

“If you were a settlement, and some crazy mercenary came up to get your own source of water, how would you react?” Alguacil snarled and spat in the direction of their griffin.

“I ask you to be quiet, bird,” Cinnamon said, making Alguacil squawk indignantly. Cinnamon continued,. “When I am finished, you can speak your piece. We only wanted to arrange a trade, leader to leader, even make a very good offer.”

Chifundo raised a hoof, "So why turn to violent coercion, when this should have been market cooperation?"

The slim pegasus stood up and smirked, “That unicorn that came back with you may be obsessed with me. He’s a sweet kid, but he might have followed me back, and they thought we kidnapped him.” She explained, and I realized the orange pegasus was speaking of Wicker.

“Wait, how does him coming back with you lead to you laying siege to them?” I piped up, and Cinnamon realized he wasn’t going to get to finish his story.

“Well, they attacked us in revenge, and so we decided if that was the way they wanted it; they didn’t deserve any water talismans.” Cinnamon Toast sighed heavily and weighed his head down. “I realize we are not always in the right, and I am sorry for what we did. It’s why Breakfast Blend tried to operate by council.”

He looked up to Alguacil, “I know you won’t agree with our methods, but we don’t agree with the regulator ones either.”

Chifundo approached and gave a soft bow towards Cinnamon Toast, "So it turned violent because of Wicker's predicament."

“Wait, how lucky were we when we first arrived?” Scopola Mina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We were irradiated and injuried.” Nyota shot back, “We were not a threat.”

“That and Sunrise is adorable,” Quick Stitch added which made me glad my face mask concealed my blushing.

Pink slapped me on the back of my head, “Focus, Sunrise! Make this right, right now!” I mentally nodded at her and put on a brave face, raising the ballistic goggles and fully removing my face mask.

I spoke low and softly, very purposefully. “Alright, here is the deal. You’re going to go back, disarm yourselves there and help them put their town back together. Then you’re going to recharge their broken talismans, and in exchange they will give you half of the recharged talismans.”

The mostly silent, pink unicorn in the back lit up brighter than a birthday surprise party. I looked at her, continuing for what happened next. “And then, once they are better than you found them, if anyone wants to stay, they stay. If they want to go, they go. Finally, when you leave, you and The Roof will sign an accord; a peace treaty. So this never happens again.”

Alguacil pointed at the griffin in the back, “That griffin shouldn’t be one of the ones to go.”

Cinnamon Toast took all this in and snapped towards Alguacil, he had noticed that Alguacil hadn’t taken his eye off their griffin. “What do you have against griffins, griffin?”

“That griffin has committed crimes that haven’t been dealt with or atoned for.” Alguacil spat at him again, this time almost hitting the other griffin, who just snarled back.

“Wait, how do you know?” I was genuinely curious as to how Alguacil knew that.

Alguacil tapped his eye socket and blinked twice. His eye socket rolled into view a glass eye. When did he get that? I stared confused.

“Why do ya think I was so hesitant to shoot ‘em during the battle?” Alguacil snarled as Chifundo nodded, even Nyota seemed to understand.

Nyota leaned over and whispered, “I don’t know when, but he got Chifundo to put a spirit in that glass eye while you were working on other stuff. He can see someone’s innate karma now.”

I whispered back, “Karma?”

Nyota smiled, “The way the world views you, that innate goodness or evil you’ve committed over your life.”

“Spirits can do that?” I was more scared than curious, now.

Nyota nodded and before he could speak the pink unicorn spoke up with a smile. “Yes, and you, big bird, are a mixed bag of good and evil.” She turned to me and fighting back tears as she looked at me. “You’ve done so much good you virtually radiate it, and your zebra friend there has started to follow in your footsteps of mercy. It is sweet to see.” The unicorn turned to Scopola Mina, her facial expression soured just a bit.

“You, sister Filly Scout, have done much good but a great darkness weighs upon your heart, and for that I am sad.” She walked a little further past me to see Quick Stitch and Chifundo. “The pink striped one is a shaman and his heart is silver, whereas the small one is gold. But you, green unicorn, your heart is well intentioned, even if it leads you down a path that could be quite evil.”

We looked at each other, then at Alguacil, who nodded, “She ain’t lying, y’all.” His good eye rolling over to Quick Stitch with a stare. Alguacil was trying to send a message at Quick Stitch and I nudged him to force him to stop his glare.

“You, regulator,” The unicorn’s voice turned to a harsh held back anger. “Have a lot of blood upon your talons, and no hope I see of ever redeeming yourself from that which you have done.”

“Hey, don’t you get snappy with me just because I killed your alicorn. I wasn’t taking any chances with the stories I’ve heard about those.” Alguacil snapped back with a stomp of his talon.

“You are the one who killed Barista Foam?” She inquired and Alguacil nodded.

“We waited and hoped she was like Sunrise and Breakfast Blend, but, unfortunately not.” She turned to the pegasus. “Fast, go deliver the package please.” Fast took a small box from a nearby tent and was gone in an orange streak. The speed she was flying at was almost impossible to follow.

“Well, if’n ya came to a town full of folks ya likes and it was under attack; I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate to defend it.” Alguacil puffed out his chest, looking rather proud of his work as he flexed his muscles.

The unicorn didn’t seem to notice or care. Even I felt ashamed of how Alguacil acted about taking a life. “I am merely sad that my friend is dead and that a monster took her.” Alguacil immediately deflated and looked genuinely pissed at her.

Chifundo stepped in to stop him, “Unfortunately many perished, especially those we cherished.”

The unicorn nodded solemnly, “Many we would call sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. Through that is war, and war never changes.” I approached and offered her a hug. She accepted only the smallest embrace before pulling away.

“Growl is similar. He is a truly reformed raider and worked every day to atone for the things he did.” She explained, though the griffin turned and grumbled with a cough in her direction. “Well, reformed ex-Talon.” Growl seemed to take this without further protest.

“So stick it in your craw, regulator. I’m working to make up for the jobs I’m not proud of.” He replied in a voice that did not match his apparent age. It sounded like his larynx had been shot out and fixed by a surgeon. Alguacil grimaced and kept his eye on Growl still, but lowered his head down.

Alguacil started to speak again and I had enough. I stepped in front of him and slapped him across the face. He stared at me, angry and hurt, “Let. It. Go. Alguacil, there are enough dead bodies around here. If he wants to atone, let him.” It genuinely felt good to use force to get somepony to back down. In all honesty that scared me, that I enjoyed slapping Alguacil deep down inside. Even Pink was stunned I’d been willing to slap him.

Alguacil turned his head back to me, looked me over, and snorted. “Fine. Sunrise, you get that one.”

Nyota motioned towards the tree, “May I take a look?” Cinnamon Toast let him examine the tree and we all waited while finishing our drinks in silence of the pre-dawn hours.

Nyota came back and pulled me aside, “Yep, that tree is real.” Nyota’s demeanor changed and he looked at me. I could see the same rage in him that I bore at Picline earlier. He was just dealing it with a lot better. “Now, if only these creatures were half as intelligent as they claim to be.”

I looked at him puzzled. “What do you mean, love?”

Nyota cleared his throat and groaned. “This whole fight was because both sides were pigheaded and monumentally idiotic. They literally could have worked this out without any bloodshed, instead there is a literal monument to those who fell in their stupidity. I don’t see why we should punish either side or praise them. I’m here to make sure you are okay.”

I nodded and sighed, “I mean, you could make an argument to leave them to their own devices at this point, if that is what you think we should do.”

“No, Sunny. You’re better than that, as frustrating as it is to admit that you are. We have an arrangement, we need to make sure it works out and, realistically, these creatures need to learn to talk to each other and stop regarding everyone who they come across with guarded suspicion.” He stomped his hoof and I realized everyone was looking at us, silently listening as he vented it out.

“I agree, not talking to each other led to the end of the world as I knew it.” I smiled at him. “You know, like we did before we started shooting at each other.”

“Sunrise, 180 years. 180 years won’t heal itself overnight.” Nyota growled and then deflated. “Ya know, back in your time conversation only got so far, didn’t it?”

“No, it eventually broke down, which led to war. War led to annihilation. Annihilation led to us being here.” I rolled my eyes at having to state the obvious.

“So bad communication runs in the species.” Nyota pulled my chin to face him and kissed my forehead. “You’re doing the right thing, I’ll admit it. You’ve stuck us in this deal, even if I wouldn’t have. So now I’m going to say this; you’ve made the best of a worst case scenario.”

With that, we packed up and prepared to leave. I looked over at Alguacil, “Now you had better get to your date today.” Alguacil blushed at me and let out a squawk as we started to walk back. This finally brought us to laughing as the Breakfast Club would come in the next day to help the rebuilding and healing process.

Nyota nudged Alguacil’s flank, “Just remember, be nice and it’s smooth sailing from there.” Alguacil awkwardly moved away from him to bump into Quick Stitch.

Quick Stitch laughed at him, “I wonder what will happen if she wants the knot?”

Alguacil yelped, “What the hell is a knot?” That only made the entire group laugh louder and harder, except Alguacil who snarled and decided to fly back instead of walking with us.

*****

We got back to our room and I almost collapsed on the spot. I laid against Nyota. He took to slowly stripping off my armor. It felt nice to have the weight removed and I released a deep sigh as my shoulders felt relief. "I hope this works out. I am sorry to put you through all this. I really am so sorry. Please, if you wanna tell me your thoughts, I would like to hear them."

"Love, the Roof isn't right, and the others weren't right either," Nyota finished getting me down to my bare flanks. He patted my head and pushed it onto a pillow as he stripped his armor plating off. "But you're apologizing for something you don't have any control over," he chuckled, finally getting his last bits off and pressed in close for a tender, welcome hug. "I can imagine just how bad the date Al went on is going."

I winced at the thought and said a quick silent prayer for Stormy, "You’re right, but it doesn't mean we can’t try to fix it. Through, Alguacil, and his date...I think train wrecks might be more pleasant."

"We've put the pieces in place, but to be honest? I'm kind of hoping that big bird gets a load off, because it might just push the stick out of his ass." Nyota snickered and rubbed my mane softly as I shifted to let him get fully on the bed. My leg threw itself over his shoulder to pull myself in tight to him.

I struggled to contain my laughter as snickering echoed in our room. I shook my head and slowly let the laugh out so as to not wake our neighbors too early. I felt his heat and my heart fluttered with something else, something more primal. I could feel the heat in my cheeks as I blushed and thought about the two of us. "So, rest now? With cuddles? Or are you, umm, not as sore as me?" I softly nuzzled my way up his chest and neck while I spoke and kissed his lips gently when they met mine.

"Rest. I'm not as sore, but I'm exhausted." Nyota stretched out as he spoke until he enveloped me in a tight hug. "I think I could use a massage and I think you could, too."

I slowly rolled from my belly to my side and immediately pressed soft hooves into his spine. I kept rubbing at the base of his spine near his tail. I wasn’t as good as he was, but he had taught me a thing or two. Nyota cooed and groaned as I found tight spots and as gently as possible worked them out of his back, until I came to his mohawk mane. It was sweet, tender, methodical work and every sound he made made me blush and feel rewarded all at the same time. "Let me know if something needs attention or if I'm doing this wrong. I think you deserve attention, for once."

Nyota shuddered gently as I finished and let me start working my way down his back before he replied. "I'll let you know if you're doing anything wrong love. So far it's feeling wonderful." His tail teased my flank lightly with a soft flick against it. "I dunno though, part of me is curious how bad the date's going."

I reached up and took his general greeting by ruffling yota's mane. I found a knot in his skin underneath and started to work it out around the back of his head. "I am sure it's going as terrible and good as we expect it to. What did you do to your head?" I asked, finding this to be the most difficult of his knots to work out.

"The helm is pretty heavy," He whispered softly. I felt his body deflate when the knot was finally gone. I kept up my tender touch to help me unwind. He twitched when I hit a certain part of his neck and tensed up. "S-sorry... reflex... not used to people touching my neck like that..."

I hesitated and made my touch as soft of a caress as I could. I made sure to take my time to work out every little spot of tension. I surprised myself at how soft I could touch him, especially in spite of our travels, training, and fighting. "You just have to get used to my touch, right?"

"Mmm~ yup yup," Nyota softly arched against my efforts, "You trust me to touch you, too, so I just need to relax." He let out a soft sigh and started to twitch his leg. "R-right there."

When he said right there, I focused on that pressure point. My hooves working slowly down to his broad muscled shoulders. I leaned over and kissed him softly on the corner of the mouth. "I take it, this feels good?"

"It feels amazing.” He pressed himself closer to me and stopped me from continuing my work by bringing me into a tight cuddle. “Your hooves are soft but hit all the right spots." Nyota turned his head down and gave me a gentle peck on the lips. "Mmm, Now I know how you must feel when I do this for you."

"Nyota, imagine if your skin and muscles were half the hardness of your own. Then apply this feeling to them." I replied, moving my legs to rub a hoof along his neck and jawline. He softly rolled over and I pressed against this back, though I was nearly comically smaller than him for Nyota to be the small spoon. I kept nuzzling him as darkness started to close in and sleep crept over us both.

“I love you, Sunny.” Were the last words I heard through Nyota’s yawn before I escaped to dreamland, or so I thought.

ooOOoo

I was in a dream as Nyota’s heartbeat slowly became a song beat. I started in disbelief as the scene materialized. I was inside a nightclub. The floor had tiles that lit up in a prism of different colors. A smoke machine generated a fog over every creature there.

On the stage working the turntables was DJ Pon3. That white-furred body, mixed with a multi-color blue and purple hair, along with those thick purple sunglasses was unmistakable. The speakers next to her pounded as she spun records on turntables with her hooves and her horn lit up with magic to power the system.

I was standing on the stage with Nyota. He turned to kiss me, and right before he made contact the world just froze in place. I could see my mother’s reflection in DJ Pon3’s sunglasses, staring at me. Suddenly I was pulled by some force, hard, and the body I was in stayed still. I was floating away and completely lost.

What the hell is going on? I tried to move and found myself able to look around, I could see so many other ponies in the club. Griffins as well were among them and they were not in the slightest bit decent in some cases.

“Hey! Sunrise snap out of it. I don’t think this particular memory orb from your mom’s personal stash is very good for you right now. Instead, I’m going to show you what my life is like with you.” While Pink spoke the room dissolved and we were standing in The Roof.

I was a floating, disembodied ghost, standing next to a floating disembodied ghost. I could still feel just fine, but when a pony walked through me, the whole world felt static, and it confirmed that this was real. “Pink, what? How does this work?”

Pink laughed and shooed her hoof at me, “Don’t question Zebrican shamanism, I sure don’t. Come on let’s go see Alguacil’s date!” She grabbed my leg and before I could protest, yanked me through the ceiling. Pink pulled me through the third floor and straight to the top of The Roof. I gasped for air and found I could easily breathe.

I was far closer to Alguacil than I wanted to be, and immediately wanted to back up. Strangely, I floated away as he snapped his head and I got a clear image of Stormy walking next to him. Pink giggled.

“Hey did you hear something?” Alguacil snapped. Strangely in unison, Stormy and Pink giggled and Stormy snatched Alguacil’s hat.

It was then that I could tell he was drunk as, in the strangest slurred accent, he called out, “Hey, ma’ hat!” He reached for the hat desperately and Stormy snickered at him more before bringing their beaks together. Her deep embrace matched by his beak opened to receive her almost on instinct, and it silenced his words.

“Pink, is that how griffins kiss?” I asked as I looked at the two, pretty sure of what I was seeing but wanting to verify.

“Yes it is! And it’s beautiful. There is one more part that has to happen though, something in their DNA.” Pink pointed out and motioned for me to keep an eye on both of them with her hoof. Stormy grabbed onto Alguacil and flapped her wings, starting to lift him off the ground. Slowly and as if unsure, Alguacil’s wings joined suit.

“There it is! They take flight together while in a blind embrace! Yep, that’s it, they’re going to mate tonight.” I raised an eyebrow as the two of them took flight towards the clouds.

“Wait, they’re going to… in the sky?” I turned to Pink, very confused.

“Yes! Even ponies who mate with griffins have to submit to this as well. They always fuck in the sky.” Pink replied, her voice taking a romantic quality and seeming to melt as she floated in the air. I got the impression that she had done it herself and had really liked it. She grabbed onto my hoof, starting to pull me up. This time, I had figured out how to move and tried to root myself in place.

“Pink! I’m not about to watch one of my friends have sex!” I yelped out and wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Pink frowned and grimaced at me, “Spoil Sport! Fine, I’ll let you get a peaceful night’s sleep.” Suddenly I dropped through the concrete, falling and falling. I impacted into my body and was out cold in the black embrace of sleep.

ooOOoo

Level 13 Progress - 37%
New Quest Perk from making a Spell Matrix Bomb: Matrix Casting - Green Alicorns gain this perk for free, but at a price. They become statuesque and unresponsive (failing all Perception rolls) when weaving or using a matrix. "You know how to use spell matrices to cooperatively cast spells. Likewise, you and at least one other Matrix Caster may attempt to cast using an ancient spell matrix structure provided you know the base spell it was designed for. Finally, you may cast from any spell matrix recovered using the strain cost of the spell and your Potency and Versatility. The art of inscribing a spell into a gems was lost when the bombs fell. However, these gems, called Spell Matrixes, can be found in robots and in factories, waiting to be used. Most often a ‘Come to Life’ spell is found in a spell matrix so a robot can be brought to life. However, sometimes spell matrixes are found containing another spell. Some contain multiple spells, though those are rare.
To identify a spell matrix, a successful Arcane Magic check must be made. This check has a difficulty of -10 for a Novice Spell, -20 for an Advanced Spell, and -30 for an Expert Spell. An Pony can install a spell matrix into a robot, should they have the perk Robotic’s Expert. This will allow the robot to energize the Spell Matrix, firing the spell (or the spell of its choice) once per round. Should it be installed with a spell matrix with multiple spells, each spell may be fired for 45 AP. A robot fires the spells with a Potency and Versatility of 1.
A Unicorn can energize a spell matrix (assuming they are holding it by hoof, mouth, or with a spell) for twice the strain of the spell inscribed inside the matrix. It costs the same amount of AP as any other spell the unicorn can cast (A One-Trick (Telekinesis or Light) Unicorn must spend the normal AP cost to cast a spell (45 AP)), and such spells can be stored inside a Spell Closet. The spell is cast with a Potency and Versatility of 1.
A Unicorn with the Matrix Caster perk may energize a spell matrix (assuming they are holding it by hoof, mouth, or with a spell) for its normal strain cost. That spell is cast with the Unicorns full Potency and Versatility.
Now Important Question: Why the Hell Does an Earth Pony have This?

Chapter 39: The Fate of Sugarcube Corners

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“Many people will walk in and out of your life. But only true friends leave footprints in your heart.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

I awoke late. Later than everyone else and immediately found my stomach churning. If there was anything in my belly when I went to sleep; it certainly wasn’t there anymore. Pink, thanks for the face-in-toilet fun.

“Oh, that’s something completely unrelated, silly.” Pink replied with an innocent whistle. I got back to our room and Nyota was waiting with a cup of coffee. I smiled at him and he passed it to me, “Here ya go, hun, help you get your day started.” I took the mug and immediately inhaled the hot liquid’s scent. The rich beans reminded me of what coffee was like before the Stable. My stomach settled and I felt better, slowly sipping on the black nectar.

“Ya gonna be alright, Sunny?” Nyota ruffled my mane as he spoke and I smiled at him. I laid my head against his side with a soft contented sigh.

“Just fine, what’s on the docket today?” Nyota smirked and we enjoyed our respite, at least through most of the morning.

*****

We had barely gotten ourselves moving when a look out reported they saw “The Goddess with a Gun” coming close. All of us went on edge as I gathered my friends and we armed ourselves, heading out to meet her. Why did you have to get back up? I felt a chill roll down my spine. I enjoyed killing her?

Pink made a face at me, “Of course you did, she’s evil, I’m telling you.” Pink jumped back as we walked towards Breakfast Blend, weapons drawn. The unicorn was carrying a very large sack of things in her TK and she gave us all a weary smile. “See! Are those vampire fangs?”

I grinned at the wink from Pink, then winced when I saw the smile from Breakfast Blend. Even I could tell her smile was forced. I rolled my eyes and stormed up to her, yanking the pack out of her grip. I nearly fell over, but Nyota caught me and caught the package, using his hooves to arrange the package onto the ground with a soft thud.

“Huh, heavier than I thought it was,” I replied, with a look at it and a soft nudge on Nyota’s side.

Nyota was still glaring at Breakfast Blend. “Yes it is. Everyone please, I have a large load to carry; just let me though.”

“I don’t think so, y’all done caused enough trouble,” Scopola Mina replied, charging her laser rifle. Scopola Mina’s own TK wrapped around the load of packages, lifting it slightly. She wormed and forced her way past us, dragging the packages and ignoring us. We dragged the package I had grabbed while Nyota snorted at her.

“Did they warn you about the dangers of that spell?” He called out and she shook her head.

“We’re probably not using the same spell there, stripes.” I winced at the insult. I wanted to punch her for that, but Nyota kept his temper in check.

“No, that is a courier transport spell. It’s great till it wears off, then you need to collapse.” He gave me a reassuring wink and we kept moving the package until we were at The Roof’s gate. The new heavy cannons rotated and pointed at Breakfast Blend. The gate guards pointed guns out of their positions at her and the gate remained closed.

“I, umm, huh. I guess they don’t want this relief package from Silver Fang Shanty?” She turned around to face us; getting the same greeting at the town. “Sparrow sends her regards, by the way.”

I walked up to her and pressed my hoof against her nose softly, “You had better have a very good apology or you should leave.” I replied, hearing Alguacil click his revolver. The hairs on my neck stood on end.

“Well what do you think the packages are for, silly?” She looked around, from myself to Scopola and Alguacil pointing guns at her. She started to speak again, then hesitated.

Chifundo cleared his throat, “There is very little we will accept with this production, when one has caused so much destruction.”

She looked at him, shuddered and turned to Nyota, “You, mostly normal looking zebra, can you take this to the courier station? It needs to be broken down with the mail for other towns.” Nyota snorted at her. I did too, while Alguacil flared up his wings, casting their shadow over us.

“Breakfast Blend, is it?” I inquired and she waved a hoof at me dismissively.

“Yes, that’s me. You’re the Angel with a Shotgun, right?”

“Wandering Sunrise, you can call me Sunrise for short. Let’s not hide behind titles.” I snapped back. She just kept going, steamrolling over me and paying me little heed or little attention to all the weapons trained on her. Much less the fact that no one had moved at her request.

“Which one of you shot the alicorn? I’d like to punch them—not as an act of retribution but as an act of penance for killing my sister.”

I wanted to scream, I wanted to smack her face down. I took a deep inhale and slowly breathed it out with one word, “No.”

“Well then I’ll give him a scathing lecture. I think at some point in time, you and I need to talk about a lot of things.” Breakfast Blend was blowing off everything, as though it wasn’t a big deal she’d attempted to murder an entire settlement.

I was getting fed up with her. “Breakfast Blend, if this is your version of an apology, it isn’t very good.”

“Apology? Why would I apologize for anything? You shot me in the head, killed me, I got better, and now I’m back here.” She motioned her hoof through the hair in a very nonchalant manner, then her eyes went wide. “Oh right! Ten Pony rules!” She pulled her gauss cannon out, removed the clip and then unloaded the chamber.

I wasn’t going to hear any more of this. If I did, I might hit her, and that would give the guards an excuse to start this war all over again. I stormed off, slamming my hoof into a wooden door on my way by. “What’s her problem?” Breakfast Blend asked as I got out of earshot.

I really hope Nyota corrects you in his way. But that was not to be, as Nyota caught up to me, pressing a hoof against my shoulder to stop me. Or you could do the thing that makes me love you.

*****

We reconvened at The Red Roof Inn with Quick Stitch, Scopola Mina, Chifundo, Nyota, Snuggles the manticore, and Breakfast Blend. We unloaded our guns to put ourselves on the same ground; no bullets loaded. Breakfast gave us a confused look. “Wait, why are the heroes opening their guns? Are you not threatened by me?”

"We are threatened by your presence, it's true, but it would be rude to parley while armed before you." Chifundo replied, softly petting Snuggles; who had gotten about half of my size at this point and was more a large dog than small feline.

I turned my head, rolling my eyes and speaking to no one in particular. “Well, you are welcome to leave anytime you want to.” Scopola nudged my side with a ‘be nice’ expression on her face. I was still seething with rage, wanting to kick her right out of The Roof.

Breakfast Blend paid for us all to have drinks. I declined the alcohol and, when invited to take a seat at their table, I shook my head. “Chifundo, I will not sit with her.”

Chifundo sighed, “Sunrise, I understand how you feel, but do not let violence win its appeal.”

“Well, there is a reason I make sure Cinnamon Crunch is with them.” She let out a sigh and tried to smile it off. “I’m terrible at negotiating. I did try to parley while holding two live grenades.” Breakfast Blend took a sip of her tea and found no one was laughing.

I put my hoof onto the table with a heavy thud, “You are also really bad at the whole apology and humility part of this.”

Breakfast Blend snorted indignantly at me, “I have apologized to every pony I’ve seen so far! You stormed off before I could even start offering my apologies! I’ve done what you ask of me. What more could you possibly expect?” She leered at me while sipping on her tea and whiskey blend.

Chifundo cleared his throat to get our attention, “Ponies, please, let us not prattle, how do we prevent another battle?”

Breakfast Blend looked at Chifundo as though he had just struck her across the face. “Do you mean that… We couldn’t! We Wouldn’t! I, I...I came here to make sure that doesn’t happen! Can you find me Picline? I know she is with the mayoral staff; I need to talk to her.”

Chifundo frowned at this and shrugged, “I can certainly go get her, hopefully her work won’t interfere.”

Breakfast Blend looked over to Scopola Mina, who had still been keeping her laser rifle held aloft in her TK; just not pointed at anypony in particular. “Hey, Filly Scout, that gun is making everyone very nervous.”

“Well, from where I come from, y’all’s presence, as ya know the one who were just shooting at us, is making everyone nervous; the gun is just making it less so.” Scopola Mina replied with a long draw as she held Breakfast Blend in an iron stare.

“Well, it’s unnecessary.” Breakfast Blend snorted in return.

I’ll show you what’s unnecessary. I tapped my hoof on the table, harder this time. “I mean, considering I want to beat your head till you’re completely black and blue, on top of the fact you have been completely snooty and cold hearted since you arrived; I think Scopola Mina’s gun is entirely necessary.”

Breakfast Blend let out a chuckle, “Well you already did that, TWICE might I add. Once yesterday and once about ten years ago.” She took another snip of her tea, purposefully turning her nose up at me. “So if you want to hit me, go ahead; third time’s the charm, right?”

I shook my head and removed my hoof from the table, “Hitting you fixes nothing; even if it may make me feel better.” I took in a deep inhale; trying to compose myself and failing. I felt tears welling up. I knew what this act reminded me of; the way the nobles at the Gala acted. The way they held up glasses of wine and acted like nothing was wrong. This despite the fact that hundreds were dying every day, fighting for their luxuries. That I lived in a city where food was sometimes not always forthcoming or you ate survival rations issued by the hospital.

I felt my insides boiling hot as I fumed and gritted my teeth, “Stop acting like some noble in Canterlot before everything went to Tartarus and take responsibility for the suffering you caused.”

Breakfast Blend shook her head, “Before the war ended, I was a barista in a coffee shop. You can blame Stable-Tec for why I’m this way now.” I can’t take this anymore! I stormed off, away from the table.

Breakfast Blend called after me, “We came to negotiate for those talismans,” She raised her voice every step I took. “If they had not been stingy we would not want to wipe out a town over a water purification talisman!”

I turned my head at the door to leave, “You sound like a Blueblood talking about coal and zebras.” My voice was so cold, even I felt the chill. I had never spoken so emotionlessly towards any creature. Now I felt like something within me had awakened, and it was not something I wanted to embrace.

“You could kill her, she deserves it. Rip that box o—” Pink slammed a door in my head shut and yelled to silence whatever that voice was.

“Shut it, you monstrous little shit on a pie! Sunrise is better than that!” Pink leaned a head into my view, grabbed my health monitor and ripped it apart. A leg first, then a spine piece. I could feel the parts of my body reacting as she pulled on them. She turned the pixels into nails, as though she were bending balloons into shape. I had no idea how she was interacting with the tech or how she was managing to do that.

I stared at her, not sure if I should be worried, completely shocked, or laughing at her. Pink came onto screen, sweating and wiping her brow, “Sorry, Sunrise. I have to make sure that doesn’t get loose again and cause all sorts of party pooping.”

Pink, what is it?

She held her tongue and shook her head, “Nopie lopie dopie! Even explaining it might help it get loose. You agreed to trust me; trust me on this.” I nodded slowly and walked off.

This was all too much to unpack, Pink acting suspicious. That new voice that I wanted to go away. Have I lost my mind? I’m talking to a Pink pony in my head and swear I’m hearing another voice that isn’t me...or is it? Breakfast Blend is by far the worse creature I’ve ever met. She makes Alguacil look calm and clear headed. Yeah, I need a break. I kept thinking to myself and lost my surroundings before I bumped face first into Nyota’s chest.

Nyota reached over and pulled me into a warm hug. He pulled me inside the courier office, softly guiding me to stand next to him. "She’s that bad, huh? Paperwork is the biggest pain in the ass about my profession. Sorry I couldn’t be there." He gestures to a huge stack of papers next to all the boxes that had been delivered.

I groaned, reminded of how upset I was. I looked over to see some empty wooden crates and just started punching them with my armored hooves. "FUCK HER! Smash her face in! I swear; that stupid cunt! I wanted to hit her so much! I wanted to see how many teeth I could knock out of her head. I wanted to beat her like Corners, because she deserves it!" I screamed out, hammering away until the empty crate was splinters. My armored plating was far superior to the wood it was made of.

Nyota shrugged, smirking to himself. He continued to sign papers, "I doubt you'll ever get a satisfactory resolution from her. Though your form with that box has improved." He sighed through his smile. I heard a jingling sound from him, looking over to see a bag of caps on the counter. “For the box.” He told the mare behind the counter that was checking his paperwork. "Sunrise, we've got a party and dance and stuff later..." he stopped filling out forms and turned towards me. His smile brought a warmth to my heart that somehow cooled my rage. "We’ll eat, have some fun, then do some meditation before heading to bed."

"How do you deal with it? I mean, you have a spirit of rage and don't just lose yourself to it?" I replied through my huffing and puffing. My tail flicked and smashed the splinters to dust, with an unexpected force. I turned my head to see that a long chain ending in a heavy steel ball had been woven into my tail, attached to my dock. A tail flail! How did I not notice that? Pink just snickered and I gave her a grimace.

Nyota broke my thoughts with a gentle hug. He nuzzled my cheek and gave me a gentle peck on my forehead. "I focus my rage. When I feel the need to cut loose? Well... we usually have people to fight." His smile never went away as I looked up at him, staring into his uncovered eye. I could see a deep fire within, that just barely radiated past the loving gaze he was giving me. "And I mean... meditation helps."

I deflated into the hug, even giving a cautious smile when he kissed my forehead. "I just... I’m sorry." I reached up and replaced the caps he put down with ones from my own bag. Then I offered it to him, "You shouldn’t pay for my mistakes."

Nyota shook his head in a very scolding manner. "It's okay, love. It took me a while to get used to repressing the simmering urge to murder anyone that steps out of line in front of me." He took the caps and placed it next to my own. He turned giving me a gentle ruffle along my mane, mixing the white stripe with the red body. "And I don't mind, boxes are pretty cheap. We're together and we carry each other's burdens."

I grabbed a broom started to sweep up the mess when Chifundo and Quick Stitch both arrived inside the courier office. “Breakfast Blend has left our parley session, but before she left I got one last concession.”

Nyota and I turned to Chifundo, who smiled at us both. “So we never have to see or deal with her again?” I asked.

“That much is implied, yes,” Quick Stitch nodded at me then he and Chifundo looked at each other. Quick Stitch sighed and relented from Chifundo’s gaze. “We did find out something from her about the boxes inside us.”

Well, that has my attention! But it’s from Breakfast Blend, can I trust it? I hesitated and looked to Nyota from some guidance.

Pink leered up, all hopeful. Something inside, I wasn’t sure if it was a memory or just a gut instinct, twisted and told me what to do. “Chifundo, Quick Stitch. As much as I want to chase her down and pummel her, if necessary, for all that information,” I took a breath and prepared my words carefully. “I think it’s best that we do not humor Breakfast Blend any further.”

“The boxes within are an atomic recompiler, it seems, and the recompilation of the dead are its schemes.” Chifundo spoke without missing a beat. I bit my lip to prevent myself from interrupting him, as much as I wanted to smack him.

Nyota facehoofed and snickered. Quick Stitch stepped in with a nervous smile, “Chifundo, I don’t think she is in the mood for a technical explanation, and, honestly? I wouldn’t be surprised if she slapped you. Perhaps after the party tonight, or tomorrow while we are on the way to Stable Phi?”

Scopola Mina poked her head in, “Oh please don’t hit him in the face, his face is so pretty.” Chifundo swished his tail at Scopola, smirking in her direction.

“You only want me to hit him in the gut to wind him so you can take advantage.” I replied, facehoofing with Nyota who was still holding his forehead in his hoof.

“Oh no, I ain’t that stupid.” Scopola looked around in paranoia for a brief moment.

Pink perked up and squealed, “But Picline would watch!” Everyone in the room seemed to hear that and looked in the same direction I was, all of us looking at Pink. Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina stared like they were seeing a ghost while Nyota and Chifundo had a bemused curious look on their face.

“Umm… do y’all see a—” Scopola Mina started.

“Yeah, let’s not acknowledge the pink one in the room.” Nyota waved a hoof over where Pink was and she bounced up and down, then out of view; literally phasing through a wall. Chifundo nodded in agreement. I heard a snicker from beyond the wall and sighed.

Wicker poked Scopola Mina, the two of them looked at each other and then blushed deeply. “Ya know, I think the lot of you are having a moment and it’s a moment better spent heading towards the party downstairs.”

We started filing out, one by one, until it was just Nyota and me. The two of us made it out the door and I saw Mad Mac’s shop in the distance as we approached the stairs to the ground level. “Nyota, go on ahead, I’ll be down shortly.” I smiled and decided to make sure the only other Stalliongrader in the wasteland was coming to the party.

I pushed on the door and found it was locked, I could hear movement inside though. I gently knocked three times. The upper half of the door opened and Mad Mac poked his head out. “Oh, hey there, little missy. Wait, Sunrise, is that you?”

I decided to be a little mischievous with him, “No, Mad Mac. I’m some other green pony with a red and white mane who wears tons of body armor in The Roof.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, short stack, what do you need?” He replied, putting a cigarette into his mouth and puffing on it to make it light up.

“I just wanted to make sure you were going to the party with the rest of us.” I smiled at him, still feeling somewhat of a connection to that commissar jacket he wore.

“Yes, but it is outside. Are you sure you do not want coat?” I shook my head and motioned for him to open the lower half of the door, the half that was preventing me from seeing the rest of him. “Though I am not eating any of that cake.”

I raised an eyebrow, to which he shook his head with affirmation of his statement, “Apple Algers was here, and she said she needed gunpowder for the cake. I do not know why; but if it requires gunpowder I am not eating it. She kept running around screaming about the gunpowder for her cake and I refuse to eat that cake.”

“Besides, I have to go to the party; they closed up the bar for it.” I held up a hoof to stop him from talking further. I was having trouble suppressing my laughter.

“Mad Mac,” I said.

“Yes, Sunny?”

I didn’t respond and simply gave him a soft hug. “Hey, what did I tell you about hugging me?” Mad Mac groused.

“Don’t care,” I replied, holding him tight and just glad he was alright. I let out a snicker and I felt a very heavy, well-worn hoof press against my head.

Mad Mac let out a deep, almost fatherly sigh and smiled at me. “Thank you, Mad Mac.” I didn’t think I needed to say the words; but it just felt right to reassure him.

“Do not mention it, and really don’t,” He hesitated and I decided I had to really rub in how much I appreciated his help.

“Right, so make sure DJ Pon3 knows about it, got it.” I turned and started to walk away then let out a yowl of pain as he grabbed me by the ear.

“Now hold your horse right there, little missy!” He called out with a loud scoff. “Threatening to tell things to DJ Pon3 is treasonous right there! I do not want any of that government advertisement shit coming to my tiny little shop and giving me taxes and reforms.” He took his hoof off my ear and stomped on the hard concrete. “Celestia and Luna dammit; if a stallion wants to shoot depleted crystal rounds out of her shotgun, then it is her Equestria given right!”

He took a breath to stop his eye from twitching, “Sorry, Sunrise, I get a little worked up.”

“Mad Mac, sweetie, you just called a stallion a her.” I pointed out with a grin.

“I did what?”

I quoted him verbatim and he started fidgeting. “Now I suppose I should send a nice, strapping young stallion to your shop for you tonight?” With those words, I found out that a red earth pony could get even redder.

“For that, Sunny, everything you buy out of my shop today; is triple the price. Now get out of here!” I laughed and hugged him again, he flinched and then looked down at me. His eyes had softened and he sighed, “But if you see one of them mare friends of yours who likes guns a whole lot; let me know.”

I nodded to him and trotted off to join the party.

*****

We joined the party and the festivities were in full swing. The bar in town had brought down all their alcohol; while the cake was the size of a small car. Nyota approached me and smiled as we both laughed watching Alguacil awkwardly try to dance with Stormy Skies.

He offered me an incredibly small glass with a clear liquid in it. I looked at it curiously.

“It’s best if you don’t ask and just shoot it all down in one gulp.” I hesitated until Nyota pushed the glass up to my lips and almost forced it back.

The taste was awful! It was like burnt gasoline, and my mouth, throat, and chest all burned alive. I coughed and glared at him, then got an evil idea. I leaped up at him and kissed him deeply, almost causing him to drop his shot of the moonshine. I kept kissing him as he stared at me with his eye wide in shock.

I released the kiss and he took his shot with a grimace. “That was terrible. Seriously, how do you stomach this stuff?”

Nyota shrugged, “You get used to it; eventually. That or you simply avoid it.” He placed the empty glasses onto a nearby folding table.

“I feel like I just drank gasoline, are you sure this won’t kill me?” I looked for a glass of water or something to remove the taste from my mouth.

Nyota ruffled my mane, and then brushed it down, “Generally you don’t drink moonshine straight, but it is a party. Once it stops burning do you want another?”

I was still stunned by the burning sensation in my throat. I shook my head, wanting to slap him across the face. “I do not honestly know; this is my first experience with alcohol. At least my first I remember.”

“Well, what else would you want to drink?” Nyota started looking around the party for something else to drink. “Ya know, maybe tequila is more your speed, or perhaps vodka?”

I looked at him pleadingly and Nyota smiled and gave me a kiss on my lips, “Or we could just go down the list for sampling for you?”

I had to think about it and I looked over at Pink, who gave me a hopeful look. I smiled at Pink and nodded, Alright, I’ve been adventurous so far tonight; may as well keep the tread going. We’ll try it your way. Pink leapt up with a loud “yippie!” of delight. Nyota tilted his head, looking around as though he could hear Pink’s squeal. “Then how about we just go down the list and see how I fair?”

“Hey Zigger boy! Get her a Long Island Ice Tea!” Stormy yelled through the noise of the party. Both of us just rolled our eyes but internally, I was wincing and understanding Nyota's issues with being social.

The party continued well into the afternoon and evening. The dim sunlight through the constant layer of clouds had gone away. I was starting to feel fuzzy as the alcohol had gone to my head. Ponies were in positions between slower dances as the music got progressively slower and quieter. Others had gone off to whatever remotely semi-private place for a round of “play”. Children were long since put to bed as well.

Nyota and I were at the bar, laughing and talking about our future., I wasn’t sure how much alcohol I’d had, but my brain registered the sound of gunfire. Gunfire that was very close to us. I would have ignored it if not for the screaming that followed.

Everything in my body felt distant and slightly hard to move, the sluggishness making me not react nearly as quickly. My shoulder exploded in pain as a bullet hit the plate on my stable-suit. Nyota grabbed me and threw me behind the counter, my adrenaline alleviating some of the alcohol’s intoxication.

I heard the report of Alguacil’s gun going off. “Dammit, what is that thing?” The sounds of rounds ricocheting off something very heavy echoed before another burst of machine gun fire rippled in our direction. There were screams and then my gut twisted when several of them were cut short by the sound of gunfire extinguishing their lives.

Nyota pulled his pack up and handed me what he could. “Are you hurt?” I looked myself over and then remembered I could just check my health monitor on my H.U.D.

“Bruised I think?” There was a slight yellow outline around my left shoulder where the shot had hit me. “But no?” Nyota reacted by splashing cold water into my face. I stared at him and spit out a piece of ice that had gotten into my mouth.

“There, that should temporarily help wake you up. Now where is your gear?” He asked and I looked around, realizing I’d left most of my equipment and all of my other armor layers upstairs.

“It is upstairs, I didn’t think I would need weapons at a party.” Nyota nodded and hugged me.

“Stay safe, Sunny. I’ll get your gear.” He vanished into the crowd and the bartender passed me a 10mm pistol. I poked my head out, feeling a sudden itch in my hoof and immediately took that as a signal to duck down; tackling into the rising bartender as I did so.

“Hey what—” She was cut off by the sound of shattering glasses on the bar as rounds rippled across it. Once the suppressive fire stopped I poked my head back up and what I saw ran a chill down my spine.

A unicorn burst with a light spell that echoed from the object with the firing machine guns. A large metal box, with a metallic cybernetic scorpion tail, heavy assault tank treads, and two heavy machine guns pointing out of the end of it. In addition to this, was the distinctive graffied cardboard poking out of one of the eye slits. “Corners?”

“It doesn’t matter! She is killing those you just saved! Pink was right and I let my combat experience and officer manual knowledge kicked in. I pointed my hoof at the cuboidal tank and called it out.

“That! Shoot at that box with everything you have!” I called to those around me. “Take cover, it can only fire in one direction at a time!” I started trying to coordinate our fire and the masses of ponies started to dive for any cover they could take. The massive cake rippled with bullets and pink teared up.

“Not the party cake!” She called out as the sponge cake collapsed into a pile of crumbs. Quick Stitch landed next to me with a huff and his flank bleeding from a round that had penetrated his armor.

“Sunrise, my new pistol keeps failing.” I looked at him and he passed me the gauss pistol. I hit the charger and as soon as it hit 100% the weapon shut off.

“The capacitor is busted. I’ll have to fix it later, you got another gun?” Quick Stitch pulled out his flame pistol and I shook my head. That probably won’t do much to the armored box other than make it hard to see. I passed him the 10mm pistol I had. “Use this, hopefully the rounds at least dent something.”

I shook my head and splashed another glass of cold water into my face. Quick Stitch frowned and his horn lit up, “This is gonna suck for a minute.” He said and touched it to me. My insides twisted physically and I felt an overwhelming need to puke. Everything I’d drunk in the last hour or so came rushing up and covered the ground between us.

I couldn’t hear or see anything beyond the flood of vomit. I had my senses quite suddenly renewed as the drunken haze left my body completely. “What did you do?” I said through a spat of coughing.

“Purge spell, you can guess what it does by how you feel now.” I nodded at him and caught my breath. I kept smacking my lips to try to get the taste of bile off my tongue. “So what do we do now? We can’t suppress it, that thing isn’t taking any damage.”

Scopola Mina had gotten up onto the second floor and was raining down a hail of laser fire. I nodded at Quick Stitch, “It looks like Corners, but that box is far too upgraded.” Nyota leapt from the second floor down towards us and yelled out, “CATCH ME!” I moved to catch him while Quick Stitch lashed out with his TK to try to stall some of his fall.

With a loud thud and a heavy slam I was pinned under Nyota and everything hurt. He got off me as quickly as possible, “Sorry, Sunrise, thought that would be the quickest way down.” He hefted my saddlebags and helmet to me, “Sorry that took me so long, your gear is incredibly heavy.”

I reached in and started to check for grenades. Nyota plopped my helmet onto my head. What can I use to punch that box? Better yet, how can I break that vehicle in a way that will let everyone else attack it?” My hoof hit one of the thermite grenades Scopola Mina had made me. That might do the trick. I pulled the bomb out and hit S.A.T.S. Nyota was weaving into the crowd while Quick Stitch moved up to get closer to the box in hopes of spraying it with flames.

I was at the bare edge of range to throw my grenade. Well here’s hoping I’ve got Luna’s Luck! I thought to myself as I pulled the pin, I released S.A.T.S. and the spell did its best to make sure the grenade went on top of the small tank. With a bright flame of white phosphorus and superheated mercury the weapon started to burn into the box.

I thought it would roll around but the super heated thermite fused the grenade to the side of the box it was melting through. There was a loud cry and one of the machine guns stopped firing. Inside, in the bright light of a unicorn spell and the smokey illumination of thermite burning metal was Sugarcube Corners.

Her face had several tubes pressed into it, her eye was replaced with something that looked like a robotic probe out of science fiction, and her face was emotionless. There was no life in her one remaining eye, something about the way she looked was chilling and haunting. It was like she was being kept alive against her will and was screaming for somepony to kill her.

Alguacil dove to me and pulled my head back down as the still working machine gun swung towards me. The temporary bar was quickly disintegrating. There wasn’t time to think about what to do, I just started sprinting for the next piece of cover; this one a concrete support pillar.

Machine gun bullets hit the concrete as the box focused its fire directly at me. I held onto the shotgun in my grip and curled my body tightly as the pillar flaked and broke apart. Something higher caliber and with a much sharper gunshot sound echoed from above me, repeatedly. There was a high pitched whining ping, a distinctive noise from an M1 Grand Apple Battle rifle. Chifundo’s new rifle drew the machine gun fire off me and I looked around the corner.

Chifundo’s high powered rifle had punched through the armor plating in a couple of places, but hadn’t stopped it. The side I had blown open with thermite was rotated away, while the guns had revealed they were internally turreted, as were the tracks under it. I darted forward, the gunfire stopping briefly to change belts or retarget; either way it was enough for me to get up to a destroyed old auto-carriage.

Quick Stitch joined with me and sprayed his flamer down, not at the box. He sprayed immediately in front of us, the dust and dirt on the concrete floor burning up with the tar, creating a layer of black, concealing smoke for us. We had bought ourselves time and that was important. Alguacil started putting down cover fire and I pointed at Nyota. “Nyota! Get all the creatures inside! They need cover.”

I turned to Quick Stitch while Alguacil’s revolver fired with titanic loud booms that echoed over the other weapons diverted at the mini-tank. Chifundo and Scopola used the smoke to run out in front of us; getting up against a car at the end of the overhang to The Roof. A spray of fire covered Chifundo and Scopola Mina in a hail of tracers and sparks. Chifundo yelped in pain and the world slowed down, but not from S.A.T.S.

We all watched in slow motion as Picline leapt from the 2nd floor, landing on Scopola and Chifundo’s cover vehicle; in the open and exposed. “I’ll kill you for shooting at my FUNDO!” She threw up a unicorn shield and her horn illuminated in three colors of magic as eldritch scalpels appeared around her and shot forward into the armored box, fruitlessly.

The guns of the box tank turned, the barrels smoking before they opened fire. “Picline! GET DOWN!” I called out.

Quick Stitch grabbed me and stopped me from trying to cover the distance to Picline. The unicorn shield held for the first part of the burst, but those rounds were made to annihilate light cover, anything short of solid concrete wouldn’t hold up. The shield shattered with the deafening sound of a skyscraper losing all its glass at once.

Picline’s body was riddled with bullet after bullet, and the battle paused. No one continued firing except the box of death. Picline’s torse was ripped apart into nothing, her body collapsing into pieces near Chifundo and Scopola Mina. My heart felt like it was ripped in half. I wasn’t sure how many dead bodies were around but the tears in my eyes were very real.

Picline, even you didn’t deserve that. Chifundo started to raise up to fire and Scopola Mina pulled him down to avoid the next burst of weapon’s fire. I hit S.A.T.S., Pink passed me two more thermite grenades. I didn’t hesitate, even if I might need these to get into that Stable door.

“Sunrise, you can’t die here; especially not now.” Something strange happened in that moment of combat, that feeling of the world moving slowly. My pulse monitor hit once with my normal heartbeat and then two much smaller heartbeats. I wouldn’t have noticed it if not for S.A.T.S. The queued up two thermite grenades didn’t matter in that moment.

Pink, have I been throwing up in the morning because… Pink simply nodded and then slapped me to get my attention.

“Combat now! This later!” The spell released and my body acted on its own, pulling both of the pins and hurling the two grenades. The first one landed on the barrel of one of the machine guns as it sparked and flared to life with a shower of superheated molten chemicals. The grenade fused to the gun and started to melt through it, sealing the barrel and making it worthless. The second bounced off the ground, showering the road in sparks and melting the broken asphalt. The spark spewing cylinder rolled to a stop against the tank tread that was rolling forward and I saw it snap apart as it melted through within just a second.

I pointed at the box-tank and shouted to every friend I had with a gun, “Its weapons are useless and it’s immobile. Everything you’ve got! FIRE AT WILL!” With a renewed determination, my voice broke the stupor of those who had witnessed Picline’s death. Now there was only vengeance. The box of half-melted metal bounced rounds away and dented all around it. Smoke grenades flew out from behind it and covered it in a thick cloud of white ash.

What burst from the ash was a living corpse of part robot, part pony. Sugarcube Corners; there was no denying it was her. Her face was half-replaced with metal, wires, and tubes. One of her machine guns still attached halfway down her barrel and the bit trigger for the battle-saddle in her mouth. Two of her legs were made of cybernetics, tearing circuits from the box behind her still attached to where two of her hooves used to be.

Corners bounded towards Quick Stitch. Corners pointed the machine gun right at him, point blank. My shotgun would take too long to raise. Just as she bit into the trigger, a hail of laser fire from Scopola Mina ripped the machine gun apart and blew the saddle off her waste. Scopola Mina’s accurate fire spurred Corners to bolt away with charred scorches on her side.

Corners ran past Chifundo and Scopola Mina and into The Roof, with a shot from Alguacil hitting her in the shoulder, spewing a thick black liquid in place of blood. We ran with several guards towards the side-door she had gone through, following the oil, yes I’m sure it is oil!, she left behind.

I saw the tag from my PipBuck of Corners moving towards Nyota’s, and then it winked out of existence. “Pink! YOU PROMISED! PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! YOU PROMISED!” I screamed, hoping against hope I wouldn’t find what I expected. I wanted my friend to be alive, tears were forced back by rage. We hit the door that Corners had gone through and everyone came to a complete halt.

Nyota was there, standing over a body with its head completely snapped around backward. The legs of the half-machine half-pony trying to hit as sparks popped from her mouth. Chifundo recoiled in horror, “She acts not of her own volition, spirits possess her corpse-like apparition!” Quick Stitch pushed past me as my body stood there, frozen.

My heart wrenched as I watched what was once my friend. She had just slaughtered a close ally and Chifundo’s lover. Corners had just gunned down at least a dozen creatures and tried to kill us all; yet my heart felt ripped away. The Wasteland had ensured that my choice to not go after her was paid for in blood and worse: corruption.

The body Nyota held was decayed, much of its fur in patches and falling out, long since grayed to death. Her skin had holes in it, revealing patches of machine and metal. It was like a robot was wearing the flesh of my friend. Chifundo grabbed Quick Stitch and stopped him, tears in his eyes, “Go to Picline, she needs your medical aid! Corners can be exorcised with my shaman trade!” Chifundo’s voice was utterly cracked, he hesitated to say more and his mouth simply hung open; unable to say anything else. His tears streamed, unending, as Quick Stitch placed a hoof against his shoulder.

Quick Stitch shook his head very slowly to Chifundo. We all looked at him already knowing the answer he was about to give. “Chifundo, I can’t help the dead.” His words were very clear, somber, direct.

Scopola Mina put a hoof on Chifundo’s shoulder.“Go on, you should do your spiritual thing.”

Just as Scopola Mina finished speaking, Alguacil and Stormy let out squawks and shrieks, high pitched enough to make us grab our ears. I looked up to see Nyota dodging aside from something truly horrifying. A creature had emerged from within the basement, leaping at us. It was covered in black chitin, vaguely pony in shape, but with powerful fangs jutting up from it’s mouth. The body had lines of teal and emerald green glowing from it.

The creature hissed at us, until Alguacil’s revolver opened fire on it. Chifundo began to chant, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying over the sound of all the gunfire. We joined in, showering this creature in wave after wave of hot lead and laser bolts. There was so little left of it after we were done that only a pile of teal goo and pieces of black chitin scattered the ground.

Chifundo’s words got loud enough for us to hear, “I revoke your residence, this place no longer welcomes your presence!” There was another shriek, this one something that no living creature could make. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but in my heart I felt a fear and dread that I had never experienced before. It was a combination of meeting something truly alien and completely hostile all at once.

The inside of the Roof became completely black, no light escaped any source around us. Even my PipBuck and its H.U.D. went dark. The shriek continued, forcing me to cover my ears as the light came back. It was like a mighty creature’s shadow was suddenly forced out. I staggered as my body felt weak. Quick stitch grabbed my side and held me up. Chifundo swayed and then fell over with a thud.

We started to move towards him, but the zony was sobbing, crying, and wailing as he curled into a ball. We all felt that sorrow in that moment. The day of triumph had been robbed from us. Nyota gave one last kick to Corners’ head, to make sure she was dead. I stared at my friends, and they stared back. The Wasteland had claimed its pound of flesh from us, regardless of how vigilant or careful we had been.

I approached Nyota and growled, he shook his head and placed a hoof against my shoulder. “No, Sunrise. It wasn’t her anymore. That thing had to be stopped.”

“She promised! Alguacil, she promised! I hate it when you’re right!” I turned my head to yell at Alguacil who took a step back, stunned. For the first time I’d ever seen, Alguacil looked frightened.

I stomped my hoof, my own tears rolling down my cheeks. Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina were trying to comfort Chifundo, softly stroking his face. “It’s NOT FAIR!” I didn’t realize I was screaming out loud, I was trying to scream at just Pink. “We saved Corners! She wasn’t supposed to die. She wasn’t supposed to come back as a monster!”

I fell against Nyota’s chest, bawling my eyes out and pounding on his chest like a spoiled child. My eyes stared at Corners, whose body caught fire in bright pink flames; the same kind of flames a plasma rifle would generate. Within just a few moments, she was turned to nothing but ash. I rushed to the ashes and desperately started scooping them up, tears falling into the pile of what was left of my friend. “No! No! I’ll make this right! I can fix this!” I cried out.

Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder and just held me there. He’s always here, even when he doesn’t know what to do or say. His other hoof wrapped around my neck and held me softly in a hug. I poured the water from my canteen and kept shoving ashes into it as fast as I could.

“SUNRISE! YOU CAN’T SAVE THOSE WHO DON’T WANT IT!” Pink screamed into my ears. She battled me internally, trying to snap me out of this stupor induced by the need to save the dead and damned.

“FUCK YOU! No! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” I screamed out and between Nyota’s hug and Pink’s attacks to my mind, I could feel a memory being forced back. I was lost in my grief, all I could do was save Corners. At least, save what was left of her.

*****

We were gathered around the biggest everything tree that the Breakfast Club had delivered to us. The old tree that had been at their campsite, this one freshly buried into un-irradiated soil. Here there were nothing but somber faces. There was a memory orb inside the box-tank Corners had been driving, I couldn’t read it now but I put it aside. I’ll get a recollector eventually. I have to know what this is.

Before us was a box: the remains of the cardboard from inside the box-tank. The rest had been turned over to Mad Mac to make heads or tails of. The entirety of The Roof was gathered around in silence. A gravemarker had been made of a solid piece of stone, it read:

“Picline.
Mother, Nurse, Warrior, Lover.
May The Twin Sisters hold you in their embrace.
C. E. 1148-1181”

I wasn’t sure how long we had been standing there. Pink was even silent and only the barest of her presence was with me. I pulled out the shotgun barrels, the ones that had claimed Buddy’s life. I inserted them into the edges of the cardboard to hold it in place. Nyota helped me, using a hammer to nail it in place at the base of the newly planted tree.

I pulled out a glass jar, on it was inscribed the words: “Sugarcube Corners, The One and Only Box Pone. Our lost but never forgotten friend.”

Mad Mac had done the inscription, gently making sure he had cut into the glass and inlayed it with melted down silverware to preserve it. Quick Stitch had confirmed now, the box we had been handed was from Corners herself. He had used bits of her flesh to compare with a DNA sample on the black box we had been given in Silver Fang Shanty. Whatever had left us at The Roof over two months ago was not Corners. She was already dead.

My body shook and trembled as my a song raised itself from my throat; one I could not protest against or stop:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,” tears rolled down my cheeks freely, as others heard the tune and joined in, “that saved a wretch like me.”

“I once was lost, but now am found, t'was blind but now I see.” I paused and took a breath. I looked around to see all the eyes upon me.

Nyota blushed and smiled, “Love, keep going, that is beautiful.”

I never knew I was a singer but I knew it was something missing from The Wasteland compared to Equestria. I felt my heart sink to my hooves and then I felt a warmth within me. It burned to be let out and I raised my voice, loud and high. The tune echoed from here to The Roof, as my sorrow poured out; along with everyone else’s streaming to be heard. All screaming for the world to remember our friends.
“T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved.
“How precious did that grace appear. The hour I was first found!
“Through many dangers, toils and snares, We have already come.
T'was grace that brought us safe thus far.”
“And grace will lead us home, And grace will lead us home
“Amazing grace, How Sweet the sound
“That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found.
“T'was blind but now I see,” I took a final breath to finish the song and felt my tears slowly drying. “Was blind, but now I see.”

Everyone silently, slowly, one by one, walked back towards The Roof. The silence was soul-crushing; only the sound of hooves, talons, and paws. Nyota, Scopola Mina, Quick Stitch, and Alguacil all stayed, watching Chifundo and I sitting next to two graves; staring at them. I secretly hoped this was a bad memory or dream. I’m not sure what Chifundo hoped for.

“I saved her, she was never supposed to become a monster.” I whispered softly. I reached up and touched the box. A picture book suddenly fell out, startling all of us. Nyota picked it up and held it for a moment, “You should all see these.”

We turned towards Nyota and he turned the book around. Inside were pictures, dozens of them. They were of us. Pictures we hadn’t known were taken. Corners was smiling as she hugged me. Scopola Mina was covered in what appeared to be foam turned into a beard. Alguacil’s hat was on backwards while he was sleeping. That one actually made me snicker.

All of them were taken from the perspective of a small cardboard hole around the edges. Corners, you sneaky pony. I thought to myself and chuckled a little bit. I reached up around until I found the permanent markers the children had used on Corners’ box. I flipped the scrap book to a blank page and signed my name, passing the pen to the next creature. One by one, we all signed the scrapbook.

I searched my bags for something to contain it and Scopola Mina produced a specimen jar with a very large opening. She held it up and without a word, I nodded to her. Chifundo nodded solemnly and nuzzled up against me. I softly hugged him. The scrapbook was secured inside the jar, and it was sealed. Quick Stitch added duct tape to make sure it wouldn’t lose the seal; preserving the memory of Sugarcube Corners, Buddy, and Picline within; forever.

Nyota used his hoof to get enough dirt from the grave dug up to place the jar in. We all took turns, even Alguacil, pushing dirt back over it and making sure it was flat. Only we would know the book was ever there.

I spoke very softly, “We saved you. Somepony turned you into a monster. That is not fair.”

Quick Stitch nodded and hugged Chifundo from the opposite side, “We’ll figure this out, and I’ll make sure we make it right. Okay Chifundo?”

Nyota snorted at us, “We’ll get revenge for this.”

Scopola Mina tilted her head, “You knew that pony? The one from inside that box-tank thing?”

It was going to be a very long afternoon, Alguacil and Chifundo taking turns explaining who Sugarcube “Box Pone” Corners was. We didn’t go back to The Roof, we walked towards Stable Phi. I couldn’t stay in The Roof right now, I wasn’t sure I could ever stay there again.

We had endured a siege. I had committed a terrible act to save that place. In return The Wasteland had made me pay for that act, it had made us all pay for that. Once The Roof was beyond our view, Scopola Mina piped up.

“Sunrise, dear. Yall are gonna have to learn to sleep in a bed somepony you know just got killed in,” she started, but Alguacil shook his head and spit.

“Nah, we need less creature’ like me, and mor’ like her. There are a m’illion like me, and they need to go away. Even I know that ideal’y, I’d go away. I want a million like her.” Alguacil snorted in return. I paused our slow walk towards Stable Phi.

“See, Sunrise! You taught Alguacil something! Not sure what, but you did it.” My ears perked up and our mood seemed to get slightly less sour. Scopola Mina tried to force laughter but no one else picked up on it.

I turned around and tilted my head. I felt my heart was wounded by what it had cost. I was out of tears to cry this day. “I never wanted to admit Alguacil was right about anything. It might have been better if we did not try to save Corners.”

Alguacil slapped me, hard enough he put me into the dirt. Nyota jumped between us and Alguacil stopped. “NO! You did the right damn thing! You truly did! I was dead to rights wrong!” The group all turned towards Algaucil who offered me a talon to help me back to my feet. “You should never think like that. We should have dropped everything and gone after Corners.”

Nyota let him get me to my feet and decided to change the subject. He looked me over, “Those cybernetic parts, are those Old World Tech?”

I nodded slowly, “Yeah, I never saw them in person. I had no idea they could keep a dead creature moving and alive artificially.”

Chifundo shook his head, “They had to use a spirit to kill, to force the body’s will.” I blinked at this a few times.

“You and Quick Stitch said the boxes were powered by technology and spirits, a blending of Zebra magic and Equestrian technology, right?” QUick Stitch nodded at my response and we all had a moment to truly realize what was going on. It was a lot to take in.

Chifundo smiled, “Perhaps we should tell Scopola Mina of when Corners was at her best, it will give her some idea of just how far she has progressed.”

I nodded and walked up to Scopola Mina, remembering every detail of that battle. “So, Nyota here will get to tell some of it, and I’m sure Alguacil and Quick Stitch should pitch in, too.” I turned on my PipBuck’s radio to help us tell the story with DJ Pon3 occasionally giving us a news report.

It was nightfall and we were making camp by the time I finished telling the story. The wonderful memories of working on Nyota’s armor with Corners was the last part I had the heart to recall. Even how we got Nyota’s pride size. All this while the radio picked up with a new song:

“And this one Wastelanders goes out to my Angel with a Shotgun. Old DJ Pon3 got a brand new song just for you. I hope you find whoever did those terrible things to your friend and you. You damn devil; I hope you remember the words of this song when she comes knocking on your door.”

A guitar began to play and a series of hooves started to stomp to the rhythm:

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

You know the Angel's gonna cut you down

Sooner or later, she'll cut you down.

Go tell that lyin' gear trader

Go and tell that evil raider

Tell the shambler,

The gambler,

The bit biter

Tell 'em the Angel's gonna cut 'em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news

My mane's been wet with the morning dew

I've been down on bended knee

Talkin' to the mare from Stable 43

She spoke to me, voice so full of good

I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's hooves

She called my name and my heart stood still

When she said, "Pony, go do My will!"

Go tell that lyin' gear trader

Go and tell that evil raider

Tell the shambler,

The gambler,

The bit biter

Tell 'em the Angel's gonna cut 'em down

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

You know the Angel's gonna cut you down

Sooner or later, she'll cut you down.
Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow mare
But sure as Celestia made day and night
What's down in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
You know the Angel's gonna cut you down
Sooner or later, she'll cut you down.
Go tell that lyin' gear trader
Go and tell that evil raider
Tell the shambler,
The gambler,
The bit biter
Tell 'em the Angel's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em the Angel's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em the Angel's gonna cut 'em down

*****

FULL MUSICAL VERSION OF THE SONG! Yeah that is a thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwdTYH2O7Ek&feature=youtu.be

Chapter 40: The Road to Stable Phi

View Online

Sometimes the road less travelled, is less travelled for a reason.
-Jerry Seinfield

I told Scopola Mina the story of Sugarcube Corners. Everything, from waking up in the pool of water, up until until the day we went our separate ways. Chifundo kept himself lost in thought while occasionally putting a hoof to his collar and drinking some of his water. Nyota stood opposite myself and Scopola Mina, sometimes chiming in his thoughts. Alguacil would glide lazily overhead, keeping a lookout, with Quick Stitch doing the same.

We knew the road we were taking, and telling the story passed time. Scopola’s questions made for good times as well, “Wait, this Corners hit you with a skull and set off a land mine on you, and she’s a friend?”

Nyota nudged Scopola with a giggle, “She got better.”

“Sunrise beatin’ the tar of out somepony is y’all’s idea of her getting better?” Scopola Mina adjusted her Filly Scout beret as she spoke.

“From that little fight, a corner was turned that night.” Chifundo replied from behind Scopola.

I know you don’t have to rhyme! We saw it with Picline yester… NOpe not going there, not gonna say a word. Just keep walking and talking. I rolled my eyes and used it to clear my head so I could answer Scopola, “Yes it took me beating her half to death on Hearthswarming Eve to get the point across.” I turned around to Chifundo with a wink and my tail brushed his cheek reassuring, “Hopefully I will never need to do that again.”

Nyota chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah, and it took Sunrise shooting me three times before we became decent friends.”

Scopola Mina looked Nyota up and down then tried to talk as she burst out into laughter, “Yeah, I can see her doing that, you scary zebra. Now you shoot her every night!” She winked at Nyota, who blushed so furiously I couldn’t tell the difference in him and Chifundo for a few moments.

“IN THE EYE! In the freaking EYE!” I yelled at him with an explosive expression, crossing Scopola Mina’s path as he looked at me. Nyota pulled back onto his haunches, as if afraid I would strike him. All this only for me to playfully give him a peck on the lips, then turn and continue walking like nothing happened.

Quick Stitch smiled and laughed silently, and I could feel Nyota staring at my backside. I heard Alguacil stifle his own laughter before he called down, “Now y’all keep your eyes peeled. Bound to be something around here!”

We made it to camp as the night finally overtook us. Chifundo was off alone, working on his cloak, putting glyphs into it with needle and thread. I approached slowly and stared at his work rather than him. “Chifundo, I’m sorry. I wasn’t fast enough. Are you going to be okay?”

Chifundo stopped his work and shut his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks freely. “She died protecting her love, I cannot blame you thereof.”

“Chifundo…” I started to speak, only to reach over and slowly wipe his tears from his eyes.

Chifudno shook his head and smiled, “You are willing to listen, so I will show something I’ve written.” He paused and put down his needle and thread, pulling out a small book, he opened it to reveal something he had written. It was both in his hoofwork and I assumed Picline’s.

‘She was hurting, broken, I was helping. She was happy for a time. I swore I could heal her. I could heal them all. They were feeling it, the list returning when Wicker came back.
‘I felt myself getting better. My spirit turned thanks to the spirit within my Fundo.
‘The spirits in The Roof were healing as well. My home had become very much alive again.
‘I failed it. I got hurt, all that healing gone in an instant.’
‘Picline…’

The writing trailed off and teardrops stained the page. I handed the journal back to Chifundo, and softly stroked his cheek. I saw Scopola Mina looking at me, through the darkness from her sleeping bag. Her eyes were pleading with me to tell her what to do, so I motioned her closer to where Chifundo and I were. While she moved, I took another spare piece of wood to add to our fire.

Nyota was rolled over, trying to sleep some before it was time to take watches, and Quick Stitch was working with healing potions to enhance bandages with their magical properties. Alguacil was perched somewhere keeping a lookout; the paranoid bird was always looking out for trouble.

Scopola Mina moved slowly and sat beside Chifundo as he continued. “I do not know what I want to do. Wicker is a big pony but has lost his mother. I want to help him and become his father. Would I hurt Wicker? Would I damage the memory of his mother?” He took a breath and shook his head. “Emptiness not long left that place, what right do I have to bring it back apace?” I wanted to speak but Chifundo was talking quickly and not giving us any room to interject. “Would it help anything if I stay or would my selfishness make more pay?” His chest heaved and his hooves trembled as tears renewed on his face. “I healed her with merit, she had such a beautiful spirit. Why did shadow lifting, result in me now drifting?”

I finally pushed his chest back and silenced him, “Chifundo, I’ve got you. Stop torturing yourself. Please, don’t let this break you. Not after fighting so hard to get this far.” I softly wiped the tears from his face while fighting to keep my own inside. I pulled him tightly to my chest and let him rest against it, crying himself out. “It is okay to cry, sometimes you need a good cry to feel better.”

Scopola Mina, clearly overwhelmed, could only gently pet Chifundo’s back while he sobbed against me. He just kept repeating himself, “Bad juju, no, no bad juju.” We stayed there all night, even after Chifundo cried himself to sleep, I just laid on the ground, acting as his pillow and comfort.

*****

I grumbled, dragging myself up in the morning. For once I was awake before Nyota, Surprised I got up before him. Damn am I sore. My head rotated to see Chifundo curled against me. Scopola Mina was already up and there was a pot of coffee on the fire. Scopola Mina used her TK to help lift Chifundo up and place his head onto my rolled up sleeping bag without waking him, so that I could get up. Scopola Mina turned to the fire that was dying down in the dawn hour and sprinkled some ash on it.

“I’m sure it’s gonna rain this afternoon.” She whispered to me, passing me a premade ration pack. It was cold but at least the jelly tasted real and the dried banana was actually crisp.

“I hope not, last time we were out and it rained…” I shivered and shook my head recalling the radiation poisoning I’d experienced. Quick Stitch pulled himself upright and wrapped his Ministry of Peace cloak around himself tightly in the cold morning.

“Oh no, y’all are fine. No rad storm today, at least I don’t think so.” Scopola Mina shook her head with a bit of a flourish to emphasize the point.

“Rad storm or not, rain is still loaded with radiation. When it gets too close, hopefully we will be in shelter. “ I reached over to the pot and poured myself a cup of the rich dark liquid. My mane was fraying on the ends and I felt like I could use another shower. “I wish I had a proper spa treatment, or just a good brush.”

Nyota rolled over, stretching and yawning as he slipped from his sleeping back. His mohawk sprang into place, making me even more envious of how easy it was for him. He pranced over to me and took a deep inhale, “Mmm, I smell coffee.” He dipped down and took a sip from my cup with a smile. “I actually slept all night, what time is it?”

Scopola Mina floated a cup of coffee over to Nyota. Nyota kissed me on the forehead and reached down to softly grope my flank. “I cannot believe you could sleep that soundly all night in the wild after yesterday, and still think about sex.” I replied with an indignant yelp, Nyota grinned and nuzzled my cheek while I stood up. “Quick Stitch, can you and I talk privately?” I asked.

We got up and moved away from the group, making sure we were out of hearshot of them and they couldn’t hear us. I took a seat and hung my head with a deep inhale. “Okay, I’m not gonna beat around the bush. When Picline passed,” I hesitated and bit my lip, “I was in S.A.T.S. and my heart monitor picked up two more heartbeats, different ones, from inside me. I think you may wanna take a look.” I hesitated and felt very disheartened over what this might mean as I looked at the ground. This may be the end of my quest or put us on a timer.

Quick Stitch started to talk and slowly closed it into a frown. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead with a long breath. “I’m going to go ahead and save us both a lot of awkwardness by assuming I can skip the ‘sex makes foals’ talk and treat you like an adult.” I nodded very slowly as the gravity started to set in.

His horn lit up and he examined me head to toe, as his eyes darted over my form. I could feel my heart beating in my ear nervously as I wondered what he was looking for. “Sunrise, calm down, I’m a doctor and your friend. You can trust me, I’ll help you figure this out, okay?”

I calmly inhaled and took a breath to start to calm myself with a smile across my face, “I know you will, you were inside me before Nyota was.”

Quick Stitch snorted and tried to hide his smile from me, “Professionally. And if you wanna play that game, technically Coffee Stain beat us both, missy.” He winked at me with a shimmer over my from from his magic. I felt myself holding my breath as he finished his examine at my abdomen. “Well it’s usually very hard to tell at this stage but,” he smiled at me reassuringly. “Two more heartbeats. They’re still very fragile, but it looks like congratulations are due?”

I hung my head and sighed, “I guess I should tell Nyota before he gets suspicious.” I curled against Quick Stitch in a very soft hug.

“You best make it soon, I would rather not lie to him about it.” He slowly opened his yes and held the hug back against me.

“Now seems like the best time.” I started to break the hug and Quick Stitch held me there.

“Sunrise, I think this should go without saying, no more diving on grenades. It’s not just you in there anymore.” I nodded slowly and released the hug gently.

I walked back towards our friends and motioned Nyota closer to me. “Can you pitch our tent? At least till you and I can freshen up and get some privacy for a little bit.” Noyta took to putting up the tent while I sat nervously nearby, silently staring at the ground. I know what it was like for mom in the waiting room now. My heart wasn’t sure how he would take the news and my brain was playing out all the possible scenarios, from him jumping for joy to him slapping me and running off.

“Oh come on, Sunrise, he loves you; it’ll be fine, like pecan pie on sunday afternoons.” I groaned at Pink and just waited. Once the tent was up, I silently ducked into it with Nyota following behind.

“Alright, love, what is this about?” he asked and I lowered my head softly. “Chifundo is grieving and working through his stuff with Picline. Are you that upset over losing Corners?” He hugged me gently and shuddered. “What if I died, how would you react? Come on, let’s just give Chifundo some space and let him have some time.”

I shook my head and sighed, rolling my eyes. “Don’t talk like that, okay? I don’t know how I would handle it if you passed. Which is why I suppose you want to know about the other two?” I made sure to emphasize the two like I was talking about a pony.

“If it will make you feel better, go on.” He ruffled my mane reassuringly and let out an exhausted sigh.

I rubbed his cheek and wiped some of The Wasteland grit off his face. “When Picline died, I heard heartbeats inside, that were not mine.”

“Oh! Picline was pregnant?” He blinked his eyes repeatedly and hung his head low. “That would explain a lot about why Chif—”

I shoved my hoof in his mouth and shook my head, “I don’t know about that. But the heartbeats were inside me, not her. If I had heard them inside her, I would have thought I have super hearing powers.”

“Oh…” He replied as reality started to down on him like an anvil falling from the sky. His breath got quicker and he was stammering. “You’re… You’re!” His shouting removed all privacy from us as he grabbed me into a tight hug and lifted me clear off the ground with a loud howl of delight.

“Yes, Quick Stitch confirmed it this morning, the sickness in the mornings should have been the first signs.” I replied while softly pushing against his chest to get some air as he gently set me down.

He took a step back and lowered his head. “Sorry, I don’t know… but we can figure this out, right?”

“Nyota, what is there to be sorry about? It is just a lot for both of us to take in right now.” I bit my lip, feeling my heart leaping up with my throat with each beat. I took a step towards him and pressed my head against his chest. “I would be proud to be their mother.”

“Proud? Love, what do you mean—” I shoved my hoof in his mouth again to make him stop trying to step on landmines.

I shook my head slowly from side to side and looked into his uncovered eye. “You are the only one I have been with, you know that. If I had to choose a pony to spend the rest of my life with and whose children I bore, he is standing in front of me.”

Nyota deflated like a stuck balloon and let out a long sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just a guess right now, but we’ll figure it out and continue on with everything, even if you’re pregnant.” He nuzzled my cheek. “For starters, if things get dicey? I want you to use the silencing talisman, you’ll be able to hide and fight from the shadows till I can get to aid you.”

I lightly slapped his cheek to get his attention, “Nyota, you are avoiding what I just asked you.”

“Love, Sunny. I will keep saying yes in every way and language I know until you hear it.” He nuzzled up against my neck softly and kissed against my collar bone. “Come on, let’s get ready to move out and I’ll pack the tent back up.”

*****

Nyota certainly had a new spring in his step as we moved down the barely visible trail. He and Scopola Mina were working to make sure we didn’t get lost. I was no longer at the head of our formation but in the center. Quick Stitch was staying in front of me while Chifundo and Alguacil were behind me. I wasn’t sure what he told them but their eyes were very much peeled and looking for trouble.

My E.F.S. registered a yellow pip off to our right and I turned my head to see Coffee Stain in a bush nearby; trying desperately to keep herself concealed. We all stopped and stared in the direction of Coffee Stain who was trying to struggle to keep herself concealed. There was a loud sigh before a high caliber scoped rifle flew out of the bush; Coffee Stain slowly walked out with a hoof over her head.

Scopola Mina put a hoof in front of Alguacil and he shook his head, “No need to stop me, they are coming out with their hoof over their head, I ain’t gonna shoot ‘em... yet.”

“I was just foraging, I wasn’t sure who was over here.” She hesitated with her words as she spoke, and I gave Coffee Stain a glare.

“Did she send you?” I was referring to Breakfast Blend; knowing now that the two were interrelated somehow.

“No, she is on sabbatical.” Coffee Stain shook her head slowly while speaking. “I left my post for a little bit up at the crossing, hearing about a massive battle that happened here.”

I nodded slowly, “Yeah..umm… if you want to hear about that, we can sit down and tell you, through I personally don’t really wish to.”

Coffee Stain stomped her hoof down, “No, I really wanna know what happened from the horse’s mouth, or well, griffin's beak.” She took several steps in our direction while speaking and giving us all caution looks. Snuggles, whom I had been taking painstaking efforts to NOT notice; growled at Coffee Stain as she picked up the sniper rifle, making her way up to us.

I rolled my eyes and looked around the group, “Does anypony else want to tell her what happened at The Roof?”

“Yes, I can handle this, Sunny.” Nyota started to turn to Coffee Stain who shot her hoof up to stop him.

“No, I want to hear about this from...” She turned to Alguacil with a glare and a hint of anger in her voice, “...from the Long Eye of the Law.”

“Well, ya know ya ain’t exactly normal?” Alguacil replied with a sneer of his own. “Why would you be so bitter ‘bout want’n me to say it.”

“Well, they always volunteer to speak.” She took a seat on her haunches in the middle of the road. “I want to hear you say it with your own words instead.”

Alguacil began to recite the actions at The Roof from his perspective. Most of which was him looking down his rifle and measuring what we were doing. I walked up slowly and sat next to Coffee Stain, not sure what her intention was or why she was suddenly showing up yellow on my compass instead of green. Yellow generally means possibly hostile, grey is neutral, why is she not grey or green?

Alguacil was making motions with his claw as he spoke while his gaze didn’t seem to blink or flinch as he spoke. “We tried to take out leadership. ‘here was an alicorn ‘here.” Alguacil puffed out his chest very proud of his next statement. “That night, that alicorn found itself quickly missing its head.”

Coffee Stain dropped her illusion, her coat changed to a deep blue and its strange ghoulish eyes. Gone was the brown hair and coffee stain swirls on white. Bitter tears from hate filled eyes streaked down her face. Coffee Stain slugged me right in the face, stomping her way towards Alguacil. “That alicorn had a name!” She yelled out, charging him. “That name was Barista Foam and she was my mother!”

Coffee Stain didn’t actually hurt Alguacil, instead just wailing against his chest over and over again. Her blows were completely ineffective, as we all watched in stunned silence while I rubbed my cheek from her one actually hard blow. “I HATE YOU! I hate you so much! I’ll kill you, you piece of shit bastard!” It only took a few moments until she was curled around Alguacil’s leg, sniffling into the dirt.

“You can hate me, that’s fine. But it was quick, painless, never knew it happened. It was her or Sunrise. I choose Sunrise.” Alguacil replied. He didn’t move or do anything out of malice towards Coffee Stain. For once, Alguacil just let her sit there and cry.

“You’re a monster, more of one than I will ever be. You are nothing but a monster with a badge.”

Alguacil snared and pointed at his eye, “My mother took my eye and I had to put her down, that means—”

“Alguacil, enough!” I shouted back and walked towards Coffee Stain, pulling her off his other talon. “That does not give you a free pass.”

Coffee Stain tried to push against me but I was ready this time and Nyota moved to help restrain her. “Someday, you oversized, undercooked piece of turkey; you’re going to die. I will plant a flower on your grave because unlike you; I believe in change and being better.”

She started to turn and leave, Nyota blocking her. “Get out of my way.”

Nyota shook his head, “You haven’t heard the whole story, you came here for an explanation. You deserve one.” He paused and let that sink in. “You came to find out what happened, you’re going to leave now instead of hearing why?”

“Fast and Breakfast Blend told me what happened, I didn’t want to believe it; not ‘till I heard it from the bird’s beak.” Coffee Stain reached to push Nyota aside, but he refused to move.

“They w’ats th’ problem!” Algaucil stopped his talon towards her, which made me put both hooves on his chest and try to hold the larger bird back.

“SO what!?” Coffee Stain turned her head, the rage in her eyes could have killed a kind soul in a heartbeat.

“Sunrise was tryin’ to get ‘em to back down, to stop and talk it out. Breakfast Blend and her crew told Sunrise they all had to die.” Alguacil stopped trying to shove me out of the way now that he had Coffee Stain’s attention. “They was shelling The Roof from their camp and sending in raiders to kill and kill. We did what we had to do to stop ‘em.”

Coffee Stain looked back to Nyota, “Just let me go. I don’t want to hear anymore; I have firewood to gather and a road to get back on.” She turned to Scopola Mina. “Did you get your new badge? I approved it.” Scopola Mina looked at her sash to see two new survival badges and a laser rifle badge on her chest.

With Alguacil not going to do anything, I gave him a nod to make sure he was good. He nodded back, turning around to walk back to Scopola Mina, Chifundo, and the still hissing Snuggles. Nyota was still refusing to let her leave, while Chifundo kept Snuggles in check from going forward. She turned back to Alguacil, chewing her lip but not speaking, then back to Nyota.

I gently touched her shoulder and in a whisper, rubbing the black eye she’d given me, “Coffee Stain...”

“Sunrise, sorry about the shiner.” She deflated and took a seat.

“You should stay, just long enough to eat and maybe rest?” I offered. Coffee Stain gave me a begrudging look until all the hatred in her eyes finally died.

“Alright, Sun and Fun, till our paths naturally part; I’ll stay.” Coffee Stain took a seat in the road, defeated and hanging her head at me.

“Hey, I remember that nickname.” I yelped when her reply was an empty smile and a slap on my armored flank with her tail.

I blushed and regained my composure enough to keep speaking. “Besides, you might wanna be here for a minute.” I looked at the rest of our group. “I am gonna go ahead and air this out now. Quick Stitch will have my flank if I keep it from all of you too long.”

“I never said that!” Quick Stitch called out to us as the rest of our party gathered around me to hear what I had to say.

“You implied it heavily.” I took a deep inhale, pretty sure it wasn’t right to keep secrets from creatures I would have to fight side by side with.

“Well so long as it ain’t like with Quick Stitch and ‘he twins, I’m sure it’s fine.” I glared at Alguacil as he finished speaking and grimaced my whole face while narrowing my gaze at him. “What he’s got them twins at Silver Fang Shanty he’s done hooked up with.” Quick Stitch looked at Alguacil with a blushing expression and snickered. Alguacil took a moment and then it dawned on him. “Awww shit.”

“And the black striped one is going to have twins in about a year.” I facehoofed as I spoke.

Coffee Stain took a look at me, then Nyota, then back at me, “Well, fuck you!” I looked up stunned to see a blushing eternal scout. I had never seen it but she turned black when she blushed with the blue color to her coat.

Coffee Stain slapped me and then snarled, “It’s NOT FAIR!” Before she shoved me back and kissed me on my lips. Much to my shock, I did not immediately shove her away. She kept slapping my flank while releasing the kiss and yelling, “You always came back to me, you always did. It’s not fair, not fair at all.”

Alguacil laughed, it was the strangest noise any of us had ever heard. That made her stop and stare, “Did you just laugh?” Coffee Stain asked with the same stunned expression on my face.

Nyota chuckled and smiled. Scopola Mina grumbled, “Aren’t y’all gonna stop this?”

Nyota shook his head, “She’s a bit compromised right now. I think we let this play out.”

Scopola Mina shrugged with a smirk, “I think so, she’ll be a fine mare when Coffee Stain grows up. She’d been better to just blow Alguacil’s head off in the long run.” She turned to Nyota and then me, as I held Coffee Stain who was content to lie on me and not move. “This is probably doing her more good.”

Coffee Stain grabbed my PipBuck arm and pulled it up to her. “Here, this makes us even.” She punched into it, cracking at the fifth file until it was unlocked and accessible. “There, now, before we do something crazy,” She stayed there on top of me, keeping me pinned down. I was beyond confused and slightly upset. I looked to Nyota with a frustrated expression.

“Yeah and? She unlocked your file for you and I got a free show out of it.” Nyota replied and looked at Coffee Stain with a snicker on his lips.

Coffee Stain tried to keep her tears back on her face. “I’ll see you soon, Sun and Fun. We’ll talk this out when I do.” She tried to get up and I unzipped my armored vest, along with the Stable-Suit underneath.

She turned her head and looked very confused. I could sense it from her, she was trying to suppress her emotions. Between the fit of rage, the sudden fit of affection, and now trying to walk away; she needed this. I grabbed her head and placed it onto my bare chest, with her ear against the floof of fur from my coat, so she could hear my heartbeat. “Go on, let it out.”

Coffee Stain stared up at me, shocked at first, but then slowly her lips quivered and her tears rolled down; finally the damn burst. The most sorrow-filled wail I had ever heard filled the air around us. I knew a kind of pain she was having. Softly, I stroked her mane, trying to comfort her and move just like I remembered how she liked it. We let her exhaust her emotions there.

I whispered in her ear the memories I had of her and our life together. I knew it wasn’t much but it was enough to give her some hope and restore her will to move on. I wasn’t sure how much time we had, just that she needed a true friend right now; and she needed to let all this out.

Alguacil approached and waited, pulling out a notebook, B.F. initialed on the cover in sharpie. Coffee Stain took quite some time to cry herself out before looking up and seeing Alguacil offer her the journal. She took it in both hooves and clutched it between our chests like a precious child that could die if let go. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

Nyota placed a hoof onto her shoulder and smiled reassuringly down. I watched my friends come together, to comfort our would be attacker. Her pip turned green on my compass as Nyota spoke softly to her, “You still can, we made sure they all had proper burials. Visit The Roof, you will see the memorials.” He gave her a nuzzle while Scopola and Alguacil helped her off of me. I missed her warmth but could still feel the sorrow in her tears on my skin.

She slowly walked away, tucking the journal near her chest, now staring at me like a lost puppy and with a Filly Scout smirk. “Hey Sunrise, same time next week?” She gave a wink and wiped her eyes, taking a few steps away.

I slowly got up, appreciative for Nyota’s help while I zipped my armor. “Sure, if Nyota wants to talk about sharing is caring.” Nyota flushed red as I gave him a little look out of the corner of my eye and in a flash, Coffee Stain was gone.

“Everyone alright?” I asked looking around slightly confused.

“I’ll be fine, Sunny.” Nyota replied ruffling my mane.

“I’m okay!” Quick Stitch’s voice cracked as he spoke with a blush and squirming. Alguacil, Chifundo, and Scopola Mina all gave a soft giggle at him, even I cracked a smile.

We decided this was good enough to take a minute and camp for the night, we were over halfway to Stable Phi and none of us had the real emotions for another encounter. We also came to an understanding, no one was going to jump in front of me to block bullets but I agreed to NOT jump on anymore grenades. I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t forget, I was the most heavily armored of them all and most likely to survive getting shot.

Nyota was stripping me of my armor and massaging my back. It felt heavenly. His touch made me let out soft moans of relief as he got into muscles that desperately needed it. My armor was heavy and no matter how welI it fit, my muscles were always relieved to have it taken off. I slowly relaxed into a puddle in his grip with Scopola Mina giggling at us. “Well, since we are here, do you want a massage as well?”

I purred as he worked me over and Quick Stitch cleared his throat, “I would be more than happy to trade your expertise for mine if you don’t mind, Nyota. New joints aren’t exactly loose joints.”

“Any particular aches to address?” Nyota offered as Quick Stitch shimmied out of his armored barding.

“I’ve been shot through the torso twice, and I’m hoping to keep it at two.” He replied, laying down in front of Nyota.

“Well that sounds like you need better armor instead of a massage, but I do have the right salve for aches and pains.” Nyota pulled out a jar from his saddle-bag and softly started to apply it to Quick Stitch’s plating, gently rubbing it in.

Scopola Mina watched on, taking notes at Nyota’s work as she bounced her way to the fire and dropped some more ash in to watch what the wind did. “Looking at this, if it rains tonight, then by the end of the day tomorrow we’ll have a rad storm.”

Quick Stitch moaned under Nyota as the zebra was working his shoulders and neck I knew his hooves could easily find pressure points and would make anyone under his work melt. “Well then we’ll have to hurry to Stable Phi tomorrow.” He kept working and Quick Stitch stayed there, moaning and unable to reply. Nyota took his time and we all watched as he meticulously worked over Quick Stitch. Alguacil kept looking around to be sure we were secure while Chifundo was sitting down upright. The shaman had folded his rear legs and was softly meditating to center himself.

“Y’all, I’ve seen this kind of weather before. Well the scouts have and keep records of it. When rain comes after a radiation event, like a megaspell, then it’s gonna get windy. Finally, a rad storm will hit from all the dust and radioactive material that got loosened from the recent event.” Scopola Mina explained while her horn lit up for her to take a sip of her canteen.

“True, couriers have seen it too,” Nyota popped Quick Stitch’s back and groaned. “Jeez, Quick! You weren’t kidding… you’re gonna need a few more sessions to get everything worked out.” He started to go lower and I winced in pain hearing the bone pop.

“Oww…” Quick Stitch replied with a soft grunt.

“You’ll feel better when he’s done, Quick Stitch. Just relax and let Nyota work.” I smiled at him, checking the file on my PipBuck, ignoring the going’s on in the camp; as Nyota finished with Quick Stitch and worked on Scopola Mina next. The file was a folder containing several additional files all labelled:
Subject 043-011
Subject PHI - XXX
Subject 011-003
Subject 200 - 148 “Misty Fly”
Subject MOM - 088
Subject 014 - 177
Subject 122 - 577 (Enhanced)
Subject 200 - 147 “Silver Zoom”
Subject 014 - 199
Subject PHI - 089
Subject MOM - 009
Subject 043-017
Subject PHI - XXX
Subject MOM - 071
Subject 013-933
Subject PHI - XXX
Subject 014 - 281
Before I could click on any of them, my PipBuck H.U.D. changed my name to something different. ‘Subject 043-017 “Wandering Sunrise”’. I shook my head in disbelief. I’m in these files? I started to click when Chifundo’s hoof covered up the screen.

I looked up, confused, and he asked, “Do we have a plan for the stable door? Sunrise, will you announce yourself the way ponies adore?”

I facehoofed at Chifundo interrupting this potentially revealing moment and looked up at him. “I have thermite grenades to get us past the rock and unhinge the door if I can’t get us through it by hacking the console again.” I checked my E.F.S. again, seeing that nothing was there for now, and there were three more files to pick through; now I was starting to dread what they may contain.

“"I am curious about the stable, will it be dwellers or bandits? I was hoping you'd know who the stable inhabits."”

Scopola Mina gave a playful giggle and then a moan while Nyota worked on her, “It’s nice to hear you talking about the future, Chifundo.”

Chifundo huffed and lowered his head, “There is still much sorrow, but your joy I will borrow.” A forced smile cracked his face, and even I felt a little more warmth coming from him. Scopola Mina smiled and wrapped her forelegs around Chifundo’s to give him a hug, while staying still enough for Nyota to keep working.

I softly draped a leg across Chifundo’s shoulders, “You are my friends, through it all. We’re here for you, Chifundo.” I leaned in close and whispered against his ear. “And I would be lost without all of you; especially my battle brother.”

Chifundo blushed and ruffled Scopola Mina’s beret then hugged me back as she let him go. "How in Equestria do I deserve such good friends that my spirits preserve?"

Quick Stitch chuckled as he laid out his bedroll and stretched his less achy joints, “If I remember correctly, you were ponynapped?” He teased with a smile towards us.

Chifundo giggled, “So were you, Quick Stitchipoo.”

“Fair enough, through doctor’s opinion on different circumstances.” Quick Stitch flushed a rosey color over his green coat and squirmed nervously around us.

Scopola Mina shrugged and got up to swing her hoof over Quick Stitch’s shoulder. “I think us new ponies are lucky to find such decent friends.”

Quick Stitch winked at me after looking at Scopola and he smiled. “My medical professional opinion is that the two of us are lucky the first words out of her mouth are ‘Hi, I’m Wandering Sunrise. What’s your name?’”

I let out a meep and felt my cheeks burning. I looked away, blushing furiously at both of them. “I mean, that is how the world is supposed to work, right?”

Nyota stretched and groaned out, “Well if there are no other takers, I’m going to set up camp and get us ready for dinner.” He wiggled his hooves and held up his jar of salve to tease us. Alguacil finally landing from his overhead patrol made us all turn towards him.

“I cleared out as much of the coming rain as I could.” I was reminded that he had tried that twice before but now he wasn’t coming back looking half cooked and heavily irradiated. Alguacil continued to speak, “Hopefully I’ll get to see Stormy soon; she seem’d ta miss me ‘afore I even left.” Alguacil was smiling, genuinely smiling, and it was very unnerving.

“Is he...smiling?” I asked at the broken looking expression on his beak.

Nyota nodded, “Jeez, I thought the scowl was constantly out of place, but this is just plain weird.” Scopola Mina and Quick Stitch both in unison did double takes at Alguacil then back at Nyota, before nodding in agreement.

I smirked and nudged Nyota, walking over to help him with our tent, “You know, I think he should do that more often.”

“Yeah, no, I can’t really do that Sunrise. Don’t think the wasteland could handle it a’top everythin’ else. Ya know with the strange news to me that you are somehow ancient.” He responded to me, giving one last smirk before going back to his normal permanent resting scowl.

Nyota looked at Alguacil, then at Scopola before talking to no one in particular; “We’re all adults here, I’m actually the youngest creature here…” He trailed off, blinking at some unvoiced realization.

“Outside of cryogenic tomfoolery,” Alguacil pointed at me with one of his claws. “I’m th’ oldest among us.”

I looked at Nyota, then at each of my companions; weighing my words carefully. “My body is much younger than my mind or experiences. So that one is a toss up, Nyota. Biologically, without Stable-Tec’s interference, you are the youngest one here. Sheer age and with the memories that keep coming up to me, I am definitely the oldest.” I smirked at the thought and stretched out, zipping my Stable-Tec suit back up. “When we get somewhere we can really talk, we’ll go over this little exetensional horror all of us have been avoiding. Come on, I want to get to the part where we eat dinner.”

“Well if there are no more takers for a massage.” Nyota reminded me and turned to put away his salve.

“Nyota, I’m not looking for that type of relaxing; I think I’d rather have the other kind of working my body.” Scopola nudged him with her flank on the way by; even giving him a wink to make sure he took the hint.

“Now wait a cotton pickin’ minute. What do ya mean with that ‘working on your body’” Alguacil spat in our direction with a glare. “I thought Nyota and Sunrise were a ‘thing’.”

I facehoofed and shook my head side to side. “Nyota is giving out massages, nothing more. Scopola Mina wants something more. Ponies herd, sometimes. Got it?” I looked up at Alguacil surprised I was the one explaining this. I was remembering the rather strange memory from my mother and shuddered. I should say a lot shouldn’t I?

Nyota groaned at Alguacil and looked genuinely hurt by his comment. “You really think that little of my moral fiber?” He shook his head at Scopola Mina and pulled out a tent piton. “If Sunrise is okay with sharing me, I’m not going to dismiss Scopola Mina’s idea out of hoof. But without her consent, I won’t even consider the possibility.”

“That’s perfectly fine. It ain’t about moral fiber, just griffins tend ta ‘pair off’ till somethin’ serious makes things break down.” Alguacil adjusted his hat and started to setup a firepit for us. “It’s a pony thing with that herd stuff, and t’aint like I’ve really asked about any of this. I just don’t really care about it; so long as it ain’t gonna make you do somethin’ dumb when we’re gettin’ shot at.”

Nyota furrowed his brow and facehoofed himself. “I never figured you for a playcolt type. I almost pity Stormy Skies.” He turned and hit the first piton into the ground.

*****

The rest of our night was uneventful. We had a good meal and got fresh coffee made, I still am always surprised how good this black nectar really is. We had gotten moving and Alguacil landed, tugging on my tail; discovering the tail flail integrated into my armor. “Sunrise, is that really necessary?”

I turned and shrugged, “I mean, I didn’t make it; at least I do not remember that. Pink did.” There was a loud squeal of delight in my head and I smirked, giving Pink a mental hoof bump.

“What happens if ya miss? Where is it gonna hit ya?” Alguacil put a talon on his hip as he spoke.

“Alguacil, I am pretty sure Pink knows what she is doing and I do not have the raw power to punch my own armor.” Alguacil was already walking off before I gave him my rebuttal.

Chifundo giggled, “Did Alguacil just attempt to nanny, the one who has children in her fanny?”

I blinked a few times and snickered, turning to Chifundo, “Well, it is his way of saying he cares.” Pink trotted on screen and rearranged my H.U.D. so that my PipBuck now registered Alguacil as ‘The Watchful Eye of the Babysitter’. I had to struggle to contain my laughter until three green pips appeared on my compass.

“Come on y’all, there is a treehouse up ahead and it looks occupied.” Alguacil started to reach for his gun but I ran up and stopped him.

“You get ready but remember; unless they shoot first, we do not shoot.” Alguacil rolled his eyes as I restrained him and then nodded while we trotted up as a group to the treehouse.

There was a lot of deep male giggling coming from inside, when a zebra stallion poked his head out and shouted, “Hey! No Girls Allowed!” He threw a string of beads at me and I looked up, confused as I could be. I looked at the beads and noticed the various discarded snack food wrappers and beer bottles around the base of the wooden freehouse. The zebra was wearing some sort of homemade scrap armor and there was a ruckus of laughter that echoed out from the treehouse. He ducked back inside and I heard more laughter.

I raised an eyebrow and turned to look at my companions, who mostly shrugged with expressions of being just as confused as I was. I turned back and sighed, “Umm, Hello?” I shouted up to them, trying to be heard over the laughter.

The same zebra poked his head back at and spat at me. I could see the bloodshot in his eyes and his pupils were pinpricks, just like Brain Soup; the one who’d killed Buddy. “Oh, Hi, who are you?” His voice was clearly drunk and I stole a glance to Nyota before replying.

“Hi, I’m Wandering Sunrise, what is your name?”

“Samma Flenge! I said no girls allowed!” He took off another string of colorful plastic beads and threw it at me. The scent of far too much partying and lots of zebra weed washed over us. I looked at Chifundo and Nyota who both motioned me closer.

“Chifundo, do you think you can put your stallion charms on them instead of me?” I asked genuinely curious. “I think they’re a bit—”

Alguacil grunted, “A bit high.”

“More like very gay and high.” I replied with a look at Alguacil as if he were mostly clueless.

Chifundo tilted his head in confusion, “If they do not wish to be bothered, why are we trying any offers?”

Scopola Mina nudged Chifundo, “Well with a rad-storm on the way, that treehouse ain’t gonna provide them any real protection.”

I pointed at Scopola Mina, “That, she beat me to it.”

Quick Stitch nodded in agreement, “That tree house is not rad proof, and no telling if the drugs might make them aggressive after we pass.” I just kept glaring at Alguacil and then to Quick Stitch.

Chifundo approached and we waited. There was laughing and Chifundo blushing. I couldn’t tell what they were saying at this distance but there was certainly some blushing and mention of lack of cooties. Samma Flange produced a bottle of Rad-X and what was likely once RadAway but now looked like brown expired liquid. He was shouting now loud enough for us to hear them.

“We got the rad medical cabinet! We ain’t go no cooties up here, and honestly, this pink zebra is the prettiest one yall got; ain’t he Brownie?” He snickered, clearly drugged out of his mind. There was a yell back from within the treehouse we couldn’t make out. “Your name is Brownie now! Anyway, ya wanna come up and leave that cootie-filled green dirt pony behind?”

Chifundo shook his head and replied in a calmer voice, before trotting back to us. Alguacil stuck his chest out and adjusted his hat, “I got this.”

He stomped forward and shouted out to them, “Y’all acting all strong and proud, y’all aren’t nothing compared to the best stallions ever!”

Samma Flange looked wounded and Alguacil continued, “Why I bet Franzpone and Hanshoof could lift you with one leg and knock you flat out with the other two tied together!” Suddenly three stallions came down and looked up at him. I heard a strange whistling noise and looked around, no one else seemed to hear it. The distant echo of automatic weapons came next, but it was too far to be any threat to us.

All three of the Pips were now down at the base of the treehouse, Alguacil snorting at them and shouting in their faces, “I bet not one of yoa could match either of them Germaine brothers.” Samma Flange spoke to him and Alguacil pointed back down the path we had come. “There ya go, head to The Roof and ya better get there soon, else I think yer all yella!” The three stallions bolted past us, leaving a trail of dust and I just looked really confused.

Alguacil came back to us and adjusted his hat back, “Sometimes ya gotta speak the language of the drug brains to get them to do what’cha want ‘em to.” I remembered the haze and lack of caring that alcohol had induced in me, and now wanted a shot just to take the edge off this moment.

Scopola Mina was rolling on the ground laughing her flanks off and Quick Stitch was laughing with his head tossed back. Nyota chuckled and I just felt my eyebrow twitching. “Did Alguacil just negotiate and save a bunch of random druggie stallions from certain death?” Alguacil just smirked at me, and his smile made all this just the more unnerving.

We exited the grasslands and entered the overgrown forest that would lead us to Stable Phi. Chifundo was planting potatoes. The same blue potatoes he’d gotten much earlier from that spirit that had guided us to Hot Cross Buns. I noticed we hadn’t gotten that far but green vines had sprouted from where he had been planting potatoes. It had taken only minutes to get that far.

Spirits are really that powerful and flexible! To grow food within minutes or to reanimate a corpse to act against its will? I stared at Chifundo now, slowly realizing the sheer power he could tap into if he needed. I was stopped by Scopola Mina scooping a pile of red sand out of the ground and placing it into a jar. She’s looking at some drug property that stuff has. I tilted my head examining the sand.

“Sunriseee… That isn’t just sand! It’s powdered nitroglycerin! The only form of explosive safe for foals to handleee…” Pink emphasized the eee’s like she was trying to comically tempt a foal into laughing while going along with something highly illegal. I raised an eyebrow and leaned down to take a sniff of the sand. It had a very sweet but peppery scent.

My brain started going off and I felt an itch along my hooves; an itch that told me what this stuff was in fact powdered nitroglycerin. I motioned Quick Stitch over to me, “Hey, Quick Stitch; do you have a specimen jar?” Quick Stitch trotted up and tilted his head.

“Yeahhh... Sunrise, what do you need medical stuff for?” Quick Stitch gave me a hard look like he expected me to say something unsavory.

“Oh, just to collect as much of this powdered nitroglycerin as we can. It is likely useful for explosives still and it is stable in this form.” Quick Stitch let out a sigh of relief and we collected as much of the red sandy stuff as we could. Nyota motioned us close to show us something in the dirt.

There was a set of paw prints. At first I thought it was from a sand dog, but something primal in the back of my mind made the hairs on my neck stand on end. My hooves all itched with sighs of warning. I hesitated and took a step back, only one thing could instill this sort of primal fear into a pony; timber wolves. Nyota nodded to me as the realization set in, “We should set up hammocks here in the woods, well above the ground and keep a double watch tonight.”

“What about Scopola Mina’s warning concerning the weather?” I pleaded, worried about the rad storm as well.

“Well Sunrise, I did do some work on ‘em clouds to give us some more time.” Alguacil’s draw spoke up and he spat at the dirt. “I could go check, ya know. Make sure to punch a few ‘ore of ‘em down to give us enough time ta sleep tonight.”

“You should do that then, we don’t want to be traveling at night or even twilight.” Nyota replied, already starting to climb a tree to set up in the canopy for our protection. “Sunrise, start taking off your armor; only way you’re gonna make it up this tree.”

I shuddered, remembering tales passed on since ancient times of wolves; how dogs were domesticated and those that could not be, were exterminated. Then Equestria itself rebelled against us, creating the golem creatures from timber and magic to replace wolves. I shuddered and set about helping us create our camp high in the trees.

*****

“SHHHH, Sunrise, wake up. Don’t you dare move or make a sound!” I was groggy and still holding my shotgun. I had fallen asleep during my shift, well, my second shift. I had taken it so Nyota could sleep, slowly I started to move and my tail grabbed my hoof to stop me. There was a snapping of a branch under us that sent a chill through me.

The scent of rotten meat filled the air and it was joined by the scent of maple syrup. Something about the combination of flavors sent my body into adrenaline filled fear. I felt goosebumps down my spine, I couldn’t move out of terror. There was some primal instinct that told me exactly what that smell was.

I very slowly found the courage to force myself to turn my head and look down, below us. Pink used my tail to hit S.A.T.S. on my PipBuck and it highlighted the forms of three wolf shaped enemies below. I released the spell and, agonizingly slowly, reached down to my 25mm “Newb Tube” and slid it into position to aim under us.

I waited, hoping they wouldn’t notice us, and seconds passed. They turned to minutes. I was sweating and my mouth ran dry; everything in my body screamed at me to shoot, but if someone woke up the wrong way and fell out of their hammocks they would be torn to pieces in retaliation before we could save them. Timber wolves were much larger than they had been in my history and biology textbooks at school. Everyone of them were easily twice the size of Nyota and three times larger than I was. I had little doubt; they could swallow me whole as the manticore had done. Glowing green eyes, filled with magic and radiation, told me, somehow, they could see in the dark. A glance up and they would notice us, instantly.

The timber wolves crowded around a slightly larger one, looking for what to do. They snapped at each other with teeth made of bark. I had an idea, Pink agreed with my idea. I aimed the grenade launcher as far as it would go. I used S.A.T.S. to confirm there were no trees or branches in the way. If I can’t kill you all, I can draw you off. With a thud I fired and in the distance an explosion echoed.

They all perked up and bolted off into the night towards the direction of the sound. The explosion startled everyone around me. I was holding a smoking grenade launcher as all my friends turned awake with weapons out while shushing them. Comically this was the only time I could ever think of someone holding a smoking explosives launcher and telling everyone to be quiet. “Awww, grace! Thy name is Sunrise.”

There were still a small number of wolves under us, trying to figure out where the thud had come from. Alguacil reached over to where Snuggles and Chifundo were, he snipped several pieces of the manticore’s lion mane off using his talons. He started dropping them under us. Within a second, the timber wolves detected what should have been the bigger predator and sprinted out of sight. Finally we could talk.

“How did they get that close to us?” Quick Stitch asked first and Alguacil turned towards me, glaring with his eyes.

“I, umm… tried to take Nyota’s shift so he could rest and I fell asleep.” Immediately after I finished speaking, Nyota bapped me on the helmet while Scopola Mina let out a tsk tsk tsk.

“Sunrise, darling, that’s not a very good idea.” Scopola Mina spoken while shaking her head.

Alguacil snorted, “I vote we never let Sunrise do that again.”

Scopola Mina nodded, “I second this.”

Nyota grunted, “Third, it passes.”

I had not realized we were in a democracy, “But I was—” Chifundo and Nyota reminded me what zebra hooves in my mouth tasted like.

“No butts, miss Sunrise, I’m afraid you need more sleep now because you took the extra watch. That just won’t work out for us, since you are sleeping for two now.” Scopola Mina crossed her hooves in my hammock matter of factly.

“Not ta mention you being sleepy and you’re being the one whose supposed to give us tactical advice, just aren’t good bed fellows.” Alguacil huffed.

Nyota giggled while holding his hoof against my mouth to keep me quiet, “Yeah, stop making us agree with Alguacil, it is very weird for all of us to agree with him too much.”

Chifundo and Quick Stitch both let out chuckles as they shook their heads and for a moment I couldn’t tell which was which, since I couldn’t make out the colors of their coats.

I tried to talk, only to sound incredibly muffled. “Shall we remove our hooves, to let her express her grooves?” I was too frustrated to care and decided enough with keeping me quiet. I licked both of their hooves. They both pulled away in disgust.

“You’re not my mom.” I snapped back as Snuggles curled back up into Chifundo, purring contently.

Scopola Mina snorted at me, “Do I need a Sunrise Mom Merit badge now? I’m sure Coffee Stain can invent one.”

*****

We arrived at Stable Phi without anymore events interfering with us. The rock that had nearly crushed Quick Stitch’s leg off was gone. Is someone maintaining this place? We approached in silence, I could feel my nerves peaking up. I stopped and took some time to figure out where best to place the thermite to remove the stable door, as well as the secondary trap door that had tried to entomb us.

While I was doing that, all of us stopped, chilled to the bone when a very loud and very old dragon roar echoed around us. We all turned and looked at the clouds to see a dragon, the size of a castle, coming down through the persistent cloud layer. It was far away and Alguacil took a step back, “Sunrise, I suggest you get us inside ‘ere. That thing is coming our way.”

I ran inside and hastily plugged my archeotech link into the terminal, the screen lighting up on my PipBuck. The screen displayed all the various inputs into the control terminal as I scrolled through to figure out which one would work. Quick Stitch was on the terminal itself, trying to help me. Just before I input the first guess of a password, the screens both blanked.

Slowly the words: “Welcome, Scientist of Stable Phi, authorization confirmed.” rolled over both of our screens. Quick Stitch patted me on the back.

“Good job, Sunrise. You got it on the first try.”

I slowly shook my head side to side, “I didn’t do anything.” Everyone had their weapons out in a heartbeat. We all pointed them at the stable door as alert sirens blared for us to stand back. The metal groaned as the door was pulled back, years of rust being broken by a massive crane on the inside. Slowly the meter-thick, cog shaped door rolled to the side and revealed a security room. It was complete with a set of stairs, a waiting line roped off, metal detectors and decontamination chamber. The words: “Stable-Tec, the future is ours.” were in faded red paint while the symbol Phi dotted the walls in place of a stable number within the obnoxious yellow logo.

Lights that still worked buzzed in the new silence, as one of them popped and all of us trained our guns in its direction. I slowly unplugged my PipBuck and the intercom inside yelled at us, “Unauthorized user detected! Engaging counter measures!” There were dozens of angry gun clicking noises from the door belong. The heavy bulkhead not moving with a flashing red light next to it.

We approached the door and pressed the switch to open it. Ancient hydraulics lifted most of the door while the lower quarter slid into the floor. Inside was another hallway, this one lined with dozens of guns mounted on automatic turrets. The turrets were clicking as they tried to fire but had no ammunition left. Everything from shotgun turrets to miniguns, and even a couple of rapid fire 25mm grenade launchers were present. The grenade launchers were not firing, having been apparently damaged by gunfire. Shell casings littered the floor around us from door to door of this nearly ten meter long hallway.

In the center of the hallway was a soft, fluffy, white bunny. It was gnawing one of the shotgun shell cases. No one moved, Chifundo shook his head, “That is no ordinary bunny, do not mistake it’s disguise of honey.”

Alguacil shifted to one of the turret mountings for over, “I don’t like it, dat rabbit should be swiss cheese.”

I slowly put away my shotgun and reached through my pack finding a stale cookie and a fresh head of lettuce. I very slowly and as non-threateningly as possible approached the rabbit. “Sunrise, what are you doing? That thing might be dangerous.” Nyota called to me, reaching for my flank to stop me.

“If it can dodge all those gun turrets and not take a single hit, do you think we stand a chance against it?” I asked him, brushing his hoof off my flank. “I am going to try being nice to it and see what happens.”

There was a flash in my mind, to a yellow pegasus with the same Ministry of Peace symbol that was on Quick Stitch’s armor. The three butterflies were her cutie mark, with a gentle voice she nodded to me, “Be Kind.” I shook my head, knowing who this was and her attempts to “Be Better” had resulted in both Zebrica and Equestria being armed with megaspells. I also knew the tales of Angel Bunny, her protector.

That was a creature of insane intelligence and combat prowess, able to prevent any harm to ‘his’ Fluttershy. I got within a few steps of the bunny and it looked up at it, unafraid of me. I could see a couple of brown spots on it from this range and the only real description I could give of this creature was it was a rabbit colored rabbit. It is not for lack of trying, just when I blinked the colors seemed to shift slightly and unnaturally, until it was solid white again, only to slowly brown over anytime I wasn’t looking at it.

I extended the lettuce from my pack first, and the creature jumped to it, adorably eating at the lettuce like a machine. I softly picked the creature up with my hoof and it did not protest, it was just barely larger than my own hoof. I ripped a few more pieces of lettuce up and placed the bunny against the small of my back, where my armor plates would keep it in place. There was some content purring and the sound of munching lettuce as I returned to my friends.

I smiled to myself, feeling warm and happy; something about this creature just seemed to reassure me. Not all encounters require violence. I thought, trotting with a spring in my step back to my friends. Chifundo stared at me, stunned, while Scopola Mina giggled. Nyota and Alguacil gave me a wide berth. “Well, I guess I have a pet now, too.”

Pink let out a very long ‘daww’ and smiled at me. We moved as a group to the next door, the bunny making cute coos as it fell asleep on my back, there was a very warm spot where it was positioned. Chifundo triggered the door, and it opened to something that would shock us all. On the wall beyond, written in dry blood were the words: “You Got My Hopes Up.”

Chapter 41: Forbidden Places

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“Some secrets buried away in boxes are peacefully forgotten, just as we hope they’ll be. But some refuse to stay in their boxes, popping out at the worst possible times. And then there are those that linger and fester, gnawing away from the inside out.
-Jeanne Birdsall

I stared at the blood, lost with fear. It was clear from the smears and stains that someone had written those words in their own blood. Quick Stitch approached the words as my vision narrowed, “I think this was written using a wing, instead of a hoof or horn.” As he spoke I felt myself hyperventilating. My hoof moved to my chest and I held it in my panic for just a few more moments.

The steel walls of this place felt too alien looking, like something horrific, as my vision narrowed and the walls felt tight. I started to inhale and felt like no air was going to my lungs. I shuddered and winced, some pain filling my upper legs. I looked around rapidly, desperate for something to distract myself from the blood writing and the stable walls around me. This isn’t Stable 43, your friends will protect you. Quick Stitch’s mouth was moving with Chifundo’s but I couldn’t hear them; the only sound was a constant ringing bell in my ears.

Just lose yourself in something. I slowly dragged my hooves over to the grenade turrets and started the process of unjamming and unloading them. My hooves were trembling, I found it impossible to steady them. Ya know, handling explosives, shaking; let’s just blow everyone up. Nyota placing a hoof on my shoulder made me jump out of my skin. Sound returned and my vision opened up as I spun around to see Nyota and Quick Stitch looking at me, concerned.

They both jumped back and looked at each other for what to do. Quick Stitch turned back to me and spoke first, “Sunrise, are you alright? You were hyperventilating.” His horn lit up as he explained to me with his medical magic tingling over my skin.

I felt a rush of instinct in my head, looking at the door. What if someone locks us in? I rushed past them without answering and ran up to the cog shaped door. There was a set of blocks I knew would prop the door open and not allow you to close the door without removing them. I slammed them into place. I can’t become like this pony who wrote this blood! I frantically shoved the wedges into place, one and then a second, before Alguacil, Nyota, and Quick Stitch all stopped me. They were physically restraining me from putting the lock wedges in place.

“Hold on, Sunrise, calm down.” I was panting as Nyota whispered in my ear. The source of my panic was now known: being locked in a stable again.

“I have to make sure we do not get locked in!” I shouted and Quick Stitch held me down while Nyota stroked my head while Scopola Mina and Chifundo approached us.

“Y’all seem awfully panicked, but we’re underground. It ain’t like anyone can come in here and get us easily.” Scopola Mina smiled at us as she trotted up.

“You do not want to be trapped in here if someone re-locks that door. Stable-Tec did all sorts of terrible experiments to me and others in places like this; those were on the books. This one should not exist.” I shot back as I started to calm down. I could hear my heart beating inside my ears and cold sweat covered me from head to hoof.

Quick Stitch nodded to Alguacil as he started to use his talons to shove the manual locking wedges in place. They were like giant metal door stops, but for a cogwheel door made of three feet of solid steel and lead. “Scopola, let me put it to ya this way. Ya don’t wanna be locked in here. In one of them Stables, Stable-Tec locked a guy in here with nothin’ but puppets.” Alguacil kept moving the next wedge into place, straining his voice as he did so. “Guy went so crazy, when he got out, he killed twenty raiders with his teeth. His frickin’ teeth! Didn’t even bother to go full cannibal either and eat ‘em, just ripped at ‘em enough to kill ‘em.”

Scopola Mina stared at Alguacil, dumbfounded, while the rest of us raised an eyebrow at Alguacil, debating if his story was true or not. He used his bulk and talons to move the last block into place and the intercom announced, “Manual Locking Mechanism Activated. Door in Open Mode until Manual Locks are removed.”

“Okay, note to self, make sure to prepare to reinforce the mindwall with extra concrete-flavored frosting.” I turned my head slowly towards Pink as I felt my rising panic die down.

I’m sorry, what wall? Pink didn’t respond with anything but a whistle. Before I could inquire further, Quick Stitch grabbed my attention by moving my head to look into his eyes, which he shined a light into my vision without warning.

I winced in pain and he held my head still, “Hang on, Sunrise. Yeah, she looks fine, and her pupils are reacting.” He said as Nyota gave me a soft hug. I snapped to, realizing my friends were all waiting on me to move. Pink made a d’aww noise in the background while I slowly pulled Nyota into a hug back.

“It’s okay, Sunny. I got you, we’ve got you. Whatever you are remembering, we’ll handle it together.” I nodded against Nyota and patted his back to get him to let me go. We ventured deep inside, following the trail of blood from the letters written in it. I kept feeling like Nyota, Quick Stitch, and Chifundo kept taking looks at me. It was as if they expected me to panic again.

I felt unnerved, something felt deeply wrong with this place. It was just as wrong as my own Stable felt. The bulkheads and heavy steel reminded me of a warship’s corridors, but this wasn’t floating; it was real and a bunker that did not move. Every step echoed off the metal grated floor with a clang. I felt my legs getting weak, almost like jello if not for the armor plate’s ability to lock in place and support me. Pink peeked around the corner and I felt something warm against my neck.

“You should name the bunny! He is your new pet, after all, and pets deserve names!” I paused and tilted my head around to look at the bunny on my back. He was nuzzling into my neck, but the way my armor plates were around him; it reminded me of a science fiction character. I smiled.

“Hey Nyota, should I name the bunny, Bodda Pett?” I asked, turning to Nyota who stopped and looked at me, puzzled. I gave him a nervous smile, the kind where I could feel my cheeks forcing it despite a restrained terror throughout my body.

Nyota smirked, “Sure, we can call him that.” He replied and Pink used my tail to pet the bunny softly without having the tail flail actually touch him. I am always surprised she can get my tail to do stuff much less something so precise and graceful. Bodda Pett just began to purr and the purring lifted my spirit a little bit; the room even seemed slightly brighter because of it.

Scopola Mina made a d’aww noise and I turned my head with a raised eyebrow, “Welp, ya named it. Now y’all gotta keep it.” I just glared at Scopola Mina while passing a set of stale crackers in Bodda Pett’s direction.

Chifundo shuddered and paused, his mane was standing on end comically, but the sight of someone doing it outside of a cartoon was disturbing. He was standing in a doorway, and when Nyota got to it, his body froze solid; as if in shock. They both looked at each other and there was some sort of silent language being exchanged. Great, more weird zebra behavior— My own thoughts were interrupted by a presence, almost like a real ghost touching you, all over.

A brief blackness shot over us and the lights in the bunker flickered on and off. I felt like I was in a vacuum for just the smallest second but it was terrifying none the less to be unable to breathe. Something here was pulling the very magic of Equestria out of me. The rest of our party sensed it too but didn’t appear to feel it as strongly. We all looked at each other, trying to figure it out.

Nyota and Chifundo spoke at the same time, “Star Children.” We all looked at them for an explanation, but neither gave it. A light bulb flickered and then exploded at the end of the hallway. We all trained our weapons on it, and the creeping terror loomed up, trying to fight through the adrenaline.

Nothing came.

We all still felt the tension in the air and made our way down deeper, until we came to a junction. One way led deeper into the facility, following the trail of blood down a set of steep metallic stairs to a second level. The other was a closed door with the words ‘Overmare’ glowing from a flickering sign display of red light with black letters. I went up to the door and pressed the button next to it. The hydraulics of the door were still powered and it wasn’t locked, and with a whine the metal door slid open smoothly just as the one inside the decontamination room had.

Alguacil stopped me, “What if it’s a trap? And what ‘bout ‘he bleeder? Sunrise, we need ta head downstair first.” I groaned and turned my head towards him.

“The overmare’s office will have information for what this place is, and what it is supposed to be used for. We should head in there to find out what we are in for first.” I snapped back. Alguacil leaned down, using his eye to give me a check over.

“Sunrise, ya ain’t exactly in ‘he right frame of mind; perhaps someone else should be decidin’ how we proceed?” He replied, for once his voice lacked authority to it and I felt a pain of genuine concern as best Alguacil could express it.

Before I could answer, though, Quick Stitch called out from downstairs, making the decision for us. “Hey! You all need to come down here.”

We made our way downstairs and found Quick Stitch standing over the body of a pegasus. The trail of blood leading right up to him, two wounds in his forelegs. His wings had been plucked clean and made into a cloak of feathers around him. It was grotesque how they had been removed and reused on his own body. His head had a gunshot wound right through it and on the floor next to him was a Colt .45 pistol. A Colt .45 pistol with the word ‘Rainbowrise’ written across the handle. I know that gun, that’s dad’s!

I sprinted forward, ignoring the dead body and grabbed onto the gun, holding tight to my chest like it was a precious artifact that would disappear if I let it go. “Sunrise, WAIT!” My friends called but I didn’t care if it was a trap. This was the first sign of my parents I had seen, and I wasn’t about to let it out of my grip. I held the cold metal tightly with my hooves; keeping it close to my heart. No one could move me until the cold metal had heated up and matched my body temperature from me holding it so tightly.

The world seemed distant and all I could hear was my own slowly calming heartbeat. Finally! Some sign of you. I hope you’re near! Pink, Nyota, Quick Stitch, Scopola Mina, Chifundo and Alguacil all had to work to slowly get me to release the weapon. They looked at it, and in this oppressive place that creeped all of us out, some little flicker of hope had been found. “No, wait, let me keep it. It...it belongs to my dad.” I whimpered as Quick Stitch started to finally pry the gun away from me.

He nodded and slowly pushed it back into my grip, and we all sat there trying to figure out this situation. The only clue we had was a dead pegasus, wearing his own wings as a cloak. Blood dripping from… Dripping? I tilted my head and Quick Stitch let out a gulp, “This guy died very recently. He must have died within the last hour.”

*****

Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina were downstairs trying to figure out what was going on with the body. The rest of the Stable was empty. We had found a hydroponics bay loaded with fresh unirradiated food. Scopola was doing tests on it for poison or foreign agents. Alguacil was guarding the door.

Nyota and myself, we had gone to the medical bay which was attached to the Overmare’s office. I kept trying E.F.S. every few moments. Something was telling me we were not alone down here or not safe. I wasn’t sure why or what. We had found nothing over the course of nearly half an hour of searching every single room. There was a massive set of forges, heavy metal printers, 3D plastic printers, and manufacturing facility in the bowels of the Stable. We could see it through several glass windows but couldn’t get in, there was a locked door and the glass proved bulletproof from Alguacil’s gun. The bullet stopped cold on it, and didn’t even crack the panelling.

The room was massive, the size of several buckball fields and looked to be an entire pre-war factory for mass production of an entire Equestrian regiment’s worth of materials in a month. We were not sure how to turn it all on, not yet nor did we know what was beyond a locked door. The door simply read: “Authorized Personnel Only.” Written in blood next to it read, “Weird Dogs.” Nyota was checking through the medical facility along with check every single air vent cover in the facility, to make sure they were all screwed on tightly.

I was toying with the Overmare’s computer, trying to get it to log in. Perhaps it could unlock the doors, turn on the forges, and give us some answers. The potential threat of something down here with us, keeping me on edge, was making it difficult to focus. I bit my lip when Pink jumped onto my H.U.D. “Hey, silly filly, you should probably check one of those files that Coffee Stain unlocked for you!” I hesitated and nodded to her.

I changed from my administrator access panel on my PipBuck to the files, and there was a note from Coffee Stain titled, “You’re Welcome.” I looked around as if she were going to suddenly appear again right next to me, and then I opened it. Inside was a series of passcodes and the file they were found in.

Overmare #1: Breadcrumb
Overmare #2: JackinaBox
Overmare #3: GuardianofGuardians
Overmare #4: TheWhyofStable-Tec

I cautiously typed in the first password and the overmare desk extended a large circular metallic disc. The disc was nearly large enough for a pony to lie on and dozens of uniform pointy crystals rose up out of it. With a metallic click and a whine; a three-dimensional map projected out like a hologram. I stared in awe. There were tags all over it, tags that included a Z axis and the map was huge, it featured all of Equestria, with a blinking dot labeled, “Stable-Phi”.

All of us, myself and all my friends were listed inside. There was no keyboard or mouse interface on it. I was confused and reached up with a hoof to check if it was solid or not. It whined and whirled before zooming in on where my hoof touched. “What in all of my years with spirit, I have never seen anything this bizzare of merit!”

It was Chifundo, he was walking in and looked confused. I paused myself, T.A.G. in my PipBuck was 2D, it only gave me a compass heading and distance. If I was standing right on top of them but they were above or below, it would have trouble displaying that. This was fully 3D and it covered much more than the 2500m I could see. I turned to Chifundo while I kept playing with the...hologram? I think that is the right word. I explained to Chifundo how my PipBuck worked and all the things it could do; as well as how this map was significantly more powerful than that.

I turned to the computer once I felt like I had the controls down, as something about the map was bugging me. It seemed to have a slight lag to it. The 16 megabytes of the overmare’s computer was something that was much more powerful than I was used to. I noticed something in the upper right, a set of bars. They looked like a staircase, with two being shorter and filled and two larger ones that were empty.

I felt a memory welling up, telling what those bars meant. I pushed it aside, focusing on the moment. I can’t right now. Pink, help me; don’t let that wall fall. I pressed the arrow keys and tab button at the same time; moving to the admin controls. This monitor isn’t what I’m used to. My PipBuck is monochrome purple with green dots for friendly and red for hostile. It provides purple outlines when I hit S.A.T.S. and all its functions are in purple. This was really high end, white background and black text. Multi-color display in the same instance window instead of the monochrome shades of green.

I scrolled over the bars with the admin commands and the words: “Network Connection - Moderate” displayed in a dropdown window. I slumped back onto my flanks. “No, no, this…” I checked the desk and perked my ears up. There was no normal characteristic of humming fans or cycling radio tubes. The buzz of electricity was from the lights.

Chifundo tilted his head, “No?”

I blinked repeatedly, “This is not a computer. It is just a display.”

Chifundo tilted his head further and I sighed, “Right, zebra shaman who is not familiar with pony technology. A computer has three parts, Chifundo.” I pointed at the monitor then at the hologram display. “The display, or in this case displays.” I tapped the keyboard with my hoof. “The user input device.” Then I motioned around the room with a look of confusion. “And a tower, heavy machine, or other device that actually does all the computing. Which is not here; it is connected somewhere else.” I typed on the keyboard, ‘admin command: display network connections’.

There was a beep and a whirling from the hologram behind us. I turned to see the hologram zoom out and the display stretched out, covering half the room in a bright white light. Several flashing lights light up across the map. They were the same locations in my PipBuck. The one in Canterlot was flashing red. But the one that caught my attention was the only green one, ‘Stable 43’ near Stalliongrad. All the others showed yellow, which meant receiving signals were being confirmed but they were not sending back anything but an acknowledgement. There was no other data coming from them.

“That is why there is only a moderate strength connection, it has to come all the way from across the ocean or overland into the arctic Crystal Empire region.” Nyota walked in and whistled with a loud, wow across his lips.

“Well this sure is fancy.” Nyota commented taking a few hesitant steps forward. I nodded to him. “This is more fancy than anything I’ve ever seen in the courier trips I’ve made.”

“Yeah, and it’s connected to other facilities.” I pointed at the hologram, hence the flashing lights. I tapped on Stable 43 and the map zoomed in. There were dozens of tags stacked on top of each other. I stared in awe, I couldn’t count them.

Nyota blinked and hesitated, “What are those?”

I gulped, “Creatures inside, all with TAG ID’s, the same way I find you guys or know where you are.”

Nyota looked up at me, “Stable 43 is still operational, based on this then.”

I nodded, all the TAGs were green by the computer’s standard, which meant they were green to Stable-Tec. I nudged the desk and there was a metallic grind as a hydraulic drawer opened. Inside was a spherical key with a dozen prongs on it. A PipBuck was next to it, the same style as mine. That key was the archanokey that would open it and take it off my wrist, the same type of key Coffee Stain had used.

I picked up the key and plugged it into the spare PipBuck, with a press of the button and a click; the PipBuck opened. I looked at Nyota and Chifundo; they were right there with me. Chifundo held up a hoof as if to say, no thanks. Nyota walked forward and extended his wrist. I raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure? These things take a bit of getting used to and honestly; you might become like me, where you rely on it.”

“Hey, it helps you hit the target and, honestly, the Eyes-Forward Sparkle features sounds really nice for someone like me who sneaks around a lot.” I shrugged and nodded.

“I guess I will be teaching you how to use it.” I slowly pushed it onto his wrist and immediately the device screamed.

“Zebra Heretic!” Nyota yelped out as we heard the sound of an electric shock. “Zebra Spy! Die Communist Scum!” It shocked him again and Nyota slammed the device against the metal door frame with a loud crack. The screen actually cracked from the blow, something that not even gunfire had managed to do to mine. There was a loud whirring sound as the PipBuck on Nyota’s wrist rebooted.

It beeped and the display put a bunch of thick green bars across it for a moment with a loud zebra didgeridoo note playing from the electric 8-bit sound. “Welcome, New Zebra Overlord!” displayed in Equestrian and under it in Zebrican. I stared in shock, my jaw dropped. The PipBuck literally had a program to convert to the Zebrican side.

“Stable-Tec was fully ready for us to lose the war and convert to the zebras?” I blinked and broke the silence.

The screen displayed, “I praise you on your swift defeat of the Equestrian Kingdom, and begrudgingly welcome you as my new Zebra Overlord. I have engaged safety mode so your tiny zebra brain can understand me until you figure out all my features.” I grabbed Nyota’s arm and tried to dive into the PipBuck for files. It was reset to factory settings, all the files from the previous user were gone. I popped the holotape holder and inside was an orange holotape.

I grabbed it and pushed it into my PipBuck then hit play. The speaker loudly began to play, “Hello. I believe this project has given us just what we want, if ya know, 57 years after the war. The Civilian class recombulars take roughly seven days to complete a recompile and bring the creature in question back to life. It uses hard light to fill in the blanks until the body heals. There is a warning with the soldier class ones; it randomly creates an age for the creature being recompiled.”

We all listened intently to this information, revealing something about the boxes inside us finally. “The devices simply were not made to hold that many souls properly. So when a soldier class recompiles and the full recombulation is complete, it is random how old the creature in question comes out as. Sometimes they come out at the latest part of their life cycle before being put into the device, others they come out as young adolescents; right at the point of puberty. Their memories are also never intact; they come out with only the memories they had up to that point in life.”

The person on the holotape took a breath, “Look, if we had technology like this during the war, yeah, we could have won, but only the guardian class device works right. Not all the test subjects either, one of the prototypes; it belongs to some pony from Stalliongrad, one of the Project Pie test subjects.

“I don’t know why, but it mostly works; I’ve just seen some of the reports from this test subject and it is concerning. Perhaps Project Pie has a potential success story? We will need to get to Stable 43 to find out. Probability Drive or Shadow Window will have more answers. I’ll finish the evac of our facility here by the end of the week. For now, I just want to take this device off; I don’t know how you all can stand wearing them constantly. Perhaps I should have a tech look at it to make it more comfortable.

“As for the Tadoshin subjects here, we will have to figure out what to do about them. Once we seal the place up, we can come back here and make more recombulars after we develop a new nation state, under Stable-Tec authority of course.” There was a door opening sound from the tape. “Hollow, I’m trying to make a recor… Why do you have that? Hollow what are you—” The recorder was suddenly cut off by three loud gunshots. The sound of hooves against the metal floor and flutter of pegasus wings send a chill down our spines as the tape ended with a click.

*****

The overmare computer also unlocked the doors to the foundry, which let us into the room. I also started a data download for the computer, to put as much as we could onto the Stable-Tec heavy duty holotapes concerning the search term: Recombulator.

We made our way down to the foundry, the door opening. None of us wanted to take the first steps inside. Alguacil turned and grunted at us, “Y’all scared of yer shadows?” Alguacil took the first steps and the sound of whirling gun turrets made us all jump. The image of Alguacil riddled with bullet holes flashed before my eyes. “Alguacil, GET DOWN!” I launched myself forward as the sound of empty ammo clicks filled the air. The turrets were beyond the door and above the glass, in a complete blindspot position.

Attached to them were spinning miniguns, four of them. There were also prongs for rockets, but they were also, thankfully, empty. There were no signs of struggle or combat. Alguacil squawked and spat, “Dammit, those must’a been emptied ‘afore the previous inhabitants moved out. Fer fucks sake, ya damn ponies are determined to kill us all.” I shook my head at him and the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief when we realized all the turrets in the room had been stripped of their ammo.

Inside was another terminal, this one was locked by something I’d never seen before. None of us had. The computer read: “Please present retina for access.” This with a device that looked like an overly complicated rifle scope. Quick Stitch raised an eyebrow.

“A retinal scan? That should be impossible. That doesn’t make any sense.” We all turned to the green unicorn with obvious questions on our faces. “Oh, umm, retinal is the pattern of your eye. But it’s so small it shouldn’t be something we could do. I mean in theory, it should be as unique as a fingerprint or our blood.”

We all looked at puzzled with, ‘What do we do now?’ expressions painted on our faces. “I mean the turrets are disabled, right, Sunrise?” Quick Stitched asked and I went about checking the turrets to make sure they were empty. We all took a turn and none of our eyes were valid ID’s. The computer simply read: ‘Access Denied.’

Nyota removed his eye patch, I raised an eyebrow. “You sure it will even register that?” I asked him, staring into the collision of cosmic bodies within his eye. Nyota grinned.

“You got any better ideas?” I shrugged and Nyota pressed his eye against the reader. There was a buzz, then another buzz, and another one. Finally, the computer read, ‘Access Granted. Welcome Head Researcher of Stable Phi - Project Dead Tree.’ When Nyota pulled his eye back, it still had a black pupil but the iris had warped into an eye shape, all its own. I stared in wonder as the vague eye shape slowly circled around to form the image of the cosmos. Nyota placed the eye patch back over his eye.

The scar near his eye didn’t go into it, it just looked like it did with the patch over it. I pressed a hoof against his cheek, “Why do you not leave it uncovered?”

Chifundo spoke up, “The Skittari are shunned by the zebra, it is even worse within Equestria. It is a tale as old as time, perhaps Nyota will tell the story, for it is not mine.” I nodded to him and turned back to Nyota who just smiled.

“When I know we’re safe, I’ll tell you about my tribe and why I don’t really associate with other zebras.” Nyota turned to Chifundo with a nod and that silent zebra communication I swore occurred between them. It was like a ritual, which they denied happened. “Thank you for allowing me to be the one to tell this.”

Something else pressed at the back of my mind, “How did you know your eye would do that?”

Nyota shook his head, “I don’t entirely know, but Ember helped me out, said there was a soul in the box that could help us.”

I tilted my head puzzled and blinked a few times, “Does that mean the head researcher is inside your box?”

Nyota shook his head, “I don’t know but I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth on this one.” We all winced at the pun, then there was a laugh shared between us. I smiled at him and started to review what was on the computer. Hundreds of files, research data that could overwhelm any pony. There was more than a gigabyte of data!

No Way! Impossible! No device stores that much! You can barely get three megabytes on even the best computers. I blinked repeatedly and hesitated to start opening the files, instead trying to figure out a way to take them with us, to examine later. A search bar taunted me up at the top.

Quick Stitch softly pressed me aside, “Sunrise, what should I search?”

My mouth was dry, all the possibilities running through my head. I blinked at him; trying to figure out. Chifundo pointed at my PipBuck, “What about the files on your PipBuck.”

I nodded to him, “Yeah, we should search for that, what do you suggest?” Chifundo approached the computer and I stopped him. “Hey wait, anyone but you. No offense, but tech has a weird way of backfiring around you.”

