Hooves, Vigors, and Ammo

Booker and Elizabeth trotted down the streets of Manehatten. They passed a group of three ponies talking on the street corner.

"Did you hear? The homo-sapien has arrived!" The rest of the group gasped.

"Oh my Goddesses! Did the Guard get him?" a mare asked. The original speaker shook his head.

"I don't know... hopefully, they did." At this, the sound of a public announcement was heard, a kind of fog-horn sound. Now that Booker looked around, there were speakers everywhere, on poles, on street lights, in the arches above doorways... the announcer had an authoritarian voice, yet distinctly female.

"The dreaded homo-sapien has arrived in our fair country, Equestria!" All around, gasps of horror could be heard, some even crying into their loved ones, a few stallions even saying things resembling, 'Don't worry, honey, I'll protect you from the agent of Discord.' The announcement continued, "But, fear not, citizens of Manehattan, for our prophet foresaw this day! Even as I tell you this the great walls are rising!"

Elizabeth tugged on Booker's sleeve, and he turned to see that, far off in the distance, it seemed giant walls were rising up out of the land... giant stone walls, with a golden outline, and they were painted with an image clearly resembling Comstock, but... he was a pony? It wasn't too clear to Elizabeth or Booker but it definitely was Comstock as a pony.

Ponies around them cheered and jumped for joy! "The human won't last long within these walls!" one cries.

Booker sighed and turned to Elizabeth, whispering, "Oh, great, how are we going to get out?"

A boom echoed across the land as the walls rose completely, and the announcement continued: "This should not take very long! In the meantime, goods will be flown to and from this place via zeppelins. Remember, our Prophet is kind! Our Prophet sees with the Princesses' eyes! He will protect us!"

Around them, ponies were still celebrating, dancing in the street, some throwing confetti from windows or uncorking Champagne, letting the stuff fly down into awaiting ponies' mouths.

"Well... it looks like we'd better find that dock and try to catch a zeppelin out of the city," Booker figures.

Elizabeth whispered back, looking around, "Why is everypony celebrating? Shouldn't they all be scared?"

One earth pony heard that and responded, "Oh, miss, the Guard will surely take out the Homo Sapien in no time at all! This will surely only last a day, and with his death comes our deliverance from all evil!" and then went back to celebrating.

Booker and Elizabeth exchanged nervous looks before making their way down the crowded streets, looking for the air tower, Booker searching the ground in front of him here and there to find some dropped Silver Eagles. Eventually, they came across a vending booth much like the "Dollar Bill" in Columbia, save this reality's version was called, "Bits for Baubles." It was a cream-colored booth adorned with a mechanical green pegasus mare in business attire with purple eyes and a gray mane in a wavy style. She started to talk when Booker approached it in a tone dripping with sleaziness, "Free samples! ...The offer's off. You gonna buy somethin'?"

Booker rolled his eyes, activating the machine and buying a one-hundred percent salts refill, and that brought him down to nine-hundred and thirty-three Silver Eagles.

Bits for Baubles exclaimed when he left, "Come back when you got some money, buddy!"

Eventually Booker and Elizabeth made it to the air tower, a massive building with multiple docks. As they trotted, a zeppelin docked above them and Booker told Elizabeth his plan: "Alright, we sneak on and stow away in the cargo bay until we dock again, and we make our way to Ponyville from wherever we dock." They were about to trot into the air tower when they were stopped by a pair of guards.

One of them spoke up. "Sorry, buddy, the zeppelins are off limits to civilians right now."

"But my daughter and I need to see my dying brother in Ponyville!" Booker lied.

The guard looked sorry, but went on to say, "Sorry, sir. Looks like you'll have to phone him."

Booker and Elizabeth began to trot away, resolving to come back at night, but then Booker faintly heard the guards talking. They must have thought he was out of earshot.

"Goddesses, he was cute, but I think he just wanted to get out of the city. I don't blame him."

"Yeah, he was. The moment we get relieved, I'm taking the Firemare HQ exit out of this city."

Booker grinned. That exit was most certainly not for civilians, but it was a way out that probably was less risky than stowing away in a zeppelin and potentially revealing that he was the human in a pony guise.

They began searching for that building. They got a little lost, but after grabbing a map of Manehattan and even one of Equestria at a store, they were much better off.

