Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Thursday, 10/27/2287
POV: Dinky
The Ashlands

Dinky was used to never sleeping, but tonight seemed longer. She researched almost non-stop for so long, experimenting at school and reading at home. Now they expected her to do nothing for several hours?

Of course, she also had something she didn’t have before; someone that talked back. What she was missing was something to talk about. She tried to remember what she talked about before she had experiments to talk to herself about. For a full hour, the two sat awkwardly next to one another and faced the cave entrance.

Dinky lost focus for a moment, her mind going numb with nothing to do. Her thoughts ground to a halt, and when she snapped back to, Limestone was hugging her and stroking her stringy mane with one hoof.

“It’s okay, I’m here with you,” Limestone was saying.

“Huh?” Dinky looked over at Limestone.

“Doing okay?” Limestone asked. “I tried to get your attention and you weren’t responding. Depressed?”

“I am,” sighed Dinky. She didn’t wriggle free of the hug, but Limestone stopped comfort-petting her. “But I do that sometimes anyway. I hope it doesn’t happen more now that I’m not keeping my brain busy. That never happens to you?”

“Couldn’t tell you, really,” Limestone shrugged . “I spent most of my time on watch, so if I lost time I wouldn’t notice as much as a scientist.”

“Scientist?” Dinky asked, but was flattered. “I guess… I’m worried that it’s a sign of dementia, or worse going feral. We’re the only two from Canterlot that avoided that.”

“Not necessarily,” encouraged Limestone. “We didn’t meet for a long time, so there could be others. Others probably left the city at some point. We both had important reasons to stay, but for most soldiers and refugees, their reasons were elsewhere.”

Dinky realized Limestone was trying to cheer her up, and appreciated it, but the fact remained that she’d seen hundreds of ferals for every docile. The objective fact was that their futures didn’t look bright.

“Still with me?” Limestone asked after a few minutes of silence.

“If I went feral,” Dinky said thoughtfully. “I’d want to be put down before I hurt anyone.”

“I can’t promise that,” admitted Limestone. “I sort of see you as a compatriot now, and you might be more saveable than someone that’s been feral the whole time.”

“Not like I have anything else to live for,” Dinky shrugged. “I feel out of place, and frankly most of our companions are psychopaths… no offense to your sisters.”

“They’d take it as a compliment,” Limestone chuckled. “But it’s not true. They’re pretty deep once you know them. I’m not even sure if Crimson is one. She’s just messed up like most of us… interesting though.”

“What’s that?” Dinky tilted her head, idly tugging one of Limestone’s hooves to put it on her head again. She felt like a cat begging for pets, but enjoyed the innocent physical contact.

“We contrast,” Limestone said, gently stroking her mane again. “You’re a scientist, a thinker, but judge people emotionally based on what kind of person they are. I spent most of my life being angry, depressed, or otherwise emotional, yet judge people based on utility.”

“Not sure what you’re going on about,” Dinky shrugged. “Am I useful?”

“Extremely,” Limestone said. “There can’t be many with your expertises left. Aside from that, you’re a kindred spirit in many ways.”

“What about the others?” Dinky was curious about how Limestone judged them.

“Everyone is useful here,” said Limestone. “Everyone has knowledge that would be useful for us, save for maybe the mascot. While not useful in this world’s knowledge though, she can provide a unique perspective.”

“Maybe that perspective makes her the most useful,” Dinky pondered.

“How so?” Limestone paused her petting, sounding sincerely curious.

“We screwed up, all of us, we earned this world,” Dinky explained. “She earned a better world, so maybe we should take her weird ideas seriously. We’ve already tried the way of types like Starlight and Crimson. Maybe we should… I don’t know. It’s not like I know what I’m talking about.”

“You think so?” Limestone looked ponderous, clearly taking the idea seriously. That made Dinky like Limestone more; she viewed Dinky as an equal mind rather than a foal like the others.

“Why not?” asked Dinky. “Remember when she stopped Starlight from putting down Spitfire before she had some last words? We got the code for those wings from that kindness… not that I particularly think Kamikaze deserves them.”

“True enough…” Limestone creased her forehead and started patting again. “I’ll put some thought into it.”

POV: Twilight Sparkle

“Paradox,” Luna’s voice called through the void of Twilight’s dream like a distant echo. “I have decided that it is up to you; you will return the world to sanity.”

The dreams this Luna gave were weak by her standards. When Twilight’s Luna entered a dream, it was with vivid theatrics, and the same with her first dream from this one as Nightmare. But now it was Twilight floating in nothingness that itself felt like it might collapse.

“Luna?” Twilight called back. “Please, tell us where you are. We’ll save you!”

“But would your companions trust or save Nightmare Moon?” asked Luna.

“On that final day, you contacted Limestone,” Twilight said. “She offered to support your leadership, conditionally at least. She doesn’t consider you a lost cause, and neither do I. We will save you.”

“Even then, you can’t survive coming here,” said Luna. “I do not even tell my own followers for fear harm will befall them if they try.”

“Your followers?” asked Twilight. “You mean Midnight’s troops?”

“No,” Luna answered sharply, as if being associated with her former pupil was offensive. “Not that I do not care for those she commands, but they must not know of my survival yet for reasons I cannot adequately explain.”

“I will find a way to help you,” offered Twilight. “I’ve faced impossible challenges before.”

“Perhaps, or perhaps not,” Luna said. “I must go soon. Invading your dreams takes more energy than I can sustain for long, and there are others I must speak to. In the future, I will use other means to communicate.”

“I’ll watch for you,” Twilight sighed.

“Remember, Paradox,” Luna warned. “Trust nothing and no one, not even your own eyes.”

“Because of changelings?” Twilight asked. “Why did they do this? Why destroy their own food source?”

“They no longer require the love of others to feed, only their own for each other,” Luna said. “Were another leading them, it might have created peace, but they chose to eliminate what they no longer found useful, wanting to swarm the whole world for their kind.”

