Mount Pleasant Island: Somnambula’s Light:

Unaware of the plight currently facing the rest of their company, Henri, Midnight, Target and Starglow were in the main section of the laboratory.

Target had kept her rifle trained on the ceiling vents and grating, her ears twitching every so often.

“Something wrong?” Midnight asked in concern, noting how nervous Starglow looked.

“Yeah, just keep hearing noises from the vents above, wonder if I should be concerned about it,” Target answered, her eyes looking through the scope of End of the Line. Out of the corner of his eye, Midnight noted the fact Target’s blue toned Pipbuck had gone into S.A.T.S. mode. “Could be radroaches, and you’re free to call me paranoid for this, but somehow I don’t think so…”

“You might be right, they very well could be radroaches,” Midnight commented, laying back on a chair and propping his hooves up against a terminal. His forelegs went behind his head, showing just how relaxed he was. “I mean, not much else could fit in those vents really, right?”

A rather loud screeching sound came from the vents, and Starglow trembled as she nervously went to Henri, who gave her a reassuring glance.

“It’ll be alright kid, trust me on this. Pinkie Promise,” she said reassuringly, and Starglow looked up at her nervously.

“Pinkie Promise?” Starglow asked nervously, hugging Henri’s leg. It would have been rather cute, in any other situation.

“Yeah, sure squirt. Cross my heart, and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye,” she replied, in a tone that sounded almost sisterly. She suspected if either Riptalon or Iron were here, they’d be cracking off jokes on how she did have a heart after all. Thank Gawd for that fact that they weren’t, otherwise, she’d never hear the end of it.

Another screeching sound came from the vents, and Henri inwardly wondered if that was a Pinkie Promise she’d be ever able to keep. She mentally growled, and noted if she ever met Twilight face to face, to shoot her right in the head and made sure she stayed permanently dead this time ‘round. No child deserved to be in war or this sort of environment, but lo and behold, thanks to a combination of stupidity and miscommunication, that’s where Starglow found herself.

“You know, I’d really like that Eyes Forward Sparkle system back now…” Target murmured to herself, as her eyes continued to watch the grating.

“Awfully loud for radroaches…” Midnight deadpanned, really not believing Target on the “radroach” excuse front.

“Maybe it’s mating season,” Target joked, in order to lighten the mood. “I’ve heard rumors they can get awfully loud during that particular time of year…”

“Oh Gawd above… I hope in her simulation, Starglow got the “Talk”, cause I sure as Hell ain’t giving it to her…” Henri muttered, facepawing to herself at the raunchy dialogue being tossed back and forth between her riflemen. “Shoot a raider or Enclave soldier dead, that I can do, but giving somepony the birds and the bees talk? No way in Hell am I doing that!”

At Starglow’s confused look as she listened to Target and Midnight, Henri sighed and groaned to herself, swearing silently and cursing Celestia and various other deities.

“I…. I uh… Oh, how do I say this?” Midnight muttered to himself losing his relaxed posture as he got up off his chair, and Henri shot him a pointed look.

“Well, if you’ve got something to say, spit it out!” she snapped at him. Midnight pressed his front hooves together in a nervous fashion.

“Well, not to start sounding paranoid or something, but shouldn't we consider the possibility something may have gotten inside this place… You know, other than rats and radroaches?” he asked, looking at his borrowed Novasurge Rifle and wondering if he should grab it. ...Just in case. Never hurt to be too careful, after all. Even if he had a distaste for those who used the weapon, -Or more accurately, it’s creators- Midnight couldn’t deny what it could do.

“I’m considering it…” Henri murmured, thinking over in her head if she should go for White Rose and Black Rose.

She then turned to a certain Sprite-Bot.

“Twilight, (Henri, or anyone else for that matter, failed to see Starglow’s face brighten up upon hearing that name) just asking here, but what are the chances something may have broken into this place?”

