Fallout Equestria: Ascendancy

Flutterside was nasty. Newspapers blew all over around the entrance. Some stuck to the ground in piles of muck. The buildings were all vandalized by graffiti depicting vulgar messages and images. A Ghoul sat on the ground, slumped against one of the buildings and he was staring straight across the street at nothing.

A dirty green Earth stallion was standing against one of the larger two-story buildings. His mane was black and greasy. It was slicked back, revealing a bushy unibrow. He was watching us.

He spoke to Rose first. “Hello there, Miss. Might I interest you in the finest Dash in the Marejave?”

“Ah don’t think so. Ah’m more of a whiskey gal, an’ Ah really want some right now, so piss off.”

He smirked and looked up at me. “How about you, sir? There’s no finer high than good ol’ Dash.”

“You shouldn’t take that stuff. It’ll kill you.”

He snorted. “Another square, huh? No big deal.” He knelt down to Radiant and Adagia. “How about you, little fillies? Would you like some Dash? Only ten caps for the little fillies.”

I put Perdition’s barrel to his forehead. “Listen here, you little shit. We’re not interested in your Dash. Try to sell it to them again and I’ll shove your whole supply up your ass. You understand what I’m saying?”

He laughed. “You must be new here, stranger. I run the show here in Flutterside and my friends will be hearing about this. Best sleep with one eye open now, friend. Nopony disrespects me in my town.”

“I’m busy later. Tell them now.”

“All right, then. Sodapop!”

A cream-colored colt came out of the building the dealer was leaning against. Sodapop was emaciated and his eyes were almost entirely his pupils. He put a hoof to his forehead in salute.

“Yes sir, sir?!” the colt yelled. He was twitching.

“Go get the boys. We got a square threatening my business.”

The colt nodded about ten times until the dealer threw him a Dash inhaler. He sucked in the drug then rushed inside. The dealer shot me a smug smile.

“I’m guessing you’re going to run away while your buddies fight your battle?”

The dealer spread his hooves. “Looks to be that way.”

“You’ll need your legs for that, won’t you?”

“Wha…” I shot him in the leg. The buckshot tore through his leg and severed it from his body. He tipped over and I shot the other three off, one by one.

A pony popped up in the second story window with the scope of a sniper rifle to one eye. I flew up and put Perdition’s barrel on the scope and pulled the trigger. Buckshot and broken glass blasted into his eye.

Rose hugged the wall outside the door. When a sledgehammer-wielding pony came out, Rose stuck her knife in the side of his head. It didn’t seem to affect him. The stallion started up, only to receive a face full of buckshot from Perdition. He stayed down that time.

Radiant took potshots, disintegrating anypony stupid enough to poke their head out. The fighting stopped after about ten of them died.

The dealer bawled on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He called out to me. “Wait! Don’t leave me here to bleed out!” He sniveled. “Be… be a good pony and put me out of my misery.”

I look down at him in disgust. “Why would I do that?”

“I can’t afford them robot legs. A pony without legs is a dead pony. You have to kill me now. You’re a good pony.” He swallowed, taking deep breaths. “Aren’t you?”

“I can’t be a good pony. A good pony would look the other way for what you’ve done.” I knelt down beside him. “A good pony would put you out of your misery right now. Good ponies are weak. I’m going to let you die.” I stood up and left him to die.

* * *

The next section of Flutterside was much nicer than the entrance. As we passed by the many shops, criers would yell out to us why we should shop at their stores. There was one very young mare dressed in a skimpy outfit promoting the seedy casino down the street. We definitely wouldn’t be going there.

The variety of buildings here was ridiculous. All the buildings were the same but what was behind their glass windows differed about as much as ponies and dragons. One of the buildings had a neon sign above the door depicting the silhouette of a stallion in a pose that just made me think of the word ‘cool’. There were plenty of guns and armor shops but also lots of shops with things ponies would never need. Adagia stopped to stare into one of the windows. There were instruments in the window.

“You want to go in?” I asked her.

“Can I? Yes!”

It clearly wasn’t as visited as the other shops. I guess ponies these days don’t appreciate music like they used to. There were violins, cellos, and guitars as well as tubas, trombones, you get the idea. Adagia only paid mind to a single violin. It was in pristine condition and behind a case that I figured was bulletproof. The strangest thing was that the hole cut into it was the same as her violin, the sharp note symbol. Aside from the condition, it was the same as Adagia’s violin.

A mare came from the back. “I’m sorry, little filly, but I don’t think you can afford that one.” Adagia didn’t look surprised.

“I doubt anypony in the Marejave could afford it.”

“Not any one pony.”

“But I still want it.”

“I want two-million caps for it.”

“A filly can dream. How about a new string then?”

“The newest we have are from before the war.”

“You don’t want two-million caps for them, right?” she asked, almost as if she thought they might cost that much.

“That depends. What are you stringing up?”

She pulled her violin out and set it on the counter. “This.”

The mare looked at it, then the one in the case. “You can’t possibly want to play this!”

“I don’t have another one to play.”

“But this violin is priceless! It needs to be behind glass like that one!” she said, pointing at the new one.

“You don’t think it should be heard? You’d rather it sit behind glass just for ponies to look at? I don’t think there are many ponies who even care what it is. Can I just have a string for it, please?”

The mare clearly wasn’t happy but put a string on the counter. “It’s the least rusted one I have. Take it.”

“But I have caps to give you!” She held up a hoof full of caps.

“Take it. It’s a shame for that violin to be missing a string and I’m happy knowing that it won’t be now.”

Adagia tilted her head and looked behind the mare. “What’s that?”

When the mare turned around, Adagia grabbed the string and threw the caps on the counter and ran out the door, gasping dramatically like a foal who was about to be caught doing something bad. I couldn’t help but laugh.

She was re-stringing her violin just outside the door and was nearly finished when we came out. The tuning peg spun slowly with gray magic as she dragged the bow back and forth across the string—she used the bow with her hoof instead of her magic—until she got the right pitch.

Then she stood up and started playing a song; it was the song by Octavia that was playing in the Stable when I was grading those pop quizzes. It may have been on a different instrument but I recognized the melody immediately. I didn’t say anything. I just listened. You’d never think that, just by looking at her, she could play. A few ponies stopped what they were doing to listen too. Adagia kept her eyes shut and played what came out.

The mare from the shop had been listening too. When Adagia stopped, everypony gave her an applause. The mare approached her.

“I think you were right about that violin. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.” She should have heard that eleven-minute epic Adagia played for us.

Adagia smiled and thanked her and went back to playing something I didn’t recognize. The mare turned to me.

“My brother owns one of the classier casinos in New Pegasus. I’m sure he’d love to have her play there. Would you be okay with that? She would have a very safe place to stay and would make enough caps for a comfortable living.”

“I’d be okay with that.” I may not be her dad but I wanted what was best for her. Adventuring isn’t a healthy or long profession. And I couldn’t imagine her wasting a gift like she had.

The mare explained the situation to Adagia. At first she looked happy. She probably never thought that she’d make a living doing something she loved, and at such a young age. I’d only known her a few days but, to me, she was a part of the strange family that we were.

She hugged me. “Thank you for bringing me here. I know what would have happened if it wasn’t for you.”

“Don’t think about that. Think about what you’re going to do next.” She smiled at me and nodded. “Remember what I told you.”

She nodded. “Don’t waste it.”

It made me very happy to see that I wasn’t the only decent pony. It was even better to see that there were more than a few. Everypony said their good-bye’s. Radiant didn’t want her to go. She even asked me if she could go with her. I said no.

We kept exploring Flutterside, finding more shops, doing trading for some caps, and found some more weird ponies. Then I saw an interesting pony on the sidewalk, a Unicorn mare, blue with a pink mane tied in a ponytail that hung over one shoulder and a pair of black thick-rimmed eyeglasses.

She beckoned out to the ponies—about what, I couldn’t hear—and would show them whatever she had in her hoof. Maybe it was a deck of playing cards. Each time they would say something that appeared to insult her and she would sit down and hang her head, glaring at them as they walked away. She would peek up and beckon out to the next pony, who would repeat the insults.

I watched her for a minute before Radiant tugged at my mane. “Come on, Dad. I want to see what she’s doing over there.”

The three of us approached the moping mare. She didn’t perk up this time.

“Oh, great. More cruel ponies coming to mock me, huh? Super…” She pawed at the sidewalk, looking as if she were about to cry. I thought she was being dramatic.

“Oh, great,” Rose put her hooves on her cheeks. “Another drama queen.”

