Fallout Equestria: New Horizons

Episode 1: The Hoof

By Numbername

“The world is yours”_NAS

The winds of the Wasteland blew harshly over the broken remnants of civilization, 200-year-old ruins sat quietly after the world was consumed in balefire, but now they became the battleground for the wars of the new age.

Fire and smoke filled the bare landscape of the badlands as two small armies clashed. One the tribes of the Hoof, various warrior ponies and creatures of different creeds united to defend their home from the scum of the Wasteland, a horde of Raiders. Violent tribes born of the Wastes who used their strength to crush all who opposed them.

Both sides fought with a brutality not seen since the world ended. suicide raiders rushed gun lines with bombs strapped around them, sacrificing themselves so their allies could advance. Warriors tore raiders limb from limb with ease when the raiders got into the ruins they used as cover. Griffin mercenaries from both sides flew through the sky like birds of prey, picking targets off while shooting or clawing at each other. Raiders road motorcycles and carriages repurpose for battle around the defenses of the warriors, taking shots wherever they saw an opening.

It was a bloody stalemate that had continued for days with no end in sight. It seemed like both sides would bleed each other dry rather than bend the knee.

That was until they came.

A flash appeared over the battlefield freezing the combatants in their tracks. As the light dimmed and died standing in the middle of the battlefield, enclosed in a magical field was three mares. A light blue Alicorn wearing a black dress, a striped mare encased in dense spiked armor, and a two-leg cybermare sitting atop a motorcycle looking at the world behind a biker helmet.

“Rampage break center, Lacunae take the skies.” The bike’s engine roared to life as the Cybermare gave her last command. “Cleanse this scum.” With that the Cybermare sped out of the field towards the pack of motorcycles and carriages, the Alicorn took to the skies, and the striped mare rushed to the mass of the raiders lines.

The raiders fired upon the stampeding striped mare, their bullets harmlessly bouncing off her armor, the mare barely paying them any mind. Some of the raiders tried to flee in vain, but that was stopped when the striped mare leaped into the air with a grace that seemed wrong with the armor she wore, and landed in the middle of the raiders' lines, crushing a raider mare under her hooves. They were on her in seconds, but this didn’t worry the striped mare. With speed and finesse, she slash and crushed all those who dared approach her. Some caught wise and tried to break into smaller groups to shoot her, some tried throwing explosives. None of this would save them as she became a hurricane of death, charging through her would-be attackers like a knife through butter. With ease she smashed raider faces or chests in, her hoof claws easily slashed through straps of metal they called armor, and her bucks sent raiders flying in pieces.

The skies above were a similar yet more graceful scene. The Alicorn encased herself in a magical bubble as she battled the griffins in the skies. Griffins working for the raiders almost ignored their rival brothers, focusing all their fire on the new threat they saw. But their bullets were ineffective against her shield as they were on the stripe mare’s armor. Two 10mm pistols floated beside her, every shot she made being a perfect hit to the head. Any Griffin that closed the distance between them and her was met with a bolt of lightning that sent them falling to the ground. Her flyer allies became little more than support as she hunted her foes like a predator.

The Cybermare drove through the battlefield like a grim reaper. Picking off raiders on their bikes with her 12.7mm pistol in one talon, and a .45 caliber revolver in the other, her bike seemingly driving itself. Some tried to fight back, spraying bullets at the cyber monster but she moved as if she predicted them. Like the Alicorn above every shot was a kill, no raider made it near her before being dropped. When she attacked the large battle-carriages she would slide under them, slapping a circular device to their bellies in an instant, a few minutes after that they would explode.

The bloody stalemate that seemed endless was turned around within a few minutes. The Raiders began being pushed back further and further by just three mares. The Warriors of the Hoof seeing their chance, pushed the attack, rushing from their defenses now the attackers. They showed the raiders the fate of those who threaten the Hoof as every raider and merc was cut down to the last mare.

Within an hour, the battle was over, the warriors stood above the dead of their former foes, cheering and celebrating their big victory. Many took pieces of their enemy as trophies, proof of their valor.

From a ledge overlooking the battlefield, the three mares stood watching their comrades joy. “Goddesses was that a workload.” The Cybermare cleaned her guns while sitting on her bike, a happy yet tired expression written on her face. “These big jobs are a pain in the flank. I love defending ponies but fighting dozens of raiders is lots of work.” She looked to her two friends who seemed to be less fatigued than her, which made her jealous. “Say what’s for lunch?”

“Well, I was hoping we could stop at the Society to get some fine dining in.” The Alicorn added. “Victories like this require such rewards.”

The striped mare nayed at that. “Yeah, and when you get that thousand cap bill for some high-class pretentious ass food will that make up for it?” The Alicorn chuckled at that, not finding her friend’s mocking in bad faith at all. “I’ll make our food, no need to waste a cap.”

