Author's Note

This chapter marks the end of the first act and the start of the second. I think the stories going to be a bit longer than I initially expected...

I hope everyones enjoying the ride so far! Thank you so much for reading along.

Chapter 16: Fearsome Sight

With the water off, the room's cold air penetrated my soaking wet coat. I shivered a little. Giving a sad little sigh, the echoes of my hooves were my only company. The way they fled really perturbed me. As if I were some sort of monster... One look was pall it took for the bathing mares to race out.

Fog covered the mirror above the sink, obscuring my reflection. Those reactions still rang in my mind. I'm not that ugly.

Taking up an old towel from a nearby bench in my magic, it lazily floated to me. Using it left me grumbling in annoyance. Countless washes had taken every ounce of softness from that poor piece of cloth. Feeling it brush by skin and scars was excruciatingly uncomfortable.

Despite all this, I was happy to have my magic back. Even if it's still weak. To get stuck living as a horned earth pony was beginning to drive me up a wall. Regardless of the towel's condition, I finished drying myself before running the towel across the mirror. It left streaks of water and revealed my crisp reality.

Can't say I'm surprised by their reactions though. At least I got privacy outta it.

The reflection in the mirror was, in fact, a horrifically disfigured one. The mare that looked back at her was still unrecognizable… She wasn’t just missing an eye. The scar of which had been healed immediately. It left her with a jagged, broken ring of bone where the socket had shattered and stitched itself back together. Above it; a ridge of misshapen bone ran from the socket, parallel to her mane to meet the spot the bullet had hit her. It didn’t matter to her that much of her hair had been burned off.

No wonder her headache never went away. Her head had been torn apart and hastily put back together. Distractions. That’s what I need. Get dressed and go. Yup! Time to go.

I dried myself in a well-known silence I’d always found to be comforting. Redressing myself, I made sure that I had my fathers locket on. After that, I wore my cleanest stable suit. I always loved them, even if the bright blue and gold embroidered “109” clashed with my hair colors. Over it were my heavy, black-plated barding and my saddlebags.

From my bags I pulled out a red scarf. My mom had said it was my fathers… Magic wasn’t much help here, but after a few attempts, I found a snug way to wrap it around just the right side of my head. It was effective in hiding my scars and horn.

Looking at myself in the mirror, a smirk made its way across my face... "Coffee Bean was right." I admired myself in the complete setup, "It does make me look badass." I told myself quietly, giving myself a reason to stand tall. With that I turned and left the mares room.

In the hallway were eight or nine mares waiting patiently. Their collective silence spoke volumes about what they now thought of me. Ignoring their over reactions and potential questions, I left to get some food before leaving.

My mom and Overmare Sweet Beets stood in the hallway outside the teleportation room, conversating as I kept them waiting. I could barely hear them as I climbed the short stack of stairs and approached them, they both paused and turned to me. “Shimmer Stone, are you sure you want to go again?”

Coming to a stop before them, I gave Sweet Beets a curt nod. “Mhm. I think I’ve had enough rest and I’ve got my magic back. I still have a job to complete, so it’s time I get to it.”

My mother stepped forward, “I’ve a gift for you,” she levitated a small bag out between us. “It’s something you might find some use for out there.”

I opened the bag and from it came a small bundle of wires that were wrapped around what looked like a key, but with fewer teeth. “What is it?”

“It’s an advanced electronic lockpick. The Ministry of Moral would use these to carry out investigations and it’s capable of opening any physical lock.” Silver explained to me before stepping in close, she kissed my left cheek before trying to place her forehead against mine.

I took a small step back and placed a hoof on her chest. "Mom, please." Putting the lockpick away, I sat back on my haunches and looked past her at Sweet Beets. "Have you and Starsail finished organizing the towers' secrets?"

The disappointment that sang in my moms eyes was evident as she backstepped to stand beside our Overmare, but she focused on the conversation. "Yes, well… most of it. We've found files documenting most magical objects and constructed a list of the various experiments this MAS hub had been conducting."

"Had any of the projects been accessed and copied?" I asked, thinking back to Willow Sky and Fulsome Quibble's hasty escape.