Chifundo looked slightly offended but Scopola Mina giggled, “She is right, you use spirits and Equestrian tech isn’t exactly cooperative with, well, zebra shaman magic.”

Quick Stitch sighed, “Right, what should I search, Sunrise?”

I looked at My PipBuck, the file from earlier that gave me a name and number, a number which also now displayed with my PipBuck health monitor next to my name. “Try Experiment 043-014.” Quick Stitch typed it in and we got a file with tons of information redacted and marked out. It did, however, state that it was one of the recombulators shipped to Stable 43 for experimentation, a prototype for the ones to come.

Automatically the speakers of the computer started to play an audio log:
“If you are hearing this memo, the war has progressed to a point of no return. I must dub Project Gatekeeper a failure due to constraints of time. IF we had 6 more months we could have stopped the zebra balefire attacks. We cannot change the end and only delay the megaspell destruction that is coming. Good luck,

Celestia Bless and Luna Protects.”

I slumped against the wall, the audio log putting a realization deep inside me. They knew, they knew neither side could win. Even if the zebras were on the defensive and couldn’t stop our army, they knew! They knew the world would end if they kept pushing. They knew and didn’t stop! I wanted to scream, I wanted to rage, all I could do was slump there and cry.

Nyota stroked my mane and Chifundo softly looked me over, “What happened to make your face so long, who did something that went so wrong?”

I hesitated and whimpered, between the sniffles and tears I spoke, “They knew, they knew the war was going to end the world. They did it anyway! Those terrible, awful cunts! They knew!” I slammed my hoof into the wall behind me with a loud metallic smack. All I could do was weep for the future I had been denied, that Equestria had lost. The hellish present that we all now lived in; the feelings of dread from being in a stable only amplified it now. I had to let it out and my tears simply wouldn’t stop. I just laid there against the wall, breaking down.

We opened the desk the computer was on, there were dozens of blank holotapes inside one and Quick Stitch set about the process of transferring files onto them. He was searching and selecting files related to us, Project Dead Tree, and Stable Phi. Chifundo took a seat and a deep inhale.

“Sunrise, I should explain, perhaps it will help your pain. We believed Luna had become Nightmare Moon, to us she was a Star Child goon. No longer was the war about resource, it could not stop by any political source.” He took a deep inhale and hung his head. “Shamefully I must admit, the history is beyond my wit. All I know is that we believed our war to be holy, there was no stopping the folly.”

I looked up at him and Nyota, Nyota hung his head with Chifundo. “He’s right. Because Luna took over and we did not know the difference between Nightmare Moon and Luna; we believed a demon led your nation. There was nothing except total annihilation that would stop the war after Celestia abdicated to Luna.” He was speaking of the twin sisters. Our rulers, who had the power to raise the sun and the moon together. Alicorns with powers beyond anyone’s understanding and they did not use the Sun and Moon as weapons; they were more responsible than that.

I pulled the bunny out, softly stroking it and using the warm, fluffy Bodda Pett to comfort me. Chifundo kept using his leg to keep Snuggles back. I mean, I had to admit, Snuggles rubbing against me might panic me or get an adverse reaction. I remembered Bodda Pett hadn’t fled or run away despite the turrets spraying dozens of rounds at him. I tilted my head, I’m not sure if you’re that brave or if your survival instinct is broken.

Pink snickered, “It could be both! I mean it is pretty crazy down here with a bunny too! Don’t you think you’re being a bit silly? You got a mystery to solve!” I was reminded that at the core of our adventure; why did we wake up in a pool together. I slowly rose up and placed Bodda Pett onto my back, in the area between my armor plating that he had made into his little nest.

Alguacil was walking back from across the forge, he spat on the floor. “Yall gonna wanna go over there and talk to them folks on the intercom. They’re in some sorta panic room but they ain’t from round here, if well, ya catch my meaning.” We all looked up at him confused and then across the manufacturing plant we were in. There was a door across there, still closed and it read: “Panic” in oversized letters.

We started walking towards the door Alguacil had mentioned. Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina went back to the area we had found the dead pegasus to “Check On Him”. All of us were reasonably sure he was going to get back up. While we were walking, Nyota was fussing with his new leg attachment.

“Hey, do you want me to show you how that thing works?” I asked and Nyota offered me his leg, walking on his other three. I took the time to show him how to change the color settings, where files were on it, how to take a note, how to check his health status. When we got to how S.A.T.S. worked, he got excited and paid extra close attention. I also took the time to explain the different indicators of E.F.S. “Nyota remember, Green for friendly. Gray is neutral, Yellow is possible hostile but the system is not sure they will go hostile yet. Red on the other hand, you know what red means.” I paused for a second. “You are not colorblind, right? Because there is a setting for that.”

Nyota chuckled and shook his head, “Just because one eye only sees the spirit world doesn’t mean I don’t have full color vision and depth perception too!” He ruffled my mane and I continued the lesson. This really gave me a sense of scale of this factory, it was large enough to provide all the basics of how a PipBuck worked to someone brand new at its operation; and just barely reach the other side at a walking speed

“Thank you, Sunny, without you it would have taken weeks to figure out how all this worked.” I smiled at Nyota and we exchanged a kiss.

“I rely on you for my strength, you rely on me for my know-how. I guess we are a pretty good team. “ Alguacil grunted as soon as I finished speaking, we both turned to look at him.

“Maybe save the lovey dovey stuff for later, we got some locals to talk to.” He said pointing to the bulkhead looming up in front of us. Between us and the door were several large industrial production forges. There were molds made of an onyx material, I could only assume the ones shaped like cubes were to make the boxes.

We heard Quick Stitch squealing like an excited school filly behind us. “This factory is amazing! They have forges and printing plants! This is stuff I’ve only ever read about in books!” Quick Stitch rushed up to each machine as we walked, checking it. “Oh this is a fully functional crystal forge! That’s a laser lathe! A freaking metal cutting lathe with the precision of LASERS!” He ran up to a device with a small amount of shimmering liquid in it. “These only exist in theory!”

Scopola Mina stopped and we turned towards her, levitating a strange gun. It had a tank attached to the side that read: ‘Compressed Air’ and the barrel was less a barrel and more like a pipe. There were also several darts in round sleeves like my shotgun quick load sleeves. These had covers over their needles. “Hey, Quick Stitch, you might want this, being a doctor and all.” Quick Stitch stared at it, rubbing at the markings to make them more clear with a cleaning rag and dusting the weapon off. The rifle had the lettering S-2333 on the side of the stock.

“A syringer! This is a medical grade delivery system! I’ve only ever seen it in medical texts!” We all collectively shook our heads at Quick Stitch. I looked up at a nearby mold, the cube was huge almost as far across as a pony is long. Inside a charred substance wiggled and jiggled; it moved in my direction like it knew I was looking at it. I flinched, as this substance was just unnatural.

Nyota frowned at me, “Sunrise, what are you flinching at?”

I pointed at the jelly substance which reacted and in the strangest most cartoonish way; reacted like it was offended. I can’t believe a liquid can be offended? It then dropped back into a puddle.

Quick Stitch approached the mold and tisked his lips four times. “Yeah, this is just crystal liquid. It isn’t alive, but someone burned part of their hoof working with it.” The liquid stood up and pointed at QUick Stitch, becoming somewhat solid just long enough to perform the action then drop back down into a puddle. “The magic is causing the animation and reactions. Crystals like this always have some sort of magic; someone burning a part of them in it would give it...” The crystal perked up at his comments, “...personality or purpose. It’s just residual magic though.” The crystal immediately deflated.

We moved away from the large cube mold and the freaky crystal liquid inside. We approached the door and the first thing I noticed about it was the extra reinforcement bars across it, as well as the lack of windows on it. I looked up to see two cameras pointed criss-cross from the threshold of the bulkhead. An intercom was there with a push to talk button, but no foreseeable way to open the door from this side. The sense of foreboding and dread was overwhelming as we closed in on the door.

I hesitated and winced trying to figure out why. My body felt physically sick as we got closer. My curiosity was peaked as we got closer to the door. “Alguacil, what exactly did you do that made you want to get us to come over here?”

Chifundo let out a whimper and pointed at the door. “Very bad juju.” He whimpered. We all looked at him, shivering from head to toe. Nyota’s normally relaxed personality was gone; he was tense and moved for cover near the door. He gritted his teeth without speaking. The rest of us drew our weapons, less at the sense of fear returning with renewed intensity and more out of the reaction Nyota and Chifundo were giving towards the door.

“There are some friends,” he used his talons to put air quotes on the word ‘friends.’ “On the other side of the intercom.”

I shrugged, “Alright, I guess I will press the intercom and talk to Alguacil’s mysterious friends.”

Alguacil snarled, “Sunrise, do I need to give you a lecture about lying?”

I turned to him a little confused as he kept his gun pointed at the door. “About what?”

“You said they were my friends.” Alguacil snapped back.

“I assumed you made nice with them, at the very least, or we would have heard gunshots.” I replied.

“Well, they are people. I don’t shoot people unless they are a r-a-i-d-e-r. I had to explain to them to NOT call me a r-a-i-d-e-r.” As he spoke he said raider like a small child spelling it out.

“Alguacil, are we friends?” I asked him point blank, hoping to calm the situation down.

“As best I can tell.”

I looked at the rest of our friends, “He never just says yes to that question, does he?”

There was a slow collective shaking of heads before Alguacil replied, “Nope.”

I sighed and shook my head, giving up on pressing the issue with Alguacil. We had a giant pink elephant in the room to deal with. “HEY! I take offense to that!” Fine, a pink pony in the room other than you. I turned back to the door in front of us.

Nyota went to stop me as I approached the corridor to this room. “Hang on, Sunrise. That room isn’t on the map.” I looked down to see that I had somehow crossed off the map while Nyota was standing still inside the edge of the map. This should be a solid wall.

I pressed the intercom button and cleared my throat with a gulp, “Umm, hello?” Scopola Mina joined me, seeming unphased the sense of dread. Nyota took up position beside the door and motioned Scopola Mina back. Scopola Mina rolled her eyes and trotted back to take up a cover fire position.

The intercom came back with a spew of different languages, most of which I had never heard before. I cleared my throat, “Umm, Ponish? We all speak Ponish.”

There were a series of clicks on the other side of the intercom then a seeming agreement between the clicking. “Yes, my colleague has reminded me you all probably speak basic Equestrian or at least share it as a common language.”

“Yes, Hi, I am Wandering Sunrise. What’s your name?”

“Hi, my name is,” There were a series of slurps and noises that I did not comprehend nor know if my mouth could even mimic to speak back.

“I umm… do you have something pronounceable?” I replied a little confused and smiling up at the camera pointed down at me.

“I will say, Shay is likely the best equivalent I can give you.”

“Right Shay, that works…” I trailed off trying to find the next words to say. Whatever this thing was on the other side of the door, I had never heard of its type of lizard like voice. The clicking reminded me of beetles calling each other in the summer, like cicadas. Which just made this person seem even more strange as my imagination wondered what they looked like. The image I came up with was a four-legged snake with insect chitin. I shuddered, reviled what my own imagination had come up with. “Shay, interesting name. Where are you from, and since I cannot see you, what species are you, so I am not rude.”

“We are from a very while away. One of the dark spheres in the cluster of the dark coal.” This was an answer I did not understand at all, my jaw dropping, flabbergasted.

There was another voice in the background, “Your kind would likely refer to it as the Bearded Benard Star.”

Alguacil whistled, “Told you they were not from around here.”

I turned my head back to Alguacil. “You made vague allusions, you did not tell us they were from space!”

“I told you they were not from HERE.” Alguacil smacked his beak talking back.

“Alguacil, can you not just say ‘different planet’ or ‘alien’?” Nyota asked him, raising his hooves and sliding against the door.

“I spend more time in the sky than any of you. I told you they said they were not from here.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “They said they crashed here.”

The intercom replied, which I realized I had not let off the button. “Yes! We orbit the star Tadoeshia from the planet Tadoesh.”

“Can the thing you puked up in Silver Fang Shanty possibly be an alien?” Nyota slid up next to me and removed my hoof from the intercom button. “Oh, they heard this whole conversation.”

There was a loud hiss from the other side of the door, “Yesss…”

“We are NOT opening that door.” Nyota replied with a glare.

“What, why?” I asked, confused.

“They speak of one of the stars, they are what left Nyota’s tribe with scars.” Chifundo replied with a snarl from as far away as he could stand and still see us. Chifundo never took himself away from his rifle sight, trained on the door.

Nyota nodded, “That thing that tried to come through, that Corners was trying to release. Yeah they are from the same place that brought it.” I shuddered, Corners’s death being something still fresh, I wanted to lash out and agree with them. Something deep inside me said I couldn’t, I had to see this through and know if they were innately evil or not. “We are not letting them out.”

Alguacil cleared his throat, “The door opens from inside, they are just waiting to decide to leave or not.”

I shook my head, “Nyota, we can’t just abandon them.”

“Yes, we can and we will.” Nyota replied with a sense of finality to his voice.

“And what if some other pony comes along and finds them? Finds this place?” I asked, looking at both of them.

“Weld the door shut?” Quick Stitch offered.

“That is a very good point. We could walk away, we could weld the door shut, or we could open the door and kill them for our own good.” I looked from Nyota to Chifundo, confused at the sudden hostility. I winced and frowned at them.

“They have not done anything wrong, we are talking about cold blooded murder here.” I took a step away from Nyota, appalled at his reaction.

“Sunny, you remember the story of Nightmare Moon? How Luna was corrupted by something?” Nyota asked with a hoof placed firmly onto my shoulder.

“Yeah but she was fixed by the Elements of Harmony, and life was good.”

“Yes, Luna was repaired. But what happened to Nightmare Moon?” Nyota asked, turning away from me. He stomped his hoof in anger.

“I am very confused, were they not the same pony, just more like alter egos, or the worst parts of one and the best of the other?” I asked, trying to piece together the story of Nightmare Moon I had been told as a child.

“Yes, but what if they were not, and someone or something wants to bring Nightmare Moon back?” Nyota spun around at me and leaned down, studying my reaction. I was trying to fit the pieces together but something about what he was saying wasn’t adding up.

“Is that what the zebras believe?”

Nyota nodded, “Because the stars aided in her escape.”

Scopola tapped a hoof against the floor, “Might I point out, they could leave anytime. They haven’t left yet because they are afraid of somethin’.” She nodded to the door. “That door is kinda sealed tight.”

“Well I am not a fan of giving them a chance, we weld the door shut is my stance!” Chifundo shouted and banged his rifle against a table as he moved it around to yell at us from his perch.

Alguacil shook his head, “Well considering when I talked to ‘em, they was ‘fraid of us being raiders and they fear raiders; I don’t think we should be so hasty.”

Nyota groaned in distaste, “Fine, I leave the decision up to you, but my vote is leave them here.”

“Should we not at least talk to them and meet them first before we judge these ponies?” Quick Stitch offered, pointing at the door.

“They are not ponies, do not be fooled by these phonies!” Chifundo cleared his throat and steadied his rifle. “They are not like by the spirits, I sense something eldritch near it!” Chifundo pointed at the door with his bracing hoof, “Very bad juju!”

I knew that Chifundo only used that term very sparingly and only when something genuinely freaked him out. I stared at him and processed the last time he said that, “The last time you said that, we had to bury Buddy.”

Chifundo shook his head and Nyota looked at me, “I thought it was when the Sentry bot tried to kill us.”

Pink pulled out a filing cabinet and held up several notebooks, “Nope, you’re right Sunrise, right as rain. It was when you had to bury Buddy.” I nodded at Pink and pointed at Nyota, pressing my hoof on his chest.

“Pink has a filing cabinet and says it was when we buried Buddy.” I looked back at the door, still unnerved. Quick Stitch approached the door and touched it. His eyes glazed over. “Quick Stitch, what are you doing?” He did not move, he did not speak. Something told me to get his attention. “Quick Stitch, hey, you there?”

A rising panic filled me as I rushed up to him and he did not respond to being pulled back or spoken to. He just stared at the door, transfixed and his eyes spoke of someone who was dead or soulless as we dragged him away from the door. Alguacil roared into Quick Stitch’s ear, “QUICK STITCH!” And he shook his head, holding it with a hoof as Quick Stitch recovered from his catatonic state.

“Huh, what?” My suspicion went up as Quick Stitch was trying to recover from what looked like a flashbang.

Scopola Mina asked Alguacil, “Ya know, can’t you determine if some pony is a good or bad at a glance?” Alguacil nodded at her. “So can’t we just have a discussion with them and y’all figure it out?”

Alguacil rolled his eyes, “I don’t think they will open the door unless we have the guard, who I think is the pegasus that is back in the lounge area; dead on the couch.” I reached over to my pack, clutching at the pistol within that we had found on the dead guard.

I sighed, “Alright, we will leave them here and figure out the guard.”

Alguacil nodded, “Look, I can keep here and keep them covered and get a shot off before ya know it. If ya hear my gunfire, ya know something went pear shaped.”

I groaned, “I really do not want to leave you alone down here, it is creepy enough being in an empty stable. Much less knowing there is some creature down here that can have that effect on Quick Stitch.” I pointed at Quick Stitch, who was being examined by Nyota.

I groaned and grabbed Nyota’s hoof, escorting him and Quick Stitch away from the door. Quick Stitch was stopped and looked back at the door as he exited the short corridor leading to it. Scopola Mina was standing there, pointing for Quick Stitch to keep going forward. He nodded and held his head in shame.

I had to move behind Quick Stitch and bump him forward on the hip with my chest everytime he hesitated and wanted to stop. Scopola Mina nudged me, then made several motions at the floor and I raised an eyebrow, “Huh? What?”

Scopola Mina rolled her eyes, “Maybe leave something on the floor that goes boom?” I sighed and decided if it would make everyone feel better. I took my time and started to setup two lunchboxes converted into claymores. Pink pulled on her filing cabinet which suddenly launched off my vision with an impossibly long drawer.

“Sorry! SPOILERSSSSSS….” After I heard a crash and several falling pieces of metal, as well as an electric blast that sounded like a lightning bolt; she reappeared with her mane frizzed out and smoking with several burn marks. “Ah, here it is. Yeah, you should use a low powered explosive. This old stable might collapse under the pressure of a claymore. According to Granny Smith’s Anarchist Cook Book, you should use something lighter or magically explosive in nature.” I groaned and put the claymores away, pulling out instead some magical fission cell bombs, and rigging a couple of trigger strings on the floor.

Quick Stitch stopped at the door where the turrets had been clicking away at us. “I think I should stay with Alguacil, too.”

I shook my head, “Nope. Quick Stitch, we need you to figure out if the guard has a box, and we do not trust you down here after that reaction when you touched the door.”

Quick Stitch sighed, “Shouldn’t we not take hearsay and rumors or old wives tales. Then figure out what to do in this case? Wasn’t Corners a good pony till she encountered that thing in The Roof or whatever transformed her?”

Alguacil spat, “Hell no.”

I growled and leaped up at Alguacil, “TAKE IT BACK!”

“From where I stand, I am speakin’ da truth.” Alguacil snarled down at me and turned his beak up at me.

“Maybe this isn’t the time, you two. Y’all should resolve this later?” Scopola Mina put a hoof on my shoulder and tried to pull me down. I wanted to just box Alguacil’s ears off for that comment.

I snarled and spoke through my teeth, letting Scopola Mina restrain me while Nyota kept Quick Stitch from going back to the door with a glare and physically moving his body between them. “If I had any other choice, I would have chased her down and not let that happen. She might not have been the best, but she was getting better. She had a good heart, so take it back.”

“That ain’t what I’m talking ‘bout.” Alguacil snapped back.

“I do NOT care! We do not speak ill of the dead, especially when they were our friends.” I smacked my hoof mockingly off Alguacil’s chest. Pink pulled out a large sign that read ‘AL = Raider!’ I had to physically ignore her urging to call him one. “You don’t even speak ill of Raiders after they’re dead, and yet you’re doing it to Corners.”

“I don’t speak o’ raiders, period.” Alguacil started to move away and I tried to push Scopola Mina away to maintain physical contact.

“Do it! DO IT! DO IT! Call him a raider! It’s what he is! He’s just a raider with a badge!” Pink screamed and I was inclined to agree. Alguacil was proving today that he considered us less than friends, and him speaking of Corners was just making my blood boil.

“Hey, let’s not do this here.” Scopola Mina pulled harder on me.

“Perhaps we should have this conversation away, here your emotions are not kept at bay.” Chifundo agreed with Scopola.

Scopola Mina nodded and I started to calm down just a little bit, “Chifundo’s right, y’all are acting a might bit squirrelly.” I huffed in agreement and started back towards the stairs to the middle floor where the staff room were and where the dead guard was.

“One of Pink, keep out of this stink!” Chifundo shouted before Pink could say anything else.

I snapped my head at him and snarled under my breath, “She is mostly right about it, too.”

Chifundo with Snuggles and Alguacil both agreed to stay down together and keep the door under guard while we figured out what to do about the guard back in the lounge. I had been making a concerted effort to ignore Snuggles’s existence. As we walked off, I had to admit the feline looked cute nestled on Chifundo’s back; if you can call something that lethal cute.

I felt like I could blow a gasket and bash Alguacil’s head in, but as we got further up the stairs I got more calm. Scopola Mina came up, “Y’all are acting funny. I’m having to be the adult here and you guys are acting like children.” I rolled my eyes through I could not disagree; something was keeping us on edge and we were not acting completely like ourselves.

Once we had checked on the blue pegasus guard, who was still very much dead, we went to the garden to check on Scopola Mina’s tests. The various herbs, fruits, and vegetables she had tested all came back safe. From the look of one tree growing both bananas and tomatoes out of it, we could speculate that this was a potentially a prototype “Everything Tree” like the ones The Roof now had.

Nyota gathered as many herbs as he could, taking one of the red leaves and biting into it. I winced at him, praying he hadn’t just consumed something potentially poisonous. “You are the worst earth pony, Sunrise. Ya think he would literally intentionally consume something poisonous?”

How should I know? I work on machines, I don’t grow crops.

“Oh come on, Nyota is smar—” Pink was interrupted by Nyota wheezing and hacking while I ran forward and put a canteen to his lips as he washed out his mouth.

“Neat! This is the most potent I’ve tasted in a while!” I blinked in disbelief as Nyota gathered the herbs. He and Scopola selected ripe vegetables, gathered fresh rice and fruit, as well as cross referenced their knowledge of herbs and chems to get stuff they needed for mixtures. I helped while we had left Quick Stitch with our dead guard friend. It was a calming exercise to say the least, if somewhat time consuming.

We came back to the stairs and heard a breaking crystal noise. Alguacil yelled up, “It’s fine! I’m just tired of those turrets tracking me so I’m breaking their targetters.” I rolled my eyes, thinking about the damage he was doing and how it was likely not a part we could replace easily, until I remembered the manufacturing plant he was standing in.

I looked at Bodda Pett, who was asleep on my back, and then yelled downstairs, “Hey, Chifundo, please make sure Snuggles does not eat my bunny.”

“Snuggles is as tame as a lamb, she could not commit something so damned.” I groaned, though I had to admit that was a good point. Despite my fear and apprehension of the creature, it had not actually done anything to hurt any of us, yet.

We came back into the room to find Quick Stitch watching the television. It was actually in full color which was something very rare and expensive when the war ended. There was a cartoon on it, something called ‘Road Runner.’ An explosion made me jump out of my skin and I flinched. I swore the cartoon blast was far too realistic sounding. Nyota rolled his eyes and cut the TV off. Quick Stitch made an upset face at him and Nyota glared back with a look that I thought only an angry father could muster.

“Well, I can confirm one thing.” Quick Stitch said as he got off the couch and took a carrot from Scopola Mina.

“Oh, so what’s up doc?” Scopola Mina asked him as he nibbled on the carrot.

“Well, that pegasus has a box like us. I’m also certain he killed himself this time. From examining him, I am pretty sure he plucked his own feathers to make that cloak, too.” Quick Stitch nibbled on the carrot more and I couldn’t help but feel this was its own cartoon playing out. “The question I can’t answer though, is how many times has he died?”

Level Up Progress - No XP, Sorry you didn’t solve any quests or defeat any enemies! You’re still at: 77%

Chapter 42: The Secrets of Stable Phi

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“The problem is the myths of Area 51 are hard to dispute if no one can speak on the record about what actually happened there.”
-Annie Jacobsen

I stared in horror at the dead body, then at Quick Stitch. I felt sick, my stomach twisting like I had been here before, and was experiencing the shock of death and resurrection at the same time. I looked up at Nyota and Scopola Mina, “Any ideas on how many times he’s regenerated?”

Quick Stitch stared into the feathers on his back, examining them very closely. “Well, if I look at the feather patterns on his cloak. Based upon their age and the way they create rings of color.” He pointed out the different lines and slightly off shades of color. “I would say 47 times, but I don’t think this cloak is gonna be a completely accurate way to tell.”

My jaw dropped. I am having problems at twenty-seven! He’s got nearly twice as many and he is committing suicide and writing in blood. I stared at the pegasus, confused. Nyota held up a hoof.

“How about we wait for the box to either regenerate him or manifest something new, and watch the process ourselves?” I nodded to him and pulled out my shotgun.

“Well, I’ll search the rest of the floor again and then we will just have to sit and wait.” I moved with Scopola Mina while Nyota and Quick Stitch stayed with the body. We found the stable had braying tubes—called that because of how brays would echo inside them. You could crawl in and access electrical systems, water, and various other utilities, though the quarters were cramped, even for me.

We found Equestrian Military insignias for units I had never heard of. Many of them had a Ministry of Morale or a Stable-Tec logo under the unit marker. The water pipes were clearly pumping waters through various filters and into every single room in the Stable. I checked E.F.S., and everytime I did, I got a little less worried as only my companions showed up on it. Why don’t the creatures inside the panic room show up? I thought, realizing quickly that my reassurance was wrong; there could be more of them and they could easily be in the bray tubes!

We proceeded into the staff rooms. Each one was a studio size apartment, with a small kitchen, washroom, and a bunk bed which was covered in dust but still had the sheets on it. There were crystals plugged into the appliances, running them with magical energy as opposed to electricity. These were very similar to the types of crystals you would put into a laser rifle, except running something much lower power. I noticed something on the walls of the apartments: a white circle was painted with a dot in the center and a line diagonally slashed across it. There was also an intercom system near the door.

Every single room was designed exactly like this. Scopola Mina scratched her head. “You have all the needs of a stable? Why go through the trouble of setting up crystal energy sources too?”

I shrugged and nodded at it, “Maybe they had more ponies than they expected. Scopola Mina, try the intercom?” I suggested as we found evidence of several different colored pegasus feathers, crystal dust residue, shamanistic zebra doll totems, and even a few items that had stubbornite infused into them. This to me indicated they had unicorns, earth ponies, zebras, and pegasi down here working together.

Much of this had the appearance of leaving behind a significant amount of personal effects. Jewelry, clothing, pictures, even several journals; it was like they all just got up and left one day. “This is beyond weird,” I turned to Scopola, who pressed the intercom button.

There was a blip of a walkie talkie queuing up to speak, “Umm, hello, anyone there?” Scopola Mina called out and released the button.

A very rough, gravelly voice replied, “Hello, who is this? This channel hasn’t been active for 100 years.”

“Umm, where ya at?” Scopola Mina replied and we all listened.

“Down in the panic room, are you the ones we talked to earlier? Have you found the guard yet?”

Scopola Mina looked at me with an expression of what do I do? I made motions across my neck to cut the comm and shook my head quietly. “Umm, nope.”

“I can’t believe he is still hiding.” There was an annoyed slithering noise.

“I mean, we are quite heavily armed, he might still be unsure of us.” Scopola Mina replied.

There was a series of clicks and chitters that could only be described as alien laughter from the other side. “You are the most normal group he has likely ever encountered. I’m surprised he is hiding this long.”

I hesitated and stepped forward, “Does this guard, have umm… a black box?”

“What the hell is a black box?”

Scopola Mina whispered in my ear, “Atomic Recombulator.” I repeated what she said to the intercom.

“He just comes occasionally and pets us on the head .” There was a ragged sigh and a groan. “This despite the fact I’m twice his size and he refers to us as weird dogs. He gives us treats, too, that I think you would give one of your canine companions. It is weirdly sweet and demeaning at the same time. We are sure he is completely insane at this point.”

I groaned and nodded, “Alright, we’ll keep that in mind. Maybe this is a game to him.” We left, heading back towards the lounge, when the sound of a struggle and the crashing of a speaker made Scopola Mina and I bolt down the hall. We found Nyota holding Quick Stitch down with one hoof while he had an egg in his other. He was enraged and snarling at Quick Stitch as he held the egg out of reach.

The egg was huge, the size of my dad’s pistol and completely black with deep teal stripes down its sides. Nyota was snarling, “You protected one of the star children!”

Quick Stitch pulled back away from him, trying to get out of his grip, “Nyota!” I shouted and quickly lunged at the egg. Nyota turned surprised and did not quite move in time to avoid me snatching the egg. I placed it as gently as possible onto the nearest a couch pillow on the floor nearby. I looked at the egg and it shifted in front of me; the surface changed. It sent a chill down my spine as something completely alien or unnatural.

Quick Stitch still had the other egg. He held it close, “I found them in the basement. They’re unborn children; I am a doctor. I cannot rightfully harm them.” There was a shimmer of magical energy and then a pulse. Quick Stitch lit up like a bright beacon, and his mane suddenly flowed on its own, sparkling with energy. Nyota took a defensive posture towards him while the rest of us looked at Quick Stitch quite, off put.

“Umm… Quick Stitch, you may wanna take a look in the mirror.” I started very cautiously. Quick Stitch looked into the powered off TV and saw his mane flowing and shimmering with energy. It hadn’t changed colors, just that now it flowed with magic, even if no wind blew around us.

“That...is new.” He set down the egg and took a step back. “I did not think that their magic could mutate me.” I looked just as confused as the rest of our group. Nyota growled and shook his head.

“You have to understand: they are star children, they are inherently evil. They tried to destroy our world twice! Once in Zebrica and once with Nightmare Moon. My tribe is damned by all other zebras for siding with them. And YOU!” Nyota pointed at Quick Stitch with a renewed fury in his voice. “Did not think they could mutate you? They mutated your alicorn princess over 1200 years ago, I think they can do the same to you!”

Quick Stitch backed away and set the egg down, and I collected it. “Okay, how about we all calm down and take some logic here. Quick Stitch is still Quick Stitch, just... well, with a flowy mane now, and slightly magically radioactive.” I looked over to see a small amount of rads bleeding off of Quick Stitch that my PipBuck was registering about one every hour above normal. Nothing lethal, but it would make you tingly if you hung around too much.

Nyota growled, staring at the eggs. “Nyota, I get it. These things hurt your people. But right now, just like raiders when we first meet them, we cannot act to kill them for the sake of killing. Okay? Especially unborn children. Think about how you would feel if someone wanted to kill me and our…” I trailed off and let it sink in without speaking. Nyota very slowly deflated. He looked at me, hurt, and grit his teeth.

“That is different and not fair, and you know it.” He walked up to me, looking down with a sense of absolute rage at me. “Quick Stitch lied to us, he brought the Star Children here and he let them influence us.”

“I did not lie about anything.” Quick Stitch retorted while Scopola Mina played with his new magical radiation mutated hair.

“Lie of omission is still a lie.” Nyota replied with a snap. “You never said what you found down under The Roof and just made us assume it was nothing to be concerned about.”

“Okay, and what about saving a life? Can you honestly not say you would not have smashed the two eggs immediately upon discovering them?” Quick Stitch said, batting away Scopola Mina out of irritation.

“No, I honestly can’t. They are not supposed to be here. Ever!” Nyota snorted back, glaring at the shifting surface of the eggs.

“So that automatically means they are evil?” Quick Stitch replied, the other two of us unable to get anything to interject as they went back and forth.

“Is there someway to send them home? To get them off our world?” Nyota shot back, he was holding back his own fury only because I was holding his hoof. It was as if my touch was reminding him to stay civil.

“I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to ask.”

“Realistically, I don’t care. These creatures, and they are creatures, are linked with a great and terrible force that led to the awakening of the most dangerous creature this planet has ever seen.” Nyota snapped at the egg with his teeth as he spoke, as if it were trying to talk to him somehow, and he was expressing dominance.

“And Discord was reawakened by three fillies arguing.” Quick Stitch pointed out, still remaining calm about the whole thing. It was almost creepy how calm and seemingly unaffected he was by Nyota’s rage.

“Yes, that is our problem of our making. Also, who?” Nyota looked a little confused.

“The owners of Stable-Tec, in their childhood, unwittingly unleashed Discord upon the land.” I finally managed to get something in. My voice, as well as facts, made Nyota go from a look of anger to confusion.

“I know of the demon mares of Stable-Tec; who is this Discord of which you speak?” Nyota replied, looking to me, then to Quick Stitch.

“Oh y’all might know him as something else, he is a spirit of chaos made manifest and just likes to play some really strange jokes on people.” Scopola Mina spoke like a Filly Scout reading from a handbook. “Like exploding chocolate milk or tutu wearing, dancing buffalo.”

“Oh! The Bringer of Destruction Through Disorder. Why didn’t you say that first?” Nyota asked looking around confused.

“Should we automatically assume all young fillies are evil?” Quick Stitch brought us back on topic.

“No, because they were born here. Nature here is made for them. However, if what happened to you outside that door is any inclination or any…” Nyota looked for his words, motioning his hooves to point down the hallway, “...way to express the danger, you had no control over yourself. You should remember that.”

“They were children who were afraid. They’re innocent.” Quick Stitch snapped, starting to get mad.

“Oh yes, they were children who were afraid, who can take your free will from you. What do you think is gonna happen when they are angry? Because I’ve heard tales of them making heads literally explode like watermelons struck by a sledgehammer, or of them forcing mothers to turn and eat their own children while their children were still alive. You just remember that!” Nyota stormed off and I looked between the two of them helplessly.

“Can I say something?” Scopola Mina asked and Nyota waited just for a moment. “The spirit, is that from our world? The one Chifundo described that possessed Corners at The Roof?”

Nyota huffed and nodded, “Yes, my eye confirmed that was one of ours, but ever since we’ve gotten here there has been the presence of something alien. Honestly, it is freaking Chifundo out, as well as making my eye see very strange visions.” With nothing else to indicate further conversation he resumed storming off.

I hesitated, not sure if I should chase him or let him cool off. Scopola Mina motioned for me to go after Nyota while she stayed with Quick Stitch and I bolted down the hall to catch Nyota. I caught a glimpse of him heading upstairs towards the first floor, where the overmare’s office and medical bay were.

Once upstairs, I activated the TAG spell on my PipBuck and used it to find him. He was in the overmare’s office and I leaned just inside the doorframe, “Nyota?” I called out cautiously, wanting to make sure I was welcome.

“Umm, come in?” He said in a confused groan, seated at the desk messing with the holographic display.

“I did not know if you wanted to be alone.” I slowly walked in and over to him. “I think the others want to go talk to the things in the panic room and work something out.”

“That’s nice, when are we leaving?” Nyota did not bother to look at me as he spoke. I could sense the seething anger still in his voice.

“As soon as possible.”

“Good, because I don’t want to be here for any longer than we must be. I will be waiting here.” He tapped his hoof impatiently on the console waiting for the lag from the hologram to catch up.

I winced at his reply and placed a hoof as softly as I could onto his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to be alone?”

“No but realistically being anywhere near Quick Stitch or those things beyond the door,” He turned to me to get his point across. “Probably a very terrible idea.”

“You may wish to explain zebras and star creatures to me,” I asked, taking a seat.

“Oh, it’s easy! My tribe made a deal with the Star Children. You notice how my stripes are swirled, while Chifundo has horizontal ones with a star splash on his back, and The Curator’s were vertical? That is how you tell the tribes apart.” He paused and took a breath. “Well, we made that deal to be more powerful and stand above all the other tribes. Then we started a war that turned the other twelve tribes of zebras against us and caused them to unite as Zebrica.”

He continued, “Ever since the rest of the tribes won that war; we were scattered to the winds. We are punished with exile for our hubris.” He pointed out of the door, “They’re evil! They sound nice, but whether they are evil by choice or accident, it doesn’t matter. Those creatures are evil. They are unnatural to our world and, to make a long story short, it is why you don’t see me hanging around too many other zebras. If you need proof, well, look outside; that is because of their evil from so long ago that we turned our resource war into a religious crusade that ended all of the world.”

“I do not think we blew up our world because of it?” I asked, looking a little confused.

“Well, most zebras would have you believe we kept the war going to the end of the world because we thought Luna was still under the influence of these creatures.” Nyota looked at me, expecting more questions. At the moment, this was a lot to take in. I nodded to him and let out a sigh. I gave him a soft kiss and released my hoof from his side.

“Well, I am going to make sure I protect the others from these creatures, and that Alguacil does not just shoot Quick Stitch on the spot,” I replied, checking my weapons to make sure they were loaded and changing my shotgun clip to all solid slugs. I was not sure what I was going to face down there, but I wanted something that could put down a bear if need be.

Nyota looked at me, his gaze softened, and he got a hint of a smile for a brief second. “That would probably be wise.” I pulled out Bodda Pett and set him next to Nyota. I left a fresh cabbage from the garden next to Bodda and smiled.

“Here, he can keep your company and hopefully make you feel less alone, okay?” I offered, and Nyota nodded. He gently petted Bodda Pett while watching the bunny eat as I left. I headed downstairs and joined the others at the entrance to the forge. Alguacil and Chifundo were still covering the door.

We headed downstairs and I walked up next to Quick Stitch. “Alright everyone, keep us covered. Stay back here. I’ll act as a shield for Quick Stitch if things go crazy.” I paused and looked at all my friends with a smile. “I am sure we will be fine.”

Slowly, we approached. I disarmed the grenade and removed the tripwire I’d left set up. Quick Stitch continued very slowly ahead and gently knocked on the door again. “Yes, who is it?” The voice from beyond the door asked.

“It is me again,” Quick Stitch replied. I stayed quiet, looking to jump between him and the door if needed.

“Oh yes, the one who made contact with our eggs,” their gravelly deep voice replied.

“They have both asked that they remain here, in your care.” Quick Stitch’s answer shocked me to the core.

Wait! They can talk? They aren’t even born yet! They can mind control you and talk! What in Tartarus!? I gripped my shotgun tighter with my hoof and put the bit trigger in my mouth preemptively.

“Oh? Did they tell you why?” Another voice, one we had not heard yet, spoke. This confirmed there were at least three of these things in there.

“I don’t think they believe it is safe to keep them with me.” Quick Stitch placed a hoof on my gun to keep it lowered.

“Oh, I assume your striped shamanists do not like our presence or their existence.” It was almost like talking to a scientist reading a report they had expected.

“I would say that is safe to assume, yes.” While Quick Stitch spoke, I moved the shotgun from my mouth and looked at him suspiciously.

“Yes, we have had dealings with them before. They have not gone very well at all.” There was a physical shuffle on the other side. “They killed our other pilot, too.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Zebras did?” I asked, pulling the bit from my mouth to talk.

“Yes, well, there were others; armed with metals and led by one of the striped kind. I believe they said something about what you call...Caesar? Have you found the guard yet?”

Quick Stitch bit his lip and I pulled the hoof away from the intercom button. “Listen, lying has gotten you in trouble already, so I suggest we just be honest with them.”

Quick Stitch nodded and pressed the button again, “He is deceased, regrettably.”

“Oh, what happened to him?” This was the return of the deeper voiced one who sounded physically larger, now that I had listened to all three of them speak.

Scopola Mina had walked up on us, “Oh, I think he shot himself.” I nearly jumped out of my skin and turned around.

There was a deep chuckle and the deep voice spoke, “I win, pay up.” There was the shuffling of metal and the sound of caps being exchanged.

I shook my head, enraged they were making light of suicide. “Hey! Wait a minute!” I pushed Quick Stitch aside and pressed the intercom button down myself. “Were you three betting on him killing himself?” I whined in protest, almost dropping ‘Sunray’ as it clattered against the metal door.

“Well, I mean, I bet he was going to hang himself, and he said he would take a lot of drugs and sleep a while. But, yes, we were.”

There was a loud laugh, “Always bet on self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

“I am gonna sock each and every one of you!” I snorted angrily, and they just laughed harder. “You should be ashamed, betting on someone’s death instead of trying to stop it.”

The laughter slowly died down. “You have to understand, we tried to stop it the first eleven times. But now we just try to make it quick, or keep him happy and comfortable.”

Now I was angry. Knowing how Corners threatened to kill herself and how much I had gotten onto Alguacil over this, “You should be better than that! He is your friend and tries to take care of you.”

“Hold on there, little pint size. He talks down to us and treats us like pets instead of friends or equals,” they said. I snarled, wanting to keep arguing, when Scopola Mina shook her head.

“Hold on there, Sunrise. He’s got stills down here and a lot of chems. I did some looking, and I think he is trying to make some anti-psychotics. If he wanted to permanently kill himself, I think he really could do it, ya know? Just throw himself into one of the forges that made them boxes and he’d be gone for good.” I looked at Scopola Mina, slowly realizing that perhaps the pegasus upstairs was killing himself for fun; knowing he could get back up. I stared at the ground, very unnerved at the possibility of someone who could commit suicide as a daily fun activity.

Is that what I will become? Someone who doesn’t care or understand death anymore? Just heartlessly looking for the next high? Pink smacked me and I shook my head loose. Hey! What was that for?

“Deal with existential crisis when it is time, deal with creatures from another freaking planet now! Ya know, priorities?” Pink said, smiling with a clipboard in hoof, which I swore she had a little blood on it from smacking me so hard. I did not want to question how a spirit like her could hit me hard enough to draw blood.

“Apologize,” I finally said to the Star Children.

“For what?”

“Being a terrible friend,” I shot back with a glare at the camera.

“I apologize for betting on the deadpool, but you two still have to pay up.”

I snapped to Quick Stitch, “No, no, they do not. Are you sure you want to leave those eggs here, because these three will be terrible parents.”

“Sunrise, my parents taught me to torture ponies with knives and fire,” Quick Stitch reminded me with the flicking of his one white, transplanted ear.

“I think we should take the eggs with us and go find Twitty, and if they are the same species then I guess you’re dad.”

“What is a Twitty?” The voice asked. I turned and explained what Twitty was in excruciating detail.

“A wild born ruler class!” There was an excited shout from the other side of the door.

“You got some explaining to do about what you just said,” I said coolly.

There was hesitating and a long sigh. “I mean, do you know what you call alicorns?”

All three of us at once answered, “Yes.”

“Well, they are very similar, and generally lead our people.”

I snapped my nose up. Something about this stank even more. I pulled Quick Stitch away. “Come on, we are leaving. They literally made no effort to save their friend and actually bet on his death. I do not care; we are taking the eggs away and, honestly, you are going to have to raise them.”

There was the sound of a klaxon blaring from the other side of the door . “Look! Hallow will be up in a little bit.”

I snarled, thinking of the deadpool as something that raiders would do. As Nyota’s tag pinged, I had already forced Quick Stitch back around the corner with Scopola Mina. Nyota had come down; he was against the doorframe, nearly invisible in the shadows as another klaxon rang out and the hydraulics of the door began to pull it open. I jumped around the corner and peered over to see these creatures coming out.

Two smaller ones, both my size and looking very much like the same frenzied creature that had come from the bowels of The Roof, came out, along with a huge one. This huge one was armored with chitin plating as thick as power armor and stood at least twice as tall as Alguacil. I could have shot him point blank with every round in my shotgun and maybe not even phased him. He had to hunch and duck just to get through the door.

Well, this is not something I was ever prepared for. Here it is, life from another planet. Quick Stitch touched me as he got away from Scopola Mina and started to round the corner.

“No, come on, Quick Stitch, we really should go.” Something deep and primal inside me told me to leave right now! Every flight instinct I had was screaming ‘Run you fool’ at the top of its lungs. Then, something happened: another set of voices in my head; voices that sounded like the aliens before me.

“We would be happy to stay here with them.” I looked up at Quick Stitch and stopped cold.

“HEY! There are already two different souls in here, we don’t need anymore! There is a party of two at a table for one already! Get outta here!” Pink’s shouting both unnerved me and helped me think more rationally about what to do.

We were now staring down three alien lifeforms, with two unborn aliens talking in my and Quick Stitch’s heads. There was not a thing I could have experienced that would have prepared me for this. Well, perhaps this is a good time to retreat.

I pulled Quick Stitch away physically. “Look, we’ll be back in a minute.” I stormed upstairs and made sure we left no one down there. “Everyone, we need a little reexamining of our situation.” I turned to the alien creatures and with as much authority as I could muster and shouted to them, “You, all of you, stay right here where the cameras can see you.”

*****

We got upstairs and gathered in the Overmare’s office. There was a distinctive foreboding feeling, as Nyota was still fuming and seated as far away from Quick Stitch as possible. I had closed the factory door and used the Overmare’s computer to reinstate the lock on the room. At least for now, the aliens were locked down there. I turned on the camera over the monitor for the Overmare so we could watch the three Star Children and make sure they did not try to leave or escape.

“Okay, so what do we do?”

Nyota tapped his hoof, “I vote we leave right now.”

Scopola Mina shook her head. “That rad storm can’t be delayed any more, and will be here in eight hours. There is nowhere we can go without being caught in it. If anything, we should close the door and wait that out. Not to mention we can’t be sure that dragon left the area yet.”

I looked at both of them with a sigh and held up a hoof. “One second.” I went to the entrance with Alguacil and we removed the locking blocks. Then I wired my PipBuck into the Stable-Tec security panel, setting a custom password for the door and activating the sealing processes. With a great heave of machinery and the grinding of the giant cogwheel door; the stable sealed itself off from the outside world. At least this way we are protected from the storm, and if everything goes to hell the aliens are locked away down here with us.

I tested my password to make sure the door would open, then closed it again before turning to our group to have our discussion. “There, the door is sealed and we should be safe from the storm. Now; how do we handle the problem of the aliens, since we are stuck here till the storm passes?”

Scopola Mina shrugged, “I think we should just work this out.”

“Work what out? These things freak half of us out, and the one who is not freaked out has been mutated by them,” I snorted with a glare. “I really do not want to leave those eggs here, with them being parents who wager on a deadpool.”

“Wait, wait, we are not leaving the eggs here?” Nyota said with a glare. Scopola Mina and I explained how they were having fun with the pegasus’s multiple suicides and betting on how he would do it next. “Oh, well, if I was stuck in here with them for over a hundred years, I might very well off myself a couple of times, too,” Nyota replied, and I facehoofed.

“No, they had turned suicide into a game,” I replied with a groan of distaste, trying to picture what I would do for a 100 years inside a stable.

“I mean, they were just having fun because they were bored down here,” Scopola Mina pointed out. I looked to anyone else for support and got nothing at the moment. Quick Stitch was making extra effort to stay quiet.

“I have to agree with Mina here, Sunny.”

“Do you really wanna leave unborn children with something that crazy at the moment?” I snapped back.

“I have to disagree here,” Nyota nodded at them.

“Sunrise, do we know how to raise them properly, or will doctors experiment on them like property?” Chifundo asked with a glare.

“Yeah, we should put a stop to that,” Nyota said, and looked at Quick Stitch. “That, or Quick Stitch maybe could help doing the experiments, too.” Quick Stitch gave an undignified look with a huff.

“Oh, I think I put a stop to that for y’all.” Scopola Mina replied with a proud, puffed out chest.

“Either way, we do not have the knowledge for those eggs to survive. We are the worst choice of parents for whatever is in them,” Nyota replied, tapping his hoof impatiently.

“I know where to get the knowledge,” Quick Stitch finally spoke.

“Excuse me?” I turned, feeling very upset.

“There is a machine down under The Roof. If I could access it—” Nyota waved a hoof cutting Quick Stitch off.

“You’ve got some explaining to do later, but in the meantime, no. I am putting my hoof down. We leave them here with their kind and we lock them in. They have plenty of food to sustain them here, and there is no telling the harm they will do to the wasteland if they get out.” Nyota snapped and groaned, “While I would rather not stay here during the storm, we can at least all agree on that.”

“So you want me to lock them in, too?” I asked, thinking about how terrible it would be to lock someone in a prison.

“I mean, yes, just lock the door. The other people left fast and did not come back. They locked the door and apparently no one could open it.”

Alguacil snorted. “How do we know they didn’t leave ‘cause of those things?”

Nyota groaned, “Look, we have the resources and, not gonna lie, I’m not looking forward to more radiation sickness treatments again. We leave them with their own kind, or what?”

I wanted a compromise and was reminded of something I should point out to Nyota. “Nyota, hun, during the war, the screaming of ‘leave zonies with their own kind or just kill them’ was not fair. Either we take the eggs with us or we stay here and work this out.”

Nyota stamped his hoof, “Then we stay here and work this out. I don’t think you will survive exposure to the radiation storm and, honestly, what other choice do we have?”

Scopola coughed, “I can’t believe I’m agreeing with him, but I agree.”

“Fine, we work this out.”

“Besides, we have Alguacil with us, it can’t be that hard to work it out with ‘em.” Alguacil perked up at Scopola Mina’s sense of pride in him. It was almost like he wore that statement as his new badge of honor.

“Sunrise, how would you feel if someone tried to take our children from us as unfit parents. We barely know these creatures, and because of that storm we saw coming, we are stuck here with them.” Nyota turned his head back towards where we had left them and shuddered. “I’m surprised I’m saying this, but...dammit; maybe I was wrong. Whatever has us split, I need to see this through.”

“Need to see what through?”

Nyota snorted, “I had some time to think while you were all downstairs. I need to know if the stories are true, if there is no reasoning with these creatures and if they should really be exterminated. At least, know enough,” he turned to look at Quick Stitch, “To understand why my friend felt the need to lie about them to me.”

Alguacil rolled his eyes. “And ya know, Sunrise, maybe they ain’t so bad. Stables just mess creatures up.”

I pointed at Alguacil. “I really hate to agree with you, but I have to from personal experience. Stables definitely mess creatures up.”

“So maybe we can all understand why they are doing things that ain’t so nice?” Scopola Mina offered.

“Okay, yeah.” I hung my head in defeat, realizing we were not leaving now; especially when the most staunch supporter of leaving was now for staying.

“So, maybe we go down and talk to our new alien overlords?” Scopola Mina giggled with a smile. Scopola Mina lifted my head, “As some pony says, we have to be better.”

I groaned and felt my own words sting hard against me. “Not fair. Fine, I am going to go talk to Nyota first and get us both on the same page again.” I hugged Nyota and we slowly walked down the stairs towards one of the empty dormitory rooms. I locked the door behind us so the two of us could talk privately.

Nyota looked up from his pip-buck and tilted his head slightly. "There are more comfortable places to lock ourselves in," He said with a smile, trying his best to lighten the mood. At least he is trying. "Your rabbit can teleport, by the way."

"Bodda can teleport?" I turned to look at the nestled bit of fluff in between my back plates and smiled. "Interesting, but not something I'm terribly worried about right now. I wanted to say: I screwed up."

“It's not the first time, nor will it be the last, that much is true for all of us. Quick Stitch, Mina, Al, even Chifundo, we've all made our mistakes and had to live with them," he explained. “You said we should give them a chance, but then it took only a little time for you to reverse that stance. I think you are a little hormonal; but you’re right. If I took the word of rumors and ancient stories over my own eyes, I would be Alguacil.” He walked over to me with a smile on his lips. "What matters is that you know you made a mistake, and now you can do your best to correct it."

"How? We're going to have to go down there and talk to those creatures? This place freaks me out because it's not only a stable, something about this stable is just wrong. The shape, the sound, everything about it." I hung my head and wanted to cry. "I'm sorry, I've disappointed you, but I just thought of our children. If we left them with some creatures like that, corrupted by a stable and turned into making suicide a sport...I just..."

Nyota pulled me into a hug and rested his head on top of mine. "I do understand, but at the same time, you saw what their young could do. Do you really want to risk them taking over our minds and stripping us of our free will whenever they want? I don't like the idea of leaving them with people that make light of someone that's clearly deranged, but they know best how to raise them. We can't keep them. A best, they'd slow us down, and at worst? They'd get us killed."

I turned my head to pull away and look into Nyota’s eyes. "Then we find someone who can, who knows what they are doing, and we take the third option. That is our best bet right now if those three aliens are truly lost to Stable-Tec's madness." I held onto him, fighting the tears that wanted to leak out.

"I'm sorry dear, I'm so very sorry," I mumbled, hanging my head and feeling helpless in this situation.

"I cannot agree with that on principle. First? We've yet to talk to them outside of their room. Second, they were hiding in a panic room, more afraid of us than we were of them. Last of all? What they do in their free time to alleviate boredom was... distasteful at best.” He took a breath and rolled his lips over his words for a second. “They did make it clear that they had tried to stop him and help him at one point. He refused to accept the help, and went out of his way to find new and more interesting ways to kill himself that would succeed no matter their efforts."

"Yeah, and now this whole mess is in our laps. We have to make this right. I know we cannot undo the damage, but we can at least..." I finally let the tears slowly roll out and drop onto the floor, with quiet drips in the mostly silent room, "Make them be better? Right?"

"We'll need to talk to them to try and set that right, but we can try," he reached up and stroked my cheek before wiping my tears. "That's one thing that I never want to change, love: your passion to see the best possible outcome no matter what."

I nodded and held his hoof tight to my armor plated chest. Bodda Pett peeked out from the top of my mane, listening as well. "If I'm gonna talk to them, I need to understand them. Nyota, teach me about the star beings as you know them."

Nyota took a deep breath and explained, "What I know of them is that there are four primary star spirits. They're cold, malicious, and dangerous. I dare not speak their names, for to do so is to invite their attention, but I spoke with one not three days past." He shuddered and felt cold as he closed his eyes, looking like he was lost in a memory for a moment. I waited patiently, holding him a little tighter in our embrace to reassure him I was still here.

"What you need to know is that they were the entities responsible for the Night Mare's escape and also the furthering of her madness. As a culture, zebras are superstitious, but for good reason. Spirits are more common in our homeland. Where the worst spirits in Equestria may have returned once or twice, only to be banished to whatever prison the Goddesses decreed fit...”

“Generally, that would be Tartarus,” I clarified, and he nodded with a smile before he continued.

“Our homeland has no such luxury. We appease and associate with the spirits of our home, as well as anywhere in the world we happen to be, as banishing them all would be wholly impossible. The four great evils are unpredictable and dangerous. When they are not outright feared or reviled, they are at least meant to be monitored carefully and appeased with proper rituals when they threaten to rouse from their slumber."

I hesitated and listened as carefully as possible. Once Nyota finished his first explanation and I was sure he had no more, I started with my first questions. “What about their children? The creatures in that panic room, for instance? What do we expect from them?" I felt Bodda Pett getting rather shifty in my neck and mane. I pulled him from there and petted him tenderly to calm him down.

"This is where things get weird, because, until today? They were just spirits. There were no creatures born of the stars. We were alone in the universe. It is why I thought it over and, as much as I want to leave, I need to know how they are physically present.

"I can only guess that they will be decent, but wrong somehow." He put his hoof to his chin in thought for a moment before looking down to me and continuing the discussion. "Well, not wrong, but different. We keep using the word ‘eldritch’ but the idea is that they're so fundamentally different from us that the very idea of understanding is thrown out the window. There's only existential terror and violence in the future with that definition.

“So for now we must accept that they're hundreds of years old, bored out of their minds, and busily trying to figure out how to get home instead of being stuck on the blasted hellscape of a rock that we call home and are trying to fix," he finished and motioned for me to ask any other questions.

"So, if we make plans for how to get them off this world and try to figure out a way to make it possible?" I mused to him, waiting for his thoughts, but he made a motion with his hoof for me to continue. Slowly, I put together the possibilities. "It would be best that they are gone from our world and don't return, based upon your knowledge, right?" I was also trying to figure out why they were in a Stable-Tec facility and what damage it had done to them.

What experiment could Stable-Tec possibly have done to them?

“I think the question is more like, ‘what experiment did they not do?’ And how much of Stable-Tec’s advanced technology came from them and was not something we made?” Pink replied, spinning into my view in a chair with a news reporter cap and her notebook. She was scribbling notes as fast as she could and made a hoof motion to Nyota. “Pay attention! Important parts!”

"I would agree, their spirits displace the natural order of our world." He tilted his head. "I honestly doubt that they were harmed by Stable-Tec. As they said, that they were let in by the guard. If I had enough time? I might be able to find the log of their entry in the database now on my pip-buck." He poked at the new addition to his left foreleg. "Speaking of? How do you do the thing that shows hostile things to you? It would be useful to have more people able to do so."

I reached up to his PipBuck and hit a button that said ‘H.U.D.’ When the green light turned on, I turned the dial until it clicked. Finally, I moved the setting to turn on eyes-forward sparkle for him. "Green for friend, gray for neutral, red for hostile." I then moved another dial and hit a few more settings to turn on his T.A.G. system. "There you go, and if you ever wanna find somepony, take the time to use this interface to TAG them. It's how I always know where you are."

"Wow... portable terminals that can judge the disposition of others and aid in keeping you on the right track for your heading... it even monitors health... why doesn't everyone have one of these?" He looked around, as if examining his new H.U.D. in depth. "This would make life so much easier for everyone, and all it takes is a little bit of time to learn how to use it."

"Everyone in a Stable does, or did, but they get lost and are really hard to take off once they are on." I pointed at the sphere keyhole that would unlock mine. "Impossible to pick with any known lockpick. And now you see the world as I do." It was hard to believe he had not cut it on while I was explaining all its functions down in the forge. But this was more private and we were not moving, so it was easier to show him all the bits and bobs. I took the time to add myself to his TAG system as well, so he would always know where I was.

"Well... now we have a key, perhaps you could take it off once we have somewhere safe just for us." He offered while he was blinking to get used to the new overlay. "But this is how you see the world all the time?" he looks at me and smiles as my name pops up over me, "Interesting, so it knows the name of everyone you come across?"

I nodded to him, "Even those who try to hurt us, I see their names. It's why it's so hard for me to..." I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, and I stared at Nyota, hoping he understood.

"Goddesses, love, you could have told me!" He pulled me into a tight hug. He didn’t speak for a bit and it sank in fully. I held him back, shuddering as the names of all those I’d had to kill slowly flashed before my eyes.

"Every single one?" I slowly nodded, staring at him hauntedly. He shuddered heavily at the thought, "You're a strong mare, Sunny. I would have turned to something a fair bit stronger than med-x for relief from that weight."

I didn’t feel strong, I felt like I was always holding things together only because it was always act or die. I held onto him tightly and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I have been fighting the itch for that constantly for fear of what it will do to the...ya know?” I patted my abdomen softly. "I rely on Pink and the H.U.D. for my sanity as it is. It also helps guide me a little bit."

"Like I said, strong mare," he nuzzled into my mane with a happy whinny. “One that I can say I’m very proud of.” Those words filled me with a strength I did not expect. This was something wonderful to know: even if we disagree, we can be proud of each other. He held me close. "We've got some problems to deal with, but, regardless, I want you to know that I love you." He teasingly booped my nose as he released the hug. “That much will never fail.”

"I love you too, I just feel like I fail you or we don't always see eye to eye. Maybe seeing the world as I do will help?" I forced a broken smile, my eyes unable to look up at him right at that moment.

"Love, you don't fail me. Not always seeing eye to eye on things is normal with our upbringing.” He pointed at his stripes then at my solid coat. “You see the world as it was and could be again. I see the world we exist in now and want it to be better. We're both working towards a similar goal but have different ideas of what to do." He nipped my ear playfully and instantly broke the tension between us.

"But the beautiful thing is? Even when we disagree? We talk about it instead of trying to kill each other, and then we indulge in the sweetest of relief, sharing a bed and rest...that might also include a bridle, or burning out a silencing talisman." I blushed deeply at hearing his last words and smiled at him.

I nuzzled him back, letting him nip at my ear. "Thank you for being here for me.” We walked out of the room, hoof in hoof to go meet our friends and talk with these alien visitors.

*****

When we came back down, the Star Children had retreated back into the panic room. Our initial panic, our irrational emotions, and any other issues we had were now in the open, and we could be aware of them. Every so often I could get a brief flash of the creatures when I felt some presence in my mind. I was already on alert for Pink, so this was something I quickly pushed back out.

“The pegasus, his name is Hollow Wing,” Quick Stitch said, looking at one of the journals we found.

“Could it be the same Hollow that shot the Overmare?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Scopola Mina was at the chemistry station working on some concoction. “Yeah, if he was off his meds. Quick Stitch says he’s got traces of antipsychotics in his blood.” She motioned to the chemistry lab as her magic worked the beakers. “Over here he was trying to make more. My guess is that if he had the wrong dose, he would go insane.”

I smiled. “At least we know that sanity here is not in ample supply.” That got even Alguacil to give a chuckle. I went up to the Overmare’s office and turned the forges on. Our alien friends were delaying meeting us further, so we were taking advantage. The forges gave us access to untold potential technology and there were plenty of excess materials lying around. Several cabinets had rolls of steel, nuts, bolts, nails, tools, and various cloth—including kevlar!—and all neatly labelled in Stable-Tec boxes.

The intercom buzzed after we started work. “Why are you still here?”

I turned and walked up to the door, knocking lightly to let them know I was at the door. There was a pause and finally the intercom sparked with, “Well?”

“Do you wanna come out and talk about the eggs? I was convinced to stay and discuss this with you.” I replied. I heard Alguacil cocking his gun behind me, along with Nyota moving to cover me at the edge of the hallway entrance. “Ya know, show us you do not actually mean any harm?”

“Umm… yes.” The deeper voice replied.

“Okay, I am going to go stand back with my friends. Come on out when you are ready.” I walked back to my friends and peered back around the corner, waiting for them to come out. The door opened and they came out again, the same as before. I felt a shrill of terror rising up in me and the walls of the stable felt like they were closing in. I reached back and gripped the first creature I could find. That was Chifundo, and I held onto his hoof for strength, to remind me that the fear was not all real.

The two smaller ones slowly walked past us and moved around the forge, investigating the changes and projects we had started on. On their sides, holstered with a leather-chitin strap, was a pistol of sorts. It looked very strange, with an oblong center shape and several rings around the length of a spike out of the end. A large ball decorated the end of the spike. They were certainly alien looking pieces of gear.

They came back to us and we stared at them as they wordlessly ignored us for a time, then moved to stand next to the larger, more armored version of themselves. They were a little more sleek than the larger creature from the room. They had onyx black chitin, with long lines of leathery teal at their joints. Their ears did not appear to have a hole of any sort, but rather several feelers that poked from them. They had hooves like us, but with small claws that extended out from them. They did not have a mane or tail or any hair as we did, but rather a very long spike at the end of a chitinous, articulated tail.

The other part that was a little disturbing was that they were uniform in dimension, size, color, and pattern. Even the larger one had the same exact pattern to her, no deviation. The bigger one was just that, three times as large; much larger than even Buttered Toast. It towered up to the point that it had to hunch over inside the hallway and to get through the doors.

I did not want to wait any longer and figured I would get the most awkward part out of the way, “So, where I am from we generally do not make betting pools on creatures committing suicide or how they will do it. Do you want to explain that one to me?”

The smaller ones paused and one of them stepped forward, “Oh, well, he genuinely has done this dozens of times. We lost count after a certain point.”

“143,” the larger one interrupted with what I could only assume was a smile for their race. I had to do a double take and wait a moment to regain my composure. I held up my hoof to stop them from speaking for a moment, and then motioned for it to continue. Gonna let them finish the story before I put in my questions or thoughts.

“That is not a number we can all verify or agree upon. The point being, he gets bored and is generally unstable.”

Scopola Mina raised her hoof and we all turned to her. I motioned for her to spit it out. “You mean when he’s off his meds.”

The alien pondered for a moment. “Meds, meds… oh the colloquialism for medication, yes?” Scopola Mina nodded enthusiastically. “I suppose you could say that. I do know this: he cannot be stopped once he decides or commits to his act of self harm. We have tried repeatedly, and it goes nowhere. He just kills himself in new and interesting ways. Was his, or rather, is his chest unharmed?”

Quick Stitch and Scopola Mina both nodded, “Umm… yes the chest was fine, he shot himself in the gut.” They all collectively made what all I could assume a sigh of relief, though it came out as a chitter and a gravely purring.

“Good, good, he will be alright, though he has never taken this long before; he must be going for a new high score.” They said the ‘high score’ part with a completely straight face. It only took a moment to sink in that his ‘high score’ was how long he could keep himself dead.

Okay, must not ever allow that to be my future. I hesitated, and the rest of the group looked silent and resolute. I released Chifundo’s hoof and stepped forward slowly, “I have a whole lot of questions but, umm… Quick Stitch?”

“Yes, Sunrise?” Quick Stitch motioned to me, as his mane still weirdly flowed without any wind.

“Umm, I do not mean to offend them, but the realization that life exists on other planets really is a bit much to take in. Can you talk to them, since you have more experience than the rest of us?” I asked, and Quick Stitch gave a nod, much to my relief.

“I can try, what do you wanna say to them?” Quick Stitch tilted his head.

“Can we talk to them about maybe getting some trade agreements to get the materials to build a ship, so they can use the forges down here to go home?” As I spoke, I knew they could hear me, but looking at and talking to Quick Stitch was easier and much more productive for me than trying to address these creatures directly.

“Can we go up to the greenhouse and eat first? We have not eaten in several days, due to the panic room food not having been restocked since the last time we were in there,” the very large one said. It had moved forward, and the smaller ones were now in a position it could easily shield them. It also looked poised to move in an instant, much like Nyota had taught me with our unarmed fighting lessons.

“I suppose yes, y’all ain’t hurt any’ne else that I’ve seen,” Alguacil replied, and took a sip of his canteen after he spoke.

Nyota nodded. “So long as they do not make any overly hostile movements I am okay with it.” I simply nodded to them both and we parted to make room for the creatures to head upstairs to the garden rooms.

Pink marveled with a big ‘wow’ on her lips. “You’ve made more progress in a day than we made with them in four years! AMAZING!” I turned to her and glared. She retreated back out of sight, screaming, “Secret Spoilers!”

Pink! When I find out what you know, I’m gonna be really disappointed that you’re keeping secrets again!

“Actually, I’m only keeping Equestrian Government secrets now. You see, Sunrise, this is as far as you’ve ever made it on your journey to find your parents.” I blinked a few times as she nodded, with a look that I could only extrapolate as her trying to be honest.

Oh, so, completely new territory now? Pink nodded again as we entered the garden.

While they ate, they talked. “Our names? This one is ‘Mountain’, in your tongue. My real name is unpronounceable, unfortunately,” the larger one explained, and then pointed to the aliens next to her. “Shrillathra is on my right, and to my left is Gisretha.”

I tilted my head, “Would it be okay if I called them Shrill and Gis for short? Not to offend, but their names are a bit of a mouthful.” The two smaller ones nodded with mouthfuls of collard greens.

“Where are you from exactly? What are you called?” Nyota leaned in inquisitively as he studied them.

“We are from a planet referred to in your tongue as the Barnard’s Star but we call it T’dosha. We have been here for nearly 191 of your years. We crashed near an area you called Las Pegasus, destroying a motel,” Shrillathra explained, and then sighed wearily. “The striped ones, zebras you call them, killed our pilot immediately upon seeing him. They said legends and orders of their Caesar dictate that all Star Children must die.” Shrillathra took another bite of food and almost immediately Gisretha picked his story up. It was unnerving, like they were timing and communicating when to speak in order to not interrupt any one individual’s meal.

“We were found by your Stable-Tec and Equestrian Military. They built a small city extension over our crash site after your people won a battle to retake the area from zebra invaders. We agreed to help your Equestrian government with technology, in exchange for helping us construct a vessel to go home. They never actually delivered on that promise, as you can see.”

I nodded. “They did not live long enough.” I was thinking about it, 191 years ago. That would put their arrival roughly one year before we started prototype deployment of power armor, laser rifles, plasma weapons. We made the first transistor based computers two years before the war ended. I paused as I kept putting together the pieces. Everything in this stable is run off of crystals and not other means of power.

“Did you help us develop weapons? Computers?” I finally brought myself to directly ask.

“Yes, we assisted with that and got part of the way to developing a version of our spacecraft power system to get us off this planet.” Shrillathra was the one speaking now, their voices were almost identical. Almost, but not entirely; something was just off enough you could tell them apart the longer they spoke.

Nyota took a moment to figure out the non-electric stove. He did not realize he had to switch on the crystal generator. Once he got the power started, he set about making a sauce and preparing the rest of us dinner. Chifundo went over to help him figure it out. “Why do they need a self-cleaning stove? You can do this by hoof?”

“Because they do not wish to clean it themselves and have it clean itself automatically,” I replied, turning to look at Nyota as he complained about the conveniences of technology from my time.

“Right, so they are just incredibly lazy,” Nyota shot back, and we all giggled, nodding at him affirmatively.

I turned back to the T’doshins. “I know you will likely get tired of our questions, but we are stuck here together.” I reached over and lightly stroked Bodda Pett to help me get over the instinctual fear of the T’doshins.

“What do you know about the recombulators?” Quick Stitch asked, and the three aliens looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what to say or who to speak up.

“We know they were made here, and they were just a theory we had. We could not implement the technology, as we lacked the ability to use your zebra shaman magic or the Equestrian magics. What all they do, we are unsure.”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat, “Well, we know they are a soul jar, but we do not understand the different versions.”

Mountain nodded and looked to the smaller Shrillathra and Gisretha to answer the question. “Well, there are several versions, like our race has classifications.”

We tilted our heads collectively and all looked very perplexed. “I’m sorry, what?”

Shrillathra nodded. “Myself and Gisretha are scientist class, and utilize masculine pronouns, Mountain here is a guardian, or what you would call a soldier, and utilizes feminine pronouns. Our deceased crew members were pilot class, utilizing masculine pronouns. And this Twitty you speak of is a leader class, utilizing masculine pronouns, but they will one day become a new breeder class, utilizing feminine pronouns when she grows old.” We all looked rather alarmed at the idea of them breeding.

“Well umm… That was a bit long winded y’all, but I think we all get it now.” Scopola Mina smiled to try to reassure them and get each of us to nod in turn.

“What does that have to do with the boxes, the recombulators?” I asked, as Nyota cursed in the background. He’d burned his hoof on the stove because he couldn’t tell if it was on or not without touching it.

“The atomic recombulators are the same setup. They are different types. Soldier class stores multiple units. There are the prototype guardian units, and the production type, referred to as ‘officer’ but they are just modified guardian ones.”

No one spoke as we all listened intently to find out exactly what they were talking about. Nyota came over to give some of the sauce he was working on to Bodda Pett. The bunny took a bit, but his face turned bright red as the spice hit his tongue, and then immediately rushed me; patting at my armored vest. I pulled out my canteen and poured water for the little rabbit while Shrillathra continued to speak. “The prototype has some defects in it, such as rogue spirits can sometimes get inside and join the entity. It is, however, virtually indestructible compared to the other two.”

Gisretha cleared his throat and sniffed the air, smelling the sauce. “That smells fantastic, what is it?”

Nyota smiled. “It’s called curry. The herbs here were perfect to make it with, and we even spiced it up with cayenne pepper.”

“We are used to raw food or nutrition bars. We are not used to sophisticated cooking techniques.” Mountain commented with a smile, taking another deep inhale as Nyota went back to stirring. I could smell rice and beans steaming over there. There was also the smell of meat, but he was keeping it in a separate pan for my sake. “Anyway, the prototype has a habit of attaching powerful spirits, as the zebra call them.”

Chifudno stared at them and tilted his head, “You mean such as the pony Pink, the one here and gone in a blink.”

“I do not know what this Pink one is, but for some reason I feel a distinct amount of fear from the green one you call Sunrise.” I heard this from Shrillathra and a small part of me smiled. Are they just as afraid of us as we are of them? “But, yes, because it requires the unit to contain what you call a soul or spirit in order to function, the more advanced version fixes this flaw, but gives up some of its durability. The prototypes were made to withstand your version of nuclear weapon detonation.”

I raised an eyebrow, and he nodded to reassure me. “Yes, it is constructed of ‘star metals’, as you call it; something you do not fully understand but we refer to it as iridium.” There was the sound of a plate dropping and clattering onto the floor. We all turned around as Nyota was touching his chest. Chifundo looked completely horrified and slowly craned his head down to his own chest. I got up and ran over to hold Nyota.

He virtually collapsed in my hooves as he felt weak. “Did I say something wrong?” Mountain asked.

“Star metal is the ultimate form of taint, it is a mortal sin to be acquaint,” Chifundo expressed as I helped Nyota take a seat and then set about serving his curry, rice, and beans to everyone else.

“So that explains why they last so long. Iridium, or star metal as it is known here, is not natural to Equus and it is harder than any alloy we know of. It also explains the spiritual cancelling properties and why Chifundo hasn’t been able to properly enter the boxes without stopping his heart.” Nyota looked slightly less pale after he took a few bites. Chifundo was still completely horrified by the revelation.

“I, umm, think that is enough for one day of revelations.” I explained and sat down, picking at my own plate. The conversation did not go very far from there. There was a lot to unpack. Alien life, aliens helping Equestria win the war, the revelations about the recombulators, the questionable fate of my father now that I had his gun; all of it was just a bit much to take in and we needed time to unpack it. “Thank you for this insight. I would ask, for now, that you three stay together and make sure there are at least two or three of us when you talk to us right now.”

The aliens all nodded and then Mountain looked up and asked, “Perhaps you should share some of your food with us, and we could ask a few of our own questions?”

I looked up from my plate and forced myself to smile. “Umm, sure.” The two smaller creatures looked like begging puppies, if you could do that without any visible eyes to look into. I nudged Nyota and he smiled.

“I mean, it is very spicy. I would advise water with it.” He got up and made each of the T’doshins a plate and passed it to them. The smaller ones took a bite and immediately reached for their water, but Mountain happily ate it, making all sorts of chittering noises. The other two did eventually resume eating, ravenously pouring water into their mouths between bites.

“This is is wonderful.”

I smiled and looked at Nyota, who came a little more back to life. “I well, the term you are looking for when referring to food is delicious, or tasty. We have a lot of ways to describe food, but those are usually the ones used to compliment the flavor of food.”

They all nodded with equal churring and chittering. It was not unlike listening to insects or beetles at night, just these were much more emotional noises, somehow. “Do you really always eat your food raw or processed into bars?” They nodded and then looked at me, slightly confused.

“Why does the one who lacks magical power lead you? Is she not inferior?” Shrillathra asked between licking the plate clean.

“You don’t need to do that, I’ll get you some more.” Nyota got up to make more plates.

“I, inferior? You mean that because I am not a unicorn, I am inferior?” I asked, abit confused. “You really do not understand our culture or differences?”

They all shook their heads. “It is not something we were really allowed to study. We always met with a mare who had a horn, who sounded very...intelligent.” There was a pause in their description. “They referred to her as Twilight.”

I stared at them and put the pieces together. “Twilight Sparkle? Leader of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences?”

“Yes, we presumed because she had a horn and the leaders of your nation had one, they were automatically superior.” Shrillathra replied with a very loud slurp of curry and rice, talking with his mouth still full.

“Some advice, please chew with your mouth closed and try not to slurp. It is rude on our planet to not do these things.” Nyota explained with a smile, he was genuinely happy they were enjoying the food. They appeared to be making a conscious effort to keep their mouths closed when they resumed eating. Mountain smiled.

“Yes, but our question?” Mountain replied, looking at the two smaller T’doshins; broadcasting to the rest of us some sense of pride.

“Well, each of us have our magic given to us by Equs. It’s all different how it manifests. Yes, the unicorns and alicorns have more obvious expressions of their power,” I explained, and then patted my armor plating. “Stubbornite is earth pony toughness fused with metal. Only earth ponies can create the alloy; we also are usually good at growing crops and finding things underground like crystals, ore, or water.” I looked around and realized there wasn’t a pegasus in our group, but Alguacil would do. I got up and extended Alguacil’s wing, which caused him to squawk.

“Just let me show them, okay?” Alguacil glared at me with a grimace and then shrugged.

“Alright, Sunrise, but I ain’t no dog and pony show; you ain’t ‘bout to make me jump through hoops.” I gave him a glare and sighed.

“Anyway, griffins and pegasi are able to fly at speeds they should never be able to achieve. They can also manipulate the weather and walk on the clouds. It is why the weather has been overcast since the end of the war. They use the clouds to protect themselves in the sky.” I explained, releasing Alguacil’s wing and walking back to the table.

“And the zebra use these spirits we cannot detect?” Mountain asked, and I nodded. “So you are like our class system, except it does not dictate your position in your society? The marks on your flanks do?”

I shook my head, “Not exactly. The marks we have come from magic as well. Not all of us get them either. Griffins do not, and zebras get something different called glyphs. They come when we complete a task of importance; they can be misinterpreted too.” I hesitated, trying to explain it.

“The marks manifest at a moment of destiny, but you must find what it means with clarity.” Chfiundo’s explanation was by far the best I had ever heard about a cutie mark.

“Pinkie Pie was supposed to make ponies laugh and throw parties, but she can also interpret laughter, and she also could use that same laughter to make sure no one was ever having fun. She knew both the good and evil side of it all,” I explained. “We choose our leaders based upon who we think is best and who demonstrates that they try to have everyone's best interests at heart. It is not a birthright. Celestia and Luna were only chosen because of their benevolence and control of the Sun and Moon; they never used that power, even during the war, for personal gain or the success of Equestria’s military.”

Mountain snorted and shook her head, “They should have committed to total war, it would have been better than the nuclear apocalypse you inflicted on yourselves.”

“Your race is categorically insane.” Shrillathra took a sip of water immediately after he spoke.

Nyota tilted his head, “Does your race not have weapons of mass destruction?”

“Yes, but we would never use them on ourselves; to do that would be pure insanity. To us, you are all completely without sanity,” Shrillathra replied.

Nyota and Chifundo both looked at each other; seeking some question for the other one to ask, then turning back to each other. Finally, Nyota nodded and turned to them, “What do you believe in?”

“Believe in?” Gisrethra tilted his head and then the other two tilted their heads in unison.

“I believe what Nyota wants a bridge in, is insight into your religion?” Chifundo explained, and even I understood that.

Mountain cleared his throat and took a deep inhale, then she began. “In the beginning, there were four, they repeatedly destroyed each other’s creation. That creation fragmented and became many new ones, smaller than the four. Eventually the four became overwhelmed with their fighting on how the creation of the universe should be. Then T’dosh, one of the fragmented, helped put those four to sleep. So that others could create.

“T’dosh gave us name, purpose, and organized our society from a bunch of nests, what you call tribes, into one. From there, we attempted to spread to the stars. Many worlds are simply not habitable for us, or they contain inhabitants already, such as yourselves. We are never meant to interact with those inhabitants.

“While we are prepared to do great violence, T’dosh taught us that such violence could wake up the four great ones. Great ones whom you will not even speak the name of for fear they wake.” This phrase caught all of our attentions. Nyota and Chifundo especially. “So we believe that T’dosh will one day be born T’doshin again, and when they are, they will lead us to a new golden age with a new revelation concerning the universe.

“But T’dosh will not return until he is absolutely needed; which would require one of the great four old ones to awake. We fear for all life if that happens. We choose to help your Equestrian government in hopes they would end the war. We saw the sorrow your leaders held because of the war. Your nobility, corrupt and desiring your money, just wanted a victory and had lost sight of the damage to your world and your society they were causing.

“But your Celestia and this Twilight Sparkle, they believed they could end the war before you resorted to your megaspells; what we could call nuclear arms. Your Luna was terrifying to meet; she was smaller, but I was certain if she wanted my destruction she would execute it mechanically and methodically.” Mountain finished and looked around the table.

Chifundo leaned back into his seat with a stunned expression, “You are not the Star Children, I never believed you could not be a villain.”

Nyota nodded, “It explains the sudden explosion in Equestrian technology. Stuff like Magical Energy rifles based upon fire spells makes sense, but less than three months later, according to the records I’ve seen, we had plasma weapons and miniaturized computers like this PipBuck.” He tapped his new PipBuck on his arm. “It’s starting to make sense how they did it and made the power armor that led to the routing of the entire Zebrican army.”

I slumped in the chair and nodded in agreement. “How do you worship or pay homage to T’dosh?” I asked very softly.

Rather than speak they began to hum and with that humming came a vibration in the air. My PipBuck radiation warning went off, 4, 6, 10, 20 rads a second. “STOP!” I called out and panted as the radiation already had hit a near dangerous level for such a sudden spike. They stopped and the radiation almost immediately dissipated. The three T’doshins looked at me with what I can only assume was confusion.

“You interrupt our worship?” Shrillathra asked, sounding almost offended.

“I am sorry, but,” I crossed the table and pointed at my PipBuck radiation count, “what you were doing is lethal to all life on this planet. You dosed us all with a radiation level that, if it had persisted, we might have a better chance of surviving exposed to the radiation storm.”

They all looked at each other, then at me, then each other again. There was some chitting between them; they were communicating in a language that I could only assume was their native one. “So, our communion with each other to reach out to our star emits radiation, yes, but we had no idea it was lethal to life on your planet.”

“Again, your species is both insane and capable of insane amounts of destruction. What possible reason could you have for all of this? It logically makes no sense,” said Shrillathra. I paused and pondered on his question.

“Do you understand love?” I asked, looking at Nyota and then at them.

“Love? Mating? Yes we understand mating, the leaders mate with the breeders until they become breeders.” I shook my head at Gisretha’s answer. He took a step back.

I thought on it and then got an idea. I dug through my pack and pulled out the memory orb from Freeda Waffles. The one she passed me of her husband’s time at that dance, before the bombs fell. “Can you use magic? Any form of magic will do, so long as it is not destructive.” They all looked at each other, confused, and then one of them glowed along his teal stripes, as the plate levitated in the air with a teal aura around it.

I nodded and placed the clear orb with the white clouds swirling inside the aura. “Use it on this, trust me. It will be fine.” Shrillathra walked near it and glowed until he started to lift the memory orb, then it dropped back to the table and he went catatonic.

Mountain immediately jumped up; looking very angry with a deep growl. I held up a hoof. “Whoa, trust me, it is okay. He is experiencing a memory from another pony. It will help him understand love. It will just take a few minutes.” Mountain shifted around nervously and I kept having to reassure her while the three minutes of memory orb played out from Freeda Waffles.

Mountain growled, “When will it—” Shrillathra shook his head as he came back.

“That was wonderfulll…” He hissed and slurred the word; it was the first real total release of emotion he had shown. His hisses and chitters were almost endless after that. Mountain also relaxed and took a seat again.

“That was...love?” Shrillathra finally asked me.

“Yes, well, a form of it. Caring for someone so deeply you would rather die than allow them an ounce of pain. Not in the way that I would imagine a guardian like Mountain does, but rather...” I trailed off for a moment, trying to find the words.

Nyota spoke up, “When you are under no obligation to do so. When you are willing to inflict pain or compromise part of what you want for the happiness of another.”

Scopola Mina smiled and joined in, “Or when you agree to travel with someone just because you enjoy their presence. Not because you have any particular care for the mission. Love can be as deep as Nyota and Sunrise. Or,” she took a breath and looked at the rest of our friends. “Friendly love, where we agree to care for one another simply because we have common friendship among each other. Like, I have no vested interest in Sunrise’s quest; it won’t benefit me. But I wouldn’t trade y’all for nothing or no pony.”

Alguacil snorted, “Or the love of a proper parent who just wants their child to succeed.” Alguacil seemed to gleam at that, like something he had never told us. I wonder if the story about his parents is just a cover.

“What was that thing they were doing? I know the movement of their legs is known as dancing, but what about how they held each other? Why did it feel warm? Why did they like it?” Shrillathra asked and chitted with excitement for the answer.

“A hug? You guys have never had a hug?” They all shook their heads.

I walked around the table, removing my body armor with Nyota’s help. “You are removing your armor? Are you saying you trust us now?”

I shook my head, “It is not that, but one of us must put aside our defenses or the other never will. Also, a proper hug is best when there are not layers of heavy artificial plating between you.” I explained, disrobing until I was down to my Stable-Suit. I slowly approached and opened my forelegs as I stood up on my back legs.

Shrillathra slowly approached and as gently as possible, I gave him a hug. His skin was clammy and slightly below room temperature to the touch. The chitin sections were oddly spongy and flexible; yet had a hardness to it when I squeezed slightly. He churred like a purring cat in my grip.

It was awkward hugging him, it was like hugging a snake in an armored lab coat. It was strange and foreign to me, but at the same time, I felt this was the first time. I slowly released him and he blinked a few times.

“That was… amazing. I feel refreshed and reassured; this is strange but amazing.” In turn, I gave each one of them a hug. They all experienced it with a sort of euphoria; as we continued to exchange. It was a moment that finally broke the tension between the two groups, which dissolved finally as we just relaxed and deflated. Nyota did not look poised to strike, even Mountain’s muscle physically relaxed and her armored chitin opened up slightly. I never thought I would do intergalactic diplomacy via hugs.

Level Up Progress - 91% of the Way to Level 13!

Chapter 43: Tainted Gift - End Act IV

View Online

Immortality is a Terrible Curse.
-Simone de Beavoir

ooOOoo

I was in a stable, not the one I went to sleep in. I was lying on a very similar bed surrounded by normal furniture. An orange wooden dresser with metal framing. A desk fan idly rotated on slow. A Jangles the Moon Monkey doll was on the floor, discarded and not paid attention to. I looked around frantically until I noticed the Stable 43 jumpsuits. I wasn’t in the stasis chamber areas. “Sunrise? Come on, Little Wanderer, it’s time to get up.” Dad? DAD! Just like every other memory, I had no control. Something was wrong. Something in my mind just did not trigger correctly. My dad felt off for some reason.

Wait, dad uses either Sunrise or Little Wanderer, not both in the same sentence. My past self sensed it too. There was something wrong. I could feel Pink’s presence, and she was screaming, but I could not hear her. Suddenly, everything I was feeling and seeing faded out and I was standing in the real Stable 43. The heavy concrete and metal walls surrounded me, with Stable-Tec logos plastered on everything.

“Why won’t you just accept the damn simulation?” Agent 9 screamed over an intercom.

“Uggghhh, finally broke through to you. Yeah, they are really trying to manipulate you. They don’t know I’m here and, well, their spirit shaman isn’t powerful enough to actually detect me if I don’t want them to.” Pink explained, but at the time in the memory, Pink was formless; still just a kind of floating, pulsing, pink gas. I felt my former self confused and strangely frightened.

I was lying on a table with a unicorn standing over me. “Perhaps there is some interference we cannot detect? We should consult Probability Control; that zony may know why better than we can. Her mind should not be this resilient.”

“She is right, but it helps that I’m helping you. They don’t realize it’s two against one! I like our odds.”

Well, at least it is reassuring to know you've always been in my corner, Pink.

“Hey! You remembering this! Yes, you.” I blinked and realized now that Pink was going to be involved and mess with several of my older memories now. “Stop scratching at the walls! Now,” she took a breath, “Wake up.”

ooOOoo

Nyota was there, watching me sleep. He lovingly stroked my mane as I came to. “Are you okay, hun?”

I nodded slowly and solemnly, he just frowned. He knows I’m lying. “Okay, no. Bad dreams, bad memories. Pink is interfering with them. Something about not scratching at the walls.” I yawned after I finished explaining myself and started to stretch but Nyota softly gripped my legs and pulled them back down to the bed.

“We aren’t gonna get very far if you can’t sleep,” Nyota replied, stroking my mane. “You were so fitful last night that I had to hold you down at one point.” I blushed and sunk my head into the pillow. We may have been in a stable, but the beds were the most comfortable thing I’d laid on since I woke up in that pool. They were clean, they smelled nice if somewhat stale, and they were memory foam, not spring mattresses. Really expensive back before the war ended, and incredibly rare.

I laid there, feeling mostly at peace. I could block out my surroundings, I could act like the world hadn’t been destroyed. It was a nice, peaceful feeling, one I had missed for so long: safety. The butterflies in my stomach were welcome, as was the warmth that filled me from him. Not just the warmth of his touch but rather how my heart fluttered, and a warmth that came from within. Something was just reassuring in that moment, and we kissed. The morning was an incredibly noisy one.

*****

Scopola Mina was working in the chem lab after Nyota and I finally pulled ourselves out of the bed and the shower. This stable was equipped with an automat as well; our clothes were freshly cleaned and pressed. Our armor had been dry cleaned and lacked the wasteland smell. Nyota particularly was a little off put by how clean our things were.

Scopola Mina saw me and immediately approached, “Sunrise, hun, I was curious. With all these forges, do you think you could make me four new laser rifles?” I looked at her, confused.

“Four?”

“Yes, I have an idea on how to use them, and four new rifles would give me some awesome firepower.” I nodded slowly and added it to a list of things to make with these forges.

Mountain was the next creature to approach us, “I understand that you, Nyota, are adept at close combat?”

Nyota nodded to her, “Yes, it is my speciality.”

“Would you be willing to spar with me? Perhaps we can resume our cultural exchange with techniques?” Mountain motions Nyota to follow her back upstairs.

Nyota looked at me for a bit of guidance. “Well, I am going to be here a while. Four new rifles, working on modifying everyone’s armor, and, honestly? I want to see if these forges might be able to make the parts to fix that tank we found.”

Nyota blinks repeatedly, “That would require—”

I gently placed my hoof on his mouth then held up my PipBuck with a list of parts I had made when we first evaluated the tank. Nyota blinked a few times and looked me up and down. “Sunny, you aren’t an engineer. Are you sure you can make that?”

“Dad was a mechanic, Nyota. I worked in his shop a lot. I may not be an engineer or an architect, but I think I can pull it off. Just gonna take some time.”

I set about work. I had a very long list of things to make. Armor improvements for everyone, a recollector so I could view memory orbs without assistance, Scopola Mina’s rifles, improvements to our weapons, and lastly: parts for the tank and a sled to transport them on.

First up was everyone’s armor enhancements. The pile of clothes, kevlar, plating, all of it needed to be worked on. The forges were made to work with crystals; heavily magically laced crystals. I started with my own armor, since any experimentation would need to be done on my own first. I wanted to make sure I could trust it on myself before I used it for my friends.

The crystal would prove harder than any metal, including stubbornite. The problem being it would also be inflexible, and if something managed to crack one of these plates, it would shatter. It would be the closest thing to power armor without wearing power armor; granted, crystals are always lighter than any metals as well.

I was joined by Bodda Pett, who was proving quite adept at showing me where parts were. He also turned out to almost have the same level of anticipation as PInk with tools or which machine I needed to use. Gisretha also joined me. He was mainly observing my work and occasionally chiming in with a suggestion, but not actually directly helping.

I took a break once our armors were done. It had taken me nearly six hours of work to get the modifications finished. I checked my PipBuck and found I still had three Sunset Sarsaparillas. I pulled them out and popped each one, offering the other two to Scopola Mina and Gisretha. Gisretha took it and sniffed at the bottle; looking at me with a confused expression.

“It is the non-irradiated soda. They were a competitor to Sparkle-Cola and really popular where I lived before the war ended,” I explained, and took a long draught of the vanilla-laced, earthy soda.

“What is Soda?” He asked.

“Go ahead, try it.” His response to my reply was to take a tentative lick of the soda. He convulsed once from hoof—can I call them hooves or is there another name for hooves with short claws?—to his head.

“What is in this magical liquid?” He hissed with a churr, and started to take a long drink. He was attempting to guzzle it and I grinned, knowing what was about to happen. Right on cue he stopped drinking and coughed repeatedly from the seltzer getting to his throat.

I rotated the bottle around and pointed at the list of ingredients. His response was to let out a very loud belch, shaking his head and shuddering again. Scopola Mina took her drink and took a long sip, then poured some sarsaparilla into what she was making before resuming taking a break with us.

“Scopola, I have a question.” She looked up with her eyebrows raised. “Have you just been flirting with every stallion we came across?”

Scopola Mina went from yellow to pink within a second. “I mean, I suppose they are cute. I mean, I have friends, I have the scouts, I have y’all, but, umm…” It hit me, then and there, while I had been experiencing what I remembered as my first time with someone, Scopola Mina had never been on a date.

“You mean you have never been on a date? I mean, I did not remember dating anyone till Nyota. Have you not let anyone be close to you?” I inquired, and Scopola Mina looked away, scratching the back of her head.

“I’ve had relationships.” She was avoiding the question. Gisretha leaned in, as if studying us.

“No, you can have relationships without letting someone in close.”

“Well, I mean every ‘ime I want to have something deeper, they always seem to be with somepony else,” Scopola Mina said with a long sigh as she took a drink of sarsaparilla.

“If Nyota’s confession has taught me anything, the sure fire way to never have a relationship is to never ask or bring it up. So, what do you have to lose by asking?” I pressed against her and gave her a hug to reassure her.

“I don’t wanna lose my friends.” Scopola Mina pulled away from the hug and looked away from me. “I really don’t wanna hurt feelings either.”

“You can ask and not lose friends.” I patted her chest with my hoof. “I am sure anypony you would ask would be so flattered they would faint.”

“I tend to doubt that, not till I get these glasses replaced with something less nerdy.”

I looked over at the crystal forge and then at Scopola, “Maybe I’ll get Quick Stitch down here and we make you something proper and custom? Two hours in the forges?”

“Yeah, but Quick Stitch already has him a passel of fillies, and Chifundo is still recovering from a bad end. I thought I was getting things across; I just don’t wanna hurt no one’s feelings.”

“If you are not honest with ponies about your feelings, you are only hurting yourself. I was honest with Sparrow the moment she walked out of the gate and pointed a gun at us. I was honest with Nyota the moment he called me cute. There is no need to lie or cover up, Scopola. Let them in; you will be happier that way.” I smiled at her and finished my drink, tossing the bottle into a recycle bin nearby.

“Yeah but Sparrow stared down Alguacil and Nyota well, I ain’t ever seen him scared of anything.” I sighed at her reply.

“You should express your feelings, you do not have to always roll with the punches. Your feelings are just as important.”

“But, I mean, what if I hurt somepony’s feelings, or ya know my opinion doesn’t matter that much. I want to say how I find Chifundo cute, but it don’t seem appropriate. When y’all make a decision where we go, I feel like the new pony who is along for the ride and shouldn’t be the one to pipe up and say a different opinion.”

I shook my head swiftly at that and stopped her from talking the same way Nyota stopped me. “No, your opinion matters. I constantly look to the group for their opinions, including Alguacil’s thoughts, even though I rarely agree with them.” I took a breath and removed my hoof. “You have been through a siege with us, you have fought and risked your life alongside us for ponies who, in some cases, you barely knew. You have more than earned the right to express your emotions, thoughts, and opinions on things.”

I turned away from her and hung my head, “I guess what I am really trying to say is, I do not believe you are here to spy on us from Coffee Stain. Not like I originally did. You have been there, silently in a lot of cases, doing what needed to be done. You have made us laugh and, honestly, you even disagreed with Coffee Stain to her face. You are our friend, and have earned the right to say when something bothers you or when you have a better idea.”

Scopola Mina smirked, “Well, I’ll weigh in when I think the time is right and ask somepony out on a date when the opportunity is good. Right now, though, I don’t really matter or make that much of a difference. I am sure that any other pony could replace me and it’ll still work out for all of you.”

“After all we’ve been through in the last month, you can still say that?” I scoffed and had to restrain myself from slapping her. “You are terrifying in combat, able to smash shields outright where even Alguacil could only punch tiny holes.” I took a step back towards her and stamped my hoof hard enough to make the metal echo. “You saved my life when I had to reach for my grenades in the middle of combat. You have proven you can take a hit that many ponies would have rolled over and died from.” Every statement got another step until we were chest to chest, then I was standing up on my tippy end of my hooves.

“You have earned your place here and the right to have a say.” I lowered myself to the ground and waited.

“I have had a say here and there, but on the big decisions…”

“I am saying you have earned your place here. You are my friend.” I jumped up and gave Scopola a tight hug, smiling.

When we broke the hug, Scopola looked at Gisretha. “I mean, now you’ve made the star creature feel out of place, you didn’t hug him at the same time. She. Them?”

We both turned to Gisretha, “Are you a male or female?”

Gisretha shook its head, “Are you asking my pronoun or my place in the reproductive cycle?”

I scratched the back of my head nervously and unsure where to go with this explanation. “I… Scopola, a little help?” Going to take advantage of what I just said and defer to you!

“Ya know, the birds and bees? Like where do you serve for reproductive purposes so I know which pronoun to use for ya?” Scopola smiled as she finished her own drink after that statement and tossed it into the recycle bin with a glass on glass twang.

“Oh, you mean, means of propagation? I think that is your word.”

“That would be the right word.” Scopola assured him.

“We lay eggs. I think that is what you are asking?”

“Have you noticed the differences in shape and structure of our species that are different besides, well, our coloration?” I asked Gisretha, leaning in to try to understand how their sight worked.

“I have observed your courtship habits, but never a mating. What about the pink zebra?”

“How about we just keep it simple for now.” I replied, knowing what I had found out in Cross Stitches shop about Chifundo would be super hard to even attempt to explain. He nodded at me. “So do you have a mate when you lay eggs? Because for us, we,” I pointed at Scopola and myself to emphasize what I was talking about. “Have to mate with a male, the term we use for them is stallion while the term for us is mare.”

“We have a means of reproduction, it is called the egg clutch method. One of the royals lay a cluster of eggs into an incubator. The method of our ancestors was far more...barbaric.”

I looked over at Scopola, completely confused, and she stared at me, just as lost. “I am officially lost on this one.” Scopola turned back to Gisretha for further explanation.

“Oh, before, we would be implanted by the royals with a cluster of eggs, which we would then deposit into a local sentient. Not always willing, mind you.” He stood up and deployed a part of him that made me blush and look away. “Why do you blush, small green one?”

I stuttered and hesitated, looking at Scopola Mina for some other explanation. “I mean, in our terms, you just showed us what you’re packing.”

“Does your species still concern itself with modesty?”

“Yes! Yes we do!” Gisretha laughed at my answer almost immediately, and kept laughing heartily for nearly a minute.

“The, how do you say, sex drive, was bred out of us a long time ago. It gets in the way of scientific discovery and conquering.”

I shook my head and laughed back at Gisretha which just made it tilt its head at me. “Wow, I feel sorry for you.” Scopola Mina replied between her own laughter.

“Yes, having experienced this ‘sex drive,’ as you put, it this morning; I feel sorry for you. Science and conquering is not everything,” I added, catching my breath.

“Please, do go on?” Gisretha was actually curious.

I continued, “What is the point of soldiers, doctors, chemists, and leaders if you lack artists, poets, writers, actors, and musicians?”

“Having a warrior’s call, someone can jot down the collections for histories and knowledge, but—” Gisretha started to explain, but I held up a hoof.

“No no no, have you read our books? Our culture?” I asked him, leaning in with curiosity.

“I have read every single book in this stable, but for the T’doshins having culture aside from record keepers and history scribes; there is only war and science.” I frowned at him. I felt some deep sorrow filling me. I remembered what it was like to live in a time where war was the highest topic of discussion. It was not a happy time.

“That makes me incredibly sad.” I knew he could not read facial structure very well at this point and had to voice what I was feeling.

“Why?”

“What will you do when you have no one to make war against, or no discovery to make?” I inquired, curious where such a culture would go.

“Well, if we have done this, we have proven ourselves worthy to swim with the serpent in the great black seas! To be the greatest!”

“Yes, but what will you do? What happens when you achieve that goal and have nothing left?” I was genuinely curious now. “Do you remember the memory orb?”

“I do, yes.” Gisretha tilted his head the other way.

“Imagine that, but laid out in writing, in stageplays, or in other ways, time and again. Different every time, with tragedy and sorrow, but hope and great accomplishment, without the need for war or some scientific discovery. Rather, the discovery of some new truth, or finding a true soul mate to be with for eternity.”

“These memory orbs, how do you re-create them?” Gisretha looked at me, then my saddle bags.

“Oh, you see that forge that is currently working on a recollector? That is the primary way, that device allows us to make new ones or see ones already created. You can also use unicorn magic specialized for getting the memory copied to an orb,” I explained, and Gisretha seemed to be lost in thought for a time.

“You have given me much to consider and think about, small green one.”

“Wow! Their culture sucks! No parties! No love! And NO SEX! How do they live?”

I nodded and sighed. “Right, it is going to take a lot of explaining for you to understand our world.” I went back to work, measuring out what I learned of T’doshin culture and hoping Scopola Mina would take to heart our discussion.

I was working on explosives when Gisretha reapproached me. I was making a claymore with sprinkles out of everyday cooking items, sprinkles, and a lunchbox. He was taking the time to observe, and I turned my head to address him, “You wanna learn how to make this?”

Gisretha showed me how to take crystal pieces and turn them into gem slag that could then be used for making shrapnel for explosives. “Whooo… he’s cute and I’m gonna have to add that one to a new edition of Granny Smith’s Anarchist Cookbook! Can you take him with us?”

I glared at Pink and without thinking spoke to her out loud, “Pink, he is no one’s pet, and I doubt taking him with us would be a good idea.” For some reason my PipBuck H.U.D. flashed with, ‘Current Party Full, must drop a member to take on a new one’. This only added to the confusion.

“Yes, please tell the pink one with a voice in your ear, I am no one’s pet.” Gisretha replied to my outburst. I slowly turned to it, putting down my tools cautiously as I tilted my head.

“I, umm..” I pointed at PInk on my display. “You can see and hear her?” Gisretha nodded affirmatively. Which just added to my confusion.

“I wonder if I can make a drug to see this pink horse they keep talking about.” Scopola Mina piped up from across the room.

“You wish to see what’s there?” Gisretha offered.

“I mean, Sunrise is always talking about this pony. Sometimes Nyota and Chifundo join in, I really wish to see it if I could.” Scopola replied. Gisretha craned its head up to the ceiling and made a bassy sound out of his mouth. There was an echo that felt like a sound wave was collapsing, and my ear filled with a ringing. This passed after a minute, which made us both look at Gisretha with confusion.

“Yes, this one can show you how to see stars. It will take time.” We both just stared at him, still confused.

“Wait, are you saying you do not understand zebra shamanism because you refer to spirits as stars, when they are, in fact, the same thing?” Gisretha tilted his head and then turned back to me with a quick nod.

I pulled Bodda Pett over, petting him and offering a fresh carrot. He just nuzzled down into my mane and felt like a warm blanket on my neck. The extra reassurance was what I needed to get over the moment of realizations for the day. Great, I’m going to have all new philosophical inquiries and existential questions every second I’m here!

Gisretha looked at the creature in the way I would look at a manticore. He actually physically trembled everytime Bodda Pett was within sight or moved closer to him. I just noticed this and looked down at the rabbit colored rabbit. “I am confused, you are scared of a rabbit?”

“Normally I would want to eat it, but this one; this one terrifies me to my core.” Gisretha replied, which made me look over my shoulder at a cute rabbit face poking out of my mane, purring contently.

Before I could ask more questions, Quick Stitch called down to us, “He’s awake!” Scopola Mina and I started upstairs to investigate but she stopped and grabbed a sack full of pills.

“He’ll need these before he does something to y’all he regrets.” At which point we all dashed upstairs to find out what was going on.

*****

The formerly dead Hollow Feather was holding his head. “Everything is fire, it hurts all over.” He said, taking a bottle of water and sucking down the entire bottle in under five seconds. He looked around, shivering a bit and looking very wide awake. “Well, howdy y’all! What is everyone staring at?”

There was pounding on the floor plates as Mountain ran down the hallway towards the med bay. Hollow saw Scopola Mina and jumped at her, making out with her without any more words. We all stared, before looking away awkwardly as he made out with her forcefully, until he pulled away with a smile and said, “Hello there, little lady! Have you seen my stash? So many ponies here to party with, awesome!”

“I, umm...Hello to y’all, too.” Scopola Mina was completely flabbergasted.

“Have you seen my weird dogs?” All three T’doshins arrived and hugged the pegasus tightly, so tight he was gasping for breath.

“Hold on! Gentle! Not too tight!” I actively tried to pull them apart for fear that they would crush him. Finally, Mountain released him and Hallow gasped for air.

“Sun and Moon! You taught ‘em to hug! I’ve been trying to teach them how to hug for 30 years!” He panted for air and hugged Mountain back as tightly as he could.

“It is good to see you are awake and to experience this hugging thing with you, my friend.” Mountain nuzzled up against Hollow as she spoke.

“You are Hallow Feather, right?” I asked curiously, and only got a tilted head.

“Hallow Feather? That is a weird name. My name is Hallow. Mountain, my name is Hallow right?” He turned up to Mountain and Mountain nodded.

“Your name is Hallow, yes.”

Nyota trotted over to a still stunned Scopola Mina, “Are you going to slap him? I think you should slap him.”

“I mean they did strip our names when we joined the program. I am not a fan of the whole,” his voice suddenly changed and was incredibly robotic, “Agent 47.” His voice shifted back to a happy-go-lucky hippie of a horse. “So I just go by Hallow.”

A trickle of fear crept up my spine as he spouted off an Agent number. I took a step back, feeling dread prick the hairs on the back of my neck. My eyes were fully open and unblinking as I tried to process the raw terror at the prospect of another Agent near me. Nyota walked back over stepped between us. “You are not a Ministry of Morale agent, are you?” I asked.

He stuck his tongue out at me, “Honey! I’m a guardian! We’re all tools of the ministry. I’m so fucking high; where is my stash? You’re new, how did you get in here? I’m so very high right now, it’s going to be a problem when I crash.”

Quick Stitch raised his hoof and we all looked at him, “Sunrise and I hacked the door. We failed the first time.”

“Oh!” Hallow turned to me, “You’re such a little bitch by the way!” I scoffed at him and felt confused and pissed all at once. “I thought I was finally gonna have a fight! I was so excited! Wait, why am I here? I should be watching cartoons.”

“I brought you up to the medical bay and determined when you would get back up. We also checked out to make sure your friends were okay.” Quick Stitch was still able to speak while the rest of us were still stunned at all of this.

“Oh.. wow, you’re umm, pretty good ponies. I can make an exception? Right? I have absolute guard authority, so yes, I can make an exception. You’re good enough to stay.” I remembered now in great detail what it looked like through my mother’s eyes at the party. I remembered how a pony looked when they were riding drugs from Brain Soup, and that face she had when she was bearing down on me, trying to pummel my face in.

Pink, how high is he?

“You know the clouds? Yeah they are like ground level compared to him. He’s so high that space rockets wish they could reach him.” That alone told me how to set the tone for the rest of this.

Scopola Mina finally snapped to and walked up to him. “Here, take these.” She passed Hallow a bag full of small pills. “Take one per day, no questions asked, okay? It should balance you out.”

Hallow looked at the bag, then at Scopola, and reached out to take it with his newly regenerated wings. “You figured out the recipe for my anti-psychs! Awesome! I don’t have to do Party Time Mint-Als anymore! Yeah! No more PTMs that make me so bouncy I could hit the ceiling and not notice!” Which, in fact, he did just that: bounced off his hooves, flapped his wings, smacked the ceiling and landed like nothing happened, all while continuing to talk and getting a slightly bloody nose from the impact. While we continued walking, Quick Stitch wordlessly lit his horn and healed it in a second.

Scopola Mina pulled up an envelope with a Stable-Tec stationary on it. “Here, inside you’ll find the recipe.” She handed Gisretha an envelope as well. “In case he loses it, you have one too. Should reduce his need to kill himself and make him a bit more stable.” She looked around the room at where we were, “Pun intended.” Which made all of us groan out and hang our heads.

*****

We had retired to bed. After meeting Hallow, talking with the T’doshins, and nearly fourteen hours of crafting items. So far I had discovered the lengths of automation and capability of the forges to speed up everything I was doing. Where it would take an entire day to modify one creature’s armor; it had taken six hours to do my entire circle of friends. Scopola Mina’s new rifles were crafted out automatically once the initial one was made with its modifications. I had even begun printing tank treads out of the super durable crystal material.

The computers did have a standard class 2 military grade spell matrix engine already in them. I just had to tell it what the engine was for, ‘Sand Scorcher Mark II’, and it started the production process. I marvelled at how efficient and knowledgeable this place was. It was terrifying at the possibility of what all it could do!

The spell matrix would take just over two days to complete, while the treads required a lot of manual treading. The forges would also make standard replacement parts and had set produce ammunition for the various weapons on the tank, including the firing plate and pin for the 75mm gun as well as new .30 cal machine guns. While it was doing all that tomorrow, I would be manually creating a sled for us to pull it all. Soon, we’ll be traveling in style and not have to deal with much of the wastelands dangers.

Nyota was waiting for me as I entered our room we had chosen. The outside sensors were still detecting thirty three rads per second from the raging storm. Not lethal instantly, but enough to kill us in a couple of hours of exposure. Something else the tank would provide: limited radiation protection on the move. What? I’m really excited to finally drive and operate one of the vehicles dad constantly fixed at the shop!

I smelled of chemicals, machine shop, grease, crystal residue, and sweat. I looked up at him and kissed his cheek tenderly. “How was Mountain?”

He turned his head just in time to make it a kiss on the lips with a happy purr and a smile. "Solid, taught me a lot, but I get the feeling she was taking it easy on me at first..." He chuckled and winced as he applied a bit of salve to a couple bruises. He smelled just as bad, but to me it was equal parts enticing and terrible all at once. He was my lover, after all. "I think we both need a shower now."

I nodded to him in agreement and leaned up to help rub his bruises as gently as I could. Once he was set, I pulled off my Stable-Tec barding and placed Bodda Pett on a nice soft pillow, which he churred happily. I pet him, and was surprised at how soft and clean he was despite being in a machine shop with me all day. “Hot showers and secure bunkers. But the memories of my stable would eventually drive me insane. We will have to leave here soon.”

Nyota shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind staying longer, still stuff to get done.” He gently rubbed my back as he spoke. “So, while we have a moment to relax and indulge in luxury, we should.” I moved to start the shower and turned to him with a bar of soap. Motioning him to follow me, while he massaged, I started to scrub him clean. It was nice to feel that level of trust, knowing that neither of us would hurt the other. To be so close and yet need no guard between us.

"I would agree if we were not a place that reminded me of terrible things.” I said, eyeing the Stable-Tec logo that was on the bar of soap.

Nyota murred as I worked to massage and lather him up. “Then we're gonna need to figure out how to bring this heating system and more fresh water to Silver Fang Shanty, and perhaps improve the quality of mattresses?" He took a second bar of soap and began to scrub out the grime I had accumulated all day. "How was your day, up until we met Strung Out McCrazy?"

I grimaced and felt a pained twinge in my heart at the mention of Hallow. I honestly felt pity for him and wondered if it was what I might become. I pushed the thought aside and began to go over my day with Scopola and Gisretha. When I finished, I looked up and started to rinse Nyota off with the shower head.

"Well, Scopola has been a bit distant since the whole thing at the Roof." He gave me a soft smile and hugged me gently, putting more soap on him from me. "But it's good to hear that she finally has nicer looking glasses and is opening up to us. Our next goal would be to get the tank up and running, yeah?" He was being very careful to avoid the discussion of aliens and sex, despite me talking about it. He blushed as he tried to change the subject. "Wait! She wasn't hitting on them, was she?"

I scoffed at him and shook my head offendedly, "No no no, the issue came up that the alien did not understand male or female. So we talked about the birds and bees and it showed us how they reproduce, or rather, explained it and showed an...ovipositor.” I paused and fumbled my words very carefully. “It was...awkward and strange. I changed the subject to explain poetry, music, theatre, and emotions instead."

"Oh, that's... an ovipositor? So... does that make the one you talked to male or female? Cause eggs... but... it's like a penis..." Nyota spoke, having none of me changing the subject outright and finally when I had no answer he shrugged and let his brain rest as the wrinkles on his brow unfurrowed. "I'm just gonna stop thinking about that now, but I have to admit, my notions about them were wrong. I think I'm going to take some more time to spar with Mountain, perhaps she will teach me their hoof to hoof fighting style.” Nyota’s face had that expression you expect to see when a light bulb appears in a cartoon. He spun around with glee. “Wait! Ember calls the small ones he and Mountain she. I think they don't translate directly." He kissed my cheek and nipped my ear playfully "So, did you share one of our memories?"

I yelped at his nip and then let out a sigh. "Yes, one before the bombs, with my mother. It starts out rather painful and then grows into one of the most wonderful events I ever had with her." I felt more than the heat of the water but a deep blush running through me at Nyota’s attempts to get me riled up. "You wanna learn to fight like Mountain?"

"Martial arts is a passion of mine, it's one of the reasons my mark appeared.” He took the bar of soap from me and sat behind me. He pulled me tight against his chest and let me rest on him while he worked to massage my back. It felt so wonderful, every muscle in me screamed and relaxed all at once. I virtually melted into a puddle with the water in that moment. "And learning different ways to fight makes me more versatile in combat. Speaking of, you've been keeping up with your forms?"

It took a moment to find words again, then I smiled "I would have thought this morning would have told you I was keeping up with it. Even if I do feel less flexible or moody in the morning." I winced when he hit a particularly sore spot on my back.

"Well, my love, looks like we both could use a more relaxed dessert this evening." He finished the scrubbing and went into a deep tissue massage instead. "I'm definitely going to be more gentle though, no S.A.T.S. this time." I winced at just remembering this morning when I had used his S.A.T.S. during our session, to give him a slow motion experience. He had not realized it and well, sped up, when S.A.T.S. released; I’ll let you figure out the level of pain noises I’d made. "I'd ask how you got those injuries today, but we know that."

I just relaxed and smiled while he worked on spots that made me hiss from the release of pain. "I promise it wasn't you, or at least any pain you caused was welcome. Here, since you are not used to it." I reached out of the shower and pulled the archano-key from my pack to offer him. "You almost never have to work me up to it now, do you?"

He shook his head, "I'd rather keep it on, love, I'll just be careful not to activate it," He started working my flanks and being a little naughty with where he was rubbing. "You never needed to work me up to it, so I guess now we're both anticipating the next chance that we can enjoy the intimacy of each other's touch.”

I was just enjoying his attention, I turned my head and removed the eye patch. There I could stare into his cosmic eye and admire the beautiful swirling stars and cosmos inside it as he worked me over. "What is it like when you look at me with your special eye?"

"I see a bright soul, covered in the scars of her past. Each a memory of pain or terror, fear or anger, but despite it all you shine through." The strangeness of his left eye caused a sudden shift in its pupil as he focused on me. I knew he was looking to my core being in that moment. "One day those scars will fade, you'll remember them all and find a way to forgive those who did this to you, either directly or posthumously." He looked away while the water cascaded over us and his massage stopped as he took a breath. "Mostly, I wore the eye patch to hide from my reflection. Blocking out the rest of the spirit realm was a bonus."

All I could do was smile broadly and I wondered if he was being flattering or truthful. I nuzzled his cheek and neck as I nestled against him. "And I see a soul that has yet to have a chance to shine properly." I stroked his mohawk and used to hoof to turn him into a kiss. This one I held onto, clinging to our embrace as an anchor in a storm while letting us stay together as long as possible. My heart fluttering and my body warming at the sweet touch of his love.

He broke the kiss and smiled at me. "The mirror once showed me, twisted and burning, the swirls of my coat shimmering like glowing embers. My hooves leave scorched earth where I tread. Now though? It's different." He stroked my wet mane and wrapped his hooves around me in a delicate cuddle. "Where once it was consuming me, I now see the truth. Fire when unchecked consumes without mercy, but when focused? Can cleanse that which chokes the land and make way for new growth. We will make this place better. One life at a time."

"Do you really think we can fix all the wasteland?" I felt all my tension finally drop from my body. For once since I woke up, I felt safe here. Surrounded by steel, water cascading over us, but still naked and held tightly. "What happens with you and Ember when we can finally settle down and are not always worried about the fight ahead?"

"By then? I don't know. Because of the box she's forever bound to me." He nuzzled my neck contently, sensing the shift in my emotions. "Something about the way we were bound to the box has changed both of us. She's becoming more like a soul, not just a spirit. Two souls inhabiting the same body either join into something more, or they fight for dominance and the stronger soul wins. With what we've dealt with, I'm inclined to believe it will be the former, she's never actively attempted to harm us." He took a deep breath and let it out. I could feel a slight chill ripple through him and stroked his neck to reassure him I was there. "She revealed the past to me. I went crazy, tried to destroy the box and end it all. She triggered the box to save herself because she couldn't escape. If the box is destroyed somehow? She will cease to exist.”

I considered his words carefully and something about it all troubled me. The implication was right there and I needed to address the pink pony in the room. "Then that means Pink and I are bound, doesn't it?" I was hesitant with my words. I never took my eyes off Pink while I spoke. I felt like Pink was a part of me, and could not bare the thought of losing her or us destroying each other. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, cold and chilling my face as the possibility loomed for what I had to say next. "I'd like to know if there is some way I can meet her. And, if we are both stuck for life, some way to make it where we can co-exist without merging."

"Well... that's the weird thing. The pink one was one of the bearers. If she wanted to, she could force you out. She's done it before." Nyota paused and thought it over. "Maybe you and she can coexist, but Ember and I? If we found a way, I’ll take it, okay, love?”

I shook my head at him, realizing what he was talking about. "Pink did not force me out, per say, she put me into the same place she normally occupies. I do not think Pink has the power to take control and stay that way, unless I am weak or disabled." I waited for Pink to contradict me, but she nodded at me. For once, she did not speak it, but rather let me express what we were both thinking. I kissed Nyota on the lips to break our train of thought.

“Yes, if you find a way for Nyota and Ember to co-exist; you can totally have both of them be saved! Like frosting with an everlasting spell on it so doesn’t go stale, EVER! That stuff is still good, and preserves the cake inside, too!” Her mouth was watering and drooling at the thought of the frosting, which made me grin.

"Thank you, Nyota. If we can find a way to make you two co-exist, Pink says your soul and Ember's will be saved."

"There may be a way, but something's been eating at me." He whispered, "Why did she offer me a second chance? Share her essence with me? Maybe we're... maybe we... no... no..."

I brushed his mane and motioned for him to keep going. "Nyota, go on, please, what are you thinking?"

"Sunny, this is going to sound kind of crazy." he says with a slight look of embarrassment, "But I think I figured something out, and you're going to think I've lost my mind.” I shook my head at him. “I think I may be related to the T'Doshians." I tilted my head and gave him a raised eyebrow, like he was speaking crazy. He held up a hoof for me to wait. "Just hear me out. Maybe not blood related, but their star spoke to me. They have stripes that change colors. There were articles about the zebra of Equestria that had their stripes changed to distinguish them from the zebra on the other side. We both speak with spirits, interact with them in the same sort of ways, and have an understanding of the power of the stars that no one else seems to understand.” He paused and waited for it to sink in before continuing. “This is just a hypothesis, I think Quick Stitch and I need to look into this; just out of curiosity. "

I took a bit to connect all the dots. What he was saying wasn’t completely insane, but it was a far stretch. “Nyota, love, that sounds a bit far fetched, but if you and Quick Stitch wanna look into it, I do not see the harm. I doubt that the two of you are related as deep as you might think, though." I tried to temper my skepticism towards him. I have to admit though, I was just as curious to see if his theory panned out.

"Definitely worth a check," He replied with a nuzzle before squeezing my rump. Which got me to moan very loudly. "But enough about that. We both want our second serving of dessert." We left the shower a while later, but our night did not stop there. That poor bed.

*****

I was happily working away in the forge. We had been here almost two more days. The radiation storm outside was dying out, it was down to 6 rads per second. It was very likely we would have to go through some light radiation areas, but the Rad-X provided by the Stable Phi medical ward would be more than enough.

I had started to move the equipment we would need onto the sled we had constructed. Quick Stitch had been in the forge with me constantly after Hallow was awake, speeding up the process of forging and modifying our gears. That and also designing a new 75mm cannon shell, for the tank to use the crystal slag that Gisretha had shown me directly into a penetrator payload. It would penetrate and then explode deep inside a target with the crystal slag.

Chifundo came down and looked at Quick Stitch then me, “We should talk about this forge, the power source is something to be purged.”

I looked at him, a little confused and Quick Stitch sighed, “Yes, we should talk about it. Chifundo believes there is something inside here, corrupted utterly, to power this place.” I turned my confused look towards him. I had not looked inside the power plant. I had not even been down to where it was. It was located through the panic room, off the map the stable provided us and our PipBucks refused to auto-map that area altogether for some reason.

“What about it?” I asked, knowing that Stable-Tec had been capable of no end of experimentation without any morals. The things they had done to me, the torture, the experiments, the spirit rituals, and the box in my chest spoke to that. I thought about it as comically out of place Mountain walked by, Hallow following her with puppy dog eyes and an expression of pure lust. He was also prancing, since Scopola Mina had given him those antipsychotics he was much calmer and easier to deal with.

The horror started to fill me. There is no magical fission or fusion reactor. What is powering this place? I looked up at them and then at everyone else. Pink was suddenly absent, completely. Normally I could feel her presence, like a close friend who just entered the room with you. Now, she was just gone. It chilled me to the bone and sent goosebumps coursing over me as I realized Pink wasn’t there.

Quick Stitch pulled out a piece of jet black metal with white flakes sparkling out of it. He held it up and it caused Chifundo to retreat from him. Mountain stopped and turned to us, “Metal of T’Dosh!” He bowed to it reverently and ritualistically held his bow.

“Is that… star metal?” I asked curious and leaned up, touching it. The chill that surged through me felt like it disconnected me from Equus itself. I gasped and pulled away as my very soul shuddered and I felt a pulse of magic course through my veins. My PipBuck spiked up five rads instantly and I looked at Quick Stitch, wondering how he was holding it. Then I looked at the mutation of his hair and realized he must have been building a resistance to the radiation for a while to receive mutations like that.

“Yes, it is the essence of T’Dosh, and a powerful piece of metal that can be forged into things beyond the hardness of any known metal.” We all looked at each other, confused. “Horn Horse has discovered something we should apply with relevance to what we use it for.”

“I understand metal can have magical properties, but it is still just metal, right? Also, why does it fill me with the same terrible feelings of being in a stable?” Mountain did not react well to my words at all. She rushed me and raised her foreleg to strike.

“To say such words is blasphemy!” Alguacil’s gun clicked before Mountain could strike and I raised my forelegs up to stop both of them.

“I wouldn’t do that if’n I were you.” Alguacil’s draw was long and harsh as his gun glowed slightly with a dim light.

“Look, Mountain. Stables have been places of terrible experimentation. So many things were done to me that I cannot even recount all of them. When I touched that metal, it chilled me in a way that only the torment of Stable 43 did before.” I explained and slowly lowered my hoof. “I am sorry I offended you, perhaps we should all just calm down and chalk this up to a cultural misunderstanding?”

Mountain snorted and lowered her leg. Alguacil uncocked and holstered his gun. I turned Mountain, “I am sorry I struck a nerve.” I offered her a hug and she accepted as gently as she could. So glad for armor plating on my Stable-Suit! When she released me I decided an immediate change of subject was needed so we did not have an issue again. “Alguacil, was your gun just glowing?”

He nodded. “Chifundo put a, what did he call it? Spirit of Justice in it. Made it where I cannot misinterpret someone when aiming it.” I raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to explain, but Chifundo broke his trance on the star metal and spoke instead.

“The spirit will prevent him from firing upon one who is pure, it helps him know his judgement is secure. With this we also know he will not go on a rampage of destructive woe. I pray it will temper his sense of morals, so he never rests upon his laurels.” Chifundo finished and I slowly put together the pieces he had laid out. Then I nodded, before turning to Alguacil.

“So you agreed to have Chifundo put a spirit in your gun to limit you from making a bad judgement call? When there is hope they might be turned from whatever evil your target is doing?” I leaned up and looked at him with my big puppy dog eyes and hopeful angel smile.

Alguacil rolled his eye and nodded his head, “Yeah… you’re rubbing off on me, little green.” I frowned; I wanted to protest, but at least I had gotten him to admit he was getting better. “Listen, Sunrise, have you seen some paint?”

I nodded and went to check the forge lockers for paint. I left hearing Alguacil explain what that was to Mountain by describing it being the oil substance that “allowed Sunrise’s armor to look all bright and colorful-like.” Quick Stitch, in the meantime, locked the star metal away for safekeeping.

After this, I went to the panic room with Nyota, Quick Stitch, Chifundo, and Scopola Mina. Alguacil declined, saying he had something to paint and “All that techno stuff was fer you’all ta figure out.”

Past the panic room was a door that read: ‘Authorized Personnel Only! Trespassing is under Penalty of Death’. I looked at Nyota, who smirked, “Well, they aren’t messing around at least.” Shiratha joined us out of curiosity.

I pushed the button and the door opened. I checked my PipBuck: it was refusing to map this area at all. Beyond the door was a staircase that went straight down for a long way. The walls were covered in dioramas of fairy tales. Stuff I had heard as a child, like Little Red Riding Hood, the Fox and the Sand Dog, Princess of Dragonslaying, and others. Deeper we went and the walls seemed to shift around us. These fairy tales were not bright and cheerful but bloody and terrifying.

Little Red Riding Hood had her head ripped off by the big bad warp wolf, blood dripping as her skull was crushed in its jaws. The sand dog was tearing the fox apart and drinking its entrails. They were perversions and warping on the walls continued, like the paint was shifting out of focus or out of place. It was disorienting and horror inducing.

We all paused in unison when laughter echoed around us. My instincts told me to run or fight. Pink was completely absent from my mind. I looked at Nyota, and he was just as scared as I was. I reached out to touch him but the touch was cold, like there was no love between us or it had been sucked away. This part horrified me the most; it was as though we were all gray forms with no connection to each other. The deeper we went, the further apart we felt. Shiretha stopped and turned back, unable to continue further.

I had to focus on my breathing and make myself keep it together. Signs pointed down with the words: “Power Plant - Unauthorized Personnel Leave Immediately!” The word leave contorted in my vision and became a snake with razor sharp fangs dripping with poison, until I blinked and it became a sign and word again. Something was truly wrong here. Layers of lead and radiation shielding were surrounding us and the stairs changed from metal to some form of spongy carpet that twanged like metal when you walked on it. The mix of sound, texture, and resistance made my legs feel wrong and shaky.

Worst of all, the stairwell was getting warmer; much warmer. The temperature was making us sweat. This was beyond heated, I felt like I might be truly boiling inside. I could not feel emotions to my friends around me. It was horrifying to feel as though I did not know them at all. My mind had to block it out and continue to a landing.

There we were surrounded by hardened ceramics with a metal shutter in front of us. Another sign, “Do Not Open Under Penalty of Death” stood next to a switch that had an open and closed state. Everything was so very wrong here. The heat boiled me, and yet chilled my emotions inside me until I was stone cold. There has to be a reason, something here has to be doing this. I wanted to turn away and run, but curiosity said I had come this far. I had to know.

I approached the switch and Nyota placed a hoof on mine, “Sunrise, are you sure?” His voice was robotic and hollow. I could feel him fighting to get me to listen and to feel something in his voice. I could feel myself wanting to listen, but no. I had to know.

I flipped the switch, and the world became pain. We were bathed in a black light, as our souls quaked and my body went still. I looked, one eye on the switch, the other past the shutter as it opened. My eye that was looking in lost all vision as I screamed. Nyota slammed his eye patch over my eye and flipped the switch, scooping me up and running out of there. The rest of my friends fled in terror as well, until we were past the panic room and the door was locked behind us.

What I saw there was nothing short of beyond terror. It was the Crystal Heart, an artifact of pure love that had protected the Crystal Empire for generations. It had shielded them from evil and the elements of winter...it was there. Turned from its gleaming crystalline form to a black, soulless hunk of metal. The reason we lacked emotion was I could feel it sucking all my emotions out of me and leaving me empty inside, save for the fear driven survival instinct to run away from it. I could not believe it. Stable-Tec had taken an object powered by love and hope; twisted it into a power source, and now, it would kill you to stand in the same room as it for more than a moment.

My right eye had been blinded by it in that moment. Quick Stitch was standing over me, pouring healing magic into my eye. I felt it having to be regrown, the pain of optic nerves that had been fried suddenly coming back into existence shocked me still. I screamed and wailed in agony as Nyota held me down while Quick Stitch worked frantically to save my eye. I felt the burns on my face starting to heal; the Crystal Heart had sucked so much life from my body I was withered and Quick Stitch was pushing through it.

His horn was blindingly bright as I now felt just how much damage had been done to me in the brief instance of exposure. My body cracked, groaned, and creaked as skin was regenerated and blood began to flow again. Unfettered torment raged through my right side. I could only scream until my tear duct regenerated and allowed me to cry. Quick Stitch panted heavily and Nyota held me tightly. Our curiosity had been repaid in blood.

Quick Stitch replaced Nyota’s eyepatch with a bandage over my eye. I could faintly make out light in my right eye through the bandage, but no shapes; everything was just fuzzy. “Okay, Sunrise, how do you feel?”

“I...I can not see out of my right eye,” I whimpered as my body slowly returned to feeling. Nyota clung to me and held me tight. “They...corrupted it. We have been using the forges it powers! We have been making it worse!” I cried out, realizing just how much the gift of that factory was, in fact, corrupt and tainted.

“Alright, Sunrise, calm down and don’t think about it right now. I need you to listen; we need to keep that eye covered and treat it for several days, okay? It’s going to be blind for a while.” I whimpered and nodded. I just wanted to leave this place now and never, ever come back.

I looked at Nyota and he looked at me, each of us only having one eye exposed to the world. We looked like mirror opposites as he stroked my mane and held me close. I was in one of the medical ward beds; I whimpered and started to cry. The tears coming out of my right eye stung with the pain of a wasp bite. Nyota nuzzled my cheek and held me there. Just before I passed out, I whispered, “Love, help me.”

Nyota held me close and then whispered in my ear. “There is something else I need to show you. I found it in my PipBuck from the overmare’s office files.” He held me tight and stroked my mane. “I didn’t want to show you. But after seeing what they did downstairs, to that artifact. After feeling how it drained us of everything it did. I think you should read it, as soon as possible.” Nyota cradled my head and held up the note. It was dated two days before we woke up in that pool together:

‘C.E. 1211, 11/22

Research subjects have been confirmed successful. I had acquired six subjects. Five soldier class and Subject 043-014. I honestly don’t know who is inside these boxes, but the experiment has run into a problem.

Hallow Feather, that stupid fucking pegasus. We had the targets! We had my target! Now they are scattered somewhere in the wasteland. The Enclave will be unhappy. I will have to check the other locations, if an opportunity arises.

My research will have to wait, see where they come out, and hopefully we can acquire them before much is lost. I do know that something is wrong with subject 043-014’s recombulator. There are two souls inside, there should not be.

043-014 also has a distinctive mind fracturing, likely due to the extra soul. For now though, when we find 043-014 we will have our salvation and my research will pay off. The Enclave’s inbreeding problem will be fixed. I have issued a substantial bounty for the capture of 043-014, alive only. She is useless to us after more recombulations until we get the right personality that will prove helpful.

Shadow Window
Head Researcher, Stable-Tec, Project Dead Tree’

Chapter 44: Fracturing

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“Don’t Scratch at the Wall
-Death, Supernatural

“Shit shit shit! Sunrise, can you hear me? I’m trying to close it but…”

ooOOoo

“Sunrise, hun, you are going to be late. Get up!” I held the warm pillow tight, the fluffiness of it kept me there. The heaviness of my blanket held me in. I groaned and rolled very slowly over; Mom was standing over me. She was casting a shadow over my bed and started to tap her hoof as my eyes came into focus upon her face. “Get up now!”

I felt her telekinetic blanket wrap around me and suddenly my body was hurled into the air. “MOM!” I yelped before falling back to the bed with a spring-filled thud. I growled and punched the pillow like a little filly throwing a tantrum. “That hurts ya know!”

Mom snorted at me and turned away to open the curtains and let the sunlight in. “You and I both know it does not hurt you. It just hurts your pride.” I was in my body, white in color as I held up a hoof to shield my eyes from the blinding light filtering through the city shield generators.

Oh my, I’m five or six again! That isn’t a megaspell shield, that is dozens of shields linked together! Megaspells aren’t a thing yet! My conscious thoughts were interrupted by feelings of inadequacy and I wanted to smack my mom. “Yeah, but that hurts, too! Dad can fly, you can throw me around or heal my cuts with a flick of your horn. What do I have? We live in a city where we can’t grow crops and I am the weakest foal in my class.”

Mom stopped and turned to look over her shoulder at me. What happened to you? Her eyes suddenly became softer. The tender gaze of a mother coming to a wounded child filled my soul with hope. She slowly walked over towards the bed, “Sunrise… I am very sorry. I forget that you take that so personally. You will find your mark and your destiny one day. I promise you will.” I groaned at the speech I had heard a hundred or more times. Slowly, I sat up and put my rear hooves onto the floor, staying on the edge of my bed.

Mom placed a hoof against my chin and lifted it up. I looked into Shadow Window’s eyes and knew why she had that name. I could see so much of my soul reflected back at me. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but that was the problem with mom’s eyes. You never saw her soul at all; always your own reflected back. “Do I have to go to school today?”

“Sunrise you know-” Mom was interrupted by a raid siren. I watched out my window as small sections of the overall larger shield failed rapidly.

Oh. It’s that day. The days when there were hundreds of shields to make up the protection of Stalliongrad, interlocked and they could still fail or cascade into pieces. Suddenly there were holes and with those came the scream through the air of distant bombs. Mom grabbed me up into her TK and threw me onto her back.

The wind was knocked out of me from the panicked impact as she galloped down the stairs and out into the yard where we had a personal bomb shelter built. It was really just a metal shed buried in the ground in the alley behind our rowhouses. No more than a few extra centimeters of street, concrete, and dirt between us and the world. Inside was just two rooms, a bathroom and a sleeping area with two beds. You couldn’t even stand up more than one at a time because of the overhead cabinets that contained food, water, medical supplies, the ventilation system, and a couple of books to read. A single light extended down from a metal line, powered by two spark batteries in the ceiling.

Mom dashed from the house and pulled the horizontal door out of the ground, throwing me down into the shelter. I landed on the concrete and yelped out in pain as my baby fat rump hit the solid concrete floor. Mom slammed the door closed behind us and pushed me forward as she put the secondary blast door in place with great effort from her horn and hooves combined. Outside the ground vibrated and boomed with muffled distant explosions. Dust from the ceiling and cabinets agitated and cascaded into the air. My nose got irritated immediately. I sneezed so hard my head recoiled back into the side of the bed.

Mom was panting as she looked me over, “You okay, Wandering Sunrise?” I held my bum and my head, wincing with a nod. “Good,” She spun around away from me. “Stupid fucking zebras!” She screamed at the door in frustration. “All this over some stupid coal and gemstones! Just go back to trading with the rich and let us live in peace!” My ears echoed in pain and I cried out as my head exploded in agony.

“MOM! Stop yelling! It hurts!” Suddenly hooves were wrapped around me and holding me tightly as the distant thuds got closer. There was a soft cooing and I heard her sweet voice that let me gently rock into protective hooves.

“Sunrise, no school today. Just stay here with mommy. I am very sorry I hurt you getting you down here. I was panicked. Please understand, I meant nothing by it.” I nuzzled against her and inhaled deeply at her scent. The words seeming to soothe away the aches of my bruises.

“Mom, if I had gotten up on time, I would be-” She put a hoof to my lips as I spoke. The thought of being caught nowhere near a shelter on the way to school terrified us both. A few foals had this happen to them last year, my first year of school. They were gone now.

Mom kissed my forehead, “I’ll protect you, my baby.” She started to hum and then finally, raised her voice. Mom may have specialized in law, and she may have joined the emergency medical brigade, but neither of those professions truly suited her. What came from her lips was the voice of an angel. She was singing the softest song I’d ever heard and it was too beautiful for words from her audience of one:

Hush now, quiet it now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed.
Hush now, quiet now, close your sleepy eyes.
Hush now, quiet now, my how time sure flies.
Drifting, drifting off to sleep the days excitement behind you.
Drifting drifting off to sleep let the joy of dreamland find you.
Hush now, quiet now, lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed~….

I yawned sleepily, listening to the pure motherly love that flowed from her lips. I nuzzled up against her as she helped me into bed. She put me under the covers and laid next to me on top of them. Another heavy thump shook the shelter and the light went out. “Wandering Sunrise, rest; it will be over soon. Mommy will protect you…” My world faded back into the warm embrace of sweet familial love and a mother’s promise.

“Everybody knows a mother’s love is unconditional. Everybody knows.” Mom’s voice echoed through time as I saw Pink once more.

ooOOoo

“Sunrise! Oh you’re back, STAY HERE! Don’t go into the next part. I’m doing all I can to seal the breach. Please just don’t—”

ooOOoo

It was less than a week later. I was at a funeral, a set of funerals. Dozens of caskets, my size, were suspended above freshly dug graves. These were my classmates, over half of them. Parents were crying all around me; I just felt numb. Coffee Stain sobbed on my shoulder and I softly reached up, stroking my friend’s mane. Our moms held us close but did not stand between us. The failing shields a week before had resulted in our schoolhouse being hit, specifically my classroom. The first shells hit dead on. The zebras were targeting a pegasus flight base but had reversed the grid coordinates and hit my school exactly on the opposite side of the city for their mistake.