Twilight didn’t answer for the next few moments, as if she seemed to be considering the possibility worryingly enough. “You want me to be truthfully honest, or lie to you and spare you the fear?” she asked.

“Honest, please.” Target said, still keeping End of the Line trained on the ceiling vents and grates.

“Okay then…” Twilight replied, taking a deep breath. “Considering how many years have passed since the Balefire bombs dropped, and natural wear and tear over time… I’d say the chances of something managing to break in somehow are… Well, frankly pretty high,” she answered and Henri sighed to herself.

“Wonderful… I figured as much, I just didn’t want to hear it,” she muttered before turning back to Target and Midnight. “Keep those rifles of yours trained on the ceiling. Last thing we want is something dropping down and surprising us,”

“Believe me, way ahead of you on that front…” Target answered, as Midnight grabbed the Novasurge Rifle and pointed it at the ceiling. “Going to try a little experiment, now…” she continued, and then reached up into the grates with the makeshift bayonet she’d created with her serrated combat knife and soon, small droplets of green blood squirted out from the grating -Quite a bit landing in Midnight’s mane, much to his disgust- and a dying hiss was heard.

“What the hell…?” Midnight whispered, as Target pulled her gun from the ceiling and impaled on the bayonet -Henri had covered Starglow’s eyes with her paws as soon as the blood came down- was a small snake-like creature with a bone white head.

“Well, there’s your answer…” Target muttered. “Question is, what is it?”

“Never seen anything like it,” Midnight said as he creeped closer -Rifle in hoof- to inspect it. “And believe me, I’ve seen a lot of fu- (He quickly corrected himself when Henri shot him a look) Er, messed up stuff in the Wastes. Probably some sort of natural mutation of a lizard or snake forced to adapt to the environment at hoof,”

“Yes, I’d agree with you,” Target agreed. “But there’s one question I’d hate to ask…” she trailed off.

“And what’s that?” Midnight asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer. But he knew he was probably going to get it anyways. He wasn’t disappointed on that front.

“What if it were to evolve further? What would be the next step in it’s evolution?” she wondered to herself, and an eerie silence fell over the group at that.

Wheeltreads’ Camp

Meanwhile, unaware of the situation that was rapidly developing on Mount Pleasant Island, Regina and her group walked around the village in hopes of finding further support. But everywhere they looked, none was to be found.

“You're not going to get much help out of this bunch,” Jabari had warned, although in spite of this Regina wasn't going to give up quite so easily. “Like to keep to themselves, believe themselves safe in their little bubble if you will,”

“That’s a load of-” Regina began, with Gabby finishing for her.

“Bullshit? Yeah, I know it’s bull no matter how you look at it, but that’s the way things are around here. It’d take something major for things to change,” she said, sighing sadly to herself.

“Oh I am sure you could,” Crow calmly said. “You would just need to convince Silver Gunner.”

“Right, like that’s going to happen…” Jabari muttered in distaste, having had past experience talking to the robot. Like talking to a brick wall. Regina, while she observed the mostly gold colored Zorse, noted that the markings on his flank resembled swirls in some manner. They’d been marked with scars -Probably gained from his time in the Arena she’d heard so much talk about- but those markings on his flank seemed familiar, like she’d seen them somewhere before.

“Well, he is heading to the Hoof. To find Scootaloo, maybe she could convince him.” Crow replied.

“Going to take him a while, Scootaloo’s going all around Equestria dealing with Winter Breeze right now,” Regina replied. “So I doubt things will change here in the meantime, unless something major were to happen…” she muttered as she took to the skies in disgust, going off to clear her thoughts.

“Like whut?” Calamity put in, a trace of disgust in his tone. “The Enclave coming to call, walking right up to their doorstep and destroying their little slice of paradise?”

“Probably…” Gabby admitted sadly, with a shake of her head. Calamity let out a sad sigh of his own.

