Eastern Trotson

Day 4

The rest of our trip to the research station was silent, the news of Bone Breaker’s death casting a spell that left us all mute. What Gold claimed to be a couple more minutes had turned into a long, drawn out slog that never seemed to end. Being stuck on Willow’s back didn’t help, because it meant the only thing I had to distract me were my thoughts. Thoughts that found themselves continuously looping back to what Gold had said to me.

Nopony down here could replace Iron Anchor in my life, and yet I was being asked to do just that. He was half of what made me who I am, the stallion that had managed to finish the puzzle known as my heart, despite it missing so many pieces. Thinking of him made me happy and sad, whole and empty. I didn’t want anypony else, I wanted him.

I could no longer have him.

It was a truth that ripped me open and so, so desperately made me want him to unleash my floodgates. How many times in just four days had I wanted to cry? How many times had I wanted his touch? It was all yet another moment that made me regret my chosen course.

I… I needed an anchor. I hated to admit, but I really, really needed it. Sadly, I didn’t have Ironsight around this time to actually help with any of that. He had been such a huge help in those first few weeks. Especially that first date… oh Luna that first date.

Sixteen years earlier

I was such a different pony then I’m certain none of my grounder companions would have recognized me. In the current day, I have been at the top of the world and above nearly everypony in terms of power. Back then, everything my parents had done had created a young soldier whose brain panicked before it thought. I had been in the military for two years, seen some shit, got fragmentation stuck in my stomach, and other wonderful things a normal pony would definitely not be okay with.

Emotions didn’t help with that. Sweet Celestia, my emotions were strong back then. They were why I was currently pacing back and forth outside a café, anxiously waiting for him: a stallion named Iron Anchor. I didn’t think I deserved the chance I had before me but here I was, getting chances. The only reason I hadn’t passed out was because another stallion had promised to stand by me while I waited for him.

That was Ironsight, the oldest friend I had. A coat the color of an oak tree, with a pink mane and tail contrasting from the rest of him. His cutie mark was twin assault rifles crossing each other at the receiver, barrels pointed up with a star behind him. He was wearing that stoic look, being calm in hopes it would help me do the same. It was… sort of working.

“You do think this dress looks good, right?” I said, my worries having circled around to the point I was asking questions that had already been answered. Ironsight rolled his eyes at how I was acting. “What? It’s a genuine question. I’ve never had a coltfriend before.”

My face felt so hot it might as well have been pressed against Celestia’s sun. Until getting away from dad I hadn’t really thought about having a love life. It was more important I got the bits to get the fuck out of there and to my own, safer place. When it finally did happen, I hadn’t really thought of what else to do and sunk myself into just being a soldier.

All up until a group of fellow Enclave soldiers, having caught Iron Anchor glancing at me, dared him to ask me out. That led to me, my brain not completely functioning because I had just learned somepony liked me, saying yes, and everything spiraled. I had no idea what I was doing, no idea why the fact Anchor liked me made me a blushy mess, but here I was pacing back and forth in self-made terror. It was… really sad.

“Yes, the dress is fine. Your sense of fashion isn’t anything to worry about,” Ironsight replied, trying his best to not laugh at me. I greatly appreciate the sentiment, though him eyeing the bright pink dress I wore did give me some worry. “I’m not sure if it is the same for straight stallions, but he’s gonna be less focused on the outfit and more focused on you.”

My anxiety skyrocketed, my worries continuing to circle around and around like a merry-go-round. “That just means I’ve been focusing on the wrong shit this entire time. Are my hooves clean? How about my coat? My mane isn’t a mess, is it? Did I–“

Ironsight placed a hoof on left shoulder, leading to me freezing up and staring into his vivid green eyes. “Rhapsody, listen: you are heavily over thinking it. He asked you out when you were drenched in sweat with a mane-style not even a mother could love. You’ll be fine.”

He withdrew his hoof, leaving me frazzled and dazed. I pointed at him with a hoof.

“That is your attempt to be encouraging?”

“Eh, more or less. I’m telling you the truth, and the truth is that you could show up in your dress whites and he would be more than okay with it.”

“And you are sure about this because…”

“I’ve talked with the stallion in question. Iron Anchor isn’t a bad pegasus.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

I glanced off to the rest of Aery, watching pegasi of all ages pass by on their way to one thing or another. The city was truly a testament to the strength of pegasi-kind, bustling with life and color. Many grounders assume that everything is just clouds, clouds, and more clouds, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It hadn’t been like that before the Last Day, and even before unification of the three tribes. Sure, we used clouds in a lot of our support structure, but we used brick, stone, marble, wood, and every other material a pony would expect of a civilized nation.

When shit fell apart, we turned to the world below for the materials to replace it. Those weren’t common, but they were typically the more dangerous missions we were sent on. It meant we would likely be dealing with more grounders and radiation than normal. It was necessary for the Enclave’s survival, however, and the reward was always worth the risk. I know the piece of Enclave power armor had so many parts replaced before I got it that it could be considered both new and old at the same exact time.

That was after I had become an officer too.

“Do you… do you think we’re a good fit?” I asked him.

“I can’t decide that for you,” Ironsight replied, looking out over the city of clouds just like I had. “When you said yes to this date, did you want it to work out?”

“Yes. Yes, I do. He’s… I don’t know, you’ll think I’m crazy if I tell you why I like him.”

“You know the way I swing, Singing. If anypony here would know it's me.”

I chuckled, because I knew he was right. My eyes looked left, right, up, down, all as I tried to find the perfect words to describe how I was feeling. Thinking about Iron Anchor, from his voice to his body, gave me this strange and wonderful lightness. He made me smile and laugh, and I felt I could be more vulnerable around him than anypony not named Ironsight.

“He’s… his eyes are beautiful, and his mane is cute, and…,” My face was so, so red as I realized what I was about to say. “And he has a nice ass. He’s got muscle but it isn’t bulking, ya know? He also talked so gently.”

“So strong and gentle, that’s your type eh?” Ironsight asked. I gave him short, rapid nods, all too happy when he walked back up to my side and patted my back with a wing. “Let me guess: you feel like you can be yourself around him.”

“It’s a lot easier being Singing Rhapsody the soldier than Singing Rhapsody the abused filly,” I replied, unsure if I should smile or frown. “Acting tough feels easy. Acting like me… I spent the past two years pushing that away.”

Ironsight drew his wing away. “I don’t think the two are as separate as you think, and I can’t blame you for taking everything a bit more seriously. Right, “Splinter”.”

“The fact Domino told you that fucking nickname still pisses me off,” I said, pouting a little. “A pegasus messes with a grenade one time.”

“You seem to have bad luck with those.”

“I don’t!”

“You definitely do.”

“No, I… ugh, okay maybe I do. Shouldn’t it be good luck though if I’m somehow still alive and in active duty?”

Ironsight smiled that same, mischievous smile. “Ah, but who ever said that was the same bit of luck? I wouldn’t call it good luck to constantly end up near death's door, or bad luck to come out of it alive.”

“The reaper definitely wants me, but I keep parrying his shots like the grounder filth he is.”

Ironsight chortled, and moments after I joined him in laughter. It was nice, uplifting, quickly turning what had been a rather dark conversation into something… still dark, but relieving. My laughter stopped, and I looked at the rise and fall of my chest through my dress. I was calm, relaxed, any other synonym a pegasus could come up with to describe being the opposite of stressed. Ironsight, the wonderful bastard he was, had done exactly what he said he would.

“You know, sometimes I feel your talent is less related to firearms and more related to calming ponies down,” I said, looking briefly at his cutie mark. I compared it to my own, a bar of music consistent with a set of triple notes. Even if I had abandoned the course it had assigned me, knowing it would be replaced by her mark still hurt. “Perhaps both of our callings were off.”

“So you don’t play bass anymore?”

“Oh, no, I do. It’s just… music isn’t what I want to do anymore. The Enclave will always come first for me.”

He snorted, smile growing even wider to the point it was nearly uncanny. His eyes focused on somepony down the street, raising a hoof up and waving it to somepony. I looked where he was looking, only to let out a tiny, uncharacteristic yelp as I saw who it was.

Black coat, gray mane and tail, an old blimp steering wheel for his cutie mark. It was him. Oh sweet Luna he was right there and watching us casually for not that far away with the most reassuring smile on his face. The kind of smile that said “I heard everything but will act like I heard nothing.” He knew why I liked him now… and had learned that damned nickname.

“Sergeant Ironsight.”

“Anchor.”

Anchor turned to me, a nervous smile on his face. “Singing.”

His voice along making any real greeting near impossible. I had a goofy smile on my face, looking at the stallion before me. That lightness in my heart expanded, my wings threatening to snap open at him. While Ironsight looked at me more concerned, Anchor silently waited for me to respond. His eyes nervously flicked from side to side; I think he was worried he broke me.

In an attempt to prove those possibly-not-true thoughts wrong, I finally spoke. “H-h-hi.”

“Have just as little clue what you are doing as I am, eh?” Anchor asked, face red… oh my goddesses his blush is adorable. “I’ll try and not make this too awkward.”

“N-no, I mean, same or… fuck.”

What in the world was this stallion doing to me?

We stood there in awkward silence, Ironsight doing his best to not laugh his ass off at the lack of smoothness between both of us. I appreciated it, but also wanted to hit him for even wanting to laugh at the two of us. His laughter did free me, at least momentarily, from my Iron Anchor-induced hypnosis. How did a single pegasus make me this completely hopeless?

“So, I see you two are still figuring out the “talking to each other” stage of things,” Ironsight said, stepping forward and putting his hooves on us both. It allowed us both to break our prolonged, accidental staring contest. “Guess that proves how perfect you are for each other.”

“Wha- I- damn it Iron!” I said, batting my foalhood friend over the head. He only laughed at my actions. “This isn’t the time for- I mean you can’t just….”

My eyes looked at Anchor, noticing how his hooves were covering his mouth as if… no, no, stop reminiscing. Stop reminiscing!

“Singing, your face is really, really red.”

“It. Is. Not.”

I buried my head in Willow’s back, inwardly swearing at myself for choosing that of all memories to go back to. By Luna’s wondrous sky how had I wasn’t even able to the actual date before it had become too much. How could twenty year old me be such an absolute mess for everything concerning it to go that fucking poorly? It’s almost a miracle that Iron Anchor had actually stuck with me after it all.

Though, the fact he stuck with me did warrant a sad smile. I had been an absolute mess of a mare that day and he ended up coming back for a second date. Then a third, and then we started hanging out in our off time, and then more dates, and after three years of dating we married. He stayed by me, never once abandoning me for somepony else.

Yet I had gone and abandoned him.