“Rose,” Radiant said.

“What’s the matter, drama queen?”

“Rose,” she said, louder that time.

“Got some dust on ya?”

“Rose!”

“Chip a hoof?”

“ROSE!” Radiant grabbed Rose’s cheeks.

“What?!”

“You’re being a bastard.”

Rose pushed the filly away. “Ah ain’t bein’ no bastard.”

“Language, Radiant. And yes, you’re kind of being a bastard,” I said. Everypony snickered.

“So,” Radiant looked at the mare, “what do you got going on here?”

“A good question, my little filly.” A pink glow danced around her horn. “I am Flourish the Showpony, wowing passersby with my amazing magic!” Her voice grew louder with each word and fireworks went off in the air above her spelling ‘Flourish’ in elegant pink script.

Rose shot her a raspberry. Flourish smiled and tilted her horn toward Rose. The letters in the air rushed to Rose’s head and vanished in a thin cloud of smoke. Rose’s mane shrunk back into her head and a red beard sprouted from her face.

Flourish slid up and began stroking it. “Magnificent, if I do say so myself.”

Rose shoved her away. Flourish hit her with a wisp of magic and the red beard shrunk back into her face and sprouted on her head.

“Bo-ring. That all ya got?”

“Of course not. You don’t make it very far being a one-trick pony.”

She clearly took a liking to teasing Rose. Another pink wisp hit the Earth mare and, in a cloud of smoke, a stallion stood in her place.

Only… Red mane, cowpony hat, rose leaning on a whiskey bottle…

Mother of Celestia…

A baritone scream came from her—his?—mouth. The rest of us laughed.

“Y’all best change me back before Ah get nasty!”

“All right, but only because you asked politely.” A pink flash later and a wall-eyed Earth mare appeared. Flourish rubbed her chin in thought then gasped. “Ooh, one more.”

There was a bright pink flash. When I looked back, she was gone and there was a large sorcerer’s hat in her place.

“Whoa! She’s gone!” I said.

The hat began to move. Then I heard a voice at my ears, but it wasn’t Radiant’s.

“Ah, yes! One of my favorites.” Flourish was on my back, lying on her side with her rear legs crossed. “Have to admit, it’s pretty cool, right?” She brushed her hoof on her chest and smiled. “Radiant, darling. Do come out.”

The hat flipped over and Radiant jumped out, beaming. “Um…” she looked at the three of us awkwardly. “Ta-da!” she yelled, throwing her hooves wide. I almost had a heart attack from the sheer cuteness of it.

I was impressed. A performance like that had to be rewarded. I handed the mare a bag of caps to brighten her day. “Here. That was the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while.”

She gasped and put a hoof on her chest. “So generous!” She slid down from my back.

“Where’d you learn to do all those tricks?” I said.

“It’s magic,” Flourish said simply.

“You don’t say.”

She walked around my front and flicked my nose with her tail. “I do say. A lady never reveals her secrets.”

Rose laughed. “Ho ho! Somepony’s blushin’.” No way you could see a dark purple pony blush.

Flourish giggled, snatching up the hat. Her horn glowed and the hat turned into a wisp of smoke then vanished. She gave a slight bow. “I’d love to stay and chat, but we can’t deprive the good ponies of Flutterside of my spectacular magic. Good day sir, lady, and um… bastard.” She beamed. “Good day!”

She took her spot back on the curb.

* * *

We needed a place to stay that night. I didn’t want to sleep outside. One of us might not wake up, I thought. We found a hotel. It was as nasty as the ponies inside, but still cleaner than outside. The good thing was that it was cheap. The mare at the front desk charged thirty caps for all of us in a single room. I thought it was fair enough. I figured it would only be for a night.

“Go up to the third floor, it’s the fourth door on the right,” she told us.

We followed her directions and came to a room that was surprisingly cleaner than I thought it would be. The carpet was due for replacement and I’m sure the blankets and all weren’t clean. The windows had grime on them and were opaque. I’m sure you could see better out of them at night.

Harlequin Forest grimaced through her entire exploration of the small room. I thought it was funny.

There were two beds. I’d sleep with Radiant, and Rose got a whole bed to herself. Harlequin Forest wouldn’t sleep on the bed. She said it was too nasty. Rose didn’t argue with her.

“I’ll be back. I’m going for a walk,” I said.

“Can I go?” Radiant said.

“No.”

“Okay.”

That side of Flutterside looked even more unwelcoming than the entrance at night. Homeless ponies gathered around burning barrels doing Dash. One convulsed on the sidewalk, ignored by the others. She probably died that night.

I started down the sidewalk, being watched by the residents. As I neared the spot where we met Flourish earlier, I saw that she was still there. She wasn’t alone this time.

There was a stallion in her face and a mare at her back, boxing her in. I walked over to them.

They were mugging her. She pulled out a bag of caps—the bag I gave her—and handed it to the stallion. She had an unsurprised look on her face.

I approached the stallion in front. “What’s going on here?”

“Beat it, stranger, before you wind up in the gutter.”

“Give her caps back.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“I didn’t give you a choice.”

He furrowed his brow and pulled a weathered 9mm pistol and fired at my chest. The gun jammed. I shot forward with my wings and knocked the stallion out with a head-butt.

The mare jumped on my back and started pummeling me in the back of the head with her hooves, which hurt more than you would think. The world started to spin and I did the first thing that came to mind. I flapped my wings and flipped forward. She was sandwiched between me and the sidewalk.

After she caught her breath she got up and dragged the still unconscious stallion away, leaving the bag of caps. I stared them down until they vanished around the corner.

Flourish stepped up and I handed her the bag of caps.

“Nopony has ever stopped to help me.” She looked up at me. “Why did you?”

“They stole your money.”

She didn’t reply.

“It wasn’t the first time, was it?”

She shook her head. “Afraid not. Those assholes come to take my money every single night. Hopefully not anymore. Thank you.” She nuzzled me then went back to her spot and curled up on her bed, which was a folded pink cape that matched her hat from earlier. The hat lay neatly next to it.

“What are you doing?” I said.

“Going to sleep.”

“Out here? You don’t have a bed to sleep in?”

She shook her head. “You haven’t been out here long, have you?”

“How does everypony get that impression from me?”

“You reek of a Stable.”

“How do you know what a Stable smells like?”

“I don’t. I saw you had a PipBuck.”

“Oh…”

She smirked and rested her head on her bunched up hat.

I had to help her. Who would stop those ponies from coming back other than me? “We have a room at the hotel. You can stay with us if you want.”

“With that Earth mare? I’m sure she’d be thrilled with my company.”

“Well, you did turn her into a stallion.”

“I suppose that’s true. Who knows, she might have enjoyed life as a stallion. It was pretty funny though, wasn’t it?”

I laughed. “It’s always funny to see Rose get picked on. She’s a good pony. She just needs to say no to the bottle once or twice a year.”

“Okay, then. I can’t refuse such a generous offer, though I’d hate to impose.”

“It’s no trouble at all, really. I can’t leave you out here.” I nudged her up. We walked to the hotel. Rose was in the lobby—you guessed it—drinking.

“So, the drama queen is staying here too?”

Flourish frowned. “Bitch…”

“Flourish is going to be staying here with us tonight.”

Rose gasped with wide eyes. “Yer sweet on the mare…” she said in drunken amazement.

“It’s not like that, Rose.”

“Uh-huh.”

Damned Earth ponies. “The room’s up here, Flourish,” I said.

I led her to the room. Radiant was tinkering with her Laser Pistol on her bed. I saw two scorch marks on the wall in the direction the pistol was pointed. I didn’t say anything to her about them.

“Well, here it is. Luna-forsaken hell-hole,” I said, waving a hoof at the messy room. “You already know Radiant and Rose. Make yourself at home.”

“Wow…” She looked a little disgusted. “I suppose it’s… better than sleeping on the sidewalk.”

Radiant looked up. “Sleeping on the sidewalk? You’re a hobo pony?!” I scowled at her. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean that. You don’t look like a hobo pony.”

She was right. Flourish’s blue coat was spotless. Her pink mane and tail looked professionally groomed. She had the only unbroken pair of glasses I’d seen outside the Stable. Why was she homeless?

“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s a long story… and one I’d rather not share.”

Radiant stared at her for a few seconds, then beamed and said, “Okay.”

“Do you have any snacks?” It was funny how casually she asked that.

Radiant beamed. “Sure! We have Blamcolt Mac and Cheese, Dandy Colt Apples, Sugar Apple Bombs…” she opened a saddlebag to reveal the stockpile we had saved up.

