Chapter 8: Story of the Pegasus

I had seen a lot of overcasts back home, but none ever game me the ominously the one above was giving. We moved through the graveyard of vehicles. Many contained the skeletal remains of their riders.

There was a billboard Sparkle~Cola bottle, the stylized carrot was recognizable. A yellow pony with a pink mane was holding it in euphoric glee. According to Calamity, these billboards had once littered every major "skyroute" between Cloudsdayle and other cities, advertising goods and services from all over Equestria.

I noticed Pip and Calamity were staring at a nearby wagon.

"What did you find?" I asked, walking over.

“This is where Ditzy Doo fell,” Pip answered.

Oh.

“Who?”

I turned to see Velvet trot up beside me.

“Ditzy Doo,” I echoed. I wonder what it must of been like for her, when she became a zombie.

“Ayep," Calamity agreed.

Velvet walked past, circling around the back. Moments later, I heard her call out, "Littlepip, would you please come look at this?"

Behind and inside the wagon were several crate, some of which were torn open. Except for a safe and a footlocker in the back. The latter seemed to excite Velvet, it was marked with three bands of yellow, the center one with a pink butterfly emblem.

“Sure, no problem,” Pip announced proudly, floating out the screwdriver and bobby pin as while Velvet tried to contain her excitement. It almost made me laugh.

The inside of the safe contained a rosy glow emanating from a bottle of luminescent purplish-red liquid:

Sparkle~Cola

RAD!

With an invigorating touch of radiation and a blast of radish flavoring!

(It’s like a buck to the face! With radishes!)

Velvet levitated the bottle up to her face. “That’s insane. How could any pony be so stupid as to think consuming radiation is healthy?”

The bottle was enveloped in aura of Pip's horn, who was trying to take it back. The little tug of war game brought a nagging feeling to my mind that caused me to join in. I reached to grab the bottle and as soon as I had in my grip the magic around is dissipated, leaving all of us surprised.

"How did you do that?” Velvet asked in shock.

I shrugged. It was just like with the sledgehammer on the train, the magic around both objects seemed to dissipate when I grabbed them. It made me wonder how Velvet was able to catch me with her magic.

The drink didn't interest me so I passed it to Pip who stowed it away.

Pip decided to try to open the footlocker. “This is a tough one... I’m going to need concentration. Could you two step out? Please?”

"What you did back there. How?" Velvet asked me as we stepped outside. "Magic just doesn't disappear like that."

"I honest don't know. The same thing happened on the train when a slaver tried to bludgeon me with a sledgehammer," I explained. "When I grabbed it, the magic dissipated."

"Then how was I able to catch you? You should've kept falling."

...

"That came out wrong."

I frowned, but I let it slide.

"Maybe it's because I was struggling?" I suggested, which seemed to confuse her. "One the train, when the magic dissipated around the slaver's weapon, it was because I had grabbed it to keep him from crushing me. And earlier, with the bottle, I was trying to grab it and I succeeded."

"When you caught me with your magic, I didn't try to fight it. So maybe it only happens when I concentrate."

Velvet was still a little confused but accepted the answer. After a few moments of silence she spoke up again.

“Calamity, may I ask you something?”

“Ayep, Ah reckon you can,” the Pegasus answered.

“Why is it that you are the only pegasus pony I’ve seen in the Equestrian Wasteland? I was under the impression that pegasus ponies should be as common as earth and unicorn ponies.”

This puzzled me too. Other than Calamity, I didn't see any other pegasus. Not at Ponyville or New Appleloosa. Hell... Now that I recall, none of the skeletons at Stable 24 had wing bones.

There was a pregnant pause. Then Calamity nickered, “Wow, lady, when ya ask a question, ya go right for the throat, don’t ya.”

“I’m sorry. I apologize if this is a personal...”

“No, no. Ya should know, Ah guess.” He let out a sigh.

“Ya ain’t gonna find any other pegasus ponies. Not unless they’re... like me.” He paused as if speaking about this was physically taxing. “Ya see, back durin’ the war, we pegasus ponies were Equestria’s greatest fighting force. We were the elites! The best of the best! But after Cloudsdayle was hit, well... that was it, game over. They abandoned the war, abandoned Equestria... although it’s not like either one of ‘em lasted more’n a few hours past that anyways. The pegasus ponies closed up the sky an’ went inta hidin’.”

