“Oh, this is just wonderful!” I exclaimed as I continued to hug Ditzy. “I have so many questions for you!” Finally releasing her, I grabbed her by her shoulders so I could look her in the eyes. “Is your body actually dead and is it being sustained by the necromantic fallout of the Balefire Bombs, or has the exposure to it caused some kind of nonlethal variant of necrosis? Do you require substance or sleep? How does your body react to further exposure to radiation? Did you develop your eye alignment disorder before or after you became a ghoul?” I added, tilting my head curiously as I noticed one of her eyes was once again looking the other way from the other. It appears to be strabismus... Seeing confusion in the eye that was looking at me, I decided to that perhaps it would be better to take more direct approach. “Would you allow me to conduct exploratory surgery on you?”

Ditzy opened her eyes slightly wider, and after a brief hesitation she turned to Candi. The white-coated mare was standing on the other side of the counter, probably having trotted up from the shop’s entrance while my attention was focused on Ditzy.

“Candi, sweetie, why didn’t you tell me Miss Doo is a ghoul?” I asked her, letting go of the pegasus to turn towards Candi and stare at her with pretense.

The earth pony mare was in turn staring at me with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. “Ah thought it would be funny seein’ a stable dweller react t’ seein’ a ghoul for the first time,” Candi replied, giving me a somewhat awkward smile. “Kinda was, Ah s'oppose. But Ah expected a reaction more along the lines of ‘Sweet merciful Celestia, what is that!’ or somethin’,” she explained, pressing her forehooves to her cheeks and raising her voice as she portrayed what reaction she had expected.

“Would ‘ave preferred seein’ that than whatever this here was,” a pony that was already in the store, browsing the merchandise, said while Ditzy Doo frowned at Candi, then picked up a chalkboard from the counter and began to scribble on it. “For a minute there Ah thought she’s gonna strangle poor Derpy.”

“Derpy”? Must be because of the eye, I noted, quite familiar with the custom of giving ponies nicknames based on their defect. However, I didn’t turn to scold the pony, curious what Ditzy was writing.

Wasn’t very nice of you, I read on the chalkboard as the ghoul pony showed it to Candi, who promptly rolled her eyes.

“She just asked ya if she can cut ya open and ya’re givin’ me the heat?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Apparently, Ditzy hadn’t realized what “exploratory surgery” meant, as now she immediately spun around and stared at me, more with bewilderment than fear. I merely sighed.

“Why does everypony react like that whenever I want to perform exploratory surgery on them?” I exclaimed, asking nopony in particular. “Both in my Stable and in Appleloosa. I am a professional doctor, with surgeon license and doctorates in medicine, arcane bioengineering, and biological hippology, and I’ve been conducting exploratory surgeries since I was a filly with none of my patients ever complaining afterwards.”

“Okay, no need for exaggerating, Ah get that ya’re a competent doctor,” Candi replied, rolling her eyes again. Before I could contradict her claim that I was exaggerating, she continued: “But ya do know that it sounds mighty creepy when a stranger comes out and ask somethin’ like ‘is, right? And no offense, but the name of the town where ya practice yar profession won’t endear folks to yar request.”

Sometime during my enthusiastic reaction to seeing Ditzy, the pegasus ghoul must had forgotten about her reservations regarding me. Now she was once again frowning at me and reaching for her 'NO SLAVERS' sign.

“Miss Doo, it would appear you are under the incorrect assumption that I am a slaver,” I began to say as Ditzy tapped her sign. I brought a hoof to my chest and looked her in the eye, continuing. “I assure you, sweetie, I am only working for the slavers, as the medic of Appleloosa. Which hadn’t exactly came about by my choice; my Stable is located not far from that town, and when I came out of it I ran into one of their patrols. If I hadn’t offered them my services, I would have become a slave myself.”

Ditzy’s stern expression softened a bit, although I suspected she probably considered what I had done to be at least a bit selfish. She did stop staring at me, though, as she picked up her chalkboard, wiped, and wrote another message. Why are you here?

“The leader of Appleloosa sent me and three others here,” I replied, seeing no point in hiding it from her. “Some ponies had killed one of the slavers patrols, and Black Widow wants us to find some mercenaries and convince them to come and help to deal with this issue. As to why I specifically am here, it’s because I am considered to be a diplomatic individual. At the same time, though, I had hoped to come and visit New Appleloosa, as I needed to rearrange a trading agreement the previous medic had with Candi here,” I added, nodding at the said pony.

“Diplomatic, eh?” the buck that had spoken up earlier interrupted as he came to the counter. “Yar boss mustn’t ‘ave seen ya huggin’ strangers. Derpy, how much for cigarettes?” he asked, putting a small box on the counter.

I would have commented on how unhealthy it was to smoke those things, but I didn’t want to deprive Ditzy of her client. As the pegasus ghoul quickly conducted the transaction, she returned to our discussion, wiping her chalkboard again and writing next message. You’re going back there? Why?

Now it was my turn to be bewildered. “Sweetie, I have now obligations to the town and it’s citizens, both those that are free and those that are not. I’m a doctor, I took an oath to help ponies. While my employment in Appleloosa might have been forced, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m their medic.”

Ditzy blinked in surprise hearing my explanation, and quickly her frown transformed into a warm, happy smile. She hastily scribbled on her chalkboard: All ponies should help each other like that.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, smiling back at her. Satisfied that her opinion of me had been amended, I extended my hoof to her. “We’ve sadly started on the bad hoof, let me introduce myself properly and make a good impression this time. Hello sweetie, I’m Doctor Angel, but you can call me just Angel,” I told her, smiling.

Before taking my hoof, the ghoul pony wiped her chalkboard and wrote another message. She showed it to me as we shook hooves: Ditzy Doo. You can call me Derpy if you want. Pleasure to meet you.

“Likewise, sweetie,” I agreed. “Would you allow me to conduct an exploratory surgery on you?”

A very loud slap sounded beside us, startling me. Looking to my side I saw that the source of the noise was Candi, who had facehoofed herself. “Ya’re impossible,” she sighed.

I frowned at her before returning my attention back to Ditzy. To my delight, her reaction was much more promising; she covered her mouth as she closed her eyes and made a rasping voice that I recognized as giggling. No, she wrote on her chalkboard after a few moments. You’re funny.

“Alright, fine,” I sighed, giving up. “How about a physical examination then? Completely non-invasive procedure,” I quickly began to ensure her as she tilted her head. “I will measure your vitals, heart rate, temperature, nerve reaction, scan your body for magic residue, the… extent of your body’s degradation,” I added, looking her up and down thoughtfully. “Fortunately I should be able to tell if it extends to your insides by magic and by touch if I have to, so you can be assured that I will not cut you. Oh oh, and your muscle structure!” I realized, excited. “I’ve never seen a pegasus pony! I need to feel your wings up and the muscles that are attached to them!”

“Wow!” Candi exclaimed, interrupting me again. When I glanced at her, she was looking at me with her eyebrow raised. “If Ah didn’t know any better, Ah would say ya seem awfully determined t’ get close with Ditzy here,” she said, grinning at me.

“Well… yes, sweetie, a physical examination requires being close to the patient,” I replied, confused. “Forgive me sweetie, but where exactly did you get your medical degree?”

Candi opened her mouth and blinked at me with surprise. “No, Ah… um, Ah meant it sounded like ya’re tryin’ to get really close with Ditzy,” she explained, emphasizing the words ‘really’ and ‘close’. “Ya know, with all the talk ‘bout touchin’ and feelin’ up?” Candi tried as I continued to stare at her in puzzlement.

I glanced at Ditzy, who was smiling somewhat embarrassingly. She rolled her eyes and shrugged in response, and I tried to put together what Candi was insinuating and what Ditzy apparently had figured out already- “Oh!” I exclaimed, finally realizing what she had meant. “You were implying that I was desiring a coitus with her and that I was using the physical examination as an excuse. Honestly, sweetie,” I told her, looking at Candi reproachfully, “it’s a good thing you do know better. I would take a great offense to both suggesting that I would use an important scientific research as an excuse to attempt to seduce somepony, and that I would want to make love to a mare I’ve just met.”

For whatever reason, Candi’s eyes grew wider and she opened her mouth, as if my statement had confused her. What in the world could be confusing about it? I briefly wondered as the other mare continued to stare at me.

“Um…” she finally mumbled after several seconds, frowning and raising her hoof, but I cut her off.

“Now that this immature discussion is over,” I said, giving Candi a meaningful look before turning back to Ditzy, “let us return to my query. Would you allow me to perform a physical examination on you? I am prepared to offer a compensation for your time of course,” I assured her.

Ditzy covered her mouth, giggling silently for some reason, before she replied: No need for that, she wrote, but why do you want to examine me?

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked in turn, surprised. When Ditzy shook her head - and Candi was facehoofing again, was I missing something? - I sighed and began to explain: “Question: what does a doctor do? Answer: she makes ponies better,” I told Ditzy. I was delighted to see that I had her full attention; too often when I had tried to explain anything to anypony, they listen to me with half an ear, even back in Stable Eight. “She heals their bruises, lacerations, diseases, and most importantly, conducts research on improving her methods of healing and devise new ways of improving their healths. Your body, sweetie, by my initial examination, I would declare as belonging to a deceased pony,” I told her, looking her up and down again, before pointing my hoof at her. “But you aren’t! You are here, communicating and moving, as if you were alive. Whatever effect the balefire radiation had on you, it appears to be clear that it kept you alive, even if it’s only ‘after a fashion’, as ponies say. By what Candi had told me about you, you’ve also been around for several decades, meaning that this effect is very long lasting. Just imagine what ponykind could do if we were able to harness this and devise a method of using it to help ponies, without the negative side effects,” I exclaimed as I smiled at the thought. “Unfortunately,” I added, my enthusiasm ebbing away, “I realize that it would take a long time of studying of ghouls and the balefire fallout priorities to come to such discoveries. That’s why for now, I will be satisfied with learning about ghoul and pegasi anatomy,” I said, cheerfulness returning to my voice. “I won’t be able to effectively heal ghoul patients if I would lack information about them, nor would I be able to reattach wings of pegasi ponies if I won’t familiarize myself with their build. And while I conduct the research beneficial for my immediate patients, I will make initial notes for the long term research for the benefit of the future of ponykind. Does that answer your questions, sweetie?” I asked, tilting my head and continuing to smile.

Ditzy tapped her chin thoughtfully, thinking over all what I had said. I think so, she finally wrote on her chalkboard, only to quickly swipe it and write a longer message: You could have just said that part about anatomy you know.

Looking at the smirk and raised eyebrow she was giving me, I found myself blushing in embarrassment. “Yes, well, I have been told that I tend to get excited when talking about medical research. Those that mean you’ll agree for the physical examination?” I asked her, pointing at her own words on the chalkboard.

Of course! I’ll be closing my store in about three hours, you can come then, Ditzy wrote, giving me a cheerful smile.

“Oh, thank you so much!” I exclaimed, hugging her again. This time, Ditzy enthusiastically replied, her decayed forelegs wrapping around me. “I’ll be looking forward to it,” I continued as we pulled apart. “I’ll be out of your mane for now, I’m sure you will be having some customers soon. See you soon, sweetie,” I said as I began to back away, waving at Ditzy.

Ditzy waited only as long as it took to write on her chalkboard before she waved back. See you!

Smiling, I turned to Candi, who was now again staring at me. “Candi, sweetie, didn’t you say that you have to go see one of your patients?” I reminded her gently.

The earth pony mare shook and blinked energetically. “Yeah, sorry, was just… processin’,” she replied as she rose to her hooves. “See ya later Ditzy,” Candi called back as she walked through the door and left them open for me.

Waving to the pegasus ghoul one last time, I left the store. “Oh, thank you so much for introducing me to her, sweetie,” I told Candi as we trotted through the streets of New Appaloosa.

“No problem. So, listen… ya don’t plan on doin’ anythin’ besides givin’ her a physical, right?” she asked me, giving me a serious look.

“Well, it’s going be more of an examination than a ‘physical’...” I began, but then I realized what Candi must have been implying. Frowning, I replied: “Sweetie, first of all, both me and Ditzy are adult mares-”

But Candi’s eyes almost bulged out. “Wha- no! Not that!” she quickly exclaimed, blushing, as she began shaking her head. Covering her eyes, Candi murmured: “Ugh, stop givin’ me mental images like that…” I felt slightly puzzled by those words, but before I was given a chance to even ponder whether or not I should ask her of the meaning behind them Candi had recovered and turned to me again. “Look, what meant is, ya’re not gonna do anything t’ harm her, right? Ah mean, no offense,” she quickly added, “but ya were pretty hung up on performin’ exploratory surgery on her, and ya’ve sorta got this ‘insane scientist’ vibe goin’ on.”

“No offense taken, sweetie,” I assured her. “I find your concern for Ditzy to be charming. I’ll admit, I would like to perform exploratory surgery on her and see for myself the state of her organs, but I wouldn’t do something like that to such a nice pony against her wishes. You have my word on that. And as for the ‘insane scientist’ part,” I added, once more looking at her with pretense, “I assure you, I am not insane, my mother had me tested.”

I admit, I would have felt better if this wasn’t the second time today I had to tell this to somepony. The first pony being a little statuette of a Ministry Mare from two hundred years ago that I had started to hear speak to me in my mind.

“Alright, sorry ‘bout that one,” Candi said, waving her hoof.

“If you still doubt me,” I continued, “feel free to come join us. I’m sure that Ditzy won’t mind, especially since you’re the town’s medic.”

“Um, thanks, but Ah’m… busy, this evening. Yes, busy,” she said, sounding somewhat nervous. And… was she blushing? After clearing her throat, she added: “And it ain’t that Ah doubt ya, but Ah’ve never seen anybody ask another pony if they can cut ‘em open.”

“I’ll admit, in my excitement I might have forgotten about the proper etiquette. But believe me when I say, sweetie, if not because of me not being - as you had put it - insane, but because I gave you my word. You see,” I said, turning my head to look Candi in the eyes, “there are only two things in this huge, wondrous world that I despise, and breaking one’s word is one of them. Perjurers, betrayers… I despise them from the depths of my soul,” I added, pressing my hoof to my heart.

Candi raised her eyebrow. “Ya know, crazy or not, Ah wish ya were livin’ here. Ya’re entertainin’ t’ talk with, that’s for sure,” she added with a giggle as I deadpanned at her. “Anyways, Ah really oughta go see that patient. Hope we’ll run into each other later,” she said as she prepared to leave.

“Oh, before you go sweetie, could you point me towards the Turnpike Tavern? I’m supposed to meet up with my companions there.”

As Candi explained to me how to get there, I found myself wondering what Apple Core and the others have been up to. I hope they found those mercenaries and made a good first impression…

“So,” Candi said as she finished giving me directions, “anywhere else ya would like t’ go? Since Ah apparently became yar tour guide,” she added, rolling her eyes and smirking.

