Downpour was alive. My initial reaction to that was excitement, he was alive! I hadn’t killed my entire family after all! Maybe there was hope! Of course that feeling didn’t last long, the pain flaring along my back reminded me that he wasn’t here for a happy reunion with plenty of hugs. We needed to get out of here and quickly, but I wasn’t sure I could pull another miracle to escape. Fortunately, Scout was on his hooves thanks to the healing potion. “Your brother? Didn’t he freeze to death?” He asked, peeking around as box to look out the window.

“I thought he did too. I’m not sure how he escaped, or how he found me.” I had managed to grab the duffel bag and was riffling around in it for another healing potion. Unfortunately, while there was food aplenty there was little in the way of healing supplies, and I had already run through my supply of magical bandages. I winced as I twisted the wrong way, agitating my burn.

“You gonna be okay?” Scout asked, glancing at me.

“Yeah, I have an idea.” Heat was nothing more than energy, and a burn came from being exposed to a large amount of energy very quickly. Inversely, cold was a lack of energy which meant I could theoretically “suck” the heat from my wound. I fluttered my wings, focused a wave of winter air on the burn and sighed as the pain slowly dissipated. I hadn’t healed it by any stretch of the imagination, but at least I could move freely without too much pain. “Alright, I think I’ll be good.”

Scout snorted, not taking his eyes off of the window. “Must be nice having magic.”

“I could do the same for you, you know.” I said, brushing his wound with my wing.

He flinched away from the touch, shooting a glare at me. “No offence, but all I know about your power is that you froze a city.”

“I didn’t freeze the whole city.” I said indignantly. “And in my defense I was panicking!” He gave me a hard look which I accepted with a sigh. I moved next to Scout and peeked around one of the boxes. I could see Downpour hovering a ways back from the building, definitely out of easy shooting range even with Scout’s magic aiming. He looked…off. I had always felt that pegasi looked strange in their power armor since it made them look more like bugs than ponies, but there was something especially strange about Downpour’s appearance. I didn’t have time to get a good look, since he saw me peeking around the box and opened fire. I barely managed to duck out of the way, the heat of the shot singeing my mane. “So much for our quick escape.”

“I’m going to guess you can’t out-fly him.”

“I couldn’t out-fly him if I was completely unburdened, let alone carrying you. We’d be blasted from the sky in seconds.” I inched out far enough to see. Downpour was nowhere in sight, which only worried me further. “He’s gone, probably trying to get a new angle.” Or get a bomb a pessimistic little voice added.

Scout slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, wincing as the leather strap rubbed against the burn. “Let’s make a break for the door. We may be able to lose him in the streets.”

I doubted we could get far with Downpour sweeping the area from above. On top of that, Enclave power armor had an Eyes Forward Sparkle HUD that would be able to find us no matter where we hid. However there was no better option that I could see, so I simply nodded.

Scout checked the window one last time before galloping to the door. I followed hot on his hooves praying that I wouldn’t get blasted. Our luck held long enough to reach the door and start heading down the stairs. I looked furtively out each window as we passed, searching for signs of my brother. I hoped that we could miraculously escape without being noticed, since I had little chance fighting Downpour head on.

Scout rounded a corner and was about to open another door leading to a staircase when he froze. “Wait.” He appeared to glance just below to door knob, at something only he could see. “Somepony is on the other side of this door, we need another…”

Before he could finish the door blasted open, Enclave agents filling the doorway. Scout leapt back, barely dodging a stabbing scorpion tail. I saw the lead agent ready her rifles and instinctively jumped in front of Scout. “You’re here for me, not him.” I said quickly, hoping I could deter them long enough to come up with something. “Leave the surfacer out of it.”

“’Fraid I can’t do that, just from being with you he poses a threat.” The mare stepped forward, swishing her scorpion tail. “Stand aside.”

I tried not to let the chilling effect the words had on me show. If anypony that interacted with me was on the Enclave’s blacklist that meant Sister was in danger as well! I kept my expression neutral and continued stalling for time. “Why? Aren’t you just going to kill me as well?”

Though I couldn’t see her face, the hard set of her mouth made me believe she was glaring at me. “Believe me I want to. Downpour says he wants to shoot you himself, make sure the job is done right.” She tried to stalk around me to get a clear shot on Scout. “I’ll just have to kill the dirt pony instead.”

An idea was starting to form, one that could potentially give us a window to escape. But first, I needed this mare to try and shoot me. I was almost relieved to hear that she had a vendetta against me. On top of that her voice rang a bell, if I knew her I’d be able to ruffle her feather more easily. I kept myself between Scout and the soldier, cautiously searching for her identity. “Don’t I know you?”

“Yeah cold flank you do.” She spat my nickname like it tasted bad in her mouth. “I thought you were smart, can’t even recognize an old friend?”

Celestia damnit, this was getting more complicated by the minute. I did recognize the mare, Swift Winds had been one of the few fillies that had been friendly towards the unattractive egghead when we were young. I had never figured out why she had been my friend, she was prettier and stronger than I had been and was one of the fastest fliers in our age group. She could have excluded me like most others had, but for some reason she didn’t. She listened to my dorkiness and I cheered her on at her races. She was the first real friend I had ever had.

We had stopped being friends after we had grown old enough to be interested in bucks, and she had become infatuated with Storm Kicker. She knew how much my brother had taunted me and felt she could never gain his affection by being nice to me, so she joined him. Losing my friend had hurt far worse than the taunting that came with it. She had actually participated in the heckling that had brought out my Cutie Mark.

I had assumed that she had also died in my attack, but apparently I was wrong. The one silver lining was that having her here helped with my idea to get out of this mess, I only hoped it worked. “Oh right, Swift Winds! Last time I saw you, you were busy trying to shove Storm Kicker under your tail.”

Swift flushed bright enough to see under her visor. “Don’t give me shit, Sleet!” She growled, trying to remain composed. “If I wasn’t under orders I’d skin you myself!”

“Are you mad about my dear departed brother?” I asked in a false, sugar-coated voice. It took all my self-control to keep up the charade, I felt queasy talking about my dead family like this. “You should be happy! In his last moments he actually acted like a decent and caring pony and tried to stop Downpour from murdering me! Shame it didn’t work, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.” I could see Swift trembling angrily. The same dark, vindictive part of me that enjoyed seeing Radiant Dawn’s terror stomped its hooves gleefully at seeing the traitorous bitch so distressed. Much as I wanted to beat that part down I sneered along with it for effect.