“I say whoever got the most kills gets to decide.” The Cybermare pointed a claw out to the battlefield. “Considering we know who fought where it shouldn’t be that hard to round up a total.”

The striped mare stomped her hoof in agreement, jumping off the ledge and galloping off to the raider's former lines. The Cybermare followed suit with her bike, driving to the graveyard of former riders. The Alicorn just shook her head. “Oh, how Equestria has changed. From the land of Friendship and unity to one where even the good ponies find joy in death. But the will of the Elements brings changes like that.” With that, she spread her wings and took to the air to join her friends

The Demon Mares.

Lunch break is that special heavenly time of day for workers to forget their labor and enjoy some food made with care. And for the Demon Mares, it was the best time of the day.

Blackjack and Lacunae sat around a table in the VIP dining room, the former biting into a metal-filled cake while the latter picked away at carrots and greens. Rampage was in the kitchen, using various stoves that once hosted multi-talented chefs to cook meals only the Demon Mares really could enjoy.

The dining room itself was once a party room for Equestria’s high society, various business types and government officials would meet here to socialize or make deals. Now it was simply a place for the girls to relax.

“Oh my, how my old bones need this after a long morning.” Lacunae bit into a carrot with all the joy in the world.

“Lacunae you don’t age.” Blackjack interjected

“This Wasteland makes me feel like I aged 20 years every time I step outside the door! Raiders, slavers, other mutants, my Sisters, the ignorance of Wastelanders make the last 40 years of my life feel like 500. But it’s all worth being around Arloste's cooking.” Lacunae took the last bite of her meal before magically lifting the plate for another round. “Another head chef.”

“Coming up!” The Zony shouted from the kitchen.

While the Alicorn waited, a certain thing she said got caught in Blackjack’s mind. Mostly about the world outside. “Say Lacunae.” The Alicorn’s cat-like eyes turned to her student with a questioning gaze. “Do you think we’re making a difference?”

That was a difficult question to answer, the Wasteland had no end to threats for them to fight. endless hordes of gangs or raider tribes dotted the world, the mutated beasts that roamed the land, the endless warring between factions that put them up against even good ponies could drain the soul. “Like yeah we helped the Hoof retake some lost land from those Highlander bastards, but it seems for every problem we stop another comes up. Are we actually changing things? We beat Dawn and her cult, yet we aren’t making sweeping changes across the Hoof.” Blackjack was now just playing with her food as she was lost in thought.

Lacunae could only give an answer that was borne of centuries of wisdom and pondering. “Yes and no.” That just confused the Cybermare who was expecting a more definite answer. “The scars of the great war run deep Blackjack. For two centuries the Elements of chaos, conflict, and death have ruled the land unopposed. The only way to fix the world is to either fix it slowly but surely as we have or.” Lacunae leaned in to make sure Blackjack was listening. “We become no better than Dawn and we try to force the Elements of Harmony, life, and order onto the Wasteland as conquerors.”

That made Blackjack's stomach tighten up a bit, being compared in any way like Dawn made her almost snare in anger. “No, I don’t.” She replied harshly.

“Then we must keep building the world up slowly through our efforts. Only by helping others help themselves can we truly bring back the old Equestria.” Rampage trotted up with a cart full of meals, Lacunae floating a few plates to her side. “We use our power to guide, not to rule.”

“Yeah Jack, as a milf I spank the badness of the Wasteland I don’t add to it.” Rampage took a seat between her old friend and new one. Biting like a shark into a plate of prime cooked burgers. “Besides, we got time to change the world. Ain’t no big threats to fight yet, Dawn and her harbingers are gone, Lacunae’s mutant mom isn’t bothering us. We got time to take it slow.”

Blackjack sighed as she tried to turn her mind back to eating. “Well, maybe we could do more, help out in smaller jobs to improve life for ponies.”

“If that’s what you want then do I have the best job for you.” Charity trotted into the dining room dress in her custom made business suit, the yellow filly looking tired from endless business deals. “I have a bunch of runs to make around the Hoof this evening. My sister's towns, the Reapers, and the Society. While I’m busy I want you to take jobs from the locals, helping them out brings in some money, and most importantly boosts our image.” She took the last seat at the table making it a complete set, pointing to a plate of treats that Rampage passed her.

“See it as a bunch of side quests.”

Megamart, one of four centers of trade in the Hoof run by the daughters of Finders Keepers. Founded around an old Mart, traders made their home in tents either in the surrounding area or in the building itself, selling wares from around the Wasteland and beyond.

