Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Date: Monday 11/21/2287
POV: Starlight Glimmer
Unicorninan Territory

The road from there to Unicornia, once Manehattan, was safe compared to where they'd been. Neither Midnight nor Trinity’s territories went so far north as there was little strategic value and neither wanted to chance encroaching on Unicornia. The railroad north was home to raiders, but they didn't have to go that route. They went east right through the burned out forest on no particular path.

Normally trekking through raw wasteland would be a bad idea due to unnatural wildlife, but closer to Unicornia, their patrols had slaughtered anything dangerous. It was ironic that one of the safest places in the wasteland was next to the most dangerous faction's city.

Starlight trusted Crimson enough to store the equipment and food in her book, but not enough to sleep inside it, and certainly not enough to let Figment sleep inside it, so they had sleeping bags for that. Otherwise during the day, they made good time by taking shifts and having one pony at a time carry the others in Crimson’s book. It allowed them to trot faster without worrying about wearing themselves out, so they didn’t have to stop except to sleep.

A day from the city, Starlight saw it on the horizon, bright and gleaming like a giant black pearl, the opaque energy shield hiding the city. This was why they knew so little about them, and Starlight wondered what Unicornian citizens knew about outsiders other than them being inferior.

Starlight stared at the distant city as she trotted, carrying only the book in her saddlebags. She looked forward to seeing the city, but worried too. Unicornia’s shield was four times the size of Canterlot's, which itself required the CME system to power it. Yet from what Starlight knew, the power required for doubling the size of shields was around ten times. Even if they stripped components from Canterlot’s CME, how were they squeezing 100 times the energy from it? With such frightening technology, did they even need a CME?

Crimson chuckled from within the book, as Starlight insisted they keep an open audio link to what was going on inside of it. Poor Ink Blot whimpered, and Starlight hoped they weren’t about to start torturing that thing again. If they did, she’d have to listen to her allies argue about whether or not to do it and how much.

Starlight picked up the book with her magic to look inside. Ink Blot had run to Mercury and was hiding behind her while Paper Cut huffed in annoyance and Crimson looked bored. Figment was more productive, scanning through pages of notes on his pipbuck about the 'character' he was playing, Steel Anvil.

Currently Figment was in the form of a strong black colt with gray-streaked mane and tail with bright green eyes. He'd taken the form based on a description Twilight gave him of the historical Princess Platinum's husband, with enough differences not to be suspicious. His cutie mark was a heart superimposed over a female sex symbol, and he had aged down enough to be closer to Platinum’s rumored age preference.

Princess Platinum would know the history of the civilization she named her city after, so she'd recognize who he favored. And from what little they knew of her personality, she might think it was fate that she found such an addition to her harem.

So far, it worked out. When they contacted a Unicornian patrol by radio, they showed them Steel's image and said they intended to offer him as a gift. When the patrol forwarded it to Platinum, she agreed to an audience before Starlight even explained what they wanted. With luck, Platinum's apparent tendency to think with her hole instead of her head would make this easier.

“Steel Anvil?” Starlight called Figment. She'd made everyone use his fake name so no one would accidentally say Figment or Tranquil while in Unicornia. “Do you think you've learned that information? And made sure it's encrypted on your pipbuck?”

“Yes,” said Figment from inside. “I'm a stallion that just turned 13, whose parents want me to work at the PUB, but am still virgin due to the ‘unfair’ age of consent laws in Holder and no unicorns my own age being interested. I found an image of Prince Platinum in a book, and realized I favored the historical Princess Platinum’s husband. I’ve been obsessed with Unicornia since. I jumped at the chance to be offered as a gift to lose my virginity to my distant crush, and to avoid the horror of having to have sex with lesser species as a PUB worker. The hardest part will be pretending to be a bad lay like a real virgin.”

“Good,” said Starlight, taking the papers with her magic. “Your cutie mark should explain if you're not too terrible a lay. Just remember to destroy anything that's written down before we arrive. They might catch on and ask to search Crimson’s book.”

“Crimoire,” corrected Crimson. “And at least the trap isn't pretending to be a mare now. If he does that again, I’ll gouge out his eyes with my dick.”

“Sorry,” Figment habitually apologized, but also blushed at the idea.

Now that those two were talking, Starlight kept a closer eye on the page as she trotted, wanting to be ready if Crimson popped. She didn’t think she would, since she wouldn’t want to be on Starlight’s bad side when she was the leader that would give Crimson what she wanted, but it was a good idea to watch anyway.

“Why do you like me?” Crimson asked when Figment looked away. “I want to kill you, you know that right? I know males are brutally stupid, so should I demonstrate in detail what that means?”

