Fallout Equestria: Anomaly

by Crono411

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Fallout, Tragedy, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other
Length: 97351

Ardent Fable only knew his boring life in his small, out of the way, town. That is until an infamous group of ponies storms through bringing the chance of a lifetime, albeit possibly a short one.

Ardent Fable loves listening to stories about the Wasteland, dangerous creatures, epic fights, and explorations of Stables with their twisted experiments. Although he could paint a scene from tales alone, sometimes he just wanted to be there himself. When a infamous group of ponies storms through his tucked away town, all the stories become shockingly real. Tossed into a world of legends, he starts to learn how many stories are connected and that there is someone out there who wants to see them all come to an end.

Inspired by Fallout: Equestria, written by Kkat. You don't need to read the original for this sidefic but I include a lot of references that you may not otherwise get. I love Fallout and I love ponies so thank you Kkat for the amazing universe you created!

I created a wiki page, it was fun, I'll be updating it as I release chapters assuming I have the time
http://falloutequestria.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Equestia:_Anomaly

Cover Art done by Asimos
http://asimos.deviantart.com/

A special thank you to EverfreePony for taking to time to inform me of the errors that slipped through the cracks. This thank you also goes out to Doomande, if you look through the comments you'll know why.

A fellow FoE writer and I have gotten together and are helping one another to spruce up our fics. Thank you NyxOs for all the help with grammar and whos description skills are an inspiration as seen in the fic Fallout: Equestria - Of Shadows

Published 2016-12-14 02:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-08-25 14:26:23 UTC

Chapter 2: E.L.P.I.S.

Chapter 2

I’m alive! I’m alive and somepony is shining a light into my eyes. I went to push the light away but collided with somepony’s hoof.

“What are you doing?” I mumbled. My head throbbed, each throb felt like a stallion bucking me in the temple.

“Ah,” A unicorn with smoky grey eyes said. “Looks like you finally recovered from your concussion.”

“My what?!”

“His what!?” Nibble gasped. “Gale, what are you talking about?”

“Ohhh, did I forget to mention?” he chuckled. “Our newest member has been suffering from a concussion for the past two days.”

My eyes widened. Two days! I took note of my surroundings. I was riding on a caravan in the middle of nowhere. There was no lightly trod path, no scrap metal shacks, just patches of starving grass and miles of flat plains.

“Yes you did,” Nibble hissed through clenched teeth. “Is he okay?”

“Of course. He might be suffering from some memory loss.”

I placed a hoof on my temple, and was assaulted by fragmented memories. Somepony forcing me to drink a red concoction. Nibble asking me something. A robotic dog head sitting where my house should be. Shot Chaser waving me goodbye. Ponies donning me with weapons and armor. I looked down to confirm I was indeed adorned with studded leather armor and a battle saddle.

“So he doesn’t remember anything after agreeing to join us?” Nibble asked.

“Technically, he most likely won’t remember that either.” Gale’s smile widened into a devilish grin that revealed a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

Nibble placed a comforting hoof on my shoulder. My mind went wild. I joined them? My house was gone? Shot Chaser let me leave with one of the most infamous groups in the wastes? My body lost feeling as my vision grew foggy.

“Oh look,” Gale whinnied, “he's going to faint.”

======

When I awoke I felt like a thin blanket was wrapped around me. I drifted in the air until the blanket vanished and I fell flat onto the ground. My eyes shot open, a pegasus with a dark brown coat and near black mane towered over me. He wore thick leather armor, a battle saddle equipped with laser rifles, and a device similar to the one Nibble had on her leg. His yellow eyes bore down on me.

“Stand!” he commanded. I got up and saw the same device on my leg. What the hell is this thing? Nibble and the others stood in a line with their eyes forward.

“State your name,” the pegasus demanded.

“Ardent Fable.” I rubbed at my temple as the throbbing returned.

The pegasus continued, “Now that Gale’s fun has run its course it’s time for a formal introduction. You are the newest member of the Elite and Legendary Ponies Instituting Survival, commonly referred to as Elpis”

“But-”

“You may speak when I am done!” the pegasus boomed. He glared at me until certain I would stay quiet. “We are a team finding the best the wasteland has to offer. The best support, equipment, and ponies.” He looked me over and scrunched his nose. “You were recommended, and your stand alone feat has been recognized.” He paced over to the white and blonde mare. “This is Mangle.” He pointed to sky blue unicorn with a grey mohawk. “That’s Gale Cutter, and the last one is Nibble” He stomped his hoof to the ground. “I am Jaded Clover. From now on Elpis is your life. Any questions?”

I fumbled with words until, “I didn’t earn any of this,” came out. Clover raised an eyebrow. I gestured to all the new things I wore.

He blinked. “Each member is fitted to be useful. You can’t earn your equipment if you can’t fight, consider it being paid in advance. Anything else?”

YES! The words caught in my throat.

“Good!” Clover said dismissively, “We head out in five minutes.” He glared at Gale then flew off. His barding stretched past his flank, concealing his cutie mark. He landed in the driver's seat of the caravan which was connected to a brahmin.

Gale and Nibble approached me as Mangle headed to the caravan. I caught a glimpse of her cutie mark, a sledgehammer.

“What is going on?” I asked nopony in particular.

“You,” Gale said, “are now part of one of the most infamous groups in Equestria.”

I checked Gale’s teeth to make sure I wasn’t crazy, they were indeed sharp. In fact everything about him appeared sharp, his ears, tail, and horn were all pointed, and a blood splattered scalpel gleamed off his flank. Wow these cutie marks totally don’t make this look like a raider group, I thought sarcastically.

“How did that happen? I never said I would join.”

“But you did. Nibble here got permission from Clover. She asked if you wanted to join and you said yes.”

“I don’t remember that,” I explained.

Gale laughed, “Irrelevant, you said yes.”

“How the fu-”

Nibble wrapped a hoof around me, “Oh come now Ardent, you need to stop sweating the small stuff.”

Joining Elpis was small stuff?! These ponies made it on the radio all the time, and DJ Pon3 rarely had good things to say.

I removed her hoof. “How did you miss the fact I was suffering from a concussion for two days?”

“I just thought you were a pony of few words. You were still responsive. Although, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Clover knew.”

“And why didn’t you do anything about it?” I pointed at Gale.

He smiled the same devilish grin as before “I wanted to see your reaction. It was well worth it by the way, never seen a pony faint quite the way you did. Nibble’s ignorance was just a bonus, and I don't think the others cared.” He glanced over to the caravan “Best not keep Clover waiting.” He trotted away.

Nibble pushed me along. “So, can you do magic?”

I sighed, that had to be one of the most annoying questions of my life. I understood her curiosity, an earth pony with a large sparkling tome for a cutie mark was rather strange, and to be fair, I did know magic tricks. However, I decided to take the question literally.

“No,” and before she could press the issue I asked, “what is this thing on my leg?”

“That’s a Stable Tec Pip-Buck.” We reached the caravan and hopped in the back. “It does a whole bunch of amazing things that would take forever to explain. Luckily there is a manual built into it.“ She grabbed my hoof and navigated to the manual screen. “Start with the guides on S.A.T.S. and E.F.S. Now, if you need me I will be tinkering with my toys.” She winked.

The caravan’s floorspace matched the size of my house, which was more of an insult to my living condition than a complement to the caravan. Its wood planks varied from new to mainly tape. Bullet holes riddled one of the sides. I found comfortable place to sit and watched as we moved through the expanse of cracked earth and dying plants.

I always wanted to travel the wasteland to gather a few interesting stories, but I originally thought it would be as a delivery pony for Shot Chaser, not as a member of one of the most feared groups in Equestria. This had to be a mistake, Shot Chaser would never let me leave with Elpis. They must have pressured him, somehow. I need to find a way back when we arrive at… I have no idea where we’re going.

I turned to ask Nibble but had to shield my eyes from a bright light. Sparks showered around her as she welded two pieces of metal together. Nibble had thrown on a cloak to protect her hair from the sparks and a heavy black helmet that allowed her to stare directly into radiant fire.

“Don't worry,” Gale said while he cleaned his surgical tools, “The fire rarely spreads to the caravan.”

“Rarely?” I took a step back which caused Gale to smirk. I sighed, I'm making it way too easy for him.

“Where are we headed?” I asked.

“New Appleloosa,” Gale said, “Only a few hours away, I think.”

I can figure a way home when I got there, no point in jumping ship now. With nothing else to do I brought up the manual for S.A.T.S.

"Welcome to the Stable Tec’s Furthering Information Manual. You have chosen to further your knowledge on the Stable Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, otherwise known as S.A.T.S. Inside your Pip-Buck there is a spell matrix that slows down time and allows you to take aim at a variety of targets. This includes, but is not limited to invading zebras, weapons held by the enemies, rabid animals, haywire machines, and traitorous ponies. When entering S.A.T.S. it will target the closest hostile and the body part with the highest percentage to hit. Other parts of the body can be targeted and the chances will be shown to you. If you do not like the chances you are allowed to cancel the spell at that point with almost no consequence. You can queue multiple shots or swings to multiple targets. S.A.T.S. is limited, the smaller and easier the weapon is to handle the more shots/swings the targeting part of the spell can handle. After the targets are selected the next part of the spell kicks in. This spell guides and moves your body following the instructions from the targeting spell. One of the greatest breakthroughs with this spell is that you do not need to be able to aim weapons to have excellent accuracy. The spell has saved stances and guiding movements so you will shoot like a pro. After the queue fires the spell matrix will deplete and will take some time to recharge. You will be able to use S.A.T.S. again as soon as even a single shot or swing can be queued up. Mild variability has been found between ponies when it comes to accuracy and queue limit. The causes are still unknown. Further research is being done. Thank you for choosing to further your education on S.A.T.S."

I can’t believe it, I have never used a real gun in my life, yet this thing on my leg claims that won’t be a problem. If it’s true, a Pip-Buck must be worth a fortune, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I scrolled through the endless manuals and flipped through a few of the screens. The device kept track of my vitals, inventory, weapons, and ammo. I had a battle saddle equipped with two hunting rifles. One screen showed an overview map of Equestria with my location. I went back to the manual screen to learn about Eyes Forward Sparkle when the caravan came to a stop.

“Ardent,” Clover called back,” there are a few bloatsprites up head. Go take care of them.”

“M-me?” I pointed to myself.

He raised an eyebrow. I grew suddenly aware that everypony was staring at me. No doubt any member of Elpis can take care of a few bloatsprites, this must be a test, or because I’m the newest member I have to do the dirty work.

“Psst,” Nibble whispered. “Try out E.F.S.”

I nodded, hopped out of the caravan, and activated E.F.S. Multiple indicators appeared at the bottom of my vision, along with a compass that rotated with my movements. I turned to face the road ahead, and three red marks rotated onto on the compass. This is strange. I waved a hoof in front of my face but the images were still there. It was like they were on my eyes.

I spotted three flying bloated balls up ahead. I had seen bloatsprites before because they tended to wander near Dust often. I’d never heard of them killing anypony since they only shot thin needles. Nonetheless, I started to shake knowing the others were watching me, judging me. I went into S.A.T.S. and time slowed. A hit chance below fifty percent appeared on the nearest bloatsprite so I canceled the spell and inched closer. I crept on the uneven earth until I stepped on a withered plant. The bloatsprites heard the crunching noise and moved in.

Shit, shit, shit! I went into S.A.T.S. and queued one shot for each creature. I let the next part of the spell take over as it adjusted my body and fired the battle saddle. The first two bloatsprites exploded into mucus covered chunks as bullets ripped through them. The last shot missed and disappeared into the horizon.

Two thoughts ran through my head. Holy Luna, Pip-Bucks can truly do miracles, and fucking Celestia this needle that just shot through my cheek hurts! I fired the battle saddle without the aid of S.A.T.S. The barbed needle pricked at my tongue with each shot, and the taste of iron flooded my taste buds. The shots were sporadic and none of them came close to hitting the bloatsprite.

Thankfully the bloatsprite’s aim reflected my own, and the rest of its needles ricocheted off my armor or missed completely. I went to fire the battle saddle again, Click-Click. I think that noise means I’m out of ammo. I froze. How do you reload?!

Two needles found a home in my leg. From the corner of my eye I saw Mangle lunge forward. She launched herself at the bloatsprite, and crushed it under her metallic hoof.

She landed and locked her blue eyes on me. “That was fucking pathetic.” She trotted back to the caravan.

I limped back and glanced at Clover, but before our eyes could meet he looked away.I hopped into the caravan and was confronted by Nibble and Gale’s hysterical grins.

“Those look like they hurt.” Gale motioned me over to him. “It will hurt more when I have to take them out.” I drudged over and sat next to him, my body still shaking.

“What's that phrase Clover uses to describe Elpis?” Gale mused, “‘Alone we are legendary, together we stand above the gods.’ It might need revision.”

“It still applies to most of us,” Nibble giggled. They don’t need to worry, I won't hold them back for long. Nibble saw the defeat in my eyes and tried to encourage me “We’re only joking. Looks like you picked up on S.A.T.S. pretty fast.” I rolled my eyes. She leaned in and whispered, “To reload you just need to buck, the battle saddle does the rest.”

I facehoofed.

“Open.” Gale levitated a medical instrument to my muzzle. I obeyed. He grasped the stinger on the inside of my mouth and pulled it through.

“That wasn’t too bad.” I rubbed my cheek. The bleeding had already stopped.

“That one was easy. When I pull the others from your leg I will need to dig for any barbs that break off.”

I shuddered, Shit, this is going to hurt.

======

"Welcome to the Stable Techs Furthering Information Manual. You have chosen to further your knowledge on Eyes Forward Sparkle otherwise known as E.F.S. When you activate E.F.S. a spell will activate and alter your vision. Your vision will then display a heads up display, HUD, at the bottom of your peripherals showing any nearby locations. Most importantly it will show indicators for other sentient beings. These indicators will be one of two colors. Red for hostile, and blue for neutral or friendly targets. The color of the friendly indicator is adjustable in your Pipbuck color settings. This spell is limited, but not stopped, by walls and ceilings. The indicator will not be able to distinguish if a target is above or below you. If there is no movement for a prolonged period of time E.F.S. will turn off automatically. It should be noted the range of E.F.S. has varied from pony to pony. Studies have not yet been conclusive. Thank you for choosing to further your knowledge on E.F.S."

The hud was still on from my fight with the bloatsprites. I attempted to look at the interface directly but it was always at the bottom of my vision. This is going take some getting use to. Suddenly in the upper area of my vision words appeared.

===New Appleloosa===

New Appleloosa, like Dust, lacked any fortifications around the town. Instead a single guard pony greeted us. He shifted in place at our approach and stiffened when we stopped at his command.

“Y’all got business n’ town?” he asked

“What’s it to you?” Clover shot back.

“I’m-” The guard visibly swallowed. “I’m just doin’ my job.”

Clover’s expression lightened and he nodded. “Just passing through.”

The guard relaxed and waved us on.

Clover brought the caravan over to a brahmin feed. He opened the back of the caravan, and addressed us, “Same plan as usual. I am going to go have a chat with some ponies of interest. Meet back here in an hour.” He flew off, leaving us to our own devices. This might be my chance to get out of here. Mangle got out with Gale close behind her. I left when they were out of sight.

My pace picked up when I saw the trading district. More ponies than I had ever seen crowded near the storefronts. Ponies haggled, gossiped, and shouted over each other to form a indistinguishable din. I bit down on a smile.

I’m out of Dust, exploring the world, seeing new things, adventuring. Maybe I was being too hasty about leaving Elpis. I wandered into a general store where a hoofful of ponies were shopping. I walked the length of the shelves to compare their wares to Dust’s measly selection.

When I finished the shopkeeper spoke up, “Can- can I help ya?”

“Me?” I asked. She flinched when I turned to face her. I glanced around and noticed the store was empty. The mare started to sweat and shifted in place. Why is she scared? I couldn't explain it until I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window. My armor was studded with small metal spikes, and the guns attached to my battle saddle aimed wherever I faced. She… she’s scared of me. Is that why the other ponies left? I laughed at the thought of ponies being intimidated by me, which only added to the shopkeeper's distress.

“Sorry.” I apologized to the mare and took my leave.

I decided to wander away from the main parts of town. The town must have been built on a pre war train junction, because I ended up in a rail yard full of train cars with a massive crane in the center. Nibble followed me, and made no attempt to hide as she trotted up to my side.

“They should find a use for all of these.” She waved a hoof over the train cars. “Like build a wall or something.”

“How would they move them?” I asked.

“With the crane, obviously.”

“Probably doesn't work. I'm sure somepony has tried.”

“I could get it working,” She mumbled. We walked silently for awhile. “You aren’t planning on doing a disappearing act... are you?” Her eyebrows drew together in an uneasy look. She was worried about me, not something I saw often.

I stopped and stared at the ground. “Shouldn’t I? You saw me back there. I don’t add anything. I’m just going to get killed.”

“You may be a bad shot, but at least you are good with technology.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Sure you are you built PM3… the rocket launcher. Don’t doubt yourself.”

I sighed, “I copied you.” Based on her expression she needed more explanation, “I don’t know anything about electronics. Since I saw you make it, I remembered how you set it up. All I did was copy your movements.” I lowered my head, and felt as if I lied to her.

“Oh.” She frowned. There was a pause before she perked back up. “You have a pretty amazing memory. I bet you can do all sorts of things with it.”

I smiled. “Not really, anypony can remember.”

“Clover will find a use for it, he is great at using ponies. You should stick with us, no offense but you don’t really have anyplace to go back to.”

Oh shit, that’s right, my house was destroyed. I bit my lip. “I could stay with Shot Chaser.”

Nibble tilted her head. “I doubt your dad wants you to come back, he encouraged you to leave after all.”

“He’s not-” A heavy weight filled in my chest. “He wanted me gone?” Why? Wasn't I useful to him, didn't I do everything he wanted. Why would he want to be rid of me?

“Well I don't know about wanted. What was it he said?” Nibble stood taller and lowered her voice. “‘I look forward to hearing your stories.’ Some cheesy stuff like that. He seemed to trust us, so you should stick with us.”

I felt my eyes start to burn. Maybe I should stay with them. “That thing Clover said about Elpis, how it’s my life, does… did he really mean it?”

“Why, worried you’ll have to spend the rest of you days with us?” Nibble joked.

The opposite.

A loud grumble escaped my stomach making me realize I was starving after the day’s ordeals. Happy for the distraction I responded,“I’ll think about it. Tell me I brought my caps?”

She giggled and pointed at my Pip-Buck. “I forgot you were concus-ified when we explained this to you. We all get basic supplies just in case something happens. I’m sure you noticed the canteen around your neck.” She got intimately close and flicked it. “If you look at your inventory tab you can see what’s in your saddle bag.” She grabbed my hoof and navigated to the inventory screen. “You should have food and other basic necessities.”

Who just gives somepony all these supplies? Turns out I had food and caps on me, although not enough to pay for anything useful, like a ride home. I opened the canteen and took a drink. My Pip-Buck clicked and I glanced down to see the geiger counter waver slightly, indicating I was taking in small amounts of radiation. Seriously, what can’t this thing do?! If this is an advanced payment, I’ll never be payed again.

When Nibble and I arrived back at the caravan Clover gestured with a wing for us to line up with the others. When we assembled he began, “We have a mission. One of the town's merchants was captured by slavers while coming back from a delivery. We are going to get her back.”

My eyes widened. There was only one pony I knew that delivered from New Appleloosa. I had to ask “Do we know her name?”

Clover’s eyes drifted up. “Her shop name is Absolutely Everything, and I believe her name is-”

“Ditzy Doo.”

Footnote: Level up New Perk: Friend of the Night. Your eyes adjust quickly to low light conditions.

Chapter 3: Ditzy Doo Good

Chapter 3

I sat between two shops and watched ponies' hooves as they trotted by, their pace picking up as they passed me. Tumbleweed was the only one left who even spared me a glance, but he made it clear he had no more work for me, like the rest of Dust.

My stomach rumbled, and I tried my best to ignore it.

A dark pony attached to a caravan walked past, paused, then backed up and approached me.

My heart raced at the possibility of a job but stopped when I saw the creature coming at me. Most of her mane and coat were gone, replaced with necrotic skin. One of her yellow eyes drifted off to the side. I could only stare as she closed the distance between us.

The mare smiled, reached into her bag, pulled out some sort of pastry, and offered it to me.

My brow furrowed and I leaned to look at the caravan she was attached to. It read “Absolutely Everything. Yes We Deliver.” Oh, a trader, guess monsters need jobs too.

“I don’t have any caps,” I whimpered as the sweet aroma of the treat caught my nose.

“This one's on me,” she said in a silly voice. My fears perished as I fell into a laughing fit. Nopony with a voice like that could be mean.

With a smile, the mare waited patiently until my giggles ceased. “What's your name?”

“I’m Ardent. Ardent Fable,” I said

“Well hello there Ardent. Where are your parents?”

“I don't know. But Nanny left a long time ago and hasn't come back, even though she said she would.”

“Well, who's watching you now?”

“No one…” I flinched saying it out loud. “But, some ponies let me work for them, although, not so much anymore.”

“Oh, poor thing.” She scooped me up for a hug, her skin squished under the pressure.

“I think I can help.” She placed me on her back and passed me the pastry. She watched as I simply held the treat.

“It’s a muffin,” she said, “It's good.”

“But, I haven’t earned it.” I said.

She giggled, “I doubt that.”

I shrugged, maybe she was just crazy. I devoured the muffin as the ghoul brought me into the cider house. The air in the dim bar felt stale.

“Long time no see,” A dark grey unicorn greeted as we approached the counter.

“Hi Shot Chaser, I need a favor,” the mare said.

“And that would be?”

“I have somepony here who needs a job.” She took me off her back and presented me to Shot Chaser.

He glanced up from the mug he was cleaning. “A little young to be working in a bar.”

“Oh what could go wrong?”

“A lot, if I'm being completely honest. We don't always get the kindest ponies coming through here.”

“You barely get any ponies coming through here,” the mare said as she took in the empty bar, “and I know you can keep him safe. How about a lifetime discount?”

He sighed, “All right, fine. Consider him hired.”

“Hired?” I said. “Like, working here more than once?”

“Yup, like everyday.” Shot Chaser tried to make it sound like a bad thing.

I jumped up and down and hugged the mare. “Thank you… I forgot to ask your name.”

The mare hugged back. “Some ponies call me Derpy, but my name is Ditzy Doo.”

======

I paced the length of the caravan while the others fell into their preparation routine. Clover checked off a list as he inspected the various crates and ammo boxes, Nibble cleaned and repaired the battle saddles, and Gale counted up the medical supplies.

I stopped in front of Clover. “Anything I can do?” This is my first adventure and it’s to save somepony I owe. There must be something I can handle.

Clover glanced up from his checklist. “You can get out of the way.” He pointed at a crate I blocked. Great, we’ve barely started and I’m already holding them up. I jumped out of the caravan.

I sat next to Mangle as she cycled through of variety of stretches

“Why are you doing that?” I asked

“Because I don't like sitting on my ass all day?” She snarked.

I thought back and didn’t remember her in the caravan. “Wait, did you run the whole way here?”

“How else would I be here you idiot.”

I backed away from the touchy mare, and bumped into somepony. I turned to see a young mare with an ivory coat and a cutie mark of a blue flower.

“Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry.” She basically bowed down. “P-Please forgive me.”

“What? No it was my fault,” I said, but the mare continued to stare at the ground and maintained her bow. Without knowing what to do I backed away.

“Wait,” she said and finally stood. “I heard you were going to go save Derpy.” Well not me personally, Elpis… but as Gale put it, I’m technically part of Elpis.

“Yeah I am,” I replied, trying to sound confident.

She rubbed her leg. “My big brother was taken by those slavers a year back. I know he’s most likely dead… but, but if you could just take a look. He's a unicorn like me and has a cutie mark of a baseball bat.”

“I'll keep an eye out.”

“Really!” She smiled. “Thank you.”

“We're going,” Clover called out. I hopped in the caravan and waved goodbye.

======

I watched as Mangle ran alongside the caravan. Her endurance must be amazing if this is how she always travels, and it explains why her mane is always blown back. When she relaxed she looked like a short scruffy mare, but when she tensed you could tell she was a powerhouse.

“I see I am not the only flank that’s caught your eye,” Nibble said causing me to bolt upright.

“I-It’s not like that!” I said.

She whinnied, “It's ok to look, but that one's never going to let you touch, unlike me.”

“What do you- Wait what!” Blood rushed to my cheeks.

“Nibble,” Clover called back to interrupt, ”Why don’t you explain what Ardent’s responsibilities will be.”

“Yes sir.” She exaggerated a salute and turned back to me. “So basically we share whatever we find, but each pony has something they prefer. I pick up tech, Gale gets medical equipment, Clover finds weapons, and we use Mangle to carry heavier things that may be useful. You can feel free to help with any of those, just know who gets first pick.”

I looked at her with a blank face. “So you are asking what I want personally?”

“I guess you could say that.”

I fell to my haunches. I never wanted much in life. Enough caps to keep me alive and a few interesting stories. Although there is one thing I would excel at collecting.

“What about caps and other small items?” I offered.

“Well, normally everypony grabs caps,” Nibble said, “but we've never had anypony assigned to smaller items. Given your physique it's most likely best.”

Ouch!

Gale nickered. “What makes you think you’ll be any good at taking stuff like that?”

I smirked. “Why don’t I prove it?” This is one of the few things I’m proud of, a benefit of the magic tricks Deviation taught me.

Gale smiled wide, and showed off his sharp teeth. “Ohhh, Ardent looks confident.” He waved a hoof. “Well?”

I pulled out five caps from my bag and placed them in front of Gale.

“Watch carefully,” I said. I did one lap around Gale and took my time collecting each cap, letting him follow that hoof. While he was distracted, my other hoof shot out and collected the medical materials around him.

“What was that?” Gale said. “I saw you take them all,”

Nibble giggled. I opened my saddle bag and took out the medical equipment. Gale’s eyes widened as he spun around to see all his instruments missing.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He snatched his equipment back.

“Looks like you are in charge of small items,” Nibble said giving me a nod.

I glanced over as Gale moved up to where Clover sat, and since I had no scruples about eavesdropping my eyes glazed over as I entered my trance to amplified my hearing.

“You think he’ll survive his first mission?” Gale asked. I heard Clover grunt. Gale continued undeterred, “I mean, his combat skills are lacking but he looks better than our last recruit. Maybe you could give him a chance? He has been quite fun to mess with and-”

“We’ll see,” Clover interrupted. Gale must have been satisfied with the response because I heard him get up.

I slipped out of my trance, and stared at Gale as he found his spot and opened up a medical magazine.

Even he wanted me to stay with Elpis, but why? What role could I possible fill? Clover clearly thinks I’m unremarkable, not that he’d be wrong. Still, they're the best chance I have to explore the wasteland, I’ll have to find a way to be useful, and stay alive.

I jumped when text appeared at the top of my vision.

Featherweight's Printing Press

Night had fallen as we reached our destination.

=======

Clover landed in front of us after flying around the compound. “Looks like there are five of them outside, four on the roof one on the ground. Not sure how many inside. I'll take the two guarding the back side. Gale rooftop right, Nibble rooftop left, Mangle the entrance. My first shot is the signal. Do not enter until we regroup. Understood?” Clover said with unquestionable authority.

“Understood,” everypony replied.

Clover made eye contact with me. “Ardent, I want you to stay close to Nibble. Take your orders from her. Do not take a shot unless you're using S.A.T.S. I would prefer none of our team ends up with a bullet in their ass. Understood?”

“Understood,” I replied. I clenched my teeth in hopes it would stop my body from shaking. Clover grunted and flew off.

“Have you ever seen what a raider's hideout looks like?” Gale asked.

“No, but aren't these slavers?” I asked in return.

“Technically yes, but only because they are willing to sell them after they used them.”

Nibble jumped into the conversation, “Don’t worry Ardent. Just stick with me and you'll be fine.” She paused. Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry for what you're about to see.”

“Get ready,” Mangle called over as she let her weapons encompass her hooves.

Gale levitated out a strange gun that seemed to use saw blades as ammo. A hardly noticeable shimmer encompassed the weapon. My jaw dropped. Gale doesn’t have a magical aura! Well, that’s not entirely true. I could see the aura around his horn and weapon, but it produced almost no light and only created a slight disturbance in the air. He caught me gawking.

“Nibble made it for me,” he said. “She calls it Hemorrhage.”

“Hemorrhage?” I echoed.

“You’ll see why.”

I followed Nibble and Mangle as they snuck up to the side of the building. Mangle wiggled into a pouncing position, and Nibble pulled a metal apple out of her saddle bag.

The sound of an energy weapon tore through the air.

Nibble pulled the stem out with her mouth and lobbed the apple up onto the roof. Gale fired his weapon, and a saw blade flew out. Blood sprayed from the side of his target’s neck as the pony dropped.

Mangle darted to the entrance, catching the side of the slaver’s head with her hoof. As if the metal weapon crushing his skull wasn’t enough to kill him she activated her weapon causing its hoof shaped metal plate to jut out. The slaver’s body didn’t move as it was relieved of its head. Mangle pivoted and bucked the body away before its blood stained the entrance.

Another shot from Clover’s battle saddle rang out right before an explosion on the roof. Within what felt like a moment all the slavers were dead, and the front entrance was secured.

Dear Luna these ponies are to be feared, and there are only four of them! A deathly moan cried out from the roof.

“Dammit,” Nibble cursed. She pulled out another metal apple, but paused before she pulled the stem. “You saw me throw the grenade right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Good I want you to copy me and toss this up there.”

“You want me to kill him?”

“I killed him Ardent. He is going to die soon, trust me. What you’d be doing is merciful.” She hesitated and followed up with, “That's an order.”

I stepped forward and took the metal apple from her. Playing the memory in my head, I pulled the stem, and threw the grenade. The grenade hit the side of the building and bounced back, landing close to the point it originated. I should have mentioned to Nibble; just because I can copy ponies movements perfectly does not mean I can copy the exact amount of strength they used. I sighed and glanced over at Nibble who had a hysterical look on her face.

“Worst throw ever!” Mangle yelled.

Nibble grabbed me and dove away from the metal fruit as it exploded. I shifted to put myself in between Nibble and the blast. A piece of shrapnel carved up the length of my leg. May Luna skewer me with her horn!

When we landed, Nibble pushed out from under me and hovered over my leg.

“Gale!” She called out.

“Coming,” he nearly sang. He grabbed my leg and tilted his head. “Not too deep, no arteries hit, tell me if this hurts.”

I cried out as Gale applied pressure to the wound.

Nibble smacked him over the head. “Could you not,” she growled.

“There will be other times I suppose.” Gale levitated a healing poultice in front of me. “Should fix you right up.”

I pulled out the cork and drank the red tinted liquid. It was thick and tasted weakly of alcohol with a slight tinge of cherry. The pain in my leg faded and I watched as the flesh healed at an impossible speed. The only indication of injury was the blood drying on my coat.

Nibble helped me up, dusted me off, and nitpicked over my armour until Clover landed near by. She spun around and threw on a smile.

“Entrance secured,” she said a little too fast.

Clover glared at each of us. “We're going in, Mangle.”

Mangle nodded and shoved the door open. The stench and scenery assaulted my senses.

The placed reeked of rotting flesh and waste. Decaying pony parts littered the ground. Internal organs were strung along the walls, with blood written messages of rape and death. I turned around and let out the contents of my stomach.

I had heard stories of what raiders could do, but being there, seeing it for myself... I could taste the death in the air. Nibble put a comforting hoof on my back and was about to say something, but I put my hoof up to stop her. There was a mission to do.

“Let’s go,” I said as I stepped into the nightmare.

Footnote: No level up

Chapter 4: Voices

Chapter 4

Despite the commotion we caused none of the slavers inside seemed to notice. I mean it's not like Elpis was using silenced weapons. Hell, there were explosions, how did they not know we were here?

The first raider we encountered was mumbling to herself while guarding a doorway leading to a large room filled with printing equipment. Even when Gale strode into view the raider failed to notice him. Gale took his time to aim and decapitated the oblivious mare.

In the next room we crept along the walls, constantly staying low behind cubicles or printing equipment. My hoof slid along each desk we passed and I placed whatever I could grab into my saddle bag.

The flickering ceiling lights revealed new horrors with each flash. The slavers were using the printing presses as improvised torture devices. A pony's mane was tied to one of the rollers and forced through until the machine broke, but not before the majority of their skin had been ripped from their face. My stomach flipped, I wanted to keep my eyes forward and ignore the disgusting sights, but I remembered the pleading mare from New Appleloosa. I said I would keep an eye out for her brother. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and checked every corpse we crossed.

Clover made us stop frequently. He used his E.F.S to track the slavers and used Gale to take them out. Gale’s weapon was quieter than a gunshot, and for a weapon without sights he had precision accuracy. He managed to cut down all the slavers who crossed our path without alerting the others. Although, the mess it left behind would give us away. Wouldn’t this be easier if Gale had a Pip-buck?

We stopped as Clover pointed out a bear trap sitting in the middle of the doorway.

“Does that ever work?” Mangle scoffed.

“You would be surprised,” Clover whispered, “Activating it would be too loud.” He scooted the trap to one side of the door and carefully stepped around it.

Past the trap was a hallway. Based on my E.F.S the rest of the slavers were in a conference room at the end of the hall, along with two blue dots. I treaded carefully to avoid the stretch of dried blood that led to the slavers.

“Oh, I’ll shut her up,” A scratchy voice said from inside the room.

“This is it,” Clover whispered. “Two entrances. Ardent you watch this door in case any try to make a run for it. We will storm the other. Mangle shrapnel the door.”

“What about the friendlies?” Nibble whispered.

“Wood shrapnel is more shocking than lethal.”

Gale and Nibble took their places on either side of the door. Nibble produced a pistol from her saddle bag wrapped in her purple glow. Mangle bucked the door, the weight of her power hooves smashed it to pieces and the activation of metal plates scattered the wooden bits everywhere. The others went in firing.

I faced the other door ready to slide into S.A.T.S. I heard crossfire and saw multiple red dots disappear from my E.F.S. The door I faced slammed open and a unicorn slaver backed out.

A sawblade from Hemorrhage cut into the slaver’s left legs. The unicorn dropped to his side as blood poured from his wounds. He turned and spotted me and with a crazed look crawled towards me. His only weapon was a knife covered in blood and he had trouble keeping it in his magic. The slaver left a fresh trail of blood as he crawled. At this rate he’s going to die soon. My stomach sank seeing the pain each movement caused him.

Nibble’s words echoed in my head, “What you’d be doing is merciful.”

I entered S.A.T.S. and it targeted his body first. The highlight of the spell emphasized his cutie mark, a baseball bat. He has a white coat as well. No, it can’t be. The little fillies brother wasn’t captured by slavers, he joined them! My heart raced as I exited S.A.T.S. I’m not ready for this. I’m just a foalish colt wanting to play adventurer.

I ran.

I headed back the way we came when I was brought to a sudden halt. I screamed as a metal device clamped around my leg. Pain shot through my limb as sharp points dug their way into my flesh. I tried to remove the device in a panic causing the blades to dig deeper. I started to sob as I struck the bear trap repeatedly.

“That’s a valuable lesson to learn,” a deep raspy voice called out. My eyes raced around for the source of the voice. Nothing.

“Who’s there?” I sniffled. “What lesson?”

“Running away has it’s consequences.”

“As if staying would help!” I yelled. “There is no place for me in Elpis. I could never be useful to them.”

“Maybe you can be, you just need to utilize your Pip-Buck.”

The Pip-Buck? I lifted my free hoof to examine the device. “Can it really make that much of a difference?” The conversation distracted me from the pain.

“One can hope,” the voice said with amusement. “Now, isn’t there something you're here for?”

“Ditzy!” I jolted up, only to yelp and fold back down as the trap tore at my leg. “I have to know if she’s ok.”

“You can’t help anypony while stuck in a trap,” the voice faded out. I didn’t hear hoofsteps, yet I felt as if a presence left the room.

Did that actually just happen? I know of ponies who went insane because of experiences in the wasteland. Is that happening to me? Doesn’t matter, the voice had a point, I can’t do anything stuck in this trap and I need to know how the others are doing.

Using one of my back legs, I placed a hoof on either side of the trap and with a deep inhale I started to force it open. The blades dug into my hooves as I applied pressure bringing forth a new wave of pain. Blood poured from my trapped leg as the blades inched out, turning my tan coat crimson. My strength faded as the pain overwhelmed my resolve.

Shot Chaser’s voice rang in my head, “C’mon barmaid, you giving up so easily.”

I clenched my jaw and pushed with all my strength, the blades sank into my hooves until they collided with bone allowing all the grip I needed to force the trap completely open. I pulled my leg free and lept off the trap, it clamped closed.

I reeled backwards smearing blood across the ground with each step. In a moment of clarity I took out my two healing potions and downed the soothing red liquid. The pain washed away as my wounds rapidly sealed.

Shivering, I curled up and took a moment to recover. My focus strayed around the room until it stopped on a poster. Two almost identical stallions, the only difference being one had a mustache, pointed at me. “Are you doing all you can?” the poster read. No, no I wasn't. I took a deep breath, got up, and headed back to the others.

I passed the white coated slaver face down in a pool of his own blood, he had only made it a few more feet before dying. I put him out of my mind, and entered the conference room. It was littered with dead slavers. Outlining the room were corpses of ponies who had been tied up. They all had bruises, cuts, and burns scattered about their bodies, mainly between their flanks.

A filly rode on Mangle’s back. The child’s eyes were glazed over and she appeared complete catatonic. Bandages covered her rear and blood was already starting to soak through. Bile rose up my throat.

The others hovered around Gale as he tended to a ghoul in the corner. I peeked around them to get a better view. My heart skipped a beat when I confirmed it was Ditzy, and then sank at the sight of her injuries. Two of her legs were broken. She coughed black icor spewed from her mouth.

“What’s wrong with her!” I shouted.

“Quiet Ardent,” Gale said, “She’ll live.”

Derpy’s eyes widened when she heard my name.

“But she’s-”

“Get him out of here,” Clover demanded.

“C’mon Ardent.” Nibble pulled me away. “Let me show you something.”

She dragged me to a computer terminal in a nearby office. Laminated news stories covered the walls. ‘The Little Horn Massacre, No Going Back!’ ‘Earth Pony Accepted to the Ministry of Arcane Sciences’ ‘F.F.I stealing technology from Stable Tech?’ Were some of the headlines that jumped out.

Nibble demonstrated how to download text files from the computer, and explained it was the same process for audio files. Only one text file could be salvaged, the rest were corrupted beyond repair.

“So…” Nibble hesitated, “Ditzy is... a ghoul.”

“Is that a problem?” I said. I knew the majority of ponies were prejudice against ghouls but Nibble’s personality didn’t seem to fit the stereotype.

“No, of course not.” Nibble brightened slightly. “She’s one tough mare. When we got in there she was beating one of the slavers with a piece of piping… but not before he-”

“We are good to go,” I heard Clover say from behind us. I turned to see Ditzy walking with the others.

I moved past Clover to get in front of Ditzy. “Hey, you remember me right?” I said. She smiled and nodded.

“Are you okay?” Another nod and smile.

“Why won’t you answer?” She frowned this time.

“Ardent,” Clover said emotionless. “She can’t talk.” I cocked my head.

“You're such an idiot,” Mangle groaned. I was going to tell her off when Ditzy put her hoof up between us. She faced me and opened her mouth. Her tongue had been cut out.

======

Darkness covered everything on the way back to New Appaloosa. A miasma of depression affected everypony except Jaded Clover, who seemed like stone in the face of such horrors.

A voice had been taken from the wasteland, not of power or elegance, but a voice of laughter. Ditzy sat next to the filly we rescued, and smiled as she brushed the filly's mane. After everything, she still smiles.

Her smile was contagious, and I couldn’t help but reflect on the positive. I just survived my first adventure. The story is bittersweet, but it’s mine. Although, if I hadn’t slowed Elpis down maybe they would have reached Ditzy in time, maybe she would still have her voice. I need to improve so I don’t slow them down.

I played with my Pip-Buck finding anything to occupy my attention. I flipped through the newly acquired items in my inventory until an idea sparked. I brought out some supplies and hid them behind my back as I approached Ditzy.

“Did you know that place we just came from was a printing press?” I said. She nodded and I continued, “You could take up writing.”

I revealed two ink pots, a few quills, and a stack of papers. Ditzy’s eyes widened and she clopped her hooves together. I set them down.

She grabbed the quill in her mouth and started to write. After a moment she passed me a poorly written note, "Thank you Ardent. This means the world." Ditzy embraced me in a hug.

The filly stared at the paper as life returned to her eyes.

“I could help you write better,” she said “We’re learning in school.” Ditzy’s throat caught seeing the filly become responsive again. She nodded rapidly and sat next to the filly as she wrote out the alphabet.

“Does anypony mind if I turn on my radio?” Nibble asked but only checked Clover for a reply. There were no objection so she turned her Pip-Buck to DJ Pon3’s station while a song just ended. The voice of my favorite broadcaster took over the radio.

“Good evening children!” A stallion’s voice boomed from the radio. “This is DJ Pon3 here to recap the news for today as it comes to an end. There is a group of ponies traveling to Shattered Hoof Ridge and they seem to have a large metal contraption with them. Nopony knows what they are up to so be cautious.”

“Who’s this?” Mangle asked.

“You don’t know who DJ Pon3 is?” I gasped. How is that even possible?

“Tsk. Should I?” She looked away and pulled her legs in.

“They say he’s been on the radio since shortly after the megaspells.”

“Wouldn’t that make him ancient?” Nibble asked, “He sounds young enough.”

“There is always a DJ Pon3,” Gale said.

“We’ve discovered what Elpis was doing in Dust,” the radio announced as it stole all of my attention. “Apparently they found the three headed dog, Cerberus, from the legends or at least the robot version of him. Moments after the discovery they blew his ass straight back to Tartarus, lo and behold it was their newest member who did the honors.

“That’s right everypony the Elite and Legendary Ponies Initiating Survival have a new member, and that member is none other than Dust’s local barmaid. They were last seen heading to New Appaloosa. Well that was all have for today, now to leave you with some Sapphire Shores”

My jaw clenched. Great, now all of Equestria knows that nickname!

Nibble burst out into a snorting laughter, “He-he thinks you're a mare.”

May DJ Pon3 freeze to death on Luna’s moon.

======

We arrived at New Appleloosa in the dead of night. When we entered town a number of ponies left their homes to check on us. A cheer started when they saw Ditzy was alive. Ponies were sad to learn of her injury, but after a few notes and lots of hugs, spirits were at an all time high. Clover pulled me away from the crowd. He looked pissed.

“Apparently,” he said, “despite you running into zero threats you managed to use three healing potions and endanger another of our members” I swallowed, and my ears flattened.

Clover continued, “Next time we are in combat, if you fail to be useful or die, I will be using you as my personal meat shield!”

I lowered my head. “Do you want me to leave?” I asked. My stomach sank. Dammit, just when I decided to stay.

Clover scoffed, “Maybe if you left all of our gear behind I might forget about you, but no. The only way you leave Elpis is the grave. As one of us, or from one of us. Remember that if you think about running.”

I let out a breath and relaxed. “Wait, from one of us? You would kill me?”

“You are not my responsibility.”

Nibble trotted over to us. Clover gave me a dismissing look, subtly letting me know this conversation was over.

Clover addressed Nibble. “I worked our normal deal into the arrangement”

“Will you be joining us?” She said.

“Not tonight.” Clover flew off.

“What arrangement?” I asked.

“On the completion a successful mission, Elpis gets free booze and a bed for a night,” she said beaming. “How well can you hold your liquor?”

======

Nibble kicked open the saloon doors. “Bartender, four shots of your strongest!” Despite the hour the bar was relatively busy, and we packed it with the group of ponies who joined us to celebrate Ditzy’s rescue. Ditzy herself left for some much needed rest, the poor mare could barely keep her head up when saying her goodbyes.

“My strongest what?” the mare behind the wooden counter asked.

“Your strongest.” Nibble slid onto one of the stools. The bartender rolled her eyes and brought out four shot glasses. The place made me feel at home, it had a little more floor space, and a great deal more patrons, but had the same atmosphere I felt every bar should.

The bartender grabbed a decanter filled with an oak colored liquid from the top shelf and poured our shots. Nibble grabbed one and lifted it into the air.

“To a successful mission, in which our newbie didn’t die,” she toasted.

I grimaced. “Is that a common problem?”

“Fifty-fifty.” Gale shrugged.

We clinked our glasses and downed the shot. It burned, but was followed by a pleasant smoky aftertaste.

“Hey,” Mangle said, “That one wasn’t awful.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a sack. She sat down at an empty table behind us and dropped the bag. The contents rattled together and a few caps spilled out. “I have a fat sack of caps for any shit head that beats me in a hoof wrestle,” she announced.

In moments a line formed to take on the little white mare. No doubt most of them thought it would be easy money, they were in for a surprise.

Gale ordered three ciders and left to join a table with two mares.

Nibble made sure I was firmly planted and kept the shots coming. Nibble went on a rant about how long it took her to get Mangle and Gale to join in on her toasting whenever they completed a mission. I paid half attention as I watched Gale. Within no time he had gotten intimate with his new company. One blushed as he lightly bit her hoof.

“Fuck!” A stallion yelled as Mangle slammed his hoof against the table. He rubbed at his wrist as he made way for the next stallion in line.

Nibble tapped my shoulder and put a shot in my hoof, which I promptly downed.

“You ok?” Nibble asked.

“Me?” I set down the empty shot glass next to the others.

“Yea some ponies can’t handle seeing… what you saw.” She hiccuped.

Images from the slaver holdout plagued my mind, but tonight I was willing to forget them. Tonight I’m technically a part of the group that saved Ditzy and I’m going to enjoy the reward.

“I think... I'm ok.” Aside from hearing voices, but I’m keeping that to myself.

“Good.” Nibble smiled

I turned to check back on Gale, and had to rub my eyes. Instead of the two mares he was with a stallion. The stallion flexed and Gale felt along the muscle. What happened to the-

Mangle slammed a stallion's hoof hard enough to leave a dent in the table. He smothered his yelp with growl. Mangle must have been impressed because she tossed a few caps his way despite the loss.

Another tap, and I emptied the shot glass.

This time Gale was helping a mare line up a shot in billiards, Mangle slammed another hoof down, and Nibble placed another shot in my hoof. The bar spun as the three members of Elpis constantly pulled my attention.

Nibble placed another shot in my hoof and pointed at Gale. “Hey check dis out,” she said. “He’s about to leave wit a whole group to go do Celestia knows what.”

Gale trotted up to a lone stallion. They were too far to hear so I slipped into my trance and let the world fade away as I focused on my hearing.

“You look lonely over here,” Gale coaxed. “Didn’t you know everything's better with company.”

A slight pause.

“Listen,” the stallion said, “I think you're bucking the wrong tree.”

“Well I’m leaving with an orchard, we’ll be at Parsley’s if you care to join.” Gale got up and I ended my trance.

Gale waved and nearly a dozen ponies, mares and stallions, got up and followed him out the door. The lone stallion sat with his jaw slack. With a shrug he downed what was left in his mug and chased after the group. I felt a sting of jealousy, not because of his company, but because Gale knew how to read ponies far better than I ever could.

“See,” Nibble said, “Evertime!” She placed another shot in my hoof. “Hurry and drink, am two ahead.”

“Wha-” I turned to see six empty shot glasses in front of me. Shit, when did I drink so much? Maybe I should slow it down. Nibble lifted the shot in my hoof to my mouth, as I downed the shot my ability to worry about the future fanished.

“So,” I said as my inhibitions melted away. “Jaded Clover is a pegasus, with the wings and stuff. How cool is that?”

“So what? Derps lady is a pegasususus,” Nibble giggled.

The sound of a hoof being slammed against wood grabbed my attention. Mangle had just defeated the last stallion in line and scooped up her caps. He grabbed her hoof.

“Bullshit!” he yelled. “You must have cheated.” The maroon earth pony stood nearly twice the size of Mangle. “I say we finish this outside.”

Even in my drunken stupor my employee side took over. I had stopped a fair amount of bar fights before, not through intimidation of course, but with flattery. I spun my seat to intervene but Nibble spun me back around.

“Don't worry,” Nibble said, “She won't be outside for long.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Mangle wore an excited grin as she lead the way out. The large stallion was flanked by two of his goons. I pointed out my concern, but Nibble just shook her head and passed me another shot. I guess she would know. I downed the shot.

“Gale didn’t-doesn’t have a color to his magic.” I said. “Dat's impressive.”

“Yis he does. It's transparent grey. He told me.” She slammed her shot. “So you like Clover and Gale, but what abouts me?” Nibble ran a hoof along her side.

“Um,” I stumbled, “You like the explosions?”

“Right.” She booped my nose and spun in her seat. “But boring. I have much more than that. If you are impressed wit wings and a grey magic wait till you see what Mengle can do.” As if summoned the maroon stallion was thrown into the bar through one of the windows, and Mangle jumped in after him.

When the stallion didn’t get up she yelled, “I win!”

I hid my face thinking the bartender might call upon me to clean the mess, but Nibble waved her off and assured she would be compensated for the damages.

Somepony tapped on my shoulder. I turned see a white filly standing next to me.

“Did you find my brother?” she asked. I sobered slightly as memories of the colt bleeding out in front of me played over in my head.

“Yeah,” I said.

The look on my face said it all but she still had to ask, “And?”

Your brother was a no good, murdering, raping slaver. “Dead, killed by the slavers.”

She sighed, “I… I’m glad.” She saw my surprised look and frantically waved her hooves. “Not that he is dead. I heard rumors that he was seen with them. I am glad to know that it wasn’t true.”

“Gud I could halp.” I wasn’t sure if lying was the right thing to do, but her knowing the truth wouldn't help anypony.

A more upbeat song from Sapphire Shores started to play from the radio.

“Oh, I love this song,” the young filly said.

“Do you want to dance?” Nibble asked as she jumped from her seat, startling me. “We gotta dance.” Nibble demanded the bartender turn up the volume as she moved tables in order to make a dance area.

My eyes drifted to the three half empty ciders Gale had bought, then to the unconscious stallion surrounded by broken glass, and finally landing on Nibble as she danced her heart out.

Something tells me I’m in for one unbelievable story.

Footnote: Level up New perk: Foal at heart. Unlocks unique dialogue with children.

Chapter 5: Those!

Chapter 5

Light pierced through a hole in the curtains and roused me from sleep. With a groan, I rolled onto my back and peeled my eyes open to stare at unfamiliar wooden rafters. Where am I again? A loud snore broke the morning silence. I turned to see Nibble sprawled out on another bed, and yesterday's memories came flooding back. My stomach churned with gut rot and demanded food. Never again.

I fell back into bed after attempting to get up, every muscle in my body ached with exhaustion. I glared at the culprits, my armor, battle saddle, and saddle bags were clustered on a chair in the corner. Simply wearing them was draining.

Mangle was already gone and Gale had not returned for Hemorrhage or his armor. I wasn’t sure about Clover since he had a separate room from us. I got out of bed, stretched to the best of my ability, and grabbed my saddle bags before going downstairs.

Clover, Gale, and Mangle were at a table having breakfast. I joined them and Gale slid me a bowl of oatmeal. The hearty meal did wonders to quell the pain in my stomach.

“Ardent,” Clover said, “pull everything you grabbed from last night out, including excess caps.”

I wiped my face and complied. I gathered everything into a pile at the center of the table. Is this how I pay for the equipment?

Clover flicked through the pile. “Mainly junk... more caps than I expected.” Was that a compliment?

“After I sell we’re heading out. I found a lead for a possible recruit,” Clover announced. He used his wing to slide the pile into his saddle bag and left.

“Do you ever wonder what's under there?” Gale asked.

I followed his gaze and landed on Clover’s armor covered flank. “Uhh, can't say I have,”

Gale rolled his eyes. “I meant his cutie mark.” He stole another glance. “Mostly.”

“I figured it must be the brand all pegasus’ who make it down here have. That whole Dash-ite thing.” I shrugged. “I wouldn't want to show that off.”

“You know, I thought so too.” Gale leaned in and motioned for Mangle and I to do the same. I followed suit but Mangle sat there uninterested in the gossip. Gale continued on anyway, “He got shot in his backside a few months ago, nothing serious sadly, but he refused to let me check it. Instead he flew away and dealt with it himself. If it’s just the brand, why hide it?”

“Have you tried asking him?”

“In my own way, but he dodges questions better than bullets.”

Gale had successfully planted the seed of curiosity in my mind. Which was either a trap, or he really was curious. My bet’s on the former.

======

The caravan rocked to one side when it rolled off a destroyed chunk of road. The broken cement stretched past the horizon. Seeing a road was surreal since the only path to Dust was a beaten trail. Every time the caravan rocked Nibble let out an exaggerated whine. Her massive hangover kept her from being peppy and talkative so instead she sat curled in a ball poking at her welding equipment while wearing a funny looking sunglasses earmuff combo. She groaned as an oddly familiar trumpety song came from down the road ahead of us.

“Not a Sprite-bot.” Nibble curled up and pushed the earmuffs tighter to her head. “Not now.”

I leaned over the caravan for a better view, a small metal ball with rapidly beating wings fluttered toward us. It played music I recognized from one of the radio channels, I never listened to the station for long since it was the same endless tune. It passed a mostly intact billboard that had a pink pony staring down at travelers with the words “Pinkie Pie is watching you. FOREVER!”

Sprite-bot, Pinkie Pie… Oh, the Ministry of Moral leader and her little spies. Shot Chaser talked about the ministries from time to time, usual after a few drinks. He would go on and on about how foalish the ponies before the war were, “How could they ever feel the need to spy on their own civilians... Why would the Ministry of Arcane Science create the substance responsible for the monstrosities we face today... What was the purpose of wiping information about the war from the minds of ponies?” He always apologized after telling me about the Ministries like it was some heavy burden of truth he was forcing me to bear with him, but they were just stories to me.

As the machine crossed our path the music cut out. Clover brought us to a halt and stared at the metal ball. The Sprite-bot’s metal grate rotated to each one of us before the music returned and it continued on its way.

“That’s new.” Clover watched until the machine faded from sight.

“So Gale,” I said once we continued on, “why don’t you have a Pip-Buck?”

His smokey eyes narrowed and he replied in a sharp tone, “We only have three. Clover ordered you take mine.” My ears dropped. His expression and tone became light hearted. “Oh Ardent, you make it too easy.”

A breath of relief escaped me. “Could you imagine Clover letting me have a Pip-Buck over you.” I was warned about ponies like Gale, who had mastered manipulating their tones and expressions making it impossible to truly read them.

“Well he did,” Gale stated as a matter of fact. “I have my own assisted aim spell that doesn’t work with a Pip-Buck and I never bothered with the rest of the features. It was just a fancy organizer to me, so Clover thought you might make better use of it.”

“So this is your Pip-Buck.”

“It belongs to Elpis.” Clover glared at me from over his shoulder. “Assigned where it’s needed most. Any questions?”

“No,” I muttered. I layed down and navigated through the device until I found the text file I downloaded from the slaver compound.

We got an outline from the ministry of image today for this week's paper. There seems to be a rise of recruitment ads for the Ministry of Peace. Also there is an ad for F.F.I weapons on almost every page. I don’t understand how the Ministry of Image allows F.F.I to continually advertise over Ironshod, they must have paid somepony off. F.F.I’s weapons look awesome, but they are next to useless. Oh well, not my job to ask questions, I just print the paper.

F.F.I? I turned to Gale but he was neck deep in a medical book. Not the best time for random questions.

I scrolled through what was left in the Pip-Buck tutorials and decided on electronic compatibility. I learned all about what the Pip-Buck can do when hooked up terminals, if I had the intelligence for it - Which I don't - so it was a big lesson of all the things I couldn’t do.

Clover brought the caravan to a halt. “Rest stop.” Clover’s announcement seemed directed at me since the others had already left the caravan.

