There must have been 20 or more pony skeletons outside the gate, which had try to get in. Weird and creepy. But well I didn't want to question the overmares of previous generations? Or should I? I thought hard, was it because the stable had limited space? Appletree had already gone ahead and called out happily while looking at her PipBuck, "Dusty, our stable is directly under great, great grandmas home, but unfortunately it's broken to much". I trotted to her, my plasma gun hovering in front of me. There was nobody to be seen far and wide. I looked at my PipBuck's map. Our position was marked with our cutiemarks. A star dusted star for me and an apple tree for my sister. I could see the cutiemark in the shape of a PipBuck quite far away. I giggled "Look Appletree, a PipBuck on a PipBuck" she also giggled. It was about 10 a.m. and the sun was shining through a few cracks in the overcast sky. The REAL sun I thought to myself, Celestia's Grace. Appletree ran around happily, finally she could really let off steam. I looked at the trees. The apples looked sick. I was a little sad. Apple Blooms or even great great aunt Apple Jacks apple trees wouldn't be able to help us. Suddenly I heard a squeak and Appletree ran past me. Behind her flew what looked like a flying ball with bumps. I aimed my plasma pistol and pulled the trigger. After 3 shots, the thing dissolved into a green cloud of plasma. Appletree pressed her head against mine

"Thank ya Dusty, I was just scared otherwise I´d made it too" she said and extended her digging claws from which I only thought I already feel sorry for the victims of these claws. We made our way after Pip's signal. That´s what we two had agreed. Because I thought Pip would survive, such a gut feeling.

"Even if the apples are sick I want a seed sample" said Appletree kicking a tree as usual from the orchard. It was big and looked solid and just gave way under the kick of the mechanical hooves and hit the ground with full weight and force Appletrees backbone. I expected a scream, but there was none. Instead, she just looked up in confusion for a moment through the treetop. She plucked an apple, removing the core in a highly professional manner, which she placed in a small plastic vial in her saddlebag. I was still a bit shocked by the lack of reaction and it took her strength and mine to get the tree off her. "Didn't that hurt?" I asked my sister, still a bit dumbfounded.

"It fell right on your spine!" She smiled shyly and said very quietly, "My backbone is armoured because it's the interface between my legs and my nervous system." She nudged my nose with her hoof. I shook my head. Yeah right, in the shock I had once again forgotten the black line on her back. The scars around it didn't look pretty, but that had never bothered her.

We trotted on towards Pony Ville. Our mother had told us stories she had from her mother and so on, what a beautiful place that must have been, full of happiness and laughter. We reached the ruins after a short time. When we promptly encountered strange orange discs on the ground, Appletree reached out her left claw to touch it. As she approached it suddenly made beep beep beep. Startled she threw the disc away like a frisbee, which exploded in mid-air. I noted that the orange discs had a proximity detector fitted with a timer. Pony Ville itself was pretty calm and soon we knew why. A hollowed tree, which must have been the library, in which there were many dead ponies. Appletree looked in horror and began to tremble. "Is...is Pip in there?" she said in a sad voice.

I looked at my PipBuck and saw their signal moving slowly. I swallowed the disgust and horror that rose in me at the smell of the corpses. I stroked Appletree gently on the back. "All right little one, Pip's signal is moving, I'll try to write her a message later."

I nudged her backbone out of curiosity "You really don't notice that, do you?" I looked at her questioningly. She tapped her PipBuck around " Now I do. Mostly I´ve set off the sensory sensors for the backbone because I carry a lot on my back," she said with a somewhat calmer expression on her face. Feeling sensors I thought and shook my head "Do you also have them in your legs and hooves?" I looked questioningly and I realized that her legs were still so new to me, even though the accident was two years ago. She stroked my cheek, "Yes I can feel my fur like before and I notice every touch like before. Just that it feels like my legs are bare." I looked into the building. "I'm just going to look around in there, do you keep an eye on the entrance here?" She nodded relieved, I knew that she didn't want to go in there.