I was about to reply, but then I hesitated. I have three hours until I can examine Ditzy, I thought as I tapped my chin, but talking with those mercenaries couldn’t possibly take me such a long time… and I would really not want to be so long in the same watering hole with Apple Core, last time she nearly forced me to drink alcohol. So…

“Actually,” I told Candi, turning to her, “if you could tell me one more thing…”

Wrinkling my nose as the smell of alcohol hit me - noticeably less intense than in the Salt Block back in Appleloosa - the moment I entered the Turnpike Tavern, I looked over its interior, trying to spot Apple Core, Mousetrap and Nice Catch.

It’s quite crowded, I noted, unable to find my companions amongst all the ponies that were enjoying drinks, playing games or listening to the music. I looked to the counter. Apple Core said her brother is the bartender, and he should know where they are.

However, I made no more than three steps towards the counter, when a pony stepped in front of me. I backed away, startled. He was an elder earth pony buck, in his fifties perhaps, with a muscular body covered by gray coat. His face was adored by a groomed handlebar mustache, and his breath reeked of alcohol, almost making me gag after being exposed to it so suddenly.

At the same time as I took in his looks and his sudden appearance, the stranger had been looking me up and down appraisingly. “Well now, what have we here?” he asked, his speech - surprisingly coherent; despite my initial assumption, he wasn’t at all inebriated - bearing a slight hint of an accent I was not familiar with. “Looks as though you dinnay know much about the sweet science at all, do ye?”

“Excuse me, darling, but what are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“Well, it’s just my educated opinion, but I can see by the way you move that you could do with a few pointers.”

“Pointers?” I raised my eyebrow, my confusion only growing deeper. “With what?”

“About the sweet science, of course,” the stranger replied, as if it was obvious. “The sportin’ art.”

Sporting… art? What in the names of the Goddesses is he talking about?

“What are you talking about, darling?” I asked out loud politely.

“Pugilism,” he said, finally clearing this up for me, “the buckly, uh, and marely art of hoof-to-hoof combat. That’s what I mean.”

“Oh, I see,” I exclaimed. “Hm, well, I guess it’s true that I could use some help with that…” I said slowly, reminiscing.

Before I could go too far down the memory lane, however, the older pony had apparently took my comment as an agreement too… whatever this was. “Well, let’s go outside and see what I can teach you. You see,” he continued, about to lead me out of the Turnpike Tavern, “it’s all about getting your whole body to snap just like a whip…”

“I’m terribly sorry,” I interrupted him, “but I don’t have time for this right now, sweetie. Perhaps some other time?” I asked, smiling at him.

The older pony shrugged. “Sure, lass,” he said, sounding not disappointed that I wasn’t going to train with him right now. He turned back to a table by which he must have been sitting before he came to talk to me, where a tankard of beer was waiting for him, and added: “You can find me here most of the time.”

“Thank you for your offer,” I told him before leaving him and heading towards the counter.

Well, that was… odd, I thought. I must remember to ask somepony if it happens often, ponies offering random strangers to train them in hoof-to-hoof combat. I wonder… assuming I will have the time, should I take him up on his offer? I asked myself as I sat by the counter and waited for the bartender to finish serving some clients.

While so far I had successfully averted any conflicts that came my way with my words, I came to realize that the Wasteland was an extremely dangerous place. True, if worst came to worst, I had always my magic to call upon, but I wasn’t satisfied with the thought of relying on it all the time. I was a doctor first and foremost, I couldn’t risk overusing my magic and suffering a magical burnout, my magic could be needed to save somepony’s life.

Either I’ll learn some combat skills, or I’ll have to have somepony at my side with those skills that I can trust, I concluded, a bit unhappily. Well, I have Apple Core, but it still might be a good idea to learn how to defend myself. Besides, my mentor always used to say: “to train the mind, first train the body”. His only lesson I hadn’t taken to heart… I thought fondly; he was one of the few unicorns in Stable Eight besides the security ponies that regularly visited the gym. The practice that he failed to instill in me. Although, to be fair, he wasn’t the first pony to try encouraging me to partake in physical exercises, and he had accomplished better results. I suppose it’s about time I at least try following his idea. After all, I am aware just how healthy for the body some exercises would be. Still, I thought, the corner of my mouth curling into a smile, learning hoof-to-hoof combat? Me? He would laugh so hard-

I stopped mid-thought, as my thoughts turned away from my mentor and began to focus on him. Would he?

He who?

D- I began, only to stop. Oh, you’re back, I thought, frowning at my saddlebag, where Fluttershy’s statuette was. I’m curious, was it something I had said, or does this spell allows you - whatever exactly you are - talk with me only for a few moments every few hours that caused you to stop talking to me earlier and start now?

Oh, I wouldn’t know, she replied. I could almost picture her now, a tiny yellow pegasus mare with pink mane, her demeanor somewhat subdued as she looked down and prodded the space underneath her. So, um, who were you thinking about?

So you admit that you are not a figment of my mind?

It’s just… your feelings changed so drastically when you’ve started to think about him, the tiny pony continued, ignoring my thoughts. There was only one other time when that happened… although the effect that recording had on you was far more-

Sweetie, I interrupted her, my cordiality requiring some effort, do you think that just because you can speak to me within my mind I will answer your rather personal questions?

Oh, you’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude, she replied, downcast. It’s just… I’m wondering what could have led a pony to performing such horrific actions. I thought that maybe if I’d knew you better I could understand you, and maybe... convince you to stop…

I won’t stop, I told her resolutely and definitely. Nothing you could say would make me stop. Not until I discover the Truth of this world, not while ponykind continues to suffer, and not while there are those who discard their right to be called ponies. In a bit softer tone, I added: I will never stop.

The tiny pony cringed in fear and covered herself with her wings. One of her blue eyes peeked from between feathers. I expected her to continue pestering me about him or the recording, about my experiments and plans. But she didn’t. She asked me a single question.

Why?

“Ya must be Angel!” The sudden jovial exclamation almost made me jump. Returning my attention to my surroundings, I found myself looking at a light brown unicorn buck, who stood behind a counter. “Mah sister told me about ya.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Sister?” I asked, forgetting about the conversation I had in my head for now. The statuette must have decided to put it off as well. I suppose I should be thankful she doesn’t want to talk to me when I’m speaking with ponies, that would be rather distracting. “You mean you’re Apple Core’s brother? But… you’re a unicorn!” I exclaimed, practically shouting in my excitement after he nodded in reply. Ignoring some confused stares and giggles from ponies around me, I leaned closer to Apple Core’s brother. “So it is true that unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi can crossbreed without the loss of fertility of their offspring?”

“Um…” the buck stammered, hesitating. “Wow, Apple Core warned me ya speak funny like ‘at, but Ah didn’t believe ‘er. Sorry girl, Ah didn’t understand half of ‘at last sentence.”

Rolling my eyes, I hastened to explain. “Forgive my excitement, sweetie, but you are the first living proof of one of the first things I had learned from my biology books. Namely, that all ponies belong to the same species, with unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi being more akin to ‘subspecies’ even though the level of diversity between them is unique when compared with diversities between subspecies of other species. Regardless,” I continued, noticing the deepening confusion on his face, “as they all belong to the same species, it means they are able to produce fertile offspring. I assume one of your parents, grandparents, or further ancestors was a unicorn?”

“Y-yeah, mah and Apple Core’s grandma.”

“Hm, so it is true that the genes determining the kind of pony can remain dormant…” I muttered. Seeking the expression on the buck’s face, I shook and smiled apologetically. “Please forgive me, sweetie, it’s just that… there weren’t many books regarding genetics in my Stable. Would you be so kind to allow me to collect a blood sample from you, so that I could seclude your DNA and compare it with Apple Core’s?”

“Yeah…” the earth pony replied slowly. “Ah’m gonna go with ‘no’. Anyways,” he continued, ignoring my pout, “name’s Apple Whiskey. Pleasure t’ meet ya. ‘Fore ya go join mah sis and others, what would ya like t’ drink? First round on the house for Apple Core’s friends,” he added, winking.

Sighing, I made a mental note to ask him again later for a blood sample. “I don’t suppose you serve coffee or tea here, do you?” I asked, not even hopeful. When Apple Whiskey looked at me as if I was mad and shook his head, I tried something else instead: “I would have some sparkle-cola then.”

“Really?” Apple Whiskey asked, surprised. “Ya sure ya don’t wanna somethin’ with more ‘kick’ in it? Ah’m sure Apple Core must have mentioned about mah speciality, apple whiskey.”

“I’m terribly sorry, sweetie, I’m sure your apple whiskey is truly magnificent,” I assured him. “Unfortunately, I don’t like alco-”

The rest of what I was going to say was muffled by somepony’s hoof. “Ya wanna embarrass me before mah brother or somethin’?” Apple Core, to whom that hoof belong to, asked me as she held me in a headlock, covering my mouth and preventing me from speaking. “Give her some whiskey,” she told her brother, further irritating me.

“Now we’re talkin’!” Apple Whiskey replied enthusiastically, his horn lighting up.

I rolled my eyes, unable to voice my protest. How tempting it is to disable the muscles in your foreleg for a moment, Apple Core, I thought, pondering the idea. In the end, though, I sighed and gave up. Oh well, I guess I can suffer one drink. Even if it tastes horribly, I added, shaking at the thought, and returned my attention to Apple Whiskey.

He was currently holding a golden apple with his magic, which he laid on the counter before him. He then washed his horn over it, and with a flash, the apple was transformed into a bottle of what I guessed must have been his trademarked apple whiskey.

Honestly, I would have preferred the apple.

“Nice, huh?” Apple Core said, finally releasing me. “Bet’chya there ain’t any unicorn like mah brother in that ‘super magical’ Stable of yars,” she added, punching me lightly in the shoulder.

“That is indeed very impressive,” I agreed, deciding to not mention how the entire lower levels were flooded with wine about sixty years ago.

“Pick’it up and come with me,” Apple Core instructed, turning around as her brother put on a small glass next to the bottle. “Oh, and brother,” Apple Core added, glancing back, “we’re gonna run out soon, bring us more would ya?” While Apple Whiskey rolled his eyes and nodded, I reluctantly lifted both the bottle and the glass with my magic, and, after thanking Apple Whiskey, hurried after her. “We’ve met those mercs Railroad had mentioned,” she told me as I fallen a step beside her. “There’s three of ‘em there, fourth is out scoutin’. He’s also the one in charge of ‘eir lil’ group. However, they’ve said they can listen to our offer.”

“And what is our offer?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

“Hell if Ah know, ya’re the ‘diplomatic’ one,” Apple Core replied, smirking, after which she pointed with her head at a table at the dark corner of the room.

Around it were five ponies, two of them being Nice Catch and Mousetrap. The other three were all bucks. Two were earth ponies, and guessing by their similar features - such as maroon coats and dark manes, but also their facial features - I assumed that they might be related. The other one, though, was a brown unicorn. He was clearly older from the other two, being near late thirties while the earth ponies appeared to be in their mid-twenties. He was also different from them in his… demeanor. While the two younger bucks were relaxed and in good spirits, the older of the two having his foreleg wrapped around Nice Catch’s shoulders, the unicorn was sitting a bit further away from anypony, his expression stern as he slowly drank his beverage while constantly keeping his eyes on everypony. All three, however, were wearing some kind of combat armor underneath their ragged cloaks, each bearing a few marks of previous damage.

“Oh, Apple’s back,” the older of the two earth pony bucks noted as we approached. “And I’m guessing this must be your medic?”

“I’m Doctor Angel,” I nodded in affirmation and in greeting as we joined them by the table. I laid the glass and bottle on it carefully and sat down. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise, darling,” the buck replied, winking at me. “Name’s Blast, this is my brother Burst,” he said, pointing at the younger earth pony; I noticed that while he smiled friendlily at me, he also slightly blushed, “and the brooding guy there is Scope. Don’t mind him, he’s always like that,” he added, waving at Scope, who glared at him with annoyance.

Blast, Burst and Scope? I think those might be what ponies call ‘stage names’.

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” I said out loud, giving each of them a warming smile. “It’s heartening to see that such obviously hardened veterans of the Equestrian Wasteland can so courteous,” I added, turning to Blast, who grinned at me in return. “I’ve been told that there’s another member of your team?”

“Yeah, Jack, he pretty much calls the shots here,” Blast replied, shrugging.

Jack? I repeated in my thoughts, surprised. What a peculiar name for a pony…

“I look forward to meeting him,” I said, focusing on the matter at hoof. “I trust that my companions had mentioned to you about why we want to talk with you?”

“They’ve said you have some problems back at the old Appleloosa and that your boss is looking for some extra guns, yes,” Blast nodded. “Question is, darling, why should we take a job like this?”

“Whatever do you mean, sweetie?” I asked calmly.

“Well, whatever problems you have, it’s obviously serious, otherwise you wouldn’t want to hire mercenaries,” Blast replied. “Especially since most hired guns aren’t keen on working with slavers. Moral issues aside, capturing ponies isn’t in our job description.”

“Those are some excellent points,” I agreed, joining my forehooves and leaning my muzzle against them. “What is in your job description, if I may ask?”

Blast grinned again, but it was Scope who replied. “Search and destroy, search and recover, investigation and guarding,” he said in a rough, gruff voice.

“Then it would appear this job falls under your group’s work offer,” I replied. “One of the slaver parties was ambushed and killed by what appears to be some sort of tribe. Black Widow asked us to find some professionals, who could help her ponies fight them. Being able to track them would be a nice bonus, I would imagine.”

“Hm…” Blast hummed, pondering what I said. He exchanged a look with Scope before he asked: “And how much would we be getting paid if we’d help you?”

“Black Widow would like to negotiate the terms of your contract herself. I’m sure her offer would be very generous,” I added, noticing the frown on Blast’s face. “Also, we can pay you a considerable sum as an initial payment. Would three hundred caps be enough to convince you to journey to Appleloosa with us?”

“Three hundred?” Blast repeated, snorting with short laughter. “Maybe if pay three hundred for each of us, darling. Of course,” he added, smirking, “we could be… persuaded to lower our price,” he said, looking me up and down lewdly as his foreleg moved from Nice Catch’s shoulder down her body.

“No, we can’t be persuaded,” Scope said in annoyed tone before I could reply, earning an even more annoyed glare from Blast. “You know Jack’s opinion about professionalism.”

“Ugh, fine,” Blast replied, rolling his eyes. “I was pulling her legs anyway...”

“I’m starting to rethink my opinion regarding your courtesy,” I finally said in a humorous tone. Turning to Burst, who so far hadn’t contributed to the conversation, I added: “I hope you don’t follow your brother’s example when talking with mares.”

