Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 6

First impressions

“Didn't see that comin'...”

~O~Frostmane~O~

I couldn't believe how much junk we had picked up in Horseshoe. Most of it I had never seen before, but Firestorm assured me that she had traded some Spark Batteries and part of our provisions for it. Still, I couldn't help myself but think that Zekanda had been stealing again...

The cart creaked loudly as I pulled it through Horsehead canyon and towards Little horn. For the life of me I couldn't understand why anypony would name sections of the same canyon differently, but then again I didn't care enough to give it much thought. Zekanda was riding on the cart with our stuff, seemingly having the time of her life, while Firestorm circled above us, keeping a look out for potential trouble.

So far, there hadn't been anything too threatening here. We had encountered some pretty large insects earlier, that my Pipbuck identified as “Radroaches”, but they had been easy to kill. Even the little gray striped filly had taken out one or two of them. The letter had mentioned other dangerous creatures named “Rad-Scorpions”, going so far as to warn me about their poison. If there were any around this area however, they were keeping their distance to our little group.

It was already noon when we finally set hoof into little horn canyon, and the first spires of Princess Lunas school for young Unicorns came into view. The building itself looked much like I remembered it. Apparently the Zebras who inhabited the structure had taken very good care of it. However, the closer we got to it, the more I noticed a change in the landscape. Holes in the ground that others might have mistaken for natural formations, were obvious signs of explosions to me. Here and there I even spotted pieces of Steel Ranger armor, hidden behind large rocks.

“There must have been a major battle here some time ago.”, I thought as I let my eyes linger on a helmet that looked as if it had been crushed by a dragon. I suspected that the Order of Machina didn't particularly like Zebras, and had tried to drive them off. By the looks of it, the Zebras had won that battle however, since I didn't see a single Zebra corpse anywhere.

“Frosty? I think we should be very careful. The schools defenses are up.”, Firestorm informed me over the radio.

“They're up? Well, you can't really blame them by the looks of it.”, I replied, rounding the school to reach the front gate. It made me extremely uneasy to know that the defenses were up to be honest. The ten meter high wall that surrounded the school was embedded with thousands of enchanted gemstones, providing a wide variety of methods to defend the building. I had seen first hoof what they could do since, the clean-up operation had required for somepony go in and deactivate the defenses. The poor buck they had sent in after we had lost twenty Ponytrons almost wet himself as he was chosen...

It surprised me a little that no Zebra could be seen on the walls. Was there something wrong here, or was this just my imagination? Maybe they simply trusted in the schools defenses, and therefor didn't see a need to post any guards. And really, they were right. Anypony without proper authorization would be blasted apart if he tried to climb the walls...

Zekanda was practically bouncing with glee as we reached the front gate, jumping up and down in the cart, making our belongings jump as well. I was just about to tell the filly off when a shout of warning over the radio caught my attention. It came way too late however. Something roughly the size and strength of a speeding train barreled into me from my right, tearing the harness of the cart apart completely as it rammed me into a boulder. Let me tell you, it hurt!

Due to the familiar surroundings, I had neglected my EFS, and this was my reward for it! I had let my guard down, and was now struggling to extract myself from the remains of the boulder to see what had hit me.  Firestorm was already coming in low, flying only inches above the ground, readying her rifles to fire at the enormous ...Pony (?) that had hit me, but I ordered her to break off her attack. My eyes darted to the remains of our cart that had been dragged along with me for a few feet, and the bleeding filly that lay among our scattered belongings. If anypony needed Storms help right now, it was her.

Storm wasn't happy with it, but obeyed my command as I stood to face the almost nine meter high stallion. His entire body was one giant mass of muscles, and I suddenly wasn't so confident anymore that I could beat him. Hadn't it been for my armor, I would have been crushed. Suddenly I knew what had crushed that unfortunate Steel Ranger I had seen earlier.

“I'm not here to fight.”, I said, trying a diplomatic approach. Either I wasn't very convincing, or the yellow giant didn't care, since he reared up on his hind legs, attacking me in a way I knew pretty well.

