> Fallout Equestria: False Notions
>  by Chaotic Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Mercury
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA - FALSE NOTIONS





CHAPTER ONE - Mercury





Dizzy




Don’t let it get you down, I mentally repeated to myself. A draconequus NEVER gets down!

Even if they’d just lost everything they’d ever known, had just found out those they trusted most were lying tyrants, and had just… No. Don’t let it get you down.

“Yeah…” I muttered to myself, a weak yet hopeful smile breaching the distraught look on my mismatched face. “Just think—Discord wouldn’t get down!”

If Discord wouldn’t get down, then where is He?

I stopped abruptly. The thought had just popped into my head before I could stop it.

“No!” I snarled at myself. “The only reason Discord isn’t in the homelands is because he’s… Busy! He doesn’t know how bad it is back home. For all I know, he could be working on a way to restore chaos to the world right now!”

If that’s the case, I thought bitterly. Then why am I looking for Him?

I sighed. You know you’re messed up when you’re having an argument with yourself. Discord would never do that—he’d be single-mindedly making chaos without doubting his cause.

So why was I doubting mine? His cause was my cause, after all. To create chaos.
And what better way to do that than to bring back the god of chaos Himself to a world that desperately needed Him? The only problem was, though I couldn’t quite bring myself to admit it, the question of why Discord hadn’t done just that all by Himself. Why was I looking for a god that was supposed to be so powerful nothing could prevent him from wreaking all the chaos He wanted?

And why had He left the draconequus homelands in the first place? Legend had it that Discord had left to snuff out a blasphemous orderliness in a world full of perfect, glorious chaos. Problem was, He had never returned. For thousands of years. And that was before The Great War made the world a living Tartarus.

Why would a god, even one of chaos, abandon His own people at the time they needed Him the most?

There had to be an explanation, and I was going to find it or die trying. Preferably the former rather than the latter. And when I did find Discord, this blasted, poisoned world resume its proper order… Or rather, lack thereof.

All of this was why I had journeyed to The Equestrian Wasteland. Why I had left the draconequus homelands. Why I had left The City. And why I had…

No, don’t let it get you down, I thought desperately. It can’t get you down if you don’t think about it.

A blaring CRACK whizzed past my rabbit ear, the sliver of metal that had produced the sound embedding itself deep in a dead tree a little ways behind me.

“Thank you,” I whispered a prayer to Discord. “Something to take my mind off all of this!”

I zoomed backwards through the air, my feet (one that of an insect and the other that of a white tiger) floating a foot or so above the ground. Diving behind the tree that had just literally taken the bullet for me, I pressed my back against the ash-blackened trunk.

“Dammit, I missed!” I heard one my unseen assailants curse.

“What is that thing?” another demanded, fear in his voice. Fear. Good, I could use that against him.

“It were just some mutant,” a third commented. “Ain’t nothin’ to be scared of.”

Darn. They had a moralizer. I’d have to take him out of play first if I was to use the shaken one’s fear to prevent this from getting any worse.

“Mutants don’t wear a trench coat and a cowboy hat!” the frightened one quavered. “It looks familiar, but I can’t place it. What if it’s intelligent, or magical, or outsmarts us or out-magics us?!”

What were the odds that the first ponies—first live ponies, anyway—I saw after entering The Equestrian Wasteland would be trying to kill me? Pretty high, actually; I was one of the monsters of their deepest nightmares, after all. On top of that, they sounded like raiders.

“I have yet to encounter anypony who can outsmart or out-magic a bullet,” the ornery gunpony snorted. “Come out and face us, mutant!”

Might as well give them what they want, I thought with a genuine smile, the first I’d felt since arriving in this Wasteland. I had almost completely forgotten about… That… and on top of that, I had finally found some action!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find killing sentient life, even in self-defense, a form of entertainment. However, there’s more than one way to defend oneself from attackers, not all of them lethal and several quite hilarious. I planned to have some fun with these ponies.

“Alright, you’ve got me,” I called out to them, floating out from behind the tree with my paws held high—one a bear claw and the other a draconic hand. “Or… Do you?”

“You can speak?” one of the ponies uttered, seeming dumbfounded.

“I told you he was going to get us!” the jittery one, an earth pony, spoke up. He had several grenades ready and waiting in a bandolier, his mouth poised to yank one out and throw it at any moment. The other two were both unicorns, one wielding a pistol and the other a rifle, both pointed at me. “This is all a trap!”

“Trap?” I echoed. “Only if your mind is a trap.”

“What are you?” the third pony, the unicorn with the pistol, asked. “And what do you mean, ‘only if your mind is a trap?’”

“I mean exactly what I say when I shouldn’t say what I maybe mean by meaning what I meant to mean during the meaninglessness mundaneness of meticulousness,” I replied, a toothy grin splitting my face. “In other words, you’ve already lost. Oh, and I’m a draconequus.”

“What?” the pistol pony questioned bluntly.

“A draconic-whatsit?” the rifle-bearing unicorn inquired.

“He’s a chaos monster!” the earth pony gasped. “I knew he looked familiar! He’s the same thing Discord was!”

“Discord’s a myth!” the rifle-pony dismissed. “He’s just trying to confuse ya’!”

“It’s working so far,” the pistol pony admitted. “And he does look like the stories always described…”

“Oh, I’ve already confused all of you,” I chatted casually. “Well, one of you, at least. I cast a spell over one of your minds when I was taking refuge behind the tree. One of you is about to have their mind dissolve into pure chaos. You’ll go violently insane and slay your own kind.”

“What?!” the grenade-pony gulped.

“That’s bullshit!” the rifle-pony spat, though he didn’t look so confident in his own words anymore. “He can’t mess with our heads!”

“Discord could!” the earth pony announced shakily. “He turned The Ministry Mares against each other with a single spell! The Ministry Mares, the ones chosen by The Elements of Harmony! If a chaos monster could do that to them, what do you think he could do to us?!”

“He can’t make anypony crazy!” the rifle unicorn insisted.

“That’s just what a crazy pony would say!” the grenade pony spat, looking the unicorn heatedly in the eye. “It’s you! He drove you crazy, and now you’re trying to hide it!”

“He’s gone crazy?!” the other unicorn gasped. “Quick! Shoot him before he tries to kill us!”

“I’m only going to kill you if you don’t stop this nonsense this instant!” the rifle-pony demanded, backtrotting nervously away from his companions.

“He just admitted he wants to kill us!” the grenade pony exclaimed. “Get him! Before he has the chance to fire!”

“Now, my slave!” I chuckled darkly to the still retreating unicorn. “There is no need to hide your insanity any longer, though I know you want to. You want to be normal, like your friends. Your former friends, that is. I’ll tell you what: if you kill them for me, I’ll make you sane again!”

“It IS him!” the pistol pony barked. He raised his pistol to shoot the other unicorn, who instinctually raised his own firearm in turn while the earth pony drew a grenade with his teeth.

“I-I’m w-warning you!” the rifle pony stammered. “Stay back!”

Each prepared to launch their attacks, and—

SWISH!

My oversized squirrel tail had lashed out and swept each of the pony’s legs out from under them, dropping them to the ground. Shots rang out, fired at the sky as the ponies fell. A grenade, pulled free of its plug, rolled to my feet. I scooped it up and threw it as far away as possible, where it exploded harmlessly.

Dashing across the fallen ponies, I scooped up the rifle up from where the unicorn’s telekinesis had dropped it in the fall and did the same with the pistol. I couldn’t swipe the earth pony’s grenades before he sprang back to his feet, but thankfully they’d be easier to outfly.

“All of this could have been avoided if you had just tried to talk to me before assuming I was bullet-worthy,” I told them, moving to hover a short distance away. “Not that it wasn’t a fun experience or anything, mind you.”

Satisfied, I stuffed their guns into the bigger-on-the-inside pockets of my trench coat and floated swiftly off on my merry way.

That was my first mistake in this situation. You should never turn your back on your enemies.

I cried out in pain as a bullet tore through my side, splattering the chocolate milk that made up my blood on the already brown grass. I whirled around as my feet dropped to the ground, grunting in pain as I waved my arms, desperate to keep my balance.

How could I have been so stupid?! Why didn’t I check to see if they had any extra guns?!

The rifle-pony had gotten back to his hooves and drawn a small revolver.
“See?!” he shouted to his compatriots. “I’m firing at him! He’s not my master! He didn’t drive me insane!”

The air cracked as another slug burrowed itself through my arm. Spots swam before my eyes as it felt like my blood turned to fire.

“We can kill it!” the earth pony realized, his eyes filling with a murderous hope as he pulled the pin off another grenade, tossed it into the air, and about-faced to buck it towards me. “If it can bleed it’ll die!”

I floated to the side quickly, my sweet blood spattering the ground as I dashed as far away from the grenade as I could, before the ground rushed up to meet me. I had to drink a healing potion, and fast, but that wouldn’t count for anything unless I disabled the threat that necessitated my need for healing in the first place.

“Stop!” I shouted. “I mean you no harm! I don’t want to fight you!”

“No harm?!” the former rifle, now revolver pony roared. “You almost had them kill me!”

“But I stopped them before they could!” I protested. “I just wanted to get away from you and have a little fun as I did so—”

“Turning ponies on each other is your sick, twisted idea of fun?!” revolver unicorn laughed maniacally. “I’ll show you my idea of fun—putting an end to abominations like you!”

“No, messing with people is my idea of fun!” I shot back. “I just took it to its extremes because otherwise you would have killed me on sight anyway!”

“And you deserve it!” revolver pony spat. “Oh, I am going to enjoy this!”

He advanced, leveling the revolver at my face, finally stepping close enough to push the end of the gun against my equine muzzle. I saw the homicidal satisfaction in his eyes. He knew he was about to kill me, and if I didn’t act quickly, I knew he would be right.

“Wait!” I implored. “Don’t… Don’t you want a target?”

The revolver pony paused for a moment, cocking his head.

“Target?” he echoed.

“Sure!” I exclaimed, latching onto his curiosity. “I have a bulls-eye target in my pocket. Just let me take it out, slowly so you can see—you can shoot me if it turns out to be a gun—and then you can kill me easier than ever, even at a distance!”

“… Okay…” the revolver pony uttered, taking a cautious step back.

I pulled out exactly what I had promised him from my pocket, holding it in front of my chest. I thanked Discord that I was gifted with the silver tongue of the draconequus—if I could talk to a pony long enough, I could confuse them, egg them on towards doing something I wanted them to do. That’s really the only reason these three had turned on each other earlier. I didn’t have time to do much persuading here, but coaxing him into believing I was giving him a better version of what he already wanted was something that it thankfully seemed I could manage.

“Ready?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Aim…” I instructed.

Before I had even finished saying the word, I dove forward, pressing the bulls-eye casing to the gun. The unicorn fired, but the casing had been designed to withstand far more than a revolver shot. Having nowhere to go, the bullet burst the gun, ruining it. The unicorn was so surprised at the spectacle that he dropped the mangled weapon from his telekinesis.

But he drew another gun. How many guns did this pony have?!

Without thinking, I dropped the bulls-eye casing and whipped out my own two guns, twin Chaos Corp. pistols. I saw his telekinetic glow intensifying around his new revolver, looking like a more beaten-up twin of the first that somehow must still be functional.

He was pulling the trigger.

I ducked and fired both of my guns at once. The slugs, enchanted with draconequus magic, sank themselves into his body, changed course while inside him without losing any of their inertia, and then exited him at different angles.

He dropped to the ground, dead.

My crimson irises widened in my yellow eyes.

“No—no, I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry!” I stammered, staring down at his corpse.

“Armory!” the now weaponless other unicorn gasped, galloping over to his fallen comrade. Seeming to have completely forgotten he’d been ready to take the other unicorn’s life himself a few moments earlier, he kneeled at the side of the pony whose life I had just ended.

“No!”

“He’s dead…” the grenade pony whispered. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with joy. “Thank you!”

“Thank you?!” I echoed. “Why are you thanking me?!”

“I was second-in-command!” he laughed. “Now I’m in charge! I can’t wait to break the news to his love-ponies. I especially can’t wait to get at his youngest filly, now that there’s nopony to stop me!”

So that’s why the earth pony had been so eager to kill off my own first kill. The silver tongue trick does work best when it plays off of a desire that’s already present in the victim’s mind.

“Did you say… Filly?” I asked, shocked.

“Of course I did!” the earth pony laughed, prancing about. “Fillies are the most satisfying. They can’t fight as much. You can go on now, monster. I command that we won’t fight you anymore. Come on, Point Blank! We can have all of Armory’s spoils now! All those slaves we stole are our love-ponies now!”

“I… I guess I hadn’t thought of that,” the former pistol-packing pony admitted. “Yeah, you’re right! We get all his stuff now!”

“Stuff?” I echoed darkly, my high emotion having suddenly reversed itself. Steam literally escaped from my ears as a bright shade of red enveloped my body. “You’re referring to living, thinking beings as STUFF?!”

“Yeah…?” the earth pony asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and I was just too slow on the uptake.

I fired a single shot at one of his grenades, floating back as far as I could. The chain reaction splattered him everywhere, bits and pieces of his charred innards raining down from the sky. The blast had roughly halved the other equine, who slumped over the remains of his missing half.

I fished out a healing potion and downed it, relishing the feeling of my physical pain draining away as the wounds healed. I turned from the corpses without a second glance, heading where I could see the vague outline of buildings on the horizon. If my map was accurate, that would be the ruins of Applewood, and I should reach the newer settlement of Krater long before I entered the city proper.

Suddenly, the horrible thing I had done when escaping my homeland and The City didn’t seem quite as horrible as I had previously felt.

I also knew I would never feel bad about killing a raider ever again.

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Disillusionment—The world is not as you thought it was, and it’s becoming less so every moment. Learning this and using this knowledge to your advantage, you gain +3.14% awareness.


******


Nuclear Force


        
Alone.

They say that going ‘lone wolf’ in the Equestrian Wasteland is the worst thing you can do. You have no backup. No one to help you if you slip up. If you get shot, you’re done. If your plan fails, you’re done. If you’re out of supplies and can’t get more, you’re done.

It was a stupid idea. I should never have just left. But… I didn’t know what else to do. My mind was clouded by fear and sadness and regret and anger, and all I could think to do was to run away as fast as I could. I needed to get as far away as I could.

Now I sit here, on this damp piece of granite out in the middle of some disgusting, long-dead irradiated field.

I sighed.







Blood spattered against aged, peeling wallpaper, accompanying the angry voices of ponies mercilessly attacking one of their own.

“I can’t believe we didn’t see it before! You don’t belong here, freak! You’re the enemy! You did this to the world!”

Lies. Hypocritical lies.

“Stop!” a female voice begged, laced with the distinctive accent of a zebra. She wasn’t some enemy. She was a citizen, just like the ponies who were attacking her. She took no part in the war that happened nearly two centuries ago. They just didn’t want to accept it.

“Shut it, bitch!” There was a sickening crack as one of the angry ponies swiped a wooden plank, a fencepost, at her skull. Her head snapped sideways at the collision, sending her to the floor and spreading a pool of blood on the carpet. It was hard to think with the searing pain in her temple.

“I never wished you harm! Please, I have a son! Do not take me from him!”

The ponies didn’t listen. They simply beat her over and over again, her screams echoing throughout the house, laments of an innocent burdened with the sins of her ancestors.

A young striped green colt, a teenager, trembled behind a piece of furniture in the next room over, his face damp as he watched the zebra’s skull cave in a little bit more with each strike. He didn’t scream. He wanted to run to the zebra, wanted to save her, but she had told him to stay hidden and not to come out no matter what happened.

It was too late anyway. She was gone.







I wiped the tears from my eyes with a hoof, trembling as my mind played back the worst day of my life in gut-wrenching high-definition. My mother was brutally murdered by prejudiced, ignorant ponies who couldn’t let the war go. I could have helped her. I should have helped her. Instead, I did as I was told and hid, like the little foal I really am.

When those ponies left, I ran away. I ran so far away. I didn’t even know where I was going… I still don’t. I didn’t leave with many supplies… although I did bring a bag and Mom’s old armored barding, which admittedly was a little big on me. Otherwise, all I have now is my unicorn magic, my knowledge of alchemy from my late mother, and my wits.

With one final shudder, I pushed the memory out of my mind. Truth be told, I didn’t need it distracting me right now. I needed to stay alert, needed to keep an eye out for raiders or alicorns or other monsters.

The rock I was sitting on was oddly soft. I didn’t know if it was because it was damp, or what. It was smooth, like a pebble you’d pick out of the sand just beneath the tide at a prewar beach. What’s it like at a beach? Is the water crisp and clean and strikingly blue, instead of irradiated and some gross color? I would sure like to know.

I looked down at my hooves, then at my chest. Both were a pale green color, and if you looked really closely, you could see that faint stripes of slightly darker green ran through them, like a zebra. I wasn’t a zebra.

Well… actually...

My dad was a unicorn. I don’t really know much more about him than that. He was killed for loving a zebra when I was really young. I still don’t see what’s so wrong with that. Shouldn’t ponies or zebras be able to love whomever they please? Long story short, I don’t remember him. Mom tells... told me he was a nice stallion, though.

My mom, as you’ve probably just read, was a zebra. Yep. I’m some freaky pony-zebra hybrid. Yippee? Anyway, she was the one who really raised me, although I didn’t pick up her dialect or accent. Well, I don’t think. She taught me all sorts of things about alchemy and zebra magic. I… don’t care if ponies frown upon it. It’s helped me survive so far.

My name is Nuclear Force. As it turns out, science fascinates me. I like reading prewar textbooks about the structures of atomic particles, and chemistry feels simple to me. My cutie mark is a stylized red atom.

I lied down on my comfy rock, staring up at the cloudy sky above. The heavens were lazy tonight, not bothering to seal up every inch of their celestial blanket. I could see gaps in the clouds, exposing the starry heavens above.

I marveled. The stars… Mom had always told me tales about the stars, and how underneath their beauty, they were filled to the brim with malevolent intent. I’ve learned from her that they only want to hurt the creatures of the world, never to help them. Those who ask favors of the stars are very stupid indeed.

They were so beautiful, though... How could they be evil?

My stomach growled, opening a void in my stomach that demanded to be filled. A warm breath left my mouth as I concentrated on the black bag settled on my back. I felt around with my mind’s eye before I found what I was looking for, bringing it out in front of my face.

It was a small flask filled with a golden-brown liquid. Popping out the cork, I held the tip to my lips and drank. My stomach stopped complaining as I consumed the broth. It sort of tasted like steamed carrots.

There isn’t much food in the wasteland, so I pick various herbs from all over and brew them into mixtures that provide nourishment. Mom taught me how to do it, long ago. One flask has the same amount of nutrients as a meal, but can’t provide large amounts of things like fat or protein. They would tide me over, but I would need to get some real food soon.

Warmth bloomed in my stomach as the mixture reached it, making me feel so warm and cozy that I curled up into a little ball without realizing it, my dark green mane flopping over my eyes. Seeing how young I actually was—I’m an adolescent, if you didn’t know—I had the weirdest hunch that I looked cute, curled up like this. I really didn’t want to be cute. I was old enough to take care of myself!

...You know what? Whatever. I was tired, and I’d had a long day. Sleep sounded nice.








I focused intently on the pile of dry wood in front of me, before it flared up in a huge green fireball, making me jump back. I smiled to myself, reminded of how good I was with fire-element magic. It had never been a problem for me, so long ago I’d decided to pursue it, learning how to channel my body’s magic into pure heat.

The smile vanished from my face as the fireball died down into a pile of ash. I frowned. Not again! Okay, I’ll make an addendum to that — my fire magic was strong. Not good, per se. Just strong. I sighed with irritation, realizing that I’d have to get more wood if I wanted to make a working fire. I had carved out a rock into a bowl-shape, designed to hold liquid, and was going to use some of the herbs I’d gathered to brew something up. I floated my bag in front of me and sorted through it, noting all of the plants inside. Anonema… Jekna… Seknowez… Oh, sorry, I think those are the zebra names for these plants. It’s what my mother taught me, okay? Anyway, it looked like I could make two or three healing potions. Excellent!

I looked back at the pile of ash. Not excellent.

Minutes later, I had assembled another pile of wood, and I focused really hard on putting just a little magic into it. Imagine my elation when a little green flame appeared, soon spreading to the rest and giving birth to a warm, crackling fire. It was still chilly out, so I sat down and held my hooves to it for a moment.

A little water from an irradiated stream nearby and I had a boiling rock-bowl of various crushed herbs. I just needed to boil it until everything was the same uniform color. Boiling irradiated water doesn’t remove its radiation, but certain herbs do. I held the rock bowl above the fire with my magic, concentrating on not letting it tilt.

My magical aura looks a bit like fire, ironically. It’s white, but instead of flowing and waving like water, it flickers and crackles like fire. I really don’t know why it does this, but maybe it has something do with my magical affinity. Using magic for too long, any magic, even telekinesis, makes my horn start to burn up. If I push it, uhm... let’s just say it doesn’t turn out well.

After the brew had cooled down, I shoved a bottle into the stew and watched the bubbles as the liquid pushed out the air inside and took its place inside the glass container. Then another. Then—oh… I needed to get more bottles. Oh well. I drank the rest of it, letting the mixture ease some of my muscle soreness from running for so long the day before.

Yesterday I had been attacked by a few ponies because they thought I was a zebra sympathizer, hence the stripes. Yeah, close, but no cigar. They still shot at me, so I hightailed it out of there, not wishing to fight.

Well, I’m not going back that way. I looked at the landscape around me, realizing that it all looked the exact same. Back to not knowing where I’m going. Fun!








After a few minutes of walking in one direction, I came across a dirt road leading to both sides of the horizon. Yay. Did I mention how freakin’ boring it looked? The only indication of its presence was some tire tracks from passing caravans.

I picked a direction and followed it, my hooves making soft noises on the dirt. I started humming to myself in time with my hoofsteps, a zebra folk song that my mother used to sing for me when I was a foal. Soon, my humming grew into soft singing, my voice the only sound I could hear other than each fall of my hooves.

I was rather enjoying my little sense of safety and security, but then some idiot with a rifle decided to ruin it by almost breaking my eardrums with the report of his gun. Pain suddenly lanced up my leg, and I grunted, pulling it to my chest and trying to balance on only three. My head whipped to the source of the noise, and I laid eyes on a blue unicorn pony with a gun pointed right at me. I growled, feeling my horn heat up as I conjured a brilliant green fireball and hurled it at him.

Kaboom! His cover was blasted apart by the resulting explosion. The lucky bugger stared at me for a moment, frozen in shock as another fireball rushed up to say hello. Before he knew it, he was lying on the ground several meters back, his fur charred. I stood over him, my horn ablaze, but he simply looked up at me, fear in his eyes.

We locked eyes for a moment. I took a deep breath, and put out the fire on my horn. “Get out of here,” I hissed, and he quickly scrambled to his feet and ran off. I watched him as he bolted, part of me praying that he would find treatment for his burns. They had to be at least second-degree.

I spat. Listen, I don’t kill. I am not going to be dragged down to that level. I have yet to take a life, and I don’t plan to anytime soon. Looking back at the pile of rubble that used to be a large rock, I noticed that he left his rifle, along with a few clips of ammunition.  I stored the ammo in my bag, and turned my attention to the rifle. I wanted that rifle. But… I couldn’t telekinetically carry stuff for too long. My magical aura practically was a fire, and it burned my horn. Not fun. And my bag wasn’t really big enough.

I floated the rifle into my bag anyway, noticing that it was back-heavy enough to stick out of a corner and not fall out. I smiled. Well, that works.

“Hey, lookie here, a zebra! Wait, you ain’t no zebra. Eh. Yuh know what? Close ‘nuff.”

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Several bolts of lightning shot through my veins as I acquired a few small holes in my chest. They would’ve been bigger, but thank the Goddesses for Mom’s barding. A burnt orange pony wearing some bloody, spattered, spiked armor was shooting at me from farther up the road. She was dirty and had disgustingly rotted teeth. Raider.
        
My horn ignited as I contemplated blasting her head off with an explosive fireball, but when a spike of pain flashed across my mind, I decided against it. “Ow! Stop!”
        
The raider made a noise. I really couldn’t tell if she was laughing or choking or snorting. “Why should I!? You zebras started this war n’ I think you should be put in yer place!”
        
“I’m not a-“ I stopped mid-sentence when I realized that that wasn’t entirely true. I grit my teeth and brought out that unicorn’s—no wait, my rifle, and pulled the trigger.
        
The raider’s chest spurted with blood, but she continued advancing toward me, spraying me with her submachine gun. Her aim wasn’t very good. Most of the bullets zipped past my head, but didn’t hit. I swallowed, bringing the rifle’s scope up to my eye, aiming the crosshair right at the center of her forehead. The rifle shook in my grip, but I fought back the voice in my head that told me not to take a life. This was a raider—she made her living by killing ponies and taking their belongings. She deserved to die. Come on me, shoot her!
        
She cackled, blood spurting out of her mouth as she kept firing at me. The edges of my vision were growing dark from blood loss. The rifle’s trigger made a clacking noise as it wiggled back and forth in my grip. She was trying to kill me! Why was this so hard!?
        
I sucked in a breath through my teeth and shut my eyes tight as I pulled the trigger, ignoring the roar.
        
When I finally opened my eyes, the raider was sprawled on the dirt, her submachine gun lying next to her. There was a large hole in her forehead. I shuddered. I wasn’t sure if it was the gruesome sight, the knowledge that I had just gone back on my vow, or my blood loss.
        
Before I dropped like a fly, I brought one of my freshly-made healing potions to my lips and drank greedily. Tasted like asparagus. Ewgh. The pain in my body dulled and my tunnel vision disappeared as the potion worked its magic, pushing the bullets out of my body and letting them clink on the ground. My flesh mended itself, the bullet holes sewing themselves shut. The one in my leg hurt the most, probably because it was a higher caliber than those of the submachine gun, but thankfully it healed just as well.

Looking at my body, I noticed that I had lost quite a lot more blood than I thought, my fur stained red. I looked back at the dead raider, the pool of blood around her having grown substantially. My first kill. I started shaking, a block of ice forming in my stomach. I just killed a pony. A pony. I just ended someone’s life. I was no better than them now. No better than my zebra ancestors. I… I…

I tore my eyes away from the sight, taking a wide detour to walk around the body and resume my trek on the dirt path. The ice in my gut traveled up my spine to my brain, frosting it over.

I can’t believe it… I… I shook my head to clear it. Unfortunately, this only gave me a headache. If I hadn’t shot her, I would be dead right now. That pony was trying to kill me. She was a raider. She wasn’t going to heed my request, put on a top hat and walk away like a high-class mare. I needed to do that. I…

That’s what I kept telling myself. I didn’t go back and take her belongings. I just left her machine gun there with her body.

It’s not my fault, I told myself. I had to do it, I told myself.

I never believed me for a second.







Maybe I was a complete zebra on the inside. That’s what they did back then, right? Fought in the war with ponies and killed them? Didn’t even care?

Yeah. Sounds about right.

My mind was blank for about an hour after that event. Thankfully, nopony shot at me. I wouldn’t have been alert enough to defend myself.

You mean, alert enough to kill other ponies, Forcey?

Shut up.

It was only when my face smacked into a steel pillar that I looked up, seeing a large sign that said “Welcome to The Krater!”

“The Krater!” part seemed to be recently added, having been patched on with different colors of metal plating. Bringing my gaze back down, a collection of short buildings had been erected in the midst of a field of junk and scrap metal, a few ponies walking to and fro. They weren’t raiders, although I heavily doubted that they wouldn’t shoot at me. I could only see two buildings clearly: The Golden Page Saloon, and Lenciro Inn. I could smell the alcohol of the saloon from here.

I approached cautiously, holding my head high so that ponies could see my horn. The effect was significantly dampened by my short height, but maybe they would see the ‘unicorn’ part of me before the ‘zebra’ part. Might save me a gunfight or two.