“Crimson, stop it,” Mercury muttered, laying on her belly as she petted a snoozing Ink Blot. She spent most of her time in Crimson's book, since she still couldn't walk far without hurting, and with recent events had gone from naive to informed and then settled on 'sick of it'.

Starlight had been sick of it for a while already. She felt like she was foalsitting these buffoons, always dealing with antics. The list of those she would get rid of as soon as they were no longer useful was getting long.

At least she didn't have to worry about Twilight's whining for now. If her luck held, she wouldn't have to hear that again. That was refreshing, at least.

“Why don't you care?” Crimson asked Mercury. “This asshole pretended to be your best friend after fucking Tranquil and leaving her to be murdered.” She tsked. “I bet you've already fucked him, haven't you. Better keep him sated, because if he touches Maud...”

“That's not what happened,” Figment shook his head and wiped away tears with one hoof. “I would never leave her to die.”

“He also saved her in Everfree,” said Mercury. “Lost his other friend rescuing her, then kept her safe all the way to Holder. Do you think she'd have lived that long by herself?”

“We'd have rescued her ourselves if he hadn't dragged her out of there,” said Crimson.

“You would have found her in Everfree in PIECES,” Figment surprised them all when he raised his voice. “Me and Delusion rescued her from guards that were gang-raping her and had been ordered to not stop until she was dead. She would have been tossed out with the garbage by the time you got there had we not created a distraction and nabbed her.”

“Why the buck should we believe you?” Crimson asked, but with less force than before as she turned away. “Why are you so obsessed with me forgiving you anyway? It'd be easier to take the self-preservation route and kill me in my sleep, you know. No one aside from Not-Midnight would miss me.”

“I know I wouldn't,” Mercury said. She covered her head after, so it was hard to tell if she regretted saying that, but it surprised Starlight that she'd reached a point where she could say it at all.

“Huh,” Crimson peered at Mercury. “Welcome to reality, I'm proud of you for finally catching on. Keep going; it'd be delightfully ironic if you were the one that murdered me.”

“Stop it, all of you,” Starlight said. “We're not here to listen to you all bicker like foals.”

“Like foals?” Crimson smirked. “You think foals bicker about this sort of thing?”

“What will you do if we don't?” Mercury started crying now as well. “Kill us, like you did Kyo?”

Starlight took a deep breath, pausing her trot and looking hard at Mercury on the page. The unicorn looked very nervous as she looked away from Starlight, yet she didn't seem to regret it as much as she should have.

“Excuse me?” Starlight's voice went from annoyed to deadly. “I told you...”

“That you'd murder my friends, including Crimson and Tranquil, if I told anyone, yes,” Mercury shook her head, tears streaming down her face. Apparently she was even more done with this than Starlight. “But I didn't just tell anyone that didn't already know, did I? You think I'm stupid?”

“Not as much as before, maybe,” chuckled Crimson. “She's not wrong though, even if she's giving Figment a pass for being a part of that conspiracy.”

“You mean she gave Steel Anvil a pass,” corrected Starlight. “And no, stupid isn't the word I'd use. More like suicidal.”

She walked to a rock crevice and placed the book inside to hide it, half open so anyone that left would fall outside of the crevice.

“Pull me in, Crimson,” Starlight ordered, then glared at Mercury as soon as she was there.

Mercury didn't look back at Starlight when she was pulled in and trotted up to her, but Ink Blot scampered to her favorite hiding place under a table. Mercury sat on her haunches facing away, tapping her front hooves together nervously. She definitely regretted saying something stupid, but not as much as she would.

“You’ve been nothing but trouble lately,” Starlight sighed, sitting up and folding her front legs. “You wouldn’t even make a suicide pill for Steel even after he agreed that having one was needed. I suppose threatening doesn’t shut you up anymore, does it, and that’s an issue for me.”

“Are you going to kill me now?” asked Mercury quietly. She started to shiver as if every instinct told her to run. If they weren’t in the book, she might have tried to gallop back to Stable 41 on her own.

Starlight had to think about her question, though. She actually didn’t want to, but she really had to at this point. Mercury didn't say it in front of anyone that didn't know this time, but her increasingly bold personality ensured she would eventually if she hadn't already. On top of that, feeding Crimson another victim, especially one she’d expressed interest in killing for fun before, would only make her and perhaps even Paper more loyal.

“Yes,” said Starlight. “Yes I am. I'm going to cut my losses with you.”

“F-fine,” Mercury tucked her muzzle beneath her front hooves and cried quietly. “Can you at least return my body to Stable 27?”