“Chrysalis ordered it?” asked Twilight, clenching her teeth slightly.

“She did,” said Luna as her voice faded. “I would not concern yourself with her, though again I cannot explain why. I am still unsure how much to tell you.”

“Is there anything else you can say?” Twilight asked. “Anything at all!”

Silence. At least inside the dream.

“The suspiciously attractive pegacorn will awake! Or Pinkie will molest her with her own broken horn! It is Pinkie’s fantasy. Yes.”

Twilight flailed awake to find Pinkie dragging her from her sleeping bag. She groaned and looked around to see everypony else outfitted and ready to go. Pinkie deposited Twilight atop her blinder barding.

“Come on, mascot,” Limestone said. “I let you and Kami sleep extra because of your injuries, but it’s time for the briefing.”

Twilight appreciated their thoughtfulness, but wasn’t used to being the frail one. She slipped on her blinder barding, which still smelled terrible due to the inability to wash them. She watched the others gather around Limestone and Starlight. Dinky lounged on Limestone’s back with all fours hanging over the sides, which was unfairly cute even in their conditions. They’d had all night to connect, she supposed.

Starlight’s pipbuck projected a map onto the cave wall showing from Canterlot to the Everfree Forest. It showed Ponyville and Everfree as it had been, but with a circle where the draconic gravity bomb hit. Another circle within that designated the coronal mass ejection that countered it. Unfortunately, the latter blocked the most direct path. The dragon attack must have been frightful for Celestia to use it within their borders.

“Here is the path we’ve decided on,” Limestone said. “It goes between the blast zone and Everfree, while keeping our distance from both.”

Limestone dragged a hoof from their current position along the border between the Everfree and the gravity blast zone. Twilight was unsurprised to see that Midnight Castle's location was ‘The Castle of the Two Sisters’ from her own timeline, the place both sisters ruled together long before the timeline split.

“The earth ponies will take shifts pulling so we don’t have to stop,” Starlight added.

“I’ll help pull,” Twilight said. “I still have earth pony strength if nothing else.”

“I didn’t want to volunteer for you, but thank you,” Limestone said. “Either way we’re taking a path most likely to avoid Midnight’s patrols and feral dragons at the crater. If we meet either, we’ll stop and Starlight will make the wagon invisible until they pass.”

Twilight hadn’t thought about feral dragons, but it made sense. A megaspell destroyed the draconic army here.

“Dragons are resistant to pony magic,” said Twilight as she slipped on her helmet. “Does that make them less likely to become ghouls?”

“Maybe, but their bodies are more likely to survive intact in closer proximity,” said Starlight. “Which may mean more. It’s not something we had time or means to study.”

“If nothing else,” said Crimson. “There shouldn’t be any living predators in the area of the sandstorms due to lack of living prey. Too bad, Tranquil getting eaten would have been a little hot."

“I hope to avoid detection entirely,” said Limestone, peering at Crimson but otherwise ignoring her. “We’ll be hard to spot due to the dust storms, which haven’t dissipated much. The wagon should blend in, and we have brown tarps to cover the parts that don’t.”

“You mentioned Tranquil before?” Mercury asked, making Twilight wonder how much she missed.

“I told Tranquil to take the same route,” said Limestone. “And to avoid Midnight Castle, but she either got caught or disregarded that advice.”

“How do you know?” asked Twilight.

“Crimson provided the code to the pipbuck Tranquil is wearing,” said Limestone. “The Empress’s pipbuck allows us to track a more exact location, but it shows her either inside or near Midnight Castle. She hasn’t moved since last night, so she’s either camping, caught, or discarded her pipbuck.”

Mercury sighed, looking down at the floor as Solar patted her shoulder.

“She probably got lonely and walked right to it,” Crimson sighed. “Like a lost dog looking for a new master. We’re passing near Everfree though? I know of a hidden supply cache that might assist.”

“Wouldn’t Midnight have found it by now?” asked Twilight. She appreciated help, but Crimson’s help was suspicious.

“She never mentioned finding anything like that when I was with her, and I know she searched Everfree,” Kamikaze added.

“It’s covered by a perception filter,” Crimson said. “Only ponies that know it’s there can see it. It’d make a safe spot to spend a night.”

“Unless they’re a powerful psionic,” countered Starlight. “Or trained in psionic defense, like you, me, or Midnight.”

“It’s a really good one,” smirked Crimson. “State-of-the-art zebra stealth tech. I doubt anyone other than Eris or Screwball could find it, and they wouldn’t care.” She shrugged. “Anyway, the border of the forest is unsafe. According to the radio, there are things we don’t want to get caught by.”

“Screwball?” Twilight asked.

“Discord and Eris’ unholy spawn,” Crimson said. “According to Songsmith, she’s currently in charge of Discordia due to Eris being unavailable for ‘reasons’.”

The thought of Fluttershy having Discord’s foal made Twilight too uncomfortable to continue that line of questioning. It wasn’t that she disapproved of interspecies romance, but she couldn’t avoid thinking about how extremely weird sex with Discord would be. It might be best not to give Crimson reason to speculate further.

“Is this suggestion a trick to get us closer to Midnight Castle?” asked Limestone, staring at Crimson.

“I am outraged you would think I would do such a thing,” Crimson didn’t sound outraged. “I fought on Equestria’s side... Well, not fought, but I existed on Equestria’s side.”

“What about the spying fiasco?” Starlight asked.

“I did that under duress,” said Crimson. “They threatened my family, and you know they did because they murdered them. I wouldn’t kill my own family to make my alibi look good.”

Twilight was certain that only Crimson could have made that sound sarcastic.

“I didn’t want to suggest this, but I advise Crimson remains bound at all times, not just at night, until we are well-past Midnight Castle,” said Limestone, apparently not buying it either.

