Chapter 15

Wagons and Thunder.

You know how some say that marijuana is a gateway drug, well I can certainly say that now. For some it’s a gateway to even worse chems, others massive amounts of food. Me, well for the first time in a long time, it was a gateway to a good night’s sleep. And not like spent all night having sex with Cherry, but more like the relaxing, restful sleep that makes you wake up and momentarily forget where you are.

When my eyes finally managed to creak open, and the confusion subsides quickly when I feel Cherry pressed to my belly, breathing peacefully. I wrap my hooves around her, hugging her to my chest as I lay my head upon hers and kiss her cheek lazily. I wanted nothing more than to just lay there, and fall back asleep with her, before a loud snore caught me off guard, as I knew it hadn't come from her.

I look past her, to the other side of the room, where I had forgotten that Rogue had made a bed. The large alicorn laying on his back, snoring with abandon, his belly exposed to the ceiling, and his back leg twitching with his dreams. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight, allowing myself to relax on Cherry's shoulder with a small sigh and smile.

I remain like that for a time, but then nature calls, and I carefully and quietly make my way to the bathroom. Luckily, I didn’t wake Cherry or Rogue as I tiredly stumble out of bed, and once I finished my business, I glanced in the mirror, and saw my messy mane and face. I had forgotten to shower last night, and felt that since I was already awake, I would go ahead and take one.

I had no sooner gotten the water hot before the door was shoved open and Cherry entered, her mane a mess and the fur on her face messy from sleep and drool. But before I could even say good morning, she sluggishly pushed past me to the toilet, and I blushed as I realized what she was doing. Rather than stand there like an idiot, I jumped in the shower, and turned my back to Cherry, only so I couldn’t hear or see what she was doing and began washing my hair with my wings.

I don’t know if Cherry was even aware of how awkward she made this morning, or if she was entirely comfortable around me. Either way I didn’t know how to process it and decided to just focus on getting clean. As I turned out, my suspicions about her being comfortable with me were proven correct a moment later as I suddenly felt a hoof on my ass as she gently nudged me aside and joined me in the shower.

I guess I should have expected it, but it did surprise me a little, and even more so when I didn’t feel her hoof leave my flank. I glanced over at her, and knew I was toast when I saw the look in her eyes. “Uh Cherr…” was all I got out before I was completely interrupted by her pressing her lips to mine, and her tongue entering my mouth. My eyes widened, she was rarely so forward, usually waiting for me to reciprocate, but this time I could sense her need, a hunger behind the kiss that was hardly disguised. I didn’t know how to process this, but Cherry surely knew what she was doing as I felt myself spun around to face her, and the kiss deepened.

At first I was apprehensive, but with the hot water and the fact that I was waking up properly, I let my reservations go, and reached up with a hoof to hold her head, and pull her against me, returning the kiss just as passionately as I could. I felt and heard her moan softly as I trail my hoof down her back to cup her ass, a sensation that pushed her lust even further as she pushed me onto my back legs, with my wings pressed against the tile wall. She stood up with me, pressing herself hard against my abdomen, our kiss turning into a sloppy mess as she grinded herself against me.

I shiver lightly despite the hot water, and felt my stallion hood awaken as well, and so too did the aroused mare. Feeling the extremity hard between her legs, she brought her thighs tight around it, the supple flesh wrapping around the shaft, making me moan softly against her mouth as our tongues dance and fight for dominance of the others mouth. Cherry too, moaned lewdly as she grinded herself harder, and I felt a warmth that had little to do with the shower, soak my lower extremity.

I lost myself to the lust shared between us, and began matching her motions, feeling her aroused marehood sliding along the top of my member. My hoof holds her rump, the suppleness of it forming around my hoof, driving the two of us crazy with arousal. Cherry continues to use her inner thighs to massage and tease my member, the tightness of her grip allowing her to feel the blood rushing through my body and my elevated heart rate.

Cherry, with a loud moan, pulls away from the kiss, and looks down between us, the sight of my stallion hood pulsing between her back legs making her shiver in delight like I had been. As usual, little had to be said between us in these kinds of situations, I already knew what she wanted. Or I thought I did and was again surprised as Cherry pulled back from me, and pressed her belly to the shower wall, and shifted her tail aside. I blushed as she used a hoof to pull her flank open, and with a pleading look, I knew then that she wanted me in a way we hadn't yet done.

“Wait…there?” I ask, confused, intrigued, and worried about hurting her.

“Just do it!” Cherry commands with need in her voice, and I gulp but nod as I press my belly to her back and guide my stallion hood between her flanks. I shivered from nerves, but Cherry made it clear that she wouldn’t ask again as she pushed back and took me inside her with the loudest moan yet. I couldn’t tell if it was pain, pleasure or both, but I knew this was what she wanted, and to be honest, the new feeling my member was experiencing was just enough to slap my reservations aside.

Like I had when I awoke, I wrapped my forelegs around her body, holding her against my chest as I went to work, pushing and pulling myself in and out of her. I held nothing back, my own moans mixing with hers as she pushed back at the same pace as me. I took her mane in my teeth, pulling it and her head back just as I buried myself in her, feeling my hips slap her flank and making her howl in delight. I swear I even saw her eyes roll back as I filled her rump.

I completely lost myself to the act, lifting her right leg up with a wing, and thrusting harder, eliciting a more intense and powerful orgasm than she had had with me previously, her whole body shook as I worked, but never once did she ask me to stop. I knew she was loving everything I did and had more I could do. With her leg held up, I continued thrusting in and out, as one of my forelegs moved down to tease her burning mare hood, and I felt the fur of my hoof grow immediately slick with more than just shower water as I rubbed her.

“F…fuucckkkk!” She moaned out loudly, not even worried about waking Rogue at this point, and neither was I as I continued to please her. Together we pushed against the other, me giving her my hard member in her ass like she wanted, and her pushing back on me, wanting more. I obliged as I speed up, pinning her to the wall, and teasing her pulsing mound with a hoof, pushing her to another orgasm which turns the red unicorn into a trembling and moaning mess of horny mare.

Ya know, I heard ponies talking about how amazing shower sex is, but not one of the mentioned what happens when you slip.

Cherry was cumming so hard, and I was focused on her too much, that when I noticed we were slipping it was too late. Luckily my instincts kicked in enough to spin so I landed on my back, with cherry atop me. But the impact was enough for all my stallion hood to slam into her, making her howl and oddly cum again.

“Cherry are you ok?!” I ask despite my own pain, and Cherry, despite hurting as well, spun around, rotating on my member, which was an odd feeling, and leaning down to kiss me, and shield me from the hot water.

“Mmmmm fuck yeah, keep going!” She said with a sultry tone, before slowly beginning to bounce on me, taking control herself now. I was now pinned to the floor, Cherry riding me, and her wet mane hanging around my face. I couldn’t help myself, reaching up and grabbing her face to kiss her passionately. She kissed me back, her tongue entering my mouth, further surprising me.

Together we bumped, humped, and grinded against the other for what felt like a hour or more. Long enough for our hooves to get pruned from the water, and our lust to be spent. Cherry used her magic to turn the water off, before slumping atop me, satisfied but also exhausted. I was as well, not to mention sore from our fall, and the repeated abuse my hips took from Cherry bouncing on me, though I bet she hurt even more, but I also knew she wouldn’t complain.

We laid there for a while, just catching our breath, before standing and washing ourselves properly this time. Cherry wore a satisfied smile the entire time, even when she used a towel to dry her mane. I meanwhile felt odd. this was completely different than any other time her and I had done something like this. Usually it was passionate but loving. This felt primal, and it really taunted my brain. I just couldn’t put my hoof on why.

Cherry though, seemed to not notice my behavior, even humming to herself and looking into the mirror as she tried styling her mane. Then something caught my eye. A trick of the light? Soap in her eye? No. The red I saw, wasn’t the normally white sclera that had been irritated. No, her irises had taken a ruby hue, and my heart sank as I realized what was going on, and who it was I had done it with.

“J…Justice?” I asked with a shaky voice, and the mare looks at me, the red only intensifying in her now steely gaze.

“Should've known you'd figure it out, how could I expect any less of the stallion who kicked my ass on my home turf.” She said, the tone of her glassy voice not matching up with the usual gruff sultry tones of my lover.

Rather than just balk or let the guilt of what just happened consume me, I needed to focus on why she had taken control of Cherry like this and figure out a way to bring my mare friend back to her own body.

“What do you want, Cherry told me you usually show up when something bad is going on, like bandits or something.” I growled in anger at what she had done with Cherry's body, and that I even had a hoof in it.

“Now now, don’t rush a lady, its so rare when I get to come out here, just let me enjoy it a little longer.” She crooned and pressed a hoof to my chin, which I Immediately batted away with my own. And let me tell you, doing that to any part of Cherry bothered me, even if this bitch was test driving her.

“Oh, how rude, what a way to treat your Mare friend. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? Ohhh wait, of course she didn't what was I thinking!” She exclaimed, but the sarcasm dripping with venom was obvious to me at this point, and any attempt at polite conversation was dashed entirely, not that I minded at that moment.

I stepped closer to Cherry/Justice and with a low growl I addressed her. “You are no lady, nor a mare in any sense of the word. You're just a parasite living in Cherry's mind. Now crawl back to whatever dark pit of her subconscious you came out of and bring her back.” I finished with a snarl.

“Mmm how intimidating, can't say I blame Cherry for liking you, especially with what you can do down stairs. Oh, and I don’t mean to make this about your age or your race, but you better watch your tone with me, boy." She purred before glaring daggers at me.

“Ya know, it feels like both those things when you end it with the word “boy.” Any way, what do you want, besides pissing me off?” I deadpan, and She just looks at me before rolling her eyes at me.

“Wow, no sense of poetry in you huh? Just had to kill all the fun. You really need to learn how to relax.” She said, adding more seduction to her tone and replacing her hoof on my cheek.

“Is there a bathroom break somewhere before getting to the Goddess damn point?” I seethe and knock the hoof back yet again. Not in the mood for anymore of her shit.

She sighs and shakes her head before fixing me with her crimson gaze yet again. “You bore me, truly you do. Especially when I come bearing gifts of knowledge. I mean, you have no idea how hard it is to hear the whispers of the dark when the mare I am stuck in is so weak.” She complained, and I bristled.

“Did you forget that you're the one who made her weak to begin with? Just because you wanted to have a pissing contest with Rogue?” I grumble, my ears lying flat atop my head.

“Semantics, besides, I'm not so sure I should tell you that Phanes is messing with things in the north that a gryphon should not play with, not after you were so rude to my generosity.” She said with her sing-song voice.

“You just did.” I deadpan, and she looks back to me, faux shock in her expression.

“Did I?! Must have been a slip of the tongue.” She said playfully, before glancing down between my hind legs.

“Alright that’s enough of this shit. Bring Cherry back now, or I will come in there and get her myself. And if you are as weakened as you say you are, that’s a fight you don’t want." I threaten, and from the tone of my voice, she knew I would do it too.

“Oh fine, you can have your precious ruby mare back, you're no fun anyway.” She said, before collapsing. I had just barely managed to catch her before her head hit the floor, silently cursing that bitch for doing this to Cherry.

“Uh… wha… Moonshine?” Cherry asked groggily, her eyes flickering open, and I noticed they were back to their usual hazel hue.

“Yeah Cherry, it’s me, I got ya.” I said softly as I helped her to her hooves.

She winced as she stood up, and her back legs wobbled as she inhaled sharply from pain. “Um, why does my ass feel like it's on fire?” She asked, and I gulped. There went my hopes that she had at least instigated it.

*page break*

I sat, ears back and my head hung low. I had just told Cherry everything that happened, Rogue having been woken up when we came back into the room and deciding to fuck off. Silence fell between us, and as it grew longer, I felt more and more self-conscious and growing more and more upset at what had transpired. Then Cherry let out a sigh, and slumped against the wall, a cigarette in her mouth and her eyes shut. Then, lowly she spoke, making me look up at her.

“Ya know… as much as my ass hurts, and I am pissed at Justice, I gotta say, you thought it was actually me, and did that because you thought I wanted it. I can’t be mad at you, hell I can see it bothers you… So, tell ya what…” She said, before leaning in and looking me in the eye, the hazel orbs glaring into my own. “I wanna be present for it this time…” She said coolly, and I felt the hairs raise up on the back of my head at her tone, and the sudden sultriness of her voice.

My eyes widened at the sudden shift in the air, and it took me a full minute to realize what she meant. Cherry, to put the metaphorical cherry on top, stood and turned around before lifting her tail. “If my ass is gonna hurt, I want to experience why.” She said with salt in her voice, but the sight she presented showed that she was actually interested.

“You…you’re you right? Not Justice fucking with me again?” I ask, nervousness creeping into my voice. Cherry just looks at me, and points at her eyes, making me pay attention to their color.

“My eyes aren’t red right? So that means its me. So, get up here and show me what you did.” Her tone firm at first took on an air of arousal that I was all to familiar with. You know the kind of tone a mare can rarely use that would make an earth pony jump off a cliff, yeah, needless to say I was fucked.

(Pun totally intended.)

*Page Break*

This happened mostly like it did before save two important details. One, Cherry was most definitely her, and two, we didn’t fall over this time. Well not until it ended like sex usually does, with both of us falling onto the bed, panting and pouring sweat. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt Cherry’s as well against my chest as we moved into a familiar cuddle.

“Son of a bitch…” Cherry panted, her breathing fast as her wide eyes stared into mine, and I shushed her with a small kiss.

“Are you going to be alright?” I ask between gasps of breath, my hooves massaging her tense back. It took Cherry a moment to wrap her thoughts around my question, finally settling on a nod so she could focus on getting her breath back.

We remained like that for a while, relaxing and catching our breath, the events of the morning having been a little more than usual for us, but despite Justice and her bullshit with what she did to Cherry, it seemed to be turning out alright, and even though what we had done was not even close to the intimate love we usually shared and was more akin to just wild sex, I felt that we had grown even closer together.

After another hour of cuddling and soft kisses, and of course another shower and a healing potion split between us so we could get on with our day not hurting or sore, we both got dried off, and after both finding and pocketing Blackjack’s note in my bag, Cherry and I left the room, eager to enjoy the rest of the day.

“Hey, I’m gonna go get us some food, you wanna go?” She asked, her mood drastically improved from earlier. I shake my head softly, and explain that I wanted to find Whisper, if only for more advice on fighting, and maybe even work in another spar with the yellow Pegasus. Cherry gave a knowing smile, and I looked aside bashfully.

“Alright, while, you’re at it, just admit you like fighting her.” She said jokingly before knocking her rump against mine and trotting off in search of food. I watch her go, both confused at her comment, and happy to have such an accepting mare in my life. I was left shaking my head despite the smile on my face as I made my way toward the training room.

I was in no hurry, figuring I had the time to kill, I knew whatever it was that Shady was working on would take time, so why not use it to rest up more and maybe even polish up my skills further. I was lost in my own thoughts, properly relaxed and enjoying the walk through the stone corridors. “Tenebrae Where the fuck are you!” I heard a shout around a corner, and wisely came to a stop as a pale bat pony came to the junction ahead of me, a scowl on his face. Then he sniffed the air, and I saw an ear twitch in my direction before he snapped his head my direction and snarled.

“If you think keeping quiet will keep you from getting my breakfast, you’re mistaken girl” He growled lowly and advanced. It was only at that moment I fully noticed that he was blind, his eyes having been cut apart with a sharp blade. Despite the wrinkled and haggard appearance of the buck, I still got chills being near him, and I sensed that he had once or maybe still was more bite than bark, and his bark was plenty vicious.

“I’m n…” Was all I managed to get out, but the buck didn’t pay it any mind as he reached out deftly, a speed that surprised me from the old stallion. I ducked the surprise attack, and leapt back, using a powerful flap of my wings to carry me back enough to get into a defensive posture. That didn’t sit well with him, and even though I tried to get a word in edge wise, it fell on deaf ears. “You can’t evade me forever Daughter, seven years of eternal darkness has heightened my senses!” He snarled, and lunged again, and I couldn’t help but remark about his lack of attention span under my breath as this time, I stepped in and knocked the wild attack aside, before moving to his side, and shoving my weight against him, pinning the old stallion to the wall before tapping my hoof against his skull.

“Listen asshole, I’m not your daughter, and maybe she would be more receptive to your needs if you didn’t act like such a royal dick.” I snarled in his ear, and for a moment the buck froze, shock on his face. But before he could bother to respond, both of us heard a gasp from behind us, and I turned to look, seeing a slender bat pony mare, and I could tell at a glance that she was old, but aging better than most mares half her age. I couldn’t put a number on her age, but the stern look she fixed me and the old stallion with, belied an experienced mare, who like most grandmothers had no tolerance for shenanigans and general tomfoolery.

“What are you doing to my husband?!” She asked, her glassy voice carrying a stern tone and scolding. Sensing that I had an opportunity to explain myself I let the stallion free and faced the mare.

“I think it was a misunderstanding, I think your husband mistook me for some pony else and tried to grab me.” I explained simply, and it must have been a common story as she sighed and shook her head before stepping closer and the look of anger at me ebbed and was replaced with a look of apology. Seemed this was more common an occurrence than she would like.

“Misunderstanding my ass boy! You attacked a King, and then called me a royal dick to my face!” He snarled as he rounded on me again, and my ears fell back as his words hit home. “If I was ten years younger, your entrails would already be scatted along these walls, and they wouldn’t air it on the news because it would be so brutal!” He growled, inches from my face, and despite the now intimidating air and the realization of who this stallion was, I didn’t back down, and mustering all the toughness I could muster, I stepped in and pressed my forehead against his and growled back…

“King or not, ten years younger or not, I don’t care. You don’t just go grabbing any pony you want and try to thrash them for not being who you were expecting. And if your senses were as sharp as you claim, you would have been able to tell just from my heartbeat and breathing pattern that I wasn’t your daughter. You said you live in eternal darkness? Is that cause you live your life with your head up your ass? Or were you just born that ignorant.” I snarled back, and I felt the old king tense like he was about to strike me down where I stood, but a sudden snicker from the older mare made both of us freeze.

The snicker then turned into a full bellied yet polite laugh from the beautiful mare, and any rising blood pressure I had, and the readiness to fight was also sliding away. And from the shift in the King’s attitude I could tell that her laughter was doing the same for him.

“Oh… Oh my sweet Luna that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” She said softly after a moment, using a kerchief to wipe at her eyes as she still chuckled. “I haven’t seen Hades verbally thrashed like that in decades. Not since he was still a hot-headed Prince, thinking he owned the whole place.” She jeered at the now named pony, who narrowed his brows tightly at the mare.

“You mean he isn’t still?” I asked with a dead pan tone, which not only elicited more giggles from her, but even a full-on snort. I spared a glance at the weathered monarch, and saw him torn, on one hoof, I could sense he wanted to try ripping me apart, but on the other, I could tell his wife’s laughter was something rarely heard these days.

“Persephone, you are really just gonna laugh at everything this impudent little worm says?” askes the King, and with a playful wink in my direction, she faces her husband once more.

“Oh no dear husband, only when he stands hoof to hoof with you, and says the things you need to hear.” She retorted, and while Hades attention was solely on her, she gave me a silent wave, shooing me away, and I took the hint with a gentle nod, and left the older couple alone to discuss her husbands behaviors in private, though I honestly doubted it would change anything.

