Chapter 11: Okay… But What’s Ice Cream?

“You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books are the best weapon in the world. This room is the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!”

- The Doctor

We had managed to scrounge up some armor from the safehouse that I was able to customize and fit to Rose, since her stable suit was all but destroyed. Despite that, I knew how much it meant to her, so I cut out the sections of the collar that had the embossed stable number on it. She smiled and got all misty-eyed when I presented it to her, and she took it and carefully pinned it to her saddle bags with some old safety pins.

Sterling had emptied the soldier’s pack and was digging through the contents. There were some chems, including standard painkillers, Med-X and Mint-als, some new-looking individually packaged granola bars, and most impressive of all: a beautiful, fresh red apple.

The three of us stood around the table, transfixed by the incredible sheen and luster of the fruit. Compared to the drab gray-ness of everything else in the Wasteland, the apple seemed to shine like a defiant light burning against the surrounding darkness.

“It’s beautiful,” Rose said breathlessly.

“Remarkable…” Sterling added.

I had heard of apples before. Sometimes Carbon would reminisce about pre-war food and how things tasted both before the war and before he was a ghoul. According to him, everything tastes like sand once you’re ghoulified. He made pre-war food sound like a spiritual experience, with all the incredible textures, smells, and tastes. This would be the first time I had the opportunity to try anything remotely close, but I also knew the value of it in today’s world.

“Do we eat it or save it to trade?” I asked.

“Probably won’t last long enough for us to trade,” Sterling remarked. “If you haven’t noticed, Silverhoof isn’t terribly populated.”

It was a good point. I hadn’t noticed anyone else in the city in the short time we were out, and I hadn’t heard any gunfire or anything since being in the safehouse. Wasn’t that odd, though? Silverhoof was a big place and was supposedly filled with all sorts of creatures before the bombs dropped– why was it so vacant now?

“So we’re definitely eating it, right?” Rose asked excitedly, placing both her front hooves on the table. She was nearly vibrating, ready to pounce like a cat.

“Interestin’ that it’s so fresh, an’ that more food wasn’t packed… the Enclave base these soldiers were from must be very close.”

“Yes, very interesting and spooky, but can we all just agree to eat the apple so I can eat the damn apple?”

I smiled. Rose’s impatience and excitement was sometimes very cute. “Cut it into thirds, I think we could all use a–”

Before I could even finish, Rose had levitated my knife out of its holster at light speed and expertly carved the apple into three perfectly even slices. The knife clattered to the table as she shoved a slice into her mouth with prejudice, moaning as she chewed.

“Unnnh,” she moaned in delight. “It’s so– Mmh! It tastes so– Unnnnh!” Her words devolved into gibberish as she chewed.

Sterling looked at Rose, then looked at me. “She can be real scary when she wants to be, huh?”

“That’s Rose!” I said, grabbing a slice of the apple for myself.

It tasted sweet– almost like the Sugar Apple Bombs cereal, but not in an unpleasant way. It was fresh and juicy and unlike anything I had ever had in the Wasteland. It made me long to remember what the world might have been like in the distant past… and then it made me wonder where the hell it came from.

“Where do you think the Enclave got fruit this fresh?”

Sterling popped the slice of apple into his mouth and chewed before responding. “They’ve got farms above the clouds that produce food for their people. Fresh vegetables, fruit… These granola bars were probably made somewhere up there too.”

Rose scowled. “Well now I just hate them even more. Hiding up there with fresh food while the rest of us are down here starving to death?”

I couldn’t help but agree.

“Actually, I heard rumors back east that there was a group within the Enclave that would come down to the surface an’ trade food an’ medicine. Never seen it myself, but it could very well be that not everyone who lives up there is bad.”

A vengeful part of myself twisted from within and I felt my face get hot. “It was the Enclave that killed my mother. It was the Enclave that almost killed Rose. Fuck them. They’ll get what’s coming to them.”

Rose gave me a nod and Sterling turned back to the items on the table.

“There’s also this–”

He slid a velcro patch on the table to face Rose and I. It was shaped like a curved arch with some embossed dark gray numbers that barely stood out from the black material: 731.

