Chapter 9: The Rose Revelation

“You want my opinion? We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness…”
- Robert Fulghum

The journey out of Emerald City was uneventful. Neither Rose nor I put any effort into trying to fit in with the Society and we strolled out of Castle Sage in our armor. While we received a couple curious glances, most of the locals opted to just pretend we didn’t exist whatsoever and even the porters by the entrance looked straight through us.

As we began the long walk down the silver ribbon tunnel, Rose spoke quietly as she idly stared at the ground. “So that’s what it was like for you…”

I couldn’t help but give a sardonic chuckle in response. “Yeah, you’ve seen both sides now.”

We continued to walk in silence as the noise of the Grand Bazaar gave way to only the quiet echo of our hoofsteps. Eventually, Rose looked up at me with a grin, “I think I like it better this way. No attention, no small talk… less pressure, really. How about this: next fancy town we go to, you can dress up and I’ll be your silent companion.”

“Deal,” I said as I tried my best to give a placating smile. Rose nodded and turned her attention back to the dusty floor of the tunnel, but I could see the sadness that was in her eyes and I found myself similarly studying the floor as I wistfully thought about the happy mare that was brimming with excitement just a day or so ago... Was there anything I could do that might help? I felt the weight of my bear claw necklace shift as we walked and I got an idea.

“Hold up,” I called.

Rose stopped and turned to look at me. “What is it? Hey! What are you-”

I dug through her saddle bag for a moment, then pulled out the small jewelry box. I flipped it open. “Here.”

“Storm Mist, I don’t–” Rose began before I silenced her with a talon.

“Rose... Don’t let your experience with these Society ponies dictate how you feel about yourself. Don’t let them take your imagination, or your joy... And don’t believe for a second that wanting to be beautiful or to wear something that means a lot to you is a crime.”

Rose watched me with a shocked expression as I held the necklace up in front of her. “You and I both know that this necklace has meaning for you. It’s not a relic that an old nag wants, and it’s not a status symbol for the Society. It’s yours, and only yours. And if it brings you joy or reminds you of what’s important, then you should wear it.”

Rose looked at me as her mouth hung open for a second. She looked like she was about to say something, but after a moment she gave me a warm smile and lowered her head. For the second time, I snapped the piece of jewelry around her neck and she beamed at me.

I slipped the box back into her saddle bag and we continued down the tunnel. As we walked along the dusty chiseled rock, it somehow seemed as if things were just a bit brighter; the walls slightly less oppressive. Rose bumped my flank with hers and giggled slightly as she spoke. “I think I may have to adjust my definition of ‘hero’.”

“Oh?” I asked. “To what?”

“Smart-ass hippogriff who isn’t as dumb as he looks.”

“Hey!” I replied with indignation, but Rose just trotted quickly ahead while giggling.

Despite the backhanded compliment, I smiled. It was good to have happy Rose back.

* * * * *

The cold dusty tunnel seemed like it went on for forever. Every fifteen minutes or so we’d encounter another offshoot that would branch off and wind away deeper into the mountain. While we were following the silver ribbons, it felt to us as if we were constantly walking further into the lazy gaping maw of the earth– slowly being digested by an ancient and gigantic beast made of thousands of tons of rock.

We had both been quiet for some time. The repetitive fall of our hoofsteps and the sounds of our equipment jangling around echoed off the walls, creating a pool of sound that covered us like a blanket; a monotonous drone that made us sleepy even as we walked.

Some piece of equipment must have brushed against something else making a noise that sounded like a whisper. Then, a moment later– the same whisper-like noise. I stopped. “Did you… hear a whisper?”

Rose stopped and gave me a sideways glance. “No…” She fiddled with a few knobs on her PipBuck. “And my E.F.S. isn’t showing anypony nearby. You sure you’re not going crazy?”

I paused for a moment. It had been a long, boring walk through the tunnels, it wouldn’t be that surprising to have misheard something as a whisper, right?

Then I heard it again. A whisper from behind, from the voice of a small foal. It spoke, but not in a language I could understand. I was definitely going crazy. But if I learned anything from Rose– crazy works sometimes. “Follow me.”

Rose skeptically followed as I turned and backtracked to an intersection we had just crossed with an unmarked tunnel. I closed my eyes and tried to follow my instincts. Where are you? Where are you calling from?

Left.

I turned left and made my way down the hall to another intersection where the hallway split into two branches. Again, I concentrated.

Right.

Following the tunnel to the right we passed one intersection and came to another, where I felt the urge to go left again.

