Ponyville:

Starglow Starhoof smiled as she strolled through the streets of Ponyville, her mother by her side. It was another one of those days, just a peaceful one. Birds were singing, and the locals in the marketplace were haggling over their wares as usual.

Starglow chuckled as she saw a familiar sight, a brilliantly azure blue mare with an almost cornflower blue mane -With small streaks of gray beginning to run through it as she reached middle age- arguing with one of the local flower ponies, Roseluck if she remembered correctly. Now, most ponies Starglow’s age probably wouldn’t even know the names of all these colors, but her mom (Well, one of them anyways) insisted on making her filly as smart as she could. Must have gotten it from her teacher.

“I’m sorry, fifty bits for one bushel of dahlias?” the azure mare, with a purple cloak held together by a gem clasp (The cloak itself decked out in yellow and pale blue stars) “Trixie says that’s robbery! Robbery, plain and simple!” she snapped out.

“Well, that’s the price Trixie, dahlias are very hard to grow this time of year, and you know that,” Roseluck said simply. She was an earth pony mare, with a white coat and a raspberry mane. “Now you can take it or leave it. And that’s that. Final offer.”

Trixie grumbled something rude under her breath, something sounding suspiciously like ponies she’d like to turn into flowers, and then present them as gifts to her wife.

“Fine… Fine,” Trixie finally relented, fishing some bits out from her saddlebags sat nearby. Starglow had to smile when she saw what the saddlebags had been decorated with, a cutie mark. But not just any mark, it was an exact copy of her mother’s own. A purple star with two streams coming from behind it. “There, you happy? Trixie’s doing this for love, and you’re making me pay good bits for it!”

Roseluck sighed. “I’m sorry Trixie, and I’m making this quite clear to you, I’m not having this price be like this because I don’t like you. It’s just that…”

“Yeah, yeah… Dahlias are hard to grow this time of year, you said that already.” Trixie grumbled to herself as she was handed the flowers.

Starglow looked at her mother, a pale pink mare with a purple mane with aquamarine highlights, who was shaking her head in embarrassment.

“I swear…” her mother said to herself, rubbing her temples with a hoof. “I think Trixie needs to become Twilight’s personal student as well… Could do with a few lessons on being less obnoxious at times…”

“And this is totally not related to you wanting to spend more time with moi, riiiighht?” Trixie asked as she walked up to my mom and hoofed over the flowers.

Starglow’s mom laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof even as she levitated the flowers into her saddlebags. “Well... It could be that...”

Starglow’s other mom smirked. “Yeah, Trixie thought so. But, let’s face it, if I had to spend time with Twilight in her friendship lessons, I’d go crazy just because we would barely ever get the time to-”

There was a coughing sound from Trixie’s wife, and she flushed red. “Oh, right… Filly in the room…” the showmare muttered before she decided it was probably best to change subjects. Starglow, meanwhile was tilting her head in confusion. Why had her mom decided to reprimand Trixie? Far as she could see, she hadn’t said any of what were referred to as ‘bad words’.

“So kiddo, how was school?” Trixie asked. “Did you ‘dazzle’ them with your show and tell?”

“Well…” Starglow admitted, and showed she shared her mom’s trait of rubbing the back of her head with a hoof when she got flustered. “I… I think the birds may have escaped. Wanted freedom, rather than to be pulled out of a hat....”

Starglow smiled as Trixie ruffled her dark blue mane. “Ah well, first steps kid. First steps. Even when I was your age, and I’m not making this up here, I didn’t get off to quite such a good start with my tricks. Couldn’t even do the which card am I holding bit, can you believe it?”

“Seriously?” her daughter asked. “But that’s.... That’s like the most simplest of tricks from what you told me!”

“Well… Trixie wasn’t as talented with magic as she’d like everypony to believe at a young age. I was what my wife, or that friend of hers in the Crystal Empire, would call a late-bloomer.”

“Hey, you got there in the end, that’s the thing isn’t it Trix?” Starglow’s mom asked.