It stank of death and filth. I looked around, everything was pretty much empty. Whoever it was, they had already taken everything but at least I didn’t see a dead pip either. But I spotted another locked door behind a stack of boxes. Feeling sorry for the dead pony in the half-crushed cage hanging from the ceiling I said a prayer to Luna before opening the door downstairs.
The room was as big as the one above it, only here was a yellow earth pony, bald and tailless, apparently harassing a unicorn foal and having a saw in its mouth, he was just starting to saw at the horns of the poor green-maned red-coated unicorn. I had the plasma pistol hovering in front of me and cleared my throat loudly, "What's this?" I aimed at the stallion in a tattered lab coat. He looked at me slightly insane "The ground horn of immaculate unicorn mares makes hair grow back and that's how I'll get rich! And they're hard to come by, those little squirrels” He grinned madly and I saw 3 colt skeletons with their horns sawed off in a corner. I breathed in then out and wordlessly pulled the trigger with an icy stare. I hit him in the side and he jumped back, taking the little girl hostage. He had pulled out a combat knife and held it to her neck.

"GET OUT THEN I LET HER GO" he exclaimed. He didn't even notice the metal rod behind him with which I smashed his skull. Blood and brain spurted to the ground. I became nauseous as he dropped dead, I was shaking and throwing up. I had just killed another pony I felt like something broke inside me. I prayed to Luna that his soul would find its way to her despite the atrocities. Luna would judge his soul.

The foal ran to me and snuggled up to me. "Thank you." She just whimpered. Her eyes widening in panic "We have to get out of here, the other one who caught me will come back soon!" We hurried back to the entrance and next to me a bullet hit the tree, shot by a big unicorn stallion, who had probably hunted unsuccessfully. As Appletree saw the hole next to my head I could almost hear the clicking in her head, her protector mode was active. Usually she couldn't harm a fly unless someone threatened her family. It had been like that at school. She ran furiously with a deep growl at the unicorn, claws out. The stallion fired but the bullet only hit a corner of the ribbon on her head. Second big mistake I thought. The second thing she loved most after us was the ribbon in Memory of Applebloom. She accelerated. Another shot ricocheted off her cyber back leg. The unicorn backed away as Appletree reared up and tried to tear him from top to bottom with her claws. Her gaze was filled with anger, the unicorn backed up against a tree. Appletree dug her claws deep into the ground and kicked out with both hind legs, but it wouldn't quite be enough to hit him. Then it hissed on their hind hooves and they suddenly lengthened and threw the stallion against the tree with such force that it broke. The stallion, badly wounded, got to his hooves and ran.

"All the ones coming out of Stable 2 are crazy maniacs," he yelled after us as my shot just missed him before he was gone. I joined Appletree, the little unicorn next to me. I looked at Appletree, I didn't know that trick either.

I gently stroked her cheek "Have you calmed down?" I asked as softly as I could, noticing that she was shaking and her eyes were just white and a roaring of her hind legs. "APPLETREE ARE YOU OK?!" I yelled in concern.

She nodded trembling and with just such a voice she said "The compressors for the hydraulics are operated by a spark generator, it needs my body electricity to start," she said and lowered herself onto her hind legs. After about a minute, the rattling hiss ended. She looked at me normally again and then fell to the ground in embarrassment. "Is intended for stubborn trees"

The unicorn looked at Appletree's hind legs in fascination and a little startled "Are you a robot pony?" she asked innocently. Appletree froze, blushed and hid behind her hooves.

I said: “No, she lost her legs in an accident.” The little one nodded and stroked on the legs. "Feels weird," she said, looking at us questioningly. Appletree gently shook her head. "I can only turn it off if I want to," she said, smiling.

"Who are you actually? And thank you for the rescue. So if you guys take me home to New Applelosa I'm sure my mom can pay you.” I looked at her and at my map. New Applelosa was on our route anyway. I smiled at the unicorn "Let's do it then you'll be safe at home. We both are siblings on an important mission for our stable. I'm Stardust and this is my little sister Appletree." The unicorn looked at me in disbelief.

"But she's taller than you," she remarked. "Yes, but I'm two years older than her," I said, grinning and pushing my sisters hooves away from her face.