“Fallen Caesar style? REALLY?”, I thought, as I evaded his first hoof-strike by jumping backwards and rearing up myself. That guy was way faster than I had anticipated however, and so his second strike hit me straight in the face. Even though my armor took much of the force away, I still felt as if I had just galloped head first into a brick wall as I was sent flying. Fallen Caesar style was usually not suited for fast paced combat, since it's main objective was to incapacitate the enemy by either breaking their bones, or interrupting their central nerve system through precise hoof-strikes. This big guy however didn't need much precision. It was enough to just be hit by him to make my head spin. Any normally armored Pony would have been dead by now...

Before hitting the wall of the canyon, I flipped myself around in midair using my magic, and formed my Power-Hooves. On impact, I discharged my rear ones to increase the power of my charge, as I threw myself right back at the stallion. My left Power-Hoof connected with his face and discharged... but there was barely any effect.

“Oh SHIT!”, I thought, not wanting to think about just how strong this guy had to be, to just shrug off my attack. In fact, I didn't have much time to think, since his right foreleg came up and hit me in the right side of my barrel. Even through my armor, I could feel several of my ribs crack as I bounced through the dirt and hit the wall of the canyon once again. Breathing suddenly became a hard thing to do, and I tasted blood in my muzzle.

“You want to play rough? OK LET'S PLAY ROUGH!”, I shouted at the monstrosity as I selected every combat drug in my arsenal and ordered my armor to give me one dose of each. Buck, Rage, Dash, Med-X, Hydra and Celestias Tears were injected simultaneously into my bloodstream. My heart began to pound in my chest as I awaited the stallions charge, standing on my hind legs. Diplomacy had failed, and I surely wasn't ready to die just yet. Now it was either me or him!

The Buck and Tears gave me the strength to block his attack, even though I was pushed back a few feet in doing so. I then jumped as hard as I could, hitting the giant under his chin with both of my front Power-Hooves. This time it threw him back and he stumbled a bit before landing on his back. As fast as he was, this fight was over the moment he hit the ground. With deadly precision I followed my attack up with a full power strike to the side of his neck, interrupting the blood circulation to his brain momentarily. It wasn't enough to stun or kill him, but I wasn't finished with him yet either. He had hurt me, and more importantly, he had endangered a filly! He was going to pay!

Swirling around, I landed on his throat, sitting upright. His neck was so thick that my rear hooves didn't even touch the ground as I sat there, but I didn't care. Again and again I brought my hooves down on his face, while using my rear legs to press down on his throat. The yellow giant tried a few times to get me off of him, but with little success. His punches became weaker each second, until he stopped moving all together. I didn't stop hitting him though. Soon his already deformed face was nothing but a bloody mess, and I was preparing for the killing blow, as a striped hoof stopped me. I whirled on the Zebra mare who had stopped me, my face contorted in pure rage behind my visor. Did she want to fight too? What was up with this place? Why did everyone try to kill me?

But then, before I could react, I felt a light impact on the back of my neck. As I fell from the giants neck, my body completely paralyzed, I saw a second Zebra, a stallion, and my world faded into darkness.

~O~Firestorm~O~

“I won't apologize for my companion. Your “guard” attacked us first!”, I spat at the Zebra mare who had brought Frostmane to me. The Zebras who inhabited this place had tried to stop the fight when they had seen the little Zony filly, but both Frostmane and “Gigantua” had been too focused on killing each other.

“No. It is we who apologize to you. Believe me, our friend only wanted to protect us. He didn't have any ill intentions.”, the mare said, bowing her head deeply. Zekanda and the giant stallion had already been brought inside to be treated by this point. Somehow the mare had even managed to retract Frostys armor, which made me a little uneasy.

“How did you deactivate her armor? As far as I know, only she can do it.”, I inquired, earning a knowing smile from the other mare. She took a small Talisman out of her pocket that looked like a tear. In the middle of it was a ruby, emblazoned with some kind of Zebra rune.