“After we drove the soldiers off, I grabbed the unit patch from the dead one. I don’t know a ton about Enclave units, but I’ve never heard of 731.”

“Could it be associated with a stable?” Rose asked.

Sterling shrugged. “I don’t think so, they tend to stay above the clouds. But y’never know. How many of those things were built?”

Rose smirked in response.

“That was a hot-button issue back in 131. Stable-Tec documentation was notoriously unreliable– some reports showed only 100 or so, others were closer to 250. Some researchers believed there were only ever a few dozen stables completed, while some conspiracy theorists thought we had been lied to and we were the only one. One idiot even thought there was a stable on the moon.”

I gave Rose an incredulous look. “How would you even..?” I shook my head. “Actually, nevermind.”

The map from the ammo can was still sitting on the table, and I eyed the circled areas– Silverhoof, Shadowbolt Pass, Ironclad Mesa– until one caught my eye. Deep in the heart of the San Palomino desert was a circle, just north of Las Pegasus.

“‘Ministry of Awesome Area Fifteen’ it was called, officially, but we just called it Plume Lake.”

These were government installations! They had to be!

I moved to the wall where a makeshift map of Silverhoof was pinned. It was rudimentary and only highlighted a few of the more prominent buildings– apparently mercenaries didn’t make stellar cartographers. I looked for anything that might be a government building or military installation.

“Sterling, do you know if Silverhoof has some sort of secret government building? My father once said something about a Ministry Mare locating a project here that brought more soldiers to the area.”

Sterling shook his head. “I mean, there’s the giant tower to the north, but those things are swarmin’ with Enclave. I’m not sure if there’s anythin’ in Silverhoof proper.”

“What about a library?” Rose asked, moving to my side and examining the map. “There may be building plans or some record of events during the war.” She squinted at the map for a moment before pointing. “There! On the northwest side.”

“Good idea,” I replied. Rose bumped my flank with hers eliciting a smile from me.

“We should move at night an’ keep low an’ slow. We’ll wanna stay as inconspicuous as possible, in case they’re still patrollin’ the skies above.”

I looked at Rose. “Are you sure you’re good to get back out there?”

Rose nodded and gave me that determined look she was so good at. “Good to go, cap’n!” She stopped and looked sidelong at Sterling. “Or are you the captain? How do merc ranks work?”

Sterling shook his head with a smile. “We don’t really have ranks. We just follow our contract.”

“Then how do you know who’s in charge?”

Sterling looked amused as he grabbed the anti-machine rifle by the barrel. “You look for the guy with the biggest gun.”

Rose snorted. “Typical.”

“And then you look for who’s giving him the orders. So Stormy–” Sterling dropped the weapon and gave me a sideways grin. “What are your orders?”

Something about the way Sterling asked that sent chills down my spine– in the good way. I felt a warmth inside, knowing that my friends cared and trusted me enough to make a decision. I also felt incredibly seen and a little put on the spot, but I cleared my throat to respond.

“We move tonight.”

* * * * *

It was just after twilight that we left the safehouse and made our way towards the library. We had plotted a path that Sterling thought would give us the most cover as we moved, limiting the amount of times we had to cross an intersection or move through an open area. We stayed close to the buildings and crept under awnings and through fallen debris.

As we crossed an intersection, I had a clear view north towards the tower. It plunged up into the clouds like a dark abyss, ripping into the last tendrils of twilight that painted the clouds beyond the mountain in purple and violet. I could see small black dots buzzing around the tower like mosquitoes, and I guessed that they were Enclave soldiers either on patrol or doing some kind of work on the tower itself.

“Keep moving,” Sterling whispered. “If you can see ‘em, they can see you.”

That was all I needed for my curiosity to be instantly replaced with vigilance. I made sure to stay low and keep my guard up as we continued to weave our way through the streets of Silverhoof.

Eventually, we found what we were looking for. The library was a large brick building with a multitude of windows across the front, all multi-segmented and most of them broken, leaving only decorative wrought iron window guards in their place. Several columns were built into the structure and rose up into pointed towers, some of them broken, but most intact. The main entry had collapsed into a pile of rubble, but as we circled around the building, we found a broken section of wall that was just big enough for us to squeeze into.