"I hadn't looked for recent activity, but the major had been, you should ask him. The tower contains a lot of dangerous stuff and I can't imagine what they could do in the wrong hooves." Sweet Beets looked over at my mom, "Wait, does this have to do with those ghouls you and Starsail were talking about?"

"Probably. Those two managed to sneak out before we could locate Fulsome. Those ghouls must have had a plan." She leaned back on her haunches and crossed her forehooves. "With Starsail's help, I was able to figure out what Fulsome and Willow were tasked with during the war."

"Really?" asked the overmare.

"Turns out Fulsome was the head researcher on unicorn enhancements as well as a few of the theoretical spells that could have been contained in megaspells." She held her hoof out to her side, then the other hoof and acted like a scale. "On the other hoof, Willow Sky's an engineer who specializes in arcane technologies. He helped in the development of stealth bucks, a bit of hardware that plugs into a pipbuck and gives its user temporary invisibility."

"Well, as fascinating as this all is, we haven't a clue where they went." I said as I stood. "I'm sure everyones tired of waiting on me, so I ought to get going. Can you help me with the teleporter?"

My mom nodded and stood, we went through the door to the teleporter room and she prepped the system as I got into position. "You know, it's pretty impressive that you were able to teleport yourself and your friends almost a mile."

"Yeah, sure. I still got shot in the head though." I replied bluntly. An image of my bloodied room popped vividly in my mind and I held my breath for a moment.

"Your friend, Daring Shade, told me that your eyes were glowing white while you channeled that spell… You know that right?"

It annoyed me a little that she was standing there rather than teleporting me, but I shoved that annoyance out of my mind. "First I've heard of it." I told her, sounding rather clueless.

She softly chuckled. "You know, that doesn't surprise me. Ever since you were little, I knew you had it in you."

I tilted my head and furrowed my brow. "What're you getting at?"

She gave me a reassuring smile. "There aren't many documented cases of it happening. These magical epiphanies are rare and usually invoked by strong emotions and stress." She paused and touched her horn. "You had one apparently and with it, you saved Xeyal."

She triggered the teleporter. "I love you, mom. I'll be seeing you later!"

The magic engulfed me and a moment later, I found myself standing in a room much like before, but with Xeyal, Coffee Bean, Sunny Ember and Daring Shade.

"Finally!" Sunny exclaimed in an exaggerated tone. "We've been waiting for- what? An hour?" He shot a glance around at the others.

Coffee Bean was the one who just offered him a shrug. "We can't leave without her."

"You're coming with?" I asked him, I was a little astonished, after taking a grenade to the face.

"Yup! I've talked it over with my dad and despite it all, he agreed to train me. Look…" With a momentary lapse of time, he found his words. "I've felt this urge ever since I woke up all exploded like… I want to help. I want to be out there, doing my part to save Equestria. I can't do that from here. Being a waiter doesn't save ponies."

." I watched as everyone looked over at him. Xeyal was the first one to respond, “I believe Equestria needs more ponies like you.”

The five of us left the teleporter room, while Daring Shade offered his own advice to the young buck. “Bean, you’ll find that this city has a lot of ponies who really just need one thing, a bullet… not a healing hoof.”

That brought Coffee Bean to a dead stop just as we were stepping down the two steps to the lobby’s main floor. Before he could answer, Sunny Ember pitched in his two bits. “Yeah, Shade’s got a point. There are a lot of raiders, gangers, and crazies out there. Those ponies were born in this hell hole and broken by the wasteland. Helping Equestria would mean you’ll have to shoot to kill. We can’t afford you hesitating in a clutch.”

Bean tried to answer again, but someone kicked open a door in a hurry. “Don’t go yet!” They shouted at our merry party. Once the ghoul made her way around the reception desk and into view, I was happy to see that it was Misty Grace. “I’m glad I caught you. Starsail wanted me to pass on a message before you go. We got the radio tower tuned and we’ve been able to eavesdrop on the Steel Rangers.”

Having taken a sharp step toward the Misty, my voice was deeper than I’d expected, “What’re they planning?”