Thinking about him stung my heart and healed it at the same time. I wanted him, but couldn’t have him anymore. His hooves, his wings, his touch, felt so far away and it left me cold… empty. He was the reason I smiled, the reason I lived, the only thing that allowed me to cry. Why in Celestia did I come down here instead of staying with him? Why had I refused to stay with the family I loved, knowing full well I would likely never see them again.

“When they are old enough, we will join you down there. Does that work?”

He meant it, and I wanted it, but I desperately hoped he… found somepony else. Somepony that was as good to him as he was to me, and wouldn’t leave Rainy and Clear like I had done. The only thing I could give either of them anymore was safety and comfort up in the civilized world of the pegasi. That was the only thing that might allow me some form of forgiveness.

“This it. Though, not as beautiful as I remember it.”

I looked up, noticing we had stopped at the fallen carcass of a building. Gold mumbled something more before stepping forward, removing collapsed wood out of the way of what was once an entrance. Gemini tilted her head in timid confusion while Sharpshot and Willow looked at each baffled. The ghoul pawed at his cheek with a hoof, and for the first time I noticed how it seemed to move more like skin than. It seems the goggles weren’t the only piece of clothing stuck to him like an even uglier, more deformed skin.

“You gone senile geezer? Seeing nothing before me but a pile of rubble.”

“Not yet. Still got few years, I think,” the griffon forced a smile at Sharpshot. “Told em “build better entrance”. They said “would invite unwanteds”. Now look at place! Mess of rot and mold.”

“S-so the entrance is in or under this all?” Gemini asked. She looked away from Gold before he could give her a nod, instead looking at Sharpshot and Willow. “W-would it help if we lifted it all out of the way?”

“Help of unicorn, ghoul, and alicorn would be greatly appreciated,” Gold replied. “Just, perhaps let pegasus down first.”

Though I knew the answer I was going to receive, I looked at Sharpshot. “Helping isn’t an option, is it?”

He gave me a nod, and I groaned in frustration. After being carefully lifted off Willow and placed on the ground, everypony in my group except for me got to work. My teeth ground against each other as I watched the grounders work. Knowing I was the only pony sitting out, that in this moment they were able to do normal things I couldn’t, angered me. If it wasn’t for my damn shoulder – tartarus even with it broken – my pride begged me to do my part. The fact Sharpshot and Willow were both injured and able to drive me wild.

Yet it was my pride that broke my shoulder bones in the first place, and neither the husband or wife were suffering from wounds as debilitating as me. Sure, Willow had a clear limp, but she also had magic that allowed her to lift boards and debris out of the way. I was useless, incapable, just like I had been before joining the military.

Just like Dead Hooves.

As if knowing I was thinking about her, the tan mare appeared at my side. She eyed my shoulder, seeming unsure of what to make of my injury. Afterwards she flinched and looked into my eyes with an apologetic look.

“How bad is it?”

“Fucking annoying is what it is,” I whispered. “It’s actually less painful than the fracture… when I don’t move it at least.”

“And when you do?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Well, hey! You got Willow and Sharpshot looking out for you. One more willingly than the other, but it is still something.” I scowled. “What?”

“I don’t want that. I shouldn’t need you grounders helping me.” I looked at Gemini, the freed slave more nervously and carefully removing things with her magic compared to the alicorn right next to her. It seemed even magic-wise Willow’s style was strength and brute force. “I’m a member of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I should be several times better at not fucking up my body, and look at me. Sitting on the ground watching these grounders do the work instead of me.”

Dead Hooves raised her brow, head slightly tilted. “You’re upset about ponies doing the work for you?”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t be?”

“Perhaps when I first met Willow, but you know what I learned? It’s so much simpler having others do the work for me.”

She smirked, the glee she spoke with placing a rather uncomfortable feeling in my chest. There was pride in her stance, her voice, and her eyes. It was like she was gazing at Princess Celestia, the spirit of the long dead monarch right there in front of her. Instead she was staring at nothing, content.

“I mean, look at me! Just a helpless young mare who can’t walk without some form of support. Through one way or another, ponies just want to help in their own unique way. You see it for long enough… and you find ways to take advantage.”

“So you started manipulating ponies?”

“Only those not in my immediate friend group… and Sharpshot. For some reason it doesn’t seem to work on that insufferable bitch.”

I looked at the ghoul, and then back to her. “You do know he is a stallion right? Calling him a bitch doesn’t really work.”

“Don’t care. A bitch is a bitch, and as far as I’m concerned Sharpshot fits that description perfectly.”

There was a brief pause, and then I looked back at Dead Hooves.

“Perhaps that works for you grounders, but up in the clouds we do things in a more socially acceptable manner. Enclave is one big family and every pegasus has to play their part. Even unicorns with shit legs.”

“As if I would ever be allowed up there. I mean, it has to be absolutely amazing.”

A small amount of my own pride started to swell within me as she acknowledged the Enclave’s greatness. Yes, it really was that amazing. A place where everypony was safe and worked together for a better, brighter future. A place where society hadn’t died, culture flourished, pegasi lived their lives safe from the horrors of the surface. When I became a soldier, it was that which I had sworn to protect, and I still did.

“And I can’t blame you for not wanting to sit down,” Dead Hooves said. I wasn’t paying attention to the fact her voice happened to be just a little too happy for the given moment. “You’ve worked your ass off for your fellow pegasi. I can’t imagine ever living up to you, the image of pony-kind perfected.”

I brought my uninjured forelimb to my chest. “That’s pegasus kind, Dead Hooves. You can’t compare yourself to me and mine.”

“Of course, sorry.” To have a grounder treating me like this felt wonderful. After the horrid past few days a bit of confirmation that I truly was better than them all was wonderful. “So, given you are such an incredible pony, don’t you think it would be better to just sit and relax for a little bit? Let the “filthy grounders” do all the work for you.”

You know, for being one of those grounders herself, I had to give Dead Hooves some credit. She was right, I didn’t need to do anything for the moment. It stung to not be actively taking part in my own mission for a bit, sure, but it was all deserved. Nearly four days of tartarus with barely any relaxation could definitely wear on a mare's mind. She was a pretty smart unicorn.

So smart, she had played me like the patriotic fiddle I was.

“Yes, I think some relaxation is exactly what the doctor ordered,” I replied, shifting a little bit. I stretched my wings along the dirt and dead grass of an old front yard. It was right across from where everypony else was doing the hard work. “Good thinking Dead Hooves. Let them do all the work. A bit of R&R before shit hits the fan never hurts.”

“Glad you think so,” She replied, allowing a little more malice into the smirk she was wearing. While I had noticed it, it was so quick that I never thought about what it truly meant. “Oh, and since we’re family, feel free to call me DH. It’s what Star Chart called me. Something about the name being too cruel and seeping with irony for her to say it.”

“I think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself… but DH does indeed sound better than calling you Dead.” A wince led me back to my broken shoulder, my constant shifting to try and get comfortable not agreeing with the thing. “Alright, DH it is then.”

Her look grew more sympathetic, reaching a hoof to my mane in wanting to ruffle it. I felt nothing, and I have a feeling she felt the same. Sympathy turned to disgust, then sadness, and then she faded away. I was left alone to relax, the only sounds greeting my ears being the moving of boards or a distant gunshot.

It made me wish I had brought my bass with me, actually. Ironsight had bought me one when I was nineteen, a little “congrats on finally getting away from your family” present. He joked about the two of us starting a little band together with him as the singer. For all the good in that pegasus, singing was most definitely not one of them. He was more of a speaker than a singer, and I personally preferred to have the latter in my music over the former.

Out of curiosity more than anything, I flipped the MentaBuck on and explored it some more. If Sharpshot had gotten radio signals on his PipBuck, then maybe they had something similar for me. After a bit of going through menus and figuring out as many little commands as possible, I did actually find a radio option. Right there was DJ-PON3, along with Red Eyes station and one other.

S.M.R.. I wonder what it sounded like.

“– ther news, it seems some pegasi are calling the Las Pegasus airport their home. They arrived just a couple days ago, wishing to take back what the “stripes” took away from them. Funny, considering how they’re treating Cloudsdale, and the fact we all know our zebra friends are not responsible for what happened to the City of Artistic Creation. Though, hey, if any of you Enclave folks want to help shit on the false star we would be more than willing to have. You.”

“Speaking of the Enclave, let's give them a welcome with an old pegasus classic. Have you ever heard of Songbird Serenade? Well, let me introduce ya.”

“An F.O.I. in Las Pegasus? I should ask Ironsight about it when he calls in.”

I remember the Enclave council had been talking about taking back Las Pegasus for some time, but this seemed to be the first active steps towards actually doing so. The question, however, was why?

While we have long led the general public to believe it was the zebras who were responsible, that wasn’t the case. No, Las Pegasus was the result of unicorns being allowed into the clouds. On the last day, when Cloudsdale fell, though members of the M.A.S. who had called Las Pegasus home fired off a megaspell. Their target was supposed to be the zebras, like every other megaspell Equestria fired on that day.

Instead, it blew up within Las Pegasus itself, sending the city tumbling from the sky and into the edge of the San Palomino desert. When the newly formed Enclave had learned of what had happened, it only further cemented that they needed to distance themselves from the grounders as much as possible. Thus the truth was covered up, in some strange vague notion that the public learning the truth would damage a reputation that had been fragile at the time.

It seemed idiotic, but then again a civilization could not truly be called smart. It was the dumbest that tended to speak their mind the loudest, not the smartest, and at that period in time the dumbest pegasus had to have been really, really stupid. It didn’t help that Minister Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo had abandoned us as well not long before. Them leaving the Enclave must have made the councilors at the time terrified. If they had revealed the truth about Las Pegasus it would have led to chaos.

Revealing it was all a lie later on would have possibly fractured the Enclave. Societies were fragile things.

With the uplifting tunes of Songbird Serenade in my ears, I closed my eyes and started to hum along. Compared to the dour tracks played by DJ-PON3, reminding of how fucked up the surface was, I felt myself lifted back to the clouds. Even centuries later Songbird’s music had remained extremely popular within the Enclave. To know even grounders appreciated her tunes was nice.

“Hey, soldier mare! We got it!”

Opening my eyes, I saw everypony staring at some device Gold had in his talons. With the way he was holding it, I wasn’t able to tell what it looked like. He shared some words with Willow, and the alicorn nodded before trotting over to me. With Gemini’s help I was lifted onto her back, and promptly led over to everypony else. I had to turn the radio off; it took over so much of my hearing that it had taken Sharpshot screaming at me to get me to hear him.

“So are you going to tell me how it works?”

“No.”

“I'll let you use Flash Fire.”

“Answer still no. Join others please.”

With a scoff, Sharpshot did as Gold asked. The griffon took a few steps back, eyes never straying from the device on him. Now that I was closer, it was possible to make out two details concerning it. The first was it shared that same blue glow both Roche Limit and Atomizer had. The second came in the form of a wire that dug into the collapsed house's floor. Any attempt to get a better look was stifled by how the griffon held said device and its small size.