“Um…” Burst stammered, seeming surprised and taken aback. “W-well, I wouldn’t say I do…”

“I’m relieved to hear that. Tell me, sweetie, is everything alright?” I asked, frowning and leaning closer to him. “You hadn’t spoken much since I joined you.”

“Um, no, everything’s fine,” Burst hastily explained, growing red on his face. “I just-”

“-don’t know how to speak around mares,” his brother interjected, grinning with amusement.

Burst’s head at once turned to him. “Shut it!” he snapped, glaring at him.

“More importantly,” Apple Core interrupted loudly before the argument could escalate, turning to me, “he still talked more ‘an ya drank with us.” When I looked at her, I realized she had poured apple whiskey to my glass and had pushed it closer to me. “Drink.”

“Apple Core, honestly,” I said, trying once more to see if I could talk my way out of it.

“Ah had known ya practically since the moment ya came out of yar Stable and Ah have yet t’ seen ya drink,” Apple Core replied decisively. She tapped the table with her hoof and repeated: “Drink.”

“Wow, really?” Blast exclaimed in surprise (buying me a few precious seconds to prepare myself mentally). “How long she had been out of her Stable?”

“About two weeks,” Apple Core replied, shrugging, before turning back to me. “Drink.”

Reluctantly, I took a hold of the glass with magic. “You know, sweetie, if I were of a wanton mind, I would consider it rather suspicious that you are so adamant about me drinking alcohol.”

“Stop speakin’ fancy and drink,” Apple Core said, her glare letting me know that she understood what I meant (and snorts of amusement from others that they did too).

Sighing, I poured the contents of the glass into my mouth. The liquid immediately burned my throat as I swallowed it, making my eyes water and entire body tensed and shook. I probably must have had a very amusing expression on my face, considering everypony burst with laughter.

“Ha! Finally!” Apple Core exclaimed after she stopped laughing, slapping me hard on my back. “Ya’re almost a true wastelander now. All ya have left is killing somebody.”

“If those are the criterias one has to meet, being considered a ‘true wastelander’ became much less appealing,” I said in a hoarse voice, massaging my throat. I could already feel alcohol affecting me, like a wave gently spreading through my body. “Alas, considering that I sadly already have a few ponies on my conscience, you can consider me one.”

“Wait, what?!” Apple Core asked, her eyes round as plates. “Ya killed ponies?! But, but… ya’re a freakin’ doctor! And ya said ‘at ya only take issue with killin’ ponies when ya started workin’ for us!”

“Just because I ‘take issue’ with that, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen, much to my sadness,” I replied, my ears dropping as I looked down my empty glass. “I was one of Stable Eight’s doctors for seven years, five of which I served as its chief of medicine, and during that time I cured hundreds of my fellow stable dwellers, saved even in many cases. But like my mentor used to say, sooner or later each and every doctor screws up, makes a mistake, and it’s burned into their conscience forever.”

Which is the truth, I remarked, even if they were not my patients but test subjects at that point.

“Well… shit,” Apple Core replied with her usual level of empathy and eloquence. “Sorry t’ hear ‘at. How many ponies did ya… Ah mean, ya know…”

“Five,” I replied, poking my glass.

“This calls for another shot,” Mousetrap interjected, nudging Apple Core and pointing at the bottle of apple whiskey.

“Mmm, alright,” I hummed in agreement, without any resistance as Apple Core poured me another drink.

“Shouldn’t it be another four shots?” Blast asked as I grabbed the glass again. “Since it was five ponies she killed and she already had one?”

“As much as Ah want to see ‘er drink, Ah doubt she could take ‘at much,” Apple Core replied. “‘sides, we still need to discuss business with y’all.”

“Oh, right,” I exclaimed, my trip down memory lane causing me to forgot about it for a brief time. Hastily, I drank my drink again, and found this shot much easier than the previous one. “Now, where were we… Ah, yes, getting your team to come to Appleloosa!” I said, laying down my glass and leaning against the table, feeling a bit unsteady. “Considering that all we’re asking you is to come with us aboard the train back to Appleloosa tomorrow, we’re willing to give you four hundred, one hundred for each of you. You will negotiate a contract with Black Widow, and if you decide to not accept the job, you will be able to get back here on the train. All you would lose is a bit of your time.”

“Hm, that’s true I suppose,” Blast said, rubbing his chin as he pondered. “Still, one hundred per each is a bit cheap… and besides,” he added, grabbing his own drink and taking a sip, “we can’t go tomorrow, we have a job in the area.”

“But you could come with us,” Scope spoke up suddenly, looking at me. “You could be useful.”

“We don’t need four other ponies for the job Scope,” Blast countered before any of us could reply.

“I don’t mean all of them, just her,” the unicorn said, pointing at me.

I blinked, surprised. “Me? W-what sort of job is this, exactly?” I asked, feeling unsure as to where this was going.

“Not important right now,” Blast told me. He seemed to think over the idea. “I suppose it would be useful to have somepony who can patch us up, even if it doesn’t look like a dangerous gig.”

“True, but that’s not why I think she would be useful,” Scope replied. “You said you are from a Stable, right?” Kind of a moot question, seeing how I was wearing a stable barding underneath my lab coat. “Then that thing on your foreleg is a PipBuck. It has an Eyes-Forward Sparkle spell in it, it alerts her to presence of nearby life forms and whether they are hostile or not.” Looking at Blast meaningfully, he added: “Considering where we’re going, it would be really useful.”

“Oh yeah, I recall hearing something about those Stable toys,” Blast nodded. “Would you be up for it?” he asked me. “I mean, the decision in the end would be up to Jack, but he wouldn’t mind somepony with one of them PipBucks, especially since you’re a medic. And he would be more likely to agree to your offer if you’d do that. Even if you’re going to pay us so little...” he added, rolling his eyes.

“W-well, I, um…” I stammered.

I was just asked to go out into the actual Wasteland, help a bunch of ponies that I had just met who fight and kill professionally, and the worst part was that I practically had no choice. Black Widow told me to recruit mercenaries, and they were currently the only ones in New Appleloosa. To say I was scared was an understatement. “Y-you see…”

Calm down, I told myself, concentrating. It would have been easier if I wasn’t slightly inebriated. Remember what he told you; when facing adversaries, you can’t show fear. If they know you’re afraid of them, they’ve won. You didn’t show fear when you were on trial or when you were banished. Don’t be paralyzed by fear over something you don’t know! That’s nothing more than ignorance!

Do you have to be so loud? tiny Fluttershy, her ears pressed against her head with her hooves, asked me meekly in my mind, but I ignored her.

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I finally said, smiling at Blast, “I’m afraid the alcohol affected me more than I had expected. Your offer is interesting, to say the least. However, I’m afraid I won’t exactly feel comfortable venturing into the Wasteland with ponies I don’t know. Why won’t you invite my companions as well?”

“Fair point,” Blast admitted. “But eventual trust issues on our part aside, if we were to go in such a big group, we would attract attention. The reason why our leader is away scouting is so that we can reach our objective without having to fight anything on the way there. There’s nothing more annoying that having to waste ammo on raiders. And trust me, darling, there are things much worse than them.”

“That’s a very smart point,” I admitted, surprised that I hadn’t realized it. “It would appear that there is much I have to learn about surviving in the Equestrian Wasteland. Still,” I added, “I would ask you to let at least one of my companions come.”

As Blast and Scope exchanged a pondering look, Burst spoke up: “There’s no need for that. We don’t expect to fight anybody at the- the place,” he quickly said, apparently stopping himself in the last moment from revealing where they were going. “And even if we run into raiders we can protect you.”

“I think she’s more worried about us buddy,” Blast cut in, smirking.

“Maybe she wouldn’t have if you hadn’t made that lewd suggestion,” Burst countered, looking at his brother with dismay.

As Blast waved his hoof dismissively in response and rolled his eyes, I cleared my throat to get back their attention. “I have no doubt that you would be more than capable of protecting me,” I told Burst with a smile, causing him to blush. “And while I admit that our conversation made me somewhat weary,” I added with a glance at Blast, “I do not suspect you of any ill intent against me.” After all, they would have three slavers waiting for them to come back that would ask questions if I were missing. “However, I do know that the Wasteland is an extremely dangerous place. I have been fortunate to have spend most of my time since leaving my Stable within safety of a town, and as such I find the prospect of going out into the ‘wilderness’ without somepony I know I can trust rather… unnerving.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Blast replied, sighing. “Fine, you can take one of your friends with you, I’m sure Jack will understand.”

“Thank you kindly, sweetie,” I thanked him, after which I turned to Apple Core and looked at her questioningly.

“Ugh, fine, Ah’ll come,” she said, frowning unhappily. “And here Ah hoped Ah’ll get t’ drank mahself stupid until… when would we be back by the way?” Apple Core asked, turning to the mercenaries.

“If everything goes without problems, we should be back the next day around noon. Around midnight tomorrow if we decide to not to make a camp.”

“Huh, yar ‘objective’ must be close,” Apple Core noted, raising her eyebrow. “What kind’a job could ya possibly ‘ave so close to New Appleloosa?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to wait until Jack gets back. He should be here in four, five hours.”

“Unfortunately,” I spoke up, “I had made an appointment with Ditzy Doo at Absolutely Everything, and I don’t know how long we will be busy. I’m afraid Apple Core will have to fill me in on the details, whether it will be tonight or tomorrow morning. Speaking of, when would we need to be ready?”

“About eight in the morning,” Blast replied.

“Why are ya seein’ that walkin’ carcass?” Apple Core in turn asked.

“Sweetie, that’s a really insulting way to talk about a pony suffering a condition like hers,” I replied, frowning.

“Yeah, it’s called an insult,” Apple Core replied without batting an eye. “Why are ya seein’ her?”

“So I can better understand ghouls’ physiology,” I said, resigned. I knew chastising her would be pointless. “I often lost track of time when conducting physical examination, so I might be forced to spend the night at her shop, assuming she would allow me. If not or if I finish it quickly, where are we staying?”

“Just come back here, mah brother will lead ya t’ a free room,” Apple Core said, rolling her eyes and waving dismissively.

“Then I shall take my leave. It was a pleasure to meet you, I hope tomorrow will be an enjoyable experience for all of us,” I told the mercenaries as I rose. I staggered slightly and felt my head spin as I did. “I really don’t like drinking…” I muttered, pressing hoof to my head.

“Yeah, get used t’ it, we’re gonna celebrate after comin’ back,” Apple Core said, grinning, before looking somewhere above me. “Right brother?”

“Hm? Sure, whatever,” Apple Whiskey said, stopping by our table and placing three more bottles of his speciality. “Hey buddy, ya’re Scope right?” he asked, looking at the older unicorn. When he nodded, Apple Whiskey continued: “There’s somepony by the counter askin’ for ya.”

“Probably some old contact,” Scope replied calmly, although he seemed a bit surprised. “I will see what’s that about; maybe it will be info about some new job,” he said as he rose.

“We kinda already agreed to their offer, so don’t go making any promises,” Blast told him as he began to trot towards the counter.

“Before ya go too,” Apple Core spoke up as I felt her nudge me, “one more for the road?”

She was pointing at my glass, which once again had apple whiskey in it.

“Apple Core…” I began weekly, but she shook her head.

“Ya got me into goin’ out helpin’ them tomorrow, the least ya can do is drink one more shot,” she replied adamantly.

I pouted unhappily, but then an idea struck me. “I will drink it if you promise you’ll stop calling Ditzy a ‘walking carcass’.”

“Ya really oughta stop that,” Apple Whiskey told his sister as she rolled her eyes. “Most folks from ‘ere really like ol’ Derpy.”

“Fine, Ah will try to stop calling ‘er that,” Apple Core groaned; I had a feeling that she might have just said that to get both me and her brother off her back. “Now drink.”

Oh, and for me to drink, of course.

Sighing, I decided to get it quickly over with, and poured the apple whiskey down my throat. I shook as I felt it go past my pharynx and I coughed. She could have at least offered me wine instead of whiskey, I thought, patting my chest as I tried to recover. It’s easier to swallow.

“I’ll see you all later,” I said, my voice hoarse again, before turning around and trying to make my way out of the Turnpike Tavern without staggering or falling down.

The key word being try.

“Alright, ya guys wanna bet how many times she falls over?” I heard Apple Core ask behind me.

I was very satisfied about taking away from Apple Core the chance for both getting some laughs and earning some caps, as I had managed to get to the exit without falling. I did stagger all the way, drifting left and right, bumping into two ponies if I had counted correctly, and nearly tripping over a bottle somepony had dropped on the floor.

Honestly, I thought when I passed through the door and stopped outside the entrance, annoyed despite how relieved I was to be outside, when I have the time I will have to look into improving either my organism’s resistance to alcohol or the speed of it processing it. After all, I added as I cast a Detox Spell on myself, if I could have discovered a way to improve the Stable Eight Inoculation that improves the immunology system-

I paused my train of thoughts abruptly. As my magic washed over me, purging alcohol from my body, my motor skills, reflexes, senses and reasoning had returned to normal states. It also removed that feeling of… lightheadedness, allowing me to concentrate properly. Because of that, I realized that I could hear two ponies talking nearby; and I could recognize one of them.

What kind of ‘info’ could this pony bring to Scope that he would go talk about it outside, away from ponies? I wondered. My curiosity getting the better of me, I crept closer to the edge of the tavern’s wall, as quietly as I could, perking my ears in the direction of the dark alley between two buildings.

“And you’ve been told to give this to me?” I heard him ask as I crouched by the tavern’s corner.

“Yes, well, sorta,” an unfamiliar voice replied; given its depth, I assumed it belonged to a buck. “Ah was told t’ deliver this holotape t’ somepony matchin’ yar description, as soon as ya stroll down those parts, after I hear somethin’ ‘ad happened t’ ‘im. And given that he’s dead-”

“He didn’t give you any name?” Scope interrupted him.

“Nah, thought that was weird but hey, he paid me well enough t’ not ask dumb questions. And he also mentioned that after ya listen t’ it ya will probably pay me a few hundred caps.”

A few hundred caps? I repeated in my thoughts, surprised. Just for this holotape? What could possibly be recorded on it that would make anypony sure Scope would pay after he already listened to it? And why would somepony want it delivered after something happens to them? It won’t be much of a help to them now, apparently...

“Oh, and before ya even ask, Ah ‘ave no idea what’s on it,” the stranger quickly assured Scope. “Ah ain’t got no terminal t’ play it or anythin’. So Ah dunno anythin’, ‘kay. And, uh, ponies ‘round ‘ere would ‘ave notice if Ah’d disappear, ya know, just sayin’,” he added, sounding nervous.