As I walked in, I was fully prepared to set this town on fire with my magic, my horn glowing softly, but the ponies generally just looked at me, raised their eyebrows, and greeted me with upward flicks of their chins before going back to their business. Hey, no one was shooting at me! Lucky!

A deep rumbling in my stomach reminded me that I had yet to eat anything today. And I had a hunch those food potions weren’t going to cut it. I had some ammo that turned out to not fit in my new gun, so maybe I could trade it for a few pancakes or something.

I stumbled into the Golden Page Saloon, my ears perking as a quirky piano melody filled the air. Inside were at least fourteen ponies, several wearing hats, simply talking to each other and sharing drinks. There was a unicorn playing the piano. He was pretty good. Most of the ponies did not even look at me, paying me no mind. One of them, however, looked at me and gestured to an empty seat with a smile. I thought I heard her mutter something about me being too young to drink (Screw you, waiter!), but I merely smiled back and complied, following her hoof to the table in question. There was one other pony there—wait. It wasn’t a pony. It was an oddly serpentine creature, and each limb seemed to belong to a different animal. It was wearing a large Stetson hat, its eyes hidden.

Upon me taking my seat, the creature tilted its hat upward with its right arm—a dragon’s claw—and looked at me with the happy, excited eyes of a young foal. It smiled jovially.

“Hello there.” It blinked, analyzing me for a moment. I imagined those bright crimson eyes tracing my stripes, and began to feel very uncomfortable. “Unicorn, right? Uh, right?”

        My ears folded at the question, but I forced them back up, trying to keep my body language from reflecting my mood. Mom always taught me that it was wise to hold your cards close to your chest. I decided to be discreet. “Yes.”

        The creature drummed his (I assumed it was male, judging by its voice) dragon claws on the table, examining me. Oh, he was definitely focusing on my stripes. “Are you sure? You look like a zebr—”

        “I’m a unicorn,” I snapped, my eyes narrowing. “I’m not a freaking—...” My voice caught, and I looked away for a moment. I didn’t want to have this conversation again. I’d had it enough times as a foal. The creature looked taken aback. To be honest, he looked vaguely familiar... but I couldn’t put my hoof on his species. An amalgamation of different creatures like that. Yes, I had seen it before. “What are you?”

        Okay, maybe my tone was a little harsh. Thankfully, he seemed to not mind.”...Alright. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t press any further.” He gave a playful smirk. “You’re not ordinary, I can tell. But, chaos doesn’t need to be explained. It’s chaos!” The shadows of his outstretched arms blanketed me for a moment. “And all chaos is good, right?”

        I would’ve heard a cricket chirping if not for all the background noise and that piano unicorn.

        The creature shrunk. “Erm... Well, I’m a draconequus, the very same species of the great god of chaos himself, Discord!” Ohhh, that’s what he was. He made a little show with his claws. “Sadly, I’m not Discord. But maybe I’ll be as great as him one day!” He leaned back in his chair, a victorious smirk on his face. “My name is Diz. Dizzy, if you want to call me that.”

        A smile ran across my face like a flowing river. Finally, introductions. We were past the part where everypony always asked what I was. It had always been that way, ever since I was a foal, and I was sick of it. “Nuclear Force.” I held out my hoof, and he took it in his other fore...limb. It was a bear’s paw, I think. It felt weird, wrapped around my hoof like that.

        Diz snickered. “You mean nuclear, like bombs?” He shrunk again when I shot him a little glare. “Sorry.”

        My self-satisfied smirk dissolved when I began to hear something over the din of the saloon. My striped ears perked, twitching left and right, before I realized that the sound was gunfire and shouting, and it was coming from outside. Diz looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I got up and walked to a dilapidated window frame, peering out at the source of the noise. Just outside of town I could see muzzle flashes, two ponies ducked behind a large hunk of scrap metal, and several dirty-looking ponies advancing toward their cover position.

        I also saw a bright ball of orange and yellow fire barreling right towards my face.

        If I stayed inside the saloon, I would surely be hit by the missile’s blast, so I immediately jumped out of the window frame to get myself out of danger. My legs bent to absorb the shock of my landing, my hooves kicking up a small ring of dust.

        It was just my freaking luck when the missile curved downward to retarget me. I yelped and leapt to the side, bracing myself for the blast, but it never came. My body just thudded against the dirt, mud mixing with the bloodstains on my coat.

        Opening my eyes, I saw two things. First, Diz had slithered out of the window frame after me, and was floating nearby. Wait, he could float? I don’t—... Actually, forget it. Draconequus magic. Second, it turns out that the fiery ball of death wasn’t a missile, it was a bird! A flaming bird. A... phoenix, I think. It squawked at me, and I could almost see it beckoning at me with a wing as it hovered.

        The phoenix flew off towards the two ponies in cover, only to stop and look back at me when it realized that I wasn’t following. It beckoned at me again, and Diz and I shared a glance. He was looking at me with a childish smile and a twinkle in his eyes, like a young colt asking his father for a new toy. The irony of it was, I was probably the younger one.

        “Alright, fine...” I conceded, and he cackled in delight as we took chase of the bird.

Footnote: Level Up
Nuclear Force - Level 2
New Perk: So This Is What Friendship Is Like — You have found a stranger who seems to like you, at least a little bit. You’ve grown up alone except for your mother, so this is new to you. While in the presence of allies, you have higher morale, you are more focused and are a better shot. You gain +3% to your total damage for each ally present. This bonus caps at +15%.
Trait: Sharp-tongued — Growing up without ponies to talk to has set back your social skills by a few years. Permanent -15 to Speech and +15 to Taunt.
Trait: Adolescent — You have a small, aerodynamic build that easily shows your youth. It also makes you a tad cute. Unfortunately, you are a bit more fragile than an adult pony, so you take 10% more damage to limbs. You are also not very wise, and this can be your undoing. Agility +1, Charisma +1, Perception -1.
Trait: Half-zebra: You have been raised with zebra culture, and know their secrets. +5 to your Explosives, Medicine, Sneak, and Unarmed skills.
        New Ally: Diz — A happy-go-lucky draconequus that seems to be fairly nice, as far as you can tell.

**********



White Light



Note to self: Never hitch a ride in a caravan if I can help it. The brahmin are annoying, the food is inedible, and the guards are like walking pony guardian statues. The instant something goes wrong, out come the carbines, cold steel glinting in the harsh light, their muzzles turning a fiery red as streaks of molten death spit out of them and shred the unfortunate monster, mutant or raider attempting to rob us. The only thing that made it bearable was the liquor rations, and the wonderful mare at my side.

Oh, how rude of me—I never actually introduced myself. I'm White Light.

Huh? Start from the beginning? Alright then, now sit there for a spell while I bring you up to speed.

===

I was originally from the pegasus community up in the skies. You know, the Enclave. I was sent down to the surface to scout out the surroundings, to see if there were any organized attacks against the Enclave being planned out. In a totally related note, thunderstorms can blink in and out of existence.

Their density has also increased. Dramatically.

After slamming into one on my way down and fracturing the bones in both of my wings, I crash-landed in one of the worst places to land in.

A zebra settlement. Surprisingly, there were ponies too.

Thankfully, they were peaceful zebras, combatants who have never seen the war and were trapped in Equestrian lands during the Zebrican-Equestrian war. They were hostile to me at first, ‘till the village head saw that I wasn't a threat to them and made them treat my injuries. Even though the zebras knew how to distill the healing element of a Hydra into an elixir, my wings never did heal properly, officially marking my status as MIA. During my stay, I was able to help them out in minor tasks, such as clearing the ditches, bringing water, playing with the foals, normal stuff, ‘till I happened upon the blacksmith working at the forge.

Many ponies simply look at an object or another pony and say that it is 'pretty', with nicer-sounding words. The few that look deeper are those that truly understand the object or pony's true worth, and that no matter how insignificant, everything is actually a treasure. The way the firelight danced in her eyes, the flexing of her muscles as she brought the hammer down onto the cherry-red metal, shaping it from a formless lump of metal to a masterpiece. The wave of cerulean mane, sweeping over her head and past her withers, as blue as the sea and as wide as the sky. Wings distorting the heat haze and the light enough to make her look like a shimmering mirage. Her light-blue coat contrasting with the flames directly behind her, framing her as an angel working in the sunset of the sky. A lull in the rhythm of the hammer, and a slight tilt of her eyes caught me. My green eyes stared into eyes of amethyst. Ashamed at being caught at staring at her, I blushed and turned away, before the most amazing thing happened.

She starts to giggle, softly at first, then growing into a wonderful tinkling laugh. Sometime later, I joined her, a tenor voice intermixing with a soprano laugh.

Later, when we had stopped laughing, she explained to me why she was laughing so much. "That was the first time somepony had actually not just looked at me for my beauty, but rather looked at me with wonder. You sure you don't have a marefriend?" I blushed heavily at what I was going to say next and how utterly cheesy it sounded. Taking a deep breath, I replied. "Yes, I do have a marefriend, if she will take me. She's standing right in front of me." I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the slap that was sure to come for flirting with her.

Silence.

Plip-plop.

Oh Celestia buck me with a spiked bat. I made her cry.

I quickly snapped my eyes open, mouth opening slightly to apologize to the wonderful mare when...

She kissed me.

A mare, who was a complete stranger (I didn't even know her name!) kissed me, full on the lips.

When our mouths finally finished their dance of passion, my wings were saluting the air, along with hers. The joy of finding a fellow pegasus coupled with the lust for each other led from one thing to another, and it ended at her house, after the ride of both of our lives.

By Luna's frozen teats that was amazing.

During the days that I lived in the village, I learned how to work metal from Sunfire, and also picked up medicine from the zebra shamans. It is simply amazing how modern medicine can do things such as repair broken bones and trauma by drinking a potion, yet zebra medicine can strengthen the bones, sharpen the mind, increase agility and even create painkillers, a substance which is dearly sought out in the wasteland. All was well in the world, but as with all good things, it must come to an end.

---

Apparently, a caravan passing nearby the village noticed the smoke rising from the forge and wanted to check it out. Upon seeing an entire village of 'stripes', the guards proceeded to wipe everyzebra out. Bullets raked the surroundings, and all that was valuable was stolen. We were thought to be slaves of the zebras and were taken along on the caravan route.

Once night fell, I crept away from the caravan and dug a small hole. Inside went a few mementos of my time at the village; a feather from my dream catcher, a broken potion bottle shard and a personal gift: An elixir that I had distilled from moondrake and basil which removes joint pains. Burying it and adding a headstone added some closure, yet a part of me felt that it died back there. Cracking open a bottle of booze, I slugged a few back in memory of the poor souls whom died in that hell, hoping that they received the grace of Celestia.


Dawn came, and with it, a nice throbbing hangover.

Since a beautiful mare at my side was included, the encroaching light was forgiven.

Letting Sunfire sleep in for a while, I slipped out of her embrace slowly, as to not wake her. Other than her turning around, she seemed asleep, so I succeeded. Groaning softly, my wings automatically extended and rolled to pop the joints and stretching to remove the morning fatigue. Once the ritual of groaning was over, I grabbed some of the mystery stew for both myself and Sunfire. Sitting down with the head of the caravan, we exchange small talk, mainly on where we were going.

Apparently, we were going to 'Krater'. Not a very nice name, I suppose, they should have chosen something nicer like Sunset Town, or something else. Krater just sounded as if a bomb exploded somewhere nearby. It just sounded...wrong. And smelly.

The good news, though, was that they did have active trade though. Apparently, Krater found a stockpile of metal and was looking for somepony to take them off their hands. Thankfully, the vendor didn't actually know how much a working PON3 capacitor was worth, so I got off with a discount. Sunfire was rifling through our bits to get a new hammer when the most inconceivable thing possible just ran out of the bar.

It looked like...like...like a foal took some animals, ate them all, chewed the quivering mass and spat out this thing. It was nearly impossible to even describe it, with the mismatched horns, wings, legs and even tail! Even stranger was the phoenix that was flying with him and his companion. Surely it wasn't...no, it was! A real, live Balefire Phoenix! This WAs astounding! Elder always said that "If you ever find a phoenix, treat it with respect, for it holds the ingredients for the greatest gift of all: Life." Ooh, how I would love to just touch it for a short while. Alright! I've made up my mind, I'll go talk to them and ask what they are doing, maybe-

CRACK! PING KROW-KROW-KROW!

The sudden retort of gunfire startled the residents, many started retreating into their homes for safety and for their weapons. Suddenly Sunfire was by my side, raring to go.

"Come ON White! We're going to be late!" Sunfire yelled. "Somepony might need our help!"

"Calm down Sun, I'm just getting ready to go. You got your bat ready?" I asked.

A whoosh of air and the smack of a weathered hoofball bat onto a pony's hoof met my ears.

"Alright then, let's go."

We flapped our wings and flew, only a short distance behind the thing and the unicorn beside it. As Sunfire gave her bat a few swings, I eased out the battered .44 revolver that I kept with me from my days in Thunderdome. Inside, I was terrified. Outside of the few times I went hunting for the radhogs that destroyed the gates, this was the only time I would be using my firearm. Wiping away a thin coating of dust, I sighed. Things never will go as everypony wants it to, I suppose.

Both me and Sunfire reach the ridge a while after the duo disappeared down the proverbial ditch. Sliding down the ridge, we surveyed the carnage. 6 dead raiders, the mismatched-animal thing, and a few other ponies, all lying down. One of them was clutching her leg—hopefully it was just a small wound.

She balked and tried to scurry away, while the thing and other unicorns trained their horns on me.

"Woah woah, hold on, I'm a doctor!"

At that, everypony calmed down. Gliding down to the stricken pony, I introduced myself as White Light. Since everypony was alright with me being here, I inspected the wound, hoping with all of my luck that it was not that serious.


******


Mono/Chrome


“Oh come on, you know you enjoyed the spa at Tenpony.”

Mono looked jovially at her silver-coated sister, who simply stared at her. Mono sighed. “You just never were one for experiencing the world, Chrome.”

The pair of unicorns walked along the Wasteland at a decent pace, eyes watching every direction.

“It was a nice vacation. And hell, you actually got a full night’s sleep there.”

Mono didn’t have to look back to hear her sister’s gait to change ever so slightly, falling heavily on a hoof.

“Of course I knew. I’m your twin, Chrome. I just wish you’d tell me more. I know you don’t trust many ponies, but come on, we’ve known each other our entire lives.”

Silence. Mono didn’t expect her sister to answer. Chrome didn’t talk much, never had. Even before Vancolter, their first home, had been obliterated at the hands of slavers, Chrome was a quiet one. Mono more than made up for it.

“You know what? I’m hungry. Let’s stop for lunch.”

Mono stopped in her tracks and opened her saddlebags. She levitated a pair of daisy sandwiches out of the weathered bags. “Good to have some real food. Radhog meat gets old.”

At this, Chrome spoke. “Even bacon?”

Mono chuckled. “Even bacon. Ember!” Mono yelled the last, and at her word, and bright flash of red and orange flew over to them from the other side of the hill. The flame landed by them, dropping a small rodent to the ground.

“Caught one, did ya? Good going, Ember. Won’t have to feed ya this way,” Mono chuckled. She took a bite out of her sandwich, enjoying having fresh flowers to eat. “Oh, dear, if only I could always eat this good. Never would have left Tenpony if we didn’t have to.”

Chrome chuckled at her sister’s overreaction. Emberwing just stared at them a moment before eating the rodent he had caught.

The three sat in silence for the most part, watching the dull Wasteland. Mono thought it was so boring, yet so lively at the same time. The terrain made it seem as if Equestria was dead, but everypony living there knew it wasn’t. It was just a big, giant sore, just waiting for somepony to dig out the bad and let the good heal. But that would take a very long time, nothing anypony could accomplish in a few months.

Mono finished off her sandwich and stood, looking around. Chrome had already finished hers and Emberwing was flying through the sky on silent wings, green tinging the edges of his wings as he passed through small clouds of radiation.

“Guess it’s time to go.”

Nodding, Chrome got up and began to walk again. Mono walked with her sister, and grabbed the small radio from her saddlebags. The beat-up little thing came to life as she messed with it. Tunes put out over the air by DJ-Pon3 drifted out, letting them have a little bit of nice with the unpleasant Wasteland.

Unfortunately, having a noise like that while walking in the middle of the wasteland simply invited trouble. Neither mare even suspected that a Raider party was upon them until Emberwing screeched and flew right over them. Eyes wide, the mares turned to the right and saw about half a dozen ponies in raider attire making their way to the two.

The twins stood a moment, uncertain. Then Emberwing let out a huge cry, and they sprung into action. Mono levitated the two pistols she had in her saddlebags and began running away from the raiders, off course from New Appleloosa. Chrome followed closely trying to keep track of their direction. The phoenix above them simply flew far ahead of them, trying to lead them out of danger.

The raiders behind them were close, but because of the rugged terrain, it was difficult for them to get a bead on the twins.

“Come on, little fillies! We only want to have a little fun!” Came a voice from behind them.

“The only fun you’ll be getting is in hell!” Mono yelled back, still at a full gallop. The two mares ran across the Wasteland, trying to put as many dips and rises between them and their pursuers as possible. The only thing on their minds was getting out of there as soon as possible.

“Oh, don’t say that, darlin’! We just wanna get to know you beautiful mares!”

Mono didn’t yell back, just cursed herself for not getting any armor while they had been in Tenpony. They’d considered it, but decided that they weren’t going to be out in the Wasteland enough to validate it.

The two of them kept running, but found that the ground was becoming less and less hilly. “Mono,” Chrome said, worried. Mono shook her head and kept running. However, as they crested the next rise, a town came into view.

“We gotta town!” Mono yelled to Chrome. “Ain’t home, but we’re going there!”

Chrome only nodded. Ahead, Emberwing was drifting back towards them, knowing a Phoenix might not be a welcome sight in a new town.

The twins pushed onward, and felt the ground level out as they grew closer to the town. Bits of rock and metal jutted out of the ground, creating somewhat of an obstacle course for the mares.

Unfortunately, Chrome was not the most agile of ponies, and found herself tripping over a small rock in the ground. She fell to the ground, letting out a cry.

“Chrome! Crap.”

Mono galloped back to her sister and got her up. They couldn’t run anymore - that was made evident by the bullets beginning to fly by their heads.

“Take cover!”

Mono and Chrome jumped behind different bits of metal sticking out of the ground. Needing to halt the raiders’ advance, Mono popped her head out and took a few shots with her pistols. She missed all of them.

“Horseapples! Okay. Emberwing! Try to get somepony to come from that town and help us! I don’t know how long we’ll last out here!”

Letting out a cry, the phoenix flew in the direction of the town.

In a small break in the fire, she heard the voice again. “Nice little phoenix you got there. Tell you what - you give us the bird and everything you own, and we won’t touch a hair on your coats.”

Mono snorted and looked at Chrome. Chrome looked amused. Neither of them believed a word of it, even if they had been willing to do so in the first place. Mono shouted back at them. “Tell you what. You get rid of that cloud cover for more than ten minutes, we’ll believe you. Then we’ll shoot you before you backstab us.”

The raiders coughed out various laughs and started shooting again.

Mono frowned and stuck her head out again. She took three shots from her right pistol, catching a raider in the leg and the eye. He went down, but not before Mono had a bullet whiz right past her ear. She fell behind cover with a yelp. Mono looked at Chrome, who looked depressed.

“Chrome, I know you’re bad with guns, but you’re not useless. Don’t look that way.”

Chrome looked at her sister and gave a wan smile, unconvinced.

Mono took a couple blindfire shots, and was pleased to hear another yelp from the raiders. She reloaded her pistols. Taking a look around her cover, she saw that she’d killed a single one and shot another in the leg. Unfortunately, there were still five of them unharmed. Scowling, Mono pulled her head back into cover. There was only one way to do this.

Mono used her magic to create the illusion of herself. It was a weird sense of vertigo, staring into one’s own eyes. She sent the illusion running to the right. As soon as the firing started, she ran into the open in the opposite direction. She took a couple shots at the raiders, getting a lucky hit  as one of her bullets tore into a raider’s throat.The one next to the taken down raider realized their mistake and shot at the running Mono. Mono was just about to get to the cover when a bullet passed through her right hind leg, and she fell face-first behind her cover.

That left four, and now she was wounded. She checked her ammo - left was full, right had four, and she had ten extra bullets.

Looking up, she saw Emberwing returning, and two figures running underneath the Phoenix. Mono squinted, looking at them. One looked like a normal Unicorn, but the other... was something she couldn’t identify. She gave her sister a harsh grin, and fired a few more shots at the advancing raiders. The pain in her leg was growing, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Chrome offered her a health potion, but she shook her head.

“Wait until after the fight. No need to waste potions.”

Chrome put it back in her saddlebags. Mono looked back, seeing the two creatures were much closer now. “Help us! Four raiders, one wounded!”

The pony nodded and took out what looked to be a bottle. He vaulted it, and Mono was astonished to hear an explosion from its impact. She glanced back at the unicorn, surprised, and turned again. The gunfire had halted.

“What the hell was... what the hell is that?”

The raiders were looking straight at the strange creature, gawking openly.

“I? I, sirs, am a Draconequus! My name is Diz, and I’d be ashamed of myself if I didn’t introduce myself properly!” The creature said.

With that, Diz pulled two pistols with “Chaos Corp.” emblazoned on the side. He began firing at the raiders indiscriminately. Using the distraction, Mono rose to her feet (with a loud “ow” accompanying the motion) and opened up with her dual pistols as well. The raiders never had a chance - the four living ones all fell over, bullets raking their bodies. They had been too dumbstruck by Diz’s appearance to react to the firing.

Mono stood and panted a moment - before crying out and falling to the ground.

        Footnote: Level Up
        Mono - Level 2
        Chrome - Level 1
        (M)New Perk: Flashy - You have begun to use illusion magic in combat. Enemies are 15% more likely to fall prey to your illusions.
        (M/C)Trait: Orphans - You were forced to grow up far earlier than one should have to. Permanent +15 to survival.
        (M/C)Trait: Twins - Because of your closeness, whenever you are travelling with your twin, you gain +1 to Charisma and +1 to Intelligence
        (M)Trait: Dual Power - You are used to using two weapons at once. When using two weapons, you have +10% accuracy, but when only using one weapon, you have -20% fire rate.

******


White Light


Screw my luck, the bullet was embedded in the bone! Argh.

"Erm...Miss...erm," I faltered, not knowing her name.

"I’m Mono," the pony replied through grit teeth.

"Yes, Mono, err... do you have any Med-X?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Med....X?"

Why is it that nopony knows what medical drugs to use? I swear, if I see one more pony trying to insert Dash inside of their nose instead of inhaling it properly, I'm going to buck them in the throat.

"Yes, Med-X. If you don't have any, it’s alright. Here's a syringe."

Taking out a hypodermic needle filled with the anesthetic, I tossed it to her. She caught it with her hoof, the covered needle almost breaking the skin. Seeing as she was still lost, I explained it to her.

"Med-X is primarily used as a combat drug, causing the nerves that feel physical pain to stop sending their electrical signals from the point of impact into the brain. By injecting it into your bloodstream, you receive a temporary immunity to pain." By Celestia, I sound like those old professors!

By the look on her face, she was still confused. I resorted to Laypony's terms. "For a while, you won’t even feel it if you get shot."

Her ears perked up at this, her eyes shining. She smiled at me. "Why didn't you say that earlier, silly?"

"I did; I said..." I started, before sighing. “Never mind, just inject it into your bloodstream so I can remove the bullet in your leg."

Carefully, she injected the syringe into her hoof, feeling a numbing sensation spread out to the rest of her body.

"Brrr! Is it supposed to be this tingly everywhere?"

"Yes, now hold still."

Using my wings to stabilize myself, I pulled out a scalpel, some alcohol, forceps and a needle along with a small spool of thread. Firstly, the wound would need to be disinfected, then the bullet would need to be removed. Finally, the wound would need to be stitched shut.

Dipping a cloth in some medical alcohol, the wound was soon clean and disinfected. The forceps then came in and pulled out the round.

“Interesting... No wonder it was stuck in the bone; this is a hollow point round!" The round was shaped like a normal bullet, except the point was flat, and bigger than the rest of the bullet. This made the entry and exit point extremely large to cause more damage and increase the chances of bleedout. Throwing away the spent round, the needle went round and round the wound, sewing it shut. Biting off the excess thread, I then pronounced her healthy, but that leg would not be supporting her for a while.

Getting up and testing her legs, she cast a funny glance at me. "Why?"

Confused, I asked her to elaborate.

"Why would you do this for a complete stranger? Most ponies I know wouldn’t give help unless they got some in return.”

I gathered my thoughts. "When I was younger, bad things happened to ponies that I cared about. It saddened me greatly, to see genocide break out in front of me. I said to myself, 'Nopony should have to go through pain and suffering. It just isn’t right.' That’s why I did it. Not for respect or caps, though they do feed your belly. Not for gratitude, though it is appreciated. I did it so that your last moments, unless you can be saved, will be free of all pain." Closing my mouth, I sat and waited.

Suddenly, she smiled and gave me a hug. "Thanks so much, White Light."

Blushing, I slowly returned the hug. "No problem, Mono."

Breaking off the hug, I trotted over to the other unicorn and the strange creature. The creature was indescribable, so I didn't bother trying to understand. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, "What are you?"

The being swelled up, his chest puffing up more and more, until I thought he was going to breathe fire on me. Suddenly, a stream of words burst forth.

"Hello, little pony! My name is Dizzy Draconequus, but you can call me Diz! How’re you doing? What’s your name? Oh right, it was White Light! Right? It's totally fantastic to see another pony who is actually nice to others and not cruel and mean like some of the others here! Oh, and do you know where I came from? The City! It’s this magical city somewhere far up in the north where—"

By the Pony Goddesses’ concubines, did this thing ever stop talking? Did it even BREATHE?

"...and then this bullet came out and it was all like 'FWOOSH' but then I turned around and shot the other pony's grenade and it went like 'KABLOOIE' then I twisted around and shot my guns twice, 'BLAM BLAM' and then they were all dead. And then I finished being angry, and then thats the end of my story. What about you?" He finally stopped talking, before taking a HUGE breath of air, returning his face to its normal color.

Looking at the strange thing, I recounted the tale of how I got here.

"Wow, that was sad." Diz’s ears drooped. "Really depressing. So, what now?"

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What do we do now?"

I was stumped at the question. In all seriousness, I actually didn't know what to do. "I'm not sure. Let’s go ask the girls. Oh—the other guy, what was his name? What’s up with his stripes?"

I think I felt the temperature of the air drop a few degrees. Diz's face hardened, and he lowered his voice. "His name is Nuclear Force, and uh, I don't know. The kid doesn't wanna talk about it. Must be a touchy subject with him."

My face scrunched up in worry as I leaned to the side to get a better look at the striped unicorn. What happened to him? Was he born like that? Well, that should be something to talk about later, I suppose. We both walked over to where Force, Mono and Chrome were.

"So, where to now?" I asked.

At that precise moment, an explosion rang out behind us. Debris rained down pell-mell around the site of the blast. We all turned, looked at each other and ran into the city, narrowly missing the sign that said 'APPLEWOOD'.

Footnote: Level Up!

White Light: Level 2

New Trait:I’m a Doctor!: Learning medicine has helped you tremendously. Bandages, blood-packs and drugs are now 10% more effective. New conversation options are available.

New Trait: Trustworthy: While travelling with a companion(s), you give your companion(s) +5 to DT. Just don’t stab them in the back.

New Perk: Swift Learner: You gain 10% more XP each time XP is earned.



New Ally: Sunfire!
Your beautiful and excessively strong marefriend. She loves you...for the time being.

New Ally: Nuclear Force!
A pony with a dark past. Do NOT ask him about his stripes.

New Ally: Dizzy ‘Diz’ Draconequus
A completely illogical being. Talks too much but is good in a fight.