“Will send you all first. Recommend touching each other for safety.” I snorted against my own will, causing Gold to look at me disappointedly. “Really?”

I smirked at him. “Choose your words more carefully. This mind isn’t that clean.”

“Point still stands. Less chance of things going wrong if ponies touch each other.” His eyes had started to return to the device, only to look up at me. I managed to hold in my amusement that time. “Willow biggest. Recommend holding onto her.”

Before Gemini or Sharpshot could say otherwise – though I doubt the latter would complain – Willow spread her wings and scooped up both unicorns. They were dragged close to her, Gemini shifting uncomfortably underneath her while Sharpshot leaned in lovingly. Willow gave the griffon a nod, and the top of the device was pointed our way.

Before anypony was able to ask what was about to happen, my vision went black.

“So this is the pegasus that survived the implant? I have to admit she looks a lot less impressive in person.”

“Arti, please give it some space. Last thing we need is the creature getting scared and killing one of us when it wakes up.”

“She’s not a “creature”, Redwood, she’s a pony. A little bit of radiation in her, yes, but she certainly isn’t as bad as the ghoul or false princess.”

Those were the first things I heard when I woke up, though that only left me with the question of when I had fallen asleep. I was laying on easily the softest thing I had been on since exiled, the sounds of the decaying city of Trotson was nowhere to be heard, and the air felt stale. Testing to see if I had been bound to anything, I unfurled my wings and flapped them about. It led me to discover I had a blanket over me.

It also led to the voices getting a little more irritated.

“Damn it Arti, you woke it up.”

“She is not an… nevermind. Just give her some space.”

A heard the clop of hooves against metal, slow and methodical like a foal sneaking up on their sibling. When it stopped, I considered that the sign I would no longer find two ponies leering over me like a demon in my nightmares. Opening my eyes proved that to be correct, a dull metal ceiling in similar design to the secret M.A.S. lab above me.

The room itself was something between that and what would be found in a stable, though smaller and more residential. A relatively new mattress with just as new sheets and covers lay below and on top of me. The latter's sea green helped add a bit of color to what was just… gray. Bookcase, desk, everything was the same boring shade of gray.

“This ceiling needs a mural,” I whispered, congratulating myself inwardly for deciding to focus on the least important thing in that particular moment.

“See Redwood? Even the pegasus thinks this place needs a bit more color.”

I looked in the direction of the voices, which happened to be around the exit to the room. Both were unicorns, a green one with a purple mane staring at a maroon one who was hiding on the other side of the door. The stallion was the green one, and the blank look on his face said everything.

“Really? All that talk and the moment she wakes up you act like this?” His response earned an overexaggerated glare. She shuffled in regardless, looking her hate filled eyes on me. “Sorry about that miss. Redwood here is rather judgemental.”

“Am not!” The mare, or filly now that I saw how big she actually ways, replied. She turned her head up like a stereotypical rich pony. “I have every right to feel scared of her.”

“Again miss, I’m very sorry.”

I looked between the filly, and then at him. They overall seemed normal, but a closer eye could spot small oddities. One of Redwood’s eyes was oddly bigger than the other, and the stallion’s muzzle was just barely in the range of what would be considered unhealthily short. One was a bigger concern than the other, but it put me off for a moment.

Then I remembered what Gold had said back at Nature Care.

“Very few survivors from labs, so inbreeding became common. Now their minds bright, but their bodies are dumb.”

If this was what they looked like on the outside, I didn’t want to imagine how fucked their organs or bones were. Did stables also have these problems, or were there enough ponies inside of them to keep bloodlines separated enough? Only pony I know who could give an answer was Sharpshot. Speaking of which…

“I’m fine. Where am I? Were there others?”

The stallion smiled at me. “ArcanaTech Research Station E, and yes there were. While some of them had injuries, none were severe enough to the point they passed out from the pain of being stripped apart and put back together.” The smile fell away to blankness again. “Gold really should know better.”

“I passed out from pain?”

He gave a nod. “Yes, though you shouldn’t have to worry about that. That corpse, Sharpshot he calls himself, already seemed oddly capable for a waster without tools. To see him work with them and an extra set of hooves… well, I think the lack of pain and gravity cast on your right foreleg speaks for itself.”

Gravity cast?

Needing an answer, I slowly sat up and found zero pain in my right shoulder. It also didn’t have any feeling in it, yet it wasn’t numb. Instead it was this weird in between, having just enough feeling to be able to move without actually having any feelings in it. Sliding the blankets off my body, I beheld the culprit of that in between feelings.

A strange, malleable thing was that recognizable ArcanaTech black and glowing blue made it up. It covered my entire right foreleg, from my shoulder all the way down to my hoof. I expected it to restrict my movements, but instead I was greeted with my full range of motion. In fact, doing so didn’t even hurt! Something about it had to be keeping the shattered remnants of what was my shoulder bone from moving apart.

Given the name the stallion had for the device, what it was became very clear.

“You should consider yourself lucky, P-1,” Redwood said. As I didn’t know who this P-1 was, I didn’t respond. “You are one of a hoof full of wasters lucky enough to use the forefront of civilized healing methods. Do thank Minister Heart for that when you next talk to her.”

“What she means to say…” the stallion replied, once again eyeing the filly with contempt, “is that you won’t need to worry about your shoulder too much. I would still highly advise against too much strenuous activity, but it is far better than lugging around a worthless limb for the rest of your life.”

“Too right about that,” I whispered, looking over the thing as much as possible. “Consider yourself one of the few grounders to have ever received thanks from the Enclave mister…”

“Artificial Synthesis, though please call me Arti. The full thing is a mouthful. Gold already filled us in on why you all are here, and we are getting everything ready for your excursion into Trotson great natural wall.”

Certainly the talkative type. Then again, many a genius do seem to enjoy the sound of their own voice.

I slowly got myself out from the bed I had been placed in, stretching my back and wings. As shady and rude as these ArcanaTech ponies seemed to be, they were definitely good at what they did. Two centuries of pure technological improvement at the cost of even their bodies was a sign of that.

“If you are wondering where the rest of your irradiated friends are, they’re all over the place at the moment,” Redwood told me. Her tone was filled with hate and disapproval at me even being here. “I know that the unicorn mare, the one that doesn’t look like they’ve been burned alive, has been wandering around and the Alicorn has been answering some of the questions of the scientists here. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go somewhere that feels a bit cleaner.”

I scrunched up my muzzle. “Who taught you that language, filly?”

“Why should I tell you?”

Redwood left the room, her hoofsteps echoing down the hall. Arti groaned, his hoof meeting his face as he shook his head. He clearly understood that she was greatly upsetting a former member of the Enclave council. If the opportunity arose, a talk with her parents would be in order. They needed to be given her proper discipline for how she acted.

“I apologize for Redwood, P-1,” Arti said. His gazing at me gave me a sudden realization at who this P-1 pony actually was. I scowled at the idea he was referring to me as a number. “I’ll also apologize for how other ponies are doubtless to respond to your presence. A lot are still think less of the ponies outside ArcanaTech facilit–”

“Singing Rhapsody.”

“-ies… wait what?”

Walking up to him with purpose, I let all emotion fall away from my face and voice except displeasure. I rose my head a bit, just to let him know that I was far beyond what he was. He took a single step back with his left hoof, allowing my right to step forward. I towered over him, giving the same glare as an officer would a traitor of the Enclave.

“My name is Singing Rhapsody, Lieutenant Colonel Singing Rhapsody to be specific.” I placed a hoof on his chest and pushed down, forcing him to shrink underneath me. The fear in his eyes was delicious. “I am not called P-1. Refer to me by a number again, and I’ll make sure your leader knows my displeasure with my treatment, understood?”

“Y-yes miss.”

A shifted my attention away from him. “Good. Now if you excuse me, I have some more important grounders to talk to. Oh, and I would like it if you told me where my weapons were.”

Turns out the reason the research station felt in some ways like a stable was because it had once been just that. The original inhabitants were either a part of ArcanaTech, left for the surface, or dead, leaving it for these ponies to move in. They had dressed it up for themselves, destroyed the stable door since they apparently didn’t need it, and had turned it into what it was now. That meant it had every little accommodation that a stable could have, from a cafeteria to a medical bay (which I was likely in for a time earlier) and an armory.

An armory that housed not just my shit, but a bunch of other guns. Another stallion, an earth pony named Dissonance, was the “guard” for it. It seemed more a courtesy than anything, because nopony in here actually wanted to touch the damn things. The only proof anypony needed to see that was how he opened the locker my shit had been stuffed in: brute force.

“The fuck you getting so prissy about?” He spat at me. The words were the result of me decking him in the snout after he had actually opened it… and heavily damaged the locker in question. “You got your toys, did you?”

He sulked away from me, mumbling about something concerning wasters. If I had the energy in me, he would have been corrected for lumping me in with the likes of raiders, slavers, and cannibals but it wasn’t worth it. One walk across the stable and at least a dozen dirty or nervous glares told me all I needed to know.

I looked to the row of rifles, pistols, and shotguns kept being casing all around the room. I had a better way of lording over him then scaring him, in this instance.

“Have you ever done a maintenance check? Make sure it won’t explode in someponies hooves when they try and use it.”

He turned back around to me, looking at me like I had grown a second mouth and an extra pair of wings. “No. Why would I?”

“Then open the cases up.”

“Pardon?”

“The weapon cases.” I took a step forward so I could motion to with a simple tilt left. “Open them. We’re doing maintenance.”

“Why should I care? Nopony is ever going to use them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Wrong answer.”

I stomped up to him and slapped the grounder, sending him reeling left from the force.

“What in tartarus you dum–”

“I don’t care how secure you think you are. You’re a guard, a soldier are you not?” He didn’t answer, but the way he leered at me was enough of an answer. “Death finds a way to your front doorstep, and she ain’t as kind as the pony or bullet that will lead you to her. You want to make sure your loved ones are safe, then you will open these cases, you will let me see if they still work, and you won’t complain.”

He scowled at me. “Ya know, with the way you are talking, I should kill you.”

“Go ahead and do it,” I replied, grinning widely. “I’m sure you would like to explain to the Invisible Mare how the pegasus helping her got shot trying to make sure her ponies were protected.”

A stare off commenced, my yellow eyes bearing into the dull brown of the pony below me. His composure was very similar to that of Sharpshot, meaning he matched me second for second up until two minutes had passed. Then he literally spat in my face. As quickly got his saliva off my face with my cast-covered leg, he started to unlock the cases.

“Still don’t see why you want to, but knock yourself out,” He replied, “and to be clear, I don’t give a shit if you got some fancy title or whatnot. The moment I think you don’t know what you are doing, I’m looking the toys up and kicking you out of this room.”

