Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Jewel

Chapters

Prologue: The End
Day 0-1: The Choosing
Day 2: Standoff

Prologue: The End

War... war never changes.

Two centuries have passed since the Great War between Ponies and Zebras ended in a rain of fire and dark magic. Many ponies survived in the confines of great underground shelters called Stables. Others survived and banded together in tribes and settlements across the Equestrian Wasteland.

For 200 years, Equestria was nothing more than a wasteland, filled with ponies trying to survive, some at the cost of the lives of others. That all changed one day, 200 years after the bombs fell, when a mare named LittlePip left Stable 2.

She left an unforgettable impression on Equestria, defeating the slaver Red Eye and the Goddess, and she finally broke the cloud cover that had kept Equestria from the sun for so long.

One of the biggest contributions she had made though was inspiring the inhabitants of the Wasteland to band together and change for the better. From this the New Canterlot Republic was born, a faction dedicated to the continuation of values of freedom and friendship.

As the NCR grew and more settlements and tribes joined with them, they started to expand to the south and west. The first scouts that came back from the south returned with stories of a city with resources still widely untouched by the Wasteland, and fire that would rain down from the sky to burn all that it touched.

As the Republic began to move into the southern wasteland, they started to learn that they weren't the only faction after the resources and territory of Equestria.

To the southwest, another army marched under the flag of the black phoenix, the feared Crimson Empire.

And the two factions are about to clash for the first time.

00000

In the outskirts of the city of Neigh Orleans, the New Canterlot Republic had set up a makeshift base out of a few of the buildings that ran along one of the streets. In the building that made up the command center, a Unicorn mare with dark blue fur and a black mane dressed as an NCR Ranger was looking over a map of the city.

She looked up when she heard an Earth Pony dressed in a similar outfit approached her looking nervous.

"Colonel Midnight ma'am," the Earth Pony said with a salute. "I just got a report from our scouts in the city, they're reporting a large force heading our way."

"What kind of force, Ghouls or Raiders?" Midnight asked, that had been the the majority of their problems for the past few months, and if it was one of those it was nothing they couldn't handle.

"Ma'am, its the Imperial Army," the Ranger said, making Midnight pause.

"Who's their leader?" Midnight asked as she looked up again, the Empire had a few generals, but she was worried about one in particular, she just had to hope that it wasn't him.

"Ma'am... they're being lead by General Blood Stone," the Ranger said, which made Midnight's eyes go wide. "What are your orders?"

Blood Stone was one of the most infamous generals in the Empire. There were stories of him fighting the most vicious of Raiders and Tribals of the west and coming out unscathed, some said he was immortal, Midnight thought he was just very lucky.

Regardless, they were going to have a hard time with this.

"Gather the troops," she says as she gets up and levitates a sniper rifle onto her back. "If they're here to take the city, we won't let it go without a fight."

The Ranger nodded and galloped off to give the order.

00000

Midnight stared out at the gathered group of ponies under her command which included NCR Rangers and Regulars. She took a deep breath as she started to gather her thoughts, this was going to be one of the most important moments in the NCR's still young history.

"Colonel Midnight, Ah request a parley with yah," a booming accented voice called out over the abandoned city streets and she saw him. A dark brown Earth Pony Stallion with a reddish mane who was dressed in a white shirt and black vest.

"What's his game, the Empire doesn't usually request a parley," Midnight's second in command commented to the Unicorn. "What are we going to do?"

"Only one way to find out," Midnight said with a frown as she looked through her sniper scope at the stallion. "Send word to General Goldmane of our situation, I'll deal with Blood Stone."

He nodded and Midnight secured her rifle again before using her magic to amplify her own voice. "Very well, I agree to your parley."

The two commanders soon met up at roughly the mid point between the two armies. Midnight looked at the Stallion for a long moment before finally speaking.

"General Blood Stone, your reputation proceeds you, what brings you into NCR territory?" Midnight asked.

"Ah'm here on orders from tha Scarlet Throne," Blood Stone said as he sized up the Unicorn mare. "Tha Empire is annexin' this section of Neigh Orleans. If yah leave peacefully, then there will be no need fer war."

"And if we refuse?" Midnight asked with a glare at the Stallion, this area of Neigh Orleans had been NCR territory for awhile now and the Empire had respected that, at least on the surface. "Is your Empress really willing to go to war over this?"

"She is more than willin'," Blood Stone said as he looked hard at her with his red eyes. "What's yer choice then, Colonel?"

Midnight paused for a long moment, this wasn't a decision that could be taken lightly, one that would affect her whole nation. The NCR's official position was that if the Empire was to try and take the city, it would mean war.

She just had to hope they were ready as a nation.

"Then it'll be war," Midnight said simply.

"Then may tha spirits have mercy on us all," Blood Stone said and the two commanders parted.

"What do we do, Colonel?" The second in command asked as Midnight returned to the base with the ponies under her command looking at her expectantly.

"Form up lines, get your weapons at the ready," Midnight said as she levitated her rifle into her hooves. "If the Empire wants this city then they'll have to take it from our cold dead hooves."

The soldiers nodded and moved into position. Soon the sound of gunfire rang out as the two sides clashed openly for the first time.

The NCR-Imperial War had begun.

00000

The Battle of Lakeview would last for days as Midnight's forces fended off the Empire's forces until reinforcements pushed them back fully. But that was just the beginning of the war.

The Empire wanted more than just Neigh Orleans, they only started there but they started to push north into NCR territory and East into the unclaimed lands. All the while, rumors began to circulate about them getting aid from somewhere to the far north.

The NCR Council and President in Junction Town supported Midnight's decision, but the war would take its toll on the citizens of the Republic.

There are many stories to tell of the war in the Southern Wasteland, but as two years passed, the stalemate between both sides began. But even then, things were going to change in the war with something neither side could've expected.

But even then war... war never changes.

Author's Note

Welcome fillies and gentlecolts to my story set in the world of Fallout: Equestria, this is just the prologue of course, but things will pick up in chapter 1, which will be released soon.

Day 0-1: The Choosing

Author's Note

Yeah... basically decided to reboot this, may re-write the prologue but I haven't decided yet.

Day 0-1: The Choosing

“I will use treatment to help the sick

According to my ability and judgment,

But never with a view to injury and wrong-doing.

Neither will I administer a poison to anyone when asked to do so,

Nor will I suggest such a course.”

-The Hippocratic Oath.

I’ve never actually written anything like this before.

I was asked to keep this journal as I made my way through the Wasteland, for posterity or so ponies outside would actually know what happened to me and what’s going on. I honestly don’t really know what I’m supposed to do here.

I was told that I was leaving the Stable in order to learn more about the world and get us all ready. The fact of the matter is that we’re never really going to be ready for what’s out there, I may be able to get us ready, but we’re going to be taking steps out into that great unknown, into that undiscovered country that is known as the future.

So, what are we going to do now? I honestly don’t know sometimes. The future is always in motion, and my home is going to have to move with that future. We all are.

I just don’t know if I’m going to like the future that I have to bring them to.

I might as well introduce myself if I’m going to keep this journal. My name is Ruby Starlight, I’m a Doctor out of Stable 26. You’ll probably have heard of a lot of names and events associated with me, and I’m going back to add this note so you know that none of this was my choice. I just did what I had to do.

Now, this is my story.

00000

“Good morning Ponies of Stable 26, this is Neon Glow coming at you with your morning announcements,” a stallion’s voice said over the system on my PipBuck. I groaned a little as my eyes fluttered open, strands of white falling into my vision as I did. “Well fillies and gentlecolts, today is the day we’ve all known was coming for a while. The Council has closed the school for today so you foals don’t have to worry about that homework assignment from Mrs. Chalk you’re probably not done with yet.”

I chuckled a little bit at that as I pulled my hooves around and brushed the white hairs out of my eyes. Mrs. Chalk had been the Stable’s teacher since I was old enough to go to school, she was known for giving homework that tended to take a while to finish.

“Councilmare Willow has announced that the Choosing Ceremony will take place this afternoon at 1400 hours in the Atrium,” Neon continued. “All eligible ponies are required to report to the Atrium. Until then, your duties will continue as normal. So don’t worry, you’ll still have your old friend Neon Glow here to keep you entertained.”

I got up and headed over to the bathroom area of my quarters and looked in the mirror. I levitated a brush up and brushed my white mane back out of my face and into its normal bob over my horn.

I took a deep breath as the music started to play on my PipBuck’s radio as I slide on my Jumpsuit and lab coat before securing my Pipbuck on my leg. I was going to have to report to the Stable’s clinic where my co-worker and former mentor Nightingale was waiting for me.

I finished buttoning up my lab coat and opened the door to head to the clinic. I hummed along to the tune that was playing over the P.A. system. As I made my way down the hallway, another door opened and a pink pony with a white and pink streaked mane stepped out and smiled when she saw me.

“Hey Ruby, off to work?” She asked.

“Hey Candy,” I said with a smile as we started walking together. “Yeah, gotta get everything ready for the Choosing Ceremony this afternoon. It’s hard to believe that we’re actually at this point.”

Okay, you’re all probably wondering what the Choosing Ceremony actually is given you’re not from Stable 26 like I am, so I will explain. The Choosing Ceremony was something that we found out about when I was only a filly. The Stable had apparently been working towards this for years without knowing it. The Computer would choose one member of the Stable, and they would leave the Stable to survive in the world above for one year and return with a report and a recommendation as to whether or not we should leave.

It was an important role, and while I wasn’t sure why we were doing it, something told me it was what needed to be done. Hopefully whoever went out there would be ready.

“I wonder who’s going to be chosen,” Candy commented as we walked together. “I mean, the computer picks it based on all the different factors. I just hope it’s not me, I don’t think a cook would do very good out there.”

“I wouldn’t want to go out there either,” I told her. “My medical training would help, sure, but I’m no fighter or anything. We don’t know what’s out there and it’ll probably be dangerous for whoever goes out there.”

“Yeah…” Candy agreed. “I don’t even get why they’re sending somepony now. Last I heard the radiation levels outside had kept fairly consistent for a little while now.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s some sort of reason,” I sighed as I adjusted my coat a little. “Sometimes it also feels like this should’ve been done already. I mean, if the point is to start to rebuild civilization, why did they wait this long?”

“I don’t know,” Candy agreed. “Maybe you should talk to Nightingale about it, I mean her husband is Councilstallion Gala. Maybe she’s heard something about it from him?”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to her when I get the chance,” I said as we reached the atrium. A stage was being set up along with a few chairs by the maintenance ponies. They waved at us for a moment before we took a turn through another door as two fillies ran past us. I chuckled a little as I turned back to look at Candy.

“Are we still on for dinner later?” I asked as I checked the time on my PipBuck. “Sorry we can’t meet for lunch, no doubt she’ll want me on call until the ceremony.”

“It’s fine, and of course I’ll see you later,” Candy replied with a smile as she headed towards the saloon. I took a deep breath and made my way down the hall to the clinic.

00000

“Okay, just one more stitch right… there,” I said as I finished sewing up my latest patient. “And there we go all done!”

“Yay!” The filly said as I levitated the teddy bear that I had been sewing over to her. “Thank you Dr. Ruby!”

“Any time,” I said with a smile as she hugged the bear. I ruffled her mane a little as she smiled up at me. “Just don’t play so rough with her again, okay? I can’t always be here to patch her up you know.”

“I know, I’ll be more careful,” the filly replied. “Thank you again Dr. Starlight!”

The filly grabbed up her teddy bear and ran to the door past a white Unicorn mare with a blonde mane that had a cutie mark of a bird in flight. She smiled as she looked at me as I was putting the supplies away again.