“Help yourself,” I said. “We have plenty.”

“Can I have some too, Dad?”

“It’s your food too, Radiant.”

They each got a box of Mac and Cheese and split a box of apple slices, conversing over their meal.

Flourish saw Harlequin Forest standing near the window. She was staring off into space, probably having a mental conversation with herself. Flourish walked up to her.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there. Hello.”

“Hello!” Harlequin Forest said awkwardly.

“I-I’m sorry. Why are you yelling at me?”

Harlequin Forest smiled and looked at the floor. “Oh, no. No… not yelling.”

“Okay. I’m Flourish, though you probably already knew that.”

Harlequin Forest stared at her blankly.

“And your name is… ?” Flourish asked.

“Yes, you look nice.” She gestured Flourish closer. I didn’t hear what she said.

“Sorry?” Flourish said.

I missed it again.

“You can speak up. I won’t beat you up or anything.”

She looked around nervously then went to Flourish’s ear and whispered.

“Reverie. That’s a beautiful name.”

“Reverie?” I said. “I thought your name was Harlequin Forest.”

“No, Our name is… Reverie.” She whispered and knelt down timidly when she said her name.

“Oh, then the… other one is Harlequin Forest?”

She nodded her head. Her eyes turned red. “Yes,” she turned to Flourish. “That is Our name…”

“Uh… and that is a beautiful name too, hehe…”

Reverie beamed. “Thank you.”

“Well, okay then,” I said, “I’ll just leave you two or uh… three to get acquainted.” Flourish looked very uncomfortable.

I went back to the lobby to talk to Rose. She was sitting with her back against the wall, looking at me with a sly smile.

“Damn, Feathers. That quick?” She smiled and leaned in. “She better than me?”

“I don’t remember. Guess you weren’t all that good.”

She gave me a sarcastic laugh. “Seriously though. That quick?”

“She was being robbed. I helped her. She needed a place to stay. I. Helped. Her.”

She sat up straight and fixed her crooked hat. “Is that what gets you off? Helpin’ ponies?”

“No.”

“Then why do ya?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Some ponies would disagree. The Marejave is a place where the strong stomp out the weak. It ain’t no place for a pony who can’t fend fer themselves.” She seemed to be sobering up right before my eyes. “Ya need to help yerself or yer gonna wind up dead.”

“You wouldn’t help somepony who needed it? We’ve both been on the stomped end of your philosophy.”

“Ya throw innocent around like everypony deserves it. The Marejave makes murderers out of us all. Even you an’ Radiant. An’ don’t even get me started on that Alicorn…”

“You know damn well that I’m not a murderer, Rose. And Radiant? Seriously?”

“Ah’ve seen you kill like ten ponies since Ah met ya.”

“Oh yeah? Name one that I murdered.”

“How about… no… she was a raider, um…”

“Well?”

“Okay, whatever. Ya think little Miss Showpony hasn’t gotten her hooves dirty? I do. Fer all you know, a muggin’ was a slap on the hoof for what she might’ve done.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll treat her the way I have until your little theory proves you right about her.”

“Ya know you Stable ponies are a stubborn bunch?”

“Yeah, but if you’re right, at least you can say ‘Ah told ya so’,” I said, imitating her.

She laughed. “Better believe Ah will, too,” she said, then drained her whiskey bottle.

So much for sobering up.

* * *

A loud burp woke me up.

“Ew!” Flourish whispered. “Don’t burp in my face, Rose! You smell like cheap booze.”

Rose scoffed. “Cheap booze? Ah only drink Applejack Daniel’s. Finest whiskey in Equestria.”

“There’s nothing fine about it.”

“Ha! Ah bet ya never drunk a single drop, ya square.”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you? I’ve had your Applejack Daniel’s. Meh…”

“Careful now. Yer about to cross some fuckin’ lines.”

“You don’t scare me.”

“Ya will when Ah kick yer ass.”

“You couldn’t kick your own ass if it was handed to you.”

“Oh yeah? Fuck you, you fucking fucker,” Rose said, placing emphasis on each fuck.

I heard Flourish chuckle. “Touch a nerve? Go to sleep before you hurt yourself.”

Rose started grumbling something.

“Why are you so mean to me, anyway?” Flourish asked. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Ah don’t know. Maybe Ah just don’t like you.”

“Guess it can’t be helped then.” Flourish rolled over and tried to pull the blanket out from under Rose.

“Quit it,” she said.

“You’re not even using it.”

“So? It’s mah side o’ the blanket.”

Flourish tugged again and Rose rolled over and farted on her.

“Oh… Ew! Oh my Luna, it’s stinging my nose!” It sounded like she was trying to blow the stink out of her nose.

Rose laughed. “Ya think that’s gross?” She grinned, strained and let out a flank-flapper that had her tail swishing in the wind.

Flourish’s gagged, covering her muzzle.

“Take a whiff, Showpony,” Rose said, fanning the air toward Flourish.

Flourish shook her head. “Mm-mm.”

Rose pounced on her and knocked Flourish’s hooves from her muzzle. Flourish’s cheeks inflated and she hurled half-digested Mac and Cheese and apples over the side of the bed. Rose fell on her back, kicking her legs and laughing.

Radiant jumped up, flapping her wings. “Agh! What’s so funny?”

Rose pointed at Flourish, hunched over the side of the bed, groaning. “The showpony lost her dinner.”

Radiant looked at Flourish. “It wasn’t spoiled, was it? I’m pretty sure the boxes were…” she covered her muzzle and gagged.

Rose laughed harder. “No way! Ah’m getting’ two ponies? Wake yer dad up. Ah wanna see if Ah can make all o’ ya puke.”

Reverie fanned her wings then put up a barrier around herself. The air in the room smelled worse than the mush we ate in the Stable. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Flourish was now dry-heaving, Radiant was holding her breath and Rose was staring at me with a smile, hoping that I’d join them.

I sniffed and grimaced. “What the… ? Good Luna, that fucking stinks.”

Rose beamed. “Ah! Ha! Ha! Come on! Throw up!”

“It isn’t that bad. I’ve smelled worse.”

“Yer such a party pooper. Ya know that?”

“And you’re a… a bed-pooping bastard.” Radiant said.

“Yeah, you should check those sheets,” I said as I opened the windows.

“Trust me. You’d know if Ah shit the bed.”

I went to clean up Flourish’s mess. “No, no, I got it. Please don’t look at it.” She levitated the pile of mush into the trash can and put it out the door.

We all went back to bed, only Flourish laid with Radiant and I laid with Rose.

“Psst! Hey, Feathers. You asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, did ya almost puke?”

“Can’t hear you. I’m asleep.” I pulled the blanket higher up.

“Ya didn’t? Guess Ah’ll have to try again.” She raised her hind leg.

“If you stink up this room again, I’ll turn your ass into a hat and make you wear it.”

She snickered. “Is it sick that Ah think Ah might enjoy that? Didn’t think you was a kinky pony.” She poked my side with a hoof.

“Uh… yeah. That’s pretty sick. You’d have your own ass on your head.”

She sighed. “Ya know, this is bringin’ back memories. You. Me. In the same bed.”

“Too bad it won’t happen again.”

“Why not? Did the showpony sweep ya up?” She gasped. “Hehe. Ah bet she got you with that little flick on the nose. Ha! Can’t believe Ah thought you was into stallions. Yer all over that mare.”

“Shut up before I kill you.”

“Just admit it already.”

“When you’re sober.”

“That’s not fair. Ya know that’ll never happen.”

“Then I guess I’ll never tell. Shut up and go to sleep.”

* * *

That morning we got up with the sun. Rose slept in as she usually did. Flourish had made the bed she and Radiant slept in. She looked at me.

“Thanks for letting me stay here last night.” She went to leave.

“You’re going back to the sidewalk?” Radiant asked.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Why don’t you come with us? I don’t mind and I’m sure even Rose will warm up to you.” I said.

“I don’t know. Where are you going?”

“Wherever we happen to end up, I guess. I wouldn’t mind going to New Pega…”

“New Pegasus?!” She was pulling her ponytail down with both hooves and beaming.

“So you want to come with us?”

“Yes! Yes!” She relaxed and cleared her throat, then chuckled. “I mean… I guess…”

“All right.”

“I haven’t seen you around before yesterday. Where did you get the pass to get in?”

“The what now?”

