Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Fifty Four

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I found myself sitting at a larg and long table made of the darkest wood I had ever seen, black as wood could be while being entirely natural. Its edges were decorated with the dark black iron, forming images of snakes, dogs, and ponies, along with other creatures. Strangely 8 felt drawn to it, I couldn't help but touch it, feel its cold and smooth surface. This led me to look further up, and see a polished to a shine silver bowl, in which held fresh fruit that I had never seen outside of a book, if ever, making my mouth water at the sight of it.

"Best if you don't even think about it, the food grown here is only for those who belong here. To eat it is to declare yourself a resident, and never again can you go home." Spoke Hades. The proclaimed god, dressed in a brilliant looking black robe, which looked to have gold and silver sewn into it.

He then tilted his head to the side, where I looked and saw two withered stallions in tattered toga sitting in iron chairs. Horrifyingly they were still alive, but bound to the chairs themselves, the iron that wrapped around them looking like snakes that grew out of the chairs, and digging into their flesh. "I can tolerate much, far more than my younger brothers ever could, but fools who think they can take what is not theirs I neither have the patience nor mercy for."

The god sighed as he looked back at me. "Not to say you are guilty of such things, but best be warned from making easily avoided mistakes."

"Wh… why am I here?" I asked as I sat up straight.

"Deus Ex Machina" he said and I tilted my head. "Divine intervention, as in I decided to intervene, and make it easier for the doctors to keep you from dying. But you only get one, and only because it would make my wife upset if you were to die right now. Not to mention that it was her boon that saved you in the first place."

I lifted my hoof, seeing that though I was naked, I still had the Grizzly Gauntlets on. "These?"

Hades nodded. "Gifts from the gods are not so easily destroyed, though the ponies who wield them are… not as invulnerable."

"I… see. Is everypony else alright, did they make it?" I then asked.

"Most, but not all." Hades said solemnly. "Valhalla will see a few more honorable warriors in their hall, and more will see their families in Elysium. I'll also see to it that more of the wicked face punishment… but regrettably, Strife also has her claim of souls in which I cannot claim."

I remember the griffins who died, and being surrounded by ash in the cloud wagon. How many did Flyright kill? Did she even care?

"For ponies like her, they only care when it involves something close to them. No empathy for strangers, but for their pet dog, all the love in the world. It's a pitiful way to live, to simply ignore the wrong one dose because it was done to some who they think doesn't matter. It reminds me too much of my brothers and sisters." He said, as though reading my mind… Oh wait, he could read my mind.

I let out a sigh myself, feeling even less sure of myself. "So you have family too, where are they?"

"No longer here. As it turns out, the gods were far more fragile than their creations." He said with a sad tone.

"Oh, sorry for bringing up sad memories." I said apologetically.

Hades waved his hoof dismissively. "No need, I had forever and a day to come to terms with their ends. Truthfully, they brought it upon themselves, and I fear for this world if they were to ever return. They for one, would only add to the strife in which enthralls this world. In fact the pony I miss most is Celestia, the poor fool stumbled in the end, but only because she cared too much, and still suffers for it."

I lowered my head giving a little prayer. "Oh Celestia, please find peace."

Looking back up at the bicorn god, there was only one thing to say now, to ask. "So, what happens next?"

"Same as always, Lottery, a new day will start, and you choose how to live it." He told me.

"I know that, but-" a cold wind blew past me, sending a chill up my spine.

"What are you supposed to do next is what you meant to ask?" Hades corrected me, and I nodded. "That is up to you, not me. As are all things, for I am not the god of fate, or even of you mortals. Though in the end all will be mine, be it if I will it so or not. But if you want direction, I can give it, for I did bring your soul here on my own whims."

Hades then tapped the table and sand of black iron formed into figurines of my friends and I appeared on the table. They moved around as though alive, with the one of me laying on the table, motionlessly. "Your struggling is not yet at an end, that is to be sure, for your opportunity to simply leave had long closed. Not that I expected you to run, you're too stubborn and caring to quit now. But you do have several choices to make, each one will have consequences for you and others."