“He was a decent, caring pony! And you murdered him!” She screamed. I tensed at the accusation, but Swift wasn’t done. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone could you? You never could! You couldn’t just accept that you weren’t pretty, or strong, or useful!” Her words were having a visible effect, I could feel my mask slipping. “You couldn’t even accept your own Cutie Mark, you always needed something better! And because of that Storm Kicker is…”

Before she could finish her last sentence I snapped, my guilt and anger making me scream. “A frozen husk on the Wasteland dirt!” I was seeing so much red by that point I almost forgot about my own plan when the moment came to put it in motion.

Swift screamed incoherently, grabbing the trigger bit in her teeth. Though I had never fired a weapon before today, growing up in a military household meant I knew the basic operation of a magical energy rifle. I knew how to care for the gun, where and how to store the ammo, how to load it and most importantly how it fired. A magical energy rifle projected various harmful spells through an enchanted gem, everything from incineration to disintegration. Of course if something happened to the gem, such as being rapidly cooled to very low temperatures, the flow of magic could make it fail in a spectacular way. I focused on the firing chamber of the rifle, rapidly chilling it as Swift bit down on the trigger.

The gem in the chamber shattered, the magic exploding in a brilliant flash of green light. The backlash of energy blasted Swift Winds backwards, causing her to fall into the soldiers behind her. In the chaos that ensued I leapt up and backwards, wrapping my forelegs around Scout’s midriff. “JUMP!” I yelled in his ear. The earth pony got the idea, leaping towards the staircase. I pumped my wings, gliding clear over the scrum of Enclave soldiers trying to sort themselves out. Scout hit the floor running and I jumped off his back, turning long enough to send a blast of cold air up the steps, further slowing the Enclave. I felt a rush of vertigo as the power left me, the effects of throwing around all that magic wearing on me. I had rarely used my special ability in any significant fashion when I lived above the clouds, the sudden urgent need for it on a regular basis was draining. I tried to turn and run, but ended up stumbling into a wall with the room spinning around me. It felt like my mind was underwater, the screaming of my survival instinct muffled by exhaustion. I had already slowed the Enclave, I had a moment to rest and…

I felt somepony grab my shoulders and shove me towards the staircase heading further down. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!” Scout yelled at me. I stumbled down the steps, shaking my head to try and clear my thoughts. We had dealt with the Enclave troops for the moment, but we still had to get away from Downpour and out of Stalliongrad. With that to focus on I was able to fight through the weariness enough to steady my pace and follow Scout out onto the street.

“How did you know they were behind the door?” I asked, scanning the skies for Downpour. So far I couldn’t see him, but I had no illusions that it would stay that way.

“This.” He held up his right foreleg, showing me the microcomputer strapped to it. “It’s a PipBuck, it can do all sorts of things including an Eyes Forward Sparkle which lets me…”

“See targets, even through walls.” I finished breathlessly. I had read about PipBucks, but I never thought I’d find one since most of them were sealed away with the Stable ponies. I honestly should have expected that Scout would have one. I reached up and pushed a few of the buttons, my eyes darting over the screen at the multitude of functions. “Umm, Sleet?” Scout asked, trying to move his leg.

“Wait,” I said, following the PipBuck. “I want to check this out. I’ve always wanted to take a look at one of these things! How does it display the E.F.S. to you?”

“Can we worry about that later when we don’t have murderous, highly trained military ponies chasing us?” He said, his voice urgent as he glanced over his shoulder at the door.

I flushed, berating myself silently for getting carried away. Examine marvel of pre-war archano-tech when you are nice and safe, Sleet! “Right, sorry. Let’s go.”

Scout turned and set down the street with surety, now that I actually noticed his PipBuck his almost preternatural sense of direction and danger made a lot more sense. We stuck to the shadows as best we could, the E.F.S could only give the general location of a target in relationship to the user. Even if Downpour found the street we were on he would still have to locate us the hard way in order to kill us. Scout sent us ducking and weaving through side streets, most of them with plenty of rubble to hide under. Even though our situation was still desperate, I found my focus wavering as I fought against the exhaustion. Having not seen hide nor hair of the Enclave for several minutes I could feel the adrenaline wearing off. In my weary state I made to duck into an alley like we had been doing without actually checking it first. As I stumbled around the corner I didn’t notice that Scout had stopped moving and was scanning the skies for something

“Look out!” He yelled as I stepped into the alley. I felt Scout bite down on my tail and yank me backwards, just in time to pull me out of the way of Downpour dropping to where my head had just been.

Downpour wasted no time in attacking, lashing out at me with the scorpion tail. I jumped back, feeling the wind slice by my face as I barely dodged the blade. He continued to press the attack so I couldn’t regain my balance and attack back, not that I’d stand much of a chance in a one-on-one anyway. I ducked under a sweep of the tail and heard the crack of a gunshot from behind me. Downpour stumbled back, a dent in the center of his chest plate. I looked over my shoulder to see Scout with the trigger bit to his battle saddle in his mouth. He dropped the bit to scream at me. “Get down!”

We both dove to the side, I went right and he went left as twin bolts of green magic scorched the building behind us. I landed on my side and tried to scramble to my hooves, but I was too slow. Downpour’s hoof came down heavily on the side of my neck, his weight making it difficult to breathe. “I never thought such a useless pony would be so hard to catch.” He growled, hovering the blade of his tail over my eye.

It took me a second to stop staring at the barb and look for something to use to escape. The fact that each breath was forced was making it hard to think, but I did notice something. It was what had made Downpour’s appearance seem so off earlier. His rear legs had been replaced with robotic synthetics. “What…what happened to your legs?” I managed to gasp out.

“YOU DID!” He roared. He rolled me fully onto my back and pressed his hoof straight onto my throat. I thrashed as my vision went red around the edges, the pain of my throat being crushed mingled with the oxygen deprivation burning my lungs. “When I escaped that…that thing you did I wasn’t fast enough! My legs were caught in the cold, destroyed by frostbite!” He leaned down, getting in my face and putting more weight on the hoof strangling me. I wheezed desperately as he hissed in my ear. “I was in surgery for hours while they chopped off my legs, made replacements, lined up my new nerves. Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have your nerves shocked back to life, forced into new connections?” He relaxed the pressure on my throat slightly, letting me gasp in a good breath of air before leaning down again. “What I’m doing to you now doesn’t even come close.” I held the barb above me, in position to stab down at my head. “This is mercy, better than you deserve.” He growled. I couldn’t respond, my chest and brain roaring for air. I could only watch as the blade started to come down.