She frowned in disappointment. “They don’t let just anypony into New Pegasus. You’ll need a pass to get in or receive a personal invitation from somepony important. That’s why I live in Flutterside. I figured somepony would be impressed by my magic and give me a job in New Pegasus.”

“Well, how do we get a pass?”

“I told you. It’s about who you know. A stranger like you probably doesn’t have any friends here. Not anypony who can get you into New Pegasus, I’m sure.”

“Do you know anypony who can get us in?”

“I might…”

* * *

She led us back to the entrance of Flutterside where we killed the dealer. His legless corpse was still there. Flourish recognized him.

“Ooh… Guess he finally messed with the wrong pony,” she said.

“Me,” I said.

She sighed and shook her head. “Oh well… Here’s where we’re looking for.” It was one of the shops. There were Pre-war antiques in the window. For some reason I wanted one of them but I didn’t buy any. We went inside. The door didn’t make any noise when we opened it. There was low light and I could see the dust floating around inside. The door shut behind us and the old mare at the counter coughed. Dust scattered in the air and shot away from her mouth. I thought she was one of the antiques when we first walked in.

“Agh! Customers? Come here,” she gestured us closer, “let me look at you.”

“It’s just me,” Flourish said. “I brought some friends.”

“Paying customers?”

“Well… no.”

“Damned girl! Do I look like I’m getting any younger? I need caps, not friends of yours.”

“They need your help. Me too.”

“You have caps?”

“Maybe.”

“Hand ‘em over. I say nothing until I see the money.”

Flourish growled and launched her bag of caps in the mare’s face. The bag spread out over her head and caps shot everywhere. Reverie was trying—and failing—to hold back her foalish laughter. The mare scurried across the floor like a Dash-head, trying to find every one of them.

“We want to get into New Pegasus,” Flourish said.

The mare snorted from the dust and smacked her old lips. “Oh, you need a pass to get in there. And one, two, three, four, five won’t be cheap,” she said, counting us with her hoof.

Flourish rubbed between her eyes with one hoof. "I know! How do we get some?”

The mare looked at her, fiddling with two caps between her hooves. “Got anymore caps?”

Flourish grabbed the mare by her vest. “I gave you all I had. Tell me how to get some passes or I’ll make you shit out of your mouth.”

“Please! No! I need the caps!”

Flourish looked at us. “Cover your eyes, fillies. And your ears too.”

What happened next was the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen. Radiant and Adagia shut their eyes tight and covered their ears. Rose and Reverie sat casually, Rose looking amused, Reverie looking curious. A pink wisp of magic hit the mare and she started dry-heaving. I had to say something.

“Uh, Flourish? Are you sure… ?”

“She deserves this, Plasma Storm. Trust me. She’s greedier than those ponies in New Pegasus, you’ve seen.”

“I know, but…”

And then shit poured out of the mare’s mouth in quantities I’ve never seen come out of anything. The smell filled the store in seconds. Rose and Reverie looked astonished. I was disgusted. The mare might have been greedy, but that was awful.

She puked for a good minute. There was a pile of shit about half the size of a pony in front of her and she was gasping for air.

“Make it stop! Please!”

“Do you still want caps?” Flourish said sweetly.

The mare took the bait. “Yes.”

Flourish started her punishment over. It lasted longer that time. She finally gave in.

“Okay! Okay! Listen, just come closer,” she said, gesturing Flourish over. Flourish looked at the pile and grimaced.

“No.”

“All right. Go to West Flutterside. You know where that is? Don’t you?” the mare said, blowing her breath toward Flourish who was started to get annoyed with her again. Flourish pushed her a step back.

“And?”

“Go to that building that has the lights.”

“Seriously? That one building with the lights?”

“I don’t know what it’s called. It looks like a casino but it’s not. It’s got pony-shaped lights on it.” She was talking about that building with the cool pony.

“I think I know where she means,” I said. The mare beamed at me, then looked back at Flourish.

“Uh-huh. Go there,” she said.

“And then?”

“There’s a pony in there named Blue Suede. He has some passes.”

“He’s not going to give them to us, is he?”

“Maybe. He’s a pretty nice pony.” She put her hooves on her cheeks. “And so handsome, too.”

Flourish stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Blech! You’re too old to be acting like that.”

“Age is just a number. I feel as young as you, girl.”

“Too bad you’re actually not.”

The mare sat down, smacking her lips. “Yep. Too bad.”

* * *

“Ya know what, Showpony? Yer all right.”

Flourish put a hoof to her chest and feigned flattery. “Aw! And all I had to do was make a mare crap out of her own mouth.”

“Hey! You tell me anywhere else Ah can see that.”

“Well, I’d say it’s pretty complicated, manipulating the anatomy of another pony. I just think nopony ever tried to do what I did with it.”

“And that’s a damn shame. Ah’d have laughed harder if it didn’t smell so bad in there. Don’t wanna be suckin’ in shit air, ya know?”

I was glad to be back outside. As I said before, Flutterside was nasty, but it was nice not having to smell the inside of that shop anymore. I felt bad for that poor old mare. Now I had to listen to Rose’s fanfilly rant to a pony she wanted to beat up the night before.

We went where the mare told us to. The building was probably the least-weathered one in Flutterside. A few ponies were leaning against the wall. They had black leather jackets and had greasy black manes. They were trying to look cool but their lollipops ruined it. We walked up and one of them was looking at Rose. Then he looked at me.

“Hey. I like your cowpony friend.”

Rose turned her head and look at him out of the corner of her eye. “Fuck off…” she said.

“Wanna help me?” he said to her.

“Mah gun does.”

“Nah…”

And that was the end of that.

They let us inside. It looked surprisingly classy for a Flutterside establishment. It wasn’t all high-brow, everypony-is-a-snob, nothing like that. It looked formal, but very laid back. There was music blasting out of the jukebox. The music was upbeat with an instrument like a cello, but brighter-sounding and not so drawn out on the notes—a bass guitar, I later found out. It was the bass guitar and the drums that dominated the mix. The guitar was clean and the baritone vocals had a shaky quality at the end of the notes that sounded very good.

The ponies danced mostly in pairs. A mare that was dancing alone gestured me over to dance with her. I shook my head. She smiled and went back to her dancing.

Flourish poked me. “Don’t like to dance, Plasma Storm?”

“Nope.”

“Dance with her.”

“Nope.”

“Dance with me?”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” She went to dance with the mare. Rose danced alone because nopony in there could handle her. Radiant and I pony-watched. She was laughing at a mare that was dancing like an octopus. I didn’t laugh because I knew she must have been on drugs. I didn’t say anything to Radiant about it, I let her laugh.

Rose didn’t dance for very long. She quickly spotted the bar and went over to it. Then she was yelling at the barpony because they had all these fancy drinks and no whiskey. It surprised me too. A tan stallion slid up to her and somehow calmed her down in seconds. I walked over to them. He had the same greased black mane as all the other stallions in here. His clothes were different; he had a suit that was a slightly darker tan than his coat. His voice was smooth and deeper than mine. Everypony seemed to be watching him.

He looked to me. “Howdy, friend.” He had the same accent as Rose, but not nearly as thick. “Name’s Blue Suede,” he said, holding out his hoof.

I shook it. “I’m Plasma Storm. I was looking for you. Me and my friends.”

He looked worried for half a second then resumed his laid-back demeanor, sly smile and all. “You are a friend, aren’t ya?”

“Are you?” Rose asked.

“If Ah wanted ya dead, ya wouldn’t have come in here. Ya definitely wouldn’t have found me.”

“I was looking for a blue pony,” I said.

“Who told ya Ah was blue?”

“Nopony did, I just figured with a name like Blue Suede you’d be blue. Or at least be wearing blue clothes. There isn’t any blue on you at all.”

“Nope,” he said.

“Somepony told us you have passes into New Pegasus. Do you?”

“Mhmmm,” he said coolly.

“Can we have some?”

He shook his head.

“You want something done and then you’ll give us some passes?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Ah don’t need anything done.”

“How can we get some?”

“Don’t know. Why don’t ya just have a good time for now, ‘til ya figure it out?”

Flourish came up just in time to hear that. “Yeah, Plasma Storm! Dancing is so much fun!” She grabbed my hoof and tried to pull me into the crowd but I was too big for her. “Come on,” she grunted, “we might even burst into a random song.”

Hell no. I don’t know why ponies did that back before the war. There were a few ponies in the Stable who did it. Everypony else would somehow know the words to this song and perform choreographed dances on the fly. But not me. I’m taller than the average stallion by a lot more than a head, bulky too, and a stallion that big draws attention to themselves simply by existing; we don’t normally come near that big. I’d probably like to dance if I didn’t feel like everypony was watching me.

