“There is a Nobility in Compassion, a Beauty in Empathy, a Grace in Forgiveness.”
-John Connolly

Once out of bed I had started repairs and work on the group’s armor first. I still had a full two kilograms of bullets pulled from my plating, and Mad Mac hadn’t even gotten to work on it yet. While I was saddened that all of Nugget’s artwork was shredded off, the task was one of the most tedious but also gratifying things I’d ever done.

There was some strange pleasure to know I had made this. Now I was finding rounds embedded in it that I hadn’t even realized hit me. Shotgun pellets, pistol slugs, grenade fragments, small caliber rifle rounds, all had simply impacted and either stuck in the fabric or had fallen to the ground, leaving a barely perceivable dent.

One part of it was the material; stubbornite, as it was notoriously hard to break. When I had made this armor, I’d needed a plasma torch focused on it slowly and meticulously. Random bullet strikes would not break this eight to eleven centimeter plating. Even armor piercing tungsten rounds would have trouble with the material, but it was incredibly rare and required forging techniques that earth pony magic had to be infused into.

Now I was seeing the results of all that work into my armor, as well as with the others’ armor. Nyota’s armor had three bullets stopped that would have pierced his heart. Scopola Mina’s had six shots that her helmet absorbed. Quick Stitch’s armor had been pierced twice, but both had been stopped by his ribs. Chifundo’s cloak was riddled with holes through its light plates but underneath it, his combat armor had held just enough to keep him alive.

Alguacil’s was the only one who lacked the stubbornite and it showed. His armor had been pierced a dozen times and the armored cap he wore under his hat had a deep gouge in it where a bullet had grazed along it. You got lucky, Alguacil. I wish I could convince you to wear something heavier and learn to fly with it. I kept working for half the day to make repairs. I dropped the spent bullets into a bucket, and by the end I needed two more..

Once our armor was done, I took out my gauss carbine and started working on it using the one we had recovered. Celestia’s Hammer had every single damaged part taken out and replaced with a newer, freshly cleaned piece. She was my crowning achievement when I finished. ‘Celestia’s Hammer’ looked fresh off the factory floor and sucked the sound out of the air around her when she charged now. A silence that indicated something was about to die. Well I don’t have to get point blank anymore.

The rest of our intrepid group spent the day helping the town clean up and organize after the siege. Pony waste had to be removed, blood stains needed to be cleaned, bodies still had to be buried, and were getting ripe, while Quick Stitch worked on getting the heavy batteries mounted on various positions and floors of the garage. Every single part had to be done.

Scopola Mina had started a public soup and fruit kitchen with the abundance of food we had acquired. I came up to see her serving stuff, but Scopola looked quite singed and flustered. I smiled at her and tilted my head confused. “Are you alright, Scopola Mina?’

“I ummm, yeah. That stuff flares up quite a bit when it’s too close to fire.” As Scopola spoke I realized she was talking to something that was around three feet to my left. It was like she couldn’t see straight. I took a step left and Scopola’s head turned, still talking off to my left.

“No, Scopola. I am right here, not over there,” I said. Scopola shot me a glare and looked even more disturbed by this revelation. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I, umm, y’all are a little blurry and to the right—I mean left!” Scopola snapped as she passed me seven grenades that were elongated and shaped with a magnet down one side. Then she passed me a bowl of soup and a fresh apple. “Here! I made some thermite grenades just in case we can’t get into that stable y’all talked about!”

I stared in disbelief. “Scopola that’s genius.” I started to realize why she was having trouble seeing. “Maybe you should go see Quick Stitch, you might have a concussion or eyesight damage.”

“Naahh, y’all are silly Sunrise, I already saw the doc.” She paused and took a breath, “He said I should be fine in about a day or two. ‘Right as rain’ he called me, not that rain has ever been right.”

Oh boy, her Appleloosa accent is really coming out. I think I might be able to help her? I gulped and nodded, “Thank you, Sun and Fun, for the soup and grenades.” I set the food and grenades down, looking around for a set of reading glasses. Oddly enough, one of the scouts had a set on her sash.

“Can you hand me those?” I asked, and the Filly Scout shrugged and passed them over to me. I turned and slipped them onto Scopola Mina. “Here, Scopola, try these.”

Scopola Mina blinked several times as the world around her cleared up. She shook her head in disbelief, “Ya know, the world looks a whole lot better now!”

“Scopola did you wear glasses before?” I was fairly puzzled now and wanted to see if she really did need an eye doctor to take a look.

“I mean, I could read if y’all put stuff really close.” She smacked her lips, tasting her own soup.

“Can you see far away now?” I raised an eyebrow and leaned close for the answer.

“Surprisingly enough, yes. These glasses make y’all a whole lot clearer.”

“I think you should wear glasses,” I took a breath as I picked my things back up and pocketed the thermite grenades. Make sure to check these later.

“I don’t want everypony calling me a nerd, especially y’all,” Scopola Mina said. I shook my head at her with a smile.

“Scopola, I think you will be fine. I am pretty sure I am the nerdiest one here.” I replied with a broader smile and slipped off into the crowd to find somewhere quiet to eat.

It was bad enough with ponies patting me on the shoulder or calling out my name when they recognized me. I got over a dozen unwanted hugs and two slaps on my flank that made me jump and blush. I felt some pressure on me to perform and just wanted to hide in the shadows instead.

I ended up eating lunch in the workshop of Mad Mac. I was breaking down the armor of Breakfast Blend’s former troops, when Stormy entered with a look upon her face, “Sunrise, I need to ask you a question.”

My head slowly turned to her and she closed the door to the shop. Her talons fell heavily onto the ground as she approached. “What do we do with the prisoners?” Mad Mac put on a pair of headphones and we could hear Stalliongrad-style marching music playing off of them. I knew the city’s anthem by heart.

“I’ll come talk to you and Alguacil about that before dinner.” I replied as I started to examine the armor Breakfast Blend’s forces wore. It was Stable-Tec design! These collars lack numbers but that blue and yellow underneath! It was all freshly machined, almost factory printed. There was no denying it; these were Stable-Tec designed heavy security uniforms. All modified to look like standard soldier fatigues and armor gear.

I set them down and held my head, fighting with a memory. Stormy grabbed my shoulder, “Hey, Sunrise, you okay?”

I shrugged it off as my rad count flashed a warning on screen, “198 Please Seek a Medical Professional.” Nyota came in and I smiled, feeling a little relieved. Right, Radiation from Megaspell; I was downwind while we were digging graves.

“Stormy, I’ll be fine. I’m sure Nyota can take care of me. I’ll see you about the prisoners in a little bit.” I was trying to avoid what was bothering me. Seeing the Stable-Tec barding, even without the numbers, was reminding of something. There was a distant scream inside my head: A scream I was making. Whatever that memory was, terrified me.

Nyota placed a hoof on my shoulder and I noticed the grime and metal dust that fell off me onto his arm. Without hesitation I leaped forward and kissed him, smearing his freshly showered chest in my workshop grease while metal dust covered his face and mane. I hadn’t realized how dirty I was and I didn’t care. Slowly we broke away and he chuckled, “Well, someone needs a bath.”

I blushed a this comment, not that I thought he could see it. I nuzzled up against him and he just laughed more, “Sunrise! You’re going to make me need another bath, I just got out!” He couldn’t stop laughing and his laugh, mixed with the touch, helped me push through the screams in the back of my mind. Slowly the screams died and the memory went back to the depths where it belonged.

