[center]Chapter Five: The Path To Hell Part One
“I'd say she's handlin' things pretty well, considering.”“What do you mean there’s a balefire missile in the middle of Gigaton?” I asked, still trying to process what Elder Cherry Scones had just said. They had a balefire missile... in their town!?

“Exactly what I said, the balefire missile lodged into the center of the Ferris wheel has become unstable and is starting to leak radiation,” Cherry Scones repeated, sounding slightly annoyed at having to waste her time on such a triviality. “Now then, I have some radiation suits for everypony that needs them. Lieutenant Aria, you are to come with us.”

“Huh? Why?” I asked, taken aback by her order. I wasn’t one of her Steel Rangers, and I didn’t know how I’d be able to do anything that would help with a balefire missile.

“Because, according to Star Paladin Buzzsaw’s reports, you are quite proficient in the magical arts.”

“Okay, yeah, I am. But this is a megaspell in a zebra missile. Those are two schools of magic that I know absolutely nothing about!” I argued, eliciting an even sharper frown from the Elder. “And plus, even if I did, I can’t use magic. I’ve burned my horn out, and its not really coming back on its own.”

Her eyes narrowed at me.

“What? You honestly don’t know anything about megaspells, Aria? You lived around that stuff,” Buzzsaw asked, sounding more disappointed than I thought was necessary. Why did they think I knew anything about megaspells?

“No. I was a guard, not a scientist for the MAS. Different bran-”

“Looks like our last guests have arrived, Sheriff Will!” a mare called down from the wall. Iron Will and Steel Bill’s ears perked up and they pushed off the stairwell. Elder Cherry Scones turned on the brahmintaur and arched an eyebrow.

“Other guests?” she asked, sounding a bit indignant at the idea of the two headed minotaur calling for more help.

“Hold up, it’s nighttime. The monsters are coming out. Those voidowls are probably still out there too. Who’s stupid enough to come here at night?” Shadowbuck asked, but his jaw dropped as realization instantly struck him. “Oh no! You didn’t invite them, Will! You couldn’t!”

“Of course we did, you ninny,” Steel Bill retorted as Iron Will began to walk over to the gates. “Gigaton is a neutral establishment of trade and a safe haven for peaceful creatures of all persuasions. Any pony, ghoul, griffin, or whatever you may have that sticks to the rules and is here under a banner of peace is welcome. The Queen’s Court and the Royal Flush Gang both know of the importance of Gigaton and each have a right to assist in keeping it safe.”

“You invited the Flushers too!?” Backdraft asked, breaking his silence and receiving a nasty glare from the Elder.

“Yes, he invited us,” a harsh voice hissed from the roof of a Ferris wheel car behind us. A gust of wind brought down a dragon the size of two stallions put together, but this was no ordinary drake. Its wings were mere bones and sinew and its gray, rotten scales were hanging loose on its body and were even missing under his wings. The dragon’s glossy yellow eyes passed over each of us, sizing us up until they fell upon Shadowbuck and me. I swallowed hard and let out a tiny whimper as the dragon’s mouth curled up into a nasty grin. Why was everything in the wasteland so scary? “Hello, Shadowbuck. Did you and your marefriend have a nice chat with the boss?”

“Jack,” Shadow hissed, and I had to fight my completely understandable urge to flee. Not only was this thing a dragon ghoulie, but he was also a ranking member of the Royal Flush Raiders. For a second, I thought the fact that we had killed Ten and Ace would make Jack, Queen, and King a little easier. I mean, Shadow said King was always in hiding, ordering his raiders without ever showing his face, and no pony knew who Queen was. How tough could a gang led by two leaders that never showed themselves be?

Now I knew why they never showed themselves. When you had a lieutenant that was an undead dragon, even if he wasn’t fully grown, why would you ever need to enter the battlefield?

“You spoke with King?” Cherry Scones asked, her voice finally betraying a hint of emotion.

“Yeah. The bastard taunted us, but got spooked when he saw Aria,” Shadow said, trying his best to sound calm. How he was doing that, I didn’t know. There was a zombie dragon standing only a few feet away from us, eyeing us like we were daisy and carrot kabobs on a buffet at the palace. Did ghoulies need to eat? I guess it would make sense; the pony ghouls in the museum sure did like to bite at us.

“If it weren’t for Gigaton’s rules and the rows of turrets I’d be killing both of you. King’s put a fifty thousand cap bounty on the two of you, dead.” I was suddenly extremely glad for those rules and turrets.

“Don’t you mean dead or alive?” Melody asked after landing next to me while Compass hesitantly stepped behind Shadow, although he noticeably kept his eyes downcast and refused to look directly at the ghoulie dragon.

“Nope. Just dead.”

I let out another small squeak and Jack’s grin grew. He ran a dry, black tongue across his cracked, scaly lips and I felt my stomach tie in knots. I was surprised my legs could still support me, but that was probably because they had locked up at the very sight of Jack. Melody put a hoof around my shoulder and started to pull me away when the gates drew our attention as they creaked and whined with the strain of Sheriff Will opening them.

On the other side stood a contingent of fancy dress ponies, although their frilly dresses and three piece suits were aged and needed some maintenance. Their formal wear was frayed along some of the edges and had seen numerous patch jobs already, but they were still some of the most exquisite clothing I had seen since arriving in the Trottingham Ruins. Beyond them I could see the flock of voidowls flitting back into the tenements and empty buildings. They almost seemed afraid of the ponies standing on the other side of the gate.

A purple earth pony in a poofy white shirt stepped forward with a crystal flugelhorn, raised the instrument to his lips, and played a fanfare usually reserved for royalty back in my time.

“Hear ye! Hear ye! All commoners bow before your rightful queen. Presenting her majesty, Queen Cadence,” the stallion announced, and the entourage of about twenty finely dressed unicorns and earth ponies parted to form a path for their ruler.

Some ponies in purple barding wearing strange collars around their necks set down the pink curtained litter they had been carrying. For some reason, the collars looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I had seen them. They certainly weren’t stylish by any means, and their conical design reminded me of half a dog surgery collar. The curtains to the litter parted, and I gasped as the purple curtains parted to reveal the Queen of Trottingham.

A tall, pink unicorn stepped off the litter, her violet eyes taking her surroundings in with an air of contempt. Her tricolor mane, striped gold, pink, and purple, fell in a tumble of well groomed curls while a ruby tiara sat on her head behind her horn. She was the spitting image of Princess Cadence, Celestia and Luna’s niece and my distant cousin.

My eyes drifted past the jeweled necklaces and the royal purple gown she wore, expecting to see a pair of wings, but was surprised to see that Queen Cadence actually was a pink unicorn with purple and gold curls. There wasn’t even a hint of a bulge as if she were trying to hide a pair of wings.

As she continued walking through the gates of Gigaton, her retainers bowing low to the ground in two lines, Iron Will and Steel Bill bowed their collective heads respectfully. I noticed the Steel Rangers weren’t bowing, nor was Jack, but Melody and Compass almost threw themselves down before the regal unicorn. I guess they had never seen the air of royalty displayed so oppressively by a pony, but I was unimpressed. This queen may have looked like Princess Cadence, but she severely lacked the grace and stature of any of my alicorn family members.

Queen Cadence gave a cordial nod to Iron Will, shot a look of absolute disgust to Jack, and seemed completely ambivalent about the Steel Rangers. Then her gaze stopped on me, and I could have sworn she looked shocked to see me.

“Who are you to wear the armor of my aunt’s personal guard?” she asked, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. I blinked and tried to find my voice under the vast amount of fear radiating deep from within me. A zombie dragon wanted me dead, and now a queen that looked just like Princess Cadence, minus the wings, was questioning my armor while said dragon watched.

“Um. I-Uh... Who? Me?” I asked, pointing at myself and watching as the queen rolled her eyes and nodded. “Um, Aria.”
“Aria? That is a royal name. The name of a medieval princess, I believe” she continued, her stare intensifying. I tried to swallow hard, but my throat was suddenly very dry. I guess running from those voidowl things, being confronted by an undead dragon, and now being grilled by a ‘queen’ had left me with a pretty bad case of cotton mouth. I knew from years of etiquette lessons that taking a drink from my canteen would be in poor taste and probably draw Queen Cadence’s ire.

“You don’t have to tell her anything, Aria,” Shadowbuck said under his breath, cold anger permeating his every word. Cadence just smirked at him.

“Ah, the Steel Rangers. Still just as uncouth as ever. This is between me and the girl who dares to wear Lunar Guard armor and bear the name of a princess. Your contemptuous kind need not speak unless addressed,” she said, addressing Shadowbuck like he were no more than an insect and giving him half the respect allotted a simple ladybug.

“She’s descended from Princess Elegant Star, just like me,” Melody said meekly as she slowly climbed to her hooves to help me.

“Really? If I’m not mistaken Elegant Star only had one legitimate heir.” I winced at that. Queen Cadence seemed to be very knowledgable about the royal family and its lineage if she knew about my birth being illegitimate. Of course, she probably thought I was just descended from Elegant Star, which is technically true, and probably didn’t think I was the actual bastard that tainted the royal lineage of White Rose’s family. “Who are you two descended from?”

“Her son, Golden Star. Aria’s my aunt, so you can figure that out,” Melody quickly added before I could even attempt at saying anything else. Besides the Brotherhood of Steel and the ponies of Stable Sixty-Three, no pony knew about me being from the past. I doubted any pony who heard my story would believe me unless they had been to the Stable Sixty-Three History Museum, and I was surprised as many ponies believed me with that evidence. “Aria’s named for his half-sister who sacrificed herself to save Canterlot. That’s her armor.”

Technically I was named for the medieval princess, not myself. Wow, that’s a weird thought. I really had to take a look at Melody’s genealogy, there might have actually been ponies in Stable Sixty-Three named after me.

“Can she not speak for herself? And I would expect a cousin of mine to look a little more... presentable,” Cadence said dismissively, her eyes looking over Melody’s half hairless appearance with disgust.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I got tackled by a flaming zebra mummy earlier today. But Compass saved me.” She flew over Shadow and threw her hooves around her boyfriend’s neck. “He’s the best doctor ever!”

I could barely contain myself as I watched Cadence’s face. I almost burst out laughing when she mouthed ‘flaming zebra mummy’ before she blinked, shook her head, and regained her air of superiority.

“Yes. Well... How did Golden Star come to be in Stable Sixty-Three and not Stable Sixty-Four beneath Trottingham Castle?” Cadence asked as she stepped closer to us, looking even more intimidating than I thought a pink pony in a dress and jewels could appear.

“Look, your majesty,” Buzzsaw said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “We’ve got a bomb that’s becoming unstable so why don’t we leave the royal meet and greet for later, okay?”

“How dare you speak to her royal highness in such a manner!” the purple earth pony exclaimed as he started to pull a white glove from his breast pocket and step forward.

“Buzzsaw! Apologize! We may not agree with the queen, but you shall not be rude to her in my presence,” Cherry Scones scolded the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel. Buzzsaw muttered something that vaguely sounded like ‘I’m sorry’ before the Elder turned to Queen Cadence. “I apologize for my subordinate’s brash behavior, but let’s just say that we can vouch for Aria and Melody’s lineage. You can use your genetic scanning spells later, but right now I think we can all agree that the balefire bomb takes priority at the moment.”

“I’d drink to that,” Jack growled as he began to pick a chunk of meat out of his teeth.

“Can you even drink, zombie gut?” Bulletstorm quipped, and the undead dragon stared at the metal encased earth pony for a few moments before flicking a chunk of something wet and furry at his hooves.

“Sure can. And eat too. I don’t have to, but I’ve developed a taste for pony since the end of the world,” Jack said, giving the Steel Rangers a toothy grin as we all looked at the dental debris on the ground with disgust. Jack turned towards a collared pony dressed in brown rags and chuckled. “You mind picking that up, slave?”

“S-Slave?” Compass asked, his eyes widening at the horrific revelation that the collared ponies were not mere servants. They were slaves! How could any pony do that to another pony? I turned my glare, which I realized was starting to become my default facial expression in the Wasteland, on Queen Cadence and watched as she rolled her eyes.

“Please spare me your insulting insinuations, vile beast. These ponies are indentured servants. They and their families are clothed, fed, and protected for the cost of six years of service to my court. On the first day of the seventh year, they are freed and made citizens of my kingdom. Their children may even squire themselves out to our knights in hopes of caste advancement and glory,” she explained casually, and I felt my glare soften. It wasn’t what I would call ideal, and I certainly didn’t approve of it, but I could see how a society as unstable as one growing in the Trottingham Ruins might need the practice of indentured servitude. Cadence cast her gaze back to the lump of mystery meat and groaned. “But yes, please get that horrid slab of rancid meat out of my sight while we are taking appraisal of the bomb. I do not wish for it to mar my view as I leave Gigaton.”

The queen strode away from us, her head held high and her chin leading the way like the many Canterlot nobles I had seen so many years ago. I always thought it looked silly to walk like that; it reduced the pony’s vision and made them look like they were constantly smelling old cheese and gym socks.

We began to follow after Jack, not wanting to have the fire breathing Flusher walking behind us. Did zombie dragons breathe fire? Could they even breathe? I had a very morbid inkling to try to autopsy the ghoulified reptile once we killed him... If we killed him... before he killed us. Watching the disgusting shifting of his lifeless scales as Jack lumbered down Gigaton’s main street was making me sick to my stomach for more than one reason.

“Biggest bunch of horse apples I ever heard,” Shadow muttered under his breath.

“What is?” I whispered back, noticing his hushed tone and figuring he wanted to keep attention off us.

“That indentured servitude crap. No pony ever makes it the full six years. Plus, how many servants working of their own free will need bomb collars strapped around their necks?” he spat. I looked back at the servants... no, slaves as they began to wearily clean up Jack’s mess. That’s where I had seen those collars before, they were bomb collars. We used them on zebra detainees at the internment camps I had seen on the news. My gaze returned to Queen Cadence and my right eye twitched. How could any pony treat another pony like a filthy, evil zebra and call herself a queen?

I had to get my mind off of my outrage or I might just try to tackle Cadence and ring her pink, fake queen neck. I needed to think about something else. Looking around, I noticed another one of those black owls fly over head, it’s shadowy wings flapping silently, only to be vaporized by a well placed turret blast. Well, that was something else to talk about.