“You’ve read too many of those pre-war comics,” Scope replied; he in turn sounded completely calm. “I’m not going to harm you. I’m going to go and listen to this holotape someplace quiet, meet me at this tavern at midnight. Assuming the contents of it prove valuable you can expect getting paid for this.”

It seemed to me that it’s rare to find a pony putting that much value on information, I commented. Apparently, the pony who left this holotape was certain Scope would. Did he know him? He must have, or at least know about him, but If so, why didn’t he tell this pony Scope’s name? This is really- I began only to cut myself off, noticing that my E.F.S. was showing them moving closer. In a matter of few seconds, they were going to pass this corner, and see an albino unicorn crouched behind it. Oh no, I was too lost in thought… think of something, think of something!

As skillful speaker as I was, I doubted that I could talk my way out of this situation. Similarly as to how I doubted that Scope and this other buck were going to react understandingly to me listening in on them. I couldn’t even start moving now and bump into them, pretending it to be an accident, as nopony wouldn’t find it suspicious. And besides, I was supposed to be intoxicated, Scope had to hear Apple Core tell me to drink another before he left-

Wait, that could work!

With only seconds to spare, I cast Emesis Spell on myself, causing me to throw up on the spot. To complete the illusion, I purposefully tripped myself taking a step forward, falling down on my own vomit.

I heard both bucks back away in alarm as I fell right before them. “What the-” the unfamiliar one exclaim in surprise.

“Oh, Doctor Angel,” Scope in turn said; his voice, too, sounded as if he was surprised, but he quickly regained his composure. “I figured you were a stranger to alcohol, but this...”

“Ugh, so disgraceful…” I groaned, trying to raise myself on shaking hooves. I turned my head to them, squinting my eyes. “M-mister Scope? Oh, this is so embarrassing…” I said, sitting down carefully and pressed a hoof to my head.

“It’s alright, really, it happened to anypony at some point,” Scope said comfortingly. “Although it usually takes more than just three shots. Here,” he added, levitating to me a relatively clean piece of cloth, “you, hm, got a bit on your face there.”

“Oh, thank you so much, sweetie,” I said, pretending to light up my horn as if unable to concentrate, before grabbing the cloth with my forehoof.

“Hey, ya’re that Appleloosa’s new medic, right?” the other buck asked me.

I finally took a good look at him. He looked ordinary, an earth pony like any other in New Appleloosa. If I were to pass him in the town, his appearance wouldn’t capture my attention.

What he said next, though, did.

“Talk ‘bout coincidence,” he said, glancing at Scope.

Coincidence? I repeated, so surprised that I forgot that I was pretending to be inebriated, focusing my eyes as I began to contemplate what he had said. Fortunately, Scope’s attention shifted to the other buck, so he hadn’t noticed. Something to think about later I suppose, I thought as I again as I let my gaze became unfocused, wiping my face of my own vomit while Scope glared at his informant.

“What do you mean, sweetie, do you need to see a doctor?” I asked in a tired voice. “I’m afraid that I wouldn’t trust myself with curing anypony for a bit…”

“Nevermind that,” Scope replied instead. “Are you okay? Would you like me to take you to the local medic?”

“Oh, no, sweetie, that’s so kind of you to offer, but I should be fine now,” I assured him. “Well, by now I mean in an hour or two, but I feel better than before. I don’t think I should vomit like this again… especially since my stomach is empty right now.”

“Still, I best walk you to make sure you’re not going to trip again,” Scope said. Turning to the other buck, he said: “We’ll talk later.”

“Oh, right, sure. Nice meetin’ ya, miss,” he said as he passed me in a wide circle, going back to the tavern.

“I’m sorry if I had interrupted anything,” I told Scope, finishing cleaning my face, mane and chest. “Did I get all of it?”

“Um, yes,” he replied, looking me over. “And don’t worry about it, we were done with our business. So, shall we?” he asked, offering me his shoulder to lean on. I nodded and took him up on his offer, remembering to move carefully and in the same staggering manner as when I was leaving Turnpike Tavern. “You mentioned you’re going to that store Absolutely Everything, right?” Scope asked me as we began to trot together.

“Oh, no, sweetie. I mean, I am,” I quickly corrected myself, “but, you see, Ditzy had agreed to see me after she closes her store.”

“Ah, I see. So where are we going?”

“Well, I thought I could pass the time by examining brahmins. Of course, I realize now that I am not well enough currently to perform a precise physical examination,” I added, sighing, “but perhaps I can gain some informations just through talking with them.”

“You…” Scope began; looking at him, I saw that he was staring at me with one eyebrow raised, “You want to go talk with brahmin?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, confused.

“Well, for starters, the barn all the traders’ brahmins stay at when they’re in town kinda… smells. Which in your condition could be easily nauseating,” he pointed out.

“I had been warned about it,” I replied, recalling Candi’s words after I asked her about where the brahmins were. “I’m confident that I can tolerate the smell.”

“Also, you would be lucky if you’d find a single head in there that could talk to you, let alone with intelligent speech,” Scope continued. “Besides, why would you want to learn about brahmins of all things?”

“Oh, sweetie, I am very curious about everything there is in the Equestrian Wasteland. I intend to become familiar with physiology of every species living here. And the thought of there being a polycephalic species that I can examine truly excites me!” I added, grinning in my excitement.

I could tell that Scope didn’t share it, but he merely shrugged. “To each’s own, I suppose. You are quite educated, aren’t you?” he asked, changing the subject unexpectedly. “Using all those smart words, I mean. Although I suppose that’s not surprising seeing how you were chief of medicine of your Stable. Especially considering your young age. You must be quite a brilliant doctor to have attained such an important position.”

“Why, thank you, sweetie,” I replied, pleased upon hearing his praise. “Although my ‘brilliance’, as you put it, wasn’t the reason I had been given that position. Or rather, not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Important positions, such as chief of medicine, are acquired in Stable Eight through mentorship system, so that everypony can be sure the leadership of the Stable passes to the hooves of competent ponies,” I explained. “The reason why I was elevated to my position so soon after becoming a doctor was purely caused by my mentor wishing to resume his retirement.”

“Oh, I see,” Scope replied, nodding. I admit, it was refreshing to talk with somepony so interested in my Stable. “Still, that must mean your mentor had picked you through among few other doctors.”

“Three other doctors, to be precise.”

“Then it proves you are a brilliant doctor since you were chosen,” Scope said, smiling. However, he then frowned in confusion. “How come you had to leave, though?”

Having expected such a question, I didn’t panic. Sighing, I replied: “It’s… not that I wanted to leave, but was forced to. Suffice to say that there were ideological differences between myself and the Overmare.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. That Overmare must be quite a bitch I take?” I tensed momentarily, causing me to stagger, which thankfully Scope must have attributed to my ‘state’. “I’ve never heard about any stable ponies with number eight on their barding walking around the Wasteland, so I assume it’s not often something like this happens?”

“That is correct, that was the first time the doors were opened since the day the bombs fell,” I replied, forcing myself to not respond to his comment. With my mood soured, however, I couldn’t help but attempt to end this discussion. “May I ask why are you so interested in my Stable, sweetie?”

“Just a professional curiosity, Doctor Angel,” he replied, shrugging; if he had noticed that my voice become slightly colder, he didn’t show it. “It’s not often that I hear about a Stable that actually worked; most were turned by Stable-Tech into deathtraps.”

I frowned. “Apple Core had mentioned this to me, but I had assumed she was exaggerating.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s not an exaggeration. I’ve been hired in the past to scour what had remained of some other Stables. In most cases, something goes wrong in them, they kill everypony, and turn the Stable into a near-lethal trap for anypony that would enter them. And often also destroy all of Stable-Tec’s equipment inside, making my job pointless,” he added, rolling his eyes. “Surprisingly nopony wants to pay too much for excavated junk. I hope this current job proves more profitable...”

“I’m sure you’d know better than me whether it will or won’t,” I replied diplomatically. “I do not know about what this current job of yours is, after all. But I’m sure you and your group had done similar assignments in the past, right?”

Something about the smile Scope flashed me made me wonder once again what this job could be. “You could say that. To be honest, I wasn’t a part of this group for long, just the last two months. Jack, Blast and Burst had been working together for almost a year now. I did know all of them before, however; you tend to keep tabs on other professionals in this business.”

“Oh, I see,” I exclaimed, surprised. “What made you join them, if I may ask?”

“It’s safer than being alone, plus I suspected Jack had a lead on some other job I was looking into,” he replied, waving dismissively. “But that’s all I am going to tell you for now.”

I pouted at him. “How come, sweetie?”

“Because we’re at the place you wanted to go to.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, blinking as I looked around.

Just as Candi had described it to me, the barn housing all the brahmin present in the town had been constructed using several old train carts, similar to most of other buildings in New Appleloosa. What set it apart from them was, aside from maybe its size, was that it had several wide entrances, probably to make it easier for traders to lead their brahmin and take them out without disrupting anypony. Also, like I had been warned, a pony could detect a mixture of unpleasant smells in the air coming from it.

Possibly a reason for it being located at the edge of the town, I noted, sniffing the air and reflexively wrinkling my nose. Or why there’s nopony in sight. Oh well, I will get used to the smell shortly. I’m just glad it’s within the town’s wall.

“It’s true that time flies when you’re in a good company,” I said, pulling apart from Scope, shaking a little. “Thank you very much for assuring I would get here without tripping, as well as for that delightful conversation.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Doctor Angel,” Scope replied. Nodding at the barn, he added: “I hope… this, goes well for you. See you tomorrow morning,” he said, turning around and beginning to trot away.

“We’re going to a Stable tomorrow, aren’t we?”

My question caused him to stop and sight. “I should have known not to talk so much about Stables. Do me a favor and don’t mention to others about this. Jack didn’t want us talking about it so that nopony would follow us to the Stable and attack us,” he explained, turning back to me.

“As long as you won’t mention to my companions about… well, what happened when I left the tavern, I will keep quiet about this,” I assured him. Apple Core would never let me live it down. “So there is a Stable somewhere near New Appleloosa?” I asked, curious.

“Three, actually, each several hours of trotting away from here,” Scope replied. “The one we’re going to is located near where Rock Farms were.”

“‘Rock Farms’?” I repeated, confused.

“Earth pony thing, they somehow grew gems from rocks before harvesting them,” Scope explained; his expression suggesting that he didn’t know how exactly that worked himself. “Used to be run by families, but due to high demand for gems during the war all of them had expended. With all those workers living there they were practically a small community, big enough for a Stable to be build there.”

“I see,” I hummed thoughtfully; ‘growing gems’ aside, that all sounded logical. “Are those farms currently inhabited?”

“I’m pretty sure nopony lives there. Between the raiders and your buddies from old Appleloosa, it’s too dangerous to try and make a living there. Both old Appleloosa and Shattered Hoof aren’t that far from them.”

“Sweetie, you have a gift for making a place sound appealing to visit,” I told him humorously, although inside I felt some of my worries regarding this trip return.

While I wasn’t too worried about running into slavers - especially since Black Widow wouldn’t risk sending patrols with this tribe looming nearby - I was concerned about those raiders from Shattered Hoof. As well as that tribe, although I assumed that if they moved into those farms, which seemed quite sensible, this Jack pony would undoubtedly find them while scouting.

Besides, if I am not mistaken, those Rock Farms are on the opposite side of Appleloosa from where Butcher’s patrol was killed… I think, I added; Scope did say they weren’t far from Appleloosa and Shattered Hoof, which the traders we met after leaving the train had told me was north-east from it, and Apple Core had mentioned that Butcher had been looking for ponies south-west from the town. Come to think of it, if I went a different direction after leaving my Stable I might have run into him. If all I heard about him was true I might have not even lived long enough to be ‘rescued’ by those tribals.

“Hey, don’t worry, like we said it should be an easy job,” Scope assured me. “Going in and out of the area is different than trying to make a living there. All we have to worry about are raiders patrols, which is why Jack is scouting a safe route. And trust me, it’s still safer than if we were going to the Stable that’s west of here. It’s right near Ponyville.”

“That’s the town with raiders, right?” I asked, recalling what Apple Core had told me once. When Scope nodded, I said: “Then it is indeed a safer Stable to visit. If I may ask, why are you going there?”

“Ugh, that’s a long story,” Scope replied, rolling his eyes. “It comes down to a pony from Tenpony Tower wanting a certain pre-war item. Back when we were in Manehattan, we found out it was sent to one of the ponies living on the farms that had been accepted to this Stable.”

“Really? I’m impressed, sweetie, that’s truly remarkable work you and your teammates have done,” I praised him, truly meaning it. “If I may ask, what’s the item?”

“Hadn’t I answered enough of your questions, Doctor?” Scope asked in turn, almost teasingly.

I smiled. “You are right, of course. I won’t pry. But can I ask how come you know so much about Stables?” It troubled me, to be honest. “I mean, you know how many Stables there are near New Appleloosa, and how to get to them… are their locations a common knowledge?”

“Not exactly. I mean, I think some ponies around here know about this closest one. But if the location of every Stable was known, even despite their reputations there would be plenty of idiots trying to break into them and find some valuables. Meaning that either they would have all been discovered and emptied already, or the population of Equestrian Wasteland would be even smaller. No, I merely know about them because I make my business to know things like that,” he said, smirking.

“Aren’t we’re going to a Stable?” I pointed out.

“We’re professionals,” Scope replied, again rolling his eyes. “Now, I think I answered enough of your questions to repay you for telling me about your Stable. So if you excuse me, there’s a drink with my name on it waiting for me back at the tavern.”

“Oh, of course. Have a nice evening,” I called after him as he left.

Well, he was certainly informative, I mused, watching him go for a few seconds before moving into the barn entrance. I didn’t want Scope to think I was distrusting him. Which I kind of was. While I am not surprised, considering his age, that he would have a considerable knowledge about the Equestrian Wasteland, I am surprised he would be so willing to reveal it to practically a stranger.

He could just be nice, tiny Fluttershy told me.

True, I suppose, I replied, not even arguing with the apparition in my mind. Or questioning again why did she suddenly speak up. I would consider that he and the rest of his team plan to kill me and Apple Core after we help them, so he isn’t concerned about telling me so many secrets, but they wouldn’t gain anything worth doing that. Hm… could it be that he hopes it will in turn encourage me to reveal more information about Stable Eight? Perhaps he had noticed when my mood changed and thought I had grown suspicious? Asking all those questions about my Stable was indeed a bit weird after all… not that I would be worried about four mercenaries making their way past Stable Eight’s security. Rather, I would be worried about them throwing their lives away.

You’re surprisingly compassionate at times, Fluttershy said, seemingly surprised.

If you are going to base your entire opinion about me based on how I act towards Cutter, you won’t understand me, which you claimed you’re trying to do, I told her. And speaking of Cutter, Scope could have talked with me about all of that because he might have suspected that I overheard something, despite my ‘state’.

