Fallout Equestria: Equalizer

Chapter Six: Welcome to Silo

Any pony with hope can rise up again. Just like the sun.

Perspective: Lucky

As we walk down the final stretch to Silo the tunnel becomes much more inviting. Most of the lights here are working, making it perfectly visible all throughout. There are posters and graffiti all telling us about the on goings of Silo. Missing persons. Various stores. Even some for a religious sect that worship the missile in Silo...

I didn't put much thought into it before. But... there's a missile in Silo. I assume they disarmed it. Otherwise why would they start an entire settlement around an active mega spell!?

I look to Reckless and note that he's limping a little. He's probably covered in bruises and scratches from before. I can't imagine what would posses him to jump head first into the fray like that! I really thought he was going to die when they dogpiled him... but smacking him was probably out of line too. I wasn't thinking straight, but... that's still a poor excuse.

"Hey, Reck?" I mumble to him as I tug his arm. He looks back to me and hums in response. "Sorry for hitting you back there."

"You're alright," he brushes me off with a big smile. "Truth be told I deserved it-"

"No, that's not right." I cut him off. "You're my friend and I should treat you better than that."

"Well... okay. Apology accepted then." I smile back to him, feeling much better. "But only because we're such good friends."

"Such good friends!" We laugh a little together. I'm glad we're both a bit sarcastic. I can't imagine if he were stoic and bland... bleh! I glance to the new gun on his back and eye it curiously. A magically enchanted weapon... I didn't even know that was possible. I guess it makes sense, but it's still impressive as ever. "We're going to need a lot of ammo for that gun. I wanna see it in action."

"Same. According to my Pip-Buck it's a devastating weapon. But hopefully in Silo we won't really need it."

That's true. We've worked hard to get here. But now that we're a short walk away... I don't know what comes next. Everything has been about getting to Silo. But now... now there's no goal. We're here. I'm sure there's something we can do while we live inside. Or possibly somepony that'll see two Stable dwellers and know to talk to us. If not... then we'll just have to figure it out.

I notice Reckless wince from a sudden pain. I place a hand on his chest and stop in front of him. He tries to tell me he's okay, but I hold out a hand and silence him.

"Give me more to carry and relax the rest of the walk. Don't make me pull rank." He laughs at that, squaring off with me.

"Rank? I don't think our class means anything up here." He tells me smugly.

"I meant as your best friend." I tell him, equally smug. He tries to say something back quickly, but trips over his own words.

"O-oh. Really? And since when were we best friends?" He asks, trying to play it cool. I look over to the group as they create more distance between us. When I feel they're a safe enough distance I lean in close and whisper into his ear.

"When I let you stare at my tits, ya' dummy." I can't help but revel in his flustered face. Fair was fair. But now I can lord this over him for the rest of our lives. He tries to think of something to refute me, but I caught him by surprise. With a contented sigh of defeat he hefts one of the bags to me. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But to be fair, you stared first." He tells me as I shoulder the bag. We start walking again, picking up the pace to catch up with the group. I chuckle to him though. He's not wrong, I did look first. And I was the one who offered. But, he still agreed. It was a secret cost, so he'll have to deal with it.

"Yeah, but you got more enjoyment out of it." I say, trying to tease him. He grows a smirk and I can tell this is going to be a little game between us. Hope he's ready to lose though.

"Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?" He ask, giving a big stretch to try and relax his bruised body.

"Well, that dopey look was pretty telling." I tell him, giving him a side bump with my hip. "It was cute though."

"Heh, yeah well... at least I didn't gawk at your cutie mark like you did." He teases, giving me a light bump back. I give him a double take as I think back to the shower.

"Y-you didn't?" I ask, genuinely surprised. Why wouldn't he look? I thought the setting was pretty inviting. That's why I looked. He looks to me with a sly grin of victory and shakes his head. "And how do I know that you aren't lying?"

"I'm a lot of things Lucky." He tells me, intentionally sounding as if he's teaching me a lesson. I roll my eyes at that, laughing more internally at his dorkiness. "Fool hardy, impulsive, dangerously good looking-"

"Oh and don't forget humble." I tell him with a chuckle.

"I didn't want to say it, you know. Being humble and all." We share another laugh. It's the shower all over again. The rest of reality is fading away as we get lost in our own little world. "But if there's one thing that rings true about me, it's that I'm no liar. Not unless I need to, that is. And there's no reason for me to lie to my best friend. Now is there?"

This time I get a bit flustered. I didn't think he'd be able to turn the tables so easily. I figured I'd tease him for staring and that would be that. But here I am, being caught as the one who looked while he's making sure I know he'll be honest with me. Second class stallions are nothing like those in first. They're way better!

"So... you really didn't look?" I ask meekly.

"Honest, not even a peek." He tells me earnestly. "But trust me I almost did! Caught myself in the nick of time! Luckily there was something else to look at that was much more appealing while being less invading."

I shake my head and have to look away. I should have just apologized and left it at that. What was I thinking!? Even worse, he's lording it over me!

"Well... thank you. For having some self control when I clearly did not." I tell him, dropping the teasing tone. He's won this round, but I'll win the next one. Somehow. "And sorry for ogling you-"

"Oh, don't sweat it. Ogle me whenever you want! You kidding me? The prettiest mare from the Stable ogled me!? It was the biggest ego booster I've ever had." I laugh again. I have to look away once more and toy with a strand of hair when he compliments me.

Usually when the ponies if Eighty-eight compliment me, there were negative connotations with it. Usually it was lower class ponies trying to work their way up the rankings. But they would always be either too forward or too disingenuous. Though, I don't really recall third class stallions ever talking to me.

When first class ponies complimented me... it was usually my father or Cinnamon Swirl... actually. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I ever got complimented by anypony else. Not from first class at least. The last first class stallion I talked to just grabbed my tits and called them small... So not a great record.

But Reckless calling me pretty... it shouldn't make my head spin. He's... Reckless! Maybe... maybe because he told me he's truthful... I know he really means it. Or maybe it's because I'm not used to compliments. I've never been on the receiving end of this much positive affirmation... and I guess I really like it.

I should return the compliment... but, I don't want to lead him on. Not that I don't think he'd make a good partner. I'm learning he's truly one of a kind. But... out here, in the wasteland... I have a friend I can really start to rely on. What if we get together and it causes a rift between us? I don't want to end up alone out here. Even if we're making it to Silo finally.

And to be fair, I don't know if that's how he really feels. In my head he's still with Joy, but I guess I don't really know that either. I could just ask... but I don't think that would be wise. What would happen if he was? Would he leave to go get her once I was safe in Silo? I... don't know what I'd do then. Or worse. What if once we get there he leaves to be with her and never comes back? What would I do then?

I think I'll play it safe. See how things in Silo go. Just in case.

"Well I'm glad to be of service to your ego." I tell him jokingly. He laughs back, unaware of my inner turmoil.

The rest of the walk was mostly quiet. Truth be told there wasn't much left, but we still hung out at the back of the caravan. It just didn't feel right joining the group of settlers. There was one last check point before we made it to the entrance. But this one was actually manned.

The guards here are wearing dark green work coveralls with various chunks of metal strapped on. Most of their pipe rifles look like they could break apart any moment. They open the gates without question. I hear some of them mention how a whole caravan finally made it. Or how all of the settlers were alive. A few made passing comments at me, but it's nothing I haven't heard before.

Weirdly enough, none of them stopped Reckless. No one here seems to be bothered by a pegasi walking in. I can only guess they have better relations with pegasi. It's good for us though. One less thing to worry about.

A few minutes later we make it to the entrance of Silo. It's... a bit lack luster. It's just a maintenance door in the side of the concrete. Above it they've painted in big red letter 'Silo' with arrows pointing to the door... as if there was another door you'd confuse it for.

There are a few desks out here as well. Several ponies are working on various papers or talking with other settlers. A few of them get scanned by hand held devices. The scanners look like really thick hand held mirrors, but with several blinking lights on them. When somepony gets scanned a blue beam races over their face.

Off to the side beyond the door there seems to be an examination area curtained off. No one is over there though. Far off in the distance I see another guard post with a few ponies walking in as well. Their caravan only has one brahmin and two settlers with it. I can see one pony that might be a guard and another that looks like a doctor, but that's it. We really did do well back there.

One pony in the back getting scanned has the light blue beam turn red. They tell her something and she starts screaming for them to check again. When they refuse, she makes a run for the entrance. The two guards there blast her with their pipe rifles, dropping her before she could lay a finger on the door.

Reckless and I share a nervous look as our group comes to a stop at the closest desk. I never even considered that they'd reject us.

"Alright everypony, listen up!" The guard at the desk announces to us as he walks around the group. "Form a line here and wait your turn. We need to run a scan before we can let you in. Don't try anything stupid! If you're rejected you can just leave, but we won't hesitate to put down a few bad apples, got it!?"

"Why do we need to be scanned!?" One of the settlers demands.

"Need to check for synths and undesirables." He says matter of factly. He stops in front of me and looks me up and down. "We'll start with you-"

"You'll start with me." Reckless tells him, stepping between us. The guard gets mad, but motions for him to move forward. We share a quick look before he walks over to an available desk. I watch as they ask him a few questions before scanning him. I try to listen in, but they're a tad too far to hear properly. [Perception 3/5]

"You, there." The guard tells me, pointing to a different desk. I just nod to him and walk over to the desk. The mare there is wearing a filthy tan suit with a solid yellow badge.

"Go ahead and sit down. This is the Friendship Test. I'm going to ask you a few questions and I would like you to choose from some of these prepared answers. Answer as honestly as you can please." She drones on, handing me a clipboard with laminated pages on it. She's clearly had to say this far too many times before.

"Okay... uh... what's your name-"

"Question number one," she cuts me off. "You are approached by a frenzied scientist, who yells, 'I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!' What's your response?"

I look over the answers and try to pick the one that makes the most sense... but I don't know what any of that means.

"Say nothing, but slip away before the scientist can continue his rant." I say cautiously.

"Interesting. Next question. While working as an intern in the Clinic, a patient with a strange infection on his foot stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do?"

Okay, that's a bit more my speed. Let's see...

"Medicate the infected area as best I can." I hope that's a random question and not something that occurs here.

"Mhmm. Next. You discover a young girl lost in a cave. She's hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do?"

"That's easy. I'd give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay." Maybe I have a pension for kids, but I can't imagine being so cruel to a kiddo like that.

"Classic type B response. Okay, next up. Congratulations! You made it onto a baseball team! Which position do you prefer?"

I light up when she says that. I flip the page and look over the answer and deflate when my position isn't there. Maybe I can give a reason for my favorite spot though.

"Well... If I'd really get on the team I normally play shortstop! But then if that position is really not available I guess second base is good-"

"Please stick to the answers on the page." She tells me, clearly annoyed.

"Humph. Pitcher then." She fills out the form and angrily flips the page.

"Your grandmother invites you to tea, but you're surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill someone. What do you do?"

"I wish I new my gra-"

"AHEM!" She coughs, eyeing the sheet. I roll my eyes and look over the answers.

"I'd give her whatever she wanted to spare the persons life." They could at least try to make this a bit more fun. She notes something down, eyes me a bit, then flips to the next page.

"Old Mr. Appleton has locked himself in his quarters again, and you've been ordered to get him out. How do you proceed?"

"I try to pick the lock." I tell her, getting a little bored of the questions. What could they possibly glean from any of this.

"Hmm... Oh, no! You've been exposed to radiation, and a mutated hand has grown out of your stomach! What's the best course of treatment?" Why would they put a line with inflection if they're not going to stick to the tone. I shake my head and look over the answers.

"I'd dose myself with anti-mutagen agent." Who would pick any of the other answers when this is an option?

"A neighbor is in possession of a Daring Doo comic book, issue number 1. You want it. What's the best way to obtain it?"

"I'd trade him for one of the comic books I own." Who admits that they would steal? If this is a personality test, it's not a very hard one to pass. I'm glad these questions are so easy though. Maybe that one mare was a fluke.

"Alright, last question. You decide it would be fun to play a prank on your father. You enter his private restroom when no one is looking, and..." I look over the answers and smile when I see one that I've done. I need to remember to ask Reckless how he answered this one so I can share the story.

"Change the wattage on the razor. Give him a shock the next time he uses it."

"Okay, with that finished all we need now is a deep scan to check for mutagens. Please sit still and look towards the device."

I try to ask what this was, but she pulls out the device that looks like a teched out hand mirror and start to scan my face. The light blinds me for a second and I reflexively rub my eyes. The device makes a ding noise and I start to panic. I was supposed to stay still! Maybe she'll let me rescan if I ask nicely!

"Auditor!" she yells as she flags down a purple mare. She's wearing a slightly dirty lab coat, a white button down blouse, and a black pencil skirt with her black hair done up in a messy bun. I go rigid as she walks over and looks at the results on the device. She stares at the screen before she looks over to Reckless's table. The pony there shares a look with her and she takes the device from my questioner.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you and your friend there some quick additional questions." She tells me as she fixes her black rimmed glasses. I try to answer, but steps away from the desk and heads to the examination area. So I end up following after her silently. Reckless runs up and joins us, giving me an equally confused look. We go behind the room divider where she points for us to stand against the wall. .

"Is everything okay?" Reckless asks as he hands the device to her. She looks it over for a moment before tucking it under her arm.

"Nothing is wrong." She tells us, making me sigh in relief. "Literally nothing. You two are probably the healthiest ponies to have ever come to Silo in the entire history of the Friendship test."

"Oh... that sounds bad." Reckless and I share another puzzled look. Did we pass incorrectly?

"Well... it's troubling. Mostly because if you're not synths then it would throw off our data. But if the test is still up to date and accurate then we don't have anything to fear. This is to say, you passed as living ponies. But you're both so healthy that we can't rule out the possibility of you both being more advanced synths. So let me be blunt. Are you both fresh out of a Stable or from an Enclave cell? And how long has it been since you've left?"

"Stable." Reckless answers quickly. "Stable Eighty Eight actually. We've only been top side for... a week or two. Maybe three, but it's been hard to keep track." Has it really only been that long. It feels like we've been up here for ages now.

"Stable Eighty Eight? I've never heard of that one. Where is it?" Reckless pulls up his map and shows her. She takes a look and becomes surprised. "Your Stable is right on the edge of the Glowing Sea. No wonder I've never heard of it."

"The... what?" I ask. Whatever it is, it sounds dangerous. If that's true, it's a miracle we made it here to begin with.

"Well... you have the Pip-Bucks and the suits... well, most of the suits." She says, eyeing me for a moment. What's wrong with my suit? "I'm inclined to believe you two. But, I do have one last question for now. What is your plan now that you're here in Silo?"

We look to each other as we each try to think of what to say.

"Honestly, when we left the Stable, we were told to come here. We don't have anything planned beyond that." I tell her. We're at the mercy of this scientist. If she says no, we're screwed. But honesty is the best policy.

"Hmm..." she looks over the two devices again before clicking a few buttons. "I'd like to administer one last test. May I take a saliva sample please?"

She gives us both a cotton swab and instructs us on how to collect the sample. We both wipe the insides of our cheeks before passing them back to the scientist. She inserts them into each of our devices before hitting a few more buttons. When only one of them dings she sighs in relief. A ticket is printed from both devices and she passes them to each of us.

"Welcome to Silo."

We both let out a sigh of relief and take the tickets. I was afraid my dumb luck would come around and kick me in the rear again.

"Thank you!" I tell her, smiling to Reckless. That was close. The scientist reaches into her lab coat and pulls out a mask. When she offers it to me I just take it in confusion. "Um... thank you?"

"I'm letting you two in because you've tested positive for influenza. You're developing a cold. Normally I wouldn't let sick ponies inside Silo, but you're a rare exception. Because of how new you are to the commonwealth you probably have a very common strand or a very weak variant."

"... Oh." I look to Reckless again before putting on the mask. "So... the mask-"

"Is for everypony else. But, since you are new, I am going to force you to quarantine." She tells me as she starts to fill out a note on her clipboard.

"Is... is that allowed?" I ask, a bit thrown off. I don't feel sick. But, if it's to keep everyone else sick...

"Yes. My name is Doctor Lupus, I'm the head of the medical staff and a member of Silo's council. Do you have the caps to rent a room?"

Reckless and I slowly start to go through our bags to pull together all of our caps. We got a bit, but I don't know how long we'll be able to rent a place. Especially if I can't help make more money. With all the exploring and selling we've done for Uppercrust we have a total of three hundred and fifty three caps. Though we have more stuff to sell in Silo so it may be as much as five hundred. Assuming the clothes we have can fetch a similar price as Uppercrust.

We show Doctor Lupus how much we have as she takes a note of it. She instructs us to wait here as she makes a call. We try to ask her some more questions. But she just ignores us and heads inside to Silo. When we hear the door shut behind her Reckless turns around and places a hand on my forehead.

"How are you feeling?" He asks as he feels around my face. I push his hands away and try to gauge my health.

"I... feel fine. Honestly. I don't know what she's talking about." I tell him. Normally I get a few symptoms before I get sick. A sore throat. Achy joints. Minimal appetite. The usual pre-sick stuff. Plus a few... other ones, specific to me. But I feel perfectly fine. "Wait... why aren't you sick!?"

"I rarely get sick." He tells me smugly [Endurance 7]. "In the last five years I've probably only been sick three times."

"Now who has all the luck." I grumble as I check my own forehead again. "I usually only get sick once a year. Sometimes a bit longer... What are we going to do if they don't let us in? Where are we going to go? Are we going to-"

"Hey, hey, easy there." He tells me as he takes my hands and moves them off my face. "We're going to be okay. Even if we don't get in today we'll figure something out. Let's just take it one hurdle at a time, okay?"

I feel myself fluster a bit when he holds my hands like that. I nod to him as I try to look away. I does help to know that he's not going to abandon me. I just hope this doesn't take too long. I'm usually only sick for two, maybe three days at a time. When it's something like this at least.

With that settled we just wait around in the exam area for her to return. There is a table here, but it has a note saying nhot to sit on it. So we just sit against the wall on the cold ground.

While we wait we watch the settlers that traveled with us go through their exams. The first few pass with no problems. But one of them starts to have a mental break down in the middle of the questions. They tackle the individual down and drag them away.

"Do you think they were a synth?" I ask Reckless as he opens a can of food. He offers me some and I try to reject it, but he insists.

"You haven't eaten all morning. Eat something." I look to the can of preserved peaches before sighing and taking the food. I'm not too hungry, but he's right. I do need to eat. "And maybe. I'm not too clear on what a synth is. Have you heard anything about them?"

"Nothing. But apparently they're bad enough for this kind of response." I bit into a chunk of dried peach and begin to gnaw on it. I'm sure we can learn more about the synths when we get inside. "So... what did you think of the Friendship test?"

"Pft, it was weird!" He laughs as he thinks back to it. "So what position did you pick for the baseball team?" I perk up from that. Thinking back to the questions and answers. A bit bored, but also a bit curious, I decide to try to make a little game out of it.

"What position do you think I picked?" I ask, nudging my shoulder against his side. He looks back to me mid bite of some crisps and smiles.

"Well, I know you didn't pick the soccer one." He muses.

"Correct." I respond as I lean back against the wall, toying with my food as I wait for him to continue.

"And I don't take you for a catcher either... at least, for baseball." He says, nudging me back. I chuckle a little and push back at him.

"Focus dork, what's you're pick?" He laughs a bit more at me calling him a dork as he thinks about it.

"Well... shot in the dark... pitcher?"

"Only if you're catching!" I laugh at my own joke. He shakes his head and nudges me a bit more than before. "But seriously, yeah. I did pick pitcher. But I wanted to pick short stop. That's my favorite position to play."

"You don't say." He says with a slight hum.

"Of course! It commands the infield and covers the most important section of the bases! Without the shortstop ponies could round bases too easily! It's a super important position." He nods in agreement as he finishes his food.

"Right, *munch*, so what did I pick then?"

"Probably soccer, you look the type." I tell him smugly. He sneers at me and I sneer right back at him. "Okay, so... If I had to guess... designated hitter?"

"You go it! And as a prize I offer you... this!" He pulls his hand out from behind himself and offers my one of the packs of underwear [Sneak 34/15] . I feel my face heat up again as I swipe the package and shove it into my bag.

"Maybe don't flaunt the underwear to everypony here!?" I chastise, but he just chuckles at me.

"No one saw anything. Besides, it brings up a good point we need to consider." He tells me as he pulls the duffle bag off my shoulder and sets it down. I lean in with him as he opens it up and starts to sift through our belongings. "What do we want to keep and what do we want to sell?"

I didn't think about keeping any of this before. In my head we were selling all of this... except my Rarity original dress, obviously. But the rest of it... I guess I didn't think of it as something that we would hold onto.

We open the three bags we have and take stock of everything. It's not the most, but it definitely gives room to consider. We may need to sell most of it just to get by. Especially if I'm going to quarantine.

Most of the weapons we've picked off the raiders we can probably sell. Maybe keep one just to have use of that ammo type. Or to sell if we get desperate. None of the food or water should be sold. Though, there's not a lot of it left. The clothing is the real quandary though. Some of it will be easy to get rid of. But then there's the question of how much should we keep. We need the money. But being able to change into clean... cleaner clothes has it's own benefits. Especially the undergarments.

As we go through each piece we try to decide if we want it or not. There are also a few we might keep just to use as rags. As I look though my own bag I open a small pocket and find Reckless's feather. I had forgotten about putting that there. I sneak a glance to Reckless and find him considering a button down plaid shirt. I close up the pocket quickly and take the shirt from him. I pull out a plain white shirt and hold it against his chest. Then I switch it for the plaid one.

"Hmm... though I think you can pull off patterns, I think this plain white is nicer on you." I tell him, offering him the shirt.

"Oh... thanks. Are you done picking for yourself?" I look down at the small pile and pick up two massive shirts. I didn't even know shirts could go to four XL. "I wanna keep one as a pajama dress-shirt. Which do you think is better?"

One is red, but is faded now and looks almost pink. The other is all white and has a logo of some cider beverage. The first one is softer. But the second one feels more sturdy. They're PJs, so I don't really care what's one them. But I'm also curious to what he would think. He takes them both and looks between them. He considers them before holding them in front of me. I chuckle a little as he moves between the two of them.

"I think the red shirt help bring out those pretty magenta eyes of yours." I fluster as my ears burn a bit.

"Okay... Then you should definitely wear the white one. They'll help bring out those baby blues you got there." I tell him, trying to return the compliment.

"Thanks, they're originals." I laugh a little too loud, getting looks from the others. I offer a quiet apology as we start to pack everything back up.

Once we got through everything we waited for the scientist to return. But it took much longer than we anticipated. We were probably here for two hours before she finally returned! It was a bit nerve wracking to wait that long. Something is clearly happening in there. But we don't have a single clue to go off of to even guess. It could be something really bad. It could be something as trivial as paperwork. We spent two hours waiting for them to figure it out.

"Sorry for the delay." Doctor Lupus tells us when she finally comes out from Silo. We take a moment to rise from sitting on the ground. I don't know about Reckless, but my butt has fallen asleep from the cold hard floor. "Before we let you in we need to ask a few questions and make some offers."

"Offers?" I ask.

"More questions?" Reckless gripes.

"Yes, sorry. I promise this is not how things usually go. But... well, given what you two are we have... requests, to make of you both." Reckless and I share an uneasy look when she says that. This can't be good.

"Okay... let's start with the questions. Since that will be the easiest to get through." I tell her. She nods to me and pulls out a clipboard. She flips through a few sheets before she licks a pen and gets ready to write.

"Thank you for understanding. First off; we know you haven't been in the Commonwealth for very long. But how many settlements have you come across in your travels?"

"Haven and Uppercrust only." Reckless tells her. She takes a look at me before writing down something. I feel a little cross from that look.

"O...kay. How do you hope to employ yourselves inside Silo? Or if that's unknown, what kind of skills do you each carry?"

"I was a guard in the Stable. I'm qualified with ballistic weapons, low grade explosives, as well as forced entry. If the need arises." [Gun 50/40 Explosives 40/40 Lockpicking 45/40]

"My father taught me to use polearms and swords. He was old school like that. But I'm also certified in many administrative roles and passed the Stable-tech intermediary scientific qualifications." [ Melee 40/40 Speech 45/40 Science 40/40]

"That's great to hear. We can always use more guards." She says, seemingly ignoring everything I said. Okay, I get it now. She doesn't like me. For what reason... I can only assume. "Have either of you contracted any transmissible diseases? Aside from your flu that is. I know it might be embarrassing to admit, but as a medical professional anything you say here will remain confidential."

