Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

The town of Broccoli was protected by a group of local guards and a couple of squads from the Hired Hooves; not a real army, since nopony was supposed to threaten the town.

FoE: Pink Eyes, chapter 15

Cosmic didn’t move when the heavy basement door opened. Sky Bloom placed some two-hundred-year-old army rations and a couple of water bottles on the floor. It made sense: in a way, prisoners weren’t supposed to eat fresh fruit (considering how much it cost on the Wasteland). It was still a shame, though. Especially since those tasteless briquettes had probably been bought with the caps she’d brought to town.

Her body was ready to straighten up like a spring, to fling the blue earth pony at Sky Bloom, to wrap her hooves around his throat and hold him in front of her as a shield. And as a hostage to get out. But Cosmic knew that Skyshine, standing on the other side of the door, wouldn’t miss. The blue-haired unicorn had good shooting teachers.

Cosmic didn’t move even when Sky Bloom gave her a furtive look, sighed heavily and went outside. A key turned in the padlock. And then two sets of hooves clattered up the stairs.

Only then the mare exhaled and silently slid down the wall she had been sitting against. And raised her head to look at the slumbering or equally lethargic aliens.

She could see how the captivity affected them. Even the always cheerful Sonic and the lively Amy had wilted over the days and stopped reacting to anything. Cream spent most of her time in oblivion, sometimes crying quietly in her sleep; Cheese seemed frozen in the corner next to her like a strange, tear-shaped statue.

Knuckles and Shadow, on the other hoof, seemed to be thinking hard all the time, either coming to their own conclusions or planning their escape. Occasionally, one of them got up and started walking around the room. Cosmic measured time by their steps: she was also stripped of her PipBuck and her weapons.

She couldn’t remember waking up here herself, but she could clearly imagine the day when her friends had suffered the same fate.

The basement of the mayor’s house was the perfect place for a town jail. The entrance was guarded by a hoof-thick door welded of overlapping steel sheets, and the plank walls and floor kept the inside from freezing. The place even had its own latrine, a sewer pipe that ran deep underground.

There was no light, but sometimes the glow from the lamps on the first floor seeped through the door window, so the prisoners didn’t suffer complete sensory deprivation. Although Shadow was probably the only one for miles around who knew such words at that moment.

It was the seventh day since Cosmic had come to her senses in the semi-dark basement. At first there was a bad headache after that blow, then it seemed to get better. Cosmic had nothing with her – no armor (thoughtfully removed while the earth pony was out), no weapons for cleaning to keep herself occupied. There was nothing to write on the walls except her own shit, even though it was pointless, and the mare never liked to talk to herself. So she was bored and cursed herself for the decision to go back to the village.

But at least they weren’t trying to fuck her anymore. It felt like Silver Star had just decided to keep her here until the election. What would happen then, Cosmic didn't want to think about. There was a great danger that The Republic’s ponies would be at each other’s throats regardless of the outcome of the vote.

However, if Silver Star wins again, she will probably be killed. And Cosmic guessed who will do it. Skyshine. With the mayor’s permission, the unicorn would be able to avenge her lost brother and the town on the brink of doom. And she would certainly be happy to take that chance.

So it was better for Cosmic that Murky Gray win, even if it seemed unlikely. The gray stallion has gained a lot of supporters in the meantime – and if he wins, he will probably spare Cosmic. But even then, a quiet life will no longer be possible.

And if the votes are evenly split…

Cosmic shook her head, banishing undesirable thoughts.

Actually, it wasn’t that lonely here. Sometimes Sky Bloom visited her – probably when his cousin couldn’t see it – and they managed to talk a little. From him, Cosmic learned what was going on in the town.

One afternoon she heard an explosion. As Sky Bloom later told her, it was one of the mayor’s supporters who blew himself up while demining the vacant pegasi’s house. The building didn’t survive, of course. Neither did the pony, whose death further inflamed the already turbulent situation.

The Republic was on edge.

