Flood Town, or Tall Tale as the locals insist on calling it, was a remarkably nice change of pace. No monsters, no stares, no insults. A haughty air of arrogance at most from the locals, but the inhabitants were still remarkably courteous and helpful ponies. I even learned a bit about how the city functions on a practical level from a very eager earth mare and her tiny (relatively speaking) dragon assistant.

Turns out that the city operates on an ancient "guild system" where foals pick a job and learn it from more experienced ponies, and are defined by their role in society more than any other factor. Not entirely unlike how things work back home in the Stable (this seems a bit more strict though). Anyhow...

Back before the End the major decisions related to the city were made by a vote among the highest ranking guild members. But that was before martial law was declared and the Administrator took control. These days it functions more like a monarchy of sorts.

After a long rant from Bookhorse (yes, really) I more or less got the various guilds hammered into my head, seriously she is more efficient than the teachers back home. First one is the Tall Tale Militia, that serves as both their army and their hunters. The group claims to be several hundred years old and was formed to protect against the wildlife to the south. Second are the Arcano-Engineers, eggheads all of them. Kind of obvious what they do. Next are the Peacekeepers that somehow is the name for the people working in the hospital, supposedly due to it being an old ministry hub. Fourth are the Chroniclers, and that is where we currently are. They are responsible for the library and teach the foals to read and write. Then we have the Workhorses, who represent a whole third of the population. Supposedly a large part of the farmers in the whole damn region were part of this guild. Finally there are the "Artisans" that "are responsible for maintaining a sense of civility and culture within the city".

GAAH, bored and now I can get to the point at hoof. We wanted to know a bit more about the wartime history and the provisional government that followed, ideally finding something that a certain self declared princess might pay a decent weight in gold for. When we reached the library, an impressive stone structure way older than my tribe, we were sent to previously mentioned earth pony. Purple coat and scarlet mane, made we wonder if she was related to the Van Hoof as she looked a fair bit like the portraits back at the haunted villa. Very friendly, a bit cute and extremely dedicated.

Her familiar was smaller than her, yet remarkably well spoken (not to mention sarcastic) for supposedly being a baby dragon. She is a black dragon, with orange spikes and golden eyes. When I pointed out that having a fire breathing dragon in a library might be a bad idea she got pretty offended, as she had pretty good control of it. And according to her foster mother, the books were both fire and water proof somehow. As to just how and why a pony librarian adopted a dragon of all things, she bought a dragon egg from the weird dragon cultists living in the old preserve built by Amethyst Van Hoof during the war (did she have to add every single detail?),

"And that's how Equestria was made!"

"For the third time, we asked about wartime Vanhoover. Not prehistory."

First time I ever met a pony worse than myself when it comes to staying on topic. Was fun the first hour or so, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? Smog, get the books."

"You mean the ones on the table, that I brought half an hour ago? Whilst you blathered on about rock farms? THOSE books??"

"No need to be rude about it, no idea where you get that attitude from..."

And turns out whilst I listened to a long rant my two egghead friends had already began digging through the pile of books. Clever ponies, clever ponies indeed.

"According to these old newspapers Vanhoover was an esteemed and ancient city, but the scale of the Great War meant that it needed to be industrialized with modern factories, power plants and the rest. But the zebras kept sabotaging the process."

Violette pointed out.

"But there are few mentions of the Van Hoof family."

"Ah, that old family? Give me a moment."

Our host pulled out one specific book from the pile and opened it with a loud thud.

"Basically, some of the aristocrats were working with the zebras. Dozens of the loyalists were assassinated over the years before the traitors were apprehended. As a result, Mr Amethyst became the sole heir to the family fortune."

"Go on, why is this buck important?"

Something was off with this story, but finally on the right track.

"Long story short, he sold the old Van Hoof castle to the government, opened up the two lunium mines and basically financed every major project in the region. He was something of a folk hero during the war."

"Like what exactly?"

Violette asked.

"I know of lunium, there was some form of failed energy project?"

"Failed?? The lunium reactor worked perfectly, but the smoke was irradiated so princess Luna forbade any more plants from being built. Favoring other projects instead. But the Lunar Plant remained operational for the entirety of the war and even during the provisional government."

Now that sounded like some neat tech.

"As for other projects, the most successful one was the lunar steel it was known in the marketing. It is an super resilient alloy, used in some steel ranger models. Might be relevant, Goldstar has made a fortune forging it over the last few decades."

"Ooh, interesting. Any other fun projects?"