She stared directly at me when she said that. I can tell now that she's trying to dig some dirt on me. Or it feels like that at least. I don't know what I did to her, but she's making this personal. Whatever. I don't have anything to hide. Though, if I did have something, there's no way she was going to keep it to herself.

"Aside from the possible flu, I'm completely clean. Didn't your little scanners find that out already?" I ask using a slightly mocking tone. She just narrows her eyes and looks to Reckless.

"I'm clean too." He says, completely oblivious to what's going on. Lupus takes a few notes and flips to the next page.

"Last question. Have you made any enemies that might come and seek revenge on the two of you? It's okay if you don't know their names, but we need to know if somepony is going to show up and shoot up the place."

My mind immediately goes to Smiling Jack. The slaver that captured us until Doc Waster saved us. I think he'd be pretty upset that we got away. But he wasn't there for the fight. He may not even know we got away. And maybe the mares in Haven might have a grudge against us. But that's hard to tell. Some of them were happy to have us overthrow Urban Flow.

"Nope! Haven't been up here long enough to anything that dramatic." Reckless blurts out. I try not to react to him saying that. We clearly have been up here long enough to make enemies! Why would he lie to her about that?

Doctor Lupus nods to him, seemingly taking his word. She looks at her notes and tries to ask something. But she stops herself and goes to read again. She does this a couple times before she holds the clipboard behind herself. From the way she stands and holds her posture, it would seem as if she's trying to present her small chest as much as possible. Towards Reckless, of course.

"So now onto the offers we have. Reckless, how would you like to work as a guard for Silo?" Her tone totally shifted! She's trying to sweet talk him! I look to Reckless and watch as he considers the question. He's oblivious to her advances. You poor dumb fool.

"I mean, I'm not opposed to it. We're going to need work and that seems right up my alley." Reckless tells her. She smiles to him and writes something down. OH! That damn smile! She's working him!

"That's great to hear! We really need the-"

"Can Lucky work as a guard as well?" Reckless asks, cutting her off. Her entire demeanor drops as she considers me.

"She doesn't fit the criteria." She says quickly, giving me a knowing look. I want to tell her off, but I hold my tongue. We need to get through the door first. Then I can talk back.

"She's plenty ready." Reckless tells her as he places a hand on my hip and pulls me in against him. I give a small squeak and he squeezes me against his side. "She's not officially trained, but I've been showing her the ropes. Plus, there's no one I trust more to watch my back. Besides, like you said. You can use all the guards you can, right?"

Reckless you beautiful bastard! I take back all the negative things I said before! I give her a snide look as we wait for her to respond. She looks between the two of us before returning to her previous demeanor.

"Of course. At least after she finishes quarantine that is." TAKE THAT YOU BITCH!

"Thanks a lot for the opportunity!" Reckless tells her, giving me a small shake. "We won't let you down!"

"Of course... Well, there is one more offer on the table. But the mayor of town wants to offer it herself. As the head of the medical staff I can't let Lucky that close to the mayor until she's cleared her ailment. So that will have to wait."

"We understand. So... how are we going to do that though? Is there a room available to us? Do we need to fill out any paperwork?" Reckless asks. She pulls out a form and passes it to him.

We look it over and read over the terms. There are three rooms available for rent right now. A two bedroom, a one bedroom, and a studio. They put some dimensions besides them, but I almost don't believe what's there. The 'studio' sounds more like a large closet. The one bedroom is about as big as an office room. And the two bedroom is just a double for the single.

Cost wise, the studio is only sixty caps a month. The single is one hundred. And the two is three hundred. Quite the jump honestly. But it does seem like they go by monthly billings though. So once we pay we'll be good for the next month. So that's not too bad.

I think I'd prefer the two room option. It'd be nice to have some privacy again. But that's almost all of our money. We're going to need food and water for the whole time as well. Plus I'm going to he sick apparently, so what if I need medicine? Do they even have medicine?

"We should just do the-"

"The two room? I agree." Reckless cuts me off. "Even if we're going to share the room, it will be nice to have the extra space. Besides, worse comes to worse, we can just get a roommate. What do you say?"

I almost question why he says we're going to share a room. But I catch it in time to glance at Doctor Lupus. She looks irked by this whole ordeal. I'm pretty sure she wanted to court Reckless. But he's playing it off as if we're a thing right now. And it's working perfectly.

"I'm okay with it if you are." I tell him slowly as I reach over and hold onto Reckless's side. This is going to be a rough month. But, if he thinks we can do it, then I'll work just as hard to make sure we make it.

"Then it's settled! Who do we pay?" Reckless asks, finally letting me go. Doctor Lupus sighs in defeat and pulls out a small bag. We count out the caps and pay for the month. It kind of hurts to see all the money we've scrapped together go in one purchase. But we'll make it back soon enough. We'll just have to work extra hard for it.

"Well then... with all of that out of the way, welcome to Silo." She motions for us to follow and we excitedly grab the rest of our gear and follow her into the city.

Quest Humble Beginnings Completed

Sadly because of my quarantine we have to travel directly to out new residence. And we have to double time there in order to make it before the stores open. They don't want me in any crowds right now. While I do understand the precaution, I am a little disappointed. It's a new town! I want to see everything! I want to meet the people and learn everything about this place. But I also don't want to be the one to cause others to suffer. It's a small price to pay, I guess.

But that doesn't mean I can't take this time to take in as much as possible! It'll have to suffice for now at least.

As we rush through the mostly empty city my head swivels from side to side as I try to see everything there is. The lights are dimmed halfway, telling us that it's night time but also making it hard to see. Silo is a circular town. It's built around a massive missile, so that makes sense. But what I don't get is why the area around the weapon is so massive! This place could give Eighty-Eight a run for her money!

There are three layers of stores with two walkways. The out walls are lined with store after store. I can see a weapons shop, an armorers spot, and what looks like a workshop. The only one with a name that was legible was the gun store; which was named Checkmate weapons. Each store is fairly large too. If I had to guess, there's probably five or so stores that make the whole outer roundabout. I can only assume the store owners also live there as well.

The inner area has two rows of stores. One side faces the outer stores while inner most row faces the center missile silo. Being the inner circle and being back to back there isn't a lot of space for those rooms. Most seem to be living spaces. Some look like private residences while most seem like hotels. But now I wonder how many levels down this silo goes down. If there are enough ponies here to support these kinds of stores there must be room for hundreds of ponies. Where could they all be?

In the center of the town is the roundabout that houses the missile. Though most of the wall is sealed with cement, there are a few evenly spaced windows that show the massive weapon in the center of town. The sight of the massive metal tube is imposing. It's such a massive weapon. And I know how devastating the thing can be. I really hope it's not active.

One of the inner most rooms is actually a stairwell. It has two sets of stairs that both lower away from each other and then turn to face one another. One is marked for entry while the other is for exiting. I guess most ponies live down below.

Each floor seems laid out the same as the previous, just slightly offset to fit the stairs. So we don't get a good look at the second floor with the stairs directly next to each other. On the third floor we leave the stairs and follow Doctor Lupus as she starts reading off room numbers. We go to the inner ring that faces the outer side and find our room. Room number two-six-nine. When Lupus see's the door she gives me a look before inserting the key and opening the room. But whatever joke was there is lost to me.

Before entering I take one last look around. Directly across from us is a store called Generally Good. I'm assuming it's a general store. I can see the medical ward to the right of it as well. But the store to the left is completely empty. It seems as if there's still room to expand Silo.

"Ahem." I roll my eyes as I turn and enter our new home. There isn't anyone even out here! Or does she thing the janitor at the other end of the hall is going to catch something?

This is going to be a rough few days.

Our home is... not what I was expecting. We're in what I assume was originally an office of sorts. In the middle of the room are two desks pushed in to face one another. Each desk has an old computer chair pushed into them. The room is rectangular and seems to have decent enough space. There are four doors here, one on each wall. A single light bulb hangs in the center of the room, giving the only light in here.

"There is a spa slash communal showers a few doors down on the outer ring on this floor. The toilet does work, but excessive flushing will be cause for additional fines. If you decide to sell any of the furniture provided part of the proceeds will be compensated back to the city for reimbursement. When you feel better send Reckless to my office at the medical ward and we'll run a check up to clear you. Please do not leave this room until you are cleared. Any questions before I turn you two loose?"

Reckless and I look too each other before shaking our heads. She nods and walks out, closing the door behind herself. She does manage one last glance my way before turning her nose up at me. When the door shuts I flip off the door and stick my tongue at her. What did I ever do to her to get a stick so far up her ass!

"Well... home sweet home." Reckless mutters as he walks around the room. He walks over to me and set his hand on my forehead again, breaking my chain of thoughts. "You sure you feel okay?"

"I'm fine Reckless. Honest." I tell him as I push his hand away. I take another look around the echoey room before walking over to the door on the right. Inside is a room with a single bed. The mattress looks as hard as a rock and the metal frame looks as if its seen better days. No blanket. No pillow. To the left of my view there is a closet with a single sliding door. It's a good size closet, surprising enough. A single light bulb hanging in the center, just like the main room.

We both walk over to the center room and find the restroom. There's a toilet in the back right and a sink with a mirror cabinet opposite of it and a drainage hole in the middle. It's not the smallest bathroom, but it's a bit of a tight fit. You could use the sink and the toilet at the same time if you don't mind a butt in your face. In the cabinet there is a single box of Bubbly Suds scouring powder.

The last room is the same as the first bedroom, just mirrored. The bed looks just as bad as the first one. So there's no loss between the two rooms. With nothing better to do we walk back to the main room and sit down. I sit in the chair and listen to it squeak in protest. Reckless sits on the desk and catches himself as it wobbles on its uneven legs.

"I mean... it's a private room." I offer as I try to lean back. The chair fights me for a moment before snapping to its back position. We look to each other and start to chuckle. "Okay, it's kind of crappy."

"For three hundred caps you'd think we'd at least get a blanket or pillow!" Reckless protest as he pulls his legs up to sit crossed legged on the desk.

"I'd kill for a blanket and pillow right now!" I grumble as I fold my arms on the desk and lay my head down.

"I'd kill for a clean looking mattress." Reckless muses. I nod to him, thinking back to my room in Stable Eighty Eight.

"I miss my old bed." I tell him as I close my eyes and reminisce. "My dad took another bed and put all the stuffing into mine as a pillow topper. It was so cozy and soft!"

"I miss my pillows. I had four of the softest, most fluffy pillows ever!" Reckless tells me.

"How'd you get the extra pillows? I only had two!" I grumble again, getting him to chuckle.

"I have my ways, don't you worry!" He tells me slyly. I chuckle and look up to him. I give him the best pouty face I can muster and he chuckles nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Promise me you won't explore too much of Silo?" I ask him as cutely as possible. He chuckles at me, rubbing his neck.

"Curiosity getting the better of you?" He asks as I sit back up. I fold my arms and try to roll the seat out, but the wheels seem stuck in place.

"Yeah... and I hate being the one introduced. I'd like it if we met all the towns people together." He hums to me, nodding his head in thought. He tries to think of something, but can't seem to formulate the thought. "What's wrong?"

"Well... I'll try to do my best. But... well, I'll also need to look around for work. I know they offered my a position as a guard, so there's that option. But if there's a higher paying position then I'd prefer to take that. We'll need the money for food and rent after all."

"Oh... yeah, you're right." I tell him, a little disappointed. He looks down at me before sliding off the desk and kneeling before me. I chuckle nervously as he looks me directly in the eyes. "Uh... Reckless."

"I'll promise you that I'll explore as little of town if you do one thing for me." I blush when he says that. It's... just so sudden! And... well... I can't say it wasn't something on my mind.

"U-uh... okay. What do you need of me?" I tell him as I feel my stomach begin to get butterflies. I can't believe this is happening! And right as we got here!

"... let me have the room on the left." I nearly fall out of my chair when he says that.

"Oh! O-of course!" I tell him as he gets up and takes his bag to the room. As he tosses it onto the bed I feel my face heat up.

What was that!? Of course he wouldn't just ask for that! What was I thinking!? He walks over and sets the duffle bag at the head of my bed.

"Thanks. I like to sleep facing the right with the wall behind me." He tells me as he fluffs up the bag. I just bury my face in my hands as I try to get a hold of myself. He's not going to just ask to sleep with me out of the blue! Why would my mind go right to that!?

"Uhuh!" I say quickly, trying to hide my massive blush. I can't believe I just agreed to that!

"Use these clothes as a pillow for now. I can manage without no problem." He tells me as he walks back in. I just nod to him and try to hide my face. He looks at me and tries to see my face. I try to hide it, but he looks more closely and rushes over to me. "You okay? You're face is flushed!"

"Oh! Is it? How... peculiar." He reaches down and tries to feel my face again. But I swat his hand away. I don't want him thinking that I'm uneasy right now. "Actually, I am feeing a bit tired. Do you mind if we turn in for the night?"

"Oh, of course!" He says as he backs off. I stand up and start to make my way to the room. "If you need anything just holler. I'll be right over there."

"Uhuh! Goodnight Reck, sleep tight!" I tell him as I enter my room and go to shut the door. But Reckless gasps and rushes back to his bag. I watch him go through it for a moment before rushing back to me.

"Here, take these!" He tells me as he offers me two water bottles and most of the food.

"No, Reck." I try to refuse but he shoves the food into my hands.

"No butts!" He tells me firmly. "We need to get you through this as soon as possible! That means food and plenty of water! We have a few empty bottles that I'm going to fill up in the sink. I'll leave them in the desk drawers over here, okay? We're going to get through this no problem!"

I look at all the stuff and drop it. He goes to ask if I was okay but I just rushed forward and hugged him. This catches him completely off guard and he goes rigid from my embrace. I nuzzle my face into his warm chest and pull him in more tightly.

"Thank you Reckless. I don't know what I'd do without you." I tell him as he slowly sets his hands down on my hips.

"Of course... I'd do anything for you." I hum to that and go wide eyed. I glance up and realize what's happening. Slowly I release him and start to back away. He looked happy for a moment. But then he saw the worried look on my face he began to worry himself. "What's wrong."

"... I am sick." I tell him as I start to connect the dots. That's why he's been on my mind so much recently! Thank the sisters! I laugh a little as I look back to Reckless... oh no. Usually Dad helps me with this. But now... "Reckless, can you... sit down real quick. I need to warn you about... somethings."

"Oh... okay." He tells me as he fumbles to find the computer chair. He slowly sits down and I start to pace around in a slight panic. I've never had to tell anyone about this before. And now I have no choice in the matter. I bring both of my hands to my mouth as I try to think of how to say this. There's really no way of beating around the bush on this one though.

"Okay... so... there's no easy way of saying this." I tell him trying to find something else to do with my hands. But I can't help but cover my mouth again.

"Then just say it. All of it! I'll hold all of my questions till the end so you can get it all off your chest." I stop and look to Reckless. He looks so determined. But... he's not going to be ready for this. Not by a long shot.

"Okay then... Well, this is mostly speculation from my father first off. I mean, I know there's some truth to it, but I think he over states the facts. So... there are some things that happen to me when I get sick that aren't normal. According to my father, I get really affectionate. Like... really affectionate."

Reckless just nods to me. He's following that much at least. Now... the curve ball.

"And... well... The other thing, the thing that he didn't know obviously, is that I also... tend to get... fairly horny too."

His eyes go wide and he tries to say something. But he either doesn't know what to say or manages to catch himself in time. I feel my own face flush all over again as I think about the previous times I was sick. There were a lot of nights where I would be in bed fantasizing about... who knows what. Dad would always barricade me in my room and guard it like a prison cell. I remember the one time Spark tried to come over...

"Anyway!" I yell, trying to break from that train of thought. "Yeah... so that happens usually. And then, assuming nothing 'happens', I apparently get super loopy afterwards. I don't know what that means though. My dad just tells me that I get all weird and loopy, but I never remember any of it! So... yeah. That's what happens to me when I'm sick... any... any questions?"

Reckless stares at me, slack jawed, as he tries to process what I told him. I feel myself start to get nervous as he stares. Great! We were finally getting along and now I'm just some sick weirdo! Just my dumb luck at work all over again. Sisters above smite me down now please!

"So... okay. Taking all of... that, into consideration. Is there anything else I should be aware of? Or any other tips for me to help you through... this?"

"Anything else?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"Yeah. Like, okay, you get horny. So obviously I'll knock before entering your room or to ask you anything. And loopy... well, I don't know what that means but is there anything your dad told you about? Like, loopy how?" I stare at him for a moment before I have to blink back to reality.

"Uh... well, it sometimes is just talking about weird stuff to myself. Sometimes I just sleep in odd positions. It's never the same thing twice, or so I've been told. Again, I don't recall any of this so I can't say for certain what's actually true." Yeah. I really doubt that I willingly told Dad about the one time with Spark. But, then again...

"Okay... okay! Yeah, that's no problem!" He tells me as he stands up.

"It isn't!?" I ask, genuinely shocked. "But... it's so weird-"

"We're all a little weird." He tells me as he puts a hand on my shoulder and starts to guide me to bed. "But that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"... really?" I ask as he sits me on the bed. I... I don't want to say he's lying to me. But there's no way he's this okay with... this!

"Really. If anything I'll just have to be extra careful with your privacy. But beyond that, don't worry about a thing Lucky. I've got you." I look up to him and feel myself fluster again.

Hearing him tell my that makes my heart flutter all over again. But I try to pass it off as sick weirdness. Now that I know what's going on I can better manage my emotions. It's not a real infatuation! Even though he is being very sweet and I really appreciate him taking care of me, it's nothing romantic! He's just a really good friend!

"Get comfy and get plenty of rest. I'll check up on you tomorrow before I go check on with the guards here for work. Your only job right now is to rest up and get better. Understand?" He says as he positions all of the scattered food by my bed.

"Okay... promise?" I ask as I pull the duffle bag over and slowly start to pull out my pj's.

"I promise. Do you need anything else before I turn in for the night?" I look around before shaking my head to him. He wishes me a good night and closes the door behind himself.

"Goodnight." I call out to him through the door. I wait until I hear him close his bedroom door before rolling back into a ball and squealing to myself.

How could I forget about my dumb sickness!? How could I have been so dumb!? Now he thinks I'm a total sex crazed maniac! I roll myself from side to side as I continue to squeal out loud.

"That could have gone better!"

"Tell me about it." I mutter as I open up and flail back. I take a deep breath before I realize there was another voice. I glance down and watch as a little version of myself climbs on top of my left boob.

She's a tiny copy of me dressed in nothing but a bright red latex devil costume. The body suit is just a very narrow V shape that just barely covers her slit and nipples. The costume is complete with a thin pointed tail, two small black horns on her head, a pair of bat wings coming off her shoulder, and a black pitch fork. Her ivory hair is tied back in a high and tight ponytail with the black strand still curving the side of her face.

"It's not too late to go back over there. Go get you some finally!" She tells me as she makes it to the top of the mound and stands there. Holding the pitchfork behind herself in a playful manner as she bounces her hips from side to side.

"Uhm..." I mutter as I stare at her... me? The little devil version of me.

"Don't be so crass!" I look to my right as another little version of me appears. This one looks like a tiny angelic doppelganger. She's wearing a flowing white toga and holds a golden lyre. There's shining halo over her head as majestic white wings help her glide down and land on my shoulder.

"Boo!" Devil me jeers, leaning forward provocatively towards angel me.

"Reckless is a good friend and is selflessly helping us in our time of need. We shouldn't debase such a noble gesture with something so lurid." She says as if she's lecturing us. I nod to her logic. She's got a good point.

"But he could be taking even better care of us!" Devil me says as she swings the pitchfork between her legs and grinds against it. Angel me scoffs and flies up to smack her upside the head. But devil me dodges it and takes to the air, blowing a raspberry at angel me. They both begin to growl and glare deeply at each other.

"Um... who are you two?" I ask, getting both of their attention.

"Why, my dear, we are your conscious manifested-" Angel starts.

"We're you!" Devil cuts in, hip checking Angel and making her fly off. "But the parts of you that you try to pack away! Usually we only get out when you're super dick thirsty-"

"Language!" Angel yells as she flies back and smacks Devil upside the head. Devil just pouts as she rubs her head. "But yes, we are a part of your psyche. Whenever you become too stressed or unwell your mind creates us to help you make sense of it all. We offer guidance into your feelings and-"

"You're crazy!" Devil yells as she flies into my face. "We help you become uncrazy! Easy pe-yoouch!"

Angel yanks her tail back and sends her flying out of view. She goes to say something but Devil came racing back and flips her toga up, revealing her... my nude body beneath. She fumbles with her clothes as she goes spinning through the air. Devil just laughs at her and smacks her bare ass, getting her to yelp in surprise.

"Uh... so... does this happen often?" I ask as I sit up. Devil ignores me as she watches Angel struggle to get the toga right. I roll my eyes and reach down to pinch the toga. With a quick tug I pull it back down to cover her. She huffs a few times before grabbing her halo and re-centering it.

"Thank you. And yes. Ever since you were five we've always been there for you." She tells me as she takes a regal stance with her lyre. Devil flies around her and takes a spot beside her. Much to her annoyance.

"Then why don't I remember either of you?"

"Your crazy and your normal can't really mix well." Devil tells me as she leans back and relaxes mid air. "If you remembered every conversation you had with yourself you'd run out of room in that tiny little brain of yours!"

"If I have a tiny brain, then don't you too?" I ask, getting a surprised look from Devil. "Anyway... do you two have names?"

"You've already named us dear." Angel tells me. "I'm Angel and she's Devil. We're parts of your mind. Whatever you think we already know. We're just two parts of the same coin."

"Only I'm the fun loving thrill seeker that doesn't have a stick up her ass!" Devil says, pointing a thumb to herself confidently.

"And I'm the logical, sensible one that is aware of morals." Angel says, giving Devil the side eye.Devil leans towards Angel and pulls her suit aside, shaking her tits at Angel while blowing another raspberry at her. Angel just shakes her head and looks away.

"So... do you know what I'm going to say before I say it?" I ask, confused.

"Sorta." Devil says, snapping the thin latex back into position.

"There are many parts that make a pony. We're just two aspects that you're trying to use to justify the possible outcomes. We don't know what you're going to ask. But we're the two answers you're debating between." Angel explains.

"Okay... will the other parts of me come out? Are there other parts of me?" I ask as I stand up and start to get undressed. I also remove my Pip-Buck and set it with the cache of food and drinks. These are both parts of me, and they're built just like me, so there's nothing to be coy about. Besides, I'm sick of being in this sweaty Stable wear.

I get completely nude and bring my stable suite to the closet. There is a shelf at the top and a hanger bar just beneath it. But no hangers. I place my clothes over the bar in an attempt to air them out. Devil and Angel fly around me as I do this. It really seems like Devil lives to annoy Angel. She keeps chasing after her in an attempt to poke her with the fork again.

I undo my hair and let it fall back. I feel it stick slightly to it's old curled up form. I left it up in a bun for far too long. Wish I could wash it out now, but that's not a choice really. Angel avoids another poke from devil and hides on my shoulders with my hair. Devil stops in front of me and looks for her before Angel rushes out and bops her on the head with her lyre.

"You two are cute, you know that?" I ask as I head back to the bag and slip on the shirt. It's massive on me! It goes down just below my bottom and is wide enough for me to wrap myself twice over. One shoulder pokes out from the neck hole due to how stretched out it is. But it's still amazingly comfortable! And with it so baggy I don't have to worry about my tail getting in the way.

"We are not!" Angel defends, but Devil grabs hold of her from behind and squeezes her in a tight embrace.

"Of course we are! I know it because she knows it which means you know it!" She yells as she twists her side to side. I pause to try and follow what she said... but decide to let it go.

My mind is starting to get a bit hazy. Now that I know that I'm getting sick I can feel the normal symptoms start up. I thought I was just tired from sleeping on the ground for so long. And the cold shower probably didn't help either. We'll have to be more careful about that kind of stuff in the future.

"So, you both said you are here to help me work through something that's stressing me out. Or is this purely a sickness deal?" I ask as I move back to the bed and try to figure out how I'm going to use the duffle bag. Body pillow or just a head pillow?

"Both!" Devil announces as she brings the both of them before myself. Angel is trying to break free while Devil is trying to pull her top down. She gets one tit out before Angle breaks free and smacks her face. Angry, Devil tackles into her and they turn into a cloud of bickering and fighting. It was cute at first, but it's starting to get old.

"Okay, easy you two." I say as I reach down and grab the both of them. I pull them apart and hold them there as they continue to try and fight one another. "Calm yourselves before I sit on you both."

"Do it mommy thickness!" Devil yells with a happy flap. I glare at her and she immediately deflates. "Fine!"

"Thank you!" Angel yells as she fixes her attire. I let the two of them go and decide to move the bag to the top of the bed. I lay back and rest my head on the lumpy assortment of clothes. It's not the most comfortable. But it beats nothing.