There was another gunshot. Downpour staggered off of me, a large dent appearing on the left side of his helmet. I sucked in a sweet breath, the cold Stalliongrad air dulling the fire in my lungs. Unfortunately sucking down air is difficult when your throat is half crushed, I fell into a coughing fit that Scout didn’t wait for me to come out of. The earth pony shoved me to my hooves, taking another potshot at Downpour. My brother let out a scream closer to a roar as he lashed out at us. He had been prone to fits of anger in the past until he went to join the military. He had been a lot calmer after his training, but apparently being shot twice threw discipline out the window. Scout shoved me again out of the range of Downpour’s tail. Downpour grabbed the trigger bit and took aim at us, but I was lucid enough to focus my ability on his weapons.

Downpour’s guns exploded, and while he was stunned I lashed out one last time, my power freezing his hooves to the road. My vision tunneled as the power left me, Scout managed to get me on his back as I fell. Draped sideways over the earth pony, I watched as Downpour raged from his frozen position. I could hear him roaring my name, but it sounded far away as I drifted out of consciousness.

I stood on a metal platform, the area below me teeming with Enclave ponies. I could feel rough fibers rubbing against my neck as the crowd howled at me. Downpour walked into my field of view, wearing full military dress with his battle saddle. His mechanical hindlegs clanked on the platform as he approached me. He stopped in front of me, his voice amplified by some magic or another as he addressed me. “Sleet Gray, for your crimes against the Enclave you will be punished. The sentence is that you shall be hanged.” He then readied his battle saddle and blasted my right foreleg just above the knee.

I cried out in pain as the limb was seared into uselessness. I fell slightly when my leg no longer supported me, and from the new angle I noticed that the limb had been shot off. The crowd redoubled their cheering as Downpour spoke again. “You will be hanged by the removal of your legs, via magical energy weapon.” He shot my left foreleg. I fell forward, the noose tightening around my neck. My right rear leg vanished in a flash of burning pain, the noose cutting into my throat.

“Downpour…” I gasped, my breathing shallow and painful. My brother looked at me dispassionately, biting down on the trigger…

I sucked down a breath, my hooves flying to my throat. The cold air shocked my bruised windpipe, making me cough violently. As I coughed some part of me realized that I was lying on something cold and uncomfortable. “You aren’t going to die are you?” A voice asked.

I managed to stop coughing long enough to notice where I was. A dark cave, a number of natural rock formations decorated the walls. I didn’t hear any dripping water, mostly because it was so cold that any water had frozen. I had been lying on the stone floor and now that I was awake I realized how painfully frigid it was! It had been unpleasant near Stalliongrad, but this was downright arctic! Shivering, I got to my hooves. “I’m going to freeze to death before I can choke!”

Scout smirked at me from where he sat wrapped in a blanket at the base of a stalagmite. I could see his PipBuck emitting a green glow from under the blanket. “Kinda funny how a mare who can freeze things is getting cold.”

“I’d be a lot warmer if I had a blanket of my own.” I said, glaring at him.

“I did give you one. Sorry for not tucking you in, but I already wasn’t sure if putting on your back was the right move with the wings and all. I didn’t want to risk busting something.”

I looked back to where I had been laying, and true enough a blanket laid crumpled up from my thrashing. I flushed, muttering. “Oh, sorry.” I picked up the blanket and threw it over my back. The numbness slowly faded as I warmed up. The rough fabric irritated my burn, but the cold kept it from hurting too badly.

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to risk a fire, not with your brother out there still.”

I could hear a roaring crowd at the mention of Downpour. I shook my head vigorously to clear the yelling. “I’m getting really sick of passing out.” I groaned.

“It’s a hazard.” Scout agreed, looking at me sternly. “You being so out of it nearly got us killed!”

I felt my face redden further, this time with indignation. “Well excuse me for not being perfectly conditioned to just sling huge amounts of power around on a whim!”

“It’s not about being conditioned, it’s about knowing your limits. If you aren’t used to using your magic so much you don’t use your magic so much.”

“But it saved us from the Enclave! If I hadn’t chilled them then they would have…”

“They still wouldn’t have caught us.” Scout interjected. “Chilling them was excessive, they were already down and trying to screw them over more was a waste of time and energy.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he kept talking. “If you hadn’t done it we would have had more time to run instead of me having to go back for you. You also wouldn’t have needed me to stop you from letting your brother smash your head in.” He somehow managed to still look serious despite being wrapped up in a blanket. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s useful but it’s too much for you. Either train yourself to use it or stop, because freezing one threat won’t stop another from eating you while you’re half asleep on your hooves.”

I sighed, my breath fogging before me. He was right, I had overreacted and nearly ruined our chance at getting out alive. I sat down at a stalagmite next to Scout, pulling the blanket tighter. My talent had been useless up in the clouds, so of course I almost never used it extensively. Now I had been dropped into a world where an advantage like that wasn’t just useful, it was practically essential! I couldn’t imagine a unicorn without any spells lasting very long out here, a pegasus who fainted from her own talent would be just as helpless. “Why bother dragging me along at all?”

“I may be a survivalist, but I do have some equinity.” He said. “You saved my life twice, I’m not going to leave you for dead after that.”

I smiled, feeling less useless. “Thanks for that.”

“We aren’t out of the fire yet.” He said, seeming not to notice the irony as we sat there shivering. “We still have to make it back to St. Ponysburg alive.”

“I had no problems getting to Stalliongrad.” I pointed out.

Scout gave me a look like he couldn’t figure out if I was kidding or not. “You can fly.” He said very slowly.

I felt myself going red again, damnit that hadn’t occurred to me! Of COURSE my trip was easy, I just FLEW over all the problems in the way! “Sorry, not used to this whole ‘being the one pegasus on the surface’ thing…” I muttered lamely. Maybe there was a Dashite in the area I could meet. After what I had done, fraternizing with a traitor couldn’t be any worse. I quickly changed to subject. “So, where are we anyway?”

“In cave at the base of Talon Mountain.” He poked his right leg out from under his blanket and checked his PipBuck, the green glow illuminating more of the cave. “It’s risky to hide in such a prominent landmark, but I think I covered out trial well enough to throw them off.