I finished my meal and went with Nyota to the shower. This will hopefully clean off the radioactive particles and I can have some RadAway later. Yes, they still worked and they were wonderfully hot. Not just the water, but Nyota in there too. No, I’m Not Writing that Down.

“Alguacil, I do not think punishing them would be appropriate.” I replied with a grim resolve. “We forgave Black Hawk and Wicker hasn’t been punished at all.”

“Look, I ain’t saying we don’t forgive ‘em but I should have the right to interrogate ‘em till they tell us everything about this Breakfast Club I wanna know.” He growled at me and lowered his head until we were eye level, making me stare into his one eye and the socket where the other one should be.

I shook my head, “No, we can question them, but I am not about to let you interrogate them your way. They deserve to be forgiven and allowed to help us rebuild. Their army is destroyed and their leaders have abandoned them.” Alguacil snorted at this and turned back to working on the lock to open up a footlocker we had recovered.

“Sunrise, I swear you don’t let me do my job half the time.” He slapped the foot locker with a claw in frustration when the bobby pin he was using snapped. I reached out and handed him another one to replace it so he could keep working.

“Alguacil, that might be a good thing. Prevents you from doing something you’ll regret.” I replied while we kept working. Alguacil finally got the particularly difficult safe open with a loud click. He slipped it my way to examine the content while moving to work on the next locker.

I stared at what was inside. A pack of coffee marked ‘Sergeant Dunkin’s Personal’ and a journal with the symbol of a tree encrusted on it; a special treeI thought I should recognize made of crystals. Underneath that tree was the symbol of the letter Phi, the same symbol on the secret stable we’d found. Oh, she knows something, I thought. The color of the journal was Stable-Tec blue with the obnoxious yellow coloring the edges of the page.

I reached for the book and slowly opened it. Inside the first page read: ‘Property of Breakfast Blend’ underneath in blue ink read, ‘The Goddess with a Gun, read this and die.’ I slowly opened it and began to read:

‘The everything trees are nearly ready. We will hopefully be moving soon. I cannot stay at this new stable for risk of someone showing up for the old world tech here. Barista Foam has arranged to destroy this place when we leave, much as Sunrise did the last one. I should thank her for the idea. That explosion she set off helped create the radioactive substances we used to splice the trees together. They are the future of the wasteland; we cannot afford to waste them.’

Everything trees? Okay, that might explain the fruit and vegetables. I closed the journal to take in what I’d just read and tucked it away to read later. I kept going through the various pieces of trying to figure out how to satisfy Alguacil. I let out a sigh to ease some of the tension I felt building between us.

I could feel as the screams started to try to pull themselves through in my mind. A laugh as well; the laugh of Agent 9. I shuddered and looked around, trying to see if she was near me or not. I shivered at the thought of any of those three watching me, or worse, had come back to visit Sparrow again. I need something to do, something else, anything!

“Alguacil, let’s go talk to Wicker. You and me. Picline can be there too, to act as referee.” Alguacil turned and smirked at me. I grunted to remove his smirk before I continued, “After we head to the regulator office and expunge the bounty on every single prisoner we took.” He didn’t particularly like the sound of that; not that he had a choice.

It was well after dinner when we had finished filling out all the paperwork to alleviate the forty-six bounties on prisoners we had taken. I walked up to Picline with Alguacil next to me inside the hospital of The Roof. I couldn’t really call it a medical bay or first aid station anymore. They had already used some of the scrap to make another two rooms and were in the process of sterilizing and sealing them up.

Wicker was still on a medical table. His chart read his full name: ‘Wicker Weave’. Scopola Mina was there talking to him, and we had apparently interrupted Picline and Chifundo’s conversation. Chifundo had several marks on his neck and it reminded me to pull up my own collar. “Picline, Wicker, if it is okay with both of you, Alguacil would like to ask Wicker some questions.”

Nyota came in. He was no longer wearing his eyepatch and Picline jumped when he saw it. “What the fuck is wrong with your eye?”

Nyota snickered and smiled, “Nothing, all my tribe possesses the spirit eye. You thought I was missing an eye, didn’t you?” Nyota was beaming with satisfaction at Picline. It was like he had just smote some cruel foe and we were all meant to praise him. I was proud he wasn’t hiding who he was. I just wished he hadn’t possibly angered somepony whose cooperation we needed.

“Picline, stop being freaked out by something like that. His eye is actually quite beautiful and wonderful to look into.” I replied and placed a hoof upon her shoulder. “Now, Picline, can we speak with Wicker?”

Picline groaned and stared at me, I stared back. Nyota walked up next to me and stared with me. I wasn’t sure if it was my determination or his eye that caused her to look away and back down. She looked out of the corner of her eye with the stare of a mare scorned. “Fine, but you better stop if I say to stop.”

I looked into Wicker’s eyes: they matched his mother’s. “I promise nothing stressful or straining.” I picked up his bag while I talked and pulled out a fresh apple. These were not the slightly mutated or strange looking pieces like in Silver Fang Shanty; these were new and lacked that radioactive taint. “Primarily what I want to ask is where did you get this?”

“The apple in my bag? I don’t know. I got it off one of the carts.” I handed him the apple and slowly handed his pack back to him.

“You have fresh apples?” I stared at the apple like it was some holy relic that shouldn’t exist.

“Yeah, I think I’ve got a pear in here, too, and a few carrots.” He pulled out the food in question. All of it looked freshly picked and without the wasteland browns or grays added to its color mix. They didn’t have the DNA mutation of the wastes at all.

“How? How is it not tainted or radioactive?” I was starting to stutter as I handed the fruit to Nyota. Wicker shrugged, took a bite out of the carrot, and passed it to me.

“Here. It isn’t poisoned.” I took the carrot from him and bit into the next part. The taste was marvelous. I stared in disbelief before devouring it like a ravenous goat. This was just as I remembered before I woke up.

Scopola Mina shrugged, “Yeah did you not check out the carts? Inside there are all sorts of fruits and veggies, they’re delicious!”

I just stared at my hoof then slowly looked up at Wicker, “It tastes just like I remember, from the Old World.”

“Well duh silly, what did you expect?” Wicker snapped another piece of carrot while he was talking.

“Wait, you are not freaked out that I remember the Old World?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, why would I be? The Goddess with a Gun knew about it, and so did Barista Foam.” My jaw fell agape and would have hit the floor if it wasn’t attached. Pink rolled into view with a huge smile on her face.

“You’re putting the puzzle together! And it makes less sense assembled than it did all in pieces!” She squeed while leaning up to listen to the conversation, her rear facing me as she waited for Wicker to continue.

“You see five years ago, Breakfast Blend started recruiting to this stable she found. It didn’t have a number.” He paused and took a sip of water from Picline with a smile. “Thanks mom. Anyway, she wouldn’t let you talk about the Ministry of Morale or Stable-Tec too much, as that was grounds for running laps. The job came with all the fruit and veg you could eat, along with training, gear, and pay of one cap and three coffee beans a day.” He paused and stretched out.

“What was the job?” Nyota asked, taking one of the carrots and letting out a murr of delight when he started to eat it.

“Protect the trees.” Wicker replied and waved his hoof to get everyone to not ask anything. “Breakfast Blend, ya see, had re-engineered those trees to grow everything. Carrots, apples, and oranges are a little rarer than we’d like. But bananas, pears, lettuce, potatoes, and onions grow rather well. Those carts each contain fresh good soil, those trees, and a watering system for them. We had hoped to find somewhere without radiation to plant them permanently.”

