> Fallout Equestria: The Alicorns of Oasis > by AJ Aficionado > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Fallout Equestria: The Alicorns of Oasis > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Fallout Equestria: The Angels of Oasis” By AJ Aficionado What is family to an alicorn? Before the time of the Destroyer who ended the life of our Goddess and tore the skies asunder, family was the telepathic embrace of thousands of souls, each bound by a single will. The knowledge and lived experience of an entire race; our victories against the lesser creatures of the new Equestria bathed in magical fire and the final anguished moments of our fallen sisters. Her loss leaving us without leadership or purpose, all that remained for me now was me and my two sisters fleeing certain destruction, and with any luck, finding a new family and a new place to call home. Below me, the wasteland stretched out green and desolate, aside from a gray decaying stretch of macadam atop great pillars of concrete. The ruined civilization of old was being encroached upon by the stubbles of newfound life pressing up from the earth — green grass and living trees that spread their pollen like a choking fog with the coming of Spring. Our magical fire was gone, purged by ancient magic stored away by ponies of renown in the Old World. Our world was gone. Our family was gone. And the ponies who once feared us now openly challenged us. “Sisters, look! There’s a stretch of old pony transport atop that slab of highway. There might be treasures untold within!” My purple-furred sister and escape artist Shadebloom was, and still is, a refined spellweaver with a knack for teleporting out of scrapes that would have doomed even the hardiest of adventurers. She’d also discovered that together we could ‘overcharge’ each other’s abilities by drawing on each other’s magic reserves, allowing us to contribute to much more potent variations of our usual abilities. She’s a bit jittery and nervous at times, never staying still for very long, but that’s often a good thing when the place you were just standing gets shot through by gunfire. “Azura is certain such pre-war military transport could also be carrying megaspells and it has been far too long since we’ve felt the holy glow against our fur!” My blue friend with the bad habit of speaking in the third-person was as lethal an assassin and effective a scout as an alicorn could ever fight alongside. Her bombast and self-referential nature could get on your nerves at times, but she always knew just what to say to win you back over. If there were ever a contest for most adorable, she’d charm the judge out of first, second and third place trophies. As for myself, I go by the name Shimmersage. It is a name I grabbed from an old pre-war coloring book in the ruins of a school; one of the few surviving books in the entire cursed den of raider scum. As my name implies I am as green and shimmery as megaspell glow. I was declared de facto leader by my two friends primarily because of my ability to read their minds and coordinate actions against our countless enemies, including, but by no means limited to, every other form of life in Equestria that wasn’t an alicorn. I certainly wasn’t elected because of my good tactical decisions… I surveyed the plot of highway from a distance. In fairness, it was easy to dismiss the danger of a trap. There was simply no way for anypony other than a pegasus or fellow alicorn sister to access the strip of macadam set almost thirty-feet off the tall grass below. The majority of pegasi were currently occupied by a righteously upset coalition of ponies who were less than enthusiastic about The Grand Pegasi’s Enclave’s designs for world domination. It wasn’t often they were getting out these days with weather control being the domain of The Destroyer. Besides, I’ve found unopened containers of missiles and supplies in far more conspicuous places. “I guess we can spare a moment for the ruined convoy. We need to make it quick though! We need to get to Whitetail Woods with all speed!” No need to waste time to scout ahead when there’s a family to go find, right? Wrong. “Die, alicorn bitch!” A mercenary announced by way of introduction, having emerged from a derelict truck atop the slab of ruined highway and launched a rocket at the three of us. I raised my shield immediately, the last thing I remembered before the rocket came to within inches of my face exploding with a blast of heat and concussive force through my barrier. Coming to as an incessant ringing filled my ears, I felt my purple companion’s reassuring weight beneath me. I’d spat out all my front teeth and my nose and mouth had filled with blood, but I could regenerate in time under the megaspell’s glow. She’d caught me midair and lifted me out of immediate danger. Shadebloom nickered as I came to. “That was a close one, Shimmersage! It looked like the impact of the rocket may have shattered your neck. You must have cartwheeled five times back there!” She flashed me an amused look and added, “So much for following the highway being a safe bet, huh?” I spat blood and staunched the flow with my magic. Nice save, Shady! I nuzzled my purple friend’s cheek before lifting off back into the air. Having lost so many teeth I switched to telepathic communication, which I was more comfortable with anyway, to spare myself the indignity of garbling my Equish. How the hell did that buck get up there!? “I’m more worried about how many friends he brought with him! Azura’s gone invisible so she can get a better look at these —” Shadebloom whinnied and teleported away as an astonishingly well-placed rocket flew right past the place she’d just been flying, leveling a nearby house instead. I hoped nopony was in it. The mercenaries were now meeting us with focused and relentless fire from atop the precarious slab of the crumbling overpass with laser rifles and at least one of those deadly pre-war rocket launchers. I raised another shield and deflected a potentially fatal blast from one of the deadly red beams. There’s five of them, sisters. They have the eyes of the Destroyer! I heard the voice of Azura speaking through my mind. We three were now mentally linked by my innate magical abilities but found it more natural to speak out loud unless the situation called for more subtlety. Azura thinks direct contact will be most unhealthy for us! The eyes of the Destroyer: the fabled Stable-Tec computers that allowed for ponies to track their enemy and kill them with perfectly placed shots. If we swarmed them we could kill them but not without being killed ourselves with massed fire. My shield was strong but not impervious to such fearful weapons. Thankfully, I had a solution to this problem. Then let them try to track what they cannot see! We go in from beneath their very hooves. My two friends acknowledged my telepathic order wordlessly; we worked together for so long there was never a need to question anything. We flew in low, scraping the tall grass which I knew obscured hundreds of years old rotting refuse from before the war. Shields raised, the three of us propelled ourselves forward, careful not to descend below the curtain of grass, launching bolts of lightning at the mercs foolish enough to crane their necks over the slab of macadam looking for us, confounding the aim of their hellish weapons and sending them scurrying for cover. They wouldn’t be looking for us for much longer. Now out of the mercenaries’ line-of-sight, we'd sealed their fate. Drawing on my sisters’ magic I erected a wall of force that enveloped the bottom of the ramp with a translucent emerald sheen. It was soon joined by a blue and purple beam which connected with my own. The entire structure swayed slightly as our horns wrapped themselves four layers thick in overglow. Finally, the supports gave an almighty crack and lifted a foot off the ground. That got their attention! In a panic, the mercs started throwing grenades over the side of the road which exploded harmlessly off to our side. The sounds of their anguished cries told me they knew they were doomed. One stallion leapt from the top shattering his legs on the unyielding earth. Another lost his balance and fell from the slab and disappeared into the tall grass near the skeletal remains of a house. With one final exertion, the three of us took to flight with the highway slab in tow carrying it high into the air, two more bodies plunged into the void as we accelerated higher and higher into the playground of the pegasi. The pale petrified face of one of my would-be assassins caught