“Actually, hiding here is a good idea.” I said. “Any mountain that pokes above the cloud curtain is stripped of its resources down to the curtain.” I looked up at the roof of the cave, stalactites pointing down at me. “Talon was a prominent griffon settlement during the war. The Enclave managed to drive them away to strip the mountain, but they keep coming back. Because of that, Talon is one of the few mountains we haven’t stripped yet. I’m pretty certain nopony up there even knows about this cave, since we focus so much on the peak.”

“Then let’s just hope your brother didn’t feel like exploring the foothills.” Scout said, standing up. “Blankets or no, we can’t stay here long.” I was inclined to agree; I could feel the cold settling in wherever I touched the stone, even if it was through the blanket. We made our way up a gradual incline toward the mouth of the cave. The thin layer of ice that coated most of the cave made our walk slippery. I wanted to take off and fly my way out, but after my slip up just minutes ago I figured staying ground bound until I absolutely needed to was a good idea.

“You should probably keep the blanket over your wings.” Scout suggested as we exited the cave. “Most ponies don’t care for the Enclave all that much. I don’t think anypony is St. Ponysburg would start something, but it’s better to stay safe on the way there.”

Had I been told that a few days ago and I’d have been confused about why surfacers disliked the Enclave. Sure I had reason to resent the system that made me useless, but why would an earth pony or unicorn care? Even without Cauterize as general knowledge (yet) I was beginning to understand why.

We exited the cave, the cold air a minor but welcome change from the icy depths. Scout checked his map and E.F.S. (my interest with the PipBuck resurfacing as he did) and we set off in the direction he deemed correct. I was staring at the device, which was difficult since Scout was walking, when he spoke up. “You know, we were never actually introduced.” He lifted the hoof with the PipBuck on it to me. “I’m Scout.”

“Huh?” I said, my focus on the PipBuck breaking when I noticed his hoof. I managed to regain my senses quickly and shook his hoof. “Sleet Gray.”

“Why are you so interested in this thing anyway?” He asked. “It’s just a PipBuck.”

“Just a…” I blinked at him in shock. “Just a PipBuck? Those things are marvels! They can monitor health, receive and decrypt any radio signal, they can even track anypony and anything!” I had to resist the urge to flutter my wings in excitement, otherwise I’d knock my disguise off. “I never thought I’d actually see one before! We don’t have them up in the clouds!”

“Everypony has one down in the Stable, at least when you grow old enough. The most exciting thing about them is getting one, after that we have more important things to worry about.”

Much as it assaulted my sensibilities that anypony would consider a PipBuck commonplace, I was curious about what he meant. “What was your Stable like?”

“130 was…” He fell silent for several seconds, his eyes glazing over. “Brutal. We had been given the best bio-simulation technology available. It simulated Equestria before the war, even before the three tribes. Forests, rivers, even some wild animals. We were told to start from scratch, kinda like a reset button on society. Live off of the land, try and do better. I’ve been told it started out well enough, but…” He sighed. “Something went wrong. Years before I was born, there was a split and the group broke into two tribes. Things only went downhill from there, the two initial tribes spilt into even more and soon everypony was fighting each other for resources. Survival became top priority down there, which is why I was glad to get this.” He gestured towards his multi-tool Cutie Mark. “It means I’m adaptable.”

I felt a twinge of jealousy, it must be nice to have a Cutie Mark you could be proud of, one that wasn’t useless at best. I couldn’t keep the envy out of my tone when I asked. “If you were so suited for the Stable, why did you leave?” Scout didn’t notice, since he had stopped in his track and was focused on something off to our left. “What is it?”

“Contacts on my E.F.S.” He muttered, readying his battle saddle.

“Hostiles? What are they?” I took a step back, wanting to stay clear of Scout’s line of fire.

“I don’t know, but they aren’t hostile.” He grabbed the trigger bit in his mouth.

I froze. “Wait, what? If they are non-hostile why are you acting like you’re about to shoot?”

“Non-hostile fer now.” He said around the bit.

“Well of course they’ll turn hostile if you point a gun at them!” I said, stepping in front of him. I ignored his protests, the last thing I wanted right now was another shoot-out. Squinting my eyes, I could make out several shapes against the tundra. Most of the small group looked to be ponies, but there were two larger shapes among them that looked deformed. The group was headed this way and as they approached I realized that what had looked to be some kind of mutant growth on the two larger shapes were actually boxes of salvage strapped to the backs of… “Are those two-headed cows?” I asked incredulously.

“Brahmin?” Scout asked, walking next to me and squinting at the group. “You can tell? They are at least another 100 yards out!” He relaxed his stance all the same. “Do pegasi have some kind of super vision or something?”

I shrugged, having to consciously remind myself not to move my wings else I’d break my disguise. “Not sure, never had any other pony to compare to. What’s a brahmin?”

“A mutant breed of two-headed cow. They are mostly used by traveling merchants for carrying supplies, which is good. We could use some caps.” He trotted towards the approaching merchants.

I followed close behind for several seconds before what he said hit me. “Wait, caps?” Scout gave me a confused look, like he didn’t understand my question. “Don’t you mean bits?”

“No.” He said in that infuriating tone like he was speaking to a filly. “Bits are almost worthless after the war. We use bottle caps in the Wasteland.”

I returned his blank look with one of my own. “Bottle…caps?” I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. “Why bottle caps?”

“Why not? It’s not like caps can be made anymore, so that makes them scarce.”

I still couldn’t make the connection between bottle caps and currency. “But…but you can apply the same logic to bits! Nopony is making them anymore either! Doesn’t that make them scarce too!?”

“Everypony didn’t start out the apocalypse with their own share of Equestria’s treasury, Sleet. Caps are easier to come by, which makes trade easier. You’d be hard pressed to come across two towns in a row that put bits at the same value as caps.”

I sat down heavily on the cold ground, my mind still spinning. Weren’t bits just as common as bottle caps before the war? What the hell gave them universal value over actual coins?! I grabbed my head in my hooves, groaning. “You surface ponies make no sense!”

Scout simply rolled his eyes and continued toward the merchant. I followed after composing myself, my disguise wouldn’t mean much if I was freaking out over the concept of bottle caps as money!

