Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

by Freeflyingwolf

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character
Length: 156851

Adventures in the Everfee Forest and beyond as a pegasus with a manticore for a friend.

Sunshy is a timid buck, often mistaken for a filly. He's a pegasus with strong similarities to Fluttershy. Everyone seems to think he is her reincarnation, but it seems to be a good thing. Stranded in the Everfree Forest, he finds his special talent is helping animals and healing. He has a strong affinity with the unchanged Manticores. After being named a Dashite by his own people, followed by even more tragedies, he leaves Equestria and finds himself in the land of Zebras. How much will his life change in such a harsh wasteland after the cushy life he has lived?

Published 2011-10-31 01:07:47 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-29 03:51:00 UTC

Chapter 1: Cutie Marks

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 1: Cutie Marks

”How about the Cutie Mark Crusaders?!”

S.P.E.C.I.A.L

Strength: 3

Perception: 6

Endurance: 5

Charisma: 6

Intelligence: 5

Agility: 8

Luck: 7

Fear ran through the veins of one little colt. His name was Sunshy: a play on words of course, as well as homage to the nicest Pegasus to ever exist. He would make her proud, mommy always said. Why, he even looked like her: his legs were too long for his body, which was downright thin, his coat was a sunflower yellow, his hair was light red—pink in the light right—and grown long so he could hide his face, just like Fluttershy. Everyone who first met Sunshy thought he was related to her; she had no family, but then they’d say he was her reincarnation. It took him a while to figure out what that meant.

However, Sunshy had no Rainbow Dash to stick up for him. Sunshy was timid, scared, and never protected himself; he learned to make himself small and unworthy of bullying. It didn’t help that he looked more like a filly than a colt. So of course, he was perfect to be picked on. Even by those he came to call ‘friends’. These friends had forced him into a dare. Thus, his fear.

Actually, his fear was caused by what he saw in front of him. Sunshy was standing on the clouds, as all Pegasi do nowadays, staring ahead and down. It was scary to look down. Before, when he looked down, all he saw was cloud. But now…there was ground. He could see the ground. And it terrified him. That was when he discovered he was afraid of heights. When you live in the clouds, there was no discernible way to know just how high up one was. It was terrifying to know.

“Are you going or what, Sunshy?!” Another Pegasus shouted at the timid colt.

Said colt started violently before looking over his shoulder, staring through the veil of his red mane. His two ‘friends’ were glaring at him. The two brightly-colored winged ponies had cornered the poor colt on his way home from Fluttershy’s First Aid School for Foals and Colts. They demanded he go to the cloud cover over the Everfree Forest. No explanation, no other words, just demanded him to go and started shoving, not even letting him go take his medkit saddlebags back home.

So here he was, at the edge of the borderline between Equestria and the Everfree Forest. Staring down at the ground millions of miles down. It most likely wasn’t really that far down, but that was what his panicking mind told Sunshy. Trying not to seem scared, Sunshy stared directly at one tree. It was indiscernible from the thousands of other trees that could be seen from the breaking cloud cover.

“Go!” One of the two yelled at him.

The shout startled the yellow colt, causing him to jump into the air. At that moment, the clouds decided to gap under the little pegasus. Screaming, the yellow and red colt fell through the hole. Sunshy’s mind went blank; he couldn’t remember to fly, he couldn’t remember to do anything but scream and flail. While falling, he looked up to the sky he had called home and saw his friends staring down at him, eyes wide. They turned tail and fled.

Memories of his life flooded Sunshy’s mind. It was tragically short. The ground was coming up at him. The trees were gaping at him, going to swallow him. Their branches broke under his minute weight combined with the force of gravity. They were less than cushioning. Something else that made a strange noise was much cushier.

Groaning, Sunshy tried to open his cerulean eyes, but the light of the sun blinded him. While turning, he mumbled to Celestia to please keep the light down. Already large eyes shot open as wide as possible. Whatever he was on was alive, soft, and breathing. Wings opened and flapped enough to get Sunshy airborne. What he saw made him gasp and cover his face with his hooves.

A baby manticore. It was lying on the dark grass and leaf-covered ground. A ray of sun was spotlighting the little thing. Gazing up, the colt saw the hole he had made during his crash landing. Staring up at the sky gave him vertigo. Wings snapped shut against his side, making the gangly colt bounce onto his rump.

Breathing deeply while staring at the ground, Sunshy gathered his bearings. There were no broken bones, heart rate fast, breathing going down, a few scrapes and bruises, and no damage to his metal casing saddlebags. A deep sigh, some moments to gather up what little courage he had, and Sunshy lifted his head to observe the injured manticore.

Injured?!

Yes, a quick visual scan proved that the baby—cub?—was injured far worse than the pegasus. One wing was stretched out at an awkward angle, some gashes leaked blood onto its golden coat, dying it a dark brown and matting the fur. The yellow pegasus retched at the sight of a bone sticking out of the baby’s wrist.

Acting quickly, Sunshy ducked his head down and slid his medkit saddlebags onto the ground. Work mode activated, narrowing his focus; he opened both metal containers and took out rolls of gauze, some cleaning strips, a couple healing potions, Med-X, and bandages.

First, Sunshy gingerly flipped the manticore, taking great care of its injured wing and trying not to stare at the scorpion tail. First-Aid training compelled the yellow colt to press his ear against its chest; an irregular heartbeat and shallow breathing. With that knowledge to comfort him, the pegasus gingerly opened the baby’s mouth and squeaked at the rows of sharp teeth.

Tearing his eyes from the teeth, Sunshy turned and grasped the healing potion in his mouth. Then he leaned back so he could keep the mouth open with his hind hooves while he used his front hooves and mouth to uncork the potion. Once it was open, the petit healer poured the pink magical potion into the open mouth.

The manticore gurgled the potion before swallowing unconsciously. A sigh escaped Sunshy as he finally released the gaping maw. Truthfully, the baby manticore’s mouth could only have bitten his back, but fear was not rational. The smaller wounds healed before Sunshy’s eyes, the gashes slowed their bleeding, and the pegasus continued his medical treatment.

The wounds were bandaged carefully and only tight enough to stop the bleeding. Sunshy swore his heart stopped when the manticore growled in her sleep. Oh, he found out it was a girl while treating a lower leg injury. Holding his breath, he quickly injected the baby with Med-X before snapping its wing back in place. The baby grunted in her sleep and squirmed before settling back into unconsciousness.

Then there was the bone.

The first time Sunshy went to face this challenge, he blanched and lost his lunch into some nearby bushes. Second time, he puked again. This repeated until his stomach was completely empty.

With nothing else to upchuck, the colt felt he was forced to face this unholy challenge. With a held breath, he forced the bone back into place and quickly wrapped the injury as quickly as possible while not letting it become sloppy.

The manticore roared in pain and flailed, claws and tail slashing out to attack whatever caused her pain. She rolled over onto her paws, held her tail up to strike, and opened her wings to look intimidating. Then pain shot through her body in such succession that she crumpled to her knees.

“Are you okay? I…I have some more Med-X. It’ll make the pain go away.” Sunshy talked to the baby manticore cautiously. His body mimicked his tone; ears flat, crouching low to be eye-to-eye, and hair covering half of his face.

The manticore growled at him, raising her tail in warning while crouching down in preparation to pounce. Sunshy backed up and began moving sideways, never breaking eye contact. The manticore stared at the colorful pony, growling with ears flattened against her head, tail up, and wings pressed against her sides. Though he was forced to look away to gather his supplies, the manticore continued to watch him with cautious golden eyes.

Once all of his supplies were packed into his metal saddlebags, the yellow colt slipped it on and stood up with a needle in his mouth. He turned to the manticore and made himself as small and unintimidating as possible. While he inched towards the baby, she calmed down at his stance. Though injured and scared, it was inferred that this tiny pony was no threat.

Then the needle poked her leg.

A paw that was no bigger than a filly’s hoof back-swiped at Sunshy, knocking him onto his side. She roared in pain and struggled against nothing for a short while. Then a realization hit the young creature.

No more pain.

Cautiously, the only other creature around rose to his hooves and crawled towards the manticore. This time, she turned towards him so fast that his body locked up in fear. The manticore pounced, Sunshy couldn’t even scream. And then he laughed.

The manticore licked his mane until it stuck up in a funny style. Sunshy continued to giggle as the manticore baby backed off and sat in front of him. Giggling, the small colt stood up and smiled at the manticore. In response, she wagged her little scorpion tail and mimicked his smile. It was much more terrifying than his.

“Good, you’re okay. I’m glad to have helped.” Sunshy smiled a little brighter at the manticore.

The female combination monster purred at him and rubbed her head against his chest and muzzle. A roar startled the two. The monster turned towards the source and roared back. Her voice was tiny and high-pitched compared to the deep, terrifying one before.

Out of the woodworks came a much larger, adult, male, manticore. The monster was two adult ponies high, and three wide. The wings were each giant bat wings as large as its body. The scorpion tail raised high above its wild red mane. Sunshy realized this was the baby’s father when she was scooped up and he received a roar in his face.

Much like the fainting goats, Sunshy seized up and fell onto his side. He was too scared to move, and instead watched as the little manticore roared back at her father and swiped at his face. The father howled in pain and dropped his daughter, raising a paw to his injured nose. The baby ran to her friend’s side and lied down next to him. She mewed at him and nudged his face in worry.

Fear slowly dissolved as the colt realized what was happening. He rolled onto his side and received a full-face nuzzle from the baby. The father stared at the scene in silent contemplation.

“I helped her. It’s okay. I’m not mean.” Sunshy told the father in a shockingly confident voice.

This seemed to be the final push. The father manticore nodded at them, turned, and began walking away. The baby jumped up and bounced after him—it seemed like she meant to run, but it looked like bouncing to Sunshy. After a while, the little one turned and meowed at him, beckoning to him with her head. With a grin that stretched from ear to ear, Sunshy got up and sprinted after them.

The darkness was terrifying; not even the company of a giant mix-and-match monster could quell his fears. The trees seemed to reach out at him with claws, or had faces trying to scare him. Every little shadow held something out to kill him. Any small noise scared him; every stick he stepped on made him squeal in terror.

Under his breath, Sunshy quietly sang ”Giggle at the Ghosties”. The song that transcended time actually helped dispel his fear. Soon enough, he was trotting along, belting out the song with a smile and a little mini manticore mewling the song along with him. The adult looked upon them with a fatherly smile.

Of course, the loud noises attracted unwanted attention. A few glowing eyes peered out at the group from the shadows of the forest. Nothing came too close to them; a manticore was a rather fearsome animal even in the Equestrian Wasteland. A large male manticore with his child in tow? Nothing was willing to come close.

Along their path, they made their way into a bog. The water was brown, mucky, thick, and generally unpleasant. The two manticores seemed to be wary of the gross water, and Sunshy was not one to jump into it. And then a giant five-eyed frog surfaced and jumped onto a lily pad larger than it. The baby manticore screeched and ducked behind her father, who stared at her with what seemed to be disappointment.

However, the little colt was drawn by an inane curiosity towards the freakishly mutated animal. It was as large as an adult pony, had brown and dark green camouflage skin, and three large eyes on one side, two on the other. All of the five eyes focused onto the yellow and red colt. Then the Radfrog shot out its long and sticky tongue, which Sunshy noticed was barbed. It didn’t even occur to him to duck.

Thankfully for him, the tongue was not aimed at him. It sailed over his head; he followed its trajectory and ducked when something big and brown came flying back. Looking back at the Radfrog, Sunshy saw that it was shoving some giant bug into its mouth. Once the bug was eaten, the Radfrog croaked at the pony and jumped back into the bog. The little manticore screeched and ran back from the splashes of the water while Sunshy laughed and just held a hoof over his face. The father shook his head and continued walking.

Their path was long and virtually straight. Once they had to cross a chasm. With her injured wing, the baby had to climb onto her father’s back. Sunshy wondered how he was going to cross before the father picked him up between his large front paws and sailed over to the other side. Only when he was on the other side did Sunshy remember he was a pegasus…while on the ground, paralyzed by fear because he made the mistake of looking down.

Once recovered, the trio resumed their journey. When his hooves began to hurt, Sunshy just began to fly beside them silently. It slowly became darker. The trees thickened. They came upon a field of overgrown blue flowers. Something told the colt to avoid them, and the two manticores doing the same proved it was a good idea.

Hours of walking proved to bear fruit to the group. They came upon a giant tree decorated with broken bottles hanging from the low branches and masks scattered around the area. Something compelled Sunshy to stop a certain distance from the tree. He stared at the door in the front, wondering if this tree was hollowed out to become a home.

The two manticores paused as well, behind the tiny pony. The large father nudged him forward; he looked back to him before moving towards the home. Scared at the thought of invading someone’s home, Sunshy paused before the door. Whispering a sorry to the owner, one hoof reached out and pushed open the door.

Complete and utter darkness with scary faces!!

The father manticore huffed and rolled its eyes before looking down at his paws. Sunshy was cowering between his large paws, shaking at the utter darkness in the inside of the tree. The father turned his head over his shoulder, grabbed his daughter, and set her down beside the quivering colt.

Then he strode forward into the building with wings wide open. A few strong flaps caused the air inside to fly around. The stale air rushed by the smaller creatures’ heads, throwing out dust as well. Once that task was cleared, the manticore father pulled back some curtains with his teeth, letting the light shine in through the grime-coated windows.

Cautiously, Sunshy stepped forward into the hollowed-out tree hut. The inside was…amazing! It was decorated with wonderful masks, potions, brews, books, and all sorts of fun things! Sunshy was no smarter than most other ponies, but he loved to learn! And now, he wanted to learn everything about this place and these neat-o things!

Bubbling with excitement, Sunshy bounced around the hut, trying to absorb everything his big cerulean eyes could take in. After a short while, he bounced forward, was jerked back because his tail did not follow, and fell flat on his belly spread-eagle. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the large manticore with a paw on his tail, staring evenly at him.

The colt folded his ears back and felt a little blush growing on his face. The manticore made a snorting hiccoughing noise. It took only a moment for Sunshy to realize he was laughing at him. His blush covered his face, making it look a little orange. The manticore released him and licked his head, giving him a new manedo much like his daughter had.

Sunshy took his time to scan the one giant room; masks, bottles, broken things everywhere, and a bed. There were also a few books, but upon inspection, were in Zebra. Still, Sunshy set them aside as the little manticore helped him clean by sweeping the broken glass into a pile with her tail. The large manticore used his tail to sweep the collection outside, dug a hole, and buried the glass pieces.

With that done, Sunshy took off his saddlebags and walked onto the bed and lied down. He just wanted to lie down, but then his eyelids became heavy. The little manticore pushed her way under his leg and cuddled up to him. That’s when an idea came to him.

“I need to give you two a name.” Sunshy stated, looking between the two. The larger manticore walked over and lied down, curling up with the little ones against his belly. Looking at the baby, Sunshy muttered sleepily, “I’ll call you Celly, after Celestia.” He looked up to the father, “And you can be Big Sol.”

Big Sol raked his tongue against Sunshy’s mane, while Celly groomed herself to clean off her blood, careful of the bandages. After his little giggle fit calmed, the content colt curled up against his friends, seeing something on his flank as he closed his eyes.

Wait, what?!

Sunshy shot up so fast that the manticores jumped back. They watched as he spun in a circle, eyes wide, grin breaking his face, trying to get a good look at his brand-spanking-new cutie mark! Big Sol held out a paw and stopped Sunshy in such a way that he was almost nose-to-nose with his cutie mark. It also almost broke his spine. So he fell onto his side and stared at his cutie mark with barely-contained bubbling ecstatic excitement.

The cutie mark was rather strange, even though it was his. It was the face of a smiling lion holding a roll of bandage. No, wait, it was a manticore, there were little bat wings behind the smiling face. But who cared! It was his very own cutie mark! And to think, he never would have gotten it if he hadn’t…fell…from…….his home.

All the excitement of receiving his cutie mark was washed away in that one depressing thought. Sunshy flopped down onto the mattress and lied down. Now he was depressed. He was no longer home…his home was up above. He didn’t know if he could fly that high, he was a colt, after all. Even still…the Enclave didn’t let ponies on the ground go back up. The ground was poisonous…the air…

Wait a minute…

Was the air really that bad?

Sunshy had been here since a little after noon, and now, the silver ribbons of light streaming in through the grime in the windows told him it was night. He had been here hours, and nothing had happened. He felt fine…sure, some monsters were changed, but these manticores must prove something, right? Not everything in the Wasteland below could be killed or changed by the poison.

What if there was no poison at all?

What if…

A sigh escaped the little yellow colt. This was too much to think about while he was so tired.

One thing was certain, Sunshy thought as his manticore friends curled up around him, the Enclave was either lying to all of the pegasi about the surface, or they didn’t know it wasn’t poisonous. They sent scouts all the time..maybe they…liked the little froggies and fed them pickles…

Ignoring how strange those thoughts were, Sunshy gave into the sweet embrace of sleep. It was so easy, curled up next to two warm and very fuzzy bodies. A contented sigh escaped the gangly colt as he drifted into bliss, dreaming of his first day on land and how it wasn’t so bad. After all, he made two real friends who wouldn’t want him to do dangerous dares for no reason. It was a good day after all.

Level up! You are now level one!

Medicine is at 50

Perk added! Fluttershy reborn: You look, act, and even talk just like Fluttershy! You know just what it means to do better. You can speak to animals on a different level and know how to take care of them! Ponies, however…meep.

Medical History! Small Frame: You are smaller than most, adding +1 to Agility, but your bones are 25% more likely to be broken.

Claustrophobic:You have fear of enclosed spaces (probably because you’re a pegasus). You gain +1 to all your SPECIAL attributes when outdoors, but -1 when you’re inside.

Side note: You now have a cutie mark! It’s a symbol of you growing into a full-fledged adult, good for you! Now that you’re no longer a blank flank, you know what your destiny is in the Wasteland. Be happy; at least you lived this long.

Chapter 2: Shiny and Ancient

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 2: Shiny and Ancient

”But that Rainbow one kicked me.”

Awaking in a strange place caused Sunshy to jerk from the remnants of his sleep. Wide awake, he stared around at the room he occupied with his manticore friends. The two continued to sleep, though Big Sol did move his head to lie on the little colt’s back, and Celly squirmed in her sleep before settling down.

As the rays of sun filtered through the dirty window, the pegasus stared around the room. It was cleaner than it had been in two hundred years, he guessed. The dust was cleared, one could see the floor, there were books and other items were set up against the walls or anywhere out of the way.

Sadness swept over the colt as he remembered yesterday. He was stranded from home. He fell from the clouds, so now he was stranded in the Wasteland. Even worse, he was stranded in the Everfree Forest. It was full of monsters that would snap up a snack like him in a moment.

The warm, if smelly, breath of a manticore swept over his face. Sunshy looked away and stuck his tongue out at the gross smell. He didn’t know what it was that he smelled, and he would rather not know. Somehow, he had the sneaking suspicion that he would find out.

That was right; he had no need to be afraid! He had a giant lion-scorpion-bat monster to protect him!

Big Sol lifted his head up, stretched out his body like the cat, cracked his jaw yawning, and stretched out his wings. Moments later, Celly mimicked her father, save for her wings. Sol licked the heads of both children before standing and shaking off the last remnants of sleep.

A growl caught everyone’s attention. They all looked down to Sunshy, who flattened his ears in embarrassment. His stomach was clenching and hurting; all he had eaten had been upchucked yesterday and he had nothing after that. The excitement of venturing with two manticores had driven food from his mind.

The long tongue swept over the entirety of his back before Sol walked to the door and pushed it open with his large paw. The two young ones blocked their eyes from the strong sunlight. Once their eyes adjusted, the pony and baby manticore were nudged out the door.

It was a bright new day in the Everfree forest. The bloatsprites were flying, some mutated bird screeched at them with the sound of claws on a chalkboard, and the giant manticore pounced upon a wandering radhog.

Sunshy gasped, paled, and froze in shock from the sight. Sol had pounced on the much smaller monster, dug his claws into its hide, bit its neck and twisted his head. This all happened within the span of a few seconds.

Heartbreak evident on his face, Sunshy walked over to the dead radhog and sent a prayer to Celestia and Luna for it. Walking away from the corpse, he was comforted in the fact that at least it died fast. Curious, he watched Celly walk past and tear a chunk of flesh from the radhog. Wow, why was it suddenly hot and black and stars, oh Goddesses, he was passing out.

Waking up, Sunshy was deeply offended to find that someone had moved the sky. It was above him and that wasn’t right. He was a pegasus, the sky was under him, not above. Oh, wait, he was on the ground, lying down, actually. The sky…wow.

Sunshy found himself breathless as he stared up. The sky was…rather beautiful. While he was more or less immune to the beauty of direct sunlight, it was so….different seeing it from the ground. There were clouds dotting the bright blue sky, some making shapes if Sunshy used his imagination. How was he scared of it before? A lion cub’s face peered down at him, mewling in confusion and worry.

Trying not to look at her bloodied muzzle, Sunshy rolled onto his hooves and walked away from the squelchy sounds. Once he could no longer hear the carnivores devouring their meal, the colt stared at the dark green grass. The books in school said that grass was edible to ponies. Grass seemed to be the one thing that they did not grow up in the clouds.

Nervous and indecisive, Sunshy fidgeted in place. His tummy rumbled again, impatient for food. Courage built up as much as it could in the tiny, timid body. Breath held, eyes closed, wings tight against his body, Sunshy shot his head down with his mouth open. His muzzle clamped around a clump of grass, his head shot up, and he started chewing.

Cerulean eyes cracked open in faint curiosity. Dark green grass of the Everfree Forest was….not bad. Vegetables like carrots were much better, and fruit was just spectacular. Grass…Sunshy raised a hoof and waved it in a so-so manner, cocking his head. It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t inedible. Swallowing his mouthful, the little colt looked up to the trees. What about leaves?

Yellow wings fluttered, letting a tiny filly float up to the leaves of the trees. Feeling brave for the first time in his life, Sunshy reached out and took a large bite of leaves. Chewing, he found it tasted different from the grass, but in the same level of so-so.

A mewl got the pegasus’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder to see Celly staring up to him, her wings outstretched. Sunshy landed down on the ground next to her and checked her bandages. They were clean, for the most part, as the healing potion had slowed the bleeding. He was happy to see that her muzzle was clean. Still smelled, though.

“Good, you’re doing just fine, Celly.” Sunshy smiled at her and received a nuzzle against his face.

A low growl was the only warning they received before the father appeared. Big Sol stared at them with obvious disappointment. Only bad children left their parent’s sight. Both children lowered their heads and looked ashamed. Sol’s head reached out to them and picked up Celly by her middle with his mouth. After setting her on his back, he turned back to Sunshy and reached out to him with his mouth open.

Fear spiked through his tiny body and part of the colt wanted to bolt. But before he could, the jaws clamped around his midsection. The teeth were sharp and poked at his sides, but they did not puncture. In fact, Sol was holding him rather gently, as if he was his own as he set Sunshy on his back, next to his own daughter. Celly cuddled up to him, rubbing her cheek against his neck. Sunshy smiled. He had a new family.

Sol walked with his children on his back, his wings slightly raised to shield them from the view of anything living in the forest. The two lied together on the large creature’s back, basking in the spotty sunlight and staring at anything they could see.

Celestia’s sun slowly rose into the sky as Sol walked with his children on his back. Celly had fallen fast asleep to the rhythm of her father’s trotting. However, Sunshy was still wide awake and staring all around. Everything was so fascinating; he wished he had a notepad and pencil to take notes.

Boatflies were hostile and shot barbs at anything, frogs ate them, Lupis Minors looked like glowing blue baby wolves with some star pattern inside them, and nothing wanted to mess with a manticore. Well, except for the stupid boatflies, as they didn’t know any better but to shoot barbs at anything that move. Also, Manticore stingers could pierce right through their soft bodies.

As the sun hung in the center of the sky, something shiny caught Sunshy’s attention. Curious, he flapped his wings and flew over to what was glinting in the light. Landing next to it, he found something small and clear poking out of the ground. Sunshy dug at it with his hooves, giggled and squirmed at the strange feeling dirt had, but then went back to digging it out. Sol continued on, not noticing the small absence of his adopted son.

A diamond came out of the ground. Sunshy stomped excitedly in place, squealed, and picked up the precious jewel in his mouth. Glancing up, he saw the entrance to a low cave. Inside, he saw more glittering and shining objects. Hope perked inside the colt, as did his ears. He trotted forward into the cave, placing the diamond in his mouth and taking a fresh apple Big Sol and picked for him out of his saddle.

Humming tunelessly, Sunshy dug at the ground every time he found something peeking out of the ground or ceiling. Though he was not very strong, the dirt did not resist him much. The gems he found were kept in one of his saddle bags. He had to reorganize his things, but it was worth it. The sheer amount of rubies, diamonds, topaz, gold, and just about everything shiny under Celestia’s sun in this cave was close to overflowing.

A little later, Sunshy noticed something he had never seen before. It looked like a giant circle made of metal, with stout arms reaching out. It took him a moment to realize it was in the shape of a gear. In the center was the painted number 15. Curiosity got the better of the colt. He slowly approached the door, noticing a lever off to the left of it. There were lights all around it; part of him noted that was how the cave was lit so well inside.

SLAM!!

Sunshy fell onto his rump hard, spilling some of his hard-earned jewels onto the cave floor. A giant…agiantredtailwithpinkspikesofdeaththatcouldspearhim.

Heat filled the colt’s body and darkness crept into the edges of his vision as splotches of color blinked before him. He was just about to pass out again before he screamed at the darkness and feeling of going up. Something big had grabbed him, something so big he fit in the palm of the hand and the fingers could close around him.

Panting hard, Sunshy cowered and covered his head with his hooves as the light came back on. Daring a peek through his pink mane, he could scarcely make out the shape of…oh Goddesses…a…a dragon. The scaled fire-breathing reptile stared down at the colt, somewhat impressed it had not leaked on him in fear. Sunshy felt he was very close to changing that.

“H…h…hi.” Sunshy squeaked out. Momma had always told him to talk to others. If you talk to them, and they talk back, you can either make a friend or distract them long enough to run away.

“What is your name?” The giant lizard questioned in a rather booming voice.

“S…suh…Sunshy.” It wanted to know about him, so maybe it did not want to eat him. Or maybe it wanted to know his name before it ate him for some reason.

Sunshy lowered his hooves and stared at the dragon with one covered and uncovered eye. It was mega garhugic—gargantuan, huge, gigantic all in one. The dragon reached the top of the cave, which seemed to be the distance from the ground to the sky. Okay, maybe an exaggeration for a pony who had never seen many large things before. He had, however, been told of the SPP, machines that grew their sky crops that went all the way to the surface. He guessed the cave was as big as that.

Judging by the lackluster color of the red scales and the pools of gold wisdom called eyes, the dragon was ancient. It was probably a full-grown adult before the war, two hundred years ago. No wonder it was old. That did not, in any way, diminish its scariness factor. It still had large bat wings and scales and claws the size of a house and gigantic gold eyes with slit pupils and…and…a sad face?

”Oh…” The dragon was…sad. Its hand lowered to the ground, allowing Sunshy to jump off and go about his merry way as if this never happened. Of course, he did not—oh, part of him wanted to bolt, sure—but…

“Why are you sad?” Just seeing the dragon unhappy affected him. His kind heart would not let anything stay unhappy if he could help it. Sunshy sat up on the dragon’s hand, causing some more gems to spill out.

The dragon seemed shocked that question. A moment of hesitation later, he raised its hand back so Sunshy was not just a colorful speck to it. Sunshy decided it was a boy; no girl could have a voice that deep. At least he hoped so.

”You look like Fluttershy.” The dragon answered. That was not surprising to Sunshy; heard it all before. ”She told me to stay in the cave and guard it. Guard the ponies and zebra that lived inside that Stable.”

“That’s what that is?” Sunshy wondered, looking back to the cog-shaped door. He had heard all sorts of things about them, but never seen one. Nopony bothered mentioning what they even looked like. Not the right question, silly, his mind told him. The yellow colt’s neck almost snapped he whipped his head back to the dragon. Both bright cerulean eyes stared up at the ancient one. “You knew Fluttershy?”

”Yes,” the dragon nodded, ”She told me off for trying to nap in a cave over her town. But I understood what I did was wrong, so I left. I went back for my jewels so that white and purple one couldn’t take them, though.”

“When was that?” Sunshy had found his one true joy; learning about Fluttershy. It wasn’t so much idol worship as it was…clearing her name. The inventor of the Megaspell got a lot of nasty mudslinging. As he looked like her, the taunts that she killed Equestria were flung at Sunshy. So he did everything he could to find ways to clear her name. Like talking to ancient dragons.

”Many years before the war between pony and zebra. My brothers and sisters fought for the zebras, but I stayed out of it. I knew it was foolish to fight in a war for other creatures. I was young to them back then, so they did not listen to me.”

“Now you’re probably the oldest living dragon left.” Stupid Sunshy, that was rude! “Oh! I-I didn’t—“

”No offense taken, Sunshy. I am ancient.”

“So…” Sunshy kicked his hoof and looked down in an aloof way. “What do you know about Fluttershy?” Smooth…

The dragon seemed to be choking! Smoke spewed from its nostrils as its chest heaved up and down while it made a choking sound. Sunshy couldn’t use the Neighmlick Maneuver on such a giant thing! Then he noticed the mouth pulled back in a rather scary smile. Oh! He was being laughed at…again.

”Only what any pony can tell you. It was not like we were best friends.” Disappointment engulfed Sunshy. The dragon was suddenly flustered at that. Damn, but that colt was too adorable without trying. Seeing his sadness made the dragon sad. ”Well…not best friends, but we were friends before the war. And I can tell you that she came to me only months before the Megaspells hit.” Yellow ears perked up and big eyes slid to look at golden ones, ”She kindly asked if her friends could use my cave to build a Stable. Once it was built, she asked if I would stay here, protect those inside when they got here. I had no reason to object.”

“How did you survive the radiation? The cave’s mouth is rather large.” Sunshy wondered, a little less upset.

”Thick scales.” The dragon snorted out a puff of smoke and grinned. ”I think that was why Fluttershy asked me to stay. When I saw the bombs go off, I dove in front of the door. She must have known I would protect them as she asked. It’s rather hard not to do as she says…” Golden eyes glazed and partly misted over. They snapped down when the dragon felt something soft pressing against his arm. Sunshy’s eyes were misty, too. The dragon used his free hand to wipe away the forming tears.

“H…how long before those in the Stable came out?” Sunshy asked while blinking away the tears, trying to change the topic to something less hurtful.

”Only fifty or so years ago. I was quite surprised to find that zebras and ponies can have babies.” At the shock he received from the innocent little colt, the dragon felt ashamed that he said something like that.

“Wow! We never learned that in biology! Why do you look like that? Oh! Oh, don’t worry; I know how babies are made. No damage done.” Sunshy waved a hoof, dispelling the dragon’s shame. “I’m an adult! Look, I have a cutie mark and everything!”

The dragon had to squint to see the tiny picture on the flank of the colt. It was rather easy, as Sunshy had stood and was poised sideways so that it was easier for the dragon to see and he could see the dragon’s reaction.

“A manticore with a…marshmallow?” The dragon’s face moved closer, trying to get a good view.

“No, silly! It’s a roll of bandage, see? I’m good at healing others and I’m good with animals, too.”

At that, the ancient reptile fell silent. He pulled his head back and stared down at Sunshy. After a while, the yellow face turned orange from blushing. He started squirming; being the center of attention was not his forte and he did not like it when other stared.

“So much like her…” He finally muttered in a normal indoor voice. It must have been a whisper to the dragon.

“I know. Everyone tells me that.” Sunshy responded blandly. Really, it got old fast. But the dragon was shaking his head.

“No, not just…not just in looks. You’re so kindhearted, just like her.” A smile tugged at the maw. “I’ll tell you what a baby friend of mine tells all sorts of other ponies. Find a virtue, some armor, knowledge, and most importantly, friends.”

“Can kindness be my virtue?” Sunshy asked in a way-too-adorably diabetes-infecting teeth-rotting cute manner. With his mane covering his face in a shy way, too! The dragon thought he would die of a heart attack of over-cute. The best way to die.

“I’m sure it is. You already have friends and intelligence. Only if you want to go to the wasteland will you need boarding. I don’t recommend it; there are nasty ponies out there.”

“So every other pegasus keeps telling me.” Sunshy kicked at a diamond halfheartedly. It didn’t even leave the dragon’s hand…he really hated how weak he was.

“Not all ponies are bad, so many are trying to do good in this world. I have something for you, to prove it.”

When he finished talking, the nice dragon lowered his hand and let Sunshy off. Then he turned and walked a few feet and then shrank!! Oh, wait, no…he had been standing on a gigantic pile of gems. So he wasn’t actually as tall as the sky. Right, Sunshy knew that. Oh joy, was that a crown?!

The dragon came back to find Sunshy covered head to tail in jewelry, his saddlebags removed to make room for more things draping over his back. With a heavy hoof covered in gold jewel-encrusted bracelets, the little colt lifted a crown much too large away from his eyes. The dragon smiled down at him like he was the cutest thing in all of Equestria. Not showing teeth, thankfully.

“I have a weakness for shiny.” Sunshy admitted as he began removing the dragon’s jewelry.

“Thank you.” The dragon said as he lied down on top of his mountainous pile of shiny things. So much shiny…

“No need; I would never steal something, especially not from a dragon.” Sunshy replied while trying to get a rather difficult bracelet off.

“Well that too…Thank you for keeping me company. It has been so lonely these two centuries. Only mindless monsters ever poke their heads in. Zebras and ponies are…are gems all on their own.” A fire-laced sigh escaped the dragon.

“I…I can come and visit you. Or I could just live here, in that stable.” Sunshy offered. He knew what it was like to be isolated, ostracized. He was always alone in a crowd.

A toothy smile spread over the dragon’s face, but only sadness was in his eyes. “There is no need for that.”

“No, I mean…I don’t really have a home anymore.” Sunshy stared at the ground in sorrow.

“I see your wings…but no Dashite brand. How long have you been down here?”

“A day…D-Dashite brand?! Do you think the Enclave would brand me?! I-I’m not a traitor, I didn’t mean to come here!” The colt was panicking, scared out of his mind.

“They have for every other pegasus I’ve heard of. I would offer to fly you home…but I am too old to even fly. I am so sorry, Sunshy.” The dragon shared the poor colt’s sorrow.

“Bu-buh…I…I want my mommy!”

Sunshy fell onto his rump and wailed. He cried like a newborn colt. It all finally came crashing down upon him like a ton of bricks. He may never go home. He’d never see his mom or dad again. He’d never see their smiles, hear their voices tell him how proud they were of him, how much they loved him, watch them work, or they watch him grow up.

Little Sunshy cried hard and loud. It was all too much. He didn’t even notice Big Sol and Celly run to his side, ignoring the dragon. They had been at the mouth not long after he began conversing with it, but fear kept them at bay. Now…now a father had to comfort his crying child while a sister cuddled her brother.

Hours passed, the sun slid down and towards the horizon and the moon gained its brilliance. Still, Sunshy cried over his lost family. Once the yellow colt had calmed, the dragon held out a tiny device between a claw and ‘thumb’ claw. Sunshy wiped away his tears and sniffled before taking the offered gift. It wasn’t that big, about one-third or so of an adult pony’s leg. It was a shiny cylinder, hollow inside with padding. The outside had a glass case, as well as some buttons and knobs. Celly tried to attack it playfully while Big Sol stared warily at the dragon.

“It’s called a Pipbuck, built by Stable-Tech. All ponies in the Stables received one after their cutie mark appeared. Then they would hold a cuteciñera for the special child.”

“Did zebras get a cuteciñera?” Sunshy asked, looking to the dragon through slightly red and puffy eyes.

“Well, they have glyph marks instead of cutie marks, so I guess they get the zebra equivalent.”

“What do zebra pony babies have? Cutie marks or glyph marks?”

“A sort of combination, depending on the parents. From what I saw, a male zebra and female pony's child had a black and white cutie mark. Male pony and female zebra child had a colorful glyph mark. I’m surprised you didn’t ask how it works.”

“Would you tell me?” Sunshy looked over the device.

The dragon nodded and began telling him all of the features of the Pipbuck. Sunshy seemed enthralled learning about it, how it could measure health, administer any healing items, organize and describe everything in the saddlebags, help the owner repair items, keep notes, objections, and a map that grew as he or she traveled. It also had a feature called Eyes-Forward Sparkle, which shows the owner the direction he or she was travelling and if the creatures around are hostile or friendly. It could also function as a light source, and use S.A.T.S.—Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell—which allowed the owner ample time to attack a hostile.

S.A.T.S. scared Sunshy; he didn’t want to use anything that could hurt others. It was not in his nature to fight. However, the dragon assured he did not ever have to use that. What he really wanted to show him was the radio feature.

“The radio waves can’t reach us in the Everfree Forest, but if you go to the edge, I’m sure you can get a signal.” The red and pink dragon smiled and patted the little one’s head.

“I never got your name.” Sunshy stated as he placed the Pipbuck into his saddle box.

“It’s Drakon. My parents weren’t very creative.” Drakon chuckled, unnerving the manticores.

“Thank you for everything, Drakon. I’ll come back tomorrow.” Sunshy promised as he walked out of the cave with his new family in tow.

“I would love that, Sunshy.” Drakon called out them as they left. “You can scavenge the Stable for whatever the dwellers left behind.”

“Really?” Sunshy stopped dead in his tracks and looked back to Drakon. “But isn’t that stealing?”

“Not if I give you permission. Just be cautious, it’s been deserted since the dwellers left.”

“I’m guessing you’ve guarded it from scavengers.” The yellow colt smiled knowingly at him. The dragon smiled back at him.

Zecora’s hut was the first place the group went to after they left the dragon’s cave. Emotionally exhausted, Sunshy just wanted to flop down onto the ancient bed and sleep. Saddle bags were slid off and he went towards the mattress. On the way, the yellow colt noticed a spot on the floor sounded hollow. To see if he hadn’t just imagined it, he pressed on the spot a few more times.

Upon hearing it a few more times, Sunshy decided it was worth investigating. Big Sol came over, seeing his adopted son motioning to the spot. While he didn’t understand the words, Sol concluded that his son wanted him to attack that spot. So his scorpion tail attacked at lightning speed, breaking apart the section of the floor.

Sunshy scowled at Big Sol before looking down at the circular and splintered hole. Shock rippled through his small body upon seeing a small black box. The manticore stared down at it, placed his front paws down the hole, and pulled the box out. A note was taped to the side.

To whomever finds this after my time,

I only hope you are a friend of mine.

In the box I kept away

Something dear to me in my day.

If you truly want to know what is inside,

Find my key where it resides.

Do not fear to find it alone,

I will not let you groan.

Find my key inside a mask,

The one that says Have a laugh.

“The one that says have a laugh.” Sunshy wondered as he looked up from the note and scanned the tree’s room.

Despite the note, Sunshy groaned. There were so many masks! And a lot were happy faces! This was going to be impossible. Setting aside his pessimistic view, he got to work looking behind every mask. There was nothing but dirt behind any of them. How did he even know if the masks were in the right spot?!

A loud yowl caught Sunshy’s attention. He turned to see Celly holding out her paw to him, which was covered in splinters. The healer gasped heavily, grabbed a pair of tweezers from his saddle box, and ran to her side. Carefully, he plucked each tiny splinter from her paw; Sol had to hold her down as she squirmed from the pain. Once the splinters were taken out, Sunshy bandaged her paw, and then he redressed the rest of her wounds.

Only then did Sunshy look to the ground where the broken mask lay. In the middle of the splintered wreck was a shining golden key. The little colt examined the mask and found there had been a hollowed-out nose to hold the key. Another three masks were broken next to the one that held the key. The spots of green poison told him that Celly tried to help and got hurt.

Fluttering over the mess, Sunshy reached down and picked up the key with his mouth, trying to avoid splinters. Then he went to the safe, put the key in, and turned it with his front hooves. Inside the safe was a statuette of a young adult purple unicorn with a streak of pink and a streak of darker purple in her mane and tail. She posed proudly and smiled out in a warm and friendly manner.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Sunshy breathed as he reached into the safe and pulled the statuette out with deep care. A bolt of magic coursed through his body, and suddenly everything in his mind felt clearer, sharper, better. The colt looked down and saw an inscription on the side, “Be Smart!”

A yawn almost cracked Sunshy’s jaw. He fluttered over to the mattress and lied down, holding Zecora’s Twilight statuette close. Like last night, Celly lied next to him while Big Sol wrapped his body around them.

Level up! You are now level 2!

Perk Added! Swift Learner: You’re just one smart pony who loves to learn! This perk gives you additional +5% bonus whenever you earn experience points. Best to be taken early on to be used to the fullest.

Chapter 3: Virtue

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 3: Virtue

”You. Thank you, for the offer, I mean, but I’m afraid I have to say no.”

Sunlight streamed through the grime-coated windows. As usual, Sunshy awoke to the bright light he was accustomed to. The yellow colt stretched out his body and wings, soon imitated by Celly. Sunshy took his new Twilight Sparkle statuette in his mouth and placed it in his saddlebag. While he was at it, the little one took out the Pipbuck. Then he trotted out the door and gasped through the metal in his teeth.

Big Sol was waiting outside, basking in the warmth of the sun. The monster…didn’t look at all like a monster. Bat wings were stretched out, soaking up as much of the warmth as he could. Golden fur rippled in the light wind. It glimmered in the brightness. His wild brown mane was frazzled outward, in every direction, and yet so tame. The dark red scorpion tail was curled around his side, the same as it was when it wrapped around his children protectively.

It was like staring at a piece of living art.

For his entire life, Sunshy had heard nothing but negativity directed at the ground. All of those seemed…so wrong. They never saw what he was seeing now. They couldn’t know the beauty that survived, even in such unlikely places. At that moment, Sunshy swore he would prove everyone who thought the world was disgusting and horrible wrong. He would prove it was wonderful.

And then he realized he really needed to use the potty.

After that was taken care of, Sunshy came back to find something not-so-pretty. Celly and Big Sol were gorging themselves on another poor animal. Fighting back the urge to puke, the yellow colt flew away as fast as possible.

Once he was far away from the smell, he decided to soar above the trees. Then he would be able to actually see what was out there. Smiling through the Pipbuck in his mouth, he flew up above that treeline.

Despite everything he had thought…Sunshy was agape. His new two-hundred year old Pipbuck fell out of his mouth.

Brown.

Everything was so…brown.

No green life of plants anywhere. Even though the rain was so heavy.

A tear streamed down his face.

It looked exactly like the maps he was shown had depicted. There was Ponyville, with some spots moving around; probably ponies. Over in the side of a mountain was Canterlot, covered in the pink cloud. Then there was a…a town? It was a bunch of old railcars shoved together, but the smoke said there was life there. There was Appleoosa, Manehatten…. There were so many abandoned towns and buildings everywhere. All wrecked beyond imagination.

Sunshy didn’t notice he was going down until he touched the ground. The Pipbuck was right under his hooves, deactivated and dark. He didn’t see it. He didn’t care.

Everypony was right. This world was dead. The Goddesses had been crying almost everywhere. Mom must have been wrong. They could see past the clouds. They saw and they cried. The Goddesses wept for their ponies, for their land, for the war and destruction they had been unable to stop.

Sunshy cried with them. Tears poured, cascaded from his cloudy blue eyes. He had so much hope that he world was not as bad as everypony said. It was crushed with one look above the trees. Unlike when he cried for his lost home and family, Sunshy’s crying was soft and quiet. Those eyes refused to close. They stared, unfocused, on the grass.

Grass was so-so.

No.

It was wonderful. Grass was a gift. It said that not everything could be killed. Some things, like ponies, like zebras, like manticores, like dragons, like so many things, would just not give in. They would not stop living, not even for the end of the world. They would grow and prosper and live.

There was hope.

Do better.

Yes!

Sunshy lifted his head, wiped away his tears, and stood proudly! He would make Fluttershy proud! He would do better with the world! He would make her and Twilight Sparkle proud! This he vowed.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Sunshy Pinkie Pie promised, making the motions as he spoke. Now he would never break his promise.

“Mrow!” Celly shouted at her new brother.

Renewed hope in his heart, Sunshy looked over to his smaller sister and smiled brightly at her. She took this as a good sign and pounced upon him, knocking him onto his side and nipped at his ear. The pony laughed as he fell down and tried to push her off.

After he lightly kicked her off, Sunshy crouched down with his wings up, a pretend-scowl on his face and a smile that broke through. Celly mimicked him, even sticking her wing that hurt a lot less than it had the first day; she was careful to keep her poisonous tail down. With a mock-roar, the only slightly bigger pony launched himself at the monster.

Celly yowled in surprise, turned tail, and bolted. Laughing, Sunshy landed on the ground before roaring again while rearing and galloping after her. They did not go far before they came upon Big Sol, who seemed surprised. Then he stared down at Celly in disappointment when she ducked behind her father’s large paw.

Slowing down only a little, Sunshy yelled ‘roar’ as he chased Celly out of her hiding spot. Smiling at their play, Sol sat down and kept a careful eye as his children tousled on the ground. Sunshy did not have to be careful, as he was not strong. Celly made sure she was just as careful, keeping her claws hidden, her wings against her back, and her tail down.

Only ten minutes passed before Sunshy held Celly down with a hoof on her face. He laughed victoriously, jumped off her, and then bounced around in a circle. The baby manticore sulked over to her father, looking dejected. Every couple moments, the yellow colt stopped jumping long enough to graze and then went back to bouncing in a circle with a mouthful of grass.

A little later, the group went back to retrieve Sunshy’s Pipbuck. After turning it on, he nosed the buttons until he got to the radio. All he received was static. Remembering what Drakon told him, Sunshy flew to the top of the treeline to find which way would lead him to the edge of the forest. Though he paused near the top, he went through and found his direction.

Though Sunshy was fine walking down, Sol bugged him for the directions. Then he put his children on his back, broke through the trees, and soared away. Celly cowered against her father, holding on tightly, but Sunshy stood up, whooping it up in exhilaration. This must be what it felt like before making a sonic rainboom!

Big Sol slowed down as the edge of the forest closed in on them and dived back down under the cover of the forest. Once he was slow enough, Sol trotted against the ground, slowing further until he could fold his wings away. Only then did Celly stop digging into her father’s back with her claws and jumped off like his back was coated in fire. Sunshy picked up the Pipbuck in his mouth, jumped off, and laughed in jubilation as he galloped at the borderline between the Everfree forest and Equestria.

The sudden and distinct change in the borderline was so shocking that the colt gasped, dug his hooves in, and even used his wings as parachutes. He skidded to a stop just before he could enter Equestria. A strange feeling overcame him, making him nervous and jittery. Sunshy whinnied and backed away, staring at the sudden change. It was a perfect line between brown death and lush life. It was eerie and sent a shiver down his spine.

Shaking away those thoughts,”I’m a big pony now!”, Sunshy sat down with his Pipbuck between his front hooves and turned the radio on.

HOLY HORSEFEATHERS!

Sunshy jerked and jumped back like a frightened filly. When he could no longer hear his heartbeat, the yellow colt was able to hear the music. It was so different from the music he had heard before; all Enclave propaganda. This was so…so…cool! It was the lullaby he heard every night, but only upbeat and it made him dance! When his family arrived, Celly joined in his dancing, though she wasn’t very good. Sol kept his eyes and ears aware of anything that might attack them unawares.

”Helloooooooo my little ponies! I hope you liked Sweetie Bell’s ‘Hush Now, Quiet Now’ never sleep edition!”

Curious yellow ears perked out from red hair. Who was this? This buck had a nice voice; Sunshy could listen to him forever. And he sounded so happy and nice!

”This is DJ-Pon3 bringing you dah-dah-dah-dah! Some news.”

“DJ Pon-three?” Sunshy wondered. Light bulb! “Oh! The three looks like an uppercase ‘E’ backwards!”

"Still no sign if that little yellow ball that fell over Everfree Forest is done for or not, but knowing that place, their chances are grim…”

“Ohmygosh I’m on the news!”

”I’m sorry to say, the news doesn’t get any happier than that, fillies and gentlecolts. Start avoiding Ponyville like your life depends on it, because it does. It seems that raiders have decided to throw out all the good ponies living there or just used them as, ugh, decoration. Stop all trade to that place; you’re more likely to be shot than anything else.

But I leave you with some happier music! Here’s Sweetie Bell with her rendition of Pinkie Pie-approved ‘Giggle at the Ghosties’!”

The mare’s voice was still upbeat and happy; she had a beautiful voice, too. However, Sunshy did not like it nearly as much as DJ Pon-3’s voice. It was so smooth and deep and melodious. He could listen to that buck forever… Did he already think that? Didn’t matter, it was true.

A sort of trance had taken over Sunshy as he listened to the radio. The music, the DJ, knowing about the outside world, it was so enthralling. He loved every minute of it. Then the sky grew darker, even though the clouds still covered the sky. Big Sol tugged on Sunshy’s mane, telling him it was time to go home.

The next day, Sunshy went to visit Drakon. By the way the dragon looked at them, it was obvious he had not expected them to actually come back to visit him. It was so nice to speak to something that could speak back. Sure, he could understand Big Sol and Celly through body language, but speaking in words was so much better.

They visited until sundown and left with one saddlebag full of jewels as thanks for their company. They went to the edge of the forest for a few hours past night, until DJ Pon-3 stopped talking, and then went back to Zecora’s hut.

The day after, the group went straight to the edge of the forest to listen to the radio. The family had planned to stay until evening, visit Drakon, and then go back home. Of course, it didn’t go as planned.

Noon brought with it something unexpected. Or rather, expected, but put on the backburners of the mind.

From the sky there arrived three ponies. Pegasi dressed in Enclave power armor. Though they looked like creepy insects, Sunshy was not afraid of that. His mommy was an Enclave worker, so he knew not to be afraid of them. But he was scared. He feared they would brand off his cutie mark. Make him a Dashite and dishonor his family.

“Sunshy Rays?” A mare’s voice asked through the mask.

“Y…yes.” Sunshy said in a defeated voice. Celly and Sol had backed into the forest, out of sight but still watching.

“Sunny! It’s me, mommy!” Another mare called out.

Ears perked up and cautiously, slowly, Sunshy crawled out of the darkness of the forest into the grayness of the outside. Encouraged by this, the mare leaned down and removed her helmet, despite the protests of the other mare and buck with her. A cream colored mare with a vivid gold mane smiled brightly at him.

“Mommy!” Sunshy shouted before flying at her with all his speed.

The mother rose onto her rear hooves and spread her front hooves wide. She laughed and cried as her son shot into her embrace. Golden Rays cried, babbled, and kissed her colt fervently as if she would die without him in her arms; Sunshy cried along with her. Once they were out of tears, the mother and son parted. The other mare walked forward as Golden Rays put her helmet back on.

“If you’re done here, we need to decide what to do with this liability.” The mare Sunshy recognized as mommy’s friend Risen Moon said.

“Liability? This is my son, Moon, in case you have forgotten. I am the one who has spent every moment trying to find him since he vanished.” Golden pulled Sunshy to her side, glaring and just daring the other to try something.

“I know and I’m sorry, Goldie, but he’s been here for days. Just taking your helmet off contaminated you; imagine how poisoned he must be.” Risen Moon countered with a strictly business tone.

“But it’s not poisoned!” Sunshy rebutted, pulling away from his mom to stare up at Moon. “The air here doesn’t smell or feel any different than it does up above. I’m positive it’s perfectly fine.”

“Sunny, dear…what’s that on your flank?” Goldie tried to sound happy, but she was unnerved. No pegasus had gotten their cutie mark on the ground in two hundred years.

“It’s my cutie mark, momma!” Sunshy told her in elation, forgetting his small anger at Moon, jumping to face her and showing his cutie mark to her. “I got it after healing my new family!”

“N…new family?” Golden could not hide her fear behind her smile.

“Yeah, they’re broken like us, but they make it by. It’s a daddy and his daughter, the exact opposite of us!” Sunshy turned to the Everfree Forest and shouted, “Big Sol, Celly, come on out!”

The Enclave pegasi gasped and backed up. The buck armed his battle saddle as the large manticore slowly walked out of the safety of the forest. A tinier version of it bolted at them and was under Sunshy’s hooves before any of them could react. Golden held her hoof out at the other two, silently ordering them not to panic or attack.

Big Sol slowly walked over to the group of pegasi. There were more ponies in one spot than he had seen in his life. And they were armed and looked almost nothing like ponies. Sol was nervous, but tried to look brave. For his children, he would brave anything.

Once he was close, Big Sol reached his head back and then placed Sunshy’s saddlebags at his hooves. Scared out of her mind, Celly peeked out to the Enclave ponies. Golden took her helmet off again, crouched down, and smiled what she hoped was a sweet smile at the baby. Celly whimpered and crawled backwards, right under Sol and between his paws.

“This is Big Sol.” Sunshy pointed to the father, “and this is Celly,” he pointed to the scared baby.

“How…adorable.” Golden Rays tried to seem warm about it, but she was scared. Her son not only had these abominations for a cutie mark, but they were his new family? It was…Goddesses give her strength.

“Can they live with us, mommy? Then we’ll be a whole family!” Oh no…

“Hell no.” The buck asserted.

“Kicks! Watch your mouth around my baby.” Golden snapped at him before looking back to Sunshy. “I’m so sorry, Sunshy, but we can’t let them above the clouds. They were born here and they will have to die here. They can’t even stand on clouds.”

“But…they have wings.” Oh no, Sunshy was tearing up, his lip was pouting, and he looked so sad.

“No way, kid. We’re taking you home without those monsters.” Kicks asserted, stomping his hoof down.

“But they’re my family. They took me in and kept me safe. If they hadn’t found me, I would never have gotten my cutie mark and I’d be dead!” Sunshy shouted at them, backing towards Sol and Celly.

“Sunny, I understand, but if you refuse…you’ll be a Dashite.” Golden told him in as calm a tone as she could. “You won’t be able to come home ever again.”

“I…but…they…” Sunshy was torn as he looked between his mother and his adoptive dad. He was crouched against the ground, his usual position when he was scared.

Big Sol moved his head down and picked up the saddlebags. Then he gingerly placed them on Sunshy’s back. He licked the red mane and nuzzled his face. Sol picked up Celly, put her on his back, and then turned around and walked back into the forest. Celly stared back at Sunshy with large, heartbroken eyes and mewed at him. Why wasn’t he following?

“Now that that’s taken care of, let’s go get you decontaminated and see what the big men want to do with you.” Risen Moon said as Golden placed her helmet back on.

“Oh…okay…” Sunshy stated as he faced the group with his head down.

“Don’t look so sad, bumbkin. We’re going home.” Golden smiled and kissed her son’s temple.

Risen Moon took off first, heading almost vertically into the air, facing away from the Everfree Forest. Golden Rays moved to place Sunshy on her back, but he asserted that he could fly on his own, plus he was too old for that. Kicks was the last to go, flanking the group. Keep the important cargo in the middle.

A scream of a mare pierced the air. All but Sunshy continued flying up. Kicks shouted and stopped just short of bumping into the much smaller male, swearing under his breath. He received a buck to the side from Golden for it.

“Mommy, that mare is being attacked!” Sunshy pointed down to the ground.

Indeed, he saw what their built-in S.T.A.T.S and zoom told the Enclave ponies. There was a disgusting male pony charging at an injured mare. The buck wore rusted armor, boarding made of animal hides and spikes, while a sawed-off shotgun floated beside, held aloft by unicorn magic. The mare was naked, as most ponies were, but blood caked the insides of her thighs.

“Look away, dearie, this is nothing you should see.” Golden cooed at her son. He was too young to see violence.

“No!” Sunshy shouted, flying away from the group. “That mare is in trouble and you’re Enclave! You’re supposed to help ponies!”

“We help pegasi, kid. Not those ground ponies.” Kicks corrected.

And then Sunshy was shot in the side.

The colt shouted as pain spiked in his chest, and his training kicked in. He looked at the wound, determining what had happened through the pain and shaking vision. Okay, bleeding, not good, not good at all, but not a lot. Either really good or really bad. It didn’t hurt too bad, must’ve been a graze and not a direct shot into his body. Goddesses, why did it hurt?!

Golden shouted more profanities than Sunshy had heard in his life as she grabbed her colt so he would not fall. Risen Moon and Kicks shot down at the ground, the latter using his battle saddle to fire at the ground. Sunshy had learned how energy weapons worked. He saw it that day. The raider turned into pink dust.

Then the raiders DJ-Pon3 had warned about started shooting at the sky pony-shaped bugs. They were wiped out in a matter of minutes thanks to energy weapons. Their pathetic boarding could not stand up to it.

Sunshy was so distracted, he did not even notice as his mother bandaged his wound with his supplies and wondered why he was so heavy. A check in his other saddle revealed the answer; millions of bits worth of gems. Kicks and Risen Moon flew back to the small family, the former grumbling and the latter telling them it was all clear now; Golden made sure to close the box so they could not see the fortune.

“No…no it’s not all clear. We…we have to help her…there are probably ponies in the town too…” Sunshy squirmed out of his mother’s grip and dived down.

The Enclave ponies were shocked still, but recovered quickly. Not before Sunshy touched down beside the mare, who was lying on her side. She was bubble-gum pink with a light blue mane. A bleeding hole in her flank marked she had been shot. Sunshy slipped off his metal saddlebags and quickly set out his supplies.

“Hi, I’m Sunshy, what’s your name?” Sunshy tried to converse, keep her calm and alive.

“Cotton Candy.” She answered with a weak voice. “You’re a pegasus.”

“Yes, and I’m here to help you. This will take away the pain, it’s Med-X.” Sunshy told her before sticking the needle near her injured area. He tried not to think about how she received the wounds inside her thighs. The Enclave stood behind him, watching. They did not know what to do.

“Th-thank you. Thank you.” Tears streaked down Cotton Candy’s face.

“I’m going to have to pull the bullets out, okay? Hey,” Sunshy called over his shoulder, looking at his rescuers, “I need you to hold her down.”

Golden Rays and Risen Moon fluttered over to them. The two girls held down Cotton Candy’s hooves uncertainly. Kicks sighed in defeat, walked over to them, and laid on the mare’s middle. Sunshy gave the wounded mare a piece of wood, which she held in her mouth to prevent herself from biting off her tongue.

“Okay, Miss Candy, this will hurt even with the Med-X. I need you to be brave for me. It’s fine to scream and kick, just not too much or you’ll hurt yourself and the nice ponies trying to help you, alright?”

Cotton Candy nodded and braced herself. Sunshy pulled out a pair of tweezers in his mouth and hovered over her flank. He was sad to see that the buckshot had destroyed her cutie mark. Still, there was a job to do and he was trained for it. The tweezers dug into Cotton Candy’s side and dug carefully for the bullet. She whimpered and flinched, but remained as frozen as she could, biting on the wood so hard she was sure her teeth would break.

The first bullet came out and was placed on the dirt ground. The next half dozen bullets were much the same, the pain made the mare flinch and tense, but she did not kick or scream ever. Though he did not notice it, Golden Rays stared upon her son with admiration and pride that swelled in her chest. She loved her son, manticore cutie mark or no. He not only would make Fluttershy proud, he made her so proud. Her little hero. Daddy would be so proud of him.

“There, all done.” Sunshy proclaimed as he finished with the last bandage. Then he blushed, “I, uh, I’m sorry but…I can’t help with…your thighs.”

“No, it’s fine, you’ve done…so much. I thought I would die here.” The Enclave pegasi moved off of Cotton Candy, allowing her to stand. Until she almost fell and had to be held up by Kicks, who grunted.

“I guess we can escort you somewhere safe until you’re able to move.” Kicks grumbled.

“Are the raiders gone from Ponyville?” Miss Candy asked cautiously.

“Affirmative. We cleared them out for attacking us.” Moon replied robotically.

“Just take me there and I’ll get to New Appleoosa when I’m better. Thank you all again.”

“Stop thanking us or I’ll let you fall.” Kicks grumbled as he walked with the mare.

“Now can we get back home?” Moon stomped at the ground.

“I’m not going.” Sunshy replied calmly as he repacked his things.

“Dear?” Golden asked, quite baffled.

“The Enclave isn’t what I thought. I’m disillusioned.” Sunshy asserted as he slipped his boxes on.

“Do you even know what that means, kid?” Risen Moon questioned without hiding her annoyance.

"Yes I do. It means you don’t help ponies, you help pegasi. Well, Fluttershy believed in helping everypo—no, not everypony, everybody she helped all creatures, trying to end the war.” Sunshy turned to his mother, determined. “Everypony says I’m just like her. Well, I have every intention to fill those big shoes.”

Golden Rays’ eyes misted over with pride. She grabbed her baby boy and held him close. As she did, she whispered, “I’m so proud of you, Sunshy, whatever you do. I love you. Now run.”

Confusion coursed through Sunshy as his mom pushed him away. But he heard her, and he was a good boy, so he followed her orders. The small colt began galloping away before flying at the forest. Moon shouted at him and he flinched when a pink bolt flew past. Sunshy shouted for Big Sol and Celly, but there was no need. A pack of Lupis Majors swarmed out of the thickness of the trees, barking madly. He didn’t stop or slow down, and had to pray that his mommy and her friends got out safely.

Not far into the forest, Sunshy bounced against a large, firm, and fuzzy body. Large paws wrapped around the small body and the purring rumbled in the chest vibrated against him. Holding Big Sol, the colt sobbed into his fur. His home was gone for good. Now he was a Dashite, just without the mark. And if he stayed in the Everfree Forest long enough, they might give up looking for him and he would never have to get the mark. At least he hoped so.

Exhausted from such an emotionally distressing day, Sunshy flopped onto Big Sol’s back, where he was greeted with a nuzzle by Celly. The yellow colt lied his head down and curled up into a little ball. Within moments, he was asleep.

Level up! You are now level 3!

Medicine at 75.

Perk added! Professional healer: You’re just great at healing and can do just about anything with the right tools. Nothing is more important than the health of those around you, and they know it by the way you talk to them. You gain +1 in Charisma when facing an injured creature.

Chapter 4: Life

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

Chapter 4: Life

By Freeflyingwolf

”Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”

Every day for a week, Sunshy went to the edge of the forest, to the same spot he had gone to before. Every day for a week, Enclave pegasi stood on the dirt only a few yards from him. One always held a white-hot ironing brand. The rest held guns.

They stayed there for hours on end, talking to Sunshy. At first, they were nice and trying to coax him out. An earbloom allowed the yellow colt to listen to his favorite DJ and tune them out at the same time. Truly, it’s hard to convince someone you mean them no harm when one of you is wielding an iron to brand his cutie marks off.

Then they got violent. They shouted obscenities at him, taunted him, insulted his family. Through it all, Sunshy remained stoic and listened to the pleasing voice of DJ-Pon3. A roar from Big Sol was enough to convince them to leave when they first turned violent. However, it did not work for long.

Then on the last day of the week, they all perished on the ground. Manticore poisoning and a severe case of mauling. However, the officials in the sky could not claim that their forces had died from trying to get one Dashite; they died from too much poison inhalation.

After that, they left Sunshy alone to his devices forever and eternity. It could not just end well.

The grass seemed greener, their jewels shinier, and the sun brighter, and Celly was fully healed. Everything was going great. The wasteland does not like it when things go well for too long. It needed to crush the spirit of ponies as often as possible.

Humming along merrily to the song on his Pipbuck hanging off his saddle, Sunshy trotted around an unexplored region of the Everfree forest. He was picking flowers he had found and was following their trail. With Big Sol and Celly following, nothing could go wrong. Celly was now as big as he was and would just keep growing for another couple years. Big Sol did not need to be any bigger.

A hole appeared in front of the unaware Sunshy, causing him to cry out and dart behind Big Sol, who was posed for a fight. Celly stood at his head and roared at the hole, trying to seem brave. Then a giant dog-like creature appeared out of the hole, scaring her into cowering next to her brother.

Trying to find a way not to get eaten, the yellow colt fluttered out and landed next to the creature. It was huge, easily as large as Big Sol, who was already slightly larger than the average Manticore. The unknown creature was red, with a face of a dog and the body of a biped. Its hands sported wicked sharp claws that seemed like they could tear through anything.

DJ-Pon3’s voice rang through Sunshy’s head. He knew what this thing was. It was a hellhound. Equestria’s most fearsome creature.

“Hello there, uh, my name is Sunshy. What’s yours?” Sunshy conversed in a pleasant tone.

Instead of answering, the hellhound opened its maw and snapped at the yellow colt. Big Sol grabbed his son’s red tail and jerked him back at the same moment. What would have been decapitation severely lessened to a scratch on the nose. Sunshy held his nose and stared at the hostile creature with wide, fearful eyes. Then he yelled, “Run!”

There was no place to run. Holes sprouted in a messy circle around the three, quickly followed by hellhounds, trapping them in one spot. Sunshy’s eyes darted to and fro, trying to find an exit. Even the sky held no salvation; hellhounds were up in the mountain, just waiting for one of them to try to fly up. Tearless sobs of fear raked the colt, who cowered against Celly; she had wet herself in fear.

Big Sol puffed out his chest, raised his wings, and lifted his tail. With a mighty roar, he sent the weakest of the hellhounds back into their holes, the smell of fear and released bowels following. The remaining mutated Diamond dogs attacked, lunging upon the large manticore.

Celly and Sunshy flew as fast as their wings could take them as Big Sol fought with all his might, despite being heavily outmatched. There were no less than three biting and digging their claws into his rear. A hellhound attacking his face was stabbed through the eye with a scorpion tail. Vicious claws sliced the appendage from the body. Though Big Sol roared in pain, he did not stop the fight, ignoring the blinding pain threatening to engulf him.

His large paw slashed at a face, revealing bone, downing another. Deciding those biting his rear were the biggest annoyance, the Manticore bucked like a pony, catching them off-guard and throwing them from his back. Before they could recover, Big Sol pounced upon them, tearing with his lion paws. His peripheral vision alerted him to a hellhound attacking from both sides. Two large bat wings sprung out, clipped the monsters’ face, sending them to the ground. There, they were ended by slashes on their throats.

But there were more coming from the holes. They swarmed upon the falling heroic father as bees swarm intruders in their hive. Roaring defiantly, Big Sol slashed wildly, even as claws and teeth tore away his skin and sinew. Only when a leg was taken off did he fall. Still, he fought against the monsters trying to pile upon him with frantic swipes.

A hellhound held his head down, others held down his paws, more held down his wings. They avoided his tail that continuously bled poison and blood. They slashed open his stomach, but he could not make a sound. Through dimming golden eyes, Big Sol saw the faint forms of his children running away. They were safe, so it did not matter if the monsters ate his organs while there was life in him. His children would continue to live. That was enough to allow Big Sol to slip into the next life.

Crying as he had not since losing his home, Sunshy flew. He flew haphazardly fast, bumping into trees every so often. Still, he did not slow his pace once he recovered. Those monsters had taken down his father. The only father he knew. As he flew away, he had heard Big Sol’s roars of pain. It did not matter how many of the hellhounds had fallen in exchange.

Daddy was dead. Again.

The weight of it hit him hard, as did another tree. Sunshy fell to the ground, knowing he must be suffering serious concussions. That did not matter. Nothing mattered. Everything was going to hell all over again. That was what life did to him.

He had a happy family; him, mommy, and daddy.

Daddy died in an accident working on the SPP.

Mommy worked all the time to make enough money to keep him fed. He always ate less than he should, to let mom eat as much as she could. Every meal was an argument over who should eat more. It always ended in laughter and hugs. She loved him so much that she had to tell him all the time. Then they would argue who loved whom more.

Fell from the sky.

Adopted by manticores that all but gave him his cutie mark. They loved him and cared for him, even if their diet was not to his tastes. He had another family, a home away from home.

Then mommy came for him. In the span of a few minutes, he had hope of going home. Sadness of leaving his new family. Then he had to give up his hope of home altogether. All because he was a good pony.

Now, his carelessness killed his daddy. They had wandered into hellhound territory and did not leave soon enough. Now daddy was dead and life sucked and meow. What?

Sniffling, Sunshy lifted his head from his hooves and looked over. Celly was standing next to him, staring down at her brother. She mewled and licked off the tears flowing down his face. Then she wormed her way under his leg and snuggled against his body. The colt buried his face in her warm fur, letting out his tears in her side as she did the same.

Awaking slowly, Sunshy was gripped with the fear of not knowing where he was, how he got here, or when he had fallen asleep. A breathing body told him Celly was beside him, he held his hooves around her. Realization dawned upon him as he looked around. They were inside Drakon’s cave. The shiny gems and giant dragon sort of gave it away. The oddest thing was the two mutated, almost furless bears lying around the two, sleeping soundly. Strangely, they were not the smelliest things he had encountered.

“Ah, I see you’re awake.” Drakon observed in his indoor voice. His head snaked closer to them. Golden eyes misted in sorrow, soundless tears streaked down his scaly face. “I am so sorry for what happened, Sunshy. I should have warned you about the hellhounds.”

“No…I should be sorry.” Sunshy replied with a hung head.

“Don’t even blame yourself, child. You had no idea they were there.” A scaled un-clawed hand reached out and rubbed the yellow colt’s held.

“But—“ Sunshy tried to argue, but the sympathetic look hardened. There was no room to argue. So, he switched topics. “How did you know?”

“The Yao Guai told me. They also brought you and Celly to me.” Drakon answered, allowing the topic change.

“Why? Why would they do that for me?”

“Because you have a way with animals, Sunshy.”

“It just…it seems weird that they’d help me when I can’t do anything in return.” Sunshy rubbed a leg with a hoof as he scanned the patchy brown and green bodies.

“The thing about animals is that they, unlike ponies, expect nothing in return. When you care for them as a whole, they do the same. Fluttershy had some trouble sometimes, but her will always won out.”

“Like the time with the Cockatrice and her power of ‘The Stare’?” Sunshy asked, revealing his inner Fluttershy-nerd.

Drakon smiled and nodded. “Sunshy, I was thinking that, as Celly is much too small to protect you, I’ll take you up on your offer. You two may live here, with me, even inside the Stable. If you want to, that is.”

Instead of the joy the dragon expected, Sunshy looked to be on the verge of tears once again. “I don’t have much of a choice. I don’t think I can go back to Zecora’s hut after…”

“I understand.” Drakon nudged the yellow colt’s chin with his snout. “Why not explore the Stable? I’ll stay here and wait for Celly to awaken.”

Feeling rather numb, Sunshy nodded and stood. He noticed the absence of his saddlebags, but found them only a few feet away. After slipping them on, he flew to the cog-shaped door. Its imposing size loomed over him, threatening to fall and flatten him into a pancake. The blinking lights off to the side caught his attention.

Keeping his cerulean eyes on the door, the colt walked to the stand that had a lever and two lights, one flashing red and one dim green. Standing like a biped, Sunshy placed his front hooves on the lever and pushed with all his might. No amount of grunting, panting, flying and pulling, bucking, or anything Sunshy did moved the lever. He really hated being weak.

Then a really big paw with sharp claws and greenish skin and little fur pushed the lever for him as if it was buttered up. Looking over his shoulder, Sunshy gave the Yao Guai his thanks. It grunted at him and lumbered back to the others, sniffed at Celly’s sleeping form, and lied back down.

With a great whoosh, expelling of stale air that blew his red mane and tail back, a few low buzzes of warnings, and red flashing lights, the Stable door opened. From the outside, Sunshy could not see how it opened, but the door to Stable 15 was pulled back and then rolled out of the way. Looking over to the group, he saw everyone but Drakon was still asleep. Then he looked back to the stable.

Cautiously, the timid colt walked forward with his head down and ears flat. The lights inside were brightly lit, showing the pristine sterile environment inside. Too preoccupied gazing at the ceiling and walls, Sunshy did not notice walking onto tiled floor. The transition was such a shock that he flew straight up, into the ceiling, and bumped his head. Ow, he really needed to make sure he did not have a concussion; well, he had gone to sleep and did not die, so that was a good sign.

Now prepared, Sunshy floated down to the ground and shivered at the cool surface. Clouds were always warm thanks to Celestia’s sun. The ground was usually warm on a nice day. But this…it was corpse cold. A shiver went down his spine at the thought and the cold floor.

Still exhausted, Sunshy decided he might as well walk instead of fly. So he walked forward into the brightness of Stable 15. A few steps in and he came upon a decision to make. Which way to go? There were two door, one to his left and one in front.

Sickly green light caught his attention. Sunshy walked to the source, finding a pre-war terminal sitting on a table next to the switch identical to the one outside. The desk was in pristine condition; it seemed the inhabitants had cleaned up before leaving.

Curious as to this non-pegasus technology, Sunshy pressed a button with his hoof. The screen popped up with the Pipbuck stallion and his knowing smile. Then it changed to a map of the stable, even labeling certain areas. There was even a cord next to the computer that went into his Pipbuck. What luck! Now he couldn’t get lost!

Dampened spirits rose ever so slightly at the bit of luck. If he ever met a descendent from the stable, he’d have to thank them for being so helpful right off the bat. However, his mind still weighed on the recent misfortune, so his bought of happiness did not last long.

Turning away from the terminal, Sunshy decided to follow the map to the Atrium. Along the way, he decided to explore, hoping it would get his mind off…yeah. The first room he found was closed, but a quick button pressing opened it up. It opened from the top and bottom, sliding into the unknown! Most doors opened in or out, but that was so cool!

Sunshy poked his nose around everything he could. The bed was surprisingly soft; he made a note to make one room his own or move a mattress outside to Drakon. The dressers were empty. There was a cradle for a baby, but all the toys were taken. The place was cleaned out. Seemed like they knew they were never coming back. The glow of a poison apple once again caught his attention. Wondering what this one might hold, Sunshy went over to the terminal.

That was when he learned about terminals having locks. Didn’t matter, Sunshy was a buck of science!

It took him thirty tries.

The password was ‘Striped’.

His head hit the desk and a mantra of “stupid, stupid, stupid” followed every head-bang. With a serious headache in the works, Sunshy decided to take a look at the terminal. It had better be worth that stupid headache. Owie.

Day 1

Great, just fucking great. I’m stuck here in this hellhole with goddamn ponies when I should be out fighting for Caesar. The only reason I’m stuck here is because of my kids. Damn it all if I let them die. Not for the stupidity of those damn ponies. They were the ones who started the war! We’re just ending it for good.

I’d rather live outside with the dragon and radiation. And our “overmare” and “overstallion” told us that we have to all get along? Please. I’m here for my kids, nothing else. Sure, I said on my report that I love ponies as well as a zebra. What a load of bullshit. I hate them all. Those stupid way-too-fucking-bright monstrosities.

Blushing furiously at the amount of profanity, Sunshy coughed into his hoof. The writer had gone into a tangent in zebra. He made a note to learn it someday, but he suspected that this author was only swearing in his native tongue. Then it went back to pony language.

Day 20

I love ponies. They’re all so nice and wonderful. My kids are just smitten with their teacher, Miss Shine. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am too. Since the loss of my mate…it’s been tough. Miss Shine is in the same situation, and we just hit it off.

We talked a lot and came to realize a lot of things. Neither side wanted this war, hell, the ponies didn’t really understand what had happened in their Princess’s school. We aren’t the only ones talking. Everyone seems to be working out their bigotry. Most of these ponies and zebras were sympathetic to begin with, but they still had some racist ideas deep down.

Everyone is helping each other. It’s so nice. I don’t even know how this happened. I guess it’s just what happens when you give others a chance. Stop being so blinded and see the world for what it is and how others see it. Too bad that world is irradiated all to hell. I hope that dragon is doing okay.

Wow, what a change. Just nineteen days changed a zebra that much? Then Sunshy reflected on his past few days. Yeah, a lot can happen in moments, changing your whole life. Just like how the Megaspells changed the world in minutes.

There were some more logs in the terminal, but they fluctuated between zebra and…things a colt his age should not be reading. Seemed this mysterious writer and Miss Shine got real friendly. Thanks to that, they had a kid together, and it came with a picture! Sunshy said “d’awwwww” out loud at the foal. She was light purple with darker stripes, a short mane that flopped over, in a pink blanket, sucking on a binky, and staring at the camera with the biggest brown eyes! Oh Goddesses, it was too cute!

Smiling, Sunshy turned the terminal off and walked out through the hallway into the room across the hall. The first thing he noticed was a safe, still closed and locked. But then there was a terminal, too. Since he had no idea how to open a safe, the colt went to the terminal.

Determined to open it sooner, Sunshy got to work on finding the password. However, he soon found he had no idea what he was doing with a terminal locked so hard. Giving up, he pushed away from the terminal and poked around the room.

Inside the dresser was a holodisk with the password; Tolerance. Giggling, Sunshy unlocked the terminal and found that he could unlock the safe. No wonder it was so difficult. With a push of a button, the safe’s door was unlocked. However, there were some diary logs, so he decided to read those before looking in the safe.

Day 1

That zebra across the hall is not a pony sympathizer. I went to greet him and he spit on me! What a jerk. I told our Overmare, but she just said to give him a chance. Our zebra Overstallion told me the same thing. I briefly wondered how smart it was to have two rulers at once. Then I realized that was a little racist of me; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled just fine…at first. But that’s not important now.

Anyway, I am a pony. And as a pony, I will love and tolerate the shit out of that zebra! I think his name is Razor. Wonder why.

Day 40

I found out why his name is Razor. He has shoes with retractable spikes in them. Nopony believes me, but damn did I feel them. The medics believed me and went to talk with him. Only the zebra got away unscathed. They wanted to throw him out, but the Overmare and Overstallion said no. It’s too irradiated outside now. And we don’t have a prison.

So I went to talk with him right after typing my first journal log, telling him I’d tolerate him and all that. I thought he’d open up or something, but nope. He bucked me in the side, broke three ribs, and punctured something, too. I only just got out of Medical today. Still hurts to breathe a little, but the medics gave me the a-okay.

While spending my month there, I kept staring at a door. It was locked the whole time, and I wondered what was behind it. I felt like it was taunting me, holding secrets. I got a book on lock picking, a screwdriver, and a buttload of bobbypins. I intend to go try my horn at opening it sometime soon.

Along with the lock picking book, the Overstallion gave me a book called Fallen Caesar Style. Apparently, it’s the melee that most zebras train in. He said that reading it would help me in case I accidentally piss off another zebra. He stressed that he wanted me to learn how to recognize the moves to avoid another injury and not to learn how to fight back.

Fluttershy chose all of us for our passive natures. I don’t know how true that is. I mean, sure, we all know her as the Ministry of Peace mare. I only know of a couple ponies and zebras here who were actually hoof-picked by her. The rest just got in because they filled out a form, like me.

Ugh, my side is killing me. I’m going to take a nap. I put everything in the safe; just to be sure no one knows what I’m up to.

Day 200

Things are still going great, oddly enough. Everyone’s getting along swimmingly. It’s been almost a year, and there are a lot of new foals and colts. I have to wonder if there’s something in the vents to make us all horny. But damn if these little mix-and-match zebra and pony babies aren’t the cutest things I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a picture of Fluttershy as a foal.

I gotta say I was really shocked at the change in Razor. When I got back from my major side injuries, he apologized. I thought it was because the Overmare’s daughter was standing next to him. Apparently that was the case, but not for the reason I assumed.

I guess all anyone with a hardened heart really needs is some love. I tried telling him that the first day. All I got was a buck to the side and she gets another kind of bucking. Can’t say I’m not jealous. Razor is one lucky stallion.

Day 7509

Sorry for the twenty-something year hiatus, journal. Never had a need to say anything. But now…

Okay, things aren’t as great as we hoped. Nothing as sinfully cute as a zebony or ponbra could come without a catch. Turns out they’re all sterile. I guess for all we try, zebras and ponies were not meant to be so close.

It breaks the Overmare and Overstallion’s hearts. They have one of their own, and he’s just too great. A medic, if you can believe it. And a downright prodigy, too. He’s in love with some real nice mare, but they wondered what was wrong after a few tries and nothing.

Breaks everyone’s hearts, really. I have a buck of my own, and he’s had his eye on this zebra for a while now. When the news came out, he fell into a depression. He had been telling me for months about the kids they would have and the grandkids and so on and so on. Then this bombshell was dropped on us. I don’t blame him for being depressed.

The worst thing was when the Overmare issued a new law. Ponies mate with ponies and zebras mate with zebras from now on. It’s the only way to ensure we keep making new generations in this stable. It all depends upon us. She won’t stop those already together with kids, but the younger generation has to mate with their own from now on.

Oh, I found out what was behind that door. I don’t want to talk about it. Not after this. It’s…it’s nothing.

Hiding under a red mane, Sunshy’s ears were flattened in sorrow. That was so sad, loving someone and having a baby only to find their baby can never have any kids of their own. It must have been torture for the parents, forcing their kids to love their own kind even if they loved another.

Depression had shoved away whatever little joy Sunshy had found earlier. He slinked over to the safe, head down with his heavy thoughts. Sighing, he nosed it open and looked inside. As the terminal said, there were two books, which he placed in his saddlebag on top of his jewels. Along with them went the screwdriver and bobbypins, just in case he wanted to learn how to open a safe.

Sunshy walked out of the room, following the map on his Pipbuck. He only stopped to get a drink of water from the fountain and take care of business in the bathroom. Turned out that the medical room was on the way to the Atrium. As he was severely diminished in supplies, Sunshy decided to scavenge. All of his tools were replace with sterile ones, and he had to use a cloth saddlebag to hold all the bandages, drugs, and healing potions he found.

A loud meowing echoed off the walls. Sunshy called out to Celly and stood at the door to the medical ward. A few minutes later, the manticore baby bounded up to him and tackled him with all her might. Once she got off, Celly helped her brother pick up his things that she had spilled from his saddle boxes. A smile tugged at his muzzle. He rubbed his snout on her head and offered soothing words before organizing his things.

Sunshy’s medical supply saddlebag was placed on Celly. She tried to adjust it to a spot where she could open her wings and still hold it, but it was not happening. Giving up, she resigned to have the saddlebags keep her wings down. The yellow colt nuzzled her face before turning and walking out into the hallway, felling much better with Celly at his side.

Along the way to the Atrium, Sunshy found a lot of posters. They were all about ponies and zebras living together in harmony. Some posters were torn down the middle; he guessed that they were posters about love. The sterility thing must have really hit everyone hard.

They stopped to look inside the classroom. Along the top were the pony alphabet and the zebra alphabet. A quick check of the posters about learning—many featuring Twilight Sparkle!—showed the same thing. The books were the same; one half pony, one half zebra. Sunshy wanted to take them, but had no room.

The Atrium was not as great as the colt had hoped. There were pool tables, fooseball tables, and a couple Sparkle~Cola vending machines. He decided that he could spare a couple bits for the soda. It had nothing to do with the fact that Fluttershy was advertising them, nope.

Popping the cap off, Sunshy took a swig of the surprisingly cold soda. Holy horsefeathers was this good! It was so sweet and tasted like carrots! Holding the carroty cola in his mouth, Sunshy decided to find his way up to the Overmare and Overstallion’s offices.

The Sparkle~Cola was finished and disposed of in a trash can before he found their room. Surprisingly, the door was not locked. Inside, the tile ended and the floor was covered in something soft and fabric. What was it again? Oh yeah, carpet. That was what ground ponies and unicorns used to imitate the soft clouds. It was not really a good imitation.

The office was one large room. There was a big half circle desk near the back and a wall of screens. They were all black; the cameras must have been off. There were cabinets that Sunshy poked through. He found a safe near the back, locked. Lucky for him, there was a computer built into the bottom of the wall of screens.

It took a long time to crack the code, long enough for Celly to take a catnap. When he got it, Sunshy laughed in triumph and unlocked the safe with a press of his hoof. A bite on his mane told him that he had awoken Celly from her nap. He did not care one bit! That darn terminal was his bitch! Oh Goddesses, did he really think that?!

Feeling rather guilty, Sunshy went to the safe and pulled it open. Inside were a few papers, most of them trying to figure out why the offspring of zebras and ponies were sterile. There was also a pistol and some ammo. A holotape lied behind it.

Being extra careful not to touch the weapon, Sunshy grabbed the holotape and linked it with his Pipbuck. A recording started to play. In Fluttershy’s voice! But she sounded sad and her voice was thick. She must have been crying.

”Uhm, he-hello there. My name is Fluttershy, the Ministry Mare of the Ministry of Peace. I…I couldn’t end the war. I tried so hard, but I just couldn’t. I’m so sorry.”

She broke down into tears, and the softness suggested she had turned away from the microphone during the recording. Sunshy felt his heart breaking.

”I’m so sorry about that. I asked Scootaloo to let me speak for this one, and I must. I must!…I must. I have entrusted this very special Stable to you, Daisy Shine and you, Zenno. Ponies and zebras have to learn how to get along, so I have only those who already love each other living here. I just hope everything goes well.

Please…let them go as I hope…I need it to…please…forgive me.”

“I forgive you, Fluttershy.” Sunshy whispered to the holotape as Fluttershy dissolved into sobs again. It ended abruptly when her sobbing became heavy crying.

Wiping away the tear rolling down his face, Sunshy got up and walked out of the Overmare and Overstallion’s office. Celly walked beside him in silence, unsure what she could do to help him. In silence, they exited Stable 15 without taking anything other than the medical supplies. Once outside, they were greeted by Drakon and noticed the Yao Guai were gone.

“Sunshy, I’d like to teach you Zebra, if you would like.” Drakon offered as the siblings sat down before him. Cerulean eyes widened at him, and he chuckled. Smoke rose from his nostrils, terrifying Celly.

“Why? Not that I don’t want to, but—“

“Because the texts inside are all half zebra. I’m sure a curious colt like you would love to learn. It may come in handy someday.”

“I’d love to, Drakon!”

“We can start right now.”

Days passed into weeks. Those changed into months. Seasons passed, as did the years. Sunshy and Celly grew up in comfort in the Stable. Boy did Celly grow. She went from the timid little Manticore smaller than the gangly colt to towering as large as her father. Though she lacked the wild mane, as all female Manticore did, it did not lessen her terrifying presence. It helped that Drakon and the wild animals of the Everfree Forest taught her to toughen up. She wanted to protect her little brother.

Said brother was not so little. He had grown rather well into his body. Though he had no other ponies to compare to, Sunshy was sure he was rather tall for a pony. Despite this, his strength had not grown in the least. Indeed, his legs were more feminine than he would have liked. At the very least, his face was not nearly so round as a filly’s. His mane, though, had grown as long as Fluttershy’s, despite Drakon insisting he should cut it. He liked it long; it was easier to hide his face.

Drakon fulfilled his promise and taught Sunshy how to speak and read fluently in Zebra. The books inside the Stable were of great help, especially the discovered library. Through this, he soaked up knowledge about the zebra’s history, culture, beliefs, and how they compared and contrasted to those of the pony.

Sunshy loved every minute of his life. There was more than enough food left over for him, even without the grass. Some of it was stored away in Celly’s much large saddles—ones for a Manticore of her size. She also held any scavenged items that they thought might be of worth someday. Both of Sunshy’s boxes held his medical supplies, so Celly held the gems and every other item. To his dismay, that included whatever weapons they found. Not only were there guns, but melee weapons powered with gems of zebra design.

Life was grand again. The Wasteland hated that. So it could not last forever.

Fire.

The acrid smell of smoke invaded Sunshy’s nostrils. Coughing harshly, he woke and saw Drakon at the mouth of the cave, breathing fire at some unseen enemy. Just behind him was Celly, her saddlebags strapped to her body and her wings stretched out. She turned and yowled at Sunshy, telling him to come forward.

Keeping his head down from the layer of smoke entering the top of the cave, Sunshy slipped on his saddle box before he cantered over to his family. Drakon wasn’t breathing fire at all. His large wings were open and beating, trying to keep the smoke and fire outside at bay.

The Everfree Forest was on fire.

“Sunshy, I fear your time here has come to a close.” Drakon told him through a growl. There was a sheen of sweat coating his scales. His face was scowling in anger and exhaustion.

“What?! What’s going on, Drakon?!” Sunshy shouted, hating that he was forced to keep to the ground.

”I do not know, but these ponies are burning the forest. I fear what they will do if they find this place. Leave now, while you have a chance.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Sunshy shouted at him defiantly. Not again. No, he can’t…

”Sunshy.” Drakon turned his head down to the pony. ”I love you and Celly as my own and I know you feel the same. That is exactly why I am telling you to leave. Go east, as far into the east as your wings can take you. My children and their children live there, perhaps you will find them if you are lucky.”

“What about you?” Sunshy asked with his heart in his throat. Drakon smiled at him.

”I will do as Fluttershy asked so long as I have life in these veins. Besides, I cannot leave even if I wanted to. I will not give up my treasure to those who would use my gems to fuel weapons of destruction. Do not fear for my sake, children. I need you to leave. For me.” He smiled with love at his children.

Tears streaming down his face, Sunshy nodded. Celly flapped her strong bat wings and soared out of the cave, circled in the air, and then set off into the east. The yellow stallion rose up to become eye-level with Drakon, kissed him on the snout, and then turned and left the cave.

Coughing, he flew through the curtain of smoke and broke through the surface. Surveying below, he saw that only a few portions were engulfed in flame. His home was on fire. It was being destroyed. And yet, he knew it would not go as whoever planned this had hoped. The forest was magical in its own right. It would not yield to any creature and any weapons.

A roar startled Sunshy, catching his attention. Floating above the cave was Celly, waiting for him. Nodding, he leveled out and flew as fast as his grown wings would allow; once he passed, Celly flew beside him, her larger wings needing to beat once for every few times his beat. Miles and miles of the forest passed under the two.

The forest gave way to dark brown death of Equestria. The ground was spotted with destroyed buildings, cities, and other miscellaneous things. Hours passed. Celestia’s sun rose above and into the east. Brown only below them sped away. Exhaustion overcame Sunshy at high noon. He had slowed his pace long ago, but his endurance could not last forever.

Once he began to dip, Celly allowed him to lie on her back as she easily cut through the air. Using the warm updrafts of the ground, she easily glided more than flew. The sun sank into the west faster as they sped into the east. Still, Celly did not slow.

The scenery down below changed slightly. The brown was not so…unnatural. It seemed as though it had always been a golden brown. The trees were spotty, but struggling to grow leaves. The brush life was also brown, but it fit in. The scenery was exactly what Sunshy’s books described a Savannah; they were entering the Zebra homeland.

A group of tents made of animal hides and concrete buildings was a clear sign of a town. The smoke rising from the spot stated it was inhabited. By what, they would soon find out.

Celly tucked her wings to her body and dove purposely at their target. When they were getting close to crashing, both winged creatures shot out their wings, catching the air and parachuting up higher. Sunshy had left Celly’s back and could see the streams of air around the edges of her wings.

Gliding down, Sunshy fluttered his wings against the ground, kicking up dirt, and touched down. Celly mimicked his actions, though her landing was enough to kick up a good cloud of dust. Muscle mass did that.

Sunshy dug around in her saddlebag and pulled out a white flag with Fluttershy’s cutie mark; it symbolized not only peace, but that he was a healer.Sunshy tied the flag around his sister’s scorpion tail, which she raised above her head. It flapped in the wind, but its message had to be clear. At least they hoped so.

The duo had landed a few hundred yards from the town/city/whatever it was. Sunshy decided that it would be best if they approached from the ground and at a slow pace. Seem as unintimidating as possible. So he set off at a brisk pace, which was a mere walk for his large sister.

As they approached the area inhabited, Sunshy saw a caravan pulled by a large stallion. A pony in zebra lands? Smiling, Sunshy cantered over to the caravan, trying to seem friendly. However, the pony gasped at the sight of Celly, quickly turned his caravan around, and fled back into the town. Disheartened, the yellow stallion continued his walk to the town slowly.

The entrance held a large wooden sign that was painted in zebra and pony. It read, “Welcome to Borderland. Raiders not welcome and will be shot on sight.” They seemed to take their policy seriously, as they had two heavily armored guards. Their armor was that of the Steel Rangers, but the black stripes pained on the case told Sunshy that zebra were inside the armor. Two rocket launchers were aimed at the two, making them freeze. The ground before them was dotted with craters.

“Identify yourself, pony.” The zebra on the left demanded in a heavy accent.

