Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Wednesday, 11/2/2287
POV: Dyo Pie
Slaver Camp

Dyo had ended up in many situations by getting drunk. He’d awoken at various times hugging Holder’s deactivated balefire bomb, in bed with two straight stallions, and face-down in radioactive mud as someone dragged him out of it. He was lucky they even saw him; his brown coat and darker brown mane blended in with the dirt.

But waking up in the custody of slavers had to be a new low. By the Pies, his sister Kyo would never let him live this down if he got back.

Maybe it was poetic that these slavers were the ones that traded with Tenwhinney. Dyo had wanted to live there for so long. If Kyo would turn in Gilda, they could move there and live in luxury. It’d beat the stress of both running Holder and keeping Kyo’s experiment a secret from residents, not to mention Midnight and Trinity.

It wasn’t like he could do much in Holder. Kyo let him be her accountant, but the talent signified by his equal sign cutie mark would be of more use in a heavy trading city like Tenwhinney.

Next to Dyo was another fresh prisoner, a sobbing bat stallion with a somewhat mare-ish figure, who already had a knife rammed in his gut. A laughing mare with a bloody knife as a cutie mark was tormenting him, and it was doubtful he’d survive. No slaver was dumb enough to sell one of Midnight’s favored race, so they were either not bothered or disposed of if they thought Midnight wouldn’t find out.

In the other corner of the darkened room sat Xander, a zebra captive that Dyo recognized as a doctor that used to trade regularly with Holder, at least before he was banned for repeatedly accusing citizens of being changelings. It was an impressive feat if anything, to cause so much trouble that they were willing to ban such a skilled doctor, but now it seemed he had been captured and was the raiders’ doctor whether he wanted to be or not.

Dyo was happy to be ignored, but a second mare crawled up onto the bed he was bound to, one with a cutie mark of a female sex symbol pinning down a male one. He assumed that was what would soon happen.

“So, uh, you come here often?” he grunted.

“I’m not here to talk,” the mare growled. She picked up a dagger in her teeth as if to emphasize the fact.

Luckily for Dyo, she didn’t get to fulfill her special talent atop him. With a loud boom, a jolt of blue plasma ripped through one wall, through the rape-mare’s head, and out the opposite wall. It continued on as if hitting nothing at all. In an instant, the mare flailed wildly and flopped off the bed, dagger clattering to the floor.

The other mare’s cackle stopped, the shot buzzing past her probably close enough to feel the heat. She ran for the room’s exit, a second shot missing her. The sniper clearly wasn’t good with moving targets, and for a bit seemed to have stopped, but the moment she crouched to pick her gun off the floor on her way out, a gut shot went through her torso like paper, and she collapsed.

“Foalish mortals,” a voice boomed from outside the shack. “You think you can abduct my loyal minions? Come now and pray for my divine mercy and you will be spared! Flee and you will beg for death before I am done with you!”

There was no mistaking it. That was Midnight Sparkle. Or at least one of them.

“I will not ask again!” Midnight’s voice boomed a few moments later. “Exit your compound and beg for your goddess’s forgiveness!”

Dyo saw the real Midnight in Holder once, and never wanted to again. She showed up and murdered a pony in the middle of the market without explanation, though Dyo was sure he’d wronged her in some probably-insignificant way. The victim screamed for an hour before she finished him, but not a single creature tried to help, not even his family.

That was the kind of fear Midnight inflicted. Merely knowing she was nearby made it impossible to think, an aura of terror. Dyo didn’t feel the oppressive aura bearing down on him, but if Midnight was here, he would.

But this was good news for Dyo, because she was a reasonable fiend. His sister was the rock sovereign of Holder, and Holder had never defied Midnight that she knew of. She’d spare him so long as Dyo did what she asked and fed her ego.

Xander was unbound, so picked up his medical bag and moved to the bat. The zebra dumped a potion into the bat’s throat, then held his muzzle shut so he didn’t vomit any of it. He poured salve on the knife wound and began to slowly draw it out.

“Sadly I must help the wicked one first,” Xander said in his deep voice. “If the Nightmare Child is here, our best chance of survival is to be found saving him.”

A crash from the room outside sounded like someone stormed through the raiders’ barricade in one blunt charge. There were several gunshots outside followed by more ruckus, including one impact that left a dent in the wall between the rooms as if a body had hit there.

When the door to the room was finally opened, it was a pale unicorn with a red mane and ribbons. She’d have been cute in many other situations, but Dyo got a bad feeling when she shut the door behind her and looked disappointed when she couldn’t lock it.

She limped further into the room, using her magic to open a book. Xander, finished withdrawing the knife from the bat’s gut, lay the blade obediently on the ground in front of her.

“Emissary of the Nightmare Child,” Xander said. “We have saved…”

The mare’s telekinesis pushed Xander’s muzzle shut, pinning him back against one of the bed posts and tying a rope around him. He didn’t resist, perhaps afraid to with one of Midnight’s own doing the tying.