Starlight nodded in agreement. “Maud, tie up your marefriend. Sorry, Crimson. I have to err on the side of caution.”

“You just untied me,” Crimson tsked at Maud. “You just can’t get enough of me and ropes. Naughty mare.”

“You are lucky we do not hang you by one and use you as a piñata,” Maud said as she yanked Crimson’s forelegs behind her rather than just leaving them comfortably tied in front. “I suggested it twice before you woke.”

“Such a thing would make an adequate way to improve morale,” Pinkie agreed.

Limestone stared at Crimson for a few long moments as Maud bound her. Crimson stared back with an unworried smile.

“There’s something I’m missing; something obvious,” Limestone muttered. “I’ve existed too long and my damn head is too full of stuff; I need a bigger head. Empress? Set an alarm for if any of our pipbucks go out of range or are removed, especially the ones from Stable 27.”

“As you say,” Starlight agreed, bringing up her pipbuck screen and blinking commands to set alarms.

It seemed they had an understanding that Limestone was in charge of security; Twilight was glad to see them working together.

“Is all that really necessary?” Twilight asked.

It was necessary, but Twilight knew they wouldn’t listen to her. She defended Crimson so she might confide more in Twilight later, which might help. Maybe it was a little dishonest, but Twilight felt an odd need to reform Crimson, as if to prove to herself she still had it.

Limestone smirked at Twilight as if immediately discerning her reasons.

“I’m sorry,” said Starlight. “But I trust Limestone’s instincts.”

“It’s fine, Not-Midnight,” Crimson said. “I enjoy xanatos speed chess and Living Dead Mare is a pro. It’s surprising she lost a battle.”

“I didn’t lose that battle,” Limestone countered. “The only soldiers left standing are Canterlot soldiers.”

“‘Left standing’, huh,” Kamikaze rolled her eyes. “Yeah, hardy har.”

“Ugh,” Limestone face-hoofed at the accidental pun.

“I thought it was hilarious,” Maud observed, then patted Kamikaze. “But do not think of yourself as an enemy soldier. You are one of us.”

“Way to ruin a great pun with ‘feelings’,” Crimson grumbled.

“Please, Crimson,” Twilight said. “Before you act, consider if you’ll be proud of your actions later.”

“Are you sure that’s good advice in my case?” asked Crimson.

“Yes, I am,” Twilight stuck to it, looking Crimson in the eyes. Crimson looked away first, even if it was a smug looking away.

Crimson wasn’t nice, maybe even outright evil, but Twilight saw self-loathing in her that a sociopath wasn’t capable of. There was nopony that hated Crimson more than Crimson, which meant she felt regret. Twilight just had to convince her that she could change.

“Any other questions or suggestions?” asked Limestone.

“Um, yes,” Twilight said. “I’m not in the loop, so how did dragon gravity bombs work? When I arrived in the Ashlands, the ground didn’t seem crushed. More…melted.”

“They didn’t use gravity,” Starlight explained. “The name was to throw off our analysis of their workings. They used draconic teleportation magic to teleport the entire city into a single plane, crushing it and producing heat that would effectively melt everything. The other version used on Appleloosa and Dodge Junction teleported the city off the ground and dropped it upside down.”

“Well that’s… horrifying,” Twilight said, but that seemed to be the new norm. “Why would that cause radiation?”

“They were the cleanest mega-spell,” Limestone said. “But the cities had balefire reactors, chemicals, and war supplies, which caused secondary explosions.”

Twilight sighed, “I never thought there were so many creative ways to commit genoci-”

“Pinkie is getting bored!” Pinkie cut Twilight off, “We should be finding exciting ways to rain despair on our enemies instead of debating their morality!”

“Can we go fight monsters now?” Maud asked in agreement.

“I’ll pull the wagon first,” sighed Twilight. “I need time to gather my thoughts.”

“Go southeast,” Limestone said. “We’ll tell you over the PCB if you need to adjust your heading.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Starlight smiled and patted her shoulder. Twilight strained not to pull away from her creepy smile.

Once she started, Twilight found the Ashlands flatter than the streets in Canterlot, but not by much. The thicker cloud cover made it less stuffy, but the wind blew against her, slowing her progress.

A deep layer of dirt covered the radioactive glass now, but she still felt the fragile structure beneath it. She glanced at her pipbuck, which showed the area as it had been, slowly updating as they walked through. For a while, it fascinated her how the ground’s texture was different based on what was crushed there, but soon stopped looking as it depressed her.

Ignoring that only made her think of her failures though. Her decision to rush into Canterlot distracted Marble, who might have stopped the destruction of the city. That destruction led directly to Spike’s death. Otherwise, Starlight’s plan to save the world with her time spell may have worked. Without interference, this world would be bad off, but not hopeless. An intact Canterlot could have retaken Equestria and finished Midnight’s forces while they were weakened, or joined them to take on the changelings.

Instead, Equestria remained in chaos. Because of Twilight.

But what else could she do? Twilight could no longer cast a time spell. Starlight probably could, but would she cast it knowing it might erase her own existence? Besides, teaching another Starlight how to time travel great distances was asking for trouble.

‘Starlight?’ Twilight asked over the PCB, trying to keep her question general. ‘Do you think the books in the Canterlot archives had copies elsewhere? It um… really bothered me to see those precious scrolls rotted to dust.’

‘We had a large library at the Ministry of Magitech,’ answered Starlight. ‘And I admit, a lot of it was there because Daybreaker wouldn’t have allowed them in Canterlot.’

‘There’s a reason none of the Ministry of Magitech hubs were in Canterlot,’ added Crimson. ‘The propaganda wasn’t only hiding things from citizens.’

‘Crimson,’ Starlight warned.

‘I didn’t tell her the reason,’ Crimson’s smirk was palpable even over the connection. ‘Besides, it was always a fun reason.’