“I doubt they’ll want to see your body,” said Starlight darkly. “Crimson, Paper, you have my leave to do whatever you want with her. Take as long as you want to kill her so long as she’s well-hidden when others are about, but she is not to leave this book alive.”

“Bout time,” smirked Paper Cut.

Though Crimson was strangely quiet, sitting on her haunches with her front legs folded and seeming to ponder deeply. Starlight guessed about how to do it, and she could see Mercury's blood run cold just looking into her eyes, seeming to lose focus as her breathing increased.

“I’m your friend, Crimson,” Mercury squeaked, apparently not having caught on yet that Crimson would get off on that.

“Stop it!” Figment screamed. “Do you honestly think I'll keep helping if you let her do that?”

“Yes, I do,” Starlight said confidently. “Because you don’t want me to hoof you over to Crimson too once you’ve lost usefulness. Besides that, as obsessed as you are with gaining her forgiveness, you won’t get in her way.”

Crimson gave Starlight an unusually irritated look, then sighed, keeping her hooves folded. “Damn it… I really want to… been wanting to for a while...”

“Crimson don't,” Figment said, but if he expected that to work, he was more naive than Mercury had ever been.

“You know, as much as you hate it when I throw the word ‘rape’ around,” Crimson pointed out. “You seem awfully chill about hoofing ponies over to me knowing my related habits.”

“I’m not ordering you to do that,” Starlight growled. “And I won’t like it if you do that, but I’ll be keeping the book closed while you ‘work’.”

“Just like back in the day,” Crimson chuckled. “Well a little bit. Ready for a bad time, Mercury?”

“Right, I see what you’re thinking,” Paper chuckled and trotted across the room. “Seems fun enough I guess, I’ll go with it.” The creature opened a trapdoor that appeared on the floor in the corner and fiddled with something within. Starlight didn’t care what it was.

Mercury glanced at Crimson’s grin as tears rolled down her face and her body shivered, then looked over to Paper, but they couldn’t see what she was doing from their angle.

“Fine,” said Mercury in a hollow voice.

“No!” Figment stepped in front of Mercury suddenly. “I won't allow this! And you can't do anything to me! You promised Platinum a gift!”

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t do what Twilight needs if I do this?” Starlight asked. “You’d be punishing Twilight and friends as much as me if you did. Aren’t you one of her precious ‘Elements’ now?”

Figment clenched his teeth, knowing she had a point. One thing was for sure, if he couldn’t get out of Unicornia on his own, there wouldn’t be a rescue mission.

“Is it because Maud isn’t here?” Crimson sounded like she was really trying to figure out why Starlight exploded. “You never tweaked so much before your lab accident. Now your emotions are like a bratty teenager. On top of that, you’re treating your good luck so far almost religiously, like you honestly don’t believe it could fail you.”

“What happened to you?” asked Mercury, apparently given some hope of survival with Crimson’s comments, but Crimson loved to banter. “You think Twilight will...”

“Crimson, push Figment out, block audio to the outside,” Starlight ordered. “Figment, stay close to the book. You know you can’t find your way by yourself.”

‘If he makes it out of the mission into Unicornia,’ Starlight added to Crimson over the PCB. ‘I’ll give him over to you to do what you want with too.’ That should make her happy.

“Fine,” Crimson shrugged, not nearly as glad as Starlight expected. It was easy enough to push someone out of the book though, and Figment disappeared a few moments later.

Once Figment was out of earshot, she had no reason to hide her intent. Mercury was about to die and Crimson would get off on the idea. Besides, Starlight hadn’t done an evil gloat in a long time and missed it.

“Mina already agreed to eliminate Twilight as part of a deal,” gloated Starlight. “I told Maud to guard her, but since they’ll be stopping for breaks on the way back, Twilight won’t be able to keep from dragging Gloomy off to a hiding place for a quick, disgusting buttbuck. When she does, a changeling will shift into a tiny fly and go into Twilight’s mouth to drop off some poison from Stable 41. It will be far harder to question me when I ordered Maud to guard her and only Gloomy was with her when she died, and both me and Crimson will be rid of her.”

“W-what about Solar?” Mercury was a fool for asking. Starlight might not have thought about it otherwise. “I suppose so. You promised you’d do the same to Crimson and Tranquil last time.”

“Now, Paper,” Crimson sighed, and Starlight didn’t care what that meant.

“She'll either accept both your tragic losses,” said Starlight. “Or she will be able to cross 'giant pike' off her 'things to buck' list.”

“Are you an Empress or a raider?” asked Mercury. “Can you hear yourself?”

Paper moved back to the group, looking more at Starlight than Mercury. It was uncomfortable.

