Chapter 7: One Short Day...

“Only rumors, but still, enough to give pause to anyone with paws. Something bad is happening in Oz.”
- Dr. Dillamond

I had never in my life seen anyone happier to be squishing radroaches than Rose at this moment. She gleefully jumped from one to the next, mashing their bodies into the dirt while singing to herself:

“Oh, I’m Crimson Rose, I’m a fine young lady
Way, hay, we roll and go!
Well, I drink good rye from the griffon’s cabinet
Way, hay, we roll and go!
And we rolled all night
And we rolled all day
Spendin’ our caps on Crimson Rose!”

She tried to get me to join in on the “Way, hay” parts, but I was far too busy laughing at her. This was probably the happiest I had ever seen her, and it was honestly kind of weirding me out. She didn’t even drink anything this morning! At least, I don’t think she did.I tried in vain to remember where we had packed the Griffon Creek as Rose continued to sing:

“Well, I know this grumpy hippogriff boy
Way, hay, we roll and go!
He don’t sing along, but he likes my song
Way, hay, we roll and go!
And we rolled all night
And we rolled all day
And he spent his caps on Crimson Rose!”

“I’m starting to regret that right about now,” I said, trying to hide my smile.

Rose pointed at me with a hoof covered in radroach guts. “Nuh uh! I see a smile hidden beneath all that grumpiness!”

“I’m not grumpy!”

“Said every grump ever.”

She trotted up beside me with a giggle and I sighed as we continued walking along the road. “Say, do you remember where we packed the Griffon Creek?” I asked.

“You mean… this Griffon Creek?” A nearly-empty bottle suddenly lowered itself in front of my face. I tried to snatch it with my claws but she levitated it out of my reach.

“Hey--”

“We roll and go!” she completed in song. “See? Singing along isn’t that hard.”

I gave a long sigh. It was going to be another incredibly long day. But I was happy that she was enjoying herself.

“That necklace really brings you that much joy, huh?” I asked. The Heart of Ophir had been stored in her pack to keep it safe, but that didn’t seem to dampen her spirits.

“Partly,” she replied, “but I’m also really excited to pretend like I’m some kind of beautiful noble unicorn!”

I grinned. “Well, that might be hard to pull off with guts all over your hooves.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at me. “Well, you know, I could always just wipe them off... on you!”

With an evil grin, she tackled me to the ground and tried to stick her hooves in my face. I desperately batted her legs away through bouts of laughter as flecks of guts, dirt, and grass flew in every direction.

Suddenly an ominous roar echoed throughout the surrounding brush, and we both stopped dead. “The fuck was that?” Rose asked, her eyes wide.

There was another ghastly roar, followed by the sound of heavy galloping. Within an instant, a giant glowing beast emerged from the treeline. Lowering its massive shovel-shaped antlers, it bolted straight at us.

“Shit!” I shouted as I pushed Rose as hard as I could, throwing her clear of the beast’s path as I tried to stand. Before I could right myself, the beast plowed into my side and tossed me clear into the treeline on the opposite side of the road. I landed hard within a thicket, but my barding thankfully absorbed most of the impact.

Jumping up, I grabbed the axe from my back and ran towards the beast. My swing connected with the beast's leg, cutting a large gouge, but the wound began to close and regenerate immediately. The massive creature lowered its head and charged at me once again, but this time its antlers met the handle of my axe, rather than my side. It heaved against me with a massive amount of strength, easily pushing me back several feet as my hooves cut skid marks into the gravel road.

Several shots from Rose’s revolver rang out in rapid succession. The bullets seemed to connect with the backside of the animal, but the beast barely acknowledged their presence. With a toss of its head, the beast ripped my axe from my claws and sent it tumbling along the ground. I jumped back, extended my wings, and took to the air just as the creature charged me again.

There was a loud crack as Rose’s bolt-action rifle fired, the bullet ripping into the animal’s flank. She had taken up a position just behind a large rock, and was levitating both the rifle and the revolver beside her.

Having lost its primary target, the enraged creature whirled around and lowered its head towards Rose, who worked the bolt with her magic and fired a shot that exploded through the beast’s eye, spraying blood and glowing green taint on the ground beneath the creature. With it temporarily distracted, I was able to swoop in and grab my axe.

I chopped at its neck near the base of its skull, drawing more sickly tainted blood as the beast roared. Rose blasted another shot straight into its skull, and I swung again, burying the blade into the creature’s spine. The beast let out a sick, gurgly roar and reared up, its head canted at an unnatural angle. I barely managed to pull my axe from its neck and jump back as the creature brought its weight down where I had been standing.

Another shot from Rose’s rifle grabbed the beast’s attention, and it turned and barrelled towards her. As it ran, the creature’s broken neck could no longer support the weight of its head, and it lolled to the side, bobbing limply and dragging its antlers through the dirt as it ran.