Clover jumped down from the driver's seat into the back of the caravan. “We’re going to eat here as well.” He pointed at wooden crates. “Food and drinks are in here, two cans and a water per pony. Given your previous occupation I assume you can figure it out from here.”

It took a moment to realize Clover just gave an order.

“Oh, got it… Yes.” With all the grace of a worker on his first day I gathered the provisions and handed them out receiving a thank you from Nibble, then sat across from the others.

“We should get a hooficure soon,” Nibble said to Mangle.

Mangle groaned at the attempted interaction, but when glaring failed to relieve her of Nibble’s presence she gave in. “What’s a hooficure?”

“You know, when ponies treat your hooves. Wash them, rub them, make them feel amazing. I can only imagine how much you need one after running all the time.”

Mangle turned her hoof over and shrugged. She made no attempt to continue the conversation and we ate in silence.

After the meal I was in charge of cleaning up. It seems I found my place among ELPIS after all... as a barmaid. Same position, just exponentially more hazardous.

=====

After finishing the mildly interesting tutorial about how a spell matrix is used as a relay to move items in your inventory, we arrived at the abandoned mall. A sign clung to the main entrance that held the name of the mall “Princess Luna’s Market.” Half the stores were in complete ruin, their ceilings had collapsed leaving them full of rubble and broken wood. A hoof-beaten path lead inside.

Clover lined us up to go over the plan, “The stores are more than likely looted, but we’re still going to split up and check them. The moment anypony runs into something call out and we'll regroup. There is rumor of a powerful unicorn holding out here, our goal is to recruit him. If you run into the unicorn be sure to talk before you shoot.” He glanced over to Mangle. “Or talk before you buck in some cases.”

Mangle smirked.

“Understood?” Clover finished.

“Understood,” we replied in unison.

We entered the mall and followed the path. Teams split up naturally, I followed Nibble into a restaurant, Gale and Mangle went together, leaving Clover alone.

Dust covered everything and the smell of rotted cloth filled the air. I searched the fridges in the back while she checked the register. I found some tin cans full of... something, I slipped them into my saddle bag and went to check on Nibble’s progress. She tinkered with a strange device attached to one of the registers.

“What's that?” I asked.

“Something I created to crack basic locks,” she replied as she shoved tiny levers around. “It sort of acts like a key being formed as you move these levers. When you feel the most tension from each lever it means you have pushed the tumbler to the right place. The thing is the push back is impossible to feel so I don’t know when to stop.” Her magic released the device.

“Want me to try?”

“Go for it, and if it works for you, you can take the stupid thing.” She stomped off to search the rest of the restaurant.

I placed my hooves on the lock picking device and fiddled with it, but couldn’t feel any changes.

I wonder if I could... I normally only used my trance to increase my hearing or sight, but I tried to focus it on touch. My eyes glazed over as all my other senses dulled. I focused on the sensation in my hoofs. I inched the levers feeling the tension rise as I shifted them up and down.

It was difficult to know when the tension peaked even with my heightened senses. I got all the levers in the right position, after that it was just a matter of the slightest movement until I felt a click and all the tension disappeared. I let my senses return to see Nibble staring at me with her mouth hung open.

“What was that?!” she said.

“What do you mean?” I said nonchalant. “I just played with it till it unlocked.”

“No, your eyes went all weird and you unlocked it.”

“Just lucky I guess.” I shrugged. My trance was an odd thing to explain to ponies with me coming off as crazy half the time. She gave me an unconvinced look as she approached the register.

“Well that or you're one physically sensitive stallion.” She brushed her tail against my underside. “Maybe I'll find out one day.” I stepped back feeling my cheeks flush.

“Now lets see what was in here.” She opened the register. Caps filled each holder, except for one that held a note. She grabbed the note and left the rest to me including the lock picking device.

I was about to ask what was on the note but something scuttled in the corner of the room. I activated EFS and a red dot appeared. I tapped Nibble to get her attention and pointed to where I saw the creature.

“Probably just a radroach,” she whispered as she wrapped her pistol in a purple aura. The shadowy creature passed by us and cornered itself on one side of the room. Nibble activated the light in her Pip-Buck, oh they also have a flashlight, revealing the creature.

She screamed.

My mind refused to comprehend the image in front of me. It's a radroach, but has twice as many legs. Oh, and a rotting pony's head is attached to its back. The head winced at the light and scuttled onto the wall. It let out an ear splitting shriek.

Nibble unloaded her clip into the creature. It fell to the ground and the red dot on my EFS disappeared, only to be replaced by countless others. I heard the echo of Clover’s battle saddle.

“Let’s get to the others,” Nibble said running past the body. I followed.

We headed back into the hallway where another monstrosity blocked our way. It had a bloatsprite for a head with the body of a pony and lion paws instead of hooves. It swiped at me with razor sharp talons as the bloatsprite fired a needle. I jumped back in time to avoid the swipe, while the needle imbedded itself in my armor. I went into SATS and targeted the bloatsprite appendage, it was no more durable than a normal bloatsprite and exploded as my bullets tore through it. The creature dropped and we carried on.

We found the others held up in a donut shop. A horde of creatures tried to push their way in but Mangle braced herself against the door while Gale and Clover fired through destroyed windows. All the creatures seemed to be fusions of pony, radroach, and bloatsprite parts. I was about to fire when Nibble handed me a metal apple.

“Use SATS, should be fine,” she said, clearly reminded of last time. I nodded and entered SATS and let the spell throw the explosive for me. Our grenades landed in the back of the horde blowing them to bits, mainly into the donut shop.

“Ugh,” Mangle groaned and shook off as best she could, but blood and chunks of flesh clung to her. “A fucking warning next time.”

“Sorry,” Nibble apologized as she carefully stepped inside the shop.

The light in the mall from broken windows and missing ceiling chunks started to fade. A rumble in the distance warned of an incoming storm.

“Not sure what these things are but they act no different than ghouls,” Clover said. “Stick together from here on out, no more scavenging, clear the rooms and move on.”

Gale inspected a partially intact body.

“Gale, assessment,” Clover said.

“It appears,” he replied, “the points where the bodies connect weren't sewn on.”

“Meaning?”

“It means necromantic magic was used to meld the flesh together.”

“Necromancy?!” I backed away from the body fearing it might get back up.

Gale put my worries to rest, “This spell doesn’t bring life to the dead Ardent.” He levitated out a scalpel and carved into the conjoining part of pony and bloatsprite. “It looks like this spell melds more than just external flesh. It literally makes the attached flesh part of the creature.”

Fuzed pony insect monsters. I suppressed a smile. Shot Chaser never had stories like this.

Gale continued, “If I had to guess, we are running into are the first trials of this flesh melding spell. If the unicorn has had enough time to experiment there might be more advanced creatures.”

“There are a lot of ponies who come to scavenge here,” Clover stated. “I doubt there was an issue gathering test material.”

“Those are ponies you’re talking about Clover, not test material,” Nibble said. “This changes the plan right?”

Clover stomped and loomed over Nibble, his yellow eyes bore down on her. “This changes nothing,” he growled. “Understood?”

Nibbles ears dropped and she nodded.

“Now move out.”

We forced our way from store to store and eliminated the abominations. I even managed to land the finishing blow a few times while Clover was watching. With the help of SATS of course. Are Clover and Nibble this good because of their Pip-Bucks? Nibble at least knows about electronics but what skills does Clover have?

The creatures grew more gruesome as we moved deeper into the mall. A few had armored legs made of Manticore tails without the stingers. Can’t wait to see what monstrosity the stingers are attached to.

We made it to a set of double doors that opened into a courtyard. A creature that looked like a balloon fused using the bodies of ponies blocked the door. Without hesitation Mangle launched herself at it and smashed her powerhoof into the bloated monstrosity. The skin tore with ease and caused the creature to pop. A swarm of bloatsprites sprung from its corpse. The air filled with needles and gunfire. We eradicated the bloatsprites, but not before we were all riddled with needles.

“Let me deal with these before moving on,” Gale sighed. He spent a few minutes going over us, pulling out needles, and removing barbs.

======

Clover pushed open the doors to the courtyard. The open air washed away the stench of dead that began to fill the market halls. Decayed tables were spread around the area, and a large worn statue of Luna was planted in the center. There were doors back into the mall on every side.

“I am rather upset about the damage you have done to my little army,” a crazed voice said. A light green unicorn with a black mane stepped out from behind the statue. He was flanked by two abominations. The beasts had the bodies of manticores with multiple pony heads protruding from various places. Instead of a manticore tail it had a tail made of connecting Bloatsprites.

“You won’t make up for all the parts you have cost me,” he finished. A shudder ran through my entire body as an unsettling vibe radiated from him.

Clover stepped forward. “It takes a unicorn of exceptional power to do all this. Perhaps you would consider joining my ranks.”

Was Clover serious!? I couldn’t imagine traveling with this mad pony.

The unicorn laughed maniacally. “Even after seeing everything I’ve done you're interested in recruiting me? That's great… Your party looks full though.” His smile disappeared replaced by a deadly serious look. “Let me make some room.”

A green aura surrounded me. I felt weightless as I was raised into the air. What's happening? With a jerk of the necromantic unicorns head I went flying.

A sharp pain pierced my side and ran through me. When the initial pain subsided I opened my eyes to stare at the end of a blood covered horn stuck out of my side. I was skewered upon the horn of Luna’s statue.

My thoughts from the printing press echoed back to me, ‘May Luna skewer me with her horn!’ I mentally promised myself not give the wasteland anymore ideas. I reached out to the others. Nibble stared at me in shock, her hoof covered her mouth. The others kept their attention on the green unicorn.

“Well then,” Clover said, “are we good to go?”

Is that all I was worth? An easily replaceable part for some pony better.

The green unicorn laughed maniacally again. “Oh, even after that you still want me? You are as evil as me.” His laughter stopped. “It’s a shame I have to kill you.”

“You must know you don’t stand a chance against us,” Clover said.

The conversation became distant. I felt stiff, and the pain dulled as my body grew numb. Am I bleeding out? It didn't feel the same as the bear trap. I dared to glance where the horn had entered my body. My stomach twisted as I watched a small trickle of blood seep from my side. It ran along the horn and dripped on the stone face of Luna. Shouldn't this hurt more? I turned back to the green unicorn who began monologuing.

“Normally I would agree with you.” He paced back and forth. “You must have noticed my manticores, but you haven’t seen their stingers; that's because I thought, what if I take the poisonous part, cut it up, and applied it to bloatsprite stingers.”

Clover’s eyes narrowed as he flexed his legs.

“It was a failure however,” the unicorn continued. “The stingers don’t have the potency of normal manticore poison but a much weaker version, it takes dozens of them to paralyze the victim.” He smirked. “It has been useful as I think you’re coming to realize.”

“Kill him!” Clover yelled flaring his wings and firing his battle saddle. The manticore on the right blocked the attack with one of its heads. The laser sank into the head and its neck went slack. The creature seemed unaffected by the loss as it rushed Clover, forcing him to backpedal.

Mangle lept at the other manticore slamming her power hoof into it. The metal plate released but had no effect. A closer glance revealed the manticore’s body was covered in radroach legs. They clung onto Mangle’s hoof and blocked the attack. The manticore gave a wide sweep, its talons cut into Mangle and sent her flying. The manticore whipped its bloatsprite tail unleashing a wave of needles that sank into Mangle before she landed.

Gale and Nibble fired at the necromantic unicorn. His horn lit up and a shield surrounded him blocking the attacks.

My attention was pulled from the fight as I heard bits of stone fall. A crack had formed at the base of Luna’s horn. Maybe I could... I prodded the statue with a back leg. The motion caused the crack to grow, and the horn to falter. The slight drop pushed the horn deeper and I convulsed in pain. White filled my vision as a cold crept along my limbs.

Clover's commanding voice brought me out of the brink of unconsciousness. I could barely lift my head, the pain started to dull again, but the cold seeped deeper into my body. I focused all my attention on the fight below me, trying to keep myself from slipping away.

“Nibble!” Clover yelled, “Bait and switch.” Clover had just struck one of the Manticores and a bright red light spread throughout its body. It thrashed around in pain until bursting into ash.

The green unicorn growled at losing one of his creations. An over glow appeared around his horn as he maintained his shield and wrapped Mangle in a green aura. Mangle used her weapon to haphazardly launch herself out of the necromancer’s control which slammed her headfirst into wall. She fell lifelessly to the ground. The green aura returned and it started to lift her into the air.

Clover joined Gale’s assault on the necromancer, his laser rifle punched holes into the barrier. The necromancer abandoned Mangle and poured more magic into the shield. The holes sealed up and the barrier shimmered with the newly added power.

Nibble caught my attention as she ran at the last manticore. She barely dodged the needles the creature whipped at her. When she got in close the manticore rammed her, tossing her back. Her body skid across the courtyard. Nibble attempted to get back up, but the poison seemed to stop her from moving. She smirked as she let multiple pins drop from her mouth. A cluster of grenades underneath the manticore exploded.

Chunks of flesh showered the courtyard. One chunk slammed into Luna’s statue and caused a crack to run up its length. My heart raced as I followed it, but it stopped at the base of the horn.

“No!” the green unicorn screamed seeing the shower of flesh. “I’ll kill you all for this!” A second layer of overglow covered his horn. As he maintained his shield he wrapped Gale and Clover in a green aura and threw them into the air.

Clover attempted to spread his wings but the poison had him completely paralyzed. Gale and Clover smashed into the ground just as the necromantic unicorn’s magic fizzled out.

“You bastards!” he screamed. “I won’t be able to continue my work for days now. I was almost ready to get it, and you had to go and fuck it all up!” He pulled out a knife with his mouth.

Shit, this is it. I felt so cold and darkness crept in on my vision. All I had to do was close my eyes and let it take me, then all the pain would go away... so I did.

======

Shot Chaser sighed as he finished wiping off the counter again. It appeared no pony wanted a drink today. I kept myself busy sweeping the corners of the bar where debris found a safe place to hide.

“How about a story,” Shot Chaser said. In a flash I found my place on one of the stools lining the bar. Shot Chaser got a kick out of how much I loved his stories. He would sometimes use them as leverage to assign near impossible work with the reward of a new story. He was always surprised when I succeeded.

“Let me tell you about the time I nearly died at the Fillydelphia Crater,” Shot Chaser said. “A few colleagues and I decided to go digging there for some information. We didn't know how irradiated the place still was or the type of monsters we would find.”

Shot Chaser levitated a pen over and scribbled a crude image of a small ball with wings and enormous eyes.

“Flesh eating parasprites!” he yelled in his scary voice. “We thought they were normal parasprites when we ran into them but the radiation had mutated them. Seeker was the first to go when he grabbed a group of the creatures for a cuddle. They ate through him in under a minute and tripled in number.” Shot Chaser paused when he saw the look on my face. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Maybe this wasn't the best story for a kid.”

I took a deep breath. “It's okay. I know the story ends well because you're here to tell it, but please tell me you killed all the monsters.”

“Well, no.” My ears dropped. Shot Chaser followed up with, “But I did trap them.”

I found some comfort in that.

“Anyways, after Seeker went down we panicked and separated. I managed to trap myself in a janitor's closet with a horde of parasprites on the other side. I dug around trying to find something that could save me, but in the end all I found was a dozen tattered uniforms, a half empty gasoline canister, and a pack of smokes...”

“What did you do?” I asked, unable to bear the dramatic pause.

“Besides smoke, nothing. I sat back hoping one of the others would rescue me. Each hour that passed eroded that hope and a new problem presented itself. I could feel the radiation sickness sinking in and knew I didn't even have a day before it killed me.” Shot Chaser poured himself a drink.

“I thought for certain I was going to die. The only question left was how. I could sit back and let the radiation kill me, or I could make a run for it and get eaten by parasprites. I favored the former. As I sat waiting to die another option came to mind. I could torch the place and take as many of those evil fucking bugs with me.

“The more time passed the better the idea became. I don't remember when I opened the gasoline canister but I remember the smell. I remember shaking uncontrollably as I tossed the first wave of gas over the door. Through dumb luck I knocked one of the janitor's outfits off the rack and it fell into the gasoline. An idea sparked as it soaked with the fuel. All my options before had me dying, but this idea, this idea was just foalish enough that I might live.”

Shot Chaser poured alcohol over his hoof.

“I put on every janitor suit in the room and doused myself with gas. I opened the door and set myself ablaze.”

He pulled out a match and set his hoof on fire.

“Stop!” I yelled. “You're going to get hurt.”

Shot Chaser covered his hoof with a rag and put out the fire. He slowly pulled away the rag to reveal his undamaged hoof. “Not if you're fast enough, and I never ran faster than that day. I got away and killed plenty of them on my way out. When I got the clothes off I tossed them onto a wooden support beam that burned and collapsed the entrance. I learned an important lesson that day.”

Shot Chaser stared into my eyes.

“Dying is easy. If you want to live, you have to fight.”

======

I forced my eyes open. A tingling sensation ran down from the nap of my neck and surged into the rest of my body. The necromancer, dagger in mouth, made his way over to Nibble. Sorry Luna. I braced myself for the pain as I kicked the statue in the face as hard as a could. It wasn’t much, but enough to break the already cracked horn.

I dropped and slammed into the ground. I felt the horn split inside me, both ends turned in different directions. A warmth pooled in my body, I became light headed, and my vision blurred.

I cried out as I got to my feet, “Get away from her!”

The unicorn turned to face me. The blade slipped out of his mouth when he saw the barrels of my gun aiming him down.

“How are you still alive?” He said.

“Just lucky I guess.” I slipped into SATS and targeted the necromancer's head as many times as possible. I queued up the shots and felt the spell start to guide my body as my vision went dark.

Footnote: Level up New perk; Entomologist You do an additional 50% damage every time you attack a mutated insect… or insect part.

Quest Perk; Just Lucky I Guess, Reduce an enemy's chance to critically hit you by 50%.

Chapter 6: Bigger Sharper Teeth

Chapter 6

I awoke to a bright light beating down on me. Hoofsteps echoed in the room as a pony ran back and forth. As I turned to face them something twisted inside me and I gasped in pain. I glanced down to see the stone horn protruding from my side. Shit.

“Ah conscious,” Gale said as he waved a hoof in front of my face. “More or less anyway. Here’s the situation, I can’t give you a healing potion till we get that out.” He tapped the stone horn gently. “It broke in two, I’ll pull out the base then go digging for any debris, wouldn’t want any of those fusing with your internal organs. Then I have the pleasure of pulling the other half through. To sweeten the deal we’re on a time limit, internal bleeding and all.”

His words sounded distant. I looked over without turning my body to see Gale gathering medical equipment on a tray.

Cages filled with radroaches and bloatsprites were stacked in one corner of the a room. The words “Just a copy - GET THE ORIGINAL” was written on the wall in blood. Scattered below me were parts of mutilated insects, manticores, and ponies. Dear Luna, this must be the table where the necromancer created his experiments!

“Wait-” My mouth filled with the taste of iron and blood spewed out. Gale came over and started to strap me down. I attempted to struggle but the manticore poison was in full effect.

“I have good news and bad news,” Gale said as he finished restraining me.

All I could manage was a whimper.

“I had to use all our sedatives to make a improvised antidote to the manticore poison. Now I can move so I can operate on you… without anesthetic.”

“Good. News?” I had to take a breath for each word.

Gale raised an eyebrow. “Oh, sorry I misspoke, bad news for you, good news for me.” Gale’s devilish grin appeared. What does he mean by that?

“Well time's a factor.” Gale grabbed the base of the horn with his magic and pulled. I screamed as my body spasmed. The warmth that pooled inside me flooded away, replaced with an ever growing chill.

Gale’s grin grew wider as he levitated tools over to keep the wound open. I could feel him digging inside me, pushing and pulling my insides as he removed chunks of stone. My screams flowed as freely as my tears and were only interrupted by coughs of never ending blood. The pain suddenly dulled, and the chill worked its way throughout my body as my vision darkened. What a shitty way to die...

“Ardent!” Gale yelled as he slapped me. The darkness receded as I focused on Gale, despite his toothy grin he looked… worried.

“Don’t die on me Ardent,” he said. “Pain means you’re alive. Focus on the pain, there'll be plenty of it.” He wrapped the blood caked horn in magic and pulled. It was terrible advice, but with no alternative… I clenched my jaw as the horn ripped it's way out, grinding against my insides as it moved. Gale gave a final tug and I couldn't contain my screams as the exit wound tore to make room. With the horn removed Gale dove his instruments inside.

“Done.” Gale floated healing potions over. A liquid pooled at the back of my throat, and I managed one swallow before my consciousness slipped. The concerned look from Gale was burned into my memory. He won’t let me die.

=====

I awoke to the sound of rain pattering against the roof of a small tent. Every nerve in my body throbbed with a dull ache, it felt like my body wasn't my own. I struggled to move my leg and took a sharp breath as I was rewarded with wave of pain. I clenched my jaw until the low throb returned. Without moving a muscle I glanced at my side and let out a breath of relief. Medical bandages wrapped around my side with no sign of a horn sticking out. I think this is probably my most pleasant awakening with Elpis so far.

Voices murmured from somewhere outside the tent. I sank into my trance to amplify my hearing so I could listen in.

“I need a refill on medical supplies,” Gale said.

“Grenades for me,” Nibble pleaded.

Clover grunted as he tapped away on his Pip-Buck. “Nibble what did you find on the terminal?”

I could practically hear her shudder. “Detailed notes on the necromancer's experiments. I wiped it clean.”

“What was all that shit about a page?” Mangle asked.

“There was a weird photo,” Nibble replied with a slight hitch in her voice. “It was, in zebra, I think, but it doesn’t matter.”

There was a pause before Clover spoke, “Gale, explain Ardent’s condition.”

“What do you mean?”

“How is he alive?”

“Oh that,” Gale said. “My medical expertise would say... luck. The manticore poison kept the pain at bay, and the horn didn’t hit anything vital.”

Clover scoffed.

“How could you be mad?” Nibble said. “He saved our lives, Clover!”

“I had it covered,” Clover replied calmly, “and luck like that doesn’t last.”

My focus shattered as fear wrenched me from my trance. He's right. I can’t afford to be careless. They aren’t training me with radroaches and raiders, I've been tossed into the major leagues.

“That's all the credit you are giving him?!” Nibble yelled past the storm.

“He is useless without that Pip-Buck!” Clover yelled back. “He killed a defenseless unicorn who burned all his magic on us.”

I killed him? I had never killed another pony before. Does it even count... I was unconscious when it happened. The conversation grew quiet so I re-entered my trance.

“You know it might not be luck,” Nibble said viciously.

“Meaning?” Clover said.

“In the mall he did something... strange. He-”

“So, what lesson have we learned?” said a raspy voice in the distance. I frantically searched for the source of the voice, and locked on to where it came from. It was outside of the tent, in the rain. I let my senses return to normal, took a deep breath, and ignored the pain as I got up. Time to find out if I'm crazy.

I stumbled out of my tent and dragged myself off in the direction of the voice. Rain drenched my coat and mane, the bandages grew heavy as they soaked up the water. My legs shook and threatened to give out with each step.

“You’re looking worse for wear,” the voice said. It sounded close, but even with my eyes adjusting to the dark I couldn't see past the veil of rain.

“All thanks to Clover,” I called out, not sure what direction to face. “He would have been okay with somepony offing me to take my place.”

“What about the others?”

Gale’s concerned look flashed in my mind. As easily as Clover was willing to throw my life away Gale tried just as hard to save it.

“I've no idea about Mangle. Nibble has always thought I belong and apparently Gale sees something in me worth saving.”

“You must be doing something right,” the direction of the voice seemed to move around.

“Not me,” I sighed “The Pip-Buck is responsible for everything I've done so far.”

“Come now, give yourself a little credit, I doubt your Pip-Buck freed you from that statue.”

A shiver worked its way through my spine, partially from the memory of being shiskababed, but mostly from how the voice had such intimate knowledge. I must be insane. That or it was there.

“To acquire Clover’s approval you need to become an irreplaceable tool,” said the voice in a dry voice. “But you should aim higher. Make Clover care, make them all care, become their friend.”

“A friend?” I chuckled in disbelief. Yup, definitely going crazy. Dust never fostered the concept of friends, there were ponies willing to let you help them for things in return or ponies who kept to themselves.

“I don’t know anything about friends,” I scoffed and scoured the darkness until my eyes locked on two pink dots, my body froze.

“Clearly.” The voice came from the pink dots. “Since you’ve failed to notice you’ve made two already.”

I couldn't speak or move, not from fear or shock, it felt like something held me in place. A flash of lightning lit up the sky and the pink dots disappeared, with their absence I could move again.

“What are you doing out here?” I spun around to see Clover staring down at me.

When I met his gaze I felt a scowl forming. This Pegasus was willing to leave me dead and recruit the very pony who murdered me. I thought back to how Mangle escaped the levitation spell. If I was stronger, more prepared, maybe I wouldn't have been so easily discarded. It's not Clover’s fault I'm weak. I looked away before Clover could see my expression.

“I thought I heard something,” I replied.

“I don’t see anything.” Clover looked out into the darkness. “Get back to bed.”

“Understood,” I replied and headed back to my tent. I glanced back to Clover. He had a stern look as he stared into the darkness, searching for something.

======

I slept for what felt like days, only waking in a daze when Gale came in with food or fresh bandages. I awoke one morning with clarity, my body no longer ached, if anything it felt renewed.

My tent door peeled open and Nibble peeked her head in. “How you holding up?”

“Better than I would have thought for being impaled,” I said.

Nibble stepped in but paused as she caught sight of the apple sized scar on my side.

“Gale said even with healing potions its permanent, not that I mind a bald spot, or two.” I shrugged. The scar on my other side had shrunken to the size of cap after the potion had worked its magic.

Nibble smiled but she still looked worried. “I got you a get well soon present.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a magazine with the title “The Big Book of Boom!” She held it out and watched me expectantly.

I searched my memories for the word ‘present’ but came up with nothing. “A what?”

“It's a gift,” Nibble said leaning in a bit more.

I could only give her a confused look as I failed to understand the word.

Nibble raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? A gift, a present, those things you get for your birthday.”

“Oh, a bonus. That's what Shot Chaser calls it; A reward for being a loyal and hardworking employee.”

“N… no, you don't need to work for a gift. Here I'll show you.” She placed the magazine into my hoof. “Here Ardent, I got you a gift.”

I shifted my gaze between the magazine and Nibble. “So do I ‘gift’ you some caps or something?”

Nibble groaned and rubbed at her temple. “No, it doesn't cost anything.”

It’s free? The only times things were free was when another pony found no value in it and even then they normally tried to pawn it off for a few caps. Maybe it's like the lock picking device and she didn't have a use for it anymore. The only other example that came to mind was the first time I met Ditzy. Had that been a gift, wasn't it only a ghoul thing?

Clover pulled open the tent door. “Pack up, we’ve wasted enough time here.” He stomped away to inform the others.

“Ardent,” Nibble said in a whisper as she stared at the ground. “About Clover. I… I know he can seem cold hearted, and he is, but he can do good, has done good, he saved me, and he's saved others, but he's also done horrible things, made me do horrible things.” Nibble fell to her haunches and hugged herself. “But his end goal, it'll be worth it, so if you could just forgive him, and move past what happened-”

“I already have,” I said causing Nibble look up in surprise with red rimmed eyes. “You're all so amazing, and I'm... not. I can't blame Clover just because I couldn't defend myself. I don't have any useful skills, but with this.” I raised my leg with the Pip-Buck. “I bet I can help, and maybe one day I’ll be as strong as all of you.”

“You're stronger than you think.” Nibble gave a genuine smile and laughed. “You have such an odd way of seeing things.”

“Do I?” I suppose growing up in a town with only a few dozen ponies could do that. Maybe it was time to start learning more about things like friends and presents, no matter how odd they might be.

I got up with minimal effort and opened the magazine. I spent a few moments on each page so it was easy to read from memory later. This way I could accept the gift and let Nibble keep the magazine since they were worth a fair amount. I never understood why ponies liked having the physical copy so much.

I finished and handed back the magazine. “Thanks.”

Nibble groaned in frustration as I left.

======

“Where are we headed?’ I asked leaning over the driver’s seat.

Clover glanced at me. “Does it matter?”

I tilted my head.

“If I told you, what could you possibly offer,” he said with annoyance. “Would you know a contact there, the layout of the place, its main source of trade, or would you just have a dozen more questions that I don't care to answer?”

I swallowed as Clover's eyes narrowed on me. He flicked his ear and returned his focus to steering.

I trudged to my spot in the back of the caravan. Nibble stopped me and plugged an extension on her Pip-Buck into mine and the screen flicked over to the overview map of Equestria. A way point showed up over a town called Furlong. I mouthed a thank you to Nibble and found my seat.

Clover had been right though, I knew nothing about the town. I scrolled through all the map markers already unlocked, I barely knew any of them, and everything I knew was second hoof from Shot Chaser or traders.

I flicked on my radio to DJ Pon3’s station, music played through the speaker. Clover called back to have me turn it off or plug in the ear bud, I chose the latter. After a few songs DJ Pon3’s voice came on.

“Good morning children. It’s another grey day in Equestria and I have some unfortunate news. After a long hiatus Pandora’s Children are back, which is bad news for everypony. In case you have poor memory Pandora’s Children had the numbers to overrun Equestria not but two years ago. Fortunately their leader retired early starting a massive civil war inside the group. It appears that war is now over. They have been raiding more frequently and with purpose, so be sure to travel fully loaded my little ponies.

“I have an update on that group with the large metal contraption. Turns out the group is from Jib, the town Elpis decimated. They are pissed and looking for some good old fashion revenge YEE HAW! Oh and the metal contraption they are traveling with is the very weapon Elpis was looking for. This is DJ Pon3 reminding you that you reap what you sow. Now back to Sweetie Belle!”

Well shit. I pulled out the ear bud and looked over the others. Was Jib one of those terrible things Clover has done? Nibble had an ear bud and refused to look my way, I assumed because she heard the same new report. I looked over the side of the caravan.

Just what kind of group could Elpis be? So far they seemed... balanced. I had always imagined the battle at Jib to be Elpis against an armed town with defenses, but what if it was more like New Appleloosa? They only had a few guards, the rest were shopkeepers, civilians, children...

Certainly they weren’t on the level of Pandora’s Children. Shot Chaser had plenty to say about that lot, even had a few run ins with them in his stories. They never cared about casualties, especially their own, from the sounds of it they just wanted everypony dead. Maybe comparing Elpis to a group of genocidal psychopaths isn’t the best benchmark.

Strange movements off in the distance caught my eye. I steadied myself and focused in on it. Something moved underground causing a trail of dust.

“Hey Gale. What’s that?” I said pointing to the dust cloud.

Gale got up. “Ardent you can’t bother me every time you see something ne-” His eyes went wide. “Clover we got a quarry eel!”

“Mangle get in the caravan!” Clover ordered as he turned the caravan away from the dust cloud.

“The fuck's going on?” Mangle said as she jumped in.

Clover ignored the question. “Nibble set up- Ardent set up the rocket launcher, Nibble check if you have anything else that might work on a quarry eel.”

The atmosphere shifted dramatically as Elpis went into mission mode.

“Do you remember how to set up PM3?” Nibble said.

I nodded. “Of course, who forgets things so easily?” She motioned where the legs should go. The dust clouds from the quarry eel started to close in.

“We are gonna try to out run it first.” Clover called back. My heart skipped a beat. Something Clover wants to run from?

“Melody, allons-y!” Clover said as he flicked the reins. The brahmin, apparently named Melody, started to gallop. With each step she tore into the cracked earth. I closed my eyes until they adjusted to the wind resistance from our new speed.

I gathered the pieces of PM3 and replayed the memory. When I finished I saw Clover eyeing me. That's unnerving. Nibble plugged in the power generator and started to pump. Despite our increase in speed the dust cloud was still catching up.

“So what’s a quarry eel?” I asked Gale. He smiled.

Gale sat Mangle and me down in front of a chalk board. What is- Where’d the chalk board come from?

“You see,” Gale began “After the megaspells hit the radiation changed creatures in Equestria. The changes are obvious. Bloatsprites use to be a annoying creature called a parasprite.” Gale drew crude images of the creature on the board. “They were pests but they were never hostile to ponies. Radroaches use to be the size of a bit. What is truly terrifying is the effect radiation had on already dangerous creatures-

“I think you mean taint,” I interrupted. “Taint is normally responsible for physical mutations.”

“How would you know?”

“Shot Chaser told me.”

Gale rolled his eyes. “Noted. As I was saying, one of these creatures is the quarry eel. Before it was a large snake like creature with sharp teeth that dug holes in the sides of mountains and waited for prey to approach. When prey came by, it could push itself out at alarming speeds to devour whatever creature was foolish enough to pass by.

“‘Taint’ turned these already hostile monsters into the stuff of nightmares.” Gale drew a image of a quarry eel, exaggerating the size of the teeth. “The ‘taint’ caused them to grow larger and have thicker hides. They gained the ability to bore through the ground instead of just making a hole. Also, for some strangely consistent reason, it caused the creature to have larger and sharper teeth.” He drew arrows pointing at the teeth. “Chances of surviving an encounter with a quarry eel are extremely slim.”

My ears dropped. “But we're going to be okay, right?” Gale shrugged and let the piece of chalk drop to the ground.

“Clover this is all I have,” Nibble said petting PM3 like a pet. “Two shots left but were only going to get off one, she’ll flip the caravan.”

Clover gave a nod.

Gale had abandoned the chalkboard and calmly prepared medical supplies.

“How are you not panicking right now?” I asked, my voice breaking.

“I am,” he replied normally, “but honestly there's nothing I can do but get ready for the aftermath. The only two ponies in our party who can hurt that thing are Nibble and Mangle. Why focus on what I can’t do?” I looked to Mangle who was staring intently at the ever enclosing dust cloud.

Mangle has something that matches a specially modded rocket launcher? Nibble had the rocket launcher ready to go and targeted the eel. The monster made its way to the side of the caravan.

“Brace yourselves!” Clover called out. I grabbed onto the side of the caravan. The dust clouds disappeared for a moment before a giant creature burst out of the earth. It had a dark purple hide with bulbous eyes, and an enormous mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth. I need to apologize to Gale, his image was not exaggerated. It launched itself into the air angling to come down right on top of us, mouth first.

Nibble swung to aim at the creature and with a crazed smile hit the launch button. Rockets went flying into the air exploding on the side of the eel's face. There was a shower of blood, flesh, and fire. The explosion had shattered the bottom row of teeth and ripped away a good portion of flesh revealing part of its jaw.

The kick back of the rocket launcher caused the caravan to flip just as Nibble warned, sending us all airborne. The force of the explosion pushed the eel off its original trajectory, causing it to land and bite into Melody. Before I hit the ground I saw a spray of blood escape the brahmin and the eel slip back into the earth.

A sharp pain sank into my back before I hit the ground. I landed on my side sliding back aways before coming to a stop, my leather armor protected me from most of the scrapes.

I got up and glanced at my back, a broken piece of eel tooth jutted out. I looked around, the others were getting up as well. No teeth in them, of course.

“Follow me!” Clover boomed as he took flight, leading us away from the quarry eel.

As we ran Nibble called up to Clover, “What now?”

The dust cloud re-appeared showing up near the tipped caravan. We had gained some distance.

Clover flew ahead of us and landed, he turned to face the quarry eel. “We are Elpis.” The others picked up their pace and fell in line with Clover. “Individually we are feared.” I caught up and joined the ranks. Clover gave me a nod. “Together there is nothing that can stand against us!”

Mangle smiled as she brought her fore hooves up and slammed her power hooves together. The weapons fused forming to be what looked like a mini cannon.

The dust clouds approached then disappeared like last time. I looked to the others and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. All of them were focused, unyielding, ready to take on anything. Is this what it means to be a member of Elpis? The surge of energy worked its way throughout my body and all my fears disappeared. I stomped my hoof and widened my stance.

There was a pause but no creature emerged, instead a loud clang echoed out of nowhere. The noise was unexpected, as was the ground collapsing underneath us.

======

I opened my eyes to see a large bulbous eye staring back at me.

I yelped and backpedaled until hitting something solid behind me. I turned to run when a pony grabbed me.

“Easy there Ardent. It's dead.” Gale said and let go of me. I turned back to verify that it was in fact dead, which was pretty apparent since its face looked like a crushed tin can. Blood poured out of the quarry eel, filling the area with the smell of death.

“What did that?” I asked.

Clover landed in front of me with a smirk. “A Stable door.” He motioned to the large door with a giant nine on it that had been torn off its hinges. It had a massive dent and was splattered in blood. “Looks like our quarry eel was nice enough to open the door to a Stable and dig us a path directly back to our caravan. Elpis time for a scavenging mission.”

Footnote: No level up

Chapter 7: A Faceless Leader

Chapter 7

A Stable, once we gather our supplies we’re going to explore an actual Stable. Not only that, I just stood my ground against a quarry eel. Nopony is going to believe me!

“I’m glad you're with us Ardent,” Gale said, interrupting me from my thoughts. “You incur more injuries than the others.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. A slight disturbance appeared around his horn as a sharp pain pinched my back.“Ow,” I said, gaping at the piece of eel tooth Gale had just removed from my back. It had broken to look like a long needle and widened at the end.

“Beautiful.” Gale swung the piece of tooth through the air like a sword and the blood covering it slid off.

“Um,” I pointed at the spot on my back that had started bleeding.

Gale nickered and floated the tooth into his saddle bag and took out a medical pad to tape up my injury. When he finished I remembered what happened to the brahmin.

“Clover, the eel... I think it killed Melody,” I said.

Clover raised an eyebrow. “You must be seeing things Ardent.”

“What, no, the-”

“He could be going mad,” Gale chimed in. “Some ponies just can't handle the wasteland.”

The others chuckled.

They're making jokes!? Was the brahmin’s life worth so little?

We reached the end of the eel’s tunnel and looked up, the eel had burrowed straight down when it had reentered the ground. Clover flew out to gather our supplies while we dug our own exit. As we came to the surface the caravan was upright and all our equipment was organized and put away. Melody was attached to the caravan in pristine condition. I approached the brahmin and replayed the memory, tracing a line on her side where the teeth had ripped into her. There was absolutely no sign of injury. It was impossible for Clover to have gathered our supplies so quickly and impossible for the brahmin to be alive. Is Gale right, was I seeing things, are my memories wrong? One of Melody’s heads mooed.

“Come eat or go hungry,” Clover called over. I eyed the brahmin one last time as it stared off into the distance. What are you?

I sat down with a bottle of Sparkle Cola and a can of peaches. The can had an embossed image of what might have been two ponies, but time wiped away any distinguishing marks. I reached for the drink and popped off the cap. I downed the carroty drink in one swig. I rarely came across Sparkle Colas in Dust but when I did I used what little savings I had to get them. My Pip-Buck clicked rapidly to indicate I drank a notable amount of radiation. I paled as memories of drinking the tasty beverage throughout my life came flooding in.

“Ignorance is bliss, till it isn’t,” Gale said, practically reading my mind. “You know during your first day with us you had minor radiation poisoning. I fixed you up so feel free to take some rads here and there.”

“Thank Celestia that eel crashed into the Stable,” Nibble said changing the subject.

“Celestia had nothing to do with it,” I said. Silence followed, glancing up everypony eyed me with mixed expression. Shit, I said that louder than I thought.

“Something wrong with the Goddess Celestia?” Clover asked. My reaction betrayed me as I scoffed. Shit!

“What’s wrong with the Goddesses,” Nibble challenged as she got up.

“Nothing,” I said waving my hooves in front of me. “At least there is nothing wrong with Luna,” I muttered.

Clover landed between us. “What do you know of Celestia and Luna?”

I tried to bite my tongue and keep my opinions to myself, but as always, I failed. “From what I understand, Celestia gave up her throne shortly after the Littlehorn Massacre and threw all her responsibilities on her younger sister Luna. I don’t know if they were actually gods, but they seemed to have godlike abilities, I mean they literally controlled the sun and moon. Even with that power, when things got tough Celestia gave up. She is as useless as goddess as she was a leader!”

Every time I learned about pre-war events the same thought came to my mind, what was Celestia doing?! I would voice those thoughts loudly, usually earning me a beating from most ponies and a scolding from Shot Chaser. At least Shot Chaser isn’t around to scold me.

To my surprise Clover let out a cold, empty laugh causing chills to run up my spine.

“Pack up,” he ordered, returning to his commanding self. "Time we see what's down there."

Nibble glared at me the whole way to the Stable and I tried my best not to notice. Honestly, I was just happy the others weren't angry with me, most ponies clung to their faith harder than their caps.

The quarry eel’s corpse had continued to bleed out during our absence. A horrible stench filled the recently dug passage and a pool of blood blocked the entrance to Stable Nine.

“Ewwww,” Nibble gagged. She turned to Gale. “I’ll levitate you over if you return the favor.” Gale wrapped Nibble in his aura and floated her to the entrance.

“Why don’t you just levitate yourself?” I asked.

“It takes a great deal of magic to levitate yourself, something Nibble and I aren’t capable of doing for any prolonged period of time,” Gale explained as Nibble’s purple aura lifted him over the moat of blood. Mangle jumped the distance and Clover flew over, leaving me the only one on the other side.

“Don’t worry, I got you,” Nibble said, rolling her eyes. A purple aura started to wrap around me. My heart raced as the memory of the necromantic unicorn grabbing me with his magic forced its way into my mind. I flailed catching the ground and breaking the levitation spell.

“What the,” Nibble said as her spell imploded. I landed on the ground and wrapped my hooves around a rock. I broke into cold sweat as all the pain, shock, and fear came rushing back as real as the day it happened.

“P- Please don’t do-o that.” I struggled to say as I started to hyperventilate. I focused and willed the memory to stop, the images slowed and the sensations dulled as the memory faded. Replaying my memories had always been like this but I’d never had one force itself out.

Nibbles eye's widened. “I'm so sorry- I didn’t realize.”

Clover landed in front of me with an unconcerned look.

“Stand,” he commanded. I struggled to stand on my trembling legs. Clover grabbed me, flew me over to the other side, and set me down next to the others.

Nibble came over, placing a hoof on my back, and apologized profusely. I nodded, letting her know it was okay.

Clover waited for me to regain some composure before speaking, “Mangle, I want you to go find the Overmare’s office with Ardent. The rest of us are going to scavenge the lower levels.” Gale raised his hoof to protest, but Clover glared at him till he lowered it. “Stables can be dangerous so be ready for anything,” Clover finished.

Our first steps into Stable Nine revealed a graveyard of blackened skeletons with scorch marks marring the ground and walls.

Gale kicked at a pile of bones and it fell apart into ash. “Burned alive,” he said. “Painful way to go.”

Clover grunted and pressed on. The Stable appeared to be in good condition, not that I had any point of reference. The lights let out an annoying hum that was drowned out by the noise of our hoofsteps against the cement ground.

We remained together until the first four way split, the others went downstairs on our left and I followed Mangle straight.

I’ve never been alone with Mangle before. She was a head shorter than me without her power hooves active. I took a closer look at her weapons, they appeared like thick shackles around her legs. What I thought were just chunks of metal was actually an intricate design of interweaving parts, some of it dug directly into her leg.

“Are those…” I wasn’t sure how to ask, “Can you take those off?”

Mangle glared back at me.

Maybe it was a sensitive topic, I tried a different subject, “How old are you?”

Mangle groaned, “Another talker.” She shook her head and picked up her pace

Mangle moved like she owned the place as we traveled deeper into the Stable. She didn’t have a Pip-Buck to navigate and the local map on mine started to look like a maze.

“How do you know where we’re going?” I asked as we took a right.

“Ugh.” Mangle stopped to face me. “I grew up in a Stable, they said I stopped growing a about a year ago, and no, they’re attached to my legs but why would I ever want to take them off?” Mangle answered in reverse order. “Any other stupid fucking questions?”

A stable dweller, and probably really young, I think, who the hell measure age by when you stop growing? She caught me off guard with her directness but I didn't want to waste the opportunity, “The cannon?”

Mangle smirked. “A little trick these things can do, my second best move.”

“They can do more?”

“Ha,” Mangle spat. “Ain’t got nothing to do with them, my best move is all my own. Let’s just say I was first in line to get these for a reason.”

“What do you mean-”

“Ughggg, shut the fuck up.” Mangle turned away, apparently bored of the conversation.

“But-” I silenced myself as Mangle let one of her power hooves wrap around her back leg and raised it. Okay, no more talking.

======

An outline of a pony surrounded by scorch marks decorated a wall, below it a pile of ash. The burn marks originated from a nearby vent as if somepony was crawling around with a flamethrower, but after a careful peek I noticed the ducts were too small for a pony.

“What kind of vent shoots fire?” I asked.

“Maybe it blew up,” Mangle offered.

I poked at a piece of melted metal. Wouldn't the vent have been blown off from an explosion? My gaze drifted to an open door where a shiny gem caught my eye, with a shrug I trotted over.

A counter lined one side of the room where large gems lay atop a mess of broken test tubes. Pneumatic tubes labeled “Magical” and “Non-Magical” were in the corner. A mounted laser rifle faced a wall with multiple burn marks, and a computer hummed on one of the tables.

I wandered over and hit some keys, muttering a quick thanks to Luna as it logged in without a password. There were many entries but a majority were corrupted.

“The fuck you doing?” Mangle asked from the hallway.

She sure does swear a lot. Not that I minded, since I grew up in a bar vulgarity was almost a second language to me, along with slurred speech. Shot Chaser cleverly deterred me from repeating most curses by saying, “Vulgar words are for idiots that lack vocabulary, not that you should ever inform anypony of that.”

“I am going to look at these files. Do you want to see?” I asked.

“Umm, no.” Mangle approached the door. “I’m going to look around, so be quick.” She turned and left without stepping a hoof inside.

“Just stay close okay?” I started going through the uncorrupted text files.

"Opening day. Stable-Tec has chosen our vault to continue research on gems and their effects in energy weapons. Since there’s no rock farm we have been equipped with a way to grow gems! Groundbreaking technology, or should I say rockbreaking. They take months to grow but this place is built to last and the Overmare is excited about the project, oh and get this, the Overmare to Stable Nine was chosen by Luna herself! We grow the gems, test them in the provided weapon, and document the effect. Afterwards the gems are sent off to a secure location. The whole team can’t wait to get started.

"Experiment 6. Great news, instead of another batch of duds we got one that worked! It left a lingering fire after the weapon discharged. I am sure the Overmare will be pleased with this outcome, although she’s been plenty happy about the duds as well. I guess she is just in awe of the technology, and to be fair this latest breakthrough has me burning for more.

"Experiment 23. The probability of getting a gem with elemental effects is extremely low, a little sad, but this is brand new technology. We have had multiple fire gems, one electric, and one explosive. Poor Stardust lost his eyebrows when we found that last one, should teach him to wear goggles from now on. He sent in a request to transfer positions, something about a hazardous workplace and a coworker addicted to puns, but the Overmare denied it. Stardust said he got a nasty letter from her making rather direct threats about staying where he's told.

"Experiment 87. Growing these gems has become a bore, get it because boring and gems haha, I’m out of clever ones. We must have a stockpile for a small army by now and I doubt that's what’s left out there. We haven't found any new types of gems, and haven't heard anything from Stable-Tec since the Stable closed. The Overmare is so insistent we continue, almost like her life depended on it, and we will for now, not like there's anything else to do down here... Stardust asked if any of us have ever seen the Overmare before, it seemed like a silly question at the time but now I can't stop thinking about it. I hear her voice almost everyday over announcements and I know I have seen her shadow in the Overmare’s office, but I don’t think I have ever met her face to face.

"Experiment 235. No matter what the Overmare says, it's over! This has become a waste of time. We're the only ones left. There's no point. She demanded we continue. We told her to say that to our face. That shut her up. We saw movement in her office so it is good to know somepony is there but why hasn’t she shown herself all this time. I say we bust in there and demand some answers.

"Revolution Day! That crazy bitch has turned off the sprinklers and lit a fire that she’s fanning into the vents. If any of the vents lead to where the gems are kept it could blow us all to Tartarus. A group of us are going to try to get out of here while the rest of us try to take her office. Stardust kept one of the explosive gems, we are going to use it to blow open the door to her office."

Well that explains a lot. I stepped back from the terminal and envisioned the team of scientists working in the lab, taking notes on clipboards, placing gems into the weapon, and Stardust losing his eyebrows in a comedic explosion. I chuckled but then was hit by a sudden wave of melancholy as I imagined them typing the results into the terminal I had just used, fighting until a fire reached their life's work and killed everypony. I glanced to the doorway and could see the edge of the ash pile in the hall.

It was stupid to feel sad, they died ages ago and there was nothing I could have done to stop it, but still… Reading the logs, getting a glimpse into some other ponies life, knowing the ending. Is this why Shot Chaser stopped? I shook myself free of the emotions.

I swiped every gem in the room into my saddle bag and headed back into the hallway. Mangle was down the hall with her power hooves activated. I galloped over as she launched herself up using her power hooves to boost higher. I entered a two leveled living area with an overhanging railing wrapped around the second level. Chairs and tables were in the corners on the first floor. Overlooking the entire area was a large dimmed window.

“Whats going on?” I asked as Mangle landed with a curse.

She gestured at a rubble blocked stairwell. “That was the only way up. I can almost reach the railing but…” Her stare shifted from the railing to me, “ Oh, I know.”

Before I could ask, Mangle got underneath me and balanced me on her fore hooves. Her power hooves dug into my stomach as she teetered on her back legs. My eyes widened.

“Can't we just wai-”

She kicked off and let her power hooves propel us upward. We nearly reached the railing on the second level before coming to the apex of her jump. Mangle pushed me forward and I heard her power hooves activate. Shit, this is going to hurt. The metal plates shot out, one crushing into my chest, forcing all the air out of my lungs. I launched upwards and crashed onto the second level.

“You alive up there?!” Mangle yelled.

“Yes,” I gasped trying to refill my lungs. “Couldn’t we have- just waited- for Clover- or Nibble?” I choked out.

There was a pause. “Whatever, it worked. Well uh, go check out the thing. I’ll keep looking around down here till they show up.” Mangle said as she trotted away.

“Wait.” I placed a hoof to stand but my strength gave out and I fell to the floor. I had bruises and scrapes all over from the last hour and my sides were still raw from where the new skin covered the skewer wound. How the hell do the others handle this?

I could only lay and listen to Mangle’s hoofsteps echoing from the halls. With each step they grew a little more quiet until they disappeared completely. They're going to abandon me here. I'm not useful enough. Please don’t leave me alone.

“They'll be back,” I whispered to myself. “Go be useful and check the Overmare’s office.”

Obeying my own order I forced myself up and tried to open the locked door next to the overlooking window. I searched around in my saddlebag and pulled out Nibble’s lock picking device. Placing it in the lock I let my senses dull focusing everything on the feeling in my hooves. It was the same as before, after enough fiddling around…

The door slid open revealing an office covered in junk. Nik naks littered the tables and floor. A computer was mounted on the main desk. I went over and tried to login, but sighed when it asked for a password. This will have to wait for Nibble. I started looting everything in the room, a violin, some small trophies, and a rubber chicken. The Overmare had some odd tastes, is that a kitchen sink?

While looting I backed into a painting of a tree and nudged it off center. I turned to adjust it but noticed a crease on the wall. What the heck? I ran my hoof along the cold grey wall tracing the crease. I pulled down the painting to reveal a safe built into the wall.

Once again I pulled out the lock picking device and slipped into my trance, but no matter how much I tinkered with the tumblers the tension remained the same. I gave up and left my trance. Nibble said it only works on basic locks, guess this is out of my league.

Voices echoed outside and the tension I didn’t realize was building vanished. I ran out to see Clover and the others talking with Mangle.

“You punched him up there?!” Nibble asked.

“Are you deaf,” Mangle replied. “Look he’s fine.” She pointed up to me.

I waved. Clover flew up and glanced through the door to the Overmare’s office. He turned to me.

“Uhh, a locked computer, hidden safe, and lots of junk,” I said. He nodded and flew down to Nibble, picking her up and lifting her to the second level.

“Nibble get the computer unlocked. I’ll get others up here to look around. Ardent you cover her,” Clover ordered. He hesitated before he left looking at me almost sympathetically. “Don’t talk.”

He flew off to get the others as Nibble cantered past me, smacking me in the face with her tail. Dammit she’s really pissed about this whole Celestia thing. I can’t have the only nice pony in Elpis hating me, I’ll have to talk to her about it soon.

There was no chance for words once Nibble hooked her Pip-Buck into the computer. Her eyes raced across the code and she muttered random words and letters. Her brow furrowed whenever she had to back out and restart. She let out a triumphant squeal when she entered the correct password. She methodically scoured the information on the computer and smirked as she hit a key causing the safe I found to pop open.

“Go check it out,” she said not even looking up from the screen.

There were only two things in the safe, a glowing orb and an audio recorder. The orb felt like glass so I placed it in an inner pocket on my barding, making a mental note to ask about it later. I hit play on the audio recorder.

“Hello, Lazuline. The following is for your ears only. I am speaking to you because you have been selected as the Overmare for Stable Nine, due to your agreement with Princess Luna and your unique upbringing.

“My name is Scootaloo. I am the vice-president of the Stable-Tec. Your stable has been selected to participate in a vital social project. The first goal of Stable Nine, like any other, is to save the lives of the ponies inside, but there is a higher purpose to your Stable. Stable-Tec and Luna understand that it doesn’t do ponykind any good to save ourselves now only to annihilate each other later. We must figure out where we went wrong, and we must be ready to implement it as soon as possible once the Stable doors open.

“Your Stable has a very exceptional design. Despite the official documents, you have been outfitted with labs that can grow gems. This is rather new technology and we don’t expect the gems to be as potent as the ones from rock farming but they are still usable for all your needs.

“The goal of this social experiment is to see how long ponies can last under the command of a faceless leader. We need to know if ponies can trust a leader designated by Luna herself. Feel free to take any action you must in order to keep the ponies listening to you and working under the pretenses of authority.

“Thank you. From all of us. From all of Equestria. Best of luck, and may Stable Nine and all its inhabitants live long and well.”

Scootaloo sighed and ruffled some papers.

“We really need a new template for these things. I am getting tired of basically saying the same thing over and over… Is this thing still recording?”

“Looks like there was some sort of revolt,” Nibble said reading through the files.

“Yeah, the logs in the science lab said that too,” I confirmed.

“Ooh looky here,” She entered a command and backed away from the console. After a slight rumble the floor opened up in front of us revealing stairs leading down.

“Secret passage. That’s cool,” I said.

“Let's see what's down there,” Clover said walking into the Overmare’s office with Gale.

“Where’s Mangle?” I asked.

“We found an armory up here,” Gale said. “She is getting past all the locks, violently. She’ll catch up.”

We headed into the passage. It followed the layout of the Stable but the longer we traveled the more it turned into a mine, the end of the tunnel opened into a large cave. There must have been motion sensors because when we walked in lights on the ceiling flickered to life. Everypony's eyes were drawn to the spectrum of colors cast along the walls and ceiling, reflecting and refracting off of the pile of gems in the corner. The pneumatic tubes from the science lab ended here.

“Jackpot,” Clover said.

I grabbed one of the gems. “I don’t understand. I thought the gems were the cause of the fire?”

“How do gems cause a fire?” Gale asked picking up a yellow tinted gem.

“I wonder what caused it.”

The pile of gems started to rattle as a few fell from the top scattering across the floor. We backed up as something emerged.

A dragon, an actual, live, dragon. As the dragon stretched its sapphire blue scales sparkled in the light. With a yawn it cracked its neck with rose colored talons. It rubbed at its ice blue eyes and eventually focused on us.

“Well it seems I finally have some replacement ponies,” the dragon spoke in a low feminine voice. “About time Stable-Tec sent you.”

Only a moment of silence followed before Clover spoke up, “Well the Stable is underground.” Clover followed along as he motioned to the exit with his wing. Nibble, Gale, and I scooted away as Clover continued, “And the orders weren’t very clear.”

