Fallout Equestria: Reformation

Chapter 15: Nightmare

We ascended the steps of the crystal palace feeling like we were entering a tomb. All up the stairs were more crystal statues of what had once been ponies, quite a crowd at that. All leading up to a big balcony that overlooked the city, on which was a giant crystal gazebo. There was definitely a commotion there when the megaspell hit.

Despite the throng of stone bodies in its wake, the front of the palace was almost entirely clear. Beneath the massive crystal gazebo, the ceiling stretching upward, there were only two statues. But I saw something else that was all too familiar: two blue crystal spines, one rising up from the floor, and another descending from the ceiling, exactly like the chamber where the blackheart was created. Except there was nothing in the gap where the artifact should have been. Just those two statues standing together before it.

I had heard of the crystal heart. I had seen its image emblazoned on Cadance’s flank in Shining Armor’s memories. And I would be willing to wager that this place was where it once rested, a beacon for all the citizens of the Cyrstal Empire to see. But it wasn’t here now. Perhaps it was still lying in a vault somewhere in Stable Two, corrupted by King Sombra’s spirit. Or perhaps it was lost to history forever. I couldn’t say, but its absence only made things just a little sadder.

We inspected the two pony statues, since they stood out against the throng ascending the stairs, alone at this dais where the crystal heart once lay. Looking at them was still eerie, knowing that they were effectively bodies. We didn’t dare touch them.

“Who do you suppose they were?” Rosemary asked.

There was something embedded into the crystal floor by one of the ponies, a long crystal pole. I drew closer, and realized it was a spear, with the tattered remains of the Crystal Empire flag still hanging from it. “Probably the last of the royal guard,” I said. I gripped the haft of the spear and managed to yank it free with a big chunking sound. It was a beautiful cerulean blue, the shaft smooth and polished, the point having three faceted prongs arranged in a star.

“Ebonmane, should you really be swinging that thing around?” Cloud Chaser asked.

I ignored her at first. For an ancient pre-war weapon, it was pretty well-made. Heavier and longer than my sword, and with the shape I could probably throw it a good distance as well if I was in a pinch and out of bullets. I took it in my magic and felt its weight, surprised at how well-balanced it was, how fluidly it responded to my aura. “I kind of like it,” I told her.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “We have guns, Ebonmane. You don’t need another large phallic object to carry around with you, you already have one!”

I continued to ignore her. The spear was really nicely made, but there was more than that. Something about the way it felt in my magic was different. I couldn’t put my hoof on it. “Yeah, but look at it. Have you ever seen anything like it? Or heard of it? Those guard ponies had guns back then too, so why did he have this? And why doesn’t the other pony have one?”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. “Give it here,” she said. I floated it over to her, and she took it in her magic. It hardly took a second of her studying it before she concluded, “It’s enchanted.”

I think even Ironbright’s jaw hit the floor. “How could you possibly know that?” she asked.

Rosemary looked at us like we had placed a spotlight on her. To be fair, we were all staring. “What?” she asked softly. “It’s right there. You can’t feel the magic in it? When I pick it up in my horn, it’s like a lit bulb…” Then she really scanned our faces. “You guys really can’t tell?”

I took it back from her in my aura, trying to see if I could sense this power coursing through it like electricity. Maybe that was why it felt so light and easy in my grip? But I didn’t know for sure if that was what she was describing. “But if it is enchanted, then what does it do?” I asked.

“What if it has the magical power to stab ponies?” Cloud Chaser asked in sarcastic earnestness.

I glared at her. I couldn’t figure it out. I looked to Rosemary, but she just shrugged. “Whatever. I’m keeping it,” I said.

“To return to the rangers for study, I hope, seeing as it is a pre-war artifact,” Ironbright suggested rather pointedly. “Nothing more, of course?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” I repeated. “But you know… If something happens, you can never have too many weapons, right? I think I can work with it.” I gave it a few test stabs into the air, and I was certain this thing had the power to punch right through a good suit of armor. Oh yeah. I was all about this.

“Ugh,” Ironbright scoffed.

“It’s a colt thing. It’s gotta be, right Ironbright?” Cloud Chaser asked as they headed inside.

“I don’t even know anymore…” she answered wearily.

I looked at Rosemary, who was staring at me with a smirk. “What? Come on, you’re with me on this, right?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes, but then she really smiled at me. “When you’re done playing with your new toy, I think the rest of us are ready to get into the stable,” she said.

I found a place to tuck it away and I followed her inside. Even if I was convinced that I was right about the crystal spear being useful and that they were all jealous, it was nice to see Rosemary smile at my antics, at least.

The inside of the crystal palace wasn’t quite as heartbreaking as the streets outside. We didn’t find any crystal ponies inside. The halls were completely barren. In the cold weather, a lack of insects meant that the remnants of silk curtains and ornate rugs weren’t completely degraded, and there were still elaborate patterns carved into the facets of the floor, as if the entire palace was one massive crystal gemstone.

“I don’t think you’re gonna be able to carry all this back with you to sell,” I said to Cloud Chaser.

She looked at all of it. “The crystal beneath Canterlot was one thing. But this…?” She turned her head this way and that as she fluttered above us. “I’ll pass.”

“Not even a single crystal teacup? Or crystal spoon?” Ironbright asked, as we passed a large dining table still cluttered with scattered flatware.

“With all the stuff outside? No way. Messing with spooky crystal is how you end up like Ebonmane and his blackheart.”

“Cloud Chaser,” Rosemary admonished her.

“She’s got a point,” I said with a wince. Looking back, if I had her sense of superstition, enough to be a bit more wary about touching the blackheart, maybe I would be sleeping better at night and waking up with less panic.

We made it through the main hall and the dining hall, still with no sign of anypony. “Where do you guys think they all went?” I asked.

“Probably into the stable to become the ancestors of any survivors we might meet today,” Ironbright answered. She checked her Pipbuck. “We’re almost right on top of it. There should be some stairs nearby.”

I realized we were about to head down. After a bit of searching and peeking through doors, we did find a stairwell that spiraled down into the depths of the earth. My heart sank a bit, but I said nothing as we descended. Still, with every step, I felt myself reliving the last memory of Shining Armor’s I had seen. We were heading straight for the blackheart’s original chamber. I knew it wouldn’t be there. I knew that the hidden magical lab it was created in was little more than just a room now. But I still feared it. I feared to set my own hooves into the place where it all began. Before, I was merely watching the events unfold through Shining Armor’s eyes. But now, I felt like I was the ghost haunting these halls.

But we soon reached the bottom of the stairwell, deep in the dungeons of the palace, if you could call them that, and there was hardly anything. No great stone door. No secret arcane lab. It was all gone.

Ironbright and the others hadn’t noticed my distress. “We’re really right on top of it now,” she said. “Let’s look around for the entrance.”

What the fuck was going on? Was I going insane? It must have been here. An entire room couldn’t just vanish without a trace, could it? Did Shining Armor destroy the lab to cover up what he had done? Or was the whole memory just another nightmare concocted to screw with me, to break my faith in my idols? I felt another rush of anxiety, like I needed to sit down.

I did. I felt the crystal shift below me. I lifted up my ass and saw a slim gap in the floor. “Trapdoor,” I called to the others.

With some magic, we lifted up the secret door to see a ladder waiting for us, descending into a narrow, dark shaft. “Ladies first,” Ironbright said, turning on her head lamp as she took the lead.

The trapdoor was just to cover the small entrance tunnel we found ourselves in. As soon as we were down, we turned around to see a massive slab of crystal jutting out against the wall, a huge round wheel engraved with all number of patterns and facets. In the center was emblazoned the great numbers: 202.

“This is it,” Ironbright said. “Now, let’s be ready for anything. This is primarily a diplomatic mission, but we don’t know what we’re going to find in there, or if these ponies are going to be hostile toward us or not. Plenty of other stable dwellers have killed well-intentioned outsiders before. Our first move is to gather information and assess the situation before we make any sort of proposition to them. Don’t say anything to upset them.”

“Hey, that’s great and all,” Cloud Chaser said as she flew up to the stable door. “But before that, was there a plan for getting this thing open?”

We looked. No way to open the door from the outside. No gaps in the crystal to try and pry open. And no amount of firepower in the world could bust this thing down. We looked to Ironbright. How were we supposed to get this thing open?

She drew back. “What are you all staring at me for? How should I know?”

“You were the one giving us the rundown of the plan,” Rosemary said. “It just seemed like you already had the door figured out first thing.”

“So we really came all the way out here with no clue how we were even supposed to open the fucking door?” Cloud Chaser asked.

Ironbright got defensive. “I’m certain they have some sort of monitoring technology. They’re probably already aware we’re here! If we just make our presence known, maybe put down our weapons and announce loudly that WE COME IN PEACE! WE JUST WANT TO TALK!” she shouted. “Then maybe they’ll open up.”

“That’s even dumber than Ebonmane and his spear!” Cloud Chaser complained, throwing her hooves up. “I bet there’s a control terminal somewhere in the palace. If everything else is preserved so well, then that might still be working too. We should head up.”

“Then they’ll think we’ve left,” Ironbright argued back.

Cloud Chaser brought up the spear again, and an idea clicked in my head. I got excited with the burst of insight. I just hoped it would work.

I took the spear out and gave it a good thrust, stabbing it right into the crystal with a loud crack.

Everypony looked at me. “What the fuck, Ebonmane?” Cloud Chaser asked.

Okay, so it didn’t work immediately. But my idea wasn’t busted yet. I took hold of it into my horn’s magic. Rosemary had said it was enchanted, so that meant there was some magic that could be activated somehow. I put my energy into it, seeing if I could trigger that power.