Suddenly, Cosmic’s ears heard some kind of movement. An icy claw of panic stroked her heart. Has it really started…? the mare thought, jumping to her hooves and looking at the door, behind which there were sounds of blows and screams.

The noise came closer – and she was shocked when she recognized the voices!

Shadow seemed to have followed her into town to save her.

And screwed up.

The door swung open and those Cosmic shared food and adventure with were herded into the dark basement. Knuckles wanted to kick someone, but the butt of a rifle hit him in the head and knocked him to the ground. Shadow was pushed in next; Tails and the girls went in themselves. Last of all, Skyshine levitated Sonic inside. The blue hedgehog was unconscious, the red plumage of a dart protruding from the short fur on his leg.

“Bastards!” Knuckles yelled at the closing door as he scrambled to his feet.

The lock clicked, and the echidna slammed his fingerless hands against the solid steel. The blows echoed with a metallic thud.

“Come on, stop it,” Shadow told him, sitting on the floor in the corner near the exit. “We’ve lost. Just take it.”

“Daaaamn…”

Knuckles gave the door one last kick, then walked back to the far wall and leaned against it, resting his head on his forearm.

Cream and Amy were tending to Sonic. He looked the worst of all: battered and bloody – but still alive. Alive after all. He hadn’t even been shot with a bullet, just a tranq dart.

It seemed that the town’s arsenal had become more diverse recently than Cosmic had thought.

The blue earth pony sat on her haunches and hit the ground with her hooves.

“For Celestia’s sake, why?! Didn’t you have enough sense to stay out of this shithole?”

“Well, sorry, I couldn’t just leave you here," Shadow snapped at her. “Am I the Element of Loyalty or what?”

“And what’s the price of your loyalty…? Yeah, as well as mine.” Cosmic waved her hoof around the basement. “I also thought that everything was okay here…”

“Never mind. We’re already in a deep hole. Now we must think how to get out.”

“How did you guys get here anyway?” asked the mare.

“We were spotted as we approached,” Tails answered. “Shadow tried to dig a tunnel, but he hit a rock, so we had to go on our own. But we didn’t have any invisibility cloaks or StealthBucks. The guards found us. We asked them to let you go, but they turned us down. Sonic and Knuckles disagreed… Eventually the guys simply got fed up and opened the gate and grabbed us. Sonic was neutralized with a dart so he wouldn’t run away… and that caused us to surrender. Knuckles and Shadow could move almost as fast – but what was the point if the girls or I got killed? We tried to fight back…” He shook his head. “You saw what happened. We just got ourselves trapped.”

“And now we have no chance to get out of here,” Cosmic finished sadly for him. “At least until the raiders really come. And then, hopefully, we’ll be released at least to help the inhabitants survive the attack.”

“Even with the reception you got, you’re still gonna fight for them?” the black hedgehog asked her.

“Being an asshole is no crime, Shadow. And certainly, no excuse to be doomed to die just because somepony destined you to. So separate the terms. My loyalty is not to Silver Star or Murky Gray – it is to The Republic.”

“You realize you can’t change the basic plot, right?”

“The future is not set in stone, Shadow. There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves. I can at least try.”

…More than three weeks had passed since then. Cosmic hadn’t lost track of time, thanks to the aliens who kept her from shutting down and ignoring everything. If she’d stayed alone like that, it would have been a sure way to go mad.

Surprisingly, the books hadn’t been taken away from them, so they had gone through all the volumes of FoE together, making a complete timeline. There were no exact dates in the novel, and the day (or rather, night) of the attack on The Republic could only be roughly determined. But time passed inexorably, and each day Cosmic felt more and more like she was on pins and needles. Apathy and boredom from the longread did their work, killing hope for the future and the will to fight.

Cosmic no longer cared about Littlepip and her crazy odyssey to bring sunshine and rainbows back to Equestria. She no longer cared about Life Bloom’s orientation. And she cared even less about her own fate which she had ultimately ruined by coming to her hometown.

…It was another day of waiting to happen. Late evening actually: the rations Sky Bloom had brought with him turned out to be dinner. The company was fed twice a day, and always at different times, so it was hard to tell what time it was.