“Stop looking at me like I’m on the menu,” growled Starlight. “I won’t be ogled by someone’s imaginary friend.”

Paper took another step towards Starlight, a smirk on her face. Starlight rolled her eyes, trying to use her telekinesis to push the creature back, only for her magic to fizzle as quickly as her horn lit up. Now that wasn't right. A few more attempts and she was getting very nervous.

“You know, your mind is really slippery,” Crimson said. “You forgot about the defensive device we stole and you ordered me to keep inside my book… which Paper just activated. It’s a good thing you told me to remove Figment, since his magic would work in this field and he might be dumb enough to save you.”

“What?” Starlight blinked and her body felt cold. She couldn't be.

Why would Crimson suddenly betray her when she’d just offered Figment to her so she could keep her stupid misandrist vow about killing males. Her first instinct was to flee the book... but panic set in when she remembered that she didn't know how to do that. Only Crimson could pull things in and out of her own book.

Paper trotted over and stroked a hoof along Starlight's face. Starlight growled and pulled away, but Paper just licked her lips back at Starlight. She backed into a corner, but knew she was too weak to take both Crimson and Paper on here without magic.

“You get careless when you're creaming on power,” Crimson commented. “And you tend to misjudge ponies, like me for instance. Anyone ever told you that? Probably, but you didn't listen.”

“Wait, what?” Mercury blinked. “What's going on?”

“Then again,” chuckled Crimson. “I guess I misjudged myself too. I had no idea how much Twilight’s death would peeve me until just now, and not just because I’m not the one causing it.”

“What?” Starlight demanded. “Crimson get your buck demon off me this instant!”

“You were going to kill me if Mercury talked?” Crimson asked. “And who you thought was my wife too? You would have done it too, I know. If you’re willing to ice a mare as useful as Solar, there's no way you'll let me live once I’ve outlived my usefulness.”

“What?!” Starlight shrieked, spitting as she screamed. “You can't do this to me! I'm the bucking Empress! You'll let me out right now or... or...”

“Or you'll have my fiancee kill me?” asked Crimson as she casually went over to a table full of various tormenting implements. “How likely do you think she is to follow that order? Especially now that we have our way to get at the soul recycler. Have you ever considered… that maybe it’s you that we don’t need anymore?”

“You can't,” Starlight teared up. She couldn't believe what was happening; she had to talk her way out of this! “Y-you... how do you think Twilight will react to this?”

Starlight tried her best to influence Crimson, but it was no use. Crimson's mind was too warped to be susceptible. She looked around for a weapon, but they’d backed her into an empty corner. Paper picked up a metal bar in her muzzle.

“But you just said,” said Crimson. “That Twilight will die on their way to Holder, which will put Maud in charge. And she'll let me butcher ponies, just like yourself, they’ll just be the ones that deserve it instead of the ones that don’t follow her whims. And she won’t threaten to murder me without my consent or complain when I make rape jokes.”

Oh horse apples. Starlight didn't think of it that way. She'd set herself up for this without even realizing it.

“Crimson, no,” Mercury wobbled to her hooves. “Crimson, stop.”

Starlight only felt more rage bubble up when Mercury came to her defense, but she'd use the delay all the same. Starlight continually adjusted her magic back and forth to try to find a frequency to poke through the fizzle field.

“And I thought you weren't naive anymore,” Crimson rolled her eyes at Mercury.

Ink Blot approached Starlight, and at first she thought the little one might defend her, but instead she very quickly snapped a cuff onto Starlight’s front leg. An instant later, a current ran through the cuff and Starlight yelped, collapsing to the floor. So even what was left of Crimson’s ‘good side’ was helping.

“Look, you can't stop this,” Crimson said as she went to a nearby table of 'tools' and grabbed one. Starlight couldn't see what it was yet. “This is my world, and no one in Holder is going to complain that I assassinated Trinity 2.0 to put a pony they worship in charge, especially if I claim her poor judgements contributed to Olivia’s death.”

“What about the mission?” Starlight asked, breathing rapidly as she struggled to get off the floor without success. “You need me!”

“I can negotiate with Platinum better than you can,” said Crimson. “I was her pen pal for decades, so I know exactly how to talk to her. Her ego is even more stroke-able than yours.”

“C-Crimson... you shouldn't do this,” Mercury was still at it.

“Are you kidding me?” Crimson glared at Mercury. “I'm agreeing not to murder you and Figment. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Do you know how big of a step that is for me? I deserve a good kill-buck for sparing you. And why not? This is justice.”