“Mind ya, not sayin’ this here isolationism is right, at least completely, but Ah can see where they're comin’ from,” he added, thinking back to that little pup held in that mare’s arms. He then glanced to his Pipbuck. “Loyalty, to me and mine, if y’all catch my drift. They’ve got families here, and some of ‘em, with very young foals and the like. If y’all excuse me for a second here fer a second for soundin’ like Winter Breeze, ask yerselves… What if yer parent went off ta war, and never came back? Next thing ya know, some member of the Applejack’s Rangers shows up on yer doorstep tellin’ ya yer wife or husband is dead and ya have to care for yer young child by yerself?” he asked. Nobody could really come up with an answer for that.

“...Yeah, that’s what Ah thought…” Calamity then sighed.

“Well then. I know what to do. I’ll release the Time Reaver’s.You know the giant worms from the time bog?” Crow asked, and everyone stared.

“The what…?” Gabby asked before quickly saying “No, strike that, I don’t even want to know…” and then she muttered to herself: “Just when I thought the Wastes were running out of ways to make me insane…”

Crow laughed. “Oh fun, ain’t it? But these worms don’t really harm anyone per see. They just show the past and maybe if you show the past or what happened in it, it just might work. Sometimes you need to see it, then show what might have happened. But I got another idea,” Crow suggested. “We have a full suit of Enclave armor still around here somewhere. Somepony should take and then wear it and kidnap a child right from under everyone’s noses.” Crow said, looking right at Calamity. “How about it Hot Shot?” Crow said smirking at Calamity.

“Ah’m sorry, but no. There are things Ah will not do, and kidnapping a child, even if it’s to get this damn town to pull the sticks out of their asses, is one of them.” Calamity refuted.

“Hey,” A voice called beside them. “I know a way to get them to help!”

Everyone’s eyes turned towards the new voice.

The voice belonged to a giant mare clad in trash made power armor. “I’m Peach Blossom, I’m… well, I’m well like you Hot Shot. Now I got some sway with my boss of the Junk Reapers. I can get him to convince the other raider groups here to help. Then Kip will have to help as well.”

“Ah still don’t like it, goes against the grain…” Calamity muttered.

“Listen Hot Shot,” Peach said sternly “There are things we don’t like to do. But for the greater good, you have to. “

Calamity sighed, and groaned to himself. He hated the phrase “Greater Good”, and everything that it implied. But eventually, after several moments of back and forth thought to himself, he gave in.

“Alright, fine,” Calamity sighed. “But the thing is, none of this can lead back to the NCR, as we all know, if Silver or any of the other leaders find out, any chances of an alliance with ‘em are done.”

Peach Blossom gave a nod. “Yes, I understand how they feel about the NCR. To them, it’s just another Enclave. But that’s sadly what they had to deal with. The first time they met the NCR., well… one of them tried to force them into it. Now, this was at the start of it. It didn’t go... well, suffice to say...” she trailed off.

“How… not well?” Jabari asked, not sure he really wanted to know. Although inwardly, knowing the policies around here, he suspected what he was about to be told.

“Jabari, remember those bones you saw? Cannonball and the other Rat Creepers ate them,” Crow put in, and Jabari swallowed nervously, looking rather green around the gills so to speak. “What do you expect? He wanted them dead. Cannonball is the king of Reaper Fields. They wanted the metal there. So they tried to take it by force. Yeah… they died.” Crow said chuckling, a rather dark smile plastered on his face.

“You see why I wanted to get out of this place after about a week of staying here?” Gabby whispered to Calamity, who only nodded. Inwardly, he was having doubts about allying with this group, and he suspected if Regina knew what went on here, she would be as well. He also noted, everytime someone spoke to Jabari, he flinched, as if someone was going to… No, it couldn’t be. Could it?

A soft gentle voice spoke out. “Jabari,” He looked up, and he saw his teacher, Deep Thought - yet another changeling- approaching. But, unlike Crow, this one looked purple and had pink eyes. All in all, it looked like a member of the late King Thorax’s hive really. “Are you okay?” He spoke softly.

