Chapter 23: The Mutation

Scerine was playing with Meep while I watched. She admitted they nearly left him behind when they threw me in the back of the ambulance. I was yet to be seen by a doctor since I woke but it was pleasant to lay here and watch my marefriend pet Meep. “Where are the others?” I asked.

“Oh they’re asleep,” Scerine replied taking her eyes off of Meep to look at me. I checked my Pipbuck and it was one in the morning.

“Don’t you need rest too?” I said, glancing at her tired green eyes.

Scerine smiled warningly. “Maybe in an hour or so,” Scerine said. “I want to make sure you’re seen first.”

No sooner had she said it a familiar looking stallion doctor entered the curtained area. “Sorry,” he apologized. “It’s been pretty flat out and-“

“It’s alright,” I laughed.

“Well you made it past a week since I last saw you,” Doctor Cascade said. “At least the prognosis is a little better.”

“I’m sure you’ve already found out about the ahh, mutation?” the doctor asked as he was writing notes.

“Mutation?” I asked. “What mutation?”

“The ahh, wings,” the Doctor said.

I glared at the doctor; may be they were over working this guy. “Sorry doc but I’m a unicorn,” I said with confusion.

I felt the sheets pull off the top half of my body. My bruised body seemed normal enough. I looked at my sides and my heart jumped into my throat and not in a good way. I had a pair of feathery wings at my sides, they weren't as white as my coat, they had a grey underlay to them which made the colour a strange milky grey; the left was noticeably smaller than the other. My first instinct was to clap my forehooves to my forehead and they hit my horn painfully. “This can’t be happening,” I gasped and I began to hyperventilate.

Scerine placed a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s okay,” she said softly, rubbing my shoulder. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Hey,” Scerine said. “Don’t painic, it’s okay. You’re alive.”

I nodded and shook my head. I was unsure if I was fine with this. “So I’m an Alicorn now?” I asked looking at the doctor.

“No, I don't think so” Doctor Cascade said. “We thought about that too but the Doc who helps in the Twilight Society ran some tests and you don’t seem to exhibit any magic qualities of either pegasi or earth ponies.

“Which means?” Scerine asked.

“It means that you can’t fly and you don’t have superior strength to any other unicorn.” the Doctor said. “Look, I don’t know much about the fundamentals of pony magic. I can have a meeting arranged with sompony from the Society if you wish.”

“Okay,” I responded, “please do, I want to know what happened to me.”

“I’m sure you do,” Doctor Cascade replied. “Now, as for everything else, it appears your body is functioning normally to say the least. To which you are relatively lucky. We’ll keep you for a day for analysis but I don’t recommend you go too far for at least three days.”

“Can you amputate them?” I asked.

The Doctor gave a smile. “We don’t amputate healthy tissue Amethyst, I’m sure you’ll get used to them.”

The doctor gave a little bow and left us.

“I think they look cute on you,” Scerine said as she booped my nose with a hoof.

I spread my wings out to attempt to imitate a mutant monster but instead Scerine copped a face full on wing. “Oops, Sorry,” I gasped as I quickly retracted them. Meep jumped up in alarm but he settled back down on the bed post.

“You’re going to need to get used to them,” Scerine said as she rubbed her nose. “Luckily I got the small one in the face huh?”

I gave a light snicker. I noticed that Scerine’s presence, the fact that she was here for me, made something that I would be angry and upset about funny. “You teally don’t mind them?” I finally asked.

Scerine waved a hoof. “Don’t be silly. Anyway, it’ll certainly make things a bit more interesting in the bedroom. I don’t know much about horn play.”

I felt my face heat up as the conversation went into that territory. I wasn’t sure if she was joking or was being serious. “I hadn’t- really thought about it like that,” I managed to say.

Scerine looked like she was going to laugh. “I could fry an egg on your face. I was kidding. I don’t care. I’ll love you no matter what.” I gave her a soft smile but my face still felt like a tomato. It would have been very awkward if Alyshia had heard that. “I might go and get some sleep,” Scerine said as she got up. “I’ll tell the others you’re awake in the morning.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks as well Scerine.”

She leant across my bed and gave me a kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Okay, goodnight,” I said.

“Night,” and she was gone. It was now just me and Meep who fluttered onto my sheets. The dragonfly seemed happy; his wings reflected the light from the lights above. I pulled my sheets back over myself. With Scerine here, she made me feel better about myself, now I was starting to mull over how much my body didn’t feel like my body any more. If I had it my way I would just be me. “I guess it’s the price I have to pay for my idiocy,” I said out loud. I should never have touched those barrels.  Rule 101 of the wasteland. Don’t touch unknown objects.

I sighed. I guess it would be a good idea to get some rest, lest I throw out my body clock out too.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

I had Meep resting on my chest, the little dragonfly was enjoying a nice little pat. I tried to keep my thoughts from straying to my strange alteration. I didn’t have a lot else to do as I had been awake for an hour and nopony had shown yet. I checked my Pipbuck. It was eight am. Where was everypony?

“Oh Meep, how did I end up here? I’d be back home otherwise,” I said to the little dragonfly. Meep gave a sad beep. “Well, I spose I’ve made my mind up about that anyway but it still doesn’t make it any easier.” Meep blinked and shook his double tail. “The guys back home are going to get a kick out of seeing you.”

“Who me?” Scerine said as she popped through the curtains.

I laughed. “Good to see you,” I said looking up to the pegasus. The curtain moved again and Alyshia came into view. “Hey,” I said flashing her a smile.

“Hey you,” she said. “How’re you feeling?”

“I dunno really, just a bit shell shocked still,” I replied. “Where’s Midnight and Brax?”

“They’ll be in soon,” Alyshia said. “I’m sure that everything will feel right again soon,” she added.

I gave a half assed nod. “Well, more of me you have to patch together I s’pose,” I said hoping to make a joke of it.

Alyshia’s mouth twitched into a smile. “To be truthful, I thought you’d be angry and upset,” Alyshia said taking a seat.

“Well, I can’t be angry because you guys saved me,” I replied flatly. “If it’s the price I have to pay for the talisman than I guess I got off lightly.”

Alyshia shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Something was up. “What is it?” I asked.

“About that,” Alyshia muttered as she pulled something from her Saddlebags. “With the dim light and everything, we couldn’t see it. Midnight was checking it over the night we came back. But it’s uhh.” Alyshia passed it over in her magic and I collected it in my hooves. “It’s cracked,” she said with a flinch. Scerine was taken aback, she was obviously not shared this information either.

I held the talisman in the light and moved it from side to side. A hairline fracture glistened in the light that ran below the surface. I sat back against the pillow, losing the fight in me. I just couldn’t do this anymore. I passed it back over to Alyshia without saying anything.

Scerine rubbed my forehoof but I couldn’t feel anything. The talisman wasn’t useless, it just meant that the fight wasn’t over and I had to be honest with myself. I was exhausted already and the desire to give up was strong. I felt a sob coming on but I absorbed it as I refused to show weakness to Alyshia and Scerine.

Scerine must have seen my chin tremble because she said; “We might leave you to it.” She glanced at Alyshia for a second then turned her attention to me. “I have some news but I’ll share it with you when we come back.”

I nodded and they left me. I lasted about a minute but finally I broke down into uncontrollable sobs, my tears leaking down my face for the first time in what has felt like an eternity.  This trip was stretching out more than it needed too. I just wanted the pain to go away; I couldn’t take much more of this. Meep fluttered down onto my chest and curled up into a ball. I touched his metal head, tears still streaming.  “I don’t want to keep doing this,” I choked. How much more pain did I have to take? How much more danger did I need to put my friends in? Can this get any worse? I wiped my eyes on the sheets and I began to deep breaths to calm down.

No, I thought. It can be worse, I could be dead, we could have no talisman at all. Twilight could have killed Scerine. We were all alive. We’ll still go back to Stable eighty six; it’s just that the talisman isn’t exactly in the condition I was hoping it to be in. I bought the stable more time. I had to remain strong. Once we leave, it’ll be to Fillydelphia to steal one from Red-Eye. I gave off a huge sigh and fell back to my pillow, my eyes still sticky from tears.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

Midnight and Brax came to visit about an hour after my little tantrum. “Howdy,” Midnight greeted.

“Good to see you awake,” Brax said.

“Hey,” I said looking up at the duo.

“Have you been crying?” Midnight asked as she leant over my bed to get a closer look at my face. I nodded, deciding it was best to be honest. “I swear if Scerine did this I’ll-“

“No, no,” I said waving my hooves. “Alyshia told me about the talisman being damaged,”

“Oh,” Midnight turned red. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, hang on what made you think Scerine made me cry?” I burst out.

Midnight looked confused. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“She told me about you and her on the ride here,” Midnight started. “At first I was pretty pissed, especially that she had little commitment here and her background....” Midnight paused, her lips pursed but she continued. “But then when I thought about it, she was willing to take a bullet for me, so to what end would she go to protect you?” Midnight gave a small smile. "I thought maybe she did something to you to make you upset, like pay you out for your mutation or something. Midnight paused. "But I swear if she hurts you, I’ll make sure she regrets it.”

“Why though?” I asked. “I’m sure I can handle it myself,” I said raising an eyebrow.

“Well you see, I like to think of you as my little sister,” Midnight said as she ruffled my mane with a hoof. “And it’s my job to protect you.”

I blushed. “Well, I see,” I said with a laugh. I looked over at the stallion who was looking bored. “What say you Brax?” I asked.

“Don’t forget to lock the door,” the stallion said simply.

I facehoofed. Great, here come the jokes.

“Speaking of which, where is she now?” Brax asked. “I thought she was up here with you?”

I shook my head. “They left not long after they told me about the talisman. Truth be told, I’m glad they did,” I ended with a sigh.

“Must be a lot to take in eh?” Midnight said sympathetically.

“Yeah it is,” I said. “I’ll get over it, I’ll get used to these and we’ll find another talisman. “

Midnight smiled. “That’s the spirit.” She leaned in closer, her muzzle in my ear. “Any idea where we’re going to find another you know what? “She whispered

“I have ideas,” I mumbled. “I’ll tell you when we get out of here.”

Midnight withdrew. “Okay,” she said.

The curtain moved again and Ayshia and Scerine were back. Scerine facehoofed. “You beat me to it didn’t you?” She muttered.

“Yep,” Midnight replied.