"So... are you guys going to clue me in on what's troubling me or do I have to ask questions and figure it out?" I ask as I stare up at the bland ceiling and try to relax. I feel Angel gently sit against the side of my head while Devil plops back against my left boob.

"Although there are many things troubling your mind, there are only a few that are manifesting us." Angel tells me.

"So we're going to leave out the easy stuff and go in hard." Devil continues as she stretches out and brings her arms back to rest her head. "Like how you're wondering how you're going to shave your pubes. Not our concern."

"... oh." I mutter as I realize that was in the back of my mind when we made it to Heaven.

"But your relationship with Reckless is our concern." Angel tells me. "Not to mention your fears of becoming third class in Silo."

"I'm not worried about that!" I say quickly, turning my head away from her. She falls back with a small 'oof'.

"Yeah you are." Devil says mockingly. "You're more worried that the stallions here are going to take advantage of you now that you don't have the same rights as before. Thought it the moment that bitch doctor went inside after the test."

I try to argue... but I realize there's no point. They're me, but more honest. They know everything I know. Probably even more.

"There's no need to be defensive Lucky." Angel tells me as she flies up and sits atop the bed frame railing. "We do not judge. We are you after all. Every decision and every action you have taken is in some combination ours as well. We are all one being."

"Yeah, we know it all girl! Ain't nothing to hide from us!" Devil says, jumping into the air and landing beside Angel. She kicks her hoof to the side and spins her pitch fork around before using it to lean to the side. I think about what they said before deciding to open up to them.

"We're newcomers here. We don't... belong." I say as I try to sort out what I think of this place.

"I don't think anyone belongs in the wasteland." Devil says, somewhat teasingly.

"But this is their home! And we're... well..."

"We are tenants just like so many others." Angel explains, getting Devil to nod along. "Otherwise there wouldn't be so many caravans coming and going. Though space may be a limited resource, we paid for our right to be here."

"I guess... but we're bottom of the barrel here. What rights could we possibly expect here?" I grab the ends of the oversized shirt and try my best to wrap myself up. This room is a bit cold. The old vent is blowing cold air in, keeping the room a nice temperature if I had a blanket.

"After what we've seen they probably don't use the same system that Stable Eighty Eight did Lucky." Angel tells me.

"Besides, it's the wasteland! If anyone tries anything, we can just beat their asses! Plus we have Reckless on our side!" Devil says, giving me a knowing look when she mentions Reckless. I blush a little as I think back to our shower conversation.

"He is far more noble than we expected. Especially for a stallion from our Stable." Angel mentions with a fondness in her voice.

"Yeah, and he looks like he's got a good dick too!" Devil says with... similar fondness. We both glare at her as she thinks back wistfully. When she notices us she just puts her fists on her hips and turns her nose up. "Like you both haven't thought it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to be so crass." Angel says with a shake of her head. I think about it for a moment before my blush grows.

"Yeah... even if it was only half Spark's size." I mention, thinking back to him. "But not in a bad way!"

"Or course not." Angel drones, turning her attention to her lyre.

"AND TO BE FAIR!" Devil says, turning back to look us in the eye. "It was after a cold shower! And it was soft! Mostly. There's probably more to work with-"

"ANYWAY!" Angel yells, giving Devil an angry look. "Our concern is not with his genitals! It is with his loyalties."

"His loyalties?" I ask, shaking the previous conversation from my head. She's right. We need to focus on the important subject.

"Yes! We're worried that he'll run off now that we're here. Especially now that we won't be able to contribute to the home!" Angel lays out. I sigh and I think about that.

I know we had that conversation before. He said he's got my back and all. But that's easier said than done. What would I do if he got bored of waiting for me to get better and ran off. Or what if there was an opportunity and he disappeared forever? Then what?

What happens if he finds some mare that he gets romantic with? Would he still be willing to be so attentive and helpful if there was somepony else vying for his attention? And is that really a concern to be had? Truth be told I could equally find somepony in here and be romantic with them. We're both so new here and the rules of the wasteland are so different than in Eighty-Eight. I don't know what to expect.

I go to ask them what they think when I notice Devil has turned around. Her folded arms and slow hoof tapping tell me she's upset about something. I wonder if that's what I look like when I'm angry. I really hope not... it's more cute than intimidating.

"What's wrong Devil?" I ask, getting Angel to look over then roll her eyes.

"Ignore her. She's being overtly emotional." Angel says with a hand wave. "Let's focus-"

"I am not!" Devil yells with a hoof stamp. Her face scrunches up and she clenches her fists at the sides of her hips. Again, it's far more cute than anything else.

"Are too. It is in your nature." Angel explains, not even looking her way. Devil goes to say something, but just turns away in anger. I look between the two of them before deciding to try and placate her.

"What's the issue Devil?" I ask, but she just turns away from me.

"No! You think I'm being emotional too!" She says bitterly.

"Only because you are." Angel says as she toys with her lyre. Devil huffs in annoyance and stomps off to the end of the railing where she drops down to hug her knees. I give Angel a look before rolling over to talk with.

"Okay, you were right. I did think that. And I'm sorry." I tell her, but she looks away quickly. "What can I do to get you to tell me what I need to hear?"

"Hm..." She glances back to me before a devilish grin grows on her face. Oh no...

"Devil." Angel warns, but is ignored.

"Okay, I'll forgive you. BUT! Only if you... use the shirt for a blanket. Not a shirt!" I stare at her for a moment before shrugging and sitting up.

"You can't be serious." Angel grumbles as I pull my shirt off.

"What's the difference?" I ask, getting Angel to shake her head in disbelief. It does feel odd being nude in this relatively new room. But it is my new bedroom now, so I guess I'll have to learn to get used to it eventually. "Better?" I ask Devil.

"Much." She says as she ogles me. Am... am I attracted to myself? Is that what's happening here? I shake the shirt out to cover myself as I lay back down.

"Now what was so important that you've debased ourselves?" Angel asks. Devil shoots her a grin before she starts to march up and down the railing.

"Well, little miss practical, little miss objective! You're both ignoring the biggest factor of Reckless's loyalty. A factor that is my specialty!"

"Did we now?" Angel drones, but I shush her.

"Yes you both did! And to put it simply it's the entire reason our conversation has been on him instead of employment or living arrangements! The things that practically are more important. But emotionally speaking, figuring out what Reckless is to us and where does he fit in all of these plans is the largest hurdle. If we can't figure that out then the rest won't matter."

"What Reckless is to us?" I ask as I start to think.

"He's our friend, that's all." Angel answers as if it was the obvious answer.

"Then why do we care if he fucks another mare?" Devil asks quickly.

"We don't." Angel drones.

"Don't we?" Devil retorts.

"No. We don't." Angel says. Devil stops before her and leans down. She smiles at her before reaching forward and with a twist of a hand has her own version of the feather.

"Don't we?" She asks as she drops the feather. Angel drops her lyre as she catches it, jumping slightly when it bounces on the ground.

"T-that doesn't mean anything!" Angel says as she holds the feather close. Devil begins to fly slowly around her, arms held back, as Angel tries to hide the feather from her. "It was just a nice... a nice... a nice memento! That's all!"

"Mhmm, then why are we hiding it from him?" Devil asks. Angel tries to respond. But she can't form an argument. "You can't lie to me when it comes to matters of the heart Angel. No matter what you say, no matter how you justify it, there's no denying it. We have a crush on him. Admit it."

Angel looks to the feather before shaking her head and moving the feather behind herself. Her face is beet red and she's trying to avoid Devil's sight, but she's flying all around to look her in the eyes.

"It's not a crush! It's barely a-a moments notice! W-we're just... uhm... it's because we're sick! Our hormones are all out of balance and he's the only stallion here we know and trust! That's all there is to it! Nothing more!" Devil stops beside her and leans in real close. Angel tries to avoid her gaze as she hides her flushed face. But she couldn't help herself from slowly looking over to her.

"Speak truthfully and I'll do... the thing." She tells her in a sultry tone. I glance quickly between the two of them as I wait for her to respond; completely invested in whatever the thing is.

"O-oh... uhm..." Angel tries to form a sentence before she shuts her eyes, covers her face, and squeals in embarrassment. "Okay! It's a crush! We like him, are you happy now!? He's been the kindest stallion to us in our entire lives and we want him all to ourselves! The issue we're having is how quickly we started feeling like that!"

With a word Devil stands upright and spins quickly. In a rapid haze she suddenly turns into Reckless. I blink a few times as he stands there. completely nude, and leans down to Angel. When she... he? When Devil gets real close Angel moves a finger to glance back at Devil. He gives her that smile the real Reckless gets when he gets cocky.

"Good girl." I feel something inside myself stir when he says that. And apparently so does Angel. All she can do it turn and lay back and the Devil Reckless starts to move on top of her. I feel my tummy stir and my nether region warm as I watch with baited breath. Angel spread her legs open for him as he starts to move to penetrate her-

THUD

I jump up to a sitting position when something heavy falls in the main room. I feel my heart race as I wait for something else to happen. I hear a few hoof steps before someone knocks on my door.

"Y-yes?" I call out meekly.

"Hey Lucky, sorry that was me. Are you decent?" I look down at my nude body before rushing to put the shirt back on. I go to make sure I'm covered completely before realizing how wet I've become. In a panic I jump to my hooves and open the door. But I stop myself and only reveal enough so a sliver is open.

Reckless is a little surprised by this, but doesn't question anything. He's in his guard armor and jumpsuit. I get the impression that he's about to leave, putting a little fear in the back of my head.

"What was that sound?" I ask quickly in an attempt to change the subject. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck.

"Sorry. I was cleaning my rifle and dropped it." He tells me while glancing back to the desks. There I see the gun sitting there with a few rags around it.

"Isn't it a bit late to be cleaning your weapon?" I ask, confused. He tilts his head to me checks his Pip-Buck.

"Lucky... it's seven thirty in the morning." I stare at him before rushing over to my own Pip-Buck and check the time. Sure enough, it's seven thirty two. Did I spend all night talking with Angel and Devil? Or was that all a dream? Where did they even go?

"What happened last night?" I mumble as I look around. The room seems fine. Nothing is out of place. My suit is still hanging in the closet. The duffle bag is on the bed too. But I still recall the two of them.

"You sure you're okay?" Reckless asks as he slowly opens the door. I look back to him and try to think of something to say. But there's no way of explaining what happened last night without sounding crazy. He steps in and places a hand on my forehead. He moves it to cup my cheek and I feel myself melt into his grasp. But then he pulls away and reality comes crashing back.

"How do I feel?" I ask as I step away from him. He looks a little concerned as he stares down at the food by my bed.

"You're burning up." He tells me. I feel my own head and confirm the feeling. Now that I'm aware of it, my joints are aching too. I'm definitely sick now. "Sweets aren't going to do you any good. We need to get you something more... nutritious."

"Like what?" I ask as he rubs his chin.

"Well... I don't know. I'll have to check one or two stores to see what's available." I deflate a little when he says that and he immediately notices. "Don't worry. If I can just window shop I won't go in unless I see something worth getting. Promise."

"Thanks Reck." I tell him, perking up immediately.

"Hm. Okay, well I'll try to make it back here as soon as I can. But I'm gonna be out trying to see what work there is with the guards. If I can get a shift today I'll take it just so we can get whatever money we can. Is there anything you'd like me to try and get before I head out?"

I feel myself deflate a little when he says he's possibly will be gone all day. I understand that it's what we need to do. I just don't look forward to being in this small apartment all by myself.

"No, I don't think I'll need anything. But thanks for asking."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to head out then. Please try to eat something and drink plenty of water. If I can make it back here I'll pop in to let you know what's going on. Okay?" He tells me as he grabs his weapon and moves towards the door.

"Okay... have fun! I'll... be here." I tell him as I try to linger on the conversation. I know he has to go, but... I don't want him to just... leave.

"Wish me luck!" He tells me before opening the door and stepping out. I sigh in defeat as I try to think of what to do now. But then he opens the door and pops his head back in. "Sorry, wish me good fortune and all that good stuff!"

"All the good stuff!" I tell him happily. He smiles back to me before leaving again. I giggle at his antics before I feel a pair of eyes on me. I look to my side where Angel and Devil are looking back at me. Angel looks like she's been thoroughly fucked all night while Devil looks smug as ever while she spins Angles halo on a finger.

"You like him!" She says teasingly.

"Oh shut up!" I dismiss her as I turn back to my room. I feel as if I slept deeply last night. But there isn't much to do here at the moment. I have so much energy though I need to work on... something! "What to do now..."

Perspective: Reckless

"Thanks again for the opportunity! I'll be back right at noon! And thank toy so much for the forward!" I say as I shake Cuffs hand thoroughly. He's the head of security here in Silo and has the final say if I can work as a guard here. I was a bit nervous applying for the job, but he was more than happy to take me on. He was even nice enough to front me some money so I can get situated here in Silo.

"Don't sweat it Reckless! Honest! We need all the help we can get!" The cobalt stallion tells me as he rakes his brass combover back over his balding head. He wears the same grey-green jumpsuit as the other guards, only his has a badge embroidered on his chest. He's a bit portly, but is also clearly a strong individual. He also sports a large bushy mustache. "Just go take care of that girly you told me about!"

"Will do! And thank you again for the advance!" I tell him as I start to back out of the office.

"Well when you told me about you friend I knew it was the right thing to do. Just don't make me regret it!" He tells me as he follows me out.

"You won't regret this, I promise! You need a shift covered, I'm your guy!" I tell him as I linger at the door.

"Okay, okay, now go! Your shift is in a few hours so get some food and rest up! Report to the main bastion when it's time. Now go! And don't blow all that money in one day!" He tells me as he ushers me out the door.

"I won't! Thanks again-" I try to thank him, but he shuts the door in my face. I can't help but give a little jump in excitement before rushing back towards the apartment.

There were a few people ahead of me that also applied for the job. But only half of us were able to get the positions. But that doesn't matter anymore, because I got the job! I was the last one to interview and I wasted no time getting into things. I let him know where I was from, what I am here to do, and all of my previous responsibilities as a Stable guard. He even said he's never had someone so qualified before!

It's only ten caps per shift for starters, which isn't great. But it provides a weapon and ammo if needed, which I took. Just to save on my own ammo. Plus they provide free meals at the mid points of whatever shift I'm working. My plan is to take half those meals and give them to Lucky. It's not the most, but it's free food. A free half meal a day will help us save as much as we can.

I don't know how I was able to convince him, but he was willing to advance two weeks of pay so I can get situated! With the left over caps we had that puts us slightly over one hundred ninety caps! If I can keep our spending at or under ninety caps then after the next set of two weeks of work we'll be set for the next month of rent! And that's before we get Lucky working as well. If she can work with me then we'll be doing pretty good for ourselves here. Not the best by any imagination, but it's a good start!

I start rushing home when I remember I need to see if I can get something better than preserved snacks for Lucky. I really don't know how much that'll cost, but the sooner she gets well the better off we'll be. Last night I heard her mumbling to herself in her sleep. Nothing that made sense, but it was a bit concerning. I know she said this was normal, but I don't know how else to react to it.

I take a look around the stores on our level and try to think where to start. There aren't that many options on this level. Just the general store and a clothing store. There are some offices for the various caravans as well as the medical ward here too. But those aren't what I'm looking for. And I doubt a clothing store will have what I need, so the Generally Good Goodstore it is then. Since it's the only option I don't feel as if I'm breaking my promise to Lucky about going in. Hopefully she'll feel the same.

Stepping through the door a small bell chimes. I pause to see if anyone says anything, but no one does. With a shrug I walk in and start to look around.

It's a well organized shop. The back half of the store is curtained off; probably so the store owner can reside back there. The door puts me on the far left of the store. Directly to my right is the check out counter. A few old cash registers are there as well as several stacks of papers and items for sale. Nothing there is immediately of note, so I start to look down the aisles.

There are two shelves going down the middle of the room that make up the four aisles. A sign hangs above each aisle telling me what's down each, though I can also see what's down each. Weapons and armor on the first set. I see a few guns and armor sets that I might be interested in. But at a later time. The next aisle is marked junk. All sorts of tools, toys, and random assortment of crap fill the shelves here. Nothing here seems to be of any value right now so I head to the last row of shelves. Food and medicine.

Most of the food here are canned goods and old preserved snacks. Not exactly what I was hoping for. At the end there are some shopping baskets with fresh produce. But... they aren't exactly what I think Lucky can handle right now.

"Is someone there!?" Someone yells from the back.

"Yeah!" I yell back as I pick up a carrot. Or, it looks like a carrot at least. I don't think they're supposed to be this big, deformed, and bulbous. I hear the person fumble with some stuff as they stumble their way to the side of the long curtain. I follow the noise as I wait for them to appear.

A skinny turquoise stallion comes crashing out of the back. He has his wiry rust orange hair tied back in a low tail. He quickly stands and fixes the rolled up sleeves on his white button up before dusting off his black slacks and suspenders. He goes to tell me something but stops when he gets his first look at me. We end up staring at each other for a moment before he starts to check his surroundings.

"Did I come at a bad time?" I ask as I set the carrot down.

"No! No, nothing like that! I... well, I just wasn't expecting any customers right now!" He tells me as he rushes over and offers me a hand shake. "The name is Hemlock!"

"Reckless." I tell him as I shake his hand. "Sorry. The sign out front said you opened at eight. I didn't know you were still close."

"Oh don't' sweat it!" he tells me as he moves towards the front counter. "I am open. It's just that... most ponies don't come here until later! That's all!"

I watch as he stumbles his way over to the registers and nearly falls over them. He looks back and offers a small laugh before racing behind them and taking his place at the register. I blink at him a few times before bringing my attention back to the produce. He's... an odd one.

"So... when did you get to Silo?" He asks as he pulls out a rag and starts to wipe down the counter.

"Yesterday, actually." I tell him as I look over some of the mutated produce. I'm not sure if it's a fruit or a vegetable. It's fairly hefty though. "I came with a friend from a Stable. We're set up directly across from you matter of fact."

"No kidding!" He says with an enthused tone. "They finally filled that place? Good for you! And your... marefriend?"

I chuckle at that. I wish. But...maybe one day.

"No, no. I mean, she is a mare. And she is a friend. But nothing of that connotation." I tell him as I step back from the produce.

"Oh really?" I pause and glance over to Hemlock. He had... a little too much interest in his voice.

"Yeah. She's actually sick right now. I'm trying to find her something to eat that will help her rest up. Got anything like that?" I ask as I walk towards him. He stops his cleaning and reaches under the counter. He starts to pull out multiple kitchen utensils as well as food containers.

"Well, Me-ma always said a nice hot bowl of soup heals the soul. I can sell you a simple vegetable soup, a refurbished hot plate, and a cooking pot. I'll even throw in enough ingredients for a round of soup for... let's call it seventy five caps."

I nearly laugh out loud when he says that. Seventy five caps!? That's almost all of the money I was hoping to spend over the next two weeks! There's no way I can afford those kind of supplies right now. I look at all of the materials and start to question if we'd need half that stuff. I'm sure eventually we will. But right now... it's not even a choice.

"That's a bit too steep for me at the moment." I tell him as I grab a few of the mutated foods and bring them over to the counter. "We've only been top side for a few weeks so we don't have much right now. Unless you can make an exception this time, I'll just have to stick to bare necessities."

"Aw, sawwy. I can't budge on my pwices." He says in a dopey tone as he takes the food and starts to type on the register. I look around as he gives me the bedroom eyes.

"Oh... okay." Something is happening and I don't understand what it is.

"That is... unless... you know." He says as he motions towards the back of the room. I look around and rub the back of my head. I have... no idea what he wants me to do.

"Uhm... I don't think I'm-"

"Shhhh..." He shushes me and I look back to him, even more confused. "Let's just say I've got a job for you... in the back."

"Oh!" He smiles when it clicks for me. I finally get what he wants. But why is he asking so... weirdly? "As long as it's quick I can do that for you. Well, and as long as it's not too technical. You know? Still new to most of these things up here."

"Oh that won't be an issue. I'll show you exactly what to do." He tells me as he flips a sigh at the window and leaves the counter. I go to follow him but jump a little when he grabs my hand and practically drags me to the back.

He brings me to his living area and tells me to wait by the bed as he rushes into what I assume is the bathroom. Not knowing what else to do I just take a look around. His bed looks as if he pushed two together and covered them in multiple blankets and pillows. The sight of that alone is enough to make me jealous.

There are a few dressers and wardrobes along the wall that have missing parts or clothes hanging on them. There are a few piles of junk and clothes throughout most of the room, making it a little cluttered. I'm not a clean freak by any means. But this is a bit much even by my standards. I see a picture on one of the dressers and pick it up to take a better look. It's of Hemlock and a zebra girl. It looks like they're friends here in Silo. Maybe she's his marefriend?

"You ready?" Hemlock asks from the side.

"Yea... uh... why are you naked?" He's leaning against the door frame completely nude and fully erect. I lock up as I stare at him, trying to understand what's going on.

"I love it when they play dumb." He says as he saunters towards me. I try to think of what to say but just start to back away. I trip on the bed and fall back with a hard thud. He chuckles and starts to try and climb on top of me, but I keep trying to back away.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" I ask loudly when my back hits the wall. He stops and goes wide eyed as we go back to staring at each other.

"You... we're about to have sex?" He asks, sounding equally confused.

"What!? No we're not!" I tell him as he finally backs away from me.

"I asked if you wanted to!" He yells in bewilderment.

"You said you had a job!" I yell back.

"That clearly meant a blow job!" He yells back. I think about it for a moment before it all suddenly makes sense. He wasn't hiring me for work. He wanted me to suck his cock...

"HEMLOCK! Where you at bitch!" A female voice calls from the front as she enters the room.

"I'M GETTING CHANGED!" Hemlock yells as he jumps off the bed and starts to get dressed. I just sit back as I try to register everything that just happened. I know I'm new to most things even related to sex out here. But... two stallions can have sex with each other? Since when was that a thing?

"You whore. Don't tell me you lowered you standards and fuuu... oh." The curtain whips open and in walks the zebra girl from the photo. Just in time to catch Hemlock with his pants down.

She's an average height zebra with black leather pants and a black leather vest over a red knitted crop top. She also has fingerless gloves on an old tan satchel over her shoulder. Her hair is half up in a mohawk but also drops down on her left side in a short cut. The back length is tied up in a messy bun. She's got a nice figure about her. Very slender but still curvy for her size.

Her bright blue eyes dart between the two of us before she slowly starts to back out of the room. Hemlock just stands there, mortified, until she finally goes behind the curtain. He lets out a sigh as he fixes his pants and motions for me to leave. I just nod and try to avoid his gaze as I step out of the curtained area. The zebra girl has her arms crossed as she smirks at me.

"Um... hi." I mutter as I stand there awkwardly. I'd like to just leave. But I still need the food for Lucky.

"You're new here right?" She asks, eyeing me up and down. "Didn't you come here with some big tittied girl?"

"Yeah... how did you know that?" I didn't see any zebras when we entered the town. It was too early for most ponies to be up and about.

"Names Violet, though most round these parts call me Vi. I run a restaurant on the top floor called G-Ma's. I saw you two being lead by the ice bitch in the morning when I was doing my morning prep work." She offers to shake my hand and I return the gesture. Her hands aren't as soft as I assumed. She's clearly had to work for most of her life.

"Reckless. The girl I came here with is Lucky. We were both from a nearby Stable-"

"You don't say!?" She says jokingly as she reaches over and tugs at my Stable suit. "Trust me bluey, you two are gonna stand out easily. So what brings you into Hemlocks little lair, hm? Trying the local cuisine?"

"He wishes!" Hemlock announces as he marches out of the back and stops to give Violet a hug before stumbling his way back to the register. She laughs at him and follows, motioning for me to do the same. Hemlock collapses onto the counter and buries his head under his arms. Violet sits on the counter and starts to eat one of the veggies I had put there.

"So I take it Hem here thought you were gay and didn't bother to confirm that before trying to choke you with his cock?" She says with a mouthful.

"Something like that." I tell her, still a little frazzled from before.

"I threw out what I thought were obvious signals!" He grumbles from beneath his arms. "And you had that whole line about the girl being a friend, but not a girlfriend! I thought that was code!"

"Easy there kiddo." Violet says as she rubs his back. "It was an honest mistake, right? No hard feelings?"

She asks that to me and I shake my head. It was awkward, but I guess I see why he thought that. I guess I'm more surprised that there are stallions that want to have sex with stallions out here. I just didn't know that was a thing. It definitely wasn't a thing in Eighty-Eight.

"We're good. Honest mistake and all." I tell him, trying my best to sound as normal as possible. He looks up to me and sighs before standing upright.