“Is that a trick question?” Jabari deadpanned.

“Now now... What did I teach you?”

“Not to be a smart-ass…” Jabari mumbled, flinching yet again. Calamity looked at Deep Thought, and Jabari, as some really rather horrific conclusions came to the forefront of his mind. Of course, they were quickly wiped away by what happened next, although that didn’t mean he still didn’t have his suspicions.

Deep Thought calmly wrapped his wings around Jabari. “Little one I adopted you because... You needed love. I’m not Tiria. I can’t give the love she gave you. We all can’t, you did watch her die during giving birth to Crystal. That would harm many little minds.”

“You know, this is why I hate you, ya damn shrink…” Jabari snapped. “You think you can get inside my head, figure me out. Newsflash for you, that ain’t happening!”

Deep Thought could only smile. “Jabari, really? You’re trying this again. I’m not the one who whipped you. You keep acting like I am. That one is dead. Hanging above the cave. He will not return. Tiria did that for you remember? She even asked if it was wise for you to watch as she got revenge for you. Was it wise?” He simply asked.

Jabari let out a low growl as he gripped his sword, which crackled with electricity as he thought back.

“Oh... Free our heart’s... From our chains... Free our souls... From this cage. Please oh, Goddess of the past. Free us from this end. Oh please…” The sound of the whip cracking against each back was heard while they sang.

“Get back to work you maggots!! Wheeltreads is not asking for a song! He wants your asses to work!”

“Jabari… Please stay behind me.” His mother would say.

“Okay I have had enough of you!!” The warden grabbed the mare. The unicorn warden ghoul floated a knife in his magical aura. He then began forcing the mare onto her back hooves. “ Hold her good and tight boys!” he shouted, as several of his men rushed over.

The warden sliced the mare’s stomach open, in a spray of blood and gore. Removing the guts tossing them to Jabari. “EAT, you worthless Zebra trash.”

“I’m a Zorse…” Jabari whispered, not wanting to let the tears show.

“I don’t care what you are... you’re a half-breed a worthless toad!! Now be a good little trash heap and eat!!”

Jabari kicked the guts away. “N-No,” he said, his voice beginning to quiver, his head hung low and tears slowly dripping to the ground. Laughter began to echo around him. “I won’t defile my mother’s remains. I swear on my soul, you’ll-”

The warden simply laughed harder.

“Jabari,” His mother weakly said, using the last of her breath to speak. “Please… do what he said.. I want you alive my child… To see this bastard burn.”

And Jabari nervously reached for the entrails of his mother as he watched her close her eyes for the last time.

“Good little boy.” The ghoul patted his head and went off to his next victim. Time passed, and the body count only rose in height. But as they say… Karma was a real bitch. In Jabari’s case, it was quite literal.

Tiria, for how weak she looked, that was really far from the real truth. She still could beat the shit out of this warden. She used every part of her large body to beat him. “You worthless pony..." she growled out. "This is why I hate your species. I may love Kip and her family and those that Silver introduced me to. But… But you and your species are still the reason why we are in this hateful world.”

Her blue eyes glowed in righteous anger and fury. She was very hateful of the ponies and Zebras of old, and with good reason. “But you hurt children... You forced them to eat their parents. No… I am sorry ‘bout that. My mistake, your dead.” She said with a dark laugh.

She wrapped a rope around the warden. Looking to Jabari and Star Shooter who thankfully had her family still. “You two don’t have to watch this.”

“Yes… I want to see this. I promised my mother I’d watch this bastard burn.” Jabari snarled, with a hateful expression plastered on his face. It was really rather unnerving to see on a foal of his age, but there it lay.

“Come along then Jabari,” Tira requested, in a rather soft and mothering tone. “Give Star Shooter a hug. I don’t want her to see this. She may be older than you. But she is not ready to see this death.”

Holding the mare he considered a sister tightly in his hooves, he turned her head away, but he watched what happened next.