Rose dropped the rifle and held the pistol steady until the beast was just several feet from her. Within just a second or two, all six shots fired point blank into the beast’s skull and it smashed into the rock, flipped over and landed square on top of Rose.

“Shit, Rose!”

I winged my way over to the massive beast. Despite having the majority of its face blasted off, it struggled weakly to right itself. I smashed my axe into its exposed skull repeatedly until I had turned its brain into purée and the wounds stopped regenerating.

“Rose! Are you alright?” I shouted as I heaved on the corpse, trying desperately to lift some of the weight off the crushed mare. As I strained against the weight, I could swear I felt the presence of the little cyan stallion pulling with me. Remain Strong! I doubled down on my efforts to lift, flapping my wings and pulling as hard as I could. “Rose!”

After a moment, a charcoal hoof emerged from beneath the mass of the creature and slowly Rose crawled her way out from underneath the thing, coughing and covered in tainted blood. Her PipBuck was clicking like mad.

“Dear Celestia, I thought you were dead!” I exclaimed as I grabbed my canteen and tried to wash all the blood off of her.

She gave a long exhale as she stared at the sheer mass of the creature. “I might have been if it wasn’t for this rock and my new armor.”

“So, you finally understand the need for quality barding?”

“Did I say that?” Rose said wryly. “I think I meant to say it was just the rock. Rock friend saved my life.” She nodded sagely. I sighed, but she nudged me with her nose. “Yes, I understand the need for the fancy armor,” she said reassuringly. “And I’m glad you’re okay too.” She checked her pack, then let out a scream.

“What!?” I asked in horror, “What is it!?”

“The Griffon Creek!” she exclaimed, levitating a sad, shattered bottle. She clutched it to her chest. “This is the worst possible thing.”

“Wasn’t it almost empty anyway?”

Rose fell onto her back with a hoof across her brow. “Every wasted drop is a tear upon my soul!” Somewhere in the distance, the tiniest violin played the Wasteland’s saddest song.

I looked at her pack, and pulled out a full bottle. “But… you have a whole other bottle.”

She wailed. “That’s not the point!”

Rose. She had her ups, and she had her downs. I shook my head and made a mental note to never get between a girl and her whiskey.

* * * * *

After our run-in with the glowing beast, the rest of the day seemed woefully uneventful. At one point Rose scared me half to death as she switched on the radio feature of her PipBuck and loud static suddenly cut through the air.

She twisted the knob and the noise broke into the voice of some religious zealot screaming about the inevitable return of Celestia. As he began to describe the vast torrents of white-hot fire that will cleanse the Wasteland, Rose continued to scan through the frequencies, eventually landing upon one that was broadcasting an old jaunty tune about a mare who unwittingly shot a sheriff. We travelled to the sound of old world music for nearly an hour before the frequency was lost.

Sans music, Rose and I began talking to pass the time and I told her the story of how I had found the little statuette in a vacant and untouched office within the Ophir Post building. I had completely forgotten I even had the thing until I felt its presence while lifting the beast off of Rose earlier.

“This is amazing,” she said, turning the little statuette around in her magic. “It’s in pristine condition, as if it had just been manufactured yesterday, and the detail is incredible!”

“Do you know who it is?” I asked.

Rose smiled as she gave me a sideways glance. “Of course I do! It’s Rockhoof, one of the Pillars of Equestria. He’s an ancient hero who saved his entire village from imminent destruction.”

“How’d he do that?”

“Well,” she continued, “a volcano was erupting and he used his incredible strength to dig a moat out to sea, redirecting the flow of lava away from the village.”

We continued to talk about heroes for some time-- both ancient and not-so-ancient. I learned that there were five other Pillars, ponies who were all incredible in their own way who came together to fight a great evil. Hearing about the existence of the other Pillars sparked a hope that there were other such statuettes, and a desire to find them. As strange as it seemed, it felt like the little cyan stallion in my saddlebag echoed that sentiment.

The day wore on as we continued to travel further and further into a narrow valley that was nestled between two large mountains, the surrounding trees and brush becoming more plentiful and lush until, by the end of the day, we were enveloped within the forest.

We set up camp within the dwindling twilight, and had a fire going by nightfall. Rose skewered some radrat meat while I put some water on for tea. After days in the near-lavish comfort of Ophir’s inn, our meal of roast radrat and canned veggies was comparatively plain, but a dash of spice I had gotten from the market made the meat more than palatable-- it was downright tasty!

As I watched Rose chow down on a skewer of seasoned radrat meat by the glow of the fire, I was reminded of the first night we had spent together. She was still every bit as strange, but the idea of her being some kind of immortal unicorn killing machine seemed ludicrous now. She had her strengths, and she had her weaknesses, and there was so much more to her than all that. I loved her humor and silliness, and her strange mannerisms had become oddly reassuring.

