The Equestrian Wasteland

Chapters

The Stable
The Wasteland Cometh
And the Wasteland Giveth
Horseshoe Bay

The Stable

Remember, the chance of a Safe-Tec Stable failing is approximately 145 million to 1. Please enjoy your stay at Safe-Tec Stable 12, and remember you are the hope of ponykind.

“-grey walls, bright lights, knowing everypony, and, of course, at the end of it all, is the sweet sleep of incineration… This is a terrible poem,” I said to myself. Damn that Beauty Pose, her and her Celestia damned poems. That mare insisted on giving me one every single birthday! Ever since I was old enough to have a Pip-Buck she had been giving me these things.

I guess I should introduce myself, beginning with the appearances and such. Well, I’m a changeling, my name is Cloudy Skies, and in my natural form I look like every other changeling, my colors being Green randomly due to my lack of connection to a Queen, whatever those are. Due to the way we changelings are built, I am neither a mare nor a stallion, although I’d prefer female pronouns to be used when speaking about me, especially considering I prefer to use Mare disguises. My normal pony form, which I use occasionally for no real reason, is that of a green Pegasus mare, with a black mane and tail. Cutie Mark? I decided that on what I got when I took the Cutie Mark Assessment Test (CMAT). It told me that I had the potential to be an actor or some sorts which makes sense considering what I am, and so I chose a smiling and sad mask cutie mark to signify that and above those was the symbol of a Changeling hive of the past, which was in one of the books in the class library. I’m one of many changelings here in the Stable, our eldest is a Pip-Buck programmer, whose colors are those of a vibrant purple. The CMAT is usually only taken by ponies who are scared about never getting their cutie marks, but we changelings have our own uses for those tests, usually to help us who use pony disguises, for whatever amount a reasons one would, to pick an appropriate mark .

In the old days, before the Great War, Changelings were once vilified, but once the Griffons became the rivals of Equestria, things got better between Ponies and Changelings. My teacher, Miss Cheery Hills, always told me that, at least. That’s what’s been taught to us down here in the stable that Equestria failed in the final moments before the War because it had forgotten Friendship and Harmony.

Back to now, it’s my birthday. I don’t know what they did before the war, it was probably better than what we do now, but they definitely had more fun than we do now. There’s minimal decoration, mediocre flavored cake, dull small talk, and nothing new really happening. It could be worse though, I could be one of those poor souls outside of the vault, one of those cannibals or bandits that Miss Hills and the PA system occasionally talks about.

“Happy 18th, Cloudy,” Green Painter, a blue-green Unicorn stallion with a painting cutie mark, said with a smile, “Your final year of freedom, correct?”

Ah yes, THAT whole thing. You see, a changeling has to feed on emotion, and with the identity of every changeling down here being known to everypony in the Vault, the methods of deception and such have, of course, gone out of touch. Of course, coincidentally, with ponies very rarely being attracted to changelings enough for long-lasting relationships and with the teaching of how every changeling is precious, and of course the lack of wanting an inbred changeling populace, a decree was made by the first Overmare that every fertile changeling, which was all of them at the time, is to be able to be “used” by any stallion in the vault. Of course this only applies once a changeling meets the Pony age of consent which is 18, and so every fertile above-18 years of age changeling, instead of locking ourselves up during heat, which occurs in every mare and changeling, even to those that prefer male forms, are out and about with the stallions, and of course that can lead to some obvious results. Every other heat I’ve been able to lock in due to my age but next heat I’ll be in that fray.

“Final weeks, actually,” I replied to Green, “And if you’re planning anything, please don’t tell me, I’d rather not think about what’ll happen at that time.” I’d rather let it happen than freak out over it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on anything, if anything happens then it’ll be natural,” Green replied.

“Don’t worry? Green, you’re not the one who’s gonna have stallions running over themselves just to get to you. Everypony seems intent on telling me to not worry, but how could I not when I’m basically just waiting for some random stallion to just come up to me and stick ‘it’ in when the time comes?” I said trying to get the gravity of the situation to him.

“I-I… well, I can’t quite argue against that,” Green said averting his eyes.

“Look, Green. I need to get my worrying out now, because if I let out my worries now, then I, hopefully, won’t freak out when the time comes,” I said hoping to get him to understand.

Green understood my qualms, thankfully, and soon we parted ways. After that, I decided to get a piece of cake, and, thankfully, a perfectly cut cake stood next to the Stable’s own Sir Hoofy robot, which had affectionately been named Lunar. “Happy Birthday, Miss Cloudy Skies. Would you like some cake?” Lunar said to me as I approached.

“Gladly, Lunar. Two pieces please, I’m gonna need as much sweet as I can get before salty flavors take over in a few weeks,” I replied smiling at my stupid joke.

“Certainly madam, here you are,” Lunar said as he gave me the plate.

I said my thanks and took the plate. “Do you have any jokes today, Lunar?” I asked hoping for something new.

