Fallout Equestria: Sisterly Loveby thecyanidefairyChaptersNai Meets WillowNei is unleashed.What the Cat Dragged InNai Meets WillowThe dilapidated old shopping strip stood silent, broken and dusty windows peered lifelessly into the streets of Fetlock. Rubbish of a time long since past blew in the gentle wind, plastic bags and food wrappers swirling around each other in a dance that nopony would witness. Movement rustled, and from the rubble a grey unicorn emerged, her bright pink mane almost glaring in the dim and darkened street. Her wary eyes darted to and fro, and she began to cross the street, hoping that she would remain undetected by any roaming bandits or stray pack of manticores for a while longer. Even on the outskirts of Manehattan, a mare alone was easy pickings. That is, if she was alone. “YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A huge manticore came hurtling through the previously quiet street, snarling and slashing at the second grey pony that somehow stood upon it’s back, a shield of pale gold magic protecting her from its dripping venomous tail and biting a rope tied around the manticore’s neck. Gripping the rope in her teeth, she wrenched the roaring manticore to the side, her soft pink mane flying in the wake of her steed’s galloping path. The enormous creature smashed into several buildings on its way past the pony on the street, who was now deathly still and her face pale as she watched her idiot older sister ride the beast like a brahmin. Nei’s crazed gleeful laughter rang off the broken down buildings as she and the giant manticore careened off, disappearing into the ruins. “So much for stealth.” Nai grumbled to herself, wondering how long it would take before her sister Nei attracted every bandit and raider in the entire city to their location. She adjusted her saddlebags across her back, then trotted at a quick pace down several back alleys, her bright purple eyes seeking out the old apothecary that was listed on her faded map. Zebra apothecaries always held a plethora of interesting and useful herbs that couldn’t be found elsewhere, but finding one intact that hadn’t been decimated by vandals was the key. She had bartered for this one’s location on the promise that it was whole and safe. She slipped down another alley, her ear cocked as she listened for any sign of her sister. She had asked Nei to retrieve some manticore venom sacs, she shouldn’t be surprised that she had chosen to have some fun on the way. Nai let out a sigh, before spotting an old rotting zebra mask of welcome leaning against a sheltered doorway. This was it! And the lack of broken doors and windows was very promising! Excitement overtook her and she ran inside the shop, the door making a pleasant tinkling noise behind her. She skidded to a halt, her eyes wide and she breathed in the musty smell of the old herbs and spices. Shelves upon shelves of containers lined the shop, some of them looked to be magically sealed for freshness. The floor was clear of shattered glass, only coated in thick dust. Tiny motes of that dust danced through the shafts of light trickling through the grimy windows panes, disturbed by her arrival. It was completely untouched! This was perfect! Nai did a little dance in the spot in excitement, squeaking in delight. “Who the.. Who are you? How did you find this place?” Startled at the feminine voice, Nai looked over the the back of the shop where a unicorn mare was emerging from behind a rotting curtain, her magic pulling a heavy whip from her bag. “This shop has many dangerous things! You shouldn’t be in here.” The whip now began to uncurl, the mare looking concerned and wary at the intrusion by a single pony. Normally bandits came in packs, not a bedraggled unicorn with a bright pink mane. Nai’s world, which had once only been filled with books, potions and knowledge, shrank down to a single point, tunneling until all she could see was the beautiful mare in front of her. Her body felt hot and cold all at once, like a great fever had seized her body. Her mind went blank, seemingly to only comprehend the soft pale coat with dapples of cream, the pastel mane that was so fluffy and looked softer than anything Nai had ever seen. Warm, but watchful lavender eyes peered at Nai, the streak of cream on her face going up to her horn. She was the most lovely sight Nai had ever seen. Her mouth was dry, and it seemed like her tongue had forgotten how to speak with proper words. ”Er.. Why are you staring at me like that?” The pony took a step back, preparing to flee through the back entrance. “Preeeettttyyyyy…..” Nai breathed. “I’m sorry, what?” They were interrupted by a clatter above them, and as one both the mares looked to the ceiling to see Nei crawling along it like a spider, a knife clenched in her magic and malice in her eyes, making her way to the cream and pastel pony. Nai’s eyes widened, recognising when her sister perceived a threat. “Nei, no! She’s okay!” She gripped her sister in a glow of bright green magic, prying her off the ceiling and setting her on the floor. “She’s just getting supplies, she’s not dangerous.” The strange pony stared hard at the two of them before addressing Nai. “You know that mad mare?” “This is my sister, Nei. I’m Nai.” Nai stared at the mare again, that tunnel vision of adoration threatening to blow her mind away again. She had never seen such a stunning mare, her heart was throbbing hard in her chest, beating out a rhythm of love at first sight. ”Nai and Nei. Because that’s not going to get confusing.” The mare rubbed her nose, coiling her whip away into her saddle bags. “You know that your sister was riding a manticore earlier?” “Yeah, Nai needed some venom sacs and that beastie didn’t want to share.” Nei stepped forward, her eyes calculating and cold. She had seen the blush on her sister’s cheeks, knew that this mare had cast the beginnings of a dangerous spell on her sister. She levelled her blade at the pony. “Name and reason for being in our way, sweet cheeks.” Nai pushed Nei to the side, eager to make conversation with the lovely stranger. “Please ignore my sister, she’s nuts. What are you doing in a zebra alchemy shop? What’s your name? You’re pretty. Do you have any books to trade?” The pony cringed under the barrage of questions, but softened at the naive eagerness in Nai’s freckled face. “I’m Willow, I’m a herbalist, I sought this shop to replenish my supplies. You should be careful, if you don’t know what you are doing, a place like this is deadly.” “There ain’t no better herbalist than my sister here. She can cure anything!” Nei glared at Willow, clearly less willing than Nai to trust her. Happy to ride a manticore, but apparently kindly conversation was beyond her abilities. Willow looked down at the smaller pony, surprised. “You know about herbs?” Nai nodded happily, dumping out her saddlebags crammed with books on zebra alchemy, proudly showing them off to the newcomer. “I’m trying to make a particular brew that causes a controlled poison joke effect, something we can use to incapacitate ponies who are wanting to fight without doing long term harm. We came here to find some of the rarer herbs, since the Everfree Forest is several weeks away across dangerous territory.” Willow looked impressed both at the book collection and at Nai’s words. “You want something non lethal but incapacitating?” “I don’t see why we don’t just fight to win.” Nei grumbled, taking up residence near the dirty window. She cupped her face in her hoof, looking outside with a pout. Nai ignored her, ploughing onwards with her high pitched and excited explanation. “Yes! Using anesthesia spells is okay but pretty draining. I want to dispel the potion in a powder form, and make sure it doesn’t have lasting nasty side effects. You never know when a life you save may be one that saves yours!” Nei made a rude noise, but both the ponies ignored her, now eagerly discussing how to alter the potion to cripple but not harm. Nai felt a little thrill as they talked, she had made a friend! Nei is unleashed.Author's Note Warning: This chapter contains particularly disturbing content. Feel free to skip it if you're squeamish about extreme gore and torture. Nei is unleashed. I grinned viciously down at the mare, pressing at the base of her wing with my knife. She began to scream, high shrieks of terror mixing with begging, bargaining for me to not harm her precious wings. Pegasi were so rare in the wasteland. She should have stayed in the clouds. I stretched her wing out further with my hoof, feeling the tendons popping as they were extended beyond what was natural. The mares shrieks now became screams of pain, music to my ears. I dug the knife into her skin, slowly sawing through the muscles, but being careful to