Now this was a subject filled with all sorts of stuff that could be interesting.

"Like bad ass weapons or something?"

"There were... certain classified projects but I barely know the basics and we are forbidden from sharing such information with outsiders. Imagine a raider gang finding out a stash of balefire egg launchers."

"Bad idea, got it. Anyways, I got questions about the Van Hoofs and Icetear. She thought they were evil cultists or something?"

So there was something that could get her to stay quiet. The silence lasted a full minute before Smog interjected.

"Are you going to stay stunned like that all day? Not that it wouldn't be a nice change of pace..."

Then the normally talkative pony muttered to herself.

"I suppose it would make sense... the institute keeps a record of their own."

Then she scratched her chin.

"Not many ponies know of that part. Well... yes. They had a lot of strange occult traditions and a certain disdain for Canterlot. Not Mr Amethyst though. He was educated in the Crystal Empire and had a proper pony education, alongside Misses Sable Quil and Icetear in fact."

"Could you go into a bit more detail on that? Isn't the Crystal Empire a myth? I thought nobody ever found it?"

"Of course it exists, both Amethyst and Icetear were half crystal ponies. Like your compatriot reading about liquid crystal reactors over there. The Crystal School wasn't quite as esteemed as Celestia's or Luna's schools, but still quite respected."

"And the princess of love?!"

"Mi Amore Cadenza? Hold on, I think we got a photograph somewhere. Smog!"

"The class photo? Isn't there a picutre of it in Sable Quil's autobiography? Which is already in the pile?"

"Oh right! Good thinking, remind me to give you a raise."

"You don't even pay me in the first place..."

There was something distinctly surreal about the old photograph. Like ponies out of myth showing up in real life, the pink princess of love looked positively royal. Not as majestic as Celestia, more elegant cuteness in the style of Luna. Yet more gentle instead of mysterious. I realized that this probably meant that the stories I was told as a child were true, that she vanquished the queen of the changelings and some ancient evil king of shadows. Strange how you never hear her mentioned by DJPon3, that buck seems to be pretty well informed otherwise.

As I had gotten my fill of awe and wonder I took in the rest of the picture, in addition to the princess herself there was about two dozen students and two teachers. In the middle I saw the tall azure mare, with that distinct crystal sheen. She had a short buckish mane, rectangular glasses and a look that suggested she wanted to bash the photographer into a bloody pulp. I was all too familiar with who she was. To her right was a cheerful purple buck with a white mane and an expensive suit, presumably the mentioned Amethyst Van Hoof. On her left was a cute black mare with a sapphire mane matching her eyes, and a dress to match. What stood out to me was that her eyes definitely were on Icetear and I most certainly knew that look.

Then I noticed the pony should be the most obvious one to me, a pale magenta pony with a purple and turquoise mane. A unicorn, and one of the teachers. A face I knew well from posters, paintings and the history books back home.

"Hold on, isn't that Director Glimmer? Amber, take a look."

"Huh? Yeah, that is definitely her. Looks just like the portraits, the history books and the statues."

"You know, never thought about it before. But are all ponies named Starlight horribly pretentious?"

Why was everypony staring at me?

"What?"

Stunned silence, really? This time Bookhorse recovered more quickly.

"Anyways... Not sure how I missed that Director Glimmer was a teacher in the Crystal Empire. Teaching the mane three even, wonder why the Administrator never mentioned it... Neither in the auto biography, the history books or the diplomatic archives. It seems like an important thing. You know what? I'll think I'll make my next project on her."

Lunch, lunch was good. A nice outdoors restaurant, a pair of friends and a break from the most eccentric of eggheads. What could go wrong? Of course, I shouldn't have asked that question.

"So Windstriker, how come you are flying days before schedule? Either you are some form of mutant or you might hurt the healing process."

I spat out my food.

"Yeah.. About that. Never been good at waiting, so I bought some chem called hydra. Worked wonders really. Why didn't any of you suggest it?"

BWAK

And that is the sound of a synchronized facehoof. Impressive feat I must say.

"Is she always like this?"

An 'ah-ha' later Violette sighed before continuing

"Look, Windstriker... First rule of medicine. Don't take any drugs without your medic's approval. At all. EVER. As for this specific case, hydra is an regeneration injection designed for battlefield use. For when you don't have the time or skill to perform emergency surgery. Extended use cripples the individual's natural healing processes, requiring more and more hydra until the body gives up and shuts down. Permanently."