“One day three ponies, each of the three pony races, walked into a bar. The Unicorn asked the Earth Pony what his plans for the next day were, and the Earth Pony replied, ‘Just more working on the farm.’ The Earth Pony asked the same question to the Unicorn who replied, ‘I’m just planning on a day of studying.’ The two then asked the Pegasus what her plans were and she answered, ‘I’m not sure, I’ll probably just wing it.” Lunar replied.

I kept my composure for a total of five seconds before I started chuckling which soon turned into a full on laugh. That laugh lasted for a full minute before I wiped my eyes and said, “Oh Lunar, I’m sure that I’m the only one who laughs at your jokes anymore, do you have another one?”

“I’m sorry ma’am but my humor emitter arrays need time to recharge,” Lunar replied.

“Alright then, I’m going to return to my room, Lunar, the party is over anyways,” I said before turning towards the door out of the dining area with cake in my levitation field.

When I arrived at my room, I pulled open a drawer and took out a holotape. I opened the holotape receptacle and inserted the holotape. It was the game, Battle Ponies, with some nice visuals, as nice as a Pip-Buck could make at least. It took me a good while, and a whole week’s worth of food rations to get Button Masher to give me the holotape but I was certainly glad that I did. Basically, the game was a beat ‘em up set in Pre-war Manehatten, and my job, as vigilante Thug Beater, was to rid Manehatten of all the criminal scum in the city. How they got some nice controls for something that has as few buttons and knobs as a Pip-Buck I'll never know but it certainly works for me.

I spent hours playing the game, with no distractions before nature called. After a quick time in the bathroom I resumed the game, and so I beat up lowly Earth Pony thugs, Unicorn sharpshooters, and Pegasus air support. I reached a level where I beat the Unicorn head-honcho and I thought I had won the game. But, as the triumphant music played, suddenly a crash was heard and suddenly in big letters the words “The real boss is a spy!” showed up. And suddenly the image of a Griffon showed up. Under that Griffon was a caption, “Silver Claw, the head of the Griffonian Intelligence Agency.”

Suddenly the normal game world reappeared and on the other side of the screen was Silver Claw, who began shooting me and killed me pretty quickly. “Dammit!” I cursed. So this game apparently wanted to ratchet up the difficulty, eh? I looked back at the game screen and it gave me the options to either fully restart, restart at last fight, or to train. Being the curious changeling that I am, I picked the train icon and the game started on a boxing ring and suddenly enemies began showing up on the other side of the ring.

After spending an hour or so on that training ring, learning tricks that I didn’t even know, I decided to leave that screen and go back to that boss fight. When Silver Claw showed up again I was entirely confident that I could beat him. And after a long fight, one restart, and another long fight I finally defeated the Griffon who said in text, “You have bested me! Here’s the deed showing so!” Immediately after that the text changed to say, “You have beat Silver Claw, look in the notes sub-section of your Pip-Buck’s data storage section once you have left the game.” After that a picture of sunny Manehatten showed up with text super-imposed saying “You have saved Manehatten from the Griffon scum!” with an 8-bit version of the old Equestrian anthem playing in the background.

Feeling triumphant, I pulled out the holotape and put it back into my drawer. I then switched my Pip-Buck to the data section and checked the notes sub-section, and lo and behold there was a new note, named, “Battle Ponies Victory Deed.” After selecting the note I was treated to some text.

“This deed signifies that the owner of this Pip-Buck 3000 Mark IV, one Cloudy Skies, has beaten Game-Co’s Battle Ponies and has earned the right to brag to her friends and family, as well as, the Battle Ponies bonus survival level, Battle Ponies exclusive merchandise, and tons of other prizes! For a full list, please contact a Game-Co representative and tell them the code IWINBP001. If there are any problems with your code or any other part of this deed, please contact a Game-Co representative.”

I was glad that that the programming of the note was able to generate the proper pronoun but that didn’t help the hurt that I would never be able to see that full list. Another note showed up soon afterward with my final high-score which I hoped to compare to Button Masher’s. When I looked at the clock on my Pip-Buck I noticed that it said that it was 23:30, which is 11:30 PM if course. I yawned as I realized how late it was, I didn’t even notice the room’s lights turning off, and so I decided that it was time for me to sleep. The next day was going to be the start of the preparation for the next Stable play and with it being the last one pre-heat it was going to be short with only a few weeks separating now and then.

Author's Note

I hope you guys enjoyed this new story of mine. I'll be alternating between working on this and Sky's Changing Secret. I hope to be able to work on both and juggle the needs of the two. I thank you guys for reading and please like and comment. Give me all that love ye guys can give to this changeling.

The Wasteland Cometh

According to Safe-Tec protocols, all first contact scenarios with those of the Post-Apocalyptic wasteland are to be handled by the Overmare. If the Overmare is indisposed then your Stable’s Safe-Tec representative will handle the responsibilities.

One week later
Loud noises, red, flashing lights, and gunshots, were what I woke up to. Then, all of a sudden, the radio on my Pip-Buck and the PA system of the Stable were turned on and out came the Overmare’s voice, “Attention all non-security personnel, please evacuate to your rooms! This is not a drill! The Stable door has been breached and invaders have entered the Stable!”