“We aren’t too sure yet.” The shake to her voice gave me the impression that she was bothered. “We… They are working with a few ghouls on something secret. The chatters avoided the topic, but there were mentions of a research center and some of the conversations were about gathering research materials for someone there.”

“Shit.” I said aloud. She nodded, agreeing or at least understanding. My shoulder slumped and I sat back on my haunches, “Does that mean they are working with Fulsome?”

“Who’s Fulsome?” Daring asked after Misty gave a slow and deliberate nod.

Misty Grace gave a sigh as she came down the room-wide steps. “Fulsome Quibble is a bit evil…”

Sunny Ember stepped up and turned to me. “Don’t tell me…”

Misty coughed into her hoof, “He was a project lead here during the war, since then, he went crazy… His breed of crazy means he’s pretty unpredictable and if he’s working with the Steel Rangers, there’s no telling what can happen when they finally come back. We’ve got security posted around the clock; around the block. We’ll see them coming.”

Sunny continued his bit, “You actually have a mad scientist as a nemesis?” He laughed! I could have kicked him in the face right then and there. I didn't, but I wanted to. “No but really… If you’re talking about the Steel Rangers at the northern base… they aren’t normally bad ponies. We’ve been to their base before.”

“Really?” I asked as I turned to him. "What's it like? How many of them are there?"

Touching his chin and looking upward, "It was over two years ago now. That base is pretty heavily guarded and I couldn't tell ya how many ponies are there. We were delivering medical supplies and they restricted us to a visitors cabin."

"Fort Whinny Worth is absolutely massive." Daring added, "There's no telling how many Steel Rangers are there."

"No reason to fret over this for now." Xeyal told us, "We have no way of dealing with the threat they present until they make a move."

Huh? Right, good point. Xeyal and the brothers started to leave, so I stood to join them. Coffee Bean was waiting with me.

Misty Grace gave a little wave as we left. "Well, we are going to keep an ear open on the radio and if anything comes up, we may try to find a way to contact your group."

Turning my head didn’t let me see her, but I gave a small wave, “Take care of this place, let us know.”

With the doors closing behind me as a warm breeze whistled through the abandoned street. The sound of our hooves echoed off the buildings and none of us spoke. The brothers walked side by side in the lead, while Xeyal and Coffee Bean whispered back and forth.

I was bringing up the rear of our pack and caught myself scanning the building's windows overlooking us. These streets are so much more dangerous than initially expected. It bothered me that any building could have a raider gang in it. I didn't enjoy the prospects of being the target for practice.

"You okay?" Coffees' voice came from beside me. I hadn't noticed him and Xeyal dropping back to match my slow sultry speed.

Surprise shouldn't have been my first reaction though. My breath held thick in my throat and my shoulders squared up, nearly tripping myself. With a sharp inhale and a quick swallow, I answered him. "Yeah, I'm fine… but a bit worried about what might try to kill us first."

Coffee, to his credit, sounded confident. "Why worry about it? It's bound to happen and we'll win anyway."

The brothers had come to a stop to let us catch up. "Hey, so excluding other ponies and undead ponies, what other creatures live here?"

Sunny gave his trademark smirk. "There's a lot of critters in this city. Wild dogs and cats, a ton of rats, bloodwings, manticores oh and the hellhounds! Besides that, there are plenty of different robots and in certain buildings you can find some elaborate security systems that are stupidly efficient."

Almost all of that had entries in the Wasteland Survival Guide. Except the dogs and cats. How could those be dangerous? Before I could ask; Bean got ahead of me.

"What's a bloodwing?" he inquired with a fair curiosity.

Shade chimed in, "They're nocturnal. Giant bats that usually hunt cats and rats, but they have no problem plucking a young pony right off the ground."

Xeyal seemed taken aback. "How big are these things?"

"Bloodwings have a wingspan of four to seven feet, but can get much larger." I answered, reciting the guide's entry on them.

Sunny laughed. "I was being attacked by some giant rats when a couple swooped in and carried them off. They drop their prey from deadly heights if they can't kill it in flight."

Coffee Bean frowned while Sunny gave his usual sly smirk.

Shade hopped a fallen light pole, "Oh hey. We’ve got bloatsprites ahead."