I rolled my eyes, and stalked down a side passage, far enough to hopefully be out of Hades’ ear shot. But even still, I walked slowly, letting just the leisurely pace set my mind at ease after my encounter with the King. I let my mind wander aimlessly, I couldn’t even remember what was going through my mind, just the random pathways most ponies follow when they are just living in the moment.

I also couldn’t tell how long I wandered the stone corridors, but I can say it was long enough for me to feel like a sizeable amount of time had passed by the time I finally stumbled on the main chamber where I had met both Whisper and Tenebrae with Blackjack and the rest of my friends. I gently shook my head to reorganize my thoughts as I took notice of many bat-ponies looking at me oddly, then turning back to their own business. I paid them no mind; I was after all still a stranger to most of them. Though I recognized a few of them, chief amongst them was the Yellow Pegasus I sought, her son lying beside her, playing with a wooden toy depicting an old wagon not unlike the one we had procured the day before.

Whisper, ever vigilant around her offspring, saw me enter, and waved me over and patted a seat between her and Tenebrae, who looked tired, and her eyes kept shifting, as if she expected her father to walk in at any moment. I waved back and made my way to the offered seat at a relaxed pace. “Well you seem well rested.” Whisper remarked before filling a sippy cup with apple juice for her son. I smiled as I watched him grab it happily with a little squee as he began to drink the juice.

“You could say that. For the first time in quite a while I actually managed a really good nights sleep. What about you?” I ask her, and I was met with a tired sigh.

“Well not much different than usual. I was up before sun-up, taking care of my duties and this little fella.” She said before picking up Nocti who let out a little giggle and nuzzled into his Mothers chest. Admittedly I had a hard time not smiling at the sight.

Still smiling at the innocent colt, I address Whisper again. “Oh, any news on whether or not the stuff we brought back worked?” I queried, and the yellow mare smiled at me.

“Oh yeah, in fact better than what was broken, I’d wager your debt there was more than wiped clean. And, from what I hear, you made enough off of the loot you sold to clean out pretty much every ponies’ coffers.” She chuckled, And I smiled. “Do I want to know how and where you accumulated so much salvage?” She asked a moment later, giving me a curious look.

I smiled and then let out an exacerbated sigh, before running my hoof through my shortened mane. “Well, in a nut shell, Shady and the others got caught up with a large hermit crab, it was big enough that it was using an old military wagon as a shell.” I explained quickly, and Whisper’s eyebrow shot up.

“Wait, the big one down in the old quarter?” She asked with astonishment, and I shrugged, not sure about the old town’s name.

“If that was the one I’m thinking about, it’s no wonder you all cleaned up as well as you did. That big bastar...” She paused and looked at her son who wasn’t paying attention. “…d was keeping most ponies from going after the good salvage. I purposefully never told Blackjack about it because I knew she would try and take it out, but if you saw it, you would know why that would be a bad idea.” She finished, and I nodded, having gotten a closer look at the thing than I would have liked.

“Wait, you said Shady and the others encountered it, where were you?” She asked, and I looked at her wondering if she was serious.

“We talked about it yesterday. I went to happy horn asylum for the X-ray machine.” I said, and she rolled her eyes.

“Sorry, I forgot about that exchange. I have a lot on my mind lately.” She said and then ruffled Nocti’s mane for emphasis.

“Well its funny how we ended up talking about the asylum any way. I wanted to tell you what happened there.” I started, and with Whisper paying my every word close attention, I told her about the group of ex-N.C.R. ponies, and how I dispatched them. I left nothing out, wanting to know what she thought. But when I finished, I was met with silence. Then I looked around and saw that every pony in earshot was listening with rapt attention. Even Nocti was looking up at me, his innocent eyes wide, like he had just been told a fable of old-time heroes.

Then the flood gates opened, and I heard ponies asking questions before being over spoken by another, interrupting the previous speaker. Then Whisper tapped me on the shoulder, a different train of thought flooding her mind. “Wait, when we sparred, I never took your weaponry and armor into account…” She paused then and placed a hoof under her chin. I looked at her curiously, waiting to see what was going through her mind.

She then leaned in and whispered so only I could hear…” Meet me in the training room in fifteen minutes and bring all of your gear.” She commanded, and I nodded before hopping over the table, and spreading my wings, ignoring the ponies shouting for my attention as I flew into the hallway. This was exactly what I hoped for, anther chance to spar with Whisper, and this time with my weapons in play.

I didn’t stop flying, not until I made it to my room, grabbed my gear and stuffing it in a bag, before taking flight again and making my way to the training room like an excited kid. It had only been about five or six minutes since I left Whispers side, and I decided to take the time I had left to get into my armor and strap on my weapons, making sure every round, bullet and shell were accounted for, though switching out all the rounds in my revolvers back to just rubber bullets. I tossed my saddle bag to the side and held my helmet under my wing as I waited for Whisper.

Turns out I had to wait longer than I wanted, even longer than the fifteen minutes Whisper said, but was rewarded when she finally arrived. For the first time since meeting her, I could see the old Whisper before me, decked out in armor, and a set of power hooves strapped around her fetlocks. But the most shocking thing about her appearance, was the expression she wore. Such was the raw, unadulterated badassery, that I didn’t think, I knew I was in danger just by being in her presence. And then I knew, I knew then and there why ponies had originally called her PsychoShy.

“Alright, this spar won’t be like the usual practice fights, this will be intense. First pony to draw blood more than a cut on the lip, will win. But just so we’re clear, I will be coming for you.” She said coarsely, then slipped on a padded helmet that seemed to have been custom fitted to her face.

“Put your helmet on.” She snapped, and I didn’t question it as I slipped it over my face. The connections making contact at the base of my neck, and the blue visor flickering to life, sending me feedback about my vitals into my HUD. Whisper too slipped on a helmet, and then without a word took up the very pose I had seen her take before, though this time I could tell that she was channeling her past self, and the aura of intimidation she was exuding almost made me second guess doing this.

I took my position, this time feeling more at home in my armor, and my wings snatching the revolvers from their holsters, the primary feathers holding the grips tightly. Something about the air in here told me that now was not the time to be flashy with my actions. I spread my forelegs as I crouched down, like a cat ready to pounce, and I felt myself growing more serious as well.

Time stopped between us, the tension so thick you couldn’t cut it. Then, Whisper twitched, whether it was intentional or not I had no clue, all I knew was that it was time to act. Without a moment of hesitation, I fired off a single shot from my pistol, the rubber bullet catching her in the chest and the gunshot echoing off the stone walls.

But, to my chagrin, Whisper didn’t even flinch. Something I could only expect from a mare who had been shot at more than most. Then, like a flash she was right on me. It was so swift I could barely follow the motion let alone block it. I felt her slam a hoof into my side, my armor saving me from the brunt of it, but it was still hard enough to send me sprawling, and my HUD to flash a warning into my vision about ballistic impact. The message shocking me. She had just punched me hard enough for the system in my suit to recognize it as a gunshot.

I didn’t even get a moment to register that fact before she was on me again, this time giving my chest a double buck to the chest that was strong enough to crack the chest plate of my armor and make me tumble back head over hooves. This was entirely different, this felt like a fight for survival rather than sparing. I didn’t get long to have that thought before she was in my face again, this time her powered hoof slamming into the muzzle guard and respirator, making the polycarbonate visor crack and my nose to be bloodied from the force.

This was bad, she was actively trying to kill me, and unlike any of my other fights, I was against a specialist. A mare who had lived for combat and thrived in violence. If I was even going to survive here, I had to slow her down.

However, I wasn’t given a chance to get up like before, this time she slammed onto my chest, sitting on my belly, before hammering her hooves into my face. “F…fuck!” I shouted through the brutal attack. I had to get on my hooves, with me like this I wouldn’t last long. Guess it was time for one of my trademark dumbass moments.

While she was focused entirely on punching my face, I suddenly brought both of my forelegs into her sides, punching her ribs from both sides, and firing all four barrels of blank shotgun shells. I knew it was far from dangerous to her, but it was enough to take her by surprise, and make her hesitate in attacking my face for only a moment. Which I then presented to her by slamming my shattered face mask into her muzzle. I felt and heard her nose break, and I knew that this would be my prime moment. If I didn’t make a move now, she would recover, and I would lose.

I pressed my wings hard into the stone floor and raised us both up with a grunt of pain, before rolling her off me. But I was past the point of thinking. It was time to act. This time I rolled onto her belly and gave back some of the treatment she had given me, though she didn’t have a face mask to protect her. I lashed out with my right foreleg, aiming a punch right into her muzzle. But the veteran mare brought both forelegs up to defend her exposed face, though it did little good as another blast from both barrels knocked her hooves away, and both blinded and deafened her.

Then the left came in just as hard, the blast bending her nose to the right, and setting the fur around her upper lip ablaze. Then, as fast as It began, it was stopped by her rear hooves wrapping around my neck and wrenching me back. I felt my neck pop hard and my vision flash, but instinct carried me from her hold, and allowing me to roll to my hooves.

When my vision cleared, Whisper too was on her hooves, blood dripping from her nose, just like it was mine. There was a brief pause as Whisper used a hoof to snap her nose straight, and I took the moment to abandon the ruined helmet. It was only when I removed it that I noticed she had knocked one of the lenses out entirely and the respirator was entirely collapsed on itself. If I hadn’t removed it, it was likely that I wouldn’t be able to breathe properly.

I glared back at Whisper, who also ditched her bent helmet as I too fixed my broken nose. The pain was like a log in the building fire of battle lust. And it only served as a reminder that this bout was no holds barred, and that there would be no quarter given or taken today. Whisper then did something odd for the mood she was in, and retreated near the back wall, her wings flapping, but I recognized the distraction for what it was, as I saw her back hoof dislodge a decretive spear, and with a quick barrel roll, she grabbed it in her foreleg, and I knew she was going to put to good use.

I wasn’t about to give her the time to close the distance at her pace, and fired off three successive shots in her direction, making her either dodge or take the brunt of the attack, but rather than try and maintain the distance, I was actually taking the initiative and charging in while she was busy. Before she knew it, I was directly under her, forelegs planted hard on the floor, while bucking up at her exposed belly.

But she was prepared, and parried my hoof made power hooves with the spear. “Dammit.” I swore quickly, before flapping my wings and joining her in the air. Whisper rolled to the side mid air, and then took up a position, as if she were standing on her rear hooves, her bat like wings beating powerfully as I took a similar stance, my own wings keeping me aloft, the revolvers left on the floor, though I doubted she knew that as I closed in, leading with a quick punch, only trying to put her on the defensive. My hoof was then intercepted by the spear, and redirected to the side, rendering the concussive force of the shot useless, and I realized, she wasn’t using it as an offensive weapon, more of an impromptu shield so she could knock my punches wide.

And then she had me. For the first time, rather than let me figure out what I did wrong, Whisper came in, using the blunt end to jam into my exposed belly, knocking the wind from me. Then with blinding speed, she spun it expertly around, cracking me on the top of my head with the flat of the spearhead, knocking me senseless and back to the floor.

Before I knew I was lying on my back again, Whisper descended fast, and jammed the pointed end of the spear through the meat of my left wing hard enough to penetrate the stone under it and pin my limb to the floor.

I cried out, an incomprehensible shout of pain, rage and humiliation. My wings had been hurt before, but that was while they were growing and I was getting used to them, but this was new, an injury that had never befallen my new extremities. The shock of what she had just done was enough to push me into a state of rage I hadn’t yet experienced, and with a primal scream into her face, I swung a punch that was so fast that it whistled.

(Now, I am going to pause for a moment here, and explain that what I am about to write down was what was told to me after the fact. I guess I blacked out in rage or something because I don’t remember a bit of it.)

The punch I had thrown at Whisper caught her off guard, I suppose she was expecting me to yield after such an attack, but she hadn’t witnessed me enraged by that point. The blow was strong enough on it’s own to dislocate her wing and break a rib or two on its own, but the dual shot from the ballistic hoof added enough concussive force to not only shove her off of me, but knock her aside entirely. But it wasn’t without repercussion, as the force had also dislocated my shoulder.

Whisper rolled to the side; the wind knocked from her lungs by the blast. she looked at me shocked at the power behind it, but then froze as I then turned my head and bit the spear pinning me to the floor, and with another scream of pain and rage, tore it from not only the floor, but also my injured wing. But more shocking to the battle-hardened mare, was that I stood up. Blood pouring from my nose and torn wing.

I fixed her with a glare that could freeze hell itself, though it sufficed to freeze her in place. Then without breaking eye contact. I tensed every muscle in my dislocated leg, and with just shear will power and muscle, she watched as my shoulder reset itself with a horrifying crack.

“No fuckin’ way!” She said in awe, but I was so far past the point of reason I just snarled like a feral animal, and then to further compound on my rage, She watched the muscles in my jaw tense and my teeth sink into the wooden shaft of the spear in my mouth, and with yet another of my savage shouts I bit completely through it, snapping the weapon in two.

*page break*

Whisper’s ears dropped at the sight of the blue Pegasus before her. She couldn’t wrap her head around what she was seeing, usually only raiders dosed on psycho would act like that, but he hadn’t taken a single chem since the battle started.

However, she wasn’t given time to wonder for much longer, before he was on her, much like she had been before, but this was pure rage, and Whisper knew all to well what was about to happen as my Hoof connected with her belly, flipping her over onto her back with a single blow. Whispers already broken ribs seared in her chest, making her shout in pain. But what came next took her by surprise yet again. Before she even knew it, he was standing over her, his forelegs pinning hers to the floor, and when she looked up into his eyes, she didn’t recognize the pony standing over her, and then it hit her, she had triggered him, and knew a second later that he had become pure savagery and feral when his head moved in, and then his teeth sank into the base of her wing, the one place he knew was still original Whisper.

She let out a scream of pain as his teeth pierced her flesh, a red-hot pain spreading along her side as what was left of Moonshine began tearing the flesh away from the bone, exposing the ball and socket where her wings joined her side. Whisper screamed again in shock and pain, before acting on her own instinct, and lashing out with both rear hooves, kicking him in the groin. Feral or not, that would hurt anything.

The feral pony broke away, blood coating his muzzle as he dealt with the shock of being double kicked in the jewels, but Whisper, knowing well enough by now not to let him recover at all, took the opportunity, and leapt in, punching him so hard in the head, she felt his skull shift and crack, before he flopped to the floor, unconscious.

*page break*

Dark, everything was dark. But not impenetrable darkness, more like a persistent gloom that made it seem like I was looking through thick grey cotton. I gave my head a shake, and my shaggy mane flopped into my face, but it was normal for me. I hadn’t had my mane and tail trimmed since Clear Glass’s mom did it for me almost a year ago.

“Moonshine! Get yer free loadin’ ass down ‘ere and cook supper!” I heard a shout from downstairs, apparently my dad had woken up, and his empty stomach motivated him to give me the only kindness I had ever received from him. Jumping up from the straw pillow I used as a bed, I trotted downstairs, seeing my father with his head slumped on the only table we had. Empty bottles of various alcohol covering the surface, save an area specifically for him to flop his head when he over indulged, which was all the time.

“About fuckin’ time, the fuck ya been doin!” He grumbled at me, and I knew better than to remain silent or just shrug.

“N…Nothing Dad.” I responded, keeping it short, sweet, and to the point.

“Figures… that’s all yer good at. Doin’ nothin’, and eatin’ my damn food!” he shouted, before getting up, and stumbling. I made a move to catch him before he fell, but he got his balance back quickly, and then slapped me aside with the back of his hoof, knocking my smaller frame to the floor.

“The fuck you doin! You tryin to make a move? Huh? You think cause yer old man had a few drinks that you stand a chance!” He screamed down at me, before slapping me hard across the face. The hit bringing tears to my eyes.

“Know yer fuckin’ place, you piece of radigator shit! Now get yer dumbass up and get cookin’!” he screamed down at me, making me jump to my hooves and move to the kitchen. We didn’t have much in the way of food, my dad would spend most of the caps he earned on booze. But we did have a few boxes of Boom co. mac and cheese, and three cans of beans. It was honestly the only thing we’ve had to eat for the past month, but times were hard in the off season of radigator hunting.

I took a box of mac and cheese, and started cooking it, while taking a can of beans and cooking them as well. It maybe took a total of ten minutes to cook it all up, and I mixed them both into a large bowl. When the food was ready, I took the one bowl in, and set it on the table where my dad was sitting again. “Goddesses, yer fuckin’ slow. Thank Celestia yer mom ain’t here to see her only offspring being fuckin useless.” He grumbled sourly, before digging into his meal. I knew better then to stay there and catch more of his ire, and silently slinked away and returned to my room upstairs, taking care not to step on the squeaky floorboards.

I moved back to my room, well it was more like a closet really, and flopped back onto my pillow, and laid my head down and crossed my hooves over my belly to try keeping the grumbling quiet enough my father wouldn’t hear it, and sniffled softly before burying my head into he burlap sack stuffed with straw.

I must have dozed off in the dark room, and I hadn’t moved in the short time I was asleep. But when I opened my eyes, I was quickly made aware of a struggle downstairs followed by a shout. “Who are you! Get the fuck outta my… WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” My dad shouted. I leapt up, and pushed myself quietly out the door, and the sound of tearing fabric made its way to my ears, and a moment later, I heard three soft pops, and a scream cut short. My ears fell back as I heard a loud thump, and the smell of charred meat and the scent of gunpowder filled my nose.

I shrank back against the wall, trying to keep myself unheard and unnoticed, but my rotten luck took hold, and I stepped on the same squeaky floorboard I had avoided earlier. It wasn’t a loud sound, but in my ears, it might as well have been a shrill scream. And the same must have been true for whoever was in our home, because I heard movement downstairs, and then soft thumps as they ascended the stairs. I tried to make myself as small as possible but even with my diminutive stature, I was still a blue colt against a grimy beige wall.

Then, a monster appeared. A grey mare, with emerald eyes and a look of unbridled rage filling them glared down at me, a quivering foal pressed against the wall. Without a word, her horn alit, and I slammed my eyes shut, waiting for the impending death that was surely coming, but instead I was wrapped in a cool wave of energy, and effortlessly lifted into the air. I cracked an eye open, seeing my world spin as I was rotated around and looked over head to hoof. Then, just as silently, the mare carried me downstairs, and I got a glimpse of my father’s corpse burning where he had been shot down.

Then I was outside, and my hometown was on fire. Ponies were shouting and trying to run, but like an expert gunslinger, the mare holding me in her magic also levitated up a stripped rifle, and without looking, fired off several shots, dropping ponies I had known my entire life, and then they combusted, set ablaze by magical fire. I turned my head to look away from the carnage, my empty stomach churning, only to see a brown Pegasus, looking panicked as he fired a battle saddle at one of my neighbors, shooting her in the leg, but not pressing his advantage. But the mare holding me walked by, and fired twice, hitting the mare in the head and likewise setting her ablaze. I clenched my eyes in horror as tears streamed down my cheeks, and only the sounds of murder filling my ears until I was unceremoniously dropped onto the ground, where I heard other foals of Arbu sniffling and crying out as their family members were gunned down.