Sterling cracked a chemlight that was attached to a chain around his neck, illuminating the area with a dim green glow. We were in a dark study area where several desks with little lamps were arranged in rows, some of them had old books strewn amongst the desk tops. On the far side of the room there was an entrance to a hallway that had the slightest hint of warm light illuminating it from a distance.

The hallway connected a series of study rooms and led to a grand arched opening that opened into a massive chamber that was filled with book cases. Books were strewn on the shelves haphazardly, and it seemed like many were missing.

As we stepped into the main room, Rose suddenly stopped and waved her hoof. “Hold up.”

I could hear quiet whispers, but I couldn’t quite place where they were coming from.

“I didn’t hear–”

“Shut up!”

The voices quieted. Was the Enclave searching the library? How could they have known we were here? We had to move.

Suddenly there was a cacophony of war cries from all around us as the enemy moved in. We were flanked, outmaneuvered and completely surrounded… by foals.

There were foals of all shapes, sizes, and ages: unicorn foals wielding pipe rifles and spiked bats with their magic, a pegasus colt with a crossbow, earth ponies with guns and knives, and even a tiny griffon foal with what looked to be a sharpened broom pole in its mouth.

I raised my claws up in the air. “We surrender!”

The glacier-blue pegasus scrunched his face up as he looked us over. “You don’t look like Enclave.”

“We’re not,” I said, addressing the pegasus. “We’re trying to avoid them. My name’s Storm Mist, this is Crimson Rose, and this is Sterling Silver.”

The little griffon foal looked Sterling up and down. “Awr you a gwiffon, like me?”

Sterling couldn’t help but smile at the tiny foal as he knelt down. “Indeed I am. I’m Sterling, what’s your name?”

The little griffon foal looked away from Sterling and mumbled, “Ass.”

Rose and I exchanged a glance as Sterling coughed. “I’m sorry, what?”

The foal spit out the broom pole. “My name’s Ash!”

“Oh, Ash!” Sterling looked visibly relieved. “What a beautiful name.”

“Where are all your parents?” Rose asked, stepping forward.

“They’re–”

The young filly that spoke was quickly cut off by another voice that was approaching.

“You don’t need to tell them that.”

From behind the group, a young mare approached. She was definitely the oldest, a slender earth pony with a warm, off-white coat and a medium-length lavender mane that fell messily in front of her striking purple eyes. Despite being so young, her eyes looked old– heavy lidded with dark circles underneath. She walked with a quiet grace and dignity, but her words were heavy and straight to the point.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Storm Mist, this is–”

“Crimson Rose and Sterling Silver. That doesn’t mean anything. Who are you with?”

I looked at my companions in confusion, then back at the mare. “We’re not with anyone– I was born here and–”

“If you were born here, I’d know you. You, griffon.” She pointed at Sterling. “Are you Red Scorpion or Wildland?”

Sterling stood up and brushed himself off. “Neither, miss. I’m an independent. I used to work with the Wildland Mercenaries, however.”

She scrutinized him for a long moment. “You know, Ash came to us from a cowardly merc who decided to abandon her here…” She let the silence hang in the air for a long moment. “But that motherfucker was a Red Scorpion. We still got good relations with the Wildland boys.”

The mare’s eyes drifted to Rose’s saddlebags. “Did you kill a stable dweller and take those as a reward?”

Rose’s face immediately contorted in anger. “Fuck you.”

The mare was unmoved at Rose’s outburst and responded calmly. “Fuck you too, answer the question.”

“They’re my patches. I came from 131. Only reason they’re on my bags is because some Enclave dipshit nearly incinerated me. And the only reason I’m still here is because Storm Mist and Sterling saved my life.”

The mare’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly. “You killed an Enclave soldier?”

“One of ‘em,” Sterling said with a shrug. “Wounded the other enough to drive ‘em away.”

The mare gave a long look at both Rose and Sterling. “Alright, I believe both of you.” She turned back to me. “You, however, are a liar.”