The sirens had not even reached them yet and any students who had arrived more than fifteen minutes early were now in caskets. Mustard Mark, Harmonizing Honey, Velvet Touch, Balefire Bain, and so many others were all gone. But those on that short list were my closest friends. Now I only had Coffee Stain. Barista Foam held her daughter while I tried to remain strong as my only remaining friend cried her eyes out. I did not fully understand the war at this point, I just knew that the zebras had robbed me of something precious.

My dad walked up and knelt before us with a reassuring smile, “It was an accident you two, okay? The zebras would never shoot at a non-military target on purpose.” He softly gave each of us a hug and held us close, wrapping his wings around Coffee Stain and me. Coffee Stain’s dad, Hot Knowledge, was killed in the blast as well.

“How can you say that to them? Their friends are dead and you want them to not be upset about it! I hope all of those striped ziggers die in a fire!” Mom screamed at us and I flinched. She had yelled at dad before, sometimes at the zebras, but never at a funeral. Coffee Stain and I looked up through tear filled eyes and both of us took in the glares of hatred burning down upon us.

I noticed now the number of parents who were sporting military fatigues, new ones. So many of the parents who had lost children, had gone to sign up for the militia or Equestrian Military overnight. Entire neighborhoods had gone from damage control and trying to lead normal lives to full military units in training, mine included.

“Why have you NOT signed up, Rainbowrise?” She paused as several adults glared daggers at my father. Others were giving looks for someone to do something and stop this scene from playing out. “Huh? You should at least put Wandering Sunrise into the Filly Scouts so she can be prepared when the time comes!” Barista Foam was almost foaming at the mouth as she snatched Coffee Stain away. She couldn’t hold onto her, though, as Coffee Stain punched her own mother in the face to be let go. The unicorn lost her composure and TK, dropping her daughter to the ground with a thud.

Coffee Stain ran to me with fresh tears in her eyes and tackled me into a hug. If not for dad holding me in place with his wings and hooves I would have tumbled onto the ground. I held her close and nuzzled against her forehead. “I have got you, Coffee Stain, through thick and thin. I promise.” I kept her there and silently sobbed tears into her mane.

I wouldn’t let her go and I smiled. “Listen, do not let them tell you what to think, either of you.” Rainbowrise whispered to us as gently as he could. I felt so relieved at my father’s words. He was showing bravery to defy the convention. “They all rushed to sign up. They replaced the emptiness you feel right now with nothing but a burning hatred. You cannot allow yourselves to live that way.” We both turned our heads to my dad, who just gave his broad, wonderful smile. “You must be better than this. Hatred only creates more hatred; you need to find the capacity to love inside. Even the zebras, as much as they take from us; you cannot hate them. They would not do this if they did not think it was the right thing. No one willingly does evil; they have their reasons and we have ours.”

I did not understand him at the time, with all the adults staring at us while he spoke. They slowly turned away, moving to their own children and coffins that were being given last rights and lowered into the earth. It was one mass grave, with multiple shoes to push the coffins in. There simply wasn’t room for all of them to have individual graves anymore, even children. My dad cried as my mother snubbed her nose at him. She glared just as they had done; she wanted to hate but she knew he was right. I saw her motion her hoof back to my dad, and point for me to look back at him. She wanted him to finish.

“One day we will not fight anymore. When that day comes, we have to make sure we do not hate them for this; or anything they have done. Until all the hatred is gone, we cannot heal the wounds between us. You two are our future,” He paused and kissed each of us on the forehead. “We need you to learn to love, so we can have hope.”

I watched my dead friends lowered into a mass grave of coffins, stacked four high to fit them all into the long trench grave; with just a couple of hoof steps between them. Mothers and fathers saluted their dead children. Barista Foam stood, waiting for Coffee Stain and I to separate. My dad made sure we watched and kept rubbing us with his wings to reassure and protect us. Stronger shields were being put up to replace the ones that failed before.

Rainbowrise didn’t need to sign up; he wanted to protect us. Not go kill zebras. I nuzzled into his feathers, they were so soft and silky to caress. “Everybody knows you cannot replace your woes with burning hatred inside. Everybody knows…” I closed my eyes and lost myself in my father’s feathers and his scent, when I opened them, I was looking at Pink again.

ooOOoo

“For Celestia’s sake! How much is behind this dam?! Sunrise! Don’t go this time! I can’t keep taking these little pieces of a pie I get with you. Listen to me! Something you did fractured the wall, you need to get back to Nyota! Please! I can’t close it till you do!

“So just focus on your big burly hot stallion friend who bones you every—”

ooOOoo

“I told you they could not be trusted!” Mom yelled at my dad and growled as she slammed the newspaper into his lap. The words on the headline: “Hero Sacrifices Himself to Save Celestia” with the subtitle: “Betrayal at Peace Summit” in massive letters. Dad looked at my mother indignantly.

“One bad egg and you are just gonna lump an entire race into it?” Dad stood up in a huff. I was older, not quite into high school but in that awkward transition phase. I stood up starting to move towards them.

“They tried to assassinate Celestia! PRINCESS CELESTIA! At the peace summit! The one chance we had to end this stupid war; and they tried to kill her!” My eyebrows raised as I approached them. They were so engrossed in their argument they hadn’t noticed me yet.

My dad stood up and threw the paper onto the floor, “And we do not know why! We know that Big Mac took the bullet though and they failed. Failed dear! Zebra assassins are not so careless as to MISS their target. So why did they miss?” He leaned up to her and was pressed nose to nose as they snorted at each other.

“Does it matter now? You have been nice to them, you have tried to teach Sunrise to not hate, and I am SICK OF IT!” Shadow Window reared up and spat into her husband’s face. “Grow up Rainbowrise! The zebras are NOT going to play nice! They will not stop till we are all dead!”

I slowed my approach, my eyes starting to water as I feared this was going to result in my parents separating. “You taught Sunrise to not hate! She could not recite the loyalty pledge just like that brat, Coffee Stain.” Mom’s words stung hard, Coffee Stain was my best and basically only friend. “And since neither of us is active military, guess who got kicked out of the Filly Scouts.” Mom stamped her hoof. “Sunrise even took the blame so Coffee Stain would not get kicked out! And NOW! Now you have the nerve to still have sympathy for them; if my father were still—”

There was a knock at our door and both of my parents turned towards it. Immediately their eyes stopped when they saw me. The words hurt so much. My heart felt like it was ripped apart as I dropped onto my belly and just started sobbing. I couldn’t bring myself to look at them. I felt numb everywhere except the tears that burned on my face.

The knock on the door persisted, “Ministry of Morale, please open up. We need to speak with Rainbowrise.” This was the night, the night they got into our lives. The night we began to break nature’s laws to win the war.

Mom walked up and leered down at me. This was not the soft, loving mother I had known two years before. She had slowly started becoming more and more angry, more jaded. “Stop crying, Sunrise. You are too old for that. Hold your damn head up and endure, like the rest of our country! You are a disgrace to your race! Earth ponies are hard as granite, my bare plot; you need to make your grandparents proud! Stand tall!” She turned back to my dad, not giving me a chance to reply or respond. “You, answer the door. We will discuss this later.”

Dad walked slowly to the door. He stopped mid-trot and picked me up. He held me close and nuzzled my cheek. “Showing weakness is not weak.” He whispered in my ear as he opened the door. He was holding me, I was so much bigger now but he managed it. His wings, his lovely feathery support wrapped me in a warm embrace while I was held in front of his chest. He shielded me from the world as I sobbed into his neck. “Now is not the best time. Can it wait till morning?”

I couldn’t see the agent, but hearing her voice chilled me to the core. It was 9. I wanted to take control of the memory, to smash that pony in the face right then and there. But younger me had never known her. I knew now why it hurt so much when she started her terror a year before the bombs fell. Here she was so friendly, so welcoming. “Oh yes, sir, I understand. We could hear the argument. Listen, here.” A letter was pressed against my dad’s wing against my head. He took it into a hoof, opening it to read. “We will need to discuss this matter in the morning if it is alright.”

My dad made a whistle and tsked his lips several times. “You sure you wanna do this? I mean I can figure it out, but if you are sure?”

“Affirmative sir, destroy the letter. Discuss this in the morning. Two agents are now on watch here, to make sure you and your family are safe.” My dad nodded and thanked 9, then closed the door. That is why you did not just stop her; you were working for her! You weren’t allowed to stop her or stop working. They would have killed us if you didI

My dad murmured to himself as he took me in, softly caressing my mane and staring at the letter. “Everybody will know who discovered it first. Something so powerful we can do our worst.” He lit the letter on fire and tossed it into the smoldering embers in the fireplace. “Everybody knows…”

ooOOoo

“Dammit! They are filling in the pie pieces even if I pull out the crust! What the hell is your mind made of? Oh you’re back, just in time for whipped cream. Okay now, just stay with me.”

I was still there, in the blackness of space, staring at Pink as we fell through the void. “Okay I’ve got to find the other holes and batten those hatches.” Pink pulled out a hammer and several planks. “I’ll teach those hatches even if I have to double batten em! Now you need to just stay with…” She trailed off as we moved towards a white light under us, falling through the air as it whistled past us. Her voice grew distant again and she sighed in frustration. “Oh well, fuck. Here we go again on this trampoline!”

ooOOoo

Dad was shaking. Mom stared out the window at the sky. We were in a Stable-Tec interview room. Mom chewed on her lip as the cheap plywood table and plastic chairs creaked. The Stable-Tec employee was tapping a pen to her clipboard. She slowly looked it over, my family’s application for a place in the stable on it. “Let’s see, you have a lot of useful skills, that is fer sure!” Her accent was off putting. She wasn’t from Stalliongrad, not with those contractions and that high pitched shrill, as well as her use of the word ‘fer’ instead of ‘for’.

She got up and opened the door behind her, passing some unknown pony the clipboard. “Now, family history of medicine, tell me about it.” There was a hesitation as my dad looked at my mother, who just shrugged and sat down.

She relayed our family medical history, robotically almost. I felt a sense of loss ping within me. Mom no longer wore her mane down but rather in a tight bun, her tail as well. Her cutie mark had tinted, from a thought cloud with an injector needle full of red blood to one full of a sickly green liquid. We were not sure how she had done this, because it wasn’t dye or a tattoo. I shied away from her. I simply couldn’t bring myself to stay close to her. She would go out to the Ministry of Morale building during the day and come home in the evening. Neither of us wanting to be near her.

She and dad didn’t talk much anymore either. Dad would go to the mechanic shop, and if I wasn’t at school, I would go with dad. Mom clearly wasn’t doing her lawyer work anymore. She constantly had empty memory orbs on hand. Small crystal balls, with a single white cloud inside; waiting to be willingly filled with data from some creature’s mind. When she finished giving our medical history, the Stable-Tec employee had another clipboard and finished checking it off.

“And what about your foal here?” Mom and dad both looked at me. “What is her special talent?”

Dad raised a hoof, “She does not have one yet. You see, she is not quite too old to not have it, but most of her classmates do.”

The Stable-Tec mare’s eyes lit up with new purpose as she leaned into me. I almost fell out of my chair as she prodded my flank with a pen. She licked her hoof and rubbed it onto my hip where my cutie mark would be. It was so uncomfortable and gross. I shuddered and squirmed away from her. She kept watching me and made me so uncomfortable with the way she looked at me. Like a hungry predator about to snatch their prey.

“GOOD! That is excellent! It leads to so much potential!” She hastily jotted down notes onto her clipboard and ran to the door. There was a heated discussion we couldn’t hear. Back and forth with a creature we could not see. She came back and put a new clipboard in front of us. This one was made of stubbornite with three sheets of paper on it.

“Good news! You’ve been accepted in a Stable! You just need to sign here, one form for each of you.” My parents did not even bother to read the paperwork. I started to and they just insisted I sign it quickly before Stable-Tec changed their minds. Something really stuck out to me, but I had no choice but to put my hoof mark:
‘Stable-Tec owns all residents of their Stables. No exceptions, all rights belong to Stable-Tec during the shelter period.’

We left there and went home. Coffee Stain came over that night. Barista Foam was assigned to guard duty and despite our parents fights and her reservations, she knew mine would be home, and Coffee Stain and I were still good friends.

Coffee Stain hugged me tight and smiled as we got into my room alone. “Sunrise, I am glad you got into a Stable. Makes me happy to know you will be around after.”

I paused and tilted my head, “After what?”

“The war, silly. Hopefully you will remember me.” Coffee Stain looked away from me, blushing. I remembered she had been doing that repeatedly recently. Always hesitant to look me in the face as she started to blush and squirm a little when I got close.

“Coffee Stain, you are coming down there with me, right?” I turned her head back to face me. I did not like seeing tears in my friend’s eyes or her looking hurt. She seemed more embarrassed than hurt and I was just puzzled.

“Sunrise, my family did not get accepted.” She replied sniffling and wrapped her hooves around my neck in a tight hug. Her Filly Scout cap fell to the floor as she sobbed against me. I did what I always did for her, stroked her mane and held her close. I let my warmth radiate to her. Softly, I hummed against her; hoping my singing would help calm her.

She pulled away and stroked my hair out of my face, “Sunrise listen; I wanna confess something to you.” I smiled at her, and motioned for her to go on. I was more than happy to see her drying her tears and smiling herself now; even if she was still blushing. I never left eye contact, I wanted her to know I would be here for her.

She suddenly rushed forward without hesitation and kissed me! My eyes shot open wide and I felt an electric shock through my veins which stopped my surprise from recoiling me away. It felt good. Wonderful, natural even, for my best friend to kiss with me! I slowly felt a tingle through my body as she kept kissing me and we stayed close together.

When she realized I wasn’t going to fight her, she closed her eyes, and slowly I submitted. I closed mine as well. I did not know how long we kissed or how long we stayed there. When she finally released the embrace we were both panting for air, and I felt hot and bothered inside. Butterflies flew in my stomach and ice chilled my veins, while a heat radiated from my chest and abdomen that sparked all new tingles and pinpricks. Most of all, my heart was pounding, screaming at me to go further, and I had to fight for dear life to not just kiss her again right then and there! We looked at each other, unsure what to do or how to proceed.

“Sunrise, everybody knows but you. Before time runs out and the megaspells rain down, I want you to know it too. I want you to know, I love you. I have had a crush on you as long as I can remember.” I stared at her, still stunned and recovering from the kiss; this felt like an anvil crashing through my giant oblivious wall and hammering home what I should have known. “You are the only thing that keeps my hope from dying. Please, can we just cuddle and enjoy our ourselves tonight?”

I blushed deeply, feeling my cheeks and neck burning as I slowly nodded. She insisted on keeping one layer of covers between us, as we laid in my bed. She held me, close. I was smaller than her and I was the little spoon tonight. Softly the unicorn stroked my mane, gently she kissed my neck. I liked it, too; I never wanted that moment to end as I faded into sleep. “Everybody knows now, I love you; my Sunrise.”

ooOOoo

“Are we gonna have to watch your whole life before you quit making scratches in my wall?” I stared at Pink, dumbfounded and still wishing I could feel Coffee Stain’s warmth again. “Oh for the sake of cake! Can you focus on Nyota or Chifundo? Wait a minute!” I snapped out of my distant imagination. “That was it wasn’t it? Your first kiss was Coffee Stain! On the day Applebloom made sure you were going to a stable! Two days before you discovered the secret passage in your dad’s shop and the experiment started!” I blushed and squirmed while we fell through the void further and further with another light accelerating towards us. Pink jumped at the light with her planks, hammers, nails, and screwdrivers. Somehow operating three tools, two nails, and a plank all at once.

“Right! No rest for the wicked, time to use the wicker!” She pulled out a wicker woven basket full of tools as another memory overcame my senses.

ooOOoo

Dad was packing away into a duffle bag. He looked at me and held up a checklist, “Alright, Sunrise, flashlight?” I held it up and rolled my eyes. This was the fourth time we had checked these bug out bags in as many days. I groaned at him and sighed.

“Little Wanderer, you know we have to make sure these are ready and everything in them works every single day.” I groaned louder at his words.

“Dad why? It is not like we are going to use them.” I turned back to him, my hair bouncing off my neck in irritation.

“We have to be ready, completely.” Dad stared back and brushed my hair out of my face.

“Ready for what?” Rainbowrise grew quiet. He never answered that question, it was like he was afraid to say what was coming. He looked away from me and put the checklist away. I could feel something inside him was lost.

He carried his gun everywhere now; even in the house. The Colt model 19.11 was a pistol that packed one heck of a punch. Ever since the incident with the assassin at the shield, he was a lot more cautious and stopped talking to even the zonies. Zonies were zebras who had agreed to have their stripes dyed pink or were half-breeds with ponies who lived with us anyway. The zebras hated the hybrids for some reason. They would come into our lines as refugees and always beg for help.

It was so strange, how the soldiers treated them with suspicion until they went out of their way to prove their loyalty. Now dad wouldn’t even go near them. I dared not ask him about it. I missed Netherbloom, he was always nice to me. Dad rose up and put the clipboard down, “Alright, fine, we will not check the bags today. Instead, how about we go find Coffee Stain and see if the eternal scout ritual took?”

I nodded at him and hopped to my hooves eagerly. We hadn’t done anything beyond kiss and hold each other, but every moment I could spend with her made my heart sing. It gave me hope when all the adults in my life seemed hopeless. Mom had lost all her warmth. We walked through the living room and she looked up with heavy bags under her eyes.

She was spending night after night out late. At the time I had no idea she was sleeping around and doing party-time Ment-als all night. Much less that she was not even sleeping in the same bed as dad anymore. She sniffed the air and smirked, “Oh, I know that smell. Alright, Sunrise; make sure to give her the talk!” She commanded and dad winced at her. The illusion of loving mother was gone now. She wasn’t even trying anymore. She wouldn’t be trying again until the Ministry of Morale agents started using me for interogeration practice.

Dad closed the door behind us. The shield outside was solid, completely unbroken as we walked to the sidewalk. The other ponies held their heads low. Dad still managed to keep his high. I was practically prancing to go see Coffee Stain. My perked up mood made him smile and he shook his head with a whistle. “You are growing up to be quite the mare.” I blushed and smiled at him, as he draped a wing over me to keep me shielded from the sun. It was always nice, so velvety, so gentle and sweet. Any time dad’s wing was over me, it felt like I was safe for once.

I looked at the faces of the other adults and they lacked something. They had no brightness to them, only gloom. The bags under their eyes sagged heavy. I felt it as they brushed past us; they had no hope. They were marching in the bright sunshiny day and yet were completely dead inside. “Dad, why is everyone so gloomy? The sun is so nice today.”

Rainbowrise let out a ragged sigh as we stood outside Coffee Stain’s house. “Little Wanderer, it brightens my soul to see you excited.” He leaned down and nuzzled against my neck. “Why not go inside and spend time with your friend?”

I groaned in frustration at him avoiding my question. But my heart fluttered at the mention of time with Coffee Stain and I darted up to the door, knocking happily and waiting for my marefriend to come to the door. That was the first time I thought of her that way. Rainbowrise hung his head as the door opened and I started to go inside. I heard it upon his lips as he shook his head and I hugged Coffee Stain tight with excitement. “Everybody knows hope is dead. Why do you hold on to it?”

I looked at my father, confused. Everything he had taught me, said not to give up. Yet he was admitting defeat. He was admitting there was no hope for peace. I blinked at him and felt a deep sadness in my soul. Coffee Stain would want to give her last kiss to me. The image of her lying hopeless in her bed as the glow rose inside my mind. The glow of balefire closing upon her. The roar of the flames, the searing burning of the radiation before that final moment.

I looked at her and did not care if our parents saw in that moment. She needed to know I cared, she didn’t even know what was racing through my mind. I kissed her, right then and there. My dad’s jaw dropped and her mother scoffed; I didn’t care. It was my turn to surprise Coffee Stain. She had the exact reaction I did when she gave me my first kiss; now this was our first public kiss. Everybody knows how much that is truly worth. How much your last kiss is worth.

ooOOoo

“I mean, I’m just along for the roller coaster ride at this point. There ain’t no stopping it till the operator comes back.” Pink paused and pointed at me for emphasis. “Remembers to throw the Nightmare Night Curse Brakes. So, you enjoying your memories, I take it? Because the next ones are all wasteland, you know that, right?”

I tilted my head as the glow started to overtake us. It felt like radiation burning away at me. The sickly green light that was engulfing us and made it hurt to fall further. Everything about it was just wrong in some way. I looked up at Pink, trying to form words but I couldn’t speak. She nodded, “Right. You are just as much a passenger as I am on crazy Sunrise train number 3.”

“I could take control, it would be easy right now.” That voice, the thing I feared. It spoke when Breakfast Blend went down. Pink growled and snarled, pulling out an explosive charge.

“Hey! This is an A and B conversation! I suggest you C4 your way out!” She tossed it upward and with a massive bang and a flash. My vision was lost in a sea of fire and confetti before we were into another memory.

ooOOoo

I was standing outside the stable. The wind swept the ground and it chilled me; winter was coming. I pulled my heavy armored coat close. It was similar to the thick wool coat that Mad Mac wore, almost identical if not for looking and feeling newer. My stable suit provided some protection but not nearly enough. Before me was Stalliongrad, or rather, what was left of it. Barely seven buildings of the once famous city still stood as hollowed out hulks in the wasteland. My city, burned away completely by bombs from both sides. No one was sure if we had fallen to the final zebra attack before the bombs fell.

We hadn’t but that didn’t matter now. I slowly walked forward, hanging my head. I felt no remorse or emotion, even as I could see the plot of land that used to be my house. My ear crackled with a radio and I stood upright. Something about these eyes were not mine. It was my body, green coat, off color mane and tail. This was after whatever Stable-Tec did to me. “14, what is your status, do you see your objective.”

I knew that voice, it was mom! But she was cold, calculating. She wasn’t calling her daughter by name but by some other designation. My PipBuck clicked a few times, radiation. I took out a bottle of Rad-X and shot it down. Then reached up to press the radio headset, “Negative. Still attempting to locate Stables 4-0 and 4-7. Just keep 43 secure till I return. Over.” I heard the voice, it was mine but just as cold with some unknown malice to it. There was something about it that chilled me to the bone.

This wasn’t me but it was. It was my body, it was my mind, but the presence in it caused me to recoil. “The fuck? You viewing this one now too? That wall you two put up must not be holding. Good, I might get out yet.” I realized now that the voice was talking to me directly.

Who are you? What are you? There was a quality to that voice that wasn’t equine at all; it was alien and wrong.

“Me? 14 is my designation and I’m what you are suppose to be. Little Green Monster.” I shuddered and the memory picked up something, a blip on the E.F.S. Immediately my shotgun was out along with my tail grabbing onto a grenade. The pip was green, not red.

“Sunrise, that you? You out again?” The voice emerging from the dust and fog was Coffee Stain. The weapon stayed up as we stared each other down. “Sunrise, you know me. Put the gun away, what are you looking for this time?”

I snorted and the trigger came out of my mouth. “Was never very good at stealth. Any boiling seas or burning lands left now?”

Coffee Stain shook her head and sighed, “Unless you stormed into a bomb crater, no. That and the snow gives off radiation.” Coffee Stain wasn’t holding her disguise from pre-war. She had those empty, mile-long-stare eyes. Her coat was cobalt blue instead of the pre-war white we shared. She pulled at her Filly Scout cap slightly. The different animals you could be, cub, eagle, falcon, etc, replaced with a stopped clock as the emblem on her head. She was an eternal scout now.

“Come on, Coffee Stain. I already know where my objective is, but I just want some time out to party.” Coffee Stain smiled at this and we started to trot off together. No! Don’t go with her! She isn’t me! She is just wearing my skin!

“Shut it, little angel. I’m gonna—”

ooOOoo

We were back into the void, falling faster than ever. Pink rolled her eyes while reeling me in with a fishing line. “WHOA! I caught the mother of them all. Thought I’d never get you out of that one.” I looked around panicked at first and Pink’s hoof stroked my mane. My coat was white again and it felt nice to be in my own skin.

“Oh that, don’t get used to it; you’re just a transient here. We are getting through this, one memory at a time. I’ve got the holes mostly closed, I need to find the other one still. But hey, it’s a fun ride right?” I looked at Pink shocked and shook my head slowly.

No, this is the worst feeling ever. All these memories, suppressed, why? Why, Pink?

“You asked for it.” She punched each word, with a hoof on my chest. “You wanted to go back to who you were when you were at the best. So I helped you look over every single bit of you and figured out which parts were the ones you could keep. You took all my suggestions hook, line, and sinker; kinda how I fished you out of the hell pond with 14.” She looked down at the approaching light then let out a deep sigh.

“Remember, Coffee Stain and you never broke up. Never once. She will never allow herself to be separated from you forever. You were her first. Now, get ready, this is gonna hurt. I know this one, it sucks so much critics refuse to review it!”

ooOOoo

The pain was excruciating! I was in a hospital, it was still pre-war; I only knew this because of the sign I caught in the center of my vision: ‘Stalliongrad General Wartime Hospital’. I screamed out in agony as the edges of my vision blurred and everything went fuzzy within moments.

“How bad is it?” It was my mom, with genuine concern in her voice.

“Shadow Window, doctor-patient separation; you cannot work on your own daughter.” The doctor was trying to push her away.

“FUCK YOU! She is my blood and I will not leave her side until she is healed and stabilized.” My mom screamed at him only for me to shriek in pain when the two jostled the gurney out of my line of vision.

“Fine! She has been hit in the abdomen, we are pretty sure most of her internal organs are fine but her reproductive ones may be affected.” I felt mom’s hoof wrapping around my own.

“I have got you baby, I promise. Mommy’s gonna make it better; everything will be alright.” Her reassurances were falling on deaf ears as every single time the gurney sped up or slowed down; the pain would return unimaginable. I felt the prick of a needle in my foreleg and the chilling coolness of Med-X flooded my body. Oh how I missed that feeling.

I ran to it, the pain was going away and the high it provided felt so good. “Sunrise, run into the feeling. Just get some rest, I will be here the entire time.” Blackness decided now was a good time to take me.

*****

I slowly awoke, feeling weak, thirsty, and like I had gone several rounds with a professional boxer. I was older, but not my last birthday before the stable. I was almost the full size I had grown to when I woke up in the wasteland. Mom was asleep next to me, in a hospital bed as well! Mom! Were you hit too? I reached over for her and she flinched when I touched her. She moved like she expected me to hit her then shook her head and gripped my hoof back.

“Well, at least you woke up.” Mom replied, the warmth and urgency from earlier gone again. For one brief moment I had hope that she would come back, and then that hope was gone. She clicked the button on her bed for a nurse three times. A few moments later a doctor came in with a chart held aloft in his TK.

“Well, she is alive. Awfully brave of you to rush towards an unexploded bomb. Thankfully only the detonating charge went off. If the main explosive had gone, well, we would be sweeping you up in a small plastic baggie.” My mom glared at him and threw a cup of water as hard as she could. The paper cup crumpled and bounced off his lab coat harmlessly, all it did was splash and give him a small wet spot. The sound of it hitting the floor made him adjust his collar.

“Well in any case, thank you. You saved some lives. The sharpnel cut into your abdomen and sliced both of your ovaries clean in half.” He cleared his throat and smiled at me as he walked up and pulled the blanket back to reveal the stitch line across my belly. It looked like a C-Section cut. Wait! So I don’t have a kid!? This is why I—”

“Well, okay sure let’s go with that instead of the complicated answer.” Pink replied and I felt the need to look around for her. This was a memory, not a lucid dream; I had no controls here; just the viewing window. How did she and 14 always do that?

“Your mother here did some experimental surgery for us. She donated one of her’s and magically modified it to fit you; in terms of age compared to your intact one, your size, and your DNA. It is effectively a clone of your old one we had to remove.” He clicked on the clipboard a few times and shook his head. “You won’t have a brother or sister ever but when you grow up; you can at least start a family of your own.”

The way he said, ‘grow up’ was with such cynicism and doubt that would happen it made his bedside manner all the worse. “Get out! You have explained it, and if we did not absolutely need you I would report you for damaging morale of your patients and fellow Equestrians.” The doctor rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette, walking towards the door and lighting it up. Mom wrapped my cup of water in her TK and threw it with an accuracy that only an enraged parent could muster, landing it with a splash right on his smoke. “AND NO SMOKING!”

She stroked my mane tenderly, but there was something about her movements that were mechanical; not genuine. It was like the love had been pulled out of her and she was just following some code or motherly instinct to do this instead of out of the need to comfort her child. That was the problem! She wasn’t investing any love into this, she had none left to give. She was only holding me out of duty.

It still felt nice, nonetheless; it was a small piece of my old mother. The mother I loved and adored back next to me. I looked up into her eyes, but that is where the feeling stopped. She was staring blankly at the wall now. One of her forehooves stroking my mane over the bed railing, the other holding her side where the stitches were. I slowly faded into sleep again; with a horrific realization. Everybody knows my mother will never be the loving person she was. The war had forever scarred her and me.

ooOOoo

“Yep there came a point where you couldn’t turn her back. It was like baking a cake but you burnt the edges, once their burnt the whole thing is ruined, till you cut out the ruined parts.” Pink turned to me and gave me a deep hug. “She considered you her burnt edge.”

I felt true horror now. I recoiled from Pink in shock and stared at her for answers. What has mom become? What did she do? What is Dead Tree? Why does she call me 14?

Pink tsked her lips and then smacked me, hard. My head was whipped around from the impact and my senses were shot out from the shock. I gasped and held my cheek while we resumed our fall through the void. Pink, what in tartarus!?

“Oh you needed that, otherwise you were going to be stuck in a spiral that any playground filly would be jealous of with how long that slide could possibly go. Now I think there is only one or two left. Are you sure you wanna see these? I might be able to pull us out now.” I nodded slowly and deliberately. I couldn’t turn away now, curiosity was at its peak. I had to know, I had to see. The light started to consume us and pink rolled her eyes. “Alright, you can slide past the hall monitor this time but next time...I’m gonna need a hall pass!”

ooOOoo

I was waiting for Coffee Stain outside of school. Three other fillies approached me and I knew who they were and what they were up to. “Oh look, it is the filly fooler! She is so pathetic, never gonna give your parents grandchildren are you.” I winced and turned away from Salad Salon, the green and yellow colored filly teasing me only to be face to face with her friend. Bruising Bee was called that because of one reason I thought.

Her brown hoof slammed into my face and I tasted the iron of my own blood. I turned to look up at her, I wanted to strike her back; but that would accomplish nothing but a dog pile on my head by all three of them. “What is the matter, filly fooler? You afraid of hitting back?” There was a shove from behind me as a pair of grey hooves connected with both my shoulder blades from Crowned Collette. Before I could even react, Bruising Bee pushed me into the ground.

“Eww! I do not want hugs from some filly fooler!” I knew that was going to leave a bruise. These three had their chance. No Coffee Stain, no teachers, and every filly and colt was gathering around to watch the beating. One colt though, this one time, was not going to see it happen. I looked up and saw the red blood staining my white coat; the dark purple bruises on my forelegs and I could feel the scapes across my neck and chest.

“Hey! Knock it off! Just because she has a special somepony does not give you the right to pick on her.” A deep purple pegasus with green eyes and an orange and white mane threw his purple wing over me to shield me. He was bigger than me and also another blank flank.

“Oh look, the blank flanks are teaming up together. Just what do you hope to do; stop us from teaching her a lesson? You want a beating too, Renegade Wing?” I heard Crowned Collette cracking her hooves and the clopping of Salad Salon behind me against the pavement.

Then a much more mature stallion’s voice that spoke up. “Hey! You three wanna spend the night in a military prison?” The entire crowd turned their heads collectively to see two stallions. One solid red with a white mane and chocolate brown streak in his hair. On his flank was a set of crossed plasma rifles and a pink goo puddle under it. He was using his pegasus wings to force the crowd apart.

Next to him was a blue earth pony with a set of gear cogs on his flank and a solid green mane. The pegasus was wearing a standard military combat armor and uniform. The earth pony had a scientist lab coat with a symbol from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences on it. “You three get out of here before I decide you’re worth arresting.” The pegasus ordered. “The rest of you disperse before I tell your parents you were inciting a beating of a fellow student.” Our classmates scattered and Coffee Stain was running towards the sidewalk from the schoolhouse. I got up, a pouting frown upon my face. My pride was hurt, my muscles were sore, and the bruises ached.

Coffee Stain’s horn lit up with magic and I felt the tingle pulsing through my wounds to seal the bloody nose and heal my bruises. “Renegade, come along. Thank you for setting the example.” The earth pony smiled at me while the pegasus and Coffee Stain helped me up.

The two stallions nuzzled each other and exchanged a kiss, which made Coffee Stain and I do a double take, then turn back to them. “So Renegade Wing, would you mind introducing us to your new friends?”

Renegade nodded and turned with a flourish of his wings to his two parents? “Oh right, yes, this is Wandering Sunrise. Markerlight here says I should not let others be picked on and that not acting is just as bad as being the one who is causing the problem.” He then turned to the earth pony, “This is my other dad, Arcane Gears. I have two dads, so I know what it is like to be picked on. I just transferred since my dad, Markerlight, has been deployed to help defend Stalliongrad.”

I nodded and trotted over to him, giving him a tight hug. It was wonderful to me to see something so nice. Anyone not picking on me over being a blank flank still or being in a relationship with Coffee Stain. This was still before my parents found out, they still just thought we were really good friends. Teachers decided so long as it did not cause any disruption during class; to say nothing. “Thank you… so much.” I felt tears welling up as the realization I could make friends too. I could just live and let live. I had protectors in Coffee Stain, Renegade Wing, and his parents. It was a wonderful feeling.

“Everybody knows that you have to protect each other; you have to so you can keep your hopes up.” Arcane Gears said and smiled at Markerlight as we made our way towards their home for dinner. They insisted and we had to put a phone call in to my parents to make it okay. Coffee Stain would have stayed at my house anyway. Her mother was MIA.

Their house was nice, as we walked up to it. It was one of the cookie cutter style homes that were mass produced for soldiers. They had painted it a bright white with a red stripe, just like Markerlight’s hair. Blue gnomes with Arcane Gear’s cutie mark shirts dotted the lawn. Each day the siege was getting driven back and the city was under less and less pressure. I had my first ice cream cake just a week ago on my birthday.

Now we were approaching one of the first recent constructions that was not just complete prefab or a reconstructed building. I had to still live in the rowhouse, but they had a lawn. It was being used to grow stalks of corn and rows of potatoes but they had actual dirt in the ground. Renegade got excited and flew in a circle overhead. “Renegade, I know you are excited to have new friends, but please keep yourself in check.” The sudden outburst from Arcane Gears caused Renegade to lose control mid flight and head towards the ground. Markerlight jumped into action, putting his chest up to the sky and catching his son so he wouldn’t hit the dirt.

It was wonderful, and Coffee Stain and I were going to enjoy this evening; at the very least we could still hold hooves when we got into the house. Markerlight laughed with his son holding him tight and motioning his eyes towards us. “I know those two little fillies are taken, but have you noticed any filly you have your eye on?”

Renegade was suddenly filled with a blush that could only be described as adorable as he fidgeted. “Well, ya know, there is this one pegasus filly. With umm… pink hair, and she has a white coat, like those two but older; she has her mark already, too!”

Coffee Stain tapped her hoof with an whoo whoo! “I know, Rainshine, right? The nerdy one whose reading all the time with the, powder blue eyes?” Renegade nodded and Coffee Stain held onto my hoof tighter. “We do not talk to her much but if you want, Sunrise and I can talk to her for you and pass her a note or two.” I gulped nervously and yelped as I was pulled along towards their happy home. Something so rare, a sanctuary that was actually joyous in this war.

ooOOoo

“Hoof Holding? Really? How lewd! Do you have any idea the things I’ve had to keep secret at my parties?” Pink asked, rolling her eyes and I shot a glare back at her.

Have you ever actually been in love? Really in love? Pink suddenly looked like I had shot her. Her eyes were wide with surprise and she took a half push away from me. She grimaced and stuck her tongue out at me when she recovered. Oh come on, Pink, you’re better than that. You are better than those fillies that picked on me. I guess you haven’t, have you?

“Some of us were running the war, running the country. We couldn’t just stop and be in love. You got lucky and don’t know the blessed life you had.” I grimaced back at her and we had a staring contest as we plummeted into the next wave of light. The next memory taking its turn.

ooOOoo

I was inside a Ministry of Morale building. Coffee Stain was to my left, in full eternal scout uniform and body armor. For someone only slightly larger than me, that was quite intimidating and cute at the same time. I can’t say I did not like the look of her flank in hardened armor. To my right was Silver Zoom; he was out of his disguise. Instead he was wearing a set of pegasus power armor. It was black, heavily plated but fitted well to him and made for wings. A large scorpion tail protruded from the back where his tail should have been, with a very deadly looking spearpoint at the tip.

I was seated between them and in front of us, pacing, was Pinkamenia Dianne Pie. Her hair was straight with a single white stripe of grey and age running through her. She had bags under her eyes as she sipped her coffee. She was slamming her hooves hard enough into the floor that I could see the slight groove that formed from where she had done this many times before.

The office we were in had new assaultron class robots. They were four legged, with a massive laser included in their eye sensor. While they had the colors of Sweetie Belle, one of the founders of Stable-Tec, they had Robco. Industries markings. They spoke with Sweetie Belle’s voice; just electronically altered. Their hooves were equipped with heavy metal claws and, unlike the ponytrons, they moved quickly. Almost like realistic ponies or even a zebras’ speed, if somewhat lacking the grace or better refined movements a living creature could do. They hummed with a magical fission core you could hear when you got near them.

“Let me get this straight.” Pink started to speak as she stamped on the floor.

“Ma’am, ya see—” Pink threw up a hoof to silence Silver Zoom before he could even start.

“When I am finished. You have ruined my pie today. Sunrise had to defend herself for a start. Making you worthless!” She snapped to him and shattered her coffee cup against his Shadowbolt power armor chest. “And you! You are an eternal scout! Yet you neglected to tell me or anyone for that matter, you were the lover of a target of an internal affairs investigation!” She was shouting so loud that the assaultrons started to move in response. With a snap of her hoof in the air, moving so fast it had an actual sound to it, the assaultrons stood down.

“Go on, explain it to me. Explain to me this level of shitting in my cake batter.” I felt her yelling at both of them and couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped up and moved between Coffee Stain and Pink.

“Leave them alone! I hit 88 with a field modified anti-tank grenade bundle. HE DIED! I saw him burn up in flames and scream in agony.” I was panting and puffing. I was genuinely mad. My night with 88 had been the worst one yet. “You have your evidence, why do you not move in and seize them? 88 came back to life, I do not know how and yet you continue this investigation and do not stop them from torturing me!” I stomped towards Pink, every word getting me closer and closer to her.

I felt cold steel wrapped around my neck as an assaultron got ahold of me. It wasn’t clawing into the flesh yet but it was terrifying to know they could wrap around my neck with one claw. I glared at Pink, undeterred. If she could kill me for this, I would be dead already. “Assaultron, stand down. She is a little filly without a weapon, she is no threat to me.” She turned to me and put a hoof up to my chin as the assaultron released me. She shifted my head to each side, examining me.

“Good, it didn’t hurt you. These new robots are amazing in capabilities, but they are still using outdated A.I. from the ponytron models.” Pink snorted and shoved my head back down to look level with the ground. “What do you mean he got back up?”

I snorted and glared at her. I reached out for Coffee Stain’s hoof and she hesitantly took it. It was my turn to be more determined as I yanked the hoof. I pulled her close until we were shoulder to shoulder. “He was blown to bits, and he remembered being destroyed like that. He remembered dying. He gave me every single detail with his torture session.” I growled and held onto Coffee Stain’s hoof tighter. I was fighting the tears in my eyes and the response of my heart breaking. I was remembering every cut of the knife his magic healed away. “He came back to life and was at my house within an hour. How is that possible?”

Pink walked behind her desk, taking a seat in her chair and placing her chin to rest upon her hooves. “That is what we are waiting to find out. I don’t know how, and it drives me up the wall like a spoiled banana cream pie. Now, I can’t exactly move on an enemy that gets up from utter destruction like that.” She reached into her desk and pulled out a pink ment-al. Pink meant it had been altered to a party-time state. Much more potent than anything you could get without a prescription. She smashed it with a hoof and used a knife to spread out the remains into a line.

“So how do we proceed from here?” I gripped Coffee Stain’s hoof as Pink finished speaking and snorted the powder up her nose. Silver Zoom winced at her doing the drug right in front of all of us.

“Ma’am, I recommend we move forward with full apprehension team. A team of Shadowbolts and Ministry of Morale power armor troops. We shoot to capture the targets alive.” Pink nodded and looked at Coffee Stain. Silver Zoom turned to her as well.

“I will see what FIlly Scouts are combat trained and available!” Coffee Stain yanked her hoof away to salute. I tilted my head.

“The eternal scout process, it makes you effectively immortal right?” I asked her trying to piece this together.

Coffee Stain nodded, “We mostly stop aging, but we can still be killed should you apply enough explosives and time. I will not survive a megaspell or a large enough charge of C4. Just bullets generally are not enough to put me down for good. That grenade bundle you used would be lethal if it hits me as you described it, though.” I groaned and looked at Silver Zoom, who only shot me a quick glance.

I turned back around to Pink and waited for her decision. She waved a hoof, “Everybody knows we broke all of nature’s laws a long time ago. DO what you need to, apprehend them, and find out exactly how they get back up. Dismissed!”

ooOOoo

“Wow, I remember that conversation. Too bad it was the last one we had. I mean, the bombs fell the next week. Wait! Does that mean the next memory is the real spoiled milk of all these?”

I looked down as we fell through the abyss further and faster. There wasn’t a light this time, at least at first; then I realized the light was black. It somehow made the abyss even darker. I looked at Pink and reached out, embracing her as we fell into the dark. “It’s okay, Sunrise. I’ll be there for you when you come out. So will Nyota, okay?”

I know what is on the other side and I am truly not ready to go through that again.

Pink smiled and stroked my mane with a gentle smile on her face. She kissed my forehead, “Your parents would be proud of you. I am proud of you. So much so that no jokes, no cake, or pie references here. I want you to know that if you were my child, you have done right. I’ll be here on the other side with your friends.” I nodded and Pink held me tight. “Your mom may not be here, but I am and always will be. If I have to be the closest thing to your mother you ever have again, I can do that.”

What about my best friend?

Pink blinked a few times and I saw tears forming in her eyes. She was actually crying, “Pinkie Promise, I can be your best friend.” Darkness took us as her words became distant.

ooOOoo

I was in the street. It was nighttime, it was a clear night. The shield hummed and glowed overheat. Its glow was completely overshadowed by a roaring fire next to me. I was on the ground, wincing in pain, trying to get up as my mouth tasted asphalt and blood. I started to stand up. I closed my eyes, swallowing the taste in my mouth.

The sound of a burning building and cracking timbers echoed nearby. I could feel the heat of the flames against the cold of the night. Broken glass littered the ground from the shattered windows. I could smell the cordite, something exploded. I opened my eyes to look at my surroundings, nearby combat was raging.

A set of pony legs held a weapon aloft in TK nearby. Laser fire sizzled across the air and burned near the hooves, I swore several shots impacted into the figure I couldn’t make out. “Oh screw you, you stupid lackey!” The return fire of a M1 Grand Apple echoed until the ping of it’s ammunition running out ripped crisp in the air. Coffee Stain was on the ground. She was covered in cuts, a fresh bullet wound in her shoulder. She was crying; trying to stand up. Her white coat was suddenly blue and her mane was less coffee brown and more burnt brown. She looked at me with eyes that felt like I was staring into a starry abyss.

This was the look I had seen in the wasteland. This was the first time I had seen what being an Eternal Scout had done to her. She shut her eyes, trying to push herself to move through the pain. I looked up to see Silver Zoom slam into the sidewalk, right in front of the burning building. He bounced twice off the ground and rolled to a stop.

Staggering back to his hooves, Agent 88 walked upright, looking uninjured. “Dammit! Four times, four recombulations. I thought I could take a wonderbolt; I was wrong. Even a retired one nearly drained the device completely. One more time. If you just had one more time in you.” The M1 Grand Apple clattered to the ground. It was a modified version, one for a pony Coffee Stain’s size. It had Coffee Stain’s cutie mark in the stock butt.

He took Coffee Stain’s gun? When did she get a gun? He used it to kill him? Silver Zoom was trying to stand, his power armor was cut to pieces. One of his wings was completely severed, a bloody stump oozing from where it had been.

“Dammit… not as young as I used to be. Just need, YAHHH!” Silver Zoom screamed out as 88 stepped right onto the stub of the wing.

“Shut up! I’ve had enough of you three pieces of garbage.” The power armor was crippled; the shots had hit right where it counted, and Silver Zoom wasn’t moving without forcing it. “Now die!” Silver Zoom pulled a grenade with his other wing but didn’t have a chance to throw or pull the pin. 88 picked up the rifle and started beating Silver Zoom in the face with it. It was not quick or clean. He kept smashing him over and over again.

I grabbed the steel gray apple and pulled it under my chest’s barrel. I couldn’t stand, not under my own power. My right leg was broken, it was like it was a bullet magnet. Three wounds oozed from it, one cut and two small caliber gunshot wounds.

I watched as 88 used his magic to repeatedly smash against Silver Zooms busted helmet till finally there was a sickening crunch that echoed over the impacts. The sound of a skull being cracked and brains bashing out. The next hit was a greasy wet thud. I felt so much pain. I can’t move! I can’t act! No! Silver Zoom! There was a weak cry and then a crunch.

“Resist and bite.” Silver Zoom managed before the next strike made his body twitch and shudder till he stopped moving all together.

“Stupid idealist. Hope is dead and everybody knows it. This war only has one way to end. You may have been an elite among elites,” 88 spat on the dead body of Silver Zoom, “ but you are still a blind idealist. This war ends with me in a stable, you in a grave, and all the world burning. Stop trying to fight like it ends any other way.”

I coughed. I couldn’t stay still anymore. I had been friends with Silver Zoom. He said everything would be okay, he would protect me. “Silver Zoom, no, please.” I begged pathetically into the ground.

“Shut up you little white jizz stain! I swear we are not allowed to do anything to you just because our place in the stable has to be safe.” He turned to Coffee Stain as he walked up to us, throwing the rifle away. “So I’ll kill your stupid little girlfriend first!” He started to lift Coffee Stain up with his TK and she cried out in pain. Her scream of agony ripped through the air as sirens blared in the distance.

“NO!” I screamed, trying to force my broken leg to work. I was trying to force myself back up to my hooves. “LET HER GO! Or I’ll KILL MYSELF! RIGHT HERE!” I yelled back. I don’t know where the energy came from but the cries of Coffee Stain were too much to bear. I grabbed a piece of broken glass and putting it up to my throat. I pressed hard till it pricked me. My body winced in pain and I had to close my eye on that side to keep the glass pressure there. To keep my threat of ruining his plan the only way I knew how. My blood warmed my hoof while I waited for 88 to make a decision.

“You little brat!” He dropped Coffee Stain in a heap. My tail was holding the grenade, keeping it concealed inside the hair. I looked him in the face as 88 walked up to me.

I will never forget his face. He grabbed the piece of glass in his TK and threw it to the ground, holding me up by my broken leg. Searing eyes of pure hatred glared down past the white glow of his magic. The ripping white hot pain that seared into me was unrivaled. I wanted to just black out and let him win. It hurt so much as he physically held me with his hoof and then put me face to face with him. I was fighting to stay conscious, desperately trying to hang on. I failed you, Silver Zoom! I won’t fail Coffee Stain too!

“Alright you little shit, you have my attention. Now I can’t kill your half and half breed stalliongrad ass. Stupid mud pony,” he spat on me. “You have to make it to that stable or we don’t get in. So what is it gonna be, the easy way.” He nodded towards Coffee Stain then looked back at me. He gripped onto my leg and forced me to full consciousness by squeezing my wounds. “Or the hard way?”

I whimpered and mumbled, trying to find the strength to speak properly. 88 leaned in closer still, so close his spit hit my teeth. “Speak up, little cunt. Her life is on the line, you ain’t got the strength to say it out loud.”

I bit my lip to force myself to move. My adrenaline gland was on overdrive. I had to act, I had to save her. “His last words, were not idealistic speak.” I whispered to 88. I smiled very slowly. I looked at Coffee Stain and her eyes were lit up with the glint and shape of the grenade coming out. She was shaking her head as I looked at her over 88’s shoulder. My smile broadened into a smirk.

“What are you? Brain damaged? Did we actually screw up already?” I pulled the pin to the grenade with my back left hoof cup. The ping made 88 look at me, stunned as my smile turned into a laugh. 88 opened his mouth stunned and tried to speak.

I tossed the grenade up to my good foreleg and shoved it right in. The steel apple punched through his teeth and lodged in his throat as I lashed up and chomped down onto his leg holding me. My full force bite drew blood and he let out a scream, recoiling and scrambling to get the grenade out of his throat. His last words were not idealistic speak, they were an order.

I jumped onto Coffee Stain and put my body between her and him, shielding her. Then suddenly, we were in the air. Two red hooves were holding each of us, as a pegasus labored to get us into the air. I watched as 88’s head exploded into pieces and he fell over dead. “STOP! NO! GO BACK!” I shouted.

I looked up to see Markerlight in full combat armor raising an eyebrow. “We have to make sure! We have to be certain he is gone!” Markerlight was just as stunned by my request as I was to see him.

He turned around and landed near the bodies. I pulled on his plasma rifle attached at his hip. The battle saddle not giving way. “Sunrise, what is going on? That is Silver Zoom and he is dead. Who is this?”

“I’ll explain later! Listen to me—oh Celestia, it hurts!” I grabbed my leg and held it tight to my chest, falling into the ground. Coffee Stain was coming back to consciousness and looked up at him, wincing as she saw me crying on the ground. I kept sobbing, defeated. I was at a loss; I couldn’t keep going. I had no weapons, no power to end this. He was right there, his head destroyed. And I could not act.

Coffee Stain groaned at Markerlight and he looked at her confused, “By order…” her voice was incredibly weak but her eyes opened and looked at me determined. I looked at her, we shared a lovers stare that did not want to end. “Of the Ministry of Morale and Filly Scout Eternal Scout division, soldier; you are ordered to destroy that corpse till it is ash.” I heard the words, Markerlight staggered back and looked down at 88, then at Coffee Stain.

“Do it now!” She managed cried out through her own injuries and agony. Markerlight looked at Silver Zoom and then at us. I dragged myself over to Silver Zoom, crying. I couldn’t look at what was left of his face.

“I failed you…” I whimpered as I held onto his lifeless body. He was still warm and his armor was hot from the fire. “I failed you…” Markerlight approached and hit a few commands on his PipBuck 1000 attached to his power armor. He was reading something when he turned and opened fire on the corpse of 88. He fired shot after shot, as I wept and cried out. The building fire’s red was silenced by bursts of green plasma over and over. The pain in my heart, the pain in my body, I had never known something so terrible. Markerlight did not stop firing until 88 was a pile of bright green fluffy goo that was smoldering into the concrete.

It should have ended there, it should have been over. We should have checked the pile of goo, his box was in there. We could have ended this and we did not check the pile of plasma goo! My world tumbled into darkness. I felt the embrace of Coffee Stain, flying through the air, the scar across my belly made so much sense. I felt the warmth of Markerlight, the warmth of Coffee Stain. I wanted to believe everything was going to be better. Just like I did then.

Markerlight had saved me twice, and yet I never properly said thank you. Silver Zoom was dead. I never got to say goodbye. I felt so relieved, my tormenter was dead. I had avenged Silver Zoom. My only two tormentors left were being chased, and would be apprehended so very soon.. But everybody knows how the war would close. And everybody knows you can’t put monsters down that easily.

ooOOoo

I snapped awake, panting for air covered in sweat. Quick Stitch was standing over me, monitoring medical charts. Nyota was helping him and acting as his nurse. They both rushed to me as I realized my right eye was covered; it felt strange and fuzzy to look out of it. I started to remove the eye covering for it when Nyota’s hoof stopped mine. “No, Sunny, you cannot uncover it or it won’t heal.”

I groaned. My body felt warped. Every part of me was stiff and hard to move. The life support machine next to me pulsed with every beat of my heart. My breathing was slow and not rhythmic. “Good, you’re awake.” Quick Stitch declared and gave me the slightest of hugs. “I thought for a moment you might go into a full coma. You had so much brain activity; what was happening.”

I gulped and licked my lips to ease the dry feeling. “Memories, lots of them.” Pink came into focus, under the eyepatch I was wearing. She was next to a wall with a break in it, hammering away with the same beat as the throbs of my headache. Several planks were stretched over the stone and held in by nails as thick as a hoof.

“There! I have battened that breach, and double battened it. Now. Stop. Scratching. At. My. Wall.” She emphasized each word with another strike of her hammer. My world hurt, my body ached, and I had a whole lot of explaining to do.

Level Up Progress - Reached Level 14! Wait? You didn’t do anything except get memories. Oh right, memories contain XP and you technically killed a boss. A boss I didn’t give you credit for till you remembered you did it. Crap… so not fair.

Level 14 Perk - Juggermare Gain 50HP To Your Max. Holy Crap! You know you can take a hit but this is insane! A bullet to the head is like a doctor’s needle for you, isn’t it?

Chapter 45: Dazed and Refocused

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“Be not afraid of growing slowly or painfully. Be afraid of standing still.”
-Confucius

I was still there in the bed, groaning in pain, while Nyota and Quick Stitch had left me to rest after their exam. He left me with little more to do than stare up at the ceiling. The world was rather disorienting using only one eye. We should blow this place up. What they did to that artifact isn’t right.

“Ya do that and you might as well leave a crater the size of every single settlement you’ve been to? All that hard work in the Bakery of Sunrise and poof, it’s gone.” She emphasized her point by pulling out a glass of pink lemonade and then just pouring it out. I swore I could feel the wet spot on my cheek.

I thought it over and it started to dawn on me. Wait, if this place has that much power? And it made those rifles for Scopola Mina in less than—what? A day? Those forges can make how much, exactly?

Pink pulled out an abacus, a punch calculator, and a typewriter. She kept punching numbers while I was doing the math in my head and then she shrugged, “Well, assuming you could get enough chefs into that kitchen? You could make enough firepower to literally blow all of Canterlot away with bullets and lasers, till it is a nice pile of hot pink ash in a hot pink cloud.”

Pink cloud?

“Oh! You don’t know about that yet… you’ll find out later! Well, I guess Soon™ is a better term here, right?” I glared at Pink and she stared back. I knew better than to inquire anymore, her warnings about the wall were still very fresh in my mind.

I slowly pushed myself to get up. “Are you sure that is a good idea?” I felt dizzy and started to fall back over, but Nyota appeared and caught me on the edge of the bed.

“Were you here the whole time?” I turned my head towards him as his hooves gently supported me. The reassuring pressure and warmth welcome now as I searched for him with my good eye.

“Sunrise, you should know better by now. I’m always here.”

I smirked at his response as he whispered in my ear. “I take it you were hiding so Quick Stitch wouldn’t notice I’d returned?” Nyota nodded as he gently stroked my mane, before eventually pulling out a brush and starting to work on it.

“I also had to make sure Scopola Mina didn’t try to put Hydra into you and use that to quickly heal you.” I wasn’t able to respond at the moment. There is nothing I can possibly do to describe how good it feels to have someone else you trust brush your mane out. It’s a calming and relaxing process; with all the trust and love there, you would only do it to someone else if you truly cared for them. I practically melted into his hooves as he brushed, staying that way until I was actually ready to stand up.

*****

“I could seal it off but that would be a temporary solution. I really think we should destroy all this outright. If someone else finds this place and takes it from the T’doshians, they could become a real monster.” I paused and looked at each of my friends. They were actually disagreeing with me, and not just a little bit. “Remember Breakfast Blend and her army? It was a place like this that made all their armor and weapons.”

My friends took a moment. I could see their words forming as I waited. Nyota stomped his hoof, “I doubt anyone could be powerful enough to take it from the T’doshians!”

We had been discussing what to do. The forges couldn’t just be shut off; not without doing more damage to the heart underneath. I was trying to figure out how to end the threat of another Goddess with a Gun, I just wasn’t sure how, yet.

“This place is only accessible through a single tunnel, blocking that would make it impossible to get into the forge room.” I shook my head at Gisretha.

“No, you misunderstand. I want to rig this place for you, so when you leave we can prevent any creature from ever using this place again.” The T’doshians looked very concerned, or as much as they could without eyes. It was more an aura they projected onto me.

“You could seal it, but, no; there is no way to rig this place to do that. The heart is, well, permanently there.” Gisretha replied with a long frown upon his face.

“I understand both of your desires, the hurt this forge causes is dire. The Spirits and the living alike, even the planet burns in its sight.” Chifundo made us all stop and look at him. Taking all this in, this place simply was wrong.

Nyota cleared his throat, “But, this place provides us with weapons, armor, and protection, and you want to destroy it, Sunrise? Why? It’s a tool and we should use it.” My blood ran cold. Nyota and I were going to be at odds over this.

“And what about the damage we would cause to the planet?” I turned to Nyota, glaring at him. He was standing there, completely stalwart in his position. He took my words and was already prepared to shoot them back at me.

“What damage? The damage is already done! There is no amount of use we could make of this that would cause more damage than it already has,” Nyota explained, and I wanted to find a way to poke a hole in his logic. I frustratedly stared at him with a grimace.

“I gotta ask, if there is nothin’ being forged here and y’all simply turned off the forges, wouldn’t that fix the problem?” Scopola Mina inquired as we all turned to her. Her logic was sound at least.

Mountain cleared her throat and stood up tall. She towered over us as she spoke, never wavering or blinking. “It’s not the epicenter of everything. The source of the pain, of this, artifact, happened a long time ago. It is constantly reopening the wound. However, I do not believe there is any way to heal that object without significant restoration of the planet.”

We all paused and turned to the massive creature as she spoke. Gisretha and Shiretha both exchanged silent communication and then Gisretha was the one to speak. “Yes, we have studied it closely since we were... trapped here. The Crystal Heart absorbs the emotion you call, love. Using magical radiation that is not harmful to life here. However, your world distinctly lacks love. Because of that, the wound it has cannot heal. If you wanted to remove it or perhaps save it, you would need to restore the surface world to be sustainable to life and full of love again.” We all stared at him as I was starting to put all the pieces together.

The Crystal Heart was a legend taught in schools. That… that memory! The one where I was a stallion! The shiny ponies! This is their artifact! The realization dawned upon me that I saw some memories from crystal ponies, in my head. That might be because I had something to do with this. The boxes in our chests, the recombulators, they were forged here! I have one! Did I—

Pink slapped me hard enough to derail that train of thought, while even riding on a small toy train, before she threw it into a pile with a loud crashing noise in my head. “NOPE! Not letting that train through the junction, gotta make sure you don’t make with the claws and the scratching posts against the wall.” I winced trying to recover my thoughts. “You need to figure out how to stop the wound from opening more. Tell them!”

“Nyota, what are you talking about? Every single time those forges are used, it opens the wound back up. We might not be doing any damage but we certainly are not helping it heal.” I turned to the group as I vented my thoughts and feelings. “That is supposed to be an artifact, a legend in Equestria. A piece of pure crystalized love.” I hesitated and bit my lip. “Yet looking at it blinded my eye and just being near it sucks all emotion out of us. What would you have us do?”

Nyota snubbed his nose up and glared down at me, “Use it! Mountain and Gisretha have said it isn’t doing anymore damage or harm! We should make sure of it; it is a resource for our survival.” Alguacil stood next to Nyota and snorted down, nodding his head in agreement.

I paused, taking a moment to properly process what they were saying. I hung my head, knowing I was defeated. I can break this place but they could still fix it, knowing what’s here.

“Couldn’t you just live with making it unlivable?” Scopola Mina offered.

“When I die, my PipBuck will tell them this place is here. If I do not secure it away from them, someone will find it and use it once the T’doshians go home.” I turned to let my words sink in.

Nyota cleared his throat, “As much as this conversation continues going nowhere, I’m gonna put this really simply.” He rolled his eyes at me and then turned back. “Unless you are willing to level a huge area of Equestria and permanently destroy the Crystal Heart, then there is nothing you can do except make it inaccessible and uninhabitable. Then, when the T’doshians leave, they shut it all down as much as possible. We just hope that your fears never come to pass!” he finished his statement with a stomp of his hoof to get our attention back to his point. “It’s that simple!” He placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Can you live with that? Places like this exist and, simply put, we have to protect them as best we can.”

I nodded and groaned, “So without the original research notes, we have no way to shut it down.”

“Surely we can trust our new friends, they helped the stars make amends.” Chifundo offered, pointing to our otherworldly company gathered nearby.

“We can’t remove that Crystal Heart from Equestria, right? I mean, how much power does it draw from us using it?” Scopola Mina nudged me to get an answer.

“It does not matter how we use it anyway. It is a geothermal generator effectively based upon the design and plans I can gather. It does not matter what we turn off or on, that generator has been running this whole time and is drawing and generating the same amount of power regardless of use.” I placed my hoof to my head, it hurt from just thinking through all that. I felt Pink pushing a firehose somewhere in my mind, fighting to keep my headache away like a firefighter trying to put out a blaze.

“So if it is using the power anyway, what good is shutting the place down? Why don’t we use it more, while we have the opportunity?” Nyota gestured to me, his eyes narrowing as he demanded an answer. An answer I honestly did not have, beyond my feelings of trepidation and the creeping shivers that shifted across my skin. I shifted uncomfortably against those shivers. The thought of using something so twisted, made from something so pure, according to the legends, was disturbing.

“And if I blow it up, the power and energy would have to go somewhere with the force of—”

“What, a couple of them megaspells?” Alguacil asked with a smirk. “It can’t be that bad.”

I chuckled; it was actually sort of funny. He didn’t understand just how much power was there. “HA! That is a drop in the pond compared to what it would do. It would be like… as Pink put it, all the megaspells dropped all in one spot.” I wasn’t sure where all that power was going either. The only thing I could fathom was the other points on the map. The places in the Overmare’s office, all being powered by this device.

“Then I agree with Nyota and Alguacil. If y’all can’t destroy it, and it ain’t going to cause more damage to use it, we take the benefits and use it for good.” Scopola Mina spoke as she moved her hooves, pointing at each of my companions. They stood up straight and turned to me with looks of affirmation and satisfaction, expecting my reply to agree with her. Her words made sense, all of their words did. Something about using a twisted machine for the purpose of good felt like something a bad comic book villain would do.

They always think you’re doing the right thing, and to me, the ends never justify the means. You have to stay pure, but when there is no good choice, what do you do? I sighed and finally nodded, conceding. The irritation in my right eye made me want to scratch it but I held off. Flashes of the violated and warped Crystal Heart coursed across the vision against the eyepatch, forcing me to close that eye once again. At least it got my right eye, I can still aim when I shoot.

“Hey, it means you won’t have to give blind firing a whole new meaning! Now focus on the thing y’all are fighting about before it does resort to actual shots fired!” Pink interjected with a soft thwap in my skull to emphasize her point.

I hung my head in absolute defeat, “I do not want to use it. It makes us barely better than the creatures that built this place. It feels like I am working to create megaspells that I intend to use. That felt so wrong back in The Roof. This feels wrong, too.”

Nyota shook his head, “Scopola Mina is making sense. You are just trying to find a moral high ground here that—”

“If I may interject, keep your cool in check. This place is a tap that is running a subsystem, there is something bigger that creates this ecosystem. I suggest it is that we must locate, in order to close this floodgate?” We all turned to Chifundo and for once, I thought this argument finally had something we were in agreement on. There was a brief moment where I looked at my friends, then we both looked at the T’doshins, before finally turning to Chifundo.

“Chifundo, is it hurting the planet at all from what you sense with the spirits within?” I asked as we all finally gathered around. The tension in the room finally began dying down just a little bit.

“From what I can bring to light, it is no greater than a bug bite.” Chifundo took a seat and crossed his legs in a zebra custom. It was as though he was taking the stance of an elder educating his students.

“But if you get enough bites like that, it can kill you; right? Assuming you do not heal from them?” I scratched my head, trying to get a true scope of what was going on.

“What we are doing is trying not to cause anymore damage, but the minor pieces we are taking are not actually hurting that much. I’m sorry, Sunny, but I don’t follow your logic.” Nyota snorted. “The minute damage could be used to create a better benefit. I’m gonna stop arguing, I’m going to go make you an eyepatch,” Nyota huffed as he stormed off.

“I… I…” I was stuttering, and the glares of disagreement turned to looks of worry. I bit my lip and tried to hold in my stutters while I compiled my thoughts. I was lost. My love and I had just completely disagreed and now I felt powerless to actually fix this place. How would I be able to fix the Crystal Heart and maybe help Equestria heal?

“Sunrise, this place is more like a tap than a source, we should seek out the larger problem as our course?” Chifundo started pointing towards the stairs down into the power plant room, where the heart lay, then pointed back out towards the ladder that led up into the living quarters and greenhouse room. I looked up at Chifundo. I felt the tears in my eyes. I didn’t get it; why was Nyota so intent on using this place?

“Sometimes I think I understand him completely and others… I feel lost and like I am tearing him apart just by trying my best to follow the things I was taught.” I resigned myself to just sitting there. My friends had already decided this place was okay to use. I really did not want to use it anymore. I wondered what Quick Stitch thought, or if Alguacil had any more thoughts on it. But, at the end of the day, I had lost this debate.

“Y’all, the point is, by trying to stop this it ain’t fixing the problem. We need to get to the source.” Scopola Mina affirmed and walked away to join Nyota.

“I cannot justify that!” I shouted as Snuggles jumped back. I had been ignoring Snuggles’s presence as hard as possible until it cried out at my shouting.

Chifundo passed Snuggles to Scopola Mina. He came up to me and embraced me in a tight hug. “Focus our energies where the most good can be achieved, this is one piece that cannot be relieved.” I nodded against him, softly sobbing in defeat.

I had imagined if I ever saw the Crystal Heart, it would radiate love. It was like a fairy tale, and yet here I was, meeting that fairy tale, and now I’m left wishing I had never opened that shutter.

“I agree, this place in an abomination that must be stopped, but it is from the source that must be chopped.” Chifundo held up my PipBuck and pressed the buttons to get it where he could see the map that highlighted the various points around the wasteland. “One of theses spots is that which we seek, perhaps there we can make this land less bleak.”

I nodded, looking at the other five locations and knocked them off one by one. “Galloping Gorge is unlikely, it’s located too far away from Vanhoover or Tall Tale to have the infrastructure. The one near Manehattan is just that, near Manehattan but still off in the mountains away from the major rail stations.” I scrolled the map around to get a better view. “That leaves the one north of Dodge City near the major road, but the only thing close to there is the old castle, long abandoned to the Everfree Forest.” That left one place. The seat of power in Old World Equestria. “That leaves Canterlot, at the base where all the railroads meet under the mountain…” I trailed off.

Of course! Where is the best place to hide something? In plain sight! I recoiled in horror that something so heinous had been done right under the noses of everyone. Right at the very heart of Equestria. “Well, I guess that means we may be going there sooner rather than later.” I tucked my PipBuck away as a new Objective came up, with Pink holding up the sign: “New Quest: Restore Equestria.”

Oh Come on! You’ve got to be kidding me! I went upstairs, knowing I had lost any further argument the moment Nyota stormed off. I found Quick Stitch in the medical ward, waiting for me. He was examining a chart while Bodda Pett, my new bunny, was eating some lettuce. I sat next to him and softly stroked his soft fluffy fur. It was soothing to have something so skittish and cute, curled against you and seeking your company.

“Well, Sunrise, your curiosity’s gonna cost several treatments to your eye. I am going to say,” Quick Stitch looked at me with eyes that spelled it out. He gulped at he held the needle up. “Your mornings are not going to be pleasant for a while.” Quick Stitch spoke with his usual affirmation and standing up tall. He had the expression a father would when telling his child they had to get stitches. He knew it would hurt, he knew they would scream, but he knew it was for their own good. He said as I turned to him and nodded with a frown. He pulled the clipboard away from his face and set it onto a table. He was approaching me as I reached up to touch the eye and a hoof grabbed onto mine firmly. He held it until he was sure I wasn’t going to touch it.

“No touching, at all.” His voice was stern and he was unblinking as he talked. “It’s going to be several weeks with you wearing that eye patch or keeping it closed until the rods inside your photo-receptors are able to be exposed to normal light again.” He held up a needle and tested with a few thumps to get rid of the air bubbles. “That is for in the morning, and if we don’t put it in your eye tomorrow; every day for the next few weeks.” He paused and shut his eye, pointing at it and poking with his hoof. “You will lose your eye all together.” Quick Stitch let out a burdened sigh and shook his head, looking back up towards the door. “Alright, I’ll leave you to rest for now. In the morning, well, I suppose you won’t like seeing me in the mornings from now on.” He approached right up to me and gave me a soft hug.

“Your heart is in the right place and if it makes you feel better I agree with you.” He shifted against me to be as gentle as possible while I returned the hug. We shared a moment of warmth and then slowly, our legs withdrew.

“Thank you Quick Stitch, I will try to not have you work inside me again if I can help it.” I looked up at him while rubbing the back of my head, using that to avoid itching my eye. I was starting to realize how lucky we were to have him.

“Good, I don’t want to be in competition with Nyota for number of times inside you.” He cracked a smile and a soft chuckle. I blushed and squirmed like a caught animal. I felt like something inside me crack a little bit. It was like he had found a quip I had no response to. Quick Stitch just patted my head and walked towards the door.

I felt the air deflate and I was alone with Bodda Pett. Suddenly, I felt his weight on my head and the scent of ozone, the scent of magical residue. My PipBuck clicked once with a single rad and I looked up to where Bodda Pett was now nestled in my mane. He hadn’t jumped there, I would have felt the impact, and as I tilted my head, he flashed out of existence. I followed my E.F.S. marker to the green dot that was him. He was sitting against my rear hoof, warming it.

“Nyota was right, you do have some magic in you.” I reached down and placed him in my hooves as gently as possible. I lifted him up to my eyes and took some time to examine the rabbit colored rabbit for any signs that would indicate where the magic came from. But, finding nothing. No device, no unicorn horn, not even after combing through his fur to see if there was something. He was completely clean.

“How did you get the ability to teleport?” I asked Bodda Pett, expecting an answer from a creature I knew could not talk.

It was then when Scopola Mina came in, munching on a cookie. “Ya know Sunrise, cake and pie are nice but cookies, nothing beats cookies. No matter how you feel; cookies always make it better.” I blinked a few times as Scopola Mina offered me a cookie.

“No drugs?” I asked, remembering how the Filly Scouts normally peddled their goods.

“Sunrise, you and Nyota already went through the trouble of making sure to stay off the drugs from the coffee. I wouldn’t do that to y’all again.” I felt an itch, not in my hoof but the itch for the chill of Med-X. I accepted the cookie and took a bite of the chocolate chip. It was quite delicious and there was no tingle of radiation or registry on my PipBuck. I looked at her, a little confused.

“Oh, I made them today! There are some cocoa beans in the greenhouse and, well, I figured I could make the chocolate and cookies today.” Scoopla Mina smiled and murred as she munched on the cookie. The new glasses looked less nerdy and gave her a much more mature and fun look to her. They fit her nicely and actually made her eyes look more in focus on my end. “This place is amazing with all the amenities they have.”

The feeling of something dreadful filled my mind and I looked at Scopola Mina. I could feel the horror painted on my face and she stopped chewing the cookie in her mouth. Her eyes were a bit wide as she looked at me and I stared at her. “Promise you will not tell the Scouts where this place is?”

Scopola Mina frowned and looked a little hurt. She deflated and swallowed what was left of her cookie. “Ya know, Sunrise, I had thought maybe you wouldn’t mind or that you had reconciled with the scouts.”

I shook my head slowly side to side, “Until I see major changes within the scouts, I would say no. And I would like you to keep this place a secret.” Scopola Mina walked up and gave me a soft hug.

Everyone is so huggy today! I thought as we embraced and she released me, offering another cookie. I took the cookie and watched her expression carefully. “You are my friend, and for a friend I will say yes. I will not tell or show the scouts where this place is.”

I liked her wording there. She took the time to specify, and that was something you always had to do with the Filly Scouts. “Thank you,” I took another bite of the cookie as Scopola Mina resumed her walk back through the stable, prancing and humming to herself on her way out.

“I’m gonna go see how everyone else enjoys my cookies!” She called back as she trotted out of sight, with her head held high and her humming echoing off the walls in song. I was still feeling the fatigue of my surgery. I assume they had surgery to save my eye, considering my PipBuck date has moved by almost a full two days. From there I curled up into the medical bed and yawned heavily, before slowly drifting off to sleep.

*****

I woke up being carried by Nyota, my eyepatch having been changed for something new. It wasn’t in the classic medical bandage style. It was something more personally crafted that fit quite well. I didn’t feel the itch. The band that held it on didn’t grind or move through my mane when I moved my head. I was trying to figure out where we were. The sensation I was sure of, Nyota was was carrying me across his back through the steel bulkheads of the stable.

“Where are we going?” I asked, and Nyota nuzzled against my head with a hoof as he stopped. I had to turn my head to bring my left eye to bare on him to see his face. He looked back with his right eye, and I felt like the two of us could share a pair of sunglasses.

“To bed, love,” His reply made me squirm a little, but his hoof came up and stopped me from sliding off his back. He shook his head slowly side to side and then resumed his leisurely pace through the halls.

I curled into his back, holding my hooves firmly but as tenderly as I could around his neck. Gently resting my head against his mane, inhaling the scent of his sandalwood soap. “I will never be used to Stables again. I remember.” I spoke with a soft sigh, as if the air were just rolling out and I was simply moving my lips to keep myself steady inside rather than out.

"As familiar as this all is? This isn't a Stable. From what I've been reading, this is a facility that was working for the ministries. You saw the forges, the things they were working on... and…” He stopped and I could feel a chill run down his spine. He then turned his head and brought a hoof up to give me half a hug, more to reassure himself. Just to make sure he was right and I was okay. "What they made here has given us more than a few chances to be better, and I'm betting that the others are starting to notice that this isn't their first rodeo."

I released him from the hug with a soft nudge of my muzzle, “This feels like a Stable in every way and... what do you mean, notice that it is not your first rodeo?” I felt my confusion painted across my face as my curiosity peaked. I also felt the warm ball of rabbit fluff curling inside my back armor between the flak vest and my stable-suit.

“The boxes, recombulators. Sorry, that word is a mouthful, Sunny.” He smacked his lips a few times to untie his tongue. “You and I have been through several lifetimes now.” He looked in my eye with his good eye. I felt his shudder as he had some thoughts he did not voice at the end of his sentence. It was a ticklish ripple over my ribs.

I closed my eyes and embraced the soft head stritch with a happy murmur. “Nyota, I do not know if I will ever be able to talk about it.” My body felt cold and distant while I spoke. I knew this feeling, this was a warning that if I dove too deep; a memory would bleed through. “I keep remembering bits and pieces; most of them are not good or happy. If my friends or you were not there, or the star children were hostile...” I shivered, thinking about where I would be, knowing it would be outside. “I would have fled into the rad storm outside instead.”

Nyota’s breath and his nuzzle made sure I stayed in the moment. “If they had been hostile?” He chuckled and smirked, “I’d have joined you. The techniques Mountain has shown me are downright scary. I’m strong, but I ain’t stupid or crazy.” Nyota shuddered and shook his head. “Don’t tell the others, but she scares me.”

I looked down, ashamed. I felt the warmth in my cheeks, “So long inside that Stable. Fewer foals everytime I went into the lab. I know some were dying. I did nothing, I did nothing till I finally blew a hole into the stable wall and…” I trailed off as my eyes went wide. I felt the horror in my bones as I stared through Nyota, rather than at him as my head turned up. “I compromised every pony in there and doomed them all to escape.”

Nyota shook his head and kissed my forehead, making me blush. “No, Sunny, you did what you had to do for survival. Remember that what you did could have ended a lot of suffering.” He winced and paused his pace. We had just gotten to the stairs down towards the middle level. “It may seem cruel to say it out loud but, honestly, whatever happened was probably a mercy.” He pointed at my coat. “Look at yourself, you have to deal with not being your pre-war color, much less knowing where your cutie mark came from.”

“Nyota, I have to ask something.” I was hesitating and both of us stopped on the stairs. I was still draped over his back like a trophy. It was comfortable, mind you, but still the image of a hunter doing this was pretty vivid. “You know what is going through my mind... how are you doing? What is going on inside your head and with the spirit...Ember? Was that her name? With Ember in there with you?” I stood there with him, staring in concern and hoping he could at least alleviate some of what I was trying to process.

“Sunny, I’m good. It’s a bit disconcerting to know that Ember is more than what I expected. It’s still really weird to think about it. Spirits are just that, beings that are manifested from emotions or of a formerly living being. They don’t have feelings, or even really form beyond what they inhabit.” He used his hooves to help explain it by touching me then making motions in the air as if he were drawing something on an invisible chalkboard. “She has a name, feelings, and even killed us, once. As far as I am concerned Sunrise, the spirits are as much alive as you and me. Pink and Ember are just the two we share existence with.”

I examined him and tilted my head to the side. My eyes finished scanning and finally I just closed my eyes. “How do you always take things better than me?”

“Well, apart from ten years of constant drug use? When you go on a trip walking the razor’s edge between reality and spirits, you really just get a dark sense of humor and odd coping mechanisms.” I could tell he was alluding more to nearly dying, jumping around, and almost killing himself with drugs. That, or I was reading into this too much.

“Where are my coping mechanisms? I mean, all I know is to throw myself into your hooves or, well, Med-X feels really good.” I smirked, thinking of how nice the chill of that drug needle would feel right then.

“I can pretty much guarantee that I’m absolutely terrible for you, worse than Med-X.” He chuckled and lifted my chin, giving me a sweet kiss. That kiss turned into a passionate embrace and only with extreme reluctance did I pull away. His warmth was certainly better than the chill in my veins from a Med-X shot.

“I guess we are stuck together.” He pointed a hoof at my comment and winked, resuming our walk to our room. It wasn’t far now, just another corridor and then the hydraulic bulkhead door would open, three fourths of the door into the ceiling and one fourth into the floor.

“I could live with that. I mean, unless something truly horrific happens to the boxes, we will just keep getting back together, right?” I smiled and pulled out the recollector from my bags he was carrying down to our room. He allowed me to get down off his back and I nodded.

“Yes and we can use this to make sure we do not forget who we were.” I smirked and leaned up to kiss his neck, putting the device away. “Even with Coffee Stain, I will always seek you. You have been the one pony I can rely on to keep me sane, and when stuff feels wrong, you make it right.” I was remembering our argument earlier but it felt like it simply no longer mattered. Like forgive and forget was better for us than actually talking it out. The fatigue of standing was catching up as I let out a big yawn and closed my eyes.

“I think you give me too much credit, and our friends too little. They keep me sane and help you stay on the rails just as much as I do.” Nyota took advantage of the yawn and nipped my neck, which made me yelp. “I get the feeling we’ve all met before—several times, mind you. I remember delivering a blue book to you once, not sure what was in it.”

I let out a meep with his second nip and he kissed my lips to make me be quiet while pressing the button to close the door. I pulled away to catch my breath and smirked at him. “That may be true but I would not have somepony to confide my darkest hours,” I bopped him on the nose, “Without you.” I walked to the bed and curled up into it willingly. I knew he was right behind me, but it was the act of not being coaxed that struck me here. He moved in and I interlocked my legs with his, starting to curl up to sleep against his warmth.

There is something truly magnificent about being curled against him. I wasn’t sure if it was the blankets and the warmth underneath or just the fact I could use his heartbeat to tune out the stable noises. He whispered as quiet as he could against my ear, “I hope that the memories we make last a lifetime.” The last thing I remember before sleep was him kissing my forehead.

*****

I awoke groggily and shifted searching for Nyota in the sheets. My PipBuck registered the time as just after 5 a.m. My hoof found Nyota. He had not pulled away at all, and just my legs were slightly numb. “Five more minutes… I plowed the field yesterday…” He mumbled in his sleep and it made me smile. I pulled in close to make him the small spoon and held him tight with my forelegs. He didn’t wake up until well, we were tied together at the hip. That morning we properly indulged and took our time.

Nyota held me tight, almost too tight. He softly held on and shuddered, “Please don’t press S.A.T.S. when we’re having fun like that again. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

I nodded to him and frowned, “I should encourage you to use it more often, to get used to it. It has helped me avoid shooting you. I thought maybe it would be fun for both of us. I’m sorry I scared you.” We both turned our heads as the scent of someone cooking breakfast wafted in from outside the door. The ventilation was clearly bringing in the smell of eggs, seaweed bacon, and real pancakes! “Should we go to breakfast since we already had dessert?”

Nyota bumped my nose hard enough to make me wince but not so hard it hurt. “Not till we have a proper shower. It is our last day here.” We got up and made our way to the shower. We were not just walking; I was grinding my flank against his. Our lips would meet and we would pause, wanting to go back to bed. I fluttered my eyes as he worked the faucet to get the water going. Finally when I took the first steps under the cascade, everything felt wondrous. The hot water was so welcoming, especially for sore muscles I had from this morning. Nyota was a vision of ecstasy to look at, soaked head to toe. He must of thought the same as he blushed, looking at me getting rinsed off.

I tore myself away from him and looked at my Stable-Tec barding, then at the sturdy walls. Bodda Pett was contently sleeping in my armor and clothing. “Hot showers and a secure bunker...if not for the Stable-Tec logos, I would ask if we really had to leave.” I looked at the yellow horse-shoe with a set of three lines running out from each side on the wall. The dot in the middle of the yellow shoe was almost mesmerizing. “As it is, though, I think I could not stay here much longer.”

Nyota ruffled my mane, starting to wash my head for me. It was soothing to feel the scrubbing and the hot water mixing together, the tension carried in my scalp evaporating with the near-scalding water. “I wouldn’t mind staying longer, but we have things to do and a mystery to fix.” He was careful to avoid my eyepatch and keep it in place. “So relax and let me get you clean with the luxuries from your time, before we go face the wasteland.”

I turned my focus upon scrubbing him back, working to make sure both of us were completely cleaned from head to hoof. “I would agree, if we were not in this stable.”

“I can understand some of what you mean, this place is so clean and well maintained it just feels wrong.” Nyota looked me over with concern, he could feel the soft shaking I was doing as the thoughts of the Stable dwelled in my mine. He timidly stroked my mane to my cheek, breaking my trace.

I shook my head and nuzzled up against his neck to reassure him. “This place, you know now how I felt when I woke up in a stasis pod back in Stable 43’s experimentation lab.”

“I cannot imagine what that was like love, but this isn’t that place and you’re not alone.” He reached back with a hoof and slowed his pace towards the room we were staying in. “You will never be alone if I can help it.” He grabbed onto my mane and pulled me back, not harshly, but with just enough pressure so I knew to look up at him. Without saying another word, he pulled me into a deep kiss. It was like truly awakening to embrace him and feel his hoof stroke down my mane. He was letting me know I could pull away anytime I wanted; gentle enough that I felt absolutely safe.

I had no intention of backing away, only holding myself there and letting us stay in that moment for as long as we were allowed. The only reason we stopped was because I had to breath eventually. He smiled and blushed, and I radiated the same lovers’ blush back to him. The hot water kept our faces red and white as our bodies tried to regulate our warmth. That and the butterflies in my stomach that raged up to my throat. He playfully took his hoof and diverted some water into my face to wash over my neck.

“Maybe you can figure out how to build this heating system and make new mattresses for Silver Fang and The Roof?” I smiled and we idly talked, going over each other’s yesterday. I talked about making the various pieces of armor, improving our equipment, Scopola Mina’s new glasses and the parts for the tank. He talked about his day with Mountain as we set about making our plans moving forward. Getting the tank operational was the next obvious goal, followed by investigating the other locations in my PipBuck.

Which is thankfully waterproof! I talked about the T’doshian’s showing us their… parts... and Nyota had to have it explained to him what an ovipositor was. And I had to have it explained to me what Mountain’s hammer technique was, and got some first hand experience to examine from earlier in bed. That poor bed was in for another night.

*****

As soon as breakfast was done, Quick Stitch took me up to the medical room. The mornings from now on were accompanied by the worst thing ever now. The eyepatch was off and the room was dark save for his blacklight he was using to illuminate his work. A clamp held my eye open as he held the needle from the previous day. “Okay, Sunrise. I need you to breath regularly and just stare straight ahead.” He was speaking as the needle was positioned right above my iris. All I could see was the needle and his hoof. He wasn’t using his magic to guide the needle for fear the brightness would affect my eye. I gulped and wanted to scream.

It was like looking down the barrel of a gun with a bayonet attached, millimeters away from you and there was nothing you could do about it! My body and my eye wanted to close, with all the might in my muscles. I saw the bubbling red-green liquid inside the syringe. “Okay, you won’t feel anything, I promise, and it’s only one cc, one milliliter of the medication.” The needle pressed down and raw terror gripped my heart. It took all my willpower to not flee from Quick Stitch right then. I froze up with all my conflicting emotions I felt the pressure fill my eye and then it was over.

When he removed the clamp, I finally released my breath and gasped for air as my heart pounded in my head. He then placed the patch back on and turned back on lights. “Celestia’s sake! How many times do we have to do that?”

Quick Stitch gave me more gentlecolt strokes across my neck and head he could, “Three weeks, that’s all, Sunrise. Just once a day for three weeks and your eye will be completely healed.”

I growled, “I almost want to just be blind and end this.” I snarled up at him and he smirked at me.

My petulant expression prompted him to just start laughing, “I’ve never had a patient ask for the option of lifelong disability over a treatment to fix it; thank you, Sunrise.” It wasn’t funny, I was serious! The thought of going through that event twenty more times was not something I would ever look forward to.

I armored up and we had the sled ready with all the tank parts. I took my place next to Nyota on it to help pull the sled to the ranger station. My armor was heavier now, but I also knew it would provide more protection. If anything the new crystalline chest plate might actually stop an anti-material rifle.

Scopola Mina was talking to Hallow, going over his care. She was also making sure the T’doshians heard her and understood everything she was saying to make sure he stayed sane. “Alright, you all need to listen. When he dies again, make sure you have his antipsychotics ready for him within six hours,” She levitated over the recipe. “If you do that, he should be fine. Oh! And try not to take any bullets into your cube; I get that Sunrise’s box is okay but you might lose something if yours get hit.”

I cleared my throat to get their attention as Scopola Mina stopped midway through drawing on Hallow’s chest. “I mean, we tried to hurt one with a 9mm round and it just bounced off. I am sure there is not a whole lot that can hurt one of those cubes.” The T’doshians each came up to me and gave me a deep hug.

The group hug was strange with their carapace, but I could get used to it. They were so warm when they hugged me and it felt like I could share their emotion as well as the hug. “I hope I see you all before you go home.”

Gisretha nodded as the hug broke, “I promise we shall stop by and see you, Sunrise, once our ship is rebuilt and we can leave. Thank you for helping us figure that out.” As he spoke, Nyota and Mountain gave each other a hoof bump with their rear hooves; it was almost a buck that shook the ground around us.

“Good! You are getting better.” Mountain reached over and patted Nyota’s head like he was a trained dog.

Nyota snickered and looked at me, “Well, I got a lot of practice this morning.” His words caused me to blush furiously and hold my head down.

“We heard. Use the talisman.” Mountain was not helping! I put my head into the dirt outside the stable door and waited for their conversation to be over.

Quick Stitch approached and presented the two eggs to the T’doshians. His new radiation tainted hair flowed like a wind blew across it. I still was going to have to get used to his hair suddenly flowing like a princess’s whenever he flared his magic up. It was strange for him to have windswept hair without wind; much less that it sparkled. The eggs shifted to a pale green and Shirella pushed the eggs back into Quick Stitch. “I cannot. They do not wish to be with us. They are imprinted upon you. They say, ‘give us back to mother’.”

“We could bring Twitty here for them at this point,” I suggested and to get the subject off Nyota’s ‘Training Regime’.

“Is the doc gonna leave the eggs here with them?” Scopola Mina shot back.

Quick Stitch shook his head, “Apparently they want to stay with me?”

Quick Stitch got a smile on his face and had a glow about him like I had when I found out I was pregnant. He was looking at us sheepishly and Nyota took a step away from Quick Stitch visibly. Chifundo did as well; just not as many as Nyota. Nyota physically moved the sled when he did that and pulled me along with a yelp.

“Well, you wonder why I can’t get romantic with Quick Stitch? I’m not into MILFs.” We all turned to Scopola with a leer and a glare. Then we cracked a smile at her, she was right; he was too much of a parent figure to us. He wasn’t really the type any of us could see dating.

“Are you okay with this?” Quick Stitch took a moment to look at all of us.

“It is not our choice to make.” As Nyota spoke we all turned to Chifundo for some guidance.

“The spirits may not find it superb, but I think we should no longer be disturbed.” He said all this with an affirmative nod of approval at the T’doshians we had come to call friends. “So long as they tend to Hallow, and do not allow him to wallow.”

The T’doshians turned and gave the blue pegasus a group hug that brought a light to all their faces and ours. I smirked at Quick Stitch, “I guess you are mommy now, too?”

“Like you aren’t going to be soon? I’m just trying to preserve life, regardless of what it is, wherever I can find it.” I facehoofed and sighed.

“No, I just have to wrap my head around the idea of raising an alien from another planet if you keep those eggs.” This brought a smile to everyone’s face. This was not the strangest thing we had heard today, much less this week! Even Pink snickered as I voiced my concern out loud.

I looked at the T’doshians and frowned, “What do we do when they grow up? Do we tell them about you? Will they not want to go to your homeworld?” I was really confused, trying to put it all together. “Do they consider this home now? How do we explain why there are not others like them?”

Shirella and Gisretha took turns speaking which made it more awkward and unnerving as they finished each other’s sentences. “You keep assuming our species are exactly the same. We are not. We know our lineage and who we are when we are born. We are made.”

“So from what you are telling me, they have made a coherent adult decision they should make?” I tapped my hoof to emphasize my points. All three T’doshians nodded in response. I shrugged “Well, we are gonna have the weirdest village ever.”

“No. You will bow down and worship us as gods.” All of us looked at Mountain, shocked, until she burst out laughing and I swore the vibrations registered on the Richter scale.

“Did you just make a joke?” Scopola Mina cautiously asked and the other T’doshians snickered and laughed as well.

Alguacil cleared his throat, “Remember if you see creatures with spikes or covered in blood; they ain’t friends.”

Mountain cracked her chitin and smirked, “If they are like that, they are prey.”

“Oh, don’t go around eatin’ folks. That’ll get ya shot too, and folks ‘ill really hate you. So no intelligent species, got it?” Alguacil took his eye to look over each of them.

“I thought these raiders were not intelligent, I thought they were barely salvage—” I hugged Shillera to make him be quiet.

“Okay, one baby step at a time. It will take longer to understand our culture.” Alguacil nodded at my reply and then looked at Hallow.

“Just ask yer friend Hallow if you should eat ‘em or not.” Alguacil facetaloned with one of his talons while pointing at Hallow with the other. There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

I started back to the sled and Scopola Mina stopped me. She levitated out a set of pills with the word ‘Fixer’ on it. I looked at it and held my head down in shame. I used my tail to put the drug into my saddlebag. I grimaced, knowing what I should do next. I reached into my bags for every bit of Med-X I had.

The T’doshians and Hallow went back inside as I passed Scopola any remaining Med-X I had. “So, I gave Scopola all my Med-X.” I looked at Quick Stitch with a heart full of guilt and my body felt like it weighed a ton. They all gave each other a soft exchange of looks. “I have a Med-X problem. I need all your help to make sure I keep it at bay.”

Alguacil nodded and grunted, “So unless Quick Stitch says yes, keep it ‘way from ya.” I felt like that was everything that needed to be said.

I checked the sled again, just to make sure all the equipment was here. A spell-matrix engine, a stack of 75mm shells with various types form HE to AP to Anti-Tank. Several dozen missiles and eight full sets of tracks. A pile of machine gun rounds and fresh medium machine guns were laid to keep the tracks pinned down. Spare armor and a blowtorch were the crowning pieces. This was everything needed to fix the tank. It was almost a third of an actual tank! This sled was weighed down by close to three and a half tons. It took myself, Alguacil, and Nyota to move it but we started through the wasteland.

We got through the wasteland unmolested. Nothing seemed to want to come near us. When we got to the ranger station, the doors were blown off and the tank was missing. Next to the station were the burned out remains of the Heartfire cabin, but they hadn’t been burned recently; they were ancient and rotting away.

This left more questions than answers, as we all looked up, hearing strange music in the air; something completely unexplained had happened. We could not stop to really analyze it. I was mad! My tank was missing, and drag marks dug into the ground towards the North. Drag marks with rust from the road wheels of a tank without treads. All that work, and I still have to go fight for it! We were all pissed now We had a new mission.

“Follow those tracks! I did not make all this equipment for no damn reason!” I shouted as we started dragging the sled once more.

Pink Appeared on my H.U.D. holding a sign: “Quest Updated: Steal Your Tank Back!”

Chapter 46: The Shoe on the Other Hoof

View Online

“When Anger Rises, Think of the Consequences”
-Confucious

We were following the twin trails of drag marks. It wasn’t hard at all to see them. Nyota or Alguacil would stop us about once every two or three hours. We were running into the places where those dragging the tank had camped: fortified positions with entrenchments and fox holes dug. There was also a depressed spot where something heavy had been sitting. That has to be where they were putting the tank.

After two days of walking and dragging our own sled, we were approaching Taintwood on my map. I could see the overgrown plants and flora on long abandoned buildings. I looked up and noticed vines the size of an oak tree jutting out of the taller buildings, ten or twenty stories up. Either the place had grown, or I had become more observant. Nyota and Alguacil worked to create us a path, not that there was much work to do. Whoever had been hauling the tank had killed more of the plant-life as they dragged the tank over it.

The smell of dead animals hit my nose first. Why does dead-things smell make my eye itch more!?

Pink snickered and then flat out laughed, “Why do you think they call them eye, nose, ear, and throat doctors? They’re all connected like a big funnel cake!” I groaned at Pink’s imaginative explanation of biology. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind when my PipBuck beeped and I stopped to look at it.

Having one eye made it harder to read since I had to move the PipBuck to a closer position to overcome the lack of depth perception. I also had to stretch my leg further since my right eye couldn’t see it. Before my eyes, I watched the map on my PipBuck change. A location came up: “Parking Garage.” It was still some distance away but it changed the name. “Upsville.” What the—? How does it know to do that? My current objective marker also changed to reflect the position of this location.

‘Get My Tank Back’ came up and below it was the name: Upsville. All of this displayed on my H.U.D. and I stared, slightly confused. Wait, has this been so natural to me that I just ignored it before? I notice now, after having been left with one eye?

Pink laughed and rolled across my E.F.S. marker, “Well, when you actually set the objective instead of just lumbering around like a ninny all the time; yes! That is how it works! Your PipBuck is smarter than you, isn’t it?” I really wanted to slug Pink for that one but it did bring a smile to my face.

One day, we need to sit down and figure out how all these things worked. Nyota stopped my walking and I looked at him, confused. He pointed down, directing my attention to a crushed flower, one with the yellow petals and spiny parts that Jackal told us to avoid. I nodded to him, “Thank you.” I put my right leg down and carefully avoided it, now paying more attention to where I was going.

It seems that others weren’t as fortunate, as a few pony bodies around us were being mutated and mutilated by vines and plantlife. It was the beginning of the process that would turn them into things like the charging zombie creature we ran into last time we were here. Quick Stitch took out his flamer pistol and squeezed the trigger. The flowers and vines wilted and I swore we could hear a shriek, until they caught fire and burned away. Collectively, I felt our group wince and Quick Stitch turned to us.

“Would you want to be one of these things? Just like if you became a feral ghoul, wouldn’t you want me to put you down? I would want you to do that to me.” I nodded at him and noticed that without prolonged blasting from the flamer pistol the fires were dying down and not rampantly burning through the plant life.

“Well, at least you aren’t gonna start an inferno,” Nyota observed as the charred remains of a pony fell apart in front of us. It was horrific, knowing that was once someone who felt everything I did, who could talk, and had personality; now they had to be burned away for the greater good.

“How many of us has the wasteland just, charred away into ash? How many are forgotten?” I asked as the ashes bounced off my armor and fell into the dirt.

Alguacil spit. “Let’s just keep moving and not become like them. Besides, some of them were better left forgotten; like raiders.” He gnashed his beak a few times to emphasize his point. Scopola Mina just shrugged and skipped along, avoiding the flowers and ash all together. She had that really happy smile she had when she just took a hit of dash. Her laser rifles clattered against her flanks and the holsters bounced off her hips as she pranced along.

Chifundo cleared his throat, “Perhaps you are right about their terror, but to deface the dead is a grave error. Even in the case of an awful raider.” I smiled at this, it was a good point.

I turned to him and he gave me a wink, “I believe my tender heart has been kissed by her, from the lessons of mercy from my battle sister.” I stopped and gave Chifundo a hug, at least the best I could through our heavy armor and with the reigns of the sled on our backs. I looked down at something that pushed against my leg. Rainbowrise’s Protector was there now. It was in the hold-out holster across from Buddy’s Last Gift.

At this rate I’m gonna run out of spots for weapons or armor plating. That or have to invent new ones. I adjusted my leg in the hug to not press the pistol against Chifundo’s neck. Something about the way my new plating sounded against Chifundo’s armor really made me reassured at our new protection.

It was kind of like a metallic fork pressing against hardened glass; like someone pinging against a wine glass but the wine glass wasn’t protesting; like the fork itself was the thing actually in danger of breaking. Chifundo smirked at me and I smiled back as we parted and he nodded to me. I motioned my hoof for him to lead the way. He shook his head and instead motioned for me to take the lead again.

We started walking further, and it wasn’t long before I could see the parking garage. It had been heavily fortified, and all the plant life had been cleared from every building near it. The streets near the building were slightly remade, what with all the potholes filled in with rocks and concrete in some spots. It was so strange to see a building that had been patchwork reconstructed like this, while the rest around it were still decaying or falling apart.

I could see a couple of roof guard towers made of wood and dead dried plants with sandbags around them. A guard post was in front, made of scrap metal and sandbags with a frame of an old carriage. It was manned by a pair of leather-armored guards holding Equestrian service rifles and sharing a smoke. They suddenly stood at attention when they saw us. They both moved to their entrenched guardpost, putting sandbags between us and them. I nodded to my friends and we headed for a nearby building with the sled.

Alguacil and Quick Stitch worked hard to try to move the rusted doors open. It was a bank with heavy metal doors and broken glass windows at head level to look through. Scopola Mina pushed them both aside with a nod, “I got this yall. Hang on.” We stood by and watched Scopola as her horn lit up with power, it glowing brighter and brighter in the fading light. We knew it would be night soon as her magical aura wrapped around the doors.

They groaned and creaked as Scopola groaned back and strained till there was a loud pop and her horn proved itself a whole lot stronger than all of us combined. The doors snapped open and nearly ripped off their hinges with a loud clang as they hit the walls inside. I slowly turned to Scopola Mina with an expression of wide eyed shock as her horn kept glowing and I felt the straps of the sled being removed from my back.

Nyota and I both turned to see Scopola’s magical aura lifting the sled above the stairs that led into the bank. She pushed and pushed, her forelock ruffled in strain. Her body trembled as she moved all the tank parts as carefully as possible. She levitated the sled past the doors and tried to bring them down gently, but it was clear her magic couldn’t hold out for that long. With a slam that lifted me off the ground, the over four tons of parts and sled hit the checkerboard marble floor inside, kicking up a storm of ancient dust not disturbed since the bombs fell.

Snuggles peaked out from the sled and Chifundo walked over to pet the Manticore. I blinked a few times at how large she had gotten. Wait! Your lazy ass has been on the sled with me dragging you this whole time! I think Nyota sensed my fuming and pet my neck with a smile.

“At least she didn’t bother you the whole way here.” Nyota finished his petting and turned to Chifundo, “Best to leave Snuggles here, we aren’t sure if this may turn violent or not and she can certainly guard the sled.” I nodded in agreement, wanting Snuggles out of sight and therefore out of mind.

Scopola was panting but smiling, the kind of smile one would get when you accomplished a job with pure pride. Alguacil and Nyota quickly darted inside while I checked on her. The guards down the road looked up at us and I could swear, I saw one go slack jawed and drop his cigarette onto the ground.

“Are you alright, Scopola? You did not have to do that!” I started to try to hold her up but she patted my chest and shook her head.

She looked up as her trembling started to ebb, “I got it, Sunrise. I may only have one trick, but I’m really good at that trick.” She smiled more and I moved towards Chifundo as we checked the street around us. Save for a dead manticore corpse on the building roof across the partially repaired road, there was nothing. I turned back to Scopola, she stood up straight as Nyota and Alguacil walked back out.

“It’s clear, empty too, like the plants ain’t got inside yet.” Alguacil fluttered his wings as he cleared the dust from around him and off his body. Nyota nodded at me.

“So what do we do from here, Sunny?” Nyota asked. I looked over at the guards and the parking garage that my PipBuck marked as Upsville.

“Well, I will go up and talk to them. See if we can work this out peacefully to get our tank back.” I looked up at him and then over at the rest of our group.

“Chifundo, Scopola Mina, setup for cover fire and long range support.” I turned to Algaucil, “You,” and then to Quick Stitch since I couldn’t see him out of my right eye, “And you are with me. Alguacil and Quick Stitch can provide close-range cover; Alguacil knows how to look out for manticores since he is the only one of us who can fly.” I looked around for Nyota, “And Ny..ot..a…” He had disappeared and I smirked, “Right, exactly that.” I swore I heard Nyota chuckling somewhere, but I couldn’t make out where he was. It seemed like his chuckle came from everywhere around us.

Scopola Mina strained her horn again and closed the bank doors. It was easier the second time around, but still came with a loud metallic slam. Scopola and Chifundo made the best entrenchment they could out of a nearby slab of rubble. It had most likely been a house once, now it lacked most of its walls. A couple of pieces stood out, including something I assumed once was a window. Whoever these creatures were that lived here, they had cleared the flora away from this section of the ruins. Now Chifundo used that half a window seal for his rifle to brace on.

I walked up to the guards, making sure to not draw a weapon or look like I was going to start a fight. I looked back to see Alguacil with his talon on his gun and I shook my head, “Alguacil, non-lethal; got it? We do not want to kill them.” Alguacil grimaced at me and put his talon onto the pavement. Quick Stitch gave a nervous look back at the guards; I heard their guns shifting, and safeties click off.

I turned my head back to them and decided to finally introduce myself once we were only around ten meters away. “Hi, my name is Wandering Sunrise. What’s yours?” One of the guards was very light brown, the color of tree bark, and his hair was a mix of neon and teal blue. He gulped looking me over, I imagined his scared eyes was the result of the intimidating appearance I possessed. My armor plating was not something to laugh at, much less the myriad of weapons I was carrying.

“It’s Lunar Spice,” the unicorn replied with a dry rasp of his breath. He was clearly nervous about something, and then I made a show of examining the trail of drag marks. They led right to the large door of the parking garage behind them. I looked back up at him and back down at the drag marks.

“I think you know what I’m here for.” He nodded and grimaced at his guardmate, who was wearing a facemask. He was an earth pony whose details I couldn’t make out through the mask and his leather armor that covered him from hoof to neck.

“I’m gonna have to ask ya to say it out loud. You traders or raiders or somethin’?” I saw his magic lighting up and the navy blue aura wrapped around his pistol, lifting it slightly but not pointing it directly at any of us yet. A subtle warning, obviously.

“None of the above,” I motioned to the drag marks on the ground. “It seems you took my tank I was looking to—” A gunshot ripped through the air. I heard it bounce off something and I raised an eyebrow. I looked at Alguacil, then at Quick Stitch, both of whom were staring at me equally stunned. I turned back to Lunar Spice, and saw he was shaking. His magical aura was unstable, his horn struggling to stay lit. I looked down and discovered that the fabric of my armor had a graze.

Pink snickered, “Ha! Pistols and Service Rifles? They may as well have spitballs!” I was astounded; the armor was so incredibly resilient that I didn't even notice the low caliber bullet hitting me. The ricochet noise was from the bullet hitting a piece of concrete on a wall nearby. My head turned back to Lunar Spice and I lowered the ballistic goggles down, then raised my new faceplate that covered my neck and chin until it met the ballistic goggles at my nose.

I started to speak again but Quick Stitch didn’t give me the chance. He fired his gauss pistol directly into Lunar Spice’s leg and sent the unicorn sprawling onto the ground. I could see the white of broken bone sticking out from his gruesome wound above his knee. I had to look away, his screams and face of agony was not something I particularly wanted to see or hear. I entered S.A.T.S. and took aim with my shotgun.

Shoot to wound, this is just a misunderstanding. The world slowed down, I could see the details of the space around me much clearer, details like the second guardpony lifting his weapon to his mouth, Alguacil behind me drawing his revolver, and Quick Stitch’s gauss pistol charging. The number 54 reflecting off his gun’s display on his chest armor jumped up to 55, then 56 over the course of the two second recharge time.

Lunar Spice’s scream reverberated like a record on repeat, and agony was all his face could express. Trying my best to ignore him, I then directed the green circle showing where my shot would go to my next target. It was loaded with pure buckshot; nothing too lethal unless you hit somewhere vital I could feel the hooves of S.A.T.S. guiding me to where I needed to point, my accuracy further assisted by the aiming circle on my H.U.D. as well as a cone projected from my shotgun barrel to where it predicted the bullets to go. The PipBuck was really doing the brunt of the work.

Once I was certain I was only going to hit him in the leg, I queued up two shots. The name on my target display was: Cookie Crunch. The first shot was for his armor, the light metal and leather that would need to be ripped away before the second blast could break his leg. Quick Stitch can fix you later; at least this way it won’t kill you. I released S.A.T.S. to start the spell-assisted shot when I heard a snake tail rattle in my ears.

To my surprise, Sunray opened up with a jet of white hot flames instead of buckshot! My eyes went wide, yes, even the one covered by the patch. I didn’t load that! Pink whistled and then let out a loud wow as Cookie Crunch in front of me burst into flames.

White phosphorus stuck to him and I couldn’t stop myself; S.A.T.S. was great for aiming but it wasn’t something I could just stop midway. Despite my pleas to stop my body, my hoof cranked the pump and loaded another shot. My mouth clicked the bit and the second round left the chamber. In slow motion I watched in horror as a solid slug exited. Through the flames and fire, the world moved at an agonizingly slow pace. The bullet traveling out was made of plastic with a detonation cap on the end. Explosive round! Wait no! That’s for killing robots and heavy armor! I wanted to take it back, I wanted to stop it. The Wasteland was unforgiving and today, it was without mercy. The poor guard never had a chance as his leg was blown clean off by the 12 gauge explosive.

With its task completed, S.A.T.S. returned to recharge mode while the world gradually returned to normal speed as bits of flesh and bone sprinkled around me. Both guards were on the ground; Cookie Crunch was convulsing and going into shock while Lunar Spice was shrieking in agony. I dropped my weapon and ran towards them. Nyota appeared from the corner of the building and hastily joined us. Nyota tried to put a tourniquet onto Cookie Crunch’s destroyed leg. Quick Stitch was already working on Lunar’s leg; the one he had shot.

“Oh by the Twin Sisters! I--I did not load that! I am so, so sorry!” I pleaded, Nyota shooing me with a hoof to motion to get back and give him some space. My heartbeat was pounding in my head. My blood ran cold, my senses dulled as I looked at my weapon and picked it up. I hurriedly unloaded it, though to my complete and utter confusion I found nothing but buckshot inside. I looked at Pink for an answer.

“Well have ya noticed that your shotgun has a habit of shooting stuff you didn’t put in it? Well so did any gun I picked up! Welcome to Wasteland Comedy! Your shotgun is like an ice cream surprise, except with bullets instead of cream filling. That and a healthy dose of—, his leg is really fucked isn’t it?” She turned her attention to Cookie Crunch. I looked up to see Nyota gritting his teeth, pulling the tourniquet on tight over the gruesome stub.

Quick Stitch moved up to assist him, wincing at the damage to the leg. His horn lit up and mercifully a bolt of blue/green shot into Cookie Crunch. He went limp and Quick Stitch let out a sigh of relief. Any stealth we had was gone, erased by the screams and gunfire. I checked my shotgun again to confirm it wasn’t damaged then looked away. Alguacil looked as I felt: concerned.

“Da fuck did he do ‘hat made you burn ‘em alive and blow his leg clean off?” Alguacil snorted while pointing a talon at the guards. I shook my head in respond.

“That is not what I loaded this morning.” I spoke with a certainty as if denying being accused of any wrongdoing. My vision slowly looked down to Sunray and up to Alguacil who just looked back at me with a stare of concern. It was still strange to see his glass eye, but it was better than just looking into an empty socket. He approached and placed a talon on my shoulder.

“Hey, Sun ‘n fun, it’s okay. He’ll live, Quick Stitch’ll take care of it.” He gave a few pats on my shoulder before I turned back to the large warehouse door. Nyota was approaching us and shaking his head.

“Okay, Sunny. We tried it your way and it didn’t quite work out, do we just blow up the building now?” He snorted, poking at my chest. “Cause last I checked, we usually don’t let ponies shoot at us.”

I gave him a look of pain and shook my head, “No, we cannot stoop to that level. We injure and try to let them see the error of their ways. We do not blow up the building.” I looked at my explosives bag and then my PipBuck’s inventory. “Besides, I do not have enough explosives for that and it would destroy the tank.” Then my good eye narrowed at Nyota and Alguacil. “Shoot to wound, we do not want to kill if we can help it.”

Both of them glared at me. I could almost hear their thoughts, ‘They shot you! Are you serious?’ The stare only lasted long enough for the two of them to see I was quite serious. I reaffirmed it with a stomp of my hoof on the ground.

They both nodded as we then moved to examine the outside of the parking deck for entrances. The main vehicle entrance was barricaded with a new wasteland scrap metal door, though there was a side-entrance that Alguacil had began to pick the lock on.

Scopola Mina lifted the raider that Quick Stitch had just finished working on over to us. “Perhaps y’all should talk to him? Figure out why they shot at you.”

As soon as Scopola Mina’s magical aura stopped around the stallion, he jumped to his hooves and threw out a smoke grenade. Shit! We hadn’t checked him! He took up a martial arts stance, similar to the one Nyota used, except he was now missing his right foreleg.

“Huh? For a lefty, you sure do have a habit of taking it and delivering it to the right foreleg!” There was no time to process Pink’s zinger as the smoke surrounded us. Nyota was quick to act, stepping into a quick series of hoof strikes going back and forth with the guard. They were wild swings, kicking up smoke with every motion.

Nyota could block his opponent easily since he could only really attack with one forehoof, or by kicking his rear hooves. Finally, Nyota went to deliver a haymaker, as did Cookie Crunch. However, there was one problem for the guard pony: he forgot he had a stub for that leg now. The bandaged stub never came close, but Nyota’s strike hit him right under the jawline, right where his mandible and neck connected.

Cookie Crunch took the full brunt of the impact and collapsed like a sack of bricks. Moving swiftly, Nyota rushed in and caught him before his head could strike the pavement. I winced and Nyota shushed me, softly shaking his head.

“He’ll be okay, love,” Nyota said as Quick Stitch tossed the still smoking grenade away. “I just hit a pressure point and he passed out from the shock of losing a leg.” I let out a sigh of relief that Nyota had used his hoof instead of the new crystal shoes.

I noticed that Nyota wasn’t even wearing his new depleted crystal brass shoes, the weapon I had made for him in Stable Phi. I had his old shoes in my armored socks now. Tapping them against the concrete, I realized how much harder I would punch with them on. Is he intentionally trying to NOT kill creatures now? It was a thought I would have to save for later.

A griffin landed near us, cocking his shotgun to get our attention while wasting a perfectly good round that dropped to the ground. I genuinely felt bad for what was about to happen.

“Alright all of you! On the ground now! Surrender or else.” He had us genuinely at a disadvantage. I figured even with slugs at this range he couldn’t hurt me. At least not without a lucky shot, but Alguacil, Nyota, Quick Stitch, and Scopola did not have nearly the thickness of the armor plating. A shotgun slug would definitely kill them.

“Whoa whoa, wait a minute here.” The griffin turned the shotgun to aim right at me as I spoke through the muffling of my facial armor. “Your guards opened fire on us without warning. But here, look. They are both still alive.” I turned to point out the shallow breathing both guards were doing as hazey white smoke around us cleared. “How about we talk this out, ya know. We can give them medical treatment; they’ll be mostly good as new. There is no need to fight, we have been here before.”

The griffin pressed forward, keeping his shotgun trained on me. The smoke was starting to fade without the grenade to fuel it. “Shut up, tiny demon! I’ll deal with the little green monster later! Now, on the ground with weapons down!” He growled and tightened his grip on the weapon. His talon tightened against the trigger, ready to set the weapon off. I braced myself, expecting to receive a hit. There was no dodging at this range, but at least my armor would, probably, save me.

Pink giggled, “Oh boy! You’re about to get an F on the test of awareness and basic survival instincts! All of you! PROTECT THE SMALL!” I turned my head to glare at Pink, though in doing so saw something else.

The smoke cleared enough around us to see the glare from Chifundo’s battle rifle scope. The loud meaty shots rang out and flashes from his muzzle were easy to see. My head whipped back around to the griffin. He staggered back from hit after hit, all dead center into his chest. His lighter body armor stood no chance against the heavy rounds. Chifundo did not hear my orders to go for non-lethal. Scopola and Alguacil both drew their weapons and trained them onto the freshly wounded arrival.

As he raised his shotgun again, they didn’t hesitate. Scopola Mina riddled him with a burst of four lasers. The bolts disintegrated one of his talons into rainbow colored ashes. Alguacil fired another shot, this one going right through his face. He was dead and most of his face was gone before he struck the ground. I rushed forward to the griffin, foolishly thinking there was something I could do. I recognized the pink, bloody, gray substance loosely hanging from his skull, however...

I had seen so many dead bodies in The Wasteland, but once again my breakfast churned. It wanted to come back up and I had to swallow it down to avoid getting it into my faceshield. The trenches of The Roof and the battle with Breakfast Blend took place at night. If you didn’t put a light on it, or the gunfire didn’t light it, you couldn’t see it very well. I could tune it out. But this was so different from then, it was broad daylight and I couldn’t help but dwell upon the fact we had just killed another creature.

I spun around and snarled at my friends, “Dammit! I said no lethal shots!” I was mad as a hornet and both Quick Stitch and Alguacil staggered back from me. I stomped up to them, “I get it, he was about to threaten us with getting shot ourselves but,” I snapped my head to Alguacil, “I reinforced your armor and even tested it against my shotgun! Which is a whole lot better than this Wasteland-maintenanced factory stock hunting shotgun!” I pointed at the griffin’s weapon fallen onto the ground near his corpse. “I get it, I screwed up!” I pointed at Cookie Crunch’s missing leg now and Alguacil’s gaze followed, then his look softened.

Alguacil nodded, “Okay, Sunrise. Look, we’ll try it your way, but if things get dicey, I’m shooting fer th’ head.” I firmly nodded to him and motioned Chifundo and Scopola up to join the rest of us. Alguacil adjusted his stance to look around and search for anything else that might decide to come out and threaten us.

“Alright, so this has gone belly up. Are you still sure about this, Sunny?” Nyota tapped against the scrap metal door and immediately someone hit it with a heavy object on the other side. I motioned him over to us, checking my weapons while I spoke.

“Yes, I have some smoke and flashbang grenades, but hopefully we can talk this out.” I took out the smoke grenades and loaded a flash bang into Newb Tube.

Walking up to the metal door, I motioned Alguacil and Quick Stitch towards the side door. “You three,” I pointed at Scopola Mina as well. “Head around to the side door. Here,” I passed Scopola Mina a flashbang. It was different than the steel apple frag ones we normally used. This one was more like a cylinder cup with caps on the ends and a pin held trigger. “Use this if you need to get into the door. We will try to talk them out.”

I looked at Chifundo, “Get in position to cover the big metal door. If anything comes out with hostile intent, be very discouraging. Make sure you have plenty of cover to hide behind. Nyota, disa…” Why did I even bother? He had already vanished again. I shrugged after a moment of self-reassurance that Nyota was right there.

One of these days I’m gonna get him to show me that trick! Just so I can use it on him!

Pink snickered and smiled, “I swear you two have one of the best relationships I’ve seen in awhile! It’s like cookies with creme filling. Which you get every singl—”

Finish that sentence right now with all the terrible things I’m currently dealing with and I will find a way to put you in a gag for the next two hours! Pink deflated immediately and pulled a line of sandbags out of nowhere, hiding behind them. I walked towards the door and gently rapped against the metal.

“Hello? Listen, I am sorry for the misunderstanding. Your guards are still alive, except one. Quick Stitch is giving them medical attention. Hopefully you can come out and we can talk this out?” I turned to check on the wounded guards, Scopola Mina had used her TK to move them around the corner, away from the door.

The silence was deafening, even the creatures of Taintwood were quiet. We all waited. No one spoke, yet still we waited. Tension was building in the air. I gulped and cleared my throat, trying to deal with it drying out. I took a deep breath, “Hey listen, we are just here to negotiate for our tank back. Can we at least do that?”

Nyota’s voice echoed out right after I finished speaking, “Send Minty Fresh out to negotiate with us!” There was a snarl back from the other side of the door.

“Dammit, Minty Fresh! Wait for Soot!” said a mare’s voice from inside the parking garage, along with some shuffling.

“Shut up, cunt!” Minty Fresh, the pony we had seen here previously, stormed up and started shouting from the other side of the door. “Can’t be no little green monster bitch! Gotta be a fucking changeling conspiracy!”

“There you go with the changeling thing again, we haven’t ever seen a changeling you damn drug head! I wish you’d get fuckin’ clean.” The second voice was harsher than a pony’s, though oddly feminine. I tilted my head, trying to place it somewhere in my memory. If anything, it really sounded like Stormy Sky’s sister.

“Shut it, bird brain! And you out there--fuck off! I demand you surrender and throw down your weapons, you little pieces of shit!” I staggered back and looked at Chifundo, stunned. I couldn’t believe Minty Fresh was serious. “You’re all changelings! Ain’t no way the little green monster is back! That’s an ol’ raider tail to scare kids!” She shouted louder and louder by the second, getting more slurred with her words. Clearly she was drunk, high, or both!

I looked at Nyota, then back at Chifundo, and both of them shrugged. I turned back around, “We are not Changelings. You met us before, you traded with us. Remember the car? Look, your two guards are alive and fine. I am sure—”

“Shut up, Little Green Monster! I doubt they’re alive and if they are, ya should just kill ‘em!” She growled; I could practically hear the foam coming out of her mouth. “We don’t trade with hostage takers!”

I checked our prisoners, confirming that they were stabilized and the wounded tended to. There were bandages over wounds. Both were sleeping peacefully from the anesthetic bolt Quick Stitch had used. I trotted back to the door with a heavy sigh. We had not moved them very far so we could keep an eye on them, but now I wondered if they were in a possible combat area.

“Listen,” I repeated, “We just want to talk, negotiate a deal. You can send someone out and we can—”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! You stupid—” Nyota silenced Minty Fresh’s rant with a slam of his hooves into the door. They left a dent in the metal and he snarled back.

“Do not talk to my mare that way! We are giving you a ton of patience, so be rational!” Nyota shouted, his back arched up as if ready to strike again. I could feel the anger rolling off of him.

“Back off, buckwheat! Your mare-cunt is lucky I don’t have all the boys take a turn with her cunt and her cunt-face!” I winced. I could hear the rage cracking in her voice. She was beyond reasoning, and threatened to do something so very raider-like. I hoped Alguacil couldn’t hear, but then I heard the muffled sound of his revolver click from somewhere back down the road we had come. He was already making his way inside the warehouse sidedoor, and ready to shoot.

Scopola Mina came back up to me and motioned me closer, “Look Sunrise, Alguacil and Quick Stitch found an office in that back door but the other door beyond is barred, so they’re looking for a way to fight their way in. Are we doing this or are we just gonna sit out here?” She was looking very concerned and motioning me to follow them around to the side door.

I walked up to see Alguacil and Quick Stitch with an unknown pony on the ground, tied up; he at us looked quite dejected. He had a bruise on his forehead from what was probably Alguacil’s revolver hitting it and his left eye was slightly closed from a punch to the face.

“What is with the prisoner?” I asked Alguacil, to which he smirked.

“Poor pony surrendered as soon as smacked him twice in the head. Didn’t even have to shoot at ‘em.” I glared at Alguacil and hoped he hadn’t done any permanent damage. I looked at the door that led deeper into the garage. It was locked up tight and barred from the other side, judging from the bolts and nails jutting through the wood near the frame.

“Alright, well…” I was hesitant. Distant voices of Nyota and Minty Fresh echoed off the wall, they were in a shouting match. I don’t want to order us to assault... but we might not have an option. What should we do? I held a hoof up to my chin in deep thought. I roamed over the basic tactics in the officer’s manual and consulted my experience in The Wasteland. “Okay, look. Alguacil and Quick Stitch stay here and try to force your way in. It may take time but it would give us an angle to outflank them from.” I turned around to Scopola Mina and put a hoof against her chest.

“We will need you at the main door. I need some suppressive firepower.” She gave me a sharp salute and trotted outside, beyond my sight. I could see the shrinking of her irises as before moved away; she was already starting her combat drug regimen. All four of her laser rifles levitated out as she turned the corner.

Quick Stitch pulled out a hammer and gave me a nervous smile. I smiled back at him, handing him another hammer out of my saddlebags. “This will take some time, Sunrise. Can you keep stalling them?”

I nodded with a faint smile, hearing more shouting from Nyota. “I think we can stall them as long as you need.” I gave him a hug and motioned Alguacil towards the door. “Keep him covered and make sure nothing happens.” I stayed there waiting while Quick Stitch worked as quietly as possible, pushing the nails out of the door. One at a time, each strike of a nail caused all three of us to sweat more. We weren’t sure if Nyota and Minty Fresh’s arguing would stop at just the wrong moment.

Alguacil walked over to the door and checked the lock, discovering it wouldn’t let him twist the knob. He took out his bobby pins and a screwdriver and immediately started working on it. One of Quick Stitch’s hammer strikes shook the door and there was a sharp snap. Alguacil growled and turned to Quick Stitch as he pulled out another bobby pin. “Think you can pick it for us?” Alguacil snorted and snapped another pin, then pulled it out with the screwdriver and glared at me.

That kind of glare made me physically step away from him. He kept working at it while Quick Stitch stopped trying to get the nails out of the wall. “Hey,” I reached up and put a hoof against Alguacil’s talons, “Listen, calm down, you got this, okay? There is no need to get frustrated. One obstacle at a time.” I felt the tension in Alguacil’s talons drop and, with it, his weight on the lock. This snapped a third pin and he grimaced.

“Sunrise, are ya done? I need to focus and not keep gett’n distracted.” Alguacil looked down at me and I shook my head. I leaned up and gave him a soft hug, he blinked a few times. “Sunrise, hun, do you honestly think it’s an appropriate time?”

I smiled at him, I felt the kind of smile that gives warmth and comfort to a friend. Rapidly, I shook my head and released my grip. “No, but when it is ever?” Alguacil deflated and groaned, as he reached over and restarted our hug. I wasn’t the one hugging him for once: he was hugging me. It was a moment I had not expected and both of us just sort of relaxed into it.

I saw him smiling back-- not that creepy, forced thing he had been doing-- a deep, more natural smirk was upon his beak. Quick Stitch coughed and we both turned to him with glares that could cut diamonds. He shrank back from both of us and lowered his head. When we finally separated, he took the fourth bobby pin out to start his work with the lock once again.

With a few more clicks and one heavy clank, he managed it and the doorknob finally turned. They would still have to finish getting the nails out, but at least the door would open now. The shouting with Minty Fresh had died down and I made my way back to the front door. Two shots from Chifundo’s battle rifle echoed through the air.

We didn’t get out of the door before Nyota appeared, holding an extra set of spiked shoes. “Minty Fresh decided to come outside to continue the argument. She umm… she needs a grave dug for her now.” I felt myself cringe, hearing those words. Nyota hung his head and clearly looked ashamed of his actions. “I thought we could incapacitate her, but she was too hopped up on drugs.” He looked up at me with guilt-ridden eyes and a grim determination on his face.

I nodded to him and reached up to pet his side. “We can’t save them all, hun. You did what you had to. Alright, we should go try to fix this.” His eyes narrowed and his face steeled as we headed back around to the front door, leaving Alguacil and Quick Stitch to continue to work their way into the side door.

Chifundo kept firing and Scopola Mina was shooting into the now open garage door. Several shots came back as they took cover across the street. Nyota and I ran towards the door. We could feel the rising urgency as the situation deteriorated. I could see Minty Fresh’s body lying in a growing pool of blood and it gave me a flurry of emotions. There were two clear bullet holes and several laser scorches across her frame.

I saw an earth pony against the big garage door frame with a skull for a helmet reloading her own M1 Grand Apple battle rifle. I slammed into her brown face with both of my fore-hooves in a leaping strike. A series of shots rippled through the air. Buckshot, pistol, and rifle rounds all bounced off my armored flank, the new crystalline ablative plating proving far too effective for me to notice I was being hit, beyond the sound of ricochets off the armor.

The skull-helmeted pony pushed me away and staggered as I could see where friendly fire was not being friendly to her at all. Just as we separated I spun around, bringing my new tail flail to bear. Pink did the rest, using my tail as a weapon and aiming it just right. The skull she was wearing shattered between the mace at the end of the flail and the concrete wall next to her.

She spasmed before her body fell limp against the wall. I nearly panicked at the sight of her, thinking I had killed her, then in a heartbeat I saw a shallow breath and saw she was still moving, albeit barely and slowly. Another gunshot impacted into my chest and the bullet bounced, embedding into the wall next to this earth pony’s exposed head.

Not wanting to take any chances, I grabbed onto her barely conscious form and dragged her outside. I did not stop till we were clear around the other side of the door where the concrete would provide both of us with cover. I noticed two bullets had hit her during our exit, however; she was bleeding badly from her right foreleg and upper right shoulder. There were deep red stains of blood forming upon her leather armor and brown coat. I took out some bandages and did as Nyota had shown me, calmly applying pressure and bandaging the wounds. It wasn’t the best, but I had to make sure she lived.

She flinched and yelped in pain, snapping back to the conscious world. I grappled onto her good foreleg and pressed my armored barrel in close to help hold her down. She couldn’t get up from my weight now pressing onto her belly and pinning her back against the wall that was providing us both with protection from the gunfire. “Calm down, I am not going to hurt you further. Let me treat your wounds and just... do not try to fight me okay?” Her eyes were heavy as she looked up and fearfully nodded at me. I finished with the bandage and tossed the weapon she dropped as far away as I could. I grabbed her pistol and tossed it away as well. Just to be certain I patted her down for any other weapons she might have hidden.

Once I was sure she was no longer armed, I directed her at the other two ponies, Cookie Crunch and Lunar Spice, who were sedated. “Watch after them and make sure they do not take any fire. They are your friends, right?” She nodded but didn’t speak. I could see the fear still in her eyes. It was the same fear I felt every time I had gone into combat, what set us apart; I had learned to not show it anymore. “Okay, go on, stay clear of the firefight.” As ordered, She lowered her head and limped over to them. I turned back to the mayhem at hoof, to see Nyota tying up a struggling unicorn in heavy metal armor. The unicorn had several bruises on the exposed parts of his skin, while Nyota looked untouched save for dirt and grime added from combat. When the unicorn’s horn lit up, Nyota cocked him in the head and said something I couldn’t make out over the gunfire.

I felt that blow and winced in pain as much as the unicorn did. Unconsciously, I took a step towards Nyota to hopefully calm both of them down. A shot hit my faceplate and jerked my head. My tactical sense jerked me back and pressed my body to the wall next to me. I felt the bruise on my cheek from the impact and pulled back to get completely behind the cover.

Damn! I need to thank Quick Stitch for this faceplate idea later! I pulled up my faceplate and rubbed the sore spot on my cheek. I motioned for Scopola Mina and Chifundo to stay down and tried to figure out how to cover us all.

While Nyota kept the unicorn subdued, I pulled out a smoke grenade; one we had taken from Cookie Crunch only minutes ago. I rolled it in front of the door and followed it up with another. Pink smoke started to billow out of the two cylinders. It expanded and engulfed not only the door but Nyota and myself. It was so thick it was hard to breathe without getting a tickle from the smoke, and I could not even make out Nyota from just across the two carriage wide doorway.

The gunfire died down now that no one could see each other. I yelled inside, “Hey! We can do this all day or we can agree to a truce and work this out?” Their response was a shot from a higher caliber rifle that tore a chunk of concrete off the garage door frame. I winced and yanked myself away to get clean of the dust. The blown away chunk bounced off my helmet top and jarring my senses for a moment.

Scopola Mina’s high pitched laser rifle’s whined up and several bursts of red incineration spells shot flew into the smoke, deeper into the warehouse beyond. There was a cry of agony and then it was cut off; as whomever just tried to shoot me had their lives snuffed out. Great this is going terribly! So far we all just wanna kill each other. Are they really raiders?

“Sunrise, one had a skull for a hat and they shot you the moment you mentioned the tank. Yeah I would go with these are raiders. I mean come on, look how bloodshot Minty Fresh’s dead eyes are!” I turned to the corpse that was only a couple of steps away in the thick mist of pink smoke. She had only been dead for a couple of minutes at most. Her eyes were still open in a wide eyed stare. More importantly, her irises were pin-pricks, just like the raider that had killed Buddy. I could see nothing but red veins and her snout was still curled back in a snarl of hate. Her forelegs and flank had several small sores-- needle marks.

I recognized it from the Med-X I had taken in the past. My body coursed with a pre-emptive need to take Med-X for the pain. I shook it off and steadied myself. Come on, Sunrise, they are relying on you to lead them. No more drugs like that, period. You’re pregnant now. You can’t hurt them before they are born-- not like that. These guys all wanna use you for bullet pin cushions! Now figure it out! I felt myself hesitating and knew the smoke truce wouldn’t last forever. As soon as the smoke evaporated, I would have to engage them again.

I pulled out my grenade launcher. I aimed it at the ceiling and fired, hoping to bounce it deeper into the garage. There was a blast and a flash with several creatures yelling out in pain. “Dammit… fuckin’ pegasi! Git back here!” Alguacil shouted, as I even heard him yelling in pain from the sudden bang and flash. The smoke had shielded us from the flash but the bang was loud enough I wasn’t sure my own ears were not hurt by it.

When no more shots rang out after a solid minute, I heard Scopola Mina’s voice shout, “Hey, give up yet? Do yall really think we can’t keep this up all day?” She put down another layer of covering fire with her quad laser rifles after she called out the taunt. The laser fire was having a secondary effect: it was burning away my smoke. The two grenades had burned out, meaning it wasn’t being replenished anymore.

As the smoke cleared, I got a good look at a metal armored earth pony with a half dozen scorch marks on his body. He was lying on the floor breathing shallowly and his battle rifle lay on the ground just inside his hoof reach. I pressed S.A.T.S. as figures and objects beyond the smoke became more than shadows. The earth pony on the ground registered as dead; his body just hadn’t told him he was yet.

Above us was a wasteland constructed catwalk in the tall structure. Scrap metal had been used to create it as well as pieces of wood from at least three different buildings. Even bricks were used to support this new construction to the inner deck. Much of the second level of the deck had been hacked away and removed to create an ultra-high ceiling. Boxes, lockers, and crates of a dozen different sizes were stacked around like a warehouse. I could see where the catwalk led off to the side towards the door that Alguacil and Quick Stitch were working on.

There were two pegasi flying around and at least five griffins. Two unicorns were projecting shields over the catwalk towards us, a soft green and bright orange glow showing the hard light magical cover there. There was no clear shot for us, but small holes in the shields were made for firing ports. I released S.A.T.S. and pulled back from the corner as two shots blew more small bits of concrete off. The smoke still kept us somewhat obscured as shadows and shapes. Scopola Mina’s continuous return fire was flashing away more smoke so others could see us. Nyota had vanished in the chaos and I suspected he was deeper inside the garage waiting for his chance to strike.

“Scopola! Focus on blowing out their shields!” I shouted over the chaos. Scopola snapped up and walked her laser fire up towards the unicorns. She wasn’t aiming anywhere in particular, she was just creating a consistent amount of fire to keep them pinned behind those shields and the catwalk cover points. There was a bright flash just a few feet away from me and a unicorn appeared in the center of the door. He had a shotgun trained on me with his TK and fired it in two quick bursts before I could move or react.

The two slugs staggered me and I felt the bruising under my armor while with another flash of magic the unicorn was gone. Dammit! That hurt! My armor had saved my life but now the muscles in my right leg and shoulder were incredibly sore. There was a shriek of pain and my head snapped towards the inside corner to see flames lapping along the catwalk. Someone had dropped a molotrot cocktail and set another pony on fire. They ran across the catwalk till they lost their balance and fell into heaps somewhere behind the boxes. Flaming pony shapes in the distance to me.

Scopola Mina had knocked out one of the shields and I took advantage. I pumped a fresh grenade into ‘Newb Tube’ and fired a high explosive bomb up at the catwalk. Scopola Mina’s lasers crackled with a loud pop as one of her gempack magazines glitched and another loud pop indicated another had flared out. I missed my shot and instead of hitting the catwalk the round impacted into the ceiling.

However, the rain of concrete forced the creatures on the catwalk to dive for cover or take flight to get out of the area. One of the unicorns extended a shield above the catwalk instead of towards us. The pieces of ceiling bounced off it and hit the ground. “WOW! Ya missed but you couldn’t have done more damage if you had gotta a direct hit!” Pink exclaimed with glee and a degree of happiness that sent chills down my spine.

Another unicorn appeared next to me with a bright flash, shotgun out. Damn teleporting— before he could fire, he staggered as Chifundo’s battle rifle echoed shot after shot. He hadn’t been shooting, he was waiting for the teleport trick again. He took two more steps and fell dead on the ground. I nodded at Chifundo. He waved and pointed back towards the doorway we were trying to force. I knew he was going to hold his shots to keep us covered from any more blinking or teleporting unicorns getting in close and cheekily getting out before we could retaliate.

I saw a flash behind Chifundo and my heart skipped a beat. There behind him was a unicorn with a double barrel shotgun. A flash of what must have happened to Buddy pressed into my mind. I dropped Newb Tube and reached for the nearest weapon I had loaded. I’m going to be too late! I’m too slow! Chifundo got turned around enough to see his doom coming. A black and white blur shot out from the rubble next to Chifundo and the unicorn raider turned his head just enough to see a pair of zebra hooves slam into his face. Nyota hit him so hard that he was taken off his hooves and flew almost four full meters to impact into a piece of wall; the one standing wall of the ruins Chifundo was using for cover.

He looked drunk and confused, staggering around on his hooves. Nyota came fully into view and was on him hard, slamming his hooves into his sides and neck over and over again. He pummeled the unicorn raider into the wall until he was lying on the ground bleeding to death and turned to Chifundo with a simple single nod. I took my eyes off him for a moment and Nyota had vanished again.

Chifundo turned back to me and shouted, pointing at me as he got up to move to a new cover, “Grenade, Evade!” I turned back and saw a steel apple rolled towards me. The stem already missing.

Scopola Mina’s magical aura flew past my vision, with a gem pack following right behind it. The gem pack impacted into the grenade and sent it flying back inside the garage turned warehouse. Fiery smoke and shards of shrapnel rippled and flew out from inside the garage. I paused and looked inside, smoke and debris clouding my view. I gulped and held up my hoof to signal everyone to stop firing.

Is Alguacil okay? Quick Stitch? As if to answer my question, a burst of flame emerged from their direction and I heard Alguacil’s pistol go off, followed by a shrieking pegasus flying back and crashing into a crate. Yep, they’re fine. I shouted at them, “Hey, listen! We don’t have to fight. Can we talk this out?”

“Throw down your weapon! We’ll show ya what we can talk about!” The female griffin that had been arguing with Minty Fresh called back. I gripped onto my shotgun tighter. I took the chance and stepped out in front of them all, exposing myself to any potential incoming fire. My shotgun was still up, ready to be put in my mouth and open fire.