With a wave of his cloven hoof, the scene of figurines changed. Now Molo and I stood together behind a door, her foals on the other side. "A broken family is not so easily fixed through words, as a poisoned pony is cured by simply rubbing their leg. Caution is required, for even the strongest of steel can shatter like glass if incorrectly cared for."

Again the scene changed and now Cold and I stood next to a slumped over Plasma, the mare looking in bad shape. "When a friend is lost, how you help matters just as much as how you help them. Too strong and they run away, too week and they drift away"

The next scene I saw Matrix, Grizzly, and Rattlebones, all with their backs to each other. "The past has deep scars, but who you turn to to heal them decides the fate of an innocent filly."

Several ponies I didn't recognize then appeared in front of my figurine, all holding weapons. "Taking the initiative is fine, as the wicked must be punished, but hasty actions may lead to dire consequences." Further away was another pony, one that looked like Bandsaw. "Never forget that eyes are on you, always."

"And lastly '' Hades said, showing me in front of Doctor Helga. "The future is yours to choose, and it matters most that you choose it yourself, but do mind the advice of others." The figure of Helga, switching quickly from one of my friends to the next, all looking like they were telling me something.

Some of that I didn't get, and others I had a good Idea. Then it all disappeared, the figurines turning to iron sand and flew away. Hades then continued, "I'm, as I've said, am no god of fate, so my vision is murky at best, but even I can see the suffering that may yet come to you. And you will be at its center, either suffering, or placing the ones you care about in your place."

"I would never!" I protested.

"And I didn't say you would, not intentionally." Hades told me calmly. "But as time grows short, your enemies will become more vicious and cruel." The iron sand returned, and formed an image of a pony I knew and hated, Grinder. He stood over a mare, dick out and grinning wide. "It may yet be avoided, but I fear that your success is reliant on this coming to pass, though who suffers this fate is not yet known."

I glared at the image as hatred and fear mixed. "But why must it be?" I asked.

The image vanished and Hades sighed. "For Strife wills it so. And so it will come to pass, or at least it must to avoid an even worse fate."

"Then what must I do?" Further asked.

"Be decisive, but not foolish, cunning but not cruel. When you have come to make a choice, understand that a heavy burden comes with it and though you may regret making it, do not let that regret dominate you." Hades told me.

He then smiled, tapping on the table, which made a deafening knocking sound. "And one more thing, trust in my wife's boon, for those gauntlets are more than a tool or weapon. For they are touched by the Goddess of life and death. Not of just you mortals, but the gods as well."

Everything began to fade as I lost the strength to move, and as things went dark, Hades said one more thing. "I wish you luck, Lottery, and that the next time we meet, I pray that my loving wife smiles on you."

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Again I stirred awake on a stiff bed, the smell of medicine and sanitation chemicals assaulting my nose. Strangely I could feel nothing, I felt utterly numb.

Getting up was a struggle and so was opening my eyes, but I managed to do it and I found myself inside a large tent with a lot of other ponies on cots. The other ponies were bandaged up, some looking worse than others, with a few missing limbs. I myself found all four of my legs bandaged up, and soaked in some sort of fluid. Reaching out to feel it, though numb, the touch still sent a cold sensation up the leg.

"I wouldn't mess with that." Doctor Helga said as she trotted into view. The older griffin hen looked very tired as she stood there with her lab coat covered in blood splatter. "The stuff your legs are soaking in is very flammable and is quickly becoming scarce."

Remembering the fight on the cloud wagon, along with the pain in my legs, I physically shivered. "H… how bad is it?"

"You'll survive, and you should be able to trot out of here soon. But that's where the good news ends. I'll fill you in on the bad news once you're ready to go. Until then, I'll call your friends, so they can stop pacing around and making every creature nervous. "

The Doctor then trotted away to the exit of the tent, and stepped out. A moment later, Molotov burst in and rushed to me.