“So all this fighting was fer a damn set of trees!” Alguacil snared with a disgust.

“Those trees are the future of the wasteland, still are. It was honest work; and all we wanted was a water talisman.” He shot back and snorted.

“What Stable?” I stepped forward and Wicker physically backed away from me. “What all did you do in there? What was it used for before?” Wicker looked even more uncomfortable as I advanced. “What happened to the previous residents?”

Picline stepped between us before I could get closer, “I think that is enough questions for one day.” We stared each other down.

Is she going to finally knife me over this? Nyota and Scopola both draped a hoof over my shoulder and pulled me outside into the common area. I wanted to go back in and fight but they wouldn’t let me.

“Sunrise, calm down. Look, y’all done worked him up and he’s clammed up. You’re gonna have to wait for answers after he gets situated again!” I flinched and wanted to scream at her. “You’re being more Alguacil than Alguacil!”

I stopped myself and slowly realized she was right. Pink wandered off, “You got this now, Sun and Fun! Gotta go check on that memory!” I stared at Scopola Mina, slightly hurt by the comment.

“You are right, Scopola. Sorry.” I whispered to her and slouched against the wall. Nyota was petting my mane and it felt nice, reassuring that I hadn’t stepped too far out of line. “Scopola, you’re a good scout and a very good friend.”

Scopola Mina gave me a half hearted smile. Nyota looked up at her and turned his head where she could see his earthly seeing eye, “And a damn fine rifle pony.”

Scopola shook her head and then banged her horn against the metal wall. “I used chemicals to poison almost a 100 ponies and got them killed. How can I still be good?”

I shook my head, “No you did not. They made the choice to fight us. You did what I asked and it did not work out.” I slowly stood up and stopped her from hitting her horn against the wall a second time. “Stop that, it has got to hurt. Now listen, in there is a pony who needs someone besides his mom to tell him he did not do something terrible.”

She looked over at me and I had to reach up under her new glasses to wipe away a tear. Nyota pulled her into a light hug, “I think we know who that pony is, don’t we?”

Scopola turned to him then back to me and then back to Nyota. “Look, Scopola, I’ve seen you since we came back last night.” Nyota nudged her head and ruffled her mane as he let her out of the hug. “You haven’t left Wicker’s side unless you absolutely had to. So why don’t you go in there and help fix it?”

Scopola hesitated and then shook her head, “If they were really raiders I could live with it. They weren’t no raiders and that makes me feel worse.”

I smirked at her and Nyota put a hoof up to my mouth. “They spent no effort to step back from the situation to deal with The Roof like good honest traders.” He paused to take his hoof from my mouth and lifted Scopola’s chin up. “Doesn’t matter who shot first, doesn’t matter what happened. They were turning into raiders, taking what they wanted without care and threatening to slaughter this entire town. They were going to lay waste to every single mare, stallion, filly, and colt in this place for no other reason than water.”

Nyota took a breath and smirked, “You stopped that. You stopped this from becoming another Oasis. We did what we did to protect the people here; that is more than enough justification for me. I have finally atoned for losing my home.” He said all this with a smile.

“Scopola, I made the call, period. I have to live with that, now go back in there and enjoy your time with Wicker.” I smiled at her and gave her a soft hug. I hung my head and started to walk away as Nyota ushered Scopola Mina into the hospital again.

Nyota kept talking to her, “This is something that is going to weigh on you. It is up to you to look at it in a good light or a terrible light. What we did saved a whole ton of creatures in The Roof. We removed a lot of terrible creatures from the world who wanted to hurt The Roof.” He stopped her at the door.

“I can’t believe anyone who would massacre an entire settlement, have any interest in making The Wasteland a better place. Now do what Sunrise said, go on and see Wicker.” Nyota returned to me and lifted my head. “That goes for you too.”

I stared out, having listened to him. His words were a gut punch of reality to me. Scopola had used a chemical weapon and it did not have the intended effect at all. I, however, had used the very weapon that destroyed my world and gave us this hellscape called The Wasteland. I hesitated until he turned my head to look at him and force an answer out of me. “I can never build one of those weapons ever again.”

“Sunny, if that is the way you want to look at it, just do yourself a favor.” I fought back my tears as my heart sank. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but least of all did I want to be reminded of creating a megaspell bomb. “Go see all the ponies you saved. Talk to Hanzhoof and Franzpone, you saved them both. See the expression on Picline’s face when she looks at her son.” He took an inhale, “Cross Stitch and Mad Mac too are alive because of you. All because one pony couldn’t take no for an answer.”

I wanted to tell him he was wrong, I wanted to find some flaw in his argument. I couldn’t, I had no reason to say he was wrong despite all the blame I felt like should fall on me. He kissed my forehead and whispered, “If you want someone to blame, blame Breakfast Blend.”

He was right. I didn’t want to tell him but he was right. Nyota stood up and kissed my forehead again, “I’ll see you when you come to bed.” He said with a reassuring smile across his lips.

I stayed for a while, reviewing every action I had taken. I was starting to understand Nyota’s perspective. He had seen his home destroyed over water. Mine had been destroyed because of coal and fanaticism. I wasn’t sure how long I was reviewing my actions, but Pink came back and Alguacil walked up at the same time.

“Sunrise, Wicker said you might be interested in this.” I opened the cover and inside was a Stable-Tec sticker along with a Ministry of Morale approved logo. I couldn’t resist it anymore, and finally plunged into the memory I’d been fighting.

I was in the stable, my stable. I was awake and strapped to an examination table. Two IV’s were inside my legs, pumping some green and purple fluids into me. My body felt cold, so cold I wanted to scream. I looked over to see a shadow, somewhere deep inside, I knew that the shadowed pony was Agent 9. “Test subject is reacting surprisingly well.”

Her voice was cold and made my spine unnaturally chilled well beyond what the fluids they were pumping into me. Another technician, the one from when I woke up out of the stasis pod and fled the stable, he walked into view. I could see him clearly, I wasn’t sure why Agent 9 just appeared as a shadow of a pony moving around. “Yes but her cutie mark hasn’t emerged yet.”

Agent 9 scoffed verbally and waved her hoof at him, “It will be fine, Probability Driver, we only have six subjects that have reacted this well. Already the probabilities around her are warping.”

The scientist looked around with a groan, “Do I have to keep that moniker when it is just us? I much prefer Agent 88.”

Agent 9 physically shoved him, “Just because only those I wish to perceive me can, doesn’t mean we can take chances like that. If the Stable-Tec staff figure out who we switched with, we’re all dead.” I wanted to speak but found that I was a passenger still. The two of them turned to me.

“I believe it is time to install the prototype in her.” Agent 9 suggested and pulled out a small black box. The block box that was inside me. I know that is mine; those symbols, and its size. No doubt that cube is what is attached to my spine.

Agent 88 scoffed and took a step back, “Are you sure we can get away with that? There are only eleven total prototypes for the guardian class and three of them are in us.”

“I want to make sure we get everything we can out of this brat, that means she gets a prototype and we make sure these damn things work.”

I looked around as a Pink cloud came into view, the PipBuck H.U.D. cutting on and at the top read: ‘Drug detected, muscles numb. Damage, None. Please inject stimulant.”

“And if it kills her, just blame her as another failed experiment.” Agent 88 nodded to Agent 9, he reached over a cabinet starting to take out surgical tools as the door opened and I watched the shadow over Agent 9 leave the room.