“What in Tartarus?” I said to myself before I heard gunshots on the PA system and suddenly the screams of a mare filled the air. I quickly made sure the lock on my door was activated and I hid under the covers. It felt like an eternity but slowly and slowly the gunshots began to wind down. I poked my head out from under the covers just in time for the gunshots to be heard again.

“Please! Please! Please! Don’t hurt me!” I heard a stallion’s voice say before that same voice screamed in agony. I quickly darted my head back under the covers, my face covered in tears. I was praying to Celestia and Luna that they wouldn’t check my room now that they were in the living quarters.

Over the next quarter of an hour, all I heard was the sound of the alarm and the sounds of doors opening and closing, along with an occasional plea for mercy or a scream of pain. What wouldn’t I give to have a 10mm pistol or even a BB gun? I thought as I heard the mixed door and scream sounds get closer and closer.

“Last one, boys! 10 caps on it being another one of those changers, do I have any takers?” I heard an authoritative mare's voice say.

“Hell yeah!” I heard some sort of stallion say, with a very raspy voice like if his voice box was crushed or something.

I tried to say very still as they fumbled with the lock, but I couldn’t even steady my breathing. When the door finally did open, oh why do we use those types of locks, I heard them moving about the room and there was a lot of hushing. After a minute, I began to hear some hooves leaving the room and I was hoping that my terribly thought out hiding plan had worked.

“Guess who?” I heard a voice say above me before the blanket was thrown off of me.

I screamed in terror before my legs were caught in a magical field. I heard the sound of cocking guns and some laughter.

“Look at this! I knew it! Hey, Gobby you owe some caps after this job!” The Unicorn mare, whom I named Blue Mane, holding me in her magic said.

“Aw damn! Why are there so many Celestia damned Changers in this Stable?” I heard that same rapsy voice, who I assumed was Gobby, say. I turned my head towards that voice where I got the fright of my life.

Looking at me was a corpse, re-animated and walking. He/She/It stared at me, like those zomponies I’ve seen in some of the film rolls in the theater room. There were holes everywhere, even more than I have, and they went through the zompony’s body, I couldn’t see a horn or wings on it. So, what did I do? I screamed, quite possibly, the loudest scream of my life. Right after I also yelled “Zompony! They’re real!” followed by me trying to escape the magical field. I was hoping to put some distance between myself and this zompony but instead I got smacked in the head by something hard and metallic.

“Shut your mouth, Changer! Your kind ain’t got no need for any lip, and trust me, I will cut it out myself!” Gobby yelled at me.
My head throbbed from the hit by what seemed to be a pistol that he seemed to be aiming at me. “Y-yes sir,” I sheepishly said with tears in my eyes.

“Sir? I like that. What do ya think about it Starry? Fits me quite fine. Sir Gobby Gobber of New Appleloosa, makes me sound noble, like those Unicorns in New Canterlot.” Gobby laughed in that guttural voice of his.

“Too bad you lost your horn then, we could’ve used a noble connection,” Blue Mane, or rather Starry, laughed in reply.

"What horn? I never had a horn," Gobby asked.

“You mares done trading secrets about hooficures in there? We need to get these items to New Appleloosa,” A stallion, who I named Hoofy, said.

“Who you callin’ a mare, Disky! Don’t get your sheath twisted up in a knot, we’re coming,” Gobber replied to Hoofy, who I from then on knew as Disky. I probably shouldn’t give these ponies these temporary names if they’re just gonna say their real names right after.

An hour later
“Shut up back there, we’ve got a long journey still to New Appleloosa, and I’d rather we not have to deal with Horseshoe’s scouts, some of ya might get shot,” Disky said to us.

Strangely enough the entirety of the changeling population, or what seems to be the entirety, had been captured by these ponies. I saw a few normal ponies among the captured but there were some notable missing ponies, such as the Overmare. I took a look at the group of five ponies that had come into our Stable and had screwed everything up. Disky was a Blue Pegasus stallion with a red mane and tail, both cut short; Starry was a complete color swap of Disky with a medium length mane and tail; Gobby was a grey colored corpse of a pony with no mane nor tail; and the other two ponies whose names were, apparently, Lock and Load were twins both being black with yellow for their manes and tails, the only difference between the two being that Lock’s mane was longer and Load was a mare. I couldn’t see any cutie marks on the ponies, and not due to a lack of trying, but their barding kept their flanks covered and little else.

“Somepony likin’ what they’re seein’?” Starry asked. It took a moment for me to figure out that she was talking to me. Why did I have to be at the front of this pony chain! I was only looking at her armor dammit!

I only responded with a wide-eyed look, hoping that she wouldn’t say anything else. I then tried to look at the scenery around me.

“Eyes over here, Buggy,” I heard and so I turned my head and OH MY CELESTIA!

In front of me was Starry with her tail up exposing her… well… her marehood. That barding did not cover up that part of her body and I didn’t even notice! I, in my greatest wisdom, did what any sane pony would do in this situation, stop walking, which meant that the entire pony train stopped, which brought Gobby with his whip, which he then cracked over our heads.