my eyes as the three of us emerged from below, our shields raised. I could read the terror emanating from his mind. He saw my muzzle covered in dried blood. He noted with the clarity, and insecurity, of one about to die that I was even taller than he was despite being a female, a byproduct of our exposure to the holy liquid. Nice try, mortal. I whispered into the doomed stallion’s mind before grabbing his laser rifle and nightstick. Turning around, tail askew, I gave him something to remember me by in the hereafter. But it was not yet our time. “Was there ever any doubt?” Azura blew him a kiss before snatching up his weapon crates. Shadebloom bowed graciously and proceeded to relieve the buck of his supply crates and medicine containers. “Thanks for giving to the needy!” I released our hold on the highway plunging it into the side of a cliff, a pile of twisted metal and crushed bodies in crumbled asphalt littering the ravine below. Sheltered in a cave free of pony interference, the three of us sorted our loot into personal use, resell items, and useless junk. I don’t know how we ever managed to live like this, I griped internally, rubbing my sore jaw. The medicine containers carried useless drugs, pony-safe drinking water and a couple of potions which I used to heal all my injuries except my missing teeth. I would need to take a nice relaxing bath in some radiation for that. In any case, we were still going to be very burned out by the time we reached our destination, particularly after our fight with the mercenaries. “There is some irony in the fact these mortals were at one time surrounded by poison and now we are.” Shadebloom looked sadly at the plastic bottle filled with crystal-clear and undrinkable water before sorting it in with the resell crate. While we very well could have drunk the water it wouldn’t have done us much good as it would dilute the glow inside our bodies and make our spells less potent. “Azura cares nothing for these callous mortals and their superior numbers! We would prefer our Goddess have wiped them all out!” She stomped the floor of the cave hard enough to make me very concerned about a cave-in. As if to solidify my worry, a few pieces of loose rock fell from the ceiling to the ground. I nickered, shooting Azura a dangerous look. I’ve already had an attempt on my life today. I don’t need you to finish the job! She looked back at me chagrined. “Sorry, Shimmer but we are right and you know it. They hold the whip hoof now, and there’s no way we’re going to survive if they come after us for real.” “Azura, your improper use of pronouns is going to result in some terrible miscommunication someday. Can you not use singular forms like the rest of us?” Shadebloom launched a bent tin can deeper into the cave before turning her attention to the paperweight and green dinner plates somepony had inexplicably packed into the supply crate. Azura shook her head sadly as her countenance darkened. “Azura is not… ready yet... Too soon...” Our sneaky blue partner had been having the worst of it since we’d fled in search of safety. We were unicorn mares once who voluntarily accepted transformation and assimilation into Unity at Azura’s suggestion. Instead of untold power and influence, we encountered misfortune after misfortune, making enemies across half of the Equestrian Wasteland before facing our greatest setback in the form of our entire stockpile of megaspell radiation being eliminated by sunshine and rainbows. Too bad it hadn’t eliminated the armed and dangerous nasty ponies who were none too happy about the atrocities committed upon them by our sisters under the Goddess’ control. It hadn’t done the other ponies any favors for that matter as raiders continued their predations on all alicorns, pony and griffon alike. The more magically inclined of the lot exchanged their pitiful armor and single-shot tongue-operated guns and melee weapons for a more lucrative gig as killers for hire. The group we’d slain earlier was a testament to what bottlecaps can buy in terms of old Enclave weapons; high technology from the invasion days with a much cheaper price tag as a result of burgeoning supply. Azura, don’t cry. I kissed the tip of her lovely horn. You were closest to her out of all of us, but you and I have a potential our Goddess could only dream of; a potential she gave her life for that we might discover it! I gave Shadebloom a casual glance. And you’re okay too, I guess. “Thanks, Rocket Mare. You’re not too bad, either!” Shade poked her tongue out teasingly. The three of us shared a grim laugh at our fortunes. At least I’d taken Azura’s mind off her worries for the time being. We’d not only died vicariously hundreds of times under the Goddess’ command but lost limbs and been shot clean through with anti-material rifles. Some smashed-out teeth and a bloody nose was the least of our problems, particularly mine. It made talking a right pain in the flank though. We shared a moment’s silence as we sorted out our gear, having chucked the last of our dead weight into the cave for some desperate pony to collect. We’d collected quite a lot of salvage while flying between the edge of Equestria and the outskirts of the Everfree, mostly rifles, and ammo. In any case, the pony armor did us no good and weighed too much. Azura was carrying all our gear as she was the least obvious of the three of us, but this meant sacrificing quite a few caps. That and the fact we weren’t too skilled at bargaining, but that comes with the title of ‘Alicorn Bitch’. “Azura thinks we can make it three-quarters of the way to the Whitetail Woods before our strength gives out with our current load”, she stated matter of factly, sealing the last of our salvage into a convenient crate. “We do not wish to be a burden and slow our journey or take such power as sister Shimmer might require to heal…” “Say no more, Azura,” Shadebloom pressed her lips gently against our friend’s and linked horns and hooves muffling any further protests as I watched on. I nickered empathetically as Shade’s horn erupted with light and warmth, Azura cooing her approval. It was everything I could manage to stop myself from joining in physically. My telepathic signal was throbbing with intense spikes as it were as if I were experiencing the kiss firsthoof. I rolled over on my side, grunting slightly as the cave floor pressed in against my flank and pressed a hoof against my lips — oh telepathy, how you torture me! After a full minute of squirming, I made a genuine effort at breaking my connection and simply couldn’t no matter what I did. Everything from their surface-level lust to their deep abiding love for one another built up over many years transmitted a constant intricately-layered stream of data ranging from physical condition to magical power reserves heedless of my need to relax and heal myself after nearly being killed. I felt my hoof beginning to snake between my thighs but held back. This was not going to do me any favors tomorrow even if it would do me a great favor just then. A stray whinny escaping my lips after five sweet, agonizing, delicious moments of blissful suffering finally caused my two clueless sisters to note my discomfort. Of course they were clueless, I reminded myself bitterly. They weren’t hexed to live out their entire post-Goddess existence with no option to turn down the chatter! Shadebloom emerged wetly from our sister’s oral cavity with an anxious expression and a trail of saliva leading to Azura. I would have been laughing if I weren’t so angry and horny and ready to join in with them. Noting my clear discomfort and current state, her eyes widened as she frowned. “I’m so sorry, Shimmer!” “Azura owes you a great and earnest apology, my sister!” her ears drooped pathetically. “We simply could not contain ourselves!” I felt myself begin to giggle uncontrollably, laughing at my own misfortune and my sisters’ own irrepressible cuteness. Apology accepted. Now perhaps we can wait until we reached the Promised Land? We’ll be able to copulate there to our heart’s content —  My smile widened as I paused for dramatic effect — And so much more! I felt their hearts skip a beat at my promise as Shade clopped her hooves happily and Azura’s face went pink; a smile spreading over their faces to match my own. The three of us lay next to each other on the cold cave floor atop a threadbare blanket. Allowing fatigue to finally settle over us the three of us tied tails and kissed each other goodnight. The sleep would do us some good as we’d have time to soak up the natural radiation leftover inside caves like the