Agent 88 moved to a medical cabinet and took out a series of knives and scalpels. “Well fuck, ya know, why did you have to make my life difficult?” He let out tsks as he spoke, clicking his lips and then moving a scalpel to where I could see it floating in his magical TK. The dark purple aura around it even more foreboding than the actual doctor’s implement.

“Oh right, you can’t talk right now, nor can you scream. Which means if you die during the surgery…” His voice implied a threat that made me wish to gulp or speak, maybe. I couldn’t make my throat move, much less lift a hoof to stop him. He waved the scalpel back and forth in front of me. I stared down the point of the blade for agonizing second after agonizing second.

Agent 88 groaned and pulled the scalpel away, “But, Agent 9 will likely still waste a cube on you and will notice if I make any purposeful mistakes. Do me a favor, just give up and die while I work,” He paused as I felt cold steel against my chest. “Also I’m not giving you any sedatives; you can’t move, but you can sure feel the pain still.” His voice trailed out as my eyes shot out of my head from a searing white hot pain that pushed into my chest slowly.

As the pain erupted a small pink cloud appeared; I recognized it as Pink before she took form. The same cloud that guided me out of the stable. “Oh, hello there! Looks like we’re stuck together now. I must admit, I’m surprised, buttt…” The pain overwhelmed her next words and then the pain stopped. My mind slowly adjusted to the sudden loss of sensation as the feeling of pressure rippled through me when my chest was being opened. Blood was pouring out and Agent 88 started to sweat as he worked feverishly to open me up for his new part to add to me.

“There, that’s better, I cut off the pain. Now, this is quite the surprise party to walk into. Why don’t you tell me exactly what has been happening?” I hesitated and the pain started to seep through whatever Pink was doing to stop it.

It started a while ago—

“I know where it started, silly, I mean since you went into Stable 43. Oh Goddesses, do you not know who I am, silly filly?”

No, but, it started with—

The memory slowly came to an end and I woke up shivering in the cold former parking deck that was The Roof. I looked around and saw Pink tapping her hoof, “Wellll…”

Thank you, Pink. Thank you for everything and reminding me why I have to stop monsters. I replied with a smile. Pink nodded and I could feel her hoof stroking my mane, almost in a motherly way.

“You’re welcome, knuckle head, now why don’t you go see that stallion friend of yours. He’s incredibly well behaved and a credit to zebras everywhere.” Pink was beaming with no hint of sarcasm. I blinked a few times and she smirked.

“Even if you never find your mom, you can at least say that you made the closest thing you have to one right now, is proud of who you picked.” I shook my head.

I’ve never thought of you as my mom.

“I certainly act like your mom or your conscience. I prefer mom, because let’s be honest, you beat yourself up better than a full hoofticuff boxing team ever could hope to.” She stopped rubbing my head and slapped my ass. “Now giddy up little filly!” I shuddered and started to trot towards where I knew Nyota was.

I walked into the Red Roof Inn, book in one hoof and poked my head inside the door. Nyota was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at a cup of tea he was sipping on. I walked up and nuzzled against his stomach then his chest. I was so happy to feel his warmth. It was so much better than the cold table in my memory. “Thank you, love.”

"Get some rest, hun, it's been a crazy couple of days." He said as he ruffled my mane, "I'm gonna try and get some answers from my associates."

“Your associates?” I asked and he smiled with a nod.

“Yes, the other couriers and the courier offices.” I rubbed my hooves up against his chest and down his arm, searching for his hoof till I found it. I gripped it softly and felt an odd warmth emanate from my chest.

"I hope you like the improvements to your armor and shoes." I spoke with a big yawn and started to crawl up into the bed with him. If anything the memory had helped me alleviate some of the feelings I’d had earlier. Honestly, right now, I just want to feel you beside me.

"I do, I like it quite a lot." He started stroking my mane, slowly easing my fears and then darkness started to engulf me. “Go on, Sunny, I’ll protect you all night long.” Even the creaking of the bed springs didn’t freak me out, not with Nyota holding me and letting my heartbeat sync up with his.

The voices were raised, slowly pulling me from my dream. I rolled over, searching for Nyota, who wasn’t there. “Nyota?” I asked, looking for the warmth that wasn’t there. His voice turned my ears towards the slightly ajar door to our room.

“Look, this is the first decent rest she has gotten in four days. If you lot disturb her, I will not be held responsible for my actions.” He was stating something incredibly grim and angry at whoever was there. It made me smile.

My fierce defending demon, ready to make sure I sleep. It warmed my heart and scared me at the same time that he was willing to go out of his way just to make sure I got sleep. I smirked and roll over, slowly dragging myself to the edge of the bed. My PipBuck registered it was 01:22am. I was still drop dead tired.

I slipped over to the door, looking out of the door. Wicker and Picline saw me first and held onto each other, looking afraid at Nyota. “Quick Stitch…” I started grogigingly, playing dumb about Nyota’s threat. “Scopola Mina… oh hi, sweetie.” I said looking up at the very gruff looking zebra. I started shaking my mane side to side and rubbing the sleepy out of my eyes. “So what are we talking about?”

“We may have a found ourselves way, to make things back to being happy and gay.” Chifundo spoke up from around the corner of the door. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him. I just motioned a hoof outside the door for him to go on. "We went out to the top of the roof, hoping to spend some time being aloof. Wicker came with and spotted something amiss."

Wicker slowly piped up and stood upright, “Well the group that gets tasked with staying behind is called The Bagged Lunch. They deal with stragglers and prisoners. They are on the horizon and may want to parley with the rest of The Roof.” I grumbled and sighed. He started to keep talking but I held up a hoof as he got to talking about breakfast options.

“Okay, I get the picture, can this not wait till morning?” I groaned, stretching out and forcing my body to move. Wicker shook his head and I rolled my eyes as I went back to cleaning the sleep out of my other eye. “Where are they?”

Wicker nodded, “Oh, about two miles away. We can talk to them on the radio.”

I checked myself, discovering I was nude; not that that was a problem. Most of my gear was still downstairs with Mad Mac. “Chifundo, can you get a radio for me? My stuff is downstairs.” Chifundo nodded and darted off. I looked at Nyota, who had an expression like someone had just pissed on his birthday cake. “I meant give me his radio, but...okay, guess he went to get mine.”

Nyota’s glare kept all of us quiet while we waited for Chifundo to return. He did not come back with just my radio, but all my saddle bags, my weapons, my armor, and the ham radio Blood Work owned. “How she can move with all this, I haven’t a clue in the slightest!” Chifundo exclaimed as he came back into view.

“Thank you, Chifundo.” I smiled at him and took my radio as he dropped the pile of gear at Nyota’s feet. Nyota wasn’t letting anyone approach past him to get towards me. I tuned the radio to Breakfast Blend’s frequency and started to talk into it.

“Hello, anyone out there with Breakfast Blend?” I waited and then remembered radio etiquette. “Over.” I punched back through.

There was static for a minute then the sound of something getting smacked in the background. It wasn’t Breakfast Blend but an older stallion, “I’m afraid this is not The Goddess with a Gun. I am her chief advisor, though. Over.”

I smiled to myself sleepily and walked closer to a nearby window. The group of ponies around us spread apart to let me walk past them, and Nyota moved behind me to block them while I got up to the window. “Oh, hi there. So, umm, real sorry about the whole ‘shooting at you’ thing, and I didn’t actually want to blow up the megaspell bomb. Over.”