“Shadow, what were those owl things? You called them voidowls, right?” I asked, continuing to keep my voice low.

“Yeah, why was Aria freaking out like that?” Melody asked while Compass nodded and watched me, appraisingly.

“What? You couldn’t hear them?” I asked, confused as to why my friends hadn’t heard my family’s voices coming from the voidowls. And Brightlight. Why had I heard Brightlight?

“No. We couldn’t hear anything. You just started talking about Grandpa Golden Star and Shadow told us to run to Gigaton.”

“What? How?” I asked, looking to Shadowbuck for some seriously needed answers.

“Because that’s what they do. Voidowls are psionic monsters, infused by the balefire with dark magic. They scan the minds of their prey, find the one who is mentally weakest and has sustained the most emotional trauma, and then make the pony think their greatest desire is coming true. I guess you can say it’s like a siren song,” he explained.

“But why? Why do they do it? And why couldn’t we hear anything?” Melody asked, putting a hoof in her ear to try to take some invisible blockage out of her ear canal as she flew next to us.

“Because Aria was the target. They try to draw you to them through psychic auditory illusions and then rip you to shreds. If that doesn’t work, they try to attack you by further traumatizing you and turning you into a lump of emotional jelly so they can rip you to shreds.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Compass asked meekly.

“Then they just go for the swarm tactic and rip you to shreds.”

Always with the ripping to shreds.

“But why did they attack only me?” I asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting him to tell me something different. “Lie to me, Shadowbuck!”

“Because you’re the weakest. Their mental probes probably told them you had no magic and you were the easiest to manipulate. You’ve lost so much so fast that a simple vocal manipulation would have drawn you in.” Just what I thought.

“You didn’t have to be so blunt about it,” I mumbled, looking away from them, but everywhere I looked just made me feel worse.

To my left and right were buildings made of carnival rides, their bright colors faded and chipped away by time to reveal the brown rusted metal beneath. Occasionally, I would catch glimpses of thinner than normal ponies covered in dirt and grime as they tried to avoid our parade of mismatched city leaders. So far I had only seen the Steel Rangers, their features mostly hidden by their armor, and the Queen’s Court in their tattered finery. I hadn’t realized that the norm of the Wasteland was dirty, hungry ponies barely surviving in towns only a step above internment camps. Which, in hindsight, was pretty freaking stupid of me.

Ahead of us were Iron Will, the ‘Queen,’ and the disgusting form of Jack. Two of those three people I wouldn’t mind roasting alive on a spit and... Wow! What’s wrong with me!? I mean, yeah Jack wanted to kill us and Not-Queen Cadence was an evil slave queen, but Cadence was still a pony. I never actively thought about killing a pony. The raiders had been in self defense and the ghouls were monsters like Jack, but... Why was I thinking like this?

Suddenly, I ran into a fleshy wall and a tree trunk sized tail slammed into me, sending me flying into a dull red building. I hit the wall hard, the dent in my armor stabbing me in the shoulder blade, and I let out a pained scream as I fell to the ground in a heap. Jack was over me, smoke streaming from his mouth as he snarled at me.

“Claws off the unicorn, Jack! Otherwise I’ll smack you flat!” Iron Will shouted as he began to push his way through the group towards us. Two turrets turned down upon the undead dragon, his eyes appraising the threats around him for a moment, and he blew a plume of smoke in my face. I coughed and hacked as I tried to fan away the black cloud engulfing me. Jack took a few steps back, his hot, rancid breath no longer filling my lungs, and the smoke started to clear. I opened my watery eyes and saw Melody and Shadowbuck standing between Jack and me.

“Back off, Scaley!” Melody shouted, her empty laser pistol at the ready.

“No fighting is allowed in Gigaton! Please step back or we will attack!” Steel Bill shouted as he and his ‘brother’ pulled Jack away.

“Hey! She ran into me!” Jack snarled.

“Well, she’ll watch where she’s going and you won’t go assaulting any more ponies, got it, bub?” Will snarled back as he held the dragon by his loose scales on the back of his neck with his upper right hand. Wow, brahmintaurs were incredibly strong.

“We can’t all be blessed with pencil thin tails... or other pencil thin things,” Jack taunted as he ripped his neck away, literally leaving a disgusting chunk of mottled gray skin in Iron Will’s fist. Black ooze, the same ichor like substance I had seen the museum ghoulies bleed, was draining slowly from the open wound. Iron Will growled, threw the decayed flesh away, and watched Jack intently. Jack then turned his head, letting out a small puff of green flames onto his back that caught me by surprise. My eyes widened as the Pipbuck on my leg started ticking and the black ooze that was seeping from the gash in Jack’s neck started to recede and his skin miraculously grew back. In only a few moments, the radiation from his necrotic green fire breath had healed him. How could he heal himself with radioactive fire!? “What? Can’t get a rise out of the good sheriff? What happened to your balls, Will? Oh, right. You brahmintaur lose ‘em when you grow a third head, don’tcha?”

“Now brother, we don’t need to-”

“Treat me like a pushover, and you’ll get the once over!” Will roared before lunging at Jack, all four arms instantly wrapping around his neck and torso. Every turret around us turned inward and pointed in our general direction, waiting for a clear shot on the dragon.

Jack’s wings beat hard as he tried to push away from Will’s death lock, but the Royal Flush lieutenant was easily thrown to the ground as the powerful brahmintaur pinned him. Before the sheriff could do anything else, Jack opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath aiming for Iron Will and the three of us behind him. Another spasm of coughing had me doubled over, barely able to watch the carnage, as tiny puffs of soot escaped my throat with each convulsion.

“Shit! Aria, get out of the way!” Shadowbuck shouted as he and Melody grabbed my underbarding in their teeth and dragged me away.

Searing heat tore at us as my friends pulled me away. Melody screamed as she threw herself into a puddle, only to realize she wasn’t on fire, and Compass ran over to her, a healing potion already in his magical grasp. I looked back at the towering inferno that was the sheriff of Gigaton only to see the fires being beaten out by his powerful upper arms while his lower arms held Jack to the ground. Amazingly enough, the burns were beginning to close up just like Jack’s had. Since when did dragon fire heal people?

“This is your final warning, chump. Fly right, or you’re gonna fry. Got it?” Iron Will said, and, after a few moments of growling, Will slammed the dragon’s head against the broken pavement beneath us. “Got it?”

“Got it,” Jack spat before Iron Will let him go.

“Did we really have to resort to violence? I thought we were beyond this, brother,” Steel Bill said genteelly as the lower set of arms began to try to fix Iron Will’s hair.

“Shut up, will ya. Look, I stopped because all you non-rads have gotta put of radiation suits. The bomb’s rad radius is slowly growing, so I’d rather you folks be safe instead of sorry,” Iron Will explained, and gestured us towards a little shop to our right. “Brownstone’ll get y’all set up.”

In the doorway of the quaint establishment based out of a couple old carnival game booths was a pegasus mare. She turned to us, her eyes glossed over but still an interesting shade of green, and her skin hanging on to her bony frame. She smiled, her brown and chipped teeth a crooked prison for her tongue. I quickly realized what she was.

“Ah! A ghoulie!” I shouted, immediately jumping behind Shadowbuck for safety before coughing like a madpony and hacking up a glob of black phlegm. Why wasn’t anypony shooting?

I looked up and everyone just stared at me, Elder Cherry Scones looking at me like I was completely crazy before pulling Buzzsaw’s head down to her level with her magic and angrily whispering into where his ear was under his helmet. I looked to my friends and saw that while Melody looked a little uneasy as she hovered above us, Shadowbuck was smiling, most likely trying to hide his embarrassment, and Compass was staring at the pegasus ghoul with an almost morbid fascination. She wasn’t attacking us? Why wasn’t she attacking... “Oh... She’s a sane ghoul? I-I’m sorry.” Real smooth, Aria.

“Yeah,” Iron Will responded curtly.

“You didn’t have to be rude to the girl,” Steel Bill replied.

“I said shut up, Bill!” Will retorted, trying to slap his other head without hitting himself.

“Why do you always resort to violence! Let us talk like civilized gentleminotaurs,” Bill pleaded, weaving his head back and forth as the lower arms tried to hold back the upper arms.

“Drop it! We’ll be down by the missile when you ponies are done suiting up!” Iron Will ordered before storming off down the street towards the center of town, arguing with Steel Bill the entire way.

“Heh, I don’t need any stupid suits,” Jack muttered as he lumbered past Queen Cadence and her entourage, the snooty ponies all raising their noses into the air in disgust. Whether it was because of their disapproval of the Royal Flush Raider, his undead stench, or both, I couldn’t tell.

“Aria, come on. We need to get these suits on,” Shadowbuck told me, nudging my flank with his so that I stumbled towards the non-feral ghoul. I stared at the decayed pegasus, noticing that she was completely bald except for a single strand of green hair, although she strangely had an almost full tail of dark green hair, and my eyes widened at the sight of one skinless wing that was missing its partner.

“Oh, I see you noticed Lefty,” she said as she lifted the bony appendage and gave it a useless flap. Her voice a bit gravelly and rougher than normal for mares and her accent was the strange type I recognized as northern Equestrian, perhaps Stalliongrad or Whinnisota. Soon I realized I was staring and looked away sheepishly, noticing that the queen and her escort were already donning the yellow radiation suits from a rack to the pegasus’ right.

“I-I’m sorry for staring. And yelling. We... we’ve had some bad experiences with ghouls since leaving Stable Sixty-Three,” I apologized, trying to not stare at the astonishly sane zombie standing in front of me.

“So you’re not going to try to eat us?” Melody asked, peering around me at Brownstone. That was her name, right?

“Oh heavens no. I don’t need to eat at all, although I can’t help trying a few of Ditsy Doo’s muffins whenever she comes to do some trade with me. Good girl, Ditsy is,” Brownstone said with a bright smile that I really wished she would stop doing. I knew she was amiable and happy, but she had the worst smile I had ever seen in my entire life. Although, maybe it was the best smile a zombie pony could give, all things considered. “Oh! I know just the thing for you Stableponies. Get out of that armor and into these suits and I’ll be right back.”

With that, Brownstone galloped into her store, the door opening with a pleasant ding that made me smile sadly. It reminded me of shopping in pre-apocalypse stores and meeting Brightlight for the first time.

“Augh! Why do I keep thinking about that son of a blueberry, Brightlight? He cheated on me! Do I still have feelings for him even though he cheated on me? And he’s been dead for two hundred years... What’s wrong with me?” I thought again, trying to swallow and smother the growing pit in my chest.

“Come on, Aria. Let’s get these suits on,” Melody said.

I turned and was surprised to see the Brotherhood of Steel actually taking off their armor, including Shadowbuck. I stared as the plates over his lean, well muscled chest started to fall away and reveal a slightly sweaty, white coated barrel.

While the other Brotherhood members were massive and overly bulky, Shadowbuck was well proportioned. His height was just above average, his muscles were strong, but not too large, and his snow white coat looked brighter and cleaner than the green, orange and red coats of his comrades. He wasn’t like the larger guard ponies at the Academy, or the smaller and skinny types like Brightlight. He was a happy medium that I couldn’t take my eyes away from. They were almost immediately drawn to his flanks as his armor fell away from them and the golden telescope with a diamond lens he had for his cutie mark.

A diamond spyglass, the perfect symbol for an exceptional scout.

“Heh. Like what you see, Aria?” Shadowbuck asked, giving me that smug smile as he noticed my staring. My eyes widened and I felt myself blush intensely. I even heard Melody snickering to my right as she was putting on a radiation suit of her own. “I showed you my cutie mark, so let’s see yours, huh?” I really hated Shadowbuck’s cocky grin right now.

“I-I-” I mumbled before the Brotherhood started laughing and nudging Shadowbuck in the ribs. This was a game to them!? “Augh!” I shouted, rushing into the store and grabbing a suit in my teeth as I rushed by the rack. Throwing open the door, I stepped through and slammed it before the bell even had a chance to finish chiming.

The inside of walled off game booths were lined with tables that made up aisles, each one holding different items. Food, most of which was pre-war, pre-packaged items like Sugar Apple Bombs and Fancy Buck cakes, and bottles of water and alcohol lined one table, armor and barding lined another, while ammunition lined a third.

Near the far wall were three counters, each separated a third of the way down their length, and guns of almost every type imaginable were being displayed on the shelves behind the counters. From nine millimeter pistols to semi automatic rifles to the massive rocket launcher on the top shelf, the selection of guns that Brownstone had in her little shop, which I could guess was called ‘Absolutely Everything Too’ thanks to the sign above the back shelving, was the most impressive, and scary, thing I had ever seen.

“Oh! I was going to bring this out to you, but do come in if you want,” Brownstone said cheerfully, although I could tell I had surprised her. She trotted around the counter of the modest shop with a white book held beneath her fleshless wing.

“I’m sorry to intrude, I just need someplace to change... in private,” I said sheepishly as she met me in the aisle between the food and armor. I noticed cans of Cram sitting next to the potato chips and grimaced. Why was there Cram for sale in this store? Were there meat eating creatures living in Gigaton? Maybe some diamond dogs lived underground nearby. “I guess that makes sense. Do brahmintaurs eat meat?”

“Oh really? Modest one, aren’tcha?” Brownstone said while giving me what I assumed was a reassuring smile; it was kind of hard to tell with the decayed state of her lips and teeth. “For a pony galavanting around the ruins in Lunar Guard armor, you sure need to toughen up a bit. You just don’t seem like Lunar Guard material.”

“What?” I asked, both surprised and a little hurt by Brownstone’s accusation. How could I not be Lunar Guard material when I was a member of the Lunar Guard? “No. Everypony except the Steel Rangers thinks I’m a Stable pony. Nopony outside of them and Stable Sixty-Three would believe that I’m from the past anyway. I’m not a Lunar Guard anymore... Princess Luna is dead.”

“I’m guessing by the underbarding you’re from Stable Sixty-Three. Good to see they’re finally opening up,” she said as she offered me the white book with a pony skull on the cover. “Here you go, 'The Wasteland Survival Guide,' by my old pal, Ditsy Doo. You might wanna take a look at it. Disty gave me permission to add some stuff about the unique monsters here in Trottingham so it’ll help you and your kin out.”