Her eyes met mine as she caught me staring. “What?” she asked, wiping her mouth with a hoof. “Is there something on my face?”

I chuckled. “Naw, I was just thinking of the first night we spent together.”

She gave a small smile, then nodded. “You did the right thing by not killing that slave leader.”

That moment replayed within my mind: holding the pistol to the slave leader’s head, him chiding me on, the looks of the freed slaves around us, and the shame I felt when I realized how selfish I was being. I shook my head and tried to forget it.

“No, I wasn’t thinking of that,” I said as I took a sip of tea. By the goddesses, I’ll never understand why Rose prefers whiskey over this glorious leaf broth.

Rose tilted her head. “Oh… then what were you thinking about?”

“You, actually.”

“Me?” she asked in surprise.

I smirked. “Yeah. When I first met you, I thought you were a strange deadly unicorn superhero. You trotted around with barely any armor on, and you took control of an entire band of slavers within seconds.”

Rose smiled and puffed out her chest. “I’m flattered!” After a moment, she relaxed. “But, what do you think now?”

“I think you’re wearing far better armor,” I said, giving Rose a playful grin that was met by a roll of her eyes. “I still think you’re awesome, but not immortal… and you’re definitely still strange, but strange-good.”

Rose gave me a flat look with an amused smirk. “I guess I’ll take that. You’re… less boring than I expected.”

“Still serious and broody, though?”

“Sometimes,” she said with a wink, “but you’re also compassionate and fiercely loyal… strong, agile, good with people, good with mechanical stuff… and you have a cute butt.”

I snorted. “Is that why you let me take lead so much?”

Rose grinned. “Well, that and I’m hoping that the next time something comes running out of the bushes to trample, bite, or skewer us that it sees you first.”

“I could just start flying more,” I replied with a wry grin.

Rose snorted with dry amusement, finished off her radrat skewer, and washed it down with some Griffon Creek. I took another sip of my tea, then stoked the fire. “You said you were a teacher before you left your stable, right?” I asked, receiving a nod in response. “What did you teach?”

She gave a little laugh and looked wistfully into the flames. “I was a primary teacher, so a little bit of everything, really. Reading and writing, how to button up a shirt, basic PipBuck usage, Equestrian history, console usage… It was my job to discover what kind of skills each little colt and filly had, and try to place them in the appropriate line of study.”

I tried to imagine her in a smarmy beige turtleneck pointing at the letters of the alphabet on a chalkboard, but my imagination failed me as I studied the face of the confident, capable mare before me. I gave a little laugh as I spoke, “It’s hard for me to see you as a nerdy teacher surrounded by kids.”

“Pfft!” Rose exclaimed. “Please… Crim had the nerd gene. That’s why she became a researcher. I was just a glorified babysitter.”

I idly poked at the fire with a stick. “Do you miss it?”

“All the time,” Rose said with a sigh. “Not the job, just the kids. While leaving that place was absolutely the right thing for me to do, I don’t envy what they went through. Hopefully the Overmare hasn’t painted me as a complete monster... but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I nodded and we both just stared at the fire for a while before Rose spoke again. “Hey Storm?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

I gave her a questioning look, but she just flashed me a smile before laying down and curling up. I sat and stared into the fire as I started first watch, wondering what she was thanking me for, but eventually I decided to file it under ‘Random Rose-isms’. I sipped at my tea and slowly worked my whetstone over the blade of my axe to the quiet sounds of the crackling fire and the gentle wind rustling through the trees.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I opened my eyes to a blurry, cold world. A persistent low rumble reverberated about and within me, punctuated by bubbling, churning sounds. I struggled to move, but my limbs refused to function, and I could do nothing but look directly ahead through a curved glass window that revealed blurry forms moving about, all tainted with a strange pink hue.

From beyond the immediate watery sounds, I heard what sounded like voices: unintelligible murmurs at first, but they soon became louder and more clear.

“--seemed to respond better with the revised solution.”

“Ah right, something about twenty grams per liter rather than the standard nine?”

“Correct,” responded the first voice. “Though, it does have a rather unsettling side effect.”

The two blurry figures grew larger within my field of view, until suddenly a hoof wiped away the condensation that had formed upon the glass, revealing two stallions who looked directly at me with faces of disgust. The pegasus on my left looked like he was about to be sick.

“That’s horrid!” he exclaimed as he shielded his face with a wing.

“I know!” replied the unicorn on my right. “Complete vascular, lymphatic, and ocular development without having even started intramuscular development yet!” He spoke with a genuine enthusiasm and excitement while the pegasus beside him parted the feathers in his wing slightly to steal another look.

“I don’t like how it’s staring at us,” he said, turning away. “Do you think it’s aware yet?”