“I’m sorry it happened how it did. Over.” His voice was incredibly raspy.

I couldn’t tell if he was sorry because he lost or genuinely sorry for the pain they had inflicted. You don’t know him, give him the benefit of the doubt like you do everyone. I thought to myself as Pink pulled up sandbags onto my H.U.D. and looked to be hunkering down for a fight. “Did you want to talk, maybe work this out? I mean, I have Wicker here.”

“Wicker Weave is alive?” The unidentified stallion asked back with a cough that sounded like he inhaled a cigarette too hard.

“Yes, we tried to save as many of you as we could. I think forty-six in total are here in The Roof. We granted them amnesty on the grounds they stay and help rebuild for at least two years.” I replied, a slight smile coming to my face. Forty-six that I know we didn’t kill. That is better than zero. Thank you, Nyota.

There was silence on the backend as I looked at the rest of the ponies. “Did Breakfast Blend leave anything behind?”

Chifundo held up a feather and the reef from outside. “Yeah, a feather and a wreath.”

There was a thump of a hoof against something metallic on the other end, “No, not those. She’d leave a note, what did the note say?”

“Oh the note, it just said Heroes. Over.” I replied, hoping it was the answer he was looking for.

Chifundo and Quick Stitch looked at each other, “What? I didn’t see a note.” Quick Stitch replied rubbing the back of his head.

There was something mumbling in the background of the radio. “Okay, outside you should see a plume of smoke coming from our cooking fire. We want to invite you to breakfast, to discuss the terms of our group’s parley.”

I looked at every other pony around, Alguacil walked up with a raised eyebrow. Nyota and Chifundo both shook their heads in unison. Scopola Mina shrugged. “No offense but hold on a second.”

I shrugged back at everyone else, “Do we trust them to go out there again? I mean I do not want to continue to make decisions that get us shot.” I double checked to make sure the broadcast button on my end was released.

“I would like to speak with leaders there, but I do not suspect a trap in the air.” Chifundo said and Scopola Mina giggled.

I raised an eyebrow then grinned. Chifundo, that was a pun, wasn’t it? “I mean I want to hear everyone else out about this.”

Nyota cleared his throat, “I’m going just to make sure when this is a trap you get back safe.”

“Well, I want to know what my only darling surviving son saw in them.” Picline spoke up and I held up a hoof.

“Picline, I would like to know, if we go out there,” I took an inhale to process my words as my brain was starting to come alive. “That whatever agreement we come to, The Roof will honor.”

Picline sighed and rolled her eyes then turned to Wicker, “Did you put her up to this?” Wicker staggered back.

“No, mom, I—” Picline didn’t let him finish.

“Look, I don’t care that they are your friends. I don’t care what they offer. They cannot have one of our water talismans.” Picline snarled at him.

“But why, mom? Tell me that.” Wicker stood up straight and put himself nose to nose with his mother, staring her back down.

“Because the water talismans are the only thing that keep our hold over this region.” Picline went white as she realized we were all standing there and covered her mouth. Wicker looked shocked.

I dropped the radio and snarled in rage, biting my lip to try to hold it in. Picline started to blush deeply as Wicker stared her down harder. “Yeah and that is an important thing to have, because if you don’t have something to trade, the settlement disappears.” Nyota explained.

Wicker and Picline were arguing but I wasn’t hearing any of it. I walked up to Picline and cleared my throat. Both of them looked over in unison as their spat had built, “What!?”

“Picline, explain to me what you mean by ‘hold over this region’ and ‘one’ of your water talismans?” I demanded, tapping my hoof against the ground.

“Well, we umm, we have twelve talismans total scavenged from around here.” Picline replied with step forward to try to reassert her dominance.

I wasn’t having this. I grabbed her by the collar as my rage built to a crescendo and pulled her down to my height shoving her head back with my forehead against her horn, “You have twelve? You have twelve, and you would not trade one for completely normal, non-irradiated food and a tree to make more of that food?”

For the first time ever, Picline shrank before me. I glared into her eyes, staring past her and into her soul. I wanted to beat her face in, then and there. Scopola Mina grabbed onto me and pulled me back with her TK, which was surprisingly powerful. “Ho there Sunrise. Y’all might wanna break her face for that, but the Filly Scouts said there ain’t no sense in crying over spilt milk, or spilt blood.”

As I was made to let go, Chifundo picked up. “Picline, I must inquire, how many does The Roof require?”

Picline sighed, “We have four in use. Two for The Roof’s needs, one to pay the guards, and one to trade with.”

Wicker slapped his mother’s shoulder, hard. “Mom! We have wagons full of agriculture and UV lamps. Our gardener could have supplied you with enough food to feed all of New Pegasus!”

“Picline!” I shrieked and broke free of Scopola Mina’s TK. I was seeing red, much as I had when I had beaten up Corners. Nyota grappled me and held me to the ground before I could inflict a blow. “You’re telling me, all the fighting, the two hundred or more dead outside, all of that was because you were being selfish! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS SHARE!”

Picline groaned and rolled her eyes, backing up slowly away from me, “It wasn’t just my decision.”

Nyota kept his hold on me, “But you were on the side of no, I take it.”

Picline lowered her head in shame, “All of us voted no.”

“Why didn’t you just go out and have them show you what they had?” Quick Stitch demanded while Nyota focused on keeping me from tearing her throat out. I was getting better at negotiating his unarmed talents. If not for the fact I wanted to rip Picline’s throat out, he might have been proud.

“They wouldn’t bring it up to the settlement and their tale was too fantastic to believe.” Picline turned to look away as I started to calm down. “I wouldn’t have believed you could have set off a megaspell bomb. Look, I’m sorry, but we—”

I slowly got Nyota to let me go, “I am calm, calm enough. Now, we are going to go out and talk to them. We are going to negotiate a peace and an exchange that you and them are going to abide by. Got it?”

Picline bit her lip and groaned, her head twitching in an irritated way, “Fine. I’ll even go get the burned out ones.”

Nyota placed a leg across my chest to hold me back, “You mean you have burned out talismans, right?”

Picline nodded, “Like six, yes, but no one here knows how to recharge and rebuild the matrices here. Even Cross Stitch doesn’t know how to do that.”

“Wicker, hold on. You have some pretty unique talismans to have those shields from the battle, who made them?” Nyota prodded and I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean, Berry Blend, Breakfast Blend, and Barista Foam were the ones who kept those charged.” Wicker replied, starting to smile as he went with the direction.

“Well, why don’t we go out there with those talismans and have them recharge them; then give them half of those talismans.” Nyota finished and I felt slightly better. I wasn’t sure if my rage was fully justified anymore. “In exchange, they can come in and help you all rebuild, fortify, and repair the damage they caused.”

Picline grumbled, “I mean, I guess that could work, but they stay outside.” She turned to face us and I frankly wasn’t having any conditions placed on this.

“NO BUTS!” I growled through gritted teeth and now understood why Pink was hiding in her bunker. She knew I was about to get angry. “Not. One. Single. Condition. On. This.” I punctuated each word with a hoof against Picline’s chest, physically driving her back while Nyota kept deflecting them just enough to make sure I wasn’t inflicting physical harm on Picline in the process.

I stormed off, gathering up my things and preparing to leave. I got onto the radio, “Hey, we’re coming out. If we see weapons, we’re going back in. Over.”

“Alright, my name is Cinnamon Toasty, ask for me when you arrive. Over and Out.” I put the radio away and shut it off. Alguacil came up to Wicker and stopped him as we gathered to leave at some unholy hour in the early morning.