"Hay Molo!" I said to her, trying to raise my hoof, but found it hard to even move more than a hoof length.

"You!" Molo said before giving me a tight hug. "You had us all so worried! I thought you were going to die!"

"I thought I lost you when Flyright threw you out of the wagon!" I said back to her.

She eased up on the hug at that comment. "Y… ya, I thought I was dead too. Falling with enough time to regret everything I have done. Only to be snatched right out of the air."

"Pure luck on my part." Hans said as he trotted in, sporting an eyepatch. "Was flying low, trying to catch up with your cloud wagon. Saw that bitch attack you and dubled timed it." From his back he pulled out my IF-64 rifle, and placed it next to my cot. "This bitch hit me in the face, and then soon after I saw Molo get thrown out. Grabbed her and flew as hard as I could to the cloud wagon."

"Scared the shit out of me." Molo added.

"I owe you a ton." I told Hans.

But he shook his head. "No. I was just doing what I was paid to do. Anyways, I should have never had you use the turrets without a bigger gun." He then pulled out his own rifle, bulky gun with a carrying handle. "I thought you still had your .308 rifle, Should have given you my Griffinstone Service Rifle for the defense."

"Griffinstone?" I asked.

Hans smiled a little. "My ancestral homeland. Some of us Talons make our trip there to remember where we came from." He then patted his rifle, "This rifle was used by the Griffinstone Honor guard, and is strong enough to at least knock a power armored pony back. Anyways, enough history, I'm glad to see that you made it through, even if you were extra crispy."

"Oh, Lottery!" Mint shouted as she entered, with Aloe and Basil behind her. All three ghoul nurses looked like they've been working hard for days. "Just after you recovered, you had to go and get hurt again."

I tried to wave my hoof dismissively, but it was just too stiff to do it. "Well, It could have been worse."

Mint frowned. "Damn straight. You almost lost all four legs permanently!

"Permanently?" I asked.

Mint then nodded. "They were cooked to the bone, unrecoverable, and the rest of you nearly got cooked with them. I don't know what those gauntlets are made of, and thank Celestia for them, but they were clearly not meant to protect you from energy bolts. If Molo had not forced all her healing potions down your throat and over what was left of your legs, then not even hydra could have saved them."

Again I tried to move my leg, it was still stiff. "Ya, I remember feeling like I was on fire."

"And that's what worried me. Hydra can fix almost anything but burn wounds, and you were severely burnt when you arrived." Mint's voice cracked as she told me. "I thought we had lost you. Thankfully Doctor Helga had a cure for such an injury, something about Talons getting set on fire all the time, and thank Celestia for that, as disturbing as it is."

The mention of creatures getting set on fire then reminded me of something else important. "Wait, how's Plasma doing?"

"She's fine. Though Flyright's attack melted the hatch on the door of your cloud wagon, so she was stuck outside the entire trip." Mint expanded.

"She also managed to hit her attacker in the face with an inclination bolt from her crossbow. That mare has some strong combat instincts" Hans added.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know."

"We got very lucky." Aloe said with a sad tone. "But not all of us, almost half the passengers on your cloud wagon were killed by Flyright. And four of the griffins died in keeping those Pegusi from getting to the rest of us."

Basil patted Aloe on the back.

Doctor Helga then returned, along with Doctor Coriander, who was still in the radiation suit, and still glowing. "Good, now that you're all here, we can remove those bandages, and see how much they've regenerated." Helga said as she tossed a bag to Hans.

Doctor Coriander trotted over, and passed me a potion. "This should help with any discomfort you're going to feel. Burns like that go deep, so deep that healing potions aren't enough."

It was an odd green color, but if the doctor says it will help, then bottoms up. Uncorking the potion, I drank it all, finding the taste to be utterly fowl, yet not forin to me. "Fuck, what is this, and why dose it taist familiar?"

"Best if you never know. But it will aid in this particular healing process. And as to why it's familiar, we've been feeding you it for the last three days." Coriander told me.

"Three days!" I shouted.