At this point, Rose had accepted that I lost it. “It’s a good thing my PipBuck automaps our surroundings, otherwise we’d be screwed finding our way back out of here. You sure you haven’t flown over the cuckoo’s nest?”

Flown over a what? “I don’t know what you mean,” I replied. “What’s a cuckoo?”

Rose shook her head and laughed. “It’s a bird. But specifically, it’s referring to a pre-war radioplay where a colt lands himself in an–”

Stop.

“Hold up,” I interrupted, trying to follow the crazy voices in my head. I studied the wall next to where we had stopped. It was made of chiseled stones, stacked atop of one another and reinforced by wooden posts. The surface was smooth, but there was an almost imperceptible line running vertically up and down the wall not far from where we were– almost like a seam. I walked over and placed a claw against the wall and it pushed in easily, like it was hung on hinges.

“–insane asylum,” Rose finished, staring at me and the secret doorway with a suspicious look. “How’d you know that was there?’ she asked.

“Just a feeling…”

Truthfully I didn’t really know how exactly I got here, but I knew that if I heard the whisper, I could follow it– one way or another.

The secret doorway opened into a small room, not much bigger than a closet. Inside there were some long burnt-out candles, melted down to the wick, along with some caps from Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles placed on a steel tray. The tray sat beside a rotted-out single mattress that still hosted the skeletal remains of its former occupant– a unicorn foal, that seemed to be clutching something in its hooves.

Rose shivered. “Well this isn’t creepy at all,” she muttered sardonically.

Normally, I’d be inclined to agree, but it felt like I was being called here, so it wasn’t entirely weird. I moved closer to the bed to figure out what the skeletal remains of the foal was holding. It was another statuette! My heart jumped and the little cyan colt in my saddle bag seemed to vibrate with energy, as if he were calling out to a friend. This statuette was also in mint condition and portrayed a frail lavender unicorn mare with a large horn and a soft flowing seafoam-green mane.

“You wanted me to find this?” I asked, partly to the skeletal foal and partly to the weird whispers in my head. I heard a response from neither, however.

“Find what?” Rose asked, curious. I motioned towards the foal and Rose inched closer in the cramped room to inspect what I had found. Her eyes lit up. “Another statuette!” she exclaimed. “It’s Mistmane, one of the Pillars!”

So they are a set! I felt the urge to reach out and grab the little lavender mare, but I didn’t want to disturb the dead foal– as silly as that sounds. I felt like if it called me here, I needed to treat it with respect.

“Rose, could you use your telekinesis?”

She nodded and her horn lit up with a crimson glow as she gently levitated the statuette up out of the grasp of the long-dead foal and over to my outstretched claw. As it landed within my talons, I read the inscription on the little black base– “Stay Beautiful”. Oddly enough, as Rose’s magic released, the mare upon the pedestal was no longer the old, wrinkly mare that struggled to hold her own head up, but was instead a much younger, beautiful version of herself with a flawless lilac coat and an ethereal turquoise mane that flowed like an aurora in the night sky. Her entire body seemed to glow with a soft white light that made the mare look all the more ethereal and lovely.

“Whoa,” I stammered, shocked by the transformation. “You see this?”

“Yeah,” Rose replied, cocking her head to examine the statuette more closely. “These statuettes must have magical properties… makes sense given that the Pillars were ancient protectors of Equestria. You remember Mistmane’s story, right?’

I nodded. “When her kingdom was nearly ruined by an empress who wanted to steal all things of beauty for herself, Mistmane fought back by bringing beauty back to the kingdom and all its inhabitants by sacrificing her own.”

Rose smiled. “And she never stopped. She fought her entire life to make things better for others, despite how it made her look on the outside. Her true beauty, the kind that truly makes a person who they are, shone from the inside.” She paused for a moment, considering something. “Maybe that’s why we see her like this now, in your claws. Maybe you have the same kind of spirit?”

I laughed at the thought. I was nothing like a Pillar of Equestria. I wasn’t a hero. “That’s a kind thought, but I don’t think I’m anything like Mistmane. I haven’t sacrificed parts of myself for anyone.”

Rose narrowed her eyes and looked at me with a mischievous look. “Not yet, but I wouldn’t put it past you.” She nudged me with a hoof. “You have a good heart, and I know you’ll always do what’s right.”

The statuette seemed to glow with Rose’s sentiment and I quietly chided it for being on her side. The last thing I needed was another smart-ass unicorn telling me I was a hero. I packed the little mare into my saddlebag next to the cyan stallion; it felt right, keeping them together.