“Highly doubtful.” The unicorn chuckled. “She probably won’t develop sentience until the later stages of development, if the others are any indication.”

The two turned away and walked over to a table that was cluttered with scientific equipment, and the unicorn shuffled through several papers before levitating a pen and writing several notes on a page. The pegasus glanced up at the door atop a set of metal stairs. “Well, I just thought I’d check in. The skywagon should be here in about five minutes if you wanted to come back with us. We’re all planning to have a drink in honor of that Big Macintosh fellow.”

“Who?” the unicorn asked, turning the page and continuing to scribble.

“The hero who jumped in front of a bullet intended for Princess Celestia? Don’t you read the news?”

“No, not really,” the unicorn replied with a sigh. “I have my hooves full here, and all the news seems to be unbearably bleak these days.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“I just have a few notes to finish up. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” the unicorn said as the condensation began to reform on the glass, once again obscuring the figures from sight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I awoke from the dream with a start, my axe and whetstone beside me. Damn it… I must have fallen asleep during my watch. The fire had burned down to just one small charred piece of firewood that crackled dully and, thankfully, the night was still and peaceful.

I threw another log on the hungry embers, and it wasn’t long until the fire once again crackled to life, casting its serene glow upon the campsite. The fresh air and glow of the fire was comforting, especially after that strange dream.

To my side, a tree branch snapped loudly, and I whirled towards it with a start, instinctively dropping my stance and reaching for my axe. Near the edge of the firelight, a grizzly bear backed up slightly at my action, and lowered its head submissively.

Rose was still asleep, and I quietly stepped over her, putting myself between her and the bear. It took another step back as I approached, but held my gaze. It wasn’t acting aggressive, but it did seem interested in me. Did it smell the food we had cooked earlier?

“Are you… looking for something to eat?” I asked the bear, unsure of what else to do, and it seemed to shake its head in response. “I’m… gonna take that as a ‘no’.”

To my surprise, the bear nodded at me.

“You understand me?” The bear nodded again. Huh.

I put my axe away, the bear visibly relaxing, and I took several cautious steps forward. “I’m Storm Mist.” The bear nodded and let out a small grunt before approaching slightly.

“I wish you could tell me what you want,” I mumbled to myself with a sigh, and the bear cocked its head and exhaled, as if sharing my frustration. “Are you--”

Suddenly the peace of the night was broken by Rose’s panicked shout: “Wuaah! Bear!”

I turned towards her and held my talons up, but the rifle was already in her magical grip as she worked the bolt. “Rose, stop!” I shouted as she nearly pointed the damn thing right at me. I glanced back just in time to see the tail end of the bear disappear into the darkness, and I let out a long sigh. As I walked back over to the fire, I knocked the rifle to the side with a talon.

“What the hell was that?” Rose asked. “Are you making friends with the local wildlife in the middle of the night?”

“Something like that,” I said, laying back down and covering myself with the tribal blanket Autumn had given me. “That wasn’t your average bear.”

Rose gave an exasperated sigh as she put the rifle down and sat, looking suspiciously around the perimeter of the campsite. “When is anything average out here? Regular bears freak me out, I don’t want to try and imagine weird mutated bears.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. It was a regular bear, but… smart. It looked at me intelligently and could answer questions.”

Rose shivered and pulled her blanket around her. “Why does that just freak me out more?”

I gave an amused snort. “Because you’re Rose.” I yawned. “You’re on second watch.”

“As if I could sleep now anyway!” Rose replied.

My thoughts raced as I closed my eyes. What did the bear want? Why was it just standing near the edge of camp? It wasn’t hungry, so did it want something else we had? Was it just lonely? The thoughts continued to roll circles in my mind until the questions became monotonous and I drifted back to sleep.

* * * * *

The next morning I let Rose sleep in as I foraged around the campsite. One benefit of travelling further and further into this forested region was having more edible plants nearby. I managed to gather some long grass and clovers that I knew both Rose and I could eat. I found a bush that had some berries on it, but without the proper knowledge to truly identify the plant, I decided to leave it well enough alone as I quietly chided myself for never paying much attention to my mother’s lectures on edible plants.

I walked back to the fire and dropped the bowl. I had put on a pot of water before leaving and now that it was at a boil, I took it off the flames and added some tea leaves to steep. As I waited, I noticed that Rose was twitching and groaning in her sleep. I poked her with a claw, and she opened her eyes groggily.

“Good morning,” I said with a grin. “You were tossing and turning. Weird dreams?”

Rose groaned and wiped her eyes with a hoof. “I was a ship captain and my crew mutinied. They tied me up and stuck me in front of a barrel of rye.”

I laughed. “That must have been hard for you.”

“Sheer agony,” she responded. “We had just gotten to an island where they were going to maroon me when you woke me up.” She eyed the greens I had collected.