> Chapter 2: Of the Mirror
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA - FALSE NOTIONS



CHAPTER TWO - Of the Mirror





*        *        *


Nuclear Force




        I wasn’t sure what was going on at first. There was a huge explosion from a nearby city, then everyone kind of just looked at each other and took off. I was having trouble following them at first, but I eventually found my running legs.

        My hooves pounded into the dirt as I surged forward, leaving little imprints with each step. Those two pegasi were flying in front of the group, the two unicorns and Diz right behind them, with me and the twins’ phoenix bringing up the rear. Out of all of us, I appeared to be the only one wearing armored barding. Running—not the easiest task while wearing it. I wasn’t an adult either, so I had to stride quickly to keep pace with the grown-ups.

Either way, after looking behind over his shoulder and realizing that I was trailing, Diz let up on his speed and fell back to float beside me. “You okay, kid?”

I snorted. I was not a kid, but I would be angry about that later. “Yeah, I-I’m fine,” I panted. “I’m just carrying a lot!” Did I mention that my barding was damn heavy? As the landscape flew by, steadily transforming from dirt and more dirt into concrete and sparse buildings, my muscles began to scream at me for pushing them like this. But I couldn’t stop running, or I would fall behind.

I was so focused on maintaining my speed and keeping my legs from giving out that I didn’t notice the dirt road transition to a hard street, or the chunk of broken concrete sticking out of it.

One of my legs was swept out from under me, and after a thud and a flash of white, I was lying face-down on the concrete. I spat out little granules of it, my face stinging. I heard the sound of hooves skidding farther ahead of me, before clopping approached my position.

I felt two limbs—one scaley, one furry—lift me off of the pavement. “Uhm... Did we really need to sprint all this way? Force here isn’t exactly as big as the rest of us, you know.” That was Diz. I could tell from the way his voice grated a little.

“Oh... right. Sorry. He’s wearing that barding, too, and I can tell it’s a bit too big for him,” one the unicorns said. You don’t say, Silver-eyes?

I groaned, pawing at my horn. It had scraped against the porous cement, and was sending fresh waves of sharp, stinging pain to my brain with each cold breath of the wind. For comparison, think of pumice stone scraping against your teeth, and the way the feeling makes you shudder. Now multiply it by five or so.

Held in Diz’s arms as the group continued moving at a slower pace, I looked around me. Surrounding us were many dilapidated buildings, like incomplete jigsaw puzzles, most of the walls having crumbled away long ago, revealing the framework and interiors. The sky was as grey as ever, the omnipresent clouds blocking out the sunlight. The pavement itself was broken and bunched up in many places, creating very uneven terrain that was slightly painful to walk on.

You know, I really didn’t like being held. I squiggled out of Diz’s grip and planted my hooves on the ground, walking with the rest of the group.

“Does anyone know where we’re going?” Silver-eyes asked, bathing me in her gaze. Why was she looking at me? I didn’t know!

“We were going to investigate the explosion around here, if I recall correctly,” the hovering brown pegasus clarified. What was his name again? “But, I do not remember which building it came from.”

The group looked around for a moment. The brown pegasus cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose this is a superb time for introductions. For those who don’t know, my name is White Light, and this—” he gestured to the light-blue pegasus next to him. “—is Sunfire.” He looked at me for a moment, his eyes scanning me. I noticed that he had a little scar beneath his right eye. “Nuclear Force, I apologize if this is rude, but I must admit I am very curious about your stripes.”

…

It was like someone turned on a furnace in my brain. I remained silent, restraining myself from lashing out at him for saying that. I broke eye contact, looking up at the highest point on a building nearby and ignoring what was probably the most awkward silence in history. I idly wondered how he knew my name, but I chalked it up to Diz telling him. They were talking earlier, if I remembered correctly.

One of the unicorns scuffed at the ground with a hoof, staring at it with her chalky eyes. They were almost white, like her hair. Her coat was a silvery grey. “Uhm... I’m Chrome.” She motioned to the unicorn next to her, who had a white coat, and silver mane & eyes. “This is Mono.” A brilliant bird-shaped fireball perched on Chrome’s back, cawing in greeting. “Oh... and our pet phoenix, Emberwing.” Okay, I could swear I saw it smiling at me. Seriously. Something was up with that bird.

I immediately recognized the play-on-words. Monochrome. Heh. Eh heh. Uhm... Well, it made sense, seeing as both of them were fittingly monochromatic in color.

The unicorn’s quietness was broken by Diz’s bombastic voice as he puffed out his chest. “As you all know, I’m Dizzy!” His crimson eyes flicked to each member of our little group—were we a group now?

I noticed Chrome was surveying me with a scrutinizing eye, scanning me. Was she looking at my stripes? She raised her hoof,  mouth open, but shrunk away suddenly. I think I could see Diz shaking his head at her out of the corner of my eye. “Uhm... nevermind...”

Celestia, I was sick of this. I sat down on the pavement, leveling a glare at a nearby rock. Maybe if I glared hard enough, I could split it in half. That would be an interesting story to tell.

My ears perked as I heard Sunfire whisper to White Light.

“Is he okay?” 

“I’m sure he’s fine, dear.”

Our little moment of silence was broken by a faint blast of gunshots, and then a much louder explosion that shook the ground and disturbed piles of rocks precariously balanced upon one another. We began moving again without a word towards the source of the noise, eventually coming across a concrete barrier laid across the width of the road. Behind it was a... What was that??

It looked almost like a bug, kind of, except pony-shaped. It had a black carapace and big, beady, solid cyan eyes, along with inconsistently-placed holes in its extremities, such as its hooves and wings. It had a horn, although it looked more like a black carrot with holes shot through it, and it was glowing the same color as the submachine gun hovering beside it. It rapidly turned its head to and fro, as if keeping watch for enemies.

Wait... I remembered what it was now. It was a Changeling, a creature of darkness and espionage, a parasite that took the form of others and fed off of their love. Mom told me about them, about how they are innately evil and the world would be better without them. Unconsciously, I formed a blistering, volatile green fireball with my horn, preparing to turn the changeling into chunky black salsa.

“Stop!” White barked at me, and I looked at him, letting the fireball fizzle out. His face was twisted with anxiety. “We don’t need to pick fights with somepony who could potentially be an ally.”

“That’s not a pony,” I snarled. White shook his head.

“Perhaps not, but an ally is an ally.”

I was about to blow up on him, screaming about how a monster like that would never even consider helping ponykind in any way, but instead stamped out the little fuse in my head. “Fine,” I growled. I was going to regret this, I just knew it.

Diz cupped his hands over his mouth. “HEYYYYY!!”

The changeling’s head whipped in our direction, and he glared at us, raising his weapon to fire. Mono, Chrome, Sunfire, and I ducked beneath the barrier, and Diz dove aside in comic slow-motion—how was he doing that?—but White Light held his ground.

“Wait, hold your fire! We’re not enemies!” he announced, jumping into the air and hovering, a hoof raised. The changeling shifted his gaze upward, before lowering his weapon a few degrees. He said nothing at first.

“Not enemies?” he asked, his voice buzzing like the insect he was as we peeked over the barrier.

My ears perked as I began to hear an electronic charging sound and methodic thumping, before the changeling dove away from us. A solid wall of red energy tore between him and us, making a noise that sounded like a constant, ear-piercing, extra-loud bug zapper, before it receded like a yo-yo. The changeling got up with a roll, before firing his gun at a target we couldn’t see with his machine gun. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat.

After a few more thumps, the wall of energy came back, at a slightly different angle. The changeling jumped away deftly, firing more shots at the source. The laser sliced into a nearby building, cleanly chopping off part of its wall, which crashed down into a pile of rubble on the ground. I could see the metal framework of the building, now. The wall of energy looked a bit like a vertical laser, if that made any sense. Like, it was super-thin, but very tall, so if you looked at it from the side, you would see a transparent wall of redness. I suspected that from the front, it just looked like a vertical line heading right towards your face. I looked up and over the building to my right, hearing more thumps. The wall came again, but I could also see it over the building. The laser was shaped like an expanding circle, a disk, which extended a ways up into the sky as well as forward and backward, before retracting back to the center, the source. A solid disk, I might add; if I tried to walk through the field while it was firing, I would surely be vaporized.

A few more shots from the changeling’s weapon, and the ground was rocked by a furious explosion that knocked some of us off our hooves. After we all regained our footing, we looked at the changeling again, who was growling at what was probably a pile of wreckage behind our view of the building. “Freakin’ machines. ‘The Light’ my well-polished ass.” He turned to us. “Hey, can I get some help here, if you don’t mind? I’m, uh, lookin’ for something.”

We complied, each of us hopping, flying, or floating over the barrier and approaching the changeling. “What might you be looking for? And... what are you?” White asked.

To be honest, it was kinda nice to hear that question directed at somepony other than me.

“I’m a changeling. My name is... well... I don’t really have a name, per se.” The changeling looked sad for a moment. “Some other changelings call me Number Forty-Four. But I think that’s kind of invalid, since I was unable to receive an official name from my queen.”

“Queen?” Mono piped up, tilting her head. “Changelings have a queen?” Emberwing, still perched on Chrome’s withers, squawked in agreement.

“Of course we do,” Forty-Four answered. “But... she’s being held captive here, by these robots. It’s my duty as a member of the hive to rescue her.” He blinked. “I’m having trouble with these robots, though. You saw their weapon’s blast, right? It’ll slice me in half!” Two black forelegs spread wide in the air, the changeling’s posture supported by the buzzing wings on his back. His face suddenly lit up with an epiphany. “Oh! Erm... could you be so kind as to help me? I’ll be sure to make it worth your while...”

Every muscle in my body tensed up at the thought of helping this monster, but I sucked it up and nodded. “Okay.” The others nodded as well.

The changeling grinned cheerfully, allowing me to see his fangs, teeth made for cutting meat. They were surprisingly uniform and white, like those ponies you see in prewar toothpaste advertisements. Colgate-brand toothpaste! Surf’s up, Molars! “Excellent! Thank you!” The changeling, his mood having done a complete one-eighty, sat down on the ground.

“Okay, my queen is being held in a facility deep underground,” Forty-four began. “You see that huge tower in the center of Applewood?” He motioned with a hole-covered hoof to a very slim, very tall building that seemed to burst out of the concrete and reach for the sky. There was a faint but ominous red halo of energy around the tower, making it look extra evil. “The facility is located directly under it. There are doors at the base of the tower, and inside is probably a staircase or something leading down, but here’s the problem: there are like twenty of those freakin’ robots guarding said door. I can’t get through on my own.” The changeling scuffed at the ground with his hoof. “There are also robots patrolling the city, so be on guard.”

Our group made various noises of approval. The changeling stood up, and began walking in one direction. “Alright, follow me. Check your six often. Make sure a robot doesn’t sneak up on you, because you’re dead if one does.”

Sunfire brought out a metal hoofball bat and rapped her hoof with it, grinning confidently. “I heard metal isn’t very effective against blunt force! I’ll just smack them until they stop working!” She laughed cheerfully, although her eyes didn’t look as sure as her voice sounded.

Diz whipped out the two pistols he carries around, as did Mono. Chrome made a face, but Mono wrapped a foreleg around her withers and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry Chrome, I’ll do the shooting. You just keep lookout, make sure robots don’t catch us by surprise.”

“A-alright,” she complied as Emberwing took off, surveying our surroundings.

White Light fished around inside his saddlebag, before extracting a small pistol. I myself brought out the rifle I had stashed away in my own bag, not wanting to rely on my magic to defend myself. It was powerful, but I couldn’t use it very much.

And with that, we set out. The changeling lead, walking slowly and carefully, his gaze sweeping back and forth as he constantly checked our surroundings. Diz and I were just behind, our weapons fully-loaded and ready for action if we were to be attacked. Our pegasi hovered just overhead, staying at low-altitude as to not be spotted from far away. Mono and Chrome brought up the rear, Chrome looking over her shoulder every few seconds, scanning for enemies. From the look in her eyes, I gathered that she was worried that she’d be seen as useless if she didn’t do well with her current job.

Suddenly, a door from a nearby building broke off its hinges and flew towards us, striking Diz and knocking him to the ground. In the doorway stood what looked like a cyborg from an old prewar movie. It was mostly pony, but several limbs and sections of its torso were replaced with a glossy, grey steel, including one of its eyes. The cybernetic eye glowed red at us, soulless.

Our group opened fire, Mono blasting off a stream of bullets with her twin pistols, the changeling pelting it with his submachine gun, White joining in with his single pistol, and me trying to line up my shot. Even Emberwing was helping, trying to blind the robot with his really shiny phoenix magic, but I wasn’t sure if it was having any effect. The robot turned to me, seemingly unaffected by the bullets. It began to glow, a blinking red shine that made a thumping noise with each pulse, small dents appearing beneath its hooves.

The next thing I knew, there was a vertical yellow line racing across the pavement directly towards me, and a buzzing sound louder than the gunshots of my companions. I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a perfect bisection and getting a good view of the rapidly widening wall of energy. It sliced into the ground and the building behind me, along with the building behind the automaton. The laser reeled itself back in after a moment, the robot’s expressionless face turning to me again.

Bullets sparked off of the robot on impact, but I could quickly see dents forming in the metal plating, and holes in the fleshy parts. They seemed to be sewing themselves shut, but our combined firepower was easily tearing it apart faster than it could mend itself. Holy crap, these things could regenerate?

I didn’t have time to contemplate that, as another disk-laser bisected the land, clipping my back left hoof. I cried out in pain from the awful burning sensation, whipping my head to look behind me. A chunk of my hoof had been completely sliced off, complete with the barding, which turned out to provide absolutely zero defense against the laser. I was also losing blood fast, my injured hoof trembling. Gawking, I looked back at the robot, who was pulsating again. Shit.

But then, the robot sparked and twitched, the glow shining a lot brighter than before. “Take cover!” Forty-Four shouted, diving behind a large rock that was jutting out of the street. We scrambled, Diz noticing my wound and scooping me up, taking me into a nearby alleyway.

It was as if somepony had detonated a crate full of C2. The roar was unbelievably loud, and I pressed my hooves against my ears, watching as fire, smoke and debris blanketed the area I was just in. It was over after a few seconds. Gently uncovering my ears, I looked out into the street, which was filled with that post-explosion silence that’s weirdly louder than regular silence. I took a few steps, but upon stepping on my back-left hoof, lightning shot up my leg, and I screamed, collapsing onto the pavement. Breathing hard, I looked at my injured hoof again.

Blood was pouring out of it like a geyser, staining the concrete a violent red. Diz quickly picked me up again, reaching into my bag and extracting a bottle full of purple liquid. Hey, that was one of my healing po-mmph!

The bear’s paw stuffed it into my mouth, and I drank the brew like a foal. My hoof started to burn and itch, and I whimpered as I felt my flesh crawling and reknitting itself, before suddenly the pain dulled to a small ache. I looked at my leg again. Hey, it was back! But it was bald. Man, I never realized how cold it was here.

“Feeling better?” Diz asked, setting me down and wiping my blood off of his torso. I hummed the affirmative, smiling up at him.

“Thanks,” I said. He nodded once, smiling back. Returning to the street, I joined up with the others, who were steadily crawling out of their own cover positions. I looked at the mangled doorframe the robot used to be in. The whole wall of the building was blown out, and there was a huge scorch mark on the ground.

“Celestia, what was that?” White Light asked, descending from his position on a rooftop, followed by Sunfire. “I didn’t think they would explode like that!”

“They do,” the changeling confirmed. “Since they can regenerate, that’s really the only way to kill them. We’re fortunate, because shooting them enough times breaks their circuitry and causes them to self-destruct.” He smiled a toothy smile.

Sunfire looked indignant, pouting at the ground. “I wanted to hit it with my bat...”

“Next time, honey.” White pecked her on the cheek, and she blushed and gave a soft smile.

We pulled ourselves together and continued, walking slowly and quietly in the general direction of the tower. These robots were quieter than mice, I swear... And seeing what one of them was able to do to my leg, I was afraid of what would happen if one of those lasers hit me head-on. Would I be cut in half? I would be dead immediately, and seeing as how these automatons were so quiet, I would never see it coming.

Chunks of ice started forming in my lungs at the thought, straining my breath and wracking my body with shivers. I was too young. I wasn’t even grown up yet! I didn’t deserve this... Well.... I... I’ve murdered a pony before, so maybe I did. Would I go to hell?

“Are you okay, Force?” White’s sudden voice made me flinch, my gaze whipping to him. He was giving me this weird sympathetic look from the air. I also noticed that my eyes were leaking.

I swallowed. “Y-yeah... I’m fine.” I sounded about as confident as I felt. I wiped my eyes with a hoof, setting my sights forward. Damn it, I was crying. I hoped that none of my other companions would notice before I calmed down.

We climbed over a pile of crumbled and broken rock, peeking our heads over the summit and surveying the area before dropping to the other side. “Hide!” our changeling suddenly hissed, diving under a nearby crumbling structure. Down the street was another robot-pony, this one different in color and the configuration of its metal plates. I squeezed in with Forty-four, hoping the others found hiding places as well. After the previous battle, I really didn’t want to challenge one of those things again.

If Forty-four had eyebrows, he would have been raising one at me from the look on his face. I smiled awkwardly, but said nothing.

Metal footsteps grew louder, the robot-pony swinging its head around to scan the area with that glowing red eye. My horn lit up as I felt around in my bag, wondering if I had any potions that could blow that overgrown toaster up. I didn’t think so... I had one healing potion-broth in there, an empty bottle, my gun, and some herbs I had picked earlier. I could tell from the texture that I had quite a bit of Sekn-err... What was the pony name for this plant? Fireweed? I think so. It was highly flammable, and was an important ingredient in an explosive potion. I suddenly remembered that I needed to get more bottles, especially if I was going to brew liquid explosives, and I mentally smacked myself. I should have bought some from the bartender in Krater-oh. Nevermind, they wouldn’t sell alcohol to a minor, even if I technically was not going to drink it.

Well... maybe they had empty bottles. Yep, back to smacking myself.

The robot eventually turned a corner, and I let out a sigh of relief, crawling out of my hiding spot, as did the others. I looked at the changeling next to me. “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” I asked as we resumed our trek towards the dusty grey tower, its shadow looming over us.

His buzzing voice filled my ears. “Yes, but we are taking the longer route. There may be items of worth or use in these buildings.” He swept his hoof across the air.

Fittingly, I just then noticed Diz floating out of a broken window, holding an armful of glistening, crystal-clear bottles! I beamed and galloped over to him, my eyes alight, but he just raised an eyebrow at me. “What’s up, Force?”

“Can I have those bottles?” The whole group looked at me. “Uhm, I know how to brew all sorts of potions, like healing ones. Please?” I smiled real big.

“You can make healing potions?” Sunfire breathed, turning to her coltfriend. “Ponies can make healing potions? How do... I thought they were just lying around, and ponies just found them!”

“There are some ponies that know how to make them, but they are usually made in pre-war laboratories with synthetic materials,” White clarified. “Nuclear is giving me the impression that he can make them here and now, and the only way he would do that is with certain plants. I don’t know where he learned the methods to make them, as alchemy is prominent mostly in zebra culture, and—” He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes snapping wide open.

Four sets of eyes widened in turn as they each reviewed the implications. My expression matched theirs, and my blood turned to ice as I realized that they must’ve been connecting the dots. 

Oh no. They’re going to shoot me because I’m part zebra. I knew it. I need to get away, I need to—

“I... read a lot of books, if you’re wondering,” I muttered as I turned around to hide my fear-stricken face, hoping they would buy it. Please let them buy it. Please please please please, Celestia, Luna, I don’t want to die here! I swallowed, my fur growing cold as I braced myself for a slew of bullets from my ‘companions’, praying that it would be quick and painless.

“He must have a library, maybe,” Chrome said. “Does anypony know where he lives?” 

I released the breath I was holding. Thank the Goddesses.

“Not a clue here,” her twin answered.

While my ‘friends’, who were kind enough not to shoot me, discussed possible explanations for how I knew how to brew healing potions, I decided to poke around in a nearby building, whose door was thankfully clinging onto its frame by only one rusty hinge. A forceful tug with my magic, and it came crashing down. I slowly peeked inside, my eyes raking the fancy carpet on the floor and the mostly-wooden interior. My tail brushed the doorframe as I brought myself to what looked like a kitchen, the tile defiantly asserting its place over the more reticent red carpeting. Nudging open a cabinet with my snout, I lit my horn for some illumination. Nothing except some dust bunnies playing a game of soccer. Carpet Crusaders were winning ten-to-seven. Go team!

Next cabinet. This one had a small bottle full of a mysterious opaque teal liquid. I held it up, my horn casting a green light over my dark surroundings and reflecting off the bottle. ‘Open your eyes,’ it read in fancy cursive on a small label of masking tape. I took out the cork and took a whiff—it smelled salty, like saltwater, mixed in with antiseptic and honey. I shoved the cork back in and put it in my saddlebag. It might have some use later.

One of the higher-up cabinets, which I had to stand on a table to reach, had a small locked safe it in. My face scrunched up as I tried to bust it open with my magic, but it held fast. Levitating it by my side, I brought it outside for the others to see. “Hey, does anypony know how to pick locks?”

Dizzy raised his hand, and I gave the box to him. He stared at it for a few moments, before extracting a small metal tool from his squirrel tail and sticking it in the keyhole, his tongue hanging limp out one side of his mouth as he concentrated. “Don’t worry, I’m good at this. Just gotta... find the right... C’mon...” Snap.  “Aw!”

In general, I had a fairly big hunch that a locked container would have some good loot in it, so I left Diz to his work and walked back to the others. They were looking at each other like sheep, except for our changeling, who was keeping watch for robots.

Upon noticing me, they turned to look at me again. They did not meet my gaze, their eyes instead wandering along the stripes on the rest of my body. “What’s up, guys?” I smiled at them, trying to seem extra-friendly.

Their heads snapped up, except for Chrome, who backed away slightly. None of them spoke. I knew what was on everypony’s mind, but apparently none of them wanted to say it. Did they want me to confirm?

...No. I would tell them later. Not now.

Sunfire yelped as something struck the ground near her hoof, shooting a small jet of dust into the air and leaving a small hole. I immediately whipped around and brought my rifle’s scope to my face, searching the area. There! A small glint of something caught my eye, and I increased my weapon’s zoom. Lo and behold, a robot-pony was standing on a building a fair distance away, aiming its own gun at us. “Sniper!” I yelled, lining my crosshair up with my target’s head and pulling the trigger.

My gun’s report cracked like thunder, no doubt giving away our position. I had forgotten how loud this thing was, but thankfully this dog had just as much bite as it did bark. Through my scope I saw the robot spark and twitch, glowing a brilliant red, before answering my rifle’s blast like a lion to a housecat. Hmm... Apparently this robot was less armored than the ones weilding disk-lasers.

Lowering my gun, I turned around again to find all of my teammates still staring at me, although there was a bit of awe mixed in with the shock. I felt like I was under a spotlight, and you can probably figure that I don’t do well a crowd looking at me. You know, half-pony half-zebra, freak of nature, come buy your tickets today?

Mono apparently read my expression, turning to Diz, who was still focusing on the locked box. Snap, another bobby pin broken. “Dizzy, have you opened it yet?” she asked, changing the topic. Thanks, Mono!

“I almost got it!” Ker-chak, the box clicked open. “Ha! Finally!” He grinned from ear-to-ear as he opened the box, very slowly, bright light filtering out of it and shining like a spotlight as the top was slowly flipped...

Inside were two bright red healing potions, some ten-millimeter ammo for pistols, and a strange inhaler with the word ‘Jet’ on it. What was Jet? I levitated it to my face, twirling it around as I inspected it. ‘Feel awesome!’ it said beneath the logo. Awesome how? Curiosity overtaking me, I slowly brought it to my lips, preparing to press the button and take a deep breath.

A brown hoof suddenly snatched it away. “Force, you really shouldn’t use that. You’re, erm... underage, if I understand correctly.” What? I shouldn’t? What was it, anyway?

I looked at White Light. “Why? What is it?”

He returned the look. “You don’t know what Chems are?”

“Nope.”

He looked at the inhaler. “Chems are drugs. They’ll enhance some part of you for a little bit, but they always have some sort of backlash. And trust me, you definitely don’t want to get addicted. Adult ponies can take them every now and then without becoming hooked, but you’re just a teenager...” He gave me that sympathetic look again. I was starting to hate him for it.

“I wasn’t planning on using it...” Actually, that was a lie. I was very much about to use it. But he and the others didn’t know that.

A cyan hoof draped over my withers, and Sunfire brought her head close to my ear. “Yes you were... But really, drugs are bad.” Damn it, I hate being proved wrong. I looked at her, before wriggling away.

“Oh! Oh! Can I have it?” Diz chirped with a grin. I shot him a look.

“I think we should hold onto that and sell it later,” Mono chipped in, blinking. “Ponies pay good caps for Chems. What do you think, Chrome?”

We noticed that someone was missing from our group. “Chrome?” Thankfully, the silver mare soon emerged with a particular phoenix from a nearby building, having liberated a clip of shots for my rifle and some submachine gun rounds. She also found a neon yellow potion that appeared to sizzle and bubble inside its bottle. Corrosive acid, I’d say.

“We’ve stayed here long enough,” a buzzing voice chimed in, breaking us out of our reverie. “The green one’s rifle probably alerted them to our position. We need to move.” Yeah, I could agree with that.

After dividing the ammo to those who could use it, we continued to approach the tower. It looked pencil-thin from far away, but up close like this it was freakin’ huge. Its grand stature made it seem almost as if it was judging us, and the evil red halo really didn’t help.

Speaking of ammo, everyone in the group except me used some form of pistol as a firearm. Diz’s seemed to use a different caliber of bullet, however (which he apparently had plenty of), so he opted out. I got to keep the rifle clip all to myself! Yay!

Fortunately we didn’t run into any more robots on the way to the tower, but once we actually got there, I discovered that the foul changeling wasn’t lying about the battalion of robots guarding the entrance. They stared ahead soullessly, like tigers ready to pounce.

“Alright, does anybody have a plan to get past these idiots?” Forty-four buzzed, looking at us over his shoulder.

“I thought you had a plan!” Sunfire whispered with indignation. The changeling simply shrugged at her.

Emberwing held the edge of one wing on the underside of his beak, as if deep in thought. He suddenly squawked, gathering everyone’s attention. I seriously would not have been surprised if he suddenly starting explaining a complex plan in Equestrian to get past the robots. I was actually pretty surprised when he didn’t. Although, he did take to the air, performing an extremely quick fly-by in front of the guards. They shot at him with all sorts of different weapons, from disk-lasers to rifles to miniguns, but he deftly weaved in-between the shots and returned to us without a scratch. Looks like we were up against some massive firepower. I noticed that some of the disk-lasers slammed into the tower behind the guards, but did not damage it, leaving little more than tall scorch marks. That tower must’ve been made of some pretty tough stuff.

I kind of wanted a spell or weapon that fired a laser like that. I would never have to aim up or down, because it would essentially do that for me. But how would I get one?

Absent-mindedly I approached the guards, examining them with a sharp eye in an attempt to see how that laser worked. Was it really magical, or fired from something? I think I heard my companions yelling something to me, but in my focus I didn’t hear them.

Obviously I got a little too close, as two of them flashed and fired disk-lasers at me. I froze up in fear for a moment, the memory of what happened to my hoof flashing across my mind, but I ripped myself away from it and dove sideways. The two lasers formed a luminous X as they crossed at my previous location, eager to cut me into slabs of raw pony meat.

Successfully rolling to my hooves for once, I bolted back in the opposite direction and carved around a building, narrowly avoiding another glowing wall sailing behind me.

I flinched when I came face-to-face with a pair of blank cyan eyes. "Hello." Forty-Four smiled nonchalantly. "Are you hiding here? I'll go... hide over there." He started to walk away, but I stopped him with a hoof on his shoulder. Whoa. He was like, smooth. Like a bowling ball.

“How did you get here?” I asked. He blinked at me.