"Thank you. Do you mean Ditsy Doo, the mail mare?” I asked, gingerly accepting the book with my teeth, hoping against all odds I wouldn’t get some necrotic disease from contact with Brownstone. She seemed nice and all, but I really didn’t want to become a zombie pony because I took a book from her without my magic. She must have seen my expression as I took the book because she shook her head.

“Yep. Absolutely Everything’s her store. I just run this branch for her since I can’t do the deliveries. And no, ghoulism is not transmitted through touch or bite, just so ya know.”

“Thanks again. Um, where can I change?” I asked, looking around the store for some sort of back room, but I only noticed the fact that there was a second floor with a catwalk connecting two sections of an upper floor to a set of stairs to my left. I quickly stowed ‘The Wasteland Survival Guide’ in my saddlebags with my other tomes of knowledge for later study.

“Oh sure. You can go change upstairs. If you want, I can take care of your armor for you too. It looks like its got some dings and scrapes that could use a little T-L-C.”

“I don’t have any caps.” She seemed a little dismayed by that statement. “But I’ve got something I might be able to trade.”

I brought up the ankh on my Pipbuck’s sorter spell and the ancient golden cross rose to the surface of my bag so I could grab it. While the jewelry and scarabs could be sold for their beauty or decoration, Shadowbuck had thought the Queen’s Court would not want to trade for the ankh. After having met Queen Cadence and her Court, I really didn’t want those beautiful pieces of history, even if they were zebra history, in her hooves, but it couldn’t be helped. The Steel Rangers needed the money and, at the moment, I didn’t. As I pulled the golden ankh out of my saddlebags, Brownstone’s foggy green eyes widened at the sight of it.

“Now where did you get that?” Brownstone cooed, which was weird because I didn’t think decayed, zombie ponies could coo. It was actually borderline scary. Not as scary as a whole museum of screaming ghoulies rushing you and trying to eat your face, but still a little jarring to say the least.

“Off a dead zebra mummy queen.”

“Where did you find a dead zebra mummy queen?” she asked before taking the ankh in her mouth and giving it a hard bite with her brown and yellow teeth. Okay, she bought it now. You bite it, you bought it.

“In the Trottingham Natural History Museum,” I said as she took the ancient golden ornament out of her mouth and weighed it with her wing.

“Oh! You Stable ponies finally cleared out the museum. Good on ya. Never liked my more feral cousins. So rude. Won’t even trade with us regular ghouls, don’tcha know?” she asked, holding the ankh up to the lamp above us and smiled. I grimaced again at the sight of those nasty teeth. I know she was dead, but would it kill her again to brush her teeth from time to time? Did toothbrushes still exist outside of Stable Sixty-Three? I hoped not. “Good stuff. I’ll give you... five hundred caps for it.”

“Is that a lot?” I asked, giving her my best smile in return.

“Oh yeah. You Stable ponies don’t know much about using bottlecaps as money. Let’s just say that can get you a fair amount of food and drink or a heap of light clothing or leather barding. Maybe a few guns and some ammo, but not too much,” she explained while trotting over to a cash register and pulling out a medium sized pouch full of what I assumed were bottlecaps. They sure jingled like a bag full of bottle caps. “And you have the distinct disadvantage of no familiarity with monetary bartering since everything’s provided in those holes in the ground. Don’t worry, I’m not in the business of ripping people off. Ditsy’s a wonderful mare, but she’d have my figurative head if word got back to her that I was giving anyone a raw deal.”

“Glad to hear that, but I’m familiar with money. Bits is more of my forte. What could I buy with bits, pre-bombs falling, with this?”

“You know bits?” she asked, her rotten smile turning a little more sly and the ridge where her eyebrows had been rose slightly.

“I’m a bit of a history buff,” I said, stretching the truth a bit, and her smile grew.

“Well call me a brahmin’s backside, that’s how you knew who Ditsy Doo was, huh? I like a girl who knows her stuff. To answer your question, you probably coulda bought an old Stable-Tec desktop terminal with the bit equivalent of that. Sound like a good deal,” she asked, and I nodded.

Five hundred caps equaled about two hundred to three hundred bits. Not ideal, but I could probably get some more ammo for the group’s nine millimeters and some spark batteries for Melody’s laser pistol. I might even have enough for some food and a healing potion or two. Would I need Rad-X and RadAway too? What else would I need to survive in the Trottingham Ruins? I really needed to find time to read Ditsy Doo’s book.

I took the pouch and dropped it in my saddlebags, my Pipbuck readout displaying that I had received ‘500 caps.’ That really was a handy little feature Stable-Tec programmed into the Pipbuck. I silently thanked Toffee Biscuits and Leaflet again for their gift.

“Aria,” Shadowbuck said as he entered, the door chiming softly. He was wearing the yellow hazard suit, the helmet’s windowed face mask fogging slightly with each breath. I glared at him, and I smirked internally as he tensed up. I was getting good at this. “You’re getting good at that.” Great. Now Shadow was a mind reader.

“I’m going upstairs to change. If you follow me, I swear I’m going to figure out how to break your nose through that thing,” I replied before turning around and trotting upstairs.

“Oh! Is this a little lover’s spat, Shadow? I didn’t know you had a thing for unicorns,” Brownstone said playfully. I would have growled, but that was cut off by the surprised coughing from Shadowbuck, a tale tell sign that he had almost choked on his own spit. That made me smile a little.

“What!? No! We-we’re just friends,” he replied.

“Really?” I called down as I started removing my armor. You know, handling armor without magic was a lot easier when you weren’t having a complete emotional breakdown. “I didn’t know many friends who made comments like that to me back in my... home.”

“I’m sorry, okay. I was making a joke and my mouth got the better of me,” he plead as I heard him start to mount the stairs.

“What did I say about following me?” I called down and stifled a snicker as the muted clops on the metal stairs stopped. There was silence for a few moments and then a rough giggle from Brownstone.

“What are you laughing at, Brownie?” Shadowbuck quipped, and she laughed even harder.

“I love the drama you living ponies bring into my store. It’s almost like my stories from back in the day. I miss ‘All My Foals’,” Brownstone said, and I frowned. I hated soap operas; they were such stupid and poorly written drivel.

I removed the last of my armor and tried to pull the radiation suit over my underbarding, but the stretchy yellow material wouldn’t pull over the plates. I grunted, slightly annoyed, and started unzipping my under armor as well. As the augmented Stable Sixty-Three jumpsuit fell to the floor, I heard a sharp intake of air from behind me. I whipped around, my horn sparking as I tried to reach for Aegis, and saw Shadowbuck standing on the landing.

“Why you little... You’re a peeping tom!” I shouted through gritted teeth, stomping my hoof.
“I just had to see, okay? Melody said you had balefire on your cutie mark, but I didn’t believe her,” he said candidly. He walked closer to me, my body shaking as my fury began to rise. As I blinked, I could see the green flame dancing, urging me to make him burn. It was almost whispering to me just as he whispered into my ear. “I was worried. Have you gotten yourself checked out, medically speaking?”

“What?”

“I mean have you always had that green flame on your cutie mark?”

“What? Yes!” I shouted, before he started to shush me. I bit my lower lip angrily, my eyes narrowing at him. “What does it matter? Why would you have been worried about my cutie mark?”

“Because you said you got blown up by balefire eggs and survived. That’s not normal and most ponies end up ghoulified if they survive that kind of thing. You didn’t do either so I’m worried something else might have happened, okay?”

“Like what?” I whispered back as I started to pull on the radiation suit so I could cover my cutie mark.

“Some sort of mutation for one thing. Too much rads sometimes has some weird side effects. Maybe that’s why your horn isn’t recovering as fast as it should.”

“It’s only been a day since I burned it out and, if you haven’t noticed, I’m really dependant on it and keep trying to use it. I’m not letting myself heal, that’s all,” I countered, pulling the suit over my shoulders and then thrusting the helmet over my head. “Do you mind zipping me up?”

“You two sound like an old married couple from my day. Or Dr. Grazer and Sky Dreams from Fluttershy General Hospital. ‘I’m mad at you, Doctor! Now zip me up so we can go to the charity ball and make up before my evil twin tries to kill me.’ Good stuff,” Brownstone said as she reached the top of the stairs.

“Why do ponies keep thinking we’re together!?” I growled, turning away from the two of them in a huff. Of course, with my suit unzipped, it fell off my shoulders and pulled at my hooves, almost making me lose my balance. Brownstone trotted over to me, looked me over, and grabbed the zipper with her wing, much to my chagrin. Before I could protest, she pulled on the zipper’s handle thingy, (I know it has a name but it escapes me) and the suit and helmet were sealed.
Containment against radiation was officially achieved by a radioactive zombie pegasus; the irony and heebie jeebies were not lost on me.

“There ya go, dearie. You know I’ll need that suit back when you kids are done fixing that bomb. And don’t worry about your armor, I’ll fix that little dent for free as thanks for that little bit of entertainment. It’s not every day I can reminisce about my soaps,” she said with that nasty, yet somehow cheery smile.

“Uh, thank you,” I said, trying my best to smile while not shuddering and show my utter disgust. “Just be careful with my shield. It was my brother’s.”

“Okay, you two, get going. All your friends are outside waiting for you,” Brownstone said, cocking her head towards the stairs and the exit down below. I frowned at Shadowbuck and he just smiled at me.

“You look better when you smile.”

“How would you know?” I replied, and started trotting down the stairs. I heard him follow.

“Come on. Is that little joke really pissing you off this much?” he asked, keeping up with me, but staying a few steps behind. I think he thought I might applebuck him if I got mad enough and, to be perfectly honest, I might have.

“I told you I wanted privacy and you snuck in on me to ‘check out my cutie mark.’ How does the topic of my cutie mark having balefire on it even come up in conversation?” I asked as we exited the shop, the soft chime of the doorbell being the perfect antithesis to my mood.

“Hey guys! Come on! We’re gonna go check out the balefire missile!” Melody called, waving at us from down the street. Melody’s wings were stuck in the hazard suit so she was standing on the ground along with the Queen’s Court and the Steel Rangers.

“On our way!” I called back.

“You said your talent was magical combat so I asked her what a magical combat cutie mark looked like,” he replied, falling in step beside me. Well, that was one way to avoid a swift kick for being a jerk.

“Why would you care what a magical combat cutie mark looks like? You’re an earth pony.”

“Because my mom’s talent was magic, and magically talented unicorns are pretty rare,” he answered, and I cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re mom was a magically talented unicorn?” I asked, surprise and curiosity starting to overtake my anger towards Shadowbuck.

“Yeah. She was great at all kinds of tricks. She had a top hat and wand for her cutie mark.” I watched as Shadowbuck’s eyes slowly softened with each passing thought about his mother.

“What kinds of spells could she cast?”

“Tons. Teleportation, levitation, healing. Hell, she could even turn rocks into clothing.”

“Rocks into clothing? That doesn’t sound like a very useful spell,” I replied, a small smile beginning to inch across my face. This was a side of Shadowbuck that I hadn’t seen before and it at least explained his curiosity about my cutie mark.

“No. It wasn’t. But it was interesting. She once even used her magic to play a trick on my dad while he was napping. She gave him the goofiest handlebar mustache just to make my sisters and me laugh,” he said, and shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

“You have sisters?”

“Had... Autumn Winds and Spring Breeze are gone. Mom too,” he said, and turned his head back towards the center of town.

“I-I’m sorry. How...” But I was cut off as we passed a three story tall stack of Ferris wheel cars and I was given a clear view of the center of town.

The massive wheel’s spokes all came together at the center, a giant iris for a gargantuan eye, and nestled among the lines of metallic spaghetti was a black and white striped missile. The weapon of mass destruction hung about twenty feet over head, it’s cone shaped warhead dented and sunken in, but the bomb obviously had not gone off on impact. The Brotherhood of Steel, the Queen’s Court, Melody, Compass, Jack, and Iron Will were all standing at the bottom of a cherry picker, the basket extended up to the missile, and I could see two figures staring into an open panel. From the panel came a shifting white light that looked extremely different from the pale green glow of balefire eggs. As Shadowbuck and I arrived at the square underneath the bomb, the cherry picker started to descend.

“So you two on speaking terms again?” Melody asked as the low whine of machinery came to a halt. Two unicorns in hazmat suits, one being Elder Cherry Scones and the other a mare I didn’t recognize, climbed out of the basket and down to the ground next to Iron Will.

“Yeah. But who was the genius that decided to build a town around a balefire bomb?” I asked.

“That would be my esteemed brother. I tried to warn him of such folly, but he never listens,” Steel Bill answered, his nose held up in a contemptuous display of independence from his other half.

“You did not! Me and the other non-ferals built this place one hundred and seventy-seven years ago back when you were just a nasty tumor that refused to stay cut off!” Iron Will grumbled before turning on me. “Gigaton has been fine for almost two hundred years. If you’re such a genius, why don’t you go up with Checkers and take a look?”

“Me?” I asked, trying to take a step away, but I was stopped cold as Shadowbuck bumped me with his flank towards the cherry picker.

Again!?

The mare I didn’t know turned towards me and gave me a very pleased smile. She was a bright purple that was bordering on pink, her red and dark indigo mane was cropped short, and for some strange reason she was wearing sunglasses at night. I also noticed that a small chunk of her left ear was missing near the point as if something had bitten it clean off.

“Oh! Who is this filly with the most beautiful set of purple peepers I’ve ever seen?” she asked and, I noticed from the sudden and quick drop of one of her eyebrows, gave me a wink. Well, at least she didn’t have a Trottingham accent, this one was closer to Applebloom’s.“Ya got a name, bright eyes?”

“Really? I-Um, A-Aria,” I replied, shaken by the mare’s sudden advances. I was so rarely hit on by stallions that the sudden attention from another mare had me completely thrown off guard. (And I was a guard so that was really embarrassing.) It was weird to say the least. Did Shadowbuck’s annoying little jokes count as being hit on? If so, then that would bring my total up to four ponies that had ever shown interest in me in my entire life. And two of them had been in the past three days? What the fudge?