Blue Suede gave me a push and threw me off balance and Flourish pulled me into the crowd. I didn’t want to dance. I never liked to dance. But I didn’t want to disappoint a pretty mare like Flourish. She really was. I wouldn’t sing a song for her though.

It wasn’t long before I was actually having fun. Maybe it was Flourish, maybe it was the great music, I don’t know. I was having a good time. Radiant joined in not long after me. There were a few foals in there. It was cute the way they were dressed, all in attire like Blue Suede’s, casually formal is what I’d call it. The only other foal I’d seen in Flutterside was Sodapop. I wondered what happened to him after I killed his friends. Poor colt’s probably dead now. The foals in there made me smile. They were just being foals, careless to the hell that was just outside their door.

Blue Suede made me dance for a while longer before he offered me the passes. Like I initially assumed, he wanted something done. He said he would only tell me. I didn’t care; I was just going to tell my friends when we left. Unless he made me promise not to. He didn’t.

His room was nice. After seeing the lobby of this place it wasn’t that surprising, even for being in Flutterside. It smell of cologne but not too strongly; just the right amount. He opened the drawer to his wooden desk; it looked very high-quality, shined to a dark brown polish. He pulled out a bottle of liquid that was just as dark. He offered me some.

“No thanks,” I said.

“So, first thing you should know is that Ah ain’t just giving you the passes. Ah want ya to find somethin’ for me.”

“What?”

“Blue Suede’s suit. It’s in a museum, west of here.”

“Your suit is in a museum from before the war?”

“Mah name isn’t really Blue Suede.”

“Then what is it?”

“Just call me Blue Suede.”

“All right. How will I know this suit when I see it?”

“It’s white, maybe still after all these years. It will be the only one in there, Ah know. Bring it to me, Ah’ll get you an’ all yer friends into New Pegasus.”

“It’s worth that much?”

He took a sip, shook his head slowly with the whiskey still in his mouth and then swallowed it and gave a satisfied sigh. “Much more. But you need passes and that’s the most valuable thing Ah can give ya.”

“What’s in the museum? You could have just sent your guys to go get it. Unless…”

“They ain’t mah guys, they’re family. Ah wouldn’t send them over there for a suit. An’ if Ah told ya what was there, you probably wouldn’t go.”

“But you’re still going to send me?”

“Ah know you can handle yerself.”

“What? How could you know that?”

“You are the giant Pegasus stallion that cleared the Thunderhooves Hotel of the convicts all by yerself, right? Killed all the ghouls in the Neighvak Satellite Facility, savin’ the entire town? Word is you even killed some kind of monster that wiped out a different town, and the Hellhounds it brought with it. Ah didn’t believe that one mahself, but…”

“How could you possibly know about all that?”

“Don’t you listen to the radio?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should. Miss New Pegasus knows and sees everything, and you caught her eye with your justice and heroics. Oh, yeah, she knows ‘bout how you shot that convict’s fun bits off. Ah guess everypony who listens to her knows too. Ah almost wet mahself when Ah heard that one. But don’t let it go to yer head. For everypony that wants to shake yer hoof there’s one that wants to blow yer head off.”

“Well, you already shook my hoof so I guess my head’s safe for now.”

He laughed. “Did ya really kill all those Hellhounds?”

I nodded. “And saved the filly that was the only survivor.”

“That little one in there?”

“No, that’s my filly. I guess I saved her too. She’s why I’m out here.”

“Ah like you, Plasma Storm.” He down the rest of his glass. “So do we got a deal?”

“Uh-huh.” We shook on it. That’s the thing I liked most about Blue Suede. He shook on everything, like that’s all you needed to trust somepony. The ponies of the Marejave just didn’t do that anymore. They’d rather lie.

When I came back to the lobby everypony was still having a great time. Radiant had been watching for me. She rushed over as soon as I came out. Reverie followed her. It took Flourish a minute to spot us. I let her have her fun. Rose might have been ignoring us. I was thinking about leaving her there; that would have been funny. Instead I walked over and flipped her hat off of her head to get her attention. She spun around instantly and hit me in the throat. She put her hat back on.

“Fuckin’ Feathers. Do that again an’ Ah’ll hit you twice. Don’t mess with a mare’s hat. Ever.”

I stared at her while I held my throat and coughed dramatically. She pointed a hoof at me with a glare. I made one last fake cough and we left.

* * *

‘West of New Pegasus’ was pretty vague. He forgot to mention that it was a day and a half’s walk to the museum. Along the way I practiced flying. My wings were big, but they weren’t strong from the twenty-plus years of never being used. They’d need to be strong to get me off the ground. By the time we got to the museum I could hover for a few seconds. Not as much as I wanted, but it was a start. Radiant practiced flying too. She did better than me but still couldn’t fly.

Rose and Flourish were becoming fast friends. What bothered me was how shy Reverie was. She didn’t say more than two or three-word sentences, and that was only when she was answering somepony. I couldn’t get her to shut up when it was just the two of us. When we were all together she wouldn’t talk. Radiant caught on to it and bombarded her with questions just to make her talk. Then she pulled her into an argument.

“Reverie, do you know how the sun and moon come out?”

Reverie was suddenly interested. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“That’s not true. They aren’t real.”

“Oh yes they are!”

Radiant hated when somepony accused her of being wrong. I think she inherited that from me.

“Oh, yeah?! Prove it!”

“We don’t have to prove anything. We’ve seen them!”

“No you haven’t. They aren’t real. They were made up because ponies couldn’t figure out why the sun and moon come out on their own.”

“They weren’t made up. We’ve seen them before.”

“Where?”

“In a memory.”

“In a memory? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yes! It’s a little ball. We saw into it. We can see what somepony else sees. And felt their feels too.”

“Show me, then!”

“You can’t use one.”

Radiant scoffed. “Of course. Because the little ball is as made up as the Princesses.”

Reverie screamed randomly in Radiant’s ear. The filly jumped up in the air, her wings flapping like a beetle’s. Then they left each other alone.

* * *

The museum was in a fairly large town. An empty town. The sky was darker over it than the rest of the Marejave. I felt like we were going to have another experience like Adagia’s town. It wasn’t quite that bad. Most of the buildings had no windows, probably blown out by the force of the mega-spells, hundreds of years ago. The only sound was the faint breeze whistling through the cracks in the old structures.

“It sure is scary here, Dad.”

“Nah, it’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t fine. A blast of magic shot out at us from the roof of one of the buildings. It struck the ground right in the middle of our group and sent us sprawling in every direction. Harlequin Forest got up looking angrier than I’d ever seen.

“Who did that?! If We find you, We’re going to kill you!”

Another blast came down. She saw where it came from and shot one twice the size at it. It shot straight through the enemy magic and hit the top of the building, leveling the whole structure. We heard moaning.

The pony shooting magic at us was on the ground on the other side of the building. I was expecting a Unicorn. She was an Alicorn, blue with a darker blue mane. She was big but not like Reverie. Her body was broken but was regenerating—much slower than Reverie does, but still at an impressive rate. Her broken wing mended, then the gashes from the magic and the fall.

“Who did that?” she asked. “Who did this to Us?”

“You attacked us first,” I said.

Harlequin Forest looked down on her, smiling. “And We said We would kill you when We found you. Are you ready to die?”

She looked at Harlequin Forest in awe. “Oh… it’s the Goddess,” she said. “Forgive Us, please!” What?

“Oh no! We already said We were going to kill you. Plasma Storm always does what he says, so We will too.”

“Wait,” I said. “She apologized. She didn’t know it was you.”

“But you weren’t nice to that stallion in the city. He was nice after you shot his legs off, but you still weren’t nice. He didn’t even try to kill you.”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s murdered other ponies, I’m sure.”

“He has,” Flourish said. I was really hoping that my assumptions were right. I’d have felt terrible if I found out he hadn’t murdered another pony.

“That was different anyways,” I told Reverie.

“But he was a pony. She is a pony. It’s the same.”

“No, it isn’t. Don’t kill her. Maybe she can help.”

The mare looked at me, then Harlequin Forest. “Oh, yes! Help, we always help the Goddess. We always do whatever the Goddess says!”

Harlequin Forest sat down and stared at the mare. “Yes? Kill yourself…”

The mare hesitated.

Harlequin Forest leaned in closer. “Kill yourself…”

“Uh… Yes, of course!”