“Those lasers have a long range. One of them almost hit me, so I jumped in here.” He gestured with a hoof to a nearby dumpster. “Chrome’s here too.” Upon closer inspection, I saw a silver pony crouched beside the dumpster, looking at me. I think I saw the slightest hint of hostility in her eyes.

The dark alleyway was bathed in red light for a moment as a disk-laser shot past the opening, probably after one of my group members. Were they my friends? They were the closest thing to actual friends I’ve ever had, especially Diz. He seemed to like me and, being a creature of mismatched parts himself, apparently didn’t care about my zebra stripes.

        After a momentary cease fire, I peeked around the corner of our little alleyway, looking at the guard robots. They seemed to have forgotten we were here, again staring straight ahead with those soulless eyes. Hmm... they were standing really close together. I bet, if we were able to defeat one of them, the resulting blast would scatter the rest and allow us to isolate and destroy them. Or just run into the tower before they could regroup. They seemed stupid enough for that to work.

        I looked behind me. Only Chrome and Forty-Four were here, so I couldn’t exactly tell my whole group to focus fire on just one of them. I was also afraid that my rifle's report would attract a bunch of the guards to us, and I didn't want to fight them inside a narrow corridor. Where were the others?

        A brief zephyr brushed the fur on my ears as White Light and his marefriend landed quietly in our alleyway, smiling at us. Right, pegasi. They must have been on the rooftops above us. “Hey, guys,” the brown pegasus greeted. “I see now that the changeling was unable to breach the tower’s doors due to lack of a plan.” He smiled playfully at Forty-Four, who met him with narrowed eyes. “Any ideas? Force?”

        I looked around for a moment, stretching my muscles. “Uhm... where are the others?” Mono and Diz. Oh, and Emberwing. What, were they playing inside a dumpster? 

I started imagining what they could possibly be doing, but my teenage mind conjured images that were most inappropriate. Ugh, go away hormones. I don’t need you right now.

        Unfortunately, Diz poking his head out the dumpster near Chrome didn’t exactly help. “Hey! I was wondering where you all ran off to!” His teeth shined at me. Was he in there this whole time?

        “Were you in there this whole time?” Chrome asked, echoing my thoughts. Get out of my head, mare!

        Diz stared blankly at her. “No?”

        We decided not to question it further. Chrome suddenly picked herself up, trotting to my side at the mouth of our hiding spot. Again her eyes flickered to me for a brief moment, with the slightest subtle hint of a glare. I arched my eyebrows. Was she mad at me? What did I do?

        “Sister! Where are you?!” Chrome’s voice rang out across the dusty grey city, echoing down every street and between every building. I cringed at the unnatural volume. How was she shouting so loudly?

        After a moment, my eyes widened and my head snapped to the guard robots in front of the tower. They hadn’t moved. Okay, so they were nearsighted and deaf? Works for me. Maybe I should get my rifle...

        “Sister!!”

        Ow! I covered my ears with my front hooves to calm my throbbing eardrums, lying down on the cement. Seconds later, I heard another voice blast out from somewhere nearby. Focusing, I saw the snow-white form of Mono standing tall behind a fallen steel pillar. She shot towards us, her hooves rapidly striking the pavement as a particular fireball followed her.

        Then the entire other half of the street disappeared behind a shining red curtain, buzzing like an extra-loud fluorescent light. Mono kept running as the curtain retracted and reached out again, like a hungry two-dimensional monster.

        The curtain sliced inches in front of my nose as Mono rushed past me, followed by a thunderous crash as half of the building composing one wall of this alley collapsed. I backpedaled as hard as I could, knocking over Diz, who wrapped his large hands around my torso.

        “Careful now,” he said, placing me aside and standing up. Er, floating... up. “Well, looks like we’re all here!”

        Emberwing squawked in approval, spreading one of his wings and sticking his beak into it. Sunfire cleared her throat. “So how are we gonna get in there, mister changeling?” she asked, a tad snidely.

        Forty-Four looked at each of us apprehensively. “I... don’t know. Can’t we just blow them all up?”

        “I believe a frontal assault is too dangerous. We’re severely outgunned,” White commented, beginning to hover. I resisted the urge to reply with a snide 'You don't say?'

        A lightbulb flickered on in my head. “Hey, Chrome.” I turned to the silver mare, who was staring daggers at me. “Can I see that bottle of yellow liquid you picked up?” She levitated it to me without a word, and I popped the cap. It reeked of ozone, like it would vaporize anything it touched. Neat.

        I extracted a small bushel of Fireweed from my bag and skinned off the tiny leaves clinging to the string-like branches, filtering them into the bottle. The liquid inside dissolved the leaves, turning a rusty orange. I quickly screwed the cap back on, shaking the bottle a bit.

        The glass container starting vibrating in my grip, the liquid inside roiling and evaporating. The bright orange light was almost blinding. It was fascinating. Unfortunately, when cracks started splitting the bottle from the cap down, I knew I had to get rid of it, now.

I sprinted to the mouth of the alleyway, pulling back with my magic before vaulting the small glass bottle as hard as I could. I watched the little orange star soar through the air toward the group of robots, who were contemplating whether to shoot it or not.

It was definitely corrosive acid in that bottle. I just added an ingredient that turned it into a live chemical grenade. I continued to peer around the corner, a smile crawling its way across my face as I awaited the fireworks. I think Diz’s head was just above mine.

There wasn’t a massive explosion. I would need different ingredients for that. But, with a sharp pop, the glass bottle burst just above the group of robots, spraying six or seven of them with bubbling orange liquid. They whirred and whined as the liquid ate through their metal and flesh, partially dissolving them and reducing them to piles of detached matter lying in pools of slag. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for at least one of them to erupt in a mushroom cloud. Sighing, I opened up my rifle and tried to insert the clip of bullets I got from Chrome. They didn’t fit.

Luna damn it!

The ground suddenly shook as one unlucky robot had his circuits melted before the rest of him, presenting me with the mushroom cloud I so desired. I almost let out a whoop as I looked around the corner again, seeing several cyborgs lying on their backs or sides several yards away from their established positions.

I quickly turned to the others, bumping into Diz’s leg. Turns out, he was floating right above me. “Let’s go!” I beckoned to them with a hoof before bolting off towards the now-unguarded entrance to the Evil Tower of Doom.

It was a huge set of double doors, each inscribed with the word “PUSH”. How convenient. Apparently the designer of this place optimized it for user accessibility. Unfortunately, before we reached the doors, one of the robots lying on its side decided it wanted one last shot at us. It began flashing, a familiar thumping noise shaking the ground, before it fired its disk-laser horizontally. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the circle of death reached out from the robot’s hull, slicing everything just above the ground in all directions.

White, Sunfire and Forty-Four were flying, so they were safe. Mono and Chrome’s horns surged with magical power as they disappeared in a wink of light, teleporting somewhere safe. Diz was floating above the ground, so he wouldn’t be hit.

That just left me, on the ground, and I wasn't exactly a World Champion at the high jump.

I was going to die.

I shut my eyes tight, surrendering myself to the glowing horizon rushing towards me. 

But then I felt two limbs, one scaley, one furry, lift me into the air. My eyes snapped open just in time to see the solid wall of burning, coarsing energy rush beneath me. I looked up to see a smiling, mismatched face.

“Don’t worry, kid. I gotcha.”

After the laser had receded, Diz set me down, his crimson eyes beaming at me. I quickly checked the toppled robot, but it appeared to have completely shut down. I sighed with relief, looking back at the draconequus. After a moment, I smiled back at him, rearing up on my hind legs to wrap my forelegs around his chest and bury my face into the crook of his neck. He was kinda soft. “Thanks, Diz,” I muttered. He had saved my life. I was some pony-zebra freak; half my blood belonged to the ponies' enemy in the war, but Diz cared enough about me to save my hide when he could have easily left me to my fate.

“No problem, kid,” he said, returning the hug. The way he said ‘kid’, like a term of endearment, the way a big brother would say it... for just a moment, I felt like I had family. With both my parents dead, the warm, soft feeling of family had been absent from my life as of late. Now it was coming back, and I just now realized just how much I missed it.

He released me after a few seconds, and I dropped to all four hooves again. “We should go inside,” I said, my voice having lost its angry edge. I felt... calm, now. I was paranoid before, always on guard, but I felt a lot better now that I had someone I felt I could really trust. Diz had now proved that he cared about me, and that was just the thing I needed.

Mono and Chrome reappeared in a flash of light, slightly woozy. “Awwwghhh... Warn me before you do that next time, Chrome...” Mono mumbled, shaking her head. Chrome just giggled softly.

I began to walk to the double doors, and looking over my shoulder, I saw that my companions were following. Smiling, I pushed one of the doors open with my snout, leading my party through.

The Equestrian Wasteland is cruel, but sometimes you can find good ponies, who really care, to help you through it. Even if they aren’t ponies.







Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk — Scavenger (Chemist):  You find more and better items in containers than you normally would. Mostly potions. You like potions, right? Of course you do!

> Chapter 3: The Hive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA - FALSE NOTIONS



CHAPTER THREE - The Hive



*        *        *


MonoChrome




        “Well... if anything, it’s dark,” Mono said as the group entered the area.

        All the members of the group agreed. Ahead of them was a long hallway, so dark that they couldn’t make out the end of it. They stood waiting to see if the lights would turn on by themselves. No such luck. 

        White Light cleared his throat. “Well, we can’t go on in the dark like this. We need to check and see if we can turn the lights on.”

        Forty-Four looked at him. “I can see well enough. Perhaps I should go ahead and try to light the place up?” his buzzing voice asked.

        “Hold on,” Nuclear Force said. He rummaged through his things, and brought out a bottle containing some teal liquid. Upon closer inspection, one could see ‘Open Your Eyes’ written on a small label. “Could this help?”

        Diz frowned. “Couldn’t you unicorns just use some sort of light magic?”

        Mono shook her head and stared at the bottle. “No, not in this darkness. It would hardly do anything to make it brighter, and the pony lighting things up would be a target. Nuclear, can I see that?”

        Nuclear Force nodded and levitated the bottle over to Mono. His green aura was extinguished as Mono’s silver magic took hold of the bottle. She uncorked it and took a deep whiff. “Okay, seriously, I don’t know what kind of crazy luck you have, Nuclear, but it is amazing. This is Cateye. Helps you see in the dark, and generally improves your vision. Well then. There’s enough here for two ponies to drink this up and be able to see for a couple hours. Two of us can go with Forty-Four here and find the power. I volunteer.”

        It was obvious that White Light was going to say something, but as he rose into the air, Nuclear Force’s voice broke in. “I’ll go,” he said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. In fact, he looked kind of surprised himself.

        “You sure, Nuke?” Diz asked, looking at the young colt strangely.

        “Yeah,” he said with a little more confidence this time. “I’d like to be able to collect ingredients as we go. Place like this might be a wellspring of materials. There’s no telling what we’ll wake up if we turn on the lights, so I want to be able to grab as much as I can.” He looked a bit surprised, as if he didn’t expect to be so convincing.

        Diz, however, looked unconvinced. “The power might be behind a locked door. I don’t think any of you are as good with locks as I am.”

        Nuclear opened his mouth to respond to that, but felt a restraining hoof on his back. Looking back, he saw Mono with a smile on her face. “I admire your enthusiasm, Nuclear, but Diz is right. We need him with us more than you need those ingredients. There could be countless locked doors between here and the power station. The only reason we can see now is because of Emberwing, and even then, it’s not much. He should stay here with you all while we get things working.”

        Frowning, Nuclear Force nodded. “It’s decided then,” Diz said, and grabbed the bottle. Before anything could be said, he downed half the bottle and held it out to the white mare. Smiling, she took it and downed the other half.

        “Augh, that tastes terrible. But... woah. Everything is blue. But I can see! Diz, Forty-Four, you ready?” Mono asked.

        They both nodded, and moved forward. Mono looked back to the others and waved as she left the Phoenix’s light. “Don’t worry everypony, we’ll be back in a jiffy!”

        The group of three moved down the hallway, glancing around. Many of the doors were open, but inside the rooms were empty shelves and broken items. At one point, however, Diz reached in and grabbed what looked like a pile of broken things. Mono looked at him questioningly.

        “Scrap metal,” The draconequus said amiably. Mono shook her head, amused at him. She didn’t know much about him, however. Suddenly, she felt a bit concerned that she had just rushed into an unknown place with a Changeling, of all things, and a creature she had only learned about today. 

        “So. Diz. You said something about looking for a ‘Discord’?” Mono asked as the group moved down the hallway.

        “Yep!” he said, waving his arms up in the air. “God of chaos and all that.”

        “God of Chaos?” Mono asked, peering into a room. Again, there was nothing inside. Ahead, the hallway they were traversing legged off to the right.

        “That’s right. I’m looking for him, so that he can restore this broken land into what it was before you ponies and zebras blew it all up.” 

        Mono glanced at him, and continued in front of the group. She’d gotten used to the blueness of her vision from the Cateye, and it no longer bothered her. “Oh? And what was that?”

        Diz rushed out in front of her, stopping the pony and the changeling. “Imagine; houses floating in the sky, roads of soap, and,” he intoned, peering at the pair. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Chocolate. Rain. Oh, and no more of that stupid radiation,” he added.

        Mono chuckled, not entirely believing that such a thing was impossible. “Chocolate rain, eh? That I’d like to see. Of course, any world without radiation is okay by me. Stuff gives me the creeps.”

        Mono pushed past Diz, who seemed to be daydreaming about said rain. He looked down to find Forty-Four staring at him. “What? Seriously, you changelings have no idea what you’re missing with chocolate milk. And bacon.”

        Forty-Four shook his head, and his buzzing voice was heard. “I’ve had both. Food is tasteless to me, and barely helps my hunger.”

        “Speaking of, how are you holding up?” Mono asked, turning back to them. “I don’t know a lot about Changelings. If you don’t eat food, what do you eat?”

        Forty-Four suddenly looked at the ground, his large, multifaceted eyes seeming forlorn. “I... I thought you knew.”

        Mono looked at him, head held at an angle. “Knew what?”

        Forty-Four looked at her. “Changelings feed on positive emotions. I’ve been absorbing the emotions radiating off you six in your attempt to help me. I thought you were okay with it,” he explained, his buzzing voice wavering.

        Surprised, Mono thought about it a minute before answering. “Well, Forty-Four, we can’t change what we are. Sometimes we may want to, but it’s simply impossible. I can tell you don’t harbor any ill intent. I trust you,” she said, moving towards him. She wrapped a white foreleg around him, catching the changeling in a hug. “Everypony has good in them. I can tell that your good far outweighs your bad. So here, have a big dose of happy.”

        Forty-Four only looked at the white mare, astonished that she would be so accepting. Mono caught the look and laughed. “Forty-Four, my sister is always telling me that I trust ponies too easily. Well, I guess I’ve got her here — I’m not trusting a pony. Now come on, let’s get those lights on.” As she turned around, she caught a look from Diz. “What? Not all ponies are bigoted jerks.”

        Diz and Forty-Four looked at each other, then at the pony walking away from them. They started forward again, looking around for anything that could possibly turn on the lights. The group hadn’t gone far when they reached a door at the end of the hallway.

        “Hope this is it,” Diz said, and then brought himself down towards the door. It was locked, of course. “All the important doors are locked,” he grumbled to himself.

        While Diz worked on unlocking the door, Mono and Forty-Four looked around nervously.

        “Anypony else wonder why we haven’t seen any robots other than the ones guarding the entrance?” Mono asked.

        Forty-Four gave her a strange look. “I would ask you to not tempt fate, please.” Mono only laughed at that.

        “Trust me, we’ve never really been on great terms. Fate has a sense of humor, and Chrome and I have been the butt of a few jokes in our lives.”

        A snapping sound was heard, and the two heard Diz muttering under his breath, something about poorly made materials.

        They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. The darkness, even though it was somewhat mitigated by their ability to see in the dark, was quite oppressive, and the entire group was hoping they’d find what they were looking for very soon.

        Finally, Diz managed to pick the lock. “Got the stupid thing,” he announced, irritation in his voice. The door opened outward, and the three of them moved forward into a large room.

        “Looks sort of like an observation area,” Mono said, walking around. Investigating the area turned up a few things. It seems that the room had hardly been scavenged at all.

        “I might have found it,” Diz said. Forty-Four and Mono looked at the draconequus, who was pointing at a rectangular box on the wall with yellow and black stripes around it. It had a lever connected to it, which was pointed downwards.

        “Well, flip the lever, Diz,” Mono said, wondering why he hadn’t just done it right away.

        “It might not be the power. It could, I dunno, alert a thousand killer robots to come to this location and kill us all.”

        “Diz, that’s a risk we have to take. If we ignore this stuff, we’ll never get the power back on. ‘Sides, not knowing is the fun part, right?” Mono asked, grinning.

        Diz shrugged and a grin appeared on his face as well. “Absolutely! Now that you put it that way...” He reached over and pushed the lever upward. For a moment nothing happened. The group was disappointed... until a loud humming noise was heard. Slowly but surely, the lights above them turned on.

        “Augh!” Mono exclaimed, and covered her eyes. “Too bright!”

        Forty-Four spoke. “You two let your eyes acclimate. I will retrace my steps and retrieve the others.”

        Diz and Mono only nodded, eyes covered.


        ******

        “Well, I guess they found the lights,” Nuclear Force reasoned as the immediate area suddenly brightened.

        “Should we stay, or should we wait for them to come get us?” Sunfire asked.

        “I think we should stay,” Chrome replied, looking around nervously.

        “I agree with Chrome,” White Light intoned. “They’d expect us to be here, and come get us. We go after them, and we could end up somewhere completely different.”

        The group of four fell silent as they waited, and even Emberwing was uncharacteristically quiet. Only White Light and Sunfire really knew each other, and Chrome was still suspicious of Nuclear Force.

        However, they didn’t have to wait long. After just a few moments, Forty-Four appeared at the end of the hallway. He motioned for the group to move towards him. They complied, with Chrome bringing up the rear.

        As they neared the changeling, he spoke. “The other two are ahead, allowing their eyes to become used to the light.” He turned and walked ahead of the group.

        White Light nodded. “Sensible. That Cateye is strong stuff, and they took a lot more of it than they needed to.”

        Sunfire watched as Nuclear Force poked into every room they passed. “Find anything?” she asked him. He shook his head.

        “We looked. All the rooms have been swept clean, except for the one your companions are in,” Forty-Four added, hoping to speed them up.

        Nuclear frowned, but stopped looking in the rooms. The group made its way through the hallway, and finally found themselves entering the observation room. Diz and Mono were inside, poking around the room for valuables.

        At their entry, Mono glanced over. She gave her sister a smile, and went back to rummaging around. Chrome walked over and hugged Mono to her, glad to be reunited. “You know I hate it when you go off like that, Mono.”

        “I know, sister. We’ll be fine.” Mono looked at Chrome. However, the silver mare glanced at the others in their group, suspicion in her eyes. Mono frowned at the action, and moved towards the center of the room.

        “Okay, everypony. And non-ponies. I don’t care. I’m getting tired of this, and we’ve hardly been together at all. Listen to me,” she began. The others stopped whatever they were doing in the room and turned towards her. White Light, Sunfire, and Forty-Four had impassive faces. Nuclear Force and Chrome seemed a tad nervous, and Diz floated with an amused expression. Emberwing preened himself.

        “We’re not going to have this stupid suspicion. We’ve all proven that nopony here is out to get anypony. So let’s get this done with.” She turned, orienting on Nuclear Force. He shrank under her gaze, and her eyes softened. “We all can see that Nuclear Force is different from normal ponies.” She stomped a hoof down, looking all around. “Who gives a hoot? He’s saved our hides more than once and he’s given freely of himself.” She turned to Forty-Four and pointed. “Forty-Four here is a changeling. Get over it. He ain’t a pony, but he ain’t evil either. He just wants some help, and if he wanted to stab us in our collective back, he could’ve more than once.”

        “I think we understand your point well enough, Mono,” White Light interjected. “And you’re right. We’re not going to get anywhere while we watch each other like we’re all going to hurt each other. It’s good to be careful, but we’re all obviously ready to help each other.”

        Neither of them had singled a member out, but those accused knew who they were. Chrome looked at Mono, who held a sad smile on her face, and dropped her eyes guiltily. Nuclear Force glanced at Forty-Four and shook his head to get his thoughts together.

        Mono and White stared around a while, and the group resumed their various activities. After a short while poking around the room, Mono found a switch.

        “Found a switch,” she announced. Her companions moved towards her, and stared at it. It was an innocuous thing, not very notable. Diz very calmly reached over everything in his way and flicked the switch.

        “Hey!” Sunfire said, looking at him angrily. “Who knows what-”

        She was cut off as a grinding metal sound was heard. The room’s eight occupants looked at the metal wall that fell away to reveal that it was actually, in fact, just a shield behind a wall of glass. They all clambered over to see what it revealed.

        At first, it only showed an inky blackness that wasn’t affected at all by the lights in their room. However, after a few moments, several lights switched on on the other side, revealing a huge chamber. The walls were covered in a strange, green material that almost seemed like webbing. Vaguely circular, the room slanted inward and downward. In the middle of the floor stood a large, cubical object.

        Forty-Four pointed at it. “That is where my queen is. I can feel it,” he stated. Without waiting for a reply, he moved over to the side of the room and smacked a hoof against a door control. It opened with a hiss as the others turned toward it.

        The door opened to reveal a stoic robot with a very active red eye. It swept the area.

        Within a few seconds of the door opening, the room’s occupants scattered. The robot, instead of erupting with an energy disc like those outside, opened up a side compartment. A long tube slid out of it, and a swarm of bullets appeared from it. The group took up cover behind various objects in the room, hiding from the barrage of lead.

        “On three! Shoot the hell out of it!” Mono yelled. Without waiting for a reply, she began counting, hoping she was loud enough to be heard over the din of the machine gun.

        “One!”

        She brought out her two pistols, and cocked both. Unused bullets shot out of the openings. She didn’t mind — better safe than sorry.

        “Two!”

        The robot paused in its firing, likely to cycle its firing mechanism or reload. Mono policed the two rounds and tossed them into her saddlebags.

        “Three!”

        Mono rose out of her cover and looked at the robot. At her movement, the red eye swept towards her and the barrel of the gun followed. With barely a breath, Mono opened up with her two pistols, and the bullets ripped into the thing. Other sharp reports from the others sounded out, and the robot was pushed back in a hail of gunfire. A hail of bullets flew from where Mono assumed Forty-Four was and smacked right into the robot’s head.

        She assumed that the last hit had been a little too much, and it started twitching. She fell back behind cover just in time to hear a loud boom as the thing exploded, sending shrapnel into the room and the hallway from which it had come.

        All was quiet for a moment. The first to say something was White Light. “We okay?”

        The group looked around. No one had been hurt. They emerged from various areas of cover and gathered in the center of the observation room. “Hey Forty-Four, we might want to be more cautious next time,” Mono said, placing a hoof on his back. He nodded, looking sorry.

        “Alright,” White Light started while those who had discharged their weaponry paused to reload. “It’s obvious that the interior of this area is guarded well. We’ve gotta move slowly, and be on the look for the robots. They have different types it seems, so extra caution is needed.”

        “We’ll need fighters in front then,” Mono said. “I’m thinking as we move down the hallway, we have Diz and I up front to get into doors and such while on the watch for enemies, and then we have Forty-Four and Nuclear Force in the back... well, watching our backs?”

        Diz slapped his knee with a restrained snicker, but otherwise sounded his agreement, as did the others. With that decided, the group moved into their position and began moving into the hallway Forty-Four had revealed, stepping around the charred remains of the robot.

        There were less doorways in this hallway, but the rooms were still empty. It was obvious that Nuclear Force was irritated at the lack of usable supplies. However, the end of the current hallway split left and right into another pair of hallways.

        “Tell me we aren’t splitting up again,” Sunfire said, annoyed.

        “It may be for the best, dear,” White Light responded. “We can cover more ground, and if a group finds a way forward, just wait for the other.”

        “It makes sense,” Mono added. “Now, who to go where...”

        She looked around at the group. Diz was their best lockpicker, but was there any other who could manipulate locks? She voiced her concern to the group.

Nuclear Force spoke up. “I’m good with fire magic. I could use it to melt through locks,” he suggested. Mono nodded.

 They’d have to go with separate groups, something Mono was loathe to do again. She wasn’t blind — contrary to popular opinion, the loudmouthed mare was quite perceptive. It’s WHY she spoke so much — she saw it all, or if not all, a lot of it.

        “I suggest Chrome and I go to the left with Nuclear Force. He can burn through the locks. The rest of you can go to the right. First group to find something stops and gets the other one, agreed?” Mono suggested. The group nodded. With that decided, they split up to go different ways.

This time, it was Mono in front, Chrome in the middle and Nuclear Force in the back, though Chrome looked quite put out at having the adolescent behind her. This hallway had far fewer rooms than the last, and all unlocked. They peeked inside each one, disappointed to find each one empty.

        However, when they came to a room marked “R&D,” it was a different story. Mono pushed the door open to find that the room it concealed was far larger than the others. It spread out into a large chamber, with a desk in the middle of it and several rooms in the back.

        “R&D. Research and development, right?” Mono asked. Chrome walked up beside her and nodded. “Yeah, I remember reading something like that once. I think they made stuff here.”

        Nuclear walked away from the pair, investigating a large cabinet at one end of the room. He opened it drawer by drawer, more and more disappointed with each one he opened. The last drawer he opened contained a little bit of material in a square pattern. It seemed plastic, so he grabbed it with his telekinesis. “Found something,” he said, grabbing the twins’ attention.

        “What is it?” Chrome asked, watching him carefully. No matter what her sister said, she’d be careful around new ponies. And non-ponies.

        “I don’t know. It says ‘ChangeBuck’ on it on the side.” Nuclear responded.

        Mono shook her head. “I have no clue, really. Just keep it, and we’ll find out what it is later.”

        The trio searched the rest of the room, but found nothing but tables, empty cabinets and broken terminals. They left the room, and were surprised to see a frantic Sunfire flying at them at top speed. “Everypony! We need help. Diz and White are pinned down in a room against two of the robots, and Diz has been shot! Forty-Four is the only thing holding them back,” she alerted them, panting at her pace.

        “Let’s go,” Mono said without hesitation, and burst in the direction they had come. Sunfire dropped to the ground and ran beside her, with Nuclear Force and Chrome behind them. They galloped through the hallways, and Mono noted how the lights turned from white to blue as they reached the other group. As they came to a turn, Sunfire stopped them.

        “This is where the robots are. There’s a little bit of a hallway, and then a room. They’re behind some tables,” she said, out of breath. Mono nodded, taking it in.

        Mono crept forward towards the turn, keeping slow so she wouldn’t accidentally put her head in the line of fire. But how was she going to get a look at them? She thought a moment, and then began to concentrate. As a silvery sheen overtook her horn, the wall in front of her seemed to extend. The pale white wall shot halfway into the hallway beyond, and a very small hole appeared in the wall. Mono moved forward cautiously, and put her eye to the hole, being very careful not to disturb the illusion.

        Ahead, in a blue-lit room, stood two of the gun-variety robots. The machines stood stoic, staring at the overturned tables in front of them. On the side of the tables facing Mono, Forty-Four, Diz and White Light crouched out of sight of the killer robots. Forty-Four occasionally raised his beam weapon to take a few blind shots at them. Diz sat against a table, hand to his side where his fur was matted with blood. Behind another table sat a very distraught-looking White Light who stared at Diz, obviously wanting to treat the draconequus.

        Mono wracked her brain. How would they get past the robots? “Anypony have any ideas?” she asked the three behind her. They all shook their heads, worried. Annoyed, Mono stomped a hoof down on the ground. She couldn’t get close enough to fill them with bullets, which seemed like the only way to... fill them with bullets...

        They were machines. Machines were stupid, Mono knew. Perhaps, if she got them to shoot each other, they’d identify each other as hostiles. If only she could get them to initially do so.