So… you think that the one who asked this pony to deliver the holotape was Cutter?

It would seem the most logical answer, I replied. During the entire time I had been talking with Scope, I had been pondering this at the back of my mind, unable to stop myself and unable to find any other answer. Why else would that pony say ‘talk about coincidence’? And it would make sense, he couldn’t have learned before about Cutter’s ‘death’, as the train had returned today.

I… guess, Fluttershy say uncertainly. I’m sorry, I’m just not good with all this scheming.

That poses a question; I said, ignoring her; several, in fact. What could be on that holotape? Why would he expect something happen to him? Why would he want that holotape to reach Scope? And most importantly, given my current situation, just who is Scope?

You already have some theories answering all of those questions, don’t you?

Indeed, but most of them are just theories, I admitted. Especially regarding Scope’s identity. As for why Cutter had expected that something would have happened to him, he did say that he has some, quote, shit, unquote, on Black Widow.

He did?

Oh, right, that was before I found your statuette. Thanks for confirming once again that you’re not a figment of my mind, I told her, causing the apparition to cross her forelegs and deadpan at me. Anyway, I suspect that he hadn’t told Black Widow about it, and planned to reveal it to her only if she would ever hint that she plans to take some action against him. He probably left this holotape as an insurance.

What could be on it, though? Cutter must have been sure it would make her unwilling to harm him. And, well, she doesn’t seem like a pony who gets… discouraged easily, she said, somewhat bashful. She’s really scary.

She is, I agreed. I have my suspicions, but to be sure I will have to ask Cutter when I get back. I would rather not make any assumptions based on uncertain facts and theories. It might affect how I interact with Scope from now on, which could end badly.

That’s probably for the best, tiny Fluttershy agreed, sounding relieved. Discussing all of that made me really nervous.

I rolled my eyes; I did not ask her to join my contemplation. Or to appear in my mind, for that matter. Anyway, I did come here for a specific purpose, I thought, turning toward the interior of the barn. Let’s examine some brahmins.

I wasn’t sure what to think about the condition in which the brahmin were being kept.

The barn, having been constructed from a few boxcars fused together, was divided into two segments. Looking by the mismatched color of the wall separating them, I guessed that the second segment was made from two cars, while the first one was from three. Most of the walls from the boxcar in the middle and the two adjected to it had been removed, leaving pillars of sorts, in between which ponies had arranged booths in which brahmin were resting.

They’re treated like animals in those pre-war zoos were, I noted, looking back as I trotted towards the other half of the barn. Then again…

There were five brahmin in this half. I tried to start a conversation with them, but all ten heads gave me only blank stares at best, with some not even raising from their troughs.

I’m pretty sure none of them is the brahmin that was with those traders that caused our train to stop, I thought, taking one more look at them. And come to think of it, the head that talked to me said that the other one isn’t too smart. Could it be that such level of intelligence is rare among them? I thought Scope had been exaggerating, I added, recalling his comment.

Resigned, I walked past the wall to the other part of the barn. I hope those traders hadn’t left the town yet, I thought as I looked from one brahmin to the other in the booths in front of me, from right to left. Which one was it- oh!

Oh! tiny Fluttershy exclaimed, then blushed and covered her eyes. Oh my!

Oh, you’re back, I thought; to be honest, I had been slightly surprised when she remained quiet during my earlier musing. Would you like to discuss this with me?

No, I don’t think we should… Fluttershy said quietly, trying to look away.

Do you think that interspecies relationships are common in the Equestrian Wasteland? I asked, ignoring her discomfort.

I… Angel! she snapped suddenly, surprising me. Stop staring at them like that! Give them some privacy!

This is a public place, I pointed out, and besides they are too busy kissing to realize they have company.

Looking away from the head the colt was kissing, I realized that the other one didn’t have the vacant expression I saw on all the other. In fact, she was acting a like filly her age would; she was blushing and glancing at the other head and the colt, covering her mouth with her hoof and giggling.

Good, now leave! Fluttershy told me, staring at me sternly (and doing her best to ignore the kissing… couple?).

Do you think they’re about to have intercourse? I asked, too intrigued to indulge her.

W-what?! she exclaimed, the fur on her face becoming red. A-angel! They’re just kids!

Kids? I repeated, my attention shifting from them to her in my surprise. The colt appears to be at least twelve years old, he must have already gone through puberty. He has a cutie mark, too, I noted, glancing at the symbol on his flank. It appeared to be a “lasso” catching three bottle caps on his flank. As for the brahmin… judging by her size when compared to an adult, I would say she’s on the same stage of life. I wonder if their lifespans, growth and development are similar to ponies’…

Then they are still kids! Such young ponies-

She’s not a pony.

-are too young to be doing things like that! she finished adamantly, ignoring my comment.

How exactly- I began, but then stopped. Wait, I don’t understand, do you want me to leave or do you want me to stop them? Because-

“Ah, ya’re ’at funny mare from earlier!”

Startled, I stopped arguing with the tiny Fluttershy in my head. So focused I was on the two kids of different species kissing that I hadn’t realized that in the booth right next to theirs was the brahmin that I had been looking for.

As one might have expected, her speaking so suddenly resulted in the colt and young brahmin (If they had descended from cattles, would that make her a ‘calf’? Hm, I think the female calves were called ‘heifer’.) jumping away from each other and looking at me, alarmed.

“Wha- Belle!” the right head of the brahmin (the one that was kissing with the colt) glared at the left one angrily, both her and the colt red on their faces. “Ya were supposed t’ keep watch!”

The other head - apparently named Belle - blinked. “Ah was?” she asked, tilting her head, before gasping air. “Oh, Ah was! My bad,” she said apologetically.

As the other head facehoofed, and the colt continued to stare at me silently, I turned to the older brahmin. “Hello again,” I greeted her. “I had hoped you’d be here. You kids don’t have to mind me,” I said, glancing at them briefly, before returning my attention to the adult brahmin. I noticed that her other head wasn’t even looking at me. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced-”

“Hang on a fuckin’ second!”

I turned back to the heifer, wide eyed from shock at being so rudely interrupted. The colt, seemingly also shocked, stared now at her as she climbed over the gate of her booth through which the two had been kissing.

“We’re not supposed t’ leave…” the head named Belle tried to say, but the other head ignored her, jumping down from the gate on the other side.

Her movements are perfectly coordinated, I noted as she walked up to me, stomping angrily. I had seen that and other brahmins simply walking, but this heifer climber over an obstacle in a matter of seconds, like a single-headed being of similar build would.

Aside from observing her motor function, I also took the advantage of her being so close now to take a better look at her (Or them? It’s a bit confusing.). Like the adult brahmin I was already familiar with, their body was practically furless with reddish, almost pinkish skin. She was smaller than me, but was a head taller than the colt that I assumed was her age. Her body was also more slender than an adult brahmin’s. Being still a heifer and not a full grown cow, she had very small pair of udders, barely visible from where I was standing. Each head had a pair of small horns protruding from her skull above her their ears. Curiously, their horns weren’t identical; the horns of the angry head were slightly bigger and a bit curved, while Belle’s were straight.

I finished my observations as they stopped before me. “Jus’ how long were ya standin’ there watchin’ us?!” she asked, still angry and still blushing, punching me in the chest with her cloven hoof.

“Um, Anna…” the colt tried to interject, finally giving me a name for the right head of the heifer, but she silenced him with a glare.

“Shush! Well?!” Anna asked again, turning back to me. “Are ya some kind of fuckin’ pervert?!”

Hearing her swear again caused me to frown. Alright, enough of this.

“Young lady, there’s no need for such language here!” I scolded her, looking down on her.

Anna stared at me in shock, her jaw hanging open as she instinctively backed away. Apparently she hadn’t expected such reaction, nor did the colt whose expression mirrored hers. However, she quickly recovered and stomped the ground angrily.

“Ya stand there spyin’ on me and Caps Wrangler and ya lecture me?!” she asked in disbelief. “Ya better start ‘splainin’ yarself, lady!” Anna added, sarcastically saying the last word as she lowered her head slightly and kicked the ground, exhaling sharply.

“I wasn’t spying on you, I merely walked in on you two kissing,” I replied calmly. Strangely, saying the word ‘kissing’ out loud caused both Anna and Deal to quake and become more embarrassed. “If you’re uncomfortable for some reason with others bearing witness at your displays of affection for one another, I’d suggest waiting for a later hour. Now, if you’d excuse me-” I began to say, intending to finally talk with the adult brahmin (who was observing this exchange with amusement), but I was once again cut off.

“W-wait, did ya say ‘for some reason’?” the colt asked me, looking at me with disbelief.

“That is what I said, yes,” I replied, not understanding why did that surprised him.

Caps Wrangler and Anna exchanged equally confused looks. “Wow, and Ah thought Belle’s dumb,” Anna said, pointing at her other head.

“Hey!” Belle exclaimed, upset at the remark.

“Young lady!” I once again said, frowning at Anna. “It’s not nice to call others names, especially when they are your… “ I paused, for the first time in a very long time having completely no idea what to say. What word would describe their relation best? Sister? Other self? “... your other head,” I finished after two seconds of hesitation. “Apologize to her.”

“Ya’re… ya’re kiddin’, right?” Anna asked, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. When my expression didn’t change, she sighed and glanced at Belle. “Sorry sis.”

“Aww, it’s alright!” Belle replied happily, tilting her head to brush against hers.

“Anyways…” Caps Wrangler said, trotting closer to me. “Miss, would ya mind not tellin’ anypony about… what ya saw?” he asked, his face growing red once again. “Ah would be in trouble with mah parents.”

His parents would have objections to him dating her? I thought, puzzled. I suppose this means interspecies relationships aren’t common after all. Then again there could be other reasons… I think...

Not wanting to prolong the colt’s discomfort, however, I didn’t voice any of the questions regarding social norms in the Equestrian Wasteland that had popped up in my head. I merely smiled down at him and nodded. “I had no intention of doing that in the first place, sweetie, I am not a gossipy pony.”

In contrast to Caps Wrangler, who was visibly relieved to hear that, Anna once again stared at me wide-eyed. “S-sweetie?!” she repeated barely a second after I finished my sentence, then again stomped the ground. “Watch it, ya perv!”

“Anna!” Caps Wrangler hissed at her, then smiled apologetically at me. “She’s, uh, jus’ jokin’ ‘round.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” I replied, smiling back at him; apparently he was under the impression that I might change my mind based on Anna’s rudeness. “Even if she wasn’t, I won’t go back on my word. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks, Miss. Ah better go,” he said, turning the Anna and Belle. “Mah parents will be wonderin’ where Ah’ve been. Ah’ll be la- um,” he cut off mid-sentence, glancing at me quickly, “Ah’ll see ya later Anna. Bye Belle,” he added, turning to leave and waving back. “Bye Miss.”

“Bye Caps!” Belle called out as we waved.

Do both of them wave, or just one of them? I wondered, glancing at them.

At the same moment, Anna turned to once again glare at me. I waited for her to speak, but as the seconds dragged on with her just glaring silently at me, I asked: “Is there something you want, sweetie?”

Anna’s ears perked in surprise when I called her ‘sweetie’, but she quickly returned to glaring at me. “Ah’m watchin’ ya,” she told me, turning around and heading for her booth.

Belle in turn gasped. “Ya’ve noticed how pretty her coat is too?” she asked, causing Anna to sigh.

I smiled hearing the cute exchange, before finally turning to the adult brahmin. “I’m sorry this took so long,” I began, looking at the talking head; I wasn’t sure whether or not address both of them.

“Don’t ya worry, this was fun t’ listen to,” she replied, grinning. “Ya said ya hoped Ah would be ‘ere?”

“That’s correct. I don’t believe we were properly introduced. I’m Doctor Angel,” I said, and I was about to raise my foreleg and offer it to her, but I hesitated; adult brahmin’s appendages didn’t seem as maneuverable as calf’s were, making me wonder if she could shave hooves with me.

“Pleasure meetin’ ya, Doctor Angel,” she said, standing as still as before and looking down on me from above her booth’s gate. “Ah’m Bess, and this quiet fellow ‘ere’s Bob.”

Bob? I repeated, surprised. I’m pretty sure that’s a male name.

“Say hello to the kind Doctor, Herbert,” Bess said, looking at… Bob?

“Um… excuse me,” I said as the other head didn’t as much as perk his ear, “is... his name Bob or Herbert?”

“Oh, it’s Bob. Ah just call ‘im Herbet to get on ‘is nerves,” Bess explained, chuckling.

“Oh, I see,” I said, nodding; truth be told, I still felt a little confused. “He doesn’t talk much, doesn’t he?”

Before Bess could reply, a loud snort came from my left. Searching for the source of the sound, I saw that the heifer was still outside of her booth, and Anna was once again looking at me. Belle, however, was drinking water from their trough, having pressed her head through the space between the small gate’s bars.

“Ya ain’t really perspective, ain’t ya?” Anna asked disparagingly.

Frowning thoughtfully, I replied: “If you are referring to my question, I wouldn’t say it had been caused by the level of my perspectives. Rather, it was caused by my lack of knowledge regarding your species, desire to attain said knowledge, and my need to be certain whether my observation had been correct or not.”

Anna stared silently at me for a second, then tilted her head. “Huh? Can’t ya talk normally?”

I sighed. “What I meant was that I don’t know too much about brahmins, I hadn’t even seen any before today.”

“Ya’ve never seen a brahmin? What, were ya livin’ under a rock or somethin’?” Anna asked, frowning.

“I suppose you could say that,” I agreed. “I used to live within a Stable until not long ago. As such, I am extremely curious about everything there is to know about the Wasteland and its inhabitants. And I must say, you brahmin are really interesting.”

“Interestin’?” Anna repeated, shocked. “Ya really must be dumb if ya think that.”

“Sweetie, what did I say about insulting others?” I asked, frowning at her once again.

Anna rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything in reply, Belle finished drinking. “Ya could stop sayin’ all those mean words,” she said, her head raising from the trough as they backed away from the gate.

“Mind yar own business,” Anna told her, glaring at her sister.

“Ah think Ah have to agree with the youngin’,” Bess cut in. I turned my attention to her as she continued. “Ah don’t see how ya can find us interetin’. Most brahmin are dumb as posts. Even mah other half ‘ere,” she added, glancing at Bob as he lowered down to their trough and began to eat… whatever it was that ponies gave them to eat. Didn’t smell very tasty.

“That’s actually one of the reasons why I find you so interesting!” I replied, beaming up. “I never imagined there could be a species whose members could be so diverse in terms of their intelligence level!”

“Glad t’ be a member of a dumb species,” Anna snorted, looking away.

“But that's not the only reason,” I continued, ignoring her comment. “Obviously, your bicephaly - that you have two heads - is also really interesting, that you can have two different personalities despite sharing the same body, and that it doesn’t impend your motor functions! Sweeties,” I turned to Anna and Belle, “how did you get over your gate?”