“Another successful surgery by Dr. Ruby Starlight I see,” Nightingale said with a chuckle as she moved over next to me. “Nothing else to do today?”

“Oh, you know, dealt with the usual, a few burns, a broken leg, nothing I can’t handle,” I said with a smile. “I figured I could take a break to take care of something small. Nopony else was in the clinic at the time and I got it done quickly enough.”

“Yes, well we’ve got a potential apprentice coming in before the ceremony,” Nightingale continued. “Assuming you aren’t chosen in the ceremony, do you think you can train him if he gets his cutie mark?”

“Of course,” I said with a smile as I straightened out some of the supplies. I had always wanted a chance to train an apprentice, but none of the foals who had gone through it had been chosen recently enough. “Do you think I’m ready for that though?”

“Of course, you’re the best student I’ve ever had,” Nightingale replied as she levitated some items over to me. “I think you’re going to do fine as a mentor. Even if this one doesn’t work out, you can always wait until next time. Are you sure you’re ready though?”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready,” I agreed and took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about the Choosing Ceremony coming up.”

“Of course, is there anything I can tell you?” Nightingale asked curiously.

“Well, I honestly am a bit unsure about everything that’s going on with it,” I told her as I levitated some newly crafted healing potions into place. “I mean, Councilmare Willow said that you have to be at least 15 years old to be chosen by the ceremony. What if the computer makes a mistake?”

“The computer takes everything about everypony in the Stable into consideration when making the choice,” Nightingale replied. “A security pony has just as much chance to get picked as a cook. Honestly, I think it’ll probably pick a security pony. Given we don’t know a lot about what’s out in the world a Security pony would be better equipped to survive.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I finished what I was working on. “I’m afraid that I’m going to be picked though. I’m not equipped to survive out in the Wasteland.”

“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t,” Nightingale told me and smiled reassuringly. “Ruby, you’re a skilled doctor and surgeon. If you actually needed to survive out in the Wasteland, that’ll give you a good place to start. But like I said I think it’ll probably be a security pony, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” I said softly. I honestly didn’t know what I would do if I was chosen, but I would cross that bridge if I came to it. “So, do you want to maybe meet up with me and Candy for dinner tonight? I mean it’s okay if you can’t, I know your husband will be busy with everything…”

“Sure, if you two don’t mind,” Nightingale replied with a soft smile. “I mean, I don’t want to impose on you and your friend. I know that you two like having your evenings together.”

“It’s fine, we’ve discussed it before, I’ll check with Candy after the ceremony just to be sure though,” I suggested and smiled a little as the door to the clinic opened and a pregnant young mare walked in. “Hey Starling, any problems with the kiddo?”

“No Ruby, I’m just here for my weekly check-up,” Starling replied with a smile as she sat down on one of the beds as I levitated up the equipment for checking on the unborn foal. I glanced back towards Nightingale for a moment, but she just gave me a nod and went back to working on her notes.

“That’s good,” I said as I ran the scanner along her belly slightly, using my magic to gently touch the growing pony. I could feel the magical aura of the foal as I carefully checked it over, looking up at Starling. “Your foal is healthy, are you ready to know what gender it is? They should be developed enough to tell now.”

“Sure,” Starling replied as I ran the device gently along her belly again and looked at the readings. An image of a Unicorn foal formed on the screen as I held it up so Starling could see it too before looking at her and pointing at a spot on the screen.

“It looks like you’re going to have a filly,” I said with a smile as I looked up at her. “All my readings say that she is perfectly healthy.”

“Thanks Doctor Starlight,” Starling said.

“You’re welcome,” I told her as I put the equipment away. I took out some medicine and gave it to her. “Here, this should help with the morning sickness. Don’t be afraid to come in if you need anything, and tell Carbon that I said hello.”

“I will,” Starling said as she got up and headed out of the clinic. She waved to me as I waved back and went back to work on things in the clinic.

“You’re going to be just fine,” Nightingale said with a soft smile. “I know that things won’t always be easy for you. In this job we have to make a lot of hard choices, we’re doctors after all, it’s our job to take care of the sick and injured. But sometimes it’s not going to be quite that easy, I know you’re still new to this job Ruby, but I can tell you this. You have the potential to be a great Doctor, but you can’t help them all with just sunshine and rainbows. I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I never really thought about it before, but I’m still learning,” I replied. I knew she was right, my own parents had been killed in an accident when I was just a filly. The doctors had done everything they could, but it had been too late. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out for this kind of work. I mean I do fine with the patients, but...”

“Ruby, you have nothing to worry about,” Nightingale said as she placed her hoof on mine. I glanced down at her hoof gently and shook my head a little. I didn’t want to think about this, not right now. “Just calm down and do your best. You’re a Doctor, you’re not a god or something. Just do everything you can to help who you can and that’s the best you can do sometimes.”

“Yeah…” I said as I closed my eyes a little. I had been a doctor ever since I got my Cutie Mark. Nightingale had become like a second mother to me, and one of my best friends along with Candy. “Is there anything else we need to get ready?”

“I’ll take care of packing the medical supplies,” Nightingale said as she checked her PipBuck. “It’s almost time for the ceremony, are you sure you’re ready for all of this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I replied as I took a deep breath. “I’m just potentially taking in my first student that I will hopefully not screw up with. Yeah, no pressure.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine, now come on, let’s get ready for the ceremony,” Nightingale told me with a chuckle. “Everything is going to be just fine, after today, everything will be back to normal.”

I smiled a little and nodded. I just had to hope that she was right, but I had a bad feeling about all of this all of a sudden.

00000

We went out into the Atrium where the ponies of the Stable had already been gathered. There were a few quiet conversations going on as I entered and noticed Candy not too far away. The Earth Pony smiled as she waved me over to her as I trotted over to where she was standing.

“How’d it go in the clinic?” Candy asked as I came in. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine, I’m just a bit nervous about a few things,” I admitted to her. “I’m a bit excited, but a bit nervous at the same time. Nightingale wants me to take on an apprentice if he gets his cutie mark.”

“Well, that’s exciting,” Candy said with a smile. Her pink mane bounced a little as she moved, looking around. “I think you would make a great mentor. You just need to believe in yourself, I thought you were excited about the idea of taking on an apprentice.”

“I was, and I still am, it’s just not something I’m sure I’m ready for sometimes,” I said and took a deep breath. “But then again, I guess that’s small potatoes to what the pony who gets chosen is going to have to go through.”

“Yeah,” Candy agreed and chuckled a little. “Do you remember all the stories we used to make up about the world outside the Stable?”

“Yeah, how we were always afraid that we’d wind up in Tartarus or get sucked into a void or something,” I chuckled as I thought back to the ghost stories. Me and Candy had basically grown up together and we often shared ghost stories about the Stable and the outside world. “I hope whoever is picked is going to be okay.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Candy said as we looked up at the stage for a moment. “What if one of us gets chosen? What do we do then?”

“Then we’ll figure it out, and manage as best we can, but I doubt it’ll happen,” I replied.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Candy said as the music started to play from the speakers in the atrium. “Sounds like it’s starting.”

Three ponies, two Unicorns and an Earth Pony stepped up onto the stage. A green colored Unicorn stepped up to a microphone as she tapped at it lightly and cleared her throat. “Welcome everypony, I’m glad you could all make it to the Choosing Ceremony. I know you all have a lot of questions and concerns and we will try to address it.”

She levitated the microphone in closer and looked at the other two ponies with her. Councilmare Willow was the leader of the Council that made up the leadership of Stable 26. She smiled a little as she looked out at the gathered ponies.

“The Choosing Ceremony was announced 20 years ago today. This was our mission set down by Stable-Tec,” Willow continued. “205 years ago, when our ancestors entered the Stable we were given the mandate to create a new society. Our ancestors created the Council and the system that has helped us survive this long as a Stable. But now, the time has come for us to finish our mandate as a Stable.”

She took a deep breath as she looked back at the other councilmembers for a moment.

“The Choosing Ceremony is, as you are aware, the goal of us as a Stable,” Willow said. “One of you will leave this Stable for one year in order to give us a place to live and prove that we can survive. I’m afraid that there won’t necessarily be a guarantee that whoever goes out there will survive. Whoever goes out there will likely have to fight to survive. I know you won’t like it, but this is how things must be.”

I blinked a little at that. Willow seemed to kind of regret the fact that they had to send one of us out into the Wasteland. I looked at the rest of the ponies that had been gathered, they looked about as nervous and uneasy about this as I felt.

“I’m sorry… I really am,” Willow said softly as she turned to one of the other councilmembers. The Earth Pony stallion stepped forward and gave her an envelope that she opened up. “The pony who will be leaving Stable 26 in order to fulfill our mission will be Ruby Starlight.”

The room went silent as everypony looked at me. I gulped as my eyes went wide, why had I been the one chosen? This didn’t make any sense! Maybe they had read the wrong paper, right? Maybe? I mean I heard about that happening once… no wait that would be stupid.

“Ruby, are you okay?” Candy asked, finally snapping me out of my stunned silence.

“Why… why me?” I asked as the ponies around me stared. I quickly turned around and ran off, not caring about what might be happening behind me.

00000

I slammed my hoof on the button to open the door to my quarters and galloped inside. I fell down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling as I breathed heavily. I couldn’t believe it, why had they actually chosen me like this?

I levitated up a picture of me and my parents. It had been taken a few weeks before they had died in the accident. I sometimes wondered what they would think about me now. I was a doctor sure, but what would they think about my current situation?

What did I even think about this current situation? I wasn’t trained to do anything other than to be a Doctor. How was I supposed to survive out in the Wasteland like this? I didn’t know what to do, and here I was lying on my bed trying to figure out what I was going to do. I knew that there was no way that I could get out of this.

So, what was I going to do?

There was a knock on the door and I groaned as I levitated up my pillow and covered my face with it. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anypony right now. I didn’t reply, but the knocking just continued.

I groaned a little before finally calling out, “Oh come in already!” I shouted as the door open.

“Ruby, are you okay?” Candy’s voice said, though I was still covered by the pillow. “You can’t stay here forever you know.”

“I don’t care,” I groaned through the pillow. “I don’t want to face the ponies out there right now… I’m scared…”

“Shhh, it’ll be okay,” Candy said as she pulled the pillow off of my face. I looked up at her, she had a reassuring smile on her face as she pulled me into a hug. “Ruby, it’s going to be okay…”

“I…” I started to say before I hugged the pink Earth Pony back and closed my eyes. “Thanks Candy…”

“It’ll be okay, Ruby,” Candy said softly as she held me close. “You’re going to do just fine out there, I have faith in you.”

“And what if I don’t want to go out there?” I pointed out. “I mean, what are they going to do, force me to leave? I don’t really know if I even can survive out there… I’m just a Doctor, I don’t know how to fight or anything.”

“Shhh… calm down,” Candy told me. “Ruby, I’m not going to lie and tell you that this is going to be easy. We both know that this is going to be hard, not just on you but on all of us. I’m sure if we talk to the Council they’ll figure something out and maybe they can re-do the ceremony.”

“I doubt it,” I replied and shook my head. “They made it pretty clear that they wouldn’t be able to re-do the ceremony. And so, I’m kind of stuck in this situation and I don’t even know if I’ll ever make it back to the Stable. A lot can happen in one year.”