‘I don’t care about the reason,’ sighed Twilight. ‘We all make mistakes. I just wonder if there were copies of the books from the archive.’

Starlight hesitated as if suddenly piecing together what Twilight was really asking. Since she was getting back her memory, she might have remembered that Twilight wanted the time spell when they first met in the archives. She answered with an uncharacteristically short, ‘No.’

But if Starlight didn’t realize how bad it was until she arrived at Canterlot, she might have left a working time spell behind. Whether she did or not, it was clear she wouldn’t help. Twilight just hoped Starlight wouldn’t try to actively stop her.

Saturday, 10/29/2287
POV: Solar Flash

The ride through the Ashlands was taking a more zigzag path than they planned due to sinkholes and obstacles, and it was unclear how long it would take. Solar tried to distract herself with the magazines, the only way they had to pass the time.

Her eyes squinted at her magazine, on her belly as she flipped through it, bracing herself during the occasional rough patches the wagon went through. The light of her pipbuck screen didn’t offer a lot to read by.

The wagon was cramped, which Solar didn’t mind. At least they got to take off their barding inside and she’d gotten used to everypony’s horrible stench. Starlight wouldn’t let them turn on real lights, though. She feared the slightest glow might give away their presence.

Limestone advised the utmost caution, and Solar appreciated that she knew more about combat strategy than anypony here. Still, it felt like she defended against threats from centuries ago. It wasn’t like the whole Ashlands would zero in on them.

Solar had her wings spread, one covering the snoozing Mercury, with a snoozing Kamikaze tucked between the two of them like a giant bean with a head. Dinky used Solar’s other wing for a blanket, as she shared Solar’s pipbuck light to look at another magazine. The wing-blanket was the most physical contact Dinky allowed from Solar, but Solar enjoyed her company all the same.

Limestone’s pipbuck provided light too since she was following their progress on the map. Maud currently pulled the wagon while Pinkie snoozed against Limestone’s right side with Marble propped against the left. Limestone’s obsession with the corpse freaked Solar out at first, but now it just made her sad. She tried not to look at them.

Starlight and Twilight also snoozed, facing one another with legs intertwined since they’d fallen asleep discussing magic. Those two needed to buck. Starlight groaned every now and then as the frequent rough patches would wake her intermittently. Starlight’s magic helped the others sleep, but she couldn’t cast a sleep spell on herself.

Solar felt somepony crawling atop her and had high hopes until she realized it was Crimson, the one pony here she minded crawling on her. Crimson draped herself over Solar’s back despite being bound.

“Horny little filly, aren’t you,” Crimson said to Dinky. “My dad and brothers would’ve loved you.”

“By Nightmare’s Moon pie,” grumbled Dinky.

“Ignore her, Dinky,” Solar said. “She’s intimidated by our awesome porn stash.”

“The filly comment didn’t bother me,” said Dinky. “I just realized it’ll be hard for me to get a date with somepony that isn’t an abusive filly fiddler, as if my prospects weren’t dim enough being a corpse.”

“Just bang a colt if you love dick so much,” Crimson grunted.

“Then I would be the creep,” Dinky grumbled. “Being the same size doesn’t make it okay.”

“Oh, so being straight is just dandy,” Crimson rolled her eyes. “But molesting foals is over the line?”

Solar peered at Crimson over her shoulder, “I can’t tell if you’re joking or insane.” And ponies called Solar perverted?

“I get that a lot,” said Crimson. “Even from myself. Maybe I’m both, but the dead kid gets points for being picky rather than a cock goblin like you. You’ll probably end up choking to death on one.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst way to go,” Solar pondered. “But speaking of that, I wonder if Starlight can do a gender change spell. I know you can, but yours hurt because you suck at it.”

“Yeah, let’s have our best offensive mage waste her mana turning your bits inside out,” Dinky shook her head, and Solar had to concede it was a good point.

“Maybe we should talk about something that doesn’t cause arguments?” Twilight sounded annoyed as she awoke to their yammering.

Seeing Twilight awake, Solar bucked Crimson off her and crawled toward Twilight. Dinky grumbled and reached for Mercury’s leg, clicking her pipbuck on to use that light instead.

“You coping?” Solar pulled herself behind Twilight, both laying on their sides, opposite the still-sleeping Starlight.

“I’m here,” was the best Twilight could say.

“Want to see some magazines?” Solar asked, trying her best to make friends, and maybe more.

“No, not into that,” Twilight sighed. “Please stop grinding on me. Again.”

“Oops, sorry.” Solar hadn’t realized she’d started, so pulled her hindquarters back. She still hugged her forelegs around Twilight’s shoulders. “Why you not into that?”

“I guess I feel like those magazines objectify ponies,” said Twilight. “It makes the public think… less of them. Like when you look at Kamikaze in that magazine, you’d never know she’d be willing to sacrifice herself to save us.”

“You might, given the missing limbs,” Solar pointed out. “Besides, we’re all objects. Some useful, some sexy, some both. I’m okay with that.”

“I don’t dislike ponies for liking or being in them,” Twilight shrugged. “Maybe I just can’t get it out of my head that they were used to fund genocide.”

“Solar, behave,” Mercury said as she awoke too. She stayed sprawled so Dinky could continue to use her pipbuck light.

“I am being-haved!” Solar defended herself. She added to Twilight, “Hey, if you ever need to talk, or just feel pent up, let me know, okay?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Twilight. While she didn’t seem offended, she coaxed Solar back with her wings until she let go.

Oh well, it was worth a try. And it’d be worth another later! But before Solar could decide who to molest next, the wagon stopped, interrupting her shenanigans.

‘There is a flock of winged creatures approaching,’ Maud said over the PCB. ‘We should cease movement until they pass.’

Twilight sighed and shook Starlight fully awake. “Starlight? Maud says we have fliers soon to pass overhead.”