“Um, miss?” Dyo tried. “We’re prisoners, not raiders, my sister is the leader of…”

She pulled his muzzle shut too and he was too nervous to open it again, even if it didn’t feel like a very strong hold. This was highly atypical for Midnight’s minions, and he felt more tense with fear than when he’d been with the raiders.

The book glowed brighter, and an object formed above it. Moving quills floated around the forming object as if drawing it into existence.

“A wise mare once said,” the mare told them as she released their muzzles. “If you give a stallion fire, you’ll keep him warm for the night. But if you catch a stallion on fire, you’ll keep him warm for the rest of his life.”

“Who said something like that?” Dyo asked.

“I did,” the mare chuckled. “Just now. Weren’t you listening?”

Dyo’s blood went cold when he realized what she was drawing into existence, a container of flammable-smelling liquid. But someone working for Midnight wouldn’t kill slaves without giving them the chance to swear loyalty, so who was this?

There was no talking her out of it as the mare dumped the fluid on them. Dyo tensed, the liquid stringing his cuts and his lungs. When he sputtered and opened his eyes again, the mare had produced a match as well.

The mare moved it across the room towards them with excruciating slowness, panting as if significantly weakened by the spell, but with all three of them now tied up it was too late to resist. Dyo took one last deep breath, and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

“Crimson, no!” another mare shouted as the door flung open.

Dyo opened his eyes to see another unicorn mare having stormed into the room. He breathed a sigh of relief as she used her own magic to extinguish and snatch the match away.

“Mercury,” sighed Crimson, face-hoofing in disappointment. “You ruined it! You ruined the mood.”

“This is a rescue mission!” Mercury walked in, moving around Crimson when she didn’t bother to turn around.

“Are you blind?” Crimson scoffed, waving a hoof at them. “These aren’t our friends. They’re stallions, these things are less alive than Mirror Pool clones.”

“Solar, tell her!” Mercury pleaded to another as they entered.

Dyo looked to see a bandaged pegasus mare limping into the room. She didn’t look okay to be helping with an attack.

“Crimson, we can’t kill any slaves,” Solar said. “Especially stallions.”

“You just want to buck them!” Crimson turned and yelled at Solar, then stumbled a bit on her limping leg and leaned against a wall. “Probably all three at once!”

“Damn right I’ll buck them all at once!” Solar said. “That’s not the point though!”

Dyo opened his muzzle to speak, but the last statement caught him so off guard that he stared instead.

“Who are you?” Xander got some words out, but looked no less stunned.

“Come on, fillies,” Crimson groaned to their rescuers. “I made a creepy speech and everything! Just let me murder these three and we can save the next slaves we find. This is the second time you’ve stopped me right after giving my speech, Mercury! You’re being unreasonable.”

As Dyo tried to think of something else to say, something strange caught his eye. Tucked behind Mercury’s ear was some kind of plant with purple petals. Was that…?

“Is that a real flower?” gasped Dyo.

“What?” asked Mercury with momentary confusion. “Oh um, yes. I got it from our stable. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve never seen a real flower,” Dyo stared even more. He’d assumed all stables had the same nutrient slop as Stable 11. Actually one of the reasons he wanted to go to Tenwhinney was that he heard they had flowers there.

“Please tell me you're not having a moment,” huffed Crimson.

“You poor thing,” Mercury wiped tears from her eyes.

“By Daybreaker’s flaming cooch, you are,” sighed Crimson.

“This rescue could not get more confusing,” the zebra commented.

“Clearly you've never been rescued by Screwball,” the bat chuckled, but clenched his teeth as if laughing hurt.

“More like it couldn’t get more disappointing,” Crimson sighed.

POV: Dinky Do

Peace at last.

Dinky hadn’t been able to sleep in over 200 years, so being blasted with the strange device wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, she felt so content as she faded into dreamless sleep that waking disappointed her.

No peace yet then. Maybe later.

Before she even opened her eyes, she realized she was in a wagon from the shaking as they moved over rough ground. Dinky found both her front and legs tied with rope, and an attempt to charge her horn sent a throbbing pain through her head from a horn restraint. She didn’t think those things were supposed to cause pain.

For a moment, all she could hear was a radio nearby. It was playing the ‘Best Friend Cozy’ show.

“Shimmy Shake, today I want to share a touching story… of friendship,” Cozy’s gruff voice was saying.

“Oh?” her apparent assistant Shimmy replied, the voice nearly the same. “Did something happen?”

“Well golly, it sure did!” Cozy continued. “As our regular viewers know, generosity is an important part of friendship. Yesterday at the processing lab, one of our victi- VOLUNTEERS showed me generosity and probably kindness too!”

“I probably can’t wait to hear, Cozy!” Shimmy said. “The processing lab?”

“Yes, Shimmy,” Cozy said. “The processing lab is where we turn WEAK, FRIENDLESS ponies into SUPERIOR super-mutant alicorns! The story begins long ago in a… wait no, this was yesterday. Anyway, I forgot to pack a sack lunch!”

