Liberation Front.

I stared at the wall in front of me, keeping my back pressed tightly against the desk I’d taken refuge under. I didn’t know where Frost was, but at this moment, I was too scared to move. After getting into New Colton, we’d been forced to split up. I’d found my way into an office building. With only one way out. The door I’d come through. Sure, there was a window, but the Deathclaw had chased me to the third floor, and I couldn’t levitate. Not to mean I didn’t care to find out. I was terrified she’d been hurt. Not because I really cared much, but because, so far, she was the only friend I had in the Wasteland.

In the grasp of my magic was the pistol she’d left me. A black iron pistol that looked like the picture of a flint lock I’d seen in an old pirate book when I was a kid. But it didn’t load like a flint lock. I’d had to slip a clip of bullets into the top of it. The clip loaded in the top of the barrel, which meant gravity fed. Quivering under the desk, I hugged the gun to my chest. The issue was that I didn’t have ammo for the gun. Frost had attempted to lead it away. Hearing the door swing open, I peeked up and instantly ducked back down. The Deathclaw had either lost Frost, and come back around, smelling me, or she was dead and I was next.

Scrunching myself under the desk, I squished up against the front of it as tight as I could, trying to make myself small. I was shaking. I knew I was. I could smell this thing, and it smelled like it had killed. Recently. Seeing its claws grip the edge of the desk, I bunched my legs beneath me, preparing to at least attempt to jump through the wall behind the desk. I’d rather kill myself than let it rip me apart. As the desk started to move, time seemed to slow. Once again, I had subconsciously activated the SATS function of my Pip-Buck. Or I thought I had, glancing down at it, I realized SATS wasn’t active. Which either meant someone else had activated SATS, or I was about to die and this was the lull before the pain really hit.

Hearing three gunshots ring out, I froze before I peeked under the gap between the desk and floor I could see. Frost. She was still alive. Bleeding badly from three long gashes across her chest and stomach, but she was breathing. And she looked pissed. The Deathclaw jerked back and I took that opportunity to sprint around the desk, sliding half way after tripping on the terminal that had come off of the desk. I didn’t stop sliding until I’d hit Frost’s legs, planting myself firmly under her, my pistol aimed at the Deathclaw.

It growled at us and I aimed at its head, hoping at least to distract it enough for Frost’s battle saddle to hit a vulnerable spot. As soon as I took aim, I slipped into SATS, the damage percentages popping up around the Deathclaw’s limbs. I could do the most damage to its arms, so I tagged up five shots. All five rounds of my gun. 45% chance to hit was all I had, even at this range. I attributed that to having Frost basically laying on top of me. Swallowing, I pulled the trigger for the five rounds. The first one went wide but the other four slammed into its forearm, jerking it around to the side and I watched, stunned, as the arm disintegrated.

I blinked as SATS slipped away, the Deathclaw roaring at us before it turned and rumbled out of the office we were in. Looking at the gun, I felt Frost get off of me before she collapsed, still bleeding badly from a slash across her cutie mark. Turning to her, I dug through her saddle bags, looking for a Stimpak like the one she’d used on me before. Finding one, I pulled it out and looked at it. I had no idea how to use this thing. Looking around, panicking, unsure how to help her, I looked down at her and saw she wasn’t breathing. Panic set in again until I realized her chest was in mid-rise. She was breathing, but time had slowed down.

“Stick the needle in her side.” A voice said from the window. I looked over and there was the wolf, sitting on the window sill. “The closer to the heart the better, just not directly to the heart. That could kill her.” He said and I looked at her before pulling the cap off of the Stimpak and sticking the needle in chest, just to the right of her heart. Pushing the plunger, I waited for a moment, starting to panic when it didn’t work immediately.

“Is that all I’ll need?” I asked but I didn’t get an answer. Looking up, he was gone. All that remained was a small circle of black flames that faded as I watched. A moment later, Frost jerked to a sitting position, whacking me in the face with her wing as she rolled to her hooves. As soon as she was seated, I threw my hooves around her neck, almost crying. So far, she was the only friend I had in the Wasteland. I didn’t know what I’d do if I lost her. I didn’t even notice the Memory Orb next to my leg until it touched me, sucking me into the memory.

******

I opened my eyes to an amazing sight. Streamers were everywhere, there were cakes, and pastries, and all sorts of other party favors. A pegasus mare with a cyan coat and a cropped rainbow mane chatted with me about something I could care less about. I found myself thinking that I’d prefer she didn’t talk, just sucked my… ok. I was in a stallion’s body. This was weird. I could feel the itching in my groin, where his stallion hood was, indicating that he wanted to have sex with the mare in front of him. When I finally tuned in to what she was saying, I wished I could rewind.