"Okay, but I'm giving you an additional one time discount as an additional apology. Let's say... how's-"

"Twenty caps!" Violet announces excitedly.

"Twenty!?" I ask, intrigued. That would mean a nearly seventy five percent discount!

"No! Violet!" He yells, glaring at her. She just smiles cutely as she avoids his stare. She crosses a leg over her knee and bounces it as she hums to herself.

"C'mon Hem. Besides, you owe me for standing me up last night." She tells him, tossing the half eaten carrot into the pot. "And you'll never guess what happened! Exactly what I said would happen! That creeper Swede put his grubby little porky fingers on my back. ON MY BACK! So you owe me and this is how you're paying me back. And! If anything, since this was the third time, Reckless should go grab a few more things!"

I have no idea what they're talking about but it sounds like it's working in my favor. I just keep quiet and look to Hemlock as stares daggers at Violet. But Violet is unperturbed by his annoyance.

"... fine. But only a few things! Don't go crazy!" He yells at me. I just smile and start to rush back into the store. I don't even know what I'm looking for but I'm excited to see what I can get here. Especially at this kind of discount.

"He's a cutie." Violet mentions, making me chuckle and glance back to her. She shoots me a wink and I feel myself fluster. It's too early for this much flirting. "So if you're not with this Lucky, does that mean you're both single right now?"

"Um... I don't know what that means." I tell her as I look through the junk. A toothbrush. Tweezers. Shearing clippers. All things I didn't know I needed.

"You don't know what being single is?" Hemlock asks in disbelief. "Are you a virgin or something? Oh no... did I corrupt an innocent little flower?" We both laugh at that.

"No, I've had sex before. But... well." I pause and consider if I want to tell these people about how little I know about sex and relationships here in the commonwealth.

"But?" Violet asks, clearly intrigued by me. I sigh and decide to tell them. She is getting me a huge discount after all. I guess fair is fair.

"It's hard to really explain. But, in our stable, relationships were completely different. As a mare I met in Heaven put it; we were very vanilla down there." I look to them and they both stare back at me. They don't get what I mean by this. To be fair, I barely understand what's going on here.

"Vanilla how?" Violet asks. "Like, no sex before marriage vanilla?"

"Marriage doesn't happen in my stable." I tell her with a laugh.

"No marriage?" Hemlock asks in disbelief. "Honestly, that sounds awesome."

"Speak for yourself." Violet says with a playful shove.

"There were also no... gay ponies. Stallions only had sex with mares. I've never even considered that it was an option before e few minutes ago." They both laugh at that. But when I don't continue they both stare at me in a new level of disbelief.

"Wait, really?" Hemlock asks.

"Yeah. Never heard of it before. Also never heard of blow jobs or kissing before a few weeks ago either. Like I said, everything we know was strictly vanilla. According to a friend that is."

They both take a moment to look to each other and try to wrap their heads around everything I just told them. Now that I've said it out loud, I can see how odd it really is for them. But it's just how things were down there! If no one does something, how could anyone learn about it? There was no way for any of us to pick it back up once it stopped happening.

"So... you've never been kissed before?" Violet asks.

"Well... there was this mare in Heaven." I muse as I think back to Joy.

"Isn't that place run by some sex crazed asshole?" She asks, looking to Hemlock for confirmation.

"It was. Urban Flow... he's dead now." They both snap their attention back to me and I flinch. "I didn't kill him! He... fell off the top of the building."

Not necessarily a lie. But they don't need to know what really happened there.

"Well, good riddance!" Violet says she leans back and folds her arms together. "That guy was a prick and a half!"

"You can say that again." Hemlock agrees. "So wait. So... you don't even know if you're completely straight then."

"What?" I ask with a laugh.

"Easy there Hem." Violet warns him in a playful tone. "I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to have his big awakening. If his previous reaction is anything to go off by."

"Or, maybe he needs to have some self discovery and learn about himself!" He argues back. They both start to get into it but I lose the conversation as I think to myself.

I've never considered that there could be other options. But I've never really thought of stallions in that light before. And, thinking on it now, I don't see the appeal. If I honestly put my mind to it... there aren't that many stallions that I even have a positive opinion of. There were my friends from the stable. But I didn't really have that many to begin with. If I had to pick those that I'd consider a friend even out here... there'd probably only be two. Control Shift and Deadbolt.

Control Shift gave his opinion and helped me out a lot in school. I'm only half as smart as I am because of him. But I don't think any feelings go beyond that of friendship. I also always thought that he was a bit too perverted. He loved getting with the ladies. And since he did a lot of technical work in the labs, he had a variety of options. But... There is no way I'd think of him in any other light.

Deadbolt was a mechanic that I met early on as a guard. He was a third class stallion though. So I often didn't relate to a lot of the things he worried about. He was also in his late forties, so he often gave a lot of good advice. I'd say he's the closest thing to a father figure that there was in my life. So that clearly removes him from any romantic aspirations.

And that's all to say if they're still alive. For all I know the stable is in total disarray and everypony inside is dead.

Shaking the dark thoughts from my mind, I walk a few more of the aisles before I fail to find what I really want. So I head back to the counter and set the last few things down. He starts to ring it all up as Violet laughs and takes a good look at me. She notices something immediately though.

"Everything alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Maybe it was the ghost of profits past-" Hemlock starts but Violet smacks him upside the head.

"Yeah... yeah, sorry. I was just thinking back to home. We didn't really choose to leave... well, it's complicated. But there were friends back there that may or may not be in danger." They share an uneasy look and stay quiet. Obviously they don't know how to respond to that. Not that I was looking for answers. It sort of just came up.

"Well... I'm sure you'll have a chance to get back there and figure everything out." Violet says, offering a small smile in apology.

"That'll be forty five caps-" Violet smacks him on the head again. "Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being so heartless!" She demands. He pushes her off the counter and starts to shoo her out of the store.

"Don't you have a restaurant to run!?" He yells as he grabs a nearby yardstick and starts to poke at Violet. She gets pushed to the door and gets halfway out before addressing me again.

"Come visit G-Ma's when your friend gets better! Don't be a stranger!" She yells with a laugh before Hemlock forces her out. She walks around and sticks her tongue out at him before walking away. He returns the gesture before relaxing and returning to me.

"You two are good friends." I mention, getting an irritated look from him. "Can I ask a personal question?"

"You've seen my penis. Not much left to keep hidden after that." He tells me as he gathers all my things up piles them up for easy travel. "What's on your mind?"

"... well... how did you know you were gay?" I ask, getting a surprised look from him. "I wanna say I know I'm not, but I don't really know how someone would know. I've never even heard the term before today. How did you know?"

"Well..." He says as he leans on one arm and thinks back. "I'd say it was when I was a little kid. Maybe twelve or fourteen? Somewhere around that age. I was living in a small farm town and there were maybe six kids my age. One day we snuck off to do... well, dumb kid things. A girl named Cherry and a boy named Fizz were playing some kissing game and we each took turns kissing each other. Don't ask me what the game was, I don't remember. With Cherry... it was just a kiss. Ya' know? Not much behind it. But when Fizz put his lips on mine... it was like being struck by lightning! I tried a few times with other people after that to really test the waters. But... yeah. I felt more like myself when I finally realized that I liked boys instead of girls."

"So... you figured it out pretty early? Was it obvious once you tried it?"

"No! No-no-no! Especially not when my father tried to convince me that I was wrong! He thought it was just a phase and tried to get me to marry some mare. That was probably the lowest point in my life honestly."

"Oh... sorry to hear that. How did you get away?" He laughs at that.

"Well, just as my luck would have it, the girl was actually a lesbian-"

"A what?" I ask.

"Lesbian? A mare who is a attracted to other mares either romantically or sexually. Yeah, two for two in that little farming town. So we got married, tried being married for all of two days, and decided that we weren't for each other. So we told the town we were traveling to make our own farmstead and went our separate ways. We still write each other from time to time. Though I haven't heard from her in a while."

"Where does she live now?"

"She and her wife have a farm that's a few miles outside of Silo's northern entrance. You know what? If you're heading that way could you go check up on her for me? Her name is Mahogany and I can mark her farm on your map!"

I laugh as I try to think of a way to say no to him. Even though he's being very nice to me right now I don't see Lucky and I leaving this place any time soon. But when I look at him and see the slight desperation on his face... I lose any ability to say no to him. He may not be romantic with this person, but she's clearly still important to him.

"Go ahead and mark it." I say as I offer him my arm.

"Thank you! Just let her know I sent you when you find her!" He says as he starts to set the location on my Pip-Buck.

"I also can't guarantee that I'll be heading that way any time soon. But if I do, I'll make sure to check in on her."

"Of course! That's no problem at all! It's just that I normally get a message back from her once a month. And it's been three months! I just want to make sure she's okay. But whenever you want to go! No pressure! I'll even pay you for it! How's a hundred caps sound?"

"I haven't even left Silo, I can't take your money." I tell him as he finishes up. I take a look at the location and notice it's actually pretty close to Silo. At least, once you get out of the tunnels that is.

"I know, but I still want to pay. Just so you know how important it is!" I look to him and sigh. I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to Lucky.

"Okay, okay... how about this then. Instead of caps, how about something else of equal value?" He raises an eyebrow to me and I smile back to him.

Perspective: Lucky

Water splashes all around me as I scrub a rag up and down the upturned mattress. I couldn't do nothing all day! Even though my joints ache and I feel my head starting to spin I had to get something done! It's in my nature to work. So I did the only thing I could do at this time. I brought both of the mattresses into the bathroom to clean them. We have that box of Bubbly Suds cleaning powder here so I'm putting it to use.

First I cleaned out the sink and toilet. Honestly though, they really needed it. I don't think they've been cleaned since this place was built. But the scouring suds did quite a good job getting them to shine! Though I'm sure all the elbow grease helped too! But that didn't take very long either.

So I decided to tackle the beds. They were in a much worse state than I previously thought too. The hardest part was getting them soaked enough to work in the cleaning solution. But when I pulled out one of the drawers from the living room and used it as a bucket it sped up the process considerably. We're probably going to have a high water bill this month though. I'm sure a clean bed will be worth it in the end.

I drop the rag into the drawer/bucker and ring it out again. Even though the water is a slurry of filth and cleaning chemicals, Angel and Devil are still using it as a small jacuzzi for themselves. I guess with them being imaginary it doesn't matter what the water is. It has bubbles so it'll do.

I do feel a little weird seeing two nude versions of myself relaxing in the frothy water though. But they didn't want to get their clothes wet... which was the excuse they both went with.

I set the rag down and take a moment to readjust my sleeping shirt. I have the bottom half tied tightly around my ribs, leaving my bottom two thirds exposed. The box said it wouldn't cause any staining on coats or tails, and after two hours of this I haven't seen or felt any changes. So I think it'll be fine.

"Do you think there are any hot tubs left in the world?" Devil asks as she lifts up and leg and splashes it down.

"It is highly doubtful. But it's a nice thought to have." Angel says as she tries to persuade the bubbles to cover her chest. "It was hard enough to find a hot shower out here."

"That was nice, while it was private at least." I mention as I stretch out a little and grab the rag. "What do you two think? One last scrub through and then we're done?"

"Two wash throughs is more than enough." Angel concurs but Devil whines.

"But I don't want to get out of the water!" We both just shake our heads at her. If she was real she'd be getting all pruny by this point.

"Alright then, one last wash and our mattress is all done!" I set the rag and start to scrub it from the top to the bottom.

Most of the water washing out of it is relatively clear now. During the first round it was practically black. Made my skin crawl thinking about how we already slept on it. Now I won't have to worry about what various filth was hiding in there.

The floor is getting a decent cleaning too. It's faint, but the floor is curved so all the water flows towards the drain in the middle. I was a tad worried it would spill out into the living room. But with it pooling in here at least now my hooves will be chemically clean.

"Lucky?" I perk up in excitement when I hear Reckless enter the house. He sounds excited too! I throw the rag into the bucket and rush out front. He goes to say something but instead flairs his wings out and just stares at me.

"Reckless!" I cheer as I rush over to him, stopping with a playful bounce. "I know you said to rest up but I couldn't fall back to sleep so I-"

"Lucky!" He nearly yells. I stare at him in confusion before he turns around and pats the side of his hip. I look down and nearly have a heart attack. How did I forget that I was practically naked!?

"Shit! Um... sorry, heh... well... I'll just... go get dressed!" I mention as I cover my pussy and back peddle towards my room.

"It's all good... no worries... I'll be out here!" He mentions as he covers his eyes. I open my door and try to say something, but decide against it. I shut the door and press my back against it as I berate myself. How could I have done something so stupid! No he's totally going to think I'm a weirdo!

"Or," Devil starts as she lands on my shoulder, back in her original outfit. "You double down and get back out there."

"Lucky is sick, Devil." Angel says as she lands on my other shoulder. She's also back in her toga. "If Reckless would be someone to take advantage of that situation then he wouldn't be somepony worthy of our affections."

"Uhg! I hate it when you have a point." Devil gripes, getting Angel to smile triumphantly. "That's the worst part. That damn little grin of yours. Stop it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Angel muses with a smug tone. "But let's not keep him waiting. Get dressed and speak with him!"

"Right... right! I can do that! Just, put some pants on... and go... talk with him. Easy enough!" I mumble as I go to the duffle bag and pull out a pair of jeans. They're a bit loose on me, but so long as I'm just in the apartment they should stay up. I slip them on and stop by the door. I glance back to the other two and they each give me thumbs up. I take a deep breath before opening the door.

I step out and catch Reckless stuffing something under the opposing desk. I smirk at him as he slides the chair in and tries to cover whatever is underneath there.

"So... why were you half naked?" He asks, clearly trying to change the subject.

"What're you hiding down there?" I ask as I start to walk around. But he holds up and a hand and gets me to stop.

"Take a seat," He instructs me, pointing to the chair next to me.

"Reckless-"

"Go on!" I roll my eyes and take a seat. He waits till I'm fully seated before he takes a seat as well. "Well?"

"Mmm... nah, you first." I laugh a little as curiosity starts to get the better of me.

"C'mon Reckless! Pleeeease?" I lean forward and try to give him the best puppy dog eyes I can muster. He chuckles a little and tries to avoid eye contact. I've finally got him! "With sugar on top!"

"Oh, for sugar? Alrighty then." I laugh a little as he reaches under the table. He goes to pull something out but stops and looks up to me. I blush a little when he gets that sly smirk on his face. "Scoot forward in your seat a little and close your eyes."

"Like this?" I ask as I do what he says. He doesn't say anything. I hear him stand up and start to walk towards me. My heart skips a beat when he gets right next to me. I can practically feel the heat from his body radiating onto me as he leans in.

"Keep them closed." He instructs me. All I can do is nod back to him and squint my eyes shut. I gasp softly when I feel something warm drape over my shoulders and fall to over me. He pulls it around me and envelopes me within whatever it is.

FWAP

"GAH!" I shake my head when something lightly smacks my face. Reckless steps back chuckling as he tosses a pillow onto the desk in front of me. I look down to the billowy white cushion before looing to the blanket wrapped around myself. It's dark green and made entirely of wool. It's a bit scratchy, but I can already tell it's going to be a very warm cover. I look between the two bedding items before squealing in excitement.

"Oh my god! Reckless! Where did you get these!?" I ask as I hug onto the pillow and wrap myself up in the blanket. I look up to him as he just smiles down to me. I jump up and rush in to hug him tightly. I can't help but jump a little in excitement too. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Your welcome! I, er, I got a job for the guards here so... ahem! They also gave me a forward on some pay so I figured this would help you rest up. Sorry it couldn't be something more comfy."

I pull away and flap the blanket open and try to wrap myself up better. I never thought a simple blanket and pillow would make me so happy. But it's been nearly a month since I've been wrapped up in something so warm! I'm going to sleep like the dead tonight! I look up to him and just giggle as I cocoon into the bedding, too happy to find any words.

"And that's not all!" He says as he moves back to the desk. I watch him pull out some kitchen materials before motioning to it all. "For late breakfast and early lunch I'll be making some soup!"

"Oh my god that sounds amazing!" I say dreamily as I move to sit back down. He starts to set all of the materials up to cook and I just watch him for a moment. He really pulled through today, didn't he? It's not much, truth be told. But... it feels like the world to me.

"Psst!" I look over to my shoulder and see Devil poking her head out from behind me. I panic a little as I glance to Reckless to see if he's noticed. He's too preoccupied trying to figure out the hot plate to notice us though.

"What!?" I ask in a hushed tone.

"Now's the time!" I stare at her for a moment before I go wide eyed.

"Now!?" I ask as I look back to Reckless. He's still engrossed with the jury rigged hot plate."Like... right now!?"

"Not the whole truth!" Angel says as she pops up beside Devil, shoving her down with an arm. "But... something that will give us some insight on him!"

I look back to Reckless and bite my lip in thought. I could just tell him now. But I don't think that would be a good idea. I don't want him thinking it's just hormonal-sick Lucky talking. When I tell him I want him to know it's coming from me. The real unfiltered me. But... I guess I could... I don't know! But I need to say something to him! Get the ball rolling. But... all I can think about is...

"So..." I start out, getting his attention. "Did you... see it?" I pull my legs up and try to retreat into the blanket to hide my embarrassment. I know it's a bit of a left turn. But it's all I could think of! He fumbles with the hot plate as he coughs in surprise.

"Oh... uh, yeah... yeah I saw it." He says with a deep blush. It's a bit cute to see him lose his confidence. But I'm equally losing mine.

"So... what did you think?" I ask, getting him to nearly drop the hot plate. He tries to continue messing with it as he flusters deeply.

"Well... Uhm... Okay. I... I don't know how to describe... those. You know? Whenever one was... presented to me, the only words that come to mind are usually words like sexy. Or cute. But yours... easily the best I've ever seen."

"Really?" I ask in surprise. I've never heard someone call mine the best before. But, to be fair, not many have seen it. And the person who did see it... "You don't think it's... lame?"

"Lame!? Who called it lame? Let me know so I can go kick their ass for you!" I laugh a little at that. At least he liked it. "I've never, in my entire life, heard someone call a pussy lame! Whoever that was needs a reality check!"

"... I MEANT MY CUTIE MARK!" I bury my face in the blanket as my face turns bright red. This entire time he was talking about my fucking pussy!? I thought it was pretty obvious that I was talking about my cutie mark! Why would I just ask what he thought about my fucking... that!

"... oh." I look up to him and see that his wings are flared out again. He's blushing deeply as well, but his blush doesn't seem able to cover his whole face. I just hug my legs tightly as I rest my chin on my knees. Of course this is how our conversation would go. My luck strikes again!

"So did you see my cutie mark?" I grumble into the blanket, getting him to go back to the hot plate.

"Y-yeah... I saw your cutie mark. A black five leaf clover." He grumbles, trying to avert my eyes. I take a deep breath as I try to move on. The faster we forget that, the better.

"So... what did you think?" I ask. He finally gets the plate to work and gets to cooking the soup. It doesn't look too complicated, but it definitely looks better than two hundred year old snacks.

"Well... It reminds me of you honestly." He says as he starts to focus on cutting up the food.

"Really? How?" I ask as I perk up a bit.

"Well, when I saw it I thought it was... well, kind of simple." I deflate a little when he says that. So I have the best pussy but a simple cutie mark... great.

"Oh." I mumble as I slump against myself.

"But! But... I thought about it for a moment and I realized that it actually fits you perfectly. Most would look at your mark and dismiss you at a glance. But taking a deeper look and you can really see something special. You're not just lucky. You're not just a four leaf clover. You're Lucky, one of a kind even among the fortunate few. You're the most special little clover there is."

He says all of this and then looks to me. He notices my face going beet red and the slightly flustered look on my face before he finally realizes what he's told me. He starts to stammer and try to recover from the unintentional compliment. But he can't make a whole sentence without tripping over his own words. I feel a slight poke from behind and look back to see Devil. She's poking me with her pitchfork trying to get me to say or do something.

"Thank you Reckless." I say quickly, getting him to pause.

"O-of course." He mumbles back.

"No, I mean... I've never been a fan of my cutie mark. I've always thought it was boring and obvious. Like, as if my name alone wasn't enough, my cutie mark had to tell everyone what makes me special. And... well... there's only one person whose seen it other than you. And... well..."

"He called your cutie mark lame?" He asks, to which I nod. "Who was it? They need to get punched in the face."

"Don't sweat that. He got punished plenty already." I tell him, thinking back to that night. "But... hearing you say... all that, I've never felt so unique before. So, thank you for that. It... really made me feel special."

"Well... your welcome Lucky. I meant every word of it." I smile to him. We both go quiet for a moment. I really don't know what else to say to that. It was the sweetest, most sincere compliment I've ever received in my entire life. He goes back to cooking and I just sit back and revel in his words.

"Give him a compliment." Devil says from behind. I look over at Reckless and try to think of something to compliment. But I don't want to come off as if I'm just giving praise to return the favor.

"You could share a story of yours. Or even ask him more about himself." Angel offers. I think on it for a moment before deciding on that. It feels like a safer way to navigate the conversation.

"So... what kind of security are you going to be doing here in Silo?" I ask awkwardly. I didn't know what else to ask about and so I went with the only thing that was on my mind. It was that or asking him a teasing question about my pussy!

"They're starting me out with the outer bastions. The gates that we entered through. Apparently the longer you work for them the deeper into Silo you can work. Newbies guard the outer gates. Veterans get to guard the inner markets."

"Oh... you're not going to the unmanned bastions, are you?" He thinks about it before shrugging.

"I actually don't know what they meant by that. I assumed that I was guarding the ones by the doors. But I guess the other ones could be available too."

Oh great. Because I said it my luck is going to get the better of us! Now I've just put him in danger! Me and my stupid mouth!

"Sorry." I tell him as I deflate again.

"For what?"

"I sorta just jinxed it." I tell him as I try to retreat further into the blanket. "I have this thing where I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind and it usually has a way of coming true." He chuckles at that as he slides several ingredients into the pot and sets it on the hot plate. He takes a seat and looks over to me, a smug smile on his face.

"So you're psychic?" I laugh a little at that.

"No you dork! It's my luck just running in reverse on me! It's usually not a good thing." I tell him, but he's just lost in thought.

"So... if you wished for, I don't know, a caravan of all purple ponies. Would they arrive?" I shake my head at him. I want to laugh, but I also don't want to jinx things any further.

"I don't know. Probably not. Usually it's something like... I don't want to even tempt fate!"

"How about this," He says as he leans in to get serious. "Wish me luck on my uneventful shift. Or wish me a super lucky lunch or... I don't know, something along those lines."

"Reck," I mutter but he waves his hands to cut me off.

"I got it! Wish for me to get some good loot! That means something bad can happen, but I'll make it through it all and even get some goodies out of it!"

"Reck... that's not how-"

"We won't know until we try!" I stare at him for a moment before I shake my head and play along.

"Good luck getting some good loot later in your shift today." I tell him in a dry tone.

"Thanks Lucky! Make sure you get plenty of sleep while you rest up! Speaking of which, why were you in the bathroom?" I roll my eyes at him. He's definitely a dork, no doubt about it. But... I like that about him.

"I was cleaning our mattresses." I tell him. "I was dressed like that to avoid getting it on my clothes. I didn't have it diluted for clothing so I didn't want to ruin anything."

"You cleaned both of our beds? Thanks." I smile back to him. In the gift giving exchange, he's definitely winning. Not that I'm keeping track or anything. But... if I were, I'd be a bit behind.

Though he has seen me naked several times now...

We spend the next hour or so talking about what our mornings. Truth be told, there wasn't much for me to say. I got up and started cleaning. His morning was much more eventful for sure. Getting the job sounded stressful. He was perfectly qualified for the position, so he wasn't worried about it. But getting that forward was incredible luck on his part. It was really a life saver for us.

Then he talked about the store he visited and all of the toiletries he got. He did tell them about me, but not enough for them to really go off of. Which is good. I hate meeting people who know too much about me. A lot of the stallions my father worked with were like that. It drove me insane. Starting a conversation just to get railroaded to specific questions is the worst!

But then he told me about what they talked about. The little side job has me worried as well. But he's not going any time soon so I guess it's not too bad. I didn't think we'd be leaving Silo so quickly. But for a quick errand for what seems like a new friend, I guess that won't be too bad. It also seems like they're nearby too.

And then he told me about the zebra girl! I've never seen a zebra before. So the idea of meeting one is exciting! And apparently she's pretty charismatic. At least if the way she treated the store owner is anything to go off of. She seems like she could be a good friend to have. I just hope she isn't the jealous type. I don't need another one of those people in my life.