Eventually, they did find their way to the Firemare headquarters, also called the Firehouse, and its very design looked holy. It was a large white building with golden linings all around. The only sinister thing about it had to be the six chimneys all roaring with smoke atop the building, their tops coated in a thick ash that seemed to only lightly dress the rest of the roof. There was a pathway up to a white gate lined in gold, and there was a white plaque in the middle of the path with gold text. It read:
"Requirements to be a Firemare:
– You worship the glory of Princess Celestia.
– You are willing to burn for life with Her holy fire.
– You are willing to let go of all ponies in your previous life.
– You have the Devil's Kiss Vigor."

At the bottom was a disclaimer that clarified that despite the term 'Firemare,' they also accept stallions, and below that was a sign that read, "We're not recruiting at the moment."

Booker frowned and turned to Elizabeth, who sighed. "Maybe there's a way we could sneak in? Like around the back?" Booker nodded, but, as he did, the gates opened and two Firemares stepped out. They were in full body armor painted white, their face covered by a full head mask with the visor being Celestia's cutie mark. All around the sides of the armor, fire flowed, allowing them to do fire-based attacks, but their whole bodies were encased by the armor. One of them noticed Booker and Elizabeth and trotted right over.

"What are you two doing here? To see if we are hiring?" the voice inside the helmet echoed, taking notice of their interest in the sign. It had a fire-like crackling quality to it.

Booker could feel the heat eminating from the Firemare even though they were standing a good foot apart. He couldn't quite grasp the Firemare's emotion until she spoke with no expression to see. The visor must be one-way. "Yes, but I see you're not taking in new ponies at the moment," he finally replied.

"While we would be pleased to accept new members right now, we simply cannot. The homo-sapien is in Manehattan, and we shall cook it on a spit! For the glory of Celestia and our Prophet!" At this, the Firemares galloped off to go find Booker. Little did they know that the 'homo sapien' was right in front of them. And, it looks like the gate was unattended.

Booker glanced at Elizabeth, and then at the exposed gates. "Well, since they left the door open..." he said to her, and she smiled. She ran up to it and easily picked the lock. They entered cautiously and, taking note that nopony was in the first room of the building itself, they let out a collective sigh of relief and started looking around.

Ahead was a white hallway that split in many directions, but everything in here was white and gold. Sun-shaped lights covered the ceiling and Celestia's cutie mark was all over the walls. Fittingly, it was extremely hot in here. Not far from the entrance was a Trixinc Kinetoscope titled, "What are the Firemares?" Booker hoofed Elizabeth his gun and went to go take a peek.

The very first black and white slide asked that same question before a short clip of a Firemare launching off a Devil's Kiss from her hoof was displayed. It continued on to say, "They worship the Goddess Celestia, and spread Her holy light!" Another clip was displayed of five Firemares kneeling before a painting of Celestia. "Good on them! All the power to them!" read the next slide, followed by one that simply read, "FIN."

"They're kind of like the Firemen back in Columbia," Elizabeth noted.

Booker withdrew and shrugged at Elizabeth, accepting his weapon back from her. They set off to explore the hallways, checking corners carefully so as to not give themselves away, and eventually stumbled across and office that was labelled, "Recruit Interview." Booker noted that the door was locked. Since nopony was being recruited at the moment, he assumed it must have been empty, and he stepped aside so Elizabeth could pick the lock. They went in.

Inside was a desk, two chairs, and a set of Firemare armor in a glass case. An accopanying red sign with golden words read, "The Armor of Spitfire, the first Firemare." A Voxophone was beside it with a picture of somepony Booker could only assume was Spitfire, and he took a listen to it.

"I saw Celestia again in a dream last night..." it crackled. "My goodness, she was beautiful... I must spread the knowledge of Her fire, be Her holy conduit, and spread Her light to all the corners of Equestria! ...I must create an armor to show my appreciation to Her!"

He set the Voxophone down and searched the desk for more Silver Eagles before trotting out of the room with Elizabeth. They then came across a window through which they could see a training room where lots of ponies seemed to be bulking up. Elizabeth crouched and moved past the window, but Booker took a cautious peek inside. The walls had painted murals of Celestia raising the sun, giving warmth to the land, or other similar things. The whole room, as always, was very white and gold. Most of the ponies training were mares, and one Firemare stood close to the window, her back to it, watching them all. Booker had seen enough, and crouched past the window to join Elizabeth.