one we’d taken shelter in. As my thoughts set forward on the Everfree Forest, the three of us fell into slumber. Shadebloom woke us up several times during the night. The cave had kept us safe and out of sight but hadn’t done her chronic anxiety any favors. She whipped us in the head with her tail which started moving as soon as the rest of her stopped, waking up out of dead sleep whinnying at one point and waking me up at another point by sleepwalking and nibbling on my ear. Frustrated but understanding, we managed to get her to calm down by pinning her between myself and Azura and locking all her various extremities down beside her tail. We could have simply had her sleep away from the rest of us, but we knew she’d just wind up lonely and pacing the rest of the night, doing her — and us — no favors in the morning. Somewhat rested and ready to finish our journey, we set out at first light. We caught a tailwind breeze as we banked west on the last leg of our journey, the trees of the Everfree coming into view. It wasn’t fun taking the long way around the edge of the forest, leaving us out in the open in full view of numerous ponies, but we wanted nothing to do with The Cathedral or Red Eye’s former subjects, and even less to do with Everfree creatures that would surely kill us in our weakened state. We encountered one raider ambush sight set up along a trade road that never even saw us coming. They never saw us leave either, as Azura infiltrated them under invisibility and floated a grenade into their midst, killing three of them outright while my laser rifle turned the remaining two into glowing ash. Having sustained no fresh injuries and thankful for an easy victory, we looted the ammo and left the rest, overencumbered as we already were. Nothing of value was lost. Shortly after we took back to the air I saw a caravan approach in the distance moving slowly in the direction of the ambush site, an earth pony stallion flanked by two earth pony mares wearing makeshift battle saddles. At least the raiders’ bounty wouldn’t go to waste. The air was filled with an orange haze over the boughs of the Everfree which glowed invitingly, tantalizing us with their vibrant green spell-kissed hue. A part of me, my jaw the most likely, wanted to set down and find a stream to drink from to heal up, but we kept moving south, playing it safe. “Sisters, look out at the sky. It’s turning glowy out that way!” Shade pointed out over the southern forest and did a celebratory loop. Azura unleashed a shower of celebratory sparks from her violet horn. “Thank the Goddess! We must land soon.” Shadebloom levitated the saddle holding our boxes and bags and strapped it to her own back. “I’ll take the gear, Azura. You deserve a rest.” “Azura deserves much more than rest for our continued exertion in the face of such adversity!” I laughed out loud at my friend’s indignance. I shook my head with amusement as Shadebloom’s eyeridges narrowed to a point. “I can put the pack back on you…” “Azura is not amused with your sarcasm in this trying hour! But thank you...” I allowed my sisters a chance to banter back and forth as I took in the changing scenery, our path carrying directly over the canopy of trees now which thickened and changed from a vine-covered bio-luminescent green to something… odd. Even as I felt the megaspell’s kiss began to climb sharply, the air around me beginning to glow with wisps of green from out of the earth, the trees grew more and lusher as we moved up the rolling hills into a small valley split by a forking stream and surrounded by thick forest. A deep, husky voice filled my mind, overriding my own thoughts. The voice of a stallion! Sisters! You have entered a settlement under the control of the Followers of the Apocalypse. Please land near the creek and wait for me. I wish to speak with you face to face before you proceed further. In the meantime, I am Senior Researcher Sparkle Bright and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Oasis! As the voice of a fellow telepath spoke to the three of us simultaneously within our own thoughts, I saw the rumors had been true. What had been thought impossible had been perfected by a friend of the Destroyer; male alicorns produced from female alicorns as a means of producing offspring of our own! As if my day weren’t already going well enough I felt my teeth grow back in as I walked across the marshy soil, our new friend leading the way. Flowers of every color of the rainbow grew impossibly from the heavily irradiated soil even as steam rose up from it. Even the creek roiled with rainbow-colored bubbles as it flowed over the impact point of multiple megaspells which had been deflected away from Canterlot during the final day of the war by Celestia, the fallen solar sovereign. Whitetail Woods was completely leveled by the blasts, it would seem until recently. “I can tell by the looks of you three that you’ve got one hell of a story to tell!” The green stallicorn nodded at our pack mare’s vast inventory. “I see you’ve been out hunting in the wastes.” “Well, more like we’ve been hunted ourselves for the most part,” I explained what had happened to us up to this point and what we knew about the lay of the land. A tent city came into view occupied by alicorns that looked just like us, except there was a mix of males and females. Piles of boxes with the butterfly cutie mark seal of the Ministry of Peace stood near the tents some of which were occupied by alicorns resting in bunk beds. To my amazement I saw a bright orange fillicorn following behind one of the mares. Every now and then alicorns would fly in and out, acknowledging my presence with a nod but not even bother to form a telepathic link. It struck me as weird and disconcerting. Most of the adults wore lab coats but I noted with a hint of revulsion that there were also ghoul pony mercenaries standing by, armed to the teeth. The extremely-high radiation which was strong enough to limit our range of vision by this point wasn’t bothering them at all. He noted my reaction to the ghouls with a knowing smile. “They’re of no harm to anyone, just on standby in case any monsters from the Everfree decide to take a detour through here. So what brings you three sisters to Oasis? Are you here to trade, just bask in the glow or perhaps take a look around?” “We wish to be able to sire foals of our own! Is it truly possible?” I asked, somewhat desperately. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. We have everything we need at hoof so long as you don’t mind trading some of what you have.” I nodded to him that money not an issue. “But before you go and spend any caps, there are certain matters we need to discuss.” We were led to the inside of what looked like a makeshift clinic. I wondered what need of doctors an alicorn would have when we could pretty much heal up from near death at this level of exposure but other matters took front in center in my mind. I figured it was something to do with research. File cabinets took up one wall of the tent, a couple of them were open and packed full of files. These alicorns were clearly busy. The opposite wall was lined with lockers, and I chuckled at their sight, imagining they were full of nothing but spare lab coats and clipboards. The stallicorn took a seat behind a desk bearing a computer terminal, cluttered with pencils, some X-rays from what looked like an alicorn patient, and an ophthalmoscope. The three of us plopped ourselves down on a dusty old couch. “So a lot has changed since the last time you were in Equestria. I need not tell you that for us alicorns, a lot of the changes have been for the worst.” Sparkle Bright gestured towards us with his hoof. We nodded in return. “I think you’ll agree the lack of megaspell radiation is… problematic. Red Eye’s followers have carved out their own nation and the New Canterlot Republic has fashioned their own federation from the ponies, griffons, ghouls, and hellhounds that managed not to get themselves irresponsibly killed.” “In the end, it seems we have lost everything, didn’t we?” Shade said sadly, jiggling her legs impulsively as she laid atop the couch. “Our numbers had declined by approximately seventy percent since we hit our peak as of the moment before the Goddess’ telepathic link was broken and only more of us have been lost since we’ve lost the ability to keep track.” “That is a fair statement,” Sparkle Bright nodded grimly. “We’ve had a chance to do another census since things have quieted down and our estimates now are that we’ve been hit for around eighty-five percent with the majority