The spear began to glow a bright magenta. The lines crisscrossing the surface of the door lit up the same, magic running down the seams. We heard the sound of crystal shifting. Chunks of the door began to move, sliding into the wall, and the passage was open before us. The spear was the key.

I retrieved it. Ironbright and Rosemary were impressed. Cloud Chaser folded her hooves over her body. “That’s bullshit,” she complained. I just made a face at her.

Beyond, the crystal tunnel gave way to metal panels and artificial lights, railings and mini scaffolds that led all the way to a singular reinforced door. We were in.

No more than a few steps forward, we heard a male voice over an intercom: “Stop where you are. Do not take another step. Lay down your weapons and state your business.”

We all exchanged looks. We were wary to expose ourselves by surrendering our weapons, but it didn’t seem likely these ponies would trust us if we didn’t. And we had other ways of defending ourselves without them. Well, Rosemary did, at least.

We dropped our guns, Ironbright taking the longest to detach her miniguns from her armor, the twin cylinders clanging on the steel scaffold we stood on. Then, they looked to me. I was the alicorn. I suppose it was natural for me to be the mouthpiece.

“We’ve come from the outside as messengers,” I began. “My name is Ebonmane. The war is over. And the land outside is inhabitable again. We’ve come to discuss the possibility of opening the stable.”

There was a long pause. I wondered what was going on in there. My friends and I exchanged nervous glances. But then the speaker crackled back on. “You may enter. We will scan you for any kind of contaminants. And then we will hear what you have to say.”

A sigh of relief. The first step was accomplished without a hitch.

The reinforced door slid open, and we saw stable ponies on the inside, all earth ponies it seemed, dressed in stable jumpsuits and security gear. It was odd seeing ponies wearing the blue-and-yellow uniforms. The only time I had ever seen them, they looked worn and tattered, more like historical artifacts than anything a pony might wear today. It was also worth noting that all of the ponies here had very specific color patterns, soft tones and pastels, more colorful than the average group.

As we headed in, the security forces, the doctor who waved a device over our bodies to scan for radiation, and the older orange-and-yellow stallion wearing large glasses who seemed to be in charge were all male. I knew that each stable had a sort of “experiment” instituted in each of their designs, and I thought to the male-dominated stable Littlepip had visited once. I wondered if it was possible for two stables to have the same experiment.

Once we were deemed safe, the pony in charge introduced himself. “Well then. I suppose proper introductions are in order. I am Overstallion Prominence,” he said. He looked up at me the entire time he spoke, even during our inspection, and I could feel his eyes lingering over my horn and wings. “While you are within the bounds of this stable, you will heed my rules and instructions. Is that clear?”

For now. But I responded, “Of course.”

He seemed satisfied by the response. “Very good. I see that yours is a mixed group,” he said, turning to each of my companions. “Most portions of this stable are segregated into male- and female-only areas. If you wish to meet, I’m afraid you will have to come with me,” he said, nodding to me, “while your companions are to wait in the female portion of the stable.”

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t want to react too strongly for fear of offending this stallion I was supposed to be making peace with, but naturally I had some misgivings about being separated from my group. “You segregate stallions and mares?” I asked.

“Not quite,” Prominence answered. “Stallions and mares can interact freely in the common areas of the stable, but these places aren’t suitable to our discussion. The sexes serve very different purposes, and have different needs concerning their living areas.”

I looked to the others. I wasn’t going to make a decision without checking with them first. But Ironbright simply nodded at me, and the others didn’t seem to disagree. So I replied, “Fine.”

We headed inside, first walking through a hall with glass windows that overlooked what appeared to be a common area, a huge atrium packed with ponies. Stallions and mares, sitting, eating, talking, but what struck all of us was the sheer number of foals. They appeared to greatly outnumber the adults, playing and crying and eating and roughhousing, of all ages from babies to adolescents. A few clung to what must have been their mothers, but there were so many of them it was difficult to tell who the parents of any given foal were. The sight certainly raised many questions.

But the Overstallion didn’t seem to think it worthy of comment. He merely directed his security staff to lead the mares to their designated areas, while he and I headed to the designated male area, where I assumed his office was located. I gave a last glance to my friends as they were led off, and they returned the look, but they seemed confident that we would be alright. So I turned to walk beside the Overstallion. The bulk of negotiations would fall upon me, it seemed. I had to focus and do this right on my own.

Prominence neglected to say anything to me as we walked as well, our hooves simply clanging on the plated floors, the din of the many ponies in the atrium vanishing behind us. Moving through the halls of Stable 202 was eerily similar to those of Stable Two, save for the lack of rangers in inhabitance. The construction and even elements of the layout were all familiar to me.

But we headed through a sealed hatch door into the male area. There were certainly fewer ponies here overall, but indeed all the ones I passed were stallions. I was surprised to see several of them outside of their jumpsuits as well, but I supposed that was permitted in these more restricted areas. I wondered if the experiment for this stable was to enforce some sort of cult-like modesty among the ponies. I had heard that the more traditional ponies of the past tended to regulate mares and stallions more heavily, and also had far more foals as a result of their beliefs. It seemed an odd thing to base a stable on, but certainly no less odd than the other experiments instituted in other stables.

Eventually, we did arrive in the Overstallion’s office, where he deigned to take two guards inside with us. The room was round and bright with artificial light, and his desk was clean and efficient with few personal effects, just some papers and his terminal. His seat was tall and comfortable looking. I stood across from him as he took his place. He folded his hooves on his desk and let out a sigh as the guards took their places behind him. “You are lucky I noticed your approach when I did instead of the watchponies at the gate. You could have caused a panic,” he said accusingly.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“’The war is over?’ ‘The land outside is inhabitable?’ ‘Opening the stable?’” he repeated, his ire rising. “Are you trying to cause a panic? Just what the hell were you thinking? If any of the common ponies heard you, I’d have a riot on my hooves! I wouldn’t doubt if some of the security personnel are spreading rumors already.”

I winced. I hadn’t even considered that when I first addressed them, but Prominence was clearly right. I should have been more tactful. Already, I wondered if I was really cut out to be a leader and diplomat if I had managed to fuck up on my first sentence uttered in the line of this duty.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s not my intention to cause trouble.”

Prominence sighed again, rubbing his temples with his hooves, but looked to me again. “No. Your intention is to open the stable.” He leaned back in his seat. “Let’s hear it.”

I sighed as well. Here goes nothing. “It’s as I said. The war has been over for hundreds of years now. The megaspells dropped, but the land is starting to recover. The radiation and other ill effects are all but eliminated. I’m sure it’s not quite the same as it was before, and there is still some danger, but… The leaders of the land have decided that it’s time to really start rebuilding. And we need every hoof we can get.”

“So they sent the Prince to lead his people out?” Prominence replied. I was surprised at his forwardness. “The group you came with was quite diverse. A pegasus, a unicorn, and you… We may be descendants of the crystal ponies, but I know what you are. They said the goddess Celestia was an alicorn like you. I’m shocked the monarchy survived the war.”

I didn’t even have to convince him that I was a royal alicorn. He simply bought it straight away from my appearance alone. I had never fully believed it myself, but now I was going to have to really act the part if I was going to carry on this conversation. “I don’t have any royal blood that I know of,” I said. “But there are no others like me out there. I am Prince Ebonmane, And I’ve made it my mission to rebuild Equestria to its former glory.”

Prominence simply nodded. “Well then, it’s an honor, Your Highness.” He was the first one to address me with a title, and my breath left me momentarily. “But I’m not certain I can simply open up the doors and lead an exodus on your orders. I have a responsibility to the ponies of this stable to keep them safe. I’d like to verify your claims; examine any proof you may have of the land’s conditions, and conduct my own investigation before making a decision.”

I was glad he seemed so reasonable. “Of course,” I said. “I don’t wish to endanger any of your ponies here. My companion in the armor and I both have Pipbucks, and we may have notes or recordings that could help you in your investigation. In the meantime, I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. Catch you up to speed on what’s happened in the last two hundred years or so.”

Prominence folded his hooves again, thinking hard. “What you’re asking is a massive undertaking. There will be those among us who would rather die in this stable than leave it, and they’ll fight hard to stay. I can’t say I blame them.” He looked at me sharply, his glasses flashing. “From what you say, I’m not confident Equestria is a comfortable place to live in its current state. Many may not be able to adjust. And it would seem cruel to take them from their comfortable home into a wasteland.”

He had a point, but I had to get him on my side. “Perhaps,” I said. “But stables are not how ponies were meant to live. There are many more on the outside who are suffering, and they need help. They need communities where ponies support each other. That’s what your ponies can provide. Harmony.” I felt more confident with each word. “Celestia had a grand vision for what Equestria should be, and for more than a thousand years, it was a land of prosperity and peace. She wasn’t perfect, but she cared for all of us, and did her best to provide for us. She wouldn’t want her ponies living underground. I know your lives are comfortable here, but if we come together, we could build something much better than merely comfortable. We could have a vast, peaceful nation again.”

Prominence was silent for a long time, processing my words and his own thoughts. “The safety of my ponies comes first,” he said finally. He looked to his terminal. “There are orders and instructions for the eventual opening of the stable. I suppose those wouldn’t exist if they weren’t meant to be used someday. But I will only consider it once I am certain those requirements are fulfilled.” He leaned forward now. “And furthermore, I can already tell that there are stark cultural differences that must be accounted for if such a transition is to even be considered. Stallions and mares do not interact here in the way that it appears they do outside.”

I raised an eyebrow now. He was right, but I had to ask, “What do you mean?”

“I assume those mares are your concubines, Prince Ebonmane?”

I choked on my own breath. “Oh, Celestia, no!” I answered. “They’re just my friends. I’m not, er, ‘involved’ with any of them.”

“You mean sexually?”