not penetrate too deeply, and avoiding her major arteries. Blood flowed around my knife, leaving the metallic taste on my muzzle. Her bound hooves pummeled the floor in her effort to buck me off, but I simply sat on her back, putting my whole body weight into pinning her. My work completed with one wing, I let it fall to the floor with a thump. Screaming gave way to sobbing as the orange pegasus tried to move her wing. "What did you do? I can’t move my wing...oh god I can’t move my wing!!" I thought about replying, but instead chose to simply stretch out her other wing. She began to shriek again, as her mind caught up to my intentions. "Please! Please don’t! I'll do anything! Please!" Ignoring the ridiculous pleas, I cut into her other wing, slicing the muscles pegasi used to control their wings. Once I was through with her, she would never even be able to lift her wings again, let alone fly. They would simply hang at her side, useless. She would still be able to feel them, that was the beauty of it. I reached into my saddle bag, pulling out some healing bandages. Ripping a chunk off, i jammed it into each cut on her wings, preventing the muscles from reconnecting. The orange mare was simply sobbing now, incoherent threats and rage filled promises of revenge spilling from her mouth as I bandaged her wings tightly against her body, then pouring a small vial of healing potion over them. She would heal, but her beautiful, graceful wings would never flap again. I wrapped her mane around my hoof, dragging her head painfully back so I could see into her eyes. "What is your name?" Big, lovely pink eyes met mine, swimming with tears of rage and fear. "C-Crimson Sunrise." "Hello Crimson Sunrise. My name is Nei." "Why are you doing this to me? I-I don’t even know you!" I felt the madness nibble at my mind as I grinned down at the terrified mare. "Because you are a Very Bad Pony. You sold out my sister’s caravan to slavers." Crimson Sunrise’s eyes went wide as she realised what I was talking about. "Your sister? She was in that caravan?" "Oh yes." I leaned down to her, almost putting us eye to eye. "You’re very lucky I was able to kill all those ponies and that she didn’t get hurt. Otherwise I wouldn’t just be taking your flight. I’d be taking your pretty head as penance." She began to shake underneath me, as true fear took hold. She now understood I was no random raider, but instead was her retribution. And in the wasteland, retribution was worse than any mindless violence. Though, truth be told, I did love the violence. "Now then," I breathed, almost lovingly, "You-" "Please!" She interrupted me. My eye twitched. I hated interruptions. "The slavers, they have my daughter! They told me if I gave them enough ponies I’d get her back!!" I slammed her head down onto the pavement until I heard her nose break. "Don’t ever fucking interrupt me again." I shoved her broken nose with my other hoof, making her scream in pain as it was moved off centre of her face. Lifting out another vial of healing potion, i poured it onto her muzzle, ensuring the bone had healed so that it was fused to be sideways. Waiting until her screams gave way to sobs, then hiccups, I stroked her mane making soothing little noises. "Now then", I said brightly. "I happen to have your child. The child YOU sold for a supply of Dash and a fuck." Instantly all of her attention focused on me, her pain forgotten. "You...you saved her?" "Of course! She is currently with my sister, who is waiting outside this town of yours. She’s fine now, unharmed, at least physically." I smiled down at the pretty mare. "I’m not a monster, after all. Once I slaughtered the ponies you sold my sister and her friends out to, we went into the town they were heading to and killed all of those ponies too. You weren’t selling slaves to slavers, Miss Sunrise, you were selling them to raiders." Crimson’s eyes went wide as she realised what I was saying. "They were raiders? They seemed so normal!! Oh god...I sold children to them..." "Eeyup you did. Most weren't sold, but were kept for the raider’s enjoyment. Some were forced to fight to the death. Others to be trained as new raiders. Others, like your lovely Moonbeam, were for sex slaves. In fact, I had to prise her off the floor where they had nailed her." "Moony..." The pegasus sobbed. "Moonbeam is fine, as I said. My sister, Nai healed her. It’s what she does, she’s a like a medicine pony. Sometimes." My eyes hardened as I hissed into her face. "Except for cowards like you who sell children to slavers. You didn’t even try to save your child. You just began to work for those filthy raiders without a peep. You'll get your daughter back, but not before I have extracted payment for the suffering you inflicted upon other ponies." I climbed off the mare, and rolled her over, kicking her in the gut to stop her from moving. "Spitfire!" The front door swung open, and the caravan mistress squeezed her head through the broken frame. Crimson squeaked in fear at the large gun gripped in her teeth, and promptly pissed herself. Again. "Pick a body part for the payment of the lives of those we buried, for your caravan." Spitfire’s cold, dead eyes pinned the mare to the floor better than any restraint. She was silent for a time, long enough for the smell of urine to permeate the air. "Teeth." She pulled her head back out, then kicked her pliers into the room, slamming the door shut, causing the whole house to shudder. Spitfire had no stomach for the pain I would inflict, but it was her caravan that was taken. The was the wasteland. Payment had to be made. I smiled. She chose well. Looking down at the terrified mare, I pulled out some wonderglue and a small bar of iron. Her eyes turned from fear to outright confusion as I upended the glue over the floor. I rolled her into the glue so she was face up, and laying down, then I waited for the glue to harden. Didn’t take long. I read about this method of restraint in a book once, and it was a grand idea. The pinned pony had to rip their own skin off to get free if they couldn’t get the solvent. Spitfire would make sure no pony in this town had access to the solvent. Cruel, and effective on scum like her. “That was the owner of the caravan you sold. She isn’t happy with you. If you fuck with us again, she will make sure no one in this town ever trades again. Got it? You will starve alongside them” She nodded, her eyes wide and fearful. "Open your mouth." I jammed the iron rod into her mouth, propping it open and pinning her tongue behind it. "Alright. We buried 18 ponies. So I will be removing 18 of your teeth." Crimson began to shake again, but couldn’t make more noise than a few grunts around the rod. I poured a small amount of Nai’s pick-me-up potion into her mouth. "That will keep you conscious through this. You will feel everything, but can’t escape. It’s fantastic for long nights of reading." Tears streaked down her face as she begged me with her eyes. Unfortunately for her, spending a day and a half burying ponies that almost could have been my sister, in various states of torture, had hardened my heart. Not that it needed much hardening anyway. I was born a raider, this was something I enjoyed. I picked up the pliers in my magic, turning to my work with glee. "This is for the mare I buried, who was force fed the fetus she miscarried until she choked to death." I ripped a tooth out. Crimson Sunrise screamed in agony, but the wonderglue kept her sealed in place. "This is for the stallion I buried, who had been forced to eat his own balls." Skipping a tooth, I ripped out a second one. Pulling every second tooth would prevent her from eating properly, or getting false teeth unless she removed the rest. Something else i read in a book. I read a lot of strange books. "This is for the mare who was nailed to the roof and made into a chandelier." Rip. "This is for the mare who was raped so much she split open from arse to pussy." Rip. "This is for the filly who was starved." Rip. "This is for the filly who was burned to death." Rip. "This is for the one who was tied cock first to his twin brothers face and left to starve." Rip. "This is for the one who was smothered with his twin brothers cock and left to rot." Rip. On and on I went. Remembering each body as I had found them and buried them. Eighteen. Some of them just old enough to get their cutie mark. I looked down at the eighteen teeth next to me, then up at the mare, her eyes glazed with pain. Screams had turned to whimpers as the pain had continued. Retribution was done. Nai had asked I leave her alive, and so I had. She would suffer the rest of her life with a misshapen nose, half her teeth missing and the inability to fly. But the foals I buried wouldn’t even get that, because of her