“…And that’s how the project will work. Ideally. Twilight helped me out, so I’m pretty sure it won’t have any bugs.”

“That’s pretty cool. And this… Single Pegasus Project…”

“Single Pony Project. Anypony can use it, not just Pegasi. And it’s not my project, I just helped Twilight out with finalizing the details.”

“Yes, but the access door is at the top of the tower, thereby making it a Pegasus use only project.” I wanted to punch this pony I was apparently riding.

“That’s not how it’s accessed. The door at the top is just for maintenance Pegasi to get in and out without having to bug the maintenance ponies that go through the official way in.” Rainbow snapped and my host just shrugged.

“Either way, Miss Dash, we have more important matters to discuss.” I felt myself say and, looking around, caught my reflection in the window next to me. I was a relatively tall, lanky unicorn stallion with a green coat, brown hair, and blue eyes. From his cutie mark, I could only guess his name had something to do with dirt. “Your program, this… Operation Aerostorm. Call it off.”

“Or what? It’s my Ministry, the Wonderbolts work for me and Spitfire is the one who came up with it. Even if I said no to the program, Operation Aerostorm would still go through. Know why? Because Celestia approved it.” Dash said and shoved passed me. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…” With that, she trotted back to the other party g0ers. My host glared after her before walking back into the party and over to a corner of the room. As he approached the table, the sole occupant looked up.

“It’ll be ready when you arrive. Make sure it looks like a suicide.” My host said and the occupant nodded before disappearing right in front of me. “Now… to find some mare willing to do anything for a chance at a night with royalty.” My host said to himself before he trotted around the party. I expected the memory to end there, but instead of ending, it seemed to fast forward through the night. When I rejoined my host, he was standing in a room I’d never seen before, his back to a bed. But I could see a mirror right in front of him.

Tied to the bed, a blindfold and gag on her, a suppressor around her horn, was a unicorn mare with blue fur and bright green mane and tail. My host was a tall unicorn stallion with a green coat and brown mane and tail. It was a horrid combination. But I couldn’t see his eye color. He was wearing a mask with black slits for eyes. “You have been a very naughty mare, Minty Fresh.” He said and I heard thrashing on the bed. “Sneaking a Zebra sympathizer into the Ministry of Peace Hub in Canterlot. Shipping food and supplies to the Zebrican soldiers on the front. Sneaking a Zebra out of Equestria. Sneaking a Zebra child out of Equestria. Delivering correspondence from the Zebras to conspirators within Canterlot Castle itself.

“How do you plead?” My host asked and all the response he got from the mare on the table was a muffled cry, followed by the sound of straining ropes. “No response? You will hear be found guilty of all charges. Your punishment will be to be the matron of a new generation of soldiers who will be bred to eliminate Zebras on site.” He said and I started thrashing in my own mind, trying to force him to stop as he strode over to the bed containing his prisoner. I couldn’t stop him as his hard cock was shoved roughly into the mare he had tied down, tearing a muffled scream from her as he started rutting her. Mercifully, the memory canceled then.

******

When the memory ended, I jerked awake and narrowly avoided getting bowled over as Frost barreled over me and slammed, hard, into the door of a cage. “Yeah, that’s it. Keep fightin’. Butcher’ll love ya all pre-tenderized.” A voice said from outside of the cage we were in. Looking over, I saw a pony with a massive scar on each side of his face, carving his mouth into a permanent grin. He was pale, sickly green all over, save for his mane. Or lack of one. His tail revealed that his mane would be hay yellow if he had one. His cutie-mark, if it could be called that, was a grinning pony skull.

“Leave ‘em alone Smiley. You know The Butcher ain’t gonna touch ‘em if they been sullied by yer diseased dick.” A voice said from behind him. I looked over and saw another pony sitting at a table, a set of five cards gripped carefully in her hooves.

“Then hows about you? Wanna give th’ ole python a ride?” He asked, thrusting lewdly at her.

“Touch me with that thing and I’ll bite it off.” She said and he scoffed before trotting away and out of sight. “T’ think. We’d catch the mighty Frost Wing with a Memory Orb stuck t’ her head. There’s a bounty fer you, pretty gal.”

“Aw… a bounty? For lil’ ole me? How sweet… How about you all let me out so I can show you how I earned that bounty?” Frost asked sweetly before slamming her side into the cage again. “Lemme out you bitch!” She shouted and the mare just laughed, the other ones joining in slowly.

Level Up: Perk Received) Conspiratorial Knowledge. You’ve learned of a conspiracy from before the war. Quite the turn of events, wouldn’t you say? +2 to Intelligence.

Author's Note

Ok then, chapter 4. Woohoo. And we have new bad guys. What will become of Ruby and Frost? Find out next time on... oh... right. My bad.