I opened my eyes, my view filled with a crimson glow and a charcoal unicorn standing on the other side of the glow, her blue eyes looking down at me pitifully before returning her gaze to the battlefield. I looked around, seeing other foals younger than me huddled together in fear, their crying overshadowing my own. I shifted my attention back to the massacre, a morbid curiosity and even a little hope that the towns ponies would win out, but then I saw another monster, a steel-clad pony launching grenades into houses, blowing the entrances to rubble, and my heart sank. Whatever hope I had for us to survive this just went down with the house the Steel ranger had blown apart.

*page break*

I gasp and snap upright, followed by a searing pain traversing down my spine and radiating through my left wing. As soon as my brain registered what was going on, I began to writhe, a shout of pain and confusion leaving my throat as I flopped back onto the bed, breathing hard. My nostrils flared and my eyes darted as I struggled to come to grips with my current situation. I was in a room like the one Rogue was in, so that meant the hospital wing.

I slumped into the bed, my breathing slowly returning to normal, but the pain still existed. My wing and shoulder both throbbed in time with my heartbeat, making me wince every time I involuntarily twitched. Still panting, I struggled to calm down and collect my thoughts.

I was in the hospital wing. Presumably in the castle since the décor looked pretty much the same. I was injured, no shock there though, when wasn’t I injured in some form or another? I then reopened my eyes and looked around, takin in my surroundings with more thought put into my action. The room was clean, sparsely decorated and had a feeling of sterility that clung to every hospital. I then saw my gear sitting on a chair not far from my bed, and sitting right on the top, was my helmet.

The entire thing looked like it had been battered with a baseball bat, and then used to jam up a rock crusher. One visor was shattered entirely, and the other was cracked so badly I doubted I could see out of it. The entire rebreathing apparatus had been smashed in, and there was blood, probably mine coming from several of the cracks.

Then I remembered, I had been sparring with Whisper. The fight was a lot more serious than any of the previous ones. My mind struggled to reorganize the fragmented memories of the fight. Something had happened. Then I spared a glance at my injured wing, and saw a spot of dark crimson, and I was able to pinpoint the source of the pain as coming from just under the bone.

And it hit me like a wave all over again. I remembered Whisper stabbing a spear through my wing, the pain was intense, but so was my rage and humiliation at the act. But then nothing. There were no memories after that. I closed my eyes and tried to remember, but all I got for my efforts was a headache, and a dull thudding in my skull. Sadly, I was familiar with the symptoms of a concussion by now, and I figured I had suffered yet another.

I sighed and slumped back against the bed again and looked up to the ceiling. The events of the fight flitting through my brain and mixing with the vividness of the dream I had. I don’t know how long I lay there thinking about it, could have been twenty minutes or two hours. It didn’t matter though. I had to go find my friends and try to figure out what happened.

I groaned out load as I shoved the blanket off of my body and pulled the heart monitor cable from my chest as I slid my sore body out of the bed. I slipped, tangled up in the sheet, and fell onto my side, jarring my injured shoulder and wing, making me shout out in pain. Tears filled my eyes, which I promptly wiped away, and gritting my teeth, I set my hooves under me, and with a low growl I forced myself to stand.

Having mastered the art of standing up, I panted for breath and pressed my good side on the wall, taking some of my weight off my injured leg.

“This sucks.” I grumble to myself, before seeing a crash cart sitting nearby, and a couple of familiar syringes atop it. Groaning, I push off the wall, and hobble to the cart, taking up one of the syringes, one I recognized as Med-x and injected only half into my shoulder, wincing as the needle pierced my hide, but it was little compared to what I felt currently. With my hoof pushing the plunger in, I felt instant relief at the site, and then pulled the needle out. Last thing I needed was to get hooked on chems.

Using my good and unbandaged wing, I slid the remainder of the syringe into my bag, and then set about pulling my gear on. The armor was easily the worst, as it had to go around my shoulder, but I also had to poke my injured wing through the hole, and that hurt like hell. But once that and the coat were on, the rest went on easily. Well except the helmet, that I pushed in my bag as well, and hooked it to my flank.

I continued to pant despite the Med-x, but I shoved the thought from my head, and then stumbled my way into the hall. I don’t bother closing the door behind me, not caring enough to bother, before putting myself against the wall, and struggling to catch my breath. But getting little for my time, I grit my teeth again, and started walking. Keeping my good side against the wall, I limped and shuffled along until a dark blackish brown mare saw me and gasped, dropping her clip board as she saw me.

“Mr. Moonshine, you shouldn’t be up and about!” The mare said, her voice silky smooth and very motherly, but I only spared her a glance, and pushed myself past her.

“Get outta my way. I need to find my friends.” I growl and then my leg gives out and I stumble, the wall was the only thing that kept me from falling entirely.

“Moonshine, you’re in no condition to...” The mare tries to move in and help me, but I shove her back. Not hard, just enough to get my point across before looking into her eyes. I noticed one was milky in spots, like she was going blind, but I didn’t focus on it for long.

“You didn’t hear me. I need to find my friends.” I say again, still panting hard as I push myself back into a standing posture and then continuing to limp forwards. I didn’t know where Shady and the others would be, but I knew where I was, and our room lent to us by Whisper, so I just needed to make it there. Still easier said than done.

Once more the Mare tried to get my attention, but again I ignored her. Instead she sighed and took the brunt of my weight on her shoulder, supporting me better and helping me walk.

“Thanks.” I grunt out, wincing as my wing flares once more in pain. But the Mare nodded silently, knowing that talking would only distract me, and I guess the last thing she wanted was me taking a bad step.

The going was slow, only because I could barely manage a walking pace, let alone the trot that took me around the place. And I felt my strength ebbing with each step forward, the only thing keeping me upright now was just my determination to find Shady and the others.

“What’s… what’s your name?” I ask after about five minutes of silence, and the mare looked at me with her good eye, and then sighed.

“Doctor Mozart. Your Doctor I might add.” She said and I could detect a trace of venom at those words, but also respect.

“Nice…too…Meet you.” I panted out and then my legs gave out entirely and I flopped to the floor, which felt cool against the bits of my hide that contacted it.

Mozarta sighed and snorted. “I told you, you shouldn’t be out of bed.” She said angrily, and I nodded slowly as I just lay there still struggling to breathe.

“What’s wrong with me?” I stammer out between breaths as I force myself to sit up and slump against the wall for support.

“Well that’s a long list. Sadly, being a dumbass isn’t something medicine can fix, but if you must know, you suffered a severe concussion, the latest of several according to the x-rays. A dislocated shoulder that was set poorly, so we had to dislocate it again and set it correctly. You have a deep wound through your left wing caused by a bladed tool of some sort. Several fractured ribs, a slipped disc in your spine, and a broken nose.” She said somberly, listing off everything that was wrong.

“That explains the difficulty walking, but why can’t I breathe properly?” I asked, and she just shrugged.

“No clue, you were doing fine when we were fixing you.” She said, and then paused in thought.

“I had a nightmare, it woke me up and I jerked when I woke up, could that have done something?” I ask leaning against the wall, waiting for my strength to return.

“Maybe, you could have induced yourself into shock. That could do it.” She said and I nodded softly, before grunting and forcing myself back to my hooves. It was then that the Needle I had haphazardly put into my bag decided to make its presence known by falling onto the floor. Doctor Mozarta noticed and then froze.

“Moonshine, did you take any of this?” She asked after picking up the syringe, and I nodded, explaining that I took half of the dose before leaving the room.

“You idiot. If you did go into shock, then taking Med-x makes things so much worse. No wonder you can’t fucking breathe.” She scolded, before kicking my legs out from under me, making me fall to the floor once more as she lifted her hoof, and pressed a large button on a device strapped to her fetlock.

“What did you just do?” I ask through my gasps for breath.

“Activated the emergency alert for all Doctors and Nurses. It also activates a tracker, bringing them right to our location quickly.” She said, and I could hear just a hint of panic in her voice, despite her being calm on the outside, maybe it was just to keep me from panicking and possibly making myself worse. Not that it would matter. If what she said was true, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do. Even if I could get up and walk, chances were I wouldn’t get far before the medical staff arrived. So, I just sighed and slumped back against the wall and just tried to relax.

True to her word, in a minute’s time, four ponies come running down the hall toward us, one with a wheelchair in tow. I didn’t even get a chance to protest, before they all scooped me up and set me in the chair, before rapidly returning me to the room where I awoke.

“Hook up a donation bag, take some blood before he strokes!” Mozarta shouted at one of the nurses, and in just twenty seconds, I felt a needle pierce my hide, and I saw my blood filling the bag rapidly. In the meantime, another pony re-attached the heartrate monitor to me.

In order to distract me and keep me calm, Mozarta gets my attention by speaking to me and telling me what is going on.

“Moonshine, the Med-x you took while in shock is causing the blood pressure in your lungs to increase, making your lungs swell. Normally more blood is a good thing, but in this case, it’s collapsing your air sacks and causing the shortness of breath you are experiencing. The simple fix is to drain some blood and hope the swelling goes down. If it doesn’t work, we can give you Xylazine. It’s a vasodilation drug that will lower the blood pressure and keep you from having a stroke.

I nod softly and remain silent as I relax the best I can, slumping my head against the bed as one of the Doctors reads out my current stats, numbers and letters that had no meaning to me save that from the tone of their voice it was an improvement, so I took that as a good sign.

“Give him a small dose of Xylazine.” Mozarta said and I perked my head up, curious as to why if I was showing improvement.

“We can’t risk you walking off again when we get you stable, so we are gonna sedate you, so you don’t do that shit again.” She said scoldingly and I shrunk a little. I just wanted to get to my friends and try figuring out what had happened.

I then saw her face soften a little, and she patted my on my good shoulder.” I get it, you want to see your friends. Just rest here and I will go round them up.” She offered, and I nodded slowly in appreciation before resting my head on the pillow as I feel the nurse give me yet another injection. Only a minute or two passed, and I felt like I was sinking into a pool of heavy water. I then sighed and for the first time since I woke up, I managed to take a deep breath and I felt myself sinking more into the heavy haze.

I couldn’t keep track of time once more, and I couldn’t find a single fuck to give anymore. But I was looking at the ceiling, my breathing finally regular, and then, for no reason, I remembered when Shady was out of it back in ten pony, and I remembered what she said about not seeing with your eyes, and you know what? I finally understood what she meant as I sunk further into the depths of the sedative and closed my eyes.

*page break*

Once again, I was dreaming of that fateful night at Arbu, the events like my previous dream, but I knew I was dreaming. My dad was… being my dad, and then I fell asleep in my room once more and was awoken by my dad’s shout. Littlepip dispatched him, and then came for me when I made a noise to alert her. She came for me, grabbed me in her magic, and inspected me rudely like she had in the past. She then brought me downstairs, and I was more than prepared to revisit the horror of what was outside.

Then the door was kicked open, startling Littlepip, who dropped me and lifted her zebra rifle at a threat. I fell to the floor and rolled away, just on instinct to get to safety if it was one of my neighbors. The kitchen table was nearby, and I slipped under it quickly, before turning to look, seeing my dad’s corpse smoldering only a meter away, but I ignored it and focused on my savior.

A black Helmet adorned their face, concealing their features. The had on a thick leather coat with metal shoulder pads, and there were slits for a pair of dusky blue wings As I took in the sight, the figure before me seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I watched on as the armored pony dropped to the floor under Pip’s shots and pushed off with his wings to close the distance. Littlepip was no slouch, and adjusted her aim at the closing threat, her magic pulling the trigger in quick three round bursts, but of any that hit, they glanced off of the armor under the coat, and ricocheted behind them and embedded into the walls. Caught off guard, Littlepip hesitated and caught a rapid upper cut from the stallion, a blast of a shotgun coming from his hoof, the force knocking her back. I expected her face to be torn to ribbons, but only her fur was singed, and she rapidly blinked to clear her eyes, likewise surprised at the turn of events. Her attacker didn’t wait for her to wrap her head around the fact that she wasn’t injured and pressed the advantage.

I watched him begin to pummel her with his forehooves, more blasts came from his hoof with each successful hit, and soon, the little mare was on the floor with the armored stallion standing over her back. Her nose was broken and her left eye swollen shut, but that didn’t seem to phase the pony, who spread his wings wide, before folding them down, and wrapping her face in the primary feathers tightly, and with a scream of pain, rage, sadness and torment, he snapped her neck with a deft twist of his wings before dropping her corpse to the ground next to my fathers.

My eyes wide with shock, awe, and terror, I looked at the stranger. He seemed hardly winded as he picked up her fallen weapon, and then pulled the trigger once, firing a magic round into her body, and in only a heartbeat, she was engulfed in flames. But I wasn’t looking at that. No, what caught my attention was his cutiemark. What I saw gave me chills. It was a crescent moon over a bank of clouds. It was my cutiemark. He then snapped his attention to me, the blue visor of his helmet casting me in a sapphire glow.

*page break*

I awoke again, this time without a movement. I was still under the effects of the sedative, and became dimly aware of some pony gently shaking me, and I tried to focus my eyes, seeing only a red hoof pressed on my uninjured side. I blinked, still trying to figure out what was going on and looked where I knew the hoof would eventually connect with the pony it belonged to. And what I saw, despite my muddled brain, still made my heart swell a little, and a smile to adorn my face.

“Hey” I said softly, still giving a small smile to Cherry, who smiled back, but still looked concerned regardless.

“Well, looks like he’ll live.” Came the voice of Shady off behind Cherry, making me crane my neck more to see her, looking like her usual pissy self, but even I could catch a glimmer of relief in her emerald eyes. From what I could tell, every pony was here. I could hear Rouge off in the back ground lightly scuffing his hooves on the floor, and from the sounds of it, Zakk was struggling to open the worlds loudest paper wrapper, just before I witnessed a shower of centuries old potato chips explode into the air.

No pony paid him attention though, and every pony was looking in the direction of another pony in the room, who stood motionless, but even I could still hear their slow breathing. I looked over in that direction, and saw Whisper, looking confused, tired, and a little weary judging by the distance she kept from me. I saw she also looked as bad as I had felt, about as beat up as I was. I was surprised to see her bat wings were missing, as well as the talisman she had worn to allow the wings to sprout from her back. Instead there were little stumps, but one was heavily bandaged and red was seeping from the base of her stump.

“What… happened?” I asked as I took in her appearance, and then the rest of the ponies in the room fell entirely silent, save the subtle but obvious crunch as Zakk tried to silently bite down on one of his chips, but in the stillness, it was awkward and loud. But like before, no pony paid attention, and instead shifted their gazes back and forth between Whisper and me.

“What is the last thing you remember?” Whisper rebutted my question with one of her own. A touch of cold detachment in her words. I blinked, taken aback by her attitude, but I suspected that how I answered this question would determine the rest of this conversation. So, mustering what strength I could. I sat up a little more and fixed my eyes on hers before answering.

“I remember you stabbing me with a spear. I remember the pain and the anger I felt, but nothing after that. Its just a blank space for me.” I remark, my words also cold as I remember she had stabbed me through my wing, reigniting a little of that previous anger, but the sedative did a good job of keeping it from being more than a small ember. Whisper sighed, and relaxed a little, before taking a step closer and sitting on the floor beside my bed.

“That makes sense. You were pretty pissed.” She said and I narrowed my eyes at her. “But… if that’s the last thing you remember, it may be best if you don’t know what happened.” She said softly, before touching her injured stump of a wing with a hoof, drawing my attention back to it.

“Whisper. Fuckin’ tell him. He needs to know.” Shady growled dangerously, her tone surprising me as I look back to my friends, and only realized that they all wore similar expressions of agitation, and a little sorrow. Cherry more than any pony as she stayed by myside and kept her hoof on my good shoulder. Whisper sighed and closed her eyes, before looking back up at me.

“Moonshine… you…. snapped. I admit that I may have gotten carried away, and that this whole situation is mostly my fault. But… you were pure rage and instinct. There wasn’t much of you that makes you… well you.” She said, and I could tell she was just stalling as she tried to figure out the best way to tell me.

“Sweet Luna, is there a rest stop between here and the fucking point!” Shady swore, barely containing her agitation before Zakk, reached over and just patted her on the shoulder. Whisper fixed a cold glare on my friend and I felt that I needed to move this along before Shady attacked the injured Pegasus.

“Whisper… what did I do?” I ask, by now familiar with how I can be when I lose my shit. The yellow mare returned her focus to me, and then shuddered lightly as she began recounting everything that happened after my wing got perforated by a spear. We all listened intently, though I figured that the rest of my friends had already heard this all. When whisper finally finished recounting the ending. I didn’t know what to feel. I knew I should feel something, maybe it was just the drugs in my system keeping me from going into full on melt down.

“So, you’re telling me that I tried to… eat your wing?” I asked and she nodded. Aside from the whole trying to make a meal of her, the rest of my actions seemed pretty typical when I lost control, but that last little nugget of information really bothered me.

“Moonshine, you just snapped, you aren’t responsible for what…” Cherry began before I looked up at her with a look that made her words stop in her throat and she fell silent.

“I tried to…eat Whisper. I tried to eat a friend…” I said, and even through the sedative, now I could feel a little despair setting in, as well as some horror, and other dark emotions. Then, just as quickly as they started to set in, Shady was suddenly in my face. Well more accurately her hoof across my face as she slapped the living hell out of me.

“Knock that shit off, you aren’t to blame here Moonshine. It’s this stupid bitch who pushed you past that point. It doesn’t matter who it is, any pony can snap like that given the right circumstances.” She snarled, glaring daggers at Whisper.

“Don’t call me a bitch you fucking gimp. If I’m gonna teach this boy how to fight, I needed to know exactly what he’s capable of. Not like you’d get that; you can barely walk let alone teach some pony how to be agile!” Whisper shouted, standing on her hooves again and moving closer to Shady. Who in turn stepped up to Whisper, a full head taller than the lithe Pegasus and bared her teeth.

“Limp or not, I will still turn you into paint. If you think Moonshine’s scary when he snaps, you have no fucking clue what you’re stepping up too.” Shady growled menacingly and I could tell that this was about to get bloody.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Cherry shouted, before her horn sparked, and a burst of flame shot between the mares, singing their chests. ‘If you ladies don’t put your dicks away now, I swear this pissing contest will be over before it begins.” Cherry threatened and I watched as her normal hazel eyes slowly faded to red. Though I could tell she was still in charge currently, which meant her, and Justice were both in agreement on the matter, though I could be mistaken.

“I get it, you both care about Moonshine. Shady, you feel like you need to protect him, Whisper, you feel like he needs to learn to protect himself. But you both are missing the fucking point. Moonshine’s been protecting every pony. He’s saved us all too many times to count. And you just take that for granted… grow up and look at the pony who is sitting here in a hospital bed, how familiar is it to us to see him beaten up, hurt, and devastated. You think he needs a reason to have snapped? I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner with all that he’s been through.”

Every pony remained silent at Cherry’s outburst, and then took a moment to think and realize that she had a valid point. Well except Whisper, who really hadn’t been impacted by all our travelling and fighting.

“You’re… you’re right.” Rogue whispered and then sighed softly. “Moonshine, you saved me from a fate worse than death, you helped me walk again. Evan after how I fucked up with Cherry.” He said, before offering a very quiet but sincere thank you.

“Yeah. You saved me from being drowned on the Whiterose when we first met. That and an uncomfortable sleep on that floor, you’re a great pillow by the way.” Zakk commented and like Rogue before him, gave his thanks.