Scerine deflated slightly. “It’s alright,” I said with a light laugh. Alyshia was about to say something when the curtain moved again and two stallions entered the curtains area. It was now very crowded around my bed. Doctor Cascade was back and by his side was a dark beige earth stallion. “Amethyst, this is Doctor Helpinghoof.”

“Uh hi,” I said to the stallion.

“I’ll leave you two at it then,” and with that Doctor Cascade was off.

“You probably don’t know it but we’ve met,” Doctor Helpinghoof said casually.

I raised an eyebrow. “He treated your morphine addition,” Alyshia chipped in.

“Oh, yeah, the one you didn’t tell me about,” I said heavily. “Is that standard practice here?” I asked the doctor.

“Quite,” he said lazily. “Anyway, I’m here to fill you in on your mutation, some of my information is confidential” he glanced at his clipboard. “So I’ll ask that your friends wait for you outside.”  Alyshia gave a little smile and left, Midnight and Brax followed but Scerine didn’t move. “Madam, I’ll have to ask-“

“I’m not going anywhere,” Scerine said defiantly.

“What’s your relation?” Doctor Helpinghoof asked calmly.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Scerine said with a stomp of her hoof,  a hint of anger in her voice.

“Right, fine you can stay but I ask that you please stay quiet and allow Amethyst here to answer and ask any questions,” he said. “So,” he began turning to me. “I take you know how you got here?”

“Yeah, I got covered in some impelled metamorphosis stuff,” I said. “A ton of barrels containing that stuff fell on me.”

“Well by any rate, you would probably better know it as taint,” Doctor Helpinghoof informed.  “You’re friend Alyshia was quick to treat you, luckily too.”

“Where did the taint come from?” I asked, the question jumping from my mouth without thought.

Doctor Helpinghoof sighed. It was created during the war. It was a weapon to be used against the zebras. The intention was to transform unicorns into Alicorns, complete with Alicorn magic.” He paused. “Twilight Sparkle headed the creation of the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion, but the creation of such a potion resulted in many failed batches that were stored away in caves. Ultimately it got out into the environment as proven with Splendid Valley.” He looked at me intently. “You may look, but you are not an Alicorn,” he said. “Your magic aura is no different to any other unicorn, so you’re flightless, you’re just a-“

“Mutated Unicorn?” I finished heavily for him.

“Well, if you choose to use those words?” He said.

“It won’t be just me using those words, I could hear them on your tongue, and the others” I growled as I started to get angry.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Scerine said. “I’ll be by your side okay?”

I nodded, and crossed my hooves.

“As I was saying,” Doctor Helpinghoof continued. “You’re just a regular unicorn.” He waited for a few seconds for more questions but I had none left. I just wanted to go. “Well if that is all, I’ll prepare your discharge papers.”

“That’s all,” I said, “Thanks.”

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

I was finally discharged, the others were gone and Scerine began to walk me back to the place they were staying. Now that I was out of bed, I felt strange, Something just didn’t feel right, I could feel the weight of my wings at my sides, the right one being heavier than the left and it made me feel lopsided but I wasn’t sure if that was it, my pipbuck also felt slightly loose.   I looked up at Scerine to ask how her wings felt but I stopped in my tracks.  Scerine was taller, my shoulder came up to her the bow in her back, and the tip of my horn was barely extended above her brow level.  Now I came to think of it, it wasn’t only the lopsided feeling that contributed to me feeling odd, the ground was closer as well.

Scerine stopped too. “Is something wrong?”  Scerine looked at me full in the face and for a moment she looked taken aback. “Amethyst, you look-“

“Smaller?” I finished softly. “Great,” I said as I began to move again. “I was already small, now I’m tiny.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t notice when you got out of bed,” Scerine said. “But now I look at it, you’ve shrunk by at least half a horn length.”

“Please don’t,” I growled. Scerine backed off a bit. I wasn’t in the mood. She might mean the best but I was really not in the mood.

It wasn’t long and we were entering the room that we were staying. The room was a little larger than the last one we stayed at, Two lounged were placed around a long coffee table and a large dining table was set against the divider to the kitchen. Four doors led to different rooms.  There was only one other pony in the room. It was Alyshia. “Hey girls, discharged I take it?” Alyshia beamed and then she looked at the two of us. Her smile faltered. “Amethyst what happened?”

“Yeah, glad to see you’ve noticed,” I snapped. “Not only will I get mistaken as a freak, I’ll be mistaken as a foal too. Exactly what I need.”

I stormed into the nearest bedroom and slammed the door shut before throwing myself into bed. I lay on my side, tears leaked down my face but no sobs came. Anger ebbed away leaving me feeling rather empty. I thought I felt alien in my body but that was an understatement. It felt like I was pushed through that body swap machine but this time it wasn’t reversible. I heard the door open and close before the weight of somepony sitting behind me. I wanted to tell them to go away but the words never formed on my lips. I felt my fringe part as a hoof shifted it; it was followed by a kiss just below the base of my horn. I saw the snow white mane of Scerine. She withdrew but she didn’t leave the bed.

“I’m sorry,” I finally said. “I shouldn’t be taking this out on you.”

“No you shouldn’t,” Scerine said. “I’m here to support you, I’m not going to laugh at you or think you’re a mutant.”

“Sorry,” I said again.

“Don’t be,” Scerine said. “I’d be upset too, just please don’t take it out on us.”

“I won’t,” I replied. I rolled over do my muzzle was centimeters from Scerine’s.  “I know you love me, no matter what. You told me back in hospital.” Scerine wrapped a forehoof around my body and pulled me to her.

“I do love you,” Scerine agreed. “I just need you to be open with me.”

I nuzzled her neck. “I will,” I said softly.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

Scerine and I left the room about half an hour later. Alyshia had my dress folded over the couch, my saddlebags lay at the foot of the coffee table. “What’re you doing?” I asked.

“We’re selling your dress,” Alyshia replied. “It won’t fit you anymore. We’ll need to go down later and get you some barding and some new clothes. We’re running a bit short on caps so if you can find anything to sell, please do.”

“Good luck finding something that fits me,” I sighed.

“We’re getting your stuff custom made if we can't find anything, it’s hard to buy clothes to accommodate wings so we really don’t have much choice, “Alyshia said sadly. "Unless of course somepony could modify something for us."

Nock Nock Nock

I turned tail and opened the door magically. Just beyond the treshold was Homage; she was wearing a simple deep blue dress. “Uhh Hi,” I said stepping aside so she could come in. I closed the door magically behind her.

“Hey,” Homage said. “I was just stopping by to say thanks for fixing the relay tower.”

“It’s no problem,” I replied. “Although I shouldn’t get the credit, Scerine fixed it.”

Homage glanced at the pegasus and gave her a nod of thanks. “Did you get what you need?” she asked.

“Well, not really. The talisman is damaged,” I said sadly.

“Damn,” Homage said sadly. “If you need more help, or if there’s anything you need, just let me know.”

“Actually Homage there is,” Alyshia piped up. “Where do you buy your clothes?”

“Oh, I get them custom made at Hamlet’s Dresses down stairs, it’s hard to find clothes in my size,” Homage said with a little laugh. "They do modifications as well."

“Yeah we were wondering, because Amethyst is well…” Alyshia said. “She’s small.”

Homage turned to me and I frowned. We were almost the same size; I probably had a hair strand on her still though. Homage didn’t say anything about how I looked; she probably held similar feelings to me regarding her size. “Yeah, Hamlet’s will do you fine,” she said with a smile. “I have a spare dress if you like; you seem to be about my size.”

“Sure, thanks Homage,” Alyshia said. “It would be nice to have something to work from.”

“I’ll be back after lunch then, DJ Pon-3 is probably wondering where I am,” she said finally.

“Thanks Homage,” I said as I let her out. “No problem,” she said with a smile. With that, she was gone.

“Well that was some good news,” Alyshia said.

I nodded. I decided to push those negative feelings about my transformation to the back of my head. Homage seemed content, why couldn't I?

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

I was down in Hamlet’s dresses; Homage gave me a black silk dress that ended in a point at the back. The dress was low cut at the forehooves and the front wrapped around my chest firmly. The seamstress was adding pins to the back to show where she’ll need to make the alterations as my wings were trapped beneath and this made the dress very tight around the sides.

“That’s a lovely dress,” Alyshia commented, “It compliments your mane and once the holes are in it’ll be more comfortable no?”

I nodded in agreement.  “Dear, we’ll need to remove the dress now,” the seamstress asked. Alyshia helped me out of my dress; I got prodded by a pin which hurt. Once the dress was removed the seamstress looked over the pins. “I’ll be about twenty minutes. “The Seamstress then took the garment away. Alyshia and I were left to browse the store.

Many of these dresses were worn but some were magnificent. The wedding dresses in particular were absolutely amazing. “I wonder if I’ll ever be married?” I sighed.

“I’m not sure dear,” Alyshia said quietly. “Those dresses are amazing though.”

“I guess it doesn’t really matter, they’re all too big for me anyway,” I said moving onto the next rack which was full of dinner dresses.

“You can have them altered,” Alyshia said. “We could pick one of these for you if you like?”  She suggested. “It’ll be cheaper than getting a whole new one made.”

I shrugged and I began sifting through the dresses, Alyshia was looking as well. Most of the dresses would have been in Alyshia’s size or Scerine’s size but I couldn’t find anything for me. Alyshia’s horn sparked to life and she pulled out a sparkling dark purple dress. It was simple like the black one but it was very pretty. “It’s in your old size,” Alyshia said, “you can try this one and have it altered if you like?”

Next thing I knew Alyshia and I were in the changing rooms, the dress pulled over my head and clearly several sizes too large. “This is bullshit,” I growled as I lifted a hoof, the sleeve hanging over the tip of my hoof by an inch.

“Oh no it’s not Amethyst” Alyshia sighed. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, I do,” I said as I looked in the cracked mirror. The dress was nice, the silk glittered in the light despite being a very dark purple. It was just a shame that the dress fell around my frame. “We’ll just get it resized,” I said as I wrestled the dress off. Once we were done in the changing room the black dress was ready.

“Can we get this one sized to the same dimensions?” Alyshia asked as she paid for the alteration on the black dress. The seamstress nodded, she checked the dress size. “That’ll be fifty caps for that one.”

Alyshia nodded.

“Come back in about two hours, it should be ready then, you can pay then as well,” the seamstress said. “You’re welcome to use the changing rooms to change into your dress as well darling” she said addressing me.