"No drugs, got it muuum. Ok that came out wrong. Anyhow, change of subject. Did anyone else think there was something off with the story Bookhorse told us? Not that I trust the self proclaimed princess much anymore but the memory orb I checked is probably accurate. Icetear sounded more like she was preparing for war than anything else."

Amber munched on his stew before answering.

"You do realize whom she answers to, right? The Administrator has a vested interest in hiding the more clandestine parts of the old government, wouldn't even surprise me if she has actual orders to do so."

"Local history aside, do you two have a plan?"

Violette looked betwen us. We answered in unison.

"What plan?"

And that is the third facehoof during this lunch.

"I..."

she took a long deep breath.

"I can't believe this nonsense. Aren't you supposed to be some sort of wandering... What were you exactly again? Freelancers. Was that it? What is the exact plan for the visit of city? Just a tourist visit?"

I scratched my mane.

"Well kind of, the original plan was to visit the major settlements around Vanhoover. Figure out the geography, politics and do minor jobs in the meantime. The princess offered caps and bits for something harmless so it seemed like a safe bet."

"Aaand?"

"If there are any interesting jobs here we might take them instead. If not then we either go back to Goldstar or take a visit to Northtrade. That place is supposed to be filled with ponies, junk and jobs."

I paused for a moment.

"But we haven't gotten to the important part of the history lesson, The Vanhoover Provisional Government"

I stated with an over dramatic voice that would have made my old teacher proud.

When we returned to the library Bookhorse was nowhere to be found, supposedly locked herself into a room with a score of books and told Smog to keep us entertained. Something the black and orange dragonette seemed to resent more than a bit.

"Great. Now the dorks are back. And mum ran off doing egghead stuff. Again."

"I know that line. You're bored."

I helpfully pointed out, slightly weirded out by being called a dork.

"Really?! What gave it away? The bad ass dragon being surrounded by ponies? In a library of all places? With a gigantic flammable forest filled with flammable creatures just a short flight away? But noooo. I can't do that because that is dangerous, there is a DRAGON living there!"

"Speaking of dragons, are there a lot of you around here?"

"In Tall Tale? Nah, just me. Alone. In the region? A big one in the forest, another huge one nesting on the Van Hoof Tower in the city ruins. And a few dozen southwest somewhere. Of course I can't go talk to a single one."

The most dramatic sigh ever followed by a tired statement.

"Look, I'm supposed to help you and I'll do it. The faster you are out of my scales, the quicker I get to do something actually fun. And before you question my knowledge, consider the pony I live with."

"So about the provisional government and that stuff? I suspect my teachers weren't all that thorough back home, due to our ancestors being in a stable and all that."

"That mess? Sure, not like I haven't heard the story a hundred times already... Part one, bombs fall. All the big cities get wiped out; Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Las Pegasus etc etc... Every damn city in the kingdom except Vanhoover and Tall Tale. There was a big missile going this way but it overshot by a fair margin. The mountains in the south and the wild winds probably messed with the trajectory big time. Ever hear about the Aurora?"

"I take it you don't mean the pretty lights in the night sky"

Violette asked curiously.

"Nah, it is what the huge glowing crater straight north of here is called. Go past the Dusk Mine and you can't miss it. Can usually see it from Vanhoover if you stand at the coast or climb a tower. Whatever the zebras concocted it definitely wasn't a balefire bomb. Most of those have died down over the centuries, but the Aurora is still going strong. When the weather gets really bad the blue glow supposedly grows tentacles and trash everything within its reach. Not to mention all the radiation it throws up into the clouds when that happens. One of the many reasons nobody with a sense of self preservation goes outside when it's snowing."

I shared a look of doubt with my companions, some things in the wasteland are just too outrageous to be true. Sure, I just encountered some soul eating ghosts from ancient evil aristocrats. But there are limits to the insanity of the wasteland. Right?

"Part two. Equestria dies, Vanhoover remains. Icetear declares martial law, all food, medicine and ammo production gets confiscated and managed by the new government. Despite a sense of public despair and plenty of ponies running off into the wasteland, society remains civil. Vanhoover like the rest of the large cities relied on food imports from the heartland of Equestria, so ponies disappearing ended up being a good thing in the long run. After a year or so the raiders started appearing, the Goldstar Garrison and the militia manages to keep them out through superior organization and firepower."

"Ok, back up. How the hell did they manage that? Canterlot gone, ministries gone, no food etc etc."

"I'll second that question if you may, was there some form of contingency plan prepared before hand?"

Violette added.