Blackjack wandered from tent to tent, talking with some of the vendors she knew or buying from others. She and her friends had split up with Charity talking to her sister about business, Rampage shopping, and Lacunae searching for work with Blackjack. As the Cybermare traveled alongside her teacher she couldn’t ignore the strange looks she was getting from some ponies. It wasn’t unusual to get a stare here or there, but she hoped ponies would have gotten used to her by now.

“There are a lot of onlookers today huh?” Some seemed to trot away the minute the pair passed by them, while others pretended to go about their business. Blackjack had long stopped caring about it but still, this much discommunication can still bother any pony.

“Hm?” Lacunae paid the gazes of the ponies little mind, for her decades of eyes filled with fear or wonder simply grew numb after a while. “Oh them? Megamart has seen quite a lot of outside traffic recently. Apparently, our cleaning the raiders out along the roads has made travel to the Hoof a lot easier.”

The Cybermare started to see it, the look of the ponies in the market today looked different than the regular Hoofington pony. They wore different outfits, some looked dirtier than others, some were the opposite. Some bore symbols of a faction they were from, their home, or beliefs. The Cybermare quickly understood why she was getting looks.

“All these ponies are here because of us?”

Lacunae saw this as the perfect time to teach her student a lesson. “Yes, see Blackjack to influence the world positively you can not force it. You must change things on a smaller scale to push the world forward. Remember we guide, not conquer.”

The Cybermare simply nodded to that as the two came upon a wall that used to be part of a bus. Flyers for various job offerings were posted everywhere. Everything from repair work to straight assassination jobs was here. It almost made Blackjack a little nostalgic for her old days in the Wasteland when she was a ‘soft hooves’ as the locals called it.

“So we need a job that helps out in a small yet impactful way.” The Cybermare scanned the flyers like a hawk, rolling her eyes at requests like ‘kill ten of this or bring me this.’ “Nothing seems impactful here though.”

“Actually, there is.” Lacunae’s horn lit up as a piece of paper was ripped from the wall, floating it over to Blackjack; the Alicorn seemed overjoyed at what she found. “This is the perfect job for you Blackjack.”

The Cybermare didn’t get it. It was just a job to clear out bugs a few miles away. “I think that’s a little beneath us Lacunae.”

The alicorn nayed, rolling up the paper and giving her student a joyous look. “This is more than just cleaning out bugs, Blackjack.” She leaned in close with a wicked smile that made Blackjack’s heart sink. “It’s training.”

Radbeetles were one of the many 'beautiful' creations of the Wasteland. Mutated by the mother of all mutations in the Wasteland, Taint, these once cute little creatures were now the size of a full-grown pony. Some were harmless, others were monsters from your worst nightmare. The ones Blackjack and Lacunae had to deal with were definitely the latter.

The pair stood on a hill overlooking a river where the bugs called home. There was a bridge crossing but the mutants had colonized the underside as their home with a lot of them swarming the place. They looked ugly like a fusion of a bee and a violent dog. Blackjack wondered why they hadn’t been cleared out, now she understood, it would take a team of ponies with flame throwers to burn these things away.

“So you want to just clear them out? With magic?” When Lacunae said this would be perfect training she hoped that meant target practice, not this. “Lacunae, I can’t do this!” Blackjack pointed a talon at the bridge the bugs were nested under. “Even before I lost my horn I wasn’t good with this stuff. What do you want me to do? teleport them away?”

Lacunae gave her student a sage-like smile. “No, I want you to speak to them, ask them to leave.”

“What?! How?”

“Connect to the Elements Blackjack. Listen to how they move throughout the world and use it to connect to the creatures.” Lacunae made it sound so simple, yet for Blackjack, it was like being told rocket science. “Do what I have taught you. Clear your mind and simply listen. Now go to them.”

“Sometimes Luu Luu your worst than my old teacher.” Blackjack gave her a loud sigh before walking down the hillside, closing her eyes she slowly approached the river bank. A few of the beetles notice her but kept away from the Cybermare, sizing her up as a threat. “This is a bad idea, I’m leaving myself open.”

quiet, listen to the Elements. Put all your thoughts aside, focus on the flow of the world. Words echoed through Blackjack’s head as a voice carried in the wind. She tried to center herself, tried to focus, but as she heard the rustling of the bugs below, fear started to creep into her mind. Calm yourself, these creatures are not hostile unless you provoke them.

“This is stupid. I can see more of them crawling towards me in my EFS Lacunae. All it takes is one getting angry.” Blackjack was gripping her two pistols nervously, ready to draw at the slightest sound. “I could just pick them off, I don’t have to go through all of this.”

Without this training Blackjack, you will never regain your magic.

“I don’t need it anymore, I have these upgrades now. I’m more deadlier now than ever. I could kill these things easily.” The Cybermare’s boasts were more ego than reality.