losses being among us greens. Coupled with the loss in habitat, we’ll eventually be driven out of Equestria or lose our abilities entirely, leaving us at the mercy of the other races.” “Take heart, Sparkle Bright! Azura is having none of this talk of defeat and banishment! We are going to rise again with your help and together we will-” “Uh… is this a bad time?” I turned to face the sound of the person speaking and froze at the sight of a towering hellhound figure dressed head to toe in a radiation suit. The hellhound cast his yellow eyes upon me and I cringed back at him in as friendly a manner as I could manage. “Ahh! You have the report on the pollen count I was asking for. Good, good!” Sparkle Bright took the stack of papers from the bipedal horror’s paws with his aura. “Gripper, these three mares are just in from the Equestrian Periphery and still getting used to life under the new order. I hope you will not judge them too harshly for their old attitudes.” “Err… I guess not. Just don’t try anything stupid while you’re here and we’ll be just fine.” Gripper turned and walked off. I wasn’t sorry to see him leave one bit. “Shimmer, is it too soon for us to leave? Azura does not want to die!” “Oh for Trixie’s sake! No one is going to die!” Sparkle Bright rapped his hoof hard against the desk. “Gripper is a very reliable researcher and can do things with those claws we ponies just can’t do. Now, I mentioned the challenges we faced earlier, and believe me, I did not lie when I said things were bad. My point was not to suggest we give up. I want to make it very clear to each of you that what we need to do is work together and rebuild Equestria for the benefit of all of her creatures! That is my mission and the responsibility of the Followers of the Apocalypse as an organization.” I looked at the stallion indignantly. “Now wait a minute! What about all those ponies shooting at me on the way here? How am I supposed to share Equestria with them?” Sparkle Bright snorted. “It’s a huge responsibility to make everyone see things our way, but we are doing everything we can to affect change — and I don’t just mean shooting others and looting them! We’re growing food. We’re rebuilding industry. The NCR government is keeping the peace inside the cities and slowly extending outward, retaking Equestria acre by acre. We’re building hospitals. All of these things require time, efficient administration and a whole lot of money!” Shadebloom looked at me sheepishly. “He has a point, you know.” I raised my hooves defensively. We were getting off track and not talking about the key issue, but I was willing to let him talk himself out. Maybe he’d even be right in the end and we could all be good friends. If all of that nonsense got me some foals, I was willing to go along. “Okay, say I accept your reasoning and look past the problems we had getting here. How are we going to be all cozy with these other races who don’t live in harmony with the megaspell’s glow?” “A fair question, Miss Shimmersage. That is an adorable name by the way!” Says the buck named Sparkle Bright. “Thanks,” I replied with as much irony as I could muster. “Don’t mention it.” The stallion had either definitely not caught my irony, or he decided to be cheeky and ignore it. “So the New Canterlot Republic is going to operate under a federal system with dual legal statutes: state and federal law. This system will ensure a level of autonomy at the local level ensuring a degree of cultural assimilation into the greater-” Our blue friend stared at the stallicorn blankly. “Azura has no idea what you’re talking about.” “He wants us to all live in one place so we can vote our own interests!” Shadebloom clopped her hooves happily, beaming like an excited schoolfilly. “This is great! Azura, we can outbreed everypony else and take over the entire country!” “Whoa! Whoaaa!” Sparkle Bright signaled an immediate halt to our train of reasoning. “I don’t know about all of that, but there’s a home to be carved out of Equestria for us sitting right beneath our hooves and I think you three should consider staying here with us. You don’t need to join the Followers if you don’t want to, but you should consider applying for citizenship with the NCR. The more of us living here, then the sooner we’ll be able to make the Whitetail Woods a proper state with representation and protection. Sure beats drinking water out of the sewer!” Having drunk from many a toilet in my time for the irradiated water, his reasoning really hit home. “Now that I can agree with! In the meantime, are you cool with us checking out the forest and…” My voice hitched as the heady realization hit me—we were about to do this! One of us, or perhaps all of us were going to be a potential stallion tasked with repopulating Equestria with a new breed of alicorns. Alicorns with the ability to learn and grow. Perhaps an alicorn that could even master every spell. As Sparkle Bright gave me a concerned look, I shook my head and offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry… I guess it just hit me how huge this all is!” Sparkle Bright smiled back at me and nodded. “It’s quite understandable that you’re excited. So you’ll be wanting a romantic walk through the forest to sort out who is going to transition?” “That’s the idea!” I gave a nervous laugh. “Sounds okay to me.” We’d began to get up to leave when he stopped us short with a wave of his hoof. “Before you go though, I think it would do you the three of you a bit of good to get yourselves checked out with me or one of my staff. You’ve been living without proper medical care your entire lives, and while you’re physically better off than most others, you’ve also got a host of psychological and physical issues unique to our race; issues that will only grow worse with time.” I immediately thought of the issues I was having with my telepathy and nodded, feeling shame immediately afterward. The voice in my head reminded me that my abilities were crucial to our survival. Sparkle Bright looked directly at me, knowingly as Sparkle Bright continued, “Talk to my wife outside the huge tent next to this one. She’ll get you set up with someplace private to sleep and store your items — if you don’t mind paying, of course. I’m sure over a couple of days we’ll be able to sort out your needs.” So our friend already had a ‘wife’; a chosen mate to bear him foals. I wondered how the adjustment to being a stallion had gone for him. “Thank you, brother!” I got up to leave. “Our representation will leave the rest of Equestria dazzled and awestruck! They will have no choice but to allow us to peacefully annex them and lead them to a brighter future!” With that proclamation, Azura got up and followed me out. As I opened up the tent flap leading outside I could hear Shadebloom intentionally clearing her throat. “So… um… Does it get breezy down there with your, uh, package?” A pause. “O-oh I really shouldn’t be asking this now. Eh-heh, r-right! Seeyoulaterbye!” Shadebloom pushed past the two of us at a trot, her face aflame. We set off into the forest following the gentle flowing streams which went up no higher than our knees. There were only a few trails, but those were well-traveled by other alicorns who found time to explain the seemingly contradictory nature of the Whitetail Woods. When the radiation was purged from the land by what the Followers called The Equestria Gardens, the land and water were swept clean of radiation. Even our old home was cleansed of the Holy Liquid which spawned forth my race. However, the forests near the edge of Equestria were not affected, including the Whitetail Woods. Celestia spared Canterlot its physical annihilation but the multiple balefire blasts in such a compact location created a new and more potent prismatic form of the glow. The hellhounds could survive it for brief periods of time with the best radiation protection available owing to their hardiness and natural resistance to it. Everything else would die within less than half a second of full exposure. Everything except the forest itself which was revived in its entirety by The Followers. “We alicorns possess incredible power which is only now being realized,” one researcher explained to me, picking a strange fruit from one of the trees along the river. “Celestia and Luna possessed the power of the earth ponies in addition to those of the other two tribes and, despite their long lives, had only access to flight and some very specific spells related to their natural talents. As drones under the Goddess, we were no stronger or weaker than Trixie herself would allow