“True…” Trixie admitted as she kissed her on the cheek. “And now look at Trixie, she’s a showmare known nationwide, from sea to shining sea! She dazzles ponies with her tricks everywhere she goes!”

Starglow smiled as she and her moms walked through the streets of Ponyville. As they did so, ponies waved at them. She recognized some of the faces and the names. That strange brown stallion with the sticky-uppy hair and the hourglass for a Cutie Mark who liked to be referred to as the Doctor. As usual, he was accompanied by his wife Ditzy Doo and their two children, Derby Hooves and Dinky Doo. Then there was the mare who was almost always selling various sodas. She was an odd one, and a close friend (Well, more than close friend depending on who you asked) of Twilight’s. Mulberry in coat color, with a crimson red mohawk for a mane, she was supposedly this evil pony who led an army into Canterlot some years back, but Starglow never put much stock into those stories. Seriously, Fizzlepop was far too nice to have done those things!

“Trixie!” Fizzlepop said. “Enjoying the day?”

“Yeah, though Trixie must admit the sun could be a little less... “

“Hot?” Fizzle asked. “Yeah, I’ll ask around and see if I can get Cloudchaser and the rest off their flanks to see if they can get us a rainstorm, later on, to cool us all off, okay?”

“Being the personal student of the Princess of Friendship pays dividends, doesn’t it?” Starglow’s other mom said, sharing a smirk with Fizzlepop.

“Yeah, suppose it does…” she replied, before turning back to Trixie. “In the meantime, here take this. Might help stave off some of the heat,” she said before handing Trixie a can of soda. The showmare, with a grateful smile, popped the top off the can as she and her family continued their walk.

Soon, Starglow and her moms were at the local park. Trixie, along with her wife watched their child practice her magic by starting off simple, and trying to make a flower in a pot grow. Nearby, auntie Scootaloo and her wife Sweetie Belle laughed -But only a little- as their son Candy Drops hid behind a tree, blushing as he looked at Starglow. He was a unicorn, pale white in color, but with a shortly cropped mane that shared his aunt Holiday’s burnt orange hue.

“Go on,” the orange mare with a purple tomboyish mane said as she nudged her son forwards. “You can go and talk to her, she won’t bite.”

Sure enough, the white unicorn slowly walked forwards towards Starglow and with a nervous expression on his muzzle, he sat down beside her.

“Is… Is it okay if I practice my magic… W-With you I mean?”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds kinda cool, actually.” Starglow said, and if possible, Candy Drops flushed even redder.

“You know, t-there’s this shower of shooting stars tonight, and I-I wanted to know if you wanted to come along with me to see it. Just as friends of course, j-just friends. Yeah… that’s right!”

Nearby, both sets of parents shared looks and wistful smiles unbeknownst to the two young unicorns.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Zecora’s supposed to be telling us what the stars mean, and telling us the stories of her clan, right?” Starglow asked, and Candy nodded.

“Bit weird she is, but she’s nice. From what Auntie Apple Bloom told me, she wouldn’t have gotten her mastery in potion-making without her!” Candy exclaimed.

“Really?” Starglow asked.

“Yeah, least that’s what she told me. Don’t see why she would have any reason to lie…” Candy replied. “Besides, you know her sister. She really hates lying in all forms, so I really don’t think growing up around her, Apple Bloom would have picked up a habit of lying… Even small little white ones.”

Starglow chuckled. “True, I guess.”

Nearby, Trixie smiled as she leaned into her wife’s shoulder and nuzzled her.

“Aw, our little girl’s growing up… Just yesterday it seemed we were changing her diapers, right Starlight?”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Starlight admitted with a small sniffle. It didn’t escape Trixie’s notice.

“Aw, are you longing for those days…?” she cooed, in a teasing tone of voice.

“Well, not the waking up in the middle of the night to change her, or feed her a bottle of breast milk… No, not that.” Starlight said, but there was a trace of wistfulness in her tone. Trixie noticed this as well.

“But…?” Trixie trailed off.

“I admit, I do miss the sound of the pitter-patter of little hooves around the household…” Starlight sighed.