Your upgrades are a tool but not your true power, let go of your fear of these creatures and connect to them.

As the sounds of bugs built up, Blackjack’s hold on her guns grew tighter and tighter. “I can’t do this.” The sounds of the bugs got louder and louder until it sounded like a swarm was approaching. “They're going to attack me.” It sounded like an ocean of moving creatures were on her. “I’m gonna die!”

She opened her eyes ready to fire at the first beetle she saw only to see none of them were near her. They were all moving down the river as if something was telling them to. Turning around, Blackjack was shocked to see Lacunae standing right next to her, the Alicorn’s eyes closed as she focused on her task.

When the last beetle was out of sight, the Alicorn just looked down at her student. She was disappointed but understanding of her failure. “I think this test was too much for your level.”

Blackjack felt a little ashamed but played it down. “You think? Next time let’s practice on like a cat or something.” Blackjack looked down the river where the bugs went before turning back to her teacher with a burning question. “Lacunae, why did you take this job?” Blackjack rarely questioned Lacunae’s methods, they usually worked, but this time it seemed nonsensical at best.

“To teach you how the Elements shape our world and how you can listen to them. Those bugs were changing the environment around here by nesting on this river, preventing any other creature from coming here. By Clearing them out you allow the movement of various life around the area. Travelers can now come and go, other animals can live here too. Slowly but surely you changed the flow of the Elements in the Wasteland by doing this, but I wanted you to do this without force but by connecting to them. Force is good sure, but guiding is better.”

The Alicorn turned to leave, giving her student much to maul over as she followed. “Now come, I’m sure Charity is done talking to her sister."

Blackjack took one look down the river again before muttering. “Yeah, maybe you got a point.”

Steel met Steel as ponies fought in the ring, divided up into sections by barbed wire fences, every pony and creature had their own single opponent. Fighting each other with whatever they crafted for themselves the warriors of the arena fought with vicious valor that few could match. Crowds of the warriors' tribes cheering them on from the stands that surrounded the ring. This was the home where ponies became the best of the best, a Reaper. An Order of warriors made up of the best the Hoof has to offer, pitted against one another to rise up the rank of the 100th deadliest Reapers.

And sitting in the stands cheering them all on was the number 2. “Hell to yeah baby! Come on Shining Blade, show them what you're made of!” Rampage stomped her hooves and shouted at everyone and no one at the same time with the excitement of a mother at the big game. “Dropkick them Iron Claw. I know you can do it!” She pointed to a griffin with an eye patch who flew out of the way of a rushing stallion, then doing a dive bomb dropkick. “I knew you could do it!”

The griffin smiled at her and waved as his name was announced over the intercom. “And Iron Claw advances to rank 45!” A large flock of rough looking griffins in combat armor clapped and whistled for their comrades' success. He waved at them before turning to Rampage’s stand and giving her a thumbs up.

“You did it baby! You earned that rank!” Rampage stomped hard enough to crack the bench under her forcing Lacunae to jump a bit.

“My Arslote, you sure are a proud mother.”

“Gotta be Luu Luu, my babies need to know that I’m cheering them on! Good Shit Shining!” She yelled as the orange mare knocked out her opponent with a spin kick. “God I love the Arena. We picked a good day to come, I get to see my little Reapers grow, and a free show.” She said after taking a bite of cooked gecko meat. “Food’s been getting better too since trade opened up."

Lacunae couldn’t help but smile at her friend's joy. It was rare to find a pony who still enjoyed life to the fullest the way Arloste did, though that could because the mare simply couldn’t die, nevertheless, the mare often displayed a joy for the world around without the ruggedness of most Wastelanders. Sometimes when Lacunae looked at her it was like seeing a picture of what Equestria used to be.

As a loud horn blasted over the stadium the combatants' ceased fighting, turning their heads to a magical ledger board above the ring, each fighter eagerly waited for their rank to change. “Shining Blade is moved up to 60, Death Grip is down to 71, Iron Claw is up 45, The metal Hoof is down 75!” The announcer kept reading names as ponies either celebrated or took their defeat in stride.

“Wow, what a tryout! Glad we got to make this pit stop today.” The zony took one last bite of her gecko meat before hopping off and proceeding down rapidly emptying benches. “Come on Luu Luu. I need to tell these kids how great they did!”

Lacunae shrugged and followed her, a thought passed through the Alicorn’s mind as they descended to the floors below. One she always had when she looked at the striped mare. You really are your mother Arloste.

The former sports dome turned arena had become home to several thousand ponies and creatures that lived around the stadium in a makeshift city. Homes built out of whatever good building material the inhabitants could find was stacked on top of each other like a strange city of highrise ruins connected to one another with wooden bridges.
Most of the ponies who wandered around here weren’t your regular Wastelanders, they were gang members, tribals, pirates, freebooters, mercenaries, raiders, and warriors all seeking to improve their worth in the arena. They were born of the harsh reality of this era but even they found a loving embrace in the form of their greatest member, Arloste.