“I am Sunshy, a healer. This is my adopted sister Celly. I swear she is not dangerous.” Sunshy consoled, trying to sound brave, but not hostile.

“E.F.S. says they’re both friendlies.” The one on the right told the other in zebra.

“I can see that.” The first one rebutted. ”Knock them out.”

“Wait! We’re not host---“ Sunshy was unable to finish arguing.

A hoof had slammed into a spot on the back of his neck and he fell down, hard. Celly roared and swiped at the empty air. She caught nothing, but received a hit in the same spot. She yowled before falling onto her side, as unconscious as her brother.

A zebra pulled back the hood of his invisibility cloak, revealing his body to sight. He stared down at the pony and manticore he had knocked out under orders. Guilt twisted in his gut at the sight. A sigh escaped him.

”Good work. Now drag them to the prison and make sure the manticore is unable to fight.” A guard ordered.

”Right.” The zebra sighed again. He hated his job.

Level up! You are now level 4!

Science at 25.

Perk added! Ferocious Loyalty: Your great personality inspires love in all your friends. Whenever you’re in danger, they temporarily gain +25% to their damage resistance.

Companion perk! Goddess Celestia, it’s a manticore, get in the car!: Your companion Celly is downright terrifying. Whenever she is around and active, your enemies lose their nerve and 50% of their critical chance. You’re able to avoid most fights and can gain some dialogue options.

Chapter 5: Feelings

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

Chapter 5: Feelings

By Freeflyingwolf

”Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?”-Confucius

Bright cerulean eyes fluttered open, squinting at the bright light streaming in. It was somehow a whole heck of a lot brighter than what he was used to. Then again, he lived in a cave with one consistent lighting source. And the Everfree Forest wasn’t known for its brightness.

“You’re awake, how ‘bout that.”

Before looking to the voice, Sunshy looked over his shoulder, knowing he would find Celly. A whimper escaped him. She had a muzzle covering most of her face, her body was chained down, and her tail had a large…cork? Something was at the end, to prevent her from stinging anyone. Looking down, Sunshy noticed his hooves were shackled. Startled, he tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness sent him back to his knees.

“Whoa, easy there, easy. You’ve been out cold for a while now. How ‘bout your name. Can you tell me your name?”

The yellow buck turned his head to stare at the source of the voice. Through the veil of his red mane, of course; he could see a figure lying down with its hooves tucked in. Unsurprisingly, it was a zebra. Very surprisingly, there was a row of metal bars between him and the zebra. He was in jail. Yay~

“I’m Zen. What’s your name?” The zebra tried again, smiling sweetly. Sunshy looked away, muttering his name softly. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Even softer, Sunshy said his name and lowered his head. Zen smiled awkwardly at him. “Didn’t quite catch that.”

Instead of answering, the yellow stallion whined and hid his head under his hooves. Celly sighed, shook her head, and rolled her eyes as she looked away. She was embarrassed for him. Zen sighed heavily as well.

“Hey, Zen, what’s going on? The new pony talking yet?” A high-pitched voice almost squeaked out.

“Not really, Ruby. I got a couple squeaks.” Zen answered, looking over his shoulder.

Curious, Sunshy peeked through his mane. Then he gasped and shot up onto his hooves. “A baby dragon!”

Said baby dragon was about as tall as an adult pony standing. She had pink scales and purple spikes, as well as purple ear fins and purple scales going down her belly. Smiling, the dragon named Ruby walked over to the bars and said, “Hey, I’m Ruby. What’s your name?”

“I’m Sunshy Rays. Do you know Drakon?”

“Know him? He’s my grandfather!”

Sunshy squealed and danced in place. “Drakon is my adoptive daddy; he raised me and Celly, my sister.” He motioned his head to Celly; she jerked her head in greeting.

“That’s so cool!” Ruby smiled and giggled.

“What the hell, Rubes? All I got were squeaks and you got a whole story!” Zen huffed in indignation.

“Oh, uhm…I’m sorry. But can you blame me? I woke up in jail, after all…” Sunshy laid back down, his ears flat and looking shamefaced.

“Right…sorry about that, but I was ordered to. Really, I hate doing this.”

“Hey, where are my things? My metal boxes, Celly’s bags, my Pipbuck?”

“Oh…about that…”

Zen stood up, revealing his right leg. Where Sunshy’s Pipbuck was attached, showing a zebra Pip stallion on the screen, smiling his knowing smile.

“You stole my Pipbuck! I use that for the radio and stuff!” Sunshy accused him, actually shouting.

“I did not steal it!” Zen shouted back. “I was just…”

“Rooting through his stuff, said “oh what’s this” click!” Ruby said, making a funny voice to imitate Zen.

“Shu…shut up.” Zen scowled as a bit of a blush tinted his monochrome face.

“Busted.” Ruby giggled.

“Well, now that we’ve got your name, are you hostile or not?” Zen asked as he walked closer to the jail cell, trying to deflect his guilty nature.

“No…I told the guards and they said their E.F.S. said the same, but they still had me knocked out…how did they do that? I didn’t see anything.” Sunshy looked up at Zen with pure innocence. Brown eyes went wide at such big, beautiful, blue eyes. They couldn’t even hide behind that red curtain completely. Wow…

“That was Zen’s handiwork, alright!” Ruby giggled before running away and coming back with a cloak. She spun it around her body and vanished. “He’s really good at hitting people’s weak spots!”

“Fallen Caesar Style?” Sunshy asked innocently. The zebra was in a stupor, just staring almost agape at the pegasus. At the question, he shook his head and muttered unintelligibly. A high-pitched giggle from nowhere made him realize how silly he was. He coughed into his hoof and then scraped at the concrete ground.

“You know about Fallen Caesar Style?” Zen wondered, unable to hide his blush.

“I know all about zebras.” Sunshy answered in fluent Zebra, smiling brightly.

“Wow, that’s way cool, Sunshy! Only ponies that live here can speak fluently.” Ruby took off the cloak and draped it over Zen’s back.

“Thanks. I trained for years.” Sunshy blushed at the compliment.

“Okay, uhm…let’s get you…out of there.” Zen muttered before turning around.

The zebra walked away to the other end of the jail, shrugging the cloak off along the way. There was a table full of junk that he had to rummage around. Cocking his head, Sunshy noticed the glyph mark on the zebra’s flanks. It was a circle, nothing more. Huh. It made him feel…oddly relaxed.

Zen looked over his shoulder with the key in his mouth. Brown eyes locked with cerulean and the zebra smiled. Sunshy blinked in pure innocence. God, it was too much. He trotted over and unlocked the cell.

“Were you staring at my ass?” Zen asked with practiced clarity, still smirking.

“I was looking at your glyph mark. It’s a circle.” Sunshy pointed at it with a hoof. Zen’s made a strange high-pitched hiccupping noise. The pony was surprised, having never heard this before. Remembering past experiences, he guessed that he was being laughed at.

“Yes, the circle of Zen.” The zebra replied before using the key to unlock the pony’s shackles.

“Oh. My cutie mark is a Manticore with a roll of bandage. It’s because I’m good with both.” Sunshy replied, not at all ashamed to stand up and show it off. He missed Zen’s shock that turned into a glare and grumbling at how freakishly tall he was.

“Whoa, no way!” Ruby shouted as she ran into the cell to take a gander. “That’s so cool!”

“You’re just so easily impressed, aren’t you?” The yellow buck taunted playfully, rubbing Ruby’s head with a hoof.

“Is it okay if I unlock your pet?” Zen questioned, pointing at Celly.

“She’s my sister and yes.”

“If she kills me, it’s on your head.”

“She wouldn’t! She won’t.” Sunshy directed the last statement to Celly with stress.

Though Celly nodded, Zen still stared at her warily as he unlocked her muzzle and the many restraints. When she was freed, the zebra all but galloped backwards out of the cell. She stood up, stretched out her body and wings, and then padded silently to Zen. Ruby was staring at her in awe, having never seen a tame manticore before.

Her chest puffed out for a moment before she roared right in the zebra’s face. The wind from her breath knocked him down onto his butt and he scooted backwards, face scrunched up from the smell. Once she was out of breath, Celly stood up straight and turned; her tail smacked Zen across the face as she walked away.

Once back inside the cell, Celly bit down on Sunshy’s red mane, lifted him up, and placed him on her back. Ruby snapped out of her stupor of awe. She ran over to the door and held it open for the large creature. Before she went to the door, Celly went over to one corner of the room and picked up both her saddlebags and Sunshy’s saddle boxes. On the way out the door, Celly licked Ruby’s head, making her giggle, and then continued outside.

“Why does she yell at me and lick you?” Zen grumbled.

“Because you’re the one who knocked her and her brother out and I’m her adopted father’s granddaughter.” Ruby offered with a shrug before following the pony and manticore.

Sunshy squinted against the harsh and unforgiving light and heat of this drastically new terrain. There were no pegasi, so the clouds were not sealed up. The sun shone as brightly as it wanted to down on the land of the zebra. And boy was it hot!

The yellow pegasus jumped off his sister’s back and walked to her mouth. She placed his saddle boxes on his back and then placed her own bags on her back. With her head turned over her shoulder, she noticed Ruby standing not too far away, fidgeting nervously. Sunshy was preoccupied tightening the straps with his teeth, but once he finished, Celly grunted at him. Ears perked up, he listened to her before looking over to Ruby.

“You can understand her?” The baby dragon asked in amazement.

“I speak with animals on a different level. Besides, most animals speak in body language more than anything.” Sunshy explained as he walked over to her. With a bright smile, he leaned down to be eye-level with her and asked, “Would you like to ride on her back?”

“Would I!” Ruby exclaimed before laughing and running over to Celly’s side.

The manticore smiled and lied down, leaning heavily to the right. Still laughing, the dragon baby clambered up onto the beast’s back. Once on, Celly stood back up, which almost threw Ruby off. She grasped the manticore’s fur to prevent such a thing.

“Well, what do we have here?”

This new voice brought with it another male zebra. This one wore a suit on his front half, it was rather pristine and seemed so out-of-place with all Sunshy knew. The zebra bowed with a hoof crossing over his chest the other to the pegasus. His rather greasy smile would not leave his face.

“Name’s Mayor on account of I am. You are?”

“The pegasus your guards ordered to knock out even after confirming my sister and I weren’t hostile.” Sunshy replied in a flat tone. Mayor was unabashed and continued smiling.

“Yes, well, we don’t get many of your kind ‘round these parts. Can’t blame them for being careful for the safety of their kin, now can ya?” He asked with a glint in his eye.

“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Do you have any injured?” Sunshy decided against telling him Zen was the one to let him out. He did not want the nice zebra to get in trouble.

“Why, yes, we do. Raiders ‘round these parts. Tenacious little bastards, ya know.” Mayor chuckled at what must have been an inside joke.

“Good. I hope you don’t mind if I set up a medical tent and treat them.” Sunshy’s tone, though flat, said he was going to go ahead and help even if Mayor said no.

“Go right ahead.” Mayor swept his hoof towards the community.

Giving him a nod, the pegasus walked forward with the manticore following. As they walked, the zebra and scant ponies gave them wary looks. They tried not to feel bothered by the tense atmosphere. It was easy enough with Ruby laughing and whooping it up, playing cowponies on Celly’s back. Somehow, seeing the baby dragon accept the monster made the inhabitants of the community relax somewhat.

Upon finding an open spot between a heavily leaning crumbled building and a circular tent, Celly and Sunshy stopped walking. The pegasus pulled out a long white sheet from one of the manticore’s bags. Ruby jumped off and helped pull out poles that could be screwed together. Having opposable thumbs helped quite a bit in screwing them together.

Working with deft and practiced movements, the pegasus held the sheet aloft in the air while Celly placed the poles in their proper spots with Ruby’s help. Within a few minutes, a large white tent was pitched and the flag of Fluttershy’s cutie mark was hoisted; it fluttered in the soft breeze. The trio stood in front of the tent, admiring their work.

“Excuse me.” A shy higher-pitched voice called out.

Smiling, Sunshy turned around and saw a small female zebra. “Can I help you?” He asked helpfully.

“Is…you doctor?” She asked timidly, her ears flattened.

“I sure am! I’m able to help in all manner of injuries, sever or minor.” Sunshy boasted with pride; he did not want to point out her broken speech.

“Really?” Her ears perked, as did her attitude. “Can you perform surgery?”

“What kind do you need?” Sunshy asked, still smiling.

“Oh, it’s not for me. My friend has been asking for a doctor our town doesn’t have. Tummy pains.” She replied, a hopeful smile spreading.

“Just bring him over and I’ll do what I can. Oh, and if you know of anyone else in need of help, point them in my direction.”

“Okay! I will, thank you!”

The zebra filly galloped away, shouting in her native tongue about the doctor in town. Before he knew it, Sunshy was swarmed with zebras and ponies, all begging him for treatment. It took some pleads and a roar to calm them down, but once they were, the doctor asked for them to gather as many mattresses as they could.

The sun was sliding down into the west before Sunshy finished treating his last patient. Over half of those who came to him for help were just worriers with nothing ailing them. The other half consisted of seasoned warriors who had come back from attacking their troublesome Raider camp to the north. The worst turned out to be the zebra with the pains. A physical and some prodding in his aching area suggested something truly was not right. Surgery proved that he had a malignant tumor growing in his intestines; it was small and easily removed.

Once the healing was done with, the doctor pony gave the centuries-old advice to his patients. Bedrest. Some grumbled and others tried to refuse and leave. A large lion paw stepping in front of the tent flap exit squashed that idea down.

Brown eyes widened a little in awe upon walking into the medical tent. Dozens of mattresses lied upon the ground; each held a zebra or pony. Way in the back was the manticore, standing as proudly and stiff as any lioness statue. A wooden board hung around her neck. On it was written, “Be nice to the pegasus or I’ll eat you.”

“Celly! That’s the wrong sign!” Sunshy scolded his sister as he walked over to her from a patient.

The manticore huffed, slipped off the sign, flipped it over, and put it back on. It was the same message, written in Zebra. A couple of the patients chuckled while Sunshy sighed in annoyance, shook his head, and pulled out a Sparkle~Cola, taking a swig. He did not notice a patient snatching the cap he had carelessly tossed aside.

“You seem swamped.” Zen commented with a smile, walking over to the yellow and red pegasus.

“Not as bad as taking care of killing joke victims, but…” Sunshy swung his head around in anger and stomped his front hooves. “I hate these raiders! They make me so mad, I could…I could…I could just kick something!”

Rearing onto his front hooves, the pegasus bucked at an almost empty jug of water. It wobbled over, precariously close to falling, and then righted itself back up. The patients were polite enough to hide their laughter behind their hooves. An amused smile on his face, Zen stepped closer and asked, “Feeling better?”

“No!” Sunshy shouted, stomping his hooves.

“Try screaming, that usually helps.” A patient offered.

“No, I’d get laughed at.” The pegasus grumbled, shaking his head.

“I’ve got something to help.” Zen offered. He reached into one of his saddlebags and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

A couple patients started shouting and calling out for the liquor, but were silenced with a roar from the manticore. Sunshy walked over to Zen holding the bottle of auburn bubbly warmth, strength, and stupidity. With a smile, Zen set down the bottle in front of the yellow stallion. The pegasus stared down at it stoically, evenly, appraising it silently. He raised a hoof, pressed it on the top, and pushed the bottle down. Looking at Zen dead in the eyes, he stated in Zebra, ”Alcohol is a gift from the stars."

A collective gasp was closely followed by hushed whispers and accusatory glances. Nervously, the zebra in front of the doctor looked around at the patients. Trying to help the pegasus save face, he said, “I don’t think you understand—“

”I understand perfectly the weight of my words. I studied the beliefs of zebras for most of my life. And this is what I believe. Drugs such as narcotics and alcohol are made by pony and zebra hooves and guided by the stars. I refuse this help.”

Everyone was stunned silent at the heavy weight of his words and tone. In a passive-aggressive motion, Sunshy bumped Zen out of his way as he walked to the exit. When he was outside, his yellow coat shone brilliantly with the sun, his wings shimmered, and his mane and tail billowed wonderfully in the golden light of the savannah. With a couple powerful beats, he lifted off the ground; a couple more and he was gone.

There was nothing like the freedom of flying. It was exhilarating, adventurous, dangerous, fun, so much more…The feeling of the wind billowing around his mane, coat, and feathers…It was freeing. The fear, the hopes, the anger, the good and bad, it was all gone. It all blew away with the wind. All of it fell away as the breeze passed over his body.

Closing his eyes, he dipped his right wing down towards the ground. The pegasus spun in the air, barrel rolling over and over until he felt dizzy. Then he righted himself and glided on the updrafts; there were plenty in the hot landscape. Dipping his left wing, he banked hard and made a heavy U-turn, his body completely vertical against the sky and ground.

Hours of sky dancing later, and the pegasus felt assured he had left his anger behind. He arrived back in the town of Borderlands without being shot at upon entering. At the entrance flat to his med tent sat one downhearted zebra. Seeing and hearing the pegasus touching down, his head lifted and his ears flattened.

“Hey.” Zen greeted in a brokenhearted tone.

“I’m sorry for blowing up at you.” Sunshy apologized as he slipped into his tent.

“It’s my fault for pushing that on you.” The zebra replied, following the pegasus. His voice hushed upon seeing the sleeping patients. “I just try to make everyone feel…at peace. Alcohol is a good shortcut.”

“Why?” Sunshy asked in an equally quiet whisper, going to a patient and checking their vitals by hoof.

“Uh, I mean it—“

“Not the alcohol. Why do you want to make others feel at peace?”

“Well…truthfully, the teachings of Zen are about self-teachings and enlightenment, but you need to meditate first. The best way to do that is to relax, feel loosened up. That’s basically all alcohol does. I just wanted to help.” Zen dug at the dirt ground with one hoof. Sunshy realized (Be Smart!) that it was his way of showing nervousness.

“Why do you want to help so badly?” Sunshy questioned as he checked over another patient.

“I could ask the same of you. Don’t you help people because of a picture on your flank?” Zen asked curiously, wandering to Sunshy’s other side; he was growled at lightly by Celly for getting too close. He backed away quickly.

“Not at all. I do not shy away from the sun just because it is my name. Nor do I help animals and people because that is what my cutie mark represents. You don’t see me shoving a roll of bandage in Celly’s mouth and making her smile and hold up her wings to imitate it, either.” Sunshy chuckled at himself as he walked over to another patient.

“Then why?” Zen questioned.

“Because cutie marks appear when you discover what you’re good at and what makes you happy. I’m a doctor because I love to help those in need. Not because of a picture on my flanks. What about you?” The yellow pony turned to the zebra, his head turned to the side.

Red hair fell over his face, covering one eye, and yet he did not bother moving it away. Without thinking, Zen reached out a hoof and brushed the red mane away from the big cerulean eyes. Startled, Sunshy jerked back and stared at Zen while holding a hoof up defensively. Obviously, he was not used to his personal bubble being popped in such a way.

“Sorry…” Zen apologized and dug his hoof against the ground. As he was looking down, he missed the light blush that turned Sunshy’s face orange. “I uh…I do what I do because it’s all I’m good at. I like meditating so I want to spread it to others…”

“You also seem to be good at melee attacks.” Sunshy pointed out, letting the awkward moment slide.

“Yeah…” Zen looked away, digging at the ground again.

“His name is actually Zuberi, it’s Zebra for strong.” Ruby piped up. Startled, Zen whipped his head to face her; she was lying against Celly.

“Really? I guess something must have happened for you to change it.” Sunshy continued with his rounds. “I won’t pry.”

“Thanks. And that was unnecessary.” He shot a glare at Ruby, who shrugged at him and snuggled against the warm and fuzzy body of the manticore.

“Can you get an extra mattress for me?” The pegasus politely requested of Zen.

“You’re not sleeping here, are you?” The zebra asked in shock.

“I have to, in case something goes wrong.” Sunshy replied bluntly.

“Yeah, be right back.”

The pegasus smiled at the zebra as he left; he missed the blushing. The awake patients, however, did not and jeered at him teasingly as he walked out. The zebra only stuck his tongue out at them before galloping into the oncoming night.

When he returned, dragging the best mattress he could find, Zen found Sunshy already fast asleep, lying against Celly. As he dragged the mattress inside the tent, the zebra stared at the glowing golden eyes following his every move. A shiver raked his body; Celly was pretty creepy when she wanted to be.

Zen set the mattress down beside the sleeping pegasus. Carefully, so as not to wake him, Celly lifted her paw until Sunshy fell over into a proper sleeping position upon the rather clean mattress. Then she gingerly picked up the equally sleeping baby dragon and set her beside Sunshy. In their sleep, the two snuggled closer, unconsciously seeking out warmth.

Celly purred at the adorable scene and lied down, her head resting beside her brother. Those eyes, though, stared up at the zebra. He had been entranced by the pure cute of pegasus and baby dragon, but those eyes made him shiver without even seeing them.

“What?” He whispered at her defensively.

She did not say anything; rather, she could not talk in a language he would understand. As such, she did not bother wasting her breath. Instead, she simply stared at him. Those glowing eyes were hypnotizing in a way very different from Sunshy’s cerulean eyes.

The pony’s eyes were warm pools of freely given love that captured hearts without knowing it; he was so innocent and caring that one could not help but stare. Those golden eyes, however, were cold, calculating, judging. Her gaze pierced straight into his soul, sizing both him and it up. Deciding if he was worthy of being near her dearest loving brother. They were endless pools that one could fall into. Hypnotizing in the worst way.

“I swear I won’t hurt him.” Zen consoled the manticore before turning and walking out of the tent, heading to his own home.

Purring, Celly laid her head upon her brother’s neck. He sighed happily and snuggled closer to her body warmth. Without even knowing it, Zen had gained her trust. She would not let him know that just yet. Or anytime soon; it was too fun to have a little punching bag.

Level up! You are now level 5!

Medicine at 100!

Perk added! Confirmed Buckchelor: +10% damage to those of the same sex and unique dialogue options with certain people.

Chapter 6: Journey

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 6: Journey

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”--Greg Anderson

Strong sunlight streamed onto Sunshy’s face, making him scrunch up against it and hide his face under his hooves. Still half-asleep, he muttered something along the lines of “five more minutes, mom” and had all intentions of going back to sleep. That plan did not go over as expected, as Celly decided it was time to awaken as well. She yawned heavily before standing up and going through her usual morning stretches. Then she went outside to take care of business, leaving her still snoozing brother and the baby dragon.

Even with the warmest body gone, the pegasus had the intention to continue sleeping. But then Ruby started snoring and let out a burst of green fire dangerously close to him. Startled awake, Sunshy jumped and scrambled away; somehow not waking her. She must be a heavy sleeper.

Yawning, the yellow stallion gave up trying to sleep and shook himself awake. Going to the jug of water, he tipped it over and uncorked it. The pegasus greedily quenched his thirst and put the cork back in place just in time for Celly to return. That was his reminder that he had to go really bad.

Coming back to his tent feeling refreshed and ready for the day, Sunshy rubbed the last clinging remnants of sleep from his eyes. Then he tripped over something in the middle of his path. He landed face-first, front legs under him with his rear greeting the tent’s top.

“Well hello there. Nice to see you too.” Zen’s voice floated in, followed closely by his chuckling.

Grumpily, the pegasus ignored him and got to his hooves, checking his front legs over to make sure they were not scraped up. They were, but not bleeding. Stung, though.

“What did I trip on?” Sunshy grumbled, turning around and almost tripping again. Thankfully for his dignity, he was able to right himself before he repeated his butt salutations to the sun. He did, however, manage to look like a newborn colt trying to stand for the first time. He quickly righted himself and hid his embarrassment.

“Your payment, by the looks of it.” The zebra answered, politely ignoring Sunshy’s rather embarrassing display.

Looking down, they saw a brown bag tied at the top. It was not a very large sack, but it was a far cry from small. The best part was that it was practically bulging at the seams. It was then that the silence reached Sunshy. He scanned his tent for the first time that morning and found all of his patients and their mattresses gone. Vanished as though they never were.

“I told them to stay here and rest!” Sunshy stomped his hoof down, fuming at his stubborn patients.

“Yeah, well, zebras have a history of having hearing problems.” Zen joked before he reached down and bit the end of the string tying the sack. With a good tug, the string pulled away and the sack opened. His brown eyes widened and the string dropped from his gaping mouth.

Bottle caps. Thousands of them.

“This must be the entire town’s savings!” Zen exclaimed, still gaping at the almost overflowing amount of caps.

“Bottle caps? What am I supposed to do with these?” Sunshy questioned as he poked at the top with a hoof.

“Have you been living in a cave for the past two hundred years?” Zen asked, his eyes still wide at the fortune.

“No. Just some twenty-odd years.” Sunshy replied, looking confused.

The zebra face-hoofed. He sighed heavily, shook his head, and sent a prayer to his god above. “Bottle caps are currency in the wastelands. Here, Equestria, hell, probably the entire world. And this, right here,” Zen placed a hoof on top of cap pile, “Is a fortune. You can buy just about the entire town with this. Hell, you can buy your own…house…”

Realization dawned upon the zebra at his own words. It seemed to click for the pegasus, too. “I don’t plan on living here. They can all take their payment back.” Sunshy picked up the string, held the opening of the sack shut, and then tied a knot as best he could.

“Good idea. Damn, have fun telling Mayor that. But before you do, go use this money to restock on supplies. If you don’t want it, give it back to the people.” Zen offered, to which Sunshy nodded.

“Thanks, I will. Celly,” Sunshy turned to her, seeing she was wrapped around the still slumbering baby dragon, “will you be alright taking down the tent on your own?”

The manticore nodded, which was all that Sunshy needed. He picked up the sack in his teeth. Truthfully, the key words were tried to pick it up. The sack of bottle caps nearly tore his teeth out. Zen chuckled at him before taking pity upon the weakling. The zebra picked up the sack as though it weighed nothing and set it upon the pegasus’s back.

Sunshy collapsed under the weight.

“Really? Really?” Zen stressed in disbelief, staring down at the fallen pegasus.

“I’m a weakling!” Sunshy defended, wriggling out from under the sack. What a defense.

“Fine, I’ll carry it for you.” The zebra rolled his brown eyes, sighing as though this was a burden.

“Thanks…” Sunshy muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

Zen picked up the sack and stored it in his empty saddlebag. While he did that, Sunshy went and got his saddle boxes. Nodding for him to go first, Zen fell in line behind Sunshy. However, at the pegasus’s ignorance of the layout of Borderlands, the zebra had to lead them. Halfway to the shop, he stopped and exclaimed, “You’re older than me?!”

“I’m twenty five.” Sunshy replied, blinking in confusion.

“You’re taller and older than me? Fuck, if you were stronger than me, I’d feel real pathetic.” Zen stomped a hoof in indignation.

“What’s wrong with someone being older than you?” Sunshy asked, frowning.

“I’m tall by zebra standards! And you’re somehow taller and now I find out you’re older, too!” Zen shouted, as if it all made perfect sense.

“Am I missing something?” Sunshy asked, feeling he truly was. He took a step back and raised a hoof in defense.

“No, you’re not. I just…feels weird. Like it’s all upside-down.” Zen started muttering to himself and returned to the path.

“I don’t get it.” The pegasus whispered to the wind, dazed and confused. “How old are you?”

“Twenty.” Zen grumbled.

The silence was rather tense between the two as they continued on their way to the only store in town. Upon finding it, Sunshy found it was not a store so much as a big pre-war indoor bazaar. Or…a giant grocery store gutted, linked with another two that were equally gutted, and turned into a bazaar. Either way, it was crowded with probably most of the town, voices all trying to shout over one another, vendors trying to sell their wares. It was hectic, to say the least.

“Cake! Can we get some cake?” Sunshy exclaimed, pointing to the cake vendor, and asked in excitement. He beamed at Zen like a child asking a parent to get him a sweet. He was the holder of the money, after all.

“Only because you haven’t eaten yet. Then we go and get some supplies.” Zen told him, smiling. His anger evaporated instantly at the sight of the childish excitement.

Sunshy squee’d and flew over to the cake shop, stopping in front of it and scanning over the sweets displayed behind a glass. The vendor, though surprised to see a pegasus, was nonetheless happy to see a customer. His smile widened upon seeing Zen approaching, telling the zebra all the good things about his freshly-baked treats in their native tongue.

The wasteland-wise zebra was skeptical, since the only cake he knew of were always two hundred years old. However, Sunshy struck up a conversation with the vendor about cakes, surprising him with fluent Zebra, talking about the cloud cakes pegasi could make. They stared at him as though he had insulted their intelligence. No one could make a cake out of clouds!

A rummaging in his box later and a cake made out of clouds was placed upon the vendor’s table with a smug pegasus and another equally awe-struck zebra behind it. Wide-eyed, the vendor promised to give them a generous discount in exchange for the recipe of the cloud cake. The pegasus agreed and stamped in place in excitement as Zen fished out the correct amount of caps. A quick though came to him, and he told the vendor that only pegasi could hold clouds. The vendor winked and said that he could handle it.

Lacking the levitation magic of unicorns, the two had to sit at a table and eat their food. As they did, Sunshy explained everything he knew about the Pipbuck to Zen. He had decided the zebra could keep it, since they both lacked the tools and experience to take it off. Zen offered to find someone who could, but the pegasus refused. Zen continuously tried to make him take it back, both too stubborn with their generosity. Sunshy eventually finished his cake and flew away, front hooves over his ears.

Seeing a zebra chasing a pegasus flying, shouting at him and waving a hoof with a Pipbuck at him was rather amusing. At least the patrons of the bazaar thought so. A child shouted that it was a circus act.

A quick sweep of the bazaar proved there were, in fact, no Pipbuck technicians who could take the darn thing off and make Sunshy keep it. Smugly, the pegasus stuck his tongue out at Zen and started taunting in a sing-song voice, “You gotta keep it, you gotta keep it.” Zen shoved his shoulder against the pegasus, forgetting the weakling’s lack of strength, and his own strength. Sunshy, however, was quick enough to duck, slip under the zebra, and stand back up, thus knocking him onto the ground. Giggling, the pegasus ran away before Zen could roll over and stand up.

As they made their way through the bazaar, it became painfully obvious that letting Zen hold the money was a good idea. Sunshy stopped at virtually every shop and asked if he could get something. What did it matter if he had already eaten? This was ice cream. Who cared if this was jewelry for women? It was shiny. And ohmygosh was that a puppy?!

Soon, Zen felt more like Sunshy’s strict father than his friend, as he had to pull the pegasus away from just about everything useless to them. Then he found his weakness; melee weapons. They had come upon an entire store full of pre-war weapons of zebra and pony kind. There was an entire wall dedicated to guns, one to energy weapons, and the last full of melee weapons. Zen felt weak at the knees staring at that wall.

Disgusted at weapons, Sunshy was the one who had to pull Zen away. He had to tell the zebra he could have the weapon Celly kept in her bags if he left. That got his attention. He began drilling the yellow stallion with questions as they actually began shopping for supplies that were useful. Eventually, he pieced together that it was a magically enchanted zebra lance. It was his turn to squee and dance in place and Sunshy’s turn to roll his eyes. Who cared, free weapon!

When their shopping was done, both had significantly overflowing saddlebags and a depleted sack of caps. That was when Sunshy had a mini-epiphany. The day before, it had seemed like the town was almost deserted. In truth, it was the most active place he would probably ever find. Borderlands was easily a couple thousand strong, but they all stayed in the bazaar. That was their socialization. So the streets were deserted while everyone went to shop and socialize.

The supplies they had acquired included a new magic saddle boxes for Sunshy, so he could hold more and they would survive even a balefire bomb! He doubted that, but what the hay; he had Zen there to make sure he was not getting ripped off. It did seem to be enchanted, as his supplies that took up two boxes filled only half of one. The other half was taken up by the old boxes. “Too many memories,” Sunshy told the zebra when questioned why he was keeping it.

The most important thing they acquired, aside from food and water, was armored boarding for the yellow buck. It was medium boarding, just standard leather armor with some holes for his wings. A hell of a lot better than going nude, Zen pointed out. Just so he would not give off the wrong impression, Sunshy also purchased a doctor’s coat and wore it over his leather armor, also with wing holes. Now he was protected and everyone still knew he was there to help.

The one thing he refused to get was a weapon. Zen insisted he get something to protect himself, “Celly can’t be glued to your side all the time.” But he would hear none of it. Sunshy agreed that he believed raiders were not ponies, not zebras, not anything more than disgusting, filthy monsters that needed to be put down. His hoof was not to be the one to pass that judgment. He did not have the strength in his hooves to pass any judgment like that, physically or psychologically.

Returning to the spot where the tent was, they found Celly batting a metal ball around. She was just an oversized kitty cat. With bat wings and a scorpion tail. Whatever, it was cute. Upon seeing Sunshy, the manticore rolled the ball over to him, which he stopped with a hoof. Then he noticed that it had air holes. And through those were…

“Oh sweet Celestia, Ruby what are you doing in there?!” Sunshy practically screeched as he worked frantically at unscrewing the ball to let the baby dragon out.

When it was opened, she rolled out, curled up in a ball. Then she uncurled and tried to stand, only to wobble on her feet and laughed as though she were drunk. She spun in place, still giggling, and fell onto her back.

“Whoa, who’s making the sky spin? Are you doing that with your pegasus magic?” Ruby pointed an accusing finger at Sunshy, who sighed in relief. At least she did not sound drunk. Then she sat up, raised her arms, and exclaimed, “Let’s do that again!”

“No.” Sunshy asserted, stamping his hoof down. Then, for added emphasis, Zen kicked both halves of the steel ball away.

“Awwww.” Ruby deflated and gave the pegasus her biggest, tear welling, lip pouting, puppy-dog begging eyes she could muster.

“That’s not going to work, Ruby. I’m a doctor and what keeps people safe is put above what they want.” The pegasus nodded at her, settling the matter.

“Kill joy.” Ruby grumbled as she picked herself off the ground. Then she looked past the two, gasped, and then retreated to hide behind Celly’s leg.

“Well, now, I see you spent the wealth the town so generously gave you for your services.” Mayor’s rather greasy voice drawled out.

“It seemed like the right thing to do, especially since I didn’t even ask for payment.” Sunshy replied with an even tone as he turned around to face the mayor.

Zen lowered his ears and backed up, trying to make himself invisible without his cloak. Two heavily armed guards in striped Steel Ranger outfits flanked Mayor, focused on the pegasus. One decided to turn his head towards Celly, but kept his weapons pointed at Sunshy.

“You didn’t think we’d ask for your services without a show of thanks, now didja?” The mayor asked politely, still smiling like a snake. No matter his pretty words, outfit, and disposition, he radiated slime.

“Knowing I saved lives was payment enough. I managed to give back the money, too.” Sunshy was still confused over the use of bottle caps as currency. He kept that to himself, though.

“Very kind of ya, too. I can’t help but see your tent is plum gone. Ya’ll ain’t thinkin’ of leaving us, are ya?” Mayor’s smile cracked, one side growing wider than the other. A shiver ran down Sunshy’s spine; Goddesses that was creepy.

“There are other towns in need of a doctor.” Sunshy replied as he took a step back, unnerved.

“But Borderlands is in need of a doctor, too.”

“I already helped as much as I could. I have to—“

“Have to. Why, you don’t have to do anything.” Mayor took a few steps closer, his grin somehow becoming even more unnerving.

“Please, I—“ Sunshy was cowering again.

“Now, I know you want to go, but how far do you think you’ll get before my boys here shoot you down?”

“I…I’m fast and small, I can dodge…” Sunshy didn’t sound very sure of himself.

“Oh, sure you can. You look more like a filly thrown through a taffy maker, how tall and skinny you are.” Despite the words, Sunshy felt like he was a colt again. “But what about your big ol’ friend over there? She’s almost as big as a damn elephant; gonna be hard to miss her.”

In response, Sunshy squeaked and tried to vanish under his hooves. He was no good at confrontations. Mayor chuckled, smiling victoriously as he stepped back. “Good, I really didn’t want to hurt ya’ll none. Now, just set up your tent or find something sturdier and we can—“

Whatever Mayor was going to say was lost. Something unseen had struck his throat, and he fell to the golden dirt, flailing his hind legs while his front ones clutched at his neck. His monochrome face was slowly turning blue, his green eyes bulging. That damn smile was finally gone.

The two armored zebra just stared at him, most likely awestruck. Hard to read emotions behind a full-body mask. When they finally shook themselves out of their stupor, it was too late. Their helmets were ripped off by the unseen force, allowing the pegasus to see their surprise. Two more strikes, and then they went down, unconscious. Next to the mayor that still struggled to breathe.

“Hold on!” Sunshy gasped before he dropped to Mayor’s side.

The doctor dug into his boxes as the mayor reached out to him in desperation, his face turning a shade of purple. He pulled out a tool that forced open Mayor’s jaws and fed a tube into his throat. The tube acted as a support for his collapsed trachea, allowing the dying zebra to greedily suck in air. With each breath, his face became a shade closer to its normal colors.

Once it was back to its normal black and white, Sunshy stared at him straight in the eyes and warned him that he would have to take the tube out. There was fear in those green eyes, but he nodded anyway. With a sick sound, the device was removed from the zebra’s throat. Thankfully, he coughed and gasped like a fish on land as Sunshy wiped off the slobber and disinfected the tool.

After all that, Mayor allowed the pegasus to go on his way with a free pass. Grudgingly, perhaps, but he was a zebra not to be indebted to anyone. Especially not a pony. So he sent away the colorful eyesore and his giant monster, too. Ruby wanted to join them, but Mayor told her she had to stay, he owed her mother to take care of her. As the siblings walked out of the town, they heard the mayor shouting for the perpetrator to be found and hanged.

As soon as the town was no more than a speck, Zen appeared out of thin air next to Sunshy and said in a casual tone with a smile, “Whew, that was a close one.”

That was when he found out about Sunshy’s fainting goat response to overwhelming shock and fear.

“What are you doing? How did you follow us this long without us knowing?” Sunshy questioned when he was able to stand. He looked back, seeing only two sets of tracks.

“I stepped in your tracks. And I was downwind of you two, so Celly couldn’t smell me.” Zen smiled at his smarts, puffing out his chest in a boastful way.

“I suppose you can exactly go back.” Sunshy stated, knowing he was the one that defended him from the mayor and his bodyguards.

“Nope! You’re stuck with me.” Zen poked the pegasus in the chest with a hoof.

“I suppose there are worse things.” Sunshy agreed with a smile before turning and continuing to head north.

Within an hour, he found he was very close to being wrong. Who needed a radio? Zen blathered on so much Sunshy felt he was moments away from tearing his ears off and shoving them into the zebra’s mouth. He would never tell him that, though. Besides, he seemed so happy to have someone to blather on to. Darn this zebra for making him feel violent!

“Are you even listening to me?” Zen stopped in the middle of a story to demand.

“Yes.”

“Then what did I just say?”

“You were talking about your friend Klutz tripping down some stairs and was put in jail for falling on Mayor.”

“Oh…If I’m boring you, just tell me.”

“Why doesn’t it rain here as much as Equestria?” Sunshy looked up to the sky. There was only a smattering of the cottony clouds in the blue sky.

“Because of you pegasi.” Zen stated matter-of-fact.

“What?” Sunshy asked in bewilderment, looking like he had just been smacked. His pace had faltered, but he trotted a little faster to keep up.

“Those clouds you cover the pony land with had to come from somewhere. Now our lands are facing drought two-thirds every month.” Zen replied with just a little anger creeping into his voice.

“We need those to keep us--!” Sunshy stopped in his argument, biting back his harsh words. Instead, he swallowed his anger and looked down at the ground, defeated.

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything—“ Zen tried to apologize to the distraught pony.

“No, you’re right. My people are selfish butts.” Zen snorted at Sunshy’s refusal to swear. “We locked ourselves away and left everyone on the ground to die in the radiation. It’s just…I was raised to believe in the Enclave.”

“Ah. We know of them. Supposed to be the saviors of Equestria, near the end of the war. They never got a chance to shine. Then why do you have a cutie mark? I heard they brand those off.”

“Only if you’re a Dashite. Heh, it’s funny. We label traitors after the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Talk about irony, right?” Sunshy gave Zen a weak smile. “She couldn’t leave everypony on the ground as they were. She flew down to help…and everyone who leaves is branded as a Dashite. Technically, I am. They just never got a chance to brand off my cutie mark.”

“How so?”

“Manticore poisoning and a severe case of missing faces and limbs.” Sunshy replied with a weak chuckle. “That was Celly’s dad, Big Sol. Died from a swarm of hellhounds.”

“Oh god…” The black and white creature managed to pale at that.

“Yeah…I’ve had twenty years to get over it. Then my second replacement father told us to leave, fly east, to the zebra lands. Here we are…” Sunshy waved a hoof to the landscape. A grimace came to the zebra’s face.

“It’s not pretty, but it’s something.”

“I like it. A lot better than Equestria, for sure. The poor ground ponies haven’t seen the sun in two hundred years…”

“You’re people are doing what they think is right to keep their own safe.”

“Let’s talk about something else.” Sunshy said with a thick voice.

“Uh…why are we walking?” Zen offered, just a little scared of Celly’s glare in his direction.

“Because you can’t fly.” Sunshy replied, sniffing in an attempt to keep his tears at bay.

“There is this one drug called Dash that…” Zen stopped at his companion’s level glare. “How about that radio?”

The zebra nosed the Pipbuck, hobbling along on three legs, until the radio was turned on. What came out was static, static, and more static. Disappointment crossed all three faces. Then the Pipbuck let out melodious chanting of female voices, using only their voices and some stops as music. In Zebra, they sang of the lioness going on a hunt. Shortly after, there was a song filled with drums, flutes, and string instruments. This one sang with male voices, happily inviting foreigners to their land, saying there were no worries. Next had female background voices with a male lead; they sang of their sorrow for being too poor to marry their angel.

“Wow, this is so different from the music DJ P0N3 uses.” Sunshy mused as they continued to trot along.

“Who what now?” Zen asked, scanning the horizon. They had been walking for a good while now and nothing in the savannah had attacked. They did see a giraffe ghoul, but it just said hello and went upon its way. Rather uneventful.

“The guy on the radio back in Equestria. He’s a lot better than that Red Eye and the music on those Spritebots. Dang do those get old quickly; like, you have no idea how quick. Anyway, DJ P0N3 is awesome; he’s got a really cool voice and good music. Didn’t change much, but you get what you get. I like this music, though. Wonder if there’s a DJ, whatever that is.” Sunshy looked to the Pipbuck as he rambled, then the sky, then back to whatever was in front of him.

“Wow, you ramble a lot in a short spurt.” Zen pointed out with a chortle. Then he pointed a hoof forward, towards a slowly growing dark splotch in the direction they were travelling. “That’s Gebo; a pre-war city that’s now a raider camp. We’d better be careful.”

“I don’t ramble…” Sunshy muttered with a bit of a blush.

“Oh, you sure did. You have got such a crush on that DJ Pony.” Zen taunted with a poke.

“Do not. I don’t even know what he looks like.” Sunshy denied, gazing at the upcoming city. The rippling waves of heat on the ground made it seem like an illusion.

“Tell me, Celly, does he have a crush on that guy or what?” The zebra looked to their large and shockingly quiet companion. With a toothy grin, the manticore nodded, to which Zen poked Sunshy in the side with a victory laugh.

“Hey, where did those tents come from? I’ve never seen them in any books of zebras.” Sunshy quickly changed the topic.

“Oh, we learned how to make them from the Buffalo. A good amount came here after losing their homes in the war.” Zen replied, smirking to himself.

And then his body locked up as Sunshy’s did when he was scared. The other two stopped in their tracks and looked to him, but he only shushed them fervently. Within moments, they found out why he was having such a reaction. The sound of high-pitched frantic chortling was carried on the wind.

Moments later, the group was swarmed by a pack of ghoulish hyenas. Their fur was patchy and grey, their skin peeling in different places. It was rather repulsive. They circled the group, laughing it up, but they came no closer. As they circled, Sunshy noticed their eyes were milky white. And that they were severely emancipated.

“Oh my Goddesses, you poor creatures!” Sunshy gasped before turning to Celly; he missed Zen staring wide-eyed at him and muttering that he’d miss the pretty pony. “Give them some of your meat, Celly.”

The manticore gave him a shocked look, obviously questioning his sanity. Suddenly, the hyenas turned upon Celly and barked their laughing bark at her. However, they did not attack. Instead, they jumped at her, like puppies begging for food. Celly huffed, pushed the closer ones away with a large paw, and dug into her saddlebag. Then she unceremoniously threw a hunk of radgator meat.

The pack of hyenas pounced upon it, yipping, laughing, and tearing into it. Zen let out the breath he was holding and then glared at Sunshy. The pegasus lowered his ears and cowered by instinct. Then the zebra gasped and stepped back as the hyena pounced upon the yellow stallion. They were not tearing him apart as they had the meat, but licking him over. Laughing at the tickling, he squirmed his way out from under the ghoul animals.

“It’s okay, but I can’t give you any more food.” Sunshy told them, wiping off the slime of spit on his coat. The hyenas whined at him. “If you eat too much after starving, you’ll puke it back up or your stomach will rupture.” They shut up at that, looking blindly to one another. “Do you know of the raider camp to the north?” They whined and cowered into a tight knot. “Oh, you’ve tried? What kind of weapons?” A couple barked laughs at him, and he nodded. “Ah, just guns then. Zen,” Sunshy turned to the zebra that was staring at him like he was a ghost. “I think you’re going to get a chance to use that weapon I promised you. I have a plan.”

“This is your plan? Have the damn things follow us?” Zen grumbled, stepping away from a hyena that got a little too close for comfort.

“No, they’re following of their own accord.” Sunshy replied, rubbing one’s head with the bottom of his snout; it licked him in response. “I’m just counting on them swarming the enemy after Celly’s aerial attacks throws them off. Oh! You’ll need to put your armor on, Celly.” Sunshy looked to the manticore, which was already a step ahead of him.

“That’s armor?” Zen exclaimed upon seeing it.

The armor that the manticore wore was very unusual. It was chainmail made out of dragon scales, fitting snugly against her bat wings and body. Her tail was covered with larger dragon scale plates. Celly raised her head in pride as she walked along the two equines and the pack of hyenas. Out of them all, she was best dressed. Really was not hard to be, since one wore leather armor and a doctor’s coat, the other wore an invisibility cloak, and the rest were nude wild animals. Wow, no wonder an elephant that wandered close trumpeted in shock, turned tail and fled.

“So you’re sure these guys are blind and they can’t smell?” Sunshy questioned, as it was vital to the plan.

“Yep, they can hear you breathing a mile away to make up for it. Can I have that lance now?” Zen grumbled, not at all happy with this predicament.

“Sure,” Sunshy looked to Celly, who quickly fished it out and handed it to him. He, in turn, turned to Zen. Who stared at the small and unimpressive stick. Then to Sunshy with another questioning of intelligence look. A squirming mouth later, and the stick became a full-blown lance that had blue electricity lacing the metal end.

“Sweet! It’s retractable!” The zebra tore the weapon from the pegasus’s mouth and started swiping it at imaginary enemies.

A small hole in the dirt exploded right next to Zen, who yelped and held up his hooves away from it. Action mode activated. He slipped on the hood, turned invisible, and kicked up dust as he galloped at the now closely looming city. It could not be known if the city was large or small, but the skeletons of buildings were impressively tall, if leaning precariously.

As per the plan, Celly opened her large armored wings, beat them hard against the ground, and soared towards the skeleton city. A couple potshots were taken at her, but she turned, dived, and rose to avoid the snipers. Sunshy ordered the hyenas to attack before he flew after Celly.

The snipers on the roofs were too busy shooting at the manticore, swearing in Zebra. She flew around in circles, diving at the enemy and using her feet to knock them off the roofs. The hyenas laughed as they pounced upon the body of the downed zebra raider. One was shot square in the head; the rest left the corpse and rushed inside the building with a vendetta.

Meanwhile, Sunshy hovered over the building with a collapsed roof. He dug in his saddle box for a few moments. Then he pulled out what looked like a balloon filled with something green. He dropped the clear balloon full of questionable substance upon the head of a distracted raider. The balloon popped on his spiked armor, coating him with the contents.

Sunshy coughed and swiftly flew to the building across the street, away from the stink bomb. It smelled of sulfur, mildew, rotting carcass left in the sun, feces, ammonia, sweat, and just about every other foul odor known to ponykind. It was mostly due to the fact that the ingredients involved most of those things.

The effects were immediate, Sunshy found upon his third attack. The raiders were coughing, clutching their noses, and fully distracted. They shot wildly with their magically enchanted rifles, taking down their own as often as they attacked the walls. Their weakness allowed the hyenas to attack them unopposed.

An hour passed before the building was clear of the visible stink. The flyers helped by using their wings to beat the smell out. When their friend Zen was finally visible, he was wearing a gas mask. He tore the mask off when the stink bomb remnants were gone. Celly, being the only one inside the building able to see, guffawed at his ridiculous mane. The zebra stuck ignored her and scavenged the deceased raiders, even the ones that the hyenas had attacked. Those were the messiest.

Once his scavenging was done, he trotted outside with weapons sticking out of his and Celly’s saddlebags. The latter took them out and set them neatly upon the dirt in rows. The former followed her example and grouped the like weapons together. Then he set upon the time-consuming task of breaking the rust-coated weapons, taking the best parts, and forming them into a better one. Sunshy had been standing far away from the city, but flew closer once his friends were outside.

“Could’ve used your help scavenging.” Zen told the pony when he arrived without bothering to tear his eyes away from his work.

“I’m not touching a corpse, especially not a group of them.” Sunshy answered, repressing a revolted retching. The smell of the stink bombs was gone, but now the smell of blood was overpowering.

“You’ll have to get used to it if you want to survive, stable pony.” Zen retorted.

“I’m not a stable pony.”

“You have the intelligence of one when it comes to survival.” A smirk played on the black and white muzzle.

“Hey, I’ve seen more than you could ever imagine in the Everfree Forest. It’s not a picnic, I can tell you that.” Sunshy defended, but immediately regretted the surfacing memories.

“Like what? You mentioned killing joke a while back.” Zen prodded, smiling at his completed zebra assault rifle. It was in pristine condition, beautiful and perfect. Too bad he was not great with guns. At least he’d get a nice sum of caps for that little beauty.

“Killing joke is a mutated version of poison joke. Instead of harmless pranks, this plant intends to get you killed in the worst possible ways…Like this one time, a Yao Guai—you know what those are?—Okay, this Yao Guai was turned into a female brown bear.”

“So?”

“So she was a male before. His…her? Family raped the poor thing until it died.”

The zebra froze instantly. He stared up at the pegasus, brown eyes wide and hoping the pony was lying. Those cerulean eyes stated that no, no he was not.

“Fuck…” Zen breathed.

“Yeah. The poison joke takes things you’re proud of or talked about previously or…like there’s this story with the Ministry Mares. Twilight Sparkle, known for her magical prowess, had her horn turned into a useless flopping mess full of spots. Rarity, who was rather vain about her looks, had her hair all in knots, like the dreadlocks that was popular with long-mane ponies who thought it was something zebras did, except it was her coat, too.

“ Rainbow Dash couldn’t control her flying, which she was so proud of. Applejack turned tiny; apparently she had been ordering her little sister around the day previous, telling her to do as her big sister told her to. Pinkie Pie couldn’t talk, since she was a motor-mouth, I guess. And Fluttershy had her voice deepened drastically.”

“And the killing joke?” Zen asked warily. He had abandoned working on the guns, too enthralled in this explanation.

“It does virtually the same thing. That Yao Guai…I talked to it the day before. He said he wanted to be prettier, like the brown bears.” Sunshy grimaced and turned to the ground.

“That thing is fucking sick.” The zebra stated bluntly, to which both Sunshy and Celly nodded.

“There was a plant I found growing in the forest. It was bioluminescent and fed on the same energy as the killing joke. Thus, the killing joke couldn’t grow where it grew. I’m no farmer, but I helped it grow along certain paths.”

“How noble of you. Just hope it helps somepony later on, huh?” Zen returned to his work, trying to distract himself from that horrible killing joke tale.

“It was all I could do.” Sunshy replied, rubbing his leg with his other hoof.

Then a shot rang out. Blinding pain exploded in the pegasus’s neck. His body flopped to the ground like so much dead weight. As black crept into his vision, he saw and faintly heard his two friends bellowing their rage, followed by the hyenas’ laughter. It sounded so far away, like a building separated them. He knew what was happening. After being shot once as a colt, he found a zebra brew to prevent such pain from ever being felt again. Instead, he would lose consciousness. Now that he thought about it, that was shockingly stupid of him. The fear of dying gripped his weak body, but the darkness had swallowed him whole.

Level up! You are now level 6!

Perk added! You’re all my very best friends: Any creature within a close proximity that you have charmed with your naturally good heart will come to your aid in battle. Animals will attack anything threatening should you get too close, except other animals.

Companion perk! Zebra stealth: You have gained +15 to stealth. The time of Stealthbuck use has increased by 20%.

Chapter 7: The Dry Land

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

Chapter 7: The Dry Land

By Freeflyingwolf

”Rain does not fall on one roof alone.”--African Proverb from Cameroon

The dream was the same as it always was. It was the same one that tormented him every night for twenty years. Before the yellow colt was his family. Mommy, the daddy in the pictures, Big Sol, Drakon, Celly, and now Zen. They were all dead. Their limbs torn apart, their intestines ripped out. Their heads splayed open. All their eyes turned to him, and their mouths chanted the mantra: “You couldn’t save us, you let us die, it’s all your fault.”

Sunshy tried his best to stitch them back together. He stuffed their intestines back into place, sewed their limbs back to their bodies, and shoved their brains back inside their heads. He did all this through tears and their chorus of blame. Really, after so long, he wondered why he still cried. It always felt like a monster he could never see was telling him to just give up and let them die.

Every time he managed to get them all sewn back together, a wave of blood appeared. It washed him away, away from his family and friend. They stood on a rock too high to be swept away. Even though he was taken miles away from them, he heard the mantra. He kicked against the current, trying to swim towards them as they fell apart, calling out for them. Their blame was joined by the high-pitched laugh of the hyenas, the sound of gunshots, and the worrying voice of Zen. Something foul ran down his throat; his dream told him he had swallowed a mouthful of the blood river.

Then he coughed, and everything went dark. The coughing raked his body, his legs tried to kick, but something heavy was on them. Then he realized he was awake, away from his dream. He gasped and continued trying to flail, his mind telling him he was in danger.

“Calm down!” Zen shouted at him.

Gasping, the pegasus stopped moving at the sound of his friend’s voice, opening his eyes. Total darkness! He yelled in fear, clamped his eyes shut, and tried to move away again. A bottle was shoved in his mouth, but he continued to scream through it.

“Shut up and drink!” Zen ordered.

Sunshy was not given much choice, as the bottle tipped and the liquid inside poured down his throat. It was some slimy mush that tasted rather bitter. He knew the flavor; it was a zebra healing brew. It had a rather grassy aftertaste. He could feel the itching of his neck that told him the bullet hole was knitting back together.

When the bottle was pulled from his mouth, he coughed and tried to regain his breath. Still, he kept his eyes closed. At least this darkness was familiar, something he expected.

“Whe…where are we?” Sunshy managed to ask though gasping breaths. He was not sure why it was so darn hard to breath. Oh right, a giant weight on his body.

“Inside one of the buildings in Gebo, you’ve been out for a couple hours now. You were shot in the neck. I’m no doctor, but even I could see that if it was just a centimeter or so higher, you’d be paralyzed. It went clean through, so you’re safe. You’re safe, Sunshy. Calm down.” A hoof was placed on his neck in a comforting gesture.

“Celly?” Sunshy asked, taking deep breaths to calm down.

“She’s sitting on you. I think you can get off now.” Zen answered, obviously directing the last part to the manticore in question.

Moments later, the weight was lifted off Sunshy’s legs and chest. Still, he refused to stand. Instead, he curled his legs up against his body, soon feeling the pinpricks of his muscles trying to work again; Paresthesia, the medical pony inside informed him.

“You were crying and flailing around in your sleep. What happened?” Zen lied down before the pony, nudging his nose against the other. The pegasus curled up even more in himself, away from the other two.

“Nothing. Just the same dream I’ve had for twenty years.” Sunshy answered, feeling the tears still falling. The pain of the dream was still there, raw and fresh. It was the first time he had ever seen a new face, and it shook him to his core.

“Brahmin shit it was nothing. You’re still crying.” Zen’s tone was hard, angry at his stubborn friend. Hearing the squeak of terror made him soften. He touched his nose against Sunshy’s again. “Tell me about it.”

The pegasus kept his mouth shut. He had told others of his dream before, but no consoling had ever worked. Besides, he’d only known Zen for a day. How much could he help? Then again…he was the first equine friend Sunshy had ever had. Before even knowing it, the words spilled out in a rush, “Everyone’s dead they tell me it’s my fault and I try to fix them, but then blood sweeps me away and I drown in it or some monster swallows me whole.”

It sounded silly out loud, but that was how dreams always were when compared to reality. That did not matter; it always scared the pegasus, and talking about it forced him to succumb to the overwhelming sorrow. He held his face in his hooves and sobbed.

The zebra wrapped his hooves around the yellow stallion, allowing him to cry on his coat. As Sunshy cried, Zen stroked his mane, telling him everything was fine, he was safe, and any comforting words he could think of. Celly sat at the opening that had once held a door, guarding the two. She would not let anything get to them while they were off-guard. It helped nothing that there were hyena ghouls still milling around, eating their fill. At least they were friendly, but the stench was getting to her. Part of her longed for her armor, but it was in her saddlebag on her back and it was a pain to get on and off, no matter how amazing she thought it was.

An eternity later, Sunshy sniffled and pulled away from his friend. Wiping away his tears and snot, he nodded at Zen’s question if he was alright now. Now done crying, the pegasus took the opportunity to get a sense of where they were.

As Zen had said, they were indeed inside a building. Buck, was it a dump. There was mildew growing in all the corners, there were mattresses on the floor covered with blood, flesh, and fluids he would rather not think about. Broken desks and dust everywhere, along with broken lamps shoved in a corner. There was little sunlight streaming in through the crumbling windows. A sense of vertigo overcame him when he realized the entire room was tilted.

Oh Goddesses, the walls were caving in, growing closer and closer. They were going to crush him into a tiny square. They were malevolent, about to box him in, suffocate him. Growing closer and closer, smaller and smaller. Without realizing it, the pegasus began hyperventilating as his eyes shrunk in fear and darted around the room. Not even seeing Celly in the doorframe helped.

He meep’d and curled into a ball again, hiding his face from the overbearing walls. Sunshy knew he should not have been surprised; a pegasus with claustrophobia. Not too uncommon, given where he had been born. Goddesses, get rid of these damn walls!

“Are you okay?” Zen questioned, which seemed like a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t okay! The walls were going to eat him!

“Claustrophobia.” Sunshy managed to force out through gritted teeth.

“Ah, so that’s why you wouldn’t go inside…Okay, look, we’ll get you outside. It’s going to be fine, Sunshy. We’re here with you, you’re safe. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” Zen beckoned Celly over.

Once the manticore was close, she knew what to do. Her large head bent down, bit Sunshy’s mane, and she placed him on her back. Then she walked on silent paws over to the already crumbling stone window. With her powerful claws, she tore a larger hole from the one already there. Once it was large enough, she turned to Zen, who had gathered up their things, feeling almost nothing, even with the weight of two full saddlebags. Celly picked him up in her mouth, despite his flailing, and crouched.

“Don’t you fucking daaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

Zen shouted and flailed as the manticore sprung out of the hole. Just for kicks, she fell like a rock to scare Zen even more. Then, just to be extra mean, she let go of him. Sunshy swore his eardrums broke from the scream that tore Zen’s throat. Celly was a trickster only to an extent; she caught the screaming zebra in her paws and opened her wings, parachuting and eventually flying. She glided gently down to the ground, at the southern edge of Gebo; she had to release Zen before she could land.

On the ground, the zebra fell to his face and kissed the dirt repeatedly. Meanwhile, Sunshy finally uncurled from his ball and fluttered onto the ground. Zen was telling the dirt how much he loved and missed it and how he would never take it for granted again.

“And that’s why we don’t fly with you in our group.” Sunshy giggled at the zebra, who glared death at him.

“Why’d you have a freak-out like that? You said you grew up in a cave.” Zen said as he stood, trying to dodge his embarrassment.

“I’m a pegasus, small spaces don’t work well with us. And the cave I grew up in was huge. It did hold a dragon, after all.” Sunshy answered, feeling it was his turn to feel abashed again.

“Alright, whatever. Which way do we go now, boss?” Zen questioned, trying to force down the shaking. Check flying off his bucket list. Then scribble over it until it vanished and note “NEVER AGAIN” on the side.

“You know the land better than I do.”

“Well, there’s nothing much north, and Equestria is to the west. There’s a couple tribes south of Borderlands, but we don’t want to go there.”

“Why not?” Sunshy perked a little; sounded like a doctor might be needed.

“I know what you’re thinking, and trust me, you really do not want to go there. There are these two tribes, Silent Deer and Deadly Hawk. They’re caught up in a war recently and everyone who goes near it is collateral damage.”

“Then I do need to go there!” Sunshy proclaimed with a hoofstomp.

“No. Look, they have their own doctors, they’ve been handling it. The last thing they need is some pacifist pony going there trying to end the war. You’ll be killed as soon as we pass into Deadly Hawk territory. I suggest going further east, to Nchi Kavu.” Zen suggested, pointing a hoof towards in that direction.

“Dry Land? You want us to go somewhere named Dry Land in Zebra?” Sunshy questioned, perplexed. Silent Deer territory sounded better, war or not.

“Yes, it’s only a day’s walk on hoof from here. At least they’re not ones to issue the pony-slave law.” Zen turned towards the east and began walking.

“Slave?! They keep slaves here?” Sunshy exclaimed, trotting to Zen; Celly kept pace easily.

“They do in Equestria, too, Sunny. It’s just…the Legion, Caesar’s Legion, they have laws that they expect all zebras to obey. One is that all ponies entering our lands must be dealt with. I think they intended it to be a sort of ban on letting any ponies enter, but “dealt with” is translated by everyone differently.”

“Like having you knock us out.”

“Precisely.” Zen rolled his eyes. “And the Legion keeps ponies as slaves, doing heavy lifting and crap work. They put pre-war collars on them that explode when at the push of a button or if they try to run away.”

“What?” Sunshy breathed, faltering in his tracks. Celly nudged him forward, making sure he kept pace with the zebra.

“Yeah, not pretty. I recommend we avoid them at all costs. Only a bunch of crazies follow the orders of a leader that’s been dead for two hundred years. Plus, a pretty thing like you would become a sex slave in ten seconds flat.” Zen’s tone and visage turned dark, into pure hatred. He really did not like the Legion.

“But I’m a virgin!” Sunshy almost locked up again, but Celly nipped his rump before he could. At that outburst, Zen turned and stared straight at the pegasus’s eyes. A blush engulfed Sunshy’s face, ears, and neck at what he just admitted. Trying to regain face, he hung his head, cleared his throat, and muttered, “Not like I’ve been around any other equines…”

“That’s adorable.” Zen muttered with a smirk before continuing to walk.

“It’s not that I’m not capable or anything, I just haven’t been around anypony or anything like that…” Sunshy continued to mutter under his breath, not even noticing that Celly gave up on making him walk and opted to carry him in her mouth by his mane.

“Oh sure, I bet you’re just a class-A flirt, too.” The zebra taunted before chortling his high-pitched hiccups.

“I did read how to flirt in a book once.” Sunshy admitted before telling his sister to let him down.

“Really?” Zen laughed a little harder at that news.

And then his laughter died in his throat. Those brown eyes of his widened to sauce pans as he stared at Sunshy. Said pegasus had failed to mention the book had not only words, but pictures detailing what to do frame-by-frame to seduce that special someone into bed.

Those normally bright cerulean eyes were half-lidded and darker, looking almost dangerous and lusty. Then his pink tongue licked his muzzle slowly, sensually, as those eyes continued to capture and hypnotize Zen. Then he walked forward and dragged his tail under his friend’s jaw, tracing it. He kept his eyes locked onto the brown ones, using his wings to help hide part of his face that was not obscured by his red mane. Without realizing it, the zebra had leaned into that soft hair; it was like feeling a cloud on his face. When the red tail ran out, he fell forward onto his face; his rump gave a salutation to the rising moon.

The ringing laughter of the pegasus was a blessing and a curse. It was a pleasant noise that sent butterflies flying around in his heart, and also made his gut squirm and twist not unpleasantly. At the same time, it meant that damn pony had not meant any of that stupid sexy act. He was just proving that, yes, he was indeed a grade-A flirt.

“Are you okay, Zen?” Sunshy asked, still chuckling, as he poked the zebra’s head.

“Peachy keen. I’ll just lay here and die now. Good luck with whatever I hate you please die.” Zen covered his reddening face with his hooves.

Sunshy threw back his head and laughed harder. Eventually, he fell onto the ground laughing, clutching his sides. The zebra growled as he stood back up and shook his head, trying to physically clear his head.

“How the hell do you do that?” Zen grumbled, trying to talk to get his mind to steer away from bad images.

“Do what?” Sunshy asked with an air of obliviousness.

“Change your attitude so drastically. One minute you’re freaking out from claustrophobia, then you’re upset over slaves, then you flirt with me! And now you’re bouncing around like a colt with his new cutie mark!” Zen glared up to the smiling pony. Damn, he was still taller! Mark that as a pet peeve and underline it.

“Because it depends on what’s happening. You told me I couldn’t flirt, so I proved I could. And your reaction is funny.” Sunshy giggled and fluttered away when the zebra tried to take a swipe at him.

A shadow somehow cast over Zen in the darkness. Looking up, his ears fell and he swore he saw his life flash before his eyes. Celly was standing above him, staring down at him with glowing golden eyes. Even without the ability to understand her, he knew what was going through her mind. ”Do that again, and I will end you.”

Zen coughed into his hoof, lied on his belly, and slunk away; golden eyes were glued to him in a glare. Once out of danger, he stood up and pulled on his cloak. The darkness was setting in, as was the cold. His invisibility cloak was all he had, even if it was not very warm. Then he dug out a can of beans he had scavenged from the raiders.

“Getting dark, should we set up the camp?” Sunshy questioned, trying not to look back to Gebo.

“Can’t go back to Borderlands, so I guess we have to. Also, never do that again.” Zen poked the pegasus in the chest before pulling the can of magic fruits open and digging in.

Sunshy nodded with a small smile as Celly pulled out the white tent and poles. The two equines helped screw the poles together and set them up, after Zen had scarfed down his meal. The manticore’s job was to hold up the tent in the air once the poles were in place and drape it over the poles. With that done, the group went inside the tent, where Celly dug out one bedroll for Sunshy. The pegasus shed his saddle boxes and opted to keep first watch, allowing Zen to take his sleeping bag. Honestly, he had no intention to go back to that nightmare again so soon. So he dug out a two-hundred year old box of cake and dug in, scanning the dark and quickly chilling night.

The pegasus woke from his recurring nightmare to the sound of his name being called. Groggily, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before looking over his shoulder. Then he had to stifle a laugh at the scene near the back of the tent. Celly was lying atop the zebra, her large paws keeping him flat against the ground, and drawing her long tongue across his back.

“I think she’s tasting me, get her off.” Zen told the pegasus that was failing to hide his laughter. Sunshy flew over to them and landed before the zebra.

“Nah, she’s just grooming you. She must’ve though you needed a bath.” Sunshy enlightened his friend.

“Oh great, so I’m stuck here until she deems I’m clean?” Zen groaned, physically deflating.

“Yep! Might as well turn on the radio while we wait.” Without waiting for his okay, the pony poked the Pipbuck with his hoof until he tuned into the radio.

The pegasus hummed along with the lioness hunting song as he went to the bedroll and re-rolled it. Then he stored it in her bag before trotting over to his own saddle boxes, ignoring Zen’s muttering of curses in his native tongue. Sunshy pulled out a wrapped daisy sandwich in his mouth and trotted back over to Zen, a noticeable spring in his step.

“What’re you so happy about?” Zen grumbled as he watched the pony tear the sandwich in half.

“I have a good feeling about today. Say, it’s been bothering me for a while, but why is Gebo called Gebo?” Sunshy answered as he pushed the daisy sandwich in front of his friend and took a bite of his own half.

“Used to be Gazebo, but the letters on the welcome sign fell off. Then the sign collapsed. Now it’s a raider breeding ground…still need to catch that bastard that shot you.” The zebra grumbled before tearing into his sandwich. He ate like he feared someone would take his food away any second. Did that actually happen? Or was food rare here in the zebra lands?

“You didn’t get him?” Sunshy asked, rather shocked. He decided not to ask the other two questions. They might be too awkward for the zebra to answer.

“No…” Zen grumbled, finishing his last bite of the sandwich with a dark frown. Then Celly licked him over his entire face. “AH, GOD THAT’S GROSS!”

The zebra struggled, getting nowhere, until the manticore stood up. Then Zen was free to flip out and rub his face all over the dirt all he wanted. Sunshy could not help but chortle at his humorous display, even as Celly walked over to him. Knowing this routine, he finished his daisy sandwich and ran off to take care of business, then returned and flopped onto his belly. Celly lied down next to him and began grooming the yellow and red pony with her rough and yet gentle tongue.

“I hope you choke on a hairball!” Zen cursed at the manticore as he grumpily sulked out of the tent. Sunshy was sad at the loss of the music-playing radio attached to his friend’s leg.

The zebra returned shortly, covered in a layer of brown dust and trotting with high steps, obviously proud to have thwarted Celly’s hard work. She rolled her eyes at his showboating of dirt and continued grooming the pony. Sunshy closed his eyes and relaxed against what was the closest he had ever come to a massage, singing along with the music.

”Hello again, my little equines. It is once again that time, when I will tell you what is on my mind.”

“Oh my gosh a rhyming DJ!!” Sunshy all but screeched like a banshee.

Sure, this voice was nothing like the wonderful silky smooth velvety rich voice of DJ-P0N3, but it was something. This voice was a very pretty-sounding zebra female. She strangely rhymed in the Zebra language, but the pony guessed that was her gimmick. While DJ-P0N3 talked to the ponies as a friend and the one who kept his eyes out for them, this DJ made Sunshy feel like he was talking to a mother, one who loved and cared for all the ponies and zebras listening to her.

“Scream any louder?” Zen asked, digging a hoof in his ear. Sunshy shoved his own hoof into the zebra’s mouth, silencing him. He missed the death glare as he stared with hungry, rapt attention to the Pipbuck.

”It seems some good news has come at last. A little something has come to pass. Something yellow and red, it should seem, a pegasus with medic skills like a dream. So say those in Borderlands, which have been plagued like one in the sands. Raiders attacked for weeks on end, doing things I do not recommend. With a mighty Manticore and zebra in tow, they dealt the deadly blow. The raiders are gone, rejoice! But still, listen to my voice.

"To the south troubles still toils. The Silent Deer and Deadly Hawks fight, maybe over spoils? I know not, my range is not that far. I only know that the land will scar. Beware of the land far east. Past the town of Dragon Den, there are many things that love to feast. Rhino ghouls gone mad, and seeing you will make them glad. They think they need to eat, so why not some nice zebra feet?

That is all for now, my friends. This has been Red Stripes, helping you prolong meeting your end.”

And then Zen licked Sunshy’s hoof, slobbering as much spit on it as he could.

“Eeewwwww!!” Sunshy waved his hoof away from his face while Celly glared at the zebra.

“Your fault for sticking it in my mouth!” Zen stuck his tongue out at the pony.

The pony puffed his cheeks out in a childish pout and resigned himself to staying still, allowing Celly to finish her grooming. When her task was done, she stood and walked out of the tent, knocking over a pole “on accident” on her way out. Of course, the tent fell down like so many dominoes. The two equines shouted at the manticore as they wriggled their way out. The two gasped dramatically after they managed to get back out under the sunshine. Then they stared to one another and busted out in a fit of giggles.

After the tent was packed, the group was ready to head out. The two equine creatures chatted aimlessly about themselves, the things they’ve seen, their experiences, anything that came to mind. Zen learned that Sunshy always had a talent for singing and knew quite a few Equine songs, as well as old phrases and a knew a lot about old Equestria. He learned the pony was named after Fluttershy, how he met Celly, and what life was like living with a dragon for an adopted father.

Sunshy learned Zen was uncomfortable telling anything about his past beyond a couple years back, but loved to talk about his friends, talents, and about the teachings of meditation and self-enlightenment. They paused once for a lunch break, during which Zen showed the pony how he balanced on a bamboo stick to meditate. Sunshy, for all his grace and cute, was not able to do it without the use of his wings.

The sun was setting by the time they were able to see more than a silhouette of Dry Land. The town was a bunch of small brick and mud huts with dry, inedible sticks tied together to form a roof. It was built in the general shape of a circle, with the town center literally in the center. There was green grass growing within a good hundred yards of the village, with large lush trees. Also, there was a moat surrounding it with a bridge as the only way in. Funny, a place named Dry Land had water. Go figure.

Oh, and the moat was infested with Radigators. Yay~

Zen opted to attack the mutated freaks of nature, but Sunshy’s natural charm won again! The Radigators had hissed and charged at the intruders, but then turned their focus on the pegasus. The zebra thought he was a suicidal idiot for not screaming and fleeing for his life. Instead, Sunshy had smiled at them!

That smile had magical powers!

No really, the Radigators circled the pony and all fought for his affection as soon as he smiled at them. The pegasus soon became engulfed in trying to pet each one. Out of nowhere, a pink beam of magical energy shot at one of the Radigators, turning it into pink dust. The look on Sunshy’s face…his heart broke so loud Zen and Celly swore they heard it!

That would not be allowed!!

“Who the fuck did that?!” Zen bellowed, pulling out his magical lance. The manticore posed for attack, her tail raised and let out a roar towards the town that sent the Radigators cowering behind the shell-shocked Sunshy. He could not take his eyes off the pile of pink dust.

The who turned out to be a very fluffy male bison with a big and colorful headdress of feathers and beads. Wearing a battle saddle with twin energy Gatling guns. Celly’s posture deflated drastically, eventually she was cowering. Zen, however, was a trained and seasoned warrior, and would not back down from this threat. Then a group of ten zebras with energy weapons arrived from behind the bison. Well…fuck.

“What black magic do you possess to tame these beasts, pony of the sky?” The bison asked with a booming voice swollen with authority.

“You killed him…” Sunshy accused, looking up to the bison, tears welling in his giant cerulean eyes. “Why would you do that? He wasn’t hurting anypony…”

The bison chief was not prepared for the pure amount of cute that was Sunshy. The rather unwavering calm and serene aura emanating from him faltered, and the zebras all glanced at one another with looks that said, “What kind of monsters are we?”

“These Radigators are our protection…only us of the Nchi Kavu tribe can tame them…or so we thought…I apologize. We have so many; sometimes we forget they are sentient creatures…to an extent.” The bison was obviously uncomfortable having to be the one to apologize. Sunshy nodded his head and wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Oh, okay. I’m Sunshy, this is my adopted sister Celly, and this is my friend Zen.” Sunshy introduced them all in turn. The latter retracted his spear and put it away. Celly stood proudly, hovering behind Sunshy and the Radigators, staring at them like they would make a good meal…

“And I am Chief Fluffy Doom. Do not laugh or I will shoot.” The Chief announced with a confident voice once more, “And these are the males of my Nchi Kavu tribe.”

“I think that’s a cool name; takes your enemies off-guard but its also intimidating.” Sunshy replied, standing up and motioning to the Radigators to return to the water.

“Why, thank you very much, Sunshy. And here we were worried you would destroy our village.” The chief chuckled, as did his followers after a brief pause.

“Not without good reason.” Zen answered, receiving a poke in the side from the pegasus.

“Then we will give you none. Please, friends, come into our village with welcome. We have plenty of food to go around and we were just about to have a bonfire, to thank our celestial beings for the bountiful gift our village receives.” The chief bowed his head to the group respectfully.

“That is very generous of you, Chief Fluffy Doom.” Sunshy returned the bow, accentuating it with his wings spread out.

“Is it alright if I just call you Chief Doom?” Zen asked, to which the bison smiled and nodded.

As they walked with the chief and his group, all of the females and children peeked out of their homes to see what had caused the commotion. Seeing the manticore, most of them hid back away. But then Chief Fluffy Doom went to the center of town and announced that they had three new guests. At the mention of a pegasus, they all ran out of their homes and swarmed the group.

According to this tribe’s religion, the sun and moon were still ruled by the Princesses turned Goddesses, much like some ponies in Equestria. Instead of using their names to curse, they revered them as the holy beings responsible for the gift of life that kept their slowly growing village alive. So every month, they held a bonfire to thank the two Goddesses for everything they had.

So, as the celestial bodies resided high in the sky, the pegasi were thought to be messengers for them. Sunshy denied immediately that he was, but the zebra and buffalo tribe was adamant. They told him all that they were thankful for and gave him an offering, usually a bit of food. Sunshy was deeply uncomfortable with it. It did not help that Chief Fluffy Doom only encouraged their actions. Zen seemed to be getting a kick out of this and Celly was being mobbed by children, which she learned she loved. In her mind, kids were awesome! They feared her, but they thought that fear was fun.

Sunshy was still receiving gifts of flower crowns and necklaces by the time Luna took over the sky, allowing Celestia to rest. The male zebra guards had packed away all their gifts and set them into a vacant home that would serve as the group’s temporary lodging. None of them went to it; they wanted to join in this bonfire.

The entire town began to buzz with energy at the upcoming night of fun. All of the tribe pulled out paint from their homes and began drawing on each other’s faces. A filly bison drew lines of blue, green, and purple on just about every outside surface of Sunshy, exclaiming that now he was a rainbow. Celly and Zen received the same treatment from the other villagers. None were so decorated as Chief Fluffy Doom. His paint job put everyone to shame. The bison was painted to embody the sun and a beautiful day, as well as a starry night with a full moon. Both scenes blended seamlessly on his coat, a beautiful work of art.

No less than twenty zebras walked forward with large and long pieces of timber in their mouths. Carefully, strategically, they built a tipi shaped body with the timber. Everything was in place. Luna’s moon was full and watching serenely; the stars were beautiful glittering down at them. They were abuzz with life and energy. The jitters spread like wildfire.

“Let the bonfire begin!” The chief bellowed.

The village exploded into cheers and whoops. One zebra ran out with a torch in mouth. The crowd parted down the middle, everyone cheering on the zebra. Once he was close enough, the torch-bearer threw the alit stick onto the neat tipi of timber.

They went up in flames in a matter of seconds. The screaming tore everyone’s throats raw, but no one cared. They were drunk on the pure excitement. Drums began pounding and the tribe danced to the primal beat the thrummed through their bodies. They chanted and danced wildly with their neighbors, friends, lovers, children, adults, everyone.

The hours blended together, only Luna slowly moving was there any indication of time moving at all. Sunshy, Zen, and even Celly joined in on the fun. They felt as though the horrors of the world were gone. They were away from that sorrow, that pain, that terror, everything was gone. They were happy, having fun, loving the life they had and giving their thanks for it. Nothing could make the Goddesses happier than seeing their beloved creatures enjoying themselves. So, they partied hard.

Level up! You are now level 7!

Perk added! Tall Soft Heart: You have been accepted wholeheartedly into the clan of Nchi Kavu, one of their own. Little did you know they are an influential tribe in the zebra land! Your reputation with all factions has increased immediately to Liked. No faction will attack you outright, and expect to be recognized immediately.

Side quest! Follow you home: A bad raider shot you! Find the snake! Revenge! REVENGE! Just have to know which way he went…

Chapter 8: Hello and Goodbye

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 8: Hello and Goodbye

Mpphhh mphh mphhhh mphhh mhh!”--The Pyro

Poke. Poke. Poke.

“Wake up, sleepy pony.”

“Nnnnn.”

Sunshy waved his hoof blindly at the thing poking him on the head. He had partied hard all night and wanted to sleep the day away. The dream was always fainter when he was exhausted. That meant, sleep until the moon came up again! Or until something forced him out of this nice and comfy, not-disgusting-at-all bed with cloud warm and soft blankets. This town went all-out to make sure he was comfortable and would be well-rested.

“Come ooooonnnnnn, it’s almost noon, Sunny.” Zen poked the pegasus in the face again.

“Noooooooo.” Sunshy whined, pulling the blankets over his face. The zebra sighed drastically.

“Send in the cavalry!” He shouted.

An explosion of laughter soon followed the door to the hut being thrown open. A good dozen children swarmed into the guest house and launched themselves onto the bed. With Sunshy still on it, they bounced, laughed, prodded, pushed, and generally made a nuisance out of themselves. They all chanted “Bother, bother, bother, bother!”

“Do you give up?!” Zen shouted over their noise with a mock-authoritative voice.

“Nevar!” Sunshy shouted in return. Then, the pegasus burst from the covers, standing up on his rear legs and made his best imitation of a lion roar while his wings spread out for max effect.

Surprised, the children shrieked and scrambled over each other trying to get out of the hut, laughing once they made it past the zebra. Zen shouted at his retreating force, ordering them to return. Still, he laughed and appeared to be in high spirits, cleaned from last night’s fun, and wearing some donated leather boarding. Sunshy, however, flopped right back onto the mattress and hid back under the sheets.

“Oh no you don’t. You have to get up sometime today and I deem that time is now.” Zen poked the blob under the covers that was the pony.

“You’re not my mom.” Sunshy told him.

“No I am not because you are older than me and I am a male. Now stop being a smartass and get up.”

“Make me.”

“Challenge accepted.”

“Hey, what—get off!”

Moments of tussling later, Chief Fluffy Doom threw the door open, booming a good morning that died on his lips. Sunshy was lying on the bed. His mane was a rumpled mess and his doctor’s coat and armor was on the ground. Zen was standing almost completely atop the pegasus, his own mane frazzled; hard to mess up leather armor.

The zebra was in the middle of biting on Sunshy’s left wing while the other he held down with a hoof. Sunshy had his hooves on Zen’s shoulders. Somehow, the sheets had been thrown over their rear halves. They both stared at the bison with shocked wide eyes.

Overall, it appeared to be…well…Chief Fluffy Doom’s face went red. He slowly pulled the door shut, turned around, and promptly walked away. When the door was closed, the two in the bed looked over themselves and their positions. Only then did it click.

“This is not what it looks like!” Sunshy shouted as he shoved Zen off and dashed out the door, going Pinkie Pie speeds on hoof. He raced past the shockingly calm chief, turned, and ran back still looking disheveled. “That was not what it looked like.” He assured between panting breaths.

“There’s no need to be coy with me, Tall Soft Heart. No one here will judge you for having a zebra buckfriend.” Chief Fluffy Doom assured with a pat on the pony’s shoulder.

“Zen is not my buckfriend; he’s just my friend, really!” Sunshy restated.

“I’m not?” Zen asked, appearing out of nowhere, with a visage and tone of pure heartbreak. He was even pouting his lip a little, too. “It was all an act? I feel so used!”

With dramatic and obviously overacting crying, he turned tail and ran away, sobbing out things such as “Woe is me!” and deeply confusing everyone he passed. Sunshy pointed to the zebra and stated, “See? See that stupid act? There’s nothing between us and he’s just a weirdo.”

“Alright, I can see how what I saw was a misunderstanding, and that was a very hammy act. I don’t believe the rest of what you said, though.” The chief relented, trotting along his way.

Sunshy sighed in relief before all of those words sunk in. He hovered beside the chief and asked, “What did that mean?”

“I think you know, Tall Soft Heart.” Chief Fluffy Doom smirked at the pony.

“What? That’s not my name.”

“It is to us in the Nchi Kavu clan. You are one of our own, and as such, you are given an honorary Buffalo tribe name. Ah, here comes Soaring Brave Spirit.”

Celly—dubbed Soaring Brave Spirit—provided the perfect distraction on what the wise chief bison could possibly have meant. The manticore had zebra and bison children alike hanging off various parts of her body, except for her tail. She even had her wings spread out for them. She walked over to the pegasus, who had landed and stood waiting for her. Celly greeted him with a lick on the head and a nuzzle. The children made a chorus of “eww” and the like before jumping off the manticore and running away to play on their own.

“Hey, Sunny, how much do you even remember from last night?” Zen asked as he trotted over to the siblings.

“A good amount, I guess. Why?”

“Wondered if you remember some buck hitting on you last night and if you’re still a virgin.” Zen gave the colorful pony a shit-eating grin.

“That was you.” Sunshy replied with a frown and a poke to his chest. That smile vanished and turned into a frown.

“No it wasn’t. I’m the one that pushed him away. What, you can’t tell zebras apart?” Zen accused with a hoof-poke on the pony’s chest. It was a lot harder than the playful ones they exchanged before.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Sunshy defended while rubbing his chest. Yep, that was going to bruise.

“So if I and all the other zebras here covered our glyph marks, you wouldn’t be able to tell me from the rest?” Zen huffed in anger, his face turning red.

“What? No! I mean, of course I would! I can tell you apart from any other zebra.” Sunshy frowned was angered as well.

“Really? Well, I’m going to have to test that sometime when you least expect it.” Zen glared at the pony.

“You did hit on me last night! After that other buck left!” Sunshy stated, stamping his hoof in indignation.

“Oh yeah…” Zen replied with all his anger gone, making Sunshy facehoof and Celly facepaw. “I also found out that the bastard that shot you came through here. Apparently a guard saw him and I was on my way to go find him. Let’s go check him out.”

“It’ll give us somewhere to go.” Sunshy agreed, still frowning at the racist accusations.

The group of monster, pony, and zebra walked down the village towards the west end, where the large bridge laid. The tribe gave the group a respectful berth as they walked. A unicorn pony trader beamed and waved at Sunshy, who dumbly waved back. He had no idea who she was, but apparently she knew him well enough to wave. It would have been rude not to wave back.

Along the way, Celly roared for no reason and flew away. Sunshy shouted and chased after her, followed by Zen. The manticore stopped before a tipi-shaped shop with a caravan near it and pounced upon something. Judging by the shout, it was something male. Judging by the rifle shoved in Celly’s nose, it was well-armed as well. There were other ponies and zebra around the caravan, all of which shouted in fear and shock at seeing a manticore. Those that recovered pulled out their guns and aimed at the unarmored manticore.

“Hiiiiiiiiii-yah!!” Zen shouted a strange sort of war cry as he charged and head-butted the manticore right on her side.

Celly groaned in shock as she was shoved onto her side, off the gray giant pony on the ground, and her wing clipped the caravan. It tipped precariously, but she quickly bit the edge and pulled it down, making sure it stayed on all four wheels. Zen quickly pounced upon the manticore and pulled out his electric lance. He surprised the group of travelers by aiming the lance at one blue-coated mare.

“Don’t shoot at her, please! Or the stupid zebra!” Sunshy shouted as he touched down.

“MEY!” Zen shouted at him through the spear. He spit it out and pointed a hoof at the pegasus, “I resent that!” He jumped off Celly and picked up his weapon, grumbling before retracting it.

Sunshy immediately went over to the gray pony, stopping short and staring up at him as he stood. The pegasus was close enough to notice that the pony’s coat was not solid, but a sort of camouflage pattern. His hair was also…off somehow. And his gun was suddenly gone to nowhere. However, that wasn’t important at the moment.

“Are you alright, sir? I’m so sorry about her. Did she hurt you? Oh, she did, here, I’ll bandage that for you.” Without letting anyone else get in a word, Sunshy pulled a roll of bandage out of his tail of all places.

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.” The gray pony tried to argue, but Sunshy was already putting the bandage around the scratches on the gray leg.

“Is anyone else aware that this is a freaking manticore!?” A yellow mare with a brown mane shouted.

“Her name is Celly, after princess Celestia.” Sunshy answered, trotting over to his still lying sister now that he was finished bandaging the gray pony. “She’s my adoptive sister. Her dad took care of us when I was a colt. I’m Sunshy Rays and this is my friend Zen.”

“I’m Versatile, these are my friends Night Rose,” the blue one that Zen had held a spear to, “Deep Scratch,” a unicorn with a white coat and alternating blue mane, “Frieda,” a Griffon with her guns still pointed at the manticore, “Zirconium,” a zebra holding a gun at Zen, “Chef Sandy,” the yellow one, “and Apple Cider,” a red pony with a yellow mane that was hugging the zebra vendor like their lives depended upon it.

“Sorry for the spear thing.” The zebra gave the blue pony an awkward smile.

“Not accepted.” She replied with a glare.

“Weapons away, everyone,” Versatile ordered. “No reason to get upset over… why did she attack me again?”

“Celly said she attacked you because she felt you’re…unnatural.” Sunshy translated, though the others were unaware she had even done anything but lie there. Zen walked over to Versatile and hit the taller pony’s leg, making a metallic clanging sound. The large pony looked at the zebra in shock, obviously having never faced something with his pure strength.

“Yep, he’s a robot. Explains how your gun vanished into your side.” Zen nodded at the large pony and returned to his friend’s side. “And he’s taller than you!” Zen shouted at Sunshy, as if that was super important.

“Stop being crazy, Zen.” Sunshy told the zebra with a frown.

“It’s part of my charm.” Zen boasted.

“It doesn’t seem to be working on them. Just tone it back a bit.” Sunshy requested, having noticed the other group’s angry looks.

“Fine, you’re no fun.” The zebra grumbled at his friend.

“If you and your colt-friend are done assaulting us, can we leave now?” Night Rose said, still glaring at the zebra.

Sunshy sputtered as his face went orange; Celly smirked at him from her spot on the ground. “He’s not… we’re not… I’m not…” Zen, for his own part, looked at her blankly.

Versatile shook his head at them, earning a level glare from Zen. “Where are you guys headed?

“East to the dragon lands.” Sunshy replied, grateful for the topic change. “How about you?”

“Northward to Zebrion.” Versatile, apparently the leader, answered. His friends were all re-mounting their wagons, Apple Cider kept his eyes on Celly, who remained stoic on the ground. “We have… business, with a few folks there.”

“Zebrion.” Zen asked, somewhat awed. “Do you guys have a deathwish?!” Everyone turned to him in astonishment. Even Celly seemed unnerved by his sudden outburst. He looked at them all in shock, and then remembered he was the only traveler in the savannah wasteland. So he amended himself, “Ok, maybe you don’t, but you can’t go there! You’ll all be killed! That place is the biggest hotbed of radiation in the wilds! You’ll die of radiation sickness before you’re a mile in, and that’s if you’re lucky!” He was almost hysterical now, and Sunshy had to put a hoof on his shoulder and a wing over his back to help calm him down.

“What’s so dangerous that we’d be lucky to die of radiation?” Scratch asked. Zen opened his mouth to reply, but Zirconium beat him to it.

“In the land of Zebrion, there lives a danger long thought gone. A pestilence we zebra fear that someday may bring itself here. A miniature bug so small in size, even Vers won’t see with his advanced eyes. Called the Invisible Death, it waits for someone to pass that they can infiltrate. In clouds of millions it travels about, devouring the unaware from inside out. The only warning you will get is when your heart and their teeth have met. After that it is too late. A tidy meal is now your fate.” Zirconium recited as though it was a terrible nursery rhyme. Zen glared at him and muttered something about stupid zebras furthering the racism of all of their kind talking in rhyme.

Everyone stared at him in silence, save for Zen. Night Rose was the one to break the silence, “You were gonna tell us about this when?”

Zirconium smiled sheepishly and shrugged in apology. Zen was still glaring at him, but a hard poke from Sunshy put that to a stop. Celly was merely basking in the sun, keeping a wary golden eye on the griffon.

“So, we can’t go to Zebrion…” Apple Cider’s voice cracked. “We’ve come all this way for nothing?”

“Looks like.” Frieda replied.

“What if we had protective armor?” Night Rose asked. “I could find a replacement helmet…”

“It won’t matter.” Zen said, cutting her off. Sunshy frowned at his rudeness. “The bugs are microbial. Even in an air-tight suit, they’d still get in and eat you.” He looked at Versatile and continued, “And you’d probably be shorted out. They chew on wires as well as flesh.”

“Great.” Scratch said with a sigh. “So now what do we do?”

