Thunderstruck climbed the steps leading to the front door of house number five in Tranquility Lane, there were a few 'I' placards, or symbols to fit the theme of SPECIAL. How this was supposed to be the home to the Alicorn of Intelligence, but even with Adam the Ant's greeting and explanation of why they were here. Thunderstruck felt there wasn't any glaring points in her life that would rank her as the smartest pony around, let alone be worthy of the title of Alicorn of Intelligence.

"Alright, what's the reason? What makes me so smart?" Thunderstruck asked, reaching up and pressing on the latch to open the front door, she saw a normal foyer, hallway, living room and kitchen in the rear of the home, and as Adam the Ant described, there were framed pictures hanging up all along the hallway leading to the kitchen. Connecting the living room and kitchen was a dining room. A small simple four room layout with a tucked away bathroom and closet downstairs and an unexplored upstairs.

Passing over the threshold, Thunderstruck was suddenly disjointed from reality for a moment as the hallway grew hundreds of meters longer, the walls disappearing, but the pictures remained where they were, hovering in place. They seemed to glow, then grow larger as the pictures themselves started moving, bits and pieces of memories coming to life.

Thunderstruck only felt herself moving forwards, drawing closer to examine the first picture frame.

When she was a filly, her father and mother raised her and her four siblings all together on farm by the coast. Her father Black Ice was a earth pony, and mother Live Wire was a unicorn, her sister Bonnie was a Unicorn as well as their brother War Machine. Heat Seeker was an Earth Pony, while Lotta Rosie and Thunderstruck were both Pegasus.

There were other ponies to that she recognized, but their names completely eluded her. Ponies she was sure that were aunts and uncles on both sides, and she remembered cousins as well, but as they grew up, the home they were living in became to cramped and small, and both of their parents talked about them one day leaving the nest.

Her parents made water purifiers, showing them how to make fresh clean water and remove the radiation and any other toxins from the water before drinking, cooking, washing, or bathing in it. When Lotta and Thunder were born, their parents encourage the both of them by teaching them about the cycle of rain water and how to collect it. While Lotta could always get larger chunks of clouds, Thunderstruck was much faster.

Every day, her parents told her how important all of them were in helping with the cycle of rain to wash away the gunk covering the planet, and that with enough ponies working together, they could make lives better for a lot of people and ponies.

That was her life as a filly, helping her parents sell water, and watching her father go out and make filters, digging out wells, installing pipes. Her mother raised the five of them, walking them far around their home out through hills, up the coast, to the water's edge, letting them travel far and roam around exploring. Live Wire and Black Ice were one of the only families to have running water in their own home, and it was thanks to a electric box her mother knew how to make an electric water pump from scratch. She remebered her father leaving to go make or find more to keep working, and her mother always being there.

Her shared room came to mind, her and her sister Bonnie. The saddest memory came back as Bonnie was six when a cart accidentally rolled backwards and she was standing right behind it. Crushed her leg and stomach, pinched her between a hard place and the heavy cart, Bonnie ended up dying.

"Bonnie." Thunderstruck said, voice high-pitched and squeaky. Looking at her little sister, Thunderstruck was sad that this was the limit to how far her sister could grow up, but at the same time, seeing her now, she broke down in tears at how well the memory held up and how this place brought all those details back with such vivid detail she could reach out and touch her sister and feel the same hairs. The smell of her sister's fur really set her off though, the light-blue coat, white mane, green eyes, she couldn't believe how long it'd been since she thought about her sibling and was sorry for not thinking of her more. They sung songs, played games, but that memory of childhood stayed where it was, in the past.

\111/

The time Thunderstruck got her cutie mark, she was playing with clouds, jumping up and down on top of one like a bed or a trampoline, oblivious to the darkening thunderhead until as great big tremendous zap lightly shocked her hooves, but unleashed a lightning bolt that startled everyone and burned a small hole in their yard, but the feeling was so overwhelming and surprising, that when the thunderclap disappeared, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. Everyone's surprised face, she didn't know her own hair and mane was standing up on its end from all the static energy built-up, followed by the cloud raining itself out. It took someone else in her family pointing out that she got her Cutie Mark then and remembered smiling and being happy for a long time.