As we approached I could make out more details of the group. The brahmin walked side by side and were flanked by two armed ponies in leather barding who I assumed were guards. Leading the group was an intimidatingly large bright red unicorn stallion with a black mane. He wore a hat made of some kind of fur with ear flaps that, instead of covering his ears, were pinned to the sides of the hat itself. I couldn’t see his Cutie Mark since he wore a large, dirty coat lined with fur. I was snapped out of my contemplation of bottle caps and superfluous ear flaps when the merchant spoke in a booming voice with a thick, broken accent. “Ah, friends! Travelers! You come for trade, da? Apparatchik has many wares for barter!” I resisted the urge to check over my shoulder for attacking Enclave, this pony was so boisterous I swear they could hear him all the way to Neighvarro!

Scout winced as he took off the duffel bag, the strap rubbing against his burn wound through the blanket. “Do you have any healing potions?”

“Da, we have much for pain, Med-X, potions, bandages.” As he spoke he rummaged through the piles of wares on the brahmin’s backs with his magic. “What have you, Stable Pony?”

While the two set to their barter I went to examine the brahmin, staying a respectful distance when I noticed the guards glaring at me. The cows had no coat to speak of, just angry red flesh that showed off solid muscles. Their necks formed a forty-five degree angle from where they separated at the base. “I wonder what caused that…” I muttered.

“Radiation. Even I know that and I aint fer knowin much.” A voice said next to me. I gasped, jumping a step back at the right-side head laughed. “What, neer seena brahmin ‘afore missy? You don look like onea them Stable types.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I just didn’t know you could talk.”

“Well shoot, one heads from ‘afore the war could, why can’t we?” The left side head added. “Afer all, we got two heads now. Twice the brains!”

“Yew only got halfa brain, Agnes.” The right side head spat.

I took hold of the conversation before the two heads could start fighting, I didn’t know how their nervous system worked but I guessed that walking would be hard if there was bad wind between them. “What I meant to ask was why did you mutate to have two heads?” The brahmin heads looked at me blankly. “I mean, you could have mutated to have anything, so why an extra head? Why did the radiation cause that particular mutation and why did it pass on so successfully?”

Agnes blinked slowly. “Are yer onea them scientist ponies er sumthin?”

Oh right, ‘aint fer knowing much’. My laugh was more awkward than I liked. “No, I just read a lot.”

“Then do you listen to radio?” Apparatchik interrupted, for which I was thankful. “Did you hear story about falling pegasus?”

I felt my feathers ruffle nervously. “A pegasus on the radio?”

“Da, DJ pony give report a few days ago. Stable pony! You have radio, maybe DJ is talking about pegasus again!”

Scout gave me a worried look, but consented and turned on his PipBuck’s radio. A deep, male voice played through the speakers, finishing up a report about how a pony from a Stable had cleared out a town of raiders and saved several captives, including a pony named Ditzy Doo who had written a survival guide for the Wasteland. I had no idea how one pony took on a town full of raiders and won, but the knowledge that there was one less band of those cannibalistic maniacs running around warmed my heart. “And now for some more news from up north! I’m sure you all remember the pegasus who fell from the sky on a giant clump of ice, right? Well, she was recently spotted both going in and coming out of Stalliongrad! That in itself is a miracle, seeing as the whole place is crawling with the Shadow King’s cronies.” Shadow King? Those raiders were actually organized as a whole? They even had a king?! The thought sent a chill down my spine, I had seen the size of the raider army or at least the size of city they occupied. If this Shadow King ever decided to make a move I couldn’t imagine much stopping him from taking over the north. Even the Enclave would have their work cut out for them if they took that horde on. The DJ continued his report. “On top of that, groups of Enclave soldiers have been spotted patrolling the area around Coltarado and Stalliongrad. I don’t know what they are here for, but if you’re up there is the cold I’d recommend keeping your head low until we learn more.” If the news about the Shadow King had been chilling, learning about the Enclave was positively sickening. The fact that I had invoked such a large response was frightening, and if what Swift Winds told me was true then that put everypony who talked to me in grave danger.

Scout turned off the radio when the DJ started talking about the Stable pony again. I looked at Apparatchik and his caravan worriedly. Would they all be killed if Downpour or any other Enclave pegasus found them? Did I put the entirety of St. Ponysburg at risk just for recovering there after falling out of the sky? I was hoping to save the Wasteland from the Enclave, not condemn them one at a time just for being there! I swallowed my paranoia, hoping that Apparatchik didn’t notice my consternation at the report. “I wonder,” The giant stallion said. “Why do pegasus ponies come down now? They spend two hundred years in sky then BAM! One falls from sky and whole Wasteland goes crazy.”

“Maybe the one who fell is being chased. I doubt anypony would want to fall out of the sky.” I said as casually as I could.

“Da, but why run? Anypony who falls on giant ice and live is not pony that Apparatchik want trouble with. Bad for business.”

“I’d be running if I had an army up my tail.” I muttered, shivering involuntarily.

Apparatchik noticed my shiver. “You are cold? Not big surprise, all of Stalliongrad area is cold. You need more than blanket, good for you that I have many coats like this!” He thumped his own chest with his hoof. “You want, da?”

While having something more substantial than the blanket would be nice, replacing it would involve revealing my wings. The last thing I wanted to do was paint a target on the merchant’s head. “Thanks, but I’ll survive. My friend could use something though.” I said, gesturing to Scout.

“Well I have this.” Scout pulled Stable barding from his duffel bag. “It kinda needs repairs though.” I could see why, the barding had looked like it had been dragged through flaming mud. It was so dirty and shot up I could barely make out the yellow “130” emblazoned on it. He gave me an apologetic grin. “This is why I was almost out of healing potions when you found me.” Setting down the barding, he passed me one of the potions he had traded with Apparatchik.

I drank the potion, feeling the burn on my back tingle as it healed. While I healed, Apparatchik continued his sales pitch. “See? Your friend he already has warmth, at least he will. You still need protection from harsh Stalliongrad cold. Here” He levitated out a coat much like his, only cleaner. “You try coat on.”

I felt the blanket on my back shift as the stallion grabbed it with his magic. I hurriedly pulled the cover tighter, trying to dissuade him. “No, no I’m fine! I’m used to the cold!”

But the big merchant would not take no for an answer. I couldn’t keep the blanket from being removed, revealing my wings. I leapt back next to Scout, flaring my wings threateningly. They may not know that I was the one who froze Coltarado Heights, but I hoped it would give them pause. Both the guards and Scout readied their weapons, and for about a half a minute we stood there, the tension brittle.