“The only thing that the Invisible Death,” Zirconium piped up, “cannot take to its last breath, are dragons of the days of old, their scales are strong enough to hold. Upon assaulting this hated foe, they bounce back as if from Gel-o. It is then that they are able to be seen, sparkling with the dragon’s sheen. By fire now can they be destroyed and sent beyond into the void.”

“We need a dragon now!” Chef practically screamed, prompting Apple Cider to yell back, “Calm down!”

“A dragon.” Versatile repeated. Sunshy noticed his eyes went all weird, like there were words scrolling down. “Generally lazy,” He said aloud, sounding like he was reading, “with a partialness to gems and gold, territorial and dangerous when roused. Not many are known to be friendly to ponies if they’ve been born in the wild. When meeting a wild dragon, it is recommended you remain polite and offer great riches. NEVER attempt to steal a dragon’s own hoard.”

Sunshy gazed up at the gray pony, a confused look in his blue eyes. “That’s word for word from the textbook! How did…”

“Robot,” Zen said, nudging the pegasus with a smirk. “Remember?” Sunshy looked away in embarrassment. Celly finally sat up and pulled out her dragon-scale armor, having understood that much.

“No, Celly, you don’t get to go there.” Sunshy told her, she held her ears down in sadness and put the armor away.

“So, basically, we need to be polite and rich enough to sweet-talk a dragon into helping us out. Anyone else think we’re so screwed on this?” Scratch said with her hoof tapping her chin. Everyone else in their party seemed to think that yes, yes they were screwed.

“Welp! Good luck with that, I’d recommend Borderlands, but Ruby’s mom probably picked her up by now. Unless you want to go into the Everfree Forest and try your luck with Drakon, Sunny’s dragon daddy, you’re kinda shit outta luck. Now, we have a raider that almost killed my boy here to find and kill. Toodles!” Zen trotted away, going north, as they had before becoming distracted.

“I told you to stop being crazy, Zen!” Sunshy shouted at him, then sighed and looked to the large gray robo-pony. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be of much help. Good luck to you.”

Sunshy dug into his saddle box and set down a mouthful of shining gems at Versatile’s hooves. Without another word, he flew after his zebra friend. Celly stood up and padded after them, her tail flicking against Apple Cider as she went past, making him squeal like a filly. The manticore chuckled her strange deep-throat hiccupping growl before speed walking to catch up with her friend and family.

Anyway, they got to the bride to find a stern-looking zebra guard. He was smaller than Zen, but bulkier and much more intimidating. He wore armor depicting Princess Celestia bringing about a bright day with rainbows, sunshine, butterflies, bunnies, and worshiping ponies and zebras. The guard held a plasma rifle in his mouth, and his left ear swiveled towards them as they approached. He kept his eyes forward, out past the grass of their land and into the savannah.

“Hello, I’m—“ Sunshy began.

“Tall Soft Heart, Soaring Brave Spirit, and Brother Zen. I know who you three are, as will most everyone in the Zebra wasteland.” The guard cut him off to finish.

“How come they get cool tribal names and I don’t?” Zen whined rather manly.

“Because it was that or Brother Hits-On-Everything-With-An-Ass.” The guard replied with a stoic tone, still not looking at them.

“Brother Zen works. Yep.” The rather abashed zebra replied, pointedly not making eye contact with his companions.

“I was joking about both.” The stoic zebra replied. “Your name is actually Brother Strong Peace. Our seer was the one to give you this name, instead of our Chief. She was given the gift of the sight of the sun. She sees everyone for what they are, their flaws, what makes them, and she can see in the dark. When she laid those gifted eyes on you, Brother Strong Peace was the name she said. Do you know why that is?”

A chill ran through the armored zebra, despite the warmth of the new day. He coughed into his hoof and muttered intelligibly to himself. Eventually he just shook his head. Sunshy decided to save his friend, “We heard you know where the raider that shot me went.”

“Perhaps I did. If you want the information you seek, you must do something for me.” The guard finally turned to face the group.

“What’s your name?” Sunshy asked, baffling almost everyone, even the guard.

“Salai. My name is Salai.” The guard answered, his blue eyes wide in shock.

“I’m guessing no one asks you for your name. I bet they don’t even care to ask you anything about yourself. Has anyone even wondered if you like doing this?”

“N…no, no one asks me anything. Hell, other than the occasional ‘hello’ thrown my way, no one talks to me at all.” Salai frowned as he spoke.

“That’s not nice at all. You’re the guard here, without you this place would be another raider town.” Sunshy told him with a frown of his own.

“Yeah, it would. I don’t even get a thank you from anyone but Chief.”

“Now that’s just not nice. I thank you for all the good you do here.”

“Thank you too…” Salai’s expression softened, until he looked as though he was thinking. “Hey, you’re a nice guy, so I’ll tell you about that raider.”

Zen and Celly appeared shocked, but covered it up quickly with stoic expressions. Sunshy smiled at the guard and thanked him again. He nodded before speaking, “That was no raider that came through here. That was a top-notch slaver, his name’s Cuffs. Dresses like a raider to throw others off when he’s out slave hunting. He’s the leader over in Oasis, the center for buying and selling slaves. He passed by here yesterday, and it looked like he was going to Oasis.”

“Whoa! What the hell, there’s something in my eyes!” Zen shouted, looking around everywhere and moving anxiously in place.

“Any red lines?” Sunshy questioned anxiously.

“No, I heard the bing from your Pipbuck. If you have an active quest, it just updated. Do you see an arrow?” Salai informed the group.

“Yeah,” Zen turned to the east, “it’s going that way.”

“That is where Oasis is located. Hey, since you’re such a nice pony, I was wondering if you’d still listen to my request.”

“Sure, lay it on us.” Sunshy answered as Zen kept staring every which way. Salai smiled at the pony.

“Somewhere to the north is a place where plants grow wildly, nothing like here. They must be malevolent; most scouts haven’t come back or came back crazy. Will you check it out for us?”

“What do we get out of it?” Zen wondered. Celly shoved him over onto his side and held him down with a paw.

“Ignore him, we got more than enough from yesterday’s gifts.” Sunshy assured the guard. “And of course we’ll check it out for you.”

“Great! I knew you would.” Salai smiled at the pony. “We need you to make a full report on it and shut it down if you can.”

The group returned to their loaned hut and gathered their saddlebags and items. Zen had managed to sell most of the guns they had scavenged, so their things consisted mainly of food, healing items, and only a few melee weapons. The fighter zebra also purchased some spiked shoes and wing blades for Celly. They left the majority of their food in their new home. Chief Fluffy Doom had insisted that they keep the hut and return whenever they wanted.

They walked with a marker on the map as their destination waypoint. The walk took a good three hours, which they filled with the songs on the radio. It was dry and barren, with the horizon showing a mountain not far off. The land had always appeared that way, but now it seemed even worse after Nchi Kavu. Sunshy and Celly, haven grown up in a forest, felt torn leaving the lush area.

“Oh holy crap.” Zen exclaimed when they found the marked area.

Their marked place was a stable built into some low hills. The hills were covered with grass, large ferns as big as Celly, and flowers ranging in size and as colorful as ponies. Into the hill, a gear-shaped hole was gaping open, vines and fungi growing out of it. Some giant mantises were blending in with the scenery perfectly, until their red wings opened when they lunged at the group.

Zen put his new shoes to work against the mutated bugs. One lunged at him with its sharpened forelegs raised in attack. The zebra jumped back from the attack, stood on his hind legs, and swung his foreleg in an arc. His spikes caved the head in the side and decapitated it. The neck sprayed some green blood on the zebra before the body fell.

Celly was working harder, swiping at the bugs as they attacked her in groups. Each swipe of her powerful paws tore their limbs apart and doused her with their blood. There were only a dozen there, and ten attacked her at once. Zen only managed to kill another by bucking its chest, instantly making it collapse inside itself.

“I do not like this place at all.” Zen told the pony as Celly began cleaning herself.

“Neither do I…the plants…they feel…like the Everfree Forest. They feel so…evil. These plants aren’t natural. They aren’t meant to exist.” Sunshy told them his thoughts. He wasn’t aware of a plant growing behind him.

The plant was nothing more than a Venus flytrap. Nothing more than a Venus flytrap growing five feet tall with a giant mouth big enough to swallow a pony whole. Zen shouted a warning and lunged, but it was too late. The plant snapped the pegasus up in a flash.

In another flash, the giant mutated plant was gone.

Sunshy gasped for air as soon as he was on the ground, covered in some slimy goop. Next to him was a broken bottle and some ashes, the only thing left of the Venus flytrap. The pegasus shook the goop off as much as he could. Then he dug in his box and pulled out a bottle full of something slushy and black. Then a couple more bottles. And then a piece of string.

The pegasus quickly tied the string around the neck of each bottle. Then he tied the ends together and slipped it over his head. Tah-dah! A potion necklace, for easy use when on the run or in a battle.

“What the hell is that?” Zen had to ask, pointing to the strange thing. “How did you kill it?”

“I killed it with fire.” Sunshy answered bluntly, as it was obvious. “This potion is made from the stuff that allows dragons to breath fire. I put some in my mouth and spray it, don’t swallow because it gives you a severe case of the runs. The combustion only activates from a mixture of spit and oxygen. You have no idea how hard it was to get the ingredients and make it so it wouldn’t explode when I opened one.”

“I believe it. I don’t believe you just killed something.” Zen did seem to be in shell shock.

“It was just a plant trying to kill me. I’m a pacifist when it comes to things equine and possibly friendly. I did live in the Everfree Forest, but it’s not like the place loved me. I had to learn how to fight plants that are malevolent or else I wouldn’t be here today.” Sunshy explained solemnly. “Now let’s stop talking and go inside.”

“Alright, it’ll be nice to have you finally fighting.” Zen commented with a smirk.

Celly was the first to walk to the entrance of the stable. She was closely followed by the two boys; Zen had to turn on his Pipbuck’s lamp spell and almost immediately regretted doing so. The inside was coated with ambitious ivy growing every which way. Bioluminescent fungi grew in every corner. The plants were not hostile, but just…creepy. The light from the opened door at the end said at least the lights inside were working.

Over to the left was a desk, in the same spot as Stable 15. A terminal was there too, giving off that poisoned apple green glow. Behind the desk was a bedroll with some empty tin cans and a duffle bag. Zen took the bag and found some grenades, some more beans, bottles of dirty water, and something called a Wasteland Omelette.

Sunshy unlocked the terminal after ten tries. He smirked at his luck, it was an easy one, but victory felt sweet all the same. The terminal held some observations of those travelers that had come before them. Most were about how creeped-out they were about the plants and how they had already lost one to the Venus flytraps outside.

“Let’s not read any more…” Sunshy grimaced at the swearing logs.

“Do you think we should keep going?” Zen asked, “I mean…we know enough to have them set up a sign to keep people away.”

“I think we can go deeper. Explore this place, find the source. See if we can stop it. I didn’t make this necklace just to stop at the entrance.” Sunshy answered with strong determination.

“Alright boss, away we go!” Zen pointed dramatically on three legs, his right leg pointing at the first door.

“Come on, silly.” Sunshy slapped the zebra’s butt with his tail.

Zen purred and raised his brows a couple times with a playfully sexy smile. Celly rolled her eyes and shook her head at them. The manticore quickly made her way to the front, and made sure Sunshy was in the middle. Keep the important and/or weak things in the middle. Even if those weak things could breathe fire.

Celly changed her mind and let Sunshy in the front once Sunshy told her that if he had to use his potion, she was most likely to catch fire. Just to be safe, she made them stop to put on her armor. The other two were already wearing their own. There was an elevator at the end of the first hall, but it was broken upon inspection. Sunshy pointed at it and looked to Celly. “Can you fix it?”

Zen stared at him with a confused as hell look. Then the manticore pushed the two out of her way and sat down in front of the broken machine. She dug out a spark battery and some tools that the two equines could not recognize. The manticore used her paws to hold the tools as she worked. A couple minutes later, it was up and running.

“What is this I don’t even…” Zen babbled a bit, dumbfounded by what he just saw.

“She’s also good at cracking safes. Her strong sense of hearing helps a lot with that. Drakon helped her learn how to work on things because I wasn’t interested in it.”

“Of course she can…” Zen shook his head and walked over to the stairs. “I want to explore and use the elevator when we get out. More money, boarding, weapons, never know what gems you could come upon.”

“Alright, sounds good to me.” Sunshy agreed, beckoning for Celly to follow.

Grumpily huffing at what she felt was wasted work, she packed away her tools and followed. The zebra was the first in the line, but not for long. He passed by a large pocket of flowers at the corner down the bottom of the steps, where the hallway turned to the right. Celly stared at it hard, her hackles raising and hissing at it. Zen was not there to hear it, but Sunshy did. He quickly uncorked his right potion and held it in his mouth, ready to take a swig.

Their preparation was worth it, because a vague pony-shaped being rose from the pile of flowers. It was completely green and seemed to be made of vines. The thing moved forward slowly and with jerky movements, though it appeared to have no eyes. Sunshy spewed his mouthful of potion, which ignited upon contact with the air. The pillar of fire rushed at the creature and engulfed it in flame. With an un-pony scream, it crumpled and turned to ash.

“Holy crap!” Zen shouted from down the hallway. He quickly galloped back over to his friends, staring at the charred ashes and the smoke upon the wall. “Fuck, I missed something epic, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. Keep an eye out for clumps of flowers in corners.” Sunshy answered the zebra, taking the lead after re-corking his potion.

The pony walked for a few moments, keeping a wary eye out. Zen did not share his cautious tendencies and wandered into the first plant-covered room they came across. Then the next, and the next, and it got on Sunshy’s last nerve. He was so anxious about this place and the zebra was just taking it in stride. Celly was happy, as she was able to crack open a couple safes in the apartment rooms and clinic. Even the atrium was rather uneventful, with only a nest of Giant Mantis Nymphs that could be crushed even by Sunshy.

And then they went down a level.

All hell broke loose at the entrance when two zombie pony spore things attacked. Not just any zombie-pony-spore things, oh no, ones that had weird tentacle-vine things that came out of their mouths, ensnared the two equines, and held them aloft. Zen kept a level head and used his lance to slice off those that had captured him. Sunshy, meanwhile, had a virginity scare when one vine brushed against his neither region, screamed like a filly, and scrambled in the air.

Celly quickly jumped on the zombie plant pony with a mighty roar that paralyzed the two equines and the plants; Zen was in mid-swing when he froze. The manticore used her mighty claws to tear the pony thing apart. Then her eyes widened in shock when its broken body closed with plants and lashed out some vines at her, knocking her away.

Zen, no longer paralyzed, sliced the head off of the pony zombie plant. The vines died with it, dropping Sunshy like a sack of potatoes. The pegasus gasp-hiccupped, trying not to cry as he stood up. He kept his face down and wiped his forming tears away. The other zombie thing was killed by beheading of an electric lance once Celly’s attempt to behead it failed. It appeared that it needed to be burned or else the parts would grow back.

“Hey, Sunny, are you alright?” Zen asked cautiously, putting away his weapon to put his hoof on his friend’s shoulder.

“No I’m not…I’m so pathetic…” Sunshy sobbed before gasping deeply and holding his breath.

“Crying often does not equal weakness, Sunny. You’re so strong. No one could have gone through so much loss like you and made it as well as you have.”

“I don’t, the dreams…”

“Dreams shmeams. I know they’re scary but they’re nothing. Your potions idea was brilliant and these damn things won’t die without fire of some sort. So you freaked out because that thing touched you in your no-no place.” Zen smiled as he got a snort of laughter from Sunshy. “That doesn’t mean you’re a weakling. Not being able to kick a nearly empty water jug does.”

“You’re a meanie.” Sunshy said with a punch on Zen’s chest, though he was smiling.

“Guilty as charged.” Zen smiled and placed a kiss on the pegasus’s cheek.

The zebra chuckled at seeing the yellow face turn orange with a blush. Zen motioned for them to keep walking, to which Sunshy nodded and tried to hold back his blush. They continued on walking past the large entrance and walked to the door at the end of the room. Celly smiled as she followed them, walking close enough to lick both of them on their manes.

“Do you ever hate yourself?” Sunshy asked as they walked down the dark and dank hallway. Zen passed the room with black lights growing plants with a couple tables and terminals.

“All the time. That whole happy-go-lucky attitude of mine is all an act. I’m severely depressed and I’m using a really advanced form of sarcasm to mask it up.” Zen answered with a completely stoic tone. “I’m only half-kidding. That was how I was about ten years ago. Then I decided to just…let it go. I let go of all my hate, all my fears, all the things that just held me down and kept me depressed. Or…I let go of as much as I could.”

“Like what?” Sunshy asked cautiously, not sure if he would get a response.

“My hatred for the legion is deep, Sunny. I was born and raised there as a soldier. Decided it was all a bunch of fucking Brahmin shit and left. Then I was so depressed because I didn’t know what to do with myself any more. Being a soldier was my whole life and then it was gone.”

“Wow…thank you for telling me that.” Sunshy smiled at the zebra.

“You’re my friend and friendship goes both ways. You told me about your life, so it’s only fair I do the same. Then I got a job meditating and got my glyph mark from that. Decided to change my name and that was that. I was finally happy when I let go of it all in that moment.” Zen smiled as he remembered.

“I hope I can do something like that.” Sunshy mused.

“You don’t need to. But if you did, I’d name you Manticure.” Zen smiled and laughed at him.

“Great name.” The pegasus rolled his eyes. Celly licked him on the side of his face. “Glad you like it too.”

Their fun time was ruined by the appearance of a Venus flytrap that tried to attack them. Sunshy was quick on his hooves, jumping away and taking a swig of his fire potion. He then spat out a mouthful of the fire at the plant. It burned to a crisp with a screech, curled in on itself as the fire engulfed it, and fell as a pile of ash with smoke rising.

“See, no pathetic weakling could have done that. You may not be strong, but you really make up for it with your agility and smarts.” Zen pointed out, shoving his colorful friend on the shoulder.

The pegasus flushed orange again and muttered intelligibly. Celly nuzzled her brother before walking into another room with a safe. She quickly cracked it with her sensitive ears and brought back the treasure of a 9mm, some ammo, and an antique tiny drum. Zen played with it, making tuneless beats while smiling widely at his bit of fun. Sunshy giggled and laughed at the silly act.

“See, Sunny, it’s all about the little joys you get out of life. Don’t dwell on crap that brings you down.” Zen told the pony wisely as he packed away the weapon and drums.

“You’re like a wizened old stallion, Zen. Hard to believe you’re actually five years younger than me.” Sunshy poked at him while poking fun at him.

“I’m smarter because I got more out of life than living in a cave for twenty years.” The zebra poked back.

“Well, I have better teeth, never broke a bone, haven’t been shot more than once, and am probably smarter about things that don’t matter.” The pegasus stuck his tongue out before trotting forward. He decided to toss out his empty bottle into an unused room.

“Well…screw you. I’m amazing and I know it.” Zen huffed and stuck his nose up, trotting with high steps.

The pony laughed at his friend as Celly chuckled as well. They walked through a few more room full of things that were not necessary or of any interest. A couple more zombie plant ponies were put down with a couple breaths of fire. Another bottle was emptied and thrown away. Then they came upon a fork. Sunshy opted to go one way and Celly with Zen, as the former could not actually do anything against these plants.

It was really dark and cold, but Sunshy had a bottle full of the bioluminescent mushrooms to light his way. He checked one room and found it was a kitchen; he ransacked it and found water and soda. Then he heard a loud roar and quickly flew out, down the hallway he came from, and down the fork that his friends went down.

Not far in, he found Celly swiping fruitlessly at…oh Goddesses! Killing joke!

Sunshy used almost half of his last bottle burning the cursed blue plant; Celly was not able to avoid it all, but she was smart enough to quickly lie on her side that had caught fire. Standing up, Sunshy saw her fur was only singed lightly and she had some metal claw extensions over her own paws. The pony sighed in relief that she had not been harmed. By her shaking, the manticore had been shaken up by it too.

Then he realized that Zen was nowhere to be seen. Shouting his name, Sunshy frantically ran back to the room he had passed. Then he ran past Celly and the ashes, searching the next room he came upon. Then he found nothing and flew to the next room. He yelled in fear and panic, and Celly growled in frustration and fear.

It was almost as bad as killing joke.

This plant was a dark red, smoldering, the kind of red one associates with passion. There were bright white flowers growing with pink growing from the middle. Zen was floating up from the red vines holding him up, sprouting flowers as it took the life from him. There were thorns growing from it, piercing his hide and drinking his blood. His eyes were glazed over and he had a stupid smile plastered on his face.

Sunshy took another swig of the potion and blew out fire as hard as he could. The plant jerked its vines back as it curled and died in the fire. Zen fell to his side, bleeding and gasping as his eyes darted wildly around, unsure where he was or of anything. The pegasus quickly took out his supplies, cleaned the blood off, patched up the zebra on each side, bandaging those around his legs, and giving him a Med-X.

“What was that? I was…I was in a dream…” Zen muttered, his breathing evening out as he sat with his legs under his body.

“It’s Siren Song, a deadly plant almost as bad as killing joke. It puts you into a fantasy world and sucks you dry.”

“I saw everything I wanted…” Zen muttered, staring sadly at the pile of ashes.

“Don’t linger on it, Zen…you told me to do that and I’ve been through it too.” Sunshy warned, catching his friend’s attention.

“What did you see?” The zebra asked.

“The opposite of my dream, really.” Sunshy shrugged with his wings.

“I saw you two with my family. Everyone was happy and nice. That would be impossible if you knew my family…” Zen sighed before standing, turning to the door and walking.

“It’s alright, Zen. We’re still here.” Sunshy comforted him. Celly walked over to him and licked the zebra.

They walked in almost complete silence for a while. The shock of that dream seemed to have really shaken the zebra. He only perked up when he saw something really great. A dark and ominous cave!

“Let’s go in!” Zen shouted before charging headfirst, Pipbuck lamp spell his only light.

“Wait you stupid zebra! You’re going to get yourself killed!” Sunshy shouted and chased after him. Celly growled and ran after the two boys, thinking how stupid males were as a whole.

It was rather easy to find him, not only by his Pipbuck light, but by the light of his spear. The zebra jumped back from a bite coming from a giant Venus flytrap and sliced it at the stalk. The giant head fell off, its giant red mouth open for eternity. Zen smiled widely at the two siblings through his weapon. The pony bucked him in the side for scaring him like that; all Zen got was hurt feelings.

The zebra wanted to continue to explore, using his own weapon so that the pony did not have to use his last bottle of black potion. Then they came upon something really scary. It was at the back of the cave, and hooves down the most terrifying thing any of them had ever seen.

There were vines growing all around the back wall. Flowers of all creeds and colors bloomed from it. Some ferns grew around it, as did a couple giant Venus flytraps. They were acting as guards, hissing at the group as they drew close and yet kept a wide berth.

In the dead center was a pony.

Not a zombie-plant-pony thing…A legitimate pony.

It was a young mare with a green coat…or maybe that was the majority of plants covering her. Her mane was a bright yellow, almost like the sunshine, covering her eyes. The mare was rather beautiful. She was held with her belly facing them, her front hooves held up by the vines. Then the equines screamed and held each other in fear when she cracked a smile at them. Celly crouched and growled with her hackles raised.

“Hello…” The mare greeted with a pleasant voice. “I’m Shining Vines. Who are you? It’s been ever so long since anyone came to visit me.”

“I…I’m Sunshy, this is Zen, and my sister Celly.” Sunshy replied, still hanging onto Zen for dear life. The zebra was not about to let go, either.

“Hello everyone. I like visitors. These plants don’t talk…They’re boring. Talk some more, please.” Shining Vines told them.

“I…I’m a fallen pegasus, my cutie mark is a manticore with a roll of bandage in its mouth…I’m a doctor and I like apples a lot. My sister is adopted because I fell over the Everfree Forest and I landed on her and then patched her up. She liked me for it, so her daddy decided to keep us both but then he died and a dragon adopted me and I’ve lived in a cave with a stable for about twenty years.” Sunshy loosened his grip on the zebra, but kept holding him. His cerulean eyes could not be torn away from her.

“And you, zebra?” Shining Vines smiled at him rather beautifully.

“My name was Zuberi when I was in Caesar’s Legion but then I left when I was still young because they kept ponies as slaves and we killed a lot of people for no good reason. Then I got my glyph mark of the circle of Zen and changed my name to Zen because I wanted to throw that life away behind me. And I’m a strong warrior still and I like melee weapons and my favorite food is celery but I don’t find it often and that makes me sad sometimes. My second favorite is beans so that’s great because those are everywhere.” Zen still hugged the pony as well, shivering as he stared at the mare, unable to tear his eyes off her.

“And the manticore?” Shining Vines moved her head up slightly to smile at her.

Celly mewled like a kitten and cowered, covering her eyes with her paws. Strong fear had caused her to revert to her kittenhood attitude of cowardice. There was nothing really wrong with Shining Vines. Goddesses, but was she creepy!

“Too bad…It’s okay, though, you two talked enough. Now I can glue you to the wall like me and we can all talk forever.” The vines from the wall began creeping up to the group.

“Oh hell naw!” Zen shouted, quickly letting go of his friend and taking out his electric spear.

“Now now, if you kill me, then all these plants will die.” Shining Vines replied calmly with a smile.

“Good! These are terrible plants!” Zen shouted as he sliced the vines with his weapon. Sunshy uncorked his potion.

“But if you do that, then this savannah will be dead forever. Only I can spread the green to the land. Please, I just want to help. It took only a few years to grow outside of the vault. I can have this entire wasteland green in a matter of decades. Think about it.” Shining Vines pleaded, her smile replaced with a sad frown.

The vines stopped growing, and Sunshy froze mid-way to taking a swig of his potion. Zen stopped as well, but to catch his breath and then slice the heads off the two guard Venus flytraps. Celly was still cowering.

“You can’t be thinking of that offer, Sunny!” Zen shouted at him with his practiced clarity.

“But…don’t you want that too? The wasteland full of grass, trees, and plants…life can start better again.” Sunshy told him, letting the bottle hand loosely around his neck.

“Listen to your friend. I will let you all walk around free if you let me live. No harm done.” The green pony smiled at them all.

“Not with plants like this, fucker! You’re pretty words can’t change my mind!” Zen dropped his weapon and grabbed the potion around Sunshy’s neck with his mouth.

The zebra pulled the bottle while pushing the pegasus away with his hooves. Sunshy lied on the ground in shock, staring as Zen finished off the potion. Then he turned to the plant-infested mare and breathed fire at her.

Shining Vines screamed in pain and struggled against the fire. It’s red and yellow fingers danced and licked at her. The colors reflected in Sunshy’s frozen eyes. He did not see something evil dying as it should have. He saw a mare turned into something monstrous because of the madness of solitude. Despite that, she had a good heart. She believed that what she was doing was for good. She wasn’t evil, she wasn’t a raider…she was a pony.

“Stop it!” Sunshy shouted helplessly, getting up to charge at her. He could save her! He was a doctor, he saved people!

“NO!” Zen shouted back, standing in front of the pony.

Sunshy tried to fly above him, but the zebra would not stand for that. He jumped and grabbed the pony by the neck. The weak pegasus could not carry such weight and fell. All he could hear was the screaming of a pony in pain. He struggled against his friend who held him in a crushing hold. Eventually, the zebra moved their weights so that he was atop on the pony’s side, pinning him down.

“I have to save her!” He shouted, desperately trying to get to the pony that was already dead.

Her screaming had stopped. The plants were dead. Smoke was rising above them. The cave was darker than before with the stain of soot. It was in the shape of a pony’s skeleton. Sunshy cried and screamed, turning on Zen and trying to hit him with all his might.

“She’s dead and you know I did the right thing! Think of those plants, Sunny! There was Killing Joke!!” Zen shouted almost right in the pony’s ear.

Something snapped inside the yellow and red pacifist. He hung limp as his wet and unseeing eyes stared at the mare’s skeleton. That was right…she was crazy. She grew horrible things like poison joke and siren’s song and those plants that ate ponies and turned them into zombies. They didn’t have all the information…maybe she didn’t know that…how couldn’t she?

“Come on, Sunny, we have to get out of here. Go back to Nchi Kavu and tell them…Okay?” Zen got off the pony and nudged him with a hoof.

Finally, Celly was over her episode and stood up. She walked over to the equines and picked up the broken pony. She placed him on her back dully, going through the motions. They just needed to get the hell out. So she padded out of the cave with a zebra following at her side. At the end of the hallway inside the stable was the elevator. Celly pushed the button with her paw. It arrived in moments, they climbed inside, squeezing a little together, and went up to the top floor.

The two who were walking shielded their eyes against the sunshine as they walked back out of the damned stable and into the wasteland. The sun was setting already, but they felt a strange sense of loss of time. Their little adventure had not seemed to take that long…but the sun did not lie. So they walked across the dead plants outside, into the golden dirt of the savannah.

Zen let out a choked shout as he fell to the ground, paralyzed with his eyes frozen open. Celly opened her wings and was met with success. An invisible force fell to the ground, and a shimmering form came into the light; a dark brown pony. Then she fell to her side with a choked roar, spilling the pegasus onto the ground.

Sunshy rolled onto the dirt and landed on his belly, his legs askew. His cerulean eyes were still a raging storm. He saw but did not react to his friend and sister frozen on the ground. He saw and yet did not react to a couple ponies with manacles and rope cutie marks standing above his friends. Then he felt himself lifted up and dimly heard the ponies talking to each other in some language he could not understand.

Then he was placed on something wooden and he was being taken away. He could feel the bumpy road, hear the wheels turning, and the ponies shouting and whipping a Brahmin. Sunshy lifted his head long enough to see Zen and Celly placed in different caravans, both bound and gagged. Something in him said he should care, that he should get up and fight for them. And yet he lied his head down and curled up in a ball. He sobbed silently and cried himself to sleep.

Level up! Level 8!

Perk added! Pyromaniac: Great balls of fire! You do terrible things with fire to those you don’t like. This perk adds +5 points of damage when using fire-based weapons.

Chapter 9: Slavery

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 9: Slavery

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”-- Abraham Lincoln

Sniffling the air around him, Sunshy awoke from his slumber. He wiped away his dry tears with a dirty hoof. It was at that time that he noticed something on his neck that had not been there when he fell asleep. He decided to open his cerulean eyes and take stock of the world around him. Oh fucking joy, more bars that meant he was caged again! YAY~.

Then he put a hoof against his neck and felt some sort of collar. When he turned his head to see the rest of his body, he felt the collar cutting into his throat a little. He supposed it was meant to be uncomfortable and not for decoration. Now that he was able to see the rest of his body, he found his boarding was gone. Damn, he’d have to get more somewhere. Oh crap, his saddle boxes were gone!

“Hey, pegasus, you okay?” A mare questioned.

Sunshy turned to the source and found a puce unicorn, a purple mane and tail, pink eyes, and a cutie mark of a plow. She too was not wearing any boarding and had a collar on. It was black with a flashing little red light. Sunshy could see her neck puckering around the object, which asserted his thought that it was tightened just enough to make them uncomfortable. He could feel it every time he swallowed or moved his head the slightest amount. He knew that he would never get used to it.

“No. I don’t know where I am, where my stuff is, or where my sister and friend are.” Sunshy listed as he lowered his ears is sadness.

“Get used to it, kid. You’re a slave now, and slaves aren’t allowed to have any of those luxuries.” The mare told him with a frown. It seemed she had been in a similar position as him or was.

“Why are there even slaves? Why do ponies and zebras do this?” Sunshy asked, trying to hold back his fear.

“Because they think we’re too weak to handle ourselves in the wasteland. So, we do work that helps everypony or some shit like that.” The unicorn spat in the dirt.

Suddenly, the mare went silent and her pink eyes widened. She cowered down as Sunshy turned his head, grimacing at the collar, and saw what she was afraid of, but he didn’t get it. It was just a slimy looking zebra in a swallow tail suit with his mane slicked down. He sauntered over to Sunshy with a wide grin, proud of himself for whatever reason.

Two emancipated, raggedy, brown dogs followed him. Oh wait, not dogs, wild dogs, which were actually different. Wild dogs had large circular ears, were mostly brown with splotches of black everywhere; the pattern discerning them from each other. They both had black masks around their eyes and muzzles.

Immediately, both wild dogs went over to Sunshy’s cage and pressed their muzzles against it, whining at him and trying to lick him. The smile on the zebra vanished into a confused frown, and he seemed angrier when Sunshy held his hoof out to the wild dogs. The zebra barked at the two wild dogs. Literally, he barked like a dog at the wild dogs. The wild dogs ignored him in favor of pitying Sunshy and wishing to help him.

“I see that using that hyena pack wasn’t just a fluke. I’ll have to spin your gift with animals as a way to make more caps off your skinny ass. Sure as hell won’t sell you for farm work around these parts.” The zebra seemed to be muttering to himself. Then he could take no more of his canines ignoring him, so he kicked the both of them with his front hooves and barked at them again. They yelped and ran away, tails between their legs.

“Who are you?” Sunshy asked, looking up to the zebra. He did not want to stand up just yet, in case he could use his height to intimidate. Doubtful.

“My name is Cuffs.” The zebra turned so the pony could see his glyph mark. As his name indicated, he had two hoofcuffs linked together with a chain running along at the bottom.

“So I’m in Oasis. And you shot me is Gebo.” The pony stated, staring up to Cuffs. A fake name if he’d ever heard one.

“Yes and yes. You’re a smart one, aren’t you? I can use that for a better profit, too. Boy oh boy am I glad you survived.” He must be related to Mayor, with that attitude and grin. Huh, Mayor was probably a fake name too. Did all zebras adopt a fake name after they find their talent? It was three out of four, with that Zirconium as the only exception.

“My friend Zen wants to kill you.” Sunshy stated blandly.

“Oh who doesn’t?” Cuffs waved his hoof dismissively. “Even my own customers want me dead. Only my guards keep me alive.”

Hearing this, Sunshy decided to look beyond his cage and Cuffs. There was a building to his right, bland and broken-down. To his left were more cages—all tall enough to fit a full-grown giraffe and have its head not touching the ceiling—filled with depressed ponies and some zebras. Shockingly, one held a rhinoceros. It was rather…awesome. That was what Sunshy thought when he looked at it past the other ponies. Huge, gray leathery skin, and a horn on the end of its nose. Yep, awesome. Not awesome that it was sad and had a giant collar around its neck. The pegasus’s heart went out to all of the other slaves.

Further left was some panic box, big enough to hold a pony standing up on their rear hooves. A little red slot at the front said it was occupied. The area around it seemed to be the outdoor potty place. A zebra holding a rifle was taking a dump right on the pile. Nice.

Further out in front of him was a big bridge high up in the air, in a strange shape. Some zebras were patrolling with weapons drawn wearing black light armor boarding, like leather. Next to them, looking over everything, was a giraffe. The brown spotted creature was staring out at the landscape, scanning the landscape while chewing on something.

A wall was built out of concrete and rubble. Some of the rubble appeared to be posters of animals and signs pointing to places. The rest was plain, flat ground, covered with the hoofprints of a thousand transactions. A buffalo was bartering with a zebra over a sullen-looking green pony.

Sunshy was drawn out of his staring when he saw a cheetah walk over to him. The spotted cat made a mewing sound at him; this confused the pony until he remembered that cheetahs do not roar like other bigger cats. Their babies even chirp; damn now he wanted to know if this one had any babies that he could hear chirping. Was that weird?

Cuffs kicked at the cheetah, shooing it away. Instead of leaving, the cheetah mewed loudly at him and frantically swiped at the air in front of him. He started and stepped back a few paces. Out of nowhere, a kangaroo hopped over, leaned back on its large tail, and kicked at the zebra in the side, sending him sprawling a good ten feet away. The kangaroo hopped in place and made a sort of triumphant coughing noise, raising its hands as high as it could. The slaves in the cages cracked smiles as Cuffs cursed in every language he knew, but dared not laugh.

In between his cursing, the zebra rose, and shouted, “Have fun being a sex slave, pegasus!”

Then he turned and limped away into the building, cussing as loud as he could; a couple guards spared him a glance, but went back to patrolling. The cheetah turned to the cage and batted at the lock, gnawed on it, but only succeeded in hurting itself. Dejected, the cheetah cheeped at him and lied down before the pony. The kangaroo hopped away as the buffalo veered towards them, following the zebra with a gun glyph mark and the green slave pony in the middle.

“Cuffs likes to surround himself in animals, but that doesn’t mean they like him.” The puce unicorn told the pegasus with a smirk. “I think this place was a zoo.”

“I hope they don’t get in trouble for me.” Sunshy worried as he placed his hoof at the cage, letting the cheetah lick at it.

“Tall Soft Heart?!” The buffalo exclaimed before galloping to the pegasus; the cheetah dashed away with a yowl. His brown eyes were wide in shock and confusion. Then he narrowed them in anger; Sunshy cowered and crawled back. Thankfully, the anger was not at him. He turned to the zebra and bellowed with as much lung force as he could, “CHIEF FLUFFY DOOM WILL HEAR OF THIS!!”

And with that, the buffalo bit clean through the collar of the green earth pony, bucked the zebra into the wall of the building twenty feet away, and swept the pony onto his back. Then he bolted out of there, breaking the land-speed record, more or less. The guards watched the buffalo running off, or more specifically, the cloud of dust that marked where he was, in bafflement. They had no idea what had happened and before they could react, the dust cloud was gone.

“Why would one of the Nchi Kavu be here?” Sunshy asked the helpful unicorn mare.

“They come by every week to buy slaves. I’m sure they set them free, knowing those softies. They usually spring for buffalo or zebras, though…guess this guy didn’t have much money on him. Oh, I’m Royal Lace. I think I got the wrong cutie mark when the Goddesses were issuing them out.” Royal Lace chortled a little at her own joke. “You can call me Lacey.”

“I’m Sunshy Rays. It’s nice to meet a nice pony in such sad circumstances.” Sunshy smiled warmly at her.

“I try. Oh…” The unicorn’s smile vanished.

Royal Lace cowered and flopped onto the ground, looking dejected and pathetic. Sunshy saw why when he noticed a shadow stop in front of him. Turning to it, he saw a brown unicorn mare with freckles, a dirt-speckled white mane, and a cutie mark of a heart with an arrow through it. The heart was also bleeding.

“Hey you!” The unicorn shouted at a passing guard. After his mini-heart attack, the zebra walked over and nodded at her. She pointed to Sunshy and said, “What can he do?”

“Cuffs says he’s good with animals, plus he’s a pegasus, so five hundred thousand caps is the start.” The guard stated bluntly, with a practiced, stoic, not-taking-any-shit expression.

“Highway robbery!” The mare shouted at him, stamping down her hoof. “Ten thousand.”

“Five hundred thousand.” The guard stated back.

He then pointed to a sign that Sunshy had missed. It was hanging right over where the cage could be opened; it was held closed with a lock. From his side, Sunshy could not see it, but he guessed it was like at that pet store back home in the sky. Animals that were being sold were held in cages and had a sign with their price displayed.

“I am not paying that much for a pony that can’t even fucking pull a plow!” She shouted back, her face visibly reddening. Sunshy wondered if her talent was actually shouting.

“He’s a doctor, too, ma’am. He came in with a saddle box full of equipment and some doctor’s coat. The price is that high because he’s valuable and needs to be treated right. We can’t sell him to do fucking dirty work any other goddamn pony can do. Now pick another slave or get the fuck out.” The zebra turned away and continued his scouting, considerably stiffer with contained anger.

“Fine! You fuckers just lost a customer!” The unicorn levitated the sign off Sunshy’s cage, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it repeatedly with her four hooves.

Huffing, she made to walk away, but paused and noticed Royal Lace. She smiled upon seeing the unicorn’s cutie mark. Then she frowned at the price sign and huffed again. The mare sulked away grumbling about the prices. As soon as her tail vanished, Lacey stood back up and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thought I was gone for a minute there.” Lacey smiled down to Sunshy, who stared at her in confusion. “You gotta look sad and weak so the ponies don’t think you’re worth the caps. Try to fight and they’ll just want to break your spirit. Are you really worth that much to these punks?”

Lacey’s unicorn magic was pink in color. Sunshy found this out when she levitated his price sign to hover in front of her bars. Then her pink eyes widened and she gaped. She moved it over so that it hovered in front of Sunshy. In chicken-scratch mouthwriting, it read,

Pegasus: medic, tall, weak, not good for physical work.

Starting price 500,000 caps. Will not haggle lower.

Additional items consists of: 1 leather armor, 1 doctor’s coat (holes for wings cut in) 2 saddle boxes: one on each side (magically enchanted)

Inside boxes: 58 healing potions, 64 rolls of magical bandages, 43 rolls of normal bandages, 5 scissors, 11 scalpels, 26 surgical tubes, 2 bonesaws, 13 needles, 7 rolls of thread, 20 antivenoms, some other things we don’t know what they do. Do not recommend using without guidance. Seriously, one guy lost part of his hoof playing with something like the dumb shit he is.

Additional price of items [strike]I can’t math[/strike] Guess around another 100,000 caps.

Items may or may not be optional. Further information needed, this damn thing will be revised too.

Sunshy knew he should be mad. They were putting a price on his life! They were actually evaluating how much he was worth!

But by the Goddesses, they had counted his stuff and taken inventory! Organization!

However, he remembered having some jewels still left over…Oh…they must have decided to keep those for themselves. He wondered how many of his other things they had decided to keep and not bother writing down.

“I should be angry, but they organized my things…and I think I’m worth a lot, right?” Sunshy questioned dumbly; still fuzzy on caps as currency thing.

“A lot?! You’re worth more than the rest of us put together!” Royal Lace waved a hoof over to the rest of the slaves.

“Supper time, everypony!” A forcefully cheerful voice rang out.

All the dull and lifeless eyes of the slaves brightened somewhat as they raised their heads and turned to the left. Trotting over was a pale colored pony, like the color of paper. This was a unicorn male, with an alternating yellow mane. Most was short-cut layers, light yellow to darker yellow. Some tufts of his mane were almost the same color of his coat and were swirly.

His tail was short-cropped with dark yellow, light yellow, swirly pale. The unicorn’s eyes were a vibrant blue and he had a cutie mark of a banana with an…onion? No, wait, ice cream…and some brown strips of something? Upon further scrutinizing that was borderline creepy—easier as he was walking closer—the icon clicked in the pegasus’s head. Banana Foster! Thank you cookbooks!

The unicorn had bowls floating above his head, one for every slave. As Sunshy was first in line, the unicorn buck smiled at him and floated down one bowl to the bottom of the cage. Then a section of the cage was enveloped in his yellow glow and a slot appeared. The bowl slid through, allowing Sunshy to see what was inside with baited breath.

Not banana foster. Mushy oatmeal or something.

Sunshy was visibly disappointed, earning a little chuckle from the unicorn.

“Don’t worry. My special talent is cooking, so it might not look like much, but it’ll taste great. Trust me.”

The pegasus lifted his head to the pony and his somewhat brightening expression saddened immediately. The unicorn had a slave collar as well. However, he smiled and continued upon his way, repeating the process of bringing food to the other slaves. They were all as close to ecstatic as they could be.

Despite the other pony’s words, Sunshy was not feeling too optimistic about the mushy oatmeal. Then he smelled the aroma wafting from the brown mush and his stomach growled in hunger. Brave face on, Sunshy took a bite of his food and chewed experimentally. Just like that grass from so long ago, this was a pleasant surprise.

The oatmeal was indeed better than he had expected it to be. It actually tasted like bananas! Something had a different consistency in his next mouthful of food and he got a stronger taste of bananas. He suspected the chef snuck in some real fruit into the food, or he used some unicorn magic to make it taste better. Magic was the answer to everything Sunshy couldn’t understand unless he thought hard enough.

The bowl was licked clean within a few minutes, and glancing over, the pegasus noticed the rest of the slaves shared the same enthusiasm. With his work finished, the unicorn buck walked back, stopping when Sunshy called out, “Wait.”

“I’m Sunshy, what’s your name?”

“Banana Foster, like my cutie mark.” The unicorn smiled at Sunshy before floating the empty bowl through the magic-made slot. “I told you it was better than it looked.”

“Thank you, it really was good.” Sunshy smiled back to the unicorn. He blushed a little at the compliment and told Sunshy he was welcome.

Then the unicorn collected the rest of the empty bowls and walked back to the solitary building with the dirty dishes. The slaves still appeared happier, now that their bellies were full with a warm meal. The pegasus stood up and stretched out akin to a cat, earning a giggle from Lacey. Then he went to relieve himself in the far-left corner; by the smell, he was not the first to have done so in this cage.

Sunshy passed the time talking with Royal Lace about their pasts. Lacey had come from a large city called Roaming, named after the destroyed Roam built by the zebras where Hoofington now resided in Equestria. Roaming was the most stable pre-war city the zebra lands had, especially considering it had been hit with a Megaspell. The buildings still stood for the most part, there was a huge wall surrounding it, and there were three sections of the city.

The first was the outermost layer, named Kutisha Mahali, meaning Terrible Place. That was where the poor with no food, no health, and no hope lived. The middle was for the better-off. In that section, there were casinos and whorehouses in abundance; most who lived there did not for long before moving to Kutisha Mahali. It was named Bora Zaidi, Better Off. Finally, in the center was the Mrahaba—meaning Royalty—section, for those who were lucky enough to be rich.

Royal Lace had come from the middle and best section. She was raised to be a prim and proper princess. When she was still too young to have her cutie mark, she was introduced to a Legate of Caesar’s Legion. She was to be the wife of this Legate that was at least thrice her age, but that did not sit well with her.

So she fled and tried to hide in the slums of Roaming, but the Legion had eyes everywhere. She learned later that the Legion controlled all of Roaming. They found her and she was on her way to the Legion’s main stronghold. Along the way, a disgruntled dragon crossed their paths and shouted at the zebras for causing this war and desolation. It ended with them become baked zebra treats.

The dragon made to eat her as well, but she sobbed her plight to it and the dragon took pity on her. So it flew her to the closest civilization it could find and let her be. The closest civilization was a poorly-fairing farm—farms had never done well in the savannah for as long as recorded history could claim. Still, the zebra family took her in, not ones to refuse a dragon, but they put her to work.

Pulling the plow was how she found her cutie mark, and she felt terrible upon gaining it. However, she felt better when their farmland yielded some crops not long after her cutie mark appeared. She told the pegasus that there was nothing like the joy of seeing your labor pay off by producing life. Sunshy agreed, having delivered a few babies; wild animal babies, but whatever.

They became her adoptive family and Royal Lace was given the farm when they passed on when she was an adult. But the Wasteland was unforgiving. Raiders had attacked and burned the farm down. Upon seeing the farm burn down, she snapped. Lacey had taken the locked-away shotgun and blew the brains out of every damn Raider. She commented that she should have a shotgun for a cutie mark.

After that, she became a regular Wastelander, going out of her way to kill Raiders and just survive. Only a few days ago was she captured as a slave in an ambush while guarding a caravan. Sunshy had listened to her story with rapt attention. Never before had anyone opened themselves so easily to him. Zen was doing better, but still had a lot to hide. Lacey was an open book that read its pages for you. It was surreal.

“I see you two have become friends.” Cuffs commented with acid as he walked over to the two, still limping slightly. A nice bruise had blossomed on his side. “Good, somepony wants to adopt you both.”

“They can afford him?” Lacey asked in astonishment.

“And his crap. Thanks for the jewels, by the way.” Cuffs sneered at the pegasus. Sunshy actually glared at the zebra, furious for taking his gift given by Drakon.

Just then, a dirt-brown unicorn mare walked over with saddlebags on her back. She was short and stout, shocking given that most everyone struggled to be healthy enough to not show ribs. A cowpony hat was placed upon her head, covering her mane. Her tail was short-cropped and the dull red of a Brahmin. Her cutie mark was a slab of meat. Under that hat, her beady brown eyes stared at the two ponies with contempt.

“Name’s Pretty Cow, maggots. Ah run a very profitable Brahmin and maize farm, s’why ah need the two of ya. Yew’ll herd the Brahmin,” She pointed a hoof at Sunshy, “And yew’ll plow the fields,” she pointed at Lacey. “Got it?”

“Crystal clear.” Sunshy replied with hidden heat as Cuffs unlocked his cage, glaring at the zebra.

A guard zebra trotted over and set Sunshy’s boarding and saddle boxes in front of the pegasus. As he put his leather armor and doctor’s coat back on, Cuffs unlocked Royal Lace’s cage and another guard deposited her boarding in front of her. It was a ratty duster and a sheriff’s hat. Except for the collar, she would look like another Wastelander. After putting her coat and hat on, she checked her pockets.

“Where’s my gun?!” She shouted at Cuffs, posed to attack.

“Ah got it, ya piece o shit.” Pretty Cow replied hotly, levitating out the gun.

Though Sunshy was against guns, he had to admit it was a beautiful weapon. It was a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, small enough to easily fit into a coat pocket. Unlike every other taped-together weapon in the wasteland, this was one in pristine condition. Not only was it devoid of rust, it appeared to have been polished clean thoroughly and often. There was an inscription on the side, ”Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”.

“Mighty fine piece o work, if ah do say so mahself.” Cow said, admiring the gun as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match she struck against the ground. “Yew won’t mind if ah keep it, will ya? Didn’t think so.”

The gun was placed in Pretty Cow’s saddle bag, and Sunshy almost cried at the look of heartbreak upon Lacey. She quickly shook the hurt away and put on a brave face.

“Lead on, master.” Lacey grimaced saying that.

Sunshy’s heart became a lead weight in his chest as he followed the small mare. Royal Lace walked at his side, and nudged his shoulder. “Stay strong with ponies like this. You’ll be beaten if you look sad.” She warned, keeping her voice low.

Nodding, Sunshy held his head up as the group walked out from under the bridge at the entrance to Oasis. Glancing over his shoulder, he took in the whole of the slaver center. The bridge had a cobbled-together sign that said OaSIs in alternating letters taken from different sources. There was an intricate gate that closed behind them, with a plaque that told them to come again soon. Sunshy hoped he would never see that place again.

Sunshy and Royal Lace were ordered to sit on a caravan only a few feet after leaving Oasis. It was being pulled by a Brahmin with an angry zebra in the same guard outfit as the ones in that slave hold. The zebra waited as the three ponies climbed into the empty caravan and then he pulled out a whip. Sunshy gasped and moved to stop her, but the guard whipped the Brahmin, causing it to bray and then pull forward.

Sadly, Sunshy sat down with his ears back and stared at the ground in between the boards of wood. Royal Lace kept her pink eyes around the horizon, Pretty Cow puffed on her cigarette and stared at them in a rather creepy way, and the guard kept her eyes forward.

Along the bumping ride, a pack of hyenas had gotten close, but quickly turned and fled when the guard took a few magic-rifle shots at them. Sunshy wanted to go see if they were alright and made the mistake of asking Pretty Cow.

Poor Sunshy received a black eye for his worry.

Just to rub salt in the wound, the damn fat Cow kept the button that could make his head explode between her hooves for the rest of the trip.

However, she did allow him to put a bandage over it; one he did not mention was enchanted to be an ice pack. She only cared enough to not have her expensive new merchandise damaged to the point of blindness in one eye.

Sunshy could feel the waves of hate rolling off of Lacey towards Cow. He did not blame her for it, but certainly did not want her to be harmed for his sake. So he put a hoof next to her, a silent plea for her to say passive. She must have understood, for the ride to the farm continued in silence.

The farm was a few hours away and rather impressive, especially considering the landscape. It was a good fifty acres large. The start of the farm was marked by a farmhouse redone to be a mock-mansion. Diagonal up-left to it was a real farmhouse with a silo next to it. A large well-built fence went on in a square for twenty or so acres, all full of patches of alternating brown and green grass.

The other thirty acres of the farm was taken up by the maize. The crop was growing rather well, and Sunshy could see it was all due to a well-placed irrigation system. He asked Cow where she got the water for it all and almost instantly regretted it, fearing another kick to the face.

Instead, he was pleased to find she was rather proud to share this information. Apparently there was an underground body of water in a cave on her property. The water was all drawn from that source for watering the plants and for quenching the Brahmins’ thirst. She also proclaimed that they should not get any funny ideas; they were slaves and would drink dirty water or irradiated, depending on her mood with them.

On that happy note, she jumped off the caravan when it stopped and face-planted. Sunshy had to hold his hooves over his face to keep from laughing. Royal Lace, however, did not manage to stop herself in time. She let out a guffaw before realizing what she had done and quickly covering her mouth. Cow got up and turned to face the two.

If looks could kill…

Pretty Cow pulled out another cigarette with her unicorn magic and lit it, her disgruntled face almost the same shade as her tail. Royal Lace was the first to jump down. When she did, Cow purposely tripped her, made her own face eat the dirt, and laughed a belly-jiggling laugh at her. Sunshy was much more graceful, as he floated down with his wings open to prevent Cow from tripping him. She was much too busy laughing at Royal Lace to have bothered.

Lacey stood up, using her hoof to pull her hat down further over her face. Still, Sunshy heard the telltale sniffle and saw her try to sneakily wipe her face. Pretty Cow’s face was turning red with lack of breath from laughing so hard. Really, the other two could not understand how she could laugh so hard at such a little thing.

The Brahmin owner and farmer stopped chortling when the zebra guard walked over and requested her payment. Still smiling, Pretty Cow levitated over a sack of caps to the zebra. She took them, stored them away, and then went back to her spot on the caravan. With a shout and a whip, the caravan was moving, angling towards the barn.

“Pegasus, go move the Brahmin from the field into the barn. Plower, get to plowing the fields.” Cow ordered, all business.

“Yes ma’am.” They answered before leaving to their respective tasks.

Sunshy fluttered over to the barn and made to fly above it, but then his collar beeped frantically. Thinking it was going to explode, Sunshy panicked and his wings locked up against his body. The ground was happy to catch him and give him a twisted hoof. The beeping had stopped once he dropped a few feet, but by then, his mind was not working right. So he had to wrap his hoof and lifted it against his body.

Carefully, Sunshy floated only a few feet off the ground and flew around the barn, only to freeze and gasp, landing on his butt. There were hundreds of Brahmin! There was no freaking way he could get them into the barn! It had seemed large before, but faced with this many Brahmin, it seemed impossibly tiny.

A guard zebra walked over to the pony and poked him with a hoof in the side. Starting, he stared at the guard, who stared back with her hoof close to her body in shock at his reaction. Then she coughed into her hoof and set it down.

“This half, here,” The guard pointed to the ones in front of them, “They’re off to the slaughterhouse. The rest go in the barn.”

“I…I’m sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you say slaughterhouse? As in,” swallow the bile back, “killing?”

“Indeed. We sell to just about everywhere that serves meat.”

“But we’re herbivores!” Sunshy argued, blanching.

“Not all of us are. Not after the war shortened our supply of flora. So, some have to make do with fauna. Sorry, kid, but get used to it. Now, lead the doomed to their death or I’ll be forced to use this whip on you.” The guard looked at Sunshy like she really did not want to hurt him.

“Okay…” Sunshy stood up, sad blue eyes staring at the Brahmin.

“Don’t worry, kid, it’s not that bad. Just lead them to that building over there and the machines will do the rest.” She pointed to a large red building twenty acres away. “And then you lead the other half back into the barn.”

“Got it…” Sunshy flapped his wings and lifted off the ground, his tail still touching the brown dirt.

“It’ll get easier, trust me.” The nice zebra gave him a small smile before he listlessly flew off.

To herd a group of unknowing animals to their doom just so someone can have a steak on their plate. Sunshy felt a few tears roll down his face as he coaxed the Brahmin into moving. With his talent with animals, it was so easy. They always trusted him, did whatever he wanted. He was so nice and caring, they instinctively knew that he was not one to hurt them.

Goddesses damn Cuffs. Goddesses damn Oasis. Goddesses damn that fucking Pretty Cow.

That night, he was given a pile of hay to lay on in the barn. So he curled up amid the putrid smell of cow patties and the braying of the animals. For the second night in a row, he fell asleep crying.

Level up! You are now level 9!

Perk added! Angry Heart: You’ve been pushed around long enough! When you drop below 20% health, your strength increases to 10 and you gain 25 to damage resistance.

Chapter 10: Trials

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 10: Trials

”But to have a friend, and to be true under any and all trials, is the mark of a man!”--Charles Eastman

Working on a farm was not so bad once you got used to it. At least, that’s what Sunshy kept telling himself over and over. The first day was a small hell. It truly broke his heart to lead animals to their doom. But, when he awoke the next day, he discovered something that gave him shock, depression, happiness, and hope all in the span of a few seconds.

Brahmin could still talk.

Only some of them, though. Most of them had very few brains between the two heads. Only a few were lucky enough to be able to talk, a lot less were coherent. The first time he learned this was when he was woken up. A head of a Brahmin nudged him awake, offering her mouthful of hay to him; the other head chewed its own food with a glassy-eyed look. Out of habit, he thanked the mutated cow. And felt he had a mini-heart attack when she smiled and told him he was welcome.

A couple more of the Brahmin talked to him as he led them outside into the field. Most were rather incoherent, but full of nice and kind words. So even if their sentences didn’t make sense, their meaning was clear. Sunshy figured they still weren’t smart enough to understand what they meant or what he had done the day before.

“We understand perfectly, dairy.” A Brahmin calling herself Daisy told him when he muttered his depression to himself.

“Do you? Do you know how I led half of your friends or family to their deaths?” Sunshy stressed at the one smart head.

“Of course I know, dairy, but I heard the conversation you had with the zebra. I know you didn’t want to, but you’d be hurt if you didn’t. Besides, we know our fates. Half of us are for making babies and milk, the other were made to be meat. It’s not your fault, dairy. Keep your head up, and we’ll make this the easiest job you’ve ever had.” Dairy nuzzled the pegasus while her other head grazed blankly. Obviously, she was not entirely there. “Besides,” Daisy continued, “there are so few of us now, you won’t have to make more meat for a few years at the most.”

“Thank you, Daisy. Um, if I may ask,” Sunshy rubbed a hoof over his leg awkwardly, “how do Brahmin make babies anyway?” A strange out-of-the-blue question, but one he had been pondering since discovering Brahmin.

“All Brahmin have one head that’s male and one that’s female. We make babies asexually, don’t cha know.” Daisy proclaimed with a giggle. Okay, so the other head was a boy. “This here is Davie, say hi to the nice pony, Davie.”

Davie, the other head, chewed on his brown grass blandly with a thousand-yard stare.

“He doesn’t talk much.” Daisy told Sunshy unnecessarily.

Sunshy, having done all he really needed to, decided to fly over to Royal Lace’s side of the farm, making sure to keep low to the ground. Wow, it sure was surprising how much a pegasus could miss flying high when having a sensitive bomb strapped to their neck. He bet that if Rainbow Dash was ever in that position, she’d go absolutely crazy trying to take it off.

The yellow pegasus found Royal Lace pulling a plow that was swathed in her pink glow of magic. She seemed to be moving with ease as the plow moved with her. Sunshy landed beside her and was greeted with a warm, “Howdy!”

“Do you have some sort of spell on that plow?” Sunshy wondered.

“Ayep! It’s a ‘Come To Life’ spell, makes objects move all on their own and do what they need to. Just look!” Lacey pointed with her tail toward the north end of the field.

There were a good half dozen plows turning up dirt in small ruts, each one coated in a light sheen of pink. Sunshy was rather impressed with how Lacey could cast such a difficult-sounding spell on so many objects. He pointed this out to her and received a hearty chuckle.

“Naw, it’s a synch, brony. Sure, if I tried this on anything else, it’d take a lot out of me, but not plows. Them and I, we got an understanding, see? Comes from years of practice. Besides, you don’t expect a unicorn to do things the earth pony way, do ya?”

“Indeed ah did.”

The smiles on both the ponies’ faces vanished as they turned to Pretty Cow, who was standing in front of the oncoming unicorn pretend-pulling the plow. The pink glow around that one vanished, but the rest were continuing to move. There was still a faint glow around Lacey’s horn. They noticed that Pretty Cow had a dark red glow around her horn and a short whip with a half dozen tails floating next to her.

“Ah’m disappointed in yew, gurl. Do ya know what ah do to those who disappoint me?” Cow made it perfectly clear that it was not a good thing.

“I’m just surprised that you know such a big word, honestly.” Lacey replied.

Her floating whip smacked across the mouthy pony’s face. The mare screamed in shock and pain, her spell dying as she held a hoof over her injured area. When she pulled it away, Sunshy saw a nice row of lines that were weeping blood; one went across her eye, but had thankfully missed the actual organ.

“Now start pullin’ those damn plows right!” Pretty Cow shouted as she used the whip held in her dark red glow of magic to repeatedly attack the pony on the head, forcing her to cower on the dirt, holding her hooves over her head. They took the attack that opened wounds bright red against her puce coat.

“Stop that!” Sunshy shouted at her. One thing he would not stand for was doing nothing as a friend was hurt.

“Yew want some too?!” The whip lashed across Sunshy’s face.

The poor pegasus’s small frame worked against him once again, as that attack sent him to the ground. He held a hoof over his injuries and then over his head as his owner repeatedly whipped him. The pegasus winced at every lash of the multi-tailed whip making more lines on his forelegs. Tears streamed down his face as he did nothing to stop his attack. He wasn’t strong enough, he would have his head explode if he did anything, and he hated himself for his weakness.

The hatred inside started as a flicker of a flame. Sunshy loved fire, despite its dangers. It was a friend, a companion, something that reminded him of Drakon. It kept him warm and safe. The fire in his heart grew with every attack from the whip. The whip had moved from his legs and was moving down his back. Sunshy bit his lip to keep from shouting as his back stung harshly.

He didn’t know when, but he stopped hearing Pretty Cow shouting at him. Something told him he was close to dying. Those wounds were seeping blood at an alarming rate and there were so many. He felt it when the whip stopped attacking him and opened his eyes to see why.

The flame grew larger and hotter when he saw the whip held in Lacey’s mouth. She was trying to forcibly tear the weapon away from its owner, who was using the ends of the whip to attack the puce unicorn. The flame engulfed his body, coating it with warmth like the sun did, but inside. Then he saw the red of his own hair and felt his body move.

Sunshy charged at the mare, his pain dulled as strength coursed through his body. He was strong now, stronger than anypony in the world! Stronger than even Zen, he bet! With a shout, he turned and bucked Pretty Cow in the face. At least, he was aiming for her face. With her incredible shortness and his freakish height, he completely missed her face.

Sunshy bucked the unicorn’s horn clean off from the base.

Pretty Cow’s levitation hold on the whip died as Sunshy put his rear legs down and turned. Her eyes wide, a hoof rose to her bleeding brow. She was in complete shock. Then the pegasus pushed the pony onto her side and began stomping on her side, feeling her ribs break under his hooves.

Lacey was too shocked at the complete turnaround in the pegasus’s attitude. The whip dropped from her gaping mouth. She did want to stop him when he reared above Pretty Cow’s head, intending to strike. A bullet whizzed past Sunshy’s head, grazing his uninjured cheek. The pegasus placed his hooves on the dirt beside the shell-shocked Cow, turning to the direction the shot came from, still seeing red.

The enraged pegasus found the zebra guard holding a Zebra Assault Rifle, standing unnaturally on her hind hooves to use the weapon. She shouted something that he couldn’t hear. Sunshy yelled wordlessly as he charged at the zebra yards away. Cussing, she took another shot at the pegasus, but he was a quick one. Sunshy moved his lithe body in fluid, small motions to avoid the spray of incendiary bullets. A move of his head to the right, left, lift a hoof a little higher, nudge his flank to the right, now duck. It was so simple to him, but the zebra guard gawked as she ran out of bullets. Only a few had grazed him, cauterizing their own wounds due to the enchantment of the gun.

Closing in on her, Sunshy saw a picture from Fallen Caesar Style flash in his mind. The pegasus made to charge head first, but feinted at the last moment and changed his body so that he was facing away from the zebra, his forelegs crouched, and his hind legs pointed at her. With that position, he swiped a leg under the zebra’s legs, sweeping her onto her back. As she fell, he pushed himself up, caught her gun in his mouth, and then he stood over her, the muzzle of the gun pointed at her head.

It would be so easy to pull the trigger, right between her eyes. Three enflamed bullets, straight into her brain and she’d be dead. And with Pretty Cow indisposed, he and Lacey could run away. Maybe he could use the gun to kill that bitch, too. It was all so clear and easy.

The assault rifle shook in Sunshy’s grip. Cerulean eyes stared down at the zebra’s own bright blue eyes. They were tinted green around her tiny pupils, reminding him of pictures of the ocean. Something caused by fear, or the glare of the sun above? What did it matter? She had shot at him!

“I don’t want to die.” The guard whispered, pleading, tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

Sunshy dropped the gun as though it was poison. He quickly stepped back, shaking his head and muttering a mantra of “No no no no no no no no nononononononono…I’m not a killer…”

A hoof placed on his shoulder startled the pegasus. Lacey was standing beside him, looking sympathetic. She pulled the pegasus into a wet, sticky, blood-coated hug. Sunshy sobbed as he let the reality of what he had done wash over him.

“Momma? Momma!”

The ponies ceased their hug and saw an earth pony colt standing over Pretty Cow. He was dark red like her mane, but with black stripes on his coat and had an alternating brown and maize-yellow mane. The colt was too young to have a cutie mark. He was standing over his mother, nudging her near-comatose body with his nose.

“She’s dead!” He wailed, sitting on his rump hard as he cried.

“No, no she’s not!” Sunshy quickly flew over to the mare and checked her vitals, just to make sure. “She’s breathing and has a pulse. She’s just in shock from losing her horn.”

“I’ve heard even breaking off part of your horn is the most painful thing a unicorn can experience. Probably as bad as a pegasus losing their wings.” Lacey told Sunshy, patting the colt on the back as he slowly calmed down, now knowing his mother wasn’t dead.

“You’d have to use a chainsaw.” Sunshy replied as he still held a bloodied hoof to his wing unconsciously, smearing it. Suddenly, he felt very dizzy. Blood loss will do that to a pony. “I need my medkit, Lacey.”

“Gotcha.” Lacey walked to the house, knowing that if she ran, she would bleed out more.

“Wha,” a sobbed hiccup, “why did you do that? What happened? Why are you hurt? Why were you trying to hurt Miss Stripey?”

“Your…your mother was angry at us. So I…I fought back.” Sunshy tried to put it as delicately as he could. How could he explain to a colt that his mother was an abusive slave-owner?

“I always tell mommy she needs to be nicer to her workers. And to take those stupid collars off, but she always tells me that you guys wear them as the new accessory. Fashionable or not, I’m not wearing one!” The colt wiped away the rest of his tears.

Oh Goddesses, what a terrible mother…buying slaves, treating them like shit, and lying about it all to her son.

“Good idea, you really shouldn’t wear one. I’d rather not either, but they’re…hard to take off.” Smooth, going along with the lie while not lying.

“Got it!” Lacey proclaimed as she floated the metal saddle boxes over to Sunshy. He turned to see her approaching, still coated in her own blood, but looking healthily less pale. She’d have to clean up before he could determine if her wounds were closed. “I had to stay at the front door because this damn collar started beeping. Used a magnetic spell, half the kitchen is in front of the door now. Oh, and I took a healing potion.”

“She’ll probably make us clean that up. I have something in here to clean you off.” Sunshy began rummaging around his recently-organized things. He was a little unhappy that his organized chaos was not as he was used to.

“No, you bandage yourself and take a damn healing potion. Goddesses know you’ve got plenty.” Lacey argued, sitting down on her uninjured rump.

“You’re a doctor?” The zebrony colt asked Sunshy with widening black eyes.

Sunshy nodded as he pulled out a weak healing brew, uncorked it, and chugged the thick, grass-colored zebra brew. Before their eyes, the blood slowed as wounds closed. Those on his face were the easiest to see. Then Sunshy opened a bottle of something milky white and then poured it on Royal Lace, starting from her head and going down her back.

Red steam rose from the unicorn mare’s body. The blood was evaporating into the air, leaving her coat a little softer and poofy. Her mane had flattened from the liquid, but as it evaporated, it fluffed up and out, appearing like a purple afro. Sunshy snorted a laugh before holding a hoof over his mouth, instantly regretting the taste of copper and pulled it away. The colt had no such qualms about laughing at her hair.

Lacey quickly took another cleansing potion from Sunshy’s bags and hastily poured it over the pegasus. It was her turn to laugh when his own mane poofed out into a red afro. The colt fell to the ground in hysterics as the adult ponies laughed at each other’s silly appearance.

“Wha happened?” Pretty Cow killed the laughter as she stood up on shaking short legs, wincing terribly at her injured side, which was already sprouting bruises. She used a hoof to wipe away the blood that had flowed over her left eye. Then, horror twisted in the slaves’ guts as she felt for her horn, and came up with only a wet spot.

“Mommy—“

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY HORN?!?!” The mare shouted at the top of her lungs, glaring at the two other adult ponies.

“You deserved it.” Lacey replied stoically, smoothing her mane down to a manageable level with a hoof covered in her spit.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” She shouted, screeching at an almost unheard level.

“Not like you can whip me anymore.” The unicorn floated over the whip and tucked it into her coat, only to have it plucked out by the zebra guard.

“She may not, but I can. Get back to work; I’ll take her to some professionals. Short Stuff, you’re in charge until we get back.” The zebra took out the buttons to the collars from Pretty Cow and rushed inside; the noise from inside told them she moved everything to where it should be. A few moments later, she came back and led the still enraged Pretty Cow to her caravan while the colt, Short Stuff, turned to the two ponies.

“What work?” Short Stuff asked curiously.

“I just have to plow the fields. It’ll be done in a snap with a Come-to-Life spell.” Lacey proclaimed, smiling at the gawking colt.

“Do it do it do it!!” He bounced excitedly in place. “Mommy never does any spells other than levitating things! She’s so boring, but don’t tell her I said that or I get sent to bed with no dinner. Show me pleeeeeeeeeeze!”

“Alright, alright, kid. Do you have anything to do, Sunshy?” Lacey questioned the pegasus, who shook his head.

“I just had to place the Brahmin out in the field.” The pegasus shrugged with his wings.

“GASP!” Why did the kid say gasp? “You have to watch them all or else the bad doggies will eat them all!”

“Oh horseapples!” Sunshy quickly took off, zooming close to the ground as fast as he could, not bothering to care that he left his saddle boxes behind.

With his speed, the pegasus arrived in the field of grazing Brahmin in record time. They were all peacefully minding themselves, a few chatting with each other. All was peaceful. Sunshy sighed heavily in relief as he plopped down and wiped away the sweat from the exertion of sprint-flying. He certainly wasn’t built for such things.

The pegasus stood and stared at the horizon, wishing he had better perception. Not the first time since becoming a slave, he wished dearly to have Celly back by his side. Without her, it was like he was missing half of himself. The loneliness was an almost crushing burden. He missed Zen, too, of course, but Celly was his sister of twenty years.

“Here, dairy, have these.” Daisy said as she walked over to the pony, holding a pair of binoculars by the strap in her mouth.

“Thank you. Where’d you get it?” Sunshy asked as Daisy let the binoculars slip down around his neck.

“In the farm, silly dairy. Striped not-pony makes me hold them until the pony that watches us wants ‘em.”

Sunshy nodded before lifting the binoculars to his face, letting them rest on his face and using his hooves to hold them against his eyes. He scanned the horizon and felt his gut twist upon seeing smoke to the north. Closer to them was a group of moving shadows.

Concerned, the pegasus flew closer to the north end, but hung back when his collar started beeping. The shadows turned into a group of ostriches wandering over to them. The poor things were rather confused and lost. Sunshy was so relieved that they were not dangerous that it took a few minutes to comprehend what they needed. He was more than happy to give them directions to Nchi Kavu, as they wanted to find safe nesting grounds.

The pegasus spent a few hours pacing along the borderline of where the beeping was slow and where it sped up. He stared at the smoke in the distance, checking it with the binoculars every so often. He grazed on the tasteless dry grass when he got hungry. Eventually, he stopped pacing when Lacey came over with Short Stuff, as she was finished with plowing, planting, and watering.

The group went into the mansion, given a tour by Short Stuff, who insisted to be called Shorty. They opened the front door and the two ponies gasped openly. It was so…

Rustic.

Everything was simple and plain. They had expected Pretty Cow to go all-out making her house show off her wealth. But instead, it was so…quaint.

The door opened to a hallway, in which a den was off to the left, stairs to the right, the living room further right past the stairs, and the kitchen dead ahead. Everything was made of wood that seemed to have been recycled and cobbled-together. The work was professional enough, but the one who built it all was certainly not given much to work with.

The den room seemed to be more of a work office more than anything, with papers scattered everywhere, a few metal desks lining the walls, and a terminal. It seemed keeping track of a booming food supply business was not all fun and games. Curious, Lacey floated over a few scraps of paper, but set them back down, complaining that “The math hurts my brain.”

The living room held three couches refurbished to hold only clean pieces of material. The patterns and material were so random and varied. It was as though the couches were no more than a hodgepodge of some hoity-toity artist’s worst nightmares throw-up that solidified into the shape of a couch. Times three.

A radio sat on a table where a television would normally go, and between that and the couches was a table full of children’s toys. Shorty asked them to excuse the mess and led them upstairs. Minus one pegasus. The colorful winged pony was entranced in the radio, or rather, what came from it.

”Welcome back to my show. Red Stripes has learned more things that you should know.

Let me reiterate on a few days past, a happy act that came to pass. A gray giant pony has resolved the conflict of two hundred years. Sadly, the way he did so brought many tears. Blood was shed so very much, I hope this chaos does not happen to whatever he does touch. More ponies than one can count, he does have in large amount. I am not sure as of yet, where it is he hopes to get.

Stranger news comes in a stream, I hope information; I will gleam. Our new friends from Borderlands have vanished; I do hope they were not banished. They investigated a terrible place, a stable that was long ago made into a disgrace. Here are words from the one who issued them into this race.”

“I…I feel so terrible.”It was the guard zebra, Salai. ”I sent them there, knowing it was dangerous. They didn’t have to go, but they did. I shouldn’t have…opened my damn mouth. They were just so nice that I…”*bleep* “I knew they’d check it out for me…”

“What’s worse…Brother Strong Peace came back, looking for Tall Soft Heart and he stopped to tell me all about what they investigated. Turns out they had been ambushed outside of some damn stable that grew plants. Not just any plants, too,” *bleep*“ing evil plants that kill you for a sick”*bleep*”ing joke, like the plants can laugh. I’m sorry for the swearing,” Oh, the bleeps must have been censoring out the swear words…”it’s just…I feel so responsible. Anyway, Brother Strong Peace told me that they were ambushed by some backwards tribals that went in different directions.

“He suspected that they all had meant to sell the three as slaves, but he escaped when they ran into raiders. From the directions he gave, it seemed as though Tall Soft Heart went to Oasis, but we told him we would handle that if he was. So he went north, after Soaring Brave Spirit.

“Yesterday, right after Brother Strong Peace left, one of our own returned with news that Tall Soft Heart was being held as a slave in Oasis, as I suspected. Chief Fluffy Doom was furious. He gathered his biggest magic battle saddle, but a team of guards went out first, to negotiate without the need of bloodshed. They returned with the news that he had already been sold and the slavers would not say to whom. So they stayed and Chief Fluffy Doom went to Oasis with his weapon.

“They had until high noon today to give up their information, but refused. That damn place is a crater now.” Sunshy gaped. Surely that wasn’t true? No one could…But that was his name, after all. ”Good”*bleep*”ing riddance too. That place was an eyesore, to be sure. We bought as many slaves as we could to set them free all the time, but we don’t have infinite money here. I admit, now we’ll have a harder time finding the slaves, but I’ll stay optimistic that this sends a message about how we feel about slavery. Hopefully, some a-holes looking for fast caps will think twice about selling lives.”

“And that was Salai, a swearing, but nice guy. I hope all you listeners will take a note; selling lives is not a joke. What the guard said is true, and I am not yet sure if I should be blue. Oasis is gone, done in by Chief Fluffy Doom’s brawn. Nothing is left but a crater, and not one sign of a traitor. Tall Soft Heart, the medical pony, is still lost. I have to wonder how much he cost.

Pardon me for the joke; I am merely trying to cope. The loss of a child is always sad and I only wish to once again be glad. If any of you children have something to say, do not hesitate, do not delay. Find one of my couriers, so that I will not be a worrier. I wish you all the best of luck, and I implore you to give a buck.” The Red Stripes DJ ended on laughter before cutting into a song.

“Sunshy?” Lacey asked, walking over to the pony. “Are you okay?”

The pegasus started and noticed she and Shorty were standing next to him. By their looks of concern, they had heard the news too.

“Who are all those with silly names?” Short Stuff asked with that childish cuteness.

“Tall Soft Heart is me, Brother Strong Piece is my friend Zen, and Soaring Brave Spirit is my adoptive sister, Celly.” Sunshy explained dully. He was excited that Zen was at least safe, but worried about him and his sister.

“Don’t worry, brony. From the sound of it, they’re probably out looking for you right now.” Royal Lace comforted the pegasus with a pat on his shoulder.

“I know they are. I’m sure we’ll be out of here in a few days at the most.” Sunshy smiled at the unicorn mare.

“You’re not going to leave me, are you?” Shorty asked with a quivering lip and sad eyes.

“No, no, kiddo. Come on, let’s go make some sandwiches.” Lacey smoothly lied.

The little lie did not faze the child, as he was still sad. However, he followed the mare into the kitchen with Sunshy. The unicorn mare opened the refrigerator and levitated out the scarce amount of non-meat products. Then with some bread and some unnecessary flare to entertain the child, she made three dried grass and daisy sandwiches.

When the three had finished eating, the door opened with a bang, startling all three. They all froze upon seeing Pretty Cow standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Good news, she had her horn re-grown. Bad news, she was pissed and levitated out her whip. She shrieked at the two slaves and flung her whip around haphazardly, scaring them into running past her and outside of the house.

However, as soon as Lacey made it to the door, she was held by her tail. Sunshy skidded to a stop, turned, and went to help her, but she was pulled back inside and the door slammed. The pegasus knocked on the door frantically. It opened hard and fast, throwing him back. At the door was the zebra guard, who kicked the door closed and walked over to Sunshy.

“You’d best get the Brahmin back into the barn and sleep there again. Miss Cow isn’t too happy with you two.” She warned the pony.

“What’s going to happen to Lacey?” Sunshy asked, trying not to sound scared.

“Nothing harsh, I assure you. She isn’t the one who bucked Miss Cow’s horn off. Now shoo, off with you.” The zebra used her hooves to make a shooing motion.

The pegasus reluctantly slipped on his saddle boxes before he returned to the field of Brahmin and led them inside the barn, where he made a bed in the same spot as last night. Sunshy slipped his boxes off before he lied down, a little surprised to find a few of the Brahmin lied down around him. He smiled; knowing thing would turn around soon enough for him and his new friend. With that comforting thought, he settled down to sleep.

“—tellin’ you, it’s a damn boy.”

“Who cares, the thing’s tied down. Just fuck ‘em and slit him open.”

“I ain’t no colt cuddler, you fuck.”

“Doesn’t matter, it looks girly enough.”

“Problem is, it’s a damn buck.”

“Then I’ll fuck the thing, you pussy.”

Sunshy woke groggily, feeling pain in the back of his head. He groaned at the shocking amount of pain and tried to rub the back of his head, but found his legs were restrained. Through the panic, his brain informed him that he was pinned down by ropes on his back. His legs were held far off, in a spread-eagle position.

“Fuck, we took too damn long, now he’s awake.”

“Half the fun is hearing them scream, right?”

Sunshy opened his eyes and saw the one thing he hated with all his heart.

Raiders.

The zebras were coated with blood, grime, and dirt. Their manes were chopped short and spiked, as were their tails. Their boarding was made up of spiked metal and scraps of leather. They had madness in their smiles, and the desire to see the world burn in their eyes. Though he was upside-down, so what he saw, mixed with his brain pain, made everything a little fuzzy to his head.

The Brahmin were more or less safe, Sunshy was thankful to find. They were all outside, as he could hear their braying and yelling. There were more raiders shouting at the Brahmin, and he could hear the cries of the mutated cows in pain. Okay, not safe, not safe at all.

However, he had more pressing matters right before him.

“I’ll leave you to it, Spikes.” One raider slapped the other on the butt before leaving.

“Hey there, friend. How ya feelin’?” Spikes asked with a sickening grin.

Sunshy tried to respond, but felt his mouth was too dry. His mind was working at lightning speed and yet felt sluggish. Fuck, did they drug him? He wouldn’t be surprised.

A glinting caught his eye.

“Not sayin’ anything, huh? Not surprised, that was a nasty blow we had to give ya. But we couldn’t let you wake up and wake the rest of the farm too early.” Spikes chuckled and moved around to Sunshy’s rear half. As he passed, the pegasus saw the zebra’s glyph mark were four spiked hooves, imitated what he wore around his hooves.

Cold fear paralyzed the pegasus as the zebra stamped his front hooves down on either side of Sunshy’s middle. He didn’t have to hear the previous conversation to know what this sick fuck was planning.

“Wait.” Sunshy pleading without trying to sound too scared. He hadn’t expected it, but the raider actually paused. So he grasped his chance. “You don’t wanna have…this much…fun” hold back the gag, “sober…right?”

Spikes gave the pegasus a confused and skeptical look. Sunshy put on his best poker face.

“You holdin’ out on me?” Spikes asked, taking the bait. Part of Sunshy told him he’d have to start playing poker.

“In my mane, there’s some drugs weaved in. I’m a doctor, I made them myself. Gives you one hell of a trip, to calm down panicking patients.” Shit, Sunshy was not a liar; he could hear how weak his voice and lie were.

“What? Should’ve searched you better, damn it.” Spikes moved away and over to Sunshy’s mane. Oh thank the Goddesses, he bought it. “Ahah!”

Sunshy braced himself as the zebra bit into one of the cylinders that was indeed woven into his mane. While he had expected the raider to rip it out, he instead used his spiked hoof-blade to cut it free. Then he spit it out and tore the red hair away from the cylinder containing some green concoction.

“The fuck is this?” Unsurprisingly, the zebra could not grasp the simplest of concepts.

“Push the little button on the end, other end.” Sunshy instructed. Spikes did as he was told and dropped the cylinder when a needle point popped out of one end. “Just stick it in your leg and it’ll do the rest.”

Spikes chuckled before he picked up the needle and stuck it in his front leg. The green liquid inside poured into his bloodstream automatically. The zebra made a look of pleasure, an instant response to a drug in his system, despite the true nature of the drug.

“What is this, anyway?” Spikes asked a little too late.

“Concentrated Manticore poison.” Sunshy replied with a blank visage.

“Wha—“ Spikes didn’t manage to finish his sentence.

The zebra gurgled, blood foamed at his mouth, his pupils shrunk drastically. Spikes fell onto his side, having a seizure. After inhaling as much as he could, Sunshy let out a loud shout for help. He had his eyes shut closed, so he could not see the zebra slowly dying painfully next to him. He heard the noise of his shout being drowned out by gunshots and yelling outside.

Sunshy stopped bothering to yell at that point. He turned his head away from the body and waited for the noise to stop. Eventually, the gunshots ceased and the braying of the Brahmin were the only sounds. Sunshy shouted for help once again and was rewarded by the sound of Pretty Cow shouting mixed with another shouting.

The doors to the barn were slid open with grunting force. He heard Lacey and Pretty Cow shouting as they rushed inside to his side. Pretty Cow levitated out a serrated blade and cut the ropes holding Sunshy down. Royal Lace levitated Sunshy once he was free and turned him right side up, setting him down in the rough middle of the barn, away from the corpse.

“Oh Goddesses, Sunshy, are you okay?” Lacey questioned unnecessarily.

“No he ain’t, dummy. Hey, sonny…did that scumbag waste of air…did he rape yew?” Pretty Cow asked with shocking sincerity.

Sunshy shook his head and stared blankly at the ground much like a Brahmin. Royal Lace sat down next to him and placed her hoof around his back in a one-leg hug. Pretty Cow used her magic to levitate the pegasus, but found it was too much of a strain. Lacey moved away and used her magic to help Pretty Cow lift Sunshy into the air.

The two unicorns floated the pegasus to the house, Lacey whispering comforting words to him as they walked. Pretty Cow pushed her door open. Her magic and Lacey’s magic imploded, dropping the near-comatose Sunshy to the floor. Confused, he looked up and saw their shock and disgust. So he looked forward to see why they had those expressions.

Sunshy ran out of the house and puked. Then he cried after emptying his stomach. The image was burned into his mind forever.

The zebra guard had her hooves pinned to the top of the wall in the kitchen. Her outfit had been torn off to make it easier for the raiders. Her stomach was gutted open; her organs pulled out and turned into terrifying streamers. The blood was everywhere. Her face was frozen in the expression of fear.

Sunshy cried hard as he flopped down to the ground, forcing his eyes to stay open. He saw that image whenever they were closed. But still, they closed. He just wanted this damn day to be over. Of course, the gunshots ringing inside told him that it would not end for him just yet.

It felt like hours passed before Pretty Cow walked outside to sit beside Sunshy. He figured that in that time, she had buried the guard—Goddesses, he didn’t even know her name—and kept her son from panicking. Part of Sunshy wondered how she lied her way through this mess.

“Ah’m so sorry, boy. About everything. Ah know ah didn’t treat yew the way ah should’ve, but…really, ah was scared. Ah’ve got a son and a profitable farm, see? Can’t take chances bein’ too nice ta everypony. So ah gotta be a real hardass so no one wants ta fuck with me. Ah swear ah’m not such a bitch. Will yew forgive me?”

“Only if you’ll forgive me for bucking off your horn and stomping on your side.” Sunshy told her cautiously in a quiet voice.

“‘Course ah do. Like ah said, ah was being a bitch and ah’ll be damned if ah say ah didn’t deserve it. ‘Sides, the nice doctor the next town over fixed me right up. There was no reason fer me ta use mah whip like that on yew poor folk. Ah just try to get mah reputation as a mean bitch so…well, so what just happened won’t happen. Guess it ain’t a solid plan after all, huh?” Pretty Cow had her ears lowered and tears stinging at her eyes.

“Not really. You need to know how to choose who to act mean to and who to appreciate. I know we’re just slaves, but all studies show that workers respond better to positive reinforcement. So instead of whipping Lacey for her Come to Life spell, you could have congratulated her for how efficient it was.”

“Actually, ah’m really embarrassed about all that…Ya see…ah never learned any spells other than levitating. Ah’m illiterate, see? Ah c’n read numbers just fine, but ah never learned my letters. Grew up as a farmer, and mah maw and paw said it was like teaching a Brahmin to sing: it was nice, but a luxury not worth the expense.”

“So you got jealous of Lacey?” Sunshy asked. He could not see it, but he guessed she flushed in embarrassment by the way she was positioning herself.

“Yeah…’m not proud of it. Mah temper is real short. ‘S nother reason why ah forgive ya. Always known ah have to work on mah anger, but never can. So ah blew a fuse seein’ her do something ah can’t.”

“Shorty gave us a tour of your house. When she saw the room with all the papers, she floated a few over. Then she put them right back, complaining that the math hurt her brain.” Sunshy smiled when a laugh escaped Pretty Cow. “You don’t have to be jealous just because she knows something you don’t. You know math better than her. I’m surprised you don’t have some convoluted formula for a cutie mark.”

“Well, ya gotta know how ta run a business if’n yew wanna make any money. Make sure yer not gettin’ scammed.”

“I’m really happy to know you’re not another heartless pony the wasteland corrupted.” Sunshy stated.

“Ah believe all ponies are good at heart. Just takes somethin’ to make ‘em realize it. Fer me, that was mah boy. Ah love him to death and make sure nothin’ll hurt him so long as ah’m alive.”

“What about his father?”

“Don’t got one. Ah got knocked up after too much booze in Roaming. Few months later, Short Stuff came along and ah had a new purpose in life. Before, all ah wanted was to make money and that meant stomping on a lot of good people along the way. Mah boy really softened me up.”

“What was the guard’s name?”

“Dunno, only said we could call her Miss Stripey for all she cared. Shorty did, obviously. Ah really do wish ah had learned her real name. Then again, ah never tried too hard to learn it.” Pretty Cow sighed. “The things yew wish yew had done…now that yew can’t…”

“My friend and sister are looking for me. If they come, can I go with them?” Sunshy asked cautiously. His heart was crushed when he saw Pretty Cow shake her head.

“Don’t get me wrong, boy, ah hate keepin yew two as slaves. It’s just…ah have to save money somewhere and ah only have enough to spare to keep one worker that ah can pay.” She sounded genuinely sorry.

“Have you tried offering a share of food as payment?” Sunshy offered.

“’Course ah have. Workers never take it, though. Rather have money to waste in Roaming.” Pretty Cow stamped her hoof down.

“How close are we to Roaming?”

“Good week’s walk away, ah reckon.”

“Anything to the north?”

Pretty Cow stared up at the starry sky with a full moon. She placed her hoof under her chin as she pondered, tracing out a mental map.

“A raider’s nest…then ah town that makes money as a zoo…and then the snowy mountains…maybe a few small towns scattered around.”

“I bet Celly was sent to the zoo…” Sunshy pondered.

“Who?”

“My manticore adopted sister. It’s a long story.” Sunshy waved a hoof.

“Manticore? What’s that?”

“They have the body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion.”

“Lions, huh? They got them in the Caesar’s Legion. Yer Mantithingy might go over well with them.”

Royal Lace trotted outside, looking exhausted. Her usually well-kept mane and tail were mussed and splattered with gore. Her hat kept most of the gore out of her mane. Her prized shotgun rested in a pocket of her coat. She trotted over to the two and sat down beside Sunshy.

“I finally got out the last of the raider bodies and sent Shorty to bed. How are you holding up?” She asked Sunshy cautiously.

“Ah’ll take my leave.” Pretty Cow said as she stood and walked into her house.

“I’m fine I guess…” Sunshy responded weakly.

“No one is fine after being almost raped.” Royal Lace shot back.

“…That was the first time I ever killed anyone.” Sunshy hung his head.

“That was not anyone, that was an evil fuck who did not deserve to be alive. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s not right or wrong…it’s that I took a life…” A sob escaped him, “I wanted to be the virtue of kindness. How can I, after having so much hate in my heart for these raiders? For actually killing one of them? I killed a zebra, Lacey…”

“Sunny, I’ve known you for all of two days and I know you’re the best damn holder of the Kindness virtue.” Then she did something he really should have expected.

Royal Lace leaned over and kissed Sunshy. The pegasus reacted with a violent jump back and held his hooves over his mouth. Then he saw the hurt and shock on her face and lowered his hooves.

“I…I like stallions, Lacey.” Sunshy rubbed a hoof on his opposite leg, staring at the ground awkwardly. Really, he did not have to deal with such emotional trauma so rapidly. Emotional rollercoaster, much?

“Oh…I understand. Sorry, I probably…shouldn’t have done that…I just…thought it would…I wasn’t thinking.” Lacey held her hooves over her face and shook her head.

“It…it’s okay. I just…need to sleep all this off.” Sunshy stood and walked over to the barn, letting Lacey walk back into the house.

Sunshy sighed as he led the remaining Brahmin back into the barn. Only around ten had been killed, and Sunshy felt terribly selfish to be happy that Daisy was one that survived. He knew that he would probably have to bury the dead, or worse, take their bodies to the slaughterhouse. Right now, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to sleep. So he lied down on the other end of the barn from where he usually slept. Thankfully, the body was gone. One less thing on his conscience as he slipped into his recurring nightmare.

Level up! You are now level 10!

Unarmed is at 20

Perk added! Iron Hoof: Your unarmed attacks do +5 damage, even if you’re wearing some unarmed weapon, such as spiked shoes.

Chapter 11: Smile, Smile, Smile

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 11: Smile, Smile, Smile

”Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine: Laughter.”

“My name is Pinkie Pie, (Hello!)/And I am here to say, (How ya doin?)/I'm gonna make you smile/And I will brighten up your day!/It doesn't matter now, (What's up?)/If you are sad or blue, (Howdy!)/'Cuz cheering up my friends/Is just what Pinkie's here to do!/'Cuz I love to make you smile, smile, smile!/Yes I do!/It fills my heart with sunshine all the while!/Yes it does!/'Cuz all I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!