“No,” I said, feeling a blush rise to my face.

He seemed surprised by this. “My mistake then. But still, I imagine the sense of propriety above ground is not like it is down here. That could prove to be an obstacle.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to make a comfortable space for your ponies,” I offered.

“But I must admit, I’m curious about you as well,” Prominence continued. “You claim to have no royal blood, but are you certain of that?”

I was feeling cautious now. “What does it matter?” I replied.

“As it happens, we curate an extensive record of our population’s genetics. To ensure inbreeding is avoided,” he explained. “Every pony who has ever lived in Stable 202 has had their genetic profile documented and recorded in our database. And it just so happens that we have an alicorn entry as well.”

I froze, dumbfounded. “H-how is that possible?”

“Celestia was Equestria’s patron goddess, but we’re aware that there were others as well,” he explained. “One of them must have lived in the stable at some point.”

I was certain it was Princess Cadance. It was the only sensible explanation. And while a part of me felt a wave of relief wash over me, knowing that she managed to escape and survive in a stable, a part of me wondered if Shining Armor was able to make it with her as well. How heartbreaking it would have been if he didn’t. But then again, after the last memories I saw of their lives leading up to the apocalypse, perhaps she would have been better off coming here alone. That was a sobering thought.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked finally.

“We pride ourselves on our genetic research,” Prominence answered. “We’ve been able to learn much through our own independent studies, and treat many illnesses as a result. But this singular alicorn entry in our database has raised questions we simply don’t have answers to. But now you appear before us. Not only are you an alicorn as well, but a male no less. Getting a sample from you and comparing it to that of our ancient princess could be just what we need to solve these many mysteries that have eluded us. And it’s entirely possible that we could use your genetic material to treat even more illnesses that have thus far plagued us.” He finally smiled at me. “Plus, if we eventually did leave, I have a good feeling such advancements would be a great boon to the ponies above. Disease of all kinds must be rampant out there. We could emerge with cures for many of those conditions, if you would agree to let us study you.”

I hadn’t considered such things before; I was far from a scientist. But I knew that it wouldn’t harm me in the slightest to provide a DNA sample. And if it meant getting Prominence on my good side, I didn’t see how it could hurt. “…I will,” I said finally.

“Excellent,” he replied. He stood, and he headed toward the door of his office. “I’ll show you to the labs right away, and we can get started. It should only take a moment. This is a monumental day in the history of this stable,” he said, turning back to me with a great grin on his face. I smiled back. It was hardly any skin off my muzzle, but it seemed to matter a lot to him, and I had a good feeling that before long, we would be leaving Stable 202 together.

We headed deeper into the male portion of the stable, toward whatever these labs were. I expected to enter into a room not unlike the labs of the ranger base, but that wasn’t quite what I found.

Through another sealed door, we entered a room that looked an awful lot like a library. Rows and rows of shelves flanked us on either side, dozens deep, filling the entire room. But there were no books here; on the shelves were small racks, and in tiny slots on these racks were countless small vials. And in each vial was a small amount of white liquid, labeled with a complex number code. The room was also refrigerated, the shelves themselves seeming to produce the cold.

I was utterly confused. “What are all these?” I asked Prominence.

“Sperm samples,” he replied simply. I nearly choked again. There were hundreds of vials. All of these were…? The Overstallion continued to explain. “This is part of our research of the pony genome, and our methods used to treat pre-natal conditions.” Then, he leaned closer to me and whispered, “This is also key to our method of combating interbreeding. I’m one of the few in the stable who is aware of the, shall we say, ‘traditional’ method of making a foal. But artificial methods allow us to match suitable partners without ponies getting too attached. Not even the guards know,” he said, motioning to his escorts behind us.

A part of me was horrified, but primarily I was grossed out, being surrounded by so much, erm, ‘genetic material’ of so many other stallions. I whispered back, “Do any of these stallions know they’re fathers?”

“No, and it’s going to stay that way,” Prominence said rather threateningly. I looked at all the vials again. It didn’t sit right with me. A stallion had a right to know his foal, or at least if his… ‘stuff’ had been used to make one. But this was a battle I knew I’d have to fight later. I doubted Prominence would be able to maintain this kind of operation if they left. With all the sex that happened in the wasteland, consensually or not, these ponies would have to find out.

As we exited the lab, I was glad for the chance to simply get back to business. I knew there were many simpler ways than that to collect a stallion’s DNA, and I wasn’t planning on siring any heirs here. But I wasn’t quite prepared for what I saw next.

Deeper into the lab, through another set of sealed doors, we entered into a corridor with more glass windows looking into the dedicated research areas. Here I saw equipment more familiar to me, and stallions in labcoats working with it.
But we passed by one lab unlike the others. A large row of large machines was lined up along a wall, and I could see hoses, wires, tanks, and hear the whirr of motors. Each machine had a pad for stallions to stand on, and most of them were occupied. The stallions were standing on their back hooves, their front hooves slung over a large, barrel-like stand.

What made me freeze in place and actually choke was that I could see their stallionhoods. Each was shoved into some kind of sleeve, and it was obvious that sleeve was attached to a motor, and it was obvious that motor was a pump working on each of the stallions. I could see the big black sleeves shaking and waving around, the pumps moving fast and hard on the appendages inside. And judging from the moans and the blissful faces of the stallions in their grip, it seemed like it felt really good...

I heard a gasping cry from one stallion as he gripped the barrel of his stand, and I saw a stream of white pass through the line at the end of the sleeve, flowing into a tank where it collected. I must have stopped breathing for several seconds. I’m not sure I ever felt more heat flood my face than ever before in my life.

As a lab technician helped that stallion untangle himself from the machine, the Overstallion turned back to me. “Are you coming, Your Highness?” I was absolutely stunned. He doubled back to me and said, “This is how we collect the sperm samples.”

“I can see that,” I said quietly.

“Come along, Your Highness,” Prominence urged me on. I nodded, quite unable to look away no matter how much I wanted to. I followed him to our destination.

But I felt my stomach drop when he turned into the lab itself, leading me inside through a sealed door that closed behind me.

“Oh,” I said, realizing what they were planning. “I, uh… I’m not here to provide a, uh… sperm sample.”

Prominence raised an eyebrow. “Calm down, Your Highness. It will only take a moment. These machines are very efficient.”

Sweet Celestia, they were serious!? “No,” I said flatly. “I agreed to provide a DNA sample. You can have a hair or my saliva or even my blood if you want, but… Outside the stable, this is… pretty embarrassing,” I said.

“Even in the company of other stallions?” Prominence said. “I assure you, the experience is designed to be as thoroughly enjoyable as possible. Much more so than the ‘traditional’ method of foalmaking, if I’m not mistaken.”

“But I’m not here to make a foal!” I finally cried.

Prominence looked utterly annoyed with me. “Your Highness, not only will your sperm sample be used to evaluate your DNA and your connection to any past alicorns, but I have no doubt that its usage could be key to treating many persistent and debilitating conditions, from genetic cancers to infertility. Those treatments are vital, both inside and outside of this stable. Don’t you understand that?”

I looked around at the other stallions, most of which were too in the throes of the machines’ grip to even pay attention to what was happening. I was getting hysterical. “But it’s my body. You can’t force a stallion to give you their semen!”

“It is the requirement of this stable and its laws that all mature stallions within submit regularly to sperm collection protocols, and all mares be impregnated as often as possible,” Prominence explained. “All of these stallions are participants. Even myself, Your Highness. It is the directive of Stable-Tec that we are to maximize our population for the best chance of success once we eventually do re-enter the world. All of this is to give your Equestria the best chance possible of surviving. And your semen could provide a breakthrough unlike any we’ve seen since we entered the stable. It is for the greater good, Your Highness. You must submit.”

Suddenly it was painfully clear why there were so many foals in the atrium. I was panicking. It was happening again. But then I realized something. He had said that all mares were required to submit as well. “What about the mares who came with me?” I asked.

He raised his eyebrow, marginally confused. “They will be subjected to the same protocols as all other mares in the stable.” I felt my veins freeze in my chest, my brain short-circuiting. “Perhaps with your sample, but it’s not for me to say. We have algorithms for that. I’m surprised. The wasteland must be struggling to maintain a healthy population. I would have thought the Prince would understand the necessity to replenish your own numbers and grow them. I assumed you had impregnated them all yourself. But it is better this way. The foals they bear will be much stronger and healthier with our oversight.”

My rage was white-hot. “And if they refuse?”

“They won’t,” he said. “It is for the greater good. You must see that, Your Highness.”

I lunged for him, but the two security ponies that accompanied him charged me back, our bodies thumping together as they grabbed a hold of me, and two others who were watching the labs surrounded me as well. My magic wasn’t nearly strong enough for combat, and without a weapon, I couldn’t do much to challenge them as they drew metal batons in their mouths. “You motherfuckers!” I screamed.

“That is quite enough, Your Highness,” Prominence said in a harsh tone. But before he could continue, the door opened. Another stallion in a labcoat came in and got the Overstallion’s attention.

“Sir, there’s a problem with the mares…” he said.

“I’ll be there in a moment,” Prominence replied. To the guards, he said, “Collect the sperm sample from His Highness and have it processed. Do what you must to make sure he provides it to us. We’ll sort this mess out soon, and in hindsight, I’m confident we’ll all realize it was a big misunderstanding.”

Before I could scream anything more, he was gone. The stallions were dragging me toward the machines, but I struggled and fought to slow them down. Strangely enough though, I didn’t feel my panic spiking, the surge of primal fear that occurred during my encounter with Livewire, or whenever I thought of what it would be like to be forced again.