“They closed up the sky?" I asked.

“Ayep. They kicked the cloudmakers up t’ full power an’ locked ‘em like that. Saved their other cities, their families. The zebras couldn’t well target what they couldn’t see. Not that they didn’t try. Got a few lucky hits, but not many.” He dug at the ground with his hoof. “Ain’t been a day that ain’t been at least mostly cloudy in Equestria since.”

Velvet Remedy gasped. “That... that’s horrible!”

“Oh, they keep tellin’ themselves tha’ any day now, they’ll turn ‘em off, open the sky, come swoopin’ down t’ save the rest of ya. When they’re ready. When the time is right.” Calamity nickered in clear contempt.

“Been tellin’ themselves that for upwards of two hundred years now. Truth is, they’re too arrogant an’ lazy t’ bother. S’long as they c’n keep tellin’ themselves that they’ll do the right thing eventually, they c’n live with themselves. Meanwhile, y’lot are all dyin’ down here, from slavers an’ raiders an’ monsters... and yer making a damn hard effort of savin’ yerselves without their help.”

"It sounds like they're a bunch of cowards to me," I commented.

Calamity let out a chuckle, "Ah suppose they are."

“And you?” Velvet asked him.

“Ah didn’t find the livin’ with myself so easy as that lot seem to, buncha winged horseapples.”

After that, I decided to look for anything else valuable while Velvet went back to check on Pip.

All of a sudden, I thought I heard a squeal come from the wagon, but I paid it no mind.

As I kept looking throughout the wreckage I could've sworn I heard shuffling around me. My mind was probably playing tricks--

“Zombie-ponies!”

Zombies? Whe-waagh!

I didn't have to think before one pounced on me. It was big one, try to bite down onto my face. Damn, it's breath smelled bad. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a pistol and pressed it beneath it's chin.

Blood and grey matter went everywhere as the body slumped to the side. I brushed off what I could as I got and ran to join the others. Several more zombies were beginning to show up and they were charging at us.

“Run!"

I ran as fast as I could, even faster than the others.

I could hear the zombie-ponies behind us, craving our flesh. I could see several Pegasai circling above us.

I ducked as one dive bombed me. I fired at the second, it's body crashing into the ground behind me.

I looked back to see the Pip was slowing down. Slowing down, I turned back to help her.

“Aw, screw this!” Calamity skidded to a halt, rearing around, and opened fire. The shot ripped the fealtherless wing off one of the zombies, causing it to crash into another. The two tumbled out of the sky, splashing gorily into the half-buried metal skeleton of a huge wagon..

As I moved closer to Pip, Calamity launched himself into the air.

“Don’t slow down! Not fer an instant!” he cried out as he dodged another flying zombie-pony, kicking his saddle to reload.

Velvet was ahead of us, my legs were starting to burn, but I Kept going. I grabbed hold of Pip and pulled her along with me. We followed Velvet behind a passenger wagon, the herd right on our asses.

I could hear Calamity taking shots, but they did nothing to stop the hoard. They were getting closer, and Pip was looking to well. I was about to pic her up when I saw her horn glow and before I knew it, the wagon was consumed in a explosion.

I felt myself lifted into the air, before coming onto the ground hard.

"Fuck! Oh my god, that hurt!"

I struggled to my feet, Pip doing the same. The hoard had scattered, but not for long.

We kept moving, coming across some vehicles painted a mottled light blue and grey with tiny splashes of white. Beyond that, the valley spread out into rolling, rocky hills that offered no cover at all.

We reached it as more zombie-ponies overflew us, landing just yards away. Velvet Remedy lowered her horn, charging at them, and skewered one messily, unable to hold back an “Eeeew!” that I empathized with completely. I aimed my pistol in one hand, and grabbed a nearby plank of wood with the other.

I shot down two, and stabbed a third right through the eye.

I heard the faint sound of something powering up. turning around, my eyes widened as Pip activated what looked like a turret.