\111/

Nuka-World didn't come until years later, when there was a big community push. There were boring parts of her memories where she and her siblings followed her parents to a larger meeting hall in an old town, with humans and ponies coming together to lay out plans to retake Nuka-World. It was abandoned, nobody except ghouls and monsters were still holed up in the irradiated park, but with both humans and ponies working together, they were outlining details of progression and advancement.

They outlined all the fields, the proposed projects, housing, buildings, food, water, resources, caps, and how long it would take to finish each stage. Step one of course was to get a foothold in the main entrance, since the largest problem before anyone even attempted to move in was the pre-war ghouls still at the park.

Of 22,000 attendees in the first few hours of opening, over 2,000 ghouls still survived, adding in all the workers and staff operating the park as well, the amount of ins and outs, tunnels, gates, and figuring all of this out took years before they even announced how they were going to deal with the infestation and radiation problems.

Thunderstruck was a teenager when they first broke ground outside of Nuka-World. A small tent city that needed water and food, guns, ammo, and building supplies. Something Thunderstruck knew how to make and gather with her own hooves, she felt that she was always going to be needed for something, and that the ultimate truth in life was that a pony could go a long time without eating, but everyone needed to drink water.

All four of them migrated towards Nuka-World, there from the beginning with other ponies and humans living alongside each other. For years, they lived selling water for caps, and it was easy to build up a life doing that. Simple, good neighbors, good company, close family, there was a part of her that thought it was going to be easy.

\111/

The next memory was of the pony exodus migration from Vault 97, the Equestrian vault North of Springfield, Massachusetts. She was told almost all ponies in the state came from a single vault, but it had to open less than fifty years after the bombs fell to encourage genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding across generations. She was told this is where her grandparents came from.

Ponies coming from there were a weird group, but as she saw the memory replay itself, she realized why they were acting weird. They were driven from Vault 97 by raiders, over 30 miles away and relocated here to get away from the fighting and unsafe environment.

She should've realized then that was the first red flag on the horizon, the first warning sign that things weren't well for ponies. Her parents managed to provide a fantastic home for her and her siblings to grow up in, and traveling exposed her to not be afraid of humans, but with this fearlessness came with a lack of urgency when it came to actual threats. She didn't know how to identify them at first, which was the real issue.

The more ponies she got to know and parties she met up with, groups and families, she and the rest of her siblings all went their own separate ways, always meeting back up again, but growing in their own right.

There was all this build up of energy and emotion, and like a wave it carried them into the Nuka-World parks and sustained them for a whole year, even as the red flags all around them closed in.

Thunderstruck saw as the raiders showed up quickly, and then left. That was the one thing that stood out to her, how for a year before the gangs took over Nuka-World, things were changing inside. Gangs were pushing closer and closer to the into the valley, stories of how the passes were becoming less safe to travel at night, then leaked over into the day as well, soon enough people were hiring protection from point to point.

Thunderstruck met her first boyfriend a few months before this, but any chance of romance was ripped apart the day Nuka-World was taken over. It was not a memory she wanted to relive, nor the 13 months that followed.

\111/

September 22, 2277

They were running at Nuka world in a swarm of 500 raiders from over three separate gangs that all banded together for this insane attack. These weren't regular raiders either, coordinated, armed, driven, they ran through the gates and went for their food supplies first, then shooting at anyone with a gun in their hands, the whole invasion took less than two hours, but was a small massacre of 34 people and ponies, but things only turned from terrible, to miserable after that.

Marauding ponies were part of these gangs as well, but they were savage and nearly feral with thought. The way they attacked was with hooked or barbed ropes to lasso a pony or drive them down. They ran in and before Thunderstruck could even get a word off, four ponies she never saw in her life were beating her senseless, only to drag her out into the street and force themselves on her. She was kicked repeatedly, forced to crawl, her wings pulled, feathers ripped out, hair ripped from the roots. The Pack animals would fire off rounds and then press the white hot tip into her side and laugh as she screamed. It was all amusement to them, no words or pleading ever changed their mind or got through their skulls that they were causing pain and misfortune on everyone around them, even other members of their gang.