“Well, we can always fix that, can’t we?” Trixie whispered into her wife’s ear seductively, and licking her neck as well. Starlight flushed as red as a tomato.

“Yes… Yes, I think we can do that at some point…” Starlight stuttered out. “Maybe later tonight, we can work on ‘fixing’ the lack of those little hooves hmm?”

“Oh, Trixie cannot, and she repeats, cannot wait for that!” she purred out as she wrapped her forelegs around her wife and began nibbling at her neck in a teasing fashion. “That is one of the best parts, is it not? Failure or success, it’s always soooooo fun…”

“T-Trixie, we’re in public!” Starlight hissed out.

“Oh, always such a prude,” Trixie remarked with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Been spending way too much time around Twilight, you’re about as tightly wound as her half the time!”

“You’re a bad influence.” Starlight mumbled.

“But you know you love me for it, right?” Trixie teased.

“True…” Starlight admitted.

“Ah, so there’s still some of that bad girl left in you,” Trixie laughed. “Good, I was getting worried. I was beginning to think Twilight’s goody two hoovesness had sucked it all out of you like a vacuum!”

“Hoovesness?” Starlight asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s not a word, and you know it!”

“It is so a word, and I shall swear by it!” Trixie exclaimed in mock-offense. “Now, what are you thinking? Filly or colt, hmm? Which sounds better?”

“Personally, I like the surprise…” Starlight admitted.

“Okay, Trixie will admit she likes to be surprised as well,” the showmare sighed to herself. “But, one must ask these questions anyways. After all, I’d bet Starglow would love a little sister. Twinkling Gleam, I think would be her name if Trixie had her way.

“Bit early to be deciding names, isn’t it? Baby’s not even made yet…” Starlight drawled. “Besides, bet our daughter would love a little brother just as she would love a little sister!”

Nearby, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were laughing their heads off at the pair.

“Still haven’t changed much, have they?” Sweetie Belle asked, smiling a little as she watched her son, along with Starglow practice levitating objects in a nearby sandpit. “Still, even approaching middle age, they act like they did when they were thirty and newly married!”

“Hey, nothing wrong with that, right?” Scootaloo asked. “Some things may change, but it is a small comfort to know, at least in my mind, that others will always stay the same. I mean, look at our son and his crush. They’re acting like we did when we were their age. History repeats, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess it does…” Sweetie Belle trailed off and smiled as she hummed part of an old song as a bluebird landed on her hoof and started to sing along with it. Yep, for the most part in Starglow’s life, all was well. But it wasn’t scheduled to last.

“Automatic Emergency Simulation Shutdown In Effect.” a voice that Starglow swore she recognized from somewhere, but didn’t remember exactly who it was, echoed throughout the playground. The whole area began to be enveloped in a white fog. As Starglow looked to her left, she was surprised to see Candy Drops had just… vanished.

“Candy… Candy?” Starglow shouted in fear as she reached for a colt who was simply no longer there. “Where’d you go? No… No, you can’t leave me! We were supposed to go see the shooting stars tonight, listen to Zecora narrate her stories!”

She looked beyond her, and saw the white fog taking over Ponyville, and saw familiar places that she knew like Sugarcube Corner, Twilight’s Castle and the Carousel Boutique began to vanish. Beyond that, Sweet Apple Acres began to vanish in the fog as well. Tree by tree, grove by grove. Even the old clubhouse where she and the newest generation of the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to vanish.

“No… No, what’s going on?” Starglow whispered. Then, she saw parts of the playground around began to disappear as well. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, along with the bench they were sitting on vanish. Pretty soon, it was just her and her moms in a pure white void.

“Simulation Shutdown In…”
Her eyes brimming with tears, Starglow rushed towards Starlight and Trixie. “W-What’s going on?” she asked, her voice quavering. “this scary voice said something about a simulation ending and… and now…”

She reached out to hold one of her moms closely, as if to keep them for vanishing as well, but she only found herself grasping at empty air.
“3…”
“2…”
“1.”