All I could think about were my friends. I had spent my entire time in the wasteland trying to protect mares from this exact thing. I had agonized over and over that if I failed in my mission against Thunderfall, that my friends would surely be subject to repeated rape. It was the worst thing I could imagine for them.

And now it was happening. They were about to be raped, and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. I couldn’t even protect myself, let alone them. And if Prominence was able to have his way, they would bear the consequences for the rest of their lives. For a stallion like me, with my Celestia-damned white-knight complex, this was the worst-case scenario. Nothing the blackheart could conjure could come close to this living nightmare.

I was utterly helpless. Useless.

The mares walked along their own corridor as they parted ways with me. They had no idea what they were about to walk into.

The female section of the stable wasn’t much different from the males’ all in all. The same metal plates lining every surface, the same harsh, artificial lights. But each of them took note of the mares who lived here, walking past them as the guard stallions escorted them throughout the halls. Almost all of the ones they saw were pregnant. They were each in various stages, some with only minor signs, and some looking ready to burst at any moment, and it made them wonder if each of the mares that seemed normal were simply in the early stages. It also appeared that the foals who weren’t currently in the atrium were here, playing with each other or sticking close to their mothers, colts and fillies alike.

Each of them was concerned, needless to say. But they didn’t quite know how to ask. Ironbright spoke up, however. To the guard stallion, she asked, “If this is a mares-only area, why are you here?”

“Only stallions are guard ponies,” he explained. “The mares have to raise the foals.”

He said it as if it was so simple. But it only raised more questions. “Why are there so many of them?” Cloud Chaser asked.

He just raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” It was as if he had no idea what point she was even getting at.

Further questions were temporarily halted as the mares passed through an eerie lab of their own. Through glass windows in the corridor, they could see beyond into the medical areas. Machines, beds, doctors, cries of foals, and agonizing screams that each mare knew instinctively, even if they had never experienced it before. Birth. They saw mares flanked by doctors and nurses in the middle of bringing new life into the world, and other mares resting and nursing newborn foals. A maternity ward.

“Is this all your mares do?” Ironbright pressed.

“Of course not,” the guard replied. But again, he declined to explain any further.

Before they could get more of a handle on where they were or what was going on, the mares were led past the maternity ward and into another wing of the lab. Here, the guard stopped and said, “We’re going to do more thorough tests to determine your health if you’re going to be staying in the stable.” He led each of them to a series of smaller examination rooms, each with a large seat, one room for each of them. “Please take a seat, and a doctor will be with you soon to begin the exam.”

As before, the mares exchanged looks with each other. They sensed that something was off. But they didn’t know how things were going with me at the moment, and they didn’t have any concrete evidence that something was about to happen to them. So they agreed, and each was isolated from the others.

Indeed, a doctor did arrive for each of them, a stallion like the guards and the other doctors they had seen. They were asked general questions about their health and any symptoms of illness they might be experiencing. They were then asked to remove their clothing, but that was par for the course even for the most basic check-ups outside the stable, so they thought nothing of it. Then the doctors used a series of non-invasive devices and magic to gather more data. As it was described to me, the magic test was conducted with another wand, similar to the one used to scan us for radiation at the start. But the wand itself made their bodies buzz and feel tight as the magic within rooted throughout their bodies. Because it was all done overtop their bodies, and because the magical exam wasn’t localized on any specific internal part of their bodies, they didn’t say anything.

The doctors each left briefly, and the mares were entirely unaware of the danger they were in.

Ironbright lay on the medical chair, resting on her back, staring up at the fluorescent light above. It was exactly like the one in the stable she called her home, and yet it felt entirely harsh. After the tight-lipped treatment from the guard and the cold prodding from the doctor, not to mention the strange division of this stable, Ironbright had her mind full of thoughts. She had a hunch that the project for this stable involved some kind of mass-breeding from the start. The guard had claimed that the mares did more than simply push out foals, but she didn’t really believe him. She hadn’t seen any evidence of rape, but she certainly had a lot of questions for the Overstallion as soon as this silly exam was completed.

The doctor returned with his medical bag, a blue stallion with a deeper, azure mane. “Alright, miss. Next, I’d like to perform a pelvic exam.”

Ironbright raised an eyebrow. The stallion didn’t give off any signs of an ulterior motive, but she still felt it was unnecessary. “Is this strictly required as well? I’m not planning on passing anything along to any stallions,” she replied.

“All mares that enter our stable must receive a full exam and workup,” the doctor replied clinically. He gestured to the chair. “Please, lie back, place your rear hooves in the stirrups, and we can begin.”

Unlike other mares, Ironbright wasn’t nearly as private or self-conscious about her body. Working with the rangers, she had received a number of all sorts of checkups, and she made a point to get thoroughly checked and tested each time she took a new stallion to bed. One more wouldn’t hurt her.

“Fine,” she said with a slight roll of her eyes.

The doctor’s hooves were cold between her legs, and there was the usual discomfort that came with such exams. For several minutes, nothing was quite out of the ordinary. “Everything looks normal,” the doctor asked. “No foals, though? For a mare your age?”

Ironbright took slight offense to that. “What’s it to you?”

The doctor sensed her annoyance. He simply said, “Well, the clock is ticking, that’s all. If you wait a few more years, it might be considerably more difficult to conceive. Perhaps impossible.”

She had heard this speech many times before. Usually it was from another mare, a mother looking to indoctrinate her into the cult of motherhood itself. Most times she had a checkup, there was some sort of comment. Even in a stable, she thought, a mare can’t be foal-less without it being a complete crisis. By now, she was used to it. But after talking with me in the crystal wastes, she had spent some time considering her future and whether foals would be a part of it.

So when the doctor added, “It’s a good thing you’ve come to us. We can fix that right quick,” and pulled out what looked to be a long baster filled with a white liquid, Ironbright didn’t exactly panic immediately. She knew immediately, exactly what that white liquid was. And with a speculum still lodged inside of her, she knew exactly what was to be done with it.

For a split second, she froze. He was going to impregnate her. With Celestia-knows what stallion’s stuff that was inside the big plastic needle. And if she didn’t stop it, she would likely get pregnant. She would have a foal. She would never know the father. It would be all hers.

She entertained the idea. She could let this happen. She knew other mares would naturally be hysterical right now at the prospect of a forced pregnancy. But a part of Ironbright weighed it as an opportunity. A chance to choose motherhood, with absolutely no strings attached. For a mare as strong and independent as her, it was tempting.

But she also knew that she couldn’t be alone in this. If it was happening to her, it was likely happening to Cloud Chaser and Rosemary as well. If she really wanted a foal, strings or no strings, there would be plenty of chances. There were a lot of stallions in Equestria happy to become a sperm donor for a night. But she knew full well Rosemary and Cloud Chaser were not nearly as comfortable or confident in the prospect of motherhood as she was. And they were certainly in danger.

She reached up a hoof and punched the doctor square in the jaw. The blow sent him sprawling.

Despite the speculum still inside of her, she bent over to awkwardly try and undo the straps keeping her rear hooves locked into the stirrups. Meanwhile, the doctor opened the door. “Security!” he called.

Ironbright freed her legs, but before she could rise from the chair, a pair of security stallions rushed in. They put their hooves against her shoulders and pinned her down.

Rubbing his face, the doctor rose. “No need to be alarmed, miss. This is all perfectly natural. Just hold still, and it will only take a moment!”

Ironbright watched him approach her. She thrashed and struggled, kicking her hind legs, doing everything in her power to delay the doctor getting near her. The guards held her down with all their might, placing their weight on her rear legs, trying to force her to submit.

She was more or less pinned. The doctor drew in close and hunkered down.

Ironbright heaved. Her muscles bulged. She grunted and gasped for air, sweat pouring down her forehead. Her arms shook as she pushed against her captors with everything she had. She struggled for several long moments, putting all her power into freeing herself. For several long moments, nothing budged.

With a roar, Ironbright began to push. Her steel arms bulged with terrifying power, and the stallions that were atop her began to move. Even with their whole bodies, they couldn’t keep her forehooves pinned down. Finally, she raised her hooves and sat up, throwing the stallions off of her. She kicked the doctor in the middle of his head, and he dropped to the floor with a thud, the baster landing on the ground as well.

The guard stallions rushed her again, taking out their batons to subdue her, but Ironbright was already on her hooves. They swung for her. One baton lanced across her shoulder, slashing against the meat of her body, but Ironbright merely ignored it. The other came for her face, and Ironbright caught it in her teeth. She yanked it away, and with one swing cracked open the helmet the guard was wearing, glass shattering as she punched him with an uppercut that sent him crashing into the wall.

The last guard swung for her again, but Ironbright shoved him with her body, knocking him to the ground. She dove on top of him, pummeling him with her hooves until they were bloody and he lay unconscious beneath her. The others in the room groaned and gurgled on the floor, but they were in no condition to stand, let alone fight.

With some discomfort, Ironbright managed to remove the speculum and spit it onto the floor. And now that she could move freely, she raced out of the room and into the hall to look for the other mares. She could only hope she would make it in time.

Cloud Chaser was similarly left to wait after her initial examination, alone with her thoughts. Living on the streets had taught her to be cautious. Far too often, ponies, especially young mares like her, weren’t careful and wound up walking right into trouble. Ever since she was a foal, she had paid attention. Which ponies in the market she might be able to follow home and sleep beneath their porch without getting ran off. Which bars would feed her scraps out the backdoor, and which bartenders would try to lure her inside. And which families might be barren, or looking to adopt a sweet, plucky pegasus like herself.

The last never happened, of course. She was never that lucky. But she had only managed to survive by paying attention. By listening and watching. And most importantly, following her gut.