Just as suddenly as the stand-off started, it ended with a loud laugh from Apparatchik. “So, you are the pegasus DJ pony is talking about, eh? Marvelous!”

Scout and I traded stunned glances. Marvelous? “You mean…you aren’t going to try and kill me?” I asked slowly?

The merchant looked taken aback by my question. “Why would I do that? You have been friendly to my brahmin, and you are customer! That means you are friend! Besides, I have famous customer, is very good for business!”

“You can’t tell anypony you saw me.” I stated firmly. “”The Enclave is here for me, if they catch wind that you met me they will hunt you down and kill you.”

Apparatchik tapped his chin with his hoof. “Hmm, unfortunate. I do not want to kill new friend, but I do not want to be killed by crazy pegasus.” I hoped he was referring to the Enclave. Suddenly his face lit up. “Ah! Idea!” He threw the coat over my back, nodding his head when he saw it cover my wings. “Da, this will work! Tell you what falling pegasus, you take coat at discount. I have friend in St. Ponysburg, masterful tailor. He will modify coat so you can hide wings, but still fly when you need too. In return we stay friends, you keep life, and tell many ponies about Apparatchik’s generosity! This work, da?”

I had to admit it was a brilliant idea, and the coat was very warm. I nodded, smiling wide. “Yes, this works fine.”

Many boisterous thanks and proclamations of friendship later we completed the transaction. I slipped my legs through the sleeves of my new coat, pleased that it covered my wings and Cutie Mark effectively. The coat was a darker shade of gray than my mane, and was trimmed with tan fur that I was fairly certain I didn’t want to know the origin of. “Are you heading back to St. Ponysburg?” I asked Apparatchik while I buttoned the brass clasps of the coat. Once that was done, as far as anypony could tell I was just another earth pony.

“Niet.” The big stallion said with a shake of his head. “We have many more outposts to barter with. Northern Wastes may be cold, but there is much trade.” The merchant enthusiastically shook my hoof, which made my leg feel like it was about to fall off. “You give my best to Threads, da? Tell him I pay for modifications to coat.” He released my hoof before it shook off. “Are you sure you do not wish to travel with us? Will take longer, but we will get to St. Ponysburg, and make many caps!”

“I’d like to.” I said earnestly, but the same reasons I’d like to travel with him were the reasons I couldn’t. I didn’t want to get a decent pony killed just from being near me. “It’s too risky with the Enclave after me. Just talking to me puts you in danger.”

“Then I wish you best of luck, falling pegasus and Stable pony.” He set off with brahmin and guardsponies in tow, waving one last time.

I waved back before turning to Scout, who was busy patching up his Stable barding. He had bought some scraps of clothing off of Apparatchik that he was using to repair the garment. As I watched him work I got an uncomfortable twist in my gut, Scout was also a decent pony and I couldn’t risk him being around me. Much as I enjoyed the earth pony’s company, and thankful as I was for him saving my life multiple times, the danger was simply too great. Every minute he spent with me was a minute the Enclave could drop out of the sky and murder us both. Once we got back to St. Ponysburg, we would have to part ways.

“You ready to go?” Scout asked. He had completed the repairs, his barding now looking less like it had caught the wrong end of a thunderstorm.

I nodded after making a cautionary scan of the skies for Enclave. The bright disc of the sun, muted by the cloud cover, was approaching the western horizon. “Do have an idea of where we can camp for the night?”

Scout checked his PipBuck, hit a few buttons and nodded. “There is an old ruin near here. I passed by it on the way to Stalliongrad, it looked reasonably safe.” I supposed “reasonably safe” was the best we could manage, at least until we reached St. Ponysburg. We set out once again, healed, clothed, and in considerably better shape than we had been this morning. However, that did little to shake my paranoia, I found myself worriedly checking the skies more than the Wasteland in front of me.

Scout was silent for the first few minutes of our trot before speaking up. “Sleet, what was that back there?”

I looked down from the cloud cover to Scout’s worried expression. “What was what where?”

“Back in Stalliongrad. First you wake up screaming like a windego, then minutes later you are a cold hearted cynic to that one Enclave mare. You looked half way to tears when you told me about what you did, and you are practically laughing in her face about it!” He shot me a scrutinizing look. “I find it kinda hard to believe that anypony who would willingly risk their life to help somepony they don’t even know would act like that.”

I was taken aback by the question, what did he mean? I was just acting! “The way I treated Swift Winds was necessary. I needed her to shoot at me so I could sabotage her guns, ruffling her feathers was the best way to do it.”

“Yeah, but you seemed to like it!” Scout retorted. “You enjoyed pissing her off.”

He’s right, that was fun. The vengeful little pony in the back of my mind hissed gleefully. I did my best to ignore it, smiling reassuringly at Scout. “Don’t worry, that was just an act. Swift Winds knows I don’t like her, so she’d expect me to look like I enjoyed angering her.”

Scout looked unconvinced, but put it aside in favor of another question. “And the screaming?”

“Like I said, nightmares.” I heard the sound of ghouls and pegasi alike baying for my blood and had to suppress a shudder. “I’ve been having a lot of them since I fell down here.”

Scout said nothing, and merely nodded. We continued on our way in silence. I still checked the skies, but with the sun setting and still no sign of Enclave I doubted they’d make a move now. Flying in the dark was uncomfortable enough, but flying over a frozen Wasteland of unknown horrors without even the sun’s meager light and warmth? The thought made my feather ruffle.

We were approaching the ruins that hopefully would shelter us for the night. A street sign was bent at an acute angle with the ground, the faded text barely legible “Welcome to Quebuck! Where hooves march to drums!” We entered the ruins cautiously, Scout scanning with his E.F.S. compass for any dangers. He gestured that we should stay down, having spotted red bars. I really missed free use of my wings so I could flutter silently rather than make a pathetic excuse at sneaking, but I didn’t want to waste time and risk making more noise pulling off my coat. I winced every time my hoof struck a piece of rubble or debris, the clatter sounding like a balefire bomb detonating to my frayed nerves.

We both froze as the silence was broken by shouting in the distance. Whoever was shouting was too far away to be heard clearly, but they sounded enraged. Scout looked hurriedly for a place to hide before spotting a gaudy pink building and pointing towards it. I raised a questioning eyebrow, the building stood out like a broken wing. Scout was determined though, jerking his head towards the building. I shrugged, he was the expert. We set off as quietly as we could as the angry voices grew closer. I still couldn’t make out most of what they were saying, but it sounded like they were looking for somepony.