“I’ll always try,” I said, honestly. “But I’m just a hippogriff. We’re all just trying to survive. There’s no heroes anymore.”

Rose allowed herself to touch the Heart of Ophir momentarily, then gave me a sly look as she turned to leave the cramped space. “We can agree to disagree.” She winked and disappeared back into the hallway.

I smiled and looked at the long-dead foal one last time. “Thank you,” I whispered, before stepping out and shutting the door.

* * * * *

It wasn’t long after that we finally reached the end of the silver tunnel. Interestingly, the exits to the outside were also sealed by the key, so even if someone had managed to sneak in, they wouldn’t be able to leave. Thankfully, the key that Sterling had given us worked for this exit as well.

As the mechanical rock door opened, the light of the outdoors flooded our vision and momentarily blinded us. Through squinted eyes, I could see Rose bolt outside and hug the dirt.

“Sweet sunny solar-flaring mareheat!” she swore, rolling around in the dirt like a madpony. “It’s good to not be in that fucking mountain anymore!”

I smirked as I squinted against the bright outdoors. I always knew Rose would lose it some day. I just didn’t realize that it would be today.

She lay on the ground all splayed out, as if she was trying to make as much surface contact as possible. “It smells so good! It smells like earth and the outdoors!”

“Very descriptive,” I said dryly, my eyes finally adjusting to the change in light level. As I blinked and looked out at our surroundings, what I saw filled my heart with excitement and hope.

We were on a large berm near the base of Roan Peak that wound its way down into a lush valley full of plants and trees that looked every bit as green and lush as pre-war photos, despite the cloud-covered sky. The mountains in the distance were a hazy blue color with white-capped peaks that disappeared into the clouds and perfectly complemented the green of the valley. Near the base of a distant mountain, an incredibly tall black tower reached up into the clouds like an oppressive monolith, and nestled into the heart of the valley below was a large town… no, a city: Silverhoof.

“Rose…” I said, almost breathless as I wanted to share this incredible view. After a moment, I looked over and found the gray unicorn still splayed out on the ground. “Rose, stop hugging your dirt and look!”

She got up and trotted next to me, looking out at the surrounding vista. “Whoa… That’s cool.” She paused for a moment, taking it in, then spoke again, “There’s so much more dirt to hug!”

I fought a sudden urge to push her down the side of the mountain, but also couldn’t help but smile.

We heard the distant crack of gunfire, breaking us from our reverie. First one shot, then several in rapid succession. It sounded like small caliber arms, but also too far away to be an immediate threat. At least we knew that there were other armed creatures nearby, and if we stayed aware we could get the drop on them or avoid them altogether.

Rose sighed. “Is it weird that I find the sound of gunfire oddly comforting?”

I gave her a flat look. “Yes, but you excel at weird.”

She smiled. “Good!”

As we descended the mountain from the secret Society entrance, we began to be surrounded by more lush vegetation: trees with healthy green needles, lush bushes, even wildflowers and living sagebrush! It was fascinating to see so many living plants in one place and I knew my mom would’ve loved it, though I once again wished that I had paid more attention to her lessons on plants as a kid.

Rose’s PipBuck made a small clicking noise and she stopped momentarily to poke at the device on her foreleg, but kept walking. I didn’t think much of it until a bit further down the mountain I heard the noise again. “What is that?” I asked.

“Geiger counter,” she replied, “it makes noise when we’re close to magical radiation or taint.”

“Oh, it’s the same noise from Autumn Vigil’s cabin!” I exclaimed and Rose looked at me confusedly. “Whenever the lightning would flash during the radstorm, your PipBuck would click a bit.”

She nodded. “Yeah, the lightning sends tendrils of magical radiation everywhere and a bit of it can reach you, even through a window or shelter. Don’t know why it’s clicking now, though. May be broken? Or there may be a very small radiation source nearby.”

As we continued down the mountain into more and more of the green grass and vegetation, the device began to click more– never more than a single chirp at a time, but it was happening more frequently. We began to realize that this area may not be so green because it was untouched land, safe from the horrors of the Great War, but because it may be contaminated by magical radiation.

“Should we be worried?” I asked.

Rose shook her head. “Radiation levels are still low, but if it gets worse I have a few RadSafe pills.”

“RadSafe?”

Rose gave me a look that suggested either I had something on my face or I was an idiot. I presumed it was the latter. After a moment she smiled to herself and spoke, “Yeah… it prevents your body from accumulating magical radiation. I’m surprised you never used it, but I guess with ghoul parents you wouldn’t see it as much?”

