Rose watched as the wooden box was covered in dirt, the other townsponies were quiet as they covered the coffin. Rose felt a mix of sadness and anger, even though she had just met the pegasus. She ignored the pain from the burns the explosive shot gave her, turning away from the group she started to walk back to the highway that had brought her to the town.

She watched the old dirt road as she followed it, only when it turned to asphalt she looked up. She started to follow the road, into the desert she heard called the Neijave. Rose looked at her Pipbuck, a new quest had appeared in her log.

The Road Again:
Find a new home in the Neijave.

She activated it and looked at the little compass the Pipbuck always gave her, it had a marker that looked like it followed the road. Lowering her hoof she followed the marker, into the giant desert.

***

After days of traveling, Rose looked up at the gate her Pip’s marker was on, to her right was a couple mares, their manes were like that picture of the Stable Tec mare that made music, Sweetie Belle?

“What are you staring at lil filly?” One of them asked.

“Why do you look like Sweetie Belle?” Rose asked, looking up at them.

“Have you never been here before, girl? We are the Queens, we try to be like Sweetie Belle. There’s a school here that had holovids on how to dress, look, and talk like she did, a while ago a bunch of mares decided to try it out, and more mares eventually joined and now here we are. The Queen was the best at it so she leads us. Might want to talk to her if you need work.” The imitator said to her.

“Alright, where is she staying?” Rose asked.

“There is a corner building that says The Queens school of impersonation on one of the corners. It has bright signs that you can't miss, usually she’s sitting by the stage in a big purple dress, just like Sweetie’s.” A different Queen said to her.

Rose nodded to them then pushed the big, red gate open then headed in, it swung back closed after her. She looked around for where the marker said to go, but it was gone, around her was boarded up and destroyed buildings.

“Hey! Little filly, if you have some caps I can escort you, this place is dangerous to go alone.” An armored unicorn at the side of the road yelled to her.

Rose ignored her and started walking. A couple ponies were sitting in the street, leaning against the ruined wagons and buildings, small plastic containers and glass bottles sat around them, she also saw some needles like she saw in the Stable’s Medical.

She followed the main road, she saw a little foal on one of the street corners, an older mare on the corner across from him. They were both yelling about stores or whatever, she looked to her left and saw The Queen’s School. Outside it was another Sweetie Belle look alike, their fur was obviously dyed and fading.

She went up to the building and pulled on the glass door’s handle, it didn't budge. She kept trying and heard the mare beside the door start laughing.

“Push it girl, can’t you read?” She said while laughing at her.

Rose pushed the door and it opened, she felt her face get hot as she went in. The lobby area had a large desk, a few more of the imitators were standing around the room, to the left was a shut door, right was an open one. She went to the one that was closed and tried to push it, then pull it after it didn’t move.

“It’s locked, gotta pay to see the Queen, it’s so beggars don't bug her constantly.” A queen standing beside the door said.

“But one of the ponies outside the gate said to see her?” Rose said, confused.

“Then I guess I can let you in.” She said as she put the key into the door with her magic and opened it for her after unlocking it.

“Thank you.” Rose said as she went in.

Inside the room were a few tables and chairs, in the back was a large stage, on it was another mare that was dressed up to look like Sweetie Belle, the only other pony was a mare in a shiny, purple dress sitting in the center of the room.

Rose walked up to the Queen. “Uhh hi? One of your mares outside the big gate said you might have stuff I could do for you.”

“Surprising they’d tell a little filly that, but I suppose I might have something. We've been planning to unboard some of these buildings around here and turn them into some makeshift homes, but the ones we opened had some bugs or rats inside. Think you’d be up to a few bugs and rodents girl?” The Queen asked, her voice sounded a lot more like the recordings of Sweetie than the rest of them, her mane, tail, and fur even looked naturally like her’s, or at least she was using better dye than the others.

“Yea, can't be as bad as those roaches were.” Rose replied.

“Girl if you think those roaches were bad you're going to have a real bad time.” She replied, turning to Rose.

“Well I shot myself when it crawled onto my leg sooo.” Rose said, looking into her bright green eyes.

“There’s some doctor ponies nearby if you need it looked at.” She said, looking down at her bandaged leg.

“Thanks but a doctor already looked at it and said I’d be fine.” Rose said, moving the leg around.

“Alright, well when you go back outside look for a group of my mares near some of those boarded up buildings, just tell them I sent you and they should let you help. If not, just tell them to come check with me. I’ll set ‘em straight.” She said, turning back to the stage.

“Alright!” Rose said before leaving.