"Yeah... they were clearly good friends. It was good to see that kind of interaction. It was hard to tell if any of that existed in the wasteland." Reckless says as he stirs to soup. It's nearly done. If the aroma is anything to go by at least.

"It is nice to hear. I thought we might be the only friends out here." I tell him.

"Best friends!" He says in a slightly mocking tone. I stick my tongue out at him and him a silly look.

"Clearly." He laughs a little as he start to think about something. I raise an eyebrow to him as he coughs to himself. "Whatever it is, just ask."

"Well... it is a bit personal." He tells me, but I shake my head.

"Reckless... you've seen me naked how many times now?"

"Three, but who's counting?" I laugh at him.

"Exactly... though I've only seen you naked twice so you owe me!" He laughs at that. And even though I was joking, I can't help but feel a bit awkward from the forwardness. "But I think we're well past the point of needing to worry about pleasantries and politeness. So just ask away."

He gives me a look before nodding. He's still trying to pick how he wants to ask this. So I roll a hand forward to coax it out of him.

"Okay. So... I guess I'll start with this. Have you ever been kissed before?" I stare at him and try to think what that could be.

"I've never heard of that before. What is it? Is... is it a sex thing?" He blushes a little as he bobbles his head.

"I mean, sorta? It's more like an... intimate thing. Not necessarily something just related to sex. It's something you do with ponies you're really close with. That's the impression I got at least." I think on it for a moment before asking a question.

"Are we close enough to try it?" His wings flare out and he looks back to me in slight shock. "What?"

"W-well... truth be told, I don't know."

"Have you done it before?" He rubs the back of his neck as he thinks on his answer.

"Y-yeah."

"... with who?" He looks away and fiddles with the soup. He's uncomfortable with the answer, but he's clearly going to tell me.

"Joy." Ah, that explains it. Even though I don't know what this is, the fact that Reckless did it first with her makes me a tad jealous. I try to mask it, but I don't know how well I do.

"Oh... Was she good at it?" I pick at some of the fluffs on my blanket, trying my best to look uninterested and aloof.

"Well... yeah. BUT, I think that also plays into me having never done it before! I have no one to compare it against." I nod to that logic. Though I am a bit bitter still.

"So... what do you do?" I ask, trying to think of anything other than Joy.

"Well... you sorta just press your lips together. Sometimes you use your tongue and... well, you lick the other persons tongue-"

"Ew!" I blurt out, getting a shocked look from him.

"I swear it's not as gross as it sounds!" He defends.

"If you say so." I mumble as I try to get the image of Joy and Reckless licking each others tongues out of my head. I did not need that in my head right now!

"Right..." I look over to him and see that he's holding something else back.

"There's more?" I ask, more shocked than anything else. He nods to me, trying to look away from me. "More from Joy?"

"She... gave me a blowjob." I stare at him as I try to figure out that that means. I'm not the most experienced person around. But I usually know enough to get by. Again, I've never even heard of that before.

"What does that entail?" I ask, still trying to sound impartial.

"Are you sure you-"

"Yes, now tell me!" He flinches a little from that. I take a deep breath and try to relax a bit. "Sorry. I swear it's okay. I'm just... well, I'm not the most... experienced person. And... well..."

"Not experienced?" He asked, sounding slightly shocked. "Really? I mean, I don't want to infer anything. But you could have had anyone in the stable."

"Well... not really." I mention, looking away.

"... are you a virgin?" I blurt out a laugh and try to look back to him. But I can't maintain eye contact.

"What! NO! Pfft, this guy! I've had sex before! And... well, he was... it was sex! I've had sex! W-why? Is this relevant to whatever Joy did!" Reckless grabs a rag and slowly pours the soup into two bowls as he stares at me. I try to sit here confidently, but my nerves are getting the better of me. "What!?"

"It's okay if you haven't-"

"Oh!" I throw my hands up and spin my chair to avoid his gaze. He sets the soup down on the desk behind me and sits at his desk. I try to reach back and grab the bowl, but my arm won't bend far enough. Slightly angry, I spin around and grab the soup and begin to slurp it up. But I only end up burning my tongue in the process.

"Easy there Lucky. Let it cool down." Reckless tells me. I set the bowl down and pout a little. He looks down to his own bowl before taking a really long sip from it. He sets it down and lets out a long breath of air as he tries to cool off the holt liquid in his gullet. "There... now we're even..."

We look to each other before sharing a laugh. It wasn't the smartest move, but I definitely feel better. I don't like talking about this, but I guess I can tell him. I just hope he doesn't judge me for it.

"When I was sixteen I was really close to a colt named Spark Plug." I tell him, getting his entire attention. "He was first class just like me. And... well, he was sweet on me and I was... truth be told I was... a little desperate. Most of the girls my age were already hooking up and... you know. I was still a virgin and I wanted to be like the others. And Spark... he was interested in me."

"One day I was getting over being sick and he snuck into my room. Don't ask me how he got past my father, I don't even know how he managed that. But it was finally time to 'get some'. So... he stripped me down to just my cutie mark After some touching he told me to place my hands on my desk and I did what he said. Then lifted my tail and put it in."

"But... being my first time, I wasn't ready for a... piece that big. And... apparently he wasn't ready for a mare that tight. He didn't even make it a quarter of the way in before he yanked it out and came all over my tail. Guess in the shock of penetrating me he wasn't paying attention and dropped it. Took me three days to clean it all out."

"While that's not so bad, albeit a bit painful, what made it so bad was how mad he got. He started blaming me for making him finish that quickly. Apparently I was trying to make him look bad. He stopped being nice to me after that. He didn't even acknowledge that we had done anything! I tried to tell others that we had been together, but he just denied it all."

"Wait wait wait wait." Reckless interrupts. "Is this the same guy that called your cutie mark lame?"

"... yeah. Right after squeezing my tits and calling them small." He looks as if he's about to lose him mind. I feel a bit embarrassed telling the story. But it's all true.

"When we make it back I'm kicking his ass." Reckless tells me. But I just shake my head.

"So, obviously him yanking out and hurting me was... well... sudden. So sudden in fact that it was enough to get my fathers attention. When Spark tried to sneak out he grabbed him by the throat and nearly strangled him to death. I had to beg him to stop. It was... not a good night."

"That's an understatement!" Reckless says. I flinch a little from that and he apologizes.

"Trust me, I know it. But, technically speaking, I have had sex before. But... that was my only experience. So if you're asking for insight or tips or... anything of that nature, I'm not the best pony to ask. I have maybe half a second of experience."

He tries to tell me something, but stops himself. He tries again, but instead downs another large serving of the soup. He gasps for air as he slams the bowl down, nearly half of the liquid gone now.

"Sorry, I just needed to stop myself from saying something dumb." He tells me as he breaths heavily, trying to cool off his mouth.

"You're alright. But please don't hurt yourself." I tell him, toying with my soup. I really think Spark jinxed me for all of eternity. No one in the entire stable wanted me after that. Well... no one in first class at least.

"But Spark has to be the most pathetic, idiotic, bitch ass colt I've ever heard of! He's the one who couldn't handle sex! And the little bitch went off to bully you!? Fuck him!" I offer a small smile. But honestly I was probably too wound up to have sex properly. He didn't have that problem with any of the other mares.

"Its okay Reckless. Honest, it's not that big of a deal." He taps his fingers on the desk as he thinks to himself. Is... is he thinking of a way to preposition me? No... after all of that? It'd be so... sudden!

"Well... all I know is that even in the stable there were plenty of things no one did. Out here though... there will be plenty of time to... learn whatever you want... if you want to that is." I feel myself slump a little when he doesn't outright ask me. I guess it would be too forward. Especially at this time.

"Of course." I mutter as I blow on the soup and take a sip. "Can... can you tell me about your first time?"

"You want to know that? Are you sure?" He asks with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah... I think it would be nice to hear an experience that wasn't bad. And clearly you've been around, which isn't a bad thing! I just... I guess I feel exposed having shared that." He nods to that and thinks back.

"I was fifteen-"

"Fifteen!" I blurt, almost chocking on my soup. "That's so young!"

"You were sixteen!" He retorts.

"Yeah but girls age faster than boys. My sixteen was like your eighteen." He laughs and shakes his head. I chuckle a bit too, feeling a teeny bit better.

"Anyway! I was fifteen and she was a classmate of mine. Docket, if you knew her. She would end up working in the storage rooms later on. But before that we were... well, not close. But not strangers. Maybe acquaintances? One day in the middle of class she passes me a note saying to meet her in the janitors closet in five minutes. We each took turns getting bathroom passes and met up in there."

"And?" I ask, getting a confused look from him. "Details Reck, details. I shared way more than that!"

"Okay, Okay! Well... We didn't really say anything. We both knew what was about to happen. We got in there and undressed. Well, she was already naked in there, since she got there first. I lifted her leg and pinned her against the wall and... went to pound town-"

"Pound town?" I ask with a chuckle, getting him to blush.

"We started fucking! It was good. A bit messy, but good. Literally scared the crap out of me though. Cause she didn't let go of me until after I had finished inside of her. Apparently she was in heat and needed me."

"Did she get pregnant?" I ask with a slight panic attack.

"No, thank the sisters no!" I let out a breath of relief. That... would have been a lot to unpack. "After that though the janitor caught us in there and told our parents. My mother was pretty upset about the whole thing, but I didn't get it at the time. She wanted me to avoid parenthood for as long as possible so I could focus on figuring myself out. She didn't even want me looking at work until I was seventeen. Looking back now, I wish I had taken her advice to heart sooner."

"Why's that?" It's odd hearing someone from our stable saying they actively didn't want to start their career as soon as possible.

In Eighty-Eight your job determined everything about you. Your living arrangements, your status, even the amount of food you got! I know I don't have much room to talk, being first class, but it seems so foreign to hear someone not care about their future like that.

Reckless shifts uncomfortably in his chair as he tries to think of how to answer. I can see it's something truly important to him but painful. All I can do is sit quietly as he tries to form the words.

"That was the same year she passed."

"Oh." It was the first thing to come out of my mouth. I try to think of something else say, but what do you say to that!?

"It's okay. To be fair, this was well before we knew she was sick. And... well, it was mostly because I didn't want to be like my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah..." He goes quiet as he thinks about something. Again I wait, but I can tell we're getting really deep into something. I feel at odds hearing this from him though.

I want to learn more about him. But I don't want to force painful memories to surface again. But knowing this will also let me get to know him more intimately. Am I pushing the conversation too far for my own interests though? I should let him know he doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to. It's clearly a rough subject.

"Reck... if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay. But... if you need to talk, I'm here for you." He offers me a small smile as he leans back.

"Thanks Lucky. But... it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just that... the last time I talked about it, well, most ponies in Eighty-Eight don't seem to get it. But... I feel like you'd understand better than most. I just... don't want to tell you and have it be something that sounds like I'm just trying to get... free points."

"Free points? Towards what?" I ask, genuinely confused. He shifts around uncomfortably as he gets ready to delve into the story.

"The last person I told was a mare named Valve Switch. She told me I didn't need to tell her some sob story to get into her pants-"

"So now it's my turn to smack someone when we get back." I tell him, feeling my anger rise. "Why would she think that!?"

"I don't know. But you can't hit her... she died the night of the revolt." I feel a little tinge of guilt when he says that. Did... did Reckless kill her? Was she one of the rioters? How was she involved that night?

"Sorry." I mutter, not knowing what else to say.

"... My father was born first class." He tells me, quickly changing the subject.

"Really?" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah. But he got dropped to third well before I was born when he tried to have his way with a first class mare. One that had connections in high places. He had worked hard to get out of third and into second class by the time he met my mother. She would tell me early on that they were pretty close and he was really nice to her. But... ever since I was five..."

"Old habit?" I ask, assuming the next part. He just nods.

"I didn't understand when I was young. I thought they were just fighting. How could kids realize anything else? But as I got older I realized what was really going on. My mother being a pegasi didn't have a lot of other choices in a partner, so she felt she had to deal with him. He was a dropout that was working back to the top. But he still believed he was a first class stallion. But with only one mare even willing to give him the time of day... he tried his damnedest to control her. And for a while he did."

"What a sicko!" I feel my stomach turn over as I think about her situation. Why would she even bother being around such a monster!? They were equal class, he had no right to do such a thing!

"Yeah... He tried to model me after him. Told me it was a stallions right in the house. Or something to that effect. He only really talked to me after he would... do that. Made me hate everything he stood for. And as I was getting older I started realizing that he was making sure that I was walking in on them. He knew how close I was to her and he wanted to assert himself as the powerful one. He wanted me to know that me loving a mare, even if she was my mother, was pointless and harmful."

He looks away and tries to hide a tear. I just sit her slack jawed as I try to find the words to comfort him. But... how do you help someone so hurt?

"I'm so sorry Reckless." I tell him as I set the bowl down. I stand up and walk over to him, but he turns away. He doesn't want me seeing him tearing up. I kneel down and gently guide him back to me, getting a look at his hurt face. I pull him forward and give him a hug, getting him to choke up.

"One night I came home and he was forcing himself onto her over the lit stove," he continues as he holds onto me and buries his face in my hair. I just rub his back and let him tell his story. I don't know what else to do other than be here with him. "Something in me snapped and I ran in and pushed him. He started beating me immediately and I tried to fight back, but he was bigger than me. So... so..."

"It's okay Reckless," I whisper to him, squeezing slightly harder. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I wanted to." He tells me, the anger rising in his voice. "I was tired of him trying to control everything. So I grabbed a nearby rolling pin and I bashed his head in. I kept bashing his head in until the block of wood snapped! Then I just started beating him with my fists! I kept going until I was too tired to do anything else. And when I looked up to my mother... she looked so scared Lucky. Please don't let me scare you the way I scared her, please?"

My heart breaks when he tells me this. I can't imagine Reckless getting so angry he'd do... that. But, given the circumstances... I can't say I blame him. But how could anypony hear that and think he was trying to get free sympathy? Was our stable truly that broken.

I just hold him and rub his back. He needs a while to collect himself. So I just hold him and try to comfort him as much as I can. I don't know what to tell him though. I assume he didn't get into trouble over the situation. It was clearly in self defense. But hearing all of this really puts Reckless into a new light. It really explains how he's truly one of a kind from Eighty-Eight.

"Sorry... for dumping all of that on you." He tells me a few minutes later. He's calmer now, but still a little shaken. He sits back but I stay kneeled in front of him, my arms resting on his lap.

"You're fine Reckless... I'm actually glad you told me." I tell him as he wipes his eyes one last time.

"Really?"

"Yeah... It really... I don't know how else to say this. But it puts you in a new light. I was surprised by your character as we traveled here. At first I thought you were just like any other stallion in Eighty-Eight. But... now it all makes sense. I'm so sorry you had to endure that. But even with the shittiest father, you turned out to be an amazing individual. And... I think your mother would be proud of you." He laughs a little at that, smiling once again.

"She'd be asking countless questions about me living alone with a girl." I laugh at that, thinking about what my father would say.

"My Dad would probably drag you out of the room and interrogate you. Especially with how often you've seen me naked-"

"Oh gods!" He laughs, shaking his head. "From what I've heard, he'd skin me alive!" I laugh at that. He's not wrong.

"But I'd protect you." I tell him, scooting a little closer. "I'd tell him you're the best around."

"Thanks... And I'd tell my mother that I was the lucky one to get to share a room with an amazing mare."

Something starts to pull us together. It's as if there's a gravitational pull attracting us to inch our faces closer and closer towards each other. I can see the surprised look on his face as we get lost in each others eyes. Those soft baby blue eyes that bore right through me. Comfort me. Draw me closer and closer until we're almost touching.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

We jump away from each other when an alarm goes off on Reckless's Pip-Buck. He shuts it off and sighs in defeat. I stand up and back away from him. My entire face is burning red as I realize how close we were to each other. I don't know what came over me! It was like magic pulling us towards each other!

"Sorry... I have to head to my first shift." He tells me as he awkwardly stands up and starts to gather his things.

"O-of course!" I respond quickly, following him as he heads to his room. "I'll be here! Is there anything I can do for you while you're out?"

"No! Lucky, get some rest! Do that for me, please?" He begs as he pulls out some work coveralls. I recognize it as the uniforms the other guards were wearing. But it doesn't have the same armor additions as theirs.

"Well... how long is your shift?" I ask as he walks into his room to change. I feel a little saddened when he closes the door without me inside. But I remind myself that we're not that close. At least... not yet.

"Ten hours. So I'll be back in the middle of the night. Go ahead and finish all the soup for dinner. They're going to provide a lunch for me while I'm out there." He tells me as he changes. He steps out in the dark green coveralls and pats them down. "How do I look?"

I take a look at him and try to find a way to make the uniform look better. But they're just not flattering in the slightest. But then I remember something and rush into my room. I come back out and present him with my leather chest armor.

"Since you can't wear your normal armor please take this. I'd feel better if you had something extra to help."

"The suit is pretty padded." He tells me as he pats his chest. I walk up to him and press my hand to his chest. His wings twitch up as I feel across his broad chest.

"It does feel a bit padded... but I'd still feel better if you had this too. Please?" He bites his bottom lip as he tries to argue, but ends up nodding in agreement. "Alright, unzip the top and I'll help you put it on."

"Shouldn't it go over the coveralls?" He asks with a tilt of his head.

"Not with how baggy they are! Now unzip so I can help you put it on!"

"I can manage it Lucky." He says with a slight chuckle. He tries to take it but I yank it out of his grasp.

"Un. Zip." I tilt my head and give him a look. He folds immediately and unzips the top of the coveralls. I feel my heart race as I watch him expose his chest and twist his arms to slide the top off. His wings give a quick little flap as they slip through an opening as top half falls behind him.

It's probably my hormones being out of order. At least that's what I tell myself as I let my eyes wander over his strong, slender form. He's not what I'd normally call buff. But his muscles are defined. His arms are the most pronounced out of all his muscles, which is where my attention started. But there's a small tuft of hair in the center of his collar bone where my attention ends. It's large enough to be visible and looks softer than any cloth I've ever seen before. I've never seen a tuft on any pony like his.

"So... what now?" He asks, making me nearly drop the armor.

"R-right! Sorry." I say with a nervous chuckle. I can't believe I let myself do that! What's wrong with me! This is literally everything I hate about what the stallions did in Eighty-Eight! Why does Reckless drag this out of me!?

"No problem. Like I told you before, if the prettiest mare is ogling me then it can only go to serve my ego." I shake my head at that as I fumble with the armor.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm the prettiest. But to serve your humble ego? Not a problem!" I laugh again nervously. Why am I so bad at this!?

"Sorry about the chest fluff. I've been meaning to shave it down before everything. But I got some shears to do the job-"

"Don't you dare cut a single hair!" I warn him, getting a surprised look from him. I immediately blush as I realize what I said out loud. "W-what I meant to say is that... you should leave it! It's... it looks good on you."

He laughs and I look down to the armor to hide my face. When I finally get he armor opened all the way I offer it to him. He gives me a look before putting it over his head and sliding it on. The action brings my attention back to his torso and I watch as his muscles stretch and relax from the movement. But this time I catch myself in time to bring my attention back to him.

"How about a deal then." He says as he pushes his wings out the sides. I move to his other side and help him start to strap it on properly. "You promise to rest until I get back and I'll let you touch the fluff. Deal?"

"Oh yeah?" I ask with a laugh. "Ten hours of sleeping for a quick touch? Doesn't seem fair to me. Besides, I need to get the beds dried out and put back." [Barter 20/15]

"Alright. Then make a counter then." I stop and look to him. He's got that knowing grin on his face again. There's a pretty good chance he's prepositioning me. But there's a small chance I'm reading too far into it again. I should just play it safe... but I also want to touch the fluff.

"I will only finish the bed stuff and clean our Stable suites. In exchange... heh, I get to..."

I'm trying to think of something. But my mind keeps going to sexual stuff. And I don't think it's a good time for any of that. I don't want to come on to him too strongly. Especially after the emotional moment we just had. But I can't think of anything! I wonder...

"Well, I'll decide by the time you get back. I... want to make sure you're not too tired. Sound good?"

"Couldn't think of a counter?" He teases as he finishes the last strap.

"No! I have a counter! And it's a great counter! I just... don't want you dwelling on it for your shift!" I tell him with a playful slap to the side. He raises an eyebrow to me and smiles, getting me all flustered again. "That's the deal! Take it or leave it!"

"Okay then. I'll take it." He says as he zips up his coveralls. He leans in real close and I feel myself start to panic slightly. He gets right next to my ear and I feel his warm breath wash over the side of my head. "But if you don't think of one, then I'll pick for you."

"...Y-you! Go!" I yell as I start to push him out. He just laughs and heads out. We share one quick last look before he winks and leaves the apartment.

I wait a moment to make sure he's gone before I begin to bounce and squeal in place. That has to be proof! That has to be! He likes me! There's no way he doesn't! I've finally got a stallion to like me for me and he's amazing! Finally my luck works in my favor!

"Okay ladies!" Devil announces as she flies in front of me. Angel flies forward and stands at attention as Devil starts to march back and forth in front of us. "This is not a drill! We have ten hours to make a game plan! We need to wash up, get out hair presentable, finish the beds, and prepare for a night of pure unadulterated passion! This will not be a repeat of Spark Plug! Am I clear!?"

"Yes ma'am!" Angel and I respond, each giving a salute. I turn around and rush to get to work. There's a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. And I have to make sure to get plenty of rest so I won't be dead asleep when he gets back.

But the hardest part now is whether I chose something or let him?

Perspective: Reckless

Eleven hours later

I groan as I take the last of the steps down towards our apartment. I ended up at the bastion Lucky mentioned before leaving. I guess her luck does have weird premonitions. The first nine hours were super uneventful. Practically nothing happened. But maybe ten minutes before the guard shift was to occur we were attacked by a massive horde of feral ghouls. Easily double the size of the one we saw when we entered the previous day.

We were fortunate that the replacements came when they did. If not they would have easily overran our position. They almost did at anyway. The gun they gave me was worse than useless. The pipe weapons barely count as actual guns. Rounds would go way off course. They jammed often. The ammo has little to no stopping power. And the sights are confusing as hell. I wish I had the ammo to just use my own gun.

I saw him again though. Roy Phillips. The glowing one that's controlling the ghouls. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to. He was in the middle of the horde watching the attack. I tried to shoot him again, but the gun seemingly wouldn't hit him. That, and I had to spend most of my focus on the ghouls beating down the barrier.

When they finally retreated we all decided to retreat to the interior bastion. There was an assumption that they would attack again. And no one wanted to be at that post when the attack came. I waited with them for about thirty minutes. But when nothing happened they assumed that was that. I protested a little, but when no one else backed me up I just let it go. I tried to ask the other guards about that Roy ghoul, but they had no idea what I was talking about. I even asked a few of the other workers if that name was familiar. But no one gave me the time of day.

I'm not good at dealing with people. That seems to be Lucky's specialty. I'll talk to her about it all tomorrow and see what she thinks. Hopefully she's feeling better by then. Or, at least well enough to have a conversation.

Talking with her before the shift was... a lot. From seeing her practically nude to talking about my mother, there were a lot of emotions. I'm not the best at dealing with those. Usually I just ignore it and wait until it's not an issue anymore. It's not the best method, but it's my method.

I stop at the door and take a deep breath. I don't want to walk in and show how tired I am. I don't want to worry her. Not that I think she's awake right now. I have to get in and go straight to sleep. My next shift is in ten hours. It's rough but it's what I've got to do. But at least I was able to get some loot off the ghouls. Even if it's only ten caps.

I unlock and step through the door quickly. I have to fumble my way through the dark room towards my door. I stop when Lucky turns on her Pip-Buck as she steps out of her room. I pause when I see her though. Her hair is down and looks like a combination of bed head and half curls. It all seems intentional and looks great. She's a tad sleepy, but she still looks really happy to see me. I feel my stomach twist as she walks over toward me, still wrapped up in her blanket. As she walks I notice a note on my desk with my name on it. I can tell she wrote it by the professional cursive penmanship.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." I tell her in a hushed tone as I walk over to the desk and take the note. She shakes her head and walks right up to me. I get a little nervous from her approaching but When she opened up and hugged me all of that melted away.

"I got worried when you didn't show up." She mumbles as she relaxes against me. I slowly bring my arms around her and gently rub her back.

"Sorry, things were a bit crazy at the bastions." I tell her, trying to down play the whole situation. At least for now while she's so sleepy.

"I'm just glad you're okay." She says, squeezing me slightly tighter. I chuckle a little from that. Hearing her say all this is definitely putting me in a much better mood. "I know you just got back, but can we talk for a bit? I was asleep for most of the day and I don't think I'll fall asleep anytime soon."