“I like to see you grin! (Awesome!)/I love to see you beam! (Rock on!)/The corners of your mouth turned up/Is always Pinkie's dream! (Hoof bump!)/But if you're kind of worried/And your face is made of frown/I'll work real hard and do my best/To turn that sad frown upside down!/'Cuz I love to make you grin, grin, grin!/Yes I do!/Busted out from ear to ear/Let it begin!/Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin!/And you fill me with good cheer!

“It's true, some days are dark and lonely/And maybe you feel sad/But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad!/There is one thing that makes me happy/And makes my whole life worthwhile/And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile!/I really am so happy!/Your smile fills me with glee!/I give a smile, I get a smile/And that's so special to me!/'Cuz I love to see you beam, beam, beam!/Yes I do!/Tell me what more can I say to make you see/That I do!/It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam!/Yes, it always makes my day!

“Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!/Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!/All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!/Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!/Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!/All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!/That's the perfect gift for me! (Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!)/It's a smile as wide as a mile! (Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!)/To make me happy as can be! (All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!) (From these happy friends of...)

“Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile!/Come on and smile! (Smile!)/Come on and smile/Come on and smile/Come on and smile.”

Sunshy floated happily as he led the Brahmin outside. Pretty Cow had given him a small portable radio as a sort of apology gift. So he put a strap around it and hung it around his neck, allowing him to work while listening to music. He was surprised to hear a pony song on the station for zebras, but that didn’t stop him from loving it.

Sunshy truly loved Pinkie Pie even more than Fluttershy. Fluttershy was awesome in her own right, but Pinkie Pie was just so fun and with the life he had as a colt, he needed fun. So he turned to the Element of Laughter to help him learn how to laugh and always keep his chin up.

Today, he found her inane ability to bring laughter from beyond the grave especially needed. After all that had happened yesterday…Well, he needed something to cheer him up. It had been quite the week…

Sunshy jerked back and stared up at the sky. It had only been a week…It had been only a week since he left Drakon? The pegasus did some mental calculations…First day, out like a light for a few hours, slept after work…then slept after clearing out Gebo…then there was the party…then being captured and taken to Oasis….Now it was the third day of working as a slave. Wow, it really had been a week and so much had happened. Did this always happen to those in the Wasteland?

Sunshy shook the idea out of his head. He noticed the bright orbs of Daisy staring at him. “Are you alright, dairy?”

“Fine.” Sunshy answered with a smile. Pinkie Pie’s song on cupcakes on the radio slowly faded out.

”Those were two songs from the passed-on Pinkie Pie. I hope her joy makes you feel like you can fly. I know that we need some joy, so do not play coy. Here is some news, brought to you buy someone with less blues.

“The ghoulish rhinos have been beat, something that was quite a feat. It is now safe once more, unless you run across some rogue boar. None have stepped up to claim their fame, but it seemed they used the power of flame. Perhaps a dragon that wanted to help or wanted to stop hearing us yelp.

Caesar’s Legion is on the move, looking for more soldiers to improve. So if you see a zebra with a cold-hard stare, run away from such an affair. While we all need a hero or two, don’t let them stick to you like glue. They target those with a reputation and a name, so try to stay far from fame.

That is all the news for now, so to you, Red Stripes says, ‘ciao’.”

“Liking that radio the old lady gave you, I see.” Royal Lace said casually as she trotted over.

“Well enough. Not as good as DJ Pon3, but Red Stripes is alright.”

“Is this some Equestrian radio voice?”

“Ayep.”

“You don’t have the accent to talk like that.” Lacey remarked as she nudged the pegasus on the shoulder. “You’re looking much better today.”

“Thanks, I feel a lot better. Nothing like some Pinkie Pie cheer to keep you happy.” The song on the radio was sadly not Pinkie Pie, but it was still an upbeat tune full of drums.

“The Ministry of Morale mare? Didn’t she go completely crazy trying to keep everyone from being evil traitors?” From her tone, Lacey was not happy with the ideas of the Ministry Mares. Her frown turned into shock when she saw Sunshy’s bitter smile.

“Who wouldn’t go crazy? In the middle of a war, after thousands of years of peace, no one knows what to do…and separated from your best friends…Anyone would go crazy. I always feel so sad for her and all of the Ministry Mares. Pinkie Pie, especially. She tried so hard to stay happy and make everyone else happy…but…” Sunshy wiped away a tear that had managed to form at the edge of his eye. “Sorry…”

“…I never thought about what they had to be going through. Most everyone knows just enough to blame them for turning the war into shit instead of fixing it.” Lacey dug a hoof into the ground awkwardly, feeling guilty.

“There were a lot of book on them in the Stable.”

“Weird. Don’t let Cow know you can read.” Lacey teased. She too knew that the mare was not an evil wretch and easily stopped holding her grudge. Their wounds were healed, she too had acted brashly out of jealousy in her life, and she was given a warm bed and food.

“Would you mind living here for the rest of your life?” Sunshy asked while watching the horizon, only partly listening to the radio.

“I could live here. Can’t say I like working for no caps, but food and a place to sleep is always a nice payment, too. Why, would you?”

“Yes, I would mind. I’m a doctor, and as much as I enjoy living around animals, knowing I have safety and comforts…I don’t need that. I need to be out there, helping people. I miss Celly and Zen and I know they’re out there somewhere looking for me. I can’t stay here.” Sunshy explained rather sadly.

“Then I’ll come with you. You need a good bodyguard, right?” Lacey winked at Sunshy, who flattened his ears and smiled awkwardly. He hadn’t told her exactly what Zen and Celly were…

“You don’t have to, Lacey. My friend and sister kinda are bodyguards.”

“Can either of them use magic?” She wiggled her eyebrows in a way to emphasize her horn.

“Well, no, but—“

“Then you need a unicorn! And that’s that!”

Sunshy sighed in defeat when she stamped her hoof down. The stamp was metaphorical and literal, he knew. Sunshy was somewhat sure she had to be part earth pony; from all his history lessons, they were rather stubborn. There was that, and he gave up way too easily.

“What’s that?” Lacey pointed up to the sky, at something Sunshy could not see.

To fix that, he lifted the binoculars to his eyes and peered out at the direction her hoof was pointing towards. Off in the distance, to the south, was a dot in the sky. It was too far away to be much of anything but a speck.

“A dragon, maybe?” Sunshy guessed.

“Could be.” Lacey agreed, although she didn’t sound too sure.

The pegasus gagged when the binoculars were pulled away from him and sent him to the ground, as the strap was still around his neck. The object was held in pink magic around Lacey’s eyes. She was looking at the thing she had pointed out, as well. Lying on the dirt, even with leather boarding and his doctor’s coat, was not very comfortable. Having a strap around your neck slowly break your spine was not fun either. The radio’s cherry songs did nothing.

“You should probably get to higher ground and see if it’s clearer.” She said as she mercifully released the binoculars, allowing them to fall and smack Sunshy in the head.

With a smarting skull, he stood up and gave Lacey a rather angry look, rubbing the hurt spot. She smiled sheepishly before shooing him away with a wave of her hoof. The pegasus rolled his eyes and snorted before slipping off the radio and then opening his wings and flapping. A couple of strong beats later, and he was off the ground. Another couple while angling his body just right, and he was soaring upwards.

As another apology for everything and a show there was no bad blood, Pretty Cow had increased the range of their collars tremendously. They could be halfway to Equestria before it would even start beeping. So Sunshy was able to land softly on top of the ancient barn, keeping his wings partly open in case the ceiling collapsed under him. When his hooves touched down, he heard them groan under his weight, however minute.

Cautiously, pausing at every creak and groan, Sunshy sat down upon the roof. Without the magic to levitate things, he needed to sit to be able to use his front hooves to hold the binoculars to his eyes. The speck was slowly growing, meaning that it was getting closer to him.

Within ten minutes of concentrated observation, he was able to make out a bit of the outline of the silhouette. Mostly, it was just that he could see wings and something like a head poking up. From such a great distance, he could not tell what it truly was.

“See anything?” Lacey asked as she used a spell to magnify her voice.

“Just some wings and a head.” Sunshy shouted back, “Might be a small dragon.”

“I’ll go get Pretty Cow; she’ll want to deal with it.”

The pegasus looked away from the speck long enough to watch Royal Lace gallop to the mansion-house. He felt admittedly less secure without a guard around. Then again, she wasn’t much help when push came to shove. Sunshy shivered as the picture reappeared in his head. To distract himself, he went back to looking at the blot.

After five minutes, in which Pretty Cow came to the barn with Short Stuff and Royal Lace, the blot grew a few more distinctive features. The wings were leathery, like those on a dragon; he could see this by the way the wind interacted with them. The creature seemed to do more gliding than flapping, as well.

Also, it seemed to have two heads.

Correction, it had one head straight forward and another that poked up every few moments, only to find the wind too strong and had to duck again. It was not some two-headed dragon monster—thank the Goddesses, Hydras were terrifying—it was something carrying something smaller on its back. What those two somethings were, he still had to figure out.

“Is it a dragon or not?” Pretty Cow said, her voice amplified by Lacey.

“Not sure yet.” Sunshy responded, having to actually shout. “It’s carrying something on its back, though.”

“A baby?!” Shorty bounced in excitement on the ground.

Sunshy remained silent, as he hadn’t heard the child. His ears were folded back in concentration. All of his focus was on that slowly growing dot. Soon enough, the sun shone directly on the dot, allowing him a perfect view of the coloring.

“CELLY!!” Sunshy shouted with all his might, lowering the binoculars.

While he knew that he couldn’t hear anything from it, the flying creature beat its wings harder, speeding up in response to his shout. The binoculars fell off the barn as Sunshy shoved himself off the roof, pounding his wings to catch as much air as he could. Lacey saved the binoculars and tucked them away into her duster while Pretty Cow and Shorty watched the pegasus fly at the brown creature.

As the two creatures flew as fast as they possibly could, they were able to finally recognize each other within a few seconds. The lioness’s face lit up and let out a roar upon seeing the yellow and red pegasus. Sunshy pushed his wings to their limit, a grin breaking his face.

“Sunny!!” Zen shouted as his head poked up from Celly’s back, tears streaming from his squinting eyes at the wind.

The zebra, in a moment of thoughtless excitement, launched himself off the safety of the manticore’s back. The pegasus dove and caught his falling friend before he even had time to register that he was falling. Once in his hooves, the zebra laughed and hugged his friend, not caring or not aware that they were still falling. Sunshy tried his hardest to keep them from falling, but his wings strained and protested against the weight that he simply could not carry.

Celly was able to dive and catch both equines in her paws. Then she pushed her wings hard and angled straight up. As she moved up, the manticore spun around and roared in happiness, crushing the two in her hug. Then she glided down, angling towards the ponies and zebrony colt. The adults cringed at the wind and dirt sweeping up as the large bat wings beat against the ground, softening her landing. Shorty was bouncing in excitement.

Even out of the manticore’s grip, the zebra refused to let go of Sunshy, holding him around the neck and pressing their faces together. While Sunshy was equally happy to have his friend and sister back, Zen seemed to forget his own strength.

“Can’t…breathe…” Sunshy gasped out, his face slowly turning blue.

“Sorry!” Zen quickly loosened his grip on the pegasus, allowing him to suck in glorious air.

Then the zebra kissed him, making his eyes widen in shock. Maybe it was the light-headedness from lack of oxygen, maybe the excitement of seeing his family again, but whatever the reason, Sunshy felt like he was flying while on the ground, even after the short kiss ended. “Oh my gods, Sunny, you have no fucking idea what I went through to find you, I mean I fought Raiders and zookeeper assholes, and did you know Oasis is gone and who the hell are these people?”

Zen let go of Sunshy, as he had continued to hold him, and let the pegasus fall to the ground, still dazed. Celly took it upon herself to roll her brother onto his belly and try to lift him up. Although his legs didn’t seem to want to work, so she let him lay in a comatose state between her front paws.

While that was going on, Zen pulled his retractable lance out of his saddlebag, clicking the button that changed it from a short stick to a terrifying weapon. Though he aimed it at no one, he glared at the three equines before him. In his mind, he was sizing them up as threats.

’Pinkish purple unicorn: cool hat, ratty duster, nice shotgun; wastelander, but has a slave collar, no go. Kid in the middle: harmless, although he shouldn’t stare at a weapon in such open awe, they’re dangerous. The red unicorn: cowpony hat, no boarding, levitating a shotgun at my face. No slave collar.’

“You’re the one who bought Sunshy.” Zen accused through the weapon, angling his fired-up lance at Pretty Cow while he crouched in preparation to fight. She glared defiantly at him, keeping the shotgun aimed at his head.

“Ah’ve been keepin’ ‘em safe here while yew’ve been off havin’ adventures.” Pretty Cow retorted.

“Really? Because it looked to me like some gang attacked your farm; attacked Sunshy.” Zen’s eyes narrowed as he brought the electric lance closer to Cow’s neck.

“How would yew know?”

“You sent word to Salai that his sister was killed in a raider attack. He then sent word to me that you let it slip you had two brand new slaves, one that looked like he wasn’t fit to be in this world.” Zen was close to pressing the end of the lance against her throat.

“He’s fine, no harm done.”

“But, ma, what about—“ Short Stuff tried to argue.

“Hush, boy.”

“What were you going to say, kid?” Zen asked, keeping his eyes trained on Pretty Cow.

“Miss Lacey said he killed some zebra.”

The lance fell out of Zen’s gaping mouth. He blinked in disbelief and looked between the three of them. Anger, childish confusion, guilt. It was true…

“Sunny?” Zen turned to his friend, who had recovered enough to sit with his legs under his body. The pegasus stared up to Zen with those cerulean eyes. He didn’t have to say anything…Zen could see it.

That spark of innocence, of love in the world, of hope…it was dulled, almost gone.

It happened to everyone in the wasteland. Zen was never sure why or what…but something always died inside. The act of taking another life, especially when you never wanted to…

“Are you alright?” Zen whispered as he lied down before Sunshy, everything else in the world gone to him. Sunshy shook his head slightly and looked away. “Raider?” A nod.

The zebra lied his head around Sunshy’s neck; Pretty Cow swiftly herded her son back home. Lacey stared for a few more moments before catching the eyes of Celly. Those golden orbs were so deep, so tortured, but they were so hardened and steely. They were the eyes of someone who had been though a lot. Really, everyone in the wasteland had eyes like that…except children and Sunshy.

Royal Lace nodded to the manticore and walked away. Once the unicorn was gone, Celly lied down with the two and rested her head on their backs. Sunshy wept at the pain of such a fresh wound on his soul. As he wept, he blubbered out the story of what had happened, despite Zen shushing him.

When he was finished, the pegasus wiped his snot on his leg, and wiped that on the ground. Zen gave him nuzzle on the side of his face, making the virgin blush lightly. Any other time, Zen would have teased him for it.

“It’s hard to kill…I was raised to kill with cold-hearted precision. It was still hard for me to kill. My first one was a raider too. It didn’t matter that he had my friend as a body shield…it’s just really hard to take a life. Don’t worry, Sunshy…I’ll make sure you never have to kill again.” Zen knew how to handle these situations. It came from a lifetime of comforting his comrades too scared to admit they hated killing. Even after leaving the Legion when he was young, he encountered this all too often.

“Pinkie Pie Promise?” Sunshy questioned, wondering if he even knew what he was talking about.

“What’s that?” Zen questioned, part of him thinking Sunny had gone off the deep end.

“It’s a promise that you have to keep forever, or else.” Sunshy smiled at the serious joke, “It goes like this.” Celly stood and moved back so Sunshy could sit upright and go through the motions, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Zen chuckled before he sat upright and copied Sunshy’s movements and words. Then he spit on his hoof and held it out to Sunshy. The pony laughed before spitting on his own hoof and hoof bumping; Celly growled and cringed at the gross. Then the zebra stuck his head into Sunshy’s mane, making the pony freak and jump back.

“You do have things in there!” Zen said, rather surprised.

“It’s…for emergencies…like I said…” Sunshy replied awkwardly, staring at the ground.

“On others or yourself?” The zebra questioned.

“…Depends.” He kicked a hoof at the ground, not able to meet Zen’s eyes.

“Totally understandable.” Zen nodded and pressed his nose against Sunshy’s. The zebra was pleasantly surprised when the pony did not move back.

“I’m not strong…” Sunshy muttered. Zen wasn’t sure if he was talking about a relationship or possible suicide by his own hooves.

“That’s why you’ve got us.” He replied, earning a nod and nuzzles on both their faces from Celly.

“If you lovebirds are done, we need to talk.” Royal Lace interrupted.

Zen glared at the unicorn for ruining their moment, Celly stood and unsheathed her claws, but Sunshy simply asked, “About what?”

“Pretty Cow is adamant. She’s not letting you go unless you can pay back all of her caps.” Lacey grimaced at being the bearer of bad news.

“Fine, how much?” Zen demanded, stamping a hoof.

“Six-hundred thousand caps.” Royal Lace deadpanned. Zen’s eyes widened and he fell to his rump. His mouth moved, trying to form words that would not come. The unicorn mare rolled her eyes, “Apparently doctor ponies are expensive. If I knew that, I’d have become one long ago.”

“What? Why?” Sunshy wondered. It had been at the back of his mind since reading that sign.

“The sign even said that they wouldn’t sell to anyone who wouldn’t treat you right. Legitimate doctors, not just alchemists, are really rare in the Savannah Wasteland. So, if you’re sure about leaving, keep yourself on the down low, okay? News of you is already getting around; any more and you’ll get scooped up by the Legion.”

“That won’t happen.” Zen stated with finality, snapping out of his brain’s overload.

“Really?” Lacey asked with obvious suspicion.

“Yes. If not under my power, than under Celly’s power.”

The manticore nodded and nuzzled the side of Sunshy’s face affectionately. Royal Lace frowned as though she was not sure if she could accept that answer. Zen stood and picked up his lance, retracted it, and tucked it back into his saddlebag. Then she sighed and levitated out her gun.

“This is worth at least half of what she paid for you.” Lacey floated it into Zen’s saddle bag.

The zebra checked his PipBuck, nosing the buttons until it went to his weapons inventory. Then he hummed as the machine had labeled it as, ”Rose’s Thorn” with a value of 350,000.

“It’s worth fifty-thousand more than half. How old is this gun?” Zen asked, actually worried if he was capable of handling such a valuable item.

“Dunno; pre-war.” Lacey tried to shrug, but it was not nearly as easy for someone without wings.

“No duh. I meant, is it some family heirloom or something?”

“Probably, I dunno. My foster parents kept it in a velvet-lined safe and told me to never use it. Since I kinda have to out here, I take good care of it to make up for breaking that promise. I guess that’s why it’s worth so much.”

“With the lance I’ve been using, and a few other things we can scrounge up from some raider nests, we should be able to pay off that six-hundred-thousand debt. My god, that is way too fucking high.” Zen stomped his hoof.

“You don’t think I’m worth that much?” Sunshy asked blandly. Celly stared at the zebra levelly.

“You can’t put a price on a life. You’re especially priceless.” Zen gave the pegasus a shameless smile.

“Oh, I’ve never heard that one before. Great save there, buddy.” Royal Lace said with very heavy sarcasm.

“I don’t like you. I really don’t.” Zen replied with a glare.

“Good, I’m not so thrilled about you, either. Only reason I’m helping at all is because Sunshy is a good pony and he deserves my help.” Lacey shot back with equal distain.

“Hey, ah need yew two to get back to work. Sun-boy, ah need you to fly over mah crops and water ‘em.” Pretty Cow jumped right into ordering as soon as she got within earshot of the group.

“On it.” Sunshy opened his wings and lifted into the air.

“Wait.” Zen said; Sunshy stopped and hovered. The zebra looked to the deep red unicorn mare. “What’ll it take to get you to release my buckfriend?”

“Zen!” Sunshy’s face flushed full red.

“Shh, I’m negotiating.” The zebra waved a hoof at Sunshy, keeping his eyes on Cow.

The unicorn snorted her laughter and muttered something that sounded like, “I knew it.” Then she cleared her throat and stated, “Well, if’n ya can’t pay me what ah paid fer him, ya c’n do me a favor.”

“Name it.” Zen stated firmly, ready to take on any challenge.

“Take her with ya and take care of ‘em.”

“Say what now?”

With a smile, Pretty Cow levitated out two remotes with two buttons and a knob. One red and one green, so that even an idiot would know what does what. The knob changed the range of demolition. She levitated the buttons onto the ground and pressed the green buttons on each. With two clicks, the collars opened and fell to the ground.

Sunshy landed in a daze, staring at the thing that had been a constant reminder of his slavery. Royal Lace took her sawed-off shotgun from Zen’s saddlebag and quickly unloaded two 12 gage slugs into her collar, reducing it to worthless scrap. She quickly reloaded and did the same with Sunshy’s collar. Then, she put one slug into each of the remotes.

As she did that, the rest of the gathered creatures flinched and backed away from the look of pure rage on her face. Sunshy had actually cowered between Celly’s front paws with Zen. The manticore then lowered her head to cover them from the psychotic unicorn and put on her angry face. Pretty Cow had just backed away, a look of terror on her face.

“Yew sure got some anger issues, ah see…”

“Uhm…not that I’m not grateful and everything,” Zen said cautiously as he slowly moved out from under Celly’s paws. Lacey put her shotgun back and was trying to regain her composure, “but…I have to ask…why are you giving them up so easily all of a sudden?”

“Seems like the right thing to do. Ah’ll make do on mah own for a while or find cheaper help. Now, do ya promise?”

“I’ll Pinkie Pie Promise.”

“Yew gone off the deep end?”

Zen rolled his eyes and shook his head. Sunshy cautiously walked out from under Celly, who kept her eyes on the puce unicorn. Lacey managed to clean up her mane, as strands had come out during her attack on the collars.

“I swear we’ll protect everyone.” Zen told Pretty Cow.

“Good. Now, yew youngins get along. Ah ain’t one for tearful goodbyes.” Pretty Cow waved the group away.

“I think we should go to Nchi Kavu first; sort our stuff and let Chief Fluffy Doom know we’re okay.” Sunshy offered.

“Good idea.” Zen agreed.

“So quit your yapping and let’s go.” Royal Lace said just before galloping off to the south-east.

The zebra opted to trot in the same direction, with Sunshy trotting along his side and Celly at the rear. It was nice to simply have the group back together. Even with the addition of a mouthy unicorn mare. Zen trotted closer to Sunshy, brushing his nose against the side of the pegasus’s face. There was that adorable blush that always brought a smile to the zebra’s face.

As they made their way to their home, Zen told the story of what he had been doing the past three days. After being taken by the tribals, they had been ambushed by raiders when the caravan wandered too close to an ‘abandoned’ skeleton of a city. During the distraction, Zen was able to slip away and hide, letting them fight it out. When it was over, he went back to get his stuff and scavenge anything valuable.

After that, he went back to Nchi Kavu to see if anyone there would have any leads were Sunshy and Celly went. Some trader told him about the zoo to the north and offered to take him there. As he had no leads as to where Sunshy could be, he took the opportunity to find Celly. She was indeed there at the zoo, being the new attraction. Obviously, she was not happy and mauled anyone that tried to get too close, so they had planned to put her down.

After ‘persuading’ the owners of the zoo to let her go, Zen had to swallow his fear of heights and ride on her back if they wanted to find Sunshy within good time. They went back to Nchi Kavu, where Salai informed Zen of the farm to the north-west, where he believed Sunshy was being held. And then they arrived at Pretty Cow’s farm and the pegasus and unicorn knew the rest.

Royal Lace took it upon herself to tell the story of how she was there to help Sunshy in the slaver camp, save him from the raider, and be an all-around better person than Zen. The zebra shot back that good people don’t boast. Lacey countered that she was merely stating facts. The two quickly got into an argument that somehow turned into ‘Who Sunshy likes better’ in which Lacey stated that she was the one to take his first kiss.

“You took his first kiss, you bitch?! That was supposed to be mine!!” Zen yelled at her, to which the unicorn stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’m guessing I had no say in that?” Sunshy asked grumpily. His mood had turned sour as soon as his friends began fighting.

“NO!” Zen said before thinking. He quickly cowered with his ears down as Sunshy gave him a glare; it was hard to walk and cower at the same time. “I mean…I thought you like me?...” Zen put on his best puppy-dog face.

“You two keep this up and I’m flying off with Celly.” Sunshy stated, to which Celly growled in agreement.

“Sorry…” The other two equines said simultaneously. They glared at each other for that, but quickly looked away in huffy moods.

“I swear you two act like those characters in romance books. Keep up all this hate and everyone will start saying you need to have sex and get it over with.” Sunshy pointed out, still rather upset.

Both pony and zebra shared the same idea as they made retching motions and complained about how disgusting and disturbing that idea was. At the pegasus’s level look to them, Zen walked up and kissed him forcefully. The winged pony fell to his rump, slightly dazed and tingly all over. His wings were raised slightly as well, something neither of the other equines understood.

“Now why would I do that if I wanted to fuck her, hmm?” Zen teased, slapping the pegasus on his flank with his tail before striding past the dazed buck.

“You broke him!” Lacey shouted at the zebra as she walked over to Sunshy, lifting him in her telekinesis and setting him down on Celly’s back.

“Did he do that when you kissed him?” Zen asked, looking over his shoulder to the unicorn. Seeing her angry blush, he smirked and said, “Didn’t think so.”

“You’re such a jerk!”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Fuck you!”

“In case you missed it, I have the buckfriend you wanted.”

“Go to hell!”

“Too hot for my tastes.”

“I hate you!”

“I can keep this up all day, missy.”

The unicorn, after having all her insults swatted down by the calm zebra, yelled in frustration and stomped in place. Then her horn glowed and she vanished in a small explosion of magic. She reappeared in front of the zebra and quickly bucked him in the chest.

Zen responded by staring flatly at her, completely unimpressed. This only infuriated the pony more. She floated out her shotgun and aimed it at Zen, her magic just about to squeeze the trigger. However, she was not aware Zen was a trained warrior.

As soon as her horn began to glow, his training took over. The world slowed as though he was in S.T.A.T.S. and his mind targeted every part of her body, unconsciously finding her weak points and what pressure points would do what damage where. The zebra reared onto his hind hooves as he planned his attacks. During the time it took to float out the gun, his hoof hit her chest, beside her leg; her magic would implode in ten seconds.

When the gun had to be aimed, he landed another blow, this time to the side of her neck; there went her back legs. As she collapsed, the zebra hit her on the shoulder, her body seized and she was paralyzed.

The unicorn was on the ground and unable to move before she knew what happened. Zen fell back to his four hooves and snorted, digging a hoof into the dirt. Rose’s Thorn was still floating, and the unicorn had the idea to fire it at him. Then her magic was gone and he caught the gun in his mouth before it could fall to the ground. Lacey would have screamed if she could; she always levitated her gun so she wouldn’t have to clean slobber off all the damn time!

Then, just as suddenly, she was able to move. Part of her thought that he had missed what he was aiming for, but the zebra knew it was a short paralysis attack. The first thing she noticed was the bursts of pain from the attacked spots, but she ignored it. The unicorn stood up quickly and enveloped her gun in her magic, intending to tear it out of Zen’s grip.

Finding that he was fighting her, she pulled harder. The zebra dug in his hooves and gritted his teeth around the gun tighter. While she pulled with her telekinesis, the mare bucked him in the chest repeatedly. It began to hurt, but Zen was in fight mode, the pain was shoved away as he kept his grip on the gun.

“Stop it!!” Sunshy shouted, fluttering down beside the two.

Royal Lace stopped bucking Zen and let her magic fade as she turned to face the pegasus. The zebra loosened his grip on Rose’s Thorn, but continued to hold it as he too turned to Sunshy.

“I am very disappointed in both of you! No, I don’t care who started it, you’re both in trouble with me! Zen, you walk in the front, Lacey, you walk at the back. Celly and I will stay in the middle, to make sure you two don’t start fighting.” Sunshy admonished the two adults as though they were children. At that moment, they felt like it.

Zen silently put the gun on Lacey’s back before staring at the ground in shame. The unicorn levitated Rose’s Thorn and wiped away the spit in her magic before stowing it away. Also shamefaced, she sulked past Sunshy and Celly and stood at the back.

“Now, it’s going to rain soon, so we’ll have to stop in those buildings over there or risk catching a cold. Let’s go.” Sunshy stated, pointing out a cluster of run-down and crumbling buildings.

Silently and still shamefaced, Zen nodded and began walking in the direction his PipBuck had tagged. It was still strange to him to see dots, a compass of sorts, and a little arrow in his vision. But all he had to do was turn off the E.F.S. to make it go away. However, he was too sad to do so.

The group was halfway to the cluster of buildings before Zen realized something. He suddenly stopped walking and looked up to the sky, then back down to Sunshy.

“Are you making me out to be some kind of idiot?” Zen asked with confusion. The pegasus reacted with similar confusion.

“No?”

“It’s not even that cloudy and you said it’s going to rain.”

“Pegasus, remember? We’re more attuned to the weather because we used to control it.” Sunshy flapped his wings while staying on the ground.

“How long before it rains?”

“Only a few minutes after we get inside, if you keep walking.” Sunshy walked past the zebra and continued towards the decrepit buildings.

The zebra sighed before turning and trotting past Sunshy, getting to the front once again. Once they were close enough to the buildings, Zen shushed the others before taking off his saddlebags and putting on his invisibility cloak.

Celly, not one to wait around, put Zen’s saddlebags into her own before she flew up to the roof. By the sounds that quickly followed, she had pounced upon a group of snipers. Zen would probably go up that to take their guns later. Meanwhile, the two ponies waited outside, one rather impatient, as a layer of dark clouds rolled over their heads. Lacey stared up at the dark and thundering blanket in the sky and then to Sunshy with awe. He meekly shrugged his wings.

Then Zen popped out of nowhere and promptly kissed Sunshy with no warning whatsoever.

“Stop doing that!” Lacey shouted at Zen, as Sunshy had done his fainting goat trick, this time with a blush.

“You’re just jelly.”

“Wha—you’re crazy!”

“And I love it!” Zen replied with a rather eerie cackle.

Celly landed beside the group, toting a few sniper rifles in her saddlebag. She might have more, but it was impossible to see. Only the muzzles of the guns poking out were enough to tell them of what she had scavenged. Then the manticore sniffed the air and quickly ducked inside the pony-sized doorway. She had to crawl on her belly to fit inside.

“Come on, you.” Zen bit down on Sunshy’s tail and began dragging the pegasus towards the building.

Then he was enveloped in a pink glow and floated. Lacey walked past, floating Sunshy at chest-level, with a smirk. Zen glared and grumbled as he walked in after them. A second later, the entire inside was illuminated in a flash and was swiftly followed by a thunderclap. Then the rain poured down.

“Damn. Good call, Sunny.” Zen mused as he looked out at the heavy rain. As an afterthought, he kicked on his PipBuck lamp spell.

The pegasus shook himself as he was released from the magic, muttering a thanks. Celly pulled out a lantern from her bag, pushed a button and hung it around her neck. The glow it emitted was light blue and rather…unnatural feeling. Everyone recognized it as a werelight, a bit of fire conjured by magic.

Then Royal Lace did something rather perplexing. She stood as though she was bracing herself and her horn glowed. A barely visible layer of pink magic bloomed from her horn. It flew out as a visible dome, passing through walls and the creatures gathered. A few seconds later, the glow faded away and Royal Lace began panting.

“What the hell was that?” Zen asked bluntly.

“A sort of echolocation spell.” She replied once she had caught her breath, “It lets me see the structure of the building, giving me back a mental map of the place and where things are. Like there’s a grenade bouquet up a few floors.”

“Yeah, I saw that. But since all I know how to do is pull a pin and throw, I didn’t want to risk blowing this place apart.”

“Good idea. Lucky for you, I’m a demolition expert and should be able to disarm that baby. Be right back.” With that, she vanished in a burst of magic.

“Well, now that we’re alone…” Zen walked over to Sunshy and pressed himself against the pegasus, causing him to flush a deep red.

A growl from Celly reminded the zebra that she was still there. He merely waved her off as he nuzzled Sunshy. The manticore took a step forward, as Sunshy appeared uncomfortable. She didn’t have to break them up, as the two jumped apart when another teleportation spell brought back Lacey.

“What the fuck does a zebra have to do to get some fucking alone time?!” Zen shouted to the wasteland before groaning angrily and walking past the unicorn and manticore.

“Did I interrupt something?” Royal Lace asked with a forcibly hidden grin.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Sunshy counter-questioned flatly.

“A buck like that? Of course he’d be over you the second I’m gone. Oh, and I managed to disarm that bouquet, so now we’ve got three pretty grenades. There are some other traps around here, but—“

BLAM!!

“Fuck!”

Sunshy flew as fast as he could, zipping up the stairs and frantically searching around. A flash of lightning allowed him enough light to see the black and white tail lying on the ground outside of a doorframe. He ignored the bodies lying on the ground. The doctor forced his panicking thoughts to the back of his head as he flew down the hall and turned into the room. There was a shotgun mounted on the wall to the immediate left of the door, a broken tripwire, and Zen lying on his side with bleeding bullet holes in his side, cussing colorfully.

“Calm down, Zen, I’ll help. Here,” Sunshy slipped off his saddle boxes and opened them. He pulled out a piece of sanded wood and held it out to Zen. Lacey ran in at that moment and instructed, “Put it in your mouth, stupid!”

“Don’t shout at me!” Zen shouted back before hissing and wincing at the pain in his side. He took the block into his mouth and positioned it so his entire mouth held onto it. “N’w wut?”

“Now,” Sunshy pulled out a pair of sharp tweezers that shone in the light from the PipBuck lamp spell, “I have to pull out the buckshot.”

“Nu-uh.” Zen spat out the wood and said, “Just give me a healing potion.”

“No, if I do that your skin will heal over the bullets and then you have the risk of internal damage.” Sunshy said as he laid out his equipment on a clean towel.

“I’ve done that all the time and I’m fine.” Zen stated offhandedly, but felt his gut twist at the look of fear and shock on Sunshy’s face.

“Wha…you’ll need surgery for something like that…Can’t do that here, too risky. We’ll have to find somewhere equipped for such a thing.”

Lacey floated out one of the towels and pressed it on Zen’s bleeding side. He hissed at the contact, but allowed it. He was already becoming dizzy from the blood loss. Once all of his equipment was laid out, Sunshy took out a thing of Med-X and injected the zebra. Then he lied out a blood pack, some surgical tubes, and with Lacey’s help, set it all up so that the blood would transfer into the zebra.

“This will still hurt, so bite on the wooden board so you don’t bite off your tongue. I’d also appreciate it if you don’t squirm.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re the doctor.” Zen muttered before Lacey shoved the board into his mouth. He shot her a glare. Then he shouted through the wood and involuntarily kicked his legs out as the needle dug into his side.

The unicorn quickly used her magic to try and hold down the zebra’s legs. Celly picked up the unicorn by the mane and dropped her off on the other side of the injured zebra. She then lied down with her legs over Zen’s legs, preventing him from kicking. She also held the blood pack in her mouth so that Lacey did not have to hold it in her telekinesis. All the while, Sunshy professionally kept his calm and dug out one bullet. Then he dropped it into a basin of clean water, dipped the tweezers in, and went back to Zen’s side.

A bolt of lightning was flashed outside. The unicorn acted quickly and used a mute spell, preventing the thunder from startling Sunshy. Zen squeezed his eyes shut and tensed his body as the tweezers dug into his side again. It was the oddest thing, to feel a scream tear from his throat, and yet hear nothing.

An agonizingly painful and slow hour passed before Sunshy wrapped Zen up in enchanted bandages, all the bullets meticulously pulled out. The zebra was shockingly pale and coated with sweat at having to endure such an experience. It took more energy restraining himself than it did to fight back. Once the procedure was over, Celly dried off the zebra with a towel while Lacey and Sunshy put his things away.

“Can’t I have a healing potion?” Zen questioned as soon as the sound turned back on.

Grudgingly, he had to be impressed by how long Lacey held such a spell. She was so exhausted that she was doing everything manually. The unicorn mare didn’t even bother to try lifting anything with her telekinesis. She looked about as exhausted as Zen felt.

A little bottle of some green slush was placed before the zebra by a yellow mouth. He noticed that Sunshy appeared exhausted too.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, not even bothering to look at the healing brew.

“Being a doctor isn’t easy. Putting those you care about through torture, telling yourself that it’s to save their life.” Sunshy smiled bitterly.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Hell, I should get a bucking for walking into such a fucking stupid trap.”

“No, it’s my fault for not warning you. I’m sorry.” Lacey piped up.

“Anything else we should be aware of?” Sunshy asked, not feeling up to doing this or something like it anytime soon.

“I’ll go disarm everything like I should have in the first place.” Lacey walked out of the room, stumbling a little.

Celly quickly got up and used a paw to keep the unicorn mare upright. The manticore crouched down and went out of the room after Lacey. Sunshy smiled at Celly’s helpful nature. Then he looked back to Zen, who was still lying on his side with a blood-and-sweat soaked towel on the ground next to him. He was staring out the glassless window to the rain, lightning, and following thunder.

Sunshy lied down on with his hooves tucked in to Zen’s left, away from the blood. The pegasus held out a wing and draped it around Zen’s body. “Take your medicine,” He muttered as he laid his head next to Zen’s mane. The zebra chuckled before drinking up the healing brew.

“What do you believe in, Zen?” Sunshy questioned, staring out at the dark and dreary scenery.

“Reality.” The zebra answered simply.

“No Goddesses, no afterlife, nothing?”

“That’s for ponies and the Nchi Kavu.”

“So what does ‘reality’ mean?”

“We’re born, we live, and then we die. Anything after is irrelevant. Anything not related to elephants is irrelephant.”

Sunshy snorted in laughter and smiled, to which Zen smiled as well. “Knock it off, I’m being serious.”

“But I like seeing you smile.” Zen answered as he rolled onto his belly with his hooves tucked under his body. He shimmied until he was pressed against the pegasus and then lied his neck across the other stallion’s neck.

“That’s a sort of depressing way to see things…”

“Sure…but it helps me focus on the now. If I don’t worry about what some dead alicorns think about my soul, I feel free to do whatever I want.”

“Isn’t that how raiders are?”

“Oh sure, but I’m different. I have this great inborn sense of right from wrong. Killing people for no good reason: wrong. Killing bad people that kill dozens of people for no good reason: not nearly as bad. Saving lives for no reason other than just because you’re a good pony: really good.”

“So there’s no afterlife for you?”

“None that I believe in. Really, I see religion as a crutch.”

“How so?”

“This world is shit, and every day it’s a fight just to get up out of bed. Hell, some people don’t even have beds; they have whatever plot of dirt they collapsed upon, like we’re doing. So it’s no wonder people turned to a religion to keep them going. If you believe that there is a divine being up there, watching over you, of course you’ll want to do something with your life. It’s not for me, but I see why others believe in it. They couldn’t face themselves, let alone the world, if they didn’t have that sort of help.”

“What keeps you going?”

“It changes constantly. I lived for Caesar, then for myself, and then to help others see their true selves…and now I want to live for you. To keep you safe. You did just save my life, and do you know what that means?” Zen lifted his head up and nuzzled Sunshy’s face.

“I…I think I read about that somewhere…” Sunshy stared up at the ceiling, as though it would give him answers.

“It means you’re responsible for my life now. Unless I decide to take it back, you have full authority over me.” The zebra nipped at the pony’s ear, making him flush and shiver. “So you can do whatever you want to me.”

“That’s quite a way to look at it…I…I’ve been thinking, Zen.” Sunshy looked down to the floor as his face flushed.

“I’d be surprised if you ever stopped.”

“I…I think I’m ready…”

“For what?”

Thoroughly confused, Zen looked to Sunshy and was met with those bright cerulean orbs. They shone quite nicely in the light of the PipBuck. Those eyes were staring rather intently, a small part of them telling Zen he was a bit dense. And then it hit him.

“OH!” Zen quickly stood up and fidgeted on his hooves, looking around at everything awkwardly. “I…I know how I’ve been acting, but I mean…I only kissed you earlier today for the first time and…yesterday you…”

“That’s why I feel I’m ready, Zen. I…I can’t let some stranger looking to gut me right after take my virginity. I want you to be…to be my first.” Sunshy stood up, went over to the zebra, and nuzzled him as he spoke.

“Don’t you think this is a little fast?” Zen questioned, “I don’t want to ruin what could be a really good thing by…by…”

Zen felt his willpower waver and slowly collapse. Damn it, that pegasus was doing it again! Those eyes half-lidded, hair partly over his face, and said rather beautiful face coming ever closer. The zebra’s fight crumbled as the pony kissed him. Enough welled up for him to say, “Promise you’ll love me.”

“I already do.” Sunshy replied in a lusty whisper. And there went the last of Zen’s willpower.

Celly tilted an ear and looked down at the floor. She pressed her head down to the floor and folded her other ear down, to make sure she was hearing correctly. Royal Lace finished disarming a mine and tucked it into Zen’s saddlebags she was borrowing. Then she noticed Celly’s strange position. She poked at the manticore, but that yielded no results.

Mentally shrugging, the unicorn mare went to the stairs, intent on walking back to the two boys and showing them her haul. Lacey yelped in shock as the manticore bit her tail. The diva in her screamed that the stupid lion thing was ruining her tail and wanted to tear it out of her mouth. However, she didn’t, as that would have ruined her tail more.

“What are you doing?” Lacey asked in anger.

Celly shook her head with her eyes wide, screaming at the pony not to go downstairs. Lacey looked at her in angry confusion. The manticore rolled her eyes and then began walking backwards. The unicorn tried to dig in her hooves, but eventually she just let the large creature drag her into a room that was cleaner than the others in that it did not hold any bodies. Then Celly used her scorpion tail to close the door. She promptly flopped down onto her side and closed her eyes. Resigning herself to sleeping there, as the tail was still in front of the door, Lacey lied down next to the warm body and slowly went to sleep.

Level up! You are now level 11!

Perk added! Way of the Voice: You sure know how to throw the verbal punches or you can get anyone to be happy. Centuries-old dragons will cower in fear if you get mad at them. Suicidal sadsacks will see the light of life. It all depends on how you use your power.

Companion Perk! Don’t fear the bomb: Royal Lace is an expert at disarming any sort of bomb. You gain +25 to Explosives just by being around her.

Chapter 12: Chaotic

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 12: Chaotic

”It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned.”

“By whatever gods or goddesses there are up above, I beg, no, implore you to Make. Him. STOP.”

Though he would never say it, Sunshy felt the same as Royal Lace. Shockingly enough, they weren’t talking about Zen, who was known for his chattering mouth. Indeed, he too was in a rather sour mood and had an earbloom in with the radio going to drown out the noise. Celly was flying above the group, little more than a blot in the sky.

Earlier that morning, Celly and Royal Lace ventured back down to the stallions. The manticore made sure she was the first to peak her head into the room in which they had left their companions. Upon seeing that they were still asleep, cutely curled up against one another, she allowed Royal Lace to walk inside.

The unicorn walked inside, froze and stared at the scene, and then promptly walked out. Her face was a few shades redder and looked like she wanted to blow something up. A few minutes later and they would have, seeing as she had a nice array of explosives.

However, something caught her attention.

“GET OUT HERE. NOW!”

The bucks were startled awake, Zen quickly moving to pull out his magic lance, but found his saddlebags were gone. Sunshy quickly slid his saddleboxes on and flew outside, following after Celly and followed by Zen. The latter jumped over the others—quite the impressive feat—and was posed to attack on all fours, but found no red dots on his E.F.S. However, there was one extra blue dot that wasn’t there before.

“Hiii~” A little voice sang. The tall zebra had to look down to find the source.

It was that zebrony colt, the son of that slaving-shockingly-nice cowpony whatsherface. The colt bounced in place and giggled. Royal Lace was looking down to the colt with the look of someone who had just tasted a lemon for the first time. Sunshy was worried and shocked. Celly just kept a wary eye on the child.

“I had to travel really far to find you all! But I followed your hoofprints and they were easy to follow and they led here! And here you are!” Shorty exclaimed.

“What.” Zen stated, staring down at the child.

“Shorty, why did you follow us?” Sunshy asked.

“Doesn’t matter, we’re taking you home.” Lacey nudged the child until he turned around and pushed him forward with her magic.

“No! I don’t wanna go! I wanna adventure with you guys!” Shorty dug in his hooves and strained against the magic, to no avail.

“You’re mother must be worried sick about you, so we’re taking you home.” Lacey continued pushing him, with the rest of the group following behind.

“She’s not even my real mommy!”

“Okay, now that’s a lie, you look just like her. Even if it’s true, she’s the one who’s raising you and she loves you, so she’s your mom.”

“Noooooo!” Shorty whined and flopped onto his belly. He dug his front hooves into the dirt. Royal Lace stopped pushing, trotted in front of him, and started pulling on his tail with her magic.

“Do we really have to walk all the way back to her farm? Can’t you just teleport him back or something?” Zen questioned, not at all looking forward to wasting such time.

“Too hard, something might go wrong. Last time I tried teleporting someone other than myself, they ended up with burns.”

“Oh my.” Sunshy quietly stated. “We could use a Sky Carriage.”

“What’s that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. A carriage that pegasi can use. Or, really, anything with wings.”

“Cool. Hey, can I have my saddlebags back?”

“Fine.” Lacey levitated Zen’s bags off her back and placed them on the zebra’s back. He was a little surprised at the extra weight, but kept walking in stride.

After an hour, Shorty gave up trying to fight being taken home. So he was allowed to trot alongside them. That was when they found out that when he was really excited, he would not shut up. The child bugged all of them to see their weapons, see them fight something, what they did, what they liked, anything that popped into his head. Celly decided at that moment to fly above them to escape the noise.

Being such a kind-hearted pony, Sunshy answered the child as best he could. He told him that the weapons were dangerous and not to be played with or ever shown off. However, when that did not stop the child’s ramblings, Zen snapped and barked at the child to shut up. Short Stuff jumped and hid behind Sunshy, tears forming at the edges of his eyes.

Zen walked at the back with his ears down, getting the cold shoulder from Sunshy for the rest of the trek back to Pretty Cow’s farm. Royal Lace couldn’t help but smirk and have a little spring in her step after that.

Pretty Cow was in hysterics when they brought Short Stuff back to her. It took a lot of prying to get the concerned mother to stop crushing Sunshy in a hug. And forget a bath; her tears had cleaned his coat quite nicely. She tried to pay them for bringing her baby back, but only Zen was alright with that. Just letting the two ponies free was more than enough for them.

They resumed traveling immediately after, heading back towards Nchi Kavu at a gallop to make up for lost time. Because of this, they weren’t too focused on watching where they were going. A rather bad mistake, and a huge one.

Sunshy shrieked in a rather undignified manner as his hoof tripped over something and his back flipped over his head. Then, as soon as his rump hit the ground, a hole opened up into a tunnel. The pegasus would have taken the time to wonder about that if he wasn’t sliding down at breakneck speed, shouting at the top of his lungs. Zen dove in after him, followed by Lacey, and Celly dove at the hole. She landed on the ground and made to claw it open, but the hole was obliging enough to gape and swallow her as well. It closed behind her.

The tunnel went down at a downward slope, thankfully not completely straight down. It was pitch black inside, adding to the terror of Sunshy’s claustrophobia. However, the bottom was not dirt. It was so slick and the smell wafting off it…it seemed like…soap?

The group was sure they’d love to wonder about that, if they weren’t all sliding down to their doom.

The tunnel had twists and turns, corkscrews, and impossibly circled up and then back down. After the first couple turns, they all began laughing. Their impending doom had somehow become a ride.

A minute or so passed before Sunshy spotted light. Moments later, he tumbled out of the tunnel, all gangly limbs rolling on the ground. Zen came after and hit him like a bowling ball. Royal Lace forced her head up to prevent any injury to her horn. This caused her to roll awkwardly on her side. Celly had the good sense to open her wings out in the shockingly large tunnel. She was able to slow her descent and step out of the slide-tunnel with dignity.

Zen and Sunshy untangled themselves from each other while Royal Lace picked herself up, shaking off the force of the impact. They all looked to each other and then busted out laughing. Then a sound caught their attention.

It sounded like someone was…clapping their hooves together, but somehow different. When they listened hard, they could hear random sounds underlying the clapping. There was a camera shutter, a frog croak, a bird chirp, a goat braying, to name a few. All their laughter evaporated and was replaced by confusion.

“Oh, I am so glad you finally decided to drop in, my little ponies, zebra, and manticore.” A strange voice called out from nowhere.

The group took stock of their surroundings for the first time. They were inside a cave with a large wall of small screens, each one showing something different. Some were of pones, and by the dreary gray, probably in Equestria. Others were in Savannah, showing zebras dressed in strange armored dresses that were all red and gold. A few were of the cold northern mountains. More showed the area Sunshy knew as being south of Equestria, some connecting states of some sort; part of Equestria, but not.

In front of the wall of televisions was a throne. It was long and thin; making what could be a face at the top. Two deer antlers grew from the top. But it was facing the wall, so they could not see much other than the gray stone back. And the inside was…quite strange. There were upside-down houses floating in the air. A giant house of cards built off to the side. There were bushes of thorns all around. The floor was not rock, it was some sort of tile, pink and purple checkered tile. A few pies flew up and vanished into the ceiling, then appeared at the floor, and repeated the process. Then there were the pink clouds that rained chocolate milk.

All in all, it was surreal and bizarre.

And then, they all let out a shriek at the same time.

Before them, the strangest mutated creature to have ever existed appeared.

The thing had the gray head of a horse, with one long fang growing out of his right side. He had long white eyebrows and a white beard. On his head sat two different horns; the right was like a deer’s antler, while the left was a goat. He had a thin black mane going down with the gray fur, cut short. The thing had two yellow eyes with red pupils, each one a different size. His ears were thin and long, almost feline.

The middle of his body was brown and made up of feathers. His left hand was that of an eagle, like a griffon, while the right was a lion’s paw. On his back were wings, one blue and like a pegasus, and the other a bat. The legs were mismatched as well; the right leg was that of a green lizard, and his left leg was a light brown goat. A tail curled out of his body, red and scaled like a snake, with a tuft of white fur at the end. Spikes grew up from the snake tail and up part of his back.

“Discord, the draconequus,” Sunshy breathed. Only he recognized the creature floating before them immediately, “and spirit of Disharmony and Chaos.”

Discord laughed a bit as he clapped his mismatched hands together; clap, cha-ching, clap, bark, clap, moo. Spirit of chaos, indeed. “Oh, very good, very good indeed, dear Sunshy.”

“Who? What? I’m so confused.” Zen stated, unable to comprehend the creature before them.

“Of course you don’t, Zen, your people have no knowledge of me. Only the ponies remember me, and that’s only those who study up on history.” Discord floated over to the group and drew a claw under Sunshy’s muzzle with his eagle hand.

“Don’t touch him!” Zen shouted without understanding the danger. His mind was focused only on keeping Sunshy safe from what could be a potential threat.

The spirit smirked in amusement and floated away as Zen whipped out a Zebra Rifle. Discord waved a hand over his chest and a bull’s-eye appeared. Zen growled and shot three armor-piercing incendiary bullets at him. They pierced and went clean through the creature, hitting one of the screens. It went blank for a while, but then the image reappeared, fully functional. Discord guffawed as the four stared at him and the screen in open awe.

“You should see the looks on your faces!” He proclaimed, clutching his sides as he floated in the air, flapping his wings, “Priceless!”

“That doesn’t make sense…” Royal Lace breathed, glancing between the draconequus.

“Sense?” Discord chuckled as a glass appeared in his hand. “What fun is there in making sense?”

Then a pink cloud appeared out of nothing and rained chocolate milk into the glass. It filled from the top down. Then he brought it to his mouth and drank the glass. He threw the remaining liquid that impossible held its shape over his shoulder, and it exploded like a missile, making the group cringe from the blast wave and dust. The screens somehow survived. Discord acted as though nothing happened while he put on some sunglasses.

“Di…Discord?” Sunshy stammered out, making himself as small and unintimidating as impossible.

“Hmm?” The spirit floated over and hung in the air upside-down in front of the yellow and red pegasus, smiling at him.

“Wh…why are we here?”

“Ha! That’s a simple one.” Discord answered with a smile, pulling down his sunglasses.

“It doesn’t matter! We’re going to kill you if you touch him again!” Zen threatened, running up and pointing the muzzle of his gun at the spirit’s head.

“You’re so boring, zebra boy. Have some fun!” The draconequus turned over and held his head in his paw and claw, smiling.

“Zen, don’t, you don’t understand who he is.” Sunshy warned, placing a hoof on the gun. After sharing a glance, Zen reluctantly put away his gun.

“Enlighten us, then. Who are you?” Lacey questioned, walking forward to the creature.

“As your brilliant Sunny here said, I’m Discord, the last of my kind and the spirit of Disharmony and Chaos. A couple thousand years ago, those stick-in-the-mud Princesses imprisoned me in stone by the power of the Elements of Harmony for having a little fun with all the ponies. Then, not long after I was freed, those pesky friends you know as the Ministry Mares imprisoned me once again.” Discord made statues of the ponies he talked about as he spoke. There were the Goddesses Celestia and Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.

“Then how are you free?”

Discord stared at the unicorn mare as though she was soft in the head. The statues vanished as he sighed, preparing for another explanation.

“The world is chaotic. Of course he’s free. The wasteland of the world is his domain.”

The group all searched for the source of the voice, except for Discord and Celly. The former was staring at the latter with a smug smile. The manticore had her jaw hanging open in shock.

“I can talk Equestrian?!” The voice of a mare came out of the manticore’s mouth. Discord laughed at their expressions.

“You can talk?!” The equines shouted at Celly, all taken aback.

“She’s always been able to talk, you just couldn’t listen.” Discord managed to say after his laughing fit. Then he saw that none of them were paying any attention to him. He scowled at that and teleported in front of their line of sight, snapping at them to catch their attention; snap, neigh, snap, boop, snap, plop.

“Did you do this?!” Zen demanded of the spirit.

“Why, yes, I did. Do you like it?” Discord chuckled, floating around the manticore.

“Just…surprised is all…” Sunshy stated, earning a nod from Celly.

“We…weirdness aside…what are we here for?” Celly questioned, looking to the draconequus.

“I need you to find the Elements of Disharmony. They are Bigotry, Greed, Treachery, Sadness, Deceit, and Cruelty. And if you have time, find someone with the virtue of Laughter, it’s my personal favorite.”

“Why? Why should we help you?” Zen demanded.

“Because if you don’t I will make sure your lives are a living hell, even more than they are now. Why, haven’t you noticed how swell things have been going? That’s only a small taste of my power. Gain my favor and I will reward you all any way you like.” Discord used his snake tongue to catch a floating-by pink cloud and ate it.

“Why should—“ Lacey questioned.

“A sky carriage. We need one to get everywhere faster than on hoof.” Zen demanded.

“Done and done.” Discord appeared as an arm around Zen’s shoulder; the rest of his body appeared after a moment, “And as a show of good faith, I’ll make it boring and normal just for you.”

The spirit snapped his eagle claws and in a burst of light, a blue carriage with the pattern of clouds on it appeared. The sky carriage was large enough to hold a family of ponies as well as some equipment. There was a harness sticking out in the front, large enough for Celly to be strapped in and pull them along. The doors were made entirely of glass, allowing one to see into the plush interior.

“Does it work?” Lacey questioned, dubiously scanning the carriage. Discord scoffed and looked as though he was offended.

“Of course it works. I said it was a show of good faith, didn’t I? Now, my little errand runners, I leave you with this.” Discord snapped his fingers again.

A little collar appeared around Sunshy’s neck. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as strangling as the slave collar. It was made of a thin material and was colored the same as his fur. Unless someone stared at it directly, it was almost impossible to see.

“What’s this?” Sunshy questioned, trying to see the collar.

“A little invention of mine that will help you find the bearers of the Elements of Disharmony. It will help me keep an eye on you as well.” The draconequus appeared as a large eye beside the pegasus before his body unraveled.

“Why us?” Celly questioned.

“Because Sunshy here is the only one in all of the Savannah wasteland to know who I am and what can happen if he doesn’t do as I ask.” Discord hung his head upside-down in front of the pegasus, who shied back from him.

“And why do you want the bearers of the Elements of Disharmony, anyway?” Zen asked, getting closer to Sunshy defensively.

“Insurance, you could say. I’ve become a little uneasy at how close that dragon has gotten to collecting a full set of the Elements of Harmony bearers. I’m not taking a chance of going back to that horrible prison of stone ever again.” The spirit of Chaos frowned deeply as he righted himself, seeming very angry. The pink clouds turned a violent red and the chocolate milk rain began falling harder, solidifying into hail. The stack of cards shuttered and swayed. The pies began exploding.

“Okay! Okay, we’ll help, just please calm down.” Sunshy stated, already knowing that he had no possibility of backing out of this.

“And that’s why I chose you, little sunshine. Always so helpful.” Discord patted the pegasus on the head, earning a dog-like growl from Zen, “Oh, calm yourself Zen, you’re already in the spot for Greed.”

That shut him up. The group all looked to him in shock. Sunshy had a mix of shock, hurt, and confusion.

“What. Did. You. Say?” Zen demanded slowly, threateningly.

“Don’t take it so personally, boy. Your greed is something quite admirable, to be sure. You protect Sunshy with your life because he’s yours right?”

“I protect him because I love him!”

“Oh, sure, there’s that too, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. That little voice in your head that tells you to kill anything that gets too close to your Sunshy.” Discord turned into a tiny version of himself, sitting atop the zebra’s head.

“You’re wrong!” Zen shouted as he shook the spirit off.

With a smirk, Discord grew to his normal large size and poked Sunshy on the head. A rather innocent gesture, one with no malicious intent or any chaotic magic. And yet, it set Zen off.

The zebra pulled out his electric lance and jumped at the draconequus, slashing at his throat. Discord merely teleported away in a flash of white light. He reappeared sitting on the top of his throne with a smug smile; the lizard leg crossed over his goat leg.

“See? But don’t feel bad about it, it’s admirable. Your tremendous greed manifests itself into a rather warped version of loyalty. So it’s not all bad, you see.” The spirit of chaos placed his head in his eagle claw. “Of course, you still are greedy in the normal way.”

“Stop talking!!” Zen shouted, dropping the lance. His voice was coated with the sound of oncoming tears.

“You’re still the same Zen I know and love.” Sunshy assured as he walked over to the zebra and nuzzled the side of his face.

“See? All is well. Now, I am missing some wonderful chaos here. Arrivederci.” The draconequus snapped his claws.

Blinding, bright light!

The Cave of Chaos, as Sunshy had decided to call it, was gone. Once his eyes adjusted from the blinding light, he could see that they were outside. Quickly, he did a head count. Himself, Zen, Royal Lace, and Celly. Also, that sky carriage. Celly had become strapped to it, so that they could take off right after leaving that cave. She was rather confused and stared at it and looked around, trying to gather hear bearings. Speaking of which, Sunshy noted that all their saddlebags had been placed inside the carriage. Maybe completely glass doors weren’t a good idea…

“Are we really going to do as he says?” Royal Lace questioned, looking to Sunshy.

“We don’t have much of a choice.” Zen stated grumpily as he stormed into the sky carriage. The zebra lied down on the blush dark blue seat, facing the wall.

The two ponies gave each other a glance before joining him in the carriage. Sunshy sat next to Zen while Lacey lied down on the entirety of the opposite bench. A growl came from Celly, sounding curious. While he could still understand her, Sunshy was a little sad that his sister could no longer speak Equestrian.

“Nchi Kavu, yes.” Sunshy answered her, his eyes on Zen.

They heard the large bat wings beat before the carriage lifted up. A moment later, and they were moving. Lacey, ecstatic, stared out the glass doors down at the scenery below, a broad grin on her face. The trip to Nchi Kavu, which would have taken a good two days on hoof, would now only take a matter of hours.

Hopefully, hours in which Zen would stop sulking.

Sunshy’s ears folded as he kept his eyes on the sad zebra. Those black and white striped ears were pressed against his skull in sorrow. The pegasus lied his head down on Zen’s back. The zebra made no motion or any acknowledgement.

An hour passed, in which the group could see with perfect clarity as Celestia’s sun moved down. The dry and barren wasteland seemed even worse from up above. A lot of brown was all that there seemed to be. Other than the spots of trees and skeletons of cities, there was brown. Sunshy asked why there were so many tiny cities.

“Savannah worked different than Equestria. Instead of large cities stretched out, they had small cities with big buildings all over the place. Some were for work, some only sold groceries, and some were apartments. I guess it all makes for great looting.” Royal Lace answered, continuing to gaze down.

Only then did Zen speak.

“He’s right, you know.” Zen muttered. “First time I saw you, know what I thought? He has to be mine. I thought of you like a trophy, Sunny.”

“I already told you, I don’t care. I hardly believe that you’re all that greedy, anyway.” Sunny placed a kiss on Zen’s cheek.

“Really? When I suggested spending those caps in Borderlands, I just wanted free stuff that came out of your pocket. Then those same caps would be used to pay me because I lived and worked there. I only freed Celly because that would mean getting to you faster. I scavenge to get as many caps as possible. I kill people who try to rob me. No questions asked, and no thoughts behind it. I’m not worthy of a pony like you.”

“No one is perfect, Zen.”

“At least you have a virtue now…Granted, it ain’t the best one out there…but you make good work of it. You spend those caps on food and whatnot, right? Keep you all safe and fed. Sure, you may be a selfish asshole about Sunshy, but at least you do something to protect him. It doesn’t matter if your intentions aren’t that great. I just know now not to ask you for any handouts.” Royal Lace interjected. She managed to get a small smile from the zebra, which got a smile from Sunshy.

“I still hate you.”

“It’d be weird if you didn’t.”

Sunshy sighed with a smile at his friends. The pegasus sat upright as the sky carriage slowly began to descend. Looking out of the glass door, he could see the green splotch that was Nchi Kavu. All of the equines smiled.

Home.

Level up! You are now level 12!

Perk added! Touched by Discord: A certain Spirit of Chaos is watching you. Any time you get into a tight spot, he will come to your aid and fell any of your foes left. While his accuracy is great, his methods are bad for your sanity.

Main Quest added! Elements of Disharmony: You have to find the six elements of Disharmony for Discord. They could be anywhere, but at least you have a scarf-collar-thing to help.

Completed: Element of Greed found.

Update: Elements of Bigotry, Treachery, Sadness, Deceit, and Cruelty left.

Chapter 13: Calm

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 13: Calm

”After a storm comes a calm.”--Matthew Henry

Celly opened her wings wide and beat them down to soften her landing. The manticore’s muzzle turned up into a smile as her paws touched upon the soft grass. Not far off, there were some nests with ostriches bedding down and others milling around, guarding. At the gate, there were zebra guards and buffalo on guard. More pedestrians were walking around and grazing.

All eyes turned to the manticore pulling a flying wagon that was painted to match the sky, with glass doors, and equines inside. Once the guards assured the zebras and bison that they were not hostile, they went back to grazing and chatting. One guard went inside while the group got out.

While the boys picked up their saddlebags, Lacey jumped outside and unstrapped Celly from the Sky Carriage with her magic. As she turned back to watch the boys step out, the mare noticed words on the side of the carriage she had missed previously. In what she had mistaken as a pattern of clouds, there were the words ”Alicorns’ Bane”. The pony frowned at that.

“Tall Soft Heart!” A booming voice called out.

Sunshy turned just in time to be swept up into a great big hug by the crushingly large Chief Fluffy Doom. The doctor was sure he heard and felt something of his break. Trying to be nice, he bit back the pain and forced a weak smile. The bison dropped the pony, allowing him to fall to the ground. The spike of pain in his legs caused him to collapsed; yep, broken.

“Great to see you, gotta get back to our hut, bye!” Zen saw his colt-friend in pain and quickly covered for him, walking over to him with the intent to sweep him away.

The manticore saw it too and acted quickly. She closed the space between them in a single bound, grabbed Sunshy by the mane, and deposited him on her back. Celly jumped up into the air and soared over the wall. All the huts appeared the same to her; a helpful buffalo mare pointed her in the right direction. While she could not see it, she heard the other two galloping after them.

Celly kept her wings open as she bounded off to keep her landings as soft as possible. Sunshy pulled on her ear when she bounded right past their hut. The manticore skidded to a stop, turned back, and pushed the door open with a paw.

The hut was surprisingly tall; however, Sunshy recalled that full-grown buffalo did live here. Celly was able to walk inside with only minimal ducking. The inside was scarcely furnished, with only a pile of hay on each far sort of end that a circle hut could make, a table opposite of the door with a lamp of werefire, a fridge running on a few spark batteries against the right wall, and a pile of things they had gotten for presents dumped into the middle of hut.

The manticore walked over to one pile of hay and waited as Sunshy fluttered over to the pile and gingerly lied down, favoring his broken leg.

“I’ll need a brace to set this in before it heals improperly.” The pegasus doctor told his sister.

Celly nodded and walked out, bumping into Zen and Royal Lace. The latter squeezed inside and saw the state of Sunshy’s leg. It had begun swelling and was bent at an unusual angle. She quickly bolted out of the hut, shouting for a leg brace as Celly circled into the air. Zen lied down next to Sunshy, who continued to favor his injured leg.

“Can’t believe you really broke your leg from a hug.” Zen stated.

“I have a fragile bone structure.” Sunshy offered weakly with a wing-shrug.

“Even your leg bone? Isn’t that one of the strongest bones?”

“Hard to not see how skinny I am. I’ve always had a rather weak bone structure. Honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t broken anything before this. Like falling out of that slide from…Wait a minute! Discord, can you hear me?” Sunshy leaned his head back and tried to get his “gift” from Discord into his sight.

“Kinda hard not to with you yelling, Sunny. So, what do you want?” The voice of their benefactor floated from the translucent collar. Zen was rather shocked at how clear it was, but kept quiet.

“What did you mean ‘How swell things had been going’? I was almost raped and then gutted!” Sunshy stated strongly; the zebra nuzzled his cheek in an attempt to calm him down.

“But you got away, made your first kill, and realized your true feelings for Zen. It all worked out.” The voice was followed by a chuckle.

“I never wanted to kill anyone. Ever…”

“You have to out in the wasteland. It’s sort of my rule.”

“Well…well…” Sunshy stared around, trying to find the right words for how he felt.

“Yes?” The spirit of Chaos prompted. Zen could envision him here, floating up with his head in his hands, staring down at Sunshy with that stupid grin, just waiting for his response.

“Fuck you!” Sunshy shouted, startling the zebra into staring at him wide-eyed.

“Ah, there’s the real Sunny. Nice to meet you.” Discord chuckled.

“Arrggghhhh!” Sunshy floated so he could stamp down his good hoof, “I used to be a kind, caring, never-lost-my-temper pony! And now I’m turning into an asshole! I hate this wasteland!”

“Hey, I think I’m doing a good job. You saw my cave, would you like the rest of the world to look like that?”

“No…that made my head hurt.” Sunshy resigned as he landed and lied down, holding his injured leg out awkwardly.

“Really? Too bad, I was thinking of turning the world into that nice insane chaos and not this kill-everything-that’s-alive chaos.”

“I change my mind! I want that world; I’m fine with that world.”

“Nope, too late, I’ve made up my mind. Wasteland stays as it is.”

“You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?” Sunshy grumbled, laying his head on his hoof.

“It’s really quite fun. You’re easy to annoy.”

“If you weren’t so darn powerful, I’d tear off this collar and just tell you to buck off.” Zen couldn’t help but snort at Sunshy’s sudden restriction of swearing.

“Good thing I have your life and the lives of your friends in my claws, then.”

“Sunny? We got you that leg brace.” Royal Lace said from outside the hut.

The unicorn mare floated the blue leather-and-metal contraption inside their home before she walked in; Celly stayed outside, sitting guard. Mentally preparing himself, the doctor stood up and held his broken leg out. Lacey slipped the brace on and then enveloped his entire leg in her magic. The two locked eyes, the unicorn asking if what she had to do was alright with him. Silently, the pegasus nodded and scrunched his eyes shut.

Zen dug in Sunshy’s saddlebox, pulled out a Med-X, and injected it into his buckfriend’s leg moments before Lacey used her telekinesis to pop the bone into place. Even with the numbing effect from the drug, the pegasus still shouted in pain and collapsed, trying not to cry.

The zebra lied down next to him and cuddled, trying to ease his pain however he could. The unicorn floated out a pink healing potion to the pegasus’s lips. He finished the drink in one go, letting out a sigh of bliss as the bone that would have taken months to heal mended itself in a matter of moments. Lacey smiled as she took off the brace, folded it up neatly, and placed it in Sunshy’s enchanted saddlebox.

“How in the world did you break your leg?” Discord asked through the collar. His voice startled Royal Lace; she whipped her head around, trying to find the source, but came up with nothing.

“A hug from Chief Fluffy Doom.” Zen answered, finding it so terribly ironic when said aloud.

“Zen! So glad you’re here, I have something for you.”

Without another warning, the spirit of Disharmony and Chaos appeared in the tiny hut. Apparently, he was not expecting it to be so small, as he tried to stand and hit his horns on the grass roof. The zebra and unicorn had to hold back their giggles as he pulled the dried flora from his horns and brushed it off his head. His tail snaked to the door and closed it; the werelight lantern flared up instantly as a bright red and yellow flame.

“I forgot to give you this before you all left in such a hurry.” Discord proclaimed before producing a necklace from nothingness in his paw hand. Sunshy wanted to point out that he was the one to send them away, but restrained from doing so.

The necklace Discord had conjured was blood red. In the middle were a couple of gems in the shape of a chest with a padlock on it. Zen stared at it for a while before proclaiming, “That shit is girly.”

“Of course it’s girly; the last bearer was a pony mare. And that’s why it always kills me to read those old war propaganda posters. Like there’s this one on the Manehatten Celestia Line that just slays me!” Apparently it was really funny, as he started laughing his head off…literally. Even though he was the one to close the door, there were probably others outside wonder what the hell was going on. Once he had his head back onto his body—it had been rolling around in the air—then the spirit looked to Zen. “Alright, enough fun, take it.”

“Hell no, I ain’t wearing that girly shit.”

“Wear. It.” The draconequus held it up at Zen, who shook his head.

Then the zebra bolted to the door, but found it would not open. Discord floated after him, still holding the necklace in his eagle claw hand out to the zebra. Zen dashed under the floating creature and out of his grip. It quickly turned into a chase scene straight out of one of those stupid television shows Sunshy watched as a colt.

The chase was short, especially since Discord just threw his tail out and ensnared the zebra by the hooves. Once on the ground, he was lifted up in a way that his bound hog-tied-hooves were up in the air. Discord smirked at the zebra in triumph. Zen just huffed and squirmed against his bindings.

Discord used his free hands to hook the necklace around the struggling black and white equine. Almost instantly, the necklace glowed and changed form. After a few moments, it melted into the shape of a platinum spiked collar with his black circle of Zen in the middle.

“Proof! You really are the Bearer of the Element of Greed.” Discord chuckled as he let Zen drop to the floor ungracefully.

The zebra landed heavily and groaned. Sunshy helped him roll onto his hooves and checked over his back with the eyes of a professional. The pegasus fluttered over to the pile and dug around, though no one was sure what he was hoping he would find. Discord snorted in laughter when the pony became little more than a rump, tail, and hindhooves; the rest was buried in junk.

“Quit lookin’ at my stallion!” Zen shouted before launching himself at the spirit. The lithe creature moved his snake-like body forward just a bit so that he was in the shape of an S, dodging the attack entirely.

“Really? You really tried that again?” Discord sounded disappointed more than anything as he floated above the zebra.

“I learn slow…” Zen acknowledged with a frown.

With an exclamation of triumph, Sunshy wiggled himself out of his pile—which filled in the hole after him—and walked over to his coltfriend with an icepack in his mouth. The pony placed it on the ground and stomped on it; the pack crackled and solidified. He then picked it up and set it down on the zebra’s back. In response, he let out a moan that was almost orgasmic, making the pegasus flush red and trot over to the other side of the room, pointedly staying quiet.

“I think he did that just to make you uncomfortable.” Lacey pointed out to the pegasus with a slight frown and a shake of her head at the zebra. Then the unicorn thought of something, “Hey wait, it rained yesterday, so our prints would be washed away…”

“Yeah?” Zen questioned as Discord conjured a cotton candy cloud.

“Then how did Shorty find us?”

“I led him to you.” The spirit of Chaos answered simply, his muzzle coated in the sweet treat.

“Why?”

“So you’d be near my slide. I wanted us to be on good terms for our first meeting.” Discord answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“I just thought of something. Zen, isn’t your cutie, I mean Glyph Mark about teaching self-enlightenment?” Sunshy questioned, finally turning away from the wall. “I thought you said you liked helping others.”

“Oh, I like it, I just like charging others if they want my help to know themselves. I got my mark when I was enlightened about myself, not others.” Zen answered, still lying on the ground in icepack bliss.

“Selfish asshole. I had you pegged from the beginning.” Lacey shot at the zebra.

“You’re not any better, miss Bigotry.” Discord chuckled as he floated above the unicorn mare.

A blood red necklace was in his eagle claw, one with a gem of a bubbling beaker tube and bubbles foaming from the top. The necklace was dropped from his claw and landed on Royal Lace’s horn, which stuck out from under her hat. The necklace glowed white and slid down to her neck. The necklace changed into solid gold with a decoration in the middle of a crown made of lavish and beautiful lace. The gems that made it sparkled, as though it was diamond. At a second look at Zen’s collar showed that his glyph mark on it was comprised of black jewels.

With a smile, Discord stated, “My work here is done,” and then vanished in a blink of white light.

“Someone has some explaining to do.” Zen said in a sing-song voice.

“Fine!”

Royal Lace quickly and messily took off her duster, tearing parts off in her haste. It was thrown messily onto the ground, along with her hat. Her mane and tail were a little rustled from such action. Then her horn glowed briefly, making her cutie mark flash. Once the light faded, the icon on the necklace appeared on her flanks.

“I lied about my cutie mark, but the rest I told you is true, Sunshy. I was old enough to at least have my cutie mark when that Legate came to marry me and I ran away. My cutie mark means that I’m exactly what you’d think. I was raised to know and still know I’m a fucking princess who looks out only for number one: me.” Royal Lace told them boldly, daring them to think less of her.

“But…I thought we were friends.” Sunshy stared at Lacey with a visage of utter heartbreak.

“I…” The unicorn’s huffy attitude deflated. “You’re a pegasus, and I’ve seen maybe one other in my life. So I thought you could be a useful ally, like with aerial attacks. Finding out you were a doctor…I knew I’d have to stick with you. Like I said before, doctors are rare and I knew if I befriended you, I’d be able to live a hell of a lot longer.” To her credit, Lacey appeared slightly ashamed of herself.

“Get the fuck out of here.” Zen stood up and walked over to the unicorn mare with a heated glare.

“What?” Royal Lace had the decency to appear shocked.

The zebra refused to repeat himself, instead stomping his hoof down close to her own. She turned to Sunshy for help, but he stared down, unable to look at her. Dejected, she held back her hurt and turned around. The unicorn mare pushed the door open and walked outside, past Celly. Curious at this, the manticore poked her head in and growled curiously.

Seeing her brother sulking, she crawled inside and curled around him, nuzzling his face in a comforting manner. Zen dug his hoof in the ground awkwardly, unsure as to what he was allowed to do. A scorpion tail wrapped around his body, lifted him up, and pulled him over. She set him down next to Sunshy and draped her wing around the two as the pegasus snuggled up to his coltfriend.

“I thought you’d be angry at me too…” Zen admitted.

“I’m not angry…I just feel…disillusioned. I should have been expecting this…I was told by just about everyone that everyone in the wasteland are bad ponies.” Sunshy muttered.

“I am a pretty crappy pony.” Zen agreed; Sunshy sputtered a laugh and giggled.

“If you were a bad person, I wouldn’t give you the time of day.”

Celly pulled her wing back and licked the two stallions on their heads. Then she walked over to the still open door and went outside, pulling it closed with her tail. Before she closed the door, she gave the boys a knowing smile as they cuddled up against each other.

However, the two jolted upright when the door suddenly slammed open. Zen glared at the intruder and then snarled upon seeing it was Lacey pushing Celly back inside. The pony ignored his anger and walked inside, her horn glowing. First, the couple were lifted up slightly and placed on the left hay pile; Celly walked after them and lied down around the two. After they were set down, the pile of junk in the middle glowed pink and was scooted off to the bottom-right of the hut.

The glow lessened until only a small hoof-sized section on the top was enveloped in pink. The items inside the magic floated in the air; a gun, some ammo, and a book. Lacey laid them down in seemingly random spots in the middle of the hut.

This process of hers was repeated until the pile of junk turned into two lines of organized items. Then she lifted up the saddlebag/boxes of the two boys and one manticore and dumped their things out. She repeated her process of organization while the slightly confused and rather miffed bucks simply watched.

They were grumpily thankful that she gave them a couple cans of corn; it was at that moment that they remembered they had yet to eat. One slab of Brahmin meat was thrown Celly’s way and was snapped up in an instant. As an afterthought, she floated over a couple canteens of dirty water.

The last organizing she did was setting their caps into piles of twenty. The majority of caps came from Zen’s saddles. Unsurprising, given what they now knew of him. He didn’t miss the sideways glance she shot him.

“Alright, now that we’re organized, we have to decide what to keep and what to sell.” Lacey stated as she placed their saddlebags in front of them, wide open. She also placed a spare, which they guessed would now be hers.

“All the medicinal items we keep in Sunshy’s boxes. I say we keep food not in cans with you, too, that way they won’t get punctured by stray bullets if we ever get into gunfights.” Zen offered, his anger set aside for this task.

“Okay.” Lacey floated most of what had been in Sunshy’s boxes back into them. A few wrapped-up sandwiches also went inside.

“That tiny stick is Zen’s, so put that back.” Sunshy walked over to the northern end of the pile, pointing to a tiny wooden cylinder under the Misc. pile.

“Don’t get why you need that.” Royal Lace muttered as she lifted it in her telekinesis.

“It’s my retractable lance, remember?” Zen told her in a ‘god-are-you-stupid’ tone of voice.

In response, she ‘accidentally’ poked him in the eye with it before settling it into his saddlebag. The zebra had quite a few colorful phrases for her as Sunshy placed the still-functioning icepack onto Zen’s eye.

After a few minutes, Sunshy, Celly, and Royal Lace were walking toward the center of town with their saddlebags full of items to sell. Zen refused to go anywhere with the unicorn and opted to brush up on Zebra Infiltration Tactics even though Sunshy was sure the zebra was able to sneak past Killing Joke.

“Hello, hello my pony friends! The fun at Wairu’s never ends!” A zebra shouted at them over the bustle of town square.

Sunshy quickly brightened upon seeing the zebra and walked over to him, remembering his tipi from his encounter with Versatile and the robot –pony’s friends. Sunshy wondered how they were doing and a pang of guilt struck him upon remembering he was not able to help more. The zebra smiled at the three as he sat in the entrance to his colorful tipi.

”Hello Wairu.” Sunshy greeted in Zebra.

”Ah, Tall Soft Heart, it’s so good to see you alive and in one peace. Chief Fluffy Doom was all riled up at your disappearance, but I’m sure you’ve heard. Now, what can Wairu do for you today?” The polite saleszebra smiled at his potential customers.

”We have some things to sell or trade, depending.” Royal Lace answered, surprising Sunshy. He admonished himself mentally; of course she could speak Zebra, she grew up with them, after all.

”Come inside, please. Take a look at my wares and we can discuss sales.”

Wairu got up and led the three inside. Celly had to crawl again to take up less room, but she didn’t seem to mind. Sunshy openly gasped at the amount of objects that the vendor had displayed inside his tipi. Guns of all variations, melee weapons, ammo, food, bottled water of varying cleanliness, outfits, and other items were strewn about in organized chaos. Sunshy, however, had his eyes set upon the drying plants hanging from some shelves.

”An alchemist, I take it?” Wairu questioned upon seeing the pegasus’s face.

”Hold on, we don’t really have any caps. Side effect of being slaves and whatnot. So we’ll have to trade you a few things in exchange for anything we want to buy.” Lacey told the vendor while browsing his ammo.

”Ah, is that where you were? You have my deepest apologies for your plight. I’m sure we can come to some agreements for whatever you want.”

”I’d really like this ammo for my gun, how about we trade you a fully functioning Zebra Assault Rifle for it?”

Wairu made a face as Lacey floated out the gun she talked of from Celly’s bag. Sunshy had fluttered to the plants and was inspecting them while mentally searching over what he knew how to brew and what these ingredients could make.

”As you can see, I already have some of those guns.”

“I’m sure you do, but are they in such pristine condition? Look at this one closer. Most guns you find are more rust than metal, but not this one. Just look at how it shines in the light and not a speck of red anywhere. Not to mention the condition means that the enchantment is stronger, able to do so much more damage. You do want repeat customers, right? No better way to make sure they’ll be back than to guarantee that they’ll be alive long enough to return, singing praise of the gun that saved their lives.”

“Alright, siren pony, you have twisted my hoof. Take all the 12 gage ammo for the gun. Now, what about you, Tall Soft Heart?”

“I’d like one of everything.”

“Oh, I think I have enough ammo to trade for that.” Lacey replied with a well-hidden smirk.

The ponies and manticore left Wairu with lighter bags and heavier sacks of caps. They made their way to the hut, but Sunshy stopped and told them that he left something behind. The two continued on at his insistence while the pegasus turned around and made a beeline back to Wairu’s tipi. Upon seeing the very recognizable pony return, Wairu appeared rather surprised.

”Tall Soft Heart? Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing back here?”

“I have a couple favors to ask, but I’m willing to pay for them.”

“Name it, brother of Dry Land tribe.” Wairu smiled at Sunshy, but it faltered at the pony’s appearance of awkwardness.

”Can you teach me to barter like Lacey did? I haven’t had much interaction with vendors in my life and I don’t want to get ripped off while she’s not around.”

“Is that all? I’ll be more than happy to teach you, free of charge. Consider it a gift on the promise you’ll be back. What was the other favor you wanted?”

Sunshy motioned asking if he could go inside the tipi. Wairu nodded and backed up, allowing the lanky pony to walk past and inside. The pony walked over to a stack of books and scanned their spines. Seeing this, Wairu set the books out in a line on the ground for him to choose easier. With a heavy blush that turned his face straight to red, he placed his hoof on one book in particular.

”Was not expecting that…Ah…I can surely give you a discount for that. How does half off sound? That’ll bring it to, ah, one-hundred caps.” Even the zebra had a slight tint of red to his monochrome face.

Embarrassment not lessened in the least, Sunshy dug out five sacks of caps, each with twenty inside. He opened the bags, handed over the caps, and replaced the empty sacks. Then, with his ears and the back of his neck turning the same shade of red as his mane, the pegasus picked up the red book and placed it in his box.

”Do you want that barter lesson now, or would you like to come back later?” Wairu asked cautiously as he slid the caps into a lockbox.

“Now is fine.” Sunshy muttered as he tried his hardest to not make eye-contact. The red on his face had lessened to a nice orange thanks to his yellow coat.

”Okay, first thing you have to know is how to read someone’s face, like in poker.”

Roughly an hour later, Sunshy returned to his hut. Upon finding it, he saw that there was a large X marked on the wooden door. A drop of something green splashed from the end of one corner onto a small puddle. Celly had apparently used her tail to draw an X on the door so she would be able to find the hut again. Why she didn’t use her claws was beyond Sunshy. He also noticed that the sky carriage, named ”Alicorns’ Bane”, was sitting between their hut and the one next to it.

The pony pushed the door open and stated, “I’m back.”

And he was then tackled to the ground.

“Sunny, I missed you so much, baby!” Zen shoved his face against Sunshy’s while crushing his windpipe.

“Crushing…me…”

“Sorry!” The zebra quickly released the choking pony. “Where were you?”

“With Wairu; he was teaching me how to barter.” Sunshy answered after clearing his throat.

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Anyway, the bitch is out target practicing with some rubber bullets and Celly’s out flying. I was going to go talk to Chief, wanna come?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay. I was going to read.”

“’Kay, see ya.” Zen kissed Sunshy before trotting off to the town center.

The pegasus let out a heavy sigh of relief before walking inside his hut, being careful to close the door; the werelight flared up in response to the dark. Sunshy slid his saddle box off and then took off his doctor’s coat and leather boarding. Much more comfortable, Sunshy nosed open one box and pulled out a daisy sandwich and the book he recently purchased.

He lied down on the clean pile of hay with the two items, tearing the plastic off the former as he tried to brace himself to read the book. The book was a hardcover with deep blue coloring. The front was innocent enough, with a picture of a silhouette of two equines kissing. It was titled ”Pony Sutra”.

“I can’t believe I bought this.” He whispered in a squeak of a voice.

For what was roughly pornographic, the intellectual in Sunshy drank in the information. The socially awkward never-had-a-buckfriend-before part of him squealed, stomped in place, and demanded the book be burned. Thus, the pegasus read the book in fascination with a face so red, it was impossible to determine what was his coat and what was his mane.

“What ‘cha reading?”

Sunshy shouted before quickly lying on the still-open book and turned his head up to see Zen, staring down at him in confusion. The zebra chuckled and poked his nose with a hoof.

“Whoa, your face is red. I think I’m piecing it together, but why are your wings raised?”

The pegasus squeaked as he looked over his shoulder and saw that his traitorous wings were indeed raised, as if in preparation of flight. To right this, he quickly took control and plastered them against his side before shoving his nose against the dirt and hiding under his hooves.

“Wing boner?” Zen questioned blandly, trying to hold back his laughter. A tiny squeak was all that he received for an answer. “Were you reading porn? An old copy of Colt Cuddler, perhaps?”

Resigning himself to his fate, the pegasus stood up and walked over to the other hay pile. This allowed Zen to see the accursed book that Sunshy regret buying. His damn face felt like it was going to melt off.

“Whoa. Can a pony really bend that far?”

Sunshy quickly buried himself under the hay and decided he was never ever going to come out. Not in a million billion gazillion years. Nope, no amount of Zen poking his flank was going to get him to move.

“Quit being embarrassed, it’s not that bad. I think it’s rather nice you went to the trouble of getting a book on sex. Not that you need it, trust me.”

“Can we stop talking? I’m sure Discord can hear us.” Sunshy squeaked out.

“Oh no worries, I was just about to turn off everything, goodbye.” Discord’s voice floated through the collar before the sound of something shorting out followed.

“See? Now we’re all alone.” Zen brushed the hay off Sunshy enough to nip his ear. “I want to see what you learned.”

That was the moment Zen took down a mental note. Do not stand next to a pegasus while purposely arousing him. For getting clipped on the jaw by a wing hurts like a bitch. Also, falling to the ground after said unintentional attack kills the mood, especially since the doctor pony will rush around trying to get things to help while profusely apologizing. Note taken, fix these idiotic mistakes next time.

“Even though I’m sure we could get the mood going right away,” Zen said as he had his smarting jaw patched up, “we seem to have a recurring theme that some purple pony kills it for us at just the right moment. It’s happened about three out of four times.”

Speak of the devil, and she will appear.

Royal Lace threw the door open, blowing out the werelight and walked inside. The two males were rather taken off-guard, as she was wearing a silver silk dress with lace trimming. It framed her necklace quite nicely. Atop it were her new saddlebags, stuffed full of bombs, ammo, and her prized gun.

“What’d I tell ya?” Zen muttered to Sunshy, who had to frown a little.

“Alright you whores, we’ve had plenty of time to chill. Where are we going next?” Lacey questioned as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out an ice cold Sparkle~ Cola.

“Good to see you too.” Zen replied in a snarky manner, “We’re going to Baston, a town about halfway between here and Roaming. Should take only a couple hours on the Alicorns’ Bane.”

“Did zebras just name things after hitting a keyboard and adding vowels?” She asked as she popped off the cap and placed it in her saddlebag.

“Yes. That’s exactly what we did, Lacey. You caught us.” Zen shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Then we should get going already.” Lacey turned and walked out the door while taking a swig of her soda.

Sunshy sighed as he went to put on his leather boarding, doctor’s coat, and saddleboxes while Zen did the same, sans the coat. The pegasus was surprised when the zebra took Pony Sutra and stored it in his saddlebag. At the confusion, Zen shrugged and said, “Not like I can’t learn anything.”

The two bucks walked outside to find Celly strapped into the sky carriage and Royal Lace sitting inside, still drinking her soda. Zen closed the hut’s door while Sunshy climbed into the Alicorns’ Bane and then quickly followed suit. Celly beat her wings against the ground and then they were off, a marker placed on Zen’s E.F.S.

About halfway to Baston, the carriage suddenly lurched down. A few minutes later, and as it became harder to steer and heavier, Celly was forced to touch down in the middle of nowhere. Not really nowhere, as there was an abandoned warehouse near them. The equines got out in confusion; Lacey unstrapped the manticore while Zen got under the carriage.

“Damn it. The spark battery ran out. Don’t suppose any of you have a spare on you?” Zen told them as he crawled out.

“Oh, I must’ve left them in my other dress.” Royal Lace sarcastically remarked.

“I feel stupid, knowing these run on spark batteries and forgetting to bring spares.” Sunshy told them while looking ashamed.

“Well, nothing for it. Celly, you know what a spark battery is?” Zen questioned, turning to the manticore.

“It’s this thing.” Lacey answered for the manticore as she levitated out the power source from under the carriage.

Celly sniffed at the small blue box. Then she picked it up in her mouth and flew off, back towards Nchi Kavu.

“Should we wait here for her?” Sunshy questioned.

“With a whole building to explore? Fuck that, I’m going spelunking!” Zen replied as he walked over towards the abandoned building.

“Spelunking is for caves, numb nuts.” Lacey shouted at him. She saw Sunshy moving anxiously in place and sighed. “Go on after him, I’ll stay out here.”

Sunshy quickly galloped after Zen, catching up with him in a matter of moments. The zebra found the front door locked, but a strong buck fixed that. Sunshy had to marvel at how strong Zen was as they walked inside the dark and abandoned building. The zebra kicked on his PipBuck Lantern spell, which cut a swath of light through the darkness.

That was when the discovered it was not abandoned.

Zen quickly shut off his Lantern spell and held his breath, as did Sunshy. In the glimpse they had gotten, they had seen Ghouls. Whether they were zombies or not was yet to be determined. At the moment, Zen saw his Eyes Forward Sparkle had a few red dots in the blue. A couple of glowing yellow orbs peered out to them. Then they hissed in a terrifying way and all the blue changed to red.

“Get the fuck out of here, Sunny!” Zen shouted as he whipped out his lace and kicked on his Lamp spell.

The pegasus instead took out a Zebra Assault Rifle and used the enchanted weapon to fire enflamed bursts at the zombies. The head of one exploded and the body was engulfed in flame, casting more light in the dark building. The zebra shoved aside his shock and dove into the fray, slashing his electric lance.

A hissing alerted Sunshy to a zombie closing in on him. The glow of its eyes gave away its position, allowing him to whip his gun at the source and fire. The zombie caught on fire but continued advancing. Sunshy screamed through the Assault Rifle as the disgusting teeth broke through his skin. The gun muzzle was placed on the zombie’s head and Sunshy pulled the trigger with his tongue until the magazine was empty.

The flame-coated zombie fell to the ground as Sunshy jerked his leg away and flew backwards, out into the sunlight. The sounds inside told him that Zen was still fighting the rest. Sunshy studied his wound and found there was nothing but zombie saliva mixing with his blood. The pony quickly drank a healing brew and went back inside to see Zen breathing heavily as he walked up to the door.

The zebra was coated in bites and appeared to have a small chunk of his side almost torn off. He seemed to be more black and red than black and white. Doctor Sunshy quickly opened a nice pink healing potion and nearly forced it down Zen’s throat. The zebra drank it as the doctor ordered/forced and his wounds healed rather beautifully, despite the rather gruesome amount of blood.

Sunshy then picked up the dropped gun and slid it back into Zen’s saddlebag. The zebra replaced his retracted lance and then took out the zebra assault rifle. Zen ejected the magazine and replenished the ammo. Then he quickly took out the rest of the ammo for it, dumped it into Sunshy’s saddle box, and then put the sling on the gun around his neck.

“You’re keeping this gun. If that was just the opening room, I can’t imagine what must be hiding deeper inside.”

“Oh…okay.”