I grabbed a pistol and immediately pulled the slide back. A 10 mm casing popped out, and I caught it in my hoof. Forcing a cough to grab that stallion's attention, I showed him what I had discovered. The drop of his jaw told me everything I needed to.

“I think you're the one who doesn’t know what they are doing.”

During those early years as a soldier, I had been in charge of repairs and replacements. While my talent related mainly to music, there was a certain… rhythm, about checking and repairing weapons that scratched that musical itch. With novasurge and other such magical weapons I had found that perfect, preferred tempo, time signature, and otherwise to turn monotony into a song of its own.

When stationed on the surface for a bit, I had learned how to take care of weaponry that I had otherwise been told to just throw away. They said a material rifle was nothing to what the Enclave factories produce, and while I prefer magical weaponry myself they couldn’t be more wrong. While I did always give a soldier another novasurge rifle to replace the material one they had picked up in the field and broke, I secretly used that time to learn every little detail about them a pony could.

Was it an example of me being a good soldier and following orders? No, but repairs and maintenance scratched the rhythmic itch that military life left me. Perhaps if I hadn’t been so stubborn about not wanting to learn an instrument outside of the bass guitar I would have joined the marching band. I was not picking up drums, and the only brass I used involved embedding them in the bodies of the Enclave’s enemies.

All that to say that, with an entire armory free to do an impromptu round of maintenance with, along with my own weaponry, I was having the time of my life. Dissonance watched me from a distance, clearly intrigued and confused about how dedicated I was to this simple mission. Only time I ever looked at him was when moving from one gun to the next, and after a time he wasn’t alone in his watching. More than a couple had come to watch me, the odd “waster” who had been doing menial work for absolutely no reason.

Among them was Gemini, the only pony to step forward into the armory and actually grab my attention for longer than a millisecond. She sat down to my right, the constant nervousness in her face as she watched me work. Funny, I didn’t expect what military ponies would consider boring as hell to entertain so many.

“You know, that pistol of yours should be checked too,” I whispered to her. It was impossible to tell if the look in her eyes came from the joy she heard in my voice or the fact I had noticed her at all. “It might be a good idea for you to learn how to do this all. Willing to learn, grounder?”

She looked at the pile of already checked weapons, and then back to me. Forcing a smile on her face, she gave me a nod.

“– then I put the magazine back in, do this and… did I forget something?”

I chuckled as I looked at the unicorn, looking between her pistol and me confused. “Nope. That’s everything. Good job.”

For the briefest moment, the young mare’s entire body seemed to become ten times more alive then it had ever looked. It went away as she placed the pistol down in front of her and scooted away. There was still joy visible on her face, but it seemed she was doing everything she could to wipe it away.

While she was still a filthy grounder, there was something different in Gemini compared to the rest around me. Perhaps it was that she reminded me of myself when I was younger, or hearing about everything she had been through. When I got away smiling was both the best and most difficult thing I had ever learned to do in my life, because I was always waiting for the moment my parents would do something to make me feel like I was nopony special. It was the same exact thing with this little unicorn right here.

Dare I call her a kindred soul? Perhaps, if it was indeed possible to shape that nervousness into something greater.

“Now, let's do a bit of a refresher to make sure you remember how to use it properly,” I said. “Pick it up. It’ll be easier to do this that way.”

Once I finished my impromptu maintenance check and had put all the guns back in their cases, I left the armory. My battle saddle rests on my back, helping the feeling of nakedness I had been dealing with since my shoulder was originally fractured. The cause of that fracture, Gemini, was at my side with her pistol holstered. She consistently kept herself a step behind me, lining her head up with the base of my wings.

She didn’t know where Gold had gone, but she was aware of Willow’s. That alicorn had scarcely left the medical bay since we had arrived down in the research station, but not because of her injured hindleg and flank. No, it was because she had been bombarded with questions and was more than willing to talk.

I’m sure some of it had to be Unity secrets. I wonder how mad the Goddess was at her.

“I didn’t really pay attention to what they were saying. I didn’t know a lot of the things they were talking about or what they meant,” Gemini explained, eyeing the metal piping that snaked along the walls. “I… don’t know a lot, now that I think about it.”

“Then consider this journey you ended up on your chance to get some of those street smarts you grounders seem to have.” I looked back at her and smiled. “And I’ll fill in what they can’t.”

“Uh, sure.” Her pupils flicked to me briefly before returning to the walls. “You’re… you’re still scary though.”

“I’m fine with that. Needed it with my position in the Enclave.” A tilt of the head. The rise of a brow. “I was a member of the Enclave council. Consider them the… gang leaders, I guess.” The words burned my throat like boiling water. Gemini seemed to understand but it still felt so wrong calling them that. “We make the rules and punish those who break them. We give the others to the Enclave itself.”

“Not every pegasus is in the Enclave?”

“Nope, because the Enclave is the actual military force of the clouds. The only way to become a member of the council? Join the Enclave. Want to know if the surface is truly the irradiated cesspit that we’re told it is in school? Join the Enclave.” I turned my attention to the ceiling, wishing the sky was there instead. “Want to get away from home, where all your worst memories and all your foalhood was burned and broken? Join the Enclave. That last one was me.”

A sound left her mouth, not matching any letter I knew, before real words left her mouth. “You… didn’t like home?”

“Mom was… the closest thing you would think of is a raider. She sold some horrible, horrible white powder to ponies that just wanted to not think. Got a filly killed from her actions.” A strangled-sounding gasp caused me to look behind her. When I saw Gemini was merely shocked, I continued. “Dad was just a piece of shit. Anything I did was undermined because… I don’t know why, he just hated me. He was almost always drunk. I can feel the phantom bruises he would sometimes leave on me when he was mad. On my face, my legs, my… he left a lot of bruises.”

“He… did he fuck you?”

I halted, looking back at her. I frowned not because she was right, but because that indeed is what it looked like. A sullen laugh left my throat and shook my head.

“I just didn’t want to talk about the bruises anymore. Sorry for making it sound worse than it is,” I said, clutching my stomach for a moment with my left foreleg. “The ponies that we found you with, did they rape you?”

“Rape?”

A twist in my stomach. The rise of bile into my throat. “Did they put their dick in your vagina without asking you?”

She looked up to the ceiling, an expression of loss forming. She then looked back to her flank, and then to me.

“Do… Do ponies ask up there? In the clouds, I mean.”

“Good ponies always check for consent before they have sex. It’s one of the most basic parts of a pegasi’s sexual education.” My throat felt clogged, but I forced my mouth to speak against its will. “If they don’t ask for consent, and force themselves upon you, it is considered rape.”

Her face attempted to shift into shock, but all she could muster was tears. The gears were turning in her head for all to see as the slow realization of what I feared – and what she never knew – hit her like a four gauge slug. Gemini took one step back, then another, followed by a shake of her head as tears started to cascade down her cheeks, and then one final step backwards.

“I… you can’t mean… there is a good way to fuck? There is a way that isn’t…,” Her words caused me to take my own step back as I heard what she was saying. “You mean… you mean… you mean I should have had a choice?”

A step back turned into multiple steps forward. I made to reach out a hoof, but stopped as I considered if she would take it the wrong way at that moment. Instead, like I had done to Rainy and Clear when they were sad or scared, I spread my wings and covered her with them. I was careful to not touch her body, instead just allowing her to stare into my chest, sobbing.

“They never asked. Nopony ever asked me.” Her head dropped down, leaving me unable to see her expression. The tiny plop of teardrops on the floor was enough. “Ponies are supposed to ask and they… and they…”

“Ponies like them are why the Enclave stays above the clouds – why they lie about the surface still having pony life,” I explained to her. “No matter what you are, you don’t deserve this. Nopony, stallion or mare, deserves it. All I can say is that everything is okay now. They are dead; they can’t touch you; you are safe.”

She struggled to lift her head to face my own, an invisible chain forcing her neck down. After half a minute, she finally broke it and slowly showed me her tear-covered face. My hoof subconsciously lifted up to her face to wipe away the tears, only to see how her fear grew at the feeling of my nail against her cheek. Realizing my mistake, I forced my hoof back to the ground.

I wasn’t sure how to help her in this instance. When I was hurt by my family, the loss of soldiers, or the terrible things I had seen in the wasteland, I went to ponies I trusted for physical comfort. Iron Anchor, Ironsight… Medicine Ball, all willing to wrap me in both wings and hooves and help me when needed. So the fact that what I wanted to do felt like the worst thing to do left me lost.

It was when the tears finally stopped that I decided to speak again. “I can’t promise nopony will ever try that again. What I can promise is to teach you how to use the tools needed to defend yourself if anypony does.”

“You mean… make me terrifying, just like you?”

“Trust me filly, you don’t want to be like me.” I removed my wings from around the unicorn’s body, taking a step back as the folded up at my side. “Up on your hooves. No matter how hard it is, the most important thing is to always walk forward.”

“Keep… keep walking forward.” She took a step forward, looked down at her hooves, and then back to me. “Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I turned away, allowing my smile to fall into a grimace. The smart thing to do would be to figure out some way to keep her here; her presence in the ground would clearly be a detriment to the mission as a whole. The only thing keeping me from doing that was the fact she and I had come from different, yet somehow disgustingly similar cloth. A cloth I would have known was a fake right away; you can’t fake somepony who's lived the experience.

Besides, helping her felt like a promise to myself in some odd way. A hope that I could save her from becoming as numb as I had.

“You still want to see Willow, right?” She asked, hastily trotting up to my side. I gave her a nod. “I’ll lead you to the medical area then.”

“Thanks… Gemini.”

She tilted her head with the tiniest smile on her muzzle. “I should be saying that to you, Missus Rhapsody.”

I wish it was possible to say the research station’s infirmary had some different look to it. That would be a lie, however, and anypony from a stable would immediately tell you how wrong I was. Even worse the white sheets on the beds, metal tools, and otherwise just meant it was more gray than the rest of the damn place.

The moment we walked in I spotted Willow Wisp laying casually in the bed. The way her head and hooves moved told me she was responding to the question of the two unicorns before her. One was a black mare with a snow white mane, cutie mark hidden by the scrubs she wore. Looking at the other pony led me too…

“Everything okay Missus Rhapsody?”

Gemini’s voice brought the attention of those who had already been in the room to us, including the ghoul that had caused me to freeze. They looked exactly like ones that had attacked Willow and I down in the labs, down to the shiny white skin that replaced their coat. They had their mane still, though it seemed like it was made of something far denser than what mine or anypony else present had. My chest went to where I had been stabbed by the horn of one of those ghouls.