“Keep walkin’ you S.O.B.s!” He yelled. He then turned his head to Starry, “Don’t randy up the items, Starry. Horny items are harder to control, remember?” I saw Starry roll her eyes as Gobby turned around. Unfortunately for me, not only was I starting to feel a bit of heat running through my body but Starry kept her tail up, giving me perfect looks at her marehood. Damn this mare..

And the Wasteland Giveth

Author's Note

Warning for ye: We get downright graphic on this one. Also, you guys will discover just how inexperienced with M-rated writing I am. We've got some terrible, in my opinion, dirty talk, and an almost cloppy scene. No worries about Clop though, I still ain't writing that, for now. Definitely not in this story at least. I apologize in case of any offense due to content or quality.

And the Wasteland Giveth

That night
As we finally settled down for the night, I took a good look at my fellow Stable dwellers to see who had been captured; I was either too frightened or horny to really think about whom else had been captured.

I saw that all 15 of the changelings in the Stable were here, even Pippy Time, the Pip-Buck programmer, as well as a few ponies, like Beauty Pose. I wondered if perhaps the fires of our shape-shifting would be enough to burn the ropes but then I remembered being told by Starry that these ropes were especially made to keep “Changers” like us in bonds.

These ponies had certainly been doing this whole thing for quite a while, and that killed all hopes of escape, for that moment at least. Now that we were finally stopped, I took a moment to look at my Pip-Buck; I finally had a use for the Equestria map installed. Looking at my location I could tell that we were between the Appleloosa Desert and Horseshoe Bay, but who knows how these locations might have changed from what the textbooks in the Stable told us. I had a look around the other sections of my Pip-Buck which led me to discover that the radio had gained some new stations, one being New Canterlot Radio, another being Los Pegasus News, yet another named Enclave Liberation Radio, and finally there was one called Equestria PON3 Radio. That last one had the weirdest name but the other ones were strange as well, I mean, NEW Canterlot? What was wrong with old Canterlot? Oh yeah… the bombs…

That brief moment of escape ended just as I was poking around my inventory, which was basically empty minus the Vault 12 barding that I was wearing, was interrupted by Disky whispering “Hey” into my ear. I freaked out and screamed, but that was muffled by his hoof.

“Shut it. Now listen here, Buggy. I’ve got a job for you, and it’s very simple. Look, it’s been sometime since I’ve been laid and I don’t always want to fuck around with my team. You get my gist?” He whispered to me as my eyes opened wide as I got what he said.

I shook my head as there was no way I was going to let him in me. I tried to move away but I was dismayed when I felt myself unable to move. I looked at my front hooves and I saw the glow of magic on them, I looked around and I noticed Starry smiling at me mischievously, her horn aglow. I was about to scream when a wet rag or some other material was shoved into my mouth, gagging me.

“I hope you enjoy my juices in your mouth while Disky here fucks you, I bet you’ve been horny all day. I hope you feed on lust like you can feed on love, changer, because you’ll be getting plenty of that until we get to New Appleloosa, and we ain’t gonna be feeding you much else,” She said to me.

I looked around and saw that everypony else had fallen asleep, even my fellow Stable dwellers, which meant no help would likely come. I had no idea if Starry was trying to be sexy or scary but she was successful on being scary at least. Of course all thoughts I had were swept away when I felt my flank being lifted up and my hind legs being spread. I was struggling to free myself from Starry’s magical grip but I just couldn’t. I tried to rest a moment to have another try but that ended when I felt beneath me. I then felt it travel up my leg, closer and closer. Despite myself, I began to feel a heat running through my body.

“I knew it, she’s as wet as the Bay, I’ll bet she’s been waiting for some stallion to use her like this,” I heard Disky say behind me as I blushed.

“I’ll bet this slut was the Stable bicycle. She probably spread her legs for anypony willing to give her some,” Starry whisper-laughed as she moved her face in front of my face.

“None of them Stable stallions are gonna compare to me, changer. Prepare for the best fuck of your life,” Disky said.

It was at this point that I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, hoping to get it over with, with tears in my eyes. I knew from what I had heard some of the mares around the stable that the first time was always painful, but I’d bet they never had been taken like I was about to. I felt him on top of me, his weight pressing my hind legs further apart, as I also began to feel him in “other” places.

BZZT BZZT

I felt Disky thrust forward, barely missing, thank Celestia, as a buzzing noise filled my ears. I also felt a sticky, warm liquid splashing onto my back and mane, and a splatter of liquid on my face that felt just as sticky and warm which made me finally open my eyes.

BZZT BZZT
I heard that buzzing noise again as I opened my eyes and I saw Starry lying on the ground, half of her face replaced by gore. I finally realized what the liquids on my face and back were, just as Disky rolled off my back. I got a quick look at his head, or the half of it still there, before I looked over in the opposite direction and retched. After ridding myself of whatever remnants of yesterday’s meal were still in my stomach, I looked over and saw Gobby hiding behind a nearby rock, and in the other direction my fellow Stable dwellers were cowering, and so I was the only fool standing tall, frozen in shock and fear.