The mare started to cast magic. It enveloped her body then erupted in a flash. Her corpse fell to the ground. Harlequin Forest put her horn inches from the dead mare’s and cast a spell. Magic flowed from the mare’s horn to Harlequin Forest’s, appearing very bright at first, then waning after about ten seconds.

“What the fuck?!” I said.

“Don’t talk to Us like that, Plasma Storm.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because We wanted to.”

“I told you to let her go!”

“We are the Goddess. We don’t have to listen to you.”

“You aren’t the Goddess.”

“She said We were.”

“She was crazier than you.”

“We took her power, Plasma Storm. We are stronger now.”

“You murdered her.”

“No We didn’t! We told her to kill herself and she did. Are you going to kill Us now? Kill Us, Plasma Storm.” She knew I couldn’t kill her, even if I wanted to.

Her eyes turned green. “We don’t want to die.”

She looked around then fell to the ground and covered her head. We were surrounded by Alicorns. There were fourteen of them, some blue, some green, one was red. The red one knelt down and examined the dead mare.

“We told her you were a traitor,” she said to Reverie. She had the voice of several mares in unison. “We only want to be left alone. Why won’t you leave us alone?”

“We didn’t do anything. You leave Us alone!”

The red mare shook her head. “We should have been the new Goddess. We tried to hide from you but you found Us again.” She spread her impressive wings and fanned them. “We don’t know if We’re ready, but you have to die so We can live in peace.”

“No, We don’t want to fight!”

“We don’t want to fight you. We want to fight Harlequin Forest.”

I was sure that the red Alicorn was about to die. All of her Alicorn friends too. The power Harlequin Forest would get from all of them was too scary to even think about.

“Come out, coward. We are strong now.”

Harlequin Forest stood up. “You aren’t stronger than Us. Nopony is stronger than Us.”

“Maybe not, but We won’t kill Ourselves for you. We will fight!”

“And you will die!”

Harlequin Forest grabbed the mare with magic and launched her into the sky. She flipped uncontrollably, going too fast to slow down with her wings. Harlequin Forest flapped her wings, shooting after the mare. The concrete beneath her cracked when she left the ground.

By the time Harlequin Forest reached her, the mare had straightened out and began firing magic at her. They were deflected off of her coat and crashed down to the ground. One struck an Alicorn who was ripped to bits. She didn’t regenerate. Harlequin Forest tilted her head down and drove her horn through the mare’s chest, then shot magic with her horn still inside the mare. She shot away from Harlequin Forest, flailing through the air in a long arc. She bounced off the ground and rolled to a stop. Half of her chest was gone but regenerating quickly.

When she woke up she looked scared. “We aren’t ready…” she said softly. She continued to fight.

She wasn’t ready, not even close. Her spells, while they looked impressive and could probably smite a normal pony, were doing nothing to Harlequin Forest. She would laugh at the mare’s attempts to hurt her.

She grabbed the mare by the throat and magically ripped her head off. The decapitated head started to decompose instantly and a new one began to grow from her shoulders. She was a very powerful Alicorn. Not powerful enough. Harlequin Forest ripped her new head off and another sprouted.

“Stop doing that!” Harlequin Forest yelled. She ripped her third head off, then threw her to the ground when it grew back.

The other Alicorn watched in awe as their leader was killed again and again by what I guessed was the biggest threat to their existence. They knew their place. If the red mare couldn’t so much as make her flinch, what could they do? Watch.

The fight wasn’t going on because Harlequin Forest wanted to hurt the mare. She couldn’t figure out how to kill her. The mare grew weaker each time she was killed, but was always resurrected.

Harlequin Forest tied the mare’s wings in a knot. The sounds they made had my wings hurting. Unfortunately, since they weren’t ripped off they stayed tied in a knot. Now she couldn’t fly, making her even weaker.

The mare was killed at least fifteen times before she finally died. I noticed that sky was beginning to brighten. On her last life she had magic that couldn’t hurt a foal, it looked like she could hardly stand. It was because she’d been killed so many times in such a small amount of time. She sat before Harlequin Forest in defeat.

“Kill yourself…” Harlequin Forest said.

The mare stared at hurt and did nothing. Harlequin Forest stared back for a few seconds.

“You won’t?”

The mare shook her head.

Red magic snaked around the mare’s horn and it was broken from her head. It came toward Harlequin Forest and then the broken end pointed at its owner—it was broken to a jagged point. It shot toward her, sailing through her chest like a hot knife, and exploding out of her back. Blood squirted out of the hole it made. She winced then dropped dead for good. Blood pooled around her. The horn clattered on the ground a hundred feet away. Harlequin Forest put her horn to the jagged stump and took the mare’s power. She didn’t have much after being killed so many times.

Reverie didn’t come back after the fight. I wanted to know how she worked. What made Harlequin Forest leave?

The Alicorns didn’t flee. Harlequin Forest could catch them. They knew it.

Radiant stepped up to her. “What are you going to do with them?” she asked, concerned.

“Nothing.” We all breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as they heard that they fled as fast as they could. They were dots in the sky in seconds. We stood there taking in what just happened.

“What the fuck?!” I said again.

“We couldn’t help that one, Plasma Storm. If We don’t fight, then We die.”

“Yep, Ah’m with her on this one, Feathers. That one there wanted to fight,” she pointed at the dead Alicorn. “Kind of sad. That couldn’t have been more one-sided.”

Reverie blushed. “Oh, stop it, you…”

“Pfft!” Flourish tried not to laugh. “Aww, that’s cute, Reverie.”

“We aren’t cute…”

Flourish stood up and grabbed her by the cheeks. “Why, of course you are! You’re just like a filly, only bigger. I just wanna pinch your li… big cheeks.”

“Meh… stop! Leave Our cheeks alone! Or we will pinch yours. Hard, too.”

“I’m just teasing. The Marejave needs comedy, I think. It’s always so bleak out here.”

Reverie frowned at her.

“Oh, come on now. Smile!”

Reverie didn’t smile. Flourish stood up again and put her hooves to the corners of Reverie’s mouth and stretched her lips into a hideously big smile. Her teeth were surprisingly healthy, healthier than mine, and we had a dentist in the Stable.

“Like that! Ha! Ha!”

“No, Showpony. That’s kinda creepy.”

Reverie frowned again and pushed Flourish down.

We left Reverie alone then because she looked hurt. She was very sensitive, fragile. Even the slightest insult would hurt worse than a shotgun blast—I guess she could confirm that too.

We went through the town, looking for the museum. Radiant, Rose, and Flourish traded small talk. Reverie and I were quiet. The town was quiet now that the Alicorns were gone. Now we only heard the breeze whistling through the cracks again. The sun was starting to set.

“You know,” Flourish said, “I noticed you don’t search every building.”

“We don’t have time to do that,” I said.

“What are you in hurry for?”

“I want to get into New Pegasus.”

“It will be there tomorrow. And the next day, and the next day. Let’s explore a little.”

“You want to sleep in one of these buildings?”

“Remember where I used to sleep?”

“What if the Alicorns come back?”

“You’re full of excuses, Plasma Storm. Were they a problem before? Ol’ Harlequin Forest is the baddest pony I’ve ever seen.” She nudged the Alicorn. “Tell Plasma Storm that you’ll protect us.”

“We can protect all of you.” She stretched out and pulled all of us into a hug. “We are all of your friends, yes.”

“Fine, fine,” I said, wriggling out of her grip, “we’ll look around.”

“I was starting to think you were afraid of the dark or something. A big stallion like you? That would have been ridiculous.”

“Should have seen what we did before we met you.”

Radiant butted in. “Yeah! It was this big monster that looked like a Hellhound! Except he wasn’t grey like them, he was black… and he made more of them. He blew out this smoke and the smoke turned into more Hellhounds. Oh, it was scary all right. But Reverie killed him for us. She flew right through him at first, but then did this magic thing,” she inhaled, “and then it started to get pulled in, but he wasn’t going in by himself, no. Me and Dad shot him because Rose’s bullets weren’t hurting him. And then he got sucked in and then he died!”

“Whoa,” Flourish said. “Cool story.”

“Hey, it was real! You think I would lie?”

“Of course not.”

“All right.”

We searched the first building that didn’t have its doors boarded shut. I kind of wish it did. The floor was alive with roaches. They scattered away from Radiant’s PipBuck light when we walked in. The smell they had given the place had us all gagging.

“Happy now, Flourish?” I said.

“Oh, don’t try to blame it on me. You could have picked any one of these buildings. You picked the one with bugs.”