I was all grins. “Let 'er rip!"

“Celestia watch you and keep you safe,
As you travel down the path you choose.
May Luna be with you and keep you strong,
So your courage you will never lose.
Remain loyal, honest and brave,
Forget not the ones that you save
And in our hearts you will do no wrong...”

Velvet's tune wove between humming and lyrics. It was soothing I almost nodded off. The others found her music to be uplifting in the wasteland, although Calamity's eye-rolling suggested he wished she would stop trying to make it perfect.

It had been several hours since the zombies and the valley was safely behind us. Sky grew darker but according to Calamity, it was just nightfall.

It had been a few hours since our encounter with the zombie ponies. I was glad none of us had been bitten. It was a hell of a sight to see those zombies get torn apart by the turret.

“Oh my!” Velvet gasped as we came across gigantic billboard.

The image, amazingly un-faded yet marred with the grime and water damage of centuries, was the giant face of an unbearably pink pony. She was smiling, her eyes seeming to follow us.

God that smiled creeped me the hell out. I stared as we moved closer, trying to imagine it before so many years had worn it down before it became...

“...Luna-damned. Fucking. Creepy!”

Thanks Pip.

“Hello, Casey and Littlepip!”

I grabbed Pip before she could run off. Turns out Watcher thought sneaking up was a good idea. I held her tight until she calmed down.

“You are so lucky I can’t telekinetically hurl rocks at you right now!”

"Guys...?” Calamity asked, his wings in a defensive stance.

Pip ignored him, “Watcher, are they safe?”

The sprite-bot bobbed. “Yes. Wagons are on their way. Although Ditzy Doo might now be under the impression that you can hack sprite-bots and send messages through them. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Ah don’ trust that thing!”

It was good to know that Watcher had alerted someone about the ponies on the train. Though, I still didn't know if we could trust him, even if he had helped us.

“You sent us into that raider pit knowing what we'd find in there, didn’t you?”

Calamity broke off staring at the strangely-behaving bot, looking to me. We never did tell him why we went to the library.

“They needed help.”

“You could have told us the truth!” Pip snapped.

“Hey, I didn’t exactly know you two, now did I? You two seemed like good individuals who would do the right thing once you saw it for yourselves, but...”

I clenched my fists. “You nearly got us killed!”

“I'm sorry!” The voice sounded pissed. “I told you two that I didn’t mean you harm. And I didn’t. I told you that you would find something you needed to survive in there...” The sprite-bot flew close. “And I’d say you found more valuable things in there than just a book. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I didn't want to admit it, but Watcher was right. We met Ditzy Doo and I could make an argument that my friendship with Calamity started from what happened back there. Also, I could say our relationship with the New Appleloosans, and our ability to save more ponies, stemmed from what Watcher did.

I could tell Pip still wanted to knock the floating bot out of the air.

Velvet Remedy spoke up. “Casey, Littlepip, what is he talking about?”

We decided to tell them everything.

“Whoops! Almost out of time...” Watcher warned as I finished up my part of the tale. Calamity was still giving the floating the stink eye.

Pip looked up at the bot. “Watcher, you seem to know a lot about things...”

“Well, yeah.”

“What were the Ministries?”

Watcher was silent for a while. It almost seemed as if he was deep in thought. “Remember when I told you two that you should search for your virtue? And I told you about the greatest heroes of Equestria?”

We nodded. “You mentioned them, yes.”

“Well...” Watcher sounded as if he was reliving a painful memory. “The Massacre at Littlehorn broke Princess Celestia’s heart. After that, nearly midway through the war, Princess Celestia decided She wasn’t the right pony to lead Equestria anymore. So She stepped down, abdicated Her position to Her sister, Princess Luna...”

I could only imagine of Celestia must've felt about her subjects dying.

“The war had been devastating, both abroad and at home. Equestria was in severe distress, suffering from troubles within as well as from the enemy armies. You can’t imagine what it was like back then."