        With her eyes widening, she concentrated again. With a grunt at all the exertion and range, a very scared-looking Mono appeared behind the robots. At the image’s appearance, the robots turned, and their firearms aimed at the fake mare. Beginning to sweat now, Mono had the illusion run right in between the robots.

        As she had hoped, both opened fire at the thing. As the bullets passed through it, it became too much to maintain the illusion and Mono collapsed in the hallway. She looked up and smiled as she saw the robots tear each other apart, refusing to stop shooting. Forty-Four took the opportunity and fired repeatedly at them. After a short while of bullets slicing through the air, the machines fell to the ground, completely disabled. White Light immediately flew over to Diz and passed him a healing potion, and the draconequus drank it greedily.

        “Mono!” Chrome ran to her sister and dropped beside the exhausted mare. “What’s wrong?”

        Mono just shook her head, trying to rest a moment. At Chrome’s voice, those in the other room turned towards them and approached. Mono at last spoke when the three had reached them. “I’m not really sure. Normally, an illusion like that would be easy to maintain. But it felt like something was... I don’t know, suppressing me.”

        Nuclear Force frowned and turned away. Without warning, a fireball shot from his horn at a wall, dissipating before impact. With a choked gasp, he slumped against a wall. “She’s right,” he said, suddenly very tired-sounding.

Forty-Four frowned at that and looked at the weaponl he had in the air above him. “Telekinesis seems easy enough.”

Chrome, frowning as well, levitated out a bit of scrap metal she had picked up. “The same here.”

Mono looked around a minute, and attempted to stand. She got to her feet, but leaned heavily against her sister. “Maybe that’s the blue lights. Could be suppressing our magic other than basic Telekinesis.”

Forty-Four looked around at them, and then closed his multifaceted eyes. He disappeared in a gush of green flame. After just a small moment, he reappeared as he was before, but fell against a wall.

“Okay, that’s definitely enough testing,” White announced, frowning. “All of you tired won’t do.”

Mono nodded. “Definitely. But, we’re in a magic-suppressing area. Does that mean we’re getting close to the queen?”

“Hopefully,” Diz responded, looking ahead. “I think we should stick together now, and keep going this direction. It seems like the right way.” The others nodded, and rearranged themselves into their original pattern. The blue lights were fairly annoying, and the unicorns of the group glanced upwards occasionally, obviously bothered by them. Mono in particular found that something like that unnerved her - simple lighting could suppress her strongest illusions. She shuddered to think of what might have happened had she not been able to sustain the illusion that killed the robots.

After just a moment of walking, the group found a staircase leading far down.

“This could be it,” Mono said. They all proceeded down the stairs, which switch backed quite a bit, likely to conserve space. As they got closer to the bottom, the blue lights became purple, and Forty-Four’s submachine gun clattered to the ground.

“I can’t even maintain a basic Telekinetic field anymore,” he stated, annoyed. He grabbed the thing in his mouth and proceeded forward. Frowning, Mono drew out a pistol from her saddlebags with her mouth and walked forward, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Finally, after a few moments, the stairs leveled out. A short walk later, and they found themselves before a great door, twice the size of even Diz’s height.

        In the middle of the door was a large circular handle, which seemed to be the only opening mechanism.

        “No magic. I think you’re going to have to do the honors, Diz,” White Light said.

        “Gladly.” The draconequus floated over to the door and he gripped the sides of the wheel. WIth a grunt, he managed to turn it a bit. He looked back at them, smiled, and flung the now-loose wheel to the side. It spun at an incredible speed, and the door slowly swung outward to reveal the room they had seen from the observation deck above. The light was strange, but they could see everything.

        Forty-Four approached the large cube in the middle of the room immediately. It also had the same kind of door-opening mechanism. “Why would they make those?” Chrome asked. “It’s not like anypony could do that alone.”

        “Probably as a precaution,” White Light said, flying up to inspect the top of the cube. “Make it so more than one entity had to be present to open it up.”

        “Makes sense,” Mono said, staring at the cube. She turned to their changeling companion. “You sure she’s in here?”

        He nodded. “I can feel it.” He looked imploringly at Diz, who stared right back at him.

        After only a few moments, Diz capitulated. “Alright. All of you, get your guns ready. She might be... hostile, I think.”

        Forty-Four’s eyes widened, but said nothing, knowing it might be true. The draconequus dropped to the ground, walked forward, and slowly began opening the cube. A few moments of turning resulted in a soft hissing sound as the seals on it were broken. The group gathered, and those with guns prepared themselves. Diz swung the door open wide, and only blackness could be seen within.

        Forty-Four approached, head held low.

        “M... my queen?”

        For a moment, there was nothing. At first came a clicking sound, and then a loud sigh. From the darkness came a large, towering form. A jagged horn emerged first, followed by a head covered in chitinous armor, which revealed piercing greenish eyes. The rest of the body came out, staring at the group awaiting it.

        The changeling queen looked around at the group pointing weapons at her, and squinted.

        “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill the lot of you right now,” she intoned. Her voice sounded hoarse, as if she hadn’t spoken in a long while.

        Mono looked down at Forty-Four, who seemed to be frozen by indecision. Seeing him unable to act, she dropped her firearm. The noise caused the queen to stare at her. She stepped forward.

        “Because we just saved you from whatever that was.”

        “Oh?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

        “It is true, my queen,” Forty-Four said.

        At hearing his voice, the changeling queen stared at the lesser changeling. “You smell different from my normal children. You are of my emergency clutch, are you not? What is your designation?”

        “Forty-Four, mistress.”

        “Forty-Four?” She seemed taken aback. “That means it has been around two hundred years since my initial imprisonment. I had not expected you ponies to... is that a draconequus?!”

        She appeared to notice Diz for the first time. He bowed in response. She continued. “Ponies associating with a draconequus willingly. As well as a changeling, and what looks to be some sort of zebra mule. What in the world has happened in these years?” At the comments, Diz and Nuclear Force’s demeanors took on elements of anger at her tone.

        White Light frowned. “Your majesty, Equestria was destroyed. This is not the world you knew. Balefire bombs... only now, in these last few dozen years has the surface become safe enough to travel without encountering radiation every few feet.”

        The changeling looked disturbed. “You ponies would destroy everything. It’s all about you, after all,” she said bitterly. “At war with the zebras? Let’s capture Chrysalis and use her and her children for horrible purposes. Typical,” she spat, narrowing her eyes. Mono snorted.

        “That wasn’t us. That was the ponies two hundred years ago. We aren’t them. We’re here to save you, Chrysalis or whoever you are, and you’re being extremely ungrateful to those who could have just let you and Forty-Four here rot,” Mono retorted angrily.

        Chrysalis watched the white unicorn for a moment, and then nodded. “You are right. The world has changed, and if you are correct in your descriptions, then perhaps I should be grateful that I wasn’t in there for quite a while longer.”

        She looked around at them and frowned. “Thank you,” she said, though it sounded insincere.

        Mono shook her head. “Don’t thank us yet. We’re still not out of here. We need to retreat out of Applewood, and the magic dampers in the hallway are going to give us trouble if more robots show up.”

        “Robots?” Chrysalis asked.

        “Machines in the shape of ponies, with guns and lasers. Generally hostile. We need to go,” Mono replied, picking her gun up again. She turned around and strode towards the exit of the room. Chrysalis watched her go, and the rest of the group turned to walk with her.

        “Sister, even I think that perhaps we should help them,” Chrome said, walking next to Mono.

        “Mmph mmph,” Mono responded, forgetting momentarily that she couldn’t speak with a weapon in her mouth. She replaced it in her saddlebags. “We did as asked. We helped them. If she’s going to be a bitch about it, then that’s that.”

        At her words, a large crash was heard behind them. Turning back, they saw that Chrysalis had fallen to the ground, and was being helped up by Forty-Four. She looked at them sheepishly. “Perhaps... perhaps I need your help. I...” She swallowed, as the statement was obviously unpleasant to her. “Could you please escort myself and my child out of this place?”

        Mono smiled and looked at her companions. Looking sunnily at Chrysalis, she nodded. “Sure, your majesty. Glad to help. We’ll go slowly, but there’s some stairs up ahead.”

        The group made its way up the stairs slowly, allowing Chrysalis time to do things slowly. As they left the blue-lit rooms, Diz spoke up.

        “Um... anyone wonder about how the fact that even though we opened up a big, secure box in the middle of a military facility, nothing has shown up?”

        Nuclear Force scowled at the draconequus. “You just had to say something, didn’t you Diz?”

        The floating patchwork creature shrugged and drew his pistols. Frowning, Mono copied the gesture now that her TK worked again. Chrysalis looked at the firepower being shown and didn’t say anything, leaning against Forty-Four, who struggled to keep her on her feet.

        The group of eight worked its way through the facility and finally reached the front door. “Hold up,” Mono said, and peeked out. All the robots that had been guarding the area previously were either gone or out of commision. To make sure, she projected an illusion of herself into the area. None of them got up to attack it, nor used their weapons from the ground. “Safe,” she said.

        The eight of them piled out into the open air. Chrome sighed, glad to be out of the crazy building, and saw that a few of the others might have held the same sentiment.

        Mono smiled and opened her mouth to speak.

        “Clever.”

        All of the whirled to look at the downed robot that had fired at them last. It had spoken.
        
        “I assume you all heard that, too?” Nuclear asked, already knowing the answer, by his tone.

        “You fools infiltrate this facility and liberate the very thing your ancestors attempted to seal away. Very clever,” the voice said. It was harsh and impersonal, and was complete monotone.

        “Who are you?” Mono asked, staring at the broken robot.

        “That is unimportant, taking into account your impending demise. Goodbye, clever ones. Oh, and I thank you for bringing out the last loose end for me. I appreciate the help.”

        Ten forms appeared above them, silently flying. They landed in front of the group, and they stared at each other. They all looked vaguely like a changeling, but with noticeable differences. The newcomers had reddish, leathery wings as opposed to the insectoid wings that Forty-Four and Chrysalis had. They also had pinkish, soft-looking spots instead of the holes on the regular changelings’ bodies. Their horns were solid and wicked-looking, a reddish sheen on them making it look as if they were covered in blood. Their reflective red eyes only accentuated the look.

        All in all, they exuded ‘deadly’.

        “Those... are not my children,” Chrysalis breathed.



Footnote: Level Up! (Mono)
Footnote: Level Up! (Chrome)
(Mono)New Perk — Counselor: You may be a bit naïve, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to make everybody happy. Permanent +1 to charisma.
(Chrome)New Perk — Observer: You’re constantly watching everything and everybody. You take in all information you possibly can before making a decision. Permanent +1 to perception.

> Chapter 4: DNA: Do Not Ask
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA - FALSE NOTIONS



CHAPTER FOUR - DNA: Do Not Ask



* * *


Diz


“Do you like them?” asked the voice emanating from the mostly dead robot. Somehow it was dripping with condescension despite being completely monotone. “I worked for decades perfecting the right variation of Taint. And, though they are not yet ready for their primary function, I think I’ve finally formulated the correct genetic configuration. However, this test run of the new and improved changelings will be just the thing to confirm my hypothesis.

“Bring the objective to me,” the voice announced. “Eliminate every other life form.”

Instantly the monstrous perversions of what I assumed used to be changelings leapt towards us, mouths opening onto rows of multiple teeth dripping with a faintly luminescent green saliva. Forty-Four had explained how changelings sustain themselves by feeding off of the positive emotions of others—somehow I didn’t think whatever these changelings had become sustained themselves in quite the same way.

Someone yelled “RUN!” as if doing so wasn’t the obvious course of action, and we scattered. A single one of these monstrosities was big enough to crush any one of us just by parking his rear on our ribcage, but what their new hulking forms had in strength, they lacked in speed and agility.

Our little group dashed between the beasties as they launched towards us, just in time to escape the creatures meeting in the middle with a satisfying CRACK of their skulls. That sort of thing would have easily knocked out an ordinary pony, and I assumed it would have done the same to an ordinary changeling, but as these things got up and shook their heads to clear the stars, all that registered on their faces was irritation.

“What ARE those things?!” Sunfire yelled from her hovering position overhead, looking down at the creatures with shock. She glanced at the hoofball bat still clutched in her hooves, but judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t quite as keen to try her luck batting these monsters around as she did with the robots. At least those machinations had been somewhat equine, something it was easy to imagine killing, if not easy in practice. But these things... there was just something wrong about them, as if they exuded distilled essence of ‘mindless hate’ through their armored skin.

“I don’t know, but maybe I can reason with them!” I announced. 

Nuclear Force, who had run out of the encroaching circle of death beside me, shot me a look that quite clearly said ‘Are you kidding?!’ 

“Just hear me out,” I chuckled humorlessly. “I know how it sounds, but every draconequus has a way with words.

“Attention mighty warriors!” I shouted to the monster-changelings as they continued to shake the addled state out of their heads. I concentrated pouring what little draconequus magic I had into my silver-tongue trick. I even lowered my mismatched feet to the ground so that I wouldn’t have to waste any energy floating. 

However, doing so made me aware that Nuclear was still standing beside me. My crimson-and-golden eyes quickly scanned the area, seeing that the rest of our group had already taken shelter in the ruins of the city street. I was really already referring to them as a group? Wow, that was fast—but hey, The Wasteland makes friends fast and enemies faster. I only hoped that The Wasteland didn’t eventually turn the former into the latter, like... No! Not thinking about that right now! 

“What are you doing out here, kid?!” I snapped at the striped unicorn, my voice laced with worry. “Go hide like the others! It’s not exactly safe at the moment!”

“If you’re not hiding, then I’m not hiding,” Nuclear stated firmly, making it clear that he wasn’t about to argue the point. “Besides, you already saved my life—what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t at least try to return the favor?”

Friend...? I... I hadn’t had a friend since... and I sure knew how that had ended. In fact, Nuclear kind of reminded me of him...

No! Nuclear did NOT remind me of him! And I would NOT let the first real friend I had made in what was left of Equestria end the way THAT one had!

“Alright,” I agreed reluctantly, wondering how I was ever going to live with myself if the teenaged equine was hurt because of my stupid idea. Then again, it was nice to have somepony who was giving me backup. “Just be ready to run.”

He nodded, his horn crackling faintly as he readied for a potential fire spell. I really, really hoped he wouldn’t need to use it, but I had a growing feeling that he most likely would.

“Yes, you!” I resumed shouting to the black behemoths. The majority of them having cleared their heads, they turned to face us, toothy jaws opening and more of that green goo oozing out. I would have thought it was cool if I didn’t fear I might soon be in those jaws. “What are a bunch of warriors like you doing here in boring old Applewood? You should be out there in the greater Wasteland, hunting prey that will actually put up a challenge worthy of  your skills!” 

The monster-changelings cocked their heads for a moment as they gazed at me. Great, I had them thinking, questioning their motives—dare I say it, this might actually work!

I shouldn’t have dared say it.

I shouldn’t have dared think it!

Just as quickly as they had looked quizzical, the monsters shook their heads once more and lunged at us.

Nuclear dove to one side and I to the other, the things barreling past us and into the buildings behind us. Each crashed through the solid concrete and steel skeletons of said buildings, apparently being able to barge through rock and metal much more easily than they could each other. The buildings collapsed on them, Force and I rapidly backtracking as the debris came raining down like chocolate milk. 

Not that it seemed to matter now, but these things were apparently immune to my silver tongue. I filed that information away for future reference should we ever come across such monstrosities again.

“Not exactly what I was planning,” I remarked. “But I love it when a plan doesn’t come together! This is much better.”

“Is it safe?” came Chrome’s soft voice from a nearby alleyway. “Nothing could have survived that, right?”

“Not that I know of,” I agreed. “Well, besides the great god Discord, but he’s a category all to himself when it comes to things like that.”

Apparently Discord was, in actuality, not alone when it came to things like that.

With an earsplitting roar, the monsters burst up out of the sea of broken concrete and steel, leaping into the air and beating their massive wings as they took flight. 

“Are they retreating?” Chrome inquired hopefully, though the tone of her voice gave away that she knew just as well as the rest of us that nothing of the sort was going to happen.

The monsters roiled up in the sky before scattering and diving down, branching off from one another towards the others’ respective hiding spots. The creatures’ horns ignited with morbid red light, firing columns of magic into the street. 

Mono and Chrome rushed out of their alleway as a beam burrowed itself into the ground they’d just been standing on, sending out waves of pulsating energy that crumpled the buildings on either side to buckled wrecks. Nuclear Force and I quickly followed the fleeing twins.

White Light and Sunfire were already in the air, so they didn’t have to worry about the exploding buildings below. However, they did have to worry about the gnashing teeth of the swooping abominations chasing them every which way. Thankfully their massive inertia kept them from changing directions too quickly, or the two pegasi would have been done for. As it was, they were able to abruptly turn whenever a pair of fangs got too close. I knew that couldn’t last; there were ten of those things up there and only two ponies!

This presented us earthborn folk with a rather difficult task (yes, I can float, but no, I can’t fly. The highest I can go is a few feet off the ground). Our pegasi were too busy dodging and flying for their lives to score many shots against the things, though what little they could do was thankfully enough to keep the heavy magical fire from glassing us down below with pinpoint accuracy. The monsters were still sending down beams, but haphazardly; we still had to dodge them, but White and Sunfire were preventing any careful aiming. 

Thank Discord for pegasi! Those two ponies were saving our lives, and it was time to return the favor.

“Fire!” I shouted, whipping out my Chaos Corp. pistols and blasting the beasties between bouts of dashing out of the way of the red lasers. Nuclear and the twins didn’t need to be told twice, levitating out their own weapons and blasting away at the airborne monsters. 

The monsters roared at the barrage of bullets, but as we kept firing I realized that pain was all our attack was causing them. Not a single one of them bore any wounds, even when struck in the sickly reddish-pinkish patches where an ordinary changeling’s holes would be. That armor was tough!

“This isn’t working,” I commented just in time to dive out of the way of another red laser. 

“You think?!” Nuclear Force snorted. Then, as if realizing something, the young striped unicorn scanned the wreck of the street and spotted Forty-Four firing his submachine gun from an alleyway that somehow had yet to be levelled. Force turned to me and called, “This way!”

The twins and I promptly followed, me floating again as fast as I could. I’ve spent most of my life floating, and it allowed for a lot more maneuverability than walking did. If my silver-tongue trick didn’t work, then I saw no reason why I couldn’t use my magic to float.

“Why are we headed this way?” Mono questioned over the explosions and roars of the mutant changelings. How had they gotten that way, anyway? It didn’t look like any transformation magic I’d ever read about, even of the draconequus variety. That voice, whoever it had been, had said something about Taint. What was Taint?

“I have some questions to ask a certain changeling queen,” Nuclear Force hissed, shoving his way past Forty-Four when he tried to block his way.

“Please, don’t bother her!” the smaller insect-like equine pleaded as we filed past. “She’s been through so much!”

“Oh, and we haven’t been through anything,” I remarked sarcastically. “I mean, it’s not like we’re staring death in the face with all those mutant changelings flying around out there.”

“Heed my child, mortals,” Chrysalis rasped warningly. The long-limbed creature was slumped over, her legs badly folded. Her breathing was heavy. “This is not a time to trifle with me.”

“Uh, yeah, I think it is,” Nuclear Force snapped. “Aren’t you like, the changeling-version of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Shouldn’t you be able to just cast a single spell and stop those things? My mother told me stories about you—according to her, you even overpowered Princess Celestia once!”

“That was over two-hundred years ago, you little wretch!” Chrysalis spat, the insect-like buzzing in her voice intensifying. Changeling queen or not, I was not liking this creature’s attitude, especially after we had just liberated her from a bicentennial prison sentence! The fact that she was scolding Nuclear definitely wasn’t helping either. I don’t take kindly to those who are abrasive to my friends. “I had been feasting on the most abundant supply of pure, true love I had ever eaten! I’ve haven’t wielded such power since, and right now I’m even weaker than my child here. I have been starved of love for far too long.”

“Love?” I echoed, an idea suddenly blossoming in my brain. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Mono wondered. 

“Mono, is your magic up and running again?” I asked excitedly, praying to Discord that my plan would work. 

“Yeah...” the monochromatic unicorn affirmed, not seeing where I was going with this. “Why?”

“Can you cast an illusion of White Light and Sunfire?” I requested. “You’ll need to keep it going long enough for the real ponies to get away from those monsters and keep them distracted.”

“I can do that, but only for so long,” Mono cautioned. “And the illusions can’t go too far or they start to fade. We won’t be able to send them far enough to lead those monsters away and give us time to make a getaway, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“It’s not,” I promised. “My plan is a little more lovey-dovey than that.”

Mono gave me an odd look before trotting to the end of the alleyway and igniting her horn. Across the street from our hideaway,  two copies of our pegasi companions materialized before launching themselves into the air. I really had to admire Mono’s skill—those doppelgangers looked identical to their originals, down to the last detail. 

There was a roar from the monsters as they realized they now had four ponies to eat rather than just two. After a few nervous moments that number dropped to just two again as the real White Light and Sunfire landed on the street and hurried over to our alleyway at Mono’s beckoning. 

“Thank... you...” White Light huffed between massive breaths. Sunfire looked equally exhausted. I couldn’t imagine what they’d just been through—it must have been like two fish trying to swim their way out of a school of great white sharks! “...Now, what’s the plan? How do we go about defeating those monstrosities or escaping them?”

“Simple,” I replied. “You and Sunfire should make out!”

“What?!” Chrome gasped.

“Did he just say what I think he said?” Mono called back over her shoulder, sweat beading on her face from the strain of maintaining two illusions. 

“Typical draconequus logic,” Chrysalis complained. “Or rather, lack thereof.”

“Trust me on this!” I encouraged. “I know it sounds insane, but Chryssie here needs love to power her magic. If we get enough of a charge going, maybe we’ll stand a chance against those creatures.”

“Do NOT call me ‘Chryssie’,” the changeling queen snarled. “To you, spawn of Discord, I am ‘your majesty’.”

“Whatever you say, Chryssie,” I dismissed, only half-listening. “Now come on, you guys! Kiss each other! Show some love! At least hug, or something!”

“Not that I don’t love Sunfire,” White Light spoke up. “But it is a little difficult to feel romantic when we’re in mortal peril.”

“This will be a tough one, then,” I mused. “I’ve never used my silver tongue as couples counseling. Um, does anybody know any romantic songs?”

“Diz, I really think we need to come up with another plan,” Nuclear urged. “No offense, but this is sounding crazy, even for you.”

“Who was that famous pony singer from before the war?” I wondered. “Oh, that’s right—Hound Dog, the king of rock and roll. He also had a few romantic slow songs, such as this ol’ classic:

“Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so,” I sang, throwing the full force of my silver tongue into the words.

Everypony save White Light and Sunfire stared at me like I was crazy, which wasn’t entirely an unfounded belief, but then again draconequui were considered crazy by all other sentient species before the war, back when other species actually knew who and what we were. According to the history books we had back in The City, the prewar draconequui had always thought things were the other way around. After all, what kind of species could call itself sane if they didn’t embrace the beauty of chaos?

Well, my friends could, for one thing. 

But draconequus philosophy wasn’t exactly the pressing issue at claw right now. The pressing issue was the spark I could see growing in White Light and Sunfire’s eyes as my voice worked its magic. Good, it was working!

“Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darlin I love you,
And I always will,” I sang on, putting an extra croon into the lyrics and motioning with my claws for White Light and Sunfire to get closer. 

At my prompting, each pegasus turned to look at their lover and seemed almost startled when they did so. 

“Is... is something the matter, White Light?” Sunfire asked, leaning in towards the other pegasus as she spoke, almost like she wasn’t even aware she was doing it. 

“No, nothing’s the matter... darling,” White Light replied, leaning in closer as well as Sunfire blushed. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice this earlier, but you look exceptionally beautiful today.” 

“Don’t I look beautiful every day?” Sunfire giggled. They were almost brushing each other’s lips by now.

Some of the others, especially Nuclear, had turned bright red themselves by now. Chrome respectfully looked away from the couple’s intimate moment while Chrysalis simply watched on with wide eyes, licking her lips. I nudged Nuclear, breaking him out of his trance, causing him to flinch as he realized he had been staring. He turned away in embarrassment.

I, however, leaned in close to the two pegasi and whispered “Now kiss already!”

They did, locking lips in a passionate smooch. 

“...Delicious...” Chrysalis murmured from behind us as if savoring a delectable meal. I guess that’s exactly what she was doing. “I haven’t had anything this filling since the invasion!”

Turning to see Chrysalis with a wide smile on her face, I floated over to her and snapped to get her attention. Sadly, I had yet to learn how to actually make my snaps do anything other than get people’s attention. I was a grown (well, just adult) draconequus for crying out loud, and I could only master the most basic of spells like floating and the silver tongue trick. Pathetic.

Oh well. I’d gotten this far without more advanced spells, so I reckoned I could go a little longer.

“Hey, Chryssie!” I called up, interrupting the love-glutton and earning a heated look. 

“What?!” she demanded. “I’m dining, in case you haven’t noticed!”

“Yeah, I have,” I noted. “And it’s kind of disgusting. But more to the point, do you have enough energy to use your super-changeling-queen-powers or something yet?”

“I just had my first real meal in two-hundred years and you expect me to waste it on you mortals?” Chrysalis asked incredulously. 

“Yes!” I snapped. “We did save your life, you remember. Don’t you think it’s time to return the favor?”

“Very well,” the queen mused. “But after I do this, my debt shall be repaid. And I shall not be trifled any longer by you pony folk. Especially not by you, spawn of Discord.”

“Fine, whatever,” I agreed exasperatedly. “Just blast those monsters out of the sky already!”

Chrysalis arose, no longer needing the support of Forty-Four. The changeling was preoccupied anyway with peppering his mutated brethren outside with his submachine gun. Striding past her child, the queen ignited her horn with a sickly green aura. The glow brightened with a sound like a swarm of angry hornets.

The queen’s eyes swept over the ten monsters still chasing after two constructs of light, narrowing as her crooked horn reached the apex of its charge before—

“No!” Chrysalis suddenly shouted, turning her head away from the monsters. Not only did this cause her horn to spark with the charged but unreleased magic; it also alerted the monsters to her presence and our hiding place. 

The illusion pointless now, Mono dropped the spell as the mutant changelings came rushing back.

“Just shoot them!” I insisted to the queen. “You said it yourself; they’re not your children!”

“But they once were!” Chrysalis protested as the mutants came charging down. “You know nothing of family if you want me to strike down my own!”

A lightning bolt shot up my spine, causing my mind to flare with heat as I suddenly became angry. “I know NOTHING of FAMILY?!” I roared, my chocolate milk blood boiling. “Don’t you DARE say I know nothing of family! At least I know enough to take action when one of your own turns against the whole of his race! At least I know that when you’re about to be killed by your own brother, and you know that if he succeeds he would then be responsible for the death of your species, you have to take charge and END HIM FIRST!”

Chrysalis gaped, shocked beyond words. The rest of the group was doing the same. 

“Diz...?” Nuclear’s voice was quiet. Sad, even.

I turned to him, fury still in my eyes, but my burning rage extinguished the moment I saw the look on his face. He was looking up at me with a mixture of fear that what I said was true and hope that it was not. The little striped unicorn, who was willing to risk his life for me. Who I could tell had grown to like me, even if I was supposed to be some kind of monster in pony and zebra lore alike. 

Nuclear Force really did remind me a lot of Dis—Distraction—especially now. The look in his eyes almost mirrored the way Dis had looked right before the end. Knowing I was about to crush him, in one way or another, yet hopeful just the same that I would be better than that. 

But I wasn’t better than that. 

I did what needed to be done, and I’ve hated myself for it for the rest of my life. 

“I did end my brother,” I confirmed. “But in doing so, I may—and pray—have just saved every other draconequus in my homelands. And they don’t even know it.

“So, Chryssie, if you don’t mind, please teleport us away or do something to get us out of here before your mutant ex-children rip us to shreds,” I finished. “You can leave me behind if you want, or you all can depart from my company after we get to where we’re going. But one thing’s for sure—anypony who is left here when those things crash into us is going to die.”