acts. They had died in worse ways than I had seen in a long time. I slapped her, as hard as I could, bringing her back into the present. Her eyes focused on me, once again swimming with tears. Yanking my iron bar from her mouth, I spoke. "Each of those ponies would have had a chance to live if you hadn’t sold them. Every single one. Your daughter has been told of what you did. She wants to say a few things before we leave." "Leave?" Crimson croaked out before I poured the last of the healing potion down her throat. She choked and gasped, but cleared her mouth quickly. "You're taking my Moonbeam?" "No." I said harshly. "She was given a choice. Go with the caravan, or stay with you. She was informed of your punishment. She wanted to kill you. She had been with those raiders for six whole months. A lifetime for that filly. All those ponies I pulled your teeth for? She was the one who knew how each of them had died. You sold your own child, for fucking drugs. However, murder is not me sister's way. She believes in physical punishment, rather than outright death." I stood up and cricked my neck, rejoicing in the release of tight muscles. "Spitfire!" I called. "Show in Beamer!" A few minutes passed, then the door blew open as a blue filly stormed in. She slowly looked at her mother, glued to the floor, before looking at me. Her eyes were hard, and flat. "Why is she still alive?" "Death isn’t as fun as lifelong pain. She will suffer." Beamer nodded, staring at the pony who had ruined her life. "Moony..." Crimson Sunrise began, her words slurred by her missing teeth. "Shut up! My name isn’t Moony!" Beamer screamed suddenly, as she ran across the room to punch her mother in the face. "You sold me! You sold me for...for dash!!!!" Crimson Sunrise bowed her head, sobbing in shame. "They nailed me to the floor! They r-raped me! They killed those poor ponies! They..." Beamer drew her breath, before unleashing her rage."They took my WINGS!" Crimson Sunrise’s head snapped up, her eyes going at last to the heavily bandaged sides of her daughter. "They...what?" She asked softly. Beamer stood there, shaking in rage. I knew what she wanted to say, but her anger had rendered her mute. "Crimson." Her eyes darted to me, then back to her daughter. "They smashed every single bone in her wings, cut them off, then made her eat them to survive." The colour drained from Crimson’s face as she slowly turned to me. "Oh my...." Beamer suddenly stretched out Crimson’s wing, then let it fall to the floor. A malicious smile crossed her face. "You cut her flight muscles." "Yes." Beamer nodded, stepping back, then walked over to me. "I’m going with these ponies, ma. You can stay glued to the floor. I don’t care. You are dead to me." Crimson just stared blankly at the floor, before nodding. Beamer suddenly reached behind her, tucked into her bandage was a small puffer of dash. She put it on the floor, beyond Crimson’s reach. "Here. Your payment for the ponies you sold. In a day or two the withdrawals will come. Then you will rip yourself from the floor. As your flesh gives way, I hope you remember me. Bitch." Beamer stood, looking at the mare who she used to call mother, before turning and leaving without another word. Crimson let out a small sobbing gasp at the sharp nails that had become her daughter's cutie mark. I coldly looked down at the orange pegasus mare. "If I find you again, I will feed you your wings." With that, I left, stepping into the cool night air. Breathing out heavily, I made my way over to where Spitfire was speaking in a low voice to Nai. “It’s done.” Spitfire looked at me with sad eyes, knowing what I did was necessary didn’t make it easier on her. “Thank you, Nei. I appreciate you coming to our rescue. I couldn’t believe it when they swarmed our caravan so quickly. Our trade routes are usually quite safe.” I shrugged. “My sister didn’t come back from her adventure on time. It’s just lucky that band of raiders is one that we know well. Are you fine to take Beamer with you?” “I want to keep her.” Nai pouted. I gave her a very hard and unforgiving stare. “You are on my shitlist, missy. You worried me. First you demand an adventure, then you tell me I can’t chaperone you, then you get captured by raiders like some idiot. No pets for you. We are going back to Manehattan where it’s safe.” Spitfire smiled. “I’ll take her. She can learn the trade, or I can find her a decent family.” She dropped a pouch of caps in front of me. “For the- for the punishment. That can’t have been easy.” Spitfire was a shrewd mare. She may not like getting her hooves dirty, but she knew better than to owe anything to a mare like me. I scooped up the pouch in my magic, and picked up my sister who squeaked in protest. “It was easier than you think. Keep an eye on Beamer. If she starts to act like, well, me, then get in contact as fast as you can.” Spitfire frowned, realising what I had implied. “Alright. I’ll watch her.” “Until next time then." What the Cat Dragged In“Can you please move?” “No.” “Why?” “Cause I don't wanna. Moving requires effort, and effort is something I do not have right now.” Nai raised her eyebrow at her older sister, who was currently sprawled out on top of a pile of books with her legs in the air. Nei raised her own eyebrows in return. “You're so lazy.” Nei sniffed. “I am practical. If you want me to move, then you must feed me. Moving requires energy, and thus I require food.” She flopped her head back down and began flicking at dust motes in the sunlight. “I think I have some old twizzlers in my bag.” “I don't want stinky old twizzlers.” Nei waved a hoof at imaginary bugs. “I'm pretty sure I want cake.” She heard her little sister sigh. “I'm sure we can find some if we go scavenging. Or we can ask Vortex to make us some.” “Cool. Maybe he can teleport us somewhere amazing.” Vortex could create tiny portals in cake batter, but they couldn't travel through them just yet. “Doubtful. Look, are you gonna move or what?” “Do you have cake?” “No?” “Then no.” Nei rolled around on the books, content that she had successfully outsmarted her sister. She heard Nai stand up, and a grumpy grey face appeared in her vision. “If you don’t move, I’ll poison you later.” Nei made a show of considering this, tapping her chin with a hoof. Nai would probably poison her later anyway, she knew that her sister had been brewing a new batch and probably needed a guinea pig. It was worth the risk. “Today is a day for relaxing. I don't feel like moving.” She nestled deeper into the book pile, scooping one of them to her chest like a teddy bear. “You say that, but what if Lime comes to visit you?” “Well, if the tower pony comes and challenges me to a fight, then I will fight. That’s kind of a given.” Nei batted at her sister’s looming face with a hoof. “I don’t think she will, though.” “I think you need to get your fat butt off my books. I don’t want nasty sister butt prints all over my sacred texts.” Nai began to shove the book pile in an effort to topple her stubborn sister. Nei relaxed her body, instantly getting heavier. Nai scowled at her. “Sacred texts? These are romance novels!” Picking one up, Nei dramatically read out the cover slogan. “Let Captain Witherhooves sweep you off your feet into a pirate filled fantasy...What is this garbage?” Nai grunted with effort, still trying to shove her sister off. “They’re sacred to me,” her horn lit up as she tried to lift the books with magic. “And therefore they should be sacred to you.” Lifting a book in her own grey magic, Nei booped her sister on the horn, shorting out her magic. Grinning with glee, she settled back onto her book throne. “I'm not moving.” Nai sat back in a huff, flipping her fringe out of her eyes. Nei ignored Nai’s glare, getting extra comfortable in the book pile, making sure to wiggle her butt over as many books as she could. Blessed silence, if only for a few seconds. “You know there’s a manticore nest off fifth and seventh avenue.” Nei sat bolt upright, staring at Nai. “You’re kidding.” “Am not. Vortex saw it when he came to visit last time. Scared him out of his wits but I figured you'd want to know.” Nei looked at Nai suspiciously. “Why didn't you tell me before?” “Probably because I didn't need your fat butt out of the apartment before.” Nei continued to glare suspiciously at her sister. It wouldn't be the first time she’d lied to her in order to get her to go away. Nai rolled her eyes. “You can ask Limey too. A doctor went to the tower last week looking for it. He was talking about using them for an experiment and the future of the wasteland or something.” Nai began to push at the books again. “Get off my books and then you can go ride a manticore.” “This is true.” Nei hauled herself off the books, landing on her hooves