us to be. We proved to be far weaker even then Equestria’s former rulers. Freed from her control, some of us have developed earth magic spellcasting that allows us to cultivate irradiated land and bring life back to it. With our help, nature is being given a second chance.” The result was Oasis, a lush radioactive paradise; a living contradiction. The stream widened as we approached the source of the stream, a waterfall from out of the Foal Mountains. The radiation levels began to fall significantly as soon as we left the compound and the levels here would be tolerable to someone or somepony with a good supply of radaway and protective clothing. An island shrouded in mist formed near the base of the falls and we made our way to it, effortlessly parting the waters around us with a massive shield spell. Oh, but it felt great to be strong again. “Look up there!” Shadebloom pointed to a tall tree along the bank where a huge colony of bloodwings had taken up residence in the outermost bands of sub-lethal radiation. Another caretaker of the forest had mentioned them earlier. “We’ve envisioned Oasis as not just a place for trees and plants but wildlife, too. We’ve even managed to tame some of the animals. Our greatest success by far are the bloodwing bats who we’ve trained to eat fruit. Messy little eaters but far less dangerous to pony lives this way!” The bats were having squeaky conversations with each other, the single males posturing loudly to any female unaccompanied by a male chaperone as the accompanied females cleaned their babies, suckling contently on their mothers. They eyed us with suspicion at first but eventually grew relaxed enough to belly dip in the water, skimming it at high speed and flying back to their tree to lap it off their belly fur. I’d always wondered how they managed to drink without the ability to stand on their legs! Some of the mothers decided to take a dip too giving their young a good soaking in the process. The babies never fell off but I couldn’t help but imagine how terrifying the ordeal must have been for them. We watched happily for well over an hour, delaying the inevitable talk. The flyout of the entire colony to go find food ended our brief distraction and for the first time since we’d entered, we were alone. I decided as leader I’d best lead and broach the topic myself. “Before we start, I just want to say that whatever we decide to do here, I want to spend the rest of my life with you two.” The two smiled and agreed that they felt the same way. I knew they already felt that way from the way we got on with one another but hearing it spoken at this significant moment made it that much more comforting. Circling her hoof in the cool stream and rubbing her chin with the other Shadebloom finally spoke up first. “The concept is… interesting. When I think about myself with a penis though… I just don’t see it. I know we are all females and that’s only natural for me to feel this way. All the same, if there was any way for me to avoid making such a transition I would take it.” I was a little surprised by the last thing she’d said. I’d supposed my inquisitive friend would have been more open to the idea. Still, I felt my excitement begin to leak out of my subconscious to a degree I knew they could sense, a fact that made it all the more thrilling. “I see…” By her own words, she had in fact chosen to be a female, my female. The two gave each other a significant look and laughed. “Azura can guess your opinion on transitioning, and she doesn’t even need a spell to read your mind!” She tossed her silver and blue mane with a carefree hoof enjoying the effect it had on me. “Your pupils are the size of dinner plates! Do you desire to fill us both with your seed?” “Ngh! Azura, please!” I felt my head swim as I felt warmth fill my nethers. “We must be more serious about this subject!” “I think Shimmer is right, even if she really does want to be a stallion,” Shade casually offered, kicking me while I was down. “Hey!” I whinnied indignantly. “Hmph! As you wish.” Azura’s face grew more reflective. “Azura has thought about what it would be like to be a stallion. I admit the idea of being the giver of seed is quite tempting. I’d be in a position to make many foals, all in my glorious image.” For a moment it looked as if she’d almost changed her own mind, smiling confidently. “But there is no glory in such things. I want my foals to be raised properly and that is a job I will not leave to anypony else but myself, as a mare. If it comes between personal greatness and the future of our foals, Azura wants the best for our foals.” Shadebloom looked at our friend, dumbfounded. “That was… very introspective and well considered, Azura! Even if I don’t necessarily agree with everything you just said.” I couldn’t believe my luck! My two best friends might be interested in being more than friends for my sake? I couldn’t go jumping to conclusions though. Not yet. I composed myself as best I could and cleared my throat. “I have to agree with Shade. I’ll admit I have been wanting the transition for myself.” I looked at my two friends guiltily. “This might also sound very… I dunno. Selfish?” I shrugged. “But I kind of see myself with you two as females and myself as your sire. Is that… wrong?” I admit I felt some trepidation at their answer. “That’s a very difficult question, actually.” Shadebloom’s muzzle scrunched up as she thought about all the implications of becoming a stallion which had once been thought impossible. “Is there even a ‘right’ in our instance? Morality assumes this great transcendental truth of all nature, and we aren’t a product of nature.” I nodded. “One stallion and one mare have worked for every other species in existence for all of time though. One could argue though that the precedent set by ponies applies to us as well as we are a subset of equinity. If we ourselves are not natural, surely the unicorns we once were are natural?” “Well reasoned, Shimmer.” Shadebloom began to impulsively flag her tail as I pretended not to notice. She had been in one place for quite some time and was probably ready for a break. “However, we cannot interbreed with one another, and it is a fact of our biology that we were created by artificial means even if the material used was natural, just as the magic that formed the megaspells was a basic element that all life possesses to some degree. Still… perhaps we’re considering the wrong angle here. Azura has pointed out something very important — namely, that we really need to consider what is best for our future offspring. We are immortal unless killed and we can only produce so many offspring before we can’t offer them the attention and time they deserve.” I gestured towards my blue friend. “Azura, what do you make of all this? You’ve had some good takes on this subject.” “For every stallion who falls, one should take his place. For every mare who falls, two should take her place.” Azura stated plainly, rapping the dirt with her hoof. “We can replace a stallion with another mare but we can’t replace mares with anything. So long as we have mares there will always be an alicorn race.” “That’s a great point, Azura!” Shadebloom beamed at her. “Two mares to one stallion actually makes a lot of sense for us.” “So sense will dictate our action, not morality.” I smiled at the pair. “If you are both in agreement then, I would like to be your stallion; to protect and defend you as I’ve always tried my best to do.” “We agree!” the duo shouted in unison, reaching over my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders as I nuzzled my two wives. We had really known each other since birth, in a strange way, making us sisters. And yet we were so much more than that. We were teammates. We were lovers and we were friends. I thought of everything since the death of the Goddess, all the challenges we’d faced. I tried to imagine them differently, but I couldn’t. In my heart, I knew it was right. “Do you think other alicorns might follow our lead?” Shadebloom asked to nopony in particular. “As if Azura cares! We will do what is right for us and others will follow or stay out of the way.” I smiled at Azura’s words, knowing who I would choose to take my place as stallion if I were ever slain. The three of us checked in with Sparkle Bright the next day at his office. He’d offered to check on our health, and however bad I might have felt about potentially risking my telepathy, my wives had insisted as a condition of our union that I wasn’t going to suffer the rest of my life if I didn’t have to. I received good news: my condition wasn’t physical. That was also the bad news. I could recover my telepathic off-switch, but it would take time. The traumatic shock I’d received as a green alicorn when the Goddess was felled by the megaspell caused all greens to seek out local connections with others automatically. He speculated it was likely a survival instinct, and not without reason. Combat comes very naturally to us because our creators designed us specifically to make war with the zebras. Facing annihilation, we’d tapped into strength we hadn’t even known we possessed to evolve to the shifting tide of war. “Trixie had not given us enough credit” was how Sparkle Bright had put it. There weren’t any quick fixes for my issue, he explained, but having treated alicorns that had the condition, he could teach me meditation techniques that would allow me to fix the issue myself with enough time and patience. “Are you sure I’m not torturing myself for my poor performance as a leader?” I’d asked miserably. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Before the Goddess was killed I heard her scream, ‘flee my children, flee!’. When her connection was lost to me forever and I felt the balefire wash over her, I panicked. There were two others with me when I became independent. They looked to me for help when they felt my connection take over. They looked at me as if I were their commander. They wanted me to lead them in battle against our enemies!” “And so it seems you have!” Sparkle Bright interjected for all the good it did him as I pushed straight past his objections. “But do you know what I did? I took both of them and fled to the north. Most of us stayed behind, like you. You looked after our people in our worst hour and fought the Enclave! You made peace with The One Who Helps. You and the other survivors of The Cathedral. Me and my sisters? We didn’t hear of your exploits until we happened on a caravan, encountering some group of ponies trying to make contact with some settlement further north.” I’d never learned what had become of them. Sparkle Bright remained silent, his forehooves pressed tightly together as he let me talk myself out. “My sisters and I have been wandering around the Wasteland being attacked since we left the north. I nearly got us killed yesterday by leading us all into an ambush! And you want to know the question that’s been on my mind since our exodus has begun all these weeks ago? Why do they continue to listen to me!? I’ve been nothing but misfortune!” I couldn’t look at him anymore. My eyes focused on a pre-war Ministry of Peace poster bearing the words We Can Do Better and couldn’t help but feel, if possible, even worse. “I should have let Azura lead us.” The stallicorn cleared his throat and I turned to face him. I’d expected some false sense of concern, perhaps even a platitude about believing in yourself. Maybe he’d completely subvert expectations and just call me a failure and tell me to leave my friends in the night. Instead, he just looked at me bitterly. “Well, now that you’ve got that out of your system, Shimmersage, allow me to dismantle your illusions of some heroic stand for the good of our people. After being enslaved to the Goddess, most of us decided to make the same gamble again with Red Eye. Of those who decided to stay, most of us died at the battle of The Cathedral. We died for the honor and privilege of being manipulated for yet another tyrant’s scheme,” he informed me, his tone turning bitter. I felt my heart breaking to think of what Azura would say to this alicorn speaking ill of our Goddess but did not interrupt him as he went on. “A group of us met Velvet Remedy, The One Who Helps, afterward but she couldn’t help us at the time. It was only later after the Destroyer, Littlepip, and her friends finished the fight we were losing that any of us survived at all. The truth is that in the end, we played a very small role in our own liberation. This is why I find it so depressing that there are still alicorns out there who want to go back to the bad old days of one all-powerful ruler.” Sparkle Bright shook his head sadly. “But you? You did the responsible thing of looking out for your friends as best as you could. That motivation is what kept the heroes of our tale from straying off the path and becoming just another problem for the Wasteland to have to deal with. Sacrifice: This is the virtue of Littlepip and I see it in you too, Shimmersage.” I winced at the name of The Destroyer. “But…” I understood what he was trying to say, but I wasn’t a help for my most vulnerable sister. “I wasn’t a help for Azura. You’ve seen her. She still sees Trixie as our Goddess even now that she’s gone. Shady and I have talked to her and tried to help break her of that third-person habit of hers, but it’s like we never really took it seriously despite knowing it’s wrong. We just want Azura to be happy and Trixie, the Goddess, makes her happy.” Sparkle Bright smiled at that to my surprise and offered me some water which I accepted. “Azura is as classic a case of a Great and Powerful Complex as I’ve yet to meet in my time with the Followers, but even I admit there’s a certain nobility to what Trixie did, corrupted though it was. She did, in the end, fight for the future existence of our race. I can see in your subsequent actions that part of you even accepts her logic. Just know that Azura can be made whole again in time, with enough therapy and sympathetic company. “And as for you, Shimmersage — try not to judge your own actions so harshly in the future. For there is one great truth in all of the Wasteland no matter who you are: Everyone has done something they regret.” I sighed long and deep, my tension and guilt easing away. “You’re right… Azura and Shadebloom have never questioned me before. I should have as much faith in myself as they do. Thank you for setting me straight on this, Doctor.” Sparkle saluted me with his bottle of water. “Don’t mention it! On a happier note, have you three come to an agreement about gender reassignment?” “Indeed!” I replied, and explained our decision, giving them a thumbnail of my rationale and that of my mates. The stallicorn chuckled, especially at Azura’s take on things. “Quite a few alicorns out there were, like me, stallions before The Goddess captured us and transformed us against our will. There are going to be more alicorn stallions out there than you three realize.” I suddenly felt very stupid to think that most of us had voluntarily joined with Unity. We’d met other alicorns in our travels, and most of them had been upset with circumstances that brought them into their current body. There were many others who hoped to find a new home out west, wishing to keep to the faith in perfect unity through alicorn conversion. I’d considered going with them but that’s a story for another day. “You don’t think the NCR will have an issue with the three of us being together, do you?” “With all the other problems the NCR has? No. I think you’re alright so long as you don’t start the Church of The One True Alicorn Marriage or anything. Anything they view as an attempt to create another Unity is going to attract attention neither of us wants.” I nodded. “What will I have to do to become male?” He grinned at that. “Oh, it’s a fairly unremarkable process, all told. You’ll imbibe a flask of IMP, the Holy Liquid, which you and the rest of us took when we became alicorns. It’s the same potion as before, except I’m going to give you one with Killing Joke inside of it. That extra ingredient will turn you into a full stallion like me.” I thought to question his definition of ‘unremarkable’ when it came to imbibing something called ‘Killing Joke’, but then I was sitting in a room that was irradiated so fatally as to kill within seconds. ‘Unremarkable’ describes a great many things to an immortal. My stomach filled with butterflies as I steeled myself for the moment I knew had come. “There’s still so much for me and my wives to discuss. There is much we don't understand about what really happened to us. We’ve only just begun to learn about where our people have been, but I can’t put this off any longer. I may not be as experienced a stallion as yourself but I’m hoping you can teach everything you know.” Sparkle Bright’s expression grew serious. “This would normally be the point where I ask you if you’re certain about this. I’d mention the risks associated with such a procedure that have driven those forcefully converted into madness and despair…” “I am ready.” I cut him off politely, but firmly. He nodded, smiling confidently as he withdrew a small vial from a