“Go ahead,” I said, motioning to the bowl. Rose gave a little smile before groggily stuffing her face. “I had weird dreams too. Was stuck inside of some kind of tank full of liquid, watching these two scientists talk about some experiment they were running…”

Rose arched an eyebrow. “Interesting, coming from you. Did they say anything interesting?”

“Just a bunch of sciency stuff, and the pegasus said something about having a drink to honor some hero that died saving Princess Celestia. His name was, uhh, ‘Big’… ‘Big’-something.”

Rose stopped munching and looked at me. “Big Macintosh?”

“Yeah. Wait, he’s real?”

Rose swallowed and offered me the bowl, which I took. “Yeah, he was a war hero. Took a bullet that was meant for Princess Celestia at Shattered Hoof Ridge.”

“Huh, never knew.” I munched on some greens. “They didn’t say much else before I woke up and discovered the bear.”

“The bear was real!?” Rose groaned. “I had hoped I dreamt that.”

I grinned. “Yup. Definitely real. What do you got against bears, anyway?”

“Aside from them being big and scary with sharp teeth and sharper claws? They could slice you in two with one swipe!” Rose gave a shudder.

“I mean… I have sharp claws too.” I waved a talon in front of her, and she batted it away dismissively.

“Not like a bear! They’re freaky. That’s all there is to it.” I offered her the bowl of greens and she took it while staring at my neck. “Think maybe it came for revenge?”

“Huh?” She pointed a hoof at my necklace and I grasped it with a talon, touching the bear claw pendant, before giving a little laugh. “No, I don’t think so… It wasn’t aggressive at all. Even seemed frustrated it couldn’t effectively communicate with me.”

“Freaky,” Rose said through a mouthful of food. I rolled my eyes.

* * * * *

It was late afternoon as we neared the entrance to Emerald City. Sterling had drawn a crude map with several landmarks to help pinpoint the exact place we needed to be. Since all the spots were represented from the air, I got into the habit of taking flight, comparing our surroundings to the map, then landing and walking along a heading with Rose for a while before repeating the process.

As I landed again, I called to Rose as I approached. “Hey! I think we’re really close now. Should be just up that ridge.”

“Oh good!” she said in a casual tone that betrayed her tense demeanor. As I trotted next to her, she leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I think we’re being followed.”

My blood ran cold. “By what?”

“Don’t know yet. Just be ready.”

I nodded and looked around. I didn’t see anything in the surrounding bushes, and I didn’t notice anything weird from the air. I was half-convinced that Rose was hallucinating from lack of sleep when I heard a twig snap from somewhere far behind us. Not taking any chances, I made sure my axe was easily within reach, and Rose levitated her revolver.

We continued up towards the ridge until we reached a lightly-trodden path that dead-ended in a rocky cliff face. No doors or entrances were visible, but there was an intercom-type device embedded within the rock at head height. “This has to be it,” I said.

Sterling had mentioned that such a device would indicate the entrance to the city, but attempting to contact whomever was on the other side could lead to a possible death sentence for anyone near the entrance. Instead, there was a key hole within the rocky wall that would fit the emerald jewel he had given us-- we just had to find it.

Easier said than done. I searched the rocks for a small hole.

“Can you hurry up?” Rose said quietly as she shifted uncomfortably. “My mane’s crawling.”

I muttered to myself before turning to Rose. “Take a look at the wall, see if you can find a key hole that would fit this thing.” I turned around and scanned the forest around us as Rose lowered the revolver and took the emerald key in her magic.

It only took her a minute to find what she was looking for. “Aha! Leave it to a snooty unicorn society to put the key hole at the uppermost point.”

I glanced up and saw that the rock formation came to an arched point above us, and right at the peak of the arch was a small hole that perfectly fit the key. For once, Rose saw something I didn’t! Maybe she’s not totally blind!

As she inserted the key, there was a deep rumble of stone shifting on stone, and the distant whine of mechanical parts screaming against a heavy load. The rocky stone wall in front of us backed slowly into the cliff face, revealing an arched doorway. It stopped momentarily, then started to shift to the side.

Suddenly, there was a shout and ponies sprung from every direction, closing in. They wore cobbled together armor: some with spiked vambraces, some with tattered leather barding, some had gas masks or wire cages strapped to their heads. All of them had a sort of ghillie cloak that camouflaged well with the surrounding wilderness, allowing them to stay effectively undetectable so long as they didn’t move, and many of them carried rifles. Raiders.

“Finally, somepony actually opened the damn place!” a rough-voiced mare yelled. “Kill ‘em and get in there!”

The door hadn’t yet opened wide enough for Rose and I to get through, and so with a quick glance, we bolted opposite directions as the gunfire began to rain down on us. As I ran, I felt several shots impact my armor and a burning pain seared into my flank.