Coriander nodded. "The damage was so severe that we were forced to put you into a medically induced coma before amputating your legs and applying the regeneration serum. I'm honestly amazed this place even had the medical supplies to do such a thing. I mean we had Hydra way back when, but even that had its limits."

I then looked over at Hans, who pulled out four braces from the bag. "And those are for?"

"You, yes." Helga said. "Your legs are going to be stiff and unbalanced as they regrow the nerves, but if you just lay down as you recover, it will become a different problem. Unfortunately you're going to need to move around to recover faster, otherwise the rehabilitation will take over a month." She then pulled out a pair of rubber coated gloves. "Those new legs need to be trained to move right, and the sooner the better. Breaking them in while they are still regrowing will insure the nerves are forced to connect with your brain."

"Oh, so you're using that Talon medicine on her, rough, but it will do the job." Hans said.

Coriander shook his head disapprovingly. "You griffins realy did develop some barbaric medicine. Mixing hydra and other such dangerous chems for such a procedure, I'd lose my medical license if the M.o.P. ever found out. But I have to admit, anything I can do would take months of recovery at best."

Helga nodded. "Well we Talons can't afford to just sit around for months to recover, or waste valuable medicine on just one creature, as both time and supplies are money after all. That and Talons who don't have the protection of a company like the one here, tend to get killed if they're unable to fight. We do have a lot of enemies in the wasteland."

"I see." Was all Coriander said, his expression hidden under his suit.

Then Helga grabbed one of my legs. "Alright Lottery, keep calm, you might not like what you're about to see."

I looked over at Aloe and Mint, Aloe shrugging as she said. "I told her it's a bad idea, but Doctor Helga won't listen. It's why you were given that strange potion."

"It also calms your nerves, made for those who don't have the stomach to be a Talon." Doctor Helga said as she removed a few pins from my bandages.

Unwrapping my first leg, a pungent odor assaulted my nose, filling me with dread. What I then saw was a grossly misshapen skin in a barely recognizable form of my leg. Fleshy and pink, and covered in boils, it reminded me of Angel's mutant wings. Exposed to the air I felt an ice cold sensation on the leg, along with the feeling of pins and needles. It didn't hurt, but I could feel it.

"The good news is that your legs are regrowing nicely, and don't mind the boils, that's natural. Though the skin will be discolored from this, your fur should cover most of it, so long as you follow my instructions." Helga told me.

"And the bad news?" I asked.

With her rubber glove covered claw, she pointed at a ring-like scar that wrapped around the flocks of my leg. It was strange, looking more like a braid than a scar. "Those should not be there since the legs with the burn scars are not your current legs. Do you know if those gauntlets you had on are magical in any way?"

"Ahhh, maybe." I said, not sure if I should say anything in case they thought I was crazy. So I stuck with the bare minimum. "Rattlebones knows more than I do, all I know is that I just got high, fought a yao guai, and woke up with them on."

A long sigh came from Hans. "That sounds like the Valhalla shit from Griffinstone. Wouldn't be surprised if they branded her soul itself. "

"I'll just take that as a yes, and it would make sense." Helga said as she pointed out parts of the strange scar that smoothed in the middle of the ring. There I saw a strange symbol on a smooth part of the braided brand, which looked like a yao guai claw. "I've only read it in my medical books, but they say MEWs tend to act strangely when hitting older magics. Something to do with when two different magics interact, they both boost and change the nature of the magic. But stranger is that the injury is often more than physical, and can even jump from one pony to the next. Or in this case, from your old dead legs to your new legs."

"Oh yes, Ministry Mare Fluttershy warned us about that." Coriander spoke up, adding to the discussion. "It seems that her own eye magic ability, and the magic of Twilight Sparkle were once used to change the behavior of a group of fruit bats. Something backfired and Fluttershy turned into a feral bat pony. She got better, but she uses that as an example in which to never mix magic without proper safety precautions."

I gasped, and looked at the scar. "Please don't tell me I'm going to turn into a yao guai!"