“Justice without love is just tyranny,” Figment said from outside the book, which meant that Crimson hadn’t turned off the audio as Starlight had asked. Figment had heard everything about her plan with Twilight.

“Crimson, please,” Starlight changed her tone. She knew she couldn't trick Crimson, but she just needed to distract her long enough to figure a way out of this. “I-I'm sorry, okay? We can work something out, we can even go back close enough to Stable 41 and message Mina to not hurt Twilight if you want.”

“But they'll be out of range of Stable 41 by then,” glared Crimson. “They can’t contact them until they get to a stable where they can use that network to communicate with them.”

“N-no, not again, please no,” Starlight's begging became more sincere. She strained harder to find a way out. “W-what about Trinity's lair? Only I know the codes!”

“Don't be stupid,” Crimson said. She grinned wider at Starlight's clear panic. “Trinity knows you're out there, and even if she doesn’t, she'd change the codes at least once in the last 200 years.”

“Crimson, please,” Mercury repeated. “This isn't the way.”

“Drama queens, all of you,” Paper rolled her eyes.

Crimson grunted and concentrated. In a flash of light, Mercury disappeared from the book. Starlight had to assume she was ejected.

“Get some sleep,” Crimson called out of the book, then looked at Starlight. “Neat, right? I tested it before to be sure, apparently pushing someone out of the book works with the defensive device on, but not bringing someone in. I assume because canceling an enchantment doesn’t count as using magic, and the book itself isn’t technically inside the field to have its enchantment nullified. Cool right?”

Crimson pulled the tool she'd been hiding behind her to where Starlight could see it, and Starlight's blood ran cold. It looked almost like a horn restraint, but had handles and a bladed area that wrapped around the base of the horn.

As soon as she processed what that was, every bit of rage snapped away to be replaced with pure abject terror. It was a tool for horn removal. Not just cutting a horn, but literally pulling it out by the roots. She’d had them used on unicorns before.

“Please don't,” Starlight begged quietly, dropping all hint of aggression, but who was she foaling? She wasn't getting out of this, and she had nothing to bargain with. She'd let her pride get the best of her and bucked up. Again.

Maybe enlisting the help of unpredictable maniacs hadn't been the best idea after all.

POV: Mercury Shine

Mercury tried to talk to Crimson even after she was expelled from the book, but finally had to close the book so she wouldn't have to listen to Starlight's sobbing.

Crimson didn't think to lob out a sleeping bag or a meal for them though. They found a split between two boulders where they'd be fairly hidden, but it seemed they wouldn’t be eating until Crimson was done.

They tried to sleep, but she found it impossible. It was hard to, knowing what was happening inside that creepy book. Mercury didn't like Starlight, and maybe she deserved death, but not like that. Figment seemed restless next to her as well. He eventually stopped moving so much, laying on his back and staring up at the dead sky, but it looked more like exhausted unconsciousness than sleep.

She knew that there wasn't supposed to be dangerous wildlife nearby, but Mercury still didn't feel safe out here. No one would see them unless they were right upon them, but they wouldn’t see that someone either. It was nerve-wracking.

While he wasn't the bravest hero, Mercury felt better close to Figment, and eventually rolled towards him and pulled closer. Without a word, she snuggled the currently-buff colt. As he lay there on his back, she draped her left legs over him.

“M-Mercury?” Figment whispered. “You okay?”

“S-sorry,” stammered Mercury. “I got lonely, you don't mind do you?”

“Oh,” Figment nodded. “Sure thing, I'm always up for this.”

Mercury pulled closer into the snuggle but felt one of Figment's front hooves hug around her and slide down between her hind legs. She felt his own goods growing plump against her, and realized that the changeling took the snuggle request in exactly the way she should have expected a changeling to take it.

“What are you doing, Figment?” Mercury asked tiredly, but didn't push his intimate hoof away.

“Getting you ready?” Figment got confused at the question. “Should I use my muzzle?”

“Snuggling doesn't mean I want to buck, Figment,” Mercury sighed, but smiled. “I just wanted company.”

“Oh,” Figment slid his hoof away from her nethers but kept the leg around her. “Sorry. You said lonely so I thought...”

“Goodness.” Mercury couldn't help but chuckle. “I didn't know anypony could be so innocent and lewd at the same time. It’s strangely adorable.”

“T-thanks,” Figment smiled, but sighed as his body went limp shortly after as if lamenting his shattered hopes. “Can we maybe later?”

“We'll see,” Mercury hugged him closer, not moving her hind leg from around him. “Actually I bet Solar would like that form too if you showed it to her. But for now... I don't feel right having fun out here with Starlight dying in there.”