nearby refrigerator. “Oh, you’re going to have fun operating a toilet!” Sparkle Bright had certainly downplayed the actual effects of the joke-enhanced concoction. Having bulked up within seconds of drinking it, my entire body felt like an overstretched piece of rubber, weak and worthless. The pain was horrifying for at least a second or two as joints hyperextended and tissues stretched to the point of tearing; my ability to feel pain shut off completely as I felt the wash of magic induce a torpor state. I had been asked to lay down atop a gurney and to my horror was unable to move for nearly half an hour as my insides fought to rebuild themselves using the power of the prismatic glow to heal myself from within. It wasn’t painful past the initial shock so much as it felt very creepy and wrong, though I didn’t want to think about what this potion would have done to me outside of a field of strong radiation to allow for instant healing. The trauma alone might have been fatal. When I awoke from my torpor I felt an overwhelming need to use the facilities as quickly as possible. I suppose all the churning and tumbling will do that to you! I felt my erection brush up against the sheets and felt my face contort, shuddering as if I’d been struck by lightning. Goddess above these things are sensitive! The toilet, as promised, was a significant hurdle. Now ponies weren’t dumb enough not to take erections into consideration when they designed the front of the bowl which was very long to allow for sitting. Unfortunately, they hadn’t considered the very generous endowment my alicorn heritage had given me and I consequently found myself wrestling with ‘Little Shimmer’ to get him underneath the lid. My adventure continued as my bladder decided nothing less than full pressure was called for and I felt the sprinkle coming back at me from the rim of the bowl, requiring further adjustments and some language that would make even the most brazen raider blush. Things got much easier after I softened up and I made a note to avoid repeating my mistake in the future. Unfortunately, Azura was diagnosed with GPC to no one’s surprise. Her condition, unique to blue alicorns, had not come without physical cost. She would require special zebra-produced potions for as long as she continued to live to prevent further deterioration of her mind. Left untreated, she would eventually have gone mad, unable to reach outside herself and perceive any individual’s wishes outside of her own, reduced to a base desire to continue existing much like Trixie herself. In time some procedure might be devised to restore her mind fully, but such technology did not yet exist. In the meantime, she was told to abstain from using invisibility magic, which was suspected to be a contributing factor in the progression of the illness and learn some basic healing spells. How long she would survive without a full cure was impossible to say, but it was clear her days of adventuring out in the wastes by my side were over. For Azura’s part, she took the terrible news with characteristic pluckiness. “Azura doesn’t need to be invisible to be great! Now our deeds with be on display for all to see!” she told me, also adding that she’d agreed to allow the Followers to run tests on her to better document the illness and perhaps even devise a cure someday. It made me proud to see the mare I’d fallen in love with still with me, and that some part of her had resisted the corrosive influence of the Wasteland which sought to take away everything good from those who survived the end of the world two hundred years past. Shadebloom’s condition was thankfully treatable. Unfortunately, the treatment involved pre-war drugs considered to be dangerous. Making matters worse was the fact that her alicorn physiology would make necessary very heavy use of these drugs to have any effect. Neither of us wanted to turn our lover into an addict so we devised a nighttime tactic of sandwiching her between us and telepathically suppressing her teleportation magic. Since sleepwalking was a part of her condition, it also meant that she too had probably fought her last battle out in the wastes as adequate sleep and a relatively stress-free existence would be necessary to ensure she gets a good night’s sleep. “I will miss fighting the raiders and mercenaries,” Shadebloom confessed to me as we walked out the small island in the rad-fig grove we’d visited the previous day. “It felt good to kill such vile ponies, like I was cleansing the world in some small way. If I can’t fight anymore, then I want to stay here with the Followers and help them in any way I can to eradicate them from the face of Equestria.” I told her she was unlikely to get much of a chance at designing weapons with the Followers, to which she replied with a determined look. “Then I will help teach them not to be stupid!” Our new friend had done us one last favor that night we consummated our union by reassigning the caretaker responsible for overseeing the area; not by changing his gender but by moving him to a different area, though I’m sure swapping his gender would have taught him quite a lesson! We were on our own if anypony else should up unannounced, though. It was a chance we were willing to take. Shadebloom nuzzled my neck as the chilled waters of Oasis Creek splashed beneath our hooves. The bats had also taken their leave, out for a midnight snack. “You even smell different now…” I had become suddenly very aware of how gentle and feminine her voice was compared to mine. I felt my stallionhood drop out of its sheath as she began to lick the nape of my neck. I gasped as I felt Azura do the same. “Go easy, sisters!” My length had filled out completely, leaving me feeling slightly dizzy and more than a bit concerned about prematurely ejaculating. I couldn’t believe how little effort it took me to become aroused! “Give my seed a chance at fulfilling their destiny!” Shadebloom laughed delicately and stopped. “I sense you’re still having a tough time with your link disruption spell. This really is trial by fire, all things considered!” “It’s a bit shaky, yes. It would be a bigger help if Azura would stop anyway!” I squealed in my newly masculine voice as I felt the pressure begin to mount down below. “Oh, if you insist!” Azura lay down on the island’s wet grass, rolling over onto her back and exposing her glistening marehood and erect teats. Where I’d expected a smile, Azura’s face was absent the confidence I’d grown accustomed to. “Azura is not sure what we are supposed to do. We cannot remember ever being with a stallion.” “That’s true…” I granted. We’d done this hundreds of times before. We certainly knew what we were doing; at least we did before my transformation. With that, a sense of unease settled into the pit of my stomach. “What do you want us to do, Azura?” Shadebloom asked, summing up the words I’d otherwise been far too erect and horny to express. Azura looked up at me as if struggling against some unwanted memory. “I want you to do Shady first… while I help.” “Azura! You said ‘I’!” Shade and I cheered as our friend of many years abandoned third-person for the first time. “I’m ready to move on now for our sake… for our foal’s sake.” Shade followed Azura’s cue to take her lover by the tongue, smacking me across the knees with her tail. I stood there staring at Shadebloom’s marehood, still digesting Azura’s milestone when I got slapped across the knees again with a tail and took a wing flap to the face. I could swear she was trying to tell me to hurry up and do something, and so I did. I gently, but firmly, inserted half the length of my horn inside of her nethers. She nickered but did not stop, her tongue then working on Azura’s inner thigh. As I penetrated, I felt my spell give way and all the emotions of the three of us begin to flow into me, frustration replaced with a sense of release. We’d gotten what we came for. Shadebloom’s nethers nibbled down on my newly acquired horn, hoping to milk it for stallion seed. I could see them both from behind their own eyes inside my mind and it was pure rapture--it was like experiencing Unity again, being closer to another than any mortal could ever know! You are such a tease, Shimmer! Shady gave a whinnying cry, her eyes crossing, as she felt a sudden release of pressure coating my horn in her essence. I withdrew my horn, allowing the pressure to release ever so slowly. Shade nickered softly and clopped her hoof against the rocky soil. I knew I must have looked a sight to anyone watching for the forest with my throbbing erection and my horn dripping