in a haphazard way. Limey was a trustworthy pony, even if her sister wasn't. “You make a compelling argument, my dear sister.” Tying her mane into its trademark braid, she struck a ridiculous pose. The cloud filtered sunlight streamed through a hole in the roof of their Manehattan apartment, illuminating the soft shades of pink in her mane. It had once belonged to some fancy pony, their bones now acted as a doorstop. “To the Manticore nest!” Nei wandered down the dilapidated streets of Manehattan, listening to the crackling music of faded and broken sprite-bots in the distance. She kicked a few stones along before breaking into an old ballad from prewar times. Her off key voice warbled and reflected off the buildings, sending radroaches scurrying. “You can go your own wayyyyy, go your own way...” Something moved down the road, a something that wasn't a radroach or a manticore. Nei dropped down low, pulling her body close to the ground. She wasn't sure what it was, but hopefully it would be fun. The rough ground scraped against her chest as she edged closer, sneaking up behind a yellow and grey rump. Inhaling, Nei took a deep breath and let out an enormous roar, being rewarded with a scream and the pony scrabbling to get away from her. “You aren't a manticore!” Nei was full of disappointment. “What are you doing in my city?” The pony had her hoof on her chest and she was staring at Nei with wide eyed terror. “Wh-What? Your city? This city is the property of Tenpony Tower!” Oh great, Nei thought. Another puffed up tower pony who had wandered too far away. This one didn't seem as fun as Limey, all quivering and squeaking. “This is my territory. You're trespassing.” The pony was attempting to regain some of her lost dignity, adjusting her mane and dusting off her bags. There was a rip in one, through which Nei could see some books. “I don’t think so. All of Manehattan is under the protection of Tenpony Tower.” “Perhaps you misheard me. You’re on my turf.” Nei slid a blade out from her braid, holding it steady in her magic. “Trespassers will be punished.” The pony squeaked and started trying to scramble over the rubble away from her, but she slid down and landed right at Nei’s hooves. It was almost comical. Getting up again, she turned to Nei and held a rock awkwardly in her magic like she was going to swat her with it. It was obvious that she had never fought for her life before. It wasn't easy facing someone who could obviously tear you limb from limb, and for that Nei had to give her bravery some credit. Knocking the rock away, Nei slammed her body against the pony with a sickening thud, who went down with an agonised yelp. Standing over the whimpering unicorn, Nei held her own rock over her head, ready to bring it down. She pointed at the tower in the distance. “In case you hadn't realised, Tower jurisdiction ends at the Celestia rail line. Beyond that is ghoul territory, and beyond that is manticores. Then it’s me and mine.” She leaned close to her, breathing in the smell of fear, pampered pony and peppermint. “You’re a long way from home, little dove.” The unicorn trembled, Nei could feel the shakes in her hooves. She frowned. “That’s also a very long way to walk. How did you even get out here?” “I can-” The yellow unicorn swallowed, her eyes never leaving the rock above her head. “I can teleport short distances. I didn’t realise how far I'd gone. Are you going to kill me?” Nei snorted, throwing the rock off to the side of the road. “You’d be no fun to kill, all shaking and screaming and gross. What are you doing out here?” She flopped down on the road next to the pony and began using her knife to pull gunk out from under her hooves. The pony remained tense, her eyes on the knife, but she answered steadily. “Looking for books, actually. I'm a bit of an astronomer and I want to know more about the sky.” Nei paused in her cleaning, glancing up at the overhead clouds. The sky had been cloudy since the bombs fell, everyone knew that. The clouds were put there to protect them. “Why do you want to know more about the sky? It's just cloud.” The pony rolled to her hooves, apparently content that Nei wasn't going to start filleting her. “Its not the clouds that interest me, its whats beyond them.” “More clouds, obviously.” Nei tucked her knife away and joined the pony, who was now picking her way through the rubble towards what used to be a library. It was now the lair of mutated star spiders but Nei didn't see any point in telling that to a trespasser. “Not necessarily. I want to know more about the stars. I have a constellation as my cutie mark but Ive never even seen a single star.” “There aren't stars any more!” Nei scoffed. “Everypony knows that the clouds are there to keep ponies from falling upwards after the pegasi destroyed everything.” She shook her head at the stupidity of the yellow mare. “You tower ponies really don't know anything.” The other mare stopped, staring at Nei with her mouth agape. “You… You don't really believe that do you?” “Don't look at me like that. It's obvious if you think about it. We fall off the planet and the clouds will catch us.” Nei had reached the library and was beginning to poke a fat star spider sleeping near the door. “No one is that stupid.” The pony was looking at her with suspicion. “You sound like my sister.” Nei brightened and flipped over the star spider which started shrieking in anger. “Actually, she's a nerd like you, we should go see her!” The pony backed away a few steps. “I don't think i want to go anywhere with you.” Nei looked at the pony casually. “I don't think I was giving you a choice, honestly.” The star spider screamed in rage as Nei grabbed its web in her magic and threw it at the hooves of the pony, gluing her to the ground. The unicorn mare tripped over her own hooves as they stuck fast, and began weakly pelting Nei with stones. Ignoring the sharp missiles, Nei grabbed the web again, carefully avoiding the sticky parts and wrapped it firmly around the hooves of the mare. Tying a pony up made her feel positively villainous, and the feeling was elating. She let out a cackle, just like a real villain would, and began to drag the visiting unicorn back to her lair. The whole way home the pony struggled against her bonds, but her magic was ineffective against Nei’s superior strength and sheer willpower. At some point Nei had started monologuing, detailing all manners of terrible things that she would do to the pony once they had returned to her lair. None of it was true but it was fun to monologue, she could see why the villains in Nai’s books enjoyed it so much. Kicking open their front door with a hind leg, she hauled her prize inside and propped her against the bones of the previous tenant. Her victim began to scream, only to be cut off by the appearance of another grey pony. “Nei! What is that and why is it in our house?” Nai trotted towards them. “A trespasser!” Nei proudly stated, patting the unicorn. “I am so sorry, miss. I’ll get a solvent for those webs. You're going to lose some fur, I'm afraid. Once they are stuck on you, they are very hard to get off.” Nai cantered back into their home, heading for her lab. “Nei! Bring that poor girl in here!” Nei sighed. She could tell from her sister’s voice that she was going to get a lecture later. Pulling the whimpering pony roughly by the tail, she hauled her into the lab. “What’s your name?” Nai asked kindly as she searched around for her solvent. “Milky Script.” Milky had stopped struggling, and was now watching Nei chew on a cold piece of bacon that she had pulled from somewhere. Nei politely offered her the chewed monstrosity but Milky shook her head, paling at the sight. “Im Nai, and that's my older sister Nei.” Nai shook the solvent out onto Milky’s hooves, where it began to sizzle and dissolve the web. Turning to Nei, Nai put on a stern face. “Nei, we do not kidnap ponies just because they happen to be nearby. Is that clear?” Nei grinned through a mouthful of greasy bacon. “Not even when they wanted to go in your precious library?” Surprised, Nai turned back to Milky, who was now tugging the web painfully off her hooves. “You wanted to go to the library? Why?” “Because I wanted to check if they had any astronomy books.” Nai exchanged glances with Nei. “You didn't tell her, did you?” Nei just shook her head. “What?” Milky looked between them. “Don't tell me that you believe the clouds are there to stop us falling off the earth too?” “What?” Nai snorted. “That's stupid. No, I've just got most of the library stored here. Star spiders took over the library ages ago, I had to rescue all the books.” She waved a hoof in the direction of a hallway. “Including the astronomy section.” Milky gaped. Nei grinned, picking at the bacon between her teeth. “I'd have told you if you'd asked, you know.”