“We climbed over it, obviously,” Anna replied, confused.

“You said ‘we’, despite that you were the one that wanted to come to speak with me, while Belle was reluctant,” I said, then looked at her other head. “Belle, sweetie, could you come over here for a moment?”

“‘Kay!” Belle exclaimed happily, and began to trot towards me.

“Wait, hang on,” Anna said, and they stopped. Not only that, they also dug their hooves to the ground, as if reading to attack me. “Why?”

“I just wanted to evaluate how you walk. It would appear that you can decide by yourself to move if you want, but you are also capable of taking back control from the other… am I correct?” I asked, scratching my chin thoughtfully.

“Hm… Ah dunno,” Belle answered, scratching her head. “Ah think we usually move together… except when sometimes Anna starts bein’ bossy,” she added, pointing at her other head, resulting in Anna rolling her eyes. “Oh, and usually when she and Caps-”

“Belle!” Anna shouted, her hoof shooting to cover Belle’s mouth. “So, um, movin'!” she said, turning to me; judging by her blushing again I assumed Belle had been about to reveal something embarrassing to her (Not surprising, considering it included her young buck.), and was trying to distract me. “Yeah, like she said, we move together most of the time. As for that ‘bossy’ part, what she meant was… ugh, how should Ah ‘splain this…” she mused, releasing Belle; her sister hadn’t seemed to mind being silenced, though. “It’s like, one of us want t’ go somewhere and we both go. But if one of us doesn’t want t’, we can stop. Ah ‘sppose Ah’m usually the one t’ make the call,” she admitted, glancing at her sister, probably to see her if she was gloating that she was right, but Belle was merely smiling at me.

“Hm, curious…” I mused. Is it because she’s more authoritative from the two of them? Or does Belle simply trust her to know better? Regardless, if they truly ‘move together’, it implies some level of telepathy between them… But I don’t have the means of checking if that’s true or not. Unless… “Would the two of you mind assisting me with an experiment?” I asked.

Angel! Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed in my head, looking at me with mixture of horror and anger. You can’t possibly mean-

Of course not, now be quiet, I told her, doing my best to act normally.

“What I mean is,” I quickly added, not wanting the magical apparition to interrupt me again, “is that I would like to examine the two of you, concentrating mostly on your individual reactions. Seeing how you two are the only brahmin here with both heads capable of speech, you are the only candidate for this research. I would like to conduct this research the day after tomorrow if possible,” I added, “as I will require some materials, and I will be away for tomorrow.”

“Ya’re outta luck then,” Anna replied, shrugging. “We’re leavin’ town that mornin’.”

“Wha- really?” I exclaimed, downcast. “Can’t you stay another day?”

“Lady, ya seriously think we have anythin’ t’ say in the matter?” Anna added, raising her eyebrow. “We and two other brahmins belong t’ Caps Wrangler’s parents, we carry the crap they trade from town t’ town.”

“Oh… I see,” I said. I recalled that brahmin were generally being used as pack animals. Seeing how most of them were unable to even speak, it was understandable. Although considering the intelligence those two have… you can’t put them on the same level as all those mute brahmins! I thought. “Do they treat you two right?”

“Yeah, they’re really nice!” Belle immediately replied. “They don’t make us carry as much as Butter, Cup, Pepper and Mint do, and they always make sure we’re ‘ave ‘nough t’ eat!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said; I noticed that Anna was once again rolling her eyes. I guessed that not everything was as great as Belle claimed. Which I suppose was understandable, seeing how she and Caps Wrangler must have had a reason for hiding their relationship from them. “Would those other two brahmin happen to be your parents?” I asked instead, hoping to get some information about brahmin reproduction.

Now Anna snorted. “Oh, please. We’ve never met our father, and as for Mom, well…” she trailed off, looking away.

“She was sold,” Belle answered instead, her ears dropping.

“Sold?” I repeated, surprised.

I worked in slaver’s town, so I wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept. Still, to separate mother and her children…

“She was old,” Anna spoke up. She was once again looking at me. “Her milk ‘ad dried up after we grew up a little, and she couldn’t keep with the caravan. Try t’ guess what happened,” she finished, snorting again.

I frowned, confused, but the enigma was solved for me. “Ah, probably been sold for meat,” Bess said, nodding her head. “Sorry t’ hear that.”

“Meat?” I repeated, staring at Bess. How could one eat a sapient being-

The brahmin steaks at Salt Block in Appleloosa.

Oh… Oh merciful Goddesses, I thought, frozen, as my brain tried to process this information. I… I was trying to eat…

Until today, I didn’t know that brahmin were sapient. Nopony back in Appleloosa had told me, not a single time I had ordered them and tried to eat, believing that their status as highest priced meal must translate to their quality. The thought of consuming a sapient being, or even a member of a species that just could have been sapient, was so unrealistic to me, that it had taken me this long to realize that I had tried to do exactly that several times.

“Anna, Belle?” I spoke to them, my face still facing Bess. “Could you come closer to me?”

“Sure!” Belle replied happily, and I heard them trotting towards me.

“What do ya want?” Anna asked as they crossed the small distance between us.

Instead of replying, when they stopped next to me, I turned around quickly and pulled them into a hug.

“What the-” Anna exclaimed somewhere below my left ear; as I hugged them, I squeezed my head and neck between theirs. “W-what are ya doin?!”

Hiding my face from them. I didn’t want them to see my shock, my… horror.

My guilt.

And besides that, those two deserved some comfort.

“I am so sorry this had happened to you,” I said, hugging them a little tighter with my forelegs.

It was a weird sensation, to hug somebody with two very different minds. Their body would occasionally twitch, as if about to try and free themselves from my hug, but then quickly resuming to calmy return it.

“Aww, this feels so nice!” Belle hummed happily. “Almost nobody hugs us.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I said, moving my foreleg to stroke her head. “You’re such a charming heifer, sweetie.”

“Ugh, don’t make this weirder,” Anna whined as she finally seemed to give up.

“I’m so sorry about your mother,” I whispered after a few seconds as I moved my other foreleg to pet Anna’s as well; Belle seemed to really enjoy it, as she began to grind her head against my hoof. She stopped momentarily though when I mentioned their mother.

“Thanks, Miss,” she said in a more somber tone before resuming enjoying her treatment.

“Y-yeah,” Anna added, a bit awkwardly. I felt their forelegs hug me tighter briefly in turn as I stroke her head. “It’s alright Miss, it’s been years since then.”

“I’m glad to know you have coped well with it,” I said; finally, I felt myself calm enough to safely talk with them face to face. Still, we remained in this embrace for a few more moments before I parted away. “It’s a pity that you won’t be able to help me with my research, and I wish we would get to know one another better,” I said, looking from one to the other. “I hope we will get to meet again someday.”

“Oh, do ya have to leave already?” Belle asked, saddened.

“Hm? No sweetie, I still have…” I paused to check the time on my PipBuck. I was surprised to find out that I had less than an hour left before meeting Ditzy. “I have about forty minutes left before I have to leave.”

“Then can ya play with us?” Belle asked hopefully. Anna in contrast rolled her eyes. Again. “Only Caps Wrangler plays with us. And lately he only plays with Anna,” she added, pouting.

As Anna grew red on her face again, I began to reply: “Well…”

I had came here to research the brahmins. To learn more about them, by talking if possible, and by examining them physically. (Not though exploratory surgery, sadly, I knew there wouldn’t be enough time to close them up afterwards.) I didn’t come here to play games with a child.

Worried about the little heifer’s feelings, I searched for the most kind words I could think of as I was about to decline, looking back into her blue eyes. Her big, pleading, gazing at me with hope blue eyes...

“... of course,” I finished, smiling. “I’m afraid I’m not good with games, though,” I added as Belle beamed up and Anna looked at me with disbelief. “I only really liked one when I was your age, and I don’t think you’d enjoy it.”

“That’s okay, we have plenty of games!” Belle exclaimed, practically jumping from happiness. “Come over t’ our booth, Caps brought us our ball earlier!”

A… a ball? I repeated with dread as I followed her. Oh dear…

I hoped she didn’t intend to play a game that would require scoring points. I was not looking forward to being completely humiliated by a teenage heifer with two heads.

Ironically, despite having lost my drive to conduct my research on the heifer that day, our time spent playing proved quite informative. When first Belle made us play ball - which fortunately only included throwing the ball between us, nothing more complicated than that (didn’t stop Anna from counting how many times I didn’t catch it though) - I was able to evaluate their hoof-eye coordination.

It was better than mine.

The next game we played, Twenty Questions, actually proved much better way of evaluating their intelligence than some of the tests I had planned for them. Right away I learned that they can’t read each other’s thoughts. By measuring the time it took them to formulate her questions and figure out the answer, however, I deduced that while Anna was on the same level of mental development as a pony her age would be, while Belle was a few years behind. I suppose I could have figured that by observing how foalish she acted. Sadly, for this to be relevant research, I would have to conduct it with more brahmins and compare their results.

Oh, and I won that game.

After Belle decided that this game was taking too long to play and was boring, she made us play tag. Which I suppose allowed me to evaluate their physical abilities.

And allowed them to learn that I can’t run to save my life.

“Okay, Ah change mah mind, this is pretty fun,” Anna laughed from the other end of the barn as I sat down on the ground, trying to catch my breath.

“Hm… maybe we should pick another game…” Belle mused as they trotted back to me.

“A… actually...” I tried to say, breathing heavily. “I’m… terribly sorry, sweeties… but my time is up.”

According to my PipBuck, Ditzy would be closing her shop in about ten minutes. As much as I didn’t want to disappoint Belle, I really needed to get going.

“Oh,” Belle exclaimed sadly, “okay. Hope we meet again!” she added, beaming up. “Ya’re fun!”

“Yeah, fun,” Anna said, her sarcastic tone and eyeroll suggesting that she didn’t mean it, or at least not as much as her other head. But then she glanced at me and added: “Ah guess ya’re okay for a pony. Still dumb, pervy and little crazy though.”

“Aww, ya like ‘er! Belle shouted, smiling widely at her. As Anna sighed Belle began to brush her head against hers. “Yay!”

I smiled seeing them show their affection for one another, then turned to Bess and Bob, by whose booth I had been resting. “I hope you at least will be here when I’ll get back to New Appleloosa. I would like to familiarize myself with an adult brahmin’s physiology. If there will be something ailing you, I will heal you free of charge,” I added, confident that my Healing Spell would work even with only basic knowledge about their biology.

It was, after all, only the matter of how effective and how much magic it would require to heal her in such case.

“We should be ‘ere a while,” Bess replied, smiling; I suspected that after watching me play with a heifer for over half an hour she developed a liking to me. “And Ah have a few aches.”

“Then I hopefully will see you two soon,” I said, nodded at both of them friendlily.

“Miss Angel?” Belle’s voice caught me by surprise; as I talked with Bess, she and Anna walked over to me. In my exhausted state, with my heart still pumping blood fast enough to the point that I could hear it in my ears, I hadn’t noticed them. Now they were sitting beside me, with Belle looking at me pleadingly with her dark blue eyes, and Anna looking somewhere at the ceiling. “Can we hug again for goodbye?”

I was surprised to hear such a ridiculous question. “Of course, sweetie,” I replied, hoping my voice didn’t betray my surprise; I did recall her mentioning that almost nobody ever hugged them.

Belle mooed happily in response, and then proceeded to practically tackle me. Somehow managing to not fall down to the ground, I wrapped my forelegs around her as they did the same.

“I really hope I run into you someday,” I said softly as we parted a bit, letting us look at each other. Belle was smiling back at me, but Anna was now looking at the ground, her cheeks burning a bit.

Curious how she would react, I leaned closer, first to Belle, then to Anna, kissing both of them on their foreheads.

Belle giggled and blushed, but Anna jerked in surprised. “W-what the hell!?” she asked, rubbing her forehead and glaring at me angrily. And blushing. “Ya… ya crazy perv!”

Now it was my turn to roll eyes at her. “Just a bit of affection, sweetie. Goodbye,” I said, waving as I began to trot out of the barn.

“Bye!” Belle replied, waving enthusiastically, while Anna, after she finished brushing her forehead a few more times, kicked the ground and said something sounding like “See ya.”

That was… really surprising of you, Angel.

I smiled as I turned my head away from the heifer. Is that a praise I hear in your voice, Fluttershy? I asked the apparition.

When I reached the barn’s entrance, a gust of wind blew, causing my mane to wave on it. As I tasted the fresh air, I realized that I probably smelled bad after being so long with all those brahmin, not to mention playing with one.

Well, yes, tiny Fluttershy replied as my Disinfection Spell washed over me and my clothes. I’m really happy you decided to spend your time playing with them, instead of trying to examine them or worse.

Worse? I asked, raising my foreleg to sniff my lab coat, wanting to make sure the spell had cleansed me. While I didn’t find the brahmin’s smell repulsive, I expected other ponies would.

Well, you are holding one pony against his will and conducting experiments on him.

My leg fell to the ground.

I was afraid that you might be trying to come with a way of taking her back to Appleloosa and looking her up along with Cutter, Fluttershy continued, chuckling nervously, oblivious to the effect her words had on me.

Is that… all that I am in your eyes? I asked, turning to look at her (forgetting that, since this apparition appeared only in my mind, I didn’t need to turn my head to look at her) in disbelief.

Apparently, my reaction confused Fluttershy, as she returned my look with uncertainty. W-what do you mean? she asked, hesitantly.

Do you consider me how I am when in my basement with Cutter to be the real me? I explained, still staring at her. What about whenever I hang around with Apple Core, or earlier with Candi in Ditzy, or with Anna and Belle? Do you think that me is a mask I put on when I’m outside my laboratory?! As my mental voice increased in volume - at least, I thought it did, I wasn’t too familiar with any sort of telepathic magic - my stare turned into glare.

I… W-well, um… tiny Fluttershy stammered, probably having realized how upset I was.

I snorted, barely containing myself from pointing a hoof at her. You are the same as everypony. You have no idea what motives drive a pony, and don’t care, you just know their actions go against your morality and that is enough to condemn them! Well, I continued, calming down; I was no longer “shouting” mentally, but my thoughts turned cold, here’s a valuable piece of information for you; not everybody follows the same morals as you, or even as majority of sapient beings in the planet. It does not mean they have no morals at all. I would never kidnap somebody like Anna and Belle to use them for my experiments! Nor Ditzy for that matter! I added before looking away from her. You are in my head; how could you think that?

Inside, in a part of me that I hoped was inaccessible to whatever she was, I thought: If something with access to my mind thinks so… what did-

A-angel?

Taking a deep breath, I replied: Yes?