And her gut was telling her that something was very wrong here. It was the worst kind of wrong, as well. The kind of wrong you couldn’t speak up about easily. It was like an older stallion who once offered to let her sleep inside his house when she had tried to sneak into his shed for a night. The offer was kind. But there were details she couldn’t ignore. He was far older than she was, but he lived alone. She had never seen him with anypony that could be a partner either. He had been very insistent about helping her. And he had called her a “cute little thing.” She was thirteen at the time.

Saying no to him would mean refusing his kind offer. When she tried at first, he seemed so hurt. “I’m just trying to help you,” he said. “What, do you think I’m some kind of bad guy? Not every stallion is gonna want to hurt you, young lady. Now don’t be silly and come on inside where it’s warm.”

And maybe there was no danger. Maybe it was all in her head. Maybe she was being paranoid. But her gut had told her to get away as fast as possible before he could trap her. And that’s exactly what she did. She flew away and never went near his house again. That night was one of the coldest and hungriest of her life. But she survived.

The same pangs of fear were welling up in her gut in Stable 202 as well. So many mares, especially some as old as they were, would never agree to be pregnant so often. Not as much as it would take to produce the veritable army of foals she had seen in the atrium; each one would have had to produce five or six easily, maybe more. The stallions and mares were separated, but it was clear all the positions of power were filled by stallions: Overseer, security, doctors. She had assumed that there was some kind of male-dominance experiment going on, but perhaps a lighter version that what Littlepip had stumbled into, and that the reason I had been led away was because the Overstallion wanted to talk to me “stallion-to-stallion,” without any mares around to ruin the integrity of the negotiations. But the sight of the maternity wards stuck with her. There were a lot of mares giving birth, but one detail really stood out to her:

She had never seen any stallion that could have been the father.

It was a puzzle her mind couldn’t quite figure out. Maybe stallions were forbidden from being present for the birth of their foal, since this was the female-only area. But what purpose did that serve? She had gathered that many stallions weren’t keen on being fathers – and was grateful she hadn’t been like the other teen fillies in New Appleloosa who had been the victim of a “pump and dump,” with a father never to be seen again – but certainly there would have been some sense of excitement. A stallion waiting outside nervously for the news. Stallions playing with their foals. Or some kind of shared living quarters for them to at least get it on with the mares to make all these pregnancies happen in the first place.

The iron grip of control was evident to Cloud Chaser. There was a lot that was being kept from these ponies. And there was a lot that was being kept from her. What was the purpose of all these strange tests? Why were they being divided up? She could have just as easily gotten a physical with the other mares in the room. And if sketchy things were happening with her, just what in the world were they doing with me?

If she tried to say something, to resist politely, she knew they would pressure her not to be rude. They would say it was “standard procedure,” or whatever official-sounding bullshit they could come up with to try and keep her complacent. And by the time she had any proof that something was wrong, it would already be too late.

Cloud Chaser wasn’t going to wait for that doctor to return. It was time to fly.

She rose from the chair, but as soon as she did, the doctor, an older stallion with a pink body and a big silver mane and beard re-entered. She sat back down.

“Alrighty miss,” he greeted her, his voice warm. “Next, I’d like to perform a pelvic exam.”

The alarm bells in Cloud Chaser’s head were deafening.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” she replied.

The doctor hardly acknowledged her. “It’s required. I have to make sure you don’t have any health issues that could become a problem if you’re going to stay in the stable. And it sounds like you might be here for a few days at least.”

“I don’t want to,” she insisted.

The stallion glared at her. “Miss, I’m sorry, but if you don’t comply, I’m going to have to have you escorted out of the stable with all of the ponies you came in with. We must maintain the health and safety of the population at all costs. It will only take a moment.”

Cloud Chaser didn’t want to fuck things up for me. This was my first time really being Prince and trying to convince a group of ponies to follow me. So she nodded numbly and laid back down despite the sirens ringing in her ears.

The stallion strapped her rear hooves into the stirrups. He opened his medical bag. He produced the baster filled with the white fluid.

Cloud Chaser didn’t know what it was. She had a hunch, but in her panicked state, it could have been anything. But there were too many factors to ignore. The pregnant mares. The absent fathers. The separation from her friends.

The last thing Cloud Chaser wanted was a foal. Not only was she a lesbian, and the thought of having any part or product of any stallion inside of her filled her with a sharp distaste, but she was barely old enough that ponies stopped treating her like a foal herself. White-hot panic filled her as she saw it, the doctor drawing nearer to her with his bag. She couldn’t say anything. Nothing would work. It was do or die. Fight or flight.

Cloud Chaser reached with a wing and knocked the doctor’s bag into the air. His equipment scattered.

“What are you doing?” he hollered. Cloud Chaser ignored him. Her quick eyes scanned each and every object and utensil that spilled from the open bag. Dozens of shining steel instruments. Tissues and masks, medication and devices. But her eyes quickly settled on one that landed on a side table just beside her head.

The doctor reached for Cloud Chaser to pin her and restrain her before he could call for security. She craned her neck, stretching desperately to get a grip on the only tool that could save her life.

He covered her with his body, but her teeth gripped the small, cold steel handle of a scalpel. And with all the ferocity she could muster, she drove the blade straight into the doctor’s neck.

Blood spurted down his body, onto the wall, a bit over Cloud Chaser’s face. He staggered, reaching for his neck, thudding into the wall as the blood drained from his body. Cloud Chaser wasn’t going to take the time to watch. She freed herself as he slumped to the floor, either too shocked or too weak to call for the security stallions not too far away.

She didn’t know if he would die or not. She didn’t care. She had to find the others. She had to make sure Rosemary and Ironbright were okay. She stuck her head outside and checked both ways. The corridor was all clear.

She hurried out to find her friends, leaving the doctor to his fate. She followed her gut, and knew that if she was caught, it could be all over for her. She had one chance to save herself and her friends, and she wasn’t going to blow it.

Silently, she crept down the hall, moving quick and keeping her ears and eyes ready.

Rosemary held her hooves to her belly, feeling a bit upset after the test. Doctors always made her feel this way, and this stranger was no different. She hardly liked anypony touching her, but doctors always felt invasive. Especially stallions.

She didn’t quite know why she had such an issue with stallions. When she liked one, she fell hard for them. Just like Ebonmane Prime. But she had been in the wasteland long enough to know that stallions like that were rare. It was hard to find a stallion who wanted more than a one-night stand or a notch on his bedpost. Even harder to find one who wanted romance. Impossible to find one who wanted a family.

She supposed it was biological differences that she couldn’t fathom. But she had seen enough mares hurt to know the truth, seen enough stallions buy a room from her while nibbling on a giggling mare’s ear only to see him leave alone the next morning, even before sunrise, leaving Rosemary to clean up the mess and console the mare left behind. She didn’t know what compelled them to do it. How they could be so heartless and single-minded. She had vowed long ago to never be that easy.

And yet, she didn’t know what compelled the rare stallion to be completely different, either. If the nature of a stallion was toward lust, then what drove some to be fathers? Perhaps it was the same drive. Her own father hadn’t wanted much to do with her after her little sister was born. She was cuter, smaller, more fragile and helpless than Rosemary was right from the onset. The favoritism was apparent. He was proud that such a perfect foal could have come from him. The same couldn’t be said for Rosemary.

She knew that there were good fathers, though. Ebonmane Prime… He undoubtedly would have been a good one. She was sure of it.

It was no wonder stallions and fathers were on her mind so much. After seeing all those foals in the atrium, she couldn’t help it. They were so sweet, so happy, such unfettered balls of energy and joy. Pure. Totally innocent. Nothing could be more deserving of love and protection than a foal. Rosemary had wanted to go down and play with them, but she had been whisked away to this little room in the stable clinic. She hoped to later.

Stallions confounded her and frustrated her to no end. Always seeming to disappoint her. Only one thing on their minds. But she loved foals. She was certain she wanted one someday. She didn’t care how; if Cloud Chaser was a bit younger, Rosemary would have adopted her in a heartbeat. It wasn’t the end-all-be-all of her life, but Rosemary sincerely hoped that one day she would be fortunate enough to have a foal all her own. And while it seemed like wishful thinking, she couldn’t imagine anything better than raising that precious life alongside a kind and gentle stallion who loved their foal just as much as she would.

It seemed ironic that such a blessing came from the lusty act that enamored stallions so much, leading to the very bitterness she felt in the first place.

Suddenly, the doctor entered, and Rosemary snapped out of her thoughts. Her doctor was a soft, canary yellow stallion with a brown mane, short and squat. She felt her discomfort rise as soon as he entered. Just like the other mares, Rosemary could see that something was off about Stable 202. She had noticed the sharp absence of fathers as well, and the strange segregation policies left her with a lot of questions. The number of foals was questionable as well, but even if it was something compulsory, it didn’t raise Rosemary’s alarm immediately. The mares in the atrium seemed so happy to be with their foals. And the mares nursing in the maternity ward looked down at their newborns with a love in their eyes that made Rosemary’s heart ache. If Ebonmane was going to lead these ponies out into the wasteland, there would certainly need to be some changes to the culture around here. But a stable so very brimming with life could never quite feel like a sinister place to Rosemary.

But her experience wasn’t quite like the other mares’.

“We got your test results back,” the doctor said. He set down his bag, standing by Rosemary’s side as he prepared his words. Something was wrong. Rosemary could see it on his face.

“What do you mean? Test results?” she asked. She wasn’t aware they had run any tests on her.

“We conducted a magical internal examination on your vital organs and major systems,” he said. Rosemary recalled the strange wand he had waved over her belly, that made her stomach clench and ache a bit. “It appears you have a rather common condition in many mares that can cause scarring in your uterus and… render you infertile.”

Rosemary stared on ahead, numb.