But now time seemed to have stopped. The minutes turned into a sticky syrup that washed over Cosmic’s clouded mind. The taste of pre-war food lingered in her mouth; her legs were stiff from sitting in the same pose. Thoughts rattled lazily in her head; freed from the shell of words, they formed into an abstract regret.

Then a sound came from above.

It wasn’t a single mine blast followed by the clatter of collapsing planks as it had been nearly a month before. It was a far more powerful explosion, sending vibrations through the walls. And then there was the sound of ripping metal.

As if not the house was blown up, but the outer town wall.

Cosmic lifted her head – and noticed that the others were waking up or coming to their senses. A string tightened in her heart, ready to burst.

And as the mare looked at each of the aliens, she realized that what they had waited for and feared had come. But… what was it?

Slumber faded, leaving determination and eagerness in its place.

Another explosion shook the room, making the floorboards creak. After the dust settled, there was a jagged crackle of gunfire.

Cosmic sprang up and dashed for the door. Hooves pounded on the dull iron panel.

“Open up! What’s going on in there? Hey! Open…!”

She turned and kicked at the door with her hind legs. It made a metallic clang, but of course it stayed closed.

“Damn you all! Are we just gonna stay here like this?”

“Did you expect something else?” Shadow asked unhappily. “Just feel like Edmond Dantes, mare…”

Suddenly, somepony stomped on the stairs and the key went into the lock.

Cosmic immediately turned to face the door and took a step back, ready to leap aside. However, anyone could come in now.

The steel door was pushed inward, and Sky Bloom entered, all their weapons floating in front of him. Cosmic easily recognized her Argument, submachine guns, Metal Dawn’s revolvers, and Shadow’s swords. On the unicorn’s back was his own assault rifle.

“Sky Bloom! What the hay’s going on up there?!” the mare asked.

“Dunno!” he replied sharply. “The town is under fire! Seems like grenades and rocket launchers…”

“What?!”

“That! Whoever they are, they’ve already blown up one railcar and are about to destroy the gate! If we don’t hurry, we’ll all be dead!”

Sky Bloom gave everyone their weapons with telekinesis. Cosmic lovingly stroked her carbine with her hoof and hung the belt around her neck. Nige went to Sonic as before, Tails took the revolvers, and Cream hesitantly twirled Dan in her hands. Amy pulled the red, intimidating sledgehammer out of nowhere, and Shadow quickly secured the ODM to his belt and checked the blades.

“Here. I’ll help.”

Cosmic’s armor appeared in front of her. Quickly, with well-honed movements, not a single one of them unnecessary, the mare slipped into the straps. Sky Bloom magically helped tighten the buckles.

“Let’s go.”

The unicorn magically lifted his assault rifle and waved for everyone to follow him up the stairs. Cosmic and the aliens followed.

The house seemed empty. A light on the first floor was flickering, as if the generator was running erratically.

Running out into the street, Cosmic stopped and opened her eyes in disbelief, staring open-mouthed at what was going on around her.

Several houses were burning; the flames from the fires dispersed the darkness. Bodies lay on the ground here and there. The earth pony’s heart clenched as she recognized one of them as the white-nosed sentry.

Fallen, the name came to her mind. His name was… Fallen Leaf…

And indeed, lying on his belly with his legs tucked under him, the young stallion really did look like a fallen autumn leaf from a distance, black with dirt.

Cosmic looked around The Republic and couldn’t believe her eyes.

Ponies hid around the corners. Peered out of the windows of the surviving buildings. Climbed to the rooftops.

And it was as clear as day.

They were ready to shoot not only at the invisible enemy attacking them.

But at each other as well.

The low spit of shotguns and machine-gun bursts could be heard from the side streets to prove it. Another explosion came from the right and a new column of flame and debris rose above the houses.

Cosmic froze for another reason. So did everyone else.