“Lovely name ya got there, Aria. I’m Checkers, Check for short. I’m Gigaton’s resident explosives expert, bartender, and comedienne extraordinaire,” she said, fanning down applause that nopony was giving her.

“Don’t forget Trottingham’s number one whore,” Bulletstorm said with an exuberant laugh that no pony reciprocated. However, it was quickly silenced by a grenade flying out of Check’s saddlebags at astounding speed and coming to a stop in front of Bulletstorm, floating inches from his nose in a gray magical aura.

“Just because I like to have a good time between the sheets with anyone I fancy doesn’t make me a whore, Bulletstorm. I don’t think ya were complaining last month when I finally took pity on your pathetic attempts at bedding me,” she said, turquoise eyes appraising the Steel Ranger from over the black rims of her sunglasses.

“Hey! I was kidding! You know I love you, baby,” he said, a bead of sweat already forming on his brow.

“I know, but is the feeling mutual?” she replied before shrugging and floating the tiny metal apple back into her bag. Everypony seemed to let out a collectively held breath as the grenade vanished from sight. A whore with explosives and a penchant to use them was hitting on me? Maybe I should just play nice for now.

“How come she can threaten to blow him up, but I can’t smack around a kid playing knight in big girl armor?” Jack griped.

“Because she’s useful in more ways than one, and you’re an undead lizard that already delivered the Royal Flush Raiders’ contribution to stopping the bomb from blowing up,” Iron Will said angrily before turning back to Elder Cherry Scones. “So you figure anything out?”

“No,” she said gravely. “It is unstable and leaking radiation at an alarming rate, but...”

“But I don’t think it’s gonna blow.” All eyes turned to Check. “Continue the exponential growth of radiation leak until all non-ghoul or radspawned life in Trottingham dies a slow, miserable, and painful death of radiation poisoning? Yes. But explode? I don’t think so. The firing mechanism was a dud to begin with, that’s why it didn’t blow when it hit the Ferris wheel. It would take a spell or a new firing mechanism to set it off now.”

“So it’s not gonna vaporize us?” Jack asked.

“Don’t think so.”

“Well, that’s great. I don’t have to give two shits then. I’ll be taking back the balefire egg King sent with me and be on my way,” Jack said with a sick smile, but the smile faded at the growl from both heads of a very angry brahmintaur.

“You ain’t getting nothing back, Jack! You may be immune to rads, but you’re crew ain’t. You gonna let them all die?” Iron Will roared, stomping towards the undead dragon as everypony parted to let him through or risk being trampled beneath his mighty hooves.

“You are the worst kind of ruffian, do you hear me?” Iron Bill roared, as he turned his head to try to get a good look at their opponent. Will stooped down to Jack’s level, green tinted steam billowing out of four sets of nostrils as he stared into Jack’s foggy amber eyes. After how easily Iron Will had subdued the dragon, it would have been foolish for Jack to fight back. Thankfully, the decayed drake’s brain seemed to be in working order and he smirked at Will and Bill.

“Heh, I don’t really care. King and Queen are in safe locations and I’m sure enough of our crew will get ghoulified for us to have the forces to take over Trottingham when it’s all said and done. So sheriff, you can keep the egg, but I’ll just be going now. Later, meatbags,” he mocked before taking to the skies, his bone and sinew wings flapping without disturbing much of the air around him, and flying towards the outer wall. How could he fly with his wings in that kind of condition? It made no sense!

“You gonna blast him, sheriff?” Check asked as he started flapping closer and closer towards a line of turrets.

“Such a dreadful creature. I really wish you would, Sheriff Will,” Queen Cadence said as she waved a hoof at the Flusher dismissively.

“No. I’d like to, but I don’t wanna start a war with the Royal Flush while this is going on. Hold your fire!” he ordered as the turrets began to turn on the fleeing ganger The ponies on guard seemed to comply as they watched the grey dragon dart past them and off into the night. Iron Will turned back towards us, his eyes still wide with unresolved fury, and then nodded to the cherry picker. “Buzzsaw says you’ve got the most experience with balefire bombs that they know of. You and Check put your horns together and try to figure this out.”

“I’d like to put more than our horns together, if ya catch my drift, princess,” Check purred in my ear. A mixture of rage, shock, and something else I couldn’t quite place filled me and I turned on Check to give her my best glare. She, unlike Compass and Shadowbuck, was completely unaffected by it. Did my glare only work on stallions? Check just smiled, grabbed my right foreleg, and pulled me towards the cherry picker’s basket. “Come on, princess. Let’s see what you have to say about our zebra bomb up there!”

“Don’t call me princess,” I growled as she pulled me into the cherry picker.

“Why not?” she whined as the cherry picker’s door closed behind me and she gave me a pout. “You’re the queenie’s cousin, right? That makes ya a princess, if I’m not mistaken.” I hardened my glare. “Your niece was talking with her about it.”

“Melody, you’re my niece, and I love you, but darn it you have a big mouth!” I thought as Check put her hooves on the controls and pushed a lever forward.

“Hold on to that sweet flank of yours!”

“Wha-Ah!” I shouted as the cherry picker suddenly thrust us into the air a lot faster than I thought it would. I held on to the side as we lurched upwards towards the suspended bomb and Check laughed.

“Don’t like heights? I guess that’s no surprise for a Stable pony,” Check joked as she stopped the basket only inches from the open panel on the side of the bomb. Turning her head to look at me with what I could guess was a seductive smile, my eyes widened in disbelief at this crazy pony as she laughed at my completely rational fear of being catapulted towards a zebra megaspell bomb!

“You’re crazy!” I shouted, eliciting snickers from the Brotherhood and my friends down below. Check just smiled.

“Ya know ya love it.”

“My barn door doesn’t swing that way,” I replied curtly, and she let out a breathy chuckle.

“Everypony’s barn door swings that way. Ya just gotta grease the hinges, usually with alcohol,” she replied. Note to self, don’t drink wine around this pony. “So whatcha think, Miss Balefire Bomb Expert?”

“I’m not a... woah!”

Floating in the center of the missile was a fully formed balefire bomb. It looked absolutely nothing like the pile of balefire eggs I had seen in the M.A.S. parking garage. The floating orb was made of a pulsing white light, its surface constantly shifting and even collapsing and expanding through each other. How could something so beautiful and mesmerizing contain the power to destroy the world?

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The fainting clicking sound coming from my Pipbuck let me know that it definitely could. At this range, the hazmat suit was unable to protect me from the all radiation pouring out of the balefire bomb.

“Have you been studying the bomb long? This radiation can’t be good for you,” I asked Check, never taking my eyes off the balefire bomb. It was like a sea full of poisonous jellyfish, hauntingly beautiful as it gave off its eerie light, but even more deadly.

“I didn’t know ya cared,” she said, throwing her hooves around me and giving me a hug. I shrugged her off and shot her another look. Again, she was completely immune to its ‘magic.’ “In all seriousness, I’ve been downing RadAway all day. I’m never going to get the taste of orange and cough syrup off my tongue. Unless I taste something a little more sweet. How about ya help me with that?”

Right hoof, meet back on Checkers’ head. Again, she just smiled.

“Ow! I see ya like it rough. I’ll make sure to carry some cuffs with me from now on.”

“Knock it off. I told you I like stallions,” I said as I returned my attention to the bomb. It was still dancing like the balefire flame behind my eyelids and it wasn’t giving me any more clues as to how ten green eggs could become one big white bomb. The nest of balefire eggs had damaged the parking garage beyond repair so I knew they were destructive. The question was how did ten eggs that could weaken a parking structure be transformed into a weapon with this much destructive power? Could it be... No...

“Maybe...”

“Maybe what? Ya got something?” Check asked as she put her hooves on my shoulders to look into missile.

“Maybe I’ve got something, and maybe you should get off me! There’s enough room in here for both of us!” I growled.

“But I like being close to ya, my prickly little princess,” she flirted. Maintain Aria, you’re standing next to a bomb. I should take the time to thank Luna that my horn wasn’t working right at that moment or I might not have been responsible for my actions.

“Look at the runes,” I said through gritted teeth as I pointed at the strange, alien symbols painted around the balefire bomb inside the missile’s casing.

“Yeah? Can ya read them? Cause they aren’t zebra, I already had Tekash check them out and he can’t make hide nor hair of this chicken scratch.”

“Tekash? That’s a zebra name,” I said, turning to look at her as she threw her hooves around me to hug my neck.

“Yup. Great guy, dynamite in bed. If you’re into a a few extra partners, we could have him join our fun and games?” she whispered seductively in my ear. She added a little bass to her voice that actually made her sound a bit like a stallion. It might even have sent a shiver up my spine, but too bad for Check that ‘zebra’ was one of my major turn offs.

“Get off me, stripe lover,” I growled, and pushed her off me.

“What now?” she asked, looking hurt by my words. Good! She deserved to be! Sex with a zebra? That’s a serious low. That’s beyond being a whore; it was treason!

“You’re a pony! How could you have sex with a zebra?”

“Well, the penis go-”

“Not like that! Zebra and ponykind are enemies!” I shouted, getting a surprised look from the purple and red unicorn.

“Since when? The war’s been over for two hundred years. Hold a grudge much?” she snapped back sarcastically before turning to the controls. “We’re done here. Ya can let everyone down there know about your hunch, little miss bigot.”

“Bigot!? They blew up the world!” I snapped back as we started to descend.

“No, zebras and ponies from two hundred years ago blew up the world. Tekash sells potions and herbal remedies.”

“I-” I stopped. She was right. Not about zebra not being evil and wrong, but about the end of the war. We destroyed the world. Although it was more the zebra’s fault... Okay, we made the megaspells that they stole, but they turned them into bombs... Although we were probably going to do the same thing. Blame goes seventy-five/twenty-five, the majority on the zebra. But, nevertheless, the guilt train was coming around for another pass.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Come on girl, you’re smart. It’s not like you’re one of those idiots from the fucking stone age that got us all in this mess. You’ve just got some bad teaching down in that Stable,” Check said with a friendly smile. “Ya need to get over that chip on your shoulder about zebras. It’s very ugly and very unbecoming of ya.”

“Wow! Brutally honest much?” I mumbled as we reached the ground.

“Truth hurts sometimes, darling, but ya gotta wear it,” Check said while throwing her hoof around my shoulder to bring me into a friendly embrace.

“You’re not so bad when you’re not trying to get into my hazard suit,” I said, giving her a weak grin.

“And you’re not so bad when you’re not spewing pre-programmed hate speech,” she replied. The glare returned. She was right that ponies and zebra were both responsible for the apocalypse, but I wasn’t going to yield that all zebra weren’t filthy, evil creatures that opposed everything ponykind stood for! “But I bet you’re a real bombshell in bed.”

“And that moment is over,” I sighed, my face suddenly burning, before jumping out of the basket next to Melody.

“What was all that shouting about? Did you two figure something out?” Melody asked.

“She’s got issues with zebras,” Check replied coyly. “But she might have an idea too.”

“You do know that the plural of zebra is zebra, right?” I pointed out.

“Will you two stop debating proper grammar and tell us what you learned about the bomb?” Shadowbuck asked, rolling his eyes.

“Yes. I for one would like to hear what Lieutenant Aria has to say,” Elder Cherry Scones said. She had a weird way of saying lieutenant. Not in the Trottingham accent way versus Canterlot accent, but it just had a weird turn to her speech patterns that I couldn’t place.

“And I as well,” Queen Cadence added, turning her haughty gaze towards me.

“Oh! A mare in uniform. I like,” Check added, giving me a seductive little grin. And now all eyes were on me. Great.

“Um, yes, well, from what I saw of those runes, they aren’t pony in nature.”

“We already knew that,” Bulletstorm said.

“And they aren’t zebra.”

“I told her that,” Check added.

“Can you please hold the comments until after the lecture!” I snapped, getting shocked looks from everypony except

Queen Cadence who was smiling at me, approvingly. “Now, as I was saying, they’re not either, or even draconic in nature, but I know the unfinished balefire bomb I stopped mid-ritual had pony runes around a pile of balefire eggs.”

“Hold, cousin Aria. You stopped a balefire bomb as it was being formed? When?” Queen Cadence interrupted.

“Oh cud. Me and my big mouth.”

Shadowbuck gave me a hard glare of his own as if to say ‘Don’t let her know you’re from the past,’ and I swallowed hard. Even Cherry Scones was watching me intently while Buzzsaw looked unnaturally pale. Think Aria. Think!

“Oh! Did I say ‘I’ again. Sorry. It was a memory of the Aria from two hundred years ago. We’re so similar that I sometimes get her memories and mine mixed up,” I lied, hoping the queen would believe it. Thankfully, her features softened and she shook her head.

“Yes, sometimes the memories of others can be confusing. Do continue.”

Dodged that bullet.

“Anyway, the original used pony runes while the zebra were chanting and doing other arcane rituals. I think those runes are pony with zebra drawn over them. They combined two schools of magic to make balefire bombs. It makes sense. Balefire eggs are zebra necromancy and megaspells are based off of unicorn magic.”

“So a balefire bomb’s made of a bunch of balefire eggs? I know a bit about those,” Check added while looking back up at the missile suspended above us.

I nodded.

“Yeah. I think the purpose of a megaspell is to take a bunch of small spells, combine them, and magnify their power.”

“Like the spell matrix in our power armor?” Elder Cherry Scones asked. “But how do you know about how megaspells work?”

“Maybe. I’m just guessing right now. There was a battle during the war that was covered in all the newspapers. A healing megaspell was tested by the Ministries. Ponies and zebra who were practically eviscerated and had no hope of being saved were all healed. Organs put back into bodies. Legs magically regrown. Bullets expelled from bodies and even gaping head wounds were healed. As long as the pony or zebra wasn’t already dead, they were healed to the point as if the battle had never happened,” I explained.

“That sounds amazing! Why didn’t we keep doing that?” Boom asked.

“Because everyone who had just fought a battle that almost a thousand ponies died for was suddenly at the peak of their health. The zebra forces had been on the retreat, but now they had back up in the form of their fallen soldiers. Equestrian forces had to fight the battle all over again. Most ponies believe that more ponies died overall from fighting the battle again then would have if the megaspell hadn’t been used,” I explained, watching Boom slump his shoulders in defeat as Elder Cherry Scones cocked an eyebrow at me.