Several heavy coughs came from beyond the unicorn shields above me. “Hey! I said put your weapon down.” I hesitated and gripped it. I remembered the last time I put my weapon down, they just shot me anyway. I slowly lowered my gun to point at the floor instead. I kept it in my grip.

“Look, I am not pointing it at you anymore. Come on out. We can work this out without any more violence.” I hoped they would listen and gulped behind my face shield. I imagined I looked like some over armored monster that felt like an immovable object or unstoppable force bearing down on them. I was buying time for Scopola Mina to finish reloading and Chifundo to relocate to cover me. I also hoped that Nyota was taking advantage to infiltrate in case we couldn’t talk this out.

The smoke and debris dust wasn’t clearing quickly. A zebra emerged from behind a crate to my right and narrowed his eyes at me. He put down his gun and pulled his head back warily. He seemed to be very concerned I would just shoot him. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a trail mix blend Scopola Mina had made and a bottle of pure water, rolling them to him. “Take your gun back and here have a meal on me. Just walk outside and stay out of the fighting okay?” He snorted at me and retrieved the items then pranced his way outside and around the corner to where the other wounded were gathered.

I had hoped the other creatures had seen this but when a shot slammed into my chest and several more scattered around me, I didn’t wait to check my bruises or possible wounds. Instead I bolted for the nearest crate and dug myself in. Oh come on! You didn’t see that! Are you serious?

Pink shrugged and shook her head, “You really think it’s going to be that easy? A bite to eat and not shooting a zebra? I bet that griffin doesn’t even like that zebra, just on the basis of griffin and zebra relations.” A bullet slammed through the crate and bounced off my helmet, dazing me. “Well, good luck! You’re gonna need it!”

Level Up Progress - Really? It’s mid combat! You really think the GM is gonna give you XP right now? Ha! Good one!

Chapter 47: The Wrong Battle

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I cringed my head, then rolled behind the next crate. Shards of wood and glass raining out of the box I had just been hiding behind. All propelled by angry steel hornets. I hope that whatever is inside this wooden crate is more solid than the other one. More shots did not immediately rain down on me, so I couldn’t tell if they’d lost track of me or had ceased fire for another reason. Chifundo and Scopola Mina had stopped shooting as well. I looked at E.F.S. and rotated my head along my compass.

Yep, still five green dots. Still a ton of red ones. I felt a heavy weight settle in the pit of my stomach, and groaned, “Can we not talk this out? Ya know, instead of shooting it out?” I called out reluctantly. My heart was hoping my friends were still conscious and not actually lying on the ground bleeding out. Most of all, I hoped talking would buy them time to reposition or line up shots to help me.

“Depends on how much ya paying!” It was the older griffin shouting back. I resisted the urge to jump when a gunshot ripped through the crate I had just relocated from. Right about where my spine would have been if I had not rolled to this new one. “Cause you’re outnumbered, little missy!”

I pulled out my shotgun and made sure it was ready to go, clicking the safety off. “Well, we were outnumbered a few seconds ago, does not seem to have made much of a difference!” I checked on the number of prisoners plus the couple of ponies we had to kill. “I believe that number so far is four captured and two killed by us, regrettably, to your zero.” I really hoped that might words would not anger them more.

“Minty was a dipshit and disposable.” I rolled my eyes. I really wanted to kick this griffin in the nether parts just to get someone else to talk to.

“Oh, Sunrise! You’re so cute! She’s a griffin, she might be into that!”

Thanks, Pink, now I wanna throw up. I was weighing my options and glaring at Pink, leaning my head over to shout, so it would still sound closer to the previous bit of cover I had been using. “I just wanna talk about trading my tank back.” My voice now echoed off the metal and concrete wall next to me.

“That depends on how many caps ya got!” The laughter from the other creatures near the griffin indicated they were not taking us seriously at all.

Nyota shouted from the opposite side of the main road into the parking-deck-turned-warehouse, “Why don’t you give us a number, and we’ll work it out!”

The laughter got louder, and I felt a bit of rage rising within me. You are being shot at! You shot at us! You have wounded, we have captured several of you, and yet you are taunting us? What is wrong with these ponies? Isn’t this the place that traded us the car last time?

“Sunrise, ponies change, and sometimes they just act dumb in the face of certain doom. What can I say? We acted like this in the face of the bombs dropping; right up until they blew everything to little bits!” I looked at Pink in shock. She was right, these creatures were acting exactly how we did just before the bombs fell and killed everything.

“I’m thinkin’ a number with six zeros! HA! Doubt anyone’s got that many caps! Especially a bunch of scrappy raidery scavvers!” I really wanted to retort but resisted. Antagonizing them further would mean any attempt to talk was likely not going to work at all. Plus their shots were getting closer between shouts, probably zeroing in on me when I talked to them.

Nyota had relocated deeper into the warehouse and then disappeared from my E.F.S. Not in the fading light sort of way when someone died but in his ‘suddenly gone’ stealth sort of way. “So the number of graves we’re gonna have to dig, right?” Nyota’s voice echoed off the walls in a way that made my blood run cold. Either he had planned this or the acoustics were just right. His voice now sounded like there were a dozen of them, and they all sounded bone-chillingly serious. What was worse were his words implied we would have to kill a whole lot more creatures.

“Right,” I murmured and exhaled to myself. I pulled out a flashbang grenade, pulled the pin, and hurled it at the ceiling. “Laugh at this!” I shouted, their laughter got louder, the grenade bounced off a shield, but the fuse had already run its course by the time it got that far. I ducked out of sight and covered my ears. A deafening pop ripped through the air, and the laughter turned to screams and squawks of pain.

The walls all flashed like a single pulse from a strobe light had hit them. From the smoke, a unicorn stumbled, stunned and lost. I resisted the immediate instinct to strike him, but Nyota burst from overhead. He slammed the unicorn into the wall with one hoof, and his other hoof hammered into their forehead. In a one-two blow, the unicorn was bleeding from the right eye and nose. Two of his teeth flew out of his mouth, and his horn cracked. Nyota had struck with such ferocity that I wasn’t sure if the unicorn was still alive or dead. His eyes rolled back into his head, he twitched, and they shut. Nyota released his throat, and he fell in a heap.

I held in my stomach contents and shuddered. You would think I would get used to the brutality of combat! Pink laughed and shook her head. My tail was reaching around for something, and I glared at Pink, feeling a heated itch in my ribs. I now noticed I was sweating, and my hoof was unsteady. Pink…

“Oh, right! You don’t have that anymore!” I winced, realizing my body was looking for Med-X, right now, in mid-combat. That only made the feeling of impending death or maiming worse. Now I was feeling the desire to shoot up; to fight through the pain of bruises, and then my abdomen twitched. It twitched just enough that I swore something had moved inside it. My thoughts were interrupted by a bullet slamming right next to Nyota’s head. He darted into the building. I watched him seem to fit between two stacks of crates that he shouldn’t be able to squeeze between.

Scopola Mina and Chifundo opened up with volleys of suppressing fire. I yelled at Nyota, “Dammit! Did you have to kill him?!” I didn’t care this was mid-combat, I was mad. I wasn’t sure why I was so mad or easily upset, but I kept shouting at him. “We are trying to NOT do that!”

Nyota yelled back, “Check again! He’s still alive, assuming they don’t shoot him!” I looked back at the unicorn on the ground. His breathing was shallow, and Nyota had left a healing potion next to his head on the ground. I lunged up and grabbed the unconscious unicorn with both of my hooves, dropping my grenade launcher in the process.

Pink lunged my tail and caught the weapon, putting it back into the holster on my saddlebags. “Chifundo! Scopola! Suppressing fire!” A hail of laser fire erupted through the door, and the high-pitched whine of a plasma explosion erupted. I looked up to see a green ball of fire and magical disintegration rising to the ceiling. One of the shields flickered out, and I dragged the wounded unicorn out of the building. I shoved the healing potion into his lips and got him around the corner, towards the other unconscious and surrendered prisoners.

In the chaos, not a round flew at me. The zebra took his comrade from my hooves with a nod of solace. Okay one fewer for the reaper today. I tossed him a pair of magical bandages Nyota had made, and turned to head back inside. I did not get into the door.

My eyes caught the sight of a rocket flying towards me right as I got into the doorway, Scopola Mina missed it with her laser fire. I had no weapon out to stop it, and suddenly, I was airborne. It was the first thing I noticed, the world rotating, my hooves not touching anything, I felt dozens of hits ripple into my sides. My ears rang with bells. I saw concrete and asphalt kicked up into the air.

I felt debris hitting my faceplate and bouncing off my ballistic goggles. I hit the ground and all I heard was ringing in my ears. My eyes were closed into blackness and I felt nothing for the first few seconds. My body shuddered as feeling of where armor plating had slammed into the ground ripped into my ribs. At least it cushioned the fall enough they felt bruised not broken. I was used to the feeling of explosions and knew what it was like to hear the ringing in my ears. My instinct made me stand back up. My eyes opened and started to come into focus, something purple flashed in front of me. I immediately regretted not rolling for cover instead.

A unicorn appeared in front of me, wielding several black knives with purple auras around them. They shimmered with magical energy and lanced right at me. The knives slammed into me with the impacts of a high caliber rifle. I felt them trying to cut through the armor plating. If not for the magical material it was made out of, I felt like they would penetrate the layers of protection I wore. I staggered from the series of impacts, finding myself in my starting position for this fight, covered by the doorframe.

A half dozen shots slammed into the ground from the catwalk the various creatures inside were on. I panted and laid against the cover I now had, pulling out a healing potion, and sucking it down while the sound of a heavy rifle jamming echoed through the air. The higher-pitched yelp as someone obviously got their hoof caught in the mechanism ripped through the air. The shots died down, and I took the opportunity to load a flashbang into the grenade launcher to fire it inside, right at the catwalk. Scopola Mina saw me aim and pulled herself back around the opposite door frame.

I didn’t wait to see the effect. More of Alguacil’s heavy thudding revolver shots rang out, and another gout of flame shot across the catwalk, forcing ponies and griffins to flee from the safety of their high ground. I went to load another flashbang to hit them again, I slammed the tube closed and took aim. I felt the thud of the recoil against my shoulder and watched the round exit my gun’s barrel. It wasn’t a flashbang, it did not have the yellow stripe on it. In that brief instant of seeing the thumped out shell, I knew something was wrong.

I pulled back into cover as a bullet bounced off my lower facemask; the round left a dent I could see in the light-brown metal. Thank the Goddesses for Stubbornite. I did not have any more time to think; my grenade exploded with such force that a wave of debris and soot kicked out of the parking garage complex. Screams were cut short as the explosion ripped the air away and prevented them.

Pink, WHAT IN TARTARUS? I glared at Pink, who was laughing her ass off. She was rolling over my E.F.S. meter and pulled my health pony over to ragdoll it into a tight, plushie-style hug.

“Oh, wow! I forgot I removed the markings from all your Newb Tube Rounds! You sleep too much!” I was snarling at Pink; her laughter died down when she realized I wasn’t laughing.“Sunrise? It was a joke, I mean a scary grim one, but these guys aren’t gonna react to flashbangs, you needed something with some real surprise pizzazz.”

Pink, we talked about this! There was no need to kill them! I looked at my E.F.S. and saw at least four fewer blips on it. They wouldn’t have had time to get out of range or hide, no; they were dead.

“Sunrise, right now, they are in a firefight with Alguacil, who is only alive because Quick Stitch is healing him.” Scopola Mina yowled in pain, and her volume of laser fire was cut off suddenly. When I shot my vision to her, she was holding her shoulder, and her TK was flicking on and off to maintain her grip on her rifles. “They intend to kill you. So I put some bite behind your bark! Now they think you will kill them back! So, get on your hooves and put the ones who haven’t surrendered in the ground! There isn’t any backing away from this fight, not without drawing in manticores, and whatever else this hellscape called Taintwood has to bring to bear.”

I grimaced and felt a rage building inside me. I knew what Nyota’s anger felt like now, the rage to stop somepony at any cost. As much as I wanted ot argue, Pink was right. Save who we could but I had to stop hesitating and holding back; or my friends would die. Scopola Mina finished a healing potion, and I took out my shotgun, “Scopola! ADVANCE!” I shouted and pulled up, firing the weapon over and over again. The new set of shields on the catwalk were off to my right, and I pummeled them with repeated bursts. Scopola Mina ducked inside and shot up the stairs onto the catwalk herself.

Chifundo’s rifle resounded with four shots as two lower caliber weapons pinged me in the head, jerking it to the side. My ears were still ringing from the explosions, and now the ringing was drowning out anything at all. Through the smoke and debris, Scopola emerged on the catwalk outflanking their shields. She was laying down a fresh volume of fire, red streaks of lasers incinerating anything they hit. I threw a smoke grenade at her hooves, landing it right on the catwalk.

A unicorn flashed in front of her and unleashed an attack with those magical eldritch knives with the same magical aura that had tried to slice my ribs and stomach open. Scopola yelled out in pain, but she was still standing. I saw blood drip from her chest as she bit her lip. The unicorn in front of Scopola suddenly collapsed in a heap, a look of shock on their face, as Nyota’s hooves disappeared into the smoke with Scopola. Her head… it’s backwards… I ducked into the nearest crate against the shots still coming at me.

I was panting and trying to drive the ringing from my ears. My body ached in places I wasn’t sure I actually had. My right eye itched with a renewed vigor to see something besides the patch covering it. I could feel cold sweat beading over every inch of me. My other itches reached madding heights now that I was stopped. My mind was screaming for Med-X that I had to refuse. Even places that Nyota knew how to touch, now burned with the demand for the drug.

Nyota leaped across several of the stacked crates down from the catwalk and out of the smoke. He wasn’t hiding anymore; a set of blinking red steel apples appeared around the two of us. They teleported Grenades in! I thought we were done for as, suddenly, a lime-green shield shot around us as the explosions enveloped both of us. Fragments did penetrate the shield, and the shockwave hit us, but it was more like a bunch of dodgeballs all at once and not a series of life-ending fragmentation grenades.

“I got you, hun, here; drink.” Nyota put a magical potion up to my lips as he lowered my faceplate and started to wrap my neck in a bandage. He had a glowing green amulet on his neck. A shield talisman! Like the ones Breakfast Blend’s army used! The crate we were behind was dented, but its solid steel had weathered the blasts. We were inside now, deeper than before; past the catwalk where the initial fireteams had held us off. Scopola Mina’s rifles and Chifundo’s ping from his battle rifle emptying were the first things I heard.

I looked up at Nyota, confused, while sipping on the grape-flavored potion, drinking it down and feeling the bruises alleviate. “Nyota…” I wasn’t sure how I had heard him before my ears cleared up, but the healing potion was doing wonders. I still itched like crazy and had to ignore my body’s demand for Med-X. The cold sweat dripping into my eyes and making me wince. I kept rapidly blinking to clear it.

“Okay, go back to being invisible. I will work to draw their fire as we keep advancing. We got this.” I managed through my still-parched lips. Nyota smirked and nodded.

“Yeah, we got this together.” Nyota waited for Chifundo, Alguacil, and Scopola to all start their barrages and suppress them, then he darted across the walkway and back into the shadows between the crates. I stood back up and checked my shotgun; it was empty. I started loading fresh shells in, and then moved out of cover.

I kept advancing, any shadow or shifting form in the direction of a red dot on E.F.S. got a blast from ‘Sunray’. Over and over, when ‘Sunray’ ran out, I just loaded shells as fast as I could fire them. I was no longer checking for what shell types were. Their higher caliber snipers were down. The unicorn with her magical knives had a date with a broken neck. We, as a team, were pushing in deeper.

The griffoness who had been taunting me before flew right at me. I looked up and had to dodge down to avoid the talon that was swiping for my head, a gauntlet of some kind wrapped snugly over it. I rolled and saw a unicorn charging me—my vision inverted. What I wouldn’t give for the use of both of my eyes! Scopola Mina let loose a hail of fire at the unicorn jouster, and with only inches to spare, he was stopped cold—His body melting into rainbow-colored ash as her rifles incinerated him into dust. Dust that now covered my armor in rainbow remains. I’m sorry… A deep pity filled my heart and ate at my will to keep fighting.

I could only stand there stunned. The dull thump of a rifle grenade launcher snapped me back to the raging battle. The dull thump gave me just enough time to turn as a grenade went off right next to my hooves and sent me flying. My ears resumed ringing, my body impacted into crates, knocking several over. I landed back in a heap against the floor of the parking garage. Well, isn’t this a familiar feeling… I felt air refill my lungs much to my relief and agony. It hurt so much but at least continuing to breath meant I was still alive. I roused myself back to my hooves and tried to shake off the explosion; my ears had not stopped ringing for a solid ten minutes.

“Damn, Sunrise! I didn’t realize all your extra plating made you into a walking, talking bomb magnet!” Pink drew out her words of surprise while I tried to shake off the stun from the blast and impacts. A rifle cracked and my helmet rang again, making my world shake, and I could feel warm liquid trickle down my cheek. My body instinctively put a layer of crates between myself and where the rifle round came from. My hoof moved up to check, only to find that my helmet was dented, not penetrated. The force of the impacts against me made the skin break.

I groaned and had to stay there for a moment. The firefight was raging around me, and all I could really do now was gather my bearings and reload my shotgun. It wasn’t until I was trying to load 8 rounds into the tube that would only take 7 that I realized I was still trying to reload it. Do... I have a concussion?

“Sunrise, you took a rocket, seven headshots from a .308 Windcrester, a teleport grenade cluster, and a 40mm grenade landed within one centimeter of your hoof; if you don’t have a concussion, I don’t think you have a brain to be concussed!” I shook my head to get my senses in order and heard Chifundo’s rifle snap, followed by a groan of pain.

Maybe Chifundo finally got that sniper? A return shot from the .308 said no, as it tore open the crate next to my head. Okay, fine! I pressed S.A.T.S. and queued up a very specific set of actions. Here goes nothing! My tail hurled a magical fission cell grenade up at the griffin, while I stood up on my hind legs. My hoof tossed another MFC grenade, the same kind of plasma rigged explosive I had used against the Zebrican assassins, to my right. The sniper, as I expected, shot at it.

While his bullet whizzed by and he was resetting, I pushed myself around the corner. Now for the thing that actually held most of my S.A.T.S. spell’s attention. Celestia’s Hammer was in my hooves, ‘Sunray’ was falling to the floor. I saw the sniper on the second level, near one of the pillars that held the roof up. She was half-exposed from cover, a left-hoofed pony like me. Celestia’s Hammer lined up as her hoof worked the bolt. She was only thirty meters away now, at most. The gauss carbine charged in slow motion. 48 percent. The sniper worked the bolt enough to eject the spent round. 59 percent.

I was geared into the actions, I couldn’t change what I was doing. 72. The sniper pushed the bolt back into place. 89. I looked down my iron sights at the earth pony mare, I couldn’t miss at this range. She looked down the scope. 99, ding! The electricity discharged off the rifle, its many magnets charging and discharging in sequence as blue arces of power and purple magic flowed around the rifle. With a sonic-boom, the round exited. The mare’s entire leg was obliterated into paste. My world sped back up to her screaming in agony and shock.

My two grenades exploded, and then my side shifted from a dull impact. My ears caught back up to the world, and the sound of a riot shotgun firing as fast as the semi-auto mechanism would allow resounded from directly above me. My back and sides rippled with pain, but the slugs were only leaving bruises through my armor. Bruises that had just been healed by magical potions; it was like getting bruises all over again for the first time. Especially the part where the pain receptors were concerned.

Not a single round penetrated. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or if The Wasteland was just prolonging how long it would take to kill me today. With a loud chink, the riot shotgun ceased fire while Scopola and Alguacil both tried to shoot the griffin down, but their shots missed. I’m done with you! I kicked ‘Sunray’ up and fired blindly into the air. I watched the green bean bag that came out slap into her wing, bringing the griffin crashing to the ground.

The firefight around us had all but died down. Chifundo wasn’t firing, but I could sense he was overwatching me. Scopola Mina stopped shooting as well, and I glanced up to see they were both okay. An earth pony charged out from the sniper’s position, holding a belt-fed light machine gun. He let out a heinous scream as he ran, but got only a couple of steps before every gun we had ripped into his body. He took every shot we had, and Quick Stitch laid down a burst of flame from his flamer pistol, enveloping him in fire, bullet holes, and laser burns in less than a second.

A shot slammed into my head, a loud crack of some gun followed. My helmet rang, and I could feel a burning down the side of my skull. I wobbled and heard Pink distantly yelling for me, “Sunrise! It’s a graze! Don’t pass out! Listen to me.” I fell against a crate to hold me up. My shotgun clattered onto the ground. I could see the light from the hole in my helmet, My ballistic goggles felt loose from the strap being ripped by the bullet.

A great weight hammered into me and sent me sprawling onto my back. I felt the rush of adrenaline, and my vision was hazy, I was seeing double and triple when the griffin jumped onto me. She was pulling at my helmet, and it went flying off. My hooves both came up to meet her other talon, desperately trying to bring the big hand cannon of a pistol to bear on my face. Her talon reached and tore my goggles off, throwing them away. She was strong, so much stronger than me. She used her free claw to hold me down and started to choke my throat, right above where the armor plating on my vest and stable-suit stopped.

“You stupid little runt! I might not get all of you, but I’ll get you at least!” She screamed, and we continued to wrestle. My desperation rising, the barrel of the pistol getting closer and closer to pointing at my now unprotected face. A shot rang out and ripped through my mane but did not hit anything solid enough to stop it. The blast against my face of gunpowder and fire, temporarily blinding my face.

“Your mother was a turkey! And your father smelled of pony shit!” Nyota yelled out, and in my hazy vision, the griffin stopped trying to shove the gun in my face.

--Insert Picture Here--

“You fucking zebra! I’ll waste this cunt and eat your ass!” The griffin lifted her weight off of me and in the moment of confusion, slapped me with the heavy barrel of her gun.

“”Eat my ass? Don’t threaten me with a good time!” I saw the vague image of Nyota slapping the armor plating on his flank and wiggling his ass at the griffin.

“NYOTA! Punch Fist! Innuendo and flirt later!” Pink yelled and hurt my already pounding head, making my vision worse. The feeling of wings flapping the ground around me; kicking dust up around me.

I couldn’t make out much as the griffin turned to shoot at Nyota. My hoof kicked the gun out of her talon as hard as I could. She turned back to me in rage, and that was all Nyota needed.

Nyota slammed into her, and I could hear the wing snap with a gut-wrenching crunch that echoed over the sirens of bells in my head. The griffin was thrown clear off of me as Nyota and her locked into a series of life-or-death punches. Nyota kept landing blows against her armored chest. I was trying to get to my hooves but found every movement shaky and weak. My right eye screamed, trying to adjust to the light, and I had to force it closed. My left eye burned with the warm blood and heated spent gunpowder seeping into it.

Nyota blocked the griffin’s talons and parried her with ease until he delivered a hard drop-buck to her chest, sending her sprawling back. While they were broken apart, the griffin pulled out a needle and shot it into her arm. I heard a screaming roar as a unicorn mare rushed forward, spraying a 9mm SMG at Nyota. I wanted to get up but couldn’t, my legs were wobbly and hard to move. She wasn’t hitting anything, but Nyota had her white magical aura around his throat, lifting him up, and choking him out. I wasn’t sure where she had come from, and everything around me was fuzzy.

A loud kaboom, with the same thud as Alguacil’s revolver, silenced the unicorn as her head and foreleg were both turned into ashes, her body falling limply onto the concrete. I could hear the fight and make out shapes and shadows of Nyota and the griffin, but nothing else. Quick Stitch appeared right in front of me.

His sickly yellow aura glowed bright and he touched my head. Suddenly, all the ringing stopped and my vision cleared. I felt the tingle and burning of his healing magic course through and cleanse my senses, as well as seal several of my wounds. My muscle aches died down as he held me there. Most of all, the itching and sweating stopped as he pushed the physical addiction symptoms away. He was straining, and he grimaced heavily.

By the time he was done, he was panting from exertion, and his legs were shaking. I looked at the impacts on the metal crate. He had jumped from the catwalk to get down to me. I took in a deep inhale and panted in time with Quick Stitch. “Did I… get shot in the head too many times?”

Quick Stitch smiled through my fatigue and his own, “Yes, but I have you now.” His voice was ragged, but still held that tone of a parent picking up their child that he always had when he healed somepony. “Now go find Scopola and help her. I will help Nyota.” While he kept talking, he put my helmet back on with my goggles and the facemask to protect my throat, chin, and cheeks.

I looked at E.F.S. and saw where Scopola Mina was, I nodded to him. “Try to not kill them and see if you can save them.” Quick Stitch patted my head and put away his flamer pistol; instead, taking out his new syringe shooter.

“Tranq. darts it is, Sunrise.” I headed towards Scopola at full speed, picking up ‘Sunray’ on the way. My tail scooped up Celestia’s Hammer and holstered them both. I got around the corner of a set of crates stacked against a support pillar and found that Scopola was on the ground with me. The catwalk she was on had collapsed.

A pegasus was zooming towards her, but the mare wouldn’t beat me to her. Pink tensed my tail and gripped onto the tail flail that stayed hidden inside. I came running out at her and jumped into the air, trying to deliver a flying kick with my forelegs. I was slow and easy to predict. The pegasus rolled to get out of the way; she did not see the tail flail coming.

This was the second time in as many minutes as I heard a wing collapse and break under the pressure of a blunt force trauma. She barreled past me and hammered into a wooden crate, demolishing it and sending Celestia Snack Cake packages everywhere. “Whoo! There’s cake with my violence, too! Yes, please.”

Shut it, Pink! Very inappropriate! I snapped back while checking on Scopola Mina. She was in bad shape, but she was awake and moving slowly. She had dozens of cuts, her armor would need repairs from the grenade fragments. Her rifles were scattered around her. Gotta stop this bleeding. One of the bigger struts from the catwalk’s collapse had cut her rear legs deep, and her hamstrings were visible. I poured out a healing position on her and put another one up to her lips.

“Scopola, stay with me. I do not know when Quick Stitch or Nyota will be here, but stay with me.” I started putting on bandages when a tink off the concrete caught my attention. “GRENADE!” I shouted and without thinking dove on top of Scopola Mina, covering her as best I could and protecting her head most of all.

My vision went white in my left eye. My right was still closed. My ears burned again, ringing and letting out a high-pitched whine this time. Oh, come on! I’m going to get tinnitus! That was my own tactic! Dampened SMG fire echoed from behind me. The pegasus that had been moving towards us materialized into view. She staggered as rounds that didn’t hit me—or bounced off my armored bubble ass—penetrated her and ripped apart her light leather armor.

Scopola Mina started to rise, and I shoved a piece of metal between us and the SMG fire. Scopola tried to return fire with her laser rifles, and they scattered around in every direction but at her target. She was just as disoriented as I was, and I jumped onto her to stop her shooting. “I’ve got you!”

She turned several pieces of metal to rainbow ash, two crates burst into ashes, and more snack cakes fell out, scattering over the floor. I thought I heard Pink make a coconut comment. I reached up to stop Scopola from shooting, and I winced in pain with an unholy shriek. My entire leg screamed in agony as I felt my hoof chip. The SMG hit me right on the hoof, where Nyota’s Brass Shoes were, and drove the brass shoe into my frog.

The pain made me drop the piece of metal that was keeping us covered. Scopola resumed her laser fire when I cried out, I was seeing multiples of everything I was hurting so bad. Chifundo’s rifle rang out and the griffin from earlier let out a shriek, and a loud thud echoed from their direction. Nyota appeared; well, four of him did. My attention was directed towards him as the earth pony trying to reload his SMG turned to see him just in time to have a zebra hoof slug him across the jaw.

He fell like a sack of bricks, stunned, and his jaw snapped when he struck the floor. I whimpered, wishing the bottom of my hooves were armored right now. Nyota leaned down to check on me just as I was staggering to my hooves.

Nyota’s head recoiled to the side, a spray of blood shooting from his mouth, and the sound of a pistol ripped through the air. I snapped and pulled out Rainbowrise’s Protector, turning in the direction the pistol’s shot came from, the gun now aimed at me. I couldn’t see straight, but I just started shooting. My hooves screaming as I pulled myself upright and stormed forward, ignoring the pain in rage. Over and over again, I fired and fired.

The gun clicked, and I dropped it. I pulled out Buddy’s Last Gift and let the revolver dump into the earth pony. Her body armor was ripping, a piece of kevlar was shredded off the riot police gear she wore. When the revolver clicked, and the earth pony was staggering, I threw it at her before slamming my tail flail into her face; after which, I fell over on top of her when my injured hoof refused to support me anymore.

I felt a leg catch me, I looked over to see the Starkatteri markings across it, and my heart skipped a beat. I looked up to see Nyota adjusting his cheek, where a bullet graze led up to his helmet, another deep groove there as well. By miracle of luck and over-engineering, the heavy pistol, a .50 Desert Griffin, hadn’t penetrated and it had bounced off,the blood was only surface damage. I went for my bandages and tried to apply them to the earth pony mare, lying face down on the floor. “Oh no! Please no! I am sorry! I just saw Nyota and and…” I hesitated as I put pressure onto her own wound, where the flesh had been ripped from her face. “Please, stay alive! Please! Just stop shooting my coltfriend.” I was scrambling over Nyota’s leg, and he held me back, shaking his head.

“Sunrise, no. It’s okay. I’m okay.” He whispered into my ear. My head was fuzzy, and all the sounds of gunfire were gone. “I’ve got you, Sunny.” Nyota pulled me away as the earth pony mare groaned, and exhaled.

“Her armor stopped the pistol shots, Sunny. You cleaned her clock through, nice blow with that flail.” I grimaced as Nyota leaned down to give her a healing potion and walked over to help Scopola. I staggered and limped over to pick up my weapons from when we were all interrupted.

How? Am I really that close to simply going full murder? All it took was Nyota being injured and I… My thoughts trailed off, and Nyota hugged me tenderly, pulling me as tight as our armors would allow and my wobbly hooves would let me. Before he could speak, we were interrupted very loudly.

“Who...wha… that feels so nice… stop playing hard to get, my handsome zebra.” I raised an eyebrow as the griffin from earlier was no longer sounding enraged and now was trying to sound seductive. I looked back at Nyota.

“Sunrise, I think they’re done fighting. You should go regroup with the others. Scopola and I will be there shortly.” He was already hefting the mare I had knocked out onto his back, and Scopola was holding her head, shaking it to clear her senses.

There was a painful moan from the griffin, then an excited gasp. “Oh, pretty zebra baby! We were meant to be darling, please hurt me more.” My confusion only escalated, and Nyota blushed and stopped in his steps while we looked at each other. I turned my head around the corner to see Chifundo on the floor, struggling to avoid being kissed by the griffin from earlier. There was a dart lodged firmly in her rear, and she had her tail high in the air. Quick Stitch was struggling to restrain her.

“Wait, no, my marefriend is—” Chifundo was cut off by a stern kiss as the griffin made goo-goo eyes at him while locking her beak to his lips. I pulled out my shotgun and cocked it with a fresh shell. The griffin stopped only for a moment, as Scopola limped up beside me.

“Ya know, even their griffin’s like us now? I’m not that drugged-out; can we stop this?” Scopola’s horn flared up, and she pulled the griffin off of Chifundo with her TK, lifting her up and securing her against the wall. “But, but baby! We were meant to…?” the griffin protested.

I looked up to see another earth pony, this one the sniper from earlier, trying to make out with Alguacil, “What in Celestia’s Golden Ass is goin’ on?” He squawked, and struck her on the nub of her leg that I had pulverized to get her to back off.

Nyota snickered, ‘Wasn’t Celestia’s ass white?” He nudged me, and I couldn’t help but crack a smile. I checked my E.F.S. for more blips and noticed there was still one more. Quick Stitch was busy tying up the love-drunk griffin.

“Well, you said not to kill anymore, I’m trying really hard not to.” Quick Stitch reminded us as I checked my compass.

“Did you use my compound from The Roof battle?” Scopola Mina nudged Quick Stitch’s side while Alguacil tied up the three-legged earth pony mare on him in order to secure her down. I noticed one more blip on my E.F.S.

“Alright, secure the prisoners, we will sort this out once all the wounded have been cared for. Bring the ones outside in too, make sure they are all in one spot.” I noticed a couple of crackling fires that were dying down around us and started towards the E.F.S. blips. “Nyota, cover my back. Scopola, see what you can do about those fires, we do not want to burn their home down.” I was doing my best to avert my eyes from the lewd displays from the two females that were being tied up.

I came around a corner, beyond where Scopola Mina had fallen and into a separate walkway that had a blue shielded hue. There stood a very muscular earth pony wearing scrap armor and wielding a sledgehammer in his mouth. He had ‘#1 Gard’ written in foalish writing across his chest, and the sledgehammer had barbed wire strung around it. He was the size of a large carriage, almost a solid three meters tall and two meters wide.

“Ummm, hi, listen. We do not want any more violence. Can we just talk?” I winced, pretty sure from the rage on his face that wasn’t an option.

“MONGOL SMASH PONY! BATTER UP!”

Pink held up a sign on my H.U.D. “Epic Chase Scene Mow?” I bolted back around the corner and nearly ran into Nyota.

“RUN! NO, RUN! NOW!” I called out to him as I ran past, and he looked at me confusedly before following my lead.

“I thought we were here for the tank?”

“GIANT EARTH PONY!” The ground under our hooves began to tremble as we rounded the second bend of crates and support pillar to our friends.

Scopola giggled, sounding high off her rocker. “Oh! That’s what knocked me off the catwalk.”

I pulled to a stop and motioned everyone to turn back. “Chifundo, Scopola, Alguacil! Firing line! Shoot for legs. Quick Stitch, take cover. Nyota, prepare to back strike him!” We all put our weapons down, ready to shoot, with around twenty meters between us and the corner. Mongol slid around the bend. He filled the entirety of both the car lanes that made up the path, his legs straddling the faded double yellow stripe in the middle.

Our gunfire did virtually nothing to the metal armor and thick muscles. He pulled out a monkey wrench and hurled it at me. I did not have time to dodge, and the massive tool as long as my leg hit me with the force of a major league buckball. I rolled across the ground and bounced off a pillar. “More Ponies! More Smiles! GO LONG!” He kept running, and our firing line scattered as two more wrenches missed the others.

Do you think he just wants to play ball?

Pink shrugged at me and patted my chest, “I mean, it’s that, or he collapses your chest when your armor fails. See if he just wants to go to the park?”

“WAIT!!!” Nyota shouted; everyone paused, turning towards him. Even Mongol skidded to a halt. Nyota trotted up to Mongol and pulled out the buckball we had used to play with Nugget. “Here, why don’t you play with this? We can play ball, right?”

Mongol jumped up and down with the bounding joy of a small filly. A bounding joy that vibrated and shook the building as well. Chifundo lowered his rifle and slowly walked up to Mongol; his voice a stern scolding as he spoke. “Now listen here, little child, you should not act so wild! Players do not hurl a wrench, lest I put you on the bench!” Chifundo was angry, and sounded like an irate parent scolding their foal mixed an umpire telling off a cheating player. He scared me more in that moment than my mother when I got an F on a report card!

Mongol teared up and fell to the ground crying and wailing as he stamped his hooves against the side of the pillar. Chifundo walked right up to him, glaring down the massive earth pony. Our gunfire hadn’t phased him, but Chifundo’s words and Nyota’s offer of friendship actually had subdued this great beast. I feared Mongol might pummel Chifundo when Alguacil started shouting too.

“Alright, Cadet! Get your shit togeth’r! You’re number One Guard? Act Like It! Git over ther’ and guard those prisoners! We will play ball after yer SHIFT!” Alguacil’s thick accent and drill sergeant mentality suddenly had Mongol onto his hooves. Alguacil pointed his revolver in the direction of prisoners that Quick Stitch was shielding. Mongol gave a sharp salute and marched right over towards the prisoners.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Mongol shouted in a way that you could only expect someone who wasn’t all at home could say it. Quick Stitch resumed working on patching them up while Mongol walked in a firm patrol circle around them all.

“Um, did that just happen?” I stared in disbelief. I was still holding my chest in pain while Nyota walked over to me and gave me somepony to lean on.

“There, Sunrise, are ya happy now? I didn’t kill ‘em.” Alguacil snorted and holstered his revolver. I smirked up at Alguacil and held my chest a little tighter.

The laughter was making my wrench bruises hurt more. “I am very proud of you, I never thought I would get to say that.”

Alguacil snorted and shook his head, “He’s a complete moron,” his expression softened, and he deflated as he patted my shoulder. “But he isn’t a bad pony; he just needs some guidance.” We gathered the prisoners and tended the wounded.

Most of them lived, not counting the ones Scopola had disintegrated, the ones I had blown up, and a couple of others that were either gunned down or burned alive. This was a brutal fight, we did not know why it was so bad. We moved our sled inside the parking garage and closed the doors. We were not going to interrogate any of them, not yet. Not till the love poison wore off, and all their injuries were treated.

The zebra who had surrendered was a decent medic, it turned out, and he had yielded to avoid getting injured in hopes of helping our wounded and their own. Quick Stitch had found this out while we moved the sled inside. The sound of an elevator caught our attention. I motioned Chifundo and Alguacil to check it out.

Quick Stitch had me near him, tending my wounds and doing field patching on my armor. “Sunrise, two grazes across your skull, all your ribs are cracked or were at one point. I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.” He paused and kept working his horn, the healing magic seeping into my flesh and delivering a cold tingle to my body. The soothing coolness that entered my flesh relaxed me. The aching, screaming bruises and various wounds I had sustained were minor compared to the three dozen ponies we had managed to incapacitate. Or kill… The rainbow dust on parts of my armor reminded me, that dust used to be a pony.

“Yeah, and all that fire would have gone to my friends if not me.” I could hear the salt in my voice as I worked the needle and thread to repair the rips in my kevlar. Alguacil flew overhead to get a view as I put my heavy plated vest back on. My hoof was bandaged, and it hurt to walk, but Quick Stitch assured me those were healing pains. I hadn’t looked at myself; only removed the sock, let him do the work, then put it back on.

“Hey, Sunrise, get up her’.” I looked up at Alguacil, he motioned a talon for me to come up there.

I looked at Chifundo, who was down the catwalk and adopting a sniper position, laying down upon his stomach and lining up his rifle. “Scopola, keep Quick Stitch covered,” I had to resist laughing as I turned to look at Mongol. “Make sure Mongol keeps his number one guard position.”

Scopola laughed and hiccupped from her high, ‘Daww, Mongol; he’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll be real nice and sweet with all of us here.”

Nyota helped me scale the boxes in order to climb up to where Alguacil was. I would reach up and start to pull myself up, but my hoof would hurt too badly. Nyota would push against my rear and flanks to finish pushing me up, not hesitating to tease me with a grope to excite me up faster. I got onto the catwalk and then turned to help Nyota up. He jumped up effortlessly and patted me on the ass playfully.

“Hey! Not fair.” I called out while shuffling indignantly; my armor was now hot for multiple reasons. My flanks in particular squirmed because, despite the armor plating, Nyota knew exactly how to strike to make sure I felt it. Nyota just snickered.

“Come on, let’s see what that noise was.” Nyota pulled me towards Alguacil, and I drew my shotgun. We approached where Mongol had been guarding; a set of heavy doors opened to reveal an elevator. It had only been maybe ten minutes since the last shot had been fired.

Another tense thirty seconds ticked by as we trained our weapons on the elevator, the doors opening as the wires kept reeling the lift up. We saw the unbolted barrel of the tank coming up first, moving as though it were being held by someone, with a battle standard of the symbol I kept drawing on it. The pony angel with a shotgun standing in front of the new dawn displayed upon a white piece of cloth.

It was being held on one end by an older unicorn stallion and a very cute and hesitant looking brown pegasus with a bobtail and pointed ears. On the other end of the flag was a very young earth pony filly covered in a layer of grime and grit so thick that it was impossible to see her coat underneath. We were all taken aback, I could hear snuggles growling behind Chifundo, and Bodda Pett’s weight pressed into my back as he tucked himself in.

Chifundo held his battle rifle to point to the ceiling and shouted, “To those who are standing there, who are the ones walking towards our mare?”

The unicorn held up his hoof, proving he was not armed, “Ho there, don’t point that gun in my direction if ya wouldn’t mind.” The zebra did have a weapon in his hoof, but it was a .357 hold out pistol; he stood defensively near the filly.

“Ho! I am the extremely pissed-off mud pony artificer, Soot! Heir Apparent to superior unicorn Cinder, daughter to magus Anthracite, Scion of Super Critical Manifold, May She Always Slumber,” She kept going on as I put my hoof up onto the box I was using for cover. Nyota and Alguacil both looked at me with clearly confused expressions. Alguacil mouthed the words, ‘is she serious?’ at me, and I rolled my eyes before we turned back to the filly, still standing upright and continuing to rantingly introduce herself. “ What could you possibly want,” She took a deep inhale before shouting at us at the top of her lungs, “With a broken tank?”

Without missing a beat, Nyota replied, “We have all the parts to fix it and the engineer to do it too.”

Soot stared deadpan in disbelief. “You what?”

Alguacil rolled his eyes. “And why are ya brandishing the symbol of Sunrise?”

Soot shook her head and sighed, “That is a very long story you will have to earn.”

Chifundo cleared his throat to put us back onto the subject at hand, "What we are saying, miss, is that is our tank to fix!"

Soot slumped back onto her flanks, her expression even more confused, “Do either of the zebras talk sense?”

I stepped out of my cover, walking cautiously towards them. My tail put my shotgun away, “Hi, umm… I am Wandering Sunrise, and yes, we can fix the tank, good as new; I made all the parts we would need.” While I was speaking, I pulled my mouthguard out of the way and raised my bullet-resistant goggles.

Soot’s lips quivered, and she shook her head, “That’s not possible! It was missing several core components, it will never drive again, let alone fire its cannon.” She was talking lower and slower like she had somehow been defeated. “I mean, I was given a couple of years to get it running, you all are nothing but a bunch of mangy wasteland scavvers, what could you possibly know about this?”

Alguacil snapped and stomped his talon, “Did you just call me a mangy scavver?” I winced and turned to him.

Oh, boy… that was a mistake, here we go! Pink jumped into position to watch the scene unfold, and before she could speak, Alguacil was already ranting away.

“I don’t know who you are, bird, but you are kinda terrifying, with the whole glass eye and scarred scowly face, and covered in the blood of a guard,” Soot paused, hesitant to speak. “You look kinda raider-y.”

I stormed up to Alguacil and put both hooves on his chest, shaking my head frantically as he pushed me aside. “I, little missy, am th’ long eye of th’ law, and your guard shot at us first!”

Soot started and stopped, “Ya know, I’m not talking to the help, which one of you is the leader.”

“That would be the one we call Sunrise, she is the green mare if you cannot surmise.”

Alguacil turned to look down at me while Chifundo spoke.“Sunrise, we’re going to do this your way, but if they call me a raider again; I’m firing a warning shot.” Alguacil stopped trying to push me aside, turning back to put his full attention on Soot, her small band of the zebras, and the very bunny-looking Pegasus. I noticed a Stable-Suit collar frayed around her neck, but the number on the stable was ripped off.

Scopola Mina walked up and flipped a box open behind us. Her laser rifles trained on the inside, “Get out here, pegasus. We ain’t gonna hurt ya!” There was another pegasus crawling out of the box, this one red with a set of blue stripes, indicating he was a zony. He looked terrified; Scopola patted him on the head, leading him away towards the other prisoners.

How did she know he was there? I looked very concerned and worried, I hadn’t even noticed him.

“Do you have any idea how many combat drugs Scopola is on? She would notice Bodda Pett’s heartbeat from a hundred meters away!” I flinched as I felt the itch for Med-X rising, and Pink reached through my H.U.D., patting my mane to help me fight it off. The chills and cold sweat through, and there was nothing she could do about it; the sensation caused my heart rate to pick up, and I had to concentrate on not wanting a shot of sweet, cooling relief.

Soot set down the barrel of the tank, leaning it against the wall with a thud. “Can we all just calm down and stop the shouting?”I leaned in with my question and hesitantly took a step forward. A sense of hope that maybe we could see eye to eye and stop fighting starting to creep into my fight or flight instincts.

Soot looked at me incredulously and squinted her eyes, “And why should we listen to you?”

I turned, and Soot’s eyes lit up as my chest plate turned to face her. The word ‘Angel’ emblazoned across my armored plating. She stared at me, looking over every feature of me, holding up a hoof till she gave a very soft smile, “I umm…” We could see her teeth through the coal and engine-grease-covered coat. “I feel uncomfortable if I am not covered in grit. You say you are Wandering Sunrise and wear the tag, ‘Angel’?”

I nod slowly, “Umm… yeah.”

“What did you fall into?” Soot’s words took me aback, as I checked my armor and found only gunshot and explosive residue, nothing out of the ordinary.

“I did not fall into anything?” My voice was very uncertain. “I came to get my tank back when your guard shot me.”

“Ah yes, Wandering Sunrise. The Little Green Monster.” My head shook, and I took a step back like I had been stuck.

“That is a new one, never been called that.” The rest of my group looked at me as though I had some explaining to do, and I simply could not give an answer.

“I have been told the story of the Little Green Monster since I was tiny,” I looked her up and down, wondering if there was a joke there. She was smaller than me, after all. Her voice and words were now just as uncertain. “You are much more amicable than I was led to believe.” I held up my Pip-Buck and turned on the radio, and prayed that DJ Pon3 was live.

‘Mares and Gentlecolts! There is an interview with the survivors of The Roof! Someone who personally witnessed the Angel with the Shotgun and her group’s heroic actions to prevent their destruction! Stay tuned after this song; they are in the studio right now, just getting their mic check done!’

I turned the radio off and pointed at myself, “That is us, I am the Angel with a Shotgun.”

“How do I know that wasn’t a holotape or a log recorded onto there?” I shook my head and turned the PipBuck towards her to show it was a live radio broadcast as the song, ‘Ain’t that a Kick in the Head,’ started playing. Soot approached cautiously to get a better look, reading my PipBuck very slowly.

“Yes… that is a live broadcast…” Soot was more puzzled now as the zebra moved to protect the bunny-looking pegasus, the two of them remaining quiet. The older zebra had put away his gun for the time being.

“So why did your guard shoot me?” I asked, just as confused and puzzled as Soot was. It was like this entire battle had happened for no good reason.

“Because my guards were listening for anypony talking about a tank, and we had assumed some psycho-survivalist had locked the tank away.” Soot turned to me and blinked a few times, even more surprised. “They were told to shoot first and ask questions later. He wasn’t very smart, but he was good at his job.”

I took in a deep breath, and a weight pressed down onto me with a pang of guilt that rode into my soul. “Okay, let us try this again. Hi! I am Wandering Sunrise. These are my friends.” I pointed at Nyota, Alguacil, Chifundo, Snuggles, and back at Scopola, escorting the pegasus around the corner to where Quick Stitch was. “Nyota, is the Starkatarri, Alguacil is the law bird, Snuggles is Chifundo’s pet, and Chifundo is our zony shaman, Scopola Mina is our Filly Scout, and Quick Stitch is a wasteland doctor with an actual medical license somehow, tending to your wounded around the corner. Can we work this out?”

Level Up Progress - 17% of the way to Level 15.

Quest Perk Unlocked - Reputation’s Past Lives - To some, you are a Little Green Monster who will murder them in their sleep if they step too close to you. To others, you are the Angel with a Shotgun that appears at Dawn during the darkest of nights. It all depends on where they find you. - Karma Score is considered 100% higher—200% if you have Karma Beacon—to everyone you meet, for good or ill. Since you are a Paladin of the Wasteland now, expect raiders to shoot you on sight, and good ponies to be strangely disarmed by you!

Chapter 48: Now We Fix Everything

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“While we are examining into everything, we sometimes find truth where we least expected it.”
-Quintilian

Soot looked at me, stunned; she then looked at Nyota and Chifundo before turning to Alguacil. She turned back to the older unicorn defending the ripped stable-suit-wearing pegasus with very pointed, almost deer-like ears. Each of my friends had made a reaction to me pointing them out. Alguacil and Nyota sticking their chests out proud. Scopola Mina looking like her hoof was in the cookie jar. Chifundo had only stopped petting and reassuring Snuggles long enough to give a simple nod.

Soot finally nodded and frowned, “Well, I see. If you are going to take our wounded with you, I simply ask that you give them to a slaver who will treat them well.” I recoiled in shock and horror. The very idea of a slaver making my stomach curl.

“Slaver? What? I… Who… what?” I was even more confused now. Were prisoners in The Wasteland—

“DUH! What did you think you did with them? You either shoot them or turn them into slaves! You’re the exception to the damn recipe here! Seriously, you’re like a banana inserted into a vanilla cake. No one sees it coming, and when it hits, they just want more of it!” Pink huffed with a nicker of her lips. I blinked, still reeling and trying to recover from this stunning revelation.

Was this why they listened to me? Because I offered an option for both sides that helped everyone?

“No, you twit! You are the very definition of Be Better, and guess what? It’s a better everyone dreams of, and no one gets.” Pink slapped some sense into me, literally. While my head was whipped to one side. “Now get that through your thick skull before a bullet figures out how to!” I returned my attention to Soot, who was standing there, looking just as confused as I was. Nyota stroked my mane, and I nodded to him, removing my helmet.

“Soot, was it?” She nodded and started to speak, raising her hoof. Then she stopped herself and shut her mouth, thinking better of it. She motioned for me to go on. “I am Wandering Sunrise, The Angel with a Shotgun. I have no interest in slaves, once we are no longer on fighting terms,” I took a breath and looked at my friends for approval. I removed my ballistic goggles and the lower face shield. “I would release them after their wounds are treated, without any strings attached.”

Soot’s jaw dropped to the floor before she stared at me, then at each of my party members. She walked up to a crate and smashed her head against it with such force it sent wooden splinters towards the ceiling. I rushed to her and caught her head before she slammed it a second time. “You came back looking for your tank, and shot at us!” She shouted at me.

“I wanted to trade for it, negotiate and work out a deal. Your guard shot us, and then Minty Fresh came out guns blazing.” I replied with my own expression of shock.

“Wait, Minty Fresh was still here?” Soot was even more confused now as she sat on her haunches.

Nyota held up a hoof, “Umm, yes, she came out and fired at us. We did not hesitate this time.” Chifundo nodded in agreement.

“Our leader, the small angel with a shotgun tried to appease many with humor and fun. Yet they took her as delirious, and never once accepted the plea as serious.” Chifundo had stopped petting Snuggles and started to put her onto her back but realized the manticore had gotten too big for that anymore.

Soot went to smash her head into the crate again, but Nyota’s training kicked in, and I stopped it cold. I realized how much smaller she was than me, and how dirty her coat was, leaving a smear of grime on my armored sock. “Hey, no more of that. There has been enough death and violence today.”

“I fired Minty Fresh when she fucked up that trade deal with the car and stubbornite!”

I paused and thought back to it, “You mean the Q-series loaded with scrap that was owned by a Dr. Brown at one time?”

Soot turned to me with an expression of pure mad pony, her eyebrow twitching. Her body twitched along as though she had been placed inside a large bell, and someone rang it one good, hard time. “That was you!” She shrieked out at the top of her lungs.

Chifundo and Nyota both looked at each other and burst out laughing. Alguacil snickered and put his face into his hat. The helmet he wore under it dropping to the ground with the thud of metal on concrete. I winced and bit my lip, “Would it be worse if I said all you had to do was reconnect the ignition wire and add a little fuel to make it run?”

Soot’s groan was so full of lament it could have satisfied the sorrow for an orphanage closing on Hearts Warming Eve. “I should have had Minty Fresh forcibly removed from the premises!” I put up a hoof and shook my head. Soot started to walk off.

“Hey, wait, the other one is alive, he shot at us first. Lunar Spice, I think his name is.” Soot turned on a heal listening intently. “Then Minty Fresh bum-rushed us. We kept trying to talk the others down,” I looked at my friends for help, but they were recovering from the other outburst. Nyota looked at me with an expression that could only be described as ‘You’re Gon’ Say It.’ I gulped and turned back to Soot, who sat on her haunches and waited for the rest of my explanation.

An idea hit me, I pulled out the Equestrian Officer’s Field Manual, “Going by this, it says that if your enemy is unwilling to disengage or be talked down; at that point, you must press the attack in order to subdue or gain the breathing room you need to withdraw. So, that is what we did.” I winced on the last words, hoping it was enough to convince Soot this had been one giant misunderstanding. Soot continued to twitch for a moment as I put the book away, as soon as it was out of sight, the twitching stopped.

I pointed at the tank barrel she was using for a baseball bat, “So anyway, that symbol on that tank barrel; I think I draw that to indicate safety.”

Soot expression turned to pure disbelief, “What?”

Chifundo pressed a hoof to my flank, “Go on, one of sunshine, show her your sign.” I nodded and started drawing, putting the pony angel with a shotgun hovering in front of a sunrise. Then I added the wonderglue to seal it in and prevent the chalk and marker from being worn away. Chifundo stood next to me, letting his cloak cover most of his features but keeping his head exposed.

All I could think of while drawing was desperately wishing I could undo the damage we had caused. The dead ponies here did not need to die, and there was nothing I could do to take back my actions. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, cooling them. I had not realized I was crying until I finished the drawing and turned to Soot. I finished with every single pair of eyes on me. Wincing, I looked over my shoulder, then slowly turned around to stand next to my work. I wasn’t the best artist, as far as I remember, I never had been.

The meaning of why I had been drawing was sinking in. Now I was seeing the effects of this symbol, a group of would-be raiders now forming an honest settlement. And I just turned it into a massacre. How many died because of this misunderstanding? How many could we have saved? The guilt weighed on me so much, I could not smile at my work. I felt another tear burn on my cheek and watched it drop to the floor.

Nyota put a hoof up to my chest, and I snapped out of my staring off into space. I felt like I had just been wrenched from a memory a split second before it began. “Sunny, you okay?” I blinked at him and felt equal parts of confusion and affection from his statement. “You’re crying, and haven’t responded to Soot for like a solid minute.”

I had been so lost in thought that their words never registered. I shook my head slowly from side to side, “What did we do here?”

Nyota held his head up, “We defended ourselves. Sunrise, come on, Soot wants to go sit down for a meal, and I have no interest in watching you skip because of a very bad day.” Nyota put a leg around my neck and started to lead me towards the elevator.

“But I, the corpses need to be buried, everyone needs medical attention and to be put to rest. I can not—” Nyota shoved the hoof around my neck, into my mouth, and shook his head.

“We will take care of all that. You took far too many bullets, grenades, and you need to negotiate our stay with Soot. I’m not going to have you skip a meal and a chance to rest because of things being a little corpsey.” Nyota turned to look at our friends. I saw them snap to, moving around towards various tasks.

Alguacil snorted, “I’ma gonna go check on Quick Stitch an’ make sure ain’t no one else’s dying today.”

“This is the Angel?” Soot asked someone behind us.

Scopola Mina giggled and shook her head, “‘Never meet your heroes’ applies here. She is never what everypony we meet says she is.” I looked over to Scopola Mina, who stopped outside the elevator. “I’m gonna go gather up the dead and start arranging burials for ‘em.” She said this as she saw the look on my face. An expression of sorrow plastered my front, but I felt like my eyes might actually cut her low if I looked at her too hard.

Chifundo stepped onto the elevator with us, his words were more reassuring. “That one is both hero and enigma, she carries with her hope and stigma. She cares not for either, Sunrise is a mare who just wants a breather.”

I felt relieved that someone understood exactly what I was going through. Even Pink was strangely observant and silent. The elevator doors closed, and started to take us down.

*****

Downstairs, it was vastly different. The elevator opened, and I saw a secondary service elevator made for carriages and heavy vehicles next to the one we were in. A spark battery generator twitched and let out an electrical discharge into a grounding coil nearby. I noticed it was surrounded by glass and placed upon concrete, just to ensure that no random pony passerby would be electrocuted.

This wasn’t a small room, the underground section of the garage had been converted into a kind of communal town. Several stacked bunk beds with privacy screens made from old blinds and curtains racked the walls. There were four additional generators, all in the same setup. Using old Glass windows and improvised scrap metal tesla coils for grounding to keep on dozens of lights.

I wasn’t sure how they got all the electrical cable, or where they had managed to get all this material. Opposite the bunk beds, through a kitchen and canteen—which included working electric stoves—was our tank. It was partially disassembled, and several pieces were being worked on by a pressure washer and a scrub barrel to get the rust off of it.

“Why don’t you two get comfortable and talk about stuff, instead of shooting at each other. I’m gonna go get to work in their kitchen.” Nyota poked my shoulder with a weary smile.

Soot poked me, “Hey, while your zebra friend there goes about making food, how about you and I disarm?” Soot placed the tank barrel against the wall and padded down her mechanic jumpsuit to show she was unarmed. I began the process of removing my weapons.

The obvious first, Sunray, Celestia’s Hammer, and Newb Tube. Then my holdout weapons, Buddy’s Last Gift and Rainbowrise’s Protector. Then my explosives and even taking out the brass shoes from my armored socks, with Soot's help unzipping them. Soot was staring at me, stunned. I was only a head and shoulders bigger than her. Maybe in two or three years, she would outgrow me. Yet, everything laid out before us was easily her entire body weight.

“You.. you carry all of that into combat?” I turned to her and nodded. She put a hoof up against my armor and repeatedly tested. The sound of her hoof smacking kevlar-covered crystal echoed in the room. It was like listening to glass being tapped through a blanket. Soot raised an eyebrow, “Glass? Your armor is made of glass plates under there.”

I shook my head, “no, depleted gem-crystal. It is harder than stubbornite; and just like stubbornite, requires an earth pony’s magic to craft and work with properly.” I smiled at soot as she explored my armor.

“Just, I knew the Angel was armored, but this, this is truly new to me.” Soot picked up my shotgun and started unloading it. Out popped 7 different shells, despite me loading it with only buckshot this morning. It even released a bean bag and warcrime-marked round. I groaned.

“Pink!!! Did you…”

Pink shot her head and pushed her hoof up against me, literally tapping me on the head, “No. I. Did. Not! Your gun does that on its own!”

Soot looked at me while I was wincing from the tapping. “Who is Pink? Are you okay? Wait, is there another pony here? Who is the unicorn who designed this armor and modified these weapons?”

I looked at Soot, rather surprised, and shook my head slowly from side to side. “I modified all these weapons and designed my own armor as well as the armor of all my friends. I used to work in my dad’s mechanic shop before the bombs fell. All through the war, I learned how to build with him.”

“So he was a unicorn, right? The clearly superior race?” I stared at Soot, dumbfounded. Not only by the question but by the implication of her statement. She said all of that, deadpan serious.

“No, he was a pegasus. You do understand that an earth pony designed that tank? And that there is no superior race among ponies, right?” I was questioning where she came from. Where did she get this idea? How and who seeded that in her to think of herself as lesser?

Pink shook her head, “It’s the wasteland, Sunrise, and some of the surviving civilizations might have some very strange ideas. I mean, without proper farmland, even earth pony magic can’t grow crops very well. Without proper manufacturing techniques and facilities, you’ve seen how hard it is for you to turn metal batter into proper gun cake and armor pies.”

I nodded, realizing how, after over a century, you might be able to embed this idea into an earth pony. Soot was looking at me expectantly, and I reached up to give her a hug. She shied away and harshly batted my hoof. She gave me the angriest glare I had seen in a long time. “The hell are you doing? Trying to strangle me?”

Nyota leaned up with a bang of a pot, “Hey! No! She is trying to give you a hug.” My hoof felt suddenly slimey and wrong. I Looked at my hoof Soot had batted away; it was covered in grease, rust flakes, and muck, probably from work she had done with the tank.

“Yeah, I was trying to give you a hug. I do not know who gave you such ideas about earth ponies, but we are far from unequal with unicorns or pegasi. Yes, unicorns have magic and pegasi can fly. But we can grow crops better, we have a kind of spark of ingenuity that allows the creation of stuff like my gear, and weapons.” I motioned past her and pointed at the tank. “Equipment like that tank. All the various pieces of technology I remember came from earth ponies. Guns, tanks, stoves, unicorn inhibitor rings for their horns, and hoof and hoof; we helped unicorns create the laser and plasma rifles using spell matrixes to capture and emulate incineration and disintegration spells.” I reached into my back and discovered a couple of the random books we had gathered were history books.

Two were classroom books for math and ‘The History of Equestria,’ but they were not the only useful books here. There was a book on basic mechanics with a picture of the earth pony writer on the cover. I remembered reading it so dad would take me to the shop, ‘A Beginner Mechanics Guide.’ “Here, see, you can read these, once you’re cleaned up.”

Soot waved a hoof at me dismissively then paused as she started to speak, “Wait, that mechanic’s book was written by an earth pony?”

I nodded, with a nervous smile, “Yes, it is how I learned to work on stuff like this. There are also some details I am willing to show you while we work on fixing the tank up.”

Soot looked at me, stunned as if I had pulled a veil from her eyes, and revealed a rainbow held in my hoof. I set the books onto the nearest coffee table, which was screwed into the concrete to compensate for it having only 3 legs. The drawer had been replaced with one from a toolbox that conveniently fit into the wood.

Soot followed me and poked my flank, then she poked my head where a gash was, I winced feeling it. “Did you have your horn cut off?”

I shook my head, “No, I am an earth pony. Your sniper got a piece of shrapnel through my helmet, and it cut my forehead pretty badly.” I raised my mane, still feeling a tear roll down my cheek, and looked at her sorrowfully. I had been reminded that there was no way that sniper had survived the onslaught.

I lowered myself down, laying on my belly, letting Soot get a look at my wound. “See, no horn. All Earth Pony, no stub either.” Soot looked at the wound then at me very perplexed as the blood had dried across my face.

Soot sat on her haunches, “With you, maybe I can get them to give my birthright back.”

“Your birthright?” It was my turn to be confused as I leaned up to listen. I took out a water canteen and put some in my hoof, gently rubbing it across the wound in an attempt to clean it. It wasn’t much, and it did make it burn with a piercing sting again, but it would be a start.

“Hey! You can’t waste water like that!” Soot grabbed the canteen from me and resealed it. I grabbed it back and snarled at her.

Then I stopped myself before I slapped her, “Wait a minute, are you saying you do not have a source of clean water?” Soot shook her head, and I took a step back from her while standing up. They don’t have clean water? This is a first, where are we now?

Pink rolled her eyes, “You didn’t think that maybe you just turned up in one of the luckiest places in the wasteland? The ground itself is irradiated, and it rains radiation. Yet you’ve been taking clean water for granted, haven’t you? This is the bloody wasteland! All that food Nyota cooks, he gathers and scavenges. Chifundo trades for it in town in addition to your weapons and armor!” I felt a tug on my arm and lifted my PipBuck, which Pink was manipulating with my tail. “Those medical supplies and clean water, Quick Stitch has to use his clean spell every day to keep clean, or to clean himself. Those medical supplies, he and Nyota have to scavenge the basic components to create! Yes, even your magical potions and bandages, they make them. Good grief, it’s like you are oblivious, or something!”

Pink, I know they do all those things. I am surprised that Soot here does not have that option or luxury. I have never done them myself, so I was unsure how much work it actually takes. Soot was staring at me, and I smiled nervously, feeling incredibly self-conscious, having been lost in an internal monologue with Pink. “Sorry about that, Soot, perhaps we can fix that for you. Ya know, helping make up for our rather rough meeting.”

“All that in addition to the tank?” Soot put a hoof on her flank as it to dare me to challenge her words. Her tone could be described as complete doubt.

I smiled brighter, genuinely now, and glad to not be under Pink’s piercing gaze. “Yes, I can get the machinery working, and Quick Stitch, along with Chifundo, should be able to get a talisman set working again.” I looked over at the various pieces of rusting gears and metal around us. I noticed a busted water heater as well. “I could even get a water heater and storage tank setup with a couple of valve-controlled pumps; you all would have hot showers.” I turned around, and Soot’s jaw was halfway to the floor.

Bunny, the pegasus next to her that had been silent the whole time, reached over to put it back up and close her mouth. I only know your name is Bunny because my PipBuck says so! I nodded to Soot. “Yes, before you ask, I am dead serious. So long as when all is said and done, and you are satisfied, we can use the tank to protect us in our travels.”

Soot slowly took the words in, I could see the gears turning in her head. Then she snapped to fury in her eyes and stomped her hoof, “Now! Hold—”

A heavy metal door creaked and groaned in protest, Lunar Spice, the guard from the gate with an arcane cold pack against his head, limped down with Quick Stitch in tow. Quick Stitch was carrying one, stretcher and right behind him, Scopola Mina pranced down all proud of herself. Her TK spell was holding three stretchers at once, perfectly level with an injured creature on each.

Quick Stitch set his heavy load down and approached me while Lunar Spice walked over to talk to Nyota. I could see them laugh out of the corner of my eye, Lunar Spice winced in pain from laughing, and then Lunar Spice directing Nyota to find what he needed in the kitchen.

“Sunrise, I am going to bring the wounded down here. Alguacil and I have come to terms with all of them and are working to make them understand we did not mean harm. It is difficult… to say the least.” Quick Stitch explained and turned to Soot. “You have my sincerest apologies for anyone who I could not save.” He gave Soot a deep bow, and I smiled at Quick Stitch, walking up to him and placing a hoof on his shoulder. The metal plate meeting my bare hoof made a rather unique glass-like sound.

“Quick Stitch, it will be okay. We are going to make it better now; talk to Chifundo once the wounded are stable about making talismans for their water supply. I know it will be hard but,” I hesitated, and Quick Stitch let out a snort. He looked at me like I had insulted him.

“I studied those burnt-out water talismans with Chifundo while you were trying to mend the bridges and plant those trees.” I looked all offended at him and took a step back as though I might have actually done something wrong. Quick Stitch deflated and laughed. “Oh, you should see the expression on your face, Sunrise.” He kept laughing even after I swatted his shoulder for it.

“Yes, Sunrise, while you were tending to the heavy artillery and rebuilding The Roof, Chifundo and I picked those burnt-out talismans apart. I would relish the chance to try to make one.” I blinked a few times and realized just how far behind I was on certain subjects.

“Right, well,” I bit my lip and sighed. “We are going to be here for a couple of weeks. We have to fix this misunderstanding and that tank.” Quick Stitch nodded and got very serious in his expression.

“With how some of the wounded are, yes, I wouldn’t let you leave here till I was certain they will pull through.” He paused and turned to Soot. “With your permission, of course.”

Soot blinked a few times, like a deer in the headlights. “Wait wait wait, the two unicorns listen to the earth pony, and she leads them, but they are allowed to protest her decisions?”

I nodded, “I am not the best at everything by a long shot. The few things I have expertise in are explosives, combat tactics, and well, making sure we do not need any combat tactics. I rely on my friends for their thoughts on everything else, and we never take a direction till we agree on that direction.” I smirked at Soot as she still stood there slack-jawed. Bunny went to fix the jaw again, but Soot put her hoof down to the floor, preferring to keep her jaw agape.

This is going to be a very long day.

*****

We had brought all our gear, equipment, tank parts, and wounded down to the basement. I moved away to Chifundo and allowed Soot to sort the equipment. Quick Stitch, Scopola Mina, and Nyota were tending wounded and helping feed them. We had decided to not let me help just in case some were traumatized by my performance in armor, considering one patient looked at my helmet sitting on my hip and shirked away from it like it was a shark about to bite him in the ocean.

I had an idea, and it might’ve helped us out quite a bit. I approached Chifundo, “Chifundo, I do not know much about spirit magic or how they work.” Chifundo stopped preparing the meals to be served; he made a motion to Lunar Spice and Bunny, who both nodded and took over.

I walked with him away from anyone’s earshot and looked at him. “Chifundo, can we use some sort of sympathetic connection with my father’s pistol to locate him using any spirit magic you know of?”

Chifundo’s face brightened up as I offered him the Colt .45 with the word ‘Protector’ engraved on its handle in welding torch burns. He took the weapon in his hoof and nodded very slowly with a few tisks of his lips. “Yes, there is enough of his essence, that I can figure out his current presence.”

I smiled and raised up on my tippy-hooves as, for the first time, we had a real lead. Chifundo snorted, “I will have to take time to prepare, such a journey is precarious for a mare.” Chifundo leaned up and nudged my neck. “Sunrise, I must emphasize; do not get too excited, we do not know the condition or place he will be sighted.”

I smirked, realizing we might be rubbing off on Chifundo a little bit with his rhyming being off. “How long do you need?”

Chifundo put a hoof up to his chin and stroked at his braided mane-end. “It may require a few days, before I can see through the haze.” I gave him another hug and then went to join Soot, who was messing with the tank. The first thing I noticed was the commander mounted heavy machine gun was missing.

“Hey, Soot. Where is the Maud Deuce?” I turned to her, using the nickname for the M2 Brownflank .50 caliber machine gun.

“The what?” Soot turned with an expression of pure confusion.

“The commander’s heavy machine gun, where is it?” I leaned up and pointed at the mounting it should have been on. Now getting closer to the tank, I could see some mangled metal there, like something has been ripped or blown off.

“Oh, some raider with an old bazooka blew it apart while we were towing it here. The missile launcher still works through.” I groaned and sighed. I had made parts for the machine gun. Without the base and other mechanisms that I assumed might be salvaged, there was no using those parts to make a big machine gun.

“Anything else that might make these parts unusable?” Soot looked at me with a nervous smile and shook her head very slowly.

“I umm… I don’t think so. You were pretty thorough, we even have spare tracks and road wheels in case those get busted.” She held up a piece of semi-opaque armor plating I had made from the depleted crystal. “I’m just trying to figure out what these are for.”

I smiled and took the piece of armor plating, placing it over the hole on the side of the tank, it was an exact fit to cut out the hole and place the plating in its place. “They are armor plating. Like what I wear. It is much harder than steel or stubbornite; just if it does get destroyed, it will shatter. So most anti-tank weapons are useless.” I held up the crystal and reached over to a plasma torch. I hoofed Soot a pair of darkness goggles while I put on a pair myself. Then I applied the plasma torch to the crystal and let it burn against it. I even held it with my bare hoof.

I watched the clock on my E.F.S. waiting a full minute to tick by before I removed the torch, showing my hoof hadn’t suffered any burns, and the crystal was intact. Then I removed the goggles, “Most anti-tank weapons use heat and shaped charges to penetrate. So they will be useless against this. They will need to get a real tank cannon or anti-tank gun with a solid shot round to punch it. Much rarer in the wasteland.”

Soot removed her goggles and stared at the crystal plating like it was some holy grail. Scopola Mina giggled and looked at me, “I mean if you want a heavy machine gun, you could always just use me.” Soot turned to her with a very upset glare. I laughed and shook my head.

“You know what, Scopola, you are right. A couple of submachine guns and your horn, then we would be golden.” I patted her on the shoulder, while Soot and I began our work. We started with a hose, some rust removing lime, and scrub brushes. This was going to be a very long two weeks, at least, to fix this metal beast.

Alguacil came down with an angry squawk that stopped all of us from continuing our work. Snuggles yelped from the squawk and jumped up onto the tank, then ran inside to hide. I rolled my eyes, Great I’m gonna have to deal with that later when I find her. I turned around to see what Alguacil was so angry about.

“Listen here ya stubborn-assed featherweight. I ain’t interested! I got’a bed ta call my nest, an’ yer lucky Sunrise is here with me.” We all saw him coming down the stairs carrying various tank parts, and the griffin from earlier that had tried to put a gun in my mouth was following with two black eyes from being punched. Alguacil turned into the room and stared down every single creature in the room one at a time. “Ya here me the lot of ya! I’ma regulator, an’ ya bastards are lucky to have Sunrise here. ‘Cause if Minty Fresh’s impression had stuck, yall woulda been classified raiders, an’ I don’t let raiders live!”

I groaned, and all of our group in unison facehoofed. Well, at least we agree on that. Way to make friends, Alguacil, threaten their lives into being our friends. I walked up to Alguacil and shook my head. “Alguacil, no. Threatening them and expecting them to improve does will not work. We have to show them how to be better and treat them with the same respect we want.”

Alguacil snorted and growled, then deflated as he looked away from my stern gaze. “One day, Sunrise, you’re gonna be nice to somepony ya shouldn’t be. It’s gonna bite us all in the ass, and I’m gonna be there to say I told ya so.” Alguacil started to walk away.

“So it’s gonna be what, f’er or five days, a week at most?” Alguacil pointed at the tank.

I turned to it, and then back to him. “Something like that?”

My PipBuck suddenly squawked out a radio message, “Agent Scopola Mina, this is an official order from Filly Scout headquarters. We need you to report to designated coordinates 7 for a mission as soon as possible. You will be returned to Sunrise and crew upon completion. This is a direct order from Eternal Scout Council. To disobey is treason.”

I looked over at Scopola Mina, who hung her head and groaned. “Yeah… sorry, y’all, but I gotta go. Not sure what they want, but I should be back shortly.” Scopola Mina started gathering up her things as we all gathered around her.

“On your own? Alone?” I looked at her, very concerned and worried. Scopola Mina gave me a hug and shook her head slowly side to side.

“Not at all, miss Sunrise. There’ll be some scout ta meet me on the way there. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with y’all as soon as I can.” She turned to each of us and gave us all a hug, one at a time. Nyota smiled and playfully smacked her chest.

“Come back to us with some good stories, ok?” Scopola Mina nodded as Chifundo approached for his turn.

“This is never a goodbye motion we mime, it is always until next time,” Chifundo smirked while leaning up to kiss Scopola Mina on the cheek. I have never seen yellow turn beat-red so quickly.

Alguacil took his turn and just tipped his hat. Scopola wasn’t having that and jumped onto him with a tight hug around his shoulders. “Dammit, I was hopin’ ta get away without all the mushy mushy stuff.” He rolled his eye and chuckled. “Fine, Scopola, you get your hug.” He wrapped a claw around her neck and then finished the hug.

I groaned and hung my head as Quick Stitch and I approached, “Not sure how we’ll get all the work done without our living crane. I suppose we will just have to make do.” Quick Stitch mused with a smile and punched my shoulder. I turned to him, with a glare that immediately softened. Quick Stitch was crying, I felt my own cheeks burning with tears.

I turned to Scopola with a nod, “Okay, well. Come back to us in one piece, please? I know Filly Scout missions are usually dangerous.”

Scopola Mina just hugged us both silently, “I promise it is as Chifundo said, not goodbye; until next time.” Scopola trotted up the stairs out of sight.

Quick Stitch did not allow the moment to last too long, “So about this tank, how about we make it a flying tank?”

I turned to Quick Stitch then felt my own sadness evaporate as I smiled up at him. Soot groaned, “Are any of you creatures the least bit sane?” She grumbled.

Nyota leaned in with a smile, “I mean there went just the mare to work the gems just, but I’m sure Stitchypoo here and Chifundo could make those flight talismans sing again.” Soot’s jaw dropped to the floor as Nyota completely dismissed her concerns.

Quick Stitch took out several notebooks from his pack and showed it to me. They were covered in notes and documentation for making gems and talisman-infused enchantments. So far, there were only two types, the water talismans for purification, and the flight talisman. He was still only partway working through how to make the shield talismans work, which meant we only had Nyota’s working shield. I blinked a few times as I scanned the notes.

“Well, you are a genius. This could work, and if anyone could get it to work,” I passed him the note back. “The crazy alien-loving genius would be the one to do it.” He took the notes and nodded. “See what you can do to make a flight talisman between repairs.”

Nyota turned to Soot, “I imagine we know a mare who can get the crystals to work too.” He said, pointing at me with his hoof. Soot was stuttering and staring at all of us in wide-eyed horror. I wasn’t sure which revelation shocked her the most. How we worked together, the fact aliens were real, or the possibility of creating technology not seen for over 180 years.

Soot turned to me, “You’re not suddenly going to turn white, right? And show me that you can shift colors at will, right?”

I shrugged, “I have no idea why I am green or if it is even possible to shift back to my original colors.”

A voice within my mind, that voice, chuckled and chilled me to the bone. “Oh, if only you knew how to get me out. Then I’d have a real fun time with all of them.” My skin crawled, and I shuddered, staring off into space before Nyota nudged me.

“Shut it 17! Right now, and get back in your cage!” Pink slammed a door just out of my vision and started heaving sandbags towards it. Before I could ask her, Nyota brought me out of my headspace.

“Sunny, love, you okay?” I nodded, trying to shake it off as Nyota suddenly grabbed me into a deep embrace. His lips meeting mine sent fireworks through my body and made me shudder. I felt him drawing in it tight as my whole body got hot, especially between my flanks. I could feel the deep white blush coursing throughout me as my lover held the embrace for just a bit too long.

When he parted, I was panting for air and because I could feel a certain need. “See! I can make her turn white for just a bit.” The entire room erupted in laughter, I looked at Nyota, wanting to smack him. Then I felt the butterflies in my stomach, and my glare softened. In this moment of clarity, this moment of absolute crystal-clear senses, I felt something else. A second heart pulsed with my own, and it made me shift slightly uncomfortably. Then a third, and my heart leapt up into my throat at what that would mean.

Wait, three!? Did he? I could only smile and keep the secret as I leaned up to kiss him softly and less aggressively, this was the more loving embrace we were both used to, as we held each other for the longest moment and let the world slowly calm down around us.

Soot snorted, and I could hear her talking to Alguacil, “Are they all this crazy?”

Chifundo, while laughing, corrected her, “This lot is not of the crazy brand, they are the most sane in the wasteland.”

Soot turned to Alguacil as we broke the embrace, “Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t regulators stop crazy?”

Alguacil growled and snapped his head towards her, “Now listen here, missy! We stop criminals, and even then, only after they have committed a crime or if we can prove they were about to. We don’t stop y’all stupid ponyfolk from being crazy! Gosh darn varmints are already more batty than a thestral.”

Soot raised her hoof, like a student in a classroom. I looked at Alguacil and then at Soot. Nyota turned to me for directions. I pointed at Soot, with the most confused look on all our faces. It was an awkward feeling to call on her like a teacher in a classroom, “Yes, Soot?”

“What’s a thestral?” Soot mused to all of us.

“They are bat ponies,” I replied and smiled at her reassuringly. Soot looked horrified.

“What!? There are bat-pony mutants in the wasteland!” I held up a hoof to stop her from panicking and shook my head. I had to fight with a memory, something of a bat pony who was much larger than me, and I could see the edges of her Ministry of Awesome power armor in my vision.

“No, they existed before the war. Some felt like they did not belong in Equestrian society in those days. It was how the zebras got their flight magic to make into talismans, it is why their flight talismans create bat wings instead of feathered ones.” I explained and held my head, the weakness of my body as everything suddenly went distant and disconnected. I struggled to stay standing till Nyota helped steady me. I should not keep fighting these memories like this, I know this is not normal.

Nyota and I walked over as I debated on how to start. He pushed a plate of food up to my chin. I noticed that Lunar Spice was passing out more food for everyone else. “I know you haven't eaten a full meal yet. You’ve got more than you to eat for now.” I groaned and leaned down to taste it. The rice and curry were flaming hot, and I loved it. The spices in my mouth felt like I was singing to the stars. While I munched, Nyota rubbed a hoof against my head, “I am also worried about Scopola Mina. She doesn’t have a box; if she dies, she is gone. If we die, I mean, in theory, you could just keep shooting the creature that comes out till you get the one you want.”

I paused and dropped the mouthful of food back onto the plate. “I am sorry, what!?” The thought had never occurred to me; that we could kill innocent creatures, who never knew what was going on, to get the one we wanted the recombulators to generate to come back out.

Nyota winced and shook his head, “I mean it would be a sorely evil action to kill innocents, but the thought has crossed my mind if, well, we were losing each other, that would be how we got each other back.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I was completely stunned and staggered back, dropping the plate to the floor. Nyota caught it with both of his forehooves and tilted his head. “Sunny, I’m sorry I suggested it, but surely the thought…” He stopped and shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t have, would it? You couldn’t bring yourself to do that.”

I slowly nodded my head and winced, “Nyota, I love you, but I could never bring myself to kill an innocent for you. I hope you can understand that.” Nyota smiled at me and offered my plate back.

“Sunny, that is the very reason why I love you, you want everyone to be better. To do better than they ever thought of doing.” Nyota leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I would never ask you to change that, and I am sorry I brought it up. You are my angel, I am your demon.”

I finished eating listening to Alguacil and Quick Stitch’s debate about staying to help. “Alguacil, the reason why I am staying is because they fought the law, and the law won.” Quick Stitch nudged past him to tend to a patient, and Alguacil squawked, rather stunned at the revelation.

*****

Once everyone had settled into their various routines, I went to put a hoof to Soot and ask her where she wanted to start on the tank. I noticed just how dirty she truly was. “You and me, bath, now,” I told her, and Soot suddenly looked horrified.

“NO! I refuse! You’ll never take me alive!” So the chase began! Over every single surface and gateway I could get past. I galloped around, chasing Soot. Then reality blinked, again.

During this, I slipped on some curry that had fallen, and went sliding across the concrete. I bounced off the tank with a hard smash of my shoulder. Then I slipped on grease glide, sending me toward a table which had one side of its legs broken, turning it into a ramp that catapulted me into the air. Alguacil tried to catch me but missed before I went headlong into what was supposed to be dinner. In this case, cold pancake batter that was being used to make pancake noodles for pasta.

I slowly rose my face from the pancake batter, covered in it from forehead to my collarbone. Lunar Spice burst into laughter while Nyota grimaced. “Fine, Lunar Spice; you’re making the new batch of pancake batter since that one has tank grease in it now!”

Lunar Spice didn’t stop laughing as he tried to talk, “Oh, but it will be so worth it! I can’t believe that earth ponies can really fly!”

Soot was rolling on the ground in a fit of laughter herself. I stomped up to her and grabbed her by the collarbone, “You and me! Bath! NOW!” I said while holding her eye level with my face that was still dripping with pancake batter.

If getting her to the bath was a battle, the bath itself was a WAR! I had to use mechanics lava soap on her, and every single time, she splashed half the water back out of the tub. She kept declaring that we were wasting water, and I had to point out on numerous occasions she now had a functional water talisman and a backup. Over and over again, we kept washing her, and over and over again, she fought like a demon.

Ya know what? If this is what motherhood is gonna be like, I am going to really enjoy it. Some both motherly and sick sense of satisfaction coursed over me with every single blackened grease part I managed to scrub white again. Soot was getting cleaner by the second, and I felt so refreshed as I struggled in the bath with her. Admittedly, I did enjoy being cleaned up myself, and any amount of fighting that Soot did resulted in the water and soap doing just as much work for me as it was doing for her.

When we finished, Soot was no longer covered in soot. Chifundo walked into the private stall where the bathtub was setup. He could only burst into laughter as both Soot and I were covered head to hoof in suds. “Sunrise, I am ready when you are composed, but at present, I can only imagine you need to be hosed.”

Soot and I looked at each other. I had a sud mane and scarf while she had a sud beard down to her chest, below the waterline. “Right, just give us a minute to rinse off.” So the great bath war ended, and Soot was no longer black as tank grease but white with a gray mane; not quite the pearl white I had been, more a pure white. I envied her color just a little bit. At least the relationship with this place was starting to repair.

Chapter 49: Objective Complete - Dad Found

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“Remember, that after each person you can no longer speak with; YOU are the living legacy of everything to them. Every person you touch, every interaction anyone has with you, is a reflection of them. I ask you, would they stand beside you and go: “I am proud of you.” is the only question you must answer.”
-Fiaura’s Sensei for Kendo, T. Tokugawa, rest his soul.

I awoke rough, my body not wanting to move. The bed next to me was cold and no one was there. Alarm bells ringing, I sprang to my hooves and grabbed my shotgun. Without thinking, I was already pumping shells into it and racking them into the chamber. Bunny entered the room and jumped back, hearing the shotgun break with a loud yelp.

“Yah! Hey, it’s okay! Not gonna hurt you, please don’t shoot me!” Her stable barding pulled at a plate on her wing and it clattered to the ground. The food she had brought me was scattered across the floor and her ears twitched, just like Bodda Pett’s. Suddenly there was a tingle in the air as my PipBuck registered a single rad for the briefest of seconds. Then I felt the weight of a small rabbit against the back of my neck.

I looked at Bodda Pett then at Bunny then at Bodda Pett, then back to Bunny. The pegasus hybrid was shivering and covering her ears. She was terrified of me. I lowered the shotgun and put it onto the bed. She is so scared of me, and if she tried anything, Nyota’s training would kick in. I should fix this. I very hesitantly trotted up to her and pulled Bodda Pett from my back. With the tiny bunny in one hoof I held it up to the mare, Bunny. Oh no, this is gonna be confusing later talking without both of them here!

“You can open your eyes. Here, see he trusts me.” Bunny removed her hooves and wings from her eyes and looked up at Bodda in my hoof. “Go on, he likes to be pet and I promise he does not bite.” Bunny very slowly reached her hoof over and stroked the ears of Bodda who just purred in response. I noticed the small tiny claws that stuck out of her hoof, it had small pawlike indentions. I looked up at her barding and on this side I could see the yellow number, 112. Her barding was not nearly in as good a shape as mine. Then again, I know we had torn apart three or four stable-suits for repairs to mine.

“So what did they do to you in your stable?” I extended my hoof towards her, placing it gently onto her hybrid paw-hoof.

“No… nothing. Not like the others.” Her voice was shaky, still it was sweet; a kind of purity I only heard when I sang. “It was umm… just as promised.”

I tilted my head, confused by her odd appearance and she smiled, “My parents were a pegasus and a very fluffy diamond dog—well, sand dog now, I suppose. It’s why I look so strange.” All this while Bunny was petting a rabbit colored rabbit, made the sight all the more adorable.

I nodded very slowly, starting to understand that those were not exactly bunny ears, even if they were adorable. “Sunrise! Are you hitting on this pegasus girl now?”

What? No! I can give a compliment about cute or adorable without being attracted to them. Unlike you, PINK!

Pink looked offended then rolled her eyes, “Okay, yeah; got me there. She is cute in that way.”

PINK! Seriously! Tender moment, butt out! I let out a sigh and helped Bunny to her... hooves? Claws? Hoof-claws? I gave her a very reassuring smile and felt the air between us get less tense. “Hey, how about we go down and I get breakfast with you?”

“Breakfast? Umm… for someone called Sunrise, you sure get up late. That was lunch. Though Lunar Spice will get to make it without the mistake he did this time and was constantly fussing over.” My jaw dropped, I looked at my PipBuck and the clock read 12:22pm.

“Yeah, I am the opposite of a morning pone. Where are my friends?” I put my PipBuck down and rolled my shoulders while stretching out.

Bunny passed me Bodda Pett back and I put him into his little nest against my neck. “You had best talk to Soot on that one.” She was very sheepish again and looked away from me, clearly avoiding the question.

We ventured out of the office that had been converted into a bedroom. I had slept on a mattress with Nyota that was too small for two ponies. We had made it work since I wasn’t quite that big, yet. My stomach grumbled halfway down the stairs making me blush and Bunny giggle. “But at least you wake up hungry. We were debating if you were an actual angel or a mortal after yesterday.”

I raised an eyebrow at the bottom of the stairs, “What do you mean?” Something about that statement was actually a little scary.

“The Angel with a Shotgun is a legend. To see her in the flesh is so strange. I mean, how are you like almost two hundred years old? Do you have to eat? Are you a ghoul?”

I sighed, “That is a long explanation, I am not even sure I have enough facts to give, yet. When I know, I will take the time to let you know.” I looked up to see Soot and Lunar Spice both waiting for me. Soot was already starting to get filthy again and I rolled my eyes, hoping bath time would not be as exhausting but somehow still fun.

Soot blinked a few times and smirked, “Well good to know you didn't die in your sleep from the bath.” I blinked a few times back as Soot and Lunar both cracked a smile. The thought of dying in my sleep gave me a reason to pause and felt like a gut punch; rather than something I could laugh at.

“Sunrise, lighten up. You should get used to morbid humor.”

Says you, Queen of the…. I searched for an appropriate word and thought I found one. Boomers!

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Well, your generation did drop all the bombs that blew us into this hellscape, so I figured calling you a boomer made sense. Pink tilted her head one way then the other. She shrugged finally and smirked.

“You had me going there. Okay, I’ll take that title, but I’m gonna call you Princess of Explosions!”

I started to argue while I walked up to Soot, but Pink held up a sign that had my cutie mark on it. My argument was shot before it even began with a thing like that on demand for her. Fine, I will refrain from name calling; for now.

“Good! You’re better than that. But I won’t! Princess of Kaboom Butt!” Pink trotted off out of my view but I could still feel her presence in my head. It was strange to say that out loud if you’ve never experienced it before. It was like being in a room with someone else sitting there; you know they are there, but neither of you are speaking and you can’t see them. You just know they are right there, within reach.

I looked at Soot. “So where is Nyota? And the rest of my friends?”

Soot cleared her throat, “Well, Nyota is a courier by trade, we actually found his name on an old registry. So he is taking the treaty and trade information to Silver Fang Shanty, The Roof, and Stable Phi. I agreed that we would open up trade with them and provide a safe route in and out of Upsville.” She held up a piece of paper which read just that, it was an agreement of sorts, signed by her. “This is a copy of what I sent. We can’t exactly grow food here reliably, but we’ve got tons of scrap and good machine parts. Alguacil went to get some regulators for us to help replace the guards…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words to say.

She kept holding her hoof up when she thought she found the words, only to groan and return the hoof to her chin. It took a full minute before Lunar Spice interrupted and saved her, “Well, it was our little accident, ya know? Also, I hope you don’t mind, but we used your name as part of our reassurance that you okayed us.”

I blinked a few times and walked up to the bar they had set up down here. It was separating the kitchen from the rest of the expansive space. I could see the differences in the floor for the hard separations for rooms without walls. The mechanic shop with the tank was next to a general living area and canteen, which was beside a kitchen only marked by a bar made of scrap metal and what used to be a couple of carriage fenders. “What all did I miss while I overslept?”

I stood there, admiring the tank. It was a rust bucket right now. The road wheels were in bad shape from being dragged here. Bunny followed me and offered me a cup of coffee. I took a deep long sip of it. “Scopola Mina was bouncing on it for awhile when your friends were getting ready to leave. She kept talking about if she could lift the whole thing with her magic or not. I don’t believe that she could possibly be a living industrial crane.” Bunny mused and I turned to her with a smile.

Pink snickered and sipped her own coffee. “That sounds like her. Let me guess, Alguacil mentioned something insane and went on a rant about justice and keeping the law, because he is ‘The Laaww!’?” I asked with a smirk, wondering if all my friends had played exactly as I would have predicted.

Soot approached the two of us with a laugh. She nodded and took a deep inhale while rolling her neck in preparation, “Quick Stitch asked if we thought we could make it a flying tank. He went to get medical supplies from… Silver Fang, you called it?” I nodded and motioned for Soot to go on. “Well, once he was certain all his patients would make it, he, Nyota, and Alguacil all left about two hours ago. They said they would rather avoid an emotional separation and get going before you woke up.”

I gulped and lowered my gaze to stare down at the floor. Yep… that is way too accurate, because I really wanna hug all their necks right about now. Pink quickly gave me a hug that stopped my heart from falling through the floor.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better; I sent four of our guards with them.” She rolled her shoulders. “That includes Glitch Hammerfeather.” I raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out who she meant.

“The head guard who tried to put a gun in your mouth that Alguacil gave two black eyes to.” I blinked a few times and nodded. “Did she say why he put two black eyes on her? After all this, I’m going to question every one of your party’s sanity every time I see you.”

Soot and I both burst into laughter, unable to help ourselves anymore. I could already hear Alguacil from here without even needing him to be doing the rant in person. Pink did her best to help. “Now listen ‘ere ya varmints! Keep y’er heads in line or the Long Eye of the Laaww! is gonna decide dat Angel and her mercy can shove it; and y’all all just need a good bullet to y’er brainpans!” I finally collected myself and Soot did as well; not sure why I was laughing for much longer than her. I honestly just needed it.

I caught my breath before speaking, panting a little from the prolonged laughter. “Well, Nyota gave her the first one. Alguacil gave her another one when she kept hitting on him after he told her he was taken. It was priceless to listen to those two griffins this morning.” Now I was truly sad I slept in and missed all this.

I motioned for Soot to go on. “Alguacil is getting his gun looked at by Mad Mac at The Roof while he gathers a regulator force to move here. Nyota insisted they set out as soon as possible so they could get back, he did not like leaving you alone but said‒and I am quoting here‒” She changed her voice to match Nyota’s as close as possible. “She’ll wake up and be lonely, but if I don’t follow her way and trust you, she will never let me hear the end of it. So, if you betray that trust, know that not one of your guards noticed me or managed to get a shot at me till I decided to reveal where I was.” Soot rolled her eyes and sighed at the implied threat, then looked up at me.

I smiled just a little bit and reached up to wipe the tear out of my eye. I was both upset that only Chifundo was here with me now, but relieved to finally see this change in Nyota. “Yeah, that sounds like something he would say and believe.” I started to speak and Soot held up a hoof.

“He also said to tell you, ‘I love you and this isn’t goodbye, just till I get back.’ The other thing he asked; I think Lunar Spice should do.” As soon as Soot stopped talking; Lunar Spice did not miss a beat and crossed through the swinging scrap metal that made a door through the bar to the kitchen and walked right up and kissed me on the cheeks then gave me a deep tight hug.

“He said on the lips, but I never kiss another stallion’s mare on the lips.” He whispered in my ear and made me blush as he held the hug for an extended period of time. He pulled away as my cheeks burned as feelings of longing filled my heart and head, as well as the intense blush knowing the scene Nyota would make if he had done it in person.

“Well, I mean, aren’t you glad for the silencing talisman? Ya know, when you’re in The Roof, you should talk to Cross Stitch again, you know him as another name. He also could make a bridle for you; just in case the talisman breaks again.” I yelped mentally and glared at Pink as my blush faded and I was lost in my thoughts for the longest time.

I hesitated and whimpered, and everyone could hear me. Thankfully this only got a very loud chorus of laughter from everyone around as they thought it was what Lunar Spice did and they thankfully couldn’t hear Pink.

Bunny trotted off with Lunar to get started on a new lunch for me when Chifundo approached. He passed me my father’s gun and a memory overtook me. As he spoke, “Sunrise my dear, today is the best of days, if you wish to see where your father lays. The veil between spirit and realm is rather thin, it will allow us to see the farthest therein.”

I smiled at him but any vision I had of him was overshadowed and overtaken by a memory too strong to push away.

ooOOoo

“Sunrise, go on, take the pistol in your mouth like I showed you.” I picked up the weapon and got my teeth around it. I felt my dad’s wing pull my head to the side and his hooves adjusted it. The bit trigger slid deeper into my mouth of the Colt .45 pistol. I winced until I felt it settle on the muscles between my teeth and my gullet. I could feel how I was supposed to curl my tongue around inside the trigger guard and squeeze the trigger when I was ready.

“I see you have got the tongue part down already.” My dad spoke like I did. I looked to my right and there was a very large thestral, a bat pony. She looked very much like a pegasus except the feather wings were replaced with predatory bat ones, she had sharpened fangs and a thin slit for an iris instead of my round one. The very appearance of them was slightly off putting if you were not used to them. She took a moment to give me a nod and acknowledge my presence.

I understood why zebras feared them on the battlefield, especially if this creature was an example of their normal size. She was white—well, not white like me, more a pale white. Her mane was a combination of dull pink and sky blue while the membranes of her wings were a slightly brighter pink. She was the firing instructor today, her Equestrian military fatigues had a name tag that read: Chroma Slip. My dad softly tapped my head to get my attention off Chroma Slip.

“Sunrise, pay attention, every citizen in Stalliongrad is required to learn this now. We’ve been at war for nearly five years. If the shields fail and the tunnel doesn’t get completed, we will have to fight for our lives.” My dad leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. It made my neck feel warm and safe to have his hoof rubbing it.

“Little Wanderer, my worst fear is that I will not be here one day to protect you. Once you’ve got the basics, Chroma Slip is gonna teach you some more, okay? I don’t expect you to ever be able to use anything but a pistol.” Rainbowrise hesitated, and Chroma Slip nodded to him over my shoulder. “Maybe if these new laser weapons work out, you’ll be able to use them instead. Now, look downrange at the target.”

I looked at the target. It had a red center, a black inner ring and a grey outer ring against a white circle background. It didn’t look like anything specific or like any creature at all; just more like a dart board. “That is a beginners target. Now, I want you to remember one very important rule: aim small, miss small.”

I nodded to him and Rainbowrise shook his head, “No, Sunrise, you did not hear me. Do not aim at the bullseye, aim at a pixel on the bullseye.” Dad gulped and hesitated with his next words as his wing stroked my cheek reassuringly. “If you ever have to aim at a creature, pony, zebra, griffin, or anything living, aim for a very small spot on them. Their eye, a single feather on their wing, a small spot of color on a cutie mark, or a single stripe on their coat.” I could feel the dryness in his throat as he leaned down to kiss my forehead again.

“Now, I am gonna take the safety off and leave you today in Chroma Slip’s capable hooves, okay?” I nodded with the pistol in my mouth, noting the safety was still on. Dad gave me a tight hug and very slowly took a few steps away.

Chroma Slip reached over and turned my head to face the target. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, flip the safety off and point my eyes down the sights. In a voice that sounded like it had been shot and repaired by a surgeon, she gave instructions. “Alright, Sunrise, do as he told you and empty the clip. Let us see if you can even hit a target.” She was incredibly surly and dismissive of any potential skill I might have. She growled while waiting for me to pull the trigger.

I gulped at the bat pony nearly twice the size of my father and took aim as best I could from the sight poking above my muzzle. I yanked on the trigger and like that; the bright flash of the muzzle brought me back to the present.

ooOOoo

“Sunrise, are you alright? Have you come down with a blight?” Chifundo was waving his hoof in from of my face and I felt the light from the muzzle flash still blinding me. I closed my eyes right away and shook the cobwebs from my head roughly. The ringing in my ears from the gunshot dying down. I felt half in the memory still as my senses gathered what was around me in the present. A fresh plate of food was on the counter, I could see a chicken leg on it but also noticed Bodda Pett munching the tomato and lettuce off my plate.

I looked to Chifundo who gave me a deeply concerned stare. I reached over to the plate and set the chicken leg aside on a nearby empty plate for someone else. I took what Bodda Pett hadn’t eaten, which was rice and carrots, ignoring Chifundo and his concerns for now. Chifundo prodded me, “Sunrise, dearest battle sister of mine, what clouds have come to block your shine?”

I bit my lip, carrot in my mouth. I noticed now how dry it was. I could still taste the gunpowder and the sudden need for water that firing a gun left with me. I reached for the cup of water, taking a long drought of it. My PipBuck clicked with a couple of rads as it tingled against my throat. The magical radiation likely doing it’s best to mutate or break down my DNA. I rasped at Chifundo and sighed, “So, I do just zone out sometimes and no one has really brought it up besides Nyota?”

Chifundo nodded slowly, “You do just stare off into space, with no awareness of your present place.”

“Chifundo, I think I should have Quick Stitch find us a memory specialist or a brain specialist.” I held my head as I sipped on the water some more, it was helping clear the fogginess. It was so hard to describe, like I was only partially connected to my body. It was more like I was a tiny pony inside a pony robot and I was controlling the robot. I sighed, “But yes, when I zone out I am overwhelmed with a memory and it acts just like a memory orb. It shuts out any hope of noticing the world around me and being able to see the present. I become a passenger, remembering something from my past; never in the right order and it is always just snippets triggered by something in the present.”

I held up “Rainbowrise’s Protector’ to Chifundo to emphasize my points. “Dad always carried this, and it was the first gun I ever fired.” Chifundo took the weapon into his hooves as delicately as he could.

“When you have eaten and inclined, the seance is ready as your remind. We can use your significant connection, and locate your father with near perfection.” He slowly moved away from me, then stopped and about faced. Without warning he jumped at me, wrapping me in a tight hug. I was taken aback just long enough to realize his sudden movement was a warm embrace. I held him back for a moment that felt timeless. I could feel what it was like to welcome a sibling home from war.

“Thank you for allowing me this insight, to perform that which I have the most might. To know what is deep within another soul, has been my destiny since I was a foal.” He released the hug and his smile was beaming so bright he could blind any dark melancholy away. “I must thank you, Sunrise, for the trust you have shown, it is one of the greatest honors I have known.” He took a bow so deep his nose nearly touched the floor and waited.

I eventually realized he wanted me to bow back and blushed as I bowed back to him. “I will one day understand it hopefully, let me finish eating and I will join you.” I turned around to find Bodda Pett was starting on my carrots. There was some intelligence in that rabbit’s eyes through, as he stopped mid-munching and his jaw dropped; he was staring at the exchange between Chifundo and myself. I couldn't quite make it out, but I swore he said a word in Ponish. Bodda Pett’s mouth moved like he was speaking and the softest echo of the phrase “full of surprises” reached my ears in a voice I would expect to belong to a bunny.

Just as I stopped questioning the idea that Bodda Pett might be able to talk, a bright flash filled the room and Scopola Mina appeared just a few hooves away from me. “Scopola!” I scouted and charged her into a tackle hug. Both of us rolled on the ground until we dinged off the side of the tank. Scopola yelped in helpless unicorn mare and then gave me a hug back.

“Calm down, Sunrise. I’m only here with y’all till the Filly Scouts summon me again.” I blinked a few times, rather confused. Scopola simply pointed to a merit badge that was new on her chest. It gave a faint glow when she touched it. “Recon Scout badge; they can teleport me to them now.”

I hesitated, “Scopola, Recon Scouts are like Filly Scout commandos.” I asked with lips quivering in hesitation. She nodded in the affirmative. “You understand those sorts of missions are very dangerous right?”

Scopola Mina nodded and smirked, “I’ll be fine, Sunrise. Go on and do what you were doing before you tackled me. Also, I kinda need to get up, the concrete is hard.” I nodded and helped Scopola back up to her hooves. Then I stopped and dusted her off.

“Okay, we’ll get to work on the tank soon. I need to go, well, locate my father with Chifundo first.” Scopola nodded and shooed me away with a hoof. I turned around, trotting off to find out where my father was.

*****

I entered the small office and the first thing that hit me was the smell. Some mix of lavender and pickles permeated the room. It was incense burning in a small bowl. Chifundo had pushed all the furniture to the walls. He had placed my father’s pistol into a set of several connecting zebra glyphs that I did not understand. Chifundo sat on his haunches, somehow with his rear legs crossed in front of him and upright.

“Chifundo? I umm… why does this smell that way?”

Chifundo chuckled and smiled, “The scent of this incense is intense, for the emotions you feel are what the spirits sense.” I blink a few times, taking in what he was saying. I was in completely unknown territory. I had carried him through the trenches of war, trenches I only learned from our experiences in the wasteland and an officers manual. Here, I had seen things with Pink, the spirit of the forest and its potato, and Chifundo saying ‘Bad Juju’. I had no idea what to expect.

“So, what do I need to do?” I took a seat and tried to emulate his pose, only to immediately lose balance and fall over.

“You need not sit in such a way, just clear your mind and do as I say.” I got back upright and Chifundo reached across the circle, moving my legs so I could sit on my haunches like I normally did instead of copying him.

Chifundo took out a deck of cards, he began to shuffle it while keeping his eyes closed. Pink let out a yelp and shuddered, “Okay this is weird, even I feel the compulsion to obey whatever that deck says.” I jumped and looked at Pink with a nervous smile, then back at Chifundo.

“One of Pink who likes to chatter, please stay silent for this matter.” Chifundo replied and finished shuffling the cards. “Sunrise, please cut the deck for me, so the spirits may guide our coming journey.”

He dealt out five cards in a line and then one more above the rest. Chifundo did not flip any of them over. He took my hoof and smiled, “Your father's weapon is merely a single part, the connection you feel is the essential heart.” He replied, and suddenly darkness enveloped everything I could see. I heard a raspy voice, and I immediately recognized it. It was my father’s voice! My heart soared, while at the same time plummeted in a mixture of hope and agony.

“Who is there?” The voice rasped through the darkness.

“Chifundo, a humble shaman, is whom with you are speaking; I am here with Sunrise, you are the one she is seeking.” Chifundo’s words did not just come from him but seemed to come from every direction in the darkness around us, echoing from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“Sunrise? I have not heard that name in so very long. It is so cold.” My heart was pounding in my head, my lungs wanted to scream but I could find no voice with which to speak. Something about this place, something about this contact with Chifundo, prevented me from saying a word.

“Sunrise's greatest wish is to discover her parents. Rainbowrise, you have come, so this wish is not errant. Her ultimate goal is to find where you hide, I hope, to that end, illumination you can provide.” Chifundo spoke evenly, cold. His hoof was frozen to my touch, I started to pull away and Chifundo gripped me with his other hoof. Suddenly he appeared through the blackness.

His stripes glowed with a pink light and he was the only light in this emptiness. “Angelic one, stay with me in this darkness, to me you shine with a light we must harness.” I blinked a few times and Chifundo’s hoof glowed as it reached up. “Allow me to awaken your spiritual sight, so that you may receive your father's insight.”

I blinked a few times at those words and Chifundo slowly moved his hoof up to my heart. My whole body suddenly burned like it had been thrown in a blazing fire. I screamed as pain overwhelmed me and I found I had no voice. All I could do was wail silently, when suddenly the burning sensation spread around me and my voice appeared in a shrill shriek of agony. My eyes slammed shut as my scream acted like Chifundo’s voice, coming from all directions except from my mouth. I whimpered and fell into Chifundo’s forelegs where he caught me and held me close.

“SUNRISE! No, you are hurting her! Stop!” My father! I could hear him now, crystal clear. I could feel him all around me. It was like he was in the room, his wings wrapped around me and I was held in his care.

“Do not worry, dearest father, I would not do harm to your daughter.” I slowly blinked my eyes open and was nearly blinded by the light around me. Chifundo’s glowing stripes were nearly muted by the bright lights that seemed to surround us. I blinked and tried to shield my eyes. I pulled away from Chifundo, yet it did not die down in the slightest.

The world materialized around us, coming into view so slowly that it felt strange. Chifundo and I were standing upon a bridge. We were naked now, except around our necks were collars from Stable-Tec Jumpsuits with the number 43 on them. A pink bubble resembling a unicorn’s shield surrounded us. After my eyes adjusted, I realized that I was the source of light.

The light was golden and shined with a purity that almost burned my eyes. Chifundo smiled, “Now you see what Nyota sees through his spirit eye, it perhaps makes you understand why his eye-patch is an ally.” I nodded to Chifundo and looked around us, taking it all in.

The bridge we were on was decrepit. It was a long suspension bridge with several heavy chains in place of hardened cables, with tatters of cloth blowing in a chill wind that left ice along the edges of the cloth. Surrounding us were dozens of ponies, of all different shapes and colors, though they glowed with an inner light. It was dark here, save for the light coming off each pony. Some ponies were dim or dark as the night, others were brighter. None of them appeared happy and all of them were shaking from the cold.

“Chifundo… where… are we?” I asked, but a familiar voice stopped him from answering.

“Sunrise, I don’t know where your mother is. She… she is lost to me, and you… well...”” My vision had cleared now, from the shining light blazing from my entire body, and I started to make out his features more clearly. “You’re so bright, it’s hard to miss you,” he finished. A second pink bubble appeared around us, outside the first, enclosing just one other pony. They were mostly non-descript along the bridge, but this one was more clear than the others, and his form solidified as I focused my attention on him.

This one spoke with a rasp of my father’s voice again. He was a pegasus, and his body was decayed and withered. His coat was shredding away. He was trembling. “Dad?” I asked and he ignored me as he took in his own form. He pulled up his blue mechanic’s jumpsuit in one hoof, and only now did I notice the multiple gunshot wounds and blood stains.

“I do not think… yeah, those are gunshot wounds.” He poked into the hole in his flesh with a hoof and shuddered. “Yeah, that hurts, but I am pretty sure I am either hallucinating or... dead.”

I spun to Chifundo, my eyes wide with fear. The brightness within me warmed and glowed with urgency that blinded even the pegasus enclosed between our shields. “Chifundo! Where are we!?”

“Every soul, from time's beginning to end, will come to this bridge to make their amends. Each creature must travel across and have their deeds weighed and known, their soul must be judged before they enter their eternal home.” I shuddered and Chifundo reached over to my hoof holding it. “Fear not, Sunrise, for this bleak space is not a soul's final resting place. Now, do not be surprised, for your spirit's connection is nearly catalyzed.”

I wondered what he meant as I felt a raw power course into me and suddenly I lit up like a glowing piece of megaspell radium. He moved the shield towards my father and I could see it was more akin to a memory spell, as my dad reached forward and met Chifundo’s hoof. They touched with a flash of soft illumination, nothing blinding or disturbing to the eyes. This was a pleasant glow, like walking through a cleansing shower and coming out sparkling on the other side.

I stared in awe, as from the withered husk of a pegasus, a fully furred, feathered, and smiling pony appeared.

My father.

I rushed past Chifundo and slammed against the shield. Chifundo winced and grabbed onto my shoulder as I felt the collar around my neck tighten and something yank on it harder. A dull stable-tec yellow chain had attached itself to my collar from under the bridge and yanked on me.

“The chains we bear prevent us from drawing too close, this is the furthest that our spirits may impose. The black boxes within us create this effect, just another piece of their mysterious aspect.” I whimpered and felt myself tearing up.

“Chifundo, where is this?”

Chifundo took a deep inhale and started to speak when Rainbowrise interrupted him. “No, let me tell her.” Chifundo blinked a few times and gave him a slow nod.

“It is a request that only seems right, please explain to Sunrise your plight.” Chifundo motioned me towards Rainbowrise as he spoke and then took a seat, placing a hoof on my shoulder and against Rainbowrise’s hoof. I could feel the energy coursing between us. It both warmed my body and gave me goosebumps at the same time. The hairs on the back of my neck raised and all four of my hooves itched so badly it took active effort to not scratch them. “I cannot promise how long I can maintain this position, but I shall do my utmost to allow this exposition..”

Rainbowrise smiled and nodded, “Thank you, my friendly shaman. Your people have always been kind to me and wonderful, despite what the ministries may have said.” My dad turned to me. “Sunrise, I am certain I am dead. This is the bridge between life and death, on our wait to purgatory and then judgement.”

My heart stopped and skipped several beats. I felt a chill of raw terror pass through me. Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt the overwhelming sensation to run and hide. To bury my face into a pillow and wail into the night, until I could no longer feel and the sweet release of sleep finally overcame me. Chifundo pressed his hoof into me as I felt the radiant light around me dim and start to fade.

“Sunrise, be strong, you must not despair, your presence assists with the connection’s repair. Stay with us and fill your heart with courage, despair will destroy our harmonic anchorage.” It took me a moment to fully grasp what Chifundo said and I took a deep inhale to pull in my emotions as I stood there, whimpering and shaking. I took a deep breath, and with that I felt my emotions sink down as my heart dropped to my hooves. I have to be brave. I have to keep myself together. I have to not let this news ruin it yet. This may be my last words with him.

I pressed my hoof as hard as I could against Chifundo’s and Rainbowrise’s. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks; the light within me stopped dimming. I felt my courage rising, physically, as warmth coursed through me. For you, dad, I want this moment to last as long as possible.

“That’s it, Sunrise! Do it! Help Chifundo bake this pie! Make it the essence of perfection!” I looked at Pink, not sure what to do.

How? I don't know how this spirit stuff works?

Pink reached forward and placed a hoof against the other three of ours. We all felt it, physically and emotionally. The moment was coming to fruition, the energy coursing through me was strengthening. “Your karma, silly. The wasteland decides how good and how bad you are, remember? Others can sense it. Here it is amplified into pure energy. You are a good pony, Sunrise. Just hold onto your father with all that you are, let your being shine in this place of death and loss. Push with me, Sunrise.”

I felt Pink wrapping me in an embrace, a full, tight hug that touched everywhere all at once. She held me close, and the feelings of what it meant to be her friend coursed into me with a burning magic that made my entire body tingle. This wasn’t the tingle of magical radiation that every instinct in me said would kill me; this was pleasant. It was a warmth that could only be found when magic sparked over a friendship. I felt myself trying to push through, into my father, trying to break through the bubble. Chifundo stepped back, shielding his eyes as the light became more blinding than the highest temperature flashbang I could ever hope to create.

I kept my eyes closed, tears streaming from my face, cascading down to the bridge and leaving steaming whisps of water vapor upon their impact. I whimpered and bit my lip, fighting my emotions to push more power towards my father.

With what felt like the titanic effort to move a boulder, the shield opened and surrounded my father, dragging him just far enough over to me, and I felt the warmth of his wings around my body and his hooves around my neck. “Sunrise! STOP! I am here! I am here, Little Wanderer.” I felt all this rush to the surface at once and overwhelm any coherent thought except joy. The joy of having my father's winged embrace holding me tight once again.

I clung to him and smiled, “Yes, and this is what I have wanted since I woke up. Just this.”

My dad started to speak and I put a hoof over his lips, shaking my head. I did not want another word uttered right now, nothing to ruin this moment. I just wanted to be there and be held.

I wasn’t sure how long we were in the embrace but Chifundo nudged me with his head. “A locus is an exact position. Mathematically, it is a curve or other figure formed by all the points satisfying a particular equation of the relation between coordinates. It is what is formed when a spatial equation is solved, essentially. I feel it's a perfect word..”

I nodded to him and slowly, reluctantly released my father from the hug. He had a true spark of life about him, now. “Sunrise, there is so much I wish to tell you and ask you; please tell me what you can.”

“Dad, I am not sure but I think mom may be responsible for the boxes that keep us here. I also met a stallion.” I hesitantly hung my head, knowing I had not asked his permission, but suddenly his hoof pressed against my shoulder.

“Go on, Little Wanderer, it is okay. Nothing you could say right now would make me any less proud.” I felt his gaze and was even more embarrassed I hadn’t waited to ask him.

“I, well, you’re going to be a grandfather.” I spoke hesitantly and looked up at him, blushing, while expecting some scorn for not keeping my Old-World value to ask him first.

I suddenly felt a rush of wings around me and the warmth of my father’s embrace again. “That is the best news you could have given me, Little Wanderer. What is his name?”

I bit my lip, “His name is Nyota, he is a—”

“Nyota… hmmm, good to hear; he is a zebra, yes? I hope you are not enslaved or something terrible like that.” My dad looked down at me, very concerned.

I shook my head. “No, he has been nothing but a gentlestallion. He waited till I was certain before we, ummm…” I felt my face flush and looked down at the bridge. I felt his wing caressing my cheek reassuringly as he tilted my face up to look into his eyes.

“I am more happy than ever. My little filly is a full grown mare and she did not judge a zebra by their stripes. I must say thank you, too...” He was looking at Chifundo.

“Chifundo,” I reminded him.

“Chifundo, for letting me hear this news, even if it was after I passed on. You will have to bring him next time to meet me. Regardless, I know you can make the right decisions.” Rainbowrise leaned down and nuzzled against my ears. “You have my blessing, Little Wanderer, do not worry about that.” I looked up at him with big thankful eyes. “I could not hold anything against you now, not after I have already passed away. Go on, what else has happened?”

I hesitated and bit my lip as the flood of memories from the Wasteland rushed to me. The times I had killed so many others to get this far rushing to the forefront of my mind. The things I had done, and finally the detonation of the megaspell at The Roof. I whimpered at my father, “Dad, I...I have done some awful things. Please I want you to understand—” The wingtip was at my lips again, shushing me, and he shook his head.

“You have made friends, right?” I nodded against his wingtip. “They support you and helped you get this far to find me, right?” I nodded again. “Good, and you have found a stallionfriend; Nyota, was it?” He got another nod. “He protects, loves, makes you happy, and supports you, doubly so, right?” I tiled my head with a frustrated look on my face and gave him another affirmative nod.

“And you have only killed when it was to save others, right?” I nodded a final time. “Then you have nothing to be ashamed of with me. You should know that. All the arguments during the war, everything that happened in Stable 43. None of it matters anymore to me. Just that you are happy and safe.”

He removed the wingtip. “Sunrise, the brightness of your aura tells me all I really need to know.”

I listened to him and turned to Chifundo, “Please, give me some sort of warning when you are getting too close to giving out, okay?” Chifundo nodded as his brow furrowed and he closed his eyes, focusing on maintaining our link.

I just started to unravel every detail of our adventures so far. I told my father about my friends. I told him of all the creatures we had met. The things we had faced together. The long talks in bed with Nyota. The little details of everything we had decided and experienced, right up until The Siege, when I faltered. I felt a voice in the back of my head, that voice trying to work its way up and speak. I also could sense Pink fighting to keep it within its cage. “No! This is her time with her dad! You little devil, stay in there!”

I began to explain about Pink to him, when Chifundo howled in pain and both of us looked at him, very concerned. “Well, we do not have much time, but I can promise this,” Rainbowrise took both of my forehooves into his own. “I will stay here till you can return; I will do my very best to hold on and wait for you. Then you can finish your story, and maybe I can even meet that stallionfriend of yours and tell him he has my blessing.” I looked up at my father, tears rolling down both our cheeks, the light burning from me getting dimmer. Chifundo’s pink glow was especially dim, almost non-existent now. The shields around us became less solid and more transparent. We could see the host of other souls all gathered around us now, staring at what was going on.

I started to protest and I found a wing tip at my lips. “No, Sunrise. No arguing here, your shaman friend is fading and I do not want either of you to risk your lives. Now, get back to the world of the living.” Dad slowly pulled back across the force field as it collapsed in on Chifundo and I. I grabbed his hoof and I felt the magical energies pushing us apart. The shield was just big enough for Chifundo and I to stay within once again.

I burst into tears and screamed.

“NOT FAIR! It is not fair!” I cried out in agony as my emotions finally overwhelmed any willpower I had and I desperately tried to push through the shield towards him.

“Little Wanderer, life is never fair, so why should death be any different? I will see you soon, hopefully I can meet the stallion that captured your heart next time. I am proud of you; regardless. Find your mother, help her if you can. I will see you soon.” He called out as the darkness surrounded us again. I pulled against the chain around my collar, I yanked on it hard.

“NO! STOP! Not yet, I just need more time!” Chifundo jumped onto and wrapped both hooves around me.

“Sunrise, if you break the chain that binds your soul, your life is what must pay the toll!” Suddenly, we were back in the office room, the darkness of the area between worlds fading from my vision to blend back into the real world. Chifundo released me and I fell over with a thud. I had no will to stand back up. Not in that moment. I just sniffled and started to bawl into the cold surface.

I stayed on the chilled floor, whimpering and crying. My whole body ached. My heart felt like it had been split in two. I failed, I completely failed him! This isn’t fair! I tried so hard; why? Why did I fail him? Why wasn’t he given a black box? I didn’t care about the things Chifundo might have done to me or their implications, all I cared about was my dad. He was gone now, and it simply was wrong.

I wanted to just curl up and sleep. I wanted to find a bad pony and pound his face in. I wanted to plant myself into a bed and cling to Nyota, then weep until my eyes were completely dry. All of these emotions slammed into me all at once, and every one of them fought for control. None of them would win and all I could do was stay there and cry while my heart put itself through a shredder, over and over again. Most of all, I wanted the pain in my heart to stop, bullets hurt less than this.

I had been denied everything; my quest had failed. I had failed my father. I had no idea how long it had been. Then Pink reluctantly held up a quest marker sign: ‘Objective Complete - Dad Found, Quest updated.’

Pink, this is one of those times where I just want you to be quiet. Pink nodded and pressed a hoof against my shoulder, dropping the sign.

“I’ll be here when you are ready, no puns, no references, nothing. Just a friend waiting for my friend to say they are ready.” Pink went silent but I never stopped feeling her presence. Even as I cried myself to sleep on the cold concrete floor, and the sweet release of dreams dulled my pain, I could still feel her there with me.

Progress to Level 15 - 39% of the way to Level Up!

Quest Perk Lost - Shaman Apprentice

Quest Perk Gained - Shamanistic Awakening - A Shaman has reached into your very soul and pulled you into the spirit realm. You were not prepared for this. This replaces the Shaman Apprentice Perk Outright. You may now put ranks into Zebra Shamanism, you gain +5 bonus to this skill. You may make a willpower roll and spend 50 Strain, as if you were a unicorn casting a spell, to gain double your Zebra Shamanism Skill for the next shamanism roll. Must be spent before you make the roll. —What in the wild world of the Equestrian Wasteland did Chifundo do to you?

Chapter 50: A Father's Legacy

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My body felt warm, too warm for the cold concrete. I shifted and kicked my sleeping bag off me. It was too hot and I realized I was lying on a bedroll that smelled of Nyota. My eyes were still closed, my stable-barding was still on, and my armor’s shoulder plate pressed in uncomfortably. I did not want to wake up. “Sunrise, hun, you can’t just sleep the day away. Get up and get your confection whipped at least.” Pink teased me and I could feel her hoof nudging my shoulder.

For the first time, I pushed back against it and threw Pink off from touching me. I don’t wanna. I whined back. Pink was not about to be deterred. She grabbed onto my shoulder and yanked hard. My eyes were suddenly focused on Pink.

“That isn’t how this works! You don’t throw in the towel the moment you mess up the cake!” Pink slapped me, she slapped me so hard my eyes shot open and I could feel the bruise appearing upon my cheek, somehow. Pink stroked the place where she slapped. “Now, listen to me: get up. You’ve been asleep but I will not allow you to just sulk. Call it tough love from an angry baker.”

Pink, dad’s gone. I failed utterly. Explain to me what to do next? I groaned, trying to fight back tears as I woke up to the reality that my dad no longer lived in. I slid up from the bed roll to sit on my haunches and look around the room. A cup of cold coffee was on the table; three in fact. The fourth cup was still hot. Next to it was soup in a ceramic bowl, sitting on a hotplate turned to simmer with a steel plate covering it, small bits of steam escaping here and there.

Who did that? And why didn’t they just remove the cold coffee? I drug myself out of my seated position and reached up to the old rickety table to take the hot coffee and took a long sip of it. The liquid was definitely fresh. I removed the soup from the hotplate, very gingerly rolling my Stable-Suit sleeve over my hoof to properly touch the heated liquid. Then I placed the coffee cup onto the hotplate and turned it up to the 5 setting out of 10. Now I see why, I can just reheat it.

The black nectar was helping remove my grogginess and make me more aware, while the bitter bite took my mind off my sulking emotions. I knew the caffeine was going to kick in soon. I took another long sip of the coffee and looked at the soup. Canned vegetables mixed in a mushroom broth; it smelled nice. The hint of butter in it told me why. I took my time eating while working through all four cups of coffee and a trip to the bathroom attached to this room.

I got a good look and started to realize this used to be a locker room. The dust on the walls betrayed where the lockers once stood. I finally finished eating and got up from where I had been laid down. There used to be a wooden bench here. Now it was just two steel bars, which my sleeping bag conveniently fit between. I took a breath and pushed out of the door into the living area.

The canteen was busy, many ponies were still wearing fresh bandages. One in the corner was washing the old bandages clean to be used again. Scopola Mina walked up to me and without saying a word hugged me. I blinked in disbelief as she smiled, “The Scouts haven’t called me yet. You doing okay? You’ve been out for almost two days.” It was then that my stomach grumbled, the soup and coffee not exactly being sufficient to nourish me.

Scopola laughed at the stomach growl and I frowned. “I guess the seance took it out of me. Is Chifundo okay? Where is Soot?”

Scopola shook her head and sighed, “Always worried about others first. Soot is fine, she has been inventorying all the parts we brought. Chifundo has just been meditating on whatever it is you two saw.” Pink was still there, occasionally she would rub her cheek or the back of my head. I looked up at Scopola and tilted my head to the side in confusion.

“You were the one who was, well, in need of rest. Want to tell me what happened?” I looked at Scopola Mina for answers and she just remained quiet, looking at me with an expression that was just as dumbfounded as mine. Patiently she waited for an answer but I had none to give. My eyes were slowly tearing up, the pain of what I knew welling inside me. I felt myself ready to burst, I could not make my mouth move. I could not make it more clear what was wrong. I could not say it outloud, I could not admit it.

“Sunrise, you have to say it. You have to get it out. It will consume you if you don’t.” Pink whispered to me reassuringly and I shut my eyes in pain. My heart felt like a knife was stabbing it. My head felt like a bullet was trying to pierce it, but slowly; as though it were a drill bit instead of a bullet.

I felt Scopola put a hoof onto my shoulder and she shook her head. “No, it’s okay, Sunrise. You don’t gotta tell me about it. Why don’t we go help Soot work on the tank?” I looked at Scopola and all I saw was the reflection of my pain in her eyes. The feeling of desperation for something in this world to be right. The feeling of having lost myself less than a week ago in Stable Phi. Even I had to admit, there was only so much I could endure.

Scopola Mina led me over to the tank which was being washed by Soot. Some of the extra parts we had brought she had rigged into a pressure washer and she was pumping the unfiltered water at the tank, removing decades of rust and grime. Scopola waved at her and Soot turned the washer off. “Hey Soot, look who finally woke up!”

Soot waved back at us and walked up with a smile, “Man, you guys actually have more than enough to fix this thing. I couldn’t figure out why you brought glass road-wheels though.” Soot picked up a piece of the crystal treads and the road wheel she pointed at. I nodded to her and tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

Scopola and Soot exchanged a look of understanding, “I am not gonna ask what you and that shaman of yours saw or did, but here, why don’t ya help me fix this thing?” I looked at the work ahead, I grimaced while looking between it and Soot. I now understood what my father went through every time he had to fix a carriage or a tank. Having to analyze what was wrong, figure out what was wrong with it; then piece-by-piece fix it.

Machines are not creatures. You do not have to compromise with a machine. You simply give it what it needs and it does what it was made for. I approached the tank, placing a hoof against the sloped frontal plate, rubbing where the hole was punched in its front armor. The two penetrations would require the most work. I’ll have to cut out the sections with holes and replace them all together. I hope we have enough power for cutting torches.

I turned to Soot, “You sure you are ready for this? It is going to be a very long task.” Soot gave me a coy look of disbelief then rolled her shoulders. I looked her over, “And you are going to have to take a bath again when we are done.”

Soot stopped and gave me a shocked look, the same one your cat would give you when you hold it over the sink to bathe it. “But why?” She whined and pouted.

“Because you do not want the rust to get into your food or into an abrasion and give you lockjaw.” I booped her dirty snoot when I finished speaking. “So bath every night.” Scopola giggled and started to flat out turn into a cackle of laughter as she held her side.

“Oh, Sunrise! Y’all gonna make a beautiful mother!” She pranced off still mockly laughing as she tried to operate her chemistry set near the canteen.

Soot and I got to work. This was going to be something that was going to take a ton of work. Every moment I was cleaning rust or turning a screw today, I was reminded of my father’s shop. Scopola Mina would come over and act as our magical crane anytime we need something bigger than Soot or I could lift. Bodda Pett kept appearing randomly when I needed a different tool or some other small intricate part.

I had no idea how Bodda Pett knew what I needed or when. At one point, I heard his chirping above and looked up to see a pair of tweezers falling which landed right in my mane. Once I found them, I realized why I needed them to fix the gun sight and clean the O rings used to create the seal inside the sight.

All of this combined put me back in the mentality of being in my father’s shop. I noticed a pair of zebras with bandages on their bodies in different places. I had not seen them during the fighting and one of them had burn marks across his side. They approached me.

“Hello, I am Mea,” The mare introduced herself. Her stripes were very different, no curves unlike Nyota’s more spiral style ones. Instead her coat had completely straight ones. Her entire legs were black save for some white stripes and there was a splotch of white across her back, covering her spine and upper rib section. While her glyph mark was pink.

She pointed at the stallion zeebra next to her. “This is Captain.” He was old, very old. A long white beard extended from his chin with a single black stripe across it.

He had the same black sock stripes and big splotch on his back, save for it wrapped around with black all the way to cover half his chest. His muzzle was also obsidian under the beard as he stroked the beard. “I am ZB, I understand you wish to offer us some assistance?”

Soot nodded to the two of them. “Hey you two.” Soot called out from on top of the turret. “Shouldn’t you be resting? Especially with that flamethrower burn?”

The two of them shook their heads, “That doesn’t mean we can’t plan a caravan trip to these places that might be interested in trading with us.” I nodded to them and smiled.

“Yes, of course.” I put down my tools and used a rag to clean off my PipBuck screen while bringing up my map. “Here, I suppose you will need to copy this.” Mea took out paper and pencil then started to trace the map in detail.

“What are the things they need, my small filly frenemy?” I looked up at Z.B. I did not enjoy being called small or frenemy, but in this case both of those things were true. He was stroking his beard looking around the room.

“Weapons, scrap metal, armors, basically anything you can defend yourself with. They have the ability to make their own food, no radiation. Oh and they can take your armor and there is a pegasus there who can make some of the best stuff.” I pointed at Stable Phi’s location. “They really need scrap electronics and anything that functions like rocket fuel.” Mea nodded as she kept working on the map. Z.B. smiled broadly in response.

“Good! Yes, we do have several old rockets that aren’t safe to use. But I am willing to bet you could extract their fuel.” He pointed at a section of the underground hideaway with piles of crates and a big danger sign over them. The sign was duct taped to the boxes to keep it there and several of the crates were duct tape closed.

“Remember,” I took a good long look at each of the zebras. I wanted to watch their faces and judge their intentions. “Trade with them; no need for anything aggressive. If you say I sent you, they will be surprisingly nice to you.” They both looked surprised to start with and then nodded back to me. Once Mea finished with the map, they trotted over and started putting stuff together to be transported.

I was reminded now that Nyota was off doing courier work, and a worry he may not come back started to creep into my head. Pink popped up and shrugged, “I mean you could always just kill whatever comes out of his box till he comes back then slap the recollector on his head and let him see your memories of him.” My jaw dropped in shock at the very idea. I wanted to smack Pink so very hard.

Excuse me? I do what?

“Well he is your lover boy, you telling me you would not kill to get him back?”

I now had to realize the true horror of the boxes inside us. These recombulators that regenerated us when we died. A pair of small zonies with wings ran by me. Zony pegasus children? I looked a little confused and they had matching stripes to Mea. I was now given two very real subjects. The children in me, the twins we were expecting, would be zonies. What type I did not know. My parents were a unicorn and a pegasus. I was an earth pony because of my grandmothers. They could be any type of zony. That and the very real horror that I would be around for them, but Nyota, Nyota might be lost in his box. He would be replaced by some other creature.

Pink, I don’t think I could kill some innocent creature to get Nyota back. That is just wrong.

“Is it killing? Are you really dead if you get back up in a couple of days?”

I don’t know that! Look, Quick Stitch is the only link we have that says that happens and I personally have huge gaps in my memory. So no, we do not know how this works. I’ve only seen it work with Hallow Feather. I stared off into space. Trying to figure out these existential moral questions. I couldn’t process it all; I needed to do something.

Machines! Machines don’t have emotions. I mean, they do, but they work for you so long as you put the proper liquids and parts into them. Let’s do machines instead. I left the questions floating about how I would teach my zony children to be functional in this world that would hate them. On top of the possibility of finding Nyota or if our theory held; what came out of Nyota’s box and dealing with his possible death.

All of that pushed aside to work with all fervor. My dad’s lessons on how to fix machines and vehicles coming to me as naturally now as walking. Soot looked at the sides of the tank, “Ya know, we could take the side skirts and make a pillbox for Upsville instead of using them as—” I put my hoof against Soot’s mouth and shook my head.

“That kind of thinking is how you get your tracks blown off by some random rocket that isn’t even Anti-Tank. No once it’s all said and done, and we are finished making it up to you, we’ll need those skirts to keep the tank rolling.” I explained while removing my hoof and wiping it off on my mechanic rag.

Soot grinned, “Then you will help me use this mobile pillbox and prove my birthright!” Soot’s exclamation caught me off guard.

“Your birthright?” I tilted my head a little confused.

“Yes, I was not born the maste— unicorn race. I am the subser— earth pony like you. I umm… I need to prove myself to claim what is rightfully mine.” Soot tapped a hoof on the tank. “If you are willing to use this tank to prove my worth and get that right back, I’ll let you roll off with it; no questions asked.”

I raised an eyebrow and took a seat. “Soot, why do you refer to unicorns as the master race and earth ponies as subservient?” This was a conversation I did not want to have but it needed to happen.

Soot tilted her head like I had asked an obvious question of why my hoof was wet while standing in a river. “Well it is the way of the world. Unicorns have the power of magic and can levitate, shoot, or otherwise create things with just their mind. Pegasi control the sky. Earth ponies are just... well, slaves as they should be; they serve no real purpose.”

I wasn’t sure what shocked me more. The implications that she was raised this way or that she genuinely believed it. I scratched my head, searching for a way to disprove or answer her. I looked at the tank and thought about it. “You see that tank?”

Soot nodded. I held up my hoof, “Designed and created by General Crunchy Carrot, an earth pony in the Equestrian Army. The entire vehicle is designed to be made by earth ponies, operated by earth ponies, and centered around lack of wings or unicorn magic.” As I talked it was Soot’s turn to have the expression of pure disbelief.

“Bullshit, no earth pony could design this. It’s too impressive, too great! You can’t—” I held up my hoof and shook my head.

“I designed all our armors. Quick Stitch, who is a unicorn, helped me implement the designs but I made the designs, worked on them for hours, and was the lead engineer to make them all. It’s why the six of us could take on your entire town on our own. I customized them for each of us to help our specializations and our abilities.” I pointed at each of the plates on my armor hanging what used to be a locker rack, highlighting all the different places I had been shot, stabbed, or hit with shrapnel while we were fighting them.

“Earth ponies are creators. We have an innate ability with our magic to create technology to overcome anything.” I put a hoof up to her nose. “You are that, Soot. You should learn to embrace it and not allow that garbage of inferior or superior race fill your head.” I leaned down and pulled out a wrench, “Now back to work for us.” Soot kept giving me a queer look as we worked. It was like she was trying to convincingly tell me I was a liar but could find no argument to disprove what I told her.

We worked all day and well into the night. I finally got too tired, and by our third bowl of semi-warm soup that we almost forgot about, Soot was unconscious on top of the tank. Her little jumpsuit was covered in grease, grime, rust, and paint. I put a pillow under her head and let her sleep on the tank engine deck while I moved back into the locker room and crawled upon my sleeping bag.

It was difficult to sleep at all without Nyota and without crying myself to sleep. I had not bathed as I had instructed Soot either. Eventually exhaustion would take me but for now I was stuck debating with Pink over the ethical concerns of killing whatever creatures regenerated from his recombobulator to get Nyota back. No, I won’t. I will not kill the innocent to get him back.

“You all have pasts and histories! Where you are NOT innocent in the slightest. You know that.”

Yes but I will not murder them in cold blood. That isn’t right at all, I couldn’t live with myself. How would I explain it to him? How would I justify releasing prisoners who tried to kill us and that to him at the same time?

“Why should you have to?” The third voice, the one we did not want to address, called out.

Both Pink and I turned in its direction and with a hiss we barked in stereo at it, “You butt out!” Then we looked at each other, I stared into Pink’s eyes and closed mine. Within just a few moments, we were back to arguing and Pink put her hoof in my face.

Without Nyota it was difficult to sleep but with Pink screaming at me, it was even harder. Eventually I passed out when our circular argument finally wore out my adrenaline.

*****

It took me quite a bit to wake up in the morning. No Nyota to gently wake me up and I had set no alarm, I was sure I was having a nightmare, not a memory. I thankfully did not remember it or Pink had blocked it. I would never know which. I awoke on the rough sleeping bag and concrete floor with aches in my bones. Okay, from now on, I’m finding something more comfortable than this floor. My softer body would never get used to this. No matter how hardened I made it. My sensitive eye was okay with the dim room, as it felt like it was getting better. I slid my patch back on before I went into the much brighter common room.

Soot was already trying to work on the tank with Scopola Mina, having helped move it’s turret off the hull. From there we could work on the internal gears and ball bearings inside. I discovered there were several of the ball bearings that the turret was supposed to sit and rotate on missing. I had not made those in Stable Phi, without all of them the turret would rotate unevenly or be prone to jamming. I walked over to a workbench frustrated and angry. This morning was not going well at all.

I grabbed some scrap metal and put on my armored rubber gloves. Before, they were useful for operating a crane and preventing an electrical shock in case of faulty wiring. Now it was protecting my hooves from a metal grinder I was spinning with my foot. I had to use the scrap metal to recreate the ball bearings, one at a time.
This was boring, monotonous and frustrating work. Soot was too far away to talk to with the loud sound of the grinding. One piece of scrap metal wasn’t steel, it was aluminium and I could feel my frustration building. Then the piece just gave way and my hoof bounced off the grinder. Even through the leather, rubber, and the stubbornite armor plating, it felt like stubbing my hoof a hundred times in just a full second. I cried out in pain and grabbed the piece of crumpled bent metal before hurling off into the distance with a loud frustrated cry as the whirling grinder slowed to a halt.