Skyshine was standing in front of them, her rifle drawn. The unicorn’s mane was disheveled, and her eyes burned with hatred. The barrel of the weapon pointed straight ahead, somewhere between Sky Bloom and Cosmic.

“Freeze,” Skyshine hissed. An angry look flickered between the two ponies in front of her. “I didn’t expect this from you, brother. I thought I could trust you.”

“Don’t be silly, Skyshine!” Sky Bloom called out. “We’re here for help! Where’s Dad?”

“Mayor Silver Star is with the others, defending the wall. I should be there too, but I thought I’d follow you in case you did something… unexpected.” Her lips curled into a smirk. “And I wasn’t wrong.”

“Now is not the time, Skyshine! The town needs every defender it has! Cosmic has more experience than both of us, she can help…!”

“I don’t care. You are a traitor, brother.” The muzzle of her rifle was pointed at Sky Bloom. “And you must die with them.”

The white glow of magic touched the trigger. Disbelief and belated terror froze on Sky Bloom’s face.

Cosmic tensed her hind legs to leap forward…

But before she could blink, a familiar bluish glimmer flashed past.

Skyshine’s weapon flew aside, slipping out of her telekinetic grip. And the unicorn herself was sprawled on the ground, belly up.

Sonic stood over her, his needles glistening in the firelight. Now he did look like a real “blue justice”.

“Enough fighting,” said the hedgehog, looking down at the recovering Skyshine. “You’re not helping anyone with that.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Cosmic said. “We have to find out what’s happe–”

Her voice was drowned out by the roar of a nearby explosion.

A cloud of flame rose over the western part of the town, and a column of gray-black smoke erupted into the sky. There was a distinct smell of burning in the air.

“Our fuel storage!” Sky Bloom shouted and coughed. “They destroyed it…!”

“Oh, fuck,” muttered Cosmic and turned to the others, also coughing. “Why are you frozen? Get out of here!”

Along the main street they ran to the eastern gate.

Three ponies galloped toward the explosion site. Cosmic and her motley companions paid no attention to them.

Another sign of how bad things really were.

A large number of townsfolk were gathered at the gate; everyone had some sort of weapon. Some had brought crates of ammunition from the armory, and they were lying on the ground here and there like full-fledged members of the gathering. A few ponies had climbed on top of the crates, peering down at what was beyond the wall. The rest just stood still, all guns pointed at the gate.

Two more explosions rang out at the other end of the village.

“Hey, it’s Cosmic…!” a whisper went through the crowd.

Many began to turn around, and the blue earth pony felt uncomfortable.

Mostly because all these “defenders” of The Republic were now doing nothing but staring at the closed gate.

They might as well shoot at me instead of the enemy…

Cosmic gritted her teeth. Inside her, anger began to grow.

“Why are you standing still?!” she shouted. “Do I have to teach you all how to fight?! Quickly launch the flares! At the same time, each of you take a grenade between your teeth! On my command, if you see anything, throw it over the wall to cover as much area as possible!”

“Why should we obey you?” Some stallion pointed a rifle at Cosmic. “You shouldn’t even be here!”

“But I am here,” the mare replied coldly. “And now let me help you defend the town! After all, that’s what you need, right?”

“Let me hit him.” Knuckles twisted his stone hand expressively, looking at the stallion with disgust.

“We must not fight each other!” Cosmic continued. “But with those who threaten to kill us! So let’s put aside our differences and stand together, a united front!” She stretched a hoof forward. “Well, do you agree?”

Ponies began to look at each other. Time was passing, filled only with crackling fire and the dancing orange glow. And every second could be the last to anyone.

But more and more of the crowd turned back to Cosmic. And there was a grim yet proud determination in their eyes.

“Fuck you,” the stallion spat out and looked at the gate. “Come on, do what she says!”

“Look, there’s a flash–” one of the watchers shouted.

And in the next moment, a wall of fire and the shockwave of the explosion threw Cosmic away from the gate and onto the ground.

Her consciousness faded briefly. When her senses returned, all she could feel was pain. Her skin ached with burns, and her croup throbbed from the impact with the ground.