“Not my kites!” Starlight blurted out and flailed awake, then blushed and spoke tiredly over the PCB. ‘Wait what? I’ll make us invisible.’

Starlight’s horn lit up, wrapping the wagon in a shimmering field of energy that Solar assumed made them invisible from the outside. As Starlight made sure everyone was up from her sleep magic, Solar clung to Twilight again from nervousness rather than affection.

‘It’s dragons,’ Limestone said as she peeked out from under the cover with Ashmaker’s scope. ‘About ten. No greed-sized. Most look feral, but three in armor flying straight above the others, including one over four times pony sized. Maybe docile ghouls still in control of themselves are leading ferals.’

Just their luck. With dragons, a ‘docile’ ghoul might be more of a problem.

‘How are they controlling the ferals?’ asked Mercury.

‘It’s a kind of herd instinct I think that remains,’ Dinky said. ‘I’ve had ferals follow me around without prompting.’

‘Might the large one be General Ember from the bat pony’s memory?’ asked Twilight. ‘But she wasn’t a ghoul, so if ferals attack living creatures on sight…’

‘If they’re in full-body armor,’ surmised Dinky. ‘They might use a scent to keep the ferals thinking that they’re dead.’

‘They’re headed directly for us’ Limestone said. ‘So unless they’re really lucky...’

‘Could they detect us?’ asked Twilight, prying Solar’s legs from around her neck so she could breathe.

‘That’s not good,’ Limestone groaned. ‘The armor on the two non-ferals is NLR armor with rank insignias, though the third has old Draconic Empire armor. That one is probably a ghoul. Regardless, they’ve banked to circle overhead.’

‘Midnight doesn’t officially hire ghouls,’ said Crimson. ‘But she wouldn’t have qualms with using ghoul mercenaries as fodder.’

‘But what are they tracking?’ asked Solar.

‘There is a spy among us!’ Pinkie’s voice screamed into the PCB. ‘Pinkie suggests we vote for the most suspicious and throw them into a volc-... behead given the lack of volcanoes, then repeat until they stop circling. Pinkie votes for Solar, because the least likely is always the most likely! She offers mid-execution 69 positioning if she votes for herself! Yes.’

Solar wasn’t sure whether to be more flattered or horrified, but altogether hoped she was never in a situation where Pinkie was left unchecked… she was in check now… right?

‘Sorry to burst your bubble, Pinkie, but no,’ Limestone said, thankfully providing the check needed. ‘Midnight never backed out on deals and placed value on the lives of her own soldiers if they performed well, which the spy would have. She wouldn’t send draconic ferals that might burn everything if a loyal spy was among us.’

‘They’re circling more,’ Starlight said as she peaked out too. ‘Gradually smaller laps...they’re zeroing in.’

Solar felt her heart sink. During the combat with the first Midnight Sparkle, Solar was in the reactor chamber. When they fought the pegaghouls, Solar hid in the back. Now she had nowhere to go.

“Shh, it’ll be okay,” Twilight whispered aloud when she felt Solar shiver before holding her hoof. “I’ve been through worse than this and survived.”

Solar wondered what horrors lurked in the world if that was true. If Twilight’s timeline was as she’d described and still had things worse than this… then what might they meet out here?

‘They might have tracked our pipbucks,’ Crimson said. ‘If Midnight made a deal with Stable 27, she might have the passcode to the Stable 27 pipbucks. I could provide a fix, but we’d still need to take these out.’

‘Makes sense,’ Limestone said. ‘By Holder, I should have thought of that, I really am rusty.’

‘How are we supposed to take care of them?’ Solar’s panic shined through in her thoughts. She tried not to breathe any heavier.

‘If we kill or render the others flightless, the ferals can be distracted,’ Limestone pondered. Having a calm leader was the only thing preventing Solar from screaming. ‘Then we could go invisible again. They’re all concentrating on the ground, with the non-ferals at top, probably to use the ferals as bullet sponges. If we could get above them...’

‘Well this is a great thing to wake up to,’ Kamikaze’s thought added to the PCB. ‘You could always throw me at them. That usually works.’

‘That’s a better idea than you think,’ said Limestone.

‘Really?’ Kamikaze seemed disturbingly hopeful.

‘Empress?’ Limestone continued. ‘I know radiation and taint blocks long-distance teleport, but can you teleport straight up into the air with no specific target?’

‘I could teleport a pony above them,’ confirmed Starlight. ‘I’d have to drop the invisibility to do that, and no guarantee I could teleport them back safely. On top of that, remember that Twilight has vertigo and Solar can’t fly.’

‘That’s why it would surprise them,’ said Limestone. ‘Stable 27 would have told them about our party members so they wouldn’t expect an air attack. Solar, can you glide?’

‘I think so?’ Solar immediately regretted her answer.

‘Pinkie could distract with Pinkie Die,’ Pinkie suggested. ‘But that might hit the pegaslut. She could explode Gummy’s missile below them instead to cause confusion. Yes.’

’I am proud of you Pinkie,’ said Maud, probably for coming up with a plan that wasn’t ‘shoot them until they die’.

‘You don’t have to, Solar,’ Twilight said. ‘I can manage gliding too. I hate myself for suggesting this, but doesn’t Pinkie have those sticky grenades? You said before they were specifically altered for fighting draconic forces too...’

‘Aw, buck it,’ groaned Solar. ‘No, you’ll miss if you’re dizzy. I… probably have the best chance.’

‘Solar…’ Mercury sounded reluctant and probably would have volunteered instead if she could. Solar was glad she couldn’t.

‘I said I’d protect you, Mercury,’ Solar said. ‘And I meant it.’ It would have sounded brave if she weren’t whimpering out loud.

‘The dizziness cleared up a bit,’ offered Twilight.

‘If Solar did this, and lived,’ Maud said. ‘I would be okay with her joining one of our sisterly cuddles.’