I nodded. “I was always taught to stay away from taint and out of radstorms, but my dad loved working out in the rain during one. It’s like he got stronger and more energetic whenever one came around.”

Rose smiled. “I wish I could’ve met him.”

“Me too.”

Suddenly, gunfire rang out again, but much closer this time. Both Rose and I unsheathed our weapons and moved closer to the tree line as we continued our way cautiously down the mountain.

“Up ahead,” Rose said. “Off to the right and down the mountain a bit.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked past the berm down to where the ridge circled in. I could see a group of ponies with spiky cobbled-together armor and extremist mane and tail styles. Many of them were missing parts of their armor, or wore very badly damaged pauldrons, saddles or croupieres. They mostly carried pipe rifles that had been heavily modified or perhaps assembled from several different things. They were passing some kind of drug around while laughing and shooting at something in the woods.

“Raiders,” I observed. “Seem to be in pretty rough condition too.”

Rose took the lead as we worked our way down the mountain, occasionally pausing as she seemed to notice something within her field of view. I guessed that she was tracking something on her E.F.S. with her crazy vision thing. Eventually we wound our way to a little ridge overlooking where the raiders had gathered and I peered out over a rock to see what was in the woods… What I saw made my stomach churn.

In addition to the three raiders who were on the edge of the forest wielding pipe rifles, there was a group within the woods in various stages of undress. Some were pleasuring themselves, moaning and huffing as they clopped and rubbed. A few raiders had mounted others, riding and slamming with animal instinct, one raider stallion even holding a knife to the neck of the raider mare he was plowing, who just seemed to get off on having a knife to her neck.

They all surrounded the sickliest sight of all though, and most of them couldn’t look away: two ghouls in a pretty decrepit state were going at it. REALLYgoing at it, as if they were drugged up and sex-crazed. One of them had lost a hindleg, but it didn’t stop him from plowing the shit out of every hole and orifice the other had, whether natural or inflicted.

Without warning, one of the raiders aimed his pipe rifle at the two ghouls and took a shot. The bottom ghoul’s lower jaw suddenly exploded into pieces, parts of it impacting into the mare who had a knife to her throat. She moaned, and a clopping stallion next to them suddenly shook, grunted and released a massive load on both the mare and the stallion plowing her.

“Ugh!” the stallion shouted in disgust. “What the fuck!?” And without hesitation he plunged the knife into the clopping pony’s chest. As he removed the knife, blood spurted from the severed artery and many of the raiders cheered and moaned in response.

“What the fuck…” Rose breathed, and I silently agreed. “I count eight total. Do you wanna take them?”

Raiders were already a blight upon the Wasteland, but the fact that we had managed to stumble upon some kind of sick raider sex games and that they were drugging and abusing ghouls just made me feel sick. “Yeah,” I replied, “but you’ve got the five in the forest. I don’t wanna get anywhere near that shit.”

Rose smirked. “You don’t wanna participate in the sex-lympics?”

My face contorted at the suggestion. “You’re disgusting. Let’s go.”

Rose levitated her pistol as she spoke, “Betcha I can take all five before you get those three!”

I was already on my feet and taking flight. “You’re on!” I called back, even though I knew Rose was far faster.

As I silently glided my way down towards the three raiders at the tree line, I could see Rose jump over the rock and slide down the hill. The ponies in the forest were oblivious, but the three that I winged my way towards were distracted by the sudden appearance of the mare. I took advantage of the distraction and angled my glide so that I could cleanly behead two of the three of them. Maybe I could beat Rose! But at the last moment the one on my right looked down to adjust his rifle, and while I beheaded the raider on my left, I had simply given the one on my right a cool new haircut.

I heard the first shot from Rose’s pistol as the freshly-shaved pony yelled “Whhat the fwuck!?” and whipped around. I knocked his pipe rifle sideways, ringing his teeth and skull in the process. I took the opportunity to swing at the other raider as I heard the second shot. Damn, she was fast!

The raider that I swung at grunted as he dodged the swing, then brought his rifle up towards my head. I deflected it with my axe, but a shot rang out, grazing my left side. I spun to the left while extending my right wing, slicing into the stallion’s legs. He cried out, jumping back and dropping the pipe rifle. Rose’s third shot rang out.