“For a pony who doesn’t know much about megaspells you sure are one smart cookie. But how does this all help us?” Check asked after nudging me side playfully.

“If we can get the memory of the unfinished bomb out of my memory, then we might be able to figure out which parts of the runes are pony and which are zebra and then deconstruct them. Then, if we knew the basic spell structure of a megaspell, maybe we could work backwards from the megaspell to a balefire egg since the megaspell takes smaller spells, merges them together, and then amplifies them.”

“The megaspell amplifies the magic? Is that another guess?” Cadence asked.

“Yeah. The ten eggs gutted a parking garage, but they certainly were needed to make a megaspell balefire bomb. For them to do the damage of a real balefire bomb, the spellwork of a megaspell would have to amplify the power of the base spells ten or twenty fold. Perhaps even more...” I noticed everypony was staring at me except for Cherry Scones. She seemed to be deep in thought. “Sorry. Went off on a tangent.”

“This is all well and good, but I should get out of this radiation. I don’t see why I was invited here. There is nothing my court or I can offer. It seems you ponies have everything well in hoof here so I shall take my leave.”

“Hold it, Queen Cadence. I was the one who asked Will to summon you,” Cherry Scones interrupted. Cadence scowled at the Steel Rangers’ leader, obviously annoyed by her informal, and slightly rude, tone. “We do have need of you. I suspected as much, so I knew we’d have to summon you too. What we need, more precisely, is one of your monster repelling badges.”

Was this really the appropriate time for acquiring new technology?

“Cherry Scones, I will not give you one of my badges. Not even ten bombs leaking a thousand times more radiation would make me give you one,” Cadence replied, a hint of bile rising in her voice.

“I know, your majesty.” That seemed to placate her a little. “I just need one of your ponies to escort a small group to the MASPWT building up the river. Time is of the essence and waiting until the monsters thin out at dawn is not an option.”

“You mean to have your Steel Rangers go there?” She paused for a moment to mull it over, placing her right hoof under her chin. “It is rather dangerous.”

“What’s the MASPWT building?” I asked.

“The Ministry of Arcane Sciences, Peace, and Wartime Technology building,” Shadowbuck answered before stepping forward. “If I may speak freely, you can’t be serious, ma’am. Elder Litwick led a full scale assault against that place and those self repairing robot guards slaughtered us. I barely got out alive when I went in stealthed last year. I doubt any ponies without a suit like mine can sneak in there. Plus, there’s that weird bypass field in the MAS wing.”

“The Ministries of Arcane Sciences, Peace, and Wartime Technology shared a hub here in Trottingham?” I asked, but I guess I was ignored as Queen Cadence waved Cherry Scones away from her.

“Yes, I would rather not have one of my subjects needlessly slaughtered, Cherry Scones. Our badges do not work on robots. This plan of yours has too many flaws,” Cadence said dismissively.

“But we have a secret weapon now,” Cherry Scones said with a confident smile before turning her gaze back at me.

“Me?”

“I’ve seen the mural, Lieutenant Aria. You are the spitting image of your namesake.” Do I look the spitting image of me? Yes. Of the Aria I’m named after, not so much. “The robots at the Ministry always ask for identification before they start shooting. They’re set to pre-apocalypse military and ministry roles and records. Even though we are Steel Rangers, the last of the Steel Rangers the robots know of died over a century ago.”

“What does that have to do with me looking like... Oh... Oh!” You are one sly diamond dog, Elder Cherry Scones.

“Exactly. You could pass their visual scans and, if what Star Paladin Buzzsaw has told me is true, then you also know your aunt’s Lunar Guard Rank and Identification number. You do, don’t you?”

“Of course I do I... know everything about my Aunt Aria,” I said weakly. Elder Cherry Scones smiled and nodded to me before turning to Check.

“Civilian Checkers, will you go get Tekash. I will retrieve the memory of the memory orb from Aria, then you you two can try to untangle the two sets of runes. If Aria’s hunch is correct, we’ll need to know how to dispel those runes,” she said before giving me a brief look out of the corner of her eye. Why did she keep looking at me like that? Check saluted her in a far too over the top manner to ever be considered sincere.

“Aye, Aye, Captain!”

“Can we trust Tekash?” I asked, getting a glare of my own from Check that was much more effective than mine had been on her.

“Of course we can. You need to get your mind right girl or I might have to punish you.” Her face broke out into an evil little grin. “And then reward you when you’re all better.” With that, she gave me a wink, accented by a pleased little nicker, and dashed off towards the north side of Gigaton.

“Cud.”

“Besides one of my subjects to escort them and Aria, who else are you sending?” Queen Cadence asked.

“Oh! Oh! Compass and I are going!” Melody shouted, raising her hoof enthusiastically. “If Aria’s going, then we’re going too!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cherry Scones said with a warm smile I didn’t think her face could twist into. “You three and Paladin Shadowbuck make an interesting team. Killing Ace is quite the accomplishment. I’ve also been told you’re a Pipbuck Maintenance pony and Compass is a doctor.”

“Doctor-in-training, ma’am,” Compass said meekly.

“Still, a medic, a tech expert, a stealth ranger, and...” She paused, giving me another glance before finally finding the words she was looking for. “A magic expert make a potent team. I’d like you four to go to the Ministry hub and find something we can use to defuse the bomb.”

“Yes ma’am!” Shadowbuck said with a salute. Melody, Compass, and I mirrored his salute, and Cherry Scones nodded back to us cooly.

“I will prepare my subject to escort your team, Cherry Scones. We will be waiting at the main gate for you,” Queen Cadence told the Steel Rangers’ leader.

“Actually, you should meet us at the docks. I’m going to have a small contingent of my rangers take the group up river on our boat.” Something about that sentence seemed to put both Trottingham leaders on edge. “We need to hurry and get this resolved as fast as possible. We do not know how long Gigaton has before it’s completely covered in a radioactive aura.” Cherry Scones turned to us one more time. “Shadowbuck, you said you have some items that the Queen and her court might be interested in buying.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve got the Queen Cleopatra’s crown and a jeweled scarab back at AE Too with Knight Crumpets,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder towards Brownstone’s shop.

“Queen who?” Cadence asked, her eyes narrowing slightly and I noticed her upper lip twitch slightly.

“Queen Cleopatra. She was an ancient zebra queen from like two thousand years ago. We got her jewelry from the exhibit in the museum,” Melody told her cheerfully. A twinkle sparked across Cadence’s eyes, and a small smile cross her face.

“An ancient queen? I would love to see these pieces. Bronze Scales, we shall accompany Shadowbuck to Absolutely Everything Too and trade him for these pieces if they are to my tastes,” she told a gray earth pony stallion standing beside her. Bronze Scales simply bowed his head to Shadowbuck, and the two royal ponies watched him expectantly. After a few moments of awkward silence, Cherry Scones gave Shadowbuck a harsh look and his eyes widened.

“Oh, um, if you will follow me, your majesty,” he said, although the honorific seemed a bit forced. Before he turned away, our eyes met for a passing moment, and then he led the queen and her entourage back towards the other side of town. I watched them go, my feelings about my distant cousin mixed. She practiced slavery and was a little too stuck up for my taste, but she at least seemed willing to work with the Steel Rangers for the common good.

“Iron Will, do you have some place where I can extract Lieutenant Aria’s memories in private?” Cherry Scones asked the brahmintaur sheriff, although I was really beginning to notice a strange tone to her voice as she mentioned my rank. Actually, looking back at it, I think she had that strange tone every time she said my name and rank, I just hadn’t noticed it before. I thought it was just the way she pronounced the word that was throwing me off, but now I was noticing something else.

“Yeah. Got an old house that’s been abandoned. The former owner tried to rob Brownstone,” Iron Will grinned menacingly.

“The rapscallion did not make it five steps outside Absolutely Everything’s front door before he was turned into a fine mist of blood and dust,” Steel Bill finished. I looked up at the rows of turrets around Gigaton and chewed the inside of my left cheek. What had the world come to when murdering a simple shoplifter was something to brag about?

“Very good. Will you follow us?” Elder Cherry Scones asked me as Iron Will started to march off towards the east side of town. Melody, Compass, and I started to trot after him and the Elder, but she shook her head. “I just need Aria.”

“What about us?” Melody asked.

“You two should retrieve your things and stock up on supplies,” she said with a little grin. Her horn glowed violet and a small pouch floated out of one of her suit’s pockets and she gave it to Melody. “Here. Buy yourself some food, ammo, and medicine for the mission.”

“Oh wow! Thank you, Elder Cherry Scones! Come on Compass, let’s go shopping!” Melody let out a little squeal of delight. “I’ve never been shopping before! This is going to be so much fun!” Before I could even say anything, Melody was dashing off towards Absolutely Everything Too. Compass gave me a worried look and a weak smile before he galloped off after his marefriend.

“Come, Lieutenant Aria,” Cherry Scones told me, and I followed somewhat reluctantly. What was that weird tone to her voice? It sounded like... sarcasm? When the Brotherhood of Steel started to follow, Cherry Scones sighed.

“What are our orders, Elder?” Buzzsaw asked.

“I’m sending Bulletstorm and a small group of Knights to protect the boat to and from the Ministry hub.”

“Hell yeah,” Bulletstorm said, pumping his hoof.

“Yes... Hell yeah... Boom, you are our explosives expert so you shall help Checkers study the bomb and balefire egg.”

“Nice,” Boom said, which elicited an annoyed eyeroll from the Elder.

“Star Paladin Buzzsaw, you and Backdraft are going to help defend the bomb. I don’t trust Jack and the Royal Flush Raiders to not try something. Jack seemed far too dismissive about everything, and it is not sitting well with me. Something’s not right,” she ordered as we trotted after Sheriff Iron Will. “But Buzzsaw, you’re coming with us first. I need someone to watch over us while I’m casting the memory spell.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the Brotherhood shouted in unison before all but Buzzsaw broke off to perform their duties.

The three of us trotted along through the broken asphalt streets of Gigaton, makeshift buildings built from various amusement park mainstays like cotton candy booths were all around us. We even passed a strange series of hanging apartments built from a broken down tilt-a-whirl ride.

Some buildings were lined up on either side of us to make roads while others were arranged without any reason or design in mind. It was pretty obvious by the gaps in buildings that Gigaton had gone through a few population booms over the years without any real thought put central towards planning. I wondered if there was there any pony out in the Equestrian Wasteland with a civil engineering cutie mark? After seeing some of the horrific cutie marks some of the raiders had (How does a pony get a pony heart with a bite taken out of it as a mark of their special talent?) I wondered if such a mundane and civilized cutie mark was possible.

As we approached a two story building made of two fused together Ferris wheel cars on top of a pair of converted cargo containers, Iron Will pulled a keyring out from inside his duster. The bounty of keys jangled loudly as he held them up to try to get a better look at them. Without the stars and the moon to illuminate the night sky, I had had to turn on my Pipbuck’s light spell to see more than a few feet ahead of me. I guessed Iron Will was also using my light to try to find the right key.

Looking up at the building before us, I was surprised at how much bigger this house was compared to all the other buildings in Gigaton, aside from the fort near the west end of town and Absolutely Everything Too.

“How did a thief own this house? I really doubt he stole it from somepony on your watch,” I said as Iron Will started going through the numerous keys.

“Five Card Stud was a gambler. He won this house in a Poker game against the last Ten. Only reason he robbed Brownstone was cause he got robbed himself. Lost everything. The Flushers aren’t the most gracious of losers. They hit him hard on his way to Stableton for a big blackjack tournament at The Leaky Reactor.”

“I really hope that’s the name of a bar,” I muttered, and Iron Will snorted, amused by my comment.

“Yes, Miss Aria, it is. It is so sad about Mister Stud though. He was such a pleasant fellow. A little paranoid, always carrying all his money with him, but a good enough chap. The devil’s own luck when it came to cards,” Steel Bill responded.

“There we go,” Iron Will said as he selected a key and slid it into the lock. The key turned and gave a click, and he opened the door for us. “Alright folks, I’m gonna give you three the key. Lock up when you’re done and return it to me. Can’t go around giving Steel Rangers houses. Looks bad for our neutrality.”

“We’re at war, Will. You’re gonna have to choose a side sooner or later,” Buzzsaw said as he entered the house to make sure it was safe for us to enter.

“I’m tired of fighting, Buzz. All I used to do was fight and act like a jerk. I don’t want to go back to that life,” Iron Will explained, his and Steel Bill’s features becoming softer and his face showing much more fatigue than it had. “Gigaton’s all I got now. I’ll be damned if you ponies pull it into another stupid war that gets people I care about killed... or worse.”

Wow. I was seeing the gargantuan blue bovine in a whole new light. The years of immortality his mutation had given him were a blessing and a curse. The centuries of living among a few non-feral ghouls and building and leading Gigaton had allowed Iron Will to grow as a person. But those very same years were ripping away at his will to keep going. Protecting Gigaton was his life.

“But is turning a blind eye to the Royal Flush Raiders’ actions to protect Gigaton really worth the cost?” I asked myself, but immediately realized how stupid I was in thinking that. How could I judge him? He did what he thought best to protect something he loved. And I should know better too. I was like him, a creature from the past stuck in this war spawned hellscape. War was what the Flushers and the Rangers were trying to bring to his doorstep, and war would destroy Gigaton.

“Just like how it destroyed Equestria.”

“We will be sure to take care of it and return the key to you as soon as we are done, sheriff. Thank you,” Cherry Scones said. Iron Will gave us a sad smile before turning and slowly trudging off back towards the center of town. “Now then, let us hurry and get that memory.”

“Okay,” I said. Entering the house, I was unable to see very far into the dark room. Elder Cherry Scones fixed that by casting a spark of magic that ignited an oil lantern hanging from the ceiling. The Elder and Buzzsaw removed their helmets and set them down on a small table near the door.

I was instantly struck by the spartan nature of the dwelling. I could see an oven and a refrigerator, both of which I couldn’t see working in the current state of Trottingham’s decay. I had seen powerlines hanging from the upper wheel spokes, but even if they all worked I doubted Iron Will was allowing power to be routed to an empty house. Besides that and the table by the door, I couldn’t see anything else on the first floor. I guess there would be a bed upstairs, but anything else in this poorly decorated home would be a surprise to me.