I changed into my new dress, complete with two holes in the back. Alyshia helped me into the dress as well as to guide my poorly coordinated wings into the holes. Once I was in my dress it felt comfortable, light as air and it flowed well over my back, the dark silk reflected the light and matched my mane to a tee. I looked in the mirror and moved around. The dress fit perfectly, I stretched my wings out and back in and the feathers weren’t catching or preventing movement. I smiled at Alyshia. “Perfect,” I said.

“We should get your barding next, we should probably pick up Brax as well,” Alyshia informed. “He needs some barding too.”

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

We were on the way back down stairs after picking up Brax from our room. I was getting odd looks from other ponies but I did my best to ignore them.  It was the first time I had seen Brax since I left the hospital. “I like your dress,” he said, “It really suits you.”

“Uhh, thanks,” I said with a smile. He hadn’t said anything else about my appearance. Maybe he already knew? “Where’s Midnight?” I asked.

“She’s looking for a new gun, her left one is shotty,” he replied. “We might see her while we’re there.”  That just left Scerine but I knew where she was, she went out for lunch and a browse. Brax took us to the Gun and Armour shop, sure enough Midnight was browsing for weapons. I sidled up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She went to look at me and then looked down. “I didn’t notice that your mutation included loss of height too,” Midnight said.

“”Apparently so,” I sighed. “But that doesn’t matter, what’re you buying?”

“Well, I dunno, I think I should replace both guns but I don’t want anything too powerful, it disrupts flight,” Midnight replied.

Oh,” I said as I glanced at the arsenal of rifles she was looking at.

“Amethyst, we’re here to buy barding,” Alyshia called. “Come on.”

“Oh right sorry,” I muttered, “Coming!”

Alyshia took me to the light weight barding section. I doubted anything here would fit but apparently I was wrong as Alyshia pulled out a small set of barding made of light grey cut soft leather, the brownish inner wool fur protruded slightly at the neck and cuffs for extra warmth. Alyshia measure it up against me. It looked about my size. Alyshia unzipped the barding and placed it around my body and zipped it back up. It felt comfortable around the legs and front but the thing was crushing my sides. I unzipped it. “It fits but not with these,” I said as I ruffled my feathers.

“That’s okay filly we can get that modified,” a gruff stallion said. I looked for the voice and it belonged to an earth stallion, he had let his facial hair grow a bit too much, he wore a grey Stetson and a brown vest. He took the barding, “It’ll only be an extra ten caps for the modification, total of eighty caps.”

“Sounds fair,” I replied. “When can we pick it up?”

He looked at the barding. “Should only take about ten minutes, otherwise, feel free to browse.”

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

We had finished shopping and were just about to enter the room when I heard a stallion’s voice. This was odd, considering Brax was right next to us. I then heard Scerine’s voice say angrily and loudly “So what, Brand me then, I’m not going.”

Alyshia looked at me and I shrugged,

“What’s going on in there I wonder?” Brax growled with curiosity.

“Let’s find out,” Midnight chipped in.

“Well,” Alyshia sighed as she inserted the key. The door swung open to reveal Scerine and a grey pegasus stallion with a greying blue mane in an heated argument with the younger pegasus.  Scerine was red in the face and she was standing defiantly. The stallion turned, unlike Scerine he appeared calm and collected, he looked intimidating and that was made worse by the grey vest he was wearing that jangled with war metals. “So you must be Scerine’s friends,” the stallion said calmly.

“This is my father,” Scerine sighed. “Dad, this is Alyshia,” Scerine pointed a hoof at the purple unicorn, Midnight, Brax and Amethyst,” she said finally pointing to me.

“Well, it’s good to see you’ve been getting on so well with the ponies down here,” Scerine’s Dad said before turning back to her. “But you have to come back, the higher ups will begin asking questions and we can’t jeopardize your place in the team.”

“Oh Dad, all I did was patrol clouds and other mundane work, that wasn't helping anypony. At least down here I’m helping,” Scerine snapped back. “I’m not going back, and I’m not working under that stupid bitch, enlist me as ground crew or something, the only other choice you have is to brand me and I’ll be gone for good. The enclave isn’t doing Anything down here so I might as well do it myself...”

I looked shiftily at the others and as if we were all thinking the same thing we all moved into the nearest bedroom.

"You're thinking like a dashite," Scerine's dad said calmly with a shake of his head. "This is-"

Once the door was closed I cringed. “I didn’t realize that Scerines Dad was so…” I trailed off trying to find the right word.

“Uptight,” Midnight finished for me. “See him wearing those medals, what war were they from? The one he didn’t fight?”

“Probably family heirlooms,” Alyshia said quietly. “They were probably passed down from the great war all those years ago. It looks like they have a military background.”

“Except Scerine doesn’t want in,” I sighed. “Why would her father come looking for her? I thought she was assigned down here?”

Midnight smirked. “Well… I think she did have an assignment down here but she took off.”

“Why though?” Brax growled. “Why would she want to live down here?”

“Oh Brax, you really are a stallion,” Alyshia said sympathetically.

I was as confused as Brax was as well. “She checked up on Amethyst at hospital remember?” Midnight said casually. “Ever since, she’s had the hots for Amethyst, if she wasn’t on assignment she would have been with us on the Luna line, so that answers your question. “

I’d call bullshit on what Midnight said as lesbian mares won’t do something like that when they don’t know the sexuality of the pony they’re going after. But then I remembered that I had blindly gone after Midnight even though she wasn’t attracted to mares so my original statement was mute. I’d also remembered that my sexuality is hardly a secret and Scerine could have picked something up at the hospital from one of my friends. But I could still call out the fact that Scerine didn’t really like me until we were a Newt’s place.

“It doesn’t help when your father is that guy,” I said quietly, pointing a hoof at the door. “He’s the complete opposite of my mother. She didn’t give two fucks about most things I did unless it refected badly on her.”

“Yeah, he probably makes Scerine salute him each morning,” Brax chuckled.

The door opened and Scerine came in. She looked hot and bothered but happy at the same time. “He’s gone,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Sorry about that,” she added.

“It’s okay, wait till you meet my mother,” I said with a laugh.

Scerine suppressed a giggle. “Anyway, how did it go?” Brax asked.

“He’s going to see if he can redraft me on ground duties,” Scerine replied. “I have to go back in a fortnight to check if it’s successful. I get to stay down here for now at least though,” Scerine finished.

“What happens if they don’t redraft you?” I asked feeling a little concerned. Last thing I wanted was for Scerine to get hurt.

Scerine actually laughed. “I run as fast as I can,” she replied.

Midnight raised an eyebrow. “As much as I don’t like you being part of the enclave if you get yourself killed…” Midnight shook her head. “Just think of the damage it’ll do to Amethyst.”

Scerine glared at Midnight. “This whole thing is so I can be with her,”  Scerine snapped. “If the enclave is on my side, good, if not, you said it yourself. If I vanish, you’ll kill me anyway.”

“Okay stop,” I snapped, my feathers standing on end in annoyance. “Stop trying to protect me, I’m not eight. Scerine, do what you must. Midnight, I can handle myself. I’d rather have Scerine here with me but for fuck sake. Don’t get yourself in serious trouble for me okay?” I said with a glare at my girlfriend.

Both mares were taken aback at my outburst.

Scerine nodded once. Midnight said “Right,”

“Good,” I said.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                         *

Alyshia and I were on the way to DJ Pon-3’s office to see if we can book another session with her. I was hoping her extensive knowledge of the wasteland could snag us a non-broken water taslisman this time. “You know, you need to stop jumping down our throats,” Alyshia said. “You know we’re just trying to help you.”

“Yeah but when it happens over and over again,” I whinnied. “No, Scerine is her own mare  but she can't risk herself for me. Midnight was out of line, and if Scerine needs to leave me to avoid a lifetime of looking over her shoulder then so be it.”

“She loves you, you know that?” Alyshia said. “That’s why she’s willing to risk everything.”

“But I don’t want her risking everything,” I growled with a flick of my tail.

“Amethyst, she’s an adult too you know, you say you don’t want to be treated like a foal? It sounds like you need to take a leaf out of your own book,” Alyshia sighed. “Being in love means making sacrifices.”

I looked down at the tiled floor. “But I love her too and I don’t want her putting herself before me.” I said weakly.

Alyshia gave me a soft smile. “Amethyst,” Alyshia said in a motherly sort of way. “Putting your partner before yourself is what love is all about. The fact that Scerine is willing to put the relationship of her father, her home and her job on the line for you is Scerine showing her love for you.”

I began to feel bad; “I’m not worth it,” I sighed. “I don’t know how to love.”

“Not wanting her to go through with it shows that you love her too,” Alyshia said warmingly. “You want to protect her, and that’s okay, but you need to support her decisions and only intervene if you need to.”

I looked up at Alyshia and gave her a small smile.  “So I’m not loveless?” I asked.

Alyshia snickered. “Don’t be silly, you express your love in more. Uhh” Alyshia blushed slightly, “in a direct way.”

“So I should have sex with her?” I asked.

“Huh?” Alyshia shook her head,” No. I mean, only if you want to.  What I meant was that you throw your feelings around. Scerine is more... bottled in. Notice that she hardly ever gets angry, when she shows affection she's much more subtle that you about it, when she is criticized by Midnight she absorbs it and doesn’t crack back, she doesn’t get upset or cry. “

I hadn’t noticed this, now that Alyshia pointed it out it made sense. I practically threw my affections at Midnight, Scerine was really nervous about showing her love despite cuddling me in Splendid Valley and even after the kiss she wanted to get out of there as soon as she could. Scerine hadn’t been angry at me once, I’ve already snapped at her about three times in the last twenty four hours. “I shouldn’t get so angsty towards her. I’ve taken my anger out on her a few times already.” I told Alyshia.

“Yeah, you should cut her some slack,” Alyshia said. “Okay, we’re here.”

Alyshia knocked twice and we waited. After about twenty seconds the door opened, revealing a grey unicorn. “Oh hey,” Homage greeted as she opened the door to let us in. “If you can make yourselves at home. I have biscuits,” Homage paused and glanced at the biscuit jar. “Oops, I think I’ve eaten a bit too many,” she laughed. The jar had about five biscuits left.  We sat down at the table we were at last time and Homage refilled the jar. “That dress looks nice on you by the way,” she complimented.

“Thanks,” I replied. “I have to thank you for giving it to me.”