“You think she would?” Figment clenched his teeth and tried very hard to not get physically aroused. He failed spectacularly. “I mean… that makes sense, sorry.”

“Thank you for earlier,” Mercury whispered. “You didn't have to risk your life taking up for me.”

“I did a crappy job,” Figment blushed. “I would have missed you though.”

“You did fine,” Mercury snuggled her muzzle against his neck. The poor stallion was almost hyperventilating. Mercury felt bad but had to admit riling him up was fun, and he was awfully adorable like this.

“It's nothing,” said Figment. “Besides... I still stood by knowing they were going to kill Kyo.”

“Did you know Starlight threatened me?” Mercury asked.

“N-no,” Figment said. “I didn’t even know you knew. Crimson didn’t either, I guess, though it surprised me how much it seemed to upset her when she found out.”

Mercury felt something warm against her thigh fur as Figment struggled to restrain his hips from moving. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“S-sorry about that,” said Figment. “It's not easy to control with a beautiful mare snuggled up to me.”

“It's fine,” Mercury chuckled again, a little flattered at the wording. “It's my fault after all.” She backed off slightly to give him air. “You know, I did enjoy the spa-lings.”

“Heh,” Figment panted. “None of them have as much experience as me. I'm almost 170 years old now.”

“Huh?” Mercury grew still to process that.

“Well um,” Figment explained. “Changelings don't age past adulthood, though there aren't many that make it to my age either. I'm only this old by being a coward. Then I got picked up by Trinity like most of the others, but she only ever had us spying. Then I was caught by Midnight and… guess you know the rest.”

“You're anything but a coward,” Mercury smiled. “You're a big buff knight, just not in shining armor at the moment.”

If he had that much experience, it was tempting, and it probably wouldn’t change their relationship. Mercury was under the impression that it was almost how they said hello in a changeling hive.

Crimson was right; Mercury had become disgustingly straight, but for some reason the tendency no longer made her sick at herself. Or it wouldn't in most situations at least. This would be the first time she did this with a male outside of a spa-ling, and it wasn’t as intimate-feeling when it was their job.

“Oh for Break's sake,” sighed Mercury, pulling herself close again. “You’re too adorable, let’s go. Just stay quiet out here.”

“Yes ma'am!” Figment squeaked.

Date: Tuesday 11/22/2287
POV: Mercury Shine

The next day Mercury awoke to being kicked in the small of her back. Mercury groaned and thrashed briefly atop Figment before her eyes focused on Crimson standing above her with a peeved look.

“Time to go!” Crimson said. “Pry your disgusting wet body off my trap wife.”

Mercury staggered to her feet, helping Figment up next to her. Crimson's angry face glared at her as she rose. Was that jealousy? It would have been scary if it weren't an improvement.

“I’ll walk first today,” Crimson said, then sniffed the air. “By Midnight’s icy dick, you smell more well-bucked than Starlight. Don't touch my wife without permission again. Not her permission, my permission. Got it?”

Mercury nodded quickly as she felt Crimson's magic clench threateningly around her throat, but still couldn't help but smile inwardly at the return to being protective of Figment. Crimson peered at Mercury for not being more frightened, but released her.

“Um, does this mean we're okay?” Figment asked with no small amount of hope in his voice as Crimson helped him load up his own bags.

“Let's get one thing gay,” Crimson said. “Sparing you is not breaking my vow to kill every male I buck, because you're not a male.”

“I'm not?” Figment tilted his head.

“Chryssie said changelings are fertile in both genders,” said Crimson. “And that means your 'genders' are just pronoun preferences because you're all hermaphrodites. But you're going by 'she' from now on in your true form, regardless of how many dicks you have. Got it?”

“Sure, got it,” smiled Figment. He gave Crimson a close hug, but she grunted.

“You smell,” said Crimson. “Take a bath inside the Crimoire, I’ve already eaten so do that too. If you smell like sex when we arrive, we can’t convince Princess Demon Horse that you're a virgin.”

“It'd probably be easier for me to just shift,” said Figment. “That generally burns away any filth.”

“Isn't that still painful?” asked Mercury.

“Yeah but... I want to do something nice for Crimson since she didn't kill me,” Figment chuckled nervously.

That was quite a relationship when 'doing something nice' meant torturing himself when there was an easier route. Though Mercury suspected it was more not wanting to go inside and see what happened to Starlight. He probably didn't want to admit that out loud and risk Crimson changing her mind about if he should die or not.

“I do love seeing you in pain!” Crimson seemed happier. “You can stay out then, but I'll want you to come in with me next time I go in to buck Starlight.”

“Is Starlight dead in there?” asked Mercury quietly. From what she'd learned of Crimson, her wanting to buck Starlight again didn't rule that out.