“Find us a suitable place to cast the memory spell, Star Paladin. I’m sure this Five Card Stud at least had a bed.” Elder Cherry Scones ordered as she gave the house a disapproving once over. I guess she and I were thinking the same thing.

Removing my hazard suit’s helmet and placing it with theirs, I stood in the ‘living room’ and quietly waited until Buzzsaw called down for us to come upstairs.

“Got a bed in the room at the top of the stairs. Will that do?” he asked as we started to climb to the second floor. We entered the room, which only had a bed, a desk, and a small safe underneath the desk for decoration, and Cherry Scones smiled.

“Yes. This bed will work. Aria, it would be best in you would lie down on the bed. It might take a few minutes, alright?” she said, her smile widening ever so slightly.

“Okay,” I said reluctantly as I eyed the dirty mattress. It was a yellowish-brown color from many years of sleeping without sheets or a shower to wash off the grime and sweat Five Card Stud had accumulated in the Trottingham Ruins. I really hoped this bed didn’t have fleas or bedbugs. They were a pain to get rid of in my time; I was pretty sure they’d be nearly impossible to remove now without a serious chemical bath.

I slowly climbed onto the bed, hoping my hazard suit would protect me from parasitic insects as well as it had from radiation, and stared at Elder Cherry Scones as her horn already began to glow.

“Alright, Aria, this should hurt too much,” she said with that same strange grin. Buzzsaw stood in the doorway, watching us as his leader began to cast her memory magic. Just a simple spell to get a snapshot memory of the megaspell runes and we’d be done. Nothing to worry about.

“Then why am I so nervous?” I thought, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to try to calm myself. The flame was waiting for me, flickering frantically.

“Do not trust her,” it said in a deep, authoritative voice. My eyes shot back open just as Cherry Scones started lowering her horn to mine.

“I’ll show you the truth so you can stop this stupid fantasy and start getting better,” she whispered.

“What?” I asked, but her horn touched mine and the world disappeared.

Everything started flooding back to me. She was looking at my memories, delving too far back for her to actually be looking for the megaspell memory. Cherry Scones had begun sifting through my memories of the week before. Everything was moving in fast motion like somepony had pressed fast forward to skim through a movie, but all the emotions each memory brought were being ripped out of my subconscious and thrust through me like a serrated knife. It was complete agony to my already abused psyche, even worse than the voidowl’s psionic attacks.

The stress of studying and taking my finals came first. Days of little to no sleep, followed by the field exam, and the nerve wracking agony of each shot I took with the practice pistol. I still don’t know how I did as well on that test as I did. The sheer joy at seeing my results and running home to tell anypony who would listen.

Wow, I had forgotten I had even hugged Blueblood in my elation, but that just made things worse knowing what he did at my funeral.

The hoof biting stress of writing and giving a valedictorian speech washed over me, but it was quickly replaced by the elation I felt as Princess Luna gave me that beautiful shield and accepted me as a member of her guard. The eye of the emotional storm was the love and warmth given to me by Golden Star and Grandmother after the ceremony. I could almost feel the Star Sapphire radiating that love on my foreleg, but I didn’t have a foreleg at the moment. At least that helped soothe the pain I was feeling as Elder Cherry Scones ravaged my mind looking for the memory I had been willing to give her.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the most painful memories. Me walking in on Brightlight and Silver Storm’s betrayal. I raged within my head, trying to force my memory self to beat Silver Storm and Brightlight into a bloody pulp, but I just ran. I wanted to scream and cry, but all I did was repeat my previous actions. It was almost maddening. Why was Elder Cherry Scones doing this to me?

I was crying in the parking garage, feeling the hurt and betrayal rip through me as if Cherry Scones had ripped open a fresh bandage and was scraping at the wound with her hoof. The mysterious mare’s voice whispered in my ear, telling me to look up, and my fight with the zebra terrorists began.

The fast motion stopped and I could feel Cherry Scones watching every moment of my fight. The lightning bolt fried the female zebra again and then I watched myself struggle for the male’s gun. Looking back, I noticed now that the runes around the balefire eggs were in fact sloppily drawn out symbols used my unicorn mages for transcribing spells. I actually knew what most of them did, and I was right about one thing. Megaspells had to combine and amplify magical effects for them to work the way they did. The type of runes used told me this just as much as the end result.

Then the world seemed to slow as I watched the zebra set off the timer, heard myself speak my final words to Applebloom, and then felt the heart pounding terror of my impending ‘death’ as I threw myself onto the stack of balefire eggs. The world disappeared again in a blaze of green flames that had no heat. I was falling through that swirling blue tunnel. I heard screaming again, but I knew that it was too soon. The screaming happened after the voices. Something was wrong.

The real world, the horrible post-apocalyptic world that had replaced my Equestria, snapped back into existence and my entire being hurt. My head was pounding and my mind and soul felt raw. An entire week of powerful emotions had been thrust into the forefront of my mind and I realized I was in the fetal position, crying my eyes out. And somepony was screaming.

Through the tears I could see Buzzsaw holding Elder Cherry Scones, the unicorn screaming in such unimaginable terror that I was pretty sure her voice would give out at any moment.

“Elder! What’s wrong? It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re in Gigaton. You’re safe. Did you get the memory?” he asked, trying his hardest to calm his frantic leader. For the next few minutes, he held her as she cried and screamed while I just held my knees and sobbed into that filthy mattress.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep living like this. I couldn’t keep living in this world. I’d lost so much. There was nothing for me here in this hellhole that the world had become. I didn’t want to hurt any more. My mind felt violated by Cherry Scones’ mental ravaging. I couldn’t stop crying.

Eventually, the Elder’s screaming stopped, and I looked up to see her staring at me. I knew this look all too well. I had seen it from Uncle Blueblood and from Tea Leaves. Hatred at my very existence. Disbelief that I should still be alive. Hurt that I even continued breathing while others they deemed far more important were dead.

“You! What the fuck are you? What makes you so special?” she hissed at me the moment our eyes met.
I couldn’t answer. I opened my mouth, but a wave of depression and sorrow overtook me. All that came out was a weak and haggard sob.

“Elder Cherry Scones, what’s the matter? What did you see?” Buzzsaw asked before she pushed herself away from him angrily.

“She was telling the truth. A week’s worth of memories and no breaks. No memory orb can hold that much. She really is from the past. I didn’t believe it, but...” she said to no one in particular. I think she was too busy pouring all of her hatred into me through her eyes to focus on anything else. Without warning she lunged, grabbing me by the collar of my radiation suit, and pulled me in close, our faces only inches apart. “I want to know, you stupid bitch! Tell me! Why are you still alive? What was that tunnel? How did you survive it? I saw it for only a moment, and I damn near lost it! Who the fuck are you!?”

“Woah! Come on, Elder Cherry Scones! Back off! I told you she was somepony from the past! Give her some room to breathe!” Buzzsaw shouted, pulling her away from me again.

She kicked and raged, throwing every possible slur and swear my way, but I couldn’t move. My body didn’t want to respond. I was completely paralyzed by the overflow of memories and emotions. Her spell breaking so suddenly had been such a shock to my system that I could hardly think of anything besides how violated I felt. Finally, she calmed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, before running her hoof through her mane.

“Yes, well, what’s done is done. We have the spell seals and runes. I’ll give you a few minutes to collect yourself, Lieutenant Aria, and then I’d expect you to be at the boat and on your way.” I think I was able to muster up a look. I don’t know if it was a good ‘I’m going to kill you’ look or just a pathetic one, but it got a reaction out of her. “What the hay. I’m feeling generous. I’ll give you thirty minutes time and then send your friends to come collect you.”

I let out a pained sob that was supposed to be a ‘Fudge you’ except without the censorship. She shook her head.

“It wasn’t that bad, girl. Pull yourself together and get your friends into that Ministry hub. Otherwise you are just resigning them to a slow and painful death alongside you.” With that, she turned and stepped past Buzzsaw. The Star Paladin seemed conflicted. He looked at me, genuine worry in his eyes, and then back to his superior officer. I just lay on that filthy, stained bed, shaking as the tears rolled down my cheeks and the snot started flowing out of my nose. “Move out, Star Paladin Buzzsaw. We have much to do!”

“I-I’m sorry,” he whispered before turning, following her down the stairs, and out the front door.

I heard the door slam behind them and realized I was all alone. Worse, I was an emotional mess, in a post-apocalyptic town where raiders who wanted me dead could roam free as long as the didn’t openly commit crimes, and I didn’t hear them lock the door behind them. My eyes, blurred by tears and stinging something fierce, spotted the key to the front door sitting on the desk and a new emotion was added to the raw mixture of sorrow, anger, intense worry, and loneliness I was currently feeling.

Fear.

I don’t know how long I stayed on that bed, paralyzed by my own emotions and thoughts, staring at the key. I needed to get that key, but my body didn’t want to work. My mind screamed for my forelegs to let go of my tail and start working, but my body just wanted to stay curled up in a tight little ball and cry. I should have been jumping off of this stained mattress like it was on fire, which probably would have been an improvement, but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. I closed my eyes against the pain, hoping to find solace in sleep, but was only greeted by the flame.

“Why didn’t you kill her, Aria?” it whispered to me. It’s voice was deep and alluring and had a strength that I so desperately needed. My heartache worsened at the sound of his voice (Could fire have a gender?) and I let out another sob.

“I couldn’t. I’m not a killer. I-”

“Really? You killed those raiders so easily.”

“They were going to kill us,” I whimpered.

“So kill or be killed makes it right? Are we animals?” the flame replied. In a way, the flame was right. But this was the world that Equestria had become. “So why didn’t you kill her?”

“She... she’s leader of the Steel Rangers.”

“So?”

“But they’re Steel Rangers. They work for the Ministry of Wartime Technology. They work for Princess Luna,” I argued.

“Do they? Luna is dead. Ministry Mare Applejack is dead. They seem more like glorified raiders than true knights to me.”

He had a point. A very alluring point, but...

“What about Shadowbuck? What about the Brotherhood of Steel?” I asked, and the flame seemed to take a moment to pause and think about my point. I waited in the darkness of my own mind, wondering what the voice would say next.

“Why should the sins of so many ponies be excused by the virtue of so few? Did Buzzsaw not just stand there and let you be tormented and ravaged by that mare? Cleanse the Steel Rangers. Cleanse the Royal Flush Raiders. Cleanse the Queen’s Court. Cleanse Trottingham and all of Equestria of evil and strife,” he commanded, his every whisper more seductive than the last.

“But how? I’m just one pony with a broken horn. I can’t perform magic. I can’t do anything.”

“I can give you the power you need. The strength to remake Equestria in a true and righteous image. Make it a world without pain. I can make you better, Aria. All you need to do is prove yourself worthy. All you need to do is give me what I desire,” he said, his words were like sweet strawberry pie and milk on a hungry palette to my battered mind .

“How? How can I prove my worth? What do you want from me? What do you desire?” I asked the flame, and he shook with laughter.

“You know what I require, but first you must show me that my gift would not be wasted on a helpless shell that once had been a beautiful and magnificent mare. Get up and take that key. Force yourself above the filth of this world and lock that door.”

That’s it? I could get my magic back from doing what I already wanted to do? I could become stronger than I could ever imagine from such a simple act?

“I’ll try,” I whispered back, my voice harsh and my throat burning with each word that escaped my lips. Opening my red, dried out eyes, I focused on the key sitting only a few feet away from me. However, it might as well have been at the top of Canterlot Mountain for how far away it felt.

“Do not try! Achieve!” the voice proclaimed.

I felt a surge of energy, whether it was from the flame or my own will to survive pushing me to action I don’t know, but I could finally move my legs. I slowly pulled myself, inch by inch, off the edge of the grime stained bed. If I had been even half within my own mind, I probably would have been off the bed, down the street, and swimming in a river of radioactive waste just to try to get myself even an iota of cleanliness.

As I reached the edge of the mattress, I felt like I really had achieved something. The simple act of willing myself forward when all my body wanted to do was shut down felt amazing. I was trying so hard to get my body to respond to my commands that I think I finally understand how a terminal feels when it’s processors get over taxed. As Luna as my witness, I shall never lock up a computer again!

“Good. Use that spark and reach out for the key,” the voice urged, and I couldn’t deny him such a simple request. Focusing with all my might, my horn sparked and sputtered until the tiniest sheathe of glowing blue light encompassed the tip of my horn and the key. After a few moments, the key finally lifted off the desk, the tip dragging along the steel surface as it moved towards me. Closer and closer it crawled until the key jumped from the edge and into the chasm between the desk and the bed.

Dipping and flipping through the air at a snail’s pace, I stretched my neck out like the world’s most stunted giraffe. Teeth bared, I deftly snatched the key from the air... only to realize I had stretched out too far and fell directly on my head.

Hey! Give me a break! At least I didn’t drop the key!

“Sweet Celestia on a cracker! That hurt!” I groaned internally as I flopped to the ground in the least graceful display of agility and poise I had ever accomplished. But I was on the ground and off the bed and, discounting the growing headache I now had pounding a DJ-PON3 beat in my head (Did I mention I hated her music?), I had accomplished another small victory.

Pushing myself up to my hooves was almost an act of obstinate futility. My body just wanted to curl up and cry. I could tell because of the completely involuntary tears still pouring down my cheeks, but I wouldn’t give it that chance! Before I knew it I was up, key proudly gripped between my teeth as the taste of my own salty tears started to leak into my mouth, and trudging towards the door.

“One hoof in front of the other, Aria,” I told myself, my chest heaving from the undesired exertion of just walking out the door and- “Biscuits! I’m falling!”

Down to the first floor I plummeted. I had forgotten that I was on the second floor and walked clear off the landing, forgetting about the stairs. This house really needed guard railings. My front hoof had stepped into nothingness and I tumbled head over hindquarters, landing hard on my side. I was suddenly very angry that Five Card Stud had not at least invested in a living room couch. Pain erupted from my shoulder yet again and I let out a yelp. Why did the world hate my shoulder?

Gulp.