“Luna damned Horseshoe! When I see the boss after this I’m going to make sure he sends someponies to destroy that entire town, I’m gonna taste that daughter of Windy’s and she’s going to watch!” Gobby yelled. I then saw him reach down and grab a pistol, with his mouth of course, and stand up just to get his head blown off as well. I felt a warm liquid splash against the ground underneath me, which I hoped was just the blood from Disky, right before I passed out.

Horseshoe Bay

Author's Note

A long one I've written up here. I hope you guys enjoy it, and before you continue on I have something to ask. I've been meaning to add a introduction chapter, like the one in FO:E but I just wanted to know if there are any objections to that. Once again, thanks for choosing to read up this far and I hope to keep you reading in The Equestrian Wasteland.

Horseshoe Bay

Safe-Tec regulations prohibit allowing Stable Dwellers to interact with anypony outside of the Stable until after they are allowed to leave the Stable, please keep everypony inside at all times.

Many hours later
“She’s waking up! Doc! Get over here!” I heard a mare’s voice say as I regained consciousness.

“It’s fine, Windy. Get back to the council meeting; I’m sure the Sherriff and the Mayor are dying to talk about this sudden influx of changelings and the thought that New Appleloosa has a way to get into a Stable,” A stallion’s voice, who I assumed was the Doctor that the mare was talking to, said.

“Alright, I’ll see you there then, I’ll get a handle on them at least until you get there,” I heard the mare’s voice say before I heard a door open and close. My eyes opened for a second before closing again.

“Wake up, buttercup. I think it’s time you woke up,” I heard the stallion say to me.

I finally opened my eyes and I saw a large grey, Unicorn stallion; his shortly cut, black mane stood up on end, there were fringes of grey on the ends. “Wh-where am I?” I asked confused as I noticed that I was indoors.

“You are in Horseshoe Bay, the town’s clinic, to be exact,” the stallion answered. He sat on a brownish looking chair, it had small rips in it and it definitely look like it had aged for quite a while.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Healthy Touch, or Doc Health. I’m the town’s doctor, and I’m trained in battlefield medicine by the Medical Arcane Services of New Canterlot,” he responded.

“New Canterlot?” I asked remembering the name of the radio station using that name.

“You stable dwellers from the East might have heard about Canterlot, right? The capital of pre-war Equestria was hit hard by the Griffon bombs during a time where the missile defense systems were being repaired. The nobility of Canterlot had been hiding in Stable 1 and when they came out, the noble city of Equestria was in ruin. There were still quite a few sections to be cleaned by the time I left New Canterlot,” Doc Health replied.

I had heard about the majesty of Canterlot. There was an entire unit in Equestrian History on the splendor of the city of Princesses Celestia and Luna, how it was founded after the union of the three pony races. That course had gone on to talk about how changelings seemed to have an influence on the city, between the esteemed Leo Hoovsi, one of the most famous Reneighsance era artists, Pomice Neutron, the stallion who had started modern day Arcane Sciences past Star Swirl the Bearded’s and Princess Twilight Sparkle’s research, and even Neal Boar, the earth pony who had discovered what was inside the atom and whose research helped lead to the splitting of the atom. When I told this to the Doctor, he grinned in amusement.

“I remember a few crazy ponies talking about that same type of thing back in the University. They kept quoting this one book that they said was written by the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle herself, quite possibly the most powerful Unicorn in Equestrian history prior to her ascendance to Alicornhood” he answered rolling his eyes, “Changelings: The Guide to Equestria’s Strangest Creatures, if I remember correctly. They said that this book had been written by the Princess to show that the Changelings had a larger part in Equestria’s histories and weren’t a parasitic race that demanded to be enslaved to make sure that they couldn’t take over post-war,” he answered.

“B-but my teacher had taught me that we changelings could have been Equestria’s salvation? I was taught that had Equestria had taken equality with changelings seriously, the possibilities for keeping the war from happening could very well have saved Equus,” I said not believing that anypony could have been taught otherwise, “I thought that the Princess of Friendship was the patron saint of Changelings. Priestess Nile Waters told me that the Princess was basically as much of a Goddess as the Princesses Celestia and Luna. You said yourself that she had ascended to Goddesshood.

“I may not believe in the official line from Unicornia, but I also doubt that whatever you were taught in that stable of yours is true. On the topic of the Princess of Friendship, I had simply said that she had been ascended to Alicornhood and there’s been plenty of debate in New Canterlot about the difference between an Alicorn and a Goddess” the Doc said before getting off the chair. “Now, as much as I’d love to continue this conversation; I need to get to the council meeting. Would you like to join me? I’ve asked just about every other pony from your stable, but they all seem a bit… in shock… from their experience. I think that having somepony from that stable at the meeting could help remind my fellow council members of the urgency of this slaver problem.”

“But I have other questions,” I said needing more answers.