“And me, from having my head crushed in by General Grunt, and from being trapped inside my own mind with… well my issues.” Cherry said, before pausing and sparing a glance at Whisper, leaving the mention of Justice a secret between us all for now.

Shady then sighed and nodded. “Me too, half a dozen times so far. The battle or Respite, the Jacks camp, Hell you saved us all the other day from that massive hermit crab, you all remember that?” Shady asked, and every pony smiled and nodded.

“The point is, Moonshine has protected all of us, saved our lives in ways we can’t imagine, constantly carrying the weight of things he had to do in order to keep us alive. He doesn’t need to learn how to protect or be protected, he needs our help in protecting each other.” Cherry said softly, before placing her hoof on mine and kissing my head.

Whisper then sighs, and sits back down, her eyes a little glassy from the heartfelt moment. “Wow, you guys know how to tug on the old heart strings huh. But you’re right. Moonshine can certainly protect himself, better than I could have imagined. But don’t over do it kid. Even if you can learn to control… whatever that was, it doesn’t make you invincible.” She said seriously, and I nodded gently, indicating that I knew all too well. Then I heard a chuckle off to the side and glanced at Shady and Zakk who were both sharing a knowing smile.

“He may not be invincible, but…well let’s just say I got something cookin’” Shady says cryptically. “But it’ll have to wait until numb nuts is out of bed and well enough to move again. Thanks for that Whisper.” She added with a little salt to her words.

“Alright, get out, no more of that shit.” Cherry scolds, before ushering every pony out of the room, and letting them get back to whatever it as they were all doing before coming here. Well except Cherry, who walked back over to my bed, and took a seat beside me.

“So, what time of night do you call this huh? Come home, all beat to hell, and you look like you haven’t even eaten.” She scolded playfully, and I just looked at her in confusion. “Wha…” Was all I got out before she silenced me by pressing a hoof to my lips.

She then smiled, and picked up her saddle bag, and set it on the bed beside me, before opening it and withdrawing a cardboard container. Inside, was a medley of fruits, probably grown here at the castle gardens. “Remember last week how I was still messed up, and you fed me in bed because I couldn’t move?” She asked me, and I nodded slowly as she climbed onto the bed beside me and using her magic to levitate a strawberry to my lips.

“Consider this recompense.” She said slyly, before taking a strawberry herself, and a small bite from the end before pressing it to my lips. I smiled and ate the fruit happily. The sweetness making me sigh contentedly as I wrap my one good leg around her back and kissed her cheek. She let out a small giggle, before hugging herself close to me, and I rested my head upon hers, being careful not to impale my chin on her horn.

We remained like that for a while, cuddled together on the small hospital bed, eating sliced fruit and just being happy to be in each other’s company. I admit, it went a long way to making me feel better, though I still think the sedatives were working because I should have been way more upset about what I had done. I suppose there would be time for that later though.

“Hey Cherry, something just occurred to me. You can use your magic again, how did that happen?” I ask as I looked into her eyes, which immediately crossed as she looked up at her horn.

“Huh, now that you mention it, I didn’t even notice. But thinking on it now, the first time I was able to use it was a little bit ago, when Shady and Whisper were fighting.” She said, and then scrunched her nose in thought.

“weird. I noticed that when it happened, your eyes turned red like they do when…She appears. But you seemed still in control.” I comment, stating my observation, which only seemed to puzzle her further.

“That’s… odd, as far as I can tell that hasn’t happened before.” Cherry replied, then looked even more puzzled than before.

“Maybe, just maybe, you and her found something to agree on for a change?” I ask, which seemed to alarm Cherry, before the thought fully registered, and then she relaxed and sighed.

“Maybe. It seems she has some feelings for you too.” Cherry remarked, though I could tell in her voice she wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Hey relax. Even if she does like me or something, nothing, not even her would get between you and me. Hell, I beat her once. I can do it again.” I said, mustering what little confidence I could muster, which admittedly wasn’t much at all. But I could tell that it was what she wanted to hear.

After that, we both fell silent for a bit, just holding each other. It’s so hard to put into words how incredible it is to have some pony who can make you feel like nothing else matters except that moment. Its surreal, it’s… well peaceful. I knew, not just hoped and felt, but I KNEW that I was safe with her, and she was with me. It’s times like these that I hate the ridiculous way our language is built, because there just isn’t a word that can adequately describe feelings like this. Those who have felt them know what I mean, but those who havn’t… it’s like trying to describe color to some pony who has been blind their entire life. You can use words like warm and cold, or mellow or vibrant, but those words don’t do the color justice, and as such, describing feelings. You just can’t quite put it into words.

Those were the thoughts bouncing around in my head, before I drifted off to sleep again, my head atop hers. I didn’t know if she was asleep or not, but I think she was based on her gentle breathing, the rhythm pushing me back into the arms of Morpheus as well, and soon, I was out like a light.

I wasn’t sure what time it was when I awoke again, the lighting in this section of the castle never changed, even though it was dim by most lighting standards, I could assume it was only because of the bat ponies’ sight. But what did bring me back to a state of alertness, was a chill on the side where Cherry had been. But when I looked, she was nowhere to be seen, in fact the entire room had been vacated, even my gear was missing.

I stretched a bit, and winced as my bad shoulder popped, startling me a little. It hurt but not as much as it had earlier, my wing was also sending out waves of pain with every heartbeat, but it was tolerable. Even my mind was much clearer than before, and I looked around the room once more, this time pain and drugs not inhibiting my ability to pay attention.

Cherry wasn’t just missing but had been for a little while judging by the coolness of the sheets beside me. I knew I should have been concerned, but I figured that with her magic…well magically restored (what a thing to write.) She would be fine. Another thing I noticed, was that it had been a while since any pony had checked in on me too. I saw nothing out of place since I took my nap, even the things that were left out of place remained, even some of the chips Zakk had spilled around the room.

I sighed and laid back, figuring that Cherry just had to use the bathroom or something, and felt content enough to relax, though I wish some pony had left something to read, hell even a pen or pencil I could idly mess with, but there was nothing within reach, and the last thing I was going to do was get out of bed again.

I realized as I lay there, bored to tears, just how fortunate I had been in the past that things seemed to happen just after I awoke from whatever it was that messed me up, that was all preferable to just sitting there with nothing to do. I even looked back up at the ceiling and started to count the number of bricks. Not that that was much better, but it at least gave me something to focus on instead of the dead silence and still air in the room.

I could kind of keep track of the time, counting one brick a second, I counted two hundred and thirty seven bricks, somehow this room had one brick more than it would need if it was perfectly square, but some pony had messed up in the design and left in one extra brick, which puzzled me and gave me something else to think about. I wondered just on what the construction ponies were thinking that could lead to such an odd mistake, maybe they just didn’t notice, or care. But it was entertaining enough to pass the next fifteen minutes until I heard the door to my room click, and I shifted my attention to the entrance.

The door cracked open slowly, and I tensed on instinct, but was soon relieved when I saw Cherry peeking her head inside, her mane all done up nicely. “Uh hey, you’re awake. Would you mind closing your eyes for a minute, I had something I wanted to try.” She said blushing just a little, and I raised an eyebrow at her, before smirking and making an exaggerated motion of closing my eyes tightly for her. I heard her giggle a little, before pushing the door open and stepping into the room.

Something seemed off though, her back hooves let out a little clack, sharper than her usual hooves on the stone floor I was suddenly struggling to keep my eyes closed, as I heard something heavy filled with liquid get set beside my bed. “Ok open your eyes.” Cherry said, a little shy, but also excited. But as much as I wanted too, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease her a little in return.

“You sure I should? I’m getting kind of use to the dark.” I reply with a playful smirk. I couldn’t see her face, but I could feel her eyes on me, and practically hear her stammering before she did.

“Wha..Just open your eyes Moonshine.” She blubbered, making me laugh softly before I did as she said, and when my eyes finally opened, I regretted not opening them sooner.

“What do you think?”; She asked, uncharacteristically shy before spinning in place for me to see everything. She was sporting a nurse outfit, and not like scrubs a doctor would wear, she had gone full candy striper/naughty nurse. Her mane was tied behind her head in an elegant braid, her tail to match. The skirt was only just long enough to hide any of her private areas, but short enough to see her toned legs.

“I uh… wow…I don’t…wow.” I stammer, unable to wrap my head around the sight. She had managed, somehow, to look sexy and professional all at once, and she definitely pulled it off. My reaction however had a negative effect on Cherry though, who took my stammering to mean that I didn’t like it.

“No No Cherry, I really love it! It just caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting… well you to look so good.” I say, the compliment genuine and sincere, making her smile and blush all at once.

“So, you really do like it?” She asked and I nodded enthusiastically, though unsure why she chose to dress up like a naughty nurse. I knew Cherry could read me like a street sign, and the look of questioning was bound to catch her notice.

“Curious why I dressed up like this huh? Well I have something fun in store.” She said, before levitating up a wet sponge from a bucket she had set on the floor. I opened my mouth to say something, but then the full implication hit me like a ton of brinks, and I only managed a small squeak.

“Alright then Mister Moonshine, it’s time for your bath, try to relax, and just let me do what I need to.” She said with a playful and sultry tone, one that screamed at me that this was going to be… well interesting.

I gulped and sat still as Cherry moved the sponge in and lightly began scrubbing my back legs, being very careful not to move them too much, I assume she had been made aware of my back injury. I just remained silent, entirely shocked at the current state of events, but unable, and honestly unwilling to stop it, this was too good.

Cherry, despite her sultry tones and gentleness with the sponge, as well as full access to my entire body, she refrained from doing anything lewd, though she did bite her bottom lip and blush profusely as she cleaned me between my back legs. Even I was ready for her to make a comment, an action, something naughty, but instead she did nothing except get me a little “excited.” I was left in complete confusion and embarrassment as she moved on, scrubbing my chest with the sponge. I didn’t mind though, the water was pleasantly warm, and her gentle scrubbing actually felt good, making goosebumps raise under my hide.

Cherry continued to clean me, taking great care to avoid hurting my shoulder and wing, cleaning the spots she could before having me lay on my side, even helping me roll over and present my back to her. And like before she scrubbed my hide with light touches between my wings and along my spine, making me shiver a little at the attention. And like before, she got to my flanks, and this time couldn’t help but to give my rump a playful pat with a hoof, before continuing on with her cleansing. As soon as she was done, she dropped the sponge into the bucket for the final time, and then produced a clean towel, and patted me down, drying me carefully.

Even with the possible lewd atmosphere, despite expectations, she refrained herself, and I sensed she took a little pleasure in teasing me, even if it was silently. As soon as she finished drying my fur, she helped me sit back up, and recovered me, before draping the towel over a table nearby.

“That was… comforting.” I say with a small smile, despite being a little embarrassed at being cleaned like this.

“Ya know, I thought it might be.” Cherry retorted with a sly grin, and then stood on her hind legs as she moved in and placed a small kiss on my lips. I couldn’t hold back too much, that just wouldn’t be my style. So, I gently placed my hoof on the back of her head and kissed her back, making her squeak a little before relaxing and deepening the kiss further.

Then the door opened once more.

“Alright Mister Moonshine, it’s time to…WHAT THE FUCK!” Shouted Doctor Mozarta as she finally glanced up from her clip board to see me and Cherry frozen in our kiss.

It took several moments to not only convince but prove that Cherry had been actually taking care of me, and not just here to have her way with her currently crippled colt friend, before Doctor Mozarta calmed down.

“Look, Miss Cherry, we don’t typically allow visitors at this time, let alone those of a more… intimate nature, only for our patient’s safety. But, if you truly want to help with getting Moonshine better, I could use some help.” Mozarta said, her voice rough and tired, but I could tell she was happy to have someone present to aid her.

Cherry nodded, happy to help where she could, before Mozarta set down a small satchel, and produced two roles of gauze, bandages, ointments and painkillers, making Cherry’s chipper attitude faulter a bit. “We are going to change his bandages. I don’t know what happened to his wing, but it bleeds like a stuck pig.” She commented, making Cherry nervous.

I sighed, and laid back on my side, hoping to be a good little patient and not move while they did this. “Alright, fold out his wing.” Commanded the Doc, and Cherry obliged, sitting nearby and very slowly and gently lifting my wing. I grunted out and winced as I felt the damaged muscles stretch and sear with heat as they flexed. Cherry, for all her well-meaning, clearly was out of her element here, but rather than complain or even offer any sort of comment, she just sat by as Mozarta began the process of unwrapping my bandages, each time I felt one layer removed, I would wince again as I felt cool air brushing past the wound. As soon as the last layer fell away, Cherry gasped loudly, and I turned my head slowly to look for myself. The damage was worse than it felt weirdly, but it still bothered me a lot.

I could tell right where the first incision was when Whisper stabbed me, it was clean and relatively small, the worst came from when I allegedly tore it from my wing. The flesh was ribbons, and I could see the muscle and chipped bone, and even worse I could see a small bit of the ceiling through it.

“Sweet Luna.” Cherry swore softly, and rather than spare a glance her way, Mozarta nodded.

“My sentiments exactly, I haven’t seen a wing injury like this in a while, but luckily we know how to treat them.” She said, before grabbing one of the ointments, a purple looking mush that gave off the odor of black berries, but as soon as it was applied, had a cooling effect like menthol. I shivered as the cooling effect hit, and then blinked as the pain ebbed away faster than I could expect.

“Oh whoa!” Cherry exclaimed and I looked back at my wing to see the area bubbling, which was odd, but then when the bubbles cleared, new flesh was left in its wake. It wasn’t enough to fully close the wound yet, but I could see that it was smaller than before.

‘I’ve seen this, that’s Zebra work.” Cherry said softly, and Mozarta nodded at my mare friend.

“Indeed, we learned this recipe from a traveling zebra a few years ago. It’s been very helpful in helping the bat-ponies with their injuries, but they are small compared to this.” She said softly, and I winced, this time not from the pain, more from how stupid I had been when I tore the weapon out. Cherry knew it too and patted a hoof on my side, giving me a reassuring smile.

“How long do you think it’ll take to heal up completely?” Cherry asks softly, studying the wound closely, and judging how much it had healed already.

“Maybe a week to close the wound completely, but I can only guess when he will be airborne again. But I would recommend a few weeks before attempting to use them.” She offered, and I cringed. My entire combat style had been adapted to my wings now, it was gonna be a challenge to revert to how I fought before.

“’When will he be able to get on his hooves and walk around?” Cherry asks, and Mozarta rolls her eyes before looking at me with a scolding mom look.

“I would say a week, but knowing you, three days is too long. I’d say tomorrow if you keep it light.” She says, emphasizing the last bit as if she was talking to a child. Cherry lets out a small giggle as I nod bashfully and scrunch my muzzle at the implications that I couldn’t behave.

“Don’t worry Doc, I’ll keep an eye on him.” Cherry says with a playful wink as she sticks her tongue out at my incredulous look. Doctor Mozarta scoffs and rolls her eyes, before setting the bottle of Zebra healing gel.

“Yeah, I’m sure you will. But just keep your eyes on him and your hooves off. He needs proper time to heal, and any… extracurricular activities certainly won’t help.” She scolds, before looking over Cherry in her nurse outfit for emphasis.

“But, since you’re in costume, I suppose it’d be fitting to let you help out. Every few hours you need to check his wound and clean it. As well as making sure he takes his pain medicine. Who knows, this might add a little extra realism to your roleplay.” She teases Cherry, making the red mare scrunch her nose and blush at the same time. I couldn’t help but hide my smirk behind a hoof before she slapped it off me.

Mozarta then began instructing Cherry on how to properly clean and inspect the injury, all the while Jotting down notes for Cherry in case she forgot anything. She also provided her with an old stopwatch, explaining that she should set the timer for every three hours. I kind of tuned out for a while, letting the two mares talk, and answer questions, but my mind slowly began drifting back to what had landed me here in the first place, and no I don’t mean my dumbass attempt to leave. Instead I went back to what Whisper told me had happened, and my last memory before I blacked out.

If what Whisper had said was in fact true, there was a high likelihood, that every time I lost control of my temper, I lost a little of myself. Now that I was thinking on it properly, I could attribute a lot of the changes I went through to moments when I let my anger get the better of me. There were a number of instances where my personality, or way of thinking would change, some for the better like when I learned to forgive Velvet and Calamity, or when I learned the basics of how to fight after I beat up the pony on The Sea Horse.

There were times though that were more troubling, the first was when I killed the N.C.R. Ranger at Respite, yes, I did it to save Shady, but I was angry too. Then at the Jacks camp, I killed so many with a minigun I had found, because I was mad at Shady. Then there was this most recent incident, where I had allegedly tried eating Whisper. Yes, it was only her wing I had bitten, but what if I had actually tried to kill her? What was going to stop me from doing just that the next time I surrendered control to my rage? These questions were turning in my head, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt myself getting worked up about it. Cherry figured it out too, when my heartrate monitor began to speed up the rate between beeps.

Then I got smacked.

I jerked, torn from the dangerous train of thought, and cupped a hoof to my stinging cheek. I looked to where Cherry was, a look of shock and confusion in my eyes, but she didn’t notice as she hadn’t even needed to look back at me. Just by the sound from my heart monitor, she had instinctively known where my mind had gone, and without hesitation, literally slapped me out of it.

Mozarta looked on, merely raising an eyebrow at the scene, but the shrugged it off. “If you have any questions, or an emergency, head out to the nurse’s station, they send a runner to get me if you need me. But make sure Miss Wine, that better be a life-threatening emergency, or I will make it one.” She said in a stern voice, before bidding me farewell and a good night, then leaving the room, and both Cherry and I to sit in silence for a few minutes, stunned by the sudden aggression from the old and surely tired mare.

“That got…dark.” Cherry said, and I nodded. Both of us had been threatened before, hell we had both been shot at, kicked at, beaten, any number of possible life ending things, but they didn’t seem as intimidating as that latest threat.

“I think it’s because, as a Doctor, she doesn’t really get a lot of free time, let alone sleep. So, I would assume the little time she has, is very precious to her.” I offered, and Cherry nods, following my logic before moving over, and climbing up next to me in the bed. I smile warmly and wrap a hoof around her, pulling her against my chest as I place a soft kiss upon her horsehead, just under the base of her horn.

She let out a content and tired sigh, a sentiment I agreed with, and nuzzled against me. We remained like this for some time, just content to cuddle as we both relaxed. The Cherry looked up at me, her eyes soft and beautiful as ever, before asking…

“Do you ever think that this is or entire lot in life? Like some ponies are born into comfortable lives, while others are born just to suffer and die horribly?” Her question caught me off guard, and I raised my eyebrow before looking back at her.

“Do you mean like destiny?” I ask, and she nods, prompting me to think and choose my answer carefully.

“I…don’t know. I mean maybe but talking about destiny is such a muddled topic because so many ponies try to use the concept of destiny like a scape goat, to blame the shitty things that happen to them, or even justify their own evil intentions. I think, maybe, that destinies do exist, but each and every action, from even the simplest thing as choosing what to eat or what tree you go to the bathroom behind, to the much more complex choices we face every day, can change what that destiny is, or how you reach it.” I comment, making Cherry nod softly against my chest.

“Maybe you’re right. It is a tough concept to pin down, and that makes it easier to just say fuck it and make your own destiny. But you wanna know something I’ve been thinking?” She asked, and I nodded softly, my silver eyes meeting her hazel orbs. She then lifts herself up and presses her muzzle within millimeters of mine.