Something strange happened next. Tiria started to sing. While she -with a bit of help- got the warden onto the face of the cave. She started to stab spikes into the warden with the words of a very old hymn.

“Well you may throw your rock and hide your hoof, Workin’ in the dark against your fellow pony...” she sung hauntingly.

The warden screamed in pain from the spikes going into his body. She had no smile on her face. She had no glee. But she knew what needed to be done.

“But as sure as the howling dan- I mean Celestia, made black and white, what you do in the dark will be brought to the light…” Tiria continued to sing. Finally, it was over, and a meathook was driven through the warden’s mouth to finish the job…

Tiria came back down to look to Jabari. “Remember little guy.. I’m not going to be here forever. Remember everyone here loves you. Don’t you forget that, you understand?” she asked, going back to that warm motherly tone. “Silver… He loves you in his own way even if he can’t show it. Kip and Shadow, they will always be there for you. You just need to ask. Now go find your teacher. Or your father I mean. Deep Thought will be there for you. Always.” she said.

Back in the present day, Deep Thought looked Jabari directly in the eyes.

“What did she tell you that day?” He simply asked with a forgiving smile.

Jabari took a deep, shuddering breath, still quite uncomfortable with reliving his mother’s death. Finally, he answered.

“I am… loved,” he replied. During all of this, nobody had seemed to notice Calamity and Crow had vanished about 30 minutes prior.

“Now go talk to Kip and ask for help. Don’t beg, accept her death,” Deep continued. “Accept that she risked her life for you. Whatever you think you are, you are not worthless, understand?” he asked firmly.

“Alright… I’ll go see Kip, see if I can get help to put up a blockade around Manehatten. If any of the rumors I heard about what’s there are true, then the Enclave should strike there next.” Jabari theorized.

Soon, Jabari found himself at Kip’s residence, an old house in Manehatten suburbia. It was plain, covered in faded brown shingles and stucco white paint, with small vines creeping up the sides of the walls. Would have been like every other house on the block really, in its heyday. Bit dull maybe, but it would have been a comfortable home for a nice, good sized pony family to live out their lives happily.

Who knows, if the war hadn’t broken out, Kip or any of the other members of the camp might have been living here without the constant threat of death hanging over their heads. Perhaps even Tiria may have lived here -Possibly in a very different form than she ended up in- with her husband and child. Maybe even many children. But alas, that was not to be. Jabari sighed to himself in disgust, just another casualty of that damned war.

A path of cobblestones led up to it through the garden, with small potted flowers on the doorstep.

Inside the house, was a deluge of teal paint. Not ghastly, mind you, but just enough for a pleasant environment. A radio, sat on a cupboard, played a rather cheery tune from the mouth of Pinkie Pie of the Ministry of Morale, and her late wife Skystar of Hippogriffia. A duet, a love ballad it was said to them. They’d married before the Zebra war kicked into high gear, and Pinkie became addicted to the Party-Time Mint-Als. What happened during that period, when Pinkie became addicted and what became of their relationship, little was known and much could only be guessed. But chances were, like her relationship with Twilight Sparkle, it hadn’t ended happily.

“One small thing doesn't seem like a lot
One small thing, work with the time you've got
Soon, one small thing becomes two

“After two, perhaps another few
Then one small thing is not so small
One small thing can be the biggest thing of all.

“All right now, since you're here
Let's see what we can do
Swim with the flow until you go
Together, me and you
“I've got necklaces for everyfish
So what else do ya got?

“Well, we could play the bubblefish
You'll like this one a lot!

“One small thing, it's a good place to start…”

Walking around the small living room, was a tiny little puppy of ten years of age. Mostly brown, with black highlighting, taking after her father. Crystal, Tiria’s daughter.

Jabari smiled a bit -Not a vengeance-ridden smile like usual, but a genuinely pleased one. “...She reminds me so much of her mother, that smile. Makes me wonder what Tiria could have been like if she was less cynical, happier.” Jabari thought to himself.