The two walked back inside the building, the zebra quickly brandished his lance at the appearance of red dots. The catwalk went to the left and up some stairs, so they followed the line. Upstairs, there was a table with some ammo inside a drawer. Sunshy asked why, and was met with a shrug and an “I dunno.”

Following the way forward, they came out to a crap-ton of ammo boxes below them. Milling along between the boxes were robots shaped like ponies with brain casings. Brains were floating inside gel in their head. Sunshy had to hold back his bile seeing that.

“Those aren’t…real brains, right?” Sunshy whispered.

“I think they might be.” Zen replied, just as quietly.

“Hello there, friends! Please stay still while we disintegrate you.” The voice of a nice mare called out from one of the bots.

It shot some red laser at them, right at Sunshy’s shoulder. The doctor’s coat grew a sizable hole, but the leather boarding saved his hide. The pegasus quickly fired off three rounds right at its head, blasting its brain out onto the ground in a pile of pink mess. The rest of the robots began firing as the pegasus took off into the air and danced his way around the shots while counter-firing.

Shocked at this display, Zen was rooted to the spot. Upon seeing Sunshy’s breast taking a shot, he quickly jumped down and charged at a brainbot, spearing its brain. He pulled his weapon out and charged at another. The zebra slashed the weapon off another bot before spearing its brain.

Zen stopped to check his E.F.S. The zebra found that there was nothing but one blue dot left. The dot moved until Sunshy landed in front of him. His leather boarding was scorched under the multiple holes in his doctor’s coat. The pony manually ejected the magazine and reloaded before strapping it back around his neck.

“I like the gun.” Sunshy admitted sheepishly.

“I’m…shocked you know how to use it. You sure you don’t want this PipBuck? The S.T.A.T.S. would make you a lot better…though…the way you shoot, I don’t think you need the help.”

“Actually, I missed a lot of shots.”

“Quit being humble. There were like ten of those damn robots and I only killed two.”

“I’m just good with anything that uses fire, I guess…Kinda my specialty go-to weapon.”

“I can smell the burning rubber and brains.”

“Are we going to loot all these boxes of ammo?” Sunshy questioned, looking around at the seemingly endless boxes with worry.

“Oh hell no, that’s way too much shit for us to carry. I am, however, going to tag it on my PipBuck so we can come back later.” Zen used his hoof to push buttons until there was a mark on their location: King’s Ammo Warehouse. “You should look for some more ammo for that assault rifle.”

Sunshy nodded before taking to the air to scan the boxes. Each one had a crown logo on it with the type of ammo printed in the middle. It didn’t take long until he found a box marked 5.56mm, landed next to it and then wondered how the hell he would open it. A crowbar floated over to him, swathed in a pink light. Looking over, he found Royal Lace standing in the darkness; only her face could really be discerned by the glow from her horn.

“Come on boys, get your stuff and let’s go. Celly’s got at least three hundred caps worth of spark batteries. I’m guessing most of it was for free. Also, I don’t think we’ll be having any problems with the Alicorns’ Bane for a while.”

Taking the crowbar in his mouth, the pegasus shoved it in the space between the box and the lid and tried to pull it down. Once that didn’t work, he flew up and jumped up and down on the crowbar. Eventually, the lid popped free and Sunshy almost took a tumble. Thankfully, he managed to right himself in the air and pushed the lid completely off.

There was at least a thousand or so bullets just on the first layer. Goddesses only knew how many were in the whole container. Sunshy opened one of his saddleboxes and began scooping up two hooves full of bullets at a time. When he felt he wouldn’t be wanting for bullets in a long time, he pulled the lid back over.

“Alright, I think we’re good to go.” Zen announced as he wandered back over, his own saddlebags slightly pudgier.

Sunshy landed on the ground and wandered outside with his two companions. Zen kept glancing over his shoulder as they walked out to the door, as though he wanted to continue exploring. However, they had places to be and Sunshy had people to heal.

Outside, Celly was already strapped to Alicorns’ Bane, ready to go. And so was Discord, lounging on the top of the carriage with his mouth wide open as a cotton candy cloud rained chocolate milk.

This was going to be a long day.

Level up! You are now level 13!

Barter at 40

Guns at 35

Perk added! Pyromaniac Mk 2: Once again, you are 30% cooler with fire-based weapons. These weapons do an additional +10 damage.

Side quest added! Pony Sutra: You are experienced in the art of giving and receiving physical pleasure. You are more likely to have sexual encounters with specific characters.

Completed: Element of Bigotry found.

Update: Elements of Treachery, Sadness, Deceit, and Cruelty left.

Chapter 14: Roaming

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 14: Roaming

“A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.”-- Benjamin Franklin

“Discord, I’m starting to get the feeling you’re just very lonely.” Royal Lace proclaimed as she trotted forward, followed by the two bucks.

“I’m certainly not that lonely.” Discord stated as he floated down and actually touched the ground.

“Ugh!” Lacey appeared taken aback and insulted. “Well! I certainly was even insinuating having a relationship of any sort with a…a…fr—“

Sunshy quickly flew forward and shoved his hoof on Royal Lace’s mouth, preventing her from saying anything insulting. Good thing, too, as Discord’s form had begun shimmering as the air does above a fire. “Freak” was a taboo word around Discord. No words had to be shared for them all to come to that conclusion. Celly had her fur bristled and was staring at her straps, tail up. The spirit coughed into his eagle claw as his form solidified once more. The equines silently breathed in relief while Celly calmed, her tail and fur lowering.

“I came here to tell you not to bother with Baston and go straight to Roaming. I think I’ve located a bearer in the big city.” Discord may have calmed, but he still sounded grumpy. Sunshy dearly wished for his strange-humored nature; at least then they did not have to worry about dying terribly.

“But there might be people in need of Sunshy’s help in Baston.” Zen argued.

“You obviously don’t listen to the radio.”

Discord conjured a microphone in his lion paw. From it came the song of welcoming, one of the repeated songs on the radio. Of course the radio would come from a microphone. Why would they expect anything different?

”Hello everyone, this is your friend Red Stripes, who likes to have some fun. Good news is followed by the bad. I shall tell them in that order, so we’re not all too sad.

Tribal brother Tall Soft Heart has been found; turns out that he had been bound. If you’ve all forgotten, let me make sure your brains are not rotten. This is the little yellow doctor, who was found by his zebra protector. With them are a manticore and a unicorn, neither sound like a bore.

Chief Fluffy Doom’s rage has been quelled, so no one else must be felled. That is the end of the happy, for we cannot get too sappy.

Some of you may know of Baston, the only inhabited little city under the sun. No longer is it a home, not matter how much you roam. The invisible fighters have struck, and every citizen they decided to buck. Taken their things and fled, I hope none had to have bled.

That is all for now, little ones. Seek out my couriers so they do not have to hold guns.”

“Who are Red Stripes’ couriers?” Sunshy asked, remembering hearing about them before.

“Just some zebras with their black stripes dyed red. Kinda like Zen here, only I don’t think they dyed it with their blood.” Discord answered after making the radio/microphone vanish. He was frowning a bit at Zen’s terrible fashion statement.

“Well, pardon me for being unable to keep my coat clean fighting off zombies.” Zen rolled his eyes, though he did glace over at his body and grimace a little.

“His terrible fashion sense aside, may we get into our terribly named carriage, please?” Royal Lace questioned, moving forward to the Alicorns’ Bane.

“After you.” Discord vanished in a flash of light.

Lacey walked to the sky carriage, pulled open the door, and jumped inside. Zen followed after her while Sunshy went to Celly. The pegasus nuzzled his sister in a silent ‘thank you’ for doing as they had asked. In response, she licked him lovingly and then nudged him away, telling him to get in the carriage. Once he was inside, seated next to Zen as always, and the door was closed, Celly took off.

“First things first, if we’re going to Roaming, then we’ll all need a bath before we get anywhere near Mrahaba. I do not want my family’s good name spoiled by the dirty company I keep. Along with that, I think a nice spa day is in order. You’re lucky to be with me, as I’m sure that if not for free, then I can get you two a heavily discounted spa treatment.” Royal Lace had finally slipped into her old skin of being a true Mrahaban. She was a princess through and through.

“Should we start calling you Miss Prissy now or when we get there?” Zen sarcastically remarked.

“Behind my back is fine. Just don’t let me know, or I’ll shoot your damn head off.”

Conversation decided to cease after that wonderful point. During which, Sunshy put away his gun in his enchanted saddle box and then decided to kill time by taking a nap, using Zen’s side as a pillow. The zebra decided to read Pony Sutra and Royal Lace pointedly stared outside and away from that book. Of course, Celly just flew them along without complaint. Truthfully, she was happy to be flying, feeling the wind in her fur and without a screaming zebra on her back.

The Alicorns’ Bane flew well until Celestia’s sun began to dip into the west. The aesthetic view was magnificent. The once-blue sky turned purple in the cloudless sky, giving way to red and pink, finally turning yellow towards the orange circle on the horizon. Zen nudged Sunshy awake to experience the sunset. It was not the beauty so much as the memories it brought forth that had the yellow doctor shedding tears of happiness. Even Royal Lace was too captured by the simple beauty to make a remark as the tears slid down Sunshy’s face.

Then they were able to notice the slowly-growing blot on the horizon on the opposite direction. Surely it was an eye-catcher if they’d ever seen one. Roaming was a strangely built city, even for pre-war. The city was a mess of an oval, with the obvious transitions from high-society to poverty. All in all, it took up at least five miles from north to south and perhaps three from east to west.

In the middle were skyscrapers, so high even Sunshy was impressed and oddly reminded of some fuzzy memory. It was something tall and white that he associated with crops. Huh, he’d think on it later. Said skyscrapers were fairly intact, impressively intact, even. Suspicious, Sunshy took out the binoculars and zoomed in on one building. As he thought, they were not perfectly intact from pre-war, but they had many large chunks of concrete from various sources covering what would be gaping holes.

Moving out from the skyscrapers were variously smaller buildings. They were still large enough to be considered apartment complexes or office buildings, but no comparison to the skyscrapers. Those buildings were actually painted and some had large neon signs. Sunshy remembered Lacey mentioning casinos were housed in the middle-class section. He wondered what counted for middle-class in this pre-war wasteland. Adventurers? Guards? Adventurers turned guards after taking an arrow to the knee?

Sunshy paused to wonder where the frick that thought came from. He promptly blamed Discord and Zen for that burst of insanity. And any others after that, he would do the same.

Going further from the middle-class, were the tiny huts, tipi-style buildings, and rather destroyed everything. That section was the worst lit, with only a few specks of light here and there. Surrounding the city was a wall with large gates at every compass direction. Roads led outward to the gates, on which a few caravans were still traveling. One thing caught his eye and Sunshy pointed it out. It was a large gathering of white tents with what appeared to be a flag.

“Those are the Watchers, a bunch of kinda-sorta-doctors. I bet you’d fit right in. They’re actually looking to help the wasteland everywhere and in any way they can.” Royal Lace answered with a smile.

Sunshy was suddenly excited to go to Roaming. Oh sure, a bath and spa day sounded great, but this was the first he had ever heard about any group actually going out of their way to help. He wanted to meet these kind people and shake their hooves. Or maybe join them. It would be nice to have a constant stream of items to use from a stable source. The thought of finding all his supplies out in the wasteland did not sound appealing.

Alicorns’ Bane touched down just outside of Kutisha Mahali. Royal Lace quickly unstrapped Celly, and then ran to a guard at the gate; after a few moments of talking, the guard led her somewhere. All the while, she had been moving slightly awkwardly, obviously needing to use the little filly’s room. The bucks were glad they had slipped off to go back at King’s Warehouse.

The group of two bucks and a manticore walked up to the west entrance. Standing there at attention was a zebra stallion in power armor. Unlike Borderlands’ guards, this was not stolen and painted Steel Ranger armor. This armor was sleek, form fitting, and the color of sand.

The armor coated his tail all the way to his head. However, the helmet was made so that the jaw could be opened with ease, in case the wearer wanted to use a mouth weapon. There were also openings on the eyes, allowing bright green orbs to stare out at them. The zebra’s dyed red mane grew out through a blocky slot on the top, giving it the appearance of a strange plumage.

Painted on the flank was the picture of a zebra standing on his hind hooves. He was holding a shield in his right fore-hoof, a lance in his left hoof, and a spear in his mouth. Adorned on his head was a warrior’s helmet much like the one the soldier in the armor wore, except that it only covered the head and had flaps on the sides, leaving most of the face exposed.

“Is that Mars the god of war?” Sunshy questioned as he pointed to the picture.

“Ah, uhm, yes, indeed he is. I am a Child of Mars. Forgive me; I am rather shocked that a pony would be so cultured of Zebra religion and language. Most are so stuck up that they expect us to learn Equestrian when they won’t bother learning our language.”

“Yeah, he’s great like that. Don’t bother making a move, he’s mine.” Zen turned greed-mode and slung his front hooves around Sunshy’s neck.

“One of those types, eh? Don’t worry about that, I prefer the company of those under Diana.”

“Who?”

“She’s the Goddess of nature, fertility, childbirth, woods, the moon, forests, animals, mountains, hunting, and mares. It’s a way of saying I prefer mares to bucks. You’re a zebra, you should know this.”

“Forgive me for having little interest in the crutch called religion.”

“I’ve heard that belief before. Whether you believe in them or not, you should at least enlighten yourself. That way, you can at least have a pleasant conversation with someone and not look like an unintelligent ass.”

“No need to bring donkeys into this.”

The guard facehoofed and then stamped his hoof down and muttered something under his breath. At that point, Lacey returned with the mare guard wearing the same armor as the buck before the other two. She trotted over to the two and bowed politely to the male Child of Mars, who dipped his head in return. Zen decided to release Sunshy at her appearance.

“Please forgive my companions if they have been bothering you.”

“No real bother at all, madam. Though the zebra’s lack of intelligence of his own culture disappoints me.

“He disappoints everyone, I’m sure.”

Zen harrumphed and made to say something, but Sunshy quickly placed a hoof on his shoulder, pointedly looking away. The zebra frowned, but held his tongue. Sunshy gave him a tiny smile in thanks, making the zebra mutter into the dirt while a small bit of red blossomed on his face.

“Pleasantries aside, madam, we need to know your names, mode of income, reason for business, and…the tag on his PipBuck.”

“Why should I?”

“In case you get lost or cause trouble, trouble like getting your face on a wanted poster, perhaps. Most stabledwellers are well-mannered enough, but if you’ve got a PipBuck, we need your tag. Nothing personal, just part of the procedure.”

“Perfectly reasonable." Lacey interjected.

Though Zen frowned at the unicorn making the decisions, he nonetheless held out his right leg. The blue zebra stallion on the screen was making a frowning face, saying that, while nothing was crippled, he was still injured. Apparently, one healing potion was not enough to have brought Zen to full health. The pegasus frowned at that while Zen had the decency to look sheepish.

A port on the guard’s knee opened and a cord snake out. It connected with a plug on the side of Zen’s PipBuck. The screen fizzled into snow for a bit before it showed nothing but a convoluted screen of numbers and letters. Meanwhile, the guard had two small visors lower over his eyes and was showing the same sort of mass of numbers and some letters thrown in. After a few minutes of silence, in which Zen’s leg began to cramp, both the guard’s armor and the PipBuck sent out a nice “Bing!”

The cord went back inside the knee port, which closed directly after. Zen set his leg down and checked it. The screen went back to showing a slightly unhappy zebra stallion.

“It should be running smoother than it has in years. Take it as a show of goodwill, mister Zen. Don’t be a bother to this city, alright?”

“I’d love to promise, but I’m also looking to make some caps doing odd jobs around here. I’d be lying if I said that hasn’t gotten me into some trouble with the law.”

“Promise that you’ll at least try to be good?”

“That I can do.”

“Now that that is out of the way, I am Royal Lace, a member of the esteemed Lace family. My mode of income has recently been bartering, so I suppose you would classify me, not to mention Zen here, wasteland adventurers. Sunshy, the pegasus, is a doctor, as his rather roughed-up coat should tell you. We’re here looking for someone, but we’re not quite sure who. No name or anything, but I do doubt we will require any help.”

For all the trust he had lost in her, Sunshy was impressed and pleased to find Royal Lace was not lying about living in Roaming. She knew what the guard wanted to hear and preempted any questions he would have asked.

“Lace? Ah, yes, I see the necklace. The way to Royalty should be clear so long as you show that. Some might require your cutie mark as further proof, but you speak like you’re a true Royalty. It is in your damn name, after all. I would recommend getting there as fast as possible, but night is settling in quickly. Terrible Place gets even worse after dark and getting to Royalty is a few hours from here. The Watchers would be your best bet for free, if not cheap, beds.”

“Thank you very kindly, sir.”

“May Epona watch over you, and may Pax keep the way clear. In the unlikely event that Pax fails, may Victoria help you win any fight you get in. And considering the time, may Somnus bless you all with good dreams and restful sleep.”

“May Virtus guide your fights and Salus keep you able to do your job.” Sunshy bowed his head politely to the guard. He snorted in a pleased way and bowed his head to the ground, holding one hoof out.

“If you’re done trying to out-praise each other, I think I would like that bed now. A bath can wait until the morning.” Royal Lace stated as the guard mare walked over to the large wooden doors.

“You mean when Aurora graces us with her presence.” Sunshy stated which got the buck guard to snort.

“When Sol rises above Terra.” The Child of Mars replied with a grin. The smile on Sunshy’s face slowly turned to a sad frown. That made the guard sad; he thought they were having fun. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

“What, no god of apologies?” Zen snapped with more anger than was called for.

“Nothing, sir, it’s not your fault. I just…had a sort of foster father named Sol.” Sunshy explained, trying to smile again.

“My apologies. Please, let me not waste any more of your time. But this makes it a lot more awkward to ask you to have your manticore leave.”

“Celly? Why?” Sunshy asked, rather taken aback.

“A manticore will undoubtedly cause quite a ruckus. I’d rather like to avoid having to throw her out of the city. Does she have anywhere to go?”

Celly walked forward, which made the guard step back and pose in preparation for a fight, thankfully not yet drawing a weapon. The manticore merely nuzzled the side of Sunshy’s face before turning and walking back to the sky carriage. She strapped herself in quite expertly, ascended into the air, waved at the group, and then made a large turn and soared back to Nchi Kavu.

“As a representative of Roaming, I welcome you, Royal Lace and friends.” The mare guard stated before she pulled open one of the doors.

The group coughed heavily as the stench from inside assaulted their olfactory senses, bringing tears to their eyes. The two Children of Mars offered condolences and assurance that they would get used to the smell. The unicorn floated out a doily and covered her nose with it. Only then did she step into the city, with her friends following behind.

Kutisha Mahali lived up to its name, as it was just as terrible as their lowered expectations led them to believe. Mud, shit, blood, and other disgusting things fouled the air and the dirt. Emancipated zebras, buffalo, ponies, donkeys, and just about everything else under the sun were sleeping in piles of excrement or wherever they fell. A few Children of Mars were walking around, dragging away bodies indistinguishable from the sleeping.

“I see the tents. Let’s make a dash for it before we all break down.” Zen told them.

“Good idea.” Sunshy took to the air and zoomed off, hovering just above the disgusting ground.

Zen and Royal Lace followed after him at a gallop, trying to avoid the nastier patches and terribly failing. The entire ground was a nasty patch. What would have taken twenty minutes walking took only about six at their speedy gallop. This left everyone, even the pegasus, panting heavily as they arrived at the front of the collection of tents.

“Oh goodness, my hooves, my legs, my chest, my dress! They’re all filthy!!” Royal Lace squealed in disgust.

“Side effect of running at top speed through shit.” Zen told her flatly. He too was coated in disgusting flecks all over his legs and underbelly.

“Pardon me.” Sunshy trotted over to a pony walking past.

The earth pony stopped and turned towards the pegasus. He was cream colored with a light yellow short-cropped mane and tail. Sitting on his nose were a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Coating his body and covering his cutie mark was a doctor’s coat. Upon seeing the pegasus, he twitched his ears in annoyance. However, he didn’t show that annoyance on his face.

“Hi. If you’re looking for medical help, try the other doctors. I’m just a researcher. Not even a particularly good one.” The earth pony told them.

“Actually, we’re looking for a place to sleep so we can get to Mrahaba in the morning.” Zen interjected.

“Oh, if that’s all, just find a bed and fall asleep. Well, one not inhabited at least.” The pony swept his hoof to indicate the tents.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name?” Sunshy questioned.

“Utopia, but I prefer Arcade.”

“Because Arcade means utopia?”

“Yes, and because most aren’t smart enough to know. They just take it at face-value and leave. Your friends are gone, by the way.”

“I took a nap on the way over. So, what kind of research?” Sunshy smiled at his first conversation with another doctor of sorts.

“Oh, you know. Finding alternative treatments for common illnesses and injuries. Healing potions out of barrel cacti and other fantastic improbabilities. As far as fruitless wastes of time go, it’s quite noble in its aims.”

“What’s the goal, then?”

“For the past hundred years or so, the Watchers have managed to get by using salvaged medical supplies from the Old World. But the side effect of medical success is that more people live longer. Funny how that works.” Arcade couldn’t help but smile at Sunshy snorting at his little joke. “Eventually, we’ll run out of hospitals to loot. We need new ways to produce those supplies. Or maybe old ways, if this research goes anywhere.”

“For all the good it’ll do, you don’t sound too enthusiastic about it.”

“I’m enthusiastic about helping people, but nihil novi sub sole.”

“Nothing new under the sun. My foster father used to tell me that. Where did you learn it?”

“Impressive someone else in this gaping hole of knowledge knows Latin. Not from the Legion, if that’s what you’re getting at. Books, sheet music, gladiator movie holotapes, bits and pieces here and there. The Watchers have extensive libraries, but we all draw water from the same old well. Even the Legion.”

“So, why do you do research instead of helping medically?”

“Not all Watchers are “people ponies.” Besides, someone needs to do the research. I don’t mind Jewels sticking me back here. Out of sight, out of mind. There are worse things one can be, though I do admit, it is a bit boring. Though it has a noble goal, I don’t think this research will yield much fruit. No pun intended.”

“If you’re looking for adventure, there’s a whole world turned into a Raider-infested Wasteland to explore. Trust me, even after living twenty years in the Everfree Forest this wasteland sure has a few surprises to throw your way.”

“Everfree Forest? No offense, but how in the world did you survive twenty years in that?”

“I certainly wasn’t alone. I have an adopted manticore sister and a foster dragon father.”

“That certainly is quite the background story. I think I’ve never heard anything quite like it. Good job.”

“What about you? Where did you come from?”

“I’m really very boring. You’d get better stories out of a Bora Zaidi junkie.”

“You can do better than that.” Sunshy admonished.

“No, really. Have you ever snorted a ground up parador venom sac? Neither have I, but I can guarantee you that a Bora Zaidi junkie has.” Arcade argued.

“I’m asking because I’m truly interested. You’re the first other doctor I’ve ever met. Don’t put yourself down.”

“Oh, all right. I’m thirty-ish. Well, late thirties. I was born…west of here. I was an only child and spent most of my time with my mother. My father died when I was young and I never got over it. Oh…and I like medicine and reading books about failed Pre-War socioeconomic politics. Right now, I’m sure you’re asking yourself “Why hasn’t some lucky buck scooped this bachelor off his hooves?” Like I said, I’m boring.”

“Well, I was born over the clouds, my parents both worked for the Enclave, but my dad died in a working accident and my mom had to work extra hard to compensate. Then I fell through above the Everfree Forest and found a couple manticores, one a baby and one a large adult. A lot of things happened and I was taken in by a dragon that guarded a stable full of books on both ponies and zebra…everything. Religion, culture, speech, politics, and especially medical books.”

“Ah, we seem to have some things in common, then. But a lot more not in common.”

“Why don’t you like talking about yourself?”

“Some people do. I just…don’t. Look, appreciate that you’re trying to be friendly, by I’d rather just not discuss it.” Arcade dug a hoof in the dirt.

“Do you always deflect personal questions?”

“Only to obfuscate my past association with a fascist paramilitary organization. I’m joking, of course. I will deflect personal questions at any opportunity.”

“The Great Pegasi Enclave. I noticed it the first time I saw you walking by. Your wings, you hide them, but I saw them move under your coat.” Sunshy stated with his head turned to the side a little.

Arcade’s fur bristled a bit and his blue eyes widened. His head turned from side to side and then he stepped closer to Sunshy.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. If they find I’m here, I will be branded a Dashite, just like you.” Arcade whispered angrily.

“But I’m not.”

Sunshy smiled as he grabbed the end of his doctor’s coat and ripped it off. This allowed his cutie mark to show as he tossed the ripped bits down. The pegasus turned enough for Arcade to see it in the dim light cast by the waxing moon and the lights from the larger part of the city. There, still on his flank was the icon of a small lion’s head holding a roll of bandage in its smiling mouth, two small bat wings, and a scorpion tail.

“Impossible.” Arcade breathed in disbelief.

“What about you?” Sunshy questioned.

“Uh…”

Arcade scanned left and right awkwardly, making sure no one was around. The pony took off his coat and let his wings stretch out. The pegasus let a smile grow as his wings flapped in the air, even though he did not lift up even an inch. Apparently he kept his wings hidden almost twenty-four seven. Then Arcade moved to show off his own cutie mark, a bottle of healing potion and a scalpel crossed over it.

Just as quickly, the pegasus put his doctor’s coat back on, hiding his wings under the white coat. He stared at Sunshy with a spark of hope in his eyes hidden behind the glasses. The other pegasus smiled as he walked forward and wrapped his front hooves around him in a hug.

“That zebra is a lucky buck to have you.” Arcade said as Sunshy released him.

“Thank you, Arcade, for everything. It was real nice talking to you and I’m glad I met you.” Sunshy smiled back at him.

“Thank you…and I’m glad I met you too.” Arcade hugged the other pegasus. “Thank you…for the hope.”

“It’s the least I can do for a fellow pegasi. Don’t ever give up hope.”

Releasing him, Arcade nodded and gave him a smile. “Your buck went that way,” Arcade pointed to a tent before walking away.

Sunshy smiled as Arcade walked into a tent and went his own way, towards the tent pointed out to him. Slipping inside, he smiled as he found Zen lying down on a blanket thrown over a mattress. He had a pencil in his mouth and a book opened before him. From the light of the pale blue light of the werelight, Sunshy could see he was filling in a crossword puzzle.

“Having fun?” Sunshy asked as he stood next to his buckfriend.

“Oodles.” Zen spit out his pencil and closed the book with a hoof.

The zebra scooted over on the mattress, allowing enough room for Sunshy to lie down next to him. Once he was settled, Zen placed a hoof around the pegasus’s neck and nuzzled against him.

“I saw you were talking to that pony. What’s his story?”

“Nothing worth mentioning. Although I do think you’d like his sense of humor.”

“So long as I don’t have to get jealous.” Zen sighed as he rested his head on the pony’s legs.

Sunshy smiled as he lied his head atop Zen’s head and slowly fell into the abyss of sleep.

No Level Gained

Companion Perk Lost: Goddess Celestia, It’s a Manticore, Get in the Car!

Chapter 15: My Heart

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 15: My Heart

“Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

Once they awoke, the leader of the Roaming branch of the Watchers appeared before them. Jewels was a zebra with a spiked mane and a strange mannerism. All she wanted to know was why they were there, if they needed medical assistance, and if they planned on freeloading for another night.

Her slight anger quelled when Sunshy donated a good chunk of his items, seeing as how they most likely needed them more than he ever would. Though she was ecstatic at the amount of donated items, she requested a favor of them. Zen’s PipBuck blipped with new side quests when she was finished explaining the actual “various” favors.

Back outside in Kutisha Mahali, it was as dirty and disgusting as it was at night. Truthfully, the light made everything seem much worse. The people were still as sullen and depressing as ever. Though their hearts went out to him, Royal Lace was forced to levitate Sunshy away from a junkie he was giving a can of corn to; it was his tenth donation. Though the pegasus argued, he saw Zen run back and gather the discarded canned food. Junkies wanted caps and drugs, not food. Even if they were starving, they refused food that wasn’t worth enough caps to buy drugs.

Getting to Bora Zaidi was simple enough. Royal Lace, having discarded her unsalvageable dress, only had to show her cutie mark to the guard into Bora Zaidi. After seeing the crown made of lace, she opened the door and wished them that Fortuna would not let them gamble away their caps.

Bora Zaidi lived up to its name, as had Kutisha Mahali and they guessed Mrahaba would as well. The area was not great, but neither was the ground infested with muck. Ordinary, if there was such a thing in the Wasteland. There were small apartments, little houses, warehouses, and people. They saw adolescent dragons, buffalo, zebras by the dozens, and even a few ponies.

Casinos lined each street, showing off their names with bright, neon letters. Directly to their right was a large casino named Neighmorra with moving neon silhouettes of mares lying on their backs, kicking up one of their hind hooves. Outside were a few mares and even a couple bucks wearing sultry straps of leather that made Sunshy blush just looking at them.

Without a word, they all decided to get through as fast as possible. The three equines sped up to a run as they passed by Neighmorra and all the whores calling out for customers. Sadly, they were forced to stop when a zebra buck wearing leather boarding stopped before them.

“Zen!! Zen! It is you! I knew I would recognize that fine ass anywhere.”

“Oh…Ujio…” Zen whispered, his face truly going pale. Royal Lace sighed and resigned herself to waiting. Sunshy stared at his buckfriend with mixed emotions.

“Ah, I knew you’d remember me. What’s it been, three years? Anyway, I’m a high roller around these parts. I’m sure I can get us some free drinks, maybe a room and some party favors. Just like old times, right?” Ujio moved closer while wagging his rump; his smile was supposed to be alluring, but he was missing a few teeth. Sunshy’s ears plastered against his head and he turned to Zen in worry.

“Ujio, this is Sunshy, my buckfriend. My only buckfriend. I don’t intend to change this anytime soon. You should know I don’t sleep around, either.” Zen moved closer to Sunshy, hooking his tail around the long red tail.

The smile on the zebra’s face fell. But then his smile grew back, a little stranger. The zebra chuckled as he looked between Zen and Sunshy; the former stared defiantly and the latter seemed scared.

“This? This is your buckfriend? Seriously? HA!” The zebra laughed his rancid breath right on Sunshy’s face. “I’ve seen more meat on a Radroach! Look at those twigs you call legs! And you’re a fucking pony! HAHA! A pony!”

“Ujio…” Zen growled as he felt Sunshy quiver beside him.

“And look at your hair! It’s so long and who the hell brushes now? You’re not a buck, no matter what your face looks like. You’re just another fucking prissy pony who thinks your better than the rest of us,” Ujio’s face darkened. Sunshy shrank back as the tears began to prick at his eyes. “You are nothing, you fucking yellow prick. You’re not worth the fucking air you dare to breathe.”

“Guards! Guards, come here this instant! Guards!!” Royal Lace shouted at the top of her lungs.

Within moments, two Children of Mars rushed over, both mares. One with bright blue eyes stood in front of Lacey. She bowed her head before the mare.

“Yes, mistress of the Lace royalty? What is it you require of the Children of Mars?” She questioned near robotically.

“This buck here is harassing me and my companions! This cretin stopped us while we were on our way to the Mrahaba section. Not only that, but he tried to solicit my zebra guard for sex even when he clearly stated that he’s taken and would not accept. And then, in a fit, he verbally assaulted my doctor, who is a fragile thing with a severe case of clinical depression. If it wasn’t for his job, my poor doctor wouldn’t even get up in the morning! His self-esteem is very fragile and the assault this, this…ruffian committed against him just shattered all the work I’ve had to do for the last few days! I demand justice, my good guard.” Royal Lace stomped her hoof down and raised her head.

“Alright, ma’am.” The guard mare turned to Ujio with her visors lowered. The other did the same as they stepped forward, with a port opening in her shoulder. A cuff shot out of the port and clamped around Ujio’s neck. “Let us see…stopping a member of the Lace family from reaching Mrahaba, soliciting sex from one who is not a registered prostitute, and destroying the fragile self-esteem of a doctor, possibly throwing him into further depression. That should add up to about thirty years in prison.”

“No, wait, what!! I…Lies! I did nothing like that!! Stop!”

One Child of Mars dragged away Ujio kicking and screaming. The other stood before the group.

“To ensure a member of the Lace family and her companions arrive safely to their destination, I shall take it upon myself to escort you to Mrahaba. This way, please.”

Zen nuzzled the side of Sunshy’s face to comfort him, as he was wiping away the tears. The group began walking as the Child of Mars marched forward. The pegasus forced himself not to drag his hooves as he walked.

“Did you have to say I’m clinically depressed?” Sunshy inquired.

“Made his sentence longer, didn’t it?” Lacey smirked.

“But I’m not depressed.” He argued.

“Oh hush. You wanted him gone more than I did.”

An hour passed before the group stopped before Royal Lace found she was at the end of her wits. She shoved them all inside the bathhouse and slapped a pile of caps onto the counter, startling the zebra mare standing behind it. Once over her shock, the mare took the caps and slid three towels over the counter. The unicorn mare turned to the Child of Mars and told her that she could wait outside if she wanted. The guard nodded and walked outside.

A nice hour was wasted in the public baths. Of course, the males and females were separated. From the large population inside each side, it appeared this public bath was one of the few in the city. Zen and Royal Lace fit in quite nicely, having grown up in this culture. During their bathing, those two chatted with the other bathers. Sunshy, having bathed privately his whole life, hid away in a corner made specifically for shy people like him.

Once they were all nice and squeaky clean, the three dressed and walked outside to their guard standing at attention. She nodded at them when they walked outside.

During their walking, Sunshy made up for his silence at the bathhouse by chatting with their guard. Her name was Adila, meaning Justice in Zebra. She was born, raised, and lived in Roaming. It was all she really knew. However, she was a Child of Mars and was proud of it. Her parents named her Adila because they were Children of Mars and hoped she would follow in their hoofsteps. Obviously, she did. Now she brought justice to a small place in the Wasteland.

At the doors to Mrahaba, the guard vouched for the group. They were allowed through with a small sac of caps handed over, as compensation. Compensation for what, they would not say. Zen took it before Sunshy’s good nature of generosity forced him to refuse the caps. The double doors opened wide and the guards welcomed them to Mrahaba.

It was…glorious.

Filtered water flowed through fountains that lined every street every twenty feet. Each was a statue of a different God or Goddess in various poses. The strange thing was, not all of them were zebras. Some of the statues were of the three tribes of ponies, buffalo, rhinos, elephants, dragons, phoenixes, swans, everything under Celestia’s sun. They were all carved beautifully and meticulously, the love and hard work showing through in every statue.

None of the buildings were smaller than thirty feet. Each was painted a wonderful bright white. The imperfections were covered with the white paint. Only those who looked closely could see the chunks that had been reconstructed.

And the people…

They all walked around, garbed in fancy dresses and suits. Some wore hats. Some wore shoes.

Truly, it was surreal.

All of them were so…stuck up. Half of them actually had their noses in the air. The guards were walking around normally, pushing sweeps around. Apparently, dirt was too dirty.

While they walked, a few of the residents stared at them and their informal attire, or for Royal Lace, lack of attire. Of course, when they saw her cutie mark, the people began to gossip. Royal Lace gasped in happiness before running at a dress shop at top speed. Zen rolled his eyes before walking after her. He had to walk back and pull Sunshy away from a statue of Epona by the tail.

An hour later and a loss of hundreds of caps quickly, Royal Lace was wearing a dress fashioned in the style of the beloved best dressmaker in history, Rarity. The dress was a nice soft pink and tight around her chest. The rest were flowing pink waves of cloth, just short enough to show off her cutie mark. Every bit was trimmed with lace. She was ecstatic to find it went with her necklace perfectly. And just because she could, she had her saddlebags altered to match.

And then she roped the two bucks into getting custom tailor-made suits in the next-door tailor shop. For Zen, he got a swallow-tail suit that flew all the way down to his rump, but still showed off his glyph mark. The tailors were rather unhappy to have to work with his collar, but with a thought, the spikes vanished. They were much more pleased to work with that. Underneath the suit, he got a white dress shirt and a red tie. Just because it looked like it would fit, he received a nice black fedora with a couple tiny feathers. He did not have his saddlebags altered, but the tailors insisted on fixing it up at least.

For Sunshy, he received a nice cobalt blue suit. Under that was a light blue mock-turtleneck. The tailors busted out the paint to color his saddleboxes in a nice periwinkle blue. The pony admired himself in the three mirrors before him and smiled. To make his suit, they had to bind up his mane in a sort of bun. Seeing himself in a mirror, freshly washed, in a new suit, and with his mane up…it was very nice. Even Royal Lace had to admit that he looked rather spiffy. Zen was less than happy, as it made him look more like a mare.

They paid the tailors, who haggled their way into giving them all a discount. For the Lace family, they were more than happy to give a small discount. For such pleasant company, they had to give them another discount. All in all, they paid for what was only half of a suit for two, altering/painting, and a hat. Though Royal Lace hid the fact, she was almost broke and truly appreciated the discounts.

Back outside, the people stopped staring with distain at the three. Instead, they merely passed by with smiles, a nod of the head, or a polite greeting. Making a sound that can only be called a “squee,” Royal Lace ran away to a salon. The two bucks wandered in a different direction, but their tails were caught in a glow of pink and they were forcibly dragged into the salon.

The mares inside nearly fell over each other as soon as they saw Sunshy’s long locks. The pony was quickly pulled inside and made into their doll. The one thing he managed to shout was that no one was to cut his hair. They didn’t need to cut his hair to play with it in all sorts of fashions for a good hour.

Of course, some of the mares had to work on the other two, but the majority fussed on Sunshy’s long locks. The three equines left with clean, shiny, silky hair. Only Royal Lace had her mane and tail changed into the height of fashion; curls and waves.

“Okay, so I know we’re conserving on food, but my stomach is trying to eat itself. Can we please stop to eat?” Zen complained to Lacey, who was admiring her reflection in a pool from a fountain of Venus.

“That’s physically impossible, as your stomach has a lining of mucus to prevent the stomach acid from dissolving the wall. Simply put, without mucus, your stomach would digest itself.” Sunshy stated in a robotic tone, “Unless, of course, you’re so stressed that you gain ulcers.”

“So it’s a good thing when I do this?” Zen then snorted inwardly, making a loud noise and causing all the snooty residents around them to glare at him in disgust. Sunshy was the only one who laughed, despite cringing a little.

“Ugh, I think I just lost my appetite. But if you really want to eat, there’s a restaurant this way. Unless you want to save some caps and go back to Kutisha Mahali for a bite to eat. Although I’m not sure whatever they’re selling will ever count as food.” Royal Lace began walking off towards a skyscraper indistinguishable from the rest, other than a sign above the door proclaiming, “Franny’s Fine Cuisine”

“I guess I’m fine with spending a little extra here for what’s the same old crap just re-done in a fancy way.” Zen grumbled.

“What do you mean?” Sunshy questioned.

“The people here don’t have the mettle to go delving into dangerous places, so they pay a lot to have caravans deliver them their food supplies. So they have to jack up prices even further to make any sort of profit.” Zen explained as the group closed in on Franny’s Fine Cuisine.

A pair of pure white ponies with their white manes combed down bowed to the group before pushing the doors open. Sunshy made to thank them when he realized their body structure wasn’t quite right for a pony. The doctor stared for a moment before turning and walking into the restaurant, the answer clear. Those weren’t ponies, they were zebras with their coats, manes, and tails dyed pure white.

The oddness of such a fashion statement was blown away by his first glance inside Franny’s Fancy Cuisine. The whole restaurant was massively large. It appeared as though they had knocked down a few floors above to make their ceiling impressively far up. An adult dragon could stand comfortably inside. Oh, there was one! A large blue dragon was sitting at a table made just for dragons with a couple children and a whole roasted rhino on the table.

From the opening, they could see dozens upon dozens of tables, where smatterings of Mrahaba residents dined. The lunch rush seemed to have died down. A completely black pony—no, a zebra with dyed coat, mane, and tail—walked over to the three. This mare wore a pleasant smile and purple saddlebags with menus in each bag.

“I’m terribly sorry for coming in without a reservation.” Royal Lace apologized.

“It’s no problem, sweetie, we have plenty of seats open. Here at my place, I make sure everyone gets in, unlike those other hoity-toity stuck-ups who say they’re full when not even half the place has people in it. Oh listen to this old girl ramble, I’m so sorry. Come, I’ll lead you to your table.” The mare turned and began walking into the heart of the restaurant.

“So you’re Franny?” Sunshy asked.

“Yes I am, good dear. I am the owner, manager, and head chef of my own restaurant. It’s my pride and joy.” Franny stopped at a table seated for four and pulled out chairs for the three of them. Once they were all seated, she set out three menus for them. “Your waiter should be with you shortly. I hope you enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you, miss.” Zen said before propping the menu open.

The two ponies opened their own menus as their hostess walked away. Most everything indeed consisted of canned pre-war food cooked in different ways. Some things involved the flora of the savannah region, such as the barrel cacti. When the pure-white zebra waiter arrived, Sunshy ordered the cacti steak with garnishing just to learn what cacti were; of course, he ordered a glass of water instead of wine, as the other two did. Royal Lace only ordered a light salad with her wine.

To his disgust, Zen ordered meat. Radhog ham was the order, with some celery on the side. Zen seemed pleased with his order, until he turned and saw Sunshy staring with a disappointed scowl.

“What?”

“You ordered meat.”

“Yes, yes I did.”

“But you’re a zebra, an herbivore. As in, you don’t eat meat.”

“Pft, I’ve had to eat meat all my life and I’m fine. Hell, I’m more bulky than most from all the protein.”

“But it’s not healthy. Our bodies are made for a flora-only diet. To eat meat simply goes against nature, the natural order.”

“Yeah, but only the rich can afford staying on a vegan-only diet their whole lives. The rest of us have to get food wherever we can, even if that means eating a poor animal we had to kill.”

“You’re harming your body more than you realize every time you eat meat, high in protein or not. It’s simply not natural, and not healthy!”

Zen and Royal Lace were both too stunned by his small outburst to realize their food had arrived. Royal Lace had seen him explode before and it had cost a mare her horn. She really did not want to see that happen again. Zen had seen him get angry only once before, when they first met. At that time, he was upset about raiders. Zen decided not to tell him that raiders commonly eat meat, too.

Even after their food arrived, the pegasus made it clear that he was simmering with anger as the zebra took the first few bites of the radhog ham. Sunshy ate his rather delicious cactus with a sour taste in his mouth. Royal Lace ate her salad in silence, trying to not look at either of the boys. Three tense minutes of strained silence later, Zen gave a defeated sigh.

“Fine, you win you pouty baby. I’ll just eat the celery and save the meat for Celly. Now are you going to tell me not to drink my wine because it’ll make my liver fail?” Zen turned his plate around so the celery was facing him.

“No, having a drink here and there isn’t too unhealthy. It does have a lot of negative effects, but having a glass of wine at dinner is nothing so bad.” Sunshy stated, pointedly not looking at Zen. “Oh, and don’t think I forgot, you need surgery.”

“For what?” Zen asked in exasperation between bites of celery.

“Those innumerable bullets that are most likely lodged in your body from having your skin simply regenerate right over them.” Sunshy bluntly answered with a strong overtone of “Damn were you stupid.”

The zebra groaned and slammed his head on the table. Sunshy cast him a glance of ‘I-am-not-amused-with-you’ before returning to finishing the last of his meal. Royal Lace decided to speak up.

“Will this take place before or after our spa session?” She asked timidly.

“You can go on ahead with that, Lacey. We’ll go back to the Watchers, get him fixed up, and then we’ll meet you back…where is your family’s home?” Sunshy questioned.

“Oh, I’ll show you. But first, we need to pay. And I think our waiter deserves a tip for bringing us a box for the steak without anyone asking.”

At that, the two bucks looked over and found the white zebra setting down a Styrofoam box with their bill on top, complete with complimentary mints. He silently nodded to them with a small smile. Zen pulled the bill down and handed out the mints while he checked the price.

“Whoa, I’ve paid more for canned food than this meal for all three of us. How the hell can this be so cheap?” Zen asked suspiciously, fearing a trick.

“Easy, the madam’s family consists of explorers. They all find the food we serve along with the food we get from caravans. She also likes to keep the food cheap for more repeat customers. Over half of the people who come here all know us by name.” The waiter explained with a smile of pride.

“Damn, that’s nice. Tell Franny that if she needs someone to help with that scavenging thing, give Zen a call.” Zen placed the steak into the box and slid it into his saddlebag.

“A call on what?”

“Hell if I know. Use a courier?”

“You are a strange buck.”

“Finally someone who doesn’t think I’m crazy.” Zen smiled as he set out the pay for the meal and a generous tip.

“I would never call a customer crazy to his face.” The waiter replied as he slid the caps into his saddlebag.

“Heh, I get it.” Zen smiled as he got down from his seat and joined the two ponies, who were walking to the entrance.

Once back outside, the puce unicorn led the two bucks around, as she had before. Only this time, Sunshy flew above them so that he didn’t have to walk beside Zen. After only a few minutes, Royal Lace stopped and turned around.

“Alright, I’m done with this tension. Just go get fixed up, and ask a guard to escort you here tomorrow. Now go.”

Royal Lace enveloped herself in magic and teleported away, leaving the rather stunned bucks. Sunshy turned and flew back south. Zen walked after sullenly.

“I’m sorry, alright? Will you quit being mad? Why are you even mad at me?” Zen inquired up to the pegasus. Sunshy landed before Zen and turned to him, positively fuming.

“Take a damn guess, you thick skulled idiot.” Sunshy snapped before returning to the air, doubling his pace.

Zen galloped after the pegasus, his mind racing as fast as his hooves. Unlike his hooves, his mind was stumbling over questions and possible answers. There was also the fact that Sunshy just cussed again and insulted him. Damn, he was pissed.

Even after crossing into Bora Zaidi, the pegasus kept up his fast pace. Zen, however, knew he had an advantage. Sunshy was ever-so-slightly slowing down around the halfway marker to Kutisha Mahali, which meant he had a normal level of endurance. Zen wasn’t much of a sprinter, but he was good at endurance running.

The zebra pushed himself to put out a burst of speed and passed the pegasus. Seeing this, Sunshy pushed his wings to go faster, taking the lead once again. Zen smirked at the pony as he let his pace even out, while the pegasus struggled to keep ahead of him. Only a minute later and Sunshy was forced to hit the ground running.

Even with his long legs, Sunshy wasn’t much of a runner. Sure, he could close distances thanks to his body structure, but once again, his endurance was not great. Zen quickly left the pony in the dust. As they had crossed into Kutisha Mahali, Zen had left Sunshy in the filth more than dust.

A few minutes later, Sunshy walked into the Watcher’s camp with shaking legs. Arcade trotted over and told him to follow. The pegasus in hiding led Sunshy to the largest tent, where the stretchers were held for the more emergency cases and those needing surgery. Zen was having a mare carefully fold and put away his suit, undershirt, tie, and hat in his saddlebags. Upon seeing Sunshy walk in, he smiled and proclaimed, “I beat you here!”

“I see that, brick brain.” Sunshy retorted.

“Aww, you’re still mad.” Zen frowned and pouted out his lip in exaggerated sadness.

“Have you figured out why I’m mad?” Sunshy questioned, looking back to his buckfriend on thin ice.

“Because I’m not taking care of my body, so I’m more likely to die early. You’re mad because you’re worried for me. Right?” Zen flattened his ears and smiled hopefully.

Sunshy walked forward and placed a kiss on the side of Zen’s cheek. “Finally got it.”

“Whoot!” Zen cheered with a grin.

“If your public display of affection is quite through, we’re ready to perform the X-Ray, mister Zen.” A rose unicorn buck with a blue mane and tail told them as he walked over.

“Alright, let’s give me some cancer!”

“It doesn’t—“

“Cancer!”

“Is he mentally handicapped?” The doctor asked Sunshy, who could only shrug with his wings.

“No. I am merely amusing on a level that your brain cannot comprehend.”

“I think he’s just like an excitable puppy.” Arcade offered, walking forward and rubbing the top of Zen’s head. Just to play along, the zebra wagged his tail back and forth.

“Just sit up on the table and stop with your…weirdness.” The doctor floated over a large screen supported on a bunch of metal arms in a blue glow.

Zen did as ordered, jumping up on a stretcher and sitting with his hind legs dangling over the end. Sunshy had to frown with the unnatural way he was sitting. The X-Ray floated over in front of him and with a click, it began to buzz. The screen flickered to life, showing the bones of the zebra in stark light. Sunshy hissed through his teeth as the other two bucks grimaced and cringed.

“Is it that bad?” Zen questioned, peeking over the top and looking down at the rest of his body shown through the X-Ray.

“Last person I saw with this much metal inside their body was a cyborg.” Arcade offered.

Through the screen, not only was his skeletal structure lit up, but so were lots and lots of small spots scattered around his body. His gut was glowing like Hearth’s Warming Eve day with small circles all bunched together. Zen whistled at his own bullet-riddled body.

“It’s a wonder you’re still alive, mister Zen. One wrong move and those bullets would tear open your stomach…or rather all of your internal organs. Good thing for you, we have all the necessary tools here to perform the surgery.” The rose-colored buck turned off the X-Ray and moved it away.

He used a bit of magic to tie up his mane into a bun and floated over a medical chart. “Now, we’ll have to take a blood sample to know your type so we know what sort of blood packs you’ll need.”

“I’m not so happy about this anymore.” Zen replied with a grimace.

“Jewels informed me that you’re a doctor, is that correct?” The doctor turned to Sunshy.

“Yes, I am.”

“Have you performed surgery before?”

“A few times.”

“Sunny gets to be my surgeon?” Zen asked in excitement.

“No, he can be my assistant, though. Not enough here that know how to use an IV let alone perform surgery. And with the state your body is in, I will definitely need some help.”

“And you let them walk around helping people?”

“They know enough to help with addictions, set bones, stitch people up, that sort of thing. But when faced with difficult tasks, they send the patients to me and Jewels. I’m Doctor Rose, by the way, not sure if I mentioned that. Hold out your hoof.” Doctor Rose levitated over a needle, which he pricked Zen’s hoof with to take a sample of blood.

The little dot of red floated and evaporated in his blue magic. “Type O, very common. You’re eating too much iron in your diet; bullets aside, you’re almost magnetic. Take it easy on the meat. I’d also recommend finding more vitamin C and D. Try some broccoli, or maybe strawberries.”

At that, Sunshy had to give Zen an ‘I told you so’ look, to which Zen stuck out his tongue. Doctor Rose’s zebra mare assistant trotted over, pushing a cart full of medical tools, blood packs, and healing potions. Another mare brought over a couple surgeon’s coats, medical shoes, and caps. The unicorn ushered the assistants and Arcade out as Sunshy shed his saddle boxes and nice outfit for the surgeon’s outfit. Doctor Rose closed off the tent as he used his magic to put on his own outfit.

“Alright, Zen, I’m going to put you under a sleeping spell. When you wake up, you’ll be bullet free. Now, close your eyes and count backwards from ten.” Doctor Rose’s horn glowed blue and it lowered to Zen’s brow.

Sleepily, the zebra muttered ten and counted down as his eyes grew heavy. Around seven, his brown eyes vanished behind black and white and the counting ceased. The ponies set up the IV and blood pack, putting the needles into Zen’s front leg. Doctor Rose levitated over a scalpel.

“Let’s get this done.”

Zen woke up feeling lethargic and…shockingly lighter. Huh, did the bullets really weigh him down that much? The zebra opened his eyes and looked around, gathering his bearings. He was lying down on his side on a bed and in a tent with other creatures in varying states of injuries. Sunshy was working on one zebra mare, stitching up her side.

“I feel lighter.” Zen stated, his voice croaking.

“You should. We had at least five pounds of bullets removed.” Sunshy answered.

“Damn. So it was a success?”

“Perfect. You are bullet free. Also, we found a broken piece of a lance in your thigh. So you’re bullet and lance-pieces free.” Sunshy walked over to Zen and placed a kiss on his nose.

“Yay~” He croaked out, “I’m going back to sleep now.”

“Good, you need it. See you tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

“There’s a lot of work around here. Just rest.” That sounded like a great idea, so Zen decided to do just that.

The next morning, Zen got dressed and was led to Sunshy by a cyber-dog, who got a slice of radhog meat in thanks. The pegasus pony was sleeping on a table scattered with medical records. He wore his usual leather boarding and a new doctor’s coat over it. His saddle boxes were lying not too far away.

Zen slid on the saddle boxes before walking over to Sunshy. The zebra placed a kiss on his cheek before carefully sliding under the pony. Slowly and gingerly, he stood up, shouldering his buckfriend onto his back. The pegasus only muttered in his sleep as Zen stood up; Sunshy’s face didn’t even touch the ground.

Trotting happily along, the zebra walked out of the Watcher’s camp with a practically comatose pony slung across his back atop of saddlebags and saddle boxes. A Child of Mars walked over almost instantly and insisted on carrying the Watcher doctor. The buck was only moderately as tall as Zen, but it still ticked him off that he refused to leave until Zen gave Sunshy over onto the other buck’s back.

It took a couple hours to walk to Mrahaba. Once the two did reach the center of Roaming, they got directions to the Lace family household. The Child of Mars refused to leave until they made it to their destination, carrying Sunshy along the way.

The Lace family house was actually a house. A real, honest-to-the-gods mansion, at least six stories high and giving off the feeling of a castle. Sunshy woke up then, and flailed as he did not know where he was or how he got there. The Child of Mars explained the situation as he lied down and let the pegasus off his back.

After thanking him, the bucks walked inside the mansion, tentatively calling out. A pure white zebra walked out. She asked their names and purpose for being there. At the mention of Royal Lace, she giggled and danced in place. Then the zebra mare shoved the two off into another room with a label on top ”Spa Room”.

Within ten minutes, the spa mares were giggling at the rather orgasmic moans Zen made as they gave him a massage. While Zen did that, Sunshy took a mud bath while reading a book on how to massage for fun and profit for those who are novices.

Once an hour of relaxing spa treatments was over, the two met up with Royal Lace having a nice, quaint, and posh family brunch. Her family was made up of all unicorns with varying colors. They were rather nice to Zen, as he was wearing his suit, but even nicer to the Watcher doctor. Doctors were rather sought-after and the elders were complaining of aches and pains that he could only offer natural remedies to cure.

They were forced to stay and eat the rest of brunch, which was very tiny in proportions. Sunshy wondered how their ribs were not showing. Part of being high-society involved healthy bodies, he guessed. Then the two left with a few hundred caps dumped into their saddlebags, off to do various odd jobs, starting with finding a stable source of medicine for the Watchers. Then finding some important zebras and getting them sober.

Along the way, they found the various groups around Roaming and learned a lot as they helped the different factions. The pure white zebras were the working class, and they had to dye their fur pure white to show that. Those living middle-class or higher who worked hard to earn their place dyed their fur black. No one knew who was Legion, as they made a point to blend in with the society seamlessly.

There was a group of mares dedicated to Rarity and her fabulous dressmaking skills. Most all of them painted themselves to look like her, even down to her mane and tail style. However, as some were bucks and very few were unicorns, the effect was not that great. They requested the two to find someone who was smuggling in mock dresses and selling them at highly discounted prices. How they dealt with the person was up to them, but it had to stop. When they found the perpetrator, Zen just wanted to put a bullet in the zebra mare’s brain, but Sunshy insisted that they let her live.

Another group that enlisted their help was a group of freelancers. It sounded like oxymoron to Sunshy, but he said nothing to them. They were very heavily armed with plenty of battle saddles and boarding ranging from cloth to power armor. One thing Sunshy noted that there were a lot of buffalo, who would sharpen their horns like others sharpen melee weapons. They all wore war paint, even the other species, of green and silver.

The freelancers had the two go out and shake down some people for money. Sunshy managed to reason with the first five, but the last one…The rhinoceros was a noted veteran of cage fights staged underground, held by the Freelancers—which was the group’s name and also sort of occupation. As soon as Sunshy got close, the collar began beeping and rang out in his head, “Element bearer found.”

“Name’s Abolish. What do you pussies want?” The rhino stomped his rather large hoof down.

“We’re here for the caps you owe the Freelancers.” Zen stated.

“Yeah? Try getting them from me.” With no other warning, Abolish lowered his head and charged with the intent to gut Sunshy.

The pegasus swiftly jumped out of the way and responded with a buck to a pressure point, sending the rhino to the ground. He shook it off quickly and growled. Abolish tried to charge at him again, only to be dodged again. At the third attempt, Sunshy just flew above his head and used his tail to swat the rhino on the face.

“Oh, I’m going to have so much fun torturing you, pussy pony.” Abolish made to jump, but an electrified lance sliced his front legs and he went down.

And then they were no longer in Roaming. Instead, the three were inside Discord’s Cave of Chaos. Said spirit was floating above them, cool as a cucumber. He smiled while pulling down the large pink sunglasses over his eyes.

“I see you found the Element of Cruelty. Good job, you two. With the pace you’re going, I’ve decided to let you have a little vacation. How does three full months in Roaming without needing to find any elements sound to you?” Discord grinned at the two as he magick’d a necklace with the icon of a butterfly with its wings torn off.

“Sweet! Can we stay in Royalty? I don’t like the other places.” Zen danced in place as Discord placed the necklace around Abolish’s neck. It melded into a spiked collar roughly a shade darker than his hide. No cutie mark meant there was no marker on the collar.

“Depends on if your Bigotry friend will let you. But that’s not my problem, so ta-ta for now.”

With that, Zen and Sunshy were teleported back to Roaming in the same spot they vanished. A few people stared in confusion, but they just ran away. They had to pay the Freelancers what they couldn’t get from Abolish out of their bags. However, for their hard work, they got half of the cut, a nice profit.

Sunshy decided to quit at that point and headed back to the Lace family home. Upon arriving, he asked where he and his buckfriend could find a nice hotel. The zebra mare told him, to his delight, that the Lace family insisted on giving them a room of their very own and then led him to it.

The bedroom was furnished with a giant sky-blue bed in the middle, complete with a canopy and translucent blue drapes. To the right corner was a door leading to the bathroom; the left held a wardrobe, a cabinet, and a trunk. There was a bedside table with a lamp that could change from normal yellow to a mood-setting red. Studies showed that merely being in red light increased a person’s charisma; at least that was how the maid explained the lighting.

It made Sunshy wonder just what Royal Lace had told her family.

A couple hours later and Zen opened the door, utterly exhausted. Before even looking at anything or registering the gasp, he dragged his hooves over to the chest, opened it, and dumped his heavy saddlebags into it. Once it was closed, he turned around and opened his eyes fully, wondering why it was so dim.

Taking in stock of the room, he noticed lit candles around the bed and a few lit incense—they gave off a pleasant aroma that reminded him of the forest up north. The room also had an overall red lighting to it, something that was definitely not normal. There was a line of rose petals moving towards the bed, which was coated in them. To top it off, Sunshy was standing in front of the bed, red as a strawberry, and babbling that he wasn’t expecting Zen to be back for another few hours at least and he wasn’t ready yet and other nonsense.

“When you go all out, you go all out. Should I get something from all this? If I’m bad in bed, you can just tell me. I mean, I learned a few tricks from that book—“

“No! It’s not…you’re really…I felt like…well…” Sunshy sighed and rubbed his burning face with a hoof. “I felt selfish because I thought I…well, like I took more than gave?...”

“Wow, I’ve been called a lot of things, but generous lover? That one’s new.” Zen nuzzled Sunshy’s face with a smile.

“So it wasn’t like that with that other zebra?” Sunshy whispered with heavy insecurity.

“Ah, damn…I knew this would happen…You’d better sit down; this is a long story…” Zen waited until Sunshy sat down before him. Then he sighed and prepared himself. He decided he might as well sit, too. “I’ve been with only two bucks before you. The first one…I thought we would last forever, but…he grew out of it. There’s something extra heartbreaking about the one you love leaving you for a mare. So I was clinically depressed, heart shattered, and easy prey.

“That asshole we met was conveniently there to pick up the pieces. Truth be told, I didn’t fall in love with him so much as all the fun we had together. With my first love, we just did things we thought couples were supposed to do. None of that ‘delving into a stable full of malignant plants’ or ‘into an abandoned warehouse with zombies and robots’ sort of stuff you and I do; it was just…watching the sun set, cuddling, going on walks, shopping…romantic, but not fun.

“With Ujio, we did all sorts of stupid fun things. The big problem was, I knew when to quit, but he was probably a few cupcakes short of a dozen or whatever that saying is; he was pretty stupid is what I’m trying to say. Like he once threw dynamite at a fucking glowing rhinoceros ghoul. That was the first and only time I ever used Dash.

“Thinking back on it…he used Dash too…and that might be how he got addicted. Yes, he got addicted to Dash and it eventually evolved into every drug under the sun and moon. Damn idiot eventually began selling himself for one Party Time Mint-al at a time. Sex with a complete stranger for one tiny little drug that gave you a couple hours of intelligence and then you’re extra dumb afterwards.” Zen scoffed as he shook his head before continuing.

“The biggest problem was that I realized he had a problem and he didn’t. When I confronted him about it, he became violent. I took all his beatings because I thought that was what it would take to keep us together like a dumb shit.” Zen paused to give a heavy sigh, “Thankfully, I got sick and tired of his crap. I confronted him once again and was met with the same violent results. That time, I refused to just lie down and take it. I punched half of his teeth out and broke probably every bone in his stupid body.

“He was high on everything and drunk to boot, so I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember that. Anyway, after that, I left whatever dingy town we were living in and hiked to Borderlands. He had a thing against the Everfree Forest, so being that close to it meant he would never come looking for me if he wanted to.

“At the time, I promised myself that I wouldn’t fall in love so damn easily. Or, failing that, fall in love with someone unlikely to make the same mistakes as the previous assholes I fell for. And…I did. Not only are you smart, but you hate alcohol, so other drugs are a complete no-go, not to mention you flat-out told a mare that you like stallions. So…I’m really glad I fell for you, Sunshy.”

While Sunshy had listened to the story with rapt attention, he suddenly stared down at the ground with his ears held down in sorrow. The pony circled his hoof on the ground while avoiding eye-contact. There was something wrong, but Zen kept the silence. Sunshy would talk when he wanted to.

“I lied.” Was all he said at first. A few moments of silence, he elaborated. “I said I loved you when…when I don’t. I just…I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking and…and I understand if you hate me…”

Zen said nothing. He stood up and began walking to the door. Halfway there, Sunshy let out a heavy sob, causing the zebra to pause.

“Please, I don’t care if you hate me, just don’t leave. I…I know it’s selfish and terrible of me, but I need you. I don’t love you now, but I want to. I want to so badly, but I just don’t yet. Please, just don’t leave me.” Sunshy begged through his thick voice as tears flowed down his face.

Despite his pleading, Zen went to the door. He opened it, even though the pegasus let out a heartbreaking sob. When he stepped through the door, Sunshy fell forward and cried. He was too distracted to hear the door open and the clopping of hooves on the hard marble floor. The pony stopped crying when there was a poke on the side of his head. He looked up, sniffing, and saw a platter with a slice of cloud cake with a side of strawberries and blueberries.

“I got you this. Apparently there’s a baker back in Borderlands who’s selling these babies like hotcakes. Unlike traditional cloud cakes, these can be eaten by anyone, and not just pegasi. I thought you’d like it.” Zen picked up a knife and sliced a piece of the cake.

“I don’t understand.” Sunshy wiped away his tears and stared in confusion.

“Now who’s the brick brain?” Zen teased as he picked up a fork, scooped up the piece of cloud cake, and offered it out to Sunshy. Hesitantly, he took the bite and sniffled as he chewed. The flavor was rich and light, soft and hard, as only clouds could be. “Just because I fell for you at first sight doesn’t mean you had to, too. I don’t want you to try and love me; I want you to take your time. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

“Thank you, Zen. You have no idea how relieved I am.” Sunshy smiled in appreciation.

“Now, I say, after this cake, we can try out what we’ve learned from that Pony Sutra. I mean, you did go to all this trouble to make a mood. The door has an automatic lock on it, so unless Royal Lace comes crashing through the window, I think we don’t have to worry.” Zen nuzzled his buckfriend again before taking a bite straight from the cake.

His eyes widened as he chewed, nodding and smiling at the flavor of the exotic pegasi cake. Sunshy had to chuckle before he planted a kiss on Zen’s nose.

Level up! You are now level 14!

Speech at 50

Perk added! Watchers Do Better: Your acceptance into the Watchers comes with many perks. Plenty of medicine at a whim, a good reputation, and acceptance by most civilized people. You should be able to go anywhere and do anything, so long as you heal someone along the way.

Completed: Element of Cruelty found.

Update: Elements of Deceit, Treachery, and Sadness remaining.

Chapter 16: Caesar's Legion

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 16: Caesar’s Legion

”Short of cancelling our vacation plans, that’s the best thing you could have said.”--Arcade Ganon, Fallout: New Vegas

To the red light and smell of long-burned out candles, Zen awoke. He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up and stretching his forelegs over his head. Once they made a nice popping sound, he sighed and lowered them. Nature called, so the zebra opened his eyes partially and walked over to the bathroom, almost tripping over the empty tray from last night.

Once showered and brushed, he walked back into the room generously given to him and Sunshy by the Lace family, feeling refreshed and tasting the nice mint toothpaste. The zebra passed by the mess of sheets and pillows on the bed and turned the light to its normal setting; the dim red was giving him a headache.

Zen jumped back onto the bed and poked at a rolled-up ball under the sheets. The feeling wasn’t what he expected, so the zebra went to the end of the bed and pulled the sheets off completely. Nothing but pillows. Why did they have so many again?

Stomping his hoof down, the zebra snorted in a bit of anger upon seeing the empty bed. A knocking at the door lightened his heart and brought a smile to his face. He trotted over to the door and pulled it open. However, his smile vanished when he saw a pure white zebra holding a tray of eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice. Suspiciously, there was only enough for one.

“Do you know where Sunshy is?” Zen asked as he backed up, allowing the maid to enter the room.

She set down the tray in front of the bed before answering, “According to a friend, he was last up on the roof. She was dusting off the rugs when he arrived. Is there anything else you shall need, sir?”

“No, but thank you.” He dipped his head to the worker, who returned the gesture.

While the maid walked out with the empty tray from last night, Zen went back to the bed. He first meticulously organized the pillows and then pulled the sheet back up, careful to make sure it was all nice and neat. Then he put the tray of breakfast on the bed and lied down in the middle while eating.

Once he was full, Zen carried the mostly empty tray over to the door. He had to set down the tray to open the door, and then he used his flank to keep it propped open as he pulled the tray out. Panic set in and he quickly rushed back into the room. The zebra went over to the bedside table and stowed the key to their room under his collar with a bit of double-sided tape. As he placed it on the side of his neck, it was easy to not feel the key.

Once that ordeal was over, Zen went back outside of the room and wandered while scanning each wall for an elevator or stairs. Thankfully for him, the Lace household had both. After mentally fighting if he preferred lazy and slow to exhaustion and rush, he decided not to waste the shower and took the elevator.

A few bored minutes later filled with dreadful elevator music, Zen busted out of the elevator once it opened to the roof, which was one of the few made to be flat. The zebra smiled upon seeing Sunshy standing at the edge of the roof directly opposite him. Without any clothing on, the pony’s naturally yellow coat shone brightly in the Savannah sunlight.

Sunshy stared at the sky above. Very few white puffy clouds floated lazily along. Cumulus clouds, he remembered. They were roughly six-thousand feet above, but that was nothing for a pegasus. Hearing hooves tapping along the hard stone roof, Sunshy turned and smiled at Zen. The zebra ran to close the distance and nuzzled the pegasus once he was next to him.

“What ‘cha doing up here?” Zen asked, still smiling.

“Look.” Sunshy turned towards the west and pointed with a hoof. Zen placed his hooves on the edge of the roof and moved his head over the edge in an attempt to see what Sunshy wanted him to notice. All he could see was the savannah; dry grass, dead trees, some specks that were probably animals.

“What am I looking for?”

“Even from up here, we can’t see Equestria. Not even the Everfree Forest.” Sunshy pointed out, lowering his hoof.

“Oh, well, duh. We are a few thousand miles away from that place. Hell, they could have a war going on and we’d be the last to know. Even when the bombs went off on their side, we didn’t know until we saw the columns of balefire and stuff. But by then, we were dealing with our own megaspells.”

“I was hoping to see my old home. Guess I can’t even have that.”

“Hey, don’t be sad. This is your home now; well, Nchi Kavu is at least.” Zen nuzzled his face against Sunshy’s in an attempt to cheer him up.

“What’s to the East?”

“A few towns and a couple more small cities, oh and a bit of a desert. Even further than that is a jungle. Thankfully, none of the megaspells went off around there, so it’s relatively radiation and taint-free. A lot of animals, some not so friendly, and some are actually unchanged pre-war animals. A word of warning, a lot of Remnant bases beyond that jungle.”

“Remnant?”

“Remnant, Legion, same thing, different name. All depends on who you ask. There are also the Separatists, those who are completely against the Legion and all it does, but their methods of doing things are rather similar. There’s no real good guy in their fight, just victims. And of course, we have the Free Tribes, places like Nchi Kavu that work on their own.”

A roaring noise caught their attention. The two stared down over the edge of the roof. Zen shouted in fear and backed away, while Sunshy stared in awe. The pegasus jumped off and soared down, despite Zen calling after him to come back up. Sunshy made sure to hover well above the ground and those on it.

Only the guards were on the ground, shooting at something that Sunshy couldn’t see. There was a disturbance in the grass, though, and after a few shots, something let out an inequine scream and began bleeding purple. After a few more shots at the now much more visible opponent, the beast fell and became visible. Curiosity took hold and demanded Sunshy fly down to the ground and find out what that thing was.

After touching down, Sunshy inspected the downed creature as a couple Children of Mars swept their battle saddles to and fro, in case the monster had a friend. It was roughly pony-sized; based on the brown scales covering its body, it could be inferred that it was some sort of lizard. It had two large eyes, reminding Sunshy of chameleons. The creature had wicked sharp claws, which probably caused most of the gaps in the Children’s armor.

From the hanging-open mouth, Sunshy could see that it possessed dagger-like teeth and a barbed tongue. From the strange stink and goo coming off it, the ex-Everfree Forest dweller identified venom. Sunshy walked over to a guard and asked what the thing was.

“A Shifter. A creature of nightmares, used as the boogypony to scare kids into behaving. Too bad they’re real.” A buck told the pegasus. Sunshy was only half-listening, as he was watching the armor repair itself. “Our armor uses anything metal we have on our person to repair itself. Normally, it just takes scrap metal, but sometimes you have to be careful or else you’ll wind up with half your gun left over.”

“What else do you know about the Shifter?” Sunshy questioned now that his curiosity of the armor was satisfied.

“It manipulates the light around it to blend into the scenery, leaving it virtually invisible. Only the movement of the grass gives it away. Watch out for the tongue, too; it can shoot out way far and it’s venomous. If you’ll excuse me, pegasus, I have to help get rid of this thing.”

“You’re not going to sell its…meat…are you?”

“Gods, no, tastes like ass, no matter how you prepare it. Only the desperate would try to eat this thing. Besides, I don’t trust anything that bleeds in a different color.”

“Sunshy!” Zen shouted moments before tackling the pony to the ground.

“Wha—Zen, how did you get down here so fast?” Sunshy asked in flailing confusion on the ground. The Child of Mars helped rope the Shifter and drag it away.

“I ran down the stairs as fast as I could! Also, Lacey teleported me. You’re crazy to get so close to a Shifter! You! Why are there Shifters this far west?!” Zen shouted at a Child of Mars walking past.

“Can’t say; maybe their losing their food supplies in the east. Maybe the Remnants are driving them out. If so, might be the only thing those assholes have ever done.” The mare replied.

“It isn’t smart to say such things around here.” Another Child warned the mare.

“We’re protected, doesn’t matter. Now, do you need to be escorted back within the walls?”

“No, I can take care of it.” Lacey answered as she strode forward. Sunshy frowned at her haggard appearance; it looked as though she put a fork in a socket. No way she could teleport more than one person again.

“I think—“

“MANTICORE!!” A buck screamed a few octaves too high to be natural.

Every Child of Mars abandoned what they were doing and pointed their guns skyward. Sure enough, there was a distinctive figure of a lioness with the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion. The guards all readied to shoot.

“DON’T SHOOT HER!!” Zen shouted back, louder and with more booming authority.

They froze, startled into a state of immobility. This gained enough time for Zen to keep shouting at them to lower their weapons. Even though she drew closer, they slowly lowered their guns. This gave Celly enough time to land. Once she was on the ground, the Children of Mars re-aimed their weapons at her. However, once Sunshy threw himself at her, the guards lowered their weapons, not at liberty to allow an innocent bystander to be hurt.

Celly roared in delight as she hugged Sunshy and nuzzled him, rolling onto her back. It was like seeing an overly-large kitten playing with a yarn ball. Somehow, it was adorably cute and more than enough for the Children of Mars to lower their guns and return to what they were doing before.

“As cute as this is, I don’t think she’ll still be allowed inside. Unless, of course, we hide that she’s a manticore.” Royal Lace told the pegasus that was lying atop Celly’s belly.

“Why would having a lioness be less scary?” Sunshy questioned.

“For the same reason some Caravan vendors have Yao Guai following them; protection. Lions are bred and distributed from the Legion at Peponi—their base of operations. They sell pretty high, but are bred to be the best damn loyal fighters since dogs. Those babies will follow you to hell and back, I swear. Anyway, having a lion isn’t so uncommon that people will freak out other than thinking you’re a rich bastard.”

“I can hide her wings with a cloak, but what about her tail?” Sunshy questioned.

“Oh, I know someone who’s wonderful at illusion spells that last days at a time. His name is Disillusion, oddly enough.” Royal Lace offered.

“Will he make us pay?” Zen questioned with a frown.

“…Now that I think about it, he’d need to use a talisman to keep a spell up without being around us constantly, so yes. Yes, we will have to pay him for that.”

It took a good five minutes to convince Celly to stay outside while the rest of them went and got the talisman. Sunshy decided to stay with her outside, seeing as how her separation anxiety could only let her tough out two days apart. The manticore cuddled her brother as Lacey teleported herself and Zen back into Mrahaba.

The two arrived a good hour later, the two returned with a necklace and a piece of rectangle-shaped wood with a ruby in the middle. Royal Lace floated it onto Celly’s neck and all watched in awe as her wings vanished and her tail turned into a normal lion’s tail. It was strange to the manticore to be unable to see her wings even as she flapped them and floated into the air.

So they were ready to walk back into the city, just a unicorn with her bodyguard, doctor, and his pet lion. The group split up once they were within the city. Sunshy went back to the Watchers with Celly after putting on his boarding, coat, and saddle boxes. Zen went off to the Freelancers for more work after putting on his boarding and saddlebags. That left Royal Lace to go shopping and be with her family.

At first, the Watchers were a little nervous with a lion suddenly there with the yellow pegasus they hardly knew. However, as he was one of their own now, they had to accept his lioness. She proved to scare away any rabble that merely looked for handouts in drugs under the guise of ‘weaning themselves off’ but knew better than to scare off real patients.

Zen actually joined up with the Freelancers and did everything that could be done under their organization. He would do tasks that mostly had him only stay around Roaming, such as shakedowns. To make some more money, he would fight in the underground cage matches. Underground was meant literally, as it was held in an abandoned and not-in-use part of the sewers. They were cage matches against anyone or anything. Zen even went on a mission collecting eggs of beasts such as Bloatsprits, mutated lizards, and giant mantises.

Things were going great, even though Sunshy banned Zen from the Underground fights once he found out. Every morning, lunch break, and just before bed, Sunshy would stand on the roof of the Lace mansion and stare out at the sea of brown before him. About two weeks later, something amazing happened. The pegasus found a large blot out in the distance.

Using his binoculars, the pegasus zoomed in to max power. The shape became defined and he could identify it as a dragon. Not just any dragon, the biggest dragon he had ever seen. This dragon had to be older than even Drakon! Drakon said he was too old to fly, but this dragon was flying as though it was still the easiest thing in the world. Sunshy figured their lifestyles had to be very different. Drakon had rarely left his cave in two hundred years, with was a major factor in the loss of his ability to fly.

There was something on the back of this golden-scaled dragon, to boot. As he could not zoom in any farther, Sunshy had to make do with the vague outlines on the dragon’s back. By the shape of its maw, the dragon appeared to be female. After a while, there was a large pony-shaped creature that moved up her neck and to the top of her head. By the look of it, they were having a conversation. Zen arrived at that time, and pointed out that the dragon was headed in the direction of Zebrion. Sunshy smiled at that, it must have meant that Versatile and his friends found a dragon to help them.

An entire month passed of what could be called monotony. It was an easy and repetitive life that they had fallen into. Royal Lace was not around much, but neither of the bucks expected her to be; she was back home with a rather limitless amount of money. Zen gathered up thousands of caps freelancing—he got a few new scars from energy weapons that not even healing potions could fix.

Sunshy was happy to be working his trade, saving and improving lives. Whenever he could not help, the local bio-mechanic replaced limbs and organs. Though he wanted to refuse any sort of payment, the Watcher needed money to pay for their drugs and supplies, as well as for their workers. If they didn’t, then they were as bad as slavers.

One day, almost all the money Zen had saved up was just gone. He gave no reason for it, but assured them that he hadn’t been robbed. After another month, the pegasus was the one to find out where his money went. That day proved to him that he wasn’t a very smart pony. Really, he should have seen it coming. After, all it was almost straight out of a storybook.

It started with going to their favorite restaurant, Franny’s Fine Cuisines. Zen insisted on paying for the most expensive of the fine, fresh, meat-free cuisines and even abstained from drinking wine. Then he took the pony to the spa and finally back to their room. And there, after a nice cloud cake dessert, Zen pulled out a velvet box a bit bigger than a hoof.

“Sunshy, I know this’ll seem a little sudden…but…I know my feelings and you said you love me, too. So…” Zen took a breath and held it as he opened the velvet box. Inside was a polished white gold band with a flawless topaz in the middle. The beautiful jewelry must have cost a fortune, which was saying a lot for the bearer of the element of greed. “Sunshy Rays,” The pegasus tore his eyes from the band to Zen’s chocolate-brown doe eyes, “will you marry me?”

The pony was flabbergasted, stunned, caught off-guard, shocked…no mind function whatsoever other than to drop his jaw. Zen smiled and held his hoof out, closing Sunshy’s jaw for him.

“You’ll catch flies like that.” Zen stated with a grin.

“I…I…” Sunshy stuttered, trying to blink away his shock. His cerulean blue eyes slid back to the engagement band.

“Before you answer, I want you to know that I don’t care what your answer is. No matter what, I won’t break my promise to leave you. Just…let me get this off my chest.” Zen waited for Sunshy to give him a nod. “Sunny, I truly have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Ever since my youth, I’ve had nothing but greed in my heart to keep me company. But since I’ve been with you, I can feel that hole filled with greed replaced with my love for you.

“Sunshy, I would go to the ends of the planet for you, spend anything for you, give up all my wealth and even my life if it ever came to that. The only thing I want anymore is to see you happy and if I’m good enough to make you happy, then I’ll just have to try my damned hardest to keep you happy. Hell, I’d be fine living in some hole in the ground with no caps to my name as long as you’re there with me. I mean it, all of it.”

A clattering caught their attention. The two looked down to what lied between them. It was Zen’s collar, slowly turning back to the golden necklace with the previous element bearer’s cutie mark.

“Can’t say I didn’t see this one coming.” Discord’s voice wafted through Sunshy’s yellow collar. Moments later, he appeared in the room, floating above the two. With a sour twisted grin, he floated with his head pointed down and picked up the Element of Greed. “Looks like you two need to get back to finding the Element bearers. Luckily, someone will be along shortly to kick you in the right direction. Oh my, I see you spared no expense.”

Discord eyed the white gold band sitting in the velvet box with a backwards jeweler’s magnifier. The zebra frowned at him and closed the box, glaring. Discord made a snooty look and said, “Well! I see I’m not welcome here. I’ll just be off then.”

The spirit of Chaos vanished in a drastic puff of smoke that caused the two to cough and wave their hooves to attempt to remove the smoke. The pegasus flew over to the window and pulled it open. He then flew back and attempted to blow the smoke out of the room, however, it only went the other way. Sunshy frowned before he began flying away from the window, through the smoke. Said smoke exploded into confetti and landed on the ground.

Sunshy had to sigh in exasperation at the strangeness of Discord’s fun as he landed and went back to Zen. The zebra had a hoof on his velvet box and his visage had an uncertain appearance. The pony placed his head around Zen’s and nuzzled him lovingly. Sunshy opened the box, picked up the engagement band and slipped it on his right hoof.

“I love you, Zen. Of course I’ll marry you. Don’t worry, I’ll try my best not to make you live with me in some hole in the ground without a cap to your name.”

A knocking came at their door, followed by Lacey calling out to be let in. Zen groaned awake and lazily rolled out of bed. He trotted over to the door and let her inside. Royal Lace walked in telling them something. She in the middle of saying something, but then abruptly stopped in the middle of a word. Sunshy was sitting up with the blankets falling off of him—he knew he needed to do something about his bed-head. With a ‘squee!’ she ran straight at Sunshy and swept him up in a big hug in between babbling about his engagement bracelet.

“Oh my goodness, this is the greatest engagement bracelet I’ve ever seen! You said yes right, right?!”

Smiling and blushing lightly, Sunny nodded. Lacey danced in place while giggling and then swept him up in a big hug.

“Please oh please let me be the bridesmaid!!” Lacey bounced around Sunshy in a circle.

“Ugh! Alright, it’s not like we know anyone else around here.” Zen said, keeping the door open. “Now, what was so important that you had to wake us?”

“Oh, there’s someone at the door looking for you.” Lacey was still beaming and bounced past the zebra and out the door. She began talking about her plans, but then shouted, “HEY!” as Zen closed the door behind her.

“We have to shower and crap, keep your dress on.”

“Eww, I didn’t need to know that!”

“I didn’t mean it like that, but yes, that too. Now go wait for us preferably with breakfast ready!”

The zebra walked over to the bathroom and walked in to the sound of running water. About an hour later, the two were downstairs in the dining room, where the majority of the Lace family was eating. Even though they fully intended to eat with them, a couple of the elder unicorns floated the two over to them. Immediately, they began gushing about the engagement as the cooks brought out their meals.

Overhead, Sunshy could hear the radio. He tried to listen and not let his face melt off. All the chatter stopped once the voice of Red Stripes wafted on. Lacey managed to tell the two that her family listened to her almost religiously, having a need to be in the loop at all times.

“Hello all my friends, it is that time…I…” She giggled in barely-contained joy, “Oh, such great news!! It feels like for years my heart had a bruise. But now, I shall let my friend speak! This is such a great treat!” Red Stripes fell into a fit of giggling again.

“Helloooo Savannah Wasteland! This is your eyes in the Equestrian land, DJ Pon3! I have some news for you all, and for those of you who only speak Zebra, get a translator out! I don’t speak Zebra well at all, so I apologize for speaking Equestrian only. If you’re big on the Legion, I don’t think you’ll like this at all. For those in the Free Tribes, you will love it!

“Before I get on the big story, I’ll give you a little background information. For a full story, you’ll have to come on over to our side of the Everfree Forest. So we here in Equestria had a bunch of different factions fighting for our lands, as bad as it is. We had a bad cat called ‘Red Eye’ named for being a cyborg. He wanted to make a new Equestria built on the backs of slaves. However, all the unicorns were given over to a creature calling herself ‘The Goddess’.

“Now, this wasn’t the Goddesses Celestia or Luna, but a girl who took up the souls of other unicorns two hundred years ago. Now, we didn’t really know about her until ten years ago. That was when these Alicorns appeared and they were some bad news, children. However, a hero named LittlePip, who I will talk about a lot, killed that fake Goddess and set the Alicorns free. So don’t worry if you ever see one, they’re all friendly now.

“Two hundred years ago, the pegasi closed up the sky with their blanket of clouds. Those of us over here are rained on almost constantly. Without the light of Celestia’s sun, almost none of us even know what a rainbow is. I know most of you know this, as that’s why you’re almost always facing drought, but this is part of the story, children. The Grand Pegasi Enclave played a role in this story, so bear with me here.

“Alright, the story starts off with a little Stable Dweller named Littlepip. Within just a few days, she became the greatest hero in the Wasteland and soon became our Lightbringer. Now ol’ DJ Pon3 didn’t know it then, but she turned out to be just that.

“So this little Stable Dweller cleaned up the wastes and started a bit of a war between herself and Red Eye, bringing change and happiness along the way. Then the ‘Great and Powerful Enclave’ came down under the guise of helping us poor land ponies. Well, it soon turned into a big old war between the Alicorns, Red Eye, the Enclave, and all of them against Littlepip.

“Here’s the great part, children. Littlepip…won! Hell yes, you heard right! She went up against all three of those warriors and our lightbringer won! But…it came at a great cost. First, she had to destroy the home of the Hellhounds to kill the Goddess and set the Alicorns free. Then she had to kill Red Eye, sadly at the cost of many other lives. And then, she did the greatest thing anyone has ever done in history.

“Littlepip…made the ultimate sacrifice. She gave up her life down on the ground with her friends and loved ones. In exchange, she brought us…The Sun.

“That’s right, Littlepip destroyed the cloud cover and brought back Celestia’s Sun and Luna’s Moon to us in the Equestrian Wasteland! Hallelujah! Don’t think this doesn’t affect you over there, children. Without all the clouds above our skies, believe you will have much more rain.

“Now that I hear myself tell the story, it doesn’t sound all that great. But believe you me; this was a full-out war. We lost a lot of good people and even cities. Just know that it was all worth it to bring back that sun and moon you all lived with, along with another promise. The promise that Equestria will one day soon be purged of radiation and taint.

“Now, for those of you who want the full scoop, I once again invite you all to come over to Equestria. For now, this is DJ Pon3 saying, See you soon, children!”

A knocking at the door startled everyone, making them jump in their seats. Talking exploded as Zen walked to the door. Sunshy stared down at his empty plate. A war in Equestria…the Enclave was involved…was his mom alright? Did it matter? He hadn’t seen her in twenty years…but she was still his mom. A lot of ponies died. He remembered hearing about the Alicorns when they arrived.

Zen walked into the room, accompanied by another zebra. This buck was wearing the strangest fashion statement that Sunshy had ever seen. The zebra wore a red dress-like outfit, but his history books told him it was a tunic. The outfit was red with shoulder pads, a black ruffle-end around his torso, plates on his underbelly, and the hat of a wild dog. All the chatter stopped abruptly.

The zebra strode forward, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. He stopped at the edge of the table. All eyes were upon him. A white maid walked over, ears plastered against her head, which she held low. The zebra in the strange outfit turned his head to her and asked in Zebra, “I am a Frumentarii of the great Caesar’s Legion. By order of My Lord, I am here to find one called Sunshy.”

“I…I’m Sunshy.” The timid pegasus flapped his wings and floated over to stand before the Frumentarii. The zebra scanned the pony and circled around him.

“A pegasus…you are a doctor, yes?”

“Oh, yes, I’m a doctor.”

“Good, then you are the one we are looking for. That strange cutie mark is quite easy to track. I am here to give you an invitation to Peponi, the heart of the Legion. Here.” The Legion zebra put his muzzle into a pocket on his tunic.

He pulled out a necklace with a golden circle, quite like a bit from pre-war. The medallion had the picture of a zebra buck with a short mane proudly holding his head up. As it spun in the air, he could see the other side held the picture of a lion roaring ferociously. Sunshy ducked his head as the zebra slid the medallion onto his neck.

“This is the Mark of Caesar. To my knowledge, you have not done any wrong against the Legion, but if you have, it is immediately forgiven. Do not think that you now have free reign to do anything bad to us. If you do, we’ll kill you in revenge. This is only given out once, so I encourage you to get to Peponi as soon as possible. Do not keep our Lord waiting.”

The wild dog hat-wearing Frumentarii bowed to the Lace family. “On behalf of My Lord, I thank you, Family Lace, for your generations of service to the Legion.”

Then he left. Celly took the opportunity to walk out of the shadows and growl at the door. She snorted before walking over to Sunshy and nudging his head.

“You heard the Frumentarii. Go and get your things, we’ll keep your rooms tidy for you while you’re out.” Granny Lace told the pony with a smile.

Sunshy nodded numbly before walking all the way back to his door. However, he had to wait for Zen to open the door with their key. The zebra had the look of someone who ate a lemon while Sunshy put on his boarding, coat, and saddle boxes. Zen put on his own leather boarding and saddlebags.

At the door, Royal Lace trotted over, wearing her old duster—now fixed—and her hat and saddlebags. To their stares, she answered, “Well, you didn’t think I’d let the bride and groom to be out of my sight. Besides, I have all sorts of plans to go over with you! Oh, this will simply be the most splendid wedding Roaming has ever seen! Everyone will come for miles around to have me, Royal Lace, plan their weddings! Heeeee! Let’s go, we’ve got a few hours of a trip on the Alicorns’ Bane and I intend to spend every second going over my plans with you two. Oh! Ideaa~! How about a cloud theme? You are a pegasus after all, and now that Savannah will have its clouds back soon, we can use real clouds. And maybe some baby pegasi to rain flower petals and…”

Royal Lace talked about her fabulous plans for the wedding all the way to their sky carriage. While they took off the illusion talisman, she talked. Even as they rode with Celly pulling, she talked.

And talked.

And talked.

Being the kind-hearted pony he was, Sunshy tried to be engaged in her plans. He tried a couple times to tell her that she didn’t have to plan so much right away, as they didn’t even have a date set. Royal Lace asked when they had planned to marry. Zen answered that they would set a date after they had gathered the rest of the Elements of Disharmony.

Zen caught some shut-eye as Sunshy tried to dissuade Royal Lace from all her eccentric plans that were no doubt excessively expensive. It was a long five hour trip. The pegasus gave a silent thanks to Discord for giving the Alicorns’ Bane to them. Without it, this trip would easily have taken a good few days on hoof.

“I see it, I see it!” Royal Lace exclaimed, pointing out the window.

Peponi meant ‘Paradise’ in Zebra and named for their old headquarters, but the name escaped Sunshy at the moment. Peponi was a city almost as large as Roaming. Every square inch was painted in different shades of red and black. There were some of the red flags with a golden lion roaring ferociously. That must be their insignia.

On top of the roofs were Griffons and some strange creatures that were half buffalo-sort of things on the bottom and with a head of a buffalo. However, the body of them were lion-like, and yet not. They had strange fleshy claws with no real claws. They did have thumbs. After a moment of thinking, Sunshy identified them as Minotaurs.

A griffon took flight and soared over to their sky carriage. Celly stopped and hovered while Sunshy got out of the Alicorns’ Bane and flew out to meet the griffon. This griffon’s head feathers grew out red and she had a slightly slim body structure, telling the doctor that it was a female. She wore a black armor with the insignia of a white eagle claw open on her armor’s breast. Her wings were armored with razor ends that were lightweight, allowing her to fly easily. In her claws was a magical energy weapon.

“State your business with Peponi, pegasus.” She demanded in Equestrian. She held the gun up slightly raised. It wasn’t pointing at him, but it would be at a moment’s notice.

“I, uh, I got this Mark of Caesar. See?” Sunshy held up the gold medallion so the griffon could see it.

“You beat dog head here by a good three days. We were told about you by the Nchi Kavu, Tall Soft Heart, right? Nice manticore, by the way. How’d you keep her in Roaming?”

“Uhm…an illusion talisman to make her look like a normal lioness.”

“Ah, then everyone would think you just got her from us. Good idea. Oh,” The griffon turned her head over her shoulder and shouted, “You can let them in!”

Sunshy flew back into the sky carriage as the griffon went back to her post. Once Sunshy closed the door, Celly took off and flew through the large buildings. Everypony had their heads out of the window and looking down. Zebras were roaming around, going about their daily lives with other creatures.

There were many prides of lions dotting the streets. Very few were colorful ponies, but those that were appeared to be slaves. A good amount of the zebras wore the same sort of tunics and armor as the Frumentarii had. There were even a few Children of Mars in full armor walking around.