“Yeah, true, but maybe you’ll make it,” Candy replied. “Ruby, you’ve always been one of the bravest ponies I’ve ever known. I know that things won’t be easy while you’re out there. But, there’s really not much we can do about it right now…”

“Yeah… I know,” I sighed as I took a deep breath. “Do you think everything is going to be okay without me here? I mean, I know that Nightingale is going to still be here and there’s always the night shift Doctor and…”

“Ruby, calm down, you have nothing to worry about,” Candy reassured me. “The Stable survived for 185 years without you, it’ll survive just fine without you for a year. We’re going to be just fine too you know. Besides, I’m sure by the time you get back you’ll have some handsome stallion fawning over you already.”

I felt my face turn hot, it was amazing how much redder my face could get whenever somepony embarrassed me. The truth was that I had always been too busy to find anypony of either gender to become involved with. I had sometimes felt feelings for ponies, but nothing I had ever actually acted on. Though I had sometimes thought things about...

I shook my head, trying to get the thought of that out of my head. I had bigger things to worry about than that. I was about to have to step out into the horrors of the Wasteland. I just wished that there was some way out of this.

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” I asked with a sigh.

“No, not really,” Candy said with a sigh. “I think just about anypony would take your place at this point, at least anypony from the security department. This isn’t going to be easy, I know, but I don’t think they’re going to make you go in without being at least somewhat ready.”

“Yeah… thanks for not worrying me at all about this,” I groaned. “So, what do I do now? Should I go meet with the council and see where it goes from here? I’m not even ready to go out there…”

“I doubt they’re going to just send you out there until you’re ready,” Candy told me as she placed her hoof on me gently. “Come on, let’s go talk to the Council. I’m going to be with you until it’s time for you to leave, I promise.”

“Thanks Candy,” I said with a weak smile as I hugged her again. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I think I have an idea,” Candy replied. “Come on, let’s get going. You’re going to be just fine, I promise.”

I nodded as we got up and headed out of my quarters together.

00000

I took a deep breath as we stopped in front of the room to the Council’s chambers. I was still a bit nervous about this to be honest. I looked at Candy for a moment, she gave me a reassuring smile even though she had pain in her eyes. I smiled gently as I placed my hoof on her shoulder for a moment.

“It’ll be okay, Candy,” I told her softly. “I’m going to do this… even if I don’t like it, I know that I have to do this. I promise that I’ll be back, I’ll be careful out there. I’m scared too, but I need you to stay strong for me, and I’ll be strong for you.”

Candy nodded before I knocked on the door. We were let in with Councilmare Willow sitting behind a desk with Gala and another Unicorn with a light gold coat and an electric blue mane. They looked up and sighed a little.

“Ruby, I just want you to know that this was not our choice,” Willow said as she leaned back in her chair. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this, we had been sure that the pony chosen would be a Security Pony not a Doctor.”

“Yeah… I’m guessing the computer won’t just pick another pony?” I asked in a last ditch effort to hope that I could get out of this.

“Unfortunately no, the computer locked out the program after the name was chosen,” the golden pony replied with a shake of his head. Councilstallion Lightning was the head of the Engineering department, so he probably knew what he was talking about. “We’re still waiting on Blueberry to arrive so we can figure this out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” a familiar voice said from behind us and I turned around to see her. Blueberry Sable was a stocky blue Earth Pony with a darker blue mane, and she had also taken me in after my parents died when I was a filly. “Sorry, I had to take care of a few things, oh good you’re here Ruby.”

“Yeah… I almost wasn’t,” I admitted as I rubbed the back of my head a little. “I’m not really sure about all of this still to be honest. Going out into the Wasteland is not something that I’m really ready for.”

“Yeah, I told you we should’ve tried to work around the program lock-out,” Blueberry said as she shot Lightning a look. “She’s not the right pony for the job, and you all know it. The computer must’ve made a mistake of some sort.”

“The computer didn’t make a mistake, the program worked exactly as it was supposed to,” Lightning sighed. “Trust me, I looked over the program parameters myself.”

“So, what’s going to happen now?” I asked.

“You’re supposed to leave within a week, so we have that long to get you ready for this,” Blueberry answered. “It’s not a lot of time, and you’re going to need training in how to use weapons. I know you don’t want to fight or kill, but given you’re going out into Equestria, you need to do this.”

I paused a little and sighed a little. She was right, of course, I was a Doctor, I didn’t want to actually kill anypony. So, here I was being given only one choice, I took a deep breath and nodded a little.

“Yeah, I know,” I finally agreed and looked over at Candy. “So, what am I going to have to learn?”

“Combat and basic survival skills, how to cook mostly,” Willow answered. “We don’t have a lot of time to do it admittedly, but we can at least get a start on it, and you should already know how to cook at least.”

“I still don’t know if I want to fight…” I muttered.

“You still need to be ready in the event that you don’t have a choice in the matter,” Blueberry reminded me with a sigh. “We just want you to be ready in the event that you have to defend yourself. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but we’re going to help you as best we can, okay?”

“Okay…” I said with a sigh. “So, when do we begin?”

“Tomorrow,” Willow answered. “We don’t have as much time as we’d like to get you ready for this, but we’re still going to do our best. Blueberry and Candy will help you get ready, and you’ll be fine… I hope.”

“Yeah, I hope so too…” I muttered as I closed my eyes. This was going to be a long week.

Or rather, this was going to be a long year. I had no idea how I was going to handle this, my life was about to become something terrifying. I just had to hope that, somehow I was going to make it out of this whole thing alive.

I just had to hope.

00000

I groaned a little as I fell face forward on the bed that night. I groaned as I buried my face into my pillow for a moment, not wanting to think about what was going to happen tomorrow. It had been a week since the Choosing Ceremony happened. I had been trained with one of the 10mm pistols provided by Security, and I wasn’t that good with it, usually getting the target off center if I was even that lucky.

I sighed a little as I closed my eyes, trying not to think about this. I still had a long way to go before I was actually ready to leave. But tomorrow I was going to have to leave the Stable and take my first steps out into the Wasteland.

I hated that I was going to have to do this, and that I had no choice. I sighed a little as I just stayed there for the longest moment before I heard a knock on the door. The knocking lasted a few minutes before I finally spoke up, “Ugh… come in already…”

“Ruby, are you okay?” Candy’s voice said as I tried not to talk to her. “I know this past week hasn’t been easy on you…”

“Yah think?” I snapped at her for a moment, causing her to flinch. I cringed a little at that and peeked out to see Candy and Nightingale looking at me worriedly. “I’m sorry Candy, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“It’s okay, I probably would’ve done the same,” Candy said softly as she sat down next to me. “With everything that’s going on, I think you deserve a little bit of leeway. So, how do you think you’re going to do tomorrow?”

“I honestly don’t even know,” I admitted as I looked down at the metal floor for a moment. “I’m not much of a fighter just yet. But still… I don’t have much of a choice now. They’re sending me out there and I’m not even sure that I’ll ever be ready.”

“Maybe, but sometimes the best you can do is get ready for what you can, and try to be ready for what’s to come down the line, you can’t be ready for everything,” Nightingale said and levitated a book out of her barding and over to me. “Here, I was thinking that this might be of some use to you.”

“What is it?” I asked as I opened the book only to find the pages all blank. “Is it a journal?”

“Yeah, I was thinking that you could use it to keep a journal of what happened in the Wasteland,” Nightingale suggested. “It will help us learn more about the outside world.”

“Or, you know, how to learn from whatever mistakes you make,” Candy said.

“Not helping Candy!” I said with a groan as I buried myself back under the pillow. “I already have enough problems to worry about you know!”

“Sorry, you’re right, my bad,” Candy said as she pulled the pillow off my head again. “Calm down, you’re going to be just fine, I promise.”

“Yeah… I hope so,” I said softly as I levitated up the journal again for a moment. Maybe she had a point, this would be a good way to keep my thoughts clear on what I was going on. I nodded a little as I put it off to the side, I’d start writing in it later. “Thank you, Nightingale.”

“Of course, anything for you,” Nightingale replied with a smile. “Just be careful out there, okay?”

“I will,” I said as I took a deep breath and finally sat up fully. “This isn’t going to be easy, but thank you both. It means so much to me that I have ponies here willing to help me out. Still, things aren’t going to be easy, I just have to survive out there and make it back. I’m going to do my best out there, and I’ll make it back.”

I just had to hope that I sounded more confident than I actually felt about this. I was a medical Doctor, not a fighter, but I knew this was the best option I had.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Candy asked. She checked the time on her PipBuck for a moment. “It’s getting late, and you’re going to have to leave early. What do you want to do, Ruby?”

“Let’s just enjoy my last evening here,” I replied as I got up a little and stretched out before I pulled the two mares into a hug. “But now you two are going to have to face life without me here. Knowing my luck, things are going to fall apart and lots of ponies are going to get hurt the day after I leave.”

“Maybe, but I think we’re going to manage somehow,” Nightingale replied with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I know we’re going to be just fine. You should be worried about your replacement, we might just forget about you.”

“Oh yes, definitely,” Candy added. “Maybe they’ll be less perky too.”

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad,” I pouted. Okay maybe I was a little perky, but that was just how I was, and it helped keep up the good spirits with the patients. “What’s wrong with being perky?”

My friends just laughed a little and I groaned as Nightingale just ruffled my mane a little. I smiled a little before I finally joined in the laughter as I enjoyed the moment. This was going to be one of the last moments I had with probably the two best friends I ever had. I took a deep breath and held them close.

I knew that I was going to have to leave them behind now. But still, they were my best friends, and I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could.

“Why don’t we all stay here tonight?” Candy suggested. “It would be a good way to give her one last night in the Stable.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Nightingale replied. “I mean, if it’s okay with you Ruby. I’d understand if you would rather be alone tonight.”

“No, I’m fine with that, I’d rather have company tonight honestly,” I answered with a weak smile. “I mean, this is the last time I’ll see the two of you for a year. It really would mean a lot to me if you would stay, please?”

“Of course, anything for you,” Candy replied with a smile. “Come on, let’s just enjoy our last night together. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?”

“Other than somepony else going in my place?” I asked and they both just laughed.

It was worth a shot at least. I took out my journal, and started to write in it.

00000

The next day the three of us were outside of the large gear shaped Stable Door. A few ponies had already gathered to see me off, Blueberry looked at me with a reassuring smile as she stood with Gala and Willow.

I stared at the door for the longest moment. The metal door was imposing enough as I stared at it, but today it felt even worse . The immovable door seemed more intimidating today, as if it knew that I was going to have to go through it. I gulped as I felt a hoof on my shoulder and looked up at Candy.

“It’ll be okay,” she reminded me.

“I know, last minute jitters,” I told her. “I can’t believe I’m actually leaving. This whole thing feels just so surreal.”

“Yeah, but we’re all behind you,” Nightingale sadi as she placed her hoof on my other shoulder. “Ruby, you’re going to be just fine and we’ll see you in a year.”

I nodded a little as I adjusted my lab coat for a moment as Willow stepped forward to speak to the Stable Dwellers that had gathered to see me off. The PA system would broadcast it through the rest of the Stable. I took a deep breath and listened to the Councilmare start to speak.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, it’s been a crazy week since the Choosing Ceremony,” Willow said as she looked out at the gathered ponies. I smiled softly as I saw some familiar faces, patients that I had treated, friends I had made, all here to see me off. “I know that a lot of you are close to Doctor Starlight and don’t want to see her leave. I feel the same, but this is our duty to the past. Doctor Starlight… Ruby… she’s going to lead us all into the future. Into that Undiscovered Country where no traveler can return. I’m not going to lie and say that it’ll be easy on her, but I have faith in her. Ruby, I know this isn’t going to be an easy journey for you, but know that we’re all rooting for you.”