The only way she was able to get away from being raped was because three humans and two ponies all tried to kill each other just to get to her. Even then her modesty was far from spared, and she was beaten down to the point of breaking, not once could she ever figure out what caused them to act this way, to be this depraved and senselessly violent.

Thirteen months of torture, and she was still one of the ones who got to live.

The word slave got thrown at her so many times, she hated hearing the word. She hadn't flown in weeks, and was trapped backstage in the Pack's Ampitheater, and then dragged out to work at gunpoint, or even thrown on stage and forced to fight.

The worst part was the bomb and shock collars. She remembered the face of the man who put it on her and burned the image into her brain from memory, swearing to personally escort this one man to the lowest level of hell with a shovel in tow, bury him in the burning pits, and leave an unmarked grave for the evil, chaotic bastard to be forgotten for the rest of time. It was the least she could do for all the misery and fearful nights spent unable to sleep, terrified that the collar around their neck would detonate at any moment.

The same man detonated them indiscriminately, never showing any signs of how the ponies could act without being put at risk. There was never a set code or rules to follow, only the whims of a laughing devil.

There were truly evil people who wanted to spread as much fear, misery, and degeneracy as their terrible lives would allow, and would go out of their way and take losses every day than change their ways.

She was beyond relieved as she shut her eyes to the memory, and heard the familiar sound of the X-2 Rockets firing off on October 26th, 2278.

It was the most freeing noise she ever heard, it happened in the middle of the day when all the pegasus were being taken across the arcade to work on one of the five parks making up Nuka-World. That particular day, they were being shuffled over towards Safari Adventure Park, where a family of gryphons were holed up since day 1 of the Invasion, and were using the animals there as a food source.

The Pack raiders weren't smart enough to be trusted with a remote control to bomb collars, and that was their saving grace when the collars came off, and leashes instead linked them all together in a chain gang as they were trundled across the arcade to Safari Adventure.

The animals in Safari Adventure were beyond heavily radiated, monsters in size, like Deathclaws, only their heads were different. Gatorclaws, she remembered them being called. At night or in the heat of the day, the Gator claws were innactive, sedately reacting only to anything unless it came close enough to strike at. You could get right up next to them, but any sudden moves or loud noises instantly changed all that.

The X-2 Rocket blaster shook Nuka-World and woke all the Gatorclaws up at once. Twenty of them all going after the raiders on the ground,

Thunderstruck saw the Gatorclaws stirring, and was already off the chain-leash, having been turned free just moments before when the impossible noise distracted everyone at Nuka-World.

The next five minutes were the fastest in her life, after 13 months of inactivity and waiting for these moments, Thunderstruck tackled the one raider from behind, seeing her sister Lotta tearing at the cuffs around her hooves, she ripped the skin around her wrists and the bloody shackles fell away as she freed herself through brute force. She and thirteen others were all given a chance to run, and they took it.

As the shock wore off, and the marauders realized their animal slaves were escaping to their freedom, they shot them down. Refusing to let them leave, and unwilling to let them taste freedom either, Thunderstruck and Lotta swore not to look back. No matter what, don't look back.

The laughing devil was behind them.

Thunderstruck slammed her hooves into the memory, shattering it as she was suddenly embraced in warm arms around her.

She was an empty vessel when Nate and Meathead picked her up off the roof of the Atomatoys HQ, soaking wet and shot, Thunderstruck was breathing quickly, but couldn't resist as hot water was poured over her mane, fingers mussing through her mane to remove any knots or bugs, Shaking loose dirt and blood, Meathead cleaned Thunderstuck with every careful intention and selfless thought.