In the corner of the room, sitting in a comfy armchair was Kip, keeping an ever watchful eye on Crystal’s movements.

The soft gentle voice of Kip spoke. “Come to keep me company while Cross Check is out trading his wares and weapons?”

“Actually, I have a request,” Jabari said. Kip raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?” she asked.

Jabari cast a small smile towards the radio, and continued. “Just one small thing, really.”

“Go ahead Jabari,” Kip replied.

“Contingent of troops, just to keep an eye on Manehatten in case either Enclave strikes. You know it, and I know it. It’ll happen sooner or later. Can’t hurt to be ready. Plus…” he trailed off in thought.

“Jabari. I don’t trust the NCR. I feel they’re just as bad as the Enclave. But if this keeps us from having to deal with them again, I will do it but…” She turned her eyes to look at Jabari.

“Yes, I understand,” Jabari nodded, looking at Crystal. “But that’s what I was getting to. The Enclave, if they took Manehatten, we both know this little “Slice of paradise” (Here he used air-quotes) would be next on their shopping list.” he remarked.

“Yes, it would be,” She looked back to Crystal. Then back to Jabari. “Cannonball said the same. He even said he would do it without my okay. He said don’t tell me how to control my race, Kip. But I understand. If I can stop.. it.. from...” She stared at Crystal with a sad look in her eyes. “From losing… her again...”

Jabari was about to reach out to pull the sniffling Kip into a hug, but before he could do so, a soldier burst in. He was panting and sweating all over.

“Ma’am, it’s the Enclave! They’re here, and they’ve taken one of the children!” he shouted, and Jabari and Kip’s eyes widened in unison before they went for their guns. Jabari grabbed his shotgun and cocked it as it hummed to life and purple runes lit up all over it, magical energy flowing through the weapon. Meanwhile, Kip went for the cupboard and pulled out an SMG, with a silencer placed on the barrel.

“Stay here and keep watch for any more visitors,” Kip said to Jabari, looking at him pointedly as she loaded her weapon. “I’m going hunting. And if Crystal gets even the slightest scratch on her, the smallest bruise… Well, suffice to say you won’t like the outcome.”

Mount Pleasant Island: Somnambula’s Light:

Back with Henri and company, the sound of silence was broken by a muffled explosion coming from somewhere below the group, in one of the lab’s deeper areas. Then, a noise that could only be one thing. Gunfire. Couple that with the explosion of a probable grenade thrown by Riptalon, and only one conclusion was evident to Henri at that moment.

“...We’re not alone down here. Grab your weapons,” Henri stated before she barked out: “All of you, now!”

Nobody wasted a second in following her orders.

“Commander, what about…?” Midnight trailed off, looking at Starglow. Henri grimaced, she didn’t like it, but chances are the Enclave were probably close behind in tracking them down. That left only one option, even if it disgusted Henri for even considering it.

“She’s coming with us,” she stated, with more than a hint of distaste evident in her tone. “Way I see it, she’s safer with us, than just leaving her here for Gawd-only-knows-what to come and find her,”

“Surely you’re joking, right?” Midnight hissed out. Henri gave the darkly coated pony a “look”.

“Do I look like I’m joking, Midnight?” she growled out.

“But-” he started, and Henri sighed.

“Listen, I don’t like it as much as you do, perhaps even moreso, but I don’t see the great and good Princess (She said the first part in a tone of derision and disgust) Twilight Sparkle -Alicorn or not- coming here to save our asses anytime soon, so buck up and just keep her from getting shot, okay?” Henri asked, her voice coming out in a protective, -almost sisterly, Midnight would have sworn right then and there- growl. “And if she does get shot, with Celestia, Luna and Gawd as my witnesses, I’ll be making sure you’re next, are we clear?”