Homage stopped filling the jar and smiled at me. “You’re quite welcome. Truth be told, the black silk didn’t go to well with my coat.” Homage sat down and I took a biscuit.

“We were hoping to make a time to sort out where we might be able to find…” Alyshia trailed off and looked at me.

“I have time now,” Homage replied. “Next news update’s at nine so I don’t think DJ Pon-3 will need me for a little while.”

Homage reached out for a map and laid it across the table. “Well… I assume you don’t want to go back to Splendid Valley?”

We both shook our heads.

“Well, you have a few choices, we might out the Ministry of Magic building in Canterlot because you’re not getting in there and you’re not getting to the one here in Manehattan because of the Alicorns and the fact the building is too unstable.” Homage scanned the map. “There are various stables but I can’t tell if they’re operational or not…“ Homage thought for a moment. “Steel Rangers have lots but that’s too much,” Homage muttered.

I smiled. “Steel Rangers? They’re the ponies that horde technology?” I asked. “I wouldn’t feel bad stealing from them. I only need one.”

Homage frowned. “They’ve armed to the teeth with all sorts of weapons from the Ministry of War and Technology, there might be once but for the others you’re better off in Splendid Valley.” She sighed. “There is no easy way to get hold of an undamaged water talisman. So I’ll mark off these points.” Homage made a large X near Fillydelphia, another large X near Friendship City and finally the last X on Canterlot.

“Now, I don’t recommend Canterlot due to the Pink Cloud,” she replied. “You may be able to get in during a blizzard but I warn against it. The main issue you face here is that Pink Cloud hemorrhages the lungs and fuses anything that touches you to your skin.” Homage moved her hoof to the X at Friendship City. “There’s a stable here near Friendship City, It’s on the coast and I believe it’s not operational.”

I nodded.

Homage moved her hoof to Fillydelphia. “There’s a small base out here for the Steel Rangers, they may have a Talisman here. I don’t recommend going beyond the large steel walls as that’s where Red Eye’s slave camp is. Unless you want to die there, I don’t recommend going in.”

I nodded again and looked at Alyshia. “Friendship City then Fillydelphia, then Canterlot if that doesn’t work out?”

Alyshia frowned. “I’m not sure about Canterlot,” Alyshia said. “I mean…”

Homage grimaced. “You don’t have to go there. I only pointed out the best places that’s doable and not in Splendid Valley. You could go during a blizzard or when it’s raining, but even then it’s a huge pull, if the weather stops you’d be in massive danger. So maybe it’s worth crossing it off.”

“No,” I burst out. “No, keep it, it’s a last resort, we’ll go back to Dijoneigh and check the mines prior to checking Canterlot.”

Alyshia nodded and Homage made an X on Dijoneigh Mines. “Well, so I guess it’s to Friendship City first,” she said. “We get to see where Midnight grew up.

I hadn’t thought of that. “That’ll be great, if a little sad for her,” I replied. We’ll make a quick stop before we go to the stable. “Any idea of the number?” I asked.

“It’s uhh,” Homage looked at the X. “Stable Eighty Five.”

I took a double take on the map. Stable eighty five was quite literally as far away from eighty six as Fillydelphia was, in other words, many days of walking.  Yet Stable two was like, an hour’s walk away from eighty six. Who in Celestia’s name chose these numbers?

Homage sighed. "It's a tough take to get a water talisman but I'm glad to have been of some help."

"You've been more than "of some help," you're a real life saver," I praised. "I'd be wandering around aimlessly without your help."

"Well then, I'm always happy to help," Homage said with a smile.

"Is there anything else we can do for your help," Alyshia piped up. "After all, we can't take your information for free. We'd feel guilty for taking advantage of your help."

I looked at Alyshia, I guess she was right. Homage had been invaluable and if there was anything I could do?

Homage smiled. "Actually, you could do me a favor. There is an old station across town with old records that I could really get my hooves on. Just be careful, the Alicorns have been around that area recently."

"That sounds simple enough, compared with where we came from," I said with a shrug. "We can do that, We'll drop them by before we head back to Eighty Six."

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *                        

Alyshia and I arrived back at the hotel room at around eight thirty. Scerine was the only pony home. When she saw me she smired and trotted over, "Hey cute stuff," she greeted.

I blushed. "I don't deserve that," I replied. "Sorry about being a royal bitch to you."

Scerine laughed. "Well, you were but you can make it up to me," she said. "Want to go downstairs for a few drinks?"

"I'm not sure if we have the caps," I said sadly.

Scerine held up a small coin pouch. "We have enough. Well, this is the last of my caps anyway," she finished with a shrug.

"You sure," I asked. "I don't have two caps to rub together, are you okay to pay for me?"

"Hey, I said you're doing me the favour by coming down remember?" She replied.

I blushed. "Okay," I said.

We were on the way down to the pub which was on the ground floor. To be honest I was looking forward to a night out with Scerine. This was our first time on a proper date since we got together. We arrived at the pub with few issues. I only got a few stairs at my horrible wings but it didn't really bother me. When we stepped into the pub it reminded me of the one at Hoofling in the fact that it looked rustic but inviting, the only difference I could say was that it had an upper class touch to it. The stand where the band played was smooth oiled wood rather than rough wood, the counter of the pub was made of polished wood and the ceiling had down lights rather than hanging lights.

Scerine and I made our way to the bar. The publican was a rough looking, buck with black stubble and a black setson, his mane protruding slightly at the back. "What drinks are ya after fillies?" he asked. I squinted at the board. "I'd like some Applejack thanks, make it strong," Scerine asked.

I thought I'd go for an alcoholic beverage too. "Can I have a vodka and orange please," I requested. The rough buck nodded and drew two glasses; he filled them both with the requested drinks and passed them over. Scerine passed over some caps as I took a sip. I felt the strong taste of vodka sear my throat, it felt surprisingly good, the orange hid the most of the after taste and I could actually enjoy this drink somewhat. Scerine took a sip from her drink.

"So, it's good getting out a bit isn't it?" She said. "The music, the atmosphere,"

I nodded, "I really should get out a bit more," I told her. "Midnight and Brax go to the pub quite often and I can see why."

I listened to the band that was playing a covered version of the Sapphire Shores song "Serves her right." I enjoyed music but I just couldn't sing in front of other ponies. I can't stand the spotlight. "Do you do this much back home?" I asked Scerine. "I mean, go to the pub?"

Scerine shook her head. "Nopony to go with, it's kinda boring if you go by yourself." I nodded; it made me think if I should have made more of an effort to go to the monthly Maintenance Party in the Maintenance wing back home. My colleagues had always had really interesting stories the following day.

"Did you?" Scerine asked.

I shook my head. "My first time at a pub was in Hoofling, Midnight got drunk and then she was kidnapped," I said. "It was really quite full on."

I took a long draught of my drink and placed the cup back down. "Sounds it," Scerine said. "So how long have you been out now?"

I shrugged, "eight weeks I think, I'm not entirely sure though."

"Not long at all," Scerine said with a nod. "Looking forward to seeing your Mum again?"

I took another drink; I was already half way through it. "A bit," I sighed. "It's weird. I don't really like her but I do. Like, she's my mum and she's the only family I have left." I grimaced. "It will be nice to see her again but our relationship isn't exactly friendly. I might pop over and say hi by I won't be sitting down with her and having a conversation." I took another draught and sighed. "She won't like you at all," I said honestly. "She's that elitist type. Like Unicorns are the alpha race or something like that. She also hates the fact that I'm a lesbian. Not to mention she's borderline alcoholic."

Scerine frowned. "You're relationship with her seems quite strained," she finally said before taking a drink. "I'm not sure I want to meet her," she added nervously.

"You don't have to. As I said, my relationship with her isn't the best and she doesn't need to know about my love life," I said. I drained my cup and smacked my lips. The alcohol was starting to take effect and made me buzz a little. "Can I have what she's got?" I asked as the Publican came to collect my cup, he dropped a glass of Applejack on the bench and Scerine paid him.

"I'm looking forward to seeing where you grew up anyway," she said, I took a draught of the strong drink. It burned my throat but in a good way.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

After an hour and a half Scerine and I retired to the tables. I was on my fourth drink and was singing along to a good Sweetie Belle song near where the band was playing. I was no longer in my chair but I didn't care. I was drunk and having fun. Ponies had begun singing along as well, some looking at me rather than the actual singer. Not a fuck was given as I sang out the Sweetie Belle song. Scerine was nowhere near as drunk as I was and she kept trying to pull me back to my seat. I stopped singing and began to dance, I was bad at it, my vision was swirling slightly and my balance was off, my wings fell in odd directions around me and I must have looked strange.

I moved over to the table and took another swig of Applejack. The strong taste burned my throat. I placed the drink back on the table and took a step towards the stage once the song finished. "Mind if I give it a go?" I asked the singer on stage. She nodded and handed over the mic. I told the Band Members to start playing "She's a pony," by Sapphire Shores. I didn't care much for Karaoke, I did it in the shower at home but thanks to Applejack, I could do it now in front of this crowd.

I belted out the tune and I didn't really care if I sounded good or not as I sung the chorus. "She's a Pony, She's a Pony, never forget that..." The ponies in the crowd were clapping their hooves with the tune and never before had I had so much fun. All I needed was a few drinks to bring this new and improved Amethyst out of her shell. Once I was done I handed the microphone back with loud applause. I stumbled over to Scerine and picked my drink back up. "That was fun," I giggled.

Scerine couldn't believe her eyes. "I can't believe you just sung that, like... in front of a crowd," she said shocked.

"Was nuffing really," I slurred as I knocked back an eighth of a glass in one go. I went back up to the bar and got another. I stumbled back to the table and sat down.

"I think that might be your last one," Scerine said with a raised eyebrow.

"Aww come on," I moaned. "One more after this," I took a gulp and smiled. "It’s a good night, let me stay a little longer."

"Okay, okay one more after this," Scerine said before taking another sip of her own drink. She was a little tipsy but she was nowhere near as drunk as I was.

I leaned across the table and went to kiss her on the lips but I missed and hit her cheek before knocking her almost empty glass from the table. "Oops," I giggled. "Lucky it was almost empty."

"It's alright, I'll go get another," Scerine went back to the bar to get another drink and I began clapping to the music again. Scerine returned and she joined me with clapping to the music. I had a sudden idea. I got up from the table, "Let's dance," I said holding my forehoof out to Scerine. Scerine smiled and got to her hooves and we moved over to the dance floor. She pulled me close and we danced to the energetic tune. My hooves were all over the place as we danced. I stood on her hoof more than once but she was having fun and so was I. At the end of the song we stopped and I began to move back to the table to my drink. I walked right into a white pegasus who came out of no where.