I ploughed into the first stallion I saw, half-tackling him and putting him between me and the ponies with firearms. He had a long serrated knife in his mouth and he swung frantically, but I easily sidestepped the attack and drove my axe into his shoulder. He screamed in pain, but retained his hold on the long blade.

He glared at me with pin-prick pupils as he arched his neck and tried to bring the knife down on my foreleg, but I swung to the side and parried the blow with the handle of my axe before removing it from his shoulder. I heard several shots from Rose’s revolver as I brought my weapon down again, aiming square at the stallion’s head, but he ducked away from the blow. He wasn’t fast enough to avoid my axe shearing off his left ear, however.

Enraged and bloody, he charged at me while swinging the blade chaotically. I backpedalled, but parried and dodged every blow. A shotgun blast boomed from behind the stallion, and I felt several small pellets dig into my right shoulder. The stallion stumbled slightly and winced in pain. He turned his head and yelled through his grip on his weapon. “Rook here, ffuckwiht! Stop ffuckin shootin’--”

I didn’t give him time to finish admonishing the other raider as I buried my axe into his neck. Blood spurted from around my blade as he dropped the knife, and I pushed him backwards until his rear legs failed. I ripped my axe out of his wound, jumped into the air, and took flight as he tumbled to the ground.

The raider with the shotgun was transfixed on the spurting wound in the soon-to-be-dead stallion as I glided towards him. I angled my glide path straight into the colt, my wing blade slicing straight through his neck before I came to a stop behind him. I looked back in surprise and saw his head cleanly roll off his shoulders as his body collapsed in a heap. A raider mare who had witnessed the whole thing simply stared dumbfounded at the headless corpse before looking up at me.

“Yeah, surprised the shit out of me too,” I said in astonishment. She hastily aimed her rifle at me and I once again took to the air, narrowly avoiding several shots. From behind me, I heard the telltale crack of Rose’s rifle.

As I circled the area, I tried to spot the threat that was closest to Rose through the tree canopy. Two raiders had circled around her position and were moving in to flank her: an earth pony mare with a pistol in her mouth, and a unicorn wielding a large bat wrapped in barbed wire. I angled my wings and swooped down through the branches towards them, hoping for a repeat performance with my wing blades.

I managed to catch the earth pony by surprise, but the unicorn saw me coming and ducked to the side. My left wing blade buried itself into the earth pony’s chest as my inertia spun me around her until my hooves and talons met the dirt. The unicorn that had dodged out of the way took the opportunity to smash his bat into my right wing. I screamed in agony as the bat dislocated bone and the barbed wire ripped at my skin and feathers.

I tried to fold my wings in, but only my right wing cooperated, as my left was still firmly attached to the struggling earth pony mare, who shot her pistol wildly, causing my left ear to ring horribly. The barbed wire bat swung down at me again and I ducked as best I could, twisting both my body and the earth pony mare attached to my wing. I heard a sickly crunching sound as the bat impacted her skull.

Her body crumpled to the ground, dragging me along with it. As I struggled to free myself, I saw the barbed wire bat rise up in front of my head. I closed my eyes and raised my talons in a futile attempt to block the magically-held weapon. Mercifully, I heard another crack from Rose’s rifle and the bat fell to the ground, along with the body of the unicorn stallion several feet away.

“Come on!” she shouted, grasping the body of the mare securely within her magic. I pulled hard and felt something snap from within the chest of the dead mare as I worked my wing free, folding it in and galloping over to Rose. “The door should be open by now,” she said. “We can make a run for it.”

A menacing roar ripped through the air causing everyone to pause and look around. With surprising speed, an angry grizzly burst from the surrounding trees and ploughed through several raiders who all had their rifles trained on us, knocking them aside and trampling them with its weight. An earth pony tried to raise his rifle to aim at the bear, but it reared up and swiped the gun from his skull, taking several teeth with it.

I gaped in awe. “Holy shit.”

“Told you bears are freaky!” Rose said, grabbing me. “Let’s go! Now!”

We ran for the rocky entrance, and as we passed the threshold, Rose telekinetically ripped the emerald key out of the hole and hit the button on the intercom. Several loud beeps rang out and there was the sound of motors spinning up. Turrets?

Several raiders tried to follow us into the entrance, but were cut short by a veritable swarm of bullets that tore them to pieces. Just before the door had completely closed, I saw the tail-end of the bear disappearing into the trees.

Looking around, I saw that we were standing within an old mining tunnel. The walls were chiselled rock with sporadic wooden support structures placed haphazardly along the path, while a chain of lightbulbs was strung from plank to plank, casting a dim glow on the dusty floor.