The dragon scoffed, “They never are with Stable-Tec, but it’s simple enough, you all will be making… Does that pony have one of MY GEMS!”

I froze and glanced at my saddle bag which was near bursting. The top revealed some of the contents, one of which being a gem I took from the lab. I swallowed, Oh shit.

The dragon lopped along the wall and slammed itself down in front of our only exit. “You dare steal from your leader, your Overmare!”

I closed my eyes as a wave of burning air bellowed out of the dragon’s mouth. When I could open them again a dragon three times my size stared down at me with slitted pupils. Overmare? Was this Lazuline? Did they really put a dragon in charge of a Stable?!

“I’m their leader,” Clover said.

“What?!” Lazuline growled. The dragon faltered as Clover flew up to eye level.

“If you want a chance of getting out of here alive, you will follow me as well!” Clover demanded.

Lazuline took a step back. “You- you dont scare me.” Clover flew forward and the dragon stepped back and flailed out a claw slicing off a layer of Clover’s barding like paper. Clover fired his battle saddle in defense.

“No!” Lazuline whimpered and cowered in the doorway. The laser struck against one of her spikes and reflected, hitting the ground.

Lazuline stood still for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. “You had me going there.” She opened and closed her claws a few time. “I was so little during the uprising, you ponies actually stood a chance, but not anymore. Why don’t we come to an arrangement?”

Clover landed, his coat drenched in sweat. He wasn’t the only pony sweating, the temperature in the room had spiked and each word Lazuline spoke only made it worse.

“What kind of arrangement?” Clover asked.

“Well, you can work in the labs making gems forever or I can barbecue you all now and have a nice breakfast.” The dragon smiled, revealing all of her razor sharp teeth.

“The labs are in poor repair. We can go get a pony to fix them for you,” Clover said.

“Poor repair you say?” Lazuline lifted her head bringing a claw up to scratch at her chin, taking only a moment to ponder. “I guess it’s time for breakfast.”

Clover cursed under his breath as he took a battle stance. The rest of us followed his lead.

Lazuline simply laughed as she reached out a claw.

“Holy shit a dragon!” A high pitched voice squealed from behind Lazuline.

With a puzzled look Lazuline turned around, only to catch a power hoof to her jaw. The force tossed her back into her pile of gems with a clatter.

Mangle landed where the dragon had stood and blew on her hoof. I doubted Lazuline was an adult, but to see a dragon launched away by a pony a fraction of her size...

“You little bitch!” Lazuline howled in deeper masculine voice compared to the one she had before. She got up growling at Mangle. “I’m going to turn you to charcoal.”

Mangle glanced to Gale who gave a nod and then she turned back to the dragon and said, “Try it.”

The dragon took a deep breath but Mangle only sat there with a bored expression. Is she going mad?! The others were all relaxed as well. Is everypony going mad?!

The dragon released a blue flame completely engulfing Mangle. The flame lasted for what seemed like forever and multiplied the heat in the room. When the flames finally died off they revealed Mangle standing there, yawning. Today is jammed packed with the impossible.

The area around her was free of scorch marks.

Lazuline gaped and Clover gathered Nibble and me. “You two get out of here. Nibble get the rocket launcher ready just in case.” He glanced to the dragon and smirked, “But I think they can handle this.”

“If I can’t burn you I’ll turn you to mincemeat!” Lazuline yelled launching herself at Mangle. Mangle pivoted aiming her back hooves towards the dragon and bucked. A deafening clang rang out as the attacks collided. The force caused both combatants to recoil. How much power can such a young mare have?

“Go!” Clover ordered.

Nibble and I raced to the exit, only to be blocked by the dragon as we got close.

“Those are my gems!” She howled.

“Pay attention!” Mangle yelled and propeled herself at Lazuline colliding both fore hooves into her side. The impact caused the dragon to fold over and dry heave.

Nibble and I ran through the exit. I glanced back to see Lazuline stagger to her feet. Mangle dived at her for another attack but Lazuline jumped and with a flap of her wings grabbed ahold of the ceiling. The dragon dug her talons in and looked down at Mangle.

“Can’t hit me up here can you?” Lazuline mocked.

I stopped running completely as Mangle reared up.

“Come on,” Nibble pleaded not slowing down.

I waved a hoof at her as I watched Mangle slam her forelegs together to form the cannon. The dragon's eyes narrowed and Mangle fired.

I failed to see what projected out of Mangle’s cannon. I could only hear the hiss of something tearing through the sound barrier and feel the wave of pressure rip through the air. The cement was cracked under Mangle’s feet. I watched as the blue dragon fell from the ceiling, a hoof size hole in her gut. Lazuline grasped at the wound and blood hemorrhaged through her talons.

“I think it's time to renegotiate,” Clover said stepping forward.

The dragon’s brow furrowed as it took in a deep breath.

“Oh shit,” I said turning to run again. Lazuline let out a torrent of magical blue fire. It engulfed the room and worked its way through the tunnel. I pushed myself to gallop faster as the wave of fire caught up. I burst out of the secret tunnel into the Overmare’s office and stomped out the lingering blue flame on my tail then tried to wave away the smell of burning hair.

“I told you to run,” Nibble said shaking her head. “Now let's hurry.”

We came to the balcony and I had one of two options, let Nibble levitate me down or jump. I barely paused as I leaped over the ledge and fumbled when I landed, but other than a humiliating tumble I was uninjured. That's a first.

Nibble stared over the balcony. I got up and stood where she would land if she lept down.

“I’ll catch you.” I said.

She flipped over the ledge and let go, falling straight down. Right before I caught her she wrapped herself in a purple aura causing her to be as light as a feather as I set her down.

She gave me a sultry look but then snapped her head away. “Would have been hot if you weren’t a godless heathen.”

“Right.” I scratched at the back of my neck. “Better get going.” She nodded and we made our way out of Stable Nine.

Back at the Stable entrance we came to a sudden halt as the smell of death overtook us. The pool of blood had grown and there were no pegasi to get me across this time.

“I could…” Nibble’s horn lit up. I backpedaled to the wall.

“No,” I said, her horn fizzled out. “One of us is getting drenched and it might as well be me.”

“What do you mean?”

I took a page from Mangle’s book and walked over to to Nibble. She squealed as I slid under her, picked her up, and balanced her on my back. My legs threatened to buckle.

Nibble giggled. “I can help.” She wrapped herself in her aura again, making herself nearly weightless.

I took a deep breath and walked into the pool of blood. Nibble tucked in her legs and pulled up on my saddle bags as the blood came up to my chest. It was difficult to move through, almost like mud. I slowly pushed through and thanked Luna when I started to rise. As soon as I escaped the gory mess, I set Nibble down, ran over to the other side of the tunnel, and emptied the contents of my stomach. Nibble started to approach, but I waved her on. After she got far enough away I shook off as much crimson as I could, coating the tunnel in red. After a couple of dry heaves I headed back to our caravan.

Nibble had set up the rocket launcher and had it aimed at the tunnel. I joined her and we waited for what felt like hours.

Eventually three ponies emerged. Clover with a few singed feathers, Gale appearing uninjured, and Mangle limp on Gale’s back.

“You actually did it?” I said in amazement.

“Of course,” Clover replied pulling out some of his damaged feathers.

A unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony killed a dragon. Elite and Legendary Ponies Initiating Survival, Elpis. I hope this is what it means to be one of them.

I glanced at Mangle, she was motionless on Gale’s back. “Is she ok?”

“Oh yes, she's fine,” he replied. “She’ll be weak for a day or two.”

I needed to know this story. “How did you kill it? What exactly happened? Could you start from the moment we left?”

Gale took a step back as I assaulted him with questions. “No offense Ardent, but could you go downwind?” Gale asked. I cocked my head, then looked down. Oh yeah, covered in blood.

Footnote: Level up New perk; Fortune Finder. You find Considerably more bottle caps in containers.

Chapter 8: Pandora's Children

Chapter 8

I scratched off as much of the coagulating blood as I could but the smell and maroon tint remained. My efforts were taking place downwind from the others as they worked. Nibble fitted the caravan with a detached backseat for me and promised it would be a Celestia forsaken seat. Clover cleaned my battle saddle while Gale removed a few bags from one of the coolers. He tossed one to Mangle, she tore it open and devoured the contents like a starved animal. Gale offered a bag to the others but only Clover took one.

Gale made his way over to me. “Do you eat meat, these are getting old so we’re tossing away what we don’t eat now.”

I had eaten meat before, living in the waste didn't give you the luxury of eating what your body thought was best. The wasteland also taught you to never waste food.

“I'll have some,” I replied. Trying to maintain his distance Gale tossed a bag over. Inside were dark ribbons of shredded meat dried with salt. “Don’t you want any?” I asked after my first mouthful.

“Oh no, I'm a strict vegetarian.”

Gale noticed my confusion and bared his sharp teeth. “Wondering about these?” I’m more interested about the dragon but Gale only tortured me with silence on that subject, so might as well take what I can get. When I nodded Gale continued, “They’re just for show. It's an initiation ritual into the gang I was in. We had a unicorn who knew a bone molding spell. Hurt quite wonderfully.”

“You were a raider?”

“Not really, the Jackals preyed on the weak and only did what they needed to survive. Not that crazy chop ponies up and use them as decoration stuff.”

“What happened?”

“I met her,” Gale turned to Mangle, she had passed out with her face buried in the bag of meat. “Wasn’t much point to a doctor in a group that never risked injury, nor was it any fun for me.” Gale’s gaze drifted to the sky. “You should have seen her, captured by raiders, thrown into the fighting ring. She thought it was a reward. She fought till her body was ragged but still wanted to continue. It’s how she earned her name, Mangle. They were about to put her down after a particularly gruesome win but I bought her.”

“Wait, she’s your slave?” I gasped. Gale laughed and turned his attention back to me.

“As if she would care about such legalities, hell, after I patched her up she almost killed me. Eventually we came to an agreement and we've been traveling together ever since.”

“Mangle said she was from a Stable,” I said trying to confirm it with Gale.

“Oh, you two had a little chat?”

“Very little.”

Gale chuckled. “Sounds about right, I’m afraid you're going to have to ask her about such things, unlike you I’m not desperate for stories.”

I scratched at the back of my neck. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“If you meant to hide it you’ve done a terrible job.” Gale’s smile turned devilish. “I’m going to make you work for that dragon story.”

“Ardent!” Clover called out. “Your battle saddle is ready... and your ride.” Nibble stepped out of the way to reveal a flimsy scrap of sheet metal tied to the caravan with a piece of rope. This isn’t going to be comfortable.

======

“Finally,” Nibble said as Furlong came into view.

I loosened my grip on the scrap metal enough to peak a view. The town was composed of cube homes perfectly spaced out in a grid. Instead of being built out of scrap metal or rotting wood, the homes had been built with a light colored rock making the whole town look clean and approachable, aside from a rotting factory nearly spanning the length of the town.

Clover made an abrupt turn and I grasped my sheet metal as the rope went slack for a moment before being yanked taunt, a move I had quickly learned since failure to do so sent me flying. I wondered if Clover was just being an ass but the sound of gunfire emanating from Furlong brought up different questions. Raiders in sickly green barding stormed one side of the town while the citizens evacuated into a fortified domed building in the center. The ponies defending the town all used the same mouth held weapon, a slender silver gun that shot out bolts of silver lighting. On approach, I could see the bolts strike the raiders but the lightning did nothing more than cause them to pause for a moment.

“Are those…” Gale squinted.

“Pandora’s Children,” Clover growled. He turned the caravan and bee lined for the enemy's back line. “Time we finally get started on eliminating them.”

I attempted to clean out my ears because there was no way I heard that right. Pandora’s Children is the largest raider gang in Equestria. A dragon is one thing, literally one thing, but a small group can't take on an army. He must mean just the ones attacking now.

“Idiots are using Flim Flam guns,” Nibble groaned seeing the bolts of silver.

“Looks like we’re doing all the work then,” Clover called back.

A member of Pandora’s Children emerged from one of the cube like houses carrying a mess of clothes and other stolen goods. She began to load them into a wagon completely oblivious to our arrival as she rifled through some of the pockets. Clover steered Melody past her before turning sharply and pulling on the reins. The raider was crushed between the wagon and the caravan with a meaty crunch. I would have been more impressed with the maneuver, but being dragged along meant I was sent flying through the air.

I rolled on the ground half a dozen times before stopping. The dust I kicked up clung to my blood covered coat, almost making me brown again. I struggled to stand as my eyes tried to determine which way was up. Clover barked orders to the others and they scattered onto the battlefield, except Mangle who was still somehow sleeping. Gale covered her with a blanket before heading out.

Clover flew over me getting a look at the town from an aerial perspective before swooping down to give me my orders, “Ardent, stay on the outskirts of town and make your way to the roof of the third building you come across, kill any Pandora’s Children that get in your way. Understood?”

“Understood.” I broke off and scoped out the first alley. As I passed I could see Clover in the air and hints of Nibble as she snuck through the center of town. My EFS was full of red marks but I couldn't tell how close the enemies were. The second alley I crossed had a raider at the far end. I noticed a shimmer in the air much like Gale’s magical aura. It waved around the raider’s neck and continued somewhere out of sight. A saw blade flew through the air following the path of magic aura and decapitated the raider. I started to piece together how Gale’s aim spell might work.

With the raider dead I continued my route. The closer I got to the center of town the more the air filled with a chalky dust that made the air taste like dirt. It was coming off the houses, each time a bullet hit them a plume of dust would be kicked up that showered the area. Moving past the houses I noticed there were no creases from bricks just perfectly flat stone, my guess is they were built by a unicorn.

I reached the third building and creaked open the wooden planks that passed for a door. The inside was empty but fresh hoof prints led a path across the living room. I followed them, heading up stairs until stopping at a hatch to the roof. I placed my hoof on the metal handle but paused when the crack of a gunshots rang out close enough for me to feel. I took a deep breath, readied myself, and flung the hatch open.

A unicorn with a tar colored mane in green armor leaned over the rooftop. He carefully tracked something on the ground with a sniper held in his magical aura. I hesitated. He’s going to be the first pony I ever kill, and unlike the necromancer, I'm going to see him die.

I failed to enter SATS, instead all I could do was take in characteristics of the pony I was about to murder. The green paint stained his coat where his tattered armor failed to cover, making him look more protected than he actually was. He avoided putting weight on his back left leg which was slightly crooked, he may have broken it before and failed to find proper medical treatment. I began to build a story for the raider, of how tough his life must have been, about how he ended up here working for Pandora’s Children. What if he was being forced to help them? What if he doesn't want to be doing this? I took a step backwards as I lost my nerve.

The raider fired and a child cried out in pain. My shock only lasted a moment before I focused all my rising anger on the raider. All my hesitations evaporated into a burning resolve to follow Clover’s last order. Kill any Pandora’s Children that get in my way. I entered SATS and queued all my shots into the back of his head.

My rifles fired and time slowed to a point matching when I focus on my vision during my trance. Two bullets crashed into the back of the raider’s head. They sank into his flesh and shattered his skull. A mess of blood, flesh, and brain splattered out as his body went limp and fell over the side of the house. I could hear the thump as he landed. I ran over and glanced down to see blood shot eyes stare back at me. I felt no remorse as I tried to retrace where he was aiming.

Just a block away from the domed building a turquoise unicorn buck, with a cutie mark of a measuring stick, limped towards safety. A small gash bled on a leg, the bullet had just grazed him. A unicorn mare, I assumed was his mother given the matching color, raced out and grabbed her son in a magic before bringing him inside the town hall.

I had a moment of relief that my delay didn't kill a child. The crack of a gun firing rang in my ear as a bullet embedded itself deep into my leather barding, crushing my ribs and forcing the air out of me.

I had somehow failed to notice the other raider on the roof, a shaved mare who stared me down with crazed anger. She held a rusty revolver in her mouth. She stomped closer and pressed the burning hot barrel of her gun to my head.

I flinched away from the searing pain and slipped on a small piece of brain. The raider fired just as I fell out of the way, the proximity of the shot caused all noise to be replaced by a constant ringing.

Before the raider could realize she missed I bucked at her face. My back hooves connected and sent the gun in her mouth over the roof. I rolled away and forced in a deep breath. I got up only to see the mare had produced a knife with enough rust to match her gun. She lunged at me.

In a panic I fired without the aid of SATS. At this range it was hard for even me to miss, but I did, twice. The third shot found a place in the mare’s chest as she swiped at me, the knife cut into my cheek as she dropped. I put my hoof up to my face as blood trickled out. I kicked the mare over and could see the last of her life disappear as blood rushed out of her chest and mouth. Sure is a lot easier to kill them when they're trying to kill you back.

I brought up the inventory screen on my Pip-Buck. I didn’t have any medical bandages, just two healing potions. A bit extreme for a cut cheek and bruised side. I turned my attention to the battlefield below me.

Pandora's Children definitely noticed Elpis' presence. A stone colored mare with an eyepatch rallied the others to turn and face the real threat. She wore black barding and had a battle saddle with dual combat shotguns. She looked like she would be a pain in the ass to take down.

Clover swooped out of the air and targeted her, but it was like the raider could feel the bloodlust. Despite the advantage of Clover being airborne and staying in her blind side she rolled out of the way just in time to dodge the laser rifle. She fired back with her shotguns but Clover quickly escaped their effective range.

The rest of Pandora’s Children heeded their leader’s orders and turned to lock onto the only one of us standing in the open, Nibble. She turned tail and hoofed it into the house next to her, chased by nearly a dozen raiders. I entered SATS and picked off two of her pursuers. They fell out of the crowd, either dead or mortally injured. My mind didn’t bother to note I had just doubled my kill count because I was terrified watching the rest of the raiders dogpile into the house after Nibble. I could only listen to the sound of gunshots and watch as the house became perforated with bullet holes.

I had momentary relief when the hatch on the roof flung open and Nibble’s flank came into view. She took slow steps back as she unloaded her pistol down the stairs. When she stopped to reload three raiders tried to simultaneously get to the roof and clogged the passage. They fired wildly and managed to land a shot on Nibble’s pistol, sending it flying out of view.

“Oh shit,” I muttered as I could only watch. SATS was still charging and any shot I took had an equal chance of hitting Nibble.

For a moment I thought one of them shot her, but the bullet had just missed her head and ripped through her mane. She stared at the fallen strands of hair in disbelief before her eyes narrowed on the three raiders. Her purple aura wrapped around them but the color of her magic started to shift into a darker hue.

“What're you assholes doing up here,” a male voice said from behind me, “and what’s that smell?” I spun to see a dark blue unicorn in green armor coming up the stairs. I entered SATS and aimed my only shot at his head. It grazed his cheek at put a hole into the house. Under the control of SATS I reloaded the battle saddle. Oh, the spell can reload for me. By the time I finished reloading the unicorn had ducked out of view.

I crouched hoping the raider would stay away until SATS recharged. Glancing back I saw the three raiders had finally broken through the hatch, but they struggled as if they were still crammed together. That is until the grenade Nibble tossed under them exploded and showered the area in gore.

I focused back just in time to see a circular disc of metal levitating through the hatch. A red light in the center blinked as it let out obnoxious beeps. My eyes went wide as I remembered a chapter from the Big Book of Boom, “Mines, the only explosive to annoy you before blowing you to bits.”

I turned and jumped over the ledge as the mine exploded. The house provided little protection as a portion of the roof was obliterated in a cloud of white dust. My leg let out a loud crack as I landed and with a stifled yelp I collapsed to the ground. Okay time for a potion. I lifted out one of the healing potions and drank the tangy red liquid that had saved me so many times already. The effects were almost instant, and all the pains and aches disappeared.

Before I had a chance to enjoy my pain free moment a caravan, pulled by two rabid dogs, barreled towards me at full speed. I lept out of the way and barely avoided being crushed. The eyepatch raider in black took a moment to glare back at me before whipping the reins and taking off. Are they retreating?

I glanced up and saw the blue unicorn edging into sight as he examined the destruction he caused. Big mistake. SATS had charged up enough for a shot and I let the spell take over. My bullets dug their way into the unicorn’s eye and burst out the back of his head. His body tumbled off the roof and landed next to the other raider I killed. That already makes five.

I watched as the blood of the blue unicorn combined with the blood of the sniper raider I had shot in the back of the head. The crimson started to expand and I found myself staring into it. I don’t feel anything.

“Ardent,” somepony called out, but their voice failed to reach me as I lost myself in the growing pool of blood.It crept along the ground and inch by inch it got closer to my hooves. Is that normal?

“Ardent!” a voice next to me yelled. In a panic I pulled away from the blood and turned while entering SATS. Nibble’s head lit up with the targeting spell with a high chance to hit. I exited the spell hoping she couldn’t tell I had just targeted her.

“You okay? You were... in a daze,” she said.

“Yeah,” I replied. I took a moment to look around, raider corpses littered the streets along with a few unfortunate Furlong residents. It appeared the fight was over. With the end of gunfire ponies emerged from the city hall. Clover approached the citizens of Furlong.

“My sincerest thanks to you strangers! I am Alcalde, Mayor of Furlong,” a tubby plum colored earth pony said meeting Clover halfway.

“I am Jaded Clover, Leader of Elpis,” Clover greeted.

The mayor took a step back along with half the town. “E-Elpis you say.”

Clover closed the gap and wrapped a hoof around Alcalde. “Mayor, I am so pleased to hear you will be throwing a party for us since we saved your town. Complimentary of course, along with a night's stay at your finest inn.”

“I-I am… I mean of course I am!” The mayor said regaining composure, “Is there anything else I planned to do for you?”

“A bath for that one.” Clover pointed at me. “We can discuss the rest later. Until then, who is ready to celebrate the defeat of Pandora’s children!” Clover yelled to the rest of the ponies, ridding them of fear and replacing it with excitement. How does he do that?

“So mayor, do you have any ponies who are good in a lab?” was the last thing I heard Clover ask before getting dragged away to the bathhouse.

=====

My bath consisted of being harshly scrubbed with soaps and dunked in irradiated water. My Pip-Buck let me know about the latter with loud clicks, not that I expected anything different, using clean water would be a waste.

As I left the bathhouse free of stench and blood, Furlong residents gathered the bodies of the fallen. Two piles formed, citizens to bury and raiders to burn. I caught sight of the blue unicorn I had killed. I felt no remorse for the possible child killer, but I killed so many ponies. Shouldn’t I feel bad, or sad, or something. I turned away frustrated I never asked Shot Chaser how he felt after his first kill. It was a question I always wanted to ask but I found it impossible to bring up.

I let old habits take over as I entered my trance and focused everything on my hearing. At a tortoise's pace I moved through town and listened into conversations. Many town folk were ranting about a redheaded mare who convinced the town to use Flim and Flam’s weapons.

My attention moved onto a mare discussing something different. “I'm getting out of here. This town is too close to Pandora's stronghold. I'm thinking New Appaloosa. Anypony who wants to come can, as long as you have a few caps to chip in. I want to head out by tomorrow morning so be quick.”

Somepony got in front of me and waved a hoof in my face but in my trance my reactions were more than delayed. I continued to walk until they placed a hoof on my chest, but when I still failed to react they gave me a shove. My senses returned to normal.

“Hello!?” Nibble yelled.

“Sorry,” I said as my mind caught up. “What’s up?”

“Your eyes were all glossy again. What's that about?”

“Just daydreaming.”

She stared me down for a bit but moved on with a sigh. “Clover wants us to check something out.”

I nodded and let her lead the way. I glanced to the mare I had been listening to. She was helping others load their belongings into her wagon. She had almost a dozen ponies clambering to get a ride.

Nibble was staring back at me with a frown.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said turning forward.

Nibble lead the way across town until we stopped at the main entrance of the rotting factory spanning one side of the town. The place created a gloomy atmosphere as is cast a massive shadow over the brighter homes of Furlong. The words “Flim Flam Industries Financial Hub” hung above the door. Flim Flam Industries… is that what FFI stood for? Would save me the trouble of asking. Nibble tapped the door causing it to fall off its hinges and part of the wall to crumble.

“Be careful, everything built by Flim and Flam is shoddy as hell,” Nibble said carefully stepping over the door. “I'm surprised this building is still standing.”

Silver Flim Flam weapons were scattered throughout the building.

“So who are Flim and Flam, what makes their weapons so terrible?” I asked.

“I figure some assholes who scammed a lot of ponies before the war.” Nibble reached down and picked up one of the guns in her mouth. My eyes widened as she turned and aimed at me.

A bolt of silver lightning hit me right in the chest and a tingling sensation raced through me. My muscles tensed up and I was unable to move for a moment. Nibble shot me two more times before the gun stopped firing despite her biting down. She spit it out and it shattered as it hit the ground.

“I see your point,” I said, not sure if she meant to demonstrate or just felt like taking a few shots at me over the Celestia thing. “What are we here for then?” I asked.

“The mayor said there’s a locked computer in the back. Naturally, Clover ordered me to deal with it,” she explained moving deeper into the building.

We passed countless desks all of which were covered in rotting papers. Signs attached to the ceiling with wire specified what district each area worked on. Manehattan, Canterlot, Tall Tail Town, they had locations all over Equestria.

I bit my lip as I watched Nibble’s messy amber mane bounce around as she walked. If there was ever a time to start an argument it would be now. No chance to cause a scene and I hated having the only nice pony in Elpis mad at me.

“Nibble,” I said seriously.

She tensed up, her ears and head lowered. “It happened like this last time too,” she began. “He told me about how he wanted us to escape together.”

“He?” I asked not quite sure what she was talking about.

“Wild Step, the first pony I recommended to join Elpis. He wanted to join us so bad and I wanted somepony to talk to, not like Gale with his stupid mind games, just somepony normal. I’m so selfish. I never considered how he would react to seeing a raider hideout, how scared he got after being injured, how much he would miss his family.”

I’m seeing a few similarities.

“I stayed of course, but once Clover found out… Did you know once Pip-Bucks are put on they're almost impossible to get off without special tools?” Nibble gave a sad laugh that turned into a sob. “‘Either you convince him to come back or you return with my Pip-Buck.’ Those were Clover’s orders, right after he took away the tools I needed to safely remove a Pip-Buck.”

Clover’s warning flashed in my mind, “The only way you leave Elpis is death. As one of us or from one of us. Remember that if you think about leaving... You're not my responsibility.” My heart sank as realization hit. If I were to escape it would be Nibble who would have to kill me.

“Nibble, I never planned on running,” I tried to explain.

She turned to face me. Her eyes were red, tears streaking her cheek. “You don't have to lie. I saw you listening to that mare. You've been through more than Wild Step, you never got to say goodbye to your father, you've killed, and I've been been horrible to you over something so dumb.” Nibble wiped away her tears. “Ardent, Clover never gave those tools back to me, so please, make sure he can't send me after you.”

“How would I-” My heart skipped a beat as I realized what she possible implied. She all but confirmed when she closed her eyes and waited. She wants me to kill her. I was speechless. I never realized just how much Nibble had been blaming herself for all the things happening to me. She must think I resent her for all the horrible things that have happened.

“What are you waiting for!” She cried out keeping her eyes clenched shut. “I won’t fight back like I did with Wild, so hurry up!”

I stepped forward and Nibble winced. She truly thought I hated her, that I would hurt her. I couldn’t handle her thinking that way for another moment. I lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug.

She gasped, “But, why?”

“Because this adventure has been the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. Despite all the bad things, you help me live what I dreamed about for years. Nibble I want to be here, I enjoy being a part of Elpis.” I nuzzled her till she stopped crying. I wiped away some of my own tears before breaking the embrace. “You know, Shot Chaser isn’t my father,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

She half laughed half sniffled. “Oh. Well now I don’t feel bad at all.” It took a moment for Nibble to compose herself. “You won’t always enjoy what Elpis is.” She shook away the thought and gave me another quick hug. “Let’s get going.”

We reached a back desk with the title “Head Accountant” engraved on it. An active computer gleamed on the desk. Nibble typed on the keyboard and got into the files.

“The locked one is in the manager's office,” Nibble said pointing at a solitary office door with no walls around it. “I am going to try to get into it. Could you look through this one just in case there is anything useful?”

“Sure.” I swapped places with her and began to read.

Entry 1
I, Subsidiary, have been selected to be the Head Accountant of the Flim Flam Industries financial hub. I will have one pony above me, Hasty Turnover, and he is strictly for employee management. Making me the mare picked above everypony else!!! I was a little worried when I heard the company was headed by Flim and Flam but they seemed to have turned over a new leaf after entering an arrangement with Princess Luna.

Entry 4
So not even a week in and and I noticed something strange. We are paying an insane amount of bits for construction but if they are built like this one… Corners were cut so they could be made quickly, I get that, there’s a war going on after all. The transactions make sense but there’s a large amount of material unaccounted for. It clearly wasn’t used to make our building. I will bring this to Hasty first thing tomorrow morning.

Entry 11
An hour before I left I found the same issue with weapons. I can see how much we buy our weapons for, yet there is a large sum going to materials which is unaccounted for. Could Flim and Flam be buying extra materials and selling them on the side? I know they have a bad history, but under the direct charge of Luna I can’t image they would be so foalish. I have a meeting with Hasty Turnover tomorrow and I plan on bringing these both to his attention.

Entry 12
I can’t believe this! I brought up my concerns with Hasty and he said that everything looked fine and to move on. When I pressed the issue he basically threatened my job! He must be in on this as well! I can’t continue this work if it means I have to lie to myself or worse yet, Princess Luna.

Entry 26
I have come up with a plan. I am going to the other Flim Flam Industry hubs to gather more info on this. If I find even a shred of evidence I am taking this straight to Luna. I’ll make up some accounting mumbo jumbo about needing to visit the other hubs and Hasty shouldn’t be the wiser. Hell, he doesn’t know the difference between a debit and a credit.

I found myself sharing Subsidiary’s frustration. How could anypony betray Luna in a time of war?!

“Finally!” Nibble shouted. She hopped up and down while clapping. “This thing was a pain in my flank.” I trotted over to her as she dived into the computer files. She mumbled as she read through the text. “Find anything interesting?” Nibble asked.

“Just that Flim and Flam were flim flamming Princess Luna out of bits,” I said harshly.

“Or maybe they weren’t,” Nibble said hitting a command. The floor in front of us shook as a hatch flipped open showing stairs leading down. Another hidden staircase? Was this mandatory back then?

I looked to Nibble. “What are the chances of a dragon?” I asked sarcastically.

She laughed. “Almost none. From what I read it’s a research and development lab. So let's hope they weren’t researching dragon eggs.” The laughter stopped. Nibble and I shared a look. “Let’s go get Clover and the others.”

“Agreed.”

Footnote: Level up New Perk: Toughness. +10% DR permanently.

Chapter 9: Loyalty

Chapter 9

“INTRUDERS DETECTED. ACTIVATING AUTOMATED DEFENSES,” a voice boomed out of the darkness after Clover reached the bottom of the staircase.

Nibble yelped as the metal door behind us slammed shut, a heavy bolt slid into place to guarantee nopony would be opening it anytime soon. Lights built into the ceiling activated down the hallways, revealing dusty but undamaged concrete corridors. My EFS filled with neutral indicators as some sections of the wall slid to the side. Robotic things, slightly resembling ponies, rolled out on treaded hooves. Their bodies were made of stainless metal aside from a glass case at the top of their head, holding what appeared to be an organic brain.

“Are they friendly?” I asked as I tried to recall any stories Shot Chaser may have told about robots. I remembered him bitterly complaining about how he only found the terminal to turn them all off after he destroyed them all. Probably should have asked how he destroyed them.

“Not for long.” Clover stepped forward.

One of the robots met him halfway and spoke in a child's voice, “Present your identification, please.”

“Sure, it's right here,” Clover replied, lowered his head, and fired his battle saddle. Lasers tore into the robot's glass dome, turning the brain inside to mush. The robot fell to the ground, part of its metal cover breaking off to reveal an internal mess of wires.

All the lights on my EFS flicked red but started to disappear as Clover continued to fire down the narrow hallway. The burning glow of his laser rifle flashed multiple times and was always followed by the sound of metal clattering to the ground. After a moment the corridor was filled with the smell of oil and scraps of destroyed metal ponies.

“These things are pathetic.” Clover kicked the machine out of the way. “Seriously, a pony fresh out of a Stable could deal with them. Nothing to be worried over.” Clover raised an eyebrow and glanced back. “Right Gale?”

I turned to see Gale in the back, trying his best to hide behind Mangle, but considering her size and his mohawk it was a failed effort. He glanced from me to Clover before standing up and returning to his usual demeanor. “Of course. Just a bunch of unfeeling tin cans.” His voice wavered at the end.

Seriously? Out of all the terrors of the wasteland Gale is scared of robots.

Clover grunted. “Nibble, Ardent, up front with me. Gale and Mangle in back. Understood?”

“Understood,” we replied in unison. Taking formation, we headed further into the underground facility.

As we walked passed a split in the a path a metallic “BEEP! BEEP!” echoed down the hall to our left. Nibble and Clover jumped back. I stopped to see what made the noise. Two semicircles of metal mounted on the ceiling rotated until four gun barrels aimed directly at me. Oh shit! Mangle bit down on my tail and pulled me out of the hallway right before it was showered with bullets.

“Thank you,” I said looking back at Mangle. She gave me an exhausted nod. I’m glad she refused to stay behind. The side effects of using her cannon were still slowing her down dramatically.

“I got this,” Nibble hugged the wall as her horn glowed and sparks of electricity started to mix with her magic. She poked her head around the corner and launched her spell, it crackled like a distant thunderbolt. She ducked back and levitated her pistol out.

“BEEP! BEEP!” Gunfire filled the hallway followed by an explosion. Nibble rounded the corner firing her pistol until another explosion flashed from the the corridor. She smiled triumphantly and motioned for us to follow.

“Pretty neat, right?” Nibble asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “What was it?”

“A spell that messes with targeting systems. Makes everything look hostile.”

I nodded despite my lack of understanding.

Clover attempted to open the door the turrets had been guarding, but the handle refused to move. “Ardent, you can deal with this, right?” He gestured at the lock.

“Maybe.” I took out the lock picking gadget.

“The rest of you, check the other path,” Clover ordered. Nibble nodded and the three headed off, leaving me alone with Clover.

I placed the device inside the lock and slipped into my trance. It took less time than normal and I soon felt the click of the door unlocking and let my senses return to normal.

My memories caught back up, Clover had been messing with me while I was in my trance. Waving a hoof in my face, poking me, and trying to talk to me.I turned to see him towering over me, his yellow eyes focusing on me as if seeing me for the first time.

“Why weren't you hiding with the rest of the town when Nibble first found you?” Clover asked.

Why does he want to know that now? “I was heading for my house-”

“Later than the rest of the town, why was that?” Clover’s eyes darted back and forth, reading my expression. I started to stammer a reply but Clover interrupted, “Did you know we were there?”

“Well, yes-”

Clover’s eyes narrowed on me as he stepped forward. I retreated until my back leg hit against the cold concrete.

Clover began spewing out unfiltered thoughts, “It would make sense, you live so close. From what Shot Chaser told me you have the history. Why didn’t I see it before. Some earth pony shows up and helps us right after releasing Cerberus. He got to you didn’t he!”

“What are you talking about?” I yelled.

Clover froze and read my expression over again. He let out a breath and took a few steps back.

“I…” Clover closed his eyes. “Have you ever heard whispers from the mountain?”

“Whispers from the mountain?” I asked back to make sure I heard him right.

Clover shook his head. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

“But-”

“I said, forget it! Understood?”

I nodded. Yeah... not possible.

“And so she said ‘Oatmeal are you crazy?’” Nibble said to Gale and Mangle as they came back. If Nibble was telling a joke it failed to make either of them react.

“Find anything?” Clover said.

Nibble sighed and shook her head. “I searched high and low but apparently there isn’t a single sense of humor to be found.”

“We're moving on. I doubt we are going to run into much resistance.” Clover pushed past the now unlocked door.

======

“How did they even fit a sentinel in here!” Nibble yelled past the storm of bullets coming from the hallway. The barrage shattered the containers in the lab, creating a symphony as innumerable shards of glass danced along the ground. The lab untouched since before the megaspells was now turning into another ravaged mess.

“Probably built it in here!” Clover yelled back from the other side of the door. When the bullets finally stopped Gale levitated an aluminum tray into the doorway. I could see the reflection of the armor-clad machine made of dark metals filling the hallway. The sentinel lowered itself, its four legs spreading out as much as possible, the wheels at the bottom scraping against the walls. A hatch on its shoulder flipped open.

“Rocket!” Gale yelled. Nibble and I ran out of the lab, heading left. Clover, Gale, and Mangle did the same but headed the opposite direction. The hiss of a fuel propelled rocket zipped past just as I cleared the exit. The ground shook as the rocket exploded. The room behind us collapsed and filled with dirt and concrete.

We galloped down the hallway until turning a corner. Nibble made a hard stop and peered back.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Seeing which way it goes.” She motioned me to look as well.

The sentinel rolled up and pushed itself against the wall in order to have enough room to rotate. It turned our way.Nibble and I took off at top speed down the hallway. We passed countless other labs as we ran but most of the doors earlier had been locked and stopping to check now would be suicide.

“What about your targeting spell thing?” I asked.

Nibble shook her head. “Doesn't work when we’re the only things to shoot at.” Nibble thought for a moment. “I only have one grenade on me. That won't be enough to kill it but… I have another spell.” We took another turn in the labyrinth of halls and stopped to catch our breath.

“What're you thinking?”

“The spell I have in mind might shut it down for a little bit, but I have to touch it with my horn,” Nibble explained. “After that maybe I can open it up and shut it down for good.”

“Might and maybe?” I scratched at the back of my head. Nibble gave me a -do you have a better plan- look. The sentinel's wheels echoed from the hallway as they squealed from the effort of moving something so massive. “Ok, might and maybe it is.”

Nibble’s horn lit up in a brilliant purple light, similar to her other spell aside from the intense concentration of crackling electricity. She crouched next to corner and as the sentinel came into sight she lunged forward striking her horn on its leg.

A burst of electricity danced over the sentinel. It seemed unaffected as the minigun passing for an arm started to spin. I clenched my eyes, waiting for a pain that never came. I opened one eye and saw the lights on the sentinel dim as the minigun slowed to a stop.

“Close one,” Nibble said casually as she hopped up on the machine, making her way to its back side.

I marveled at the giant metal death machine. It stood three ponies tall with well-crafted steel covering every inch. I doubt my gun would even dent it.

“That's not good,” Nibble said. “The panel is welded shut.”

“Plan B?” I asked.

“I… I don't know. I could destroy a leg with the grenade, maybe.” The sentinel started to power back up, the black empty eyes sockets turning a glowing red. Nibble repeated her spell, hitting the machine, and causing it to power down again. “Only got one more of those in me.” She wiped away the sweat forming on her brow.

Despite my racing heart rate and impending death my mind was strangely clear, almost like I have grown accustomed to these types of situations and my brain was bored of being scared. I looked to Nibble and noted the single grenade hanging from her utility belt. I glanced down the hallway to an open science lab at the end of the hall. I focused back on the defenseless sentinel and its arsenal of weapons. That could work.

“Are you able to open that hatch?” I pointed.

======

I galloped down the hallway. As I approached the nearly identical science lab the sentinel powered up and its minigun whired. I ducked into the lab as bullets put a few fashionable holes into my tail.

“You just can’t make a clean get away, can you?” Nibble asked with a smile. I shrugged, bracing myself against wall as the destruction of the last lab repeated. Eventually the minigun stopped.

I peeked around the corner to see the sentinel lowering itself like before. The hatch on its shoulder opened, revealing the grenade we lodged in its barrel. The rocket detonated inside the sentinel, turning it into a violent explosion of blinding light and junk metal. The ceiling above it gave out and buried whatever bits remained in earth.

“That was amazing!” Nibble said as she shook me.

I laughed in disbelief. “You did all the work.”

Nibble gave me a brief hug before letting go and messing with her Pip-Buck. “Time to go find Clover and the others.” She lead the way out of the lab.

“How do you know where they are?”

“Each Pip-Buck has a tag you can trace. It’s in the tutorial somewhere.”

We took a few turns until reaching large double doors which opened automatically as we neared. The ammonia scent filling the labs was replaced with smell of body odor and burning metal as the doors slid out of the way to reveal a massive manufacturing floor. A variety of assembly lines stretched across the room.

“Is that a circuit board?!” Nibble pointed at an unfinished piece of metal. She raced over and examined the pony sized slab. “Dear Celestia, it is. What were they making?” She was in awe as her eyes slowly moved to the other giant circuit boards littering the room.

At the end of the assemble line was another science lab. I could make out Gale in one of the windows. I poked Nibble, getting her attention, and pointed at Gale. She nodded and we walked over to join them

“You lost the sentinel before coming here?” Clover more told than asked without looking up from a computer screen.

“One better, we destroyed it,” Nibble replied standing tall, pounding a hoof on her chest.

Clover stopped and raised an eyebrow. “A story for later. We are about to find out what this is.” He motioned behind him.

A syringe containing a rainbow colored injection rested on a pedestal protected by a thick glass case. Clover hit a few keys and played an audio file. A stallion’s deep voice started to speak,

“Apparently Flim and Flam borrowed a set of statuettes representing the ministry mares from Princess Luna. We received the one of Rainbow Dash of the Ministry of Awesome, and big surprise, the text on the bottom is ‘Be Awesome’. I couldn’t believe they built this entire place just because of a few toys, until I grabbed it with my magic. In lack of a better explanation, the statuette granted me power. My earth pony and pegasi co-workers don’t appear to feel what we unicorns feel when holding it, and that is the whole point of obtaining this object. We are to analyze and replicate it into something usable by the other ponies as well as try to increase its potency. We have been granted a special team and almost unlimited funds to make this happen.”

“After triple checking we have discovered the source of the power. The magic is necromantic in nature. Replicating this just became a... sensitive matter, but our exact orders were ‘Get it done, no matter the costs.’ I’ve requested an extra lab be built away from the others, past the added manufacturing area. I will have to make sure the place is soundproof unlike the other labs. Ever since they found some blueprints to some mainframe thing they have been working round the clock, it's made it impossible to focus with all that racket. Oh, I should also request an extra entrance be built for transporting the more sensitive material.”

“I.M.P, so named by Twilight Sparkle of the Ministry of Magic, or was it Arcane Science, doesn't matter. I.M.P is the material we need to recreate the statuette. As luck would have it she is throwing barrels of the stuff away somewhere in Maripony. Apparently the stuff she is tossing isn’t the finished product, but that doesn't matter because it will work just fine for what we need it for. All we need to do is pay off a delivery driver and we’ll have plenty of I.M.P to spare. After all, nopony will care if a few barrels of a flawed product go missing.”

“Seventeen failures. It seems there is more to it than we thought. We have developed a possible way to replicate the effect in an injection. However all of our volunteers have failed the injection process.”

“One of our couriers came with a message from the hub in Hope. They successfully recreated the effect. I believe they had Rarity of the Ministry of Image. Some soldier offered himself despite knowing all the risks. The soldier was a decorated war hero who had been paralyzed in the war. Why did he work and not our priso- volunteers?”

“Of course! The volunteer needs to reflect the element of the ministry mare. That would be why our attempts have failed. Loyalty would be a rare thing to find among our subjects. Except… the case file for thirty seven. She could be what we are looking for.”

“Close one. Turns out thirty seven was about to be released by none other than the Ministry of Morale mare herself. Seems she used her all knowing, completely incompressible, power to determine thirty seven’s innocence. Which turns out to be all good news for us, our paid guards just finished escorting her here and it verifies the hunch I had about her being loyal. Time to see if I was right.”

The audio file ended.

Again it was brought up that Flim and Flam were up to no good. Now instead of taking Luna’s bits they were taking her… toys? Kind of foalish but still, what assholes.

“Gale, assessment?” Clover’s eyes stayed glued on the prismatic injection as he paced around the encasing.

“Statuettes that grant power?” Gale pondered. “Never heard of anything like that before. How you turn a doll into an injection I've no idea. Anyway, I would guess it's some sort of steroid. Sounded like it only works on ponies that are loyal? I don't know how virtues dictate how a drug affects you. ”

“Interesting, get it out.”

Gale levitated a scalpel and cut a hole in the glass. He grabbed the injection with his near colorless aura. “So who’s getting their loyalty tested? ” Gale grinned. He levitated the needle close to Nibble who shrieked and jumped back.

“Dammit Gale, you know I hate needles!” Nibble yelled, cowering in a corner. “Now get it away before I mention what you hate.”

It's robots, I wanted to say out loud, but seeing how Gale backed off just to keep his secret gave me pause. Gale may be better at reading other ponies, but it would take a blind one not to notice how much he wanted to keep me in the dark. I played dumb and tilted my head as he glanced my way. He wasn't the only one who could play this game and with any luck I could somehow use it as leverage in order to hear how they handled Lazuline.

Gale turned the needle on Mangle, she readied one of her power hooves.

“Ardent,” Clover said, drawing all attention to him. “Inject Ardent now,” he growled

“Whoa,” I objected. “Can we just hang onto it unti-” A sharp pinching pain stabbed into my flank. I looked back to see the syringe emptying into my body. “What. The. Fu-” My muscles violently tensed and a wave of energy washed over me. I felt faster, more flexible.

“You ok?” Nibble slowly approached.

“Yeah.” I stretched out one of my legs. “In fact I feel awesome.” A jumble of images flashed in my mind and overloaded my senses. My eyes rolled back and the world went black.

======

I ran through our village. Jumping over the thick roots emerging from the ground, ducking in and out of neighbors’ huts as I rushed to my mother. Many of the homes had the decorated masks welcoming friends above the opening. I scared Latanus as I dashed through her house, jumping off her table, and knocking some of the potions she was making onto the ground.

“Careful young one!” Latanus yelled as I escaped. Without losing my pace I maneuvered past a crowd in the market. The scent of freshly picked herbs filled the air. I finally reached the wagon at the edge of town. My mother was packing our luggage. I joined her and placed the doll I forgot with the rest of our things.

“Now do you have everything my sweet Kalita?” mother asked. I nodded and she helped me up into our seats. “Are you excited for our trip?”

“Very much! Tell me what it's like again.” I snuggled up under her, taking shelter from the blazing sun, no longer blocked by the trees of our village.

“They say the land is covered in green. It is inhabited by ponies. There are three types-”

“Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns!”

Mother giggled and tickled me. “That's right. There is also another. She is said to control the sun itself.” Mother gestured at the sun. “Princess Celestia. She is the ruler of the land.”

“What was it called again?”

“Equestria my sweet, our new home.”

======

I awoke from the strange dream. A zebra? I was a zebra, and it felt, real. What I thought was the lingering warmth of the sun was actually the warmth of Mangle as she carried me on her back. I rolled off of her and landed on my hooves.

“Sorry,” I said to Mangle who gave a tired shrug. “Where are we?”

“Heading for the back exit,” Gale replied. “Do you know what caused you to pass out?”

“I remember a blur of images and it was like my mind couldn’t handle it.”

“Strange, well you were only out for a few minutes and your vitals were normal last I checked. Just come to me should you find yourself in horrible amounts of pain.”

I nodded and then glared at Clover. He met my gaze, his eyes showing no regret or remorse. After everything, he risked my life to see if I was loyal... Which apparently I was.

Nibble ran ahead as stairs leading up came into view. She grabbed ahold of the cellar doors at the top and pushed, but the doors remained shut.

“They're not locked,” Nibble said. “Somethings blocking it.”

“Move.” Was the only warning Mangle gave as she activated her back power hooves and bucked at the door. It flew open and piles of sand fell in. When it stopped it revealed the grey sky of the wasteland. We exited the corridor and found ourselves just outside of Furlong as the sun was setting.

Nibble stretched out. “I think a hard day's work deserves a harder night's party. Who's with me?”

“I'll pass,” Mangle replied and trudged back to town.

“I'm assuming that means Gale’s out too?”

Gale nodded and followed after Mangle.

“Just me and you I guess.” Nibble wrapped a hoof around me. “Maybe you could try to keep up with me tonight. ” I smiled, excited to redeem myself.

“Actually, I'll be joining tonight,” Clover stated. “I have one thing to take care of first.”

The moment Clover was out of sight Nibble cursed. “Dammit. Whatever, let's go.”

With hesitation I decided to bring up what I originally wanted to discuss at the F.F.I hub. “Can I talk to you about Celestia?”

“We probably should,” Nibble sighed. “I've been thinking, and I hate to admit this, but I understand where you’re coming from. But you need to understand what Celestia is to some ponies, is to me. She is the embodiment of the sun itself.” Nibble turned to the setting sun. “Have you ever seen the sun Ardent?”

“No.” Although, the sun in my zebra dream had felt real. “A few times I saw light break through the clouds but I wasn't in the right position.” Everypony always desired to see the sun, everypony except me. I always dreamed of seeing the night sky, clear of any clouds, a sky not with a single star but thousands. The radiant light of a full moon shining down on me.

“Could you imagine telling ponies there’s nothing up there?” Nibble’s stared into my eyes with a burning passion. “I have seen it. The power of it is indescribable. I felt Celestia when I felt the warmth of the sun. She is out there Ardent.” Nibble maintained her stare. I was unconvinced but I knew she believed.

I looked away. “It still doesn't forgive her actions during the war.”

Nibble tapped at her chin. “I guess not even the goddesses are above criticism.”

To my surprise Nibble wrapped me in hug. “I’m sorry about the way I acted, still friends?”

Still? A quote from the mysterious voice surfaced, “Since you failed to notice you’ve made two already.”

“Friends,” I said hugging back.

“With benefits?”

“What?” I broke the embrace feeling my cheeks burn.

“Oh nothing.” Nibble started to wander to town before looking back. “You said there was nothing wrong with Luna, what did you mean by that?”

I whinnied. “You mean aside from having all the responsibilities of Equestria thrown on her overnight, during a war. I mean, could you imagine the courage it must have taken?”

Nibble smiled and brought her muzzle close to my ear. “Probably the same amount as saving a bunch of ponies you don't even know from a giant robot dog.” Nibble turned and continued on, leaving me blushing again. Did she just compare me to Luna? Nibble was mad if she thought there was any comparison. Nonetheless my steps felt a little lighter as I followed.

======

The bar reeked of one too many spilled drinks and was full of ponies at all levels of inebriation. I never felt more at home. Most ponies celebrated the success of defending the town, but some drank for the ponies they lost in the attack. Regardless, ponies knew without Elpis the casualties would have been worse.

It was a new experience to be revered. We were given a table to ourselves with a line of ponies forming to give thanks and place a drink at our table. I couldn't help feel a little undeserving. Clover lead the attack and gave the orders. If I saw the town in peril I'm not sure I would've made the same decision.

After the initial wave of praise passed, the drinking contest commenced. I matched every drink Nibble had but she seemed to be holding back. “You know you don't have to take it easy on me,” I told her, finishing off an extra sweet apple cider.

She spat out a laugh. “It's not you I'm worried about.” Nibble stared at Clover who slammed a shot of apple whiskey and gave her a smirk. “Every time Clover joins he stays a few drinks ahead of me. The worst part, he NEVER gets drunk.”

Clover simply shrugged and called over a round of shots. He passed them around and raised the drink. “To Elpis!” he yelled.

“To Elpis!” Nibble and I cried, along with the entire bar.

Slamming the shot I finally felt the courage to be direct with Clover. “Elpis is collecting the best of everything, but what for?”

Clover tipped his shot glass over. “To eliminate Pandora’s Children.”

Nibble shrank back. Clearly it wasn't her first time hearing this and she carefully gauged my reaction, which was complicated. On one hoof the final goal of Elpis helped Equestria. On the other I couldn't help but feel the goal was suicidal.

“That's insane! No matter how elite and legendary,” I said, mocking the words, “a handful of ponies won't be enough to take out an army.”

Clover was calm with his response. “Pandora’s Children pose a greater threat to Equestria than anypony understands. Trust me when I tell you it will come down to us or them, and when that moment comes we’ll have more than a handful of ponies.”

“Why, because they owe you favors? You think that will be enough for them to sacrifice themselves for you?”

For a brief moment doubt crept onto Clover’s expression. “Yes, I do.” I wanted to press him further but he put a hoof up to silence me. “My turn. Since it appears you will be staying with us, I want the story behind that cutie mark.” He pointed at the sparkling tome on my flank.

Normally ponies just mocked me for having a unicorn-like cutie mark. However, Clover seemed genuinely interested. As did Nibble as she scooted closer, relieved at the change of topic. I took another shot and began.

======

About a year after I had been working for Shot Chaser, a traveling entertainer visited Dust. Her name was Deviation. She was a dark purple unicorn with a sparkling cane for a cutie mark. She and Shot Chaser knew each other from long ago and she thought this was a good chance to catch up and use her connections to try out a show she was working on.

That night Shot Chaser told me to inform everypony in Dust that his bar would be hosting a talented unicorn entertainer. Seeing as Dust was so little with nothing better to do, the entire town showed up.

Late into night, after everypony had the chance to find a seat and finished a drink or two, the performance began. Deviation stepped out from behind curtains she had conjured herself. She wore a long cape with stars scattered over it and a pointed wizard's hat.

With a bow she introduced herself, “Hello ponies of Dust.” Her voice sounded so different than what I was used to, precise, yet elegant. Shot Chaser had called it high class, how most of the ponies in Tenpony sounded. “I am so glad you could come and see the one, the only, Deviation!” She transformed the curtains into illusionary fireworks that exploded all around her. The show had only just started and the bar was already cheering for more.

“Hey, Ardent,” Shot Chaser whispered from behind the bar. “If you can tell me how she did each trick by the end of the show I'll tell you a new story.”

“Really!” I replied in excitement which was quickly replaced by confusion. “But isn't it just magic?”

Shot Chaser shrugged. “You tell me.”

From that moment on my eyes were glued to the magician. Deviation danced between tables as she juggled rocks and with a flick of her hoof she replaced the rocks with ponies’ drinks. It took a moment for anypony to realize what she had done. She finished by flipping the drinks into a stacked tower. This elicited a laugh from the crowd and she’d return the drinks.

That’s when I saw it. While she returned the beverages her hoof slipped into the owner’s saddlebags. I thought she was stealing from them but when her hoof came out it had nothing in it.

She began the next part of her act. “Did you ponies know that I am psychic?” Deviation said in a low voice so that the crowd quieted. “I don’t even need a spell, it was something I was born with. Feel free to watch my horn for it will not glow.” She tapped at her horn, then pointed her hoof at one of the ponies she stole a drink from. “You my fair stallion have thirty seven caps on you.” The stallion took out his caps and started to count. “And you ma'am, you have… Oh my. Why would you have that, you dirty mare you?” The mare’s cheeks flared red.

“Thirty seven!” The original stallion shouted before the whole crowd focused on the blushing mare. He gaped at the magician. The whole crowd appeared impressed with the trick, but I knew better. She searched those ponies’ bags before the trick, how did nopony notice she picked the same ponies she stole the drinks from?

Deviation took a bow and took a seat at an empty table. “For this next trick I need a volunteer.” I raised my hoof.

“Ah the young one there.” Deviation pointed at me. My heart raced. Now I would have a front row view to see the next trick and I could use this as an opportunity to verify my guess. I joined Deviation at the table and watched her closely. She took out three stackable mugs and a metal ball.

I leaned in and whispered, “I saw you look in their bags.” This caused the magician to pause for a moment.

“Did you now?” she replied in the same whisper. “Let's see if you catch onto this trick.” Deviation put on her show face and addressed the crowd. “Okay everypony, pay close attention. Which container has the ball?” She placed the containers upside down, one covering the metal sphere, and shuffled them slowly.

Her horn lit up while she shuffled. Illusions manifested on the table. Images of creatures running about, colorful forms trying to fight for attention, but my focus was adamant. Before she finished the illusions turned into fireworks and started going off. When it came to an end she stopped shuffling and pushed one of the containers forward. She lifted it up to reveal the metal ball.