Willow gasped the moment she saw me. My vision found itself suddenly unable to focus as a force of pure alicorn might barreled into me. Before my brain was able to figure out what had actually happened, I found myself getting constricted to the point I thought my spine would break.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh, you’re awake!” Willow exclaimed. “You had us all worried. Like it was easily the most worried Sharpshot has been in over a century. I’m so glad to see you okay.”

“Breathing… hard. Let….” Any further response was stamped out of me, turning into the croaking not unlike a dumbass amphibian.

“Missus Wisp,” the nebula ghoul said, voice low and booming as if someone had cranked the bass of a song far too high. “I think you're killing her.”

“Oops!”

I collapsed to the floor, mind finding itself unable to function. Laying on my back, wings splayed out, and hooves twitching in the air above me, I stared helplessly at the alicorn and former slave above me. The latter looked terrified for my well being, while the other seemed more shocked, holding a hoof to the end of her muzzle.

The other unicorn joined them moments later. “Oh dear. I think you may have broken the poor thing.”

“Strange. Sharpy typically takes longer to go into this state.”

Gemini looked at the alicorn in horror. “Y-you do this to him?”

Willow shrugged. “He’s never stopped me. I doubt he would have waited over a century to tell me he didn’t.”

“You wasters certainly are intriguing folks,” the other unicorn mumbled. “Still, let's try and not knock her out for a few more hours. Sounds good?” Willow gave a nod. The unicorn’s attention turned to me. “Are you alright dear?”

I blinked, taking several seconds in my dazed state to realize that the question was directed towards me. “I… think? Was I just hit by an alicorn or a balefire bomb?”

Willow’s wings shifted at her side as she looked away sheepishly. “Hehe, sorry Singing.”

“It’s… it’s fine, I guess.”

Gemini and the other unicorn held their forehooves out to me. Grabbing hold of them with my own, I was brought up into a sitting position. After shaking the after effects of getting bulldozed by the strongest pony I know I looked around for what had distracted me in the first place.

They were there behind everypony, keeping their distance. The nebula ghoul watched me curiously, his metallic looking fuschia mane acting less like a collection of hair and more one singular mass.

It makes a lot more sense when you actually see it.

“It’s wonderful to see you up… Missus Rhapsody?” The unicorn asked, looking at the alicorn in front of me. When Willow nodded, she turned back to me. “I do apologize if many of us haven’t been using your name. Minister Heart specifically said that subject P-1 was making her ways towards us. I didn’t know your real name till Missus Wisp told me it.”

“Same here,” the nebula ghoul said, bringing my attention back to him. The way his voice thundered was certainly unsettling. “I’m Aleph Null. The normal mare who just spoke is Careful Procedure.”

My eyes stayed glued to Aleph, needing three different speaking attempts before my mouth finally cooperated. “It’s… nice to meet you.”

“Missus Wisp told us about your experience in the abandoned Ministry hub,” Careful Procedure replied. “While I doubt you really need the assurance, Mister Aleph is not like those we left behind.”

A frown flashed across Aleph’s face, only to be quickly buried by a gentle smile. He took a hesitant step forward, Willow stepping to the side so that he could join the little group around me. I decided to use that time to get completely back onto my hooves, standing up and stretching my wings just in case. Strangely, Willow's death-grip hug had actually made me feel significantly less tense in the body.

“Willow, did the idea of being a chiropractor ever cross your mind when things didn’t work out with the Unity?”

“Nope. Not really my type of thing.”

“A shame. Perhaps in a more civilized world it would have been.” When my body felt all stretched out once again, I looked to Aleph. The dark, void-like eyes of the nebula ghoul met my own, their unnatural nature more than unsettling enough. “Aleph Null, right? You were there when the bombs fell.”

“You know? I take it you took to thoroughly explore the Nebula labs then.” His eyes narrowed as I nodded. “I’ll admit, the thought of somepony with no relation to the Ministries exploring it doesn’t sit right with me, but I don’t make the rules. If Minister Heart trusts you, then I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

A smile graced my muzzle, forced though it may be. “Appreciated. Though I must ask who Minister Heart is. I can take a guess but…”

“If you are guessing they are the pony you wasters call the Invisible mare, that is correct,” Careful explained. “She’s the first flesh and blood leader we’ve had in over a century and a half. Exceedingly young, a bit eccentric, but the kid wants nothing but the best for ArcanaTech and you wasters. It’s been a change but I won’t say it has been terrible.”

A young, unstable filly in charge of an entire community. Honestly the fact it was still standing after five years was incredible, and showed that Lucky might not have been as hopeless as her age would leave one to believe. I also surmised that, given the lack of care given to the weaponry ArcanaTech possessed, I imagine the filly’s takeover might not have been that violent. All she and Gold needed was to figure out how to get to the ponies in question, deal with whoever was in charge beforehoof, and voila!

“Anyways I mainly came to check up on you, Willow,” I said, shifting the conversation. “Your leg doing okay?”

She turned around to show me her now healed flank, shaking and then stretching it for me. “Good as new. I’ll say though, teleporting in here made the pain flare up horribly. Made it seem a lot worse than it is.”

“Mister Sharpshot mentioned the same thing happening to him, I believe,” Gemini explained. “And, well, you just passed out suddenly.”

I gave Gemini a nod. “So I’ve heard. It’s… well, I wouldn’t say it is good we all experienced something similar but it’s nice to know I wasn’t alone in my experience.”

“You’re damn right it isn’t good! I saw you collapse and we all started to panic.” Willow’s ears flattened, head low as she eyed me with concern.“Sharpy… didn’t handle it so well. When they took you in here he volunteered to help the doctors. Once the cast was on your leg he started getting antsy and… well.” Her head lowered even further. “I think he was worried he might have killed you. He doesn’t show it, but I think he cares about you a lot more than he lets on.”

I blinked, trying to put together what Willow had just said. Sharpshot was… worried about me? Was she talking about the same pony I had gotten to know over the past three days? The ghoul was an ass, the two of us sharing a mutual hatred that had kept us at each other's throats since meeting. The only kind thing that could be said about the wiseass was how good of a shot he was, and I wasn’t sure how much this curse of his played into that anymore. It felt more likely he would end my life than save it.

Yet, for all of Willow’s insanity, she wasn’t a liar. Crazy, bloodthirsty, a rather skewed sense of what is adorable, but she was an honest soul deep down. If she said Sharpshot was worried about me, then logic be damned he was worried about me. Which meant the polite thing to do when I saw him was thank him, which would no doubt lead to some cocky response that ended with me trying as hard as possible to break his muzzle.

Still, figure out why he was genuinely worried first. That mystery had to be solved.

“I find it hard to believe that he suddenly likes me after Gold spoiled the details on M.A.M.”

“Oh, no doubt. I may forgive you because you’re doing the right thing now, but Sharpy is as stubborn as the Goddess. If he says he hates you, than he hates you.”

“Then why was he worried about me?”

Willow’s lips curved down, her eyes averting their gaze from me. “Because you’re related to Dead Hooves. Distantly related, yes, but related nonetheless.”

“He was worried because I’m related to a pony he hates?”

“No, because she was the first friend his curse ever killed.”

Hooves pressing down on my neck, a familiar red shape eyeing me passed an enemy through the lens of his scope. The pegasus told him it was too dangerous, he said he had no choice. A bullet fired, the pony above me unscathed.

My neck erupted in agony.

I stared dumbly at Willow Wsp, which the ponies around me most likely took as me being surprised at what the alicorn had just told me. I had felt the sudden absence of wings on my back, my hindlegs heavier than they normally would. My right forehoof went to my neck to feel for an injury; it was fictional. The hoof made its way to my head in search of a horn that wasn’t there, and was firmly reminded of my wings as they fluttered up and gave a small flap. They closed up right after.

What… what had just happened?

“There was this really bad pony named Nightshade, the same pony who had sold Dead Hooves out as myself. We tracked him down, Dead Hooves tried to fight him herself, but the supports we had made to allow her to walk broke during it.” Willow’s words woke me from the strange stupor I had put myself in. “Sharpy tried to save her but… his curse had chosen a different target. Her neck was… I’d prefer to not actually talk about it. It’s one of the few times I hated seeing a pony's blood.”

“Of… course. Sorry to bring up bad memories.”

“You didn’t mean anything bad by it Singing. You didn’t know, no need to apologize.”

Okay, no, seriously, what the fuck had just occurred?

I took a step back and allowed my thoughts to focus all their attention on the odd flash I had just witnessed. My body had briefly felt so wrong, like some unnatural out of body experience. I looked myself over, as if I needed confirmation that I was indeed the pony that I believed myself to be. I spread my wings, noting every little feather until that questioning piece of me was satisfied.

That was followed by a frown as I realized how much they needed to be preened.

“Well, Missus Rhapsody,” Procedure spoke up, bringing my attention to her. “Since you are awake, perhaps it would be a good idea to do a little health check up? We’ll have to go a bit more in depth than usual, given I have no medical records.”

I mulled over the proposition before nodding. “Good idea. If my foreleg is feeling as good as it does, I’m sure your word can be trusted.”

“I don’t think this is part of normal for a check up doc,” I said, looking at the wires attached to the side of my head.

Careful Producer smiled at me, eyes lighting up like a lighthouse. “I know, but you must understand this from ArcanaTech’s perspective Missus Rhapsody. You, much like Missus Wisp and Gold, are the first of your kinds we’ve had contact with since the Last Day. Everything is out of date and I would really appreciate it if you lended us your aid. All for science, I assure you.”

The glee in her was a bright contrast to the deadpan stare I gave her in return. Gemini, Willow, and Aleph proved to be absolute zero help, watching with similarly innocent looks on their faces. I was already hooked up to the machine, nopony was coming to my rescue, and I doubt Careful cared about my consent. I let out a long, overdone sign to hold it off for just a bit longer.

“This won’t hurt, right?”

“I can promise you it won’t.”

“Fine. I consent.”

“Huh?” Gemini replied suddenly, blushing. “You two going to… right here? In front of us all?!”

My eyes went wide, head turning rapidly from one unicorn to the other. My face flushed as it landed back on Gemini. As terrified as I wanted to look, I think the panic had overwritten it on my face.

“Gemini, consent isn’t just a sexual thing!”

Her eyes grew exceptionally wide, the blush overtaken more of the gray on her face. “Oh… heh. Whoops?”

“I personally think I would say yes if Rhapsody consented to me.” Willow said, giving me that kind of look. She spread her wings and swished her mane around, turning once again so I could see her flank. “I mean, she looks good in blood already, and I’m certain my “horn” is the perfect–“

All I heard was the awful sound of hooves being dragged across the floor. My face had buried itself in the mattress below me, hiding my blush. It didn’t hide it well, but it did well enough. I wouldn’t have blamed Careful Procedure for doing the same.

“I think it would be best for the patient if you two stayed out here,” Aleph Null said. I heard something mechanical activate, some more skidding of hooves, and a similar mechanical noise afterwards. “Okay, you two are safe. I swear, non-intellectuals really have nothing else on their mind at times.”