Without another word, Chrysalis’ horn flared bright green, and we were gone.


******

I’d never been teleported until that instant. It wasn’t at all like I had imagined, no seeing strange lights and feeling like you were in some in-between plane of existence just outside of reality. I had always really wanted to teleport just so I could experience that imagined place. 

But that’s not what teleporting was like. One moment you were someplace, and the next moment you were someplace else. That’s all there was to it. 

Where this ‘someplace’ was, though, was anypony’s guess. I guess I should just be thankful that I hadn’t been left behind, but all I could think about was the way my friends—especially Nuclear—had looked at me. Pretty much everything else seemed irrelevant at the moment. 

I almost wished Chrysalis had left me behind.

No! No, I do not wish Chrysalis had left me behind! Sure, I did something so horribly awful that nopony would ever be able to forgive me, but I had had to do it, or else I would have a lot more chocolate milk on my claws than just that of my brother. Maybe my newfound friends couldn’t forgive me for what I’d done. I wouldn’t blame them. 

But I had a god to find and a homeland to save, and saving every last draconequus left in this poisoned world was a lot more important than the death of a single draconequus and the loss of a few friends.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

So why didn’t I believe me?

I sighed. Well, whether my friends would accept me again or not—whether anything I’d done in the hopes of saving my species would count for anything or not—I wasn’t going to find out just by sitting here feeling sorry for myself. 

Let’s start with where I was.

I looked around, noting the lack of detail in the room I had been thrown into. It was a relatively large room, about the size of a standard house (at least I guessed it was; I’d never seen a real, intact standard house, only read about them in prewar books). As if that wasn’t strange enough, the room seemed to be composed entirely of smooth, white panels. Ceiling, floor, and walls were all made of the uniform squares. 

It was a perfect orderliness.

“What madness is this?!” I gasped, leaping into the air from where I’d been—gulp—actually touching those perfect pieces of order! Existential crisis or not, my natural draconequus instinct detested order the way most life forms detest anthrax. 

“Attention test subject *332*. Welcome to Equestrian Genetics testing lab *441*,” announced a disembodied voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere at once. It was just as monotone as the voice coming from the presumably dead robot had been, but it had a different quality. They definitely weren’t one and the same, but that wasn’t exactly making me feel any better. “Today you have been randomly selected from our list of paid volunteers to test product *434*, also known as working title *viper pistol*.”

“Viper pistol?” I gulped. I did not like the sound of that.

Suddenly one of the panels at the center of the floor rose up with a hissing noise, revealing a sort of table underneath above which floated a small green firearm. it looked like a smaller version of my Chaos Corp. pistols, if they were made of... plants?

After a moment of me staring at the thing and not knowing what to do, the monotone voice instructed “Test subject *332*, please pick up product *434*.”

Was that a hint of annoyance I detected in the mechanical voice?

“What if I don’t want to?” I questioned, not really sure where to look when the source of the voice seemed to be everywhere at once. 

“Then you shall not be paid and you shall be blacklisted from The Equestrian Genetics Volunteer Program,” the voice replied.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” I mused. “In fact, if that will get me out of here—”

“You shall also be teleported to the Equestrian Genetics dissection lab to be integrated in our latest line of user-friendly products for industrial, commercial, and domestic use,” the voice cut me off. “Your time to begin the test will end in ten, nine...”

“Wait!” I shouted. “I didn’t agree to this! I’m not test subject number whatever that number was!”

“Correction: according to form *846*, you are test subject *332*,” the voice scolded, if an emotionless voice could scold. “And you have knowingly signed the waiver, having been warned of the risks beforehoof. Eight, seven...”

“Fine, fine!” I called quickly, floating over to the table and plucking the gun from the air. “See? I have the gun! We’re all peachy now, right?”

“Test begins-begins-beg-be-b...” The voice glitched and fizzled out.. 

“Huh?” I wondered aloud as the voice dissolved into static. 

Suddenly, a new and different voice spoke. Unlike the first one, this voice was devoid of mechanicality. I could even hear haggard breathing, though I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing...

“...I don’t... much time...” the voice told me urgently between bouts of static and catching their breath. The voice sounded female, though it was scratchy, as if its owner had been gargling sandpaper. I couldn’t tell if that was her natural voice or just an effect of the static. “...Can’t help you out... Tests, but I can guide you... friends... get out of there!”

“My friends?” I echoed, perking up considerably. “Wait, who are you? How do I know I can trust you?”

I received only a bout of static as my answer before the mechanical voice returned as if nothing had happened.

“Test begins now,” the monotone voice finished. “Release targets.”

Targets? I could handle targets—targets didn’t shoot back. However, I had more important things to do than shoot at concentric circles. The owner of that second voice may or may not be trustworthy, but right now she was the only potential ally I had. 

But how was I going to get out of here?

Another panel on the far wall opened with a hiss as the panel that had given me the gun slid into the floor. A way out, perhaps? If so, that would be strikingly convenient. 

As it turned out, this hole was a way in. Out of the latest opening popped three small forms. They each possessed scales, wings, and a number of vicious-looking claws and teeth. 

“Baby dragons?” I wondered aloud. “I’ve heard you guys are intelligent—did that lady send you? Can you help me out of here?”

The dragons looked at me a moment, licked their scaly lips, and then leapt into the air, spewing fireballs at me.

“Whoa!” I gasped, ducking just in time to keep my head from being barbequed. “Can’t we talk about this? I’m sure you’d feel much less murderous if we just engaged in a little polite conversation!”

“Kill!” one of the dragon hatchlings cackled, swiping down at me with his claws. 

Claws... did baby dragons have claws? Did baby dragons have wings, for that matter? And since when did dragons of any age have glowing red eyes?!

These were definitely not ordinary dragons, which explained why my silver tongue trick didn’t work and why they weren’t harmless, like baby dragons would be of their own volition. I think. Anyway, it seemed my persuasive powers only worked on sentient beings, and sadly enough, it seemed no wise dragons would grow out of these little bundles of death.

That being said, I didn’t really feel any worse for firing the newfangled gun at the hatchlings than I would have gunning down a feral animal. That’s exactly what these things seemed to be. 

The bullet sliced into a dragon, which collapsed to the floor, beginning to violently convulse. Blood spurted from its mouth, its eyes dimming as scales were shed and its whole form turned a sickly ashen color. In a matter of seconds, it was a gray corpse.

What kind of bullets were these?!

I cried out in pain as a tiny fireball scorched my leg. Without thinking, I turned and fired another bullet at the offender. It was really weird feeling, the leafy softness of this plant-gun’s trigger, but it was even stranger the way the little monster just crumpled into another morbid heap. 

That left only one, which I realized rather quickly when it sliced up my back from behind. I screamed in agony as what felt like fire filled my veins, and if the dragon was breathing on my new wounds, that might be exactly what was happening. 

I flipped over in the air, throwing the dragon to the ground and firing at it before it had the chance to pick itself up. It too crumpled into an ashy lump like the others. 

“Test completed,” the voice congratulated, actually sounding pleased. “Test subject *332*, please proceed to testing lab *442* for the next test. Remember, your contributions to Equestrian Genetics keep Equestria strong in the war against the zebra menace!”

“The war is over!” I shouted angrily, losing my chocolatey blood rapidly. “Everyone lost! I finished your stupid test; now let me out before I bleed to death!”

“Health potions, grief counseling, and a complimentary cake will be served upon completion of the tests,” the voice promised. “However, if you do not proceed to the next testing lab within the next ten seconds, you will be relocated to the dissection lab.

“Ten...” it counted.

A wall panel hissed open, near the one that had allowed the entry of those mutated dragons. Beyond it I could see another testing lab, looking almost identical to the one I was currently trapped in. I needed a healing potion now, or I was going to pass out from blood loss. I highly doubted that mechanical voice would provide any medical assistance, and I didn’t know if my potential new ally could even hear me or see me right now. Thus, I’d probably just continue losing blood until I died and journeyed up to the big chaos in the sky.

“Nine...” the voice threatened.

“Wait a minute...” I thought aloud. “Why didn’t I think of this before? If you can’t find a way, make one!”

“Eight...” the voice went on.

I floated over to one of the walls perpendicular to the wall I was expected to go through. 

“Seven...” the voice continued.

I took out the bullseye case that had taken the bullet for me back during my first encounter with ponies--what, had that really been earlier today?! Wow, time sure does fly.

“Six...” the voice kept going.

Opening the case, I pulled out a thin, black, floppy circle.

“Five...” the voice warned.

I slapped the dark spot onto the wall, where it stuck fast.

“Four...” the voice intoned. 

Without a moment to lose, I leapt through The Chaos Corp. Portable Hole and floated on through to the other side. 

“Three...” I heard the voice carry on as if I was still in the testing lab once I had reached the other side of the wall. 

I peeled off the Portable Hole from my end and stuffed it back inside its casing, a material specially enchanted to not be affected by the Hole’s magic, which thankfully was also enchanted to not make a hole in me whenever I touched it. 

“Two...” I finished for my little bodiless ‘friend.’ “One.”

Nothing happened.

Ah, how sweet nothing is sometimes.

I reflected on that tidbit of wisdom for a parsec or two before I became bored. I looked around the immediate area to try and alleviate that boredom (and maybe find a healing potion and, you know, not die).

I appeared to be in a corridor of some kind, composed of metal and floored by a thin walkway. I was glad I didn’t actually need to walk on the rusted remains of said walkway, instead floating over to a door in the wall and quickly making my exit. 

“Praise Discord,” I breathed as I floated into the next room. A sign hanging down from the ceiling announced ‘Equestrian Genetics Potions Lab 228.’If there were any healing potions in this facility, they had to be in here. 

I floated as fast as I could over to one of the many fridges lining the walls, dripping chocolate milk as I went. I reached for the handle and attempted to throw the door open, and in so doing nearly dislocated my shoulder.

“You are not an authorized Equestrian Genetics potions scientist,” that mechanical voice came again. “And, as such...”

The voice dissolved into static again. What was with this place? It had obviously survived the balefire bomb that struck Applewood, which I assumed we were still in, but it certainly hadn’t aged well in two-hundred years. Well, a lot of it hadn’t, anyway.

Then again, maybe that was just a sign of—yes, my ally!”

“...Only speak to you when the automated...” the hopefully friendly voice that actually sounded alive announced. “...Bad connection...but can hack... for you...”

The living voice went the way of its mechanical counterpart before even the static cut off completely. However, with a loud BUZZ the fridge door unlocked with a click.

“Thank you!” I called to my ally, hoping she could hear me. 

Throwing the door fully open, I rummaged through all kinds of potions marked with various labels—shrinking elixir, love potion, more cateye, to name a few—and finally found a marvelous, wonderful healing potion!

Yanking it out and sending several other potions crashing to the floor, I downed the whole thing. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt my body restitching itself back together, but downed another healing potion just to be sure. I had lost a lot of blood, after all.

The crisis of my imminent death averted, my brain was finally able to realize that I wasn’t alone.

My eyes widened as I surveyed the bodies. They were very, very old. They were probably only skeletons by now, really, though I couldn’t tell. The hulking metal armor was caked in rust, obscuring even the slightest bodily feature.

“Steel Rangers?” I wondered aloud. I’d heard about these guys. Apparently, they were Equestria’s toughest soldiers during the war, though of course that hadn’t counted for anything when the balefire bombs hit, killing off everypony they had been protecting and a good many of their own numbers as well. 

What could have happened here to kill so many? Why were there corpses of Equestria’s finest littering the floor of a genetics lab, of all places?

I floated over and attempted to lift the visor of one, a little surprised that I could, with all the rust that had eaten away at the armor. Out spilled marbles. Hundreds of tiny colorful glass orbs.

“What the...?” I asked nopony. That was weird, and I knew weird. I was a draconequus, the living definition of weird. If I thought something was weird, then it was downright freaky to anypony else. And, though I normally liked things that were weird, this was a little macabre for my taste.

I checked a few other suits, finding everything from confetti to old, rotted candy in them. Not a single actual corpse was among them.

What had happened to these ponies? I highly doubted somepony had taken the trouble to set up a platoon of Steel Ranger armor in poses of death and then filled them up with party goods.

Well, whatever had happened to them, it had happened over two-hundred years ago. Whatever had done this was long gone, and I had more pressing matters to attend to than puzzle over a bicentennial mass murder mystery. 

However, as I floated towards the door opposite the one I had come in, I spotted a small satchel laying next to a large old book. Hoping I might have found something interesting—I’d already filled my bigger-on-the-inside pockets with plenty of healing potions from the surprisingly still-functional fridge—I rummaged through the satchell to find that it was empty, save a small booklet that looked absolutely puny compared to the larger tome, and one of those leg-mounted terminals the ponies of prewar Equestria used to wear. What did they call them? PipDucks?

Well, anyway, the screen was cracked, and the only thing I could do to a complex machine was mess it up. I tossed it back into the satchel and looked at the smaller book instead, flipping through its pages. They were filled with the mouth-written scrawls of an earth pony or pegasus, and the paper and ink had done remarkably well to weather the two centuries since it was written. There were even a few diagrams and pictures whose meaning I could not discern. 

At the front of the book was a title page that read ‘This diary belongs to: Screwball.’

A diary? Eh, maybe I could sell it to a historian at one of the larger settlements. I had planned to go to such a place eventually anyway to see if I could find anypony who knew anything about Discord, before I had become entangled in this mess. I only wish I could have been entangled longer; it was nice to have friends, for however much longer I could keep them.

I pocketed Screwball’s diary and looked at its big brother, ‘The Book of Chaos: Draconequus Spells and Enchantments for Dummies.’ I laughed at the last part—typical draconequus humor. This book looked even older than the two centuries Screwball’s diary had weathered, though it looked even more lively than its little sister. I was more than a little curious how a draconequus text had ended up in Equestria, if this even was a draconequus text and not somepony’s idea of a joke, but all of that left my mind when I saw the author.

“Discord,” I read. I quickly flipped through the pages to find that they contained nothing but scribbles. It was even written in Gibberish! It was a language all draconequui understood, and I don’t think I need to mention that it was a language that no other living being understood. I remembered the sacred texts back in The City, all penned by Discord and his right-claw followers back in the earliest years of the homelands.

That didn’t definitely mean that Discord had indeed written this book, but it did mean that some draconequus had. 

Almost shaking with anticipation in the hopes that somehow Discord had written this book, I flipped to the first page, made of some creature’s old tanned hide, seeing a line of scribbles. There was no pattern to the scrawl, no rhyme or reason, nothing that should have logically conveyed any message. 

But I understood it. 

“Yes, this book was written by Discord,” I read aloud, making sounds with my tongue that were just as nonsensical as the words I was reading. “Keep it with you, and it will impart to you the secrets of draconequus magic.”

“I wish,” I snorted, switching back to Equestrian, which had been the common language even in my homelands before the war, though I couldn’t imagine why. Though I was handy with the silver tongue trick and floating, that was literally about all I could do. I was decent with a gun, but then again so was most everypony these days. Regardless of whether or not this book would be of use to me, though, I was definitely keeping it. Who knows? It might even lead to me to Discord!

Wait a minute... The Gibberish had told me ‘Yes,’ almost as if it was answering my question about its authenticity...

Feeling a little creeped out, I turned the page and read another line of scribbles. 

“Yes, I answered your question,” I read. “And yes, I can even lead you to Discord. I can also even teach someone with your level of skill the most powerful spells known to draconequui. But first, don’t you have some friends to be searching for?”

I snapped the book shut, a shiver running down my spine. 

But... Why was I afraid? I’d just found exactly what I had been looking for! Er, well, the next best thing! I had found something that could lead me to Discord!

However, this book was right--I did have some friends to search for. Whether or not they still considered themselves my friends was irrelevant; they needed my help, and I was going to give it to them.

After stuffing the tome into my pocket, which was thankfully enchanted to accept objects larger than its opening—draconequus magic, don’t ask, I floated out the door opposite the one I had used to enter the potions lab. Outside was another hallway, this one lined with doors leading to other potion labs and whatnot. Like the lab, the lighting was just barely functional, and it was clear nopony had trotted these halls in over two centuries. 

So why had the testing lab been so clean?

And while we were on the subjects of questions, why had I ended up in this facility at all? Had Chryssie just teleported us as far away from her mutant children as she could send us, not really knowing where that was? I certainly didn’t see her choosing this place intentionally. Also, why hadn’t we ended up in the same place when we teleported? The testing lab I had almost died in was large enough to accommodate the whole space of the alleyway we had been standing in, so shouldn’t we have appeared together just as we left together?

Something truly strange was going on here...

Well, whatever it was, I intended to find out. Knowledge is power, and I’d need all the power I could obtain to get myself and my friends out of this place alive. And it wasn’t all bad—after all, I had acquired this handy little plant pistol. What had that automated voice called it? A ‘viper pistol?’ I knew I’d never seen viper venom do what this gun had done to those mutant baby dragons. And yes, I’ve encountered viper venom before—a few draconequui have it. When you think about it, the whole of the draconequui species is really just a hodge-podge of the species of the world. Someone is bound to have viper venom.

Of course, I hadn’t been quite so lucky in the genetic lottery. All I got was a silver tongue and a not-unique knack for guns. Feeling the weight of The Book of Chaos in my pocket, though, I smiled at the thought that maybe all that would change soon.

But first things first. Find friends, then learn draconequus magic as I look for Discord.

Of course, that was much easier said than done.

This place was massive. I floated down hallway after hallway, peering into dusty old labs and other such rooms, to find everything but my friends. There were the skeletons of ponies in moth-eaten lab coats, the ruins of old arcane science projects littered about them, and even a few more of those mutant baby dragons that I had to take out. Unfortunately, my ‘viper pistol’ ran out of ammunition sooner than I would have liked, but I still had my Chaos Corp. pistols, so it didn’t really matter.

For the life of me, I couldn’t seem to find anything that wasn’t a laboratory, and not even a testing lab among them. If I had been deposited in such a room, then it was as good a guess as any that the others had ended up in such rooms as well. Of course, I only realized this after I had wandered countless hallways and lost all sense of how to get back to the line of testing labs I had started in. I may have been right next door to one or all of my friends in that orderly room, and I never would have known.

I don’t know how long it had been—hours, maybe, but there was no way to tell time down here in the dimly lit labyrinth of laboratories—when I first spotted something that wasn’t a mutant dragon or a skeleton. I’d finally worked my way out of what seemed to be some kind of wing dedicated to potions when I encountered doors labeled ‘Observation.’ 

Curious as always, I floated into one to find a small room with a few elevated seats in front of a glass window. Beyond that window was—

“Mono!” I gasped. “Chrome!”

I rushed to the window, pressing my face to the glass, not quite able to believe what I was seeing.

The unicorn twins were in a testing lab much like I had been, walled exclusively with those disgustingly orderly white panels. However, a section of panels in the center of the room had risen up to wall off each pony from her sister. I could see on either side of the wall through the observation window, but I did not like what I saw.

“Mono!” Chrome cried out to her sister from where a plethora of mechanical arms were holding her in place. Suddenly a surge of electricity crackled across the arms, shocking Chrome and causing her to cry out in pain.

As if that wasn’t horrific enough, Mono was screaming on the other side of the wall with what looked like the same excruciating agony, though the arms that held her in place didn’t so much as spark. Quicker than I could react, the process was reversed—Mono was shocked and Chrome left alone, even though both cried out in pain as if they were experiencing the electrification simultaneously. 

I pounded on the glass, calling out the twins’ names, but not so much as a crack appeared. This glass must have been enchanted to prevent anything getting into the observation room—the architects of this nightmarish place had never counted on someone trying to get into the testing labs.

I whipped out my Portable Hole, applied it to the glass, and sailed through. I hadn’t been choosing any particular twin, but I ended up on Chrome’s side and raced across to her.

“Hold on!” I called. “I’ll get you of there!”

“Interference with testing,” that robotic voice intoned, clearly displeased. Then, after a burst of static “...Can’t release them from here... but found... zebra hybrid... fire test...”

...Zebra hybrid? I didn’t know anypony who was a—... wait. Did she mean Nuclear Force? I paused for a moment, stunned, before shaking my head. Yes, he had stripes, but I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Maybe he just painted them on or something. I would ask him about it later... when the time was right. And I wasn’t really sure if my ally was referring to him or not. What did I know about ponies, much less zebras? I hadn’t even met a living pony until earlier today.

Well, whoever she was referring to, they’d have to wait while I freed Mono and Chrome. I only hoped I could find the ‘fire test’ after I did so. 

I attempted to pry the mechanical arms off of the petite Chrome, but to no avail. Of course they would be strong enough to withstand average brute force, otherwise the twins would’ve broken out by themselves. Looked like we would have to do this shoot-’em-up style.

Backing up, I pulled out my dual Chaos Corp. pistols and began firing away at the arms. Thankfully the enchantment on the bullets prevented them from ricocheting and hitting a living being, if a living being wasn’t the first thing they struck. Otherwise, my rescue of Chrome might prove more deadly than these ‘tests.’

The arms finally crumpled under the force, some ripping completely. Chrome dropped to the ground. 

“Thank... you...” I heard her wheeze before coughing up what looked like blood. Strangely enough, I thought I could hear Mono saying the same thing at the same time on the other side of the wall. Must be the weird echo effects in here.

I fished out one of the healing potions I’d snagged from the laboratories and dashed to the other side of the barrier to liberate Mono in the same way. I needn’t have bothered—the arms were releasing the taller unicorn of their own volition (if machines had volition) as they pulled into the wall. I must have messed up the test too badly for that AI to continue it. In your face, disembodied whatever-you-are! Then again, that didn’t leave any openings for my ally to give us any extra assistance.

“Diz...” Mono wheezed as the wall halving the room collapsed back into the floor. Chrome raced over and the two sisters embraced, Mono stroking her smaller sister’s mane as Chrome tried to hold back tears. “Thank you.”

What was that? Did both of their mouths move when Mono had talked?

“I’m so glad I finally found you guys,” I said, ignoring the latest weirdness for now. “I’ve been searching for hours!”

“Have you found anypony else?” they both asked. At the same time. “And do you know where we are?”

My eyes widened. What was going on?!

Seeing my look, they both announced “Sorry, we can’t help but talk like this—we were injected with something the moment we appeared in this ‘testing lab.’ It’s like, whatever one does, the other has to do. It’s been wearing off... When they first injected us, we even had to breathe at exactly the same time!”

Now that was creepy. I couldn’t imagine being bound to doing whatever someone else did, or having them bound to doing whatever I did. Or maybe they even made the same decisions at the same time, like their consciousness was temporarily melded or something... Ugh, just thinking about it gave me the chills!

“As I’m guessing you gathered from that mechanical voice, we’re in someplace called ‘Equestrian Genetics’,” I told them. “I have yet to find anypony else, but it sounds like my ally has just told us where to find Nuclear Force.”

“Ally?” they echoed.

“You heard that second voice cutting in over the mechanical one?” I asked. They nodded, still synchronous. Wow, that was creepy. “I don’t know who she is, but she’s been helping me. Already saved my life once.”

They both nodded again, looking mixed between relieved and suspicious, just as I had been at first, and maybe still was at least a little. Er, wait... maybe it wasn’t my ally they were suspicious of. Maybe it was me.

After all, who could trust a being who had killed his own brother?

“I know I can’t expect you to forgive me for doing what I did and not even telling anypony about it,” I sighed. “And I wouldn’t blame you if you decided you’d rather not see me anymore after this. But right now, you all need me, and I’m going to do my best to get you all out of this place.”

“I never blamed you, Diz,” they both said, surprising me and smiling up at me. 

“What...?” I stated. “But... Why?”

“Oh, that’s just me talking—it’s Mono,” they told me. “Sorry for the confusion—if you think this is weird, just imagine what it’s like to be experiencing this firsthoof. But you already proved yourself when you rescued us. Three times, I might add, in the past day alone.”

“...Thank you,” I whispered, tears in my eyes. It was all I could think to say. I knelt down and embraced them. Mono hugged back, but Chrome wriggled out of my arms and backtrotted hastily. 

My blood ran cold as I realized what was happening. Mono had forgiven me, and even though they had spoken at the same time, that didn’t mean Chrome had.

“Is something wrong, Chrome?” the twins asked. 

“Is something wrong?!” each now inquired incredulously, though only Chrome looked angry. “He killed his sibling! Nopony should ever kill their sibling!”

“But he said if he didn’t then the whole draconequus race would die!” the twins debated with themselves, though I guessed Mono was back at the helm.

“And how exactly would the death of one’s own brother save one’s own species?” each demanded to know, both speaking for Chrome once again. “What would killing him accomplish?”

Chrome still looking like she was seething, and Mono looked uncertain.

No, Mono, please... I thought desperately. I can’t lose more friends!

Then maybe you shouldn’t have killed the one friend you started with, a thought popped into my head.

No! If I hadn’t then it would be over for all of draconequus kind! I knew that!

“I have to admit, I’m not sure how killing a sibling can save a race,” each spoke, Mono looking at me questioningly, leading me to believe she was the source of the inquiry. 

“I can tell you,” I promised. Then, getting a thought, I continued with “But not until we find everypony. You all deserve to know. Then you can decide if you want to leave me.”

Mono seemed to think about this for a moment, and then they both nodded.

There was a loud clank, followed by a buzzing noise that slowly accelerated to form a voice.“Testing restarts in ten, nine...” that mechanical voice announced. Mono and Chrome’s faces acquired a deathly pallor. I must admit I was hoping for another intrusion from my ally first. And... There! After some static, the non-mechanical voice spoke “...Hacked into... finally able to... there!”

Another blare of static obliterated her, but just before it did, a panel opened in the wall opposite the observation room. Looking past it, I saw another identical testing lab, followed by another panel’s opening. So it went, on and on, forming a sort of hallway through who knew how many testing labs. 

And at the very end of them, something warm glowed, like a fire...

“Emberwing!” both twins exclaimed, galloping towards the glow. 

“Wait, that might be dangerous—” I tried to warn them, taking off in hot pursuit.

They didn’t heed my words, though I really couldn’t blame them. For all I knew, it could be our friends in danger, and how could I live with myself knowing I didn’t get there in time to save them when they might have needed help?

I zoomed after them as the far-off glow began to take focus, and then, suddenly, screams pierced our ears. This struck a chord with me for two reasons, the first being that one of my ears is that of a rabbit and everything is amplified. The second was that one of those screams belonged to Nuclear Force.

Why was I so desperate to help him especially, when everypony needed our help? Why was I so drawn to somepony who reminded me of Dis? Shouldn’t that kind of thing push me away? 

Maybe... Maybe I saw a second chance in Nuclear. A chance not to lose another little brother.

“Hang on, Nuke!” I shouted, speeding ahead past the twins—they were even walking synchronously—and barging into the far testing lab. What I saw made my chocolate milk run cold.

Three members of our group were in this one testing lab. Emberwing had indeed been the source of that glow, but he wasn’t the only thing on fire. We just hadn’t been able to see the others through the opening in the wall. 

Nuclear Force was held aloft with mechanical arms, just like Mono and Chrome had been. Only these arms were awash with a different kind of energy than electricity. An orange glow flowed over the robotic pistons and joints, culminating in Nuke’s horn, where the magic of the machines was forcing his horn to fire a continuous plume of green flame. 

The little striped unicorn’s eyes were squeezed shut, his teeth gritted, and I could see sweat beading on his coat. His horn was glowing red-hot, like a piece of metal with an electric current running through it. I shuddered as I stared at it, imagining what that must’ve felt like. When it became too much for him to take, he screamed again, his fire burning more ferociously. In turn, the other two captives added their voices to the chorus of agony.

The recipient of this flame was Emberwing in the center of the room. He was continually dying, the flame burning away at his already fiery form and reducing it to ash only to have the fire flare up and give him new life. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be dying over and over, knowing there would never be any release on the other side. 

Finally, Sunfire was caught up in more mechanical arms on the far left of the lab, the fire washing off of Nuclear Force and Emberwing burning her flesh. However painful her expression, her horrendous agony at being burned alive, her flesh didn’t blacken or melt. It was as if the fire was forcing her to stay alive just so she could endure it.