I had no idea what she was planning. She had just revealed which mug had the ball, but I caught the slight smirk on her face. I changed my focus from the hoof hovering over the ball to the one she brought behind her back. She was quick but I saw her swap the mug with an identical one before placing it back over the ball.

“So my young colt, where is it?” the magician asked. Was this a joke? She just revealed which one had the ball. I pointed to the correct mug. She lifted the container to reveal nothing.

Surprised murmurs and entertained laughter came from the crowd. She stacked the containers and took a bow “Thank you all very much! That will conclude the show.” The crowd gave a short cheer and turned to their own conversations.

“Didn't see that one, did you?” Deviation asked with a neutral expression. I thought back. The only thing that had changed was the container she used to cover it. I leaned over the table and flipped the container over. On the inside clung the metal ball. Deviation smiled.

“Magnetic inside. Would you like to learn my tricks?” Deviation asked.

“I'm not a unicorn,” I replied sadly.

“Did any of my tricks require magic?” she asked. My eyes widened. Deviation laughed seeing my realization. “So would you like to be this magician’s apprentice?”

======

“It appeared after demonstrating my new tricks to Shot Chaser,” I concluded.

“That explains why you’re so quick with your hooves,” Nibble said. “So going to do any tricks for us tonight?”

“I'd rather not,” I sighed. Nibble whined and poked at me.

“Come now Nibble,” Clover said. “Don't expect too much from the barmaid.”

My jaw clenched and childish defiance flowed throughout me. I’ll show you a trick you’ll never forget.

I got up on the table and shouted, “Ladies and gentlecolts!” The crowd silenced. My body started to tremble from all the eyes suddenly on me. No going back now. “Did you know that you can turn cups into caps?” Whispers of confusion broke out amongst the crowd.

“But it only works on certain cups,” I explained as I moved behind the bar. The bartender didn’t seem to mind my intrusion. I placed three plastic cups on the countertop while hiding a pile of caps underneath the counter. “The only way I can tell is to juggle them.” A smile broke out on my face as I began to juggle the cups. Random cheers burst out as ponies realized the intent of my outburst.

I picked out which cup I would use. Every time that cup came down I slipped a cap into it. As long as I kept it rotating fast enough the caps would stay at the bottom. It was difficult to maintain the appearance that all three cups weighed the same, but I had practiced this trick of my own creation to death.

After the cup was nearly full I brought the juggling to an end. I placed the cups on the table covering them with rags as they landed. I picked one up and gave it a squeeze. The crowd watched silently.

“Nope, not that one.” I tossed the cup back and caught it under my back hoof. I tapped the other empty cup and sighed. “Not this one either.” I pushed it off the counter towards the crowd. I picked up the last one. “Ah, here we go.”

I flexed, making a show of crushing the cup, but in all earnesty I was only tilting it. I put pressure on the cup under my back hoof and as it started to crack I poured out the caps.

The crowd gasped in shock as a pile of caps fell from the rag. I lowered the cup after emptying it making it look like I was discarding the rag. I took a bow as ponies cheered. I looked up to see Nibble jumping up and down in applause. Even Clover gave a slow clap.

The rest of the night was filled with fun tricks and alcohol. Eventually it did come to an end and we headed for the inn. Turns out we each got our own room this time. Clover was on a different floor so Nibble and I staggered to our rooms. We reached Nibble's first.

Before going inside she offered, “You know. You could sleep with me tonight.” She leaned against me and nuzzled my neck. “It would be a lot of fun.” She went in for a kiss, but I backed away.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

“I want to...” I paused for a moment. “But not when you're drunk. Not while I'm drunk.”

“You’re such a lightweight.” She wrapped her hooves around me giving a seductive look.

Her warm, gentle touch was intoxicating. It had been forever since my last intimate encounter. I wanted to give in to my urges, but I would hate if Nibble regretted it.

“Sorry.” I broke free of her hold, “Next time?” She humphed and headed into her room. I stood in place, doing my best to convince myself this was the right decision.

Just as I was content and about to walk away Nibble called out, “Last chance.” I turned.

Now that’s just unfair. Nibble crouched down on her front hooves and lifted her flank into the air. She had her tail pulled to the side, exposing everything she had to offer. I felt blood rush to more than my cheeks. I ran to my room before any urges overpowered me. It appeared I had one more thing to do before I could sleep tonight.

Footnote: Level up New perk; Commando You accuracy to hit in SATS goes up by 25% when using weapons that require a battle saddle to use.

New Perk; Awesome injection Your agility has been permanently increased by 2.

Chapter 10: Strange Encounters

Chapter 10

I shot past the finish line and slid to a stop. My chest burned and each breath I let out felt like fire inside my throat.

“Your best time yet,” Relay said. “Keep it up and I think you have a chance at qualifying for the Equestria games… A Zebra in the games would be good, unite Equestria and all that.” Relay never liked bringing up my race, he almost seemed blind to it when he asked to be my coach. He thought the best way for ponies and zebras to coexist was to look past the color or strips covering us. Unfortunately, the tragedy at Little Horn had the rest of Equestria focused on race.

“I’ll do my best,” I replied.

Relay raised a hoof above his brow to shield out the sun. “Is that your mother?” Mother stood in the guest entrance frantically waving her hooves for my attention.

“It is,” I sighed and trotted over.

The moment I came in hooves reach mother grabbed onto my leg and started to pull. “We’re leaving Kalita, I packed your things.” She gestured at a taxi filled with luggage.

As if the massacre at Little Horn wasn’t enough to worry mother, which she had rights to be worried, even I noticed the increase of glares and whispers whenever I walked past ponies, but that's not what sent her over the edge into complete hysterics.

“Calm down mother,” I said. “You acted like this when Princess Luna first came back and nothing bad happened then.”

“This is different,” she said reverting to our native tongue. “She is the leader of Equestria now and is still guided by the stars.”

“Those are just myths.” I rubbed at my temple in an attempt to stop the headache that always followed from this argument.

Mother brought up a trembling hoof and brushed my cheek. “And how do you think those myths came to be?”

I remembered the tales. How the stars influenced the leaders of old and nearly caused zebras to wipe each other out. Zebras who stared at the night sky for too long and heard the stars whisper to them. I never truly believed, but I never went star gazing either.

“We need to go home,” mother said.

I smacked her hoof away. “Equestria is my home. If you need to leave, go ahead!”

She recoiled and brought her hoof to her chest. I turned and stomped back to the track.

“I love you Kalita,” I heard her whisper. She was actually going to do it this time, she was going to leave. I hated how she clung to the old ways, the old traditions, how they influenced her, but I couldn't let it end like this.

I pivoted and caught her right before she stepped hoof in the cab. I wrapped my hooves around her and squeezed. “I love you too mother.”

======

A knock on the door woke me. Images and sensations of the dream faded as I rolled out of bed. My head pounded in tandem with the persistent knocking.

“Coming,” I groaned. The gap between my curtains showed clouds in the horizon glowing with the colors of sunrise. I flung the door open to see Gale’s devilish grin.

“Clover wants you,” he said in a upbeat voice. Morning ponies are the worst. I groaned and followed Gale to the lobby. Music from DJ Pon3’s station flowed from a radio on the counter.

Clover sat at a table with a small spread of food as he tapped something into his Pip-Buck. My stomach rumbled as the scent of freshly cut apples reached me. I took a seat and pulled the entire tray of food over. One perk of being a member of Elpis, I've never gone hungry.

“How are you feeling?” Gale’s eyes dragged along my body until stopping at my flank. “Any side effects from that shot?”

“Oh,” I rubbed the spot where the needle entered, it wasn’t even sore. Another throbbing wave of pain echoed in my head and I started stuffing my face with apples. “Well it failed to make me immune to hangovers, but I had a strange dream.”

“Strange dreams are a physiological issue.” Gale’s expression turned serious. “Listen Ardent, the injection clearly had a low success rate. If anything feels off you need to tell me.”

“If you knew the danger, why use it on me?”

“Because I ordered him to,” Clover stated, looking up from his Pip-Buck.

Is that all it took for Gale to risk my life? An order. Before I could direct any anger to Clover or Gale a thought occurred. What if Clover ordered me to do something similar? Would I do it? Would I dare go against him?

Just last night Clover had me taking formation and fighting robots like a real solider. Things I only imagined doing in the past but now it happened as if it were a normal routine like all those nights I cleaned up the bar.

“Ardent,” Clover tapped at the table. “Time to empty out your saddle bag.”

Without thinking I turned my saddle bag over and let the contents spill out, and at that moment I realized Clover’s orders were becoming second nature. Is this how Clover did it, start with orders I had no reason to disobey and after awhile I couldn't resist. I would have to be careful from now on.

All the items I had collected since the mall covered the table. A pile of caps rose up sprinkled with gems and the weird nik naks I took from Lazuline’s office.

“When did you get all this?” Gale laughed as he pulled a rubber chicken from the pile.

Even Clover gave a raised eyebrow as he sorted the caps out. He stopped when he found a small black device.

“Well look at this.” Clover held it up. “You found a Stealth-Buck.”

My turned head caused Gale to explain, “It plugs into a Pip-Buck. Afterwards, the wearer become virtually invisible for a short period of time.”

“Here.” Clover tossed me the Stealth-Buck. “Keep it.”

I fumbled with the tiny device. How could Clover allow me to keep something so valuable? Nonetheless, I wasn't going to argue. I placed the Stealth-Buck into my bag. My ears perked as DJ Pon3’s voice came from the radio.

“Good morning my little ponies! I have great news. It appears Elpis is on a kindness streak. First, they rescued a mare and filly from slavers for New Appleloosa. Next, they killed a crazed unicorn who preyed on pony scavengers. Now, rumor has it they stopped Pandora’s Children from wiping out Furlong. We’re waiting to confirm the last one. Could this change of tactics be coming from their newest member? If it is I send my thanks to you barmaid. Also, if you're listening I wanted to give you a bit of a warning, Jib has hired Talons.”

My jaw clenched. You can thank me by not using that nickname anymore!

I knew Clover heard the announcement, yet he seemed unwilling to react to it. He talked over the rest of the news, “I’ve set up a meeting with the mayor and some merchants. You two will be joining me.”

“What do I need to do?” I asked.

“Stand there. You’re negotiating tool, nothing more. Understood?”

“Understood,” I automatically replied. Shit.

Clover smirked. “Although, if you pay attention you might just learn something.”

======

Clover’s negotiation tactics were terrifying. He demanded almost everything the town had to offer. He guilt tripped them about the rescue, went on and on about the lives we saved, and only offered a small portion of our tradeable goods. He slowly offered more of our goods while letting Furlong take things out of the trade. Mainly things we didn't need anyway. Alcalde knew they were getting swindled.

Clover played his trump card. He offered enough scrap metal to build fortifications around the town, and he could give it to them today. He left out the part about the scrap being right under their hooves.

Three full ammo boxes, a bouquet of grenades, a saddle bag full of food, and a fair amount of medical supplies. All for a pile of junk and scrap metal we couldn't use. Not a single cap was exchanged.

The mayor tried to renegotiate when he learned the location of the scrap metal. Clover asked how well Furlong could take on a sentinel. Silence followed. We collected our goods and left.

======

“You could have left them with some supplies.” Nibble loaded up her utility belt with the newly acquired grenades. Clover smirked.

“Where are we heading?” I asked.

“Manehattan,” Clover replied without any glares. He's in a good mood. Although he never gave more than a basic answer, and I have yet to develop the backbone to ask follow up questions, especially after the verbal thrashing last time.

With all the supplies from Furlong, and Mangle riding with us, the caravan’s limited floor space shrank. I sat down hugging one of the sides. Something in my barding jammed against my chest. I fished out the glowing orb from Stable Nine.

“Hey Nibble, what's this?” I tossed the orb to her. Nibble’s purple aura wrapped around it causing it to float in the air. Her spell suddenly imploded and the orb dropped, as did her body. Her head thudded against the wooden planks. My eyes widened as she remained limp and motionless on the ground.

“Whoa Ardent,” Mangle readied her power hooves. “What the fuck?!”

Gale maneuvered over to Nibble's body. He placed a hoof on her neck and spotted the object I tossed. “What have you done?” Gale pulled his hoof away from Nibble.

My heart sank. “I-I don't know,” I stammered. This can't be happening!

Gale levitated a scalpel to my throat. “I'm sorry.”

My heart stopped.

“What's going on!” Clover demanded, taking the time to look back at us.

To my surprise Gale laughed. “Ardent threw a memory orb at Nibble.” He lowered the scalpel. “Guess how she caught it?”

Clover rolled his eyes and went back to steering.

“What?” I asked, unable to process anything.

“I told you Ardent, you are too fun to mess with.” Gale whinied.

“What?” I said again.

Gale picked up the orb with his hoof. “This is a memory orb. When a unicorn touches it with their magic they relive the memory inside.”

“So, she's okay?” I asked, still worried.

“Of course. She’s basically sleeping.”

A breath of relief escaped me, as did the slightest laugh. “You suck Gale.”

Mangle mumbled something and laid down.

“So what's on the orb?” I asked.

“No way to know unless you view it,” Gale said. “Nibble won't be happy with you. Both of us hate using those things.”

“Why’s that?”

“I prefer being being aware and conscious.” He gestured to Nibble's limp body. “You don't get out until the memory is done. It can't be interrupted, even if you're in pain.”

I winced at the thought. I could almost understand, when I enhance one of my senses I’m at my most vulnerable, but at least pain removes me from the trance.

“Nibble doesn't like them because she used a damaged one. It causes a slight amount of indescribable pain. She said she would never take that chance again.”

Hope the one I tossed wasn't damaged. I took a nervous swallow at the possibility. The caravan came to a sudden halt, all of us toppled over and Gale dropped the memory orb which rolled between two ammo boxes.

Clover cursed, “Dammit, hide Nibble.” Nopony knew what was going on but I obeyed, shit!

We buried Nibble under a pile of our new supplies. After Clover found it acceptable he whipped the reins. I leaned off the side to see what had Clover worried.

“What are those?” Mangle asked. Three tall pegasi stood in the distance, facing us. We headed right for them and as we got closer their horns came into view. Two were a dark purple color and the other a deep blue. A deep blue I have seen before in prewar books and billboards, Princess Luna! I could only stare, but the closer we got I spotted differences between this thing and Luna. The biggest issue being none of these creatures had cutie marks. That’s… unnatural.

Mangle and I looked to Gale who normally had information about wasteland creatures. He simply shrugged.

“They're alicorns,” Clover said in a whisper. “Rumor has it they’ve been stealing female unicorns. They don't find Nibble, we get to leave.”

My stomach twisted as we neared, the three pony like things still as statues. I swallowed.“If they do?”

“HALT!” The deep blue one boomed using a spell to amplify its voice. Clover brought the caravan to a stop.

“Praise be to the goddess,” Clover said “What can I do for you?”

The goddess? I had no idea where Clover’s term came from. All the ponies I knew believed in the goddesses. Even if they didn’t like Luna they never excluded her.

“You can give us that one,” the alicorn pointed at Gale.

“and then you may go,” another alicorn finished.

Clover flew down in front of the alicorns and for the first time had to look up to see a pony eye to eye. “My name is Jaded Clover. I thought the goddess was only interested in female unicorns?”

“You thought wrong. Any unicorn will do,” the blue alicorn said.

Clover took in a deep breath, turned his head, and stared at Gale. Was he actually going to hand Gale over to these... these things? Gale’s thoughts must have mimicked my own as his eyes went wide. How could Clover even consider it, if it were me that would be one thing but Gale was useful. He’s a talented surgeon and has expertise about the wasteland.

Mangle’s hairs were on end with every muscle in her body flexed. Her teeth grinded as she glared into the group, but I failed to determine if the glare was for Clover or the alicorns.

Clover nickered before turning back to the alicorns. “I wish to be in favor of the goddess,” Clover explained. “Maybe there is something else we can give. Certainly there is some sort of arrangement we can come to.”

“A moment,” a purple alicorn said. All three of them turned to faced each other while remaining eerily silent. They just stood there, not speaking, their eyes unfocused.

Eventually one spoke up, “Our task is not worth stopping over one unicorn, and we require nothing else. You may leave us. The goddess will remember your willingness to please.” The alicorns turned away as Clover gave a slight bow before flying back to the caravan.

“Dammit Ardent!” a voice yelled from under the pile of supplies. Followed by a metallic thud. “Ow! What the hell?”

The alicorns turned back. They narrowed their eyes on the source of the voice. Two of their horns lit up. They levitated the supplies out of the way, revealing Nibble. Oh shit.

“WE ARE DISPLEASED BY THIS DECEPTION,” one of the purple alicorns yelled with an amplified voice.

“That won't be the only thing that displeases you.” Clover spread his legs and braced himself. He flicked his wing and Gale brought up his weapon. I slipped into SATS and aimed at the purple alicorn in the front.

In a moment the purple alicorn was riddled with holes and sliced to bits. The other purple alicorn cast a spell and in a burst of magic disappeared, with the dark blue one vanishing as well.

“Don't let them get their shields up!” Clover shouted. Nibble, quick to understand the situation, levitated out her pistol.

A shimmer in front of me, much like Gale’s magic, edged closer. I tried to focus on it but could only see the barley distorted scenery behind it. An invisible force reached inside my chest and squeezed. My throat caught as my whole body tensed up. I grabbed at my chest, trying to pull away a force that wasn't there. Holding my chest I realized my heart was silent. This thing was literally stopping my heart! I toppled over, and with the last of my fading strength reached for the shimmer, trying to point, hoping somepony else would help.

“I gotcha!” I heard a voice yell. Mangle lunged at the distortion slamming her power hoof into it.

The deep blue alicorn appeared, her neck going slack and bending at an awkward angle from Mangle’s attack. The pain in my chest disappeared instantly. I coughed and took in deep shaky breaths, feeling the rapid pace of heart beat inside my chest. They can turn invisible and stop hearts? Right because that’s fair! I looked around trying to spot another distortion. What I saw was much worse.

A magical barrier shimmered around the last alicorn as she hovered above us. She flew lower looking down on all of us.

“Fire!” Clover yelled.

Bullets, blades, and lasers ricocheted off the shield. The alicorn’s laugh could be heard past the gunfire. When the attacks ceased Mangle launched herself up at the alicorn. Her power hoof collided with the shield, a sound close to Nibble’s wielding screeched as Mangle’s force reflected back at her, tossing her down.

“Pathetic,” the alicorn said as it charged another spell. A magical blast slammed into Mangle’s chest, doubling the speed of her plummet. A cloud of dust and sand sprang up where she crashed.

“Who's next.” The alicorn calmly glanced over us. Something bumped into my hoof. I peered down to see the memory orb rolling on the ground and snatched it. I glanced to Nibble and then to the alicorn. That could wor-

A barrage of explosives detonated on the alicorn’s shield and the air filled with black smoke and fire. Nibble grabbed me and shoved us into cover. Each explosion sent out a wave of force and heat, each one pushing me closer against the floor boards. I thought the mere force might crush me but eventually the attack stopped. A charred body fell to the ground with a crispy thump. The body steamed as pieces of the burnt flesh peeled off exposing raw muscle. The smell of freshly cooked alicorn wafted over. I gagged.

“That must be him,” Clover said looking over his side. I followed his gaze. On a ridge stood a lone steel ranger. His grenade launcher still steamed from the attack. The armor covered soldier didn't spare us a glance, not that I could tell through the tinted visor, before he turned and marched away. Each step he took sounding like when Mangle activated her power hooves.

An actual steel ranger! Shot Chaser would talk about them frequently, his adventures into pre-war ruins often led him to cross paths with the bunch. He was never a fan of their tactics, forcefully taking and hoarding technology, but had to admit they were extremely effective at it.

“Check on Mangle,” Clover ordered. He flew off to follow the steel ranger. Gale and Nibble rushed over to Mangle. I rotated the memory orb I was still holding. Wouldn't have worked anyway. I dropped the orb and joined the others.

Mangle lay in a small crater scowling at the sky. “I could have broken through if I was at full strength!”

Gale simply nodded as he applied a goopy salve to her chest. Whatever spell struck her left a scorch mark which removed a portion of her coat and replaced it with red blistering skin. The salve worked wonders as the redness disappeared and the blisters reduced in size.

“Can you move?” Gale asked. Mangle looked away, red filling her cheeks. Nibble rolled her eyes, wrapped Mangle in a purple aura, and carried her to the caravan.

“I thought the impact might have killed her.” I stood over the small crater Mangle created from her crash.

“I softened the landing,” Gale said.

“How?”

Gale’s horn shimmered. A moment later a powerful wind pushed up against my stomach. The gust flowed through my coat and created a brisk chill, not enough to lift me but got close. “That’s an... interesting spell.”

“It’s primary use is to keep me fashionable.” Gale ran a hoof through his mohawk and winked at me.

“And she's out.” Nibble giggled, rejoining us. “Hey Ardent. What’s this?” She chucked the memory orb into my muzzle.The small ball hit with the density of a glass marble but must have been made of tougher stuff since it held together.

I rubbed the spot it hit. “It's not like I knew,” I said defensively.

She sighed and her expression brightened. “I know. It did have something interesting on it. I got to see Ardent’s favorite princess.”

My ears perked. “Luna, really! What was it?” I asked desperately. Nibble took a page out of Gale’s book as she grinned and looked away from me.

“Pleeeease,” I begged.

“He’s so desperate,” Gale mused. “I wonder what kind of things we could get him to do?”

“I’ll make this one a freeby,” Nibble said, the disappointment showed on Gale’s face. “It was Luna teaching that dragon from Stable Nine. She was going over what it meant to be an overmare, it was... weird. Anyway she was interrupted by the Flim Flam brothers, who were much taller and more charming than I expected. They were talking to Luna about needing accesses to Stable-Tec information. It is hard to explain but it definitely felt like they were intimidating her.”

The track record for Flim Flam just gets worse. Threatening and stealing from Luna. Scamming ponies by selling them useless weapons. Using ponies as test subjects for their weird drugs. I'm mean really, what other shitty things were they going to be responsible for?

“Who were you riding?” Gale asked.

“The dragon,” Nibble replied. “Who is a boy by the way. I was learning to make my voice feminine so I could be a proper overmare. So weird, and a little creepy.” She shivered.

A shadow passed over us moments before Clover landed. His frown stretched farther than normal and a defined scowl covered his brow.

“A dust storm is coming,” Clover said through clenched teeth. “Set up camp.”

Nibble and Gale nodded and spared no time leaving.

“What happened with the steel ranger?” I asked. Time seemed to freeze for a few moments as everypony but me paused. I saw Gale shake his head slightly and then continue trotting away.

“Well Ardent, as you can see the steel ranger is not with us.” Clover stated calmly. “So recruitment was a failure. Now, that alone upsets me since we just lost a pony who can do that.” Clover pointed at the charred corpse of the alicorn. My throat caught as Clover’s voice started to climb. “On top of that he assured me the steel rangers would never do me any favors. He would ‘make sure of it.’ Which he can do because he's a FUCKING STAR PALADIN!” Clover finished as he shoved me to the ground. He glared down at me, directing all the anger of his failure onto me. Then he paused. His anger seeming to disappear and his body relaxed. “Go set up camp,” he said monotone, then flew off.

I laid there wide eyed with my heart racing. After all the dangers and life threatening situations I’ve been in I thought I had become more tolerant to fear. Clover had just proven me wrong. It wasn't his anger I feared but the look that came after. His eyes were dead inside, like that of the filly we rescued from the printing press.

======

Clover punched more information into his Pip-Buck while the rest of us sat too afraid to say anything. We just stayed still, listening to Clovers typing and the sand beating against the tent cover. Except Mangle, she slept, and I doubted a megaspell could wake her.

A barbed needle poked a hole in the tent. Clover sighed, “Bloatesprites are riding the storm. Ardent deal with them. Gale fix the tent.”

I activated my EFS and was shocked at how many red dots surrounded us. Learning from my mistake I nodded and headed out without comment.

There must have been a squadron of bloatsprites. By Luna’s mercy the visibility made it so I never dealt with more than two at a time. Easy since the time between my encounters allowed SATS to recharge. Hard because each minute I was out in the storm my eyes and mouth were continually assaulted by sand, but soon enough the area was littered with bloatsprite remains. When there were only a few dots left I attempted to manual fire. I was rewarded with a needle in my leg and the reminder my aim is awful. Luna help me.

“I wonder how much more you can take before you kill that pegasus,” I heard a deep raspy voice say. “Honestly, your resentment must be boiling over by now.”

Oh good, the voice is back. I turned in a circle looking for any signs of another pony, and realizing how silly that was given the sandstorm did another circle keeping an eye on my EFS but failed to see anything.

“Come Ardent, you can be honest with yourself,” it said.

“I don’t know what you mean?” I said, not completely lying. Clover had been a ruthless leader and I have been on the receiving end of his expectations, but I don't think I have ever felt resentment.

“No need to play dumb. It would be only natural after what he’s done to you. What kind of insidious things do you have planned for him?”

What was with the change of tactics? Every time I heard the voice before it tried to help me make friends and fit into the group, what changed? I was done pretending to think I might be going crazy, this voice isn’t some figment of my imagination, and it’s time to find out who it was. “And what has he done to me?” I asked mockingly.

The voice laughed. “Let's go down the list. Steals you away from your home, fully knowing you weren't in your right mind. Threatens you. Treats you like an easily replaceable tool. He assaults you for asking questions, and now you’re a guinea pig. That shot had a slim chance of working after all.”

Impossible! The only way it could have that information is if it was there, no other pony knew about it. Either this was all in my mind or the voice was watching us, closely. I planned to find out.

“You're right,” I said, hanging my head. “If I were to die, Clover wouldn't give a damn.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

I thought for a moment, and realization finally hit me. Each risk had rewards. That or I was doing some serious mental gymnastics to rationalize this. “Let him keep risking it,” I said with a smile.

“What! Why?”

“If he wanted me dead he wouldn't have given me this Pip-Buck. He threw me in a fight so I could learn to survive. He injected me with a drug because if it worked I would be stronger. He may be more than willing to replace me, but he is also willing to help me.”

I wasted no time and slipped into my trance in order to amplify my hearing before the voice’s response. My hearing locked onto his position as he went on about how preposterous my answer was. After getting a good idea of its location I slipped out of the trance and galloped. I would have liked to keep my hearing focused but I move considerably slower when in my trance.

A neutral indicator appeared on my EFS. I knew it! I could see the figure take shape as I approached. I leaped to close the final gap, ready to activate SATS. As I pushed past the dust cloud the ghoul came into sight. He had strands of tan fur and hints of what use to be dark brown mane. He had no iris and his pupils were pink. When I locked eyes with him I froze. The same feeling as before, shit. It was if something placed pressure all over my body. I felt like stone.

The ghoul jumped back seeing me suddenly appear, but he appeared well aware of whatever was happening to me. His expression changed to be more relaxed and he put on a smile.

“Nice to finally meet you, Ardent Fable,” He stepped right up to me, close enough so his necrotic ghoulish scent caught in my nose. “You are full of surprises. How did you find me?” He pursed his lips as he looked me over, careful to keep eye contact. I tried to reply but even my tongue kept from moving. Good news, I’m not crazy. Bad news, I can't seem to do anything!

“Hmmm. Well, I wish we could continue this conversation, but I’m relatively certain you’ll shoot me.” The ghoul tipped his head and backed away. As soon as he faded into the dust storm he turned, yelled something I couldn't make out, and took off.

The moment he broke eye contact I felt the pressure lift. I went into my trance and followed him with my hearing.I wasn't going to be able to catch him. Not that I wanted to until I figured a way to fight somepony I couldn’t even look at! I relived the encounter in my memory. It’s defiantly his eyes that cause me to freeze. I’m unsure who this ghoul is, but Clover is going to know about him.

======

Worried and concerned eyes fell upon me. Apparently my warning about the disappearing, magic eyed ghoul, who seems to be in our shadows all the time wasn't going over too well.

Gale came up and shined a light into my eye. “Could be a side effect of that drug. Hallucinations. Paranoia,” Gale speculated.

“What? No!” I pushed him away. “I saw him before that… sort of.”

“And you didn't tell us then because?” Nibble asked

“Because he was only a voice at the time and I thought I might just be going crazy.”

Silence followed.

“He's fucking lost it,” Mangle said bluntly.

“It’s not like hearing voices is a death sentence though, right?” Nibble asked directed at Gale. “Like, he’ll be fine.”

“For now,” Gale said, “but things like this only get worse.”

“I’m not crazy!” I yelled.

“Listen to me,” Clover stated. “This dust storm is going to keep us here awhile. Gale, full medical evaluation for Ardent. After that everypony get some rest. Understood?” I groaned in frustration, and immediately regretted it. Clover marched over to me and leaned in close so his muzzle was next to my ear. “Whether or not you're crazy, thank you for being honest.” Clover turned, walked to his spot, and laid down facing the tent. The sincerity in his voice left me stunned.

I nodded. “Understood.”

Footnote: No level up.

Chapter 11: Clover's Wrath

Chapter 11

I locked the door to my hut and looked up at Canterlot. The beautiful capital now seemed forever out of my reach here at the base of the mountain where the rest of the zebras now lived.

“It’s for the good of Equestria,” I whispered to myself, repeating the line the bureaucratic ponies told me when they presented me with the relocation order. I wanted to help, and if segregation would ease the tensions it was the least I could do. Little did I realize it would be impossible to maintain my training for the Equestrian Games, and how much of a downgrade the living quarters would be.

I started my aimless walk in the most minimum attempt to keep my physic. A group of zebra bringing planks over to a nearby house passed by me.

Things have been getting better each day, the community came together and built a variety of amenities. Extra rooms to houses, aqueducts, blankets, and even a bath house. I tried helping but the amount of, what I would call nearly treasonous, anti pony sentiments shared by almost every zebra became too much to bear.

During my walk I caught a strange sight, a unicorn pony going door to door introducing himself. Ponies rarely visited Zebratown, yet this one almost looked like he was moving in.

“Hello there,” he waved as we crossed paths. “My name is Midnight Shower and I was wondering if you could help me with something?”

“I’d be happy too,” I said with a smile.

Midnight Shower returned the smile. “That is the kindest greeting I’ve gotten all day. Now I have been sent by…”

One of my ears swiveled as a conversation from across us started.

“You get my dash?” a female zebra asked. My other ear turned. Dash? I'm pretty sure that’s the name of the drug starting to plague Zebratown.

“Shut up you idiot,” a gruffer voice replied. “There’s a pony right there.”

“Big deal, no way he knows our language.”

“Hmph, you got my weapons?”

“Not here, I’ll have them at sundown, east side of town.”

“Good. I look forward to seeing those stuck up ponies beg for mercy.”

“Traitors,” I spat out.

“Excuse me?” Midnight Shower said, bringing me back to focus on the unicorn in front of me.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I bowed. “You will have to excuse me.”

“But-”

I knew I must have come off rude but I needed to report this to the ponies patrolling the town. They made their rounds every hour so I had a good idea of where to find them.

After getting out of view of the two zebras openly discussing their crime I broke into a gallop. It felt good to run again and after only a few turns I found the patrol. Leading them was a green coated stallion in pristine combat armor, flanked by a pegasus and a unicorn who only wore the minimum of protection and appeared rather disheveled for soldiers.

“Stop!” the leader ordered, he placed himself between me and the other soldiers. Realizing how it might look to have a zebra at full speed bee lining at soldiers I came to an abrupt halt.

“I don't mean you any trouble,” I said, trying to appear calm even with the adrenaline from my run keeping my heart racing. “In fact I'm here to report a-”

The pegasus whistled. “Well would you listen to that.” He poked out from behind the leader and strolled around me. “Ain't an ounce of zebra in that voice, could almost confuse her for Equestrian.”

One of my ears flicked. “I am Equestrian.”

“Aren’t we all,” he said, spending a little too much time behind me.

“Listen,” I spun on him, “I'm here to report a crime. There is going to be a bunch of criminals on the east side of town at sundown, trading drugs for weapons!”

“And just how would you know that?” he asked with a smile.

“I overheard them.”

“Sure, sure. That’s a believable story, or maybe you found yourself in over your head and decided to betray them.” He raised his eyebrow. “An equally believable story if you ask me?”

“What are you getting at?” I asked.

“Just that, if you really want to clear your name, you might consider coming with us for interrogation.”

“I’ve nothing to hide.”

A sly grin appeared on his face as he offered a hoof for me to lead the way.

“Wait,” their leader said.

“Sergeant SteelHooves?” The pegasus paused.

The sergeant grabbed me, and with the force only earth ponies possessed, pulled me to the side, out of earshot of the other two soldiers. “Do you have any affiliation with the zebras you're turning in?” His eyes stayed trained on me, watching for the slightest sign of deception.

I stared back. “No.”

SteelHooves placed a hoof on my shoulder. “If you go with them you won’t be going anywhere but prison. I can stop them from taking you now but after we arrest whoever you’re turning they’ll be back for you. Pack your things, and run home little zebra.”

I'm so sick of hearing that! First from mother, then some of my friends, even Relay. None of them understood!

“My name is Kalita.” I pushed his hoof away. “And Equestria is my home.” I left him with a muddled expression as I re-joined the pegasus. “Let’s go.”

======

I jolted awake, the warning “Just get out of there!” at the tip of my tongue. However, the cramped tent of sleeping ponies cause me to swallow the words, I doubted waking up early screaming vague warnings would help my sanity case. I sighed. As if caring about the outcome of a dream zebra would help either. Why do I even care anyway, they’re zebras, they were supposed to be the evil ones, or at least that’s what every other pre-war poster would have ponies believe. Shot Chaser dispelled my prejudice of zebras before I had one, countless lectures about how no creature should be judged by the sins of their ancestors, and to base opinions off their actions instead.

I slipped out of the tent to be greeted with a dust storm free morning. A thin layer of dirt covered everything but the sky, which gleamed with orange and red hues highlighting the clouds. Movement under the tarp covering our caravan let off small plumes of dust.

“Good morning Melody.” I pulled her free from under the tarp. The brahmin gave a cheerful moo.
“Not often some pony wakes before me,” Gale said trotting up to my side. “Was it because of the voices?”

“It's not voices, it's one voice belonging to-”

“Magic ghoul following us. Yes, yes you said. I'm just checking. Especially with Nibble acting strange too.”

I raised an eyebrow and glanced back to the tent where she rested.

“Don’t worry about not noticing, she hides it well, but she's been having nightmares ever since the necromancer ordeal. Help me with this”

Gale untied the tarp and laid it out. As I flattened my corner one of Gale’s hooves rested over mine. I glanced over but he seemed not to notice as he straightened out his corner.

After folding and packing the tarp Gale and I prepared for when the others woke. Putting breakfast together, running through Clover’s inventory checklist, and clearing the tent of dust. While working Gale stayed uncomfortably close and constantly brushed against me. I bet he's trying to mess with me again. Eventually we finished and were ready to go.

======

Manehatten could be seen in the distance. Buildings barely stood on their decayed structures. Many of them missing chunks out of the side. Scorch marks and grime covered the entire city making it all a mix of black and brown.

“It looks like a rotting corpse,” I said, taking in the city.

“Great imagery.” Nibble rolled her eyes. “Better than this.” She waved a hoof over the remains of the small town we were passing. Nothing remained but debris and a few standing walls.

The crack of gunfight came out of nowhere. Two holes ripped into the left side of the caravan. Following the only direction the shot could have come from stood a three story building with faded yellow paint and hint of pink splotches that might have once been butterflies. Rooms on the third floor flashed, shortly followed by more gunfire as bullets rained down around us.

One of the shots severed the harness connected to Melody. The caravan slowed as the Brahmin pushed ahead not realizing it was no longer carrying us.

“Take cover!” Clover said taking off. He headed back for the destroyed town. The rest of us bailed out and took after him, but not before another round of gunfire. Gale let out a scream as he toppled over. I paused seeing blood stain down his back leg.

“I got him!” Nibble said, wrapping Gale in a purple aura. We hurried behind a mostly intact wall.

Nibble eased Gale to the ground. He grabbed his leg and pried the skin apart. Blood gushed out at an alarming rate completely drenching his leg and hooves. He wore the same smile he had during the time he operated on me.

“Ohhh, that hurts,” Gale nearly moaned, “But it went straight through. What a shame.” He reached into his bag and drank a healing potion. The blood flow stopped as the wound sealed itself. He got up and kicked over a rock to test the newly healed limb. “Good as new.”

Everypony ducked as bullets slammed into the stone wall protecting us, it cracked and wavered under the pressure but remained standing. Clover peaked his head around the corner for only a moment before pulling back. A shot grazed past the wall around the area he had just been.

“Damn they’re good.” Clover said blandly. “Nibble, Gale grab the caravan I'll cover.” Clover jumped out of cover and fired his battle saddle. On the other end Gale and Nibble poked their heads around the corner. In a moment Clover dived back into cover as the caravan lifted over head and dropped down.

“So now what?” Nibble asked.

“I doubt I can take them out from here.” Clover scratched at his chin. “Mangle is your cannon ready?”

Mangle stood on her back hooves and readied her weapons. She slammed her forehooves together only to have them clang and bounce off each other. She landed back down and shook her head.

“What about PM3?” Nibble said. “She still has one shot left.”

Clover grumbled. “No good, they would get you while you assembled it. Even if you levitated out of cover they could tear it up before you fired.”

Another round of bullets crashed into our cover, and a few cracks appeared along the stone.

“Should hold, but looks like we’re pinned.” Clover sighed. “Unless they come to us, and I doubt that will happen, the plan is to wait till nightfall and sneak away. Melody should have figured it out by then.”

Clover jumped into the caravan and tossed food cans to everypony. He grabbed one for himself and sat down. He mentally checked out as he began flipping through his Pip-Buck.

Before we ate I saw Nibble turn away and put her hooves together, I definitely heard Celestia more than once in her mumbling. I got half way through an eye roll before stopping myself. I may have thought prayer was a load of horse apples but it was important to Nibble, and I figure the least a friend could do is respect that.

After emptying my can I tossed it straight up past the cover of the wall, it came back down without eliciting gunfire. “Who do you think is attacking us?” I asked anypony willing to answer as I tossed the can up again only to have it simply fall back into my hooves. “Raiders?” On the third toss a bullet from out attackers hit the can. It clanked to the ground and rolled to reveal a hole, dead center through the bottom.

Gale scoffed, “A raider couldn’t make a shot like that in a hundred years. Raiders hide behind billboards and yell before attacking. Whoever they are, they're professionals.”

“Steel Rangers?” Mangle offered.

“Very unlikely,” Nibble said. “They use explosives. If it was them I doubt we’d be having this conversation.”.

“They’re Talons,” Clover remarked.

Now that was a name I knew, a group of Talons came through Dust once. The flock of griffons were hired to map towns near the base of the mountain. They stopped by the bar and cleaned out Shot Chaser’s supplies, all while I bugged them with endless questions. Until they started charging me a cap per question, I went broke that day. The conversation would have ended there but Mangle had her mouth open, a question about to be asked but she hesitated.

“Who are the Talons again?” I asked for her.

“Dust must be as sheltered as a Stable,” Gale replied. “The Talons are a mercenary group mainly composed of griffons. They work for caps and are known to be extremely loyal to the contract. If there is a contract to eliminate us the only way out will be to kill those involved.”

“So they'll come after us even if we escape?” Mangle asked.

“If it's in the contract.”

“What the fuck else would it be for?”

Gale shrugged. “Given our reputation a hit on us would cost a fortune, can’t say we’ve pissed anypony that wealthy off… Yet.”

“That's strange,” Nibble said peering around the corner. “Not sure why they attacked so soon.”

We gathered closer to see what Nibble was talking about. She pointed down the road. If they had waited we would have been in direct line of sight with the town a good distance away. So why didn’t they wait?

A cold shiver ran down my body as I repeated DJ pon3’s words. “Jib has hired Talons.”

“You okay Ardent?” Nibble asked. “You look pale.”

“We have to get out of here now!” I said in a panic. “It's Jib-hired the Talons-artillery.”

“Incoherent babble, another sign of mental distress.” Gale pointed out. My panic disappeared as I glared at him, almost hoping we exploded just to prove my sanity.

“We are about to be blown to bits.” Clover jumped out of the caravan. So he was listening. “We need a way out of here, ideas now!” Clover’s wings flicked around as he paced back and forth.

“Ardent has a Stealth-Buck,” Gale said.

“I couldn't close the distance in the time it lasts,” Clover said. “Gale, can you create a dust cloud?”

“Not one big enough to hide us all, love that you think so highly of me though.”

Clover paced faster. The same calm feeling I had when I faced the Sentinel washed over me. There has to be a way. My gaze drifted over all our assets. Nibble, PM3, Gale. That could work.

“Gale can you move a dust cloud?” I asked as I jumped into the caravan. I pulled out the pieces of Nibble's rocket launcher.

“I suppose,” he replied slowly, “But in case you're suddenly blind too you should notice there isn't one.”

All of them eyed me cautiously as I built the rocket launcher.

“We're going to make one,” I said recalling the size of the dust cloud that formed when fighting Cerberus. A jolt passed through the others as they figured out what I had planned.

“You really are insane!” Nibble yelled, “Do you know how close we would be to the explosion in order to use the dust cloud it kicks up.”

“Better than the kill zone we're sitting in,” Clover said. “Gale can you move it?”

“I've never-” Gale swallowed. “Yes, but it will take all my concentration. I'll have to catch up with you after I get it to the building.”

Clover nodded and began to explain. “Here’s the plan. Nibble is going to create a dust cloud. Gale is going to stay here and focus on moving it towards the building. We will use it as cover to infiltrate. After that we take out whoever’s inside. Understood?”

“Understood,” we replied in unison.

Nibble shook her head as she pushed me out of the way so she could take over preparing her toy.

Clover leaned down. “Ardent, I want you to use the Stealth-Buck at the first sight of an enemy. These are experienced fighters, not brain dead raiders.”

Oh, now he cares. I nodded.

Nibble finished loading the launcher and aimed it as close to our position as possible. Her hoof hovered over the fire button. Instead of her normal maniacal smile she grimaced.

“Clench your teeth and cover your ears,” she said. “This is going to hurt.” Her hoof dropped.

Even heeding Nibble’s advice the shock wave ripped through me. All my hearing faded into the background, replaced by a constant ringing noise. I closed my eyes for a moment as the dust cloud sprang up. When I opened them I saw Clover and Mangle galloping ahead. I ran after them but continually swayed to one side or the other as gravity seemed to constantly change which way it pulled. I kept my eyes on them, but their forms faded into the dust cloud.

I tried to catch up, tried to find them again, but I had no idea where I was going. I panicked realizing I had no idea which way to go, and thoughts of being out in the open when the dust settled crept into my mind.

Just before I went into a full breakdown I noticed my mane blowing slightly to the left. Gale probably controlled the dust with his wind spell, so I just had to follow the wind. I turned so the wind pushed against my backside and doubled my pace. As I ran I could slowly feel the world center itself and the ringing faded. Another form came into view, I had caught up to Nibble who gave me a smile as I joined her side.

Ministry of Morale Outpatient Facility, appeared in my vision as we reached the building. The front door had already been opened, or more accurately smashed off its hinges. Nibble and I leaped over the destroyed doors and landed on stained marble floors. The scent of cleaning chemicals still lingered in the air. A black moss spread across every window, only letting small amounts of light seep through. A decayed sign hung above a receptionist counter that read, “Freeing you from Wartime Stress Disorder.”

Before we could take another step the ground shook. A shockwave shattered every window in the building, blew away the dust cloud, and caused my Pip-Buck to click rapidly for a moment. I turned back to see a mushroom cloud composed of smoke and fire.

Jib had fired their artillery.

“PM3!” Nibble cried out seeing the destruction. My eyes traced a path from the edge of the explosion to the door. Nothing.

“Do… Do you think he made it?” I asked, unable to put Gale’s name in the question. Nibble froze.

“They, were firing at us from higher up,” Nibble said avoiding the topic, “so I bet that is where Clover and Mangle went. I think we should scout down here and make sure they don’t get flanked... and wait for Gale.” She headed to the back of the floor we were on. I turned to follow taking a final glance outside. Nothing but fire, destruction, and death.

======

The back exit had a rock propping it open, two griffons, who had been motionless, lay on the ground right outside. Both of them were in identical black padded armor. Their yellow talons and beaks were a strange contrast to the white and brown feathers. I stumbled through my bag and grabbed the Stealth-Buck just in case. Before I placed it into my Pip-Buck Nibble approached the guards.

“Are…” Nibble inched closer. “Are they dead?” She got next to one. My EFS provided the answer with the three neutral markers in front of me. Nibble poked one of the griffons and jumped out of her skin as the griffon rolled over with a grown. I stepped forward ready to enter SATS. Something wasn’t right, neither of them had weapons. Did someone knock them out? Not exactly something Clover or Mangle would do… or Gale

“Do we... finish the job?” Nibble said, levitating out her gun.

My heart skipped a beat. It’s the smart thing to do, what Clover would want. If they wake up while were here it would be a major issue, but if feels… wrong. A part of me felt relieved to know I had issues with taking their life.

“I can’t,” I said, taking a step back.

Nibble smiled. “Well they don’t have weapons, so they won’t be a issue, right?”

I nodded and we turned to go back inside. We stopped as a foreign voice cried out.

“Hurry up! They might have gotten in but contract is over now that the fireworks have gone off.” Two griffons swooped down landing next to us. “Franz is… packing… up…” It took them a moment to take in the picture.

The griffons reached for their weapons. Nibble leapt back inside and I slammed the Stealth Buck into place. The effect was instantaneous. I lost track of my own limbs as I became virtually invisible. However, the smaller of the two griffons seemed to know this trick and let an automatic weapon unleash where I was just standing, where I still stood. I dove to side but at least one shot tore into my back leg. I clenched my teeth keeping in the scream. The griffons backed into each other. I saw the glow of Nibble’s magic and a metal apple peek around the corner. Oh shit, no way I’m outside the blast radius.

“Wait!” I said pointing my muzzle away from them hoping that would make it harder to find me. Everypony-griffon froze. I took a deep breath and pushed down the pain. ”Walk away from this.”

“After what you did to our comrades.” The one that shot me replied. “Fat chance.”

“They’re fine, take them and go. You said your contract was over.” Taking a note from Clover’s handbook I added, “or I could kill you now.” I tried to sound confident.

One of the mercenaries brought a wing out, placing it over the beak of her unconscious friend. The tips of her wing fluttered against the shallow breathing. She motioned to the other Talon and they grabbed their friends. Every moment that passed was agony and I could feel my blood starting to pool around my back leg.

The female griffon scanned around until her icy blue eyes stopped right on me. I glanced down to check if I was still invisible, which I was. How in the hell? She smirked and tapped her beak before taking off.

The moment they were out of sight I pulled out a healing potion and drank it. Under the list of most painful things to happen to me getting shot is below impalement. I let out a breath of relief as the pain slipped away.

“Clever,” Nibble said coming out of cover. “We should- Are you okay!”

My Stealth-Buck wore off revealing me lying down in a small pool of blood. Nibble ran to my side and flipped me over. She saw the empty potion bottle and scrunched her nose.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

======

We made our way to third floor when voices outside one of the rooms caught our attention.

“I didn’t ask who,” Clover’s voice echoed down a hall. “Where are they?”

Nibble and I peeked inside an open door. Mangle had a griffon pinned to the ground. Clover stood over him with a hoof on his neck. We stepped inside, a balcony had a view of where we were taking cover. The ground glowed a dark, smoldering red and nothing remained of the town.

When we came inside Clover looked at us, than past us.

“Where’s Gale?” he asked.

We both looked away, my eyes landing on a strange device with straps and a helmet with suction cups all over. It was plugged into an electrical conductor. Clover gritted his teeth and threw a back leg into the Talon’s side. The mercenary yelped. Mangle’s mouth hung open. She pressed down on the legs she had pinned until they started to crack. The griffon screamed.

“I've lost my gear, my ride, and now one of my soldiers,” Clover growled. “If you want a chance of getting out of here alive you're going to tell me where I can find those responsible.”

“They are a few miles east of here,” the griffon gave in. “There were seven of them, unarmed aside from that giant artillery thing.”

“Mangle let him go,” Clover said coldly.

Mangle’s eyes narrowed. “What if he’s lying?”

“Why would he, not sure why he held off telling us in the first place, I doubt Jib had the forethought to add keeping their beak shut into the contract.”

“But he killed Gale.” Mangle applied more of her weight against the griffon’s legs until he winced.

“No, but we are about to go find the ones who did.” Clover thought for a moment. “However, the Talon’s are responsible for making us walk. Only right we should return the favor.” Clover and Mangle shared an insidious grin. Simultaneously they reared up and brought their weight down on the griffon’s wings. I grimaced as a cacophony of cracking bones and a horrified scream filled the hotel.

“What a lovely noise,” a voice from the hallway said. Everypony turned to see Gale limp his way into the room.

Gale looked like he had… well, been through a giant explosion. His mane and coat were tangled and scorched. His coat lathered with dirt.

“How the fuck did you make it out?” Mangle said, taking a step towards him.

“That impossible cow came to the... rescue. She bulldozed me almost out of the blast zone.”

“She ok?” Clover asked.

“Has she ever not been?”

“Good. Here is what happens next. Ardent and Mangle are coming with me to wipe these fuckers out. Nibble stay with Gale and see if you can salvage anything. We are now out of supplies so I suggest you use what you have on you sparingly.” Clover glanced at the griffon who cowered in fetal position holding onto one of his limp wings. “Gale set his wings and get him out of here. Understood!”

“Understood,” we replied in unison.

“Why me?” I asked, trying to make sure only Clover heard me.

“Despite not seeming like it, you are an earth pony,” Clover explained. “Nibble and Gale won’t have the endurance to make it over there in time to make sure they can’t get away. Now let's go.”

======

We had been running for nearly an hour, and to my disbelief I maintained pace the whole time. No doubt Mangle could run faster, but Clover never once told me to pick up the pace and I took the lack of criticism as a compliment, or just about the only form a compliment Clover would give. The sun had set a while ago, and in the distance I could see the glow of a fire. Clover swooped low.

“That’s them,” he said. “Bastards are celebrating. Like the griffon said they're unarmed. We finish this tonight.” Clover flew up higher and Mangle increased her speed, leaving me in the dust.

When I saw the glow of the fire I thought we were close, but the tower of flames continued to rise as I galloped, it reach ever higher almost seeming like it wanted to burn the cloud cover.

The flames mesmerized me until the first scream screeched through the silence of the night. I stopped dead in my tracks as a massacre played out before me.

The light of the flames hid all details, only outlines of ponies remained, but Clover’s wings and Mangle’s power hooves kept them distinguished from the survivors of Jib.

They ran rampant through the camp, slaughtering anypony in their sight. Mangle slammed one of them into the fire. The pony made it out, only to run about screaming as the flames spread throughout their body. Clover took cruel shots at those running away trying to only hit limbs. One of his shots struck a pony, far too small to call an adult, it caused them to glow a bright red before turning to ash. At one point Mangle slammed down on one of the ponies who had their leg injured. Her attack tore the pony in half, showering the area in innards. I could only watch in horror as the ponies I had been traveling with cruelly murdered defenseless civilians. Luna help me.

The massacre finally came to an end with the last citizen of Jib crawling back towards the fire with a useless back leg dragging him down, details of the stallion finally visible. He had a violet coat and a sunflower mane, his cutie mark a golden shield.

Clover and Mangle approached him also stepping into the light.

“Damn that DJ Pon3,” the earth pony said. “Doesn’t matter, we still denied what you wanted.”

“And that was?” Clover said staring down at him, his yellow eyes never more clear with the flames reflecting in them.

“The weapon you desired burns.” The citizen chuckled waving at the fire. Near the base, the glow of hot warping metal shined through. Clover spat and fired his battle saddle. The attack piercing another limb as the stallion screamed.

“That's for ruining my ride,” Clover said monotoned. He fired another shot, another scream. “That’s for destroying my supplies.” Another shot into the ponies last working limb. Each wound a cauterized hole of steaming flesh. “And that is for not giving me what I earned.” Clover turned and walked away with Mangle following his lead.

I walked up to the last citizen of Jib. Clover had left him to die, slowly. Did he deserve this? Was it justified because they attacked us? No, Elpis attacked first, and if it was anything like the massacre here. I shuddered. I can’t just leave him like this. Nibble’s words came back yet again. What you would be doing is merciful.

I entered SATS, the stallion’s head highlighted by the spell with an almost impossible chance to miss. I queued up two shots…

No! This is not mercy! I cancelled the spell. Mercy is more challenging and I have a feeling on what it looks like. I reached into my bag and set my last healing potion next to the stallion.

“What’s the point,” the stallion wheezed. “I've nopony else to protect.”

“I’m just giving you the option,” I whispered.

I fired my battle saddle into the distance and glanced back, neither Mangle or Clover bothered to check what I had done. They simply headed back the way we came. As far as they were concerned the last survivor of Jib had been eliminated.

Footnote: Level Up New Perk; Rad Resistance: +25% radiation resistance permanently.

Chapter 12: Overglow, Sonic Booms, and...

Chapter 12

On our return the scene of the massacre replayed in my head over and over. Nibble and Gale never asked what happened, but the look on Nibble’s face… She had been there when Elpis first attacked Jib. I doubted it had been any different.

Nothing remained. The artillery strike obliterated the caravan and all of our supplies aside from what we carried. Under Clover’s orders we immediately headed out for Manehatten, which meant no rest.

Silence and darkness encased us as we traveled. Exhaustion played a role but Clover was the definitive factor, he radiated an aura of frustration dwarfing the anger from when he failed to recruit the Steel Ranger. Even in the dark of the night his scowl cut through the black. Despite this I started to focus on another physical aspect of his, the leather armor stretching higher than most covering his flank, and his cutie mark.

Cutie marks could let you understand a lot about a pony at first glance. Nibble’s circuit board gave away she knew something about technology in one form or another, Gale’s scalpel and Mangle’s sledgehammer could be taken a few different ways, in the raider variety mainly, but nothing I learned about them betrayed the image of their cutie marks. If I just knew Clover’s cutie mark maybe I could find a reason, a justification for his actions. The thoughts and constant checks behind me for any stalking pink eyed ghouls carried me all the way to Manehatten.

======

Morning light shone through parts of the cloud cover, brightening the world below far more than the remaining green flames of balefire that survived since the war. Melody gave an inquisitive, “Moo,” now and again as she followed us from below. We had made it up onto an elevated road called “The Celestia Line.” An aged and decayed road built above the ground that had somehow managed to stay in one piece, aside from the random hole now and again. I failed to imagine how crowded the city must have been where it needed roads above roads, although given the endless red bar on my EFS from countless mutated insects on the ground and whatever monsters hid inside the skyscrapers I could grasp the concept. I turned off my EFS and stopped keeping an eye on the ground. The constant movements out of the corner of my eyes had driven my anxiety through the charts. If the ghoul was following us I would never be able to spot him below.

A flock of large flying creatures made their way into the city. Their leathery wings tipped with a curved talon, and massive fangs seen even from our distance. They looked like bats on steroids. They broke into smaller groups and disappeared into various skyscrapers.

“Bloodwings,” Gale said, anticipating the question. “Nocturnal hunters.”

Clover stopped and narrowed his gaze into the distance as a small flying figure made its way towards us.

“About time,” Clover muttered. The flying creature came into view. A stout metal owl hooted as it landed in front of Nibble.

“Hello Gearwing,” Nibble cooed as she brushed her hoof over the owl’s metallic feathers. “Good to see doing well.”

“What took you so long?” Clover said. The owl simply hooted again and with small little clatters, hopped over to stand in front of him. Clover extended the tool used to hack computers from his Pip-Buck and plugged it into a port on the owls back.

“Oh!” Nibble somehow found the energy to pep up. “Introductions are in order. Ardent this is Gearwing. Clover won him in a bet back in Friendship city. We use him to call in favors and send messages.”

I attempted to conjure some enthusiasm and gave a flimsy wave. Gearwing slowly rotated its head all the way around till it faced me and gave a short hoot.