Sitting on the steps of the stadium the zony was surrounded by a crowd of people who loved her. Ponies, Griffins, and Sand Dogs all gathered around as she heaped endless praise on the winners of the tournament and encouragement on the losers. “You did good Shining, those martial arts lessons I gave ya have been helping you well. I’m so proud of you!”

The orange mare in leather armor blushed a little at the praise only a mother could give. “Thank you, Miss Arloste.”

Rampage turned her head to the griffin who seemed to sink back at the praise coming his way. “And you Iron Claw, your dodge game has gone pro. Them air game lessons I’ve given ya is paying off.”

“Thank you, Miss Arloste.” The bulky griffin's tone carried a hint of embarrassment that only a loving parent could bring.

“And you Sarp Tail, your blocks are good but you need to learn to parry son.” She spoke to a large stallion beside her.

The stallion that was big enough to crush a pony under his hooves grumble like a child. “It’s unfair Miss Arloste. I’m no good at dodging or parrying.”

"It’s okay big boy.” She trotted over and hugged the giant, lifting him off the ground a bit much to the giant’s welcoming. “I’ll cut some time from work to give you and a lot of the Reapers training sessions.” She put him down and looked over the crowd of Reapers. “I’m so proud of all of you. When I see how far you’ve come and how far you will go it makes me cry a bit.” Rampage fought back a few tears as she gazed at a generation of Reapers she had watched and even raised.

Lacunae stood at the top of the steps, looking over her friend in the center of the crowd. Always looking at everybody as though they were your kids. I guess age does that. Even when you lost your own you never stop caring for others, you are a great mare Arloste. Lacunae's thoughts fell to Blackjack, and how she should give that lost love to her.

Those thoughts were interrupted by a voice that cut through Rampage’s praises and the crowds muttering. “Shuuja Arloste!” The crowd turned their heads to see a herd of Zebras standing at the bottom of the steps. They all wore thick leather armor over a gambeson coat, their appeal was colored a bright red with Zebra stripes painted on. Face cloths and helmets hid their features but one didn’t need to tell that largest in the front was their leader.

“Are you the one they call Rampage?” The leader asked, stepping forward.

Rampage just shrugged and answered. “Yeah, what ya want?”

The leader marched forwards as the crowd of Reapers moved apart to let him pass, not out of fear of him but of the interest of what Rampage would do with him. When he was inches away from her the Zebra looked her over like a hawk watching its prey. “So this is the legend I heard about? I traveled all the way from the Homelands just to see some Zony?” He looked down to his subordinates for confirmation, to which they nodded.

At the mention of the Zebra homelands Rampage let out a sigh. “You need something, buddy? I kind of got things to do today.” Rampage wasn’t in the mood for the usual racial mistreatment she got from a homelands Zebra. Last encounter she had nearly ended in the Zony bucking a fool’s stripes off.

The leader laughed to which Rampage rolled her eyes. “I heard many stories of the rampaging red zony of the Curse City, that she's told to be the strongest Zebra in the world! But now that I lay eyes on her I can see that may have been a lie.” He continued to laugh as the Reapers around him began to get angrier but he paid them no mind.

“Yeah, yeah, how could a stupid half breed be the strongest Zebra, blah, blah, blah. Listen buddy are you here to fight or something? Like what do you want cuz I’m like leaving here in like an hour maybe.” She said with the most uncaring tone she could muster.

The leader gave a grunt before stomping his hoof and pointing threateningly at the Zony. “I cucerire of the Blood legion have traveled far to challenge the Red Menace that killed our leader and shamed us at the battle of FreeTown! I wish to battle you in single combat!” He stomped his hoof so hard it sent a path of cracks down the stone steps.

Rampage looked at him for a minute before answering. “No.”

“What do you mean no?

“No. Mother fucker you heard me! Listen, I ain’t wasting my time fighting you! First of all, I don’t do random challenges anymore, maybe if you came 40 years earlier I would have, but now? fighting people to prove how tough I am is beneath me. I only fight for sports and a job now. Plus.” The zony looked at the very tough as nails Zebra over before shaking her head. “Kid, your out of your league.”

“You dare mock me, coward!” The leader started taking a battle stance while muttering something in Zebra.

Rampage just rolled her eyes at the leader’s attempt to be threatening. Turning away from her, she gestured for the crowd to move as she made her way up to her old Alicorn friend. “Okay Luu Luu, that’s it for today let’s go.”