A couple griffon had bright lights waving at the carriage on top of a roof. Celly turned towards it and came in for a gentle landing. Royal Lace jumped out and undid the manticore’s straps as the pegasus and zebra jumped out. Upon seeing Zen, she questioned, “What’s with the robe?”

“Nothing.” Zen answered curtly. The zebra was wearing his invisibility cloak over his boarding and saddlebags. It wasn’t activated, however.

“Come, this way.” A griffon male with red-tipped feathers in the same sort of armor as the previous one told them. Unlike the girl, this male had his armor painted red with the Legion’s lion on the middle. The griffon held the same sort of energy weapon gun in his claws.

The griffon flew down to the ground. Celly put Zen on her back and Royal Lace in her claws. Sunshy floated down with his own wings. After Royal Lace was set down, she huffed and kept her head held up. Zen was silent as he jumped off Celly’s back.

“Keep up.” The griffon slung the gun on his back and began walking on his fours, much more natural than standing on his hind lion paws.

As they walked, Sunshy felt as he had the first day in Mrahaba. Everyone stared at them with various reactions. The zebras all seemed to glare at him. Strangely, their expressions were softer towards Royal Lace. One in Legion armor walked over and bowed to her, thanking her for her family’s work. She blushed and nodded as she continued with the rest of the group.

After a while, they arrived at a coliseum, where they could hear shouting and calls for blood. Once inside, Sunshy gasped in horror upon seeing what was in the middle. There was a group of earth ponies fighting against some black monster. It was twice the size of even work ponies, built like a mountain. It only had a few clumps of fur and its lower jaw held two dangerous tusks.

“A Ripper. I see their needless gladiator fights still go on.” Zen observed. He moved closer and whispered to Sunshy, “This is one good reason why I left. Anyone can fight, but it’s always to the death. At least in the Freelancers no one died.”

“Wanna place a bet?” A zebra asked as he walked over to the group.

“I’ll gamble with your teeth.” Zen snapped before walking up the steps, ahead of the griffon.

“Damn.” Commented the griffon. He flew in front of the cloaked zebra and continued leading.

The group followed their escort all the way to a box on the west side of the oval coliseum. There was a group of zebras standing around inside. To the back were two male lions standing at attention, their bright brown eyes trained onto the newcomers. In the rough middle of the box was a throne. Two mares in dresses with feathered headdresses were fanning a zebra sitting unnaturally in an elaborate red tunic with a crown of olive branches. A third was feeding him grapes with a look that can only be described as ‘sexy’.

There was one zebra buck in armor that looked like it was taken from a griffon and modified to fit him. This zebra was bigger than Sunshy, even bigger than Versatile! And that robo pony was probably bigger than an Alicorn! Sunshy should know, he saw one once; so this guard in red was probably the size of the Goddesses’ father, if they had one. A voice chimed in Sunshy’s head, “Element Bearer found.”

“Buisness?” He asked in a boomingly deep voice.

“I carry the Mark of Caesar.” Sunshy answered, standing with his chest out to show off his medallion.

“Wait for end show.” The guard moved back and turned to face outwards, towards the fighting.

Celly moved over to stand in front of the lions and growled down at them. She was a good head taller than either of the lions. Both kept their vigil, but they subtly shook. With a grin, she turned and sat between the two, a wing around one and her tail around the other. Their pupils shrank in fear and they visibly shook.

A death roar caught everyone’s attention. Everyone looked out towards the fight. Sunshy gasped and hid his eyes behind his wings at the sight of the carnage. Zen and Royal Lace continued to watch, however, as the buck on the throne got up and strode forward. He planted his hooves at the edge of the box.

Down below was a scene of murder. Bright crimson blood was everywhere. Only one earth pony mare survived; a normal-sized pink pony with an orange mane and tail. All of her was coated in spots of blood. She was panting heavily. Her fighting companions were all dead around her, some torn apart and some mercifully killed with only a blow to the head.

The Ripper was dead, and that was the important part. It was dead from various bleeding gashes. The bloodied weapons on the ground spoke of what killed it. There were axes, machetes, hammers, swords, and maces. No guns or any sort of magical weapons in sight. The mare still standing had a blood-coated sword at her feet.

“Well, well, well, it looks like we have a survivor!” The male zebra shouted into a microphone. The crowd cheered heavily and stomped their hooves. “Tell us your name, little pony.”

“Slash Silly. My name is Slash Silly.” Her own voice was enhanced by a microphone floating in front of her. A unicorn mare stood off to the side inside the arena of carnage.

“That sure explains how you’re so good with a sword! Now Slash, you have two options after surviving this fight. One, you continue until you win your freedom. That will take three more fights of varying degrees of danger. Or option two; you can become a fighter in my glorious Legion!” The crowd began to boo at that option.

“Either option is suicide, so I might as well at least try to fight for my freedom.” The crowd cheered loudly for Slash Silly.

“And there we have it, folks! Slash has decided to fight for her freedom! We shall see her fight another day! That is all for this day, see you all tomorrow to see how far she can go!

The crowd erupted into their loudest cheers of all. Down on the arena, the carnage was being cleaned up and Slash was being led out. The zebra stepped away from his microphone and went over to the group. He nodded to the griffon, who bowed his head to him and flew off. Then he put a hoof on the shoulder of Sunshy.

“You can look now, Tall Soft Heart. The icky blood is all gone.” The zebra buck chuckled a little.

Sunshy had been cowering on the ground, hooves and wings over his face. Slowly, he stood up, facing the zebra with his head kept low. The zebra smiled at him and his friends. Zen kept his head turned away, hidden under the hood of his cloak.

“I’d think a doctor would be fine with blood.”

“It’s not blood…Just…dead bodies.” Sunshy answered, looking away and rubbing a hoof against his leg.

“Ah, I understand that. I’m quite impressed to see the stories of your manticore are true. She’s even scaring my strongest and bravest lions as though they were kittens. Ha, quite a show. Given that they’ve never seen a manticore before, I can hardly blame them.”

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but…who are you?”

“You come here, to my land, in my home city, without knowing who I am?” The zebra appeared insulted and in shock. Then he grinned and chuckled. “I am none other than Caesar the twelfth, or X-I-I in writing.”

“Caesar? But, but he died two hundred years ago!” Sunshy argued in confusion.

“Yes, and his son took up his mantle. His glyph mark was branded into his father’s glyph mark and he took on the name Caesar.” Caesar turned to show off his flank, which had the crown he wore branded over what was once his glyph mark, “As his children did and so on and so on and so on. Eventually, my children will do the same. It doesn’t have to be men, but I’d prefer my son. I did have one who would have made the best Caesar since the original, but he turned Separatist of sorts and fled. Haven’t seen him in going on sixteen years now.

“Anyway, we keep Caesar going because it would have been chaos without a true leader. Sure, the Remnants would be fine without one, but for how long? It would be like a chicken with its head chopped off but still alive. Sure, it’ll do fine so long as you feed it right, but what happens when it chokes? You can’t do shit about that and then it’ll die. With a head, the chicken lives strong and fine for years to come. I just turned the Legion into a chicken for that metaphor.” The zebra gained a strange look and tapped his hoof on his face.

“Well, it could have been worse. You could have likened the Legion to a radroach.” Royal Lace offered with a gracious smile.

“You look familiar, unicorn.” Caesar squinted his eyes at her and tilted his head a little. Then his eyes landed on her necklace. “Ah! The Lace family, of course. I could hardly recognize your kind in that wastelander outfit. So nice to see you’re traveling with this particular doctor.”

“I’ve been wondering, why is her family so liked by your legion? I thought you all disliked ponies.” Sunshy questioned.

“No one explained? Well, we zebras aren’t nearly so good at making magic bend to our will as unicorns are. Shamans can, of course, but that’s a road too hard for many to take. So, we have unicorns charge our talismans and magic weapons. The Lace family is blessed to have quite the gift for magic charging and as such, they rose from mere slaves to the most important distributors of talismans in the Savannah wasteland. And if I remember correctly, we had a foal escape my Legate about a decade ago. A foal with the cutie mark just like that.” Caesar squinted at her once again, this time in suspicion.

“Oh, uhm, you see…” Royal Lace smiled awkwardly at him.

“Legate Brute, come here.”

The giant of a zebra walked forward and stood by his Lord’s side. Caesar pointed at Royal Lace with a hoof.

“As your predecessor is gone, you have full reign to marry this mare that he was to take. What say you?”

Sunshy made to argue, but Zen put a hoof on his flank. Turning to him, Sunshy saw Zen shake his head. No matter what they argued, it was up to that Legate what to do with her. Royal Lace’s awkward smile grew as Brute scanned her over. He reached forward, causing her to wince and cower back. Brute bit her hat and pulled it away. As it hung in his mouth, he scanned her over once more. Lacey had re-done her hair into a bun once again for her hat. Although she had to be used to attention, the unicorn was blushing and squirming uncomfortably under the heavy blue-eyed gaze of the towering Brute. Then he held out a hoof and pulled out her hair clip, letting her mane spill out.

Royal Lace squealed as she levitated out a brush and furiously began brushing out her mane. As she did so, Caesar and even Brute smiled at her obsessive-compulsion to keep her mane tidy. Once it was what she deemed presentable, the unicorn put the brush away and then noticed almost everyone was watching her. She blushed and dug her hoof in the ground with her ears lowered.

“While you’re rather beautiful, no doubt thanks to your family’s breeding, I do not need a pony as a wife. A sterile child is simply not acceptable. I do, however, apologize for the disgusting perverted nature of my predecessor. None of us knew he requested a child before I killed him to take his title. I ramble, but grown or not, I shall not marry a pony.” Brute settled the matter with a stamp of the hoof and a nod of the head.

“Well, too bad for you.” Royal Lace stated as Legate Brute walked away. She huffed and held her head up as she placed her hat on.

“Don’t take it with offense, Miss Lace. Just because he won’t marry you doesn’t mean he isn’t…interested.” Caesar chuckled as Lacey blushed a little.

“What are we here for?” Sunshy interrupted to ask.

“Ah, yes. Why did you come here to Peponi anyway?” Caesar counter-questioned.

“You…you invited me?” Sunshy stated, unsure.

“And you believed me? Because now you die.” The griffon that had led them there whipped out his gun and pointed it at the three. Celly growled and posed to attack, sending the lions to the ground, cowering in fear. “I’m fucking with you,” Caesar chuckled as the griffon put his weapon away, “I can’t kill a member of the Nchi Kavu. Goes against the treaty my great-grandfather set in place. It’s also a crime to harm a member of the Watchers. So if anyone hurts you, they’re tortured and then die. Even if I hurt you, I would be thrown off the throne for sure.”

“So…what did you have us come here for?” Sunshy inquired, very confused.

“There’s a water dragon to the north, in the mountains. She holds one of the only pure springs left in the Savannah other than Nchi Kavu. I’ve heard you were raised by one, so I figured you would be best to find and convince this dragon to allow my people to finally have some pure water. It would take a lot of pressure off of Nchi Kavu. Not to mention no one is really interested in drinking water that Radigators live in. Point is, get that dragon to let us use her water to grow plants and use as a source of drinking water all across the Savannah. Of course, you shall be rewarded for this deed, not to mention knowing you’ve done probably the most important thing you ever could do.”

“Not to be rude, but what sort of rewards are we talking?” Royal Lace questioned.

“Well, becoming untouchables is one. No one will dare buy or sell you as slaves under penalty of death to them and all they love. Tall Soft Heart shall be rewarded with a house of his very own in Mrahaba. Also, about two thousand caps. Make that three thousand, I didn’t see that quiet friend of yours until now.” Caesar explained, pointing to Zen. The cloaked zebra turned away and sat down.

“He…is from the Free Tribes. Don’t mind him.” Sunshy waved a hoof at Caesar.

“You’re engaged? Seems my scouts are a little behind.” Caesar frowned a bit.

“Well, it…it only happened late yesterday.”

“You have scouts watching us?” Royal Lace questioned with a tone of anger.

“Watching Tall Soft Heart. You should know just how rare a pegasus is in these parts. It’s good to keep an eye on them. Now, I’d like you all to spend the rest of the day taking in my glorious Paradise. So long as you keep that medallion on, no one should bother you. As a Lace, you should be fine as well so long as you stay near the Children of Mars or Tall Soft Heart.”

“Thank you very much, your, ah, Lordship?”

“Just call me Caesar. Before you go, I’d like to have a private word with your zebra friend. Well, you two may go, with your manticore, of course.” Caesar smiled politely.

“Zen? Is that alright?” Sunshy asked, walking over to stand in front of him.

"I suppose.” He said, through the muffling of the cloak.

Zen stood up and faced Caesar as Celly walked over to Sunshy and the others. They walked with the griffon, who led them down the empty coliseum. The pegasus looked over his shoulder as Zen talked with Caesar. The leader of the Legion kept up his polite smile. Still, he got a chill. Zen hadn’t said it, but he didn’t need to.

Caesar was his father.

Level Up! You are now at level 15!

Perk added! Here and Now: This perk gives you an extra level, and all the fun goodness that comes with it!

Level up! You are now at level 16!

Perk added! Living Anatomy: You know everything to know about the body structure of virtually everything, so long as it isn’t some blob. This perk lets you gauge the health and damage threshold of any target. +5% bonus damage to ponies and non-feral ghouls.

Companion Perk re-gained! Goddess Celestia, It’s a Manticore, Get in the Car!

Update: Element of Greed lost. Element bearer found; find which element he holds. Elements of Deceit, Treachery, Sadness, and Greed remaining.

Chapter 17: Gift of Flight

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 17: Gift of Flight

“ Birds have wings; they're free; they can fly where they want when they want. They have the kind of mobility many people envy.”--Roger Tory Peterson

The two ponies and manticore stood outside the coliseum with their griffon escort. He was dully giving them information on where everything was. Sunshy kept glancing over his shoulder in worry, hoping that Zen would arrive at any moment. The griffon snapped his claws in front of the pegasus’s face to catch his attention.

“Most important is to know that you want to rent a room at Venus’s Blessing. The zebras there take her seriously and promote all kinds of love. By that, I mean they’re friendly to everyone and some of the staff might want to get some heavy tips. I don’t recommend going anywhere else, as the rest of the hotels are made for the soldiers. Good luck, and ask for Walsh if you need anything. That’s me, if you didn’t get it.” Walsh had pointed to the basic south-east direction.

“Thank you ever so much, mister Walsh. You said the dress stores were this way?” Royal Lace pointed over to the west.

“Not dresses as you know them, but armored stuff. So yeah, good luck you two.” Welsh flared out his wings and flew off, taking out his gun as he flew.

“I suppose you’ll wait here for Zen?” Royal Lace questioned. Sunshy nodded almost instantly. “Alright, you lovebirds, I’ll see you later. Uhm, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind if I took Celly with me?”

“Is that okay with you?” Sunshy asked the manticore. Celly nodded and strode forward to stand next to Royal Lace.

“Thank you, both of you. Come along, Celly, I’m sure we can find someone here to make you all pretty. How does a bath sound?” Lacey had already begun trotting away. The manticore followed behind, grimacing at bathing that involved water.

“Give her some cute bows.” Sunshy called out with a smile. His sister turned her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him.

So there Sunshy sat, outside the coliseum where ponies were killed minutes before. Waiting for his fiancé that was most likely the son of a monstrous dictator who thought he was the reincarnation of a two-hundred-year-dead cause of the war. That brought up a question…Why did he not ever say this? Why did he hide his heritage? Did Zen think that would change his feelings? Would he even answer any of these questions if Sunshy asked?

“Deep in thought?” Zen spooked Sunshy from his questions. The zebra had lowered his hood, but still wore his cape.

“Is Caesar your—“ Sunshy tried to ask, but the zebra shoved his hoof on ‘Shy’s mouth.

“Not here.” Zen lowered his hoof and began walking forward.

A zebra in red tunic armor stopped the taller zebra by blocking his path. “Is Caesar your what?” The zebra questioned with a suspicious glare.

“Lord and master, of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to escort his guest to his hotel room.” Zen shoved the other zebra aside with his greater strength.

With a snarl, the zebra stood and galloped away. Sunshy quietly followed Zen as he led the pony. Zen seemed to know exactly where he was going, as he expertly took shortcuts through alleys, weapon drawn for a source of light. They arrived at a hotel with a picture of a pink pony mare with a luxuriously flowing long red mane and tail. She stood up in a giant clam. Her mane and tail covered her chest and between her legs. There was a sign under the picture stating in Zebra, Venus’s Blessing Hotel.

Zen opened the door into the hotel and was bombarded by bright warm colors. There was a blend of yellows, oranges, reds, and violets. Everywhere, all sorts of ungulates walking around beaming at their guests. Any female ponies were colored the same as the Venus picture outside, while the males were all warm colors. Overall, the hotel gave off the feeling of happiness and comfort.

An earth pony mare in a translucent pink dress walked over and bowed to the two. Her mane was so long that it touched the floor with her head held up. She smiled warmly at them and cocked her head to the side.

“Hello pony and zebra, are you here to rent a room?”

“Yes, one bed for the two of us.” Sunshy answered.

The pony nodded and motioned for the two to follow her. She led them over to the counter, where a unicorn mare stood in front of a wall of keys. The earth pony mare told the other mare about their request. Using a blue glow of magic, she levitated over a key to Sunshy, who held it in his mouth.

“Third door on the left upstairs, lovebirds. Don’t keep everyone else awake, okay?” The unicorn winked at the two with a knowing grin.

“Isn’t that the point of this hotel?” Zen questioned with a confused look as he handed over fifty caps.

“Our hotel is not some dirty, disgusting motel that you go to with a hooker. We don’t even allow those not married or engage to have a one-bed room without deep questioning of how much they know each other. Venus is the goddess of love and beauty, not skanky sex with some whore you met on the street. We have to keep up our image.” The unicorn seemed offended at first, but slowly became proud as she talked.

“So we’re only getting in without interrogation because Sunny is wearing this engagement band?”

“Such a beautiful one, at that. I’ve never seen such a well-cut gem in my life.” The earth pony held up Sunshy’s right hoof to admire the white gold band.

“Cost a hoof and a leg, but a small price to make you happy.” Zen commented as he nuzzled Sunshy.

The two mares Awww’d at the display of affection, which got the yellow pegasus to flush orange. The unicorn used her magic to push the two forward as she and the other mare giggled like fillies. Zen shook his head and rolled his eyes at their display with a chuckle before walking away. Sunshy kept close, warily shying away from anyone as they made their way upstairs. The way everyone smiled was rather creepy.

The pony opened the door with the key and put it in his saddle box. Zen went inside first, checking out the room before letting Sunshy inside. Sunshy was unsurprised to find it was the same warm color scheme as the rest of the hotel. Dominating the back was a large heart-shaped bed, which Sunshy thought was cheesy, and a huge pile of pillows to the right. There was a bathroom off to the left with a rather clean toilet, sink, and bath. However, when Zen drank from the sink, his PipBuck began clicking at him.

Once done with his mildly radioactive drink, Zen took off his cloak and saddlebag and put them by the heart bed. Then he walked over and lied down on the pile of pillows with his front legs crossed in front of him. Sunshy took off boarding and saddle boxes before lying down next to Zen. The zebra began fiddling with his PipBuck, and something caught Sunshy’s eye. He had Zen go back and let him read something that called itself Stats.

Strength: 8 came with a picture of a burly zebra. Perception: 4 a picture of the zebra with an eye, ear, nose, and tongue above his head. Endurance: 6 had a picture of a zebra running and swimming. Charisma: 6 the zebra was now winking flirtatiously with a movie-star smile. Intelligence: 5 came with a picture of a zebra sitting on books with his face behind an open one. Agility: 5 had a picture of a zebra balancing on a pole upside down on his head. Luck: 6 a picture of the zebra walking casually with a black cat hissing and an anvil about to fall on his head.

“How does it know all that?” Sunshy questioned.

“Guessing on the prick I felt when I put it on, this thing linked itself into my nervous system. And now it’s judging me, stupid judgmental piece of awesome. Didn’t Drakon tell you about that?”

“No, he didn’t have any idea, either. He just chalked its powers up to pony magic and left it at that. If it’s judgmental, then why is it a piece of awesome?”

“Because it knows…everything.” Zen opened his eyes wide at Sunshy in a creepy manner.

“Like what?” Sunshy moved back a little from the stare.

“Like it takes down notes of things I’ve heard and it gives me waypoints to go to. It tells me what ‘perks’ I have and how they help me. It shows my standings with all the factions I’ve discovered, too.”

“Will it tell me why you didn’t tell me you’re Caesar’s son?”

“Nope. But I will.” Zen nuzzled Sunshy again and wrapped his tail around the pony’s flank. “It’s simple, really. I thought it wasn’t important before, not to mention you didn’t know we still had a Caesar. And I thought you might not like me as much after finding out.”

“You’re still you, Zen, and I love you. That’s all that matters.” Sunshy smiled as he rubbed his face against Zen’s lovingly. “Did you really have to get a room just for us to talk about that in private?”

Zen stared flatly at Sunshy before nipping at his ear. “I would not waste fifty caps just to talk about my deadbeat father in a hotel made for couples.”

Having no suitable response to this, Sunshy said nothing. Zen took advantage of his silence to kiss him.

~*~*~

The couple walked outside early the next morning with their boarding and saddle boxes/bags. All their valuables were stored in their room’s complimentary safe, allowing them to carry only the things that they were to sell. As Zen had weapons and ammo for trade and Sunshy had boarding, the two split up.

Once he was all out of things to sell, Sunshy went to buy a few enhancements for his Zebra Assault Rifle, such as a scope and a stabilizer. He also had a mechanic re-enhance it so it could fire single shots at a time. While he was at it, the pony got a few armor-piercing rounds.

Trotting along happily, Sunshy was stopped by someone calling out, “Hey, Pegasus!”

In front of him stepped a zebra buck in the armor of Legion front line soldiers. The zebra, upon seeing he had Sunshy’s attention, smirked at him in an alluringly way. “Say, how about you and I find a motel?”

“I don’t under—Oh! You’re flirting with me.” Sunshy fluttered his wings and flew around the zebra. Upon seeing his Glyph mark was two spears crossed, Sunshy landed in front of him. “Can you do any tricks with spears? I mean, other than killing?”

“Uh…yeah, I can.” The zebra had a couple spears mounted on each side atop his saddlebags. He pulled one out and set it down, despite being weirded-out by the pegasus. Then, with a well-placed stomp, the spear flipped end over end in the air. The soldier watched it flip until it was close enough for him to catch in his muzzle.

“Okay, now say…not what you said, that was terrible. Something better, like…” Sunshy tapped his hoof on his chin, trying to think of a pickup line.

“I think I get where you’re going. So, like” The soldier set the spear back down, “…Hey, babe, wanna see my other spear?” Then he flipped it over again and caught it in his mouth.

Sunshy floated to clap his hooves together. “Very good, now you’ll be sure to hook up with someone just as shallow as you.”

The pegasus flew away, leaving the soldier to drop his spear in open-mouthed shock. The close-by fellow soldiers began laughing loudly at his expense. A soldier ran by, shouting that a fight had started over at the coliseum. Almost instantly, all chatter redirected to talking of the fight as everyone made their way to the coliseum.

Appalled at their idea of entertainment, Sunshy made his way back to his hotel room. When he was there, the pony decided to pack his medical supplies and boarding, but wear his Watcher’s coat. As a last-minute thought, the pony slung his Z.A.R. across his back. Once out in the hotel, he heard the muttering of the staff. Even they were talking about the coliseum fight.

Deciding he might as well, once Sunshy was outside, he flew over to the coliseum to see the fight. They might need a medic on hand and this doctor was armed to the teeth with medical supplies. Sunshy flew high up so he could land on the top of the bowl-shaped outdoor arena. What he saw pierced his heart with an icy dagger.

Zen was fighting a zebra mare.

Neither wore boarding. Both held machetes. They were cutting each other up rather badly.

Had Sunshy taken the time to really watch, he would see that Zen had sported only a few rather minor cut while the mare was on her last legs.

However, seeing his lover fight in this coliseum brought back the images of the gore he had seen yesterday. It forced the image of Pretty Cow’s guard gutted on the wall. Sunshy didn’t notice Celly calling out to him from Caesar’s box. His mind was focused only on Zen.

Everyone noticed as a yellow and pink pegasus flew down into the middle of the coliseum. They shouted out and Caesar acted quickly; rising from his throne, he got to the microphone and shouted at the pegasus to leave the fight. Zen dropped his guard to look up at Sunshy diving down, wings folded to speed up his descent. The mare took this opportunity to bite a button on her machete’s handle. The machete lit up with magic electricity.

She charged as Sunshy was landing next to Zen, his wings flaring to slow his descent. He shouted at the pegasus to leave as Caesar shouted for the guards to get that mare out for using an illegal weapon in the fight. Zen finally saw the mare charging at him, and Sunshy was between them. Time slowed as she readied to swing and Sunshy touched down. His wings were still up. So was her magic weapon.

The lightning blade came down.

A resounding soft ‘thump’ was the only sound.

The silence was more deafening than the endless shouts.

Stunned, Sunshy looked down at the ground to his left. There, lying on the dirt, with a pool of blood, was what appeared to be a yellow wing. Funny, it looked so much like his wing.

Caesar was shouting for medics, guards, anyone who could fix this. Most everyone was roused from their stupor and began shouting. There was that background white noise… Zen tried to attack the mare, but she was captured by the Children of Mars and dragged away.

A laughing escaped Sunshy’s throat as he picked up his wing in his hooves. His right hoof stroked the shiny feathers. So soft… even when speckled with blood. Turning his head, he saw the stump left over on his body. The magic weapon had cauterized the wound. Any blood was not his own.

And then a zebra tried to take his wing away.

“That’s mine!!” Sunshy screeched.

The pegasus whipped out his Assault Rifle and stuck the barrel straight into the mouth of the zebra in the red Legion armor. Good, not Zen. So, red was dead.

The Legion soldier’s head flew back as his body caught on fire from the bullet. The body fell to the ground. Sunshy picked up his wing again and sat on his haunches, staring at the thing in his hooves in a trance. A hoof placed itself on the pegasus’s shoulders. Sunshy turned, pointing the barrel of the gun at the throat of Zen. The pegasus held his wing against his chest, despite Zen’s sad expression and sorrow-filled tone of voice. The words were lost.

Another soldier put her hooves on Sunshy. The barrel was pressed to this mare’s head and fired. Her body was engulfed in flame, but she was dead before the enchantment kicked in. Then soldiers swarmed at him en masse, moving Zen away as they did so. With a war cry of his own, Sunshy unleashed a flurry of fiery death.

Soldier after soldier fell before the enchanted weapon. They were creating a circle of flaming bodies around him. He had to stand to fight those behind him, but he kept his wing pressed against his chest by his left hoof. The pony changed magazines too quickly for anyone to get close enough to restrain him. The weapon spread reducer worked its magic, keeping Sunshy’s aim close to home.

Then he was face-to-face with Zen. The zebra had climbed over the bodies, some of which were still burning, that had formed a circle around Sunshy. The Zebra Assault Rifle was pointing right at Zen’s forehead. Taking a step forward, Zen placed the barrel of the gun right between his eyes.

Cerulean blue eyes welled with tears. The gun shook in the grip of his mouth. Zen’s brown eyes remained calm. The rifle dropped from Sunshy’s mouth as the pony cried loudly, lowering his head to his wing against his chest. Something injected him on the neck and he blacked out.

Level up! You are now level 17!

Perk added! Rapid Reload: All of your weapon reloads are 25% faster than normal.

Chapter 18: Tenacity

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 18: Tenacity

“Today I learned what the most important quality is; a certain kind of spirit, a stick-to-it-ivness, a never-give-up can-do attitude that’s the mark of a real winner, and this tortoise has it.”

No…not this dream again.

The bodies of everyone he loved; mom, dad, Drakon, Celly, and Zen. All of them dead, torn to pieces. That damn mantra shouted at him in his head.

Why? Since that first night giving himself to Zen…this nightmare had vanished. Why was it back?

Sunshy closed his eyes and turned away. He opened them and stared into Zen’s brown orbs. Something was wrong. Blood flowed into his eyes and down his muzzle.

“I loved you.” He whispered. “You killed me.”

A gun was in Sunshy’s mouth. The barrel was right in front of a hole in Zen’s head. The blood was flowing heavily.

“NO!” Sunshy shouted as he threw the gun down.

It didn’t clatter away; instead, it landed on a body and bounced. Looking down, he saw dozens of bodies. All of them were zebras in Legion armor. They caught on fire from the gun. The fire spread, engulfing all of them. Their lifeless eyes stared at Sunshy as the fire grabbed at him.

Eyes became stars in the sky. The pegasus was staring up at them. Salvation, they seemed to promise. Then the stars moved. They swirled and moved and became the definite outline of an Alicorn. The Alicorn moved and turned into the Goddess Luna. Luna flew down and landed in front of him.

The royal Goddess stared down at the pony. Her mane was a flowing dark blue spotted with stars. She wore her royal garments. Those blue eyes of hers stared into Sunshy, into his soul. Her expression turned sad. Sunshy began to cry and tried to tell her about his regrets, his sins of killing. He didn’t deserve her pity, he shouldn’t make her sad.

Before Sunshy could get a word out, the Goddess put a wing in front of his mouth. Princess Luna bent down and kissed the pony on his brow, as a mother does with a child to calm their fears. All his terrors were washed away. Luna’s mane moved and embraced him, sending him into a black void with only the stars surrounding him for company. They winked and danced for him, lifting his spirits.

With a sudden burst of pain, Sunshy awoke and was unable to scream at the pure, raw agony. His body seized flailed, but was unable to move away from the cause of the pain. All four of his hooves were held down. Sunshy was on his belly on something cool and metallic. An oxygen mask covered his muzzle; it steamed with every panting breath. Something pierced his side, a sweet wave of relief washed over him, dulling the pain. Now he could hear voices, along with a beeping from a machine recording his heartbeat.

“—complete success. He should be able to fly almost instantly.” An older buck, one Sunshy didn’t know.

“That simple? No rehabilitation or anything?” Zen was questioning. At least he was here and not dead…

“No, this is the height of all equine technology. This model was made to imitate the nervous system down to a T. It will respond to his every thought as easily and instantly as the real limb.”

“Good…I still can’t believe it was cut off so easily. He once said that it would take a chainsaw to cut off a wing.”

“Magical weapons are very strong. I don’t know how that mare got this one through the screening, but it was quite the enchantment on that baby. It could have cut through Steel Ranger or even Children of Mars armor like it was butter. That poor buck’s wing didn’t stand a chance.”

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

Slowly, with eyes tearing up, Sunshy turned his head. To his left, where his wonderful yellow wing once resided, there was a metal contraption. It mimicked the wing of a pegasus perfectly, except that it was made out of metal.

The shout Sunshy let out the loudest, painful, most heart-wrenching sound that could be made. The pony ignored the sounds of hooves and paws scrambling into his room as he covered his face with his mane and continued to wail. He felt Celly nuzzle against him and heard Zen and Lacey speak, but the words were lost on him.

It felt like hours passed before Sunshy was able to stop crying. Once he was out of tears, he managed to shake aside his mane and stare out. He was inside a tent that used to be dark green, but had turned to a dull shade over the years. There were other patients on either cots or surgical tables, hooked up to machines and IVs. Checking over a patient was an old zebra in a doctor’s coat. His mane and tail were pure white with age. He wore half-moon reading glasses and had a bit of a beard.

Sunshy looked down to his hooves and saw the various needles with tubes and heart-monitoring stickers. Someone had long ago drawn a smiley face, a bunny, and a flower on them. It was rather professional. A smile graced Sunshy’s face, despite the situation.

“It was the drawings, wasn’t it?” The voice was the same as the one from before. Tilting his head up, Sunshy saw the old stallion smiling serenely at him. The pegasus suddenly thought of his grandfather, who had smiled at him in the same way. “I did that myself, as a way to try and cheer up patients.”

“I…I lost my wing.” Sunshy was tearing up again.

“Yes, you did, and I’m so very sorry for you.” He actually did appear saddened. “This replacement I gave you is the best of the best. Can you feel it all?”

Now that he mentioned it, Sunshy realized he could feel it. The robotic limb felt exactly like his old wing. Experimentally, the pegasus lifted his new left wing. The replacement limb moved as he wanted. Sunshy was surprised to find it was virtually weightless. Watching it now, Sunshy moved the robotic wing in all sorts of ways. Eventually, he folded it against his body with his other wing, but he made the mistake of watching it fold in.

A circle of metal ringed around his side. So not only was his wing replaced, but bits of his flesh were covered in metal that had no right to be there.

“Before you get upset, we had to install that bit on your side to make sure the wing responded correctly. It also acts as an anchor for the wing. Without that, your new wing would fly off the first time you encounter strong winds or get shot.”

Sunshy nodded, as that made a lot of sense. “Can you release these restraints?”

“You won’t punch me, will you?” The doctor—Doctor Dakatari…Doctor Doctor? That’s what the nametag said—asked. Sunshy had to look at him like he was crazy. “Patients are usually very upset once they’ve lost a limb. Sadly, they’ll take it out on the one person who tried to help.”

“I promise I won’t hurt you.” Sunshy vowed somberly.

Dr. Dakatari nodded to someone over his shoulder. Pink magic enveloped the four straps and meticulously unbuckled the leather restraints. Sunshy waited for Lacey’s magic to carefully remove the needles in his leg as she walked into his line of sight. She wore an armored dress of a deep violet. It looked great on her, even Sunshy had to admit.

Once the needles were out, Lacey wrapped up that bit of his leg with bandages. Sunshy stood and jumped off the table, falling face-first when his knees buckled almost instantly. The world was suddenly pink when Royal Lace caught him in her magic and helped him upright before he could hurt himself. Celly was by his side in a second, scooping him up and purring. She was so happy that he was alive and more-or-less alright.

“How are you feeling, Sunny?” Royal Lace questioned with a worried smile.

“Not very sunny at all.” The pegasus responded solemnly.

“Come outside, there’s something you might want to see.”

There was really no room to argue, as Sunshy was placed on Celly’s back. He noticed that she smelled of lilacs and had a couple of pink bows next to her ears. So she had that bath after all. Any other time, he would have smiled. Instead, he had a sad.

Outside, there was a large crowd gathered. Sunshy only saw this as Celly moved through it. As the crowd parted for her, those on each side stared openly at Sunshy. They all began whispering, and soon enough, everyone was talking about him. Within only a minute or so, the manticore stopped.

Caesar walked over and stood to her side, looking up to Sunshy. The pegasus was, and had been, lying curled up in a little ball, fixated sadly on his fake wing. Those blue eyes of his slid over to Caesar before returning to the metal on his body.

“Which method of torture would you prefer for the culprit?” Caesar asked.

“What?” Sunshy questioned, completely caught off-guard.

“We have plenty of devices here ready for you, unless you’d like someone else to do it for you. Your fiancé seems most eager to do it all himself. He seems to think you wouldn’t want justice for this atrocious crime.”

“I…I don’t follow.”

“The mare from the fight. All her things were sold so we could give her money to the doctor to pay for your new wing. The mare that cut off your wing used an illegal weapon in the fight. That is three strikes against her; harming a doctor, harming one of the Nchi Kavu, and using an enchanted weapon. She will be tortured thoroughly before being stoned to death.”

“What?!” Sunshy shouted and flew into the air, turning to face forward.

The mare from the fight was fully healed. Good news ended there. She was standing on a stage with her hooves chained down. On each side of here there were tables with various torture instruments. Around her throat was a noose. Zen stood to her right, glaring daggers. Sunshy scanned the crowd that encircled the entire stage. Everyone had a rock.

“You can’t!” Sunshy shouted, still scanning down at the crowd in horror.

“Don’t you dare say that!” The mare shouted back to him. This startled the pony into looking at her. Her green eyes were brimming with fire. “I knew I was fucked the moment I used that weapon, but I knew my opponent was not a Legion supporter. I’ve heard of Zen and his talent for fighting, and I knew I had no way of beating him, so I cheated. I went into that fight ready to die. It was a terrible mistake on my part that you were involved, Tall Soft Heart. Truly, it pains my pride to know that you live up to your name. Sparing the mare that cut off your damn wing. Hell, I might as well have cut off your dick and you’d still forgive me. Or is it only because you’re able to still fly that you’re being so nice? What if you couldn’t fly anymore, huh? Would you still want me alive?”

“Yes, I would, because that’s the kind of pony I am.”Sunshy retorted, soaring over to the stage and landing in front of the mare.

Zen strode between Sunshy and the mare, wearing his boarding and cloak. The pegasus took a step back at the pure anger in his usually soft brown eyes. It wasn’t comforting at all to know that the anger wasn’t directed at him.

“I know what kind of pony you are, Sunny. That’s why I’m taking it upon myself to avenge you. Think less of me if you must, but this is justice. She must be punished for her actions, for what she did to you. As my fiancé, it is my duty to defend your honor when you will not out of the kindness in your heart.” Zen spoke with some strange authority he never showed.

“I don’t need my honor defended. Throw her in jail or something, just don’t kill her.” Sunshy pleaded, but Zen kept his steely attitude.

“She died the moment that enchanted weapon touched you. It is the law that anyone who harms an Nchi Kavu tribal brother is put to death, only I was exempted for going into the fight willingly. If she is not killed, then the treaty is broken and the Legion and all of those who depend upon it will be crippled. No more water and food rations will be traded, and thousands will die. She must die so that this doesn’t happen. It’s brutal, I know, but it is the law.”

“Chief Fluffy Doom would never approve of this!”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Sunshy glanced around in confusion as the stares focused on him. He caught snippets such as, “—dare say his name…” “—so openly…” “—know him personally?”

“Tall Soft Heart, you forget that this was the buffalo that literally turned Oasis into a crater.” Caesar stated as he walked onto the platform calmly. “Chief Fluffy Doom, while having a heart of gold, is no pushover; much like you. Death means nothing to him, so long as it serves purpose. Those slavers he killed, did you not once think that perhaps there was a reason for their business? Did they not have families? What if they had children they needed to feed? What if those children were there at Oasis with them when Chief Fluffy Doom struck? Surely, the Chief is a great buck, but not a great person. His tribe comes first, all other lives are meaningless.”

“That doesn’t justify—“

“What about you? You slew at least twenty of my soldiers in your rage. What does that make you? Sane and kind-hearted until you’re pushed too far? Because to me, it sounds like you’re a hypocrite.”

“I understand what I did, even if I wasn’t clear of mind. Punish me if you must, but—“

“Ah, and that’s where we come to understanding the mare here,” Caesar turned to see the mare, who stared angrily at the wood under her hooves. “She understands that she committed a crime and must be punished for it. So, too, do you understand that taking lives is not something that you should have done. Are you alright? You look pale.” Caesar looked to the pony in concern. Sunshy had turned a sickly shade of yellow.

“H…how many?” Sunshy stared at the ground, trying to focus his breathing.

“How many…what?” Zen asked, his steel façade gone in favor of caring for his beloved. As the pony shook on his hooves, the zebra stood next to him, taking some of his weight.

“How many…dead?” Sunshy appeared to be ill. Or he was going to be.

“Twenty, at least, maybe more. However, you are not the first to act out of rage and therefore, as the great leader I am, you shall—“

Whatever Caesar was about to say was lost. For Sunshy returned his dinner onto the platform. The zebras all cringed and backed away, even those in the audience; the mare had nowhere to go and was pulling on her restraints to get away from the sick. One mare in the audience fainted.

“Gods above, he’s only killed one person before. Why did you have to tell him?” Zen angrily demanded of Caesar.

“You’re blaming this on me?! He understood perfectly he killed; it was only a matter of time until it sank in. By Mars, are you serious? He’s only killed one person before this?”

“Yes, and it was a Raider! Now will someone please take him back to medical before he pukes again?!”

Celly answered by flying over, picking her brother up gingerly in her paws and flying him back to the tent. When he was there, Dr. Doctor led him to a cot and tucked him in to make sure he would sleep. Just to be extra sure, he was given a sedative that lulled him into the bliss of sleep.

Sunshy woke to the blurry world. He blinked a few times, clearing the world outside of his body. The first thing he saw was Celly. She purred at him and laid her head on the cot next to his head. Sunshy smiled and placed a hoof on her nose with a “Boop.”

“Glad to see you’re doing better.” Caesar appeared in Sunshy’s line of vision. “We need to discuss your punishment.”

“Go ahead.” Sunshy began stroking Celly’s head.

“You have to go to every family and apologize. Normally, we would also give you one lashing for every soldier dead, but we shall forget that.”

“Why?”

“First off, you’ve been punished enough losing your wing. Secondly, you certainly don’t have the body to withstand twenty lashings and survive. And I don’t have a last point, other than you’ve been asleep for a full day. That mare is dead, too.”

“Did Zen do it? Did he torture her?”

“No, he didn’t have the heart after your little episode. My Frumentarii did it for the both of you, as he is skilled in such things. When he was done, the people stoned her to death. Justice is served and you’re welcome whether or not you wanted it done. Now, Walsh will guide you to the homes of the families of the seventeen soldiers you killed.”

“You said it was at least twenty.” Sunshy finally looked up to the zebra leader.

“So I miscounted,” Caesar shrugged, “big deal. That’s only three lives less than what you previously thought.”

“It is…a bit of a big deal. For me, at least. I’m a doctor, I’m supposed to save lives, not take them.”

“It’s the way of the wasteland, kid. Grow up and accept it. Walsh, take him to the homes, please.”

The griffon walked into the room and waited for Caesar to leave and Sunshy to get up. It took a massive force of will and the knowledge that he deserved this to get Sunshy out of the warm and cozy cot. Once he did, the pony walked out with Celly behind and Walsh leading.

The pony was sullen as he told the first family that he was the one who killed their son or daughter. The family strangely invited him inside the home. They gave him—only him—some tea and cookies. Then they told him all about their daughter Rosaline. A proud and brave girl, who grew a garden outside their house, and she wanted nothing more than to make the Legion proud. Sunshy was crying within the hour.

The next fifteen houses were the exact same. Every family invited him in, gave him a drink and food, showed them pictures of the child he killed and told them all about their child starting with their foal/colthood. Abasi, Falia, Balozi, Sabra…the names were endless. Sunshy found his tears were endless, as well. As soon as the families were sure that he understood, they let him go.

Then they walked into the last family house. The father opened the door and was immediately enraged. He delved straight into a shouting rant about his son Musa. He said Sunshy had no right to go around begging for forgiveness. His son was a fighter, a warrior, and was supposed to die with honor. Not at the hooves of some damn pony that had lost his wing and was just enraged.

Sunshy went back to his room after that, dwelling deeply on the verbal attack brought on by that last father. He had expected all the other families to do the same, but after sixteen rather warm welcomes, the yelling was unexpected. Celly had tried to attack him for it, but Sunshy wouldn’t let her stop him. The father had every right to be upset and tell the pony how he felt.

Suddenly, the pony was no longer in his hotel room. He was back in the Cave of Chaos. Discord was sitting on his throne, staring at the wall of television screens dully, sipping on a glass of chocolate milk wearing sunglasses.

“Saw what happened to you.” Discord stated somberly. “You could have handled it better.”

“I know. I spent the last seven hours getting lectured by everyone about their children and why I shouldn’t have killed them.” Sunshy sighed as he walked over to the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.

The pony turned to the wall of screens and saw a table on the bottom. It was cluttered with notes, trash, food, some Sparkle~Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla. Then something colorful caught his eye. Sunshy trotted forward and picked up a statuette of Pinkie Pie bouncing happily. The pegasus felt a wave come over him, a feeling like a film over his brain had been washed away; along with it came the taste of cupcakes and fruity treats. He turned the statuette around until he found the words, “Awareness! It was under E!”

“Discord, do you know what happened to the Ministry Mares?” Sunshy questioned.

“If I didn’t see it happen, I figured it out for myself.” Discord answered as his tail wrapped around the statuette.

He pulled it close and held it in his clawed hand. Then, with a few clicks on a keyboard on the only clean part of the jutting out table, the screens all changed. On the massive wall of the cave was a cobbled-together picture of Sweet Apple Acres. Sunshy recognized it from his books in Stable 15.

“Applejack got into a Stable full of her family and others. This is the stable where Littlepip came from. She’s the only one with a happy ending.”

Discord clicked away on a few more buttons. The screens flickered and they changed one by one into a skeleton of a unicorn mare with what was left of her saddlebags left over. Her hoof was on the glass in a building.

“Do you know about the Pink Cloud in Canterlot?” The spirit inquired as he, too, stared back at the wall of screens.

“Yes, it fuses things together. Her hoof, it’s fused to the glass.” Sunshy pointed out.

“This is Rarity. She died holding her hoof against the breaking glass in one of Fluttershy’s main Ministry bases. It only bought her enough time to teleport Fluttershy away and make a memory orb from Angel the bunny.”

Sunshy merely nodded as Discord pushed more buttons. This time, there was a picture of a bunch of ruined rubble, where some Hellhounds were wandering around. All around, there was magical radiation giving off rainbow colors.

“This is where the Goddess used to reside. The Goddess started off as Trixie thrown into a vat of magic goop that turned her insane and insanely powerful. She absorbed Twilight Sparkle and quite a few other unicorns. Once she was powerful enough, the Goddess began making more Alicorns.”

The screens changed to the picture of the sky somewhere above the mountains far to the north.

“This is embarrassing to admit, but I have no idea what happened to Rainbow Dash. Last I saw, she was racing against Gilda the Griffon for her life.”

“What about Fluttershy?”

Discord had the screens change the image into a remote location in the Everfree Forest. It appeared to be a high cliff full of grass and trees around it. However, there was a bare spot with burned-out piles of ash.

“What?! Where is she?” Discord exclaimed in confusion.

“Fluttershy was here?” Sunshy was sure he would have discovered the remains of a pony.

“She was a tree!” Discord stated. “I’m not crazy; killing joke got her. Turned her into a tree. With how high up that spot it, she would see the damage her megaspells caused for past two hundred years. Where the hell did she go? Here, I know someone.”

Discord pushed a few more buttons and a square spot of the screens changed while the rest blacked out. In the ones still working, there came up the image of a large purple dragon with green spikes. Sunshy gauged by his height that he was at least a hundred years old, give or take. It was hard to guesstimate as the only thing he had to size against him were bookshelves, but those were as tall as he was. The dragon male was happily dusting them with a pony-sized feather duster. It was tiny in his large claws. However, he was still small compared to Drakon and that massive giagantor he saw before.

“Spike!” Discord shouted.

“Gaa! Who’s there?” Spike the dragon turned his head this way and that with an angry tone. Smoke curled from his nostrils as he backed to an arch inside the cave he was in, as if he was protecting something. The poor dragon looked as though he was in a battle recently; one of his eyes was covered with a dragon-sized eye patch.

“Just me, keep your non-existent pants on.” Discord waved off the dragon’s anger.

“Discord?” Spike seemed to notice whatever it was Discord was using to spy on him. The dragon gave a great sigh of relief. “You scared me. So, what’s up? Something important?”

“What in the great name of chaos happened to Fluttershy?”

“The best news! She’s not dead! She was a tree all these years!” Spike danced in place and clapped, which rattled the bookcases.

“Yes, yes, I know I know.”

“You knew? And you didn’t tell me?” Spike growled loudly and angrily at the screens.

“I wouldn’t get anything out of telling you. So, do you know what happened to her or not?”

“Why do you care? You hate the Elements of Harmony and their bearers.”

“Because I have a friend here who cares.” Discord wrapped his tail around Sunshy’s middle and moved him in front of the screens.

“Whoa, you could be related to Fluttershy. Oh, uh, why do you care what happened to her anyway?”

“Uhm…because I lived in Stable 15 with Drakon, the red, pink, and yellow dragon. That Stable was made by her mixing ponies and zebras and guarded by Drakon. Before that, I learned a lot about her to clear her name about the whole megaspell thing. Like how she made them to heal, not kill.” Sunshy explained. Rubbing a hoof against his leg, he admitted, “She’s sort of the reason I became a doctor.”

“…I see. Well, since you seem genuine, I’ll tell you. A couple weeks ago, a couple named Velvet Remedy and Deadshot Calamity made a stronger cure for the poison joke, to work on killing joke. It worked, Fluttershy is back to being a pony. She’s just as young as she was, and she’s living in New Appeloosa with Ditzy Doo and Silver Bell.” Spike smiled as he told how one of his oldest friends was still alive.

“That’s great news. At least now she’ll know that everypony is trying to change Equestria, right?” Sunshy asked hopefully.

“Ever since Littlepip brought back the sun and moon, everyone has been trying harder to make Equestria better. Raiders and slavers are still common, though, but we’ll fix that eventually.” Spike sounded sure of himself. “Discord, do you know what happened to the rest of my old friends?”

“I saw Twilight released when the Goddess was destroyed, but she didn’t last very long. Other than that, everyone else besides Fluttershy is dead. Unless Rainbow Dash managed to find some sort of fountain of youth, of course.” Discord snatched a floating-by pie and took a bite, metal and all.

“Yeah…I figured as much.” Spike seemed saddened.

“If it’s not too much trouble, Discord, will you put me down?” Sunshy questioned, turning to face him over his shoulder.

“Sure, sure.” Discord set the pony down on the ground once again.

“I gotta get back to cleaning Twilight’s books.” Spike piped up, sounding much sadder than when they began.

Discord pushed a few buttons and the entire wall of screens changed once again. This time, it was the inside of a pink room with three safes in the back. On the table in front of the safes was a terminal that gave off a pink glow rather than the usual poison apple green. Off to the right side of the room was a skeleton of an earth pony. The way the body was curled gave the appearance that she was once holding something.

“This…is Pinkie Pie. I could never hack her terminal…too damn strong even—hang on, it looks like someone did.” Discord pushed a few more buttons. Suddenly, there was a voice in the room. The voice of Pinkie Pie sounding sad and heartbroken; as though she had lost everything she cared for. Hearing the ever-bouncy and happy pony sad brought tears to Sunshy’s eyes.

“Hi Twilight. It’s me…”The message started and lasted for quite a while, slowly turning sadder and sadder.

By the end of the message, Sunshy was freely crying quietly. He wiped them away with his hooves and turned to Discord. The pegasus was surprised to find Discords mismatched eyes were misted over and a few tears had leaked onto his muzzle.

And then it all clicked for him.

“You loved Pinkie Pie, didn’t you?” It made sense; why she was last, the statuette, the crying.

“I have the power to create time pockets, where time flows as normally as it can for me. While that time goes on, the rest of the world is at a bit of a standstill. I spent a year with Pinkie Pie in a time pocket I created for us. It started as only having fun, since she loved my chaotic world when she was normal. It just…went from there.

“But after a while, she started begging to go back to her friends, even though all the fun we had together would be erased from her mind. So we went back, she forgot all about it while I remembered, and then with the Elements, she and her friends imprisoned me once again. Then, once the war started, there was so much chaos that was able to break free.” Discord picked up the Pinkie Pie statuette and caressed it with his lion paw.

“I’m so sorry.” Sunshy placed a hoof on Discord’s dragon leg.

“I’ve had two-hundred years to get over her.” Discord placed his lion paw on Sunshy’s head, “And yet I still miss her.”

“I feel…like I was really wrong about you.”

“I am many things, Sunshy, but I am not an evil creature. I was angry at the loss of my people in the first great war ever. It was Alicorns against the Draconequus. No one won. Everyone died but me and the Princesses. My ruling was right after Equestria made.

“I was upset and angry, but I never once killed anypony. That was a line I didn’t want to cross against a race that was not directly involved. All I’ve wanted since my first imprisonment is to have some fun. My fun no longer hurt anyone, but I was still forced to be the bad guy just for wanting to play around.”

“Thank you…for everything, Discord.”

“Right. You can…go back now.”

The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony snapped his eagle claw and Sunshy vanished. He appeared back in his hotel room. The pony sighed heavily before grabbing some caps and walking downstairs and to the main room of Venus’s Blessing. He walked over to the bar and set down his sack of one-hundred caps.

“Give me a shot of the strongest crap you got.”

Zen pushed open the door to his shared hotel room with a heavy heart. Too much had happened in two days. With a heavy sigh, the zebra set down his saddlebags and took off his cloak and boarding. Then he noticed something rubbing up against him; looking over his shoulder, he saw Sunshy burying his face against the black and white mane.

“You feeling alright?”

“’M feelin’ jush fiahn, sexy.” Sunshy rubbed his face up Zen’s neck and nuzzled against his face. That was when Zen noticed he had a blush. That was when he smelled the unmistakable smell of booze.

“Are you…drunk?” Zen took a step back to observe the pony. He was swaying and seemed unable to stand up without almost falling. Sunshy also had that dopey smile associated with drunks. “Oh gods, you are drunk!”

“Ayep! Ah haven’t felt thish gewd in feeeeerever!” Sunshy laughed and fell over onto his side. This only caused him to laugh harder.

“But…but you hate alcohol!” Zen argued with a terrified feeling churning his stomach.

“Who who said that? Ah luuuuuuuurrrvveeee alko…alcho…booze!” Sunshy rolled over like a dog onto his hooves.

“Sunshy, I know this was traumatic and all, but—“

“Hey!!” Sunshy shoved his nose right up against Zen’s. All his bubbly love and laughter was gone. Now he was an angry drunk. “Don’t chu…don’t…stop talkin’ ‘bout that. Ah got drunk sho I can…don’t have to think about it!”

“Sunshy, this is not the right way to do things! You have to—“

“Dun’t you tell me wha I caahn and cahn’t dew! Hypocrite!”

“That’s a big word for a drunken slob.” Zen flatly stated.

“You sayin’ ‘m dumb?” Sunshy challenged. Then he laughed and hugged Zen. “’Shokay, babes, ah still love, ah love you, brony.”

Zen pushed Sunshy away and stared hard at the pony. Sunshy was lost in giggling and trying to hug him again. Then the zebra sighed and turned his head the ground, eyes closed.

“Sunshy,” The zebra turned his head up, keeping his eyes closed, “I need you to stay still.”

“Mmkay.” Sunshy sat down and continued to stare with half-lidded eyes at Zen and a drunken smile plastered on his face.

The zebra slid his eyes open, but they weren’t his eyes. Where his brown pools used to be, there was black. His pupil was replaced with whiteness. His eyes became his glyph mark.

“Zen, wha—“

Suddenly, Sunshy blacked out.

With a groan, the pegasus woke up into a black room. No, not just a room…it was like a large, vast emptiness of blackness. Then, a yellow light with a red hue appeared before him. The pony got up and ran after it. As he ran, the yellow and red became defined as the shape of a pony. Sunshy gasped and skidded to a stop.

It was him.

There was another Sunshy right in front of him.

In a flash, an entire row of the pony appeared.

Scared, the pegasus backed up and away from his countless doppelgangers. He was then able to notice the slight differences. One appeared to have a very angry face and was covered in blood, wearing the boarding of a Raider. Another wore a doctor’s coat and was holding a scalpel. Another was stoic. One was reading a book. Then there was one staring lovingly at his engagement bracelet. There was even a colt version of him, looking sad and in the middle of crying.

All of the doppelgangers were frozen, not even breathing. They were all in one line, stretching near endlessly in each direction.

“What the hay is going on here?”

“You’re inside your own mind, Sunshy.” A deep, regal voice told him.

From above the endless line of Sunshys came a Manticore. This male was nearly as large as Big Sol had been; he could easily be Celly’s brother. The male landed between Sunshy and his doppelgangers, standing with the aura of authority and self-confidence.

“I am your conscience, taking on the form of your cutie mark. Forgive me if I do not keep a roll of bandage in my smiling mouth. I feared that would make it harder to talk to you.” The manticore kept his head up and his chest puffed out proudly.

“What the hay is going on?” Sunshy asked once again, this time to his ‘cutie mark’.

“You are in your mind. I am you conscience. These are the different sides of you. Every ‘you’ that you see is an aspect of your personality. They are in whatever position and outfit is suited for them.” The conscience explained.

“Why are you so regal and not as happy as my cutie mark?” Sunshy questioned. The manticore reacted as though that was the last question he had ever expected.

“Oh…uh…”

“Obviously he wanted to make a good impression. If he made a good impression, then you would be more likely to listen to him.” Sunshy heard himself say—did he really sound like that to other people?

The darkness had returned, leaving only the Manticore and one other Sunshy. This was one that was wearing a contraption to keep a book held aloft in front of him. He didn’t take his eyes off the book.

“It’s really quite logical, truly. If only our unquenchable need for answers let us keep our mouth shut long enough to think of things all on our own. Of course, then we might come to the wrong conclusion or the right one, but either way it would it be longer than asking.” The smart side of Sunshy blathered, keeping his eyes on the book.

“Will you shut the fuck up, you blabbering smartass?” The angry side appeared out of thin air and growled at the smart Sunshy. Seeing the smarty was still reading, the angry one smacked it away.

“My book!” Smarty ran after his book as Anger laughed at Smarty’s expense.

“And you.” Anger turned to Sunshy. “You had the gall to get DRUNK!!” Anger bucked Sunshy in the chest, making him fall to his knees and knock the wind out of him. “We should have just gotten angry! Beat a pillow! Tear up a pillow! We have a shitton of pillows at the hotel room! Anything but the one thing we all hate more than anything except Raiders!!”

“Please, Anger, quit yelling at the poor pony. He is you, after all.” Conscience cutie mark told him.

“Fuck off!”

“Smart response, Anger. You make us proud.”

“Shut up, Smarty! I should name you Sarcasm with a remark like that.”

“Will you all,” hiccup-sob, “please stop fighting?”

Sunshy had caught his breath and stood up. He now saw a colt version of himself wrapped up in a ball, crying softly. Anger took a step forward and made to attack the colt, but another version appeared. This Sunshy held himself up proudly. He gave off the same strong and brave aura as Conscience cutie mark. Courage.

“Don’t you touch a colt, you Raider fiend. I won’t let you.” Courage whipped out his Zebra Assault Rifle and pointed it at Anger.

“You can’t kill me, I’m you! I mean, we’re all him!” Anger pointed to Sunshy.

“Hm? A, ah hee.” Courage said, his words muffled through the gun as he turned to Sunshy.

“Please! Haven’t we been through enough?” Colt-Sadness pleaded with a sob.

“Truly,” Doctor appeared, this time with a surgeon mask, “We have already done what we swore we would never do as a colt.”

“Drink?”

“Unwed sex?”

“Get paid for working as a doctor?”

“Work for someone evil?”

“A lot of unwed sex?” A new Sunshy appeared. This one was floating upside-down, gazing at his engagement band.

“It hasn’t been all that much, Lover buck.” Smarty retorted, still reading.

“Might as well be, because it’s with Zen~” Love sighed in a dreamy manner and hugged his hoof with the engagement bracelet. He flipped over to fly forward and floated. They could practically see the hearts following him.

“Kill people.” Doctor stated. Everyone went silent immediately; even Love sobered enough to land and take his eyes off the engagement band. “We took an oath as a child, as a colt,” Doctor placed his hoof on Sadness’s shoulder, “we made that vow. Never shall we harm a living being. We are a doctor, not a killer.”

“And then this Raider in us went and messed it all up.” Courage said, having put his gun back onto his back.

“I. Lost. A. WING. And before that, we were ALMOST RAPED. I had every fucking right to kill!!” Anger shouted back.

“We agree the Raider kill wasn’t too bad. But those soldiers had no right to die! We had to visit every one of their homes. Have you no sympathy?” Courage demanded of Anger.

“I’m over here.” Another Sunshy called out, waving a hoof weakly. Next to Sympathy was no doubt Shyness, as this Sunshy was hiding with his hair, hooves, and wings covering his face.

“I…I just want to go home!” Sadness called out.

“We’re not meant for this Savannah wasteland. We’re not meant for this wasteland at all…” Smarty closed his book; it vanished. All the Sunshys turned to the original as Smarty walked over to him. “Sunshy, we’re you and this is what we’ve thought for months. Go home. We never should have left Drakon.”

“But I save people, so many more than I’ve killed or hurt.” Sunshy replied, looking to Doctor.

“True, but you were content to help animals in the Everfree forest for twenty years.” Doctor replied.

“If…If I hadn’t left, I wouldn’t have learned how courageous I can be.” This time he turned to Courage.

“I was needed back in the most dangerous land in the world. All you learned here was that you can shoot a damn gun.” Courage set the gun down.

“But I…I found Zen out here.” Sunshy turned to Love.

“Yes…That is true. And he’s so wonderful.” Sunshy smiled at Love, who was contemplating, feeling a win, “But,” win gone, “we can take him with us.” Win again!

“Wait…take him with us?” Sunshy questioned in confusion.

“Let’s go home.” Sadness told him, getting up from his curled up ball and walking forward to look up to Sunshy. “Back to Drakon, back home. Where we belong…where you belong.”

“I…I do…I need to go home, before I kill anyone else innocent.”

“Then your time here is over. This was a nice chat, Sunshy.” The manticore stepped forward and placed his nose on Sunshy’s.

The nose was no longer that manticore’s wet cat nose. It was Zen’s nose, pressed against Sunshy’s, as he hummed ‘Hush Now, Quiet Now’. They were lying on the heart-shaped bed, lying upright. Sunshy poked the zebra on the side of his head and was glad to see that his eyes were back to their normal brown. Zen smiled at him.

“Did you find yourself?” Zen questioned as he rubbed his nose against Sunshy’s nose.

“What was that?” Sunshy asked without a slur. His head was still a little fuzzy and his gut still held onto that pleasant warmth, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before.

“The Gift of the Glyph. I have a book for you to explain it.”

Zen got up and walked away; Sunshy watched as he dug into his saddlebag. He pulled out a black book and walked over to his beloved. Upon setting it before him, Sunshy saw pictures in white and black—zebras all around a picture of a light bursting above their heads. In Zebra the title was Origin of the Glyph’s Gift.

With a smile, Zen opened the book, revealing that the entire book was to be in Zebra. Zen smiled as he narrated the story. Every two pages had a picture done in the same shadow black-and-white as the cover. The first picture was of the ponies doing things such as moving clouds, growing crops, and moving things with magic. While they did that, Zebras held weapons such as crossbows.

Once upon a time, long before we had any glorious leaders, we lived with ponies. As we could only do minor magic on our own, we proud zebras defended the ponies from dangers while they did our work. Shamans were common, but could not do such things as ponies could so easily.

We were happy living in this symbiotic relationship. However, there were four zebras not so happy. Jealousy and resentment festered in their hearts, for the ponies could do what we cannot. They were angry and hateful. There was a picture of four angry zebras, two stallions and two mares. The picture was only of their angry faces.

So they observed the ponies while learning the shaman arts. They took the dark path and learned dark magic alongside the good shaman magic that should be practiced. This only made their evil feelings grow. The picture was of a hut full of plants and bottles. A spiral grew upwards from the four zebras.

One day, they found what they were looking for. A pony had her cutie mark burned off and was sad. She was scared and upset. Without her cutie mark, she felt she had no purpose. No matter what her friends and family said, she was very sad. This was the first case of depression we had ever found. The picture had a pony mare crying with her sad friends around her. Hiding in the darkness at the top, almost unnoticed, were the four zebras.

“The ponies put strong stock into their marks. For us, they are just a mark of growing up. For them, they are their lives.” One of the shamans said.

“Yes, and we must take advantage of this.” Another said.

“Should we curse their marks?” One queried.

“No, even better. We will bless our own.” The last answered. The picture was of the four talking with word bubbles.

And then the zebras gathered all of their own in one large gathering. At that time, we zebras did not know that those four had anger in their hearts. Nor did we know that they had placed a magic circle on the ground under our hooves. This picture had a mass of zebras standing in one large spot.

The next picture had a flash of white from the center blaring out towards the edges.

When it was over, we felt different. We found out what had changed. These zebras had changed all of us, even themselves. They had given us what we call the Gift of the Glyph. Every zebra has a power directly linked to their Glyph Mark. It is as unique to us as Cutie Marks are to the ponies. The picture was of a zebra with a fire glyph mark breathing fire. One zebra had a mark of wings actually with wings and soaring. Another had a mark of a dragon and had grown the claws and tail of a dragon.

This is why every spring, we celebrate our Glyph’s Gift. It is held underground, so that no one but zebras may see us using our powers. What was born out of hate turned into the best gift to our people and we could not be happier. The last picture had zebras frolicking.

“So…that was your gift. To help me sort out all I’m feeling.”

“Actually, I just send you into your mind. What happens there is up to your brain.” Zen knocked a hoof against Sunshy’s head. “Did it help clear things up?”

“Yeah. We can talk about it in the morning.”

Sunshy laid his head against Zen and went to drift off to sleep. Zen pressed a kiss against Sunshy’s face and went to sleep with him.

Level up! You are now level 18!

Perk added! Luna Brillante: You are watched over by the Goddess Luna, as one of her little ponies. She has blessed you with the gift of heightened night vision, giving you +1 Perception during the night.

Additional Perk added! New Wing: Your cybernetic wing is stronger than any normal wing. +1 to Endurance when flying.

Chapter 19: Family

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 19: Family

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”--George Santayana

Once he was awake, Zen saw Sunshy had already showered and was organizing his things while wearing his boarding and doctor’s coat. The pony kept flexing his metal wing around, glancing over to it once in a while. As though he couldn’t believe it was real just yet.

Zen stretched before trotting into the bathroom. After his own shower, he came out and got dressed while Sunshy continued to mutter to himself while he sorted his things. Zen chuckled as he nipped the pony’s ear, snapping him back to reality. Sunshy swatted the zebra off his ear and went right back to organizing. So Zen did the only perceivable thing; he bit the pony’s ear again.

“Quit iiiiiiiiit.” Sunshy whined and pushed him away, keeping his eye on his stuff.

“You wanted to talk to me, though.” Zen bit the pony’s ear again.

“Yeah…Zen, when I was in my mind, I realized something I’ve been trying to fight against for a long time.”

“Oh gods…you’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

“What? No!” Sunshy appeared appalled at such an idea. Zen let out a sigh of relief.

“What then?”

“I…I don’t belong in this world. In the wasteland. I’m going home.”

“…Why do I get the feeling that ‘home’ isn’t Roaming or Nchi Kavu?”

“Because it’s not. Home is back in Equestria, with Drakon in the Everfree Forest. But…I can’t go without you.” Sunshy rubbed his muzzle against Zen’s face.

“You had to do this now. Now of all times. Why now, Sunshy, why now? Fuck it, fuck it all.” Zen moved away and continued cursing to the ground. Then, he made the hard decision. He turned to Sunshy and stated, “No.”

“N…No? You…you’re not going back with me?” Sunshy appeared taken aback and insulted.

“Sunshy, I can’t tell you why, it’ll put all my work into jeopardy. I’ve already done all I can to try and keep you out of it. You just, just…why did it have to be now? Couldn’t have been the time before we came here…Fuck it all…” Zen sat down and rubbed his eyes with his hooves.

“Zen, I don’t understand. What can possibly be so dangerous that you can’t tell me why you won’t be with me?”

“The walls have ears, Sunshy. Ever since that mare accused me of not being a supporter, I’ve seen the Legion around here more often. They’re watching me, but you’re practically Caesar’s personal slave as far as they’re concerned, so they don’t care what you do.”

Zen placed a kiss on Sunshy’s cheek. “Believe me, I’d love to tell you, but I just can’t. If they think you know, you will be in danger. Not even living with a dragon in the Everfree Forest will keep you safe if they think you’re a threat in any way.”

Although he was still sad, Sunshy nodded in understanding and nuzzled Zen. The pony felt tears streaming down as Zen returned the loving gesture.

“I wish you would go with me, Zen.” Sunshy admitted with a thick voice.

“I do too, but…” Zen sighed as he pulled away. “I agree with your decision. You need to go. The Watchers will be worse off without you, but it’s safer there. Away from this horrible place, from my…you know. Just…promise me one thing.”

“Name it.” Sunshy smiled serenely at him.

The zebra had tears forming as he memorized everything he could. He memorized that look of pure love in those blue orbs that had entranced him from the first moment, that pristinely beautiful red hair and his coat that was as bright as the sun. There was nothing that would ever come close to this perfection. If there were any gods existing, perhaps Cupid was one of them. Certainly, the Wasteland was not so kind as to have allowed such a perfect being to fall into his hooves.

“Come back to visit sometime. If you can’t do that…just…don’t forget me, okay?” Zen smiled as the tears flowed from his own brown orbs.

He chuckled a little, but the laughter transitioned into sobs. Sunshy hugged his fiancé as the zebra clutched against him. Zen pulled away and kissed his beloved, both of them crying silently over their inevitable separation. Never mind, the wasteland was a living bastard. To tease them with such a perfect love only to tear it away. Just when they were planning to be wed…What a cruel beast it was.

“ ‘Shy…” Zen whispered, getting a shiver from the pony.

A noise that could only be described as a light growl-groan-whine mix woke the two. Sunshy was the first to wake, though he didn’t want to. He wanted to put off leaving this cheesy giant heart bed forever. Celly was nosing Sunshy until he looked up at her. She blinked at him with understandingly sad brown eyes. She was not deterred by his pleading look. He had told her the plan and she would make him go. Whether he wanted to or not. For her brother’s safety, she would do anything.

Sunshy stood, the blankets slid off his body and pooled around him. The red faux-satin sheets reminded him of a pool of blood. That was a warning sign about the state of his sanity; when something that should be happy reminded him of blood…he had to go. Sunshy smiled as he watched Zen continue napping. The steady rise and fall of his chest was a comfort. The pegasus placed a kiss on Zen’s brow before walking over to his saddle boxes.

Zen’s brown eyes watched sadly as Sunshy put on his boarding. Then his doctor’s coat. And finally his saddle boxes. The second thing he had ever bought for Sunshy. Borderlands seemed to be so long ago, but it was only a few short months. Too little time. Not enough time to even have a proper adventure.

“Sunshy…” Zen sat up and looked to the pony with a sad smile.

“I’m glad we had this time together, Zen. I swear I’ll do my best to visit you. It’ll be impossible to forget you.” Sunshy nuzzled against his beloved zebra.

“I know you won’t. I love you, Sunshy.”

“I love you, too, Zen.”

Celly bit Sunshy on the mane and set him on her back. She licked Zen on the side of his face and nuzzled against him. And then, just like that, she opened the door and walked out. Sunshy managed to wave a final goodbye.

Zen waited five minutes after the pony and manticore left. Then, he stood up, put on his boarding, saddlebag, and cloak while forcing back his tears. They had said their goodbyes; now was not the time to be sad. Just to be extra sure, he put out a StelthBuck. Then the zebra put his most powerful sniper rifle in re-attachable pieces on his back.

Zen activated the StelthBuck on his PipBuck. Before he did, he saw the knowing smile of the zebra in his PipBuck. He’d have to change the name soon… Invisibly, he opened the window and jumped out to the roof of the building next to the hotel.

A few more jumps from roof to roof, and he was right where he needed to be. Zen quickly assembled the rifle in a divot on a roof, allowing none to see it. The Sniper rifle was ready. He mounted it on a post, which he placed an invisibility talisman on.

There he was, right on schedule. Lounging on his pillows, right after his orgy with those three wives, just as he did every other day. Sixteen years and not a damn change. The StelthBuck would wear off soon. Zen pulled the hood over his invisibility cloak and pushed the button. He smirked at their ignorance. Other towns had placed wards inside the walls of cities to make sure invisibility talismans would not work. Over-confidence was to be his doom.

Zen closed one eye as he stared down the invisible scope. His hoof was on the trigger, ready to pull. Remember the breathing exercise. Breathe in and hold it. The crosshairs slowly lined up with his head. The damn buck was having a smoke on a cigar. Place was filling with stuff; the mares complained about the smell. So he walked over to the window and pushed it open. The dot in the crosshairs followed his head as he moved.

A chill ran down Zen’s spine; not the good one, either. Caesar the twelfth stared at Zen’s eyes. Startled, he let out his breath and pulled away to look down at himself. Still invisible. Zen stared back through the scope. A coincidence, nothing more. Just…well, fuck that theory sideways up a wall.

He smiled. A smile of pride.

Caesar mouthed the words, “I’m proud of you, Zuberi.”

Zen re-breathed before he pulled the trigger and let out his breath. The silencer eliminated all noise, save for a soft “pwith” of the bullet leaving the barrel. Caesar’s head exploded in a bloody pulp. Thank you, explosive rounds. As quickly as he came, Zen broke the gun down and stowed it away with the post.

No one noticed, too many were too obsessed that the wives of Caesar were screaming bloody murder. Indeed, it had been a rather bloody kill. Overdramatic and not Zen’s usual style, but it was a fitting end for a bloody mess of a stallion. Now, for the siblings…

~*~*~*~

Sunshy was deeply regretting his decision to not bring the Alicorns’ Bane with him. Though he was sure the implant had given him increased endurance, flying from Peponi to the Everfree Forest was all at once not a good idea. Celly did her best to glide on the warm air currents and keep to his side. She forced him to stop and fly down as soon as they were over Roaming. They rested in the Lace house and told the family that Royal would be back soon enough.

As the night was close to closing in, they slept in the room the Lace family gave to Sunshy and Zen. With the distances of everything in the Savannah Wasteland, they would have to stop again in Nchi Kavu tomorrow. Thinking of that, Sunshy was tempted to question Chief Fluffy Doom about his position on the killing of those who might almost break the treaty.

The next morning, after eating breakfast Sunshy had convinced himself to just leave Chief Fluffy Doom alone. He and Celly took off towards Nchi Kavu, the former still telling himself to leave the Chief alone. Then he was confronted with the buffalo, who welcomed him with a hug before he could fully land. Sunshy confronted him about the killings for the treaty. Chef Fluffy Doom was silent. He said nothing at all. Just turned and walked away.

Sunshy shopped around for anything he was sure he might need, as well as selling anything he didn’t need. He and Celly took a nap in their hut. Once refreshed, they ate their lunch and then set back out to fly. Sunshy decided he would rather fly right on through Borderlands than stop there. He was already upset enough about Chief Fluffy Doom.

With the added endurance from the new wing, Sunshy was able to fly right over Borderlands and keep going without stopping. The brown sun-baked dirt sped on by under them. Dead skeletons of trees, some rock piles, and the occasional animal were the only breaks from the monotonous yellow-brown. To stave off boredom, they tried to play I spy, but found that they were likely to pass the object before the other managed to guess correctly.

Celestia’s sun had set and Luna’s moon was glowing brightly. They had only taken one break since Nchi Kavu to make sure that they didn’t sprain their wings. During their travels, the two noticed that there were more and more clouds flowing in. So DJ Pon3 had been right.

Now, they were walking on the lush dark green grass of the Everfree Forest. The moment they walked into it, the temperature seemed to drop. There was electricity in the air. Timber wolves howled from afar. Sunshy perked his ears at the sound of their howling. The Zap Apples must be in season. So it was Autumn already…

Celly started bouncing in place, somehow creating a clanging noise. Sunshy turned to her and saw she had two pans tied on a string around her neck. The noise drove the timber wolves away, as it irritated their sensitive ears. Celly put the werefire jar around her neck as well and took the lead. Sunshy wrapped a rope around her tail and bit the end of it to make sure he wouldn’t get separated. He would be able to tell where they were going in the daylight, but for now, he had to rely on Celly’s…hold on a minute.

Sunshy scanned around and saw he was able to perceive everything as though it was daylight. An owl hooted and flew in front of him. He was able to follow it into the darkness of the trees past the point he would have lost it to the dark. Strange, it was like his eyes had built-in night vision.

The pony twisted and turned his ears, listening intently for any malicious sounds. There was, unsurprisingly to him, very many sounds coming from animals that seemed keen on having a pony snack. However, none dared to get too close. They feared that ferocious tail full of poison and the claws that could maul them.

It was the part of the night that was darkest. Yet Sunshy felt he could still see as though it was daytime to anyone else. The pony stared up at the sky as he continued to walk behind Celly. Stars twinkled down at him through the tree’s curtain of leaves. Sunshy smiled and sent a silent thank-you to Luna. The stars seemed brighter as soon as he did.

There it was! Drakon’s cave, looking the same as the day they left. Celly roared in happiness and bounded forward; the pans clanged against each other noisily. Sunshy let go of the rope, for fear she would tear his teeth out. Just as excitedly, Sunshy ran inside after her.

Something was wrong…The lights were still on, the stable door still closed. The pile of gems was still sitting there, twinkling beautifully.

So where was Drakon?

A yowling noise alerted Sunshy. The pegasus trotted over to Celly, who was standing in what seemed to be a random spot. When he was close, the manticore moved aside. There was a scrap of paper on the ground, with writing. Sunshy cleared his throat before reading,

“Dear Sunshy and Celly,

If you ever come back, I want you to know not to worry about me. I had no part in the war outside this cave, even if my cybernetic-enhanced brother and the youngling Spike did. This dragon is old and was trapped in a cave for two-hundred years. I cannot fly and my scales have grayed in the lack of sunlight.

And yet, I felt terrible. I should have been fighting beside my brethren like the warrior I was born to be. Instead, I hid away in this cave, protecting my gems and a stable with no life left inside. I hid because it is all I have done for two hundred years. What a shame I am to my race.

But you taught me something, both of you. Your willingness to help all creatures moved my heart, my children. I wanted to do some good ever since you two came into my life, just two lost children without a father. I am proud and jubilated that you thought of me as your father.

So, I made up my mind. I am going out into Equestria to help. I don’t know how and I don’t know where. All I know is that I will help. My wings will never be able to lift me, even with the endless sky above. My sight is still failing. My claws and spikes are just as sharp as ever, so they will be a great asset. I have heard Fluttershy is alive, with her old friend Ditzy Doo; I suppose she is a ghoul. If the town they live in is in need of protection, then I shall help. I’d do anything to see my old friend again.

With all the love in my heart,

Drakon Nokard III”

Celly growled in curiosity at Sunshy.

“Let’s stay here for the night. We can look for him tomorrow. My PipBuck should…” Then he remembered. It hadn’t been his PipBuck for months. “We can find New Appleoosa on our own.”

The manticore nodded and picked up the note. She placed it in her saddlebag before flying over the pile of treasure. Sunshy followed suit. The two flew over the gems and came upon their bedroom. It was just a section of the cave carved out by the dragon long ago. It was smaller, oval in shape, and held two beds and a whole library’s worth of books around the curved walls.

A wave of nostalgia washed over the two as they settled down in their beds. It felt cold and empty inside the cave without the giant dragon sleeping in the middle, taking up virtually the entire room. Celly quickly left her bed and joined Sunshy on his bed. She curled up next to him and purred him to sleep.

The manticore’s ears twitched as she heard sounds outside. There were voices, muffled and muttering. Soundlessly, she slinked out of the bed, making sure her brother was still asleep as she went. Only then did she crouch low to the ground and stalk to the pile of treasure that separated their room from the rest of the cave.

Outside the mouth of the cave were three scavengers: two mares and one buck. The mares were egging the buck to get closer to the treasure and take some. He was less than happy to have such a task.

Even if he abandoned it, this treasure belonged to Drakon! No scavengers looking for free cash were going to take it!

With a mighty roar, Celly launched into the air and kept her wings wide open. The three screamed and ran away as fast as their legs could take them. Celly landed and snorted at the fleeing ponies. ‘Good riddance’ she seemed to say.

“Celly? What was that noise?” Sunshy questioned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The manticore turned and nuzzled his face, telling him not to worry about it. “If you say so.”

The pony trotted outside and, after relieving himself, he went over to a stream and splashed the water in his face. Celly opted to slide right down into the water. The stream was all but stagnant, so she had no fear of being swept away. She got out soon after and shook off, thoroughly dousing Sunshy in a second-hand shower.

Using his knowledge of the Everfree Forest that had been built up over twenty years, Sunshy was able to easily navigate to the end of the forest. He used the same path that he had for two decades; it was easy to find, as he had worn a trail over that time. Even still, he pulled out his rifle and held it in his mouth. As he walked, the pony thought.

How would Equestria look now? He’d never seen it before without the cloud cover. Actually, he’d never seen any of it other than his brief glimpse when he was a colt. After that sight, he never wanted to see the world outside of the forest again. Would the ponies be alright? How would they react to a pegasus? It sounded like the ground ponies might have some bad blood with the pegasi.

The end of the forest approached faster than he had expected. The pony froze at the end of the trail. He was still technically inside the forest, and there was a few feet left before he would technically touch ground not of the forest.

Sunshy was scared.

He was scared of Equestria. Of the unknown.

The pony took a deep breath and stepped forward. Only to take three steps back.

Celly lowered her head and pushed the pony forward by his rear. He dug his hooves in just enough so he wouldn’t fall right onto his face. It wasn’t at all because he was still scared.

The pony was pushed over the borderline between Equestria and the Everfree Forest. Sunshy had his eyes closed and waited when Celly stopped pushing. After a few tense minutes, he cracked open one eye. Seeing no immediate danger, the pony swallowed his fear and stood up on his own shaking limbs.

Confidence slowly building, the pegasus walked forward. Head down, eyes forward, ears against his head. Appear as unintimidating as possible, and maybe nopony would care about him. Celly rolled her golden eyes and took off into the air. She went up high to get an aerial view of the landscape.

While she did this, Sunshy stared at the point between his hooves, and then at his engagement band. Should he keep it on? If he did, then he would have to face embarrassing questions about his fiancé. Those could be explained away about he was dead, but then he’d get undeserved sympathy. But if he took it off, somepony might think he was available. Thousands of miles away or not, Zen still was his only love.

A few minutes later, Celly landed behind him. Sunshy still had his eyes deeply focused on his band wrapped around his hoof. He appeared to be gnawing on the mouth grip of his rifle. She rolled her eyes and nudged the pony forward. He got the message and began trotting forward. Even though he was now watching where he was going, the pony let his mind wander.

Then something caught his eye. With his blue orbs widening, the pegasus turned hard and flew as fast as his wings could take him. Surprised at this action, it took Celly a few moments to recover before she flew after him. A few minutes of what she thought was a pointless spaz-out led her to an odd sight.

There was a hut that seemed to be made of a stout tree. The tree was long since dead, but that wasn’t the immediate point. There were old birdhouses hanging from the branches of that tree and the skeletons of nearby trees. Out back, there was a henhouse that had its roof caved in long ago. A lot of tree skeletons on every side of this tree-house. The way the decaying birdhouses moved in the light wind gave the manticore the creeps. Somehow, Sunshy was enthralled to the point of slinging his rifle on his back.

“Celly…I’ve seen this in the books. This is Fluttershy’s house!” Sunshy exclaimed enthusiastically. “Let’s go inside!”

Celly let out a yowl of a warning and held out a paw to stop him, but he had already pushed the door open. Not a moment passed before he was puking in what was once a bush. The manticore could smell the dried blood and gore from outside. Some of it seemed fresher than the rest.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it had never bothered a manticore. Celly poked her head inside the hut while Sunshy let out the rest of his food his stomach held. The inside was decorated in the same fashion Raiders loved. Gore and profane graffiti was everywhere, as well as some drawings of what a balefire bomb explosion must have looked like. There were no corpses, but quite a lot of blood.

“Celly…” The manticore pulled her head out and faced her brother. He still appeared ill. “We should…clean it up.”

The manticore shook her head and closed the door. Sunshy tried to protest, but she simply nipped at the air in front of him until he began moving away. Then she picked him up in her paws and flew off away from Fluttershy’s hut. Sunshy didn’t bother to feel sorry that he couldn’t do anything about it. He certainly didn’t have the stomach to clean up such a mess. How in the world would Celly be able to do anything except lick away the blood? No one would waste water on such a task.

The pony stared down at the ground as he was carried in Celly’s paws. The landscape was different from Savannah. Even with the sun back, everything still appeared gray. There was some grass, but it appeared tough and unappealing. At least in the Everfree Forest, the flora had a mix of rain and sun, not only rain. Glancing up, he saw that there was still quite a lot of cloud left. However, it was slowly receding if he watched long enough.

A town with a wall made of stacked-up boxcars appeared to be getting closer and closer. From the aerial view, Sunshy could see the cobbled-together houses inside the walls. One place appeared to be an overturned part from a train with a large sign proclaiming “Absolutely Everything”. There were colorful ponies walking around. About a mile away from the town was a giant hole going down at an angle, not straight down. It was as though a giant worm had burrowed out. Train tracks ran around the town and off to the north and east. An actual train was sitting stationary, though there were a bunch of buff stallions that appeared ready to pull it at any moment.

Celly landed a few meters away from the town, so as not to alert the townspeople. A tamed manticore was certainly not something that would receive a warm welcome from the air. According to the news, these ponies had just finished up a war against Pegasi. They might still be wary of anything with wings and especially wary of something with a lioness body and scorpion tail with those wings.

Sunshy fished out the illusion talisman and slipped it over Celly’s neck. Her wings and scorpion tail were still perfectly visible. The gem set in the middle appeared dull; it must have been out of power. Sunshy took it off and placed it back in his saddlebox. Oh well, the people would just have to deal with her one way or another. Hopefully not with bullets. He really hoped not with bullets.

Along the way to the city, a trader’s caravan trotted along in their direction. Soon enough, they would pass each other. Celly immediately lowered her head and tail, too appear unintimidating. The caravan drew closer, and Sunshy could see a Brahmin was pulling a cart laden with things. Walking next to it was a trader in their usual boarding and trader’s hat; she was a green unicorn mare with freckles.

Oddly enough, there was a Steel Ranger walking next to her. Instead of the usual armor, this one’s was painted red and their usual insignia was covered with what could only be a cutie mark of three apples. Applejack’s cutie mark, Sunshy realized.

When the two parties drew close, the trader gasped in shock upon seeing Celly and the Ranger stepped forward. His or her battle saddle was equipped as a rocket launcher on one side and a mini gun on the other side. They were poised for battle, but were not active yet.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask, why are you painted red? Is that the cutie mark of Applejack? I’m not from around here, so excuse my ignorance.” Sunshy spoke first, though he mentally facehoofed for not telling them that Celly was not a threat first. Priorities needed to be re-organized.

“I am one of Applejack’s Rangers, and yes, it is her cutie mark. Unlike the rest of the Steel Rangers, we help ponies instead of leaving them for dead in order to horde and steal technology. Now then, is your manticore hostile or not?” The voice wafting through the helmet was that of a mare.

“Shouldn’t your E.F.S. say so?” Sunshy pointed out.

“Of course, but I’d rather hear it from the mouth of the pony walking with it.” She replied coolly.

“No, Celly is not hostile. She’s rather friendly, so long as you’re not hostile.”

“Then we’re perfectly fine here. Would you like a look at my friend’s stock? We have quite the ammo for that zebra rifle you have.”

The Applejack’s Ranger had her weapons lower themselves and she took a step back, allowing the trader behind her to come into view. Upon hearing that Celly was not a threat, she brightened considerably. The mare quickly trotted up to Sunshy and asked if there was anything he was looking for. Sunshy was still wondering how the Ranger knew he had a rifle. Then he mentally facehoofed, it was on his back.

More out of politeness, Sunshy haggled with the trader. He did not buy any more ammo, as he still had plenty from that King’s storage place he had never used. Instead, he bought a few books, a zebra bobble head, some herbs, and empty bottles. In exchange, he traded a few of the gems from Drakon’s pile that he had taken. Thinking of him…

“Do you two know of any red, pink, and yellow dragons? Really big and old?” Sunshy questioned.

“Yeah, he lives in a hole in the ground.” The trader offered helpfully with a delighted smile.

“She means he dug out a tunnel system for himself around New Appleoosa.” The Ranger elaborated, to the frowning face of the other mare, “He only arrived a few weeks ago. Just look for a big-ass hole near the entrance of the town. He left to go make sure the way to Tenpony tower is clear, though, but he should be back in a couple days.”

“Thank you so much.”

“If you’re friends with him, then you want to find Ditzy Doo’s Absolutely Everything.” The trader told Sunshy, “The mare there is a ghoul pegasus who can’t talk. Raiders cut out her tongue, but she’s still the sweetest little dear. Anyway, she’s housing, can you believe it, Fluttershy! That old ministry mare from two hundred years ago! Oh, I just can’t believe she’s the one who made those nasty megaspells. Poor old dear is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Anyway, apparently she knew this dragon from two-hundred years ago. So, seeing as how you have a common friend, you should go talk to them. Besides, it’d be better for you to be around fellow pegasi. This town was attacked by the Enclave not too long ago. Some might not be so keen on you around here. Thanks for the gems and good luck!”

After that helpful ramble, the mare trotted forward. The Brahmin walked after her, as did the Applejack’s Ranger. A grin grew on Sunshy’s face. Not only did Drakon live here, but so did Fluttershy!!

He had never flown so fast in his life.

Celly caught up with Sunshy at the gate; the pony was bouncing as he stood at the entrance, waiting for her. Celly shook her head and pushed Sunshy through the gates. His enthusiasm burst like a balloon. She only shook her head at his pleading eyes. His first time in a pony settlement would not be ruined by the ponies reacting badly towards her. To emphasize her point, she flew back towards the Everfree Forest.

Much more sullenly, Sunshy put away his weapon before he walked into the town. The inside was terrifically brighter than he had imagined. It appeared as though somepony had decided to draw giant murals on all the boxcar walls. Sunshy found the culprit as she was painting; it was a silver filly unicorn with the cutie mark of a silver bell. She was painting on a wall near him. Smiling, Sunshy walked over to her and was oblivious to the stares of the residents. His wings were never hidden and he wouldn’t start now.

“You paint beautifully. Are you sure your cutie mark shouldn’t be a paintbrush?” Sunshy started up a conversation with the filly as he admired her recent work. The painting was one of what looked to be a Phoenix, only it was alternating green.

“My cutie mark comes from this.” The filly lowered the paintbrush before she closed her eyes. Her horn glowed slightly and a beautiful ringing sound came from her horn. After a bit, the filly stopped and turned to Sunshy. “I’m Silver Bell, what’s your name?”

“I’m Sunshy Rays. I was told to look for a Ditzy Doo, can you lead me to her?”

“She’s my mommy; of course I can lead you to her!” Silver Bell bounced so high in place that Sunshy could imagine her with little wings buzzing happily on her sides. “Come on, mommy runs that big store over there,” Silver Bell began walking towards Absolutely Everything, floating her art tools along with her. “I watch it sometimes when she’s out making deliveries. And we have a new friend that mommy says she knew back before the big old war from forever ago! Actually,” She stopped and stared right at Sunshy quizzically, “you look a lot like her, mister.”

“I get that a lot. My name is actually a play on words as well as to honor her. Sunshy is like sunshine, but mixed with Fluttershy.” Sunshy explained with a bemused smile.

“I get it! Your mommy must have liked Fluttershy and I can see why. She’s almost as great as my mommy and daddy!” Silver Bell returned to trotting towards Absolutely Everything. “And you’re all pegasuses…pegasusi…pega…”

“Pegasi. If there is more than one pegasus, the term is pegasi.”

“Right! Thanks mister Sunshy, you’re really smart.” The light jingling bell wafted from her horn again. Whether or not it was conscious, Sunshy wasn’t sure.

As he walked, Sunshy couldn’t help but notice the rest of the ponies. A lot of them were still staring at him. Most appeared unsure of what to make of him. They were conflicted. A pegasus, but the ones they knew were alright, and Silver Bell seemed to like him. It was more than possible he wasn’t bad, but they wouldn’t accept some stranger right away…

“Here we are!” Silver Bell announced when they reached the odd shop. She pushed open the door and floated her supplies behind the counter, where the strangest sight Sunshy had ever seen was standing.

This appeared to have once been a pony. A pegasus mare. But that was long, long ago. Bits of her grey body were missing chunks of flesh. Some showed down to the bone. There were barely any feathers on her wings. All that was left of a blonde mane and tail were a few meager strands of hair. Whether or not she had any fur, he couldn’t really tell.

Then he noticed her eyes. Both were yellow and full of life, even though by all medical standards she certainly shouldn’t be alive. One was pointed right at him, while the other was staring up at the ceiling.

His first pony ghoul.

Sunshy swallowed his immediate revulsion and cracked an uneasy smile. The ghoul returned one, though the effect was less than pleasant. The doctor in him was screaming and bouncing around at all the impossibilities at her life. She looked like a corpse! How in the wide world was she alive? Medical impossibility! Magic! Dark shaman work! Voodoo!

“Mommy, this is Sunshy and he said he wanted to find you so I led him here!” Silver Bell exclaimed.