“Whoa!” I cringed back. “That's creepy.”

Clover unplugged from the owl and pulled a slip of paper from his bag. He pressed a button on Gearwing’s side and a hatch on his belly popped open. Clover shoved the note inside. I caught the first line before he sealed it away, “To the owner of Absolutely Everything.” Was he making a delivery order? Once the compartment clicked closed Gearwing took off leaving in the direction we came from.

“Aweeee, we could have let him stay for a little bit.” Nibble whined.

Clover ignored her and picked up his pace. “Tenpony is just around the bend.”

======

Tenpony was a building out of time. Multiple layers of protection spells helped the building survive the megaspell that decimated the rest of Manehatten. Pristine posters from before the war still clung to the walls, the largest one of an aged lavender unicorn. I activated my EFS as we approached the gates, and my compass filled with neutral indicators. Words appeared at the top of my vision.

Ministry of Arcane Sciences

Ah, that would make her Twilight Sparkle. I thought, taking a second look at the poster. I tried to think back at what I knew about the Ministry from Shot Chaser but honestly realized I had learned just as much, if not more myself from my adventure. Shot Chaser simply knew they took part in making Pip-Bucks, the Steel Ranger armor, hell anything with a spell matrix was probably made by them, but I had learned they took in an earth pony from the printing press. Probably meaning the Ministry was biased to anypony lacking a horn if it made the news. They made I.M.P, not that I know what that is, but I knew Flim Flam Industries were stealing the incomplete mixtures to make the injections.

Lost in thought I bumped in Gale as we came to a stop.

“What’s your business,” a guard barked from behind a solid metal gate. A poorly written sign painted on the gate stated “No ghouls.”

“I'm Jaded Clover, leader of Elpis, and I have business with Dj Pon3.” Clover glared daggers into the eye slot.

“Elpis.” Apparently the inches of solid metal weren’t enough to make him feel safe as he took a step back. “I-is he expecting you?”

“He better be.”

After a brief moment of murmurs the gate grinded against its track and slid out of the way. Half a dozen guards held their ground, their weapons trained on us.

“That's them alright,” a blush colored mare said as she pushed past the guards. The only difference between her security barding was the gold star pinned on her chest. “I'm Aegis, head of security. You make one wrong move while you're here, I'll make sure you don't have time to regret it. Catch my drift?”

Clover scoffed.

Aegis raised an eyebrow. “Good. Dj Pon3 wants to meet with you immediately. The others are not invited. However, Dj has decided to treat you all as guests. A room will be provided for you along with a few other amenities. I hope that is acceptable.”

“How gracious,” Clover replied as he stepped forward, unaffected by the display of might.

Aegis turned and led us into Tenpony tower. I found myself awestruck after stepping inside. The tower resembled images I had only see in pre-war posters and books. The floors were free of cracks and grime that I had seen even in secret underground facilities. Ponies wore fancy clothes and had their manes styled. Somehow the destruction of Equestria never reached this place. Classical music hummed through the lobby. I took in a deep breath and let the scent of flowers and other sweet fragrances fill my nose. Is this what paradise would be like?

Nibble caught my attention by waving a key around in her magic and motioned to catch up. Aegis and the others piled into a small room, standing shoulder to shoulder with everypony I wondered why we had just crammed into the small metal box. A list of numbers were on one side of the wall. Aegis hit a number and the wall closed. The room rumbled and gravity decided to kick it up a notch.

“The fuck's going on?” Mangle asked as she readied one of her power hooves.

Aegis cocked her head. “Haven't you been in an elevator before?”

An elevator? I have heard that term before. I searched my memories finding a tale from Shot Chaser. Elevator, basically transportation device that travels vertically.

The room dinged, the wall opened back up, and Mangle leapt out.

“This is your stop.” Aegis motioned all but Clover out. A balcony let me see the dozen floors we had traveled, each one decorated with flowers and vibrant colors. Mangle had also been checking the view.

“Stairs would be just as quick,” she mumbled.

I chuckled. “For you maybe.”

Nibble pulled us along, continued down a carpeted hall as she constantly glanced between the key and the numbers on the wall. Eventually she found the corresponding number and unlocked the room. As the door opened without a single creak I couldn't believe my eyes.

Four large beds, trimmed with gold paint, were evenly spaced through the room. Each well padded and fixed with pillows the size of a pony. In the center rested a decanter full of water. In the back corner was another small room, most likely a bathroom.

I trotted to the center taking in the room. What I wouldn't give to live like this. I poured a glass of water and as I drank I couldn’t help but feel something was missing... My Pip-Buck wasn't clicking.

I choked, spilling some of the invaluable liquid. “It's pure!”

Nibble face planted on one of the beds. “Of course. This place has a water talisman,” she yawned, “makes fresh water.”

I wanted her to elaborate but Nibble had already drifted to sleep. Following her lead I stripped off my equipment and jumped into bed. The bed must have been part cloud because it gave way smothering me with delicate softness.

Right before I nodded off something touched my side. With a jolt, I twisted my head to see Gale. He had fallen into bed and sprawled out, one of light blue hooves lying over my side. I had never seen him so worn and battered. Too tired to switch beds or complain, I let sleep take me.

======

I awoke from another dream focused on Kalita. I followed her as she was unjustly persecuted. I grew frustrated at how willing she was to accept her fate. “For the good of Equestria, her home,” as she often put it. I had no idea how she could be so dedicated to Equestria as they took everything from her.

The sound of rain brought me out of my thoughts. That's not possible, we're indoors. I rustled out of the covers. Nibble and Mangle were still in bed, which only left the early riser. The room in the back had steam rolling out of it. I walked over and peeked in, a spout on the ceiling poured water with Gale underneath washing off. Instead if the mohawk I had become used to his grey hair curved down his neck in. If he styled differently he could easily look as fashionable as the ponies living in Tenpony. Gale turned and saw me peeking in.

He smirked. “Going to stare all day or would you like to join me?”

Washing off sounded wonderful but the way Gale had been acting the last few days I doubted joining him would be smart. “I'll wait till you're done.” I took notice of the steam flowing around my hooves. No way. I paid no attention to Gale as I stepped in and placed my Pip-Buck in the way of the spout. My Pip-Buck stayed silent as the clear water washed over it. Tenpony uses fresh water for baths! I failed to understand how anypony could rationally make such a decision. I wasn’t sure how much a water talisman produced, but certainly there were better uses for it than this.

“So does that mean you are joining me?” Gale raised an eyebrow.

“N-no it's just.” I flushed. “Sorry.” I turned and bolted out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

The slam caused Nibble to stir. She tossed back and forth a few time before jutting upright. “I get the shower!” She wiped sleep from her eyes and glared at me. “It's mine.”

“Gale’s almost done.” I opened the door to leave the room.

“What about you?” she asked. “You okay?”

“Fine. I just need a walk.”

======

I found my way to one of Tenpony’s shopping areas, receiving constant glares from any Tenpony resident I passed. No doubt I appeared out of place in their world, but I had heavier things on my mind than their disapproving eyes. Mainly the scene of the massacre that still forced its way into my thoughts. I needed to turn my mind off for awhile.

I reached the far end of the shopping area, the walk only took a few minutes normally but in my trance it could burn half an hour. I enhanced my hearing as the world dissolved into basic shapes and colors. The focus of my hearing drifted around until locking onto a familiar sounding conversation.

“Damn that fiery redhead,” a stallions voice grumbled, “since she aired my dirty laundry Self-Centered is going to win for sure. If I could just figure out how she knew.”

“You never kept a record right?” a female voice this time. “She must have been there when it happened”

“That’s impossible, somepony would have seen her there-”

All too soon I came to a stop as my head collided with a wall at the other end of the mall. I rubbed the sore spot as I processed the information. Impossible. I had been trotting.

I refocused into my trance again, this time enhancing my vision. I moved at a normal pace and could avoid other ponies as we crossed paths. I attempted to pick up my pace but I couldn’t put any strength behind it. I left my focus as my mind raced. Incredible! I could suddenly perceive things in my trance and react to them. Before this I would have walked off a cliff before realizing it, which would still be true if I focused on my hearing, but still! I also seemed to be more physically capable. I slipped in and out a few more times to test my new limitations.

“Ardent?” I heard Clover’s voice from behind me. I spun to see him with a scrawny orange unicorn. The unicorn wore thick glasses and had a dorky look about him. His cutie mark being an image of a radio tower.

“So you’re Ardent.” the unicorn said in a nasally voice. He stepped up to shake my hoof.

“This is Broadcast,” Clover introduced, “DJ Pon3...’s assistant.”

“It’s great to finally meet Elpis’ famous barmaid.”

My jaw clenched. I knew of the phrase, “Don’t shoot the messenger,” but DJ Pon3 had now made my most hated nickname known to complete strangers. Normally the name made me defiant but knowing somepony was spreading the name made me snap. “So as the assistant to DJ Pon3 I am sure you can give him a message for me.” I pushed his hoof down.

Broadcast gulped and stepped back. “I- I suppose.”

“Good.” I stepped forward forcing him back again. “Please inform him to stop using that nickname immediately or I will stuff a water talisman down his throat and watch him drown from the inside!” I didn’t exactly know how a water talisman worked but based on Broadcast’s reaction my threat seemed possible.

“Settle down there killer.” Clover almost chuckled and he put a wing between us. “Sorry about that he’s normally more… docile.”

“Is there a problem here!” I turned to see Aegis with two other guards.

Broadcast pushed his glasses closer to his head and straightened himself. “Not at all Captain Aegis.” He waved them by. “Please continue on.” Aegis’s cheek twitched as she hesitantly continued with her route.

“I will be sure to pass on your complaint. I should really get back though.” Broadcast gave a slight bow and left.

“Let's get the others.” Clover returned to his commanding voice. “We have a mission.”

======

While Clover went over the mission details, I enjoyed a hot shower, in clean water, for the first time in my life. I had already gotten a summary on the way back to the room. Tenpony suffered from an energy shortage. The cables syphoning electricity from nearby buildings stopped working a few days ago. They had guards posted but they hadn’t heard back from them since the shortage, they think ghouls may have made their way in and damaged the cables or generator. However, all those details seemed irrelevant as my perception of a shower being wasteful changed dramatically. The steam surrounding me, relaxing every muscle. To be able to take my time scrubbing with a flowery selection of soaps, and not worry about the radiation. If I had to pay for this experience I would go broke.

======

We traveled across the Luna Line, similar to the Celestia Line just leading to different areas. With the combination of unicorn and pegasus power we landed on top of the building said to house the generator. For all our vertical travel Gale and Nibble carried each other and took turns lifting Mangle, when she wasn’t doing insane jumps across life threatening heights, while Clover carried me. I wanted to thank him or apologize for my fear of levitation but he never appeared upset by it and his silence was what kept my own.

On the roof a partially shattered glass dome made for a decent view inside. The building's architecture seemed designed around the glass dome since on a sunny day the whole building would be illuminated by the sun. There were no obstacles from the ceiling all the way down to the ground floor, insane given the fifteen story drop. It vented out the rancid scent of decaying flesh that ghouls emanated. I held onto my nose, the smell had become overwhelming.

“Now that's a ghoul problem.” Gale whistled.

I focused on the black floor of the lobby. My eyes widened as the floor wriggled. I activated my EFS and a red bar filled along the compass.

“This is going to cost a lot of ammo,” Clover sighed.

“Or!” Mangle activated her power hooves. “No ammo at all.”

“You up for that?”

Mangle tensed up as a smile spread across her face.

“You just took a bath,” Nibble groaned.

“I can take another when we get back,” Mangle said, and with no other warning, leapt into the building.

My heart stopped seeing the little white mare descend into the ocean of mindless zombie ponies. Just before she landed I heard the hiss of her power hooves as it turned the ghouls under her into a blackened paste. Without hesitation she launched herself forward bucking and punching every ghoul in her path.

“According to Broadcast the device they are using to siphon power, is on the fourth floor,” Clover said somehow unimpressed with the display below him. “Let's get down there.”

Clover flew up and grabbed a hold of me as Nibble and Gale floated each other.

“You're in for a treat Ardent,” Clover said as we descended. “I doubt many have seen the true potential of an earth pony.”

“True potential?” I repeated trying to focus on what Clover said, but found it impossible with the scene playing out right below me.

The ghouls finally caught on they were being attacked. I could only see hints of white and blonde as the horde surrounded her, but using her size as an advantage she stayed low, weaving underneath countless legs. Each blow she managed to land with this hit and run tactic was followed by the sound of cracking bones and a ghoul being launched away.

She came to a halt as a ghoul caught a mouthful of her tail and in a moment she became buried under a pile of feral ghouls.

I panicked. “Clover she-”

A primal yell, that could be easily mistaken for a Manticore’s roar, came from below. In a display of raw strength Mangle broke free, sending half a dozen of the mindless monsters flying. One collided with the glass balcony on the second level, it shattered aside from a long slender piece that skewered the ghoul.

Clover sat me down as we reached the fourth floor. “There it is.” Clover pointed to a console on the opposite side. I walked close to the balcony given the view of the action below.

Mangle had changed tactics, instead of staying low she kept to the air. She stepped on top of the ghouls, activating her power hooves, breaking their back or skull, and propelling her to a different position. The horde broke apart trying to locate her rapidly changing position.

Mangle seemed to be doing great against the overwhelming odds, but above the horde I could see her clearly. Her coat had turned grey from sweat, her breaths were heavy and almost steaming. She had bloodied bite marks everywhere the armor didn't cover, and there were still an insane amount of ghouls.

I tensed up realizing Clover had been talking to me. Nibble and him somehow ignored the epic scene below, only Gale kept an eye on Mangle.

“For unicorns it's the magical overglow, pegasi have a sonic boom. Each ability represents the trait of that race,” Clover finished.

“What’s the trait of an earth pony?” I asked, hoping he had not already covered it.

“You would have to ask.” Clover smirked. “Strength.” He gestured his head back to the battle.

The scene brought me to a halt. Mangle’s body must have been burning up, her sweat evaporated as it formed, making it appear as if she had a magical aura surrounding her. I had worried she would become exhausted as the battle raged on but the opposite appeared to be true. Mangle moved faster and hit harder. With her new strength she held her ground and swung into oncoming attackers. Each swing she connected no longer broke bones but tore through the ghouls. The ground around her evolved into a field of thick black ghoul blood and body parts. She ripped apart each target turning them into piles of mangled flesh.

“She’s almost done.” Gale joined me, leaning on the railing to get a better look. “She loves a flashy finish.”

The last of the ghouls rushed in all at once. Mangle let out another guttural yell as her attacks became a blur, turning each ghoul in range into black mist.

Mangle used her power hooves to launch herself into the air. What remained of the ghouls conjoined directly below her. She aimed herself at them, power hooves first, and descended like a missle. When she landed the whole building shook. A wave of gore expanded all the way up to the second level of the building as she obliterated the tile floor, creating a crater in the center of the lobby. Mangle rested in the center of it, injured, blood drenched, and with the widest smile.

“And she’s useless again,” Gale teased.

“It was worth it.” I leaned over the rail. “That was amazing!”

Mangle pumped her hoof in the air and let it drop.

“Ardent go get her,” Clover ordered. “Gale what do you make of this?” Clover nudged a corpse lying next to the generator, the stallion's throat had been cut.

I split off from the others and made my way down the stairs. The last two levels ruining my hygiene but giving me the wonderful excuse of being at least second in line for a shower. When I reached Mangle she had already passed out. I hoisted her over my back, only straining when her power hooves added their weight. The damn things probably weighed as much as she did.

“Fixed!” I heard Nibble yell. The generator on the fourth floor sprang to life. A line of lights trailing the fourth floor flickered on one by one. When the lights reached a set of double doors opposite of the generator they opened, and a new horde of ghouls sprang from it. A trap? The mindless creatures flooded the level closing in on Clover and the others.

I took a step out of the crater only to have the floor crack under me. The crack spread and the ground gave way. I reached out in time to catch a stable part of remaining tiles, my legs dangling into a darkness without sight of a lower level, and that's when I felt Mangle slid from my back. Shit! I let go with one hoof and caught her, the sudden shift in weight caused the tile I clung onto to tilt and shift out of place.

“Ardent!” I heard Nibble yell. She leaned over the ledge and starred in horror.

“Nibble!” Clover yelled in frustration as he fired into the massive horde of ghouls surrounding them. “Fall in line.”

Nibble hesitated as her attention kept shifting between the oncoming horde and me. My hoof started to slide on the tile and I dipped a little deeper into the nothing below me.

Shit, I'm only distracting Nibble like this. I glanced down. Can't be that deep. In an all too hasty decisionI loosened my grasp. I slid down until seeing a loose piece of tile fall. I watched as it fell out of sight and tried to listen for when it hit the bottom, but heard nothing. I tightened my grip on the edge of the tile. Are you kidding me, what architect thought it would be a good idea to build a place on top of an endless pit? I stared back up at Nibble.

The look on my face ended her indecision. Her horn shined a brilliant purple as it encased every ghoul in sight, and then the color of her magic changed. Its hue darkened and mixed with tints of black, her eyes becoming invaded by the same colors. The ghouls let out a harmonious cry as their skin clung together. The horde melding into a single wriggling mass of flesh. The necromancer's spell.

The tile dislodged, sending Mangle and I plummeting into the darkness.

Footnote: No Level Up.

Chapter 13: Honesty

Chapter 13

“Prisoners, to the front of your cells,” the warden announced. I rolled out of bed after another sleepless night and lumbered over.

“What's going on here?” my neighbor yelled. “We already had inspections.”

“We have a special visitor today.” The warden smirked. “Attention!” All the guards faced the main entrance and held a salute.

The doors burst open as pink mare with incredible thick and bouncy hair hopped through the door. “At ease silly fillies, I'm no army pony.”

I recognized her. Pinkie Pie, one of the bearers of the elements of harmony. I took a slight bow.

The warden lowered her salute. “Apologies ma'am, you're still a Ministry Mare and deserve all the respect we can give.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie.” Pinkie giggled as she hopped to the first cell in line and stared down the zebra inside. “Not a traitor.” She hopped to the next cell and repeated her actions. When she reached my neighbor she paused. Her tail twisted, her back leg flicked, and her stomach growled. After the odd combination of reactions, her eyes narrowed on the zebra inside.

“Traitor!” Pinkie yelled pointing a hoof at the prisoner. The guards crowded the cell and swarmed the zebra inside.

“You-” The prisoner backed into the corner. “You have no proof.”

“Your memories will provide all the proof we need.” Pinkie moved on as the guards wrestled the zebra down, clamped her in cuffs, and escorted her out.

My mouth dried up as Pinkie Pie came to stop right in front of me. Her bright blue eyes stabbed into my very soul.

“What's this?” Her body shook violently. “A doozy huh, looks like I'm going to need a little... assistance.” Pinkie reached into her mane and produced a small white candy which she popped into her mouth. After crunching down on the minty-scented sweet she refocused on me. Her front hooves twisted until she fell, her tail wobbled from side to side, and her mane pulled in random directions.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at a nearby guard for any context to whatever was happening to Pinkie, but given the same puzzled look on their face I would have to just roll with it. Does this mare really help run part of a Equestria? Maybe my loyalty to this land was a mistake.

When her episode ended she got up, her mane somewhat deflated.

“No-no-no. I gotta tell Twilight and Applejack and-.” Pinkie’s eyes started to water as her ears flipped around. “Ahh! You're drowning!”

I couldn't even guess anymore. I looked down just to make sure the concrete remained water free. “No I'm not.”

Pinkie tilted her head and gave me a look as if I were the crazy one. “Yes you are, my Pinkie sense says so.” She zoomed up to my cell, grabbed me, and pulled me close. “Now do something fast or you're gonna die!”

======

I lunged upright breaking through the surface and coughed up mouthfuls of vile tasting sludge. My Pip-Buck’s clicks rang out, warning me of the massive amount of radiation soaking into my body. I reached around blindly until touching a surface out of the sludge, pulled myself out, and collapsed. I took in deep breaths and searched recent memories to figure out where in the hell I was.

We were on a mission to restore power to Tenpony. Mangle killed all ghouls. We restored power. I fell. We fell!

“Mangle!” I attempted to yell but my voice died as it scratched along my throat. I reached around grasping at darkness. My hoof collided with a pile of rubble. My eyes adjusted to reveal a massive pile of Debris reaching all the way to the ceiling. I stepped back from the destruction, and bumped into something. I spun around and the pressure in my chest vanished. A snore escaped Mangle as she lay sprawled out on the ground. She treated the disgusting floor as if it were a bed in Tenpony.

Past her the wide tunnel stretched on with a walkway on each side. The center dipped down, filled with what I could only guess was irradiated sewage. The ooze imperceptibly moved along with globs of it suctioning to anything it touched. I could feel the heaviness of stench in the air but in the slightest of upsides my nose had already become used to the noxious smells. I gagged realizing I had been recently drowning in it. My stomach flipped and the gag turned into a hurl, adding to the sludge. I felt sick, and not just nauseous. I scrubbed the gunk off of my Pip-Buck. The light it emitted seemed blinding after my eyes had adjusted to the blackness. I checked my radiation levels. I suffered from moderate radiation poisoning, bordering on severe, along with mild limb damage. I switched to my inventory screen to bring out a healing potion, but gravely realized I gave my last one to the pony from Jib.

My ears dropped. Well shit. Not like it would have helped with the radiation anyway. My eyes drifted to Mangle’s saddle bag. Did she ever use hers? I crawled over and searched through her bag. Sure enough Mangle had both of her healing potions. I brought the dim screen light over all the bite marks on Mangle’s body. All of them appeared shallow and had scabbed over. One for her, one for me. Hopefully she won't mind.

A loud thud brought my thoughts to a halt. I glanced down the sewer. My eyes continued to adjust till a black form took shape amongst the darkness. A pair of eyes stood out as much as my Pip-Buck screen, a bloodwing.

As if the creature could hear my heart race, it screeched and lunged forward. Shit-shit-shit. I activated SATS. Time slowed, the beast mere inches away. Its mouth wide with fangs the size of my hoof ready to sink into me. SATS had a zero percent chance to target the head, probably knowing I could not aim up before being murdered. I went with the next best thing entering all my shots into its body. With the shots queued, the next part of the spell took over having me fire in rapid succession.

The shots tore into flesh, causing the Bloodwing to stagger and miss its bite. The creature tumbled into me, pinning me to the floor as it immediately started to attack again. The talon at the crux of its wing repeatedly cut into my hooves and stomach. In complete panic all I could do was flail wildly. One of the strikes hit my Pip-Buck and the flashlight flicked on. The Bloodwing hissed and shielded its eyes. I wiggled out from underneath it and spotted one of the bullet wounds. I reared up and bucked at the injury with all the strength I could muster.

The Bloodwing squealed and toppled over into the sewage. It managed to hook onto my tail, pulling me down as well, but this time I ended up on top. I stomped my back hoof into its stomach and bubbles surfaced. I held my fore hooves firmly on what I thought might be the creature's neck. Even with the Pip-Buck light on I couldn't see past the sludge. The Bloodwing struggled under my weight and when it realized it couldn't break free it lashed out. Its talons swiped across my back. I screamed and stomped a back hoof again. The creature recoiled and its attack stopped as its wings slowly sank into the sewage. I took deep breaths as I felt all struggle leave the monster. I released my grip a minute after the last bubbles surfaced.

Another loud hiss echoed from behind me. I closed my eyes. I'm sorry everypony, I tried.

The Bloodwing’s claws scraped on the ground as it lunged. I winced preparing for the impact. Instead I was gifted by the familiar noise of power hooves activating. I turned in time to see the monster smash through the sewer wall, Mangle landing close by. She fell to her haunches.

“Sorry,” she barely managed to say, “I… had to…” Mangle fell over. I leapt out of the sludge and placed a hoof on her side. She strained to breath but appeared to be fine, in fact more than fine. Her bite marks had disappeared.

I pulled my hoof away. Something on the other side of the sewer reflected from my Pip-Buck light. Leaning towards it I could barely make out an empty vial. She had to use a healing potion! Turning back to Mangle a bloody patch covered her coat where my hoof rested. That wasn't there before. I turned my hoof over to reveal multiple gashes. I became light headed as I saw the blood pooling under me. I could feel it drip from my stomach and creep down my back. Pain rushed in with the realization, each cut burning like fire. She just used one right?!

My hooves shook as I stumbled through Mangle’s bag, staining most of her possessions red. I gave a desperate laugh as I found a potion. In a moment I emptied the vial. The healing magic spread like a cooling breeze inside me as it sealed the wounds and dulled the pain, but it came to stop all too soon. My gashes healed to the point of being shallow cuts. I fell to my haunches and wiped off the sludge that caked on my coat. As long as no more bloodwings showed up the worst of it was over.

The hole Mangle created in the wall revealed an almost pristine hallway. My choices, a dank sewer filled with bloodwings or sanitary secret passage... Doesn't take a genius.

I managed to roll Mangle on top of me. I stood with ease until bearing the weight of her weapons, damn things, but still I managed.

This hallway seemed eerily familiar. The longer I traveled across the marble floor the more I searched my memories. It also served the purpose of distracting me from my injuries. The cuts were trivial but the radiation sickness ate away my strength and caused my stomach to feel as if it were always about to forcefully empty, and in some cases it did.

The muck clinging to my coat started to dry, small flakes continually fell off leaving a trail behind me. Losing some of the weight dragging me down was great but the more it dried the more it irritated my skin. Soon my entire body burned with an insatiable itch. No matter how often I scratched the gunk remained along with the burning. I gave up realizing the only way to make the itch disappear would be a shower.

The passage seemed endless. I wandered down the halls unsure how much time had passed but it seemed like ages since I left the sewer. My vision faded in and out, a few times I may have nodded off but somehow managed to keep moving.

A question scratched at my thoughts. How am I able to push myself so hard? The radiation should have me crawling, yet I stood. The safety of the hall allowed me to stop, yet I kept moving. How? Where is the strength coming from, and why do I feel it most when I pictured them? Gale, Mangle, Nibble, even Clover. Their faces provided me with strength not my own. I wanted to see everypony again, I wanted my story to include them, and for theirs to include me.

Double doors came into view at the end of the hall and I picked up my pace. I pushed the doors opened just as my memories found a match to the hallway. The Flim Flam labs.

An almost exact replica of the lab containing the rainbow injection in Furlong filled my sight with one distinct difference. The place had been cleared out, no posters, clipboards, or random vials. With an odd sense of deja vu I placed Mangle on the same desk she rested on last time.

I trotted up to the computer. Instead of a login screen it simple read, “Press Enter”. I followed the prompt and the machine began an automatic tutorial on how to use the computer. Is this the first time it's been used? I took another look around. It appeared brand new except for the dust covering everything.

An orange gleam peered from the ceiling above cabinets on one side of the room. Something above the rotting ceiling tiles glowed through the holes that had formed. I managed to get atop the cabinets and reached a hoof up to the tile. When I attempted to lift a tile it fell apart as squishy rotted ceiling pieces rained down around me along with something heavy clattering to the ground. After everything settled I glanced down at an audio recorder and a glowing orange injection. I hopped down and played the audio file.

“We were the last to recreate the injection but we've done it. Some nosy accountant that refused to forget what she found here. I knew she'd be perfect. Applejack was honesty after all. ”

The mare's voice sounded strained and the hum of an alarm rang out in the background.

“She must’ve had friends though. A group of military ponies are storming the place-What… I know… Okay, okay.”

It sounded like papers were handed to the mare.

“No matter what is found here we just want to make it clear, we were doing what we thought was best for Equestria. Sometimes what is best requires sacrifice-”

“Here it is!” a voiced in the distance yelled.

“What? How do they know about the spell?” the original mare said. The audio file sounded ruffled like it had been picked up and moved around. “They shouldn't find either of you up here.” The rest of the audio became muffled.

“Everypony, get down!” a stallion's voice boomed.

“You have no right to be here. We are under orders from Princess Luna herself.”

“No... We are.”

“The c-captain of-”

“Get them to the ministry of morale and make sure no evidence remains.”

“No! This can't be! We had to! We had to!” the mare's voice grew distant as she was dragged away. The rest of the audio tape just had muffled noises of things being trashed and ponies talking about deleting everything on the computer.

Seems Luna caught on to them, good.

While the tape played on I picked up the injection and rotated it in my hoof. “Be strong,” was etched into the side. Strength is exactly what I needed now. They said this one represented Applejack, Element of Honesty, and owner of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. The mare responsible for the Steel Rangers. Did I represent honesty like I did loyalty? A metaphorical scale appeared in my mind. I started to tally each lie against each truth. The scale remained balanced until a massive weight crashed on one side. Clover’s growly whisper echoed in my mind “Thank you for being honest.”

Without any doubt I inserted the needle into my foreleg and the orange liquid emptied from the syringe. I tossed the injector and braced myself. Every muscle in my body tensed as raw power surged inside me. I felt like I could carry on again but I knew the experience wasn't over yet. The jumble of images hit. I tried to let them flow this time, tried to stay conscious. It didn’t work.

======

“Hello! Hello! Is someone there? I thought I heard… crying.”

“...”

“Please, I just don't want to be alone anymore.”

“Your not.”

“Oh thank the Goddesses, where are you? I can't… see anything.”

“I'm sorry, but this is how it is. Just dark, forev-”

“That can't be right, I used to have such a lovely tan coat and my mane- WHOA! Yeah like that.”

“How… How did you do that?”

“I don't know, I just remembered what I looked like and jackpot.”

“That was so long ago…”

“Please, wasn't that long, just give it a try.”

“Wasn't that long? Are you mad?”

“Heeeyyy, don't laugh at me. Hurry up and- Oh, there you go… didn't realize you were a, um…”

“An Equestrian?”

“...”

“No, don't cry. I'm sorry, I should have stayed the way I was.”

“Oh Goddesses no, it's not that at all! I'm just so happy to have found somepo... someone else. So where are we?

“His name is Ardent, you'll see.”

“A him huh, where are my manners, proper introductions are in order. It's good to meet you, my name is...”

======

I levitated my badge in front of security as I trotted in. My magic aura helped hide the small differences between my badge and the ones assigned to the workers in Canterlot. The gatekeeper waved me by checking the next pony in line as I stepped into Flim Flam Headquarters. The entire complex belonged to them and Celestia only knew what they were up to, though I planned to find out exactly what it was. I stopped by the directory in an attempt to find something in the science wing, if not I would have to sneak into Flim and Flam’s personal office.

I took the stairs and ran down the list the infiltration magazine taught me. Move quick and look like you have a purpose, don't look around, don't be in anypony's sight for too long. I slipped through the door and blended in with a herd of employees. As I progressed further into the science wing the more the crowd thinned. I took a glance into each room the employees disappeared into but nothing stood out.

The end of the hall had restricted written above a set of secure doors. At this point only a few ponies remained. The garnet stallion in front of me swiped his badge and the dead lock released. Before the door could fully close I caught it with my magic and held it in place. I pretended to swipe my badge and pushed past the door. Nopony seemed to notice.

I traveled down the hall until I saw an opening. A grey unicorn stepped out of his office. He gave me a smile and a nod as he passed, which was weird since he had his eyes closed. I caught the door to his office, his being the only door with its own lock, jackpot. My heart skipped seeing an active terminal on the desk.

“Didn't they teach you to lock your computer when you leave?” I murmured to myself. I sat down, an email marked urgent requested Dr. Clear’s presence with Flim and Flam to discuss Pandora’s Box. I read through the email,

“Candid, I know our company has some under the table projects but never should a project be under our table.

“That's right.

“We request your immediate presence to discuss whatever this Pandora’s Box is.

“Hoping to see you extremely,

“promptly,

“hastily,

“soon.

“Love, Flim and Flam.”

What the hell is with that format? I minimized the email and searched through the other files. I found all the documents I needed marked special projects. You would think he would try a little harder to hide this. I clicked one at random.

“Project Prometheus?” I clicked into the material request form. That's a lot of firepower, but not what I was looking for. I backed out and tried another. “Statuette Re-Creation.” Once again I checked the materials needed.

“Jackpot!” I clasped my hoof over my muzzle. I paused and listened for anypony in the hall to react to my outburst… nothing. I printed out the form and tucked it into my bag. Flim and Flam were going down.

======

I opened my eyes almost expecting to be at Flim Flam Headquarters. I rubbed my temple, there was something before the dream, something I failed to remember. What was it? Each time I tried to recollect the memory I just got blackness. I shrugged, Gale said there might be side effects from just one of these injections, can't imagine two were good for me. At least I was a pony in this dream, albeit a unicorn, but I wondered when I would be a stallion again. Maybe I should talk to somepony. I thought over who I could talk to… Maybe I’ll keep it to myself.

I stood with little effort. I doubted I had been out for long but felt physically refreshed, aside from the radiation sickness churning in my gut.

I grabbed Mangle and carried on. I passed through the lab and down a hallway. A sparkle cola machine flickered, illuminating the rather bland extension of the Flim Flam lab. The walls were covered by workplace rules posters and an incident counter set to zero. A breakroom? I turned back to see a pristine undamaged wall instead of the hallway I was just in. I reached out and my hoof passed through it, an illusion. Ah, that's why the mare on the audio recording was so surprised.

Past the break room was a manufacturing floor. Instead of computer parts, metal cans lined the conveyor belt. The air tasted stale with hints of mold, sadly a more pleasant smell than what radiated off of me. A poster covered one of the walls reading, “Keeping your food fresh for a thousand moons.” I walked along the manufacturing area until I reached an open can overflowing with mold. Next to it a recently sealed can with a strange metal arm above. Another slogan clung to the metallic limb, “Mixing magic with engineering.” I pulled the tab on the can. The scent of fresh fruit poured out, cherries. There were a decent amount of sealed cans and I nabbed them all before moving on.

I attempted to eat from the can I opened but each swallow my stomach flipped. I managed to keep a few down before giving up.

Following the exit signs that managed to survive, I made my way through the factory. Hints of light pierced through grime covered windows in the main lobby. I formed a plan on the long walk to the exit. Get out of the factory, use my Pip-Buck map to get to Tenpony. Difficult without the ability to get on the elevated roads but possible. I placed a hoof on the exit and took a deep breath. I shoved the door open and froze. It couldn't be.

Nibble, Gale, and Clover all turned their guns in my direction.

“How are you all here?” I asked, unable to comprehend the chances of being found.

“Ardent?” Nibble slightly lowered her gun. She flicked through her Pip-Buck. “Thank Celestia, it is you.” Everypony lowered their weapons.

The Pip-Buck tag! They had been tracking me all this time! I tilted my head. “Wait, what do you mean it is you?”

“Sorry it's just…” Nibble searched for the words. “You look a little... ghoulish.”

Finally illuminated by more than flickering exit signs I examined my legs. The sludge had dried and caked into my hair, turning it black and sickly.

“Smell like one too,” Gale added. A weight lifted from my back as Mangle came into view wrapped in a nearly invisible glow. Gale rotated her, examining for injury.

“What happened after the fall,” Clover said as an order. He stepped inside scouting the building.

I told them everything but carefully avoided mentioning the FFI lab, and the injection I had so carelessly used. During the tale, Gale examined my injuries.

“Drink this.” Gale levitated a plastic pouch over. I tore the seal open and drank. The liquid inside tasted like rotten oranges. My gagging caused Gale to smile.

“It should cure your radiation sickness,” Gale said. “I figured since you did a good job protecting Mangle I'd give it to you now.”

“You were going to wait?” I said, tossing aside the empty pouch. The effects were already taking place. My stomach finally relaxed and my strength returned.

“Maybe.” He winked.

I could never tell if Gale was serious. He definitely had peculiar interests but he never seemed malicious. Not to mention how friendly he had been the past while. Ever since we left Furlong now that I thought about it.

I finally realized how silent Nibble had been. She sat off to the side, happy to see me but kept looking away whenever I glanced her way, and I knew why.

“So, about the ghouls that attacked you?” I said. I turned to Nibble. “I saw the spell… What happened?”

She shrank back.

“Nibble turned them all into an uncoordinated mass of flesh and snapping mouths. They never figured out how to move so we just left,” Gale explained.

I grimaced. I feel bad for the future explores who run into that monstrosity.

“You said you'd explain after we found them,” Clover said. “So start explaining.”

“I didn't mean too!” Nibble blurted. “I don't even know zebra, but it made itself… understandable.”

“It?” I asked.

“The spell, the page I found at the necromancer place, the spell is stuck in my mind. It wants me to use it, and find its book.”

“That's not how spells work,” Gale said as he pulled out some tool.

“That's not how normal spells work.” Nibble snapped back.

“You've used it before right? Back in Furlong, the raiders on the roof?” I remembered the warping of her magic then.

Nibble clenched her eyes and shivered.

Clover snorted. “It's not like Nibble’s the only one keeping special abilities hidden from me.” He peered over at me. I tensed up, no way he could know about the injection, so what else could he be talking about.

Nibble spoke up as Gale shined a light into her eye. “Clover it's not just some new spell… It whispers to me.”

“Urgh,” Clover groaned. “Great, now we just need Gale and Mangle to loose it and we can be a group of crazies.”

“Hey,” I protested.

Clover shoved Gale out of the way and towered over Nibble. “You keep the voices under control or you won't be useful to me anymore. Understood.”

Nibble swallowed. “Understood.”

Clover turned his gaze to me, making sure I knew I was in the same boat, and I knew all too well what Clover did to those he didn't find useful.

“Right,” Gale said. “That’s how it works, just tell them not to be crazy.”

“We're headed back to Tenpony,” Clover ordered as he kicked open the door and stepped out.

The Luna Line was directly above us. Nibble levitated Gale up first as Clover took hold of me. He did so without any complaint despite my coat being covered in filth. Nibble and Gale traded off bringing Mangle up. Clover’s ascent seemed slower than normal. Drops of sweat beaded off him and I finally took notice of the bags under his eyes. While we slept at Tenpony, Clover had a meeting with DJ Pon3, has he not slept since Furlong? I failed to imagine how he could still carry on if he didn't. Even though Clover was a ruthless leader, he still burdened himself with more than any of us.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

It might have been that my words took Clover by surprise, his exhaustion, the mix of sweat and grime, but for whatever reason Clover lost his grip and I went plummeting to the ground.

Clover’s surprise only lasted a moment before he took a nosedive after me. I reached out and he reached back, we were mere inches from touching. His wings pulled close to his body and shifted as far forward as possible before opening up and flapping so hard many of his mahogany feathers ripped free. He had gotten in reach and attempted to grab me.

He missed.

Even with the wind rushing past my ears I heard Clover curse and yell, “Nibble! Catch him!” He jerked to the side and fanned out his wings, stopping his downward movement. The fear of falling was suddenly dwarfed by what I knew was coming. I tried so hard to keep the memory out, but the moment Nibble’s magic wrapped around me it forced its way in.

The memory had warped into a nightmare. The necromantic unicorn’s head twisted and contorted to impossible angles, his smile sewn all around his face. His laugh an ear splitting cacophony that came from every direction. Bullet wounds on his face hemorrhaged blood, pooling everywhere and staining my hooves. The manticore creatures had maggots crawling along their body as they decomposed and fell apart. Their body parts disappeared as they splashed into the rising pool of blood. Before I drowned in the rising tide I suddenly found myself in the air, below me the necromancer, his horn shining so bright it burned my eyes. I looked away, my eyes landing on the statue of Luna. It had grown to impossible proportions, bloatesprite needles sprouting out of her horn, her eyes blacker than any void. She stepped off her pedestal, her stone body cracking and breaking with every movement. She stomped and galloped towards me, horn aimed directly at my side. She collided with me, the massive horn slowly pushing through my body, the pain as real as the day it happened. What must have only been a moment felt like an eternity.

My back touched down on solid ground, ending what was no longer a memory but a hellish hallucination. My throat burned and my cheeks were wet. Nibble held me in a tight hug and apologized over and over. I hugged back keeping her close as the feelings of terror and pain subsided.

“How could you.” Nibble lifted her head and stared down Clover. He faced away from us, staring towards the direction of Tenpony. Nibble started to yell, “After all he's done, you drop him! You make me hurt him, you always make ME hurt them!” Nibble’s voice broke, she had been through too much today, the necromancer spell and its effects, Clover brushing aside her concerns, having to catch me in magic. It still surprised me though when her horn lit up and the pistol in her saddle bag started to emerge.

“It was my fault!” I said, pushing the pistol down.

Her spell imploded as she turned to meet my gaze with tear filled eyes.

“I distracted him and… accidentally…”

Nibble threw herself onto me and sobbed uncontrollably. This time, it was my turn to hold her.

Footnote: Level up New Perk; Child of the night +2 Intelligence and +2 Perception between 6PM and 6AM.

New Perk; Honesty Injection, Your strength has been permanently increased by 2.

Author's Note

Related blog post about this fic with art included here. https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/793700/what-what-three-chapter-in-a-month-art-included

Chapter 14: Rest, Relaxation, and Revelation

Chapter 14

“No ghouls,” the Tenpony guard said, pointing at the sign stating as such. For a moment I thought our stalker was behind us, but soon realized he was referring to me. Clover pushed past security undeterred, not bothering to explain and they wisely let him through.

“He’s not a ghoul, just filthy,” Gale explained, grimacing at my appearance, again.

“You think I'm stupid?”

“I do now.” Gale levitated a piece of bandage out, wiped away some of the grime covering my coat, and brought the soiled bandage in smelling distance of the guard.

“By the Goddesses.” He gagged and stepped back, still blocking our path but keeping a distance. “I don't think our showers can handle that.” He called over another guard. “Escort him to the spa, their drains are better equipped.”

“Spa?” I repeated. I had no idea what the word meant.

Nibble gave a sultry moan. “Oh yes, I'm going too.”

“Saunas are excellent for muscle recovery,” Gale said, focused on the barely standing Mangle. She rolled her eyes but gave a reluctant nod. Mangle appeared to be recovering faster from her self described “number one move” than after using the cannon, but was still exhausted.

“Saunas?” I asked.

Gale took in a breath but Nibble shoved a hoof in his mouth.

“No explanations. This time you need to experience it versus- ow!” Nibble pulled her hoof away, “Did you just bite me?”

Gale smirked and trotted away. Nibble shook her head and pulled me along.

The guard took the stairs instead of cramming into the elevator with me. A wise decision.

Once we arrived, the guard waved us into a tiled store, the air rich with scented oils and flowers. The white tiles reflected the lights inside making the place glow. The pink mare behind the counter winced at our approach and repeatedly tapped at something under her desk.

“Hello,” she said cheerfully. “How can I help you today?”

Nibble read the deals above the desk. “We will have four ultra strength rejuvenation specials.”

“I assume you have the caps to cover the costs,” a teal unicorn stepped out from the back. She looked down at us despite being shorter than Mangle. I assumed she ran the spa based on her suit and heightened snootiness.

I checked my Pip-Buck and compared the amount on me to the price on the board. Not even close.

“Here you go.” Gale levitated out a massive sack of caps and let it clatter on the receptionist’s desk.

The unicorn pursed her lips. “Very well, mares to the right, stallions to the left. Please disrobe once you're back there and we will see what we can do for your... garments.”

The spa appeared deserted but based on the prices coming here must have been a luxury even by Tenpony standards.

Gale and I trotted into the back area, a corner of the room dedicated to a tub full of bubbling mud. An ivory stallion stood politely to the side holding steaming towels.

“Please place your clothes in the designated hamper,” he said politely.

I tensed up as a hoof softly ran along my underbelly. Gale leaned over me. “I know these battle saddles can be tough to take off alone.” His touch lingered for far longer than necessary before finding the latch.

Trying to embarrass me huh? Gale had gotten away consequence free for messing with me since I first found myself in Elpis. How will he react if I try playing along for once? I relaxed and removed my barding.

“Thanks,” I said, “need me to do you?” I brought my hoof over his stomach without touching.

“I don't wear a battle saddle,” Gale teased.

“That's right, my apologies.” I winked. Gale’s grin grew wide enough to reveal his sharp teeth.

“Ahem,” the unfortunate bystander in the room coughed. “If you would please wash off before proceeding.” He waved over the shower stalls as Gale levitated our barding into to the hamper. By Luna. I took note of my leather armor that looked more like a beaten rag, riddled with countless holes and cuts. Is it even protecting me at this point? I might have worried about it a little longer if the shower in front of me hadn’t stolen all mental priorities.

I darted into one of the stalls, slammed the door behind me, and turned the shower handle. Glorious, pure hot water rained down. The water ran nearly black on the floor as it washed through my coat, large clumps of muck sloughing off away and sliding down the metal grate. The guard made the right call, if I had attempted this in our room I would have clogged the drain. Even after the shower my coat still had a black tint to it that persisted through vigorous scrubbing.

I stepped out of the stall where the spa worker sat with a comb in his mouth. He stepped to my side and ran the comb through my coat and mane. Unsure of what to do, I just stood there.

“It will have to do,” he sighed. He wrapped a steaming towel around my mane. “It's time for the mud bath.”

“Mud bath?” But I’m finally clean.

“Come now Ardent, what did Nibble say?” Gale said. Nothing but his face and toweled mane stuck out from the mud.

No explanations, just experience. Right, I can do this. I placed a leg in the mud and a warmth enveloped it. Not as sticky as I expected. I crawled in and copied Gale’s position, laying on my back and sinking down. The warmth soaked into my core, like being surrounded by a giant heated blanket.

The worker came over and smeared our faces with a mint colored mixture, and the scent of cucumber filled my nose. I took a deep inhalation of the fragrance and on the exhale every muscle in my body relaxed. No thoughts entered my mind, I simply enjoyed the experience.

“Sir?”

“Excuse me, sir?” A pony brushed my forehead.

My eyes shot open to see the white stallion standing over me.

“Sir, it is time to move on,” he said, trying to be patient. Never been called sir before... I like it. I stepped out of the mud and surprisingly it barely clung onto me, most of it slipping off leaving behind a thin gloss. The stallion led me to a small tub thick with oils and motioned for me to get in. I bit down on my lips keeping all questions to myself as I dipped into the tub. The oils coated my whole body and caused the mud to dissipate. The black tint that remained through my shower finally disappeared, revealing the dust brown color of my coat again. After a minute the spa worker nodded and motioned me to follow.

“Next is the sauna,” he said. Another word I didn’t know but sure as hell wanted to based on the treatment so far. I chased after the worker, trotting down a hall lined with mirrors. I paused as I caught sight of myself.

The pony in the mirror did not look like me. He had multiple scars where my coat would have covered, he stood taller with defined muscles, and appeared intimidating. It had to be me though; we had the same sparkly tome cutie mark, the same copper eyes, the same Pip-Buck.

“Sir?” the spa worker said.

“Sorry... I’m coming.” I turned away and from the corner of my eye saw the reflection in the mirror actually change. My coat tuned black with white stripes, my cutie mark replaced with a foreign symbol. I jumped back and focused on the mirror, but it must have been my exhaustion, or the lingering effects of radiation sickness, maybe a trick of the light, because only I stared back at me in confusion. Huh. I scratched my head. Or I’m really going crazy. Not wanting to delay the spa worker any further I trotted into the door he held open while keeping the mirror out of sight.

Wooden benches lined the room, Gale lounging on one. Hot steam rushed out of the center structure which held a stack of tall black rocks. The door closed behind me and I took a seat next to Gale.

“This is by far my favorite treatment,” Gale said. He poured water onto the rocks, causing it to hiss and spew balmy clouds of steam. “It walks a fine line between relaxing and uncomfortable.” Gale reached over brushed my mane back. “Do you know that line?”

His voice lacked the playfulness from before and sounded all too genuine. Gale had certainly mastered the ability to hide his true intentions in sincere dialogue.

“No,” I purred, attempting a sultry tone, “But I'm sure you could show me.”

“That I could.” Gale gave a soft chuckle. He rested his head and closed his eyes.

I wiped away the sweat building on my brow. I could feel the heat working at my muscles and forcing them to relax but it truly was uncomfortable. The high temperature burned my throat with each steam filled breath.

Somepony tapped at the door. “Your masseuses are ready when you are, sirs.”

Another new term. A few minutes in the sauna were enough for me. I saw Gale start to get up just as I closed the door to leave.

The white stallion gestured to the back to the shower room. “This will be your final rinse off. Please use the soap we have provided, then join us up front.”

The third shower of my life had to be the greatest. They provided liquid soap, and one small drop could be spread over an entire limb. The scent it emanated was that of an entire garden of flowers, almost overwhelmingly sweet The soap cleared off what oils remained after the sauna, making my coat glisten and making it soft as silk.

I finished around the same time as Gale. After another round of flirting as we dried off we joined Mangle and Nibble up front. Both of them were resting on short beds while spa mares kneaded along their backs. I laid down on one of the soft, unoccupied beds.

“Be with you soon, monsieur,” one of what I guessed would be a masseuse said in a strange accent.

“Why wait?” Gale said placing his hooves on me. Now that he had an audience no doubt he planned to make his final move soon. He rubbed along my back sometimes branching along my legs. I moaned whenever he hit a tense spot, partially to play along with his game, but honestly he was pretty damn good with his hooves. The scene drew the attention of almost everypony in the spa.
Gale flipped me over after a particularly sensual moan and crawled on top. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say you want me?”

Without any delay I replied, “Took you that long to notice?”

Nibble's face turned bright red. The entire spa silenced, except Mangle who whined at her masseuse for stopping. I hated to admit it, but this was fun, even if Gale had a tendency to take it too far, like threatening my life or not telling others about serious medical conditions. I could never take it as far as he did, but I saw the appeal.

Gale held his ground, unaffected by my reply. If anything his grin grew wider. If I wanted to turn the tables, I would have to go all in. I closed my eyes, and lifted my head to offer out a kiss. And the winner is-

Gale’s lips intertwined with mine as his tongue slid into my mouth. My eyes flashed open and I tried to pull back but Gale followed me down, lips still interlocked with mine, as my head hit the mattress. I struggled to escape, trying to get a hoof under him, but he pressed his body against mine making it impossible to get free. In my wild struggle Gale caught both my forehooves under one of his and held them above my head.

Without any way to stop him Gale’s tongue explored every inch of my mouth. He slowly caressed my tongue, beckoning me to return the favor. When I failed to do so Gale pushed in deeper. I gasped as I stretched to accommodate.

I gave up trying to escape. I’d tried playing his game and lost. The best response would be to take this defeat as humbly as possible. When Gale beckoned for my tongue again, I obeyed. Admittedly, I wondered how his teeth felt and I hoped this would be my only chance to find out. The tip of my tongue touched one of Gale’s teeth starting at the gums and slid downward along the smooth curved surface until reaching the pointed end. I pushed my tongue against the sharp point feeling the slight sting.

Satisfied, Gale finally broke the embrace and took in a deep breath. I crawled out from under him, spitting along the way.

Gale turned to Nibble, “Nope, he's definitely into mares.”

“Unlike yourself.” I said, wiping off my tongue.

Gale acted offended. “That's ridiculous, I would never limit myself to one sex or even one species, for that matter.”

“Wait.” Why did he tell Nibble?, “Did you put him up to this?” I pointed an accusatory hoof at her.

She held back a smile and stared at the ceiling. “After Furlong I thought... you might be… you know. So I asked Gale to find out.”

My jaw hung open.

“Excuse me,” the owner of the spa said. “but if your cannot keep your displays of affection private, I will have to ask you to leave.”

“Won't be an issue anymore,” Gale said. He took his seat and patted the spot next to him. “I'll keep my hooves to myself.”

“See that you do.” The owner humphed.

In a daze I stumbled over to my spot. The masseuses massage technique were better than Gale’s, but soiled the treatment by talking about the… embrace.

“Wish my stallion kissed me like that.”

“I've never seen such passion.”

“Are you sure you're into mares?”

I buried my burning face in the seat for the duration of our visit.

=======

“What is a show without dinner?” Gale had commented as we passed a restaurant on our way back to our room. The slogan read “Fresh flower petals with every order.” Red silk covered each table illuminated by ornate candles. I tried my best to ignore the prices and hoped Gale planned on paying. I couldn't believe how many ponies were eating here, or understand how they could afford it.

Clover managed to track us down shortly after we ordered, probably using the Pip-Buck tag. He took a seat, the bags under his eyes had disappeared and his coat was grime free. He must have found time for a nap and a shower, maybe both at the same time; Clover is efficient like that. He waved down a waiter and stole a menu from the table next to ours.

“How much is this costing us?” Clover asked.

“Not half as much as the spa treatment,” Gale replied cheerfully.

Clover winced as he glanced over the menu options. “Maybe I can get it reimbursed.” He rubbed his temple.

The waiter arrived and Clover pointed to his choice. Once the waiter left Clover went into mission mode.

“We leave tomorrow morning. I've arranged a trade outside of Manehattan for new transportation. Given our current situation we might need to do some scavenging on the way out.”

“So until then we can relax?” Nibble asked.

“Yes, but no more spending.”

“That'll be easy since I used all our caps,” Gale said, somehow without fear of Clover’s reaction.

“Dammit Gale, again?” Clover growled. “Ardent, congratulations. You're going to be holding our excess caps from now on.”

“Woo!” Nibble clopped her hooves. “Promotion is cause for celebration. Could we hear the story about how you handled the dragon?”

My ears perked up. I had almost forgotten… Well not forgotten but life moves so fast in Elpis, the fight with Lazuline feels like it happened ages ago. I wondered if Nibble asked to make up for siccing Gale on me or if she was actually interested.

“I'll second that,” I said.

“Fair enough,” Gale said with a shrug. “Let's see... after you two escaped-”

“Excuse me,” an aqua colored mare with a blue-and-orange-streaked mane asked as she approached our table, “Did I hear your name right? Ardent? Ardent Fable by chance?”

I didn't recognize the unicorn. “That's me,” I said, trying to figure out who she could be. She examined me carefully, pausing when she reached my face.

“You have your mother's eyes.”

My blood ran cold.

======

“Not too bad for your first time,” Shot Chaser said. He moved through the bar, nudging a seat in place or cleaning a smudge I missed. “You’ll make a wonderful barmaid.”

“I’m a boy,” I nighed. Shot Chaser whinnied.

“We open at eight AM so I expect you here at seven thirty.” Shot Chaser opened the main doors and waited for me.

“Would you mind if I stayed here?” I stared at the ground, too embarrassed to tell him eye to eye. “It’s warmer than outside.”

“Don’t you have a place here?”

I rubbed my forhoof. “I did, but some ponies showed up and said it wasn’t mine anymore.”

“That Derpy,” Shot Chaser mumbled. “You can stay with me, but I’ll have to dock your pay.”

My head shot up. “Really!” I bounced around, unable to contain myself.

“You realize I’m hardly paying you at all?”

I grabbed on to Shot Chaser’s leg and hugged him, he stiffened, but eventually relaxed and patted me on the back before pushing me off.

“To see through the eyes of a child again, that’d be something.” Shot Chaser held the door open, “Come on.”

I ran ahead of him pointing at each house we passed. “Is it this one? Is it this one? This one?”

He kept quiet. I knew the answer was no when he walked passed me. Eventually he stopped with me. After he unlocked the door I ran about the place taking note of everything. Only the basic amenities filled the place. Raggedy bed, broken fridge, decent couch, and a closet.

“You sure are a bundle of energy for it being so late,” Shot Chaser said. He opened the closet and pulled out a spare blanket. He laid it over the bed. “Couch is mine, and trust me you're not getting the better deal.”

I jumped from the couch onto the bed. One of the broken springs poking into my stomach. I rolled over, sticking my tongue out, pretending I had been fatally wounded.

“Told you.” Shot Chaser flopped himself onto the couch. “Goodnight Ardent.”

I rolled up the blanket into a pillow; simply being in a house made this my warmest night in recent memory. My mind went wild as I lived through the memories of the day which only added to my excitement. No way could I go to sleep. I giggled hearing Derpy’s voice, relived the shock when I was told I could have the job, and fidgeted as I recalled the feeling when Shot Chaser said I could stay with him. I searched my memories for more happy memories. When I failed to find a memory of my parents my mood spoiled.