I shook my head. “My parents were ghouls. They found me in a stasis pod in some sort of secret government facility in Silverhoof and raised me as their own. They’re both gone now, but I’m here because I want to find answers.”

The mare gave me a strange look for a moment, then nodded. “I believe you. Weapons down.”

At her command, the foals all lowered their weapons and the pegasus colt landed. Everyone visibly relaxed.

“The name’s Amethyst. We don’t get a lot of visitors here. We try to stay unseen.”

“What happened here?” Rose asked, trying to move past the flash of anger she felt during the interrogation. “You’re the first ponies we’ve seen. Where did all the parents go?”

Amethyst gave Rose another long look, as if considering something.

“Come with me. I’ll show you.”

The kids all scattered and made their way down to a small fire that burned in the center of the main atrium, while Amethyst led us up a set of stairs and towards what looked to be an administrative office. On one of the walls was a large poster featuring a lavender unicorn with a blue and purple mane. She had a kind smile and was holding a book. Behind her, the poster had a starburst of magic and big words that read: “Reading is magic! Start your journey of discovery with the Ministry of Arcane Science.”

Amethyst trotted behind an old oak desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a small crystal orb. She sat it on top of the desk and stared at it tentatively before looking at Rose.

“You wanted to know what happened… This will give you an idea.”

Rose stared at the object on the desk. “Is it a crystal ball?”

“It’s a memory orb. It’s used to record and play back a memory. When you activate it, you’ll see, hear, and feel everything as if you were there. They’re pretty rare, but there’s still recollectors that allow creatures to record and play back memories. Unicorns can activate them simply by focusing their magic on it, touching it to their horn, whatever works.”

“Neat!” Rose said, levitating the orb.

“Hold on,” I said, raising a claw. “Is it safe?”

“She’ll be unresponsive to us while she watches it, but it’s safe. The memory itself is a bit heavy, though. You sure you want to see it?”

Rose nodded. “I’ve been through a lot. I can handle it.”

I exchanged a nervous glance with Sterling as Rose levitated the orb up to her horn and closed her eyes. For a couple minutes everything seemed fine, but then she started to twitch and groan as if she was dreaming about fighting someone. Soon, she started to moan in pain and tears flowed down her face.

I turned on Amethyst. “What’s happening? What’s it doing to her?”

Amethyst just gave me a sad look. “It’s just the memory. This is normal.”

“She’s in pain!” I yelled. “Stop this!”

“I can’t.”

Sterling kept his gaze on Amethyst, his claws twitching. I moved to Rose’s side.

“Rose, I’m here. Snap out of it.”

Suddenly Rose’s eyes opened and she jolted as if she had just awoken from a nightmare. The memory orb fell to the floor as her magic released. She was shaking and panting, and her eyes were wide, filled with tears. She looked at Amethyst.

“I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry.”

Amethyst did her best to appear unaffected, but a single tear ran down her cheek.

“Now you know.”

It took a minute or two for Rose to breathe and compose herself. I held her and stroked her mane until she gently pushed me away and asked Sterling and I to step outside the office so she could talk with Amethyst alone. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea, especially since the memory orb seemed to have such an adverse effect, but Rose insisted. Sterling and I exchanged a glance, then both hesitantly exited the room. I assured Rose (and warned the young mare) that we’d be right outside if anything were to happen.

The door to the office closed and I could see through the inset window that Rose scooted closer to Amethyst’s desk as the two began to talk.

I turned my gaze from the window to Sterling. “Do you trust her?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. But she seems to be very intent on keepin’ these kids safe an’ showin’ ‘em how to survive. I respect that.” He looked me up and down for a moment. “You doin’ okay? With Rose an’ everythin’?”

Rose and I had been through close calls before. I thought I had seen the worst of it when Rose was kidnapped by Vino, but nothing compared to the visceral reaction of being convinced Rose was going to die in front of my eyes… But then there was Sterling. He also had just gone through a horrific event– how was he coping? Especially after we worked so hard to help the people of Ophir?

“It was tough, but she’s alright. She’s here. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you, though, with everything that happened in Ophir.”

Sterling’s face darkened as he looked at the floor, and I immediately regretted bringing it up.