I let out a long sigh of relief, and Rose started giggling with nervous joy. “You know,” she said, “if you wanted to dance with the raider girl, you probably should’ve wrapped your wings around her, instead of burying them in her. Save that for the second date, at least.”

I glared at her and dug through my pack for a healing potion, my wings and flank burning fiercely from both strain and wounds. “That’s… really dark, Rose. And not funny.”

“It’s kinda funny,” she mumbled to herself. “Are you okay?”

“I got shot in the ass, my right wing is fucked up from that bat, and my left eardrum was probably blown out,” I said as I rubbed the side of my head. “I have no idea how earth ponies shoot without losing their hearing.” I downed the healing potion. “You?”

“My armor took a few hits, but I was able to take cover and return fire. Kept them off of me long enough for you to swoop in and uhm… provide some entertainment.”

She giggled slightly and I muttered, but then she touched my foreleg with a hoof. “Thank you, by the way,” she said quietly. I gave her a small smile as the healing potion worked to mend my wounds and hearing began to return to my left ear.

As I leaned against the wall, Rose jumped up, shed her armor, and began digging through her bag. I watched her with confused interest as she pulled a canteen, a scrub brush, and a bottle of hairspray from her pack.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Well, I can’t very well be a posh unicorn looking like hell and reeking of gunpowder, can I?” she asked with a refined accent that was both irresistibly charming and… so strange to hear from the tomboy mare.

I smiled. “I guess not.”

“And neither can you. Take it off,” she ordered with a regal authority that made me feel funny inside.

“...Yes ma’am.”

* * * * *

“Well, how do I look?” Rose asked demurely.

She stood with impeccable grace and poise, the sheen of her sable coat contrasted by the deep crimson of the pleated dress that flowed across it like a rouge waterfall. Her short raven mane had been transformed into a sophisticated layered bob that perfectly complimented her face, and her ruby eyes shone with a brilliant clarity, accented by the alluring shadow of expertly applied makeup. All of that, however, paled in comparison to her brilliant smile that outshone even the artisan beauty of The Heart of Ophir around her neck.

I was speechless. “You look…” Beautiful? Stunning? Amazing? I cleared my throat, “You look… different.”

Rose frowned.

Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!

“I mean,” I said quickly, “different good! Really good. You look… really good.” I turned away, trying desperately to hide my embarrassment as I admonished myself for being a blubbering idiot.

Rose just punched me playfully. “You look different too, dork.” She had meticulously scrubbed me free of blood and dirt and combed through my mane and tail, and I now wore a fine white shirt and a black suit jacket that Sterling had loaned me. Everything about it felt strange and wrong, but Rose looked me over and gave a satisfied snort. “One could say you even look handsome.”

I fidgeted uncomfortably and Rose just laughed, packing everything back into her pack. “Shall we?” she asked.

Sterling had mentioned that the mines were a great sprawling network of tunnels and caverns, and in order to get to the other side of the mountain, we’d have to pass through the great central cavern that was Emerald City. Colored ribbons hung at regular intervals, indicating which tunnel you were in and where you were heading. Right now, we had to follow the yellow ribbons to make our way towards the city.

‘Sprawling’ was an understatement when it came to these tunnels. They were a labyrinth of mass perplexity; an ever-expanding web of tunnels, channels, shafts, and burrows. We walked for what felt like hours under the oppressive stone of the great mountain above us, and I began to wonder if there were enough colors within the color spectrum to truly represent the amount of tunnels in this massive place.

Nevertheless, we continued to follow the yellow ribbon tunnels until we heard the dim roar of a crowd in the distance. It continued to get louder and louder as we turned into a wide tunnel paved in marble with a grand arch at the end. As we trotted through the arch, my breath was taken away by an amazingly beautiful sight.

The cavern was grand, perhaps not quite as big as Sterling made it sound, but nevertheless, very large. Immense emerald-colored stalactites hung from the ceiling like lofty chandeliers, all of them lit by motes of light that twinkled like stars, casting a great green radiant glow over the entirety of the cavern. Reflected light on the walls created a water-like effect that moved and shimmered like ripples in a pond.

The city itself was built in levels, the lowest being the market that we stood in. Opulent marble stairs led up to the next level that sprawled towards the cavern walls, with more marble stairs in the distance that led up to the next level that curved around almost the entirety of the cavern like a grand circular catwalk. More levels continued to wind up and around the perimeter of the cave, getting smaller and smaller, until the very top level that was simply a luxurious structure that resembled a palace set into the stone of the cavern.

Rose and I must have looked like idiots with our mouths hanging open as we stared up into the mysteriously beautiful city because within short order a unicorn butler dressed in a smart green coat trotted up to us. “First time, ma’am?” he asked.

We both tried our best to snap out of our bewilderment. Rose gave the butler a warm smile. “Why, yes actually. Is it that obvious?”