Shimmy gasped dramatically.

“I was so hungry!” Cozy said. “But as I was passing the line of ponies to be processed, I noticed a pony cuddling a CUTE, DELICIOUS little foal. So, I stopped and said ‘Golly gee! Are you going to eat that?’”

“What did she say?” Shimmy asked, sounding fascinated.

“Well at first, she acted confused, as PATHETIC, DUMB ponies often get in the presence of our superior friendship,” said Cozy. “So, I explained that I forgot to pack my lunch, and would like to eat her baby pony.”

“A reasonable request,” Shimmy noted.

“Indeed, Shimmy,” Cozy said. “But rather than just giving me her foal, do you know what she said? She said ‘Over my dead body!’”

“Amazing!” Shimmy said. “She offered not only her foal, but herself as well?”

“I thought she was amazing too,” Cozy confirmed. “AND DELICIOUS.”

“It just goes to show what can happen when we let the power of friendship lead the way!” Shimmy sounded touched.

As Cozy’s message ended and a jazzy song played, the laughter of nearby slavers drowned out the sound of the radio. Dinky imagined that show must be very popular with their kind even if they hated Trinity.

Dinky’s vision cleared, and she realized she was in a different wagon from the one the raiders they fought had. It was smaller, and she only saw two slavers from her position. One was the female griffon from earlier, who sat with them in the back, and the unicorn stallion, who pulled the wagon. Dinky thought she could hear another wagon behind them but couldn’t see it from her position. Who knew how many others were with them, or how long it’d been.

Getting a better look at the griffon, she had gray fur and lighter feathers around her head and neck. Her chipped claws looked infested with fungus that Dinky would only expect to see on a ghoul. She had piercing predatory eyes, but her stench reduced the intimidation factor. Not that Dinky’s group smelled better; maybe she only noticed because an unwashed griffon smelled different from unwashed ponies. Lucky for Dinky, she didn’t have to breathe if she didn’t want to.

The unicorn had a blue coat and dirty white mane, and probably stank too, but was further away from them. His cutie mark was a crying foal, not a good thing for Dinky even if she wasn’t a real filly.

Limestone sat on one side of her, restrained. She stared with a blank expression, and Dinky couldn’t tell if she’d ‘awoken’ yet, though her glow was completely gone. They’d stripped Limestone’s supplies other than her uniform and pipbuck. They probably let her keep the uniform on since it wasn’t armored or nice enough to steal.

Dinky had even more respect for her for the way she’d stood up to Starlight to prevent her from selling Solar; she hoped the poor pegasus was okay now.

Strangely, Marble was on the other side of Limestone, tied in a similar position. Obviously she didn’t move either. The slavers must have mistaken her for another ‘deactivated’ ghoul because of her relatively preserved condition.

Starlight was on her other side, hooves tied and horn restrained, also stripped of everything save for her pipbuck. It looked like the horn restraint was some kind of make-shift enchanted clamp with gems attached instead of one of the Ministry models, which probably explained why it was painful to attempt magic. Starlight stared at the wagon floor in front of her, teeth clenched so hard that Dinky could swear that she heard them creak. Dinky hoped she wouldn’t be in charge again if they survived this.

Kamikaze didn’t need to be restrained; she lay on the floor in front of them like a sack of potatoes, also deprived of her armor. The pegasus looked even more frustrated than usual as the griffon used her as a footstool, lounging on the opposite side of the wagon from the captives.

The griffon rubbed her feet against Kamikaze’s wing stumps on purpose, though Kami wasn’t giving her the pleasure of a reaction. Dinky felt required to dislike Kamikaze, but pitied her more.

Solar wasn’t around. Dinky saw her fleeing before she lost consciousness, so she hoped that meant she’d gotten away. Even then, could a stable-dweller survive alone in the Ashlands long enough to find their other friends? Maybe Solar could; she had proven herself to be durable for a breather.

“You’re alright,” said Starlight as she noticed. “I’m… glad.” She looked back at the floor.

“Oh good, you woke up, or whatever,” said the griffon. “I hope the other zombies start moving. Can’t sell you otherwise.”

Dinky didn’t want to talk to anyone other than Limestone, but wanted answers too, so grunted at Starlight, “What was that they hit us with?”

“Apparently an AIE, arcane interference emitter,” sighed Starlight. “No idea where they got that kind of tech.”

“We looted a Unicornian caravan that anger bunnies destroyed,” said the griffon. “Unicornians may be assholes, but they got great tech if you can snatch it.”

“This is your fault,” Dinky said to Starlight, too peeved to be fascinated by the example of new magitech.

“I know,” Starlight sighed, not excusing her actions at least, but knowing she was an idiot didn’t make her not one.

“I can’t believe we wasted the AIE and didn’t even get the feather factory,” grumbled the griffon. “Instead we only got an over-harvested pegacripple.”