"Right right. No. Not that I know of. However, between Icetear and the Van Hoof they had nigh total control of the region. A large part of it was that Amethyst was basically deified by the commoners. But Icetear was an official representative of Luna and a close friend of said buck, so when he kicked the bucket she could leverage that support to legitimize her new government."

"Wait, he died? How?"

"Most likely suicide, the bombs fell, the Van Hoof Tower activated the shield and it hasn't turned off since. No answers on the radio and nobody has managed to get in after two hundred years. Only thing that comes out of the place is the dragon I previously mentioned."

"Just when everypony counted on him? Really?"

"Well yeah. He was supposedly a very passionate pony, made him popular among the public. But he was also deeply in love with Luna and viewed the entire industrialization of Vanhoover as gift to her. So she Canterlot fell, I guess he couldn't take it."

The dragon pulled out yet another book from the pile and flipped through it.

"Regarding to how they did it? Icetear was something of an administrative genius supposedly, days after the End she had made it public that she was managing the region from Goldstar, with Concord Pear and Sable Quil acting as her administrators for Vanhoover City and Tall Tale respectively. She gave each an emblem of her authority, lunite crystals in the shape of her cutie mark. There was also Colonel Goldstar who handled the defense of the region, his regiment was supposedly fairly elite and took to their new duties well."

"Isn't that the gem in Golden Starlight's tiara?" I had been a bit distracted at the time by... other details, but I had learned to not trust coincidences. And that was a mix of a groan and a sigh, didn't know dragons could make that sound.

"You're not mistaken. There are three of them. One for Concord, which has been handed down in the Pear family through the generations. One for Sable Quil, whom still wears it as part of her formal attire. The third, was Icetear's own and that one was lost... Then it was found again, and again and again. Each time with some new warlord trying to take over the region. The bloody idiots have even started a prophecy, about how when the three Tears are united the government of old will rise again and somehow save everyone. It has been a major headache for the Administrator over the years, and has led to yet another rumor that no government may be formed without her approval. Making her out to be some form of mystical oracle, like she was a zebra or some shit."

"Honestly, not the weirdest shit I have heard this week."

Or experienced, the wasteland is messed up.

"How bad was it? After the bombs I mean."

"Compared to before? Tartatos. Compared to today? Practically a utopia. After the first year that is, a lot of ponies died early on. Then the population stabilized and the food shortages weren't even nearly as bad. The new administrations were set up, the army and the militia handled security and most notably, people started being hopeful again. As expected of ponies, they started deifying Icetear and half forgot about the princesses and the ministries. A lot of the common folks outside the walls still view Celestia and Luna as little more than ponies who happened to have ruled before Icetear, part of the history books and little else. After a decade of surviving against all odds it looked like Vanhoover would even outlast the wasteland."

"I assume something else came up then? What led it all to ruin?" Violette interjected once again.

"Exactly, the Coordinator was assassinated. Presumably by a zebra infiltrator. They kept attempting to sabotage the war effort in the region and the rifle was captured. Both Colonel Goldstar and Administrator Concord were killed in a similar fashion and out own Administrator took several 10 mm rounds from a traitorous guild master during the same day."

"Highly suspicious."

I added.

"To say the least. At the time many pointed hoof towards major Fireblood, known to be ambitious and didn't get along with the civilian rulership. If miss Quil had died then he would be in sole command of the entire regiment as well as the region. So a lot of ponies turned up at Fort Goldstar demanding that he released the stored food to the public. It ended in a bloodbath. Riots escalated and when spring happened the major was dead and only Tall Tale was still standing."

"Question! Since everybody else was killed with such ease, how come Administrator Sable Quil has managed to survived? She is a ghoul right? I have fought ghouls before, they are tough but not THAT tough."

The dragon laughed.

"Yeah... You haven't met her. She isn't just some random ghoul, she is the freaking queen of ghouls. Loads of idiots have tried to kill her since then, all failed. There was even the one time a particularly spectacular moron shot her with a disintegration grenade, that event ended with her shoving another grenade in his mouth and watching point blank as he turned into a pile of purple ash."

"Uhh..."

What? Just what the hell? I might not know the technical bits about that kind of weapon but I do know what they do. A disintegration grenade is enough to melt a tank, or a group of steel rangers, or a full grown dragon or... Whatever else absurdly dangerous thing there are in the wasteland.

"Hoooow?.."

"Well. I don't know the fancy science behind it but... You know the Dawn Mine?"

We shook our heads.

"Reaper's End?"

At that we nodded instead.