The entire community under here looked at me, offended and upset. I winced in pain as I held my hoof. I wasn’t upset, I was ragingly mad. There were so many reasons to be mad. The misunderstanding that had caused so many deaths. This piece of scrap metal. The tank missing parts I did not know about. Soot’s upbringing being so horrifically wrong. My father being dead was certainly bigger than any of those.

“Why do I even try! All this work and yet I could not save you!” I shrieked out and felt the presence of my father near me somehow. It did not make me feel better. I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I fell to my knees and began to weep. Scopola Mina was running in my direction, as was Chifundo. I had not seen Chifundo in a couple of days, but he was running out to me.

“My short friend bright and green there is no need to be so mean. Perhaps instead of letting the wound fester, you should take some time in sequester?” Chifundno spoke and I shuddered; wheezing as I sobbed. Today was not going to be my day.

Scopola Mina silently held the crumpled piece of aluminum in her TK. I had not realized it was aluminum from all the grime and rust on it. I looked up at Chifundo, my eyes bloodshot, even tears streamed from under my patch. I was at complete loss. Bodda Pet appeared on my back, crawling about and I reached behind me, letting my tail guide him to me. Pink knew to help and be quiet for once.

Chifundo looked up at Scopola, “I see now in her emotion, a very conflicting commotion. Please Scopola, would you be a daring scout, and lead our wounded Sunrise out?”

Soot walked up to Chifundo. “What is her problem?”

Chifundo looked down to her. “She is from before the big war, her place in this world is a bit sore. Her father taught her all she knows about machines, in a shop that was so very clean. During our seance a few days ago, her father I tried to show. She found out she was too late, she hasn’t found a way to bear this weight. Our great quest was to save ‘em, I fear both may have succumbed. Drastically different fates I fear we will find, for the Wasteland has never been known to be kind.”

The rest of what Chifundo said was lost to me, locked behind a door to the locker room as I clung to Bodda Pett, the soft warm bunny reassuring me and helping my tears come out. My head ached with new pains physical and emotional. While Scopola kept a foreleg draped across my back. “There there, Sunrise. Y'all just need some time to grieve. It’s okay, we’re your friends. You don’t have to always be strong. Sometimes we need to be strong for you.” I noticed a new merit badge on Scopola’s sash. One for holding a friend; I wasn’t sure when it got there but it was new today.

The rest of my day was spent incoherently weeping and lost in between sleeping. I did not eat, I just held onto Bodda Pett and cried till my eyes were too dry to cry anymore. At some point, I was out for the night. Lost to the timeless embrace of sleep.

*****

I awoke again, my throat dry. How do I help you now? Dad, please, tell me?

Pink was petting my head and smirked, “Your father would be very proud! That is all you can truly do for the dead.” She reassured me with a hug.

What are you saying? I was uncertain of the hug, just passively sitting there. It was always strange to feel her hugging me. When she slapped me it was just one point of the body. But when she hugged me, it was all over, all at once. It was like the touch of a blanket but warm and alive at the same time. It was never something natural, just something I got used to. It set my fur standing on end but so much had this happened by now I associated it with Pink being nice to me. Bodda Pett perked up, giving a chirp and then purred as I held him close. He had not left me all night. How? How do I show my dad I cared? That I listened? That, I tried? That I loved him?

Pink took a deep inhale, “There are no words I could say to ease your pain or help you understand. A great wise stallion once told me something. Would you like for me to share what he cooked up over the course of his life?”

I nodded as I held Bodda Pett very close, trying my best to be gentle with the bunny in my hooves. “When all you know have passed away but you still draw breath, everything they are is in you. Everyone you touch becomes a part of them, a tiny breadcrumb of the legacy that says they existed. All you can do is hope that if those gone before you were to stand beside you; they would be proud. It matters not why or how, only they would be proud to say you are their legacy.” I silently cried into Bodda Pett’s fur. I knew she was right. I knew I had to push on. I knew that tank outside was now my challenge.

I looked up at Pink, So help me through it. Show me the way. I said as my eyes dried. I had lost so much. Buddy was the first time I felt The Wasteland steal something from me. Something truly special. Pink was helping me remember his face and a single word popped into my mind. Kindness. Pink smiled and nodded.

“You have been so very kind to every single pony you have met. That light Buddy saw in you never died did it? Even to your worst enemy, you have shown mercy.” I winced as I remembered Buddy holding me in that cave. I remembered him saving my life on our first day.

Corners came to mind next, along with Picline. I had to focus upon them, I had to understand why I was thinking about them. I couldn’t put it together and Pink placed a hoof upon my shoulder.

“Determination and Patience. They taught you those things, by putting you through hell and they themselves going through the fires of Tarturus. Without them, your friendship with Chifundo would have faltered. Without them, you would not have the depth of soul you have.”

I nodded and let out a contented sigh. Finally my father, the wound still fresh. My mind staring at his face as I remembered it. Before the war, before he was on the bridge. That day I was fixing the Sand-Dog 3500. Everything that has helped us. I remembered working on our armor in The Roof the first day and when we came back from Las Pegasus. Working on it in Stable Phi, building Scopola Mina’s weapons. All he had taught me, all the things I had used to create the armor and weapons that kept us alive.

“Sunrise, you are alive today because your father saw to it to prepare you. He did not know he was preparing you for this place. But you were trained to shoot by Chroma Slip. He held you after those nights of torture. He made sure you could use every tool to fabricate parts, work upon armor, weapons, that tank. If you want to honor his love and his efforts; if you want him to be truly proud of you. To show you have become your own mare, you should go out into that oven you call a mechanic’s shop and finish baking that tank.” I listened to the words, hanging on every single one of them.

Pink, how did you go on? After… after…

“After the bombs? How did I do it? I was stuck with you. I could choose to not help you or I could choose to maybe help you find a way so we could cross that bridge one day. Once I realized that you dying wasn’t the answer, I have hope again for once. You have made it further than any of your previous tries. Please, don’t end this here. You are my only hope of ever seeing my friends again, of even being able to apologize to Twilight.” I heard those words now and understood what was riding on this. Pink’s life was in my hooves and there was nothing she could do about it.

I looked at her. “Not just my life. Those two inside you. Those heartbeats you hear in your quiet moments.” Something inside me shifted, a kick perhaps? Like they knew they were being talked about. “Nyota’s too, all your friends who follow you; you are their hope. You brought something to this Wasteland, Sunrise. Everywhere you go, ponies see it in your eyes, they see it in you. Do not let this loss take it away from you. Do not lose your spark. Show them even in your darkest hour, you can be your own Sunrise.”

I held Bodda pett close and released him slowly. I took a very determined step and rose to my hooves. Okay, Pink, just walk me through it. The next days were a blur of activity. Every time I became frustrated, everytime I wanted to stop. Pink would remind me to keep going. There would be a kick from inside me, the sound of another heartbeat besides my own. Chifundo bringing me food, Scopola making sure I had coffee. I worked through the pain and tears, Soot took note. Even as I would cry, my hooves worked to repair the behemoth. The baths were cold and I decided to do something a little different.

“Hey Soot, do you mind if I fix you up a water heater? Something to help with baths?” Soot looked at me very upset with the concept. Her face riddled with disbelief as we were preparing to put the turret back on.

“Seriously? Why would we waste resources on that? Hot baths! I swear, next your stable dweller suggestion is gonna be for us to have lights that don’t flicker,” She paused as she tried to think of something else. Then her mind got a very eureka face, “Spend our days reading books and listening to DJ Pon3 on the radio.”

“Soot, let me tell you a story; about a Sand Dog.” I began and just started to talk about Buddy. We were derailed this day from working on the tank. Instead we worked upon a busted pressure washer and oven to improvised a hot water heater. I told her about Buddy, I told Soot about Corners, Picline, and my father, Rainbowrise. All while we built a stable water heater. I tried to teach her a lesson with each of them. Buddy’s was simple, “Hats are not helmets.”

Picline’s lesson was, “Never let love compromise you; in the Wasteland you cannot take care of someone else if you're dead. So always figure out how to get you both out alive.”

Corners. Corners was the hardest one to explain, “Your sins of your past do not make your future.” I had to have Pink guide me through the later two while we were talking. I knew I had to make sure that soon enough, we had a working hot water heater. It wasn’t clean water, still had some rads in it. But the water was at least hot and provided everyone with a much needed morale boost.

I leaned down to whisper in Soot’s ear, “Sometimes just a little hot water can do a world of good for everyone. Happy workers are the best ones when it comes to getting stuff done.” Soot looked at me rather puzzled. “If you are to be their leader, you must lead by example and you must see to their needs first.” I turned to look at the snower currently in use but standing beside Soot so she could see me beaming at a job done well. “Even if you do not always agree with the things they want or need.”
Soot looked up at me and the expression on her face was like I was a magical wizard coming down from a mountain to share wisdom. “I had not realized stupid things like hot water were this important.”

I smiled at her, “It is not the big goals that eat at us. It is the little pieces that pick away and eat at you. Keep that in mind moving forward.” I smiled at her, remembering how my father taught me that a mechanical noise is annoying even if it isn’t something you need to worry about. Solving something as simple as a noise can restore your faith in any vehicle. I had learned on the road the difference in hot water and hot food versus cold was the difference in our camp having a productive night and an irritated fight.

We spent the rest of the night working on the tank. The turret was finally in place with all its missing ball bearings.

*****

Scopola Mina found the mosses outside around the building were scrubbing the area of radiation. It was why my PipBuck wasn’t even picking up the normal background radiation through here. She was using it to make us more Rad-B-Gone as a substitute for the mushrooms.

Mea approached and looked at Scopola as she offered both of us a cookie. We tilted our heads and Scopola tried one first. She nodded her head, “Yeah, no drugs here, but man are they delicious!” I took a bite and made a murph noise as I enjoyed the taste of sweet chocolate and delicious baked dough rolling around my teeth.

“Yes, I was in the scouts, like you.” My eyes went wide as I was now fully awake; I knew that accent.

“Wait, you are from Stalliongrad, like me?” Mae looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then shook her head.

“No, I am from St. Petershoof, I was in the Filly Scout Chapter No. 33 - Zebras against Caesar.” She replied with a sharp salute to me and Scopola. We both saluted back and she trotted off leaving us with a few of the cookies.

I was waiting for welds to set on the tank as I enjoyed my cookie when I felt a familiar weight on top of my head. Snuggles, the manticore I was desperately trying to ignore, walked up and meowed at me. Bodda Pett responded with a chirp. I could not understand a word but they went back and forth for several minutes. Chifundo staring at them with wide eyes with an expression of ‘What in Tartarus?’ across his face. I was just glad that somehow Bodda Pett was keeping Snuggles from approaching me any further.

I softly reached over to the canteen counter and took a piece of lettuce, the chirping soon followed by interruptions of munch munch munch in my ears. Chifundo snapping his head back and forth, clearly able to Dr. Doolittle their conversation together while I was just happy to have a warm bunny on my neck again. There was a pause in their conversation and Snuggles looked upset. The manticore storming away, I had not realized the tension in my muscles or hair standing on end till it stopped when Snuggles was storming off. Snuggles kept giving a defiant hiss back only to receive an angry scream in return from Bodda Pett that was so high pitched it echoed in my ears.

Chifundo approached me and sighed, “Snuggles believes your bunny is your age, I cannot fathom a history with such a page.”

I looked up at Bodda Pett now more curious just where this bunny came from and was hit with a wave of nostalgia that I did not understand. I could not piece a memory together to truly get it. Chifundo cleared his throat to get my attention. “Bodda Pett, were you alive when the Angel was in stride?”

There is some chirping from Bodda Pett a top my head between the munching of lettuce. Chifundo nodded to me and I understand that meant yes. There was a lot more chitting, churring, and chirping from Bodda Pett along with a few happy purrs. Chifundo let out a sigh and looked up at me, “He is only a couple of generations post war, he is magically enchanted to endure.”

Chifundo let out an exasperated sigh, his face getting very grim with something he feared to speak of. “Bodda Pett is a warrior that last stood by your side, when you fought against the Eye Of Terror’s Pride. They are mutants laced with taint, whose goal is to infect all with their paint.”

I looked at Chifundo confused, “What is the Eye of Terror?”

Chifundo cleared his throat, “A magic storm of the wastes, it has existed since the bombs aftertaste. The storm is said to be sentient, just as you or I think independent. It has a will it uses to strike, to bring more into its tainted like. You faced it and fought a storm, till the battlefield left us all to mourn.”

I blinked repeatedly trying to fully understand what he was saying. I looked up at my head and sighed, “Right, remind me to make a rabbit translator that I can carry around.” Bodda hopped off my head and in the dust wrote the words: ‘Hi, Sunrise.’ My brain took a second to process that. I could feel it breaking under the weight. I looked up at Chifundo and then wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere that my simple rabbit did not teleport or talk.

“Well if that is the case, perhaps if I could get some scrap computer pieces and a small battery I could make a text to speech device for you to plug into my PipBuck.” I turned up to Chifundo and cleaned my head. The possibilities of sentient animals and sentient storms were enough crazy for one day. I wanted to talk about something sane. “Chifundo, that bridge we were on, is that, Tartarus?”

Chifundo shook his head, “No, my battle sister, it is the point between life and death, where souls go as they draw their last breath. Your father is staying upon that bridge, his soul I can sense upon the ridge. He clings upon the faint hope, that perhaps he can see you before he crosses that slope. I am sending him some of my power, to give him relief every hour.”

Bodda Pett returned to us and started to speak in his chirps and a few murrs. “Chifundo, I honestly do not speak rabbit; this is on you.”

“He wishes to know if for your grin, if he should send his family to look for your kin.” Chifundo took a moment to look me over and analyze my face.

I shook my head, “No, him being near is helping me more than any effort he could give right now. Where did he learn to teleport?”

Bodda Pett churped a few times and Chifundo let out a chuckle, “A side effect from the Eye of Terror, when you saved him as his stretcher bearer.”

Before I could ask anything else, there was a commotion; Alguacil had returned with several ponies and regulators in tow. I got up to go find out exactly what was going on, seeing Quick Stitch poking his head from the stairs above.

Alguacil had returned not only with regulators but settlers from Silver Fang and a caravan loaded with trade goods. Quick Stitch rushed forward to check on ponies that had been injured. He first stopped with me and put a shroud over my head, pulling my eyepatch back and I got the very real and scary experience of a needle dripping a healing compound into my eye. Oh god, why? Why is this getting normal for me? Why is it still terrifying? I kept wanting to twitch away or flinch back but I knew that if I did; I might be blinded in the eye permanently. He pulled the eyepatch back.

“Sorry we took so long, the caravan insisted we clear every plant on the way here to make a proper road.” Quick Stitch stroked my head and helped me calm down. Snuggles was standing off with Bodda Pett again, the feline creature with a ‘I Hate You’ stare at Bodda Pett. I swore for a moment that Bodda Pett had a sword and shield out. I blinked and the armament disappeared.

The place was full of hustle and bustle as Alguacil talked with Soot about the situation while the new regulators got to know the townsfolk. At least a dozen other ponies and two zebras also were among them. Soot was a little overwhelmed, trying to take all the information and I took part helping find bunks and jobs for everyone to get done to help put this settlement up. I checked my PipBuck to make sure and explained their new home was called Upsville.

Chifundo laughed at me, “Perhaps I should teach you to speak rabbit, then you can talk to Bodda out of habit.” I stared at him and shook my head towards him with a smirk upon my lips.

“No, I like it better when you’re around to do it. Your reactions to Bodda Pett are priceless to watch.” I looked around the ponies and creatures present then something struck me. Nyota wasn’t among them. He was still not back, and my worries escalated very quickly.

Progress to Level 15 - 39% of the way to Level Up! IE No XP Gain, I just gave you XP! Complete a quest or something.

Chapter 51: Tank Mare

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"One should never take more pride in something than resurrecting a work that was discharged and that time has destroyed. Go on, see if she'll start."
-Fiaura's Grandfather, when she was given her first car by him after they finished fixing it.

I lost myself in my work with the tank again. We were getting close for the spell matrix to start. I had managed to get the thing to cycle a couple of times manually, but was not able to generate enough power to keep going if I stopped turning the crank. Until we got it started though, there would be no putting the treads on. The great machine was far too heavy to push and it would need to roll forward to get onto its tracks. There was a presence in the back of my mind, always worrying about Nyota. Worried he wouldn’t come back, worried I had lost him.

No, he’ll be fine. He is a courier. He’s done this work all his life. He will be fine. I just had to keep reminding myself about once an hour while we kept working. I went to sleep that night, having moved my sleeping bag to be alone. It was not pleasant to sleep alone. I could only feel empty as I could not feel Nyota’s warmth next to me.

ooOOoo

Wherever I was, was cold. This place was not familiar to me at all. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw that I was inside a broken tent, with tears in the fabric allowing waves of snow to slowly pile in on top of the sleeping bag I was inside of. Nyota poked his head inside, “Seventeen, we should move.” It was Nyota’s voice, but very cold and without emotion. It was like he was somehow robotic. Not the coldness or directness when I first met him, this was something different, something horrible about it. The kind of coldness that indicated he would kill you if it entertained him. “The tent isn’t going to hold against the cold out here.” My brain recognized the number as my designation. I groaned and I felt the presence of that thing, the thing Pink and I kept trying to keep at bay.

That presence was moving my body in this memory. Nyota was there too. “Right, Forty-One. How much further till we get there?” Seventeen looked at a PipBuck and then at Nyota, who she called Forty-One. So much for Nyota’s theory that this was his first time. The cold bit at my flesh, it was bitterly cold. I was wearing a Stalliongrad commissar jacket; I swore it looked exactly like Mad Mac’s. It was so close to his that I knew at that moment that it was actually his. I was wearing his jacket. Why?
Another breeze of biting chill ran across the two of us. I pulled the jacket tighter around my neck, as did Nyota. We moved silently through the snow, our hooves crunching the fluff and the howling winds the only sound between us. We were climbing a mountain pass, up towards an inner cave. Something about this place was very familiar. In a flash, Seventeen was gone and I was standing back to the day, the day the bombs and megaspells fell.

We were running up the autumn trail with dozens of other ponies. My mother was dragging me and my father pushing ahead of us to try to clear a path. A shotgun echoed out of the cave and a mega speaker shouted down, “If you are not on the list, you will be shot if you approach the lines. Go to your homes or personal shelters. You will find no salvation here.”

Rainbowrise led the way through the throngs of ponies, “We’re on the list! Please!”

With a flash I was back in the snowstorm. We were walking through a cave opening. In the depths of the cave I could see a light. We kept venturing deeper, old wooden planks and steel I-beams groaned and protested against the storm outside. They were ancient, Seventeen dated them back when the place was built, before the war. Several eroded steel walls with faded Stable-Tec logos poked out from the rock and dirt. Their rivets had started to fall apart at some point, letting the metal be eroded by the rock and dirt putting pressure down on them from gravity. The plating alone simply could never support the weight.

Within the depths of the cave, I saw it. A large cog shaped object, a Stable-Door. It was shaped like a cog for a transmission gear, with ripped and damaged tacky blue paint across the door with a scratched and damaged ‘43’ and the Stable-Tec logo on it. I looked at Nyota, worried, and he looked back at me. I heard Chroma Slip’s voice over a walkie on Nyota’s back, “Seventeen, Forty-One, are you both back? Did you get it?”
Seventeen smiled while taking the walkie into her hoof, “Yeah, we got it.” I felt something more sinister at play here. As the door started to open and a klaxon sounded a warning alarm, Seventeen took out a shotgun and checked to make sure it was loaded. “You sure about this, Forty-One?”

Nyota nodded, “Yes. The only way to be free, finally.”

The door opened and as the shadow of Chroma Slip appeared in a bright light, Seventeen opened fire. The shadow fell and another alarm sounded.

ooOOoo

I snapped awake and looked around. Nyota’s hoof was on my shoulder. I looked up at him, surprise in my voice as I spoke, “Nyota?” I was very confused, not sure where I was. This felt like the second time he had woken me up in less than an hour. Even if the memory had us walking for several hours, it felt like minutes. Nyota was walking towards the door.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’ve got coffee and breakfast ready. Come on, Sunny.” I was still trying to figure out if I was dreaming or this was real.

“Now you know a little bit of the truth. Want the rest?” The creepy feeling of Seventeen’s voice echoed in my head.

I pushed it aside, ignoring ‘it’. I lunged forward instead, just happy to see Nyota as my brain clicked on. I rose up and charged towards Nyota with all the energy of a child on a sugar high who saw their grandmother walk into the door with presents.

I, however, was the worst earth pony ever and I slipped, going airborne. My aim completely missed Nyota and instead had me on course with a trash can. Nyota grabbed me mid-air and yanked me down to the ground as he tackled me from my oncoming charge and I gagged from his leg around my throat. “Not the only thing you’ll be gagging on tonight!” Pink squealed with delight. I winced and I pressed against Nyota’s barrel for some comfort from her teasing. He held me close and fell onto his back to avoid me hitting the concrete or doorframe.

I was trying to recover and started to try to speak before I could say a word, Nyota’s hoof was in my mouth to shut me up. “Yes I know, I’ve been gone a week. I figured you would be busy working on the tank.” I went to try to talk again and this time he shut me up with a deep, passionate kiss. My entire body felt like electricity coursed through it as I melted into the affection.

Nyota chuckled and wrapped his hoof around me. “I was fine love, it just took an extra…” He trailed off as he realized why I had been worried. I held him tightly and sobbed. This was my Nyota, he was warm and wonderful. His hoof rubbed the back of my head gently. He kissed me between the ears and whispered, “Right, I would have been worried too. I’m here love, always will be.” His hoof pressed against my heart as I looked up at him and he smiled down into my eyes. “And I’m here too, right with you, even when you can’t see me.”

I repeated his words back to him, “Even when I cannot see you, I know you are here. In my heart, I feel your love.” I felt his smile broaden just a tiny bit as the two of us held each other in a desperately longed for embrace. I rubbed the back of my head as we separated and looked at Nyota, and slowly I just started laughing.

It wasn’t just from the comedy of the situation but also from the sheer insanity presented to us all. This was just too much for me and I finally needed to laugh until I cried. Nyota chuckled with me nervously at first and then finally he understood. He laughed with me; I’m not sure if he found it just as funny or needed the release. I was just happy he was okay and the release of all my worry and tension resulted in just laughing.

I realize it had been days since I laughed. Since I smiled, even. Yet here we were, our souls both warmed and the feelings of loss and despair draining with a renewed hope. I would have to tell him about the seance soon but for now, just feeling his touch. The electricity and life that gentle hold of my zebra—no, my stallion—kept all the bad news at bay.

I melted into him and was purring with delight as I pressed my head against the familiar small divot in his chest. My cheek pressing right against his scars, embedded in that wonderful part of his chest that told me even with my eyes closed, even if I could not smell the sandalwood virtually ingrained into his fur, this scar told me it was him. This embrace was going nowhere and I did not want it to ever end. My morning in his hooves, would be my entire day today.

*****

The next morning, I thought it was a dream. I was waking up and Nyota was still holding me. He was awake but had elected to not get out of bed. Simply watching over me while I slept. My body did not enjoy the bedroll and sleeping bag entirely. Nyota had made every part of me sore, in the best ways. Now the cuddling and snuggling had helped after that fact. Okay, Pink, you were right… about the gagging. Pink just giggled and I could feel her grin. I didn't even have to look at her to feel that level of grin across her lips.

Nyota helped me up and once he was certain I was on steady hooves, we both went to the shower. The glorious feeling of cleaning myself off from head to hoof was one thing. The feeling of Nyota’s hooves working the soap deep into my skin combined with a hot filtered shower again did not make my PipBuck click even once; completely wondrous. My body melted under the torrent of water that cleansed me from head to hoof.

I looked up at Nyota and smiled at him, “Nyota.” My heart fluttered as I spoke. He was busy working to dry me off, knowing full well I was about to engross myself into grease and grime of working upon the tank again. I had to ask him, I had to ask for one thing. Something I knew both of us had passingly thought or felt. “When we get somewhere safe again, marry me.”

Nyota dropped the towel and looked like he had just been struck by a bullet to the heart. He stared off into space and slowly his eyes rolled from over my head to meet my gaze. I could feel my heart skipping beats as my hooves felt like anvils had glued them in place. My muscles grew rigid as I waited for an answer. I had not expected a proposal anytime soon; now I understood his deer in the headlights look. Both of us were starring slowly growing from shock to the realization of what I had just asked.

I bit my lip and waited for his answer. Pink was standing on the edge of her hooves with a bright expression upon her face, waiting for an answer just as much as I was. I could virtually hear the scream from her regardless of the answer, being held back by the anticipation. Nyota reached forward and brushed my wet mane out of my face and smirked, “Your wish is my command.” He leaned down and kissed me deep and lovingly, holding me in a tender embrace with one hoof while the other picked up the towel and put it onto my back to keep me warm for just a little longer.

Once we were done in the shower, I got up onto the tank. The turret was on and now we had to get the engine running. All the external work was done: Fresh road wheels that shined from the crystal parts they were made of. The tracks had been assembled, and they were heavy; the links locked together probably weighed in excess of a thousand kilograms. They were made of crystals and quartz as well and shined like diamonds when light hit them. We will have to paint those to make them less obvious, I thought as I was looking them over.

Pink was actually upset at this thought, “Why? They are amazing and look so pretty!” I was not going to argue with her. Nyota pressed against my side.

“What can I do?” I looked over at the kitchen from his question. Then back at him.

“You can help Lunar Spice and Bunny in the kitchen. They are okay cooks, but nothing like what you can pull off.” Nyota chuckled and nodded, heading for the kitchen. In some strange twist of fate, I’m sending my stallion into the kitchen and I’m going into the garage. I blushed at the idea and got out a wrench, my tail grabbed a spanner, and I got a screwdriver for good measure.

“Finally gonna get that engine started?” I knew this was going to be the hard part. Getting the transmission a new gearbox and differential, along with making the spell matrix based engine finally start again.

It’s just like the crane. It’s a machine, if you put everything into the right place it will work. It’s not like a pony where you have to coax, whine, compromise, and make deals. Either you have all the parts in the right place and they work or they don’t. I crawled up onto the engine deck, pulling the heavy covers back with Soot’s assistance.

The hinges groaned in protest, so I pulled out some grease and sprayed it upon the hinges to ease the rust as we struggled to break it apart. Inside was a mess! The spell matrix had multiple hoses broken, the connection to the transmission was completely severed and so the entire drive train would not connect to the sprockets that turned the treads and road wheels. I sighed and looked at the fresh spell matrix and all the drivetrain parts, then at the transmission. “Okay, I hope I have all the parts.” I looked over at Soot, “Remember, we must be very careful, I only have one set of replacement parts. If we break any of them, I do not know if I can fashion a replacement.”

Soot nodded and we started the slow process of removing the spell matrix engine. Getting deeper into the systems to remove the various parts from cooling radiator, to oil pan, gas tank, and everything else. This work was going to require more than I had bargained for. Scopola approached me and raised an eyebrow.
“Sunrise, where are each of us to be positioned inside the tank? There are six of us and only five seats.”

I paused and turned to Scopola, taking a wrench from my mouth and wiping the grease on a rag as Soot let out a string of curse words. I assume she struck her hoof against something or cut herself. “You okay, Soot?”

“Yeah, the freaking gear just stubbed my hoof.” She called back. I let out a sigh and took a moment to get down from the tank engine deck.

“Well, Scopola, looking at all our different talents.” I finished getting my hooves as clean as they would get. I made a mental note that Soot’s rag was mostly clean and she would need a bath. I’ll have to make her take one again. Pink snickered in the corner. “Well, I will be the mechanic. So the radio operator and co-driver position is best for me. This way I can move about the tank and fix stuff as it breaks. Quick Stitch is likely the best driver, his magic is much more sensitive than yours and, no offense, more flexible.”

Scopola nodded and motioned for me to go on. “Nyota is the strongest of us and fastest, he should be our loader. He will be able to move the heavy shells into place and not tire. Also since he will not be using magic, so there is not a chance of accidental detonation. Chifundo would be our gunner. He is not the most observant but he is by far the best shot compared to all of us; since Alguacil cannot fit inside the turret space.” I pointed at Scopola and pressed my hoof to her heart. “Which is why I am about to ask something great of you, you will be the commander. The one who helps me coordinate the rest of us and spots threats while directing our actions. I can help give unity but I will have to rely on your eyes. Even without your glasses you see so much better than I do and notice so many details I do not.”

I was right. Scopola had pointed out twice now threats to us. She had found camps for us. She had made sure every detail of our encampments made us all sleep very well. Scopola held up a hoof, “Shouldn’t I be on the gun? I mean..”

I shook my head, “If you wanna try to outshoot Chifundo, do so. But it is not your laser rifles; If your gun misses a shot you do not get another shot within less than a second. Nyota will take several seconds to reload. We will die during those seconds. I appreciate your abilities, Scopola, but I have put some thought into this.” I explained to her and gave her a tight embrace. “Chifundo is our best shot who can fit into the turret and your eyes are better than all of ours. We need you as a spotter first and foremost. You will also notice mines, traps, and ambushes before any of the rest of us.” I explained and patted her on the back. “Besides, you will get your scout badge in tank commanding.”

Scopola blushed at this and smiled back with a nod. We separated as she went to help Nyota and Lunar Spice in the canteen. I turned back to the tank, pulling out the hose and getting the pressure nozzle fitted back to it. “Time to get back to work.”.

My failure, I have to live with it. I have to Do Better. This will help protect them.

*****

That night, Scopola Mina, Soot, and Chifundo were outside. I walked up while all three were shooting at distant targets and missing, badly. Soot, Scopola, and Chifundo stopped and looked at each other; confused. They were taking turns using a high powered hunting rifle that was a bit too big for them. Alguacil was scratching the back of his head, “All I did was change th’ rifle to somethin’ high powered, I ain’t expect all of ‘em ta miss.” I looked at the regulator with a raise eyebrow.

“Why are they all competing in a shooting competition to begin with?” I looked at this, very confused about the situation. I was trying to understand the situation, remembering the talk I had with Scopola Mina. Did she really come out here and all three of them had a fight and now Alguacil is settling it with a shooting contest?

“They’re settlin’ whose gonna be the tank gunner.” Alguacil tipped his hat to me. He was genuinely calmer and for once did not feel like he was staring at me like a predator weighing up prey. “I want’d it t’ be a weapon with all the recoil I could git. Ya know because of how the tank cannon works?”

I facehooved and shook my head, “Alguacil, the tank cannon recoils into the tank; not the gunner or the loader.” I shook my head and noticed that Scopola was trying to operate the rifle with her mouth instead of her magic.

Alguacil blinked with his good eye and it was now that I noticed his glass eye also blinked with it. Oh… oh wow, I was not aware that the eyelid still worked! He then looked back at the rest of them taking turns trying to hit the target.

Alguacil groaned and sighed, “Chifundo usually don’t miss; this is r’ally weird.” Chifundo took the rifle again, looked at me, and his eyes seemed to sharpen. I look a little confused by Chifundo’s sudden determination. He sighted down his shot and I saw just how far away the target was. I hit S.A.T.S. on it and my PipBuck told me it was over four hundred meters away. I released the spell without hitting a host and turned to Alguacil.

“Why are you setting it that far away?” I tilted my head at Alguacil.

Alguacil cleared his throat and held up the mostly intact training manual we had found in the tank. “It say’s the average tank fight is that far.” Alguacil looked at me with a gulp. The expression on my face was everything but entertained. I facehoofed again and furrowed my brow with a long groan.

“Alguacil, that is for tank-on-tank combat, how often are we going to—” A loud pang interrupted my talking and both Alguacil and I snapped to look in the direction. Chifundo from where we were to all the way down the many city blocks had managed to hit the target and the sound of the impact reverated off the vegetation covered buildings back to us. There was a distant twang as the metal target fell to the ground and bounced a couple of times.

We all collectively heard a loud growl, much closer than where the target was. The growl was very close to us. “Maybe y’all should talk ‘bout this inside?” Alguacil offered, and we all hastily left without speaking, scrambling to get back inside Upsville.

I sighed and looked at Soot, Scopola Mina, and Chifundo with all of them lined up in front of me. We were standing with my friends acting as a backdrop to the tank. “Okay, so, let me understand this. All of you wanted to shoot the gun and be the gunner?” They looked at each other, confused, then at me, then at each other. Finally there was some nodding between them, and then collectively said, yes.

“Okay look, I am not a dictator. But I am the one who read the tactics book, which any of you could read, and generally has been trying to direct our combat tactics as best I can. If you do not want to do a particular thing, please, you all need to express it.”

Scopola Mina held up a hoof like she was in a school classroom. I sighed and pointed at her, reminded painfully she was a Filly Scout. “Yes, Scopola.”

Scopola cleared her throat and lowered her hoof with a concerned expression, “Sunrise, it’s just that you are our leader. We look to you for guidance and well, we kinda all wanted to pone the gun. Ya know, be the one delivering the firepower, and I personally thought you would be in the commander seat.”

I nodded to her and turned to Alguacil, “Can you give me the manual, please?” Alguacil reached into his armored vest and pulled the manual back out. I took it from him and flipped to the page describing the crew positions. “The gunner’s primary job is to aim and fire the weapons of the vehicle. She must be focused upon this task and this task alone. The commander is tasked with looking for threats and identifying them for the gunner.” I paused and looked at each of them.

I let it all sink in and then let out a low sigh. “Scopola Mina, how often do you notice small details? Chifundo, you use a heavy bolt action rifle; that takes significant time to rechamber when you fire, regardless if you hit or miss.” I cleared my throat and looked at Soot, “Soot, no offense, but right now you are a passenger not a crew member. You are not strong enough to be a loader or tall enough to be a driver or commander, so you would be with me. Your tech expertise and smaller size will help worm your way into places to fix things that go wrong.” I explained all of this and then looked at all of them.

My concern was growing now. I had not wanted to be the leader in the first place. Yet here we were; with all of them listening to me. All of them now staring at me for some inspiration and Soot looking like I just wounded her dreams. “Look, we only have a limited number of rounds, and Chifundo is our best shot,” I paused and looked at Alguacil who had narrowed his eyes with a harsh glare. “Who can fit in the tank. I am not sure when we will get more ammo. Scopola, you are accurate by volume, and volume is not something we have when the weapon takes a bit to reload and we only have a few dozen shots.” I approached my friends and searched for the right words to say, the thing they were looking to hear from me.

Then I felt Chifundo place his hoof upon my shoulder, “Sunrise, you are right to seek, the wisdom from a leader so meek. But you are not at all weak, your power is stronger than even this mighty antique.”

Alguacil cleared his throat, “I wanna thank ya, for recognizing my marksbirdship. But yeah, there’s a reason they don’t make ‘em to let griffons fit in. Ya know, with Talons mostly siding with the other side.”

I raised a hoof to start to correct him and then lowered it. “There is that, and that it takes less materials to make a smaller vehicle. We did let some of the smaller griffons operate our tanks.” I winked at Alguacil and giggled. “You aren’t small, and Stormy certainly didn’t report you were small there, either.”

Alguacil squawked as we all broke into laughter. Even Lunar and Nyota from the kitchen were laughing. I finally took in a breath, “Right, I suppose we need to paint it and make sure all the rust is gone. Then we need to test to make sure those replacement plates covering the holes that were blown in it are secure.” I then looked up at my group of friends around me and Soot, “Then we’ll need to train in it before we start driving it across the wasteland.”

*****

It was incredibly late by the time we had done everything. I was busy painting the symbol on it; The symbol that identified me. A pony angel holding a shotgun, descending from the heavens. I kept hitting it with the torch, making sure the design was welded into the tank. Even if someone else took it, they could never get rid of this mark without weakening the hull or replacing the side plating. I looked up to see that my activity wasn’t disturbing Soot in the slightest. She was covered in grease, welding ash, and metal flash, wearing a mechanics suit that had once been red, but now faded to orange. If not for the pockets and old workshop symbol on it, I would have thought it was prison garb.

I finished up the emblem and finished painting the rest of the tank in the soft green color. We found the paint in a few of the crates that this concrete warehouse had. In addition, the snowball cakes were delicious; I missed the taste of coconut. Just thinking about one made me reach to pull one out and take a bite, which quickly turned into me eating an entire snowball cake right off my welding flash and ash covered welding glove. “Ya know, that probably isn’t healthy for the kids.”

I glared at Pink, Excuse you? I could feel a mood rising, like someone judging me for eating was worse than my friends trying to tell me I was their leader and a dictator.

“I mean, you can be a little dictatory but only when ponies' lives are at risk. As for the cake thing, ya realize anything with enough preservative to last two hundred years while tasty as the day it was made is probably bad for you, not to mention I’m pretty sure babies can’t eat metal flash and welding ash; I’m pretty sure even I couldn’t turn that into a functional bakery confection if I tried.”

I wanted to yell at Pink, I wanted to get upset at her. Somehow, however, she was right. I took a moment and took a deep inhale. “Oh right! Pregnant mare hormones, yeah you umm… I am going to put this delicately.”

I glared at Pink in response, ready to tear her head off for where this conversation was leading. Put what delicately?

Pink put up her hooves in a show of surrender and nervously gulped. “Look, don't bite off the head of the messenger, that never works out. Just ask Ditzy-Doo; so many have tried and she is still quite alive and friendly despite it. You should just slow down and take a measure of yourself before you say stuff, okay? Your hormones aren’t you, but they have a lot of influence over you.”

I started to snap back and then stopped myself. My mind was conflicted and confused. I slowly tempered my words. You are my friend, I am sorry for being upset with you. You are probably right; I should not be eating stuff like this; I mean I removed the Med-X and am keeping it away because of them. My hoof drifted to press upon my stomach as I felt a warmth inside me. I listened closely until I could hear my own heartbeat; then I heard two more softer beats deeper within me. Both were faint and small, You are right Pink, I mm sorry for being upset with you. Let’s get Soot to bed.

I struggled to get up on the tank only to feel something pressing against my rump. The sensitive part of me flared with a both welcome and surprising sensation as I turned my head quickly to see who dared to grab my plushy rear. It was Nyota, using his head, snout, and hoof to help push me up, I remembered him doing that the day we met. Helping me onto the engine deck of the Sand Dog 3500; the exact same way. “You just could not wait to touch my butt could you?”

Nyota snickered and finished pushing me up onto the engine deck of the war machine. I scooped up Soot. She was so small. “That is saying something coming from you, you can carry her; she must be really tiny. Like a tiny little adorable, somewhat salty cupcake!” I groaned at Pink’s enthusiasm. Even if she said all of that in a tiny, squeaky, whispering voice.

I lowered Soot towards Nyota, “Here, take her, she is out cold.” Nyota gently pulled her down, standing upon his hind hooves. He made sure to support her head and shifted to put his body between her and the tank to protect her from hitting the metal if we dropped her.

Pink got extremely starry eyed and put her hooves up to her cheeks with a deep gasp. She spoke in a quiet tiny voice, even quieter than before. “Omg, you two are wonderful parents in the making!” I groaned at her and then sighed as Nyota started to carry off Soot. I used the road wheels and treads to get down from the tank as quietly as possible. We carried Soot to her bed and I tucked her in. Nyota and I bumped flanks as we made our way to where we would sleep. Once again, not really sleeping for another hour.

*****

I had a dreamless night, a rare thing. There was not a lot to our next morning. It was agreed we would start practicing with the tank. I couldn't just expect everyone to jump in and know what they were doing, we had to make sure that we had practice.

There was no concern for things like fuel or wear and tear. A spell-matrix powered vehicle doesn’t require gas. Just grease, maintenance, and ammo. The crystal treads and road wheels would take ages longer to wear out than rubber and steel ones. We even had two practice rounds for Nyota to use for learning to load. They were basically empty shells but with extra weight in them. This way when he switched to the real thing, they would be lighter and easier to load.

The heavy tank treads cleared vines like they were not even there. Ripping apart the vegetation better than a weed whacker would ever hope to do. Scopola Mina made calls over the intercom of the tank, which was really a short-range radio set that each of us was wearing. It was the only way to hear each other from all the noise and racket the tank made as it rolled.

We made our way around the block of the warehouse several times, each time passing the guards outside as well as a group of onlookers who were exceedingly happy to see the vehicle moving. Once Quick Stitch got from confidence he started opening the tank up to it's higher gears. This caused a slight issue with the vines and vegetation getting caught up in the road wheels.

We started to hear the slapping of heavy thick vines against the hull at a constant rate. I groaned, "Quick Stitch, full stop. I think something is in the wheels." We were roughly at the furthest point from the warehouse on our practice route. I popped my hatch and climbed out, almost stumbling over the sloped frontal armor to get down. It took me using my hooves to brace against the front machine gun and the spare tread mount to not fall head over heels.

Several thick vines were wrapped around the internal road wheels, I groaned and checked them for flowers first. I wanted to make sure I wasn't about to get poisoned. Once I was certain I called over the radio, "Hey, careful not to move. I need to cut these vines out of the wheels." I got out my hammer and chisel to start smacking away.

It was a slow process but eventually I was down to the last vine. I suddenly felt the ground rumble and pulled myself free of the gearing immediately. My hoof reaching for my intercom button on my throat, "Quick Stitch! I said don't—" A manticore roar completely broke my thoughts and I snapped my head to the front of the tank. It was there, around forty hoof steps away and it was angry. I started to hyperventilate. The feelings of terror coursing through me. My friends on the other hand, acted like a team.

I heard my neck radio call out, “Manticore! Two O’clock!” The manticore hesitated as I froze up. The memory of going down the gullet of one flashed before my eyes. Then another memory of it having happened at least twice. It made me paralyzed with fear. My body couldn’t move as I stared with growing horror at those razor sharp teeth, the massive bat wings with ripping talons at their apex. The sharp claws that ground against the concrete ready to leap. The manticore started to take a step and stopped. I heard the hydraulics of the tank turret grinding to rotate the gun. The hull shifted with the turret, making it turn faster. I flinched as I watched the manticore with one eye, frozen in confusion while I kept screaming to make myself move.

The tank hull was now so close that the tank was going to crush me into it's treads and suspension. “Quick Stitch, halt!” The tank tread stopped traversing the hull with just enough inertia to knock me over. “Nyota, High Explosive!” The jolt of Scopola's voice a third time finally broke my stupor. I started scrambling to run behind the vehicle. The manticore snapped out of its trance too, seeing its prey running away. “Chifundo, FIRE!” Another roar and looked behind me. I watched it leap over my shoulder only for the cannon to fire. The creature was so close that the blast wave of fiery propellant buffeted the creature as my world hit slow motion.

I recognized this immediately, my tail was withdrawing from my PipBuck as Pink had slapped S.A.T.S. My ears were rippling with the deafening blast in slow motion. My body was being pushed against by the shock wave. I felt my hooves sliding just against the concrete and vegetation debris under me. The tank rocked backwards as I saw the sound wave in the aircascade across the metal. The manticore was already starting to fly backwards from white hot propellant gas out of the tank barrel. I saw the yellow marked shell flying out, big letters H.E. marked on it as it span in the air. I recognized my hoofwriting on the round as S.A.T.S. played out the death of this creature in visceral slow motion. The round slammed into the manticore and by the time it did S.A.T.S. ran out of charge.

The tank had accelerated forward just enough to turn slightly further towards me as the shot rang out and the blast roared in all directions. I hadn't noticed from watching the spectacle unfold till the upper hull blocked my sight. That slight turn made the blast of explosive death roll upward across its sloped hull. The angle of the hull cast the backblast that should have hit me up into the air. I shielded my eyes and winced, slowly as the wind and heat died down, I looked up and saw no manticore.

Then a leathery piece of a bat wing landed right on my nose. I yelped and scrambled back from it as more blood, pieces of manticore, and guts fell around us. Much of the former manticore splattered onto the wall of a nearby building. The remaining pieces burnt and charred crispy. The manticore was no more, completely annihilated by the tank’s main gun. Scopola Mina, Nyota, and Quick Stitch all popped out of their respective hatches. Chifundo popped out right next to Nyota and both of them were trying to get out of the tank through a hatch that was too small for them to be out at the same time.

“Sunrise! Hang on!” Nyota groaned against Chifundo who was sharing a hatch with him. Scopola and Quick Stitch both reached over to calm the closest zebra to them.

“Sunrise is fine y’all, the tank shielded her. Nice shot, Chifundo, I would give you a Filly Scout badge if I was allowed to for that one.” I looked up at Scopola leaning over the tank, her Filly Scout beret over the light padded tanker helmet as she clicked on the radio set. “Y’all alright down there, Sunrise?”

I nodded slowly and got back to standing upright. I looked over at the horizon and could see the setting sun’s colors through the omnipresent clouds above us. Just faintly. I had learned from watching the sky to judge when the sun was rising and setting since I’d woke up here. It surprised me, “The sunrise wanders the sky, I think I get your name now.”

I looked at Pink then looked at all my friends who were smiling with relief and patiently waiting for me to get back into the tank with them. Pink petted my cordite and ash filled mane. “You may wander everywhere but you will always come back to where you belong. You help brighten everyone’s day no matter when you arrive as they always know you’ll be back.” I smirked at Pink and let out a sigh.

I put my hooves into the road wheels, the noise of the engine making it hard to hear what Chifundo or Nyota were still arguing about. I clicked the radio while climbing into the co-driver seat. “I am climbing up, do not move the tank. We should head back inside now, before the light is all gone.”

Alguacil met us at the door to Upsville, he had several fish and squirrels on sticks. All of them cooked and even had a couple of sticks with what appeared to be a squid tentacle and a squirrel both on it. I winced at the thought of what that must taste like. “Everythi’g okay? I heard the explosion and cannon fire’n.” Alguacil approached us with the food and Lunar Spice appeared behind him; once Alguacil’s wing motioned him to come out.

“Is it safe right now?” Lunar Spice saw the tank rolling up with all of us having our heads poking out of the hatches for us, except Chifundo; we did not have a top hatch he didn’t have to share with Nyota.

“Yes, it’s fine; just a manticore that is well, mostly manticore bits now.” Scopola Mina yelled out and clicked her radio, “Should be fine here. Quick Stitch, kill it.” The rumble of the tank engine ground to a halt.

Alguacil nodded and pulled out the sticks with squid tentacles and squirrels on them. Lunar Spice rubbed the back of his head and grinned, “Yeah those T’Doshin fellows you mentioned said this is their favorite food and since the caravan came back with that suggestion; I kinda wanted to try to recreate it. Hopefully it is as tasty as they claimed it to be.”

I almost gagged at the thought as I climbed out of my hatch and helped Soot out too. “You’ve got to be kidding… me?” I was now thoroughly grossed out, they had wrapped the squid and squirrels in bacon. I winced heavily and tried not to throw up on the spot.

Nyota walked right up and took one stick then bit into it. He chewed it carefully as the rest of us approached and Alguacil did that griffon thing. The griffon thing where he shoved the entire stick into his gullet all at once and pulled out a stick completely cleaned of all food. Nyota chewed a bit faster and made an approving noise. “Oh, this isn’t half bad. A little rubbery, but I imagine squid is always rubbery.”

I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. “I umm.. Where did you get squid?” Alguacil blinked as he swallowed down all the meat and licked his beak.

“Oh, well I found some fresh water ones at the river on the edge of blightwood. Figured y'all would like to try it too and scooped ‘em right out of the current. They were a bit feisty but in the end but I got like five and brought ‘em back to cook here.”

Lunar Spice puffed up his chest all proud and smiling, “And I cooked them up right as I could; at least according to the cookbook I’ve got.” I took a stick and winced.

Nyota nudged me as he held onto the stick still, “Well, Sunny, I don’t mean to be hasty, but you do need the protein and you never know if eating meat might become a necessary survival skill.” I groaned and looked at the stick with extreme apprehension. I looked to everyone else for help but all of them but Chifundo were trying the uniquely strange meal. They stopped to look at me and I groaned. I took a firm grip of the stick from Nyota and brought it up to taste it.

My stomach gagged and wheezed while my mouth reported that it was indeed savory, salty, and rubbery. I forced down my emotional response to be repulsed by meat and my stomach’s physical one; making myself swallow with a nervous smile. “Okay, it’s not all bad but can I have some veggies with it?”

Nyota rolled his eyes and nodded, “Only if you agree to finish the whole stick if I make you some.” Nyota trotted off with Lunar Spice and they returned with some stale cooked rice and a cup of coffee. I ate the stick meat as fast as I could and used the coffee between bites to try to reassure my stomach it was okay. Regretting this decision as I realized the coffee was clearing my pallet for more fresh tasting of the squirrel-squid. The bacon through, that was the good part. I would have to try it on its own when I get the chance.

Four more griffons came out, four I had not met before. Alguacil nodded to them, “I’d like ta present to yall: Grime, Grittle, Jerk Feather, and Glint. Th’ regulators I promised for ya Soot; they’ll get ta work setting up a new office here. In exchange fer making sure they ‘ave food and a bed; they’ll train yer militia and uphold th’ law here.” The griffons all nodded and the last one, Glint, spit. They were mostly just brown feathers, brown coats, and soft off-white eagle head in color. Alguacil cleared his throat, “They’re um… all siblings by the way, so they’ll also try to date any other griffons or pegasi yall have.” The four griffon all gave a salute with a light blush as they looked at each other. Their glances trying to figure out which of them would talk first.

“Right, well, if that is the case, I suppose I should give them a tour. Sunrise, will you and your friends be ready to head out tomorrow?” I looked at Nyota and then Scopola Mina.

Quick Stitch raised a hoof, “The healing potions I’ve been brewing will be ready tonight.”

Nyota shrugged, “Yeah if Lunar and Scopola can help make sure we’ve got some rations pre-made and set aside for the road.” Nyota motioned for Scopola and Lunar to follow him downstairs. They disappeared down the stairwell.

Alguacil took out a piece of paper and offered it to Soot, “Here read this over, the regulator’s contract needs to be finalized with the settlement and it will mean they christen this place ‘Upsville’.” Glint moved a talon to rub off the big yellow and brown sign with the letters UPS on it. I realized now that the former mail delivery company used to open this warehouse. They were calling it Upsville because of the sign on it, the sign on the warehouse doors they couldn’t change. I hadn’t noticed it before because of all the heavy dirt, grime, and dust; not to mention I had mostly tuned out the signs when I travelled. To me they did not mean anything anymore; they were relics of the Old World.

But yet, here they could result in the name of something. I wondered if The Roof came from one of these signs. Or if Silver Fang’s symbol on their walls came from something else that I simply did not recognize anymore out of context. My nostalgia aside, Soot was quickly flipping through the document and already asking Alguacil and the griffon siblings for clarification on certain parts.

It doesn’t make up for us killing ponies; even if it was in defense at the time. But at least it is a start.

“I think the most important lesson from Twilight ever is if someone genuinely renounces their evil ways, apologize, and works to fix their wrongs; then you forgive them, unconditionally.” I looked at Pink a bit awe struck and tilted my head confused. She smiled at me with a nod. “You should get some rest, actual rest; tonight. No screaming Nyota’s name.”

I thought you said you didn’t stick around and watch! I glowered at her while blushing furiously.

“Oh come on, Sunrise, even you would watch if you could and it was me.” Pink suddenly was running to the back of my mind and somehow there was an invincible concrete bunker there. I blinked in confusion as I could see her hiding in the bunker there.

Pink, get back here! When I get a hold of you— My thought trailed off as I realized I had no way to get into that bunker, somehow it was a part of my mind; I could not penetrate. At least not yet for some reason.

We spent another two days driving around, training with loading, firing, and driving drills. No more manticores but I had to be sure we were ready. Nyota and Lunar had prepared a meal fit for a goddess. Salted curry potatoes over rice; along with a dozen other rations ranging from beans to peas and carrots. All of them fresh not canned. It was the benefit of this place, while they were slightly irradiated and required special cooking, the crops grew here; even in the concrete.

I was going over the engine checks on the third day when Chifundo swung the turret around. I had to hammer into the deck flat to avoid the gun barrel knocking me clean across my head. “HEY! CHIFUNDO!” I cried out and then realized he couldn’t hear me over the spell-matrix noise. I did the only thing I could do as the gun lowered and rotated back, I rolled off the deck before it clocked me with a full body check.

I knocked on the side of the tank as the gun barrel closed the engine hatch right where I would have been. “Hey! Knock it off in there! What gives?”

Chifundo slowly poked his head out sheepishly, “I am sorry for the turret smack, we were only testing the slack.” I groaned and walked up the tank slope to get nose to nose with him.

My blood was boiling and I almost shouted at him as I got to touch him with my snout. Then I remembered Pink’s talk about hormones. I pulled back and let out a sigh to release my initial rage. “When I am finished with the engine check, okay? I know we drive off today but be careful.” We need more practice but hopefully we can get that on the way. The drive train of this thing was built to last and I just rebuilt it with much more durable parts. Hopefully we have enough time to learn how it works before we need to shoot the guns again.

Quick Stitch came out with a completely customized lab coat. He was a fashion disaster with flames around the edges of the coat and rainbow fuschia tie dye across the rest of the coat. That combined with his yellow, pink highlighted, heavily modified Ministry of Peace armor underneath it; this was almost unbearable to look at. I had to suppress a giggle while Alguacil squawked in surprise.

“What in tarnation? Man, and if Sunrise’s crazy graffitied armor weren’t loud enough. What are yall doing comin’ out lookin’ like that; competin’ for least stealthy wastelander?” Quick Stitch glared at him and Chifundo snickered a bit.

“I am not one to judge, but aren’t parts of that smudged?” Chifundo hopped out of the turret and walked over to Quick Stitch, rubbing at the curry stain then pulling out his canteen and using the water to wash the stain out. How he could pick out the stain from the rest of this clash of colors I had no idea. The strangest part of this lab coat was the cut slits in it to show off Quick Stitch’s pale green legs and the lace he had added around it.

“Wait did you make that for Ruby and Emerald to see you in?” I commented, holding my chin and looking on in curiosity. Quick Stitch couldn’t have flushed a darker shade of purple. I grinned at him and smiled. “If they like it, who am I to judge? Do what makes you and them happy.” Quick Stitch shot up his head and mouthed the words ‘Thank You’. He did this even as Nyota and Scopola were still snickering. I gave Quick Stitch a hug and felt pride fill me; proud he was willing to share this with the rest of us.

I nuzzled up against his cheek and whispered, “We only tease you because we do care. Just know that we will support you, regardless of what you do.”

Quick Stitch gave a weary smile and I swore there was a tear in his eye as his white ear twitched. His left ear no longer pressed to his skull as he relaxed. “Thank you, Sunrise. If you could help, I know they like rainbow and lace and well; I like lab coats.” I nodded and started trying to put together an idea on how best to use this information for a new lab coat for him. It was something I would need time with.

“Give me a bit to work on some designs, okay? You got an extra lab coat to experiment on?” Quick Stitch nodded and produced a white lab coat still in its plastic wrapping. I took this and decided I would figure out exactly what to do for his desires for Ruby and Emerald. That or I would ask Cross Stitch when I got a chance.

We clambered into the tank, and Lunar Spice came out to give us a few extra rations. The rest of the town gathered around. Their wounds were healed or mostly finished healing up; the scars we would leave would always be there. But four new griffons and a half dozen new ponies from a caravan would go a long way to help them rebuild. They were already working on a metal guard shack and reinforcing the door with an easy way to open it from the inside.

I leaned around the turret, waving back as we cruised down the road, towards the nearest railway we could follow north. At least those were Soot’s instructions. We still had to uphold our end of the bargain, help Soot reclaim her birthright. Hopefully, without any violence. Once we were out of sight, we closed the hatches and buttoned down. Alguacil rode on the back, keeping an eye out with his own radio and we could hear him taking flight when he was looking around for something.

I crawled back into the turret section and nuzzled up against Nyota. We did not need to speak to know what we felt towards each other. Soot rolled her eyes and jumped up to look out of the gunsight. Chifundo pushed her aside and motioned to my chair with the side-machine gun and radio. Soot hung her head and crawled down there. She started charting our position on the dusty, laminated map of Equestria pinned to the inside of the tank. It was going to be a long ride.

Chapter 52: Shake, Rattle, and Roll

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Long ago, men clad in armor rode into the forefront of battle, they attacked with suddenness, violence, and massed weight, they were the first impact that paralyzes the enemy and destroys his will to fight, they were called knights.
Today they’re called Tankers.
-General Creighton Abrams, 3rd Armored Division

No matter what anypony tells you, tanks are loud, bumpy, and cramped. Even for a pony of my size, I was finding it difficult to make my way from the co-driver seat up to the turret section. Something was bound to shake lose somewhere inside much to my irritation. I found myself cramped between the engine and the turret ring, hoping we did not need to move the turret. That or Quick Stitch would give me warning if he needed to stop and now impale me into a long bolt or throw me headlong back into the turret compartment.

There were a couple of gears, bolts, or spot welds that simply were not holding up, no matter how many times I adjusted them while we were moving. I really need to fix these standing still with the engine off. Have to wait till I can get at it; hopefully it holds out with these field repairs. I also had to get over any problem I had with touching any of my friends. Sometimes I was between Nyota’s legs working on one of the turret pieces because it wouldn’t finish the turn all the way around. Other times, I was halfway up Scopola Mina’s backside with my spine against her butt while I got into the storage section of the ammunition.

While not ideal, there was simply nothing that could hurt us. A radscorpion jumped in front of us, only to break it’s stinger on the front hull and get crushed under the treads. We did stop to strip it for carapace and meat. There was too little left of it from having thirty tons of steel roll right over it. That was by far one of the most theraputic things to happen on the way through.

Nyota leaned down where he could be heard by Quick Stitch and I without the radio as we rumbled along, following the railway tracks as Soot recommended. “Hey! We should name the tank.” I turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a wrench in my mouth. I had been working on tightening a slightly loose bolt that held the long range radio in place.

I reached up and turned the radio on to see if it had any reception. Nothing but static as I grabbed my intercom, “Hey, Quick Stitch; shut her down. No sense in wearing her out yet.”

Quick Stitch did not engage the brake. He relaxed, his hair somehow still flowing inside the tank. I had gotten used to the flowing sparkles, his radiation mutation strange and interesting. This old refurbished rust bucket was moving and Quick Stitch was truly enjoying himself. The smile across his lips dropped a bit and I sighed, “Roll it to a stop, no need to hit the brakes.”

Quick Stitch got a little smirkier and the tank would take nearly a full minute to roll itself to a stop. The rumbling and rattling stopped as the Spell-Matrix went to idle and the transmission stopped rotating. Quick Stitch put it in park and turned the power down to the minimum level to keep it running. “There we go, Sunrise, we can stay in here and keep warm if we need, or sleep on the engine. It will be ready to go—” I held up my hoof and nodded to him; I understood, and he was explaining it to me like a pony who had not worked on the tank. Quick Stitch nodded and slowly his broad smile faded into a light, happy grin.

"You really enjoy driving her that much?" I leaned in as I talked to him. The excited nod sent his flowing mane all over the cabin, showing his teeth in his smile and very enthausiastically happy as he went to touch the controls with his hooves again.

Scopola Mina coughed as she had leaned into the driving compartment and got a mouth full of flowing sparkle hair. She cleared it with her magic and moved Quick Stitch's head slightly to the side in her TK. "Hey Sunrise, anything you can do to enhance these vision ports for me?"

I thought about it, an idea did pop into my head. I gave her a firm nod, "I can talk to Soot; we have some extra crystalline I can make some glass out of it, that should give you some enhancement."

I popped my hatch. The first sensation you get when you pop a hatch from a tank or a ship isn’t the sudden loss of claustrophobia or the blinding light that pours in over the dim lamps that illuminate the inside of the tank. None of that reaches your mind first. No, the first thing is the smell and the feeling of fresh air. The sudden change from breathing grease and metal-laden stale air to crisp, dusty, wasteland breath is a radical change. Next is the temperature difference. Inside the tank it is always at least ten degrees warmer, as soon as you get out; it was like being hit with an air conditioner just as it turned on.

It was so strange that, out of all my senses, the first to report I was outside the hull were my tongue and nose. I took a moment to trade my leather and foam tank helmet for my heavy metal infantry one. It only made me feel marginally less vulnerable. I finished climbing out of the tank as Alguacil landed nearby.

My PipBuck blipped from the direction we had come, something was in the distance. A yellow dot, neutral but potentially hostile. The blip quickly disappeared as I looked in that direction. What are you? Why are you following us still?

“Sunrise, why we stopped, ther’ ‘re at least two more ‘ours we can drive in daylight.” I grimaced at Alguacil, the overcast sky wasn’t dark only foreboding. I wished I could feel daylight again, this was just another day I expected it to rain.

“And the rain kills you, like the wrong amount of yeast keeps killing my soufflé!” Pink held up a soufflé that deflated the moment she took the top off of it. It made a sound like a balloon leaking out air rapidly as it became a mess of batter and bread.

I groaned in frustration and rolled my eyes at Pink. Alguacil tilted his head like I had done it with him. I cleared my throat, “We are in no hurry. We have time to sit outside that tank and just relax for a bit.”

Alguacil raised an eyebrow, “I thought you’d be at home in machines; somethin’ wrong, Sun and Fun?”

I let out an exasperated sigh, “No, Alguacil. I am at home fixing them, riding in one for more than the time it takes to fix is a new experience.” I started stretching out my legs and for once enjoying the sensation of the wasteland dirt against my hooves. I miss grass. I also miss concrete, that felt clean.

Alguacil snorted and nodded, “Ye’h I ain’t gonna envy y’ll. Being in a metal box with all dat racket it makes. Can’t imagine I would be too happy in it all day, too.” Alguacil walked over to the tank and started helping the rest of our friends out of it, one or two at a time.

Nyota was already out and approached me, he was wiggling his legs as he walked. He was not used to the cramped space anymore than the rest of us. None of us were wearing our armor yet, so if we were going to get ambushed, this might be the time to do it. At least that is what the survival paranoia inside me was saying. I’ve been in this wasteland far too long, I’ve forgotten to just relax and just enjoy the moment.

Nyota started rubbing my sore and cramped legs, shattering my thoughts. His hoofwork against my muscles and pressure points felt like a divine caress across my flesh and muscles as his frogs worked upon my pressure points and tightened joints. My body started to feel like it’s old self again and I was melting into his grip. The sensation made me close my eyes and just focus on feeling more of his wonderful work.

My senses dulled and I melted into his embrace. I slowly opened my eyes to see his broad grin across his lips, and realized I had been moaning and mewling at his touch. “So, how long till we get where we are going?”

I checked our direction, we were now only around five more hours of driving to get to The Roof. “Sometime tomorrow afternoon, we should arrive. You can all get supplies and things we need, and I can…” I trailed off and Nyota raised my head by the chin, looking into my eyes. “Get some closure.”

Nyota smiled and reached down to place a hoof where my heart should be. I felt it flutter a bit and then shuddered at remembering everything we lost.

“I get it, Sunny. You sure you won’t be joining us in town?” I nodded back at Nyota, pulling the tears back into my eyes. I wanted some more time to see Corners, or at least speak to her one last time. I owed her that much; a proper goodbye. Just me, her, and the wind. My heart was sinking and the tears were already welling up as I couldn't bear to look at Nyota or give him a proper verbal response.

We started to make our camp against the tank. Chifundo stretched his legs out and walked a little bit away. Everything around us, simply put, was dead. The trees that stood were certainly no longer alive.

We gathered around our campfire and started discussing names for the Tank. Quick Stitch brought up the first idea. “What about Resurrected Rust?”

Scopola Mina cleared her throat, “What about Armored Cookie?”

Nyota rolled his eyes, “Scopola, can we not name it after a Filly Scout idea? How about Loud and Proud?”

Algaucil grunted at all of them and we turned towards him, “The way I see it, that little fill…" Alguacil cleared his throat and corrected himiself. "That mare of your’s deserved ta’ have it named somethin’ important to h‘er. Now the way I see it, h‘er dad taught h’er all this mechanical knowledge. Maybe name it after ‘im?”

I felt a lump in my throat as I considered that. I saw all their eyes turning towards me and I blushed a bit, “A little hard naming a tank Rainbowrise.” I was trying to think of a way to pronounce that quickly in combat and realized just how much of a mouthful my dad's name was.

Nyota nickered at me, “Why not? Perhaps we call it Rainbow’s Angel?”

Alguacil cleared his throat, “What about Daddy’s Halo? We'll just call it Halo for short and,” Alguacil turned to me and his talon reached over to pet against my head, stroking through the mane that was exposed under my helmet, “It honors the one who taught ya to make this. My parents were the worst,” Alguacil knelt down and leaned in to be at my level. It was still hard to not pull away from him, the glass eye was less off putting but even after all this time, he still scared me.

I saw something through, in his good eye: a tear. “Your parents meant somethin’ to ya. Somethin’ special. So for that, the best you can do is honor them. The way I honor my friends and never let da trash of th’ Wasteland get off easy.” Alguacil leaned in and I felt his wings wrap around me, as he awkwardly tried to hug me while keeping us face to face. It was clearly a motion he wasn’t used to. I found his feathers around me, strangely comforting; something about this was a long time coming. My own emotions pushed away as I focused upon what Alguacil was getting at.

I adjusted his wings with my hooves and helped him get it just right. “Sunrise, thank you for being my hope. Now let us give you some back.” He was crying. Alguacil was crying, not because of anything he lost, but because he felt something. I held the oversized bird in my hooves and he melted, crying and weeping onto my shoulder. I stroked his crown to his nape and sighed against him.

Nyota approached and embraced Alguacil from the side which suddenly made him tilt his head to twoards Nyota. All of our friends embraced the big bird, holding him close together. Alguacil's head darted around confused at all of them then finally he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes and held his head high. He was just letting the emotions and tears roll out of him. All the big law bird could do, was stay there and weep. Our biggest, toughest friend who showed the least emotion of us all, reduced to a crying mess when he finally had been given hope.

Pink smiled at us all, “You did better, keep doing better.” I smiled back and realized the hardest one to reach had been right here next to me this whole time. In the end, I didn’t need to reach him; he had reached for me.

*****

The stop at The Roof was uneventful for everyone else. They all went inside, got ammo, repairs, food, and medicine we needed. They traded off all the stuff from Upsville and even set up the next caravan to head towards Upsville with trade goods. All of this happened while I stayed outside with the tank. I stood over the graves of Corners and Picline, with the two shotgun barrels wedged in the ground still. Dozens of flowers were on the grave; fresh flowers. Flowers that I never seen grow in the Wasteland. Notes and letters were stacked there, too. People were even putting them on the box for Corners or near the shotgun barrels addressed to Buddy. All of this was out there with the tree that was blossoming with fresh fruit. The tree had been given un-irradiated soil, tilled land, and a pipe for fresh water.

A few pilgrims came out here, but when they started to talk to me, I shook my head at them and sent them away. I wanted just to stay here and stand over Corners... No, she is better than that. I stood in vigil over my friend's grave. I stared at Corner’s box. “Corners… No, I am not going to call you that. Sugarcube Corners, I failed you. Last time I did not get to properly say goodbye. The reality you were dead had not yet set in.” I paused and felt my throat dry. My lips wanted to crack under the stain as I struggled to find the next set of words.

“I failed you, terribly. If I could go back I would probably abandon those refugees and Hot Cross Buns to come after you. I should have done that.” The image of Hot Cross Buns and the assassins who nearly killed Alguacil rushed across my mind. “I know now, my friends have to come first. I am sorry it took your life for me to know that. It took Buddy’s for me to know, I have to act or I lose my friends.” I felt bitter tears rolling down my cheeks and a salty iron taste in my mouth.

“There is nothing I could say that would be worthy of forgiveness. Nothing. Sugarcube Corners, my friend, we had our differences. I even beat your face in on Hearth’s Warming Eve; yet…” I raised myself upright and stood tall. I pushed my chest out despite the weight of my heart and heavy feeling of tears rolling down my cheeks. “You told me I might have to put you down one day and I said I would do it. I could not even do that when the time came. I failed you on every level possible, Sugarcube. I never expect to be forgiven,” I stopped talking, my lips trembling and my body shaking with a flurry of emotions. Tears falling like a rainstorm down to the ground, staining the soil over the graves. I nearly collasped to the ground as my upright posture failed and my head dropped till my nose was touching the dirt.

“If I ever manage to atone for all this, I hope you will somehow let me know. All I know is, I cannot fix the mistakes of my past. I can only never make them again. Sugarcube Corners, I promise you, I will do better.”

Nyota appeared right behind me, despite there clearly being no where to hide there. He raised my head from the dirt and smiled down at me, his own tears drying. “Well said, love.” I looked back in confusion trying to understand how he got there.

“Nyota, how long have you…” Nyota rolled his eyes and leaned over to whisper in my ear as he gently pushed his hoof to my lips.

“I am always there, even if you can’t see me. Always.” I realized now he had simply doubled back and come out here to look after me. Nyota stroked my mane, while he scanned the area around us. We were just inside sight of The Roof, the tank was locked down and buttoned up. You could not get in the thing without having the key to turn off the magnetic locks. “You sure it is safe out here without your armor or any of us?”

I groaned and looked at him, “If anyone messed with us, we would have snipers from The Roof covering us. I know for a fact they have been pointed in this direction since I started standing here.” Nyota tilted his head and I pointed at The Roof where we saw a glint of something made of glass in the distance. “See that, they have binoculars or a scope pointed this way and it keeps catching light towards me.”

“Sunrise, you need to come in out of the cold,” Nyota firmly put a hoof down like he was drawing a line in the sand, that he wasn't willing to let me cross.

I walked over to the tank, shaking my head at him. I raised my tapping its hull to a couple of satisfying thuds. “I think I will be fine out here, I can sleep in Halo.”

Nyota snorted and grabbed my leg pulling it off the tank and turning me around to face him.“No, there is something you need to see, you need to understand.” Nyota’s voice was hard, harsh and his stare was something I could not stand to endure for long. Something about the way he was looking indicated there was no aruging with him only agreeing to this demand. I started to resist but Nyota wasn’t letting go of my hoof. “I’m not letting you sleep out here alone tonight, nor am I letting this one go, Sunny. Come on inside.”

I grimaced at him when I noticed Snuggles trying to claw at the front of the tank. Her claws making no scratches but dull thuds against the armor plating. Chifundo was chasing after the rogue manticore and I raised an eyebrow. “What is she doing?”

Chifundo made some purring and feline noises at Snuggles, who turned around and made several less-than-inviting ones back. I was pretty sure one was an outright threat. Chifundo turned towards us, “It is not that she is on the attack, she wants to establish her dominance back.”

Nyota and I looked at each other and then at Chifundo then at each other. “Dominance over what?”

Chifundo cleared his throat, “She feels if she can make it submit to her smacks, she can lead us as a pack. She thinks you, Sunrise, are inferior in her eye.”

I looked at Snuggles with that primal fear and rush of post-traumatic stress I felt every time I actually acknowledged her presence. “She thinks I am weak, so she wants to be in charge of all of us? She views us as her pack?”

Chifundo nodded to these two things and I sighed, wishing I could speak manticore to explain to Snuggles that we made decisions as a group. I looked at Nyota and was reminded by his tug on my leg that I should go with him. “Sunrise, this is not up for debate, you are coming inside or spending the night out here with Snuggles.”

HEY! That is 100% not fair and a foul play! Using my fear of manticores to get me to do what you want! Pink appeared on my hud in a black and white striped referee uniform. She blew a whistle and waved her arms.

"Nopers mopers Missus Mopey! According to rule number seven six three dash two one five, on further review your stallionfriend can tooottally abuse your super legitimate fears to get you to go for snuggles! Its the ruuuules as long as he's NOOOT taking advantage of it! Besides! It's for your own good, Miss Depression Pants!" I could only stare as Pink ponked across my HUD, tossing her hat off of her head. It landed on Chifundo's back, and he even turned to look; like it was really there.

He smiled at the hat and reached up to put it on his own head. Somehow it sat there, he admired it for a moment and giggled like a school filly, "I got a hat, from the Pink brat." My face hurt when after she was out of sight, a rule book labeled: 'The Rules of Love and War: A Reference Guide by Twilight Sparkle' slammed into my cheek.

Did she just throw the book at me?! I blinked a few times in complete disbelief until Nyota leaned into my vision and demanded an answer.

Nyota dragged me inside The Roof, whether I wanted to go there or not. We made our way inside The Roof; the alternative just wasn’t something I could take anymore. The moment we approached, it was different. Instead of a scrap metal castle drawbridge like before, the door was a sliding one, built into the concrete wall. The guards were not just above on the second and third level, but inside full on pillboxes with poured concrete that protected the entrance.

I noticed several ponies in radiation gear out where the bomb we had launched fell. They were radiation scrubbing the very ground with portable pressure washers and digging tools to turn the soil over, while they sprayed it with iodine and a host of radiation absorbing materials. They were far off in the distance as we walked into the big doors. The guards nodded to me, out of respect. One of them even saluted me, a very sharp hoof and leg across his chest as I gave him a salute back.

The guards were distracting me too much and I wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of me as I heard fillies and colts exclaiming, “I’m the Angel and I declare your reign of terror over, raiders! Surrender and I’ll show you mercy!” There was laughter and suddenly a big thud as one of them plowed into me. Nyota kept me from falling down. All the kids ran up to the filly who had plowed into me. She was wearing, now crumbled, cardboard armor.

They were helping her up, all excited and bouncing around. “Omg you crashed so hard! It’s my turn to be the Angel.”

Another one called out, “Nuun, it’s my turn!” I couldn’t help but notice the filly in cardboard not paying attention to anyone, trying to take off her now bent and dented cardboard armor. I looked down at the filly and colt staring at me as the other children caught on one by one. They all turned to look in my direction, stopping moving and staring at me just as dumbfounded as I was.

“Are… are… you the Angel?” The smallest of them worked the courage up to ask. I slowly nodded and suddenly I found I had zero personal space. All of the foals rushed into me and knocked me down, with Nyota looking on in shock. His uncovered eye was open in horror as he panicked to try to get the children off of me. One of them may have been small but nearly twenty foals were piling on excitedly bombarding me with questions and squeezes as they tried to hug me all at once. I was panicking just as much as Nyota to get them off when everything stopped.

It stopped because we all had to cover our ears when Alguacil squawked loud enough to echo around us just inside the entrance to The Roof. While we were recovering from his eagle roar, he started shaping the foals into shape. “Now listen h’ere little uns. You can take yourselves one at a time to talk to ‘he Angel with a Shotgun. But swarmin’ her ain’t gonna cut it and unless you wanna come down to t’he Regulator's office with me, you’ll form a line and wait yer turn!”

The children were instantly off of me and suddenly forming an orderly line. I found myself starring in stunned silence. I was asked question after question. Within a half hour, Alguacil had herded those fillies and colts around me and in turn would stand behind one of them, place his talon on their head and motion for them to go ahead and take their turn. This made it where I wasn’t having to answer the same thing or do the same thing over and over again, save for being asked to sign things for them.

I realized my only signature had been the symbol I painted of the pony angel holding a shotgun with the sunrise behind it, so that is what I did. It took several minutes for any signatures but between the chalk, markers, and now crayons I was being hoofed; I had plenty of colors to choose from for my crude drawings. I will never be an artist. "Hey but it means impersonating you is really hard when you make the same mistakes every single time!" Pink pointed out and I grumbled at her taking shots at my beginner level artwork.

The last question I was asked caught me off guard. A small filly, I had no idea what her name was, looked at Alguacil very nervously when he placed his talon on her shoulder as gently as he could.

Alguacil nodded to her in my direction, “Go on little ‘un. Say what ya wanna say.”

The filly nervously rubbed her leg and couldn’t look back at me. She was a small zebra filly and looked very hesitant to speak. Her stripes were very different. Instead of all black stripes she had almost sock like areas all the way up past her knees covered in black with white stripes poking out. Her underbelly had no stripes and her tail had but a single streak of black in it. Her back was completely one bit blotch of darkened fur while her eyes were pink. Not magenta like my own but completely fluorescent pink. Lastly, her mane was so thick, her ears barely poked through and I almost did not realize they were ears as they blended in with the white of her mane. Her little blackened muzzle seemed on the verge of crying.

I leaned forward towards her and offered my hoof to her, not making her take it. Rather, I sensed it would be best if she reached forward and grabbed mine. “Hi there, I’m Wandering Sunrise, what’s your name?”

She grabbed my hoof with the energy of a tiny newborn trying to cling to her mother for fear the world would eat her. “M..M...Mea Anima Igni, my umm… friends just call me Balefire.” She averted her eyes and stared at the floor. She kept nervously rubbing my hoof for reassurance I wouldn’t pull away and that it was still there. “I, umm… I heard you can sing, like they used to in the old world. Can you sing for us?”

I looked at them, staggered by the idea. Previously I had only sung because I was truly inspired and caught in a motion of emotion. Here this little filly had put a spotlight on me and made me hesitate. “I mean…” I rubbed the back of my head blushing furiously white all over my face. “Yes, I remember what it is like to sing; like ponies used to. I have just never been asked to sing on demand. I might be able to come up with something?” I looked at Nyota helplessly, searching for an answer.

He wasn't about to give me one. He motioned for me to go forward and smirked, "Go on, show them Sunny."

I felt all eyes upon me, my nerves began to fray a little worse than it did when I was under gunfire. I stood up while holding this small zebra filly’s hoof and walking her to the center of our circle. I saw an inspiration, a couple of kids arguing over something behind them and the larger colt pushing his friend away. I walked through the circle, never letting go of Mae’s hoof. Mae is much nicer to say than Balefire.

Both of us felt all the eyes glued to our every movement. The group of struggling kids staring up at me, expecting some sort of punishment. I reached down to the smaller child and felt the wings of a song inspired in my head. “Go with it Sunrise, show them the magic of the dawn.”

“Remember in the darkest night,
Even if you squeal with fright,
You can help others do what's right,
With mercy and harmony's light.”

I stopped the smaller filly from punching the colt that had shoved her and shook my head. They stopped, and I continued to sing.

“You are strong enough to be kind,
You will never leave others behind,
You have plenty of mercy to find,
That everyone can be each other's friend.”

I picked up the tempo and started to teach them to dance with me. A very simple thrusting of the legs up and out as we held onto each other’s forelegs to stay upright.

“Together you all share this land,
Hoof in claw and wing in hand,
In mercy and in love you stand,
to be the start of something grand.”

They were getting into it, and they began to sing along with me when I repeated the chorus. I smiled.

“You are strong enough to be kind,
You will never leave others behind,
You have plenty of mercy to find,
That everyone can be each other's friend.

With every day Celestia gleams,
She gives us hope for better things,
And as the night brings us our dreams,
Luna soothes us as she sings

You are strong enough to be kind,
You will never leave others behind,
You have plenty of mercy to find,
That everyone can be each other's friend.”

Now all the colts and fillies joined us, singing along, dancing. It was magic. I kept singing. Nothing could stop me from finishing this song for them.

“You must remember in the night,
Even when others fill up with fright,
It is your chance to be their light,
Our harmony will set things alight!

We are strong enough to be kind,
We will never leave us behind,
We have plenty of mercy to find,
That everyone can be each other's friend.”

I finished the song and looked at all of them, the amount of excitement that was bursting from them. Something The Wasteland had stolen from us: the ability to sing. Yet here I was, a symbol of the Old World, teaching these children the very thing that I always felt was missing since I woke up. I took the time to finalize all the words to the song with them and sing it three more times, to make sure they had it right. Then finally, I walked away from them, happy to see them singing to each other and taking the words to heart; no more fighting or arguing. Each of them were just playing together and sharing what they had. Okay, Pink, you win. That is something truly special to see again.

By the time I had finished, the children were prancing around and trying to sing all of this out of tune. I laughed to myself, reminding myself that their parents would have to deal with this torture when they went home. Nyota took the opportunity to whisk me away, and I realized now that I was crying. Tears were rolling down my cheeks, as the sensation of the music flowing through me stopped. I immediately missed it, but something else in that moment drew my attention, a heartbeat from within me.

Once we were away, I was still in shock. I could not process children pretending to be me. I looked up at Nyota, “Nyota, what was that?” I looked at him very confused and concerned trying to process this. One of the street vendors started to call out towards us.

“Hey is that—” Nyota with the speed only described as super-equestrian shoved a hoof in his mouth and shook his head at the vendor while maintaining eye contact.

“She has already been swarmed once, please let her just relax.” The vendor nodded through the hoof and Nyota grabbed me by the leg to lead me towards Cross Stitch’s shop. The Roof was vibrant. More vibrant than it had been even when we first found it. Before it had been maybe fifty ponies but now, easily they had squeezed over one hundred in here. The shops were reinforced, their walls looking more uniform and made from melted and reprocessed metal instead of just scrap. Several storage containers, the ones Breakfast Blend had been using to transport trees and soil, were now turned into homes. These storage containers were stacked two high lined the far wall to create usable apartments.

In only two weeks, The Roof had been revolutionized. Ponies were happy and the lights were brighter, more stable than before. Other ponies were rushing by as work crews. They were building more houses, working on another shop, or reinforcing the walls. Most strangely to me, there was a statue in the center, made of concrete. A statue of me.

I was flabbergasted. The statue read at the bottom, ‘Angel with a Shotgun and The Savior of the Roof’ in two separate lines. Under that on a third line and in quotation marks it read: “Do Better.” Lastly under all that it said; Statue by Cross Stitch. I turned to Nyota, “What is all this?”

“Sunrise, it’s what you did. All these ponies coming together and all this new construction, this vibrancy; is your fault.” I looked at him wanting to scream and protest. Nyota covered my mouth and shook his head. “I understand love, from your perspective you did something terrible. I get it, but why don’t you explain it to me and I will explain why The Roof has worked out this way. Help you see the good in your actions.”

I thought about his words as he pulled us into the alley next to Cross Stitch’s shop and a new shop advertising fresh ramen. “I… Nyota. Please, I do not wish to relive that moment.” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and Nyota laid down in front of me.

“I won’t make you relive it but I feel like you need to talk it out. It’s been haunting your dreams and I would like us on the same page.” I let his words sink in and slowly took time to form what I wanted to say.

My words came forward slowly. Every sound from my mouth was deliberate and well chosen as I fought to keep my tears back. “Nyota, I love you. Ultimatums, mutually assured destruction, and bombs like that destroyed the world. The world I knew and loved died in that kind of hellfire. I sat in that room, arguing with Pink for hours. I begged all of you to find me another option. Some other way besides that bomb. Some other way to not be as evil as those who destroyed our world.”

Nyota started to speak and I held up a hoof to stop him. He remained silent, laying in front of me. He was giving me a display of submission, the way he lowered his head but his eyes kept searching my face for an answer. It was like some sort of truce between us: he would agree to not push me but I had to agree to give my answer in full.

“I get that no creature actually does things because they believe they are evil. If they did, they would not do them. They have their reasons, their personal justification for why. But Nyota, you cannot deny the results of using the power of mega-spells to end the world. I am just like them, I fired one of those spells and unleashed the same destruction that ended my world.” I hesitated and felt the tears welling up in my eyes. My heart ached with a pain of a million dying souls. “Nyota, I feel like if I was given the choice; I would help create the hell we live in every day.”

I broke down and collapsed against him, crying, “Nyota, why are they celebrating? I did something so evil, so terrible.” I kept weeping and punching his shoulder with my hoof. Not hard, just in frustration. “I do not understand.”

Nyota whispered in my ear, “You made a choice, Wandering Sunrise. A choice of who lived and who died. It was a terrible choice, an unfair one. But the difference here, is you knew your enemy could not retaliate in the same way. You knew that your enemy would not be stopped, just like Zebrican and Equestrian would not stop till one of them was gone.” Nyota pulled me back so he could look me in the eye. He reached up and wiped my tears. “Sunrise, I know it’s hard for you to believe but you are the best of us.” Nyota kissed my lips and finished wiping away my tears.

“Any other leader would have used that bomb at a whim; they would have killed everyone and hunted them all down. Instead you did something truly special.” He stroked my mane, down to my shoulders and gave me a gentle nudge against my cheek with his own so he could whisper in my ear. “You exhausted everything else first, you begged them for peace at every moment, and when the smoke had cleared, you offered complete amnesty. You offered mercy and pleaded with them till you beat it in their head to listen.” Nyota cleared his throat and gave me a moment for all this to sink in.

“I don’t agree with some of your decisions, but seeing the results, I cannot question one of them. You did the right thing and the best you could do with every step.” He placed a hoof against my chest where my heart would beat against it. “Your heart is wondrous and what you did here is truly a miracle. You took two sides that wanted nothing but each other’s annihilation and you made them live with each other and like it. Sunrise, you might be what we all really need to heal The Wasteland." Nyota held up his hooves to me. "My hooves were made for violence, but now you teach me how to use it to protect, not injure. Your method Maybe not fast and maybe only a little piece at a time; but please, keep the heart I love and don’t let all the good you do be haunted by others forcing your hoof.”

I laid against him, sniffling for what seemed like forever. His hooves rubbing me as he cooed to me.Our talk was done and he whispered in my ear, “I understand why you feel the way you do. Now you understand why I think what you did was the right decision.”

I had thought perhaps we would have left it there. Once all the tears were done and I was kissing him over and over again like a schoolmare trying to get at her first love in her first estrus, he pulled me away. “I have a question and it will determine where we go next." He leaned up and kissed my cheek which I refused to let him have just that. I turned my head and pressed out lips together into a very tight embrace. My needy ministrations returned in full as he fought to break the kiss to speak while I fought to hold it. His words, his actions, him making me voice my feelings and actually listening; it was wonderous. My heart fluttered and my body demanded to be told I was alive. He pulled away with a grin as I looked blushing and flustered now. I had gone from trembling and in tears to wanting to be made one with a matress very quickly. "I promise you can jump my pride all you like afterward.”

I nodded with a blushing smile across my lips. “Okay, Mr. Perfect, what is it?”

“When we talked about a bridle in Stable Phi, it got me thinking, maybe you would like that. So do I go into Cross Stitch’s shop alone and see about a silencing talisman, or are you coming with me to be fitted for a bridle?” My blush turned to a furious flush of every part of my body very quickly. I squirmed and looked everywhere to make sure no one was watching us.

“I umm… I… bridle is slave gear, right?” I cannot say I am opposed to the idea at all. I just, ummm... need some clarification. Nyota let out a giggle, a stallion giggling! I… what is so funny?

Nyota held in his laughter and sighed, he was smiling so much at my embarrassment. “Not always, sometimes couples use various things for them. Since, ya know, I thought you might like it as a way to keep you quiet so we can...enjoy each other without our friends waking up in the middle of the night.”

I had to think on this for several minutes and looked at him with a blush as my lips trembled for the next words, “If that is the case, we are not just getting any old bridle. It has to be something very special and with a flavor and so you can lock it on me.”

Nyota chuckled and stroked my mane with a very hungry smile and lustful look in his eyes, “You may be the queen of the battlefield and ambassador for our party but,” He leaned up to whisper against my ear, his breath so hot it sent chills down my spine and goosebumps across my flesh as my blush got more intense. “I am king of our bedroom.”

*****

After all was said and done, I wasn’t walking straight and I had a new bridle. Cross Stitch had made it very special. A little unicorn magic and the tiniest gem core to keep a spell it powered so the flavor would never go away and it would not be damaged under my teeth but it would have plenty of give for me to bite on. Not to mention Cross Stitch’s unique payment meant well; it was mostly free, mostly.

Nyota was asleep next to me, I was curled against him. We both needed a bath but I really enjoyed that scent. I was looking out into the dark of our hotel room. The door had a glow to it, a silencing talisman we had also bought so I could be, “As loud as I liked.” That however was not what had my attention.

I had awoken when I heard a heartbeat and felt a sudden rush from movement, inside me. My tummy gave a dull ache but as I listened I heard two heartbeats that were not mine nor Nyota’s. I couldn’t really hear them, per say. Instead it took meditating as Nyota had taught me. With this I could sort of feel a little bit of movement deep inside my belly. Tiny movements that were not my own. These combined with a tiny, rhythmic, dull thump inside me. There was no doubt, I was pregnant. The early stages. It had only been maybe nine weeks since Nyota and I’s first time. Maybe two full weeks since the incidents at The Roof. You big stud, it took you once and now we’re going to have foals. I bet you’re so proud.

Pink rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I’m sure any stud would be super proud to be as virile as him. That sweet, sexy, zebra butt he has is amazing, too. I know what your mind is on all day—”

Pink! Enough! What if… what if I’m not a good mother? What if I turn out like my mom, drunk and hopeless? What if the bomb at The Roof mutated them? What if I reject my child like she—

The slap was not something I had expected but it hurt and I could feel the bruise on my cheek. One day I would like to know how spirits can physically hurt me like you can.

“Later, that is another recipe for another pie somewhere down the road. You however, are nothing like her; you’re your father’s daughter through and through. There ain’t nothing that can deflate your hope soufflé.” She took an inhale and rubbed my cheek where she’d popped me. “The sad truth is after the day she lost that, I became a better mother to you than she was.” I was trying to remember the day she was talking about. Trying to process the when and where, my vision faded faded into a memory.

ooOOoo

3 Months 1 Week 1 Day 3 Hours until Megaspell Day

I came home from school, holding Coffee Stain’s hoof. My mother had been home for nearly a month for her maternity leave now. Apparently I was going to get a baby sister. Mom was still dealing with the idea of me being a “Filly Fooler”. She kept saying it was a phase and I would just grip Coffee Stain’s hoof tighter. Though now there was no closing the door if the two of us were in a room alone.

I opened the door and mom was on her knees, laid on her belly, bawling her eyes out. I looked confused and shocked. Rainbowrise was desperately trying to comfort her, wiping her tears and he looked up at the two of us standing in the door. “Sunrise, I think Coffee Stain should not come over today. Come on in and sit down, I've got some bad news.”

I looked at Coffee Stain for sympathy and she looked very worried and concerned. “No, she needs to hear this. I want her to understand my pain.”

I walked in slowly, our home had changed a bit. We had a television and a better radio. The furniture was pre-made factory pieces, mostly. The couch was a very tacky yellow but the old lazy chair was still my dad’s favorite and certainly a hand made one. The table the large TV sat on was also a sign of something older than my parents, square primitive in design and clearly hoofmade. I walked up to them, wiping my hooves as Coffee Stain and I sat on the couch. This new Ultra Swank style, a blending of the old with the new, was still strange to me. I was still glad for my wooden desk at school instead of the plastic end tables at home.

My mother got up slowly, “Rainbow, I am going to our room. After you explain it to her, meet me there.”

“I will be there as soon as she understands, my Shadow.” My mom staggered to her hooves, everything about her movement was shaky. My eye lit up in horror when I saw what she had been resting upon. A bloody towel was on the floor. My mother’s belly was covered in a bandage and she walked with a limp to pick a set of crutches up from behind the couch before limping out of sight. Her belly was also a lot smaller, like she had a span of muscle cut out of her.

She looked back at me with some disdain and then disappeared from view towards my parents bedroom. Dad walked up to the two of us in front of the couch, he slid the coffee table back a bit and laid down in front of us. He took my hoof and then Coffee Stain’s. He pulled them close together until we were holding hooves again with him softly gripping both of ours. “Wandering Sunrise, my Little Wanderer. Listen, your mom had an accident.” He bit his lip and hung his head. “I have not told you about stuff that happened leading up to you being born.”

He gulped and rubbed the back of his head as he held onto our hoofhold tighter. “You almost were not born, Little Wanderer. Your mom, like me, when we were fighting for our two years in the military, before you were born; before we ever met each other, we got some radiation poisoning.” He took a breath and rolled his tongue over his drying lips. “I did not get it so bad, just means I am always a bit on the skinny side but your mom.” He looked at me sorrowfully and with a pain in his eyes I had never seen him with. “The radiation poisoned her womb, we almost lost you. Everything was looking so good with your new sister but,” Rainbowrise, my father, broke into tears and laid his head on my knee. He let out a wail that shook the house as my mother poked her head back in the room.

She walked up and rubbed his back, tears still streaming down her eyes. Coffee Stain and I both leaned forward, embracing the two of them, holding them tight. That day is it, Pink?

“When are you gonna get your head checked out? Figure out why your memory works this way?”

Works what way?

“Like a memory orb? I mean it means when you wanna remember something, it’s picture perfect and absolutely down to the detail but do you know how long you’ve been in here?”

I watched my father wailing as my mother wept quietly against my leg. The two of them lost in grief, a grief I did not fully comprehend yet. Pink, what does that have to do with this day?

“Sunrise, this day is when your mother lost all her hope. When the spark in her died. Remember how in Stalliongrad, having children was a celebration?”

I nodded to her with my mind as I watched the events playing out. It was like being a part of this moment in my history and being an observer through my own eyes at the same time. “Well, your culture, unlike Equestria, isn’t just big on welcoming new children. It is big on large families. Your city was built out of strife and war, so having more kids—”

Pink, I already know this. I don’t need it explained to me. More kids means a happier family because it means more likelihood Stalliongrad will survive. Are you saying…

“Your dad wasn’t born in Stalliongrad, he moved there after he was discharged from the war. He was adopted in. He could survive this. Your mom...” Pink went quiet and then motioned at the unfolding memory. I was already processing it all now.

My mom from that day on looked at me as a failure to our family. She looked at me as the end of our line unless Coffee Stain and I took in some stallions to have foals with. She viewed me with the disdain from it. Yet here I was, struggling in The Wasteland to find her; to save her. I had failed to save dad, why did I care so much?

Pink cleared her throat, “Because you want to make sure what happened to your father doesn’t happen to your mom. Because you believe with a hope no Wastelander could possibly understand; that you and her can reconcile and live as a family again. That is part of what makes you special, but I gotta say, Sunrise, we are flying blind here.”

What do you mean, Pink? I felt the memory fading, consciously coming back soon.

“Sunrise,” Pink appeared in an old ship sailor outfit with a spyglass as she tossed an incomplete map into a wind I couldn't feel. “We are way off the map, well past anything the first twenty-seven times tried, and there certainly be dragons.” I did not get a chance to ask her anything else, I was awakened by Nyota gently rubbing me until I woke up.

ooOOoo

After a very eventful night at The Roof, Soot had been extremely impatient. Snuggles rode on the back spell-matrix engine deck. Alguacil checked in on the radio every ten minutes or so to let us know if he spotted anything and to assure Chifundo that Snuggles was riding fine.

Quick Stitch was now turning it into high gear, heading for this place Soot called South Shore. Supposedly, we were going to help her get her inheritance back. Soot was being a bit evasive on questions about it. Nyota was ensuring the gun was unloaded as I noticed Bodda Pett getting up in the turret trying to figure out how to turn it.

We were making amazing progress on our road. Daddy’s Halo was really a fantastic machine. She was purring better now after Soot and I did some extra fine tuning with the transmission and engine. We were doing almost fifty kilometers per hour riding next to the railway tracks. We had only stopped briefly at Silver Fang with the mercs jaws’ dropping at seeing a working tank in top shape. Even if Daddy’s Halo was just a light tank, in The Wasteland she was one of a kind now.

We drove on, making up more than half of the distance we needed to go now. The tank rumbled to a stop outside of a service station for trains. It was a place for freight trains to pull over and their crews to sleep if they couldn’t make it home for the night or back to the yard. It still stood, incredibly good earth pony engineering that it could even survive a train wreck hitting it; probably. Nyota and Chifundo took Snuggles inside hunting and cleared out two bark scorpions along with three radroaches before signalling to all of us that it was clear.

I walked up with a smirk on my face as Snuggles drug the bodies outside to be butchered or for her to eat. “Remember when bark scorpions almost killed us?” I looked up at Nyota, smirking at him with a feeling of some joke on the tip of my tongue. A joke I did not need to actually say.

Nyota groaned and rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I remember. I also remember you saving all our lives and getting us out of a minefield while Corners tried to kill us.” I grimaced at him commenting on Corners that way. He bit his lip, “She got better about it and stopped trying to do that.”

I noticed the tank turret jerk and we all looked, very confused, as I checked for a headcount. We were all outside the tank, so how did the turret move? “Cover me, I am going to check inside.” I scrambled forward to the side of the tank as the cannon jerked another few dozen degrees in our group's direction. Okay, no taking my time, move! I scrambled up and ripped the hatch off, my shotgun gripped between my lips pointing down at Bodda Pett.

I lowered the shotgun and tilted my head, “What are you doing?”I put my shotgun down and reached in to pick my small rabbit up. He however angrily shrieked at me and held onto the control mechanism for my turret. Pink, why is he so angry?

Pink leaned in with a new outfit on, something that looked like a combination of Daring Do’s adventurer garb and a nature documentary host. Pink leaned in close, “My friend Fluttershy was really good with animals, so I might have picked up a few things. He says he is angry and the manticore is a threat to you he wants to end.” A few more high pitched squees and the turret jerked, sending me tumbling head over hooves into the turret compartment, my helmet ringing as I banged off the gun-breach.

“Bodda! Celestia Damn It!” I held the back of my head where I had slammed into the breach and winced. Bodda stopped squealing and by the time I had managed to get back onto my hooves and rested against the side of the turret, he was at my side. “Bodda, I get it. You do not like Snuggles. That does not give you the right to shoot her.” I then reached up and it took some effort but I managed to open the breach to show him. Not that I was convinced he fully understood but I wanted to show him it was empty. “We do not ride with shells loaded either, so even if you could get a proper bead on Snuggles, I doubt you can lift one of those shells.”

I have never seen a more determined nor insulted bunny in all my life, but there it was. Bodda Pett, absolutely furious with me and still trying to get the turret to move. I sighed and reached up to take him from his perch, “Look, Chifundo promised to keep Snuggles in line and out of danger. I believe him, do you?”

Bodda Pett sat there glaring at me with the most adorable pout I could imagine from a rabbit. Finally the small ball of fluff deflated and nodded his head. I think this is the least strange thing I've ever seen since the pool. A bunny who understands me. He crawled up my foreleg and found his spot in the base of my neck armor. I drug myself out of the tank, avoiding hitting him on the way out and sealing the hatch shut.

*****

While we were settling inside the crew station, Nyota was working on a functional bed. Scopola Mina was cooking, and Chifundo was teaching Snuggles to hunt. I was messing with my radio to try to find us some music when someone came onto the radio who sounded like he had been smoking three packs of cigarettes every day for his entire life. “Damn Roofers are way too potent now that the Little Green Monster and her stupid Long Eye of the Law have helped them. Stay away from Silver Fang and Da Roof no matter what right now, till we can figure something out.

“This just in from the chief: Still offering bounties for any regulator or that green monster! A really big one for The Little Green too. Anyway this is Raider Radio, got a weather and loot report coming up next.” A jingle started to play when Alguacil threw an empty can at me.

“Turn ‘hat shit off. Stupid fuckin’ Raider Radio, if I had the Regulators to clear it out, I’d leave yall for a bit and do it.” Alguacil sneered at me and I tuned the radio through static to something else.

Scopola Mina snickered and smiled at him like she knew something. Alguacil snapped his head towards her, “What’s so funny about raiders? Ain’t nothing funny about them, not one damn thing.” Scopola Mina nodded at Alguacil but was still snickering like she knew something. “Hey, what do you know?”

Scopola Mina never answered as I found the frequency for Ten Pony Tower. Apparently, we had traveled so far it had changed. I listened in and was a bit surprised:

“Alright all y’all good ponies out there in The Equestrian Wasteland! I got some news and there is a lot of it. For one, my favorite little green mare, The Angel with a Shotgun, her and her friends have a couple of new settlements for y’all.

“I know it’s hard to believe that some little mare managed to create new settlements and she had a whole lot of help with this one, well, these two apparently! Y’all all know that place called Blightwood? With them weird flowers that eat you and plant zombies?" He paused for a few moments to let it sink in and take a breath.

“Yeah there is a settlement in there now! I cannot believe it either! They made pathways and have guides for you to get through to it and everything. I had to triple confirm this one too.

"The other place is a Stable with a name, yeah I said a name! It’s going by Stable Phi and they are offering fresh fruit, vegetables, and water for, get this one: SCRAP! Scrap metal and electronic pieces get you pre-war, un-irradiated food! I was just as surprised by this one as you are hearing it. But after personally getting a message from Silver Fang and The Roof, it’s legit. Our little Angel even vouches for these places. There is some good news, some real hope in this place now.

“So if you see a tank, yeah I said a TANK! She fixed it up and is riding around in it. If you see it and its got the Angel’s Symbol on it, know that help for you just arrived. This has been the news with DJ Pon3, now if someone could do something to change the weather; that would be great.

“This here next, is all your favorite princesses singing You’ll Play Your Part. Our Angel certainly is playing her’s. Pon-3 OUTTT!!!” I let out a sigh of relief.

“At least the story everyone will hear will not be the fact we started by fighting, Soot.” I turned to her as she looked at me with a blush.

“I am oddly glad you came along. We lost some good people, but without you, we would have eventually all died anyway.” I turned my head towards her curiously. “I don’t think we could have fixed the tank before we would have been wiped out. Now, if you get my birthright back, my settlement will have everything it needs.” She paused and looked off into the distance.

“Why doesn’t Scopola Mina or Quick Stitch command you? How are you not a servant to them?” She pointed at Quick Stitch and then Scopola Mina before turning towards me searching for an answer.

“Soot, why would you think that? Were you raised to believe that somehow unicorns are better than all of us?” I reached over and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Alguacil and Nyota had moved to the edge of the camp and were taking care of a bunch of radroaches. I passed Chifundo a molotrot cocktail and pointed at them. He went and helped, soon we could smell cooked bug on the wind.

“Soot, when we first started out, a horde of rad roaches like that would have been a death sentence for us. Now, our armor and skills means that radroaches and bark scorpions are not even something to worry about so long as we see them first.” I marveled at how they slaughtered the herd of roaches with ruthless efficiency. They did not even need my help or the tank to fire.“Now, why would I be their servant?” I looked into Soot’s eyes, searching to see what revelation she could show me.

“Unicorns have magic, we don’t. We can’t fly either. We have no purpose but to serve them.” Soot was surprised at my shock back at her. I almost stumbled like she had physically punched me.

“Is that what you believe?” I tilted my head and finally, I grinned before I laughed. “Okay, let me explain this to you.” I reached under my armor and pulled my ablative crystalline plate out. “You see this?” I pointed at the plate, Soot nodded furiously. “No, not with your eyes, close them.” Soot closed her eyes and I pushed the plate into her hooves. “Now do you see it?”

Soot looked very puzzled to start with and then suddenly she popped her eyes open in shock, “I… I know what this is made of? How can I know that?”

I grinned and took the plate back from her. Then I focused my connection to the earth, as hard as I could. This wasn’t about strength, this was about revealing to her the magic of an earth pony. The Crystalline, which should have been hard as glass and shattered like it if altered, bent. Very slightly, but nonetheless you could tell it bent like you would bend a fork or a screwdriver. “How did you do that? I don’t understand.”

I cleared my throat and focused again to straighten the plate. Once it bent back to the precise position, I pulled out a bubble level and showed her it was perfectly aligned. Then, I placed the plate back into my armored chest as I spoke. “We are earth ponies. Anything you dig out of the earth, we can manipulate. We grow food because we not only can know plants by experience but can touch them and understand their needs.” I unzipped another segment from my leg armor, where stubbornite was still in there, and pulled out the dull beige metal. “Do you know what this is?”

Soot nodded, “Stubbornite, it’s a rare metal that is impossible to work with.” Soot paused and looked at me then tilted her head. “Wait, you made that? How?”

I did the same trick with the stubbornite plate. It was harder due to the higher resistance but it bent after great strain, then bent back, all without putting any scarring or perforation on the metal. “Soot, this the power of creation. Earth ponies can create and invent whole new concepts, whole new materials that revolutionize the world.” I pointed at the tank. “That tank was invented by a technician of Applejack’s ministry. His name was Hammer Mac.”

Soot tilted her head, “That doesn’t make sense, Applejack was an earth pony and Mac is an earth pony only name.”

I nodded, “Power armor was developed and the lead researcher on it was Applejack, the principle first models were all tested by Apple Snack. Both of whom were earth ponies. The later unicorn versions were invented by Applejack and the pegasi ones took Rarity and Rainbowdash working together to create. Why do you think power armor is principally made for earth ponies? Microwaves, electric generators, laser weapons, plasma weapons, toasters, virtually every weapon of war that removes the need for unicorn magic, uses a unique material, was made by an earth pony." I paused and thought on it something particularly bizzare. "Even the megaspells themselves were a pegasus invention. Earth ponies then made the chambers from Fluttershy’s template. Which then were made ready for unicorn’s to use. Without earth ponies through, Fluttershy's may have only ever been created.”

Soot shoved my shoulder, “No, that is impossible! No way earth ponies can activate a megaspell or cast one…” Soot trailed off and looked defeated at me. “You’re going to say something and all of my world is about to be shattered?”

“Unicorns have all the magical power and yes, they actually cast the spells. However, anything that could enhance them,” I grabbed her hoof and brought it to feel my heartbeat against my chest, “We design, invent, create, and manufacture. Without us, those unicorns that made you a slave—not a servant, Soot, you were a slave to them— and without earth ponies like us; they would be powerless.”

Soot nodded as my E.F.S. lit up with a yellow blip in the distance. I tilted my head and searched for it in the dark. The radroaches had either given up or died. The smell was horrendous as Nyota came back, washing his hooves in some of the slightly radioactive water that still ran through the station. I turned my attention back to Soot, “See that? Water pumps that work for centuries, earth pony construction.” Nyota joined me as I gave a heavy yawn. “You are more than you have been taught, Soot. They follow me because I listen to them and because I provide hope. If Scopola Mina or Quick Stitch could do that, I would follow them instead. Goodnight Soot, I feel like I have given you enough to think on.”

The yellow blip vanished out of range as I crawled to Nyota, disgusted with the smell of burnt bugs and fell into a memory.

ooOOoo

8 years 1 Month 2 Weeks 1 Day 6 Hours 1 Minute to Megaspell Day

I was little, in my dad’s new shop. Everything was new and it smelled like cleaner and oil. A tall earth pony was working on something that was brand new at the time. I was so small compared to this new “Tank” thing. It was small compared to the later ones. This was a T1 Armored Pony Hide. It was simple and cramped inside—for adults. For me, however, there was plenty of room. I was inside it in the turret, where the heavy machine gun was half taken apart.

Most of the front of the tank had been blown apart by an artillery shell. The engine was a mess and Thunderhoof was working on it while I was playing in the turret. “Damn, dirty zeebs! Quick, driver, turn left!” I exclaimed in my imaginative excitement.

Thunderhoof was a very large stallion. He was tall and built like a tank. He had supposedly been in one of the war stallions in dreadnought armor suits. The precursor to power armor, as these had exoskeletons but no actual electricity or power to enhance the user. You had to be a big, thick pony to wear them. He was covered in a dark gray coat, his mane and tail shared a set of blue hues. The primary color of his mane was a very dark almost purple blue and his stripes were neon electric blue.

His cutie mark was a raincloud, pouring at a near 45 degree angle away from the ground. He had little purple hoof tips that helped him keep upright and light ocean blue eyes. His orange mechanic suit had his cutie mark on it to designate it was his. All this, however, did not make the bright apple red jumpsuit look like it belonged to him. It clashed awfully with his coat and mane colors; almost making him look clownlike in the mechanic suit.

Dad cleared his throat and I turned to look out of the vision port beside the turret. Then the other side, then I looked up to see him hovering near the ceiling.

My mother reached in and pulled me out. I was a tiny thing, barely six year old. “There you are, Little Wanderer, and watch your language. Zebras aren’t actually that bad.” Dad hadn’t gotten the Stalliongrad accent yet, the one that lacked contractions and didn’t know the difference in V, W, and B’s.

“Your father is right, Sunrise. Zebras are not that bad and you should watch your language, young lady, where did you learn that word?” My mother was messing over my mane and making me flinch as she did so.

I rubbed the back of my head and sighed. Before I could speak, Thunderhoof cleared his throat, “It’s my fault. I banged my hoof on that da—” he cleared his throat and cut himself off. “The spark plugs still had a charge, even disconnected, so I banged my hoof on the casing when it jolted me. I let it slip, forgetting she was here.” He pointed at me and grimaced. “She shouldn’t even be in here. What about our insurance with a foal in here?”

I felt the need to hide my face into my mother’s neck. I felt flustered and embarrassed. My father cleared his throat, “Is that going to be a problem? You are scaring my daughter.”

Thunderhoof growled, “Look, in the rangers we go by the rules. The rules say she can’t be in here. If she gets hurt or if one of us gets hurt because of her, then we all suffer the price; especially you.” He put a wrench against my dad’s chest, pushing it into him. The big earth pony growled a bit. I curled up tighter into my mother, my dad turned his head. He saw the tears in my eye that I dared to look back at him with. I felt my cheeks burning, my fear that I would never be allowed in his shop ever again pushing everything. I looked at my father for answers, for hope.

My dad cleared his throat and pulled the wrench down off his chest with his wing, “Not if she is officially my apprentice.”

Thunderhoof rolled his eyes, “What is she, five? Six? No way anyone would approve an apprentice so young.”

Rainbowrise took in a big breath and closed his eyes as he gave me a coy look with a sneaky smile over his lips. “True, but if she were to be in here to gain a Filly Scout badge? What does it take to gain your mechanic’s badge? Two years? That’s enough time to make her eight, which would allow a junior apprenticeship till she was twelve, then she just has to wait till she is fifteen for a full apprentice license. Does that fall into your rules?”

Thunderhoof put his hoof to his chin as he holstered his wrench. He thought on that for several minutes, “Now hold on there, you may have the letter of the law but that certainly violates the spirit, doesn’t it?” Thunderhoof’s Canterlot accent was strange to me. I wasn't used to hearing contractions out loud, even if we were taught them in school.

My dad grinned at me with a wink as he turned back to face Thunderhoof, “That’s the more important part, the letter rather than the spirit, and you know it. Now back to work.”

My dad came up to me and whispered in my ear, “We’ll have to fill out the paperwork with you later.” He looked at my mom with a grin.“She will make a great mechanic one day, maybe even a wonderful inventor.”

He ruffled my hair while mom spoke and kissed my forehead softly, “Hopefully not a soldier or a lawyer if I have my way.” I nuzzled into mom tighter, feeling tired suddenly. My face resting against the badge on her armband. The yellow badge with three-pink butterflies indicating she was still a member of the medic corps.

I heard a raspy voice calling to me and suddenly I was torn from my mother's loving embrace back into the waking world.

ooOOoo

“Hey, Sunrise, git up! It’s yer watch and I need some sleep already.” I slowly rolled myself from the long gone memory. I was groggy and felt awful. Alguacil’s hardened gaze turned much softer as he rubbed my head and mane. “Right, I’ll git ya some coffee and stay up with ya till yer all the way awake.” He walked over and flipped on the coffee maker inside the crew station.

“That thing works?” I asked, while trying to slide out of the sleeping bag quietly enough to not wake Nyota. He fought like a child holding onto a teddy bear to stop me from untangling myself. “Little help?”

Alguacil was watching us for a few minutes, “Yeah, I don’t know whatcha told Soot but she got ‘real motivated and did some work on the tank. Then she fixed this here coffee maker and that microwave after ya went to sleep. She passed out in the turret so I moved her in here and locked Halo up tight.” He came over when I asked for help and assisted me in getting out of Nyota’s iron grip.

He handed me the coffee and held up some powdered creamer and sugar, “Cream? Sugar? Never got ya coffee b’fore.” I shook my head with a smile.

I sipped on the hot black nectar of the goddesses and enjoyed it thoroughly. The bitterness helped bring me awake while the taste was something I loved so very much to experience. It was like solidified emotional wakefullness in a cup. “Black, always black.”

“So umm… Sunrise, I kinda wanna ask you a favor.” Alguacil spoke softly and stretched his wing around me. “Do ya think ya could build another one of those megaspell bombs to take out Raider Radio with?”

I flinched away from him and looked at him, horrified. A chill ran through me as I realized Alguacil might look at megaspells as just another tool. A weapon to be used for a purpose. They were not something that could be viewed that way, ever. “No, I will never build another one of those bombs so long as I live. Regardless of how much good it might do.”

Alguacil started to talk and I shoved my hoof against his beak very rudely. “No, there is no debating this Alguacil. Those things killed my world, they killed everyone I knew or cared about. They are why we live in a place called The Wasteland. Regardless of what good they might cause, building and blowing that bomb up took a piece of my soul. A piece I do not think I can ever get back.”

I heard that strange sound, a weird kind of alien music riff. I looked away towards the sound and could not believe my eyes. Alguacil huffed and grunted as he didn’t to see it, “Right, I guess I’ll come up with some other plan ta deal with it.”

In front of me was a radroach, only a few hoof steps away. It was sitting up right and smoking a zebra weed joint. I could smell it, I could see it and he was sitting near Nyota. “What the hell?”

“Oh maregirl… you can see me? Oh good, good ta know, pone. Anyway, you should go outside, pone. There is someone you need ta meet, someone muyh importante. They have been with ya since da beginning and now they is getting just curious enough; they might talk to ya, maregirl.” The roach got up, walking away, upright like Nyota when he was in fighting stance. “I’ll be seein’ you round, pone.” He phased right through the wall as the yellow blip appeared on my on my E.F.S.

“Yeah, I am gonna go walk around. Alguacil, make sure there is not something we are missing. I will make sure I am keeping watch and have my tail ready to fire a flare to wake you up.” As quietly as I could, I made my way around Chifundo and Scopola to the door. I slid out and turned the lock behind me. “Stay awake for a bit, Alguacil, otherwise I am locked out.”

Alguacil rolled his eye at me. I gave him a serious stare and he sighed with a nod, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get some coffee fer myself.” He walked over the creaking boards to the coffee maker to get himself a cup now as I closed the door and went out of sight.

I looked in the dark, in the direction of the blip. I thought I could see a light flicker. I slowly walked in it’s direction. My PipBuck light off and with the cloud cover I was basically walking in near total darkness. Only a slight amount of Luna’s light shined through, just enough I could make out the path a few steps ahead. The light clicker was getting closer. I thought I could make out a few more small red lights and around the larger green glow.

I hit S.A.T.S. and it showed a spritebot but it did not label its name as one. The little butterfly glass wings holding it up with the magical spark battery reflecting off its own green glowing eye interface. The “Eye” was a very large camera that also served as a screen, it was covered in a metal grate and the screen was separated now into two distinct looking large glowing eyes. A pair of tubes connected down to a small plasma pistol that had been installed.

I checked my PipBuck and saw a frequency well above what normal civil radios should pick up. A military band that my PipBuck could detect. Well, that is both new and frightening, I wonder if I have been missing some military bands or someone trying to talk directly to me. I tuned to the frequency on my small walkie talkie. I had to use a screwdriver to get it to go that high.

A green glow overtook me as the spritebot got right up to me. I could see the gossamer-like wings as it looked over it. It was still yellow, if it meant me any harm; it would shoot me now. I leaned into the radio, “Hello?”

“How did you get this frequency?” The voice was gruff, and very deep. It was almost like a rumbling mountain talking over a radio to me. I realized the voice wasn’t just coming from my radio, the spritebot was speaking to me as well.

“I am going to assume that you aren’t the spritebot but are talking through it and controlling it with this frequency.” I spoke cautiously and moved very slowly, deliberately. I did not reach for any of my weapons or make any sudden movement beyond holding my hoof over the PipBuck.

“Lose this frequency.” The spritebot started to turn around and float away.

“Wait, just answer some questions and I will never dial into your frequency ever again. I will even delete it from my PipBuck memory.” I spoke very slowly and the spritebot miraculously stopped. “Please, I just need some answers to all the mysteries I keep getting.”

There was a loud huff over the broadcaster on the spritebot as I flipped my walkie talkie off so I did not have to listen to it in stereo. “I will answer only the questions I like. If I do not want to answer it, you won’t get one.”

Whatever the creature on the other end, its very voice was instilling in me a threat of terror that made it hard to move. The creature had some essence to the way it spoke, it was familiar and alien all at once. Most importantly, the voice had a sense of command that made me feel like I was meant to obey. I could tell it was pre-war and from Canterlot. The accent was very proper, very well spoken, and educated. Yet all of that; it was primal and rage filled.

I cleared my throat, “Hi, my name is Wandering Sunrise. What is your name?”

The voice seemed to relax slightly as he kept speaking with that same commanding authority, “I know your name, Angel with a Shotgun, Little Green Monster, Demon of The Filly Scouts, Savior of Ponyville, DJ Pon3’s Secret Concubine; there is a host of names I could call you. But I suppose you do not remember all of them or how you got them. I am called Watcher, may I refer to you as just Sunrise or Angel?”

I nodded very slowly, I wasn’t about to argue with a voice that made my skin crawl through a seemingly adorable noon-threatening spritebot. “Why have you been following us?”

“I watch things, it’s why my name is Watcher.” The reply was answering as though I should have known already.

“Right, well you know we are friendly. Why not just sit and have a conversation with us?” The spritebot floated there silently and did not answer me at all. “Right, question you do not like?”

“Bingo. Though I doubt you even understand that reference.” Watcher replied while floating just a little closer to me. I could feel the scanners penetrating my body to analyze me further.

“Actually, I perfectly get the reference. Blindly guessing to get a clue or playing the game bingo as someone blindly guesses a letter-number combination and you hope it is on your card.” I answered him and I swore the spritebot had an expression of surprise on its face. “So, I would ask more questions but I think you are getting impatient with me.”

The spritebot winked at me and nodded, with the gossamer wings fluttering as it made the nodding motion. “Right, till next time; Watcher.”

“I hope your friends make it where the next time is something worthwhile.” The spritebot exploded right in front of me, The parts falling all around me as nothing but scrap metal and fried electronics. The frequency I had on my PipBuck went silent with the spritebot’s destruction. I suddenly felt like I could move and the oppressive presence of Watcher vanished as well. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I was not sure how he managed to give such a ferocious presence over a radio microphone. What I did know was that it was time to head back and take my watch so Alguacil could sleep. Without the spritebot, I wasn’t sure my friends would believe this encounter. I did not even believe the encounter with the radroach; which I now guessed was a spirit of some sort. Just like the ones Chifundo spoke to.

Great, now I’m seeing spirits and some large spy agency that can broadcast fearful presences over radios. This only adds a bigger list to the things I need answers for.

GM Notes:
Level Up Progress - 43% Towards Level 15 - Yes all this was worth 4% of the total XP you needed. What? You fought radroaches, barscorpions, drove a tank, talked to really important NPCs, and got mated into a pile of drooling mess by your stallionfriend. I don’t wanna hear how that only netted you 4%.

New Quest Perk - Shamanistic Link - Between your talking to Pink—who we all know who she really is—and your time spent with Chifundo, you have learned to tap into seeing spirits. The problem? You ain’t got no control over it. That’s right! I, the Game Master, decide when you get to talk to them and when they remain silent! Evil GM Laughter Echoes around you.

Chapter 53: Karmic Balance - End Act V

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“Put light against light - you have nothing. Put dark against dark - you have nothing. It’s the contrast of light and dark that each give the other one meaning.” - Bob Ross

I pulled at my eyepatch as Nyota slid it on to wake me up. I had not worn it last night and now my eye was irritated. Quick Stitch held the needle just an inch away. It was so much worse than staring down the barrel of a gun. “Do we have to with my eye today?”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat, “Is Snuggles allowed in the tank?”

Is that a rhetorical question, or are you actually offering a negotiation? Quick Stitch leaned around the needle while holding it and my head completely still with a raised eyebrow. “Well no, there is too much danger in her scratching a piece of sensitive equipment or one of us accidentally getting stung by her poison.”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat, “I believe that answers your question then. Yes we must do your eye today. Especially after you snuck off last night without your eyepatch. Just because it’s dark, doesn’t mean you can get away with that. The photoreceptors are working a little better, how was your vision last night?”

I cleared my throat, waiting for the horrifically painful moment when he would poke into my eye socket and inject his cleansing formula to clear out the healing potion he had dropped in. He couldn’t let it completely do it’s work and had to time this precisely right. “You are just distracting me while you wait till the right MO—” I was cut off to whimper and whine as he jammed the needle in and shot the injection through, causing a flood of tears from that eye as the potion was rinsed out.

“While you are right, I also need to know from your own perspective how it is.” He pulled the needle out and slid my eyepatch back in place, his horn extinguishing its light and the closet we were in went dark.

“It was surprisingly good. I could make out the spirtebot I saw from quite a distance. It wasn’t blurry, even when it shone its light on me.” I explained while adjusting to only have one eye again. I blinked away the pain and the itching as Quick Stitch smiled at me.

“That is good to hear, means it’s healing. Give it another week or two and you will no longer need the eyepatch. Just know that flashbangs are always gonna hurt a little more now, as will blinding light. Your vision in the dark might become permanently better though; the healing has a chance to over compensate for the damage.” Quick Stitch explained all of this while letting us out of the closet and returning me to breakfast with our friends.

Alguacil cleared his throat, talking to Chifundo as we came back to the group, “The fact, they are willin’ ta put up caps to kill folks for trying to protect creatures is reason enough they should be annihilated.” He growled and then turned to me, as if expecting I give some sort of reply.

Chifundo and Scopola both cleared their throats at the same time to interject. I turned to them and was happy to have someone say something else since I had missed most of this conversation. “Yes, Chifundo? Yes, Scopola?”

Both of them started to talk at the same time and immediately Scopola Mina motioned to Chifundo, “Go ahead, I’ll talk second.”

“Alguacil, the thing you ask has a toll; for which is far beyond acceptable to her soul.” Chifundo stood up and placed a hoof against Alguacil’s shoulder. “She has a light of hope for all, please do not let her spark fall.”

Scopola Mina sighs, “Besides all of that, we lack a spell-matrix to get that done anyway. We just have this tank, we ain’t about to blow up this one too for that.” Scopola thought about it and rubbed her chin. “We could go shoot it with the big gun on the tank through.”

Alguacil grimaced in frustration, “That doesn’t send the message we need sent. A thing like Raider Radio ain’t gonna be tolerated; period.”

Scopola Mina rolled her eyes as I brightened up at my friends actually siding with me, against the use of a megaspell. “That won’t send the message you’re looking for either, Alguacil. It didn’t work back when and it ain’t gonna work now.”

Chifundo nodded in agreement, “For the moment we also lack the time, for we are already working on someone else’s dime.”

Nyota silently came over and wrapped his foreleg around me, leaning in to whisper. “He’s been at this since before you woke up. Trying to convince us to get you to make a megaspell and drop it on Raider Radio.”

Alguacil deflated and then rolled his eye, “You do realize they’ll be prepared fer a tank. I’ve seen ‘em use rocket launchers on a molerat.” Alguacil’s gun was glowing slightly, or at least I thought it was. Something about it screamed the same way Chifundo’s spiritual visits did.

Chifundo took in a very deep breath, “No one is denying that this Raider Radio needs to be destroyed, but that which you suggest should never be employed.”

Alguacil dropped it at that. His gun still glowed and I could sense his frustration, but there was simply nothing to discuss. I didn’t have the materials to make another bomb and even if I did; I wouldn’t do it. Those weapons are simply something that no one should have the power to use.

I thought to myself while Soot and I worked on the tank, to make sure it was in top shape and nothing had rattled loose or gotten damaged from our ride the previous day. The crystalline treads and road wheels were holding up extremely well and showed little wear or tear. Soot, Scopola Mina, and Quick Stitch were working with me. Nyota, Chifundo, Alguacil, and Snuggles were cleaning up the campsite and making sure we left nothing behind. While waiting for everyone, Bodda Pett was playing around my seat inside the tank.

“So what is the best route ya think, Sunrise?” Scopola Mina held up a map and a rag to wipe my hooves on. I pointed at the railway tracks in response.

“Follow the railway to the South Shore, right through that tunnel,” I said, pointing at some mountains that we could barely make out if we looked at the horizon.

Scopola cleared her throat to make sure my attention would not be diverted, “Do we know if that tunnel is functional?”

I shrugged at her, “We are going to find out.” I was rather tired still, something about the way I had slept combined with Nyota and the Spritebot had not fully rested me this morning.

“And what exactly are we gonna do about Raider Radio?” Scopola Mina pushed as she made a mark on the old worn map with the words, ‘Raider Radio’ printed next to it.

“Alguacil wants us to take it out, but we need to get Soot settled and out of harm’s way.” I took a breath and looked up at Soot, who was poking her head out of the top of the turret. “Unless Soot wants to risk the tank and risk everything going after it right now.”

Soot growled and shook her head, “No, we’re going home. I’m going to South Shore, you already agreed to this. No mud pony takes backsies.”

I sighed and shook my head, “First of all, do not refer to us as mud ponies. That is insulting and degrading of yourself.” I scolded her like a mother scolding a foal for saying something derogatory towards zebras. “Second, I was asking if you wanted to help us go there first or not. Now which would you rather do first?”

Soot cleared her throat and grimaced at me, “Look we can go fight the good fight after this is all said and done. Right now, I want what is mine by birthright.”

I turned to her and grimaced back at her, “Are we fighting the good fight, getting what is supposed to be yours?”

“Says the mare who killed most of my team.” I felt a real sting on that one and growled up at Soot.

“That was an incredibly low blow and you know it; not even low, just outright unfair; when your team fired on us first and then refused to talk it out.” I got up to full height and I was ready to box Soot’s ears in at that comment.

“So is bringing my birthright into question.”

Nyota stepped between us before the argument could escalate further. Nyota looked up at Soot, “For being such a genius, you left them with strict orders to shoot anypony who mentioned the word tank and expected that to work out.”

Soot swelled up to full height, “Just because my plan was fool proof doesn’t make it genius proof. I didn’t expect anypony to come looking for the tank. How could anypony know about it, much less know how to fix it! Aside for maybe some Enclave patrol or raiders who would have no interest in it!”

Nyota cleared his throat, “You are not entirely without blame for their deaths or them shooting at us.”

“I’m a kid!” Soot acted all hurt now and jumped down from the tank to get into Nyota’s face.

Nyota, for his part, remained completely calm and held up his hoof, “You are also their leader and take responsibility for their actions. Just like Sunrise is our leader and took responsibility for ours and her own.”

“I am attempting to take responsibility for these actions, but I could hear them throw prices at you. They are mercenary at heart, you could have bought them off.” Soot looked indignant and was searching for some way to push the blame back onto Nyota, and therefore me. Her desperately defensive expression was almost laughable but it made me feel sorry for her instead.

I go through this every time we do something. I second guess myself, and hope I could find a better way next time. She’s doing it too? Maybe she isn’t a terrible leader. I stepped between them to stop the argument and make a point. “The price they offered was 10,000 caps. Which no pony—save for The Curator—I have ever met has that amount of caps. There was no buying them off that way.”

I turned to Nyota and shoved a hoof in Soot’s mouth before she could speak, “However, even if the price they offered was outrageous, we must still take responsibility for our actions.” I pushed the two of them apart gently and removed my hoof from Soot’s mouth. “Then we have to discover how we may do better after those actions.”

That was enough to satisfy them both. Once we had finished our clean up and maintenance, I got into the turret compartment and curled around Nyota’s leg. The start of the trip started with a nap for me, against Nyota with little Bodda Pett nestled onto my back. I didn’t wake up until after the tunnel when someone was yelling at us.

“The End is Neigh!” Came a loud call from outside the tank. We had stopped moving and I was awake now, as I heard a bang on the tank.

“Sunrise, come on, we’ve got some crazies you may wanna talk into getting out of the way.” I was slow to awaken, Nyota putting a thermos in my hoof to help wake me back up. I had no idea how long I had been asleep till I looked at my PipBuck time; it flashed 10:33.

Wait, is that AM or PM?

“It’s a 24 hour clock silly! It would say 20:33 if it were PM. It’s still morning, you actually woke up before Noon from one of your morning naps. It’s a miracle or a curse and we’re about to find out which!” Pink was far too incredibly enthusiastic for my just getting out of bed feeling.

Can we tone your enthusiasm down by three notches? I grumbled and Nyota leaned down.“What was that, Sunny?”

I blushed, realizing I had mumbled that out loud while sipping the coffee and crawling from the turret compartment down into the co-driver seat. Bodda Pett was hopping his way to follow me all the way down there. “Love, are you okay?” Nyota asked.

I nodded as I sipped the coffee. “Yeah, just had an oddly dreamless sleep.” I replied and opened my hatch to pop my head out. I sipped on my Thermos. The sudden smell of fresh, slightly irradiated Wasteland air hit me first and then my eye adjusted to the light and my ears to the sudden lack of claustrophobia.

Before me was a group of ragged ponies, they were holding signs with things like ‘The End of Neigh’ and ‘The Deluge of Fire is coming!’ written crudely on them, and they misspelled Deluge as Delooge. I cleared my throat over the small throng that was surrounding us and blocking our way forward. “May I help you?”

One of them piped up, “HEY! Can you give me pants for the coming apocalypse?” I was so very confused and had no idea where to go with this one.

Nyota popped out and threw him a mechanic’s jumpsuit. “There! Now can you move out of our way so we can, OH BUCK ME! Man the guns!” I saw the series of red pips on my PipBuck and in the distance flying towards us were giant mosquitoes. These massive creatures were the size of me! Thin as rails and with blood sucking needles for faces that stretched further than my hoof could reach away from my body.

“What in Tartarus are those?” I called out, looking at them in disbelief as my E.F.S. popped up with a dozen or more small red dots now overlapping the gray ones around the tank.

Scopola popped out of the turret, “Everyone clear out! Y’all don’t wanna get squashed by tank treads.” She called into the intercom, “Quick Stitch, hard right! Sunrise, suppressive fire!” Her horn lit up and the heavy machine gun, The Maud Deuce, on the turret whirled around. The thump thump thump rocked the very air itself around us as she poured fire in the direction of the creatures. I hit S.A.T.S. to try to get an ID on these things.

My PipBuck registered the targets as “Bloodwings'' and the pony who had taken the mechanic’s overalls as “Ironic Prophet.” I felt a sudden rush as the treads started to grind and ponies scattered. I fell back from propping myself up and slammed into my seat. My eye focused as the roar of the engine and Maud Deuce fire rippled through my ears. Both shook my body like a furious, ancient power awakening, full of rage. It was all so exhilarating.

Daddy’s Halo was truly a beast constrained, and now the leash was cut. Quick Stitch jerked us to a stop as the turret and my coaxial gun were brought to bear. I looked through the sight and fired off a burst from the medium .30 cal. It rippled through twenty rounds in only a few seconds, tearing a bloodwing in half. The spray sent a volley of blood and insect parts flying like a burst balloon. Chifundo yelled over our intercom, “Nyota, high explosive, targets are elusive!”

Nyota strained and grunted loud enough that we heard it over the dual MGs suppressing the swarm of insects closing with us. The main gun’s side mounted Maud Deuce joined in a counter rhyme to the one Scopola was sending fire from. Both of them made a continuous set of dang dang dang as casing fell into the turret compartment and tings of brass joined the chorus.

“Quick Stitch, reverse, half-power.” Scopola called over the intercom as I heard over all this racket the grinding of metal on metal then the sound of that sent a chill down my spine. Nyota had closed the breach with the fresh and ready shell.

“Ammo up!” Nyota called out, just as the handbook had instructed him to do. Chifundo did not respond for a few moments. His response however, was explosive.

The space around us froze, not because of S.A.T.S. but because my body was experiencing a moment in time. The breach ignited with fire that cast in every direction. Nyota was pulling Soot clear as it moved backwards from the recoil, ejecting the spent shell. In front of us, a fireball cast over the entire tank as all our machine guns went silent.

You simply could not hold the trigger down through the sudden shuddering that rampaged across the tank. The shockwave of the cannon going off, made me open my mouth off the firing bit. I watched in slow motion as a white hot round sailed through the air at the ground under the bloodwings. One moment they were there, a dozen or more massive insects intent on sucking all the blood from our flesh in just a few seconds. The next, ash and a rain of charred insect parts as dust and fire shattered the ground and everything around it. A second shockwave coursed through the air, barely 60 meters away from the tank. It sounded like a round ricocheting off our hull with the dull thud the shockwave made against us.

Scopola Mina called into the intercom screaming repeatedly, “Cease Fire! Y’all Cease! Stop Shootin’! Cease Fire!” We all held ourselves as we waited for the dust to clear. I kept myself staring down the sight of my machine gun, ready for the slightest bit of movement. Two revolver shots rang out and I saw the bullet streaking through the air as I saw Bloodwing legs and wings kick up out of the settling dust.

A long bloodwing stumbled through the air before crashing into the ground. Alguacil’s radio squawked, “Got ‘em all now. Y’all done some nice shootin’.” Alguacil landed next to us. I popped my hatch and looked around again.

The doomsayer ponies were fleeing and well outside the range of our ability to shout for them now. I marvelled at our work. In just a few blistering seconds, we had demolished two dozen bloodwings with a furious power of an ancient machine awakened and delivering a focused rage that no one had experienced in over one hundred and eighty years.

Soot was the first to speak after the burst of fiery wrath. “Holy Celestia’s Glorious, Cake-Fat Ass, it worked! Your stupid mu… earth pony magic worked! I can’t believe this!” She hooted and it echoed off the tank walls before Nyota grabbed her mouth and silenced her.

“Hey! It echoes in here, use the intercom and calm your voice.” He snarled at her with his intercom on. Soot cowered away just a little bit while Nyota released her lips to let her speak again. “Scopola Mina, are we clear?”

Scopola popped her hatch again and poked her head out. Alguacil had landed on the hull while we were all still shaking from the cannon firing. The scent of grease, gunpowder, cordite, and smoke rolled over us as the fresh air from outside now fought to get inside.

There was a muffled discussion outside between the two of them; I couldn’t hear them from my position in the co-driver seat. I was checking my machine gun belt and making sure nothing had come loose from it after all the rattling. It looks intact, the gun worked like it was supposed to. I wonder if it fired straight or if it was off? I should have checked these things after the manticore attack.

“I wonder if Nyota would wanna mate with you inside of here now.” I glared at Pink, and if looks could cut, I would have sliced her leg clean off. She covered her mouth and ducked down behind sandbags in my vision to avoid my wrath.

Chifundo let out a long sigh, “This great weapon of war, certainly lives up to the lore.” We all looked at Chifundo for a moment and then let out a sigh of relief. He was right, Soot and I had rebuilt a wreck into a fully functional tank without an assembly line. This machine was built by hoof and it felt like a pinnacle of engineering.

Our camp that night was close to South Shore. We wanted to wait until morning to head in so we would have more daylight and more time to make sure everything was resolved to Soot’s satisfaction. I saw another spritebot in the distance. Alguacil drew his gun and I pushed his talon down shaking my head, “No, it is friendly; at least mostly friendly.” I shrugged and we resumed pitching our tents.

Nyota and I got a very long nice night together, to say the least.

*****

We approached South Shore. This wasn’t some small town or walled village like Silver Fang. This wasn’t a single built up building like the multi-story multi-basement The Roof. This was a sizable city. The walls were made of some white concrete substance and easily exceeded three meters high. The gates showed gearing and hydraulics, they were closed. There were no traders coming and going.

As we crested the hill to see this sprawl of buildings cut directly into the side of a mountain Soot started shouting, “There it is!” Nyota had to clamp her mouth to calm her down and stop our ears from ringing. The little filly was loud to say the least; this was the loudest she had ever been. We pulled up to the walls and I popped my hatch to get out and try to talk to the guards.

“Freeze! Don’t move you bunch of wastelanders!” Suddenly the tank’s speaker kicked on, “I am Soot, daughter of Heir of Cinder daughter of Anthracite scion of Supercritical Manifold.”

I could hear Nyota and Scopola trying to get the speaker from her in the background. All till I heard the turret cannon click. I raised an eyebrow as Soot was levitated out of the tank wrapped in Scopola Mina’s powerful telekinesis spell. “Why would you keep it unloaded? That makes no sense!”

I cleared my throat, “Did you just try to fire the main gun? You know it is unloaded while we travel so it does not get decalibration or accidentally discharge because Chifundo falls over and hits the pedal." I slid out of the tank and slowly approached the gate. I could see the guards poking out of various access ports, they had gauss weapons. Their entire guard force was armed with gauss weapons.

Did they not realize there was an apocalypse. I thought to myself, also noting that all the guards were unicorns. Every single one of them. This was the thing that really put me on edge. Wait, is that why Soot is like this? What is going on here? The questions coursed through me rapidly as I tried to understand the gravity of this situation.

My PipBuck’s background radiation dropped significantly. Normally The Wasteland emitted a little radiation, not enough to worry about even after long term exposure. But here, it was pre-war level. “I don’t think their shields failed, this cannot be good! This is like that one time I thought some clowns I ordered had arrived and we got invaded by some crazy guy called The Storm King.”

I paused for a bit and looked at Pink, That… didn’t happen. What are you talking about?

Pink got really quiet and shrugged, “Whoopsie! Wrong reality!” I looked very confused at Pink till we were interrupted by a guard calling out to me.