I looked around a bit thoughtfully. "We should bury the bodies that are still lying here, it seems wrong to me to leave them here." I said. Appletree nodded. Only the little unicorn looked at us confused. "Why do you want to do this? Isn't that kind of a waste of time?” I smiled softly, “It's one of the traditions that the goddesses taught us.” I said, floating out my little talisman showing Luna's and Celestia's cutiemark. Yes, I was so believing that I wished to be a Stable Caplan. But unfortunately my cutiemark and test results decided otherwise. I searched through the library in the basement. On the shelf behind the skeletons I found a book that was in a too good condition. I saw the small emerald on the side and smiled, a preservation spell that had served for over two hundred years. The book had an exotic symbol on the cover of an expanding spiral surrounded by triangles with the short ends pointing outwards. It looked like a sun. The book was a gift from a certain Zecora to Twilight Sparkle. It contained a lot of magical knowledge of zebra magic. I took that, I'd always been into Zebra magic. Enchantment and alchemy was exciting.

After I had left the tree again, we trotted on through the ruins of the city. Almost all the houses had burned down to the foundation or had collapsed. Well, I wasn't surprised since most of them were made of wood. The ground was burned and raiders were still nesting in other houses. We sneaked past them as the foal sneezed loudly, "Aaaatcho, sorry."

She said quickly, quietly. It was too late three raiders ran towards us. Two stallions one gray with red mane the other orange with violet mane. The first's cutiemark was a pony skull, the other's was a cage. The unicorn mare with yellow fur and black mane stood in the ruins of buildings, levitating a long rifle in front of her. The first shot of the sniper rifle was fired and we ducked for cover as the two stallions came running. One carried a baseball bat studded with nails, the other a pistol. The second shot of the rifle unleashed an explosion of pain and panic in my left front leg. I gasped and heard my sister's deep growl of anger. Her claws extended and dug into the ground. The first raider with the pistol flew three times as far away as he had run, into a ruined house and didn't move anymore. I pushed the filly behind me, still panting from the searing pain. The other stallion with the baseball bat felt even more anger, as a half and tattered raider was seen sinking to the right and left. The unicorn's next shot ricocheted off Appletree's leg. She rushed at the mare as she threw a metal ball. Did she want to play ball with us now, or what? I thought to myself confused as the ball exploded right under Appletree. She was thrown against a house wall that was still standing and blood ran from the back of her head and she didn't move anymore. Panic, fear and freezing anger welled up in me. My stomach clenched. "She's dead." I said more to myself, my eyes full of tears. The next shot, but it missed. I looked at my PipBuck and found the perfect punishment for that bitch. I slowly walked towards the unicorn. Her shots ricocheted off my shield spell. First one then two the third smashed through it causing a small bleeding wound on my right cheek. I went on step by step. As I stood in front of the unicorn, she pulled out a knife. I dropped the shield and said calmly with a cold stare: "This is for my little sister you bloody pile of trash" she looked confused.

"Little fifter?" She looked at Appletree's still body, then at me. "That waf probably the other way around...." She couldn't say more. Blue lightning came out of my horn and she started to twitch, just for a moment I let her catch her breath then I did it again and again. My cold rage didn't want to kill her, no she should suffer. The game lasted about 5 minutes until I felt a hoof on my shoulder. It was Appletree she wasn't dead. The unicorn was still looking at me in fear and still twitching a bit epileptically. "You're a bloody witch!" I looked at her and said completely calm and composed "Go while you still can!" She got her hooves and ran still twitching.

Appletree grabbed me in her front legs and I sobbed, the calm mask of my cold rage was falling off. The little unicorn also tried to calm me down. "All right Dusty sh sh sh, everything will be alright. I'm fine." Her deep voice was soothing. I looked around for the first time ever with the aiming spell. Ponyville was clean. It was getting late before we recovered all the bodies. Appletree was so fond of digging a grave for everyone on the road leading out of town. The sun went down and my eyes got bigger than the Stable gate. The moon. The mark of Luna, what she was responsible for and her former prison. And the stars I always wanted to see. I had took off my Stable jumpsuit and the PipBuck and took a tattered black cloth for a cloak. Standing in front of the graves in the glow of Luna's grace-giving moonlight. I began intoning the funeral prayer in oldponic and fervently.