Mount Pleasant Island: Five Hours Earlier:

Upon hearing those very words, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. She was a far cry from her usual self as the ponies of two centuries ago knew her, to be sure. For one thing, her formly lavender coat was now a dark purple. It had been starting to lighten up over in more recent years, return to its usual shade but was still quite aways away from it being recognizable.

For another thing, and this was also fairly obvious to the rare few who had ever seen her, she was now at the size of her former mentor, towering over most ponies in stature. Along with that, came larger wings and a horn, protruding like a lance from her skull.

She also now sprouted two small fangs jutting out of her upper lip.

However, there were still some signs that this Alicorn was once the one ponies knew to be the Princess of Friendship. Her eyes were no longer glowing a terrifying golden hue. Instead, they were back in their usual violet shade.

Her dark sapphire-hued mane, it had regained its purple rose streaks as well.

“So, so, glad some ponies still remember that phrase…” She whispered sadly -With a trace of relief in her tone- through Iron and presumably the others’ Pipbucks before regaining her composure. “Now, we haven’t much time to waste.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. Riptalon wasn’t lying when he said he saw an actual friggin’ bloody Alicorn in the mist…” Iron muttered to himself.

Behind him, Midnight muttered: “Really, that’s the first thing he thinks to say when he meets the Twilight Sparkle? Not hey, how you been, or how nice is it to know you fucked our world up beyond belief?”

“I can hear you, you know,” Twilight deadpanned. “I may not be there physically in the room with you, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t hear every word you say,”

Midnight’s slack-jawed expression, and then the one he made as he tried to form words to little to no success was a sight to behold indeed.

“But before we say anything else, I want to know who exactly I’m talking to.” Twilight stated firmly.

“Fair enough,” Iron admitted. “Can’t do business dealings without knowing who you’re getting into bed with for a shag, eh?”

Twilight harrumphed and Iron got the distinct feeling she was rolling her eyes at his -admittedly poor- joke.

“Alright, sorry,” Iron said. “Iron Skies, and Midnight Radiance of the New Canterlot Republic. We’re not alone. Outside rests Target Quartermane and Henrietta Firebright of the same group, along with a former friend of theirs in Riptalon Hawkwind,”

After a few minutes of radio silence, Twilight answered at last. “ That’s a good mix, perfect choices for what I need. Anyways, down to business. Like I said, we don’t have much time,” Twilight continued. “Been listening in on the Enclave’s little broadcasts, and there’s something on this island that they must not get their hooves on,”

“Well, hate to break it to you Princess,” Iron stated. “But the whole bloody island’s crawling right and left with soldiers of the Grand Edginess Enclave. (Iron could swear he heard Twilight suppress a snort at the nickname) Whatever it is they want, they’re probably going to find it soon enough. We just take a walk outside through the wilderness, and provided we don’t get slaughtered by Fred Bear or any of the other local wildlife, there’s the Novasurge Rifles and Star Blasters to worry about. Chances of us getting near whatever it is you want us to find, ‘bout slim to none.”

Iron then audibly groaned as he saw a considerably flustered Midnight with a certain type of magazine in his hands. Although somewhat faded, he could still make out what was on the cover. On it read the words “Playpony” with a mulberry-colored unicorn mare with a shockingly crimson mane on it, posed seductively and eyes half-lidded.

Various articles included: “Caged At My Command, Opening More Than Just Eyes” and “Complete And Total Surrender”.

Personally, he couldn’t see the appeal. “Seriously mate, could you have at least a little more decency and respect in front of a actual Princess?” Iron asked in disgust, as he noted where one of Midnight’s hooves was going.

“He’s insulting me wordlessly isn’t he?” Twilight’s voice crackled from over Iron’s Pipbuck.

“Well… I suppose you could say that,” Iron replied. “If you call trying to start jacking off to a centuries-dead mare in a magazine insulting!” he snapped, snippets of a headache beginning to form. Now he knew how Henri felt whenever she told them she was surrounded by idiots.

“Playpony?” Twilight asked in a deadpan voice.