Soon, they reached a dead end in the hallway with one door on either side. They could go left or right, and there was no way to look into either room. Booker chose left and found the door was unlocked, and as he opened it he came upon a mare strapped to a table, writhing in what appeared to be agony. She was covered in Firemare armor, and it seems she was getting it surgically attached. It seemed they were always burning inside that armor. His suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly screamed in pain, some of the tubes on the sides of the armor lighting up with fire. The newly made Firemare leapt off the table far quicker than Booker would have expected, considering that heavy-looking armor, and a wave of intense heat burned Booker just enough to snap him back to human form. Elizabeth gasped behind him.

"BURN in the name of the Sun Goddess, Celestia!!" shouted the Firemare, her voice muffled by the armor as she hurled Devil's Kiss at Booker, but he backed up, slamming the door shut as fast as he could and melting the doorknob with his own Devil's Kiss.

Elizabeth nervously glanced around with a wide-eyed expression, but it seems that nopony else was alerted to Booker's presence just yet. Booker keeps his shotgun on the left door as Elizabeth hastily tries to unlock the right one. The Firemare continuously bucked the door hard and repeatedly. Elizabeth's hands fumbled, and she couldn't get the door open before the left was bucked down.

It struck Booker in the front, but before the Firemare could follow up with a blast of fire, Booker swatted the door aside and delivered a blast of his own from his shotgun, knocking the Firemare only a step back. She laughed mockingly; the first blast couldn't pierce her brand-new armor. A fiery shockwave threw Booker against Elizabeth's back, and he yelped in pain. Elizabeth, standing behind Booker, only took minor burns, but she hurt her hands on the door when Booker bumped her. Thinking quickly, Booker cast Undertow to knock the Firemare back into the operating room, where she crashed through the machinery. The sound echoed down the hallway, and Booker knew that the loud noise had alerted that room full of trainees to their presence. He urged Elizabeth to hurry, sucking up the pain he was in, and she tried again. After unlocking the right door, they bolted through into the hallway beyond, hoping desperately it was the right direction.

Thankfully, they were right. At the far end of the hallway was another door that they went in, and Elizabeth held the door shut as Booker surveyed the room. "You shall be judged!" a Firemare shouted from the other side, and they began trying to get the door down. The far wall was a mural of Celestia's face smiling beautifully, but just under that was an escape hatch. Obviously, this room was an emergency exit in case this place was ever attacked. Booker rushed to it and tried to get it open, and once it was, he urged Elizabeth to get inside. She left the door, and the Firemares pursuing them only got to see the top of Booker's head before the hatch was shut and forged that way by Booker's Devil's Kiss. Smoke filled the narrow tunnel, and he and Elizabeth let out a hacking cough.

Booker took only a moment to cast his vigor again to turn himself into a pony. They galloped the whole way through the tunnel until they found the exit, which the ponies hadn't caught up with them at just yet, and once they were out, they continued as fast as they could in a random direction, stopping long after their hearts had started screaming at them to take a breather, confident finally that they were safe.

"That was close," Booker wheezed, collapsing on the ground. After some time, he asked, "So, what are we gonna do when we fix this?"

"I-I have no idea... we can't really go back now, can we?" Elizabeth realizes. "I guess... live a life?" Booker frowned at the idea.

"First it was get you to New York... wipe away my debt... and then it was kill Comstock... and now it's fix a land of colorful prancing ponies, then make a life for ourselves here?" Booker blinks, realizing what he just said. "Wow, things sure change," he thought to himself.

Another period of silence settled between them.

Elizabeth eventually asked, "What do you think you'll do, Booker?"

He already had an answer for that. He answered, "Work as a P.I. It's what I did before I became so indebted, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore since we're here."

Elizabeth just nodded, thinking for a time. "Well... question is, what will I do?" She thinks again. "Be your secretary?"

"That job will get boring... and I'm sure you could do better. You're a strong woman... well, I guess mare, now." He sighs. "You'll find something, I promise."

After resting some more, they caught their breath, and Elizabeth sat up, pulling out her map. She looked around at the beautiful countryside, and pointed in one direction after she was certain of herself. "That way to Ponyville."