“Clear. Quite clear,” Midnight squeaked, with a rapid nod of his head. With that, the company headed downwards into deeper parts of the lab. At one point, Midnight muttered: “Shinu mae no meiyo…” with a tone of resignation.

“Where are we going, and what were those strange noises?” Starglow asked curiously, with a tinge of nervousness audible in her tone if you listened closely enough.

“Questing. Think of what we’re doing as an adventure,” Henri lied. “We’re…”

She looked at Midnight for suggestions, who mouthed “LARPing” back in return as he gripped his rifle tightly and scanned the corridors for threats. His Pipbuck’s flashlight was on its brightest setting. Metal floors creaked and groaned beneath their hooves and paws as the party continued downwards, and small droplets of water dripped from the ceiling into their feathers and manes.

“LARPing! Yeah, that’s what we’re doing! Saving two members of our party from a vicious monster!” Henri said, giving Starglow -Who seemed to believe her well enough- one of those half-truths.

“Mind if I tell a story?” Midnight asked out of the blue, just like that. Perhaps it was to relieve some of the tension in the air, or perhaps it was just because he wanted to build up some trust amongst the rest of the company. No-one could really say, actually. “Just to pass the time?”

“Ooh, I love stories!” Starglow exclaimed in excitement, clapping her hooves together as she did so. Although Henri would never have admitted it at the time, she thought it rather cute.

“Sure…” Henri groaned out. “Go ahead…”

“Well, back when I was just this little colt in a Stable, bout sixteen or so, there was this test we all had to take, to determine our place in the Stable and what sorta job we did while in it,”

“Wait, you’re a Stable-Dweller?” Target asked in surprise. “How come you never told us?”

“You never asked,” Midnight replied simply. “Came from Stable 26, same as that Ruby Starlight mare I heard a few things about. Now, if I may be permitted to continue? One of the questions on this test was, and I quote: “A crazed Stable scientist runs up to you and yells “I'm going to stick my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!” How do you respond?” Not joking, those are the exact words on the question.” he continued.

Target burst out laughing at that.

“No, they seriously asked you that?” she barely managed to reply through her laughter “What’d you answer?”

Midnight, with a small smirk, leaned over and whispered the answer in Target’s ear: “Yeah? Up yours too, buddy!” and that set off another wave of laughter from the mare.

“Wait, wasn’t Stable 26 one of those who had no government, and if I remember correctly -And this is all just hearsay mind you,” the former Steel Ranger continued. “The Overmare, Jade something or other, choose a stallion or mare to go out for one year and report back on what happened to the Wasteland, and its status,”

“Well, you’re correct on that front. And if the status happened to be bad -as in war with Enclave bad- or the pony sent out never returned after the year had passed, the door would be closed up tight, and never opened again,”

“So, what happened? I can’t imagine status is particularly good right now, really,” Target deadpanned.

“I sorta… maybe broke out of the Stable. Got a friend of mine to open up the doors, and made a break for it. Living underground, while you know there’s a war waging just from Pipbuck transmissions, tends to make you… antsy,”

“Wow, this LARP of yours is really well thought out,” Starglow whispered in admiration. “Backstories for every one of you and everything!”

Midnight and Target shared a sad look between them, if only this really was just LARPing. Oh, how they both envied and pitied Starglow’s innocence in everything.

“Anyways, as one can imagine, I’m Persona non grata in that Stable, really…” Midnight trailed off.

“Just asking, out of curiosity,” Henri commented, now actually genuinely curious about things. “When you finished this test, what job did they end up assigning you?”

Midnight mumbled something, and Henri raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that…”

“...Garbage disposal,” Midnight grumbled and Target burst out laughing, though not for the reason you’d expect. It wasn’t humiliation, it was more like disbelief.

“Midnight Radiance, almighty janitor!” Target proclaimed, making it sound as if the title she’d just given the coal-black stallion was the name of a superhero like you got in those comic books of old. “The trash will begin to climb up, and the accumulated filth will pile up to their knees, and all the other Stable-Dwellers will look up and shout “Save us!”... and I'll look down and whisper “No.”