Nai Meets WillowThe dilapidated old shopping strip stood silent, broken and dusty windows peered lifelessly into the streets of Fetlock. Rubbish of a time long since past blew in the gentle wind, plastic bags and food wrappers swirling around each other in a dance that nopony would witness. Movement rustled, and from the rubble a grey unicorn emerged, her bright pink mane almost glaring in the dim and darkened street. Her wary eyes darted to and fro, and she began to cross the street, hoping that she would remain undetected by any roaming bandits or stray pack of manticores for a while longer. Even on the outskirts of Manehattan, a mare alone was easy pickings. That is, if she was alone. “YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A huge manticore came hurtling through the previously quiet street, snarling and slashing at the second grey pony that somehow stood upon it’s back, a shield of pale gold magic protecting her from its dripping venomous tail and biting a rope tied around the manticore’s neck. Gripping the rope in her teeth, she wrenched the roaring manticore to the side, her soft pink mane flying in the wake of her steed’s galloping path. The enormous creature smashed into several buildings on its way past the pony on the street, who was now deathly still and her face pale as she watched her idiot older sister ride the beast like a brahmin. Nei’s crazed gleeful laughter rang off the broken down buildings as she and the giant manticore careened off, disappearing into the ruins. “So much for stealth.” Nai grumbled to herself, wondering how long it would take before her sister Nei attracted every bandit and raider in the entire city to their location. She adjusted her saddlebags across her back, then trotted at a quick pace down several back alleys, her bright purple eyes seeking out the old apothecary that was listed on her faded map. Zebra apothecaries always held a plethora of interesting and useful herbs that couldn’t be found elsewhere, but finding one intact that hadn’t been decimated by vandals was the key. She had bartered for this one’s location on the promise that it was whole and safe. She slipped down another alley, her ear cocked as she listened for any sign of her sister. She had asked Nei to retrieve some manticore venom sacs, she shouldn’t be surprised that she had chosen to have some fun on the way. Nai let out a sigh, before spotting an old rotting zebra mask of welcome leaning against a sheltered doorway. This was it! And the lack of broken doors and windows was very promising! Excitement overtook her and she ran inside the shop, the door making a pleasant tinkling noise behind her. She skidded to a halt, her eyes wide and she breathed in the musty smell of the old herbs and spices. Shelves upon shelves of containers lined the shop, some of them looked to be magically sealed for freshness. The floor was clear of shattered glass, only coated in thick dust. Tiny motes of that dust danced through the shafts of light trickling through the grimy windows panes, disturbed by her arrival. It was completely untouched! This was perfect! Nai did a little dance in the spot in excitement, squeaking in delight. “Who the.. Who are you? How did you find this place?” Startled at the feminine voice, Nai looked over the the back of the shop where a unicorn mare was emerging from behind a rotting curtain, her magic pulling a heavy whip from her bag. “This shop has many dangerous things! You shouldn’t be in here.” The whip now began to uncurl, the mare looking concerned and wary at the intrusion by a single pony. Normally bandits came in packs, not a bedraggled unicorn with a bright pink mane. Nai’s world, which had once only been filled with books, potions and knowledge, shrank down to a single point, tunneling until all she could see was the beautiful mare in front of her. Her body felt hot and cold all at once, like a great fever had seized her body. Her mind went blank, seemingly to only comprehend the soft pale coat with dapples of cream, the pastel mane that was so fluffy and looked softer than anything Nai had ever seen. Warm, but watchful lavender eyes peered at Nai, the streak of cream on her face going up to her horn. She was the most lovely sight Nai had ever seen. Her mouth was dry, and it seemed like her tongue had forgotten how to speak with proper words. ”Er.. Why are you staring at me like that?” The pony took a step back, preparing to flee through the back entrance. “Preeeettttyyyyy…..” Nai breathed. “I’m sorry, what?” They were interrupted by a clatter above them, and as one both the mares looked to the ceiling to see Nei crawling along it like a spider, a knife clenched in her magic and malice in her eyes, making her way to the cream and pastel pony. Nai’s eyes widened, recognising when her sister perceived a threat. “Nei, no! She’s okay!” She gripped her sister in a glow of bright green magic, prying her off the ceiling and setting her on the floor. “She’s just getting supplies, she’s not dangerous.” The strange pony stared hard at the two of them before addressing Nai. “You know that mad mare?” “This is my sister, Nei. I’m Nai.” Nai stared at the mare again, that tunnel vision of adoration threatening to blow her mind away again. She had never seen such a stunning mare, her heart was throbbing hard in her chest, beating out a rhythm of love at first sight. ”Nai and Nei. Because that’s not going to get confusing.” The mare rubbed her nose, coiling her whip away into her saddle bags. “You know that your sister was riding a manticore earlier?” “Yeah, Nai needed some venom sacs and that beastie didn’t want to share.” Nei stepped forward, her eyes calculating and cold. She had seen the blush on her sister’s cheeks, knew that this mare had cast the beginnings of a dangerous spell on her sister. She levelled her blade at the pony. “Name and reason for being in our way, sweet cheeks.” Nai pushed Nei to the side, eager to make conversation with the lovely stranger. “Please ignore my sister, she’s nuts. What are you doing in a zebra alchemy shop? What’s your name? You’re pretty. Do you have any books to trade?” The pony cringed under the barrage of questions, but softened at the naive eagerness in Nai’s freckled face. “I’m Willow, I’m a herbalist, I sought this shop to replenish my supplies. You should be careful, if you don’t know what you are doing, a place like this is deadly.” “There ain’t no better herbalist than my sister here. She can cure anything!” Nei glared at Willow, clearly less willing than Nai to trust her. Happy to ride a manticore, but apparently kindly conversation was beyond her abilities. Willow looked down at the smaller pony, surprised. “You know about herbs?” Nai nodded happily, dumping out her saddlebags crammed with books on zebra alchemy, proudly showing them off to the newcomer. “I’m trying to make a particular brew that causes a controlled poison joke effect, something we can use to incapacitate ponies who are wanting to fight without doing long term harm. We came here to find some of the rarer herbs, since the Everfree Forest is several weeks away across dangerous territory.” Willow looked impressed both at the book collection and at Nai’s words. “You want something non lethal but incapacitating?” “I don’t see why we don’t just fight to win.” Nei grumbled, taking up residence near the dirty window. She cupped her face in her hoof, looking outside with a pout. Nai ignored her, ploughing onwards with her high pitched and excited explanation. “Yes! Using anesthesia spells is okay but pretty draining. I want to dispel the potion in a powder form, and make sure it doesn’t have lasting nasty side effects. You never know when a life you save may be one that saves yours!” Nei made a rude noise, but both the ponies ignored her, now eagerly discussing how to alter the potion to cripple but not harm. Nai felt a little thrill as they talked, she had made a friend!