Seeing them up ahead and readying myself my pair of pistols. Counting the little disfigured blobs, there were at least seven or eight of them. “Aren’t those the things that eat and spit more of themselves out?”

“Yeah, that’s them,” Sunny answered before coming to a stop in front of me. He looked back at me, “Can we see how Coffee Bean handles them?”

That wasn’t a bad idea, any of us could step in if need be. “Fine,” I told him, holstering my guns before looking over to see Coffee’s bewildered look. “You’re up, Coffee!”

The golden and brown maned buck readied himself a pistol with a mouth grip. He moved toward them and slowed his steps, probably using his pipbucks’ targeting spell. “Think he’ll miss any shots?” Shade asked, sitting to watch.

Xeyal and I simultaneously answered the same. “Nope!” The two of us looked at one another and shared a little laugh, leaving the brothers with raised eyebrows.

Sunny shrugged it off. “I’d bet you all the caps you owe us, that he’ll miss one. Double if he does.”

Coffee took two shots and two of the bloatsprites popped and fell. “See, Coffee was already a sure shot, and he’s spent quite a bit of time just practicing. I’ll take your bet and if I win, you get no caps. Sound like a good gamble?”

Coffee Bean took another shot, hitting his mark on the third sprite and now the others were coming at him. He took another shot, killing off another one, leaving only five left. He took the opportunity to reload his pistol.

Looking back at me, Sunny gave a chuckle, “I bet I’ll lose, but I’ll take your gamble.” As soon as the words left his lips, his brother punched his shoulder hard enough to make him stumble to his hooves.

“You idiot,” was all Shade told him. “That’s the only reason we’re out here?! We’ve already been out of the Heights for what? Two weeks?”

Turning to his brother with a furrowed brow, “Hold on a minute, it’s not like we won’t find something worth selling on this adventure.”

Off in the background, I watched as Coffee Bean took two more shots, killing another pair of sprites. Leaving only one bobbing off in the distance. It was far enough away that my radar couldn’t pin it as hostile. The two brothers were more focused on each other and practically ignored Coffee’s marksmanship skills.

Daring Shade gave an exhaustive sigh, “You’re such a dumbass, Ember.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” his brother answered while grinning.

One last shot rang out and the last of the bloatsprites fell. He put his weapon away and came back over to us. “All done! Didn’t miss a shot either.” He twirled his hoof and blew across the top of it as if it were a gun, “that was too easy.”

Xeyal stepped between the brothers, abruptly interrupting Sunny and Shade to address Coffee Bean. “You have definitely improved. Glad to see it.” She gave a small, soft smile before the zebra pulled him into a hug.

Coffee Bean yelped in surprise, probably since Xeyal rarely showed affection to anyone, but she was also the biggest of us here and Coffee Bean being the smallest made the hug look more like she was trying to squeeze him to death. As if unable to breath he squeaked out, “I’m glad I could help.”

She let him go and the poor buck inhaled sharply. “You’re a lot stronger than I expected.” he told her, “Maybe, no more surprise hugs?”

She laughed, “My apologies.”

Whatever it was, it broke the tension the brothers had been building as the pair shared in her laughter. With that, the five of us continued on our way. Shade walked over and scooped up one of the bloatsprites and tied it to his bag straps.

“Might make for a good dinner, ya’know?” He muttered as he caught back up to us. All I could do was look at him questioningly while Coffee and Xeyal gave him a look of disgust.

None of us dared to ask if he was going to eat it, the thought of eating those nasty beasts never even crossed my mind.

With the sun setting and the fog rolling in, making three of us begin to click wildly. So, we moved indoors.

Only a little dusk light made it in from broken and boarded windows. My pipbuck was still clicking away. This hotel made me anxious and I couldn't tell why…

The main lobby of the Rising Sun hotel was where we found ourselves. It had a large desk at the back of the room, with some red satin couch chairs surrounding small round dark wood tables. This setting was mirrored four times in the room, each of them isolated by low standing walls. The walls had once been planters with only the cracked earth in them anymore.

Surrounding the sectional seating stood book shelves and magazine racks, the latter of which both Daring and Sunny were sifting through. I could catch bits and pieces of their hushed conversation as they spotted comic books mixed into the magazines. The mere mention of comics caught Coffee Bean's attention, drawing him into their conversation.