“I’ve lost people before, an’ I’ve seen all the injustices the Wasteland has. It never gets easier. It never goes away.”

He raised his head and looked at me, his amber eyes shining in the dim light of the library.

“But that’s why I’m here, with you. You have a good heart, Stormy. And that’s somethin’ that’s worth protectin’... Plus you’re cute, even if you’re taken now.”

Despite the amount of compliments that I’ve received from Sterling in the time I’ve known him, I still couldn’t prevent myself from blushing. Stupid smooth-talking griffons… I couldn’t help but wonder if they were all as eloquent as my combat bartender.

He gave me a warm smile. “I’m glad Rose told you.”

I returned the smile. “Me too.”

I looked back through the window into the office and saw something I would have never expected: Rose was hugging Amethyst. The young mare was still very rigid and didn’t return the hug, but Rose had her forelegs wrapped around her and was leaning her cheek on the mare’s head.

Rose had never given me mom vibes before, but in that moment I was reminded of how Evergreen would hold me when I was upset or scared as a little colt. I had grown so familiar with superhero unicorn Rose that I never expected to see caregiver Rose, and the sight made my heart feel warm, despite what that young mare did with the memory orb.

Rose looked up and caught my gaze, giving me a small smile before letting go. They exchanged a few words before Rose turned and opened the door for Sterling and I. We entered and again sat around Amethyst’s desk.

“Okay, sorry about that,” Rose said, addressing both Sterling and I. “I’m sure you both want to know about the memory orb…

“So, as a technology, it’s incredible. As soon as I focused on it and touched it to my horn, it was like I was transported into another body. I was someone else and I was in another time and place. I experienced things from behind the eyes of one of the kids– seeing, hearing, and feeling everything they did, like I was in a vivid dream or memory.

“I was hiding in an attic with other kids, looking out at the scene through a slotted vent hole. I saw a gang of creatures walking through the street– earth ponies, unicorns, griffons– all with a green bandana tied around their neck or up high on a foreleg. They looked like raiders, but they weren’t as erratic. They moved as a unit– every bit as violent and merciless as regular raiders, but organized and methodical– almost military. They were kicking down doors and pulling ponies out onto the street, killing and raping.

“They brutally killed all the adults like raiders would normally do, but any kids they’d find were caught and rounded up…”

As Rose spoke, Amethyst shifted uncomfortably in her seat, idly spinning the blades of a broken fan that sat on the desk.

“There was an Enclave soldier– bigger than the ones we saw, and with more advanced armor. His voice was raspy and low, and sounded almost robotic in nature. I couldn’t understand what he was saying from where we were hiding, but I saw him point a weapon at the captured kids… He shot them with some kind of energy weapon that vaporized them with a red flash.”

My thoughts immediately went to my mom. What Rose was describing sounded exactly like the weapon that was used to execute her.

“You managed to survive alone since then?” Sterling asked.

Amethyst nodded. “We had to learn to survive on our own. Most of us grew up here, so we know the area well. We move by night, we stay quiet, and we stay smart. We’ve survived for nearly two years now.”

“Two years…” I repeated, surprised at how long they lasted in such a hostile environment.

“The oldest teach the youngest how to survive, and we take care of each other.” Her ears twitched momentarily. “Speaking of… Nimbus!”

The pegasus colt landed in front of the doorway to the office with a look of shame. “Yeah, Amethyst?”

“What did I tell you about eavesdropping?”

He rubbed his shoulder abashedly, and looked to the side as he spoke. “Do it from the ground so the enemy can’t hear my wing beats.”

“Mhm.”

Sterling looked impressed. “You were still damn quiet, though,” he said in a hushed tone. “Learn to read lips an’ you’ll be unstoppable with intelligence gatherin’.”

Nimbus’s emerald eyes lit up as he gave Sterling a grin. “Bet.”

“Go on,” Amethyst said with just a hint of pride in her tone. “I need to help our visitors here find what they’re looking for.”

With a quick nod, the pegasus flew out of the room and back to the other kids.

“Nimbus is our oldest. He’ll be in charge when I’m gone.” She gave Sterling a nod. “Thank you for being kind to him.”