Groaning, Cosmic moved. Her body refused to obey, like it was made of wood.

Where… came a lethargic thought. That’s… I’m…

Turning her head slightly, she looked over to where her friends had been.

They’d also been knocked down by the explosion, but they’d gotten away easier than Cosmic. And now they were hiding behind crates scattered everywhere, with Sky Bloom driving them on.

Cosmic looked at the gate and caught her breath.

The heavy steel plates were torn to shreds, hanging from their hinges with a fringe of twisted metal scraps. It seemed that one of the ammunition boxes had exploded nearby as well: the fence off to the side was no longer there either.

And then Cosmic saw them.

Out of the night gloom, ominously lit by the fire, the raiders were making their way toward the town.

A mob of ragged, ghastly-looking armed ponies ran through the blown gates, shouting and hooting. They scattered, firing indiscriminately at everything.

Cosmic covered her eyes and held her breath. If she pretended to be dead, she might fool the raiders, who were obviously stoned out of their minds.

A bullet grazed her armor. The shot had missed, so the plan must have worked.

The screams and laughter faded as the raiders moved deeper into the settlement. In return, the cries of pain and despair of The Republic’s residents joined the hellish cacophony.

Now. It’s time.

Cosmic abruptly jumped to her hooves. Black flies danced in front of her eyes, but the mare ignored them. She grabbed her carbine and blew the head off the nearest attacker with a short but precise shot.

The blue pony felt a rage boiling inside her that gave her strength. As soon as she spotted one of the raiders, she fired and killed him mercilessly. The raiders’ armor was poor, so a few bullets were enough to pierce it.

But there were too many of them.

Everything got jumbled in Cosmic’s head, remembered only in blurry fragments.

A blue electric flare flashes off to the side – that’s Sonic dodging one of the attackers’ blows.

BANG! BANG! That’s Tails lurking behind a crate, sending his opponent to Tartarus.

A mare’s body flies aside as Knuckles uses his stone fists.

“How do you like that, Elon Musk?!” Shadow slashes through the neck of one of the raiders as he hovers on ropes above the burning village.

“K-keep aw-way…!” Cream babbles, standing with the submachine gun in front of the approaching enemy, then squeezes her eyes and pulls the trigger.

CHAWK! Amy crushes someone's face with her sledgehammer.

Ponies are shooting. Ponies are running. Ponies are falling… and dying.

But at least the people of The Republic weren’t shooting each other now. They had a common goal again – to survive by fending off an attack of unprecedented power.

Running past the bar, Cosmic even spotted two former adversaries, Silver Star and Murky Gray, firing back-to-back at their enemies. Both were wounded, but they continued to fight.

Foals, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. Shadow said the raiders wanted to take the foals away to torture and then sell them… Bastards! If I see them, I won’t let them get away!

Cosmic kept running, glancing around. Both to be the first to notice if she was about to be attacked, and to prevent the thirty-eighth chapter of Kkat’s book from happening. To make a difference, to prevent at least one death… if she could.

The wall of carriages and steel sheets that the ponies of The Republic were so proud of (though secretly jealous of New Appleloosa, which had a much stronger perimeter) had ceased to exist. Some of it had been blown up by grenades and rockets, some broken by the hooves of raiders as they stormed the town. The rest had collapsed by itself.

And now the Wasteland around the burning village could be seen from almost anywhere.

But where did the raiders get those weapons…?

As Cosmic turned her head, killing another enemy in the process, she finally saw what she was looking for. And all thoughts of how such an attack could have been staged instantly vanished from her mind.

Three ponies in burnt and bloodied armor were dragging more than a dozen foals into the Wasteland. Some of the little ones struggled, being pushed along with kicks and curses. The rest looked unconscious as the raiders carried them on their backs.

The solution followed at the same moment.

With an angry growl, Cosmic sprinted towards them. Her strong legs pushed off the ground, carrying her young, wiry body forward. The blue earth pony had exactly three targets in front of her eyes, and she paid no attention to what was happening around her. It just didn’t fit into her universe.