Thunderstruck saw what she looked like the day she escaped Nuka-World and didn't recognize the mare, it didn't even look like a pony or a pegasus, a skin-and-bones animal lousy with patches of fur missing. Cutie Mark non-recognizable, chafe around her neck,

Meathead was an unexpected encounter in her life, he saw her from Diamond City, and followed her because of his fascination and admiration of Equestrians. He looked at her the same way her parents did, with that look of knowing she had unlimited potential, able to move the skies and bring so much for everyone by working together.

Watching herself shed and grow in the Changeling pod, it was a unique experience of feeling her stress wash away, the scars of the raiders from Nuka-World fade, the one physical memory she felt was the experience of being full. The last six days of her life from the moment she was pulled free from the pod, she felt nothing but love, joy, happiness she hadn't experienced in so long, sadness where she could cry and let the mourning properly take place without being struck or yelled at, or told to shut up and be quiet. Meathead knew exactly how Thunderstruck felt at every moment of the day and did everything he could to bring out the positive emotions in her.

She didn't realize it back then, but seeing the memory replay now made her want to wrap her hooves around the changeling and pull him into a hug. Thunderstruck told herself to thank Meathead when she saw him again. Changeling magic helped tamper the strength of the negative emotions trapping her, preventing her from acting, and now as the events of the last week played out infront of her, she felt like she was looking at the backside of her head.

Rescuing Cherry Fizz from Libertalia on the 4th of November, the death of James Wire on the 5th, Serin Copper, Warner, and Hollow Point all gathering supplies to move on the 6th, their trek North with Nick Valentine, fighting the Gunners, the mutants, and the Forged Raiders, then the caravan across the Commonwealth on the 7th where they met Jackson and his group Zoe, Ada, and Hertz. The arrival of Cait and Leighla, fighting the Mechanist bots, and then the arrival of Crab Cake, Poppy Cake, Sea Shell and Tin Hut on the 8th. Then all of today on November 9th.

She had a long busy six days since then.

Her fight with Sparks, she rembered not getting angry at the power-armored covered pegasus, only frustrated that she didn't allow reason or was willing to listen and had to resort to fighting. It seemed like a waste of time and effort as she watched the battle replay, which was maybe why she wasn't trying to kill the Pegasus, only knock her down long enough so they could stop more pain and suffering from being spread.

All she wanted to do her whole life was to create a place like her parents had, a home that was welcoming and inviting. A place where ponies could do what they've always done without the force of threats behind them. It was that love she felt coming from all around her that made her want to chase after it.

That feeling of being cared for, unsolicited sympathy and love only came from four faces and names in her life. Live Wire, her mother, Black Ice, her father, and then from Nate, and Meathead the Changeling.

"Life can be..." It was hard to say better, but even her brief converstaion with Adam the Ant stirred her towards rethinking how she saw life. Life can be both good and bad, but that doesn't mean she had to let the pain of the past and present make her suffer in the future.

She wanted to tell others that as well, bring more ponies to the safe haven of Sanctuary Hills so that one day they too could feel that same way.

"Life is."

\111/

At the end of the hallway, the endless expanse of her memories faded and she was standing in a small kitchen with a stove, sliding glass door out to the backyard, table that could seat four, and a small island in the middle with counters and a sink. Refridgerator and appliances, there was a tea-kettle on the stove that was finished steaming and around the kitchen table, separate from the dining room, was Princess Twilight Sparkle brewing a tea-pot with two mugs sitting on coasters and a knit tea-cozy over the pot to keep it warm or prevent their hooves from being burned.

"I hope you don't mind I made some tea for the two of us, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I'm the Alicorn of Magic. I'm the one who crafted this whole spell matrix were living inside of right now."

Thunderstruck didn't know what to say at first, and Twilight picked up on her hesitation, "I was just looking over your book here of everything you've done in your life, and I have to hoof it to you, you're a pretty smart cookie."

"Am I really bound to be the Alicorn of Intelligence? Why? I don't feel...that smart."

"Smarts and Intelligence are two vastly different things. It's how we apply our intelligence and our skills, our knowledge and experience that displays intellect. A pony can be incredibly smart, but have no intelligence on how to use and apply their accumulated knowledge, while as any creature in the world can be intelligent and even lack a brain." Princess Twilight said, taking her tea and sipping it.