“And we lost Glaucus,” said the unicorn from the front of the wagon. “That bucking featherbrain killed him.”

“Who the fuck cares?” scoffed the female griffon. “He was a shitty lay, anyway. Every time I pinned him down, he’d complain that he was gay. LIke that’s my problem!”

“Harvested…” Kamikaze seemed too broken to argue. “What have I done?”

The treatment of pegasi probably hit Kamikaze hard. Rightly so, since it was Kamikaze’s fault that pegasi were routinely used for torture and spell components. Dinky felt worse for the pegasi having to live out here than for Kamikaze; it wasn’t their fault a moron with faulty cybernetics led their ancestors into battle.

“Don’t start some moral upright bullshit,” the griffon sneered. “ ‘Civilized’ groups do it too. Even the AIE uses some ground up anti-magic organ they tear out of living changelings. The Unicornians probably raise them like livestock.”

“Sounds like something Starlight would do,” growled Dinky. She looked at Starlight, but Starlight didn’t look back.

“I see the zomfoal is a smartass,” smirked the griffon.

“Don’t antagonize them, Dinky,” Limestone mumbled. She had awoken it seemed, though her glow was still dim. That probably meant breaking her ropes or using radiation attacks wasn’t on the table.

Limestone was right, but it was hard to do nothing. Dinky wasn’t even sure why someone would want to buy an undersized ghoul like herself and hoped it was for labor and not...amusement.

“Going to tell us your names?” Limestone asked the griffon.

“Call me Fingers,” the griffon shrugged. “Not that you’ll have long to call me that. The hottie pulling is Foal Basher. He complains when I pin him down too because I’m not a foal. I swear, these guys.”

That fit the unicorn’s cutie mark of the crying foal for certain. Whether his parents made a lucky guess when they named him or he changed it at his cute-ceañera, it didn’t bode well for Dinky. She hoped he wouldn’t count her as a real foal.

“Your name starts with an F?” Limestone arched an eyebrow. “Did griffons stop having G-names?”

“I'm a rebel,” smirked Fingers, but seemed amused.

“What steps did you take to keep our comrades from finding us?” Limestone asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Fingers asked, tilting her head.

“I see,” Limestone said, waxing thoughtful. “So you didn’t take any.”

“Anyone that comes after you will walk into a trap,” Finger spat the words, easily led into answering. “I’m sure once several expeditions go missing, whoever you’re with won’t want to risk more.”

Limestone didn’t look worried, and even Starlight rolled her eyes. Well-trained soldiers and an off-world royal wouldn’t stroll into some raider ambush, especially when expecting one.

“You are all going to die,” Starlight said. “Your friends aren’t setting a trap, they are in one. Your only hope is to release us so we can stop the slaughter.”

“Adorable,” Fingers laughed. “Delusions of grandeur? You couldn’t handle us when we walked up to you in plain sight.”

“Yeah but they don’t have Starlight to buck things up,” Dinky said.

Starlight eyed Dinky, but she only stared back.

“Dinky,” Limestone said in an almost motherly tone.

She didn’t need to say more to tell Dinky she wasn’t helping. Dinky sighed and stared at an empty spot in the wagon instead.

“Are you sure?” asked Starlight to Fingers. “Don’t you think it’d be a good idea to keep us on hoof until you’re sure how that turns out?”

“She’s not wrong,” commented Foal Basher.

“Shut up,” Fingers growled. “Both of you.” Without the stubborn griffon, the other slavers might have been more susceptible to Starlight’s creepy influence.

“If you don’t hurry,” Starlight continued. “You’ll return to camp to find all of your comrades dead.”

“We’re almost at Tenwhinney Tower,” Fingers ignored Starlight’s comment. “We’ll sell them the zombies and see if anyone else is around to buy the unicorn.”

“We’re keeping the buck pillow,” commented Foal Basher.

“Right,” Fingers said, giving Kamikaze a kick. “She’s still the piñata for the party next week. Though we don’t have candy to stuff her with.”

“We’ll find something else,” chuckled Foal Basher.

Kamikaze quirked her ears but took deep breaths, not giving them the fearful response they wanted. Dinky couldn’t believe how these creatures were talking. She should have stayed in Canterlot and just killed herself. She’d have rather died thinking Equestria was a wasteland than realize it’d come to this.

“So, you say there won’t be more expeditions,” Limestone said. “Do you think Her Divine Shadow will give up minions so easily? She won’t let her reputation take a hit by being bested by raiders.”

Fingers froze for a moment and tilted her head the other direction. “You’re bluffing. You mentioned before you were from a stable.”

“Yes, Stable 27, which has allied with Midnight Sparkle,” Limestone said. “Didn't you hear the news broadcast about Midnight attacking us? Even if we're only loyal to save ourselves, Her Shadow doesn’t abandon loyal worshipers.”

“Fingers?” Foal Basher’s voice quivered slightly. “We could let them go now and she might accept it as a mistake.”