A sideways blow to her chest knocked her to the ground. The mare plowed through the sand with her muzzle and only slowed down when her head hit the wall of the house.

Cosmic had time to hear a shot before her mind dissolved in the blackness.

…Just a moment of nothingness - and now someone was already shaking her by the shoulders.

“Cosmic…! Cosmic…!”

She opened her eyes.

Painful burns and the ache of her tired body didn’t let her concentrate. The right side of her chest felt like it had been hit with a hammer. Before her eyes everything was floating, and the words came as if from behind a membrane.

Cosmic blinked. The blurry silhouette above her took shape, revealing itself as Sonic, now looking down at her with concern.

“When you ran, you were shot, but your armor stopped the bullet…” the hedgehog explained confusedly. “The one who shot you was taken out by Tails, but you were lying there, and we–”

Memories exploded in her mind like a sharp flash, and Cosmic opened her eyes abruptly.

Our town! Raiders! I must…

She tried to stand up. Her head was spinning, and a nasty lump of nausea rose to her throat. Cosmic swallowed, pushed away the hedgehog who tried to help her, and squeezed her eyes shut for a second, regaining her balance.

Looking forward again, she saw three distant figures in the approaching dawn, running away into the Wasteland.

I must stop them…

She leaned forward and grabbed her Argument with her teeth. Pointing it in the direction of the retreating ponies, she took a step…

…but immediately fell again, crushed to the ground by someone else’s body.

“Don’t you dare!” Sky Bloom’s voice hissed in her ear. “Those are our guys! They survived and went in pursuit of those–”

“In pursuit…?” Cosmic muttered through the carbine in her mouth and let go of her weapon, causing Sky Bloom to dismount.

Then she realized what he meant – and turned in horror to see her hometown.

And screamed.

Almost nothing was left of the village. The outer wall had been gone at the height of the battle, and the houses were now nothing more than smoldering ruins. The only exception was the mayor’s house: the third, wooden floor had burned down, but the lower ones (the carriages and the concrete blocks) were only covered in soot. Amid the devastation, ponies lay shot or burnt. Some of them looked as if they had been eaten.

The Republic was destroyed completely.

As Cosmic continued to scream, she fell onto her croup and wrapped her forelegs around her head. Tears streamed from her eyes.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOOOOOOO…! WHY?! Why…?”

Sky Bloom stood nearby, not looking up. And around her, one by one, the aliens began to gather.

“I’m sorry, Cosmic,” Shadow whispered. “That was inevitable.”

“WHY?!” she wailed, turning around. “Why is it that whenever I try to do better, everything goes wrong?! Why can’t those damn writers come up with a good story about us?! Why?!”

“I don’t know!” replied the hedgehog sharply. “Why are you asking us?! Do you think we’ve been watching all that stuff being created on Fimfiction and Equestria Daily and then being spread around the world from there?! We didn’t create this reality, and we aren’t empowered to change it! But we can see the crumbs of good that have been put into it! In a few hours, Littlepip will spot those raiders and The Republic’s ponies! Her team will eliminate the raiders, free almost all the foals from Fluttershy’s Cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, and then send them to New Appleloosa! Almost everypony died here – but they… but they’ll survive! We will survive, Cosmic, just as we have now! Think about it! Just think…! And you’ll see,” he exhaled tiredly, “that life doesn’t end here.”

“G-guys…” Sky Bloom muttered. “W-what are you two talking about…?”

“Just don’t ask questions,” Cosmic waved her hoof. “You won’t understand anyway.”

She rose and staggered off in a random direction.

“I need to be alone.” Her voice sounded muffled, as if through a layer of absorbent cotton. “Don’t follow me please.”

Her hooves kicked up the dust that had mixed with the ashes overnight. Cosmic didn’t look back; she knew no one would follow her.

A while later she lifted her head to see what part of the destroyed settlement she’d come to. And a chill ran down her skin, overriding the burning.