A coffee shop was built into the left side of the room accompanied by doors to the restrooms. The opposite wall was centered by a pair of large doors. It looked heavy. Being elegantly carved into the shape of clouds over a rising sun. The sun itself was made from two of the largest citrine gemstones I'd ever seen!

"Should we check for some supplies?" I asked, tipping my head toward the coffee shop.

Xeyal shrugged slightly. "I do not think we have much time." She raised her pipbuck, which like mine, was still clicking with the radiation. "We are already over ten CPM. I already have almost one hundred rads built up."

She made a fair point, time we moved up a few floors. "Hopefully, we're the only ones here." I whistled at the guys, who all turned to me, halting their nerdy party. "We gotta get goin', before we all get sick. Radiations tickin' up quick."

While Sunny and Daring both shoved books in their bags, Coffee Bean nodded and said, "Okay." He rejoined the other two, bagging a few magazines.

As they finished up, Xeyal and I pushed open the giant wooden doors to reveal a luxurious dinner hall. A massive table left set and ready for a very large party. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust, and there were several doors along the right wall as well as a once fully stocked bar. Most of the bottles were now gone, but a few still stood on shelves built across a mirrored wall.

We walked the length of the room. I was in shock at the elegance of it all. The walls were decorated with painted landscapes and above the bar was the bars name carved into the wooden shelving frame. It read "Stanza" in an elegant cursive font.

I levitated a few of the bottles to me that looked to still be sealed. Sunny poked his head into one of the doors. Leaving it stand open he turned back to us, "It's a really nice kitchen."

"Well, where's the stairs? I didn't see any back that way." Coffee tossed his head back to indicate the room we just left. "Why would they put it back here?"

I sighed, looking around the darkening dining hall. "Maybe there's some way we can turn the power back on. Daring, Sunny? Do you guys have light sources?"

They both shook their heads to one another. "Nope."

"Okay, you two with me. Xeyal, can you and Coffee Bean take a look around, we need to see if this place has a basement or stairs."

"Why a basement?" Sunny asked me.

"Because…" I started, turning back toward him as I made my way back to the way we had come. "This place doesn't have power, so maybe it has a backup generator or something to get those elevators running."

"What floor are we at?" Sunny whined.

"Thirteenth. Let's call it good enough," answered Daring.

I was behind them, dragging my hooves. We spent almost an hour searching for the stairs. Whoever designed this hotel sucked, having hidden the only staircase behind the kitchen and labeling it as maintenance only. There was also an emergency exit in the stairwell.

Sunny kicked open the door, which opened up to a hallway of doors. The carpet had diagonal blue hued stripes and the wallpaper peeled, exposing the building's wood and stone walls. Much of it was beginning to rot and a draft wind was moving through the darkness. Daring took to checking doors, "Well, at least you three aren't clicking, but it looks like all these doors are locked."

"Well, let's kick open some doors." I told him. "Xeyal?"

She trotted forward and gave one of the doors a swift buck. The lock gave out easily letting the door swing open with enough force to bounce closed again. Xeyal smirked, gently knocking on the door before she entered. "Anyone home?" She asked as she entered.

Coffee Bean and Daring Shade entered behind her while Sunny Ember doddled for a moment. "Remind me to avoid pissing her off," he told me with a laugh. "That's one hell of a kick."

I raised my eyebrow and rounded him so I could see him. "Am I hearing you right?"

His rump dipped as he leaned back, his chin rose and his brow furrowed slightly. "Uh, what do you think you heard?" His hoof rose to a defensive position.

I gave a broad smile, "Nevermind, no worries." With a light weighted spin, I followed everyone else with him following just behind me.

The room wasn't too big, offering a desk, a pair of beds, and a small coffee nook as well as a single shower and toilet in a room to themselves. Xeyal had taken one of the beds immediately.

Coffee Bean and Daring Shade were digging their comics out. I could hear bits and pieces of it, Coffee was gushing over the nearly new quality of his space adventure while Daring organized his stack of treasure by release.

I looked back to Sunny and teleported a bottle from my bag between us, "Want to drink?"