“Nah, I let her live,” shrugged Crimson. “Or maybe she made an adequate case for her existence, I forget which. If you want a go at her, have at it. Honestly... I want some time out of the Crimoire... yeah, buck you too Paper.”

Mercury was conflicted. Wanting Crimson to kill Starlight was probably wrong, but she also didn't want Starlight let out alive. It wasn't even because she wanted her dead; it was because the moment Starlight stepped out of anti-magic field, she'd disintegrate them or worse.

“Um, Crimson?” said Mercury. “Do you really think even Starlight deserves whatever torture is going on in there? Maybe you should just... finish her off? Like painlessly… if your conscience has grown to that point yet.”

“Aw, you're so blood thirsty,” said Crimson. “I'm so proud of you that I’ll forgive you for insinuating I’ll ever grow a conscience. Do you want to go in and torment her or not?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Mercury sighed. “I'll go in, but only to eat, shower, and see how she's doing.”

“Fine, I'll carry the book,” said Crimson. “If I need help, I'll bring you out so you can be our bullet shield.”

“Not me as the bullet shield?” chuckled Figment, probably finding some delight in his strange crush’s sudden desire not to kill him.

Mercury relaxed to let Crimson's magic take hold of her more easily, and a few moments later, felt herself reconstituted within the Crimoire. She shook the dizziness off and looked around her vicinity.

She was in the same dungeon they usually stood in, the video screen on the wall showing what Crimson saw as she put the Crimoire on her back and trotted towards the city in the distance. She started yammering a story to Figment; she now had many stories to tell him now that she knew she hadn’t told him them all, even ones not about her cut ear. Mercury ignored that.

Starlight was in fact alive and unrestrained, curled up in one corner of the room and facing the wall. She was holding both front hooves on her head, face clenched like she was in immense pain and face stained with tears. She still wore her pipbuck, apparently not willing to remove it.

Paper sorted the torture implements at a nearby table, so apparently Starlight had been given a break. Ink Blot was atop the table, not hiding for once. She smiled and waved at Mercury as she appeared, and Mercury returned it, but then trotted over to Starlight. Mercury’s first sign of how bad the torture was was the smell of urine...Starlight was the last she expected to lose control of bodily functions.

“S-Starlight?” Mercury asked.

Starlight turned to look at her, her face slack and devoid of emotion. As Starlight moved her front hooves off her head, Mercury clenched her teeth at the realization of why Crimson wasn't afraid to let Starlight out of the book.

Her horn wasn't just broken, it had been pried out by the roots like a cork from a bottle. A grotesque bloody hole now adored her head in its place, blackened from where the nerves that had attached it to her brain had been burned out. It looked as if it'd been cleaned to prevent brain-damaging infection, but that was it. Mercury would need to put a patch on it with their medical supplies, at least when she was allowed to.

This was far worse than what had happened to Twilight. Having her horn completely extracted meant she couldn't even learn to use raw magical bursts, and that the pain and dizziness would probably never cease. Unlike with a horn that was merely broken, they couldn’t replace it with cybernetics because that would still need the connecting nerves to exist.

Starlight said nothing. She just looked at Mercury as her slack face turned to abject terror and fresh tears rolled down her face. The unicorn looked delirious, certain that Mercury was here to torment her more. Starlight probably couldn't comprehend that Mercury might not want vengeance in her current state.

“If she doesn't obey, zap her horn hole,” suggested Paper. “Just a tiny spark causes immense pain, and she makes the best noises!”

“Mercy...” Starlight's crying turned to outright sobbing as she backed up against the corner.

“I'm not here to hurt her,” Mercury said to Paper with annoyance, then looked back to Starlight and walked closer. “I just wanted to see if you were... relatively okay.”

“I'm sorry!” Starlight screeched in sheer panic when Mercury stepped closer, bowing low and prostrating herself. “Please don't hurt me anymore, I'm really sorry, I am!”

It was no use, the unicorn was so unhinged by her torment that she couldn't understand what Mercury was telling her. For a unicorn like Starlight to crack that hard...

“What did you do to her?!” Mercury looked at Paper again, stunned at Starlight's change in demeanor.

“Nothing she didn't deserve,” Paper smirked. “Okay, there were a few things she probably didn't deserve, but it doesn’t get fun until you’ve broken the ‘things they deserve’ threshold. Anyway, don't expect coherent conversation out of her.”

“Starlight,” Mercury looked back at her, kneeling in front of her and tucking her hooves beneath her to show that she wasn't aggressive. “I'm not here to hurt you, I swear.”