“Those heroes I told you about? They were six amazing ponies with true hearts and virtuous souls, whose friendship held the power to change the world. Princess Celestia had always been like a mother to them. She saw them, one in particular, as Her children. She loved them and wanted to protect them. So Princess Celestia shielded them from the worst of the war, finding quests for them that kept them, mostly, out of harm’s reach, or at least away from the battlefields. Sending them on diplomatic missions to the griffins and the buffalo -- things like that.

“Princess Luna met them for the first time in a much different circumstance. Princess Luna respected them and saw them as Her equals. And, I really think, as Her saviors. And so when Princess Luna ascended to rule Equestria and fight the war, She called Equestria’s most valuable heroes to serve as Her personal advisors. She called for the creation of new offices of government, one under each of them, whose job would be to take their advice and find ways to implement it.”

“And those were the Ministries?”

“Yes.”

I looked around once beautiful nation that was now a rotting graveyard. “I guess it didn't work out in the end.”

"Have you ever heard the old saying ‘The portal to hell is opened with the incantation of good intentions’? If there was a moral to their story, I guess that would be it.”

It was getting dark as we approached the barn. but smoke curled up from the smokestack and there was a welcoming glow in several of the windows, as well as light seeping through the cracks around the silo doors. It was just the three of us again, Watcher having vanished with a pop, replaced by tinny, patriotic music. Calamity had kept an eye on the bot until it floated away.

A raven fluttered down, perching on the first of what looked like a row of three planks sticking out of the ground near the edge of a barren pasture. The last plank was smaller and crooked. The last fellows standing of a fence, I guessed.

Quickly but carefully, we moved down the rocky hillside and through the stone-strewn fields to reach the house. We needed a place to sleep, eat, and recover. The house seemed like a lucky break, assuming the ponies inside didn’t shoot us for trespassing.

A creaky windmill squeaked as we passed.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Pip spoke up.

Velvet Remedy marched past me. “Really, Littlepip, you shouldn’t sound so jaded...” She was raising a hoof to knock when the door swung open, bathing us in warm light.

I moved my hand to my gun in case things went south.

It was a young pink pony, like really young. Her forehead was scarred, like she’d recently fallen over a ladder and scraped herself. She didn't have a horn or wings so she was an earth pony. She stood a head shorter than Pip, and didn't have a cutie mark.

Wait...

I took a closer look at her fur and realized she was covered in paint!

The other noticed it too, and they did seem at ease.

“Hello, dear,” Velvet began. “Is your mother...”

“OH MY GOSH!” The filly jumped up, squealing in delight. Then just as quickly she brought a hoof to her mouth, gasping as if in horror. At first I thought it was because I wasn't a pony, but that didn't seem to bother her.

“Oh no! You’re too late! I waited for you all day, but now we’re closed!” Tears welled up in her wide eyes.

Velvet Remedy took a step back. “Oh dear. I’m so sorry, young one, but we’re not...”

The look of horror dissipated instantly, replaced by a wide grin. “Of course you’re not! As if we ever close!” She giggled exuberantly. She ran out of the house, dashing past us, then spun with a suddenly somber expression. “You really should hurry though. Nasty things haunt these fields at night!” With that ominous proclamation, she squealed with glee and ran towards the silo.

We looked at each other. I was confused. Calamity simply shrugged and started trotting after the young, pink girl.

As we reached the silo, Velvet called out, “I’m sorry, sweetie, but we didn’t get your name?”

“OH!” The pink filly jumped. “Hee! Of course! Sorry! I’m just so excited! You’re the first visitors I’ve had to the museum in... oh ages!” Giggling again, “Oh, I’m Pinkie Bell!”

“Museum?” I asked with a perplexed look.

Pinkie Bell braced herself and pushed open the silo door. The inside of the silo looked like a party had exploded inside it. Not in a good way -- more like a party had ingested a grenade, and the room was now splattered with party-gore and party-entrails.

“Welcome to the Pinkie Pie Museum!!” The girl was practically bouncing. “This here is the number one museum of all things Pinkie Pie in all of Equestria!”

Calamity was shaking his head, but there was a relieved smile on his face. Velvet Remedy gave Calamity a smirk and he rolled his eyes in return. This was weird, no doubt about it. But: no slaver, no raiders, no horrible monsters -- a descent into the slightly bizarre was almost a welcome change.