Nei is unleashed.Author's Note Warning: This chapter contains particularly disturbing content. Feel free to skip it if you're squeamish about extreme gore and torture. Nei is unleashed. I grinned viciously down at the mare, pressing at the base of her wing with my knife. She began to scream, high shrieks of terror mixing with begging, bargaining for me to not harm her precious wings. Pegasi were so rare in the wasteland. She should have stayed in the clouds. I stretched her wing out further with my hoof, feeling the tendons popping as they were extended beyond what was natural. The mares shrieks now became screams of pain, music to my ears. I dug the knife into her skin, slowly sawing through the muscles, but being careful to not penetrate too deeply, and avoiding her major arteries. Blood flowed around my knife, leaving the metallic taste on my muzzle. Her bound hooves pummeled the floor in her effort to buck me off, but I simply sat on her back, putting my whole body weight into pinning her. My work completed with one wing, I let it fall to the floor with a thump. Screaming gave way to sobbing as the orange pegasus tried to move her wing. "What did you do? I can’t move my wing...oh god I can’t move my wing!!" I thought about replying, but instead chose to simply stretch out her other wing. She began to shriek again, as her mind caught up to my intentions. "Please! Please don’t! I'll do anything! Please!" Ignoring the ridiculous pleas, I cut into her other wing, slicing the muscles pegasi used to control their wings. Once I was through with her, she would never even be able to lift her wings again, let alone fly. They would simply hang at her side, useless. She would still be able to feel them, that was the beauty of it. I reached into my saddle bag, pulling out some healing bandages. Ripping a chunk off, i jammed it into each cut on her wings, preventing the muscles from reconnecting. The orange mare was simply sobbing now, incoherent threats and rage filled promises of revenge spilling from her mouth as I bandaged her wings tightly against her body, then pouring a small vial of healing potion over them. She would heal, but her beautiful, graceful wings would never flap again. I wrapped her mane around my hoof, dragging her head painfully back so I could see into her eyes. "What is your name?" Big, lovely pink eyes met mine, swimming with tears of rage and fear. "C-Crimson Sunrise." "Hello Crimson Sunrise. My name is Nei." "Why are you doing this to me? I-I don’t even know you!" I felt the madness nibble at my mind as I grinned down at the terrified mare. "Because you are a Very Bad Pony. You sold out my sister’s caravan to slavers." Crimson Sunrise’s eyes went wide as she realised what I was talking about. "Your sister? She was in that caravan?" "Oh yes." I leaned down to her, almost putting us eye to eye. "You’re very lucky I was able to kill all those ponies and that she didn’t get hurt. Otherwise I wouldn’t just be taking your flight. I’d be taking your pretty head as penance." She began to shake underneath me, as true fear took hold. She now understood I was no random raider, but instead was her retribution. And in the wasteland, retribution was worse than any mindless violence. Though, truth be told, I did love the violence. "Now then," I breathed, almost lovingly, "You-" "Please!" She interrupted me. My eye twitched. I hated interruptions. "The slavers, they have my daughter! They told me if I gave them enough ponies I’d get her back!!" I slammed her head down onto the pavement until I heard her nose break. "Don’t ever fucking interrupt me again." I shoved her broken nose with my other hoof, making her scream in pain as it was moved off centre of her face. Lifting out another vial of healing potion, i poured it onto her muzzle, ensuring the bone had healed so that it was fused to be sideways. Waiting until her screams gave way to sobs, then hiccups, I stroked her mane making soothing little noises. "Now then", I said brightly. "I happen to have your child. The child YOU sold for a supply of Dash and a fuck." Instantly all of her attention focused on me, her pain forgotten. "You...you saved her?" "Of course! She is currently with my sister, who is waiting outside this town of yours. She’s fine now, unharmed, at least physically." I smiled down at the pretty mare. "I’m not a monster, after all. Once I slaughtered the ponies you sold my sister and her friends out to, we went into the town they were heading to and killed all of those ponies too. You weren’t selling slaves to slavers, Miss Sunrise, you were selling them to raiders." Crimson’s eyes went wide as she realised what I was saying. "They were raiders? They seemed so normal!! Oh god...I sold children to them..." "Eeyup you did. Most weren't sold, but were kept for the raider’s enjoyment. Some were forced to fight to the death. Others to be trained as new raiders. Others, like your lovely Moonbeam, were for sex slaves. In fact, I had to prise her off the floor where they had nailed her." "Moony..." The pegasus sobbed. "Moonbeam is fine, as I said. My sister, Nai healed her. It’s what she does, she’s a like a medicine pony. Sometimes." My eyes hardened as I hissed into her face. "Except for cowards like you who sell children to slavers. You didn’t even try to save your child. You just began to work for those filthy raiders without a peep. You'll get your daughter back, but not before I have extracted payment for the suffering you inflicted upon other ponies." I climbed off the mare, and rolled her over, kicking her in the gut to stop her from moving. "Spitfire!" The front door swung open, and the caravan mistress squeezed her head through the broken frame. Crimson squeaked in fear at the large gun gripped in her teeth, and promptly pissed herself. Again. "Pick a body part for the payment of the lives of those we buried, for your caravan." Spitfire’s cold, dead eyes pinned the mare to the floor better than any restraint. She was silent for a time, long enough for the smell of urine to permeate the air. "Teeth." She pulled her head back out, then kicked her pliers into the room, slamming the door shut, causing the whole house to shudder. Spitfire had no stomach for the pain I would inflict, but it was her caravan that was taken. The was the wasteland. Payment had to be made. I smiled. She chose well. Looking down at the terrified mare, I pulled out some wonderglue and a small bar of iron. Her eyes turned from fear to outright confusion as I upended the glue over the floor. I rolled her into the glue so she was face up, and laying down, then I waited for the glue to harden. Didn’t take long. I read about this method of restraint in a book once, and it was a grand idea. The pinned pony had to rip their own skin off to get free if they couldn’t get the solvent. Spitfire would make sure no pony in this town had access to the solvent. Cruel, and effective on scum like her. “That was the owner of the caravan you sold. She isn’t happy with you. If you fuck with us again, she will make sure no one in this town ever trades again. Got it? You will starve alongside them” She nodded, her eyes wide and fearful. "Open your mouth." I jammed the iron rod into her mouth, propping it open and pinning her tongue behind it. "Alright. We buried 18 ponies. So I will be removing 18 of your teeth." Crimson began to shake again, but couldn’t make more noise than a few grunts around the rod. I poured a small amount of Nai’s pick-me-up potion into her mouth. "That will keep you conscious through this. You will feel everything, but can’t escape. It’s fantastic for long nights of reading." Tears streaked down her face as she begged me with her eyes. Unfortunately for her, spending a day and a half burying ponies that almost could have been my sister, in various states of torture, had hardened my heart. Not that it needed much hardening anyway. I was born a raider, this was something I enjoyed. I picked up the pliers in my magic, turning to my work with glee. "This is for the mare I buried, who was force fed the fetus she miscarried until she choked to death." I ripped a tooth out. Crimson Sunrise screamed in agony, but the wonderglue kept her sealed in place. "This is for the stallion I buried, who had been forced to eat his own balls." Skipping a tooth, I ripped out a second one. Pulling every second tooth would prevent her from eating properly, or getting false teeth unless she removed the rest. Something else i read in a book. I read a lot of strange books. "This is for the mare who was nailed to the roof and made into a chandelier." Rip. "This is for the mare who was raped so much she split open from arse to pussy." Rip. "This is for the filly who was starved." Rip. "This is for the filly who was burned to death." Rip. "This is for the one who was tied cock first to his twin brothers face and left to starve." Rip. "This is for the one who was smothered with his twin brothers cock and left to rot." Rip. On and on I went. Remembering each body as I had found them and buried them. Eighteen. Some of them just old enough to get their cutie mark. I looked down at the eighteen teeth next to me, then up at the mare, her eyes glazed with pain. Screams had turned to whimpers as the pain had continued. Retribution was done. Nai had asked I leave her alive, and so I had. She would suffer the rest of her life with a misshapen nose, half her teeth missing and the inability to fly. But the foals I buried wouldn’t even get that, because of her acts. They had died in worse ways than I had seen in a