He smiled in return. “First timers always have the same look, ma’am. Before we proceed, may I see your key?”

“Of course,” Rose responded, and she levitated out the glowing emerald jewel.

“Right. Thank you, ma’am. Just had to make sure the key was genuine.”

Rose glanced at me. “One never can be too careful.”

“Indeed, ma’am. You’re currently in the Grand Bazaar. Up those steps over there, you’ll find our exquisite selection of restaurants and spas, as well as La Maison du Serpent and Castle Sage. You’ll find that class is determined by height within the Emerald City, and if you find yourself someplace you ought not to be, your key will... gently encourage you to desist. Should you have any questions during your stay, you may speak with a porter in a green blazer. We’re here to help.” The porter clicked his heels and bowed before Rose.

“Thank you so much,” Rose replied and the porter returned to his post by the arch. We walked into the bazaar, and Rose practically bounced with every step. “This is so exciting!”

While I was happy to see Rose so enthusiastic and happy, I also saw something she didn’t. The vast majority of ponies here were unicorns, and those that weren’t were effectively invisible, myself included. The porter that spoke to Rose didn’t so much as glance at me throughout the entire encounter, and every vendor and patron I looked at either avoided my gaze, or looked straight through me.

Rose stopped in front of a stall that had several very beautiful pieces of jewelry on display, eyeing the selection with glee. A thin old stallion in a well-maintained suit approached. “Are you looking for something in particular, ma’am?”

Rose met the gaze of the stallion. “I was just appreciating the beautiful necklaces you have on display.”

The stallion’s eyes appraised Rose, and settled on the Heart of Ophir. “Well ma’am, you are more than welcome to try on any piece I have, but I’m afraid I don’t have anything that could quite compare to the unique beauty of the one that already resides around your neck.” He flashed Rose a scintillating smile.

She blushed and gave a small smile in return, her eyes glancing towards me. I looked away and tried to hide my own smile.

An older mare with a very large and very fancy hat stood on the far side of the display, and she looked up at Rose, fiddling with the broad pearl necklace around her neck. “Well, I’d be inclined to agree with Mr. Marquise! That piece is quite the number. Who crafted it for you?”

“It’s a Hearthstone piece,” Rose said hesitantly.

“Hearthstone? Never heard the name. Probably too rich for me!” the old dam chuckled. “What about your griffin?”

“Oh?” Rose glanced at me and I gave her a nervous look. “He’s not a griffon. He’s a hippogriff.”

“Well, aren’t you just surrounded by exclusivity!” The old mare chuckled. “He is rather cute, and I’ve gotten rather lonely since my husband died… Would you take two thousand?”

Rose’s composure waned. “Two… two thousand?”

The old mare rolled her eyes. “Fine… Four thousand caps. Final offer.”

Rose shook her head and gave the old mare a stern look. “Storm Mist isn’t for sale.” There was something about the indignant tone in Rose’s voice that made my heart sing with joy, and I smiled.

The old mare scoffed. “Well fine then. Maintain your exclusivity, girl. But one day, if you’re particularly unlucky, you’ll be just as old and lonesome as me.” She trotted off with a huff.

The jeweler gave Rose an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry about that. Mrs. Thorn can be a handful sometimes, but she’s a valued patron. Perhaps… I could interest you in some earrings to decorate your hippogriff manservant?”

Rose did her best to hide the look of disgust on her face. “N... no, thank you.”

We turned away from the jeweler and walked back into the fray of ponies milling about, before Rose looked up at me with a sad, apologetic look.

“So,” I whispered in her ear with a grin, “I’m worth more than four thousand caps to you?”

Rose’s apologetic look devolved into a smug smile. “I would have let you go for three thousand, but not to that old dam.” She winked.

“I think I could look quite dashing with earrings.”

Rose snorted. “You would look ridiculous.”

“No more ridiculous than I already feel.” I rolled my eyes.

Rose snickered. “One short day in Emerald City won’t kill you. We may never see this place again, so we might as well enjoy it while we’re here.” She gave me a mollifying smile. “I’ll try to keep the creepy old broads off you.”

Despite the blatant racism we witnessed, the city itself was beautiful, and I couldn’t deny Rose the opportunity to play noble. We were just about to continue browsing the bazaar when a mare’s voice called from within the crowd.

“Quartz? Quartz Rose?”

We both froze dead in our tracks as Rose gave me a furtive glance. “Well shit.”

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Aerial Fighter
Your skills in the air have doubled! You’ve become a stronger flier and are able to maneuver better, allowing you to fight and dodge more effectively while in flight.

Author's Note

Holy crap, seven chapters already!? I fondly remember the days when I was four chapters ahead. x.X Anyway, back on the road with this one and into the heart of the Society in the Western Wasteland! Things are going to start to get more challenging for Stormy and Rose...