Back outside she looked around and saw about five of the Queens standing around a door, a crowbar sitting beside them and the boards taken off the door. She went up to them.

“Might want to move on, there’s some big bugs in there, we’re waiting for some more ponies to come and help.” One of them said before lighting up a cigarette.

“Well that’s what I’m here for, so let’s go.” Rose said as she pulled her gun out.

“She sent you? Well we’re fucked.” She said before taking a long drag of her cigarette.

“Yea yea whatever.” She said as she went into the building, holding her gun in front of her.

Two large, green bugs turned to look at her, they’re the size of her. “Helloooo.” she said before shooting it in the head.

As it’s head exploded the other ponies came in and shot the other one, three smaller ones came into the room and started coming towards them. The other mares started shooting at them, and missing them, hitting the wall and ground near them.

“Are you all really this incopetent?” Rose asked before sending a bullet through one of the small ones, it’s entire body exploded.

“Shut up and shoot them!” One of them yelled, before the other two bugs exploded.

“At least I can actually hit them soooooo fuck you!” Rose yelled back.

“Know what? You can do this shit yourself.” One of them said before they both left the building, leaving Rose alone.

“Yea whatever.” Rose said before going through the doorway the other bugs came through.

It led into a hallway, right was an open door, Rose went through it and into a bathroom. Looking around she found a medical box on the wall. She tried to pull the door open but it didn’t move.

“Fine then!” Rose yelled then smacked it, something inside it clicked. “Wait what?”

Rose pulled open the box to find a syringe filled with something and a bottle with some red liquid in it. Rose shrugged and tossed them both into her bag.

Back into the hallway she saw a couple more doors, one to the right, the other ahead. She tried the right door, but it didn’t open.

“Why is everything loooocked.” Rose said as she smacked the door a few times.

She smacked it a final time before looking back down the hall, the door had something on it that she didn’t know, “manager.” Rose went to the door and tried it, it opened to a small room with a few bookshelves and a desk, on the desk was a terminal.

Going to the other side of the desk she found it was destroyed.

“Oh.. ok then.” Rose said to herself before looking around, something shiny caught her eye, a key!

Rose grabbed it then galloped to the locked door, before reaching the door her legs slid out from under her, her face slammed into the ground and she continued sliding down the hallway. After coming to a stop she felt tears forming in her eyes, she found a tiny bug staring into her eyes, it’s little arms folded in front of it’s chest.

She stood back up and looked at it. “At least you can’t laugh at me.”

It started to jab at her hoof, doing nothing to her Stable barding. “You’re kinda cute, sorry though little guy.” She stepped on it with a loud crunch.

She wiped her hoof on the rug she slid down the hallway on then went back to the door. After unlocking it and pushing it open she looked down a dark stairway, it went down a bit then turned off to the right.

She turned her pip’s light on then went down into the darkness, at the bottom of the steps was a barrel on a table, a little spout was stuck into it.

Rose looked around and saw three more of the big, green bugs. “Damnit more of you?” She whined and pulled her gun out.

She tapped a button on her Pipbuck and everything slowed down, the bugs she was looking at were moving very slowly, she targeted two rounds at the heads of two of them.

Pressing the button again she watched as the pistol went off, both bullets entering the head of the first bug, only one hitting the second. One of the bugs had gotten to Rose and jabbed it’s leg into her chest, pain shot through her body from where it stung her.

She pulled her gun around and unloaded into it, it’s head exploded, she turned it to the other that hadn’t died from before and shot its head, the slide of her pistol didn’t go forward after it fired. The bug dropped beside the other two.

Rose stepped over their bodies and went to the corner, where the light shining from her Pipbuck was making something shine, against the wall was a rifle, beside it was a wooden box, taking the rifle she realized it didn’t have a magazine.

Rose pulled on a strap connected to the rifle to see if it would break or not, when it didn’t she slung it over her back and looked inside the box. Inside was a couple magazines and a cardboard box of bullets, with a squee she tossed them into her bag.

She returned to the front door of the building, making sure not to run and slip again. Back outside she found those two Queen’s mares.

“Well shit looks like she survived, you owe me fifty caps.” One of them said to the other.

The other Queen tossed a bag of caps at her. “Yea yea whatever.”

“Damn only fifty? You bet too low.” Rose said to them.

The Queen that received the caps walked off and the other glared at her, Rose bleped at her then started walking back to the Queen’s School.

Along the way she spotted two ponies in rags, a stallion with a pool stick in his magic, and a mare holding a knife in her mouth, when they saw her they walked up to her.