‘Pinkie allows this,’ said Pinkie.

‘Seriously?’ Solar asked. Suddenly it sounded like a better idea, though no less frightening.

‘ONE of our sister cuddles,’ reiterated Maud.

‘Wait,’ Twilight said. ‘You shouldn’t be coercing her with offers of sex.’

‘They aren’t ‘coercing’,’ Solar said. ‘They're ‘prostituting’, like an exchange. I know the difference.’

‘Well, it’s not an exchange if you die before you get your end of it,’ Crimson commented. ‘But I like the enthusiasm towards getting eaten by dragons. It’s a unique way to go with a lot of fun claws and long tongues! ’

“Solar…” Mercury said aloud, tears in her eyes. “I don’t want you to die…”

“I don’t want you and everypony else to die because I was afraid to,” Solar sighed, no less in tears.

‘We should send them both,’ said Limestone after motioning for them to be quiet. ‘That way if one dies the other can complete the mission.’

‘How reassuring...’ Solar grumbled.

‘Pinkie has Gummy and is ready!’ Pinkie said. ‘And grenades for the pegaslut and pegacorn to throw.’

Pinkie grabbed Solar’s front hooves and placed two grenades in each of them. Solar held them tightly with her sticky-hooves.

‘Giggle grenades are activated,’ Pinkie said, opening the tarp in front so she could fire upwards. ‘They stick to the target and explode five seconds after. Penetration of thicker dragon parts is not guaranteed, so for best results consider applying orally or rectally twice daily, whichever end’s foolishly exposed and not shooting fire at you! Limb loss will be minimal except for the enemy’s delightfully fragile wings. Probably. Yes.’

‘I will not get to smash heads...’ lamented Maud.

‘Focus, sis,’ Limestone said. ‘The Empress will teleport them, give a few moments to chuck the first grenade from a stealthy position above them, then Pinkie will fire the rocket at the lowest ferals so the others may not think to look up to see you. Since you’re above them, wings will be the easiest target, both throw for the large one first before one of the smaller ones each. Once it’s done, try to glide to make teleporting easier, at which point we’ll book it. Mercury? Find your potions and supplies, we might need your medical expertise.’

'It takes more energy to keep a moving object invisible, and I’ll be low after the teleports, so only run far enough to get out of the way if they blast our last known location', said Starlight. ‘And Mercury: The anti-magic properties of dragons include their fire. It leaves an anti-magic signature that causes healing magic to not work on the injured flesh for some time, so it’s mostly up to you if there are injuries.'

‘Okay,’ Mercury stammered as she opened their medical supply. ‘I’m an alchemist more than a doctor but… I’ll keep you all alive, I swear.’

‘If we’re both injured, attend to Solar first,’ Twilight told Mercury.

‘Right,’ Mercury nodded. ‘As an alicorn you’ll have earth-pony durability and some regenerative ability, while pegasi have a lighter build and bone structure. Solar, if you take too much damage, dive away from the more dangerous dragons.’

Solar was relieved that Mercury showed knowledge of physiology beyond her alchemy talents. Though a much larger concern for Solar was...

‘Um, how do I dive or glide?’ Solar asked as she pulled her wings fully out the slits in her armor. She’d have studied that before if she ever expected to be dropped out of the sky.

‘Here,’ Twilight said. She stood Solar up, then mounted her from behind. At first that excited Solar, then she realized it was just so Twilight could grab at both Solar’s wings at once. Twilight pulled them into position half-folded. ‘To dive, hold your wings like this and face downward.’ She pulled the wings open. ‘To glide, pull it out like this and hold them parallel with the ground, then slowly turn them forward until it slows forward momentum.’

Solar tried hard to remember how she was told to hold them, moving her wings back and forth a few times as Twilight regretfully dismounted. The innocent alicorn probably didn’t even consider how that would rile Solar up before the fight.

‘Ready?’ Limestone asked.

‘I’m not feeling brave,’ admitted Solar. She took off her helmet for better visibility, but shivered violently.

‘I wouldn’t send you if I didn’t know you were capable,’ assured Limestone.

‘Remember that brave is not fearless,’ Maud said.

‘Fearless is being insane like Pinkie.’ Pinkie added.

‘Well I’m so scared I almost pooped a little,’ Crimson snickered out loud as she thought. ‘So I’m not the craziest? Who knew!?’

‘Bravery is when you’re scared poopless and do it anyway,’ Kamikaze said. ‘The brave act, not the poop.’

‘I guess I’m ready then,’ Solar took a deep breath.

‘Counting down from ten,’ Limestone said.

‘Deep breaths, Solar,’ Twilight said. ‘I’ll take the one furthest from our position so you can glide instead of fly, then I’ll check on you.’

Solar took deep breaths, wiping away the tears blurring her vision as she listened to Limestone’s countdown. There was no going back as the invisibility dropped, and Pinkie aimed her alligator launcher upwards. Solar heard the mouth of it open and a missile shot towards the dragons.

Solar wasn’t used to teleportation, so was disoriented as she found herself in the sky after a flash of light. A frigid wind blew around her at the higher elevation, dust from the storm burning at her face. Her stomach lurched, tightening as she quickly went into free fall. She took a moment to cease her instinctive flailing.

At that point, she remembered she had engineering goggles around her neck, so pulled them over her eyes to block the dust before taking in the surroundings. Twilight hovered several pony-lengths away, with the dragons beneath them. The three in armor were easily spotted, especially the large one in center, expansive blue wings making for an easy target from above.

Solar tried not to think about it, knowing she’d freeze up if she did. She grabbed a grenade from one hoof with her muzzle, pulling the pin as she did, and launched it towards the wing closest to her as Twilight did the same for the other. The dragon looked up a moment before they hit, as if noticing new blips on her scanner, or maybe grenades that giggle in transit are just a bad idea. She banked to one side, making Solar’s grenade miss, instead sticking to a feral further down. Twilight’s, however, hit the wing Solar had been aiming for and stuck there.