“It is a negation Talisman. A Pony came by a few days ago, telling us that we might need this soon, and to give it to the one we use it on.”, she replied, taking one of my hooves and placing the Talisman on it. I was quite baffled to say the least. A negation Talisman? One that could retract Frostys armors against her will? In the wrong hooves it could bring about her death, in the right ones it could save her life...

“Who was that “strange Pony” your speaking of?”

“Oh? You don't know? She comes by sometimes to check if we need anything. Sometimes she asks us favors, and we are glad to help her if we can. I am sorry, but I do not know her name, nor could I describe her face to you. She always keeps it concealed behind a mask.”, the Zebra mare said, motioning for two nearby Zebra stallions to pick up Frosty and carry her inside as well. They didn't look happy about it, but obeyed.

Zekra was the name she introduced herself with, as she gave me a tour of their facility. It was really quite impressive what these Zebras had done with the place. Most of the magical defenses were up and running again, and they had even converted the chemistry and practical uses of magic classrooms into Talisman labs. Having fought Zebras for most of my adult life, and having seen what some of their Talismans could do, I was quite impressed that these Zebras had strict rules when it came to the creation of the magical artifacts. In fact, the creation of combat or Mega-Spell Talismans was strictly forbidden here. The only things they created were things like Water Talismans, or minor Fire Talismans one could use to light a campfire.

“So... why are you showing me all this?”, I asked, looking sidelong at the mare with my cybernetic eye. I was, of course, recording all of this.

“You were a soldier in Nightmare Moons army, were you not? The symbol on your flank gave you away. I wanted to show you that we are peaceful, and do not wish to fight. We are, however, quite capable if we have to defend ourselves.”, she stated flatly, not looking at me as she nudged open the door to the schools gym.

Hundreds of Zebras were training here, using the old gym equipment for different exercises, while others had sparring matches in red circles that were drawn on the floor. It was, I had to admit, quite impressive. Looking over at the mare, I couldn't help myself...

“You're right, I WAS a soldier in PRINCESS LUNAS army, but all I want now is to keep my friend safe. And believe me when I say that, if you should harm her, all this won't stop me from giving you hell.”, I said in a low voice, and the mare began to chuckle.

“Do not worry. We are peaceful. We have detached ourselves from Ponies and Zebras alike. You could say that we are all outcasts.”

“Outcasts?”

“Yes... You see, there are still forces active in our homeland that wish for the destruction of Equestria. These fools do not see that the war is long over, and that there is really no reason to fight. They sometimes try to use the canyons as en entry way into Equestria, but to do so they have to pass this facility, which they have never succeeded in so far.”, Zekra explained as we moved on towards what I knew was the infirmary.

“But I thought you were peaceful?”, I asked sarcastically, but my Zebra companion only chuckled sadly at my quip.

“It is true. We would rather not have to fight them, and we never attack first, but they refuse to simply leave us alone. Still, we mourn each death.”

“What about the other factions in this canyon? I know of at least two. Do they leave you alone at least?”, I was beginning to feel bad for these Zebras. If all they wanted was to live in peace, then it was a real tragedy that they had to fight on what seemed like a regular basis. Zekra shook her head.

“No. The Order of Machina has tried to take this place of learning many times, but Gigantua has always been able to repel them for us up until now. As for his own kin, the Super Stallions... They don't bother with us much. From time to time one or two of them shows up, but the schools defenses are very effective.”, the mare responded, and she didn't have to say more.

“Yeah, about that guard of yours... Why didn't he stop when my friend told him that she didn't want to fight?”, I inquired, anger rising in my chest again as I remembered Frosty extracting herself from that boulder.

“He could not hear her. Gigantua has taken his own ability to hear when he fled his kin.”

“Then how do you communicate?”

“He is quite good at reading lips. Since your friend was wearing her armor, he didn't understand a word she said.”