The pegasus ghoul had a chalkboard on the table in front of her. For a moment, both eyes settled on it as she picked up a piece of chalk. One slid back up to stare at the ceiling as she wrote on the chalkboard. She showed it to Silver Bell; at his angle still standing at the doorway, Sunshy couldn’t see it. But it made Silver Bell happy enough to receive a hug from her mommy.

Sunshy’s face was frozen in that awkward smile. He thought to himself, “Don’t puke, don’t puke, be nice to her, you have nothing left to puke, don’t be rude!” Then she erased the message while Silver Bell went through a doorway into a back room. The ghoul showed her new message to Sunshy, holding it in her mouth.

Hello Sunshy, I’m Ditzy Doo, and this is my shop Absolutely Everything, where we have absolutely everything! If we don’t, then I’ll sure try my best to find it for you! How can I help? Next to the words, she had drawn a little picture of a smiling face, with one eye turned towards the ceiling.

Sunshy laughed at the picture, but then held a hoof over his muzzle, fearing that was rude of him. Ditzy Doo only laughed a bit as well, then erased her message and wrote a new one.

Don’t worry, I did that on purpose. Most ponies just stare at my eye, even when I wasn’t a ghoul. I find the picture to be a nice ice-breaker.

“I just didn’t want to be rude…” Sunshy rubbed his hoof against his leg as his curtain of red hair fell over his hanging face. He heard the clacking of chalk against the travel-sized blackboard. It was presented to him once again; she must have been leaning over the counter.

It wasn’t rude at all. Am I right in guessing that I’m the first ghoul you’ve seen?

“I’ve seen Yao Guai, and I thought those were kinda the same, but..yes, I’ve never really seen a ghoul pony before.”

Then you’re doing a lot better than most. It’s normal for some to scream, so I wouldn’t have taken any offense. Now then, do you need anything?

“Actually…I was hoping to see if Fluttershy was around. I’m…kind of a really big fan of hers, ever since I was a colt. And the dragon that just moved in is my adoptive father, too, but I’ve been told he’s not here.”

So you’re the pony Drakon talks about! What about the manticore, is she around?

“She went back into the forest, since she didn’t want the ponies here to hate me for her.”

Oh, I see. I’m sure when Drakon comes back that he can explain her to them. Everypony here really likes him!

Dear me, I’ve talked too much. I’ll go fetch Fluttershy for you. She’ll be happy to know she has a fan! Just to be funny, she drew a picture of an automatic fan.

Sunshy chucked as Ditzy Doo cleaned her last message. She hooked the rope around her neck and carried the chalk in her mouth. With a parting smile, she turned and walked into the door that Silver Bell had walked into. As she went away, Sunshy noticed her cutie mark was still intact. It was a bunch of bubbles. How cute.

Then Sunshy realized. This was his first conversation with a pegasus in twenty years. His first conversation with a ghoul pony ever. Ditzy Doo truly was just as sweet as the other ponies led him to believe. He’d held an entire conversation with her and didn’t stare at her eye or puke! Huzzah!

While he waited for the pegasi to return, Sunshy took a look around the room. There really was absolutely everything in here! Everything from boarding, pots and pans, food, ammo, junk, weapons, potions, brews, ponies, soda, books, jewelry, wait ponies? Sunshy turned back to find a few colts peeking their head in. Upon noticing that Sunshy was staring at them, the colts let out a squeak and then scurried away. Weird…

Ditzy Doo walked back into the room, giving Sunshy a sullen shake of her head. The pegasus buck frowned as well. Ditzy wrote on her chalkboard and showed it to him.

She’s rather mentally unstable right now. Her friends are helping as best they can, but she was a tree for two-hundred years, forced to watch her world destroyed. I’m sorry, but she doesn’t want to see anypony. I hope you understand.

Even though he was disappointed, Sunshy nodded and said he understood. What she went through certainly could not have been easy for anypony. Her sanity would probably take years to recover fully, if at all. Sunshy hoped she had some good friends with her to help. Of course, Ditzy Doo would help greatly.

“Can I see her? I just want to talk; maybe it’ll help, even just a little.” Sunshy pleaded. Ditzy seemed to think on that for a moment before nodding.

The ghoul pegasus led Sunshy through the open doors to the back room. Even more absolutely everything here. Eventually, the buck was led to a bunch of cots, which seemed to have been used for emergencies. There were three figures lying on the cots. One was little Silver Bell. Another was another pegasus ghoul, or at least Sunshy assumed he was a pegasus.

This pegasus had bat-like wings and his ears weren’t quite right for a pony. They reminded Sunshy of a bat as well. He had on armor that held the symbol of a dragon’s eye in the center of the breastplate. Fused to his leg was a PipBuck. This old ghoul turned towards him and Ditzy Doo, allowing Sunshy to see this was a buck. Just as he was wondering about this ghoul, he remembered the story about Nightmare Night. This old buck was once one of Princess Luna’s guards!

Ditzy Doo walked over to the guard and nuzzled his equally decaying face lovingly. Despite the grotesque appearance of the two ghouls, Sunshy couldn’t help but smile. No matter what was wrong with this world, it couldn’t destroy the greatness of love.

Tearing his eyes away from the adorable scene, Sunshy spotted the one and only. The yellow and pink pegasus had her back facing him. She was lying down, staring ahead. Surrounding her face were six statuettes. Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity. Behind them was a statue of a bunny, frozen in the appearance of a defiant glare. Something about it was off, as if it was just too perfect of a bunny to have been hoof made…But that wasn’t important right now.

“Flu…Fluttershy?” Sunshy timidly stated. The elder mare turned her ears towards him, the only acknowledgement that she noticed anything beyond her statues.

“I just…I wanted to tell you that I have always admired you. Everypony says I look like you, so they teased me about those bombs a lot. But I know they were made to heal and I know…you’re too nice of a pony to have ever conceived that anyone would use them for anything other than their original purpose. When no one could die, the war would have to end.

“It doesn’t matter how that old war turned out. Nopony with any sense can truly blame you. I admire you so much that I dedicated my life to becoming a doctor like you. I don’t know if you care at all to hear this from some random pegasus, but I just want you to know. I certainly don’t blame you; I admire you for all you did. Thank you for dedicating yourself to simply ending the war.”

When he finished his little speech, Sunshy half expected something. He found he was rather disappointed. Ditzy Doo moved away from the guard ghoul and walked over to him. She had written something on her board.

If you’ll follow Silver Bell, she’ll lead you to your room for the night.

The little filly jumped off her mattress and walked over to Sunshy. She tugged on his mane and led him back out towards the door. As they neared the arch, his ears swiveled back just in time to hear the barely audible,

“Thank you.”

With a smile, the pegasus followed the gray filly up the stairs and into an unused room. Once she was gone, he took off his saddle boxes and coat, but kept on his leather boarding. He curled up on the bed under the covers.

Sunshy feared sleep, because he did not know if it would bring the nightmares or not. Somehow, Celly managed to sneak into the town and up to his room. He almost wondered, but remembered felines were noted for stealth skills. With his sister there, curled up against him, the pegasus was able to fall into sleep comfortably.

The next morning, Silver Bell woke the two with the sound of her horn jingling. She presented a breakfast of hay cakes and a Sunrise Sarsaparilla for Sunshy. Though she was a little scared of Celly at first, the manticore fixed that by licking the unicorn filly’s mane into a silly style. She giggled all the way downstairs, shouting, “Look mommy! Look at the manedo the lion-thing gave me!”

Once he finished his meal, Sunshy put on his coat and saddle boxes before he went downstairs to find Ditzy Doo waving out a customer. All Sunshy caught was a flank of black with the cutie mark of a nightingale in flight singing. Her tail was white with streaks of yellow and red. The pegasus placed about thirty caps on the table in front of Ditzy. The ghoul stared at him quizzically before writing on her chalkboard.

What is this for?

“It’s for my room and food, as I certainly can’t just freeload like that. It’d feel wrong.” Sunshy explained, earning a nod from Celly.

You don’t have to do that, I was happy to let you stay. However, if you want, I do have some work you could do. Ditzy pushed the caps back towards him.

“Sure, what can I do to help?” Sunshy brightened as he slid the caps back into his money pouch.

I have to go make a delivery out in Ponyville

“Isn’t it dangerous there?” Sunshy hadn’t finished reading the rest. Ditzy shook her head and re-wrote on her chalkboard.

It’s been cleared out of Raiders. New settlers have moved in and they need me to deliver them supplies. I also have some smaller delivery to a pegasus family that lives above old Appleoosa, which is in the opposite direction. Would you be interested in making that delivery for me? They requested it be delivered before noon, and I couldn’t make that deadline all on my own.

“I’d love to do this for you, Ditzy. Will Silver Bell be alright watching the shop for you?”

She’s a good little helper. This won’t be her first time, after all. Here’s what you’re to deliver.

Ditzy Doo ducked down for a moment before she reappeared with a satchel, a note, and a clipboard. Sunshy picked it up and slung it over himself as he had done with his assault rifle. He stored the note and clipboard in his saddleboxes. Ditzy smiled before she walked out into the back room while Sunshy and Celly went out the front. As they did, Sunshy heard the distinct noise of little hooves running into the main room.

Once outside, what had been a potential customer gave a gasp at the sight of Celly before turning tail and fleeing. Feeling guilty, Sunshy grimaced before lifting off into the air. Then he realized he didn’t know where Old Appleoosa was. Celly still flew outside of the town while Sunshy landed again. He walked over to the first pony he saw, but the mare ran away with fear in her eyes.

Ears pinned down in sadness, Sunshy turned around to find most everypony was shying away from him. However, something was tugging on his mane. Sunshy glanced down and found a green and blue unicorn colt.

“You wouldn’t happen to be related to Drakon, would ya?” The colt questioned.

“Yes, he’s my adoptive father.” Sunshy confirmed with a nod. With a gap-tooth smile, the colt ran forward and his horn glowed.

With an amplified voice, the colt’s voice boomed out, “It’s okay, everypony, he and the lion are with Drakon.”

The attitudes of the ponies changed almost instantly. They gossiped amongst one another before the majority of them decided he was alright. The residents then began smiling at him as they went along their way. The little colt ran back and smiled brightly up to Sunshy.

“Thank you, uh…”

“Wintergreen. And you’re welcome! Anyone who’s friends with Derpy is alright with me.”

“Who?”

“Oh, it’s a nickname for Ditzy Doo.”

“Does she let you use this nickname?” Sunshy questioned, finding the nickname to be rather insulting.

“Yeah, she says ponies gave her that nickname even before the war!”

“She also said that ponies stared at her eye before the war.” Sunshy pointed out. That deflated little Wintergreen’s excitement.

“Anypony who does that isn’t a nice pony.” Wintergreen turned to the playground, where a bunch of other colts were calling out for him. With a quick goodbye to Sunshy, the colt ran off.

“Pardon me, but did you ask about Appleoosa?” An older stallion questioned, walking over to Sunshy.

“Yes, I need to make a delivery for Ditzy Doo by noon.”

“It’s a few miles to the west, just follow the train tracks. Better hurry, it’s already half to noon.”

“Oh horseapples!”

Sunshy bolted into the sky and stared down towards the train tracks. He saw them go west and flew above them. Celly joined him almost instantly. With a cheeky grin, the manticore sped up. A race, huh? Sunshy smirked and pushed his wings to put on a burst of speed.

Within ten minutes, the two arrived over the old city of Appleoosa. There were very few ponies here, but they were still there. However, he didn’t take the time to notice much of the city, as he was angling upwards. Floating miles above the old town was a large cloud. Atop this cloud was a two-story house made out of more clouds.

As a pegasus, Sunshy was able to land on the cloud as though it was solid ground. Celly, however, tried to do the same. She ended up falling straight through. The manticore growled at the cloud before flying down towards a large cliff that overlooked Appleoosa. Sunshy knocked on the cloud door three times, trying to control his breathing.

Only a few moments later, a stallion opened the door. He was sky-blue with a darker blue mane and red eyes. This rather grumpy-looking stallion was growing a bit of stubble. As he wore no boarding, Sunshy could see his cutie mark of a magical energy beam gun. Sunshy took out the card and read it. This had to be the place, but he just had to make sure.

“Mister Quick Shot?” Sunshy questioned.

“That’s me. Who’re you? Workin’ for Ditzy?” Quick Shot questioned with a gruff voice.

“I’m Sunshy Rays, and yes, I’m working for Ditzy Doo because—“

“Rays? Did I hear you right? Did you just say your name was Rays?” Quick Shot’s visage turned to one of unease.

“Uhm…yes, sir, Sunshy Rays. Uhm…if you could sign for this…” Sunshy appeared uneasy. He took the satchel off and held it out for Quick Shot.

“Yeah, sure…” Quick Shot let the satchel be placed around his neck. Sunshy took out the clipboard, which had a pencil attached. The blue stallion took the pencil and signed his name.

“Thank you, sir.” The yellow pegasus turned to leave, his one good wing and his artificial wing open to fly.

“Dear, who’s at the door?” A mare’s voice wafted through. Sunshy froze mid-crouch. He knew that voice.

“No one, honey.” Quick Shot snapped quickly.

“You’re full of horseapples, Quickey. Is it my doctor with…my…”

Sunshy turned to find the one person he’d never expected to see again. From her expression, she had once held the same idea.

“Mom…”

It couldn’t be anyone else. She was older now, but that was expected. Twenty years had passed, after all. Her coat was cream colored, and her mane and tail golden. Her mane was held up in a bun with streaks of gray. She wore red reading glasses near the edge of her nose. Her cutie mark was a picture of a golden ray of sunshine breaking through a bit of clouds. Strangely, Sunshy thought that this was the first time he’d ever had to look down to see his mom…she had been so much bigger in his memories.

“Sunny? Is it really you?” Golden Rays held out a shaking hoof.

“Yeah…it’s me…” Sunshy smiled a little.

Golden smiled and embraced her long-lost son tightly, who returned with just as much enthusiasm. The hug was cut short when a blue hoof pried its way between them and forced the two apart. Sunshy teetered at the edge of the cloud from the action, but Golden Rays quickly grabbed his hoof and pulled him back. Then she turned on Quick Shot, who was fuming as much as she was.

“No one my ass! You had no right to try and keep me from my own son!” Golden Rays shouted with the ferocity only mustered by a mother.

“He’s a Dashite, woman! I shall not allow such filth into my own home!” Quick Shot yelled right back.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, you old fool! He was never branded, they gave up on him!”

“Because everyone died trying to get to him! He was labeled dead and we all left it at that!”

“I never gave up on him and here he is!”

“As a twenty year old grown adult who can take care of himself!”

“He’s missing a fucking wing, you call that taking care of himself?”

The bickering continued while Sunshy balked. He had no idea how to approach this situation. A couple times, he tried to say something, but then someone would shout loud again and he’d cower.

“Boy, they sure know how to go at it.”

Sunshy jumped at the sound of a new voice. The male turned his head and regarded this new voice as belonging to a mare around fifteen years old. She had the same cream coat as her mom, but with a short blue mane as her father. Her eyes were the same blue as his and his mother’s eyes. The mare had the cutie mark of a glorious cloud-free day with a shining sun. Even just standing there, she gave off the vibe of someone laid-back who took the world in stride.

“Like my cutie mark? I only just got it. Dad threw a fit about how I was going to be a blank-flank forever, too. But as soon as the cloud cover receded, boom! There it was. Whoahoho, not nearly as sweet as your decal. What is it, by the way?”

“Ah, a manticore and a roll of bandage.” Sunshy wasn’t sure how to handle this either, as his mom and her husband were still having a shouting match.

“Sweet, so you must be a doctor. And that manticore over on the ledge down below must be yours. Never seen one without a big-ass mane, either. I’m Headshot, by the way. Don’t get me started on all the pervert jokes, they were terrible. Just call me Shooty for short. So, you must be Sunshy, the colt from the pictures. Shit are you tall. How tall are you?” Shooty was quite the talker. Maybe that was hereditary…

Oh, question…Let’s see…the average mare is roughly four feet tall, while stallions were roughly half a foot to a foot taller. Zen had to be at least a foot taller than average. Since Sunshy was taller, that’d put him around…

“Six foot five, I’d guess.” Still not as tall as that Legate in Peponi. He had to be eight feet easy! Shooty gave a whistle.

“Damn, you must’ve had one tall father. Or maybe it’s recessive from our mom. I’m taller than most stallions my age.” At that, Sunshy noticed that she was indeed taller than even her own father. He was still shouting at Golden Rays. Both their faces were turning rather purple. “So, I guess you’re my half-brother, then, huh?”

“I…I suppose so.” Sunshy nodded to her. Shooty smiled and held out her hoof. With a light smile, he bumped his hoof against hers.

“Welcome to the family, bro. Don’t worry, dad’ll get over it. Mom always gets her way in the end.”

“SEE?! SHOOTY LIKES HIM! WHY CAN’T YOU?”

“I’M NOT HAVING A DASHITE IN MY HOUSE!”

“I’M NOT GOING THROUGH THIS AGAIN, YOU STUBBORN MULE!”

“DON’T YOU CALL ME A MULE, BITCH!”

“Ohh, crossed a line there.” Shooty whispered to Sunshy.

“Quick Shot.” Golden’s voice, while softer, was icy and more terrifying than when she was shouting. Even Quick Shot seemed to recognize that he had crossed the line. His anger deflated.

“Baby, I didn’t mean it.”

“Get out. I don’t care where you go, just get out. You can come back later, when I’m feeling nice. I want to spend some time catching up with my son. In our house.”

Quick Shot tried to argue, but he decided not to at the absolute glare of death from Golden Rays. It was the sort of stare that a dragon would back down from. Silently, Quick Shot flew off towards New Appleoosa. Golden inhaled and exhaled heavily, trying to calm herself down. Somehow she managed to smile genuinely as she looked to her two children.

“Sunshy, this is Headshot, as you probably know. Her father named her, hoping that was what her special talent would be. I warned him the sort of dirty jokes mean little fillies and colts would make, but he heard nothing of it. I still call her Cupcake, because I wanted to name her that. “Cupcake Shot”” Golden made a purposely bad imitation of Quick Shot, trying to make him sound stupid and extra-grumpy, “ “Is not a name I will curse my daughter with.” What a silly stallion.”

“Like my name is any worse. I bet there are like, dozens of other ponies out there named Headshot. All this fun banter aside, you look half-starved, bro. We got a crap-ton of cloud cakes to stuff you with.” Shooty began walking inside, but stopped. “Hey, what about your manticore? Can’t she stand on clouds?”

Sunshy shook his head as Golden appeared confused. “She tried when we first arrived, but she just fell right through. Just because she has wings doesn’t mean she can stand on clouds.”

“Are you talking about that big old manticore from twenty years ago?” Golden questioned.

“I’m talking about the baby that was with him. She’s all grown up now.” Sunshy quickly walked over to the side of the house, where he could see Celly perched below. He waved at her and motioned to the East. She got the message and took off, following the route back to New Appleoosa.

“Just like you.” Golden smiled at him with misting eyes.

“Mom, save the issues for the tissues. Come on in, Sunny, bet you can’t wait to have mom’s cooking again. Although, we gotta live off ground pony food now. I recommend staying away from meat, except for bacon. That’s some good shit.”

“Young lady, you will watch your language.”

“Fine.” She groaned.

As he walked inside after the two mares, feeling as though he was a stranger intruding on family. No matter if he reminded himself that he was part of this family, it didn’t feel like it. Apparently those feelings manifested physically. Golden Rays and Headshot both scooped him up into a great big hug. Then they set him down on a cloud chair in front of a cloud table. After a moment, the two joined him at the table with cloud cake all around, along with cloud cups of water. So many cloud things…

“Now, you’re going to fill us in on everything that happened since you went to the surface.” Golden stated as Headshot all but smashed her face against the cake in an attempt to devour it all at once.

“Where to begin…” Sunshy wondered before taking a bite of the cake.

“How about from after you ran away after mom told you to flee?” Shooty offered.

Sunshy nodded as he organized the story in his mind.

“And you’re telling us who’s the lucky whatever you’re attracted to that gave you that great hoof band.”

The pony blushed as he turned to Shooty, who appeared as innocent as a puppy. She even had some cake around her muzzle. Damn, was cute genetic in pegasi?! Alongside awesome, of course.

“In my experience, the mare is the one who gets a band like that.” Shooty raised her eyebrows as she pointed to his engagement band.

Should have kept it hidden away…

“Now, Cupcake, some traditions can be broken.”

Oh damn it.

“Or he could be a colt cuddler.”

Shut up!

“Either way. Sunshy, you are my son and I will always accept you.”

Score for awesome moms!

“Is he hot?”

No score for prying siblings.

“Cupcake, you don’t ask questions like that.”

“But I wanna know! I’m forever alone over here!”

“You will use proper grammar when in this house, young lady.”

“I’m a lonely little mare looking for love but shall never find it. That’s not nearly as fun to say as ‘forever alone’, mom.”

“I think you’d like him, Shooty. He says weird things like that, too.” Sunshy interjected with a smile.

“Sweet! And you admitted it’s a buck!”

“He’s also…a zebra.”

“Does he have a weird zebra name? Like some gobbledygook sorta thing?”

Sunshy was rather surprised that Shooty took the news of a zebra fiancé in stride. Maybe that was what her special talent was. Living under the sun, having fun with everyone, no matter what they were. Uncomplicated, like the great blue sky on a sunny day.

“It’s Zen. As in, the teachings of self-enlightenment.”

“Cooooool. So, how’s he in bed?” Shooty put her elbows on the table and head in her hooves, as though she was preparing for a nice long lecture.

“Headshot! You do not ask questions like that!” Golden reprimanded.

“He doesn’t have to answer anyway. Just look at how red you are! Your face almost matches your mane, bro! Haha, I bet that means he’s super good, right?”

Forget what he thought earlier. This was a real family experience. He’d seen it before during his time with the Lace family. Sunshy covered his face with his hooves and wished he could sink through the clouds.

“Alright, sensitive, I’ll lay off. Come on, I wanna hear how you survived in the Everfree Forest for so long.”

With that subject brought back up, Sunshy felt much more comfortable. The pegasus set his hooves back at his sides and nibbled at his cake while embarrassingly waited for his face to stop feeling so hot. As that was counter-productive, he just tried to force out the story. As he went on, it became easier, especially since he omitted the more boring parts of his life. The mares were silent as they listened with rapt attention. After a short while, Sunshy became more animated as he told his story. The mares reacted correctly to certain points in his story, like him dealing with timber wolves for the first time during zap apple season.

Night had set in before the door opened, interrupting Sunshy while he was in the middle of telling his tale of the evil plant-infested stable. Three pairs of blue eyes turned to the doorway separating the kitchen from the front room. Standing under the empty arch was Quick Shot, appearing shamefaced.

“It was completely uncalled for of me to yell and lie as I did. I was afraid your son might tear apart my family and…It’s still hard for me to accept the downfall of the Enclave. I know you’ve been having to deal with my anger issues over it for months now, and I’m very sorry.”

Sunshy was tempted to clap at his little pity-party speech. Shooty and Golden, however, exchanged glances that were sarcastic and disbelieving. Golden waved him off and stated, “You’re sleeping on the couch. Sunny, keep going, what happened with the ivy-ponies things?”

The yellow and red pegasus continued his story where he left off while Quick Shot sulked into the other room. As he talked, a little realization came to him. This was the family he could have had. Shooty, his mom, his step-dad… How different would his life have been if that drop never happened? Sunshy almost laughed at the irony. Here he was, telling a story that only happened because of that accident, and wondering what would happen if it hadn’t happened. Life was strange that way.

When he was too tired to continue after being captured by slavers, the pegasus let out a large yawn. The mares both imitated it unconsciously. Golden led her children out of the kitchen with the announcement that it was time for bed. Upstairs, there were five doors. Shooty explained that one was where they kept their towels, the one next to it was the bathroom, and the other three were bedrooms.

The two mares let Sunshy take the guest room and bid him goodnight complete with goodnight hugs. Smiling warmly, the pegasus took off his saddle boxes, only to have them start sinking through the cloud floor! Quickly, he scooped them back onto his back. Okay, so that explained why they used only clouds for everything. They must not have any enchantments to keep non-cloud material on top of the clouds.

Either way, it mattered little. Sunshy crawled onto his offered bed and lied out. Even with the saddle boxes, he was comfortable. Nothing could beat the comfort of a cloud. Sunshy smiled before his mind wandered. He hoped that Zen was alright, wherever he was. Hopefully, he hadn’t done anything drastic.

Level up! You are now level 19!

Perk Added! Familial Love: You’ve re-gained the love of a family. The happiness in your heart gives you +30 health points!

Companion Perks lost! Zebra Stealth and Don’t Fear the Bomb

Side quest! Ditzy Doo’s Deliveries: Upon asking, you may take a number of side-quests from the famous mailmare Ditzy Doo. Taking on deliveries for her earns you experience as well as caps.

Chapter 20: Deceit

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 20: Deceit

“When people start to feed negative thoughts, they start to feed the seed of doubt. The seeds of doubt take root. The root develops into tree of despair.”

As always, Sunshy awoke to the sun shining in his face. Sunshy pulled the cloud blanket over his face in an attempt to force it away. Something bounced on his bed, making him bounce and fall onto the cloud floor with a thud. Groaning, the pegasus stood up and groggily turned to whatever had forced him awake. Lying on his bed, beaming with the cheery grin of a morning person, was Shooty. She giggled and started bouncing on his bed.

“Rise and shine, sleepy head! It’s time for breakfast!” She proclaimed gleefully.

“What are we having?” Sunshy asked as he stood up and stretched. He felt a sort of satisfaction from his bones popping.

“Maize mush, typical above-ground pegasi food. We still have the cloud cover and cloud seeding, so as long as we’re in his home that’s what we’ll eat.” Shooty cracked her neck back and forth in response to Sunshy’s joints popping.

“I thought you said you had ground food?”

“We do, but dad won’t let us eat it.”

Following Shooty downstairs, Sunshy found the parents already eating at the table. Quick Shot was sitting facing them, but he held a newspaper in front of his face. The title proclaimed that the Enclave would survive. Golden Rays was cooking the last of the mush. So this maize mush was some form of oatmeal? Maizemeal?

“What’s maize anyway?” Sunshy asked no one in particular as he walked into the kitchen.

“It’s pretty much corn.” Shooty replied as she took a seat diagonally from her father.

“Good to see you both awake! Oh, Sunny, you didn’t sleep with that saddle on your back did you?” Golden asked worriedly.

“I tried to set it down, but it began to sink through the floor.”

“Well there’s your problem! Should’ve put it on the dresser. Floors and tables can only take a few pounds of solid objects, but the bigger furniture can take a good three hundred pounds. How much does that weigh, anyway?” Shooty asked.

Shooty walked over and took the saddleboxes off Sunshy’s back. She then slid them over her head and squirmed until they sat on her back. As her half-brother always did, she let her wings sit above the straps.

“Huh, feels less than a hundred pounds. For stuff this big, I’d think it’d weigh a lot more.”

“With a body frame like his, one good kick could bowl him over.” Quick droned out.

“What ‘cha got in he-hehe whoa! That’s a crapload of stuff.” Shooty had opened only one of the boxes. This was the side with all his medical supplies. The other side held his rifle, ammo, and anything valuable he had come across.

“Cupcake, that is not a word. Please, will you two sit down and eat?” Golden finished setting out the food on the table.

Four bowls of maize mush lied at the table that sat six, two on each side, with the corners unoccupied. Golden sat beside her husband as Sunshy sat across from her. Shooty was still standing and nosing through all of Sunshy’s medical supplies. Curious to this form of cooking, Sunshy took a small lick. Finding it was quite delectable, he began to eat with gusto, which made Golden smile.

“I get it! This is like that thing from The Doctor!” Shooty exclaimed as she left to set the saddle boxes down somewhere in the other room.

“Doctor who?” Sunshy questioned between eating.

“The Doctor! He was around before the war. Apparently, he said he was an alien, a Time Lord, he called himself. They say he had two hearts.” Shooty opened her eyes wide in the strangeness of such a statement as she sat down next to Sunshy. She turned to him and continued, “Apparently he went all across the galaxy and time itself! He always had someone with him, like a companion because he was lonely, since he was the only Time Lord left. Anyway, the story goes that the Time Lords were pros at making things small that were bigger on the inside! He’s the reason we ponies have spells like the one on your boxes.”

“I got those from a zebra.”

“Zebras can’t use magic.” Shooty waved a hoof dismissively as she chuckled a little.

“Yes they can, through an art called shamanism. It’s not as easy to use and takes years of study, but zebras can use magic.”

“I’d rather we not talk of those striped foreigners.” Quick Shot stated coldly.

“Why not? Sunshy says he’s engaged to one, dad.” Shooty put her elbow on the table and her head propped on her hoof.

Quick Shot lowered his paper, revealing his half-empty bowl of mush and an unreadable face. He and Shooty had quite the stare-down while Golden and Sunshy simply tried to eat their food through the growing tension in the air.

“Is this true, boy?” Quick Shot kept his eyes on his daughter. Sunshy squeaked and jumped a little.

“Y…yes…” He admitted just barely above a whisper.

“Up here, ponies are encouraged to be colt cuddlers and filly foolers to keep the population down. Why is this suddenly different when some zebra you’ve never met is involved?” Headshot questioned with a surprisingly frosty tone.

“I’m going out.”

Just like that, Quick Shot walked to the door and somehow managed to slam it shut. His paper fluttered on the breeze from the open window. Golden sighed as she picked up his half-empty bowl and set it in the sink. Shoots licked at her food with a rather moody aura, while Sunshy cleaned off his bowl mostly out of politeness.

After their breakfast, Shooty insisted on taking Sunshy over to the main city. The main city was as large as he had thought Cloudsdayle had been before the war. However, there was a depressingly small number of pegasi walking around. No matter how large the buildings, how many twists and turns the streets had, it could not make one forget that there were so few cloud-walking ponies.

Even still, it was surreal to be surrounded by so many fellow pegasi. Truly, it was more of a culture shock to him than living in Savannah. Everypony gave him a mix of reactions as he passed by. Most were impassive towards him and his half-sister, but a few gave him quizzical looks upon noticing his artificial wing. Some were angry, having jumped to the conclusion that he had been a surface pegasi. Others actually came up to him and thanked him for being a veteran. He didn’t have the heart to tell those few that he wasn’t part of the Enclave.

When the feelings of being uncomfortable in a city were too much, Sunshy requested Shooty to take him back home. Once there, he slid his saddle boxes back onto his back and told the two that he was going to go and see if Ditzy Doo had any work for him. Golden smiled and patted his cheek with a wing, calling him her “hard working-boy” with fond warmth. Shooty immediately began bouncing on the cloud, begging to come along. Apparently, she had never been allowed to go farther than old Appleoosa when it came to the surface.

With Golden’s permission, Shooty bounded around the house with glee before racing out of the front door as though she was hyped up on Dash. Sunshy had seen Dash-addicts. Their actions were rather similar to those born with ADHD along with the strange ability to go faster than they could before. Shooty quickly flew back in the house, grabbed Sunshy by a hoof, and flew him outside.

All the way down to New Appleoosa, Shooty went over everything she knew about the surface world. Unlike most other pegasi, she did not think herself above those that were forced to live on the ground. In fact, she held a healthy appreciation for those who had the fortitude to live in such a terrible land and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In that regard, she truly was related to Sunshy.

Upon arriving at New Appleoosa, the blue-on-yellow pegasus was dancing in place and making high-pitched squeaks of excitement. Just like a pony on Dash, she began running around and asking questions about everything. What was this? Who are you? What do you do here? What is that? What’s this button do? You gonna eat that? Are you done reading this?

While Sunshy tried to find her endless streams of question and boundless energy endearing, he couldn’t help but feel she was a slight annoyance. The residents seemed to share the same idea, as many huffily walked away from her. Soon, though, she returned to Sunshy’s side just inside the border of the town. Even though she had sped around the entire town in less than ten minutes, she was still bouncing with energy. What was she made of?

Much more calmly and maturely, Sunshy walked over to Absolutely Everything and walked inside. The buck was greeted by Silver Bell welcoming him.

“OH MY GOSH you are the cutest thing I have ever seen!” Shooty dashed over to stand before Silver Bell and smushed her own face with her hooves. At least she didn’t smush the filly’s face…

“You’re weird. But thank you!” Silver Bell replied seamlessly.

“Awesome! You’re a unicorn. Tell me your magical secrets.” The pegasus’s attitude turned deadly serious. Her bright blue eyes seemed to bore into the filly.

Sunshy saved Silver Bell from the uncomfortable stare by pointing to a pot and saying, “Look, shiny!”

“Where!?” Shooty ran over to item and began browsing everything on the wall.

“Sorry about her, I think she’s high on Dash.” Sunshy admitted to the little unicorn, then immediately wondered if she even knew what Dash was.

“Drugs are for losers! I’m high on pure life, bro!” His sister replied immediately.

“If you say so…you really act like someone on Dash, though, miss. So mistur Sunshy, what’d you come here for?” Silver Bell questioned with a beaming smile, hoping to have a customer.

“I was hoping to help your mom make deliveries.”

“Sweet! Garrus should be able to help. Gary!”

“What do you need, kid?” This new voice came from a deep-sounding buck.

Upon the creature entering the room, it was found he was not a buck. No, in fact, this was simply a male griffon. This griffon walked on all fours, wore some black armor, and had deep blue feathers around his eyes and growing at the tips of his feathers on his head. Sunshy was surprised that he had to look down at this griffon. They were normally tall! Then again, a tall freak like him was used to looking down at everyone.

“Damn you’re tall.” Garrus commented. Then he coughed into his claw awkwardly, as though he hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“Don’t worry; I get that all the time.” Sunshy waved the comment off with his hoof.

“Ohmygosh!” Headshot was suddenly standing right in front of Garrus, which made him rather uncomfortable. He moved back a few steps. Sunshy saw his tail swish in annoyance; scorpion tails on lion bodies acted just the same, who knew. “You’re hot!”

Sunshy smacked his hoof against his face. He’d known his sister for all of a day and was already embarrassed by her beyond belief. She’d just called a griffon hot! He’s not even of the same species, how could he be hot?! Although…he did have a rather nice build—NO! Still engaged, still have Zen. Right, engagement band, oh look at how sparkly it is, yes. So shiny and pretty, focus on that.

“You know you’re a pony, right?” Garrus actually sounded amused by Shooty’s outburst.

“And I’m up for experimenting.”

“OKAY! You’re leaving now. No talking like that in front of a filly that can’t comprehend it.” Sunshy began pushing Shooty outside, despite her digging her hooves in and whining.

When he was at the door, the pegasus gave his sister a final push, making her land face-first onto the dirt ground below. Her rear end was giving salutations to the sun. She muttered something that sounded along the lines of, “Dirt hurts, bro,” as Sunshy turned and walked back inside.

“I’m so so so very sorry about her.” Sunshy bowed his head to the griffon and unicorn filly.

“I don’t know what happened, so I’m fine!” Silver Bell responded with a chipper attitude.

“Weird sex predator aside, did you need something, Silver?” Griffon inquired of the pony. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Mistur Sunshy here needs some work delivering!”

“You didn’t think to check the help-wanted board? Ponies put up ads all the time.”

“I’ll look at it!” Where did Headshot come from?!

Sunshy was startled into his fainting-goat trick. Damn it, he hadn’t done that in months! Now everyone was staring at him. His face was burning up and he wished to be turned to goo and melt through the floor.

“You do that too! Mommy says it’s genetic, so that’s another thing we share, bro! There’s no denying we’re related, isn’t that just great?” Shooty swept up her much taller and skinnier brother into a warm hug radiating love. Part of Sunshy wondered just what in the world could scare this girl that took everything so casually.

Garrus coughed into his eagle claw again, and Shooty remembered that there were others there. She immediately dropped Sunshy and turned her attention to the help wanted board. While she scanned over advertisements, Silver Bell was telling her how badly she needed some boarding, saddlebags, and weapons if she was going to take on odd jobs. This excited the pegasus to virtually no end and quickly began haggling with the unicorn. Sunshy knew that he would have to pay, as Shooty had no way to hold currency on her. Never mind, she pulled out a sack of caps from her tail.

“So, about delivering…”

~*~

Three weeks passed by in a flash.

Halfway through the first week, something strange had happened. There was some great warmth that spread through everything. There was a ring of color that spread out from the only large mountain left in Equestria. It was like a sonic rainboom, only on the ground and so much softer. The ground was purged of all its radioactivity and taint. While this was great news, Ditzy was now busier than ever. She had started to sell dirty water to her fellow ghouls all around Equestria. She called it “Aqua Cura” for some reason.

During his time in Equestria, Sunshy would travel across the land making deliveries that Ditzy was too busy to make, accompanied by Celly every time. While they were out doing that, Headshot made quite a name for herself. She took up virtually every help wanted ad available that she felt were within her capabilities. Somehow, that translated to everything. The most surprising thing was…she survived.

From going down an irradiated shaft with nothing but a radiation suit, some Rad-X, RadAway, and an assortment of magical energy weapons, to escorting a caravan, she would do it. Only rarely did she have some sort of companion, normally a griffon working for someone named Gawd. They made a lot of jokes based on her name.

All of their money was brought back home. Golden Rays was the only parent honestly proud and happy with their work helping everyone. Said money was almost always bottle caps, but sometimes they were paid in material things of value. Sometimes it was a rare sort of boarding or helmet, sometimes a weapon in pristine condition, and sometimes just whatever they found during their quest.

At the end of the second week, Sunshy had his armor modified by a customer in payment; his leather armor was now imbued with a spell that kept him as well protected as heavy armor, but without the weight. He was given various weapons as well, but only kept a grenade launcher along with his zebra assault rifle. Everything else he sold.

Headshot ended up with full-covering slim power armor from the Enclave, but without the scorpion tail and helmet. She knew how to use it, having learned from her father—who Sunshy learned had forced Shooty to learn everything from mundane tasks to stealth missions in order to find her cutie mark. She received plenty of “land dweller” weapons, but she did have one opinion that reflected the Enclave a little: guns were rather beneath her notice. A nice, soft, no-kickback energy weapon was for her.

She did have to sway that idea for a beautifully made one-of-a-kind sniper rifle. This was built with a sky blue color, matching her mane and tail. It was long and wonderful and came with its own battle-saddle mount, which was needed as the kickback was terrible. The rifle stuck out a hoof’s length out from her face. For those who thought they could hold it in their mouths, the grip was made of soft padding of the same color. According to her sorter in her armor, it labeled it ‘Invisibility’. Headshot said it was because when she held it against the sky, it practically vanished.

The one thing Sunshy was disappointed by was that he didn’t see Drakon. Even after the weeks had passed, there was no sign of the old dragon. Those living in New Appleoosa said that he moved on to clean out another place dearly in need of help. Hoofington was the name.

Three weeks was the magic number. It had been roughly five months since Sunshy had left Drakon’s cave. So much had changed. Hell, he’d heard the story of the Stable Dweller. Everything she did was within the span of two months! If that wasn’t impressive, he didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Three weeks passed before he had any word from back in Savannah. There was a knocking at the door that Sunshy opened. He found an adolescent dragon hovering before him. This one was green and red, an odd color combination he had to admit. The dragon asked if Tall Soft Heart, aka Sunshy Rays lived here. Sunshy nodded and took the letter handed to him. After receiving a tip of twenty caps, the dragon made a motion as though to tip a hat at him before flying off.

Sunshy went into the kitchen and sat down. He set the letter down with the back facing up. Sealing the envelope was red wax with the indentation of the rearing lion roaring ferociously. It felt like a shame to break such a perfect picture, but he was given this for a reason. So he walked over to his saddlebag and opened the side with his weapons. On a whim, he counted his ammo while digging for something to open the letter. There was a lot less than he remembered…when had he spent them? Oh…the arena in Peponi. He had probably blocked it out; even now it was still fuzzy. The weight of his robotic wing suddenly felt much too heavy.

Once he thought a bit, he face-hoofed. The pony then opened the other side and pulled out a scalpel. He went over to his envelope and broke the seal. Then he pulled the letter out and unfolded it, which was written in messy mouth-writing in Zebra.

Dear Sunshy Rays/Tall Soft Heart of the Dry Land clan,

As you know, civil war has been raged in the Savannah Wasteland for generations. We of the Remnants strived to continue what our Caesar of war times began. It has come to our attention that your fiancé Brother Strong Peace/Zen is working against our ideals. While he claims to not be a Separatist, he certainly does not care at all for our goals. In simple terms, he will be killed within a week’s time from when this letter was written. We request you return to the city of Paradise to arrange the funeral or cremation, take stock of his worldly things, and because you left before you could even begin your job that my leader requested of you.

Sincerest, Legate Brutus Grim

P.S. I tried writing this with a quill, but those are for unicorns. Too sloppy trying to write with it in your mouth.

P.P.S. I wrote twenty of these damn things. One better find you.

P.P.P.S. My jaw hurts like a mother fucker.

P.P.P.P.S. This is the only letter with PS’s so I hope you don’t get this one. Fuck me if you do. Takes the drama out of everything. Curse the Caesar line for their oddball ways rubbing off on me.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I didn’t mean that.

The many post scripts distracted Sunshy for a bit, as they were where his eyes immediately wandered. When he did read the main portion of the letter, any humor he found vanished. Near the top right of the letter was a date written. It was the day he left.

Three weeks ago.

Zen was long since dead, according to the letter. He was probably buried in the ground and cold. Or just a pile of ash in a jar. Maybe not even in a jar…what if he was just dust in the wind now?!

“Sunny? Why are you crying?” Headshot questioned as she walked into the kitchen. In response, Sunshy slid the letter over to her. Shooty read it over while Sunshy placed his head in his hooves. “I can’t read Zebra.”

Sunshy sniffled and took a deep breath to calm himself. Of course she couldn’t read Zebra, she lived in Equestria and above the clouds her whole life. She had no reason to study their language.

“Basically…Zen is dead. They killed him for being a traitor to the Legion.” Sunshy bluntly told her. Shooty gasped and stared at the words that were foreign to her on the letter. Eventually, she wrapped her brother in a hug complete with wings.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something for you…”

“It’s…we’re two weeks too late. I can’t believe…” Sunshy hiccupped in a breath and tried to control his breathing.

“If you want…I can leave. Let you…cry it all out.”

“No, no…I…I…I just need to…go to Peponi, Paradise. Besides, I…can’t know for sure he’s dead until I see it for myself. Honestly, I don’t trust all these Legion zebras…Probably just lying to me to get me to come back. Heh, took them three damn weeks to find me, so they’re probably really anxious.” Sunshy got off the chair and walked back to his saddle boxes.

“Can…can I come with you? I’d love to go to another country and…well, we’re siblings. I want to be there for you no matter what.”

“Thanks. I’d like that. Should we tell mom?” Sunshy questioned as he put on his boarding and coat.

“I’ll go tell her while I get my stuff.” Headshot quickly flew up the stairs.

Sunshy slid his saddle boxes over his back. He waited at the end of the stairs. Moments later, the pony was tackled to the cloud ground in a flying hug. Golden was babbling and sobbing out too much too fast. From the snippets he could understand, Sunshy gathered that she was told everything, she understood, and she would let them go with her best wishes.

Once Headshot was fully suited up in her Enclave armor, they were ready to go out the door. However, Quick Shot was standing vigil at the door, waiting for them. Golden was in the family room, trying not to cry.

“Take off that damn second-rate armor.”

“What?! NO! Dad, I’m going with Sunshy and you—“

“Go. Take. It. Off.” Quick Shot ordered. Shooty stomped her hooves and screamed in anger. Then she stormed up the stairs, shouting all the while.

Awkwardly, Sunshy shifted on his hooves. He wasn’t sure what to do now. Quick Shot wasn’t even looking at him. Not long after, Shooty stormed back down, glaring daggers at her father. Her expression melted into confusion as Quick held out a folded-up Enclave armor body, complete with tail, wing protection, and helmet.

“If you’re going away, you’ll represent this family properly. No second-hand armor you won from doing odd jobs. You’ll wear my old armor.”

With new reverence in her eyes, Headshot took the armor and quickly put it on. It was strange for her to have her tail enclosed in the armor. She did like her helmet, despite how it gave her a strange insect-like appearance. Almost immediately, she was having fun with the E.F.S.

“Does it fit? You’re not as bulky, but it is made to fit anypony. This armor saved my life plenty of times. I hope to the Goddesses you don’t face anything that makes you claim the same thing. Stay safe…both of you.” Shooty quickly pulled her father into a big hug. He returned it with a smile.

Once they parted, the buck turned and stared up to Sunshy. “I know I haven’t acted the best towards you, and I apologize. You’re a good pony, Sunshy. I’m proud to say you’re my son, even if just through marriage.”

Quick Shot then hugged Sunshy, which he returned after a shocked moment of hesitation. Then he stepped away from the door. Shooty saluted her father, who returned it and said, “Dismissed.”

Before she could join Sunshy out the door, Shooty ran back inside. A minute or so later, she returned with her sniper mounted on a battle saddle. The two shared another hug with their mother before going out the door. Celly, who had been given a permanent cloud-walking spell, was nowhere to be found. She normally stayed outside, basking in the sun close to home.

Silently worrying, Sunshy dove through the cloud cover and turned east. Shooty followed close behind and was close on his tail. The two passed over New Appleoosa and flew until they reached the end of the Everfree Forest. Sunshy called out for Celly, but received no reply. When the wait became agonizing, the pegasus ventured inside.

Headshot kept close to her brother as her night vision kicked in, as he seemed to know where he was going. Every little noise was eerie and spooky, causing her to jump. Something about this place was unnatural. It was afternoon, but inside the forest, it might as well be midnight.

All the while they walked, Sunshy called out for his other sister. Eventually, they arrived at the mouth of Drakon’s old cave. Even from outside, his pile of treasure could be seen sparkling in the artificial light. Again, Sunshy called out for Celly, but there was no response.

A rustling in the bushes captured his attention. Shooty had her mouth on the bit that controlled the firing mechanism of her sniper rifle. She positioned herself as the rustling grew. Then out came a big, scary manticore with a giant mane! Not Celly, it’s dead!!

Headshot’s visor changed to red with crosshairs. It bleeped a few times until it locked onto the head of the manticore. Easy as pie, surrounded by that big mane. Hay, why was it getting bigger? Oh…

Shooty was forced onto her rump as the manticore shoved his face in hers. She smiled wanly as her E.F.S. labeled this as a friendly. The male manticore growled as he moved back and smacked the pegasus upside the head with his scorpion tail.

“Check Eyes-Forward Sparkle first…” She muttered as she rubbed the side of her head.

“Excuse me, sir, have you seen a female just a wee bit taller than you?” Sunshy questioned.

The male nodded before shoving his head into the bushes. His face was pushed back by another manticore, this one lacking a mane and with a narrower face. The male gave her a smile before standing aside and letting the female move forward. Celly moved her head down and nuzzled Sunshy affectionately.

“Is this your boyfriiiiieeeeend?~” Headshot teased in a sing-song voice.

Celly nodded to her before rubbing her face against the male, who did the same with a purring growl. Sunshy smiled and put a hoof on Celly’s shoulder. She folded her ears down and licked his head.

“I understand. You’re plenty old enough to start a family of your own. We’re going to head back to…to Zen. I’ll see you when we get back, okay?” Sunshy smiled as he gave Celly a parting kiss on the nose before he set his hoof down.

Celly gave them both a lick on the heads before turning and walking back into the thick flora. The male turned as well, giving them a wave with a wing as he followed Celly. Shooty jumped up and took off into the air. Sunshy gave a final goodbye before following his half-sister.

The sun was far down on the horizon by the time they stopped to rest. All the while they flew, Sunshy informed Shooty of everything she would have to know. Of course, training her to speak fluent Zebra was out of the question, as that could take years. So he gave her a crash-course in their history, beliefs, religion, and factions.

Since Sunshy had failed to mention Nchi Kavu, for he was still upset over Chief Fluffy Doom, they had not stopped there. Instead, the two camped outside with a campfire, the stars their only companions. Shooty took the first watch, which was a foreign concept to Sunshy. Having a giant manticore sleeping beside you all the time really made you feel safe twenty four-seven. Without her…Sunshy felt rather cold as he curled up on the ground, no warm body to press up against.

Hours that felt like minutes passed before Sunshy was shaken awake. Shooty had her helmet off. She looked terrified. The night was cold and dark, which meant the fire was down to cinders.

“Sunny, there are these…eyes just staring at us…” She whispered while staring around in paranoia.

Still half-asleep, Sunshy barely registered her words. However, he did register that even while laying on the ground, he could see some glowing eyes just off in the distance. Unnerving. To his sleep-foggy brain, Sunshy decided the best idea was to bark. Shooty stared at him with an expression that he was a total idiot and about to get them both killed.

Her disbelief changed to panic as the eyes moved and showed glowing teeth. One of them moved enough to bark in response. Shooty donned her helmet and took aim. Well…there were countless yellow lines as far as her E.F.S. could pick up. No matter what her awesome magical armor said, she certainly wasn’t about to trust things that kept on the edges of their line of vision.

Then some of the most awesome creatures walked into the faint light of the crescent moon. They were like dogs, only their body structure was a little different. All of them were brown, black, and white. Each one had a different coat. The wild dogs walked forward cautiously. One of them closer to Sunshy sniffed at him before lying down next to the pony.

Seeing one of their own do this, the rest decided to join in and sleep around the pegasus. Shooty stared as no less than twenty of the dogs piled around her brother. She gave up, fluttered over the dogs, and fell asleep amidst the pile of warmth.

The next morning, they awoke to find the wild dogs still around. Although they were now eating the rotting carcass of some animal they had presumably killed before. It sure wasn’t there when they went to sleep. Fighting the urge to upchuck, the pegasi quickly flew away, as they had not left anything behind. Though the wild dogs whined at them, they did not pursue on foot. Sunshy gave a goodbye wave and thanks for keeping them warm and not eating them.

Though they tried their hardest to stay in the sky, the two couldn’t help but land every couple hours to make sure that their wings would not strain. Even still, it took them another day and a half to reach Peponi. It was in the middle of Savannah, after all.

Both of the pegasi agreed to arrive on hoof at the front gate. Just as they touched down, it seemed as though that was expected. Legate Brute walked over to them. Shooty’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared up and up and up!

“WHAT MADE YOU?” Shooty belted out, unable to grasp how very large he was.

“…The…the gods?” Brute replied with an expression of confusion.

“You’re huge!”

“Really? It’s not like I have to look down at everyone.” His sarcasm was dripping from every word. He must get that a lot.

“How tall are you?”

“Eight foot seven inches, alright? Look, Caesar told me to—“

“I thought you were the Remnant? Don’t the Separatists have a Caesar and not you?”

Brute slapped his face with a hoof and dragged it down. “We lied. We do have a Caesar but we tell everyone we don’t so that they are lulled into a false sense of security. If you’re quite done asking dumb questions…” The coldest glare in existence that made even Shooty cower, “Good. Follow me.”

In complete silence, they followed. Shooty was too scared to make him angry. He could crush her under one hoof! Sunshy was too anxious about what was to come. As the group passed, zebras would bow to Legate Brute and nod or smile politely to Sunshy. Seemed they still remembered him. Apparently, he was either famous for his freak-out mass murder or they all completely forgave him. He suspected the former. Shooty, however, got nothing but glares or taunting smiles. A zebra ran away shouting tauntingly, “Oh no, the Grand Pegasus Enclave is here to wipe us out!”

Even though she couldn’t understand a word other than Grand Pegasus Enclave, Shooty blushed in angry embarrassment. The zebras had laughed after that one obviously made fun of her. She decided to take her helmet off its hook around her shoulder and put it on. Now she couldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing their bullying got to her.

“The Enclave is a bit of a joke, since they weren’t able to do anything in the war. Don’t take it too personally, Sister of Sunshy.” Brute told her in a stoic tone.

“Shooty. My name is Shooty.”

“Unique. Short for anything?”

“Headshot.”

“Is that accurate?”

“I have a sniper rifle attached to my side. No, I’m terrible at shooting. I aim for the knees.”

They became quiet once again. Other still reacted as they walked. Sunshy soon found this was unfamiliar territory they were entering. It reminded him of Mrahaba, all nice and shiny. More guards and those in Legion armor were walking around. These zebras stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing to bow to the Legate. Along the trip, Sunshy noticed his glyph mark was a scythe. This was strange, as he carried no weapons on him, just his armor.

They arrived at a building that was identical to those around it, which all looked like apartment buildings. Just like those buildings in the small cities scattered all around. Legate opened the door and slid inside effortlessly, as it was obviously made to be large enough to allow his extreme bulk through. Going through the large door made the two pegasi feel tiny. Normal-sized ponies and zebras must feel microscopic.

Through the door, down a hallway, left, right, upstairs, straight, up, left, left, right, right, up, down, left. Soon Sunshy decided Brute was purposely leading them around in circles. Long after his hooves ached from all the walking, the Legate stopped at a door just like all the others. He knocked twice, paused, knocked once, paused, and then knocked thrice.

The door opened, revealing someone Sunshy and Shooty couldn’t see. Legate Brute dipped his head before walking inside and standing over to the right. The pegasi cautiously walked inside after him.

The room was…unorganized. Unfinished war maps decorated the walls. As was custom, pillows were all around, pulled together in piles. Brute took a pile and lied down with his hooves tucked under his belly. At the back, there was a doorway with no door. Nothing could be seen in the back room from where the pegasi stood.

Lying down on the pile of pillows in the dead center of the room was a zebra. A zebra in the armor of Caesar, but he was definitely not Caesar the twelfth. This zebra was coated head to tail in scars, most of them appearing to be fresh and healed over with healing potions. His glyph mark was lost to the branding.

A jagged scar ran from the base of his right ear and drew down over his eye until it came to rest on his cheek. Said eye appeared unnatural. Sure, it was still brown like the other, but there were sections that were…strange. Like a contact lens over his eye that had coloring, but in sections. Comparing the eye to a cock, around eight to ten were purple streaks. Two to four were blue with numbers flying by too fast for anyone but him to see. The pupil had a hint of red glowing from the center. Not so much to be a distraction, but it was still noticeable.

Caesar the thirteenth stood up with a pained effort. No wonder…his left back leg was gone. In its place was a mechanical replacement. It was shaped exactly like any other leg and hoof, but made out of metal. Slap on some fake skin and a coat of paint and no one would know the difference. Even though his field wasn’t in robotics or technology of any sort, Sunshy knew on a medical level that replacing limbs was normally an arduous task. For a missing limb, it would take at least a year or two for rehabilitation.

Sunshy noticed his front right leg held a PipBuck. This one had the picture of a smiling zebra buck wearing a crown. The name under it read Caesar XIII.

Since her brother was silent, Shooty decided to be the one to introduce them. She removed her helmet and hooked it on her shoulder. With wings raised proudly—why did the zebras look surprised?—she held a hoof to her chest.

“I am Headshot of the Shot family, normally called Shooty. My father was a proud Enclave general. This is my half-brother, Sunshy Rays. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Why are your wings raised like that?” Caesar questioned. His voice had a robotic edge to it. What sort of attack caused damage to his vocal cords?

“To show my pride, of course. Pegasi raise their wings for a multitude of reasons, and yes, one of them being what others lovingly call a wing boner.” Shooty lowered her armored wings and frowned.

“Anyway, as you may have guessed, I am Caesar the Thirteenth. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you, Shooty and Sunshy. Do all pegasi have names that begin with ‘S’?” Caesar smiled as though he thought he was clever.

“Do all zebras have a name that begins with ‘Z’?” Shooty shot back.

“Touché, madam. Now then, I am to assume you are escorting and protecting your half-brother?”

“Correct. Haven’t seen him in the field yet, but I’m a trained fighter. No matter his skills, it’d be stupid to not have me around.”

“Very pompous, but in a good way, I suppose. Legate, will you give them the collars?” Caesar turned to his Legate.

The large zebra stood and walked into the back room. He returned moments later with two collars in his mouth. Sunshy broke his gaze away from the PipBuck that he hadn’t stopped staring at to glance at the collars. They were not slave collars, thank the Goddesses. They appeared to be the sort of collars one would give to a…a dog…They were leather and red with a little golden tag hanging down with the same picture as the one branded on Caesar’s flanks. Whatever. Sunshy returned to staring at the PipBuck.

“Don’t take offense to these, but without them, you’ll have your memories torn from you when you exit this building. You will also be attacked ruthlessly without them, as they have a strong shield spell.”

“I guess that makes up for it.” Shooty grumbled as she allowed Brute to place the collar on her neck. Sunshy was quiet as the Legate did the same.

“Stare any harder and it might burst into flame.” Caesar teased as he waved the PipBuck at Sunshy. The pony stared straight into those doe brown eyes. Unmistakable brown eyes. They blinked as the expression changed. Recognition.

Sunshy dug into his miscellaneous saddle box and pulled out the letter. He chewed it up and then spat it out right at Caesar. It bounced off the right side of his brow.

“You…LIAR!!” Everyone was blown away from the force of his shout. Not literally, only the Royal Canterlot Voice was that powerful. Just the sudden complete change in such a quiet pony was such a shock that everyone moved back.

“Three weeks, huh? That’s how long you’d wait for me? Three weeks! You couldn’t even wait a whole month! And don’t give me some bullshit that you thought I was gone for good. You sent me these fucking letters begging me to come back!” Sunshy was fuming and on a roll. He had no idea how his throat survived the first shout, but it was still going strong.

“I…wha…Sunny…” Caesar—Zen, was completely caught off-guard.

“Don’t you even start! So from this letter, I’m guessing you meant ‘death’ as ‘turning from Zen to Caesar’ right? You probably didn’t even wait a whole damn week for that! You know what; I’m not even sure why I’m surprised! This is just like you, too. Because absolutely nothing is clear-cut with you.”

“I don’t—“ He was utterly confused and defenseless.

“Everything I learned about you, I found out from everyone else. Your name isn’t really Zen, its Zuberi? Thanks Ruby. Oh, your favorite food is celery? Thank you so much for finding that out for me, creepy-as-fuck plant-pony in that goddamn Stable.”

“I did tell you about me!” Zen argued, his slightly robotic voice cracking with conflicting emotions.

“Yeah, what I could find out for myself! You hate the Legion? So does half of the fucking population here! The real information I wanted was; Why? Why do you hate them? Is there some big reason, or do you just hate them out of principal? Oh and don’t even argue about your past lovers. The last fucking thing anyone wants to hear about is knowing that they’re not your first. Sure, it’s a fact I accepted from the beginning, but you just fucking shoved it in my face! I’m not even sloppy seconds, I’m…fucking thirds!!”

“I told you about my failed relationships to make you feel secure!” Zen’s eyes were watering as he tried to argue.

“Did you really? Or did you just want to explain away why some gross-ass zebra off the streets started coming on to you? It’s just…You never seem to do anything you should! I get where you’re coming from, but you’re doing it just…I just always felt like there was this fucking wall between us…” Sunshy grit his teeth and turned his head away, trying to find the right words.

“You know what I am? I’m a fucking open book. Not only that, I’m an open book in two languages. I translate everything for you, no question needed! But you? You’re a leather-bound book with five padlocks put into a sack tied with steel cables in the most intricate knot ever conceived thrown into a safe with a password, number code, DNA scanner, hoofprint scanner, eye scanner, and voice recognition with a required password thrown down the deepest well in the world! And then you take this dinky little notepad about everything you’ve seen and know and pass it off as everything anyone needs to know about you.”

“That’s…that’s not true—“ Zen felt hot, angry tears escape.

“You know what, it doesn’t even matter. So fine, Caesar, I get it. Now, will you please tell me where my Zen’s grave is? Because I’d like bury my heart with him.” A tear fell from Sunshy’s face with his final, heartbreaking and angry words. He then took off his engagement band and threw it at Zen. It hit the middle of his brow, bounced, and clattered to the ground.

No one moved as Sunshy turned and ran from the room. A heartbeat passed before Zen tried to follow, but fell forward onto his face on the pillows. Colorful curses passed through his mouth as he struggled to stand on three working limbs and one deadweight chunk of metal that refused to fucking work! The stream of curses turned to the subject of his own uselessness as he collapsed into a sobbing heap beating up defenseless pillows.

Shooty was jolted into action after Caesar—Zen?—fell forward. She flew as quickly as her wings could take her, following the red trail of tail that marked where her brother was. Any time she lost him, the zebras in armor that loitered around pointed her in the right direction.

Sunshy tried to find the exit, but even with his strong sense of direction, he was utterly lost. Somehow, he ended up on the same floor as before even though he was sure he never once went up! Either way, he could hear Shooty shouting for him. Though her intentions were no doubt good, he couldn’t bear company. The tears were still falling and blurring his vision.

Giving up, Sunshy opened the first door he came to and went inside. As the door had opened inward, he began piling everything from the walls in front of the door. While he did that, he found that this had to be a closet. No other room would have a broom, mop, hammer, wrench, bucket, toolkit, and very heavy metal shelf.

Moments after he finished his work, something banged into the door. Even over his panting, he could hear Shooty complaining about her head and the goose egg bump that was about to grow. She landed and began knocking on the door. Softly, she would call out variations of his name in between or during her knocking. She also said other things, but he didn’t care. In front of him was a sink, with a mirror right above.

Staring back at him was a reflection. His coat was full of color and shining from constant cleaning and brushing. On his muzzle, he could see the lines of his tears that had flowed down. They still were. And above all, he saw the red. So much red…the same color as his heart.

Without knowing it, he picked up a serrated knife that was sitting at the sink. So he tilted his head, held the knife out, and cut it. As the red fell to the floor, he decided to keep doing this. He cut and cut until there was only a short mess of hair on his head and a cropped tail. There…now he looked…nothing but sad. This had accomplished nothing but a mess of hair on the floor. The useless knife couldn’t even clatter from landing on all the hair.

No…now he remembered why he did this. Less red, because red was blood, which led to the heart. His heart was broken. Each beat felt painful. He had heard of a broken heart before, but never had he thought it was a literal expression. Now he knew better. Sunshy lied down on the pile of his red hair. He didn’t cry, he was too empty to cry.

Level up! You are now level 20!

Perk added! Ditzy Doo’s Delivery Buck!: You’ve been all around Equestria making deliveries for Ditzy, and it’s paid off more than just in money. You know your way around the land like the back of your hoof. Ponies are more inclined to recognize you, as well. Too bad you’re not in Equestria anymore.

Companion Perk added! Natural Dash: Your sister is a hyperactive ball of energy, reminiscent of Pinkie Pie…If she ever used Dash the drug. Her insane speed, on land or air, influences your own speed by 30%. You’ll reach places much sooner and outrun any enemies.

Chapter 21: Redemption

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 21: Redemption

“I guess darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos. I believe in that. I think that's the basis of Greek mythology.” Brendan Fraser

Fruitlessly she knocked on the door. Headshot knew that it wasn’t futile, she was sure she had seen Sunshy run into this particular door. Hell, he’d closed the door so fast that she banged her head on it! So…why wasn’t he answering?

Scared for his state of being, she pressed her ear against the door. She heard the sound of hair cutting. Why was he cutting his hair? She tried to press her ear harder against it, but it didn’t make anything clearer. There were virtually no sounds but that hair cutting and his breathing. At least he wasn’t hurting himself.

“Sunny? Will you open the door please? It’s just me here, no one else. I promise.” Shooty kept her ear on the door, anxious to find out what he would do. Just to be sure, she lifted her head away and saw that the corridor was still empty.

The pegasus mare heard things being moved about. A bit later, the door opened. She inhaled a gasp and put a hoof over her mouth. Sunshy had cut his mane and tail down to choppy, poorly-cut splotches of red on his sun-yellow coat. His eyes no longer held tears. They appeared empty, hollow. He was practically dead on his feet.

Shooty’s visage slowly turned from shock to angry in a matter of moments. Someone had to pay for turning him into this! Shooty shoved Sunshy back into the closet and closed it behind him. Her anger only grew at the fact that he gave no resistance.

Anger told her that she had to find the one who started all this abuse to Sunshy. Her wings unfurled and began beating hard. She changed the way of her flight pattern to keep her speed angled forward and not up.

Doors, zebras, and hallways melted away as she sped by, retracing her fight. However, when she was forced to land and pant, she found she had no idea where she was. All the white walls and doors looked the same.

“The building had a spell woven into every brick, every door, every floor…” A zebra roughly her size walked over to her. From her voice, it could be guessed this was a female. “It was made to be like…a puzzle box. No matter how you run and run, unless you have a guide who knows what they’re doing, you will be lost. Unless you want to get out with all your heart, you will get nowhere.”

“Why is that?” Shooty questioned.

“To make sure our Caesar is safe. You have noticed his scars, yes? All done while he was outside this building.” The zebra answered.

“Can you take me to your leader?”

“Do you mean him harm?” Her tone turned deathly scary.

“No, I just want to see him.”

“Alright, this way.”

As calmly as she could, Shooty followed the mare in the Legion armor. Like before, this trip took the two around and around in what felt like circles. Of course, she eventually walked up to a door down a hallway and knocked the special knock.

“Come in.”

The zebra pushed the door open and allowed Shooty inside. Her rage was reaching boiling point. She was sorry she had to lie to the zebra mare willing to help, but this was personal. Apparently, the mare didn’t quite trust her, as she walked into the room after her.

Caesar XIII was curled up on his pile of pillows in the middle of the first room. To see who was there, he lifted his scarred head. The zebra’s eyes were red and puffy, tears still falling from them. He sniffled and lied his head back down, staring sadly at something in his hooves.

All of Shooty’s rage boiled and dissipated into steam. Damn it, why did the object of her anger have to go and be all sad? Oh…clutched in his hooves was Sunshy’s golden band, glinting a bit of red from the zebra leader’s artificial eye. He lifted his head just enough to nod at the Legion mare. She hesitated before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Go ahead.” His artificial voice stated.

Headshot was confused at his statement. She walked forward and stared down at him. Caesar XII kept his head down and held the band close to his chest. An image of Sunshy as he was now entered her mind. She could feel the rage building up again. She didn’t understand everything, but it made little difference. Headshot lifted a hoof and brought it down upon the zebra’s shoulder.

She jumped back and waved her hoof in the air, saying, “Owowowowowowowowowhowhowwww. Is your skeleton made of metal or something?!”

“Most of it. Mini balefire bombs fuck you up real bad.” Caesar XIII said blandly.

“A mini what?”

“Balefire bomb. You know, what killed everyone in the war. A small one of those was launched at me. Bit of overkill, if you ask me, seeing as how those can kill a rampaging herd of rhinos.”

“…Why would they do that?”

“Because I’m a terrible person and I’m a fucking idiot. So just beat me up over your big brother’s broken heart. People will cheer for you for it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Makes two of us. I’m just trying to make this place better, but everyone hates me. They hate me so much that they’ll launch a mini balefire bomb at me. Guess that’s what happens when you take away their coliseum fights.”

“You’re…trying to make this place better?”

“That’s what I just said. I’m tweaking things little by little, so subtle that no one noticed. Until another coliseum fight cost the life of a colthood friend, of course. Then I had it condemned and torn down and no one was happy about that. What’s funny is that in their anger, they destroyed the coliseum they were trying to protect.”

“Then…why would…why did Sunshy react like that?” Shooty felt her brain beginning to hurt at the confusion.

Caesar the thirteenth shrugged as the door was opened. Legate Brute walked inside and bit Shooty by the tail. Without a word and ignoring her futile struggle, the large zebra walked out of the room, kicking it shut behind him.

~*~

Sunshy regained enough sense to open the door and peek outside. No one around—oh crap! Sunny ducked back into the closet after seeing a zebra in the red armor. He opened it a sliver and peeked, finding the zebra standing vigilant and glanced around with a determined expression. Sunshy closed the door again and took the time to stare at his surroundings, trying to find a way out of here undetected.

Undetected?

The yellow pony dug around in his misc box until he came upon an invisibility cloak. He quickly put it on over his saddle boxes and slipped the clasp over his head. Once the hood was up, the pegasus pressed the invisibility gem on the clasp. Sunshy then looked at himself in the mirror, only to find just a slight shimmer in the air.

Satisfied, the pony cracked open the door again. Finding no one was there, it was deemed safe enough for him to open it fully. The pony closed the door behind him and crouched close to the floor and stuck to the walls. Invisible or not, he would have to be careful with others actively searching for him.

Slinking around was hard on his knees!

Why did no one warn him of this? Probably because no one thought that he’d be creeping around for a good fucking hour and keep ending up on the same floor!

Why wasn’t this apartment building normal?!?!?!

A sound of hooves coming forward startled the pony. He darted his head around in an attempt to find his way out. A-ha! An open door!

Lifting his hooves to stand on his tippie-hooves, the pony snuck into the open door, being careful not to budge the door. Sunshy quickly snuck to a corner and crouched down, trying to take up as little space as he could. Why was Royal Lace there eating ice cream?

Another figure walked into the room and kicked the door shut. She turned to the large zebra twice her size and smiled. Lacey offered her ice cream to Legate Brute, but he shook his head. So she scarfed it down in three bites.

“Very ladylike.” Brute replied sarcastically. When did he get a collar with his glyph mark? Whoa, was he the element?!

“Oh shut it, I’m allowed to pack on a few pounds.” Lacey replied with her mouth full.

“You are a little skinny.”

“That’s not…what I mean.”

Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck. Sunshy knew he was not supposed to be here! Private conversation! Why was the door closed?! Oh Goddesses, save him!

“Then why are you gorging yourself?” Brute asked as thought it wasn’t obvious. Maybe it wasn’t to a non-medical professional.

Lacey took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I’m pregnant.”

“Are you sure it’s mine?”

Sunshy and Lacey’s fur bristled in indignation at that statement. What kind of buck asks that first?!

“How dare you insult my character?! Yes, I am quite sure it is yours because I have not slept with anyone since or at the same general time.” Lacey quickly asserted.

“And you’re quite sure you’re pregnant?” Brute inquired casually.

“Positive. I got my blood tested by Doctor Rose and he confirmed it. He said I’m two weeks pregnant.”

“I suppose not even a doctor can confirm—“ Brute shut his trap at the glare Lacey gave him. She calmed down and regained her air of dignity.

“Now, before you get all upset, I have conditions. One, I have no intention of marrying you. You stated from the beginning that you were not willing to accept me as a wife for the sterile children. Two, I want you to visit our child every few weeks.”

“Won’t you have a husband by then? Seems like something your family would do to hide your shame.” Brute interrupted calmly. He almost cowered at her cold glare.

“Yes…my family is horrible that way. To think, after years upon years of shooing away suitors only after my family’s money and high status, I’ll have to marry one of them. Such is the—“

“Horrible life of a nobility?” Brute questioned with a small glare of his own. Royal Lace had the decency to blush. A Legate that knew war surely had a terrible life.

“Sorry…It’s just, well…No one has ever really cared like you do. Well, except for Sunshy of course, but he cares about everyone. Such a sweetheart, that one. How goes your search for him?” Lacey questioned with a true tone of worry. Sunshy suddenly felt guilty.

“Not too great. The other soldiers are searching now, but I had to go and get that sister of his bound in chains. Can’t have her flying off after trying to attack our leader.” Brute dug at the floor and nickered with an air of insult.

“How did you even know?”

“A mare warned me of a suspicious yellow pegasus in with the Caesar. She feared for his life, so naturally I had to go.”

“Oh look at how distracted we got. I want you to visit as our child grows up, so he or she will have a zebra father figure in his or her life. You can tell the baby you’re the father or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I just…I want someone there to help the poor dear. You know how children are, absolutely terrible and always picking on each other for no good reasons. I just know being half zebra half pony will not fare well for their life.” Lacey’s ears turned down, as though she knew first-hoof just the sort of teasing other children subject each other to.

“Exactly why I try to avoid sleeping with ponies. Never ends well.” Brute grumbled…Then he sighed and bent his head down to nuzzle Royal Lace’s face affectionately. Sunshy really wanted to leave now. “I could almost curse you for having the beauty of Venus.”

“You certainly know how to make a girl’s mood swing.” She grumbled with a slightly grumpy smile.

“Or that’s the pregnancy.” Brute replied with a grin.

“So, do you agree to my terms or not?” Lacey questioned as she pulled back again.

“You insult my character, now. This child will not grow up fatherless, I assure you. Even if I do gain a wife and other children, I shall certainly not neglect one of my own blood.” Legate Brute assured her. She then began pouting and scowling.

“I don’t like the idea of you having sex with other mares.”

“Well, I’m certainly not a virgin and don’t plan to be celibate at any time. I need children of my own, all my previous ones are…” Brute stopped short and moved back. His expression was one of a buried sadness.

“You’ve had kids before?” Lucy questioned with a mix of anger and worry.

“They’re with the gods now, died in a pointless war that ended two hundred years ago. They were sent to their deaths by terrible leaders.”

“Oh…I’m so sorry…” Lacey put her hoof on his shoulder.

“It’s fine…I shed my tears long ago. Thank you for the sympathy, but if you’re done, I need to get back to finding that pegasus.”

“Speaking of him…would you mind if…if he was our child’s godfather?” Lacey asked with a hint of shyness, as though she didn’t know how he would react. Sunshy felt his heart melt. She really thought that highly of him? To be a godfather...

“A very good choice, and if he teaches the child healing abilities, then I won’t be forced to recruit them into the army.” Brute smiled at her.

“You would have to?” The unicorn appeared appalled at such an idea.

“Against my will or better judgment.” The zebra giant nodded solemnly.

“I see…I suppose you have to find him before he can teach our child to be a doctor.” Lacey tried to lighten the mood and poked a hoof at Brute’s shoulder playfully.

“I can take a hint.” The Legate replied with a nip on Lacey’s ear.

This was his chance! Sunshy waited in anticipation as the giant legate opened the door. As he walked out of the room, the invisible pony followed close behind. The pony kept close to the Legate, hoping that he would visit his sister.

In a way, he sort of did. They passed by a room where Shooty was tied up with chains. She struggled against them and tried to raise her wing in a futile effort. There were zebras guarding her. As soon as they saw the Legate, one of them walked over to the door, nodded to him and then closed it. Sunshy frowned, as he now had no way of getting to her.

Either way, this zebra knew his way around, so he was Sunshy’s only hope. The pegasus walked alongside him, not bothering to stay quiet. The cloak had an automated muffling spell as well as invisibility. Just to be sure, the pony stared down at his legs that weren’t covered. At least those were invisible regardless of that fact.

A little while later, they came upon another door on the same floor. Sunshy mentally cursed. He was going to Caesar the thirteenth’s room. Just…stay outside. Oh gods, another pair of hooves from behind! He’d be trapped in that room, there was nowhere to hide without someone brushing up against him.

As soon as the door was open, Sunshy bolted inside and repeated his earlier idea of finding a corner and crouching down to take up as little space as he could. It made him feel like a frightened rat, but it worked before.

Then why was Ze—Caesar—staring right at him?

Those brown eyes tore away from Sunshy’s invisible form to gaze up to his Legate, who bowed down in respect.

“I apologize, my Lord, but we are so far unsuccessful in finding him.” The Legate’s tone had changed drastically from when he talked with Lacey. It was so casual, now it was a voice of reverence.

“It’s okay, Brute. Thank you for doing so much.” Caesar XIII smiled warmly at his…friend? His face was slightly pink from the glow of a pink orb. A memory orb? Why did he have that?

“But of course, my Lord.”

“No, really, thank you for everything. You saved my life. If not for you, I’d be a pile of ash or a puddle of radioactive goo. I didn’t get to thank you before they took me into surgery.” Caesar tried to stand, even through the pain. Legate Brute quickly got up and put a hoof on his leader’s shoulder and gently set him back down. “Still have to wait a year until I get full mobility again. Sucks.”

“Don’t worry about it, sir. I was only doing what any good soldier would.”

“You swapped your loyalties to me almost instantly. Why is that?” He seemed to be a little suspicious.

“I’m the element of deceit, not treachery, my Lord.”

“Exactly why my trust is slightly strained, regardless of what you have done.”

“I don’t blame you. I follow you for the sole reason that you are capable of doing what failed ancestors before you could not do. They thought peace could be won with peaceful actions is a wonderful idea, but cannot be put to action. Only actions can bring the peace those of us strive for.” Brute replied.

“I feel like ‘fighting for peace’ is equivalent to ‘fucking for virginity’, but here I am. Blown all to hell and half metal, but doing something worthwhile for my people.” Zen chuckled as he looked at his hooves. He was probably metal inside…

“Exactly why I will follow you to hell and back, my Lord.” Brute smiled back.

“Glad to hear. Dismissed, soldier.” Zen saluted the larger zebra before he turned.

Sunshy stood and made to follow, but he was shocked into freezing by a sudden cough from the leader. It shocked him into running back to his corner and hiding again. The zebra continued to cough almost violently into his hooves. He dug around his pillows until pulling out an inhaler and using it for the intended purpose. From the way his coughing subsided and the lack of pupil dilation, Sunshy inferred that it was truly medical and not some recreational drug.

Then he nosed his PipBuck until a recording started playing. The voices were of his father and him…back before the voice implant. It was comforting to hear Zen’s voice without that robot edge.

“Tall Soft Heart is your fiancé, I guess.”

“Yes.”

“You know this pony and zebra marriage is illegal, right?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you proposed.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you love a pony in the first place?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

There was a pause.

“He is different from anyone else I have met. His caring and generosity is unmatched. He makes me want to do better. I feel as though we were…destined, I suppose. It feels right. Like we can survive anything together. He is simply too special to be in this era. He belongs in the time before war. All I want is to see him happy because his happiness will be mine.”

“Very touching.”

“It’s still true, you know.” Caesar’s current slightly robotic voice said softly.

Sunshy jerked in shock and stared up to his eyes. The brown eyes were staring straight at him. He smiled lightly. Then he looked down and rolled the memory orb around under a hoof.

“My family has this strange trait…we can see through other invisibility cloaks. I guess that’s why we don’t have some ward to disturb the cloaks. So, yes, I can see you.”

Disbelief coursed through Sunshy. He remained as he was. Hiding and invisible.

“I was hit with a mini balefire bomb after ordering the coliseum to be torn down. Brute took the brunt of it and saved me. I’m already mostly made of metal, but I’d be toast without him.” Caesar paused, as though he was waiting for Sunshy to reply. “I’m starting a war. A full-out war with the Separatists at my side and the Remnants against me. Silly, huh? I’m weaning my people to the idea of accepting ponies again. This world is too harsh, too horrible. I’m changing it.”

Wow…Sunshy felt his ears fold back. He was doing all that?

“Don’t get a swollen head. It’s not all for you, you know. I really started when Equestria was purged. We can’t purge our land like they did, but we can make it better. Somehow, we can.” Zen rolled the orb under his hoof. “This orb contains the memory of my father when I was born. His glyph mark was the power of farsight. He could see the future at random times. If he tried to force it, it would be fuzzy. Anyway, this one is him seeing my future…”

Zen chuckled a little. “It’s just as I am now. Battered to fuck, lost my leg, lost my eye, and branded with Caesar’s mark. Only in that picture, I’m standing above a battlefield awash in blood. I guess he got the wrong idea of what that meant. Three days before I ran away, my dad looked straight at me and said, “Son, you’re going to be Caesar after me.”” Zen’s voice imitated his father’s rather well, “He said it with such finality, such…gravity that it scared me. He could see the future since that was his gift…so I knew it was right. I ran away anyway, thought I was clever and could escape fate. And here I am.”

Sunshy gathered enough courage to pull his hood down. A bit of fumbling later, he had the cloak folded inside his saddle box. Then he turned and saw Zen was gone. Curious and scared, Sunshy quietly crawled over to the doorway. The zebra was lying on a bed on the right, with the orb sitting on the desk to the left. Sunshy sat down at the doorway, but Zen didn’t seem to care.

“Whinny! My leg’s acting up again.” He shouted suddenly, looking over to the left.

Sunshy followed his head and saw another doorway leading into a workroom. After a groan, a unicorn pony walked inside the room and over to the zebra. She was a dirty gray—not sure if it was all grease and grime and she was white underneath—most of which was hidden under her overalls. Her mane and tail were blonde and her hair was held up in a red bandana. Her ears were pierced with little earrings, most of them just dots of metal. Her eyes were a rather pretty blue.

“What’s wrong this time?” She questioned.

“It hurts around the hoof that’s not there.” Zen complained.

“That’s not something I can help with!” Whinny replied.

“Phantom limb syndrome is common for those who lose a limb.” Sunshy offered.

“Yeah, listen to this…hey, that’s my wing!” Whinny pointed to the artificial wing on Sunshy’s left side.

“Huh?” Sunshy stood up and took a step back, afraid he did something wrong.

“I just wanted to let you know your wing went to good use. This pegasus here is a doctor!” Zen told her with a smile.

“Really?! That’s great! We do practically the same thing. Or, well, I do things you’re not able to, I guess. So when medicine fails, they come to me!” Whinny proclaimed proudly.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Sunshy questioned shyly. He had no more hair to hide behind.

“Whinny Rockbell at your service. Best auto-mail mechanic in the world! Earth ponies may be known for building things, but something as delicate as auto mail requires the precision of a unicorn!” She smiled proudly at him. Curious, Sunshy tilted his head and saw her cutie mark, a simple wrench.

“Careful, that cutie mark is more for her wicked throwing leg. If you piss her off, she’ll give you a concussion with a wrench to the head.” Zen warned.

“It was your fault. Anyway, I have to go tell grandma that a doctor is using my wing! She said that was two wasted years, but this’ll make her eat her words!” Whinny then galloped out of the room and out the door.

“Too bad she’s not a buck…” Zen sighed with a sad frown.

“Why’s that?” Sunshy questioned with confusion.

“You hate my fucking guts, Sunshy. I know what a breakup is, even if I’ve never had an engagement band thrown at my face before…Good thing my heart’s half-metal, or you might’ve heard it breaking on your way out.” The zebra turned away and curled into a half-ball.

“Zen…” Sunshy tried to argue. Those words had cut into his heart. Probably as much as his words had hurt Zen…

“Don’t call me that.”

“You are Zen. You always will be, to me.”

“Go. Just go, please. Stop making this harder than it already is.”

“If you wanted me to go, then why did you even acknowledge I was there?”

“Because love is irrational!” Zen turned and shouted straight at Sunshy. “But you know what’s rational? War. That’s all I feel now, a war inside me. Half of me still wants you, but the other half is too fucked up over the way you treated me. You know, I didn’t expect a warm reception by any stretch of the imagination, but you had no right to blow up at me like you did. Did you think this was easy for me? Assassinating my own father, two brothers and a sister? Yeah, it’s a real picnic being attacked around every corner, unable to trust anyone around you, going through more surgeries than an old stallion with cancer. Wanna know something funny?

“I lied. I am doing this because of you. I wanted to make some bit of this world better for you and only you. I wanted you to be able to come back and stay, without fear. Stupid me for thinking you’d see past my obvious flaws. Stupid me for thinking you had forgiven my stupidity. Stupid me for thinking so highly of you. Stupid me for thinking you’d be just a little bit grateful. And you know what’s worse? You’re still the best person I’ve ever met. Says a whole lot about the world as a whole.”

Sunshy kept quiet as Zen ranted at him. Zen was letting his feelings out, just like he had earlier. Zen had taken it, so now he would. He wouldn’t even argue until he was done, as it was just fair.

“You know what’s actually worse than that? You could have just talked to me, told me that you were upset about all that. Instead of blowing it all up right in my face out of petty rage, we could have worked this out a long time ago. But here we are…Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a war to plan.”

Zen forced himself to stand, despite the pain. He then limped over to his desk and sat down at the chair. He was silent as he went over the papers on his desk. The sounds of them shuffling around as well as the scribbling of a pencil were the only sounds. Sunshy was sitting at the empty doorway between the office/bedroom and the main room. Zen lasted only a minute before sighing.

“I told you to leave.” The zebra told him. He limped over and nudged him with a hoof. The pony stood still as a statue. “I’m serious, Sunshy.” Zen was starting to get angry.

“GET OUT!” He shouted loudly at him. The zebra then shoved his head against the pony’s chest. Despite his inferior strength, Sunshy managed to not be shoved out of his position. “Why are you being so damn stubborn?!”

“Because love is irrational!” Sunshy shouted right back at him. This surprised the zebra enough to get him to back away. He sat down and waited for the pony to continue. Sunshy fought back his tears as he explained himself.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I…I’m sorry, Zen. I’m so sorry. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I’m only book smart, and there isn’t a guide on how to deal with your fiancé turning into a warlord cyborg bent on civil war.” As serious as it was, Zen cracked a smile, “I just…I panicked. You changed too much in too little time. I could barely recognize you and it scared me. I thought you’d given into their ideas…I thought you hated me, and only wanted me back to deal with this damn water dragon I haven’t even met yet. You certainly acted like it…”

“That was…poor planning on my part. Like…remember when I called you racist and that you probably couldn’t tell the difference between me and any other zebra?” Zen smiled awkwardly. Sunshy sniffled and wiped away the forming tears.

“…You are the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.” He said before hitting the zebra on the head. Zen only chuckled.

“Part of my charm?” He offered weakly.

“You scared me half to death, made me think that I was going to be a slave again, and broke my heart all in one fell swoop because it’s ‘part of your charm’???” Sunshy stood up to assert his height over the zebra as he glared.

“…The one thing they didn’t implant was an intelligence chip. I’m guessing this whole fiasco would have all been avoided if Whinny did, right?” Zen had his ears lowered and smiled with guilt.

“You…you insufferable moron! I should break up with you just for your stupidity!” Sunshy shoved the zebra down with all his might and surprisingly managed to do just that.

“Argh! When did you get this strong?! Oh noes, I’m done for!” Zen laughed as he wrapped his legs around Sunshy’s neck and quickly pinned him down.

As the zebra pinned him down, he began nipping on his ear. Laughing as well, the pony tried to get up or out from under the stronger equine. Eventually, he managed to squirm his way out and only jumped up onto the bed. Moments later, he was back under the shockingly strong zebra with surprising swiftness for one who had a bum fake leg. Just as the zebra was pulling at Sunshy’s ear in his mouth, Zen opened his eyes and saw some almost black eyes staring at him blandly. The ear was released immediately.

“Hi.” Zen stated with his slightly robotic voice corrupting his tone.

“Hello, my Lord.” Legate Brute stated with a bland tone. That small smile was not missed, though. The grin grew despite himself into a little chuckle. “Having fun?”

“Yes. No. You’re here. Why?”

“I was coming over to tell you we have yet to find him, but I see you already know. Should we deal with his sister now or later?”

“What? What are you going to do to Shooty?!” Sunshy tried to get up, but strength was not his forte.

“She did attack—“

“Let her go. She only wanted to fight for her brother’s honor or something. Full pardon, go go go, get out.” Caesar XIII waved a hoof at the large zebra.

“Of course. I’ll tell her that her big brother is in safe hooves.” Legate Brute smiled knowingly before walking out.

“Oh, if only.” Zen lamented as he stood up and shifted so he lied down next to Sunshy.

“No strenuous activity in your state.” Sunshy smiled as he put his head atop Zen’s neck.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t do anything…” Zen suggested lewdly. For this, he got a hard bite on his scarred ear. “Oowwwwwww. I’m abused enough, Sunny.” He whined shamelessly.

“Thank you, Zen…for…forgiving me.” Sunshy muttered with a kiss on the top of the zebra’s head.

“I would have no matter what, Sunshy. I’m sorry I yelled, too…broken heart isn’t easy to deal with.” Zen moved his head up to watch as he stroked the pony’s cropped short hair. “Is this how you dealt?”

“Yeah…don’t know what possessed me to do this…” Sunshy sighed sadly at the loss of his hair. Twenty years of grooming and careful cutting gone.

“I like it. You look more like a buck and you can’t hide your face any more.” Zen nuzzled the pony lovingly.

The two cuddled silently for a while. It was simply nice to be together again. No longer hurting, no war, no misunderstanding, it was just them in their own world.

“So…do you want your engagement band back?”

“Please, my leg feels weird without it on.”

Zen tried to get up, but Sunshy pushed him back down. Then the pegasus fluttered over to the desk and followed Zen’s instructions. He pulled open a drawer at the top and found the box the band came in. He opened the box and slipped the engagement band onto his right hoof. Sunshy then went back to Zen and lied down on the bed with him, snuggling up close.

“So I was thinking, to avoid this situation of blowing up at each other out of nowhere, we just let out everything that’s bothering us about the other every month or so. That way we don’t slowly fester and grow to hate each other.” Zen offered.

“I already sort of did that, so it’s your turn.” Sunshy stated.

“Alright…I’m not going to be nice.”

“That’s the point.”

“Okay, you’re too quiet during sex. I’d like to know how I’m doing.”

“That’s not…I…okay.” Sunshy’s face turned orange with a slight blush.

“You also eat messy somehow. It’s like, the only thing not delicate you do. I’m serious, even I was going to question your buckhood until I saw how messy you eat. If you did eat like a lady, I’d have to call you one just on principle.”

“Great to know.” Sunshy grumbled.

“And your burps are super loud and stinky, like really. No amount of brushing your teeth could fix that.”

“Big accusations for someone who eats nothing but beans and farts like there’s no tomorrow! Not even silent, you just rip one and giggle your damn ass off.”

“Farts are funny.”

“If you’re disgusting.”

“You mean like how you pick your nose?”

“You do too!”

“You spend too much time brushing your coat and hair!”

“You spend too little! You’re not black and white; you’re gray, brown and black!”

“I am gay!”

“G-R-A-Y, gee arr, ay, why, not gay. I know you’re gay, that’s a little more than obvious. You scowl like something just spit in your face every time I do the littlest effeminate thing.”

“Well, you do a lot of effeminate things. It’s a wonder I don’t have permanent scowl lines!”

“Name one thing effeminate I do.”

“You actually kept your hair that fucking long.”

“To be like Fluttershy!”

“Who is a mare.”

“Masturbator!” Sunshy shoved his face against Zen’s face.

“Tree-hugger!” Zen pushed right back at the pony.

“Carnivore!”

“Unassertive weakling!”

“Unintelligent!”

“Tease!”

“Too rough!”

“I am? Oh jeeze, see this is why I told you to be more vocal. Just tell me next time, okay?” Zen moved his head back and folded his ears down, appearing genuinely apologetic.

“Damn it, I was on a roll.” Sunshy began laughing.

The laughter became infectious. Zen started chuckling until he was full-out laughing and hugging Sunshy. The two clutched at each other as they lost themselves to laughter. Their relief was a heavy weight lifted. They were forgiven and together.

The laughter died down. They continued to hug, lying on their sides on the bed. The two pressed their foreheads together. They didn’t need sex. Just the comfort of each other.

“Sunshy?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The two shared a kiss. That was all they needed. Their brows touched and their eyes closed. Without even knowing it, all their emotional turmoil overcame them and drifted them off into a dreamless sleep.

Level up! You are now level 21!

Sneak increased to 25!

Perk added! Silent Eavesdropper: You’re so good at keeping quiet that you can eavesdrop on anyone, even if you don’t mean to! This perk gives you +10 to your sneak skill when people around you are conversing. Who knows, you might be able to overhear covert plans one day!

Chapter 22: Let's Get Started

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 22: Let’s Get Started

“Not too fast now, Angel bunny, you don’t want to get a tummy ache.”

Sunshy awoke feeling very rested and happy. Everything felt right with the world once more. He and Zen/Caesar were together again and not trying to verbally tear each other’s throats out from petty anger. Yeah, this was a bad day. Maybe chopping almost all his hair off wasn’t the best idea either. He regretted it only because he no longer had anything to hide his face with. It was a lot of work to keep it nice and dirt-free all the time.

Speaking of time, what time was it? Silver light streamed through the window at the right. Luna’s moon glowed brightly and the stars winked at him. The moon was positioned as though it was a Cheshire smile. He could almost imagine the legendary magical cat growing from that smile of the moon. Wow, he slept through the rest of the day. Sunshy finally took it upon himself to notice that he was alone in the bed.

Before panic or hurt could set in, Sunshy heard muttering voices outside. Actually, he heard a voice in his head, too. It was female, and without any accent like the zebras usually had.

~~…that is our intent…No, we can’t afford that risk…Really? Ever have a boxcar dropped on you?~~

It was like hearing one side of a conversation inside his head. It made him feel vulnerable. Curiosity overcame the buck and he stood up on his thin and tall legs. Silent on the carpeted floor, he walked over to the opening between the main room and the back room.