She nodded to Blueberry who walked over to me with Saddlebags and a holster with a pistol in it. She gave me a gentle smile as I levitated the bags onto my back and secured them.

“You’re going to be fine, just remember what we taught you,” Blueberry told me. “Are you ready for this?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said as I looked at Willow and gave her a nod.

“Ruby, let Celestia’s light guide you as you make your way through the world above,” Willow said as she gave me a gentle smile. “Do you have anything you want to say?”

I gulped a little and shook my head. I just waved to the ponies and smiled, trying to look more confident than I felt as Willow stepped up to the control console. She connected her PipBuck to it and input commands. There was the sound of metal screeching against metal as the large Stable 26 door swung open.

I walked up the small set of stairs to the door for a moment, and took one last look back at the Stable. It had been my home for my whole life, and I was going to have to leave it. I adjusted my bags a moment and took my first step out of Stable 26.

I just had to hope that I would see it again someday.

The door shut behind me unceremoniously, plunging the world around me into darkness. I gulped, starting to panic a moment before I remembered that there was a flashlight option on my PipBuck when I turned on.

I was in another room that looked like it was some sort of basement or whatever. I started walking forward, eyeing the room around me for a moment when I noticed a poster on the wall. I turned my head and nearly screamed at the sight of a large pink pony staring back at me with the words “PINKIE PIE IS WATCHING YOU FOREVER” on it.

I fell against the wall, breathing heavily. It was just a stupid poster, but the way the mare in it looked at me just gave me the creeps. It was like she was staring into my very soul. I took a deep breath and started walking again, I needed to get moving if I wanted to get this done, even if I didn’t really want to.

I started walking again towards the other side of the room and pushed the door leading outside open.

It was time to see what was really out there.

00000

I covered my eyes with my foreleg as a light hit my eyes. It was a dim light, but it still felt a bit too bright for me. I groaned a little as my eyes slowly adjusted to the light. I glanced behind me at the door behind me, it was attached to a ruined building that looked like it had been much larger once, a long time ago.

And that’s when I looked up and my legs went all wobbly. Far above me was the sky, that was the word right? Far above there was swirling grey clouds with occasional flashes of reddish-orange. The sky felt so, unnatural to me now as if I was staring up at a portal to Tartarus itself. There was nothing around me other than dirt and some odd bits of water in the distance.

I groaned a little as I fell back onto my flanks, I was stuck in the middle of a Wasteland that seemed to stretch forever. It was pretty much what we expected when I stepped out into Equestria, but there was still a lot that I had to figure out still. I checked my gear and the pistol in my holster before I started walking again towards some lights that I could see in the distance.

As I moved through the Wasteland, I found signs of ponies having been injured or killed. There was blood here and there, spent shell casings, and even the signs of ponies being dragged. Wherever I was though it seemed to be mostly clear despite there being a few sounds out in the distance that sounded like gunfire.

“What in Celestia’s name is going on…” I muttered as I started walking again. There was the sudden sound of yelling over another hill. I quickly made my way over the hill and saw a fight in progress.

Several ponies dressed in some sort of odd leather armor were firing weapons at a defensive position. I got a few looks at the pony they were shooting at, the looked blue as they fired back through holes in the wall, tearing through one of the armored soldiers.

I took a deep breath and raised my pistol as I checked the bullets in the magazine. I didn’t want to get into a fight this soon, but this pony was outnumbered. I’d aim to incapacitate and maybe whoever this was could give me a clue as to what I should do next. Mind you, I had never actually shot at a live target before.

I adjusted my pistol for a moment and fired a shot into the foreleg of the nearest pony. He let out a scream as I dove out of the way of another stream of gunfire. Okay, maybe this was a mistake. I laid down on the ground and levitated up my pistol again and shot at another one of the attacking ponies only to miss my shot completely.

And then a bullet hit my gun, knocking it out of my telekinetic grip. I ducked down out of the way just as several more shots were heard before things went quiet. I closed my eyes, half afraid that whoever had been fighting the soldiers was dead and they were coming after me now.

“Hey Red!” A voice called down at me, catching me off guard. “Are you still alive up there or should I call the corpse collectors.”

“N-n-no I’m fine,” I managed to stammer out as I looked down at the pony who had called out to me. She was a mare with a blue coat with a blue-green mane with a pair of goggles covering her eyes.

And on top of everything else, she also had wings. One of them was bleeding from a wound, but she was definitely a Pegasus. I made my way down the hill, still a little uneasy, but I didn’t have a gun anymore.

“You really helped me back there,” the Pegasus told me with a soft smile as she groaned a little and noticed my lab coat. “Are you a doctor?”

“Yeah, let me take a look at that wing,” I said nervously as I took out a healing potion and several items. “I’ve never actually healed a Pegasus before though. I’ve read about it in my books, but… yeah.”

“Stable Doctor then, well better training than some of the Doctors out here,” the Pegasus said as I started to work on her wing. “What’s your name? Or should I just keep calling you Red?”

“Ruby, Ruby Starlight,” I answered as I worked on healing her wing. “I’m a Doctor from a local Stable. What about you?”

“Call me Bluesky,” the Pegasus said with a shrug. “Thanks for your help back there at least, Doc. You really saved my flank from those Imperials.”

“Imperials?” I asked.

“Right, you’re new out here,” Bluesky realized. “For the past year there’s been a war waged over this part of Equestria, those soldiers work for one of the two factions, the Crimson Empire. Basically they’re an Imperialist faction from out East and both sides are here trying to get the resources of what’s left of Neigh Orleans.”

“And who’s the other?” I asked.

“That would be the New Canterlot Republic, you’re going to want to talk to them honestly,” Bluesky said. “Look, I’m heading towards Camp Macolt and the front lines of the war with the Empire by what’s left of Lake Ponychartrain.”

“What’s left of it?”

“Oh, you’ll see, come on, let’s get going,” Bluesky said as I finished working on the wing. We got up and started walking towards our destination apparently. A marker appeared on my Eyes Forward Sparkle and my map directed me towards something called Camp Macolt. “So, you’re really from a Stable huh?”

“My jumpsuit doesn’t give it away?” I asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Yeah, good point,” Bluesky shrugged. “Look, I know the Colonel at the Camp, and while I’d rather bring you farther East… the route that way isn’t safe because of the Empire.”

I looked at the map, we were near something that the map labeled as the Bayou Wildlife Preserve. It didn’t look like much of one to me at least, though there were a few signs of wildlife and buildings scattered here and there.

“Where are…” I started to say when suddenly Bluesky looked up. “What is it?”

“Firerain,” she said as she pointed at a nearby shelter she suddenly sounded very scared. “Come on, we need to get to shelter, now!”
I tried to stutter out a question without any real luck as she pushed me into the small shelter. I felt more confused than anything else, what did she mean by Firerain? I was about to ask what it was, but there was a sound that was like a gunshot above us, and then it began. It began to rain.

I had never seen rain before, but I had at least an idea of what it was. This was not rain like I had read about it, it was reddish-orange and shone like fire. When I looked down at my PipBuck I realized that it was clicking to indicate radiation. I glanced back at Bluesky for a moment, I had a lot of questions.

“What is Firerain?” I finally asked.

“Well, nopony’s quite sure where it comes from,” Bluesky answered. “But it’s always been around according to the few ponies that actually managed to survive around here. Its radioactive rain that falls every so often. Unfortunately it’s a bit unpredictable, but there are signs you can catch if you pay attention. It’ll kill you, if you’re lucky.”

“I see,” I said as I watched the rain as it fell for a moment. I sighed a little as I looked back into the shelter. There wasn’t much to see, a few cabinets and furniture with a bed against the wall. “What is this place?”

“It’s one of several shelters set up around the Wasteland by both sides,” Bluesky answered. “Firerain can last quite a while so they keep these places well stocked. The Rules of Engagement make these places neutral territory. With how dangerous the Firerain is we need to be as safe as possible.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said as I sat down in one of the chairs and closed my eyes. I had a lot to think about right now, a lot to process about the world that I suddenly found myself in. “I’m scared… I mean I knew that there was a lot of stuff I wasn’t ready for out here, but this… this is a bit too much…”

“What’s a Doctor from a Stable doing out here anyway?” Bluesky asked as she took a seat on the bed and adjusted her goggles a little. “You chasing after some cute mare’s flank you’ve got a crush on? Or are you going to be chased after shortly? I mean, you’re a doctor from a Stable, sounds a bit like…”

“Uh, no, I was just sent out because my Stable was supposed to send somepony out to see if they can survive,” I said as I shot Bluesky a strange look. “Uh does, this happen regularly or something?”

“A few times, don’t worry about it,” Bluesky replied as she pulled her goggles down over her eyes and yawned before giving me a slight smile. “We could be here a while, I’d get comfortable if I were you. If that chair is uncomfortable, then you can always come join me…”

I blushed deeply at that which just made the Pegasus laugh. I took out my journal and started writing in it again, taking down everything that had happened recently while it was still fresh in my mind. I took a deep breath and put it back away as I leaned back in the chair to relax. I checked my PipBuck and found that there was a station marked Zephyr Radio and hit it out of curiosity.

“I watch the sun rise,
In skies so clear.
We learn the outside,
There’s hope out here.
Hope unconfined.”

“And that’s Open Air, the latest song by Velvet Remedy,” a soft accented voice of a mare said over the radio. “Let’s all hope that someday we’ll get to see the sun rise over these lands too in the coming days. In other news, the stand-off between the NCR and Empire on the front lines continues with an aide to the Republic commander reports that she believes that there will be a change in the fortunes of the NCR very soon. I hope you’re right Colonel, hopefully this war can come to an end soon. Now, here’s a little Blue Bird to keep you entertained while the rain falls on us all.”

The smooth sound of jazz was heard from my radio as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the music. I enjoyed the moment as long as I could before suddenly there was the sound of something moving and I looked up to see something odd rising out of some discarded pieces of metal in the corner.

The machine looked like an odd insect with a spherical body. It had a pair of wings and a grate that was over a pair of glowing eyes. It sparked a little as music started playing, changing every few seconds.

“What in Celestia’s name is going on?” I asked as Bluesky raised her goggles again and looked at the strange machine confused. “Bluesky, do you know what’s going on?”

“Yeah, that’s a Sprite-Bot, weird,” Bluesky said as she rubbed her eyes. “That doesn’t make any sense though, they haven’t been active around here in 5 years…”

“Hello, hello, oh finally this thing works!” A stallion’s voice said over the Sprite-Bot’s speakers. I blinked a little, he had a weird accent that I couldn’t place. “Ah, finally, I thought that thing would never open at this rate.”

“Uh, who are you?” I asked a bit confused by that.

“Call me the Doctor, that’s about all you really need to know at this point,” the voice answered from the other end. “You’re the chosen one from Stable 26, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” I asked. This was just getting weirder and weirder and I honestly had no idea exactly what I thought about this. “Are you spying on me?”

“Look, it’s a long story and I don’t have a lot of time to explain,” the Doctor replied. “What you need to know is that you need to be very careful. You have stepped out into a particularly dangerous time in Equestria’s history.”

“Geez… understatement much?” Bluesky said with a roll of her eyes. “Why don’t you tell her what you want already, Doc?”

“There are more things going on than either of you are aware,” the Doctor replied. “You’re here because they need your help. And I need your help too. You’re already on the right track heading towards the NCR. You’re going...”

“We’re losing you,” Bluesky said as she sat up.

“You’re going to be okay,” the Doctor said. “You’re already off to a good start. But you need to find something else, something personal to you, that makes you who you are. You’re going to need it and more, you’re going to need friends. Be careful out there.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.