Um… Fluttershy stammered. When I turned to her, she was looking at the ground, not meeting my eyes. When they banished you from your Stable, did it hurt? she finally asked.

I raised my eyebrow, surprised at the question. No, not really. At first I was… shocked, I admitted. I suppose it took me a while to come to terms that it had really happened. Looking back at it, I am glad that it did; out here, there are far more possibilities for me to pursue in my research. And I never felt angry at the Overmare or anypony for banishing me; I had broken the laws of the Stable. Even if I disagree with those particular laws, I do understand that. So no, being banished did not hurt. I looked away. What they thought did. I could see it in their eyes, during my trial and when I was being led to the door of Stable Eight. None of them understood, and I don’t think any of them even tried.

It wasn’t exactly true, as the Overmare had asked me questions during the trial. But she had proved unable to comprehend the answers I could give her.

Angel, Fluttershy said carefully after a few seconds had passed. I’m… I’m sorry how that made you feel. I really, truly am. But... I rolled my eyes, knowing what was coming next. … if so many ponies reacted that way when the truth about your experiments came to light, doesn’t this mean that maybe the morals you hold are… wrong?

Do you think Cutter has morals? I asked instead of replying.

Huh?

He is a doctor, like me. Surely, he must have learned somewhere those skills to be Appleloosa’s medic for so many years. And what he had done with that knowledge? He never cared about any of his patients, I said, despite knowing Fluttershy was with me as I heard various stories about Appleloosa’s past during the last two weeks. He prioritized patients based on how much caps they would bring the slavers. He let foals die. He did nothing to help or prevent the slaves from being violated, only that they were alive and healthy to be sold. I know that I’ve been forced into the same role, but you can’t deny that I am trying to do what I can for them.

I… I know, Fluttershy admitted. Showing a shadow of a smile, she added: It was funny when you told those slavers she had that made up venereal disease.

Ugh, don’t remind me, I thought, still feeling the urge to facehoof at the memory from last week. How could anypony with half a brain believe there was a disease that would cause necrosis in your penis after an hour?! The point is, I continued, returning to the original subject, I know it’s wrong to conduct such experiments on ponies. No, I corrected myself, on sapient beings. Which is why I do not conduct them on sapient beings; only on those who had discarded their right to be considered such. Which reminds me, I added, pondering, do you think the Salt Block’s bartender is aware that brahmin are sapient beings?

… why do you ask that? she asked, already knowing the answer.

Because after coming back to Appleloosa I am going to finally resume my experiments, and I will need more test subjects. Fortunately, I should be able to arrange his ‘death’ without any suspicion from Black Widow, seeing how I have seemingly no reason for harming him-

Angel! Fluttershy, who probably had needed a moment to recover after this rather blunt declaration, exclaimed. He… he did nothing wrong to you! And he seems kind-

For all we know, Anna and Belle’s mother might have been sold to him, I pointed out, frowning; I knew that chances of that being the case were slim, but it was a possibility nonetheless. And that’s beside how many other sapient brahmins he might have sold as food.

I… I guess that’s true, Fluttershy admitted.

Oh, and he killed Snuggles and Wigglebutt’s friend, but I could overlook it on account of radroaches being not sapient and him acting in self-defense, I said.

Self-defense?! Fluttershy exclaimed, shocked. What could possibly those little ones do to a grown pony?! I’m not saying that it’s worse to what he did to all those brahmins, she added as I gave her a surprised look, but, I mean, he could have thrown them out!

I agree. Does that mean I won’t have to fear you trying to mentally deafen me when the time comes? I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy frowned. Angel, this… this isn’t something that should be up to you, deciding whether a pony should be punished like that. And it’s not something that I am going to commend you for.

I sighed, figuring as much-

However…

I stared at her, wide-eyed.

… while I can’t commend this, I can… understand it, somewhat at least, Fluttershy admitted, reluctantly. And while I would prefer you wouldn’t do it at all, I will try to not oppose it when it happens to bad ponies. Well, not as strongly at least.

It took me a moment to reply. Thank you, Ministry Mare Fluttershy, I finally said, positive there were tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

The apparition gave me an awkward smile. Just Fluttershy is fine, Angel.

Sorry, old habits, I replied, giggling. We’ve always been taught to address ponies properly in Stable Eight. And don’t worry, I will never conduct any experiments on somebody who doesn’t deserve it. Well, not the invasive, painful ones, I amended.

I suppose I can only hope you will stay true to your morals, Fluttershy sighed. As… weird as they might be.

I snorted, amused. You know, the funny thing - or worrying thing to you, I suppose - is, I realize that if I didn’t have any morals, my experiments would produce results in a much faster rate. I probably wouldn’t have even left my Stable, I would find a way around everypony’s mindset. It’s been… tempting, to try. To let go. Especially those last few months. But, I added, before Fluttershy could start to worry, every time I begin to think like this, I remind myself that my morals make me who I am. If I were to discard them, I wouldn’t be Angel anymore. Turning to the magical apparition, I smiled. I started this journey as Angel, I intend to finish it as Angel. No matter what happens to me in this Wasteland, I will not discard what makes me, me.

Fluttershy smiled. I hope you’re going to remember that when we’ll go into the actual Wasteland tomorrow.

Ugh, don’t remind me, I grunted mentally, more than a little worried about tomorrow’s expedition. Now that we had this talk, how about we go to Absolutely Everything? I can’t wait to examine Ditzy! I exclaimed, giggling from excitement.

You’re in charge, tiny pegasus nodded.

With my mood greatly improved, I set off to Ditzy’s store. As an afterthought, I realized how lucky I was we had this argument on the outskirts of the town at such a late hour. I could only imagine how it would have looked to any onlooker, a pony standing still and occasionally making faces.

Oh, and Fluttershy? I added.

Yes?

I just wanted to let you know… it’s nice being able to talk to somepony, I admitted. I know that you don’t approve of my experiments, and I don’t know exactly what you are, but… I’ve never talked with anypony about this part of me. Thank you for being inside my head, I finished, giggling.

It doesn’t appear that I have a choice, but you’re welcome, Fluttershy replied, smiling.

I made a few more steps in silence before adding: For the record, sweetie, if you were corporeal, I would hug you and kiss you on the forehead, too.

Oh! Fluttershy exclaimed, caught by surprise. Um, th-thank you, she stammered, her face growing red.

Although, I suppose I could do that with your statuette-

No no, it’s alright, you don’t need to!

I sighed in relief as the door to Absolutely Everything opened; being a few minutes late, I was afraid Ditzy might have closed the store already. She clearly remembered our earlier agreement, as the moment when I set a hoof inside, her head raised from behind the sales counter, holding a note with the words Hello Angel! written on it.

“Hello again, sweetie,” I greeted her. “I’m terribly sorry about being a little late.”

She shrugged, smiling, as if saying “it’s okay”. As I came closer, she let go of that note and picked another from the counter, passing it to me.

Need to check everything before closing, I read. You can wait in my room. I left some snacks on the table, feel free to help yourself to them.

I looked up from the note to see Ditzy pointing at the door further in the back of the store, leading to the private part of her store, as I assumed.

“Thank you for being such a gracious host, sweetie. Don’t worry about making me wait, take as much time as you need,” I said, smiling at her as I headed towards the door.

Ditzy’s room was surprisingly small. A bit bigger than the one I had in my clinic, but not by much. Small bed, small table, some drawers in the corners with books on them. A lot of room took some mechanical contraption set in the corner, which after taking a careful look at I identified as probably the printing press Ditzy used to write Wasteland Survival Guide.

That reminds me, I still need to buy a copy, I noted, excited at the idea of reading a book about the Equestrian Wasteland. And I originally wanted to talk with her about the Hydra… and after seeing the size of her store, it would be nice to take a look through her merchandise…

I let my thoughts wander along those lines for a while, but they all stopped the moment my sight stopped on the table. Or, to be more precise, on the box of Fancy Buck Snack Cakes and apples that were on it.

My body took this time to remind me that I hadn’t eaten since morning. As if often happened in the past, my excitement about learning new things had distracted me from things such as eating. As my stomach gave out an embarrassing growl, I was suddenly very glad that Ditzy Doo still wasn’t in the room with me.

I hastily ate one of the apples, as well some of the cakes. I didn’t want my body to make a noise like that when Ditzy would join me. I also made a mental note to eat something nutritious before leaving tomorrow morning.

It would look really bad if I were to collapse out of hunger, I thought. Then again, overlooking all the possible dangers, an expedition through the Wasteland could be quite informative… would my excitement keep me on my hooves throughout it? Probably not, I decided, sighing. Considering all the walking it would include…

Just then I heard a sound of hoofsteps behind me. Swallowing the biteful from the second apple quickly, I turned to Ditzy. The ghoul pegasus came into the room, holding a chalkboard. Sorry it took a while.

“Oh, don’t worry about it sweetie,” I told her, smiling. “Are you ready to begin?”

Of course, she wrote as she sat beside the table next to me. What exactly do you need me to do?

“Nothing complicated, I assure you. First, I would like to ask you several questions, then I will need you to not move as I start examining you, unless I say so. I will also ask you to breath deeply at one point. Does that sound alright?”

Ditzy nodded, smiling, and motioned for me to begin.

“I’ll also be recording everything,” I added, raising my left foreleg and showing her my PipBuck. “Will that be alright with you as well?” Another nod from Ditzy. I smiled and said: “Then let us begin.” I cleared my throat and tapped my PipBuck, beginning recording. “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.05. Today I had encountered a pony suffering from a condition caused by the balefire radiation. Ponies like her are known in the Equestria Wasteland as ‘ghouls’ or ‘zombies’; the latter is considered to be an offensive name. Pony in this condition appears to be a reanimated corpse; her skin is flaking away, her flesh had begun to rot.”

I paused, both to catch my breath and to look at Ditzy’s reaction. A thought occurred to me that most ponies wouldn’t like to hear them being described like that. Fortunately, the ghoul pony didn’t seem to mind. In contrast, as if figuring out why I looked at her, she closed her eyes and smiled in a silly manner, as if saying “I don’t mind”.

Relaxed, I resumed my audio recording: “I will now attempt to examine the patient, and try to determine what exactly the balefire radiation had done to her. It is important to note that the patient had lost her tongue in an unrelated event, and as such she is incapable of speech. As such, any answers to my questions will be read out loud by myself after the patient finished writing them. I will begin now recording her personal data. Name: Ditzy Doo. Sex: female. Species: pony, pegasus. Age:...” I paused to give Ditzy a meaningful look. She nodded in understanding and quickly scribbled on her chalkboard her age. I glanced at it, about to read it out loud-

I pressed pause on the recording seeing the three-digit number.

“You’re… you…” I stammered, trying to wrap my head around it. “You’re over two hundred years old?! That’s… that’s amazing!” I exclaimed, leaning closer to Ditzy. To her credit, she leaned back only a little. “I had no idea it’s possible to extend pony’s age so drastically! And your body shows no signs of aging! Well, I suppose ‘no such advanced decay signs’ in this case,” I added in the afterthought. Shaking my head, I turned to Ditzy again. “So wait, you actually lived before the war!” As Ditzy nodded, I fell back on the floor. “Wow… I never thought I would get a chance to meet another pony born before the Last Day…” I murmured, shaking my head in disbelief, before once again leaning closer to her. “You have no idea how many questions I have for you!”

Ditzy smiled and quickly wrote: Well, that’s why we’re here, right?

I blinked. “Oh, right! The examination,” I exclaimed. I started the recording again and read Ditzy’s age, then paused again. “Thank you for reminding me, sweetie. Can we talk about the times before war later?” I asked.

Ditzy tilted her head thoughtfully before she wrote a reply. Sure!

Delighted at her seeing her smile, I resumed the audio recording. “Residence: New Appleloosa, Absolutely Everything. Occupation: proprietor of the Absolutely Everything general store.” Seeing Ditzy’s puzzled look, I paused again. “It’s just a routine ‘checklist’. Oh, marital status?” I asked.

For some reason, Ditzy found this question rather amusing. You really need to know that? Single, she wrote after she finished chuckling.

“Like I said, just a checklist,” I replied as I started recording again. “Marital status: single. Characteristic traits: the patient is a ghoul, suffers from strabismus, and is missing a tongue. I will now begin the physical examination of the patient. Casting the Diagnosis Spell.”

I rose to my hooves and stepped close to Ditzy. I lit up my horn and let my magic wash over the ghoul. She raised a hoof, which was now surrounded in a thin red aura, to her good eye, and waved it, but otherwise she didn’t seem to mind.

“Huh,” I murmured as my spell began gathering information, more to myself than for the audio recording or to Ditzy. “It would appear that… the patient is deceased, but her organs continue to work… what?” I asked nopony in particular, puzzled. “The patient’s heartbeat is within accepted norms, her blood travels through her veins around her body… but on the other hoof, her entire digestive system seem to be… Can you eat something?” I asked Ditzy, wanting to check.

The ghoul pony nodded and grabbed an apple. But not before writing on the chalkboard: Would have prepared muffins but there wasn’t enough time to go buy them. Ignoring the remark (but still making a mental note of it), I focused on the reading my spell gave me as food traveled down her esophagus. (It really would have been easier if she had agreed to exploratory surgery.

“The patient had taken a bite of an apple. She was able to swallow the bite and it traveled through her esophagus to her stomach, which began to digest it… except... not really?” I had to stop my spell, using it for so long on such bizarre body started to give me a headache. “It… seems that the patient’s digestive system mimics how it’s supposed to work, but only when she decides to eat something…” I said, trying to make sense out of it.

It escaped my notice that Ditzy was once again writing something on her chalkboard. When she was done she showed it to me. You could have just asked. Ghouls don’t need to eat. But we still enjoy it!

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You don’t…” I began, looking at Ditzy’s amused face, but then I recalled the audio recording. “The patient informed me that she doesn’t require nourishment, a trait that apparently extends to all ghouls. Is it the same with breathing?” I asked her. When she nodded, I scratched my chin. “The patient doesn’t require oxygen, either. It appears that ghouls are being sustained by…” I paused to once again cast my Diagnosis Spell. I noticed it before, but was too focused on Ditzy’s dead/not-dead organs to check it. I’d recognized what it was now, although I seldom had an occasion to treat ponies suffering from this. “... radiation. My patient has absorbed a small amount of balefire radiation. As I had been informed, ghouls are ponies who had been exposed to lethal amount of radiation and somehow avoided death. It would appear that aside from changing their condition, the radiation is being used by ghouls as source of nourishment. Interesting…” I mused. I looked over Ditzy as I continued: “While I am not familiar with the Balefire Bomb megaspells, I had read in memoirs of the first Stable Eight’s chief of medicine that they are made from necromantic spells. And as it is a well known fact, all megaspells leave behind a magical fallout. Theoretically, it is possible for the fallout of a necromantic spell to affect the body of the deceased pony and animate it… but the patient isn’t just an animated corpse, she’s fully sapient. I… suppose it means her soul must be bound to her body… ugh!” I exclaimed in annoyance as I paused the recording. “Why couldn’t they put any book about necromantic magic in Stable Eight!? Forgive me my outbursts, sweetie,” I told Ditzy after taking a deep breath. “It’s just that it’s annoying that I am reduced to theorizing about somepony’s condition because nopony thought about providing the Stable dedicated to studying magic with a book about the magic that destroyed Equestria,” I frowned, crossing my forelegs and pouting.