I swallowed the key. I swallowed the key! Fear gripped me at both the prospect of not being able to lock the door and having to explain why I couldn’t give Sheriff Iron Will his key back. “He’s going to take me in a headlock like Jack.” I just realized how filthy this key probably was! I hadn’t seen the sheriff wash his hands after brahmintaur handling Jack. Oh Luna, not that mental image!

Guh. Guh. Hurgh!

That was one way to get the key back. As I lay in the middle of what should have been this house’s living room, I stared at the key as it sat in the middle of a pool of my vomit. Thankfully, I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and the majority of the contents of the yellowish puddle were a pungent smelling liquid. It didn’t help that the puke had started to expand and I could feel its wet warmth on my cheek and starting to seep through the open neck of my hazard suit..

“Aria!”

Just then I heard somepony call out my name. My eyes widened and I tried to focus my magic again, but my horn didn’t even spark. Somepony was coming for me! I had to do something. But could I really push myself to pick up a vomit soaked, zombie filth covered key with my mouth?

The door let out a soft click as the handle began to turn. They were here. The Flushers here and they were going to kill me!

Twisting my neck and dragging my face through my hot sick, I could feel the viscous vomit matting my coat and warming the side of my face. Opening my mouth, I wrapped my lips around the key that tasted like a smoothie made of cheese pizza and orange juice, but it was too late. The door slowly swung open and standing in the doorway was...

“Silver Storm,” I gasped at the sight of the supposedly long dead bane of my existence.

“Aria? Oh my goddesses! Are you-”

“Leave me alone, you whore!” I shouted before the taste of my own vomit caused me to gag. I clenched my eyes shut as my stomach convulsed and sent me into a fit of coughs and hacks that shot needles of pain through my shoulder.

“Shit. What the hell happened to her?” somepony else asked, but I couldn’t care less. I felt Silver Storm kneel next to me, trying to avoid the pool of vomit, and saw her form silhouetted against lantern above us. She put her hoof on my left shoulder, and I hissed in pain. I threw a right hoof at her face, missing wildly in my crazed haze, and began to flail.

“I said leave me alone you fudging blueberry! You’re a cheating whore and I hate you!” I screamed, thrashing and rolling in pain.

“Compass! What’s wrong with her? She needs help.”

Compass?

“Right. I’ll see what I can do,” Compass said as Silver Storm took my hoof in hers.

The rippling, bubbling pond in the mist filled forest of my mind began to clear, the sun appearing overhead and burning through the dense fog, and through it’s glassy surface I could see Melody smiling back at me. Sweet, kind, and mostly hairless Melody was there for me with her usual infectious smile, although her eyes betrayed worry and stress. To my right was Compass, his horn glowing as he magically began to give me an arcanely powered check up. And behind him, looking just as worried, was Check, watching me from over the rims of her stylish, yet nighttime inappropriate sunglasses.

“What happened to you? Elder Cherry Scones showed back up, but we couldn’t find you. Buzzsaw said you were here, and Cherry Scones said you just needed a little rest after the memory spell,” Melody asked, and I could feel the tears welling up again.

“This doesn’t look like rest to me. She’s been ‘resting’ for almost an hour,” Check muttered as she picked up the key with her magic and grimaced. “Nasty.”

“Melody. I-she-he-it-key-stairs-” I stammered, finding it extremely hard to speak, before completely breaking down and bawling like a baby. I curled up into a tight ball, trying my best to describe what had happened between sobs, but I think it mostly came out as frantic gibberish. Eventually, after a Med-X shot from Compass, I was able to get out enough strings of intelligible sentences for Check and my friends to understand what I was trying to tell them.

“What? She did what? Oh, Aria, come here,” Melody said softly, taking me into a hug as I sobbed.

“She fucking mind raped ya for something ya were already gonna give her?” Check asked, practically flabbergasted by what had happened to me. Mind rape seemed a little... harsh, but somehow it seemed appropriate.

Cherry Scones had ravaged my mind without permission, ripping through my memories with little regard for my safety or mental health, and left me feeling raw, emotionally imbalanced, and slightly violated. I had never been raped and prayed I never would, but my mind felt abused and near its breaking point. If it hadn’t been for the flame urging me on, I probably would have snapped and curled up to die on that bed. Although, maybe the flame was my mind snapping like a twig and inventing a separate personality.

Was I going crazy? Did knowing you were going crazy mean you weren’t crazy? How did that make any sense? Knowing your getting sick doesn’t mean you weren’t sick or going to become sick. Well, at least I was overthinking completely random things again. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Is there a bath anywhere around here, Check? We need to get Aria cleaned up,” Melody asked.

“That might be best” Compass said, and gave a slight grimace as he looked at me. Was there something on my face? Oh yeah, vomit.

“Yeah. The shower should be upstairs near the rain collector on the roof. Compass, could ya see about cleaning this up while we take care of cleaning her up?” Check said, and Compass let out a sigh and nodded before giving the pool of puke the same grimace he gave me. I guess Compass didn’t like vomit, although, come to think of it, did anypony in their right mind like vomit?

“I don’t know if I can go back upstairs,” I sniffed, trying my hardest not to cry anymore as I lay on the ground next to Melody.

“Come on, up you go,” Melody said cheerfully. She lifted my foreleg and put it around her shoulder while Check knelt down and did the same. The two stood up slowly, helping lift me onto my back hooves, and slowly started to walk me towards the stairs.

“You’ll feel better once you’re clean,” Melody said softly.

“We don’t have any warm water like y’all do down in Stable Sixty-Three, but maybe a cold shower will wake ya back up and help get your mind back in order,” Check said as we started to ascend the stairs towards the bathroom.

Wow. Check had gone a whole five minutes without hitting on me. Maybe she had finally got the message that I wasn’t attracted to other mares. Will miracles never cease?

After a slow climb up the stairs, Melody, Check, and I entered a small bathroom around the corner from the bedroom. The toilet bowl was almost yellow from urine stains and rust and the bathtub had a golden ring that would make any blushing bride jealous/disgusted. I could even see a thin layer of... something on the bottom of the tub. The sheer disgusting and chaotic nature of practically everything in post-apocalyptic Equestria was reaching Discordian in scale.

“Do I have to get into that tub?” I asked weakly.

“I think a little sliminess on your hooves is better than puke all over your body, huh?” Check said with a smile that I returned weakly.

“We’ll make sure to pay extra attention and care to your hooves,” Melody said cheerfully. I nodded, biting my upper and lower lips as I tried not to cry again. Melody was such a great friend. I felt horrible for mistaking her for Silver Storm and calling her a whore.

“I’m sorry I called you a whore,” I apologized as they helped me into the tub. I could feel the thin layer of slimy film and mildew beneath my hooves and cringed. This was absolutely disgusting! At least when it came to my own vomit I knew where it had been.

“It’s alright. You weren’t thinking straight.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, hanging my head in a mixture of shame and exhaustion. Melody looked around the bathroom and grunted angrily.

“There’s no soap,” she complained. That got a chuckle from Check.

“No kidding, but I think the water should do be enough to clean her up. If all else fails, I got some old perfume Shimmering Crown gave me,” Check said, pulling out a small, heart shaped bottle of ‘Eau de Trotlette,’ a cheap perfume made in Fancee back in my time.

“Who’s Shimmering Crown?” Melody asked as she turned the shower knob and nothing happened. We all stared at the nozzle above me for the longest three seconds of my life that didn’t involve getting shot at or blown up. Finally, the nozzle started to shake and a stream water shot out of the wall.

“Yipe!” I screamed as the ice cold shower struck me, instantly waking me from my daze with the force of a winter gale. My body still hurt, and I felt like a load of cud, but at least my brain was starting to fire on all cylinders again.

“Get used to that, princess. We ain’t go no hot water talismans out here in the wasteland,” Check said with a smile while Melody giggled. “But to answer your question, Shimmering Crown is one hell of a nice buck from the Queen’s Court. Every time we hook up, I can usually expect him to be a real gentlestallion and shower me with gifts. I don’t do it for the presents, but they’re a nice little bonus.”

The two set to work helping me clean off the sick and filth covering my face, neck, and chest with surprisingly clean rags. I reflexively pulled my tail in tight around my flanks to try to hide them from Check, but she didn’t even try to touch anything below my shoulders.

“That’s so sweet,” Melody said.

“They have deer in the Queen’s Court?” I asked, getting another set of ‘are you crazy’ stares from the two mares.

“What? You said he was a buck.”

“Wow, Aria, a buck is a stallion. Even I know that,” Melody said, rolling her eyes at me like I was stupid!

“No, buck is a verb. As in to kick with your back legs. It’s also a noun when used as a synonym to describe a male deer. A male pony is not a buck, he’s a stallion,” I explained, getting a wry and slightly condescending laugh from Check.

“Woah, easy off the correctional gas there, Miss Grammar Legate,” Check joked, and I stared at her for a bit until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I laughed. It was more like a weak giggle really, but I genuinely laughed. For all her faults, Check was actually pretty funny and seemed to be a good pony, her sexual deviancy notwithstanding. “I told ya I was a comedianne extraordinaire.”

“That was pretty funny,” Melody giggled. She wrung out her rag with her wings and snapped the cloth over the edge of the bathtub before turning off the water abruptly. “I think that should do it. Let’s get you dried off and back in your armor before you catch a cold.”

“Yeah,” I said as I gingerly climbed out of the tub and onto the rusty metal floor. A shiver ran throughout my entire body as my cold, wet fur and chilled skin met the mild, early summer air. I guess without exposure to sunlight, summer would be more like early fall or late spring in climate. I hated to see what the winters in the Equestrian Wasteland were like.

Taking the towel Check was carrying in her magical grasp, I began drying myself off as best I could. My body seemed to be responding a little easier, the damage was all in my mind after all, and having Melody near me was helping. Actually, for some strange reason, Check’s company and friendly banter was helping too.

“Thank you for not... hitting on me,” I said, putting it as best I could. Not the most eloquent of statements, but it seemed to get the point across.

“You’re not in any shape for that. There’s a time and a place for everything, and in your current state that time is not now,” Check explained before taking the towel from me and throwing it over my mane. After a few quick tossels, she pulled it away and I could see her very sad eyes over the rims of her glasses. “I know what it’s like to be used and abused.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. You’re all cleaned up and seem to be feeling a little better. We got your gear and stocked ya guys up at Brownstone’s so let’s get ya three rolling towards the Ministry hub. Gotta save the Trottingham Ruins, Miss Lunar Guard,” Check said, her voice strangely tired while still holding a slight glimmer of her usual sarcastic wit.

“Thank you, Check,” I said.

“Yes, thank you,” Melody added. Check’s sad smile grew a little warmer.

“It’s no problem at all, fire flanks,” she said, and gave me a wink. I blinked, shocked for a moment by her sudden return to flirting with me before she chuckled and pointed at my cutie mark. “Sorry, I had to do it. It was too good to pass up.”

“I... I guess we’ll be going,” I mumbled, my brain almost re-entering the funk cloud that had slowed it to a crawl. Why were future ponies so crazy and confusing? But, in all honesty, I wasn’t mad this time. Was the future’s crazy rubbing off on me? Was that why I was seeing things and hearing voices?

“Y’all forgetting something?” Check said, and cocked her head towards my armor and saddlebags in the corner. How did those get there? Did she carry them? I didn’t even remember that happening.

“Oh... yeah.”

“I’ll go tell Compass y’all are almost ready,” she said, picking up my discarded hazard suit with her levitation spell and trotting out the door.

“Alright, Aria, let’s get you into your armor.”
Melody helped me get my armor and gear on, throwing my saddlebags and weapons on last, with relatively little hassle. I guess we were getting better at equipping me without magical assistance even though it still made me feel like a cripple.

“Thanks, Melody,” I told her as she lifted Golden Star’s Aegis onto my back and fastened it to the easy release hook.

“It’s no problem, Aunt Aria. You’ve done so much for me so this is the least I can do for you. Until you get better, of course.”

“Really?”

“More than you know,” she whispered as she left the bathroom. I was just barely able to hear it, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t meant to hear her say that. I wanted to press further, but as I blinked I noticed the balefire flame was a little brighter than usual.

“You did not lock the door, but you survived. You did not pass my test, but you did not fail either. Perhaps you need a re-test,” the flame mused. I would have answered him, I wanted to please him for some odd reason, but Melody turned back to me.

“Are you coming or are you just going to stare into space all night?” Melody joked. I chuckled softly and trotted after her to catch up.

“Are you feeling any better, Aria?” Compass asked, adjusting his glasses as he stared up the stairs at us.

“I've been better, but I don’t have time to be a vomit covered lump,” I replied, eliciting a giggle from Melody and a laugh from Check.

We did have a mission to do, after all, and I didn’t have time for chats with my own crazy hallucinations or breaking down from the inside out. The pit in my chest was still there, and I was pretty sure Cherry Scones had taken an excavator to it with her little foray through my mind, but as long as I had Melody and Compass with me I was pretty sure I could manage.
I just felt stronger when they were around. Maybe my friends could be my coping mechanism for surviving the Equestrian Wasteland. Shadowbuck had his jokes, and I could have my friends.

However, there was a new question nagging at the back of my mind.

After what Elder Cherry Scones had done, where did I stand on the Steel Rangers, the Brotherhood of Steel, and could I really trust Shadowbuck anymore. As long as he served under that mare, could I really count him as one of my friends?

Melody, Compass, and I arrived at the docks not too far from Five Card Stud’s house. Both were on the river, so there was no need to put our radiation suits back on. Check had to go back to help Boom and... Tekash with the bomb so she took our suits back to Brownstone for us. Surprisingly, even with all her faults, there was something about Check that I really did like. Not like that, I’m into stallions, but she seemed like a good pony once you got past the flirting and the zebra loving. Everypony has their flaws.

A small schooner, it’s hull painted a dark gray and its sails marked with the three gears pierced by a saber that symbolized the Ministry of Wartime Technology, was moored at the end of a small dock made of driftwood and metal panels from an old funnel cake stand. I could hear Bulletstorm on the boat, barking out orders to the knights and scribes that were on board the ship. The docks were crazy with activity, mostly from the ten or so Steel Rangers that were galloping around the dock and boat and following Bulletstorm’s orders.