“What do you want? Why have you brought that… that... thing here?” I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. It was a mare, a very high and mighty type of mare.

Well they haven’t blasted us yet. I turned to the tank and shrugged, “It is a tank, we ride around in it for protection and extra firepower.”

“Not the tank you dolt! Stupid mud pony, why have you brought my disgraced granddaughter here? She was disinherited the moment she was born!”

Soot struggled in Scopola Mina’s grasp, “You’re a liar! My mother never did that!” She was almost foaming at the mouth. “You lot were supposed to help me get my birthright back! Fight them and help me!”

I stood on my rear legs and held up a hoof towards the city and towards Soot to stop the argument. “Soot, that is not our way. We will talk this out, we will be better than violence.”

There was silence for several moments. I looked nervously at all the gauss weapons pointed at me, wondering how many it would take to penetrate my armor or which one would hit me in the head since I was still wearing the cloth and leather tank helmet instead of my combat one. I cleared my throat, “I am asking for the rite of parley, honored since the time before The Twin Sisters; I just want to talk.” I had hoped they would honor the right of parley I had read about in the officer handbook. At the very least, they seemed pre-war and highly developed, this might be easier to negotiate if we all have the same Old World ideas.

“Sunrise, I don’t think they are gonna be as nice as you think they are.” Pink reminded me while I waited to see what would happen. The gauss weapons lowered and there was an announcement back at us after another minute.

“Alright, mud pony. You disarm, then we will allow you and only you to enter to talk this over.” I let out a sigh of relief. I walked back to the tank as Nyota popped the hatch.

“Sunrise, you know this is a trap, right?” I paused and looked at him, flabbergasted. Nyota was staring at me from his loader’s hatch as I placed my shotgun next to Quick Stitch’s hatch. Quick Stitch popped out and started levitating my weapons into the hull.

“You really think civilized ponies would violate a parley? We haven’t actually even had raider ones do that yet.” I commented remembering that at The Roof, Silver Fang, Upsville, and even Stable Phi; they had been willing to talk to us if it meant no violence. Why would this place be any different? To violate parley would be to end any chance of any talk ever again or in Alguacil’s mind, they are raiders.

Quick Stitch looked up at the walls and took a long look around, he turned to Nyota. They both nodded to each other, “We’ve heard some stories.” Quick Stitch started to say.

I nervously looked between my friends, “Stories?” I was removing my next set of weapons, Celestia’s Hammer, Newb Tube, and my ready explosives bandoleer.

Nyota nodded, “Couriers don’t come here. We are banned from it. Merchant caravans either. Jackal’s cyberclaw is from this place but he did not consent to all the stuff they did to him in the process. He won’t talk about what all they did to him either.” I thought about the dragon, how he had been elusive about where he got his cybernetics.

I turned back to this place and tucked my sock in tight. “Should I keep my backup pistols and tail-flail hidden, then?”

Soot was growling at the walls. “We should be blowing them into dust! We have this tank and all your explosives, I demand you use them.” Nyota bapped her on the head to make Soot shut up.

“You asked us to help you, you don’t get to decide how we provide that help! Now shut up, the adults are talking.” Soot turned to growl at Nyota only for him to raise his hoof to smack her again.

I cleared my throat and everyone turned to me. Nyota got completely out of the tank to walk up to me and Chifundo poked his way out. Chifundo was looking at me judgingly. He was expecting something from me, Alguacil landed on the engine deck and looked over the turret. All eyes were on me. They are expecting you to do something, right. I can’t let The Wasteland change who I am, nor how we do things.

I cleared my throat, “Look, we always give them a second chance. The raiders who shoot at us get a second chance mid battle. The Goddess with a Gun, Breakfast Blend, she got another chance. Coffee Stain, Sparrow, Hot Cross Buns, Nugget, Mountain and The T’Doshians; we gave all of them more than a simple first impression. We have to do that here. We have to know with a clear conscience that if this comes to violence; we cannot be the ones who start it and we must have given them multiple chances to do better. Alright? I am going in to talk to them.”

I checked my pistol and pretended to put in on the tank, “Nyota, slip my pistols into their holsters and cover them under my packs where the guards will not see; just in case. If I do not report within five minutes or my radio stops transmissitting, get out of here.” Everyone looked at me, shocked.

“If I am captured, it would be easier if you caught them off guard. If they resort to violence you will be vulnerable here not moving.” I turned on my radio and taped the talk button down. Then I slid it into a pocket on the side of my pack. It would be somewhere that wouldn’t get bothered by me moving and you could still hear anything going on. “Just do not try to talk to me unless it is an emergency.”

Nyota had carefully slipped my pistols back into their holsters, then he had pulled my armored socks around them. It was a very uncomfortable position and the armor plating bulged out a little bit but hopefully no one would notice and assume the modifications were supposed to look that way. “Anything else, love? Are you really sure about this?” Nyota leaned in and kissed my lips before I could respond.

My heart fluttered, my body warmed. I could feel something deep inside me; something screaming that this was a truly special moment. I held the kiss as long as I could. We released it and he smiled at me as we both reluctantly pulled away. “I am sure. Look worst case you can treat me as the princess in a castle and you, the brave knight rescuing her from the dragon.” I teased him with a smile as my hoof rested upon the scars on his chest. Those wonderful scars that told me it was Nyota when I was snuggled up to him.

His scars had left impressions on my cheek and forehead from laying on them all night. Before I smelled his sandalwood, before I opened my eyes to see his stripes; I knew I was close to him by feeling those scars.

“Nyota,” I looked up to see a tear in his uncovered eye. He was genuinely worried and what I had said apparently I had not helped at all. “You know that if I just go to fight them immediately or do not go in there to talk to them, neither of us would be satisfied. Our condition to Soot was to help her rebuild, and help her settle this.” I rubbed a hoof up and down his chest as I smiled at him. “I will take all the precautions I can. I will fight tooth and nail to get out if it comes to that.”

I gave him a deep hug that didn’t last long as we were interrupted by Alguacil clearing his throat. “Listen ‘ere. The regulators ain’t allowed in this place; anyone who don’t let us in, I ain’t gonna trust. So we’re gonna get ready to come in there guns blazin’ if you drop out.”

I nodded to him, “I will make sure it does not come to that.” I turned to Quick Stitch and smirked at him, “In the interest of fairness and cool-headedness, you are in charge while I am gone.” Everyone looked at me like I had lost my mind. “What? He has the coolest head and will keep you all alive first and foremost.” Quick Stitch was very confused for a bit, then gave me a nod.

“I’ll make sure no one dies, friend or foe.” He replied and turned to check his own pack for medical supplies. “I got enough healing potions and bandages here for a full platoon.” I reached into my pack and put another bundle of healing supplies up there. I handed him my tanker helmet and pulled out the much better armored one. I put on my ballistic goggles first and then the helmet as well as its throat cover and mouth piece, though I left the mouth guard in the open position and not covering my face yet.

“Just in case, I will keep three magic bandages and healing potions for myself. I will see you all in a few moments.” I turned my head as the mighty gates groaned and slowly pulled themselves open. The massive hydraulics working to slide them open like a normal door that was nearly two and a half meters tall and six meters wide. The double doors stopped as a unicorn in a lab coat smoking a long cigarette walked out with a half dozen guards, all of them wearing T-45b class power armor. The big suits were re-engineered to accommodate unicorn horns on each of the massive hunks of metal. My own armor might have been slightly thicker or better built since it was made from more advanced materials than steel, but it did not enhance my strength or deflect rounds nearly as well as these steel behemoths.

Imagine for a moment, if you took a tank and disassembled said tank. Then, you turned around and put a bunch of hydraulics onto a frame and reassembled the tank over that frame. Lastly you put a bunch of tank-class weapons like multi-missile launchers, machine guns, rapid fire grenade launchers, and even recoilless rifle cannons as battle saddle style mountings. All of this powered by spark batteries as big as the ones the trailers used back in the quarry we woke up in. That is what I was dealing with looking down the barrels of.

I knew my pistols would be useless, I had emptied my former bullet case turned armored explosives bag, but my tail flail might break one of the actuators and slow them down if it hit it right. I made a mental note that if it came to that, I would use S.A.T.S. I smirked. It’ll be fine, this is just a conversation and they are being cautious. I mean, we do have a reputation for blasting apart ponies who oppose us. I kissed Nyota one last time, then turned to Chifundo. “Any words of wisdom?”

Chifundo shook his head, “Only that I sense something about them and you, Sunrise this is reeking of bad juju.” A chill ran down my spine and rippled through my body when he said that. I didn’t have time to dwell on it and turned to head inside.

Scopola called out, “Hey, Sunrise! When ya get back we should enjoy some coffee together.” I smirked at that.

I hope you mean the non-filly scout kind of coffee. Pink went quiet as we crossed the threshold to South Shore. I sensed a change here, I saw several glyphs light up next to the doors and on the ground.

“Are you carrying some zebra shaman magic with you!?” The unicorn in the lab coat wheeled on me and glared at me.

“No, not that I know of. Look, it is just a spirit friend who hangs around, nothing more,” I said. She growled at me and the power armored guards started checking my body. They missed my weapons completely, as well as my live radio.

“Nothing to report ma’am, at least nothing that would not be on a disarmed wastelander.” I let out a sigh of relief as the unicorn sneered at me. They all turned towards me, taking another glance over my armored hide and shrugging.

“Right, let’s get this over with.” We walked through the city, made of that stark white concrete. It didn’t feel right to me. Some instinct within me told me this concrete was not only unnatural but also just wrong. I tapped my hoof against it and I saw a piece of it crack, not a lot just ever so slightly.

“HEY! No mud pony magic against the pearlcrete!” I turned my head to the artificially broadcast voice. It was one of the power armored guards. I raised an eyebrow trying to figure out what this was.

“Pearlcrete? What?” The guard just snuffed at me and shook his head.

The speaker on his helmet crackled and made his voice sound like it was coming over a primitive radio. “There is a reason why you stupid mud ponies stay down in the dirt. Now shut up and keep moving.” He shoved me and then discovered just how heavy my armor was. His power armored hoof did not manage to move me with that light shove. “Wait… what? How heavy is that armor?” He pushed again and the plating barely noticed, I was having some trouble resisting but my leg plates were helping me stand my ground.

“Look you little runt, either move or else.” I gave him a grimace and prepared myself to move.

“Hey now, let’s treat our guest properly. No shoving her and no talking down to her. She is just here to talk after all, right?” The unicorn in the lab coat commented and walked between me and the power armored guard. She was facing him and I swore she winked.

Without Pink’s presence I was already unnerved, much less that they made me put away all my weapons before I came in here. Now this? Something is up, I can sense it, but I can’t put my hoof on it. What are these ponies getting at?

The power armored unicorn snorted and turned his head away. The lab coated unicorn turned to me, “I am sorry, our guards are not used to allowing any guests inside. We also aren’t used to letting mud ponies roam around unchecked. I am Anthracite, Soot’s grandmother. Come along, we will discuss an amicable solution to this conflict.” I nodded, though I had to admit something about the way Anthracite talked unnerved me. I felt a chill, the same chill when Chifundo said bad juju. I went with them. Everything was so clean inside here, especially compared to the other wasteland towns we had been to.

I saw a few earth ponies using brooms and mops on the street but they were under watch from guards, although these guards were in standard combat armor; they did all have gauss weaponry. This was the particularly unnerving part about it, how many of them had gauss weapons. They led me into a building, armored doors made of heavy reinforced steel. With a place like this, where is the stubbornite or titanium alloy? All I see is this pearlcrete stuff and steel. Wait? Where is the normal concrete? They have earth ponies, shouldn’t they be able to make concrete? What is going on here?

We entered into a room that was small, barely two meters by two meters. Something else about this was incredibly unnerving. There was an obvious one way mirror to my right, a steel table, and two steel chairs. An interrogation room? To negotiate with me? This doesn’t make any sense.

“Ma’am, we’ve got a—” Anthracite held up her hoof and shook her head.

“Whatever it is can wait, at least till I’m done with Sunrise here.” There was something in her voice that I could only call malice. I had dealt with her type before and now I felt like I was in over my head.

Anthracite motioned to a chair and turned to her guards, “You lot stay outside, we won’t need you. Sunrise, please take a seat.”

I got a much better look at Anthracite inside here. The lights were brighter and now she was facing me directly. She was ancient, her face wrinkled heavily when her horn wasn’t lit to maintain the spell over it. Her lab coat was stained in several places and her eyes looked somewhat like an off kilter pony. It was like someone who had lost part of her sanity, but not all of it; just enough they were no longer all there anymore.

I walked in slowly and took a seat. This is when our suspicions would all be confirmed very quickly. “Now listen here you little upstart. Soot was born a mud pony, none of your righteousness or any of your old-world values mean a damn thing to me because you’re also a stupid dirt horse. Soot lost all right to this place the moment she was born. Period. Now you and your friends are gonna leave and never come back. Well, your friends are, you aren’t going anywhere.”

I was throttled in my seat and staggered back stunned, Anthracite slammed her hooves onto the table before I could respond. “You’ve got a bounty on your head, courtesy of the Enclave, over one million caps worth of tech if we want it. The bounty does require you to be alive through, so here's the deal, you surrender, or else.”

I gritted my teeth, I reached for my radio and found it was emitting low static, like it was jammed or blocked. “Calling your friends in that stupid tank? Yeah you’ve been jammed since you came in here.”

It was my turn to smirk, Well at least they know something is up and they are safe by now.

“Either surrender yourself or we glass the tank! Don’t be a stupid, uncooperative mud pony!” She threw a pair of hoof cuffs onto the table. “Put these on, or else.”

I laughed at her; I couldn’t help myself. I knew what the guard was going to tell her before we came into this room now. I wished I had Pink to help me out but at the moment I had nothing. I tried noting if there was a trash can or something I had seen on the way in to hide for a bit. Maybe there is a vent or something I can fit into.

Anthracite was not amused, “Glass the tank! Right now! Everything you have, something will punch through its armor and they’ll be dead.” She shouted at the one way mirror. When I wasn’t phased by this she turned to me with a frustrated growl.

An intercom chirped to life, “Ma’am that is what I was trying to say, the tank ran off about the time we got inside here. We don’t know why or how she got a signal out.”

I held up the radio and pointed at the tape on it, “I taped this together so my friends could hear, the moment they could not hear us; they left to make a plan. My job is to survive.” I leapt forward, regretting we had agreed to their terms now. I gave you a chance, now how do I threaten you without killing you? As I got a hold of her, she fought like a manticore to throw me off. My armor’s extra weight, weight I was used to, held her in place as I got a foreleg around her throat. I pulled out my father’s pistol from its hiding spot. My tail put the weapon against her head. Oh good. I might not be able to hear you, Pink, but good to know you’re still here.

“Now listen up, either you let me out of here, no resistance, or I blow your horn clean off.” Anthracite growled at me. I held her tight as the door burst open and several guards piled in. One of them had a gauss rifle, the rest were armed with what appeared to be dart guns. None of them were power armored types, but they were all unicorns with horns glowing. I felt several blasts of magic impact into me. My eyes got heavy and I turned Anthracite by throwing my weight, putting her between me and anymore blasts. They need me alive, those were shots of anesthesia spells. My body felt heavy, hard to move, and I grimaced, trying to stay away as my eyes got halfway closed. My tail shoved my gun into my mouth and then hit my only exposed spot, the side of my neck, with a needle and shot it into me.

“Sunrise! I can barely control the tail! There, it’s the adrenaline shot Scopola made! You only have the one so once it wears off, it’s gone! Now move!” My ears ached at her yelling. Suddenly, my heart was racing. My strength returned and then some. My entire body went into overdrive as my insides heated up and my eyes snapped open. I pressed the gun into Anthracite’s head.

“Drop your weapons or she is gonna be a hornless unicorn real fast!” I grumbled over the mouth trigger. The guards hesitated then looked at Anthracite then back to me. “None of your darts can penetrate my armor, and you, with the gauss rifle? You will get one shot. Think you can hit me and not her?” Anthracite was struggling, but against the adrenaline shot giving me extra strength and my heavy plating, she wasn’t able to move. “You light up your horn and I will blast it right off!” I screamed into her ear, unable to control my volume.

Apparently she was going to call my bluff. Her horn lit up with yellow energy that matched her blonde mane and stood out against her gray coat. I pulled the trigger. Her horn did not break; the spell died midway through, but it did not break. I kept pulling the trigger, over and over and over again. Anthracite’s horn cracked and pieces flaked off it but somehow it did not break.

“Damn you… fuck that hurts!” My pistol clicked on the ninth trigger pull, all seven in the magazine and one in the chamber, emptied. My reloads were in my saddlebags, no way I could get to them right now. I looked and searched the room as Anthracite passed out in my hoof, I could barely hold up her weight to keep her as a shield. I noticed the two darts in her side now, apparently meant for me. In the excitement they had tried and failed to hit my face or neck. They had also bounced a bunch off my flanks.

The unicorns were starting to circle me, I did not know how long my adrenaline shot would last. I had to make a move or they would find a weak point and knock me out. I saw the gauss rifle pony had several grenades on his side. It’s that or capture and I’m not going up to the Enclave! I rushed forward, throwing Anthracite into their ranks as hard as I could. Three guards rushed to catch her, leaving one shooting tranq darts at me that bounced harmlessly off my chestplate. I tossed my gun to my tail and raised my mouth piece as the gauss rifle fired, I felt it glance off my left shoulder. Damn PipBuck! It’s a bullet magnet! I stumbled and recovered just as Nyota had shown me, barreling right into him, his magic dropping the rifle the moment I slammed him against the wall. I pulled the pin on two of his grenades and while he was stunned threw him at his one friend who was pelting me with darts.

“Fire in the hole!” I shouted and shoved my way out of the door back into the hallway. I darted down the hall as the explosions rumbled from behind the door. I noticed immediately the trash can I thought might be there was gone, left was a bunch of papers scattered on the floor. Okay not gonna work!

I scrambled around the corner as alarms klaxons were going off. The vents were armored and on the ceiling, out of my reach. I slammed against the next door and discovered it locked tight. Not good! I need to get out of here! I scrambled to the next door and the next, towards where we had come in. I saw two guards galloping towards me along with another unicorn stallion in a lab coat.

“There she is! Neutralize her!” He spoke as bolts of anesthesia raced towards me. They missed, hitting the wall behind me. The blue magical orbs dissipated against the wall with loud thuds; thuds that shouldn’t have happened against concrete.

Wait! I cracked that earlier by striking it like I strike metal! I ran back around the corner and slammed my hooves into the wall as hard as I could. I pushed all the earth pony magic I had and hoped it would give. The wall cracked but did not shatter. Whatever this stuff is, earth ponies didn’t make it, but they tried to make a cheap imitation. Without earth pony magic, it breaks! I heard the guards getting closer and ran blindly into the facility, away from where the interrogation room had been.

Okay, definitely worst case scenario. Pink, some help would be appreciated right now! I was searching for her presence, but that was the most unnerving part: I couldn’t find her still. I looked up as the ceiling opened up, lower down was some sort of speaker attached to a turret. There was a camera next to it aimed towards me. Then the speaker turned on and a deep rumbling shook the very floor I was standing on.

I could see a shockwave coming at me, right in front of the speaker. It was moving so fast I barely registered it before I was sent flying into the wall. My body felt like every bone in it had been broken by the impact. My ears rang like I was on an explosives range for hours. I slid down the wall to the floor, twitching. Blackness engulfed the edge of my vision as I tried to stagger up, but my legs wouldn’t move. My body felt heavy again, heavier than before. My eyes were getting hard to hold open. No… I can’t… Darkness consumed my vision and my thoughts.

*****

An annoying beeping echoed in my head. My brain recognized it as a heart monitor. Huh? What? Where am I? I slowly came to and my stomach ached. There was a pegasus standing over me. Her coat was brown in color, and her mane was hidden under her hat. I could only tell she was a nurse because of the pink butterflies on the hat and her blue hospital scrubs. I saw an IV punched into my foreleg, and I twitched and pulled away, but the nurse grabbed onto my foreleg with the IV.

“Whoa, calm down there. Your surgery went completely fine, glad to see you’re awake. We weren’t sure you would survive the accelerated pregnancy and c-section combined with your other injuries, but we did not have a lot of choice. It took us forever to figure out how to get you out of your armor; nothing we had could actually cut through the materials without possibly hurting you more.”

I suddenly threw all my weight into her and toppled the gurney I was on to the floor while staggering her back. No this isn’t right, what is she talking about!? I threw all my strength towards her, trying to pin her to the wall and fight like Nyota had taught me.

“What are you talking about? Where am I? What is going on?” I demanded as the pegasus looked on in shock and horror. Her nose was bleeding and her wing was trapped as an uncomfortable angle against the wall. I could take in my surroundings now. I was standing upon metal tiles, surrounded by steel bulkheads. The room I was in had several other hospital beds. I was reacting out of instinct, trying to scramble together what was going on and where I was. A large sign next to the door said E.S.S. Vulture and under it was a placard that said “Infirmary”.

“Orderlies! HELP! She’s gone crazy!” The pegasus screamed and I turned around to see that those other beds did in fact have several nurses, stallions and mares, as well as two individuals dressed in doctor’s coats. One of them pulled a needle and they started to approach me.

No time for questions! I’ll figure this all out later! I reached over to the bulkhead door and spun the handle to open it as they closed in on me. It worked once! Bound to work now! I threw the pegasus mare towards them to distract them while I got the bulkhead open and scrambled into the hallway. Out of the room was a lined hallway with several reinforcing archways overhead and dozens of rivets, bolts, and welds holding it together. The room lurched as something disturbed the building—no, the ship. I’m on a ship!

I scrambled forward and just started running while hearing shouting from behind me. I turned the corner and ran smack into someone’s chest. I was the one who was knocked to the floor, and all my momentum stopped cold. I looked up as a very familiar voice spoke to me, “Oh, are you alright, dear? Should you not still be in bed?” I hesitated and my blood ran cold, cold as ice. I slowly looked up. This mare had a purple coat. She was wearing Stable 43 jumpsuit barding with Stable-Tec colors. I saw the sharp jawline and I did not need to see any further.

“M...Ma...Mom?” I was looking eye to eye with my mother. She’s helping them capture me? She tried to kill my friends? She...she...WHAT!? My mind was fracturing, whatever that thing was from before was screaming at me. I felt like I did back in Silver Fang when the Agent was revealed to be alive. This made no sense!

“Yes, Sunrise. Glad you are safe. Hopefully everything is alright, your children will be happy to see their mother. The little foals have been whining for hours.” Every word she said made less and less sense. I suddenly felt the urge to flee, the urge to run. I turned around and bolted down the hallway as fast as I could go! “Sunrise, stop this instant! We have work to do, and you pushing yourself—” She was cut off as I bolted down the hallway back where I came. I saw the orderlies and doctor coming towards me and grabbed onto a gurney in the hallway to hurl it at them.

The orderlies opened their wings to dodge the rolling gurney, but I was galloping behind it at full speed. I pivoted hard and turned around to do a full buck, knocking the rolling gurney up into the air at them. I caught all of them by the hooves as they were rushing forward. They all fell and slammed into the floor, face and chest first. The group of the three of them fell in a pile on top of each other, stunned for the moment. Thank you, Nyota. I need to run, now! Gotta find a way to call for help!

I jumped over the pile of orderlies and kept going. I saw a door labeled “Janitorial”. I ran into it and closed the door, and slammed a couple of broom handles through the bulkhead handle as I twisted it closed so no one could open it.

Okay, I have to think, I have to act. What did she mean about my children? My abdomen ached from all the effort. I placed a hoof against it and was reminded of the bandages. I peeled them back. I had to know what was under them. I winced in pain trying to get them off. I was bleeding underneath, I had torn some stitches. Across my stomach, the old slight scar that Doc Hacksaw talked about after my near death experience; it was covered in stitches like someone had cut me open.

What!? What did they do to me? Did they take my children? Oh goddesses, no! Not again, I… I…

“Get it together, Sunrise! You’re in enemy hands and your mother is with them! Now figure this out and get out of here!” I stared in horror at my stitches, wondering what they had done to me. My mind was quickly unraveling, I could feel the thing in my mind coming forward and Pink suddenly desperately fighting to keep it under control.

All of this was shattered by my mother’s voice and a pounding on the metal door. “Sunrise, sweetie. Open up for mommy, we have quite a lot to talk about if you are going to be helpful. You really should not have caused all the chaos you did, but I understand, you are very scared. Come on out, we will talk all of this over.” The air hung with a pause that made me wish I could still hear tiny heartbeats inside me.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t make myself act. I couldn’t form a coherent thought. My body was twitching, trembling, and my heart was pounding in my ears. “Sunrise, come out right this instant, young lady! You are not making a very good impression on your potential mates!”

My what!? What did she mean by mates? I already had a… did she kill Nyota, too?! I started to hyperventilate; panting as I tried to find the air to breath. My vision edges started to black out as my heart pounded in my skull.

Pink slapped me back to reality.“There are no vents in here! I don’t know what your mom is planning but if you want to see your children, open that door already!” I gasped at the shock, my body still shaking as, one by one, I removed the broom sticks from the handle and spun it to open. My mother walked in with a very stern look across her face.

“Right, I’m not sure what is going on, here, but mommy will take care of you, Sunrise.” I felt the prick on my foreleg as a needle went in. Blackness was quickly surging into my eyes as I looked at my mother. Feelings of betrayal and confusion were surging as my final thoughts before I was unconscious again.

*****

I woke up, strapped down in a hospital bed. The room was smaller, no other beds were inside. Something small and warm was against both of my hips. Slowly I looked down where I felt the warmth. Two small zonies, barely infants, were pressed against me. One had a green coat with black stripes and the other had a white coat with gray stripes. The green one was clearly a colt and an earth pony. The white zony was a unicorn and a filly. What…. Who are they? They’re so small.

I looked up to see my mother sitting patiently in a chair next to me. “I’m curious why you chose an inferior zebra, of all of your available breeding options. Do you have names ready for them?”

“Names? What?” I looked at her very confused and now worried more than ever. It was incredibly unnerving to hear her speak. The Stalliongrad accent I had and had grown up with was just gone.

“They’re your children. We used magic to accelerate the process and a c-section to get them out of you. We had to know your womb was viable, and we needed to remove the inferior zony stock from your body. After all, you can’t exactly help solve the inbreeding problem with the Enclave if your womb was damaged beyond repair, or worse, full of weakened half-breeds.” She was explaining all this and I was getting more and more stunned by the second.

My mother… she did this? These are mine and Nyota’s foals? Names!? We hadn’t even… it should have been at least another eight months before this! I was… I was… denied? I was not allowed to be a mother naturally? She… stole that from me!?

“Sunrise, come on; what is with you? Did you forget all this from before? Damnit, stop acting like a little foal and grow up. These are your half-breed children, you’re supposed to care for them. I thought seeing them would help you with that!” The two small foals woke up in tears, screaming their tiny heads off.

I wanted to move, I wanted to come to their aid. I wanted to care for my children. My heart was broken, shattered. My mind was in so many fragments, I was overwhelmed and at a loss. I could do nothing. My thoughts were breaking up as fast as I could feel them. I could feel the monster Pink and I had been keeping away starting to muster, starting to growl. I did not feel like myself. Something was truly wrong. The only thought I had was to save these small crying bundles of joy from myself.

I turned to my mother and my lips quivered as I spoke, “Mom… something’s wrong… you… please… kill me, before—.” Then suddenly, all control of my body was gone. My mother stormed out of the room in frustration, leaving my terrified self with my children, but I was no longer in control. I was a passenger, it was like being in a memory again.

Pink’s voice cut through all this, “Right! I got this Sunrise.” My body moved on its own. Pink was comforting the foals, she moved the hospital gown as best she could in the restraints and offered them my small teats, which they started to drink from. Holding onto my rear legs and hips, they clung on desperately for life.

I had no coherent thoughts, my body was disconnected from me. I could feel what was going on but could give no reply back to move, to react, even me trying to make myself blink was impossible. “No, Sunrise, you need to check out for now. I got this till you can manage again.”

I wasn’t sure how much time passed before my mother came back with a pair of pegasi nurses. My lips moved, my voice broadcast around me, but it was not me speaking. “There there, drink up. I’ll protect you from the grandma monster mare.”

Shadow Window paused, looking at me perplexed with her head tilted to one side, “Sunrise, are you talking now, my little girl?”

Pink cleared her throat and my head moved up from the foals, looking at Shadow Window now, “Nopie Lopie Dopie! It’s PINKIE!” She accented her voice just to emphasize it was not me anymore.

“Pinkamena?” Both of the nurses stopped, just as confused, while Shadow Window held up a hoof to stop them. My mother spoke and was at a complete loss for words beyond her question.

“Diane Pie. In the flesh, no less! I have a body again, kind of, at least till Sunrise checks back in.”

“How? Who? What? I demand you let her have control! I have a lot to speak with her about. Give her back to me, right now!”

Pink cleared her throat and made a motion with her hoof to tell my mother to lower her voice. “Hey! Little ones just stopped crying, no need to rile them up again. As for your request, I’m going to have to acquiesce that you leave a note. The manager is currently out of the building and only the secretary is available. Which means somepony better keep these cutesy wootsy little Nyota-Sunrise spawns alive and happy till she gets back from mental break vacation!” She was almost singing the last line as she calmly stroked the manes of the foals.

Those are mine, I should be there for them. I felt the presence in the back of my mind. I turned towards it and saw something else... a version of me from before the war. White coat, orange tail and red mane. Suddenly, black tendrils rippled out from its flesh. It was like a miasma of solid arms ripping out of her flesh.

I scrambled to find somewhere to get away from them, but I couldn’t. I felt their icy embrace as I was brought close to the creature. My children interrupted the moment and the tendrils stopped, a look of frustration upon the face of the white doppleganger mare. She couldn’t move and we were locked in a moment of some tug of war for control of my consciousness. The children’s happy, content cooing and gentle nuzzles against my cutie marks made all of it stop for a bit.

“Who's a good little gender-bent Picline? And whose an adorable eldritch abomination with magical powers that can annihilate a city block with a wink?” The small foals curled against her, starting to fall asleep as my mother, this creature in my mind, and myself all looked at Pink, completely confused. “I swear these children should have never been born, but I’m not writing this story, and honestly, I’m just here for the popcorn and the ride.”

“I...wait! What? Dear gods, why did she have to have you stuck inside her?” My mother pointed at the foals and flicked her nose up at them. Then she returned her gaze to my face, looking more menacing than before. “This spirit nonsense is wasting my time! And I forgot how fucking obnoxious you are!” My mother lowered her hoof as the nurses moved towards me… us, definitely us now.

Pink growled and snarled at her, “Hey! Language! Especially around the cutie-wooties wonders of creation.”

Shadow Window growled and rolled her eyes, “I liked you a lot better when we were high on PTMs and you were eating my plot. Why don’t you just shut up and help me.”

Pink got a dreamy feeling to her, like a nostalgic high. The doppelganger started to move towards me, it was laughing between clenched teeth as I felt it using all its might to try to wrestle me into submission while I fought to get away from it. “Oh… PTMs are sooo delicious.” Pink quickly sucked in her drool and shook her head. “I won’t be swayed by the fact that you taste like cinnamon buns!”

My mother blushed deeply with a yelp. The two pegasi nurses turned to her, confused, trying to see what she was going to tell them to do. “Sunrise needs time and something familiar or she is gonna stay checked out for a while. Not to mention, I have to make sure the right Sunrise comes back. Nothing you can do to make me go faster. She doesn’t even fully recognize these adorable bundles of existential horror as her own. No thanks to you and your surgeons! Seriously, could you not wait eight months?”

Shadow Window snarled at Pink and took a step towards us, “Fine! She does not need her memories. The stupid box inside her will fix that, here!” My mother took out a surgical knife and tossed it on the bed, right next to my throat. “Kill her right now and give me my daughter back!”

My mind snapped, She just… told her to kill me?! The black tendrils from my pre-war look-a-like started to ensnare me faster. I lost the will to resist as I watched the events unfold.

Pink shook her head and took the knife in her mouth before spitting it back at her, harmlessly clattering onto the floor. “I say neigh to you, horsey! You think for two seconds I’d betray Sunrise and help the evil monster that used to be her mom? No way! I like how she trusts me. I won’t lift a hoof, neigh, a hair to help you.” My tail flicked to emphasize her point.

“Damnit PINKIE! I do not have time for this! The Enclave needs functional breeding stock. The idealists who think they can keep out wasteland genetics are breathing down my throat for a solution. She is the first of a bunch of pre-war freeze-dried gene stock sitting around. She knows where Stable 43 is and her womb is viable with minimal radiation interference. Not to mention if she gets worn out, I just put her out to pasture and she regenerates in a bit, good as new for making babies. All the food rationing in all the clouds will not help save the Wasteland if it has the genetic diversity of a tiny island nation, or worse, a tiny zebrican nation! Not to mention, with earth ponies and cloud farming tech, we might not be eating bran flakes forever.”

Pink spit at her and growled as she tightened her grip upon my zony children to hold them close, while she moved her hoof over their faces and ears to shield them from the conversation. I wanted to fight but any fight I had left was driven out of me. The more my mother talked, the less I believed it was her. The more I felt like my quest to find and save her was now cursed. The more I felt my father’s death was meaningless. “I don’t care one bit about your stupid pegasi problems. They don’t care about my cake on the ground, I’ll piss in their pie in the sky!”

The sound of a gun being loaded and my mother levitating my father’s handgun up towards me chilled my blood. It chilled Pink’s blood, too, and whatever this creature in my mind was suddenly recoiled as it turned to focus its attention on the conversation at hoof. “Hey, you stupid excuse for poor parenting! If you’re gonna gun down your daughter, at least get your grandfoals out of sight. Even if they are babies you don’t like, they certainly do not need to live through that!”

“For once, you’re right. Get those half-breeds out.” The nurses surged forward and, despite Pink’s efforts, the restraints and nurses won out. The foals were crying out in the chaos as they were ripped away from their mother’s embrace. I saw a dribble of slobber and mother’s milk on the unicorn mare foal. The pegasi scrambled out of the room and out of sight.

My mother stepped forward, removing the safety from Rainbowrise’s Protector. Pinkie spoke up, her tone sarcastic, “So, that’s it then? You’re just gonna be a true monster, right over the edge and into prolicide? Tsk tsk tsk, here I thought you would still be a doting mother and we could bring you back.”

Shadow Window spit at my rear hooves that were strapped to the bed, “I do not have time, nor the patience, and no bucks left to give for this mess. I have waited countless years, many reincarnations, all for my daughter to get back here. Now that stupid box is blocking her memories for some reason, and her shock has put you in control instead of her. I do not even know how you got in there, but I know if I shoot her; that hormone soup her brain is in will go away and that will fix all this. I started down this path to save The Wasteland. The Enclave is the Wasteland’s only hope for pony racial purity, and the inbreeding in the Enclave has to be fixed.”

Pink rolled her eyes and shook her head, “No, it really doesn’t, you old hag, and it won’t fix anything if you have your way. You’re too blind to see that, your sense of duty and your idea of how to fix things are only a kiddie bandage over a gaping chest wound. But if you really wanna revoke your right to motherhood, to being a grandmother, just know: Sunrise Will Remember This.” Pink winked, not at her, but I felt like she was doing it at me.

The doppelganger was too confused to keep ensnaring me. I could sense it being distraught and at a loss for purpose. It was as though the best laid plan had suddenly come completely undone.

“How would you know? How long have you been in there?” Shadow Window took a step closer, the gun faltered slightly, tilting her magic to one side.

“Because she has been scratching at the walls I put up ever since she woke up; the very ones she asked me to put there. You’re just gonna shatter them because you want a quick and dirty way. She will remember this. You’re gonna get panned for it, too!”

Shadow Window’s magic stiffened the grip on the gun, she was starting to pull the trigger, “I don’t care anymore! The world is more important than me or Surnise’s memory. I need her alive and mostly sane! I guess this is goodbye, Pinkie. Get on with your afterlife!”

This isn’t my mother anymore, this has to be a bad dream. This mare looks like her and sounds like her. But the words she peaks are nothing but vitral and awful. Her accent is gone, is this a changeling? What are you? You can’t be her! I refuse to believe it!

Pink laughed, it wasn’t the kind of laugh at something funny. No, this was an outright cackle, my voice sounding even stranger to let that out. The children crying died away, too far away to be heard by their mother.

“Nopie number five in the past five minutes alone, you big Dopie! I’ll still be here, but you just made seven enemies, not one. When her friends find out, the whole Wasteland is gonna be after you.”

“I will have to send a message after this, get us some reinforcements or an escorting raptor,” Shadow Window muttered.

Pink kept laughing as she talked, like she had lost her mind or knew some joke we never got to hear. “Good luck with that! Poor Sunrise, she doesn’t know how much of her life is really a giant joke. I may be the corrupted element of laughter and my friends were the awful terrible ponies that ended the whole damn world, but you? HA! Don’t make me laugh harder! You are something so much worse; and she,” I felt a caress on my cheek, as if someone was telling me that it was going to be alright, just before I was going to die. “Sunrise has a real chance to be so much better than you could ever hope. If she takes that chance, so many like you will—”

Shadow Window pulled the trigger and my mouth was blown off. My body rippled in agony as shock set in. I was glad that I wasn’t in charge of my body, just along for the ride, but even from this distance I could still feel myself dying horribly. Two more gunshots echoed in the room, and by the time I heard the third one, everything went black.

She really…. killed me!? Am I dead? What?

From the darkness a computer screen appeared. A single green cursor blinked a few times, a few small dots appearing as if it were loading something. A Stable-Tec H.U.D. appeared as something worked in the darkness of my mind. Then, without warning, it faded further as the Stable-Tec H.U.D. went away completely.

What appeared next terrified me to the core of my soul. Two simple words.

“Hello, 17”

Below that message were three images of me. One was the green me with the red and white mane. The one next to it was gray, all gray. It was like looking at an old original television set in black and white. The last one was the pre-war me, the version of me that had terrified me. The thing that had been hiding in the back of my mind in a cage. The thing Pink and I had kept at the back.

The message changed. “Do you want to load settings for Green, Gray, or White Coat?”

END Act V

Chapter 54: The Dead Tree Protocol

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“The journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass, then you see it. White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
-Gandalf The White, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

I stared at the screen. I did not have a body but I felt like looking between the various versions of me highlighted them for selection. A grayed out version of my face was on the far left. A white one with a red mare, exactly as I was before I woke up in that pool, was in the center. My current form, the green coat with red and white mane, to my left. Pink? Are you here? Hello?

There was silence for a few moments and then Pink called to me. Her voice was distant, like someone yelling across a canyon. “Oh! Look who finally got killed. I mean, it took going completely insane and your own mother to do it, but I guess she brought you into this world and she could take you out of it. Only temporary, though.”

Temporary, What!? Pink help me out here, what is this? Where am I? I looked around, away from the interface but it followed my vision and refused to get out of the center of my view. Pink?

“Okay, this is gonna be a lot to take in. Welcome to your box! It’s a guardian class, so unlike Buddy—who turned into Quick Stitch or one of your other box friends if they died—you don’t get a random pony back. You come back. There is a third type, which is the refined version of yours. You’re kinda a prototype; the production model is in your mom… probably.” My head was spinning from her speaking. At least if I had a head it felt like it was. I wasn’t entirely sure about how my body worked presently in relation to all this.

So is this an out of body experience, what is this place and how does it work? Why are these boxes so strange?

“Okay, so, in front of you right now are three options. The problem is that you can have your pre-war colors but… the Sunrise that is you, the one Nyota loves? She will die when you fuse with Seventeen. See, that is the thing that has been fighting you for control, the thing we’ve been keeping in the cage. It’s gonna be a lot harder to keep it caged now.” I felt like I was holding up a hoof to stop Pink but she kept going and I couldn’t talk to interrupt her, not without her thoughts overflowing through me. She did slow down a bit but not much.

“Now for the fun part! The gray one, that is called Bland Mode. Basically, it has no memories, no personality, nothing. It works upon pure logic without any emotions. Mostly represents how you and Seventeen cancel each other out. You and Seventeen both get locked away in separate cages and a programmable robot takes over your shell till it dies, we end up back here, and then the programmable robot picks who's next. Yeah, you did that once; you lost six lives while that was in charge till it finally picked someone else.” I wanted to scream! I wanted to tell her to stop but I couldn’t, it was all just coming at me. It was like a river flowing and I was trying to damn it with a paddle that had holes in it.

“Okay, bit too much? Right, your choice: you can fuse with Seventeen and let that monster out or you can pick what you and I both know is the right answer, get a bit of a memory dump, and we move on when you wake up.” I flinched, expecting more from her, but nothing came. I could sense her waiting as I looked at the images. I felt the need to sigh and selected the green mane face.

Somewhere in the blackness I heard a scream, “NO! Not fair! No, not back in the cage!” It was my voice, but twisted, with some sense of evil underlying in it. Something about it made my non-existent skin crawl all the way up my spine. The screen shifted to something else.

The text read: “Beginning reconstruction and soul integration. Uploading previously locked memories.”

“Oh right, she shattered the wall we made. Oh boy. This won’t hurt at all.” Pink paused and I recoiled as I could see her now. “Okay maybe it will hurt a bit, like a pinch.” The text began to rapidly read 1’s and 0’s across my vision. I couldn't keep up with it. All as numbers started to form words in a never ending scrolling spam of text and numbers blended together. “Oh boy, leet speak. Ya know, nevermind, I lied. Bite the pillow!”

Pain was what I felt when mom shot me. Pain was what I felt when I woke up from surgery in Silver Fang. Pain was what I felt when I dove on that grenade or when that bullet hit my marebits. This, this made all of that look like a day old papercut. My very soul felt a form of agony that I doubted even beyond the Gates of the Damned in Tartarus could ever muster. All of me was shattered, put back together wrong, and then shattered again. Over and over until suddenly I was in a memory. I wasn’t sure when it happened or how. An eternity of torment blending slowly into a memory that I wasn’t even sure was wholly mine.

ooOOoo

50 Years After Megaspells - Spring

“Dammit, Bootstrap, where did you fire those missiles?” I demanded—no, Seventeen demanded. My body had a white coat. I was holding a unicorn by the throat; he had a dark green coat and a sunburst yellow mane. He was laughing and shaking his head.

“You don’t get it, Seventeen; you never will,” The unicorn levitated a gun up. A gun that I had been unaware he had within reach. We were on a catwalk and the earth was shaking underneath us. The gun was a shotgun, my shotgun! There was no doubt about that. I felt a pain of surprise as if caught completely off guard. The gun rang out and I let go of this unicorn.

I staggered to the ground, stunned as my chest heaved for air. Pain rippled through me with every inhale. Part of my chest and right shoulder completely blown apart by the buckshot. Two more shots echoed around over the noise and rumbling that shook the ground and catwalk under us. The unicorn’s head exploded and his neck was shredded by the rounds from somewhere to my left.

There were hoofsteps behind me but I couldn’t move for some reason. I felt like I was trying to but my body wasn’t responding. “Fuck fuck fuck! Get those deputized rangers in here! Tell them the Agent is down! Figure out how to stop those missiles or at least where they are headed! Go go go!”

I was being cradled by someone. My body was lifted up before my head was turned, I saw Chifundo. He was speaking without rhymes, he was directing several ponies I couldn’t see. “Stay with me, Seventeen. Do not go into regen mode, we need you here and now.” It was so strange hearing Chifundo without rhyming. It did not feel like it was him. It felt wrong on everything I knew about to have him not rhyming.

“Chi...Chifu…” The world faded to black again, gone completely and into another memory.

ooOOoo

50 Years After Megaspells - Summer

I ran through the field of fire. Machine guns ripples across a barren no-pony’s land. The bunker was my target. The hardened square and angular concrete was foreboding. I knew the flat platform on top contained a rocket, tipped with a zebra balefire warhead. “Stupid madmare, needs to be put down.” I wasn’t in control here, no this was the white version of me, except my coat was still green.

My confusion over witnessing this memory was escalating. Who is this? Why do they look like me? I think this is me but different?

“Oh, just now waking up to reality? Poor little innocent Sunrise, doesn’t wanna know what happened to her and now she is dealing with it. This is too juicy, I’m gonna enjoy tormenting you as you relive every single detail.” I felt my mind recoil at this voice, everything about it was unnatural.

My body slid to a halt as a couple of the bullets from the bunker slammed into the armor on my side. It wasn’t like my armor now, it was ablative, it just fell off when it was struck as it became useless. Wait, hold on, what are you? We’re here; I’m not exactly going anywhere, can’t we just... talk?

“What am I?” My body moved and threw grenades into the bunker slit, blowing apart the ponies manning the machine guns. My hoof reached up and clipped off the extra armor till I was down to just a flak vest and my saddlebags. My body crawling into the bunker slit, squeezing between the shrapnel blasted and charred concrete in order to crawl into the bunker.

“Me? Oh, that is going to be a long explanation for you. Remember how you were experimented on in Stable 43?” I mentally nodded as my body kept going deeper into the bunker. Just as I opened the door to the basement, a mare with a mad look upon her face appeared at the doorway. I did not even have time to recognize anything about her features before an explosion consumed everything around my body, including me. The world went black after a bright flash of white.

“Fuck! That hurts…. Stupid coward. Yeah, so, they did some reprogramming on your head.”

ooOOoo

50 Years After the Megaspells - Autumn?

My vision materialized on a pile of bodies. At least a dozen power armored ponies were torn apart. I was inside a bunker, not like a Stable but more a military facility. Steel catwalks, featureless and unpainted, ran around the room. It was gray steel with gray steel beds and gray concrete walls, all illuminated with fluorescent lighting and powered by spell-matrix gemstone generators running a magical fusion reactor.

Several dozen ponies in red robes were scattered around, nervously trying to hide their faces. The emblem of the Steel Rangers were upon the robes: a set of pegasi wings half-encompassing a circle with a sword dividing the wings. The wings were holding up a series of three interlocked gears each with a magic symbol inside them against the green apple background. The sword cut one of the gears off but it appeared to be layered on top of it rather than cutting the gear apart.They were nervously working on a dozen computers as I held up a list of mathematical problems, ones I did not understand. “Yeah, keep working or we’re going to need to talk about a few things.”

Reprogramming, what are you talking about? What are you doing to these scribes?

“Long explanation short, you’re supposed to be a weapon; reprogrammed for ministry use. Now to get into the long train ride that led to you caging me!” It was angry and shouting at me, raising its voice with a word. The presence in my mind was getting louder and more upset by the second.

ooOOoo

51 Years After Megaspells - Spring?

My fur coat was white still, and I was in a hotel room... no, wait. I was wearing something, weird, a—! Oh my… this is a—

“A whore house and some lacey underwear. Yes, but there are some advantages. Let’s see how you like this.” Inside here, I spent months, almost a full year. I experienced what it was like to... bed with a stranger. But the thing that was apparently worth it to this version of me was the infinite amount of drugs, the soap and mane conditioner; the feeling of being clean—even if inside and out I wanted to vomit. I did not have the control of my body to experience the physical sensations of vomiting but mentally I was at a loss for words.

I felt so dirty through all of it still, I felt just wrong. I begged for the near year of this to stop and Seventeen just laughed at my begging. It was drinking in my pain and enjoying it all.

I also strangely got time for Coffee Stain. She was running the operation, but now she was that strange half-ghoul mutated eternal scout version of herself. We… we made love several times. It wasn’t the love I had known; it was a raw physical sensation with little love actually between us. She could sense the change in me, she knew I wasn’t me. Yet, this is how an entire year played out.

I woke up in a hole, in the dead of winter. Coffee Stain and her scouts had murdered me the same night I was with her. I knew this by the fact that they were all gone; their entire operation, even the building they had been using was packed up and gone. I had been discarded into a ditch.

“Yeah, she figured out a while ago that you… I was not you. She just couldn’t bring herself to kill someone that looked like you. She swore I was a changeling. Too bad for her, I never was.”

You were going to kill her, weren’t you?

“I mean, yeah, that was my mission technically.”

But you took an entire year to not do it?

“That is a long story but let’s just say... her tongue was really nice and you felt it all; all the reasons why I simply didn’t wanna kill her yet.”

I thought about it. I was starting to understand that this creature only liked what served to make it feel good. Are you a—

“There are many advantages to being a sociopath; makes you a better soldier, for one. Makes it a whole lot easier to survive in The Wasteland, too—well, most of the time it works.”

ooOOoo

52 Years after Megaspells to 58 years after Megaspells

A flash of the next five years were very simple. I was farming, helping others farm. I had regenerated as gray. The gray version of me couldn’t feel emotions at all. It could only sense things by logic. It worked under cold logic. I experienced all these ponies for five years, until a swarming plague of rad-insects, including the bloodwings and rad-roaches, slaughtered them all. I got to watch a pony have all of the blood and fluids sucked out of it by three bloodwings within a few seconds. From alive and well to a putrid shrivelled husk in only a matter of moments.

I got to experience what it was like to try to get somewhere to survive, only to slowly starve to death. I awoke this time as green. I ran into a large group of Legions of Caesar. Zebras who set out to enslave ponies and continue the way against Equestria. The battle was horrific. I discovered that my brainwashing including tons of training I had no idea I had.

My body moved in ways that I didn’t even believe Nyota could. The only thoughts I felt during all of this was, rush forward, smash, shoot, grenade, block, block, and kill. That is exactly what happened. These trained zebras did not stand a chance against a pony who had 50 years more experience on them, advanced pieces of armor recovered from the Steel Ranger bunker, and did not have any sense of self-preservation if it meant their death.

I kept trying to pull against the weight of the memory, trying to make the blows less lethal or at least not me from delivering killing blows to helpless zebras. “Cute but worthless, this is a memory and you can’t change the past. Even I can’t do that.”

I have to try! Something has to be done to make amends or help them.

“You can’t do anything and you won’t get it will you? Just give in; this is what you really are, a weapon.”

When it was all said and done, three pregnant mares in chains remained. Blank removed their chains and the memories of traveling with them were pleasant, but tense. Apple Pie, Flower Remedy, and Ripper Hoof. I could tell Ripper Hoof was once a raider.

Then all of it ended when they attacked me one after the other. I did not understand why they were trying to shiv me. I had rescued them. I had helped them clean up. Yet they lost their minds and one after the other, tried to kill me. Seventeen effortlessly slaughtered them.

“Stupid slaves, so damaged they did not understand I was saving them. I actually gave a shit because I could trade their lives for good will and get a night in a hotel. Now I just have three bodies. Taught me not to help fucking slaves.”

Hey! That is just wrong! You didn’t have to kill them!

“You aren’t getting it. Everything you would spare and try to rehabilitate, I was sent out to just eliminate.” I was starting to realize that I could never allow Seventeen to have control, ever again. “And if I don’t Bland only sees stuff in black and white. And if you are in the black, you should be punished, permanently.”

This isn't’t who I am! I refuse to accept it! I tumbled into the next memory and wanted to slam my eyes shut but I had no eyelids to pull shut to stop it.

ooOOoo

This Bit is Going to Overload You, Prepare for Black Out.

Memories kept coming. I was a slaver for over a year; that ended with bombing the bosses and letting all the slaves go. The few that tried to kill me died in a hail of gunfire. I stayed with a mare while she bled out, the last one. Once all that was done, I shot myself in the head and rebooted from gray to white.

I experienced returning to Stable 43, and this was the thing that really stuck with me. They probed me while keeping me alive. Testing my box inside for any irregularities. They were gathering all the data. It was incredibly painful to be conscious and cut open, yet Seventeen acted like the pain was non-existent. I was surrounded by three separate Stable-Tec scientists filling out forms for all my activities for the last ten years. I finished and left, without orders and without direction. I visited the tank. Yes, Daddy’s Halo in that mechanic’s shop. The tank was in the busted, rusted state I found it in. Seventeen took out a beer and toasted the tank before drinking it. I did not understand or comprehend why.

Seventeen simply laid against it and was looking at photos, not of my parents but of my friends. Wait! That’s Alguacil? And that’s Chifundo? Nyota? What? But this is clearly in the past.

“Yeah, and they all have one of those little black boxes, don’t they?” I shuddered as it started to dawn on me. This was not our friends’ first time together. The reason we worked so well together was because this had happened before. “Nah, none of this ‘it has happened before and will happen again’. Just good old fashioned necromancy mixed with unicorn and zebra magic to create, well, resurrection boxes.”

ooOOoo

Everything else was a blur of strangeness. Frustration at no real orders from the Ministries. Some freaky antler mutated earth ponies that had turned into a cult. They were fighting the Enclave, somehow shooting lightning from their antlers. Seventeen cursed radiation and taint. In the end, she crucified their leader. It was garish and beyond cruel, she took the time to torture him while he was dying.

There was a long period of farming again, until finally a unicorn stallion wouldn’t take the hint about her not wanting to start a family. He tried to force her! The sight of him sprawled out dying as she gelded him was not something I wanted. Please make this stop! I don’t need any of this!

“Too late, you died; the pandora’s box is open! Get ready for every memory note we ever made, all at once.” I swore I could hear Seventeen munching popcorn and the sound of her laughter filled my ears.

Death by radiation poisoning in the far flung north, repeatedly. I had to experience dying in the snow from overdosing on rads four separate times. The feeling of missing trains and the Crystal Empire Rail Service echoed inside my head.

I met that alicorn. The one from the trenches. Somehow I knew her, Barista Foam. She was Coffee Stain’s mom and now she is a strange green alicorn that towered over me. When Breakfast Blend showed up, the friendly reunion turned into a shoot out that faded away as we yelled names at each other from across the room. Both of us were dying from bleeding to death. When I woke up, she was gone and Seventeen was healed again.

I was working for the Enclave now. It was so strange, I was their bounty hunter. They sent me looking for Dashites, they called them. Pegasi who followed the way of Rainbow Dash and were somehow traitors to the Enclave. I did this for years. Almost three years before one of them holed up in a manticore nest. Somehow they had tamed the creatures and that ended that life.

Seventeen was lost now. I could hear it… no her. Seventeen wasn’t just a killing machine, she was having feelings. I could see her trying to build a farm again. She was using the loads of money from the Enclave, bottlecaps, pre-war bits, gold bars, whatever she could get to fund herself. She was building a settlement.

It worked for a time, almost sixteen years. Seventeen was running a settlement. Everything that could go wrong did. Ponies breeding too fast to keep pace with food. Youngsters scaring away caravans or trampling crops by accident. Refugees refusing to live in the lodging hall and demanding their own separate house. There was a list of things that Seventeen could complain about. Then finally after sixteen years, raiders showed up while she was away.

Seventeen came back and I got to experience the true horror of just how Nyota fought. She tore them apart, but not cleanly or quickly. Each raider died in agony. She broke bones until they passed out or died of shock. She tortured them all to death in some crazed bid for vengeance. Not for the ponies they had killed, no, her happiness was gone. She felt all her work was dead. Everyone in her settlement was dead, the crops would die in the fields before they could be harvested. The buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond saving. She was more interested in the property than the creatures.

Explain yourself!

“Explain what? You still have that little foal mind, don’t ya? Creatures come and go, but your damn work is impossible to rebuild.”

Then why are you burying them all and making a proper memorial for them?

“You cunt! You wouldn’t understand a damn word of it. Leave me alone!”

Then get out of my head.

“Our head…” Those words shut me up. I realized I was stuck here with Seventeen, no matter what I wanted. She was stuck with me too.

How… do we come to an understanding?

“We don’t either you give into me or you keep me caged. In Between is Bland and both of us are caged then.”

How many times have we had this argument?

“Ask Pink, I don’t keep count.” I sensed that was a lie but I couldn’t press Seventeen to get the real answer.

Seventeen took weeks to get back to any town and got lost in the process. The towns were few and far between but they always had clean water and lights now. They were not just primitives living off the land. She was making her way to Breakfast Blend’s new place. By winter of that year, though, she was starving to death.

I did not need to know that pony tasted good.

“Yeah, well, neither did I!”

Why would you even… you regenerate right? Why would you…

“Because I gotta fight you for control every single time! Not to mention, dying hurts. I also haven’t had a check up in over 100 years now. I don’t know if this damn box will keep working or short out and the next time, we stay dead.”

It must be horrific. I was actually feeling sorry for Seventeen. This monstrous creature that had suggested I kill ponies instead of giving them mercy. This thing that had done so many awful deeds.

“What?...” Seventeen had this feeling of being stunned. It is always so strange, being able to feel the emotions of one you are arguing with. Knowing that these feelings are theirs while you have your own separately and they can feel them back. I felt genuine empathy towards her.

I’m not calling you an it anymore, for one. I get it. We were not meant to be immortal, yet we are. It has taken a toll on you, hasn’t it? I was going to try to show her some kindness. It might be the only way to ensure I woke up as me. This route might also help us understand each other instead of fighting each other.

“Yeah, look, I locked away these memories and Pink helped, but I didn’t expect to be put in the cage with them. Since you’ve been up roaming around with your stupid stallionfriend and making little zonies, I’ve been cooped up in here and screaming to be let out. Never gonna trust that stupid pink fluff ball again!”

You know that Pink is really Pinkie Pie, right?

“I’m sorry what? It’s a formless cloud of Pink spirit shit, not a pony.”

No, actually, once she started trusting me and I trusted her, she revealed who she really was. You mean you don’t actually remember that? Back in Silver Fang while I was undergoing surgery?

There was a sigh of resignation, I felt the growing presence of fear turn to being small and afraid. It was like Seventeen didn’t want to admit something. “When I’m locked in the cage, I only get glimpses of what is going on. So no, I did not know that, but it explains why she betrayed me. Probably getting her kicks from watching my head explode a few times.”

I looked back at the memories, she was in the process of beating herself with rocks and drank some vile green liquid. She crawled up to a settlement begging for help. They took her in, which Seventeen found to be strange.

End Data Transmission at: May 11th 121 Post Megaspell Day

Dates: May 12th 121 PMD to October 23rd 183 PMD Obscured due to security reasons.

The Following Reasons have been provided:
Founding of The Army of The Angel - May 12th 121 PMD

Dead Tree Protocol Activation - October 22nd 183 PMD

Army of The Angel? Dead Tree Protocol Activation. Wait! I Isn’t that the day before—

“Yeah, the day before you woke up in the pool with your friends. No I’m not gonna explain either of those things. Not till you let me have the body back!”

I thought about it and then firmly shook my head towards Seventeen once. No, I have friends and a family counting on me. I cannot let them find some… sociopathic demon running me. I have to return to them.

“Oh, there is a hole in this cage now! I can’t get out completely, but little by little I’ll find a way out! You hear me? I’ll get out of here and when I do, you’re gonna pay!”

I could feel the resurgence of hatred and raw terror pushing into me. It was so strange. I stumbled back and suddenly, with a bright white flash of light, I was awake again.

ooOOoo

A heart monitor was flatlining with a loud drone until I took my first breath. I had had a near death experience before. At least, I remembered having it, but this was all new. When you almost die and this waking up from death were identical. The first thing you feel is your lungs inflate. Not because you tell them to but because your body demands oxygen. It will let your brain die if the lungs can be made to keep working.

The next is the pounding in your chest. It feels like your heart is a sledgehammer and your chest plate is an anvil. It is incredibly painful at first. The heart monitor reflecting this with a warning klaxon as my heart rate skyrocketed to over 200 for several seconds. Your eyes do not see at first, they just don’t. Instead you see nothing but white as your photoreceptors don’t have any oxygen yet and can’t regulate themselves to anything but maximum open.

This is your body fighting itself to become alive. Your ears rush for some sensory input, your brain demands it as soon as you have conscious thought. Every intake of air feels less and less like a raging fire inside your chest, until the feeling is normalized and forgotten about. It isn’t that it stops burning; it is that you simply ignore it over other things. Your mouth comes next, you taste stale air leaving you and fresh air going in, all tarnished with the iron taste of your own blood.

Your mouth is so very dry, there is no saliva, not yet. Not for nearly a full minute, until you can start to feel dampness against your teeth again. I want you to imagine the most thirsty you have ever been, then I want you to imagine throwing sand in your mouth and swallowing it. It was like eating a dozen dry biscuits all at once and being told to swallow or die.

After all of this, after this near full minute of chaotic, horrific feelings as you realize your body is kept alive by breathing fire fuel and drinking in water that tastes of blood; your eyes finally start to adjust to the light. Eyes are so fragile, so delicate, that they are the last part your body tries to regulate when it’s coming back from the brink. Too much blood will pop a vessel and damage the eye. Too little and it won’t adjust the photoreceptor and blind itself with light overload.

I could see the heart monitor now. My heartrate was lowering down, 150…133… 127...111...101...92...80...75...74...60... 57...55...55...55. The burning in my chest did not stop, the pounding didn’t stop either. I just got used to them. “So painful every time. You really don’t realize your body is powered by a gas that could explode, a substance that should stop you from breathing, and tons of carbon, till you wake up from death; do you?”

It was Pink, she was talking as I slowly relaxed my breathing. I was on a hospital bed, in a room alone. I was strapped down. I turned to Pink, my mouth still dry. I noticed a pegasus mare next to my bed finally. She was wearing white hospital scrubs with a large blue E on them. The E had six stars next to it and a pair of pegasus wings holding it up. She was a kind of sunburst orange in color with a few white spots, like a painted breed. Her mane was just as spotted as her body. It was a dark purple but spotted with splashes of white. I swore the spots shifted on her body as she moved around.

My body demanded water, something to help my mouth along, I pushed my lips together and tried to force the word as my forehoof reached up and tried to grab at her, catching her wing despite the straps and pulling out a feather. She yelped in pain and backed away from me like she was staring at a ghost that had tried to possess her.

“Sorry…” I strained my lips looking at her, ignoring my need for water for a bit. “Water, please.” The nursemare hesitated and looked around as if looking for somepony to ask for permission to act. She slowly reached under the heart monitor and pulled out a carton with a straw. The carton was labelled ‘Water’ but the E on it was changed to be E on her nurse outfit. She took out the metal straw attached and poked a hole in it.

“Here ya go, just umm… do not throw it away. Recycling is mandatory in the Enclave.” I took the water and found that the leather straps were too tight for me to even get the straw to my lips. The nurse had to loosen it just enough. “Just till you finish, then I have to tighten it again.”

I gave her a nod of understanding while greedily sucking the small 250ml carton of water until I was sucking air. My lips and throat no longer a desert, I passed the carton to the nurse and she moved my leg into position to tighten the strap again. Even my tail was strapped down separately and braided to make it one whole piece. “Right, I need to go inform the superintendent that you are awa… alive. Anything else I can do for you?” She had a nervous yet friendly smile. The kind of smile you gave a raging chimera that couldn’t reach you.

I took a while to take stock. I am imprisoned in a room alone. I am strapped to a bed. Pink, are you here?

“Yeppers!” Pink was wearing a lion tamer outfit, complete with whip and wooden chair, while pushing the white version of me—Seventeen—back into a cage. “Glad you came back, I was worried that box had finally given out.”

I nodded with a groan and then a sudden extreme realization, “My children, where are they? Can I see them?” It isn’t just your life on the line anymore. We have to find a way out of here, a way to survive this and get them out of here, unharmed.

The nurse frowned and her entire demeanor dropped from nervous relief to total depression. shook her head, “Not until the Superintendent says so. I hate to keep a mother away from her children, especially with how they had to be birthed.” She was starting to move away and I reacted quickly.

“Wait, what do you mean how were they birthed? I was unconscious.” I hoped for some answers. That maybe I could excite some explanation for everything. The reason I was being denied the right to be a mother, a second time, was at the top of the list.

“Right, we had to be certain your womb was viable for the Superintendents project to work. We did not know you were pregnant. Some of our unicorns used a bit of growth and time magic to accelerate their growth to a survivable state and then we pulled them out. The Superintendent believes you would be more cooperative if they were unharmed, healthy, and alive. They are incredibly tiny, though they do not require pre-mature birthing care. They are healthy and, for the moment, unhappy.” The nursemare quickly covered her mouth with her wings like she had spoken out of turn. She winced and slowly lower her wings down to her chin, “I’m not supposed to have said that, sorry, they have just been especially whiny; more so than any foals we’ve ever had in the nursery.” She was speaking in a very low, squeaky voice and looking at me with a fear of something more painful than death in her eyes.

“It’s just, they don’t have their mother and they know it.” She yelped and squeaked out the last bit before quickly dashing out of the room. I sighed and hung my head, which was also restrained by a heavy thick leather strap and so it only moved a centimeter or two forward until the strap refused to budge.

The door was still opened and remained so for quite some time. Pink, where are we?

Pink jumped up next to the door and pointed at a sign next ot the door. It read ‘Isolation Room’ in small white letters against a red background. Above that in gray letters on a white background and much larger letters read ‘E.S.S. Vulture’. “Well if I had to hazard a guess, a medical isolation room on the Enclave Soaring Ship Vulture.”

Ship? What do you mean ship? We aren’t at sea, that doesn’t make any sense, Pink. I was bewildered trying to analyze what was just said. I had only encountered the Enclave once or twice. They were some sort of boogie-ponies of the Wasteland. I knew they were pegasi but a ship was the strangest part of all of this.

“Soaring Ship, silly! We’re on a raptor or a thunderhead, probably a raptor. Ya know, a medium sized aerial assault ship.” I had to process what she just said.

I’m on a raptor? A raptor, as in the ships that get in groups of three to five and hunt dragons?

Pink nodded with a gulp, “Yeah, not exactly a pie in the sky for you and Nyota. How did you think no one went after the Enclave? They live in the sky, remember?” I nodded at Pink, looking around the room seeing the rivets on the bulkheads. There were signs that posters had once been in places around the room; those impressions were still there against the gray steel. “So, start with the planning.”

Not till I hear them out and have my foals. I’m not gonna plan anything till I have them in my hooves. I glared at Pink and she started back. No matter who comes through that door, we have to agree; we aren’t leaving without them.

Pink frowned and hung her head, “Ya know, there was a time where I would have told you, ‘screw it, you can make more’.” I glared at Pink like I could kill her with my stare. “But after all we’ve been through, if you didn’t try to turn the Enclave to be better and save your foals at the same time, I wouldn’t own you as my friend anymore. Right, no matter what comes through that door.”

I felt like we were not really saying something we should have been addressed when I heard a familiar voice that made my skin crawl. “You told her what?” Another mare was trying to speak in a hush tone when a hard tsk cut her off. “No, I will not have this. I am going to explain this situation to her and that is that. Get out of here before I declare you a Dashite; stupid inbred pegasus idiot. Going to ruin this entire project and hurt our chances of getting her to cooperate.”

Out of the door, stepped my mother. “Hello, Seventeen. I am Superintendent Shadow Window, how has my daughter been?”

My body ran cold. The dead chill feeling that the previous incident had not been a bad dream. My mother had shot and killed me. I might have gotten better but there was no promise that would happen. There she was, standing before me waiting for an answer. “Come now, I know the cat does not have your tongue. Has your restoration process worked Seventeen?”

I cleared my throat and suddenly felt I needed a whole liter of water all at once. Pink popped me in the back of the head, not that my mother would have noticed since it just barely moved my head against the straps. I rolled my tongue around and did my best to shake my head. “Not Seventeen,” I managed then took a breath and tried to lick my dry lips. “I never was. Hi, mom.”

Now it was Shadow Window’s turn to be taken back and shocked. She stumbled a couple of hoofsteps back at this revelation. She had believed I was not Sunrise but Seventeen. Then again, she had talked to Pink and not me earlier with my foals. After a few moments she cleared her throat and stood back up straight, she was staring down over her nose at me. “You would do much to explain yourself, young lady, but that will come later. Do you understand the circumstances you are in?”

I wanted to shake my head but the strap was really just grinding my skin and not allowing me to move. “No, not really. I know I have been captured and have none of my friends or gear.”

Mom stamped her hoof against the hard metal floor in a way to make it echo in the room around us. “You are on board the Enclave raptor, Vulture. You are our prisoner so long as you resist. As soon as you prove cooperative, then you will be given access to your children under supervision. You are a warm blooded pre-war mare who is not contaminated with radiation or taint; why you are green escapes me and that will be a conversation for later. But your genes are what is important. Which means you can either be made to breed against your will or you can select and start dating stallions here on the ship. Do I make myself clear?”

Did my other mother just say that…

“She wants you as a brood-mare. Yes, Sunrise, she just said that.” The room grew very quiet and even the air itself had a pregnant pause. My emotions were conflicting and screaming so many things while trying to make sense of any of this. Pink bapped me on the nose this time to get my attention. “Yo! Stay with me, keep your sanity here. I know this is a ton dumped on you but you need to hold yourself together long enough to figure out a plan. The deeper you fall into the emotional hole this is gonna make, the harder it is for me to keep Seventeen in her cage. Got it?”

Right, Pink. I will—

“Sunrise, answer me. Right now, young lady.” She stamped her hoof again. I looked at my mother, studying her features from hoof to head. She was wearing an unmodified Stable 43 jumpsuit. Her hair was done up in a heavy bun. Her eyes were piercing but soulless; there was no longer any motherliness or love there anymore. Just cold, calculating precision. It was like she was looking at a mindless farm animal and not a living, breathing, sentient pony.

“I understand. No escape attempts, no running, and find a stallion I like on board the ship. If I do not cooperate, you punish my foals, not me.” I looked at the door, away from my mother and over her shoulder instead in order to ignore her icy death stare.

“Good, you can start by answering a few questions. Why in bloody Tartarus did you date a zebra of all creatures?” I felt a chill run down my spine. Something about the way she asked that, she might not hold her end of the promise about my foals.

I contemplated her question, rolled it over. Something about how she asked drove me to carefully consider my answer. I chewed my lip and thought of my foal then stared at my mother. I shook my head at her, “I do not believe we are prepared to answer those sorts of questions yet. At least not without you meeting him and talking to him first.”

My mother blew her mane out of her face and pulled the errant strand into her bun. She grimaced at me. It was like she was expecting me to change my answer and when I remained silently sizing her up, she looked surprised. I was calling her bluff; at least until I could sort out things like why my mother had killed me. It did not matter if I regenerated, what if I didn’t? My box wasn’t working right, that much was clear. Even Pink seemed worried that it was going to break down or go inert.

When I looked at Pink with that last thought, she looked around nervously from side to side and was sweating bullets. I held my breath as we waited to see what my mother would do. Finally Shadow Window stomped her hoof. “No matter, I will come back when you are more apt to talk. I understand you may have considered what happened a traumatic experience. Perhaps after you have some time to digest you can answer my questions. But I assure you, I will not meet him. His inferior Zebrican presence would be a complete soiling of the Enclave’s values.” She turned to leave and stopped at the door. “Get some rest, we will address your situation tomorrow."

With that, she was gone, and I was alone to figure out where I stood in this situation and take stock of what I could do about it.

Chapter 55: Engineered Slavery

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"What nature does blindly, slowly, and ruthlessly, man may do providently, quickly, and kindly. As it lies within his power, so it becomes his duty to work in that direction. "
—Francis Galton

*****

Day 1 of Enclave Servitude

I woke up groggily in my isolation room. It was bare, dull, and mind-numbing. My mother had left me here alone with a guard. The three times I had tried to speak to him he had held up a wing, then a hoof, then spat in a nearby fractured pipe. My boredom was exemplified by me counting the rivets in the room. I traced the pipes in the room when that was done. Next, I tried figuring out where the exposed wiring went and what it went to. A few of them didn’t make sense and made me curious just where in the ship this isolation room was.

This was my entire first day of captivity. Between tracing parts of the ship, counting tasks, and falling asleep; the hours passed agonizingly slowly. I was, however, able to keep track of time by the changing of the guard who stood in the room with me. At least I was sure what time it was by that. Pink was some help.

Pink, are we sure it’s two-hundred and sixteen rivets? I asked after counting the rivets for the sixth time.

“Sunrise, not only are we sure of the rivet number but I am reasonably sure at this point that yellow wire is not actually attached to anything.” She emphasized the second ‘not’ in her sentence with a pause and elevation in her volume. Pink went so far as to pull the wire out of the wall somehow—yes she physically did that. Then to add to the prank, she dropped it on the guard behind me and let it give him a start as it snaked through his main. This was certainly the most entertaining thing of the day, as he jumped exactly as if a snake had fallen from the ceiling and hissed at him.

The guard currently on watch, he was a bit different. He had a dark purple coat with small magenta eyes. Not like my big and bright ones but like the brightness or flare had gone out of them. He had a burgundy mane and a trimmed handlebar mustache. His armor was accompanied not by a helmet, but a cowpuncher hat with a pink feather in it. The feather looked like it was from another pegasus.

He looked at me like I had gone crazy. Maybe I had gone a little crazy.

Finally after all was said and done, Day 1 was over. The painful boredom done for now as sleep overtook me and sent me into memory lane.

ooOOoo

“Who are you?”

What? What is talking in my head now? Why can’t I see anything? It isn’t just dark, it’s like I don’t have eyes! I started to panic and realized I didn't even have a body with which to struggle. It was so strange to be filled with so much fear and terror and yet be unable to feel anything physically.

“Oh… you’re the refused one.”

I’m what? Who are you? That question seemed grossly inappropriate as the presence I felt filled me with a sense of calm but also a sense of absolute dread. It was so strange to be both completely calm and so scared I didn’t want to move. It was indescribable, like if half of you were in the boiling desert and the other half stepped into a freezer for several hours. What are you? Where am I?

“This is the place between the veil. You have been here before, several times. Your father holds out, refusing to cross my bridge until he sees you again. He weakens. You are the one who cannot cross the bridge, though you have been there more times than any has the right to.” There was a pause, a kind of realization.

What are you on about? That doesn’t answer my… It dawned on me that I wasn’t in a dream. I was somewhere alien and yet familiar. I felt like I was tilting my head as curiosity built.

“Ah yes, you realize now. Yes, life only has a right to a single ticket. You have had your ticket punched far too many times, yet you defy the rules. Perhaps you will correct this, as I have given up. This is why I reach out to you.” A mist appeared. It had no shape, no real form but I could sense it had sentience; it was alive. My mind was trying to give it form or make sense of it but any form I tried to give it, any configuration I had tried to identify or my mind tried to put together would immediately disperse itself.

“You are trying to make sense of me? Right, you are a mortal who has been here too long. Mortal souls and minds are not meant to exist in perpetuity as you do. This is not a memory. Your dreams are the only place I can truly reach you. Now, your name is Wandering Sunrise; but you have many others. What should I call you?”

I hesitated. I wanted to ask so many questions to understand this creature. I suspected from all the vague clues, it was death, or something that took on death’s aspect. The mist continued to swirl and move without form. I wanted to close my eyes and I realized I had no eyelids to close, no way to stop the sensory input and just think. I felt so many emotions of my mortal body, so many things I was used to doing, but I had no corporeal form.

The sigh I wanted to release, the motions of my head, my ability to emote beyond words was stripped from me. All I had was thought. “I see, you do not quite understand. Here, you cannot deliver emotion and body language; this troubles you. I will do the best I can then.” The mist swirled and suddenly I was standing in a formless void, my body appeared and I could move again. The panic was gone but not the dread of this place.

I gulped and closed my eyes. Hello, my name is Wandering Sunrise, what is yours?

The creature nodded to me. A pony made of mist—well I should say, a mist in the shape of a pony. I could see through it in parts and it moved with plumes of smoke that tore away and floated into oblivion. It moved as it spoke, but because of its mist form, I couldn’t really make out its facial expression. While it moved its hoof as it spoke, it did not have the kind of body language I could read. This made the conversation more alien instead of less. “Hello, Wandering Sunrise. I have many names, but for now you may call me Judge.” Its voice was neither male nor female and again I wasn’t hearing with my ears or speaking with my mouth. It was only in my mind.

Have I gone insane? Am I dead?

“What is death? It is not an end, just another step on the road. Perhaps I should answer more clearly, you are not dead. You should be. Those two small foals you hold, should not exist. It goes against the plan I know.” There was a long pause as the mist seemed to be holding onto a word, searching for how to phrase it. “You would call it fate or destiny. They can be bent, yes, but they are not supposed to be... broken. That device your kind created goes against the will of beings you barely understand. So I am sent to ask, what is it you want? What do you desire that you would break the will of eternals, to become one?”

I shook my head. Whatever this thing was, it was horrifying to behold. I wanted to recoil, to run away, but I was stuck here. I could not turn in any direction that the mist pony shape did not reform to be in front of me. I closed my eyes and it was there too. It would not relent. I didn’t want this. I didn’t ask for the box in my chest. I don’t want anything, except… I thought of my children who I was holding for the first time. I thought of Nyota, how he made me feel. How well he took care of me. I missed his cooking.

“I see, you are a victim of circumstance. You have mortal desires. I will need to think about this. We shall talk again soon.” The mist reached forward and touched my head. The chill that surged through me only took a single moment. Darkness engulfed me into a dreamless sleep again. Suddenly I was awake again to the sound of soft hungry crying from tiny mouths.

ooOOoo

Day 2 of Enclave Servitude

I was awoken by the guard from earlier; my eyes hurt and I wasn’t sure what time it was or how long I had been asleep. He offered me my PipBuck and I noticed there were fewer straps holding me down now. “Yer mo... the Superintendent says you should be pretty good as a mechanical engineer. I am supposed to watch you and let you repair the wiring and piping in this room.” He pushed a tool box along the floor. The bright red paint was faded and there were chips in the metal along with rust streaks covering the dents and chips.

I raised an eyebrow as he said all of this, waiting for the catch or something behind this. “Look here, you can see your kids if you cooperate; today in fact.” I raised an eyebrow further as my heart skipped a beat at the possibility of being allowed to be a mother. I hesitated to move, not sure if his words were right or if he were just lying to get me to work for them. “Look, I saw them myself and without you the nurses are worn out by them. They know who their mother is somehow and they really are keeping our nurse staff up at night. So help me out and I promise I’ll get them.”

I sighed and gave him a stare for a bit, then decided on one question and would tell me if I could trust him. “What is your name?”

If he answered honestly, I would be able to trust him. If he lied, I would know he couldn’t be trusted. It was a weird question to think of but something inside me told me this was what I should ask him. He cleared his throat, “Grapevine, my name is Grapevine. Look, you remind me of my daughter, at least you’re the same color she was and had that same look in your eye…” He trailed off as I stared back into his eyes. It was like I was trying to pierce into his soul, to find out why the spark in his eyes was gone. Why he looked so dim. His eyes sparked back to life, like there was a drive in there for just a moment. “Look, you got her eyes. I’ll help ya make this easier if I can, just don’t make me have to punish ya, okay? Not sure I could take that too.”

I nodded to him, “Alright, deal, so long as you step up to the plate for me; I will do what they ask.” I paused for a bit to let that sink in. Something about the way he talked, he seemed both on the verge of tears and genuinely hopeful at the same time. Maybe I can make a friend here, at least make all of this bearable till I see a way out. I felt like Grapevine might actually be genuine, and there was one way to find out. “And,” he stiffened up when I started the next sentence as he started to undo my straps and stopped himself. “I get to see my foals at dinner tonight.”

Grapevine nodded and finished undoing the straps. Maybe I can overpower him and get out of here?

Pink cleared her throat and shook her head. “You have no layout of the ship, you don’t know where your little existential horrors are, you have no plan to get off this ship, and he’s armed and armored while you are not only NOT even wearing any barding, but are the weakest earth pony I’ve ever met. When you make your move, I’ll help, but you need to be absolutely certain what that move is.” I sighed and nodded at Pink, another thought that sent a chill down my spine rippling through me.

And if, umm… mom makes me sleep with some stallion?

Pink caressed my cheek, “We’ll deal with that if we have to cross that bridge. Now use those mechanical skills your dad taught you.” Grapevine was holding the tool back up to me and I opened it up. Inside were no electrical or automatic tools. A very basic wooden hammer, three screw drivers, an allen-wrench, an adjustable wrench, tweezers, wire cutters, electricians glove and electricians tape. That was it.

“Not exactly a lot to work with,” I grumbled as I started to climb off the gurney. My legs were not exactly happy. I wasn’t sure how long it actually had been since I was… dead? Murdered? What’s the word for it here?

Pink groaned, “Yes, both of those things and whatever else you think of; when are you gonna get that your mom isn’t a good pony?”

I glared at Pink for insulting my mother. I wanted to scream and rally against her but kept it to myself. Grapevine helped me along as my legs got used to supporting myself again. He was at least a kind stallion, though I wasn’t sure if his motivation was purely generosity. My mother had effectively told me to find a stallion or else. Unlike, say, a grounding or a spanking, the ‘or else’ I did not want to see. I pulled the tools along and opened the fuse box.

The wiring was a mess. Two fuses were completely blown apart and worthless. The wiring was severed and frayed in at least three places, one of which I wasn’t even sure could be reattached upon initial inspection. Not to mention the water that was dripping that was an immediate electrocution hazard. I checked the box and looked up to Grapevine. “I’m going to need rubber gloves and a sponge. There is some water here, and I also am going to need a shunt and a crowbar.”

Grapevine was almost in agreement till I mentioned the shunt and crowbar. He shook his head and I grimaced at him. “Look, I need a way to check for electrical charge and send it somewhere else. The crowbar is just that: a temporary electrical pathway.” I looked at him with a reasonable expression upon my face and sighed. “Look,” I pointed at his chest plate. “You have body armor,” then pointed beside him where a plasma rifle was mounted on a saddle. “And a plasma rifle that I cannot just take from you and use. You asked for my cooperation, not me to kill myself to help you.”

Grapevine cleared his throat then nodded, he walked to the door and knocked on it. There was an unlocking noise from the other side and he walked through as I watched his wings wave back at me. The door closed and there was some chatter on the other side and I waited. I listened to the ship groan, the air not really wanting to keep it held up. Not without the force of its engines and clouds keeping it there. The magic of the ship was fighting to conquer this airspace. I shuddered, realizing how fragile the vessel was and how unlikely I would be to survive a crash landing. Raptors weren’t built with escape pods or life boats. It was assumed everypony on board could fly. Little earth pony like me and my foals… they wouldn’t bother to save me either.

“That is part of how unfair this relationship is, Sunrise. You are expendable to them if it all goes to Tartarus. Get a plan together, just in case this cookie crumbles.” Pink wasn’t her usual cheery self with those words. She got very timid and fearful as she spoke.

In my head I had an idea of how large a raptor was. They are one-hundred and eighty-five meters long by forty-six meters high and roughly thirty-three meters wide. Raptors are massive airships of war, designed to fight adult dragons. Not ancient or lord sized ones, but ones as big as a house or as large as a school. Able to withstand the blows they offer and deliver massive plasma and energy based weapons. Their main gun is a gauss cannon that runs the length of the vessel for punching through the toughest of armor or leveling entire fortified positions in an instant.

All of this in my imagination, and yet I felt amazingly fragile here. Every groan, creak, and protest of the metal. The sparking of the live wires in front of me. The rattle when a bout of turbulence rippled over the hull and it fought to maintain its speed, altitude, pitch, and yaw. I wanted solid earth under me. I knew what I was fighting now. I was fighting that earth pony instinct to be connected to the ground. There was no fixing it, no adjusting to it, simply slowly learning to ignore it. It would be present with me until I found a way off this ship.

My thoughts and reflections of fear to be in the sky was disturbed by Grapevine opening the door with a full set of thick rubber gloves and a crowbar. Much better than the electrician gloves from earlier, these would keep me safe from thousands of volts in case I struck something very important while working. He offered them to me while he hefted a box of electric shunts onto the floor, “Will these do, little mare?”

I nodded and started my work, fixing the fuse box; extending the wires with new pieces, working to twine the copper and iron inside together. I took out the bad fuses and re-routed the power equally through the remaining working fuses. Lastly, I cleaned up the water with the shunts keeping the electricity out of the box while I worked on it. The crowbar was helpful in realigning the pipe above the box and sealing the very minor leak.

I closed the box and wiped my brow, “There, till you get some new fuses that should fix all of it.” Grapevine stood there looking fascinated and impressed with all the work. He looked genuinely impressed with my work and blinked a few times.

“Well,” He started, taking a half-step back behind me. “You do know your stuff.” I felt a wing on my shoulder and flitched away. We both stared at each other like some tension had suddenly been inserted between us. Both of us now knew that this relationship would never be even. I was a slave and him touching me was not acceptable. He might be treating me well but the sole motivation here was my children and my own well being.

Grapevine nodded and sighed, “Right, I understand; hopefully we can get past that and this will be a bad dream. I will go get your little ones and dinner for you. Put the tools in the box and leave it next to the door, so long as you are not doing any funny business; I don’t see the need to take ‘hem from you.” He had a strange accent now, like the soldier in him had dropped and he was speaking pony to pony instead of soldier to slave.

I cannot forget that here, I am a slave. Not a servant, not a trusted member of the crew, a slave. No matter how nice they are to me. I took off the gloves and put everything into the box, in front of him. “Thank you for this.” I’m at least gonna try to be polite. Grapevine smiled at me and nodded as he opened the door and a different guard stepped inside.

This one was not what I expected. He was an earth pony, standing upright he had strange transparent butterfly wings with a divert pattern of colors and rainbows on them. He was bright orange in color orange with black hooves and his mane and tail were salt and pepper. There was a certain kind of brightness or liveliness to his sapphire blue eyes. He nodded to me and then even smiled. “Hello there! You must be that mare everyone is abuzz about!” I noticed he didn’t have a gun and that the butterfly-like wings were attached via a harness on his back. He stopped just short as I made my way back to my bed and started to slowly pace around it.

I don’t really wanna lay back down, I think I would rather stand for a bit if I can. I sighed at the new guard while I waited, nervously. “Look, yes. I am here. I would like my Stable-Barding back, if possible. I also want to know how long I am being kept under armed guard.”

The guard gave a motorboat noise and shook his head, “I can’t really answer for either of those things. Anyway, I’m Delta Sierra. Listen, I’m only here because the Superintendent ordered it and the captain doesn’t want an earth pony moving around unsupervised.”

I looked him over and checked to make sure those wings were not a part of him. I physically got close to him and leaned in to make sure I wasn’t crazy. Nope, that is a mechanical apparatus with a spell matrix. I leaned back as Delta Sierra looked at me as if he were demanding personal space. “What about you then?”

Delta Sierra cleared his throat and blinked a few times, “Buy me a drink first before you inspect the goods, mare. Yes I am an earth pony but I’m an Enclave bred pony.” He put a hoof up to press against my nose and make me flinch away from his touch. “You’re a wastelander; big difference there, at least to the captain.”

I tilted my head a bit confused and Delta Sierra cleared his voice, “I noticed the light outside cut back on. So I think I have you to blame for that if I remember the electrical circuit right. Look, miss…” He was searching for a name. One I wasn’t sure I wanted to give him.

I nodded to him, “Wandering Sunrise. My name is Wandering Sunrise.” I can’t let them demean me to someone else or make me less than a pony. I might be able to get my captors to be nicer to me or stand up for it if I just be a little nicer, right?

Delta cleared his throat and looked me over, “Right, Sunrise, okay?” I nodded to him and sighed. “Look miss Sunrise, I do not want to be here anymore than you.” He emphasized the word not with a harsh raising of his voice. “But since we are, we make the best of the situation. You serve the Enclave now, get used to that. It doesn’t have to be all bad though, we can be friends, so long as we agree to be on the same side.” He extended his hoof to offer it to shake.

Pink leaned in finally not being completely silent and growled, “Sunrise, don’t lose yourself because they are being nice.” I hesitated to reach out and shake his hoof, Delta Sierra frowned at me. “But, Sunrise, and listen closely. You have to be prepared to betray them all, if it means you and your children escape this.” I nodded to Pink and hesitantly reached forward to Delta Sierra and gave him the hoof shake.

I felt dirty or slimy for doing it. Just as I released his hoof the door opened, and in stepped Grapevine along with the nurse I had first seen when I woke up. Carried in her wings were two small bundles and I could see the faces of my children. They were so small and tiny.

I walked over to the bed, “Go on, Miss Sunrise, please climb into the bed before you take them.” The nurse motioned sternly towards the bed and I climbed into it, I rolled over and suddenly my heart skipped a beat. I felt the slender weights of the two small foals placed into my forelegs against my hips.

A warmth coursed through me that could only be described as behold something truly beautiful. I felt some connection to them, like they belonged there on my hips. I stroked their manes as they slept soundly against me. They hadn’t been disturbed in the slightest by the nurse moving them. They even seemed to glow brighter and smile in their sleep now snuggled against me. They need names.

Pink cleared her throat, “Not without Nyota.” I tilted my head curiously. “Oh right! Yes, names, names you should discuss with your husband.” I looked down over them and sighed out. The one on my left was slightly thicker and had a square jaw like Nyota, he was my green coloration with orange stripes that matched Nyota’s pattern. The one to my left was zebra gray, not white, and had muted blue stripes in Nyota’s pattern. Their manes matched the contrasts as well. The smaller filly had black mane with a muted blue and a unicorn horn with the muted blue stripes in its rings. The green colt had an orange muzzle and orange along his rear hooves like I had white on all four of mine. His mane was pearl white and screaming orange like my tail.

They both opened their eyes and stared up at me. I was filled with shock and dread while their eyes rolled with a light of recognition. The filly’s right eye and the colt’s left were like Nyota’s spiritual eye. They were filled with the stars of the cosmos and their iris was a solid piece, like looking into the layers of the sun right at dawn or dusk. I carefully and softly wrapped my forelegs around them and gave him the gentlest of embraces against my rear hips as I lay on my back staring at them. They both yawned and curled up, closing their eyes to go back to sleep.

They’re beautiful and so horrifying at the same time. Will they… like Nyota? I looked at Pink for answers while the nurse stood next to me. She wasn’t going to let me alone with them. She even had a hoof over the railing of the hospital bed, ready to seize them if something happened.

“Well, yes, Sunrise. They are made up of everything you and Nyota are. Honestly, they are a miracle and a wondrous one at that.” Pink let out a very long dawww at them opening their eyes and yawning before curling into me tighter and going back into the realm of sleep. “They are gonna sleep a lot, at least to start with. Magical augmented pregnancies do have some side effects. Do you have ideas for names?”

I groaned and felt a pressure to both name them and not give them names yet. I shook my head. The nurse looked at me funny, I had not realized she had said anything and was expecting an answer. “Miss Sunrise, do you have names?”

It wasn’t Pink who had asked. Pink looked like she was irritated to have been interrupted, I turned to the pegasus and shook my head, “Not yet. I am sorry this is a bit overwhelming; I had not expected them for at least another eight months. Nyota and I…” I trailed off as the crushing reality that unless I escaped, I would never see him again. That assumed he was even alive. Is he dead? Do I have fatherless children in a world that my mother wants to enslave me and them in? The nurse nudged me to help me back to reality and instead of falling in the pit of depression and insanity.

“Right, no, not yet. It will take some time for me to find names for them.” I smiled nervously at the nurse while holding the two of them.

“Well, alright, you get time with them so long as the boys there,” The nurse pointed towards Grapevine and Delta Sierra. “Report you are either helping maintain the ship or actively attempting to court and breed with one of our stallions.” The nurse was cold, almost like she was regarding an animal, not a patient with conscious sentient thoughts. I looked at the two small foals and tightened my grip on their wrappings just enough to keep them tighter on me. Their small warm bodies reminded me that I was responsible for their happiness and safety. A responsibility I wanted deeply to keep.

“I will keep that in mind. Do you have to tend me every time I am with them?” The nurse nodded with a sigh.

“Yes, I am required to keep watch on the dirt pony and her striped foals at all times.” I winced and felt like she was directly trying to de-equinize me.

Right, I am the foreigner here; kindness may ease their restrictions but no matter how nice Delta Sierra or Grapevine are, I am here to be breeding stock. An image of what that entailed flashed across my mind and I had to quickly force it out. I kept them close and looked at the nurse, “Unless you are going to wait a long time, I would like to keep them a while.”

The nurse blew her mane out of her face, looking very un-amused and shrugged, “I’m stuck here with them regardless of how long you keep them. Go on and sleep or whatever.” I stayed awake for a while, watching the two small ones struggle in their dreams. Their kicks were so weak it made them adorable. Their heads were so large for their bodies. I yawned and slowly my eyes became heavy, heavy enough that I faded to sleep.

*****

Day 3 of Enclave Servitude

“Do you have to watch everything I do?” I asked Delta while he held the toolbox in his jaw and offered me the screwdriver. My mind half-focused on the task at hoof. The box had two electrometers that only indicated if there was a charge running through them. They spun faster when more electricity was pushed through them. I grabbed the screwdriver and started to work on taking a panel off.

Delta let out a muffled answer that was barely understandable. I turned to him and he looked all innocent and puppy-eyed at me. I wanted to be upset with him. I want to refuse to smile. But he had won me over here and I smiled at him as I reached over and took the screwdriver from his fetlock covered hoof. “You know, you could put the toolbox down and actually talk to me.” I managed to turn my smile into a flustered frown again as I set out to put the panel back on.

Delta Sierra rolled his eyes and set the toolbox down with a playful grin. “Look, you’ve been here three days, I figured you could use reasons to smile.”

I grimly looked at him out of the corner of my eye and flatly spoke in monotone, “You are also supposed to be attempting to get me to date you and get me in bed to make babies. Not exactly very good terms to trust you on.”

Delta Sierra deflated and looked genuinely hurt by my response. “Look, I ain’t about to make you do anything you don’t want. You think for two seconds the pegasi treat me all that great? They act like I’m some sort of defective wingless version of them and not a genuinely good engineer or farmer.” I finished up with the panel and took a look at the smoking wiring.

“Do you have a wire cap in there? And some tweezers?” I passed him the screwdriver back, wishing I had my children instead of tools in my hooves. Delta looked through the box, pulling open the drawer in the bottom and getting out the caps and tweezers.

I took them into my hoof and touched his nervously through the rubber gloves. “If it is all the same to you, I would rather not bed you. You’re lacking the proper equipment for me,” Delta said nervously. I paused and raised an eyebrow as I looked at him, then looked up and down my body then back at him, rather confused. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re a very lovely mare but really not my type. Maybe if you were a stallion. So no need to worry about me trying to get you into bed.” I looked at him like I had been insulted for a moment and he let out a giggle that belonged to a filly scout. “Sunrise, sweetie, graceful mare that you are, you are not my type. Too small and don’t have that earth pony raw power I prefer. If you were a femme colt, I might consider ya, but you aren’t.”

He leaned up and whispered in my ear. “It’s the reason your mom chose me for this assignment, she doesn’t have to worry about you getting pregnant by an earth pony.”

I blinked a few times and took a seat next to him. I reached over him and grabbed the canteen of water we had brought with us, my barding stretching as I got used to it again. I wasn’t as lean now since my body regenerated as it was when we first woke up. Which meant the barding was a little tight. The armor plate on my belly pushed into my rib in a weird way that was a bit painful. Pink, how long till I slim back down?

“At this rate? Never. Especially if one of those stallions gets you into bed.” I grimaced at Pink and she winked at me.

Keeping me from getting too comfy about that aren’t you?

“Gotta make sure you remember, Sunrise, no matter how nice; they aren’t really your friends.”

Friends of circumstance on the other hand. Pink nodded with approval and I finished with the sipping of my canteen. “Why would my mother be concerned that you are an earth pony?”

Delta rolled his eyes, “Inferior breeding is what she would say. You might be an earth pony and the Enclave could use a few more of those to help with the food situation or ya know, the mechanical knack problem,” He trailed off for a bit as a pegasus guard passed us. He was dressed in medium power armor with a scorpion tail stinger and made an effort to smack into it and knock the canteen onto the floor, spilling some of its contents before I righted the canteen.

“Watch it, stupid brood mare. Can’t even hold a canteen right.” The pegasus sneered and kept walking.

Delta yelled after him but he just kept walking out of sight around a bulkhead, “Puff Creamer, watch it! That’s my water, too!” Delta Sierra checked my hoof but the rubber glove had prevented any damage. “Damn fucking asshole. He’s been such a poonhound jerk.”

I tilted my head confused, “Oh right, you don’t know. He lost his unit on a mission near New Pegasus to you and your friends. He has been looking for payback since you came aboard.”

I gulped and made a mental note to avoid him. “Alright, so you just…”

Delta shrugged, “I live here. I was born up in the clouds. My choices are help the pegasi keep what they want or get thrown to the ground.” He pointed at his wings as the mechanism flapped, “They won’t let me keep the wings when they throw me off the clouds either. So basically, help and be useful or be dead. I cannot get political office, the odds I will get permission to have a child are really low, and I can’t get a military rank above corporal.” He pulled out a printed ID and held it up to show to me. It was an Enclave Military ID and he pointed to the rank line, ‘Specialist’ is what it read. “I don’t even get the rank of private, I’m a specialist and that is all I can really ever hope for unless some higher ranking pegasi decides to take a fancy to me.” He leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Just giving you the downlow of everything. Look, I’ll watch out for you, promise. I’ll talk to Grapevine, too, we might figure out a place we can talk in private with you.”

I looked at Pink for advice and she rubbed her chin, leaning in close before giving a firm nod, “I think you might have some allies; maybe, possibly, perhaps, not a no.” She paused and a lightbulb appeared above her head. “I mean worst case, you show off those Fallen Caesar tricks Nyota taught you, right?” I smiled at Pink.

Thank you, and keep a look out for me, okay? Pink nodded and gave a sharp salute as I turned back to Delta Sierra who was expecting an answer. “Alright, if you two wanna talk about it, I’ll listen. Just have to convince the nurse to step outside and leave my foals with us.”

Delta just smiled at me and nodded.

*****

Day 6 of Enclave Servitude

It was mid-afternoon, while I had finished my work shift and was lying in bed, nursing my foals. I wondered what they were feeding my foals. Every day they had been extremely hungry and honestly, my teets hurt. Are they even feeding them at all? Am I the sole source of food for them? I am completely not prepared for this… I wish I had a mom who was helpful!

My mother was pacing back and forth with a checklist in front of her, “You’ve done your work shift today, yes?”I nodded with a groan from a particularly painful draw on my teet by my filly daughter. “Alright, have you found a stallion you like yet?” I shook my head and stroked the manes of my foals in time with each other. I was trying to focus on them, to get through this.

I am not liking her with this daily questioning.

“I could find some defense for it, but all it would be is an excuse. She isn’t your mother anymore, Sunrise, she’s a mad scientist who treats you like a machine or an animal, depending on her mood.”

Maybe I can get through to her, somehow. Pink rolled her eyes and propped her head up on her hooves to continue to listen to the conversation. “Do you love them?”

My mother stopped her checklist and notes and turned to me confused. “Do I love who?”

“Your grandchildren.” I motioned to the two small bundles of joy nestled against my cutie marks.

“They prove you are a viable breeding mare. That is reason enough I suppose. I will have to learn to look past their inferior father’s stock, but with time...” she paused, staring at them with disinterest, “Do you have names for subjects A and B?” She spoke coldly, incredibly so. I winced at how she talked about them as subjects, like they were test animals.

I shook my head, “No, I have not yet. I feel it is wrong to name them without their father’s consent.”

My mother stopped and snuffed her nose up at the air. “His consent is not required! You are superior to him in every way. He should be worshiping you and whatever you command.” She snapped around with a sort of rage in her eyes, a cold emotionless anger. It was so strange to see the chill and yet burning fire. My foals started crying and I tried to comfort them as she raised her voice, her volume the same but her tone becoming more harsh . “I suggest you come up with names soon, or else I will name them what they are: Mongrel and Mutt. You can decide which is which.”

Shadow Window snubbed her nose to me and my crying foals as she tucked the checklist into her saddlebag, “I will be back to finish this list when they are done crying or your visiting time is up.” She turned and walked through the door looking at Grapevine. “Make her settle those poorly bred things down so we can finish our list of how she is adjusting.”

Grapevine cleared his throat as Delta Sierra was coming in to take his shift, “Beg your pardon ma’am.” Shadow Window turned to Grapevine with daggers in her eyes that could have slit his throat. Grapevine looked at me, there was a certain sympathy in his eyes. He turned back to my mother’s death stare, “Perhaps if we made her a little more comfortable and happy, this would go a lot smoother. She isn’t a machine after all, maybe get a normal bed and we have her fashion a set of cribs for the little ones out of some scrap metal and spare uniforms? Might go a long way towards making the adjustment easier for her emotionally.”

Grapevine tugged at his collar and pulled his hat down as he spoke in order to make himself look smaller. She looked at him and then at me, as I managed to quiet my foals down. My mom irritatedly blew her hair out of her face from the frazzled parts that had come out of her bun, “I will consider it and speak with the captain about this decision. If I decide to allow it, he can spare the parts. Maybe if she continues to behave and finds a stallion to court, I will allow it.” She turned to Delta Sierra and sneered at him with a hiss, “Out of the way, specialist!”

Delta sidestepped and saluted her while Grapevine put his hat back on. He shook his head and then looked at me, “That is your mother? You’re kidding, right? Because even as wary of us as you are, you have at least been decent.”

I finished getting the small foals to calm down and they started cooing before the colt was always taking a deep inhale while sleep took over his exhausted little body. The filly was curious through and looked her oversized head around as best she could to listen to our conversation. “Yeah, she… wait, you think I am decent? We have only known each other for six days.”

Grapevine walked up with Delta Sierra, the nurse hadn’t come in yet. He nodded to Delta who turned around and locked the door by spinning the wheel mechanism and then putting the bar in place to prevent something on the outside from re-opening it. “Yeah, you are. You haven’t snapped at us, you’ve been cooperative all because you wanna see your foals, and well...Look, the situation sucks but let’s make the best of it.”

He looked at Delta, who cleared his throat, “Yeah, once you get used to working for the pegasi, most of them are more than happy to have you along. Well, most of them.”

Grapevine rolled his eyes and sighed, “I think what he means is this: I don’t want you to do anything before you’re ready and he doesn't either. So how about this,” Grapevine walked up to the side of the bed and looked at the two foals then me. “I’ll pretend we are dating and keep the other stallions at bay. Should make your mom lift a few restrictions, might even get you from having her do these stupid check-ups.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Delta Sierra, then at Grapevine, not sure I should trust them. “Why?” I asked, curious as to why they’d stick their necks out for me.

Delta cleared his throat, “Look, your work on the electrics and plumbing is astoundingly good. As a mechanic, you are better than any specialist on this ship. I should be taking lessons from you, to be quite honest. I really feel like you could benefit the Enclave and maybe get them to not make earth ponies second class citizens, or at least get a movement going that we are better and more needed than the pegasi elite wanna pretend we are.”

Grapevine looked at me and took my hoof into his. I wanted to pull it away at first and stopped myself. No, let him. Let’s hear this out.

Pink looked at him, incredibly suspicious, and physically moved between Grapevine and my baby filly’s head. She reached out to Pink, like she could see Pink and wanted to touch her. “Not now, little bundle of existential horror and joy, Auntie Pinkie has to protect the small.”

The filly continued to bat at Pink’s cotton candy like tail and it wiggled like a spring. Great, they can see spirits already. Right! He’s expecting an answer. “So what all does that entail exactly? What are you expecting me to do?”

Grapevine looked at Delta for advice. Delta rolled his eyes and groaned, “Pretend like you are flirting with him. Maybe bump your hips into him while you walk around,” I started to protest and so did Grapevine when Delta held up a hoof to keep us both quiet. “For a start, don’t make the little ones upset again by arguing. Second, if you want that bitch—” I opened my mouth to try to defend my mother’s name, and Delta paused, when Pink put a hoof on my jaw and kept my mouth shut.

“Nope he’s right, and you need to see that.” I wanted to scream at Pink now too, but couldn’t. I had to set an example for the foals. Once she was satisfied I wasn’t going to protest, she released my lip. Something inside me kept saying my mother could be saved, made to see a better way. She had been kind once, and wonderful for a time.

I cleared my throat, “Maybe not use that language in front of the foals who are still learning to speak?”

Delta looked at the filly and colt and covered his mouth, “Right, my mistake. The Superintendent will have to buy it if she is to let up even a little bit. That woman is all book and empirical evidence. So you two just fake it. Grapevine, we’ll talk to your wife about it and get her rotated down here to be the nurse from now on. We can make this work and keep her protected for a while; at least till she is off this ship and the foals can walk on their own.”

I looked at the two of them confused, like I was walking in mid-conversation and not having heard a huge piece of important information. Grapevine nudged the air in my direction and grumbled something through his lips. Delta shrugged and nodded. Okay, what has been going on with these two.

Grapevine turned to me, “Look, since my daughter died, the Enclave hasn’t exactly treated me right. We know the Superintendent wants to get you off this ship and sooner rather than later. Honestly, it’s like you’re sent from the Twin Sisters themselves. She goes away and the misery on this ship goes with her. So if we can make your life easier and make her less…” He trailed off for a bit and I cleared my throat.

“Less of a spoiled egg in a cake?” I said. Pink blinked a few times and I could see Pink fuming slightly.

“That’s one of my lines!” I wanted to giggle but held it in as I smirked at Pink.

Hey, it keeps the foul language out of the foals’ ears and it’s my mother. Seriously, show some respect, even if she is being horrible. I waited for Delta and Grapevine to exchange a look at each other then nod in agreement.

“Less of her rotten egg attitude and treatment of everypony on this ship; the better.” Grapevine reached up and brushed my mane from my forehead and I relaxed. I actually felt a little at ease from his efforts. “Listen, I’m gonna put this as nice as possible. You could be my wingless daughter from how you look. I see a lot of her in you.”

I tilted my head a bit confused, “We have not talked that much have we?”

Grapevine cleared his throat, “I got a hold of the Superintendent’s intel file on you. You step up and save ponies, regardless if they are shooting at you or not. Blackhawk still being alive was a shock for us. She was a member of our ship.” He looked at Delta Sierra and nudged him with a wing.

Delta looked miffed and then turned his head back, “Yeah, we read about the battle near The Roof, Blackhawk was feeding us information, but based upon what she was telling us,” He paused and looked around the room as though searching for someone listening to us. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the small filly in my grip touched his shoulder for him to continue.

“Ya! Okay, okay, I’ll keep talking, little one.”

Oh this might be helpful, but... wait, Blackhawk is a spy? Why? They won’t let her back up here, will they? I was trying to process all this when Delta continued.

“Blackhawk was leading us in the wrong direction; she would tell us the opposite of where you were going. But, I have to know, is the stuff about you stopping a siege with a megaspell and then forgiving the raiders and helping them mend the damage, is that true?” Delta leaned in, looking rather hopeful. I wasn’t sure what to make of this.

Is he treating me like a hero or asking me to make a new bomb? I gulped and then slowly nodded. “I regret having to use the megaspell at all and would never build another one no matter what.” I explained to them as I shielded the filly’s ears. I had not realized she had gotten bored and started playing with my tail until she pulled on it. “Oh, hey.” Pink took my tail and gave it some slack so my filly could tug on it without hurting me.

Delta nodded to me, “So, you did all that? You saved them and saved your enemies, too? Why?”

I gulped and blushed quite a bit, “I mean, killing your enemies is not how you stop wars. I lived through The Great War; killing them only makes the war last longer. Getting both sides to make compromises is how you end a war and save lives.”

Delta and Grapevine both took a step back away from me and looked at each other, dumbfounded. They both started to talk, then stopped, then started again and stopped a second time. Then finally both of them turned to me, “The Enclave has always preached about the superiority of our ways; that we have constant enemies on the ground and creatures ready to fight us at every turn. You’re telling us that all you did was get them to talk to each other and agree to some compromises and suddenly they’re friends?”

I nodded very slowly, “Even helping each other rebuild, because it is easier to work together than fight, and everypony is a hero in their own story.”

Grapevine took a little bit to think and looked at Delta. Delta sighed, “Look, we can’t stop the Superintendent and what she has planned but we can delay it, at least here on the ship, till both of you are gone and you have some clout.” I nodded at both of them.

“Okay, are you sure about this?”

Grapevine nodded and let out a very long sigh, “I can pretend to be courting you if it will get her to leave you alone about... that particular detail.”

Am I really winning them over or are they just afraid of having to deal with something on the ship? Wait… My brain had put a few things together and I looked at Grapevine, “If I don’t start dating a stallion here, a pegasus of the Enclave, what is going to happen?”

Grapevine looked at Delta for help but he shook his head back at him and the two of them silently passed the buck back and forth with hoof motions, head gestures and even a wing gesture from both of them until finally Grapevine let out a long sigh. “The Superintendent will force you to receive a stallion for the purposes of breeding. This is a ‘cooperate or else’ situation; your consent is not required.” I gulped at that and looked around.

They cannot be serious, my own mother is going to…

“Sunrise, you’re going to have to get into the reality you are living in. That isn’t your mother anymore, that is a heartless scientist. She is making this by numbers and charts; you’re nothing but a number now. Get it through your skull!” Pink hammered onto my head to emphasize the point and the filly against my leg swatted her flank like she was spanking her. The filly made some very cute, angry baby noises and Pink blushed deeply as she slid away from the foal to get herself some distance. “Hey! Okay, no hitting your mommy, I get it!” There was a tiny harrumph in reply from my newborn.

Okay, what now then? I looked at Grapevine and Delta with a question of what to do next. Finally I let out a defeated sigh, “Alright, if you are willing to help prevent that, I will go along with this. Even if it is only for your sakes till I get off the ship.”

Chapter 56: Hopeless Box

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“When freedom burns, The final solution, Dreams fade away and all hope turns to dust. When millions burn, The curtain has fallen.
Lost to the world as they perish in flames”
-Sabaton, The Final Solution

Day 11 Enclave Servitude

Nyota, please forgive me, I don’t think I’ll ever see you again. But please, I hope you find happiness and forgive me. I had been moved from the hospital and was sharing a room with Grapevine and his wife, Orchard Blossom. The amount of awkward going on here is a bit absurd. How can they let the Superintendent get away with force breeding like this? Orchard Blossom was one of the pegasus nurses on board and she was helping with my foals full time now. I still couldn’t bring myself to name them; not without Nyota. Naming them would be admitting I had no hope to escape.

I looked at Orchard Blossom and studied her very carefully, trying to read her emotions. She was green like me, she had a very similar red and white mane to my own but her green was a bit darker, more like a deep emerald as opposed to my grassy lime green. Her wings were in immaculate shape, cared for to the extreme and they always had a sort of shine to them; the kind of shine you see off morning dew from blooming flowers.

Grapevine was now assigned to be my guard at all times I wasn’t working. His presence did keep any buck, colt, or stallion who thought he had the guts to demand my attention to avert his eyes elsewhere. When I was working, Delta Sierra was assigned to work with me and Grapevine could go about his normal duties. Instead of always having me under heavy guard, I had agreed to a bomb collar on my neck in exchange for freedom out of the hospital. I thought I might be able to disarm it but couldn’t find the point, it had been almost two weeks and I had no word from the outside world.

Yet here I was, changing diapers and pretending this was normal somehow. I let out a long sigh, dragging myself towards my own bed. They had put another bed in the room so we all wouldn’t have to share a bunk. Orchard Blossom put a hoof and a wing against my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks.

“They are coming to check in tonight.” She held up a clipboard with some orders from the Superintendent on it. They indicated she was coming by to check if our relationship had fostered anything yet. “It will not pass if you are sleeping in a separate bed from Grapevine. As much as it pains me to say so, for all our sakes; you take my spot,” She motioned towards the larger bunk that her and Grapevine normally shared. I could see the fear in her eyes, the emotion of her wanting to be brave but also how much all of this hurt.

I started to answer when Orchard gave me a reason to pause and think. “I will get your foals ready to sleep. Have you thought of names yet?” Orchard Blossom turned to me with a look of concern. Her question, asked every day, had been cutting to me for the last half a week.

We spoke in hushed whispers, as if someone had a listening device that might catch us even in these private moments. I shook my head with a very grim sigh. I was unwilling to share my reasoning why. I knew if I got off this ship into an Enclave city, that was it; any hope of escape would be gone. I would never know what happened to Nyota, Scopola, Chifundo, Alguacil, or Quick Stitch. I simply would be lost to the world from them.

My two foals were not the only newborn in the room, there was a separate crib for Niagara, their second filly. I’m still in shock they were not allowed a second child unless their first died. Orchard Blossom took care of the children while Delta Sierra and I were out doing ship repairs, and now I was being asked to take her place in bed. This was gut punch after gut punch; the longer I was on this ship, the less I felt I could carry on. I looked back at Orchard Blossom, “Sorry, I cannot bring myself to name them yet. I want to thank you for the risks you are taking for sparing me as long as we can manage it.”

Orchard Blossom shook her head and tsked her lips repeatedly. “Sunrise, listen. There is a lot we are risking to try to make this as nice as possible. Grapevine talked me into this and while I don’t like shielding a stranger,” She pursed her lips and bit down before finally hanging her head. “What the Superintendent is going to do to you is a war crime; I can’t just stand by and let that happen, even if all I can do is delay the inevitable.” Orchard Blossom reached up and rubbed my cheek like a mother rubbing dirt from her child after a long day of play. It was comforting, reassuring even as she tried to smile through her pain and fear; smile for me.

She gave me a very motherly look, with her head tilted and her eyes giving a gaze that only a mom knew how to do to you.’ “Listen here, Sunrise. You can wish it as much as you want but there is simply no way your friends are going to make up here. This is raptor has over one-hundred armed troopers on it. Not one of them is going to get through the canons, shields, and troopers on board. You best make peace with your new life and name them; you and your bundles of joy are going to be Enclave citizens, whether we like it or not.”

I turned my head away, I felt tears welling up as my heart seized like it had been torn in half. She was speaking of a reality I could not accept; there had to be some way out of this. There has to be something I can do. Something they can do. I finally turned to Orchard Blossom and let out a deep sigh as my hope faded, the fire squelched out by the armored plating surrounding us. I could see the accusing look in her eyes, she was looking at me the same way you would look at a criminal whose crime you didn’t believe should be illegal.

I felt a nudge from Pink and gave her a quick look to stop her from talking, a nice little look of acknowledgement. I turned back to Orchard Blossom and softened my gaze. “Look, I have no intention of having sex with your husband. I am not entirely sure of your motivations for helping me, but I am more than thankful. Every moment the two of you buy me out of the broodmare stocks, I appreciate more than words can ever express.” Orchard Blossom’s shoulders softened and her gaze wasn’t nearly as harsh as it had been just a moment before. I felt a sense of relief, that we could start to trust each other. Two souls thrown into a pit of despair, holding onto each other.

“If you want to explain to me why,” I lowered my voice, being more conscious of not waking the small bundles sleeping away next to us, “I am more than happy to sneak down to the barracks, convince a guard to get my pack. I have some fresh coffee inside so we can talk over coffee.”

Orchard Blossom was taken aback by my offer. She was confused as to why I would offer such a thing and tilted her head towards me. She looked around the room like a spy checking for bugs or someone watching us from inside a picture. In a very low hushed voice she hesitated to say her next words. “Real coffee? Like pre-war freeze dried stuff?” She took a step towards me, licking her lips in anticipation with a hopefully look in her eyes. “Not the recaf stuff we have on board?”

I shook my head and started grinning ear to ear. She looked confused when I shook my head as I got ready to really impress her. I’ve got her on the hook now, hopefully the story behind this is worth it. “No, real coffee grown in a greenhouse, no preservatives, no freeze dried burning to it. Fresh, real stuff.” Orchard’s wings extended out and I looked around with a smirk. “I can get Delta Sierra to watch the kids, tell him I need to talk to you about some…” I trailed off trying to figure out what to fit in as an excuse.

“Marital concerns with you seeing Grapevine?” I shuddered when Orchard uttered that phrase and Pink made goo-goo eyes and even a wolf-whistle.

Pink not now! Seriously, inappropriate. Pink let out a giggle and then nodded.

“I mean, I had to try to lighten the mood; all this spy game stuff is reminding me of the Ministry of Morale Pinkie Pie and not birthday party Pinkie Pie.” I groaned and nodded to Pink.

I will concede that, hopefully we can get out of this spy stuff soon enough. I felt 17 rearing up and Pink sudden produced a frying pan and smacked her back down real hard with a very metallic twang.

“Yeah, we should go with that. Delta Sierra is a complete barndoor raider and I do not believe he will want to listen to us talk about bedroom martial issues.” She gave a coy grin and nodded. I slipped out, headed to find Grapevine, while Orchard went to secure a method to brew the coffee. Grapevine would have easy access to the barracks, afterall he was an Enclave soldier.

Within an hour, we were inside a maintenance closet, Delta Sierra was watching the bundles of joy take their nap, and the coffee smell was contained with towels on the vents and doors. I was drinking mine black, in long slow sips. The warmth entered me and suddenly my spirit perked up just a bit; it was the closest thing I had to Nyota. He always does have a cup ready as soon as I wake up. I really do miss his touch to how he made it. Something always special to make it bitter but not burnt.

“I would normally cut this with that artificial creamer and sweetener stuff we have but this is too good to pass up.” I rolled my eyes, having never put milk or sugar or sweeteners into coffee. I always liked the bitterness, it helped ensure I would appreciate the bite from it.

Pink somehow had her own cup and I swear I could smell something different about her coffee to ours. Pink are you drinking that with Med-X?

Pink snickered and shook her head, “Toaster Strudel Cinnamon and maybe a Ment-Al or two. Ya know, something with even more pep in it.” I groaned, being reminded that just days before, my body was addicted to Med-X and now it wasn’t. It was so strange to overcome something that itched my hooves, made my skin crawl.

All it takes is for me to die and suddenly I get a reset. I… I think I would have preferred to stay dead. The creeping dread that accompanied that thought chilled me to the core and I thought my hooves might turn my coffee to ice. I shook the thought off and I took another sip. I needed something else to think about, I motioned for Orchard to begin, “I fulfilled my end of the bargain, I would not mind listening to that story one bit.”

Orchard smiled and then let out a very long sigh. “The Superintendent,” She looked at me and her expression turned very worried. “Your mother.”

I raised my hoof and shook my head, “I accept she is no longer the pony I remember. Superintendent is what we could call her. At least till I can convince her to give up her current insanity and be a mother again.” I added the last bit less for Orchard and more to reinforce to myself that I had to find a way to save her. Everypony can turn back from evil, it just takes showing them what they are doing is wrong; right? Or at least convincing them of a way to Do Better?

“Right. Well, the Superintendent came with us with a proposal some years ago. She claimed she could solve our inbreeding problem bearing down on The Enclave. That there was some untouched, unmutated pony DNA in the Wasteland. We just had to find it. They didn’t believe her at first and she had to produce it. Two such ponies were found and offered, both from Stable 43 and recently released.”

I tilted my head, taking in all she said while Orchard took another sip of coffee. “There is a ‘but’ here. If they know where Stable 43 is, why not just go there?”

“It’s not that simple, and that is where our deceased daughter comes in. The Superintendent took our daughter and a small team to Stable 43 only to find it has some very unusual defenses.” She took out a pencil and started to draw on a napkin. “I stole the report to find out what really happened to my daughter. That is why Grapevine and I are on this ship, insubordination and stealing classified files is a reason for a 10 year penal service sentence. I got caught but not before I read it.” She began to draw a diagram on the napkin.

I leaned in close to read what she was drawing while my ears craned to listen intently. Pink leered up with her reporter outfit and wide brimmed hat as she started to scribble notes onto a piece of paper. “Dozens of automatic turrets, an airlock style transition room, here and here.” She made several X’s and a long corridor drawing then started to put doors on it. “A triple unit Stable-Door, the massive gear shape and everything, designed to take multiple balefire bombs directly to the door itself. The concrete walls around it when we dug through were not only thick but the rebar reinforcing inside the concrete was electrified.” She paused and started to tear up.

“My… my daughter died when the rebar lanced a lightning bolt powerful enough to short circuit her armor and cook her from the inside out…” Orchard started to cry and the napkin drawing was disintegrating under her tears, I moved her coffee aside to avoid it being spilled and could feel nothing but pity for her. My hoof stroked her back and I got up to move around the table. If I were this inconsolable, I’d want someone’s shoulder to cry on. I kept petting her, sharing her sorrow as best I could. The closest I could think was my mother’s miscarriage as she wept onto my shoulder and I remained, to let her.

Pink… what about Stable 43, is it really that much of a fortress? How do you get in?

Pink pointed at my PipBuck, “That is one of the keys you need, a PipBuck from Stable 43. The others are collections of files and computer programs on holodisks that we don’t have.” I looked at the device and made an effort to ensure it was covered by my new work uniform. It would be best if they didn’t realize it was a key piece to get into Stable 43.

After a while she slowly stopped sobbing and I nudged her, “Your daughter was very brave, I am honored you feel a connection to her through me. What happened to the two ponies from Stable 43?”

Orchard cleared her throat, “They are in Applehale, currently they serve as breeding mare and buck. They get to live lives of luxury in exchange for carefully having children with whom the Enclave tells them to and not anyone else.” Orchard was getting angry, I could feel the change in her voice and her muscles tensing up as she glared at me. “That bitch killed my daughter so we could get brood slaves instead of actually fixing the Enclave’s problems.” Orchard slowly reached over and gripped my hoof.

There was something here, some emotion I didn’t understand. Something new, this feeling of understanding now. I felt kinship to her, a sorrow and wonder I did not fully grasp. If I lost my daughter… I haven’t even named her yet and I would be just as angry and heartbroken as she is.

“You may be an Earth Pony, but you are kind, you are patient, and most of all, you have her eyes.” Orchard gripped my cheek as she raised her head and stared into my eyes, deeply. A tear rolled down her cheek, a new one. Somehow I knew this one was different than the ones she had been crying, it reflected the light differently. I sensed a rise in her as she rubbed my cheek tenderly, almost too tightly. Like a mix of a grieving loved one and an over eager grandmother, all condensed down into a hoof pinch.

“No matter what, that kindness in you, that compassion and mercy; do not let this place or any other take it from you. Make what my daughter died for something worthy.” I stared at her and felt a weight crushing down onto my shoulders and chest. It was like having an anvil slowly depressing onto me each moment I did not speak. I had a whole lot to live up, a request I never thought I could achieve.

I looked at the table, moving away from the gaze of Orchard. “If you help me escape, will you come with me?” I whispered in the privacy of the closet. The coffee was getting cold and for once I did not care. This was far too important.

Orchard’s eyes lit up in surprise and she hesitated. I felt something however, a piercing blackness coming to me. “Sunrise! SUNRISE!” Orchard grabbed onto me as I collapsed to the floor and the memory took hold.

ooOOoo

17 Months, 13 days Post Megaspells

I was in a room, a dark room. I took a deep inhale and could smell I was underground. Wet concrete, unrusted pipes with steam about, the metallic tang in the air of iron and steel resisting age, the slight hint of vodka to it all.

“Ah 17, you are awake. Good. 71, 88, and I were starting to get worried.” I heard the voice and my body felt cold, in a deep sweat I never expected to be in. I shook my head and realized it wasn’t me, it was the presence in the cage. This was a memory of theirs.

“What do you have to report?” It was 9. That was 9 speaking. 17 started to move and found leather straps holding her down. With a grunt she slowly turned to the shadowy figure. “17, come now, you would think we would do a debriefing without something keeping you from your murderous ways?”

There was a smirk across 17’s lips, my lips. Okay no, that is not me! And it’s so messed up that I—

“Shut up! This is my show—not yours—now sit down in the peanut gallery and be quiet, ya runt.” 17 snarled at me to get me to stop. I snapped right back without hesitation.

You! Oh no, you aren’t getting a free ride this time, you’re gonna let me think and do as I please in my own body or… or… or…

“Or what?”

There was an audible slap in my head, one that echoed through both 17 and myself at the same time. “Quiet you two! Play it out and let’s get back to reality rather than bickering here. Sunrise takes notes and if I have to put you both in time out; so help me there will be no cookies or popcorn for this movie!” Pink was snarling and had both 17 and myself recoiling back away from her. Both of us looked at each other in this strange mindspace as if we were not sure if we wanted cookies and popcorn.

17’s angry smile got broader as she flicked her mane out of her face and sighed, “I was really hoping to tear your throat out tonight. Yes, my report. Well, did you get that Wastelander I brought in here with me?”

9 took a moment, in the shadows I could see them moving their heads to look at each other. A soft glow from 88’s horn almost revealed his face but it was somehow eluding my eyes. Why are their faces like that?

I wasn’t sure who I was really asking, Pink or 17 but 17 is the one who answered. “Protective brain programming, outside of the presence of 9, 88, 71, and them outside of presence of you; you won’t be able to recall any facial details; not even a real coat color. Even here in your memories the spells used to rewrite your brain’s linkages keep that much true.”

17 was being helpful and I was stunned, That… isn’t how you’ve been.

“Look I ain’t afraid of your fat little bubbly ass but your damn Pink friend can really make my life painful. So I’m cooperating as much as I have to so she doesn’t smash my head in.” I looked a little confused and even appreciation filled me from this gesture.

Are we… getting along?

“By getting along you mean I’m cooperating with a pink knife at my throat?”

Right, I will keep that in mind. I looked back to the memory of what was going on.

9, 71, and 88 had all turned back to 17 and nodded in unison, “Yes go on and inform of how you captured this one and why they are of value.”

“It wasn’t all that hard,” There was some implication in my voice. An implication of torture, pain, and nasty methods. “He’s a bookworm, it took all of seven seconds to break him. A little twisted hoof and he was singing like a canary.” I felt like my head was being cracked by an egg as their horns glowed and they leaned in close to listen.

“She is telling the truth,” 71 told them with a nod of her head.

9 made a motion in the darkness, I got a glimpse of the color of her coat for just the briefest moment, I swore it was lavender. Perhaps it was just the dark light or whatever effect was masking their appearance. “Let her continue, so long as she is truthful.”

My body gave a smile. That is unnerving to Tartarus’s Gates.

“What, ya goody two shoes?”

The sensation of someone else running my body while I’m a passenger. Is this what it’s like when you’re in control?

“It’s exactly what’s it’s like you stupid futz. I get to sit here while you run the body and scream but nothing can be done. Now I have this little hole in the cage and I’ll keep exploiting it.”

Cage, explain that?

“Memory’s playing, stuff it!”

I rolled my head to cascade my mane out of my face, or my body did anyway. It was like I was riding in a robot that someone else was in control of and it looked like me, not to mention I could feel all of the robot’s sensory input. “His name is Azure Glide, he’s a city order survivor. He really has this hero complex but certainly was prepared for torture. What else you wanna know?”

9 tilted her head and then looked at the other two agents. I could only tell this by how the shadow moved its head to turn to those agents.

71 undid the ropes around that held my body in place, “Good, you roughed him up. Now we can use you as bad cop and I’ll play good cop. Unless you have a better order, 9?” He turned his head to 9 and... it was strange. In that moment the shadows that hid their faces became like thick smoke instead of shadows. I could see flakes of color underneath; like a sudden burst from magenta or purple. If I focused on it the swirling clouds moved to block out the bits that had broken through.

Why does it do that!? This is so frustrating.

“It’s an anti-interrogation spell you idiot.” I glared at 17 but relented to let her finish speaking. “If someone mind probes you, they won’t get the faces either. You’ll only recognize them in the flesh. Now pipe down, this is the good part.”

I wanted to demand a way to break this spell but I held my tongue when Pink shook her head. I wasn’t sure if she was telling me to let it go or there was no point. I dropped it when 9 spoke again, “No, that is actually a good idea, 71. He’ll already be afraid of 17 and, honestly, if you can get him to have some hope and mind probe him, we can get all we want on the Enclave.” 9 motioned her hoof for the two of us to head towards a bulkhead door.

It was like the door to a ship, complete with a hydraulic sealing mechanism to make it airtight. My body was piloted through a bunker bulkhead. I got a good look now as I was stepping into the blinding light of a hallway. My eyes were seared by the light and I shielded them with my PipBuck hoof for a little bit.

The first thing I saw actually gave me a little hope. This is a stable! It’s a stable! I frantically searched for identifying markings. A yellow flat gear with it’s inside hallowed out and replaced with a big bold yellow 43 was etched in the inside of the gear, where any rods or connection mechanism should go. I’m in 43!

I immediately began committing every single detail to memory as we walked through the hallway to a T-Junction. There was another gear with the number 43 on the wall at the junction intersection. A rectangular pyramid sign pointed the directions. It was illuminated with a frighteningly red colored light with black letters.

The way we had come was ‘Detention Center A’. Dead ahead was ‘Detention Center B’ and to our left was marked ‘Living Quarters’. We continued to walk towards Detention Center B. 71 rubbed against my shoulder, “17, no hard feelings? You did make it look very good.”

17 growled in response as our hooves clanked across the metal grate floor, “You could’ve been a little lighter. The job was to make it look good, not rip my skull in half.” 17 nudged against 71, much harder than he had rubbed on her.

“9 is always suspicious, you know that. Now what do we expect to gain out of interrogating this pegasus any further?” 71 was getting serious as we walked towards the first door in Detention Center B. I could see his features tighten up through the cloud of smokey haze that protected his identity.

“Honestly, nothing, but hey! It might be worth some fun.” 17 had a very cocksure grin on my lips when she said that. They spun the lock for the bulkhead door until the metal protested and whined as it ground the hydraulic locks open. The door creaked and inside was a aqua colored pegasus with a spearmint green mane and tail.

He let out a very loud yelp, “Hey, look! I’ll tell you what you want to know, just no more, please.” 17 smiled at the bleeding lip and bruises she had left on him earlier. The blindfold was clearly made of a pair of underwear, possibly his own. The pegasus was struggling against his bonds and his head darted side to side at every single sound in the room. A dripping pipe, the door creaking as it settled in its new open position, the sound of 71’s hooves against the floor.

“Awww, poor dear. She really did a number on you, didn’t she?” 71 almost sounded like a nurse consoling a child. He walked up with a grace to his movements that felt unnatural and seductive.

“I don’t know who the hell that barn door bottom is swaggering for. This pegasus is blind as a thestral in wearing soundproof earmuffs.”

71 turned his head and gave 17 as wink, I couldn’t see it but I could feel it. It was the same kind of feeling one would give when awkwardly being flirted with. Flirting that was both welcome and superfluous. You and him…

“Me and him, me and everyone more like it. Remember, dumb ‘zebra fever’ mare, I did what felt good at the time; I might sleep with a pony only to slit their throat in the night afterward.” I shuddered, feeling very dirty at what 17 had gotten up to with my body. “Oh, don’t be so high and mighty, all he had to do was call you cute.”

I snarled at 17 and the memory faded back to the real world.

ooOOoo

I felt myself slowly coming to, the blinding lights of the hospital wing welcoming me as a unicorn in blue nurse scrubs had her horn glowing over my head. “There we go, come on out of it.” He coaxed and cooed at me. I saw 71 at first then blinked several times and it wasn’t him. It was a soft beige unicorn with a dark blue mane. He had a few spots along his neck but I couldn’t see beyond that. His mane was in a surgeon’s net and his face was covered by a mask.

The nurse turned to someone else in the room, “She’s coming out of the memory. No damage that I can detect.”

I swore for a brief second I heard Agent 9 but the sensation went away almost immediately. Something left over from the memory? Where am I? What happened?

“Good, I cannot have my pet project getting her mind destroyed or corrupted by rogue memories. Do you know what caused it?” Shadow Window barked at the nurse.

The nurse shook her head while another pegasus, this one in a lab coat and doctor scrubs approached, “If I had to guess from the information presented in the memory; she is either losing her mind, there are more than two souls inside, or something else is going on with those boxes we barely understand. Perhaps if you could give us more—” A swift hoof was held up by Shadow Window to silence the doctor from finishing his sentence.

“I will be the judge of what information about our recombulators is shared and what is not. Now, is she healthy and sane?” Shadow Window looked at the doctor and nurse who I thought were going to shit their scrubs. Their eyes were wide with shock and both of them were reeling onto their hind hooves from Shadow Window’s incredibly threatening tone.
The doctor gulped visibly as my eyes regained all their focus and my senses came back. “We put a stop to the memory and she is all there. Her brave waves are normal according to the equipment but there are three underlying sets of brain wave patterns when she is dreaming or in one of her memory loops. Healthy and sane, I could not answer without further study. For now, she should be alright for the immediate future.”

Shadow Window glared at me and then at the doctor, “Talk to her, bring the ship’s psychological therapist up here. Perhaps she can make sense of all this.” Shadow Window stormed out of the room with a stern snort and her head held high, as if she were unapproachable on the subject. The doctor let out out a long sigh and turned his head towards me, then towards his nurse stallion.

“Alright, go find Feather Brain and tell him he needs to come in to see a new patient.” The doctor snapped his head towards the nurse, “Do not for one moment tell him who it is, and if anyone asks, this is classified. I’ll inform our patient.”

The doctor walked past his nurse before he had even absorbed all of that information and approached me. He pulled out a small flashlight and held it up to my eyes, blinding each one for a few seconds. “Your pupils look fine, do you know where you are?”

I took a second to further examine the room and recognized exactly where I was, I nodded slowly. The doctor shook his head, “I need verbal confirmation.”

“I am in the room you put me in after I was captured, when I nearly beat up your nurse and caused the incident when you brought me on board.” It was the exact same room, even with the paint scuff I had caused from throwing the hospital bed to block the orderlies.

“Good. Glad to see your accent is back, otherwise I would suspect this 17 had awoken in your place if not.” I looked at him rather surprised and felt a slow anger building inside me. “We had to probe into what you were experiencing to put a stop to it. I apologize for that, something unicorns are good for to the Enclave, mental magic.” He put his stethoscope up to my chest and checked my heart and lungs, pulling it across my frame.

I wasn’t listening to him completely; I looked around the room. My eyes were more concerned about my foals than anything else at the moment. How long have I been out? Did they get fed? Images of them crying their hearts out, unattended, flashed before my mind.

“The nurses you took care of your children this afternoon. Our magical interference may have slowed the play rate of the memory. You have been out for almost two hours, the memory may have taken less time to just play out but we need to understand this condition. Nothing in Enclave records or the Old World exists like it.” He cleared his throat and continued to examine my body. “I can’t be certain your recombulator is not at fault but I believe it may be. This memory condition, how often does it happen? How long has it been happening?”

I blinked a few times, realizing the doctor wasn’t going to leave me alone unless I answered. He gave a light tap onto my right cheek just behind the lip to get my attention. I licked my lips and cleared my throat, “Since I woke up in the wasteland, about two months ago?” I questioned myself as I looked to my PipBuck for an exact date, Jan. 6th 1212.

The doctor motioned his hoof, “And how often?”

I rolled my eyes, “I would be more comfortable talking to you if I knew your name, since you seem to know so much about me and have been inside my head without permission.” I gave the doctor a very guilty stare, the kind of guilt-wielding my mother had taught me.

He looked surprised and shocked, even raised his hoof to take a step back. “I ummm… apologize, I’m used to all the soldiers and crew knowing who I am. I’m Doctor Wind Break, please get the jokes out of your system at a later date.” Pink snickered at his name.

I didn't quite get the joke but nodded as I thought to his question, “I am not entirely sure how often this happens to me. I get them sometimes multiple times a day, other times less than once a week. It feels random, like they are triggered by something, and I have no control over it.”

The doctor nodded and took several notes as he worked down a clipboard he held aloft in his magical aura. The door groaned as the hydraulic wheel was turned and the pistons released their hold on the bulkhead. In walked two ponies: one was a stallion pegasus wearing a very billowy, ugly sweater, and his cutie mark was a thought bubble and a pen writing into a book. He had a off-white sparkly pearl coat and his mane was a deep blue, like the depth of the ocean.

Next to him, was… My Firearms Instructor Chroma Slip! I was startled to say the least and Chroma Slip looked just as startled as I did. The recognition in each other’s eyes was not lost on the doctor, nor upon this new stallion in the sweater.

The doctor cleared his throat, “I see you have met, or well at some point you might have. Chroma Slip is one of our resident thestrals and a pre-war pony like yourself. I did not realize the two of you had met before.”

I was desperately fighting a memory to stay in this conversation, Chroma Slip took a step back and the doctor nodded to her, “Right, Chroma Slip you may go; no need to explain this. We will deal with it at a later day. My patient has had enough shocks for one day.”

Chroma Slip did not need to be told twice and disappeared from the room faster than she had arrived. “This is Doctor Feather Brain. He is the ship’s psychiatrist and will be working with you on these mental issues and random memory orb like experiences till we can analyze what is happening to you. He is also going to provide some assistance in your transition to being an Enclave citizen.”

I was stunned by the words, more so than seeing a pony from Stalliongrad, a ghost of the past I did not fully understand. Feather Brain extended a hoof towards me to shake, “Hello, I”ve read your file and heard quite a bit about you, Wandering Sunrise. It is now my job to help you transition to life in the Enclave and your future life as mother of the Enclave.” He explained and I very hesitantly reached forward to meet his hoof.

“I do not want to sound rude but why do you believe I need a psychiatrist?” I didn’t sound the least bit convincing with my trembling words. I mean I think I need a psychiatrist but that is a whole new cake we don’t wanna cut right now.