The radio started to crackle with static again as he kept speaking. “Go… tech… mountain… rain… losing… signal…” he said before the signal went out again and the robot fell onto the ground again.

“Well, that was… bizarre,” Bluesky said as she tilted her head a little. “I’ve never heard of this, Doctor before. The last one who used those things was a guy that called himself the Watcher, weird.”

“So, what are we going to do now?” I asked and Bluesky just shrugged. “Sounds like we should head towards the NCR.”

“Yeah, probably,” Bluesky agreed. She looked at the empty holster at my side and shook her head. “You’re not going to do much good without a weapon.”

“Yeah, I lost mine back in the fight,” I replied as I glanced down at the empty holster. “I guess I can see if the NCR will help me out or something…”

“Eh, I think you should be ready just in case you need to fight,” Bluesky said as she opened up her bags. She took out a revolver and checked it over, spinning the barrel as she tossed it to me along with some ammo. “Here, a little thank you for saving my flank back there, Doc. This’ll get you out of a bind if you find yourself in one, it was customized by Ditzy Doo herself back in Junction Town.”

I levitated it up and checked it over. I admittedly wasn’t an expert on weapons, but it was at least relatively clean. I checked the bullets over and slid six of them into the barrel before sliding it into my holster. I didn’t like the idea of using it or any other weapon, but it was at least going to be there in case I needed to defend myself.

I smiled and gave Bluesky a nod as I leaned back in my chair. Bluesky slid her goggles back down over her eyes and after a moment I heard her snoring.

Once the rain faded, we’d be off to Camp Macolt. And to the NCR.

00000

The trip to Camp Macolt after the Firerain ended went quietly. It was starting to get dark by the time we finally reached the edge of the territory, Bluesky had told me she was going ahead to talk to the sentry and that I should stay where she had left me. The NCR apparently didn’t immediately trust anypony who just showed up, and I guess I didn’t blame them for that.

So I found myself sitting there, I was very bored to be honest. I sighed a little as I looked over the items in my bags, with Bluesky talking with the NCR I didn’t have a lot more I could do right now.

I was about to look back towards the camp when I felt a metal object pressed against my head. I gulped and glanced behind me to see a stallion dressed in the same armor I had seen before holding a gun to my head.

“Well, looks like we’ve got a Stable Dweller,” the stallion said with a rather unpleasant grin he levitated up a metal looking collar and glanced at me for a moment. “You’re going to be a good little filly and come back with me. Say one word and you’re dead.”

I gulped and glanced down at my pistol in its holster. It would only take a split second to draw my weapon and shoot this guy if he was distracted. I just needed a moment of distraction, though I really didn’t like the idea of shooting this guy.

That distraction came when a gunshot was heard above our heads. The stallion ducked out of the way, lowering his pistol for a moment and I kicked at him hard, drawing my revolver on instinct more than anything and aiming it at his head, firing a shot into his chest without even thinking about it.

The stallion stood there in stunned silence for a moment before he crumpled to the ground. I just stared there in stunned silence for a moment as I realized what I had just done. The revolver fell out of my telekinetic grip as it fell onto the ground. I stared at the body of the pony for a moment for a long moment.

“Hey Stable Dweller!” A voice said from behind me and I glanced up for a moment. A Unicorn was standing there, likely where the shot had come from. She had dark blue fur with a short black mane and a curled tail. She was dressed in a brown uniform with a tie on and had a rifle levitated up. “Are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah… I answered, though honestly I wasn’t really sure how I was going to answer that question. I struggled to get up, but only managed to stumble and nearly fell onto the ground. “Sorry…”

The Unicorn stared down at me for a moment and then looked at the dead body. She glanced behind her for a moment and sighed. “You two, help her into the camp. We can’t leave her out here for the Empire to get.”

“Yes ma’am,” a voice said from behind her and two soldiers came up to me and carefully helped me up as they lead me towards the dark blue colored Unicorn.

“Who are you?” I asked as I looked at her for a moment.

“Colonel Midnight of the New Canterlot Republic’s First Ranger Division,” the Unicorn answered as we started walking together. “Welcome to Camp Macolt. Your Pegasus friend is waiting for you inside.”

This was going to be a long journey.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Stable Doctor.
Details: You’ve been trained as a Doctor since you were young in your home Stable. You get an extra 10 points in medicine as well as a boost to healing items.

Day 2: Standoff

“Experience is a brutal teacher,

But you learn.

My god, you learn.”

-C.S Lewis.

I groaned a little as I adjusted myself on the bed in Camp Macolt’s infirmary. I was being checked over by the local Doctor, an Earth Pony stallion named Sand Stone. Physically I was fine, but everything just felt like it was falling apart.

I had taken a pony’s life, even if I had known that was going to be inevitable it wasn’t easy to process in my mind. I felt a wet sensation as some of the blood was wiped off my face and looked up at Sand Stone for a moment as I turned my head and sighed a little. It felt weird, like the feeling would never go away.

“Are you okay, Miss?” Sand Stone asked. “You’ve been quiet since you came in here.”

“Just… I don’t know…” I admitted as the door opened as Bluesky entered followed shortly after by Midnight. The Unicorn Colonel looked me over for a moment as if sizing me up and I just shrunk under her gaze. “I’m sorry…”

“You’re lucky to be alive, Doctor Starlight,” Midnight said as she stood there calmly. She spoke with an odd accent that I didn’t recognize, but then again there were only so many accents you heard in the Stable. “You could’ve easily been killed if you hadn’t gotten lucky and I spotted you. Next time don’t stray from your travel companion.”

That didn’t exactly make me feel better, even Bluesky looked regretful about it. The blue Pegasus just muttered an apology as she let Midnight keep talking.

“Look, I know you’re new here, but you’re in the middle of a Warzone and we’re not expecting a supply train for at least a week,” Midnight continued. “Getting you to Jazzland safely would require resources we don’t currently have to spare. I hate to say it to you, but you’re stuck here.”

“Great…” I groaned as I fell back onto the bed. “What about the pony I shot?”

“The Empire will be picking him up later for disposal,” Midnight replied as she shook her head. So casual, just calling it disposal, he was just another enemy to her. “Luckily for you they’re probably not going to demand you as payment. Probably.”

Somehow that didn’t reassure me at all.

“So, what are we supposed to do now?” I asked as I looked between the two other mares. “I just wait here and see if the Empire decides to come for me?”

“There’s not a lot of other options unfortunately,” Midnight said as she looked over at Bluesky. “Not without getting one of the Sky Wagons working again, but that would pose too many problems in my opinion.”

“Right, not with the Firerain clouds,” Bluesky agreed. “Sorry Doc, you’re going to have to stay here at least for now.”

“Yay…” I said with a groan. “I admit out of all the things we considered when we left, this was not exactly one of them. So, is there anything I can do to help around here? I’m willing to help out as best I can at least…”

“Well, we could always use another medical expert around here,” Sand Stone pointed out. “With the fighting going on we’re stretched a bit thin. If she has Stable medical training then it would be a lot of help here, with your approval of course Colonel.”

“Very well, but I want to keep an eye on her for the time being,” Midnight replied as she looked over at me. “No offense, but given you’re an unknown to us I would rather be sure about you before giving you a permanent job.”

“Understandable,” I said with a nod. Given that I had just appeared out of nowhere, I probably would have done the same if I was in her position. “I would be glad to help out though. If there’s anything I can do to help around here just let me know.”

“Doctor Starlight, you’re going to need to get used to life out here, things are not going to be as simple as they were in the Stable,” Midnight said as she eyed me for a moment. She was two inches shorter than me, but she commanded respect and had a feeling of intimidation among her that caught my attention immediately. “Given you lack a commission in the NCR military, you will have to be escorted at all times by either a soldier or Bluesky, understood?”

“Understood,” I said as I looked over at Bluesky who just shrugged. “I will make sure that I follow your rules. If there’s anything else that I need to know, let me know, okay?”

Midnight nodded as she looked at Bluesky for a moment. “Do you have any objections, Bluesky?”

“No, I’m fine with that Colonel,” Bluesky said as she looked at me with a grin. “I wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on a cute mare like the Doc here.”

I blushed deeply at that which just made Bluesky laugh. Midnight couldn’t help but chuckle a little as she adjusted her tie a little and headed back out of the med center. I glanced over at Bluesky and Sand Stone for a moment.

“Uh, is she always so… uptight?” I asked as I looked between the two of them.

“She’s not that bad when you get to know her, but she’s a bit on edge right now so it’s not helping matters,” Bluesky answered. “The Empire has been stepping up the attacks lately and with you killing one of the Imps things didn’t exactly help matters. I think she’s more afraid of their retaliation than anything else.”

“Yeah… I don’t blame her for that,” Sand Stone added with a shake of her head. “The Empire has hurt a lot of ponies in battle. With everything that’s going on, I don’t blame her for being a bit on edge. I know this is all new for you, Dr. Starlight, but maybe we should see if there’s a way to get you north.”

“I understand if that’s not possible,” I replied with a shake of my head. “But still if there’s anything I can do to help, like I said I would be glad to help out. What do you even know about the Colonel anyway?”

“She’s one of the first Rangers, from what I’ve heard they recruited her from some settlement or something to the north, she doesn’t really talk much about her past,” Bluesky replied with a shrug. “I don’t know a lot about her to be honest, but she’s a good fighter at least.”

“I would tell you more, but you know how it is,” Sand Stone replied with a shrug.

“Why do you want to know? You have a thing for tough older Mares or something?” Bluesky asked with a chuckle.

“No, no, I’m not…” I said and blushed deeply at the suggestion and tried to reply all flustered. “I don’t even know if I’m into mares… but she’s not my type… I think… I never really figured that out before…”

Bluesky and Sand Stone just laughed at my response. “Yeah, she’s totally into Midnight,” Bluesky said as she nickered. “Come on Doc, you can do better than the Ice Queen of Neigh Orleans. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her even interested in a pony.”

“Ice Queen of Neigh Orleans?” I asked as I looked at her.

“Oh, just a nickname some of us mercs have given her, don’t worry about it, she’s fine really,” Bluesky said as she waved her hoof. “So, is there anything else you need or can I go ahead and show Ruby to the mess hall? I think she’s probably hungry by now.”

I was about to say something but my stomach growled as if to answer her question. I just chuckled a little and shrugged at that. Checking my PipBuck it was past lunch time, but I was definitely hungry at this point.

“Yeah, everything should be fine,” Sand Stone said as he checked my chart. “But I’d like you to check in before you go to bed. You can either talk to myself or Darklight who usually works the nights. Let me know if there are any problems, okay?”

“Okay,” I said as I got to my hooves. I felt a little wobbly as I walked and was caught by Bluesky who gave me a broad grin. I blushed a little and smiled back sheepishly as I straightened myself out again. “Thanks…”

“You’re welcome, Doc,” Bluesky said as they walked out of the medical center together.

00000

We headed out into Camp Macolt proper. The camp was made up of several buildings that looked like a mix of pre-war buildings along with several makeshift buildings. The building I had just left was named “Helpinghoof Clinic.” Yeah, that made sense, was probably why they had set up the medical center there. Surrounding the camp was a wall with several towers and ponies standing on them with weapons.

I adjusted my lab coat as we started to walk together. There was dead grass under my hooves as we started to walk together past several soldiers along with ponies dressed similar to Bluesky. I got a few weird looks from them, but most of them just ignored me.

“What’s with all the looks?” I asked.

“Stable 26 isn’t exactly a place that ponies see often, or you know, at all,” Bluesky commented with a shrug. “The fact of the matter is that there aren’t a lot of Stable Dwellers out here to begin with, most of them live out west in Jazzland or over in the Quarter.”