In a way, it made sense, even though I couldn't begin to fathom somepony maiming themselves like that to get away from their own people. Just what had driven the stallion to such an extreme? When I asked my guide, she just shrugged and said that he would tell me himself if I just asked him politely. Despite the beating he had taken from Frostmane, Zekra seemed quite confident that he would make a full recovery.

As we finally reached the infirmary, I saw several rows of beds lining the walls. Some were occupied by injured Zebras, while about twenty of them had been put together to lay down the injured Super Stallion. Frostmane lay on the other end of the room from him. Seeing as she had been pretty much out control when fighting him, I guessed that this was a good idea. I also had the distinct suspicion that my friend had used a whole lot of combat drugs to achieve her victory.

Zekanda lay in a bed that was in the middle of the room, sleeping soundly. The filly had hit her head pretty badly when the cart had turned over, and was knocked out almost instantly. Aside from a wound on her forehead, and a light concussion however, she seemed to be fine. The Zebras here had already agreed to take her in and, if she wished to do so, further her education in Doom Bunny style. If not she could help them in other ways.

“Not only Zebras are welcome here. Every soul who wishes to live in peace is welcome here.”, Zekra had explained to me when I had asked about that.

After making sure that Frosty was alright, and asking the doctors to take a look at my cybernetic eye, I joined Zekra for lunch in their dining hall. It was called that, but it was barely any better than the mess hall I knew from the Luna Dream. Rows upon rows of benches and tables stood in neat rows all around the room. On the far side of the “dining hall”, a few Zebras were giving out food to those who waited in line.

I took this opportunity to ask Zekra if there was any possibility of us purchasing a new cart here, since our old one was nothing but firewood now. The mares eyes had widened, and for a moment I thought she looked actually insulted.

“Our guard destroyed your cart. We will provide you with a new one. It is the least we can do.”, the mare had answered in a matter of fact tone of voice, before changing the subject. If nothing else came up, I decided, I wouldn't mind living here. The Zebras were all very nice and polite towards me, and the food wasn't too shabby either. It was the first time I had ever eaten Zebra cooking, and I couldn't tell what it actually was, but it tasted simply divine. The slightly hot and yet sour taste of it was something I could get used to.

“So, Zekra... Let's say I wanted to stay here...”, I asked tentatively while we ate, and the mare choked at my words. After a few seconds of hard coughing, and me hitting her back in an attempt to help, she finally got out the offending piece of carrot.

“I... I am very sorry... It is true that everyone is welcome here but... I am sorry... I personally would welcome you here, but the majority of my brethren here have grown up with tales of Nightmare Moon and her army of demons. Superstitions, I know, but I think many would openly object to you living here...”, she whispered, looking around nervously at the Zebras around us.

My ears moved back, until they were practically plastered to the back of my head. Sure, I understood their sentiment, but... it had been so long... I guessed that, mostly, those superstitions were still around because Rainbow Dash had done all she could to use them against the Zebras. Therefore our aerial defense force had been named after Nightmare Moons aerial team. The Shadowbolts... Back in the day I had been proud to wear that armor, but now... I didn't rightly know anymore...

Zekra must have felt my distress at the situation, for she put a hoof on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down.

“I could speak to the elders if you want. They might not agree with me, but there is still a chance, that they would allow you to stay to prove yourself.”, she said, but I shook my head. As much as I relished the idea to live here in peace and have something worth fighting for, I didn't want to force myself on people who didn't want me around.

“It's OK. I guess I'll go and check on Frostmane. She can be pretty cranky when she wakes up, and after that beating your friend inflicted on her, she is sure to be more than pissed when she wakes up.”, I told the mare, standing up and bringing my food tray back to where it belonged. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Zekra wanted to say something else, but I didn't give her the chance...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As I was walking towards the infirmary again, I flipped through the frequencies on my Pipbuck. It had recently informed me that it had picked up several new signals, and I wanted to check them out.  High Commands frequency only had the same beeping noises I had heard before. I had come to believe what that mysterious friend of Frostmane had written, and therefor ignored it. There really wasn't any use in responding to an almost 200 year old distress call after all.