long time. I slapped her, as hard as I could, bringing her back into the present. Her eyes focused on me, once again swimming with tears. Yanking my iron bar from her mouth, I spoke. "Each of those ponies would have had a chance to live if you hadn’t sold them. Every single one. Your daughter has been told of what you did. She wants to say a few things before we leave." "Leave?" Crimson croaked out before I poured the last of the healing potion down her throat. She choked and gasped, but cleared her mouth quickly. "You're taking my Moonbeam?" "No." I said harshly. "She was given a choice. Go with the caravan, or stay with you. She was informed of your punishment. She wanted to kill you. She had been with those raiders for six whole months. A lifetime for that filly. All those ponies I pulled your teeth for? She was the one who knew how each of them had died. You sold your own child, for fucking drugs. However, murder is not me sister's way. She believes in physical punishment, rather than outright death." I stood up and cricked my neck, rejoicing in the release of tight muscles. "Spitfire!" I called. "Show in Beamer!" A few minutes passed, then the door blew open as a blue filly stormed in. She slowly looked at her mother, glued to the floor, before looking at me. Her eyes were hard, and flat. "Why is she still alive?" "Death isn’t as fun as lifelong pain. She will suffer." Beamer nodded, staring at the pony who had ruined her life. "Moony..." Crimson Sunrise began, her words slurred by her missing teeth. "Shut up! My name isn’t Moony!" Beamer screamed suddenly, as she ran across the room to punch her mother in the face. "You sold me! You sold me for...for dash!!!!" Crimson Sunrise bowed her head, sobbing in shame. "They nailed me to the floor! They r-raped me! They killed those poor ponies! They..." Beamer drew her breath, before unleashing her rage."They took my WINGS!" Crimson Sunrise’s head snapped up, her eyes going at last to the heavily bandaged sides of her daughter. "They...what?" She asked softly. Beamer stood there, shaking in rage. I knew what she wanted to say, but her anger had rendered her mute. "Crimson." Her eyes darted to me, then back to her daughter. "They smashed every single bone in her wings, cut them off, then made her eat them to survive." The colour drained from Crimson’s face as she slowly turned to me. "Oh my...." Beamer suddenly stretched out Crimson’s wing, then let it fall to the floor. A malicious smile crossed her face. "You cut her flight muscles." "Yes." Beamer nodded, stepping back, then walked over to me. "I’m going with these ponies, ma. You can stay glued to the floor. I don’t care. You are dead to me." Crimson just stared blankly at the floor, before nodding. Beamer suddenly reached behind her, tucked into her bandage was a small puffer of dash. She put it on the floor, beyond Crimson’s reach. "Here. Your payment for the ponies you sold. In a day or two the withdrawals will come. Then you will rip yourself from the floor. As your flesh gives way, I hope you remember me. Bitch." Beamer stood, looking at the mare who she used to call mother, before turning and leaving without another word. Crimson let out a small sobbing gasp at the sharp nails that had become her daughter's cutie mark. I coldly looked down at the orange pegasus mare. "If I find you again, I will feed you your wings." With that, I left, stepping into the cool night air. Breathing out heavily, I made my way over to where Spitfire was speaking in a low voice to Nai. “It’s done.” Spitfire looked at me with sad eyes, knowing what I did was necessary didn’t make it easier on her. “Thank you, Nei. I appreciate you coming to our rescue. I couldn’t believe it when they swarmed our caravan so quickly. Our trade routes are usually quite safe.” I shrugged. “My sister didn’t come back from her adventure on time. It’s just lucky that band of raiders is one that we know well. Are you fine to take Beamer with you?” “I want to keep her.” Nai pouted. I gave her a very hard and unforgiving stare. “You are on my shitlist, missy. You worried me. First you demand an adventure, then you tell me I can’t chaperone you, then you get captured by raiders like some idiot. No pets for you. We are going back to Manehattan where it’s safe.” Spitfire smiled. “I’ll take her. She can learn the trade, or I can find her a decent family.” She dropped a pouch of caps in front of me. “For the- for the punishment. That can’t have been easy.” Spitfire was a shrewd mare. She may not like getting her hooves dirty, but she knew better than to owe anything to a mare like me. I scooped up the pouch in my magic, and picked up my sister who squeaked in protest. “It was easier than you think. Keep an eye on Beamer. If she starts to act like, well, me, then get in contact as fast as you can.” Spitfire frowned, realising what I had implied. “Alright. I’ll watch her.” “Until next time then."
What the Cat Dragged In“Can you please move?” “No.” “Why?” “Cause I don't wanna. Moving requires effort, and effort is something I do not have right now.” Nai raised her eyebrow at her older sister, who was currently sprawled out on top of a pile of books with her legs in the air. Nei raised her own eyebrows in return. “You're so lazy.” Nei sniffed. “I am practical. If you want me to move, then you must feed me. Moving requires energy, and thus I require food.” She flopped her head back down and began flicking at dust motes in the sunlight. “I think I have some old twizzlers in my bag.” “I don't want stinky old twizzlers.” Nei waved a hoof at imaginary bugs. “I'm pretty sure I want cake.” She heard her little sister sigh. “I'm sure we can find some if we go scavenging. Or we can ask Vortex to make us some.” “Cool. Maybe he can teleport us somewhere amazing.” Vortex could create tiny portals in cake batter, but they couldn't travel through them just yet. “Doubtful. Look, are you gonna move or what?” “Do you have cake?” “No?” “Then no.” Nei rolled around on the books, content that she had successfully outsmarted her sister. She heard Nai stand up, and a grumpy grey face appeared in her vision. “If you don’t move, I’ll poison you later.” Nei made a show of considering this, tapping her chin with a hoof. Nai would probably poison her later anyway, she knew that her sister had been brewing a new batch and probably needed a guinea pig. It was worth the risk. “Today is a day for relaxing. I don't feel like moving.” She nestled deeper into the book pile, scooping one of them to her chest like a teddy bear. “You say that, but what if Lime comes to visit you?” “Well, if the tower pony comes and challenges me to a fight, then I will fight. That’s kind of a given.” Nei batted at her sister’s looming face with a hoof. “I don’t think she will, though.” “I think you need to get your fat butt off my books. I don’t want nasty sister butt prints all over my sacred texts.” Nai began to shove the book pile in an effort to topple her stubborn sister. Nei relaxed her body, instantly getting heavier. Nai scowled at her. “Sacred texts? These are romance novels!” Picking one up, Nei dramatically read out the cover slogan. “Let Captain Witherhooves sweep you off your feet into a pirate filled fantasy...What is this garbage?” Nai grunted with effort, still trying to shove her sister off. “They’re sacred to me,” her horn lit up as she tried to lift the books with magic. “And therefore they should be sacred to you.” Lifting a book in her own grey magic, Nei booped her sister on the horn, shorting out her magic. Grinning with glee, she settled back onto her book throne. “I'm not moving.” Nai sat back in a huff, flipping her fringe out of her eyes. Nei ignored Nai’s glare, getting extra comfortable in the book pile, making sure to wiggle her butt over as many books as she could. Blessed silence, if only for a few seconds. “You know there’s a manticore nest off fifth and seventh avenue.” Nei sat bolt upright, staring at Nai. “You’re kidding.” “Am not. Vortex saw it when he came to visit last time. Scared him out of his wits but I figured you'd want to know.” Nei looked at Nai suspiciously. “Why didn't you tell me before?” “Probably because I didn't need your fat butt out of the apartment before.” Nei continued to glare suspiciously at her sister. It wouldn't be the first time she’d lied to her in order to get her to go away. Nai rolled her eyes. “You can ask Limey too. A doctor went to the tower last week looking for it. He was talking about using them for an experiment and the future of the wasteland or something.” Nai began to push at the books again. “Get off my books and then you can go ride a manticore.” “This is true.” Nei hauled herself off the books, landing on her hooves in a haphazard way. Limey was a trustworthy pony, even