Surrounded by dead bodies in the small square in front of the charred hulk of a bar were two living ponies. Silver Star and Murky Gray.

The mayor was lying on the ground, carefully covered with a blanket that was heavily stained with blood around his chest. Dried red trickles were also coming from the unicorn’s mouth. There was no doubt that the long-time leader of The Republic was on the verge of death.

Murky, on the other hoof, looked almost unharmed except for a bandaged leg and bruised body, but much more depressed. The barpony sat with his head bowed on the doorstep of his home, a shotgun in his hooves, its stock smashed to dust.

“D-did… anypony else… s-survive?” Cosmic asked softly, approaching them.

Murky Gray turned his head.

“No,” he replied in a colorless voice. “Only Sky Bloom and those three… We tried to do something, but…” The stallion circled the image of the massacre with his leg. “As you can see, it didn’t work. All those ponies chose to protect us instead of saving themselves. And we had no choice but to accept their sacrifice.”

“And…” The name took more than a second to come to mind. “Skyshine?”

The barpony pointed somewhere off to the side.

Cosmic looked there and saw the white unicorn lying among the other bodies.

Her acid-blue mane was half-burned, and a few strands of hair had been torn out. Her horn was broken; its white tip, with its spiral groove on the side, lay in the dust like some beast’s fang. But the filly’s face was forever covered with a contented, soft smile.

Rest in peace, Skyshine, Cosmic thought. You fought honorably… and you deserve a rest. Unlike me.

“C-kh… Cosmic? Is that you?” came the weak voice of the mayor.

“Lie down! You cannot talk!” said Murky. “I didn’t put that much healing potion in you just to have you die!”

“Look around, Murky…” Silver Star pulled up the corner of his mouth in a bitter grin. “Everything we… created… and maintained for so many years… is now destroyed. Nothing… no one’s life… makes sense anymore. Neither mine… nor yours. Mine especially.”

“And mine too?” Cosmic asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” he sighed and coughed. Bloody droplets flew from his mouth in all directions. A little recovered, he turned his head back to the blue pony. “Cosmic… sorry…”

He started to cough again.

The mare covered her eyes. On her tongue, the salty taste of tears mixed with the sharp taste of ashes.

“I forgive you,” she whispered. “You did what you thought was right.”

“One more thing… Murky,” the mayor called in a fading voice.

His horn glowed faintly in the twilight.

Murky Gray looked up at him.

“Die, you bastard!” Silver Star growled in sudden fury.

The barpony’s eyes widened. But it was too late.

The pistol the mayor had levitated with his last ounce of strength shot Murky in the back of the head. The gray stallion collapsed to the ground. His head was now nothing more than a bloody mess.

Cosmic froze, staring in shock at another corpse at this death party.

Silver Star grinned – no longer desperately, but victoriously.

“Goodbye… Cosmic Valor…” he exhaled and closed his eyes.

The only one left alive in the square was the blue earth pony.

Feelings were gone. It was as if some relays in her brain had burned out. Without any emotion, Cosmic wandered off at random – and soon ran into the smoky wall of the bar.

Her legs gave out. The mare sat on her croup with her back against the wall.

She wanted nothing more. Neither to live, nor to die… nor to remember.

A few things were scattered nearby. When Cosmic angled her eyes, she saw her record player, which had unknowingly appeared here, and a wireless earphone lying next to it. The other one was a little further away and had apparently been crushed by someone’s hoof.

Obeying some hidden desire, Cosmic picked up the surviving earphone and stuck it in her ear. Her hoof pressed the play button.

If there was an escape from reality, at least it was to a world worth it.

The intro of an electric guitar started to play. Cosmic recognized the song but couldn’t remember its name. The record player didn’t offer her that title very often.

Meanwhile, the stallion’s voice sang in her ear.