"Intelligence is all relative to what we consider useful or applicable to our lives. I know that you are the best candidate for Alicornhood because of how you treat others, and want to be treated, because you are special. You were born instilled with hope and longing for a peaceful life, not to better the world, or seek conquest, but to just make life better for those around you. Since then, you've been a magnet for attracting more ponies to you and doubting if all this effort you've been putting into making things work were for naught. I'm here to tell you it's okay to have doubts, it's okay to be scared or worried, because I've seen you overcome and break free of those bonds holding you back time and time again. This is a step in a different direction than what you normally would've chosen in life, but one that can be utilized properly who knows what needs to be done to improve not only herself, where every task and motion around you is done with full conscious devotion, mindfullness and thought. Once we acheive those goals, we realize we want to share and bring others to that level of awareness as well."

"What makes me intelligent?" Thunderstruck asked, "I...know a little bit about computers, I...know math, and how to read...how to build and a hoofful of other things but am I really the smartest pony for the job?"

"Thunderstruck, I'm glad you asked that, because when I was becoming the Alicorn of Magic, I too thought that there must've been some kind of cosmic mistake. I felt confused, unsure of myself, heavily doubted myself at first, and tried to downplay how much magical reserves I suddenly had access to. It's normal not to feel comfortable at first, this is an entirely new experience, and change is a constant in life with this being a massive one that intends to lengthen yours considerably. I don't get to choose who gets to be Alicorn of what, Thunderstruck. All I can do is set the conditions for a pony to become one, and hope that it grows. Even trying to seed Alicornism and set the conditions on Equestria, we still have yet to introduce any more Alicorns to our world in 282 years. That is why I suspect the efforts of SPECIAL will also result in a 'reversal of the scales', where the cycle of Alicornism is expected to drop significantly to Equestrian levels after SPECIAL achieves its first goal of uniting together."

"So were still waiting then?"

"Yes. We're still waiting for the last two Alicorns to be born."

"What happens when you say the scales tip back the other way...what's that mean?"

"Something you should expect, Thunderstruck. That as you've gotten stronger, the foes you face, the ease at which problems come and go, the amount of energy it takes to deal with larger and larger issues. Even now I'm presented with challenges and threats that seem insurmountable, but with the friendships I've built up over the years, the experiences shared along the way, these tasks don't feel all that overwhelming looking back at what's been accomplished before. Yes you will be going against people and monsters taller than you, stronger, or smarter, but your own skills and learning will scale to meet any problem laying infront of you. I want you to be the Alicorn of Intelligence, Thunderstruck, I believe that you are here for that reason, and I'm here to help you with moving into that next stage of life."

"And what's that supposed to look like?"

"Even after you ascend to Alicornhood, you'll still face creatures and groups that will challenge you because they want to prove that their bonds and power is greater than your own. Whether you spend your life being humble, or egotistical, the universe seems to introduce you to people who constantly challenge you and your character. Even after assembling, there will be a equally large pushback of force that says not to go down this road anymore, to give into their path and follow a different one, denying you of your capabilities."

"Was I really about to die? I wasn't hurt. I won my battle against the other pegasus...I performed a sonic boom with my sword breaking the air-resistance infront of me to burst the massive raincloud."

"That's an interesting dilemma, but not one for Adam to decide. For he wasn't there. Adam was formidable in his own right, but like all heros, they're fading rapidly to myth and legend. Adam the Ant, as well as the rest of the SPECIAL Alicorns need to remeber that you forget. That memories are only as clear as they are from one perspective. He says his body was vaporized mid-flight after detonating a nuclear warhead. But...how was he able to trigger the bomb?"

"He would've had to get infront of it...punching it wouldn't of worked...or grabbing onto it and changing it's flight path. Forcing its trajectory straight down to the ground. Unless he had a trigger for that specific warhead...I don't...know?"