I turned my attention back to the raider with the new hairdo and knocked his rifle to the side with my axe just as he pulled the trigger. He watched the bullet rip through the shoulder of his disarmed companion, causing him to stagger and flail, just before he saw my axe slice through his neck. I had grown up fending off feral ghouls. By comparison, these drugged-up raiders were slow as sin.

I heard the fourth shot from Rose’s gun as I charged the remaining raider. He turned to run, but I was able to catch one of his rear legs with my axe, severing his achilles tendon. He fell to the ground and tried to scramble through the dirt, but I tackled him and held his head up.

“Ghoul-abusing raider scum,” I muttered as Rose’s fifth shot rang out. “Damn it.” I slit the raider’s throat with my axe, cleaned the blade and returned it to my back.

Rose trotted over with a shit-eating grin. “Shut up,” I said, trying to cut her off.

She looked me up and down with a smirk, then poked me with a foreleg. “You’re getting faster. Let’s call it a tie.”

I couldn’t help but immediately wonder if something was wrong with her. Rose was a lot of things: funny, talented, deadly… but humble wasn’t exactly a word that came to mind. “You didn’t take any of their drugs, did you?”

She immediately scoffed. “No, stupid, I was trying to be nice for once.”

“It’s weird,” I retorted.

She smiled. “I excel at weird, remember?”

I grinned in response, then thought about the ghouls. “The ghouls– did you..?”

She shook her head and pointed. “See for yourself.”

In the woods, the two sex-crazed ghouls were still going at it: two highly doped-up corpses plugging each other in the woods. Love is love, right? Or… whatever that was. We decided to just let them be. Besides, they were surrounded by all sorts of fluids and neither of us really wanted to get too close.

* * * * *

By nightfall we had made it down into the valley. The steep-pitched roofs of Silverhoof could no longer be seen from this altitude, but I knew we were close. I vibrated with excitement at the thought of returning to my childhood home, but I also didn’t really know what to expect. The only memory I really had was returning to Silverhoof as a foal with my parents… remembering my excitement then, my dad entering the restaurant with the funny name, then being chased by raiders in a wagon, or… not raiders? Whoever they were. My mom dying…

I shook my head and sighed. My excitement over returning to Silverhoof and trying to find answers kept being tempered by bad memories. Rose seemed to notice, as she looked at me from across the fire with concern in her eyes.

“Thinking about your mom?” she asked quietly.

I nodded and grabbed the box of Sugar Apple Bombs we had found at the raider camp earlier, tossing a helping of the sickly-sweet cereal in my mouth. My eye twitched as I munched on the stale kernels.

“Who likes this crap?” I asked, trying my best to not gag.

Rose grinned, levitating the box over to herself. “I do!”

She emptied the last of the box into her mouth and chewed happily as she tossed the bag into the fire and neatly folded the cereal box before sliding it into her pack. I rolled my eyes. There was no end to Rose’s weirdness.

We had managed to walk away from our assault on the raider camp earlier with a bunch of drugs, including painkillers, some Med-X, Mint-als, Rage, and Buck. Honestly, I didn’t even know what some of these things did, but Rose insisted they could be useful. We also found more food and water, including the stale pre-war Sugar Apple Bombs cereal, which I was now convinced was either formulated exclusively for weird unicorn mares or was some kind of horrible joke that pre-war parents played on little fillies and colts during breakfast. The raiders also had a few good pieces of meat, but when we discovered an entire salted pony flank with cutiemark still visible, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

“Ugh, I’d take radroach meat over that,” I groaned, taking a sip of water to rid myself of the taste of that horrible crunchy, sugary mess. Rose just laughed. As nice as it was to have the pure water and exquisite food of the Emerald City, I think we both felt more at home here– sitting together by a campfire in the Wasteland.

“Hey Storm,” Rose asked, pensively staring into the fire. “Do you think we should’ve done something?”

“I thought we did,” I replied. “The Wasteland has a few less raiders now.”

She shook her head. “Not about that. Back in Emerald City. Should we have tried to help the serfs?”

Emerald City had hundreds of serfs that signed their life away to bring a semblance of pre-war opulence to the Society ponies for nothing in return aside from a safe place to live out their days. But, like Abby said, those serfs agreed to it… if we had tried to do something to disrupt that, who knows how violently the Society would react, not just against us, but the serfs as well.

I shook my head. “I don’t know… I’m not even sure if there was anything the two of us could even do. We’d probably be dead or rotting in a cell right now if we had tried anything.”

“I know,” Rose said, idly poking at the fire. “But I still feel like something needs to be done… When my sister and I escaped 131, we sparked a revolution. I mean, if Abacus can be believed. Our actions could’ve helped free hundreds of stable dwellers. But how many of them couldn’t handle the Wasteland and decided to just throw their lives away by working for the Society?”