“Well, if roaches are what you wanted, you’re in luck.”

“I don’t.”

“Then let’s search another one.”

The next one had roaches worse than the first one. We decided not to search any more buildings. We walked through the town guessing how many roaches were in each building to pass the time. Then we found the museum.

It was about twice as tall as the surrounding buildings and built with the same architecture. We went to push open the large front doors. I thought they were locked.

“Nah, Feathers. Ya gotta put some back into it.” Rose walked up to the door, turned around and kicked with all her strength. The door didn’t budge. She fell on her face, laughing.

We all looked at Reverie.

“What?” she said.

“Open the door?” I said.

“We don’t know opening door magic.”

“Well… blow it up.”

“We can’t do that.” She walked up and stroked the door. “It’s such a nice door. We don’t want to break it.”

“What about you, Flourish?”

She studied the door for a moment.

“Uh-huh… Yeah.” She stood on her hind legs and her horn started to glow. She pointed her hooves and the door. “Open, sesame!” Then she stood there.

“Uh…” I said.

She jiggled the doorknob and it opened. “You were saying?”

“Nothing.”

* * *

I was expecting more out of the museum. I figured that there might be something intact. Nothing was. Any display cases that hadn’t been buried in garbage had been busted open and had its contents taken. Two flights of stairs led up to the next level. A door was at the top and a plaque was above it. North Wing, it read. There were identical doors to our left and right and had plaques that read West Wing and East Wing, respectively.

Three wings, five of us.

“We need to split up,” I said.

“Why?” Rose said.

“Because it will take three times as long if we all search the same wing.”

“Ah call Little Feathers!”

“Yes!” Radiant said. She was excited because she always got picked last in the Stable for the sports because of her size.

“Then I guess you’re stuck with me, Plasma Storm,” Flourish said.

Reverie was insulted. “Why can’t we go with Plasma Storm?”

“Because you don’t need somepony to watch your back, Reverie.”

“Then We will go this way,” she pointed to the North Wing and started walking. “They think We’re alone but We’re not.”

Radiant beamed at Flourish and I. “I bet we’ll find the suit first! Come on, Rose!” They disappeared into the East Wing.

I knew what Rose was doing. And it was working.

“Uh…” I said.

“Uh,” Flourish said, mocking me.

“We should, uh, start looking.”

“Mhmm.”

Nice one…

* * *

I opened to the West Wing. The door ripped away the spider webs that made creaking noise as they were broken.

“Ooh, I don’t like spiders,” Flourish said.

“Hopefully there aren’t any giant radioactive ones.”

That would’ve been bad. Regular spiders were creepy enough.

“No, you don’t have them here in the Marejave. In the east is where the radiation is.”

“We have some here too. I almost died from it.”

“I know, I mean that it isn’t anywhere near as bad as in the east. You can’t flick your tail without hitting something that gives off radiation. All of the water is polluted too. The raiders are nastier, the monsters are scarier. Life is easier here.”

“You sound like you miss it,” I joked.

“Oh no. I heard a story about a mare about fifty years ago that took a huge step towards ending this Hell we live in. She was so close, too. But I guess the ponies of Equestria don’t want to change.”

“Can’t imagine why they’d not want to change.”

“I… wait. Do you hear that?”

I listened. It was in the air ducts above us. Something heavy. The sound of metal scraping metal was trailing behind it.

“Agh! We hate searching for things!” Then the noises were gone.

Flourish looked at me. “Is that Reverie?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Is she… all right?”

“I have no idea. That’s why I wanted her to come along. I wanted to know what’s up with her.”

“I’ve never seen anything like her. She’s something else.”

The first room we found looked like an office. Just inside the door was a statue of a pony who I recognized without ever seeing him. He was a tan stallion with a slicked-back mane and a white suit. Blue Suede. I felt the suit to see if it was what we were looking for. It was made of wax.

There were eight desks all with their own terminals. Three of them looked like they exploded. Only one was still powered on. I checked the screen. The words on the screen gave off a faint amber glow.

Journal entry 4:

Had a colt today trying to touch the Blue Suede wax figure. I told him at least ten times to leave it the hay alone. Little pricks, they have no respect for musical history. Some pojb8i

The bastard touched it again. Won’t be seeing him in here again. Well, at least not for a month. If it were up to me he wouldn’t be coming back. Damned management thinks foals should get it easier than stallions and mares. He’s a just a foal, they say. He’s a little asshole is what he is. He’s lucky that wasn’t the real suit.

Flourish laughed behind me. “Foals should get it easier. It’s funny that he called them ‘little pricks’ though.”

“Why is that funny?”

“I don’t know. Prick is a funny word.”

I thought about it. Prick kind of is a funny word. I laughed.

She laughed. “See? Some words just sound funny.”

“Burglar…”

“Bur… ?” She started giggling. “Uh… mugwump.”

“Ha! Ha! Plebian.” She looked offended, but smiled.

“Cocksmooch.” That escalated quickly…

“Swampdick.”

She opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of anything.

“Oh? What was that?”

“Uh…”

“Nothing beats swampdick.”

She stared at me then we both started laughing.

We started actually looking for the suit, still giggling over the funny words. There was a locker over in the corner. I knew it wasn’t in there but checked anyways. There was a rifle in there, a Hunting Rifle, I think. There was also a small cardboard box with rounds for the rifle.

“You don’t carry a gun?” I asked.

“No. I’ve never even shot one before.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess no reason in particular. I’ve never really needed one. Looks like your gun has some kick.”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, but you’re, like, twelve-hundred pounds.”

“Eh, probably more. Do you want this gun?”

She looked at it then pick it up with magic. “Ah…” She awkwardly looked down the sight and shook it. “How do you put the bullets in?”

“See that lever, there?”

“Yeah.”

“Turn it up, pull it back, now push it back to where it was.” She was good with telekinesis.

I hit the clip release and the magazine fell to the floor. It was empty. “Put the bullets in there. No, wait! That’s backwards.”

“Oh. Like that?”

“Yeah. Now fill it up.” She put in four more rounds. “Put the clip back in.” She did. “Good to go.”

“And now I just pull the trigger?” She pulled the trigger.

“Whoa!”

“Oh! Sorry!” She came just inches from shooting my wing. “Sorry, sorry, sorry!”

“You almost shot me!”

“But I didn’t!”

“Just… maybe you shouldn’t use that until you practice a little more.”

“But…”

“No.”

Poor Flourish. The first time she fires a gun she almost hits one of her friends. I felt bad but I’d rather her not have a gun around me.

There was nothing else in the locker. The only thing of interest in the room was the terminal. We went back out into the hall. The next two rooms were blocked off by rubble.

“Why is there rubble here?” I said. “This place isn’t even falling apart.”

“Maybe somepony goes around with rubble and blocks off random doors to make ponies wonder why the rubble is there.”

“I’m almost willing to believe that.”

The third room was missing its door. We stepped inside.

That was a mistake.

There was a robot inside as big as me. It was black and its single leg split off into four at the ground, like an office chair with wheels. Its head was short and its eyes were blank until we came in. Then they lit up red.

“Intruder in the West Wing. Executing security protocols.”

It raised its left arm and sprayed bullets everywhere. I flipped over a desk and we hid behind it. My rear half was sticking out so Flourish could fit all the way behind it. Then it filled my ass with bullets. The leather didn’t do much to protect me but at least it wasn’t shooting at us with a higher caliber.

“Go, Flourish! Get out!”

I jumped up and aimed my shotgun. Flourish was out the door when I saw something white with a trail of smoke behind it. It was halfway between the robot and I, about ten feet from either of us. I shot it.

It exploded, sending fire and shrapnel everywhere. I shot six more rounds at the robot. Its armor was starting to open up but it didn’t seem like I hit anything important yet.

If I stood up to shoot, it would fire at me with the Gatling gun. If I hid behind the desk, it would ready a missile. I hid too long.

I heard the missile coming. It didn’t head for the desk. It went over and hit the wall just behind me. My ears were ringing and the world was blurry. I saw Perdition lying out in the open. I saw the robot readying the Gatling gun. I saw Flourish’s head in the doorway.

Her horn lit up and a ball of magic went toward the robot. It was strange magic. Like a grenade.

The magic exploded, knocking the robot over. It was still on though. I could see its eyes. Flourish was next to me then, looking me over.

“Oh, shit, shit, shit!” She bit down on the back of my armor’s collar and tried to drag me. “You fat bastard! Hnnnngggggg!” I wasn’t budging until I started to flap my wings. She managed to drag me a foot before I got up myself.