Pinkie Bell didn’t let up, didn’t even stop for breath. “And what do you know, you’re just in time for the tour! Now where’s our tour guide? She better not be sleeping again... oh wait! It’s ME!”

The “museum” was a single huge room. There wasn’t much to tour. But Pinkie Bell made a point to stop and show off one item after another, most of them adorned with saggy balloons or vomited all over with confetti.

“... and they danced and danced all day and all night! And best of all this is the very silo where Pinkie Pie, as a young filly, invented the first party ever and got her Cutie Mark!”

I tried to ask Pinkie Bell questions about the museum and herself but she ignored me.

“During the first years of the war, Pinkie Pie traveled all over, throwing parties for Equestrian troops about to head into battle! Bringing them a taste of their homeland, and more importantly, bringing them cheer and putting smiles on their faces!” Pinkie Bell waved her arms at several easels with framed photographs of Pinkie Pie, dressed in frills and fishnets, dancing on stage in front of nearly a thousand ponies. “That is, when she wasn’t on super secret missions for Princess Celestia!”

“She looks a lot smaller in person,” Pip commented.

"Thank God," I replied. "I'd be down right terrified if I saw a pink, grinning pony the size of a billboard."

“Pinkie Pie’s only regret was that she couldn’t be everywhere helping all the troops all the time! (Although with Dash, she could come pretty close!) So of course...”

Calamity raised a hoof. “Dash her friend or Dash the drug?” Pinkie Bell once again ignored the questions.

Prancing towards a familiar poster, Pinkie Bell rambled on, unstoppable. “...when Princess Luna offered to give Pinkie Pie a whole Ministry of her very own to do whatever she wanted to with it, she pounced on the chance! And the Ministry of Morale was born!”

It was the PINKIE PIE IS WATCHING YOU FOREVER poster, this one intact. The elderly pink mare was smiling mischeviously, as if she’d just played a wonderful prank. And with the whole face visible, I swore I caught a curious look in her eyes. I no longer felt guilty with the poster staring at me; now I felt uncomfortably exposed.

It felt like she was looking into my soul, going through my life like a slide show. My skin itched just thinking about it.

A practiced twirl took Pinkie Bell to a table covered in a chemistry set and several...samples. “Pinkie Pie was always really great at cooking things. And when Princess Luna (boo) declared that the drugs that were flooding Equestria from zebra lands were harmful to the people, Pinkie Pie decided to prove that they could be good, a fun addition to any party! Working day and night, Pinkie Pie concocted a mixture of Mint-als and some of her favorite things, creating... dun DUN DUN! Party Time Mint-als!!” Pinkie Bell lifted up a tin, showing them off.

I noticed Pip staring at tin and made a mental note to keep a close eye on her.

“...by that time the Ministry of Morale had transformed Pinkie Pie into an iconic figure who transcended the boundaries of one pony to become a mystical figure that easily stood alongside Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Themselves!”

That was dramatic.

“Little colts and fillies knew that Pinkie Pie was always watching them. She saw everything they ever did. And if they were good little colts and fillies, who were nice and friendly, who did their chores and smiled and laughed and never spread seditious lies, then on their birthdays, Pinkie would bring them a wonderful party!” Pinkie Bell waved a hoof in warning, “But if they were bad little colts and fillies, Pinkie Pie would bring them a rock!”

"What the...?" I muttered. Was this the story of Pony Claus?

Meanwhile, Pinkie Bell had stopped. Her eyes went wide, and she sucked in a huge breath. And waited. One second, two, three, four... Finally, Pinkie Bell let out the breath with a disappointed sigh. “I’m sorry. I thought I felt an impromptu musical number coming on.”

I felt the need to turn and run.

“Anyway, what was I saying... oh yea, how Pinkie Pie brings parties!”

Velvet turned back to the little filly, a little startled. “Brings? Dear, you do know that Pinkie Pie is dead, don’t you?”

Pinkie Bell didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, she’s physically dead! But her spirit lives on inside all of us!”