Helga furrowed her brows at me. "I hope not, but I think it's safe to say that's not going to happen. Of course we will need to check up on you every day, as other things can and will go wrong when magic is involved. Now let's get those other bandages off, and your legs cleaned up."

As Helga got working on my other legs, the ghoul nurse got to cleaning them off. Just as I was worried about, all four of my legs had the same braid-like branding around my fetlocks. All my legs also felt ice cold, with the pins and needles feeling, but I was feeling too numb to be bothered by it. I just hoped that Helga was correct about my fur regrowing over it, since they looked like ground meat.

They then began applying a slave over my burns, and then rewrapping my legs up in clean bandages. The feeling in my legs numbed again, but the bandages made it harder to move my legs. After that, braces were attached and tightly fastened on.

Once it was done, Helga explained to me. "Allright, the last thing we need is for you to hurt your legs while still healing, but you need to move around or risk losing motor functions. That's what the braces are for, they will help you stand with those soft legs, while protecting the bandages. Still you'll need to be careful. Now get up and try to move around."

I nodded, and slowly moved my legs. Everything was stiff, and the tight bandages didn't help. Placing a hoof onto the ground, it felt strange, as I barely felt it at all. A second hoof, and I wasn't sure I was stable. With the third I slipped, almost falling over, but Molo caught me.

"Easy now, slow and steady." Molo told me.

"Says the mare who rushes onto gunfire." I snarked back.

She smiled. "Ya, but you're not me."

"Fair enough." I said.

After that, I had to trot around in circles for a while until I could trot on my own. It was annoying, but the sooner I could take care of myself, the sooner I could get back into the fight.

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When Doctor Helga said I was good to go, she directed me to return to our penthouse to get some more rest. It was also where the rest of my team would be waiting for me. And where others would go to find me.

The ghouls had to stay behind to help the other injured ponies, so it was up to Molo to help me out.

Leaving the tent, I had found myself in what looked like a tent village on the outskirts of Ursa's Rest, with so many injured ponies it was disheartening. Hans had really tried to take the Breaking Grounds, and many ponies were either hurt or lost their lives in the fighting. All just so we could destroy New Unity.

Further into Ursa's Rest was a training ground, where Talons were instructing wastelanders on how to fight as a team. Though crude, every creature there had something close to a uniform, mostly just color coordination where they all had something purple with a white star on it.

The guns we brought back with us were also being put to use, the wastelander running drills with the guns and dry firing them. I cringed a bit at the dry fire, as from what Horus told me, it was bad for the firing pin, but I understood why the Talons didn't want them firing live ammo in the middle of town. Oddly enough the guns had been painted purple with a white star on them as well, clearly marking them as Ursa's Rest property.

From what Molo told me, Grizzly had officially called this little army the Ursa's Militia, which annoyingly made sense.

Other than the militia, other ponies had been put to work by Grizzly. Mainly small things such as getting a wall up, and helping maintain the equipment. It really looked like everypony was coming together to stop Tripwire.

The inside of the casino was no different, with half the place now being used as a barracks. I even saw a few of the ponies we rescued in here, already wearing some purple pieces of cloth as a uniform. The rest of the casino was still up and running, and they were as busy as ever.

I guess everypony needs a distraction in these dark times.

By the time I made it to the penthouse floor I was really starting to slow down. My legs didn't hurt, but it was getting hard to move them.

"You okay, Lottery?" Molo asked.

I nodded, "ya, but I think I'll need to sit down for a while."

"Right, they said something about that. Well if you can't move, I'll just carry you." She told me.

That sounded embarrassing.

"No, no, I can make it, it's just a bit further now." I said, looking down the hall. We were close, but it seemed so far away.

My eyes drifted to another room, it had two armed guards, the same kind that guard the elevator to Grizzly's office. "What's going on over there, is there a VIP?"

Molo looked a bit nervous as she awcered. "Well ya, it's where, you know… where Grizzly is keeping the foals we rescued."