“Calm down dumbass, they’re full of shit,” Fingers shook her head.

Limestone couldn’t expect Fingers to believe her now but probably figured Foal Basher would tell the other slavers what she said. If their friends played the ‘Twilight looks like Midnight’ card, it’d increase the chances they’d run screaming as soon as she showed herself.

Dinky wished she had a pipbuck so she could be part of the PCB conversation about how to escape that the other three were no doubt having. She’d have to watch for Limestone’s cues and follow them without question in case there was a plan Dinky didn’t know.

No escape occurred before they got to Tenwhinney Tower though. Dinky soon saw it on the skyline, a single skyscraper left from a lost city.

Dinky had visited it back when it was a hotel. She and Mommy vacationed in Las Pegasus, and this skyscraper was one of the few parts of the cloud resort that sat on the ground. The top poked through the clouds of the city itself and allowed unicorns and earth ponies to walk from the ground to the paved clouds on top. They made a fortune charging a fee to use the hotel as a path, but it was a deal compared to renting a balloon.

But Las Pegasus had floated away long ago. Their effort to escape a CME strike from Canterlot ended when a balefire strike hit them instead and they melted into Ghastly Gorge. Dinky remembered that last newscast she heard before Canterlot blew. She remembered hearing the other refugees cheering the death of thousands, as Mommy cried because of her friends that lived there.

Dinky didn’t know what inhabited this area now, but the former location of Las Pegasus was mostly wasteland as far as the eye could see. There were a few other ruins nearby, but none in decent condition. This one must have been upkept well. If those inside had been there for generations, they might not understand what the outside was like, not unlike stable dwellers.

There were a pair of ponies in armor approaching them from the tower. They were in much nicer armor than the raiders, looking like old military issue.

“Hey Corpse Crasher,” Fingers called the wagon behind them as they stopped at least a thousand hooves from the entrance. “You’re best at this, go bargain.”

“What the buck ever,” an annoyed voice said behind them.

An all-white earth stallion trotted past their wagon and stood in front as the armored figures got closer. This one had an impaled pony as a cutie mark; Dinky didn’t know cutie marks came that gory. He was unarmed, maybe as required by the approaching soldiers.

“They don’t trust you enough to let you close to the tower?” asked Limestone.

“They’re paranoid about everyone outside their posh little palace,” smirked Fingers. “And they might haggle, so be prepared for a wait.”

“Why do they want ghoul slaves?” asked Starlight. “I got the impression from radio broadcasts that the leader here hated ghouls too much to even own one.”

“He uses them in arena matches or something,” shrugged Fingers.

“He’ll give us a good price though for dociles.” Foal Basher added in the same tone one might use to mention a couch he sold on eHay. He unhitched himself from the wagon and climbed inside it.

Dinky would shiver if she had enough blood flow to have such a physical reaction. Limestone would try to protect her, but what could even Limestone do in such a hopeless situation? Without Limestone, would the others figure out a rescue? The slavers might be easy pickings, but the tower was well-defended.

“Sorry I couldn’t stop this,” Limestone whispered next to her, the perceptive general deduced what Dinky was thinking.

“Not your fault,” Dinky sighed, loud enough for Starlight to hear. Perhaps the only victory Dinky could get now was to make sure Starlight knew Dinky died hating her. Or re-died. Whatever.

“Don’t give up,” Limestone whispered. “I won’t let you die.”

They could hear the ponies haggling in front of the wagon. Though Dinky tried her best not to hear it, she couldn’t shut it out completely. The Tenwhinney guards tried to talk them down because ghouls were hard to sell anywhere else and they were just going to put them down.

“Hey Basher,” Fingers said to Foal Basher as he climbed into the wagon. “I want a show. Rape the little one; I bet her screams are precious.”

If Dinky had been breathing that comment would have knocked the breath out of her. She looked at the stallion, trying to hide the fear in her eyes and look creepy instead. Limestone shifted next to her, probably trying to come up with a strategy to stop this. Dinky hoped she thought of something.

“I’m not bucking a zombie,” Basher took one look at her glassy stare and shook his head.

“I thought you loved molesting foals,” Fingers grunted. “You had plenty of fun with mine. Come on; I’m sure the twerp doesn’t want to die a virgin.”

“She’s not a foal,” Basher growled. “And I bet not a virgin either. She could be centuries old and bucked all the disgusting ghouls in Canterlot for all I know.”

“I’m 218 years old,” confirmed Dinky, hoping that helped her case. She tried to sound calm but doubted her success. “But no, not all of them.”

“Might want to opt for me,” said Limestone. “That one’s a bit infested.”

“I’m not banging anypony’s centuries old corpse, animate or not,” Basher shook his head. “Go get Corpse Crasher if you want to see that.”

“He’s busy, dumbass,” said Fingers. “I’m the leader, so do it anyway or I’ll have Crasher banging your corpse instead.”

“If you want to buck something helpless, do me,” Kamikaze said. “I’m warm at least.”