After listening to several more automated messages, I wondered how it could have come to this. Many of those had been recorded by civilians, and were now being sent into the ether on a loop. They were hard to listen to, since almost all of them called for help. Some were just rude comments about the Princesses, and how they had caused the destruction of the country they had sworn to protect... Those hit me pretty hard. Then, I came upon a broadcast I had not expected. When I switched over to the MASEBS frequency, I suddenly heard a stallions voice...

“Howdy my follow wastelanders. This is your host DJ PON-3. As always, I fulfill my duty in bringing you all the news you will need to survive out there, even though I sometimes don't know why I'm even bothering anymore... Oh well, today my friends, I have something special for you! This old DJ has been contacted by a sweet little mare from the town of Horseshoe! Yes you heard right, Horseshoe! You know, that little shit hole near the old magic school. The situation with the Order of Machina in that area still hasn't been resolved, but apparently there is at least one Pony with the guts to show them who's boss! According to my sources, this new upcoming heroine of the wasteland claims to be a former soldier in Princess Lunas army. Now, my informant was a little vague on how she did it, but she told me that when four Steel Rangers came to their little town to take away a newly build generator, this mare tore them apart! Now, I am not too confident that we have another hero here, but as they say, hope is hard to kill. From what I have been told you can recognize that mare, and her Pegasus companion, by the insignia on their armors. They are said to wear Power-Armor with a moon shaped skull on their flanks. The Pegasus's armor is said to be black while our potential heroine seems to prefer a silver coloring.

Well then, since I wasn't given a name for this duo of heroes, I will just make one up on the spot... Just like the other fifty times I thought our hell of a country finally had found it's savior... So... Let's call her... the silver knight.

Shortly after I was told all of this, those order nuts themselves contacted me. Well folks, you know I don't have any particular love the Steel Rangers, but I think this message is important. Silver Knight, if you can hear, I would get clear of that canyon if I were you. The Order of Machina has vowed revenge against you, and they are numerous. Taking out four of them was an amazing feat, but... can you take you take out a hundred times that number?

Now to other news....”

I was quite shocked. Not only because we were on the radio, but by the name of this self proclaimed DJ. DJ PON-3 had been a mare named Vinyl Scratch as far as I knew. But this was definitely not a mare. And... why the hay was he broadcasting on an emergency frequency? But... what made me worry wasn't any of the above... What he had said worried me. If those Order of Machina Ponies found out that we were here, this place would soon become a battlefield. I sped up my pace as I hurried towards the infirmary...

~O~Frostmane~O~

I was laying on a quite comfy bed. That was about all I could tell, since my eyes had been bandaged and I couldn't move an inch. The aftermath of overusing combat drugs, no doubt about it. I had tried to lift my forelegs earlier, but it had felt as if all the muscles in the limbs were ripping apart, so I had abandoned movement for the moment.

Why the hay had I used Celestias Tears? It was one of the most potent combat drugs, and it was very strictly controlled due to it's side effects. For a short amount of time, the drug deactivated the natural limiters each creature has, enabling the user to become extremely powerful. The downside was, that the drug had a high mortality rate and even those who didn't die had to be hospitalized for a long time. Ripped muscles and sinews were not uncommon when using this drug, so why the hell had I done it? The Buck and Rage should have been enough to handle that monster of a stallion.

“Oh Celestia, somepony please close my muzzle!”, I thought as I felt a fly perch on my tongue. For some reason even that muscle refused to do as I told it, so I couldn't do anything about it... It was... a strange feeling for sure.

Suddenly I felt a wave of air, and the annoying little intruder in my mouth took off. A gentle hoof pushed my muzzle closed and placed something under my chin to keep it that way, before an all to familiar voice came from my left side.