Made sense. "So… have you talked to them yet?"

"Crown and Flashed… no I haven't." Molo looked quite depressed as she said their names. "Actually, I was a bit scared too. With how Crown looked at me, I didn't like it. It… it terrified me."

She then took a deep breath, forced a smile and pushed me along. "But no matter, they're safe and that's all that matters to me. But right now you need to move, move, move!"

I didn't have the strength to resist, and barely managed to not trip over myself as I was pushed into our door, hitting it with a thud.

As I straitened myself out, slowly, the door then opened, where Sparkling Delight stood, looking a bit run down and a little sick. "They told me you were coming, now get in and sit down, I bet you're thirsty."

"Thanks, and ya, my throat is feeling dry." I told her.

Trotting in, Molo and I flopped down on the couch as Sparking trotted over to the bar and pulled out a mug from a fridge. When she passed me the mug, it smelled strongly of fruit and a bit of booze, but strangely, it glowed red?

"It's called Radical Rum. Mainly just Sparkle-Cola and rum, but I like to throw a bit of Mutefruit juice and honey into it." She explained.

I took a sip and the back of my mouth tingled with delight. It was so sweet, almost sickeningly so, but the rum managed to mellow it out a little. "This is… strange?"

Sparking chuckled a little. "You think so? My sense of taste has been getting a bit strange lately, been adding honey into everything and had the strangest food cravings. My sister has been a bit worried about me because of it and thinks it's the stress. I have too, but i think it might be because of my mutation."

Molo laughed out loud. "Well if getting a sweet tooth is the worst that happens from a mutation, I say you're lucky."

The door in the back opened and a familiar older filly trotted out. "Is that you, Molo?" Wiretap asked, her eyes going wide when she saw me. "Lottery!" She squealed as she ran over to me.

I slowly raise my hooves up to stop the filly. "Hey now, I'm still recovering."

She listened to me, looking at my bandaged and braced legs, a guilty expression on her face. "Cauterize told me… my father showed up, and did bad things."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Of course he would tell her about that.

Letting out a sigh, it was too late to avoid the subject. "Well ya, but he didn’t do this to me." I said, stiffly waving a hoof. "But he got us good, some worse than others. That aside, how have you been holding up?"

This time she clicked her tongue. "Got stuck babysitting." She huffed out.

I raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"I'm not a baby! I'm a lady." Cable said as she trotted out of the back room, flipping her platinum pink mane. "And I refuse to believe a mare as uncultured as you is my half sister."

Wiretap looked at me with an exhausted look in her eyes. "Please tell me I don't have any more little sisters like her?"

I shrugged and said, "well you could have little brothers instead."

She visibly shivered. "That sounds even worse."

I then looked at Sparkling, "so why is Cable not with the other foals?"

"Well, it seems that even the other foals didn't like her. I think it's because she is not one of them, or one of foals taken together by the raiders. It also didn't help that she talked too much and told everypony who her father and mother is." Sparkling explained.

"And why not, my father is an important pony. Mom said he will be king of Equestria soon, so you better treat me nicely." Cable boasted with undeserved pride.

Wiretap rolled her eyes. "Ya, she's also dumb, like really dumb."

"I am not!" Cable pouted. "I'm not dumb, not not not!" She then puffed up her cheeks and held her breath.

Confused, I then asked, "what is she doing?"

Sparkling answered, sounding annoyed. "Throwing a temper tantrum. It seems that Onyx spoiled her to no end, Cable even had her own personal slave up until recently." She then took a deep breath. "Turns out Cable has an older brother among the foals we recovered who explained their situation to us. The poor colt was more than happy to have his sister taken away, as it seems he wasn't loved by Onyx but showed Cable with everything. But it makes sense since the colt is likely from when she got sold off as a slave. Doesn't make it right what she did, but Onyx was always deranged, even before Redeye took over. Which probably made it easier for Tripwire to manipulate her."