What WAS this place?! What kind of laboratory made its products and then tested them by subjecting sentient beings to this level of pain?!  

I pretty much lost it at that point. 

I raced forward to Nuclear, the unintentional spark of this fire. I drew my pistols, preparing to free him in the same way that I had freed Chrome, only to discover that my chambers were empty. Everything from those raiders to the mutant changelings outside and those dragons inside had depleted my ammunition. I also knew I couldn’t use the Portable Hole—it wouldn’t work on surfaces charged with magic. 

“No!” I shouted, pounding my mismatched fists on the robot arms and receiving a burn from the fiery magic in the process. Then, turning to Mono and Chrome, I implored “Can you guys fire at those arms? We have to get Nuclear out if we’re going to stop this evil machine!”

The twins nodded and proceeded to do just that. The bullets slowly yet surely began to crumple the arms, but slowly wasn’t going to cut it for me. I could tell Nuke wasn’t going to make it much longer. I’d seen draconequui overload on magic back in The City, and it was NOT a pretty sight. If this kept up much longer, the little striped unicorn’s horn was likely to explode, and a good chunk of his skull along with it. I could only imagine what would happen if we hadn’t arrived when we did.

Suddenly, I realized there was only one way to stop this. 

Maybe that’s why I had been drawn to Nuclear Force. Somehow, maybe I had just known that one day I could pay for my crimes, be redeemed. Save the life of one little brother for the life of the other I had taken.

Almost shaking with the knowledge of what I had to do, I lowered my feet to the ground. Taking a deep breath, probably the last I would ever take, I stepped in front of Nuke’s fiery blast. 

“Test interrupted,” the mechanical voice intoned disapprovingly. With the chain of torture broken, that mad machine would have no further reason to continue its insane ‘test.’ Just like when I had interrupted the twin’s test, the apparatus would be terminated and every ‘volunteer’ would go free. 

I could already hear my ally’s voice cutting in over that of the machine. With any good fortune, she would have enough time in her sporadic communication to help my friends find White Light and eventually escape. 

I would then have finally paid for my crime.

“I thought you claimed that if not for your ‘crime,’ the whole of the draconequus species would be extinguished?” my ally told me as my chocolate milk boiled and searing pain raced across every cell of my body.

Wait, hadn’t my ally’s voice been that of a female? And where was the static? The breaks in communication?

“I’m not your ally,” the voice corrected me. It was definitely male, and even though I’d never heard it the voice somehow sounded familiar. “I’m your teacher.”

Teacher? I thought.

“Yes,” the voice affirmed, almost with irritation a if I wasn’t picking up on this as quickly as he had hoped. It had heard my thoughts?! “And now it’s time for lesson number one. Imagine you’re eating a hoofball bat on The Sun but you don’t have a trombone.”

This must be some dying illusion, I realized. My brain’s just firing up its neurons a final time before they’re finally fired up for real.

That being said, I might as well enjoy my final thoughts. And besides, this was chaos logic. I could roll with that. 

But if I don’t have a trombone, how will I invite the Monkey Lords over for tea and crumpets? I wondered, half laughing on the inside, half burning on the out.

Wait, only half burning?

“Ah, you begin to understand,” the voice announced approvingly. “Now go melt an idiom before you tie up all the world’s grass in knots.”

Sounds like something a telepathic walrus would do, I thought, tears steaming up out of my eyes as the fire from Nuclear’s horn died down at last. The last thing I saw was his astonished face. Forgive me, Lil’ Bro. I’m sorry I could only be the big brother you needed, instead of the one you deserved.

“And the gaslamp freezes,” that odd voice said as the world blackened like my charred, crisped hide.


******

“...”

“...D...”

“...Diz...”

“...DIZ!”

“The fire escape ate the marmosets!” I shouted as I came out of the blackness of death, expecting to see The Disorderly Gates opening to let me into The Eternal Chaos. I’d heard that it was custom for souls of the recently departed to say something fittingly chaotic when they reached the afterlife, and so I eagerly complied.

But instead of floating in a formless void facing a glorious world for the dead, I realized I was laying on a decaying mattress. It was dark, to be sure, but there were dim magical torches lining the stony tunnel. 

I looked around frantically, taking in the concerned faces of the five ponies and one phoenix looking down at me.

What were they doing in the threshold of The Eternal Chaos? Didn’t ponies go to a different afterlife when they died? Not that I wasn’t overjoyed to see my friends again, mind you, but it was quite a shock. I mean, after all, would beings who were historically famous for thriving upon order ever be happy in an eternity of chaos? Maybe my this afterlife was the only one there was, and you went to it whether you were a pony or a draconequus. 

But that didn’t make sense either, as I’d just saved three of the people now looking down at me! What were they doing in an afterlife of any kind?!

Wait... Something else was wrong here...

Well, the dimly lit tunnel probably should have clued me in, though I suppose I can blame that on the disorientation of being brought back from the verge of death. That is to say, this wasn’t The Eternal Chaos, and I was alive!

“But... How?” I asked. It was all I could say.

“It’s a long story,” Nuclear Force piped up with a smile. “But suffice it to say that we got out alive—all of us. You picked the perfect place to be burned alive. There’s a LOT of healing stuff in a genetic engineering factory.”

Then the striped unicorn leaned down and wrapped his hooves around me. I hugged back.

“Thank you, Diz,” he said quietly, before getting back to his hooves. 

“No,” I said, shaking my head and laughing a little. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Nuclear inquired, looking confused.

“Well, you were the one who insisted on taking Diz with us when the rest of us thought he was dead,” Mono replied.. “...Oh, and sorry about that, Diz.”

“Wait, Diz couldn’t have known that,” White Light pointed out.

“I know now. And I wouldn’t have blamed any of you for leaving me behind anyway,” I added. 

“After saving my life, on more than one occasion I might add, you didn’t expect me to do everything I could to return the favor?” Nuclear snorted with a smile.

“But, even after I...?” I stated bluntly, confused.

“I don’t care what you did in the past,” Nuclear said dismissively. “I know you know, and that makes me think that you had good reason to do whatever you did back then.”

“I agree,” White Light affirmed. “You rescued Sunfire from that horrible torture. I care not what you did before I met you; the fact that your rescued Sunfire is all that matters to me.”

There was a comfortable silence I could have waited in forever.

“I can’t believe you ponies!” Chrome suddenly blurted, shattering whatever illusion I had had that everything was resolved. “Of course it matters what he did! He killed his own brother! I don’t care what it accomplished—nopony should ever murder their sibling!”

At least Chrome was speaking by herself now, that freaky connection she shared with her twin having worn off.

“Chrome...” Mono said cautiously, putting a hoof on her smaller sister’s shoulder, but the petite unicorn angrily shrugged it off.

“No!” Chrome snarled. “Sure, Diz may think he had a reason to do what he did. But that doesn’t change anything. He probably thought he was doing the only thing he could for the greater good—but what you don’t realize is that he’ll do the same to us whenever he’s faced with a choice between us or the greater good, even if there is no greater good!”

“No greater good?” White Light echoed. “But he saved you from those machines, and Sunfire as well!”

“Only because it served him to do so at the time,” Chrome went on. “Only because it helped him get closer to what he thinks is ‘the greater good.’ But what does that really mean, anyway? He’s looking for his god, but what kind of god is he talking about?!”

“He already told me,” Mono jumped in. “I told you, remember? Discord is supposed to be the god of chaos, which apparently has to do with making a world full of floating houses, chocolate rain, and no radiation. It doesn’t sound like it’s that a bad of a world, actually.”

“Maybe it’s not, to him,” Chrome continued. “But didn’t you hear what The Night Guard called him?”

“Who’s ‘The Night Guard’?” I asked, really not liking where this was going.

“Remember that voice that helped us?” Mono explained. “She was a lunar pegasus—they have bat wings instead of feathery ones—who apparently was trapped in Equestrian Genetics like us. After she helped us out, we found her and we each helped each other escape. She led us down here to these tunnels running beneath Applewood where The Night Guard lives. They’re some of the descendants of Princess Luna’s royal guards. They even offered us a place to stay as long as we want.”

That sounded pretty good, if my friends would let me hang around to enjoy it with them.

“Yes, they did,” Chrome went on. “They also didn’t expect one of our number to be a draconequus, even if you did help Nocturne—our Night Guard ally—escape. They almost didn’t let us bring you in. I asked one why, and he showed me a book of records taken from the castle at Canterlot. In it was the story of the truth about Discord.”

“So that’s where you were,” Mono intoned disapprovingly, glaring. “Listening to the propaganda of the descendants of ponies who helped blow up the world and poison it with radiation. Listening to them rather than to one of our own friends, who helped to save your life.”

“He’s not my friend!” Chrome spat. “And if you read that book, he wouldn’t be your friend either.”

“I... I suppose I do owe you all an explanation,” I sighed. “I should have told you the moment I met you. I’m sorry for for that, but please just hear what I have to say. Then you can decide whether or not you want me to part company.”

“You don’t have to explain anything,” Nuclear announced firmly. White Light nodded and, judging by the expression of Mono, she too agreed. Sunfire, who had said nothing so far, still looked unsure.

“I do,” I insisted. “If I don’t, it will eat this group from the inside out, myself included.”

Nuclear still looked like he’d rather the issue be dropped completely, but I’d made up my mind. I owed this to them.

“I mentioned that I came from a place called ‘The City’,” I told them. They all waited, watching and listening intently, especially Chrome. She was still staring daggers at me. “I’d also tell you my home country’s name, but it has none. Most draconequui just call it ‘the homelands.’ Anyway, this city is a place kind of like the Stables I heard Equestria built to protect ponies from the balefire attack. Only this city was built long before The Great War, and long before Equestria. Like the homelands, The City never really had any other name than ‘The City.’ It was simply the oldest relic of the beginnings of draconequus civilization. Even we don’t know how far back that goes.

“Though the homelands weren’t directly involved in The Great War, we were still pretty much wiped from the face of the planet when the balefire attack occurred. The City was left intact, though, due to the fact that it was built deep underground in a massive cave system,” I continued. “And since the capital of the homelands was in The City, it was expected that the family of The Lord Regent, who had been ruling in Discord’s name ever since he left the homelands millennia ago, would continue to govern the draconequui in the chaotic manner our god would have wanted. But that didn’t happen.

“After the balefire attack, a company called Chaos Corp. pulled a coup d'etat and took over The City and all that remained of the draconequus species,” I went on. “They kept anyone from leaving and ran The City just like the soulless business they were. Sure, they provided us with the finest quality of products like my trusty Chaos Corp. pistols and my Portable Hole, but they forced us to work in their factories as well and standardized everything. Each day was the same, every moment an endless work shift of slave labor. Slavery is bad enough, but they had us doing the same thing every day! Do you have any idea what that’s like to a draconequus?! It would drive others mad. For us, if you were worked too hard, you would be driven sane. And when a draconequus is driven sane, his brain ceases to function as a thinking individual. He becomes a mindless zombie, devoid of all imagination and free will. A sane draconequus is even worse than a dead draconequus.

“Why weren’t you driven sane as well?” White Light questioned.

“Chaos Corp. runs tests on the populace,” I explained. “They recognized that I had a gift for the silver tongue, and so they took me from my family before I was even old enough to remember them and put me in a special training program. They took my brother as well in the hopes that he had the same gift. They were planning to use us as advertisers. 

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Mono commented.

“If you could hypnotize people, would you use your gift to convince your own species that they should work themselves to death and be grateful to their slave drivers?” I asked.

Mono looked paler than usual and shook her head.

“That’s what they expected me to do,” I continued. “They allowed me full access to the library of Discord’s palace so that I may further my gift by learning from the texts of the master Himself. They never expected me to learn the truth from those texts, realizing that Chaos Corp. was everything a draconequus was NOT supposed to be. I tried to tell my little brother this truth, but Chaos Corp. had eaten him alive. He had grown to believe that everything they said was true. He wouldn’t listen to me.”

“And so you killed him,” Chrome snarled.

“And so I tried to escape The City,” I corrected. “I’m trying to find Discord so I can bring Him back to the homelands. Then he can stop Chaos Corp. and everything will go back to the proper order... Or rather, lack thereof. Without Him, Chaos Corp. will eventually work the draconequus race to extinction, or worse.

“And, when I was escaping, they sent my brother after me to try and stop me,” I told them. “They told him to kill me. And he tried. It came to a standoff where it was either him or me, so I chose to give the draconequus people the only fighting chance they had and killed him before he could cut off my search forever.

“I think I did the right thing,” I finished. “And it will haunt me for the rest of my life.”






























Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Resourcefulness—Running out of ammunition doesn’t stop you! Gain +1.21 to Endurance.




> Subterranean
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Fallout Equestria: False Notions


Chapter 5: Subterranean



*        *        *



Nuclear Force


        “Here is your room,” our escort announced to us, his yellow eyes regarding us warily. I think his name was Orion. Like the rest of the lunar pegasi, his coat was very dark in color, and the pupils of his eyes were tall, menacing slits. Two large bat wings were pressed neatly against either side of his dark grey torso, shifting slightly every few seconds to maintain his balance. He motioned with a hoof to the space we were supposedly going to live in for the next few days or so. It was cozy and surprisingly well-furnished, with smooth, glossy wooden paneling underneath our hooves and creamy yellow walls. There were chairs and a rug and a coffee table to complete the look. It kinda reminded me of Mom’s house. Except cleaner.

        “Thank you, kind sir.” Diz’s teeth flashed at the stallion, but they quickly hid behind his lips to avoid a ferocious yellow glare.

        “I can’t believe I have to give a room to a Luna-damned draconequus and a fuckin’ zebra... thing,” Orion grumbled as we entered the room, turning and ending his rant with a powerful slam of the door via his back leg. I think I felt the floor shudder beneath my hooves, and suffice it to say that I freaked out a little bit.

        No, don’t mind that I was clinging to Diz’s arm for dear life. The thought of a building collapsing while I was in it just kinda unsettled me. I wasn’t freaking out. Totally.

        “Uh... Nuke? Can you let go of me? You’re making my arm fall asleep,” Diz laughed, wiggling his limb to coax me off.

        “Sorry,” I said as I released it, parking my rear on the floor and gazing out the window. Orion may not have liked us, but the room he gave us certainly had a view. There was a whole city of these bat-pegasi beneath Applewood, with multitudes of buildings constructed in a huge hollowed-out cavern underground, lit by buzzing fluorescent lights. Diz said that it reminded him of his ‘The City’ back in his homeland.

        Focusing, I could see that this place was quite well-populated. There were whole families here, as I could tell from the little bat-winged foals playing in the parks and the soft-eyed parents passively watching them, making sure they stayed safe. I felt a sudden pang of loneliness, remembering all the times Mom had taken me outside to play, just like those foals. I never had any friends back then... but I had Mom. I could still remember her smile, her laugh, the twinkle in her soft eyes whenever she saw me happy. I remember her embrace, and how she used to read me bedtime stories at night and kiss me on the forehead just before turning off the lights.

        A wet fire kindled behind my eyes and in my chest, and I swallowed, trying to keep myself from breaking down. Not in front of the others. But, as I looked on to the foals laughing and squealing as they ran and jumped and played tag, my muscles began to feel weak. And then I laid eyes on a mother nuzzling her young foal, a gentle smile on her face, and the floodgates creaked open.

        “He sure has a chip on his shoulder,” Mono snarked, obviously referring to our gracious host. “You’re not mad at him, are you, Diz?”

        “Nah, not really.” Diz chuckled. “I’m kinda used to it by now. I’m not sure about Nuke, though.” There was silence for a few seconds. “...Nuke?”

        More silence. The only sounds in the room were my irregular breathing and a soft plip as a tear dripped off my chin.

        “I think it might have hit him a bit hard,” Mono whispered. I wasn’t entirely sure if they knew I was crying. “Look at his ears.” Huh? Oh, they were folded, universal pony body language for ‘I’m upset.’ I tried to perk them back up, but they quickly fell as I futilely groped for a reason to be happy. Surrendering, I lowered my face into my forehooves, shaking.

        “You okay, kid?” I hesitantly lifted my gaze to my mismatched companion. He had floated to my side without me noticing, gazing at my glistening cheeks with two gentle, sympathetic crimson eyes. Frowning, he reached over my withers with his dragon claw and brought me close to him, a gesture that I gladly accepted, burying my face into his soft fur. “Nuke?” 

The occasional hiccup leapt up from my suppressed sobs, shaking my body and racking me with shivers. I’ve been called much worse than ‘zebra thing’, but I didn’t feel like telling anypony about Mom, so I stayed quiet. My entire body felt cold, empty and hollow. I still felt awful. I wanted my mother back.

“Shh... It’s alright, li’l bro...”

Hold on, what did he just call me? Did he see me as a stand-in for—oh. Ohhh... I suddenly felt sad for him, but I just nuzzled further into his coat instead of asking about it. I needed this hug... maybe he did too.

I really wouldn’t mind being a sibling to him, anyway.

“Well, isn’t that cute.” Chrome’s voice had a sharp edge to it, and it stung. Her sister whinnied in shock and disapproval.

        “Chrome! We’ve been over this,” Mono hissed. “Stop. Now.”

        “But he’s—”

        “Chrome!”

        A defeated grunt met my ears. “Okay, fine. Whatever.”

        I lifted my head out of the damp patch I had created on Diz’s coat, looking around. I could swear there was a tendril of lightning hissing and crackling between the twins’ eyes. White Light was fluttering about the room, taking various books off of the shelves bolted to the walls and skimming through them. Sunfire was sitting in a very strange upright position on one of the chairs, her cyan wings tucked in tight against her sides. Her posture looked uncomfortable, but the relaxed smile on her face suggested otherwise.

        Diz cleared his throat, his voice barely above a whisper. “Uhm... I-I’m sorry for asking this, but...” Oh, great. “I’ve been wondering... Are you... uhm.. part... zebra, or something?” When I didn’t turn to face him, he grew quiet.

        Wait, had he not figured it out yet? I kinda thought from White Light’s rationalization of my alchemical skills and Chrysalis calling me a ‘zebra mule’ that Diz and the others would’ve already concluded that I was half zebra. I looked up at Diz, my maroon eyes meeting his, and stared for a long moment before giving the tiniest of nods. His eyebrows jumped up, but he said nothing.

        Then, with a small smile, he ran an index claw along one of the stripes of my face, chuckling quietly to himself. “Ooh, chaos...” he whispered in approval. He was right, I guess—ponies and zebras weren’t supposed to mix like this. I was pretty chaotic. Maybe that caused him to like me, since draconequui love things that don’t make sense. I half-expected him to start gushing about my mix-and-match genetics to the others, but after he no more than glanced at them before looking back at me, it seemed that he wouldn’t. Oh, thank Celestia... he was more sensitive than he let on.

        Ker-chak. Turning my head, I saw that our room’s door had opened to reveal another lunar pegasus, this one female and with green eyes. She was smiling, balancing a tray of little white bars on her bat wings. They looked like bars of soap, but the delightful scent that suddenly flooded the room told me that it was actually food. 

Yay, food!

“Room service,” she announced, bending her front legs and letting the tray slide off her back onto the wooden floor.

        I stared at Diz, my sorrow having mostly run its course. “W-we ordered room service?”

        “No worries — I paid for it,” Sunfire chimed from her chair, reclining and releasing a soft sigh of contentment. She sunk into it, and for a moment I was afraid that it was going to swallow her up. “Traded some stuff we got from that crazy laboratory.”

        I frowned as a wave of guilt washed over me, the memory of what I was forced to do to her still fresh in my mind. Thank Celestia she hadn’t been badly burnt, saved by the strange magic that coursed through those metal arms.

        Speaking of the laboratory, if it hadn’t been for Nocturne, we would probably never have escaped. She had opened a solid pathway through many of the testing chambers, allowing us to reach her, before opening another pathway for us to get out. Mono had been helping me levitate Diz along with us, after he passed out. I was the one who insisted on taking him with us instead of leaving him to die in the laboratory, because... well... he was the first real friend I’d had since my mother died, and the only creature who seemed to actually like me because I was so different. It just didn’t feel right to leave him.

        With Nocturne’s help, we escaped the crazy freakin’ science labyrinth of science, the front door of the facility dumping us back in the robot-infested city of Applewood. Fortunately, instead of us having to deal with the disk-laser robots again, our friend kindly guided us to a secret passageway that led far, far underground.

        And here we were, in the city of bat-pegasi. Nocturne had led us to this hotel of sorts, then we said our goodbyes.

        ...Oh man, those food bar things smelled tasty. “Thanks, Sunfire!” A flash of my horn and one of them was floating in front of my face. Jeeze, it really did look like a bar of soap. It was obviously synthesized instead of grown, but hey, it smelled delicious.

        Chomp.

        It was like Celestia herself had blessed my tongue. It was hot and creamy and it melted in my mouth, smoothly gliding down my throat like warm tomato soup and effortlessly warming up my stomach. “Mmm...”

        I noticed that Diz had been giving a questioning look to the delectable food bars, now specifically at the one in my fiery telekinetic grasp. “Is that a bar of soap?” I almost choked on my bite in amusement.

        “Well, if Nuke likes it, then...” After making sure that I had calmed down from my previous distress, Diz slithered away to the platter, the others gathering in suit. Good ponies — leave me alone with my food.

        “What are these, anyway?” Sunfire asked, her gaze locked on our dinner. “Soap?” My face red, I couldn’t keep myself from snickering, ducking my head into one of my forelegs and lightly pounding the floor with the other. I was definitely getting weird looks. After taking a bite, Sunfire’s expression glossed over with pure bliss. Yeah, it’s kinda like that, Sunny.

        The others reacted in a similar way, except for White Light, who claimed that the bars had no flavor and that he felt insulted by the waiter. Thankfully, Sunfire stopped him before he was able to storm out and voice his complaints. 

        Our stomachs filled, we all started to slow down a bit. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think it was getting close to midnight. I couldn’t exactly see the sky from down here. My eyelids were getting heavy, and smooth silk gently brushed the length of my spine and neck. My mind was fogging, reality giving way to fantasy. I was getting sleepy. The others were still chatting away, although they too were beginning to tire.

        The unhitching of the door announced the return of our waiter, who picked up the serving tray in her teeth before turning to leave. I held out a hoof to her. “Wait.”

        She dropped the tray, smiling at me. “Yes, young one?”

        “What time is it?”

        “It’s one-thirteen AM.” My eyes widened in surprise, and my front hooves were immediately on the windowsill. “Yes, there are many ponies up and about. Down here, it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night, so ponies just sleep when they see fit. It’s also why we’re encouraged to be quiet at all times — somepony could be sleeping nearby.” She smiled at me. “Are you getting tired?”

        I hummed the approval, trotting to and laying down next to the nearest soft thing. I was tuckered out from today’s craziness. “Thanks for telling me,” I yawned, resting my head.

        It took me a few seconds to realize that the ‘soft thing’ was Diz, and I flinched. I jerked away in panic, but he just smiled at me.

        “Aww,” the waiter said with a little smile. I stared daggers at her, but she just chuckled and left. Grr. I was not cute! With an angry snort, I turned back to Diz.

        “C’mere, Nuke.” The draconequus beckoned at me with two fingers, and I reluctantly complied, my seething anger replaced with curiosity. I lied down next to him, resting my head against his side, and he nimbly curled around my smaller form.

        “Diz?” I asked quietly, my head nestled in the crook of his neck. He was still really soft. He made a good pillow, and a great blanket. My back left hoof was still furless from its regrowth, and it had been stinging in the cold air all day, but my friend’s body heat seemed to be nullifying it. For the first time in a while, I felt relatively safe.

        His rabbit ear twitched. “Yeah?”

        I paused for a moment, collecting my thoughts. “...Why?”

        He swallowed, and I felt his adam’s apple move next to my head. “I’m just trying to be a good big brother this time.”

        This time. 

…I guess he needed this a lot more than I did.

        I heard a yawn from the other side of the room. “Those two have the right idea... Let’s hit the hay.” Mono’s voice was accompanied by a sharp click, and then there was complete darkness aside from the gentle glow of the city lights filtering in through the window. I closed my eyes, letting my fantasies drag me away from the world to the soft sound of Diz’s breathing.


*        *        *


        My saddlebags bounced with each step I took, the caps inside jingling softly. The city — the bat-pegasi here called it the Catacombs — was as dark and sunless as always. I still didn’t know what time it was, but the ponies I saw walking to and fro seemed to have wildly varying body clocks. There were ponies who looked disheveled as if they’d just woken up, ponies who looked and acted spick-and-spin, and ponies who were absolutely dead tired. And the foals, who seemed to always be hyperactive regardless.

        My group needed some supplies, so I opted to go out and see if I could purchase any from around town. Sunfire and Mono came with me, just in case I were to be attacked. Judging by how Orion acted yesterday, the lunar pegasi were not fond of zebras, and I very much looked like one. Just with a horn. And green.

        “Are you a zebra, mister?” yet another foal asked me. I looked down to see a pair of tiny red eyes with slitted pupils gazing up at me in wonderment. It took me a while to notice that these pegasi had teeth designed to cut and shred meat, unlike normal ponies. Fangs. I didn’t notice it last night, but I chalk that one up to it being one-thirteen in the morning.

        “No,” I half-lied with a smile and a shake of my head.

        The foal’s ears folded. “But... you have stripes n’ stuff!”

        I tapped my horn. “I also have a horn. Obviously, I’m a unicorn.” The little filly’s eyes scanned me quizzically for a moment, flicking between my horn and the rest of my body before she was snatched away by her mother. The older pony looked at me with a mixture of hatred and fear.

        “Don’t talk to the zebra, sweetie...” she scolded. “Zebras are the reason we live down here.” Her foal scowled up at her.

        “He says he’s a unicorn, not a zebra!”

        The mother simply grabbed her filly, took one last look at me, and jumped into the air to fly away. I sighed morosely. I was not enjoying this. It was like my childhood all over again.

        Don’t ask.

        A cyan hoof slung around my shoulders, and a voice said into my ear, “Hey... don’t worry, okay? We know you’re not a zebra.” I smiled a half-smile at that. She didn’t know the truth, but maybe I would tell her — and the rest of my friends — later. I was... still a little scared of how they’d react. I took a huge shot in the dark when I told Diz, but draconequui love things that don’t make sense, so that didn’t really count. Telling the others was like jumping off a cliff and diving headfirst into the tides below, completely unaware of how deep it’ll be where I touch down. I might crack my skull. 

Chrome really, really didn’t like me. I could tell by how she acted. If I told everyone that I was part zebra, she would probably be eager to shoot first and ask questions later. I shuddered.

Shaking my head for a moment, I pressed forward. I felt hundreds of eyes on me, their expressions a homogenous blend of hatred and fear. Ignore them, I told myself. Just ignore them.

After hobbling through the city for twenty minutes, passing several shops selling a variety of commodities (including soap — I cracked up all over again), we came across what looked like a gun store. A white lunar pegasus, possibly an albino, looked up at me with sapphire eyes. He looked young, around my age. “Can I help you?” His light, airy voice was unfalteringly friendly, dripping with ‘the customer is always right’ vibes.

I placed my front hooves on the table, and the snow-white pony flinched and squeaked. My eyes roamed over the back wall, at the nailed-in-hooks and the various firearms they held. Hmm... those price tags were hefty.

Sunfire was fluttering just above me, a hoof curiously rubbing her chin. A very well-polished high-powered magnum pistol caught her eye, and her face lit up. “Oh! Oh!” My vision began to jerk left and right. “Can I have that big handgun?”

“S-Sunfire,” I stuttered, taking a step away from her. “I’m not sure if we can afford that...” I motioned to the gun, more specifically the piece of paper duct-taped to the wall beneath it. ‘500 CAPS’ was hastily scratched on it in dark black ink. My pegasus friend pouted, planting her hooves on the ground behind me.