“Yes, Playpony. Some broken horned mare on the cover.” Iron said, and Twilight sniffled for a moment.

“Fizzlepop…” she whispered softly, a trace of longing in her voice.

“I’m assuming she’s somepony you once knew? Close friend of yours, maybe more?” Iron inquired, not entirely sure how he’d gone from arguing with a former Princess to discussing her sex life over the radio.

“Yeah…” Twilight whispered. “She was… Okay, I’ll admit one of the many loves I did have over the course of my lifetime. And yes, you can call me a pony who got around over the course of my life, but to be fair… We were very, very close when I was helping her… reintegrate back into society after she dropped her name of Tempest Shadow after disbanding the forces of the Storm King,”

Iron suddenly remembered that buck back in Neigh Orleans, Calamity something or other talking about this Tempest Shadow mare, and how the armor of the NCR was based on her own custom built style.

“Just want to point out, you do realize we’re talking about this, I admit, stimulating subject of conversation over a public communications system?” Iron drawled and Twilight let out a small eep as soon she realized this. Iron swore he could hear both Riptalon and Henri’s laughter outside.

“Anyways…” a somewhat flustered Twilight continued, getting the course of conversation back on track. “Would it help if I said I knew exactly where you’re supposed to look, and can transmit the actual coordinates to your Pipbuck?” she asked.

“That would be nice yes, but why can’t you just tell us outright what we’re supposed to be looking for?” Iron asked.

“I… I can’t. Too many eyes and ears are watching me. Say the wrong thing, and the Enclave would know.”

“Know about what? Know about you?” Iron inquired, his voice rising in anger. “Cause, no offense Princess, I’d think you be able to handle a squad of Enclave troops with all of that power you have packed in that little horn of yours,”

“Handle them, yes. I would be able to deal with them,” Twilight replied. “But it’s what you’re exactly looking for that I can’t risk letting them get their hooves on, or even know about, to begin with,”

“Weapons? Pretty sure they’re one step ahead of you, as like I said before they do have Star Blasters. Chances are, they managed to find and raid whatever you’re trying to keep secret,” Iron replied.

“While yes, I admit, weapons are one thing in this particular location that they’re going to find, it’s the main body of research along with… something else, I can’t risk them getting their hooves on. It’s something far too precious to me, and I won’t let them have it,”

Iron growled. “Oh, should have figured it wasn’t altruism you were offering us. It was just selfishness, pure and simple,”

At this, Twilight’s voice rose in tone and she nearly shrieked at them. “Now you listen here and listen well Iron Skies! You have no room to judge me for my reasoning, especially not once you learn what exactly is in that vault that’s so precious to me! Yes, a vault, not a stable!”

“Well, if you’d just tell us what it is that you’ve got your damn feathers in a ruffle about, maybe I’d be more inclined to help!” Iron snapped in fury and frustration at the mare, tired of how purposefully vague she was being. “You scratch my back, and then maybe I’ll scratch yours, okay?”

“Alright… Alright…” Twilight whispered. “You’re right. While, for obvious reasons, I can’t still exactly say what it is you’re looking for, I can ask you this and it should give you a hint. You ever been tasked with delivering something precious to somepony?”

Iron thought back to the transmission he’d found in Old Appleloosa, along with the Lyra Heartstrings doll. He’d promised himself he would deliver those two things to any descendants of the pony he’d taken his name from. “Yes… Yes, I have...” he trailed off.

“Then what you’re doing is something like that. Except you’re not just delivering any regular package. You’re delivering me, in a sense. In a vault, not too far from here, there’s… Well, you’ll find out soon enough. Transmitting coordinates now,”

Sure enough, a beeping sound came from Iron’s Pipbuck. Not even a few miles from his current location, a set of coordinates popped up near the old Coast Guard outpost where he’d had his first clash with the Enclave.

“Now, if I was you, I’d get moving. There’s more than just the Enclave and the local wildlife you have to worry about on this island…” Twilight trailed off ominously…

“Yeah, like maybe you…” Iron thought to himself.