“And I’ll gladly answer them, but we have spent enough time dilly-dallying here. Sit at the meeting, answer the questions that are asked to you, and soon you’ll be able to get the answers you want,” Doc Health replied before turning to leave.

I reluctantly followed him outside and when I stepped outside of the clinic, I was reminded of the moment when I exited the Stable with those slavers -oh by Celestia, I was so close to a life of servitude- and I first saw the broken landscape of Equestria and the sky and the Sun, blazing above like Celestia’s wrath upon Equus. When I first exited, last in the line of ponies and changelings, I stopped and freaked out. I could tell that everypony else from the Stable was also freaking out with how the pony train had stopped. It was so bright and dead outside that I had no idea how anypony could’ve stood to live in that landscape. The sky was so deep and blue that it was as if it was a portal to Tartarus itself and I feared that I could somehow fall into it, which is weird considering that it was up and I was down but at least my first view was at day instead of at night which I would bet would have been so much worse.

“I need to thank you for coming, Mr/Ms…” The Doc said to me pulling me back to reality. He ended with a sigh that seemed to ask the question of who I was.

“Miss Cloudy Skies, Doc Health. Yeah, it’s a bit hard to tell what a changeling’s gender is without them telling you themselves,” I answered sheepishly.

“Trust me, I know. Horseshoe Bay has its very own single changeling resident. The guy sometimes likes to use one of those pony forms of his in town, which everypony who lives here knows so there’s never any confusion on whether or not there’s a new pony in town,” The Doc replied.

“Really?” I asked incredulously.

“Yep, he’s one of the guards and he usually gets Guard Tower duty so he usually is on one of the towers you can see outside the town walls,” Doc Health answered.

I took a look towards the edge of the town and I could see the walls that surrounded the town. I could tell that they were made of some sort of metallic materials but past that I couldn’t say. I then looked past the walls were I could see a box peeking over with two figures on them. I assumed that there were more of these boxes that I couldn’t see due to the buildings near me blocking my view. Looking at the buildings, I got a sense that everything in this town was built out of metal.

“And here we are, I apologize for the long trip but the clinic is right there,” Doc Health said jokingly.

I looked back at the part of the town before me; it was a central area in which a single piece of metal in the center was surrounded by four buildings, two being the clinic and the council meeting area. “Interesting urban planning you’ve got here,” I said as we walked inside.

“Yeah, the ponies who built this town after the War definitely had an interesting idea of what would go where. The town is basically built into sections, this section being the ‘Government Services’ area. There’s also the Trading area, the residential area, the Barracks, and the Beach, withhold your questions until the end of the meeting,” Doc Health said before talking to a pony, a blue mare clad head to hoof in black barding with a black helmet, guarding a door, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her except for a few moments at a time, “They still talking in there?” he asked.

“Actually they are waiting for you, Doc. I see you brought a guest along for the ride; one of them changelings from the stable from the looks of that barding,” the guardpony said as I looked away.

“Yep, Miss Cloudy Skies of Stable 12,” Doc Health replied.

“I’m sure she’ll have a nice chat with the mayor and the sheriff then, oh and Doc I’m going to be sending Flitter over later,” the guardpony said as Doc Health and I entered the meeting room.

“Still worried about her and that coltfriend of her’s? Alright then, I’ll be sure to check again,” Doc Health replied warmly before the door closed behind us and I knew that the sight of that mare in that uniform wasn’t gonna leave me, I just had a thing for it I guess. I hid it well enough in the Stable but still that damned full-body barding always got my blood flowing and I’m guessing that having different ponies in those types of uniforms kinda got me flustered more than usual.

The room we entered definitely looked the part; it had four chairs that looked like they came from before the war judging from the style and especially the wear and tear, those four chairs –three of which were occupied by ponies- stood on one side of a half-circular table with four name plates on it, and around these were walls made of the same metal as the rest of the town. Various wardrobes and shelves stood in front of these walls filled with various items, along with these a single terminal stood from the wall opposite of the door.

“I see the reports that Stable 12 was ransacked were true,” A brown, earth pony stallion said. His shoulder-length, light-brown mane capped off by a similarly colored Stanton hung down like a mare’s after stepping out of a shower and he wore a plain, brown vest.

“You didn’t believe those reports after seeing all those Changelings being led into town? You must be slipping Thunder,” The black, unicorn mare in the rightmost chair said to the stallion. Her black mane and tail were styled much like that of my Pegasus form. She wore an officer’s cap and guardspony barding with a golden star hanging. Damn it…

“That’s Mayor Thunder Hooves, alright Sherriff? And besides, just because there are a bunch of changelings wearing Stable barding with the number 12, and I get your point Sherriff Quick Shot,” Mayor Thunder Hooves replied.

“Now that the good doctor is here, can we finally get back to the topic of what to do about New Appleloosa?” A blue Pegasus mare, sounding like the mare I heard before I regained consciousness, said “For fifty years we’ve had to deal with New Appleloosan raiding parties attacking the various small communities surrounding Horseshoe Bay and now they’ve gained the ability to break into Stables and enslave the populations within. Sooner or later they are going to make a deal with either Los Pegasus-Cloudsdale or New Canterlot that will allow them to get past our defenses, 200 year old robotics be damned!” Her hoof slammed down on the table disturbing the glasses of water on it, her blond mane flying in the motion.