Sterling gave a slight bow. “Of course.”

Amethyst once again looked at the three of us with an assessing gaze. “You all aren’t like regular Wasteland adults.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Regular Wasteland adults are cunts. You all seem like you actually care about each other, and not only that, you show compassion towards ponies you’ve never met. It’s… weird.”

“It’s the right thing to do.” I said, and Rose and Sterling both nodded in agreement.

Amethyst gave me another long look before standing up. “I need to take care of some things. You’re free to look around the library, but if you touch a hair on any of my kids–”

“You’ll make us wish that it was the Enclave that killed us.” Rose interjected, and Amethyst nodded. “I understand.”

* * * * *

‘Sprawling’ was perhaps the right term to describe the interior of the library. The main floor was built in several levels with the lowest at the center, making it seem to one who stood in the middle of the atrium that they were surrounded by mountains of bookshelves. It would’ve been quite a sight back in the day when all the shelves were full, and even now it was impressive. A grand balcony wrapped around the perimeter of the room, with more shelves built into the walls. There were wooden ladders that slid on rails, allowing creatures of any size to climb up to the highest shelf and retrieve the books they desired.

We learned that the kids used a bunch of books as fuel for their small fire over the years– a fact that hurt my heart a bit. A good book was always a rare find for me growing up, so to be surrounded by them was a bit awe-inspiring. There were so many stories here, both real and fictional, and so much knowledge to be gained. I understood survival, but there had to be other things to burn, right?

Rose and I decided to systematically work our way through the library, looking for any kind of city planning maps or plans, journals from notable figures, or just books that seemed interesting or useful. The shelves on the lower levels seemed to mostly have fictional titles in various genres– adventure, mystery, horror, romance…

Rose plucked a book from a shelf and flipped through the pages before stopping to read to me in a low, husky tone.

“She turned to see the colt she had eyed from a distance earlier. He stood tall, his dark features accented by his sleek suit and tie. He ran a hoof through his perfectly styled mane as he flashed her a dazzling smile.

“‘Hey there,’ he said, his voice low and smooth–”

Rose lowered her voice to imitate the hulking chunk of man-meat.

“–’I couldn’t help but notice you were new to the neighborhood. The name’s Brad. Brad Apples.’”

She fell against me, pretending to faint as she threw a hoof over her eyes.

“Oh, Brad Apples! You’re so tall and dark and handsome. Whisk me away from my mundane life! Make me feel like a mare.”

I let her drop to the floor.

“Ow.”

Despite my best attempts to look serious, I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face.

“If you ever call me ‘Brad Apples’ again–”

“You’ll punish me?” Rose asked in a tiny voice, putting her front hooves together in front of her mouth and batting her eyes at me.

The heat rushed to my face as I blushed and looked away. “No, I’ll–” I saw her pout out of the corner of my eye and I felt my heart beat faster as tingles spread throughout my body. “You… I–”

“Are you two gonna make babies?” asked a little pink unicorn filly who was spying on us through an empty section of shelf.

Rose’s face immediately went beat red, matching mine, as she shimmied her way out from between my forelegs and stood up. “Nope, definitely not! Not here– no babies, nope. Hi, hello! I need to go uhh… look at more books. Yep! Excuse me!” She ran off and disappeared behind more shelves in the distance.

“What’s her problem?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same thing for a while now,” I replied absently before turning to the filly. “What’s your name?”

“Sundae!”

“Oh, like the day of the week?”

The filly shook her head. “No, silly, like the dessert!”

I looked at her in confusion.

She opened a book and took out a crayon, drawing something on a page that read “This page left intentionally blank.”

“Imagine a bowl piled high with ice cream, then drizzle chocolate sauce all over it with sprinkles and a cherry on top. That’s a sundae!”

“Oooh,” I replied, looking at the scribble on the page. “Okay… but what’s ice cream?”

The filly facehoofed. “You’re hopeless.” She trotted off with an indignant air, leaving me to my imagination. What exactly was ice cream and what it could possibly taste like? I figured it was cold, and since it was covered in chocolate, probably sweet. I guessed that it would be something that Rose would like, and I made a note to ask her about it later. Maybe she’s had it before?