“Well, you have suffered an immense amount of trauma in the Wasteland and from what the doctor tells me, you have an arsenal of repressed memories. All of this needs to be brought to the light and examined if you are to become a model citizen of the Enclave.” Feather Brain explained as he motioned the doctor to leave.

I looked at him skeptically and worried about what he might do or find. “Sunrise, you’re gonna have to play along here and get rid of him! The last thing we need is him bending bars on that cage or scratching the wall down!” I turned to Pink, looking betrayed at her. She looked back at me, “I’m just gonna say, you asked me to make the wall and made me Pinkie Promise to not tell you why. I. never. break. a. Pinkie. Promise.”

I made a conscious decision to talk to Pink later; then it occurred to me. If I talk to this therapist honestly, I’m accepting that I will never get out. I am accepting my fate. My heart sank deeper than I had ever felt. The hope I had held up was being snuffed out. At some point, I won’t be going through the motions. I’ll be accepting that I will never see my friends again.

Feather Brain could see the expression of shock and hopelessness on my face. He knelt down. “I see something I said has hurt you, do you want to talk about it?”

I looked at him, “No, not yet. I umm… I would like some time alone, can we schedule to see each other tomorrow?” Feather Brain nodded and started to leave. “Can you bring my foals in here when they wake up? I do not want Orchard Blossom dealing with them alone.”

Feather Brain paused, as if he were considering something, his face flashing with darkened thoughts by the furrow of his brow for a moment. Then he nodded slowly, “If it will help you recover and remove your stress, yes, I can arrange them to be brought here when they wake up.”

I nodded back, “I will do my best, I just need some time with my thoughts.” I tried to assure him, hiding the true feeling inside my heart.

*****

I had started to fall asleep, my two bundles of joy pressed against my side. I was starting to nod off now that the two of them were fed and actually sleeping.

I was thinking about what life would be like in the Enclave for them. I was also searching for names for them. It felt so wrong to name foals without the father present to approve or give his thoughts. I wonder if my dad was there when they named me or if Shadow Window named me all on her own? I felt sleepy as my body’s exhaustion started to reach up to me.

The emotions I had been through today would be trying for a normal hardened Wastelander. For me, I had only stayed awake to make sure my twins had gotten their milk and were settled in to sleep. My teats hurt from their impatience earlier. My eyes hurt from tears as the thoughts of them having to grow up in the Enclave overwhelmed me. What kind of life would they have? Zonies, both of them, and only the filly had a unicorn horn. No promise they would have any of the Zebrican Shamanism in their blood or that the filly’s horn would be powerful enough for the Enclave to consider them useful.

I shouldn’t name them without their father, I just shouldn’t do that. But if we cannot escape this place, I may not have any choice. I looked at their small heads. I’d born them into this world and they expected me to protect them. I was expected to teach them and raise them. What do I tell them about the father they might never meet? A horrific realization hit me like a sack of bricks. They’re hostages. They are the hostages that will keep me in line and make me do whatever… my mot—

“No, she isn’t that anymore. She is Shadow Window, the Superintendent. She is not your family anymore, take the hint, Sunrise!, she isn’t your mother anymore.” I groaned at Pink, not wanting to fully accept that debate yet.

Yeah, but sometimes I see my mother in her. Other times I see the monster wearing her face. I have to be sure, I need to have a talk with her. I have to know for sure what she is. I looked over my little filly unicorn, I brushed her grey and dull blue mane from her face. They’re so precious, what do I do, Pink?”

There was no answer. I waited for a while, as my mind went to dark places that offered a solution to our problem but no hope of a future. A solution I immediately would never consider. I assumed that thought came from 17, not my own mind. Now, I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to emotionally reset my brain and rest.

I was almost nodded off, my mind right between the haze of awake and sleep paralysis. I felt something and a light started hitting my eyes. “Pink… not now, I am finally able to sleep.”

“The one of Pink is not who calls, it is a striped pink at your mental walls.” Chifundo’s voice hit me like a sack of bricks.

My eyes snapped open and I turned my head towards the Pink light in the room. There were now four ponies here, myself, my foals, and one very bright, semi-transparent, ghost-like Chifundo. “Chifundo? What in the name of the Twin Sisters is going on?”

Chifundo smiled, "An explanation for you is what we require, but hearing your voice, for now, is all I desire."

Game Master Notes:

Addictions Cured! - Ya know, getting shot in the head tends to kill the body. I thought .45 killed the soul but we were wrong. Ya know what’s great about your recombulator? Your drug addictions don’t carry over between incarnations. Your addiction to Med-X and Coffee is cured, at least physically; I can’t say what this has done to you mentally.

Chapter 57: Sparking the Inferno

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Chapter 57: A Spark Igniting an Inferno

Even when you’re surrounded by darkness, remember that you are light.
-Holocaust Wall, Austwitz

Chifundo stood barely three hoof-steps away from me. I couldn’t move because of my foals, but I wanted to dash forward and hug his neck until I burst his blood vessels. Chifundo looked as relieved and surprised as I felt. “But how?”

Chifundo approached the crib slowly, his eyes wide with wonder as he stared at the two foals. He tilted his head curiously and looked up at me. His eyes were not staring at me, but at the two foals against my sides, sleeping curled under my forelegs.

“You were barely even two months pregnant, how is it these two are present?” He very hesitantly reached forward to show me he was real, giving my filly’s mane a soft stroke and brushing the colt’s mohawk to see the bounce in it.

“I do not understand, there should be anti-zebra wards all over the ship...” I started to get up, and Chifundo gestured to me to stay still. He then made a motion for us to keep it down as he gave me a light shush.

“The children and guards are fast asleep, we should not give them a cause for peep,” He whispered softly as he moved close to touch my cheek. He was attempting to prove to me this wasn’t a vision, but I needed no more convincing.

“Chifundo, I assure you, I fully believe you are here. I have no other hope to cling to, and if this is some dream, it is the cruelest joke I have ever endured.” As I spoke, Pink approached and gave me a pinch on the cheek through my H.U.D.

I flinched and she giggled. “I can 100% certify you are as awake as a filly on a dozen cake-batter espresso shots.” I narrowed my vision at Pink, who realized this wasn’t a time for a joke and slowly slid back. “Look, I just wanted you to know you ain’t dreaming. Now keep talking, sister. No telling how long Chifundo can maintain the long-distance astral projection call. Ya know, before his spirit operator decides they need a lunch break or Chifundo doesn’t have enough crystal currency to pay his bill anymore.”

I rolled my eyes. She’s right, I should make use of this time. I reached up gingerly and pressed a hoof against Chifundo’s cheek. It had a tingling sensation and if I pushed too hard I just pressed right through it. I pulled my hoof back until I could feel his cheek normally. I felt a sense of relief and started to laugh. Very softly at first, slowly building until both Pink and Chifundo put a hoof on my lips.

“Sunrise, it is not wise to raise suspicion, we must have a soft conversation.” I nodded against the hoof and took deep breaths to calm my emotions. I wanted to spring up. I wanted to catapult myself forward and rush from the ship in that instant. “I can return now that you are found, what would you share that is so profound?”

I thought for a long time, considering several options before looking at Chifundo, “Tell everyone I am alive, Nyota needs to think of names for the kids, and... and…” I took a breath and gathered myself, “We only have a few days until the Raptor will head for an Enclave city. If I get placed there, I have no hope of rescue. If you are going to try to get me out of here, you need to do so quickly. Can you bring others with your projection?”

I tried to grip his cheek tighter, but my frog passed through once I tensed the muscle too hard. Chifundo looked thoughtful for a few moments, “I believe with some negotiation, the spirits can make accommodations. Who should I bring to this hospital wing?”

I reached up to my children to pet their heads gently, making sure they stayed sleeping. “I, umm… bring Nyota first. Once you all have a plan, bring everyone. I have an idea, but it will take some discussion with Pink to make it happen.”

Chifundo gave a solemn bow. “The children of Nyota and Sunrise, are quite a great and beautiful surprise. I must go back to our friends’ abode, do not worry, we shall save you from this crossroad.” Chifundo faded, the light red glow dimming with him as the bulkhead door wheel turned. The hydraulics released the lock, and Delta Sierra stepped in.

He looked at me with an odd look and started to search the room quietly. “Look, I don’t know who you were having a conversation with, but you had better tell me.” He gazed at me very warily.

Delta might be harmless himself, but his loyalty to the Enclave is gonna be a problem. Hopefully we can keep him in the dark and safe. I stroked my children very gently as the two foals stirred a little from the commotion. “I was having a conversation with my foals.”

Delta rolled his eyes. “That was awfully long for you to be having baby talk with your foals.” He walked up to me and looked at both of them sleeping. “Were you really talking to them in their sleep? Seems a bit more queer than me.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “They are my little ones. I needed to work out some stuff, and their ears will not remember any of it. Not to mention they need their mother’s voice. Now can I get some sleep?” Delta took several seconds to look between me and the foals.

He was certainly determined, but he had searched the room and found nothing. Astral Projection has to be the best spy technique in existence… No wonder the zebras have amazing intel!

Pink laughed at me from my H.U.D. “I have better ones, but yes, it’s a very good observation technique. I should tell you about mine sometime.”

Not now Pink, but I am going to ask you for something important when he leaves.

Delta huffed and sighed, “Right, I forgot you’re adjusting to a lot of new stuff. Listen, sorry for intruding but it’s the Superintendent’s orders and I gotta make sure you are not pulling a fast one. See you tomorrow for repair duty.” He slipped back out the door and locked the bulkhead again, after searching all the beds another time.

As soon as the door was secure, I was wide awake. Pink! I need you to teach me how to use magic.

Pink stood there like a deer in the headlights and stared at me, stunned. “I’m sorry, you want me to do what? Do either of us look like unicorns? Or are you secretly a horn-head disfiguree?”

Pink, you and I both know you have done some amazing feats of universe-altering magic. If I am going to get out of here alive without everyone getting killed, teach me the basics. Pink’s jaw dropped with a slam onto my bed. She reached to correct her errant chin while I continued. Pink, I am serious. Show me, teach me, help me, please! I know it is a lot to ask, but you are here for a good reason. I have already seen the edges of reality when I was going insane, before my mom shot me. Show me how to reach that without going insane and bend the rules some.

Pink took a moment to ponder before jumping out of my H.U.D. She blew up to a full size pony and began to circle me, as if inspecting me. I felt her rubbing up and down my hooves, though not sensually. She was searching for something, as I could feel her touching me deeper than just skin deep. I felt a twinge inside me that tugged at something otherworldly. If souls exist, Pink had just pulled on mine, if only slightly enough for me to sense it.

“Earth pony creation magic, a bit of pegasi cloud touch, and zebra shamanism in you. I can feel it, that spark, that something else,” She leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Either you have unicorn magic you can unlock, or your own personal Infinite Improbability Drive inside you. Whichever it is, I think I can work with this. But if I show you this, you have to make me a Pinkie Promise.”

Which is? I was especially curious now. She had just opened a world of possibility and complete improbability.

“If I show you a basic secret or three, and you lose control to 17, would you end yourself to lose the memory of how to do it? Pinkie Promise me that, and I’ll show you in your dreams, where she cannot follow us and learn herself.”

Pink, staying here is suicide, as either I will die, my children will die, or we will all become dead inside, a fate worse than death. I Pinkie Promise that if I lose control to 17, I will take your secret to the grave before I let her have it.

“Then close your eyes and go into dreamland. I got some fluffy cotton candy of reality to show you how to bend!” Pink rubbed against the back of my head, the same way she had pulled at whatever was inside me; that piece of my soul. It left my entire face numb, my neck tingling, and my shoulders completely melted under her touch. Sleep came to me like an avalanche, catching me without any skis to outrun it.

ooOOoo

Pink’s Mind - “Yes! We have to go here to show Sunrise this!”

I was strangely astounded as Pink led me on a journey in my sleep to a door in an open, blank-white space. She placed her hoof onto the doorknob and hesitated.

“You sure about this, Sunrise? Once I show you the secrets of the universe, the cake under the frosting, there isn’t any going back.” She put a hoof up to her lip thinking for several seconds then cleared her throat. As I started to speak, her hoof hit my lips and I was once again tasting hoof.

Hers tastes like cotton candy. Why am I getting used to hooves in my mouth? Do I like that?

“Now I need you to listen carefully before you say yes. The secrets similar to what you want me to show you are why things like taint, I.M.P., stubbornite, cloud ships, and to some degree even power armor exist.” She let it sink in as she removed her hoof from my lips. “It only takes one pony to glimpse past the veil and then teach others. So you have to promise me, what you learn here you won’t teach anypony, not even Nyota or your foals.”

I felt like Pink was getting ready to lay the entire Library of Canterlot into easy to understand bites. Still, I was strangely confused as to why she was even willing to share this with me now. I hesitated and thought about it as she tapped her hoof.

“Those are just the good things. The terrible things it has unlocked are countless: the time of darkness before the Pillars of Equestria, Nightmare Moon, Loyalty of Caesar, even… balefire, just to name a few. If you follow me through this door, there is no going back.”

She opened the door to her colorful house, covered in bright hues and sweet pleasant pinks. I could understand her house inside my head as being a simple reflection of herself.

Her house inside my head? This is truly madness. She is a spirit through, so I suppose in the strangest of ways it makes sense. How little sense this would have made a few months ago, though that feels a lifetime away. I considered all that had happened to me, including dying in that moment. How it had changed me, how it had robbed me of my innocence yet given me such wonderful friends and now a family of my own.

I took a hesitant step to the doorway of Pink’s house. The threshold between normal physics and a world that made sense, into a place of madness whose rules I might not ever fully understand.

Is this what Chifundo goes through everytime he talks to a spirit? Is that why he’s so wise and yet completely insane? I took another step that crossed the threshold. No turning back now. Time to learn a few secrets of the universe.

I finished walking in. Pink was baking a cake as she looked over at me with a smile. The room had gone from a welcome area to take off your coat and put away shoes, to a kitchen that professional chefs would have killed each other for.

She was humming a tune, “Alright, Sunrise. Let’s work to break reality.”

Pink reached into reality and started to sing as she seemed to fold space and time itself and step through only to reappear behind me.

Sunrise,
Ya gotta listen to me!
‘Cuz getting around can be
A pain in the patootie,
But it doesn’t have to be!

When you need to get out of a place,
it’s just a matter of time (and space!)
Just do like your pal Pink-ie
And do the blinky blin-ky!

When you have to get around,
But you’re feeling sort of down,
You just need to find your spark,
(And spatial coordinates to mark!)

When you need to get out of a place,
it’s just a matter of time (and space!)
Just do like your pal Pink-ie
And do the blinky blin-ky!

There’s a fire in your heart,
Like a motor with a spark,
Feel the magic deep inside,
Let it out! Don’t make it hide!

When you need to get out of a place,
it’s just a matter of time (and space!)
Just do like your pal Pink-ie
And do the blinky blin-ky!

With some focus and pizazz,
And magical raz-a-ma-taz!
Align yourself spatially,
Blink! Just like your pal Pinkie!

Pink flashed right in front of me, then suddenly away. She offered a hoof in the air from a hoofball field away. “Teleporting is easy!”

I rolled my eyes and grumbled, “So you say.”

Pink snickered and blinked right up to be nose to nose with me, “I do say that! Hehe!” Then she resumed her song.

Blink! Blink! Blink! And use your spark!
It’s the magic of your heart!
The heartbeat of harmony!
Spatial movement with empathy!

Over here and over there!
Ohmygosh! You’re everywhere!

See the space you want to go,
Fill your heart and let it flow,
The magic knows what to do,
And with a Blink! You’re somewhere new!

Over here and over there!
Ohmygosh! You’re everywhere!

Sunrise, it’s simple, you see?
Spatial movement with empathy!
Visualize and let it go!
Let it goooooo,
Can’t hold it back any more!
Let it - whoops, sorry, I got distracted.
What were we doing?

When I was a little filly and I wanted to go out~!
The work on the farm was so hard, and it always made me pout~!
I’d think about new places, and what I wished I saw,
But Granny Pie said “Hey you’re stuck inside”
“Wanna learn to teleport?”

I took a breath as it really didn’t stick with me for a moment. Wait, She said that?

Pink nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah!”

My mind had to wrap around the concept that Pink had learned these spells from another earth pony. Huh… I thought, scratching my chin. Pink didn’t hesitate and threw herself back into the song.

She said Pinkie! You gotta focus hard! There’s nothing to fear!
You’ll feel it inside you, so Blink! and you will disappear!

Blink! Blink! Blink!

I tried to reach for the bend in reality, to follow. It tingled, and I knew this was real. It felt like Quick Stitch’s magic in one way, and completely alien in another. A sunray gold aura surrounded me as I stepped through the fold and suddenly slammed into Pink’s butt, since the space from where I was to my destination became zero.

“Oh My Sunrise! Silly Me, you shouldn’t be touching Pinkie Booty. What would your husband say?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I collected myself and stood upright from my error of a stumble, fall and pummel into Pink’s plot. He'll probably say I should take pictures and prepare a memory orb for him later.

Pink put her hoof up to her lip, “You’re right! But no time to dwell on that fascinating zebra. Let’s talk with our minds!”

Pink, what are we doing— And just like that, Pink cut me off again with a song, this time a rap exclusively in my head.

Telepathy is just mind transmittal,
use your big brain and find the ripple,
Just think real hard about your best friend,
the unconscious mind knows how to tran-send

I had to tilt my head at the word, Tran-send. You mean ‘transmit’?

“Yeah, but this way it rhymes!”

I groaned out in defeat before listening to Pink start her way of training back up.

Let’s get in their head,
I have something to say,
Open up your mind,
transmit away!
Let’s talk with our minds,
It’s kinda profound,
Open up their mind,
TELEPATHY SOUND, woo woo woo!

The sound Pink was making was a little off-putting, and I had to question it, Woo woo woo?

The beat seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere quieted down to a low hum. “Yeah, that’s the sound telepathy makes in my head when I use it.”

Pink energy was one thing, though plain hyper would have been easier to take in this moment. That is… pretty weird.

Pink leered up to me as her eyes popped back and forth in her head; it was so unnerving to see an eyeball turn into an eye cone and back to an eyeball rapidly. Extending out of the sockets and darting back in rapid fire.

“Which one of us is a master at telepathy?!”

I retreated a little bit and stuttered a response. You… are.

Pink jumped up into the air and squealed “That’s right! So…”

Can I make up my own sound? I thought as I was starting to get the music and could feel the bend in reality around my hoof as we kept this magical montage up.

“That’s the spirit! Let’s see what you got!” Pink suddenly produced a lawn chair, popcorn, and an ice cold soda as she prepared herself to watch me.

It was my turn to rap.

Think Think Think
Gotta think like Pinkie,
let my brain run free,
Telepathy comes to her so easily,
I’m not one to think so creatively,
She can transmit thoughts continually,
Is this working? Think Think Think!

“So… ‘think think think’ is your telepathy sound?” Pink got up from her lawn chair and approached me with a soft punch on my shoulder.

I honestly had not come up with a sound yet. It is a work in progress.

Pink pulled out a literal pin, somehow produced the words ‘Think Think Think’ and put it into the air before pinning it in place. “We’ll put a pin in that one. Next step!” Pink dove right back into her rapping.

Let’s get in their head,
I have something to say,
Open up your mind,
transmit away!
Let’s talk with our minds,
it’s kinda profound,
Open up their mind,
TELEPATHY SOUND (woo woo woo)

It’s time for me to make a master’s decree!
set your mind adrift, relax and chill, pony!
Gonna talk to your friend without the vocals,
Cast a magic spell with your mind as the foc...al...point.
(Vocals is really hard to rhyme, okay? I’m no Chifundo! Hey, speaking of him…)

Send Chifundo your thoughts, think your sound his way,
On the same wavelength, he’ll hear you clear as day,
Clear your mind of stress, send the bad thoughts away,
He’s waiting for you, make that Zony’s day!

Listen up, Sunrise, Telepathy is great,
Open up your mind, and release the floodgates,
Think of your pal Chifundo and link your minds,
Your friendship’s magic helps your thoughts to align,

Focus your mind, and use that link that you share,
Your telepathic sound can reach an-y-where,
Imagine the link and share what’s in your head,
Telepathy rules! Nothin’ more to be said!

Hey look over there, it’s Chifundo, your best friend!
What's on his mind, I wanna know, I have a spell to send.

Pausing for a moment, I focused my thoughts to take up Pink’s beat once more, now imagining my thoughts reaching out towards Chifundo.
Think, think, think, think,
think, think, think, think,
think, think, think, think what’s on his mind?

After my verse, I could hear the zony in question stop what he was doing to understand what was going on, then reached back to me with a reply of his own.
Sunrise, my friend, can it really be true?
Are these your own thoughts that are coming through?
Hendecameter is more of my style,
You have been locked up for too long a while!

Pink launched into a tight hug, almost tackling me to the ground as I clung onto my convention, “YOU DID IT! Woo woo woo!”

I smiled at her and came to the realization that I was holding the connection. The feelings of exaltation took me for a ride as I screamed out in my mind, I did it! I thought and thought, and now I am in his head. He thinks we have lost our minds.

Chifundo was a little confused, and I could even sense his feelings as he tried to push out the overwhelming emotions I was sending him. “I do not think, I am certain it is Pink, influencing your mind and driving me to drink.”

Pink snickered and gave Chifundo a teasing kiss through the telepathic link, “Aww, I missed you too, you cute little Zony!”

Chifundo! I am so glad to, uh, hear you? Where are you? Can I help you get me out? I asked so excitedly, completely forgetting Pink’s magic lesson was far from done.

“Sunrise, I am sure there are questions to ask, but right now I must focus in the dark on my task. Perhaps you might provide illumination? Working out in the dark is causing me… vexation.” Chifundo was having trouble with his words, his cadence of rhyming had almost broken.

I had to consider this and looked at Pink. I think he needs a light?

Pink smiled like a salespony about to find a really expensive customer. “A light, you say?! Oh boy, have I got a spell for you!”

I sighed and looked at her, dreading what was coming next. This is going to be another song, isn’t it?

Pink swelled up with pride as she pushed out her chest, “Got it in one! I’m so proud of my little student!”

“I regret my asking. I shall keep multitasking.” Chifundo replied and jumped back into his meditative chanting, which broadcast to us as long slow hums deep from inside his chest.

I felt the connection still there, and Pink pressed her hoof up against mine. “Go on, take control, fuel it.” I held her hoof and felt our aura pressing together. Her pink magic aura swirled along her hoof to meet my golden one as the two met in the middle and did not combine, but rather made a cinnamon swirl around each other. The two magic essences hugged together and I could feel it, like an extension of my body. It was like having an extra hoof that was able to emerge from any part of my body anywhere I needed or wanted it.

The fabric of reality bent and twisted until I felt my heart accelerating. It was like my muscles were getting a dull burn from walking up a steep hill. After just a few moments, I was holding the telepathic connection between us on my own. Pink withdrew her aura but I could still talk to her head directly.

“Good little filly!” Pink stomped her hooves and danced in place. I narrowed my gaze, slightly annoyed, and that broke my focus enough that the spell dropped.

How do I know any of this will work in the real world?

Pink grinned then waved her hoof around the house and suddenly we were standing inside the Enclave raptor with the words E.S.S. Vulture in big bold words on the wall. A pegasus was standing there, dropping his water bottle which shattered against the hull. Pink waved at him enthusiastically as we all stared at each other. She spoke out loud, “See silly! We’re in the real world, he can even see us!”

The pegasus stared blankly at us. He picked up a cracker, nervously twitching, took a bite and stared at both of us. “Now that you know all this is real, shall we get started with letting that little light of yours shine?”

“My light shine?” I raised an eyebrow, confused by Pink’s increasing randomness as she cut loose with another song. The dreamspace suddenly cut to total darkness, before Pink’s hoof illuminated with a tiny rose red light spell, same as a unicorn’s hoof, which freaked me out But also made me very intrigued as to how this was achieved. Dammit Chifundo!

“Let’s turn the lights on!”

What?

“Oh Sunrise, allow me to show you a surprise in your heart…”

The things you know are on their way,
To change the dark of night to day,
You have to keep darkness at bay,
Let light in your heart shine its rays,
If the dark tries to take it away,

Pinkie will give you a light,
A light deep inside your heart,
Let me give you a new light,
That nothing can take apart,
All you need is right inside you,
Let it shine!

Even when darkness surrounds you,
Bring us the sunrise shining through,
Shadow Window thinks she has won,
It will be you who brings the dawn,
Now you can let it shine bright!

Pinkie will give you a light,
A light deep inside your heart,
Let me give you a new light,
That nothing can take apart,
All you need is right inside you,
Let it shine!

You gotta let it shine, shine, shine!
Light’s hope is so div-i-ine,
Reach for the magic, right on cue,
With this you’ve learned something brand new,
Now your light can always shine through!

Pinkie will give you a light,
A light deep inside your heart,
Let me give you a new light,
That nothing can take apart,
All you need is right inside you,
Let it shine!

I held up my hooves to get Pink to hold her horses, Wait, what if I make it too bright? What if somepony sees it? I genuinely was worried that someone would see it and come to investigate. That somehow this dreamspace would bleed onto the ship.

“You worry too much, Sunrise! Listen to Pinkie! This next bit should sound familiar!” Pink patted my head and pushed a light spell in her hoof to mine, the golden aura I generated and her pink one merging into a sweet rose gold color.

...Is it Giggle At The Ghostie again?

Pink squeed and spun around as I held onto the light spell for two now. “It’s totally Giggle At The Ghostie again! See, you’re a smarty-smart smartypants!”

Sooooo,
Come and let your heart shine,
Baddies won’t pay it mind,
Your inner light’s confined,
Gotta let it out sometime,
It makes everyone smile,
Been held in for a while,
So reach out your hoof and let that light out because the magic inside you is super duper amazing and it’s gonna scare away that mean ol darkness so just let it shine~!
Let your light shine~!

I held a burning ball of magical energy at my hoof frog. It had no heat if I didn’t want it to be warm. It pulsed if I couldn’t keep the magic flowing to it consistently. I held that light there, staring into it, marveling at the impossibility before me. Just past the orb was Pink’s face, staring back at me with wonder.

“There is hope for you yet! Let’s take this to the next level, time to learn about keeping your friends close.”

I tilted my head and lost focus, without it the light snuffed out and the room became illuminated by the artificial bulbs again. “Unicorn magic isn’t the only thing in this world. There is the magic of your mark, dragon powers, gryphons even have a little bit. Unicorn magic is what you’ve just learned, but there is one magic that is the most powerful of all.”

“Balefire bombs and megaspells?” Pink burst into laughter at my response and the pegasus who had endured all this took another cracker. He munched on it loudly as Pink kept laughing until she was holding her side and a tear started to come from her eye. We were both still in a ghost-like semi-transparent state as she looked over her shoulder at the pegasus.

“You may wanna get out of here and forget you saw us, just letting you know.” The pegasus pointed at himself and looked around as if someone else was in the bowels of the ship hallway with us. “Yes you, get, go find some of your terrible coffee substitute.” The pegasus got up and bolted out of the room.

Pink turned back to me and took my hoof in hers and shook her head. “No, the most powerful magic of them all, is friendship magic. If we had used it more, there would have never been a war. Now, I’m going to teach you just how to tap into the center of your heart.” We flashed back into the dreamscape right at that moment.

I nodded and followed along, struggling to sing with Pink but starting to get it.

I bounce over here, I bounce over there,
But Pinkie can’t ever be everywhere,
There’s always a friend who really needs me,
And always something there to impede me,
But with friendship’s bonds, we always succeed, yeah!

The bonds of friendship, help me bring a smile,
Faster than rainbows, wider than a mile,
The bonds of friendship, they can’t be undone,
Because when we are together, we can’t ever be outdone!

With the bonds of friendship, I’m always there,
I feel them and appear out of thin air,
My friends, connected, with this magic spell,
My love, directed, can not be dispelled,
I can be there with friendship unparalleled!

The bonds of friendship, help me bring a smile,
Faster than rainbows, wider than a mile,
The bonds of friendship, they can’t be undone,
Because when we are together, we can’t ever be outdone!

Okay, that’s really cute and catchy, but how does this actually work? HOw does magic actually work for me?

“Oh, first! I need to put the icing on the cake, I was just getting to that!”

How are your friends and are your friends okay?
I will teach you how to check up on them any day!
Far away or close by, let’s see what you can do!
With the bonds of friendship you can have a lookie-loo!

Just focus on your friend and reach out with all your might,
Telepathy plus Friendship Bond and Blink will spark your Light!
Let’s try on Chifundo!

I looked at Pink, starting to comprehend how to bend reality and change things as a unicorn would but without a horn. Telepathy… Blink… Light... and Friendship Bond… used all at once?

Pink snickered and nodded as she pulled out a graduation hat and put it onto my head. “That’s right!”

I pulled the tassel from right to left out of my vision, not realizing that I had just done it the same way graduates do it. Okay… here it goes. Chifundo? Can you hear me?

Pink rolled her eyes and shook her head, “No, you’re only talking to me, still. You have to put it all together!”

I blinked a few times, my brain not quite putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I do not understand how I am supposed to do all of those at once!

Pink leaned up and rubbed on my shoulder, taking the graduation hat and tossing it into the air for me. “I bet you can guess.”

I sighed, put a hoof against my forehead and rolled my eyes. Is… it another song?

Pink started singing immediately, “ONE LAST SING-A-LONG!”

“You wanna be the very best,
Like nopony ever was?
All of this was just a test,
And training you was my true cause!

Reality will only break,
For the pony who is best!
Now ask yourself, are you prepared?
Can you beat the final test?

(Sunrise! Break reality!) It’s you and me!
And you know it’s our destiny!
(Sunrise!) Oh, you’re my best friend!
And some physics we must bend!
(Sunrise!) With your heart so true,
And some courage to pull us through,
Now you show me how I taught you,
(Sunrise! Break reality!) Break reality!
Yeah!!!”

This was the most confusing thing I had ever tried to understand. It felt like I was trying to put together a two-dimensional puzzle in a four-dimensional space, and I could not comprehend what the fourth dimension was.

...Okay? What should I do, though?

Pink let out a giggle that cackled from every direction and her face distorted in a way that was alien and strange. It was as though any part of her I looked at, I was somehow looking into her eyes. As quickly as it started, Pink’s form snapped back to normal.

“Sorry, I just really wanted to work that bit in to get you excited! Now on to the actual song where I teach you how to bring it all together.”

I blinked away the insanity until the images in my head vanished and nodded at Pink. Good, thank you, was all I could manage to say as my mind felt like it was breaking. My heart was pounding in my head like a sledgehammer.

“I know when the world tries to block
You gotta giggle at the clock
Reality will be so shocked
Because you’ve got physics to mock

It’s not nice to be a bully
But the world is always pushy
So tell physics to play hooky
Make reality your cookie”

Pink offered me a cookie that looked like a planet in both shape and outer crust, but inside was chocolate chip. A little bit at the center could only be described as the fabric of the universe. “Try a bite, it’s delicious!”

I let out a groan as I stared into the cosmic abyss at the center of her cookie. Pinkie, we are trying to break reality, not eat snacks.

“Porque no los dos?!” Pink replied with a mouth full of cosmic, reality-bending cookie, in a language I had never heard before.

What???

“Never mind. Anyway!” She tossed the cookie and I heard the sound of a thousand shattering windows mixed with a crust-breaking earthquake. “Back to the song!”

“You know when the world tries to block
You gotta giggle at the clock
Reality will be so shocked
Because you’ve got physics to mock

All together now!
All you need is inside you, Let it shine today!
Open up your mind, transmit away!
The bonds of friendship, they can’t ever be undone,
Now do the blink and our spell is done.

To bend reality’s fabric
To make time and space erratic
Just remember the fantastic
That friendship, my friend, is magic!

“Everypony now!”

Suddenly the world slowed to a stop, and somehow I heard the voices of Nyota, Scopola Mina, Quick Stitch, Alguacil, and Chifundo burst in at the last moment:

“To bend reality’s fabric
To make time and space erratic
Just remember the fantastic
That friendship, my friend, is magic!

And remember the greatest spell of all
Your friends are there to help you when you fall
All you need to do is reach out and call
Because friendship is a power above all.”

As we ended the song, I snapped awake, panting in the hospital bed. I was drenched in my own sweat. My two foals were still curled up against me, but both had their manes matted by my sweating. I took a sheet from under the bed and patted them down before doing it to myself. A light moved around as I did this and I looked around for where the light was coming from. I was confused that no one was there, yet the light was moving as though someone was holding it. Then I realized I was holding it in my hoof, and the warmth of its glow was my own magical aura. A sweet golden yellow hue just like my mother’s, combined with a flickering sustained orb of light just above the skin of my hoof.

I… I did it?

Pink nodded solemnly and smiled, “Yes.”

ooOOoo

I had a new understanding of the world around me. It was difficult to feel out or touch, but I could feel the little microns of reality just at the edge of my senses. With a whole lot of effort I reached out, not only with my hoof but with my soul just like Pink had shown me. The microns wrapped around it and suddenly, I had a very dim orb of pure magical light held on the tender frog of my hoof. I felt a prideful smile creep across my lips as I used the orb to stroke the manes of my foals, very softly using it to warm up their adorably oversized heads.

I let out a contented sigh. For the first time in a week, I had hope. I felt it filling my chest and bringing my mind to a form of clarity I had long since missed. I smiled at the still sleeping foals.

“We will get you out of here, I promise you that.” Now I had to formulate a plan before breakfast or the guards came to check on me.

Though plans would have to wait, as the door groaned from the wheel being turned and hydraulics being opened. With a low creak, Delta Sierra stepped in, holding my breakfast in addition to bottles of formula for my foals. He started to speak and stopped himself when he realized they were still sleeping.

He leaned in to whisper, “Hey, they look like little angels. Never seen zebra stripes like theirs. What tribe was your husband?” Delta Sierra stared at them with awe in his eyes as he hesitantly reached towards the colt. I raised my hoof to gently stop him.

I shook my head as he looked at me, very distraught. “They know my hooves, but yours will wake them. My husband is a Starkatteri, the banished tribe. It is why he is more open minded than others,” I whispered back, using my unoccupied hoof to shield my mouth against his ear in hopes of minimizing the noise that went to the ears of my foals.

I released his hoof and reached to his wing, which carried my breakfast of grains, hot recaf, and oats. I had best get used to the bland food, once my wasteland salvage and Nyota’s rations run out. I set the tray on the bed rail and secured it, then took a sip of the recaf. It was just as terrible as yesterday. Their food is awful. No wonder they all seem so mad.

I ate my breakfast slowly, mainly because of the taste, but I had to keep my strength up. Just endure the bad food Sunrise, Chifundo has told your friends. They will come up with a plan. I need to be ready. As I forced the food down, the door opened again. I looked up to see Captain Puff Creamer coming in. I tilted my head curiously, having figured he would rather avoid me than have anything to do with me. This pegasus was wearing the scorpion tail shadow power armor. It was jet black, and a helmet with large orange bug-like eyes hung from his middle-belt. The tail that articulated from his back had a wicked looking stinger on it. His armor was certainly impenetrable from my bare hooves.

He snarled and looked at me, then at my kids. “You little slut, you think that Grapevine will save you forever?” I recoiled and moved to cover my foal’s ears. Pink growled and stood on her tippie hooves as she helped me shield my foals. “I can’t wait to tear you apart, and you won’t enjoy it one bit. I’m not your stupid husband, and while my squad won’t be here, I’ll make sure to get you back for every one of them once your bimbo mom says it’s open season.”

I had not expected him to be nearly this aggressive as he got into my face, snarling. I recovered and narrowed my eyes, my mind racing, thinking about how to stand my ground without proving him right. I felt vulnerable, a much more worrisome form of vulnerability than I had when The Curator couldn’t keep his hooves to himself. My training with Nyota made me want to kick him to break his jaw, but I restrained myself.

No way I can hurt him, the magic Pink taught me was utilitarian and defensive, I could… wait! An idea popped into my head. I kept my stare onto Puff Creamer, but I wasn’t actually looking at his beige coat or his blonde mane. I was focused on what was just past the door.

“Sunrise, if you miss, you could end up in a wall or worse your foals could--”

Then we better not miss, I snapped my thoughts at Pink to silence her reply. I reached out, pushing my soul as she taught me into the ether between life and death, between the physical and spiritual. I felt it, just like how Pink felt when she pulled against my soul, the edge of reality. The moment between consciousness and unconscious when your subconscious talks to your waking mind and you can talk back. I gripped it and felt the power flowing through me.

The room grew to be very bright very quickly as I felt the strain on my body. It took every bit of my energy and focus to get the sun-ray gold aura to surround myself and my foals.. Puff Creamer staggered back, looking terrified.

“What are you? What is that? Stop it now!” He recoiled quickly at my light show. I tried to pull my foals over the bend in reality, to create the portal so the distance from here to the nursery would be zero for just a second. I couldn’t do it, all I could do was hold them in the magical aura.

My body was straining to hold it. It was like lifting a weight that was three times heavier than you should even attempt. Every vein in me felt like it might explode, as if I couldn’t exhale or I would lose the spell. I kept pulling against it, my skin tightening as my muscles flexed to hold that fold in reality. Cream Puffer let out a snarl and snuffed his head, backing his way out of the room.

As soon as he was out of sight, I dropped the spell, panting for air. I felt like I had just run a marathon while doing deadlift squats. Every fiber of my being was exhausted.

“Pink… I couldn’t do it… I…” My mind blanked, unable to continue the sentence or do anything but focus on breathing to remain conscious.

Pink smiled. “It took me a week to get the spell to work outside of my mind. I mean, you’ve made a good first step, give it a month of practice and you’ll be able to do it on command. It’s like baking your first dozen cakes. Too much egg in one, the next one isn’t blended right. Then you get to the fun ones, too much milk or way overbaked. You know I burned my first pie, and my name is Pinkie Pie?”

I let out a very soft laugh, before coughing twice and tried to silence it as my lungs burned for air. Not fair Pink, but more than welcome. I checked my foals, who were still being covered by Pink, her hooves now keeping all four of their collective ears shielded from any sounds I could make.

“I mean, you were close but not quite putting the two places together. I guess the songs helped.” I nodded, feeling a little magic of the old world helping me smile in that moment. The kind of magic that caused ponies to sing together without rehearsal or even realizing it was happening until it was too late and you had already joined in. It was a magic that ponies had slowly forgotten over the war and one the wasteland needed to revive if it hoped to heal.

I should sing more often. Pink turned to me perplexed, then slowly a grin spread across her lips.

Before she could utter her thoughts, My PipBuck beeped with a signal to tell me that I was in range of DJ Pon3’s transmission. I tilted my head, Is it dumb luck? Does the Wasteland... No, Equus, have a spirit steering us in certain directions?

Pink snickered and she cut it. Before I could react, she had the sense to turn the volume way down to a quieter broadcast. I wonder if the Enclave keeps track of DJ Pon3’s transmissions or not.

An old song, Fly Like You, came through. It was a cute parody of what it was like to be a unicorn in Cloudsdale before the war ended. The song ended and DJ Pon3 came on, “Hellooooo Wasteland! How are all of you doing tonight? Well have I got a story for you. It seems our favorite Angel has need of a little help. They’re gathering together a force to be reckoned with for a little aid to one Wandering Sunrise. For you mercenary types, I hear the pay is pretty good too!

“Now listen, I would prefer all the Wasteland colts and fillies would get along and search for a peaceful solution, however…” DJ Pon3 trailed off for a moment, and I could hear the heavy sigh. It was like the next words were really taking it out of him. “There are certain types who will never allow for peace. This is one of those instances, when you deal with Stable-Tec, The Grand Pegasi Enclave, or Celestia forbid, Caesar’s Legion; there just isn’t ever any reasoning with them. So we have to protect what’s ours.

“That little angel gave us hope, now she needs our help. Look for the Silver Fang symbol or where an Angel with a Shotgun is painted to know where to go and who to talk to. Good luck, little colts and sweet mares. Now, how about we get something more upbeat in here? An Apple Family original, here is You’re in My Head Like A Catchy Song, by Pear Butter, sung by Applebloom of course.” The song started to play and Pink cut off the PipBuck.

I looked at her and she looked at me, the clicking of the PipBuck causing two foals to wake from their disturbed sleep and erupt with crying need for their morning meal.

*****

It was noon when Delta Sierra finally gave me some room to myself. Okay Pink, he’s left me alone. I think they are either starting to trust me or not thinking I can do that much damage. Should we start sabotag—

My thoughts were cut off by a large white frame standing over me. I turned my head to see Chroma Slip staring down at me.

“You still are the same size when I put you on the firing line. You cannot possibly be the same runt who barely understood how to hold a pistol.”

I heard the distinctive Stalliongrad accent in her voice as she looked me up and down. “You certainly do not act like 17 either. The Superintendent keeps saying you are both. I find that hard to believe.”

I had a live wire in one of my hooves and an open panel centimeters away. Only the rubber glove protected either of us from a very nasty electric shock. I looked Chroma Slip up and down, then gave her a nod.

“It is me. I just look…” I sensed hostility in Chroma Slip’s tone and gave a heavy gulp. “...very different. Stable-Tec experiments are the best guess we have for my changes and size.”

Chroma Slip cleared her throat and brushed me aside with her wing, the wire hit the wing and she seized up before falling to the ground. I grabbed the wire away from her as fast as I could.

“Chroma Slip!” I called out and looked around frantically for a medical kit. There was one mounted to the wall, a Ministry of Peace symbol on it denoting it as a first aid kit.

I opened it to find it only half filled, three bandages instead of ten. No Med-X shots and only one healing potion. I grabbed the potion and quickly ran back to Chroma Slip, lifting her head with my rubber gloved hoof and pourning the potion into her throat with the other. She coughed and sputtered as the electrical burns stopped smoking and her heart resurged.

“Are you alright? Chroma Slip, talk to me.”

Chroma coughed a few more times before the massive bat got back onto her hooves. Her mane and tail were a mess from the electrical discharge and she was twitching a bit. She shoved me back and growled, “Were you trying to kill me?”

I shook my head. “No, it was an accident. I… I…” Chroma Slip shrugged me off and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah I guess you really are 17, considering you just tried to murder me. You fighting for control with Sunrise in there? Figured the M.o.M. programming would be more resilient than that.” Chroma Slip shrugged it off and kept walking. “I am the Superintendent’s bodyguard and our insurance policy says that she will work towards our goals. Glad to have your help, 17.”

I nodded at Chroma Slip, deciding to play along for now. I’ll figure out what happened to you, if we get a chance to speak again. Maybe I can save you, too.

I turned away from her and I could hear 17 fighting with Pink, trying to take control and failing horribly, especially when a very loud thought got them both to stop. “SILENCE! I have better things to do, now we want out of here, all of us, right?” Pink snarled out at the top of her lungs so long all my other thoughts were shattered.

I could feel the two of them nodding in unison in the back of my head. Alright, I’m not sure what Chifundo is up to, but I know some sabotage will help with that. Suggestions?

Pink thought about it as I kept working on the inside of the panel. It was a power relay for this sector of the ship. Each deck was broken into four sectors. This panel had relays for a few different systems including cloud lift and weapons.

“We should sabotage their weapons. Whatever your friends are planning will require the ship to still fly for their plan to work properly.” Pink and I both looked at 17, very confused. She hesitated before starting to speak. “Look, I don’t wanna be no pony’s broodmare as much as you. If it means you keep control longer so we get off this tub, I’m all for it. Sabotage the weapons by making it where they work normally until they go full power or start trying to fire repeatedly. A few power relay overloads later and they won’t be able to stop an escaping vertibuck or whatever the plan is.”

I nodded and looked at Pink who shrugged. “Surprisingly, it is a good plan from our kitchen janitor.” 17 glared at Pink with murderous eyes from inside the confines of the depths of my mind. “Hey, just because you’re in the kitchen doesn’t mean you’re cooking with the suchef or the maestro. You gotta earn that level of trust, missy.” The two of them glared at each other like they were about to start tearing each other apart, if not for the bars keeping 17 held in place.

17 snorted, “Fine, but yeah, the weapons will be the least likely thing they suspect you break.” I started working on the various wires, trying to make all of my other repairs look picture perfect but ensuring the weapons lines were broken out of sight. I twisted the wires around and frayed them on the side that would be facing the wall, so any technician to find my hoofwork would need to turn the wire around just like I had. That, or they would have to make themselves magically able to pass through solid metal.

I worked through the rest of the day, sabotaging weapon systems at every panel I could, making sure the breaks were never exactly the same and always difficult to find. The tricky part was doing it when Delta was away and making sure he didn’t find my efforts.

He found a few and tisked his lips, “Silly earth pony, you forgot this one. Here, put these two copper ends back together and a little tape here with some plastic.” He finished his work with a smile on his lips. “You’ll get used to checking everything in every panel, even if you’re only there for an air conditioner being two degrees off, just in case.”

And so it was, getting a few things fixed here, sabotaging a piece there, only to have Delta find just over half my sabotage work and compliment me on my other repairs. Great, he’s so naive, I wanna tell him but I know he’ll report it straight to my mother and it will all be over.

Pink and 17 both cleared their throats in unison and corrected me, “The Superintendent.”

Hey! No, listen, I get another chance to talk her out of this, and if I don’t before we leave, I’m hoping we can convince her to change her ways. I gave each of them a look, looking for agreement between us.

Pink rolled her eyes. “As much as it pains me to say this, you cannot save everypony Sunrise, and your mother is well beyond saving.”

17 growled, “Just murder her a few dozens times, she’ll eventually take the hint and leave you alone. She’ll go find somepony else to turn into a broodmare instead of you.”

I snapped at both of them immediately, NO! Even if she shot me in the head, that isn’t fair. Everypony gets every chance we can to convince them to change their ways. Every single one of them. We don’t kill unless we have to.

17 snickered. “You say that now, but when Puff Creamer has you on the stocks in front of your foals, I think you’ll speak a very different tune.” She made several faux cries of pain and a shrill like she was protesting. “Oh stop, please! I’ll be a good mare, just not like this! Please, I’ll buck Grapevine, I promise!” I snarled at 17. She just gave me a very cocky smile.

I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to lose my temper right then and there, but I stopped myself. 17’s cocky smile faded as her face turned to an expression of frustration. “Oh come on, cat got your tongue now?”

No, you’re trying to goad me for some reason. My guess is you are hoping I will fall into a memory of something and you can use that as another escape attempt. 17 was suddenly taken aback. She looked stunned by my sheer audacity, but it was also the same look someone gave who had just been caught at murder. You need me to hit those memories when I’m awake, so it’s just you and Pink here. Without my will, you might gain control and keep it.

17 rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “You are a smart cookie, I’ll give you that. Yeah, you’re right, but I’ll figure out other ways to trigger the memories to keep you busy.”

Pink slapped her thigh with a smile. “And even if you do, I’ll be here. I like this Sunrise! She’s nicer than Fluttershy and as stubborn as Applejack. Anyway, let’s finish this panel.” I finished up the work and sighed as I checked the time on my PipBuck: 2:03pm.

I should get some food, check on my foals, and maybe meet up with Orchard or Grapevine. I smiled at the thought as I headed to find Delta so he could check my work and I could get something to munch on, even if it was more bran flakes.

Delta came over and took a look at my repairs. This time I hadn’t left the frayed wire in the open, instead covering it with electrical tape and new plastic wire sheath I had glued into place. He took a few minutes, checked the wires, circuits, vacuum tubes, and even the nuts carefully then gave a snort of approval.

“Ya know, you’re a natural at this. Might make my job a whole lot easier.”

I really wanna tell you, I thought as I looked at him, relieved, but I could sense the mask dropping as my eyes got heavy with concern. I rubbed my head, trying to hide my emotions from him.

“Concerned about your little ‘uns? That’s okay, you should get something to eat yourself, and I could use some of that real coffee,” He gave me a wink and a nudge at my cheek, “That is, if ya willing to share some of it?” I started to look at him, offended, but he rolled his eyes with a reassuring smirk on his lips. “I ain’t told no pony about it, I promise. Just was hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing a cup with me too, since ya know, we spend all this time together.”

I sighed and nodded to him, “Yeah, you are turning into a decent friend, even if you tell the Superintendent everything.”

Delta smirked, “Not everything, but Puff Creamer is in trouble for his little interjection this morning. I was just outside listening, seeing how far he’d push it. Not sure what you did, but you had him sure scared, like he’d seen a ghost. Maybe you can tell me about it?”

I smiled and started following him to put our tools away so we could get to the mess hall and then somewhere private to share a cup of coffee. I am awfully surprised at how far coffee will get me in the Wasteland.

*****

We were preparing to go to bed. The foals were tucked tight into their cribs, and Grapevine was looking ragged. I could see a hoof shaped bruise on his cheek, and it appeared to be one from a power armored hoof.

I’ll bet my confrontation with Puff Creamer didn’t end when he pissed his power armor. Orchard was concerned and we all knew another day had passed.

I could see the hope of protecting me fading from their eyes. They did not know what I did. I touched Orchard’s shoulder as she stared at my foals, curled against each other. Already they were learning to protect one another, as the colt’s head rested on the filly’s shoulder while the filly had her forehooves wrapped around him.

Orchard looked at me with tears in her eyes, “You’re too kind for what is going to happen to you.”

I let out a long sigh, but not of resignation, as I smiled at Orchard reassuringly. “How can you smile? We are less than a week away from Applehale. Once we get there, I don’t think there will be any hope of you getting away from the Superintendent.”

I tilted my head, trying to figure something out. “Orchard, when you say Applehale, do you mean Applehale Cloud Base and Proving Ground? At least that is the only place I know that is called that.”

Orchard Blossom was now very confused as she tried to put it together. “How do you know the pre-war name of Applehale? The one before it became a city. You know it is the Enclave’s lead R&D City, right? All of the other Enclave cities rely on Applehale for any experimental advancements now, but yes, that is exactly where I mean.”

I felt a memory coming up and focused my effort to push it aside. I remembered Applehale when I visited Stalliongrad, but that would have to be something I dealt with later tonight.

Focus on the here and now, stay with her. I smirked, “You know I am pre-war, right? Not a ghoul, just that I was born in 1026.”

Grapevine nodded, “Yeah, I knew it. Not sure if Orchard was completely aware,” He ruffled my mane and smirked, “When you collapsed yesterday, you were experiencing a memory. It’s part of the problem with living this long, I suppose.” Grapevine nuzzled my cheek then kissed his wife with a soft reassuring peck. “Weird magic affecting the way you remember things.” He turned back to me and both of them faced me.

We stood there in silence for some time before the room lit up with a bright pink and white light, followed by a white and black light, the kind of light you see when shining a light into a black prism. A third bright light lit up the room, this one a pale yellow compared to my sunlight gold aura. I couldn’t see the sources of the lights through Grapevine and Orchard Blossom, who shielded their eyes with their wings and slowly turned around.

“What in the world?” Slowly the lights dimmed, but glowed and pulsed in rhythm. I smiled broadly, He’s back and he brought others? Before us were three ghostly visages of Chifundo, Scopola Mina, and Nyota.

I pushed past my protective adoptive parents and ran up to Nyota, grabbing my hooves around his neck before falling through his astral projection from trying to hug him too tight and firmly planting my face into the wall behind him. This got a laugh from Nyota, while Chifundo and Scopola looked at Grapevine and Orchard awkwardly.

“I umm… Sunrise, this is gonna take some explanation here, because I think we’re either insane right now, or you just tried to hug a ghost.” Orchard said through quivering lips and I could visibly see the goosebumps on her legs from where I stood.

I hesitated and felt Nyota checking me over to try to help me up. “Not used to seeing you without your armor. Chifundo, can we turn down the bright lights for this?”

Chifundo shook his head as I felt Nyota’s hooves pressing on me just enough that I could feel they were there. If he pressed too hard, he just pushed all the way through just like I had when I hugged him.

“Though I wish to be more discreet, our souls must now shine this sweet. I presume our pegasi hosts, need assurance we are not ghosts. Allow me to explain this in short, I am a zebra shaman in Sunrise’s court.”

Once I was back on my hooves I gestured to them, “These are my friends, Chifundo, Scopola Mina, and Nyota,” I pointed to each of them in turn, “What Chifundo means is he is using astral projection to be here with us now so we can speak. We should not waste too much time, I am not sure how long Chifundo’s energy reserves will hold out to keep all of them here.”

Chifundo ruffled my mane, but it felt more like having someone using a brush that was barely touching your hair or a light breeze. “Little Sunrise need not worry about me, we have much to discuss before you can flee.”

Nyota cleared his throat, “Right so, would you mind introducing us?”

Grapevine stepped forward, “I’m Grapevine, I’ve been pretending to date Sunrise until we can get to Applehale. Her mother wants umm…” He hesitated and looked at his wife, then back at the collection of souls and me.

Orchard cleared her throat, “The Superintendent wants her for her genes to fix the Enclave breeding problem. Sorry, I know Grapevine is a bit embarrassed to say it out loud. I’m Orchard Blossom, I’ve been helping take care of your foals.”

The number of emotions that Nyota went through in that introduction could only be described as whiplash. He was enraged at first and only got more angry as he glared at them, then suddenly I could see his heart melt right before my eyes at the mention of foals. “Your foals? You mean... But how, she was only a couple of months along?”

I turned to Nyota, “The Superintendent had them magically sped along and c-sectioned me while I was still unconscious. It has been a lot to take in, we should go over to them. Let them meet their father.” Nyota was shaking and shuddering as he looked at the crib across the room, then at Scopola Mina.

“Well, go on now, we can talk to the pegasi about the plan and figure out what we can do for them afterward. Chifundo’s been keeping an eye on Sunrise since yesterday, so he has a good idea of what’s going on.” Scopola Mina pushed Nyota forward, right through me, which was the strangest sensation of electricity passing over me and a gust of wind that went through my body instead of around it.

I walked with him to the Crib and he peered over. I shielded their eyes from the light he was emitting while we could hear the conversation between Chifundo and Scopola with Grapevine and Orchard, as they updated each other and Chifundo answered all their questions. “You… mean these are…”

I smiled at Nyota, feeling tears well up into my eyes. The anchor that had tugged at my heart got lighter, the feeling of warmth in my soul grew, and I beamed as I nodded at him, “They are ours, though I have not named them yet. It felt wrong to name them without you.”

Nyota bit his lip and I saw the tears dropping from his eyes. He took a seat, and I sat there next to them. We leaned against each other, figuring out just the right amount of pressure so we could stay together. The two of us silently watched our children sleep as we took in the fact that we had created them and we love each other enough to care for them above everything else. My heart was filled with hope for the first time since I woke up here.

All my struggles, this descent into darkness... I can see the dawn coming. I nuzzled up against Nyota’s neck as he leaned down to kiss the top of my head. “I thought I had lost you forever. We are so close. All we have to do is just hang on.”

Nyota smiled at me. “The colt should be named Jumoke.” I pulled away and tilted my head as he wiped tears from his eyes. His smile now was something I had never seen from him before. He was so very happy at this moment. “It means a child who everyone loves.”

I nodded and tried to help wipe the tears from his cheeks. “I had not even thought of names, it felt so wrong to do without you.”

Scopola approached us as Grapevine and Orchard were processing things. They were still talking to Chifundo but we were lost in our own conversation. “Well, all things considered Sunrise, might I make a suggestion?”

Nyota and I turned in unison towards Scopola Mina. I started to say no but then stopped myself. She has been our friend, a genuine friend. Not just a spy for Coffee Stain, if she even is that. She has stood with us and deserves to know we appreciate her, right?

Pink smiled. “Oh, Sunrise, looks like you’re better at friendship lessons than Twilight!” I rolled my eyes and then turned back to Scopola Mina.

“Is that what Pink is like all the time?” I nodded to Scopola Mina as she giggled and smiled at both of us. “This spirit stuff sure is trippy, but it’s good to know all I have to do is take some zebra weed and grab Chifundo’s hoof. Anyway, I know it’s a bit much to be asking, but can I name the filly?”

I shrugged. “What is your suggestion?” Nyota nodded at me and turned to Scopola, but not before he took advantage of the moment to give me a soft kiss on the temple, and a squeeze around my shoulder as best he could.

“Yes, I’m intrigued, I’ll admit. And honestly, this is the happiest moment of my life.”

“Well, considering they are a Wasteland miracle and clearly some magic was involved, what about Magical Miracle?” Nyota and I looked at each other, having a silent exchange as the two of us didn’t speak. We came to the conclusion without speaking to accept it.

“Yes, that sounds right. They are little miracles.”

I held up a hoof to correct him, “Our little Miracles,” Scopola Mina puffed her chest out all proud while Nyota and I kissed gently and sweetly, holding close together as long as we could.

I turned back to Scopola, “So what is the plan exactly?”

Scopola held up her hoof. “We aren’t gonna tell you just yet, but you will know when we are making our move.” I looked at both of them back and forth, furrowing my brow as Nyota reached up and ruffled my mane.

“Sunny, we can’t tell you exactly right now, can’t risk whoever this Superintendent is figuring it out. We just need you to be ready.” He looked back at our children who, despite the bright astral light, remained asleep. He let out a long sigh. “I can’t wait to hold them.”

“They have spirit eyes, like you. On opposite sides, one eye each,” I explained and Nyota looked at me with bright eyes, then at the twins, who shifted in their sleep just slightly with a sigh,as Miracle grew content again.

“Listen, Sunny. We have a plan, and it’s going to be big. Just be patient, we’re coming, okay? You won’t see Applehale, I promise. We’ll visit you the night before, and we’re gonna get Grapevine and Orchard out with us too.”

Scopola Mina snickered at this. “We just keep picking up strays, but honestly yeah, seems like the right thing to do, and we’re gonna need all the help we can get.” She led the two of us back to Chifundo as Grapevine and Orchard were taking in the fact that the size of their universe was getting a little bigger.

“I give you my word and assure you both, we will not leave you here where you two loath. When we come for Sunrise and foals, we will also help save your souls. Know now the plan involves, all of our strong resolves. Your help has kept us most glad, are there more questions you had?”

Grapevine looked at me as the three of us grouped together. “I mean, I wasn’t expecting something so elaborate, but I guess this is what we get for letting those spirit wards fade and break since the end of the war. We didn’t think we needed ‘em so much anymore.”

Nyota cleared his throat, “Is there anything else you need before we put the plan into action, Sunrise?”

I thought about it and looked at Pink. That last spell you taught me, can we cast it over Chifundo’s spiritual link?

Pink put a hoof up to her chin, quickly pulling out a chalk board and covered it in seconds with various calculations and elements of pies, cakes, and donuts where any algebra letters should be. Then she rubbed her chin again a few times and nodded, “If they are all here in spirit, I think that’s all we need. After all, I think Chifundo can work with that if you can perform the deed.”

I looked at Chifundo, and he nodded with an exasperated smile on his face. “Can you bring everyone? Quick Stitch, Alguacil, Scopola, Nyota, and yourself? There is something I need to do before the battle begins.”

Chifundo sighed, “I had hoped you would ask for such a trying task. I will do my best, even if the request makes me to be so stressed. Perhaps a minute or two, is all I can promise you.” I nodded to him and looked at my friends.

“The night before you put your plan into action, this will be how I know to be ready and have everything in place. For now, you should get out of here. The Superintendent has a habit of checking on us in the middle of the night.” We exchanged hugs and tears. Even Grapevine and Orchard joined in as I smiled at my friends, holding Nyota’s hoof to the last moment.

“Sunny, this isn’t goodbye, it’s just until next time.” I nodded and closed my eyes to dry them. Once I opened them, they were gone. “Come on, let’s get to bed before someone comes trying to figure out what all the lights and shuffling is about. I’ll tell the nurse what names to put down for Jumoke and Magical Miracle in the morning.” And just like that, we were headed to bed, and I was headed for a very rough night of dreams and memories.

ooOOoo

GM Notes -

Quest Perk Gained: - Motherly Notes
You gain 5 ranks in Profession Singer. You’re a mother now, get used to it. No matter how far away from it you wanna get, you’re going to have diapers to change and sibling fights to break up. Good luck, you’ll need it.

Pinkie Pie’s Magical Training
You’ve taken your first steps to understanding the powers of Pink. Yes, that Pink. No, I wish it were not true. Her teaching has granted you four very basic spells. Light, Telepathy, and Blink are easy to understand. Just about every unicorn can learn those. But one spell in that list ain’t no unicorn spell. You learned Bonds of Friendship. How Pink even knows that spell is a mystery, but it’s probably the most potent thing you picked up. Either way, if you ask me, no earth pony should have magic unless you go insane. Wait… you did that, didn’t you?

Chapter 58: Darkest Before Dawn

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“Out of the depths of sorrow and sacrifice, will be born again the glory of all.”
-Winston Churchill

ooOOoo

147 Years Post-Megaspells

Army of the Angel Era

I found myself deep inside a bunker of some sort. No, wait, a catacomb. Those are definitely skulls on the walls almost made entirely by pony bones. The room was dark, save for the light of my PipBuck. I was covered in armor, but not the armor I wore now. This was thicker, harder to move in, and my stable-suit wasn’t the under layer. I picked up a walkie-talkie and pushed the button.

“Coffee Stain, are you sure it is down here? Over.” My other foreleg moved around to shine my PipBuck light as my tail held the radio while I walked forward on three legs. The sound of my breathing and armored hoofsteps echoed around me. How did I get here? What am I doing here? What is this place?

The radio crackled back a gargled message of static then cleared up, “Sunrise, can you hear me? Please respond. Over.”

I stopped and adjusted the antenna. It did not help that my light was directly attached to one of my hooves. The clunky armor interfered with my adjustments and my light waved around as I made little turns and tweaks to get the signal, “Affirmative, can you hear me? I am in the catacombs. Over.”

Coffee Stain sighed on the other end. The radio, while still having crackle and static, did come through clean now. “Roger that. Sunrise, we can confirm he is down in the catacombs. We cannot hold out here forever. Where is the rest of your team?”

There was a chill that ran down my spine. This place was unnatural, but also I felt a rush of grief from a place I lacked context of. A hot tear rolled down my cheek behind the armored facemask. “They are gone. I disintegrated them with a laser pistol to ensure they could not rise against us. Alright, if I am on my own, then just hold out up there. Over.”

Coffee Stain came back over the radio with urgency as gunfire echoed behind her. “Sunrise, we can send down some Aquelian Knights to reinforce you. Valor is nearly there and Snowy Wave’s Squire team are already inside. Just give me your position. Over.” I shook my head, as I felt something deep inside. A regret I couldn’t place quite yet. Then I felt why, as it was the dread you get when you know there is no coming back from what you are doing.

“Negative, you need those knights to hold the entrance. I am on my own. Over.” I turned the radio off, not waiting for a reply. I felt the decision rippling through me, as my mind resigned itself to death. This... this is my memory. I am the one doing this.

“No shit, Shadow Spade. This is you. I think at this point I am in complete lockdown. Welcome to the era of The Army of the Angel.” I groaned, feeling 17 still able to interfere with my dreams and memories.

Hey! This is important! There was silence in the room, aside from the sound of heavy hoof steps covered in armor walking through an empty corridor. There was no junction, just cut off rooms. The walls were made with pony skulls, griffon skulls, and their bones. Layers upon layers of those who had died. I did not know who these creatures were, or what fate had befallen them. I felt like every soul here was watching me. A kind of spiritual call deeper into the corridor.

I saw an eerie green light along with a couple of flickering flames. I could see them at the end of the tunnel. It was still far enough away that I could not make out what the illumination was for, but only that there was some movement.

The closer I got, the stranger it became. The hair on my neck stood on end, and my body felt like some electricity was in the air as my armor seemed to become harder to move in. It was hot down here, both from being underground and some unnatural heat. My breathing was beginning to get difficult, as the deeper I went the hotter it got and the air was getting thicker. Despite the staleness of the air, there was a scent on it that I could not mistake.

It was an odor of something long since expired, in a room full of things past their life. To say it smelled of death would be an accurate way of describing it, but there are so many things that would carry. This however, truly smelled like my impending doom. I could make it out now, a pink striped zony and a pony covered in black robes, the pony’s blue horn lit with a magic aura that gave me a ripple of fear. Some instinct inside of me told me that this was something horrible.

I could hear a chanting now, a chanting that made my skin crawl and yet made me mesmerized by it at the same time. I shook my head to clear the thoughts of submission and sleep from my mind. I took a deep inhale and pushed out the feelings of horror and terror going through me. My skin was clammy, my tongue was dry, and my lips felt like they were threatening to fuse together from the rush of magic in the air. I could feel my body screaming for me to run away. My heart hammered in my chest.

I pulled my shotgun and put the trigger into my mouth. That’s Chifundo. I wanted to scream or waited for my body to rush forward but I did not move.

“You don’t know him yet.” I flinched at 17’s words and looked around for Pinkie Pie to give an explanation. “She isn’t here. She is busy keeping me in the actual cage or in this memory. Look, you wanna be a total cunt and not let me give you context or clues? Fine, but seriously, I’m just trying to be decent.”

I wanted to scream at 17 to shut up but I held my tongue. I knew she could hear the thought to tell her off and could also sense me stopping myself. While we were debating, the memory continued to play. I got close, closer than someone with heavy armor plating had any right to. I took aim with the shotgun, right at the unicorn chanting over the book. I noticed there were several other ponies in the room now. All of them were engaged in chanting words I could not understand.

The chanting suddenly went silent as the boom of the shotgun echoed throughout the room. Chifundo opened his eyes, now panicked as he looked like he was in incredible amounts of pain and screamed in agony. His scream and my shotgun silenced the chanting as I advanced, pumping my shotgun and firing it over and over again. I was simply holding down the trigger and slamfiring my way through the room. This is the same shotgun, I can feel it.

“Maybe the same model, but no way it’s the same gun,” 17 corrected as the fourth robed pony fell to the ground, eviscerated in the dim torch light by a burst of buckshot. They fled the room as I approached Chifundo, his panic and struggling against clamps that held him in place making it obvious he was not a willing participant. He was up on a giant wooden X. There was a connecting board behind the air between his rear ankles and his forelegs, with the upper one holding his head stiffly in place.

I could see a cut in his side, the knife in question now on the ground next to the book. “Calm down, hold still,” I ordered as I reloaded my shotgun and took aim at the screw buckles holding him in place. Four heavy booms later, Chifundo fell to the ground. I slapped him immediately to stop his screaming, and he looked at me, confused.

“I am here to stop them, take this,” I pulled out a carbine—some rifle-type weapon I had acquired from my fallen team, I sensed. “Do you know how to use this?”

Chifundo nodded as he took the rifle and we both turned to leave. My PipBuck E.F.S. lit up as the sound of teleporting unicorns echoed in the room. The same sickly green-blue aura that the first one who I had blown into the next life flickered in the doorway. In the dim light I could not make out their faces or much in the way of coat color under their dark robes.

One of them approached. “Do you think you can stop us? At this point we have nearly overrun all of the city of Pridea. Soon we will bring Equestria into a new age, an age of the dead,” He continued to talk but I wasn’t listening. I turned my head to Chifundo and spoke very softly and deliberately.

“Do you think you can take out the one talking and cover me?” I asked him, and the zony gave a very deliberate nod. He then put the gunbit trigger into his mouth and I turned back to them. My tail pulled a steel apple from my pack and immediately ripped the apple stem out, releasing the leaf-shaped lever with a spring noise that caused the monologuing pony to stop.

“So you choose death?” He asked before I threw the grenade and rolled to fire a shot. Chifundo took aim carefully on the one previously monologuing as robed horns flared to life, ready to send shards of magical death our way. I heard Chifundo’s shot and saw a burst of black and green necromantic energy coursing towards where I had just been standing.

I realized Chifundo hadn’t moved. Chifundo! DODGE! I screamed with all my being but it was too late. His bullet punched into the unicorn and my grenade went off as Chifundo’s body was ripped into. His flesh went rotten, turned char black and fell off his body. His face was halfway melted away as he twitched on the ground. The unicorns were sent flying to the floor by the grenade and I was quickly emptying the shotgun tube into every one of them.

The room went silent and I was still standing, my body unscathed. One of the torches was still in its mount on the wall. The other one had been disintegrated by my grenade. I put my light over Chifundo, who was struggling to move. Half his body was rotted away. It was like looking at a creature who was months into the process of decomposing. He moved his lips and struggled to breathe. I could see his organs, his heart half-molded and struggling to work, while his one good lung struggled to inflate and exhale air for his body. He ground across the floor in desperation with his one good foreleg. He actually managed to move his body half a hoofstep. I reached forward and grabbed his hoof.

I almost recoiled in shock but some sympathy, some deep reasoning that his death was unjust struck me. I looked at his body, the necromantic magic and destructive black arts had long since claimed more than half his vital organs. My eyes felt a tear well up that I snuffed out from rolling down my cheek.

There is nothing I can do for him. He’s going to die. How… how can a magic spell do this?

“Dark magic, you idiot. There is a reason why we aren’t supposed to use it.” 17 fell silent as I held onto Chifundo’s hoof to calm him down. He looked at me with his one good eye. His other eye was half melted, but somehow the iris still swirled in my direction. I could see his skull as his skin sloughed off around his chin, jaw, and cheek. I winced, having no idea what kind of pain he was in.

There was a long, painful pause as I held his hoof and his panic went down. His eyes showed a kind of acceptance, like he knew what I was going to say, “I am very sorry. Thank you for helping me.” I felt my tail reaching through my pack for something. I turned my head to see a small black box with several glowing archaic runes on it.

A recombulator? What? I don’t understand.

My memory body took the box and looked it over, feeling a deep amount of regret as I held it. If I do this to him, it can never be undone. He needs to say yes. The runes glowed with the green-black-blue magic aura that the unicorns were using. I held it to Chifundo, “Do you want to live?” My hoof gripped his tighter to make sure he was still alive.

Chifundo gasped and looked at me, shocked. He stared at the box, his eyes glazed over in curiosity. For a moment, I thought the spark of life had left him but he took in another defiant breath, refusing to give the reaper what it wanted. He seemed to be drawing something special from it, I could see a new understanding in him.

He knows it is a deal with a devil. Chifundo tried to speak but it was nothing but incoherent gurgling as he pushed my hoof with his one good leg towards the box to touch it. It was as if he were trying to feel something inside it, something that was far beyond my understanding to detect. I nodded to him and with a few touches of the box, it opened on just one corner. The small black box surrounded him in a white light with the sickly green-black lining around it.

The room glowed with this brilliant light. I felt my stomach content gurgling as the radiation bombarded it. I grit my teeth through the pain as part of my skin felt like it was boiling. Decon after this, regardless, is gonna be long.

“Recombulation Directives. Direction of Pathway, preserve this pony, in whatever condition he was in 7 days ago. Fill in missing parts with a copy of the available pieces or similar DNA. Preserve the soul to not remember the last 7 days, nor memory of any of the deceased or this facility we stand in now. Directive confirmation.” There was a chime of some sort, like an acknowledgement and then the white sucked itself into the box with a flash as the box closed. Chifundo disappeared in the basking light.

“Directive is confirmed and understood, further orders?” The spirit within the box called to me as the light continued to bathe the room.

“Negative, thank you for your service.”

“Thank you for your sacrifice.” The spirit replied with glee as the room plunged back into darkness.

Did I just witness a pony being boxed? I looked on in confusion as the memory faded and I received no answer from 17 or Pink. I was off to somewhere else this night, as my mind raced to another piece of my past lives.

“Coffee Stain, do you read over? What is happening up there?” I was on the walkie talkie again, heading towards the tunnel entrance.

“We are good, they just suddenly stopped and collapsed. Did you kill the necromancers?” I felt a sense of relief and satisfaction rush over me. The memory version of me was quite relieved.

“Affirmative, tell the knights we are ready to head back to Equestria as soon as possible. I also have one boxed rescuee. Over.” There was a bitter sweet ring to my words and a feeling of disgust with myself as I spoke.

“Boxed? You mean, they did not make it? Wait, you boxed them? They agreed to that? Over.” Coffee Stain was genuinely concerned, and I could feel the tension between myself and her in our voices rising.

“Yes, he took the deal with the devil over dying. Necromancer magic rotted half his body from a blast into him. Nothing we could do, as I could see parts of his insides as he was dying. He took the deal willingly. Over.” I had this feeling like I was somehow worse than the necromancer for what I had done. The sensation of a chill that whatever I had done was committing an evil act to keep an act of mercy.

“Corrupted Mercy…”

Pinkie came by and sighed, “Okay, come on, let’s have a conversation about this world and the wasteland.”

ooOOoo

We were inside of the control room from the first time I had been welcomed into Pinkie Pie’s house. We sat there as she offered me a cup of cocoa. The electronics around us whined and the sound of magnetic tape decks droned on. I took the cup and took a hesitant sip.

“What do you know about virtues?” Pink inquired and I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. I was confused by the question and what she meant by it.

“You mean like the elements, honesty, loyalty, kindness…” I trailed off trying to think of a few more.

“I mean yes, those are some of them. There is something special about virtues in The Wasteland.” Pink went on to explain as I took a sip of the very rich hot cocoa and let out a sigh from Pink’s generosity. It was much nicer to be here than the dank halls of catacombs under Pridea. I never even knew I had been to Pridea until now.

“Pink, was Aquelia as beautiful as it is made out to be?” I asked as I sipped the cocoa and enjoyed the feeling of it. Even if it was just in my head, Pink had a habit of making it very real for me.

“On topic, Sunrise. We can talk about one kind of cake at a time after all. Gotta keep your ADD focused somehow,” She replied with a motion of her hoof to get my attention back to the topic at hand. “Virtues in The Wasteland are extremely important. They keep you from losing your mind and becoming a raider, cannibal, or some other terrible monster. 17 doesn’t have one. Nope, not one. It’s why she’s so…”

“Murderific, the word you want is murderific. Damn Pink eyesore,” Pink somehow reached forward, her hoof went into my head, which was inside my head already, to bonk 17 inside the recesses of my mind.

“You aren’t that good at it. But yes, it’s why 17 is the way she is. She lacks an uncompromising virtue.” Pink removed her hoof that was phasing through my head and then reached up to give my nose a boop as she spoke. “Your virtue is mercy. You always have to give someone a second chance, you believe they can be saved right up until there is absolutely no going back.”

I nodded in agreement. She was right, as I always felt even the worst offender might be saved. “It is a blessing and a curse to have a virtue; you can corrupt it.” Pink explained. I tilted my head, a little unnerved where this was going. I gulped and Pink sighed.

“What you did to Chifundo was box him, yes. Technically, it saved his life and has given us both a few more chances, but the boxes are a curse.” I was starting to get the perspective. Pink looked around the room. “You and 17 asked for that. It is one of the few things I got you both to agree on. I guess 17 didn’t expect you to be the fresh doughnut this time and her to be the locked in glass.” Pink winked at me.

“It’s your fault, you damn Pink interfering cunt.” I was getting sick of both of them, and growled before slamming the mug down hard enough to break the handle off.

“Enough, both of you. We are stuck in the same body together, whether that be a spirit,” I pointed at Pink, then at my head, “Or a memory engram that has given itself life,” Then I brought my hoof to my heart, “Or the pony whose body this actually belongs to. The point is, whatever happens to one of us, happens to all three. So why in the hell can we not get a compromise that works?”

17 growled at me, “Because you shouldn’t exist anymore! The fact you somehow do is a defect of the guardian class prototype in your chest, and if I have my way I will wipe you from existence! I should always have control and you should never have come back! You were supposed to be completely erased, not put in this cage for us to trade places.”

There was a long exhausted sigh from someone else none of us knew. “Perhaps you should both be in cages...” The voice sent a chill down my spine. I felt like 17 was afraid of it. Then there was nothing. I looked at Pink for an explanation.

“Right, remember how there were three choices when you died?” I nodded very slowly, as if expecting the unknown voice to speak again. “So when you and 17 are at a draw, another thing takes over. We call it Bland. They don’t have any real emotions, and their sense of right and wrong is just black and white like them; it’s what happens when the two extremes cannot decide who should be in charge, but the recombulator has finished your regeneration. They’ve only been in charge twice.”

There was a long pregnant pause as Pink reached over to replace my broken mug with another one. This one had a Celestia face on it and was offering me pancakes with a bright smile. “Now, back to Virtues. You have them, and you have the corrupt version of them.” I tilted my head as Pink talked, curious what she meant. “For instance, corrupt honesty is someone who uses honesty to justify hurting others for their own pleasure. Corrupt mercy, in your case, is doing things like putting someone in a recombulator to give them another chance. Those boxes are a curse, and you and I both know it. Ponies were not meant to be immortal, and honestly, I was getting scared we would never get anywhere.”

I rubbed the back of my head, trying to see where she was going with this conversation but I wasn’t certain. “There was a time when you granted mercy to ponies with a shotgun or a recombulator, whether they wanted it or not. I need you to understand, you have to not try to save everyone, Sunrise. Some of them are just beyond saving.”

I shook my head, “I refuse to believe that. If I can just talk to my mom, I can get through to her. We just need some time together.” I started to remember something, something important, and Pink tapped her hoof on my cheek.

“Yeah, Sunrise, listen here. The Wasteland will eat you alive: body, mind, heart, soul; it doesn’t matter to it. It will devour you faster than I eat whole cakes, and I’ve been known to swallow one of those in one bite.” Pink pulled me in tight. “As your friend I am telling you, we have to be on the lookout for you and your virtue. 17 is going to try to corrupt you and make you give up hope. The Wasteland is going to try to take it from you. Promise me you will listen to me.”

I took a breath, trying to clear my head. I felt like Pink was asking more of me than I had ever had somepony ask of me before. I slowly took in a breath and then exhaled it just as patiently. I let the feeling of it remove my frustration from this situation. I licked my dry lips and then spoke. “Pink, I will agree, but you have to let me try to save my mother. She may not be the best, and in this case may actually, genuinely be absolutely awful, but I have to try, okay? I will listen to you as best I can, but she is my mom; would you really deny me to try?”

Pink held out her hoof, “Pinkie Promise and I’ll say okay.”

I groaned, “I hereby Pinkie Promise, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pink leaned in and gave me a hug that warmed my body and soul. I felt the closeness and embraced her back just as tightly. I needed it, to hold her close and feel us together in the moment. I was exactly where I belonged as we held each other and I faded into another memory.

Pink whispered in my ear, “We fight, we argue, but we do eventually get along. You are worthy to call my friend, Sunrise. Go on, remind yourself what makes your mom worth saving.” I fell into another memory and was immediately in pain.

ooOOoo

41 Days Before Megaspell Day

I was thrown against the tree roughly and gasped for air as the stronger earth filly towered over me. “Haha! Carpet muncher got no fight in her? I see how it is. You must be the bottom bitch.” Another punch and my jaw rippled with pain. “Look how weak she is, I have seen unicorns that could take a hit better.”

There were two other fillies silhouetted by the afternoon sun who all let out mocking giggles. Each one of them took their turns slamming a hoof into a part of me as my ribs ached and then my cheek burned with pain before my shoulder cracked from the next hit. I was pinned back against the tree. “She cannot get a cutie mark or a coltfriend, so she gets a marefriend. Makes far too much sense to me.” They giggled as I groaned helplessly. My shoulder still hurt and I couldn’t move my right foreleg. I wanted to get up and run, but my body wasn’t responding right now. I felt my jaw aching like it had been broken.

I saw a hoof raised with something in it. “Come on girls, this carpet muncher deserves a makeover.” Their insidious giggles got louder before I heard a new voice, much to my relief.

“HEY! What are you fillies doing!” It was my mom, and I heard her galloping towards us. The fillies immediately scattered.

“Diamond Jewel, get back here this instant!” It was one of their mothers. “Is she alright? What did they do?”

Shadow Window stood over me, her hoof touching my cheek and checking the bruises. She started to try to move me, “Come on Sunrise, we should—”

Her voice was cut off by me screaming in pain as she moved my shoulder. My mother gasped, horrified; for once she was completely sober. She reached forward and touched my shoulder, getting a low, long groan out of me. “They dislocated her shoulder! Those fiends, I am going to tear their flanks apart!” There was the sound of Diamond Jewel’s mother chasing after her daughter and screaming obscenities in the distance as my mother got close and rolled my head side to side.

I felt her hoof stroking my hair and a warm tear drop from her face onto my own. “I got you, Sunrise. I promise I have got you. Come on, stay with me.” She turned her head in a panic now and called out, “Someone get a doctor!” I could hear her whimpering as she pressed my head into her chest floof.

“Damn foals can be so mean. I am sorry sweetie, I am so sorry. It will be okay, I got you.” She held me close, slowly rocking my head back and forth as she did so, trying to keep me calm.

I heard someone running up, a big pony. He stopped over us and I saw the militizia uniform. It was a stallion, a military police officer. A concept that Stalliongrad had merged with the police as a military force for its defense. I held one of my eyes mostly shut, since it was bruising and blackening from the blows.

I remember this, Mom was so nice then. It was like something inside her came back to us; seeing me beat up like that. Shadow Window held my head, rocking back and forth.

“By the sisters! What happened?” The militizia inquired and leaned down with concern.

My mother snapped her head at him and released some rage towards him, “Get an ambulance! We did not survive the siege to the end, just have some schoolyard bullies kill my daughter!” The officer snapped to and fled. I could hear him calling out.

“Get on the radio! We need a medic.” My mother kept rocking me until I slowly faded out of consciousness.

“It will be okay Sunrise, mommy has you. Mommy will protect you, the zebras are gone but mommy has got you. I will never let my guard down, never again.” The last words the memory had to offer me before I passed out from the exertion and pain.

My mind was far from done tonight, though.

ooOOoo

17 Days before Megaspell Day

I was inside Canterlot castle, being escorted by a stallion. He was just a royal guard, I didn’t catch his name. Royal guards were incredibly muscular up close and their armor looked pretty at a distance. Walking side by side with him, I realized quickly that armor was more than just for looks; intimidating was an understatement. He stopped outside a room, and I could hear Pinkie Pie on the other side. Her voice was raised but I couldn’t make out the words. A full contingent of six guards all stood at attention as my escort stood between them and me.

I was barely half the size of any one of them. They were quiet and the silence was uncomfortable. I started to speak and suddenly found one of their weapons’ shafts very close to my lips to silence me. They all bore long halberd-style spears with heavy rifles built into them, in addition to a revolver sidearm. Every weapon was inlaid with gold and magical runes as the spear’s magic whirled to life despite being wielded by an earth pony. I gulped and closed my lips, taking the hint.

I took time trying to ignore the yelling and looked around the door. It was decorated with gems and ornate artwork showing the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. They glowed and radiated their own light in addition to the electric lamps that were held in torch braisers. This place was now a strange mix of modern technology and ancient castle walkways.

The ceiling was high, high enough that two pegasi could fly back to belly, separated by several meters and still not even be close enough for an earth pony to jump up and catch them. There were clearly lanes of traffic above me as well. Pegasi flying back and forth, carrying messages, packages, or patrolling above us with their guard armor and halberd-rifle.

The modern lamps were installed seamlessly into what used to be torch braisers to look like torches, unless you stared directly into one of them. You could see no indication of the electric wire running to them to power such devices. The switches were even hidden behind ancient marble columns that held the castle strong and added to its mysterious beauty.

The yelling stopped. The silence actually got one of the guards to shift, causing his comrades to look at him and he blushed. It was like him moving had broken some cardinal rule that they were not going to discuss in front of me. He stood back up straight and looked sharper than he did before. The mighty doors, nearly ten meters tall, opened and I beheld something incredibly beautiful. It was Princess Celestia, walking out with magically flowing rainbow hair and standing twice as tall as the guards, who were easily double my size.

She rolled her wings, stretching them out and looking down upon me with bright violet eyes, similar to my own. I felt awestruck seeing her. The first time I had met her was months ago, when Silver Zoom had been assigned to be my protector and investigator at the Grand Galloping Gala just after Hearth's Warming Eve.

Celestia paused as she looked into my eyes, craning down to my level with her neck. “I did not expect to see you again, little one. I hear Stalliongrad is not under siege anymore and the magical tunnels are more used for priority express transfers now. I wonder what it is like to go through them? Perhaps after the war I shall.”

I noticed now, being this close to her, the heavy bags under her eyes. She looked so very worn out and stressed. Even her magic flowing hair wasn’t without fault anymore, but you could only see it when this close to her. I hesitated, feeling my heart rushing and my eyes staring at her for the longest time. “Your majesty, we need to get moving to our next appointment.”

Celestia turned her head, “I am not my sister. I can take a moment to see my subjects and be late to a few of my appointments. Now, may I talk to the little filly without being reminded how busy we are?”

The guard stood up straight and gave a sharp salute across his chest with his hoof. He looked genuinely afraid, as though he expected to be punished later and wasn’t sure how, but he was clearly dreading it. Celestia let out a huff and turned herself back to me. “Now, Wandering Sunrise, was it? Before you go in there to Pinkie Pie, perhaps we should have a conservation. I am curious how Silver Zoom has been.”

I felt my ears fold against my head and terror from a previous night filling my heart. It wasn’t just that, I felt tears forming in my cheeks. My lips quivered and I bit my bottom lip hard. Celestia saw the expression, and she frowned. Her normally regal smiling face did not feel right to me frowning. It was like the act itself was unnatural to her.

“Oh little one, I did not mean to upset you. I presume something terrible has happened?” I felt a golden horseshoe against my cheek, which she immediately took off and brushed tears away from my face. I will admit, her hooves were the softest, most delicate frogs I had ever felt. It was as though she had never even taken a day to gallop upon them. “I must admit, the worst sight is a sad sunrise, and you certainly fit that bill. Tell me in your own time what happened.”

I became a blathering mess, spilling out the events of that terrible night. The night I saved Coffee Stain’s life, watched Silver Zoom’s skull be bashed in with his own rifle before I shoved a grenade into 88’s mouth. I wept and let out shrill cries of pain as I told her. I hadn’t told anyone what happened that night, and not a soul knew where my injuries came from. Pinkie Pie cleared her throat to interrupt me and Celestia.

“Your majesty, while I do enjoy the sight of your glorious golden glutes; I must confess it is a violation of security protocols to discuss such things in the hallway. We should bring her in here for a proper debriefing.”

Celestia stood upright, “Pinkamena Diane Pie, you may be the head of The Ministry of Morale and in change of internal affairs, spy defense, and wartime press; but that does not mean I do not have a right as your royal liege to speak with whoever I want within your agency. Are you telling me you recruited a filly, not even a full adult, for a spy operation? Are you informing me we are now using child soldiers!?” Celestia put her golden horseshoe back on and stomped her hoof. She hammered her heavy metal shoes across the stone floor and sprawling red rugs towards Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie was seated behind a large ornate wooden desk. Inside the room, it was simply her desk, with a computer and a databank for processing dedicated to it locked in a secure metal cabinet. In addition to this, there were four brand new Assaultpone-Class defense robots. They were heavily armored and unlike ponytrons or robobrains, they did not move sluggishly despite their armored plating.

They had all pulled out the massive lasers in their heads as Celestia stomped back in. Pinkie Pie held her hoof up, “Robots, down.” They were apparently programmed to defend Pinkie Pie.

Celestia continued storming up to Pinkie Pie with tears rolling down her cheeks, “Answer me!” She screamed in demand as the guards rushed me inside and closed the doors behind us.

“That would be a negative, Princess Celestia. Wandering Sunrise here is in our witness protection program. Silver Zoom was assigned to protect her, but seeing as Golden Strike, one of your guards, had to be sent to collect her, I presume that Silver Zoom will not be joining us for debriefing at this tea party.” Pinkie Pie reached forward and took a sip of tea from a cup on her desk.

Celestia stamped her hoof in fury and rage, the floor cracking under her assault. “Excuse me! You talk of him as though he did not matter. Do you even grieve or worry for the lives of your operatives anymore?”

Pinkie Pie stood up at her desk and slammed her own hooves down, shouting back with just as much volume, even if somewhat less depth in her voice. “Of course I do! I worry and grieve for all of them, but I don’t have time to dwell or wallow in my pity and sorrow. We have a war to win.” Pinkie Pie threw all of the papers off her desk and her tea cup clattered across the floor with them, shattering against the wall. I wanted to run, but was stopped by the sheer terror of what felt like two titans about to clash in front of me.

“The zebras are burning up in the oven. But need I remind you, a wounded animal is still dangerous. A desperate, cornered, wounded animal is exceptionally dangerous. When this war is over, I will grieve. If you excuse us, I have a debriefing to get to!” She stopped and adjusted her tie on her suit as she waved her hoof across the room, pointing at Celestia’s guards. “Your guards are NOT authorized to hear this layer of the cake and I would not dare put your life at risk knowing what we have to discuss. Please, Princess, excuse us.”

The tension in the room was making me uneasy and frightened that they may come to blows. I started to speak when Celestia growled in frustration. I never thought something so beautiful could be capable of violence until that moment. It was truly terrifying to think of the violence she might be capable of with her alicorn form. Then Celestia turned her nose up to Pinkie Pie. “You had best not be lying to me, and when this war is over, I expect all your actions to be declassified and answered for.” With that, Celestia stormed out, her guards in tow.

Pinkie Pie gave a mighty “harrumph” and pointed at a seat that was knocked over. “Please pick that up and have a seat.” While I was getting settled, Pinkie Pie started talking. “I should explain this to you first and foremost, as Celestia is not to know. It seems my Special Party Ponies have uncovered a conspiracy within my own ministry. One that deeply disturbs me.”

I looked up at her as Pinkie Pie pointed at me, “You are caught up in it, whether you want to be or not. So listen and listen good,” I stood up straight, suddenly very much at attention. I felt like the world itself was staring at me when Pinkie Pie’s gaze zeroed in on my face. “It is my belief now that 88 represented something else: A contingent of S.M.I.L.E. agents unhappy with being folded into the Ministries of Morale and Image. I firmly believe they are conspiring something that will possibly topple our current government, betray us to the zebras, or seek shelter somewhere neutral that we cannot follow. They are after something, something called Project Dead Tree. Do you know what that is?”

Past me slowly shook my head side to side. Present me recoiled in horror. I could hear Pink letting out a long weary sigh, and a thought struck me in that moment, Why do I still call you Pink?

Pink paused the memory somehow, with her very serious Pinkie Pie face narrowing her eyes at my past self while pointed at me. I, being a passenger viewing through my past self’s perspective, found the image very disturbing. “Because I am not all of Pinkie Pie, just a large fragment of her soul.”

Where is the rest of you?

“Waiting.” I was perplexed by the response and felt a deep sense of confusion rising in me from her answer.

Waiting for what? Waiting where? I leaned in, trying to understand what exactly Pink was getting at.

“Waiting for me to join the rest of the fragments. They are at the bridge you met your father at.” I was even more confused now. Pinkie looked genuinely sad as if remembering something she had lost and could never have back.

Why do you stay with me? Why don’t you join them? Pink rolled her eyes and let out a very defeated sigh.

“I would if I could, but that same power inside you that keeps you here—”

Keeps you here with me. I knew you weren’t here by choice. I had no idea that was why. I pondered on this for a while and then gave her a tight hug. The rest of the memory was distant as Pink and I held each other in an embrace. My PipBuck interface popped up with a new objective, “Free Pink from My Prison.” Something happened now, something unexpected. I felt the presence of Chifundo and someone else, someone familiar I could not place.

ooOOoo

“Huh? What? Pink? Pink, where did you go? What was the rest of that memory?” Scopola Mina cleared her throat as I called out in panic. I turned to her and then to Chifundo. I felt confused and disoriented as I looked between them in a now-white void plane. They were glowing slightly, shimmering just like Chifundo had when he first made contact with me.

“Right, Sunrise, you may wanna calm down; I came ‘ta keep you company and out of nightmare land.” Pink was back in the corner of my vision, my PipBuck interface slowly lighting up as I looked between the two of them, very bewildered still. “Right, Chifundo is having to concentrate to keep us connected. He’ll be quite a bit unresponsive. At least that is what he told me ‘ta tell you when you got confused.”

I looked at her very worried as I tried to comprehend. I started to speak and Scopola Mina put her hoof to my mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that. Nyota taught me that trick and it works pretty well. Chifundo knew you would be having some nightmares; apparently Pink told him that. So she told him we should use some spirit mojo I don’t quite understand to put you into this state.”

She removed her hoof from my lips and gave me a reassuring smile. “Now, I don’t quite understand it all but we are between asleep and awake, kinda in that weird halfway state. It’s like the same state of mind I get in when I do some really good mushrooms and get halfway to overdose. I mean, it’s just the perfect state for the concoctions I take.”

I took a seat, trying to take it all in. It had been a while since I had a one-on-one with Scopola Mina; she always seemed so busy with our friends. I looked at her, very baffled, and slowly it dawned on me that we were in the spiritual place that Chifundo meditated in. I then had another realization, “Wait, you are being awfully calm about all this.”

Scopola cleared her throat. “Oh, Chifundo explained it all to me, and I trust Chifundo isn’t gonna hurt me. Plus I got to see you, and we can hang out till Nyota takes over for me and I can sleep.” She explained it all and reached up with a hoof to gently brush my mane. It felt nice, kinda like how my mom felt when she stroked my mane.

“You’re certainly a good pony, Sunrise. I tried to bring some cookies, but Chifundo said that wouldn’t work. I also think your little foals are adorable.” I was taken aback and blinked a few times in disbelief.

“Scopola, tonight before you all lay to rest, would it be possible for Chifundo to bring all of you to me like this?” I had started to form a plan and wanted to test out what Pinkie Pie had taught me to make sure it worked.

Scopola put a hoof to her chin and thought about it, “I’m not a hundred percent sure he’s strong enough for that, but we can certainly give it a try. Why? What did you have in mind, Sunrise?”

I hesitated and then cleared my throat, “Pink showed me how to do something; I want to see if I can actually get it to work.” I looked at Scopola and wiped building tears from my eyes. I felt that each of my friends was doing something to commit to an impossible task. A task I could not ask them to do; they could go on living their lives and just allow The Enclave to have me. Yet here even Scopola Mina, a pony I once thought was just a spy for Coffee Stain, was willing to risk her life for me.

There was no large group of creatures at risk. There was no greater good served by our actions. There were three ponies to be rescued: myself and my children. I had no idea what their plan was, but in that moment I fully committed to everything they were going to try to do. “I believe it will help immensely with all of us.”

Scopola Mina nodded and smirked, “Well, if Pink has something that potent then y’all must have worked out some sort of agreement on your friendship. I’m more than willin’ to give it a shot. I’ll make sure Chifundo gets ready.” There was a knock, to which Scopola and I turned our heads, looking out into the great white void of my mind.

“Nyota’s here, guess that’s my signal to umm… do you go or disconnect when you are spiritually visiting someone? Like, Chifundo didn’t exactly explain how all this works.” With a whiff of smoke, completely soundless, Scopola was replaced with my husband, and we were standing in a small room with our foals sleeping nearby.

*****

Nyota tried to speak and found it difficult, his voice not working in this place. I looked around and Pink nudged me, “Go on, try it out.” I reached into the edges of my mind, to the place beyond where my normal senses could see, hear, feel, taste, or smell. I felt the edge of reality just as Pink had shown me. Nyota tilted his head in a concerned manner towards me. I didn’t have to see him to know he was doing this. I could feel it.

I felt the world of reality pushing back and trying to stop me from bending it to my will. I shook my head and repeated the words from Pink’s song, “You know when the world tries to block,
you gotta giggle at the clock, reality will be so shocked, because you’ve got physics to mock!”

With a sudden jolt, I felt Nyota’s mind, and his thoughts. I could sense his feelings of concern, his desire to hold me, everything on the surface of his mind. It was overwhelming and I grabbed onto my head inside this dream space. That, combined with my own emotional turmoil, was almost too much but I dug my hooves in and held myself still.

“Love, where is this? Are you alright? What is going on? Who's thoughts are these?” He was clearly starting to panic. I took a deep breath and pressed a hoof to his chest. We were not speaking in the sense of mouths uttering sound and our ears receiving them. This was directing our thoughts to each other and back.

“Nyota, calm down. The foreign feelings are mine. Wow, this is a lot more visceral and hard to control than Pink told me it would be. Wait...” I got extremely excited and squealed with delight. “It works! It works!”

“What is this love? I don’t… wait, did you just use a telepathy spell?” Nyota stared at me as his eyes slowly widened as if experiencing existential horror in real time. I leaped forward and wrapped my hooves around him tightly. At least in this dream space, our spirits could actually hold each other tight.

“YES! Yes it is! Pink showed me how to do it.” I calmed myself by holding him for a while and then exhaled slowly. “She gave me a little understanding of how to bend reality.”

Nyota took several long blinks as his eyes stared at me while he let the tension release from his form. It took quite a bit of his mind to focus and bring his emotions into check as I tried to restrain some of my own. Telepathy wasn’t just words it turns out, telepathy was emotions, feelings, everything the mind was experiencing.

“Why couldn’t you talk here? That was strange, Scopola Mina had no issue.” I looked at Nyota who shrugged his shoulders.

“I mean, it could be the zebra tribal thing.” Nyota and I both looked around as if looking for where Pink’s voice had come from. For once, I was the one restricted to talking with thoughts and Pink was able to speak out loud instead. This was the strangest turn of events I had yet experienced.

Is this what it’s like for Pink all the time?

“Yes, absolutely all the time.”

“Oh right! I should show myself.” Pink walked out of my ear, the size of maybe a 9mm bullet head and then jumped off my shoulder and blew up to a full size pony.

Nyota looked stunned and I rolled my eyes, “Just because I am a Starkittari doesn’t—” Pink held up a hoof and shook her head.

“No, all zebra shamans after the zebra civil war had incorporated anti-Starkittari rites into their practices.” Pink then offered her hoof and bowed her head to Nyota, a sign of respect. “They passed it down for thousands of years, and it is likely they assumed all their motions, techniques, and powers were normal and not specifically meant to keep your tribe out. It is probably why you cannot talk on your own. But since Sunrise is using the same kind of magic that unicorns do and zebra shamanism was never completely immune to such, it is a nice work around for your Starkittari blood and Chifundo’s traditionalist training.”

“How in all of Equus do you even know that?” Nyota was puzzled as he turned to Pink with a very indignant look upon his face.

Pink looked up at him with a giggle, “I had all my hooves in every pie in Equestria and quite a few in Zebrica. Just because officially I was strictly propaganda and counter intelligence, doesn’t mean I did not sample a few zebra shaman pies and find a couple of ancient books that details your spirit magic practices and how they work.” She snickered and leaned over to Nyota, whispering something I could not hear. Nyota stood upright and confused for a bit, then blushed.

“Right, well,” Nyota turned away from Pink and to me and leaped forward to wrap his forelegs around my neck. “Goddess, it is wonderful to hear your voice and see your face! It won’t be long now. Tomorrow or the next day we are coming for you.”

I was taken aback by his sudden squeezing of me and his outburst. I also sensed something else: he was angry. I could feel his rage and it nearly deafened the thoughts out of my own mind. I staggered to stay standing, as the emotion was so intense I couldn’t tell if it was my own or his anymore. All I knew was his love and anger, all at once.

“Nyota! Why are you so angry?” I was trying to determine what was going as he held me tight.

“You are feeling what Ember is doing for me. Focusing my rage and giving it direction.” I could feel him holding me close and a sense of calm cold washed over him, and into me directly. With our minds linked like this, it was taking quite a bit of my concentration to sort through the emotions of another person.

“They hurt you, she killed you, and not one of them deserves your mercy.” I felt like Nyota might actually catch fire at that moment. I felt a spirit inside him, just as I had when Chifundo summoned the nature spirit or when he projected to me. It was no different than in the waking world.

The movements of the creature I sensed inside his mind was that of a pony, but her body flowed like a crackling rumbling volcano. Then she was hidden from me, leaving only Nyota to be sensed once more. “When you are safe, we are not going anywhere for at least a day. Period.”

I paused and hesitated. “Nyota, please, there is no need to kill them all. We get away and we make sure our foals are safe. Then figure out what to do.” Nyota stood firm, even as he could feel my misgivings about killing and the flashes of everyone I remembered taking the life of. The feelings of how I regretted not being able to save them. I did not realize I was crying until I saw the tears dropping down onto his chest and shoulder.

“Nyota, I do need you to contain yourself or calm down, as much as you can. You have only seen them asleep, but I think I can pull them in with us.” I started to concentrate and repeated the motion that linked our minds. Doing this, I focused upon the small bundles of joy nestled under my forelegs of my physical body. Soon, two very small precious minds appeared within our link. They were calm and still, there was very little beyond simple contentment that echoed from the thoughts. “Careful, nothing too forceful or loud, you will wake them up otherwise.”

Nyota was taken aback and in that moment, the calm that I normally felt when close to him pushed through us both. He was stunned as he felt the minds of his children. Their thoughts were simple; they understood concepts like mother, father, and love but not the words themselves. It was like feeling the word, rather than having someone speak it. “They’re so big. You were just beginning to show in Upsville, how…”

I stepped in to make sure he wouldn’t be too loud. “My mother has been doing a lot of gene experimentation. She accelerated them to get me ready for…” I realized quickly where this conversation was going and stopped myself. Nyota pushed at his throat, the feeling of having his mane stroked and pushed it to the two smaller minds in our link. Pink was helping me with the strain of it, to hold us together to have this conversation. The closest we had been as a family. “Ya know what, no, we should not ruin this. How about we just be a mother and father as best we can for a little bit?”

Nyota smiled and kissed my cheek. “I know what she is preparing you for, and it’s another reason I will never forgive her.” He let it go, and for the first time since I cast the telepathy spell, I felt him without anger. He radiated love and kept softly rubbing the foals’ manes.

“Hello there, I’m your dad… I’m absolutely terrified that I’m not gonna be a good papa but I will try my best.” He kept it up and in that moment, I saw what made me choose him. The kindness and gentle soul he hid behind his rage at the world. The sensation he would not hurt a soul, if only they would not harm those he cared for.

I nuzzled the three links within my mind. It was so strange to not physically have to do something, but rather simply project the thought of doing it and estimating how it would feel, then the other minds in the link would get it and all the feelings associated with the action. Not just how I felt, but how they felt as well. “I am glad to see you, I thought to myself you could use a moment of calm, in a place where we are all safe. Even if it is an illusion.”

Nyota grinned, “No illusion here, love. We are safe in your mind.” He nuzzled my neck while staring at the image of what the foals looked like in my mind.

That is probably heavily embellished. I think they are absolute little angels of joy. I stopped myself, realizing that Nyota could hear my thoughts now, too.

“I know another thing I could use: a chance to rest while holding you… we were so focused on helping Soot we…” He trailed off, not finishing his sentence as he held onto me tighter.

Pink, can you make the telepathy spell weaker, slowly, with the foals? I am not sure how and I do not want to wake them with a sudden snap. Pink nodded and the foals began to fade away into the white around us. It was as if they were going back to sleep in their minds, back to their own dreamlands.

Nyota gripped onto me tightly, “I called them and demanded you, and they took you. I called them and instead of destroying that accursed place, they took you from us.”

I shook my head, “No, you did not call them. They did. They wanted the bounty and planned this all along. The moment I was inside, they already knew what to do.” He nodded and held me close. We stayed there quietly until we were certain the two small angels were completely gone from our minds.

“I stuck by my morals and they betrayed the right of parley. Even Zebricans would never do that again after the mistake that killed Big Mac,” I explained to him and he nodded.

“When the sniper didn’t know the difference between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they just knew to shoot the alicorn. Instead, your Big Mac became another dead hero of the war.” Nyota spoke to make sure what I was speaking about, the confusion in his voice was very clear.

“You know about what happened?”

“All zebras do, it is a fable told to children, the Folly of Psalm. How his actions meant there would never be peace for the war and doomed us all to this Wasteland.” Nyota explained and we sat briefly in silence between us. “Much like your mother, once she shot you, there cannot be peace.”

“I mean, it is not that simple anymore. I do not feel like shooting me was the wrong answer. Especially with what I have discovered since I woke back up.” It was so reality-breakingly strange to speak about dying as if it were not a big deal anymore. “I think I need to show you the monster I once was.”

“Love, you are you. How many times must I tell you? Once you are safe, we are staying put somewhere safe for at least a week now.” Nyota pushed against my cheek playfully with a hoof, as if punching me in very slow motion but meaning no harm.

“I am fighting for control. I need you to know what that creature is, how to recognize it, and you need to figure out what to do if I lose control. The box in me, it had memories. Memories that came out when I died.”

“Then show me your demon, as you know all too well of mine.” Nyota kissed my forehead lovingly. “It is all too fair.”

I slowly showed him the memories from the Dead Tree Protocol. I showed him 17 in her cage. I showed him the creature that was hidden within there. I was being much more gentle than the box had been with me, and I had no idea how much time passed as we moved from memory to memory, piece to piece. When I finished, I felt Nyota’s confusion as he took it all in, as well as his worry for me.

“That is some heavy stuff, but you’re still running the show, though. If the monster shows up, I’ll knock her out and we’ll figure out what to do.” He hugged me close and whispered in my ear. “I’d hate myself for having to smack you, but if it is what it takes to put the real you back in control instead of Stable-Tec’s monster… unless you know some other way? What happens if you reboot again?”

I shrugged, “I have no idea, I just know if I reboot there is not a promise it will be me who wakes up. It is so very strange to speak of death as though coming back to life is a worse fate than the actual dying. I mean if the box breaks, then yeah we are just gone.” I held my tongue for a pregnant pause then resumed. “If not, it takes a day or two to fully charge.”

Nyota shook me so I was paying absolute attention to him. “I need you to focus for a bit. What all is the Enclave doing now? What is your movement pattern?”

I nodded to him, “They are leaving me with our foals for an extended time. They want my cooperation. I spend a lot of time with Grapevine. My mother is being led to believe he is trying to get me pregnant.” Nyota growled and I held up my hoof. I projected to him what Grapevine looked like and nodded to him. “He is not. I remind him of his daughter and we have been spending a lot of time together. He is genuinely trying to protect me and wants to escape with us. The other pony, Delta Sierra,” I showed him Delta Sierra in my mind.

“He is nice enough but he is loyal to the Enclave, even as an earth pony. I spend my days going around the ship helping with repairs and maintenance. Since I saw Chifundo yesterday I started committing little minor sabotages here and there. Delta catches some of it and just thinks I am making mistakes instead of doing it on purpose.” I explained all of this and Nyota took it all in.

“And your mother?” He asked, as I felt his rage and anger rising back to the surface. The sensation wasn’t overwhelming this time. I was prepared for it and not distracted searching for the foals’ minds.

“I am not sure who that is, but as far as I can tell she is not the pony who hugged me outside Stable 43 anymore.” I hesitated as I prepared to tell him what I wanted next. “I believe she has a box like mine and I promise, I think I can save her. I know that will not stop you.” I looked up at him as I felt his anger building. “But if you do have to take a life, please do it and forgive them.”

“If it was anyone but your mother, they would get one warning. Your mother is an irredeemable creature, Sunrise. Surely you can see that?” I shook my head and Nyota groaned in irritation. I felt my willpower would be tested here, as would our relationship. I wanted to save her, to change her mind, to show her a mercy that Nyota wanted no part of. “Your mother has spent one-hundred and eighty years sucking off pegasi and trying to turn you into a permanent breeder for them. She has no redeeming factors, doesn’t seek redemption, and will happily do this to you whenever she has the chance. Sunrise, no; I cannot agree to stop.”

I felt a lump in my throat. My heart was torn in half between wanting to agree with him and wanting to hold out a hope that she could be saved. I could feel myself wanting to rend apart my own body and mind over this decision.

“Nyota, we have given everyone two chances. Does she not get another one?” I knew I wasn’t playing fair with that question, and that it wasn’t a nice thing to do. I reached up and pressed a hoof against his chest, feeling his heartbeat despite his spiritual form. The astral projection bridging the connection from the grip of my hoof to his heartbeat well beyond the horizon.

Okay, you know what? If this is the strangest, wildest, dream I have ever had... I should think less about that. My own thought was being a call to sanity that I knew wasn’t coming. “I would never have thought you would take Alguacil’s philosophy. Why this time?”

Nyota was stirred out of his stupor from my adamant stance and he growled. “Because she has given you no choice. You are not in a position to negotiate because you cannot say no. It is obey or die until you obey. You’re a slave! Slavers get no quarter.” He reached around and I thought he might actually harm me but he pulled me into a loving embrace. “She’s no better than The Legion that razed Oasis, my home.”

I was stunned, as there was no hiding our feelings and I could see his memory of Oasis being razed. I felt even more conflicted than I had before. “Nyota, I did not think of it that way. I love you. Let me try, okay? If I cannot bring the monster out of her, I will… agree to…”

Nyota let out a defeated exasperated sigh. “Sunrise, Sunny. I can’t promise you that I will let her go. I’m doing my best not to convince Al to fly me up there right now and murder my way to you as fast as possible. You have any idea—”

“Nyota, my psyche is still fragile right now, okay? I know I need to be there for these two little bundles and I need you there for them, too. You want to be a good father, make sure you make it out alive with me.” I took a long breath and looked into his eye. I could see the fire within the spirit eye, crackling through like the image of Ember he showed me with lines of lava preparing to break the surface. In that turmoil, there was a galaxy that my face reflected off of as he stared back. The comet that circled through collided with one of the cracks in the black void and made the orange hot magma shine through just a little more when the crack splintered more of the void. “I know that is not fair and I know that is low and you have every right to be mad with me. I just need to be certain that our foals will have a loving father to go with a doting mother.”

Nyota’s grip slackened and he groaned. “Provide me with proof she can be saved and I’ll give her a chance. But you remember that this should, without a shadow of a doubt, be something we agree on. You have my word, but, Sunrise.” I looked at him, expecting some ultimatum or other demand. “I love you. I do this for you and them, not for her, clear?”

“Clear. I am sorry, Nyota. It is my mom. I have so many loving memories of her. I saw her come back at the end from alcohol and parties in a horrible place. I think we can do it again here.” I showed him the memories of her brushing my hair and fixing me up despite the bullies, and of her shielding me from the mean fillies. How she removed herself from that dark place and in the last month before the end of the world found herself again. I let him see the bad and good. “You are right. She does not deserve it, and testing you is wrong. I am a hypocrite and if you need me to let go of her, I will figure out how.”

“Love, if you need to talk to her and be convinced completely she cannot be saved, do it. If you do not feel it after your next talk, and she is gone, you know what you will have to tell me.” He had the moral high ground and I was asking something that even a saint would protest.

I clung to him and nodded, wiping my tears upon his chest. Even in this dream world, we had total control and yet I still cried. “I will do what I can, but you are right. I have always held tight that if we show mercy, we can save a pony.” I smiled at him and kissed his chin. “Not all demons are angry. Sometimes, they just do not know when to quit. You are not the demon you think you are; to me, you are my angel.” I stayed there with him as long as I could hold the connection, just wanting to enjoy this moment of peace as our lives continued to get more complicated.

“Nyota, we have been questing for her since we met. Buddy died, Corners died, Picline is gone, and now in some weird way, a part of me is gone. So many died to find her, and now that we have... Even if I know you are right, even if I know there is no saving her, I cannot just give up and go from rescuer to executioner without knowing for sure.” I wanted to hold back the next words, but knew I would not. I had to speak to them, I had to say the next part. “If it comes to picking one of us, I will understand that she dies. I will not have the love I feel for you or our children without parents. Not after all we have been through together.”

Nyota was relieved by this, appearing that he had a sense of purpose now and the conflict between us subsided. “Talk to her, love. Try to save her, it’s what I admire about you the most. I can’t forgive anyone who kills their child, despite what the boxes do. No justice could ever pardon that.” He grimaced and I felt the anger again, his purpose and direction giving a place to channel his desire for vengeance. “She does not deserve your pity or your mercy. Any creature that would turn a pony into a sex slave and their children into the sames slaves does not deserve any mercy or pity. You still believe that someone can be saved after what she has done; that is what makes you special. You are full of hope and mercy even after dying and coming back. You refuse to give up. Do what your heart demands, but know that I will not show such mercy to that monster.”

“Thank you, my love. I will do my best, and not blame you if the time comes.”

“Our children need their mother and you need actual rest, not time in this dream place. Chifundo said he could make sure you had a restful sleep without any dreams after we finished up. I think you will need to rest. I will try to sleep and prepare myself, mind and body, for what is to come.” He leaned in close, “As soon as we are safe, I’m marrying you and giving you my stripes.”

I blinked in confusion and Nyota kissed my forehead, “I think this is the part where I say yes? And how much will getting stripes like that hurt?”

Nyota shook his head and kissed my lips with a soft peck that sent an electric shock through my whole body. My heart fluttered anew and I felt at peace and home in that moment as he released the kiss.

“They won’t hurt at all. The stripes are swapped spiritually, Chifundo will explain it all later. For now, rest Sunny, my love.” I released the connection and Nyota slowly faded away just as our foals had from this place. Then slowly, the light became darkness and I drifted off into dreamless restful sleep.

ooOOoo

I woke up in the morning, feeling well rested for once. The foals even woke up calmly, looking around the world in awe as I kissed their foreheads and then let them have their fill. Afterwards, the nurses gave me breakfast. The awful recaf I didn’t touch, as while I might need caffeine in the morning I didn’t need it that badly. My work with Delta Sierra went by as normal, with me slipping in some sabotage here and there. Nothing major, just things like at high power a circuit would overload one of the gun batteries, or make sure the connector would read as charging, but the flow of electricity would have a higher than expected loss rate so that their big laser cannons would take longer to charge.

It was a boring morning. Grapevine came to get me for lunch, and he even took the time to shield me with his wing or put his wing over my back any time we walked past any other crew member. We sat next to each other and tried to eat in peace. Grapevine never let his wing drop from my back as we did so. Then something pinched my rear through my jumpsuit, right next to where my tail covered my privates. I let out a yelp and turned to look at Grapevine, who was already nose to nose and growling at Puff Creamer.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Grapevine snarled and shoved the power armored pegasus. His effort did little to actually force him to move.

“What? You think you get to hog this piece of Pre-War ass from all of us? No, she is gonna get a right pounding from every one of us. A creaming, if you will.” Puff Creamer licked his lips while looking at me lecherously.

I wanted to retaliate. I wanted to smash his teeth out then and there, but Grapevine grabbed my shoulder and laughed at Puff Creamer. I looked at him confused, and Puff Creamer looked at him angrily. “The hell is so funny about that? You losing your mind at the thought of her coated head to hoof white?”

Grapevine slapped his thigh, “Is that what you think? You think for two seconds the Superintendent is going to risk a single foal that she is pregnant with? I mean yeah, she will always be expecting, but once she has one the Superintendent is going to put her completely off limits.” He leaned over to him and made sure his hat brim was lifted on Puff Creamer’s head, “And I will make sure you always have blue balls for it.”

Puff Creamer started to speak and I wanted to protest, but I was interrupted by Grapevine putting a kiss on my lips and giving me a tight embrace. I resolved myself to play it up and make it look like we meant it.

Grapevine picked me up, “Let’s go see the Superintendent, just for that last medical check up.” We walked out hoof in hoof, and I decided to play it up even more. I rubbed my rear against his side and made a point to emphasize my prissy movement, swaying my hips so they would bounce and grind on him as we walked.

Puff Creamer stamped his hoof in frustration and I looked back at him, giving him a slow purposeful wink and a sarcastic blow of a kiss. His friends all burst into laughter at him while he immediately began shouting at them for it. It was too late, as they were all too far gone enjoying his embarrassment. As we closed the door, I swore a hoofticuff fight broke out.

We got to the elevator to go up and Grapevine let out a sigh of relief, “Do not do the mom hip thing. I mean, I got a type and that is it, okay?” I blushed, sensing I had actually turned him on while we were trying to make Puff Creamer feel like an idiot.

“You sure you wanna try to do this?” I nodded as we got up to the officer’s floor and stepped off. We came to my mother’s office only to find it empty. I felt my heart sink.

Have I missed my chance to save her? Grapevine ran down the hall to flag down the guard on duty. I stayed there at the door, staring off into space as the office was not just empty; it looked cleaned out. The officer’s bed was stripped of sheets, and the desk had been put back in order; like it was waiting for an occupant to move in. No papers, no food or dishes, nothing.

Grapevine came back to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder, “She and a detachment of pegasi left to give the lab results from your foals’ tests to her research team back to Neighgra Falls. She isn’t here, Sunrise.” I felt defeated. She was safe for another chance from Nyota’s wrath but this was the only chance I could ever conceive of getting to speak with her.

What do I tell Nyota?

*****

I was alone in my room, holding my foals in the bed tonight. Without my mom here, there was no need to sleep in Grapevine’s quarters and I was certain his wife would enjoy time alone with him and their foal. She did come to check on me and Orchard Blossom had been more than nice, but I always felt like an intruder, that some stormtrooper could come in at any moment and destroy their lives to seize me.

Jumoke did not flinch in his sleep, as he was so still I would have thought he was deceased, but no, he was still exhaling warm breath against my side, making my fur flicker against it. Magical Miracle, on the other hoof, kept shifting and it took all my willpower to not flinch when she poked me with her horn.

Today has been a loss. You two, however, do not know a thing around you. You just know you are safe, warm, and that mommy is here. I thought to myself as the room started to light up.

I looked up to see Chifundo appear first. Then, one by one, my friends filed in. All of them immediately looked at the two small ponies curled against my sides and restrained their excitement to yell in joy or immediately hug me. I could feel a sense of hope fill me that had been gone in the days before.

Alguacil cleared his throat and spoke in a low tone, “We ‘r comin’ in the mornin’. Everyone is in position and our plan is ready. Are ya ready, Sunrise?”

I nodded. “As I will ever be. My mother is gone. She left to give test results to the Enclave city we are heading towards, so their troop numbers are lowered and she is gone. If any time was our chance, this is it.”

Alguacil nodded and stretched out his wings. “Chifundo’s whodoo is strange, why did you need us all here?’

Quick Stitch rolled his eyes. “It is just magic, different from my own or yours or Sunrise’s, but still, Alguacil does have a point. Chifundo is under incredible strain, why did you need us all here?”

I nodded. “Grab hooves and claws in a circle and hold tight. Pink showed me something, and I cannot think of a time more appropriate to cast it.” Hesitantly, they all grabbed each other’s hooves and I started to focus upon my friends.

I remembered Pink’s song, the one I had sung with her. The feeling pushed through me as I grabbed onto Scopola Mina’s and Nyota’s hoof frogs tightly. I focused and focused, but I couldn’t feel reality’s edge. It was distant and I started to feel myself swelling and straining to make this work.

Quick Stitch rolled his eyes, “Sunrise, it’s okay. Whatever you are trying to say or do, it can wait.”

I shook my head. “Hang on, trust me.” I kept trying, looking for that edge. I remembered something painful, my mother pointing the gun at me, just enough to drive my mind into questioning if this was really happening or something that had really transpired. I could feel it now, the edge of reality. That little bit of the world you can see just outside of your vision, except now I was focused on it and next to it, the cosmos, the infinite possibility of what could be, just out of your sight. I drew myself to it.

“What’s this ‘bout exactly? What is she doin’?” I felt myself start to glow with a bright gold aura and that aura slowly extended itself around each of us, one by one.

Scopola Mina gasped, “That’s unicorn magic! HOW? Ho…” She trailed off as the aura reached her. We felt connected, like we belonged together. The feeling of, as long as we were together, nothing could stop us.

I opened my eyes and spoke the words, “To bend reality’s fabric, to make time and space erratic, just remember the fantastic, that friendship, my friends, is magic!” With a shock that left my body, that connection strengthened and our world changed ever so slightly but in a way that was wonderful.

My Friends stood in awe, all flabbergasted.

I had just cast a magic spell; I, an earth pony, had used unicorn magic. Not just any magic spell; one that hadn’t existed since the bombs fell. Even I was surprised it worked. The light around us fluttered and made the ship’s lights look dim in comparison. Not one creature spoke, as we all took in the moment.

-----
Quest Perk Achieved: Bonds of Friendship - You and all those in the bond can now cast spells on each other without having to be within range or even sense where the other is. You can literally cast a spell upon each other from across the planet. You know if each other is awake, in pain, or safe at all times. You are connected in a way that only the truest of friends can achieve.

Congratulations. For once, I, the GM, have absolutely nothing terrible to say. You have just put a form of magic back into the world that hasn’t existed in more than hints and occasional sparks since the world blew itself to kingdom come. You just changed the whole world for the better. I guess it only takes actually dying for you to Do Better.

Chapter 59: Battle in Nowhere's Sky

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“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person. That something will always leave a change. Don’t you want it to be for good?”
-Fred Rogers

Pink was the first one to speak. “YES! It worked! Stable-Tec made a new me, and you just used magic that hasn’t existed in 182 years!” In that moment, everyone turned towards Pink like they could all see and hear her. Pink froze and blinked a few times, “Umm… Sunrise, can they hear me?”

“Yes, we can hear you, one of Pink, but how is far beyond my brink. I need a moment to think; she did all this with but a wink?”

The rush of emotions, mostly surprise and astoundment, was hard to fight through. I took a deep inhale before calling out, “Everyone calm down please. We are linked through a telepathy spell Pink taught me to use.” The whole group turned their thoughts towards me.

Scopola Mina was the first to say anything. “I think I need a good dose of dash right now. She did what?”

Quick Stitch actually finally lost his cool. “I… you… you are not scientifically possible. Earth ponies cannot use unicorn magic. That is completely scientifically not possible. You are scientifically impossible!”

I cleared my throat with a grin to make sure he didn’t go overboard as Nyota snickered, “So is dying and coming back to life, but she did that. I would say we should open our minds, like when I meditate or Chifundo communes with spirits.” There was a slow nod of agreement between everyone.

Alguacil looked at each of us. “So how does ‘his work? What exactly did she just do?”

Pink stood up to explain, “The Friendship Circle spell was created in the old world to allow true friends to be linked together. So long as none of you stop being friends or try to enter a new circle, you can know exactly how each other is doing. You can cast spells on each other from anywhere in Equus, possibly even in space or on the moon. That’s why her telepathy spell is working right now; Quick Stitch can heal you from hundreds of miles away or Scopola Mina can levitate you from anywhere in the world. Even in death, you can still check on each other so long as none of you stopped being friends, so Chifundo can do the spirit communion thing with your soul too.” Pink was wearing a science hat and lab coat as she pulled out a chalkboard and a white board before drawing with chalk on the white board and marker on the black board. Yet, we could all somehow both see it and understand what she was drawing on the boards.

It wasn’t because we could see the boards, but because Pink was showing it to my mind and I was relaying it to everyone else as both voice and images. It took several long seconds after that for everyone to take all that in. It wasn’t that it was hard to understand, it was just that all the rules of magic, physics, and reality we had been taught all our lives were being broken here. “I mean, I don’t wanna be rude ‘ta y’all, but Chifundo did say we ain’t exactly got a ton of time. What all can you do with this Sunrise?”

I thought about it and sighed, “Not a lot. I can blink up to 30 meters to somewhere I can already see, cast a light spell, the friendship magic one you just saw, and telepathy. That is about it. That is all Pink taught me.

“Well, in the meantime, we’ll experiment with it tonight. Sunrise, Chifundo doesn’t seem like he is going to last much longer. We are coming for you in the morning. Be ready.” Nyota motioned everyone around to come in and give me a hug. The hug held, and I could feel the love being shared between those I considered family, me, and our new foals. The feelings of how they thought they were adorable. The amazement we could have this moment, as all the emotions passed between us until they slowly faded back to the real world, and I dropped the telepathic connection from the strain of holding it.

I looked at my two foals, who smacked their lips and sleepily snuggled back in. They had barely been disturbed by all of this. My world had just expanded, and now I needed time to take it all in. I reached out to Nyota as I felt sleep overtake me. Pink took over and soon, I was locked in a space all to myself with him.

ooOOoo

“Nyota? Are you here? Not sure how long I can hold this without being slammed back into my… oh… yep, awake now.” I called out as the dreamscape faded and I was in the hospital bed again.

Great. Note to self, no secret is safe, I talk in my sleep. I looked down to see my foals curled against me. The room was quiet, and life was serene for the moment.

“Who’s Nyota? That sounds like a zebra name. Is he their father?” I looked around again to see Delta Sierra standing there with a tray of food as he talked quietly to let the foals sleep. It was the usual recaf, bran flakes, and other tasteless efficient Enclave food.

What I wouldn’t give for a fancy princess snack cake now. Even if they are two hundred years old.

“Well, it’s too bad they’ll never meet him.” Delta replied and set the tray down. A flash of fear ran through my body.

Did their plan fail? Is Nyota dead?

“Ya know, being that he is on the ground and you are permanently up here in the clouds with us?” I felt a wave of relief, yet at the same time, something I hadn’t really felt since I woke up: hatred. I glared at Delta, then relaxed once he looked nervous and stood stock still for a few seconds.

“Sorry, just a question for you,” Delta tilted his head curiously at my rollercoaster of expression and sudden cordialness. I took a breath and decided to roll the dice. “What if that were not the case? What if the Enclave is wrong and I should go free?”

Delta gave me a hard stare, pulling himself in close to look me over and then he let out a chuckle. “Had me going there for a bit. Thought I might need to report you for anti-Enclave thoughts.” I was stunned there, trying to figure him out, trying to understand what he meant. He could see my expression and then nodded as he started to explain.

“The Enclave has a very strict system with rewards for reporting those with anti-Enclave thoughts or the very idea that the Enclave is not the best and superior option for everyone. I firmly believe that the Enclave is the only thing that can save the wasteland and hope that you one day will come to see it that way. Now eat your breakfast, we have work to get to soon.” He left with a very self righteous way of holding his head high and stormed off. I knew I had offended him, and realized in that moment something horrific.

“Sometimes you simply cannot save them, Sunrise.” I heard Pink’s words and my heart felt as though a tiny tear had formed on it. It wasn’t so bad that I wanted to cry or scream, but it was just enough that I felt pity for ponies like Delta Sierra.

He’s so blinded by everything he’s always been told and taught; he cannot see a chance for freedom as anything but oppression.

Pink nodded, “My indoctrination and propaganda programs were sometimes just as brutally effective. This however, this is on a nation-wide scale. You were extremely lucky to meet Grapevine. Without him, I don’t think this souffle would souffler. We should—” Pink was interpreted as the ship rocked. I heard a distant explosion.

What? Is it— My own thoughts were drowned out by the roar of a dragon that shook my bones to their core. My heart pounded in my chest, my skin got clammy, and my blood ran cold.

That dragon that… is… bigger than this ship. I only could guess that because the next thing was another explosion and impact as the ship rocked.

I threw the breakfast down and secured my now-crying foals, their ears burning red from the sudden exposure to a terrifying dragon roar. I held them close and tried to figure out what was going on. My hooves standing in the hot recaf did not help as once I had the foals on my back, I realized how scalding that was and jumped out of it.

Right, motherly instincts make you ignore pain… note to self; check for pain first. I winced while rubbing my sensitive hooves. Pink, instead of giggling, was remaining hyper alert for something coming.

The steel door burst open from the ship’s alarm resounding, the alarm that somehow I knew was for battlestations. Grapevine was standing there, holding a bunch of my things on his back, consisting of my armor, my father’s pistol, and my bags. “Sunrise, we don’t have a lot of time! Get armored up and secure the small ones. My wife is gonna meet us, time to go!”

He put all my belongings onto the bed I had been sleeping in and took the foals into his wings, trying to shush them as he closed the door behind him and sealed it. He took my crowbar and jammed it into the manual wheel that would release the hydraulic lock.

“Where did you get my dad’s gun?” I was scrambling to get my armor plating on, not sure what good it would do to get me to the ground once we got off the ship.

“Your mother was careless and in a hurry, didn’t notice the gun disappear off her desk. Now quit talking and hurry up, your friends are here and they brought a fucking dragon with a damn cannon strapped to it’s arm!” My brain raced with possibilities as to what this was and how this was possible. I kept scrambling to get armored up. My stable-suit had to have a couple of extra places strapped tighter than normal, since I wasn’t pregnant anymore and I had less toned muscle. Once every piece was on, I took my explosives bag, which was armored to prevent the bombs inside from going off but now was empty of anything and motioned Grapevine to me.

“What is it? Can’t you see—” Grapevine continued as I took Jumoke while placing the pillow I had slept on inside the bag. Then him, followed by his sister.

“Jumoke, take care of your sister and both of you behave.” The two foals stared at me wide eyed, finally having ceased crying before I pulled the lid over the bag and prayed they would remain quiet.

“Armored bag. It is made to house my explosives, but should keep them contained and safer than riding on our backs or anywhere else.” I checked the sidearm, which had no bullets in it.

“You did not steal some bullets too?” Grapevine blushed and sighed.

“Right, I’m used to energy weapons. They weigh the same regardless if the battery is dead or not. Stupid bullet-taking guns and needing to check that.” I went to the door and removed the crowbar, unlatching it and pulling it towards me. I made sure to stay behind it and motioned Grapevine forward to check the hallway, the alarm still blaring as the ship shook again and again. It was a struggle for us to keep our hooves on the deck and not fall down. My armor did help stabilize me, but Grapevine nearly fell into the hallway.

He took in a breath and brought his head back out. “Coast is clear, they’re likely getting armed up or at battlestations. We should get you out of here.” From there it was a race. We darted through the ship and moved towards the rear of the vessel. Grapevine was taking extra care to not get near the firing station, damage control stations, or ship’s outer hull. The shaking and quaking as well as frantic radio chatter we heard passing one of the relay stations was evident that there was more than just the dragon.

We rounded a corner and Delta Sierra was standing there, staring at us in shock. “Where are you going? Shouldn’t you be in your quarters locked up tight? Why are you in your armor?” It was then that we could see him putting the pieces together with shock painting his face.

“Delta listen, we—” I didn’t get to say another word, the sound of a plasma bolt firing and his face caving in under the energy, heat, and shock of the bolt.

I turned to Grapevine, “What in Tartarus? We are not supposed to be killing ponies willy nilly!”

Grapevine snapped his head back down to me, “This is all or nothing, and Delta Sierra has been the ship’s little snitch about anti-Enclave activities since he came on board. Why did you think he was assigned to watch and work with you? He was far too brainwashed to ever see the light. We don’t have time to argue.” He pushed me on and checked around as the body lay smoking on the ground. We started down the hallway as Grapevine let out a sigh and kept the plasma pistol in his wing at the ready. “Besides, his name wasn’t really Delta Sierra, that’s just what we call him. Earth ponies don’t get names in the Enclave, you get serial numbers. DS1178-R144. That was his name. You would have gotten one too and certainly wouldn’t be called Sunrise anymore. Now keep moving.”

He kept us hustling despite my heart’s protest of how wrong it was to kill an unarmed pony. We kept galloping further along, and ahead of us at an exit shaft for pegasi to come out of the bottom of the raptor, was Orchard Blossom. She was holding her small foal tight to her chest with one hoof and looked incredibly worried as we got up to her. Then we heard armor on steel behind us and I turned, coming up behind us, was Puff Creamer and a small gang of pegasi soldiers. He was in his full power armor and they all had guns trained on us.

“STOP! That’s an Order, Grapevine!” He snarled at him as though orders mattered anymore. I turned to Grapevine and tossed my bag containing Magical Miracle and Jumoke to him.

He gave me a surprised look as he caught the bag. “I am trusting you, see you in Silver Fang in three days, now go!” I turned back and angled myself broadside in the last bulkhead doorway to block their path and shield as much of the two pegasi behind me as I could. The gang of troops stumbled as a blast rocked the ship again and the dragon’s roar pierced our ears. The next thing I could hear from the bells ringing were the sounds of pegasus wings fluttering behind me, heading down the exit shaft.

Puff Creamer kept running up to me and tried to jump over, but the bulkhead wasn’t high enough and all it took was me standing up on my hind legs to pull us both into a tumble on the ground. My armor made it hard to move, but his power armor gave him the edge in strength. He was on top of me, and by then Grapevine and Orchard Blossom were long gone.

“Damn you!” He slammed his power armored hoof towards my face as I instinctively pulled my face guard up. The hoof hit and stopped. The stubbornite did not even give him the satisfaction of a dent, though my ears were ringing from the concussion. A few more hits like that and he might not even need to pierce the armor plating.

“I swear to the Twin Sisters, I will ruin you when it’s my time, you little slutty runt!” He stepped off me and turned to his soldiers. “Get her up! We’re taking this dumb cunt to the bridge. Only thing here that might stop this insanity.”

The ship rocked again as the lights flickered on and off. Emergency lights turned on for a brief period. Just before we could adjust to the new lightning, the main power came back. It took four of their soldiers without power armor to get me to move. Between the weight of my armor and my sheer earth pony stubbornness, I was just that difficult. So close! So close!

“At least the foals are safe.” I looked at Pink, hoping she was right, hoping that I was right to trust Grapevine. The battle was raging and I could hear automatic weapons fire from somewhere in the ship.

“Hurry up with her. She might be able to stop them. They’re already in the damn hangar and four of our eight vertibucks were wrecked before we could even get them off the platforms.” The dragon roared and the sound of weapons fire grew louder. The cannons firing and impacting along with the sound of high energy weapons ripped through the air with smaller weapons both distant and echoing from somewhere in the ship hit our ears.

They’re on board, I just have to stall. I just have to stall... I thought to myself as I tasted ozone from the high caliber laser weapons of the vessel’s main gun firing over and over again. Then there was a spark, and the hallway behind us exploded. I looked back as we got to the top deck where the bridge was, one of the conduits I had “repaired” just blew. Looks like my work is paying off.

The bridge had several blast doors down, though the one person I might have identified as the captain was facedown on a console, his lower half blown clear apart. “Damn dragon, who the hell mounts a tank turret to a dragon?”

The soldier next to me turned to hurl at the sight of a bisected pegasus, with several parts of the captain having been atomized or pulverized all over his chair. “Did that thing’s first shot get the captain?”

Puff Creamer snarled, “Yes, and I’m the highest ranking fucking officer now. When this is all over, we’re putting her in stocks for all of us to use. Fuck whatever the Superindent says, payback is required.”

He motioned one of the crewponies towards him, “You there, bring me a radio broadcaster and broadcast on all frequencies. in case these fucking savages don’t have radios, make sure it goes to the external loudspeaker too.”

He grabbed me and with all his strength shoved me against the console. I felt all of the air in my lungs being forced out by the impact. I had been shot with shotguns with less force than that. My armor held, and the console was dented with a me-shaped wedge. The crewpony came back with a radio speaker and a long cord.

“Tell them to back the hell off, or you’re going down with this ship.” I stared at him. I hesitated and gulped.

My eyes moved to the radio transmitter, then at the newly promoted Captain Puff Creamer, then back down to the transmitter he thrust into my chest. “DO IT! Tell them to back off you little brat! I swear if you don’t, I’m gonna see if you really can regenerate when we’re done with you and how many times I can get off with your head exploding!” He was snarling mad and I honestly was simply terrified at that moment.

Pink, what do I do?

Pink was looking at Cream Puffer—no, I followed her gaze as she was looking past him. Her face was beaming, smiling so broad she could only be described as ecstatic. “Play along.” I was stunned by that, unsure what Pink meant in that moment.

He raised his hoof to strike me and I gulped. I had to make my choice, I had to decide here and now; my mother or my friends. Honestly, this choice was looking easier by the second. Right, play along, live free or die?

Pink nodded at me, “Let’s live free or die. I’m all in, Sunrise.” I looked at my E.F.S. Tags were lit up according to the H.U.D. with a dozen names. Names I cared for deeply, my closest friends who traveled with me and several more we had made along the way. The biggest dot was one that said Jackal. How did they get him so big? I grabbed the radio transmitter before Puff Creamer decided another beating was due. I sensed a reassuring presence near me but could not place it. A shadow seemed to be moving unnaturally near the door, but I did not understand why.

I pressed the button and started to speak, “To everyone out there trying to rescue me. Pony, Griffin, Dragon, and T’Doshian alike, I want to thank you. From the bottom of my heart I must say that your sacrifice is a worthy thing.” I paused and let out a sigh. Pink brushed my mane to get my attention.

“Do it Sunrise! Make the right choice and put a giant turd in his cheesecake!” Pink actually raised my spirit. Even if I had to die a cruel death a hundred times, I wasn’t going to let him win.

I pushed down my survival instinct and went with my heart. I felt Pink reaching from wherever she was to hold my hoof tightly. I squeezed it back, feeling my friend in what was to be my glorious last stand. I realized there was only one guard still in the room with the two of us. Where did the other one go? Puff Creamer was getting impatient and starting to raise his hoof to strike me again. “I want to let you know, I truly appreciate it. But you need to do what is right.”

Puff Creamer tilted his head in confusion as a slow smile coursed up my lips. “That’s it Sunrise! Greet your enemy with a smile.” I stared right into the eyes of Puff Creamer. All my rage and fury rose to the surface. That glare alone made him take a pause and a half-step away from me. I took a step towards him, with a defiance that would have scared even a hungry manticore back. Something deep inside was cresting to the surface, a feeling I had never felt before. I saw Nyota appear from nowhere and suddenly the other guard was on the floor, his jaw shattered and his wing being broken in Nyota’s expert hooves.