“Windy, there is no need to be so hasty. Even the forces of Pegasia and Unicornia combined couldn’t get past our defenses. Nopony could ever get past our combination of robotics and pure pony muscle; we’ve even got a Griffon and a Changeling on the guard,” Mayor Thunder Hooves replied.

“That’s what the ponies at Constantineighple said before they got besieged by the Griffons of Griffondore,” Windy rebutted.

“Those ponies didn’t have Pon-Co robotics helping them,” Sherriff Quick Shot stated, “Nor did they have Neuox and Gruntilda.”

“My point is that believing that one’s defenses are impenetrable usually leads to the fall of those very ponies. A single Changeling and Griffon won’t make a difference in the end,” Windy argued.

“My fellow council members,” Doc Health finally spoke up, “I believe that our talking about the town’s defenses can come after we get some information from the little changeling lass next to me, and I’m sure she’s dying for some answers that I alone couldn’t answer.” I nodded in agreement.

“Fair enough point, does anypony object?” Mayor Thunder Hooves said as Doc Health left my side and walked to his chair to the left of Windy.
After nopony objected, the Mayor then turned his head to me and said, “Well, Miss…”

“Cloudy Skies, Mayor,” Doc Health said for me.

“I’m sure the little changeling mare could answer for herself, Doc,” the Mayor said.

“Um, yes, I’m Cloudy Skies, of Stable 12, sir, um, Mayor,” I said nervously. Mayor Thunder Hooves’s mouth curled up into an amused smile.

“Well, Miss Cloudy Skies of Stable 12, I’m sure you want some answers on what’s going on, correct?” He said before I nodded in answer. “Well ask away, it’s better for you to get a full understanding of what’s going on before we begin probing your mind for what we don’t know,” He prompted.
I asked the first questions that came to my mind, “What is New Appleloosa? What is New Canterlot? Los Pegasus-Cloudsdale? Pegasia and Unicornia?”

Sherriff Quick Shot answered the New Appleloosa question, “Well, New Appleloosa is built from the ruins of the cowpony town of Appleloosa. Almost a hundred years ago they started engaging in the slave trade and by fifty years ago they became the most powerful slave-trading town in the Equestrian Wasteland due to their connections with Pegasia and Unicornia.”

Windy Quick Shot answered the Pegasia questions, “Los Pegasus-Cloudsdale was born from the union of the two cities of Los Pegasus and Cloudsdale in the aftermath of the Great War. The pegasi tribes of those two cities and of Cloudopolis and Wingston united to from the nation of the New Pegasian Principality, naming Princess Fluttering Wing as their leader using the Princess moniker of Celestia and Luna. Pegasia named itself after the old Pegasia from before the unification of the Pony Races and they claim to be the successor to both that state and of Equestria itself. They say that Los Pegasus-Cloudsdale is the most beautiful city in the Wasteland and the true successor to Canterlot.”

Doc Health then answered my Unicornia questions, “Unicornia, on the other hoof was formed by, as I told you before, the old Nobility of Canterlot. After walking out of Stable 1, the nobility opened up 101, which had been holding the Royal Guard. The first leader of those nobles was Diamond Crown who began equipping the Nobility and the Guard with the energy weapons of their respective vaults, mind you that this was 50 years post-war, and radiation lingered in some sections of the city then. However, the Nobility had something that very few Stables had, a GECK, or Garden of Equestria Creation Kit, which allowed them to create life from nothingness. A marvelous invention from Safe-Tec that has only been used twice to our knowledge, once in New Canterlot and once in the area that Los Pegasus-Cloudsdale settled itself in. Unicornia now controls the areas up to the Range and past Ponyville. Both Pegasia and Unicornia, now led by their respective leaders Princess Sky Chaser and Queen Shimmering Sun, trade with New Appleloosa although only some members of the Pegasian elite really buy slaves and it is looked down upon there, meanwhile Unicornia is more open to the idea and most of the population of New Canterlot is slave-owning.”

After those answers I could see how this New Appleloosa place could get so powerful with two nations backing it up. “Why is Unicornia’s leader a Queen?” I then asked.

“She named herself that after proclaiming the Queendom of Unicornia after annexing Ponyville and the Range,” Windy answered, “They just called themselves New Canterlot before then.”

“Alright, what is the Range?” I asked.

“The Range is the name for the various towns and forts in the Unicorn Range. The mountains that extend west from New Canterlot,” Doc Health answered.

I supposed that made sense, but I had had other questions on my mind as well. When I asked about how Horseshoe Bay was built, I was told that the town had been built 150 years ago from the vehicles from a nearby Ponschluss Auto factory. The pony’s of Stable 16 and some of the tribes surrounding Baltimare had decided that living away from the irradiated remains of Baltimare would be a good idea and so had picked this spot due to its close proximity to an outlying Pon-Co robotics plant. Apparently Baltimare was where the headquarters of Pon-Co and most of its robotics plants were built and so despite being so far from other major Equestrian cities, they had defenses that the raiders and slavers couldn’t get past. My next question was on how they knew about the Slaver’s attack on Stable 12.