The doctor continued. “If you had been born in Stable 202, we could have treated the condition easily. It’s been entirely eliminated from our population through gene therapy. But according to our records, it appears to be a condition that many mares suffered from pre-war. I’m told you’re an outsider, so it makes sense that you and many others outside would suffer from this condition.”

It was like a blow to the stomach. Rosemary felt dizzy. “So… what can I do?”

The doctor shook his head. “At this stage, the condition has progressed too far. If you were a bit younger, perhaps with some careful treatment, we could have delayed the progression long enough for you to conceive, but by now, the odds of you successfully carrying a pregnancy to term are virtually zero. The only recourse would be to surgically extract your eggs from your ovaries, but they would have to be implanted into another mare to carry to term, and the odds of another mare agreeing to that are also slim, I fear.”

Tears were welling up within Rosemary’s eyes. Maybe a foal wasn’t the only thing she wanted in life. But it was the one thing she was certain about. Virtually zero. She would likely never hold her own foal in her arms or nurse it herself. She would probably never cook for her own foal, or teach them all the recipes she had learned and developed over the years, passing down the dishes to the next generation. She would never watch them grow up, go to the burgeoning schools that were forming across Equestria, or play with other foals their age. Sure, maybe she could adopt. The wasteland certainly produced no shortage of orphans. But that would virtually guarantee she would be raising the child alone. What stallion would ever agree to raise a foal that wasn’t his in the wasteland? At least, what living stallion would…?

The doctor placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I know this is hard for a mare to hear. This is a vital part of a mare’s life. The most we can do now is perform a procedure that will prevent the condition from impairing any other aspects of your health.”

Then, the doctor withdrew a sharp needle, filled with a clear liquid.

Rosemary recoiled sharply. This was happening too fast. She didn’t know what was in that needle. But a deep part of her, the part of her sensitive enough to read stallions in a heartbeat, reach out to mares in crisis, to take Cloud Chaser under her proverbial wing, and fall for the dead stallion walking that was Ebonmane Prime knew that whatever was in that needle wasn’t good. Stable 202 clearly valued mares and foals. She didn’t want to find out what they did with a barren mare.

“No,” she said firmly. “I want to talk to my friends first before anything happens.”

The doctor practically ignored her. “This will just take a moment. You’ll start to feel sleepy, but when you wake up, your friends will be there, and you can decide then,” he said. He reached for her.

It happened in a flash. Rosemary’s horn flared. Sparks crackled. A bolt of green lightning erupted from her horn, lancing into the doctor’s body. The energy pumped through him, his body convulsing, blood spurting from his eyes, nose, and mouth as the electricity fried his brain. And then it was over. The doctor fell in a charred slump.

Rosemary wiped the tears from her eyes. She would never get used to killing. But there wasn’t much choice she had. She would suffer the pain of the news and what she had to do later. Right now, she was certain her friends were in danger.

And she could only imagine what they were doing to me.

Rosemary raced down the halls. She didn’t have Cloud Chaser’s speed or stealth, or Ironbright’s strength, so she had to move fast. She wasn’t sure how much magic she had in her to cast her deadly combat spells; she had never been pushed to her limit before. Magic had always been something wild and unfettered to her, a tiny, flashing beacon in the dim of herself. Sometimes she could capture it, and other times it floated away. She could only hope it wouldn’t fail her now.

She needed to find the next room. She scanned each door as fast as she could. Utility closet, post-natal ward, nurse’s station – none of these were what she needed. And with each beat of her hooves against the steel floor, each second that passed, she feared it would be too late for the others.

But she wouldn’t give up without a fight. She rounded the corner into the next hall.

“Stop right there!” a guard stallion called to her.

He was standing in the middle of the hall she had just turned around. She didn’t know what he was doing there, but he had spotted her, and it was clear he knew she wasn’t supposed to be walking around unaccompanied. He came for her.

Rosemary pointed her horn down at him. She flared it. Sparks flashed.

Nothing.

“Damn it,” she cursed. He was running for her, and she knew going back the way she came wouldn’t do her any favors. She had to go through him.

She tried to dive past him, but she felt a sharp slicing across her head as he laced her with his baton, cutting her right beneath her horn, some blood dripping down over her eyes.

Rosemary fell, but she turned to face him. As he reached to apprehend her, she struggled, kicking at him willing her horn to work with her.

“LEAVE ROSEMARY ALONE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

Cloud Chaser, flying at full speed, crashed into the stallion and toppled him over, likely cracking a few ribs in the process. But the little pegasus rebounded quickly, going to pick up Rosemary.

“Are you okay?” she asked Cloud Chaser.

“I’m fine. C’mon, get up! We have to find Ironbright!”

Rosemary nodded and the two raced down the hall, taking a turn neither of them had used to search for the third.

They found her in a bloody brawl against three guard stallions. Even if she was more than enough of a match for one of them, their combined strength and better equipment left her at a huge disadvantage without her armor. What was worse, a gunshot exploded in the hallway as one of the guards drew a pistol and fired, clipping Ironbright in the flank at such close quarters. But it would take more than a single bullet, armor or no armor, to take down the massive mare, and she roared and swung her hooves at the guards. Her blow connected, and the pistol flung from his mouth.

Rosemary and Cloud Chaser didn’t have to be told to help out. Another stallion was reaching for the pistol when Cloud Chaser whizzed by, knocking it away and kicking him in the jaw. Another dove for the pegasus, but Rosemary grabbed him in her telekinesis, and despite his struggling, slammed him into the wall, stunning him briefly.

It was the momentary distraction Ironbright needed. “Duck!” she hollered. Rosemary and Cloud Chaser fell to the ground. Ironbright, with the pistol in her mouth, fired three shots at the battered guards. Three dead bodies.

Each mare looked at each other with sighs of relief. “Thank Celestia you two are alright,” Ironbright said.

“I was worried about you,” Rosemary said. “These ponies are bad news.”

“Was I the only one who had a stallion try to shove a fucking syringe of jizz in me?” Cloud Chaser cried.

“They tried it with me too, but I’m alright,” Ironbright replied.

“They tried to kill me!” Rosemary said. “And if Ebonmane’s an alicorn, Luna knows what they’re doing with him.”

The thought hadn’t quite occurred to the other two. “We’ve got to move quickly,” Ironbright said. “I can only hope whatever was in those test tubes wasn’t Ebonmane’s and that he’s alright.”

“Ironbright, you’re pretty hurt,” Cloud Chaser pointed out. Indeed, the gray mare was covered in lacerations from the security batons, not to mention the bullet wound in her hip. “And they’ve probably raised the alarm by now. We should get you patched up before we run into trouble.”

“No,” Ironbright said. “I’ll be fine if I get my armor on. We just need to get to the equipment locker where they confiscated our gear, near the stable entrance.”

“And what if we run into a bunch of guards on the way?” Rosemary asked.

Ironbright thought for a moment. “We’ve all got a bad feeling that Ebonmane’s in trouble, too, right?” They all nodded. “Then they’ll likely be set up around him and working to lock down the stable before we can reach him. They’re going to try and cut us off. But they don’t know how much firepower we really have.”

The younger mares nodded. “This way,” Rosemary said. “I didn’t see any guards my way, and I think it’s close to the atrium.”

The rest of the mare’s area was indeed on lockdown. Lights flashed by doors that closed with steel shutters, and metal grates slid over the windows to protect the mares stuck in the maternity wards. But as Ironbright predicted, no sign of any security.

The door from the female area to the atrium was locked down, but since the mares were on the inside, there was a terminal ready to open it.

“You’re up Cloud Chaser,” Rosemary said.

“What makes you think I know how to hack?” she replied.

“You’re always snooping and getting into things and lockpicking!”

“Yeah, but this is way different! I never got to use a terminal before!”

“Move over,” Ironbright shoved them out of the way. “We don’t have a moment to waste.”

Within seconds, the terminal beeped. Ironbright hit a key, and the door opened.

The mares rushed through the atrium, and through the windows they could see that the place that was bustling with foals and their parents not an hour or two ago was completely empty, save for a single alarm beacon flashing overhead. The entirety of the stable was on total lockdown.

Which meant the stable entrance was mercifully unguarded. The monitoring station that we had first passed through was locked behind a heavy door and the toughest security terminal Stable-Tec could build.

Ironbright sat and thought for a few moments, not opting to the wastelander method of trial-and-error with time being of the essence. In less than a minute, she nodded, tapped in the password, and it opened.

“Where did you learn to do that, and can you teach me?” Cloud Chaser asked.

“Who do you think programmed my armor?” Ironbright asked.

In a steel wire cage at the guard outpost was the contraband box. The mares could see our gear lying in piles, from Cloud Chaser and Rosemary’s more sensible guns, to the heap of Ironbright’s heavy red armor, to my bright and flashy weapons, including the crystal spear. It was sealed with a padlock on the door. Cloud Chaser raced to beat Ironbright’s time at the first terminal, and it’s hard to say who got theirs unlocked faster.

The mares began to gear up, putting their armor back on and loading their guns, Ironbright deigning to carry my armor and weapons as well. “They’re going to be ready for us,” she said as she snapped her helmet back on, the armor coiling around her as she booted up the system. “We’re going to hit them hard and fast. They’re guards, not soldiers. We’ve got the advantage of firepower.”

But Rosemary was eyeing something that wasn’t ours. A glass case on the wall with what looked to be some kind of weapon. A short tube with a large feeder at the top, and what looked to be about four bright, colorful eggs inside.

She pried it open and took it in her grip, inspecting it. “What’s this?”

Ironbright looked it over. “A grenade launcher. Unicorn make,” she said. Then she turned to the eggs. “A magical grenade launcher.”

Rosemary took the colorful grenades into her aura. She dropped one into the feeder and snapped it closed. It fit perfectly. “Come on.”