“Give us all your caps, and we’ll let you leave.” The stallion said, pointing the stick at her. “If not I’ll break your legs.”

Rose used her magic to pull something out of her bag and toss it onto the ground. “Hey there’s some drugs on the ground!” The mare started to look around but the stallion stared at her.

“I ain’t falling for it, empty your bags.” He said before lifting the stick up.

“No, really there’s some on the ground.” Rose said.

He glanced at the ground and Rose hit the button on her Pipbuck again, she drew her pistol and marked the heads of both of them twice before accepting it. Both entered the mare’s head, only one into the stallions, the fourth round going off into a building far behind him but it was still enough to kill him.

Rose picked up what she found inside that medical box off the ground and tossed it back into her bag, as well as the knife.

“Idiots.” She said to herself as she continued to the school.

***

Inside the school again she went to the stage and found The Queen watching one of the mares sing still, she went up to her. “Bugs are dead.”

“Alright, I’ll send some Queens to set up inside, and here. I don’t believe we talked about a reward but here anyway.” She said before tossing a pouch onto the table, it sounded like caps were inside.

“So that Pipbuck on your leg is quite noticeable, what brings you outside the stable?” The Queen asked, turning to face her. “And you can take a seat if you’d like.”

“Take? Why would I carry one around with me?” Rose asked, puzzled.

The Queen took a deep breath before continuing. “Not literally take, it means you can sit down.”

Rose sat down beside her. “Well I was abused my entire life so I made a revolt against the Elders with some of the other foals and we left, but because I was close to becoming Elder they left me alone.”

“Elder? You don’t look that old.” The Queen replied.

“Elder is everyone who’s able to have foals, and they don’t have to work anymore and make all the foals do it.” Rose said angrily.

“And because I wasn’t Elder yet before I left, I don’t even know how to read most of the stuff out here, I had to teach myself with stuff on my Pipbuck.” Rose said, looking down at it.

“One of my mares could teach you.” The Queen said, she sounded concerned.

“That’s fine, I know enough to not die.” Rose replied dismissively. She looked back up at The Queen, her face was full of concern.

“You should still know how to read, they can teach you some other important things, like how to pick locks.” The Queen replied.

“That’s fine, I’ll just kick the door till it opens or I find a key.” Rose said dismissively.

“You can't open a safe by kicking it.” The Queen replied.

“Eh whatever. Anyway, have anything else that needs done?” Rose asked.

“Well I do need someone to fetch something from an old building, it's some recordings of Sweetie Belle’s songs, there are a few we don’t have yet, one was a lullaby, there’s also a Flutteryshy version of it as well. The others are about the old war. I’ll give you two hundred caps for each recording. The Queen replied, leaning back in her seat.

“Oh hey, I have two of those on my pip!” Rose said excitedly.

“Oh, what ones?” The Queen asked, Leaning forward in her seat.

“The two lullabies, they help me sleep.” Rose said while scrolling through her Pipbuck.

“Alright, I’ll have one of my mares grab a couple blank tapes.” The Queen replied.

“It won't get rid of them off my Pipbuck right?” Rose asked worriedly.

“No no, don’t worry it won't get rid of them, just make a new version on the tapes.” The Queen said comfortingly, she waved over one of the Queens and had her fetch the tapes.

Rose pulled up the two audio recordings and waited. After a few minutes she came back with two bright orange tapes, she dropped them onto the table and went back to another table to sit down.

The Queen picked up one of the tapes and opened the Pipbuck’s tape slot, she took her leg and started doing something on it. After a bit she ejects the tape and inserts the second and does it again with the second recording.

“Alright perfect, Let’s go get you your caps, I don't have them on me, it’s in my room.” The Queen replied.

“Alright, want me to follow? Or wait here?” Rose asked with her head tilted.

“Go ahead and follow me.” She said before leaving the room, Rose quickly followed.

They went up a few stairs, eventually entering a large room with a large, red heart shaped bed. In the corner were some chairs with a table, a desk near it. The Queen went to the desk and opened one of the drawers with a key and started counting the caps, Rose saqt down on the giant heart bed and waited.

After a while of counting she put four small bags beside her on the bed. “There’s your four hundred caps. Also you’re welcome to call this place home whenever you need to, I'll let all my mares know you’re close to us, some of them will probably give you things for it.”

“So I have a bed here then and the Queens will see me as a friend right?” Rose asked.

“Yep, if any ever give you trouble after this i’ll sort them out.” The Queen said, sitting down at the table.

Author's Note

Chapter art
https://derpibooru.org/images/3373028