I put myself physically between the two of them and pushed on Alguacil’s armored chest. “Alguacil, leave him alone, he’s had enough.”

“If he calls me a turkey again, I’ll have ‘nother talk with him.” Alguacil snapped back with a stare at me.

“Well sometimes, ya know, you act like a turkey, so I’ll give him credit there.” I smiled broadly at the feeling of how much that burned him to hear.

“If’n it weren’t the fact I considered you more than an acquaintance at this point; I’d be havin’ a talk with you, too.” Alguacil lowered his hat while I rolled my eyes and smiled, looking at Wicker. I even winked at him to reassure him more.

I pulled up the radio and flicked it on, “I’ll see you in about an hour. Over.” Then I got ready to leave.

“What are we gonna tell ‘em in an hour?” Alguacil replied with a stern snear.

“By what we talked out with Picline, whatever we work out with them will do. We are not giving them much of a choice.” I replied and stretched out, getting ready to leave.

“Would you prefer tea or coffee?” The radio piped back up.

“Two black teas and four coffees. Over.” I replied back, taking a measure of our group.

Quick Stitch snickered with a smile, “Cream in both holes.” Chifundo turned brighter pink as Quick Stitch winked in his direction. I nearly dropped the radio again, this time from laughing. It was truly something we needed, to take ourselves less seriously now; even with my lack of sleep.

I hugged Scopola Mina with a smile as we laughed out our pain and made our way to feeling better again.

We made our way out to the sickly wooded area inside what used to be a very large city park. There was an encampment established there. Several mutant trees were inside uncovered wagons, with many different fruits and vegetables growing from them. The aberrant looking tree trunks even had potatoes, tomato vines, berry shrubbery, and lettuce growing out of it. It was wonderfully beautiful but completely horrifying at the level of genetics required for each of its massive limb-like extensions to grow all the different vegetation out of it.

I had to stop and marvel at it. This was what they spoke of. This was the saplings in those carts we recovered. My heart skipped a beat as the possibility of what such a set of trees could do for healing Equestria started to set in. Nyota nudged me and pointed to the camp at the base of the tree, where there was a small fire going to illuminate the night.

Around the camp were several ponies, all wearing the same uniform of Breakfast Blend’s forces. There was an older blue unicorn, a Pinkie Pie copycat, one emaciated orange pegasus, and a very large, well-fed griffin.

I waved hello to them and we approached. Alguacil was watching them like a hawk, particularly the other griffin near them. I motioned him to stop staring. “Well if’n you could see the sins on others backs, you’d understand.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to face them, slowly stepping out to meet them at their camp edge.

The older unicorn didn’t speak, he just approached with six mugs. He immediately stopped and took a long sip out of each mug before offering them to us. He had signs of ghoulification, but they were few compared to his wrinkles and aged look. “Hello, anything else I can offer you?” His voice was just as raspy in person as it was on the radio.

I shook my head and tasted the coffee. It was real coffee, and it tasted wonderful; like a blast straight from the past. “Well, to business then. I offered them some saplings, smaller carts of herbs, and other things. We brought them samples of the fresh food. They would not give us a water talisman.”

He sighed heavily through his rasp, “This was the second time we tried to trade. The first time, they,” he rolled his eyes and emphasized his next words. “They politely asked us to leave, at rifle point with warning shots.”

“If you were a settlement, and some crazy mercenary came up to get your own source of water, how would you react?” Alguacil snarled and spat in the direction of their griffin.

“I ask you to be quiet, bird,” Cinnamon said, making Alguacil squawk indignantly. Cinnamon continued,. “When I am finished, you can speak your piece. We only wanted to arrange a trade, leader to leader, even make a very good offer.”

Chifundo raised a hoof, "So why turn to violent coercion, when this should have been market cooperation?"

The slim pegasus stood up and smirked, “That unicorn that came back with you may be obsessed with me. He’s a sweet kid, but he might have followed me back, and they thought we kidnapped him.” She explained, and I realized the orange pegasus was speaking of Wicker.

“Wait, how does him coming back with you lead to you laying siege to them?” I piped up, and Cinnamon realized he wasn’t going to get to finish his story.

“Well, they attacked us in revenge, and so we decided if that was the way they wanted it; they didn’t deserve any water talismans.” Cinnamon Toast sighed heavily and weighed his head down. “I realize we are not always in the right, and I am sorry for what we did. It’s why Breakfast Blend tried to operate by council.”

He looked up to Alguacil, “I know you won’t agree with our methods, but we don’t agree with the regulator ones either.”

Chifundo approached and gave a soft bow towards Cinnamon Toast, "So it turned violent because of Wicker's predicament."

“Wait, how lucky were we when we first arrived?” Scopola Mina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We were irradiated and injuried.” Nyota shot back, “We were not a threat.”

“That and Sunrise is adorable,” Quick Stitch added which made me glad my face mask concealed my blushing.

Pink slapped me on the back of my head, “Focus, Sunrise! Make this right, right now!” I mentally nodded at her and put on a brave face, raising the ballistic goggles and fully removing my face mask.

I spoke low and softly, very purposefully. “Alright, here is the deal. You’re going to go back, disarm yourselves there and help them put their town back together. Then you’re going to recharge their broken talismans, and in exchange they will give you half of the recharged talismans.”

The mostly silent, pink unicorn in the back lit up brighter than a birthday surprise party. I looked at her, continuing for what happened next. “And then, once they are better than you found them, if anyone wants to stay, they stay. If they want to go, they go. Finally, when you leave, you and The Roof will sign an accord; a peace treaty. So this never happens again.”

Alguacil pointed at the griffin in the back, “That griffin shouldn’t be one of the ones to go.”

Cinnamon Toast took all this in and snapped towards Alguacil, he had noticed that Alguacil hadn’t taken his eye off their griffin. “What do you have against griffins, griffin?”

“That griffin has committed crimes that haven’t been dealt with or atoned for.” Alguacil spat at him again, this time almost hitting the other griffin, who just snarled back.

“Wait, how do you know?” I was genuinely curious as to how Alguacil knew that.

Alguacil tapped his eye socket and blinked twice. His eye socket rolled into view a glass eye. When did he get that? I stared confused.

“Why do ya think I was so hesitant to shoot ‘em during the battle?” Alguacil snarled as Chifundo nodded, even Nyota seemed to understand.

Nyota leaned over and whispered, “I don’t know when, but he got Chifundo to put a spirit in that glass eye while you were working on other stuff. He can see someone’s innate karma now.”

I whispered back, “Karma?”

Nyota smiled, “The way the world views you, that innate goodness or evil you’ve committed over your life.”

“Spirits can do that?” I was more scared than curious, now.

Nyota nodded and before he could speak the pink unicorn spoke up with a smile. “Yes, and you, big bird, are a mixed bag of good and evil.” She turned to me and fighting back tears as she looked at me. “You’ve done so much good you virtually radiate it, and your zebra friend there has started to follow in your footsteps of mercy. It is sweet to see.” The unicorn turned to Scopola Mina, her facial expression soured just a bit.

“You, sister Filly Scout, have done much good but a great darkness weighs upon your heart, and for that I am sad.” She walked a little further past me to see Quick Stitch and Chifundo. “The pink striped one is a shaman and his heart is silver, whereas the small one is gold. But you, green unicorn, your heart is well intentioned, even if it leads you down a path that could be quite evil.”