I almost fell to the floor however I managed to avoid falling over. "Amethyst?" she gasped. It was Midnight. I giggled. "Hey Midnight," I said with a slur. "Did you err, shee me sing before?" I stammered. "Was amazing wasn't it?"

"No, I only just got here? Are you drunk?" She asked as Scerine came into view and I threw my forehooves around her.

"Scerine here hass been showing me how t-to have fuuun." I blinked. "I'm not dr-drunk," I stammered as I pulled away from Scerine. I took my Applejack from the table and sculled the last quarter. "I-I'm fine," I said after a pause.

"Wow Amethyst, you're wasted," Midnight laughed. "What's she been drinking?"

"A vodka and four-or five Applejacks," Scerine replied as she shook her head.

"That's no' even tha' much," I slurred. "I'm goin for ano-another drink." I made to go to the bar but the swirling in my head was building. I made it half way to the bar swaying before falling to the floor. Scerine helped me up and said. "I think that's enough Amethyst. Maybe we should go back?"

"Ohh come oonn," I moaned. "I'm only just starting to have fun." Brax came over with two drinks and handed one to Midnight nearby. He then turned to look at what Midnight was looking at. Brax looked at me perplexed then laughed.

"Is that Amethyst? Whoaa Scerine, what've you done to her?" He said gobsmacked."How'd you get her through her first drink?"

"I don't know, she just drank it," Scerine replied. "Come on up Amethyst."

I gripped onto her to prevent myself from falling. "I'll be gooood," I said slowly. "I'm right, I jushed uhh." I thought for a second. "Oh yeah, another drink."

"I think you've had enough," Scerine replied. "We should be getting you back to the hotel." she said. I let go of her, I stumbled for a moment then fell to the floor before vomiting.

Scerine facehoofed. "She's your girlfriend," Midnight said. "You deal with her." Midnight placed a hoof on Scerine shoulder before retracting it and leaving to find a table with Brax. Scerine sighed and lifted me from the floor before placing me on her back. "Aww noo," I whined. "Can we stay?"

"No," Scerine sighed. "We've had enough; we'll come back another time."

"Aww," I moaned from her back. The trip back was uneventful for Scerine.,I winged and whined. As we ascended the elevator I vomited into her mane. I coughed and spluttered but I still winged. When we got back Alyshia was writing something at the table. She looked up at us as if she was about to say hi when her expression changed to that of shock. I laughed at Alyshia, her head looked all funny, it moved like jelly as she moved towards us. "Haha Aly-Alshia, your head is foony," I laughed drunkenly.

"Is she drunk?" Alyshia said angrily.

Scerine dropped me on the floor. Sick covered her mane and coat and she didn't look too pleased. "Yeah she had a few too many," Scerine said flatly.

Alyshia looked livid. "Amethyst you just got out of Hospital," Alyshia said angrily. "You should know better as well Scerine."

“You can’ tell me wha’ ta doo,” I garbled. “I-I'm an Alicorn Princess!”

"Yeah I know," Scerine sighed as she ignored me completely. She helped me off the floor and took me to the bathroom. She sponged the sick off of my coat and the bits that had ended up in my mane. "I love you Scerine," I mumbled. "You so." I struggled to think of a word. "Sexy," I said finally managing to find the word.

Scerine smiled before sponging herself off as well. I tried to take the sponge of her like it was a game but my hooves were un-coordinated and I couldn't catch the sponge. Once she was done she guided me to the bedroom. The bedroom! Scerine placed me on the covers; I was still in my dress. I put my forehooves around Scerine's neck and attempted to make out with her. I wanted her so badly, I just couldn't think of a greater moment, in this feeling of euphoria that I was feeling. Scerine went to kiss me back but when she saw I was trying to take it further she pulled away. "Not while you're drunk," she mumbled. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh come oon," I slurred. "We showled do it righ’ here righ’ now. I'm was you so bad Scerineine."

Scerine blushed; she kissed me on the forehead, "Goodnight." My head was swirling so bad that I struggled to keep my head upright. I felt my head fall and hit the pillow before passing out.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

Light flooded my eyes and it stung. I threw the covers over my head to shield them but I couldn’t shield the massive headache that was so bad I could have sworn someone had driven an axe into it. “Amethyst, it’s past lunch time, I think it time to get up,” came Alyshia’s voice.

“Not yet,” I moaned. I felt the covers get pulled off of me, the light was blinding. I opened my eyes, my vision was slightly blurry and sensitive to the light. Alyshia was carrying a tray with a glass of water and some food. “Mega hangover?” Alyshia asked as she set the tray down on my bedside table. I noticed I stunk of alcohol and was still wearing my dress.

“Ohh, this sucks,” I mumbled. “Why did I have to drink so much?”

“Was pretty silly of you,” Alyshia scolded. “You got out of hospital just that day.”

“Yeah I know, I just…” I shook my head as flashes of memories from the night before came to my forehead. “Oh sweet Celestia, Scerine must think I’m delusional,” I moaned as I recalled some of the blurred memories from the night before. I buied my head in my forehooves.

Alyshia almost laughed. “Well, I’m surprised you remember much of anything. You should eat and drink plenty of water.”

I nodded and levitated the glass of water and drained it in one go. I hadn’t realised how thirsty I was. Alyshia left and I began to eat the greasy fried canned pepper. It was good and my headache abated slightly as I smacked my oily lips. I felt bad for Scerine as I levitated the tray back to my bedside.

I shook my head which still felt incredibly foggy and I got to my hooves and left my room. I walked into the living room; Scerine was on the lounge casually reading a stallions magazine with a suggestive mare on the front. She looked up and saw me before closing the magazine. “Well look who’s awake,” she said with a smile. “You got pretty wrecked last night.”

I rubbed my left eye with a forehoof. “Yeah I know, sorry about making you drag me back up here.”

“Surprised you remember that,” she said with a small laugh. “It’s okay, I love you. I have to admit though; you go waay over the top when drunk.”

I blushed. “Yeah, that was my first time being drunk,” I muttered.

“Really? That explains why you went downhill so fast,” Scerine said. “That and your…. well… smaller stature.”  Scerine waved her hoof in front of her nose. “You might want to shower; you smell pretty bad, you might spontaneously combust at any moment.”

I did stink so I made my way to the shower; the sponge from last night was still sitting on the vanity. My blurred memory recalled the moment I tried to catch it. I chuckled to myself and took of my dress, this proved difficult as I struggled to  get my wings through the wing holes. I managed to wrestle the dress off and it fell to the floor. I picked it up magically and placed it on the vanity next to the sponge and stepped into the shower. I turned on the hot water and let my body get soaked. My head continued to throb but it wasn’t as bad as when I woke. The water ran over my body. I levitated the soap and proceeded to scrub my coat clean. I proceeded onto my mane and tail. This went well. Only issue was that I didn’t think the soap nor regular shampoo was suitable for feathers. Now I came to think about it my wings were soaked, the feathers didn’t repel the water as Midnight’s did and the quills on mine looked very wirey. I just let the water pass over them and hoped that would be enough. I didn’t spill anything on them but they might have had sick in them.

When I was done I dried myself off, once my coat was dry I tried to attack the feathers with the towel but that made the quills stand on end and made them look like porcupine wings. I dried my mane and checked myself in the mirror. I didn’t look pleasant. My eyes were bloodshot, my face looked a little greyer than usual and I looked really tired. I left the bathroom and threw myself into the lounge next to Scerine. She glanced sideways at me then recoiled. “What in the hell did you do to your feathers?” She asked flabbergasted. “Don’t tell me you used hair product for them,” she said with a facehoof.

Well I was right about one thing. I shook my head. “I dunno, I just wet them, the water just soaked right through."

Scerine looked at my quills. “Yeah, yours might not have the oil in them. You body might not be creating that. I dunno. There’s product for replenishing oils but I’m not sure if they’ll work on yours. Midnight’s going to laugh at you when she gets back.”

“Where is she?” I asked curiously.

“She’s gone for a walk,” Scerine said with a shrug. “You can snuggle up to me if you want,” she added. I smiled and lay my head on her lap.

“Thanks,” I sighed. My head was still throbbing,  “I’m never drinking again.”

“Yeah we all say that after we have a rough night,” Scerine replied. She pushed a damp piece of hair away from my forehead.

“Yeah but I mean it,” I growled. “I had tonnes of fun but that isn’t worth it for this headache.”

“You just drank too much, you need to drink a little slower,” Scerine said. “It isn’t like Sparkle Cola.”

“Yeah I know…”

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

Midnight returned after a further twenty minutes. She closed the door behind her and turned around.  She set eyes on me and grinned. “Haha, you look so hung over,” she observed amusingly. “So, how was she when you got her back?”

Scerine looked at her and grimaced. “She was interesting, she vomited on me, then I took her to the shower and she tried to take the sponge from me, oh my gosh,” Scerine shook her head. “She’s a handful but that’s why I love her.”

I’m glad Scerine left out the other part. I really felt embarrassed about that. “Thanks for not mentioning that other part,” I muttered just loud enough for Scerine.

“Quite alright hon.” I earned a kiss on my horn.

“So, Amethyst, when’s your next big night?” Midnight said as she took a seat to the left of us. “You were so wrecked, it was funny.”

“Never again,” I replied. “I can’t control myself so never again.”

“So what the hell did you do to your wings? You didn’t wash them in shampoo did you?” Midnight said with a shake of her head.

“No, they just did this with water, Scerine thinks my wings might not have any oil in them,” I replied.

“That’s strange,” Midnight said. ”But then again… You’re wings might not be able to produce their own oil.”

“Yeah Scerine was saying.” I shook my head; my headache was starting to get strong. “I might go back to bed,” I muttered.

“Okay,” Scerine said sympathetically. I pried myself from her and yawned.

“Might be a good thing,” Midnight said. “See you soon.”

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

Our last day was proving to be quite uneventful. Brax had gone to the roof to make some modifications to the flying Ambulance, Midnight had gone out to stretch her wings. Alyshia was mulling over her paperwork as she struggled to keep our finances in check and I was quite bored. "We've overspent," she growled. "I can't afford any healing potions or anything."

"Where did the last of the caps go?" I asked from the lounge.  