While I was contemplating the properties of a dessert I never had, I discovered Sterling playing with the other two unicorn foals. He was darting around the library, looking through shelves and corridors.

“Found you!” he called, landing beside a bookshelf that the foal had crawled into. He had a white coat with a walnut-brown mane and mulberry eyes.

“Man!” said the young colt as he crawled out from underneath the shelves. “You’re good.”

“It’s tough to hide from a griffon,” Sterling remarked with a smile. “But you did well. Cover is very important, ‘specially when you’re trying to hide from someone with wings.”

Sterling looked over at me as he saw me approach. “Speaking of– did you find what you were lookin’ for?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. Rose and I got a bit distracted and then I met Sundae.”

A young filly who looked nearly identical to the young colt ran up to Sterling, panting heavily. “Man, you’re fast.”

Sterling grinned, then stepped back. “Excuse my manners! Stormy, this is Orion and Rhode– they’re identical twins. You two, this is Stormy– the finest hippogriff in all the Wasteland.”

“Hi,” they both said plainly in unison.

Rhode, the young filly, tugged on Sterling’s saddlebag. “Let’s go again! This time you can hide!”

Sterling chuckled. “I can try, but you two are pretty good!” He gave me a sympathetic look. “It seems my services are in demand. Can we catch up later?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Alright,” he said, turning back to the foals. “Close your eyes and start countin’!”

They both did as he said, and he took off into the air, doing his best to find an adult-sized hiding spot. It seemed like he was happy to interact with the kids, and after the last few days I could tell that this was good for him.

I continued my search of the library and found a section that had books on architecture and building, but none of them had any information on Silverhoof in particular– they were all just informational books on the topic. They were strewn in amongst books on gardening, interior design, woodworking, and something called origami, which seemed to involve folding paper into shapes. I couldn’t help but wonder how bored pre-war ponies were.

I did however find a book in that section titled “A Field Guide to the Plants of Western Equestria”. I flipped through it and found plenty of pictures and information on the different plants, herbs, and wildflowers that grew (or used to grow) in this area. It seemed like many of them were extinct at this point, but I recognized a few and decided it might be a worthwhile book to keep. Seeing as how Amethyst’s foals used books to color in and burn, I didn’t think they’d miss it, so I slipped the little book into my saddle bag.

Back in the center of the library, I found two earth pony foals sitting around the fire with Rose. She was recounting the story of how she and I first met, but in a playful and dramatic way. She flailed her hooves around as she narrated the daring tale.

“And then, we burst from the wagon, hooves up for a fight! Stormy and I took on four of the slavers all at once, beating them up like the chumps they were! We used their weapons against them, fighting back-to-back, sending those slavers flying. They were barely even a challenge!”

Rose was being very kind to me in this telling of the tale. She had defeated three of the slavers herself while I clumsily tried to deal with only one of them. But– wait… did she just call me ‘Stormy’?

“I threw the slave collar into the wagon as Stormy and I turned and walked away, slipping on two awesome pairs of sunglasses as we did. Behind us, the wagon exploded in a great fireball, sending smoke and shrapnel into the air! But we didn’t even bother to look back. We just kept on walking.”

She did! It had surprised me when Sterling used the nickname, but hearing it from Rose was completely foreign– and yet, I still felt that warm feeling when she did. It didn’t remind me of my parents, nor was it like how Sterling said it… It was different, but it made me feel… loved.

I walked up to the fire with a grin. “And then we fled stealthily into the night?”

Rose looked surprised for a second, then smiled back. “Something like that.”

She introduced me to the two earth ponies, an older foal named Blossom, who had a soft blue coat with a lavender mane, and a younger one named Clover, who had a light green coat with a dark green mane. They both seemed enraptured with Rose’s tale of derring-do, and I didn’t have the heart to correct it with the facts. Instead, I simply listened with the both of them as Rose weaved tales of a strong, handsome hippogriff and a smart, cunning mare who fought back-to-back against the horrors of the Wasteland with all the skill, strength and poise of a comic book superhero.