“Your eyes were bleeding you know... Really made me worry if your heart had stopped there for a second.”, Firestorm said softly, stroking my mane with one of her wings. Unable to reply, I opted to take in a slightly deeper breath than the one before. That at least, worked.

“I knew you were awake already, no need to strain yourself. But you don't have the time to rest indefinitely either. Those Steel Rangers you killed? Well their superiors want your head on a silver platter for what you did, so we have to get moving as soon we can. The doctor says you have to stay like this for at least two days before you can be moved, but I hope you'll be ready before that. I don't want these Zebras to suffer because they gave us shelter.”, my friend went on, her voice sounding almost as if she was talking to a sick foal. I didn't really like what she was telling me at all. OK, I had known that those Rangers would take action against me sooner or later, but to hear about it just now did nothing to calm me down. It must have shown somehow, because just then Firestorm put one of her hooves on one of mine and squeezed gently.

“Yep, definitely like a mother nursing a sick foal.”, I thought as I took in the strangeness of the situation. Ever since my mother had left, nopony had ever cared for me when I was sick. To have Firestorm do it now felt... nice. Nice enough ,in fact, to send me off to sleep once again...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When I awoke once more, Firestorm wasn't with me anymore. I could hear the usual sounds of the infirmary around me, but there was no one checking on me. I sighed internally as boredom began to set in. During my time on the Luna Dream I had usually hung out with Jerakal or watched a movie on my Television, but right now? The thought of Jerakal sent a twinge of pain through my heart, and I knew I had to occupy my mind with something soon, if I didn't want to cry my eyes out.

Tentatively, I ignited my horn. It was about the only part of my body that didn't hurt, so it was the logical choice. But what was I to do with the magic? Most of the spells I knew were combat spells, and I certainly didn't want to unleash them around Ponies/Zebras who wanted to help me. Then a memory fluttered into my mind. My mother standing in front of a mirror and practicing her illusion magic. She had tried to teach me some of it to, when she noticed that I was watching, but I never got the hang of it. What was it again that she had said?

“Concentrate on a big effect. Imagine the most beautiful fireworks you've ever seen, and try to recreate them with your magic.”, I heard the voice of my mother tell me patiently.

“Well, I might as well give it a shot now...”, I thought as I remembered the last celebration my parents and I had attended together. It had been a festival to celebrate the annyversiary of Princess Lunas return from the moon, and some Ponies had set up the most amazing fireworks for the occasion. They had depicted Princess Lunas and Princess Celestias smiling faces in the sky, and I focused on that memory. When I thought I had the hang of it, I let go of my magic, hearing small bangs as the fireworks erupted from my horn. I couldn't see them of course, but my display obviously startled the infirmary staff, since I heard some of them cry out in surprise.

The next few hours were as boring as they could have possibly been. One of the Zebra doctors had come over after my little “show” and scolded me for startling his patients. At least I assumed he was a Zebra... To prevent me from doing something like that again, they put a dampener on my horn. I didn't protest, since I could understand his point of view...

~O~Firestorm~O~

I had went our for a reconnaissance flight after seeing Frostmane. The Zebras in the school knew what the radio DJ had said of course, since some of them had heard the broadcast as well. They wanted us gone as quickly as possible, and I couldn't even blame them since I had spotted a group of Steel Rangers coming our way from one of the other side canyons. Some of them had spotted me too, opening fire on me, but I was too high up for their weapons to reach me. Still... it was enough to worry me. At least a hundred of them were on their way to the old school. The magical defenses of the place would be able to take care of them, but who knew how many charges they had left in them?  I would have to find a way to either get Frosty away from here, or at least make them believe that she left already. But how was I to do that?

While I still stood on the balcony I had landed on, my gaze drifted over the courtyard of the school. The Zebras had set up several small huts inside it's walls. There were things like a jeweler, a Stallion selling fancy looking dresses from a cloth rack... a smithy....

My head snapped back towards the smithy.