Looking at Cable, her face was starting to change color. "He manipulated everypony." I then looked over at Wiretap, who had a concerned look on her face. "Don't worry, Wiretap, as much as he is a part of you, so is your mother. And in the end, it's you who you decide to become, not anypony else."

"I know that!" Wiretap huffed.

*Thud*

We all looked over to see that Cable had passed out, and Sparkling trotted over, lifting the younger filly up with her magic. "Don't worry, this is the fifth time it's happened. I'll put her on a bed and she will be up in a few minutes."

Wiretap let out a laugh. "Thank Celestia I was never like that."

This time I rolled my eyes, "no, instead you stole my gun and got foalnapped by raiders."

Molo chuckled, "She's got you there."

Wiretap just pouted, saying nothing more about that.

I took a seat while my legs could still move and rested there, falling into a half awake, half asleep state. The peaceful moment was occasionally interrupted by Wiretap asking a question or Sparkling rushing to the bathroom to puke. The poor mare must have eaten something bad.

Later, the front door opened, and both Plasma, Sugar Honey, and one other mare trotted in. Plasma looked pleased to see that I was awake, and trotted over, saying. "You had everypony worried, you know that!"

"You and everypony else has told me that already." I said as I stretched my legs, finding that some energy had returned to them. "Still, this treatment is really weird."

"Well your legs did get literally cooked to the bone, I mean you're lucky that you didn't get disintegrated. And even more fortunately, If the Talons didn't have a way to treat it, there would be no way for you to ever trot again. Franky we're all lucky that Ursa's Rest has such extensive medical supplies." Plasma explained to me.

"I think I remember Majestic mentioning something about that. Speaking of which, how's Ben Day, and the other Alicorns?" I asked.

Sparkling trotted back into the main room, wiping some puke off her lips. "The five who can think are with the foals, the other ones are kept in a warehouse for now. Grizzly's not happy about it, but if we can't use Alicorns to our advantage, we will just have to tolerate them."

I raised an eyebrow at the half Changeling. "What is Grizzly's deal with them anyways? Majestic told me that she came to her looking for shelter, invoking some old deal." I slowly lifted up my leg to make a point. "Because of some medical stuff I think."

"That's… true." Sparkling looked a bit ashamed as she admitted to it. "But, that was well over a hundred years ago. Since then, a lot has changed, and the… Goddess… had changed for the worst from what my brother has told me. Before what had been an oddity, alicorns looking for ponies to convince them to join their unity, became them just dragging unicorns away. It also didn't help that they had tied themselves so closely with Redeye. Majestic knew this well enough, and still barged her way into Grizzly's office. My sister has not just our family's reputation to think about, but all of Ursa's Rest, so she had to turn them away… but once again, that turned out to be a mistake."

"And now Majestic is under Tripwire's control." I added.

Sparkling nodded. "True, one of a many mistakes my sister and I have made. Velvet Remedy proved to be far more high minded in her approach with the alicorns. But what's done is done, and it's better to look to the future."

"Speaking of which, I asked about the Steel Ranger bunker, since we need anti-magic pulse grenades." Plasma said with a nervous smile. "From what the Talons have told me, they're one of the chapters who joined the Applejack Rangers. So they're at least likely to listen to our request."

I rubbed my neck, remembering the last time I dealt with the Rangers.

Sparkling let out a sigh. "Are you sure there aren't any alternatives, the Rangers are a pain in the flank to deal with, Steel or Applejack. Ursa's rest never had a good history with them due to all the tech we are sitting on. There have also been a few times they have forced us to give up tech we recovered ourselves, and some we had maintained since the end of the war."

Plasm rubbed her legs nervously, but overall seemed far less jittery. "Ya, that sounds like us. We haven't been the most understanding of ponies for a long time. The schism probably was going to happen with or without Steel Hooves. As so many Elders had become quite radical, and outright hostile to Wastelanders that it was a bit scary. Worst of all, when I was with them, I never saw the problem, only agreed with them because they were the elder, since that's how things were."