if her sister wasn't. “You make a compelling argument, my dear sister.” Tying her mane into its trademark braid, she struck a ridiculous pose. The cloud filtered sunlight streamed through a hole in the roof of their Manehattan apartment, illuminating the soft shades of pink in her mane. It had once belonged to some fancy pony, their bones now acted as a doorstop. “To the Manticore nest!” Nei wandered down the dilapidated streets of Manehattan, listening to the crackling music of faded and broken sprite-bots in the distance. She kicked a few stones along before breaking into an old ballad from prewar times. Her off key voice warbled and reflected off the buildings, sending radroaches scurrying. “You can go your own wayyyyy, go your own way...” Something moved down the road, a something that wasn't a radroach or a manticore. Nei dropped down low, pulling her body close to the ground. She wasn't sure what it was, but hopefully it would be fun. The rough ground scraped against her chest as she edged closer, sneaking up behind a yellow and grey rump. Inhaling, Nei took a deep breath and let out an enormous roar, being rewarded with a scream and the pony scrabbling to get away from her. “You aren't a manticore!” Nei was full of disappointment. “What are you doing in my city?” The pony had her hoof on her chest and she was staring at Nei with wide eyed terror. “Wh-What? Your city? This city is the property of Tenpony Tower!” Oh great, Nei thought. Another puffed up tower pony who had wandered too far away. This one didn't seem as fun as Limey, all quivering and squeaking. “This is my territory. You're trespassing.” The pony was attempting to regain some of her lost dignity, adjusting her mane and dusting off her bags. There was a rip in one, through which Nei could see some books. “I don’t think so. All of Manehattan is under the protection of Tenpony Tower.” “Perhaps you misheard me. You’re on my turf.” Nei slid a blade out from her braid, holding it steady in her magic. “Trespassers will be punished.” The pony squeaked and started trying to scramble over the rubble away from her, but she slid down and landed right at Nei’s hooves. It was almost comical. Getting up again, she turned to Nei and held a rock awkwardly in her magic like she was going to swat her with it. It was obvious that she had never fought for her life before. It wasn't easy facing someone who could obviously tear you limb from limb, and for that Nei had to give her bravery some credit. Knocking the rock away, Nei slammed her body against the pony with a sickening thud, who went down with an agonised yelp. Standing over the whimpering unicorn, Nei held her own rock over her head, ready to bring it down. She pointed at the tower in the distance. “In case you hadn't realised, Tower jurisdiction ends at the Celestia rail line. Beyond that is ghoul territory, and beyond that is manticores. Then it’s me and mine.” She leaned close to her, breathing in the smell of fear, pampered pony and peppermint. “You’re a long way from home, little dove.” The unicorn trembled, Nei could feel the shakes in her hooves. She frowned. “That’s also a very long way to walk. How did you even get out here?” “I can-” The yellow unicorn swallowed, her eyes never leaving the rock above her head. “I can teleport short distances. I didn’t realise how far I'd gone. Are you going to kill me?” Nei snorted, throwing the rock off to the side of the road. “You’d be no fun to kill, all shaking and screaming and gross. What are you doing out here?” She flopped down on the road next to the pony and began using her knife to pull gunk out from under her hooves. The pony remained tense, her eyes on the knife, but she answered steadily. “Looking for books, actually. I'm a bit of an astronomer and I want to know more about the sky.” Nei paused in her cleaning, glancing up at the overhead clouds. The sky had been cloudy since the bombs fell, everyone knew that. The clouds were put there to protect them. “Why do you want to know more about the sky? It's just cloud.” The pony rolled to her hooves, apparently content that Nei wasn't going to start filleting her. “Its not the clouds that interest me, its whats beyond them.” “More clouds, obviously.” Nei tucked her knife away and joined the pony, who was now picking her way through the rubble towards what used to be a library. It was now the lair of mutated star spiders but Nei didn't see any point in telling that to a trespasser. “Not necessarily. I want to know more about the stars. I have a constellation as my cutie mark but Ive never even seen a single star.” “There aren't stars any more!” Nei scoffed. “Everypony knows that the clouds are there to keep ponies from falling upwards after the pegasi destroyed everything.” She shook her head at the stupidity of the yellow mare. “You tower ponies really don't know anything.” The other mare stopped, staring at Nei with her mouth agape. “You… You don't really believe that do you?” “Don't look at me like that. It's obvious if you think about it. We fall off the planet and the clouds will catch us.” Nei had reached the library and was beginning to poke a fat star spider sleeping near the door. “No one is that stupid.” The pony was looking at her with suspicion. “You sound like my sister.” Nei brightened and flipped over the star spider which started shrieking in anger. “Actually, she's a nerd like you, we should go see her!” The pony backed away a few steps. “I don't think i want to go anywhere with you.” Nei looked at the pony casually. “I don't think I was giving you a choice, honestly.” The star spider screamed in rage as Nei grabbed its web in her magic and threw it at the hooves of the pony, gluing her to the ground. The unicorn mare tripped over her own hooves as they stuck fast, and began weakly pelting Nei with stones. Ignoring the sharp missiles, Nei grabbed the web again, carefully avoiding the sticky parts and wrapped it firmly around the hooves of the mare. Tying a pony up made her feel positively villainous, and the feeling was elating. She let out a cackle, just like a real villain would, and began to drag the visiting unicorn back to her lair. The whole way home the pony struggled against her bonds, but her magic was ineffective against Nei’s superior strength and sheer willpower. At some point Nei had started monologuing, detailing all manners of terrible things that she would do to the pony once they had returned to her lair. None of it was true but it was fun to monologue, she could see why the villains in Nai’s books enjoyed it so much. Kicking open their front door with a hind leg, she hauled her prize inside and propped her against the bones of the previous tenant. Her victim began to scream, only to be cut off by the appearance of another grey pony. “Nei! What is that and why is it in our house?” Nai trotted towards them. “A trespasser!” Nei proudly stated, patting the unicorn. “I am so sorry, miss. I’ll get a solvent for those webs. You're going to lose some fur, I'm afraid. Once they are stuck on you, they are very hard to get off.” Nai cantered back into their home, heading for her lab. “Nei! Bring that poor girl in here!” Nei sighed. She could tell from her sister’s voice that she was going to get a lecture later. Pulling the whimpering pony roughly by the tail, she hauled her into the lab. “What’s your name?” Nai asked kindly as she searched around for her solvent. “Milky Script.” Milky had stopped struggling, and was now watching Nei chew on a cold piece of bacon that she had pulled from somewhere. Nei politely offered her the chewed monstrosity but Milky shook her head, paling at the sight. “Im Nai, and that's my older sister Nei.” Nai shook the solvent out onto Milky’s hooves, where it began to sizzle and dissolve the web. Turning to Nei, Nai put on a stern face. “Nei, we do not kidnap ponies just because they happen to be nearby. Is that clear?” Nei grinned through a mouthful of greasy bacon. “Not even when they wanted to go in your precious library?” Surprised, Nai turned back to Milky, who was now tugging the web painfully off her hooves. “You wanted to go to the library? Why?” “Because I wanted to check if they had any astronomy books.” Nai exchanged glances with Nei. “You didn't tell her, did you?” Nei just shook her head. “What?” Milky looked between them. “Don't tell me that you believe the clouds are there to stop us falling off the earth too?” “What?” Nai snorted. “That's stupid. No, I've just got most of the library stored here. Star spiders took over the library ages ago, I had to rescue all the books.” She waved a hoof in the direction of a hallway. “Including the astronomy section.” Milky gaped. Nei grinned, picking at the bacon between her teeth. “I'd have told you if you'd asked, you know.”