“If there is such a thing as destiny, I couldn’t be happier that it delivered you into my life.” She whispers, before closing the rest of the distance and pressing her lips against mine. I didn’t hesitate for a moment as I pull her tighter to my chest and kiss her back, my heart smooth and steady in my chest, but swelling with unbridled emotions at the love I felt for her at that moment. I was sure I looked like a hot mess, sore, bruised, cut, and bandaged, yet none of that mattered to her, she still saw me for me, and I couldn’t be happier to have her with me at that moment.

Once the kiss was finally broken, we fell into kind of a relaxed contentment. We didn’t need to say anything, though I’ve said that so many times now, it must be repetitive. We just…existed together. And that’s such a special thing that it’s hard for me to describe. I know as I’ve written this journal, I’ve changed how I write, my confidence has gotten better and I don’t feel like I need to keep things buried as much. But even through all those positive changes, I’m still a child of the wasteland, more specifically Arbu. I wasn’t really taught how to read or write. It wasn’t until Shady took me under her wing that I learned the skills I needed, math, reading, writing, and critical thinking.

I smiled and let those thoughts circle my brain, until finally, I fell into a calm sleep. Cherry had already done so, and was lightly snoring as she dozed, so it was little wonder why I was able to sleep as well. And this pattern continued. I won’t drone on about each time we awoke so I could take medicine and Cherry could clean my wound, even though they conversation was light, it was just that, light. Nothing of real substance existed during these times of alertness other than the fact that they were moments I got to spend with Cherry, and I cherish each heartbeat I have beside her, if I were to write down every thing to the smallest detail, I’d be here a while. So, for the sake of brevity, and not boring anyone reading this journal, I will just fast forward to the next morning.

*Page break*

When we awoke again, this having been close to the fifth time we had done so, it wasn’t because of the alarm for the timer had gone off, instead it was Doctor Mozarta and one of her nurses, a young Bat-pony colt, pushing a wheelchair along in front of him. She looked much more rested and I wouldn’t say happier, that mare always seemed to have a small scowl stuck to her face, but I could tell she wasn’t in a particularly bad mood either.

“Nice to see you two are up, though I can’t help but wonder why you’re still wearing that get up.” Mozarta remarked, before waving a hoof at Cherry, who in her tired stupor, yawned softly and just waved her off. The Doctor didn’t feel the need to pursue the teasing further, and instead came to check on me. I laid still, looking up at the ceiling, still not wanting to look at the grievous wound.

“Huh, looks like it’s healing better than I thought, though better safe than sorry, my original timeline stands.” She remarked, and I nodded somberly as she set about cleaning and rebandaging the injury yet again while Cherry muttered something about going to get some coffee and slowly leaving the room. I was left with Mozarta and her nurse, though from the little I knew of the Doctor, I didn’t think she was much for idle conversation. So that just left me and the young Bat-pony.

“So, what’s your name?” I ask looking at him, but all I got for my efforts was his head turning to the side, and a look of puzzlement in his eyes. So I decided to slow down my speech and annunciate my words clearly. I just thought he might have been a little slow.

“I am Moonshine, who are you? I ask again, this time speaking up and slowly so he could understand, but all I got for my effort was him pointing at Mozarta and then myself with an incredulous look, which only made the old mare snort and let out a small laugh.

“Oh nope, you want him to know you tell him yourself.” She said with so much sarcasm dripping from her voice that it felt toxic. I looked back to the bat pony, my eyes wide, a look that just screamed, “Holy shit dude!” which only made him hang his head before he looked back up at me, and then tapped his throat, and made a motion to speak, then shook his head. I nodded, my eyebrows furrowed as I followed along so far, then he slid his hoof tip across his throat, showing that he had his throat slit, though the scar I just noticed might have been a good clue. He then opened his mouth and tried to speak, only for a loud screech to fill the air.

My eyes widened as I gathered the full story, He had his throat slit at a young age, but rather than kill him, it only severed his vocal cords, so all he can do is screech when he tries to speak. I give him the most sympathetic look I could manage without falling into pity.

“I’m sorry that happened.” I offer, then wince as Mozarta prods a sensitive area of the wound. The young stallion nods, but manages a small, albeit melancholic smile. We then fell into a comfortable silence, which was odd considering the recent topic of conversation, but it didn’t feel like it was out of place, at least to me anyway. In the meantime, Mozarta finished cleaning and wrapping my wing in new bandages, and then gave me another quick once over, making sure she didn’t miss anything, and also to make sure that whatever we faced later on, I would be healthy enough to handle it.

By the time Doctor Mozarta finished, Cherry returned, two cups of coffee floating beside her as she entered the room. I smiled and graciously accepted the offered beverage, making sure to blow on the hot drink to cool it down before I took a small sip. Cherry and Mozarta began conversing again, my Mare friend making sure she knew exactly what kind of care my wing would require over the next week or so until it was healed enough to finish the process on its own.

I only half paid attention, all this medical procedure and stuff was boring to listen too and even more boring to write. (trust me I tried but gave up because it was putting me to sleep.) during the time, I finished my coffee, and Cherry hers, before the mute nurse moved the wheelchair near my bed, and I gave Mozarta a grumpy look.

“I’m not getting in that, it’s my wing that’s injured, I can walk just fine.” I growled, fixing the wheeled apparatus with a disgusted look, hoping some kind of mutant powers would awaken within me that would let me melt it to goo with just a glance, but no such powers were forthcoming, and the wheelchair was as solid as ever.

“As long as you are under my care and I can see you, you will sit in the chair and behave, or I will easily make it so you have to stay here for another four days.” Mozarta threatened, and I knew she was telling the truth, but I still hated the idea of sitting helpless in a wheelchair while Cherry, as wonderful as she was but also tired, pushed me along.

“Just swallow your pride and get in the chair Moonshine. I’m not going to spend another four days curled up on a small hospital bed.” Cherry said sweetly, but I also detected her annoyance and a little agitation at the thought. It wasn’t until I sat down to write this out that I remembered she had recently spent a fair amount of time in a hospital bed just before I had.

“Fine.” I grumble, before pulling the small blanket off and getting to my hooves. Admittedly I was a lot more sore than I initially thought, but a quick stretch and several popping joints later, I felt much better, before taking a seat in the wheelchair, and then looking at Mozarta and with an exaggerated wave of my hooves, I proclaimed at how well behaved I was, and that like a good boy I should get a lollipop or maybe a sticker?

A few minutes later, Cherry was wheeling me down the hallway, trying to contain a smile as I sat rubbing a lump on my head, a parting gift from Mozarta for being such a smart ass.

“To be fair, you kinda had that coming.” Cherry said, still barely containing her mirth. I scowled and scrunched up my nose in a pretty accurate impression of Cherry as my hoof gingerly poked the bump.

“She didn’t have to hit me with her clip board though.” I complain, then suddenly remembering the part of LittlePip’s story about covering their wagon with clip boards, and Calamity’s joke about them being made of stubbornite, and managing a small chuckle myself after that. Almost eight years in the making, and that joke had come full circle.

Cherry and I both fell into tired silence we moved along, though it didn’t take too long before I realized we weren’t heading for our room, and the path we were on now was unfamiliar. When I asked Cherry where we were headed, she replied that Shady had requested to see us the moment I was released from the Hospital wing. I nodded, eager to see the rest of my friends, and to see what they had been doing the last few days.

We made a quick detour by the cafeteria to grab some food for every pony, simple breakfast burritos of egg, potato, and cheese, though we made sure to get four for Rogue alone. Scant minutes later Cherry wheeled me through a heavy steel door, and suddenly a cacophony of sounds assaulted my ears. I heard metal being beaten with hammers, welders running at full tilt, and constant swearing every time some pony messed up and cracked their muzzle against something when a tool slipped. Cherry turned me around so I could face the interior now and what I saw made my eyes widen and my breathing stop.

I knew, or at least figured that Shady was going to work on the wagon based on the conversation her and I had the other night, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Shady was sitting atop the wagon, a welding gun clenched in her teeth as she bounded thick metal plating to the side. Zakk, was using his immense strength to hold up the sheet as Shady tack welded it in place. Rogue was using his magic to levitate items and organize them based on importance. From what I saw, the old wagon had been stripped of rust, and patches put into place where it had rusted through. The wheels looked rebuilt and had extra armor plating installed to protect the hubs and spokes.

From this vantage point, I could tell the rear of it had a much larger and custom-built bumper, though it looked bulkier than I thought it should have. Cherry moved me closer to the wagon, and the closer I got the more detail I saw that had been put into rebuilding it. We remained like that for a time, neither of us having the energy to shout over the noise so we just waited patiently for Shady to finish the important welds.

As soon as she finished, and sat upright, she lifted her welding goggles and spat the welding gun onto the roof to inspect her work. Zakk, seeing that it was safe to let the sheet go for now, stepped back, and rolled his shoulders. It seemed even his supernatural strength had limits. He turned to get a drink of water, but locked eyes with us, and gave a friendly smile and wave before alerting Shady and Rogue to our presence. At once work ceased, and the large alicorn gently levitated Shady onto the ground, before the trio walked over to us, all three smiling, despite looking exhausted.

“Hey you two, what do you think?” Shady asked, gesturing at the wagon proudly. I couldn’t help but nod appreciatively, seeing now that the metal plates were armor plating based on the thickness.

“It’s looking great. But based on the weight you’re adding, I don’t think any pony save Rogue or Zakk would be strong enough to pull it.” Cherry remarked, but both Zakk and Rogue smiled.

“That’s the point. I wanted to pull it because just sitting in one place for long drives me crazy.” Zakk said with mirth lighting his face, and I could tell that the prospect of having something, anything to do would be a good thing when Zakk was involved.

“And I wanted to help as well, because aside from being a long-range fighter, I don’t contribute much to the group. This way I can feel like I have something to add aside from my rifle.” Rogue commented, and even though I felt differently, I doubted I could argue with him. If he wanted to be on the pull team, I wasn’t going to argue.

“Believe me, I was surprised too, but it’s true that the rest of us just don’t have the strength to pull the wagon. We are keeping it light where we can, but we are all pretty much in agreement that having comfort and safety is more important than having speed. Besides, when you two see what he all cooked up, I think you’ll agree.” Shady says proudly, and I couldn’t argue with the smiles of support she had from Zakk and Rogue.

With that, Zakk took over pushing my wheelchair as Shady took us on a tour of what had gotten done so far. We of course started outside, because that was where the bulk of the extra weight was.

“All of the armor plating you see has been grooved on each side so that the plates interlock, that way there are no gaps at all that could compromise the integrity. We also added insulation to keep the heat out, and the cool in. there are water collection points on the roof for catching rainwater, as well as several racks for luggage.” Shady began as we walked around the right side, and I could see the plating over here was all hung and only awaiting the finishing welds. Even the door looked thicker with armor, as well as stronger hinges that were both bolted and welded into place to hold the heavier door.

“At the back, we have something… well I think every pony is going to love it.” Shady began as we moved to the back, where Shady threw a lever, releasing two four-inch diameter solid steel rods, which allowed the rear bumper to swing outward with barely any effort from the grey mare. What I saw impressed me immensely and gave reason as to why the rear bumper looked so beefy. There were toolboxes, crates, and even an air tank integrated on one half, the other had a stove, sink, and a complex chemistry station with beakers and phials, even a small boiler. I didn’t know what we would use it for, but Shady seemed to know what she was doing.

“Holy shit…” I exclaimed as I took in what they had made. This was an entire workstation for every need we would come across. Shady even demonstrated that the toolbox had every tool she could get her hooves on, from different wrenches and screwdrivers, to air powered tools like grinders, cutters and air ratchets. The stove was all electric, the batteries were underneath and had been designed to charge from the wheels turning, making sure the entire wagon had power to spare. The sink had a small pump that would pull water through a series of magical purifiers and allow us to have clean water any time.

“Sweet Luna, Shady, guys, this is insane.’ Cherry remarked, but Shady just smiled, and kept the surprises coming. She hit a switch, and a small, refurbished coffee machine rose from the countertop, followed by a small section lifting to reveal cutlery, knives, forks, spoons. Even an old but clean pair of can openers. On the more industrial side of the workstation, a large section rose up at the back to reveal even more tools. a welder, large vice, a bench mounted grinder, and even more tools like pip wrenches and hammers of varying size.

But all of that paled in comparison to what happened next. Zakk pulled me back slowly, and had me face the back wall, where Shady gave Rogue a large grin, and the purple Alicorn smiled back and Nodded, before she hit another series of switches. I watched as two large arms, pushed my massive hydraulic rams pushed from the undercarriage, before rotating up at a sixty-degree angle, and then releasing two heavy chains. But it wasn’t aperture or the chains that hand my attention. No, it was the vaguely pony shaped something that was covered in a dark sheet that was slowly lowered to the floor in a standing pose.

“That isn’t…” Cherry began, before Shady cut her off, as Rogue ripped the sheet aside, and what we saw made Cherry and I both gasp in surprise. I knew we had salvaged another suit of power armor when we fought the giant hermit crab and had expected that Shady would go through it eventually. But I assumed that would take time. And I suppose a few days counted as time, but I expected it to take longer. Instead, standing before us, was a suit of Enclave power armor that didn’t just look new, it looked amazing.

All of the armor plates had been remade and I could see even strengthened in areas. It looked taller too, and I noticed that there had been extensions added on. I would guess it added about twelve inches or so to the total height. The visor had been replaced with one tinted a bright turquoise, the tail and mane sections were a deep indigo, dotted with stars, and the whole thing had been painted predominantly black, but areas where the armor broke up in flexible spots had been edged in a deep purple. But what drew my attention the most, was the homage/intimidation factor, that Shady had recreated the fanged mouth like I had on my last suit around the muzzle area. Unlike the last suit, this one was much sleeker, and the custom touches made it all together more terrifying and beautiful.

It was in my admiration for the suit, that I noticed a customization I didn’t expect on pegasi power armor, right on the top of the helmet, was a metal, spiraled horn, likewise painted black and purple. Shady followed my line of sight and smiled.

“I added that, because unlike the previous suit, this one was designed to allow two different species of pony to operate. A pegasi, or a unicorn.” Shady said proudly, before wrapping her forelegs around Cherry and me.

“Moonshine, the legs are longer to allow you to wear your weapons inside and still use them. Barrel extensions for your ballistic hooves, a whole other set up in the back for your power hooves, you will find that not only will they work like usual, but also pack a little more punch. Cherry, the horn will not only allow you to continue use of your magic, but it’s built to amplify them. You will find your fireballs are more potent, and your telekinesis will be stronger. You won’t be lifting train cars, but the occasional pony or two won’t be an issue.”

Zakk then cleared his throat, grabbing Shady’s attention.

“You showed them dessert but go ahead and give them the vegies.’ He said solemnly. Shady sighed, and released us, before moving over to a cloth bag that was tucked beside the toolbox.

“Moonshine… I do have some bad news.” She said, and then pulled the lonely item from the bag, and my eyes widened. It was my Ranger helmet. Or more accurately, it was… it looked like it had gotten crushed by the wagon.

“Your fight with Whisper destroyed your helmet. Even I couldn’t save it… but, there is a silver lining to it.” She said before moving back over to the armor and turning on the power. It lit up, and I could see the heads-up-display booting inside.

“Cherry, when you pilot this, it will have all safeties disengaged.” Shady said, before two barrels appear under each wing area, glowing a menacing red.

“You will have integrated magical beam rifles fired from inside, just like you did when you first used it. However, like I said, there is no safety so you will need to be careful. Moonshine, it will work differently for you though.” She said before pulling out my armored chest plate, minus the coat.

“We couldn’t save the helmet, but with the help from Test Light we were able to set it up so that when you get in, the whole suit will instead boot from the integrated computer in your armor. You won’t have the beam rifles available, but your other weapons will work just fine. Plus… when you need them…” Shady paused and slapped a panel near the flank with her hoof, which made the area pop open to reveal the interior of the suit.

“… You will be able to draw your revolvers with the tips of your wings. The armor plating there was removed to give you access, so keep that in mind.” She said, before closing the panel and setting my armor aside once more.

“now, this suit has built in life support as well. You can breathe under water for up to thirty minutes, and it can also administer different healing potions or Chems based on what you need at the moment. Plus, there is one feature that is so important, that it’s my personal favorite.” She said, before removing the helmet and holding it so we could see inside.

“I added a small strip of Velcro inside so you can scratch your nose!” She stated proudly, and I couldn’t help but smile. In the admittedly short time I had operated the previous suit, I did find that being unable to scratch your nose was annoying, having something inside that would help was extremely helpful.

“Shady all of this is incredible, but I can’t believe you three pulled this off in just a few days.” I say softly, but the trio just smiled knowingly, before a very familiar, and thick accent came from behind me. I turned to look over the back of the chair, and what I saw made my eyes widen, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. Whenever you had weapons to maintain, or a suit of Enclave armor, there was really only one pony you could call.

“Well, they did ‘ave help.” Deadshot Calamity said with a grin, replacing his cowpony hat atop his head. The rust colored Pegasus was flanked by Velvet Remedy on one side, their youngest daughter sitting in a neck worn sling, looking around the shop in interest, and Gawdyna Grimfeathers on the other. Not to mention a small hoof full of Alicorns, covered in grease and wearing different protective gear based on what they were working on.

“Well son of a bitch.” I said, before shoving myself from the wheelchair, not even caring about Cherry’s protests as I walked over and came face to face with Calamity and Velvet. The two of them looked tired, but I could tell that they were both happy. Gawd looked…well like Gawd.

“What are you all doing here?” Cherry asked as she joined me on my right, and the rest of my friends spread out behind me. To any group from the outside looking in, they would assume that this was about to become a bloody fight.

“When we caught word that you all were holed up at Black Pony Mountain, we all decided to see if you needed some help, turns out we were right.” Velvet said smoothly, making little Clear Glass coo cutely.

“Eyeeup, Gawd ‘ere heard about yer exploits against tha hermit crab a few days back and thought y’all might need some assistance.” Calamity offered, before holding his hoof out to me, and I smiled as I bumped mine against his, just like we had when we first met.

“It’s good to see you are all holding up.” I offered, making Calamity smile as he looked at his wife, and patted a hoof lovingly on his daughter’s head, making her giggle.

“I think UP would be an appropriate word, considering this little girl seemed to have inherited her father’s knack for going a day or two without sleep.” Velvet said, and though I could detect a small bit of annoyance, there was nothing but love for her daughter. Calamity then turned back to look at me, then saw the bandage around my wing.

“Eh? What happed to yer wing?” He asked, before leaning in closer to take a look at the bandage and the location of the injury. I was about to tell him that it was an injury from a sparring match with Whisper, but Zakk cut me off.

“He got hurt by saving us all from the giant hermit crab! We were pinned down, but he came in to save the day, throwing himself at it, and shoving it aside, but it grabbed him in one of it’s massive claws and started shaking him around like a ragdoll!” Zakk exclaimed, making every single one of us turn to look at him, incredulous looks in the faces of my friends, and looks of sheer amazement on the part of Calamity’s group. Then Shady slapped the energetic pony on the back of his head, followed by her telling him to shut up.

I Smiled, and told him the truth, about a sparring match that went too far, and how I got impaled by a spear. Though to my dismay, that only seemed to make Calamity and Velvet even more surprised. Even Gawd let out a low whistle of appreciation.