My vision was still blurred. I smacked into the side of the doorway twice, falling down the second time, and dragged myself out of the room. Flourish ran ahead and turned around a ways down the hall.

“Come on! Do you want to die?!”

My leg was hurt from the missile. Every time I stepped on it the pain made it go limp and I would have to catch myself before I fell again. I didn’t notice all the blood. The chest and shoulder of my armor was gone and the skin in the area was burned.

We went back to the first room with the terminal and shut the door and locked it. I collapsed, feeling extreme pain but relief, not only that I was alive, but also that I wasn’t standing on my leg.

“Are you okay?” Flourish asked.

“No. I need bandages.”

“We don’t have any. You don’t scavenge, remember? Are you going to die?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good thing I was here, huh?”

Instead of Radiant, I thought. “Oh no… What if… no, their fine.” I couldn’t believe anything else. Hope for the best and expect the best. That’s stupid, but I didn’t need to think about the worst. Rose would take care of her.

“Can you heal me?”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“Then we need to find Reverie.”

“We shouldn’t have split up.”

“No… I’m sorry.”

* * *

I didn’t remember the walk back to the lobby. I lost a lot of blood. I woke up with a pink cape tied around my leg. There was a strong smell of whiskey.

“He’ll be all right.” That was Rose.

“Dad?” I saw my filly.

“Nice work, Showpony.” Rose looked down at me. “You seem to be makin’ a habit out of having your friends save your life.”

“Did you find the suit?”

“Ya almost died trying to get the thing!”

“You didn’t get it?”

“Nope.”

“Robots?”

“Zombies. More of ‘em than there was at the Satellite Facility. One of ‘em was throwing globs of shit at us that Ah don’t even know what it was. Burned like hell though.” I saw she had burn marks on her side. “Ah sure hope Reverie got the worst of it. At least she can handle it.”

“Yeah,” Radiant said. “I’d be pretty mad if she got the easy one.”

Radiant looked unharmed. A little dirty and scared, but I could live with that. We decided to go back into the West Wing together. Rose said that Radiant was getting to be pretty good shot with her Laser Pistol.

“Yeah. I shot three of them in a row without missing. And I didn’t even use S.A.T.S.”

I figured that she had used S.A.T.S. I was almost glad that she didn’t. I hated everything about my PipBuck. It was big and stupid. I hadn’t used it since I found Radiant other than to check the radiation levels in the Satellite Facility. If she wanted to use hers, I guess was okay with that. I’d rather her be confident enough to hit an enemy, knowing that she had help if she needed it.

The robot was still where it had fallen over. Its eyes were still glowing, but it didn’t move. I asked Flourish what she did to it. She said she didn’t know. It was like she used a grenade just for robots, but made out of magic.

“I just panicked and tried something new,” she said. Good thing, too.

I knew the suit wasn’t in that room either. There was only the robot, the desk I used as cover, and all the desk clutter that fell off when I flipped it. The once-white walls had posters going around the whole room. They were posters of ponies from the past. A few of them were of Blue Suede. He was such a cool-looking stallion. One of them showed him playing an acoustic guitar, but on the others he only had a microphone.

“Mm…” Rose said. “Now that there is a handsome stallion. Better looking than those fools in Flutterside. Yeah. All these guys aren’t too bad lookin’”

All of the ponies on the posters looked like they were from a long time before the war. Their style was different from anything you’d see in the last two-hundred and fifty years. It wasn’t bad at all. Casually formal, like I said.

The West Wing was just offices. There was nothing there. That meant that we had to check the East Wing. I was hoping Reverie found the suit and teleported us out. I didn’t want to fight Ghouls again.

The East wing smelled like the death that walked its halls. We could hear them shuffling around. Rose put her hoof to her lips and mouthed, “Shut the fuck up.”

None of us had a quiet weapon. It was a shame that Rose lost her knife. She didn’t need it though. She knew where the Ghoul was before we did. As soon as it rounded the corner she grabbed it by the head and snapped its neck. She held it as it fell so it didn’t make noise.

She did the same to the next Ghoul but another had spotted us. She brought it down with her gun. We heard screaming, then quick footsteps.

“Damn it!” Rose said.

A small army of Ghouls came blasting out from a single room. We were lost in the crowd in seconds. They knocked me over and started biting at my armor, ripping it off. I shot straight up with Perdition, feeling chunks of flesh and warm mist and pieces of the roof come back down on me. More Ghouls replaced the dead.

I shot again, then kicked as many back as I could. They tried to hold me down but I was able to get up. I shot a trail through the Ghouls and tried to make my way out of the crowd.

As soon as I got out I saw a glowing ball of something coming at me. I ducked it and it struck one of the Ghouls behind me. It started to smoke but didn’t appear to be hurt by it.

The globs of shit that Rose didn’t know what it was… Great.

The Ghoul throwing it looked a little different than the others. It had a breastplate and was a slightly bigger. Boiling flesh was in the middle of its breastplate. That was where it was getting the things it was throwing. It was throwing radioactive pieces of itself. It pulled out another rad-grenade and threw it at me. I thrust my wings and dodged to the side, firing a round at it.

The buckshot tore into its neck and face but it wasn’t fazed. I shot it again, in the leg, and it buckled. The boiling flesh was starting to ooze from the armor.

Rose burst from the crowd. “Kill it, Feathers! Ah don’t wanna get hit by no more of that. Kill it!”

I emptied the rounds from my gun with the trigger as I walked closer and closer to it. It died when I was two from empty but I shot it twice more just to make sure it was dead, then reloaded.

I was one who did most of the killing. Rose’s rifle wasn’t suited for close quarters. She got tore up pretty bad. Radiant and Flourish got it much worse. Flourish’s mane was pointing in every direction and she was covered in Ghoul slobber and blood. Her glasses were gone. Radiant was even worse than that. Half of her right ear had been bitten off. She had cuts all over, her armor shredded like mine.

“Please be okay. Are you okay, Radiant?”

She coughed. “Am I dead?”

“We need to leave,” I said.

“Without the suit?”

“Fuck the suit!”

“If we don’t get the suit, then we all got chewed up for nothing.”

“So? Better than being killed for clothes.”

We heard more shuffling. I stepped in front of Radiant and readied my gun. The shuffling wasn’t on the floor. It was above us. In the vents. I heard the sound of metal dragging on metal and then a screech. A section of the vents fell down, landing on Rose. Reverie rolled out of the section looking stunned. Her hammer came out behind her.

Rose had her front half sticking out from under the vent and she was unconscious. Reverie looked at her. “Oh, We’re sorry!” She grabbed Rose’s hoof and pulled her out violently. It was funny how she flopped around.

“Ope… We’ll… You’ll be okay. There.” Rose was still unconscious. Reverie cast a spell to wake her up.

“Oh, mah head. What’d ya do? Drop a vent on me?”

“Yes. But We said sorry.”

“Humph. Then I guess everything is fine.”

Reverie breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why are you over here?” I asked her. “You’re supposed to be in the North Wing.”

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere. We didn’t know where We were going. So many turns in here.”

“Did you find the suit?”

She beamed and nodded.

“Do you have it?” I asked impatiently.

“We found it. We don’t have it though.”

“Why not?”

“Magic walls. And robots too. About a million of them.”

“Okay. Can you heal Radiant? She’s hurt.”

Reverie nodded and went over to heal Radiant. Her cuts healed nicely. Her ear closed up but didn’t grow back. I didn’t think she knew that half of it was gone.

“Rose, I need you to take Radiant back to the lobby. Wait there until we get back.”

“What about me?” Flourish asked.

“I’d rather you went back to the lobby too.”

“And Us too?”

“Uh, no. You’re going to show me where the suit is so we can get it and get out of here.”

Rose smirked. “And it’ll be that easy.”

“Dad, I wanna go with you.”

“You’re not.”

“Come on!”

“I said no.”

Dad was still always right.

We all went back out to the lobby. Rose and Flourish stayed with Radiant who was still pouting. She got half her ear bitten off and was more hurt by not being able to go with me to fight an army of security bots.

I asked Reverie to heal my leg.

“We already healed Radiant. If we heal you too then We can’t heal Ourselves. Then We die.”

“How long until you can heal me?”

“We’ll try tomorrow.”

“If I’m alive then…”

Reverie and I went through the door to the North Wing.

“How far in is it?” I asked.

“Oh, so very far, Plasma Storm.”