in essence, still gleaming with her warm radioactive magic. In the sort of insane stream-of-consciousness way of thinking one does in times of extreme pleasure or pain, I had a whimsical image of Littlepip The Destroyer from her weather control station above watching the action with more than a passing curiosity. Shimmer, please. The real thing this time! And kindly leave The Destroyer out of this! Azura agrees! Begone with that vile fantasy! Now I’d done it. I’d pushed her back into third-person. Sorry! I clumsily mounted my ever restless wife, trying to avoid crushing her wings with my two left hooves or sliding off her undulating back with little success. If Shade would stop what she was doing, I could function a lot easier! I suppose this is why we alicorns can’t have nice things. Nevertheless, I persevered. Finding a purchase, I inserted my flared stallion member inside of her and tried my best not to immediately fire my charge. I lasted all of twenty seconds if I’m being optimistic. Twenty mind-blowing seconds of paradise despite such a clumsy first attempt; twenty seconds of paradise despite all our unfamiliarity with the act and my own occasional inability to focus. Thank you, Shady. I love you, I told her with my thoughts once I was able. I love you too, Shimmer! We shared a kiss as a wild gust off of the Everfree sent a rustle through the trees. I love both you too, but I think I’d better get on top for a while! Azura smiled at me awkwardly. Her cuteness was too much, for the two of us laughed, Azura joining in. The three of us didn’t laugh for long. Azura was ready for her turn and caught me off-guard by wrestling me to the ground. “Forgive me for being direct, Mister Sage but I, your most dazzling and talented magician, am in need of your assistance!” Something about Azura’s words made me immediately and urgently ready for another round. “Oh, brother!” Shadebloom muttered sarcastically, compelled more than habit than by sentiment as she ran her hooves across Azura’s mane, delighting in the feel of her silvery strands across the frog of her hoof. Giving her mate a gentle bite to the tip of the ear, she forced Azura into a bow, the boastful mare submitting instinctively to the application of pressure across her erogenous zone. “Was there ever any doubt?” Leave it to Shadebloom to rub it in! “Hmph! Azura will deal with you later when she isn’t otherwise distracted!” Walking over me, I felt my erection press into her soft belly fur, making me whimper involuntarily as I suppressed the urge to leap from my skin. “Impressive and firm, like the stallion who wields it! But will you remain ever faithful to me with such a fine instrument to spare? Azura wants you to look directly into her eyes!” In no position to bargain with my beautiful wife, I complied without hesitation. “Now hold out your hooves so that we know your intentions are true!” My stallionhood throbbed impatiently but I complied, my forelimbs connecting with hers. She stood up on her hind limbs, fixing me with a fanatical gaze. “Do you love your Goddesses above all others?” “Yes!” I gasped breathlessly as I felt the tip of Little Shimmer press itself against the gates of Paradise, pleading for admission into the Holiest of Holies. Azura smiled innocently as if she’d been waiting for this very moment to arrive for some time and slowly lowered herself onto me, allowing me to fill her out comfortably, still holding me by the hooves as she lifted herself off of me. “Short of dying will you assist Azura in the raising of her many foals?” “Many? How many do you want from me?” Instead of answering, Azura shot me a look. “I mean yes! As many as you desire!” That was good enough for her as she leaned into me and milked me remorselessly as I closed my eyes, hoping against hope that I could hold out for at least a few seconds longer if I pretended I wasn’t there. Maybe if I wasn’t looking at the wonderful mare who’d chosen to bear my foals, I could prolong her enjoyment, but it was all a forlorn hope. I was too aroused. And she was far too desirable. Inevitably I felt my breath hitch and my barrel heave as I came inside her, delivering every drop of precious seed I had. My climax and new anatomy spent, my body went limp and consciousness began to flee me. The last thing I remember was my wives standing above me, satisfied before I felt their welcome warmth pressed up against me as we drifted off to sleep together. [Begin Transmission] I am adding this audio recording to my tale so that a record of my voice can be preserved along with my words, by request of The Followers of the Apocalypse. As of writing this, I can’t be sure about our future, but I am cautiously optimistic. My wives are both pregnant with our third and fourth foal, and we’ve settled on living near Oasis; the two of them joining the Followers. Azura is helping the Followers look after the grove. So far she’s shown no sign of further deterioration in her mental state, if anything the sense of relative security has brought out her adorable side even more. She’s slowly getting used to the sight of the occasional Hellhound when she passes through the less-irradiated sections. She keeps mainly towards the compound where the radiation is strongest and doesn’t see them often but has come to see them as less of a threat — the key word being ‘less’. We’ll never forget the sensation of their claws effortlessly carving through our shields and rending both flesh and bone from our ascendent forms if even we should live for an eternity. I can only hope our foals will never have to share our experiences in battle with them and if they should, we would face them with more advanced magic. For their part, the Hellhounds are neither proud nor ashamed of the atrocities they committed against us, as they insist they were living peacefully in their holes until ponies showed up to begin plundering their wealth and resources. Despite this, most didn’t hold any grudge. I think the fact they’d been offered land to settle on in exchange for the destruction of their old home went some way in bridging the divide. It certainly wasn’t our shared interests or culture, except for a simple and mutually-held desire to live in peace. Shadebloom spends all of her days researching pre-war recordings and literature with the intention of transcribing the contents into book form, as well as enter them into a shared mainframe accessible to all who live in the New Canterlot Republic. She’s had the privilege of sifting through the orbs The Destroyer collected and gained a wealth of insight into the past. She’s shown me some of them and I can’t look at her or Azura the same way again after seeing Trixie and Twilight Sparkle speak and interact through the orbs. I dread to think that our creators have in any way doomed us to follow their actions; to lead us all down a second world-ending disaster. As for me, I’m part of a team of alicorns tasked with intercepting dangerous weapons, interdicting any raiding parties on the move, and bringing the captured weapons into headquarters. I’m like a mercenary for the NCR, except I won’t shoot you in the face before giving you a chance to explaining your side of things. I’m also not allowed to call anyone ‘bitch’ either out of respect to our Hellhound allies. Most of the weapons I find are of low quality and get scrapped if we find direct evidence of criminal activity or catch the bad people in the act. The good stuff gets confiscated or used for scrap. There is an endless debate in government about who gets to carry what sort of weapon and when it’s appropriate to use it. But I care not for politics; I just enforce the rules the lawmakers pass down and try my best to make everyone play fair. Or else. “Goooooood evening, chiiiiildren! It’s me your old pal DJ Pon3 coming to you with the latest news! You’d best keep your eyes on the skies children! More reports of mysterious lights in the night sky coming in out of…” Damn radio turned on. Sorry about that! My little colt, Azuregos is just trying to get Daddy’s attention so he turned on DJ Pon3’s Wasteland News Report and it bled into the recording.   I guess I’ve said all I need to about my journey to Oasis. Shadebloom says that hearing my perspective as a first-generation NCR citizen who saw life at its worst will impart something of value to future generations. The Wasteland has offered many such tales and I don’t necessarily agree that mine is special. Regardless, I’ve put off playing with my children for too long. So all you present and future listeners, this is Shimmersage... signing off! [End transmission]