“Right, and let me guess, you then yanked it out yourself, and then proceeded to fight anyway.” Velvet surmised, and I sheepishly nodded, while rubbing the back of my head.

“Sweet fucking rainbows, you’re just like LittlePip.” Gawd commented but didn’t get the response she had been hoping for. Every pony save the Alicorns looked at the Gryphon in shock. Even Calamity and Velvet looked back and forth between her and I to see my reaction.

I just smiled softly. And replied, “It does tend to happen when you get shot at, stabbed, beaten, or blown up on a constant basis. I guess somethings are unavoidable given enough time.” My response garnered even more surprise from my friends, but I didn’t let them dwell on it for long.

“Now, lets all get back to work, give me anything to do, even light duty I don’t care. I’m tired of doing nothing. And some pony get rid of that Goddess damned wheelchair.” I said enthusiastically, and with a small bout of laughter, we all fell into working on the wagon. Cherry and Velvet joined me, together we all sat down, and began working on filling multiple mattresses and pillows, while Shady and Calamity went to talking and debating about how to wire the entire wagon. Zakk and Gawd, working together built the interior of the wagon. Adding walls, doors, and even carpeting in the bedrooms while Rogue, and the rest of the Alicorns worked together on painting the outside, nothing bright and flashy, just a drab olive green.

We all worked together. Ponies, Alicorns, and Gryphons. It wasn’t a monumental task, not by a long shot. But it showed me, maybe not everyone, but I at least saw how we could all work together, even if it was working on a simple, albeit awesome, wagon. All of us joked, teased, and told stories about how things were going, and all the while, the old wagon was beginning to look more and more like the culmination of not just different skill sets, but the indomitable will of every creature here, that when we banded together, things didn’t seem as monumental as they did when we were alone.

The sun had set hours previously, and every pony was tired, sore, and dirty. But at the end of it, we all stood together, different groups mixed up, but everyone wore a satisfied smile. I then looked to velvet and Calamity, while putting my hooves around Shady and Cherry.

“So, I thought up a name earlier with out knowing it. It took Doctor Mozarta slapping me in the head with her clipboard to make me think about it, but I think in this case it’s fitting.” I said, and every pony stopped to look at me, and I just chuckled before looking back at the wagon.

“I’m thinking… Stubbornite.” I said, making Shady and Cherry look at me oddly, but Calamity snorted, while Velvet, holding her sleeping foal to her chest just smiled.

“Ahh Moonshine, do ya min’ if I talk ta ya in private fer a momen’” Calamity asked, and I nodded. I didn’t mind, especially since he and his family helped us so much with the wagon. He smiled, and told Velvet he was going to talk to me alone for a moment, before hefting wooden box he had been keeping suspiciously close to him all day, and motioning for me to move off to a quiet part of the workshop. Once we had been separated from the group, and the noise from them was a dull roar in the background, Calamity turned and faced me.

“Look Moonshine, I ain’t exactly good with all tha touchy feely stuff, But I know Velvet gave ya Grace, that shotgun I had fixed up all nice like. I guess I understand why ya didn’t want to keep it. Neither of us knew ya were a non-lethal fighter.” He started, and I nodded, but made sure to tell him we still had it. I had just given it to Shady because she didn’t have a weapon of her own at the time.

“Ah, good ta know. Hope y’all are keepin’ her properly maintained. But tha’ isn’t why I wanted to talk to ya. This is.” He said, and set the box on the ground between us, the latches facing me. Now that I got a good look at the box, I noticed that there was an intricate carving, presumably Velvet’s work. Maybe Silver Bell’s? It was a sleek Pegasus pony, her mane spiked back, looking like fire coming from her head. Her tail likewise matched the style. I didn’t know why, but I imagined this mare’s coat would be a bright yellow.

“Like that shotgun Velvet gave ya, this was a gift from LittlePip ta me. But, I’m getting’ older, and I ‘ave a family ta look after. I jus’ think tha’ this’ll do some good in yer hooves.” He said, and I looked back and forth between him and the mysterious box.

“Jus’ consider this ta be me officially passin’ tha torch, from one group o’ heros to tha next.” He said with a small smile, before lifting the lid to the box, and what I saw made my eyes widen. I didn’t even need him to tell me what it was, I recognized it immediately. And when I did, the Pegasus mare on the front of the box made a whole lot more sense.

A long anti-machine rifle was sitting in a cutout specifically made for it. The barrel had golden flame filigree, several citrine gems were set into it, and the biggest muzzle brake I had ever seen on a weapon. The gold pattern continued along the body of the weapon, ending on a symbol of a flaming phoenix just over the magazine chute. The bit was polished brass with reliefs cut into the sides to give a more comfortable feel in the mouth. The scope was off to the side, likewise, patterned in gold fire. Even the front lens was tinted yellow, and there was brass nameplate riveted near the collapsible stock that read “Spitfire’s Thunder.” There were even four different magazines for it each with their own relief set into the blue velvet. And tucked into a corner, was a preserved and full box of rubber bullets.

“Calamity, I can’t accept this. I read LittlePips book, and I know how powerful and special this weapon is to you.” I say, still admiring the close view I had of the legendary weapon.

“Now listen. I don’t use her anymore, an’ I’d rather give her ta ya because I know you’ll put her ta good use. Besides, ya can’t always close tha distance if ya find some pony in trouble. That said, I want ya to take her. Yer right, she’s important ta me, but that’s what a gift should be.” He said carefully, and I nodded. I couldn’t deny he had a point and refusing to accept would be insulting. After all he and his wife had done, it would be rude not to accept. Besides, I was in desperate need of a long range and non-lethal weapon.

“Thank you Calamity, I’ll make sure she’s taken good care of.” I promise, and he smiles, before producing the weapon, and a harness that would allow me to carry it on either side. He quickly helped me don the harness and the weapon, before hefting the box and carrying it back to the wagon to store it safely. I smiled, feeling happier than I had any right too, before returning to the group.

When I returned, Shady was instantly all over me, drooling over the weapon. I practically had to shove her off before she molested the rifle. When that wasn’t enough, I had to have Zakk physically restrain her until she cooled off. Luna knows I’d have to keep the gun locked away otherwise one day I’d find it coated in Shady juices.

(By the way, she did not like that joke when I made it later, that’s why I’m adding it here.)

Velvet surprisingly didn’t know what was in the box based on the incredulous look she gave her husband, who just smiled and gave her a shrug after he dropped the box off in the wagon. I smiled and kept the weapon close. There was a connection to the rifle I couldn’t quite place my hoof on, but it just felt…right.

We all stayed together for a while, mixing up and having good conversations and telling jokes like we had before, only a few smaller projects being worked on, like loading our provisions and making sure everything was good to go. Truthfully, I hadn’t set hoof inside yet, so I had no idea what to expect when I did.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I entered the wagon, but the word no longer seemed quite applicable. I would more akin it to a glorified camper now. The entry way had a table and a desk, with plenty of seating for all of us and then some. I then turned to the right, seeing a small hallway leading to the back. I looked down the hall, seeing several light doors leading to separate rooms. I figured that we would all have individual beds, but private rooms were something I didn’t expect. I moved down the hall, and peaked into several of the rooms, there was a small desk, a bed, and a large chest for storing personal items.

Only some of the rooms had small differences, one had a very large bed, and no desk, and I instantly recognized it would be Rogues room. Another seemed to be Shady’s based on the small work bench instead of a desk, and her usual array of tools. But it was her shotgun hung with pride beside the bed that gave it away. I moved to the back two rooms, finding that one was a bathroom, toilet and sink in the corner, but I looked somber as I realized there was no shower. But then a small fixture on the ceiling caught my eye, and I recognized a shower head. The whole room doubled as a shower!

I then moved into the last room, smiling at what they had accomplished already, but was taken aback with the final room. Rather than a simple bed for one pony, it was larger, about the size of the one Cherry and I had shared. In fact, the whole room was larger. There was a large dresser, a desk with a functional terminal, two chests, and even a small workbench as well. And then I realized this was my room. But the large bed and two chests made little sense, until I also realized that Cherry would be sharing it with me. I wasn’t going to lie, I liked the idea, at least until I noticed the springs Shady had built into the legs of the bed frame that would absorb any…rocking.

“Very funny.” I whisper to Shady after I left the wagon, approaching the grey mare who was conversing with Velvet. She turned to look at me confused, and I elaborated about the springs attached to the bed Cherry and I would share. Shady kept a confused expression, but I recognized the growing mirth in her eyes. Velvet’s eyes just widened, and her face lit up at my words.

“That wasn’t me, I didn’t put the beds in the rooms.” She said, trying to hold back a giggle at my blank look.

“Shortly after, every one of my friends was standing in the room, every pony laughing at my and Cherry’s expense, it was pretty embarrassing, but I recognized the lighthearted playfulness for what it was. Pretty much every pony assumed it was Zakk, this prank had him written all over it. Turns out it wasn’t.

“I did it.” Rogue deadpanned, and every pony looked at him in surprise, practical jokes weren’t really his thing.

“What, I’m gonna be pulling the thing, last thing I want when I’m trying to sleep is feel the whole thing rocking when you two…” He pauses pointing at Cherry and I. “…Decide to get freaky.” He stated flatly, making Cherry and I blush. But this meant war now. I’d make sure the first time we did anything it would be on his bed. And I told him as much, making Cherry groan aloud, and Shady to let out a sharp laugh waking Clear Glass, who began to fuss at being awoken.

Velvet, Calamity and Gawd decided that that would be a great time to call it a night, and shortly after left to find a place to sleep. The other Alicorns likewise decided to head off as well, but I distinctly noticed one green female Alicorn linger a little longer, her eyes all over Rogue. Was that what I thought it was, or just a passing fancy? Either way, I would make sure to needle him about it later.

Shady and Zakk had decided that they were going to finish some of the smaller projects, making sure that everything was good to go with the electric systems and loading in all Shady’s remaining provisions. Cherry, Rogue, and I, all yawning tiredly move toward our room. As much as I would like to sleep in the wagon, it just wasn’t ready yet. So, we entered the room and Cherry and I fell into a bed after I laid Spitfire’s thunder on the dresser, and Rogue curled up on the floor. We didn’t say much, the late night taking its toll on us, However, Cherry levitated over a pack of cigarettes, and I moaned happily as she placed one between my lips and lit it for me before giving the pack to Rogue.

Cherry and I lay side by side, puffing on our cigarettes, Rogue likewise smoking his as we relaxed. None of us said anything, until Cherry sat up and slapped her forehead.

“I forgot to clean and change your bandages!” She exclaimed before hoping from the bed and pulling the potion and new bandages from her pack. I sat up, letting her do as she needed to with my wing, all the while puffing on my cigarette. Rogue ignored us, not wanting to look as he turned on the radio and switched it to Dj-pon3’s station. A song I didn’t quite know came over the air, but the voice was familiar as Velvet’s voice came from the speaker. From what I did hear it was something about staying on your hooves, amidst diversity.

“Don’t waver, don’t give up, how many ponies have been our savior?

Light Bringers, Stable Dwellers, From Manehattan and Hoofington, how many have bled and died for you?

Shotguns and Rifles, the sins of the past weighing tons, who is left to help us, aside from a Child of Arbu?

False Goddess, Crimson Slaver, all foes of equal measure, what can a pony do to keep under so much pressure?

They can plant their hooves, spread their wings and never waver. Some ponies will hate you; some shall fear you, Keep it up, Young Child of Arbu!”

I froze as the lyrics came into my ears; I hadn’t expected that. Velvet Remedy had written a new song alright, but it was about me! What the fuck?

“What the fuck?” I said as I stared at the radio, and from the silence, I knew they had heard it too. My heart thundered in my chest, and suddenly I didn’t feel tired anymore. Velvet Remedy had written a song about me. I mean I had been talked about on the radio a few times, but that was different, this was deep, she had taken her time to create this, and it was about ME! I couldn’t tell if I was angry, touched, or afraid. Part of me wanted to be enraged because this was what ponies did for heroes. I was no hero, hell I didn’t really classify as a proper adventurer. I paused as the song came to an end followed shortly by Dj-pon3’s voice.

“Good evening Children! This is DJ-pon3 and that was Velvet Remedy singing her latest song, Shotguns and Rifles. I don’t know about you, but it’s been a good while since we had a new track, and I can’t think of any pony more deserving than that brave Child of Arbu. I’ve been telling you all that no matter where you come from, any pony can ascend to greatness. Just remember Children, The Child of Arbu is not somepony out to eat other ponies, Hell they’ve saved so many from terrible fates. From helping the N.C.R. clean house, to helping rid the Hoofington area of a large band of raiders, this pony seems to have the best of intentions when it comes to helping Equestria. And who better to get an endorsement from, than another hero, Velvet Remedy. So, from Good Ole DJ-Pon3, here’s to you kid, and if you come across a sexy red mare, give her a kiss from me! it’s Two for Tuesday after all, and we got another song from Velvet Remedy, this time its that old classic Fly Like You!”

Homage then began playing the next song, but I was in too much shock to listen. She was doing it again, just like with LittlePip and Security back in the day, she was painting me in a bigger light than I deserved. Hell, I had hardly anything to do with that stuff, I just happened to be there, if anything my friends had done most of the heavy lifting. The time for heroes in Equestria was over now. There were no false Goddesses, no insane prewar projects that threatened the world. Even raiders were slowly dying out now that towns were able to expand and offer jobs. There just wasn’t room for heroes anymore, and I damn sure wasn’t one.

*Page break*

I didn’t care that it was so late it might as well have been morning, I needed answers and there was only one place I could go. So, I left the room as soon as Cherry had finished re-wrapping my wing and made for the pony who ran the room rentals. I didn’t mean to sound rude to the poor mare, but I was seething as I asked where I could find Calamity. I had to give a description of the group, but the young mare was so shocked at my anger that she didn’t even try to lie or turn me away. As soon as I had the information I wanted, I turned and trotted up a flight of stairs, Cherry hot on my hooves, trying to get me to slow down, but I was far too angry to care.

As soon as I found the room I knocked, then again when I didn’t get an immediate answer. A moment later the door opened to show Calamity, his mane disheveled and looking oddly small without his battle saddle, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that.

“Moonshine? What ya doin? It’s two…” I cut him off, and he could tell from the look in my eyes that I was pissed.

“I need to talk to Velvet. Now.” I seethed, and he got the message, before turning and looking at his wife, who was sitting on the bed, holding Clear Glass who I had rudely woken up. I pushed past Calamity without being invited in, and stopped right in front of her, and despite her exhaustion, she wore a calm expression to counter my look of anger.

“Why?” Was all I could ask, and a small smile flicked across her lips as she looked at me.

“So, I take it you heard it then.” She surmised, and I raised an eyebrow at the charcoal mare. I furrowed my eyebrows as Cherry apologized profusely to Calamity for the late intrusion.

“Yeah I did… Why?” I asked again, the last word dripping with anger at what she had done. To her credit, she didn’t seem bothered. I suppose that would happen when you see as much of the wasteland as she had.

“Moonshine, relax. I did it because you do remind me, in fact every pony, of LittlePip. And no, that isn’t an insult. Just breath and relax for a moment before you burst a blood vessel.” She said calmly, her voice like cold water on the raging inferno if indignance that I had become, but dammit I had every right to be angry with her, but I bit my lip and took a deep breath before sitting on the floor before her.

“Moonshine, you are determined, you don’t stop. No, you may not view yourself as a hero, no hero ever does, but that doesn’t stop the heroic things you’ve done. Think about it, how many ponies have dedicated themselves to fighting things that are wrong, and how many of them have done so with the intent on doing so non-lethally? Both you and LittlePip have had major obstacles to overcome, hers was her size, addiction, and her reputation. You had to overcome so much more, yet here you are, doing the best you can. And from what I hear, not even being near a heart attack kept you down.” She said softly, gently rocking her foal back to sleep.

I had to admit she had a point. But it just didn’t feel right.

“Fine, I can see that. But this whole child of Arbu thing… I kept it a secret for so many years, and do you know why, it’s because there are ponies out there who don’t see what LittlePip did was a bad thing. There are ponies out there who view it as a cleansing, like you said… Arbu was a cancerous growth that needed to be removed. But worse yet, there are ponies, few as they are, who think it was her biggest failure. She failed to purge the wasteland of something inherently evil, and they feel like it is their responsibility to finish what she started. You may not have known, living comfortably after it all ended, but me and the rest of the foals you took away HAD to split up, so we didn’t draw attention.” I explained, and Velvet’s eyes widened.

“As soon as her book came out, the ponies from friendship city who didn’t know did then, and many of them came after us. So, we all ran, grouped up for a while, did our best to survive in the wasteland. But it wasn’t safe. Eventually we had to separate just to have a stronger chance to survive. Shady doesn’t know this she was napping at the time, but a year after she found me and healed me, one of the ponies who proclaimed to be from the church of Littlepip came to Respite. He was trying to track down the Children of Arbu, and was paying caps for information. Do you know what that was like, I was already alone, unable to get close to any pony for fear of them discovering my secret, and then blatantly being hunted by the followers of LittlePip? It sucked. And the only reason any pony found out, was because I was about to die, so I told Shady, and you know what happened from there. So yeah, I’m pissed because I had kept that quiet for a while, even Homage did her best to make amends, but your song not only called me out again, but now the whole damn wasteland will be thinking about it in song form. And you just had to make it catchy.”

Now every eye was on me, none of them had known just how deep that particular rabbit hole went. Not that I blamed them, that was a level of detail Shady didn’t even know about. And I had just spilled my guts all over the floor for them, and I could see a growing respect, sadness, and understanding, all mixing into this mottled grey mush of emotion.

“Moonshine, I had no idea. I though the last time we talked, I knew the extent of your pain, but what you just described is…difficult to imagine. I thought you were keeping quiet about it because you were ashamed of what happened, but I had no idea that you were literally hunted like that.” Velvet offered, probably the closest to an apology I was going to get out of this whole debacle.

“Ya know Moonshine.” Calamity began, but then paused to choose his words carefully as he sat down on the bed next to Velvet.

“I.. I know wha’ it’s like ta have a target on yer back. Ahm a dashite remember, the whole damn Enclave was after me fer years, an’ I know what it’s like ta be alone. Though even I gotta admit, that what ya went through was worse. But I agree with Velvet, ya share a lot o’ similarities with LittlePip, an’ it’s hard fer us to ignore that. LittlePip didn’t want ta be seen as a hero neither, but that didn’t change who she was. An’ seein’ ya go through what ya have just proves that ya are. Why do ya think all of us came ta help? Because we been where ya are now, about ta take a dive into tha unknown, an’ even though that scares tha shit outta ya, yer still gonna do it.” He said, his words sounding strange coming from him.

“Indeed, we can’t change what happened in the past, as much as we want too. The only thing we can do is keep moving forward. And while it may seem odd to you that your secret is now out in the entire wasteland, and every pony knows it, have you gotten so much as a look of disrespect for it? Every pony who knows you, travels with you, accepts you for your character. It will just take time for the rest of the wasteland to see that too. And by Homage mentioning you, she is trying to shed some light on what many ponies believe to be a dark thing, make them understand that even though you were cursed to be born like you were, that you have the strength to own it, and turn it into a blessing.” Velvet began again, and I shifted my attention back to her.