"Of course." I tell her as I pet the top of her head. She hums and starts to sway lightly from side to side. I smile from the affection and bring a hand to her forehead. She's a tad warm, but much better. "How're you feeling?"

"Good. I think I'm one night away from beating this." She tells me in her drowsy voice.

"That's great! So... what's in the note?" She buries her face in my chest and stops swaying. I tilt my head as I look down to her, waiting for an answer. She's clearly embarrassed by something. What could possibly be in the note?

"So... you said I could get a reward for resting while you were gone. And I wrote it on that note. But... I'm a little nervous to show you the note. It's... well, you'll see."

"So what does it say?" I ask, reaching down to the grab the slip. But Lucky tightens her grip to stop me.

"Just... hang on a second." She says as she holds onto me.

"Are you sure you're okay? If it's too much we don't have to do it? We don't have to do anything that makes you too uncomfortable." I tell her, getting her to press her face harder against my chest.

"So... I'm going into my room. Get comfy and read the note. It'll... tell you what to do next. But... if you don't want to, then that's okay. I'll understand. But... yeah, get comfy!" She lets go of me and rushes to her room. I try to ask her what's going on, but she just ignores me and enters her room.

Lost and confused, I grab the note and open it. I feel my heart start to race as I wonder what it could possibly be.

Dear Reck,

So for the little while we've know each other I think we've gotten really close. We had our ups and downs, but I still think you're an amazing person despite your hardships. You're unlike anyone I've ever met before.

I know it'll seem as if it's just my hormones being out of sorts and maybe they are. But I really think I've come to like you now. More than just friends. And I'm hoping you feel the same way.

But after spending the day waiting and lost in my own thoughts I came to the conclusion that I can't let myself get caught up in what could be my head playing games with me. I want to be sure about who you are and what you think of me.

The little game we're playing, that'll be the test. And since I rested I get to pick the reward. And I'm picking that you play along. So here's the game.

Sleep with me tonight. If you feel the same as I do then come over and spend the night with me, but no sex. I know myself and I think I'll come on pretty hard. But if you can wait one night then I'll know you're truly the stallion I think you are.

But if you don't feel that way I'll understand. You can come over and we can have sex, but that will be the first and only time we do. We can still be friends after that, but I'll know where your heart lies. And at least then I can say I at least had you once.

And if you really don't want any of that, I will also understand. We can just act as if this never happened. We can even stay friends.

I know this may feel super sudden, but with how often we've each almost died out here I don't want to wait any longer to tell you how I feel. We may only get tonight after all. I hope I get to spend it with you.

So I'll be waiting in my room. Whatever you choose, I'll understand. But please choose quickly.

Your little clover, Lucky

I read the note and nearly drop it. I then read the note again just to make sure that I read it correctly. I can't believe it. I actually can't believe it! She likes me!? Like... the way I like her!? It's mutual? And she wants me tonight!

Hold on! She does, but she wants me to control myself tonight. I can do that... right!? One night for potentially a life time of joy... I can do that! Even if she's going to come at me pretty hard. I mean, she is a kind of a virgin. I don't think two seconds with a jackass should count. So I think I can manage that.

I go to rush straight in but remember that I'm still in the guard suit. I should probably try to wash up a little too. I'll grab some clothes, do a quick sink shower, and be right in! Shouldn't take more than ten minutes!

Fifteen minutes later

I stare at Lucky's door and try to reach for the knob. But I've spent the last ten minutes just standing here staring at it. I've never been so nervous to enter a room before. I really want this to go well. I need this to go well. But I have no idea what to expect in there. And although I want all of it, the fact that it might end everything terrifies me.

But it also might be the start of something great.

Okay! Enough stalling. Not going in there is the worse scenario possible! So no matter what I have to enter her room! I slap my face a few times before grabbing the knob and throwing the door open.

I nearly fall over when I see Lucky sitting on her bed. She's only wearing a black G-string. Her large perfect breast are seemingly poised for me to get a full view of them. Her legs are draped off to the side as she rests her weight on a single arm. Her free hand is slowly running up the length of her leg as she looks up to me with a blush growing on her face. The only light in the room is her Pip-Buck flashlight that she's set on the ground near the door.

"I was wondering how long you'd stay at the door." She says as she slowly brings her eyes to look me over. I try to say something, but I can't. I'm too lost in her beautiful form to think clearly. "So... How do you want me?"

"... Entirely." I don't know what that means, but it was the only thing I could think to say.

She chuckles a little as she motions with a finger for me to come closer. I grab the door and close it behind myself as I approach. She lays back slowly and spreads her legs while running both hands down her slender form. She brings them under the black string and starts to play with herself.

I feel my boxers tighten as I become fully erect. She takes a hand and reaches up to gently grab my member. I twitch from the touch as she runs a hand down the entire length. She tugs at the cloth and forces my penis to slip through the slit in the middle.

"Easy there." I mumble as she slowly drags her hand back up to the tip. "As nice as this is, we're not having sex."

"Are you sure?" She says as she gives my dick a few light tugs. "Seems like you're ready to go."

"Mhmm..." I groan as she slowly works my cock. "Of course I'm ready to go... look at you. Who wouldn't be."

She lets go of me and I feel myself twitch in excitement when she switches hands. Feeling the new wet fingers lubricate me sends new shivers down my spine as I lose all thoughts again. This might be harder than I thought.

"Lay with me." She tells me as she lets go again. She opens her arms to invite me to lay over her. I take a moment to try and collect myself. I know what the game is, I know how to win it! I just need to not rush into things for one night. I can do this!

I start to get onto the bed but stop when Lucky moves her thong to the side. I stare at her pussy for a moment before I rush to her side, much to her disappointment. I lay next to her and make sure to lay sideways. In my head it'll be a bit more difficult to do anything like this.

She looks to me and smiles. I think she gets what I'm trying to do. At least I hope she does. She turns on her side as well and I immediately stare at her chest. Seeing her breast drop down from the weight makes my mouth go dry. I feel myself twitch and quickly move to put my member back inside the underwear. She giggles at that.

"I'm glad you like them." She tells me as she moves an arm under her head. "The stallions in first told me they were too small for them."

"That's cause they're idiots." I tell her quickly. She smiles back to me as she inches closer.

"Would you like to touch them?" She asks, pushing her chest forward.

"Yes... but..." I try to think of some excuse, but I also am losing any blood from my brain as it races to my cock.

"It's okay. There's nothing in the rules saying you can't touch me. So... touch me." She moves her free hand behind herself as she relaxes and waits for me to make a move.

I mean... she is right. There's nothing saying I can't touch. What harm will come from just a quick grab?

I reach forward and cup one of her breasts. She lets out a low hum of approval as I squeeze her and gently pull. The soft, warm feeling under my fingers draws me back in to grab her again. This time pulling gently up and letting go to watch it bounce back to form. I do this to the other one as well as she scoots onto her back and press up against me.

"You really like that?" I ask as I continue to grope her chest. I take a moment to pull on her dark green nipple and force a small squeak from her.

"Mhmm... I love those heavy hands of yours." She mentions as she grabs my hand and guides it to grope her more aggressively. "How do you like it?"

"It's taking everything in me not to just blow my load." I tell her with a slight chuckle. Truth be told, not that I'm excusing him, but if this is how Spark's and her first time was it makes total sense now.

"We haven't even gotten to the main event." She tells me as she guides my hands down her flat stomach and over her pussy. My hand twitches from the heat radiating there and I can't stop myself from running a finger down the slick opening underneath the little strip of cloth.

"Holy shit." I mutter as I start to rub my fingers down there in a slow circle.

"Keep doing that." Lucky mutters as she grabs onto my arm. She closes her eyes and starts to absentmindedly grind against my hand.

She gasps loudly when I press against a small nub. I run my fingers in a slow circle around it as she starts to moan in rhythm with my movements. Watching her pleasure grow throughout her body I decide to slip my hand underneath the thong and continue the same motion directly on her.

Her grip on my arm tightens as I keep at it. I can feel myself start to grind in tandem with her movements as well. This is farther than I've ever gone with any mare without actually fucking them. And by the looks of it, if I keep this up for a little longer she'll be cuming real soon. With how wet she is, I wouldn't be surprised if she was prepping before I came in here.

"Reck," She mutters in a husky voice. "Put it in... please. I'm so close!"

I move a little down to get a better angle with my arm. My cock is demanding that I get on top of her and start fucking. But I won't. Right now it's mostly because I think she's just about to come so long as I don't stop. I try to make it in one movement. I circle a finger around the nub and bring it down to try and insert it. But with the angle I can't quite go straight in. So I end up making the 'come here' motion with my finger inside her pussy.

But apparently that was perfect. Because after two or three movements she shot up and curled in as her pussy gushed out a few spurts of liquid. I try to keep going, but she twists away from me as she shakes in pleasure. When I pull my finger out she lets out a loud gasp from holding her breath. I pull back a little as I watch her ride out the ending waves of pleasure. It must have been a really good one, because she sort of just collapsed onto herself.

"Feel better?" I ask as I rub my hand on her back. She rolls her head to look at me and nods, a massive smile on her face. "So... wanna just cuddle and talk now?"

"What about you?" She asks as she reaches down and starts to stroke my cock again. "You're so hard. Isn't it bad to get that hard and not release yourself?"

Truth be told, I have no idea. I've never gotten this hard before. Usually by this point I'd be in the mare. So I'm in entirely new territory. But that doesn't matter right now. We're not going to go all the way. Not tonight at least. I can do this.

"I'd rather just cuddle, that okay?" She nods and pushes herself to be on all fours. I can't help but stare as her breast sway form side to side as she crawls over me. Mesmerized, I just follow her lead and lay on my back as she slowly lowers herself on top of me. When her breast lightly lay on top of me she lets out a small chuckle before slowly dragging them up until we're face to face.

I look up into her beautiful magenta eyes and feel myself get hopelessly lost in them. She stares down at me and slowly starts to lay completely on top of me. She folds her legs so her knees are by my hips, making it so I can feel her pussy press against my lower stomach.

I reach up and start to run my hands down the length of her back. She's so incredibly soft. Even though I can feel a strong body underneath the skin, there's just a uniquely feminine feel to her that draws me deeper and deeper into her. I move my hands to her hips and hesitate for a moment before reaching down and scooping her ass with both hands.

This time I groan as I squeeze her amazingly supple cheeks. They're literally a perfect balance of squish and tough. Strong and malleable in equal parts. Just large enough to leave plenty for my hands to explore. But not so large that it becomes an endeavor.

"Reckless?" She moans into my ear as she relaxes her head beside mine. "Will you kiss me?"

"Kiss?" I ask, pausing my messaging. She nods and props herself to look at me.

"I want you to be my first kiss." She tells me as she gently runs a hand along my chest.

I feel myself shiver at the thought. But then I remember my first kiss. I recall how sudden it was and how I had a hard time controlling myself afterwards. I want to give her that. But I don't know if I can risk losing control right now.

"Please?" And with that I couldn't refuse. She shy look on her face. The adventurous look in her eyes. The... warmth growing over my crotch. There was no way I was going to deny her after all of that.

I reach up and push the locks of hair out of her face before moving a hand behind her head. I gently guide her closer to myself and stop when we're a hair away from touch. I feel her labored breath over my face as she stares back at me. I pull my other arm to hold her chest against mine as I close my eyes and press forward.

As our lips touch I feel everything start to quiver in excitement. It's like I've fallen into a cloud and electricity is zapping me from every direction. Lucky moans into my mouth and presses forward. Our lips meld into one as I tighten my grip on her, getting drunk by her essence. And I think she is too. Because she's started grinding against me as our lips wrestle with one another.

When we break away to breath she pushes herself up with both arms and starts to grind against my cock in earnest. I reach down and grab her hips to guide her, throwing my head back as my own pleasure starts to grow as well.

"Hold on." She mentions as she stops and reaches down. She pulls the top of my boxers down so that my cock can come out. She moves her thong aside and tries to line us up, but I lift her hips to stop that from happening. "Reckless-"

"Like this." I tell her as I set her down. I use her to force my cock to lie flat against me with her pussy pinning me down. I pull the small amount of fabric aside so we're directly touching. I give her ass a light slap before grinding against her.

"Mmm... okay... like this." She says as she leans back to sit upright. She holds onto my hands as she gets into grinding against me. As far as the rules should go, this should be fine. Right?

I try my best to grind against her as well, but a few times I almost slip into her. She's figured this out as well and tries to grind her hip as far forward to try and get me inside of her. After a few close calls I stop grinding and tighten my grip on her hips. She starts to gasp loudly as I force her back and forth against me. She tries to add her own movements, but I over power her and take total control of the situation. And she loves it.

She throws her head back as she lets out a scream of pleasure. She's stopped trying to grind onto me so I pull her down and start thrusting against her. Each thrust my cock slides up and down her oozing slit and she lets out a increasingly louder moan of pleasure. It's a bit off to pull her down onto myself while thrusting as aggressively as possible. But with how loud she's getting I can't stop myself anymore. All I can do is push myself as I feel myself edge closer and closer to finishing.

But she beats me to it. With one last yell she falls forward and another torrent of fluids washes over my crotch. I let out a loud moan as well as I feel myself get just to the edge of finishing. But as she convulses on top of me I have to practically toss her aside when I feel the tip of my penis enter her. It was only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to wake me up and scare me.

She bounces to my side and continues to convulse in pleasure. I don't know if she noticed or not. I don't know if that counts. But I was far too close to comfort. I take a few breaths and try to calm down as I asses the situation. I rub my cock and try to see if there's any blood or something that would tell me if I was actually inside of her. But there's only her juices from all the previous activity.

I don't think anything occurred. At least it seems like that. Maybe I didn't actually get inside of her. Maybe it was just me about to finish that scared me. Yeah... that seems fairly likely.

I look over to Lucky and stare at her for a moment. She's curled up next to me trying to catch her breath, a dreamy look plastered on her face. I reach over and brush another lock of hair off her face. She looks up to me and smiles, to which I smile back. We might be okay. I lean over to look at her pussy just to make sure though. And sure enough everything seems fine. I think I just over reacted.

"Wow." Lucky says breathily. "That was... amazing."

"Yeah... pretty good for just grinding?" I tell her as I relax a little. She shakes her head in agreement, but then gets a confused look on her face.

"I thought you finished inside of me." I feel my heart stop when she says that.

"What... I was never i-in you." I mention as I look to her in horror. She sits up and stretches a bit before scooting back to me. She reaches behind the bed and pulls her blanket out. She drapes over the two of us as she nestles against me.

"Reckless, I can feel when something is inside of me." She tells me matter of factly as she rests her head on my chest. "It's okay though. Now I can put this all behind me-"

"What!?" I almost yell in disbelief. No, no no no no no this isn't happening! This can't be happening!

"Thanks for a much better time. I'd actually call this my first time rather than with Spark. You were much better than him." She tells me as she closes her eyes and relaxes against me. "Feel free to grab me all night too. But I'd say my pussy is tapped out so please let her be."

"... WHAT!?" I ask again, still in disbelief.

"Sorry, but you really knocked me out with that last one. I'm going to pass out now. Goodnight Reckless." She tells me as she reaches up and starts to toy with the tuft of hair on my chest. "Hm... so soft."

"... WHAT THE SHIT!?" I grab my head and try to think of something to say. But... I fucked up. I fucked up royally. I've... I've ruined my chance at being with Lucky.

I try to tell her that I didn't mean to do that. That I tried to stop myself from entering her. But... I can't bring myself to. Because... I did enter her. I did let it go too far. And now... now she can't trust me. Not like that at least. I've fucked this up. And I don't know if I'll ever be able to fix it. I've lost her.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO FINISH!

My Pip-Buck starts to beep but I just lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. I didn't sleep at all last night. I couldn't. Part of me was trying to figure out how I can convince Lucky to give me another chance. I went over dozens of possible arguments and persuasions but in the end none of them seemed like they would work. I don't know how I'm going to fix this, but I have to try. I'm not giving up so easily!

The other part of my mind was completely distracted by Lucky. Having her sleep peacefully against me while almost nude was... distracting. To say the least of the pain growing in my loins. I don't think I've ever gotten so close to finishing and just stopped. I thought my balls were going to explode from the pain. It went away after awhile, but I'm still tender down there. Which was problematic when Lucky intertwined her leg with mine. With how pressed up she is to me, it was difficult to fully calm down.

I couldn't get up to finish it off in the bathroom. I didn't want to wake Lucky up. She wasn't kidding when she said she was going to pass out. At least she got to have a peaceful sleep. She gave me permission to grope her more, but I couldn't bring myself to do that either. As much as I wanted to, I just stroked her head in an attempt to help her sleep better. I think it worked, but I'm not entirely sure.

"Mmmm... alarm." She mumbles as she buries her face into the crook of my neck. I have to squeeze her a little to reach my arm and turn off the alarm. But when I do my arm feels her forehead.

I reach a hand to her face and feel her again. She's practically on fire! I feel her a few more times before she looks up to me and smiles.

"Good morning." She says as she pulls me in for a hug. "Mmm... my head's all fuzzy. What happened last night?"

"Lucky, are you okay? You feel as if you're burning up." I tell her as I brush her hair out of her face. I try to sit up but she clamps down on me. "Lucky?"

"Not yet." She mumbles as she nuzzles her face into my chest. "Just... let me have you a bit longer."

"Lucky..." I cup her chin and force her to look at me. She's clearly trying not to cry. And it breaks my heart to see her like that. "Why don't you get it? I'm already yours."

"But... last night." She starts but stops when I lean down and plant a soft kiss on her lips. Even though I'm trying to comfort her I feel her quiver against me. But with my face against her I can feel just how hot she's running. This isn't a normal kind of sick heat. It's much worse.

"What do I need to do to prove to you that I only want you? How can I prove myself to you?" I beg her when I pull away. She shakes her head and coughs a little.

"I don't want to lose you." She mumbles before another cough catches in her throat.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right by your side... always. No matter what." I tell her. But I don't think she can hear me. She just keeps repeating the same fear of losing me. After checking her head again I decide that we need to go to the doctors. This is definitely something really bad.

I try to force my way out of bed but Lucky made it really hard to do so. She didn't want to let me go. But I forced myself from her grasp and made it out of bed. I grabbed her stable suit from the closet and started getting her dressed. But she's so weak right now that she couldn't even get out of bed properly. So it took longer to get her dressed.

I got dressed in a flash. I'm rushing, but I need to get there as soon as possible. Somehow I remembered to put the mask back on her before scooping her up in my arms. She's still delusional. Mumbling all of the lines she said while we were in bed. I rush her to the door and practically throw my shoulder to open it.

Rushing out I run past Violet. She tries to tell me something but I ignored her as I sprinted towards the medical ward. When I get to the door I try to open it but find it locked. I look around and see Lupus standing at a desk reading a clipboard. Impatient, I start kicking the door to get her attention. After a few kicks she slams the clipboard down and stomps over to the door.

"Do you mind!?" She yells as the metal door slides open. But I rush in and almost run her over in the process. "What are you doing!?"

"Lucky's illness took a turn. Please! You have to help her!" I tell her as I look around the office. I see a doctors table in the back and rush over to it. I gently lay her on it and brush her face clear. Lupus walks over and grumbles as she puts on a new pair of gloves.

"Move!" She orders me, shoving me aside. I back away and watch as she goes through an examination. After feeling her and scanning her with that device she grumbles and goes to her computer. She types away as she looks for something, so I go to Lucky's other side and hold her hand. She's passed out again. Seemingly sleeping peacefully.

"I-is she going to be okay?" I ask Doctor Lupus. She doesn't respond. She's still digging through her notes. "Is there anything I can do? What's wrong with her?"

"Calm down!" She orders me as she continues to read. "I know your scared but asking me a thousand questions isn't helping anypony."

"Right... sorry... but do you have an idea of what's going on?" I ask, getting an irritated look from her. "Sorry."

"Whelp, I think I have an idea of what it is." She tells me when she pulls up a file. "But it's not good."

"What is it? Is there anything we can do about it!?"

"I am going off a theory, so bear with me." She takes one last look before turning around and sitting against the table. She rubs her eyes for a moment before continuing. "I think it's blight. A rare offshoot that's really nasty."

"Blight? Is there a cure? How can we help her!?" She gives me another look and I try to calm myself. But how could that be possible right now!?

"Normal blight can be cured. But... I don't think this will be as susceptible. But we'll try regardless." She tells me before going to a glass cabinet. It's full of various beakers and vials with various liquids and herbs. She grabs a few of them and brings them to a chemical workstation to start working to mix them properly.

"Thank you, Doctor." I tell her, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't thank me yet." She tells me as she spins a concoction together. "If this doesn't work I don't have anything else. So fingers crossed."

I look to Lucky and swallow a lump in my throat. It'll work. It has to work! I can't lose her now... I can't lose her ever! Lupus brings the remedy over instructs me to hold Luckys head up. She pours the substance into her mouth and tries to help coax it down. Lucky tries to cough it out, but Lupus manages to force her to swallow the medicine.

I set her head back down and watch her shift around uncomfortably. I don't know what's suppose to happen next. It seems to be working, maybe? It's causing her to move around so it must be fighting the blight. Lupus grabs the clipboard and motions for me to follow after her. I watch her go before looking back to Lucky. She is lightly writhing from the medicine. But that means it should be working.

"Reckless!"

"Right!" I jump to when Lupus calls me. I rush over to her and she motions for me to sit at the folding chair by her desk.

"I need to ask a few questions while we wait to see what happens." She tells me as she takes her seat. I sit on the chair and nod to her. "Have you two done any spelunking recently? Dumpster diving, search any radioactive rooms, anything of that nature?"

"No... no nothing like that." I tell her as I try to think of our past. We were really careful when we were out in the wasteland. We didn't go anywhere we didn't need to... "Wait... there was one dumpster."

"Just the one?" She asks as she starts to take notes. "Do you remember anything about it? Anything at all?"

"Yeah... when we left the Stable we were in this office building. A... robot, thing, threw us down a trash shoot. Knocked us both out from the fall. But I remember there were a bunch of black trash back. The bottom was basically a bog. And I think there was a dead body or two in there."

I try to remember anything else about that day. But there's not much else to recall. It was raining that day, which I tell her, but there wasn't anything else that stood out. But that was almost a month ago! Why would it take so long to take effect? Doctor Lupus writes a few more notes before working on her computer at her desk. I try to read along, but all the medical jargon just goes over my head.

"Well... I have a theory. And you're not going to like it." She tells me as she sits back in her chair.

"Doesn't matter. Tell me what's going on and what I can do to help." I tell her, steeling myself for the bad news.

"It's blight for sure. But it must be a particularly bad strain. One I've never seen before. My disease cure will help mitigate the effects. But eventually it'll take over." I take a deep breath and nod. I understand what she's saying, but... it still seems like something that's impossible.

"Okay... okay. So what can we do?" I ask nervously. There has to be more we can do. I won't accept that this is it! Lupus looks at her notes and grimaces.

"Well... there is something that can be done. BUT... it would require-"

"I don't care what it requires. Come hell or high water I'll do whatever it takes to cure her! So just tell me what needs to happen and I'll make it happen!" I didn't mean to yell, but we don't have any time to waste. She stares at me for a moment before nodding.

"Okay... first part is the hard part. You need to go down to the lower levels and find the medical ward. Silo is actually ten floors deep, and the bottom half are full floors. No missile taking up the center. Somewhere down there lies the original medical ward. In there you'll find a machine called the stable-flow infusion pump. You need to hope that it's intact and working. Bring it to me and then we'll start a blood transfusion."

Quest: Me and You, Together
Find the original medical ward within Silo

"We're fortunate that you and her are the same blood type, otherwise I don't think this next part would work. We'll transfer your blood into her body while pumping hers back into you. While we're doing this we'll pump both you with the disease cure. Your body has the antibodies to deal with the disease, and with the added help of the disease cures it shouldn't be too much of a risk for you. For her, it'll be close to say. But I think this is the best chance we have at saving her-"

"Then let's do it!" I say as I jump to my hooves and rush to the door.

"Hold on!" Lupus yells as she stands up. "There's one last thing to discuss!"

"What is it?" I ask as I stop at the door. She looks around for a moment before sighing and reaches into a drawer. She pulls out a clipboard and walks it over to me. She hesitates for a moment before passing it to me. "What's this?"

"That's a consent form. As payment for all of this I'd like you to donate your DNA to me." She tells me with a slight blush. I flip through the pages to try to read what it says, but I can't make heads or tails of it.

"DNA? Look, I don't have time. Just tell me what you want." She takes a deep breath before returning to her professional demeanor.

"Okay then. I'd like to collect your semen before the operation so I can artificially inseminate myself at a later date." I stare at her and try to start laughing. But the serious look on her face tells me how real she's being about this.

"You're... you're serious?" I ask.