I watched Velvet Remedy’s eyebrows raise. And then she snickered, seeming to accept that on a level I just couldn’t. While Pip facehoofed and I looked away uncomfortable, I heard Velvet whisper. “I think Pinkie Pie’s spirit has a stalker.”

I managed to miss most of the rest of the “tour” because I keeping a close eye on Pip as she kept glancing at the Mint-als. It brought back deep personal memories of my life. Thankfully we were drawn back when Pinkie Bell announced that she had something to ask of us.

“It turns out, I have the only copy of the recipe for Party-Time Mint-als!...” Oh, I hoped not. Pip looked very excited and I was ready to drag her out kicking and screaming.

“...And I’d be willing to share it with you if you can bring me the one piece of my Pinkie Pie Museum collection that I’m missing! A limited edition Pinkie Pie magical statuette! Bring it here, and I’ll throw the party to end all parties!”

“I shouldn’t have made fun,” Velvet Remedy was saying as she trotted nervously about the cramped upstairs bedroom that Pinkie Bell had absolutely insisted we stay in for the night.

When Pinkie Bell explained that a few sets of very special magical figurines had been crafted of each of the Ministry Mares, my mind had immediately gone to the orange pony statuette with the three apples on her flank. Finding another one like that, one specifically of Pinkie Pie, could be virtually impossible. Pinkie Bell insisted that the statuettes would have survived even the apocalypse.

Calamity sat on the bed, one ear to the wall as he watched Velvet fret.

“That poor filly. She’s so terribly sad.”

Calamity whinnied. “Sad? Were ya listenin’ t’ the same little pink-painted ball o’ Dash tha’ I was?” Then remembering his own earlier confusion, he clarified, “The drug.”

Velvet Remedy stopped. “Oh yes. And that poor girl is not happy. Not at all.” She hung her head. “She’s full of pain. Something horrible must have happened to her.”

"Whatever it was, it did more than just change her appearance," I spoke up. "It mostly likely change her entire way of thinking."

Suddnenly Calamity jumped to his hooves. “She’s gone. An’ if ya don’t want somethin’ horrible t’ happen t’ us, Ah suggest we be leavin’ too.”

"I second that," I added following him to the door, but when it tried to open it, it wouldn't budge.

It was locked.

“Maybe she’s just trying to us safe from the ‘nasty things’ that haunt the fields at night?” Pip suggested.

I turned around, giving her a deadpan stare. "Yeah. That's exactly what it is."

Velvet Remedy had pushed past me to try the door herself. Now she whinnied, “Doesn’t matter. We’re leaving. I will not be locked in a cage.”

I joined Calamity as he looked out the window. I saw nothing. Just the night. Then, a crack of dimly pulsing, colored light appeared as Pinkie Bell pushed open the door of the barn just enough to slide through, then pushed it shut behind her.

Calamity waited, quiet and still, until the door of the farmhouse opened, casting a rectangle of light across the ground with a Pinkie Bell shape cut out of it. The moment the door closed, he turned and bucked at the window.

The crash was terribly loud.

The escape would have been treacherous, if not impossible, without a pegasus pony to fly us down. We started across the farm, crouching low, keeping to the deeper shadows in the darkness. We were creeping alongside the barn when I noticed Pip slip into the barn.

Oh, shit.

"What are you doing?" I asked, blocking her.

Pip looked nervous, "I-I'm not sure. I wanted to check out what that glow was."

Bullshit. But I couldn't deny, that had peeked my curiosity too. I knew I was going to regret this.

I sighed. "Alright, but I'm going with you."

"What the hell is this?"

It was small, geometrically shaped with surfaces that seemed to twist through each other. The whole thing was the size of a bushel of apples, and swirled with sickly mesmerizing colors.

I saw Pip moved closer to it as if in a trance so I pulled her away from the thing. It was then that we found a safe. The rest of the barn was almost completely barren. We slipped over to it and Pip began to work.

The safe popped open with a whisper.

Inside was the one thing I hope she wouldn't see: the Party-Time Mint-al recipe.

As Pip starred at the recipe, I noticed a recorder with a single imprinted message. Pip copied it into her PipBuck, and as soon as she did, I closed the safe.