Dinky sighed. It was awkward to have someone she hated try to risk their life for her, maybe she should be slightly less hard on Kamikaze.

“You’re too old for my tastes, featherbrain,” Basher grumbled.

Off to the side, the Tenwhinney guards argued they shouldn’t have to pay full price for Dinky because of her size. The logic Corpse Crasher countered with was that ‘foals are more fun to kill’. They then moved on to trying to sell Marble, claiming she would start moving soon, and of course the guards didn’t buy the assertion.

The slavers offered Starlight for extra, but the guards said they couldn’t buy her due to population controls. Finally, the slavers offered the six-pack of Glimmer Cola Quantum that they’d stolen from the group to sweeten the deal. Apparently not even raiders would chance drinking that stuff. The whole discussion wasn’t helping Dinky’s emotional state.

“Ugh,” Dinky sighed. She appreciated the efforts but didn’t want to see anypony take her place either. “You don’t have to do that, either of you. Besides, if I can take a large feral stallion, I can take that guy.”

“I’d be surprised if you even noticed him with what he’s packing,” Limestone said as she leaned to the side and peered beneath the stallion. She was determined to get their anger focused on her instead of Dinky.

“By Guto’s meaty nut sack,” grumbled Fingers. “The haggling isn’t taking as long as I thought and you’re still wasting time. Just rape the purple unicorn since they don’t seem to want her. And that’s an order.”

“W-what?” Starlight stammered, suddenly part of the conversation.

“You’re the only one that didn’t offer to do it to protect the others,” grinned Fingers. “Probably means you’re the most scared of this, and that means you’ll sob the best.” She sat up and called to the wagon behind them. “Gabriel! Come help rape this pony!”

“I have a headache!” Gabriel called back. It sounded like another griffon.

“Come do it anyway!” Fingers called back. “We’re not leaving until I get a show!”

“Fucking hens,” grumbled Gabriel, but sounded like he was on his way. “Are you ever not horny?”

“I swear if these guys touch me,” Starlight growled, her eyes filled with panic. “I will cut their dicks off and choke you to death on them! You’ll wish after messing with me that you were never bor-”

Fingers responded by swiftly spitting in Starlight’s mouth, making the unicorn gag in disgust. Dinky winced, no longer able to look directly at Starlight. She was still angry at her, but she wouldn’t wish this on anyone and just couldn’t bear to watch. With Starlight’s rant shut down, Fingers promptly grabbed her by the mane and dragged her out of the wagon onto the ground.

“No, no, no,” Starlight muttered, obviously panicking. “Not again, not again.”

“The worse you treat us, griffon,” Limestone warned. “The worse Her Divine Shadow will treat you.”

Dinky didn’t get to see if Limestone’s logic worked to save Starlight or not. The soldiers from Tenwhinney came over, and Corpse Crasher climbed into the wagon to help heft Limestone and Dinky out of it. They left Marble, apparently having been unable to convince the guards that she would become animate, but took the Quantum Cola.

“Let’s get the buck out of here,” said the stallion Tenwhinney guard. “I don’t want to watch raider horse apples go down.” Yet he couldn’t be bothered to stop it either.

“I can’t believe we paid 3000 caps for a pair of corpses,” grumbled the other guard, a mare.

What the buck was a cap?

“Didn’t have a choice,” shrugged the stallion. “Jacob wanted dociles to die in the arena at his son’s birthday party. Too bad we can’t get Gilda.”

“Those nuts in Holder know where she is, but won’t give her up,” said the mare.

“We got the cola though,” said the stallion. “I wouldn’t drink it, but Jacob will want it for his antique collection.”

The guards walked side-by-side as they talked, heading back to the tower, Limestone draped over the mare and Dinky over the stallion. The ghouls were facing one another, though Dinky tried not to make eye contact.

“It’s not your fault, Dinky,” Limestone whispered to comfort her even now. “Like I said, I won’t let you die.”

From what Dinky had heard, it was more than an empty promise when Limestone said it, but what about Limestone herself? What about their other friends? Flawed as they were, they were Dinky's new family; who would keep them alive?

POV: Starlight Glimmer
Hours Later

The wagon rocked about from the bumpy road, each rocking motion adding a note to the dull chorus of pain that permeated Starlight’s body. Her legs were tied once again in front of her with the horn restraint still on her head, but she didn’t feel like moving anyway. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Kamikaze whispering to her, underneath the noises of her holes expelling the disgusting fluids that had been forced inside them.

Starlight had been a captive in the Crystal Empire after her failure to stop Sombra’s return. Since she was too strong-willed for brain-washing and too important a captive to kill, she was mostly a toy instead. Yet even Sombra had the decency to have a doctor see to her afterward. How had Equestria fallen so far that ponies they met on the road were more evil than Sombra?

It wouldn’t be so bad, but when Starlight’s pipbuck injection system automagically injected her with potions, the slavers thought she could regenerate. At that point they went harder on her and she couldn’t convince the idiots otherwise. They had dropped her here on the floor expecting her to heal with her wounds barely wrapped.