I thought about Abby’s words: “Not everyone in the Wasteland is capable of defending themselves or protecting those they care about. For some, it’s the best thing they can do to ensure their survival.”

“I mean, it’s not the choice that either you or I would make, but it is their choice, right?” I asked.

“Not much of a choice,” Rose muttered as she continued to idly poke at the fire.

She always seemed to glow by the fireside. Something about the fire made her charcoal coat shimmer with warm light while her dark raven mane fell across her crimson eyes, framing them like an intense portrait of determination. She looked up at me with that intensity, and a flicker of panic shot through me– not because I was afraid of what she could do, but because I was afraid she caught me staring.

“Is it really a choice if there’s no other option? That’s like signing a contract with a gun to your head. Nobody showed them how to survive out here, and you can bet that in serf housing, nobody’s going to.”

“I guess so,” I said, glancing down to the fire. It was starting to burn low. “So do you have a plan?”

Rose tilted her head and looked at me with a funny look, then smiled. “No, but I’m thinking about it. Besides, I wouldn’t just abandon you. You’d be a goner without me!”

I gave her a level look. “I’ve saved your flank just as much as you’ve saved mine!”

In response, she struck a seductive pose and spoke in a low breathy tone, “I didn’t realize you were such an expert on my flank.”

I blushed before I could even stammer a response, so I looked away. Somehow, even now, I kept falling for Rose’s games. But even so, a large part of me still enjoyed playing them. She was my best friend and I knew that no matter what the Wasteland tried to throw at us that we’d always be there to help one another… Rose giggled and stoked the coals of the fire.

“Hey Rose?”

“Mm?”

“When you finish your plan, I’ll help you.”

Her playful grin melted into some other expression as I spoke, one I couldn’t quite place, but it seemed almost… softer.

“You’ve been by my side through everything… I just want you to know: when you figure out how to make the Wasteland better, I’ll be there to help.”

She looked at me with that soft look for a moment, then asked, “Is that… Is that all?”

I thought about my words. Did I not say something right? I wanted to make sure she knew that I’d always be by her side…

“I… think so?” I responded. “I mean, you’re my best friend, and I wanted you to know I’ll always support the things that are important to you–”

Rose rolled her eyes and sighed before curling up on her bedroll. “Good night, Storm Mist.”

Did I say something wrong?

“And thank you,” she added.

Now I was just confused. I shook my head and decided to let the last dregs of the fire burn out as I lay down as well and kept watch as Rose drifted off to sleep. The night was quiet: no gunshots, no bears, just the occasional tendril of lightning arcing across the clouds in the distant sky.

* * * * *

It was maybe an hour or so into our journey the next morning that we came upon a large open field. The trees and plants gave way to an area that consisted mostly of vibrant green grass and the occasional shrub. Everything seemed extra still here, the peaceful quiet accented by the mountain wind blowing off the peak and down into the valley.

Rose’s PipBuck began to click more and more as we got closer, to the extent that she broke out the RadSafe tablets for the both of us.

“Isn’t it weird?” I asked, looking out at the lush, vibrant field.

Rose cocked her head. “What?”

“There’s nothing here… No megaspell damage, no pools of taint… nothing that would really indicate this area is irradiated, aside from the super green grass.”

Rose shrugged in response. “Maybe whatever is causing it is underground? This area was a hotspot for government activity. Could’ve been a taint disposal site…” Suddenly she grinned mischievously.

“What?” I asked. “I know that look…”

“Ooor,” she crooned, “there’s a secret Ministry bunker hidden underneath this field, full of crazy mutated cyberpony soldiers that’ll pop out of the ground any moment and try to kill us!”

I looked at Rose, then looked at the field, then back at Rose. “I doubt it.”

She pouted. “You’re no fun.”

“I know,” I said, looking back at the field to check for threats before we crossed. As I scanned the grassland, my eyes caught sight of what looked to be a large bunny. It hopped around like a normal bunny, munching on the irradiated grass, but was easily twice as big as you’d suspect… and had one extra eye.

“Oh…”

Before I could relay what I saw, a massive red-headed vulture screamed while swooping down and sinking its talons into the monster bunny, who screamed and struggled as well. The bird thrashed its wings while the bunny screamed and twisted, pulling the bird momentarily to the ground.

Rose noticed that something caught my eye. “What is it?”