“Shot Chaser,” I whispered. Silence followed.

“Yeah?” he replied with a sigh.

“Where do you think my parents are?” I waited as Shot Chaser stayed quiet for awhile.

“Ardent, when you ask me questions I am going to answer honestly, and the truth can hurt. So are you sure you want me to answer that?”

“Mmhmm.”

“They're most likely dead.” He took a moment to let it sink in. “Or they don’t plan on coming back for you, so they might as well be.”

I grasped at my stomach. Shot Chaser was wrong, the truth did more than hurt. I stopped sniffling when I felt the warmth of another pony press against my back. At some point Shot Chaser had left the couch and rested against me, facing away.

“I'm a hypocrite for saying this,” he whispered. “But the best thing to do is move on... don’t let them ruin your future too.”

=====

“You... you know my mother?” I asked. All background noise in the restaurant died off as I awaited her answer.

“Yes,” she answered as if it were no big deal, “Your father too. We worked together for a long time. I remember back when-”

“Where are they!”

The mare stumbled at the intensity in my voice. She brushed her mane back into place before speaking again. “They were sent to investigate a Stable and never came back. They weren't the only ones either. If you want, I could give you the location.”

“Please, I-”

“Enough,” Clover interrupted. “Ardent, you stay put. I need to have a word with our new friend.”

The mare resisted as Clover shoved her outside of the restaurant. He brought her around the corner out of view. Not going to stop me. I fell into my trance, following them with my hearing.

Clover went first, “As a friend of DJ Pon3 I'm guessing you're one of them.”

The mare took a moment to reply, “I have no idea what you're talking about.” She sounded vicious compared to earlier.

“Right, I'm sure normal Tenpony residents are off investigating Stables. Does that mean Ardent’s parents are… doesn't matter. What do we get out of finding them for you?”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you're not doing this to reunite a boy and his parents. You're trying to get him to do your work for you.”

The mare scoffed, then sighed. “What would you want? I can't promise anything on behalf of the Society-”

A sharp pain forced me out of my trance. My thoughts caught up with my emotions. Clover is turning finding my parents into a job! The fact the mare tried to do it first only added to my rage.

“How interesting,” Gale said as he and Mangle peered at me. Nibble stared in shock at my hoof, I glanced down to see a broken off chunk of the table clutched in it. Beads of blood ran down where the splinters pierced me. What the! I dropped the wooden chunk, cleared my throat, and moved the tablecloth to cover the damage. I wanted to listen in again but the throbbing in my hoof would stop me from staying in my trance.

“Did you see his eyes?” Mangle asked.

“Going to explain what that was about?” Gale prodded.

“Oh look foods here!” Nibble said, derailing the conversation.

The waiter came out assisted by others to lay down our plates. Each meal molded and shaped to give a unique variety. As promised each meal had colored flower petals sprinkled about it. Clover returned without the unicorn as the waiter left.

“Where did she go?” I said, trying to keep calm.

“She had other matters to attend,” Clover replied.

“I had more questions for her!” I slammed my uninjured hoof on the table.

Clover held his Pip-Buck up. “I have the location of the Stable your parents visited right here. We’ll make plans to find them later, and until then maybe you should figure out why you care so much about finding the ponies that abandoned you.”

I flinched back.

“Clover!” Nibble spoke up. “That's uncalled for.”

“Really? Because according to her Ardent’s parents only disappeared a few months ago.”

Nibble didn’t understand, but I did. “Meaning they could have come back for me for years.” I accepted the truth and slumped down. Might as well be dead. I took a bite of my meal, it tasted foul.

======

I attempted to burn holes into the ceiling with my stare. I wanted to sleep but my mind just wouldn’t quit. My parents are alive. Why did they leave me? What will I say to them? Who cares, they left me! What do they look like? I rolled over, wrapping my pillow around my ears in a vain attempt to stop the mental commotion.

My bed sheet lifted and fell as a pony moved underneath it.

“Dammit Gale, I’m not in the mood for-” I flipped the covers to reveal a mess of auburn hair and amethyst eyes. Nibble brought her hoof up to her lips.

She wiggled her way up and brought her muzzle right next to my ear. “I figured you could use a distraction tonight. Also I can’t handle myself after the show at the spa.” She nibbled on my ear and wrapped her back legs around one of mine, an intense warmth burned against my leg.

“What about the others?”

“They’re asleep. If not, I can be quiet.” She rotated herself, sliding her hips over my own. “Can you?”

Footnote: No level up.

Author's Note

Special thanks to NyxOs for editing up this chapter, another FoE author with skill in grammar and description that far outranks my own which you can see in the work of Fallout: Equestria - Of Shadows.

Chapter 15: Swish, Swish, Stab

Chapter 15

“Thank you for finally seeing me, Princess Luna.” I bowed as far as my neck would allow. The midnight blue alicorn shuffled through a few pages on her desk, stamped all of them, and levitated them into a bin labeled “Approved.”

“Subsidiary, right? I hope your request is as urgent as you made it sound,” Luna said. She had yet to look directly at me, instead occupied with the mess of papers on her desk.

“It is!” I announced, louder then expected. “Ahem... I work for Flim Flam Industries, as an accountant, and I found some irregular purchases. Management always ignored my complaints so I decided to do my own investigating.”

Luna stopped working and gave me her full attention.

“And, uh…” I stumbled. Luna’s eyes were as beautiful as the night sky and they were directed on me. I looked away as my cheeks grew hot and pulled out the papers I acquired from FFI HQ, along with my other findings. I levitated them over to her desk.

“What are these?” Luna took them with her starry magic.

“One of them is a list of unaccounted materials. The other is a list of materials being requisitioned for a project called “Statuette Re-Creation.” It’s almost a perfect match. I believe Flim and Flam are charging you to develop things for their own interests.”

“Do you have any evidence for that accusation?”

“Just those documents, and given their history-”

“I am well aware of their past transgressions.” Luna placed the papers inside her desk. “But you should understand how I would be willing to give another chance to somepony, despite their past.”

I swallowed and bowed down. “I meant no offense Princess.”

Luna stood and paced closer to me. I kept my bow, until a warm and comforting hoof touched my shoulder. I lifted my head to see Luna smiling down at me.

“That being said, this is a matter worth looking into. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

The burning in my cheeks turned into a raging fire. “Not a problem, Princess.”

“Unfortunately, I am currently busy with other matters. Please be patient in this regard, and continue normally.” Luna nodded at one of her guards and the door behind me creaked open.

“I… I understand, Princess” I took a final bow and left. I felt as if I were flying through clouds as I moved through the palace. I had done it, and now I had the feeling Luna wanted me to investigate further. After all she said it was worth looking into and she was too busy. She also told me to “continue normally”. I giggled, realizing I was on a personal mission from Princess Luna herself.

======

I awoke abruptly as I slammed against the floor, Nibble’s hoof hung over the side. Bed hog. I smiled as I recalled last night's activities, my smile growing wider recalling the dream. I saw Princess Luna! She was tall, elegant, and her mane waved with what I imagined the night sky to look like. These dreams were something else, so vivid they could almost be confused with reality.

Luna called me Subsidiary. I've heard that name before… I played through my memories until finding the match. I’d read through a terminal entry at the Flim Flam Industries office back at Furlong written by a Subsidiary and weirdly enough she was an accountant. A shiver ran down my spine as I recalled the audio file I found with the orange injection, “Some nosy accountant…” Have I discovered the fate of Subsidiary all these decades later? Caught and dealt with by F.F.I moments before they themselves were caught. Maybe my mind made the connection before me and is now dreaming up how it all went down... still, what a crazy coincidence...

The door to the bathroom opened and steam billowed out. Gale emerged with a towel wrapped around his mane. He glanced over at me, then to the bed Nibble occupied. He smirked as my cheeks flushed.

“You better shower before she wakes up or you might never have a chance,” Gale teased.

“Right.” I got up and tried to act casual as I trotted over to the bathroom.

“Here, I used all the towels in there.” Gale levitated a towel over to me. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to mohawk your mane.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh and Ardent,” Gale said, causing me to pause. “You’re both terrible at being quiet.”

======

Leaving Tenpony had been bittersweet, mainly bitter. My story so far had been filled with pain, blackouts, my own incompetence, and a great deal of suffering, not just from the ponies I met but also from what I learned of ponies in the past, and though there had been moments of respite Tenpony had provided some of the best moments in my life. I promised myself I would come back if I ever got the chance.

We had met back up with Melody who seemed delighted at our return. She also didn’t mind carrying Mangle, easier than a whole caravan full of ponies I supposed. Clover scoped out the higher floors of each building we passed, checking to see if they had anything worth looting.

I frowned down at the grime that had already caked up around my hooves from trotting along the streets of Manehattan, which was only made worse when we had to maneuver around still-burning craters of green balefire that emanated radiation. Nibble slipped over a piece of rubble with a cute, “Oofh.”

“Maybe we should turn back and I can help scrub that out,” I suggested, helping her up and noting the streak of grime on her side.

“Are you flirting with me?” Nibble asked.

“Maybe.” I flicked my tail, feeling a little awkward.

Nibble brought her hoof to my cheek, her eyes reflecting all the naughty thoughts in her head, but then broke out into a laugh. “So it takes sleeping with you before you realize you can flirt.” She gave me a playful nudge.

I flushed and checked if the others overheard, but if they did, none of them appeared to care. I rubbed my neck. “Speaking of last night, how often might stuff like that happen?”

Nibble glanced up in thought. “Well last night wasn't exactly the safest night for me but I figured we could both use the distraction. I should have waited another week though.”

“What do you mean “safest”?”

“I mean…” Nibble placed a hoof over her stomach.

What is she- Oh! Ohhhhh… A weight filled my chest.

“Hey don't sweat it!” Nibble said, seeing my distress. “It was a safer week and I'm sure were fine.”

“But-”

Nibble put a hoof to my lips. “I'll let you know if for some reason that's not the case, but until then don't worry. Okay?”

I nodded and she trotted off with a smile. Although I may have kept the thought of me suddenly becoming a father out of my mind because I trusted Nibble’s judgement, I failed to keep my thoughts drifting to parents, and my parents in particular.

Frustrated I did the next best thing and turned off my thoughts for awhile. I slipped into my trance, focusing on my vision. The new ability of having raw reaction time in the trance still intrigued me. I maneuvered the terrain easily despite having my increased visual enhancement. I focused my sight around the area, zooming in on meaningless things. The waiver of green flame, debris falling from age, Nibble’s flanks… the last one stealing most of my attention. Eventually we came to fallen chunk of the Luna Line. The broken piece of bridge blocked off the street, but had been kind enough to break at an angle creating a makeshift path up which we had to climb, which I easily accomplished without leaving my trance. A few moments after the fact I exited my trance and my thoughts caught up with me.

I can apply strength when in my trance? It happened again! Suddenly limitations on my trance had disappeared. I face-hoofed. Had I been paying any attention, I would have realized this yesterday when I tore a chunk of the table off while listening to Clover discuss finding my parents. What changed? I thought back and only one thing stood out. The injections? Could they be altering how it works? I don't even understand how I got this ability, hell I didn’t even know it was unique to me until Shot Chaser found out. How could they possibly affect it?

I tested further by slipping in and out of my trance, focusing on different sensations. I tested my hearing for a while, focusing on the flap of Clover’s wings or each unique clop from the other four’s hoofsteps. Nibble and Melody’s steps were clunky as they trotted about while Gale and Mangle’s were much softer, elegant even.

I left my trance and the thoughts caught up. My heart started to race as I stared at Mangle, still riding on top of Melody. The fourth set of hoof steps I heard were right behind us. The ghoul!

Trying to remain calm, I glanced behind me to find that the road was empty. But… I slipped into my trance again and searched for the hoof steps, finding them right behind me like before, but the hoofsteps were wrong. Even in my trance I could barely hear them, as if they were far away. When I tried to track them down the noise disappeared completely. I ended the trance. Who is behind me! I broke out into a cold sweat and took another glance over my shoulder. Nothing, but how? Was the ghoul invisible on top of his other crazy ability?

I slipped back into my trance and found the shallow hoofsteps again. When I stopped, they stopped. When I moved, they began again with a short delay. I ended the trance and formed a plan. Worst case scenario I look completely crazy. Well, crazier.

I spun, dashed forward, and reached out. My hoof connected with something solid, grasping at the figure, I pulled and in a flash a zebra with an elegantly done up mane apparated before me while I held onto a cloak. The zebra appeared as shocked as me.

“Who are you?” I yelled, making sure to draw the attention of the others. All of them hesitated upon seeing the zebra, whose shocked expression intensified.

When she saw the rest of Elpis start to move in she took action and landed a quick jab on my chest which momentarily stunned me. She snagged the cloak out of my grasp and took off into one of ruins. She donned the cloak causing her to disappear.

“What the fuck just happened?” Mangle shouted.

“What was that gibberish you yelled?” Gale asked.

I shook myself free of temporary stunned state. “I asked who they were.”

“No you didn’t,” Nibble said. “You yelled a bunch of nonsense.”

“Does it matter? Shouldn’t we be worried about the zebra?” I flung a hoof out, pointing in the direction she ran off.

Clover inspected the zebra’s hoofprints and tracked them for a bit before returning with a suspecting look in his eyes. “She's gone,” he said, “The only interesting thing left is you.”

“Me?” I stepped back, but judging by the way everypony regarded me, I guess they all agreed with Clover.

“How exactly did you know they were there?” Clover asked.

“Well… I…” My mouth went dry. “I can amplify one of my senses at the cost of the others,” I blurted out.

The others looked like they were ready to put me in a straight jacket. I went on a rant, doing my best to explain the basics. I gave a few examples and after a couple times of them testing my enhanced hearing they began to understand.

“So that’s what was up with your eyes,” Mangle nodded.

“Hey,” Nibble whined. “You said you couldn’t do magic!”

“I can’t.” I rolled my eyes.

“Sure sounds like magic.”

Clover didn’t say anything, instead he simply stared. I recognized the look from back at the Flim Flam lab, right before he freaked out. He was reevaluating me.

“Does this have anything to do with your perfect memory?” he finally asked.

“Perfect?” I failed to understand why Clover used that word. Memory was just memory, it was always perfect.

“Nibble give me the magazine you were going to give to Ardent.”

“Uhhh, sure.” Nibble reached into her bag and produced the magazine. Clover grabbed it, flipping to a random page and placing his hoof on a line, only showing the others.

“Ardent, recite page thirteen, paragraph three,” Clover ordered.

What's he getting at? Nonetheless, I searched my memory and brought up the page. “Due to some outrageous incidents and contrary to common sense we must remind our readers that any jokes we make about cooking grenades are completely metaphorical and should never be taken literally.”

Nibble and Gale stared at me in disbelief.

“Well,” Mangle said. “Is he right, or what?”

“Matched every word,” Gale told her.

“I knew his memory was good, but…” Nibble scratched at her messy mane. “You only glanced at it.”

Oh no. This is the whole realizing the ability to enhance senses thing all over again.

“Wait, just to make sure, are you saying not everypony can bring up their memories and play them back.” I asked. My mind raced to find all the times not having perfect memory made sense. Why ponies loved having the physical magazine, why they wrote down their passwords, how they forgot other ponies names.By Luna, how can I be so dense?

“I'm saying no other pony can do it.” Clover gave the magazine back and turned to face me. “Except you.” His chin lifted to stare down at me. “Care to explain?”

“I can't,” I replied. “I've had these abilities for as long as I can remember. The only ponies that might have answers are my par...” In that moment I discovered the real reason I wished to find my parents. If anypony knew why I had perfect memory, or how I could manipulate my senses, it would be them.

“How interesting,” Gale said as he pulled a small flashlight out from his saddle bag. “Did you say you play your memories back? That's not eidetic memory, it's something else.” He shined the light into my eye. I'm starting to hate that light.

I stood still as Gale did his quick check up. “Yeah, it's like reliving whatever memory I want. What's eidetic memory?”

Gale put the light away. “It basically means everything you see gets placed in long term memory, making something you've only seen for a moment easy to remember, but your experience sounds more like a memory orb.”

“Alright,” Clover announced. “If any other pony wants to tell me about special powers they've been keeping hidden, now's the time. I won't get mad... Gale, how about you? Can you read minds or something? It would explain a few things.”

Gale whinnied, “Sorry, just my normal repertoire of medical skills and above average charisma. I'll keep you updated though if I gain any super powers like the others, though.”

Super powers? Did Gale really think my powers were special. I mean, apparently my memory was, but it’s not all that useful for the usual activities Elpis got involved in, like a firefight.

“Well if nopony has anything else,” Clover concluded.”It's time for a scavenging mission.”

======

Clover had found some sort of raider holdout. The front door was painted with multiple daggers and warnings written in blood. He explained raiders would have more loot than any of the bug-infested ruins, but if this place did have raiders we had yet to run into any. The place also lacked normal raider decor, in fact, the interior had a distinct lack of dismembered body parts and foul odors. A few skeletons, but I doubted the raiders had anything to do with them.

According to Gale the place was called a ‘condo’. The first floor had rooms dedicated to recreation, a study, a greenhouse, and a den with a pool table. Above were going to be something like apartments but bigger, like multiple houses stacked together.

I went into full swiping mode. Almost every nook and cranny I looted contained a hooffull of caps. Even with my new position of cap holder I began to feel bad for taking all of them, so instead I decided to start leaving a few behind, not a lot, but enough for a sandwich or something. Hopefully somepony in the future would appreciate my good gesture.

Eventually we came across the stairs to the second level and Clover decided to have us split up. Clover and I went upstairs while the others stayed to search the rest of the first floor.

“Clover,” I started as we ascended. “I never meant to hide the trance thing from you. I thought it was a useless ability, and with everypony already thinking I'm possibly crazy… Also if Shot Chaser never told you about it I thought it might be better to just keep to myself.”

Clover showed no reaction to my excuses and instead just kept his eyes forward, but after a moment spoke up, “Shot Chaser knew too huh? Guess that would be my fault for thinking you were just some earth pony soon to die.”

He sure doesn't sugarcoat anything. A pit in my gut started to form thinking about the day Shot Chaser let me leave. “Did he... seem worried about me?”

Clover gave the slightest shrug, which only made that pit grow deeper. “I'm not the best judge for such things, now focus on the mission. Understood?”

“Understood,” I complied in words alone as we reached the top of the stairs. Another set of stairs continued up.

“I'm heading up. You search this floor,” Clover ordered.

Wait, Clover wants me to search this floor alone?

“Stop!” I yelled in a panic. Clover glowered at me for making such a loud noise. I tried to control my fears of being abandoned and thought up an excuse. “Is it wise to split up, I mean, what if I run into a bunch of raiders?”

Clover raised an eyebrow and scanned over my battle saddle and Pip-Buck. I wracked my brain trying to come up with another reason to stick together, but was surprised when Clover placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Ardent, when I told you the policy of what would happen if you tried to run from Elpis I made the consequences clear, but in doing so I may have distorted what I meant. You are part of Elpis, you can't run, but it also means you are part of us. We will not abandon each other. Understood.”

Ever since my time alone at Dust I feared to return to that; nopony finding me useful to the point I could be abandoned without notice. Even during my time with Shot Chaser the subconscious fear always kept me motivated to become increasingly useful. My time in Elpis had kicked that motivation into overdrive but Clover finally told me the words I’d always yearned to hear.

“Understood,” I answered, trying to keep the overwhelming relief back, even though I could feel the burning wetness in my eyes.

“Guess I can't rely on a barmaid to keep it together and focus on the task at hand.”

My jaw clenched. He just had to ruin it. My tears evaporated as my defiance soared. “Yes I can,” I mumbled and turned away to scout the floor without him.

I kept a close eye on my EFS, a futile effort since many of the red specks probably weren't even in the building. I entered the master bedroom to one of the suites, taking note of the “Better Wiped Than Stripped” propaganda poster on the wall depicting a brave stallion standing over a mass of dead zebra corpses. It was illuminated by an active computer terminal, which only had one message saved on it. I skimmed through, pulling out key words: “Get well soon… one of our favorite nieces... love Aunt and Uncle Orange.” None of the words I picked out interested me so I left the message virtually unread. If it turned out to be important later on I could look at the rest by replaying my memory.

Built into the floor next to the desk was a safe. There were no commands on the terminal to open it, so I pulled out Nibble’s lockpick tool and placed it inside the dial’s keyhole. I slipped into my trance and fiddled with the levers, but even in this state I couldn’t feel any changes in tension. Another safe out of my league. I shrugged, not letting it bug me.

After searching about half the floor my defiance calmed and I reflected on the conversation with Clover. He had been uncharacteristically nice to the point my clear mind found unbelievable. That's when I realized Clover had used my barmaid nickname to manipulate me, and it wasn't the first time he had done it. Back in Furlong he had called me barmaid so I would perform my tricks. Had he been paying enough attention during the other times I had been called barmaid to know how it affects me? Does that mean the whole abandonment speech was bullshit too?

A muffled struggle slipped through an elegant set of double doors trimmed with brass. I placed my ear to it and heard what sounded like two ponies fighting. Before entering, I checked my Pip-Buck but only saw red dots. Could they be fighting each other or is Clover not showing up? He could be surrounded! I bucked the door open and immediately regretted it.

There were at least half a dozen raiders. The massive hall had tables pushed around to form a ring under a glass chandelier. The noise of struggling came from two young stallions fighting in the center, both wielding blunt instruments in their mouths. All the raiders in the room turned their attention to me, then picked up a variety of melee weapons.

Shit.

I entered SATS and picked my targets. Since none of them had a gun I assigned all three of my shots to different enemies, one by the kitchen in case he went for cover, and the two closest to me. The shots took off, hitting each target in the head, one catching a raider in the mouth and leaving a hole in the back of his throat.

I attempted to manually fire while SATS charged, but the moment I bit down a hollow click followed. I bucked, the battle saddle rotated the clip, and I fired again, only to have the click repeat. What the? I searched my HUD and found the problem. I had no ammo left at all. Oh, shit! I never bothered to check on my ammunition since we lost the caravan. I backed up and turned to run, but two more raiders showed from the way I came. Shit, shit, shit.

A raider from inside took a swipe at me with a pool cue. I rolled out of the way and bee lined for the kitchen, jumping over a raider’s corpse. I slammed and locked the door behind me, but my ears dropped discovering the kitchen didn't connect with anything.

One of the raiders started to yell, “Looks like yer’ out of ammo boy!” As he spoke I searched the drawers and cupboards, but besides more caps and a few cans of food I found nothing of use.

“Tell ya’ what, if you bring your ass out here, I'll face you one-on-one in the ring. Make us chop down the door and we’ll take turns at ya before killing ya.” A collective laugh rang out.

That sounds like an obvious lie. With no other real option though I unlocked the door and let it creak open. To my surprise the raiders had taken their seats and started stomping in unison as I made my way out. I literally just killed three of them. How can they act like this? Two sat in front of the door to the hall, blocking my exit, so I moved into the ring. Countless spots of dried blood stained the floor and broken chunks of bone were swept to the outskirts. I realized by the wide smiles on the raider’s mouths that those bones were actually teeth they must have lost while fighting.

“Looks like the kid’s actually gots some balls!” the raider jeered. He stood at least a head taller than me and was made of pure muscle. Why the fuck didn't I shoot this guy! No wonder they let me waltz out, I'm dead either way.

“Pick the weapon you wanna die wit’.” The blackened raider showcased a rack full of short range weapons. He selected a metal hammer I doubted I could even lift. I bit down on the handle of a short blade and pulled it from the rack.

This being the first time wielding a real weapon in my mouth, aside from wooden sticks when I was a foal, I had not been biting down hard enough to securely hold the sword. It fell to the ground with a clank and the raiders guffawed. Had they not planned on killing me I might have found the humor in it as well. I leaned over and bit down on the leather-wrapped hilt until it stretched.

I moved to the opposite side of the ring and formed a plan; well, more like a last ditch pathetic idea. I slipped into my trance and focused on my vision, the world almost slowing as every detail became defined and easy to focus in on. The raider muffled something past the weapon in his mouth, which I couldn't make out since my trance was focused on sight. He started to circle around the arena, and I kept my distance while matching his stride. He stomped his hoof and charged.

He took a wide swing, but given how easily I could see the moments coming I ducked under it. He recovered and took a powerful downward swing, which I jumped aside from. His weapon out-ranged mine and his sweeping attacks kept him safe from my blade. The raider rushed in again and we repeated the series of swings and dodges while I became accustomed to fighting while in my trance.

This stallion was far stronger than me, his downward strikes cracking the floor. He was much faster than me, his swing visibly pushing the air around it. He was also so damn predictable.

I slipped under one of his wide swings and during his recovery lunged forward, bringing my blade across his neck. I had not been prepared for the resistance of cutting into him and the blade shifted. I clenched down harder to compensate but had to be careful that the discomfort in my jaw didn't tear me from my trance. After my attack I turned to see if the cut had been enough to kill him. The massive stallion stood as if I had done nothing to him, but I focused on the spot on his neck where stray hairs still fell from my slash. A crease opened up along the cut as blood gushed out. His head continued to fall to the side until his spine caught the remaining flesh, leaving his head dangling as his body dropped.

All the raiders watching picked up their weapons and jumped into the ring. I focused on the closest pony first, one of the younger ones, having only just jumped in when I lunged. This time I turned my head as I attacked and the blade slid with little resistance through the entirety of his neck. The raider’s head slipped off and a fountain of blood sprang forth.

The others grouped up and attacked together, but even with all of them I could see an opening. I slipped past each attack by mere inches and managed to drag my sword across a raider mare, her insides spilling out.

Only three remained, rallying together for another attack and aiming for my legs. I jumped past the attacks and thrust my blade downward into the top of one of the raiders skulls. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a hammer wrapped in magic and its unicorn owner smiling devilishly. Being mid-air I could not avoid the attack, only watch in slow motion as it connected with the side of my head.

The pain ripped me from my trance and all my thoughts caught up in a burst. I can do this-Dodge-Duck-Dive-Dodge-Now-Oh that's gross-Shit-By Luna, I might be able to pull this off-Jump-What, where did the unicorn come from-Shit-Shit-SHIT!

I lost the blade in the raider’s skull and slammed into the ground. Everything moved too fast for me to react as the raiders turned and swung their weapons down. A pool cue cracked over the side of my barding, which protected me from any real damage, but the other raider landed his bat across my unarmored leg. I cried out.

In a flash of red, the two ponies standing over me dropped, the smell of burnt flesh fuming out of the laser holes in their heads.

Clover stood on one of the seats and clopped his hooves in mock applause. “You were doing so well.”

I got up and put pressure on my injured leg. It throbbed in protest but still worked fine. “Just how long have you been sitting there?”

“Not long, but I've been listening since the big guy called you out.”

“And you didn't bother to-” I took in the sight before me. Carcasses filled the area and all but three of them I had killed. Blood still sputtered out of the decapitated raider. I gagged seeing the mare’s body, she had died trying to push her organs back in.

Clover flew down over the raider my blade was stuck in. “You're more effective with a blade.” He grabbed the hilt in his mouth and tugged, the raider’s body spasming as the blade slid out of his skull with a wet squelch. Clover wiped it free of blood on the raider’s barding.

My stomach lurched and I rushed out of the hall, but managed to keep everything down. Clover stepped out, still carrying the blade I’d used.

“Best hang onto it.” He sheathed it into a loop on my barding where I could easily reach around and grip the hilt in my mouth. “I think we're done up here. Let's see how the others faired.”

We made our way back downstairs to find Gale pulling a sharp, blood-drenched object out of a raider’s eye. Mangle laughed uncontrollably while Nibble shook her head.

“Raiders have to be some of the dumbest creatures,” Nibble sighed. “Like, can they even be considered ponies?”

“Explain,” Clover ordered, taking the jovial moment seriously.

Mangle told the story with interspersed laughter. “We found that asshole at the end of the hall. No weapon, just a plank with a nail in it. Gale bet he could get him to run into the bone thing.”

Gale cleaned off the weapon he used. It was the quarry eel tooth piece he pulled out of me.

“So he levitated it in the middle of the hallway, in plain view,” Mangle continued, “Gale yells at the guy, something about his mother. So what does the fucking idiot do? He comes charging right at us till bam!” Mangle slammed her hoof on the ground and fell into another laughing fit.

“Almost went through.” Gale said, putting away the tooth shard.

“Why do you still have that?” I asked, remembering the pain of when it was lodged in my back.

“Makes for a handy weapon in a pinch. Or the punchline to a joke apparently.”

“Were done here,” Clover spoke up. “Excess caps go to Ardent.” He glared at Gale. “Turn them over now. We should have enough for the supplies I ordered.”

======

An unoccupied caravan sat between the last two skyscrapers marking the edge of Manehattan. If Clover had not mentioned we were getting a new caravan this would look like the most obvious of traps. As we approached a small metal bird hooted as it flew over us.

“Gearwing!” Nibble yelled, chasing after it.

“There she is,” Clover said, looking up.

Before I followed his gaze something painted on the side of the caravan caught my attention. “Compliments of Absolutely Everything.” My heart skipped a beat.

The ghoul pegasus landed in front of me and wrapped me in a squishy hug.

“Derpy!” I hugged back. “How have you been?”

She let go and pulled out a quill and paper, “Couldn’t be better.”

“Wow, your writing improved.”

“Like riding a scooter!”

I nodded, then paused. “... What's a scooter?”

“Almost everything I asked for.” Clover confirmed, checking the contents of the caravan. “How much do I owe you?” He hopped out and tossed Mangle and I two healing potions each, and I also got a few clips of ammo.

Derpy scribbled on her paper and brought it over to Clover. He glanced between Derpy and the paper a few times. His jaw worked before he spoke, “You may have forgotten to add a few things.”

Derpy shook her head, paused, then nodded before jotting something down. She showed Clover and he stiffened. Seeing Clover like this was surreal, especially after watching him negotiate a town out of half their supplies without paying a cap. How could Derpy be causing him so much trouble?

“Th- thank you,” he strained to say and forced a smile on his face. He cleared his throat. “Ardent, compensate Ms. Doo.” He turned tail to help Melody into the harness.

I trotted over and stole a glance at the paper. I didn't know everything Clover ordered but the price seemed impossibly low, maybe that discount she promised me had a hoof in the total. I snuffed out a giggle seeing, “A thank you and a smile.” written below the price.

Footnote: Level Up New Perk; Size Matters: +15 to weapons that require a battle saddle.

Chapter 17: The Father of Pandora's Children

Chapter 17

I brought a hoof up to block out the brightness of the sky along with the heat being amplified by the thin cloud cover. Although the heat radiated from the ground as well, the air above it wavering and distorting the massive structure ahead of us. The only upside was the salty taste in the air, probably because of the endless body of water stretching past the horizon. Something else lingered in the air, something familiar but too faint to distinguish.

The Pandora’s Children base laid on the edge of Equestria, resting on the border of an unknown land and a huge expanse of water. The map on my Pip-Buck simply cut off. Whoever built this place was clearly trying to avoid visitors.

Somehow, Clover convinced Gale and I that we were the only ones who could get in without suspicion. Turned out Mangle got her name there so she would most likely be recognized. Nibble would fail to keep calm, whatever that meant, and a pegasus tended to stand out.

The mission seemed simple enough. Get in, learn what Pandora’s Children were up to, and get out. Clover had me almost confident when I left, but the slow trot towards the most savage group in Equestria had my nerves unraveling.

I glared at Gale. The humid atmosphere reminded me of the sauna and I could only image he was enjoying our trot.

“They’re about to shoot at us,” Gale almost sang. “Just keep moving forward, don't run.”

I stiffened as one of the guards on the roof swiveled a mounted turret at us. She took aim and fired a short burst. The cracked earth next to us exploding into plumes of dust. I froze up for moment but resisted the urge to turn tail and kept up with Gale.

“Why?” I asked.

“Works as an initiation. If you're scared enough to run they want nothing to do with you. Well, maybe you'll make decent target practice.”

My hoof caught on something and I almost stumbled over. I glanced down to see a pony’s skull. We were treading on a mass grave. Most of the remains were covered in layers of dirt and had died ages ago, but there were at least a dozen recently slaughtered corpses. The salty taste in the air was finally overtaken by the other scent I now recognized, the taste of iron.

The raider took a few more shots, getting closer with each burst. In between the loud gunfire her maniacal laughter could be heard despite how far away she still was. She stopped shooting when we finally reached the massive metal gates blocking the entrance. The fuchsia mare leaned over the wall and brought a widening circular device to her muzzle.

“What the fuck do you want?” the voice blasted out, amplified by the circular thing.

Gale opened his mouth wide and pointed at his teeth. The raider squinted down at us and eventually nodded.

“And the other?” she said into the amplification device.

“Possible recruit!” Gale yelled up.

The raider mare disappeared back over the wall.

A moment later a loud crack ripped through the air and a mass of chains started to rattle. A small section of the massive gate raised and I followed Gale as he stepped inside the fortress.

The raider mare from before rode a piece of sheet metal lowered by a pulley. She wore Pandora’s Children signature sickly green barding. Her coat helped hide the wide variety of scars covering her body.

“Your pathetic gang’s in the back,” she said. “Leader is making a big speech, maybe it'll convince you to join a real gang.”

It took a moment for me to realize she directed the statement at me. “Oh, uh…” Talking to the raider so casually had thrown me for a loop. If she knew I was part of Elpis she'd be trying to kill me, but instead she had just tried to recruit me. Without more delay I lowered my voice and tried to sound more like a raider, “Yeah... I may check that out, especially if the pay’s better.”

Gale cringed at my new voice but the mare seemed to buy it.

“Yeah, that's the spirit.” She slapped a hoof across my flank as we continued inside.

When we were out of ear shot Gale gagged. “I'm all for pain, but don't use that voice again.”

I nodded in agreement but was sure to jot down a mental note that I now had a way to make him uncomfortable.

“Well,” Gale said as he stopped to look around. “This place got cleaned up.”

I took a moment to take in the fortress. It was just as massive as the outside made it seem. Hundreds of makeshift homes made of scrap metal and rotting cloth stretched along the walls of the fortress. The ground was littered with all manner of waste. Past that were firing ranges that might have actually been firing ranges before the war, given the faded red bullseyes on the wall. Pandora's Children had modified the ranges with rotting, bullet riddled, corpses as targets. The din of a distant crowd reached out from somewhere inside the base but I could not see past the hills of trash.

Overlooking the entire base was a building nearly the height of the wall. All the windows were tinted near black but some had broken revealing bits of the interior. My gut twisted as I stared at it, the tarnished white concrete covering most of the fortress made the near black tower give off an ominous aura, as if the building and all those inside were watching you.

Who built this place? I flicked on my EFS in hopes of an answer.

Flim Flam Industries: Weapon Testing Facility

I rolled my eyes. Should have guessed, but why would they need this? The only weapons I knew Flim and Flam made were those shitty silver ones. Would they really need a massive facility for those?

I winced as my nose caught a whiff of the smells emanating from the shacks. “Did you say this place was cleaned up?”

Gale started a slow trot towards the distant din of voices. “I left when Pandora’s Children were at their peak, this place was loud, violent, and believe it or not, way more disgusting. They also had… unique ways of keeping morale up.” Gale glanced at set of wooden logs protruding from the ground. Each of them had rusted metal chains fit for a pony. The ground around the logs was stained with blood and other bodily fluids. If these were still being used for I thought they were, then I understood why Clover kept Nibble out of here.

“But looks like whoever took over made a few changes,” Gale concluded.

“The fuck are you lowlifes doing?” a gruff yet weirdly familiar female voice yelled.

I tensed up and tried to find the source of the voice. Past some of the houses I caught sight of a mare in black armor just as she bucked down a door to a house and stormed inside. Sounds of a scuffle ensued.

“Now stop fucking and get your asses to the boss’ speech before we make examples out of you!” the same mare yelled.

A mare and a stallion rushed out of the house. They were both half dressed and stumbled along as they tried to put on the rest of their armor while galloping away. The raider in black stepped out and I recognized her stone-colored coat, the shotguns on her battle saddle, and the eye patch covering her left eye. Oh shit! The raider from Furlong.

I dipped behind the nearest house just as the raider turned our way. Gale however had not remembered her and just stood there.

“Hey!” the raider yelled. “Who else is back there?”

Gale turned to me for a moment and mouthed, “Fight?”

I shook my head and snuck out of view as I heard the raider approach. Chances were she would recognize me since she nearly ran me down, but Gale had been a bit more hidden. I doubt she saw him.

“Don’t I know you?” the raider questioned. Or I could be completely fucking wrong.

“I don’t-”

“Oh, a Jackal. Next time just say so and don’t waste my fucking time. I’m late enough as it is.” The raider turned tail and headed the same way the other raiders ran.

“What was that all about?” Gale asked.

“She’s the raider who lead the assault on Furlong,” I answered.

“Really? Regardless, we should go attend this speech, maybe this mission will go as easily as Clover made it sound.”

I nodded in agreement and we followed after the raiders as the countless voices grew ever louder.

We eventually broke free of the makeshift houses into an open square jam-packed with Pandora’s Children. I had never seen so many ponies in one place before, even the population in Tenpony seemed miniscule compared to the crowd in front of me. The murmur of hundreds of conversations cut out any other noises.

A second level of shoddy scaffolding wrapped around square. Ponies dressed in black armor sat along the second level and overlooked the rest. The raider with the eyepatch took her place among them which I pointed out to Gale with a nudge.

He had to yell so I could hear him. “Lieutenants! Each one is in charge of around fifty grunts!”

Most of the conversations died out when a massive dark purple earth pony emerged.

“Skull Splitter,” Gale identified. “He was the one who started the fighting pits. Lotta brawn, not a lot of brains.”

Skull Splitter yelled, “SILENCE!” His violet mane shook from the strength of his voice as it cut through all other conversations.

Everypony obeyed except for one raider who yelled, “Fuck you!”

Skull Splitter broke out into laughter and everypony seemed to follow suit.

Still laughing, Skull Splitter reached into his mane and pulled out a grenade. His laughter came to halt as he pulled the pin and threw it at the raider who had yelled back, and by extension all those who were unfortunate enough to be around him. It detonated and screams rang out as a wave of red mist showered the area. After the explosion all noise died except for the cries of the injured and the meaty thump of falling body parts.

Well, I’m not joining this gang.

“Anypony else have something to say?” Skull Splitter yelled. He scanned the crowd. “Disappointing.”

Skull Splitter stepped out of the way as an orange unicorn mare emerged, her mane fluttering in the wind like flames. I turned to Gale for a name, but he only shrugged. The nameless mare took her place on the opposite side of Skull Splitter and they both bowed down.

A yellow unicorn stepped forward until he reached the edge of the platform. His mane was styled back and glistened with the same sickly green color of Pandora’s Children armor. He stared forward without glancing down, and his horn glowed a bright yellow as he took in a deep breath.

“I have reached enlightenment.” His voice was silky smooth and easily carried through the entire compound. It was so audible, in fact, that it sounded as if he was speaking right beside me. Gale fiddled with his own ears, clearly experiencing something similar.

“It taught me so much,” he continued. “How we were founded. Why Equestria is dying. Our true purpose! And what a glorious purpose it is. The leader before me came so close to accomplishing it, yet he left us. He abandoned us. Our numbers used to be in the thousands but because of his treachery we have dwindled into the hundreds. So many lives wasted.”

Something’s wrong. My head felt fuzzy as his words attempted to make me feel his loss. They slithered around in my ear, trying to find a way into my mind.

“That time is behind us now. With your help, all of you, we will succeed where he failed, and I will never leave you, abandon you, betray you. I hereby adopt the name Epimetheus, and in doing so, adopt you all as my children.” He waved his hoof over the crowd.

For a moment I faltered because his words touched on worries I held for so long, and with that they found a way in. The words reached inside my head, digging through my mind until finding my fears and insecurities. They uprooted those fears and planted themselves in their place. Instead of dreading being left behind or being useless, I felt Epimetheus' love. The crowd cheered, shouted, and cried, and now I understood why. His love had no equal and I would to anything for him. I was about to join in their delight, but with the slightest gesture Epimetheus asked for silence, and I willingly obeyed.

“I am taking you all on a journey with me, a journey to find the key to our purpose which the betrayer failed to find. Will you come with me, my children?” He was answered by cheers loud enough to make my ears ring.

“What a bunch of nuts,” Gale said right before I joined in their cheer.

What! How could he speak such blasphemy against our father… Father? But he's not my... I grabbed my head as the fuzzy feeling ebbed away. What the hell? I glanced up at Epimetheus as the light faded from his horn. A spell maybe? I shook myself free of… whatever that was.

Epimetheus wiped away a tear. “Thank you, my children.” With a final emotional wave to his impassioned audience, he turned and left. Almost immediately after the lieutenants on the second level started barking orders and Pandora’s Children scattered as they prepared for their “journey.”

======

Gale and I spied on Pandora’s Children as they packed their bags and left. The massive gate took a dozen ponies on each side to pull open. Only two lieutenants, the eyepatch mare and another one who had metal blades attached to his hooves, and their grunts were left behind to guard the base. This would be the greatest opportunity for us to scout the area, and Gale claimed he knew where to start.

Gale led us to the back of the fortress and stopped when we found a group ponies around a campfire. They wore a variety of bardings all the way from leather to one with plated armor, but with each one something seemed off.

“Well I’ll be damned,” a raspy feminine voice marveled. “Is that our Gale?” A faded pink unicorn cantered up to us. She was dressed up in a padded tan armor and her battle saddle held a weapon made of shiny, smooth metal. Her cutie mark was a bandana and revolver. She grabbed Gale’s face and turned his head.

“Hit ‘N Run,” Gale greeted, unbothered by her rough and sudden handling of him. “I see your plan on dying of old age is working out ni-”

She covered his mouth and smiled just enough to show off her set of sharp, pointy teeth. “Thought you would know better than to bring up a lady’s age?” She released him and gave him a quick hug. “I’m guessing you're not back for good?”

Gale shook his head.

“Didn’t think so.” She sighed. “Well who’s this then.”

“Ardent Fable, ma’am,” I introduced.

“Ma’am makes me sounds old. Call me Hit N’ Run, leader of the Jackals.”

“You are old,” Gale remarked. Hit N’ Run threw out a back leg into Gale’s side and he toppled over. “You still hit hard for an old-” Another hoof slammed into his throat. Gale had a huge grin while he gasped for air. He might have been trying to laugh.

“Damn boy never knew when to shut the hell up,” the gang leader growled, then smirked. “Glad to see nothing's changed. C’mon let’s get you kids some grub.” She stepped on Gale as she made her way to the pot over the fire.

======

“So Gale warned them about our ambush because he wanted some work to do,” Hit N’ Run explained. “The only thing more dangerous than an ambush is somepony knowing they're about to be ambushed. My Goddesses, what a shitshow that was.” The group of Jackals that had gathered around to listen laughed. I figured this was a funny-in-hindsight thing.

“Ah Gale, you should have never left,” Hit N’ Run reminisced.

Gale shrugged. “Found a better fit.”

“So I’ve heard...”

The group had been fun and rowdy, but they were all suddenly silent. Each of them with a hint of shame in their eyes. That's when I finally picked up what was off about their armor, not a single hole, cut, or scrape marred the surface, hell no dirt or grime either. It's as if the crowd had never even seen combat.

Hit N’ Run sat down next to Gale. “There's this new group running about,” she said. “Callin’ themselves Elpis. Pandora’s Children are offering a hefty amount of caps for any pony who can bring in a member.”

Shit.

Gale kept calm and kept his playful demeanor. “Big enough to interest you?”

“You know our way, that job is too high risk. I hear they can make it out of any situation. Much like how I taught you.”

“You also taught me the loose chicken round up.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I failed to follow their conversation and it sounded like we were getting betrayed.

“You sneak onto a farm and release a farmer's chickens,” Gale explained. “While they try to round them up you rob their house. We're the chickens, and Pandora’s Children are the farmers.” Gale faced his old leader. “You really think they won't come for you?”

“How long you think I've been planning this?” Hit N’ Run pulled out a handkerchief and fused with the dirt on Gale’s armor. “Listen, we pull this off, the whole gang could retire and live to die of old age. I trust you to buy us the time we need. I'd get into that big building there, since you won't last long out in the open.”

Gale only gave her a smileless stare.

“You should never have left.” A hint of regret inched into Hit N’ Run’s voice. “Good luck, and don't do anything stupid just to keep the barmaid alive.”

My my jaw clenched. This bitch knew the whole time that we were part of Elpis. She probably held us here while one of their members ran off to inform Pandora’s Children. She even knew that ridiculous nickname. “Fuck you, I'll keep him alive and get us out of here.”

Hit N’ Run got up and dared to get near me as she stared into my eyes. I wanted to jump into SATS and blow her away but the indicator on the compass still counted her as neutral and I had yet to cross that line.

“By Celestia, you sound serious.” She gave a dry laugh. “Tell you what, just this once, I'll bet against the odds.” She tipped her head and with that the Jackal's took their leave.

“Why didn’t we kill her?” I growled.

“Better only one gang try to kill us than two,” Gale cautioned. “We need to get moving.”

Taking Hit N’ Run’s advice we beelined for the black tower in the middle of the fortress. We had only just started weaving though some of the scrap metal homes before Pandora’s Children were upon us. A bullet slammed into a piece of scrap in front of me, narrowly missing my leg. I spun and entered SATS, targeting three of the four raiders chasing us, and let the spell take over. Two of the raiders dropped with chests full of lead. I ran past Gale as he tried to take out the other two behind us.

I could see the entrance to the black building just past a break through a cluster of homes when the raider with an eye patch stepped in front of me, both of her shotguns in optimal range to blow me away. My heart stopped and she leaned down to fire. Our eyes met a moment before she bit down and the threat indicator in front of me suddenly turned neutral.

The raider release the trigger and asked, “Ardent?”

I was at loss for words. I scanned the raider from hoof to ear but no part of her seemed familiar aside for an ounce of her voice.

“By the Goddesses it is you, but how did-”

A saw blade flew past me trained at the mare’s neck. With incredible speed the raider dove to the side falling into one of the houses. The weak structure collapsed on top of her, but the neutral indicator remained.

Gale pulled me along, reminding me of our rather urgent need to escape.

We slammed through the doors into the black building. Gale levitated chairs over to jam the doors while I peeked out a shattered window. We had got in just in time. Pandora’s Children had just rotated the mounted guns along the wall’s perimeter to face inside the base. I shielded my eye as a glare reflected off of something in the distance, and not a moment later Gale bit down on my mane and pulled my head away from the window. A bullet shot through the broken glass and buried itself in the marble floor.

“Glares mean sniper,” Gale said. “So no more sightseeing.”

I nodded. “What's the plan?”

“I hoped you would figure something out.”

“Me!?” My ears dropped. Why did Gale trust me to get us out of this? Aside from me saying I would...

“Tell you what. I'll get us out of this building, you figure out how we get out off the base. Fair enough?” Gale brought up his weapon and fired. A raider from the second floor fell over the ledge, a saw blade lodged in his face. “We're going up.”

I tapped at my temple as if that could make the EFS less useless. Red dots filled my compass but once again it did not tell me if they were above, below, or right behind the door in front of me, and considering the building seemed to branch up endlessly, each door we opened had its risks. The rooms we passed were a combination of offices and workshops with a lot of engineering tools. Whenever we took cover from the random patrol I swiped a bunch of the equipment. Nibble will be happy if we make it out alive. I let Gale focus on maneuvering the facility while I thought of ways to get out of the base, but the only course of action I came back to was to escape through the main entrance. A suicidal plan since it's the most heavily defended area.

We rounded a corner where a stallion with a gas mask and black armor stood waiting. Shiny circular tanks were strapped to his back and the connected weapon coughed spouts of fire from its nozzle.

Oh shit.

The stallion gave a cruel, muffled laugh and pulled the trigger. A white-hot plume of flame spewed forth towards us while roaring like a dragon. Before the blaze could reach us, however, they parted and veered around. Now rushing back at the screaming raider as the inferno engulfed him, burning away his coat. To conclude his horrific demise, the tank on his back ruptured and tore him apart, coating the hallway in front of us in his burnt flesh and raging flames.

“What just happened?” I turned to Gale for an answer. I could make out the faint aura of magic around his horn and followed it as it flowed through the hallway. Wherever it touched the flames slowly died out. Events of the past suddenly made sense to me as I pieced his spell together.

“You stopped the Lazuline from burning Mangle!” I exclaimed in astonishment. “You can control fire!”

“That's not true,” Gale countered. “I can manipulate oxygen; important difference.” He extinguished the flames and we continued our run.

Gale appeared triumphant when he reached a set of double doors on the top floor. He rushed forward and slammed the doors open, only to be greeted with the noise of automated turrets taking aim.

“BEEP! BEEP!”

Gale froze up at the sight of the machines. I bucked him out of the way and entered SATS, assigning a shot to each of the turrets. The spell took over and bullets were exchanged. All participants hit their intended targets. The mounted turrets exploded in a burst of colorful electricity while I swore as bullets slammed into my chest.

Gale rushed over and levitated out a pair of forceps. Without warning he dug them into my bullet wound. A scream caught in my throat as the cold metal entered my burning wound. Gale grasped something lodged in my chest and pulled out a blood covered bullet, which I observed with a grimace.

“The armor stopped the rest.” Gale smirked. “You know, whenever I save you I avoid getting injured.”

“I'm sure you prefer it this way.” I managed a gritting smile.

Gale nodded in agreeance. “We need to get you new barding.”

Gale offered me a healing potion but the burning in my chest was minimal so I pushed it away. “Might need it for something more serious.”

Gale gave my chest another look and must have agreed, since he put the potion away.

With a little struggling I moved forward into the massive office. One of the walls of the office had nothing but glass panels that overlooked the fortress. An impressive desk with gold trim and two seats had been built close to the window. Engraved metal name tags were built into the desk, one reading ‘Flim’ and the other ‘Flam.’ Multiple other, smaller tables had been set up and were covered in various paperwork. One of the walls in the office held camera feeds which revealed that Pandora’s Children had blown the door open and were funneling in.

What is Gale thinking? He had lead us to a dead end. Gale slammed his hoof on a red button next to the entrance. The room’s lights flashed red, and a blaring alarm went off. The door to the room slammed shut and a thick metal wall raised up in order to seal the inside. Oddly enough, the room filled with the scent of apple cider, a relaxing scent but not helpful for our situation. Gale looked around, waiting for something else to happen.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Thought for sure that would reveal some secret way out.”

I checked the cameras. Pandora’s Children were only halfway up and still had to get through the door. I spotted the lieutenant with the metal claws leading the way. “It bought us some time to figure things out at least. Let's look around?”

“I'll start with the desk.” Gale trotted over and started pulling out random drawers and dumped their contents onto the floor.

Guess I'll check the tables. Most of the papers just contained names and positions; a great deal had a black slash through them. Each paper I found useless I slid off the table until revealing a set of blueprints to the entire facility. An idea sparked and I searched the layout until finding a path in the back of the base.

“I think I know a way out,” I told Gale.

“That’s good...” Gale had given up searching the desk and peered out the glass panel. “...Because I found our way out of here.” He lined Hemorrhage up along the glass panel and fired. The sawblade ripped across the glass, sending small shards everywhere. I was pelted with relatively harmless but stinging glass chips, driving me to cover behind the desk as Gale lined up another shot.

One of the drawers Gale pulled out of the desk had a small latch on the bottom. I pulled on the latch and the base of the drawer popped off to reveal an audio recorder.

“Alright Ardent, let's get out of here,” Gale called out. “I see a ledge we can jump to.”

I slipped the audio log into my saddle bag. “But this is the only building, how is there a ledge?”

Gale had almost cut a square hole into the panel, and now it hung on by a small corner he avoided but could now be easily broken. He made room for me and pointed down. I leaned over but only saw a straight drop.

“I don’t see a-”

Gale grabbed me and lept at the window. The glass gave way to our weight and we were suddenly freefalling towards the ground.

What? What! WHAT! was all I could think as the air rushed past me while we dropped floor after floor.

Gale had shut his eyes and clenched his jaw in concentration. The magic around is horn had never been more clear. Gusts of winds formed below us, colliding and creating a twisting, circular mass of air. Gale lifted his head and the miniature tornado rose up, slamming into us. The blast hit every square inch of me almost simultaneously. If I would ever be bucked by a giant pony, it would probably feel something like this. The spell kept the fall from being lethal but that was about it.

Being an experienced faller at this point I bent my legs and at the moment of impact did my best to roll. My heart skipped when the snap of bone ripped through the air. I braced myself for the incoming pain, but soon realized the noise didn't come from me.

Gale laid on the ground but one of his back legs stuck directly up, a piece of bone protruding from mutilated flesh.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered as I fumbled for a healing poultice. If I had even an ounce of the calm Gale did, I might have made a “karma's a bitch joke.” It seemed fitting given his snarky comment about avoiding injury when saving me, but seeing a wound like that while noting my complete lack of medical expertise had me in a full panic. With a shaky hoof I finally retrieved the healing potion.

“Can't,” Gale said with a sharp inhale. “Not until the bone is set.”

“Well what then? Should I carry you?”

Gale glanced down at his leg. His eyes rolled up and his body convulsed in an oddly sexual manner. He shook his head. “We'd be too slow. Instead we’re going to have to have some fun here and now. Come stand over here.”

I nodded absently as he moved me into place.

“We need to set the bone back into place. It's easy, you just pull then apply pressure here.” He placed my hoof right below the bone and pushed down a little. A small spurt of blood rushed down his leg and he let out moan. “Don't stop till the bone is under the skin and you hear a pop. If you don't get a pop it means the bone is not in place and you either need to pull or push harder.”

My stomach flipped. Luna help me, I am not cut out for this. He grabbed onto his thigh.

“Pull then press,” Gale repeated. “Go!”

I pulled at Gale’s leg. His flesh stretched and blood started pour out of the wound. I pushed down and the bone sank back into his leg. This time Gale cried out in absolute pain as his head slammed back into the ground. I could feel the bone under the skin. That's not right... and no pop. I pushed again and could feel the bone rub against something solid: the connecting bone, I guessed. I need to pull harder. I yanked at his leg and Gale pulled up on his thigh. His eyes started to roll up into his skull, he wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer. I shoved down with more pressure then I felt comfortable but was rewarded with a loud pop. Gale’s grip released as his entire body went limp.

I felt along his leg, leaving bloodied hoof marks as I patted down, then compared that to his other back leg. Everything feels the same, and even the skin is falling back into place. I lifted his head and poured the potion in. Gale half-swallowed, half-drowned in the liquid. After a moment he lunged upward and grasped along his injured leg. He released a shaky breath as the wound closed up.

“Was it good for you too?” Gale asked with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. Mid-roll I caught sight of the non-eyepatch luitentinet staring down at us from the window we escaped from. He leapt after us, letting the blades on his hoof catch the glass. They shattered as he slid down at an alarming rate. Also concerning was the other raider as she waved in order to get the attention of the mounted guns on the wall to point out our position.

“We need to go.” I helped Gale up and took the lead.

The raider succeeded at flagging us down because within moments the turret-mounted ponies unleashed hell on us. I weaved between the endless amount of homes and trash piles, but the longer they fired the more the other mounted turrets joined them. Soon we’d be getting shot at from all angles and no amount of cover would help.

Luckily we were getting close to the spot I saw on the blueprint. Unluckily I kept seeing more and more signs warning about radiation in the area. I checked my geiger counter and smirked. Liars. I raced forward until finding a house bigger than the rest, exactly where I thought the exit must be. I rushed through the door and galloped to the back corner. After wiping away some trash covering the floor I lifted the secret hatch to reveal a staircase. Flim and Flam sure were consistent; a secret lab with a secret exit.

Gale raised an eyebrow. “How did you know wh-”

“It was on the blueprints,” I explained, stepping down the stairs. I replayed the image of the blueprints in my head. Unlike the other underground labs we’d ventured into, this one was built like a maze.

After the third turn, Gale spoke up, “Do you know where you're going?”