"Brax spent the last of his caps on renting that stupid cutting thing for the carriage," Alyshia said with a shake of her head. "Oh and alcohol, you and Scerine spent forty caps."

"I thought those were Scerine's caps?" I asked perplexed. I looked at her and she nodded.

"Yeah those were my caps," she piped up.

"Yeah but we need to pool them together," Alyshia whinnied. "We are after all a team, I can't spend all my caps on healing equipment or I'd be broke all the time."

"We'll get more in Friendship City," I reassured. "We'll do some scavenging and get our caps back in order."

Alyshia nodded, she looked exhausted."I have plenty of bandages still but I'm a little nervous about our healing potions," she said concerned.

"I'm sure we'll manage," I told her.

"I might go for a walk," Alyshia sighed. "I need to take a break."

"Oki doki," I said with a wave of my hoof, happy that she was finally taking some time off.

I heard the sound of the door shut behind her. Scerine leaned over me and touched my chest, then swirled her hoof from my chest to my belly. "Soo..." she purred. "We finally have the place to ourselves."

I blinked, my heart skipped a beat and I felt my face heat up. "Yeah I guess we do," I whispered nervously. Did that mean? Scerine placed both her hooves on my cheeks and kissed me. I kissed her back and it quickly advanced into no normal kiss, she slipped her tongue in to meet mine as my forehooves made their way into her snowy white mane. Scerine moved her hooves upwards into my mane as well and I could taste her fruity tongue on mine, her hair smelt like her apple scented shampoo, my mind jammed and I was moving on sheer instinct. My whole body was surging with want, I had never felt like this before, that spark that made all my worries vanish as the pony I loved made out with me. Scerine bit my lip and she began to breathe deeply, my own breathing slowed as nervousness left me.

Scerine wrapped her tail around mine as she kissed me further, my mane became messy as her hooves slipped through it. Finally she broke the kiss, but didn't pull away, her breathing was ragged as was mine, her hot breath was against my face before she shifted her muzzle to my neck. She pecked it just below the jawline and gave me a little bite that sent waves of pleasure through my body. My lower's began to feel hot as she kissed my neck, she bit ever so softly, it never hurt and it was just enough to make my mind spin, the third bite caused a squeak to escape my lips as my mind fogged with nothing but her. I rubbed her upper back and down to where her feather's met fur with my forehooves as that was all I could reach. Scerine shifted again and began to kiss slowly down my belly. She pecked me just below my navel before looking up at me seductively, her beautiful green eyes locked on mine. She gave me a smile before she moved down there.

I gave out a soft eep as her soft, expert tongue brushed against my nethers.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

I fell on top of Scerine, my breathing strong and slow, I was absolutely exhausted. I rose and fell on Scerine's chest with her heavy breathing. "I never knew you squirmed when you orgasm, or squeak when I..." She gave a huge exhausted sigh, "When I touch your bud."

"Neither did I," I said as I looked into her eyes. "My hoof could never do that. It was my first time."

Scerine was taken aback. "You could have told me that- or I would have gone slower and given you more attention."

"No," I purred as I pushed my hoof against her muzzle. "It was absolutely perfect, I never imagined my first time would be that good." I said quitely before resting my head against her chest.  "You were amazing."

She pushed her hoof through my mane. "You weren't bad either. I mean, for your first time," she said. Scerine kissed my horn.

"Thanks," I sighed. I closed my eyes and I listened to Scerine's fast heartbeat and breathing begin to slow. I knew it would have been good but not that good. I heard a clicking sound and then the familiar sound of the door opening. Scerine and I looked up so fast that I wasn't aware either of could move so fast.

Midnight stepped into the room and looked at our guilty faces. The room smelt of sex and we were still sweaty. "Oh you two didn't?" Midnight moaned.  Embarrassment began to creep into my veins, Scerine and I looked guiltily at each other.

"Well it was private until you came in," Scerine managed to say. "You could have knocked."

"You could have done it on the bed and not on the lounge," Midnight said. "Argh, I'll leave you two alone then." Midnight walzed into her room and closed the door. Scerine and I fell back onto the lounge. I felt so embarrassed but I was pleased that Midnight was able to give us a little bit of privacy.

Scerine smiled at me. "Oh well," she sighed. "It was still fun."

My mane was matted and messed,, I felt a hoof touch my head as Scerine tried to pat it down but it didn’t do anything. “Yeah it does that,” I told her. “I’ll brush it later.”

I rested my head back on Scerine’s chest and sighed, “Tired? Scerine asked.

I nodded. “Yeah,” she wrapped a hoof around me and I closed my eyes.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

I came out of my sleep, judging from the rising and falling of my body, I was still on Scerine, I opened my eyes and looked up at her. She too had fallen asleep. I got off of her without waking her, and looked up at the low mumbling. Alyshia was back and was sitting at the table eating lunch with Midnight, the two were talking.  I sidled up to the table and took a seat beside Alyshia. “So, we’ll leave at about eight?” Alyshia asked. “I mean, can you get there by dark?”

“I doubt it,” Midnight sighed. I could be there by lunch time the day after, but not by dark.

“The later we get there the better,” I said groggily.

“Finally awake?” Alyshia said with a glance. “But no, I’d rather Midnight not fly around in the darkness.”

“Well, we might have a bit of a wait then because I can’t get Berry to open the door until the early hours of the morning,” I chipped in. “Why don’t we leave at the crack of dawn, get these records back by nine and get to Eighty Six on dusk.”

Alyshia snickered through my whole proposed plan. “What?” I said frowning.

She was looking at my mane. I blushed and tried to flatten it unsuccessfully. “Yeah, forgot about that.”

“Anyway,” Midnight piped up. “I’m still unsure if I can get from here to Ponyville in one day.” She shrugged. “If we don’t make it, we’ll just settle down the night and try again the next day.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how we go,” I sighed.

“So what happened?” Alyshia asked me. “It looks like you got caught in a blender. You’re hair looked good this morning.”

“Yeah, long story,” I replied nervously. Midnight was on the verge of laughing, she could so embarrass me right now.

I prepared for it and sure enough… “Oh I know what happened,” Midnight said through a snicker. “Okay okay,” she held a straight face but she didn’t say anything.

“What?” Alyshia asked curiously. My face was turning beetroot red and I hid my face with my forehooves.

Alyshia looked at me. “Oh, ohhh,” Alyshia facehoofed.

“On the lounge too,” Midnight laughed.

“Nice, really classy,” Alyshia said with a shake of her head.

“Oh come on Alyshia, where was your first time?” Midnight snorted.

Alyshia looked stony faced. “None of your business,” she said snobbily. She crossed her hooves and looked embarrassed.

“Oh come on,” I chipped in; Alyshia’s face was turning red.

“On my mother’s dining room table,” she muttered, her face tomato red. “Midnight?”

“On a bed,” she said with a shrug. “Boring right?”

“Well, I might take a shower and get my mane sorted,” I muttered before getting up from the table.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

Brax returned on sundown. He looked tired and he had metal shavings in his mane. “You didn’t cut our ride in half did you?” Alyshia asked as he strode across the room and threw himself in the lounge.

“Of course not,” he growled. “I added three windows for allowing us to fire at enemies from the sides and the back. I also added a flap on the top to allow somepony on the roof so we can fire from there too. In case of Alicorns and Griffons.”

“Sounds good,” Midnight said. “Hopefully it’s all clean.”

“Clean as I could get it,” Brax said with a shrug.  “I didn’t touch any of the main parts so she should still be good to run.”

Midnight cracked a smile.

“What?” He growled.

“Nothing,” she replied. “Anyway- I’m going to finish packing.”

“Yeah I should probably do the same,” I sighed. I went into my and Scerine’s room and levitated my Saddlebags onto the bed. I brought up my inventory spell on my Pipbuck. I still had my Fluttershy Statuette; my Wing Boner magazine was squashed on the bottom, I had a spare spark battery, a collection of Memory Orbs, the orb of desire which had gone dark again, my photo album, two talismans, one ruined, the other usable but broken and the stealthbuck I had completely forgotten about. My other things needed collecting. I found my empty canteen which had rolled under the bed. I filled it in the kitchen and secured it to the Saddlebag strap. My coin pouch lay on the bedside; it had two caps in it. I threw it in my Saddlebag as well; I picked up my two dresses and packed them too. My magnum and shotgun were added; we still needed to get our ammo back from the guards so I couldn’t pack those.  Meep was asleep and had mostly kept out of the way, I left him there, he’ll follow us in the morning.

I set my alarm on my Pipbuck for six am before settling down for dinner (Mashed canned carrots) Alyshia salted them and added herbs to make them taste better. She cooked for everyone tonight and we all ate at the table. “So,” Brax growled through his food. “What did you fillies get up to today?”

“Finances,” Alyshia sighed. “Oh and I went for a walk,” she added.

“I wehn ou’ to stretc’ my ‘ings,” Midnight said through a full mouth of mash. She swallowed. “I didn’t see much as it was snowing.”

“What about you two?” Brax asked mentioning Scerine and I, “getting ready to go or did ya just do nothing?”

“Well I was treated to lots of squeaks, squirms and a pony that can double orgasm," Scerine piped up.

She didn't? Oh mother of Celestia she did. "You might as well tell them a blow by blow of what happened." I muttered as I buried my head in my hooves.

Brax inhaled his food as he went to laugh and coughed loudly. "Oh fuck," he coughed as he recovered. "Sounds like fun," he said with streaming eyes. Midnight hit him on the back and laughed.

"Oh sweetie," Scerine giggled. "It's all fun, don't be embarrassed."

"I know," I squeaked. Celestia please take this embarrassment away from me.

"It took you how long exactly for you to lose your  virginity?" Brax growled as he cautiously spooned more mash into his mouth.

My face fell. "Oh fuck oo 'rax," I said through my mouthful of food. I finished chewing and swallowed. “At least I didn't lose it to a nobody."

Alyshia nodded and Midnight smirked.

Alyshia coughed. "Anyway," she said more seriously. "If we don't make it to Eighty Six, where're we staying for the night?"

"I'd say we wing it," I suggested. "There isn't much..."

"Nah," Midnight replied. "I reckon we settle for either Dodge Junction or New Appleoossa. I'm starting to get sick of roughing it in the snow."

"If we can gather the caps we need then yeah," Alyshia said. "Either way, if we don't get the caps we'll just set the tent up."