* * * * *

It was a little while later when Amethyst came to find us. Rose and I had searched most of the library and talked with the kids, and Sterling had eventually grown tired of playing hide and seek with the twins. She approached us as we were sitting around the fire with Nimbus, Orion, Rhode and Blossom.

“Come with me,” she said plainly.

I exchanged a glance with Rose and Sterling before we all got up.

“Nimbus, you’re in charge.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n!” he replied with a salute and a grin. The other foals snickered.

Amethyst turned and began to walk as we followed. She glanced back briefly. “Stay in the library and keep tabs on Ash. If anything happens, I’ll be downstairs.”

Nimbus nodded as the twins teased him.

We followed Amethyst to the back of the library where there was a door with a sign that read, “Staff Only”. She produced a small flashlight as we entered the dark hallway beyond the door, leaving behind the grandiose library atrium and entering an echoey hallway flanked by cinder block walls that were covered in faded beige paint. As we entered a concrete stairwell with metal railings, Rose and I exchanged a glance. We both seemed to be uneasy, and even Sterling looked more vigilant.

“Where are we going?” I asked, my voice reverberating along with our hoofsteps.

“After you left my office, I watched you all. I wanted to see how you’d interact with my kids. You all seemed like good people, but I needed to be sure. You humored them when they bugged you, you played with them, you told them stories… It’s not often that creatures come along that don’t want to rob, kill, rape or abduct you. Even less rare when they seem genuinely good.”

Amethyst paused for a moment at the bottom of the stairs to brush her mane out of her eyes.

“To be honest, I had forgotten that creatures like that even exist…”

She opened another door and led us down a hallway that had working industrial lights hanging from the ceiling amongst a multitude of pipes and wires.

“The library sits on top of a network of tunnels that run throughout Silverhoof, connecting several of the bigger buildings. Some of them are locked behind doors that we can’t pick, some of them have collapsed, and some of them are full of ghouls and other monsters– we’ve done our best to fortify those ones.”

“So that’s how you’ve managed to move ‘round the town undetected for so long,” Sterling observed and Amethyst nodded in response. “Smart.”

“Why show us these tunnels, though?” Rose asked, eyeing Amethyst suspiciously.

“Because of something Storm Mist said.” She stopped short of a corner and turned to look at us. “You said your parents found you in a secret government facility and that’s why you were here?”

I nodded.

She stepped back and gestured towards the corner with an expectant look.

I looked around the corner and saw that the hallway came to an end with a large mechanical double door set into the far wall surrounded by signs that read “Ministry of Awesome” and “Authorized Personnel Only”. Just ahead of the doors on the adjacent wall, there was a pedestal that had an electric card reader.

“Whoa…”

“No way!” Rose said, stepping around the corner behind me along with Sterling. She looked at me excitedly. “You need to try the keycard!”

Sterling readied his weapons. “Be careful. We have no idea what might be behind those doors. There might be ferals, irradiated creatures… could even be an Enclave detachment.”

That last one gave me pause. The last thing we needed was to barge into a bees nest of Enclave soldiers. Still, if this entrance was being used for anything, Amethyst more than likely would’ve run into soldiers down in these tunnels.

“Have you ever seen any soldiers down here?” I asked.

Amethyst shook her head. “Nope. Plenty of radroaches and radrats, feral ghouls in certain tunnels, but this one has been quiet.”

“Good enough for me!” Rose said, levitating her rifle. “Let’s do it– I gotta see what’s behind the giant awesome door!”

I glanced at Sterling, and he nodded, pistols ready. Rose was nearly vibrating at the prospect of breaking into an old government facility, and Amethyst was calm, but seemed interested.

I, however, felt more like Rose. My heart was beating fast as I removed Evergreen and Carbon’s keycards from my saddle bag, their written words echoing in my head:

“If you still don't know– good. It's better if you keep it that way. Get out of Silverhoof as fast as you can. It's not safe for you here.”

They wanted to protect me. They always did… But I needed to know.

I readied my firearm and swiped the key card through the card reader.

Footnote: …

Author's Note

Some new characters and new spooky government places to explore! What do you think they're gonna find behind that door?

Thank you so much to Rebel Beats for helping with this chapter's accuracy and proofreading!