Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Jewel

“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.