“Bird versus bunny, over there.” I pointed and Rose squinted her eyes.

“I can barely see…”

Suddenly there was movement from a tall patch of grass not far from the scene. A massive sheep-like creature rose, seemingly from out of nowhere. Its patchy, matted fur glowed with the same green hue of the surrounding grassland. Twisted, gnarled horns sprouted from the top of its head and circled around, piercing its own skull and poking out through the front of its decayed face where its eyes should’ve been. The two horns were sharpened into deadly spears of bone that jutted forward aggressively.

The sheep-like monster screamed an other-worldly sound that sent chills down my spine as it made a beeline for the bunny and bird that were locked in combat. Within seconds it easily crossed a hundred yards of distance and rammed the two creatures. The mutated bunny was tossed into the air as the vulture was skewered on one of the massive ram’s horns. It flapped and flailed wildly as the bunny landed a few feet away and ran off as fast as its legs could take it. The mutated creature rammed its head into the ground, crushing the bird between the dirt and its skull, then pulled it off with help from a cloven hoof before gnashing at it with rotted teeth.

I looked at Rose and whispered, “Could you see that?”

She pulled her gaze from the field and looked back at me. “Why does nature always have to be scary? Why can’t we ever just have a pretty field?”

I gave her an incredulous look. “You’re excited about mutated cyberpony soldiers but afraid of a mutated ram?”

Rose scoffed. “Is that even a question!?” She levitated the sniper rifle from her pack and worked the action.

“Whoa,” I said, holding out a claw. “Is that a good idea?”

She looked through the scope and squinted. “It’s distracted right now. Maybe a good shot will take it down.”

I looked back out at the glowing creature. “Or you might just piss it off.”

“One way to find out!” she said, and my stomach sank. I knew how radiation could enhance the strength of a ghoul. Who knew what it could do to something this size.

She aimed carefully, then telekinetically pulled the trigger. The rifle roared and I could see the bullet impact dead-center on the skull of the ram. Without hesitation, it raised its head and faced directly towards us. It may not have eyes, but it definitely heard and felt the shot.

Rose swallowed. “Oh shit…”

It bolted directly at us, covering a massive amount of ground in just half a second. Rose worked the mechanisms of the gun at incredible speed, firing off three shots in the span of a breath. All three shots looked like they hit the ram, but didn’t slow it down in the least.

“Come on!” I said as I pushed Rose sideways. We ran off to the side and into the treeline near the edge of the field as the giant creature ran straight through where we were just standing, gnashing its teeth and thrashing its head.

The thing was even more massive close-up. Now that it was only a few dozen yards from us, I could tell that it stood easily twice as tall as Rose. The horns alone were probably the length of my forelegs, and that was just the part that stuck out straight from the front of its skull.

The beast thrashed its head a couple more times, then slowly circled the area, stopping occasionally to cock its head and wait. From what I could tell, it had no eyesight whatsoever, and relied mostly on sound.

Rose's PipBuck clicked and I froze as the creature angled its head slightly. I looked at Rose and quietly pointed to my ears. She nodded. With her telekinesis, she silently grasped a rock that was nearby, levitating it over the ram, before tossing it into some bushes in the opposite direction. At the sound, the ram snapped up and charged towards the bushes, ripping them from the ground like overgrown weeds. Rose played a couple more rounds of “go get the rock” with the ram before we felt that it was far enough away for us to hazard moving.

We briskly made our way across the irradiated field as Rose’s PipBuck clicked up a storm; every blip and click setting our teeth on edge and making us glance behind to make sure the creature wasn’t following us. About halfway across, I lost sight of the beast and we booked it the rest of the way with weapons ready– not that they would really do us much good against that thing.

We kept up a steady pace afterwards, even as Rose’s PipBuck stopped clicking and the vibrant green grassland disappeared behind us. It wasn’t long before we found a dusty road that wound down to familiar white buildings with black lattice and my heart skipped a beat. We were finally here!

As we entered the outskirts of the city, patches of broken cobblestone peeked through the dusty road and shallow rock fences popped up occasionally, worn down by years of rain. The foundations of the old buildings cracked and crumbled and a lot of the wood and lattice work was rotting. More than a few buildings had their roofs caved in.

As we continued into the city, we encountered a few radrats and radroaches that were easily dispatched, but we didn’t spot any other Wastelanders. The road began to seem familiar and my intuition took over as I wove us through the streets. It wasn’t long until we found what I was looking for…

A sign rose up out of a pile of garbage and overgrown brush, its lights no longer functioning, but the letters still clear as day: Ass Diner. At that moment, nothing was ever more beautiful.