Her matted fur felt sticky against the floor of the wagon where she lay. Though she felt her own blood pooling beneath her despite the pathetic attempt at bandaging, there was no way to check her injuries, not that she even wanted to know what her rear end looked like. The griffon’s dirty claws had done a number on her, and infection from that was a real danger. Starlight hoped her wounds itching so much was just from whatever material passed as “cloth” to these savages.

“Starlight?” Kamikaze’s worried whisper was louder than before, as if the pegasus had wormed her way closer across the floor.

Starlight didn’t have the energy to answer her. She felt Kamikaze roll against her back and hold one tiny stump against Starlight. Kamikaze sighed in relief after confirming she was still alive.

“Don’t let these bastards break you; once we’re out of here, somepony has to put a bomb up their butts, and watch ‘em squirm before they blow to bits, and I don’t think Twilight’s up to it,” she said with a clearly-forced laugh.

Starlight let out a polite “heh” in response, the most she could muster. She didn’t know why Kamikaze cared. Starlight’s actions had split their group, and the only pony that could fix it had been sold to butchers. Starlight had enough faith in the team to rescue her and Kamikaze, but Limestone and Dinky might be out of reach, and it was doubtful the others would follow Starlight without Limestone’s support.

If the rest of the team was alive. What if Starlight sent them to their deaths? What if they’d obeyed her order to ditch Twilight and couldn’t run off the raiders without her? Now that Starlight thought about it, she realized what a stupid order it was.

She let her ego get to her and ruined everything, as she had often before. It seemed something she was doomed to repeat forever, though this time seemed worse than past issues, like her mind was slowly slipping. What was happening to her?

If there was no one to come, Kamikaze would die as a piñata and Starlight would be a toy or foal factory for whatever perverse creature bought her. What an inappropriate end to her short reign.

Starlight yelped when she felt a claw grab her mane again, expecting to get something disgusting rammed down her throat. Instead they dropped a dirty cushion beneath her head and let it fall. She turned her head enough to see that it was the male griffon Gabriel.

A moment later, he pushed a potion to her lips. Hoping it was for healing and not a chem, Starlight gulped. She felt better, enough to have stopped bleeding at least. They must have realized she wasn’t healing on her own.

“Don’t thank me,” Gabriel smirked. “Fingers ordered me to keep you alive so we can sell you.”

“I wasn't going to,” panted Starlight.

The wagon stopped.

“What in Tartarus is going on?” Corpse Crasher called out from the front wagon. “It’s on fire!”

It was then Starlight paid attention again. She’d been so spaced out she hadn’t even been listening to the sounds of their environment, but now she heard it. The sound of flames, screams, and hysterical laughter in the distance.

“It’s her! Midnight Sparkle!” another voice cried out as they got closer. It sounded like the bull that’d been with the group before. “I saw her in camp when I got back!”

“Are you sure, Malarky?” Fingers asked. Her voice was hollow, with a definite ‘oh shit’ ring to it. “What about the ambush we set up?”

“I’m damn sure!” said the bull. “I think it’s the real Midnight. If she met our ambush, they’re dead!”

“I bucking told you!” Foal Basher said. “These assholes must be important for her to come personally!”

“You didn’t tell me shit!” snarled Fingers, even if they clearly had.

Gabriel stood still next to Starlight. His eyes widened, unsure what to do.

“Release me,” Starlight said.

“W-what?” Gabriel stammered, looking at her as if he’d forgotten she was there.

“Do you know what Her Divine Shadow will do to you?” asked Starlight. “Everything you did to me and more. Cooperate, and I can promise she won’t harm you for this. I’ll let you live too.”

The honest reputation of Midnight and her minions came in handy as Gabriel didn’t question the promise. His shivering claws, still covered in Starlight’s blood, unlatched her horn restraint, grasping a knife nearby to cut her bonds free.

“Look uh, I’m sorry I- SHIT!” Gabriel didn’t have time for his insincere apology.

As soon as the horn restraint was off, Starlight’s horn glowed as she grabbed the knife from his grasp and untied her own ropes. A short spell later, the dull metal sharpened to a razor edge, which she pointed at him.

“No, you said I could live!” Gabriel shrieked, taking another step back. He was too afraid to even go for his gun. Midnight had clearly made an impression on the Ashlanders in this area. “Midnight will punish you for lying!”

“Carry Kami and Marble,” Starlight motioned to Kamikaze and Marble’s corpse. She then turned towards the group still panicking in front of the wagon. Gabriel obeyed, shivering.

Carrying the knife and the horn restraint with her, Starlight staggered towards the panicked group. The slavers didn’t see Starlight’s approach until her telekinesis snapped the horn restraint onto Foal Basher’s horn. A moment later, all the raiders found their guns yanked away and tossed back into the wagon.