We looked at each other, then at Alguacil, who nodded, “She ain’t lying, y’all.” His good eye rolling over to Quick Stitch with a stare. Alguacil was trying to send a message at Quick Stitch and I nudged him to force him to stop his glare.

“You, regulator,” The unicorn’s voice turned to a harsh held back anger. “Have a lot of blood upon your talons, and no hope I see of ever redeeming yourself from that which you have done.”

“Hey, don’t you get snappy with me just because I killed your alicorn. I wasn’t taking any chances with the stories I’ve heard about those.” Alguacil snapped back with a stomp of his talon.

“You are the one who killed Barista Foam?” She inquired and Alguacil nodded.

“We waited and hoped she was like Sunrise and Breakfast Blend, but, unfortunately not.” She turned to the pegasus. “Fast, go deliver the package please.” Fast took a small box from a nearby tent and was gone in an orange streak. The speed she was flying at was almost impossible to follow.

“Well, if’n ya came to a town full of folks ya likes and it was under attack; I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate to defend it.” Alguacil puffed out his chest, looking rather proud of his work as he flexed his muscles.

The unicorn didn’t seem to notice or care. Even I felt ashamed of how Alguacil acted about taking a life. “I am merely sad that my friend is dead and that a monster took her.” Alguacil immediately deflated and looked genuinely pissed at her.

Chifundo stepped in to stop him, “Unfortunately many perished, especially those we cherished.”

The unicorn nodded solemnly, “Many we would call sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. Through that is war, and war never changes.” I approached and offered her a hug. She accepted only the smallest embrace before pulling away.

“Growl is similar. He is a truly reformed raider and worked every day to atone for the things he did.” She explained, though the griffin turned and grumbled with a cough in her direction. “Well, reformed ex-Talon.” Growl seemed to take this without further protest.

“So stick it in your craw, regulator. I’m working to make up for the jobs I’m not proud of.” He replied in a voice that did not match his apparent age. It sounded like his larynx had been shot out and fixed by a surgeon. Alguacil grimaced and kept his eye on Growl still, but lowered his head down.

Alguacil started to speak again and I had enough. I stepped in front of him and slapped him across the face. He stared at me, angry and hurt, “Let. It. Go. Alguacil, there are enough dead bodies around here. If he wants to atone, let him.” It genuinely felt good to use force to get somepony to back down. In all honesty that scared me, that I enjoyed slapping Alguacil deep down inside. Even Pink was stunned I’d been willing to slap him.

Alguacil turned his head back to me, looked me over, and snorted. “Fine. Sunrise, you get that one.”

Nyota motioned towards the tree, “May I take a look?” Cinnamon Toast let him examine the tree and we all waited while finishing our drinks in silence of the pre-dawn hours.

Nyota came back and pulled me aside, “Yep, that tree is real.” Nyota’s demeanor changed and he looked at me. I could see the same rage in him that I bore at Picline earlier. He was just dealing it with a lot better. “Now, if only these creatures were half as intelligent as they claim to be.”

I looked at him puzzled. “What do you mean, love?”

Nyota cleared his throat and groaned. “This whole fight was because both sides were pigheaded and monumentally idiotic. They literally could have worked this out without any bloodshed, instead there is a literal monument to those who fell in their stupidity. I don’t see why we should punish either side or praise them. I’m here to make sure you are okay.”

I nodded and sighed, “I mean, you could make an argument to leave them to their own devices at this point, if that is what you think we should do.”

“No, Sunny. You’re better than that, as frustrating as it is to admit that you are. We have an arrangement, we need to make sure it works out and, realistically, these creatures need to learn to talk to each other and stop regarding everyone who they come across with guarded suspicion.” He stomped his hoof and I realized everyone was looking at us, silently listening as he vented it out.

“I agree, not talking to each other led to the end of the world as I knew it.” I smiled at him. “You know, like we did before we started shooting at each other.”

“Sunrise, 180 years. 180 years won’t heal itself overnight.” Nyota growled and then deflated. “Ya know, back in your time conversation only got so far, didn’t it?”

“No, it eventually broke down, which led to war. War led to annihilation. Annihilation led to us being here.” I rolled my eyes at having to state the obvious.

“So bad communication runs in the species.” Nyota pulled my chin to face him and kissed my forehead. “You’re doing the right thing, I’ll admit it. You’ve stuck us in this deal, even if I wouldn’t have. So now I’m going to say this; you’ve made the best of a worst case scenario.”

With that, we packed up and prepared to leave. I looked over at Alguacil, “Now you had better get to your date today.” Alguacil blushed at me and let out a squawk as we started to walk back. This finally brought us to laughing as the Breakfast Club would come in the next day to help the rebuilding and healing process.

Nyota nudged Alguacil’s flank, “Just remember, be nice and it’s smooth sailing from there.” Alguacil awkwardly moved away from him to bump into Quick Stitch.

Quick Stitch laughed at him, “I wonder what will happen if she wants the knot?”

Alguacil yelped, “What the hell is a knot?” That only made the entire group laugh louder and harder, except Alguacil who snarled and decided to fly back instead of walking with us.

We got back to our room and I almost collapsed on the spot. I laid against Nyota. He took to slowly stripping off my armor. It felt nice to have the weight removed and I released a deep sigh as my shoulders felt relief. "I hope this works out. I am sorry to put you through all this. I really am so sorry. Please, if you wanna tell me your thoughts, I would like to hear them."

"Love, the Roof isn't right, and the others weren't right either," Nyota finished getting me down to my bare flanks. He patted my head and pushed it onto a pillow as he stripped his armor plating off. "But you're apologizing for something you don't have any control over," he chuckled, finally getting his last bits off and pressed in close for a tender, welcome hug. "I can imagine just how bad the date Al went on is going."

I winced at the thought and said a quick silent prayer for Stormy, "You’re right, but it doesn't mean we can’t try to fix it. Through, Alguacil, and his date...I think train wrecks might be more pleasant."

"We've put the pieces in place, but to be honest? I'm kind of hoping that big bird gets a load off, because it might just push the stick out of his ass." Nyota snickered and rubbed my mane softly as I shifted to let him get fully on the bed. My leg threw itself over his shoulder to pull myself in tight to him.

I struggled to contain my laughter as snickering echoed in our room. I shook my head and slowly let the laugh out so as to not wake our neighbors too early. I felt his heat and my heart fluttered with something else, something more primal. I could feel the heat in my cheeks as I blushed and thought about the two of us. "So, rest now? With cuddles? Or are you, umm, not as sore as me?" I softly nuzzled my way up his chest and neck while I spoke and kissed his lips gently when they met mine.

"Rest. I'm not as sore, but I'm exhausted." Nyota stretched out as he spoke until he enveloped me in a tight hug. "I think I could use a massage and I think you could, too."

I slowly rolled from my belly to my side and immediately pressed soft hooves into his spine. I kept rubbing at the base of his spine near his tail. I wasn’t as good as he was, but he had taught me a thing or two. Nyota cooed and groaned as I found tight spots and as gently as possible worked them out of his back, until I came to his mohawk mane. It was sweet, tender, methodical work and every sound he made made me blush and feel rewarded all at the same time. "Let me know if something needs attention or if I'm doing this wrong. I think you deserve attention, for once."

Nyota shuddered gently as I finished and let me start working my way down his back before he replied. "I'll let you know if you're doing anything wrong love. So far it's feeling wonderful." His tail teased my flank lightly with a soft flick against it. "I dunno though, part of me is curious how bad the date's going."