Rose began to giggle. “Seriously? You dragged me all this way to take me to an ‘Ass Diner’? I knew you were a flank expert, but this just takes it to a whole ‘nother level!”

I snorted. “Come on.”

Rose skipped behind me as we entered the silver bullet of a building. The inside was trashed: chairs with ripped and faded fabric and old tables with peeling metal trim were strewn about, a bunch of them piled in a corner. The old checkerboard floor had fallen apart long ago, leaving random vinyl tiles everywhere and revealing the floorboards underneath. In the middle of the restaurant was a long bar filled with trash, some checkered porcelain tiles still visible on the underside of the lip, matching the old floor. At the far side of the bar was a cash register, still half-bolted to the bartop with its drawer hanging open. It looked like someone had bashed it with one of the vinyl-covered benches from the booths at the other side of the restaurant and discarded the bench behind the till.

“Help me with this?” I asked, grabbing the bench that was lodged behind the bar.

Rose telekinetically lifted up the other end, and we shoved it out of the way. I knew my parents had a stash under the floorboards behind the register, but I didn’t know exactly where. I moved some of the trash aside on the floor and examined the floorboards, tapping on them with my talon until I found one that sounded different. I was able to slide that board in towards the bar, then up and out. Rose watched with interest as I reached in and pulled out an old green metal ammo can that had the letters “M.W.T.” painted on the side of it.

I couldn’t help but hesitate. I had wondered what was in this box for years. What was it that two ghouls had hidden to make their lives easier if they were to ever return to this city? I remembered the conversation with my mother in the wagon:

“I hate secrets... When do I get to find out?”

“When you’re much, much older.”

I was only maybe 10 yards from where I am now when that conversation happened, but it was so many years ago… Well mom, I’m much, much older now– so screw it! I opened the ammo can.

The first thing I saw took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. There were old, faded pictures of my parents– not as ghouls, but as the ponies they once were! I saw my dad, Carbon Cylinder, with a soft yellow coat and beautiful green eyes, smiling proudly as he stood next to some big mechanical contraption. And I saw my mom, Evergreen Sky, her mint green coat and hazel eyes shining in the light of the sun as she gave the camera a slightly bemused “put that thing down right now” look. At the time they were taken, they were just quick snapshots of two ponies in an ancient world, but to me, now? They were everything.

“You have his eyes,” Rose said quietly, sharing the moment with me. “He was handsome too. No wonder your mom fell for him.”

I laughed, thinking back to the story my dad told me about when they met. “Actually, he fell for my mom. Literally. Tripped all over himself and fell to the floor covered in hot coffee.”

Rose laughed and placed her hoof on my talon. “And I fell for you.”

It felt like my heart stopped as I was torn from the past and thrown into the present. “You what? I mean, you did?”

Rose nodded at me slowly, cautiously.

“I just… thought you were always like that. Like… you make a lot of jokes and sometimes you comment on my butt, but I always thought you’d rather punch me than–”

“Kiss you?”

“–flirt with me…” I paused for a moment, wondering how I had misinterpreted Rose’s signals for so long. “I’m so dumb, aren’t I?”

Rose smiled and nodded. “Sterling told me that you didn’t know and that I needed to tell you directly. So… this is as direct as I can get.” She wrapped her front hooves around my neck and kissed me. Electricity arced throughout my body, my heart pounded, and my mind went blank. I closed my eyes and kissed her back.

Sparks flew as the plywood boarding on the front windows exploded and energy weapon fire filled the room.

Footnote:

Quest Perk Added: Kiss The Mare
You have reached a new level in your relationship with your companion! New actions have been unlocked!

Statuette Discovered: Mistmane
Permanently gain +1 CHA.

Author's Note

In the words of Arti, "Stormy must be one hell of a kisser!" 🤣

I've come back from the dead! I'm unendingly sorry to those who got very invested in this story only for it to be abandoned for so long. I burnt myself out hardcore and the longer I was away from it the harder it was to get back to it. But the characters never left me and I finally have been able to get back to writing Stormy's story in a healthy way. And so I'm here, writing it for him, and for Rose, and for Sterling. And for those we have yet to meet.

I hope this chapter was enjoyable. I always knew that their first kiss was going to be explosive, and I'm so happy that it's finally in print! Chapter 10 is half-done as I write this, and I promise it will be out in a week or two. It's gonna be a trip.

Thank you to Artimae and Rebel Beats for their proofreading!