"Well you Steel Rangers aren't the only ones." Sparkling added in. "Almost everypony in the wasteland had developed a hostile mindset. It's only recently that everypony has started thinking about cooperation. It annoys me to say this, but Redeye was correct in this regard, making himself into such a villain that the wasteland will unite to stop him. If only he didn't develop that god complex from meeting the Goddess, then maybe things might not have gotten as bad as they did."

"Speaking of which, did they ever recover Redeye's body?" I asked.

Sparkling shook her head. "No, it's still missing. Some ponies suspect he's actually still alive, though considering where he had been left by the Stable Dweller, if he did survive then he would wish he had died."

I raised an eyebrow at Sparkling, and she explained further. "He was surrounded by taint, the stuff that makes you mutate. From what I have heard, he was trying to turn himself into a new Goddess along with the Stable Dweller and some Enclave pony. If he is still alive, I have no doubt he is horribly mutated, and likely insane. The Stable Dweller herself is lucky she got out without growing a tentacle or a third eye on her flank."

Plasma then trotted over to the other couch and took a seat, with Sugar Honey flopping next to her. It was strange seeing them get along like that, but then again Sugar got along with everypony. Then I looked over at the third pony, and finally recognized her. It was the zony, Pecan, one of the most popular mares from the Red Light Showroom. The pale pink mare with dark blue stripes was considered exotic amongst the brothel mares, and was often hired as an escort for wealthy ponies outside the casino.

I cocked an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes at me, saying. "Hay, can't I visit a former coworker? Since you and those other dommy mommys left, we've been forced to bring in new mares, and they're not as good, sadly."

"Maybe I should go back and supervise." Sparkling suggested.

But Pecan shook her head. "Y'all got this damned war to settle, so don't stress yourself more then you are. Anyways, it's nothing we can't deal with, even if Sugar keeps complaining about wanting you back."

This time I rolled my eyes. "Ya, I'm not going back, ever. Anyway, why are you here?"

"Grizzly wants me to help look after the foals, since I got my own, and she can trust me not to fuck around." She said, "Also heard ya got your own coming, I can always help ya out with that."

I lifted my hoof to stop her right there. "It's not decided if I'll be keeping them, okay."

The zony sighed. "Ya ya, I get it. Not every mare can deal with having a foal conceived that way. I mean, my little Carya has been such a blessing to me despite how I got him."

"Please, stop! I don't want to hear about that again." I told her.

Pecan shrugged. "Alright, but if ya ever decide to keep the baby, I'll be around. And ya'll know where to find me."

I watched as the mare trotted back out of my place, a strut in her step. "Seriously, how is she the Showroom's most popular mare?"

"Pecan is just a natural escort." Sparkling said, "and she has no sense of taste, both literally in that she can't taste food, and with stallions. Seriously, she will get lovey with stallions I even have problems with."

"Anyways," Plasma spoke up. "I've already shared the information about the grenades with Hogan Highborn. And they're holding a war meeting later today. I plan on proposing that we try to get the Applejack Rangers to join us."

"Are you sure? After what happened to you?" I asked my friend.

Plasma looked to the ground, avoiding eye contact, clearly not sure of this idea. "They aren't the Steel Ranger anymore, so maybe they will help. I mean, the Star Paladin I was under was one of the more radical of the Rangers, so it's unlikely they will be as hard lined. Anyways, we're going to need the firepower, along with the brain power. When Tripwire showed up, it was clear to me how under prepared we were to fight him. I bet if Star Paladin Steel Hooves was with us, he'd have easily won that fight."

She was right, and I hated that. As soon as Tripwire appeared, it was over and we were under his control. And our next target is Grinder, not some schizophrenic cult leader, or a smooth talking bitch. We were going after a pony who knows how to make an army, a pony whose cruelty left me with nightmares nearly every time I sleep.

We needed more power… and I knew that's what Strife wants us to do. To seek more power. But if we don't play into Strife's hooves, then Tripwire wins, and everypony suffers.

"Alright, if you think that's the best move, then I'll support you." I told Plaama.

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