All at once, chaos erupted in the air. Pinkie’s missile impacted the lowest elevation feral, the powerful explosive succeeding in blasting it into a haphazard flailing mass that slammed it into a second one that shrieked. The blinding flash caused the other non-ferals to engage in evasive maneuvers.

“Momma there’s a bomb on you!” shrieked the dragon closest to Solar, flying towards Ember rather than facing his attackers. He was slightly smaller than Solar, with lighter blue wings than Ember, perhaps a young dragon on his first mission. It made Solar a bit sick to fight what might be a child, but as Twilight banked for the other docile, it looked like this one would be Solar’s.

“I fucking noticed!” Ember screamed in return. “Concentrate on the attackers, Cinder! I got it!”

She didn’t seem to have it as she contorted in an effort to pull the beeping device off her wing, but probably didn’t want her son trying to pull it off with his own claw and getting stuck too. Solar would have to compliment Pinkie on her sticky bombs if she survived.

“Fucking useless ferals!” Ember further screeched as she glanced down to see if they were coming to assist. Was that word she kept using like ‘bucking’? Weird.

She wasn’t wrong though. Most of the ferals looked down due Pinkie’s missile, diving for the wagon. Only a few turned upwards, and one of them was the one that Solar’s bomb hit when it missed Ember, so the smaller feral would be out of the way shortly.

All was not well though. Solar managed to dodge a flame blast from Cinder, probably only due to his panic at his mother’s injury. Only wearing the blinder suit, Solar knew her armor wouldn’t stand up to that, so in a panic dove towards the dragon. She aimed to headbutt him in the gut, but missed and went between his hind legs instead. Her wings caught against his legs, wrapping around them and then slamming her face directly into his crotch plate. It would have been quite the fun position in a more amorous situation.

Though accidental, this turned out to be a good idea since she was then a dead-weight to throw him off balance. She heard their initial grenades detonate, but could see Ember in the corner of her eye, spouting flames at a dodging Twilight, so it seemed she wasn’t out of commission yet. Solar was just about to stick a grenade on Cinder’s crotch plate, but then spotted the docile heading straight for her.

Solar ungripped Cinder’s legs and held her wings out, slowing her descent before grabbing a front hoof around Cinder’s gut to use him as a flame shield, which pressed her face awkwardly against his crotch-plate again. Cinder suddenly went still, not seeing his teammate coming and wondering why this pony seemed so interested in ramming her face against his crotch. His crotch-plate suddenly seemed to have more pressure behind it than before.

“What are you doing?” Cinder’s voice lost all anger due to confusion, voice squeaking as a verbal blush.

While Cinder was immune to dragon flame, the docile’s blast to his back jarred his armor loose. While he worked as a shield, Solar’s foreleg that she’d wrapped around Cinder still got bathed in flame. Worse, both the grenades held with that hoof began beeping as they were activated by the heat.

Solar was in pain, but recollected herself after a second as adrenaline kicked in hard, and quickly tossed the activated grenades at the docile, which Solar assumed female due to the roar. The docile tried to dodge, only to have both gigglers stick to her upper body. Only her head was spared being maimed by the blast, plummeting helplessly with a stare of disdain at Solar.

The close proximity meant Cinder took some damage in his shoulder and neck from the limited side-shrapnel. The neck plating jarred loose and his scream was cut off by gagging, but Solar doubted that would keep him distracted long, and Solar also felt stinging shrapnel embed itself in her side.

Luckily, Solar still had the last giggler in her left hoof had not yet activated. She’d have to make this one count…

She glanced at Ember hoping for some good news. Twilight had just dispatched the last feral that had seen them with a giggler, and both Ember’s wings had burns and small holes as if Twilight managed to hit the other wing, but the alicorn was out of explosives. Even with bloody holes in both wings, the larger Ember was no pushover, and all Twilight could do was dodge while trying to get at the wings and rip the injuries further.

Cinder would surely tip the scales in Ember’s favor if Solar messed up. Solar looked to see him, the two having floated away from one another, but surprisingly he didn’t try to flame her, instead moving towards her with claws extended. Either the impact to his throat damaged his ability to breathe fire, or he had decided to try to take her alive to continue the crotch-plate-face-planting in private. While a pleasant thought, Solar wasn’t fond of the being-his-dinner that might follow.

Solar thought about just tossing her giggler onto him, as one might be enough for a smaller dragon. However if it failed and Cinder got back to Ember and Twilight, they’d all be toast anyways. Horse apples, she probably wasn’t getting out of this one, but she could at least make sure she saved her friends. This would be a risky play…

“Hey momma’s boy!” Solar teased, trying to keep her last giggler not visible. “I’m all out of explosives and up for a fight! I bet your whore mom didn’t even teach you how to bite a little ol’ snack like me!”

“What?” Cinder growled. “I thought… Why you little…”

The rage returned to his face and the nervous squeak disappeared from his voice. Taking the bait, he let out an unusually-gargled roar and charged faster at Solar, mouth opening wide as he got close.

After feigning a bad dodge, Solar tried to play it safe and toss in the giggler immediately, but buck he was fast, and his maw opened a lot wider than she expected. Her head was quickly between his jaws with his long tongue coiled around her whole body all the way down to her thighs, the very tip smacking between her hind legs.

Solar briefly considered counting it as ‘close enough’ to scratch ‘dragon’ off the list of creatures on her buck bucket list. As he got a good grip with his arm and prepared to chomp off her head, Solar pulled the pin on her remaining giggler, chucking it directly into the young dragon’s throat.

As soon as he heard the ‘giggle’ from the grenade, he realized his mistake and jerked back in a panic. This allowed Solar to get her head out of the way as his maw closed, but he bit down on both her hoof and the grenade. The glue exploded out, sticking both it and her cracked hoof to his front teeth.