“I wrote that song specifically for you to understand that. Never waver. That was for you, to keep going. Moonshine, Calamity and I are getting too old to keep trying to fix everything. What LittlePip started will take generations, and yes it’s not the best thing, but ponies still need to believe that there are those out there who will fight for them, to be the positive image that we can no longer be, and in time, build up their belief in doing the right thing. For over two centuries Equestria was dark, evil, desolate of love, care, and even kindness. Littlepip was the spark to reignite the belief in being better, but it’s up to ponies like us to keep that flame burning. And like I said, we are getting too old now, and there is still so much more to be done, you’ve seen it for yourself.” She said softly, the flames of my previous anger having been quenched entirely now.

I looked to Cherry, who smiled next to me.

“You may not save the world from horrible monsters, maybe not even a threat to end the world, but I know you will do things most ponies couldn’t dream of. I know you are going after the traitorous Gryphon who destroyed your second home, and you should. But you are in the public eye now, and while you may not feel deserving of it, you are a hero to many. Think of the ponies at Hoofington dam, you and your friends saved many from overdosing, or worse. You saved innocent ponies from falling victim to them. You stopped a plot on Gawdyna’s life, brought an end to a group of horrible slavers, and you do so with the mindset of not killing unless it is the only way out. But your name, The Child of Arbu, also gives ponies hope, that even some pony hailing from a town of cannibals can still come out and save those who condemned them. Every time Homage mentions you; it shows the entire wasteland just what it means to be a good pony again.

I sigh and feel the tension I had built up get washed away by her words. She had a good point, and I couldn’t deny it. But I hated how it singled me out when it was mostly Shady dragging me into those shit storms, granted we all helped to fix it, but they didn’t seem to get the credit they deserved. But I also knew that the image of some pony, one regarded with hate, was out there helping them all was a much more heartfelt story than some grey mare with a shotgun tearing things up, or a red unicorn setting the Hoof ablaze with righteous fury. Those kind of stories had been played out if I’m honest, but looking at it from Homage and Velvet’s perspective, I knew that it was the right call to make, especially if the rest of us from Arbu were ever going to have a chance at living in peace.

A short time later, my fury spent and, in its place, rested a cold stone in the pit of my stomach that made my heart weary, Cherry and I bid good night to Velvet and Calamity before returning to our room. Rogue was already sound asleep by the time we got back, and not wanting to wake the purple Alicorn, Cherry and I silently fell into bed. I laid on my right side, and Cherry curled up against my back, holding me warmly as she slid the covers over our bodies. I sighed and placed my hoof on Cherry’s not sure just how I was supposed to feel now that everything I had held in stoic silence was slowly unraveling. If there were any ponies still crying out for Arbu blood, there was a clear trail now, and it led right to me and my friends. I really didn’t like that, but there was little I could do about it now that Homage was keeping a close eye on me. She really did have a fetish for heroes, or those she deemed to be heroes.

These thoughts bounced around in my head all night, even as Cherry fell asleep next to me, her breathing slow and steady. Normally it would help me fall asleep, but tonight that just wasn’t happening. However, the last thing I would do was disturb Cherry from her much-needed rest, so I just lay there, eyes closed in the darkness, but sleep never found me that night.

When morning finally came, I slowly climbed from our bed, and silently set about packing up our belongings. I then took a seat next to the dresser and began assembling the rifle Calamity had given me. All in all, it was over twice the size of my body when fully assembled, but I knew this weapon well, both from seeing it in Arbu, and reading LittlePip’s book. I knew it was heavily enchanted to give pegasi a much easier time firing it, even from the air. But silent this was not, in fact it had an enchanted gem in the barrel that made it sound like thunder, hence the name. I would have to be careful when and how I used it, if I ever did. One surprise shot was all I would get before every pony in a ten-mile radius knew where I was.

I practiced slinging it and drawing it but found that with the stock unfolded it was a little to ungainly for me, so I figured that if I kept it collapsed, drawing it would be easier. I found it difficult to draw and balance with just one functional wing, deciding it would be better when I healed up properly. I hung my head and replaced it on the dresser, a wave of melancholy washing over me, and for the first time in a long time I realized this was how I typically lived before the fall of Respite. I shook my head, suddenly hating the boredom, and decided to go get a shower.

I glanced to Cherry who was snoring cutely, and Rogue who was curled up in a ball, his head resting on his hooves, and made my way to the bathroom. If we were leaving today, I wanted to take advantage of the hot water here one more time. I gently closed the door, and wrapped my injured wing with a trash bag, using duct tape to close off the opening before stepping under the hot water.

I don’t know what it is about showering that not only cleans your body but refreshes the heart and soul of a pony. I wasn’t going to complain about it though. And just set about scrubbing my coat with a brush. Just the act of cleaning did wonders for my mental state, and as soon as I was done, I felt a little better. Stepping back out of the bathroom, my towel draped across my back I found Cherry tiredly rubbing her eyes and sitting up in the bed.

“Sorry, hope I didn’t wake you.” I whispered, giving her a kiss on her cheek. She yawned and returned the gesture a moment later before shaking her head. I smiled as she stood and made her way to the bathroom herself, and a moment later I heard the soft patter of water as she too got a shower. I meanwhile grabbed a small pouch of caps, and left the room, making my way to the cafeteria to grab three cups of Alicorn sized coffee, I knew we would all need it after the late night we’d had.

By the time I made it back, Rogue was using the facilities, and Cherry was changing into her armor, the nurse outfit I noticed was folded and sitting atop her saddle bag. I smiled, knowing she had planned on keeping it since we never did get to have a little fun with the costume. I shook the thought away, getting a mental image of her standing at the foot of our bed, a thermometer in her mouth seductively. Thank Luna it appeared to be an oral thermometer.

Dammit that thought hit me again.

I set the large cups on the dresser, before offering one to Cherry, who accepted the caffeinated beverage graciously. I smile and likewise pull my armored barding on, having Cherry help guide my injured wing through the hole in the side. I also strapped on my revolvers, tucking my other weapons into my saddle bag save Spitfire’s Thunder, which I slung across my back making sure to have a clip of rubber bullets loaded. Rogue rejoined us a short time later, his few belongings packed up the night before. He took his cup of coffee happily in his magic, and with a sad look at the room, we left, the door closing with a click of finality.

A few minutes later we entered the work bay once again, and made our way to the wagon, which had been rotated to face the exit. Shady and Zakk were already loaded up, the grey mare looking absolutely exhausted, but even more, I knew she was ready to get back out there. However, they weren’t alone. Doctor Mozarta and Whisper were talking amiably with them but drew their idle conversations short as we neared.

“About time, these ladies wanna have a word with you two.” Shady said sternly, before relieving us of our bags. I raised my eyebrows as Rogue joined Shady and Zakk in the wagon silently. Cherry also noted the peculiar behavior but chose better than to question it right then. Whisper, looking better than the last time I had seen her smirked and rolled her eyes, but Mozarta just scowled at me.

“Didn’t I tell you that while you were here, you’d remain in that wheelchair?” She scolded, but I shrugged with a smirk of my own.

“Well What were you gonna do, kick me outta Black Pony Mountain?” I ask sarcastically, but then shrunk back as she tried to clop me across the scalp again.

“Hey! You didn’t give me my sticker!” I admonished, making both whisper and Cherry giggle politely. I could tell the Doctor was less than pleased with me, but I really didn’t care at this point.

“Anyway, what can we do for you?” Cherry asked softly, giving the pair of mares her sincere attention. Mozarta’s attention lingered on me for a moment, and I couldn’t tell if she was deciding whether or not to break my legs as punishment, but she thought better of it and focused on Cherry.

“I have something I want to give you, although I’m kind of starting to rethink it based on a certain blue Pegasus being a stubborn little shit.” She growled, but I wasn’t phased that much. Then Mozarta pulled a small box from her saddle bag and held it out for Cherry. Giving the brown mare a furtive glance, Cherry gently took it and opened it. The contents made me regret being so hardheaded with the Doctor.

Inside were two necklaces of intricate detail, one was a copper band wrapped around a polished sunstone that shone with a gentle magical glow. The whole thing was shaped like a stylized sun. the other was dark steel encasing a crescent moon carved from white quartz, likewise shimmering with magic energy.

“These are gorgeous!” Cherry whispered in awe, and I was inclined to agree. No actually, I was in complete agreement. These had been painstakingly carved, and from the look of pride that entered Mozarta’s face, I could tell she had made them herself.

“Thank you. these aren’t just jewelry you wear on special occasions though. I had them enchanted a long time ago, but never found an excuse to use them. Both have the same enchantments but work slightly differently. Both will enable you to subtly feel the heartbeat of the pony wearing the other. And each one will allow the wearer to withstand one fatal attack once per month. they will need to recharge based on different factors. The sunstone will absorb trace amounts of sunlight while the quartz will take in moonlight.” Mozarta explained and my eyes widened. These weren’t your everyday enchanted items.

Cherry, absolutely brimming with happiness used her magic to place the sunstone necklace over her neck and slide the quartz one over my head. Almost immediately I felt the first enchantment take effect. The sensation was a little weird, feeling Cherry’s heartbeat despite not physically touching her was…odd.

“Well… Better than a sticker.” I deadpanned, making Cherry snort and Mozarta glare coldly.

“Don’t make me regret this.” She said, almost pleadingly, but I smiled and held my hoof out to her, despite her unbearable bedside manner, she really was a good Doctor. She looked at the offered hoof, then rolled her eyes with a small smile of her own and pressed her own to mine. It was a simple gesture, but it meant a lot to both of us. Then whisper, still smiling, politely cleared her throat. I apologized, focusing my attention on her now.

“I likewise have a farewell present, but I don’t think it will live up to what Mozarta just gave you.” She said, making the old Doctor smirk. But Whisper ignored her, and likewise produced a simple wooden box that had been resting on her back. I looked to Cherry who smiled and nodded, and I took it from her softly. I give the yellow Pegasus a thankful smile before opening it, and once more what I saw took my breath away.

The interior of the box was similar to Spitfire’s Thunder, only in the sense that it had reliefs cut out to contain five objects in a deep red suede. I was looking at detailed wooden statuettes of me and my friends. Cherry was standing tall, elegant and proud as she was in the process of casting a spell. Zakk was kicking back, a large smile on his face as his hooves connected with a stop sign. Shady was in the middle on an invisible battle, her shotgun held in her teeth as she fired at an unseen foe. Rogue was poised, his wings spread as he balanced precariously, his rifle levitated next to him, looking down the scope. Then there was me. I was stood in a battle stance, head low and forelegs wide in a defensive posture. My wings holding dual revolvers as I scowled at some unseen threat.

“Oh wow!” Cherry said, impressed at the level of detail on each sculpture, and I nodded in agreement.

“These are incredible.” I say and Whisper sheepishly smiles.

“Thanks. I’ve kind of taken up the hobby in my spare time and had been searching for inspiration to try carving ponies.” She said, then paused and rephrased… “I mean sculptures.” She amended with wide eyes. Cherry couldn’t help but giggle again despite the morbid mental image that caused. I spared a glance to Mozarta who rolled her eyes and I just give my eyebrows a quick flick to realign them before closing the box gently and returning my gaze to Whisper.

“Thank you, I love this.” I said and while Honesty wasn’t my virtue, I really meant it, and she knew it. But it was more than a simple appreciation for the statuettes, it was also for everything she had done for us since our arrival here, and she knew that too.

“Anytime, and there will always be a room for you all should you find your way back here again. I don’t know what your future holds, but We really did enjoy having you all here, you broke the monotony of daily life in this place.” She said, and I caught Mozarta coughing into her hoof, muttering the word “Bullshit” But playing it off expertly. I sighed and hung my head, and Whisper gave the Doctor a small shove in the side.

“Let’s go! We’re leaving in five!” Shady shouted from inside the wagon, and I could clearly hear the annoyance and eagerness in her voice. I shake my head again and look to Cherry with Raised eyebrows as my mare friend just sighs and lets out a whispered “Wow.” Before we returned our eyes to the pair, both of who were smiling despite the rude interruption.

“Actually, we need you to wait for a bit, Nocti also wanted to say goodbye, but he’s a little late.” Whisper said, looking over her shoulder, and I could tell she was worried about her son, but she knew he would be safe enough in the castle. I smiled and decided right then that I would wait as long as it took. That little colt was too innocent and too nice to have his heart crushed because Shady was getting impatient. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long.

“Wait!” I heard him shout as the heavy door was slowly pushed open, the little colt struggling to get through. It may have been a trick of the light, but I swore I thought I saw a quick flare of orange magic pull the handle subtly helping the kid enter the workshop. I spared a glance to Cherry who was biting the inside of her cheek but looking innocent. To innocent I noted but decided to let it go as he came running up. I looked at him and noticed he was panting hard and pouring sweat as he came up to us before coming to a stop, his head hanging low as he gulped in what ever air his little lungs could take in.

“I… I’m sorry. I got lost.” He panted, before using his wings to set a large burlap sack on the ground between us, and I realized he had brought a gift as well. I looked to Whisper, who smiled softly and gave me a look in return that pleaded with me to be happy and accept it, no matter what it was. As if she had to even question it. I smiled and knelt to his level, waiting patiently for him to get his breath back.

“I…got this for you.’ He gasped out, looking at me, and even though he was tired I could see he was still smiling. I couldn’t help it, while I had a pleasant attitude towards Whisper, and maybe Mozarta, this kids smile was infectious, and I couldn’t help grinning back as I looked at the burlap bag.

“Is it alright if I open it?” I ask, wanting his permission before I did. When he nodded in response, I stretched out my good wing and pulled the mysterious present closer, and realized it was a lot heavier than it looked. No wonder he was so tired. I spared Whisper another glance, and saw she was eager for me to reveal what her son had brought me. So, I did, and what I had found not only surprised me, it brought a tear to my eye.

Sitting in the now open bag, was a large glass jug with a rich amber fluid inside, and a simple label advertising it as fresh apple juice, hoof made right here in Black Pony Mountain. I smiled, and I heard Cherry and Whisper simultaneously let out a soft “Awwww.” Even Mozarta was surprised, before she muttered to herself about how the kid won. I didn’t even have to pretend I liked the gift. In truth, it was the best gift I had ever been given.

“Nocti… I love it. Thank you.” I whispered as I looked to the little colt, who beamed with pride as he looked back to me.

“I’m glad! I spent five whole bottle caps for it, my weekly allowance, but it was worth it.” He said proudly, and it only made me let out a heart felt laugh as I scooped him up and gave him a hug with my un-injured wing. I couldn’t even begin to put into words how much this gift touched me. He had remembered our first meeting, and how I had said I liked Apple juice too, even though truthfully, I’d never had it before. Apples were uncommon enough in the wasteland when I was a kid, and even still hardly any pony turned it into juice, it was more valuable as a food source.

I felt a single tear fall down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away as he hugged me back, a gesture that made Whisper beam at the sight of her son being adorable. Even Cherry was having a hard time holding back her emotions, this whole scene was too damned cute, and I loved every single second of it.

“Thank you Nocti.” I said again, unable to hide the happiness in my voice as I set him back down and retied the burlap sack and hefting it with a wing. I had to guess it was a whole gallon of the stuff.

“I’m really happy you like it Mr. Moonshine. Come back sometime, I’d really like to see you again.” He said, and I felt a lump grow in my throat that threatened to make my voice break. I really didn’t know if or when we would be back this way, but I decided, that even if it was out of the way I would make an effort to come back. I owed him that.

“You got it kid.” I said, before looking to Whisper, still struggling to hold my emotions in check. I could she too was trying to hold out against the onslaught of adorableness her son was being, and it only made us laugh at the sight of each other. There weren’t any words that could be said after that, nothing that would do the moment justice anyway. So, I moved close to whisper and gave her a friendly hug that she returned gratefully, before separating from me, and then pulling Cherry into a hug as well. I smiled at the pair, and then looked down at Nocti once again, and giving him a playful wink.

“Take care of your mom ok?” I ask, and he nods firmly, and for the first time, I could see that he was going to grow up to be an incredible stallion, and I knew too that he would do Whisper proud. There wasn’t much to say after that. When Cherry and Whisper pulled apart, rather than let t get awkward, we both said our farewells to the trio, and made our way to the wagon. No sooner than my hooves stepping inside, the wagon began to move forward out of the work bay. Cherry and I leaned out of the door together, and waved goodbye until we had lost sight of them as Rogue guided us around the side of the castle and toward the gate that led back out to the wasteland that was Equestria.

*Page break*

Rogue slowly pulled us along, taking it gently as he guided us down the mountain road. I knew it was difficult work normally, but Shady had gotten the brakes working and rogue expertly operated the wagon, leaving us with a comfortable, albeit weird ride. Cherry leaned against me more often that not from the steep angle the road hit, though I partially figured she wanted to be close to me regardless, and I wouldn’t begrudge her that. Instead I just smiled and wrapped a foreleg around her side happily as we just sat quietly. It’s not like we didn’t all have things to discuss, but we didn’t want to bother Rogue as he concentrated on getting us down the road safely.

Even though it was still pretty early in the morning when we left the castle, it still took until mid afternoon to get to the bottom, and Rogue needed a break. When we got to the base of the mountain, Rogue pulled off the road, and poked his head inside, where Cherry had a Bottle of cold water waiting for him. He gave a quick thanks, before unscrewing the top and downing half the bottle in one large gulp. We waited for him to finish, before he stopped to take a breath and relax for a moment, then Shady spoke up.

“Alright, so Rogue has a good idea what we’re doing, but I wanted to run it by every pony before we actually go ahead and do it.” She began before pulling a large map from her saddle bag and spreading it on the table we had gathered around. I help her hold down the corners while she pulls out a pen and draws a few quick symbols and notes in different places between here and what looked like the northern border to the frozen wasteland. I looked at what she had drawn, and say the mountain we were at, and up north she had drawn a crude looking saddle. But between her and there were recognizable symbols like grocery stores, and factories, but one caught my attention, a simple gear with the number ninety-one written in the middle.

“No way, no way in hell.” Cherry swore as she looked at the map, and I guessed she say the icon I did too.

“There is no fuckin way you’re getting us in a stable, not when we have our close quarters flyer down, and… well Zakk. Plus, you all know about… the other me by now, do you really want to have ME in a small, cramped, metal death chamber?” Cherry asked, and I gave her a look of surprise. I mean I wasn’t thrilled to go into a stable either, but her outburst wasn’t typical for her. Shady noticed it too and chose to poke the hornet’s nest with her next comment.

“What, I know you’re afraid of heights, but you’re afraid of small quarters now too?” Shady jibbed with the question, but if Cherry got that it was a hint to relax, she didn’t show it and slapped her hoof on the map.

“Fuck you Shady, you may be some bad ass Steel Ranger Scribe or something, but regular ponies just can’t enter a stable with any measure of safety.” She countered, but I really stopped paying attention at that point. I expected Cherry to elaborate on the Steel Ranger bit, but she didn’t. I expected the others to notice and question her meaning about it, but they didn’t. Shady didn’t even flinch at the word.

“Wait, Steel Ranger Scribe?” I asked, making the conversation take a detour no pony was ready for. Cherry glanced at me, her irritation was palpable at my interruption, but then my words hit home and then her gaze shifted from grumpy irritation to one of shock before she clamped her hoof over her mouth. I spared a Look at Shady who sighed and hung her head. Apparently, they all knew something I didn’t. Zakk got up and quickly trotted outside, and Rogue made some comment about having things to do before leaving as well. That just left me with the two mares.