As soon as Twilight’s transmission ended, another type of transmission entirely came up and played through Iron’s Pipbuck. One that Iron wholeheartedly agreed with in full.

“We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there's a better life for me and you
Somewhere baby, somehow I know it.

“We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there's a better life for me and you...”

Iron then smiled as he saw an unopened bottle of whiskey laying nearby. Had to be at least two centuries old, by his guess. Must have aged quite well. ...And Celestia above knows he needed some of that stuff right now.

Soon, they emerged, Iron with a bottle in his hoof and several more in his saddlebags. The former Enclave soldier noted Midnight was staring right at him even as he drunk the whiskey bottle dry.

“What? Don’t judge me! I let you keep that porn mag in your saddlebags to jack off to at a later date, so I think I’m allowed to steal a bottle or two of centuries-old whiskey!” Iron snapped.

“...Has to be his time of month… Being awfully pissy.” Midnight muttered, not noting -Or if he did, not caring- about the glares that were sent his direction by Target and Henri respectively.

“Trooper, did I give you permission to bitch?” Iron remarked, having heard him as well. “See Henri, I’m beginning to get that surrounded by idiots feeling you get with the rest of us!” he shouted towards the griffon hen.

“Oh great, now there’s two grumpy people to boss me around…” Riptalon muttered and Henri smirked.

“Would you like some cheese to go with that whinging of yours?” Iron deadpanned and Henri cackled at that as she turned to Riptalon.

“Bet you really enjoy dominatrixes don’t you… Considering you always end up taking orders from somebody.” she teased.

“I’m… I’m not whining! I’m just voicing my complaints here!” Riptalon sputtered out. “Perfectly valid ones as well, considering now I’ve got two assholes to boss me about!”

“See, he does enjoy dominatrixes, doesn’t he?” Henri asked Iron, who smirked.

“Yeah, should have left him with that whore back in Neigh Orleans. Might have been one for all I knew, and he would have gotten a real thrill…Hell, I might have watched, for all I know, just to see him get his arse handed to him for once.”

“Great, now they’re teaming up on me…” Riptalon murmured, although it did sound an awful lot like a whine to everyone else.

“Compliment taken.” Henri and Iron said in unison.

“So, new coordinates to head to?” Target asked, as she leaped down from the comms tower onto a roof, and then to the ground.

“More like old ones, see?” Iron replied, as he showed her his Pipbuck.

“...Okay, why would Twilight send us back there?” Target wondered aloud. “Sure as Hell didn’t see anything that looked like the entrance to a vault when we were in the middle of a firefight with those Enclave soldiers…”

“Yeah, that you could see,” Iron replied. “See, that’s the point of a ‘hidden vault’, you’re not supposed to find it.” he continued, his tone becoming slow and somewhat condescending as if Target were a child.

“I know what a hidden vault means, thank you very much!” Target snapped as she hit him on the back of his head. “Not need to be rude about it, I’m a perfectly intelligent mare! I was just saying, didn’t take the time to notice anything out of place back there during that firefight as we… Well, we were trying very hard not to die, if you may remember!”

“Oh lovely,” Twilight’s voice said sarcastically -One could get the feeling she was probably rolling her eyes about then- from the speakers of a Sprite-Bot as it flew up. “So, this is who I’m entrusting to deliver my voice to that vault…”

She then muttered quietly to herself: “Celestia knows who’s inside it is going to need a familiar one to greet them…”

If anybody heard that last part, they didn’t say anything about it.

“Oh, Princess Twilight,” Midnight started, at least having the decency to use her title. “While you’re pointing us in the direction of some sort of storage vault, you wouldn’t know where to find any spare ammunition for our guns, would you? Kinda running low here…”

“Firstly, please don’t use my title. I hate ponies using the thing. Not a goddess here, nor worthy of even being called a Princess…” Twilight muttered quietly to herself. “And secondly… Do I look like an ammo bank to you?” she then snapped. Midnight yelped a little at her tone.