"Well, it was a lunium mine before the zebras blew it up. Sable Quil was doing an inspection and was caught in the blast. She was the only survivor, so she basically became a super charged ghoul. Of a rare breed."

After I had shocked my two companions with the obscene act of buying a pair of books we decided to hire a hotel room, "Hotel" being a local dialect for tavern (quite proud of myself for figuring that one out). Violette was notably frustrated by not having her own room but was grudgingly accepting the argument of saving bits. None the less, having access to a shower and a proper bed was a nice change of pace. And between the three of us, the price wasn't all that bad. As for sleeping arrangements, Amber was conveniently short and claimed the sofa. Violette ended up being remarkably shy, insisting on sleeping in her cloak. Not to mention she seemed depressed and partly relapsed into the state we first found her in. Me, I found my head filled with all sorts of confusing thoughts and conspiracy theories. Since the others had already fallen asleep I decided to check if the radio stations would still be active.

"... You are listening to Black Hoof Radio and I am Rambler, telling you everything you want to know and half of the rest whilst I am still at it. For the news I can inform you that the old power plant is now in the control of the Chimaeras and they are reportedly heavily armed. But relax, the new leader has announced that the group have ceased all raiding activities and are following the Daughter's example. In other words, they are no longer raiders but rather a professional mercenary company. The lunium power plant is their official headquarters and captain Fafnir has declared that all travelers are welcome to seek shelter for a modest fee, clients seeking their services can also find them in Northtrade and here in the Black Hoof. Notably they have already gained the recognition of the caravans, Goldstar and even Flood Town. Otherwise I can report that there is something of a gem rush in the old City Center, the moderate success of the Steel Rangers and the rising prices in technology and old secrets making it a lucrative and dangerous prospect for prospectors all over the region. The queen's jewel, the Van Hoof Tower, however remain untouched despite countless attempts at breaking through the security defenses. And the third and final piece of major news is that there have been changeling sightings all over the region, in remarkable numbers compared to the last decades. Whether this increase suggest an actual invasion or merely better routines by the caravans and the rangers is as of now unknown. As for the location of their nest there are countless rumors but nothing substantial. Speaking of rumors regarding changelings, the weirdest one yet is that ponies are extinct and we are all changelings but just don't know it yet. And here I thought that I was crazy!"

Never before in pony history has there been an individual that lived up to their name so well...

In the morning we were woken by hard knocking on our door, followed by loud shouting.

"Open up, the Administrator has summoned you!"

What? Seriously, what?! More angry knocking.

"Yeah yeah Getting up!"

I have never been a morning zony, so if they pissed me off I would have broken bones. Fortunately they waited until I had opened.

"Please explain?"

The two earth ponies outside were dressed in leather armour not entirely unlike my own and decently armed. One had a battle saddle with two automatic rifles and the other had some lever action carbine. The carbine mare answered first.

"Our orders were to bring your group to the Town Hall first thing in the morning, per miss Quil's personal instructions."

She relaxed a bit.

"Don't worry, I don't think you are in any kind of trouble. Can't say more than that however."

"Can we at least pack up and get ready beforehand?"

My two companions were slightly confused and somehow had a worse morning than I was having. Irregardless we were on the way within minutes, with my stomach growling as we skipped breakfast.

And as such a bad mood was settling as we were escorted to the ancient skyscraper that served as the main hub for the local bureaucracy. Supposedly the only one to survive the flooding that earned the city its common name. It was an impressive building, obviously one they had dedicated a lot of care into the maintenance of. The paint was barely cracked, the windows were intact even if a bit dirty. All things considered it towered over the ancient trees surrounding it, I couldn't even begin to to guess the height or number of floors. And here I had considered the Institute building back home to be tall, with its mere 8 floors in the central tower. Our two escorts were visibly disappointed when we failed to be impressed with the greatest wonder within the tower, a working elevator. Me and Amber were a given, but neither was Violette, making me wonder at just what her background in New Pegasus was. She really didn't like talking about her past, not that I could blame her. Things were supposed to be borderline Tartaros down there.

We were led into an office that put the local princess to shame and to my surprise there was a trio of heavily armed griffins waiting for us inside. Then I noticed the owner of the office and felt my skin crawl.

“By Nightmare Moon...”

Was all I could utter as a pair of glowing sapphire eyes stared straight into my soul.

Level Up
Skill Note: Speech - 75%

Perk Added: Comprehension

Despite claims to the contrary you have an uncanny ability to notice patterns and attain a deeper understanding when reading skill books, magazines or listening to the rants of an Egghead

Condition Removed: Broken Wing