“I told you I saw the blueprints.” I replayed the memory again as we came to a split. “Straight.”

“Do you have them with you?”

“No, I saw them.”

“But that's not- Oh, right, eidetic memory.”

I made a right turn, which should have lead straight into the main lab, but instead I nearly slammed into a metal door. I pulled at it to no avail.

Gale rested against the wall since we had finally stopped moving. His breathing was ragged and strained. He's reaching his limit, but we're so close.

Hoofsteps echoed down the halls behind us, one set had a distinct ting as metal hit the ground. Damn, that guy just won't quit.

Gale nickered. “Can you unlock it?”

The door had multiple latches locking it down. It was likely opened with a computer.

“I can try?” I pulled out the lock picking device. The moment I crouched down, the door whirred, and the latches slid out of the way as the door opened.

“Wow, that thing is amazing,” Gale marvelled as he stepped through.

I followed, staring at the device. “I don't think-”

The door slammed shut and locked behind us. Two battered mares stood at the far end of the hall, holding revolvers in their mouths. They weren't dressed like Pandora’s Children, but Gale still levitated Hemorrhage out. They aren't showing up as hostile on my EFS!

“Wait!” a mare's voice yelled moments before I did. “No pony shoot!” The speaker, a stunning tan unicorn with a bleach blonde man and white lab coat, sped around the corner.

“Why dif you let dem in?” the blue mare on the right mumbled through her weapon.

“They're running from the raiders and we need him.” The unicorn pointed directly at me. “Please.”

The blue mare reluctantly holstered her weapon. Gale levitated his away as well.

The unicorn approached us without hesitation. Her cutie mark was a hexagon with a few branching lines. She grabbed my hoof and examined my Pip-Buck, adjusting her glasses. “This is exactly what we need.”

“Um hi?” I greeted. “I'm Ardent.”

The mare went from grasping my hoof to shaking it. “I'm Ionic Bond, and you’re our ticket out of here.”

Footnote: Level Up New Perk; Life Giver: You permanently gain 30 additional hit points.

Author's Note

Chapter 18 coming soon... Like really soon. It will be the final chapter of part 1 of 3.

Chapter 18: Generosity

Chapter 18

“...Come again?” I stared absently at Ionic Bond.

Apparently not one to repeat herself, Ionic Bond ended the hoof shake and motioned for us to follow. “Technically the Pip-Buck is the missing component but it had to be attached to an earth pony.” She sprung into a monologue as she walked us deeper inside the labs. “I cannot believe the odds of you showing up, it would be like finding a vein of astatine after moments into an excavation.” She snorted. “Could you imagine?”

“I literally can't,” Gale teased.

The mares guarding the door stared us down. The blue one made sure to keep a lot of distance between us as we passed. Her body had scattered bruises and not until I saw her from the side did I notice the size of her stomach, she was pregnant.

We turned and what revealed itself stopped me in my tracks. Terrified foals and mares filled the lab, most of the mares were in different states of pregnancy while the foals stayed hidden behind them. A pile of dead raiders in sickly green armor were stacked against a wall.

“Just past here,” Ionic Bond chirped in a peppy voice, unaffected by the sight. “We heard rumors that most of Pandora’s Children were leaving today. The goal was to move slow and quiet before they could notice but it seems some ponies decided to make a ruckus and botch up our plan.”

What? They can still get out of the back exit I saw in the blueprint.

Ionic Bond took a seat at a desk with a terminal and camera feeds of the hallways. Pandora’s Children knew we were in here, the lieutenant with the metal claws was outside the door ordering the other raiders around. Ionic Bond frowned but her voice remained optimistic. “I'm assuming your plan was to escape via the secret exit down here.”

My brow furrowed. “How did you-”

“Well too bad, they blew the tunnel ages ago. Nothing left but a mile of rubble.”

Shit! Wait, so they are all trapped here because of us?

Gale tilted his head. “I don’t quite get what's happening?”

“We are all trapped,” I explained. “They planned a prison break and our escape ruined theirs.”

“At least you’re quick on the uptake,” Ionic Bond praised, “But I'm a prisoner, they are breeding stock. I might actually recover from this but they have been tortured far beyond…” Ionic Bond lost all joy in her voice as she slumped down. “Their leader has a thing for logistics and planning for the long term.”

The eyes on most of the pregnant mares were sunken and void. The blue mare who had been guarding the door was now passing out food. She placed the cans next to the mares, being careful to avoid any physical contact. Most of them hardly noticed, they were completely detached from the things going on around them. Even on the day of their planned escape they had not bothered to hope for freedom.

I clenched my jaw as if I had just been called barmaid. “You said I could get us out of here, how?”

Ionic Bond lit up and jumped from her seat. “I'm not entirely sure what this place is, but they were building weapon prototypes designed by a genius.” She flipped a few switches on a control panel and yellow lights flashed as a hole in the ground opened up.

A thin mist rose up as a platform in the middle of the room opened. A platform raised to fill the gap, carrying a massive metal suit. Thick armor plating equal to that of a sentinel covered every square inch. A large gun with three barrels had been mounted to one side and a grenade launcher to the other. It somewhat resembled the steel ranger suit, just on steroids. Considering how Nibble treated her rocket launcher I can only imagine the things she would do to this marvel.

“Aren't you a prisoner?” I asked perplexed.

“Was, I'll be dead before I'm that again. They assigned me to get things like this operational. Which is ridiculous. See the mark?” She pointed at her flank. “I'm a chemist, not an engineer. They thought they could just throw any pony with a lab coat at the issue and they'll figure it out. I mean, I did… but that's not the point!”

I re-phrased the question, “Why would they trust a prisoner to fix weapons?”

“Well I can't use it.” She rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. “This model wasn't built to handle unicorns, also requires a Pip-Buck. The other thing I got working couldn't be operated by one pony. Heck not even with all the prisoners. The majority of Pandora’s Children may be as dense as platinum but their leader knows what he's doing. He is more like iron… No, more flexible and quick to adapt, maybe gold? Well he could be-”

“Okay, okay.” I waved a hoof to get her to stop talking.

“Sorry it's been forever since I've been able to talk to somepony normally, you know, without the usual threats and demands. Could you undress?”

“What! why?”

“The suit is form fitting and connects with you to read vitals. Wearing armor would interfere with that.”

Right, that makes sense. I nodded and removed my battle saddle, saddle bag, and barding. Holding the leather armor almost frightened me. Gale wasn't kidding when he said I needed new armor. The thing was riddled with holes, cuts, and blood stains, a large hole in both sides brought an unpleasant skewering memory to mind. I tossed the rags away and hoped the memory would go with it.

Gale poked at the the metal tail of the suit. “I thought Steel Rangers required months of training before being able to handle these things?”

“Yes, but not this one.” Ionic Bond jumped into her seat and opened up multiple text files on her terminal. “Like I said, designed by a genius. The spell matrix in the suit cooperates with the spell matrix in the Pip-Buck, and it's not additive it's multiplicative!” She turned to us with her eyebrows raised and a wide smile. Gale and I looked at each other and shrugged. The scientist sighed.

A muted explosion shook the ground and the lights went out. The children and mares cried out in horror, but a moment later the lights were replaced with spinning red strobes. Ionic Bond wheeled her seat over to view the camera feed as it flickered back on.

“It okay!” she avowed in an attempt to calm everypony. “They tried to force their way in so the blast doors activated. We have a while before they get through those.”

The whimpers of the adults ended, replaced with soothing coos in an attempt to calm the still crying foals.

“You said your name was Ardent?” Ionic Bond confirmed. “Here is what you need to know. The lifespan of this things is an hour, at best. Less whenever you use one of its abilities, and there’s like.” She bobbed her head as she mentally counted “Ninety two.”

My ears dropped.“How am I-”

“I have a spell.” Ionic tapped at her horn. “Before I get it started I can give you everything I know in a moment. Just realize each ability you use affects the battery life. The connection between the spell matrices is amazing but burns out fast. This thing was built to do massive damage in a short amount of time. You need to blast a hole for us to escape in that time. Got it?”

Realization dropped on me like a quarry eel. She expected me to get in that suit and save them. It is literally all up to me. My mouth hung open as I tried to come up with something to say.

“Good, no pressure.” Ionic Bond patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry there’s always the chance I fail to get it up and running before they break through.” She left to plug in various wires into the suit and hit a button near the left shoulder. Interlocking metal along the chest and head snapped open. The armor splayed apart like the maw of a large monster, the inside covered in black padding. The metal reached out like it wanted to grab somepony. Ionic Bond rummaged around inside the armor.

“Let's hope with two Pip-Bucks you'll never have to actually aim.” Gale laughed.

He could have been trying to lighten the mood in his own way, or maybe just thought we were doomed; either way the crushing weight of responsibility weighed just as heavy. I turned to him, ready to ask if he thought I could pull this off but was flooded with a sense of deja-vu as a sharp pinching pain stabbed into my flank. I looked back to see a syringe with a glowing white liquid empty into my body.

“Ionic, what the fu-” A surge of power ripped through me. I dug my hooves in place and felt immovable.

“Oh no,” I whispered, knowing what was about to happen. Sure enough, a jumble of images flashed and I lost consciousness.

======

I spread my legs, squared my shoulders, and took in a deep breath. On the exhale I bit down on the trigger and the rifles on my battle saddle fired. After I recentered from the recoil I fired again and again until the clip emptied. I flicked a switch and the paper target came closer for inspection. Four of the six shots had landed within the center red circle, the other two within the circle after that.

“Not bad,” Bolo bemused. He tilted his target, you could barely tell it had been shot six times given the single hole in the dead center.

“How did you get that nickname again?” I asked.

“Our platoon had an ironic theme.”

The doors to the shooting range slammed open. An orange mare with three apples for a cutie mark stormed out with a unicorn who struggled to keep up. Bolo and I held a salute as the ministry mare passed.

“Please Miss Applejack, you have a meeting,” the unicorn said, trying to slow Applejack down

“To hell wit’ it,” Applejack spat. “I got other matters to attend.”

“At least bring an escort,” the assistant pleaded.

Applejack paused. “Fine.” She spotted Bolo and I. “You two with me, we’re goin’ for a ride.”

“Yes ma’am,” we replied and unison.

Bolo glanced at me, a glance that held a thousand questions, but questions are for the higher ups, our job is to follow orders. I obeyed and took to Applejack’s right side. Bolo wisely followed my lead without question and took to her left. Applejack marched straight out of the building and into a carriage. Bolo and I sat together and left one side entirely to Applejack.

The driver strapped himself in. “Where to ma’am?”

“Flim Flam Headquarters,” Applejack seethed through clenched teeth. She stared out the window as the carriage pulled forward. Fire burned in her emerald eyes, and only intensified as the we rode. Bolo tried to ask a question once but the moment he opened his mouth the sideways glance from Applejack sealed it shut.

“Follow.” Applejack stomped out of the carriage.

I obeyed and stepped out. The HQ had been built with a gold trim between tinted window panels. Giant cutouts of Flim and Flam looked down on us from the top of the building with condescending smiles. The only difference between them was Flam’s moustache. Flim’s cutout was lowered enough so the white stripes in their red mane lined up with each other.

Applejack barged through the front doors and made a beeline for the receptionist. Quiet whispers filled the air as dozens of employees talked in the main lobby. The inside shared the same tinted glass panels covering offices. Clear glass railings spanned along the stairs and walkways on higher levels.

“I need to speak with Flim and Flam this second!” Applejack slammed her hoof on the counter.

All the workers in the immediate area ended their conversations at the commotion. Two earth ponies dressed up in blue security uniforms stepped out of a nearby office and slowly enclosed on us.

The receptionist went wide eyed. “Do- do you have an appointment?”

Applejack grabbed the poor mare and pulled her in. She spoke slowly, “Get them down here now.”

One of the security guards moved in and placed a hoof on Applejack. Without hesitation I grabbed the guard and pulled his hoof up around his side. He yelped in pain and more security ponies started to emerge from behind marble pillars and out of tinted offices.

“Well what do we have here!” a stallions voice yelled out and all the guards ceased their enclosure. Flim and Flam were on a second level overhang looking down on us with the same condescending smiles their cutouts had. They hopped on a glass railing and slid down to greet us.

“Our good friend, Applejack,” Flim greeted as he bowed down. Flam did damage control as he dashed from employee to guard at impressive speed waving them away and back to their duties. A hoof tapped my shoulder and in the time it took me to glance over something slithered between my hoof and the guard I was holding.

Flam had freed the guard and joined his brother. “To what do we owe this prestigious visit?”

Applejack fumed, “You know da-”

Flim suddenly popped up between Bolo and I, wrapping his hooves around us. “Why don’t we talk about this in a room more fitting a ministry mare.”

Flam pushed Applejack along. “Only the finest for our visitors.”

We relocated into the nearest conference room. Drinks and fresh fruit were set along the table, and the scent of apple cider filled the air.

“Get your thievin’ mitts off me!” Applejack bucked at Flam, but the unicorn slipped out of the way.

“Why Applejack.” He fused with his bowtie. “Where is this hostility coming from?”

“You know darn well where it’s coming from. You stole one of my Steel Ranger suits!”

Flim and Flam’s jaws dropped. Flam recovered first. “That’s a mighty big accusation.”

“I ain’t accusin’, I’m tellin’.”

“Well certainly if you're telling, you have some evidence,” Flim said. Applejack could only grit her teeth. Flim and Flam shared a smug grin.

Flim started, “Let's say possibly-”

“Hypothetically-”

“Theoretically we were the ones to take this armor-”

“What would we want with it?” Flam finished.

“I ain’t got a clue. You two only care for makin’ bits and it's not like you could sell it without my notice’n,” Applejack said.

“So you have no evidence-”

“No motive-”

“No reason to think it’s us,” they said simultaneously.

“I know you're concocting some sort of scam, just like with your shiny bolt shooters. Thank Rarity and her ministry that your ads ain't reaching real soldiers.”

“Oh?” Flam raised an eyebrow. “Is that what she told you?”

“Well no.” Applejack scratched at the back of here neck, her anger distracted by other thoughts. “To be honest we haven't spoken in awhile aside from quick calls, same for the others. I just know she would never allow you to advertise your faulty weapons to our soldiers.”

“It seems like Rarity understands what were selling because we never claimed they were weapons. That's why our advertisements reach almost every civilian.”

“You claimed they are for self defense,” Bolo exclaimed. Applejack turned in surprise as if realizing just now that we were still here with her. I mentally sighed. Both of them were letting their emotions control their actions. Taking emotions out of this Flim and Flam were destroying Applejack in this conversation, and they were about to school Bolo as well.

“And they are,” Flim confirmed. “Giving you valuable time to run if you were in danger, but they provide our customers with something far more valuable.”

“A false sense of security,” I answered, noting my insubordination would most likely be ignored given Bolo’s outburst and lack of punishment.

“A false sense to you maybe.” Flam pulled at his moustache. “But to the average Equestrian it give peace of mind, a valuable thing in these troubling times, and has the added benefit of being non-lethal in case any mentally unstable ponies get a hold-”

Applejack bucked the table over, the fruit and bottles falling to the ground. Flim and Flam flinched back from the violent outburst.

“Enough dammit!” Applejack yelled as she re-found her reason for coming here. “I know you took my armor! It's not just me either. Twi and Pinkie have taken notice of a few things disappearin’. Even Applebloom says she lost some inventory after dealin’ with a few of your sales ponies. And don’t think we haven’t noticed the ponies disappearin’ around your facilities.”

Flim and Flam actually shared a look from that accusation. “Ponies disappearing you say?” Flim pulled at his bowtie.

“It’s only a matter of time till we find the evidence!” Applejack turned to leave. “After that you'll have to answer to the Princess.”

======

I struggled to wake up as two ponies argued with each other, but my mind lingered on the dream. The image I created for Flim and Flam had come from the poster back at Featherweight’s Printing Press. Even in my dreams Flim and Flam seemed to be the focus point of many problems. If there was any consolation at least I was a stallion again.

“It was in the armor,” a mare's voice pleaded. “I thought it was necessary for the pilot.”

“He used another one like that before,” a stallion this time, he sounded like Gale. “He became paranoid and delusional. Who knows what two could do to him… If he dies I'll-”

It is Gale! I jolted awake as all drowsiness disappeared, the feelings from the dream faded as memories from moments ago caught up with me.

“Ardent!” Gale rushed over and I instinctively brought up my hoof to block the flashlight he tried to shine in my eye.

“I'm fine,” I answered before he could ask. “Could we not do the flashlight thing, please.” I spotted the injector that had rolled under Ionic's desk. The engraving glistened against the red light, “Be unwavering.” What element did this one represent? What was I on top of honest and loyal?

Gale lowered his head to get a peek at me. I dropped my hoof and stared at him. “See, fine.”

An explosion shook the ground.

Ionic Bond glanced at the camera feed. “They got through another one. We’re going to be cutting it close.”

“What can I do?” I asked.

Ionic Bond shook her head. “It's charging, only thing left to do it wait.”

======

Ever since I joined Elpis we had been in motion, either constantly in action or on the road. For the first time since then the only thing I could do was sit and wait, and it drove me crazy. I knew a fight was just around the corner but could do nothing to prepare. I sat among the rest of the prisoners, listening to the explosions, each one echoed louder and shook the ground more violently than the last.

A small maroon filly started to cry and two other fillies at her side cuddled against her. The three had yet to get their cutie marks and were alone without any of the older mares watching over them.

I got up but before getting too close the silver foal among the three broke off and confronted me. “J-just stay away.”

I put on a small smile as the shaking foal stood her ground. “Okay, I'll sit here. I was just about to tell a story, if any of you were interested?”

The maroon one stopped crying any wiped away her tears. “What kind of story?”

“It's a story of a small brown earth pony. It's about how he ended up going on a crazy adventure all over Equestria.”

The final filly, her coat may have been white but the filth had made her appear grey, asked, “What's his name?”

“He… Hey…” I fumbled as I attempted to improvise. It’s one thing to blatantly retell my story but to put my name in it would be a bit much. “Heiod! Heiod the Storyteller. You see Heiod use to work at a store. Day in, day out, he did the same boring tasks. The only thing that kept him going was hearing about the amazing things that happened in Equestria from customers. He desperately wanted to go out and see these things himself but he couldn't.”

The silver filly raised her hoof, but did not wait to be called on.“Why not?”

“I think… I think Heiod was scared,” I answered. “Do you know what it's like to be scared?”

The filly flushed and looked away, but nodded.

“Well, one day the adventures came to him. A giant robot dog attacked his town. Whenever it barked bullets shot from its mouth. Woof, bang. Woof, bang. Heiod was going to run away but then some other ponies showed up to fight the dog.

“Those ponies were so brave and each one of them had amazing abilities. One had super strength. One could fly. Another could build crazy machines, she was also very pretty. The last one could control fire, and make you feel better if you got hurt.

“The brave ponies fought the robot in an epic battle. Heiod stayed out of the fight but found a place to hide so he could watch. What surprised him is even with all their powers the brave ponies started to lose. In desperation the pretty pony put together a giant cannon to defeat the robot but before she could use it she got injured. Heiod only watched even though he knew they needed help, but what could he do? He didn't have any amazing powers so it's not like he could fight, but then Heiod realized something. The ponies fighting the robot were the ones creating the stories that he loved. He needed to do something even if it didn’t work, even if he got hurt trying. Heiod ran over to the canon and hit the big red button. A giant rocket came careening out and struck the giant robot dog. It destroyed it with a huge explosion!” By chance an explosion rang out at the same time. The children were immersed in the story, all three fillies were in awe at the sound effect instead of fearing it.

“After that the brave ponies asked Heiod to join them on their adventures,” I continued. “Now you see Heiod never felt like he belonged where he lived, he never had friends or family. He had his boss but that was… complicated. So when these brave ponies asked him to join it was like they were asking him to be apart of their family. Since Heiod longedfor that kind of inclusion he said yes.”

I went on telling them about how Heiod saved a pony who saved him when he was young. About the fight with the unicorn who controlled bugs.

The longer I went on the more the other children and mares came closer to listen. By the time I told the story of the quarry eel and Lazuline, the stable dragon, everypony had gathered around. Even Gale had been taken in by the tale. I went on and on about Heiod and his adventures. The blood wing infested sewers. The relaxing time at Tenpony. The time he met the buffalo.

Eventually I caught up to the present. Heiod had just found all the ponies who wanted to escape. He and the others were trapped and the bad guys were closing in. I paused, not sure what to say.

An explosion shook the room, the noise sounding like it was right behind the door.

The maroon filly pulled at my leg, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at the door the raiders were about to break through. “And then what happened?”

My story so far was full of decisions that I took to survive, decisions that simply let my story continue even if I had no idea how they affected the future. This time I knew how I wanted the story to play out. “After the smart unicorn got the magic armor working, Heiod got in and saved everypony.”

Then I saw it in all their eyes, the foals who had only know prison, the mares who had been through hell. Hope shimmered in their eyes.

A loud buzz rang out and Ionic Bond jumped up. “It's ready!”

I went to follow but Gale stepped in front of me. His mouth hung open as he struggled to find the right words. “Ardent this… What we're doing out here, traveling around, it... it suits you. So make sure the story doesn't end here.”

A surge of energy rushed from the nap of my neck through my entire body. My hair stood on end and I felt like I could take on the world. “It wont.”

As soon as I caught up with Ionic Bond her horn lit up and she touched it to my head. Knowledge rushed into my mind; weeks of research condensed into moments. Detailed information regarding the Steel Ranger Mark II and it's equipment, minigun, rocket jets, injectors, a variety of defense mechanism. The list kept going, ability after ability, how to use them, but then I learned about the drug inside the suit. It mixed in elements of Buck, Dash, Stampede and other chemicals. Designed to make the pilot bloodthirsty, that's why it required no training because the pilot went into a rage and killed everything in sight. For a moment the side effects of drugs were brought up, anxiety, depression, severe mental stress, split personality disorder, suicide. The survival rate amount users was zero percent, each user had committed suicide within days of using the drug.

I gasped as the spell ended. “Your going to kill me,” I tried to yell, but it only came out as a whisper. The spell had made me groggy like I had just woken up.

“It may not be that bad,” Ionic Bond tried to argue, “and if you do save us maybe I can help. Maybe…” Her eyes teared up as her peppy facade finally shattered. “There is another reason they have prisoners here.” Ionic Bond pushed me into the armor and hooked in my Pip-Buck. “If I refused, if I didn't work fast enough, I would wake up with a dead foal at my door.” She pushed a switch and darkness consumed me as the armor closed.

The cushions inside inflated and deflated until the armor fit like a second skin. The visor revealed a darkened world beyond the tinted glass. Ionic Bond moved the others away into a cell in the back. A new and improved HUD altered my vision as the suit sprang to life. Ammo, suit status, battery life, auto targeting, and more placed neatly onto the visor.

Before I had time to panic the drug set in. A burning sensation started at my flank and flowed throughout the rest of my body. I flexed repeatedly, each time my muscles feeling more powerful. I slammed my hoof down, denting the metal floor.

The last blast door gave way and half a dozen Pandora’s Children flooded in. SATS didn't need to be activated, instead it targeted hostiles automatically and didn't use any energy until I fired my grenade launcher. The first wave vaporized into a red mist that coated the walls, and the battery power went from a hundred percent to ninety-nine.

My eyes rolled up as pure ecstasy washed over me. Killing them scratched a major itch I never knew I had. My thoughts swam with all the possibilities of how to kill other ponies and I begged for more to come through the door. Instead it appeared they no longer wanted to play as red dots on my EFS moved away.

“Cowards!” The armor had a filter that dropped my voice a few octaves. I took chase and fired down the hall but only killed one who took their turn too slow. The narrow halls and frequent turns would make the grenade launcher ineffective, but one of the suits attacks came to mind. This will be fun.

I leaned forward, the position opening a compartment on my shoulder. I targeted the wall at the end of the hall. The battery life lost four percent as the bomb launched forwarded and exploded. Flames ran through the halls followed by a wondourus chores of screams. The suit didn't even flash warnings as I was surrounded by the fire. Red dots flickered out one by one and by the time the flames died off only charred corpses remained. The filter on the suit stopped the stench of burnt flesh from reaching me, what a shame.

There were no more red dots in my immediate vicinity but I knew where I could find more. Instead of trialling through the halls I simply jumped. The ceiling and ground above me gave no more resistance than a wet blanket. I ripped out of the earth and bursted out in the middle of the square where Epimetheus had his speech. My visior filled with new targets. Pandora’s Children scattered like ants, shocked by my sudden appearance. The minigun at my side spun as I prepared to fire. Some of the raiders grew a backbone and turned to fire. Their bullets struck the armor yet I could not feel their impact. I prioritized SATS on the brave ones first.

The minigun spit out three thousand rounds a minute and drained at the battery life. SATS only stayed on target for a second, because by that time they were no more than a pile of red mush. I entered my trance and focused on my vision. I watched their eyes as they realized they were about to be killed. I watched the bullets rip through them, each shot enough to tear off a limb or strip large portions of flesh. I left my trance and laughed as I continued to massacre them, but my joy prematurely ended as the minigun ran out of ammo. The suit automatically detached the weapon to reduce the weight which unlocked a new list of abilities.

The SATS locked onto a potential threat at the top of the main gate. A pink raider had jumped into a mounted turret and was taking aim. I shifted my legs and activated the jet boosters. Three percent of my battery disappeared as I flew through the air, landing next to her. Before she could swivel the gun I smacked her off the seat and pinned her head under my hoof. I recognized her as the mare that let us in as she flailed helplessly under my weight.

I leaned down and whispered, “Scream for me.”

She obliged, “Please don’t! I’ll do whatever you want! Help! Hel-”

“Yeah, that's the spirit.” I slowly applied pressure. Her eyes turned crimson as blood vessels popped inside her head. Her body spasmed after a few cracks of her skull until the bone gave way. Her head sank in, most of the contents splattering outward.

I took a moment to enjoy my work and failed to notice the warning of an incoming projectile. A rocket exploded against my side, ruining the mare below me. The visor flashed orange and gave a timer which showed how long before the self repair spell fully fixed the armor. I growled and turned to face whoever dared interrupt me.

The lieutenant with the eye patch had fired the rocket and she had another rocket launcher at the ready. She was flanked by two raiders who also took aim with their own rocket launchers. Behind them looked like an armoury. Fucking Jackals couldn't steal the rockets? I'll make sure they suffer. All three raiders fired in unison. My visor turned red to to inform the attack could be lethal. Symbols in top right appeared to offer possible counters to the incoming attack.

Let's go with this one. I scraped my front hooves together until they locked in place. The moment the rockets were range I pulled my hooves apart as the battery life dropped five percent. A wave of magical magnetism shot out and when it touched the rockets they spun one hundred and eighty degrees. For only having one eye the lieutenant was first to react as she dove back into the armoury and slammed the door behind her. The two raiders outside were blown to bits and the whole building ended up collapsing.

My visor flashed orange as a bullet tore through the armor and my leg. I didn’t feel any pain, just annoyance. My visor created a line from where the bullets impacted and traced it back to raider a few stories up in the black tower. My EFS zoomed in on him. His eyes went wide when he realized I had him in my sights. Another fun ability came to mind and the battery dropped another percent as a ray of light beamed into the sniper’s eyes. I saw him cry out and wave around frantically. I had just blinded him, permanently. In his panic he fell from the building and crashed into a hut below. He might have lived had he not landed on the edge of a piece of scrap that cleaved him in two.

After my EFS zoomed back out I realized Pandora’s Children had been shooting at me. It seems any weapon weaker then a rifle didn't even get a warning. My SATS did me the favor of locking onto all the mounted turrets along the wall which could possible damage me. Hatches along my back opened up and all the missiles I had decimated the walls defenses, along with a few raiders who were trying to get in them.

I watched the panic below me as the raiders fled aimlessly. My visor flashed orange as two metal claws cut into my visor but the material stopped the momentum of the attack right before it reached my eyes. I pulled away and the self repair spell started. I peeked over the side just as the lieutenant flipped up to my level. He had not only managed to escape the fire bomb but had just scaled the wall. My visor remained orange, designating him a moderate threat.

He rushed forward, slipping under me and the self repair spell timer increased. Though I couldn't feel it I bet he cut along the underside of my armor. I bucked hoping to hit him but instead the timer just increased again.

“I'll kill you!” I spun around just to catch a claw to my face as he raced behind me again. I grit my teeth but a cooling sensation sank into my flank as something injected into me, the frustration that had been building suddenly melted away. I ran down the list of close range countermeasures of which there were many. The creators of the suit must of known that close range, agile enemies were a danger. I finally found one fitting of this lieutenant. I dropped down and curled up.

The raider turned out to be ruthless as his assault continued. “Look at you,” he mocked. “All that armor and fire power and you give up at the slightest challenge. I'll have fun stripping your flesh piece by piece after I claw you out of- What the fuck!”

Looks like it kicked in. I got up with great delight and watched the raider as the flesh eating spell went to work.

The lieutenant stared at his hoof in absolute horror. Patches of hair fell away as his skin disappeared in rapidly growing patches, revealing raw, red flesh that just as quickly started to fade away. Soon the spell worked its way up his leg and the effects started all over his body.

As a last ditch effort the raider took a swing. The claws wrapped around his hoof no longer had enough to cling to and slid off. By the time his hoof reached me it was nothing but bone that shattered against the armor. I blamed the lack of screams from the fact most of his nerves were most likely gone, and he had a few holes in his throat. His face melted away and by the time the spell finished all that remained was a pile of hollowed bones.

Beautiful.

I turned back to the raiders that remained and debated all the ways I could mutilate them. With a flash of inspiration I decided on my final trick. It would need all the raiders on the ground level to be gathered together. I rolled my head and a dozen holograms of me appeared. It ate ten percent of my battery life but this would be worth it. I ordered the spell to chase as many raiders as possible near to the main gate. While they went to work I took a stroll.

I paid a visit to any raider who refused to get chased the right way or somehow had the brains to realize the other suits were merely holograms. More than a few times the raiders thought I too was a hologram. The realization in their face when I grabbed them was priceless.

Eventually, what remained of Pandora’s Children were boxed in by the main gate. Most of them weren’t even fighting back anymore, they just cowered and cried like children. That’s okay, the finale is mainly for show. I rotated my shoulder and a warning indicator popped up with a countdown. I turned so my grenade launcher faced the crowd. The armor activated every grenade I had stored and ejected them out.

The explosions created a tidal wave of blood and blew away a massive part of the main gate. I cantered through the red rain, letting it shower the suit a beautiful crimson. Internal organs and bits of flesh also speckled the armor which I thought added a lovely touch.

I stepped past the gate and took a low bow to my decimated audience. “Tada!” I had left Pandora’s Children headquarters on fire and riddled in death. I knew that last trick was the pinnacle of what I could do, but something wasn’t right. I wanted more. I needed more.

“He did it.” My suit picked up on Ionic bond’s voice. I watched the neutral indicators appear on my hud.

I held perfectly still. I knew what Ionic Bond would look for, she shared it with the information she gave me in her spell. She would want to check the light on the chest to see if the suit still had any power before letting me out because she knew I would kill her if the drug was still in effect. She trotted cautiously around me, staying far out of hoofs reach. She squinted her eyes trying to see past the blood.

“Ardent?” She waved. “Are you… okay?” She took a step closer.

I remained a statue in her eyes, but my eagerness to rip her apart was reaching its limit. Every muscle in my body started to tense with the anticipation.

Final Ionic Bond caved and ran over. “I’m sorry Ardent, but it will be okay. Let me get you out of there.” She wiped away the blood and stiffened. She looked up with a mixture of shock and fear, a look that drove me into a state pure euphoria. I caught her by the throat and lifted her up.

“I never want to leave.” I twisted my hoof and her neck snapped like a dried twig. I flung her body to the side and faced the crowd who would be my encore. All the women and children were there. My battery only had two percent remaining and all my ranged weapons were used. I laughed. It will be more fun this way. Hopefully the kids will provide a decent chase. I began my slow trot towards them, my stomach fluttering at some of their expressions. The hope I instilled in them faded, which was only right after all. I had given it to them, therefore it was within my right to take it away. Some of them probably weren’t even going to run.

I spotted Gale in the crowd and paused. Should he be first, or last? I wanted to save him for last, the perfect dessert after full meal but he would realize his fate while I slaughtered the rest around him. No, he had to be first, I needed to see his reaction to being betrayed. I began my trot towards them.

“Not another step!” a low raspy voice yelled.

I turned and the visor went red as multiple warning lights sprang to life. I froze as I stared into a pair of pink pupils.

“YOU..u…” my voice died off as my jaw froze. The ghoul stared me down and shielded the prisoners from his gaze. My battery ticked to one percent as diagnostics went wild. The suit tried everything to free me but was only burning through what little battery I had left. Nooooooo! I needed more! I’ll kill this ghoul! I’ll tear those eyes from his skull and jam them down his throat!

“Gale is that you?” the ghoul asked, slightly lowering his hoof to see his mohawk.

“Your real?” Gale replied. How dare they ignore me! I’ll take my time with them when I get free. I don’t need the armor I’ll do it with my bare hoofs!

“Of course I’m real. Where is Ardent?”

“You're staring at him.”

The ghoul almost blinked and that would be all I needed. A single blink and I would close my eyes. After that they would all be mine.

The ghoul kept his eyes open though. “What happened to him?”

Gale and him droned on with conversation. I don't care. I want blood. I preoccupied myself with fantasies of what I would do to them when I got free. Tearing Gale’s horn off and using it like a dart to skewer a filly. The battery finally hit zero percent. I could rip the skin off a mare and see how long she stays alive. HUD indicators flickered out one by one. Stomping on their stomach till their insides are forced out of their mouth. The burning sensation in me started to ebb away. Strangling them with… with their own torn off tail. A new burning sensation formed around my eyes. Ripping out their… their tongue and… and getting out of here. A cool liquid ran down my face. I need to get out of here. The drug wore off and all the memories of my terrible deeds forced their way into my mind. I want out of this thing! Please Luna, Celestia, anypony, help me!

Footnote: Level Up New Perk; Sniper: +25% chance to hit the targets head in SATS
New Perk; Generosity Injection, Your endurance has been permanently increased by 2.

Author's Note

Well this is it, the official end of part 1 of 3! To see what's next check out the blog, also need some commission ideas.

https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/829647/fallout-equestria-anomaly-part-1-of-3-complete-art-inside

Chapter 19: A Long Face

Chapter 19

Help me! Only my mind could scream since the rest of my body was frozen. The ghoul’s pink pupils cut through the darkened, blood-covered visior of the drained Steel Ranger suit. Please free me, I tried to communicate to the ghoul through thoughts alone. They didn’t appear to reach him since his stare stayed determined on me. Not that it matters, the suit would be as much of a prison as the ghoul’s stare. Maybe I’ll just stay here.

I would have shaken myself I could have. Why did I think that? I wanted to get out, didn’t I? My head felt fuzzy.Clouds of apathy started to form in my mind, dulling my emotions. What would it matter if I got out? Not like it would change what I did. I could sense more clouds piling in at a rapid pace, forming together like the cloud cover, blocking out anything that tried to pass through. I should stay put. In fact that may be best. There’s a chance they’ll have to power the suit back up in order to get me out and when that happens-

I mentally winced as something massive crashed into the cloud cover in my mind. A single thought pierced through and demanded action. Stop thinking! I slipped into my trance and the world faded into the background as I focused on my hearing.

I locked onto an incoming caravan, the wheels digging into the earth as it came to an abrupt halt. I could hear the swish of air as a pegasus flapped their wings, flying past me and landing next to the ghoul.

“What do you think you are doing?” Clover’s voice demanded in a whisper.

“I had to,” the ghoul replied in the same hushed voice. “He was about to kill them.”

“Who was?”

“Ardent.”

Clover paused for only a moment before growling out, “Gale, report!”

“Short version, we found ourselves in the middle of a prison break. Ardent got in the Steel Ranger armor and murdered our way out, but at the end there it looked… well, like we were next on his list.”

As my focus switched back to Clover all I could hear was teeth, grinding and scraping together. He stomped toward the escapees. “Who put him in that suit?”

“Ionic Bond,” one of the mares in the crowd answered. I recognized her voice, she was the blue-coated mare guarding the door.

“And where is this, ‘Ionic Bond?’”

“There.”

Images of Ionic Bond’s carcass flashed in my mind. Her body crumpled on the ground, her neck bent like a dry branch that had been stepped on. Don't think! I re-focused into my trance.

“Saves me some time,” Clover hissed.

“Why did he turn on us?” Gale asked.

“There’s a drug inside the suit to enhance the user’s combat abilities by making them extremely hostile and aggressive,” Clover explained, his tone cutting out any emotion.

“How could you know-” Gale paused. “Once it wears off, will he be okay?”

“... No.”

Two more sets of hooves approached. Based on the heavy thumps, one belonged to Mangle, and the other to Nibble whose saddle bag let off small metallic tinks with each step.

Before either could ask any questions, Clover took charge, “Nibble, get that suit open! Gale, Mangle, take the prisoners and loot the place. Make sure they get enough supplies to make it to Tenpony.”

“Understood,” they replied in unison.

Nibble trotted over, plugged something into the armor, and tapped at her Pip-Buck.

“So,” Nibble said, “you're the magic ghoul Ardent talked about, the one following us with the magic stare?”

“That would be- ah- ah- ah! No looking,” the ghoul directed. I could hear some of his necrotic skin squish as he shifted his hoof, most likely to block any glances from Nibble and catching her in the same petrifying stare I was held in. “Would be difficult to free you without freeing him.”

“Who’s in there?”

“Funny story- and not to worry you- but Ardent.”

“What? Is he okay?” Nibble’s breath quickened, her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

“None of that blood is his if that's any consolation. At least, I don’t think it is?”

Nibble’s typing went wild as she rushed to finish her work. “It's out of power,” she stated. “You can stop with the magic eye trick.”

“You're absolutely sure?” the ghoul asked.

“Why do you care?”

“Because the last pony wrong about that got her neck snapped.”

Nibble’s throat caught before she confirmed, “I'm certain.”

The ghoul’s skin squished as he turned his head away, not that it mattered; the drained suit kept me from moving as much as the ghoul’s gaze.

“Ardent, are you okay?” Nibble fretted as she tried to peer through the visor. “Can you hear me?”

“Maybe it needs power for the voice to work?” the ghoul offered.

Nibble tapped away on her Pip-Buck and let out whispered curses and apologies as she worked.

My focus wandered until I locked on to Gale’s dutiful voice as he finished explaining the long version of our mission.

“What are we doing with the prisoners?” Gale asked.

“As I said, “Clover replied, “They'll make the journey to Tenpony. Alone. I can send Gearwing to let them know they have refugees incoming. Maybe word it like they owe us. DJ Pon3 always paints crap like this as if we planned to help all along.”

“And the ghoul?”

“Send the prisoners off first.”

“I did it!” Nibble yelled out, my focus following the loud cheer. She slammed a button on the suit's chest and steam hissed out of the seals as it spread open. I tore myself free from the form fitting armor and stumbled into Nibble’s embrace as she wrapped her hooves around me and squeezed. “Are you okay?”

My hearing faded as I focused on touch as I buried myself into her mane. Her soft hair brushed against my muzzle as I pressed against her neck. The warmth of her body heated my face and I could feel the rhythm of her heart. My eyes began to burn. Thank you for getting me out. I’m so sorry I- DON’T THINK! I had no choice but to leave the comfort and pushed Nibble away. My senses of touch faded as all sounds amplified.

“What's wrong with his eyes?” the ghoul asked.

“Don't look at him!” Nibble snapped.

“Worry not, when you have eyes like mine you learn to see without staring.”

“Ardent, you can snap out of it now,” Nibble whispered.

I shook my head.

“What's going on?” Clover demanded as he flew in.

“Ardent won't leave his trance thing.”

“Is that right?” Clover stepped forward, and in a moment my hearing faded, the rough outlines of everypony rapidly focused as my eyes narrowed on Clover’s incoming hoof. I jumped away from him, narrowly avoiding the jab that would force me from my trance.

Clover’s brow furrowed, his jaw tensed up, and his eyes stared me down. He marched towards me but I took a step back for each step he took forward. He came to a stop and closed his eyes, his chest expanding as he took in a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, an arrogant smile spread across his face. He turned his gaze to another and yelled out something. I followed his gaze directly to Mangle.

She shrugged off nearly a dozen pieces of barding she had brought over for the escapees and tilted her head. Clover barked another command and Mangle trotted over without question. Nibble pleaded to Clover, shaking her head as her eyes darted between me and Mangle.

Before I could really understand what was happening, Mangle casually closed the distance between us and took a swipe at me. I lifted my head just in time to avoid the attack and backed away.

Mangle stared at her hoof after it struck nothing but air, as if this was the first time she had ever failed to hit her target. Her piercing blue eyes slowly raised up to meet mine and a dangerously playful grin spread across her muzzle. She stamped her hoof on the ground in excitement and sprung forward, a small cloud of dirt pluming out. For such a small mare she got enough height for me to duck under her attack, which she might have been expecting because the moment her front hooves landed, her back hooves folded into a bucking position. She kicked out and my only option was to drop. Gravity took over as her hoof grazed across the tip of my ear. If she hits me I wont be able to- STOP!

Mangle gave no time for me to recover as she spun around with a hoof out, putting all her speed and momentum behind it, her blonde hair straightening out as it dragged behind. Knowing I couldn't dodge this time, I brought my hoof up and jabbed it forward. Mangle had a shorter reach, and before her hoof reached my face, mine slammed into her nose and sent her stumbling back.

Blood rushed from Mangle’s nose and her smile vanished, replaced with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. She spit out a gob of blood and readied her power hooves. From the corner of my vision I could see Nibble step forward to intervene, but Clover put a wing in front of her. His stare held her in place better than the ghoul’s magic.

Mangle pivoted and her power hoof propelled her forward at alarming speed, a massive plume exploded from behind her. I recognized the attack. Ignoring instinct, I rushed forward and slid under her once more. The use of Mangle’s power hooves put her even higher and she overshot me by a few feet.

I expected her to rush in again, repeating the same move over and over, but she paused to examine her power hoof. She activated the hoof sized metal plate, watching it jut out. She smirked, pivoted, and repeated her same attack but slightly lower. Still enough room for me to slide under, so I ran forward and repeated the process.

Mangle let her back leg drop and it came mere inches from my side. Time nearly froze as I saw her activate her power hoof. The metal crept out and crashed into my side. The pain rippled from the point of contact all the way to my core. I bounced off the ground, and waited for my trance to end, for all my repressed thoughts to come back in a massive wave, but something was off. The trance should have ended the moment Mangle landed her attack.

My trance started to slip. Not from the pain in my side, but because my mind was going wild trying to figure out what was happening. I could sense it, a limit to how much information I could backlog before I needed to process it. I had never been in my trance for this long, I never knew I had such a limit. I tried to ease up on my trance, just let a few thoughts through before returning.

You hurt them- had to- wanted to- liked to. I’m a monster. They were children!

This was a mistake, shut it out!

The others- Clover. The drugs- not my fault! Yes, it is. I killed Ionic Bond, an innocent defenseless pony! I’m a monster!

Please stop! Stop! STOP!

The escapes will be okay, they’ll be safe. Get me out of this thing! Nibble… Thank you. I just want to stay like this. My trance- Can’t leave- I’m sorry. Don’t touch me! What does he want with Mangle? Whoa- no- no- GET AWAY! I’m sorry. I had to hit you. I’m a monster. Oh shit. She’s pissed. What is she planning? SHIT! It hit but I'm still in my trance, but how? I can feel the pain but- the injection!

I gasped after the wave finally ended. I pulled myself off the ground and grasped at my side. It burned like fire, and my body threatened to give out from under me.

Clover lowered his wing, and Nibble rushed to my side. “Are you back with us?”

“I-” My eyes caught sight of Ionic Bond’s corpse. I tilted my head. Weird, I don’t care. My time in the trance had let the clouds of apathy build. An entire cloud cover seemed to shield me from any emotion. Like this I won’t need to be in my trance.

“Ardent. Ardent!” Nibble called out. She shook me, as if trying to remove me from my trance.

“Enough of this,” Clover chided. He flew over and raised a hoof, but before bringing it down on my face he paused. He forcefully lifted my chin and stared into my eyes. “Will you do what I order?”

I nodded.

“He’s fine,” Clover assured Nibble. Yeah, I’m fine. I tried to say it but it seemed like too much effort.

“No,” she protested. “He’s still in that trance, you-”

Clover loomed over her. “I said he’s fine. Now, both of you, get those ponies geared up and moving. Understood?”

“Understood,” Nibble replied as she shrunk away from him. She started to trot to the escapee’s.

“I said both of you,” Clover noted. He stared at me, but the anger he had for Nibble seemed absent for me.

He did say both of us. I glanced down at my hooves as they remained still. I should move, I should obey. A beige hoof entered my vision and wrapped around my hoof.

“Come on Ardent,” Nibble said. She pulled and it seemed to be the jump start I needed to get moving. She dragged me over to Gale who had my studded armor and battle saddle next to him.

“Help them,” Gale said, gesturing his head toward the children. “I’ll get his stuff back on.”

“Right,” answer Nibble. She faced me, tears were forming at the corner of her eyes and only seemed to grow the longer she held the gaze. Is she crying because of me? I should feel bad, right? She reached out and wrapped her hooves around me. The sensation against my skin seemed dulled as if I were in my tance. The warmth from the hug was gone, replaced with a cold emptiness.

I caught sight of the Steel Ranger armor and though I may not have felt anything I knew I hated it, I knew it was to blame, and I knew what I wanted to do. I wrapped one hoof around Nibble and let the other one slide into her saddle bag. I searched around until feeling cold metal, and a metal stem.

Nibble broke the hug, and I tucked the grenades I had stolen under my leg. She wiped away her tears and put on a smile before trotting over to the children. I glanced at Gale who had my battle saddle in his magic. “What’s this strap for?” he mumbled.

With everypony distracted I trotted over to the Steel Ranger armor. The open suit reached out as if it wanted me back. It wanted to consume me and forever change me into that monster. It promised me the return of feeling with its drugs. I bit my lip, knowing what I could have what I wanted. I’m a monster. I bit down harder till I tasted iron on my tongue. I can’t have this temptation existing.

I pulled out the grenades and yanked out the stems. They disappeared into the darkness of the suit as I tossed them in. I backed away a few steps and realized if the suit had any ammunition left the explosion would take me out as well. Oh well.

The grenades detonated. I winced as the force rippled through me. The Steel Ranger suit may have withstood outside damage well but the grenades from inside ripped it apart. I watched with empty satisfaction as chunks of metal went flying in every direction. A part of the armored leg ricocheted off my scalp, the pain barely registered but I could felt the warmth of blood as it started to cover my left eye.

The mares and children screamed from the violent noise and instantly took to cowering. Even partially armored and equipped with weapons they were helpless. If they ran into anything from here to Tenpony they were done for and the odds of that weren’t exactly low.

Clover tackled me to the ground and shoved his hoof against my throat.

“You idiot,” he growled. “That could have been the weapon we needed to stop him.” Fire burned in his eyes as his hoof dug deeper.

I laid limp, blood filling half my vision, taking in shallow breaths.

He bent his head down and whispered, “Show me anger, fear, anything.” I could feel Clover’s hoof press down until it closed my windpipe, my chest burned as it begged for oxygen. I should probably do something. My head became fuzzy, and my vision started to fade. Clover let up just before everything went black.

“Clover,” Nibble barely spoke up as she picked up a piece of the Steel Ranger armor. “I doubt we could get it working again.”

Clover glared at her. “Don't lie to me.” He jabbed his hoof into my neck again causing me to cough and wheeze.

Nibble eyes widened. “I'm not- I mean... It required a massive amount of energy that we don't have access to.”

“If we did?”

Nibble looked away but eventually nodded.

Clover released me and with unquestionable authority yelled out, “Those of you who escaped and need a place to go need to head to Tenpony. Head that way and with luck you will run into some buffalo that may help, if not you should arrive by nightfall if you keep moving. Elpis, we're leaving, now!”

======

All eyes were on our new companion as he fell into an odd routine, well aside from Clover who kept glancing back to check on me. The Doctor would remove his sunglasses and stare out into the distance for a few minutes then put them on and do a bit of pacing before repeating the process.

“Well I lose this game,” Gale said after the fifth repeat. “What are you doing?”

“Hmm?” The Doctor replied. “Oh, the pacing, right. Well you see I’m not very good with the waiting thing. I liked following you all from a distance, kept me on the move, distracted.” Sand and dirt coated the bottom of his legs like a second skin.

“Why don’t you have any armor or weapons?” Nibble asked.

“Guns? What dreadful things, I’ve no need for them, and armor would just get in the way of my personal duds.” The Doctor tugged at what looked like his neck but looking closer a bow tie had been engulfed by his flesh, leaving an outline.

“How do you defend yourself?”

“Oh, I have at least one trick that seems to work.” The Doctor played with his sunglasses.

“How does that work exactly?” Nibble hopped up and grabbed a hold of the sunglasses, lifting them ever so slightly and froze. The Doctor froze for a moment as well. I doubt many ponies purposely stared into his eyes. He backed away until the sunglasses fell back down and freed her.

Nibble shook as if her coat was drenched. “Well that's weird. I felt heavy… like…”

“Stone,” I finished.

Nibble gave me a wavering smile. It was the first time I said anything since we left.

“Correct,” The Doctor said. “What you felt was the magic of a cockatrice. It's something I was working on before the war.”

“Before the war?” Nibble and Gale said simultaneously as they backed him into a corner and started to bombard him with questions.

My hairs stood on end and my ears perked up. The Doctor knew about the world before the war? The stories he must know are ones I have wanted to hear my whole life. Yet just as quickly my head lowered as the veil of clouds refused to let anything through.

A side effect of drugs? Ionic Bond might have been able to explain if she wasn't dead. Hopefully it's temporary. I glanced at Clover just as he turned his head to face the road. He explained the drug to Gale, but how did he know? A pang of curiosity poked a hole through the clouds but was quickly snuffed out.

“Um, yes, no, yes, yes, only once, and no,” the Doctor answered in rapid succession. He went to adjust his bow tie to no avail.

“Wait, was that third yes for me, or the just once, because either way that means...” Nibble’s jaw hung open. “You met the Goddesses.”

I should be excited about that right? It means he met Luna. I waited for something to happen, an emotion to surge through me, maybe my hooves to tremble. Instead I just sat, staring at myself, waiting for something to happen.

“Enough,” Clover called out. He pulled back on the reins and everything in the caravan lurched forward as we came to a stop. “Everypony out and line up.”

Clover brought The Doctor to face each of us. A sense of deja vu washed over me from the time I had my official introduction to Elpis, though this time I was on the other side.

“It’s time you meet one of Elpis’ founding members. The Doctor.”

The ghoul gave a wave to everypony. “Nice to officially meet all of you,” he greeted. “I’ve never been part of one of the group intros, quite exciting.

“Is there room for two doctors?” Gale asked as a slight grin formed on his face.

“You're more of a surgeon than a doctor, but to be fair I'm more of an inventor than a doctor.”

“Oh, like me?” Nibble asked.

“No- no- no, my inventions were a little less violent, although there were the fireworks…”

Clover moved on, “The Doctor has been our secret back up for a while, but since you have all seen him, he might as well join us.”

My jaw clenched as a massive emotional bomb detonated, ripping a huge hole in the emotionless veil. “The whole time?” I growled through my teeth.

Everypony turned to stare at me.

“Interesting,” Clover mumbled.

I marched forward and got right into Clover’s face. “You knew about him the whole time! You let the others think I was crazy. I thought I was crazy! Why?” I tried to hang onto the fiery anger, but the cloud cover refused to let me keep my emotions as it repaired itself. I took a step away from Clover and could feel the muscles for my scowl relax.

Clover watched me closely. His brow furrowed as I backed off, as if he was upset I stopped being angry with him.

“Ardent.” I turned to see Nibble inching closer. Tears swelled in the corner of her eyes. “Please stay with us.”

I knew what I should be feeling, Nibble was on the verge of tears because I shut out everything and everypony. It’s my fault. Just as the numbing veil was about to fully repair, a burst of guilt held it open. C’mon barmaid, you can give her this much can’t you? “I will.” I meant to sound genuine, but the words were hollow and void. Even so Nibble smiled as her amethyst eyes met mine.. A bit of curiosity slipped through.

“What do my eyes look like when I'm in my trance?” I asked. Shot Chaser always knew when I was in my trance yet never mentioned how, but both Nibble and Mangle had mentioned my eyes.

“It's the same look Clover has sometimes, they're just blank, like you've given up.” Nibble slipped back into her normal peppy self as she wiped away any lingering sadness. “Although they change when you are focusing on your vision. Then it's the opposite, your pupils narrow and you look kind of scary.”

“That's good to know.” I forced the corners of my mouth to rise into a smile.

Nibble put a shaky hoof on my cheek and stared into my eyes. “Are… Are you sure you're with me?”

“I wouldn’t be able to talk to you otherwise, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Nibble assured herself.

“Hey,” Mangle called out. “The fuck is that?”

======

Mangle had pointed out an abandoned shack. The ground around it had been fenced off for gardens, but all the plants were dead and shriveled. Rusted farming tools rested against the sheet metal siding.

The front door screeched as Mangle pushed it open. She flinched back and waved her hoof in front of her nose. “Smells like shit.”

“Manure I would assume.” The Doctor took a smell and scrunched his nose. “Ah, the smell of being right.”

Clover turned on his Pip-Buck light and stepped inside. He shuffled around inside for a while before returning to the door.

“Plenty of room,” he informed. “We’ll set up camp here. Nibble there’s a terminal, it's locked.”

Nibble lit up and wedged her way past Clover. Gale and I brought out a few blankets and passed out dinner, though the Doctor waved away any food or water we offered. The rancid scent of the shack had been muted for me, as if the numbness somehow altered my sense of smell. Which was probably true given it robbed me of taste. The canned carrot I tried to eat tasted like the color grey and I stopped trying to eat after a single bite. Nibble read the text file she found in between bites of her food.

“That damn merchant must have seen how desperate I was. I have been trying to grow something out here for almost a year, but everything dies. Yet here comes some pony claiming that these are magic seeds and they can grow in extreme conditions. ‘They will feed me for the rest of my days’ she claimed.

“Cost me every last bit and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. These stupid black seeds aren't growing. I wanted to test just how strong they were, so I started them in the basement, when they failed to grow I tried outside with the same result… I'm so hungry and if the damn things aren't going to grow, they might as well be food”

Gale tapped against one of the walls. “Did you say basement?”

Nibble’s eyes followed one of the cords that trailed out of the terminal. A grin flashed across her face as she entered a few more commands on the computer. “Gale could you tell me where this cord goes?”

Gale got up and followed the cord into a corner of the hut. “It ends here.”

“It sure does.” Nibble waited till Gale saw her grin, then hit a button on the terminal.

Gale’s eyes widened as a hatch below his feet clicked. His devilish grin took over. “Well played.”

The floor beneath him fell away as Gale dropped into the basement. A single curse escaped him as he landed with a thump. Air from the basement poured out, heavy with humidity and manure.

Nibble smiled at me expectantly. Not sure how to react I gave her another fake smile, which seemed satisfactory to her.

“Can't see.” Gale called up.

Nibble flicked on Pip-Buck light and revealed the room below. Empty, cracked pots lined one of the walls. A glowing terminal sat next to a hallway blocked by a plastic cover. Water condensed onto the plastic, making the hall beyond impossible to make out.

“Why don’t you all check it out,” Clover ordered. “The Doctor and I have a few things to discuss, outside.”

“We do?” The doctor replied, and when he caught Clover’s stare he nodded. “Ah yes, of course we do.”

Nibble jumped down and went straight to the terminal, stepping over Gale as she passed him. I went down with Mangle.

Gale reached out and grabbed me in order to help himself up. He dusted himself off. “You know Nibble hated my games,” Gale explained. “So for her to risk getting involved again just to cheer you shows how much she cares. You see that right?