“A-are you sure this a-a non-intellectual th-thing or a waster thing?” Careful asked back. I lifted my head to look at my ghoulish savior, witnessing how odd a scowl looked when a pony had no fur. “No offense, Missus Rhapsody.”

“I’m not a “waster”, so don’t lump me in with them,” I replied. Any chance at coming off as pissed was deemed impossible by the fury of my blush. “So, please, just pegasus is fine.”

“But you come from the outside world,” Careful replied. “Everypony we meet from the outside world is a waster, since you all have been exposed to its effects. Not to mention the evolutionary elements.”

“Before this transforms into an argument, I believe there is an easy way to show what we mean,” Aleph said. He looked at me attempting to smile, but it looked as unsettling and odd as the frown from earlier. “Missus Rhapsody, would you please show us your teeth?”

My brow raised. “My… teeth?”

Aleph nodded. “While Equestrians have always had the ability to eat meat, since the Last Day some changes had occurred. To those who have lived in it for those two centuries, the magical radiation along with available food has slightly accelerated evolution.

“That only goes for those who have been on the surface for a long time. Look at the teeth of any of the non-ghouls here and you will notice their teeth are still flat; lack of evolutionary need for canines has led to us not having them. Same goes for those who have turned to ghouls earlier in this post-war world and those living in stables also don’t have these forming canines.”

“Missus Wisp and her husband do not have canines, though the latter could go for brushing their teeth occasionally,” Careful further explained, unable to hold her amusement at her joke. “Miss Gemini, however, does. They aren’t pronounced, but they are there.”

“Well, if that is the case, I think you will find I don’t have them,” I replied confidently, head high and a hoof to my chest. It helped hide the fact my tongue was trailing along my teeth in fear. “The Enclave grows its own food. We have no real reason to eat meat.”

Aleph’s smile grew a little. “Then there will be no need to fear me taking a look.”

He was clearly confident, and I felt the same. Opening my muzzle, I let him peer at my teeth for any signs of the wasteland’s evolutionary effects. It did feel a little invasive, but to prove I wasn’t the same kind of pony that Gemini was, any discontent it brought could be brushed aside. After two minutes he stepped aside with an expression of pleasant surprise on his face.

“Well, it seems you don’t have that evolutionary trait. I must give my approval to the Enclave for holding true to that much,” Aleph said, grabbing a clipboard and jotting something down with a pencil real quick. “Speaking of which, I’m sure Minister Heart has already said it herself but I’m sorry that our first meeting ended up so… bloody.”

I grimaced. “If you ponies start mentioning it less, I’ll accept the apology.”

“At the very least, it shows that the effects of magical radiation haven't harmed the pegasi to the same extent as the earth ponies or unicorns you abandoned,” Careful explained. She didn’t face me, the end of her statement ending with a poignant glance from the side. “That doesn’t mean you are completely clean, however. Along with checking your brain for any abnormalities, there are some other tests that we should do. Minister Sharpshot mentioned you being rather sure about your heritage, for instance.”

“He claims I have a unicorn ancestor. I believe he’s trying to turn me against the Enclave.” I laid my head down on the bed, grimace still present. With a sigh, I crossed my forehooves. “A pegasus with grounder blood would never be given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. It's too dangerous to have them that high up the chain of command.”

Aleph tilted their head. “Reason?”

“Those with grounder blood have dangerous beliefs and ideals. They tend to be more mentally unstable and have led to more Dashites than those of pure pegasus blood. Need I say more?”

Careful and Aleph looked at each other, the former looking like they had eaten something way too sour. They were the looks of two pones distressed, contemplating information just thrown before them. Surely none of what I had just stated could be that new though, right? They must have learned something about the Enclave from other grounders.

“So you don’t believe it?” Careful asked. “Or is it more you don’t want to believe it?”

I hastily sat up, giving her an offended look. “What kind of question is that? Of course I… of course I don’t…”

No matter how much I wanted to say it, a small piece of me denied it. I didn’t want to believe it was the latter, because a piece of me felt that was admitting I was part unicorn. That left me saying I straight up didn’t believe Sharpshot, but somehow that felt the same. Either way, I would be roped into an ancestry test. There wasn’t a decent out in front of me, and if the test came back…

…

Ironsight couldn’t know. If I was part unicorn, and I told him, any contact with the world above would no doubt be severed. I didn’t want to lose the last thread I had to my home. I didn’t want to lose my friend, because if Ironsight knew… oh Luna what would he do if I was part unicorn?

Is… is this how Angel felt, when I told her to forget what she was that day?

“You realize I’m not going to be staying here for that long, right?” I told them both. “Even if we took the test, it would take around a month to get all the results, right?”

“Using old school methods, yes,” Aleph answered. “However, ArcanaTech have spent two years advancing science while the rest of you violate and murder each other. Allow us to do this, and at worst it will take a day's time.”

“If you leave before then, we can ask Minister Heart to give the results to you,” Careful continued. “Speaking of which, when we told her of what happened upon arriving she was dead set on speaking to you. We’d recommend talking with her personally. She was worried that she had gotten you killed.”

More like Moondancer had wanted me dead. As much as I wanted to say that, I kept the thought in my head in case she was listening in. I didn’t trust the walls to keep my thoughts secret in this city.

“Alright. Get it out of the way, prove that piece of shit he is wrong, and all works out.”

“You were in there for a long time,” Willow replied as I exited the infirmary. “Careful didn’t take no for an answer, did she?”

“I think a check up was just an excuse to prod me with everything she had,” I replied, letting out a heavy sigh at seeing them both. It did nothing to relax the tension in my body as I thought of what might come up in the ancestry test. “My personal space feels thoroughly violated.”

“She didn’t do anything that invasive to me, outside of checking my teeth,” Gemini said, a hoof poking at the corner of her mouth. “They seemed rather upset that a few of them were pointy. Is there something wrong with that?”

The unicorn was promptly scooped up by the alicorn next to her, pupils shrinking in fear. Willow didn’t notice or care, squeezing the life out of the Gemini as is she was a radroach who had tried to steal our lunch. The satisfied smile – the way Willow’s entire body seemed to relax the moment physical contact was made – made me realize that she was also a pony who valued physical affection.

Considering her love for blood, how good that was is up for debate.

“Of course not! It just means you're perfect for the world around you,” Willow explained, her words no doubt going in one of Gemini’s ears and right out the other. She let go off the mare a second later, leaving her with barely the wit or time to get her hooves under her. “I mean, many of the ponies Sharpy and I have met had them. At this point it feels weird to see ponies who don’t have them.”

I gave her a deadpan look. “So we are the weird ones.”

She gave me a nod. “Eeyup!”

With a shake of my head, I started down the hall. Aleph and Careful had given me the directions to what had once been the Overmare’s office, now turned into a communication room. It connected to the other two research stations ArcanaTech held, though the doctor, ghoul, and even my MentaBuck refused to tell me where they were. The research station I was currently in wasn't listed on it either, much to my annoyance.

ArcanaTech certainly enjoyed its secrets.

“You two can come along if you want. Just telling the Invisible Mare I’m alive,” I shouted back to Willow and Gemini.

The sound of galloping met my ears, Willow’s larger form hitting my vision before Gemini’s own. It made me realize just how thin the unicorn was; if she was going to be traveling, then making sure she’s getting enough to eat was incredibly important.

Turns out, they had lied about it originally being the overmare’s office. The communication room was both the overmare’s office and the radio room, the walls having been broken down between them to make them far bigger than they originally were. The reason I was told to head to the overmare’s office specifically was due to both sides pertaining to whether you were making the call or receiving it. In this case, Lucky Heart was calling me, so the former overmare’s office was the location given.

The set up, as well as the technology that allowed them to do this all, was certainly impressive. The Enclave had ways of sending terminal messages to different terminals, but voice calls were not something widely available to the public. It was specifically for military use, and helped alleviate any fear of pegasi somehow contacting the surface. Doesn’t matter if the cloud layer made that near impossible; us military leaders are told to plan for the worst, and we run the sky. A single pegasus talking to grounders could rupture the Enclave.

It would be impossible to tell that the communication room had once been an office of any sorts. While still the basic stable set up that I was growing especially bored from (there is no way anypony would stay sane with this amount of ugly gray) they had tried to dress it up a little . It was divided down the middle with multiple booths depending on whether a pony was calling or not, with waiting space just in case they really needed it. It was the bare minimum, but it was something different.

The gray stayed however, like some tumor too close to its soulless mechanical brain to cut out. Luna, Celestia, somepony please just add a dash of blue or pink! I’d even take yellow, despite the fact the entire place looked like it had been pissed on.

With my mind slowly going insane, I didn’t immediately hear the two voices talking in one of the booths. When I did, I stepped towards it with both Willow and Gemini still flanking me. The first full sentence I heard was from Gold.

“Egotistical, racist, but somehow not completely despicable. Unsure if good idea to give it to her, given current experience.”

“We are fully aware of the danger, but we also trust you enough to control her.”

I wanted to burn a hole into the steel wall of the booth, and Willow seemed to feel the same. “Is that….”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Moondancer.”

“Goldy, she’s a dashite. They forsaken their cutie marks for what they believe is right,” Lucky Heart’s voice suddenly popped up. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize it was me they were talking about. “I mean, yeah, she is definitely a lot meaner than I expected a dashite to be, but there is good inside her.”

“Highly doubtable.”

I ground my teeth at Gold’s assessment, unsure of why in tartarus I even cared about what he thought.

“Just trust me Goldy, there is. Perhaps not the good of the Ministers before they became the Ministers, but still good, and need I mention she got rid of her cutie mark.” Lucky’s words brought my attention to my flank. A piece of me stung as I looked at it, unable to see how the mark of a traitor could possibly be seen in good light. “As I said, just give her a chance.”

“I am. Doesn’t change stance.”

“Your concern has been noted and promptly dismissed,” Moondancer replied, her voice as sharp as a dagger. Gold’s back paws stumbled back slightly at her tone. “We have decided it would greatly hasten the acquisition of the documents, and haste is paramount before the fall too far into the wrong hooves. You will accept this reality, deal with it, and that is that. Am I clear, merc?”

Gold didn’t respond, the sole talon visible from my view behind him scraping loudly against the metal floor. He punched something, stepped away, and momentarily went wide eyed at the sight of the three ponies that now stood in front of him. He quickly regained his composure, choosing to remain silent all the way up until I was about to enter the booth.

“To be clear, not being good isn’t bad.” My eyes flicked over to him, the rest of my body stationary. “Just means… nowhere to go but up.”

I scoffed. “Tough words for a back talking shit.”

“My point remains. You might want to consider… tidying self up. Doing yourself no favor right now.”