The leader who was positively fuming at this shouted a battlecry to the heavens. With speed that seemed impossible for a Zebra of his size he galloped up the stairs with the force of an entire Stampede. No Reaper dared stop him, his herd looked on in awe at their greatest warrior, Rampage barely paid him little mind as she talked with Lacunae. When he was just a few steps away he leaped into the air, did a roll, and brought his hindlegs down to deliver a kick that could shatter a pony in one hit.

Rampage grabbed him with her tail before he connected, smashed him into the steps, then threw him into the air. And with one spinning buck sent him flying, over the reapers, over his herd, and onto a pillar at the bottom of the staircase.

All watched the leader fall limp as Rampage turned to her friend. “So anyway Luu Luu did you enjoy the show today?”

Lacunae just shrugged. “It was nice, a little lackluster in finses, but I guess more display of one’s strength what creatures of today like to do.”

“What can I say, everybody, is a show-off these days.” The pair started walking into the building as the crowd left and the Zebras gathered their fallen leader, trying to find a medical assistant fast. “Come on, let's see if Charity is done yet. I want to get to Flank fast to have one of your specialty drinks.”

Flank was paradise in the Wastes. Well, paradise if you liked drugs, liquor, and enough sex to make your junk fall off. The town was created in the former suburbs of Sunnyville. When the end came the inhabitants took shelter in an underground bunker, a Stable. There the ponies came upon labs made for the creation of chemicals and drugs. When the ponies emerged half a century later they became one of the biggest sellers of drugs and drinks in the Hoofington region. However, times got rough as other drug businesses rose up around the Hoof and eventually the ponies had to sell their town over to one of Finders Keepers Daughters, Caprice.

With her talents she expanded the town out of drug sales, turning the town into a haven for pleasure of all types: gambling, prostitution, sporting events, along with drug dens and bars on every corner. Ponies and creatures across the east flock to Flank in drones to get a taste of the town’s joys.

And Charity saw all of her sister’s success pasted on the wall. Pictures of high-class sex workers, stockpiles of drugs, hell the employee of the month was a pony who filmed three pornos. Charity sat waiting in a lone chair, which she wondered was used for something unclean. The filly often wondered how her sister got any work done in there, the room smelled of musk, she guessed the room used to be a storage room by how crept it was.

“With the money she makes you'd think she would get a better office.” Charity grumbled.

Finally, the door hissed open, and in walked the beautiful sight of a peach colored mare with a fine light purple mane. Outside the coat and mane differences, she almost looked like a clone of Charity but older, however, she didn’t carry herself with the same air of professionalism that Charity had. wearing no business of any kind, instead of dressing in an outfit more fitting for a sex worker than a boss.

“Sorry, I’m late. Just needed to take care of some ‘personal’ business.” Caprice purred as she circled the desk and took her seat.

Charity grunted in frustration but kept her more angry thoughts to herself. “Sis, I’m on a tight schedule today. I don’t have time to wait for your fun time to end.” The filly’s horn lit up and a file floated out of her suit. “You wanted to do business with me so please act like a proper Finder.”

“All right you sweet pea.” Caprice couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s seriousness. They were a decade apart from each other in age, yet the idea this filly wanted to be treated as an adult just seemed absurd to Caprice. “Let’s get down to business.”

“So you want to become a partner of Crusader.INC. I’m willing to agree to the deal but only if you accept these terms.” Charity floated the file onto the desk which her sister took a read through. The terms were simple, don't be a raider or slaver operation, don’t work with any who do, give half of your profit to Crusader.INC, sell Crusade.INC products, and print the brand name on your things. Caprice almost chuckled at the way the file was presented, it was so formal, written in legal code Caprice barely understood. Most ponies in the Wasteland couldn’t read let alone type deep legal code, it made dealings easy, but when it came to her family they were all pure business.

“My, my you really have thought this out have you hon?” Caprice closed the folder, giving her sister a patient smile that just aggravated the filly. “Look at you all grow up Cheer Cheer.”

“Don’t call me that.” Charity hiss back.

“Calm down Sis, all I’m saying is that you’ve changed a lot since I last saw you. You use to be a little filly with big dreams, always talking to the brothel and dancer girls about being a big shot CEO one day. Now that you are one, look at you, business suit, got mares like Blackjack working for you, and you own the Core.” Caprice just looked at the ceiling as if lost in thought.

“Sis, what the fuck are you rambling about? I thought we were here to talk about business, not about me or what I’ve done.” Charity barked, losing a bit of composure. “If you wanted to have a family heart to heart then we can do it at the next Finder’s BBQ or Heart’s Warming.”

“It’s just I want to ask you why? Why all of this, why take over the Core? Why recruit Blackjack and her friends? Why start this huge business, probably the biggest business since the world ended, and keep your family at arm’s length hon? You're buying up contracts and trade all over the Hoof why?” Caprice’s expression turned from one of welcoming to pondering as she watched her little sister.