Starlight seemed to understand a little more, curling back up but still looking at Mercury as if expecting her to lunge.

“I'm sorry... what I did,” Starlight whispered, face clenching in pain as if her head throbbed. “P-please... forgive... no more hurting...”

“I'm not going to hurt you,” Mercury repeated. “And I’ll do my best not to let them hurt you again, but you know I can't forgive you either.”

Mercury understood that Starlight was only sorry because her plan backfired, same as when she got half their party taken by raiders. She pitied Starlight's condition, but she wouldn't let that make her naive. Still, she couldn't bring herself to call her on it.

“You're really missing out on some fun sounds if you don't shock her in the head,” warned Paper Cut. “The magic nullifier is off now, so just a tiny spark from your horn will do it.”

Mercury ignored Paper and looked at Starlight, but then realized that she didn't really have anything else to say to her.

“Well if you're squeamish, you might want to leave,” Paper said, picking up what looked like a shock prod with her magic and walking to stand next to Mercury. “Because I'm about to ram this thing in every hole to compare the sounds.”

Starlight said nothing more, she just shivered and stared at the shock prod with terror etched on her face. She almost squealed, bawling like an infant as Paper got close and covering her horn hole with her hooves again.

“Please don't do that,” Mercury sighed and shook her head, then repeated herself to make sure Paper heard it over Starlight's wailing.

“Sorry,” said Ink Blot from the table, looking a little ashamed.

“Aw how cute,” smirked Paper. “She doesn't want to help in front of you. But yeah, this isn't going to stop.”

“Let Mercury help her to a meal and a shower,” Crimson’s voice came from outside. “No more torment unless I say.”

“Damn it,” Paper Cut rolled her eyes. “Okay, but I’m keeping this thing ready just in case you regrow your balls.”

The monotony of the wasteland was eventually broken when they arrived at the small village ruins surrounding Unicornia. They had long since been stripped of anything useful, so now were mostly the rotted remains of residences. There were broken streets, which at least gave them something to follow, and many old structures that looked like they had once been shops or other businesses.

When in this area, Mercury and Figment walked outside the book, not wanting just one outside in an area like this. Mercury held her telesyringer at the ready with an explosive gas dart loaded, while Figment wielded Zapper. Crimson, on the other hoof, was currently inside her book, which Figment also carried in his saddlebags. Mercury hoped she’d stopped hurting Starlight, and had high hopes after she told Paper to cool it, but was afraid to look inside. Either way, they could really have used Stalright’s magic in a place like this.

“Are you sure we should be on the road?” asked Mercury. “These buildings look like something raiders might inhabit.”

“Not around here,” said Figment. “Raiders wouldn't dare risk camping this close to Unicornia, and if they did, it would be with the understanding that they'd never hurt passing unicorns. There were some small unicorn communities allowed to live nearby, but even those are sparse, many old ones are abandoned like this.”

“That's good I guess,” said Mercury, but then pointed a hoof to graffiti on a nearby wall. “What’s this then? The Children of Novo? We’ve heard of them before.”

It looked recent, a crude drawing of what looked like a shattering sphere with a balefire cloud behind it, and the words “Novo’s children will not forget” beneath.

“Wait, they’re this far inland now?” Figment’s response wasn’t promising. “They’ve been at war with… pretty much every land dweller since the Breaking, angry about an artifact that was destroyed by a CME. They used to be able to change into hippogriffs, but when the artifact was shattered and irradiated, they were stuck permanently as sea ponies.”

“That’s horrible,” Mercury started. “Both what they went through and what they’re doing now. We need to be much more…”

Her words trailed off as the ground shook beneath them, an explosion shattering the quiet wasteland, no more than a few hundred steps ahead of them. It was followed by several bursts of energy gunfire before it was silent again.

Mercury and Figment's first instinct was to hide, so they took cover in the nearest building. It didn't look very sturdy, the door coming off the hinges as they opened it, but they ducked inside the dark structure all the same.

“Oh, excitement!” Crimson's voice made Mercury jump as she was suddenly beside her. “I’m tired of looking at a prisoner you won’t let me hurt, so let's go poke whatever that is with a stick instead.”

“Um, is that really a good...” Figment started, but sighed as Crimson trotted right back out of the hut. “I can never read that mare, but I don’t half love her.”

Mercury clenched her teeth as Crimson ran off, but didn't bother calling after her since she knew she wouldn’t listen. Instead. Instead, she took some comfort in Crimson’s comment about not hurting Starlight and the strange cuteness of Figment’s feelings for Crimson. Mercury rushed out to follow after her, gun still drawn as Crimson sped up to a gallop.