“Just shut up and leave.”

He mocked me with an all-too-formal bow before doing as I requested. I swear to Celestia, I do not know whether to hate his guts or appreciate him for being the most normal creature around. One minute we are having an intellectual conversation, and the next I find out he is talking shit about me behind my back. It’s why mercenaries couldn’t be trusted; their loyalty was only true until your back was turned or somepony offered more coin.

Lucky deserved a better surrogate father.

“I would apologize to you, Singing Rhapsody, but I think we both know I don’t mean it,” Moondancer spoke. My attention turned back to her. “You should be thanking Lucky Heart for you being alive. I found it fit to leave you for dead down there, but it seems she doesn’t see you as a lost cause.”

“Moondancer sent the elevator from the labs back up and turned the call buttons off,” Lucky replied. “I manually sent it down when I realized Willow was trying to call it.”

“So she wants us dead,” Willow stated, as if it wasn’t already blindingly obvious. “Careful Rhapsody. Don’t trust everything she said.”

I kept my mouth shut, giving Willow a subtle nod. I took a step into the booth, steeling myself for whatever insults Moondancer or Lucky would throw the Enclave’s way. I didn’t care if this place was significantly safer than the nebula labs, I was in an ArcanaTech facility. Behaving brought less possibility of injury, and I didn’t need another after what my right shoulder had gone through.

“Judging by the silence, it seems you will not let bygones be bygones,” Moondancer spoke. Her voice was carried through a metal box on the wall, as featureless and dull looking as everything else in the research station. “Quite idiotic if you ask me. You’ve seen more of Equestria’s future then most of your kind would in their lifetime. You should consider yourself lucky.”

“One hole in the chest and a dead mother tell me otherwise.” My response left silence on the other side. I held down the urge to smirk. “Death was not a just punishment, forced suicide even less so. If that is what you call Equestria’s future, then I would point to the clouds and tell you of a land where peace still reigns.”

“We are not having this conversation. A problem was dealt with, and you will have to deal with that.”

I snorted in affirmation, the urge to smirk growing ever stronger. Either she didn’t care, or had no good way to defend her actions. Given what little I’ve spoken with Moondancer so far, the former seemed the more likely explanation.

Gemini glowered at the words. “Sh-she wants… but the blood. Her son’s screams.”

“Miss Shining Gemini, right?” Lucky asked, gaining the mare's attention. “I will speak with Moondancer about it later. I’ll have to reevaluate how we deal with ponies who betray my trust.”

I forced a cough, looking at Gemini with as gentle of an expression as possible while still carrying the message to stay silent. “The Enclave personally uses Equestria’s old judicial system, with some changes to account for population control, traitors, and the removal of the death penalty. Perhaps, instead of taking the laws into your own hooves, Minister Heart, you should consider what making a future Equestria–”

“She does not need a traitorous pegasus telling her what to do,” Moondancer spat at me. “Your kind abandoned us, your former Equestrians, to toil instead of trying to help rebuild. What use could your advice be compared to mine?”

I scrunched my muzzle, my wishes to smirk being wiped away by the condensation in this piece of shit’s voice. She blames us for abandoning a world about to die? For not saving ponies who could not be saved? There was no reason and no way to save the grounders, and while unicorns and earth ponies panicked and screamed we got off our asses and saved as many of our own as possible.

If Moondancer and Lucky Heart weren’t already a clear threat to me, I would remind them that the pegasi had managed to keep civilization while the rest of ponykind sunk into anarchy.

“Then perhaps get on to why you are contacting me. I’m pretty certain it wasn’t so we could argue,” I said instead.

“Yes, it wasn’t,” Lucky growled. It didn’t feel like it was pointed at me. “The main reason we wanted to talk with you had to do with your plans. I’m sure you remember what lies inside that sandstorm.”

“Yes, balefire fossils. I can assure you I won’t be making the same mistakes I did five years ago.”

“Good. That means that the form of natural and physical protection Moondancer and I are returning to you will be worth it.”

My eyes narrowed on the metal box. “What do you mean returning?”

“Is your brain made of rocks?” Moondancer mocked. I gave her the silent treatment. “When your team made that idiotic move on Trotson five years ago, not everypony made it back. The dead that were left behind were retrieved, their technology confiscated for the purpose of study so that we could recreate and modify it. We’ve decided that two of the newly named NB-2 power armor will be issued to you and Shining Gemini. Don’t worry, hers has been outfitted for a horn.”

My brain briefly short circuited, leaving the clear danger Moondancer was presenting from coming to my brain immediately. Promise of more firepower was nothing compared to the mixture of anger and sadness at learning how the bodies of my fellow soldiers had been treated. They weren’t research material, they were proud pegasi who had died in service to their country. They deserved to be cremated like all pegasi, not cut apart and studied like filthy animals!

Yet, was that really all that surprising at this point? What was clear, civilized logic was as backwards to the wasteland as their views of problem solving. Their bodies had already been left behind in the escape from Trotson, leaving their families with nothing but pictures to mourn them with. For grounders to not give two shits about that made since, especially considering what they had put Gemini through. There were no words that would undo the damage done to the bodies of the dead. Just had to look ahead and keep moving, like with so many things today.

Which led me to finally realize they were giving Gemini a set of power armor.

“Moondancer, you’re giving an untrained…,” I briefly looked back at Gemini, the word I was trying to say caught in my throat “civilian a dangerous weapon they don’t understand. I don’t agree with this.”

“Too bad; you’re working for Lucky, not the other way around. She wanted to give it to Gemini, and that is what we are going to do. Just think of it as more reason to kill ponies, you wastelanders seem to enjoy that.”

Gemini opened her mouth and then immediately closed it, gritting her teeth and looking elsewhere. With a heavy heart and heavy sigh, I know there wasn’t a good way of getting her out of this. Soldiers follow orders, no matter what they are, and if Lucky was going to give a pony with no combat experience power armor, I would have to deal with it and help her. Thank Luna she had somepony around that actually knew how to operate it.

“Okay. Thanks for the assistance,” I replied half-heartedly. “Is that all?”

“Yes… though I do want to say that I’m glad you are alive,” Lucky replied. “Also, sorry about your shoulder.”

“It’ll heal. Don’t worry about it.”

The silence that followed told me everything was done. I fully turned around, briefly looking at Willow and Gemini before my hoof collided with the top of my head. It slowly moved its way down and around my face until meeting my lower jaw, disconnecting with my body afterwards.

“Going from top to bottom isn’t fun,” I muttered to them both. “I’m so used to being in charge that it’s hard remembering that I’m not anymore.”

Gemini managed her best sympathetic smile. “I don’t know what the former is like but… yeah it sucks being down here. I can imagine that being on top is a lot better.”

“Hey, at least you got two ponies that won’t do that to you here, right?” Willow replies. As soon as I smirked I felt a shiver cross my spine. She was wearing that same seductive look again. “Also, I’m more than willing to be on bottom if you ever want to… you know.”

The sudden red in my face made it impossible to stop myself from giggling. Willow joined in moments later, Gemini watching us both slightly uncomfortable. Given her own experience that wasn’t shocking.

“Fucking tartarus Willow, how do you manage that?” I asked. All she gave me was a goofy grin. “Thanks though… and is Sharpshot okay with you joking like that.”

“Eh, he understands. A really broken banana makes a mare rather irritated at times so we’ve come to an agreement on this stuff. So… consider that my invitation, though if you're straight that is A-okay.”

Her statement caused me to think for a moment. Truth be told, I had absolutely no clue if I swung just won or both ways, and the fact she was able to make me blush showed there was a chance, right? I filed that under “things to find out when the traitors were dealt with” and gave Willow a shrug. She seemed to get what it meant.

“So, um, what do we do now?” Gemini asked. “I don’t think there is anything else important to do, right?”

“A well prepared, unspoiled meal? Would be treated before we head back above ground.”

All eyes turned to the communication room’s entrance, a certain griffon leaning against the wall on only his hind legs. I glared at him, but the cheerful expression on his face refused to go away. He had to have planned it; there was no way he didn’t plan it.

“I thought I told you to get lost.”

“Ears were clogged. Didn’t hear it,” He lied. He looked at Shining Gemini, the unicorn staring back with the least amount of fear I had seen in her eyes yet. “I’m rather surprised. Made friends with a unicorn when nocreature looked.”

Gemini and I looked at each other. I broke eye contact first, looking back at him.

“Grounder though she may be, she is a victim and not the cause. Truth be told,” I turned back to the unicorn again, glaring melting away into compassion “if you were a pegasus of the Enclave, I would have called us one in the same.”

Gemini blinked. “One… and the same?”

“Don’t think too hard about it.” I told her, taking a step forward and flicking attention back to Gold. “So, fresh food? I doubt ArcanaTech has fertile land out here, especially underground. You grow it in the S.P,P, tower? Cloud seeding?”

He chuckled at me, as if hearing about how we pegasi made our food was somehow amusing. I paid it no mind, instead thinking about getting to taste something similar to the cooking of my home once again. Cloud grown food wasn’t the tastiest without spices, which were decently expensive, but it was home. I doubted anything was better than it.

“If pegasus expects cloud food, be prepared,” Gold said, kicking off the wall and landing back on all four. “About to witness the fruits of ArcanaTech labor. Food tastier than you ever knew.”

I grinned at him. “Somehow, I highly doubt that.”

Gold was right.

I hate to admit it, because he was giving me a look that said “I told you so” from across the circular metal table, but he was right. All that was in front of me was a simple cheese pizza, with none of the usual and absurd amount of spice that would typically litter it up in the Enclave. Nothing but crust, tomato sauce, and cheese, two of which I had forever thought had little to no taste or texture to them.

It’s almost hilarious how much I was wrong; that was easily the best thing I had tasted in my entire life. No cloud grown food could ever top it, and no wasteland shit would ever be as fresh. I looked up at Gold, then back down at the slice before me, and then back up at him in uncontained shock. That was when he had given me that aforementioned look, and while I wanted to hate him for it I really couldn’t.

This was just… so fucking good. I clearly wasn’t the only one.

“Oh Celestia, this is one of the best things I’ve tasted in my entire life!” Willow replied, barely able to hold her telepathy together in ecstasy. “I don’t ever want to go to outdated rations and canned shit again!”

“Make that two of us,” Gemini replied, belly already full after a single slice. A stomach that small wasn’t a good thing. “I want to taste this for the rest of my life.”

“Food makes good argument for ArcanaTech, no?” Gold asked. For a moment I leered at him, only to realize it was clear sarcasm. “Result of relaxed scientific rules and continued work on Project Nebula. Allows for incredible technologies.”

“One of which has to do with the food we are eating?” I questioned back.

The griffon shrugged. “Supposedly. Something about making miniature sun. Makes no sense to me.”