Charity thought about it, would she rather explain herself to her sister or force her to get back to business. But she guessed that this question was one that her entire family had for her, so why not answer it so that they all knew the true her.

“Simple, I wanted revenge for everything the Wasteland owes me, for what our Sister and her slavers did to Chapel and the Crusaders, for taking everything I built away from me, for making me run and hide. Now I’m the first CEO in the Wasteland since the world ended. I don’t have to play the cute filly to scan a few travelers into paying more for a bottle of water, I make the heads of powerful groups come to me. The Wasteland doesn’t take from me anymore, I take from it. Slowly but surely I’m buying up this sad landscape until I have businesses in every settlement from here to Los Pegasus. I want the Wasteland to pay back in full, and I'm going to rebuild it until the entire Wasteland is in debt to me.”

Caprice didn’t know how to respond to that answer. It was the answer of a filly who suffered yet rose up to become more than she ever was. she had an ego but who couldn’t when you had the Hoof eating off of your plate.

“I see.” Was the only response Caprice could give to an answer like that. “Well, maybe since your so determined I can help you along. I want this town to become owned by the Crusaders, not just a partner.”

“So your giving up your town?” Charity raised an eyebrow at that, no Finder ever gave up their place of business.

“I will work here as management I guess if you will allow it. To be honest, running the town has never been my strong suit.” Charity expected spending most of her time on her back was her strong suit. “However, I want you to do one thing for this town before I sell it.”

“What?"

“Clear the Sink Hole.”

Lacunae’s bar was probably the only establishment in Flank that wore a sense of class to it. No dirt, no grind, no smell of drugs, with an entire section cleared for smokers. The floors were a clear white, tables were neatly set up, no cracks or damage in any of the building's walls, and a balcony for VIP guests. The establishment enforced a dress code for entrance, making most of the patrons well dressed and kept.

Lacunae herself sat behind the bar in a butler outfit preparing drinks as Rampage and Blackjack played Paper score. “Block this!” Blackjack hit the piece of crushed up paper at her foe, only for Rampage to smack it away.

“Get that shit outta here Jack!” The paper flew over the cyber mare’s head before she could react.

Lacunae just chuckled as she brought their drinks. “That’s 3 points for Arloste.” Rampage did a victory pose as Blackjack grunted. “Now here’s one Blood and Sand, and one Rise and Shine.”

“Thanks, Lacunae.” They both shouted in unison, gulping down their drinks like monsters.

“Fuck that’s what I needed!” whiskey had become Blackjack’s drug ever since she set foot on the surface. When she first tasted it the drink awakened something in her.

“After all that fighting in the morning, a good Blood and Sand is what mama is calling for.” Rampage shook her glass in her hooves like a filly begging for more. “Luu Luu hit me again.”

“Coming right up.” The alicorn obliged her friends, pouring them a series of glasses to satisfy their needs. She didn’t mind though, she loved to serve, it was a part of her since childhood, since she took the path of a druid.

“Say Lacunae, have you ever thought about becoming the owner again?” Rampage asked while sipping on another Blood and Sand. “I mean you turned this place from a drug den into the most classy bar outside Los pegasus. It’s a fruit of your labor Luu Luu it should be yours.”

Lacunae nayed. “It is but that path is closed to me for now.” She grabbed a glass of wine in her magic, taking careful sips as she relaxed. “My life now is teaching Blackjack, working for Charity, and helping you protect the Hoof. This is how it is for now, and I accept that.”

Blackjack just stared at her, the Alicorn just was okay with this. Giving up her bar, being a Demon Mare, it was almost a defeatist mentality. “You take things in stride, Lacunae. Like, don’t you miss this place.”

The Alicorn shrugged as she took another sip of wine. “The world is a constantly changing entity, Blackjack. Under the flow of the Elements, life can give a quiet existence one moment or a chaotic one the next. Like a moving river, you can either go with the flow or fight against the tides. For followers of the Elements, you either accept the changes and adapt, trying to stay the same is a losing battle.”

Blackjack didn’t know if she agreed with that, she got stronger to fight against those that came to her and not accept or adapt to them. “I would try to fight against change like that as much as possible. No fate controls where I end up.”

“Power does not come from beating fate Blackjack, power comes from learning and adapting to it for survival. If you ever wish to master using the Elements you have to embrace this mindset.”

Before the conversation could continue a beeping sound blared from all three mares, Lacunae checked her pocket, Rampage her tail, Blackjack her foreleg, they all looked over devices with the same green text written as ‘Brat calling’. “Looks like the break just got cut short,” Blackjack grumbled.