"So after changing the trajectory of one outcome, why not use his wings and fly away? You see, the paths of many people and the tools they use go in every direction across the whole planet and beyond. We all have a path in life, and right now, our two paths are running parallel to each other for this brief moment of time. We are not immortal. But Adam the Ant went through great strife to acheive what he has done. He endured a great amount of suffering and pain, loss, heartbreak, and still carries on. In a way, he has died. He remembers what the past did to him, and died in that moment. He feels that what would've killed a regular person happened to him. Only, he survived, and because of that, he may feel that he is dead, yet still alive. He's dealing with the trauma of that. We are not immortal, we are not perfect, we are falable, and it will take more than one time casting the grand spell to fix the earth. Small actions of the individual can help raise up others around you. Disagreements can be resolved, perspectives can change, healing can happen if we allow them and acknowledge we are bound to live long lives. How you spend the next millenia will be up to you. Happy, sad, excited, angry, joyous, jealous, wistful, mournful, exuberant, vengeful, or loving, those are phases and emotions that we can choose to balance and decide which ones wash over us like waves, and then recede back into the sea."

"So...I didn't die...?"

Princess Twilight laughed, "You're still here, talking to me, aren't you? I don't think that would happen if you were dead."

Princess Twilight poured the tea, "Which is why I brought along the keys to this place and turned on the lights for you. Furnace is on, electricity works, thermostat for central heating, upstairs bed and bathroom, guest room, along with basement storage too."

"Why the superficiality?"

"Because when I was designing this place, I wanted this place to have a certain feel to it. A type of warmth that could only be found in a neighborhood where ponies and people could come together and play or sit and read, enjoying the afternoon sun. A paradise with only minor inconvenience to remind Alicorns and everyone who came here that as powerful as we are, we still rely on others to get small jobs done. You can invite ponies here, for a bit, but they too must eventually return home. Growing up, I believed in being a perfectionist, that everything needed to be perfect, which slowed me down considerably. Too much time spent on trying to get details that weren't even mentioned in history books to please others in the moment, which is why all of Tranquility Lane is the way it is. It's not perfect, but it will accomplish the job and fulfill the needs of everything residents will need for their time here. I remember moving out my first time, how I thought my first home would be my forever home." Princess Twilight took a moment to reflect on her past dwellings, "It's not permanent, but I wanted to make it inviting as I could be for the time being."

"Thank you," Thunderstruck said, accepting the mug of tea.

"My greatest challenge now is finding all seven of you. I feel like I've been sailing through a cosmic ocean aboard the Pequod, and when one of you rises from the deep, I can't help but give chase with all my effort because of how excited I am. I just have to remember not to get over-involved, otherwise I'd end up dragging myself down too."

It was a clay mug, cast over and shiny, textured to fit in the frog of her hoof, without a handle on the cup. The scent wafting up was floral and berry, sweetened with dried fruit and honey, the orangish-red tea swirled around in her glass before sipping it. Taking the tiny vapors of steam off the top of the mug, she could feel the beginning of a tiny cloud forming in the palm of her hoof. Princess Twilight was observing her, smiling and laughing as the tiny raincloud appeared over the cup.

"There she blows," Twilight chuckled, "There she blows," She quoted again, drawing energy into her horn, Princess Twilight was building up energy to a spell, "A hump like a snow-hill. It is Moby Dick."

Pointing down to the mug, Thunderstruck saw all of the Charles Bay and all of Boston. She didn't know what a whale was, but an object the size of one was swimming in the Charles Bay rose to the surface and breached.

Thunderstruck felt the whole ocean inside her cup expand and grow, touching the top of the tiny cloud it thundered and struck lightning, while Thunderstruck fell into the waves of tea.

Plunging down she could feel the base of her forehead grow heavy, like a harpoon-lance growing out the tip of her skull.

She was falling again, down through the clouds, the lightning coursing and crashing all around her, down past the clouds, down past the skyscrapers. Through the air and through the roof of the Robco factory where an enormous ball of plasma branched out and struck all the electric machines, causing a blackout from the overloaded circuits.

\111/

Merry Christmas