“That's it!”, I exclaimed, spreading my wings and taking flight towards the blacksmith below...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Argh! I seriously regretted not having learned Zebra when I had the chance in my younger days, since the blacksmith didn't speak much equestrian. Half an hour had already passed, and all I had been able to get across was my name... Which wasn't really that hard. I had simply pointed at myself and said it.

“Arrrrggghhh! Isn't there any Zebra here willing to translate for me?”, I shouted in frustration. The stallion selling dresses a few feet away came over and looked at me curiously.

“I can help, I think.”, he said meekly, not meeting my eyes. A few minutes later the blacksmith had finally understood what I wanted him to do. The payment he wanted however baffled me.

“Are you sure you translated that correctly??”, I stammered, looking at the dress maker in confusion.

“Ye...Yes... He wants to see you out of your armor.”, he replied, trying to hide behind the much bigger blacksmith.

“But... WHY?”, I wanted to know, blushing something fierce. The dressmaker, who's name was Berkal, translated my question and the blacksmith put a hoof to his chin, thinking over his reply. Then he started to talk in Zebra and Berkal did his best to keep up with him.

“He says... he... he has never seen Pegasus mare. Wants to see if those wings are real or... cybernetics.... He also says you're... cute...”, Berkal said, blushing almost as hard as I did. No stallion had been interested in me since my late twenties, so this came as quite a bit of a surprise. Still, I had the lingering suspicion that Berakal wasn't telling me everything.

“Was that all? I mean he talked for almost five minutes.”

“Not... not exactly... but that's what it comes down to..”

“So what exactly did he say?”, I inquired, blushing like a school filly. The muscular stallion eyed me while I was talking to my translator.

“I... I... I don't want to repeat it...”, Berakal finally said, when Zerka came up to us, hitting the big blacksmith on the shoulder playfully. She then said something in Zebra, which made the much bigger stallion swivel his ears back and nod in agreement.

“You must forgive my brother.”, she said, “But he can not resist a mare as exotic as yourself.” I blinked. Me? Exotic? OK, I didn't like the sound of that.

“Ehm.. so... what did he say?”, I asked, trying to hide my embarrassment.

“You really want me to translate it? I do not mind, but it might be very... graphic.”, Zerkal chuckled, and suddenly the gears in my head snapped into place.

“Wait... he didn't... OK, you got me... just give me the general topic...”, I stammered, my wings extended against my will.

“Well... he basically described what he would like to do to you if he got you out of that suit of armor, to which I then reminded him that his wife might not take too kindly to that.”, the Zebra mare said teasingly, and I suddenly found out that, even though my coat was black, I could blush so hard that it showed.

Then something struck me as odd, and I became instantly suspicious.

“Wait... have you been following me?”, I asked incredulously.

“Of course I have. We may have allowed you into our home, but as long you are here, you are my responsibility. The elders want it that way. No offense.”, she replied in a matter of fact voice.

After I had spat a wave of quite colorful obscenities at the three Zebras, focusing on the big one, we were finally able to talk some business. He would make something for me, while I agreed to show him that my wings were real by taking off my armor. Everything else however, I refused.

(Even though he did try to barter with me. Zerka was laying on the ground, laughing pretty hard while she translated for him. )

After I had fulfilled my part of the bargain, I put my armor back on, deciding that I did not really like the horny stallion. Zerka had explained to me that they didn't often see Pegasi down here anymore, and that she only went along with her brothers attempts to barter, because she wanted to see how far he would go. She didn't actually expect me to give in to his attempts. The Zebra said that last part over and over. Zerka obviously thought that she had offended me in some way. Somehow her worries weren't completely without ground, but I also had to admit that, even though I didn't like his attempts to cheat on his wife with me, he certainly was a tasty looking stallion...

Footnotes

Frostmane:

New Spell:

Fireworks (Rank1): You can now summon up a small fireworks display at will. The Great and Powerful Trixie would be proud of you!

Firestorm:

New trait:

Temptations of age: You may have passed forty already, but you have aged well. Realizing this, you now have unique dialogue options with anyone younger than you.