“...You have a really strange sense of humor, you know that, right?” Midnight smiled, chuckling a little at Target’s joke.

“Hey, least I made you feel better about your position they gave you, right?” she asked, and Midnight smiled again.

“Yeah, suppose you did that…” he commented.

“Hey, been meaning to ask,” Target said as they took some steps downward, the sounds of gunfire drawing closer by the minute. “...Well, actually not me, but it’s Iron or whatever the heck his real name is, who’s been meaning to ask.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Midnight replied.

“Bout your butt tattoo, as he called it. No, I’m not joking. That was what he said,” Target replied, in a tone of absolute seriousness.

“...Why do I get the feeling that he was trying to flirt with me, in his own way, when he called my Cutie Mark that?” Midnight sighed, rubbing his temples with a hoof.

“Maybe, but it’s also possible, if you believe he really doesn’t know anything about his past, that he really doesn’t know what a Cutie Mark is,” Target said, with a small shrug of her forelegs.

“Okay, fair enough,” Midnight answered. “Family heirloom, best way of putting it. Passed down through generations, really rather odd for a Cutie Mark. Then again, Cutie Marks are strange by nature really. I point to the original Cutie Mark Crusaders and their shared shield Mark as an example. Mind you, it’s never exactly the same, but the Mark generally is what you see. A red and black circle, with tomoes in it somewhere. First appeared on my great… Well, not sure how many greats at this point really, but it first appeared on my ancestor Steel Sword, and kept passing on down through the family tree,” he explained.

“Steel Sword…” Target murmured to herself, rubbing her chin with a hoof in thought. “Know I’ve heard the name before somewhere…”

“Yeah, I could have sworn that someone mentioned it before, but…” Midnight trailed off before his eyes widened in shock. “Now I remember! Iron… Iron, he came across a recording left by Steel’s brother Iron,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Iron, he died defending old Appleloosa from Zebras…”

“And Iron mentioned -And I just happened to overhear this- that he’d get the recording to any of Iron -The dead one’s- descendants, if he found them,” Target whispered in shock. “A fool’s endeavor maybe, but it looks like he found one staring him in the face, and he never even realized it…”

“...Guess he’s not that terrible of a stallion after all, former Enclave soldier or not,” Henri whispered, voicing everyone’s thoughts at the moment.

“Yeah…” Midnight murmured. “Owe him more than a few apologies, I think we all do…” he trailed off, as he opened up a door and was greeted with quite the sight. He, and the rest of the foursome were on a catwalk above a rather large space, where down below, Riptalon and Iron were blasting away at a giant two-legged version of the serpent Target had killed earlier.

Midnight and Target shared a look as the Skullcrawler screeched out in rage as a blast from Vox Populi hit it in the eye.

“Hey, Target?” Midnight asked, with a nervous swallow. “You know that evolved form we were talking about? ...Think we just found it.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off... Huge thanks to Megaskullmon for helping me write out the scenes in Wheeltreads' camp, and I apologize if the death of Jabari's mother (And what happened afterwards) was a bit... much. Same with the death of the Warden, though I doubt anyone will really mourn him.

Also, apologies towards RuinQueen if I got any of the facts about Stable 26 wrong. I only read the prologue and the first chapter of Wasteland Jewel, from where Ruby Starlight (And Xiraia actually as well) hails from, really so mistakes probably were made somewhere.

Something I also want to note, is a cut scene. Basically, this scene, which still may make it in, was a huge number of the younger Skullcrawlers dropping from the ceiling onto Henri and company and trying to eat them with Starglow being forced to pull out her pistol and shooting them, thereby destroying the charade entirely. For the conversations that popped up in the last third or so of the chapter, I cut it.

Also, Midnight during the GOAT Test? Totally me in Fallout 3.

As ever, comments and thoughts are appreciated.