“Sorry, so sorry… It’s… It’s just I’m on edge right now. The Enclave on this island, what’s in that vault… And everything else going on right now…” Twilight whispered in apology.

“It’s alright Pr-Twilight, we’re all on edge right now,” Henri said kindly, quickly correcting herself. “Besides, if there’s a storage vault, that probably means there’s going to be something stored there. Ammo for guns included.”

“Well… It’s not that kind of storage vault really… Not an ammo drop. More like a place for top-secret stuff, the kind I wouldn’t want anybody with genocidal tendencies getting their greedy little hooves on,” Twilight explained. “Besides, Celestia knows you all have been leaving a ton of dead bodies in your wake, haven’t you? Just pick up a gun from one of them if you have to. Really, hanging onto specific weapons at all times, no matter how useful they are, is a moot point if you can’t restock your ammo for them. ”

“Point,” Midnight admitted, and tossed his custom shotgun aside, it hitting the ground with a clattering sound. He then made a groan of disgust as he picked up a fallen Enclave soldier’s Novasurge rifle. “Any port in a storm, I guess…” he muttered in distaste, the weapon feeling just… wrong in his hooves.

“Don’t suppose I have to tell you how to work that thing, do I?” Iron asked, again in a sarcastic tone. “Just point and shoot, like any other gun in the world,”

Midnight rolled his eyes.

“Flash cards, we really need to get you some flash cards,” he replied. “Might teach you the specifics of being polite.”

“Does it look like I actually give a damn about being polite? Oh, what a laugh, this coming from the pony who was tastelessly jacking off to a long-dead mare’s picture!” Iron replied, his tone completely deadpan. “Now, come on… We’ve got a job to do. Riptalon, you’re out in front. Shotgun at ready.”

“What, so I can be a meat shield in case we get shot at?”

“N-Yes!” Iron snapped at him. Henri leaned over to him.

“Sure this isn’t just because you want to check out his ass?”

“...Well, to be fair it is a very nice arse. One I can put a cap into if needed to shut him up.” Iron replied, both giving Henri her answer, and not giving it to her at the same time.

“You know I can hear you right?” Riptalon shouted as the party advanced.

“Oh, for the love of Celestia…” Twilight's voice sighed.

1 and a half hour earlier…

Iron sighed as his Pipbuck’s radio transmissions become nothing but static. What he’d give right now for at least some sort of a station. He had to admit, he missed the voices of Xiraia and Homage on their respective stations, even if whatever they had to deliver was almost ways grim news about the ongoing state of affairs.

Being here, on this island… this place, you lost track of time really. If he had a radio broadcast of one of the two right now, he’d at least know how much time had passed since the last big incident on the mainland.

He wondered, what was that mare named Scootaloo doing right now at this point in time? Going to war against Winter Breeze’s Enclave perhaps? Maybe she was fighting against Raiders or just wandering the lands around her going on a explore.

Suddenly, his Pipbuck beeped a few times and he looked up to find himself in a familiar area. He remembered this place, a ramshackle satire of a coast guard shack where he and the rest of his party had staged a firefight against the Enclave soldiers that had been sent to ‘welcome’ them to the Island.

He smirked as he spotted the assault rifle he’d used to help fend them off. His smirk only increased when he inspected it, and found it still had some ammo left in its magazine.

“Okay Twilight, we’re here,” Iron said. “So where’s this secret vault of you…” his voice trailed off as his Pipbuck flashed, and a message on the screen indicated that new information about the area had been added to it.

The area was now known as “Somnambula’s Light”, instead of just being designated “Mount Pleasant Coast Guard Station”.

“Well, least it makes the location more interesting in some small way…” Iron mused to himself.

“Okay… Interesting name,” Henri mused. “...But I gotta ask, who the Hell is this Somnambula?”

“Somnambula was one of the pillars of old Equestria, and one of the ponies who was partially responsible for creating the Elements of Harmony. She represented Hope in her time, which would later become the Element of Laughter.” Twilight explained. At the words Element of Laughter, she became much more somber. Those who had read the Book of Littlepip knew why.