I reached up and took his general greeting by ruffling yota's mane. I found a knot in his skin underneath and started to work it out around the back of his head. "I am sure it's going as terrible and good as we expect it to. What did you do to your head?" I asked, finding this to be the most difficult of his knots to work out.

"The helm is pretty heavy," He whispered softly. I felt his body deflate when the knot was finally gone. I kept up my tender touch to help me unwind. He twitched when I hit a certain part of his neck and tensed up. "S-sorry... reflex... not used to people touching my neck like that..."

I hesitated and made my touch as soft of a caress as I could. I made sure to take my time to work out every little spot of tension. I surprised myself at how soft I could touch him, especially in spite of our travels, training, and fighting. "You just have to get used to my touch, right?"

"Mmm~ yup yup," Nyota softly arched against my efforts, "You trust me to touch you, too, so I just need to relax." He let out a soft sigh and started to twitch his leg. "R-right there."

When he said right there, I focused on that pressure point. My hooves working slowly down to his broad muscled shoulders. I leaned over and kissed him softly on the corner of the mouth. "I take it, this feels good?"

"It feels amazing.” He pressed himself closer to me and stopped me from continuing my work by bringing me into a tight cuddle. “Your hooves are soft but hit all the right spots." Nyota turned his head down and gave me a gentle peck on the lips. "Mmm, Now I know how you must feel when I do this for you."

"Nyota, imagine if your skin and muscles were half the hardness of your own. Then apply this feeling to them." I replied, moving my legs to rub a hoof along his neck and jawline. He softly rolled over and I pressed against this back, though I was nearly comically smaller than him for Nyota to be the small spoon. I kept nuzzling him as darkness started to close in and sleep crept over us both.

“I love you, Sunny.” Were the last words I heard through Nyota’s yawn before I escaped to dreamland, or so I thought.

I was in a dream as Nyota’s heartbeat slowly became a song beat. I started in disbelief as the scene materialized. I was inside a nightclub. The floor had tiles that lit up in a prism of different colors. A smoke machine generated a fog over every creature there.

On the stage working the turntables was DJ Pon3. That white-furred body, mixed with a multi-color blue and purple hair, along with those thick purple sunglasses was unmistakable. The speakers next to her pounded as she spun records on turntables with her hooves and her horn lit up with magic to power the system.

I was standing on the stage with Nyota. He turned to kiss me, and right before he made contact the world just froze in place. I could see my mother’s reflection in DJ Pon3’s sunglasses, staring at me. Suddenly I was pulled by some force, hard, and the body I was in stayed still. I was floating away and completely lost.

What the hell is going on? I tried to move and found myself able to look around, I could see so many other ponies in the club. Griffins as well were among them and they were not in the slightest bit decent in some cases.

“Hey! Sunrise snap out of it. I don’t think this particular memory orb from your mom’s personal stash is very good for you right now. Instead, I’m going to show you what my life is like with you.” While Pink spoke the room dissolved and we were standing in The Roof.

I was a floating, disembodied ghost, standing next to a floating disembodied ghost. I could still feel just fine, but when a pony walked through me, the whole world felt static, and it confirmed that this was real. “Pink, what? How does this work?”

Pink laughed and shooed her hoof at me, “Don’t question Zebrican shamanism, I sure don’t. Come on let’s go see Alguacil’s date!” She grabbed my leg and before I could protest, yanked me through the ceiling. Pink pulled me through the third floor and straight to the top of The Roof. I gasped for air and found I could easily breathe.

I was far closer to Alguacil than I wanted to be, and immediately wanted to back up. Strangely, I floated away as he snapped his head and I got a clear image of Stormy walking next to him. Pink giggled.

“Hey did you hear something?” Alguacil snapped. Strangely in unison, Stormy and Pink giggled and Stormy snatched Alguacil’s hat.

It was then that I could tell he was drunk as, in the strangest slurred accent, he called out, “Hey, ma’ hat!” He reached for the hat desperately and Stormy snickered at him more before bringing their beaks together. Her deep embrace matched by his beak opened to receive her almost on instinct, and it silenced his words.

“Pink, is that how griffins kiss?” I asked as I looked at the two, pretty sure of what I was seeing but wanting to verify.

“Yes it is! And it’s beautiful. There is one more part that has to happen though, something in their DNA.” Pink pointed out and motioned for me to keep an eye on both of them with her hoof. Stormy grabbed onto Alguacil and flapped her wings, starting to lift him off the ground. Slowly and as if unsure, Alguacil’s wings joined suit.

“There it is! They take flight together while in a blind embrace! Yep, that’s it, they’re going to mate tonight.” I raised an eyebrow as the two of them took flight towards the clouds.

“Wait, they’re going to… in the sky?” I turned to Pink, very confused.

“Yes! Even ponies who mate with griffins have to submit to this as well. They always fuck in the sky.” Pink replied, her voice taking a romantic quality and seeming to melt as she floated in the air. I got the impression that she had done it herself and had really liked it. She grabbed onto my hoof, starting to pull me up. This time, I had figured out how to move and tried to root myself in place.

“Pink! I’m not about to watch one of my friends have sex!” I yelped out and wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Pink frowned and grimaced at me, “Spoil Sport! Fine, I’ll let you get a peaceful night’s sleep.” Suddenly I dropped through the concrete, falling and falling. I impacted into my body and was out cold in the black embrace of sleep.

Level 13 Progress - 37%
New Quest Perk from making a Spell Matrix Bomb: Matrix Casting - Green Alicorns gain this perk for free, but at a price. They become statuesque and unresponsive (failing all Perception rolls) when weaving or using a matrix. "You know how to use spell matrices to cooperatively cast spells. Likewise, you and at least one other Matrix Caster may attempt to cast using an ancient spell matrix structure provided you know the base spell it was designed for. Finally, you may cast from any spell matrix recovered using the strain cost of the spell and your Potency and Versatility. The art of inscribing a spell into a gems was lost when the bombs fell. However, these gems, called Spell Matrixes, can be found in robots and in factories, waiting to be used. Most often a ‘Come to Life’ spell is found in a spell matrix so a robot can be brought to life. However, sometimes spell matrixes are found containing another spell. Some contain multiple spells, though those are rare.
To identify a spell matrix, a successful Arcane Magic check must be made. This check has a difficulty of -10 for a Novice Spell, -20 for an Advanced Spell, and -30 for an Expert Spell. An Pony can install a spell matrix into a robot, should they have the perk Robotic’s Expert. This will allow the robot to energize the Spell Matrix, firing the spell (or the spell of its choice) once per round. Should it be installed with a spell matrix with multiple spells, each spell may be fired for 45 AP. A robot fires the spells with a Potency and Versatility of 1.
A Unicorn can energize a spell matrix (assuming they are holding it by hoof, mouth, or with a spell) for twice the strain of the spell inscribed inside the matrix. It costs the same amount of AP as any other spell the unicorn can cast (A One-Trick (Telekinesis or Light) Unicorn must spend the normal AP cost to cast a spell (45 AP)), and such spells can be stored inside a Spell Closet. The spell is cast with a Potency and Versatility of 1.
A Unicorn with the Matrix Caster perk may energize a spell matrix (assuming they are holding it by hoof, mouth, or with a spell) for its normal strain cost. That spell is cast with the Unicorns full Potency and Versatility.
Now Important Question: Why the Hell Does an Earth Pony have This?