“Remember his last words, honor them now.” Pink smiled at me, holding a salute. My thoughts drifted to Silver Zoom, remembering what he told me even with dying breath.

“RESIST AND BITE!” I screamed into the intercom. Puff Creamer slapped me. His hit was pathetic, especially for a pony in power armor. It hadn’t even made me stop smiling. I couldn’t help myself and I returned his slap with a laugh. Not just any laugh, but a cackle of genuine enjoyment. I kept my hoof on the radio transmitter button, making sure every word got broadcast.

“You hit like a unicorn filly! My friends are coming, and we are rolling tight!” I saw Nyota’s expression as he glared at Puff Creamer. His eyes told me one thing: ‘That hoof gets cut off first.’ But upon hearing my words, Nyota smiled at me. In that moment, we both realized the side I had chosen all along, all my doubts, all my questions, answered with my next three words.

“Finish This Fight!” Another slap, and my laughter escalated as Puff Creamer looked shocked at first, then growled at me. He lunged towards me and I rolled away. With a springboard jump Nyota had taught me, I landed on the console to stay out of his range, crushing several controls under my armor’s weight with sparks flying.

“Give me that! You stupid cunt!” I kept smiling and laughing which only served to make Puff Creamer more desperate to snatch the radio from my hoof, as I jumped from panel to panel to get distance. I stretched the cord for the radio as far as it would go.

Nyota looked at me stunned for a moment, never knowing I could move like that. But just as I had been moving, Puff Creamer slammed his tail forward, catching my helmet right in the buckle, snapping it open and causing the life-saving protection to roll onto the deck of the bridge. Nyota was on him, about to strike his face with an expression of determination and raw rage. I wasn’t sure if he would be fast enough as the poison-laced tail of Cream Puffer’s power armor reared up for another go at my head.

“I’m rolling in tight with you—” I shouted into the microphone through my stunned state from the headshot. He finally yanked it away but did not hit the off switch. His deadly power armor tail lanced forward. I couldn’t dodge, and I did not have my helmet on. He was going to gut my skull with it. The instant before it slammed into my eye, Nyota did just what I asked. He rolled in tight against my flank; pushing me out of the way. With both hooves, Nyota stopped the tail cold.

He caught it! He actually caught it! Puff Creamer tried to pull away and found he was firmly held in place. Nyota’s eyes blazed at him, his legs filled with an inequine strength. The panels under Nyota gave way and completely dented in so Nyota was knee deep in the circuits and electrical wires.

Nyota rolled his back to the side and a gun fell off. It clattered to the deck in front of me as Nyota strained to hold the power armor tail in place. A Whinnycity Typewriter was on the floor, with a 100 round .45 caliber drum attached. Not my shotgun, but a new weapon. I quickly snatched it into my hooves. The trigger went to my mouth while my hoof came up and grabbed the handle on the barrel end to hold it steady. I bore down the sight and hit S.A.T.S. to get the precise shot I wanted. Puff Creamer hadn’t pressed the off button yet, as the broadcaster still had its red light on. He was angry and surprised to do anything more than press his attack on Nyota. I queued up the entire drum magazine, With Enclave in my sights… I thought in the slowed world as I finished the speech in my head. Somehow I felt they heard me over the radio, or perhaps it was Pink messing with telepathy. In that moment it did not matter as I simply released the spell from S.A.T.S. and time sped back up. I bit into the trigger and ripped into Puff Creamer with a full drum from the gun.

Round after round rippled and echoed around us. I held my ground against the recoil. Most bounced off his armor or compressed flat against the broad flank. A few found the chinks in the medium power armor, freeing a spurt of blood, then another. The armor wasn’t made to just take this kind of beating from the side. I saw his wing joint ripping open and focused on firing there until he fell off the console into the deeper part of the bridge. Crewponies screaming and scattering to take cover. Cream Puffer fell with a bang to the floor of the raptor’s bridge. Nyota grabbed the radio and yelled into it: “We’ve got her! Double down! We’re fighting our way out!”

The chorus of cheers and shouts of delight echoed across the frequencies in return. The Enclave’s radio was drowned out by the roar coming from outside as the raptor shook from the impact of another cannon shot. There was a loud bang, louder than any before and the ship began to quake under our hooves, the sound of one of the four main engines blowing completely as the vessel desperately now tried to compensate.

This was no longer a fight for escape, it was a race for survival. My heart was pounding as Nyota slammed my helmet back on, roughly. There was no time to kiss, to realize this moment of being reunited in the flesh. We had to go, now.

We bolted down the hallway, checking door to door with his Whinnycity Typewriter and hoof. “Nyota, where did you get a dragon?” I asked as I kept moving with him towards the hangar bay.

“We gave Jackal the tank, dragon greed magic took over the rest, made him bigger than a skyscraper.” I snapped my head towards him as we came to the stairs that led into the hangar. I was genuinely stunned and shocked at this as I understood why there was a tank turret on his arm. They replaced his cyberclaw with a tank turret! Someone was in that, crewing it!

“You did what!?” I gasped, not getting an answer as we entered the hangar that was set ablaze with fires and gunshots. The Winnebago that had once been ruined at the end of The Roof was repaired and had a flight engine along with pegasus carriage wings rigged to it. It looked so familiar yet so strange; an RV with wings and engines. The beige and brown color scheme really reminded me of something I thought I’d seen in a movie. Four of the eight vertibucks were burning on the flight deck, one of which was blocking the port side exit completely.

Several ponies dressed in filly scout armor, Roof armor, and bearing flight talismans were fighting to keep the hangar secure from any incoming pegasi trying to land or storm through the doors. A unicorn I recognized lit up her horn when she saw me barrelling towards her.

“Fancy Cannon! No, it’s me, Sunrise!” The horn with a bright light suddenly dimmed and Fancy Cannon let out a sigh of relief.

“We’ve got them! Where are the foals?” I heard her ask as we came up to the Winnebago. Quick Stitch came out, holding more healing potions and his horn alight. He threw me a small tooth-looking necklace with several feathers on it and a red gem.

I shook my head at Fancy Cannon. “A friend has them, he’s already out.” I turned as a host of pegasi soldiers stormed in and started firing at them. They unleashed laser fire at the group and the Winnebago.

Fancy Cannon turned her head, “Flight talisman out on your own, everyone else in the Winnie! We’re out of here!” She shouted while her horn lit up and fired huge bursts of energy that left holes in the walls of the ship with their impacts. A pegasus was there one moment and then next, he was simply gone, turned to ash.

Fancy Cannon was panting as I took my place beside her and started firing repeatedly, trying to cover everyone. I noticed her horn was sparking as if she were running out of power. I kept firing the tommy gun as Nyota got the talisman around my neck and put the drums of ammo in my tac-vest.

Scopola Mina landed upon the deck with a pair of translucent bat wings, unleashing withering fire from her four laser rifles held aloft by her horn. She shot anything that had Enclave armor on, moving while the remaining injured were loaded onto the Winnebago as the engine on it started up.

A teenage sized dragon emerged from the Winnebago, firing off two bursts of plasma fire from a rifle as he approached me. I turned and went to reload the now empty drum with the ones Nyota had placed into my armored vest. The dragon I had seen was my kind of lime green with black accents along his face, muzzle, and wings. He ran up to me and slapped a device against my vest. It attached on its own, and I felt magic coursing through me. “Here, you’ll need this. Winnie is full! That unicorn made sure no one died, but we’ve got lots of wounded. We’re leaving, now.”

Fancy Cannon nodded to the dragon, “Right Fang, go! Get the Winnie out, I’m right behind you.” Fang, as the dragon was called, stormed back to the Winnie, firing his plasma rifle at anything that moved, while I resumed laying down my Typewriter and keeping the Enclave from waltzing into the hangar. All the noise around us was drowned out as the winnie’s engines powered up.

Just as I started to fall back and grab onto the Winnie I was knocked to my side. My heavy metal facemask was hit with a laser blast that snapped my head and sent me onto my back. Why do lasers have impact!

Pink snickered, “Because the boiling of air and water creates a physics bubble of sudden air that needs to expand somewhere. You’re fine, the moisture in the air boiled.” Nyota appeared beside me and helped me up. I now got a look at the thing attached to my chest. It was a large red gem and several dragon’s teeth with pegasi feathers on it. He tapped it and suddenly I felt a whole lot larger.

My body was so strange. Beside me were those same translucent wings as Scopola Mina’s, which made me very confused. “Flight talisman, like the shield one the Goddess had, but this one gives you wings. How else did you think zebras could challenge the sky?”

I nodded, and we ran for the nearest hangar exit to the open sky. The wings were easy to control, like my brain had been wired instinctively to know that I just had to think, “Fly,” and I would feel them beat on my sides. The Winniebeigo roared to life, the engines and wings attached to it pushing the heavily armored vehicle out and rushing past us as we got onto the exit ramp outside the hangar door.

Fancy Cannon was falling back, so I stopped to take cover at the doorway, laying down covering fire for her. She was the only one behind us still. “Scopola!” I shouted through my armored mask. Scopola Mina nodded and came up beside me. Chifundo got on the opposite side of the hangar door and we unleashed a hail of bullets and lasers, with Scopola Mina firing 4 laser rifles in sequence over and over again.

Chifundo’s rifle cracked over the noise of air whipping by us. Our bodies were held to the platform by the weight of our armor. Fancy Cannon wasn’t running, but slowly falling back, while I made sure to fire everything I could at anything that tried to get too close to her.

“Come on! We have got you!” I shouted while trying to hastily put one of my two remaining drums into the Typewriter. I pulled the bolt and that is when he appeared. Moving faster than I thought possible, propelled by his power armor, Cream Puffer came out of the hangar door like an angry hornet. I could see the blood on his side where my rounds had hurt him earlier but he was far from dead.

“Fancy, DOWN!” I shouted, but she didn’t make it out clearly, so she turned her head, looking surprised. His power armored scorpion tail whipped forward and Fancy’s face exploded. Her head had been penetrated through her light helmet, and her horn now dislodged for the stinger of the power armor that took its spot.

Scopola Mina snarled and yelled out, “Oh, Tartarus Na’!” As Fancy fell to the floor lifeless, Scopola’s rate of fire skyrocketed, and every rifle she had railed onto the power-armored form. The first blasts didn’t do much beyond score the power armored plates in burn marks. But Scopola’s sheer rate of fire was phenomenal. Cream Puffer actually had to stagger back just to stay standing. I watched as her laser rifles turned red from overheating, their olive green painted cases peeling their paint away.

Then a set of yellow and red bolts punched through his armor. Cream Puffer rose up onto his hind hooves, tumbling backwards as he tried to spread his wings to fly, and that is when the mistake was made. Blast after blast ripped apart his eye protection, the mouth speaker box, his rear leg ripped wide open where the armor had flexible joins, then Scopola snarled and unleashed all four rifles at once as their energy cells all popped out, overheated and spent. But the combined yellow, blue, green, and red bolts of death in the air pierced Cream Puffer like an avenging rainbow.

The pegasus fell onto his back with so many holes in his body, I could almost see the ship decked underneath him through the marks. Finally, he was dead. The world came out of slow motion as Fancy Cannon laid there dead beside him.

I reacted, charging forward and Nyota turned his head in disbelief as I ran towards Fancy Cannon’s body, “Sunrise! What are you doing? We have to go!”

I turned my head, “I am not leaving anyone behind even if they are dead!” I shouted back and stopped at the body, struggling to pick her up. If I had my usual weapons and explosives gear, I wouldn’t have been able to manage it, but now I didn’t. I managed to get her onto my back as I struggled to get out of the hangar. A brown earth pony with a strange fluffy tail landed with his flight talisman on his back and took her off my back.

“I got her darling,” he said, tipping his cowboy hat to me. “Now you lot get out of here so we can withdraw.” He had an almost Appleloosan accent as he took flight with Fancy Cannon’s lifeless form on his back.

My friends and I were the last ponies left on the hangar landing pad. We ran to the edge and took a leap of faith, our translucent wings spreading as we took flight into the battle around us. Jackal roared again and it vibrated to my bones, sending a chill down my back as we gained distance. The cannon fired and the raptor shuddered from another impact. Quick Stitch, Nyota, Chifundo, Scopola Mina, and myself took up formation, with them guiding me away from the aircraft.

I shouted to be heard over the rush of air and roar of battle. “Where is Alguacil? We cannot leave without him!” I yelled and Nyota nodded, reaching up to pull Scopola Mina to him. He pointed towards some specks in the distance on the opposite side of the Raptor from where we took off. He had to lean in close and yell in her ear, she nodded and started in that direction.

“Hey Dummy! Hit S.A.T.S. and look around! His name should light up from his TAG you put on him.” Pink reminded me, so I did just that.

The world slowed to a crawl, and after some searching I did find Alguacil. I had to target him with the spell to zoom in. Alguacil was fighting off at least five pegasi all by himself, his revolver spinning and firing with numerous bruises on his flanks and blood pouring from one of his wings. Oh no! I thought to myself and dove towards him without telling the others.

I surged as fast as the talisman wings could take me. I felt the heat of the magic in it through my armor as it strained to carry me faster and faster. “Alguacil!” I shouted to him as something slammed into my side and sent me into a tailspin. I was looking up at a pegasus charging me, a power hoof assault shoe on his right hoof as he dove after me. It hadn’t penetrated my armor, but it was enough to send me into a tumble. The pegasus was in power armor just like Cream Puffer, but lacked the scorpion tail, instead devoting the extra power to make his punches even stronger.

I pointed my weapon at him and winced. I was spinning too fast, I couldn’t get a bead on the vulnerable points as my talisman wings struggled to find purchase against the screaming air around me. I heard S.A.T.S. ding and pressed it immediately. Thank the Twin Sisters. The world slowed down to fractions of a second. I targeted the pegasus, his name appearing as “Sergeant Stargazer Song.” I put my dot over the vulnerable point at the shoulder joint on his left side.

I could see him smiling through his cracked helmet, as if he thought he had me. I queued up every single bit of my S.A.T.S. for nothing but shooting. The Whinnycity Typewriter barely took up a single percent of my S.A.T.S. spell power per round, meaning every single round in the drum was going to be guided. I winced and released the spell.

I felt the unseen hands of the S.A.T.S. magic wrapping around me, my PipBuck heating up as it strained to use its spell matrix to guide every shot inside the drum. The fresh drum began firing as I could feel the spell pushing and pulling against my tailspin, timing my mouth to punch and release, punch and release the submachine gun, everything being guided to shoot at the point I had selected. The pegasus continued forward confidently until he winced.

The world moved in slow motion as adrenaline kicked in. I could see the sparks as the bullets bounced off his armor harmlessly in several places, but every bullet that found that shoulder joint struck and blood flowed forth from the wounds. The pegasus winced and tried to arrest his descent at me. He had believed that my Whinnycity Typewriter wouldn’t hurt him. However, I noticed it now on my H.U.D. My magazine was labelled .45 FML instead of .45 standard.

Nyota gave me a full drum of full metal jackets? I was using them all now as Stargazer Song started to spin into his own tailspin and finally tumbled towards the ground.

My wings found purchase as the weapon in my hooves clicked repeatedly. Stargazer Song fell into a cloud and disappeared from my view. I turned back to where Alguacil was and flew as fast as the talisman could manage. I dropped the empty drum and fumbled with a spent magazine as it fell past the clouds as well. I grabbed onto the last drum I had been given and loaded the weapon, flying at full speed towards Alguacil, who was falling, his back towards the ground and his wings up to the sky.

Two pegasi remained. I’m gonna be too late! Come on talisman, make me go faster! Scopola Mina and Quick Stitch had passed me while I was in the tailspin and were heading to him. I could see it from here though, as Scopola Mina opened fire on one pegasi and Alguacil, despite all his injuries, raised his revolver and fired it one last time. Just as the two of them fired, one of the pegasi got a bead and fired his rifle.

There was a flash where Quick Stitch was as bright as staring into the sun. I couldn’t look into it as Quick Stitch was absorbed into a bright explosion of light. I had other problems to deal with, but Alguacil was all that I wanted to reach.

Alguacil’s chest was pierced, the last bolt going clean through him. The recoil of his revolver took the gun from his still talon as Alguacil started falling to the ground, his face full of shock. Feathers fell from Alguacil as I dove to chase after him. I dove and dove, but I wasn’t going to catch him. The ground was rapidly approaching and just before I felt I would have to pull up, Scopola Mina’s rifles fell past me and both myself and Alguacil were wrapped up in her telekinetic power. She let her four rifles all smash against the ground at terminal velocity while she directed our energy elsewhere. We had left the battle, but Alguacil wasn’t breathing; his eyes were staring off into space, and he wasn’t moving either.

“Scopola! Land us now! Please!” Scopola nodded as I turned my head and set us down in the dirt. I rushed to Alguacil immediately, No Pulse… come on Alguacil, breathe, please just breathe. Alguacil’s revolver pummeled into the dirt a football field away from us.

“Sunrise, we have to go darling, before those pegasi rally and come after us.” I shook my head as tears were streaming down my face.

“I cannot just leave him. Alguacil, come on. Wake up, please!” I begged like a child, trying to get him to move, hoping against hope he would. I looked at the hole in his chest, and could see where his heart should have been. There was nothing there but blood and cauterized veins. My heart sank as all the hope I had came crashing down. I slammed my head onto my feathered friend and bawled like a child.

Gentle, strong hooves wrapped under my forelegs and lifted me up into the sky. It wasn’t a pony I knew, but they were wearing an old uniform that read Jackpot Prancer with a coloration of gray coat and a bright green mane with a simple single stripe of tesla blue through it. It was that moment that it truly sunk in, as Scopola levitated Alguacil’s lifeless body and recovered what was left of her and his weapons.

“He’s gone… he’s gone!” I screamed out as the world started to go black from all the strain on me.

*****

I was bawling upon Nyota’s shoulder, crying my eyes out. Quick Stitch was inside a makeshift medical tent. We were kilometers away from the raptor, though we could still see the smoke from the damage drifting through the sky, and in the distance a speck that was the vessel. It wasn’t crashing to the ground, at least not yet, but the sky-ship was barely away from sinking and smashing against the ground. Even we could tell that, from the pieces littering the ground from our battle of bodies, ship, and even an entire engine as well as half of the E.S.S. Vulture's bow wing.

Nyota was stroking my back as I looked out over the battlefield. “Please tell me he is still with us?” I begged him, which just made Nyota tighten his grip upon my back and shush me. I felt this in my soul, and this hurt worse than when I set off that dirty megaspell bomb. This felt worse than Corners or Buddy. This was the absolute greatest hammer to my heart and soul I had ever experienced. I kept seeing memory after memory of Alguacil. His first time picking me up and complaining about never having seen a dead body before. Now, I have seen far too many. To his date with Stormy, and every single event of his life with her, together. I could only weep and wait for Quick Stitch to finish whatever he was trying inside that tent. It had been hours, and I wondered if this is what my friends went through when I nearly died that night in Silver Fang Shanty. I did not have to wait nearly as long.

Quick Stitch emerged from the tent, his head held low as I felt a shift in Nyota, turning away from the scattered remains on the ground of the battle in the clouds. I saw Quick Stitch’s long face. I wasn’t sure how, but his flesh and the metal of his armor looked painfully merged together.

He gulped and let out a long sigh, “There was nothing that even I could do. His heart was blown apart by that final parting shot. He was dead before he even dropped his revolver.” He looked up at me, and I stared at him through broken tear filled eyes. “I am very sorry Sunrise, but even I cannot cure death.”

My ability to stand was gone, and I collapsed onto my knees, then to my belly. My eyes dripped forth with new tears as the news I already knew had now been confirmed. Alguacil, the Long Eye of the Law, our griffon and true friend, had died to save me.

*****

I slept for quite some time. I had spent the entire first day of my liberation, burying the dead. friend and foe alike, it did not matter to me. We were not going to leave this battlefield with a single corpse. I knew the risks of doing this, but after a lot of nudging and my outright refusal to leave them, we buried them. Yes, we salvaged anything that wasn’t a personal object, not jewelry or “valuables”, but weapons, armor, rations, useful gear. We took everything useful with us.

We were traveling as a huge army at this point. At least to me. There were more than a hundred ponies gathered together. I decided to seclude myself to the Winnebago all day, which rolled along at a walking pace so that the army had its protection. The vehicle shook with the rhythm of Jackal’s massive body walking along, escorting us. That was who the dragon was, they had given him the tank. As such, his magical Greedy Guts had turned him into a being worthy of his horde.

I was not sure if we were far enough away to prevent an Enclave assault attempt. Nor did I know if the raptor had called reinforcements to pursue or was simply desperately limping home. We could see the smoke trail that hung in the distance still, the E.S.S. clearly beaten beyond any ability to fight back, at least last we saw it.

We paused finally as darkness engulfed our army, and went about making camp. Nyota came inside the Winnebago and looked me over. “The last of our survivors have made it to us. Come on Sunrise, most ponies are gonna start separating and heading their way in the morning. You should come out.” I felt like the weight of Atlas was weighing down upon my body. Alguacil’s body was sitting in the bunk close to me, covered in a sheet and on a magically freezing slab. We hadn’t buried him, as we weren't sure if he would get back up like Hollow Feather or what would happen with that magical box in his chest.

“I do not want to face them,” I said with a light sniffle. I had been crying till there were no more tears. I had only been sleeping from exhaustion. Nyota placed a hoof on my armored side and shook his head.

“You aren’t getting out of this, Sunrise. They need to see you, they need to know the dead and wounded were worth it.” I fidgeted against him, but he wasn’t having any of my sass and rolled me over out of the bed, forcing me to land upon my hooves in the center of the vehicle.

“Nyota, we lost him,” I whimpered as I felt Nyota undoing the armor straps on my legs that held most of the other layers in place. My body ached and hurt from all the stubbornite and metallic plates pressing into places that had been irritated and sensitive with nearly a day lying upon them in bed.

Nyota paused as he was taking the plating off. “By the Goddesses! Sunrise!” He suddenly wrapped his hooves around my neck and I tilted my head from a sudden burst of pain that hit my neck. While it hurt, my emotional state meant I barely showed the pain. “Sunrise, you’ve got laser burns and bullet bruises under here. How many times were you hit?”

I shrugged, “I really do not feel the hits unless they physically make me flinch. The plating absorbs most of it.” I looked down at my mostly numb leg. My mind and body were just that: numb. There were at least two small burns there, nothing more than the outer layer of fur turned to ash, but as I rubbed them, they fell away. The fresh fur healed there was underneath, and I could see the bruising Nyota was talking about.

Layer by layer, Nyota peeled my armor off. I stood there, looking at Alguacil’s body, trying to piece together the events of what had happened. I searched my memories for anything I could have done, a different decision to make, a different path to take, something I could have done instead so everyone was still breathing.

Pink chimed in finally after nearly two full days of silence, “Sunrise, this isn’t like Buddy. It isn’t like Corners. If you hadn’t frozen up, Buddy might still be alive, but being new to that sort of brutality, no one can blame you. With Corners, you had to make a choice, but I think you made the right one. This is simply bad luck.” I glared at Pink, wanting to scream at her but held my tongue. Pink nodded at me and I felt a hoof against my bare cheek as my helmet fell to the ground with a thud.

Nyota nuzzled my cheek and it ached. The shots to my face mask had protected me, but that did not mean my face wasn’t badly bruised. I could feel the tension in my jaw from having the helmet strap no longer holding it. I winced when Nyota touched my cheek.

“Love, you really should have Quick Stitch look at these injuries, wouldn’t want you getting scars.” My mind was slowly coming around to realize I was still alive and had certain needs. The least of which would have been food and water; as well as some relief for myself.

“I…” I started through parched lips and Nyota put a hoof in my mouth to silence me. I looked at him surprised and for the first time in nearly two days actually feeling some emotion. I wanted to swat the hoof away but it was replaced by a canteen of purified water that now had Nyota’s hint of sandalwood soap taste to it, since his hoof had left that behind.

“Nope, no talking until you are cleaned up and have eaten, there are a lot of ponies that need to see you and I’m afraid this is no longer optional.” I glared at him.

How can you be so easy going about losing our friend!? What is… Nyota caressed my cheek and leaned in to kiss my forehead, the feeling of his lips against my flesh ending my thought train.

“Look, there will be a time to grieve, but right now, brave face. Okay Sunny? Just like you showed us with Buddy and how you sang for us with Corners. I need the same from you here and now, okay?” I was stunned by his words. I took in a breath and tried to push my grief induced numbness aside. Nyota’s touch, the water coursing down my throat, had a kind of resurrection effect upon my mind. I gulped down the water, letting it cool me and remind me I was alive. The feeling was the first real thing beyond the grief and numbness I had felt all day.

I let out a gasp for air and felt my body seemingly come to life as Nyota removed the plated vest, dropping it to the floor with a heavy thud. The driver of the Winnebago, the dragon Fang from earlier, looked up in the rear view mirror.

“How in a volcano’s ass is your armor that heavy?” He had slowed us down and was pulling up to a level spot as I heard a parking brake kick in with a loud clunk.

“We’re campin’ here tonight. So you should get out, see yer friends. I need a stretch anyway.” Fang said and stepped off the vehicle onto the ground. I looked up at Nyota, my eyes full of pain. I could feel how bloodshot they were from my weeping. He took the canteen out of my hoof, and then tilted my head back.

“Deep breath, Sunny.” I took in a breath and then he poured water over my face. It wasn’t a bath, instead just him casually washing my face. “I am hurting just like you are, but you showed me what a little smile and some life can do. All our friends are hurting too. Go on, go out to them. We need to make sure they know we are thankful. They all came together for you, and we may need that again. No sense in wasting it.”

I groaned and licked the water around my lips, still thirsty. “Since when did you become a PR manager?”

Nyota chuckled, “A what?”

I cleared my throat, “Public Relations Manager, a pony whose job is to talk to the public for famous ponies or big companies.”

Nyota snickered and leaned up beside my ear, “Since I started helping a pony who became famous enough to get four settlements who dislike each other to agree to be allies to save her.” Nyota promptly swatted my ass and I gasped out a groan, quickly looking around as my face flushed to see if anyone noticed. Thankfully the curtains were pulled and we were towards the back of the large vehicle.

“So you are just cleaning me up so I can be presentable?” Nyota nodded as he kept rubbing at various bruises and bits of ash from energy weapons that had tried to kill me.

“Listen love, I don’t want you to have to do this either. But there are a lot of ponies out there waiting to see you. Many of them you know, and quite a large number just want to touch you to know you are real, okay?” I nodded, looking at Nyota with a confused expression. A combination of bewilderment and fear pushed through me. I didn't quite understand what he was getting at.

“Why me?” I took the canteen after speaking and started sipping on the water again.

“You brought them together, and you are officially the first pony to challenge the Enclave and win.” Nyota took out a rag and put warm wet water on it. He started rubbing the dirt, grime, and ash from my cheeks.

“The rigors of combat certainly did not do your face any favors.” He teased as he rubbed my face in a very motherly way to clean it. I looked up at him with eyes full of hurt and wanted to express just how I felt but could not find the right words.

“Love, it is okay, I get it. I know you don’t wanna be teased right now, and that you want to sit in here and weep over our friend. I have been more social than I have ever been in my life since you’ve been hidden away.” I felt guilty over Nyota having to do that, and nodded at him. He let out a long sigh and nuzzled my neck. “But we need to go out there, okay?”

I nodded to him and took in a breath. I tried to steel my nerves, to feel my tears dry and stay back. Slowly, I stepped off the Winnebago’s steps and into the light of campfires, as well as the fading sunset. We could just barely see it through the clouds tonight, the orange mixing with the reds across the bottom of the grey sky ceiling.

I felt the harsh arid climate buffet me over my face. I had been in a climate controlled environment for a couple of days, and had gotten used to the air conditioner and humidity that was now gone. There was a lull over the camp for a time, which seemed to break when someone noticed me.

“Sunrise! She’s up everyone!” I felt eyes upon me and suddenly felt very small inside as I looked around, seeing familiar and unfamiliar faces all before me.

A camp easily containing a hundred creatures suddenly surged towards me. Coffee Stain lunged at me into a tight hug, Nyota moved around me in a way to shield me from being overrun as ponies tried talking all at once.

“Hey now, one at a time. She is here, safe and uninjured. Just one at a time!” He declared.

I looked at the faces. I could see Sparrow, Hot Cross Buns, Nuka Nugget, Soot, Lunar Spice and his wife, Jackal raising his head enough to see me over the crowd, and there were a large number of ponies I did not recognize. Coffee Stain continued to charge me and slammed into me for a tight hug. If not for Nyota standing behind me, I would have barrelled over hooves over ears. Instead, I staggered back and gave her a light hug.

“I am so very happy you are alive. You have done so much for the scouts, though even with the rescue we may not be even.” I raised an eyebrow, confused as Scopola Mina let out a chuckle.

“I think she takin’ me in is worth one rescue by itself.” I blushed and sighed as Scopola gave me a pat on the head. Nyota focused on herding the crowd and making sure they couldn’t rush or overwhelm me.

I was feeling incredibly self-conscious when Coffee Stain just straight up kissed me without warning while I was watching the crowd. There was a chorus of hoots and awws as I looked at her eyes, my own widened in shock.

She pulled back with a smile on her face. “For old times’ sake,” The filly scout commented, and then trotted off like she owned the place.

I turned my head and looked at Nyota, rather embarrassed. He leaned up and whispered in my ear, “I’ll get you back, Sunny, when we get a private room at The Roof.” I felt my heart racing, my cheeks burning bright, and my head lighten as I tried to take all this in. The emotional rollercoaster I was on wasn’t letting up yet.

Another scout came forward and let out a hoot. “Sunrise you sure do know how to make an entrance! I’m trying to be just like you with the explosives too! I umm…” A scout next to her nudged her to help keep her speaking, “Would you sign my detonator?”

My brain recoiled as I tried to comprehend somepony wanting me to sign anything, much less a detonator. I looked at Nyota, then at Scopola Mina, who produced a pen. I took the pen into my mouth and the detonator into a hoof. I looked at the device.

It was ramshackle at best, certainly not the arcane forge printed device I had. I checked on it, examining it carefully and taking my time.

“I made it myself!” The filly scout added with a happy smile.

I can see that… will this even work? I can’t tell without opening it.

“Just sign it and move on, Sunrise.”

No, Pink. I can’t let a pony play with explosives with faulty equipment. I can fix this, but I don’t think this is a patient one.

“Sooo… Give her yours?”

I considered Pink’s idea for a few moments, then put the detonator in my hoof into my pack before pulling out my own factory-new detonation device. The radio antenna boinged when it let go of the pack as I adjusted the knobs to scramble my explosives frequency so she wouldn’t trigger my primer caps or detonator caps for things like the C4. Then I signed it, though my hoof and mouth writing were both atrocious. I shrugged. Can’t expect them to be perfect.

Then I handed the scout the detonator. Her eyes brightened like a lighthouse at first lightning in the middle of a dark and stormy night.

“Really?” She was completely in disbelief. I nodded to her and the squeal would have deafened any pony who wasn’t prepared for it. “My name’s Flash Boom! Thank you! Thank You! Thank You!” She spilled off at the rate a small child would. I patted her shoulder to try to bring the earth pony back down to the ground.

“Use it well, and be careful with it, I do not think I can ever make another one that good.” I spoke, making a mental note to take apart the homemade detonator as soon as possible and repair it.

On and on they came, ponies, griffons, dragons, and zebras from all across the wasteland. Several dozen had flight talismans, others had things for me to sign, others still told me how I had changed their lives in Silver Fang, The Roof, Upsville, or even residents wearing Stable-Barding with Stable Phi’s symbol on it, explaining how the T’Doshians had been more than welcoming of them in their new home.

Some paid condolences to Alguacil and his lost wing of Regulators, and others championed the blow we struck to the Enclave. Personally, I was just as happy to be alive and was glad we hadn’t shot The E.S.S. Vulture down outright. If the ship had been lost completely, I had no doubt the Enclave would have launched mass retaliation.

Once the crowd withdrew, I gathered up a few select ponies into the back of the Winnebago. It was cramped with Sparrow, Coffee Stain, Blood Work, Soot, and Mountain back there, and Alguacil’s body taking up the freezer top to keep it relatively cool.

“Y’all haven’t buried him? That isn’t like you Sunrise, and that is really disrespectful don’t you think?” Sparrow gave a look of disgust at the body as the leaders of various settlements and organizations gathered inside.

I shook my head. “Quick Stitch insisted. He may be like Hallow Feather.” Mountain was the only pony who gave any look of understanding from that statement. I let out a sigh, “That is a long explanation, and I am tired, as I am sure the rest of you are.”

Come on Sunrise, they want to get to the point and we should not let this go to waste. I held up a hoof to prevent any more questions and wanted to try to get the room to something that resembled order in the cramped space, especially since Mountain was taller than the roof inside the vehicle.

“I am requesting that all of you meet at The Roof for discussions of a treaty between your settlements, something moving towards an actual alliance or form of government.” I looked at their faces, and they seemed unconvinced. Sparrow had an eyebrow raised questioningly. Mountain blinked a few times, but it was always hard to read a Tadoshin face. Soot tilted her head like a confused bird. Coffee Stain was the only one who looked hopefully at the proposal.

“Look, we can talk about it all then in person, when we are safe and less stressed. I feel like such a thing as this massive rescue operation has proven how strong you are all together.” I hesitated for the next part and gulped. “I also fear that the Enclave or some other power may target all of you, together or individually. If we do not agree to work together for at least each other’s protection, then we may very well doom ourselves and our respective towns.” I let out a long sigh and took in a breath, “Two days from now, can we at least agree to meet?”

After some discussion between each other that was not directed at me, there was a series of nods.

“Alright Sunrise, because it’s you. If it was any other pony, I’d say hell no.” Sparrow replied and took out a flask to take a swig. I shot her a look, and she held out her wings like she had been wounded. “What? It ain’t booze, it’s tea. Here, taste it yourself.” I nodded and gave her a sly, knowing smile.

Coffee Stain nodded as well. “The Scouts would certainly benefit from safer routes, and at least be able to standardize military protection for traders and prospectors.”

Mountain nodded. “Would make getting what we need easier, faster.” His voice vibrated the aluminum in the walls. “This trust thing you have shown us has been beneficial.”

Once the round of agreements finished, we packed it in for the night, and for the first time in over a week, I curled up against Nyota, and he wrapped his hooves around my small frame. I let out a sigh of sheer exhaustion before a dreamless wondrous sleep overtook me. The coming days were going to require rest and patience.

Quest Perk Unlocked - Friendship Bonds Reforged
Though one of the members of the Bonds of Friendship has fallen, that does not break the bonds. Their death becomes a fulcrum to drive the friendship forward and solidify it. You merely must take the time to heal and honor them. So long as none of the friends decide Alguacil was never their friend, their bond remains.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? That spell is overpowered to a fault! With this, you could literally be down to 2 creatures and still get the full benefits… Great, I thought I had you there. Okay fair enough, even I don’t know how some parts of this world works. You think I read the whole rulebook? Name me one Game Master who has, and doesn’t have to look stuff up.

Chapter 60: A Lifetime Commitment

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“We give their lives the most important thing possible. We give their lives dreams to be excited for.”
-Ayla, Fallout 1. Written by Mark O’Green.

Nyota and I arrived at The Roof. Waiting for us outside were Grapevine and his wife, Orchard Blossom. Alongside them were Hanz and Franz playing with the three foals: Niagara, as well as my twins Magical Miracle and Jumoke. Nyota rushed towards them and scooped them both up in his hooves with glee. I shook my head with a giggle at his excitement. It was the first time he was physically able to hold them, so I let him have this.

I approached Grapevine and Orchard Blossom. “Deciding on whether to stay or not?”

Grapevine tipped his hat to me and wrapped a wing around Orchard Blossom. “I think we might just, assuming they are welcoming of pegasi.” Grapevine nodded to me.

I sighed and smiled. “I mean, Sparrow runs Silver Fang Shanty and she is a pegasus, and her husband’s from the Enclave,” I told Grapevine, who seemed rather relieved by that. I put a hoof up to his shoulder. “Thank you. I cannot express how much what you have done has meant to me.”

Grapevine leaned up and whispered in my ear, “I think I have a decent idea, just not two like you do.” I blushed and smiled at him warmly as he turned to his wife. “We might just go visit this Sparrow of yours. It’s a brave new world for us and a brand new life, not to mention the Enclave might start looking for us if anyone survived to know what I did for you.”

I nodded to him. “You are welcome here, just as promised, and Sparrow will be here in a couple of days to discuss a few things if you are willing to wait for her to get here.” I walked towards Nyota, who was just the happiest, cutest papa I could have ever imagined seeing.

And he is… I paused for a few moments. A realization struck me; in the Old World, Nyota and I would have gotten married to publicly represent our commitment to each other. Here, however, we had been so busy with basic survival and running from one crisis to another that the thought never stuck in my mind. It had never occurred to me until now, until I saw the father of my children playing happily with his two little ones.

Pink leaned in with a grin. “Whoooo… A wedding! It’s been ages since I helped plan a party that epic! It’s a once in a lifetime event for almost every pony and it is a commitment for forever… how dreamy!”

I raised an eyebrow at Pink, who was somehow drooling onto my health monitoring section of my H.U.D. I swore I could feel that drool on my shoulder under my armor. Wait, when did you plan weddings?

Pink snapped to and wiped up her drool off my shoulder, another sensation that—despite seeing it and knowing it was coming—I will never get used to feeling. It was odd this time because I felt it on my shoulder, despite her doing so on the PipBuck’s H.U.D. in front of my eyes. Now I was feeling her cleaning it up.

“Oh, right! Before the war, Rarity and I used to plan weddings all the time in Ponyville. They were like magical slices of heaven. Sometimes I would get the fussiest bride, we’d call them Bridezillas because we would rather face a Geckzilla than one of them.” I motioned my hoof towards Pink, as if asking for something more.

“You… want me to… no, I couldn’t possibly, there is no way, how many days do we have?”

I cleared my throat, and thought about it. Two...we have two days to plan it, if he accepts, and you will have to do all the planning through Chifundo, not me. I will be hooves-off for it, completely.

I had seen Pink’s jaw descend cartoonishly to hit the floor before, but this was a new record. It fell all the way against the ground and even caused a puff of dirt to pop up from the impact. A puff in the real world that I hoped no one noticed or would ask questions about. I made a mental note: once the children were asleep for the night, I would pop the question to Nyota. Would he be my stallion, and I his mare, for life.

Pink tilted her head, “But I want you to ask it now!”

I shook my head as Nyota took turns lifting the twins up into the air, squealing out a “wee!” as he did so, much to their delight and giggles. I want to let him have this, and not ruin his time with them. I’ve had them for days, almost a full week, all by myself. I want them to make sure they know who their father is. I needed some time to gather my thoughts and put things in order. If I was going to make something of the Old World real and tangible in just two days, I would have to make sure that it was just right. Then again, to plan the party… I looked at Pink as I slowly let the realization sink in.

I do have the best party planner of the Old World with her hooves on the wheel of this ship. Pink gave a sharp salute as we headed inside. I kept answering questions Grapevine had while I let Nyota beam and be proud of the two very small bundles of joy he now entertained and helped bring into this world. The Roof was bustling and my mind was going a mile a second, all in preparation for a single moment tonight.

I spoke to no one, letting my emotions calm down over the day. I let Nyota play with the children as long as they did not need feeding or changing. For me, I was just happy to be safe. Well, as safe as one could be in The Wasteland of Equestria. I was inside a former parking garage, turned into a castle-style fortress with enough firepower to make all but a Thunderhead hesitate to even consider attacking it.

I really hope the Enclave doesn’t have thunderheads and only the raptor-class ships. I knew they probably did have something bigger, but for now, I could just relax. I let the world drift away as I took the nap of a lifetime, exhaustion taking away my afternoon.

I woke up to Nyota nudging me. “It’s late, love, why don’t you come to the bed. The hotel has gotten us a nice place to sleep and…” I placed a hoof against Nyota’s lips.

“Can Hanzhoof and Franzpone watch the kids for a little bit? While we take some time for dinner?” I looked at him through tired eyes as I wiped the sleep from my inner eye. I was blushing and trying to breathe, but my throat was dry. I had fallen asleep on someone’s couch, though no one had dared disturb me.

Nyota walked off for a minute without answering and came back with Hanzhoof and Franzpone, both of whom walked past us with a skip in their step.

“They don’t mind. Tartarus, they said if we need to go back out they could watch them for us.” I tilted my head, confused. As I watched, the metal-plated Franzpone disappeared beyond a doorway, which I assumed is where our twins were sleeping.

Nyota had a glass of water in his hoof and offered it to me. I took the glass and sucked it down with a smile, “That is better.” My mouth was still dry, but I could feel my emotions coming back. The hints of what I wanted to ask Nyota pushed through me. I felt like I should wait, but another part of me might actually explode if I did.

Pink finally nudged me. “Well, go on, the next part of your life is gonna be decided at this moment. Just like you made your choice on the Vulture, make it now.” I nodded and gulped, for once in agreement with Pink’s impatience. Nyota was staring at me, worried, and I got up from the couch… only to immediately kneel in front of him. It must have seemed like I was collapsing because Nyota rushed to help me up. I held up a hoof and shook my head.

“No, you stay there. This works better if you are standing.” I tried to explain, and Nyota tilted his head in confusion.

“You literally fell down… unless you did that on purpose.” Nyota chuckled, completely oblivious to what I was doing. He was right however, from his perspective it probably looked like I went to stand and immediately just collapsed into a heap on the floor. “Seriously, Sunny, Love, why don’t we get you up and go get some food. You don’t have to act all super powered and independent around me.”

I smiled at him, I reached up and caressed his cheek. “Nyota, I assure you, I am on my knees for a reason.” Nyota turned his head, even more confused by my explanation. He was simultaneously too perfect and completely lost at the same time.

I gulped down the dryness in my throat and suppressed the rising butterflies in my stomach. “Nyota.” He leaned down, anticipating what I had to say. I finally looked up at him and stared into his eyes. He wasn’t wearing his eyepatch anymore for some reason, so I could look into his spirit eye that reflected the cosmos. Finally, I exhaled slowly. “Nyota, will you marry me?”

Nyota looked like he had been hit by a sledge hammer. His hearty, happy demeanor was shattered by the question. He stared at me and the world was held on pause. I could see Hanzhoof and Franzpone poking their heads around the corner. I felt for a moment he might say no or make an excuse. Seconds turned into a minute before Nyota actually recovered and gulped, “Did you want to run that by me one more time?”

I nodded to him and very slowly repeated the words, “Nyota, will you marry me?” It took a titanic effort to say it a second time with my throat as parched as it was; each word slowly pushed out as if I had to move a great weight to move my vocal cords. My lips felt like desert sand and my tongue like a slab of fresh obsidian from a volcano. But I managed the words again, and Nyota continued with his dumbfounded stare.

I think I might have broken him for a bit. Just the way his face stared at me and how his cheek twitched indicated that something might have finally cracked. Pink peeked up from my status bar and looked like she might actually explode as she softly rubbed her hooves together in anticipation. They rested right below her chin as she smiled from ear to ear, ready to explode.

Nyota finally blinked away his stunned state. “It sounds so much prettier when you say it.”

I looked at him, stunned now by his answer, not sure what he meant. “Is that a nice way to say no?”

Nyota leaned in close and got eye level with me, “When?”

I was now completely lost. I had expected a yes or no answer, not a question in return. “What do you mean, when?”

“When were you thinking about us getting married?” I chewed on his words for a bit. My heart was pounding, not rapidly, but like a blacksmith’s hammer in my ears with a steady thump, thump, thump that was hard to ignore. The butterflies swelled from my stomach to my throat and tried to steal my words. I had to focus to think about it and rolled my idea around to make sure I understood him correctly.

“I… was thinking in two days, when Sparrow, Soot, and whoever Stable Phi sends arrive to discuss that agreement I talked them into.” Nyota simply kissed me at those words and held the kiss until we both could no longer hold our breath. The butterflies died away and my heart held with my breath. I felt lighter than air as he almost pulled me off my hooves with the embrace, until we both had to pull away panting.

“Done, love.” Nyota wrapped his hooves around me and we held each other, tears of joy and tears of pain that needed to be let out flowing down our faces. Hanzhoof and Franzpone squealed like school fillies in delight and Pink literally shot herself out of a cannon.

We had work to do. For once, it was not to stop somepony from dying, or to fix something that was broken, or to right a wrong. No, this work was for joy and happiness, finally a celebration without any strings attached. The Wasteland would finally give us a win.

*****

I found myself in Cross Stitch’s gallery with his assistant, a pony I recognized immediately as Lunar Spice’s wife, the seemingly naive bat pony named Jade Jump, or Jay Jay for short. She was going over different things for my wedding dress. A set of wing blades for Jay Jay sat in the corner. She had a cut open blood orange for a cutie mark. Her ruby-red mane was done up in a bun and her tail was unkempt, but she was competent enough. She did have those slits for irises that thestrals tended to have, but her eyes were the same color as my fur coat, so I had to admit that they were not off-putting. She was always wearing a goofy smile though, like she was just too happy and perhaps a bit empty-headed. As we worked together on my wedding dress, the only thing I had insisted upon was that the dress be able to come off and my Stable-Suit be worn under it.

When Cross Stitch got upset I explained, “It will give me a little armor just in case something happens, since we are gonna have the wedding outside at the tree that marks the graves of Corners, Buddy, and Picline.” He stopped all protests there, then he and Jay Jay started to work feverishly.

“Then it shall be splendid within those restrictions, darling!” I recognized his accent again, and now I knew where it was from. I looked at him, my own face perplexed and contorting.

“Fancy Pants?” I asked hesitantly, as if I was hoping for a miracle and a curse at the same time. Cross Stitch stopped cold. If a ghoul’s face could get paler, I would never be able to see it, but I guessed his was.

“Jay Jay, take a break.” He said to her as if giving a final order. Jay Jay looked confused and Cross Stitch smiled. It was a fake smile but one to reassure her she wasn’t in trouble. “Just for a minute.”

Jay Jay pranced out and turned the corner, “I’ll go see if Lunar honey has some sugar for me.” She was quite happy with herself as Cross Stitch waited until the door closed and he was certain she was away.

“How do you know that name?” Cross Stitch got up on to the dressing platform in his measuring room, a set of shears held in his horn’s magic. I gulped as I took a couple of steps to get away from him.

“Fancy Pants; you are him, right? You dressed me in Canterlot, in the Old World… remember?” I wondered for a moment if this was how ghouls went feral.

Cross Stitch took a breath and sighed as he hung his head. “Sorry, I have had an innumerable number of assassins show up and refer to my Old World name. Just a reflex, hopefully you will forgive me.” He lowered the shears and took a step back.

I now understood the reason for the gauss weapon under his counter. I reached up to him and gave his cheek a soft rub. The leathery rotten ghoul skin was unnerving to touch, but I decided I didn’t mind. He was my friend, and had been for nearly two centuries. I had been given eternal youth, and he had been given a terrible curse. “My friend, it is okay. I think I would have done the same if others had tried to kill me. Now, how about we focus on the wedding?”

Cross Stitch nodded as my H.U.D. changed, his name now registered as Fancy Pants. “Just don’t call me Fancy Pants in public, alright little mare?” I nodded in agreement and took my place back on the dressing platform and Cross Stitch got back to work, our secret now cemented between us. Jay Jay came back and helped him, even using her bat wings to suspend the dress that would overlay my armored stable-suit.

“I think we can both agree to call each other by our chosen names instead of what others might think we should be called.” Cross Stitch gave me a wink and remained silent as he kept working on the dress. There was some understanding between us, as each time we looked at each other to speak, there was hesitation, then some sense of knowing. He spoke to Jay Jay and she fetched cloth, ornaments, and other pieces, but neither of us directly addressed each other.

It was strange to have someone who was a friend and yet we had known each other on and off for almost two centuries. We finished the dress, took it back so it could be hidden for a couple of days, then hugged tightly. I did not care that his flesh was without fur, leathery, or squishy. I only cared that one day he had helped me when it was direly needed. Yet again, he helped me on what was probably the greatest day of my life.

Warm tears rolled down my cheeks, not ones of loss, but of joy. I had discovered a long lost friend and was finally glad to know him. When we parted some time later, The Roof had quieted down.

My next stop after Cross Stitch was the clerk's office. I wanted to try to make this as Old World as possible. There had been mentions throughout The Roof of some celebration outside at The Memorial Tree, but I think Pink and Chifundo were working to make sure no one knew what it was.

I made my way to the clerk’s office for the council, which was relatively empty. The clerk didn’t look up. His name tag, crudely written in sharpie on a piece of refined scrap metal, read: “Note Worthy” and my H.U.D. confirmed that was his name as I approached him. He had a set of glasses that looked new, rather than something off the shelf in an abandoned pharmacy. His brown coat was further muted by his very bright orange and sun yellow mane. He did not look up from what he was writing.

“Hello, how may I assist you? What complaint or grievance have you brought to the Council of The Roof?” He didn’t look up from his work, and I was hesitant to actually say much yet.

I gulped and stood upright, “I would like to register a marriage… well, I mean… a marriage that is going to take place? Sorry, not exactly sure if there is official paperwork I need to do.”
The pony raised an eyebrow and looked up at me. His gaze was incredibly harsh, but then he was immediately startled to see me. “Angel?”

I nodded, “Yes, I am Wandering Sunrise, though please, just Sunrise for short. Angel with a Shotgun was DJ Pon3’s idea, and I am not exactly fond of it.” I wasn’t. Everytime someone called me Angel with a Shotgun or some variant thereof, I felt very self-conscious, like my actions were being judged extra hard. It was always like there was some expectation with it. Honestly, I just wanted to be called Sunrise, or let Nyota call me Sunny.

“If it makes them happy and content to not shoot you, maybe that is a good thing! You ever think of it that way?” Pink pointed out with a boop on my nose, and before I could reply, she disappeared again. I heard her shouting from somewhere distant, “At least it’s not Princess of Explosions or Little Green Monster anymore, Angel!” She drew out the last word to emphasize her point and really drive it home.

I shoved Pink aside for now as Note Worthy stared at me, his face dumbfounded. “Is that… What is this celebration?” I rushed over to the clerk desk and put a hoof up to his lips with a long ‘shhh’ from my own mouth.

“Sorry, but we do not want everyone to know what is going on until it is happening. I imagine if we do more than a public ceremony, we may find ourselves overwhelmed.” Note Worthy nodded in agreement, but he also reached up and indignantly removed my hoof from his mouth with a harsh snatch.

“Right, yes, well, we can draw up the paperwork to make the arrangements.” He shuffled some paper and went about his business preparing a few documents that were hoof drawn instead of printed. Granted, they were immaculate and drawn by someone who had better hoof and mouth work than I could ever hope to have.

“Just need you to fill this out,” He handed me an old pen whose advertisement had long since worn off, then stopped his filing for a moment and lifted his head, “Quietly, of course. Wouldn’t wish to ruin the surprise.”

I finished that paperwork. Realizing that Nyota’s full name was ‘Nyota Ya Risasi’ required me calling for Pink and having her make sure. I had not realized that zebras had second, house, family, or last names until then. Once that was done, I started to head back to the room provided for us when Pink stopped me.

“Sunrise, we’ve got a snag, a little lack of sugar that needs to go into this wedding cake.” I rolled my eyes, and then had a moment where a question had to be asked.

One, who said anything about a wedding cake? And two, did you mean that literally or figuratively?

“Oh, figuratively! You need to have someone give you away to Nyota at the ceremony. According to Chifundo, this is supposed to be your father.”

My heart skipped a beat. My chest felt tight and twisted as I was reminded that my father was gone and my mother wished to make me less than equine. I looked at Pink with eyes that felt new cold tears full of the heartache of my failure filling my eyes. “Right, but he said that you could pick a friend from your homeland as well.”

I was now hurting and confused. What? Who would that… Oh… oh no.... you cannot be serious.

Pink nodded. “Only pony on hand who meets that description is Mad Mac.” I groaned, then nodded at her.

If there is no one else. Pink shook her head as if to tell me there indeed was no one else. I hung my head, starting towards the lower section of The Roof, where his shop was. Despite it being nearly ten at night, his light was still on.

I walked up to the door and knocked on the side of the metallic wall. There was a loud thud of a head hitting a table. “Who in the bloody flag is that? Dammit all to hell, I am closed! This had better be fuckin’ important or I will string you up like a bourgeoisie traitor!” The door slammed open and Mad Mac looked out over my head as he stepped out and almost put his chest right into my face. He stood over me and then looked down.

“Oh… it is you. Sorry about that, been having idiots not take the hint that the lights stay on cause I live here.” His forehead was redder than usual, like he had just smacked it and I felt my ears pressing against the top of my head.

“I umm… I have a favor I need to ask you.” I said hesitantly, and Mad Mac leaned down with a growl as he looked into my eyes and examined each side of my face up and down.

“You do not look like you are here for bullet or gun, so what are you here for? You better not be asking for stuff for free either! As a matter of fact, double the price if you are.” He was obviously coming off of a bad day.

“Nothing for free. At least, not anything you make.” I looked around to see a few ponies still out late at night, looking at us with interest. “May I come inside? I think we should talk without prying ears.”

Mad Mac took a piece of chew out of his mouth, put it into a glass bottle and tossed that into the trashcan next to the door. He then turned around with a harrumph and started inside, “Yeah, get in here.”

I quickly went in and closed the door, “I am…. Um… well…”

Mad Mac took out a bottle of vodka and poured himself a shot and then poured me a shot. “Oh… I do not drink.” It was like I had taken a record he enjoyed off a jukebox and threw it into the wall.

“No, you are gonna take this shot or you are gonna have to go without asking your favor.” He passed me the shot and I gulped as I remembered the other time I had tried alcohol with Nyota. It was not a pleasant experience. I hesitantly put the glass to my mouth and let it burn. I felt it rip through my throat and leave me wanting to drink something else to rinse it out. Not that anything else was offered.

It did make my throat and belly warmer, even if it was torturing my mouth and tongue. Finally, Mad Mac motioned for me to speak in the dimly lit room of boxes of bullets, gun racks, and materials for making both. I let out a sigh, “Right, so… now that is done, my father is gone and my mother wants to do something terrible to me, the thing I was just rescued from.”

Mad Mac motioned with a hoof, his face showing his patience was wearing thin. “I am getting married in two days, and Chifundo wanted me to ask if you would give me to Nyota during the ceremony.”

Mad Mac’s whole demeanor seemed to change in that instant. He rushed forward, and I thought for a moment he was going to strike me. Instead, I found myself scooped up into his hooves and in a back-breaking hug as he let out a cry that I had not heard since before I went into the Stable.

“HUZZAH!!!” His voice vibrated the walls around me. Bullets rolled and jingled, a gun fell off the wall, and Mad Mac laughed so heartily that I could feel his jubilation in his bones. “Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” He set me down roughly and ruffled my mane with enough force to shove my head down. I closed my eyes and winced a bit as Mad Mac was no gentle-stallion. “Yes, yes, little mare, I will happily give you to your husband-to-be.” He chuckled and then insisted I have a seat.

I pulled up the chair and hoped that Nyota and our foals wouldn’t mind me being away from the house for a little longer. I did manage to refuse more booze, citing to Mad Mac that I was still nursing the twins. He talked long into the night, going over the adventures he had outside of The Roof, everything. It was strange to be able to talk to Mad Mac and yet relate to him, as we were both from Stalliongrad. I told of my memories from before the megaspells and bombs. Mad Mac told me the things he had seen change and would laugh and actually have heartfelt moments when I would say things of our motherland that were still the same.

We carried on until almost two in the morning, when Franzpone—the metallic glint on the side of his head where the plate replaced part of his skull still made me nervous—came in. “Oh, there you are, we had gotten worried.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How could we not be heard? We have made the walls of this place shake with laughter and shouting.”

Franzpone nodded. “Well, little fraulein, Mad Mac’s shop is sound proof by order of the council, since he works sometimes until dawn,” Franzpone motioned for me to follow. “Come, Nyota is vorried sick you had gotten cold feet, but Cross Stitch and ze clerk, both said they had seen you and everything had gone over vell. Ve thought that mayhaps she had been ponynapped again.”

Mad Mac shook his head. “No, I just insisted upon stories and celebrations. Not every day that I get to see a daughter of Stalliongrad, much less get to see her be wed.” He punched my shoulder, just hard enough that it hurt, something I remembered that colts would do to each other, playfully. I looked at Mad Mac and he smiled. “Go on, little mare, your foals and fiance are waiting, I have kept you long enough.”

I followed Franzpone back to our loft. I was beginning to think that The Roof would want me to stay here permanently, but not entirely certain. Nyota was overjoyed to see me, and tomorrow was his day of preparations. Hopefully everything will turn out as we anticipated.

Nyota, however, wouldn’t let me get straight to sleep, as we had some making up for lost time to do quietly, with a silencing talisman and bridle to keep me from waking the foals.

*****

I was out at the Winnebago, checking on Alguacil’s body. Quick Stitch had kept him on ice and continued to monitor him with three computers set up in the RV and several different medical instruments. They were all reading no lifesigns, but there were signs of magic at play on the printed readouts. I had no idea where he had gotten all this tech, but apparently I wasn’t the only pony that had been very busy for the last two days.

“Well?” I asked Quick Stitch, who shrugged.

Chifundo wrapped a hoof around my shoulder, “I am sure Alguacil will be alright, Quick Stitch’s analysis is airtight.” Chifundo gently pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back very softly. I nodded at him and we left the Winnebago, our last chore before the morning’s ceremony done.

Quick Stitch nodded at me. “There are signs of magic taking place inside of him, but I cannot be certain what kind of magic. I have tried to remove the box and found it is very aggressively resilient.”

Scopola Mina snickered and turned to us with a wink, “It electrocuted him, and when I tried to use my TK, it felt like it was trying to melt my horn.”

Quick Stitch rolled his eyes and sighed, then took in a deep breath to regain his composure. “Right, well, I will keep monitoring him. If nothing manifests in the next day or two, we will bury him, seeing as he will have long outlasted Hallow Feather’s record.”

Nyota spoke up, “These boxes are weird, and before Sunrise I would have just left the body out in the field. I get why you bury them, as a memorial. We're gonna bury him here with the others?”

I nodded and felt a deep remorse inside. Alguacil had given his life for me. I really wanted to say something else but couldn’t find the words. Quick Stitch nodded to Nyota and Chifundo gave a reassuring smile. “I am a doctor, though even I cannot cure death, which is what makes this so interesting; someone found a cure for death.”

It was now that I noticed his armor plating was somehow growing out of his fur and flesh. His armor seemed to be melted to him. I tilted my head and got in close for a better look, tugging at his shoulder plate to try to get it off. However, the yellow and pink Ministry of Peace armor refused to budge. When I tried to pull particularly hard Quick Stitch winced. “Ow, Sunrise, yes! It doesn’t come off anymore.”

I looked at him with an expression that could only be described as miffed. “What? Why?”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat. “I used some of the purified I.M.P. we found inside Stable Phi and a mixture of healing herbs to create an experimental healing potion. When we were racing to Alguacil, I… died. The autoinjector took over and shot the experimental potion into me.” I winced, not entirely sure what taint could do, considering we had only encountered it once, much less what a purified version of the substance would do to a pony.

“The laser that tried to disintegrate me and the potion resulted in this. From what my medical analysis can tell, my armor is now a part of my body. Even after chopping it off, it regrows as the combination of steel, aluminum, titanium, and stubbornite you made it out of.” I blinked a few times and genuinely felt upset. I wondered how uncomfortable Quick Stitch had to be to try to sleep in his armor like that.

Quick Stitch saw my expression and gave me a pat on the head, “Look at it this way, Sunrise: I may be mutated, with flowing princess hair and armor that won’t come off, but my flight talisman is also stuck in me, so I can give myself wings any time.” He leaned down and whispered, “Also, I’ll always be wearing my armor, so you will always be protecting me, Sunrise.”

I wasn't sure if I felt good or bad for the last part, but Quick Stitch’s smile was infectious and made me giggle a little bit as we left the RV to rest up for the next morning. Sparrow and Mountain had already arrived in preparation for the treaty discussion. Soot was expected sometime tomorrow, and the celebration decorations were hastily being put up by Scopola Mina and Chifundo.

I finally faded into sleep and hoped it would go as planned.

*****

An old record played a marriage welcoming song as guests gathered on blankets, improvised chairs, and whatever else they could think of to sit on. I was sitting inside the tent we usually used for camping with Mad Mac. Cross Stitch was putting the final touches on my wedding dress, including the bits that would easily be sheared away if needed. Scopola Mina was playing a harmonica, and Quick Stitch had somehow acquired an El Paso Pony guitar, though he wasn't very good at it.

Another pony from The Roof had taken the guitar after Quick Stitch had nearly broken a string trying to re-tune it. He had a medium gray coat with navy blue hooves and a blue and neon-blue mane and tail. I think somepony had called him Sundancer, and he knew how to play the guitar, strumming a pleasant tune that calmed my nerves.

Nyota stood at the end of a long, old, patchwork red carpet. I swore it had been made from six or seven different fabrics and pieces of carpeting. A few of the everything trees, the ones that would not fit on the top of The Roof, lined the path as well, providing shade on the sunless, gray, cloudy day.

Nyota had his chest out, looking proud, and Chifundo looked small in comparison. There was nothing that could ruin Nyota’s mood. Sparrow, Soot, and Mountain all had front row seats, and Hanzhoof and Franzpone were playing with Jumoke and Magical Miracle to keep them content through the festivities.

A strange pony caught my eye. He looked less pony and more robot with all the pieces of him that were made of some black metal. I swore that it might have been ‘star metal’ as zebras called it, or iridium as I knew it. He had glowing green cyber-eyes and was sitting in the crowd, a full head and shoulders taller than those around him.

Before I could dive in further, I was pulled back by Mad Mac. Cross Stitch was beaming and dressed in a suit I knew likely had survived since before the megaspells. It was still gleaming and made of the finest pieces of silk. He wore a purple tie and blue vest with his light black suit barding. He even had a teal blue tail and mane wig, and Cross Stitch had crafted a monocle for himself to wear over his left eye. He seemed almost non-ghoul-like with all of that, even his cutie mark was showing despite his ghoulification on his right side. I could barely make out the three gold crowns with purple sapphires at their center.

“Sunrise, whenever you are ready.” Cross Stitch reassuringly gave my head a pat, then made his way out of the tent into the crowd. It wasn’t exactly an Old World wedding, but it had all the trappings, and it was the best anyone in The Wasteland could hope to do.

Mad Mac had dressed himself beyond his normal greatcoat. He was wearing his officers coat from the Stalliongrad Militizia and a furred ushanka with the hammer and sickle circled by the twin alicorn sisters in gold. Mad Mac stood up proudly, “We never officially disbanded, so we just kept passing down our ranks and heraldry.” He had even trimmed his mutton chops and now looked like a much younger stallion than he normally did.

He offered his foreleg to me, “Shall we?” I nodded and we started walking down the red carpet laid out for us. My heart hammered into my chest. I looked from right to left, seeing everypony’s eyes upon me. I gasped for breath. I could feel the blushing in my cheeks and down my neck. The world seemed to come to a standstill, as even our foals stared at me with big eyes. The murmur of the crowd stopped and everyone remained silent.

The music picked up, Scopola Mina really tearing up that harmonica and Sundancer playing a guitar tune to keep up. It was like listening to an old western song that was about to try to tell a story, though no words came. I just focused on putting one hoof in front of the other. I looked at Mad Mac for reassurance and he gave a very fatherly smile, as if he had done this more than once.

I saw Nyota stand up even taller somehow and his chest puffed out, his three scars gleaming in the dim light as he looked at me with his spirit eye. I swore I could see the reflection of my soul inside it. I saw Pink sanding there in a pink bridesmaid dress as she held flowers and was tearing up.

We stopped short of Nyota and Chifundo. Chifundo motioned with his hoof to stop the music, “Dearest creator of guns, show us the sun.”

Mad Mac reached up and slowly removed my veil and Stable-Suit wedding cover. He then took my hoof and nodded to Chifundo. “May I present, the daughter of Stalliongrad, my friend, Wandering Sunrise.”

With that, I slowly walked up as my heart was pounding. Mad Mac took a seat in the front row next to Sparrow. Sparrow gave him a rather vicious look and he sneered and snarled back, but they seemed to have some truce they had come to without words. Mad Mac took his seat and turned his gaze back to the front, smiling at me with a coy wink.

Chifundo nodded and motioned for me to stand opposite Nyota. We stood under the tree opposite the memorial for Picline, Corners, and Buddy. I tried not to think about how that might soon include Alguacil. Chifundo began to speak, pulling my mind back to the here and now. As Nyota and I stared at each other, I found myself mesmerized by Nyota’s spirit eye. A comet seemed to streak across it and move across a star formation, drawing a line that I swore looked like my form as a constellation.

“To the many ponies, griffons, and dragon gathered here today,” I looked around to see Jackal lazing behind the tent. I had actually not noticed a dragon the size of a mansion. “We seek to make more than one treaty in the clay.

“This stallion and mare, mighty and fair. Wish to create a bond, with love so fond,” Chifundo pointed at Nyota then to me as he spoke, “Spirits near and far, a request I have for you, please ensure this love rings true.”

Chifundo turned to me. “Sunrise, one of mercy and sweet fate, do you take this stallion as your mate?”

I nodded. “I do.”

He then turned to Nyota and smiled at him, a sense of pride I had not expected rising in his gaze. “Nyota, guardian warrior and gentle stallion, do you take this mare forever with love and passion?”

Nyota nodded. “I do.” I could see the tears in his eyes and Chifundo’s hoof started to generate some pink glow that I swore was magic.

“If this is true the spirits will know your bliss, you must now share true love’s kiss.” Nyota and I came together and embraced. I felt his love, but also electricity and the shock of magic. Pink squeed as my rear leg burned, though I did not care at the moment as Chifundo continued to draw pink visions and outlines into the air. With a burst of light, Nyota and I pulled back.

Chifundo smiled. “With that, the spirits’ magic is complete, you two are now of one heartbeat.” I looked and saw Nyota’s left rear leg was covered in green stripes in the same pattern as his stripes before. He pointed to my right rear leg and I saw his black stripes now on my leg. “The spirits confirm true love, you are wrapped by each other’s love. In keeping with Zebrican tradition, your stripes are now a fusion.”

Chifundo waited, then the crowd erupted in cheers as the music began to play again. I could see ponies bringing out food from The Roof and setting up a giantatic outdoor picnic under the overcast skies. I had no idea how much of our caps or favors Chifundo and Pink had used, but I immensely appreciated it.

As we made our way back, we gathered around the gleaming vegetables and fresh fruits of the everything trees. Ponies began to party as Chifundo grabbed me and Nyota over towards the instruments. “It is a tradition of all zebras from days of time long, the mated pair must sing the first song.” I looked at Chifundo nervously, not sure what to do or sing.

Nyota blushed as well before Sundancer handed him the guitar and Chifundo gave me a wink, “Do not be shy, just follow along with me, I will sing something with which you will agree.” I nodded and we set up, Scopola Mina on the Harmonica, Nyota on the Guitar, and Chifundo and I front and center.

Chifundo made an effort to clear his throat, but there was a gleam in his eye. “On this day of happiness and bliss, we must rejoice in the lives of those sorely missed. I wish that rather with sadness and tears, they be remembered with gladness and cheer. Though they may have left us, far too soon, they brought into our lives the greatest boon...friendship.” The word, unrhymed, carried a weight with it that stirred the crowd to silence. Chifundo smiled. “Please listen to our voice, and in their lives rejoice.”

Chifundo nodded to Scopola who started on the harmonica. The tune was uplifting and a bit pitchy as Nyota caught the tune and started on his guitar. We fell into a song, Not one of sorrow, but of celebration. Just as in the Old World, ponies sang into the night. Quick Stitch picked up a hoof and beat against a tree side. The other ponies caught on as Chifundo lead me into a wonderful dirge:

“There was a bird from ‘Loussa, through the wasteland he did roam,
Carrying out swift justice, it is to him I sing this ode.
Along with a great spirit, he struck down every foe,
Safety in the wasteland, to him we do owe.
Red and black, red and black,
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.”

There was an interlude and adjustment by our musicians ot the tune, to match my key and I took the signal:

“He shot the ruinous raiders, too numerous to list,
Carrying out justice with his revolver in his fist. “

“Through the toxic skies, he scoped each shot to fall,
Each and every lawless Raider, feared his mighty call.”

“Red and black, red and black,
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.”

Then we began to alternate and the story started to unfold to the beat of the music, rising and falling at just the right moments, the magic of Equestria coming back to life just in that moment, restoring music to pony’s lives.

“With his gun raised high to the sky
Raiders and Slavers would be sure to fly
To this life they would have to say goodbye
From his mighty JUSTICE Cry
Red and black, red and black,
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.”

The music slowed and the world felt like it came to a stop as I spoke the next piece:

“Beneath that hat, was just a lone griffon you see,
One with a hollow hole, where one his eyes should be.”

“But why try to preserve justice in a world full of ugly sin,
If asked, Alguacil would speak to you,“

We all heard a voice that sounded just like Alguacil chip in, as if some combination of magic and spirit had come together in perfect harmony:

“Because I’m a Regulator, someone has to bring the law in.”

The crowd hollered and hooted as we all raised ourselves up and finished the song with a chorus that lasted until our voices felt sore:

“Red and black, red and black,
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
He carried a mighty gun
So we can all see the sun
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
His Legacy has just begun
Make his will far from done
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
The bird from ‘Loussa wore a hat of red and black.
Red and Black
Red and Black
Red and Black
Red and Black
The Bird From ‘Loussa Wore a Hat of Red and Black.”

With that, the cheering continued as I blushed and tried to catch my breath from dancing with Chifundo and his steady hoofwork. Nyota gave me a tight hug and the party resumed, the entire day taken up by our celebration. Any treaties, deals, or other business could wait until tomorrow. For now, though, we could simply be happy.

Level Progress: 26% of the way to Level 16. Congrats, you are getting there.
I, the GM, have had the honor, a wonderful pleasure by the way, of guiding you through this book and the others. I hope to look forward to when we meet again. Despite my saltiness, I genuinely enjoyed this act.
Thank you.

Chapter 61: The Box's Secrets

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“Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil. For in the knowledge of that mystery’s secrets is sorrow. Those that know the most must mourn the deepest. For the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.”
-Lord Byron

Three days had passed and yet nothing had been done with Alguacil’s body. Everyone else was buried and gone. I knew it was time to start digging, and even if we knew how the boxes worked, leaving his body unburied on a chilled slab was just not sitting right with me. Not to mention others began to view us with a strange wariness, and Stormy was downright furious about it. I looked to Nyota and Quick Stitch for answers, but they had none.

Quick Stitch sighed, “He should have gotten up; Whoever was going to come out has done so already, unless the laser actually damaged it, though I find that hard to believe since, well, he didn’t turn to ash.” I nodded and turned my head as we began preparations to dig a grave for a friend we sorely missed.

He might have been a big ass sometimes, but he was at least decent. Stormy came out holding a blanket with something oval-shaped inside. Oh… I guess she should have the hat to give to whoever is in that egg, I thought as I walked up to her and offered Alguacil’s hat and his revolver, which I was honestly having trouble lifting with one hoof. I had never held or modified his revolver, but it was so much heavier in my hoof at that moment than I expected. I could understand why his hat would be hefty. I had armored it up and made it into more of a hybrid helmet than a plain old hat, but that sombrero and pistol could not compare to how heavy my heart felt as I approached Stormy.

“Yeah?” I offered up the hat and placed the pistol into the helmet crown. Stormy glared down at me with her soul piercing eyes that softened immediately, tears forming in them as I looked up at her. I felt the warm sting of tears in my own eyes and the cold trail starting to roll down my cheek. Stormy lifted the weight from my hoof with her free talon, and I felt like the world would fall apart at that very moment.

I lowered my head and mumbled, “I am sorry, I did everything I could.”

Stormy snorted, “What was that?”

I lifted my head and she saw the tears, her facade of stern iron cracked and became as brittle as glass dropped off a building. She leaned down and gave me a soft hug. I felt the hard egg through the blanket shift inside. She held it close to her chest while I felt her cold tears hitting my shoulder. I wasn’t in my heavy armor, just what I woke up in, a stable-suit with a few extra plates. The 43 on the collar and back had been repaired by so many different yellow threads at this point, that you could count how many times I’d been wounded by the changes of the color shading.

I stepped back to look upon Alguacil and walked towards him. We hadn’t built a coffin for him, just in case he became another Quick Stitch. Remember, Buddy and Quick Stitch are in the same box, it’s okay. So long as Quick Stitch lives, Buddy lives too. That brought a strange comfort to me, and I was reminded of Nyota staying in our room, provided by the city for free by a stipend I swore was his but merely was on a piece of cloth that somepony was wearing. He was staying up there to care for our children.

I sighed at his sacrifice to not be at this funeral and to not expose our new babies to seeing someone be buried because of them. I let out a long sigh, I’ll have to tell stories of Alguacil to them.

“Come on Sunrise, You should be happy! You got your family back–Nyota’s here with those little eldritch be–I mean your foals! Your mother lost this battle, so why the long face?”

Pink, I lost my friend. A friend who had started to become something better than their past. You saw it and we witnessed how that egg was made.

“Weeeelll… not exactly how it was made–we only had the radio, remember? However, that’s not the point!” I heard Pink take a soft sigh, before she made her point. “Sometimes, you have to crack a few lives to send to the afterlife to make a better wasteland omelet?” She offered, attempting to lighten a heavy blow of a lesson to me.

I growled under my breath and glared at Pink, who was sitting on my compass provided by the E.F.S. system from the PipBuck. Pink, how much have we survived? How much have we been through? And yet it was a random, no-name Enclave trooper who killed my friend. I felt so helpless about it. I didn’t even know who had taken Alguacil’s life. Only that someone from the Enclave, in self-defense of his airship, had slain one of my friends and companions.

I have to live with that. I stared at Alguacil’s corpse on the plank that would lower him into the ground. I have to live with my freedom being bought by the blood of others, many others.

“They were griffons, many of them Sunrise. They agreed to do this because they wanted a fight they could win. Go on, at least accept that they volunteered for this.” I let out a long sigh and nodded at Pink’s comment.

Why did they have to die for me, though? She had no response to that as we started to gather around the grave, laying down Alguacil’s body and setting up the mechanism to lower him into the ground.

I took my place in front of the grave, facing the audience gathered around Alguacil’s body. “Thank you all for coming. Today we mourn and celebrate the life of some creature very special to a few and certainly known to others.” I paused and allowed myself to take in a breath, helping hold in my tears and keeping my voice from cracking.

“I am not going to say he was the best creature by far, like all of us he was flawed. But he was working on those flaws to become better. He no longer viewed only the law as the thing to be upheld. He found love,” I nodded to Stormy and used this opportunity to hold my tears back for another moment, “He found friends,” I nodded to my group of friends. Then I slowly reached up and put a hoof to my chest.

“He found something he considered worth fighting for,” I turned my head to face him, lowering my head a bit. “I will not forget your sacrifice. I am proud to have called you friend and seen you grow so much so quickly.” It was at that moment, his body lit up like a firefly. He was so bright that I had to shield my face.

“What the hell?” Someone watching called out and I turned my head away to see Quick Stitch approaching and staring intently.

My sorrow evaporated and panic began to rise. Is this how it happens? What is going on?

Chifundo spoke up, “That is no longer Alguacil, that is another creature from the wheel!”

Just as he spoke, the light faded away. Pink leaned up over a bunker of sandbags that had appeared. It took me a moment to take in what I was seeing. A pegasus, with a red coat and light beige mane and tail, wearing armor with a big E across it holding his eyes shut. “Ehhh… that really hurts, where am I?”

I heard guns cocking and unholstering. I reacted in a flash,leaping forward and surrounded the pegasus, pinning him under my smaller frame and trying to impose myself as much as possible, “No! No more violence! We already lost too many, this one does not know what is going on.”

I felt whoever this pegasus was looking around, his mane tickling my inner forelegs before he gulped audibly and ducked his head down. I was now surrounded by angry mourning creatures who had just had several Enclave troopers kill those they loved and try to enslave me. Now I was shielding the new creature from unwarranted vengeance. What do I do?

“I’m not 100% here, but perhaps being a pony shield for the pegasus was probably the WORST call?” I growled at Pink, giving her a glare to inform her that advice wasn’t appreciated when Nyota stepped forward. Of all the creatures poised to shoot the newly generated pegasus trooper under me, I was surprised to see he was not one of them.

“Hold up everyone. This one isn’t armed and isn’t from the group that we had to save Sunrise from.” I let out a sigh of relief. “As much as even I wanna break his neck,” I tensed up as my own husband was possibly not on my side. Something spiritual in nature picked at me, making my doubts rise and my ability to speak stolen from me.

“Just calm down, we can put him in a jail cell until we sort all this mess out, alright?” Nyota gave me a look over his shoulder that told me we would be talking about this later. Then he turned back to the crowd, “Stormy, you’re sheriff now right?”

Stormy stepped forward with a glare upon her face and a firm nod as she put her hat back on and kept the egg on her back in its pouch. “I am.”

She pushed past Nyota, who turned around and dropped his knees like he was ready to pounce. Stormy pulled out a pair of scrap metal hoof-cuffs before slapping them onto the pegasus and starting to tie his wings. He kept making noises of confusion, “Who the— but why— what did I—”

Stormy stuffed a talon into his mouth, the nails raking his cheeks and drawing blood, “Anything y’all say can and will be used against ya, got it red wing-brain?” She leaned down to glare into his sunburst eyes and growled like a lioness about to pounce. The pegasus nodded enthusiastically. I could see sweat forming around his head and cheeks.

“Good. Sunrise, get off ‘im.” I took a step to the side, as she pulled him roughly onto his hooves and started to lead him away. “Shame on y’all for thinking frontier justice was somethin’ Alguacil would want. No, we do this right and by the law, or we don’t do nothin’ at all. Sunrise, y’all gonna have to come up and explain this one.” With that, we went from funeral to being in a frying pan of issues.

*****

So we were inside the jailhouse, the pegasus had been gagged because as we were walking away from the funeral. He kept trying to talk almost the whole way. Stormy was not having any of that and gagged him with a piece of rope. He was still mumbling through the rope. “Don’t y’all know when to shut the hell up?”

Stormy, however, was in no good mood. She growled at him while the pegasus kept trying to say things through the rope in his mouth and move his wings despite the rope around them that was also attached to his four hooves to keep him held in place. “Stormy, perhaps we should listen to him, at least find out who he is.”

“No, y’all are gonna explain to me how in the Gryphus baked-ass a Enclave trooper came out of Alguacil during his funeral, or I’m just gonna start putting bullets in heads till someone does.” Stormy took out her revolver and clicked it as she pulled the hammer back. It wasn’t as large as Alguacil’s weapon but just having it out made all of us nervous; I could feel the beads of sweat on my head.

I looked at Quick Stitch as he took a hesitant step forward and cleared his throat with a grunt. “Stormy, I’m going to explain as best I can, and if something gets particularly upsetting, I’m sure Sunrise will step in and prevent you from doing something you will regret, alright?” He spoke very quietly, in a very formal and deliberate voice, like a father trying to console a child, which even managed to calm me down despite every muscle ready on a knife edge, to jump in front of Stormy’s aim if she fired.

Stormy groaned and unclicked the gun, “Make it good, horn-head.”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat, taking out a small case from his saddlebag and starting to shuffle through several print-outs and x-rays from it. “All of us have these boxes inside us. It’s a form of cybernetic. Still with me?”

Stormy leaned forward and her hat fell off, but she paid it no mind as she looked at the x-ray with awe while it was held up to the light. “These boxes have the spirits and DNA compositions of a variety of creatures inside them, somehow. I don’t quite fully understand it yet or how it works. Only that there is a method to trap a creature inside, and once activated with enough energy or spare biomass around, it will form the next pony on the roulette wheel.”

Stormy’s beak was agape as she stared at Quick Stitch. He kept showing her more documentation from the Ministry of Morale and Stable-Tec proving his case as well as his own notes. He made sure to go over each part of the diagram, his notes, and other information as he spoke. “The boxes were made to create soldiers that once killed will resurrect, usually as the appropriate specialist or soldier type to deal with an ongoing situation. The problem however, is that these soldiers do not remember anything that happened once they resurrected after they were boxed. Further, the boxes degrade over an extreme amount of time. So instead of about an hour tops to get up, Alguacil took almost 3 full days.”

He turned to the red pegasus, “Technically Alguacil is still in there, however, though we have no idea how many other creatures are in there with him, nor who will come out each time. Furthermore, Sunrise has decided it is definitely morally bankrupt to just shoot creatures that come out willy-nilly to get the result you want. I think she may be correct somewhat, as I am still unsure how much of that creature is biomass and how much is hard-light.”

Stormy fixed her jaw and I spoke up, “Hard-light?”

Quick Stitch nodded, “You see, the box takes time to heal wounds and repair the body. You and Nyota were able to have children only because the box was able to fully repair your body in the meantime. But for someone like that red pegasus, parts of him are hard-light magic acting as biomass until the healing process can finish. Same goes for perhaps myself for the first several weeks after you met me. Or all of you when you woke up in that pool together.”

Stormy, “So you’re telling me Al’s not dead?”

Quick Stitch cleared his throat and shook his head, “Well no, Alguacil is dead. If anything, we are in a state of undeath or unlife; a place where our lives are not entirely a living creature anymore, sustained by the cybernetic box inside us. Hence, when I tried to remove and tinker with it inside you Sunrise,” He turned to me and pointed at my chest, “You immediately flat-lined. The good news is that because of their enchantments of spirit I don’t entirely understand, they are mostly indestructible without use of a… well, a mini-megaspell or some other extremely powerful explosive or directed magic attack that they cannot absorb for energy. Bad news, you can still die and the box has to regenerate you.”

Now it was my turn to be stunned, “How… how long have you known this?”

Quick Stitch nodded, “Two days before we rescued you, it was all just a theory. I did not have much to do while we waited to gather our forces. Now with this red pegasus’ appearance, I know the theory is mostly right.”

Stormy and I both had to fall on our haunches and stare at Quick Stitch as if he had just revealed some deep profound secret of the universe that we had to take it in. This was going to take quite a bit to fully understand.

“Well, perhaps before we continue, this pegasus can stay here while we decide what to do, but Stormy, Sunrise, would you get our friends and help me down underneath The Roof; there is a very important reason you were drawn here.” With that, Quick Stitch headed out and we followed, gathering up several with us along the way. Quick Stitch took time to fill them all in while I had to break the chance of a new truth of the world.

*****

Below The Roof, in a place that we felt absolutely terrified of, was a large bunker facility that had been reinforced and fortified. Quick Stitch took several minutes to open it up as we took in the surroundings. The walls after the first two flights of stairs were covered in some sort of crystal growth that glowed black, but the blackness generated light for us to see. The concrete turned into rough rock cave walls. Things were clearly worked and smoothed but not replaced with new building materials.

Deep underneath was a large reinforced steel-stubbornite door, with huge cross-beams that stretched across the main door, keeping it closed. The door could have fit a tank through it, but considering there were stairs to get down here, I wasn’t sure what was inside.

“Well you see,” Quick Stitch spoke while he worked, “This is where the creature that possessed Corners came from. This is also the same place where that egg I swallowed and barfed up came from. They’re all forms of the T’Doshians.” He kept tinkering with the door and managed to get the first of several locks undone.

“Normally Alguacil would pick these locks, but ya know why I’m doing it instead.” I nodded to Quick Stitch and then looked at the rest of our group who were transfixed upon him. “There was apparently an explosion here during the war–it’s when the T’Doshians crashed. Their ship had… things on it. A nursery among them, but also there was some sort of zebra spirit here, hence why some of them are insane and turned into those predator creatures.”

Stormy groaned, “So why haven’t we seen or heard of them before?”

Quick Stitch smirked at that and turned as he opened the next lock, “Because they were locked down here until Corners possessed form sent a signal to unlock this door. A signal I cannot figure out.” Finally he got to the last lock. “Are you sure you want to see this? They turned that crash ship into a huge research lab, and it isn’t pretty.”

I nodded. There was no turning back now. My throat had dried out from nerves and my body was sitting on edge. Something about this place was so familiar, yet it wasn’t at the same time. With a hiss, the air-tight door opened and groaned as it slowly moved aside. There were lights on the other side, bright white lights. In a haze, I took a step forward. Pink yelled at the top of her lungs but she felt so distant, so code, “Stop stretching at the wall!”

ooOOoo

I was in a room with no lights currently on, but I was also unrestrained. I looked around as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The only light source came from outside the door frame. Pink wasn’t here. No wait, she was. But she was nothing but a cloud at the edge of my vision. Still with the distant voice, like when I had first awoken in the pool.

My coat color was changed, now the green I had come to know in the wasteland. Somewhere from the darkness, the door unlocked and opened with a whine of unlubricated metal against metal. I turned to see three ponies in science lab coats. One with the Ministry of Morale logo above her nametag, “C.L.” Just two letters.

The others were wearing Stable-Tec logos. Names “S.W.” and “J.B.” They were holding a black cube with silver etching drawn over it. That’s… That’s my box. Wait, is this…?

Past Pink and Present Pink both spoke in unison, in a strangely unnerving way, “No, not trapped in one of those! Anything but that! I’ll do anything, let me out!” She was freaking out, trying to escape. It felt like a sledgehammer hitting the inside of a skull everytime the cloud smacked into the barrier that held her inside.

Pink! I’m here! This is just a memory, it already happened. The pause brought clarity to her as they approached.

“If dis does not vork, ve vill lose our only successful test subject,” J.B. protested to the other two.

“If we don’t, we will lose her anyway! If she dies, if she escapes again, we lose her. This is a chance to make sure these recombulators will work and work on us too. For immortality, this creature is but a small risk to pay.” I recognized the voices. That accent was off, it must be something they fixed later but that was 88, 71, and 9! That is all of them! Wait, whose voice was that, why do I recognize it even more?

I narrowed my eyes and tried to see through the obscurity, only for bells to ring in my head, my vision to warp and distort, my head to pound harder. Present Pink was comforting her past self as the Ministry of Morale scientist with the C.L. pulled out a small remote. Once it moved out of the shadow illusion that kept me from recognizing them, I saw it; A remote with dozens of controls, all labeled and a number dial showing the digits for 17 at the top of the remote, a digital display too.

Something that high tech, that advanced. That’s… That’s…

“The control module for the recombulators. The only thing that could release me from here.” I nodded to Pink.

And the one thing that can open a box reliably to trap a creature, body and soul inside. They pointed the box at me and I took a deep inhale. My body surged forward as I rushed them, screaming as the box opened and a blinding light made of the blackest black emerged and surrounded me. Suddenly, I fell into oblivion.

ooOOoo

I was standing in the showers, my mind now my own. The water cascading over me like the feeling of being myself again. There was a feeling inside me as we pieced the plan together. It was rather disgusting.

Pink and I had calculated it all out, but now I could feel the memory being sealed behind the wall along with 17. I could feel it fading fast and had to remember what to do.

I had gone to use the toilet and retrieved my stool into a plastic bag I had used that to make a sort of fertilizer bomb with food I didn’t eat, and where did I place it? Think think think… where is it?

“Silly, we put it into the fannypack of the guard, remember? Oh right, you wouldn’t remember, does that mean you’re gonna forget about me too?”

Who are you? I questioned as the image of a pony in the corner of my eye turned into a pink floating cloud. Whoever she was, she was right; the guard shifts had been precisely calculated and one of them would be walking along, going to his private place to relieve himself, and once the armor cycled and compressed the plastic bag inside its waste pack, boom. No pain, just a quick instant explosion that would set off a chain reaction with the armor’s reactor. Right, all I have to do is…

ooOOoo

That was…

“Us being boxed together and the day you forgot about me. My death attached me to you when Stable-Tec captured my soul. Who I used to be, panicking, not wanting to be with you. I wanted to move on when I died, go be with my friends. Not put into your body as a living soul jar to share.”

And my present raging against my captors and the things they did to me. They changed my coat color and you—

“I begged for you to accept me back in. I didn’t realize it would literally ya know, take a second armageddon threat to get that but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.”

“What about your friends? Ya know, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy? Celestia? Luna?”

Pink’s voice cracked, she fell to her knees and started pounding the ground as she let out a wail of agony. This wasn’t just crying because you were upset; this was a raw primal howl of anguish. “They’re dead! They already moved on to the other side!” I felt for her.

Here we were, stuck somewhere in memory limbo between the present and past, trapped in my mind together. She could never see her friends again. Much like I could not see Algaucil or Buddy, yet they would eventually regenerate. Her friends, they were gone, dead for good. She wasn’t allowed to die with them or even really grieve for them. She was in something worse than my limbo. At least my actions still mattered and changed the lives of others. Her’s couldn’t do anything more than influence me, and she took almost 188 years to get far enough to where I would listen.

We need the command module to release you? So one day I can release all those souls trapped in the boxes?

Pink nodded with a long expression as she dried her tears. “It isn’t the remote, it’s some sort of big broadcaster and server inside Stable 43.”

Where is Stable 43?

“You made me block it, keep it caged in there with that monster, Seventeen. Just like we did to them.” My eyes suddenly snapped to Pink and every sensory organ I had in this place went into overload when she spoke those last few words.

We what!?

“Seventeen didn’t want to kill them. You didn’t want to. You hoped you could somehow save them back then, so you captured them one at a time and deleted the memories, all of them. Then we tricked Seventeen into the cage. I helped make her desperate enough to trust me and we locked her away. The only way to get to the command module is your PipBuck, which has a DNA lock to you.” I looked down at my arm as the world started to swell and swirl around me. I had gotten used to these sorts of memories. Some happen in a second in the real world, others take minutes, or even hours. Yet they always moved faster than the present day. It was so strange to have absolute clarity.

Why? Why did I do that?

“Because immortality is a power no one can use right.”

No, Pink, why the breadcrumb trail to get back? Why not destroy the command module too?

“Because you promised me to help get me free. It just took a while to remember your promise and renew it. You didn’t know how to use it back then and now that memory is locked in there with Seventeen.”

There was a few slow clop of hooves as well as a soft chuckle from the darkness and I looked to see a set of bars holding back a white version of me. The version I had missed and longed for so long, a return to what I was. What I could never really be again without destroying everything I loved. “Yes, locked in here with me. You two made me so desperate I trusted her to reset everything, but no, she locked me in here and you woke up in that damn pool! Now you’ve got my little borderline sociopath of a pegasus upstairs in a physical cage and me in a mental cage. He probably recognizes you, stupid filly.”

How does the control module work?

“Let me out or you’ll never know. I burned the books. Only 9 knows how to work it, or me.”

Pink snarled, “And you’ll immediately take a big dookie in her cake before you kill all our friends. By Celestia’s glorious bakery powered ass, no! I’d take another thirty lifetimes figuring it out before I let you out of that cage.”

What if we worked something out? Where we both get what we want?

Seventeen leaned onto the bars of her cage, where a hard little fleck of rust fell away. I was running out of time here in the memories and the walls. “What could you possibly offer me?”

The world started shifting back into reality. Seventeen locked away in a distant cage and me standing back outside as Pink stared at me, confused by just what my plan was. I wasn’t sure what I could offer my murderous alter ego either. What would the monster want besides freedom?

ooOOoo

I snapped back to reality. I was gasping for air but we were inside somewhere, with shiny metals and tons of faint yet somehow illuminating lights. The metal hallways were rounded and smoothed, so much cleaner than anything on Equestria. Rows of soft navy blue stripes decorated the walls. I thought the strips of navy blue at the top and bottom of the walls were painted at first, then I realized: no, That was the color of the metal. Bright silver in the middle, navy blue at top and bottom of all the walls around me.

I was lying upon a warm metal slab, several devices pointed at me as Quick Stitch stood over me. “Your memories are getting more intense. Your heart rate is getting higher during them and you are really stuck in them now. I couldn’t pull you out this time.”

“Anything we should be worried about?” Nyota approached and grabbed my hoof tightly in his own.

“So long as she doesn’t hit a heart rate of over 200, no, she will be fine, probably,” Quick Stitch added the last part with a smile on his lips. “Come on Nyota, she can take a whole lot more abuse than bad memories, have some faith in your wife.”

The last word struck us both as I looked away from the needles, examination glass, lights, and other implements over me. A biomotor written in some symbology I didn’t understand was hooked up to both of my fore-ankles. “I can kinda read this T’Doshian language now, and according to this, she was never in any real danger.” I noticed how Quick Stitch’s hair was still flowing, but also how his armor was now mended against his skin and flesh. The flight talisman acted as a beautiful red garnet at his neck that was embedded inside him halfway, with several lines of nerve bundles and other magical ley lines pushing through his neck.

“Quick Stitch, what happened to you in the sky?” I asked hesitantly. He turned to me with a smile and nodded. I kept looking at his form, how it had changed so radically. He had long hair that flowed even without wind blowing through it. His yellow and silver armor was embedded into his flesh all over with areas of darker green skin poking out in a horrific and painful looking mutation of metal and flesh.

“Remember the taint stuff? That Sandy Claws used for rocket fuel? That makes those alicorn creatures we’ve seen like….”

“Like Barista Foam?” I asked as I reached up with the medical device on my wrist and started to feel the metal of his armor I had helped remake and modify. It still felt like something I had worked on, yet when I touched it, the metal reacted like skin and Quick Stitch moved like he was feeling me rub my hoof on a sore muscle knot.

“Yes, Barista Foam. Well taint is the impure version of I.M.P. This is what happens when you inject yourself with I.M.P.,” He explained as he pulled my hoof to touch his heart.

“How? I.M.P.?” I had so many more questions now than answers.

Chifundo stepped into view as Nyota pulled my hoof away from Quick Stitch. “Impelled Metamorphosis Potion is not something for one to play, you should very much always stay away!” He looked at Quick Stitch. Chifundo's face was full of shock and absolutely appalled. He examined all the pieces of metal, now a part of his body. “Your armor has become one with your life force, what we see on your body is just the potion’s course.”

Quick Stitch gave a heavy frown and looked down, his face hiding in shame. “I put the I.M.P. into an auto-injector. Something that would inject me with it if I died just so it wouldn’t go to waste. I didn’t actually expect to die. I also did not realize living metal could be a result, much less that it would save my life when it fused to me.”

I looked at with my sorrowful eyes, “All this is just one giant mutation?”

Quick Stitch nodded, “A shortcut made by ponies to make super soldiers, with apparently very unpredictable results if you don’t know how to use it.”

Chifundo nodded and Nyota spoke up, “This is why I told you not to touch it. Taint is I.M.P. but impure, which makes the results much worse, even deadly from the mutations it causes.”

I nodded to him and understood as Chifundo sagely nodded back, “Only a pony who has lost all sanity, would dare to touch this even for pride or vanity.” Chifundo placed a hoof on Quick Stitch and gave him a soft hug around his neck. “Of the two sisters, Ruby and Emerald, when they learn, your body of metal and iron, of what do I say about this new turn?”

Quick Stitch, on the verge of tears, looked at Chifundo, “Can we go outside and I talk to you for a bit, Chifundo?” The two of them left, very slowly, with Quick Stitch dragging his hooves as they went outside.

Nyota started unhooking the medical equipment from me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, “Come on love, while they talk I wanna show you something.”

Nyota took me into the hallway, in the opposite direction of Quick Stitch and Chifundo as they spoke. “The T’Doshians left in a hurry, probably trying to get away before the military or Stable-Tec or whoever built on top of their ship got here. But this place here…” We had come up to a circular doorway, just like the one from the medical area but roughly fifteen meters away from where the room I had been lying in. Nyota pressed his hoof against a panel next to the door. A strange symbol of lines I didn’t recognize formed and then warped in on itself before the door slid open with the hiss of air and hydraulics.

Inside was a firing range with a line of sleek refined looking guns, made of the same metal as the hallways and doors around us. He took me over to the racks of them. “So much more advanced than anything ever made on this planet. It looks like they were testing them out here and trying to figure out how they worked.”

Scopola Mina cleared her throat and I turned around, “How long was I out?” I said as she clearly had been target shooting with the weapons, judging from the freshly broken target downrange.

“Oh, a while. We were worried there too. Not sure how long it was for you but out here darlin’, y’all was out for a half a day. We’ve been down here, looking at this well, I guess this used to be a ship wasn’t it?” Scopola mentioned, and it was then that my senses noticed all the goosebumps along Nyota’s skin and how it felt like it was crawling.

“Look Scopola, you and Quick Stitch might like it here, but all this star metal feels wrong to Chifundo and me. The sooner we leave the better.” Nyota tugged on me and sighed. “I didn’t want to show you this, Scopola Mina did.”

I turned to Scopola and looked her over, then looked at Nyota, “Love, if you aren’t comfortable here, we can leave.” Nyota hesitated to say anything and I rubbed at the leg he had been guiding me with. “I felt the goosebumps and your skin crawl; I wasn’t sure and wanted to make sure you were alright.” Nyota stared at me with large bewildered eyes for a moment.

“How can I feel your worry? Your compassion for my feelings?” We exchanged a long look back and forth as this new mystery made us both curious, which fed itself as the more curious he became, the more I did as well, until finally the stripes on my rear leg and the ones on his started to flare up and glow before receding.

“I think you two should hold off on that and ask Chifundo.” We both turned to Scopola Mina. She was holding up what looked like a large smooth shotgun made of star metal. Every single gear and part looked so smooth. All the seams for things like the barrel and firing chamber were nearly invisible. The end of the barrel was smaller than my pump action, but it felt so daunting and dangerous even just looking at it.

“This here though, this is the T’Doshian version of a shotgun.” She motioned to some papers on a nearby table with parts of another one of this weapon scattered about it. “Those papers refer to the direct translation as an Alloy Cannon. There is a catch though–it has only so much ammo, and they couldn’t figure out how to make more, but I tested it a couple of times.”

She pointed her eyes and hoof down range to what was left of a target. The targets were made of some sort of ceramic with sandbags behind them. Zebras were painted onto them with a cross-hair circle around their body and the center at where the heart should be. The one she was pointing at was barely a pair of zebra ankles. “One shot turned that whole target into nothin’ but ankle and shrapnel. I reckon there’s about twelve shots in that magazine left and another seven in this one.”

She offered me what looked like a magazine, and I could partially make out where it should go, but not how to eject it. Scopola levitated some papers over to me. “Until y’all can get back to them T’Doshians and they teach us how to make bullets, I’d only use it if you really need it.”

I looked back and forth between the target and the gun. “I umm… I doubt I can wield something that strong. I can barely hold my shotgun and I am used to it.”

Nyota took the weapon into his hooves and then holstered it against his saddlebag. “Well if an emergency comes up where we need a starmetal gun from beyond the stars, I umm…” He was shivering from the weapon pressed against him. I do not know how I could sense it but I could sense that is why. He couldn’t even finish his sentence until I took the weapon from him and offered it back to Scopola Mina.

“I think what he means in this case is that you should hold onto it, Scopola, until we really need it.” Scopola nodded and smiled at us as she went back to examining more of the notes on the alien weapons.

We walked out of the room, both Nyota and I sweating as Scopola took the book of notes with her and kept reading while we walked towards where we heard Quick Stitch and Chifundo’s voices. Chifundo’s pink stripes were radiating light somehow as we approached, and Quick Stitch was leaning against him, staggering up to us.

Once we were together again, Nyota and Scopola took over holding up Quick Stitch while Chifundo explained. “I ventured far and deep, the box within like a fortress keep. If I pushed too hard in one breath, it would have brought about Quick Stitch’s death. With each moment I was allowed, more answers became endowed. Pegasi, earth pony, zebra, and unicorn all combine, to make something against nature a crime. Dark magic and star magic too were used, the boxes required it to become with us fused. We are not alive and we are not dead, yet we are as real as blood we bled.”

I turned to him, getting an understanding of what he was saying and processing it slowly. He spoke very deliberately, as if still in his spiritual trance like with the nature spirit that led us to The Roof and Hot Cross Buns. “Our immortality comes with a price, one that will always be a vice. Of Sunrise’s box there is but one, a soul within yet fiery and bold. To the rest of us we must share, heroes and villains locked away in there. Should Sunrise die she will return, but if our fire should pass another will burn.”

“So what you are saying is that if I die, I get back up. Hence being on the Vulture and mom shooting me.” Chifundo nodded very sagely as Stormy walked up, holding her head to understand it all. “But if one of you dies, your boxes are different. You are not the only soul inside there are you?”

Chifundo nodded again and Pink interrupted in a way everyone could hear, “The difference is a guardian class vs a soldier. One is a prototype, the first created; you’re the big experiment here Sun and Fun. But everyone else is a mass production one. They made more like you too, but more advanced; they don’t break down as easily or have the faults you've gained Sunrise. They were supposed to exterminate all the guardians once the overlords were online. But umm… They found you to be a really useful field officer once they reprogrammed you to be Seventeen.”

The whole room went silent and everyone looked at me. Only the hum of electrical generators and lights around us echoed in with our breathing. “Sunrise… you… Pink isn’t just a figment of your imagination?”

“I told you! Who did you think was controlling my tail?” As if on queue the tail reared up and pointed at Nyota like he should have known. Now he could hear Pink too, and we stared at each other, wondering how that worked exactly again. I took a breath and looked at them.

“I learned what the Agents want by the way, and why the coordinates in my PipBuck go places.” The group looked at me and held their breath again before Stormy stomped a talon on the ground so hard that the metal should have cracked, but instead I swore I saw blood under her balled up talon. She had fire in her eyes of an absolute crazed gryphoness ready to cleave a head off of anyone who didn’t say exactly what she wanted to hear.

“What in tarnation are all of you crazy ponies talking about!?”

Chapter 62: A Necessary Departure

View Online

“What happens in the past is in the past. But don’t be surprised if it comes back and haunts you. The past has a habit of showing up when you least want it to.”
-Nicholas Sparks

We took a moment to separate and breathe. There was a lot going on down here, and things were only getting more complicated trying to explain it all at once. We looked at each other. Nyota and I were having something rather strange going on, Stormy was lost and confused, all while Quick Stitch was attempting to share a revelation about things well beyond the understanding of the rest of us. Not to mention, all of us standing in the unfamiliar walls made of smooth curves and gentle slopes was certainly foreign compared to our more usual angular or function-over-form spaces we lived in.

I felt at my nerves’ end here, not to mention something else pushing against me that felt like Nyota’s nerves. They were on a razor’s edge of signals to get out of here. Seventeen let out a cackle from somewhere in the back of my mind that was silenced by a rubber squeaky bat swung by Pink at something just beyond my vision. “Stormy, Nyota, how about we step outside to really understand all this?”

We made our way back up the stairs surrounded by various growths of black light crystal and rock until we were safely past the security door at the top of the stairs. I understood now why there was a very large, “Do Not Enter” sign upon the door.

I needed to sit down and have a long talk with each person one at a time. I took Stormy to the side first to explain this to her and try to answer her questions. Quick Stitch joined me for moral support, while Scopola, Nyota, and Chifundo all were making discussion elsewhere. “Stormy, I am going to do my best to explain how these boxes work, okay, at least to the best of our understanding.”

Stormy snorted in return and made a motion with her talon for me to proceed. “Alright, so they are sort of like a cybernetic, do you know what that is?”

Stormy rolled her eyes, “Yeah, of course I do. We got a bunch of them around The Roof now from all those friends we gathered up.”

“The boxes are different, they are a form of magic that I do not quite understand, mixed with a cybernetic that is… experimental.” I looked at Quick Stitch for help.

“Do you know what necromancy is? And zebra shamanism?” Quick Stitch said far too enthusiastically.

Stormy snarled her nose up at him. “What? Those things shouldn’t mix, at all!” She shouted and took a step back from us.

“Well, apparently Stable-Tec and the Ministry of Morale were up to some experimentation with such magics to create these boxes. You trap souls and biological patterns…” Stormy looked rather perturbed. Like someone who was talking over her head and she felt out of place for it. “errr… blueprints for making someone’s body, in them. Then when the boxes are activated with enough energy to draw upon, or well, dead bodies, they use the power to reform one of those souls from the box.”

Storm was taking a sip from a flask and immediately spat it out, “I swear, did you just say you are all immortal?!”

Quick Stitch chuckled and nodded, “In a strange way yes, but not really. See, there are different types of boxes. Soldier class is what I have, or what was in Alguacil. Multiple souls pretty much, and it is random which ones come out. It can really be up to one-hundred different souls to pick from, and the boxes’ selection is based upon which one it thinks will be most likely to survive at the time of the previous soul’s death.”

Stormy seemed to be chewing that over for a moment before speaking, “So you’re sayin’ if I go up stairs and start putting bullets in the brain of that pegasus, he’ll get up in a couple of days and it will change back to Alguacil? That I can get my Alguacil back?”

Quick Stitch sneered and shook his head, “Well no, there is a one percent chance it will be Alguacil, but it won’t be the Alguacil you remember, nor will he know who you are,” he explained. I turned to him, wondering how he figured all this out.

“We’ve been doing research in the bunker below with the help of the T’Doshian technology, as well as what I learned in Stable Phi, and from your experiences on board the E.S.S. Vulture. The soldier class boxes will not retain memories between resurrections. Once a pony is boxed, they only have their memories up to the point of their boxing. So Alguacil would be back, on a 1 percent chance, and you may have to murder up to ninety-nine ponies multiple times each before he is selected.” Quick Stitch paused and took in a breath. “Further, it would not actually be him for up to a month.”

I turned to Quick Stitch now, feeling my blood chill at something he hadn’t said yet, while Stormy stopped chewing over the thought and leaned forward. Both of us motioned almost in unison for Quick Stitch to continue. “Well, when we first recombulate, we are mostly made of hard light. It could take up to a month for a creature to finish regenerating the various parts and be all there physically, and not just hard light.”

“Whatcha mean by ‘Hard Light’? You mean like a flashlight or one of them old world holograms?”

Quick Stitch snorted and turned his head at an angle with a confused expression, “Well no, meaning he will be like a hologram but actually physically solid enough that you won’t be able to tell the difference. But ya know, there are certain things that just aren't gonna feel right to others who touch them. Further, they won’t work exactly as intended. I’m still trying to figure out how Sunrise and Nyota had children or how Alguacil did now.”

Stormy squawked in outrage while I suddenly felt very subconscious about my stomach. Is everything there? Will we know if Nyota gets me pregnant again? How much damage did those bullets to my head actually do? I could remember that moment, that painful moment that Pink took over as I lost my mind.

For the briefest second I pictured Quick Stitch, the only unicorn in the room, as my mother pointing a gun at my face just before she would pull the trigger. I shook my head to clear my vision. I had not realized Stormy was trying to push her way past Quick Stitch.

“Look! I’ll just shoot ‘em! He’s Enclave, it’ll be quick and we’ll get Al back!” Quick Stitch was struggling against the griffoness, one that was much larger than he was and on top of him, due to not being physically fit.

Now a new decision was laid out in front of me, a horrifying one. Do I kill a potentially innocent pony and doom them back to purgatory to get my friend back, or do I say goodbye to my friend all over again? This isn’t right. This isn’t fair. This is… “WAIT!”

Both of them turned to me, and I took in an inhale, “Will we all live forever like this? Always at war with forces who want to control and use us? Literally resurrecting and not remembering why or how we died before? Is this designed to make us immortal in the worst possible way?”

Quick Stitch allowed Stormy to get down, but he carefully removed her firearm from its holster as they both stared at me. Then they looked at each other, “Stay here and do not attempt to kill the pegasus, agreed?”

Stormy rubbed the back of her head and nodded, “Yeah, umm… I just, I’ll do anythin’ ta have my Al’ back.”

“He won’t be your Al, he’ll be Al but he won’t remember you or anything about you. Simply put, he will be the Alguacil we knew when we first woke up in that pool together. The same Alguacil that stabbed a bunch of ponnequins because he thought they might be raiders in disguise.”

Stormy glared at him and squawked in surprise, “What? He did that?”

“Yes, he did. Now Quick Stitch, answer me; is there a way to free the souls inside? Is there a way to save them? Is there a way to end this madness?” I begged as I felt my heart breaking inside me. What if Nyota dies? Would I lose him too? Like this? What memories have I lost since mom… no, Shadow Window, he lost her right to that term, shot me in the head?” I squinted my eyes and shook my head, trying to remove the memory of it. Quick Stitch let out a long sigh.

“How many times has it been already, Sunrise? That you know of?”

I gulped and gritted my teeth, “Twenty-seven over the course of the last one-hundred and eighty-four years.” I spoke slowly and deliberately as I stared at the ground and spoke.

“Well, I have theorized about a potential method to end this cycle and give us a kind of final death, as well as release the souls inside.” I felt a glimmer of hope, some way to deal with the agents that now pursued us, some way to deal with Shadow Window and the evil she had become.

Stormy looked down at him with a snarl, “If you can’t bring my Al’ back any other way, then fuck it, at least I can make sure the last time he rests is in peace. Go on, ya damn horn head, explain this bullshit to me.”

Quick Stitch sighed, “Well, there is a command module mentioned in the documents downstairs. Supposedly it could turn off the boxes or disable their regeneration. A kind of safety feature to prevent rogue agents or force a reset on one like your prototype or their guardian class boxes.” Quick Stitch’s face got a reassuring grin on it and he nodded to me, “No idea where a command module like that would be, but it could be used to make it where our next death is our last. It also disables the recombulator box’s ability to regenerate itself, so if someone was prepared for when we die, they could destroy it and release the souls inside, so long as it was destroyed completely.”

I had a revelation then, “What if those agents get that command module first?” I felt darkness closing to the edge of my vision, my head getting fuzzy as a memory was welling up and I was now fighting to stay conscious, here in this moment.

Storm glared at me, “Who the heck are these agents?” Though her visage in my eyes was much more that of a computer video game at 8-bit with all the interference of fighting off this overwhelming memory.

“Rogue Ministry of Morale agents from before the war, according to Sunrise. We haven't physically met them, and they were supposed to be dead.” Quick Stitch adjusted his armor that was now welded to him permanently, somehow. His hair still flowing as if a breeze was blowing, filled with glittering magic as I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Regretfully, that is not the case. I have confirmed that Sparrow’s mind has been affected by one such agent, and while I cannot see his features beyond a shadow in Sparrow’s mind, I can confirm it is the same agent that Sunrise stuffed a grenade into his mouth.”

I couldn’t hold on anymore. The memory took me from whatever the rest of this conversation was going to be and instead took me back into the past.

ooOOoo

A harsh slap slammed me back into reality as my cheek stung with pain. I tried to move and found myself unable to, not because of being restrained, but because my body simply would not respond. My eyes could move but my head was still cocked to the side. The hoof that popped me in the jaw rotated my head back. “Dammit, you can be one stubborn daughter.”

We were inside a ship, like the Enclave Raptor but this one was badly damaged. There were a few personnel in damage control protection working on putting out fires and repairs in the hallway of the side-room I had been forced into. Once a sleeping ward, now all the beds were overturned or nothing but ash. “Just look at the damage you have caused.”

It was my mother who had struck me. She was standing over me holding some sort of device in her hoof. I couldn’t recognize it at first but the initials C.M. were emboldened on the back inside a Stable-Tec Horse Shoe made of yellow paint with a faded scratched blue case around it. There was an antenna extending from the device she was working with, and I recognized it as a remote for the recombulators.

I tried to speak but found I couldn’t, when suddenly I heard the past version of Pink talking. “Listen here, Seventeen, you want out of this? When I say, give me control.”

“Buck you stupid twat, what can you do? That control module has us paralyzed.”

“Wrong-O! It has you Paralyzed, I’m not bound to it like you are. I am a soul that shouldn’t be here, remember?”

“If it doesn’t get us out of this, you’re never getting control ever again you stupid Pink marsh… Hey wait, is the stupid one awake now?”

I froze, realizing she was referring to me. Before I could add anything however, my mother learned down and looked me over. “Look Sunrise, we both know I cannot have kids. My womb was destroyed before I was boxed. However, the genetic legacy inside you is pure.” She reached down and lifted my chin so I could meet her eyes. “Now listen up.”

She took a step back and held up the module so we could see it, “You see this? It turns you off, remember? Now I am going to turn your mouth back on. You better be nice if you want to keep it that way.”

“I am not joining your stupid eugenics cult. If the Enclave wants to solve this problem, then they should do it by actually going to the surface.” There was a click, and I felt my mouth shut off again. I saw Shadow Window flip a switch.

“This broadcaster is connected to the command module. All I have to do is set it to your box number and you are mine to control. I can shut off everything, including your heart and watch you die from a heart attack, then regenerate your box or stop it from regenerating. Ya know I can do that with this too.” She leaned in close and put the box up against my nose, before bapping me with it.

“NOW!” Pink squealed, and I felt suddenly like Seventeen and I were both sitting next to each other, watching as this happened. Our body surged forward and snatched the remote into my mouth from her telekinetics, running towards the bulkhead door.

“What!? You should be paralyzed!” Shadow Window tried to grab us with her telekinesis and hold my body in place, but with a flick of the legs with strength I shouldn’t have possessed, I broke free, shocking everyone in the room.

“Ha! Silly old mare, you forgot that maybe there was another trick right up her sleeve, though your pie will never taste as good as that expression on your face right now!” Pink managed to change my voice to match hers exactly right and dashed into the hallway. It wasn’t long before I felt the run of air coming from outside of the vessel.

A set of Enclave troopers and damage control engineers rushed to chase after me. Then with a leap, I was in the air, flying as the wind whipped around me. “PINK! You ingrate, we don’t have a parachute!”

Pink snickered and let out a cackle, “That’s the point silly! Dead Tree Protocol Activate!” Pink reached into the stable-suit on my body and pulled out a series of small boxes. She began to punch rapidly onto the control module while my body fell towards the ground at terminal velocity now. No pony had thought we would be crazy enough to jump.

“Sunrise, wake up in there! You’ll be in charge in about seventy seconds!” She yelled out as I felt something stir within me, the feeling of a cage closing around Seventeen, a cage that pulled away from my surroundings as it closed in on the one who had been in control just moments ago.

Pink, this is gonna hurt isn’t it?

“Absolutely in the worst way possible, see you when we wake up!” She was screaming at the top of her lungs over the roar of the air, but I could hear the words in her throat.

Pink. Why are we falling? My past self asked, having been unaware of the previous events.

“You wanted your body back and I wanted you back. Listen up, you’re gonna remember none of this! I just activated the protocol!” The ground was getting closer by the second as I started to be able to make out a quarry. It was like a miniature set or diorama getting larger and larger as the air got thicker and blew past me. My eyes were watering and my body suddenly turned back on.

You did what!?

“Look, I turned on the Dead Tree Protocol, you’re about to die and oh yeah, this control thingy is gonna be broken but it’s not the main module, just one of the remotes for it. The main module—”
I met the ground just as I felt my body turn back on. Suddenly extremely sharp pain followed by absolute darkness.

ooOOoo

I was laying on a bed, the sound of small foals playing with their first blocks echoing in the room. I looked over and stirred as the room went silent, my vision slowly came back. Nyota, Hanz, and Franz, now with a metal plate on his head, were playing with Miracle and Jumoke. I felt a sweet rough wool blanket on my body as I sat up in the creaky bed, my body giving a little flinch as usual from the bed creak.

My color vision restored slowly, first with reds, then greens, and then full color after a few seconds. My body felt so groggy and hard to move. It was like my brain hadn’t quite connected back to the rest of my body yet. Nyota spoke, “Whoa there love, you’ve been… wherever you were for almost two full hours. Take it slow.” He pulled away from our children, who tried to tumble and move to follow him to me. His hoof rubbed my cheek, “Sunny, you okay?”

“I… I know where the command module is.” Nyota pulled back with a perplexed look as I spoke the clearest sentence I could in that moment.

“Love, what are you talking about? We’re staying here, aren’t we? To raise our kids? Not like anyone c—” It was my turn to put a hoof into Nyota mouth and shut him up.

“Nyota, listen. Those Agents that messed with Sparrow, remember me talking about them?” Nyota nodded while my hoof stayed in his mouth to keep him from talking.

Ya know what, I’m actually starting to not mind when he does that.
He looked down at it and was more surprised that I was keeping him from talking. “You see those two little bundles of joy?”

He nodded against, as my hoof was getting a little uncomfortable and slightly damp from his breath and mouth. “Now, what happens if Mom comes back looking for them with all the firepower in the world?” Nyota’s eyes grew wide and then narrowed in anger, he reached up to move my hoof and I shook my head.

“We need to stop her. This isn’t the first time she tried to turn me into a breeding machine. Just last time, I was still only part way regenerated. Quick Stitch talking about how the boxes looked reminded me of it. The difference here is, well, we can stay here, and one day she’ll come for us and them, or…” I removed my hoof from his mouth and he let out an exasperated sigh.

He grunted at me and then looked at the kids behind us, “So we go on the run and stay on the run, keep moving and we—” I groaned and put my hoof back into his mouth to stop him, while shaking my head in disagreement.

“No, we go find a way to get to her and put a stop to it permanently, then come back and raise our kids, okay? We do not put them at risk, at all costs, agreed?” I removed the hoof again, hoping he got the hint on how I felt about being passive or trying to raise our children while on the run inside of The Wasteland.

“And where do they stay in the meantime? I can take them and no one will find us till she’s handled and you are ready.” It was Hans’s turn to walk up and tsk his lips several times.

“I think not zis time. I could not in good conscience allow such little bundles of ze joy to be roaming with only zeir father and stealth to keep them safe. Zhey stay here.” He turned back to Franz and cleared his throat.

Franz looked up, having been obvious while making Miracle laugh as he played peek-a-boo with her and stood upright with sudden attention. “I agree, I could not allow ze children anywhere even slightly unsafe. We vill be zeir uncles and keep them for you.”

Nyota was backed into a corner and I placed a hoof against his shoulder to reassure him, “You know that I am right. This is our best choice; find her, deal with her, and we can keep them safe forever.” We both felt it, the call to adventure right there in the air. If we did not answer, we were going to be constantly looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives and beyond.

“Even if we took your route, what happens when we die and get up again? We will not remember why we were running or even what became of her.” Nyota looked up at me, searching for some answer I didn’t have or he hoped I at least would have.

“We go to the coordinates on my PipBuck to understand what they are, and we use that to lure her out.” I brushed his cheek and leaned in to kiss his forehead. I at least felt the love between us building an understanding of just what our quest was.

“We find her, deal with her permanently, and then we raise our kids, you understand me?” I nodded to him as he looked me in the eyes and stroked my mane in return before cupping my cheek. “And if it becomes a fool’s errand, we come back, agreed?”

I responded to his touch, feeling him this close to me and nodded back as my eyes turned to the two small bundles of joy. “Agreed.”

*****

The next morning we gathered together with our friends just outside our room in The Roof Hotel. It had taken just a few minutes to explain the situation, and now we had to see if they understood and were on board. Quick Stitch and Chifundo nodded in agreement, “We cannot allow such evil to exist, I will do anything to assist.”

Scopola Mina chewed on something in her mouth, we assumed it was gum of some sort, her horn lit up and her laser rifles one by one loaded their power pack. “Well, I was raised as an orphan within the Filly Scouts, and I ain’t about to let some breeding obsessed cunt take you from your little ones. Count me in.”

That brought a smile to Nyota’s face as he and Scopola gave each other a soft hug. Quick Stitch on the other hoof rubbed nervously against his left leg with his right hoof, picking at his melded armor-skin. He let out a deep discontented breath and shook his head, “I’m only here until we get back to Silver Fang. I gotta be honest. Apparently, Ruby and Emerald are umm…” I placed a hoof on his shoulder and nodded to him to finish. “They’re pregnant and believe both are mine.”

Chifundo smiled as he pressed a hoof to Quick Stitch’s neck, “A night of passion was one for just one, but rather a meeting to make a daughter and son. Quick Stitch my sweet doctor, this is not a shameful moniker. No, indeed, one should be proud of the love you have endowed.” Chifundo was beaming as he spoke. I felt a bond here between us, the same bond I had felt when I cast an ancient spell thought lost to Equestria.

Nyota raised his hoof, “What about that dumb red pegasus?”

I gulped down a breath and lowered my head feeling a bit of shame with what I was about to say. “We are gonna have to take him with us.”

Nyota glared at me, “Excuse you?” The rest of my friends had similar worried or upset faces staring at me as I spoke.

“That is the exact reason we are gonna have to take him with us. You are restraining yourself and so is Stormy, but I highly doubt everyone here will just leave him in peace, especially with what happened on the Vulture and the battle to get me back.” I raised my head to look at Nyota, who was still glaring, getting angry with the idea. “He also has Alguacil inside him somewhere. It would be a shame if we could not get him when he comes back out of the box.”

Nyota’s eyes glared at me like I had just betrayed some sacred pact, and I felt the same way on the inside. “Ha! You said the quiet part out loud!” I glared at Pink with a fire that could melt an iceberg. “Oh come on, you are right. You should keep that Pegasus with you, in case your favorite bird decides to come out of hibernation.”

Pink, you know I do not want to play on their feelings to get my way here.

“And? If you don't, they might say no.” She drug out her ‘no’ and let her voice ring on it for a bit. “Besides, it might be fun to, ya know, re-educate him. He might turn out to be another Blackhawk after all.”

Scopola Mina was the first to break our silence, “Well, Sunrise is right on this one. We can’t leave him here, that would make us admissible to letting him get murdered. I say we take him with us just to prevent that. Besides, there are five of us and one of him, with y’all around him, he’s bound to not get into too much trouble.”

Nyota rolled his eyes and then put a hoof up to Scopola Mina’s chest, “Fine, but you keep an eye on him. He makes one move to sell us out or hurt us, and I’ll wring his neck till he turns into some other critter inside Alguacil’s box.” Nyota walked back towards the room we were staying in. “I’m gonna pack our stuff.”

I started after him when Chifundo stopped me, “I think not this time little sister, you must wait for the calm to return to your mister.” I looked at him and nodded, pressing my forehead to Chifundo as he dispatched the sage like advice. A loud clang of a sheet metal door being slammed punctuated his statement as Nyota disappeared from view.

Scopola pulled at my shoulder before we got too comfortable, “Come on, Sunrise. We gotta go talk to our new pegasus friend and figure out how we’re gonna equip him.” I nodded as Scopola let me away. Quick Stitch stood there talking to Chifundo about not being a good father. Before long, they were out of earshot as Chifundo tried to console and counsel his friend on his new future while we headed off to the jail cell, to ‘rescue’ our new friend.

*****

The jail cell, if you could call it that, was more a series of sheets of metal, clearly from different sources and painted in a rainbow of different colors, all nailed and screwed together with a door made of another corrugated metal sheet and hinges to open it. It was kept locked by an old fashioned heavy duty toolbox lock and a slit was cut around the metal so you could see in from it at average adult eye level, which was still several hooves too high for me without being on my rear hooves. I sat upright and used my forehooves to support myself and keep myself standing. “Hey, you awake in there?”

Suddenly a red blur of a pony slammed against the side of the prison and sent me head over hooves as I landed hard on my back and butt. Ow! Wow that hurt more than Nyota leaving a bruise I want.

“Oh wow Sunrise, are you now comparing the things he does to you as a measure of your pain scale?” I blushed with the thought, feeling my cheeks burn white.

Pink, we’ll… talk about this later. I replied and stood up as the red pegasus started going a smile a minute.

“What the hell did I do? Who is the Enclave? Why am I in jail? How do I get out?” Nyota silenced him from speaking in his higher pitched, somewhat panicked voice.

“Shut it, feather brain. Let her talk and explain, alright?” There was a series of vigorous nodding from the pegasus that was learning what zebra hoof tasted like.

Nyota removed the hoof and turned to me, anger in his eyes that I was certainly not used to. “You sure about this, Sunny? Look at how panicky he is.”

I sighed and looked at him, “How guilty would we be if we left him here and they just killed him?”

I approached the prison walls and got back up so I could look inside. “Hi, my name is Wandering Sunrise, what’s yours?”

The pegasus blinked a few times and gulped, looking desperate and exhausted, “Martini Markerlight. What is this place? Where is the Enclave? Have we saved the surface dwellers?”

Great, he’s either brainwashed or he is some true believer. I felt genuinely bad for him for what I was about to have to tell him. “Okay look, I am gonna do my best to spell this out for you. The Enclave are not some saviors or nice ponies.” I held up a hoof while balancing on one backhoof so I could see him. “Hold your tongue please.” Once I was certain he was not gonna keep talking I continued.

“I am not sure what you remember, but the Enclave just tried to turn me into a broodmare, and we just left one of their vessels badly crippled between a bunch of our friends and a recently made massive dragon.” He looked at me, horrified, and pushed forward to speak.

“That can’t be right, you’re lying.”

Nyota snorted at him, “She isn’t lying. Hell, if you want I can bring a former Enclave pegasus down here and she can explain it all.”

“Bullshit! I refuse to believe you.” Nyota and I looked at each other and realized just how much harder this was gonna be.

“Patient, hun. How about we go get Blackhawk.” Nyota nodded, and we left only to return three minutes later with Blackhawk, having insisted she wear her Enclave uniform. She still had it, having hedged her bet in case the Enclave came back for them.

Markerlight let out a gasp as she walked up to him and looked inside the cell, “Okay, which part of this did he not believe?”

“You aren’t Enclave! Can’t be! No Enclave would leave another behind!” Markerlight declared, putting his chest out all proud like.

“Not only did they leave me behind, but if they find out I live here, they will come and kill me.” He deflated immediately, and looked on in an expression of horror. “The Enclave isn’t what you think it is, or rather was. Once you go below the clouds, that’s it; you’re dead to them.” She spoke in a way that had a certain accidental ring to it. It was a way of speaking that sounded like she wasn’t confident in what she was saying, but at the same time, you should already know the stuff she was telling you.

Nyota looked agitated and started looking around the room. I couldn’t fully pay attention to what Blackhawk was saying as he motioned for me to look around the room. I turned before my H.U.D. suddenly displayed a bright red blip on the compass. It was bright enough that whatever this red blip was, it had to be inside the room. I had started learning to really read my E.F.S., and this time, the PipBuck’s detector I thought was on the fritz.

That is, until I saw a shimmer in the room. It was like someone pouring a little bit of bubble making juice and the sunlight catching it just right. Nyota suddenly moved, lancing forward with a right hook towards the shimmer. Whatever this was jumped back and hit the wall, avoiding his blow but running into the wall in surprise. “Who the hell are you!? Show yourself!”

Suddenly there was the sound of hoofbeats rushing towards me. I was unarmored and unarmed. This place was supposed to be safe. The cloaking effect broke as a laser beam cut through the air, I could smell ozone, my cheek stung as I shifted down into a braced stance. The kind of braced stance I was used to when I was fully armored. However, my cheek was now cut open and I lacked all that normal armor.

The figure that appeared was wearing an Enclave uniform and a flowing cape that shimmered against the air. A zebra stealth cape, useful for limited bursts of invisibility. Nyota caught them and slammed their face into the ground in one smooth motion as the laser rifle attached to her side tried to fire again, but all it did was slam into the concrete floor as her face planted and broke her teeth while her eye was bleeding from the impact.

“Who the fuck are you? You better answer right now or I’m gonna break your skull right now!”

“Buck you stripe. I’m here to kill the green cunt!” The struggling pony shouted as we all looked surprised. Nyota did not give her much more chance to speak as he slammed his hoof against her skull with a sickening crack. I rushed forward only to realize he had already killed her before she could really speak.

“Nyota! What in Tartarus?” I felt an amount of rage in my own heart, but it wasn’t coming from me. It was his rage, his fury. He suddenly blinked, and I saw tears in his eyes. A deep sorrow hit me, and I felt like it was my sorrow for someone dying. We stared at each other and tried to understand the emotions pushing between us, before both of us took a step away.

“What… was that?” Nyota spoke with hesitation and a little bit of stuttering as we both felt a strangeness that burned in our veins. It was like we could sense each other’s emotions, more than just with empathy, but physically felt them.

“We should get Stormy in here to decide what to do about this assassin and talk to Chifundo.” I suggested. Blackhawk stood against the jail cell, panting. She realized at that moment that without Nyota here, we would all probably be dead. She stared at the deceased killer sent by the Enclave. Markerlight kept trying to get a view outside, but couldn’t see much.

“What was that? What just happened? Somepony talk to me!” Markerlight hollered out.

Blackhawk, “Shut it, give us a minute.”

In the next few moments, Stormy was in the room with Blackhawk and two guards, dealing with the situation while Quick Stitch was examining the body. Nyota and I headed down to talk to Chifundo.

Chifundo sat in his strange crossed leg way, his back upright against a wall. Meanwhile, Scopola Mina was sitting near him, listening with a pipe of some sort in her mouth, smoking something that smelled awful. “So let me get this straight. Y’all been feeling emotions, but it ain’t yours, it’s each other’s?”

Nyota nodded, “I think that about sums up what we have been feeling.”

Chifundo cleared his throat, “Spirit help from days long since dead, you sense that which the other has bred. I am a traditional shaman by trade, a painful past left me in jade. Yet you Sunrise showed me mercy, when the world deemed me unworthy. When I wed two creatures in true love, I added a little spirit to go above. From henceforth both shall know the other’s heart, and bolster your will even when apart.”

“You added a spirit to our marriage? Is that why we traded stripes?” Chifundo nodded as I interpreted what he said.

“And now we can feel each other’s emotions?” Chifundo nodded again, and we turned to look at each other. Both of us were feeling a bit of nervousness between us as Chifundo placed a hoof against my heart and drew a heart symbol across my chest.

“So long as your heart is filled with love,” he turned to Nyota and drew one upon his chest, “And both trust the other beyond and above.” He stood up between us. His smile was genuine, and I thought I saw a tear in his eye as he spoke.

“Then both shall understand each their lover, deeper than any friend or mother.” Chifundo kissed us each on the cheek as Nyota turned to me. I felt another presence in the room, something coming from Nyota and he blushed.

I felt that blush, it burned on my own cheeks, but I wasn’t blushing; it was just the echo of a feeling from him. “Chifundo, can she feel Ember too?”

Chifundo nodded, “From time to time, she will sense a chime.”

Scopola Mina dropped her pipe and stared at us, “Nyota! What is that flaming thing around you? Is this peyote stuff making me see stuff?”

Chifundo shook his head and let out a chuckle as he turned to the mare, “We will have much to discuss, when it comes to spiritual fuss.” He walked over to Scopola and sat down with her.

“Just know for now that these lovers two, have much for which they must now chew.” Chifundo escorted Scopola Mina out, and I turned to Nyota.

“What is an Ember?” I asked with hesitation, looking at Nyota expectantly. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Not a what, but a who. I agreed a long time ago to take a rage spirit into me. To get revenge for my parents. She got trapped in the box with me, kinda how Pink got trapped with you. So those moments of rage you feel are me letting her act.” Nyota rubbed his hoof and sighed heavily.

“I want to meet her.” Nyota suddenly reared up and stepped back, terrified for a moment as I spoke up sharply.

“You what!? She’s a spirit, Sunny. You aren’t a shaman, you can’t possibly—” I placed a hoof against his lips, not shoving it in like he did and shushed him while pressing myself close.

“I met the forest spirit when Chifundo got those blue potatoes. I have been on like, three different spirit encounters with Chifundo. I think I am a little more sensitive than you give me credit for.” I sat down and looked up at him expectantly.

Ya know I have to wonder something; can you make like baked potatoes or waffle fries out of those potatoes?

“SUNRISE! Even I’m not that ADHD nor that disrespectful. Back to the topic at hoof.” Pink said with a loud harrumph.

“She doesn’t like you. She feels like you are taking me away from her.” I felt a sting of pain from Nyota, that kind of feeling you get when a needle pricks you, except right in my chest. “And she is a bit mad about it.”

“Nyota, she is a part of you.” The pain got more intense for a moment, I winced and made myself finish the sentence. “That means when I married you, I agreed to take all of you as you were, regardless if that meant another spirit you already had a pact with. I believe that is the term.” The pain subsided but didn’t stop, like someone was hesitating to push the needle in further. Nyota’s own emotion, which I was starting to be able to pick out from the mix of feelings coming from our connection, was confusion but happiness at the same time.

“So whoever she is, I accept that I cannot take you away from her nor should I try.” The pain stopped completely as I reached up to hug Nyota. “Look, we have had a long day. Let’s go spend some time with our little ones and stay there the rest of the day.”

So both of us, hoof in hoof, walked back to our room and relieved Hans and Franz from that morning for a more serene time.

Nyota played pegasus with Miracle, making whooshing sounds and steering her around. It was peaceful to hear him laugh, to hear her giggle and see her struggling to get him to make her go faster.

Meanwhile, I was there, constructing blocks with Jumoke, letting him integrate plushies they had been given into the blocks as some sort of ornament or mortar. The blocks were clearly unstable but it was his construction, and my job was to help him with it. Then the blocks tumbled over and spilled around us. He started crying, Nyota and Miracle both turning to look at what was the matter.

I reached up and rubbed at his shoulder and put the base blocks back in place. “Shhh, Jumoke, hey hey hey,” I whispered to him and he turned to me as he saw the first two layers put back up, “It is okay, see?” He started to dry his tears and I handed him a block to place. “We can build it again.”

Nyota set down Miracle and she walked over. Her eyes focused, and several blocks wrapped in a little baby bit of telekinesis that glowed with an azure purple as she offered them to Jumoke. The little colt giggled and clapped his hooves as Miracle showed off, and he began picking pieces out from the several pieces floating up. The two were happy to play together. Nyota and I stepped back, admiring them. Both of us filled with a parental sort of pride and enjoyed the moment together as the two played together without any adult to guide them.

The tower would fall and Miracle would focus again, getting tired and flustered but letting out a happy giggle in response to Jumoke, playing together. This was our day, and then I felt my heart ache as I turned to Nyota. It was his heart aching.

“You’re right, love. As much as I want to say no, we cannot run away from our problem. We can’t stay here and put this at risk.” I nodded to him and laid my head in the crook of his neck. Tears were rolling down both of our cheeks, our hearts already aching as we would have to leave our little ones behind for a time. I felt Miracle grab onto my ankle with her horn power and looked down, Nyota shifting to look with me.

She was offering me a block, as if that would help with my own tears. I smirked at her, her heart was so sweet. She made some baby noises at me and I leaned down, drying my own tears to give her a tight hug.

Afterwards, we tucked them in for the night together, the two siblings holding each other as they slept under a pair of blankets, one for each of them that they chose to share instead of keep to themselves. There was a knock at the door. I went to answer it with tired eyes of a worn out parent, and came face to chest with Mad Mac.

“Hey, can we talk?” I raised an eyebrow, and he led me out. “So, I heard you might be leaving soon, and you need some fancy equipment.” I nodded to him. “You need a sort of master key cut for the Stables, like Stable Phi down south right?”

I felt his Stalliongrad accident come on as a glimmer was in his eye. “Well, I heard a tale of a piece of tech that could let me make that for ya. But you are going to have to go get it for me.”

I raised an eyebrow and felt like I was being suckered into something that I was not 100% on board for. “Mad Mac, what exactly are you talking about?”

“Well, I went down there and got a mold for it, but it is too precise for anything I could make with the tools I have. But you see…” He was like a little school girl trying to ask for something from her parents that they know full well they shouldn’t give her but would have to give her. “There is something I read about in this book,” He pulled a book out of his saddlebag that was called ‘High Tech Inventions that Will Change All our Lives’. I looked at it as he opened it to page forty-three. Inside, there was a sort of cutting lathe, but all the normal blades and pieces that would be used for measuring and slicing pieces were replaced with bright red laser beams and a computer hooked up to it.

“This thing though, if you can find one that works, could make all the cuts to create a master key of sorts for the Stable-Doors.” I blinked a few times at the device and recognized it. It was something that once we had considered for my dad’s mechanic shop, but it was just too expensive at the time.

“You know where one is?” I asked as I looked up at him, realizing how useful something like this would be.

“Yeah, this place is called Yellow Sign, if you can get them to let you into the factory there and take one, I can rig up a computer to run it. Make some improvements to that armor, your weapons, and even make that master key you need to get into those secret Stables of yours.” I could smell the booze on his lips. He had actually been drinking to work up the courage to come talk to me.

“Could we even use it to design something to keep South Shore’s sonic weapons from hurting us?” He nodded vigorously from the question.

“Yes! I could design an integration in your armor helmets that you could turn on and off to keep them from causing the concussion and overwhelming your senses. I mean, you probably would not be able to hear a thing, but you know, better no hearing than unconscious.” I nodded to him and looked back inside as Nyota came out.

“Love, everything okay?” I smiled at him.

“I think I know where we are headed first.” I replied as we both came in for our last night together in peace. Well, less peace and more hoping the little ones would stay asleep so we could enjoy each other in a much more intimate manner.