Scout pushed against the door only to have it not budge. He pushed harder, the door bending in slightly but not relenting. “Damnit.” He hissed. “Can you pick locks?”

“Not unless there electronic.” I muttered. I could hear something faintly playing on the other side of the door. I pressed my ear to it trying to hear better and, was that tuba music? Before I could question the music a loud clatter and an even louder string of profanity came from the street behind the building. Scout and I traded worried looks as another voice spoke over the chorus of swears.

“Stupid! First you trip on rocks now you cry like newborn foal! We never find them like this!” The voice had the same accent Apparatchik did, but was feminine.

Scout leaned in and whispered. “See if you can force the lock, I’m going to check that out.” Force the lock? How was I supposed to do that? Before I could ask Scout was slinking off towards the alley leading to the shouting.

Gritting my teeth, I turned to the door. I didn’t know the first thing about lock picking and was certain I’d sooner bust the lock than open it. Nevertheless I leaned in to examine the door, which had not fared well over the years. The latch looked to be corroded and weak, but judging from Scout’s attempt there was no way we could bust it without drawing attention to ourselves. If there was some way to weaken the bolt more we could, wait a minute…

I pulled up the right side of my coat enough to free my wing. Touching the doorknob with the tip, I closed my eyes in concentration. There came a faint crackling as my feathers frosted over, and a slightly louder snap as when I blasted the lock with cold. Smiling, I shoved the door with my shoulder, hearing the lock break away completely. The door swung into a dark room, from which a giant bug shot out and past my head!

I stumbled back, suppressing a startled scream. The bug flittered past me on mechanical wings, the upbeat music (with gratuitous tuba) emitting from a speaker. Without even seeming to notice me, the little robot flew down the street. I was tempted to follow it when Scout scurried back. “Get inside, quickly!” He hissed, leaping through the door. I followed fast behind him, closing the door behind us. Of course, busted as it was it wouldn’t latch, which Scout remedied by shoving a fallen file cabinet in front of it. Only when he saw the door was secure did he relax. At my confused look he said simply. “Slavers.”

My eyes widened. “Slavers? There’s slavery?”

“Yeah, and unless we want to wake up with bomb collars strapped on our necks we are going to stay well out of their way!”

“You mean we’re just going to let the go?” I said, voice dripping with incredulity. I had seen some terrible things the past few days, but terrible as they were ghouls and raiders felt weirdly natural to the Wasteland. It made a twisted and horrible sense that they existed, but slavery? There was no excuse for that! “We can’t just let slavers run around!”

“We have no choice!” Scout snapped, glaring at me. He winced and glanced at the door before continuing in a softer voice. “They have us outnumbered five to one and massively outgunned. Even if you had a gun we wouldn’t be able to put up a fight.”

What did he mean? Of course I had a… I reached back with my hoof and felt the empty holster under my coat. My gun was gone! If I’d lost it where I thought I had that meant it was buried under the building that metal monster had collapsed! “Damnit.” I growled. Now not only could I not stop those bastard slavers, but I was even less useful in the event of danger.

Scout touched his hoof to my shoulder. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but we can’t stop them. At least we can’t in our current condition.”

I glared at the door, practicality slowly winning out over righteous anger. “Fine.” I grumbled. Changing the topic away from crimes against equinity, I asked. “So where are we anyway?”

“My PipBuck called it ‘Quebuck M.o.M Headquarters’.” Scout supplied.

“M.o.M, the Ministry of Morale?” I had read about the pre-war ministry in charge of maintaining public support of the war. “I thought the Stalliongrad area had been all gung-ho about the war, why would they need a morale boost?”

“Beats me, I just hope this place isn’t on the slaver’s hit list.” Scout muttered, moving cautiously further into the facility. I followed behind, examining the walls. Most of the walls were covered with faded posters of a pink earth pony mare with a wide grin and equally wide eyes. Her fluffy pink mane had streaks of gray running through it that made her look like a candy cane. Written in bold letters across each poster was the phrase “PINKIE PIE IS WATCHING YOU FOREVER!!!” It certainly felt like she was, the manically wide eyes seemed to follow us as we walked past.

There were few emergency lights still working in the old facility, and with the sun rapidly setting outside it was growing too dark to scavenge the place. Scout recommended we scavenge the place in the morning, while he could have easily used his PipBuck light to search he was afraid the slavers would see the glow through a window. Frankly sleep sounded like too good a prospect to argue. After a quick application of my new lock-busting technique we descended into the basement. Scout felt that the chilly foundation was perfect having no windows we could be spotted from. I just felt claustrophobic, the cave at Talon Mountain had been spacious, this felt cramped.

Our luck continued to hold, there were a pair of unrolled sleeping bags in one of the maintenance closets. There were two skeletons with the sleeping bags as well as faded books that appeared lecherous, janitors ditching work during the late shift when the bombs fells? In any event the sleeping bags were relatively well preserved, Scout and I each taking one to sleep in (first leaving the sepulchral closet).

Both of us were too exhausted to talk, climbing into our bags to sleep without another word. I decided to sleep in my coat, partially because it was warmer and partially because I was too tired to remove it. I closed my eyes, and as I drifted off to sleep I could hear it. The sound of a pack of slavering ghouls, growing louder; my wings tingled painfully, reminiscent of the meat hooks driven through them in my nightmare. My eyes shot wide and darted around the room, searching for attacking ghouls. Instinctively I tried to get up and run, but the sleeping bag and coat constricted me. My thrashing grew more frantic until I escaped the bag, heart and lungs pumping wildly.

Slowly, painfully so, the sounds and sensation faded away. I sat heavily against the cold stone wall, willing my heart to beat normally. Miraculously Scout had not woken up from the commotion, probably because I hadn’t started screaming yet. Once my heart rate and breathing settled I looked at the sleeping bag apprehensively. Maybe it was best if I didn’t go to sleep, after all nightmare-induced howling would make hiding from slavers difficult.

Swallowing hard, I got to my hooves. If I stayed in one place I’d succumb to my weariness and fall asleep, and if I fell asleep I’d have another nightmare. I carefully made my way out of the basement, going to explore the rest of the facility despite the dark. There wasn’t a terrible lot to find, most of the rooms were scattered with debris and any terminals had long since ceased functioning. I made a point of searching the desks ad lockers for anything useful, other than the occasional small stash of bottle caps there was nothing much else worth taking. A small part of my sleep-hungry mind wondered how the bottle caps had gotten there, one pony collecting them before the bombs made sense, but a whole office worth?