His eyes ballooned as he eyed the bottle, "please?" He gave a small whimpering noise and made his bottom lip quiver.

I rolled my eye with a small smile. I tipped the top to him as an offering. "Go ahead."

"Yay!" He squealed before snatching the bottle and looking at the top. He then looked around in need of a corkscrew. It only took a moment for him to conclude there was no way for him to open the bottle, so he held it back out to me. "Could yuh help?"

I pulled the cork out with a resounding pop. He took a long drink from it before giving a refreshed "aaah" before offering me the bottle. He gave a little shudder and squeezed his eyes closed.

It was no surprise to me that Coffee Bean and Daring Shade were both staring at us, quietly talking to one another. I levitated the bottle from his hooves and took a drink of my own. It burned my throat, but the caramel-like flavor was delightfully bitter. It reminded me of those little butterscotch candies we would make in our school years. Though, this had an aftertaste that made me cringe a little. It was sweet, tasting like burnt barnish, probably from the cask it came from.

"So," Sunny started as I passed him the bottle. "I've gotta ask you, what are you going to do? Like…" He paused and took a drink before passing it back. "Ahhh! Like, why are you working for those assholes? You gotta know what the Heights does right?"

That pricked my ears before I squinted at him. I took myself a bog drink, feeling it warm my body. A small tremor rolled down my spine, briefly setting my hair on end. "What's it I'm supposed to know?" I passed him the bottle.

"You don't know then…" He gave a small groan. "Mr. Avenue has a smoke screen disguising the whole operation. " Taking a drink, " he continued. "Look at it this way, The heights are built by chem dealers and slaves. Though, they don't call them slaves and they don't use the term slave or serfs. They don't use bomb collars, they use chems and keep them addicted."

That honestly didn't surprise me. "Keeping ponies hopped up on drugs to produce even more drugs? No wonder the food's more expensive than the radaway." I took the bottle from him and took another big drink, finally feeling it affect me. A wistful clarity cleared my mind and the dull headache I had up 'til now faded. My muscle and joint pains dulled and I could finally feel relaxed as the tension was washed away.

"Yeah, the council runs several refineries hidden throughout the city, there's a reason no one fucks with them. Even the gangers down at the Slaughter Mall trade with them. Ponies for chems and food. Did you notice that the Heights is one of the only places here with clean water? They use this water purifier to control everything in the city." He took the bottle and took a rip from it. "Hell, they don't like or want competition."

"So, you think they got plans?" I asked, levitating out a second bottle. I popped it open and took another drink as he took one too. "You got a theorem to share?"

"Yep," He took another drink and repositioned himself, he hopped up onto the empty bed and faced me, tossing the emptied body to the corner of the room. "I've been thinking on this ever since you teleported us to your stable. Who do you think shot you?"

I hadn't thought about it… so I shrugged. "I dunno, a raider or a ganger?"

"We were within three blocks of the heights. There's no way it was a ganger who sniped you two." He tapped his hoof against his temple. "Think about it."

"Wait, you mean they gave me a task, and told their scouts to shoot us on sight?" That honestly didn't surprise me as much as I would've expected. Probably the drink, "Ya'know, that lines us since that council was way more curious in my home than in me. Amethyst Smoke seemed pretty interested in me though."

"Amethyst Smoke is Mr. Avenue's wife and an informant. The two of them plan everything. They don't like loose ends either."

"Do they even need a boat then?" I asked, sitting beside the end of the bed.

He snatched my bottle and took a drink before I took it back. He shrugged, "Beats me, but I don't think they're expecting to see you again."

Shade and Coffee joined us. Coffee hoofed the bottle from my magic before I noticed him there. He timidly took a drink and winced, spitting it to the floor. "Gross."

Daring Shade took the bottle and read the label and laughed aloud. "Y'all are drinkin' this? It says 95 proof." He took a swig of it, and we all laughed as his eyes shot wide. He broke into a coughing fit.

He dropped the bottle, but I caught it in my magic. My attention returned to Sunny, "what do you think then? If the Heights council isn't worth trusting… Is it possible that they're looking to overtake my stable and enslave my home?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't tell ya' but I think we should still get a boat, it might come in useful."