“Ok spill.” I commanded, looking dead at Shady, but also pulled my hoof from Cherry’s side. She had known something and had neglected to tell me. They all had. Cherry, despite her previous comments toward Shady offered a quick apology to the grey mare, but to Shady’s credit she shrugged and looked me in the eye, emerald meeting silver.

“I was a Steel Ranger Scribe, but I didn’t work with documents or anything. I was assigned to be the technician for a particularly handsome Knight…” Shady began, and I sat and listened to her tale, most of which I already knew but it was nice to be able to piece together the timeline of events. I was however surprised when she told me exactly where my previous suit of power armor had come from. Shady apologized for lying to me about it, but she explained that she just hadn’t been ready to open up about it.

I Wish I could say I was surprised, but I had already been thinking it for a while now. I mean how else did she know how to operate the armor, fix it up, build and maintain weapons. It all made sense really. Then she got to the bit about her going to collect the power armor where they had buried it, but instead how she found me. I had never heard it from her perspective. I barely remembered what had been done to me. But she did. As soon as she finished her tail, I stopped to think for a minute, then I looked to Cherry.

“I think we should take a look in the stable.” I offer, making the red mare look at me in surprise, her irritation flaring back to life. Only one question on her lips, and I had anticipated it. “Why.” She asked, and I smiled.

“If we have a Steel Ranger with us, then they will know how to bypass most of the security, and with you and I we can handle any threat that comes our way. I don’t need my wings to fight and you know that. Plus, I’ve never been in one and I am curious.” I admit, but Cherry just furrows her eyebrows in annoyance, before looking to Shady.

“Isn’t he supposed to just say “Yes dear, whatever you want.” Or something like that? She asked, making Shady snort out a laugh. I just sat there, not getting it, but that wouldn’t be the first time the mind of a mare confused me, and I doubted it’d be the last. I decided that I needed a distraction as well, and then I remembered the saddle Shady had drawn, and I wanted to know more about it. So, I asked her what it meant.

“Oh, that’s the last town before we cross into the Frozen North. It used to be called Side Saddle, but the locals call it Si-addle because part of the sign deteriorated generations ago and the name stuck. I figured it would be a good place to trade, offload any crap we scavenge, or by things we will need. I don’t know what we will find once we cross the border. I plan on asking once we get there what to expect, but right now I’m not sure.” She admitted and I nodded. Now I knew why she wanted to enter the stable, and it made sense.

“If we are going to have enough caps to barter in Si-addle, we’re gonna need every bit of scrap we can get our hooves on between here and there.” I say, making Shady nod, but still making Cherry glower, unhappy with the idea and I didn’t understand why. All we had gotten from her earlier were just excuses, I doubted they really hit the core of the matter.

“Fine, if you really want to know, we don’t have any pony skilled at healing if you didn’t notice. And these stables are notorious for injuring or even killing explorers. We just got every pony back on their hooves safely, and incase you forgot, Rogue and I nearly died, and Moonshine got fucked up pretty badly. The last thing I want is us to go leaping at the chance to get hurt more without proper safety measures.” Cherry growled, and suddenly her irritation made a lot more sense.

“Do you think I didn’t know about that? If things look to hairy, I had plans set in place to get out if things went to shit.” Shady said confidently, and I suspected they were the same plans Scribes used all the time when investigating old ruins. Her words seemed to cool Cherry’s anger at the idea, but I could tell she didn’t like it. But I was glad to have the opportunity to properly scavenge for a change. Our journey had taken us on a relatively linear path from one shit show to another with higher stakes. It would be a nice change of pace to break away from the main path for a bit here and there, if nothing else but to distract us. But I also suspected Shady wanted to drag our hooves a little, if only to give my wing more time to heal properly before we left Equestria.

*page break.*

We had traveled for a few more hours after Zakk re-boarded and Rogue hooked back into the harness. Cherry had gone to take a nap, figuring that her anger was brought on by tiredness. Shady sat tinkering on Spitfire’s Thunder, getting familiar with the weapon and seeing if any improvements could be made, though I doubted it. I was in the process of logging the time spent in Black Pony Mountain in my journal, not wanting to spend time at the terminal to avoid disturbing Cherry’s rest. Zakk was idly coloring in a foals coloring book with a set of crayons. I had no idea why or where he had them, but I was so far past the point of paying attention to his crap.

Then he sat up alarmed and grabbed our attention with a simple proclamation.

“We’re being followed.” He said, his ears swaying around his head. I didn’t ask how he knew, we just trusted in his freaky notions, especially when he was so serious about the matter. Shady didn’t hesitate and tossed Spitfire’s Thunder to me, which I caught in my mouth as she ran into her room and returned a moment later with Grace. The shotgun held in her hooves, which she cocked with attuned precision. I slid the magazine filled with rubber bullets into the rifle. Shady moved to the front, and alerted Rogue to the possible threat via a tube plumbed through the wall.

“What should I do?” He asked, and Shady just told him to pull off to the side of the road, before pausing and asking Zakk how many were on our tail.

“Just one from what I can tell.” He said, his eyes closed as he focused, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Either this threat knew who we were, and were very confident they could beat us, or they were just following along for now until our paths diverged. Shady wasn’t about to have our wagon set upon by some possible threat and confirmed her choice and told him that when he saw a clear spot to go ahead and pull up so we could get a look at what was going on.

Cherry, who was woken up through all the chaos had stumbled from our room, her .45 pistols floating beside her, she joined us, wondering what was going on. I filled her in on the issue, telling her it wasn’t something worth panicking over, but that we were just being careful. Cherry nodded and shook her head to clear it of sleep, though I did notice her mane was more disheveled than usual, made it look like she had a cute cowlick that made a strand of her mane stand out awkwardly, seemingly breaking the laws of physics, though we traveled with Zakk so that was normal.

When Rogue did find a smooth spot to pull over a few minutes later, we disembarked, weapons held in a non-threatening manner and turned to look the way we had come. At first I didn’t see what was going on, there was no pony behind us from what I could tell, but then a motion caught my attention, and I saw a cloaked figure walking in the shaded part of the ditch before they came to a complete stop seeing us with our weapons held but not aimed down range at them.

At first it seemed like they were going to wait there, but then slowly walked toward us, and as they drew closer, I began making out details I couldn’t before. The figure was pony shaped, and their cloak wasn’t a typical piece of cloth. It was a fine mesh netting covering a dark clad figure underneath. It perturbed me that I couldn’t see their coloration or cutiemark, but from this distance I didn’t see much in the way of weaponry either. Just who was this pony.

We waited a while longer, the pony figure seemed to grow more nervous as they neared, seemingly uncomfortable with so many sets of eyes on them. They seemed to be fighting some kind of internal battle but struggled on to get within ten meters away. I thought they would come closer but froze when Cherry very slowly pulled the hammer back on her pistol. Either this pony had amazing hearing or vision, because after that they refused to come any closer than that.

We all shared a look, and Shady ordered Rogue and Zakk to hold back while Cherry herself and me would close the remaining distance ourselves.

“keep that rifle of yours ready, just don’t aim downrange unless you see it going bad. This pony hasn’t seemed to be trying to threaten us yet.” She whispered, and the Alicorn nodded. Then as a group, the three of us slowly advanced on the lone figure, keeping our weaponry lowered politely. Once we had closed the distance to ten feet, we stopped, looking at the concealed pony. Even from this close distance I couldn’t see their face, not even their eyes.

“Are you following us?” Shady asked, not forcefully, but got right to the point. The figure nodded slowly, just a single motion in response that told us very little.

“Why?’ Cherry asked next, keeping her magic up, just in case, but like Shady there was no menace to her voice, just calm confidence. The hidden figure paused for a moment, then lifted a hoof and pointed it in my general direction. I paused, then looked closer as I saw something drop from her hoof onto the ground. I stared at it but didn’t immediately recognize it. It was a small patch f blue cloth, but then I caught the glint of silver pin stripes. It was the same material my suit coat was made from, but I knew it hadn’t gotten damaged.

I wracked my brain to figure out where this pony had gotten a scrap of my coat and how they could associate it with me, but then an idea struck me, and I stepped closer, slinging my rifle across my back. The figure didn’t move away, but I could tell they were nervous.

“It’s alright, holster your weapons, I think I know who this is.” I state as I look back at them, and smile.

“It’s ok, you can show yourself here, these are my friends.” I say softly, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought I was right about my gut feeling. Shady did as I requested, but Cherry took a moment to do the same, still not feeling entirely certain. But once she did, the figure focused entirely on me, and with shaky slowness, they pulled back their hood and peeled the mesh mask away from their face. I smiled; this was the first time I had seen her outside. And her distinct purple and red stripes made my friends pause in surprise.

“It’s alright every pony. This is Gemengde.” I said, hoping I hadn’t butchered the pronunciation of her name.

*page break.*

“You’re a Zebra!” Cherry gasped. We had decided to leave the open road and retreat into our wagon, offering a cool place for the striped mare to relax. She was skeptical at first, but she was familiar with me enough to know no harm would come to her as long as she wasn’t here to hurt any pony.

“Y…Yes.” The shy mare whispered softly after joining us at the table. I had offered her a bottle of water, which she accepted with a polite “Thank you.” I decided to head off the questions that were sure to come at the quiet mare, if only to spare her the time to take a drink.

“This is Gemengde. She helped me back in the castle. She made the nice suit coat you saw me in for our date.” I said simply, then introduced her to the rest of my friends.

“Gemende, this is Cherry Wine, my mare friend. Shady acres, our mechanic, teacher, and leader. The Alicorn outside is Rogue, our long-range fighter and current transportation manager. And then there’s Zakk, he’s… well he’s an idiot.” I say, before having a kindhearted laugh at the eccentric stallion’s expense who gave a gracious bow to the young zebra. She looked at each of them in turn, gave a small smile, before taking another sip of her water.

Shady spared me a questioning glance, but I just offered a small shrug in return. I had no idea why she had followed us but before I could ask, Shady beat me too it.

“So umm… Gemengde, why were you following us?” the grey mare asked softly, knowing now that the Zebra wasn’t a threat. I was glad that Shady seemed to not have the same prejudices that most Steel Rangers had. We waited for the mare to finish her sip of water, before looking to me for assistance. I shrugged again, unsure what she wanted from me.

“Umm well, Ze blue one, Mister Moonshine, offered a place for Gemengde.” She said softly, and I widened my eyes, it was news to me. Every pony turned to look at me then.

“What? I didn’t say that.” I said defensively, looking to the Zebra mare in confusion, but her gaze matched mine.

“But when Gemengde told you about how she didn’t fit in anywhere, you told me to join ze club.” She countered, and I face winged. Every pony else was look at me, but rather than confusion, it was with mixtures of amusement at my predicament.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding Gemengde. But that was actually me trying to say that I know the feeling. None of us here really belong anywhere else, so we kind of just… stuck together. A group of misfit idiots who run around the wasteland and get into trouble. I didn’t mean for you to have to follow us all day like that.” I say, genuine apology in my voice.

“Ah, zat makes sense. Why else would you have left Gemengde behind like zat.” She said, then sighed softly. Something about that particular sigh stood out, I wasn’t sure why, but Cherry picked up on it and asked her what was wrong.

“Gemengde… may have sold ze shop and room.” She admitted quietly and my heart sank. A simple misunderstanding had caused this sweet mare to sell her home and store to come join us, even if we hadn’t known about it. Shady shot me a look that screamed “This is your fault, fix it.” But once again before I could do anything, Cherry beat me too it.

“We don’t mind you accompanying us, but we tend to jump headfirst into trouble most of the time. It can be pretty dangerous.” She said sweetly, and the Zebra mare looks to Cherry, unsure how to interpret the kindness.

“Of course. It’ll be nice to have a new face in the group, especially one who can patch up armor.” Rogue said, he had laid down near the door, the only open space inside he could relax that wasn’t his room. I nodded, remembering just how good her eye for detail was. Shady though, always the pragmatic one, asked bluntly…

“What are you capable of? We need to know so we can figure out what would work best for you.” Shady began, and the small mare’s eyes lit up. I thought it was a bit to harsh for her to ask like that, but Gemengde didn’t seem to mind.

“Not only can I fix armor, but I can make anything out of cloth. Gemengde loves how soft it is. Not only that, but she has learned how to cook, not just food but brews and potions.” She said proudly, slipping in and out of first and third person again. I don’t know why she did it, but if this mare could cook, that was reason enough for me, none of us were particularly skilled in that area, normally just eating whatever we could get our hooves on.

Shady seemed impressed by that as well, though I had a feeling it was about her potion making more than the cooking, but she wasn’t quite done with her line of questioning just yet.

“Alright, that’s a good start. How are you in a fight?” Shady asked, blunt as ever, though if I’m honest I wanted to know too.

“Oh, well Gemengde uses stealth. This mesh isn’t just for looks.” She replied, gesturing at the full body netting she wore. I didn’t understand the use of it, or how it was used for stealth, but Shady sure did.

“That’s a ghillie suit. You make your camouflage on the go. You can slide almost anything in the mesh, but you made it so you can customize it on the fly. Whether you’re in the woods, or urban areas you can blend in.” She remarked, and suddenly I remembered how she had lit up her shop, so she could blend in. Gemengde nodded happily, and I could assume it wasn’t common for her to share an interest with any pony, or in her case zebra.

“Gemengde also has this.” She said, before reaching into her suit with her muzzle, and returning slowly, and produced a small pistol, held by the barrel before setting it on the table. It looked too small to be very effective, but it had a suppressor attached that certainly made stealth attacks more deadly. I wasn’t too impressed by the weapon itself though. I suspected that Cherry’s pistols carried more punch. Shady on the other hoof was shocked. I swear she practically squeed at the sight.

“That’s a 10-mm Hushpuppy!” She gushed, taking the weapon in her hooves and examining it with admiration. At my look of confusion Shady added,

“It’s a small package pistol, it uses ten-millimeter rounds has a possible silencer option, it was referred to as a Hushpuppy during the war because it was used in stealth missions. Typically, it was used to put down enemy dogs, hence the name Hushpuppy. What makes it interesting though, despite its small size, it packs just as much punch as a standard .45 pistol.” She exclaimed, and I suddenly had a much greater appreciation for the weapon. Shady, smiling, began to appreciate the young zebra as she gave the weapon back to Gemengde, making an offer to retool it and maintain the weapon for her should she want it.

“What can you all do? Asked the zebra mare, looking at each of us curiously. I smiled and Shady started off the introductions.

“I am the mechanic, like Moonshine said, though he’s no slouch with a set of tools himself. I am the support pony; I engage where I am needed.” She said and held up her combat shotgun tor Gemengde to get a closer look at the elegant weapon.

“I am the magic user, though I can only do minor levitation, I can do a whole heap of fire magic.” Cherry said, and I could see her looking at us, wanting to keep the whole Justice thing under wraps.

“I’m the sniper and also support.” Rogue offered, mirroring much of what I’d said when I introduced him.

“I am the muscle. I do the heavy lifting, lock breaking, and stealing, though I’m non combative. I dislike violence.” Zakk said, though I had to admit, I’d never thought of asking him to steal from enemies. Maybe with his speed he could steal even the ammunition from any enemies if we asked. I’d have to ask him one day. Then I finished up the introductions.

“I’m the front line. I’m heavily armored, I use non-lethal ammo for my weapons, but mostly, I just punch things… really hard.” I admitted, though it seemed weird to describe myself as just the dumbass with a punching fetish. Gemengde didn’t seem to mind though, I think it pleased her to find that most of us tried to keep things at least non-lethal. I don’t think the lithe mare had the stomach to kill, but I’d been wrong before.

Shady then gave Gemengde the tour of the wagon, showing her what the inside had to offer, including some things I hadn’t noticed such as the air talisman. It was used to create cool air, and also help filter out any contaminants, though Shady assured us that you could set of a pack of tear gas grenades under us, and nothing would get in. it was mostly to clean out any dust that might filter in when the door was open. She then guided the mare to a room I had been told would before any guests but decided that it would be suitable to let the zebra have it for herself.

Shady told her that her belongings would be safe in here, and no pony would look through anything without permission. She then showed her the bathroom, and how everything worked, the zebra mare’s eyes were wide as she saw what every pony had worked on. I couldn’t wait for her to see just what Shady had accomplished outside.

After Gemengde set her stuff in her room, we gave her a little privacy if she wanted to change and returned to the table. Shady had set out cans of beans or small boxes of snack cakes for dinner. I took a seat beside Cherry, who seemed happier with the nap, cast me a furtive glance that set my mane on end.

“You sure do seem to be fond of surrounding yourself with mares.” She commented, making me snort sparkle cola from my nose. I looked to her, wiping my dripping nostrils with the back of my hoof, eyes watering.

“What?” I asked, not sure what had prompted that line of thought, but at the laugh Shady let out, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was missing something. Then Gemengde returned from her room, and I could tell she felt exposed, but she was wiling to place her trust in us, despite only knowing us a short while. Gone was her stealth suit, and instead of covering up with something else, she came out naked like the rest of us had been. For the first time I had seen her clearly, her coat contrasting sharply against the slate colored walls.

“Awww you’re really pretty.” Cherry said, even though her comment previously had bothered me, she seemed to like the mare well enough, even her compliment was genuine. I smiled as Shady, Zakk and Rogue all nodded in agreement. Her stripes were bright, and I already knew her coloration was rare, but I had to admit, it was refreshing. It made the interior of the wagon seem dim and boring. And I couldn’t stop having a thought that imitated one from the very beginning of LittlePip’s book.

“This wall needs a mural.”

*Authors note*

Alright, I’m sorry to every one of my supports at the extreme lateness of this chapter. I had moved shortly after the completion of chapter 14 and found myself working on a horse farm. (Yes, I recognize the irony.) the thing is, I have scant time to myself in the evening before I must go to bed, so this chapter was written a little bit at a time. To make matters worse, a few weeks prior to this note, I had almost been done with it when my computer decided to auto update, and I lost almost half of the progress I had made. I spent a week getting over the depression of that, considering that this was my longest chapter by far, it hit me hard. Hopefully, with luck, I won’t be working like this for long, and I can devote more time to writing.

A couple of things before I go though, I know a few readers hate the fact that I use previously established characters from time to time, but I felt it was necessary to build up moonshines growth until I felt he was ready to go out on his own. The comment that Calamity makes after he gives Moonshine Spitfire’s Thunder is a reflection on my own feelings. This was my way of saying farewell to characters I love such as Velvet and Calamity. I felt you all should know that.

Also, I am going to be heading my story in a direction that is different in a way from the previously linear story path. Now the main cast will spend more time exploring, scavenging and trading than before, but I am going to do my best to maintain the more realism that I can. Healing potions will be far less common that other books, only because I felt that the scarceness of them will add more ”weight” to moments where they get hurt.

One last thing, I know I am going to catch hell for having Calamity give Moonshine Spitfire’s Thunder. But I know Calamity didn’t have it in his possession at the time of the ten years later from Fallout Equestria. He just as easily could have kept it safe, but I feel that the weapon’s story isn’t quite done yet and wanted to expand on it as well. Anyway, thank you to everyone who has supported me through this, I will do my best to get the next chapter done a lot sooner than this one was. And as Always, Keep calm, and Pony on!