The Sink Glow was the former ruins of a smaller town right outside Sunnyville. Unlike the other Megaspells this was detonated in an underground station causing the ground to sink in. The good news was all the radiation was only in the sinkhole, the bad news was this made salvager jobs into the deeper ruins as deadly as you could fall into a sinkhole and be killed by the radiation that leaguer in the ground.

The Demon Mares stood on the edge of the Glow, almost five miles long of ruins sinking into a sickly rainbow glowing hole. It would take a whole army of ponies to clear it, this was a job that could take years, except if you didn’t have Lacunae.

“Okay, so boss wants you to move a lot of buildings and rubble out of the hole so that salvagers can pick through them without dying.” There was a hint of worry in Blackjack’s voice as she read the orders. She’d seen Lacunae do great feats before, but this was another level. “Will you be alright, Lacunae?”

Lacunae just smirked at her as if that was a joke. “Oh Blackjack, this is nothing for me. It will take a minute, so if you want to return to the bar I made backup drinks for you and Arloste.”

“But Lacunae, this would take hundreds of unicorns to move! You might burn yourself out or worse!” Blackjack protested. She had seen what magical overload did to unicorns, sometimes you just lost your magic for a few days, other times forever, and in the worst cases, it could put you into a coma.

“Not when you can center yourself, watch and learn.” Before Blackjack could protest any further the Alicorn teleported away in a flash.

She reappeared high above the sinkhole, her wings spread far and wide as she stared down at the ruins. The Alicorn closed her eyes, listened, cleared her mind of everything, and heard the flow of the world. She felt all the Elements: Harmony, chaos, conflict, order, Death, life. She centered herself in all of them, not allowing one to rule her but to be between all of them, so moving with them was like sailing down a river. She was everything, she was nothing, she was dead, she was alive. She didn’t exist, she did exist.

Magic poured from her horn in a violent blue light shining across the sinkhole, her eyes were pure light that burned like the sun. Below her, the remains of buildings and rubble were encased in a blue magical field. The ground began to shake and crack as the sound of the earth moving could be felt for miles. Then the ruins rose once again. Lifted by magic that seemed impossible, the buildings floated into the air before being laid to rest around the hole. Lacunae pulled building after building out like it was as simple as pouring drinks. Blackjack watched in awe as it happened, was that what Lacunae meant by centering yourself, was this the power Lacunae wanted to teach her, would she get her magic back with it?

Charity and Caprice along with all the residents of Flank watched the display from the outskirts of town. The latter was dumbfounded and the former smiled ear to ear before fake coughing to get her sister’s attention. “Do you understand now sis? There’s nothing in this Wasteland me and my mares can’t stand up to. We’re going to be the biggest company in this damn world, and little by little we’re going to change it for the better. We’re the Demon Mares and nothing is going to stop us from reaching our goal. So will you join?”

The Demon Mares all trotted into the living room of the presidential suite with an audible sigh of relief. Lacunae and Rampage went to the couch to catch up on old reality TV, Charity went to her room to sleep, and Blackjack went to the kitchen. Inside was a gray pegasus working over the many stoves, cooking a meal perfectly for her. Her bright purple mane swung as she moved.

“Ho honey what’s for dinner!” The Cybermare shouted, making the pegasus flutter into the air.

“Blackjack dear, don’t scare me like that!” The Pegasus wanted to throw dinner at her lover as she was taking a seat. “Just coming in and saying hello is fine.”

“But then I wouldn’t get to see how cute you get when you flutter.” Blackjack snarked back.

“For that, you're getting nothing tonight.” Glory huffed.

The Cybermare shrugged at the punishment, messing a day or two of sex was worth it seeing her get angrier was cute. Glory laid a plate of what most ponies would call burned cake with lead in it, Blackjack called a five star treat. Glory’s plate on the other hoof was just steamed carrots.

“Seeing those lessons with Rampage helped you a lot Glory.” When Blackjack took a bite into the round disk of overly baked bread it sounded like wood tearing apart. “This is good!”

“Yeah Arloste’s been a big help, never thought cooking would be this fun!” As the Pegasus watched her wife chew down on the hardened bread disk shaped treat, she had only one question for her. “So how was your day?”

Blackjack stopped mid bite before pondering that. “Well, it was a long day of side trips. Boring things like fighting raiders and all, but.” The Cybermare thought of Lacunae’s words from the morning. “I think we’re making a change, not quickly but little by little, we’re helping ponies get better. Sure it’s slow but you can’t force change or you become another monster in the Wastes, you have to go with the flow and change the world steadily.”

“Wow Blackjack that sounds very wise coming from you.”

Blackjack just leaned back on her chair and her body fully relaxed for the first time that day. “Nope, I just got a good teacher.”

FIN-------------------