“It was, to be perfectly honest, an accident that we even knew that they were in the area,” Sherriff Quick Shot answered rubbing the back of her neck, “One of my scouts saw them in the area of your Stable and almost got himself shot for his pleasure. When he came back, he reported them coming out of the Stable with a whole line of ponies and so I, along with some guards trained in marksmare weaponry went out to find these Slavers. The plan was to wait until they were all asleep and then we’d take out whoever would be on overwatch but when Private Neuox that he saw a rape-in-progress, his exact words, he decided to fire without permission,” I certainly remembered that moment, I cringed and my tail darted between my legs at the memory, meanwhile the Sherriff continued her explanation, “-Those ponies quickly got what they deserved when Neuox took them both out, meanwhile I was able to get the Ghoul pony myself. The final two who ran by this point were taken out a short while after.”

“I guess I have a lot to thank this Neuox character, then,” I said. If it weren’t for him… I shuddered at the thought of what could have happened. After I spoke, I could have sworn that Sherriff Quick Shot smiled. I looked towards a piece of wall panel to hide my blush and smile, even after looking back at that terrible moment with Disky couldn’t get my damned infatuation down.

“I assume that answers all of your answers then?” Windy asked. When I agreed, they began to ask me about what happened when the Slavers invaded. I told them everything from when I woke up that day to when I passed out, minus the liquid splashing underneath me and some of the details of the near-rape.

By the time I was finished, it had gotten darker and I began to yawn. “I could tell that the trials of the past days has had their toll on our friend here, how about we continue this issue tomorrow with the topic of how we are gonna react to what we’ve learned today?” Mayor Thunder Hooves said.

“Where will we be housing these Stable 12 changelings and ponies? The clinic doesn’t have all that much room and I’m sure that housing them in the homes of our town dwellers wouldn’t make anypony happy,” Windy questioned.

“For now, I can hold them in the clinic. Given a few days I hope we can come up with a solution,” Doc Health answered, “I think that I can house Ms. Skies in my home though, I’ve had a conversation with Green and we’ll be able to take her in for a short while, at least.”

I raised an eyebrow but I didn’t say anything, who was I to deny free housing? I had no plans for what to do anyways, nor did anypony from Stable to be perfectly honest. With the four council members deciding to end that day’s activities, Doc Hoof and I left the Council Meeting. “Alright, so what is next on the agenda?” I asked after a yawn.

“Well, I think it’s time you got some well needed sleep, it’s getting late and you’ve been through a lot, so I’m going to take you to my house and my little Greenie is gonna take care of you until I get back from the clinic,” Doc Health answered.

“Alright,” I said in reply. After we left the building, we took a left towards the bay as the land started to slowly slope down a short distance past the clinic. Soon we reached his house and entered.

“Greenie! I’m home, and I brought the little changeling with me,” Doc Health said as we entered. The house was interesting from what I could see of it. There were two floors from what I could see: on the left side I could see a room with a pre-war couch and tons of books, on the right side I could see a table and some chairs, and in between was a flight of stairs.

“I’m coming!” A high-pitched, stallion’s voice sounded out from the right side. Soon a green, Earth Pony stallion showed up wearing a dirty apron. “Oh Healthy! You must be famished, come on in and I’ll whip up some peas and beans for you and your guest!” the stallion said smiling.
“Sorry honey, but I’ve got to get back to the clinic and I’m sure Miss Cloudy Skies here is too tired to eat,” Doc Health said, smiling apologetically. I actually was a bit hungry but I nodded in agreement anyways.

“Oh alright, dearie, I’ve already prepped the guest room for her,” Green said in that high-pitched voice again.

“Alright, I’ll show Miss Skies to her room,” Doc Health said prompting me to follow him upstairs. When we reached the second floor, Doc Health opened the door to the right and I followed him in. “About Green, he sometimes speaks like that around anypony new, it’s his way of messing with anypony new. Don’t tell him that I told you that though, let him keep his fun,” Doc Health said as I looked around the room. It was plain enough, with a bed and empty shelves on two sides. There was a table on the opposite wall and an old clock above the bed, it was broken from the looks of it.

“Alright, thanks for telling me,” I said.

“No problem. Oh, and before I forget, please make yourself at home and enjoy yourself. I’ll see you again tomorrow, at the meeting,” Doc Health said before leaving the room.

With the day ending and it getting darker, I got into the bed and I quickly fell asleep.

Quests Completed:
Ponies… Ponies never change.

Locations discovered:
Horseshoe Bay

Level up! New Perk!
Bard-rific!: Your attraction to full-body barding is certainly different, heck some might even call you a clothphiliac! Either way, you gain a speech rank when talking to anypony without full-body barding, except with those wearing very little on purpose, nopony can resist that. This perk is incompatible with the Naked Freak perk.