“What’s Jazzland anyway?” I asked curiously.

“It’s the largest settlement in this part of Equestria, so it’s typically used as the trading hub and where the NCR has its main base of operations,” Bluesky answered with a shrug. “It’s quite impressive really, it was built out of an old Amusement Park that survived the war and the Firerain.”

"Are there many Stable Dwellers around this part of Equestria?" I asked curiously. While I wasn't surprised there were other Stables, I didn't know there would be more ponies in the area from them. "How many Stables are there in the area?"

“A couple I think, other than yours,” Bluesky said as she looked thoughtful. “And there are rumors that Applejack’s Rangers are looking for one up to the North. I don’t really know much other than that to be honest. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious about how many other Stables made it I guess,” I replied with a shrug as I looked out to the west. In the distance I could barely make out the outline of a large settlement and a ruined city father in the distance. “This is going to take a lot of getting used to…”

"It's the same for a lot of Ponies who leave Stables, don't worry about it," Bluesky told me. "Besides, it could be worse. You were lucky enough not to wind up leaving in the middle of hostile territory or on the edge of a Raider Camp. The NCR is at least pretty friendly, at least when they're not stirring up trouble of their own."

"Uh, do I want to know what that means?" I asked.

"Not really, just try to stay on the good side of the General if he comes this way again," Bluesky replied as we stopped in front of a building. "If you think Colonel Midnight is bad, her boss is worse."

"I didn't think she was that bad... a little stuffy maybe, but I've dealt with worse among Stable Security," I replied with a shrug. "She's certainly got an interesting way of doing things. I can trust her, right? She's not going to give me any trouble for staying here, right?"

"No, don't worry about it," Bluesky said with a wave of her hoof. "Just don't get on her bad side, okay? The last thing I want right now is for something to happen to you."

“Do I want to know what that means?” I asked with a gulp which just made Bluesky laugh loudly.
“Don’t worry, she’s not going to kill you or anything,” Bluesky said. “Really Doc, I’m glad that I found you before the Empire did. I don’t want to think about what they would’ve done to you if they had found you first.”

She placed her hoof on my shoulder for a moment with a pained look in her eyes. I could tell that she had a personal reason to hate the Empire of some sort, but I wasn’t about to pry. I gave her a gentle smile as we headed into the Mess Hall.

Bluesky nodded to a table where I took a seat while she went to get the food from the mess hall pony. I adjusted myself a little as I sat in my seat, levitating up my earbud as I turned the radio to Jazz Radio. The familiar sound of energetic music filled my ears as I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment.

“Listening to Melody again, huh?” Bluesky asked as she set down our trays. “Not that I blame you, there’s not much else in the way of radio these days.”

“Why’s that?” I asked curiously.

“The only other radio station active around here is run by the Empire, and that’s all propaganda,” Bluesky said. “Melody will tell you the truth, no matter how hard it hurts.”

“Something that doesn’t always sit right with ponies,” a stallion commented from down the table with a chuckle. He was dressed in the same NCR Ranger uniform and had an off-white coat as he smiled a little down the table at the two of them. “Hey Bluesky, it’s been a while.”

“Hey Quil,” Bluesky replied with a slight smile as she nodded to me. “This is Ruby Starlight, she saved my flank out East. I probably wouldn’t have made it back without her.”

“Ah, she exaggerates, she probably would’ve figured something out,” I commented bashfully as I rubbed the back of my head a little. “I just happened to be in the area and distracted some Imperial soldiers that were attacking her.”

“Well, that’s something at least,” Quil said. “I admit this place would be kind of boring without Bluesky around to keep things interesting. So, you’re from Stable 26 huh?”

“Yeah, I am, I’m a Doctor from there,” I replied as I played with my collar a little bit. “What about you?”

“I’m from up near Junction Town, got shipped down here with the most recent recruits,” Quil replied with a shrug. “Not much else to say really.”

“So, what should I expect next?” I asked as I looked between the two of them as I took another bite of my food. “I feel like something could happen at any moment. I’m guessing that’s normal around here.”

“Yeah,” Bluesky answered.

“Pretty much,” Quil continued with a shrug. “We could be attacked at any time, it’s the nature of a warzone. The Empire doesn’t like us much, and we don’t like them either.”

Yeah, that really didn’t make me feel much better. I glanced back at the revolver that was strapped to my saddlebags. I had already needed to use ot to kill once, I didn’t like the idea of having to do it again. I thought about what might happen next, the Empire could come after me because of what I had done, but what was I going to do if they didn’t?

Did I even have a chance of surviving if I was going to live in this Wasteland? I wasn’t supposed to be living like this, but here I was, sitting in a Mess Hall belonging to some unknown nation while I waited for something to happen.

I sighed a little and placed my head on the table in front of me for a moment. I needed to get out of here, there was no other way around it. Maybe there was some way I could get back into the Stable. Then again, I was going to be stuck out here according to everything I knew, so what was I supposed to do now?

I felt a hoof on my back and nearly jumped before realizing it was Bluesky. “Doc, are you okay?”

“Just realizing how in over my head I really am right now…” I said softly as I looked at her with a slight sniff. “I don’t know what I’m going to do anymore. There’s nothing that could’ve possibly prepared me for this.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but sometimes you just need to go with the flow,” Bluesky told me as she rubbed my back a little. I had to admit that it felt nice, I sighed happily and closed my eyes, letting the menstrations of the Pegasus’ hooves relax me. “See, that’s not so bad, is it? Everything’s going to be just fine, I promise.”

“Thanks Bluesky,” I said with a weak smile.

“You’re welcome, now listen let’s…” Bluesky started to say when suddenly there was a sound coming from outside. I didn’t recognize the tune, but it sounded like some sort of horn playing a loud note. “Uh-oh.”

“What?” I asked as I looked at her nervously. “What’s that sound?”

“That’s the alarm, trouble is on the way,” Bluesky replied as she and Quil jumped up. “Doc, stay right here, got it? If we’re under attack we don’t want you in the line of fire.”

“Okay,” I said as they headed out the door.

I gulped a little as I shrunk down a bit. There weren’t any other ponies there other than the kitchen staff, and even they looked like they were a bit on edge. This wasn’t helping matters at all as I just shrunk down more, trying not to attract attention.

It was too much of a coincidence that they had come this soon after what had happened. I was pretty sure that this was about me somehow. There wasn’t the sound of gunfire coming from outside at least, so there was that, maybe we weren’t under attack.

Then again maybe they were demanding I be given to them or something. I really, really wished that I was back home right now.

“Ruby, you need to come with me,” a voice said and I looked up to see Midnight standing there. She was quiet, I hadn’t even heard her come in and had a long rifle with a scope slung over her back, she looked like she meant business.

“Why? What’s going on?” I asked, suddenly very worried.

“They want to talk to you, and they’re not going to take no for an answer,” Midnight said as she turned around without another word. I gulped a little and got up and followed here out of the mess hall.

Today was just getting worse and worse.

00000

I was led out to the wall surrounding the camp and led up a set of stairs. Standing on the other side of the wall was a gathering of ponies dressed in black metal armor with weapons strapped to their sides. Standing at the center was a tall stallion dressed in armor with a helmet pulled down over his face and a closed visor. He was a Unicorn, I could tell that much, and had a rifle in a holster on his back.

“Who’s he?” I whispered to Midnight as I took a spot next to Bluesky.

“General Black Sun, he’s Empress’ top General and leading their war effort here in Neigh Orleans,” Midnight said with a scowl. She wasn’t reaching for her rifle yet, so at least it seemed like we weren’t in a fight… yet. “Apparently you did draw their attention after all.”

“Great…” I muttered as I looked down at the armored stallion for a moment. “What’s the fastest way out of here? How did they even know about this?”

“Yeah, not an option,” Bluesky answered. “And if I had to guess either their spies or they had more troops in the area that we didn’t see. Either way, we’ve got a problem. Luckily we’re not going to give them civilians regardless of what they did, right Midnight?”

“Of course not,” Midnight said as she turned her attention back to Black Sun. “General, we have the pony that killed your Officer. I assume we’ll be doing this under the rules of engagement.”

“Of course, I’m hardly one to ignore the rules, Colonel,” Black Sun replied in a cold voice as he stared Midnight down from behind his helmet. “Unlike your Republic, we respect the rules.”

“That was not my call to make, General,” Midnight said through gritted teeth. I looked at her confused for a moment, but I wasn’t about to question it. “What do you want with the civilian? I’m sure you’ll understand that we won’t extradite her to the Empire.”

“Of course not,” Black Sun replied, though I noticed that some of his soldiers didn’t seem happy with that news. “However, she is going to have to make amends for her actions. Given that he was preparing for an operation in the Badlands before he was shot, she will have to carry out his mission.”

The Badlands? I didn’t like the sound of that. And by the look on her face neither did Midnight, she glared at Black Sun before she turned her attention back to me for a moment. “Doctor Starlight, this affects you the most at the moment, so what do you say?”

“What kind of mission are you talking about?” I asked.

“One of our caravans was lost in the Badlands,” Black Sun answered. “He was to be sent to investigate. Given the situation, we don’t have time to prepare another team. And given that lives are at stake here, time is of the essence.”

“What are the Badlands?” I asked.

“That’s complicated, there are two areas called that technically, but I believe he means the one to the northeast,” Bluesky answered. “It’s an area completely scorched by the Firerain surrounding a mountain range. It’s not the kind of area you just walk into, the caravan must’ve been desperate.”

“Figures…” I muttered as I looked back at Black Sun. If there were lives at risk I couldn’t just ignore them, even if they might be an enemy. “You’re putting me in a difficult position, you know that right?”

“Do I look like I care?” Black Sun snapped at me. “The alternative is we take you by force. What’s your choice?”

I thought about it for a long moment. There weren’t a lot of options right now, I hated that I was stuck in this position. I sighed a little as I looked back at Bluesky and Midnight for a moment as Bluesky gave me a slight nod. Right now I didn’t have a lot of choices, anything else would put the ponies in danger.

Lives were going to be in danger either way and I didn’t have much of a choice.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” I said with a nod. “And exactly how do you expect me to get there though? If time is of the essence, then we can’t walk there. And we can’t fly without being shot down by you ponies.”

“Fine, you will be allowed free passage,” Black Sun said. “However you will not be allowed to bring any NCR soldiers with you. So Colonel Midnight can’t send any of her Rangers to back you up I’m afraid.”

“Fine,” Midnight said as she shot me a look. “If those are your terms, then we will agree. But we’re not going to send a civilian into the Badlands alone. One of the mercenaries that work with us will accompany her, understood?”

“Fine, we agree to that,” Black Sun said as he turned to his troops. One of them took out a map and he levitated it up to us. “That’s a map of their route. Follow it and you should find them.”

"I see, I'll keep that in mind," I said as I checked the map. It indeed showed a route that lead through an area labeled the badlands, it seemed to show landmarks so it should be easy enough to find. "We'll investigate as soon as possible."

"You might want to get out there as soon as possible, time is of the essence after all," Black Sun told me. He turned and walked away with his guard.

I groaned a little as I slumped down a bit. I honestly wasn't sure exactly how I was going to handle this. I didn't like taking a mission like this to begin with, especially if I didn't know a lot about where I was going. I hated that I didn't have a lot of support on this either, but maybe I could at least have Bluesky come with me.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I asked as I turned to look at Midnight and Bluesky.

"You're going to have to get out there before dark," Midnight replied. "We'll give you one of our Sky Wagons. Bluesky, you're going with her, I'll pay you extra hazard pay for it."