“...Right, so we’re venturing into something created by the Ministry of Morale. Lovely…” Henri drawled.

“Not exactly, this wasn’t Pinkie’s idea, nor any Ministry’s actually. This was something thought up by my own student, Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight continued to explain as Target accidentally tripped over a little rock, and then there came a clicking sound. Iron could almost see Twilight smirking. “Ah, perfect.”

A stone wall moved to the side, like something you would see out of one of the old Daring Do adventure novels back in the day if any comparison was to be made and revealed a long, dark corridor leading down into a cavern.

“Well, have to say, wasn’t expecting to run into that particular cliche on this trip…” Henri muttered to herself.

Switching on the lights on their Pipbucks, the party ventured down as Riptalon muttered something about: “What was it my mother said about never trusting strangers?” to himself.

Somnambula’s Light: A Half Hour ago…

Hooves and claws tapped against metal grating as water dripped off the cavern roof as the group continued going deeper into the underbelly of Mount Pleasant Island. That path grew even darker with each step. It seemed, like everything else on this island, Somnambula’s Light was an ironic name.

Eventually, the group came to an old lab. Terminals, lying in horrible condition from years of disrepair and poor upkeep lay scattered about. An overhead light flickered on and off, as various corridors behind doors, sealed tight, branched off to other areas.

“Okay, any terminals still operational?” Twilight’s voice inquired. “Must say, for being shut tight for over 200 years, this place is in really rather remarkable condition...”

“We really need to redefine your definition of remarkable,” Riptalon snarked before he let out a sigh. “But yeah, a few of these terminals are still in working order. Just got to remember how to break into them. Gimme a second, okay?”

For the next few minutes or so, Riptalon sat typing away at a nearby terminal.

“Anything?” Henri asked.

“Well, not much of use… Unless you actually understand techno-babble. This Starlight, she was a genius, I’ll give her that much. There’s some stuff about a Hollow Equestria theory, whatever that is. Doubt anyone’s really interested in that, so we’ll skip over that stuff,” Riptalon commented. Twilight sounded ready to begin a small lecture about the Hollow Equestria theory judging from the start of her voice again, but seemingly thought the better of it. “Weapons plans, far more intriguing. Ideas for things like a Plasma Caster. Supposed to fire hot bolts of magic to targets, and bind these bolts before they detonate. The bolts were supposed to bounce off other surfaces as well, but it seemed Starlight could never quite get the idea working. Mentions here of a few trial runs, but they always ended… explosively and not in the way she intended suffice to say,” Riptalon continued before he suddenly stopped. “Huh, now this is interesting…”

“Good kind of interesting, or bad kind of interesting?” Twilight’s voice asked, sounding almost hopeful.

“Well, we’ll just have to see here in a moment…” Riptalon murmured as he typed away at the terminal, and there was the sound of a door hissing, and then unlocking with a loud thud that echoed throughout the lab.

“Midnight, Iron, you two go on and check out whatever it is our resident Blackhawk just dug up. Take Twilight with you,” Henri ordered. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Riptalon and see if we can find anything else of interest or find out if this place is a waste of our time.

With a gesture to follow him, Iron led Midnight down the newly opened corridor to a small room wherein, lay a containment module that was just beginning to open. Inside the module, her sea-green eyes just barely beginning to flutter open was a light pink filly with a dark, midnight blue mane.

“...War never changes, eh?” Midnight asked as he and Iron shared a look.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Kyler Adams, because he's awesome.

Honestly, this was one of the toughest chapters yet, not just because of the length but because of the simulated sequence at the beginning and what led up to it from Iron's point of view. I wanted to get the maximum amount of heartstrings pulled with Starglow's introduction, and to be honest, not sure if I really pulled that off. Your thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Also, yes, sorry Midnight if you character jacking off to an old Playpony mag of Tempest was more than a bit tasteless. But on the upside, it did lead into a small character moment with Twilight, allowing her to show a brief moment of vulnerability.

Also, more possible flirtations between Iron and Riptalon, so uh... yay?