It was hard to see with tears from her pain accumulating inside her goggles, but Solar clenched her teeth as she twisted her damaged hoof against his fangs. She managed to extract the leg but was now minus one hoof. As he frantically tried to dislodge the giggler without getting his claws stuck to it, Solar concentrated on trying to distance herself, but Cinder grabbed her butt with a hind-claw and held her as if determined she should go with him.

Suddenly, she heard Ember shouting “NO! Cinder, you idiot!”, followed by a huge blast from below that for sure wasn’t the giggler.

It was Twilight, who’d driven a huge jolt of raw magic into Cinder. Solar’s whole body clenched as she felt it through him, but it also made him let her go and allowed her to quickly make distance away. The blast finished off Cinder’s back armor that was already loose, the armor along one side following. Solar wasn’t sure if Twilight was really that strong in her current condition, or if the inexperienced dragon had simply latched his armor incorrectly.

Solar had to admit that doing so with a broken horn was impressive, and Cinder wasn’t non-cute for a dragon when his armor started coming off atop that. Unfortunately, it also certainly put Twilight in a lot of pain, as she was now spinning uncontrollably, seemingly on the verge of passing out.

“Cinder!” Ember shrieked as she approached, beating her large wings in a panic. Her wings tore further with each beat, but she focused on trying to save her child. Fortunately she couldn’t shoot flames at the nearby ponies without risking it setting off the bomb early.

But who actually saved him was far less predictable... Twilight, recovering from her dizziness, kicked the grenade from his mouth, sending it to his wing on his side with the most armor remaining, clearly so that it would only disable instead of killing him. With much of the sticky substance on his teeth, Twilight’s hoof was thankfully in no danger of sticking. Though it still proved a bravely insane move as Twilight’s wings gave out and she plummeted.

Solar dove with her, and heard the explosion behind her, but from Cinder’s shrieks he wasn’t dead yet. Fearing that Ember could now easily roast the two of them, Solar looked back up, teeth clenched and once again ready to die.

Ember only looked down at the pony that had saved her son’s life with a look of incomprehension. She turned to instead help her also-plummeting son, grabbing him in her claws. She glanced at the ferals as if to check if any had noticed Cinder’s living status by his lack of armor, then banked and flew away, elevation dropping as her wings tore a little more.

The next second the dragons were gone and Solar slammed into a hard surface, right wing snapping like brittle wood as she landed on it. Starlight had teleported her back, but that hadn’t stopped her downward velocity.

Solar lost her lunch, then shrieked into the puddle and thrashed. As her adrenaline rush died, the full intensity of the pain from her injuries hit her at once, and she couldn’t stop convulsing. She had no idea this much agony was even possible until now.

Limestone grabbed Solar, pulling her against her and holding her muzzle shut to quiet her.

“Calm down, soldier,” Limestone said. “We got you.”

Before Solar could take in her surroundings, the wagon was invisible again. The wagon moved again, bouncing as Maud ran at full speed. Maud could run fast even with the wagon, the screech of angry ferals growing distant behind them. Twilight had made it in as well, and stirred nearby without screaming, so must have been relatively okay.

Solar heard static within her head and garbled voices but couldn’t make them out. The wagon stopped after what seemed like forever, everything fading back in around her as the invisibility spell dropped again.

“None of them followed us,” Starlight said, her voice echoing through the ringing in Solar’s ears. “I think we’re okay.”

“Solar no!” Mercury squealed as she could now see Solar. “She’s bleeding bad!”

“Mercury!” Limestone growled.

“Sorry!” Mercury stammered. “You’re gonna be okay, Solar. It’s not as bad as I thought.”

Solar appreciated the attempted comfort, but even if Ember had spared them her fire, Solar felt like her whole body was still aflame. She flailed again, then panicked more when the damaged hoof hit the floor and most of what remained came free. She couldn’t feel her wings at all, terrified they were mangled beyond repair. Maybe she never used them for flying, but they were still pretty and she’d rather keep them.

Limestone opened Solar’s muzzle, and she wailed again, unable to control herself. Mercury cut off the scream though as she lodged a potion into Solar’s muzzle. She rammed the uncorked bottle tip right into Solar’s throat to force her to guzzle it. After that, Mercury pried Solar’s goggles from her face, damaged and bloody from the brief trip into a dragon’s mouth, but having protected Solar’s eyes. Starlight cast a healing spell on her as well, but it only helped the shrapnel injuries, and did nothing for damage from dragon fire or teeth.

The pain tapered off, but that only made Solar panic more. She didn’t know if Mercury potioned her to heal her or to ease her passing. What had Solar been thinking leaving Stable 27?

“I don’t want to die!” Solar screeched before Limestone held her muzzle shut again. So much for bravery.

“I won’t let you die, I swear!” Mercury said. “Solar please listen. I need you to remove your pipbuck, I can’t take it off for you and I need to get to your leg.”

Solar reached with her other forehoof to the clasp but flipping the latch on her sparking pipbuck sent another stab of pain through the shattered hoof. She couldn’t do it, but felt another hoof there as Crimson reached in and unlatched the pipbuck herself. Solar knew she could remove Stable 27 pipbucks now, but it surprised her that Crimson cared enough to help.

As the pipbuck came free, Solar felt her other leg, her foreleg charred so deeply that she felt exposed bone. Limestone opened Solar’s muzzle again, and this time Solar guzzled the potion eagerly, anything to soothe the rekindled torment.

She felt her consciousness fade. Was this how it felt to die? Her mind rebelled against the drowsiness caused by the potion, terrified that if she slept she would never wake up, but it was a losing battle.

“I won’t let you die,” Mercury’s promise echoed in her head as she lost consciousness.

But either way, she’d kept Mercury safe. She had succeeded at her most important goal.