“If we’re low on cash, we should get some more.” Two silvery eyes stared down at me from Mono’s white face, sat upon two shoulders that stood higher than most ponies. I looked at her like she had two heads before turning to Sunfire.

“You mean like, get jobs?” I asked. I motioned to the cyan wing of my friend. “Seeing as everypony here can fly, I think only White and Sunny would fit the ticket...”

“Sunny?” The pegasus standing next to me gave me a silly grin. “Is that your nickname for me?”

I blinked. “Uhh...”

While I was mowing over ways to explain myself, Mono had struck up a conversation with the salescolt. “Can I get some fifteen millimeter rounds too? Good for tearing up robots.”

“Right away!” The little albino bat-pegasus was much more sociable when talking to Mono, probably because she didn’t resemble a zebra. Ducking out of view for a moment, he soon popped back up with a few magazines of bullets in his teeth. The rounds were scattered across the bartering table. “That’ll be forty caps.”

        Mono’s silvery eyes blinked, before her face fell into a pitiful frown. “Oh... we don’t have quite that much... Will you take thirty-five?”

        “Alright?” Several rounds of ammunition were deposited into my saddlebag by colorless wisps. Mono turned her head just enough so the salescolt couldn’t see one of her eyes, and then winked at me with it. I smirked. We definitely had enough caps for those bullets, but thankfully adolescents weren’t worldly enough to detect a well-executed sham. But I happened to have two adults with me! Ha ha!

        “Thank you so much!” Mono leaned over the counter and gave the colt an affectionate nuzzle, which he humorously shied away from. Ah, good ol’ Mono — going the extra mile to make herself look believable.

        Later, we had gathered around a very large fountain in the town square. Smooth, perfect sheets of crystal-clear water reflected light like liquid mirrors as they twisted and contorted into spectacular patterns on their journey into the pool below. I swear, I spent fifteen minutes just staring at the water. The trajectory was so perfect that it looked like a vibrating glass sculpture. I could see right through it. It was hypnotizing.

        Tearing my gaze away for just a moment, I realized that I was not the only one engrossed with the sight. Many bat-pegasi were gathered around it, staring at it like zombies, oblivious to the world around them. Some were even sticking their hooves into the cascading sheets of water, fascinated by how smooth it felt and the way it parted seamlessly around their limbs. They didn’t even notice me.

        As luck would have it, I accidentally stepped on one’s tail as I got up and left. The sudden pull on her hindquarters perked her ears and turned her head, and she gasped, her wings snapping out behind her. I laid a striped hoof across my mouth in response. “Shh.”

        Blinking, she eyed me as I walked away, but her attention was steadily retaken by the fountain. I laughed softly and returned to Mono, who had parked herself on a bench. “Any luck?” I asked.

        “I dunno... Sunfire’s not back yet.” She motioned down a street with one hoof. “She went that way looking for something we could do for caps.” We weren’t exactly low on caps, per se, but I had a backbreaking hunch that our funds would become that way very soon if we didn’t have a source of income. Seeing as we’d be staying here for a few days...

        As if on cue, a rush of wind blew my mane sideways as our friend landed next to me, vomiting a torrent of words into my ear. “Guys guys guys! I found somepony who could really use some help with something! Youseeheworksatahospitalandhe’srunninglowonherbsandhewantedto—mph!” The vocal deluge that was making my head spin was stopped by a white hoof stuffing itself into Sunny’s mouth.

        “Slow down, sister,” Mono laughed. “Say that again? Slower?”

        The pegasus took a deep breath. “Well there’s this pony who works at the hospital—er, yeah, these ponies have a hospital—and he told me that he’s almost out of medicinal plants that he uses to cure ailments and stuff. We could go get some for him! He said he would pay us handsomely!” She accentuated the  last word by drawing a horizontal line in the air with her hoof. “Can we go? Please?” An eager grin split her face as she nodded vigorously at us, strands of her cerulean mane falling every which way.

        As soon as we gave even the slightest hint of ‘yes’, she practically dragged us off by our tails. She probably would have done it literally had we refused.


*        *        *

        
“I see you’ve fetched your friends.”

        The bat-pegasus was an old one, his black fur disheveled and face wrinkled with age. The muscles in his wings, scarcely used in his senior years, were weak with atrophy. The bifocals balanced on his snout shifted as he smiled at us. “A unicorn and a—... Oh.” His head turned to face me, but his smile didn’t falter, his amethyst eyes glowing with grandfatherly wisdom. “You’re a unique one, aren’t you?”

        My ears folded against my scalp, but I said nothing. He simply chortled warmly. “I’d wager that you’re the offspring of a unicorn and a zebra. Very well,” he concluded, shifting his weight backward until he fell into his rocking chair.

        Cold seeped up my neck, and I turned my head ever-so-slightly to look at my friends. They were both staring at me, but their eyes snapped away as soon as they noticed that I was staring back. “That’s ridiculous,” I refuted, trying my best to keep my voice level.

        “I’m old, boy. I’ve seen quite a bit, and I know what you are. But I’m also too old to judge.” He laughed to himself. “Now, didn’t the nutty blue one say that you would give an old stallion a hoof with his work?”

        Some of my anxiety gave way to amusement, and I smiled, happy for a momentary change of subject. “Nutty?” Sunfire echoed in bewilderment.

        “What was it you needed help with again?” Mono asked.

        A wrinkled hoof tapped a grey chin. “Oh, yes... you see, I’m running low on an important plant that I use to make medicine for the local ponies. Silkroot composes the chemical base of most of my medicine, so without it, I’m at a loss.”

        “So you want us to get it for you?” I asked with a smile. Looks like this would result in some easy caps. I idly wondered why he couldn’t just go get them himself, but I kept quiet.

        He nodded sagely. “Yes. Unfortunately, the only place they grow in abundance is crawling with radigators.” Oh Celestia damn it. There just had to be a catch, didn’t there? “But you young’uns probably won’t have trouble. Probably.” He smirked.

        “Uh huh...” My friends had resumed staring at me, and my face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Eve light as I began to feel extremely uncomfortable. I stared back at them with pleading eyes.

        “The Silkroot ‘farms’ are just north of the catacombs, so it ain’t a long walk. But watch your step. Don’t wanna get pulled under all the muck by one of the creatures lurking within.” His eyes sparkled at me, and I began to wonder if he was intentionally trying to scare me. Perhaps he wasn’t too old to judge a pony by their fur pattern after all. Jerk.

        Nodding and barely suppressing a fiery glare, I promptly made my way out of the one-floor hospital, my friends following. The interior was covered with tile that was so damn shiny that the lights were making my eyes hurt. I was relieved when I finally got out of there.

        Since pegasi have a natural sense of direction due to a small deposit of magnetite in their foreheads, I asked Sunfire which way North was. After taking a seat and rubbing her chin for a moment, she flicked her hoof in some direction, and off we went. Gator huntin’. Fer weeds. I almost wished I had a straw hat and a stalk of wheat to chew on to complete the image.

        Even after the buildings had dwindled and given way to dripping stalactites in a dark tunnel (Mono was providing light with her horn, but it was obstructively dim), the uncomfortable silence that had settled over our group yet remained.

        A cyan figure silently fluttered next to me. “Nuke...?”

        “Do you think we’re almost there, Sunfire?” I rebutted. I had a hunch of what she was planning to ask me about. By the way Mono’s horn-light was flickering, perhaps she was deep in thought about the very same subject.

        “I-I dunno, but... I wanted to ask about what that stallion said about y—”

        I fixed her with an incriminating glare coupled with a clearing of my throat. I did not want to talk about that. I very slowly shook my head, taking note of Mono silently listening in the background, her ears perked with attention. Her head turned away as she realized that I had caught her staring, the shadows on the walls dancing. 

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as I locked eyes with Sunfire. “Was he right?” she asked.

        I heaped as much ‘drop this subject right now’ undertone as I could into my voice, which unfortunately lowered it to a furious growl. “No.” She looked taken aback for a moment, but I could tell that she could see right through my lie. She looked at me softly, sympathy and pity mingling in her eyes. Familiar icy fingers gripped the back of my neck. “No!” I repeated, louder.

        “Nuke...”

        Ugh, screw it! With a frustrated growl, I lit my horn and took off ahead of my friends, ignoring their voices as they shouted after me in worry. Why didn’t they get it!? Yes I’m a half-zebra, I don’t want to talk about it! If I confirmed it, Mono would tell her sister, and then she would shoot me!

I then learned that running with one’s eyes closed will almost certainly result in their face getting acquainted with the ground. I laid there, groaning for a moment, before violently dragging my hooves down over my ears as I heard hoofsteps approaching. My blood was boiling, my temples searing with hot fire as I drew in short, frustrated breaths, the cold hand of fear still gripping my neck. I felt angry and upset and scared all at the same time, and I wasn’t sure which one to heed. My mind was a roiling, lashing mess of emotions and I couldn’t think straight. 

One of my friends was talking to me. I wanted her to stop, to leave me alone. I felt a gentle hoof on my withers. “I’m sorry...” an equally gentle voice said into my folded ear. “I’m sorry... I... I just won’t bring it up again...”

Yeah, sure, you won’t talk about it ever again, you won’t whisper about it behind my back, you won’t be plotting to beat me up just like everyone else just like everyone else JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE—

Wait. Wait. No, that wasn’t right. No one ever did that to me. My childhood was lonely, but it was great. I never really went outside the house, staying mostly with Mom. I didn’t need to. The world outside sucked. I never went outside, and there weren’t ponies who would walk up to me with rusty lead pipes. I wasn’t held down. They never hit me. I never cried out for help. I always received it. Everypony around me cared. The ponies nearby didn’t just stand back and watch and... laugh. There aren’t multitudes of various scars on my belly underneath my fur. It’s just dirt. Dirt that won’t wash off for some reason.

What was I doing again? I lifted my head up and looked behind me, noting the concerned expressions of Mono and Sunfire. I wiped some liquid off of my cheeks, but my eyes were still burning for some reason.

“Are you okay, Nuke?” the taller white pony asked. When I didn’t answer, she shoved her elbow into the pegasus next to her.

“What?” Sunfire whispered in befuddlement, flapping her wings to regain her balance and turn around.

“Look what you did! I knew he didn’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t going to ask. Why did you?!” Mono hissed, her eyes softening as they briefly flicked to me, before hardening again as they focused on Sunfire.

“I’m sorry, okay?!” A cyan hoof slammed into the rocky floor of the cave with indignation. “I didn’t think this would happen!” 

“Can you not read body language? Every time someone associates him with a zebra, he gets quiet and anxious and gets into a posture to run away. Maybe he is associated with them somehow, but I don’t think it’s anything bad. Personally, I think he’s scared of how ponies will treat him because of how he looks.” I winced; she was dead on. Apparently she knew more about me than I thought. “That in mind, you shouldn’t just bring it up of nowhere and demand answers! That’s... that’s rude!” I began to suspect that they no longer cared if I could hear them.

A blue jaw hung open, before Sunfire’s chest swelled as she raised her voice. “I didn’t demand answers from him!! I just wanted to know if... if...” Her voice grew quiet as she reluctantly cast her gaze my way. Her eyes had a slight shimmer to them. “I’m sorry, Nuke... I didn’t mean to pry...”

I stood up, shaking myself off as I faced them. “It’s fine,” I muttered dejectedly, before turning around and continuing on our path. At least I now knew that Mono already suspected my zebra heritage, but wasn’t going to tell her sister. Oh, thank Luna.

Unless Chrome already knew. When I felt the freezing hand closing around my neck again, I shook my head to dispel the thought. I was a little tired of being afraid, especially since this little fiasco brought back a very unpleasant memor—No. What memory? My childhood was great. Quit looking at me like that.

        The dirt on my chest stung as I walked, sore from my previous impact with the ground. A small green flame flickered at the tip of my horn, sending waves of uncomfortable, burning heat down the length of my body. I didn’t like it, but the dim grey light from Mono was barely bright enough to navigate by, let alone see details with. I don’t think Mono was too happy about it, judging by the look she gave me, but... I needed more light.

        Over time, the air in the cave became damper, and I wa fairly certain I wasn’t walking on something dry. It sloshed around my hooves as I tried to walk through it, and every step I took caused me to sink a bit deeper. Ewgh...

        A noise whispered into my ears from all directions, sounding almost like rats scurrying about, although looking around in the green light from my horn-flame I could not see any other creatures in the vicinity. Until I looked down and came face-to-face with two glowing yellow eyes staring up at me from just beneath the surface of the muck.

        Uh oh.


*        *        *



White Light


Hooves on stone make an interesting sound; a very sharp clacking noise. With the throngs of ponies milling around, it sounded like thousands of tiny rocks were falling everywhere in the cavern at all times. Aimlessly wandering was a surefire recipe for disaster and death in the wasteland above, but here in the cavern, it felt like the norm. As the saying goes; when in Roan, do as the Roans do. It felt so... surreal to find such peace in here. For once, I could actually see foals running around, not in pain or in fear, but in joy and laughter. Soon, I arrived at the fountain. Seeing as the ground was covered with observers, I decided to give my wings a little workout. Spreading them, I tensed a little, then took to the skies. While weaving in between some of the flying lunar-pegasi, I took the opportunity to observe the fountain.

It was an amazing sight to behold. Apparently, a high-pressure stream was running directly under the cavern, so some of the lunar-pegasi decided to not risk the possibility of the water pressure breaking the floor and instead used it to make a ‘natural’ fountain. The result of this was an incredible vista where the water rose out of the fountain, curved in mid-air and bounced off the foundations. The water then curved back in on itself, splitting off in different directions. This generated a slight mist around the middle region of the fountain, while at the bottom the water curved and twisted. It was truly a magnificent sight. Soon, I was aimlessly wandering again. I really need to keep track of what I’m doing, else I may end up in trouble, I thought to myself. An incessant ringing noise sparked my curiosity, and I soon ended up walking to the source. As I was walking, I met some... thing that, frankly, scared me more than anything.

        “Hey, its my pony, Whitey! What’s up brony? Wandering around too?”

Diz. The... abomination....

        “Hello again, Diz. I’m quite surprised to see you here, and—...what are you doing?” I asked, pointing at a cart that he was pulling just behind him. It was piled high with scrap metal, everything from broken gaskets to slightly dented pistols, some of which even looked like we could use.

        “Oh, this thing?” he asked, gripping the cart and giving it a gentle shake for emphasis. “I’m taking this to Mr. Forge’s forge! He says that he’ll give us 50 caps for every full cart I bring in, and he even lets us keep some of the nice guns that he doesn’t want! Hey, I’ve got an extra cart here; why don’t you come along too?”

        If it were any other pony, I would have accepted in a heartbeat, but this, ‘draconequus’, he... it seemed so... impossible, as if its... his existence in the world was a complete mockery of the laws of the universe. Even though he was... complex, he did save us from loads of things, and it’s only fair to help him. And the chance to visit another forge... ah, Luck is a wonderful mistress!

        “Well, this forge does sound intriguing, and 100 caps a trip is nothing to scoff at. Hoof over the extra cart, if you would be so kind?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but judging from how he scrunched up his face a little, I knew that he noticed my hesitance of him.

Filling the carts was an easy task, and it also allowed me to gather my thoughts. I constantly asked myself, why am I so aggressive towards him? Actually, when did I start hating him? At Applewood? In the test chambers? After rescuing Forty-four? Sadly, the cart was filled too soon, and the tense atmosphere returned like a miasma, throttling both of us.

"Ooh! It's so wobbly! This spring is soooo cool! Look Whitey, look! It wiggles and wobbles and waddles so chaotically!"

Well, one of us, at least...

Glancing at him, he actually didn't seem too bad. If only he wasn't so weird. He did genuinely seem to care for Nuclear, even though he was a zebra. I think. I don’t think there were any zebra unicorns out there. If my suspicions were correct, one could only imagine his childhood, and how scarred he might’ve come out of it.

I cleared my throat. "Diz, what do you think about Nuclear Force?"

A stiffening of mismatched shoulders. "What about him?" Brows creasing.

"I'm not trying to be hostile or blame him for anything, believe me. I just want to have your honest opinion of him."

Tensed muscles relaxing.

"Well, speaking honestly, it's kinda obvious that my lil bro's a ‘you-know-what’, even though he keeps denying it. To me, as ironic as it sounds, what he really needs is some... ’harmony’ or 'normalcy' in his life." A weary sigh escaped from his lips, signalling his displeasure with much of the world. “I remember what he told me this morning...” he began, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. He cast a somber gaze at the ground. “It doesn't matter if someone is a ‘battle-hardened warrior’ or not. That kind of childhood... it would surely dent their psyche."

I stared at him with wide eyes. “Childhood? What did he tell you?” He then gave me a look that suggested I was prying into very private information, so I quieted myself. He looked at the ground again. It was quite jarring, to see Diz looking so melancholic, but something kept bothering me nevertheless.

"Erm... So that's the reason you're constantly looking out for him, am I correct?"

He laughed, the short bark echoing in the cavern. "Doesn't matter if he's a zebra or not, can you just look at those huge eyes and that adorable face without thinking 'Aww, he's sooooo cute!' I mean, seriously, look at him!”

For a moment I was mowing over the possibility that he had dodged the question, but I was quickly interrupted. Although nopony asked for it, Diz proceeded to attempt to imitate the adorable-ness of the little pony. His face scrunched up, his bottom lip jutting out slightly more than his top lip, and he unleashed the most terrifying of weapons ever known to pony-kind.

The puppy-dog eyes.

The sheer adorable-ness of that face, as weird as it looked on a draconequus, prompted a quiet 'aww', followed by some not-so-quiet snickering, at least until a toy-like 'squee' filled the air. All seemingly from nowhere.

"Umm...what was that?" I asked slowly.

"Don't ask, don't need to know."

The rest of the journey to the forge was as quiet as a tomb. If the tomb had been filled with cymbals whilst rocks were being dropped from the ceiling.

"Hey, when was the first time that you got laid, White? Or should I say, Mr. Light? Or is it Dr. Light?”

Footnote: 75% to Level Up
+2 History points with companion ‘Dizzy’
New Companion Perk; Vindication: When talking with your companions, after a speech check, you have a chance to understand and help them deal with issues plaguing them. Portable Psychologist!


-----------



Chrome




The ‘marketplace’ (if it could be called that) was quite disappointing compared to some of the other town’s shops, though seeing as the locals lived underground, it could hardly be helped. To some ponies, the constant yammering of shopkeepers and buyers haggling out prices could be considered ‘oppressive’ or ‘annoying’, yet to Chrome, it was something akin to a distraction from the abominations.

I just... CAN’T believe that they actually trust him... it, she thought.

Although he... it... helped us, I still can’t believe that he would actually KILL his own brother! I mean, I can’t even imagine what would happen if I were to lay a hoof on Mono in anger...

But... he did it for his own kind to survive...

T-That doesn’t matter; he still killed his own flesh and blood!

Sometimes, one has to be sacrificed to prevent the bloodshed of a thousand.

He could have run away! Injured him instead! Made him change his ways!

Could... should... would... none of these are definites. It is him that will never forget, and it shall be his burden to carry the title of ‘Oathbreaker’.

“ENOUGH!!!”

The silence after that shout was overwhelming, as if the lips of everypony present had been sealed in an instant. Chrome dimly registered that she had said that out loud.

Blushing slightly, she hurried along to the nearest stall and attempted to haggle with the shell-shocked owner, whom had half a mind to give a quarter of his stock to the ‘crazy mad-pony’ so that she wouldn’t attack him.

But only a quarter of it. The shopkeepers weren’t quite as naive and prone to manipulation as she would’ve liked.


-------------------





White Light


“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, we’re here!” Diz proclaimed with the air of a show-pony. “The magnificent forge of Misterrrrrrrrrrr FORGE!”

Honestly, it wasn’t that much of a big deal, but seeing as Forge had quite a large smithy, it wasn’t anything to laugh at. The forge was larger than the one in the village I had stayed in, measuring at almost 10 hooves in diameter. The forge was constructed out of concrete and brick, which in itself was an achievement, seeing as it would be quite difficult to find said materials in this cave. Openings were present every 6 hooves, allowing up to 5 ponies to simultaneously work on their own creations, but what was most surprising was the rest of the smithy.

Several animal skins were present, from radhog to radigator, and some barding looking suspiciously like radhog armor.

“Heeeeey! Mr. Forge!” Diz yelled at the top of his lungs. “We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack!”

A mountain of an earth pony emerged from the forge, with dark-grey fur and enough muscle to carry a carriage by his lonesome. His eyes were like swords; bluish white and sharp as knives. Patches of his fur were charred, and scars were strewn about his hooves, a testament to his fervor for his life.

“Aah, there’s the metal I asked for. Good job, Diz.” Forge’s voice wasn’t just loud. It commanded attention, booming out like a force of nature. “How much did I offer to pay you again? 20 caps per cart?”

“50 caps!” Diz half-shouted indignantly, before he realized his mistake and slightly cowed, replying in a softer tone, “I mean... you said 50 caps earlier...”

“Hmmph, so I did. And who’s this pegasus here?” I could see he was searching me with his eyes, looking for something.

“I’m White Light... err... sir.” Normally I would be quite alright with new ponies, but he was just scary with his overwhelmingly tall body and hooves that looked like they could crush rocks.

“You ever worked in a forge before? You’ve got a good build on ya.” He reached over and thumped me on my back, not so soft that it would be a tap, but not hard enough to send me sprawling. Although, it did knock some wind out of me.

“Errm... yeah, I did work in a forge for a few years or so... Made simple things such as signs, pots, the occasional ring or hoofguard...”

“Do you want to learn how to truly use a forge?”

The question came out of the blue, and in such a neutral tone that one wouldn't believe that the speaker had offered to divulge secrets that were likely meant solely for him and his kin only. Looking up at him, I saw him smirking at me.

"W-wha...?"

"Don't act like you didn’t hear me kid, that's just insulting. So? Wanna learn how to mould iron and steel into weapons and armor fit for soldiers?"

In an instant, all hesitation, nervousness, and tension between him and I were gone; things of the past. Here, was a pony offering to share his life's knowledge with me. Here, was the chance to actually be able to do something useful, instead of just soaking up precious potions. "Yes Master, I'm ready to learn."

Forge cracked a smile, laughed a little and stared at me with a dangerous look in his eyes, a devil-may-care grin adorning his muzzle. "Kid's got some manners, I like that! Diz, bring over those carts. I've got some skills to pass on."

Diz saluted and brought the two carts over to the furnace, allowing for quick access of the material.

"Go put on those special horseshoes and that barding next to the cooling trough. I've got something fiery in this here furnace, and you might get broiled without any protection.”

Suddenly, Emberwing burst out of the furnace with a shriek and flew straight for Diz. With a girlish yelp, one of the world's few remaining draconequui, a servant of one of the most powerful beings ever created, a loyal helper of 'Lord' Discord, was seen shrieking like a filly who’d encountered a spider the size of her hoof. Holding his hands up to his chest, he ran away from the phoenix, who looked like he was having the time of his life chasing the strange mismatched creature.

A moment of silence was given to Diz in respect of his deeds, before we both fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. Ponies passing by frowned at our behaviour before seeing the phoenix chasing the draconequus. Some laughed, while others frowned, and even after they departed, their glowers still darkened the atmosphere.

“Alright, kid. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

Forge then disappeared amidst the roaring flames. Soon I followed, not scared in the slightest, my brown eyes alight with determination.


----------------------------



Chrome


“Sir, I must admit, 300 caps for 2 pieces of barding is too much, how about 200 caps?” Chrome wasn’t having much luck at haggling for cheaper prices — the few colts manning the stores only sold low-quality things, and this was the best place for armor this side of the cavern, which unfortunately also meant that this was where to find the most crotchety owner this side of the market.

“Ach, lassie, ye be makin’ me lose a wee bit more caps that I would prefer to lose.” The shopkeeper wheezed. “Can ye see I cannae even afford me medicine?” With his back leg, he surreptitiously shifted a large crate labelled “Premium Health Potions” further out of sight of the mare. “I ain’t takin’ any less tharn 250.”

Ugh, this old coot is making this harder than it has to be. Even though we actually do have enough caps, it would be best to save some rather than lose so much. We’re still low on ammo and most of us can’t use melee weapons other than Sunfire, she thought.

It was too troublesome to haggle, so she sighed and hoofed over 250 caps.

“Pleasure doin’ business wif ya lassie!” The old stallion was ecstatic; armor worth only 150 caps at most was sold at 250 caps! Next time, he would try for double the price before being assaulted and his wares stolen.

She trotted all over the caverns, and the only place that actually had quality armor and weapons was the forge on the edge of the town. Moaning a little about how her hooves were killing her, the mare set out to find it.




--------------------------------


White Light




The fires roared intermittently, the clangs of the hammers driving back the gloom and the silence, returning life to the once quiet forge. Bellows pumped air into the hungry coals, turning them from cherry-red to a incandescent orange. Heat flowed out in waves, scalding the skin and charring the fur. Sweat flowed like tiny streams, flowing down the well-built bodies of the two pegasi, both as different as winter and autumn. The water hissed and sizzled as hot metal was dunked inside to cool, steam trails curling and floating away haphazardly on the air currents. Suddenly, the fires were dimmed, and the clangs were muted. The air was silent once again as the crafters examined their respective works.

Forge had created a pair of hoofguards out of steel, inlaid with silver and obsidian to create a stylized picture of a cloudless night sky on each. The moon was made of pure, untainted silver, the obsidian background studded with miniscule opals representing the countless star in the sky. These were different from normal hoofguards in the aspect that whereas normal ones only covered from the forearm to the fetlock and only protected the front, these covered from the knee till the coronet, covering the hooves and the back of the leg as well. They were segmented to allow movement of the hoof as to not chance a break. This gave the guard much more durability, as the added weight would only help in bludgeoning the opponent.

My offering was less fancy, but as reliable and useful as Forge’s. I had chosen to make a helmet for Sunfire. The forehead was reinforced, so there was some extra burden on the wearer, but the benefit was that it would deflect more and cave in less. The helmet was not made of iron or steel, but of a mixture of steel, iron and bronze. The resulting alloy, which I made by accident (Yay!), possessed an unnaturally high durability in exchange for heavier weight. I had cut grooves in the helmet while the metal was hot, to allow blood to drain away along the channels and to also create a design akin to flowing water. The grooves that interlocked with each other were there to ensure that if the helmet was close to distorting, it would press against the rest of the helmet to cause it to bend, which further increased the strength of the helmet. Instead of traditional ear protection, I discarded it and attached metal pegasus wings jutting out 180 degrees from the sides of the helmet to act as a ‘shield’ for the ears. The interior was padded with soft leather, and had wool for the middle layer to act as a cushion. Honestly, it wasn’t as exquisite as Forge’s, yet I felt within me that this was something I could rely on to protect my beloved from harm.

Diz, on the other hoof, did something different altogether. Growing bored of the repetition of ‘hit metal, cool it, change shape, heat it, and repeat the cycle’, he pulled out some thick gloves from nopony knows where, and also started crafting. Strangely enough, he didn’t make armor, but instead, made a small locket, not large enough to fit nicely for a stallion or a mare, but just the right size for an adolescent pony. It was a simple affair, with not much decoration except for an emblem which depicted a small fire. Inside, was just enough space to put a note which would read: “To my dearest brother,  this locket ensures that some part of me will always be with you.” and a small self portrait, but nothing more.

Forge took a look at my helmet and proclaimed it ‘passable’, but he did smile a little, so that should count for something. Diz’s locket was called ‘wonderful’, with no exaggeration. I too called it amazing that a complete novice was able to create something like a locket without any imperfections.

“Well there, kid, that’s a real nice helmet there. Keep it safe, you hear? Those are MY materials that you used!” Forge grinned as he jokingly berated me.

“Will do sir...will do,” I replied with pride.

The tenderness of the moment was shattered, however, when one pony arrived at the forge with no small amount of grumbling. The moment she saw Diz, her eyes narrowed, and a snarl was beginning to show.

Chrome had encountered Dizzy, without her sister to hold her back.