"Uhh," Brax growled nervously "About that. It’s uuhh. It's gone."

I facehoofed. Now we really did have nothing. "What happened to it?" Alyshia asked.

"I think I left it at that place near Splendid Valley," Brax muttered. He shook his head. "I thought remember picking it up but it's gone. I can't find it anywhere."

Alyshia let off a long drawn out sigh. "That's okay, we'll be fine. Let's just do what we need to do."

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

The Alarm went off way too quickly for my liking. I flicked the lights on magically and Scerine stirred next to me. Eyes heavy and sandy, I got out of bed and put my barding on. This proved difficult but after a minute of wrestling with it I was zipped up. By the time I was in my barding, Scerine was already in her armour and her saddle bags were in place. I levitated my saddlebags and put them on my back. I secured the straps just behind the wing joint and I had to pull the straps hard to tighten it. I levitated out my brush and attacked my mane and tail, once my bed hair was gone I placed my brush back and trotted out into the living room, Meep closely behind me. Alyshia was in her pink barding and securing her Saddlebags, Brax looked odd in his new bulking metal body armour; he kind of looked like a raider but without the spikes. Midnight was ready and waiting and Scerine was ready as well.

Once Alyshia had secured everything she led the way through the door and out into the corridor. None of us talked much as we were all still really tired from the early wake up. We ascended to the roof and walked out into the bitter cold air.  It wasn’t snowing but it was pretty windy. I looked precariously up for a second and the sky was a deep grey, it was still very early. I lit my horn and made my way over to the silhouette of the Ambulance. Brax had made a number of modifications to it. I could see a window on the side that had a sliding door to shoot from. Brax opened the back and we all stepped in. I looked up and saw the new exit at the top, perfect for me to climb up onto the roof to fire at pursuing targets.

Once everypony was on board, Alyshia closed the door magically. Midnight strapped herself in and before we knew it we were taking off. “So, you guys like the mods that I made on this thing?” Brax asked as he puffed his chest out proudly.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll avoid that disaster-“I yawned, “we had with the last carriage,” I finished.

“Yeah,” Brax growled. “So if any Alicorns or Griffins try to give us any shit. BLAM,” he said as he imitated shooting something out the window. I was much too tired to be paying attention.

We were only in the air for a moment before we touched down in the front "Gardens," of Tenpony Tower. Midnight collected our ammo from the gruff stallion and passed them out to us before taking back off. I put my ammo in my Saddlebags and spent the first few minutes of our flight reloading all my weapons. Sadly I was running low on Sniper Bullets, I still had about thirty Magnum rounds luckily and I had one full reload of shotgun rounds left.

I looked at Scerine and she was looking out the window. Her eyes were heavy and her eyes were watery from yawning. I levitated my canteen and I took a sip of water to wet my partially dry mouth before leaning my head against the cold steel wall.

After about fifteen minutes in the air Midnight touched down on top of a building. We traipsed off the ambulance carriage. I looked around and could see a building five stories taller than this one leaning precariously towards the street. I could just make out the sign that hung from the roof; “Manehattan Electrical Supplies.” Now that would be a store I’d love to go check out! Unfortunately we didn’t have time and even if we did the building didn’t look safe enough to go near. The roof of this building was adorned with broken air conditioner units, some of which had shifted from their original positions.

I checked my EFS and I couldn’t see any hostiles, the roof was clear. A door separated the staircase down from the outside. It was securely locked. I pulled out my screwdriver and a bobby pin and inserted it. The lock was rusty so I proceeded to jangle the tumblers into place, again like all locks I had come across, the final tumbler didn’t want to play ball. I toyed with the pressure and finally the door swung open. “Not too bad considering I hadn’t done that in a while,” I said as I pocketed the screwdriver and pin. Alyshia and I lit our horns as we walked into the very dark staircase. My eyes remained on my EFS as we descended down the dark concrete stairs. We came across our first door, well second if you could the one further up. Emblazoned across the door in peeling letters was “”Manehattan FM.” I wrapped my magic around the handle and it opened into a cold, draughty, dark office like room. A glass security door was to the right; a huge crack ran down the face of the panel, I could just make out the elevator behind the glass. On the left was a large black door with stick-on 3D letters; It read, “Recording Room.” On the far side was broken glass windows where the draft was coming from. Several collapsed desks were positioned near the windowed area and a corridor on the left lead about five meters beyond the recording room.

“We should probably search the recording room yes?” I said thinking it would be a good place to start. I made my way over to the door and opened it. The room was quite small as most of it was taken up by a large cabinet and the recording desk, as for the rest of the room a microphone lay sideways on the desk and the other was on the floor. It appeared the multi stack record player had survived mostly intact. However everything was covered in about an inch of dust. “Reckon they might be in the cabinet?” Brax growled. I opened it magically and the flimsy built-in lock snapped with a BANG.

Behind the doors were records. They were labelled by artist and in alphabetical order; some of the albums were so faded it was hard to know their names. I took some of Sweetie Belle’s music, some albums from Sapphire Shores; I saw a few from an artist called “Vinyl Scratch.” On the front was a picture of an eccentric looking unicorn mare. She wore DJ glasses and had a mane style similar to that of Homage. I decided to take some of these; I saw one from “Fleur De Lis,” another unknown artist who had a similar build to Glenda. Finally I grabbed some from an Octavia Melody, I had heard of this artist though; she played classical and was often played on stable radio. In all we ended up with about thirty albums. I divided them up amongst everypony to share out the bag space. “We should probably do some scavenging as well,” I said. We all nodded and split up. Brax went looking around the desks, Alyshia went off to the toilets, Midnight decided to rip apart the recording room, Scerine went into the corridor and Meep and I went to have a crack at the reception.

I tried to open the secure door but it wouldn't budge. I grimaced. Instead I picked up an old desk chair and threw it through the glass. I had to admit that it was oddly satisfying watching the chair sail through the glass. I walked through the broken door and stepped behind the reception desk. The desk itself was ordinary; a coffee cup lay on its side in a sea of paperwork that was strewn over the table. I found a safe beneath the terminal. I plugged my Pipbuck into the terminal and proceeded to hack. On the second go I cracked the password and brought up the terminal console so I unlocked the safe and downloaded the audio logs before disconnecting.

I opened the safe magically and was happy to see that it had stuff inside. I pulled out an old Microphone, to me that was worthless so I placed it to the side. I also found a small statuette not too unlike my Fluttershy one. It was made of a different material though and was slightly larger. On a pedestal was a statue of that same white eccentric unicorn with a blue streaked mane, glow bands were wrapped around her left forehoof. I shrugged and placed it in my Saddlebags. At the back of the safe was a small pouch of pre-war coins and a small revolver. I pocketed these and left the safe open. I couldn't find much more around the reception so I went to check out Scerine's area.

Scerine was looking through the cupboards of an old employee kitchen. She had a few cans of food on the bench but not a lot else. "Got some food?" I asked as I began to search the fridge.

"Yeah," Scerine said. "What did you find?"

"Not much," I replied as I closed the fridge filled with spoiled food. My keen eyes spotted an medical box between the fridge and a large food cabinet. I pulled out my screwdriver and bobby pin. I wiggled the first pin into the keyhole and attempted to pick the lock but I missed the mark and snapped the bobby pin. I inserted another and was more careful this time. The box popped open to reveal a shot of Med x, four bandages, two healing poultices and a single healing potion. I placed these in my Saddlebags. Scerine swiped up the food and threw them in her bags too. "Well that was a success," I said with a smile. "Alyshia, have you found anything?" I called.

"Yeah, I need you to open something for me," she called from the mare's bathroom.

"Okay," I called back. I turned tail and left the corridor. Brax was searching a cabinet near the door we entered through and Midnight was still rummaging through the recording room. I turned my head towards the Mare's room when a light of green erupted to my left. I looked to the left and a huge green bolt sailed through the large shattered windows. It missed by about a meter and slammed into the door that led to the staircase with a huge *BANG* the door blew apart and splinters blew everyone, one striking me across the cheek. It didn't hurt, just stung slightly. "What the hell was that?" I heard Brax yell.

A loud pop came out from behind, I turned my head and my EFS blazed two hostiles. A purple alicorn appeared behind me and without further warning a green one sailed through the window. I was too slow to pull out my Magnum and I dived behind an upturned desk just as a streak of purple flew from the alicorn's horn. "Guys, help," I yelled. "Alicorns!" I pulled out my magnum and came out from my hiding place. I shot at the purple one which teleported before the trigger was fully pulled. It appeared behind me and that's when Midnight flew out from the recording area.

I heard her battlesaddle fire but she was about as successful as me at hitting it. The green alicron shot a bolt of green at Midnight which missed by about an inch, grazing just above her left ear. I turned instead to fire at the green one, I slipped into SATS and fired at her head. It missed and grazed her neck. I was just about to go into SATS again but I was bowled over by Scerine. Purple light filled my eyes as the bolt smashed into the spot I was standing barely a second previously. Scernie picked me up soared just below the ceiling and dropped me over the green one. I spread my wings out for stability as I landed on her back. I was just about to fire into the back of her skull when I was pulled off by the purple one. A green bolt charged and I activated my shield cutting off the telekinesis, I dropped to the ground and the green alicorn shot her companion. The Purple one screeched as the green light struck her horn causing it to break with an almighty crack. I took advantage of this and slipped into SATS to ensure a quick kill in case she could still teleport.

BANG

Right on target, it hit her in the forehead. I dived just as she hit the floor to avoid the green bolt that was aimed for me. I turned to the green one, her shield rippling gracefully. I bit my lip as three more hostiles burst on my EFS. "RUN!" I shouted. All of us dashed back towards the gaping hole that was the staircase, bolts of green and purple shot after us. We ran upwards. myself at the front. I dashed through the opening and onto the roof and I ran headfirst into something invisible. A charge of blue appeared out of nowhere and I activated my shield just in time to absorb it.

"That one's invisible," Midnight shouted. "Back to the carriage!"

That wasn't going to happen as three more alicorns blocked the way back to the carriage. The only way we could do this was to distract them while everyone got on board. We backed up in a circle formation as we were outnumbered. "Oh fuck," Alyshia cried. "What're we going to do?" We had one purple, two green and one blue alicorn to deal with. It appeared that they were trying to tell what we were going to do.

I sidled up to Midnight. "Pick me up and fly on my count," I whispered. "We need to at least distract them." Midnight nodded.