They headed toward the male area from the atrium next, down where they had seen Prominence lead me. Again, they were met with a heavy sealed door. But on the outside, there was no terminal to hack or lock to pick.

“I’m looking for a way around,” Ironbright said, checking her Pipbuck’s auto map.

“Stand back,” Rosemary said. They each took several paces back, but before they could ask her what she was doing, Rosemary aimed her new weapon at the door and fired.

BOOM!

The explosion of light and pure magical force was deafening, leaving plenty of purple, glittery sparkles floating down in the air all around them. But when the light faded, the door was all but obliterated, a massive, gaping whole punched right through.

“Why do you get all the cool guns, Rosemary?” Cloud Chaser whined.

Ironbright was already stepping through the gap, her hooves heavy on the floor as she took charge. “Let’s go.”

There were no guards awaiting them immediately on the other side of the door. But around the corner, they were entrenched. Several guards had taken up positions inside of open doorways, ready to peek out and open fire on the approaching mares. A few others even wielded bulletproof shields in their mouths, the giant plates of clear glass letting them see to aim with the rifles fixed into battle saddles.

As soon as they saw the mares, they opened fire. Cloud Chaser and Rosemary dove for cover, but most of the guards were only using pistols or low-power rifles. It would take a good shot to punch through her armor, so she stood her ground. Her miniguns whirred, and she opened fire on the ponies behind the shields. Her bullets embedded themselves into the heavy glass, splintering and cracking the barriers, but they did not break.

With Ironbright absorbing fire, Rosemary took a quick duck around. With two booming shots of her manticore gun, the solid slugs ripped right through the shields and felled the two ponies beyond.

Ironbright was still suffering hails of bullets, and as she tried to advance, she only opened herself up to more. She would turn her guns to fire at one ducking around a corner, but when he took cover, the others would look around and open fire.

It only took a moment for Cloud Chaser to take aim down the scope of her sniper and pick one off with a high-powered shot that ripped entire chunks of skull from the guard’s head. She ducked back around the corner, cocked the bolt, and found her opportunity to rinse and repeat in moments.

As the ponies fell one by one, Ironbright was able to move forward without fear. When she approached their positions of cover, they tried to run and fall back. They barely made it a few feet past Ironbright’s miniguns before they were torn to shreds.

The mares moved at a swift pace down the hall now that they had punched through the blockade set up for them. They scanned the doors lining the halls. “Sample Storage.” “Clinic.” Until finally they hit one that made them stop. “Collection Ward.” They had a good idea what was to be collected in here.

The ward was sealed tight like all the others. “Rosemary?” Ironbright asked politely as they all took a step back.

Rosemary kindly obliged, snapping a new magical grenade into the launcher, taking aim at the door.

BOOM!

I struggled against the guards for a long time. With four of them trying to wrangle me, not to mention the brave medical technicians that came to help, there was little I could do to stop them.

Not that I didn’t try. I fought as hard as I could, shoving with my shoulders, wings, elbows, hooves, horn, anything. Being an alicorn and having a natural size advantage, not to mention three extra appendages that they lacked, allowed me to fend them off for quite some time. But eventually I had a whole pony wrapped around just about anything I could move.

With difficulty, they led me up to the machine. Up close, it looked so strange and alien, like no piece of technology I had ever seen before, black and big, with wires and tubes coming out every which way. The shoved me up to the platform, and my chest bumped against the padded barrel they wanted to drape me against.

I managed to find a few more minutes to struggle as they tried to lift my body and get me in place. The barrel had straps for my hooves, but my wings remained an issue for them. They started to beat me into submission, but I wouldn’t let a black eye stop me.

But finally, they did manage to secure me. I was hot, sweaty, bruised and bleeding, but some of my captors were in nearly as bad shape. I didn’t feel anything yet, especially beneath me, which was a momentary blessing. I looked to my right and to my left. A couple stallions were on either side of me, hooked up to the pumps, and they gave me confused expressions, as if totally unable to comprehend why I would struggle so hard against this treatment. I suppose if I were in their situation, I wouldn’t question it either.

However, before some of them were quite finished, an alarm went off, blaring as a bright light flashed overhead. Some of the medical technicians unhooked them from the pumps as the stallions complained. “I wasn’t done yet.”

“We’re locking down. There’s a problem in the female ward. Come on,” security said as they led them out.

I smiled. My friends were coming for me.

Momentarily, I felt relief as I realized I was safe for the time being. But not all of the medical ponies left the ward. “We’ve got orders to collect from him,” one said. “The Overstallion himself said so. No delays.”

“What the hell is going on though?” another asked.

“I don’t know. The Overstallion’s handling it. Let’s just get this done and then we can go.”

They approached me. Shit.

I saw one of them retrieve the pump sleeve and ready it with some kind of lubricant. The other ducked beneath me.

“Uhh… I think we got a problem,” he said.

“What now?”

“He’s not hard.”

“For the love of the goddess…”

It was a little embarrassing to be inspected so closely, but I almost chuckled. They both rose and glared at me. “Come on, Your Highness, let’s get this over with.”

I just shook my head. It seemed they weren’t equipped to deal with unwilling stallions.

“Come on,” the other groaned. “Just drop it already.”

I shook my head again.

They looked at each other again. “Should we attempt to stimulate an erection?” one asked.

“I’m not touching him,” the other answered.

Before I could taunt them, the door opened behind me, and I craned my neck to see the Overstallion flanked by the four guards from earlier. Prominence looked haggard after initiating the lockdown and shouting orders for the last several minutes. When he saw that the technicians had made virtually no progress with me, he looked downright pissed. “I thought I told you to collect a semen sample already!”

“Well, sir…” one started.

“We can’t, uh… get him up.”

Prominence looked like he could kill them. “It looks like I have to do everything myself around here!”

He came up behind me where I couldn’t see. Suddenly, I felt a sharp prick in my groin. A syringe. He was injecting something into me.

It quickly solved my performance issues.

“Now get him hooked up! We might not have another chance to study an alicorn again!” Prominence ordered.

I started to breathe heavily. It was happening again. And yet, even as I felt waves of anxiety wash over me, I wasn’t yet in full-on panic. They were still attempting to force me, but the circumstances were far different than with Livewire. Even if they did try, I could still resist as long as possible. And even if I failed, it wouldn’t mean anything if they didn’t have the chance to do anything afterwards. My psyche could handle being forced to provide a sperm sample into a tank if that was it. And what was more, making it with a machine was a lot less significant, personally, than a mare.

I just tried to focus. The important thing was to maintain my dignity. For my own sake.

I grunted as they managed to slip me inside the pump. The texture was unlike anything I could have even imagined. I had no idea if they were attempting to be realistic or not, but strange and alien, tight and slick. I took a deep breath. I knew once they flipped that switch and turned on the pump, things would get very weird for me, to say the least. But it would be okay. Once it was over, I would take it from there. I just had to get through this part. I had seen the stallions from before. I doubted I would last much longer.

BOOM!

I craned my head to look toward the ear-splitting boom that rocked the collection ward. A million green sparkles floated through the air, glittering magnificently. On the other side, coming in through the obliterated door, was Ironbright, Cloud Chaser, and Rosemary, the latter wielding a small but powerful gun I hadn’t seen before. My rescue had arrived, and not a moment too soon!

“Ebonmane!” they called to me.

“I’m alright!” I replied. I couldn’t move, but I could at least use my tail and wings to preserve some of my modesty. The less of this they saw, the better for all of us in the long run.

But then I heard the click of guns trained on me. Prominence in particular pointed a pistol straight at my head from where he stood next to the pump’s switch. “Don’t you dare move a muscle, or the Prince dies,” he threatened my friends.

Fuck. I was the damsel in distress now.

“And then what happens to you?” Ironbright asked.

“Don’t try to bluff,” Prominence replied. “We both know none of you would risk losing the Prince of Equestria.” None of the mares said anything, and we were all thinking. Prominence continued. “You three will be executed for murder. But if you surrender now, I can guarantee the Prince lives. He will stay with us for research, and his magic will be used to cure diseases and illnesses. Exactly like the infertility you suffer from, little unicorn.”

What? Rosemary was infertile? How did he know that?

“Shut up!” she screamed at him.

“I got all your tests back before you became violent,” he said. “I find it astounding that you would want to put a stop to our research here. This stable was founded to give Equestria the best chance it has of surviving! If you were born one of our mares, you would likely have several foals by now. I had even planned to let the Prince here decide if he wanted you three to be the first to receive his seed. We could have accomplished so much together!” Prominence sighed. “But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. If this is how those in the wasteland behave, then it’s no wonder Equestria is such a hellhole.”

I wondered if there was some way I could talk him out of it. Into simply banishing them from the stable and simply saying they were executed. If I could trade my willing participation in his sick experiments for their lives. But before I could speak, Rosemary beat me to it.

“You tried to kill me. Because I’m infertile,” Rosemary said. “I don’t know if it’s you or whatever instructions were in your terminal, but all you see in these mares are walking wombs. And foals are just future ones to you. Even the stallions are just cattle to you. Numbers. You’re just like every other shitty stallion in the wasteland,” she said. “We’d all be a lot better off without you.”

“Throw down your weapons,” Prominence repeated, but I could hear the edge in his voice at Rosemary’s words.

I looked back at them. They looked at me. We didn’t seem to have a choice. But we would figure this out.

They began to drop their guns. Cloud Chaser’s black sniper rifle, Rosemary’s new grenade launcher, Ironbright letting the bullet belts drop from her miniguns. She still had all of my gear to drop too.

She reached for the crystal spear first. We locked eyes. She threw it to me.