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“If that is how you are now, you better learn to lie better,” Gale said with a frown.

Nibble started to read a text file she found, “It's been three days since I've eaten those seeds and I'm still full. Maybe she wasn’t scamming me after all. Without the distraction of starving to death I’ve been able to finish the basement green room. It has lights enchanted with natural sunlight and a misting system. I must have pulled something when putting in the piping though because my stomach is killing me.”

“Well let's see if it still works.” Nibble hit a few commands and lights in the hallway flickered to life. Mist poured out and fogged up the hallway past the plastic cover. Nibble pushed her hoof through the dangling plastic strips and waited. Her eyes widened when silence followed.

“It's clean,” she said.

“Does that mean there is a water talisman here?” I asked.

Gale turned to head back up the stairs, but Nibble cut him off. “Wait, we should find it and let Ardent give it to him.”

“You know Clover would want to be told right away,” Gale said flatly.

“Please,” Nibble begged.

For some reason Nibble wanted to get me on good terms with Clover. I couldn't comprehend why she cared, I certainly don't.

Gale rolled his eyes, turned back around, and offered for Nibble to lead the way. She hopped forward and wiggled through the plastic cover.

The flaps of plastic fell back into place, each one held a reflection of me. One of the reflections started to change. My barding disappeared, my coat taking on a lighter color, and my form slimming down into a more feminine outline. My eye color shifted to- Whatever. I pushed past the plastic and didn't bother to look back.

I had to shield my eyes as we passed through. Long, radiant bulbs spanned each side of the wall. A powerful heat mixed with the mist to create a sauna like atmosphere.

Black roots with thick white spikes branched along the walls and ground, growing in density the further down the tunnel we traveled. Gale stopped for a moment and gave one of the spikes a poke. The sharp edge sank into his hoof without any resistance and a trickle of blood started to leak from the wound.

He whistled. “Watch your step.”

Mangle did the opposite as she let her weapons wrap around her hooves. She led the way, pushing any larger roots in order to create a clear path. Nothing could be done about the roots along the wall that covered the lights, and Nibble’s Pip-Buck quickly became the best form of illumination. Mangle pushed away roots covering an entryway and we broke through into a back room.

Another terminal hummed, shedding a pale green light. The roots clung to the ceiling and crawled along the walls, but seemed to leave the ground alone.

Nibble assumed her role and logged onto the terminal. I peeked over her shoulder as she opened the only file on the computer. Without thinking she started to read, “They're alive. The seeds. I can feel them grow and move inside me. It burns. I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried to end it, I put the barrel of my shotgun into my mouth…” Nibble stopped to read on without speaking. “Celestia have mercy.”

I decided to continue the reading, “But the roots burst from my skin and pulled the gun away. They need me. They feed off me. Even now they have rooted me to the ground. As time goes on more of my body and plant fuse. It hurts. I want to die. Please somepony, anypony, kill me. Kill me. Kill me.”

“K- kilLll~ll m.Me~ee”

Roots covering the active lights shifted out of the way, releasing a blinding flash . As my vision returned Nibble let out a blood-curdling scream.

In the center of the ceiling a pony's head stared down at us. One eye wide and pleading, the other dangled uselessly as a small root swekered it from its socket. Its spine and flesh had melded with the roots and stretched to a nightmarish length.

“Kill me, h.Heeaaart, hurrr-” The voice cut off as many small roots burst from his throat. The room appeared to come to life as all the roots wriggled around simultaneously. I backed up only to bump into the others as we became boxed in. Gale and Nibble levitated their weapons out.

Muffled noises brought my attention back to the ceiling. The pony, if you could call it that, waited until it was sure I was staring into its one eye. It slowly looked down causing me to follow. In the corner of the room a cluster of roots shielded distorted and mutated organs, including a still beating heart.

I attempted to enter S.A.T.S but it failed to recognize the target. Maybe the other will do it?

“Gale.” I pointed.

Without hesitation he aimed, and the shimmer of his magic created a line from his weapon to the heart. As if the roots could sense the magic tiny while flowers bloomed, belching out clouds of tiny white spores. Gale’s spell bent and twisted until ultimately imploding, but more than that Gale and Nibble lost control of their weapons as they clattered to the ground. Nibble poked at her horn as her magic fizzled out completely.

“Grenade?” I asked.

She checked her bag. “You used them all…”

I glanced back seeing the roots block off the exit. Oh shit. The veil of numbness that had been blocking off my emotions was not ready for the blast of guilt that had just detonated. It’s one thing if my mistake were to just end my life but I won’t cost the others their lives. There has to be something. I had to be able to stay motivated through this, had to keep the others alive through any means.

I went back, grabbing a memory from earlier today. The memory of my flanks burning as the Steel Ranger suit injected me with a chemical mix. Even without the real thing I lived it all again, the sense of power running through my veins, the bloodlust so powerful I could taste iron. I don’t even need the suit; I have this sensation whenever I want!

“Mangle crush the heart!” I demanded of her in a growl.

Without hesitation Mangle launched herself at the heart. Though just as they could sense magic they could sense the incoming danger as every root curled towards her like a giant net. A small agile root caught her back hoof first and pulled her down while others rushed in to rip her to pieces. A smile crested my face as I could only imagine the carnage soon to follow. She smashed the root holding her, the bark cracking from the pressure. She activated her front power hoofs, the force pushing her out of the way of the attack and back to us. I thought she made it out unscathed until she brought a hoof to her chest. Blood covered her hoof as she pulled it away. One of the spikes had sliced through her leather barding and skin like paper. Disappointing.

My gaze went from her, the heart, the roots circling us, and to Nibble and Gale as they gathered their weapons without magic. We can’t win, save them! My own thoughts yelled, cutting through the bloodlust.

“Run!” I ordered. I bit down on the handle of my sword and sliced at a patch of the roots that blocked our escape. The bark on the outside was extremely dense, holding my attack in place for a moment. I tensed my neck and the moment the bark gave way the blade slide through with a wet squelch. The roots fell to the ground and writhed for a moment before becoming motionless and shriveling up. The cut ends retreated back to the ceiling.

I waved a hoof down the hall. As they moved past me a small black plant, with leaves surrounding a blue center, appeared in front of my face. It spit out a cloud of purple fog.

The fumes burned at my eyes and lungs. I wretched and coughed, my sword clattering to the ground. The plant only spit out more for me to breath in as it hovered in front of my face. On top of all that, I felt the veil of numbness repair itself as my memory of the drug faded. My vision went foggy and I could feel the world slip away.

I could accept this. I could die here while the others escape. It’s easy, I just needed to keep breathing.

“Ardent!” I heard Nibble cry out.

I focused my vision and could see Nibble. Smaller roots had tangled themselves into her mane and were dragging her back into the room.

Come on barmaid, you just going to sit there? I grit my teeth. It won’t be a good story unless you save them.

I craned my neck and grit my teeth around the handle of my blade. I cut the plant attacking me in half with a quick swipe. I rose to my hooves, and after a big breath of clean air I could focus again. I rushed over to Nibble and cut away at the roots tangling in her mane, but they came from too many directions and new ones slipped in to replace the ones I had cut. Better a new look than dead. I placed my blade close to the base of her mane and slid it up. Nibble lurched forward as she was freed from the vines and ran to the exit.

I followed close behind but paused when I heard a muffled scream from the pony on the ceiling. I turned back; tears were flowing from its one good eye as he watched us flee. My outburst of emotion was going to end soon and then I wouldn’t care about him or his fate. I… I’ll try.

I turned, aimed my battle saddle at the cluster of organs, and emptied my clip. By the time my shots got anywhere near the target the roots had balled up to defend the organs.

From the corner of my eye Mangle appeared and smashed a root in my blind spot, the spike was mere inches from my neck. Would have been painless. With that thought I knew the numbness had returned, knew if I had been myself, I may have thought differently.

“Move it dumbass!” she grunted as the root writhed under her hoof. I spared a final glance to the pony on the ceiling. He muffled out screams as the plant completely engulfed him. Looks like I’m not the only one who must live today.

Mangle and I ran through the almost living hallway, roots bursting from the dirt walls, smashing through the metal pipes. I made no attempt to dodge each time a root dove for me, but Mangle dove to and fro, smashing each tendril that sought to end my life. The roots shrunk in size as we neared the exit. Nibble and Gale waited at the base of the stairs and once we regrouped, we moved out of the shack.

Roots had broken out of the earth and were surrounding Melody. Clover swooped in, firing his battle saddle at any roots who made it too close. Once struck their slow crawl to the brahmin ended as they darted after Clover. The Doctor also tried his best to be a useful distraction as he bucked at some of the protruding roots, but they didn't seem to pay him any mind.

“About time!” Clover yelled. “Clear a path!”

Mangle went in, smashing root indiscriminately. The ones she attacked weren’t even the ones trapping Melody.

“You too barmaid,” Clover shouted.

I bit down on my blade handle and followed in Mangle’s war path. Mangle had cleared a makeshift way to Melody where a large root had her pinned as it slowly encircled her. I leapt up, landing my blade on the base coming out of the earth. The blade slid through, the thick root shriveling down to a fraction of it's old size.

The moment Melody saw the opening she galloped forward. Mangle grabbed hold of me and leapt into the caravan. The Doctor clung to the back, berly managing to hang on as we sped off. Clover flew down and yanked on the reins, forcing her to turn hard and dodge past roots as they burst from the earth. He made a pass by Nibble and Gale.

I reached over the side of the caravan, reaching out to Nibble. Our hooves collided and I pulled her in. She bumped into Gale as Mangle pulled him up in the same manner on the other side.

The moment everypony was in Clover whipped the reins and we sped off. The roots showed no interest in following. Instead they wrapped around the shack until they had it completely surrounded.

“What in Tartarus was that about?” Clover said as he peered at each of us.

Nibble spoke up first, “We found somepony down there. It… it-”

“A monstrosity,” Gale finished, “Think necromancer if he fused a pony and a plant.”

Clover touched at a cut across his cheek and nickered, “Patch everypony up. I'll find a place to camp.”

Gale nodded and moved to help Mangle first. The cut on her chest still bled and the skin above her power hoof was shredded to hell. Gale ignored the wide gash on his side while he worked on her. A touch of guilt broke through, she’s only got those injuries because she saved me.

Nibble made it out comparatively well, she had a few scraps on the back of her neck and along her legs. She brought out a mirror and stared in shock at the loss of her mane. After a few moments she tossed the mirror over the side of the caravan and slumped down.

I grabbed a few of the medical bandages and brought them over to Nibble. I placed a hoof on her side to let her know I was there. She turned, probably expecting Gale, but perked up when she saw it was me.

“I'm no doctor, but I can place a bandage,” I offered.

Nibble nodded and exposed the back of her neck. I tore away small pieces of bandages and placed them over the cuts. Once the job was done, I ran a hoof over the back of her mane. I had cut it so short it almost appeared shaved in some areas.

“It'll grow back.”

“I know.” Nibble sniffled. “It's just… my mother loved it.”

“Is she still-”

“No, she’s dead. Both my parents were taken from me when I was young.”

Like me.

It was weird to think that I never decided to learn much about the ponies that had saved my life so many times. I knew why though. It’s because I was just trying to pull my weight and get on their level. How could I speak to them personally when we’re so far apart? I didn’t have the right, but now with the injections, paired with my trance, I am starting to catch up.

What happened to her parents? My curiosity poked a hole into the veil of numbness. How did Nibble learn about technology? Another hole. How did Gale become a sadist? What happened in the vault Mangle came from? What was Clover always typing into his Pip-Buck? Everything about The Doctor! It was like the veil became perforated with openings. It was different this time too, the holes remained, and I felt more myself.

The question would have to wait. It had been a long, long day. I laid down and rested my side against Nibbles.

“Ardent,” Clover called out.

“Yes!” I bolted upright and turned to face Clover. His piercing yellow eyes locked onto mine as he studied me.

“Nevermind.” He returned to steering.

I let out a breath of relief and returned to Nibble’s side. The comforting warmth weighed down my eyelids. Nibble nuzzled herself underneath my neck and drifted to sleep with me not far behind.

Footnote: No level up.

Author's Note

Related blog with art here.

Chapter 1: From Barmaid to Hero

Chapter 1

As I cleaned off a table two traders started to gossip. My ears perked.

“Did you hear the latest about Elpis?” said a stallion at a nearby table.

“You mean the Celestia forsaken group that has been stirring shit up across the waste?” the mare across from him asked.

“They don’t just cause trouble. They saved some slaves a while back.”

“That’s old news, and word is they saved them only to gain favor with Friendship City. Hell, that happened before they wiped out Jib.”

“Anyways, turns out they were last spotted heading here!”

“To Dust? What the hell for? All they have is dirt, this bar, and an eye full of mountain.” They shared a laugh.

Sheisn’t wrong, I thought. Listening to stories was the only thing keeping me sane in this town. Unfortunately, the only ponies who had new stories were foalish adventurers or traders, and those ponies rarely traveled to Dust.

I gathered the dirty dishes from the tables, headed to the back, and began to wash them. I wanted to continue listening in on the conversation, so I slipped into a familiar trance. My vision became blurred and unfocused, colors faded away, my sensations became distant, and the ability to process information slowed to a crawl. However, at those costs my hearing amplified to an extreme. It stretched across the bar, and honed back to the traveler's conversation.

“Saving slaves and wiping out towns,” I heard the mare say. “Consistency is not their virtue.”

“Tell me about it. I have no idea what that leader of theirs is planning.”

“Elpis, that was short for something right?”

“Yup. I think it was-”

My concentration shattered when a hoof jabbed into my side. All my senses returned as the pain ripped me from the trance. It took a few moments as my mind processed the conversation and what had happened.

“You work slower when you do… that,“ Shot Chaser said. “I'm guessing you were snooping on the two traders by the entrance.”

“Nopony else has anything new to talk about.” I shrugged.

“Oh, you think you know all my stories?” The grey unicorn looked down on me with a raised eyebrow.

“All the ones I care to know.” I grinned. I’m sure Shot Chaser had more fascinating tales to tell, but I couldn’t resist the chance to jab at him.

“I doubt that.” He scowled and pointed at the glasses. I resumed cleaning.

======

I finished sweeping just as Blather Skite, the unofficial sheriff of Dust, barged through the doors. The patrons silenced as he caught his breath.

“Giant robot attack!” he yelled. Ponies glanced around the bar, unsure how to react. Blather realized he would have to explain further. “Ya know that dangerous group that’s been on the radio lately? Well, I saw ‘em wanderin’ around outside of town! I wanted to make sure they didn’t cause no trouble so I followed ‘em. They found this hidden entrance on the side of the mountain, and a huge robot came out and started shootin’. They looked like they were leadin’ it to town!”

All at once the ponies went into full panic mode. Screams and shouts echoed out as everypony ran to the exit.

Blather Skite held the door open and gave a final warning, “Two of them split off into town already so be careful y’all.”

I was almost out the door when Shot Chaser yelled over the crowd, “Ardent, no running off until we clean up!”

“Are you kidding me?!” I turned to glare at him. Sure let’s just make sure the bar is clean and tidy before the robot comes and kills us.

“It won’t take long, and the bar is sturdier than the shack you live in, or does my favorite barmaid think I'm wrong?”

My jaw clenched. Dear Luna I hate that nickname! I thought as the need to run subsided. Shot Chaser was right though, if a rampaging machine did come crashing through town, the bar would be safer. Plus, he’s never been wrong about this sort of thing before.

“Fine.” I growled through clenched teeth. “But let’s make this quick.”

======

I slowly opened the door to leave and leaned my ear out. Whispers of gunshots, cannon fire, and ... barking? Whatever it could be it sounded far enough away. I headed home and the faint noises disappeared completely.

The routine task of cleaning the cider house had calmed my nerves. I gazed up into the grey clouds that blanketed the sky. I imagined how great it would be to see the robot, instead of just hearing about it. That way I could be the one telling the story for once. Although it’s not something to risk my life over, right?

“Hurry up!” A rough female voice yelled from down the dirt path, “Shouldn’t you be able to carry those faster with magic?!”

My attention returned to reality and my eyes went wide. An earth pony with a dirty white coat and dust covered blonde mane trotted in place. She carried thick metal chunks on her back. Each piece had a variety of wires dangling from it. The mare gestured her friend to speed up.

Oh shit, is she with Elpis? Dust only had so many civilians and she was not on the roster.

A purple aura radiated further down the path. A female unicorn levitated more of the same metal pieces. She had a beige coat with long messy amber hair.

The unicorn called back, “Sorry. These things are heavy and I’m not the best with levitation. You should know that by now.”

“Fuck this,” the blonde grumbled. She shook herself free of the weight, letting the metal pieces slide off of her leather barding. “I need to get back into the fight.” She bucked, and thick shackles around her ankles engulfed her hooves. They snapped shut and she repeated the process with her front legs. By the time she was done it looked like her hooves were coated in thick metal.

“Wait!” The unicorn cried out, but in the time it took her to yell the earth pony pivoted, kicked, and one of the devices let out a hiss. Out of the bottom a metal hoof jutted out and propelled her forward in the direction of the gunfire. The wind she displaced brushed against me as she rocketed past.

“That silly girl. This will take forever now.” The unicorn looked around and locked on to me. I stiffened. She threw on a sultry smile and trotted over.

Based on the rumors, Elpis took on a squad of steel rangers and got out unscathed. I wanted to run but I hesitated. Were these two really part of Elpis? How could I run from the first real adventure presented to me? Isn’t this something I’ve always wanted?

Her violet eyes entranced me as she closed the gap between us. In the sweetest voice she greeted, “Hello there, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me carry a few things?”

“W-where to?” I stuttered.

“Oh just to the outskirts of town.” She pointed.

Where the gunshots, killer robot, and Elpis are! I nodded.

“Oh thank you-thank you-thank you!” She squealed as she levitated the pieces of metal over my back.

“I’m not very str-”

Her spell released, dropping a ridiculous amount of weight onto my back. My legs shook as they threatened to give out.

“Okay, good! Head that way while I get the rest.” She said. Great off to my death, why not… but if I live, this will be one awesome story.

======

Moving at a snail’s pace I followed in the beige mare's hoofsteps. She was at an overhang outside of town. She drew invisible lines with her hoof as she lined something up from beyond the ridge. When I finally caught up I saw it. My jaw dropped.

An enormous cybernetic dog with three heads. The outer two heads had turrets in their mouths while the middle head had a cannon. Each weapon fired after the beast barked. The middle head focused its attack on a white and blonde blur that darted around on the ground. Blackened craters riddled the area from the cannon's attack. The other heads attempted to shoot down a dark brown pegasus. I took a few steps closer. They didn’t look like they were trying to fight the machine, just distract it.

This is exactly like the stories I hear from Shot Chaser, but now I‘m here witnessing it for myself! My body trembled. Suddenly, the weight I was carrying lifted.

“Thank you so much. I’m Nibble by the way,” the unicorn said as she placed the rest of the metal parts on the ground. “If you want to stick around and see something amazing, I would recommend taking some cover.” She pointed to a boulder a few feet away.

“I’m Ardent,” I replied while taking her advice. I found my attention torn between the battle below and what Nibble was doing. She wrapped the metal pieces in a purple aura placing them together and connected their wires. She had a device on her left fore leg which looked completely different from the blonde mare’s shackle. She wore some sort of utility armor. My eyes drifted to her flank, her cutie mark was an electrical circuit. Shot Chaser had mentioned time and time again how important it was to have a pony good with technology when exploring the wasteland.

She glanced over. “Are you staring at my flank?” she said playfully.

I blushed. Not staring, just momentarily checking. “N-no.”

She giggled and connected the last piece of metal. It was a type of pintle mounted weapon. She hooked thick wires into a power generator. She pushed down on a black pump attached to the generator. Gears clanked together as they spun and a blue light on the control panel turned green.

She opened three hatches on the weapon and took out three rockets from her saddle bags. It’s a rocket launcher! This crazy mare had me hauling around a rocket launcher! She loaded the rockets, locked the hatches, and hit a button. A targeting sight appeared on the screen, and she rotated the weapon till its sights locked on to the mechanical hound. She hit an orange button that launched a flare skyward. The others fighting the robot saw the flare and peeled away.

With a rather scary grin on her face she slammed her hoof down on a large red button. The weapon shook as three rockets raced out and exploded into the side of the cybernetic dog. The explosion filled the area with dust and sand. I stood there slack jawed.

Woo still alive! My gaze slowly went from the explosion to the mare that caused it. She caressed the side of her weapon, and gave it a look that would cause a stallion to blush.

A loud growl and a bark rang out. Cannon fire hit the overhang where Nibble stood. The explosion tossed her and the rocket launcher back, the weapon broke into its smaller components as it tumbled across the ground.

My attention shot back to the battlefield. The dust cloud settled, and revealed the still operational machine. Two of its legs were completely destroyed and one twisted to the point of useless. The last leg allowed it to turn in place but moving was out of the question.

The Pegasus fired at the hound with two laser rifles mounted on his battle saddle. From what I could see the laser rifle did next to nothing to the metal plating. The machine turned and returned fire.

I raced over to the unicorn that now lay ragged on the ground. Is she dead? No, she’s breathing.

I placed a hoof on her shoulder and nudged her. “Hey, the others need you.” I couldn't tell how serious her injuries were. There were no large gashes but blood trickled from all over.

I bit my lip. What am I doing? I could leave. After all, this isn’t my problem, and the robot isn’t going anywhere. Dust just needs to avoid this side of town for the next… forever and we'll be safe. Now is the time to quit while I'm ahead.

My thoughts were interrupted when Nibble grabbed me. Her eyes were clenched as she whispered, “Help them.”

“How?” I asked as I leaned in hoping she would answer. I don’t have a weapon. I am nopony special. Her grasp released and her body went limp causing a rocket to slip from her saddle bag.

I… I could rebuild the rocket launcher couldn’t I? Of course I can, I saw her make it. I can remember, I can repeat.

Without thinking too much I gathered the pieces of the rocket launcher. They were heavy, but as single chunks they were manageable.

After gathering all the parts I replayed the memory in my head and placed the pieces as she did. Hooking up the wires the way she had before. I moved with the same speed and confidence as the mare in my memory. If Nibble and I were side by side building the weapon nopony could tell I had no idea what I was doing.

I fit the last piece into place and hooked the cables to the power generator. As I powered up the device I realized something. If I attempt to use this weapon the mechanical beast might fire at me. I could die.

During my hesitation the blonde and white mare launched herself at the side of the injured beast. An electric field sprouted from the dog's tail. The field electrocuted the white mare, and she was tossed back. She hit the ground, and didn’t get up.

The middle head started to aim where she landed, but before it fired a projectile struck the beast causing the attack to miss. A pale blue unicorn had come out of hiding to draw the machine's attention. The middle head turned to the new attacker and fired as the unicorn dove back behind his cover. The mechanical dog continued its attack as it destroyed the ridge the unicorn was hiding behind. The white mare was still motionless. They were about to lose this fight.

The rocket launcher beeped as the light turned green. This was my chance to be part of the story, not just a listener to something that has happened, but to be in control of what happens next.

I opened the hatches and galloped between Nibble and the weapon as I loaded it with rockets. I locked my sights on the crippled robot. I hit the orange button that launched the flare.

The Pegasus paused seeing the flare go up. Realization set in and he raced to the white mare, He snagged her and rushed to distance themselves from the blast zone. The robot’s heads looked up and noticed the gleam from the flare. It whimpered as it tried to turn itself with its one functional leg. I wasn’t going to give it the chance. I hit the red button. I was nearly flung off from the kickback of the rockets blasting out.

This time the explosion filled the area with shrapnel and bursts of lights that blinded me. A shock wave hit me as I shielded my eyes. I flew backwards and ricocheted off the ground, each bounce grated a part of my body redefining what I thought must be the worst pain I had ever felt. By Luna’s mercy my head struck something vertical causing a numbness to flow throughout my body.

I opened my eyes. My vision blurred and faded in and out. The Pegasus landed close by the unicorn who got me into this mess. He had the white mare on his back. He poured a red liquid into the female unicorn’s mouth. The last thing I saw before the darkness took over was Nibble getting up. Good.

Footnote: Level up new perk: Mare Killer: 10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain characters.

Chapter 16: Smokey Reflections

Chapter 16

Our new caravan was a sight to behold and put the past jumble of wood scraps to shame. Each plank has been treated making it smooth to the touch and a uniform mahogany. The sides were tall enough to take cover against yet not block my battle saddle if I stood. Hollow bins ran along one side of the caravan to help manage our supplies. A padded plank was used as a lid in order to maximize our free space. Nibble mentioned that the hinge placement would keep the thing together even if she accidently dropped a live grenade again, which was reassuring and worrying at the same time.

Gale finished cleaning his surgical equipment, again, and holstered the last scalpel in place with a sigh. “Should have had Ardent read some of my medical textbooks so he could recite them back for me. I’ve always liked the idea of an audiobook.”

“What’s that?” I pretended not to hear as I read through a Pip-Buck tutorial about the devices auto-mapping feature. We had been traveling south for the entire day and were nearing the edge of Equestria where the map just went black. I was hoping to find how the map would react if we went off the grid but apparently the designers never considered that possibility.

Nibble joined in Gale’s lament. She rolled onto her back and reached for Gearwing while moaning, “I lost all my toys and welding equipment...” For the last hour she had debated taking Gearwing apart to ease her boredom. The metal owl responded by keeping out of hoofs reach.

“Go for a run,” Mangle offered. “You both could use the exercise.”

Nibble and Gale glared at the white mare. Apparently it wasn't the reaction she expected. She jumped out of the caravan and started running by herself instead of sticking around.

Nibble glanced down to her stomach before rolling over into a more flattering position.

“We could tell stories,” I suggested. “Maybe the story of how Elpis defeated the stable dragon, Lazuline?” I tried to offer the idea without sounding desperate.

“Or an equally rare story,” Gale said. “How I got my cutie mark.”

Mangle and Nibble jolted up, and even Clover’s ears swiveled. I could only imagine how long Gale must have been temping them for a reaction like that. It didn't bode well for my idea.

“Shall we put it to a vote?” Gale asked.

“No,” Clover stated in a slightly deeper voice then normal, meaning this would not be up for debate.

Gale looked right at me with a smirk and gave a shrug as if to say ‘It’s out of my hooves now.’ “Very well, cutie mark story it is.” He turned to show off the blood-spattered scalpel on his flank. “When I was young I lived closely with a surgeon. She would often enlist my help during more advanced operations to do trivial things: carry away and wash used surgical equipment, wipe her brow, stuff like that. Although, I would observe even routine surgeries.

“I was fascinated at how much punishment the body could take. Some operations would have ponies splayed open. Flesh cut, peeled, and stretched, revealing internal organs, muscle structure, and bones. Did you know you can lose up to five liters of blood and still recover? It's just amazing to see a pony in that state yet see them walking around a week later as if nothing has happened.”

Gale focused on all the wrong details as evident by mine and Nibble’s grimacing faces.

“Maybe we could gloss over these details?” Nibble begged.

Gale laughed. “Very well. It all began one late rainy night…”

As Gale finally got into telling his story I let my imagination take over.

======

Gale sighed as he stared out the window and watched the downpour. The water banged against the tin roof creating an endless din. He glanced over at the door to his room, tilting his head from side to side in bored contemplation.

The crack of lighting and the outline of a pony outside caught his attention. A stallion came into view as he staggered towards the clinic with a hoof holding his gut. A smile spread across Gale’s face as he raced out of his room and down the stairs. He flung open the front door right before the stallion could knock. The weather outside rushed in, the sudden cold causing him to shiver.

The golden stallion’s shock only last a moment before he winced in pain. “Need a doc,” he struggled to say. He moved his hoof to reveal the stream of blood leaking from a small hole on his barrel.

“Come with me.” Gale pressed against the stallion’s side for support. They hobbled down the hall towards the operating room, leaving a small trail of water and blood in their wake.

Gale managed to get the stallion onto the operating table before rummaging through the surgical tools. He lined them up on a tray as he normally did for his mentor. As he grabbed the gauze he spotted the anesthetic and paused. His eyes shifted toward the flickering clock on the wall, then to the stallion’s wound. The blood trickled at a steady pace.

“How bad is the pain?” Gale inquired.

The stallion grunted. “It’s bad, real bad. I’ll need some painkillers for sure.”

Gale rolled his eyes but a smile started to creep along his face. It grew wider, revealing teeth, as he wrapped the anesthetic in his magic.

“So uh.” The stallion looked around. “Where's the doc?”

Gale turned to face his patient. “I'll be your doctor tonight.”

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “But-”

Before any objections could be heard Gale levitated the anesthetic needle into the stallions neck. His shock only lasted a moment before he fell unconscious and slammed down onto the table.

Gale levitated the tray of tools onto the operating table. A chair scraped against the ground as he pulled it over to the table. He flipped the overhead lights on with his magic and hopped onto the chair to look over his patient.

Gale grabbed a wide razor from the tray of tools and shaved away all the hair from the wounded area.

He stared at the scalpel for a moment, reflecting on all the warnings his mentor gave. He reached out with his magic and as it wrapped around the scalpel all the tensed muscles in his body relaxed. He knew at that moment this was the right decision. It was as if he had just found something he had been searching for all his life.

Gale levitated it over the patient and let it sink into his skin. “Hmm?” He pulled, staring intently as the blade sliced through the skin without any resistance, as if he were cutting through air. Blood seeped from the incision.

He pulled the scalpel out and let in float in front of him. A single drop of blood rolled along the blade, beading at the tip. “Amazing.”

An involuntary jerk from the patient brought him out of his fascination. Gale set the scalpel down and brought out the long forceps. He slid them inside the incision and followed along the path the bullet had made until running into something solid. He pinched the clamps down and slowly eased them out. The skin spread as blood covered bullet slipped out.

“Perfect.” Gale inspected the wound for any internal damage but found nothing. “Thought so.” He levitated a needle and thread and sutured the wound close. He brought the blood splattered scalpel over to the tray of alcohol and set it in, the blood dissolving away as it sanitized the tool. Gale took in a deep calming breath, he had never been so at peace.

======

“I found my cutie mark after successfully finishing the surgery. I'm not sure when it appeared, but my guess would be when I first grabbed the scalpel,” Gale finished.

Clover gave a disappointing grunt and returned his attention to steering.

“Not exactly what I was expecting.” Nibble’s voice was sarcastic as she added, “It's almost normal.”

Gale pretended to be offended by turning up his chin.

“What did your mentor think?” I asked.

“She loved it,” Gale said wistfully. “From that point on she had me perform the routine procedures. The best times were when we ran out of anesthetic.”

“There it is,” Nibble muttered.

======

“So Clover left him in the room with the manticore, promising to let him out once we found the laser rifles,” Gale said as he continued to regale another story to avoid mentioning anything about Lazuline. It would have been annoying but each story he told had been rather entertaining. “We thought he had to be lying, because if he saw them, why wouldn't he just grab them? Turns out they really were just resting on a desk in the floor above. We probably spent an hour searching for traps before picking them up; A pair of pristine high tech weapons just sitting around.”

“And the pony you left behind?” I asked

“Hmh?”

“The stallion you left locked up with the manticore.”

“Oh him.” Gale’s eyes drifted up as he thought back. “Well…” His lips pursed and his brow furrowed. He gave up trying to remember and turned his head to Mangle.

“How the fuck would I know?” she said. “You left me outside to deal with those big spider things.”

“Oh yeah. What did happen to him?”

They both turned to Clover who had provided commentary from time to time. He gave an emotionless shrug. “Oops.”

The caravan slowed to a stop as we came to the crest of a hill. In the distance circular tents were being set up by large brown-coated creatures that stomped about the encampment. The tents were laid flat on the ground and staked in place until one of the creatures tossed some sort of device under them. A moment later steam escaped small openings as the tent rose up into a large cone.

“What are...” I turned to Gale, but he appeared just as clueless as me.

“Buffalo,” Clover answered. “Best behavior Elpis, I see an opportunity presenting itself.” He waved at two of the buffalo who had spotted us. One turned and pushed his way into one of the large tents while the other waved back. Clover flicked the reins and Melody pulled us forward.

By the time we approached the village, all the buffalo had gathered to see us. Each one stood taller than two ponies, and to see a line of them had me feeling uneasy. Three of them stood on a ridge and aimed a nozzle attached to what looked like a massive wooden barrel at us. The barrel was at least three times the size of a buffalo and I had no idea how the thing might work, rolling it at us would be foolish given it would be rolling the wrong way. The buffalo controlling the possible weapon lacked the stare most guards outside pony towns gave, instead they seemed more aloof as they talked amongst themselves in a casual manner. Two of the buffalo on the ground also had a nozzle contraption at their hooves, these ones much smaller, looking like a large door stop.

Not like they even need weapons. The horns protruding from their heads could do some damage, not to mention trampling would be effective as well.

A buffalo with a headdress full of feathers stepped forward. “Greeting ponies,” he said, his deep voice carrying a strange accent. “I am Chief Stoneheart. How do you find yourselves so far away from your settlements?”

Clover flew down to meet the chief on the ground. “We are just passing through, it’s interesting to see buffalo here.”

Stoneheart spent a moment going over each of us before speaking, “We are here every year during this season, it is tradition.” A few buffalo in the line sighed or rolled their eyes. Stoneheart stomped his hoof and snorted. “It is a sacred tradition!”

A buffalo in the back turned to the buffalo next to him and mouthed the word “Tradition” while making a grumpy face.

Stoneheart sighed, losing much of his intimidation factor. “The only thing in the direction you are heading is danger. It would be wise to turn back, unless you are part of those beasts that make their home on the waterfront.”

“No,” Clover stated. “We're on a mission to investigate them.”

“A fool's errand.” Stoneheart snorted. “Very well then, you may join us for the night. However, leave your weapons behind.” Stoneheart turned away, and as he did most of the crowd went with him. Some stayed behind to watch us, seemingly out of curiosity.

Clover flew into the caravan and removed his battle saddle. “This should be an interesting night.”

=======

“Whoa!” Nibble shouted as she pointed at a few buffalo. “I think they’re making bombs over there.” She took off to the secluded group in order to get a better look.

I had a choice to make, sit here and keep listening to Gale and Growing Oak continually make sexual innuendos while he whittled wooden parts or go willingly near explosives while they were being made.

After catching up with Nibble, with Clover and Mangle close behind, we watched as a buffalo placed a lid over a cauldron of boiling water. Attached to the cauldron was a thick tub connecting to a tin ball. I had no idea what I was watching as the buffalo pumped pumps, waved fans, and hurried along around the contraption but Nibble seemed wildly fascinated.

“Stop!” one of the female buffalo yelled. She stomped down on the tin ball, a burst of steam hissed out out but through sheer force the buffalo crumpled the tin closed. She held it up for inspection and slowly rotated the ball in her hooves.

“That's some sort of steam grenade right?” Nibble said as she inspected the tools used to make it. “When it's detonated the steam expands so fast it becomes burning hot.”

The buffalo nodded. “Well this pony knows her stuff. I'm Golden Leaf.”

“Nibble. Mind if I l…”

Golden Leaf tossed her the small tin ball.

“I've never seen such a method of sealing them. What kind of detonator do you use?”

Golden Leaf smiled and grabbed a tin ball from a crate. “Well you see we take one and throw it really, really hard.” She flung the grenade, it made a metallic ting as it ricocheted off the ground and rolled to a stop.

We sat in silence for a moment, and another moment, and another.

Golden Leaf coughed. “Well not all of them work-”

A deafening pop ripped through the air as the grenade went off. A cloud of steam filling a large portion of the area where it detonated. A drop of burning water landed on my cheek. Ow-ow-ow. I wiped it away. That was only a drop, it's hard to imagine how painful being it the cloud would be.

“And some take a bit!” Golden Leaf laughed.

“To seal and handle them like that seems… extremely dangerous,” Nibble surmised.

“Your telling me.” Golden Leaf reared up to show off her underbelly. Starting at the back of her hooves and stretching almost half way down her stomach were large scars that could no longer grow hair.

Gale whistled, showing up just in time to be around for pain related part of the conversation. “Wish I could have been there the day that happened.” His eyes narrowed as he examined the buffalo’s scars. “Those were healed with equestrian magic.”

“You ponies sure are sharp.” Golden Leaf dug around in a pile of supplies until she pulled out yellow medical boxes decorated with three pink butterflies. The logo was designed by the Ministry of Peace, pony made, although if we ran into buffalo it’s possible other ponies have too. Maybe they worked out some sort of trade. “We've had these for a long time, you'd figure they would expire but they still work like new. Stoneheart has been trying to get rid of them since he hates… ponies.” Golden Leaf cleared her throat, cleary feeling awkward for bringing it up.

Nibble helped move on from the subject by turning her right hoof over, revealing a small blackened scar that had carved a divot into her hoof. “This happened when I grabbed a blowtorch... from the wrong end.”

“I was there for that one,” Gale mentioned.

Golden Leaf and Nibble started to compare their scars.

“She tolerates pain well,” Gale noted as he drove a sharp tooth into his lower lip. The longer he stared at Golden Leaf the deeper his tooth sank into his lip until a bead of blood started to form.

The sight made me uncomfortable so I waved a hoof in front of him to break whatever fantasies were playing out in his head. “You weren't kidding when you said you don't even limit yourself to one species.”

“Nope, though I meant I had fun with a griffon. Buffalo would be new and I'm pretty sure Growing Oak is on board for any fun, now it's about increasing the number.” Gale winked. “Interested?”

I gave Golden Leaf a once over. The buffalo stood nearly twice my height and just crumpled metal closed. I just can't image that going well. “I'll pass.”

After a lull in conversation between Nibble and Golden Leaf, Clover stepped in. “Those nozzle weapons, do you make those as well?”

“That we do,” Golden Leaf stated proudly.

“Could we have a demonstration of those as well?”

“Quake!” Golden Leaf yelled. “Go set up some stompers and targets.”

A buffalo that helped her make the bomb disappeared into a nearby tent.

“How do they tell who is who?” Mangle mumbled.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

Mangle’s eyes went wide and her attention suddenly darted to the ground, some of her blonde mane falling to obscure her face. “I… they all look the same ya know. I can't tell em’ apart.”

“I can help with that. Golden Leaf has a lighter coat, Quake is a bit taller, and Growing Oak had a crack on one of his horns.”

Mangle’s brow raised as she stared at me.

Quake returned from the tent carrying two of the wooden wedge weapons and set them down. He stomped over to a pile of large logs, stabbing them with the horns on his head and lifting it with little effort. He brought them down range of the “stompers” and set them upright.

During this time Mangle kept looking between each buffalo in sight. Though based on her growing skowl I doubted she was seeing the differences I saw.

“All right,” Quake started now that everything was set up for his demonstration. “It’s simple enough, these things hold water in them and when we stomp on them its forced out of the nozzle.”

“So it's just a water gun?” Clover asked in disappointment.

“Sure, but can a water gun do this.” Quake reared up and brought his full force down on the stomper. A thin stream of water jetted out of the nozzle and struck one of wooden logs. The log remained still as the water cut through it like paper and burst out of the other end. Only when the pressure let up did the stream lower and toss the log backwards.

Clover scratched at his chin. “How many times can you do that?”

“They only hold one shot then need to be refill. The big barrel one has about ten shots that are even more powerful, but we need two or three buffalo to shoot it. Upside is they can only be used buffalo since they require a huge amount of force.”

“I could do it!” Mangle blurted out.

Quake looked down. “You’re a little small to be making such a big claim.”

Mangle straighten up to stand a little taller and stepped over to the other stomper. She gave it an experimental push and water dribbled out of the nozzle. She reared up and her power hooves clamped over her front hooves. “I can use these right?”

“If you think it will help.”

Mangle took a few steps back then leapt forward, throwing her weight onto the stomper. The jet of water mimicked that of Quake’s and cut through the log with ease.

Quake’s jaw fell open.

“Ponies are scary,” Golden Lead remarked.

After the stomper had finished Clover picked it up and turned it over. “It’s worn, how many times can you refill them?”

“Oh about five or six times before we just have to make a new one,” Quake answered.

“Seems extremely inefficient.”

“Well it's not like we need them often, the only reason we had to make them is because…” Quake bit down on his tongue.

“Because…” Clover urged for an explanation.

“Because of ponies,” Golden Leaf finished. “There are… things that end up wandering from equestria to our land. Be it a haywire murdering machine or those, undead pony things. It’s another reason Stoneheart isn’t a fan of your kind, he also hates the fact we have weapons.”

I’m not sure why but I suddenly felt guilty. Like the time Shotchaser caught me trying some of the alcohol when I was young. I had nothing to do with the creatures in Equestria today, if anything since joining Elpis I had begun to help deal with that issue, but realising the war my kind took part of affected more than just the creatures in that war had my stomach churning.

“If your leader wants all these things gone why are they still here?” Clover asked.

“The position of Chieftain is mainly for tradition and on top of that the other chieftains ideas have evolved with the time but Stoneheart. Well his family is one of the last to uphold the old way, no matter how outdated they may seem to us. Most of the buffalo who still join this march are here for sightseeing, thrill seeking, or like Quake and I, here to protect them.”

“I see.” Clover stepped back as he processed the new information.

“Well, we need to prepare for the feast tonight.” Golden leaf said as she signaled the other. “We’ll see you there?”

“For sure!” Nibble chirped.

======

On our way to the feast another odd buffalo practice caught my eye. A younger buffalo, around my size, covered a wide fire pit with a tarp. He pulled it away to send a thick cloud of smoke into the air.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I trotted over.

The buffalo shied back. “T- The elder is seeing my spirit animal.”

I tilted my head.

A greying buffalo stepped forward, her braided mane covered her eyes. “The smoke forms an animal,” she explained, and waved over the tarp. “This animal is a representation of your soul. It can provide perspective to who you are.”

“Me first!” Mangle yelled. I turned to see the others had followed, aside from Clover who had vanished.

Mangle grabbed the tarp and smothered the pit, only pausing for a moment before releasing it. Faint puffs of smoke fell out, forming nothing.

“You have to leave it on for a little while.” the young buffalo said, trying to help.

Mangle grunted impatiently and placed the tarp over the smoke again. She paced in place until reaching her limit and yanked the tarp off. The smoke twisted and formed.

The elder buffalo glanced up but her hair still covered her eyes. “You are a lion. Ferocious, fast, and powerful. You stand above so many others in the food chain.”

“Yes!” Mangle pumped her hoof. I cocked my head. Looks like a puff of smoke to me.

The elder continued, “You are also stubborn and quick to anger. You don’t play well with others and greatly fear anything more powerful than you.”

Mangle scoffed. “I don’t fear nothing.”

While they argued Nibble had already started her turn and as they finished she pulled the tarp away.

“You are the raven: creative and clever. You are much smarter than you let on.” Nibble waited patiently for the next part but smiled at the results. “You often unnecessarily burden yourself with items and secrets. Learn to share them and your life will improve.”

Gale rolled his eyes and took his turn. I could see the work of his magic as it manipulated the wind around the smoke to form a skull. The young buffalo gasped, buy the elder remained stoic.

Gale smirked. “Well?”

“We learn to recognize an ass without smoke,” the elder deadpanned.

“Oh, I like you.”

“Your turn.” The young buffalo handed me the tarp. I rested it over the pit, small amount of smoke escaped out the sides and warmed my hooves, and when the heat became uncomfortable I pulled it away. The smoke appeared darker as it clumped together. The elder moved her mane out of her way to reveal clouded eyes, similar to those who have lost their vision through injury or time. She stood stunned until the smoke vanished.

“A chimera…” she whispered.

“A what?” I leaned in to hear her.

She let her braided hair fall back into place. “Forgive me. My eyes are not what they use to be and it becomes dark.” She glanced towards the direction of the setting sun just as the last of the light faded from the cloud cover. “ I must go prepare for the feast.” The elder left in a hurry, pulling the young one with her.

A chimera was like a manticore if I remember right. A creature made of many animals, but what did that mean?

Gale wrapped a hoof around me. “Ah don't worry about it. It's all nonsense superstition anyway.”

“Says the ass,” Nibble remarked.

We wandered for a while longer before all the light faded from the clouds. The only source of light being a large fire that had the whole camp wrapped in a burning glow. Following the light the smell of heavily seasoned food filled the air. I never smelled anything quite like it but the fresh smell had my stomach growling. After going around a tent we saw the gathering buffalo as sat around the fire and created a tumult of conversation.

We joined a line forming in front of a black cauldron. We got close enough and I could see the green, heavily seasoned mush they handed out in buffalo sized portions. The appearance of the glop caused my tongue to recoil but the smell had my stomach growling.

Closer up I could also see they were giving out bowls of water. The bowls were placed under an elegantly crafted glass dispenser. The forming glass twisted and shaped out three diamonds on the front of it. At the top it narrowed and held a blue sapphire wrapped in gold. Beads of water formed on the sapphire and created a continuous drip into the dispenser.

“Oh no.” Nibble said in a haunting whisper. Her face had gone pale as she stared at the gem.

Why is she worried? If that blue gem is what I think it is that means we get clean water with our meal. “Isn’t that a-”

“A water talisman.” Clover appeared next to us, bowl in hoof. “I figured as much given their weapons, it's a priceless trinket.”

Nibble started to shake, her breath speeding up as Clover spoke. Even Gale had a sad weary look, like he was about to have to do an unpleasant chore.

“There are ponies who would be willing to do anything to get their hooves on something like that.” Clover’s eyes stopped looking up at the talism and lowered on me and finally understood.

I winced as a scene from the Jib massacre flashed in my mind, but instead of the shadows of ponies there were dead buffalo all around. I stood on top of one of the corpses firing at the fleeing survivors. Clover’s eyes shaping in the massive fire, looking down on me in approval.

“But I think the aid of entire tribe of buffalo outweighs such a tiny thing,” Clover said with a smile as he placed a hoof on Nibble which caused her shaking to stop. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Nibble glanced back up with a shimmer of hope on her face and gave a vigorous nod.

The smile faded from Clover’s face. “Then pray I can make a deal.”

Without hesitation Nibble dropped her head and started muttering prayers to Celestia and Luna. Clover trotted away, leaving all of us with a full understanding of what could take place tonight.

We grabbed our food and water, and followed the other buffalo to sit around the fire.

Chief Stoneheart stepped in front of the crowd, his back to the fire casting a shadow over all of us. “As per tradition, we will now tell the story of how this march came to be. We are honored to have Galloping Wind tell the tale of how it began.” The chief sat in the front row and let the other buffalo take the stage.

Many sighes could be heard from the crown as Galloping Wind started, “Countless generations ago back at-”

I spaced out. I love stories but based on how this one began it was just a history lesson, which I hated. Reciting history ruined all the fun of a story, devolving into just a retelling of names, dates, and places. No fun or emotion just raw knowledge.

Clover got up and moved to sit next to Stoneheart and suddenly I had a chance to find out how this night would play out. I slipped into my trance

“The ponies we are investigating… Pandora’s Children. We plan to destroy them.” Clover murmured.

Stoneheart replied with a grunt.

“We need as much help as we can get. Is there anything we could do to enlist your aid?”

“I have heard tales from my grandfather's grandfathers… ponies once came to request our aid for another war. The official decision was to keep to ourselves, but the younger, more naive buffalo defied this decision. Do you know their fate?” Before Clover could reply Stoneheart finished, “They were all wiped out. Ponies will never again have buffalo at their side.”

“The war may have been devastating, but I see your benefiting from some of the technology.”

“A gift from ponies long, long ago. When I became chieftain I wanted to be rid of these things, but the tribe did not agree. I do not see powerful healing potions or magic water makers when I look at them, instead I see the lives that were lost to have them.”

“This is not a war,” Clover said, avoiding the topic since it sounded like a losing battle. “Just some troublesome ponies. If they take over I doubt you'll be able to continue your traditional march.”

“The pony asks for an impossible favor to complete an impossible task.” Stoneheart sighed. “So I shall make an impossible offer. Each year we lose a few buffalo to a quarry eel a ways from here. I will give you the area it lurks within and you will kill it. Only then will we assist you.”

Clover stifled a laugh, instead playing it off as shocked cough. “You want us to kill a quarry eel? You realize how crazy that sounds?”

“I assign the mission to deter you from taking that path. In truth I hope to never see you ponies again.”

Clover paused. “If we managed it, how could I prove to you it's dead?”

“I have seen the creature descend on my friends. I would recognize it's flesh, it's eyes, it's teeth.”

I could almost hear the grin forming on Clover’s face. “Thank you for your time, Chief Stoneheart.”

I let my senses return to normal and an immense sense of relief washed over me. Clover got what he wanted which ment we were safe from any violent outcomes.

“What are the chances?” I asked Clover as he rejoined us.

Clover raised an eyebrow. He checked the others to see if he just joined in the middle of a conversation. Something clicked in his head and his eyes narrowed on me. He stepped forward and his yellow eyes glowed against the fire in the background. A unwelcome flash of memory hit me, he looked eerily similar to when he stood over the last survivor of Jib.

“My conversions are not for your ears.” Clover growled so only I would hear. He leaned forward to whisper in my ear, this paired with the laser rifle in my face made a clear point. “Don't do it again, and keep whatever you heard to yourself. Understood?”

“Understood, won't happen again,” I lied.

Clover snorted, and backed off. He waved to get Nibble’s and Mangle’s attention. “We leave early tomorrow so- where's Gale?”

I turned to see his spot empty. I looked around with the others until hearing Nibble make a noise of disgust as she pointed. Gale had snuck off with two buffalo and gave a devilish grin as he disappeared into a tent with them.

“I…” Clover rubbed at his temple. “Go set up for the night.”

======

I twisted my hoove to see if I could get out but only managed to burn my skin against the well knotted rope. Two guards kept an eye on me, which ment using my magic was out of the possible options I had for escape. The blue and yellow scientists who caught me finally returned.

The yellow mare spared me a glance before taking a seat in front of a terminal. She spoke as she typed, “We had a nosey accountant break into our laboratory today. I'm not sure how she knew about the illusionary wall but I wish to avoid any drastic actions so I will attempt to negotiate for her silence.”

I spit. “Ha, you're joking right?”

The mare continued to type. “She doesn't appear to understand her situation. She already admitted to being alone. If she went missing now, I doubt any pony will notice. Yet I can offer compensation for her silence. I could even pull some strings and get her a cozy position inside the company.”

I spoke slowly, “You. Can't. Buy. Me.”

The scientists shared a look before the blue stallion spoke up this time, “You're an honest little tike. A rare trait, as it turns out. Are you sure there isn't anything we can do to convince you to lie about this?”

I stared right into his eyes. “Nothing.”

His lips slithered into an insidious smile. “Good.”

The mare at the terminal hit a command and a glass chamber behind me opened up. The guards grabbed ahold of me and threw me into the chamber before it closed shut.

“What in Luna’s name are you doing?” I yelled. They all watched as another command was entered and a hatch above me opened, dropping globs of colorful ooze onto me.

The material burned to the touch. They're going to drown me in this stuff! I tried to hold my breath, but screamed when I saw what it was doing to my body. My flesh warped and wriggled. The skin on my legs tore apart and fell away, revealing the raw muscle underneath. Each section of muscle started to lift from my bone waving around like leaves against the wind.

In a small act of mercy my vision went black as I felt my eyes melt. The pain was impossible to describe and I begged for a death that never came. I somehow didn’t die even as the last of my body melted away. Luna have mercy! My physical body was gone yet I lived! I could feel my new form pushed and stretched as I traveled through long stretches of tubes until being compressed into a much smaller vessel.

“...It worked.”

======

I awoke with a stifled scream and tried to wipe away the feeling of crawling skin that still lingered from the dream. My breathing returned to normal as the dream faded away. Luckily I hadn't awoken the others with my sudden outburst. Well, I’m not getting back to sleep after that.

A cool night breeze washed over me as I stepped out of the tent. A patch of clouds glowed with the moon's light, any lingering fear or pain disappeared as I soaked in the night’s serenity.

Gearwing perched on the side of the caravan and I took note of the missing brahmin.

“Where did Melody go?” I directed the question to Gearwing.

“Hoo?”

“Melody, the brahmin, pulls us around and…” I face hoofed. Tricked by an owl. Gearwing made a purring noise that might have been a laugh. It turned it's head and I followed the gaze.

Melody stood at the top of a hill a fair ways away from the settlement. I trotted over.

“Hey Melody,” I said. The brahmin raised its head to acknowledge me. I wondered if she could free herself from the harness or if another pony had to do it. In truth I didn't know much about her at all. A pang of guilt shot through me.She's the one pulling us along twenty-four-seven, and even saved Gale from the artillery strike. She is as much a member of Elpis as Nibble or Gale.

“What are you doing way out here?”

Melody's left head lowered, “Friend.”

I shook myself free from the momentary shock. I knew brahman could talk, I even knew they were once as smart as ponies before the war.

“No, your friends are back there.” I gestured back to the settlement.

“Not all,” Melody replied as she headed back to the caravan.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “Aww. Are you talking about me?”

“Not just you.”

I looked again, but saw nothing.

======

“Good morning children! DJ Pon-3 here to give you some updates. Smaller encampments of Pandora’s Children have been sprouting up all over Equestria. Seems their new leader is picking up where the old one left off so keep your eyes peeled and your guns loaded. If any of you don't mind doing old DJ Pon-3 a favor, please wipe those scum clear off the map if you get the chance.

“Another group has started to play a more active role as well; the Steel Rangers have been on the move. They have been spotted moving large supply carts across the wasteland to their base in Fillydelphia. I'm not sure what they are up to but steer clear if you see them. They have been more hostile than normal to ponies getting in their way.

“Finally, you wouldn't believe who paid me a visit a few days ago: none other than Elpis. I spoke with their leader and, to my surprise, he said their ultimate goal is to eliminate Pandora’s Children. Now if you meet these ponies maybe hear them out before taking action. He explained it very clearly... if Elpis wants something they're willing to work for it, but one way or another they'll get what they want. So please my little ponies try to work with them. The last thing we need is for another town to disappear.

“Well that's all I’ve got for now. Let's get back to- oh wait, I almost forgot to mention this one. I sent an assistant to keep some tabs on Elpis before they left, but somehow she was caught. Now this may not sound surprising but I can assure you my assistant is very discreet, near invisible you might say. Yet, somehow, the barmaid of Elpis caught her as if she was just walking up behind them. You’ve done something possibly good, or very dangerous barmaid: you've caught my attention, and now I’m considering a request you made with my other assistant. No more calling you barmaid, and instead I’ll call you the other name you requested… oh, what's this? There is no alternative? That is a shame. Guess barmaid will have to do. I'll be sure to keep you all up on the barmaid’s progress since he just loves the name b-”

I yanked the ear bud out. My gums hurt as my jaw tensed and my teeth ground together. I wonder how well Tenpony burns.

Nibble giggled. “I'm a little jealous. You’re becoming famous.”

My anger subsided with the revelation. DJ Pon-3 had just mentioned Pandora’s children, which were a major threat to the wasteland, the Steel Rangers, the hoarders of the most advanced pre-war technology, Elpis, and me. I literally received as much attention some of the most powerful players in the wasteland, all so he could spread around that Luna-forsaken nickname!

Nibble slid into the seat next to me so her flank rested against mine. “And now we know the zebra was sent by DJ Pon-3 so mystery solved.”

“That’s right!” I jumped up, recalling the rest of the announcement.

“Did you really just get that?” Nibble gave me a cheeky smile. “That nickname really gets you flustered huh?”

“Well.” I scratched at the back of my neck.

“We're here.” Clover called back as the caravan came to a stop. A massive fortress came into view, the walls massive and comprised of towering sheets of metal. Over a dozen bodies were nailed above the entrance and spelled out ‘No Hope’. The top of wall had mounted turrets placed all along the perimeter. From this distance the ponies scouting along the wall were no bigger than a pebble. “The Pandora’s Children main base.” Clover found a secluded spot behind a withered tree. “Gale, Ardent ready for your infiltration mission?”

Oh shit.

Footnote: No level up.