"To make a long story short, you and your friend have very desirable traits that I want to make sure any offspring I have carry. Get the device and I'll perform the surgery and provide all of the disease cure for the procedure. I'd tell you how much it would cost in caps, but we both know you don't have that kind of money. So that is how I'd like to receive payment. Obviously you wouldn't be expected to carry out any future parental needs for any children born. If you want to be available to them then that is your call. So what will it be Mr. Reckless?"

"OH YOU BITCH!" Before I could answer the door slides open and Violet came rushing in. "Really!? That's the payment you want to take!? You know you're really something-"

"I'll do it." I tell her, getting Violet to stop.

"What!?" Violet yells as she steps in front of me. "Reckless, come on there has to be another way!"

I shake my head and take the clipboard. There's a pen attached and several sticky notes telling me where to sign. After a few seconds of filling out the paper work I hand it back to her and march off towards my apartment. Violet flips off Lupus before chasing after me.

"What-"

"Lucky is too sick for me to worry about this." I tell her as I open my door and head straight to my room. Violet walks in and follows after me to my room. I start gathering all the supplies but Violet takes my rifle away from me.

"Stop and listen for two seconds before you get yourself killed!" She yells at me, shoving the weapon back into my hands to drive home the point. I try to stay calm, but I don't have time to argue! The sooner we get this done the sooner she'll be okay!

"Fine! What?" I say angrily. She shakes her head and starts to pace around the cramp room. She's arguing something in her head. But I don't have time for that. "What Violet!?"

"Okay! The lower levels are full of feral ghouls! Going down there alone is practically a death sentence! Not to mention the Demon Core in the center, the assortment of killer robots, and the flooded levels! There's a reason we broke the entrance into there!"

"If there's all that down there then why build a town here?" I ask, completely baffled.

"The founders destroyed the stairs leading down there. No one thought that any of them could make it up here. And for almost two hundred years that's been the case! Plus you don't know where you're going! You could easily get lost down there and starve to death!"

"So what do you suggest I do!?" I ask as I throw my hands up and sit on my bed. "I can't let Lucky just die because it's too dangerous. I know she'd do the same for me!"

"Well..." She takes a seat next to me and sighs in defeat. "You could start with a thank you."

"What?" I ask in confusion. She just closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "No! No way! You're not coming with me!"

"I've been down there before!" She tells me firmly, giving me a determined look. "When my brother and I first got here we started out as prospectors. We've been down there enough to have a rough layout of the top two floors. And I think I know where the medical ward is. So unless you have a better idea I'd suggest saying thanks!"

I stare at her for a moment before I'm convinced she's serious. This practically complete stranger is willing to lead me down to this apparently dangerous place. There has to be a catch. No one out here has been this generous before. She has to want something out of this.

"What do you get out of this?" She rolls her eyes and stands up to pace again.

"Apparently not a thanks." She tells me irately. "Maybe I just don't want you two to be taken advantage of like I was. They tricked me into going down there! And bitch-ass Lupus is already charging you... with that! Is that all really too much for a simple 'thanks Vi, I'll make sure to get you back at some other point.'"

I stand up and stare her down. She stops in her tracks and stares back at me, trying to convince me with her eyes. She definitely looks determined. And she is right. I don't know what I'd do once down there. And having someone who has explored down there would only benefit me. Do I really have the luxury to question her anymore? For Luckys sake I should just say yes and move on.

"Okay. We'll do down together." I tell her. She leans forward and gives me an expecting look. I shake my head and get back to gearing up. "Thanks Vi. I'll make sure to get you back at some point."

"No problem Reckless!" She tells me with a slap on the back. "I'll meet you at the entrance. Bring any Rad-X and Radaway you've got. We'll also need any non-powered tools you have."

I follow her to the door as I try to ask her what we would need those for, but she ignores me and makes a run for her place. I shake my head and look across to see Hemlock staring back at me. I offer a fake smile before heading back in to finish getting ready. Whatever it takes. I'm going to find that device. I will save her.

I took the stairs as far down as they would allow me. The fourth floor is seemingly empty. Most of the spaces down here are either boarded up or filled with crates and other storage. There's a single guard watching over the stairwell heading down. He's sitting on a footlocker with his hooves resting on another locker. He thought I was joking when I told him I was heading down there. Called me crazy even. But I just ignored him as I waited for Violet. He doesn't know what he's talking about anyway. I don't need to pay him any mind.

I hear her practically falling down the stairs when she comes into view. She's wearing what looks like an old military uniform underneath several pieces of heavy combat armor. She fumbles with the laser rifle in her hands as she tries to latch the chest piece on while also fumbling with her helmet. She ends up dropping the helmet and weapon as she trips on the last steps.

"I swear I'm normally more coordinated!" She yells as she forces the latch shut and scrambles to pick up the weapon. I pick up the helmet and pass it to her. She smiles and takes it, sliding it on over her head. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I tell her as she walks up to the guard.

"We'll be heading down now, toss the line." She tells him. He gives her a look before looking to me.

"You sure about that Vi? Does Big Brother know about-"

"Don't you worry your pretty little bald head about me." She tells him cutely. He grabs the construction helmet he has on and tries to cover his head better. "Now toss the line."

"Mmkay. But if he asks I tried to stop you." He says as he stands and opens the locker. Inside there's a long length of rope. He walks over to the stairs and starts to tie it off to a railing.

The stairs leading down on both sides have been blown out. The only way down would be to use the rope they have here. But that's not problem for me. Without telling her I pull her in by the waist side and lift her up. She squeals and latches onto me when I jump off the side and use my wings to break the fall. We land safely on the ground with a puff of dust. She squeals for a moment longer before looking around.

"A little warning would have been nice!" She yells as she smacks my chest and lets go.

"I'll say!" The guard yells as he starts to undo the rope. "Next time just tell me yer gonna do that so I don't have to get up!"

"Sit on a dick Hammerlock!" Violet yells as she flips him off. She really likes doing that. "Okay, follow me so we can get a game plan."

"Okay." I say as she walks off into the dark area.

I turn on my Pip-Buck and follow after her. Apparently this floor is empty of anything dangerous. But they leave it vacant just in case something makes its way in here. It's policy to leave one level of buffer between ponies and all the monsters how here.

She takes me to a boarded up room and pries the board just enough for us to slip inside. The room is similar to my apartment in layout. But a cooking station takes up the middle of the living around with the rest of the room having various piles of carpets, clothes, and parts of furniture. It's a fairly cozy room all things considered. She kneels by the cooking station and starts a small fire.

"Why are we in here?" I ask as I look around.

"We're making a game plan and eating. Exploring on an empty stomach is about as dumb as you can get." She tells me as the fire starts to grow. She opens her bag and tosses in a few sticks before checking on the pot.

"Do we really have time for this?" I ask as I plop down onto a large cushion. It's a bit stiff, clearly full of layers of various cloths.

"Yup! Trust me when I say this, losing your strength down there is not a good idea. Besides, we'll probably be down there for several hours anyway. Thirty minutes for us to rest and eat up will save us more time. Trust me on this." I stare at her as she focuses on cooking. If we're going to be down here for that long I guess I can spare some time to get to know her better.

"How many times have you been down here?" I ask her, making her chuckle.

"I'd say a dozen times. Maybe more. It's hard to tell really." She tells me as she starts to make some kind of soup. "Like I said, my first job here in Silo was as a prospector. We'd come down here to explore and find loot and junk for salvage. And trust me when I say there's lots down here still."

"Really?" I ask, curious about this place. "Then why don't more people come down here to loot?"

"They do." She says as she moves a rug to reveal a pile of broken down furniture wood. She grabs a few pieces and adds them to the fire. "But most aren't ready for what's down here. So they either end up as ghoul fodder or turn themselves."

"What's turning them?"

"The Demon Core." She tells me, waiving her hand to add to the mystery.

"Okay, what's that?" I ask, not buying the intrigue.

"Well, you know the giant fucking super weapon in the middle of town?" I nod to her. "The core of it fell out when the bombs hit. It's packed with so much magical energy that it bore a hole straight to the bottom of Silo. Any who get too close are turned into feral ghouls."

"Is that where all feral ghouls come from?" She laughs at that.

"No! It's part of how ghouls are made, sure. But they're not all from here. The bombs that hit all had that kind of energy. Hence why there's ghouls everywhere. But the Demon Core has no where for its energy to escape. So the effect is much more... pronounced."

"Will it really be okay to walk around here?" I ask nervously. Truth be told I don't have much in terms of anti radiation meds.

"Only if you go down to the lower levels." She tells me as she stirs the pot a few times and moves to sit near me. She lounges onto the cushions and holds her head up with a hand. I nod to her and try to think of something to say but she beats me to it. "So why did you agree to give Lupus a kid? Aren't you and that girl a thing?"

"Well..." I start but recall last night. I thought we could be, but I may have ruined that. But that doesn't matter right now. "If it's to save her life, how could I say no?" She stares at me for a moment before smiling at me. I feel a little awkward, but return the smile as best I can.

"So you like her, but she doesn't like you. At least not the same way?"

"It's not like that!" I say a little too quickly. She tilts her head and gives me a very smug look. "Okay... what I'm about to tell you is between us, okay! Don't go blabbing to other people!"

"Lips sealed! Now dish! We've got ten minutes till the food is ready." She tells me as she scoots closer. I groan as I try to think about what to say. Or even how to say it. It all happened too quickly and I don't really know how to start.

Before I could get into it we both jump from the sounds of people running. I go to the board we entered but Violet grabs my arm. She points to a small opening at the top corner of the wall where the cloths are piled the highest. I rush over to the small opening and take a look.

I see two of the settlers I traveled with running for their lives. Behind them is a small pack of feral ghouls chasing them down. If something doesn't happen soon they'll catch up to them and devour them! I rush get my assault rifle to aim out the small hole but Violet grabs my barrel and pulls it aside.

"What are you doing!?" I demand as I yank my weapon free.

"If you open fire more will come and they'll come for us. Besides, we're too late."

I look out the opening and see the lead ghoul swipe at one of the ponies. They go down with a yell before the others pile onto him and start to rip him to shreds. The other pony yells in terror and tries to keep going. But a different ghoul jumps onto them and rips out a large vein from their neck. They go down with a gurgle of terror as a small horde goes about shredding the two ponies to bits.

Violet goes back to her seat and sighs as she drops onto it. I try to think of something to do, but she's right. It's too late. And there are too many to deal with right now. We'll just have to hunker down here and wait them out.

"We could have saved them." I grumble as I climb down, trying to keep quiet.

"Maybe. But it would have sacrificed our position to do so. And then Lucky would be as good as dead." She tells me as she starts to undo her armor. "Sucks too. That means more have clamored up here. And with the fresh blood out there, we're stuck in here for at least an hour."

"An...!" I almost yell when she says that. But I catch myself and quiet my voice. "I don't have an hour!"

"Go ahead and try to sneak out there then." She tells me as she sets aside her armor. She unbuttons the military blouse and removes it. She's wearing a plain back bra, but it still puts a blush on my face to see her so bare. She notices me looking and chuckles. "What? Never seen tits before?"

"Never yours." I grumble as I avert my gaze. I move back to my seat and drop down as she ties the blouse around her waist. "So... what now? Just sit here quietly and wait for them to move on?"

"Basically. Sad to say but this is the safest way to travel down here. Over extend, get surrounded by those freaks. My big bro and I had several of these little hideaways throughout the first three levels. They've never given our position away before. So it'll be jumping from safehouse to safehouse until we find our objective. Which was?"

"A stable-flow infusion pump." I tell her, trying not to stare. But she has a really nice body. Nothing like the curvy goddess like Lucky. But she has her own kind of thin yet curvy appeal. She reminds me of Valve Switch actually, albeit much more mature.

"Right. So... what do you want to talk about? Because if you don't have anything I'm going to poke and pry into your love life. And I get the feeling that it's complicated and you don't want to get too into it. So you'd better think of something. Cause I'm a curious bitch."

I chuckle a little at that. She's certainly the forward type. And I appreciate that. Most people try to hide too much or don't know how to give as much as needed. I know I do that fairly often. But Violet really wears her heart on her chest... sleeve! Not chest! I'm not thinking about her chest!

... dammit.

"So... where's your brother now?" I ask, trying to change my line of thinking.

"He's at the restaurant getting things ready for the day. He rarely leaves the place so I usually have to make the supply runs and such. Hence the armor. But that means he's also gotten good at running things on his own. So no worries there. So have you fucked her yet or you still in the love sick puppy stage?"

I nearly have a heart attack when she asks that. And she has the audacity to laugh at me. I just shake my head as I try to think about the answer. But I start to feel really embarrassed when she just starts to laugh at me.

"You're really cute when you're flustered, you know that?" She says as she stands up to check the food. I just mumble to myself as I try to think of a rebuttal. "Describe her to me. Paint a picture for me."

"... I promised I wouldn't." I tell her, getting a confused look in return. "She has this thing where she doesn't like meeting people who know more about her than she had the chance to present. And I told her I'd let her make the first impression when she got better."

"Ah, okay! Say no more! I get it!" She tells me as she sits back down. "But just so you know, when we finish this and she gets back on her hooves I better be the first person she meets!"

"Will do." I tell her, calming down a little. I give her a look before deciding to start asking more questions. "So... why are you really down here with me? Why take this risk for people you don't know? Not that I'm not grateful! But it's definitely not something that commonly occurs out here in the wasteland."

She laughs a little as she runs a hand over her mohawk. She scratches the back of her head before leaning back on her arms and looking up to the ceiling.

"Well... lots of reasons really. Some good. Some not so good. Some selfish. At the forefront though, I didn't want Lupus taking advantage of you. I saw you rush Lucky in there and followed after you. Listened in on everything too. She really pissed me off with that shit. So maybe I jumped before looking."

"I'll say. But... why did it piss you off so much?" She loses her smile as she thinks about something for a moment. I tilt my head to look her in the eyes and she shakes her head.

"So... my brother and I used to do this awhile back. Maybe... ten years ago we stopped? Around that time at least. One day we got a little greedy... okay, I got a little greedy and pushed us farther than normal. We got jumped and it was really bad. Almost didn't make it out that day. But we did... well. Not entirely."

"Big brother got hurt. Really bad. Like nine out of ten bad. Lupus gave him the same deal she gave you. And we took it. About a year later I had a new niece and it was pretty good for awhile. But... well... she didn't make it. There's apparently a disease in our family that doesn't mix well with you ponies. Devastated both of them though. Can you imagine that? Losing a four year old little girl because of bad breeding? Or maybe it was just bad luck, who knows."

"Lots changed after that. Big Bro hasn't left the restaurant since then. And Lupus hasn't eaten there either. And now she's getting close to that age where she won't be able to have kids. So she's getting desperate. Uses the stupid test of hers to test peoples genes to see if they're a good candidate. And you won, so hurray for you."

I frown at that. It puts her in a new light for sure. But... I don't know. It all still feels off. How could they have known that something like that was going to happen? Wouldn't she have tested beforehand? Given what little I know of her now, it just seems odd to imagine anything else.

"Sorry for your loss. I'm sure it was really hard." I tell her, getting her to wave me off.

"Trust me, it was. But eventually you learn to live with it. And not at the bottom of a bottle or underneath every stud in Silo kind of living. Though I definitely tried." She says with a laugh. "But that's why I wanted to help you. Her giving you that deal... really made my blood boil. Made me feel like she had finally thrown my brother away. As if she's forgotten Jade too. Her own flesh and blood, forgotten."

She shakes her head and lies back on her back. I look around as I try to think of something to tell her. But I'm sure she's heard all of the common responses already. Probably more than once too.

"Her name was Jade?" I ask, getting her to look to me.

"Cutest little girl you've ever seen." She tells me with a proud smile on her face. "Adventurous. Curious to a fault. Stomach as big as a mirelurk queens!"

"... you were really close to her?" I ask. Her smile drops a little but she forces it back up.

"Yeah. I... can't have kids. Radiation as a child stopped that from being able to happen. But Jade... she was the closest I've ever gotten to that. So I spoiled the fuck out of her! Much to the chagrin of Big brother and Lupus too. But... yeah. Losing her... sucked."

"Sucked?" I ask, almost laughing at the normalization of the situation. "I'm pretty sure it was worse than sucked."

"Well duh! But after long enough you learn to live with the shit. It goes from being a life changing, pivotal moment that never ends; to that one hurtful memory; until eventually it just sucks. Doesn't change how much she meant to me. But... life keeps going."

I nod and change my view to stare at the fire. In a way I kind of understand what she's talking about. When my mother passed... there was nothing else. I could barely get out of bed, let alone deal with people. Then I started burying myself in school and work. Anything to stop thinking about her. Eventually Valve Switch came around and she started distracting me with sex. It didn't make me forget. But... I guess it just made things suck a little less.

Violet gets up and starts to stir the soup again. My thoughts move to her as an individual. I barely know her. But at the same time I feel like I know her better than most. And she just threw herself into my situation. I don't know where her morals or allegiances stand. But I genuinely feel as if I can trust her with my life. Even if she's doing this to spite Lupus.

"So... if that's the good reason, what's the bad reason?" I ask, getting her to nearly drop the wooden spoon. She laughs a little as she tries to keep a cool façade.

"Well... I promise this isn't as bad as it seems." She tells me sheepishly, trying to hide her face from me.

"That's always a good way to start things." I tell her, getting a laugh in response.

"Yeah... well, ya' know. It's like this... When I saw you and Lucky enter Silo the other day... let's just say you each peaked my interests... if you get my meaning." I stare at her and tilt my head. I get what she means, but I'd rather torture it out of her.

"Interests?" I ask innocently. She looks to me and tries to stare daggers. But she ends up laughing instead. I think Lucky is starting to rub off on me. This is definitely something she's do.

"Okay! I was lurking around your place to try and run into you! I wanted to meet Lucky and bring her some soup! I had this whole plan get in and seduce the two of you! Happy?" I blurt out a laugh when she tells me this. It's quite ambitious, I'll give her that.

"You thought you were going to seduce both of us?" I ask, getting her to hide her face from me. Is she one of those lesbians Hemlock told me about? But she wanted me too, so how does that work?

Maybe now isn't the best time to think about the logistics of that.

"Hey! I'm very persuasive, I'll have you know!" She tells me while pointing the spoon at me. "But clearly that's not going to happen today!"

"Today?" I ask with a chuckle. "So the plans just on hold?"

She shakes a head at me as she pours the soup into two metal bowls. Without any measuring she was able to perfectly cook two servings. Clearly she's been doing this for a long time. She passes me a bowl before plopping down onto her cushion pile. She starts to blow on her food while avoiding my gaze. I do the same as I watch her. She's quite the character. If I didn't mess things up with Lucky maybe that could have worked. But now...

"I think I messed things up with Lucky." I tell her, getting her to stop and listen. "Without getting too into things I think I put myself in a position where Lucky only sees me as a friend."

"How'd you do that?" She asks, testing a sip of soup.

"Well... she gave me options and I chose wrong. Sorry, it's a bit too complicated and personal to Lucky to really get into." She nods to me, taking a bigger sip of soup. I go to drink as well when a thought occurs. "Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"No I don't do anal."

"... what?" She looks to me with wide eyes before laughing a little.

"That was a joke! Just a little joke to lighten the mood! Heh... heh, anyway! What's on your mind?"

"... well... it's like this. Lucky thinks one thing happened when it really didn't. Do you think it'll be possible to change her mind on it?" She stares at me and thinks on it. I test a bit of the soup while she thinks. It's warm and flavorful. Leagues better than what I made.

"Well without proper details there can be a lot of variation to this. But I will say this. Perception is reality. If that's how she views it, that's how it is. Can people change their views on something? Sure! But it'll take work and patience. I take it something between the two of you happened and it's your fault. Don't give me that look, it's usually the stallions fault. Like... sixty percent of the time."

"So... sixty? But is there anything I can do to fix it!?" I sound a little too desperate. But I guess I am desperate. She thinks on it again before nodding.

"Well, this is a really good start. You are literally saving her life. That's not nothing. Again, the details matter. Depending on how deeply she feels about the subject matter. If it's just a... I don't know. Not everything can be fixed. But most things can. Sometimes it's just takes time. Sometimes you need to move Heavan and earth. If I had to guess, based on your desperation, I'd say at least a fifty fifty chance at fixing this."

Fifty fifty… that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. That's actually a lot better than I thought! Fifty percent chance at fixing this? I'll take those odds!

"So does that mean I can date her in the mean time?" I nearly have a heart attack when she asks that. She laughs at me as she downs most of her food. I just stare back at her as I try to process what she said.

"Um... what?"

"Don't get me wrong! I'm not trying to steal her from you! But if she's in a state where she only thinks of you as a friend then you're both available, right?"

"... right?" She sets her bowl down and turns to face me more directly.

"So this works for both of you! Just hear me out. I always make sure that the people I date know that it's mostly a physical, not committed thing. At my age, I'm not looking for anything more than that. So while you work your way back into her good graces I keep everypony off her back! Gives you... let's say three or four months to figure things out!"

"This seems like we're taking advantage of her." I tell her, getting her to nod.

"I mean... maybe? I was already planning to seduce the two of you so how much does it really change?"

"But you're asking me for permission to date her. That's not something I can give-"

"Of course! I'm not saying for you try to hook me up or anything like that! If she's not into mares then nothing lost nothing gained! I'm not going to force myself onto her! But if she is interested, I'd like to know that I'm not causing too big of a rift between the two of you. I'm less asking your permission and more asking if you're going to be okay with seeing her with another person. So... what do you say?"

I stare at her as I try to process what she's saying. She's not wrong. If Lucky isn't interested in me then she's going to be looking elsewhere. But I don't know how I feel about this whole situation. I don't want to share Lucky. But that's not something for me to decide. But I also don't want to manipulate her into a situation where we're conspiring to persuade her emotions. That's some shit my father would pull.

"If I was okay with it, it would strictly in the sense that Lucky gets to choose who she is with." I tell her, getting her to nod quickly. "If that's what she chooses, then I'll have no choice but to respect that. That's the most I can really offer."

"That's completely fair... and very mature. How old did you say you were?"

"Twenty-"

"Baby!" She yells, covering her mouth as she eyes me in a new light.

"And Lucky is nineteen." I tell her, getting her to gasp again. I suddenly feel really shitty about that. I said it so quickly in a defensive reflex. I didn't mean to just out her age like that. "Please don't tell her I said that! It just came out!"

"You're fine Reckless!" She says as she picks her soup back up. "But you're both so young!"

"Well how old are you!?" I ask before downing a bunch of soup. I mostly didn't know how to sit here and deal with the fact that I blabbed.

"I'm forty two." I choke on the soup when she tells me that. "Thanks. That feels great."

"No... no, sorry. It's not like that! It's just that... I thought you were in your twenties!" I tell her, making her smile and shake her head.

"Now you're just trying to butter me up!" She says as she fiddles with her bowl. "But keep going. Your praise fills me with that youthful spirit!"

I stare at her for a moment before we share another laugh. I can't believe the rollercoaster this conversation has become. But... if Lucky was going to end up with someone other than me... I guess Violet seems like a good choice. At least that's the reality I'm perceiving.

We spend about an hour and a half waiting out the small horde. Most of the time was spent getting to know each other. It was a good talk. It was awkward when she offered to have sex. But it's a little too soon for me, even though my balls desperately disagree. She told me to raincheck the offer.

We put out the flames and sneak our way out of the hideout. She instructed me to keep my light off as we traveled. She knew the route fairly well, so we didn't want to chance any of the ghouls seeing the light. Even though they are practically blind.

This floor and the next floor follow the same layout as the top floors. So getting to the lower levels is actually pretty easy. We just need to take the stairs down. It's the bottom five floors are the tricky opens. The stairs move to the outer ring and go in a straight line. While that sounded easy enough, the ghouls know to stick around those parts. Since it's where most of the action happens.

When we make it to the sixth floor, counting downwards, we stop just shy of the opening. She peers in and curses. We trade spots and I nearly have a heart attack. The entire floor is covered in ghouls. Most are lying about, covering most of the ground before us. But a few are mulling about, twitching to every sound and light that comes across them. A few of the light fixture are still working down here, giving us a decent view.

We back away and stop at the top of the stairs. Violet rubs her mouth as she tries to think of what to do. I take a look around the fifth floor and try to get a read on what's going on here.

"What's on this floor?" I ask. The fifth floor is mostly dark, but there are two lights showing a mostly empty space. It seems that most of the ghouls are on the floor beneath.

"Mostly empty spaces due to over looting. Why?" I take another look around, trying my best to see if there are any hiding.

"Is there an elevator we can use by change?" I ask, but she shakes her head.