"Got it," Bluesky replied as she gave me a nod. "Sounds like we're on an adventure together, huh Doc?"

"Yeah," I said as I took a deep breath. "So, what am I going to do in order to get ready for this?"

"Come with me, I'll take you to the armory," Midnight replied as she led us down the stairs again. "With everything that's going on we're going to need to get you properly equipped. They said we can't send our soldiers, he didn't say anything about providing you with ammunition."

00000

"Alright, you've got your typical weapons and ammunition," Midnight said as we entered the armory. There were a line of rifles and pistols along with some heavier weapons secured against the wall. "We can't spare any extra weapons, but we'll give you what ammunition we have for your gun there. May I see it?"

I nodded a little as I levitated the pistol out of my holster and over to Midnight. She examined it carefully for a moment before walking over to one of the shelves.

"Modified .357 Magnum, it's a good weapon, Ditzy Doo's work right?" She asked as she looked back at me and I shrugged a little. "She does good work, the NCR hires her to do a lot of our work. We should have some spare ammo for you to use."

"I'd rather not kill anypony," I commented which made her pause a little. "I know it probably sounds crazy in a world like this, but..."

"No, I get that, not the first time that a Doctor has had that kind of mentality," Midnight commented as she moved over to another shelf and picked up several boxes. "You're going to want these then. They're special ammunition called Non-Lethals, they'll knock a pony out for a few hours. Specially enchanted with knock-out spells. They'll work on most things in the Wasteland, but you're going to have to be careful still."

"Not exactly what I like to use personally, but hey it works," Bluesky commented as Midnight levitated over the box of bullets. I opened them up briefly and found that the bullets inside were tipped with light blue bullets that shone a little bit. "I don't like this though, she's going into a dangerous area of the South."

"I know, which is why I wanted to send you with her," Midnight commented. "You're not bad in a fight yourself and you know the area better than any of the other mercs. Are you two up for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said as I took a deep breath. "I don't like this though, there's way too many things that I just don't know. Are you sure you can only send Bluesky?"

"Yeah, anypony else is tied up in other missions," Bluesky answered with a sigh. “Are you going to be okay with this? I mean, I know we just met and everything…”

“No, that’s fine, I’d rather have you than somepony I don’t know,” I replied with a smile as I gave Bluesky a nod. “Thanks, really, I know this isn’t exactly something that should be considered normal here.”

“It’s better than the alternative,” Midnight said as she looked at me. “The Empire isn’t usually merciful. A Stable Dweller like you would normally be a big target for them, but you’re under our protection, so there’s not much they can do without making things worse for them. We’re currently in a standoff with them, but anything could potentially tip the scales, so be careful..”

Great, just what I needed, more pressure on my shoulders about all of this. I checked the bullets again and nodded a little. At least this would give me a good way to defend myself without killing ponies.

I just hoped I wouldn’t have to take another life.

00000

“Well, this is pretty nice,” I commented as I checked out the Sky Wagon. It looked like it was pretty old and had been repurposed by the NCR. It had the same image of the two headed Ursa Major and star that was on the NCR flag painted on the side. I turned and looked at Midnight who was walking with me while Bluesky got everything set up “What can you tell me about the Badlands?”

“It’s the most desolate area of this part of Equestria, which is saying a lot,” Midnight replied. “It’s not the origin point for the Firerain, which is somewhere in the city itself, but it does have some of the highest concentrations of the phenomenon.”

“Is it safe to move through?” I asked, suddenly very worried about what might happen. “I mean, we’re flying into there… what if a storm kicks up?”

“There will be enough warning to get you out of the way,” Midnight answered. “And you have Bluesky with you as well. Pegasi are able to feel out the weather, and that includes Firerain thankfully. You’ll be just fine, I promise.”

“Yeah, as long as I’m watching that cute flank of yours, you’re going to be just fine,” Bluesky said as she waved at me. “As long as we don’t run into any trouble we’ll be just fine, are you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as I placed my hoof on the sky wagon for a moment. “This is going to take some getting used to though I’ll admit.”

“Are you sure about this? I mean, you’re going to have to fight things there, there are more than a few rumors about what does live in the Badlands,” Bluesky said as she shot Midnight a look. “Is there any other way around this?”

“I’m afraid not,” Midnight answered as she gave me a slight nod. “Be careful out there though. She’s not wrong about the threats there. Promise me you’ll be careful, I don’t want more civilian blood on my hooves.”

“We’ll be careful, I promise,” I replied as I slid the ammo into my revolver. “I don’t like walking into this place. Blue, are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Positive,” Bluesky answered as she gave me a nod. “Alright, let’s get set up to get going then. We should have enough supplies for a few days in the event that we get stranded there. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, I understand,” I said as I pulled open the door to the sky wagon. There were a few chairs lining it, but other than that it was empty. I didn’t like having to be in here alone, maybe it was because I had grown used to being around other ponies in the Stable.

But then again maybe it was just my imagination. At least I still had Bluesky with me. I took a seat in a chair and took out a book that I had been given by Bluesky. She had said that it would be interesting.

I opened it up to the first page and read:

If I’m going to tell you about the adventure of my life -- explain how I got to this place with these people, and why I did what I’m going to do next -- I should probably start by explaining a little bit about PipBucks.

That caught my attention for a moment. This was being told from the perspective of a Stable Dweller like myself. I felt the wagon beneath me start to move as I secured myself and after a moment the sky wagon lifted off and took to the sky being pulled by Bluesky.

I just hoped that we were doing the right thing.

00000

As I checked the time on my PipBuck, we had been traveling for a couple of hours by the time we started to descend. I looked up from my book and out the front Window where Bluesky was flying down towards the ground below. She glanced back at me and gave me a nod as I made sure I was secured.

There were a few bumps as the Sky Wagon finally came to a clean stop on the ground. I unfastened my seat belt and stepped outside where Bluesky was waiting. “Did you find them already?”

“Kind of,” Bluesky answered as she led me slowly around the sky wagon. “Draw your gun just in case.”

“Just in case what?” I hissed but I levitated my revolver out of my holster just in case. “What happened to…”

I was cut off when I actually saw what she had seen. There were several wagons that had been torn apart by some sort of force, it looked almost like a wild animal had attacked it. There were dead animals lying on the ground that looked like pictures I had seen of cows, only mutated and with two heads.

“What happened here?” I asked with a nervous gulp as I gripped the gun tighter. “What attacked them?”

“In this place? It could’ve been anything,” Bluesky answered. Her usual jovial attitude had been replaced with a serious tone in her voice. “I don’t like this, we need to be on our guard, okay?”

“Okay,” I replied as we moved carefully into the tattered remains of the caravan. Bluesky carefully picked through the remains of it while I did the same. “Whoever did this didn’t take much…”

“Just the ponies in the caravan, interesting…” Bluesky agreed as she examined it. “And these weren’t caused by claw marks or anything of the like. That rules out Hellhounds.”

“So, what do you think we’re looking for?” I asked.

“Based on the amount of damage and the fact that they only took the ponies, I’d say we’re dealing with Alicorns,” Bluesky told me.

“Alicorns? You mean like the Princesses?” I asked as I looked confused. “They’re still around?”

“No, not exactly like the Princesses,” Bluesky answered. “They’re created by a potion called the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion, it was developed by the Ministry of Arcane Science during the war. The one’s here are, well, insane. They’re dangerous and likely took the ponies away to be converted.”

“Great…” I said with a groan. “So what exactly are we going to do? We can’t just go back empty hooved.”

“I know, so we’re going to need to find them,” Bluesky answered. “Start looking for anything salvageable. I’m going to see if I can find any signs of a trail or anything else that might tell us where to go to find them.”

“Okay,” I said as I started picking through the remains of the caravan.

There wasn’t a whole lot to find right now. Some of it was food that looked like it had been gone through already. There were also discarded bullet casings, so there had definitely been a fight here. This whole thing was making me uneasy, especially if there were Alicorns involved, whatever that meant, so I was really wishing I had more back-up.

“Find anything interesting?” Bluesky asked.

“Not much really, it looks like there was a fight, there’s some blood here but no bodies, weird…” I commented as I bent down to look at the blood. “Is this normal behavior for the Alicorns?”

“Southern Alicorns? Who knows, they’re a bit unpredictable,” Bluesky answered. “They’re more unstable and highly unpredictable as a result when compared to their counterparts up North. They could’ve taken them anywhere at this point. As for a trail, I think I found something heading towards the mountains.”

“Yeah, noted,” I said as I looked towards the mountains in the distance. I levitated a pair of binoculars that I had been given out and focused on them, but I didn’t see anything in particular. “So, which way?”

“That way,” Bluesky answered as she pointed towards a few mountains in particular. “There are some caves there that were pony made from the war. Or at least that’s what the rumors say. It might be worth investigating.”

“Yeah, let’s check it out,” I agreed. “That kind of place would be perfect for them to hide in.”

“Alright, let’s grab the Sky Wagon and check the closest one,” Bluesky said as we headed back towards the sky wagon. “We’re going to be just fine. We just need to be careful really, I don’t like the odds if there are Alicorns out there.”

“Great…” I said with a sigh as I climbed back into the Sky Wagon.

Now it was just a matter of seeing what happened next.

00000

“So, what should we expect here?” I asked quietly as we made our way towards the cave. It was the nearest cave to the attacked caravan. “Is this where the Alicorns are?”

“I don’t know,” Bluesky admitted as she bent down and looked at the entrance. “It looks like there were Alicorns here, but they either took off or went deeper into the cave. I’m getting a lot of tracks around here though.”

“So, it might be the Alicorns?” I asked and Bluesky just shrugged. “Right, we don’t know.”

“Yeah, it could be just about anything,” Bluesky said. “Okay, let’s go in quietly. Hopefully, we’ll not run into anything major. I hope so at least.”

I glanced up at the sky for a moment. The clouds were looking angrier than they were earlier, maybe that meant that the Firerain was coming again. I looked over at Bluesky and she looked a little uncomfortable. She looked back at me and nodded a little as we headed into the cave together, the sound of our hooves echoing against the walls.

The cave seemed empty and I was about to say something to Bluesky when there was a growling sound. Suddenly out of the shadows two large limbs grabbed me, holding me tightly.

“Hey, what gives!” I demanded, trying to struggle against the grip of whatever it was. I managed to get a look at Bluesky, she was being held by a large canine creature that had her pinned. “What are you?”

“They’re Hellhounds!” Bluesky said. “They’re part of a pack that lives in the Badlands. I should’ve known they’d be here…”

“No struggle… won’t hurt if no struggle,” the one holding me said as more Hellhounds stepped into view. They all looked haggard and like they had been in some sort of fight. “What ponies want?”

“We’re looking for the Alicorns that attacked the Imperial Caravan in the Badlands,” I said as I stopped struggling. “We’re just here to search the caves for them. Please, just let us go and we won’t bother you.”

“Why should we?” The Hellhound asked. “Pony has meat on bones, would feed the pack.”

“Oh boy…” Bluesky muttered. “I don’t think they’re going to let us go, Doc. Any idea of what we should do now?”

I gulped a little as I thought quickly. We weren’t able to fight, and if I tried to levitate something up to knock out the one holding me the others would just gang up on me. I quickly came up with a plan, tapping into my SATS I realized they were each injured to varying degrees. Some of them looked like they were at risk of getting infected.

“I’m a Doctor!” I called out. “You’re all injured, maybe I can help you. Just let us go and I’ll get you all healed. In return, just help us find the Alicorns, okay? We’re not going to hurt you, right Blue?”