“Come on! I’m just as good as any of that sorry lot Bulletstorm’s taking with him! No! I’m better! You gotta let me go with ya!” a mare in full Steel Ranger armor screamed in a thick, Cockney accent. She was shouting at Shadowbuck and Buzzsaw as they blocked her from getting on the boat.

“Not gonna happen, Crumpets. You’re Elder Cherry Scones’ daughter and she’d kill us if we sent you on a mission this dangerous,” Buzzsaw said, sounding more like a worried father than a commanding officer. That was almost as surprising as the revelation that Cherry Scones had actually reproduced. I guess she wasn’t a total blueberry ice queen after all; or at least she hadn’t been in her youth.

“I don’t know, Buzzsaw. Have you seen her two shotguns? One for up close combat and... one for up close combat?” Shadowbuck taunted, getting the intended rise out of Crumpets as she tried her best to tackle my Steel Ranger companion.

“You may be my cousin, Shadowbuck, but you sure as hell ain’t gonna get away with mocking me!” she yelled as Star Paladin Buzzsaw put himself between his two quibbling subordinates. Wait... Did that make Cherry Scones Shadowbuck’s aunt?

“Please let it be by marriage. Please let it be by marriage.”

“Paladin Shadowbuck, quit teasing the girl.”

“I’m not a girl! I’m a Knight of the Steel Rangers!” she argued.

“Then you, Knight Crumpets, should get your ass to Moorheart’s Tavern and help take care of your mother. The memory spell took a lot out of her and she’s not feeling well,” Buzzsaw ordered, his voice finally hardening to sound like the Star Paladin he was supposed to be. This seemed to deflate the younger knight’s bravado a little and she nickered under her breath.

“Is that an order?”

“Yes, that’s an order! Go!” he shouted, and we all watched as she spun around faster than I thought possible in that big, bulky armor and rushed past us. We coughed and waved our hooves to try to keep ourselves from breathing in the dust she kicked up, but Melody’s wings were more than enough to blow away the brown cloud assaulting our lungs. “Lieutenant Aria, a word please.”

“Y-Yes?” I stammered, suddenly feeling that hole in my chest and the weight in my stomach fighting for supremacy of my torso while my conscious and subconscious started screaming differing orders. Mostly they were ‘Don’t run!’ and ‘Run!’ so I just stood there. The flame was surprisingly silent as Buzzsaw pulled me aside.

Every muscle in my body was wound as tight as they would possibly go. What did he want? Was he going to hurt me like his elder had? Would Shadowbuck help me or him? I glanced at Shadow as he stood on the dock, giving me a reassuring smile as if nothing had happened to me. How could he be smiling unless...

“You didn’t tell anypony about what happened,” I said angrily.

“And I’d like it to stay that way, Aria. I-I don’t know what happened back there. I don’t know what Elder Cherry Scones did or why she started screaming. I’m an earth pony; I don’t know anything about magic, but you have to believe me when I say that I’m sorry,” he said before pausing to think something over. How long had it taken to think up this little speech? Was he just trying to cover for his leader? Was he afraid I’d kill her like Ten Thousand Scars, the ghoulies, or Ace? I hadn’t even been the one to kill Ace!

“Aria.” I took a step away from him, giving him my newly patented, stallion scaring glare, but I couldn’t tell if it was working behind his Steel Ranger helmet. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but Elder Cherry Scones isn’t that bad. She’s just been... different since her husband died.”

“Her husband?” I asked, my curiosity peeking out from behind my distrust and anger.

“Star Paladin Orange Marmalade, my predecessor.”

“That doesn’t sound like a Brotherhood name to me.”

“It’s not. It’s his real name. Only our brothers, wives, and children can learn our real names when we’re alive, but everypony is to know our real name when we die in battle,” he said reverently.

“How’d he die?”

“Killed by the last Ten of the Royal Flush raiders.”

“Ten? That guy wasn’t that bad. Heck, he killed himself instead of letting me beat him,” I said dismissively.

“That’s because he was supposed to do that. The only reason you’re still alive was because he used his balefire egg on Stable Sixty-Three’s door,” he said, a hint of anger ringing through the tinny tone of his helmet’s speakers.

“Huh?”

“The thing about Ten is that he’s the first of the Flush, but also the most disposable with the most to prove. Ten has never been killed in battle.” I laughed under my breath. “Because each Ten is fanatical enough that if he or she is about to be beaten, they blow themselves up with a balefire egg that King gives them when they’re promoted.”

That was a buck to the gut. I had been standing right on top of Ten Thousand Scars when he pulled the grenade on himself to blow me up with him. I wouldn’t be alive today if Compass hadn’t given me a healing potion. If he had had his balefire egg still, then... Would I be lucky enough to survive two balefire explosions? I knew my family and Stable Sixty-Three’s residents wouldn’t have. I suddenly realized why everypony was making such a big deal about me ‘killing’ Ten and surviving.

“Killing Ten wasn’t the accomplishment. It was the fact that you lived. Hell, you survived one balefire bomb, maybe you would have survived his too,” Buzzsaw said, slapping me on the back hard. My armor clanged loudly against his and caused more than one Steel Ranger to jump into a ready position as if we were under attack. “Heh. Sorry folks! False alarm!”

“The last Ten killed Star Paladin Orange Marmalade with a balefire egg, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. I think that’s why Elder Cherry Scones didn’t believe your story.”

Oh great. Survivor’s guilt was returning with a vengeance. I had just had my mind ripped through like weeds through a lawnmower because I had survived where everypony else in the world hadn’t. Did I deserve this?

“No. No!” Everypony suddenly stopped and looked our direction. Shadowbuck, Compass, and Melody all started to walk over to us, their eyes widening with worry and surprise. If Buzzsaw wanted this conversation private, then I better make this quick. “No, Buzzsaw. I’m sorry that she lost her husband, I really am, but that’s not an excuse for what she did. I... I didn’t deserve that.”

“No, Aria, you didn’t. I can’t make you forgive her, but I’m just asking you to try. Okay?” It was really hard to make any emotional connection with a pony whose head was encased in metal. At least Shadow’s helmet opened and closed to show his smile. Even though it annoyed me sometimes, that smile made conversations with him a lot more like talking with a pony and a lot less like talking to a robot.

“I won’t. Not when she’s having you apologize,” I said as my friends walked up to us.

“Is everything okay, Aria? I was just trying to tell Shadowbuck what happened an-”

“Everything’s fine. I heard Aria’s horn wasn’t working right, and I know how good she is at magical combat, so I figured she needed a better weapon than a sword,” Buzzsaw interrupted before grabbing a knife and a shoulder holster and offering it to me.

Okay, a knife was an understatement.

It was a Ripper. I remembered soldiers in the war using them on the front lines for when they had to face armored opponents in hoof-to-hoof combat. It was like a miniature chainsaw, barely bigger than a combat knife, and had a trigger on the hilt to activate the spinning teeth. I had never used one, but an earth pony guard cadet had wielded one during our combat exam. I shuddered as the memory of the spinning teeth on the blade ripping into the training dummy and sending white fluffy stuffing spraying everywhere bubbled up to the surface of my mind. Buzzsaw wanted me to use this?

“Thank you,” I said weakly as he tied it around me so it was on the opposite shoulder from the Sword of Everfree. As he overly tightened the straps, I winced and suddenly very thankful that Compass had healed my shoulder. When had he done that? I didn’t remember taking a healing potion.

“You are quite welcome, Lieutenant Aria,” he said, putting his hoof on my shoulder. I flinched again at the contact before he nodded towards the boat. “You four should get going. The Queen’s escort is already on board. I think Bulletstorm should be ready any moment.

“Come on, Aria. We should get going,” Melody said. Before I could say anything, Melody flitted off to the deck of the boat. Compass sighed, shaking his head, before slowly trotting down the dock and onto the boat’s gangplank.

“Was what Melody said true?” Shadow asked as I started trotting towards the boat.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Wait up, Aria! You need to talk about this!” he called as he rushed to walk beside me.

“Okay, then I’ll talk about it with Melody and Compass,” I fired back, pushing my way past two scribes in red robes.

“I picked up another bottle of wine at Moorheart’s. Much better stuff than in the museum. We can share a few drinks and talk about it,” he said with a sympathetic grin. I didn’t take it that way. I spun around, staring daggers that cut through his stealth armor like a diamond dog’s claws through sand, and nickered angrily.

“You don’t see a problem with me getting drunk and talking about what your leader did to me when I let my guard down? Leave me alone, Shadow,” I hissed.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered. I turned and started up the gangplank. “But are you going to take this out on me?” I stopped at the top of the plank.

“No,” I said, hanging my head and sighing. “Just give me some time and show me that not all Steel Rangers are like her, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied. “The trip is about three hours upriver. The Queen’s pony already commandeered the captain’s quarters, but you, Melody, and Compass can get some sleep in the first mate’s room. I think they’re already down below.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning my head to give Shadow a weak smile. I at least owed him that.

“I’ll come wake you when we get there,” he said as I reached door below deck. I should have said something else, but I didn’t. I just nodded, opened the door, and left Shadowbuck out on the deck with the rushing deck hands, Steel Rangers, and Bulletstorm as he barked orders from up on the bridge.

It was relatively easy to find the first mate’s quarters; there was only four doors below deck and each one was marked by a metal placard. I opened the door marked ‘First Mate’s Cabin’ to a surprising sight.

Compass and Melody, forelegs wrapped around each other, were in the throes of a very intense make out sessions. The wet sound of tongues intertwining and moans of passion filled the room and my eyes widened as Melody’s patchy teal wings fully extended and stiffened as Compass stroked them gently. She moaned softly as he kissed her neck and let out a soft giggle when he nipped her gently where it met her shoulder.

Wow.

Compass was an extremely good kisser. Who knew? Compass’ eyes opened slightly, a small smile on his face, until he noticed me and they shot open. For a moment, our eyes met, he stopped kissing, and neither one of us knew what to do.

“Shit! Aria!?” he yelled, pushing away from Melody and throwing himself under the covers. With the way he was covering his nether regions, I was really glad that Melody’s body had been obstructing my vision of Compass’ more private parts. I was also really glad I had come in now instead of a few minutes later because walking in on two sessions of pegasus/unicorn love making in three days was more than I think I could handle.

“Aunt Aria!? What are you doing here so soon?” She called me aunt again. Great. That made made me remember that this pegasus was not only my friend, but also my niece. Way to make things much more awkward, Melody.

“I-I’m sorry. I just needed to get some sleep. I needed to...” I paused, tears forming in my eyes. Why was I crying when I had just walked in on my niece about to get ‘busy’ with her coltfriend? I really was a mess, wasn’t I?

Melody took off the bed and flew over to me, her barding half unzipped and barely holding onto her shoulders, and took me in a rushed hugged. I started crying, for which reason I didn’t know, and Melody started to stroke my mane like Grandmother White Rose used to.

“Shh. It’s alright,” she cooed before turning towards her coltfriend. “Compass, I know I said...”

“It’s alright. You two get some rest,” he said, pulling his lab coat back on and walking towards the bathroom with a pillow floating near his hips. “I’ll just take a nice, cold shower and then find somewhere else to...” He looked away nervously.
I did not need that mental picture in my head. Stop it, brain! Just stop it!

“Thank you, hun. I know I promised you some private time, so how about we make it an all day affair when we get done with the mission?” Melody said, and the mental picture changed for the worse. I needed a cold brain shower now! Compass nodded and smiled before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

“Mel...” I sobbed, and Melody noticed that I was crying more. I was shaking my head as I tried to shake loose the mental images that just wouldn’t quit popping into my head. “Oh no. I’m sorry. Let’s get you out of that armor again and get you to bed.”

Wow, she was getting really good at getting me out of my armor. Stop it! Really bad mental image! As we climbed into the clean, slightly disheveled bed, I remembered my one year anniversary with Brightlight. He had taken me out to one of the fanciest restaurants in Canterlot after a moonlit carriage ride. It was the most romantic thing I had ever experienced and we ended up back at his place.

We even ended up in his bed, kissing each other all over and taking in each other like a marefriend and coltfriend should do. Things started getting hot and heavy and I let him go further than I ever had before; I think some ponies called it ‘third base.’ His tongue on my most sensitive places felt amazing. I felt like I was on fire and melting into the bed.

Then I felt him trying to mount me, his hooves on my flanks, and I was so close to letting him. But fear of getting pregnant, even though the chances when not on your estrous cycle were slim, spurred me away from him and stopped him from taking what should have been his. I bucked and accidentally almost kicked him in his most sensitive spot.

Oh no. I just realized something.

My fear drove Brightlight into Silver Storm’s wings. He had had enough of getting so close and me ‘kicking him where the sun doesn’t shine.’ And I survived a balefire explosion when no pony else had. Millions of ponies, including Star Paladin Orange Marmalade, had been incinerated by balefire, but I didn’t. No wonder Cherry Scones hated me.

Everything was my fault.

I started sobbing even worse into Melody’s shoulder while she held me tight, stroking my mane and telling me everything would be alright. But I knew it wouldn’t work. Nothing would ever be alright again. As I cried, the flame watched me in silence.

“I’m so tired,” I moaned, talking more about being tired of living than actual exhaustion, but that was true too.

“Go to sleep. I’ll stay with you and keep you safe,” Melody comforted.

“As will I, Aria,” the flame said, his voice soothing and strong.

“Please. Can you leave me alone. I... I need to sleep,” I plead with the flame. I could almost feel him smile. Could a flame smile? Then, almost instantly, the flame was gone and all I saw was the darkness behind my own eyes. However, with the flame gone, the last thing keeping me awake was gone as well. Before I could let out another sob or think another depressing thought, I had already drifted off to sleep.

Footnote: 50% to next level.

Author's Footnote: Special thanks to my editor/pre-reader Chimpso for the help with editing.
Special Note: Thanks for putting up with the long break between chapters. I got a temporary new job that has me working some crazy hours for the holidays and this is such a major chapter that I had to do it justice. Actually, Chapter Five has been split in half so the rest of ‘The Path To Hell’ will be out, hopefully, a lot sooner. This is pretty much the halfway point in the chapter, and it’s already over 23k words, almost 24k, so you can see why I had to split it. Hope you guys enjoy it and thanks for putting up with my crazy update schedule.