The candy wrappers scattered by the night,
And stars will laugh on heaven.
Shoot, my black pistol, many, many times
As cold and serious weapon.
Celestia, I don’t want to exchange
My love just for the kisses.
If you’ve a meeting not with me arranged,
You may go – I’ve no wishes…

We watched turning on the lights,
Kissed each other the whole nights.
But don’t tell me little white lies, basta!
I want nothing, I don’t wait.
Break the plates, I pay today.
And I’m leaving like a lonely gangsta…

I know all your secrets, light and dark,
Your passwords and card number.
But I need neither money nor the hearts:
I’m gangsta with no gamble…[1]

Gangsta… The word sounded pre-war. Like “raider”, but more attractive.

Could there be anything good about raiders – besides the reason that made them do horrible and disgusting things? It seemed not, but… What if the bad thing that makes the raiders what they are were taken away? Wouldn’t that make Silver Star… or Skyshine… Littlepip or Blackjack, whoever they are… or maybe Cosmic Valor herself?

What was pre-war Equestria like? Probably a lot better and kinder than the Wasteland, if there was room for love, even if it was tainted by jealousy, as in the song. And one didn’t have to worry every day about the lives of friends, which were much harder to find here.

For the first time, Cosmic thought that she really wished she could have lived in that peaceful era. Even if the ponies had been as stupid then as they were now for allowing the war to happen.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Bringing the apocalypse to our world was a mistake. A terrible, huge, unimaginable mistake! And an unfixable one… Or not?

Cosmic lifted her head and looked out at the burnt ruins of her hometown. Then the blue pony’s eyes filled with pain again, and she slumped back down.

If by some miracle Littlepip can change the Wasteland, I’ll help her. I don’t know how, but I’ll try. I’ll do better. Smarter. And no one – no one! – will ever die around me again.

The chorus (“…we watched turning on the lights…”) was repeated a few more times, and the song ended. As the last chord sounded, the mare turned off the player.

“Cosmic…” Sky Bloom’s soft voice came from beside her, and she turned her head.

The unicorn was standing nearby, something floating in front of her.

The PipBuck! Cosmic realized, taking a closer look.

“I found it at Dad’s house. He must have given away the rest of your things, but he decided to stash this one…”

“Thank you,” the blue earth pony murmured, taking Spark Glider’s PipBuck with her teeth and pulling it onto her leg. Sky Bloom, who had left for a minute to get tools, returned with a tech kit, and helped tighten the fasteners.

Turning on the device, Cosmic was surprised to see a yellow incoming message icon flashing in the corner of the screen. What the…? she thought, using the buttons to point at the stylized envelope.

The PipBuck blinked, highlighting the text of the message, along with the address of the sending terminal and the date. The sequence of four numbers meant nothing to Cosmic, but the date made her frown in confusion. Twenty-five days ago? When I was already captured…

She pushed away the unpleasant memories and read the text.

Hi Cosmic,

I’ve been poking around the library and after a few days I came across something that might interest you. Remember the entry where Gizmo specified where to send the blueprints for the projects? Well, I found a wartime database with coordinates of all Stables and research centers. I even had to use the ID card you left behind to access it. I was going to give it back to you, but I figured you’d come back for it if you needed it.

You’ll find all the data in the attached file.

Good luck with your search.

Life Bloom

There was an attached document icon at the bottom.

Cosmic found her lips curving into a smile.

“Sky Bloom,” she said, and the unicorn turned to her. “I think I know where we’re going now. Will you join me?”

“What else can I do?” he sighed. “There’s nothing left for us to do here anyway.”

A gloomy dawn rose over the ruined town. But Cosmic thought that even in this endless shroud of clouds, she could see rare glimpses of sunshine.

Note: Level up.

Player: Cosmic Valor. Skills: Survival – 100%, Stealth – 100%. New perk: Armored Hide – bullet resistance increased by 15%. Bonus perk: Dealy Criticals – +40% to critical damage of any weapon.

Player: Sonic. Skill: Survival – 75%. New perk: Faithful Friend – your presence gives an additional 5% damage resistance to all squad members.

The quest stage “Save The Republic” has been failed. Added a new stage “Find Lyra”.

[1] The translated and a little ponified version of the song Gangsta by the Russian band Маяковский (Mayakovsky).