"What are you doing?" She hissed in alarm.

"You're not getting that recipe Pip."

She tried to use her magic to open the door, but I held my grip, causing the magic to dissipate.

"Fine," She grumbled before turning back to her PipBuck. "I'll take a look at this instead." She pressed a button.

I was not expecting what came next.

“Peartree,

“The raiders came back yesterday. They didn’t take kindly to daddy running them off last week with his shotgun, so this time they came in force. Mama made us hide in the upstairs bedroom and cast a spell over us to keep us from being seen. She made us promise to be quiet and still. But Silver Bell...

“My little sister has always been able to make beautiful music, like the tinkling of dozens of magical bells. We all adore it. But Silver Bell, sometimes when she’s frightened or worried, the spell happens all on its own. She didn’t mean to. It was an accident.

“The raiders killed mama and daddy. They killed them really slow and brutal. And they made us watch. It was...

“I buried them out by the end of the east field. Put up a couple planks as tombstones. I hate that they won’t last long, but I can’t carve their names into rocks. And mama and daddy deserve to have their names over their graves.

“Silver Bell has nightmares every night. Honestly, I do most nights too. And during the days she just curls up silent-like. Never crying. Never smiling. I can’t even get her to eat. I don’t know what to do.

“I’m going to try taking her to Tenpony Tower. I’ve heard there’s a buck up there who takes in orphans. It’s a long walk, and so I’m headed up to gather provisions from the neighbors. If I’m not back when you get here, please load up the wagon. I know I can’t ask you to come with us; you have your own folks to take care of. But I would really appreciate it if you could hang around so I could say goodbye.

“You’re the best buckfriend I could have asked for.

“Love, Memory.”

We stood there, stunned. Oh God...

“You shouldn’t have listened to that!” We turned to see Pinkie Bell (...no, Silver Bell!) staring right at us. “It’s. Not. Yours.”

This close, I got a much better look at that scar. Horrible realization hit me like ice water. Silver Bell was a unicorn. She’d cut off her own horn!

I let go of the door in surprise, letting it swing open. Unfortunately, Pip stumbled into it.

“You want it so much? Keep it!” She moved toward the safe, but I stood in her way, ready for a fight.

From behind her, Velvet Remedy’s voice broke the air. “You’re not like Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie/Silver Bell froze. Then slowly turned away from me. I helped Pip out as the others talked.

“You’re nothing like Pinkie Pie,” Velvet Remedy spoke slowly, calmly. Her voice wasn’t accusing now. It was mostly sad. “You are, if anything, the opposite of Pinkie Pie.”

I watched the filly in front of me shake. Emotions seemed to rush through her as if they didn’t want to stay or were eager to get out of the way so the next emotion could take hold.

“You don’t bring happiness. When I look at you, all I feel is sad,” Velvet continued, her voice giving gentleness to her words. “If Pinkie Pie were to meet you, she wouldn’t throw a party...”

“Yes she would!”

Velvet paused only a moment, “Maybe she would, but she wouldn’t throw a party because she wanted to have fun with you. She would throw a party because she wanted to help you. Because you would make her very sad.”

“W-w-what do y-you know!?”

“I know that laughter, real laughter, isn’t forced. It isn’t something you paint on to hide how you are truly feeling.” Velvet Remedy walked slowly towards the filly, who was trapped between flying into a rage and breaking down in tears. “I know that you are very badly hurt inside. And it’s not the sort of hurt that can be fixed with a party. Or healed by my horn.”

By the time Velvet Remedy had reached the filly, Pinkie/Silver Bell was shaking badly.

“What happened to your parents wasn’t your fault. What happened to your sister wasn’t your fault...”

To her sister? Suddenly, I remembered the three planks in the field. The last one crooked, like it was planted by someone smaller and younger who didn’t manage so well. My heart broke.

“YES! IT! WAS!” And with that, Silver Bell collapsed into wretched sobs. I could only watch as Velvet Remedy wrapped her head and a leg around the filly, giving her a mane to cry into.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Also, I'm having trouble with the direction of my story, Fallout Equestria: Survival.

If anyone has any advice please let me know.