“I imagine it is something that might have been taken kindly by Princess Celestia. After all, the sun is hers to control.”

I held a hoof up to Willow. “Was might be the better word. Unless her spirit is still keeping it going I strongly doubt she makes the sun turn anymore.”

“Then the same goes for Luna and the moon right?” Gemini asked. I gave her a shrug; being alicorns, Celestia and Luna, technically could still be alive. That said, I doubt they would have let Equestria stay in this state this long if they were. “I wonder who is controlling them now?”

“Considering you didn’t know what heartswarming is, I’m surprised you know Luna and Celestia’s roles in old Equestrian society.”

“I-I’m not a complete idiot, just mostly one.” Gemini shuffled a bit, possibly meaning to scooch away from me but going nowhere instead. “Mama taught me about some things before those bad ponies put her down. Not a long of things, but her lessons got me my cutie mark.” She looked down to her flank. “She was so happy for me. Said my talent would mean I would be more than she was. I remember asking what she meant but… she didn’t answer.”

“A life as a raider or a life as a slave. Neither could be considered ideal.”

“Yeah. It is why, despite how scary this all is, I’m glad to be here instead.” the unicorn’s eyes trailed from her flank to my own. I flicked my tail over my brand, hiding it out of shame. “What does your cutie mark mean, Missus Rhapsody?”

Such an innocent question, and yet it hurt so much. As worthless as the talent that had been marked on my flank was, it was several times better than the mark of a traitor. A traitor Gemini didn’t realize was a traitor, along with the stigma that came with having her mark branded on my leg.

“Perhaps it would be better to ask her how she got it,” Willow replied. I looked up in surprise, Gemini following my gaze to the alicorn smiling behind her. “Her real one. The one hidden beneath a nasty chemical concoction and branding iron.”

Gemini tilted her head. “What do you mean, Willow?”

“When a member of the Enclave leaves to permanently live on the surface, willingly or not, they are branded a “Dashite”, or perhaps a traitor is a better term.” Willow’s slightly changed, looking for confirmation. I moved my head down in a half-nod to help hide the fact she had been unsure. “The thing you think is her cutie mark is that brand. The brand of the most famous pegasus to ever leave the Enclave: Minister Rainbow Dash of Equestria.”

Gemini’s head moved back and forth, back and forth, digesting the information. The further she digested it, the more it seemed to unsettle her. Her head first turned to the table, and then fully to me with a look of understanding and sadness.

“You… weren’t sent here willingly.”

“That easy to see, huh?” I muttered with a frown. “If it wasn’t me, it would likely have been Ironsight. I… I took the blame for him; it would be easier to get rid of me, given I hadn’t been in the council as long as him.”

She shifted her attention back to the table. “And the… brand, does it hurt?”

“Now? No, at least not physically.” My vision slowly turned back down to the horrific sight that had been burned onto my flank. “Yet knowing her mark is forever engraved on me is wounding. I failed my country, my friends, my family while she left us all for nothing but radiation and death. Where she took loyalty and spat in its face, I stayed loyal and ended up the same. I just… I don’t get it.”

My focus found itself unable to stay on the mark of my failure, and for the first time since arriving I found the gray on the stable’s ground pleasant.

“Not all things deserve loyalty.”

The sound of Gold’s talons and paws hit my ear as he walked around the table and up to me. Both his left talon and left wing were placed on my body, the former on my shoulder while the wing rested against my back, as he sat down right next to me. While his words felt like they were meant to lead to something encouraging, they did nothing but widen the wound I had been refusing to close. Still, he was clearly trying to say something, so I decided to listen before spitting back at him.

“Loyalty can come to wrong things. You won’t know till those you are loyal to stab you in the back.” His right talon went to his chest, trailing a scar that led from his collarbone to right before his stomach. “Can seem impossible to understand, and perhaps it will remain that way. Nonetheless, we must move on. We must.”

“My… owner, even though I hated him, had conditioned me to a point where I was loyal to him like a fanatic,” Willow spoke up, examining her own flank. “He ordered me to kill, I did it. He ordered me to bu- put the dead in graves, I wouldn’t stop until every dead body in sight was six feet under. I’m sure I would have driven a bayonet through my abdomen if he asked.”

She chuckled weakly, smiling despite her somber tone.

“Then, one day, he hooved me off to some ponies and said he was done with me. I didn’t understand, because I thought I meant something to him. I continued to think that for so, so long, and just wanted some form of an answer. Instead of an answer, I got killing joke shoved down my throat.”

I frowned as I stared at the alicorn. “Why… are you telling me this?”

“Because… I guess it proves we are no different in that way. Both cast off by something we had undying loyalty to, only to be treated like mud at either a single mistake or an–”

“The mistake I made warranted it, Willow.” She flinched at me, cutting her off, but didn’t rebuttal. “I’m not questioning a betrayal. I’m asking why I have to share the cutie mark of a traitor. A traitor that I share nothing with, outside of leaving the clouds for a life on the surface.”

A piece of me wanted to point out the differences between her old owner and the council. What that unknown pony did to her was despicable and without reason from start to finish. I had endangered everypony I loved and protected, and it was my decision to come down in one last bid to save them from a possible future threat. Everything that led to me being here now was my fault; Willow had been played like she was a puppet, and while blood was on her hooves she wasn’t the main culprit.

Yet the shame that overcame Willow’s face, wiping away that smile and gloomy cheer, kept my words at bay. Seeing her sad hurt, especially when I was so used to the joyful psycho that I had come to know and, in some small ways, appreciate. It didn’t fit the mare named Willow Wisp.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her, flicking out my right wing to brush Gold’s talon off my shoulder. “A simple misunderstanding. Besides,” I shifted my gaze to Gemini “I have no problem with explaining my true cutie mark.”

Adding a curve to my lips as I spoke had surprised the unicorn to the point she nearly fell off her seat. It took both her and the combined wings of a pegasus, alicorn, and griffon to get her back up, though I’m positive it was overkill.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, just don’t expect it to explain my previous choice of career.” I took a breath, briefly wishing I had some water to prepare myself to speak. “My cutie mark was music related. Specifically, I was exceptionally good at playing the bass.”

“Music?” I nodded at Willow’s question. “So you’re like Sweetie Belle or Rara then?”

“Not that familiar with the second name, but considering you paired her with one of the most famous Equestrian artists…,” I shook my head “you all are giving me far too much credit. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a military mare. Have been for my entire adult life. Music was just a side hobby.”

“It's too bad. Might not be down here if that path was chosen,” Gold replied. “Lot less hurt in life. Music seemed better option.”

“Perhaps to you ponies it would seem that way. To me, it just seemed too hard a life. Just like you need caps down here, we need bits up there. Music is an easy way to end up with very, very few bits.”

Gemini shuffled slightly closer to me. “But you still play, right?”

I gave her a nod. “If I had one, I wouldn’t mind playing a little something. Probably isn’t a skill you see a lot of down here.”

“I’m sure musicians exist in stables or within places like Tenpony, but overall you are right.” Willow grabbed the last available slice of pizza, taking a bite as she continued to talk telepathically. “Most ponies don’t have the luxury or knowledge to pursue it though. Other things are, unfortunately, more important. Guess it makes you special, in your own wonderful little way.”

A burst of pride hit me at her words, puffing my chest out in joy. My brain quickly ran through my younger years, strumming a school-loaned bass and singing with Ironsight by my side. While it wasn’t his talent, he was definitely not a bad drummer. Something about Willow’s words made those moments more vibrant then they had felt in years, though why wasn’t something answerable.

“It probably seems pretty obvious, but I don’t know a lot about music,” Gemini spoke up suddenly, her front hooves clopping together in front of her. As if glue had stuck them together, she found herself unable to move them further. “I mean, mama explained something about it to me, but that is mostly. She used to sing me a little song before I went to sleep. I remember a little of how it went.”

I noticed the tears building in her eyes as she took deep breaths. A strained sound left her mouth, her attempt to sing halted by none but herself. She continued on, trying desperately to get more than wordless noises out as the three of us simply watched. When the tears finally started to fall she gave up, clenching her eyes shut.

“I-I… I-I-I can’t. Sorry.”

Gold snaked around me, lifting her muzzle up with the top of his beak. “The memory hurts?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Is fine. We all have painful memories. Some are just too much.”

He stepped away, deciding to remain standing behind the rest of us as Gemini moved a hoof to below her eyes. Wiping the tears out of her face, Gemini did everything in her power to hold in the wave of water overtaking her eyesight.

“B-but I still want to sing it. I don’t want to be sad when remembering her.”

“Then give yourself the time to recover,” I told her, deciding to get up myself. “We’ll have a long journey together, the five of us. Don’t force yourself to heal. Let it be natural, like the movement of the clouds in a long forgotten era.”

She did her best to look at me confidently. “I’ll… I’ll try.”

“Good to hear… recruit.” I smirked. Gemini seemed confused at what I had called her, but the smile never faded; she seemed to like it. My attention then turned to Gold. “So, Lucky and that bitch of an assistant said we got some rather heavy protection on the way. Do you know where we will find it?”

Gold nodded, then turned and started to walk. I motioned with my head for Willow and Gemini to follow, though my gaze only watched the latter get up. We started off after Gold, only for me to stop when I realized we were missing a pony. Swiveling on my right hoof, I looked back to see Willow still at the table, staring at a slice of pizza before her.

“You coming along?”

Her eyes flicked to me, and then back. “I need a moment to myself. Nothing any of you said, just some… personal things we… I need to take care of.”

Satisfied with the response I was given, I turned around and caught back up with Gold and Gemini.

Message from Dr. Procedure incoming…

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…

Message received

Minister Lucky Heart

As asked, I did the requested tests on subject P-1. Thank you so much again for allowing me to do this; the chance to examine a living pegasus is a dream come true. Aleph feels the same way, though he won’t express it themselves.

Anyway, the data will be sent in a follow up message. I would take this time, though, to tell you that I noticed something exceptionally odd about her. P-1 is overall fit and stable, don’t worry, but there is something about her hippocampus and amygdala that seems weird. Can’t quite pin what it is, and I don’t have the necessary data on pegasi to see if it is normal. Figured you should know either way.

One last time, thank you so much for this chance Minister.

Dr. Careful Procedure.

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…

Message from I.M. incoming…

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Message received

Thanks, Dr. Procedure, for your hard work. Miss Moondancer and I will look over it and try and see what is going on. Rest assured that whatever it is will be figured out. This scientific mystery won’t remain a mystery for long.

Now, I know you have mentioned interest in a foal. We have a fine young colt who we believe will work nicely. Do note that he might need a bit of care before hoof, however. He did just lose his mother after all.

Author's Note

9/23/23: Changed the city shown in the flashback from Thunderhead to Aery. It feels better having an original Enclave city, instead of borrowing one from PH.