Before him was Zen, sitting on his pile of pillows. Legate Brute was to the right, sitting as well because standing might make his head hit the ceiling. To the left was Headshot, staring at the visitor in front of Zen with a blank face. There was a replica of Goddess Luna standing before them.

The visitor was a deep purple Alicorn with a flowing mane. She kept her wings closed as she looked down to Zen, who it appeared she was having a conversation with. Legate Brute was keeping his eyes trained on her—unsurprisingly, it was easy to tell he was much taller than her. The Alicorn’s flowing light purple mane shifted as her head turned up. Two bright green eyes locked onto Sunshy. With her voice and mind, the Alicorn screeched, ~~”YOU!!”~~

The world turned translucent purple just before Sunshy was swept off his hooves. The magical field around him shoved him hard into the wall behind him, knocking the wind from his lungs. A clock above his head rattled from the impact and smacked against his head, perfectly between the ears. Before he could even manage to regain his lost breath, the Alicorn was nose-to-nose against him, her wings flared up for added emphasis.

~~"WHERE IS THE MANTICORE?!”~~ She shouted at him. The force of the mind-shout made him feel like his brain was about to leak through his ears and nose. Something wet dribbled down his snout. Great, he actually had a nosebleed.

“She’s not here! She’s back in the forest! Please don’t kill me!” Sunshy shouted back as he closed his eyes from the terror before him. He curled up in as much of a ball as he could inside the levitation field.

As quickly as it came, the field was gone and Sunshy was dropped to the floor. His eyes shot open and darted around as he tried to understand what happened while trying to regain his breath. The Alicorn was pinned down by Brute, who barely moved as she struggled under his massive body.

“Sunny! Are you okay?” Headshot was by Sunshy’s side in an instant, quickly checking him over for any injuries.

“Just…just a nosebleed.” The doctor sniffled and wiped the blood onto his leg. Now he needed a bath.

Brute picked up the Alicorn by her flowing mane—apparently it was still physical enough for that—and dragged her back to where she was before Caesar. Along the way, Sunshy noticed she had a cutie mark of what appeared to be a drop of water. The brown eyes turned from Sunshy to stare at the guest, who had the decency to have her head down and appear abashed as she lie on the floor, mane still in the mouth of Brute.

“Miss Aqua, why did you feel it necessary to assault my buckfriend?” The robotic edge to his tone sounded stronger than before, as though the machine part was enhanced by the restrained anger.

“We…I apologize for that. I remembered seeing him as around Maripony, with a fierce Manticore companion. She slaughtered one of Us before he could settle things with Us. We only had to ban him from ever roaming too near Maripony. I only acted out of…remembered fear.” Aqua explained softly, as though trying her best not to be too loud. Her words echoed in Sunshy’s mind. He wondered if Shooty or anyone else heard them.

“Is this true, Sunny?” Caesar XIII asked, glancing over his shoulder to the pony. Sunshy was holding a rag Shooty had procured to his nose, as it insisted on bleeding still. He nodded affirmation. Shooty appeared more awestruck than anyone else.

“What?! Hold up, you saw Alicorns, [I[killed one of them and lived to tell about it?” She seemed unable to comprehend this information.

“Actually, it was the manticore female that killed one of Us. Not this preacher of peace. The only reason he is alive to this day was because he sincerely cried over her passing and pleaded to bury her body as an apology. The Goddess was moved and allowed him his life, in exchange that he never return.” Aqua corrected.

“You cried over the death of a creature everypony thinks—thought were monsters?” Shooty shook her head with a smile. “Only you, Sunny.”

“No matter their actions, Alicorns are still ponies. As far as I was concerned, Celly killed a pony that had only tried to protect her home. What kind of monster would I be if I didn’t feel terrible about that?”

“Not much of one, actually. In case you never listened to DJ P0N3, Alicorns have been—“

“Monsters terrorizing everypony for the last ten years, yeah I was down there when they began appearing.” Sunshy finished with a tone of impatience. His nosebleed was thankfully finishing, he noticed as he pulled the rag away. Shooty gave him a look as though she was wondering if she should punish him for the tone as she stashed away the bloody rag.

“Can you release me now? My head is starting to hurt.” Aqua inquired, looking up to Brute. The legate unceremoniously opened his mouth, letting her head and mane fall, before walking back to his Lord’s side. “Well, this is certainly not how we expected negotiations to go. By the way, why are your buckfriend and the other pegasus wearing dog collars?”

“That?” Zen questioned. At the mention of the collar, everyone turned to look at the ones on Sunshy and Shooty’s necks while Sunshy tried in vain to look at his own. “Those tell everyone that they work for me and they have a shield spell around them.”

“Oh. I had thought you were into something kinky.” The Alicorn deadpanned in a monotone voice.

While Brute actually looked away with a grimace, Sunshy’s face flared and Shooty appeared disgusted. The former pegasus tried to distract himself by opening his only natural wing and biting gently at the feathers. Zen waved a hoof and said, “Psh, I wish. Just had surgery a week ago, can’t do anything fun like sex for a while. Damn half-metal bones.”

“Also,” Shooty interjected, “this buck right here is my brother. I have to draw the line at blood relations.”

“So, you’re positive you can’t spare a few of your girls to help?” Caesar quickly changed the subject. Aqua shook her head.

“None of us can afford to lose any more sisters. Even for what you promise, it will mean little if we are virtually wiped out in your war.”

Sunshy stopped preening, took a step forward, and cleared his throat to catch everyone’s attention. Now that he was standing in front of the Alicorn, he realized that they were almost eye-level. Once all eyes were on him, he forced away his shyness and began to speak. “Most zebras still don’t realize that there was a difference between Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon.”

“….Right….” Caesar replied, cocking his head to the side as he tried to understand where this was going.

“So…we could just paint your coat, do something with your mane and tail, change your eyes to dragon eyes, and then fit you with armor like Nightmare Moon.”

“Even if you coat one of us in armor, we still cannot take that risk.” Aqua replied.

“That’s the beauty of it. None of you have to fight. As soon as the opposing army sees that Nightmare Moon is on our side, they’ll be too scared to continue fighting. You can even use the Royal Canterlot Voice to shout something intimidating at them to make it seem much more realistic.” Sunshy smiled as he pitched his idea.

“But if ‘Nightmare Moon’ appears too often, they might get so scared that they’ll build a weapon to attack.” Aqua countered.

“Hmm…” Sunshy pondered for a moment. “We just don’t let you appear before every battle.” He stated, his words starting slow, but growing in confidence as he continued, “Make them random, just enough that it’ll scare the opposing side, but not so much that they’ll begin arming themselves against you. Besides, if they don’t know when you’ll appear, it’ll make you that much more terrifying.”

Aqua turned her head to the side and stared up at the ceiling. Then she shook her head and stamped her hoof in anger. “It is so frustrating no longer having the mental connection. I shall converse with my sisters before giving you an answer.”

Aqua then dipped her head in a bow to the group before turning and walking outside. As the door opened from her magic, he could see two other Alicorns. One was dark green, another was dark blue. They were almost identical, but there were just subtle differences, as though they really were all sisters. The rest of them bowed their heads in respect to the Caesar before they all touched horns. Sunshy felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to Zen.

“Welcome to the Reformed Legion, my new Official Negotiator.” Zen beamed at him.

“What.” Sunshy replied.

“Our last three died in the attempt to contact that water dragon. With how well you worked negotiating what we have failed to do, it is only right that you become the new negotiator.” Brute explained.

“So I actually do have to talk to that dragon?” Sunshy inquired.

“Yes, you’re not getting out of that. Like Brute said, all our other attempts ended in presumed death. None of the rescue parties have returned. You’re our last hope.” Caesar XIII stated solemnly.

“Why Sunshy? What’s so special that you think he can convince a dragon to do something?” Shooty questioned.

“I was raised by a dragon, Drakon, remember? I told you about him.” Sunshy clarified.

Aqua returned to the room, her two sisters flanking her. “We have decided to return to Equestria. We shall talk it over with our other sisters and decide what to do. Do not feel too disheartened, this plan is the best you have pitched to us. I’m sure we can get a few volunteers.”

Then the mare walked over and planted a kiss on Sunshy’s forehead. The yellow pegasus just stared up at her in confusion, as did most everyone else in the room. Aqua gave him a pleasant smile that reminded him of his mother. Strangely, he thought he could see Princess Luna standing there instead of Aqua. The moment was ruined when Zen all but shoved the pony to the floor, gripping him possessively around the neck and trying to look angry and pouting.

“Do not fear, Caesar, I certainly wasn’t trying to steal away your fiancé. If I really wanted to, I could just teleport him with us out of here.” She giggled a little at her own joke. She looked upon the two ponies as her sisters drew closer. In unison, they said, “Celestia protect.”

“And Luna defend.” The two pegasi chorused back.

In a flash of purple light, the three Alicorns vanished. With some help, Caesar was able to right himself on the pillows. Now he was lying down and sulking angrily. So Sunshy did what anypony would do. He jumped on his back and yelled, “Dog pile!”

Of course, Shooty jumped in with a squeal. Brute only had to put a hoof on the pony’s back and put a little pressure on before all three complained that their backs were about to break. With laughter, the two pegasi got up, though the doctor stayed by Zen’s side on the pillows.

“Horsing around aside, Brute here will escort you two to the dragon’s cave. It’s actually a cave behind a waterfall that runs into a giant pool of water at least a hundred feet deep. If you can’t swim, don’t get too close.” Caesar explained.

“Why’s he gotta come?” Shooty questioned, not intending to be rude.

“To protect of course. Raiders are rather stupid and can’t tell a doctor from a radroach. They can, however, tell that I am over twelve hundred pounds of pure death.” Brute ominously said before walking out of the room.

“…That is someone who knows how to make an impression. Is he single?” Shooty asked the two remaining males.

“He’s already got a special somepony.” Sunshy answered. He’d have to be careful not to give away that he knows what should still be a secret.

“Hey, it’s almost Spring again, right? Do you know what that means?!” Shooty was practically bouncing in her horseshoes. “It means Hearts and Hooves day is just around the corner!”

“The calendar on my PipBuck says…” Zen was checking it over. The light from his fake eye was reflecting on the screen, somehow making Sunshy uncomfortable. “Ah, should be in another week. I’m guessing by the giant heart with a hoof print in the middle on a specific day.”

“I gotta find my own special somepony before then. You’re lucky, already having somepony special…or somezebra special. I’m so jealous that I’ll have to go and find someone of a high position to make my special somepony.” Shooty stamped a hoof down in a determined fashion.

“I guess we should get our boarding and stuff, then?” Sunshy questioned, pointedly ignoring Shooty’s bought of strangeness.

“Right! I’ll see you outside! They still have my stuff in that room they held me up in.”

As Shooty trotted outside the room, Sunshy went into the back room and put on his boarding, coat, and saddlebags. Walking back out, he saw Zen giving him a bittersweet smile. The pony nuzzled against his fiancé before giving him a kiss and walking out the door. The zebra gave the pony a half-hearted wave goodbye as the door closed behind him.

Sunshy waited outside, wandering up and down the nearby hallways. Even after ten minutes, nopony showed up for him. Frustrated, he stamped a hoof before walking down some stairs. Since he knew he would just get lost anyway, he just walked around aimlessly and kept going down.

Imagine the pony’s surprise when he found himself on the ground floor. An armored mare appeared shocked and trotted towards him with a determined glare. Just as she was about to say something, she stopped upon seeing the collar Sunshy wore.

“Is sorry. Forgive, please. No see that.” She said in broken Equestrian as she pointed to the collar.

”It’s quite alright. You’re just doing your job. Making sure no suspicious ponies can harm your leader.” Sunshy smiled serenely to her before walking outside of the building. The mare nodded to him as he walked out.

Outside, the first rays of dawn were shining. To the east, the red and orange of the sky could be seen. Bouncing in her armor was Shooty, standing next to some formidable and towering large creature cloaked in pure blackness and sporting a scythe on its back.

The hooded head turned and glowing eyes glinted at Sunshy, causing a shiver to run down his spine and ice chill in his stomach. He was visibly shaking as the glowing eyes stared him down; he felt the worst terror in his life. When the hood was pushed down by Shooty’s hoof, all the gut-wrenching terror vaporized, which left Sunshy feeling almost silly that he was so scared of Brute. Then why was he panting so hard?

“I’m sorry about that. My cloak is imbued with the power of overwhelming intimidation; ‘fear’ is the spell.” Brute explained as Sunshy gathered his wits.

“You did better than me, Sunny. I peed in my suit!” Shooty exclaimed in an almost proud tone.

“Why would you even admit that?” Sunshy questioned.

“Because you managed not to pee yourself.” Shooty stated as she planted a hoof on her half-brother’s shoulder.

“Come along, ponies. It’s a week’s walk from here and we’re burning sunlight.” Brute began walking forward, towards the north.

“Can’t we use the flying wagon? Celly may not be here, but Shooty or I could fly with it and pull the other two.” Sunshy offered as the siblings fell into step behind the massive zebra.

The way the cloak billowed with no wind was still scary—the sort of fear you feel seeing a curtain move in the middle of the night. Mindless, groundless, fear that still grips you and makes you cry out for the safety of your parents. That was some damn spell.

“Discord threw it into a volcano. When you left, he felt like you had discarded his quest and took it out on the Alicorns’ Bane. Now we have to walk everywhere.” Brute explained. Sunshy folded his ears down in guilt.

“Well, you have to walk everywhere. Sunny and I can just fly there. Redysetgo!” With inequine speed, the hyperactive pegasi took off flying. By the time she noticed the other two were not following, she was already miles ahead. Instead of flying back, she just landed and waited.

Until three minutes passed and she became too bored. Patience was not her forte by any means. So she lazily flew back south. The pegasus pony reunited with the bucks not far outside the outskirts of Peponi. Sullenly, she began flying in circles around the two.

“Uggghhh, why can’t you go any faster?” She complained.

“I’d rather not waste energy we may need confronting beasts and raiders. They are common out in these parts.” Brute explained simply as he continued at his leisurely pace. Sunshy was happy enough to walk behind him; he certainly didn’t have quite the long legs that Brute did, so it was a bit harder for him to keep up.

“How about you do that, while Sunny and I fly on ahead?” Shooty smiled at the brilliance of her idea.

“No.” Her smile was gone. She began spinning in the air and groaned in boredom. “I am under orders to protect you two. I can’t have you both go flying off.”

“I didn’t see you chasing after me.” Shooty pointed out.

“You’re not of high priority.” Brute bluntly stated.

“Hey!” Headshot seemed honestly insulted by this. Brute regarded her shout with a blank stare; Sunshy was still staring at the cloak, as though afraid it would attack him at any moment.

“I’m only being honest, Miss Shot. Your brother is of highest priority for many factors. Being the lover of my Lord is the least of which.”

“How is that the least important?” Shooty demanded, crossing her hooves as she floated along in front of the large buck.

“As a member of the Nchi Kavu—translated to Dry Land—he is of high priority as set in the Water Treaty of Post-Apocalypse year one-hundred and fifty two. For us in Caesar’s Legion, we have a duty to keep any accepted brothers and sisters of the Dry Land clan safe or else war will break out against the one source of water and grass we have.” As Brute explained this history, Shooty waved her hoof and imitated ‘bla bla bla’ with her mouth. Brute politely ignored this.

“My wings are tired.”

“So walk.”

“Nah.” Headshot proceeded to drape herself on Brute’s back, as though she were saddlebags.

The zebra buck sighed heavily but continued walking. The mare squealed at her small victory that she was not immediately bucked off. Sunshy was still entranced by the cloak. The only source of noise came in the form of the light breeze. A slight tickling startled the pony into tearing his eyes from the cloak. He noticed that they were walking through a field of tall savannah grass. It would completely hide any normal pony, but the tallest only came up to his neck. Curiously, he sniffed at a few stalks and ate the top of one. After a couple of chews, he found the taste deplorable and spit it back out.

Finding he had fallen behind, the pegasus ran to catch up to his zebra bodyguard carrying his sister. From the way she was wiping her tongue with a hoof, she had done the same as Sunshy. The breeze kept the grass moving. When Sunshy stared out to the west, where the breeze was going, he saw a great sight. The brown grass swayed and bent under the wind. The continuous layers of ripples reminded him of an ocean. An ocean of light brown that glowed in the bright sun.

“Why have I never been really hot out here?” Sunshy questioned as he once again caught up to Brute.

“It’s almost Spring. Summer’s heat won’t return for a while.” Brute answered.

“I mean, even in the Summer, I was never too overheated. It felt more like autumn or something.” Sunshy explained.

“Who can say for sure? Perhaps you simply adapt easily.” Brute replied with a shrug. Shooty stretched and yawned loudly before curling up. “Shouldn’t she be in the air, giving us advanced warning?”

“I think it’s her nap time.” Sunshy joked. “Do you want me to—“

“No, that’s fine. I’d truly prefer it if you walked beside me, rather than behind. You’ve already fallen behind twice.”

Sunshy grinned awkwardly at the truth in that statement. He did as asked and began walking beside Brute. A few times, the pony tried to match the Legate’s large stride, but it hurt his muscles, so he continued at his own pace.

More than once, he would hear a slight rustling in the tall grass. Every time, Brute was the first to glare at the direction the noise originated. Nothing appeared, so they continued in uneasy quiet. Even through the entire day, their walk through the seemingly endless expanse of dry grass left them feeling like they had accomplished nothing. Only the tiny dot that was once the great Peponi was the only sign they had continued to move.

By nightfall, they were still in the sea of savannah grass. Brute bucked Shooty off his back—which was hilarious to Sunshy—and then proceeded to roll around and around in the grass. Despite the oddity of this action, the Legate stood back up without a hint of embarrassment as he assessed what had to be work. The grass was now leveled in an uneven circle, just wide enough for them to all lie down without being cramped. The rest of the tall grass would easily hide them as they lied down.

Brute pulled out a few dry sticks, paper, and rocks. He set up a campfire with the sticks arranged for maximum kindling. After a few failed clicks of flint and steel against each other, Shooty just used a laser beam pistol to set the kindling aflame. The zebra shot her a dark look before regaining composure and setting the rocks back.

Sunshy produced three cans of creamed corn for them to dine on. The silence was polite, but silence was far from what Shooty preferred. She stirred her corn around with a stalk of grass and stared at it with a hoof holding up her face. Her black helmet rest beside her, as she saw no need to use the E.F.S. Most animals were smart enough to stay away from a fire.

“So, Brute, how old are you?” Shooty tried to strike up a polite conversation.

“Two hundred and fifty-four.”

“Oh…okay?” She smiled as though she couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “Uhm…favorite color?”

“Purple.”

Sunshy came close to choking on his corn and passed it off easily as nothing. His mind had instantly connected PurpleRoyal LaceBaby he shouldn’t know about. Gaah, he’d have to find a way to let them know he knew or it would drive him nuts.

“So, if you’re older than the war, you should have a few kids running around, right?” Shooty smiled innocently. Sunshy’s stomach twisted in terror, but he forced himself to hide it.

“Plenty. They’re all gone, though. Died in the wars that horrible Caesars have waged…” Brute’s usually stone-blank visage changed to a frown of deep pain.

“Oh…Well, they’re up there with the gods, right? Maybe they’re some of the stars.” Headshot offered, pointing skyward with a hoof.

At her mention of the stars, the three equines glanced up. Without any light pollution nearby, there appeared to be an endless sky full of white dots. The great big moon was shining down at them once again. Sunshy smiled at the stars and moon.

“Why do you smile?” Brute questioned the pony.

“Just thinking…I don’t believe the stars are evil. I think it’s the whole ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch’ idea. The star under the original Roam tainted the idea of stars, but I think most of them are helpful.”

“What of the ones that aided Nightmare Moon?”

“If it wasn’t for them, Princess Luna would never have been able to be freed. Maybe that was what they wanted.”

“Don’t try to argue too much with him. Sunny gives everything the benefit of the doubt.” Shooty interjected.

“I will have to say that stars do sometimes just want to see us creatures suffer.”

“Some of them, sure…but back to the rotten apple idea. Just…look at the stars. Right there is Orion.” Sunshy pointed to what could be either nowhere, or a specific spot. In his mind’s eye, he could see the outline of the great hunter zebra. “If stars were all evil, then why do we have constellations named after great heroes?”

“Oh, oh! There’s the Little Dipper!” Shooty pointed her hoof at another constellation series.

“That’s Ursa Minor. You don’t want to see one of those down here.” Sunshy commented with a chuckle.

“That’s the Camelopardalis.”

“What now?”

“It’s an old name for Giraffe.”

“I found Taurus.”

“This is fun.”

The two bucks pointed out any constellations they recognized while Headshot silently followed where they were pointing. She had exhausted her knowledge with Orion’s belt and the Ursa Minor. She was the first one to fall asleep, curled up on Sunshy’s hooves.

“Lacey is pregnant.” Brute stated in a whisper, his eyes still on the stars.

“Really?” Sunshy tried his best to sound mildly surprised while keeping his own voice down.

“I think I love her.”

Well, that was as shocking as a bucket of cold water. Good thing the fire was keeping the nipping cold at bay…come to think of it, Sunshy realized the night should be a lot colder than it felt. What was wrong with him? Maybe this came from Luna’s blessing as well? Answer Brute, damn it!

“Oh, uhm…ah…” You sure sound like an intellectual, Sunshy. Great job.

“Pretty much sums up my feelings, too.” Brute turned his eyes to the fire. The glowing orange and red flickered and danced. It reflected in his ice-blue eyes. “And I can’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“It’s illegal for us to be wed. Her family would disown her if we did anyway. I can hardly elope with the position I have now… I don’t make enough to let her and a child live comfortably. With this work, she’d be scared to death of me not coming back… It’d be best for the both of us if we…” The Legate trailed off, his expression turning to profound anguish. A black hoof wiped the tears away before they could fully form. “Anyway…she wants you to be the godfather. Will you agree?”

“Of course. If worse comes to worse, I’ll look after your child as though he or she was my own.” Sunshy promised with a smile.

“Thank you. Truly, you have no reason to agree and you do without a second thought.”

“Helping friends is just something I do.”

“So you know my age and favorite color and suddenly we’re best friends?” Brute teased with a grin.

“Oh no, I said friends. You’ll have to work harder to be my best friend. Don’t even try to be a best friend forever. You’re a hundred years too early for that.” Sunshy joked back.

“You go to sleep, I’ll take first watch.”

Sunshy nodded and rested his head atop of Shooty’s, as it was the most comfortable position he could have without waking her up. It didn’t take long for the warmth of sleep to embrace him. He forgot to notice that he was facing East.

Searing bright light made the world behind eyelids all red and disturbed his sleep. Sunshy yawned as the last of his dream of frolicking with Princess Luna on the moon dissolved. Finding no pressure on his legs, the buck was able to stretch out akin to a feline.

The pony stood up and shook off the last of sleep that clung to him. It was strange to not feel his own hair hitting against him as he shook. The pony finally managed to open his eyes and found Shooty was nibbling on the remains of a hay cake while Brute was scattering the ashes from the remains of the fire.

“Why didn’t you wake me to take a watch shift?” Sunshy inquired quizzically before deciding he might as well finish the last of his creamed corn. It was a good question, as he didn’t once remember waking up; his acute night-vision would have been useful.

“I didn’t see any need to disturb your sleep. I was fully capable of going through the night.” Brute answered.

“You’d better not pass out on us or we’ll leave you behind.” Headshot warned.

“Noted.” Brute replied before standing up and wiping the last of the ash on the grass.

Once the yellow and red pegasus finished his meal, the zebra giant took the tin can and stowed it in a sack under his fear cloak. Then the zebra turned to the north and began his steady walk once again. Shooty decided to repay Brute for yesterday by flying up into the sky to scout ahead. That left Sunshy to walk beside the great mass.

A few more times, they heard the rustling from yesterday. Once again, they could never find the source. Whatever this creature was, it was well camouflaged and kept its distance even as it followed. Brute stated that it didn’t matter; they would be out of the grass by noon.

Just as the Legate promised, once the sun was high in the middle of the sky, the brown sea ended. The strange thing was that it ended abruptly. One second there was grass, the next, just flat land. Sunshy found that bizarre, but wrote it off as this grass having once been grown on a specific amount of land intentionally. As Brute said nothing about the oddity, Sunshy decided it wasn’t worth questioning any further.

The dry ground held little and allowed them a far view of what was to come. As Shooty was no longer needed to scout, she began walking on Brute’s other side. Every hoofstep kicked up a bit of dust that the dry ground could not keep down. Any tufts of grass were dehydrated, brown, and appeared long since dead. The skeletons of trees were much the same. Tumbleweeds were rather common. Other than a couple speedy lizards, there was little in the way of life.

The most interesting thing was when they entered a few of the many small cities. Sunshy wished to call them a town or village, but the tall skyscrapers seemed to demand that these areas were classified as ‘small cities’. No matter how much of an oxymoron as that appeared.

The buildings reminded Sunshy of the trees. They were skeletons, shadows of their former selves. Every building was falling apart. Most were leaning heavily or had fallen over altogether. None had any glass remaining in the windows. Near the base, there was a multitude of rude graffiti painted everywhere in Zebra. Some were in Equestrian, but those were equally uncouth.

Strangely, there were no cracked up paved streets, like in Equestria. In fact, other than the countless hoof prints that kept the dirt flat, there was no indication of a road. Only the fact that the buildings were further apart from each other gave the idea that this would be a main road. Once in a while, he could see the faded tracks of wheels, most likely from caravans. At least these indicated that others walked this path. That also meant that there was a good chance raiders might be present.

If there were, Shooty’s E.F.S would have picked them up. Brute gave no indication that there was any need to arm themselves. Sometimes, though, Sunshy could swear he saw a shadow moving, just at the corner of his vision. Whenever he tried to look directly at it, the thing would vanish. Combine that with the fact the ‘fear cloak’ still gave him the heebie-jeebies and he was a winding bundle of nerves.

When the afternoon started to become evening, Brute suddenly held up a hoof to have them stop. They were right on the outskirts of another city. Shooty swept her gaze to and fro, trying to find a sign of why they stopped. Brute told the two to step back before he pulled the hood up and strode forward.

“Tribe of Invisibles!” His voice boomed out, ”We wish to pass through this city without any bloodshed. Please, allow us this safe passage and I, upon my honor as a Legate of Caesar’s Legion, shall reward you! What say you?”

The sound ended when Sunshy finished translating for Shooty. For a long time, there was nothing but silence. After a while, she even asked Sunshy in a hushed tone if Brute was crazy. Then the two ponies were the ones to be shocked when a voice rang out from nothingness.

”You walk with ponies! What is the reason behind this, sir Legate?”

“I am escorting these servants of my Lord to a dragon of water. We hope to negotiate with said dragon to allow water to flow through more of the Savannah. This will be beneficial to free tribes as well.”

Another pause followed this, broken only by the hushed whispers in Zebra by this Tribe of Invisibles. From the sounds, there was likely quite a few of these invisible zebras.

”We have come to a unanimous decision!”

The three waited with baited breath.

The answer came in the form of a missile flying right at them. Headshot was the swiftest to react; she took off to the air and began raining red beams of death upon the invisible enemy. Her idea of doing this was to follow the smoke trail of the missile and then just aim randomly. This left Brute to take the full force of the blast to the right side of his head in an attempt to protect Sunshy.

The blast wave from the missile blew the pegasus backwards. He caught himself after a few rolls and noticed that he was being shot at. The doctor, thankful for his insane luck to have not gotten any shrapnel from that blast, got over his shock and quickly ran to cover. He dodged the horrible aim of the Invisibles and their guns and swore loudly at the misfortune that he was too weak to drag Brute to safety and treat him. He cried out in pain as a bullet bit into his right calf. The pegasus used his wings to carry himself the rest of the way to safety, as running on three legs was virtually impossible.

As it turned out, Brute needed no treatment. The Legate stood up almost immediately and seemed to feel nothing from the hailstorm of bullets aimed his way. The pinged and flew off his hide as though they were nothing. Some were aimed up towards Shooty, but her training showed through in her evasive sky dance mixed in with her counter-attacks. More than once, a previously invisible enemy would let out a death scream before turning into a pile of glowing ash.

“You will see why they call me the Reaper!” The Legate bellowed as he reared up and stamped his hooves down.

Brute took his scythe off his back and charged forward. The first slice decapitated an invisible zebra with cold accuracy. Once the head was severed, the cloak gave up the spell and allowed the zebra’s head and body to be seen. Before the first body even fell, the second victim of the Reaper was taken with the head and shoulder separated from the body.

Sunshy was so entranced with the fighting that he forgot about his own wound. Then the dizziness from blood-loss began to blur his vision. The pony quickly opened the side with his medical supplies. He sterilized the wound and found that the shot went clean through. So all he really needed to do was drink a healing brew and viola! The wound was now gone.

Someone shouted, ”Flee! Flee for your lives!”

The Legate charged forward and continued his relentless attack on the fleeing invisible enemies. Headshot landed and went over to the sliced corpses. Carefully avoiding the blood, she began to pick at their things. Anything her installed PipBuck-like suit of armor labeled as valuable, she took. Gems were also taken for her weapons. Sunshy finally wandered out from behind the building that had taken quite a few bullets for him. The pony had to look away from the grotesque scene of seeing bone and muscle clearly visible, when by all rights it should not.

A little bit later, Brute returned at a gallop and only just managed to stop before them. Somehow, he wasn’t panting at all. He planted the end of his scythe into the ground, allowing the blood-slick curved blade to shine in the sunlight. Brute took out a clean cloth and began rubbing the zebras’ blood off his weapon.

Only when it was clean and returned to his back did Brute lower his hood. Sunshy screamed before he could stop himself. Shooty took a few steps back and paled under her helmet.

Brute no longer had any form of skin or muscle left on the left side of his face. The right was fine, if a little singed. Where a skull should have been, there was glinting metal. Metallic teeth built like a grinning skull could be seen. The oddest thing was seeing his mouth end at all—a blank expression turned into the showing of teeth was simply surreal.

“I would have thought you had already figured it out.” Brute simply stated to Sunshy. Nopony should be able to see someone’s tongue moving as they form words out of one side of their face.

“I…I kind of…thought you were…but…I guess I just wasn’t prepared… Does that hurt?” Sunshy tried his hardest to fight back his revulsion.

“The doctors who did this removed the pain receptor of my brain, so no, nothing hurts.” Brute stated again.

“So…what are you? Who made you? What for?” Shooty questioned, her curiosity driving her to overcome her fear.

“I’m a cyberzebra; one built almost completely metal and synthetic inside and flesh outside. The names escape me, but it was simply a large collection of equines that made me into what I am. I was simply built for the war effort. A living machine, virtually indestructible, and capable of independent thought; useful to take orders and do what I deem is the correct path during a fight. I was built too late, and the world went to hell before I could be fully utilized in the war.”

“You said equines…” Sunshy pointed out.

“Yes. Any sort of animal hoofed and capable of our level of intelligence was working on my project. Earth ponies were the ones who made most of my body structure.”

“Okay, before you go any further, heal that half of your face. It’s really freaking me the fuck out.” Shooty grimaced.

Brute nodded and oddly walked over to the zebra with the head attached to only the shoulder. He put a hoof down on the shoulder and bit into the head. The two ponies watched in growing horror as the zebra giant tore off the dead zebra’s face with a sickening sound. Just as they thought it couldn’t get any worse, Brute spat the flesh and bits of muscle into his hoof and then slapped it onto the metallic half of his face.

Shooty managed to tear off her helmet before she expelled her stomach contents. Sunshy wondered why it was growing dark and the ground was coming up to meet him.

The pony woke up lying on the ground with the terrible sense that he had no idea how he got there and the feeling of lost time. A water canteen was placed in front of his mouth, so he took it and greedily drank the liquid. He felt like he was on fire, but as the water slid down his throat, he began to feel better.

“Perhaps I should have told you to look away. I forget that not everyone is used to horrors of war.” Brute’s cool voice said. He was sitting down to the pony’s left.

“Horror is right! You ripped his face off!” Shooty was to his right, her face still pale. She was eating some garlic—probably in an attempt to get the taste of sick out of her mouth.

“I’m better now, aren’t I?”

He did have a point. Both halves of Brute’s face were perfectly fine. There was no indication that he had ever taken a missile to the face. The skin and stripes appeared to be exactly as they were before. This was confusing; how did it do that? Why was that necessary? Why did he need to steal that face? Sunshy voiced these questions and received an uneasy grimace from the cyborg zebra.

“I don’t know everything. I just know I wasn’t made to heal on my own, so…donated flesh is needed for repairs to the skin. Somehow the skin changes to fit over the metal and the stripes are altered to fit the pattern I was born with. As to why that is necessary, how would you like it if you were made up of a bunch of different colors? Having my own stripes and my glyph mark keeps me sane. When you live forever, even these seemingly insignificant things become an integral part of keeping yourself.” Brute explained as best he could.

Headshot gasped before she squealed and zoomed away. While she did whatever that was, Sunshy asked, “How did you see them?”

“I have different sights. There’s something like E.F.S, except it only tells me where things are based on echolocation through the ground, like how elephants communicate over long distances. Another is heat vision, as in I can see things based off how much heat they’re giving off. Not like shooting lasers out of my eyes or anything. And of course, normal vision.” Brute seemed just as calm as ever as he answered the questions about himself.

“Look at what I found!” Headshot returned with a brown rabbit in her hooves. It appeared to be trying to escape her grasp by squirming around.

“DOOMBUNNY!” Brute bellowed in fear before quickly turning tail and fleeing inside one of the run-down buildings.

“I am so confused right now.” Shooty stated.

“Doombunny is the name given to Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel. There are a lot of stories about what a fierce fighter he actually was. That bunny created Stampede, actually. I guess Brute must have seen Angel sometime before the Balefire Bombs fell. What’s weird is that Angel was a white rabbit and this one is brown.” Sunshy explained as he kept his attention on the building, waiting for Brute to exit himself.

“Maybe seeing a rabbit that can kick ass gives you the fear of them all.” Shooty offered.

“Not unlikely.” Sunshy agreed as he turned his gaze to the rabbit.

That was no rabbit!

The brown furry creature was, for all purposes, just like a rabbit… Except for the two horns growing out of its head, each with three points. Its little nose twitched rapidly as it stared back at Sunshy, who was openly gaping at the creature.

“Is that a jackalope?!” He finally managed to exclaim once his voice returned.

“Yep! I found him and he’s all mine.” Shooty proclaimed as she rubbed her face against the face of the fuzzy creature.

In return, it speared her face with the wicked-sharp horns. She cried out and instinctively threw the creature away from her person. Once on the ground, the jackalope darted to hide behind Sunshy. The yellow pony ignored this, pulled out some band-aids, and placed them on the injured parts of Shooty’s face after cleaning the blood. All the while, the jackalope stayed by Sunshy’s flanks.

“Okay, so it’s not mine. Guess you can have him.” Shooty resigned as she rubbed her still sore face.

“Certainly not! I can’t keep something that scares our bodyguard.” Sunshy said, but made the mistake of glancing down to the aforementioned creature.

The jackalope was staring up at him with the biggest, saddest, cutest look it could muster. Sunshy couldn’t contain himself. Twenty years of caring for animals led him to be weak. He scooped up the jackalope and nuzzled his face into the little creature, babbling baby-talk nonsense at it.

“We’re not…keeping it…are we?”

Sunshy was so distracted with the jackalope that he failed to notice Brute returning. He was staring down at the brown antlered rabbit with a mix of anxiety and fear. The yellow pegasus turned to the jackalope, which was once again regarding him with that cute stare. The pony turned his gaze between the anxious zebra and the pleading cutsie-wootsy little face and those big brown eyes just begging to be his pet.

“I think his will is too weak to refuse the poor thing.” Shooty declared moments before Sunshy squealed in a totally masculine way and hugged the jackalope once again.

Brute sighed heavily and appeared to fight himself internally. He was saved by a ringing coming from somewhere on his side. The zebra dug out a small radio thing. He pushed a button on the thing.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!”

The Legate winced at the sheer volume of Caesar XIII’s shout through the gray box. The jackalope had to hold its long ears down against his head to avoid going deaf. The sheer level of cuteness forced Sunshy to rub his face against it again. The jackalope was much more accepting of contact with Sunshy than with Shooty.

“Just a tribe of Invisibles, My Lord. I took care of all of them.”

“Then why did I get a ton of warnings about the state of your health?!”

“I took a missile to the face.” He said as though commenting on the weather.

“And your skeleton?” Continuing the weather conversation.

“Relatively dent-free. For the real reason you called, Sunshy is just fine. Passed out seeing how I fix my skin, but that was it.”

“Good. Is he there?”

“Yes, now convince him to get rid of this demonic rabbit he seems to have picked up.”

“Sunny, what’s he talking about?” Zen questioned through the talky-box.

“Headshot found a jackalope and it likes me.” Sunshy answered.

“So?”

“Brute is deathly afraid of rabbits.”

“But it’s not a rabbit, it’s a jackalope.”

“It’s a rabbit with freaky horns.” Brute argued.

“I still don’t understand what the big deal is.”

“Ever heard of Doombunny?” Brute asked with a slightly sarcastic tone.

“Nope! You just sound like a big baby. Sunny, you can keep the pet as long as you bring it back. I wanna see it!” There was the sound of hooves clopping together that was drowned out by the sound of Brute groaning.

The talking-box-thing shut off, prompting Brute to put it back in his bag. The Legate then turned back to the north and continued walking, as though nothing had interrupted their path. The jackalope jumped onto Sunshy’s head as he galloped to catch up to Brute. Shooty floated beside the two bucks.

“So, what are we going to name him?” The pegasus questioned before sliding on her helmet.

“Good question. What is your name, little guy?” Sunshy glanced up, but as you can’t see your own forehead, he was unable to see the jackalope perched atop his head. The critter jumped down and landed in front of the pony. He made a motion of standing on his hind legs and making a fierce face. Sunshy reacted with a “huh” as the jackalope jumped onto his back.

“What the hay was that?” Shooty questioned.

“He said he doesn’t have a name, but he wants it to be something intimidating.” Sunshy answered. The jackalope nodded his head.

“Well, if Fluttershy had Angel Bunny, you get Devil Jackalope.” Shooty pitched the idea, but the jackalope shook his head with his little front arms crossed.

“How about something like…” Sunshy began to hover so he could tap his chin with a hoof.

“What about something cuter? Maybe just Jack, short for what he is.” Shooty offered. The jackalope shook his head again.

“Doombunny works.” Brute chipped in with a monotone voice. The jackalope jumped to Sunshy’s head and stuck his tongue out at the zebra.

Sunshy stared up at the slowly darkening sky. A few of the stars were just starting to show through the cloudless sky. A constellation stuck out at him, and he almost facehoofed.

“Lepus! The constellation of the hare! It’s not exactly fierce, but it’s good, right?”The jackalope brightened and stomped his rear leg down to let his ride know he approved. “Good! Glad to have you on board, Lepus.”

“I want to test something out, alright?” Shooty asked.

“What?”

The mare pushed Sunshy over and flew up higher as the newly-named jackalope jumped as high as he could, lowering his head enough in an attempt to skewer Headshot. Gravity was not on his side, so Lepus landed and bounced to reach her again, but to no avail. Brute had stopped walking to stay closer to the others.

“He’s your little protector!” Shooty said with a wide grin for someone who had an angry jackalope trying to stab her. “Look at him try to gut me like a fish.”

“Do you even know what a fish is?” Brute questioned, his cold eyes trained on the futilely hopping horned rabbit.

“I’ve seen them in pictures.” She replied.

“Come here! Come here!” The words were, shockingly, coming from the mouth of Lepus. Only Sunshy seemed unaffected, as he got up and pushed Lepus to the ground with a hoof. He turned and glared at the pony, but did not make any attempt to attack him.

“Lepus, no. She is my sister and didn’t mean any harm. I don’t want you to hurt her. Okay?” Sunshy stated sternly and yet softly. The jackalope made a spinning motion around his head. “Not even if she goes crazy. No excuses.”

Lepus crossed his arms in anger, but nodded with a scowl. This earned a smile from Sunshy, who in turn rewarded the jackalope with a kiss to the brown creature’s temple. The jackalope turned and rubbed his tiny nose against Sunshy’s with a smile.

“The fucking rabbit just talked and you’re blowing it off!!” Shooty shouted as she landed. Lepus glanced at her as though he was considering gutting her anyway.

“Oh, he can’t talk, not really. Jackalopes are special with their own set of rules.” Sunshy explained as Lepus jumped onto the pony’s back, situating himself between the wings. “They mimic speech to lure hunters away. They don’t really understand the words, just the effect some of the phrases they learn have on pursuers. It’s also said that the females can be milked and their milk have special healing properties. You can also leave out a flask of whiskey to make them easier to catch. They also only breed during electrical storms that include hail, which is why they’re so rare.”

“If you know so much about these oddities, how were you so surprised by its existence?” Brute questioned.

“They’re usually only found in the Equestrian Wild West. I never imagined they’d be this far East.” Sunshy explained.

Brute stood up and walked over to one of the more stable-looking buildings back south. The two ponies, noticing the creeping darkness of nighttime rolling in, followed. When they entered the building, they found it was relatively clean. No raiders seemed to have ever bed down here, but by the way rubble was stacked into neat piles against walls, it was clear others had been here before. Most likely, everything would be looted. That didn’t stop Shooty from trying.

Legate Brute was already setting up another campfire, as he had the night before. This time, he managed to set the paper on fire with the flint before Shooty had to use a magical energy beam. The fire was positively roaring within seconds. Lepus bounded over to the fire and curled up near the warmth. From his tensing, it appeared that Brute was using all his willpower not to flee. Doombunny must have been terrible from how he was reacting. It would be harder for him to warm up to a rabbit with the ability to stab.

The three broke out half sandwiches as well as their canteens of water. Shooty, in an attempt to have Lepus warm up to her, offered the creature a daisy petal from her sandwich. He sniffed at the food curiously before making a face of disgust and turning his head away.

“Jackalopes are carnivores.” Sunshy stated simply. Lepus nodded and went over to the doorway without a door. He stood up on his hind legs, staring out into the darkness with ears perked and nose twitching.

“I feel so much safer with the Doombunny keeping vigil.” Brute stated sarcastically as he lied down.

“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Lepus shouted in the voice of an unknown buck. It was strange as hell to see a rabbit whinny when it should make screaming noises at the most.

Brute quickly bit the neck of the jackalope and pulled it inside. Shooty quickly took over the spot, but hid on the side of one of the doors, standing upright on her hind legs. Brute and Sunshy moved out of the line of sight, but left the fire as it was. Brute dropped the jackalope and put a hoof on his mouth.

“Hello? Is anypony in there?” A mare called out from outside.

Everyone held their breaths and waited in silence. A few moments later, a zebra mare walked in. Her black and white mane was spiked up. A blood-caked raider boarding coated her body. She held a serrated knife in her gruesome crooked yellow teeth. A laser beam pistol was placed against her temple, causing her eyes to go wide. Upon seeing the pony in Enclave armor, the other pegasus with an assault rifle, and a giant zebra buck, she couldn’t control her bladder.

“Are you one of those raiders I’ve heard so much about?” Headshot questioned with a tone that made it very clear she had better answer correctly.

Before she could respond, Lepus squirmed out from under Brute’s hoof and ran over to the raider mare. He jumped forward and stabbed her in the neck with his horns. Whatever answer she had was lost as she gargled her own blood. Shooty moved away as the mare clutched at her throat and flailed before falling in a puddle of her own waste and blood. Lepus must have hit her jugular vein.

Preempting the jackalope’s rather clear intent, Sunshy bit him on the back of his neck and pulled him away from the corpse. Lepus wriggled and tried to escape, but it was in vain. Shooty simply took anything of value from the mare. Of the things she scavenged, she came up with a steak of some sort of meat. The mare tossed it to her brother and his flailing pet. Sunshy released the jackalope, allowing it to immediately gorge itself on the steak. Strange how something that should have flat teeth could rip into meat. Shooty then dragged the body outside, leaving a trail of blood.

Brute seemed to be the most disturbed by this scene, if his paling face was anything to go by. Somehow, Sunshy was smiling upon the jackalope proudly. Shooty came back and stared at Sunshy smiling upon Lepus with an expression of being deeply disturbed that he was alright with this rabbit-creature gorging itself on meat.

“I do recall Caesar telling me that you freaked out when he tried to eat meat.” Brute stated blandly, though his black stripes were now definitely gray.

“That’s because we ponies and zebras are herbivores. Lepus is a carnivore, so eating meat is completely acceptable.” Sunshy nuzzled his nose against the jackalope’s head between the ears.

“This is the most surreal thing I have ever seen.” Shooty muttered as she flew over the raider’s mess and lied down opposite the door.

“Think we should clean that up?” Sunshy questioned.

“Nah, rain’ll take care of it.” Shooty replied.

“It’s not cloudy enough to be raining.” Brute argued, now pointedly staring at a wall away from the flesh-eating not-rabbit.

“Pegasi.” Sunshy reminded him, fluffing out his wing to emphasize the point.

Lepus, finished with his meal, curled up at Sunshy’s belly with the horns pointing away. The pegasus smiled and curled up in the same manner as the jackalope. Soon, the little creature wiggled around until he managed to get comfortable between the pony’s hooves. There was the sound of a camera shutter just before Sunshy drifted off to sleep, swiftly followed by the rain.

Level up! You are now level 22!

Speech at 40!

Main Quest added: Water Dragon: You have to convince a water dragon to give water out from its home. Apparently it has already killed three other parties. Good luck.

Perk added: Official Negotiator of the Reformed Legion: What a mouthful! With your new title come new responsibilities. You gain a total of +15 Speech when on a quest regarding this particular job.

Companion perk added: Fear the Reaper: Legate Brute is the Reaper of the Savannah Wasteland and he has earned that title. Enemies lose 50% Nerve, your Damage Resistance is 100% when he guards you (only available per side he protects), and you yourself lose 75% Nerve when staring at/distracted by ‘fear’ cloak.

Companion perk added: Doombunny 2: Just as Fluttershy had Angel Bunny, you now have Lepus the Jackalope. With those sharp horns and his unfathomable attachment to you, he is your new protector and can do his job well. +9001 Cuteness when with him*.

*Only on those who find rabbits and/or you adorable, anyone who finds neither of you adorable or find one of you downright intolerable are effectively immune to this part of the perk.

((Big Props to DancingOnTheAshes for using the ~~ for alicorn thought to each other. I thought it was neat, so I hope she doesn't get mad at me for using the idea. I already use italics for Zebra language, and the squiggles give it just the right touch to make the difference known. Again, thank you for that great idea, Dancing. I really hope you don't mind if you ever read this.))

Chater 23: Travel Talk

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 23: Travel Talk

”Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about. ” Oscar Wilde

“If you didn’t have a cutie mark, what would you want to be?”

The first question of the day, brought to you by Legate Brute. The trio of equines had started off the day making a bonfire of the corpses. Brute wanted to simply let them rot, Sunshy was adamant and even Shooty felt it was the right thing to do. Even though they woke around dawn, it was roughly noon after the arguments, gathering of bodies, they burned them with accompanying prayers. The scorching sun had dried them out, and the lack of clouds meant the shower hadn’t lasted long.

As they continued their trek northward, Brute decided to be the one to break the silence. Of all the questions, that was probably the oddest.

“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.” Sunshy replied immediately. Even without trying to stick up for Fluttershy, he knew the goal of being a doctor was a noble one, one everypony respected.

“What if you had a different coat color? What if your parents never pressured you to be a doctor?” Brute countered. How would he…?

“How did you know that?” The brother and sister chorused.

“Easy to piece together. Your appearance leads one to think of Fluttershy, most likely since birth; hence your parents probably took it upon themselves to pressure you into following in her hoofsteps. She was the only Ministry Mare Pegasi to not be shamed entirely by your own race.” Brute answered calmly.

“Even when you put it like that…” Sunshy paused and raked his mind for an answer.

Would he really have become a doctor if he was different physically? If he had a different coat color, no one would compare him to Fluttershy. Thus, no bullies; no bullies meant no reason to be weak and timid. If his mom never told him how much she wanted him to be a doctor, would he have bothered? A bunch of voices in his head started vying for answers—he could imagine that world in his head of his different personalities. Each one of them was trying to find an answer, throwing out ones suited to each personality aspect.

Would he still want to learn? Would he still care? Could he have become a bully? Just by a color change and adding on a few pounds of muscle? He was an egghead—intellectual!—by nature, he assumed. But what if that was also just part of studying the Ministry Mares and Medical Practice?

“I don’t need some tattoo on my flank to tell me who I am.” Shooty interrupted Sunshy’s musings.

He noticed that Lepus was hopping alongside, staring at him with worry. The pegasus gave the jackalope a reassuring smile. This was enough for him to jump onto the coat and armoured back and become situated between the wings.

“I spent all my life without a cutie mark. This only appeared a few months ago, and even then it wasn’t a big deal to me.” She continued.

Sunshy thought on that, too. Shooty was an oddity. Her cutie mark truly was about her personality. He wondered if she would even bat an eye if it was branded off. She’d probably whoop it up for having Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark over her own and ignore the ramifications that went along with that mark. Most others would freak out in a variety of ways if their cutie mark was even singed. There were five chapters dedicated to how ponies react to the scarring, loss, or other damage to their cutie marks in one of his psychiatric books.

It was clear that he would be one of those to react terribly to the loss of his cutie mark. He still remembered the day that it appeared. The day that he fell from the cloud cover, found Celly and Big Sol. The memory was hazy now, but he still remembered that moment in Zecora’s Hut upon discovering that his cutie mark had been earned. He would be devastated if it was suddenly marred. Most of all because it was Big Sol’s face on his flanks. Or at least, he liked to think so. It helped him whenever he became swept up in depression over losing his second father and first real father figure.

The mention of a father dredged up another piece of information. Now this he could use as an answer.

“My father died working for the Enclave, he was only a repair pony. That career was immediately gone after he died. Mom really disliked the Enclave after that. I heard a lot of what would be considered treason from her. So from an early age, mom drilled it into my head to be a good pony. I would have to be a good pony that could save other ponies, like the paramedics who tried to save dad. My colors had nothing to do with it.” Sunshy answered with a pleased smile.

“Mom hasn’t been in the Enclave for almost twenty years. She didn’t need to be after marrying my dad.” Shooty stated. “Whenever he wasn’t around, I’d hear the same sort of stuff. Like how blind everyone is to the truth. The wasteland isn’t poisoned and how the Enclave was brainwashing everypony, but she knew better. I never really understood what she was talking about. At least, until The Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, that is.”

“That day the clouds were removed by force?” Brute questioned.

“The same day I earned my cutie mark.” Shooty would have shown it off, but the cloudless, sunny day on her flank was covered with her armor. “What about you, Brute? Your mark is just this scythe you’re lugging around.”

“Hold that thought.” Brute stated and pointed with a hoof to something vague in the distance.

Shooty immediately took off to fly higher, taking a pair of binoculars with her. Lepus jumped up to sit on Sunshy’s head as the pony stood beside the large zebra. Far off in the distance, beyond where the air shimmered, there was a large gray blob. Brute cautiously continued walking, nickering to Sunshy to keep up and stay by his side.

A few moments later, the gray blob became discernible as a mass of moving zebras. No less than a dozen zebras in tattered red armour with the painted rearing lion walking in a row of two. Flanking each side were lionesses, too young to be breeding adults, but not so young that they could not hunt. From the way sunlight glinted off the relative face of one, it was guessed that that particular zebra had binoculars.

The two groups continued at their steady paces, though Lepus was wound up, prepared to strike at the drop of a hat. Once the opposite group was within shouting distance, they stopped. Brute stopped at the same time, which led Sunshy to stop. He checked the air—leaning his head back made Lepus fall onto the ground—to see a black winged speck in the sky, circling like a vulture.

“Ave!” Brute shouted with a booming, deep, authoritative voice. Sunshy swore the ground vibrated under his hooves.

“True to Caesar!”Came the shouted reply from what sounded like a mare.

”Which Caesar do you speak of?!”

”Thirteen, my good buck!”

Brute nodded and angled his way towards the group. Headshot landed next to Sunshy and asked what had happened. The older brother translated what the two had shouted as they followed their giant bodyguard. Lepus had returned to Sunshy’s back, facing away from him and pouting.

Once they were only a pony’s length away from this group, all the zebras in armor bowed. The lionesses just stared at the three with a bland expression before glancing around, on the lookout for anything threatening. The one mare in front wore a dress of red and gold with armour plates on the front. On her head was a headdress full of feathers of red and black.

The mare next to her wore the simple armour of foot soldiers, She had on a contraption to hold binoculars. Hold on, not all of them were zebras. Sunshy noticed the distinct horns of a buffalo, a horn of a unicorn, and the body figure of a donkey. Brute dipped his head to them, which was all they needed to return to standing up straight.

Sunshy had to keep himself from gasping. Those few not zebras were heavily scarred, even with their armour covering most of their bodies. It was almost impossible to tell what color the unicorn was with all the scar tissue. The buffalo was much too young to have such dead and cold eyes. The donkey had only one long ear, the other completely gone. Then the pony remembered his first day in Peponi, Caesar XII’s words, Or option two; you can become a fighter in my glorious Legion!

“You three won in the coliseum fights, didn’t you?” Sunshy questioned immediately, staring at the three odd ones out. Almost the entire group stared at him with a mix of reactions. Only the buffalo child with dead eyes answered with a nod.

”You let the slave speak out of turn?”The mare in front asked in a deceptively calm manner. She raised a hoof towards a machete in a holder on her side.

”Tall Soft Heart is no slave, Centurion. I’d thank you if you put your weapon away. None shall punish him so long as I am here to protect him.”

“Forgive me, Legate, I had a lapse in judgement. The coat should have given it away as much as the collar of Caesar.”

To punctuate her ‘sorrow’, the mare bowed with three legs down, her left one bent at the knee, and her head down.

”You are forgiven this time, Centurion. Now, report.”

“Sir!” The mare stood upright so fast that Sunshy was sure she got a head rush. ”We investigated the base of the northern mountains for the rumoured base of rebels. Instead we found a stable full of irradiation and ghouls.”

“What sort of ghouls?”

“A good portion were zombies, a count of five hundred, sir. We lost three good soldiers.”

Sunshy was astonished—as was Shooty when he translated. Only three died against that army?! Sunshy wondered if Shooty even really knew what a zombie ghoul was; the only ghoul she knew was Ditzy. Brute frowned, but why was unclear.

The mare continued her report. ”The remaining two hundred were sane, though they would not be for long down there. The other half of my team is escorting them to Radiation, where they will be able to slowly adjust to surface life with other ghouls.”

“Was there anything left of your fallen?”

“No, sir. They were brash younglings, went against orders, and were devoured in a massive swarm. We couldn’t bring back even bones.” The mare’s eyes misted over. She wiped the tears away with a leg before resuming a professional mask. “Must you translate everything, doctor?”

Sunshy paused in his translation to Shooty at the question. He decided that she didn’t need to know how dreadfully those three died and instead kept his mouth shut. “My sister can’t speak Zebra.” He explained simply.

“I haven’t even been here a whole week.” She shrugged with her wings.

“If you intend to stay longer, I suggest you learn.” The mare motioned to the unicorn.

A deep purple glow enveloped the horn and floated out a book from her saddlebags. He floated it over to Shooty and dropped it in front of her hooves. It was a picture of a grinning zebra mare and some squiggly runes the pegasus couldn’t read.

“It is a child’s alphabet book. Now you will learn to speak and read at the same time.” The lead mare stated with a smile. Shooty stared at the mare for any sign that she was being taunted, but found no such malice.

“Thank you very much, miss…” Shooty ventured as she put the book into Sunshy’s miscellaneous bag.

“Mana.” The leader dipped her head towards the group. “Is the road home clear, Legate?”

“Aye. Doombunny here made sure of that.” Brute replied with a snort, glancing to the jackalope.

At the mention of this other name, Lepus decided to poke his head over Sunshy’s head to examine the group before them. Most of the Legionaries stared at the jackalope in wonder. His ears folded down before he hid behind Sunshy’s head.

“Doombunny indeed. Imagine how terrible the original would have been with horns like that.” The mare next to Mana commented.

Brute shivered, “He was bad enough as he was.” Then he shook his head. “Thank you for the information, Centurion. Is there any chance they can be called upon for an alliance?”

“Undoubtedly. Those we rescued were in tears thanking us, probably because the feral ones had turned to eating each other.” The mare managed to suppress a shiver. “I think the reward greatly outweighs our loss. Many over few and all that.”

“One still does not need to lose their flesh and blood.” Brute replied with an empathetic look. Then he turned to the left and began walking forward. “You are dismissed to report back in Peponi. I am sure Caesar will be thrilled to know of these ghouls. Pegasi, with me.”

Sunshy dipped his head to the group before chasing after Brute. Shooty, however, walked over to Mana and gave her a kiss on the cheek before hurriedly flying away. The Centurion held a hoof to her cheek in wonder as she watched the Legate leave with the ponies. She then quickly resumed her business attitude and got her team marching again.

Their route returned to, the three fell into a silent walk. Shooty was the only one lazily floating in the air, once again. Lepus was basking in the sun on the back of the doctor. The younger sister decided to float near her brother and bother him.

“So…does you coltfriend have a silver tongue?” She asked lewdly, complete with a lecherous smile and the wiggling of eyebrows.

“Not so far as I know. But if he’s leader now, I guess he has to be someone who can get people to follow with just his words and—“

“She meant oral sex.” Brute interrupted, coupled with a muttering containing, “…still so innocent…”

“NO! No no no no no nononono NO. I am not telling you about my sex life.” Sunshy immediately ranted to Shooty, his face flushed orange.

“I’ll talk about mine if you do.” Shooty offered.

“That is seriously the last thing I want to ever talk about with you.” Sunshy retorted.

“I think my glyph mark would still have been a weapon.” Brute stated suddenly. It took a moment for the others to remember the conversation before the legionnaires showed up. “It was just the environment that I grew up in…”

“Were you always this big?” Sunshy questioned, eager for the topic change.

“I was a runt, actually. Even as an adult, I was barely bigger than a filly. The modifications to make me a cyberzebra are what made me this huge. Giant metallic bone structure, some sort of magic that would make fresh skin stretch and mold over it, hyper strength, super hearing and eyesight…Technically, the only thing that’s still me is my brain. Everything else is part of what science made or cobbled-together parts from other zebras.”

“Like one of those brain bots I’ve read about?” Shooty inquired. Sunshy thought to Ditzy Doo’s Wasteland Survival Guide

“Yes and no. Those things lack any sort of sanity and long ago gave into doing only what the robotic programming has them do. At least I still can convince myself that I’m mostly zebra. If you believe it’s true, then it isn’t a lie.” Brute answered impassively. Sunshy marvelled a little at that. He should team up with Ditzy Doo and write another Survival Guide.

“So if you’re mostly a robot, then how come you can still have kids?” Headshot questioned with skepticism.

“Apparently, all the attempts before me lacked that certain ability and it drove them to complete depression. The zebra…the person part of them gave up entirely. They were nothing more than robots doing only what they were told until they were terminated. Eventually, they found that letting us keep that part of ourselves keeps sanity together longer.”

“Why is that?” Shooty seemed to be a torrent of questions today.

“It’s impossible to explain to you. You don’t even have any part of you replaced.” Brute gave a look to Sunshy…to his fake left wing that glinted in the sunlight.

“Just try. Please?” She wasn’t pleading, but there was a hunger of curiosity in those eyes. She wouldn’t give up until she had an answer.

“Imagine that you can no longer truly feel any part of yourself. Sure, you know these parts of your body are there, since they react to what you want, but it’s missing something vital. Hard to put into words…but it’s the main factor in why those with artificial limbs have trouble adjusting and can take years to get a new part properly functioning. Feeling that in your entire body…just makes you feel…wrong There’s really no better way to describe it. But with sex, that sort of intimacy, that connection with another living creature…it makes you feel like you’re still flesh and blood. Still real and…alright. Even for just a little while.” Brute’s tone became almost wistful near the end. He stared forward, unfocused. Sunshy wondered what he was seeing.

“…I don’t really get it. Hopefully, I never will.” Shooty landed next to Sunshy and began walking beside him. She was staring at the ground in front of her hooves, deep in thought as she walked. He hoped she never would, too. The pegasus ruffled his wings, but only one of them had the feeling of being right. The other was simply metal following his command.

“I heard the same things were going on back in Equestria. Someone named Deuce had been terrorising that side of the wasteland for years. He’s probably been around as long as I have, maybe longer. Only I heard he’s metal on the outside, not inside.” Brute commented calmly. He also muttered something under his breath, the tone and glare on his face hinted that he disliked whatever it was.

“Wouldn’t be surprising. A lot of the time, each side does things relatively the same without ever being aware. Both sides had invented guns, but each side made them their own way.” Sunshy’s intellectual side stated.

“We need to speed up, or we’ll be behind another few days at this rate.”

Without any more warning, Brute charged forward at a gallop. Shooty decided to run beside him while Sunshy took up flying, as he knew that he couldn’t keep pace galloping for long. His endurance just felt better when he was flying. Once again, he chalked it up to his fake wing. Lepus gripped against the pony’s jacket with an iron grip, head down and ears folded back.

Against a machine that seemed unable to tire, Headshot’s legs gave up on her and so she was forced to take flight, but even that drained on her low level of endurance left. The only option she seemed open was to drape over his back as she had before.

Sunshy saw a glint of light on the roof of a building in a nearing city. Just before he could shout a warning, a shot was fired and Brute went down. The sniper shot straight into Brute’s front leg. This caused him to stumble and flip forward, sending Shooty flying into the dirt. She was coughing heavily from the dust and went to putting on her helmet, which had been hanging off her armour.

Brute attempted to stand, but then the wave came.

Raiders poured out of the building, whooping and hollering. Only a few were able to float weapons, most of them held guns in their mouths and shot frantically. They were more likely to hit their own allies, especially those that held melee weapons.

Before anyone could properly react, a grenade gun fired into the fray. The blast blew away Brute and Shooty, but the Raiders were too far to be affected. They were quickly closing in on the two, who were struggling to recover.

Sunshy had his gun out and was aiming into the rampage of murderous zebras. Another shot rang out and was quickly followed by a sharp burning in his only remaining wing. Through the tint of red creeping into his vision, he stared at the sniper. For whatever reason, he decided to put the rest of his energy into flying towards the roof.

This was apparently not what the sniper expected. His weapon was pointed back towards Brute and he had not noticed Sunshy until the pegasus was right at the end of the building’s roof. With his weapon ready, the pegasus shot a burst of three fire-laced bullets at the zebra. For not the first time, he was impressed at his own aim. The first hit the foreleg, the second the neck, and the third the head. The Raider was on fire by the first bullet.

Lepus somehow was off the pegasus and on the roof. He was pulling on the buck’s leg, trying to help him get on. Sunshy hadn’t noticed that he was only half-on; his back half was just hanging over the edge. With a shove, he pulled himself up and grunted through the weapon in his teeth. He dared to open his wing and move it to the front of his face. There was a shot straight through some muscle, but thank Celestia that his bones were fine. A couple drops of healing potion would suffice or maybe bandage pads to staunch the wound. Sunshy had his wing bandaged before he even registered doing anything.

Lepus snapped the pony out of his in-and-out haze by furiously stamping a leg down. The jackalope was at the door and frantically pointing. Sunshy spared a glance at the fallen sniper and grimaced at the charred body. Nothing left to scavenge on that. He did take a look through the scope of the sniper rifle.

Brute was slicing down raider after raider, but Shooty was unconscious on his back. The fear cloak was working enough that there was always a second of hesitation as they went to strike. That was the costly moment that allowed Brute to block or dodge and counter-attack. Whenever they were far enough away, he sliced at them with the scythe. Those that managed to get through the weapon met a gruesome fate involving a giant hoof forcing their faces to become good friends with the ground.

Feeling they were fine on their own and his aim through a scope would be less than acceptable, Sunshy followed Lepus through the door. Things were pitch black at first, but his eyes adjusted much faster than he thought they would. He smiled and sent a silent thank-you prayer to Luna. Lepus was hopping along, stopping to make a motion beckoning Sunshy to follow.

The pony did as his animal helper asked. As he held no real curiosity for scavenging, the pegasus was easily able to keep up with the hopping creature. Only once or twice did he stop to get an idea of what the building was. The assortment of desks everywhere gave the impression that this was some sort of office building.

Each desk held some ammo, caps, or other random small items. Along with them were old pre-war zebra coins of gold. They were stamped with the head of an old bald zebra on one side and Caesar’s mark on the other. There were engravings around the edges of both sides and in some sort of ancient zebra language he didn’t understand.

Even on the third floor from the roof, he found a soda vending machine. This one pictured a zebra mare posed seductively holding a black soda container near her neither region with a heated glance. She wore armour from the old Legion, but it was cut away so it was very revealing and barely armour at all. In Zebra, it read Legion Splendour! Cherry flavour, with a spike of the main ingredient in Mint-als! Near the bottom was a warning that they were not liable for overdoses and that it should not be given to children without parental supervision.

Upon placing an old zebra coin he had found in a desk into the machine, he got a bottle of the soda, now lukewarm. Lepus was at the doorway, stamping his leg impatiently, but Sunshy was taking the drink out. He popped the top, stowed away the cap, and took a sniff. Finding the smell pleasing, he decided to take a swig. Despite never having tasted a cherry before, he found that they were a sweet and tasty fruit. The soda wasn’t too bad, but—whoa!!

Sunshy opened his eyes wide as everything became clear. He could think better than ever! The secrets of the world were now in his hooves! The pony held the drink in his mouth as he galloped to the last desk he had found. There, he set down the drink after another swig and began writing things down using a pencil and one of those indestructible clipboards. He began scribbling away ideas as they flew through his brain. Every time the buzz flowing through him started to fade, he took another drink of the soda and felt refreshed. Lepus insistently pounding on his leg could wait, this was life-changing! The entire war itself would be shifted to Zen’s side! Oh Goddesses, how had he ever lived without this before?!

A large hoof came down and smashed the entire desk cracked. On a second look, the hoof was not that large, it was that there was a giant metal piece attached to the end. Also, it sparked electricity and smelled of ozone. Sunshy could only think of one thing.

“You ruined my notes!!” He shouted at the one who owned the hoof that turned his notes into cinders.

This happened to be a zebra buck roughly his size, but made with more muscle. There was a snarl on his scarred face, he had exactly thirty black stripes, his coat was dirty grey, no barding, either he was an idiot or confident in himself, there was a spark of insanity mixing with intelligence in his grey eyes. Confidence. A bit of sweat on his nose, mixing with spittle, a bit of a difference there. He smelled of a multitude of things, none of which were soap and hot water.

Instead of giving the Mint-al high pegasus a response, the zebra turned around and bucked him right in the chest. His body crashed against the opposing wall and let him fall to the ground. Five broken ribs, both lungs punctured, spine bruised, gun was on the ground. He shouldn’t have set it down when he went to pick up the pencil. He should have checked for raiders before going off and doing anything as dangerous as he had! Maybe this was why Lepus had been so eager to leave. Why couldn’t he notice this smell before? Because it obviously mixed with the odour of the rest of the building. Hindsight was 20/20.

As the doctor’s mind raced and his breathing felt like drowning, the raider walked closer. He sneered down at the mess before him. It was too easy, just one buck and this pony was down. The yellow pegasus coughed heavily. Blood flecked out and he grimaced at the sight. His lips began moving, as though he was muttering to himself.

The buck came forward again and raised a hoof. The weapon began crackling with lighting and smelled of ozone again. The doctor turned and stared at the gray eyes with fear. There was a second of hesitation as the Raider stared into those intense blue eyes. The high was wearing off, and the realisation dawned that he was going to die. With a twisted grin, the zebra stamped his hoof down.

The pony let out a scream of pain and fear, one that was forced to stop when blood ran up his throat and was forced out. He spat out a glob of the red life liquid mixed with spit. He panted and continued to feel as though he was drowning and every shallow breath brought intense pain. That brought up something confusing; that was the only pain.

Sunshy opened his eyes again and saw that he stared at metal. His wing?

The wing shoved forward without his brain’s consent. This caused the raider to stumble back. His smile was gone and replaced with an angry snarl. Both hoof weapons charged with electricity before he took the two steps closer, reared back, and stomped down.

Metal wing to the rescue once again!

Again without his consent, the wing shot out in front of his body and guarded the pony. Then he saw it. The shimmer of light that was just not right with the rest of the world. So it wasn’t so much the wing as it was the shield! The shield from the collar was actually working, thank the Goddesses. Sunshy had been worried that it wasn’t working at all, given the events that had transpired.

It was quite nice to know that his wing still came with this odd function of self-preservation, even if not really needed at the time. Still, a great comfort to know. Taking control of the wing, Sunshy changed it so the flat part of the wing faced upward, directly under the angry raider. He appeared to be attempting to force his way through the shield. Just to be safe, he did the same with his real wing; flat up, flight feathers down. He couldn’t hold that pose long, as it was rather unnatural and ached. Not much pain in comparison to his chest.

Lightning raider noticed this just as the second wing came out, but could not process what was going on before it was too late. Both wings shot upward and clipped the zebra on the underside of his chin. The metal wing was more forceful, but the overall attack was better with both wings. It was enough to send Lightning on the floor, but not enough to knock him out. He was cussing like his kind was expected to as he stood and rubbed his jaw. There was a trickle of blood and he spat out a few teeth.

The way the jaw wasn’t hinged right anymore led the doctor to realise that the jaw was completely broken. He hadn’t spit out that many teeth; those were also fragments of bone lying in the puddle of blood and saliva. That jaw would never be the same, that was for damn sure; might not be able to eat solid food for quite a while…if anything. Uh-oh. That glare the raider gave Sunshy promised a slow and painful death, if he would get a death at all. Nope, he was to expect a full life full of torture for that cheap shot. Eyes could certainly promise a lot if one stared enough or had quite the imagination.

And in the blink of an eye, Lightning raider was gone! One second there, the next, a flash of fur of varying colors, and then he was gone. There was a sickening crunch as his body hit something hard and unforgiving.

Sunshy struggled through the haze of pain to make sense of everything. He stared at the pool of spilled Legion Splendour in sorrow, wishing for it to give him ideas. No matter, he was still a genius by most standards. Another coughing fit rattled his confidence. Fuck, he had to deal with these broken bones. What he would do for a bit of unicorn magic, to see inside and set his ribs right without having to open himself up. Fuck. That was exactly what he would have to do.

~~Do you require aid?~~

The doctor started at the sound in his head, which set off another fit of coughing. The red around his vision was fading to black. Too much internal bleeding, he was fading and fast.

“Five…broken…ribs, both, ugh…lungs punct…ured.” He wheezed out.

His eyes were growing heavy. The pony fought the sleep, knowing he might never wake up. In his oxygen-deprived brain, he saw Goddess Luna flanked by a giant spike-covered mutation monster thing. Like a hedgehog mated with a porcupine and dipped in a vat of radiation. It was a giant monster with large fangs, two long arms coated with spikes and claws that would put a hellhound to shame, and two long legs with giant feet. Its head held horns and spikes of all sorts. What he could see of the back was a mass of pokey things. Man, his brain gave him some weird hallucinations. Goddess Luna was leaning towards him, her horn aglow with a light blue.

~~You may sleep now. I shall fix you while you slumber.~~

That sounded like a fantastic idea, Princess Luna.

Groggy, but in a lot less pain, Sunshy was once again in the world of the living. There were bright brown eyes staring at him. Hope came and went as he realised one eye did not hold a red beam of light. They were shaped too oddly, as well. There was still a spark of intelligence in them, but not nearly as bright as the eyes he hoped for. The brown orbs moved away and let Sunshy see that they belonged to Lepus, the little jackalope that had probably been watching over him as he slept.

“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Lepus shouted off to the right.

Sunshy lifted his head up enough to see that he was still inside the building, or a building at the least. The room was spacious, just the way he liked them. He lied down on a mattress on the floor, one that was about as soft as the concrete floor had to be. There was a desk shoved up against the wall, next to some opened and empty lockers and another Legion Splendour machine. A soda sounded really good right about now.

Just as Sunshy was getting up to get that delicious-sounding soda, his companions walked into the room. Brute was immediately relieved and let the tension melt off his body. Shooty squealed and flew at him, clutching him in a tight hug. Lepus pounded on her leg to get her to loosen her grip.

“I saw Princess Luna! She was right here! I think She healed me.” Sunshy stated as soon as his mind decided to be functioning with oxygen levels normal.

“That was me, little pegasus.” A voice with years of caring spoke softly.

A dark purple Alicorn walked into the room. Her mane and tail were magenta and were set in nice waves. She walked forward and looked down at the yellow pegasus in boarding. In the dying light of the sun, he could see that she had a cutie mark of a grinning unicorn skeleton.

“I am Doctor Bones. How are you feeling?” She smiled softly as her horn glowed with a soft blue color.

“Fine, miss. So are my ribs fixed, lungs stitched together, and spine un-bruised?” Sunshy questioned politely.

She was silent for a moment as her horn moved over his body. Then she smiled as she pulled back and nodded, the color around her horn faded. “Perfectly fine now.”

“You had impeccable timing, Doctor Bones.” Brute stated with a hint of suspicion.

“Mister Caesar sent me after receiving a multitude of warning of your dire state. He wanted to make sure everyone was safe and unbroken. If they were, I’d fix them. Simple as that.” She replied with her soft smile still on her muzzle.

“We can’t thank you enough, Doctor Bones. Really, thank you so much for saving my brother.” Shooty stated as she walked over to the Alicorn and looked up at her. Doctor Bones moved a wing out and brushed away a tear.

“No need for those, miss Headshot. Everypony is safe and sound, and that is my only payment needed. I must get back and report this success. I hope you accomplish whatever it is you’re doing.” She then teleported away, still smiling in a motherly fashion. The flash left an imprint of her image as a ghost.

“So what happened with you two?” Sunshy questioned, wanting to know what had happened since he entered the building.

“We should ask you the same thing.” Shooty retorted with a punch on his shoulder.

“I can only guess that the sniper had rounds powerful enough to penetrate the shield on our collars. And I got most of my injuries when this raider with some lightning-powered hoof attachments bucked me into a wall. Not the first time I curse my small frame.” Sunshy explained.

“We have once again wasted too much time here, we need to get going.” Brute stamped a hoof down, which shockingly made a bit of electricity. Gazing down at his hooves, Sunshy found the cyberzebra had taken the weapons off the raider. Noticing this, the zebra waved one electric-powered hoof, “I might as well take them. Half of those raiders got past my scythe, so if this ever happens again, I’m well prepared.”

“I don’t think you need it, sunshine. You turned half of those raiders into brain soup.” Shooty stated.

“How would you know, you passed out.”

“Excuse me for never dealing with a grenade landing at my fucking hooves before!”

“You’re excused.”

“You wanna pick a fight, tough guy?!”

“You’re grossly overreacting, Headshot. Besides, I would be stripped of my rank, if not my life, if I was the one to harm you.”

“Good, then take this like a stallion!”

Shooty proceeded to turn around and buck Brute in the chest as hard as she could. This only resulted in her landing face-first on the ground in a rather awkward position. Brute just stared impassively down at her.

“Sunshy, we should lea—what are you doing!?”

Brute was dumbstruck as he saw Sunshy drinking a new bottle of Legion Splendour. There were precisely five bottles around him. Lepus was in the middle of placing them in Sunshy’s saddlebox. They both froze and stared at him.

“I’m packing away some refreshments?” Sunshy replied in question.

“Do you know what is in those?” Brute growled, his face contorting into a deep frown.

“The main ingredient in Mint-als and a refreshing cherry flavor.” Sunshy answered after another small sip.

“Do you know what a Mint-al even is?”

“Sure, I dealt with addicts back in Roaming.”

Brute gave a huff and a stomp of his newly electric-powered hooves. It was obvious he didn’t like this idea.

“If I see even the slightest sign of addiction—“

“I know the signs and I know what the addicts felt, at least what they told me. I’ll be careful. These drinks can’t be nearly as powerful as the actual drug.” Sunshy took another drink of the soda as Lepus returned to packing the last of the drinks. The zebra frowned deeply at this, but made no more argument.

Shooty walked over and took a bottle before the jackalope could pack that one. She popped the top, put the cap away, and then took a long pull. Sunshy jumped up and took the bottle from her, making it spill onto the floor, and then the doctor turned her head and squeezed the soda out of her mouth. It sprayed against the wall and got her to glare at Sunshy.

“Didn’t you hear anything we were saying?! This stuff has an addictive substance inside it, and you can’t just drink a huge mouthful! Who knows how many Mint-als is comparable to one drink. I’m rationing mine this time.”

“This time?” Brute grumbled, a darkening look crossing his face.

“Yes, I drank another one pretty quickly, new to the rush and all. I had just gotten some good ideas and kept drinking it and writing them down.” Sunshy admitted. “I think I knew how to win this war, but that’s ridiculous, I don’t even know much at all about what’s going on.”

“Okay, so it’s a drug, but why are you all uptight about it?” Shooty asked Brute after wiping her soda-coated mouth with an armoured wing.

“I’ve seen what happens to those who fall into the hooves of drug abuse in times of war. Weak-willed zebras who are too scared to admit that they are not suited for the war. Comrades I was ashamed of. I’d rather not see my charges fall onto the same path. I can only imagine the punishment Caesar would give me. Most likely, I would have a chip to receive pain placed in my lost section, then subjected to—“

“Shut up!”

All three being started and stared at Sunshy. The pony grit his teeth and glared at Brute. Shooty moved back a few steps in fear. Sunshy was scary when he was angry, mostly because she had never seen him angry at all.

“Zen wouldn’t do something like that! Don’t you darelook down on him!” Sunshy yelled at the cyberzebra.

Brute was stunned into silence for a while. He recovered by coughing into his hoof and shook the shock from his face. “I…apologise for saying such things. I have not known this Caesar for too long, so my ideas of punishment are based on previous leaders. Some who had done just…just that.”

“Okay, just…don’t think of him like that again.” Sunshy bent down to let Lepus jump onto his back.

“Damn, Sunny, nice to know you do have some balls.” Shooty chuckled a little.

“Just come on, we’re going.” Sunshy stated.

He walked outside the room and started towards the stairs. Then he spotted the bloodstain. It was all against the wall, some on the ceiling, still dripping. There was mercifully no corpse.

“It was like that when we got here.” Brute intoned.

Sunshy nodded silently and descended down the stairs. The others followed him in silence. This silence followed them like smog as they continued walking north-westish.

Brute stayed at the front, being their bodyguard as well as their intimidation factor. Shooty stated every time a hostile appeared and pointed in the vague direction of the mark in her helmet’s vision. Brute would make them stay a safe distance away while he went and dealt with the hostilities.

“Friendlies!!” Shooty shouted with enthusiasm.

Before anyone could stop her, she charged forward, stripping her helmet and letting it roll after tossing it aside. Before them was a shack with the symbol of a gear and wrench. A figure walked outside, stared at the rapidly approaching female pegasus. He only managed to yell in surprise before Headshot tackled him onto the ground.

The other two hoofed creatures charged after her; Sunshy stopped just long enough to scoop up his sister’s helmet. Something made him put it on his back, which led it to be hanging off Lepus, who was too concerned with holding onto the pony’s coat to care.

Brute bit Shooty’s mane and tore her off the buck, who was staring into space with wide, shocked, and scared blue eyes. His coat was a creamy yellow, his mane and tail were brown, and he wore a white cloak with a strange cylinder holstered on his belt. Sunshy held out a hoof in help, which seemed to snap the buck out of his stupor. As Sunshy mostly let the buck pull himself up, he noticed the ruffling of wings. Another pegasus!

“You’re pegasi?” The buck had a young voice and sounded as shocked as Sunshy felt.

“Two out of four.” Sunshy offered with a smile.

“Four? Oh, the thing on your back. Here, let me help.” The buck walked to Sunshy’s back and removed the helmet from Lepus. He dropped it in shock upon seeing the jackalope and stepped back. “Mutated rabbit?”

“No, just a jackalope, a rare breed of magical creatures. Anyway, I’m Sunshy, this tall bodyguard here is Brute, and the one who I’m sorry to say tackled you is my sister Headshot.” Sunshy offered his hoof to shake this time. The other pegasus male pressed his own against it and shook politely with a smile.

“I’m Skywalker. My father and sister work here with me making miscellaneous tech on request. So, do you need anything? I’d love to show you some of our stuff.” Skywalker motioned that they were welcome to go inside.

At that point, Shooty walked forward with a long face and her ears folded back. Brute was walking behind her, staring down with a stern stare. She kicked her hoof against the dirt and muttered, “I’m sorry for tackling you. Just seen so many mean people around…I was too excited. So, sorry.”

“It’s fine; we don’t see many friendly people out this far aside from the ghouls from Radiation.” He waved her apology off with a hoof and a smile. Sunshy was brightened by this pony’s lighthearted attitude.

“Son? Who’s out there?” A deep voice called out from inside the shack.

“Just some people passing by, dad!” Skywalker called back.

“Whoa, what’s your cutie mark? Is it a moon?” Shooty was scrutinising the buck’s flanks so close that he blushed and moved back.

“That’s no moon.”

Sunshy jumped back, his wings flared in preparation to fly away at the creature that walked outside. It was in the shape of a pony or zebra, a male. The entire body was coated in black armour, like those of Steel Rangers or Children of Mars. There was the sound of a respirator in his helmet at work, a deep sound of inhaling and the softer sound of exhaling. This buck was about as big as Sunshy, but his armour suggested his body was much more filled out.

“That is the picture of our signature electronic. I call it The Death Star.” There was the sound of him breathing breaking every few words.

“I’ll bring one out for you.” Skywalker trotted inside.

“So…any particular reason for you three to be here?” The buck asked. It was hard to tell a tone of voice, it just sounded monotone.

“Just passing through, though I suppose we would be willing to pay for a safe place to spend the night.” Brute stated calmly.

“You’re the Legate in this ‘Reformed Legion’ I’ve heard about. I don’t care for anyone enslaving my children.” The buck managed to sound threatening even with his breathing interrupting it. Sunshy linked it to the deep voice he possessed.

“Caesar thirteen dislikes slave labour, seeing as how his buckfriend here,” Brute hovered a hoof over Sunshy’s head, “was turned into a slave for a short period of time. He is doing his best to abolish it altogether. Rest assured I am not here to take away your children.” The Legate put his hoof back down.

“That’s kind of the last thing he’d ever do to a father, seeing as how he’s been one quite a few times.” Shooty commented. Sunshy expected Brute to glare at her at the least, but he only nodded to the armoured buck.

“I am Dark Invader, if my son failed to mention that. His sister is Leia. A poorly chosen name, as it means ‘delicate’ and she’s quite the tomboy. Her mother named them both.”

“I’m guessing that she’s passed on.” Shooty stated almost impassively.

“You’re quite the perceptive one.” Dark stated.

“Shooty, you really need to learn to stop being so blunt and impulsive.” Sunshy scolded.

“Your son is taking an awfully long time.” Brute commented as he peaked over to peer inside the shack.

“Leia has been feeling unwell lately. With the lack of doctors available—“

Sunshy needed no more before he went inside. Shooty mentioned something about impulsiveness as he went in, but he missed most of whatever she said. Probably something sarcastic or snarky.

The shack was shockingly tidy and well-kept. The ground was lined with cardboard dusted with hoof prints going to and fro—a little mat at the front stated ‘Wipe your hooves’. All along every inch of wall was covered with shelves upon shelves of wires, scrap, hubcaps, metal bits, guts of robots, bits of armour, and enough paint to coat the shack five times over. There was a weak light bulb dangling from the ceiling, surrounded by more colourful wires. The pegasus would have been more claustrophobic if his mind wasn’t set on helping a patient.

Sunshy followed the sound of murmurs and went into a smaller room, this one devoid of anything technological. Instead, it was decorated with beam rifles and pistols, ammo, and two outfits—one long white dress and one brown leather armour with a helmet that completely covered the face. There was a stand to the side with a large piece of a mirror leaning against the wall atop the desk.

Sunshy noticed it along with the lonely brush left on top of the desk. He glanced at himself and Lepus on his back. If he didn’t know that it was himself, he would have been deeply disturbed by the picture the glass reflected. A skinny yellow pegasus with one disheveled wing, the other metal. What you could see of his yellow coat was turning grimy and coated in dust. His red hair was highly unkempt and short, so depressingly short. His doctor’s coat was turning brown, his saddle boxes were dented and the paint flaking. Then there was a rabbit with horns on his head staring at the mirror as well.

Lepus leapt off Sunshy and landed on the desk to get a better look and began grooming himself. Sunshy shook his head and stared forward. There was a mare with a copper coat and messy, uncared-for brown hair lying on a cot, Skywalker sitting next to her head. It looked as though it was once in some strange buns at the sides of her head, but clumps of her hair were falling loose. Her eyes were half-closed and she was muttering something to her brother.

Skywalker was sitting at the head of her bed, watching over her and stroking her mane. Hovering by his head were two representations of his cutie mark. There were these two orbs no bigger than softballs, painted black. They floated and spun around his head, dipping a few times, but kept a relatively steady orbit around his head.

As the pegasus doctor came closer, both froze and turned simultaneously, pointing an indent in the sphere at him. Skywalker turned and stared at him questioningly.

“Don’t worry, I’m a doctor. I can help.” Sunshy told him with a smile.

“Really? I thought the coat was just for show. Please, take a look at her.” Skywalker stepped back and motioned with a wing for the Death Stars to move with him. They turned passive and began dance-orbiting around his head again. The pegasus was surprised to see that his sister was an earth pony.

Sunshy stepped forward and noticed Lepus was at his side once again. The jackalope had his medicinal side opened and held out a stethoscope. The doctor pony put the ends in his ears and breathed onto the metal end in an attempt to make it warmer. Then he placed it on the mare’s chest. He placed the circular end in multiple places before stowing it away.

He pulled out a small flashlight and a tongue depressor. First, he opened her eyes wide and shined the light into each one, watching with a practised study at the rate of her pupil contraction. With Skywalker’s help, the doctor coaxed her to open her mouth. Lepus helped by holding the tongue down with the depressor while Sunshy beamed the flashlight into her throat. The doctor frowned and hummed before he turned the flashlight off. He placed the flashlight away while Lepus went to throw away the slobber-coated flat stick.

The doctor managed to get her to sit upright just long enough for him to rub both of her throat glands. Once he was done doing that, he used an otoscope to check her ears. Then he gave her the alright to lie back down. Sunshy bit the blanket at the end of the cot and pulled it over her body. She gave a weak ‘thank you’ before falling to sleep.

“It’s a good thing we wandered here when we did.” Sunshy told Skywalker, standing before him seriously, “She has an infection, just in the beginning stages so far. Give her two of these with food until she recovers, along with plenty of bed rest and fluids. Clean water would be better, but if you lack enough of it, sodas should be an acceptable substitute. I’d say away from anything with radiation or ingredients linked to mind-altering drugs.”

Sunshy handed over a clear bottle full of small, uneven ovals the color of mud. Skywalker stared at them before glancing to Sunshy inquisitively, as though wondering the credibility of his medical skills.

“Hoof-made pills made of herbs from the Everfree Forest. Nothing malignant, I swear. I’ve used these on myself more than once and I’m still standing.”

“So…these’ll make Leia better? How soon?” The concerned brother questioned.

“It depends on her will to fight the infection, since medicine can only do so much. A lot depends on luck, timing, the patient’s will, and sometimes a bit of faith when things are severe. But I don’t think you need the help of any gods or goddesses this time.”

“Well, that certainly is a relief. How can we repay you?”

“I’d like one of those things floating around your head.” Shooty said, appearing from absolutely nowhere.

Sunshy jumped at least an inch into the air and stared hard at her in shock. There had been nothing to warn him that she was there. Taking another look, he noticed that Brute and Dark Invader were standing in the doorway, while Shooty was the only other pony inside the room. Skywalker smiled and poked one of the Death Stars with a hoof.

“Relinquish mode one-one-seven-three. Primary objective change: Name remove Skywalker. Owner change to Headshot, pegasi mare of The Grand Enclave, engage. Hookup to armour wirelessly code four-eight-ten.” Skywalker spoke to the device.

It made strange beeps and whirring mechanical sounds. Moments later, it zoomed forward and began dance-orbiting around Shooty’s head. She giggled and stamped her hooves in excitement. The ponies cracked smiles as she began turning in a circle in an attempt to follow the orb around her head.

“Can you teach me to use it?” She asked after stopping her spinning, wobbling on her hooves.

“Sure, come on, I’ll take you outside. We’ve got a shooting range you can use.” Skywalker stood up and walked past Sunshy, going towards the exit of the room.

The black armoured father stepped back as his son and Shooty walked by. As Skywalker passed him, the buck nuzzled his head between the ears, eliciting a chuckle from the cream-colored buck. The two pegasi took a back door outside. Lepus jumped back onto his master’s back before the pony walked out of the room.

“Thank you for helping my daughter.” Dark dipped his head down towards the doctor.

“It was my pleasure.” Sunshy replied honestly. And it was. He smiled up to Brute and stated, “Being a doctor was and always will be my true reason for living.”

He snorted and his face contorted as though he didn’t know what emotion to show. He settled on a half-hearted frown. “I have many things to say about that attitude. I’ll spare you them in light of your caring personality.”

“You’re all welcome to stay here for the night. Just follow me.”

The pony and cyberzebra followed the large armoured buck. He led them into another room off to the back right. Sunshy tried not to hyperventilate at the confined space. Surrounded by walls, two big stallions, and in a small space. The doctor had to stay strong.

As soon as the father left the room, he was alone with Lepus and Brute, who stayed in the cluttered spare room with him to guard him. Lepus noticed how Sunshy was fighting a losing battle against his claustrophobia, so he began jabbing Brute with his horns until the zebra left. Then the jackalope cuddled up to the pony and let him clutch him until the terrors passed. The exertion of the day wore on him, lulling him into a deep sleep moments later.

Level up! You are now level 23!

Perk added! Close-knit family: You have gained a deeper appreciation for your new family. You and all companions have gained a +5 Damage Threshold, and a +25% boost to nerve when one is injured.

~*~

Prologue

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

Prologue

War.

Why would you ask about that?

Who told you war never changed? That’s such a silly thing to say; of course it changes. Everything changes over time.

Don’t listen to those lies, it’ll give you nightmares. Listen to momma; we live above those afraid of war. We live in the clouds; away from all that sillyness down below. Up here, we have no wars. Up here, we are safe. How could we not be, with the Princesses so close?

See? Just look up. You can see both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together today. No, no, don’t be silly, dear. The sun and moon are not wild, not like those…ruffians down below the clouds. You see, my darling, the poor Princesses didn’t have much time together after Princess Luna was freed from that horrible Nightmare Moon.

Oh, it may seem like a long time to us, but to them, it was much too short. So they make up for it now that they are gone from this world. Where? Why, they’re above even us; they are up there, in the everlasting space. I know it’s hard to believe anything being higher than us, but it’s true, my little bumbkin.

I’m getting off topic; see what you do to me? They still control the sun and moon, but sometimes, they miss each other terribly, so they move closer together. Then, they don’t feel so lonely anymore.

The rest?

Oh…you mean the ones below. The grounded ponies.

No, no we…the sky must stay covered. It would make our poor Princesses very, very sad to see what their little ponies have become. That is why we must keep the clouds closed. Not just for us, but for the Princesses. If they saw how terrible their once beautiful and lush—it means green, dearie, full of life—land of Equestria has become…well, it would make them sad.

No, love, I haven’t seen down below. Most pegasi haven’t, but we’ve heard. It’s still too toxic and full of bad ponies. Personally, I hope we never go back down there. I love it up here, where it’s safe and full of nice, pretty ponies. Don’t you?

No, you mustn’t think that way. I know you have a kind heart, dearie, but you can’t say that. The Enclave don’t like it when we talk like that. Fluttershy would be proud of you for saying such a thing. We named you after her, you know. Still…don’t leave your poor momma or the Princesses, alright? Will you promise me? That’s a good dear; give your mommy a great big hug and we’ll have some cookies. We can make your favorite.