“Uh yeah, right,” Bluesky said. She seemed more nervous than anything else, but at least she seemed willing to go with my plan. “She’s a great Doc. She managed to heal me up not long ago, give her a chance.”

“Fine, will let pony Doctor heal Pack,” the Hellhound holding me said as they let us go. “More medicine in back if needed.”

“Blue, go check in the back of the cave, I’ve got this,” I said as I looked at Bluesky and started to tend to one of the worst off Hellhounds. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn’t even moving and I looked up at her to see that she had a concerned look on her face. “Blue, I’m going to be fine. Just go get the supplies.”

“Okay,” Bluesky said as she headed towards the back of the cave. I took a deep breath and started working on the Hellhounds. I wasn’t familiar with their anatomy, I hadn’t seen anything like this in Stable 26, but I was able to improvise a little.

Bluesky eventually returned with more supplies as I finished on another one of the Hellhounds. It didn’t take much longer to get them all healed, even if it wasn’t easy to figure out how some of their anatomy worked. I finally patched up the last of the Hellhounds and wiped my brow, taking a deep breath.

“There you go, that’s the last of them,” I said as I looked at the Hellhound I had come to know was their Alpha. “What happened to all of you anyway? It looks like you were in some sort of fight.”

“Alicorns drove us from Den,” the Alpha said as he crossed his arms in annoyance. “They stole home from Hellhounds.”

I paused a moment at that, if they really had been driven out by the Alicorns that meant we had an idea of where we had to go. I looked out the cave entrance, the Firerain was still going down harder than ever. But still, this would give us an edge if we had to fight against the Alicorns, at least I hoped it would.

“Look, we’ll help you take your den back from the Alicorns, but we need to rescue some ponies they kidnapped,” I told the alpha. “We finish our mission and you get your home back. That seems like a fair trade, don’t you think?”

The Hellhounds exchanged a look before going to talk it over. Bluesky walked up next to me, she didn’t look happy with the arrangement. “Are you sure about this, Doc?”

“Honestly? No, but if we’re going to deal with Alicorns we’re going to need some sort of support,” I replied. “And since Colonel Midnight isn’t here to help, we’re going to have to improvise.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Bluesky whispered. “Hellhounds aren’t exactly the most civilized of creatures in the Wasteland. I really hope you know what you’re doing, or this might backfire on us horribly.”

“Yeah, I know, me too,” I said as I glanced back at my pistol. We were either going to have allies or have a fight on our hooves. “Let’s just hope they’re willing to listen.”

The Alpha finally stepped forward and eyed the two of us. “We will help ponies once. Once the rain stops, we bring you to Den.”

“Alright, we have a deal then,” I said as I offered a hoof and the Hellhound carefully took it and shook it. I looked back out at the falling orange rain for a long moment and sighed, it looked like there wasn’t much we could do at the moment at least. “So, what supplies do we have to help with the fight?”

The Hellhounds brought out what they had managed to gather. There were a few rifles along with ammunition, though Bluesky noted that not all of it matched the weapons we had. There was also some equipment including something called a StealthBuck, that might come in handy at least.

“Well, it’s not exactly the arsenal back at camp, but it’ll do,” Bluesky said as she poked through the gear. “We’ll need a plan though, this isn’t a situation where you should wing it.”

“Right,” I agreed as I looked over the gear again. “This Stealthbuck might come in handy. Alicorns can’t see you when you’re invisible, right?”

“Pretty sure they can’t,” Bluesky answered with a shrug as she reached down and picked up an odd looking orb. “Huh, a Memory Orb. I don’t think that’s going to be very useful in a fight though, unless they’re dumb enough to fall for that trick. But still, it might be interesting for you to check out if you’re interested.”

“A memory orb?” I asked, confused. I hadn’t heard of anything like that before. “What’s a memory orb?”

“Well, it’s kind of what it says on the tin,” Bluesky replied with a chuckle. “They’re a recording of another pony’s memories really. I couldn’t tell you exactly how it works, I’m not a Unicorn. As far as I can tell you can tap into them with your magic and you can actually relive the memory. Though I’d rather not try it myself, the whole thing sounds uncomfortable to me, but knock yourself out if you want to try it.”

She tossed it over to me and I looked at it curiously for a long moment. This actually contained the memories of a pony? What kind of memories would it contain? Who did it even belong to?

“I… I might check it out,” I finally said as I looked at Bluesky for a moment. “Are you going to be okay out here without me? I’m guessing it doesn't exactly leave me capable of moving around.”

“Don’t worry, as long as it’s not exactly a long one, I think you should be fine,” Bluesky replied with a slight smile before giving me a wink. “And I’ll keep an eye on that cute flank of yours to make sure that nothing happens to you.”

I blushed a little at that as Bluesky just chuckled. “Yeah, uh, okay I’ll give it a shot,” I said. I figured there wasn’t any harm in it as long as Bluesky figured we would be okay. “If you really think it’ll be okay.”

Bluesky nodded as we headed to a corner and I sat down as I levitated up the Memory Orb. I connected with it using my magic and with that the world around me turned black.

00000

I blinked a little in confusion as I looked around. I was in a fancy looking room that looked almost like a Stable, but not nearly as elaborate. The pony, whoever she was (I could tell she was female at least), was walking through a door and out onto a platform.

A Sky Wagon with the Stable-Tec logo I had seen I don’t know how many times landed on the platform. It opened up as a ramp slid down and an orange Pegasus with a short purple mane and dressed in a black suit with a tie walked down it. She looked at my host who bowed her head slightly.

“Ms. Scootaloo, it’s good to see you again,” my host said. Scootaloo, I had heard that name before. Supposedly she had been the one to set up Stable 26, but that was about all I knew off the top of my head. “What brings you to our site?”

“I’m here to make sure everything is on schedule,” Scootaloo said as she looked at my host and actually smiled a little. “But it’s good to see you too, Honey. It’s been years since we last saw each other.”

“Yeah…” Honey said softly as we turned around and headed through the door in the rock behind us. The inside looked like the inside of a Stable, the walls had the same designs and everything. But this wasn’t a Stable, I honestly wasn’t sure what it was. But it did have the same basic architecture with ponies dressed in lab coats walking around. “We’ve been doing a lot of testing on the equipment you sent us. They should be ready for use in the Stables proper.”

“Good,” Scootaloo said as she took a deep breath. “Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom have been checking the other testing sites.”

“Good… I mean we’re only able to work with what we have,” my host said. “We’ve tested everything short of a full on Megaspell at this point. The radiation scrubbers as well as the systems we’ve been working on should work with no problem. I just hope that it’s going to be enough.”

“Good,” Scootaloo said with a deep breath. “Honey, I wanted to talk to you about something else while I was here. I’ve heard that you have been working with the Ministry of Peace to learn about how to do memory spells.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m still not very good at it,” my host admitted. I could feel that she was slightly ashamed by telling that to Scootaloo. “Why do you ask?”

“I need a pony who can use the spells and I can trust,” Scootaloo answered and sighed. “I can find somepony else if you don’t want to do it. I’d ask Sweetie, but she’d just ask questions that I’m not ready to answer.”

“I’m not very good at using the spell though, I might mess up,” my host said. “I could hurt you badly if I did that.”

“I know, but I’m sure you’ll do fine, please Honey?” Scootaloo asked. I had to wonder why Scootaloo was being so insistent about this. Was there something else going on that I missed? “I believe in you.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll try, but first let me show you what we’ve done around here,” my host said as she pointed over towards the door. “I think you’ll be happy with what we’ve done here. I’ll take you to the office once we’re done with the tour, okay?”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said as we started into the facility together. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve made here. Hopefully it will be enough if the worst happens.”

“Do you think there’s a chance that it won’t happen?” My host asked. I could feel the hope in her voice, not that I blamed her. There was something about viewing the lives of these ponies that felt weird. Like I was watching a film that I knew the ending to, but only the ending and was seeing how it got to that point.

As we walked down the hallway, my vision turned white.

00000

I rubbed my head as I came back to the present. Nothing had happened to me while I was unconscious, so that was good at least. I glanced out at the cave entrance only to find that the firerain was still falling. I took a deep breath and headed back out, looking around the cave for a moment.

This definitely wasn’t the location I had seen in the memory. While there were parts that were definitely pony made, I had to wonder what was up with it. Maybe there was something we were missing, something else up in these mountains.

“Hey Ruby!” Bluesky said as she came up to me. “The Hellhounds say that they’re about ready to go once the Firerain is over. How are you feeling? Did you learn anything interesting from the orb?”

“Maybe,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head a little. Honestly I was still kind of processing the whole thing. It was weird to experience another pony’s memories, kind of unsettling really. But still, it was interesting at least. “It was a memory of a pony who worked at a Stable-Tec facility talking with Scootaloo. I don’t really know much else other than that, I think they were talking about memory spells.”

“Huh, interesting,” Bluesky commented before her ears perked up curiously. “Wait, did you say Scootaloo? How do you know about her?”

“Well, yeah, everypony in Stable 26 knows about her,” I answered with a shrug. “She left the recording for my ancestors to build a new society in Stable 26. We’ve all pretty much read the original message in one way or another.”

“Uh, huh… my mom told me about her a few times,” Bluesky said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “She was the first pony to leave the skies above a long time ago. The first of the Dashites as they’re called, my mom was one. I always liked the stories of her, she was kind of a hero to me, you know?”

“Huh… interesting,” I said as I looked thoughtful for a moment. “Anyway, did you learn anything about where we’re going from the Hellhounds?”

“Apparently it’s a cave farther up the mountain, not much more to tell than that honestly,” Bluesky answered as she adjusted her goggles a little. “I’ll be honest I don’t get a lot of what they’re saying. They said something about the Alicorns being from a metal cave being further up the mountain, maybe that’s what you saw in the orb?”

“Maybe, it would definitely fit the description of what I saw,” I admitted as I shrugged. “So, what do you think we should do now? How long is the Firerain going to last?”

“I don’t know, it could end in a few minutes or a few hours,” Bluesky admitted as we headed out to where the Hellhounds were waiting for us. “Any sign of the rain letting up?”

“No blue pony,” the Alpha answered as he turned back at us. The reddish-orange rain was still falling outside. “Burning rain won’t let up soon.”

“I see,” I said as I took a seat against the cave wall and looked at Bluesky for a long moment. “I guess then we don’t have much else we can do but wait.”

“Yeah,” Bluesky agreed as she sat down next to me. She pushed up her goggles, smiling at me with her shining blue eyes.

“So, Bluesky said that the Alicorns come from some sort of metal cave,” I commented as I looked over at the Alpha again. The Hellhound tilted his head curiously as if asking why “I’m curious is all. I saw something in the Memory Orb.”

“Yes, metal cave near top of mountain,” the Hellhound answered. “It was built before war by ponies. Hellhound ancestors were hired to help clear it out and we came to live in these lands. Alicorns came and took cave, they control metal cave now.”

“I see,” I said as I looked at Bluesky and she nodded. “Well, we’ll make sure that you don’t lose another home to them. We’ll do what we can to make sure that they’re stopped, okay?”

“Good ponies, if succeed you become part of pack,” the Alpha said. “We will help as best we can. If need anything, let know.”

I shook my head a little and laid back against the rock wall. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a bit tired after everything that had happened. We still had to wait for the rain to stop falling, so I figured there was no harm in resting my eyes for a little while.

I drifted slowly off to sleep, enjoying the cool cave air on my fur.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Negotiator.
Details: You have a silver tongue that helps you convince others to help you, even when they’d rather hurt you sometimes. You get an extra 5 points speech and barter.