"Luna et ego invocabo Hae ducant animabus vestris tibi et soror divina. Dominus iudicat populos iudica illos detulimus. Da illis gratia.” With the last words, I began to burn the signs of the sun and moon with my magic into the wooden planks behind the graves. When the work was done, I took off the cloth and got dressed.

The foal looked at me "You're not a witch" she recognised and then said with a smile "Something like you used to be called a priestess" I got a little embarrassed and just said

"I'd like to be one, but no. For that I would have to be initiated and there is very little religious worship down there. Out here hardly anypony would believe in the Divine Sisters. Oh yeah, tell me what's your name?” I tried to change the subject, embarrassed. The interesting thing about the little unicorn with a pink mane and white fur was that her cutiemark was a box of chewing gum.

"My name is Bubbles and do you know how I know that you are a priestess?" I looked at her questioningly "Your cutiemark is a star like the stars in the night sky. That's what my grandma always talked about you the Children of the Night! Your cutiemarks are always stars or moons or something!” I pondered, liking the idea. But without being initiated I wouldn't dare call myself Luna's priesthood. "Besides, you can speak that old pony language, nopony out here can do that. And what you did there at the graves doesn't make a normal pony either. You're a Children of the Night, I've decided that now.” Bubbles said, crossing her front legs in front of her chest and grinning. "Tell me, Bubbles, what does ya cutiemark stand for?" Appletree asked curiously. “I make new fresh chewing gum out of rock-hard pre-war chewing gum in many different flavors. Unfortunately I don't have any with me right now to let you try. We'll catch up on that in New Applelosa."

We set up our camp for the night in the old school, which was one of the best preserved. Two walls and they were still standing. We walked around the tower with the bell surrounding it and were getting comfortable. Appletree turned on the PipBuck radio and we could hear the stable radio. "And now, freshly for our heroes in the Wasteland, Honeydrop with a pre-war song by Countess Coloratura! Clear the stage for Razzel Dazzel!” I heard the crowd roar. It was live, Honeydrop performed in the atrium. So Appletree and I were touched. I received a message from my mother asking if everything was ok. I answered truthfully and she became concerned. But I could assure her that everything was fine. I had a band-aid on my graze and Appletree had a bandage around the neck. "Who was singing there? That's not DjPon3's transmitter” Bubbles asked curiously. "That´s coming from down there” I pointed roughly in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
"You just heard our little sister". Bubbles arched an eyebrow. "How many sisters do you guys have anyway?" she asked skeptically.

"There are three of us", Appletree replied. "She is the artist of our family."

Bubbels thought: "Well you are a priestess, your one sister is a singer and you?" She looked at Appletree "I would even say you are her bodyguard. But for that you're way too cute even at your height."

Appletree blushed a little. "I a...a...am a botanist and a farmer," she stuttered out, "I take care of the well-being and the care of the apple trees in our Stable." Bubbles was still looking thoughtful.

I said meanwhile: "I'm a spell caster, I wasn't allowed to be a caplan," I said a little sullenly. "But why not?" Bubbles looked questioning again.

"The Cutiemark Aptitude Test hasn't identified a new Caplan in over 75 years and that's why we don't have one anymore. My test results sent me straight to improving and inventing spells."

She looked up: “That´s total bullshit. Out here everypony can do what he´s up to no matter what his butt shows.” We lay down to sleep. I woke up to a scream from Bubbles. She stood screaming in a corner and pointed to the floor. Appletree slowly opened her eyes. I jumped up, wondering why she wasn't doing the same, until I saw through the light of my horn why she was screaming. In front of her lay one of Appletree's legs, no, even two. I was confused and shone at my sister. She was lying there with her legs off her body, all 4! She looked at us with tired eyes,

"What's going on? More raiders? Oh,…” Appletree looked at us both a little sheepishly and started to crawl to her legs on her stomach and docked them all back together. Bubbles and I both looked at her disturbed. She hid behind the freshly coupled legs. "What on Luna's grace did you do?" I asked, still stunned. "I usually always sleep without legs, it's more comfortable." We both looked at her more calmly now. "Please say something like that before Bubbles was scared to death."

Author's Note

Big thanks at my proofreader Chrash Overide, Onkel Scharfohr and my Secial Sompony Sandy Rose she was also the translator