"That thing broke decades ago! It's no use to us." I stare at her and open my wings. She looks at them before it suddenly clicks in her head. "Oh... yeah... by the way you're going to be rich with those."

"Great, show me where the elevator is."

We continue our way around the outering before breaking into one of the boarded up rooms. It's in the same position as many of the outer stores from above, so it should go all the way up. This will makes things considerably easier. I look down and try to see what's down there, but it's too dark. Looking up I see a few rays of light. I jump into the open space and open my wings to catch myself in the air. I push myself up and down before landing back with Violet.

"So this is going to be little harder than I thought. But it's still doable." I tell her.

"Why's that?"

"Flying by myself is no problem. But adding another person makes it much harder. And adding your heavy armor is problematic as well. All that is to say that going down will be easy. But going up is going to be slow going. Maybe one or two floors at a time. So we need to hope that there's enough of a clearing when we make it down there."

"Okay... take a flight down there and take a look. I'll keep watch here." I nod to her and step off the ledge.

I flap my wings to hover by the closed door. I take a look at it before flying up and setting my weapon by Violet. I drop back and start trying to pry it open. It's rusted pretty deeply, but when it slides a few inches I feel determined to open it. I place a hood on one end and pull the other with all my might. [Strength 8/6]

It slides open with a loud screech. I nearly fell over when it suddenly moved. But I caught myself with a quicky aerial twist. I look up to Violet and smile to her. She gives me a thumbs up-

THUD

I fall back when a feral ghoul threw itself at me. We struggle in the air before I push it off and send it falling down into the abyss. I take one look at the floor and feel my heart sink when countless figures rise and turn towards me. I look up to Violet and see her scared look before an idea comes to mind.

"GET TO A HIDEOUT AND WAIT FOR ME!" I yell as I scoot back and start banging the wall. "COME AND GET IT YOU UGLY FUCKS!"

"RAAAAAAH!" Dozens of them start hissing at me as they all break into a sprint towards me. I wait for the last possible moment before zipping up into the air. Most try to stop when the reach the edge. But the ones in the back trying to see what's going on push them over the edge.

"FUCK!" I yell out when one of them jumps at me and grabs my hoof. I was able to kick it off quickly. But it was enough to drop me low enough for another grabbed me. "I NEED TO MAKE A DASH FOR IT! I'LL BE BACK! JUST GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!"

I grab the nearest ghoul and use it as a shield before dropping down. It starts flailing its arms at me. But we're dropping so fast it can't really hit me that hard. I look back as ghouls fall all around me in an attempt to see anywhere I can go. But most of the elevator doors are shut. But when I check the ground I see the elevator with the maintenance hatch opened.

I push the ghoul I have away and it slams against the wall. I twist my wigs and get ready for the quickest maneuver I've ever done while flying. I close my wings and stand as if I was pencil diving. Once I'm through the opening I need to open my wings and stop myself from falling. I'll only get one chance at this.

FWUMP

SHHHHH

I nearly hit the ground when I make it through the maintenance hatch. [Agility 9/8] I had to raise my legs to a squat to avoid the ground. But it worked. But I don't have time to celebrate. I move to the door and start to pry it open as bodies come crashing from all above. Just like the previous door, it's hard to get moving at first. I glance back to the hatch as a body comes crashing in. My worry is that if enough of them come falling down they'll start surviving the fall.

That, and this floor is supposed to be super irradiated.

I get the door open and start to run in when I have to come to a stop. The room is mostly dark. But there is a single light coming from the middle in the center of the room. A large metal object is sitting in the light with a single glowing one standing by it. I recognize it as Roy.

He turns to me and tilts his head in surprise. A few more bodies hit the elevator and force me to step into the room. My Pip-Buck starts going crazy as the rads start to climb higher and higher.

"You." The glowing one says in an echoey voice. I start to panic and move to the side and back away. I only have seconds in this room before the rads will be too much. "I remember you."

I step on a skeleton and notice it has a combat knife in its chest. With no other options I grab it and hold it out in front to defend myself. The ghoul just watches me as I move around the room. He seems more curious than anything else.

"Don't worry. The core will take you soon. There's no escaping this room. I made sure of it." He tells me calmly. He's right. If I stay in here and wait for something to happen I'll die anyway. And while I don't believe him, I can't see any other way out of here.... except one.

I flare my wings and take off towards him. He recoils back in surprise, giving me the perfect opening to go straight up through the opening. My Pip-Buck protest from the sudden explosion of rads. But I'm out of the room too quickly to worry about that.

In a panic I race my way all the way up to the actual Silo. From there I fly around the missile and out towards the sky. I race into the air and rise for awhile before snapping to my senses. I stop and take in my surroundings. The sun has barely risen over the horizon on this clear day. I can see the city proper in the distance to the east. Just north of it I see suburbs and highways leaving the dense towers.

A shimmering green light catches my attention in this area. It's hovering in the air about the same height as I am. But it's too far away to make anything out. But as soon as I saw it the glowing dot raced towards a large building beneath. I stare out at the building before shaking my head and looking to the knife in my hand.

Stabhappy

Someone wrote the name of the weapon on the side of the blade. I guess that's a fitting name. I look at my belt to holster it, but there's nowhere for it to go. I guess I'll just keep it out for now.

I take a look down at Silo and stare at the massive fortification housing the tilted missile. I can get back in easily enough. I can even get directly into the room we need to get to. But I left Violet on the floor above. Maybe I should go get her first...

EEEERRRRRRR

I feel my stomach suddenly twist and my wings go a little numb. Something is making me feel queasy. Could it be being out in the sky for this long? No, that doesn't make sense. Maybe it was a lingering wound from before? But that equally doesn't make any sense.

The wind picks up and I hear my Pip-Buck tick a few times. I feel really stupid for not recalling that I'm probably glowing from all the rads I've taken. Checking my condition and realize that I'm almost maxed out on radiation! Panicked, I grab my doses of Radaway and start to down the first one. I only have two, so this is pretty bad.

I grimace from the old carrot flavor and watch the rad counter slowly drop down. It only removes about a third of my rads, making me panic more. I only have the other one on hand. If I take it now I'll probably be better off. But then there's the chance that I get irradiated all over again. If that happens I'll have to hope that Violet has more-

VIOLET! I keep getting distracted! I need to get back down there!

Without a second thought I down the other Radaway and start to race back towards Silo. I've never had this much space for a dive before. I start to reach speeds where the air around me starts to form a cone around me. I feel it push back against me, but I don't have much time to push against it. In the blink of an eye I make it back into Silo and race back down into the lower levels.

I race through a few of the openings until I think I've made it back into the correct floor. I take a look around and see a room with a large fallen sign with a medical cross in front. I see one of the boards closing off the room has been broken down. I propel myself forward and land on the other side of the entrance.

Violet is running from a few ghouls as she fires the occasional laser at them. But she's one handing the weapon while lugging around my weapon. She seems to have a small circuit going around some old medical furniture to keep them off of her. But there are a few willing to throw themselves over the obstacles in an attempt to connect with her. I stare at the five ghouls before picking one that looks like it's about to make a leap. I flare my wings and fling myself at it, swinging my knife to drive it straight into its chest.

SHI-UNK

I crash into the ghoul and send it crashing into the ground. The other two behind it trip over me and fall over me. I yank the blade from the corpse and throw myself onto the closest ghoul. It starts to bite and swing at me with wild abandon. But I wrestle my way on top and start to stab it repeatedly. Bloody ichor splashes out all over me as I beat it to death. The blade makes quick work of the unarmored ghoul.

I turn to the other one as it stands and hisses at me. I get ready to defend myself when a red beam of light hits it in the back and vaporizes the creature. Directly behind it Violet is standing there. She's dropped my weapon to take better aim. I see the other two ghouls ready to pounce on her though.

I put all of my strength into flinging myself at the two last ghouls. I try to do the same maneuver, but the timing was completely off this time. So instead I end up just throwing my shoulder into the lead ghoul. We go crashing down together and I try to stay on top of it. Luckily my tackle was enough to disorientate it. So I had plenty of time to choke hold the ghoul and stab into its side.

As I rip at its side with the blade I head Violet firing shot after shot. I assume she can handle one ghoul. So I focus on killing the one I have in my arms. All of its bile pours out onto me as I pin it against the floor. I feel my arm start to burn as I begin to tire out from the constant stabbing. But I don't stop until I know it's dead.

When I finally stop stabbing I take a look at it and see that I've carved a portion out of its side. So I'm pretty sure it's dead now. I let go of it and let out a breath as I splay out on the floor. I don't even care if blood is pooling all around me. All of the adrenaline has left my body and I'm dead to the world.

"... so I may have disregarded what you told me to do." Violet tells me as she stands over my head. "But I found the medical ward."

"You're lucky I entered the right room." I tell her as I close my eyes and try to will myself to stand. But it's not there yet. "Are there anymore we need to worry about on this floor?"

"Nope. Thanks to your little escapade most of the ghouls on this floor went crazy chasing you down. We're clear for now." I nod to her and raise an arm. She steps to my side and helps me to my hooves.

"Let's find the device and get out of here then." I tell her as I turn on my light.

"Mind if I also stuff my bags with any goodies?" She asks as she starts to wander around the room. I head over to my weapon and pick it up. I look at the knife before stuffing it into the looping folds of my guard armor.

"Just send any Radaway to me. I need one or two to get back to normal." I tell her as I start to open cabinets and drawers.

"Gotcha!"

We spend a few minutes searching the room. I found caps, some low caliber ammo, a few medical supplies; but nothing called a stable-flow infusion pump. Violet was equally unsuccessful in her search. Though she did send a Radaway my way. We take a look at the room and I feel as if we've failed. There's no pump here. What will we do now!?

"Hold on." Violet says as she steps forward. She takes a look around the room and rests her hands on her hips. "This room should have a similar layout as my shop."

"Doesn't it?" I ask as she looks at the far wall. She walks over and starts to feel around until she finds something.

"This room is too narrow. It should be twice as wide! So there's a false wall here. Look around for a button or switch!"

We renew our search. But this time we're looking for some switch or button. I check every drawer. Every desk. Under the shelving and under the medical furniture. We don't leave a single surface untouched until I find it. On the side of one of the x-ray displays there's a small red button. Clearly out of place since the actual power switch is on the front. I call Violet over and press the button.

A section of wall slides in and reveals a new area. We both race to it overjoyed to have found the room. But when we see the room in question we stop and look on in horror.

The back half of this room looks as if it was an operation room. But the once white, pristine walls are now plastered in dried blood stains. Various body parts are strewn about as blood drips from the lighting fixture above. There are splotches of new blood in the room as well, telling us this room is still in use.

We look to each other before I walk into the room. Each step sticks to the ground slightly as blood stains the bottoms of my hooves. I take a look around until I see a corner with some equipment stashed away. I rush over to it and start to read the devices. Our fortune turns as I find two stable-flow infusion pumps!

"We've got two!" I announce as I pick them up by their stands. I look at the other devices before scooping them up as well. I'm sure they'll fetch a good price regardless. "Let's get going!"

"Aren't you the least bit curious about all of this!?" Violet asks as I heft the medical equipment out of the room.

"Not right now, we're racing the clock! We need to get back and hope these work. We can worry about this at a later time."

"But-"

"Lucky first." I tell her firmly. She looks around the room before nodding to me. Truth be told, this room creeps me out to no end. But we can worry about it at a later time. Right now we need to save Lucky.

We're traveling a little slower than normal. But that's because I grabbed more than I needed to. Violet did take two of them, but it's still a lot to carry. But my hope is that these machines will help save Lucky. If not then maybe they'll sell for a high price. Which in the end is the same as saving her, just in the long run.

Trekking back up the stairs was much easier than coming down. I guess all of the ghouls made a dash for me when I started yelling. Violet says she's never had such an easy return in her life. Truth be told, I don't trust it. I have this constant feeling that something is watching us. But I can't see anyone around here. When we make it back to the entrance of Silo I take one last look around but fail to see anything. I know something is staring at me. I can feel eyes boring right into me. But there's nothing here.

When we make it back we find the same guard on post. I don't think we were gone more than two, maybe three hours. He's even impressed by our haul. I guess ponies only fine a few scraps or the occasional components. Finding whole devices is rare.

I trudge along straight for the medical ward. A few ponies stare at me as we walk through town, but I pay them no mind. I feel myself starting to go sore all over, but I don't stop. I need to get there as soon as possible.

"LUPUS!" I yell as we make it through the metal door. She jumps in surprise and nearly spills some medicine over Lucky's unconscious body.

"Reckless! What happened?" She asks as she grabs her medical bag and rushes over to me. I set the devices down and take a few breaths. Why do I feel so tired all of the sudden?

"There's two of them... please tell me they work." I tell her as she pulls out a stim-pak and stabs it into my thigh. I feel the magic wash through my body and I begin to relax. I check my Pip-Buck and nearly fall over when I see how low my health was. I know the radiation nearly took me out. But I forgot that it also drained my health as well. One good hit would have killed me back there.

"Take these dirty clothes off and sit over there! Violet, give him some healing salves and apply them to his wounds! I'll start cleaning out the machine and check to see if it works. Now go!"

I don't question her. I'm too tired to. I make my way over to the lone chair and drop my armor and suit along the way. Violet follows after and applies a cooling salve to my back. I groan when I feel it start to seep into various wounds. I guess they got a few good hits when I grappled them.

"Be honest, how bad is it?" I ask as I sit down on the folding chair. She gives me an uneasy look before applying some of the salve to my chest. I didn't even notice the small gash I had there. When did I even get that?

"Well... from what I've seen, two out of ten." She tells me as she rubs the ointment into my pec.

"Two!?" I ask in surprise. She smiles to me before adding some salve to my lower calf. I feel a new wave of embarrassment when I realize the position we're in. I really wish I wasn't just in my underwear right now.

"Don't get me wrong, you're pretty beat up. But I don't think there will be any scarring. And with how fast this all happened I'd say we got you in here right in the nick of time! So, yeah, two out of ten." She tells me as she finishes applying the salve. She then gives my leg a hard smack. "But don't be so stupid in the future! I thought you were going to die!"

"Ow!" I yelp before rubbing my leg. "Sorry! It's not like I planned it! It sorta just happened. But it worked out-"

"Having no plan doesn't mean it worked out." She tells me as she stands and rubs her eyes. "It means you got lucky. And I don't trust idiots who solely rely on luck. So next time follow the plan!"

She goes to smack my leg again but I recoil to block myself. She looks back to Lucky and sighs as she stares at her. I look over and notice that she's on a breathalyzer. The sight makes me panic slightly, but we got the machine! We can save her! We just need a little more time.

"I have good news." Lupus tells us as she walks over. "Even though both machines are broken, I can use one as spare parts to fix the other. And with how fast you've gathered them, I have no doubt that Lucky will be able to make a full recovery."

"That's great!" I yell, nearly jumping to my hooves. Violet lays a hand on my shoulder to stop me though.

"And the bad news?" She asks with a sneer. Lupus looks between the two of us before presenting a small clear cup with a yellow screw on cap.

"I have a shower in the back you can use. Please clean up before gathering the material. But I need my payment before I start the procedure."

I stare at the cup and feel my cheeks burn a little. I know I said I'd do it, but I guess I didn't realize how quickly she'd need it. I take the cup slowly and fumble with it for a moment before I slowly rise. I look to her and offer a small smile before turning towards the restroom.

"I'll begin preparations... Just for your own privacy sake, the bathroom is soundproof." Lupus tells me before turning quickly and going back to the machines we brought. I glance to Violet and share an uncomfortable look before heading to the bathroom.

The bathroom here is fairly small. It has a standing shower encased in clear glass, a toilet, and a sink with a mirror. The room feels a little cramped, but I guess comfort wasn't the main goal here. I look to the cup and feel a little embarrassed. I haven't masturbated since I was fourteen. Not that I don't know how... It's just feels a little weird knowing people are expecting me to.

I nearly fall over when the door opens and Violet walks in. She's only in her black bra and panties. I try to say something but she ignores me as she slips past me and opens the shower door. She starts to mess with the nobs as water starts to fall. She closes the door and turns back to me. I can see she's a little embarrassed, but she's made up her mind.

"So... if you really don't want me here I'll leave. No problem. But... well, if she's going to screw you then you should at least get a screw out of it." I stare at her as she tries to avoid my gaze. All of that bravado from before is hanging by a thread right now.

"Vi... I don't know how I feel about that." I tell her as I set the cup down in the sink.

"I understand. But you forget two things. You need to get the... stuff out anyway. And... well, the plan was to seduce both of you. And if she really is putting you in a friendship role then there really shouldn't be an issue."

I stare at her as I try to form a rebuttal. I wouldn't necessarily mind having sex with her. She certainly is very attractive. But I don't know if this is right. I know Lucky told me she didn't want to continue as a romantic partner. But I don't know if that was the sickness talking or her. If I do this and it was her talking... then I'm no better than my father.

But if it was really her talking, then what am I really losing? She isn't interested. At least not now. I wish I could go talk with her and just ask how she really felt. Because the longer I wait the longer I stare at Violets sexy body. She slim. Slightly shorter than Lucky, but still looks tall. Maybe it's the stripes and long white belly that's intoxicating me. But I'm slowly losing my own argument.

Maybe... this can be the last time I'm with another pony? No! That still feels wrong! I don't want to give up on Lucky. I'll just let Vi know how I feel and that'll be that.

"Vi-"

"Or, if you'd like, I can just suck you off and that'll be that. Either way really."

"... okay." She smiles to me as she moves an arm behind herself. I watch as she unclasps her bra and it falls to reveal her chest. But something in my head clicks as I stare at her bare chest. In contrast to the stripes on her body her chest is completely black. Though her nipples are still visible despite being the same shade.

This is wrong. We haven't even done anything and I already knw this isn't what I want to do. Even if Lucky wouldn't be mad, I'd still want to wait to know for sure that she feels that way. I can't do this now.

"So how-"

"Actually." I cut her off as I rub my face. I can already feel my frustration grow. But I'll deal with it later. "I'm sorry Vi. But I don't think I can do this right not. Maybe at a later time, but it wouldn't be right to now. Sorry."

I feel like a small child who was caught trying to steal something. But I stick to my guns. She stares at me for a moment before shrugging. She folds her arms over her chest to cover herself while shifting her weight to one leg.

"Are you sure?" She asks while leaning forward to show more of her cleavage. I try to not stare... but I'm not made of metal!

"Y-yeah. Sorry. But... I just feel like I need to know how Lucky really feels before I can do something like this. Sorry if that's-"

"You don't have to apologize Reckless." She tells me with a laugh. She shakes her head and stands upright.

"Really?" I ask, a little surprised. The mares in Eighty-Eight would do this kind of thing often. But they'd never let me get away when I'd ask nicely like this. I'd usually have to get a little forceful with my rejection before they'd take the hint. But she's taking this really well.

"Yes, really. Reckless, if you don't want to have sex with me then we're not going to. I'm a big girl, I can take a no. And don't fret that pretty little head of yours. We're still friends."

I smile to her as she picks up her bra and holds it to her chest. She turns around and motions for me to hook it back on, which I do.

"Tell you what. Shower up, deal with that," she says while tugging at my underwear. I feel myself tense up in a surprising amount of sensitivity as she tugs my underwear off my hips. I'm still really sensitive from last nights romp. "Oh... yeah, you better take care of that soon... I take it she didn't reciprocate last night?"

I tilt my head in confusion before looking down at myself. I nearly fall over when I see my balls are swollen and slightly bruised. I try to say something, but then I remember what happened last night. So I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

"Take care of that." She tells me as she gives my erect cock a playful tap. "I'll head out and come back with some food for the two of you. Sound good?"

"That sounds great... thanks Vi." I tell her as she heads towards the door. She offers me one last wink before leaving the room. I look down to my painfully throbbing penis before petting it in sympathy. "Sorry, maybe next time."

The shower was over well before I wanted it to be. I almost messed up gathering the... sample. I was so sensitive it didn't take long for me to finish. And I nearly missed the cup when I did. Though, because of how tensed up I was, I did do it a second time. So I guess it didn't matter of the first one was well aimed or not.

Without any of my clothes on hand I have to settle for leaving the room in my underwear. I take a look around to make sure the coast is clear before stepping out into the medical room. It's mid day, but there isn't anyone else in here. I guess that's a good thing of a hospital.

I find Lupus working on hooking up the machine to Lucky. She barely registers me walking up to the two of them, simply grunting when I approach. I look over Lucky's unconscious body and feel myself start to worry all over again. She has a breathing mask on with IVs in one of her arms. It doesn't look as if she's sleeping peacefully. But hopefully this will be over soon.

"Um... where should I put this?" I ask as I hold out the filled cup. She looks at it and stares for a moment before slowly taking the sample.

"How did you manage to fill the cup in such a short amount of time?" She asks as she stares at the... stuff.

"Well... I was already a little pent up." I tell her, trying to avoid making eye contact.

"A little?" She asks as she stands up. "By chance are you aware of sterility in your family?"

"Um... no. Nothing like that. At least, not to my knowledge." I tell her as she takes the same to a small fridge sitting against the back wall. When she opens it cold smoke flows out, telling me how drastically colder it is in there.

"Do you normally cum buckets?" I jump a little when Violet appears behind me. She laughs a little as she pushes a wrapped sandwich into my hands. "Lucky us, Big Bro already made food. So was that a normal amount or did the flood gates break down?"

"A-anyway!" I stammer as I change the subject. "What now? What do I need to do?"

The next few minutes I follow Lupus around the room as she prepares me for the operation. I drink some more Radaway to ensure that I'm completely rad free. She shaves a small patch on my arm and disinfects it. She gets an IV prepped into my arm and has me hold it in place as she brings her office chair next to Lucky.

Violet just follows me around the room as she watches closely. She hasn't said anything since coming in. But I can see she's worried too. She may not look it, but her tell is in her eyes. She can't fake it there. I guess for her she's going through this a second time. Well... I don't know what specifically happened to her brother though. I guess it's similar enough to silence her.

"Okay, we're ready to begin." Lupus tells me as she sits me down. I'm hooked up to the small pump on one end while the other end is connected to Lucky.

"Do you know how long this is going to take?" I ask as I get comfy in my seat. She flips a switch as I feel my arm go numb for a moment. I watch as my blood starts to fill the clear tubing. At the same time Lucky's tube starts to fill as the two red liquids race towards the middle machine.

"Anywhere from two to seven hours." She tells me as she pulls out a clipboard and starts to take notes. "Any every thirty minutes you need to take one of these disease cures. Also every thirty minutes you're going to swing from feeling nearly as sick as her, to feeling healthy. So please do what you can to remain seated."

"Okay... what if I need to use the restroom?" I ask, a little embarrassed. She walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a bed tray and I feel myself fluster. "Ah... sorry."

"It is okay. Violet, will you be joining us today?" She asks in a monotone voice. Vi jumps a little from being addressed directly.

"Oh... if that's okay." She offers quietly. Lupus nods and jots something down.

"Then please assist and take Reckless's clothes to the wash. I don't need whatever diseases in it spreading in my office."

I look between the two of them and feel the tension in the room. I knew Violet didn't much care for her. But hearing the venom in her voice tells me plenty about their relationship. This is probably the most they've talked in a long time. And I get to sit right in the middle of it all... yay.

"I'll do that." Violet says as she stands. Never breaking eye contact with Lupus. "Anything else I can do?"

"That will suffice for now." She tells her, reading over something in her notes. I look to Violet and offer a small shrug as she goes and collects my clothes. She leaves the food on the main desk before stomping her way out of the room.

"So... what now?" I ask her, getting her to change her demeanor.

"Okay Reckless, while we have this time I'd like to ask you some questions about your family medical history. As well as any parental role you'd like to fulfill in the near future."

I gulp when she says that. I guess that would be important to get out of the way now. As we go through the questions I can't help but bring my attention back to Lucky. This is going to work... all of this will work out. I just need to be a little patient. Everything will be back to normal soon enough...

... right?"

Level Five

Lucky

S 7
P 3
E 4
C 6
I 7
A 4
L 9

Perks

Wild Wasteland
Black Widow
Educated

Skills

Barter 30

Energy Weapons 13

Explosives 13

Guns 25

Lockpick 13

Medicine 25

Melee Weapons 40

Repair 25

Science 40

Sneak 17

Speech 45

Survival 20

Unarmed 15

Reckless

S 8
P 7
E 7
C 2
I 5
A 9
L 2

Perks

Heavy Handed
Skilled
Rapid Reload
Educated

Skills

Barter 15

Energy Weapons 22

Explosives 40

Guns 50

Lockpick 45

Medicine 20

Melee Weapons 25

Repair 23

Science 18

Sneak 35

Speech 12

Survival 30

Unarmed 25