Coffee Bean held up a hoof, "What's happening?"

I looked at him and then to Daring Shade. "Well, it looks like the Height's council played me for a fool before shooting me in the head."

He didn't respond; instead he scratched at his mane with a confused "Uh…"

Daring Shade's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Them assholes."

Behind Daring Shade, Xeyal snored and repositioned herself as she slept. Daring turned to the still confused Coffee Bean. "You see, the Heights is a high society hub that peddles only the best of the best. They run this city with a shadowed hoof of iron and don't like competition."

Sunny chimed in with an outstretched hoof. "Bottle please!"

Rolling my eyes, I passed it to him.

He took a big drink and smiled drunkenly. "If you goes to confront them, can I come too? They gonna be so surprised."

'Well, I guess we need a boat first. Where do they do the drug making?" I asked.

Shade chuckled, "Depends on the chem. They got productions all over the northern parts of the city and they're heavily defended locations." He hoofed the bottle from his brother and took a sizable drink. After a reactionary take, he continued. "I once got a Steel Ranger scribe drunker than she'd ever been before. She described to me the tedious relations between them and the Height."

"I remember her! Cherry Strudel, right? That pink mare you boinked for a week or two?" Sunny Ember prodded the air with a hoof as he laughed. "She was a charmer."

Shade gave a flat toned "hah, hah. Yeah, that's her. She broke your face if I remember right."

"Yeah…" Sunny rubbed his cheek, "That one hurt. Didn't know a unicorn could do that."

Coffee piped up, "What'd she do?"

Shade looked over at him as he took another drink. "My brother slapped her ass and asked if she would ride his steel paladin… Using her magic, she reinforced her hoof and shattered his cheekbone in one swift hit."

That gave me the idea to try it. Not on him of course. I held up my hoof, looked at the wall I stood beside then back to my hoof. Concentrating on my hoof, I tried to solidify my magic into a sphere, but it wobbled and dissolved. "Damn. If I ever meet her, I want to see that spell."

Shade laughed, "I've seem her use it twice and both times were devistating. The second time was her trying to smash my face."

He held the bottle out for Coffee who immediately waves his hooves before it, declining to drink. With a shrug of his shoulders, Shade took another swig. "She hit the wall behind me and blew a hole outta it. She. Was. Pissed."

Sunny and I looked over to see the bafflement on Coffee Bean's face. He added, to my surprise, "It was a meter thick concrete wall. That mare's punch is more powerful than most powerhooves."

"What's a powerhoof?" He asked immediately, my voice flooded with an enthusiasm that I hadn't expected.

Shade snickered at me before giving an answer. "It's a wartime tech that you wear on your hoof. They hit pretty hard."

Reeling in my excitement and taking another drink, I cleared my throat behind a hoof. "Okay. So what's the relationship between the Heights and the Steel Rangers?"

Sun waved a hoof in the air like an enthusiastic colt in class. We all stared at him, but he just gave a shit eating grin.

"Sunny, just spit it out." his brother told him.

Putting his hoof out, "Can I have the bottle?" Once I gave it to him he said, "Thank you!" with a droll in his voice. Afterward, "Shade has the better answer, but the Rangers offer protection to the chem factories while the Heights offers them unicorn fillies and colts they can conscript."

In my drunken mindset, I wanted to be angry about it, but found myself laughing. "Well, I'd assume then that the Rangers are spread a bit thinner than I expected. Explains why they didn't follow up on the threat of invading the MAS hub."

I closed my eye and took a long slow drink. I heard Sunny whisper, "what in the hell?"

I gently tossed the bottle off to the corner to join the other. I opened my eye to see all three of them wide-eyed staring at me. "The fuck?" I asked.

Footnote:
Level Up! Lv. 13
Feat Unlocked - Elite Badass
Having taken a bullet to the face and survived gives you reason to brag.
+50% chance to succeed on intimidation checks when not wearing hats.
-50% chance to succeed on persuasion checks when not wearing hats.

Perk Unlocked - Medusa's Gaze
+75% chance to paralyze others in fear when you unequip your hat.
Hat perks rock.