"Alyshia, I need two grenades," I asked quietly. Alyshia passed over the grenades that were already in her magic. I took them and put them in my bags and levitated my magnum.

"One... two... three!" I counted quietly. Midnight wrapped her hooves around me and in one swift motion I was on her back and my shield was activated. Four bolts of magic soared straight at us. Two hit and the other two missed causing my shield to collapse. "Okay, where is she?"  I muttered. My companions had scattered and in turn caused the alicorns to scatter as well. Scerine was being chased by a green alicorn, Brax was firing at the other green one from behind an air-con unit and Alyshia threw a grenade at the purple one which teleported in front of her, Alyshia pulled out her shotgun but I suddenly saw the blue one charge it's horn, still completely invisible. I entered SATS about fifteen meters above her. I aimed one at where I assumed her head was (By aiming just behind the glow) and the other at her body for a higher chance hit.

BANG BANG

The first missed and the second struck her back. Her invisibility broke and Midnight swooped down and filled her with bullets. The blue alicorn hit the concrete with finality. In the confusion the green one lost Alyshia who had dived behind an air-conditioning unit, the green one then took to the air to look for her. "Okay, let’s see if we can sandwich the one chasing Scerine," I whispered, "she won't fall for the shot in the back of the head trick again."

Midnight flew higher; Scerine looked back and saw us. The alicorn luckily didn't look back or up. Midnight got me about meter behind and about three meters higher than the alicorn. She collapsed her shield to fire at Scerine, her horn began to glow an angry green as I wrapped myself in magic and threw myself at her with my wings held out. They didn't do much for gliding but they got me that little bit of air I needed to land on her back without slipping off her rump. Scerine made a sudden turn upwards as the alicorn shrieked and didn't change direction, instead she attempted the throw me off. I saw Midnight and Scerine come in from either direction. "Nice meeting you," I said before wrapping myself in magic and jumping from her back. Scerine melted her face off and Midnight filled her will lead as I half fell/glided. Midnight swooped back and picked me up. "Woo good work," I said as we landed back on the roof.

I landed behind the green one that was looking for Alyshia, from the corner of my eye I saw a grenade fly through the air and land in front of the purple one who was looking for her. The other green one turned her attention on Midnight and me. I dived out of the way just as the purple alicorn picked up the grenade to lob back at Alyshia. I then pulled the pin on both my grenades and lobbed them at the purple one in turn. By the time Alyshia's one went off she was too late to pick mine up, she attempted to teleport away but just as her form went to vanish the grenades went off.

BOOOM

A loud pop followed but the damage was done, the purple alicorn's side had been blown away and she collapsed. In my moment of triumph I wasn't paying attention and a green bolt sailed through the air towards me, I activated my shield but it hadn't formed properly and it smashed through it and hit me just forward of my wing joint. I was blown backwards and my head hit the corner of an air-con unit. The grey barding and my shield had absorbed much of the shot. I saw stars in my vision and I attempted to shake them. They vanished slightly as I saw Midnight land between me and the final alicorn, Alyshia came out behind her hiding place in front of the alicorn and Brax and Scerine came in from either side of her.

She looked around and without warning her wings spread and she took off. "Okay, we better go," Alyshia cried, "before she calls for more."

"Agreed," Midnight said. "Let’s go, come on!"

We quickly clambered onto the ambulance and before we knew it we were taking off. "That was lucky," I sighed. I rubbed the rising lump on the back of my head. "Damn that's going to be one hell of a headache later," I muttered.

Brax suffered a burn to his flank and part of Alyshia's mane was melted but apart from that she was uninjured. "Hey Brax," I piped up. "Do you need a bandage?"

"It's not bad, It'll be fine," he said with a wince. Unlike his old armour, this one only covered the vitals.

BANG

The sound echoed through the carriage. "Oh fuck," I growled. I checked my EFS and sure enough, another three hostiles. "Fucking great." I opened the hatch on the roof.

"Here," Alyshia said, and she wrapped her magic around me to help me through the hole. I was on top of the carriage now, the wind and swaying of the vehicle made me feel unsteady as I pulled out my Sniper Rifle. Now I was low on bullets with this one so I had to be careful. Now I could only see two but the third one was showing up on my EFS, this would be the invisible one. When the trio saw me they scattered into different directions, I saw the invisible one move across the left of the carriage and out towards the front. "Look out Midnight the invisible one is nearby!" I shouted over the wind.

"Great," she shouted.

BANG BANG BANG

The shooting below reverberated through the steel and into my hooves. The purple one teleported a meter in front of me and just as it did I activated my shield. It copped a full blast and collapsed causing me to be showered in hot embers. Next thing I did was incredibly stupid, I threw myself onto her back without a plan, I hoped that maybe they'd shoot her like they shot the last one but they didn't fall for it. She teleported; for a fraction of a second it felt like I was sucked down a really small pipe but once I came to my senses. I realised I was some hundred meters away from the carriage with me unsecurely on her back and without warning I felt myself be levitated and then she vanished. before I knew it I was falling back down to earth. I wrapped myself in magic to slow my descent, "Scerine!" I screamed, "Scerine help me!" I attempted to beat my wings but they didn't do anything, I concentrated harder and made myself completely weightless, I then tried to propel myself by using my wings to displace the air but I moved so slow it wasn't worth it.

BANG

I heard the shriek of an alicorn near the carriage, the blue one got hit and was falling back to earth, Scerine then rose like a bullet into the air through the roof hatch.

POP

The purple alicorn was in front of me and she smiled. "Bye bye," she said evilly and her horn charged up. I felt my eyes widen as I threw my shield up which in turn caused my telekinesis to weaken around me. I began to fall again but in my bubble, a purple bolt struck it and it collapsed. I once again stopped falling.as my telekinesis power returned. Just on time Scerine grabbed me in her hooves and soared away from the alicorn. I then clambered onto her back. The ambulance was now over a kilometer away. Scerine flew flat out as I put my eye to the scope and looked back, I aim slipped into SATS but she was mid teleport so I dropped the spell.

POP

The purple alicorn appeared right in front of us. Without warning a huge purple bolt was barrelling towards us, I felt my stomach lurch as Scerine entered a dive; my forehooves instinctively wrapped themselves around her neck. I tried to pivot the sniper rifle upwards to try and get the shot but the stupid bitch teleported again. Scerine pulled up very quickly and my stomach almost dropped through my body, the alicorn appeared in front of us again causing Scerine to bank right in between two leaning buildings.  The alicorn shot another bolt, I absorbed it with my shield, Scerine was coming to the end of the alleyway and the alicorn popped up right in front of us. Scerine didn’t have anywhere to go and she slammed right into the purple beast. Physics took hold and my rump left her back as I was thrown over her head, I wrapped myself up in levitation and was propelled horizontally into the huge building.

I curled into a protective ball as I slammed into the glass window which shattered against my weight causing me to drop my levitation spell; my hind leg caught a desk before being thrown onto the floor head first. I half crashed/half rolled on the dusty carpet and came to a halt, my left foreleg and face had suffered a cut from a shards of glass but the bleeding wasn’t bad. Sniper Rifle missing I pulled out my magnum and jumped onto the desk I had fallen over. Scerine grabbed the alicorn in her forehooves, she was very strong as she held onto the much larger pony, her scorpion tail twisted around wildly and she thrust it into the abdomen of her enemy, the alicorn howled and charged up a purple bolt, Scerine pushed herself off of her and landed inside the building about five meters from where I was, just as it the bolt went off, the alicorn followed suit, wounded but still alive. Her horn charged again and Scerine dived behind a pillar to avoid the bolt which hit a desk. The desk burst into flames. I entered SATS just as the alicorn began charging up her magic to fire at me instead. I aimed two shots at her head.

BANG BANG

Both shots met their target and showered the floor in gore but not before the magic bolt left it’s caster. I dived out of the way and the bolt grazed my right hind leg, it felt like hot iron against my skin. “Fuck,” I yelled. I lifted my leg and checked it, my eyes streaming in pain. It left a two centimetre long burn across the inside of my lower hindleg, the burn wasn’t deep but it had melted the fur to the wound. I jumped from the table and found my Sniper Rifle about five meters from the desk, the barrel poking out from beneath a large filing cabinet. “Are you alright?” Scerine asked as she trotted over.

I scrunched my eyes and pulled out a bandage. I quickly wrapped the wound securely but not too tightly. “It’ll be alright,” I sighed as I pinned the bandage in place. “Let’s just go,” I muttered. “We need to check the others as that green one is still out there. I clambered onto Scerine's back and she took to the air. We were only about three minutes from Tenpony Tower, as we came in to land and I was happy to see the ambulance was sitting on the roof and four pony silhouettes were visible.

Scerine landed softly on the roof and I dropped to the ground.

I let off a long drawn sigh of relief as Meep flew out of the ambulance and circled my head. “Meep, could you stay in the carriage while we drop these off?” I said to the little robot. He beeped and flew into the ambulance obediently.

“Let’s get these records to Homage,” I said as the adrenaline left my body.

*                             *                                                                  *                                               *      

“Here you go,” we said as we placed the records on the table in Homage’s Office.  “Ohh, you got some of Vinyl’s music,” she said with a squee, her eyes lighting up and bulging to the size of dinner plates, “we don’t have much of that.. “Couple of new Sweetiebelle songs and a new Sapphire shores album,” she said ecstatically as she ruffled through the albums. “Can’t say I’ve heard of this artist,” she said holding up the “Fleur De Lis” one. “Wow, thanks so much,” Homage said gratefully. “We have more music for the waves, thanks again.”

“It’s no problem really,” I said with a wave of a hoof. “It would have been a walk in the park if it weren’t for the alicorns.”

“Yeah, I saw,” Homage said waving to the closed door that led into the control/recording area. “Sorry for putting you through that, but you definitely have my thanks. You’re welcome to stay for breakfast if you like,” she offered. It was tempting but we were in a bit of a hurry.

“Thanks Homage,” Alyshia said with a smile, ” but we really should get going.”

Homage deflated slightly. “Oh okay, that’s alright,” she said. “I understand. Well, good luck and hopefully the alicorns leave you alone this time.”

“Thanks, we’ll be sure to take up your offer next time we drop by,” I said with a farewell.

And with that we set off to begin our trip to Stable Eighty Six to drop off this damaged talisman.

New Perk Added: Small Stature. You are now smaller and lose strength, and your limbs are crippled more easily, however you are more agile.  -1 Strength, + 1 Agility