It was a last-ditch effort. My guns were more deadly, but I was in close range and surrounded, and the spear was easier to catch and use than my sword. But I knew I couldn’t react in time to finish Prominence before he finished me. I had to get free.

I caught the spear. I planted it into the ground.

“Shoot him!” Prominence cried.

I tried to shove off with it. I used my magic. I used everything I had. The spear began to glow a brilliant purple.

The guns fired. A hail of bullets hit me. But I found myself covered in a bubble of magical energy, a magenta barrier that repelled the bullets harmlessly.

It was the split-second we needed. The mares dove back. But Rosemary took the launcher in her aura. From around the corner, she squeezed the trigger.

BOOM!

From within the bubble, I was safe. But I could feel the tremendous force of the explosion impacting against the magical shield. It surged through the spear and into my horn. It hurt like hell. But it didn’t break. I could see the blinding red light that swallowed the entire room. Hear the muffled sound of the quaking explosion. But when the blast subsided, there was no sign of Prominence or any of the security stallions with him. Just a hailstorm of red, glittery sparkles swirling all around.

I released my grip on the spear, and the bubble faded. My head hurt, but we had made it.

The mares rushed in. “Thank Celestia, he survived that,” Ironbright said, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe that stupid spear was actually worth keeping,” Cloud Chaser said with disbelief.

But Rosemary spoke softly. “Ebonmane are you, um… okay?”

She was asking what they all wanted to know. If they had collected from me yet. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said.

The embarrassment was only rising though. “Do you, ah, need any… help…? Getting out of that?” Ironbright asked.

I blushed. “I think I can do it. Just – turn around.”

With my magic, mouth, and wings, I managed to get the straps off and figured out how to slide myself out of the pump still attached to me by a hose. The wet noise only made things worse.

“Is it safe yet?” Cloud Chaser asked, starting to peek.

“No!” I said, snapping my wings down around me. Whatever drug Prominence had shot into me was still taking its toll. “Do you guys have my armor?”

Ironbright nodded, and I retrieved the bundle of heavy plates from her back. I didn’t bother to put the whole cumbersome suit on; just the parts that mattered. Putting them on in my current state was both awkward and uncomfortable, but they certainly covered the important bits well enough until the drug wore off.

“Alright. I’m decent.”

The mares turned and flung their hooves around me in a group hug. Finally, it was my turn to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cloud Chaser said. “I don’t give a fuck what Litltepip thinks, this was a terrible idea.”

“Did you kill everypony?” I asked.

“All the mares, foals, and non-security stallions are on lockdown,” Ironbright said. If I find the Overstallion’s office, I can release them.” Then, she cocked her head at me. “What about them?”

This place had been a hellhole, and part of me wanted to leave immediately as Cloud Chaser suggested. But even I could see that the ponies here weren’t actively evil. “We need to get them out of here,” I said. “Their Overstallion is dead. And a lot of others. They probably won’t want to follow me, but they can’t stay here. They know about the outside. And this… It isn’t right to let this continue.”

“What are you going to do?” Rosemary asked.

I looked them each in the eye. “Get some of these doctor-types to round them up into the atrium. I’m going to speak to them. Just… try to reason with them.”

Ironbright gave a dark chuckle. “Your first diplomatic mission as Prince ends in your first public relations crisis. Good luck getting them to listen to you,” she said.

She didn’t have to say it aloud. I already knew it would be hard.

“At least, before we go out there, let me take care of you guys,” I said. I lit up my horn. After being rescued by these three mares, finding the light in my heart for them was easy. I touched them with my white aura, and the cuts and bruises they had suffered disappeared.

It was an awesome feat that would never fail to amaze each of us. “Maybe you do got this,” Cloud Chaser said.

“I’ll see if we can’t find a potion for you,” Rosemary said to me. “You shouldn’t do your first speech looking like that.”

Within an hour, my wounds were healed, my body under control, and the ponies of Stable 202 were gathered in the atrium. I could hear the cacophony of their voices, worried, confused, angry beneath me. I sighed. I knew this wouldn’t be easy.

I stepped out into an open corridor with a railway that overlooked the atrium. I spoke as loud as I could.

“Ponies of Stable 202!” I addressed them. They looked to me, but their shouting didn’t die down.

“Killers!”

“Thugs!”

“Tyrants!”

I was disheartened. But I had to try. “Please, listen to me!” I shouted. But they wouldn’t stop.

“Go fuck yourself!”

“You should be executed!”

“All hail the Overstallion!”

“I am Prince Ebonmane of Equestria!” I roared down at them. I flared my wings and horn, a bright, white-hot light shining down on them. The sight of my full alicorn nature silenced them. I continued to speak. “I came to this stable today in peace. I came to bring you the truth of what is happening out there. I came as your Prince to lead my people out into the light!” I said. I didn’t know what was happening. It hardly sounded like me or my voice. “Yes, the wasteland can be a dangerous and corrupt place. But what I found here today is no better than the worst I have seen up above! My friends and I arrived as peaceful envoys! And each and every one of was brutalized, nearly forced to surrender our bodies and our reproductive rights. Yes, our rights,” I repeated, glaring down at each of the ponies below. “No pony, mare or stallion, should be forced to have a foal against their will. And yet that is exactly what this entire stable was founded upon. Your Overstallions, for generations, have used you like animals. You have never known love. Your stallions have never known fatherhood, and your mares have never known autonomy. None of you even know what it is to share the most intimate of experiences two ponies can physically give to each other. These are all heinous crimes, fundamental pony experiences that have been denied to you.”

I could sense them softening as they listened to my words. “That ends today. Today, I have come to show you the truth. To teach you about these things that have been hidden from you. And to lead you to a land where you can choose your own destiny. Equestria. I cannot promise that it will be easy. I cannot promise that the land above is more comfortable than your life down here. But as a pony who has seen the dark secrets of this stable, and seen the worst of Equestria as well, I can say that it is better to live free than to be slaves, trapped underground.”

They were nervous. They were faced with leaving everything they knew, not just physically, but culturally. The world I would lead them to was the great unknown. “I would not come here to lead you if it was not yet time. And I will not leave your side once we are on the outside. I am Prince Ebonmane, descended from the very birthright of the goddess Celestia herself! You belong to me, as my little ponies, and I belong to you as your Prince and protector! No harm will befall you while you are my ponies. And together, we will leave this place and build a better Equestria than any you could have ever known down here. That is my promise to you.”

There was nothing left to say. The stable ponies were still confused and scared. But they couldn’t stay here. I wouldn’t let them, and perhaps, deep down, they knew it wasn’t right for them.

They began to pack and leave. My friends and I did our best to clean and care for the dead. Some ponies yelled at me and spat in my face. They would never forgive me for killing their friends. But if the rest were leaving, they had no choice as well. Perhaps they would find their own paths, and peace, on the outside. At least, that was my prayer.

My friends and I sat at the entrance to the stable, waiting until it was time to leave. Resting. We had been down here for only a few hours, but it had felt like more than a full day.

“That was a really great speech, Ebonmane,” Rosemary said.

Ironbright nodded in agreement. “A natural leader. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Where are we going to take all these ponies?” Cloud Chaser asked.

I didn’t know the answer to that. We couldn’t take them to Tenpony Tower. No town in the wasteland could support so many refugees. We might be forced to build a new one on our own. But we would find something. “We’ll get a hold of Homage. Maybe Littlepip knows, or she can put out a call for help.” I said. But there was more I wanted to say. I turned and looked at each of them. “Thanks, you guys. For everything. You really saved me back there.”

“It was nothing,” Ironbright said.

“Those machines were so crazy,” Cloud Chaser said. “You know, if you wanted to go back and try one out for fun, we might still have some time.” I gave her a withering look. “Sorry,” she apologized.

“I know it might not seem like a lot to you,” I started. “It’s not like I was in danger of getting pregnant or anything. But… I worried about what they would do with me. I felt so helpless…” I sighed.

“You came through in the end,” Ironbright said. “That spear’s enchantment is quite something.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I replied. “If it weren’t for you three, I’d either be dead, or still hooked up back there. And all this time, I was worried something like that would happen to you three. Like if we failed with Thunderfall. Or even down here. Once I figured out what was going on, I was certain you would be the ones that needed rescuing, not me.” I lowered my eyes, staring at my hooves. “I was so sure that if I couldn’t save you guys, that you were doomed. But I was the one in danger the whole time. You three had it totally handled.”

“We’re not weak little damsels in distress, you know, Mister White Knight,” Cloud Chaser ribbed me.

I deserved it a bit. “Yeah. And I’m sorry I thought about you all like that. All this time. I thought I was being noble, but I was just being selfish. I never realized how strong you were. How much I needed you.”

They smiled their appreciation at me. But Rosemary spoke up, “You know, you aren’t a damsel in distress either,” she said. I looked her in the eyes, and I felt the warm, gentle touch of her sincerity. “With these ponies… and Livewire… You weren’t able to protect yourself.” The way she spoke left me breathless. It was almost like she knew. “But that doesn’t mean you’re weak either. You have the strength to lead these ponies out of here to a better Equestria. And even though what you went through was totally humiliating… You’re not letting it stop you. That’s what’s important.”

I nodded. I felt calm. She was right, of course. “Thanks,” I said. “That… That speech was the first time I really felt it. Like I could do this. Like I could be… Prince.” I turned to each of them again, looking my friends in the eye. “But I know I can’t do it without you guys. I wouldn’t be anything without you. I need you guys to help me see this through. Please…”

“Of course, Ebonmane,” Rosemary said. “Always.”

Soon, it was time. We led the scores of ponies – mares, stallions, and the countless foals – out of Stable 202, into the crystal palace, and out onto the balcony beyond. There, they took their first steps into the waning daylight, and laid their eyes for the first time on Equestria. My Equestria. Our home.