It would be easy to shoot them all, but Starlight didn’t need guns or SATS to finish these foals. Corpse Crasher and the bull raider didn’t have time to even squeak before their heads twisted around several full turns, necks cracking grotesquely. Starlight didn’t stop twisting until they popped off like bobble-heads, replaced by a brief fountain of blood as their bodies dropped and thrashed on the ground. She did it without effort, her rage fueling her magic. Their eyes rapidly lost focus as their faces froze into their last terrified expression, thumping to the ground as she dropped them.

“What? How?” screeched Foal Basher as his body went stiff, held in Starlight’s magical grasp.

“Whoa, brutal!” Kamikaze sounded impressed.

“What the fuck did you do?” Fingers demanded at Gabriel, seeing him behind Starlight and carrying both Kamikaze and Marble over his shoulders. She rushed him but froze in Starlight’s magic too.

“She promised Midnight would spare me!” Gabriel shouted back. “You can’t expect me to pass on that offer!”

“I didn’t want to!” Foal Basher begged Starlight. “It was Fingers! She ordered us to!” The typical excuse of war criminals everywhere.

“I killed your friends quickly,” Starlight ignored their pleas and arguments. “But I promised something different for the ones that defiled me, didn’t I? Do you remember what I promised, Fingers?”

Fingers looked too frightened to answer.

“You said you’d choke her to death on their dicks,” Kamikaze helpfully pointed out. “As her favorite footstool, I think I’d like to see that.”

“I did promise that, didn’t I?” Starlight smiled. “Thanks for reminding me, Kami. Her Divine Shadow would be very disappointed in me if I didn’t keep my promise.”

“No, no, no!” screeched Basher as the knife floated towards him.

An ear-splitting squeal escaped Basher’s muzzle as the knife carved out what Starlight needed. She yanked the knife forward, ripping a gash up his front all the way to his sternum. She then released him, letting him fall to the ground. He sobbed, trying to hold his organs in as they oozed out. She left him there to bleed out.

“You swore not to hurt me!” Gabriel screeched as the bloody knife raced towards him.

“I promised she wouldn’t hurt you,” growled Starlight. “I only promised I wouldn’t kill you.”

Starlight pulled Kamikaze and Marble away from him, leaning them against the nearby wagon out of the way. Even Kamikaze closed her eyes at what Starlight was doing, but Starlight wasn’t worried about reputation right now. She carved the best bits from the screaming drake and charred the wound closed so he wouldn’t bleed out.

When Starlight turned towards Fingers, she had never seen ‘oh horse apples’ written so plainly on a face before.

“Griffons,” sneered Starlight. “You’re just pretend pegasi. How pathetic is it to be a subpar copy of an already worthless creature?”

Finger’s face twisted in rage, the comment hitting the nerve Starlight hoped it would, but she didn’t have time to retort. Starlight forced her beak open and stuffed it full of what had defiled her, clamping it tightly shut afterward. That wasn’t enough for Starlight though, so she used the dagger to defile Fingers in the same way. Fingers couldn’t scream, but she thrashed and gagged well enough, and urinated all over herself. Even better.

Starlight breathed heavily, standing silent as she watched Fingers struggle as she floated there. Once the struggles had slowed, Starlight let Fingers fall to the ground, leaving the blade hilt-deep inside her. Fingers wasn't dead, but that was fine. She was too weak to even spit, so Starlight left her to suffer more before the inevitable.

Starlight then turned back to Gabriel. He curled up on the ground, grasping the wound where his goods used to be and looking at her in terror.

“Get up,” Starlight demanded.

Afraid to disobey, Gabriel staggered to a standing position, looking like he might tumble back down at any moment.

“I don’t work for Midnight, the one torching your compound is so much more,” Starlight growled. Her rage had her well beyond the point of considering the wisdom of her words. “Though I am honest, so you get to leave with almost all your pieces intact. Tell everyone what happens to those that defy Starlight Glimmer, and not to buck with the New Equestrian Empire.”

Gabriel turned and took off, holding both claws over his charred groin as he raced away. That should be an adequate start to Starlight’s reputation in the Ashlands, and she vowed it would only grow from there.

“New Equestrian Empire?” Kamikaze said after the griffon was out of earshot. “That’s terrible. Everypony will pronounce it ‘NEE’.”

“Shut up, Kami,” sighed Starlight, but adopted her nicer voice as she added. “I hope you know I didn’t mean that about pegasi being worthless.” She added more quietly. “And thanks for checking on me when I was down and trying to cheer me up, I appreciate it.”

Starlight picked up Kamikaze, holding the pega-pillow in her magic as she draped Marble over her back.

“Yeah, I know,” Kamikaze shrugged best she could with her shoulder stumps. “For what it’s worth, sorry for what those assholes did to you. I won’t tell the others... hope I’m not getting sappy like Twilight.”

“Thank you,” sighed Starlight, but kept a determined face atop the waves of emotion within her. “We have work to do. I hope Tenwhinney can see this fire from their precious tower. I want them to see what’s coming for them.”