There, there? Ditzy wrote, trying to help despite being a bit confused (and a bit amused).

“Thank you, sweetie,” I smiled, then sighed. “I’m terribly sorry, but it appears that you are, in fact, deceased. And if that is true, I am not sure if it would ever be possible to return you to your previous condition, even for me. Reversing the effects the necromantic had on your body would also most likely reverse the effects it had on your soul, releasing it from the mortal plane and causing it to ascend to the Goddesses embrace,” I finished, frowning.

It’s alright, it’s not that bad. Really! Ditzy wrote, smiling.

I suppose it’s not, I mused. Not having need for nourishment and expended lifespan…

I cleared my throat, offered Ditzy a smile back again, and resumed recording. “Ditzy, would you be so kind to tell me how did you become a ghoul? And as you write your reply,” I added before she started, “I will begin examining your muscle structure… especially wings.”

Ditzy nodded in agreement and spread her wings as she began to write on her chalkboard. Trotting closer to her, I sat on my haunches and delicately pressed my forehooves at the base of her left wing, causing her to shudder for an instant.

Tickles, she wrote at the bottom of the board before she wiped it and resumed writing at the top.

As I did my best to identify all her muscles by touch and magic and describe them out loud - making a note at the beginning that someday I would need to find a book about pegasi anatomy to learn the actual names of the muscles and bones in their wings - Ditzy finished her reply. Since her entire reply wouldn’t fit on the small board, she filled it as much as she could, let me read it out loud for the audio recording, then wiped it and wrote the next part. It might cause the recording to be a bit messy, but I would later edit the entire thing when converting it to a written form on the terminal back in my lab anyway, so I wasn’t worried.

“It didn’t happen right away. It took months to change. I was flying from Cloudsdale to Canterlot, delivering goods for MoP, when the megaspell destroyed Cloudsdale. The force of the blast caused me to fall and lose consciousness. I was wounded. Met more wounded ponies. We used the supplies to heal ourselves, and tried to figure out what was happening and what to do. Our hair began to fall out, and over the next few days, skin. The whole process took weeks, can’t really remember how long exact it was. Hm,” I mused as I finished reading. “So you had been exposed to a massive amount of radiation, but you survived… but the radiation remained in you, and you started to change… I suppose being on the surface didn’t help. The entire Equestria would have been covered in varying levels of the necromantic fallout.”

Ditzy nodded and wrote another message. “Few months later winter came. The snow was green. And with no pegasi to control it, it was horrible,” I read. I paused my recording, snorting. “Abandoning other ponies, breaking their own vows taken upon the founding of Equestria…” I shook my head, utterly dismayed at those traitors. I resumed the recording. “I’ve been told that ghouls over time become ‘feral’. What exactly does that mean?” I asked as I began to check her other wing (just to be sure).

Even with the always-happy attitude Ditzy seemed to posses, she found this question saddening. I could tell as I read it that she didn’t like the answer she was giving me: “They say radiation eats ghouls brain. Dunno if it’s really true. They slowly become like zombies in old stories. Stop recognizing friends or anybody, don’t even talk, just attack you on sight.” I moved to stand before Ditzy after I finished reading, frowning. “Eats their brains? I suppose it could be that the decay had reached the concerned ghoul’s brain and damaged the temporal lobe, and maybe frontal lobe to some degree as well… But it doesn’t make sense.” I pointed at Ditzy. “You are most likely one of the first ghouls ever, and yet this hadn’t happened to you. And being exposed to more radiation doesn’t cause any changes in you anymore, right? It now nourishes you. So it can’t be that somehow being exposed to more radiation could cause to ‘eat ghoul’s brain’. What ignorant pony said that?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “No, the reason behind that must be somewhere else…”

However, no matter how much I try to figure out what it is, it will only be speculation, I noted, sighing. Unless I would manage to examine a feral ghoul, preferably alive.

“Will have to think about it later, I suppose,” I said to Ditzy. “Thank you for answering my questions, the examination is almost over. Just a few more things.” I tapped her shoulder. “You can feel that, correct?” I asked as Ditzy looked at me, puzzled. When she nodded, I glanced at her bed. “Could you sit on your bed, please? Hind legs outstretched. Thank you, sweetie,” I said as she did as I asked. I brought my head closer to her legs as I activated my magic, sending a small bolt to her knee, causing her leg to immediately jump. “Reactions are within normal levels,” I noted, then realizing the slightly offended stare Ditzy was giving me, I quickly apologized: “Oh, sorry, forgot to explain that I will be checking your reflexes. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Much to my relief Ditzy quickly lost the offended look and shook her head, smiling again. Sighing in relief, I once again moved to stand before her. Raising my PipBuck on her eye level, I turned on the light.

“Hm, pupils dilating correctly. Try to follow the light with your eyes,” I asked her as I moved my PipBuck. Only one of her eyes moved along with it. “Sweetie, you developed strabismus, your eye condition, before you became a ghoul, right?” I asked. When Ditzy nodded, I gently grabbed her face and tilted it a bit, giving me a better look at her odd eye. “Hm…” I hummed thoughtfully as I drew closer. “If you weren’t a ghoul, I might have been able to do something with it… I would have needed to examine it closely to be sure, of course. But I have no idea how your condition as ghoul would affect any attempts at fixing it. For I know, if I were to surgically correct it, it would reverse back when you would find yourself in a place with high radiation level,” I explained, frowning.

Ditzy shrugged, however, and in a corner of my eye I noticed her trying to reach her chalkboard with her wing. “‘It’s alright, I don’t mind’?” I asked. When she nodded and smiled, I smiled too. “Why couldn’t there be more ponies like you in Stable Eight… Hm, open your mouth please,” I asked, pushing away the brief feeling of nostalgia.

As she opened her mouth, I moved my foreleg so that my PipBuck would illuminate it a bit. I frowned seeing the stump that remained from her tongue. Like the entire interior of her mouth, it was rotted too. “Similarly with tongue, I don’t know how your condition would affect attempts at transplanting it. Maybe a tongue from a non-ghoul pony would work, maybe only from another ghoul, or maybe just a decayed one from a corpse would be enough. I’m just thinking out loud, sweetie,” I added as I felt her shudder uncomfortably.

Moving my hoof out of the way so it wouldn’t obscure my view, I looked over her mouth once again. “Hm, surprising amount of teeth considering your state,” I noted as I gently held placed my hoof on the side of her head. “Still, I would advise you seeing a dentist with- could you not roll your eyes at me?” I asked, frowning. As she once again shuddered, this time because of giggling, I resumed my examination. Unpleasant smell, but not possible to originate what is causing it. Could be coming from her teeth, entrails, her tongue… speaking of, over a half of it has been cut off. Judging by the surface, it was immediately cauterized, probably used a heated knife, could be why radiation couldn’t make it regrow... Feels-

Um, Angel?

Oh, hello Fluttershy, I replied, surprised at her interruption. What do you want? I’m a little busy.

Um, y-yes, I noticed, she replied sheepishly. Was she blushing? And why wasn’t she looking at me? Um, Angel… you… you might not have noticed, but, um…

Yes, what is it? I asked, starting to feel a bit impatient.

You’re kissing her.

I froze. I’m what?

You’re kissing Ditzy, Fluttershy replied, red on her face.

I opened my eyes (When did I close them!?) and realized that it was indeed true. I was still holding Ditzy’s head, but my own head had moved and instead of looking into her mouth, I now could see only half of her face from this angle, along with the side of her head. I also could see her eyes staring at me with wide open, as it was possible given our proximity. And as I moved my tongue, I felt the stump of Ditzy’s tongue and her decayed tonsils and palate, confirming that I was, indeed, kissing her.

Immediately I pulled away from her. A foreleg length away. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, horrified. “I-I didn’t mean for that to happen, I swear! I don’t know what came over me, maybe it’s because you are so fascinating and nice and kind and cute and funny and friendly, and maybe because we were sitting so close and I was touching you and we are in your room and you sitting on your bed and I hadn’t been with anypony in moths-augh!” I yowled, feeling something hit me in the head.

I shook, concentrating on my surroundings as I massaged the place where I was struck. To my utter horror I realize that it was Ditzy who hit me, with her chalkboard. However, that feeling quickly passed as I noticed that she wasn’t looking at me with anger, but rather concern. Better? she wrote after I calmed down.

“Um… yes, I think so,” I replied, looking down at the floor, my ears dropping. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t intend to hit on you, and I certainly didn’t intend to just start kissing you out of nowhere.”

I heard her writing, so I looked up. It’s alright. I was relieved to read that, but when I noticed Ditzy’s expression, I was… confused. She was too, apparently, as she was looking at me puzzled.

“Then what’s wrong?” I asked, worried that I ruined my relation with her.

You do realize that I’m a ghoul, right?

“Well, yes?” I replied, now even more confused. “So?”

Ditzy’s mouth hang open, causing me to worry for a moment that maybe I had caused her to pull some muscle somehow when I kissed. She closed it, however, and shook to recover before she wrote her next message. So I smell a little? As in, like a corpse?

“Um, so?” I asked, the snorted, amused. “Sweetie, do you have any idea how much time I used to spend around corpses? I am used to that smell.”

I had expected my answer to cause Ditzy to calm down, but it appeared to only deeper her… what was it exactly, confusion? Actually, now it seemed to change into fear… As I noticed that the apparition of Fluttershy was holding her face in her hooves, I realized that she might have misunderstood me.

“This is the moment when most ponies would say ‘this sounded a lot better in my head’, right?” I asked, blushing from embarrassment.

Kinda, Ditzy wrote.

Except… It didn’t really sound better in your head, Fluttershy added.

“What I meant was, I used to spend a lot of time when I was studying medicine,” I explained. “In my Stable, ponies sometimes offer their bodies for studies after they die, and medical students usually have priority when it comes to having access to them. We need to familiarize ourselves with pony’s body, after all. I used to spend hours without break studying them. I got used to the smell, it doesn’t bother me.”

This time, my reply seemed to calm down Ditzy. However, she was still… unsettled by what had originally caused her to be confused. She was about to write on her chalkboard again, but she hesitated for a moment, looked at me, then back at the chalkboard. Finally she sighed and wrote: Are you a necrophile?

That… really, really, really surprised me.

“Um… no? I don’t think so. Why would you-” I began to ask, but then I realized the answer to my own question. “Ditzy, you are not a corpse,” I told her firmly.

I know, but normal ponies don’t kiss ghouls! she wrote; I could tell that she was embarrassed about this.

I opened my mouth to reply, but then I realized why we were having this problem with communication. It was because of one word, one that was now written on the chalkboard.

Normal.

“I… I suppose you’re right,” I said, once again looking away from her. “I’m sorry, I… I know that I’m not a normal pony.” I chuckled and looked at my white hoof. “Right down to my DNA, actually. And… that doesn’t even begin to compare to my… personality. Normal ponies don’t talk casually about corpses, cutting ponies open and hugging ghouls, right?” I asked, glancing briefly at Ditzy. “Sorry I’m weird.”

Angel… Fluttershy began, placing a hoof on my shoulder, but then glanced in Ditzy’s direction and disappeared.

Looking up again, I realized that she was again showing me her chalkboard. It’s okay. You’re good weird. Turning to Ditzy, I saw looking me in the eyes with a smile before she leaned closer and hugged me.

Good weird… I repeated in my mind as I hugged her back. Would she still say that if she knew…

Did it matter?

“I’m sorry about kissing you without any warning,” I said after a few seconds of silence. “And… sorry, but I just don’t see why I wouldn’t kiss you just because you’re a ghoul,” I added as we pulled apart. “It just doesn’t matter to me. It probably makes me sound a bit… sluttish?” I asked, uncertain.

Ditzy scratched her chin before she replied. Dunno. Are you?

“Oh, sweetie, that’s just rude,” I frowned, but then (after both Ditzy and tiny Fluttershy looked at me with one eyebrow raised) I added: “But I suppose I did stick my tongue into your mouth without permission… I don’t think I am,” I replied. “I only had two lovers in my life. That points against it, right?”

I think so, Ditzy replied, then added below: Anyway, I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I didn’t mean for you to freak out. She waited for me to read it, before cleaning it and writing: I guess I was just shocked.

“‘Just shocked’?” I repeated, then smiled. “Does that mean that you didn’t mind it?”

No, was just surprised, she wrote, smiling back.

For the first time in months I felt something stir in my chest. “You know, Ditzy,” I purred, “I meant it when I told Candi that I wouldn’t make love to a mare I just met. But... I have nothing against kissing,” I said, leaning a bit closer.

Ditzy’s eyes snapped wide open. She practically jumped in the air as she began to hastily write a single word.

Straight.

I felt my ears drop as I saw Ditzy nervously pointing at herself. “You’re kidding,” I murmured, surprised. When the ghoul pony gave me an apologetic look, I sighed. “It’s alright. Just… figures I would find myself in such a situation with a straight mare.”

Despite her nervousness, Ditzy still crept closer to me. Sorry, she wrote, and looked like she really meant it. Then she added: You?

I snorted with amusement. “Do you know what decides which sex we are born with?” I asked instead.

Ditzy looked at me, puzzled. She hesitated before she wrote a reply. Yes, it’s the chromo-thingies with the DNA, right? Almost as if sensing I would raise an eyebrow at that, she also added: Been a while since high school.

“Yes, that’s correct. To make it short and simple,” I began; I knew from experience that ponies usually don’t like going into such details, “most of the DNA in our body is contained in chromosomes. They come in pairs, and we are given one set from our fathers, the other from our mothers. What decides our sex is the last pair. If the chromosome we inherit from the father is the chromosome X, then we are born as females. If it is the chromosome Y, however, we are born as males.” I turned to look Ditzy in the eye. “One chromosome. That’s all.” I leaned a bit closer. Ditzy shuddered nervously, but didn’t back away. “Isn’t it silly to decide your sexual orientation because of something like that?”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Cherches La Filly -- +10% damage to the same sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.
Quest perk: Ghoul Physiology -- You have learned about ghoul's physiology, as well as how to to exploit their specific weaknesses, and gain a +5 healing when treating one and a +5 damage bonus when attacking one (you can also use your knowledge regarding ghouls’ physiology for… other purposes).