Before I could question it further I saw a familiar green glow. Gasping with excitement, and stifling a yawn that followed, I trotted happily up to the terminal which was affixed to a wall next to a door. I set to hacking the terminal in spite of my exhaustion. I was delighted to learn that my security bypass trick worked on the surface terminals just as well as it did on Enclave cloud ones. That made sense, the Enclave still used the RoBronco Unified Operating System with only minor changes and not to the security.

It took several tries, and in the fog of sleep I nearly got myself locked out of the system more than once, but I finally got the terminal hacked. The password had been “caution” which was probably a wise warning I was too sleepy too listen to. The only available action was to open the door. I executed the application, grinning at the sound of the door whirring open. Despite what had happened the last time I’d hacked something this felt good, as comfortable as flying.

The room unsealed by the terminal looked like a psychiatrist’s office, but had a disturbingly surgical feel to it. Maybe it was the fact that the couch the patient would lay on was occupied by a skeleton held down by elastic straps. The straps had old, burned out control talismans built into the buckle leading me to believe straps were hidden until they were activated to restrain the “patient”. The skeleton was earth pony, female, and had minor fractures around where the straps held her down, was if she had tried to pull herself free. I shuddered, turning away from the couch, yet still determined to explore the rest of the room.

A wall safe sat flung open, its contents all but cleaned out. Inside were a few syringes of what I assumed was sedative, and a strange crown-shaped device with a black opal inset on the front. I recognized what it was, a Memory Recollector. The pre-war device allowed non-unicorns to record the memories of other beings on a memory orb. It also allowed non-unicorns to view a memory orb, which was convenient since it usually required unicorn magic to active the devices. All this I knew was purely academic, I had never seen a memory orb before let alone a Recollector. It wasn’t as if such a device would be helpful in the Wasteland since any memory orb would be over two hundred years old. On top of that, I was fairly certain that viewing a memory orb completely disabled to viewer, which was the last thing you wanted to be out here.

I began to turn away from the safe, ready to dismiss the Recollector as unneeded, until I noticed something. Underneath the couch was something glittering. Swallowing my discomfort being so close to the skeleton, I reached under the couch and managed to sweep out the glittering thing. Of all things, it was a memory orb. It was made of some kind of clear crystal and swirled with multi-color light. I glanced back at the wall safe, curiosity tugging at me. “Well, I wasn’t planning on sleeping. And I’m fairly certain you can’t have nightmares in a memory orb.” I murmured to myself.

After carefully extracting the black opal and replacing it with the orb I found, I placed the Recollector on my head. I sat there feeling silly for several seconds. “So how do I turn this thing on?” I muttered angrily. “Do I just think about the orb or…”

GAH! My wings! Where are my wings!? I take it back! Get me out of this thing! How did earth ponies go around without wings? Being short two limbs was extremely uncomfortable!

Gradually I relaxed, after reminding myself several times that I’d have my wings back when the orb ended. Instead I took stock of my environment. Mare, earth pony, and it was cold so this was definitely the Stalliongrad area. However something was…off. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it but the memory felt clipped, like it had been somehow tampered with. The world felt muddy and unimportant, the best I could tell the mare was in some sort of cafe. There was a tap on her shoulder and somepony said “Diamond Leaf?” The mare turned and suddenly the world snapped into perfect focus, or at least the buck addressing her did.

He was tall and powerfully built, with a deep blue coat and a luscious corn silk mane. His smile was easy and confident sending mine, and Diamond Leaf’s hearts aflutter. But while the majority of my mind stammered like a school filly, that cool rational part wondered why this buck was so important. Sure he was (very very) handsome, but why was the rest of the world almost blocked out? “The Ministry of Morale is having a parade this afternoon.” He said (in a rich voice that made me want to faint). “Would you like to go with m-“

“Yes!” Diamond Leaf replied hurriedly, blushing furiously when she realized she had cut him off.

The buck simply chuckled. “Alright, meet you at the Ministry building?” Diamond Leaf simply nodded. With a parting smile and wave, the buck trotted off.

I expected that to be the end of the memory, but with a sensation similar to whiplash the scene changed. Once the world re-asserted itself I took stock of the surroundings. It proved difficult, since once again the rest of the world appeared muddled. Diamond Leaf was looking around, as if trying to find somepony. Then she found him, and once again the world shot into crystal clarity around him. The same handsome buck from before was also searching what I could only guess was a crowd. “Cobalt!” She called, trotting over to him with a happy grin.

The buck, Cobalt, seemed equally pleased to see her. They exchanged greetings, him with confidence, her nervously, and with an muffled roar I had to strain to notice her attention was draw elsewhere. Once again, the world faded out. Only when she was looking at or talking to Cobalt did anything come in clearly.

The scene jumped jarringly again, I couldn’t even tell where the two were this time only that they were together. This repeated several times, the two going on various dates until something significant happened.

Cobalt was in full military dress, standing firmly at attention. There were other ponies around him, the only way I could tell that they were also military was their stiff poses. Diamond Leaf stood some distance away, her eyes fixed on Cobalt. The buck seemed to sense her gaze, he glanced her way and gave a quick smile. She smiled back as he turned sharply to the right and began marching. Her eyes brimmed with tears as he marched out of sight.

One more jolt. Diamond Leaf was alone, going about her business. She felt tired, not necessarily older just worn out. There came a knock at the door, one I was surprised to hear. Maybe Cobalt had come home from the war? Diamond Leaf’s gut twisted as she went to answer the door. She lay her hoof on the knob for several seconds, taking slow breaths before opening the door. The shapes of the ponies were muddled, but what they said came through clear as day. “Miss Diamond Leaf?” She nodded hesitantly. “We regret to inform you that Cobalt was mortally wounded in action.”

Diamond Leaf broke out in a cold sweat. “W-what?” She stammered.

“Before succumbing to his injuries he said he wanted you to be given this.” The murky pony handed her a locket that appeared clearly. Diamond Leaf opened it, revealing a picture of her and Cobalt laughing together. She sat heavily, headless of the ponies before her and unable to take her eyes off of the picture. Her heart thudded in her ears so loudly she was almost unable to hear the pony mutter. “We’re sorry for you loss…”

I gasped as I came out of the memory orb. At some point I had fallen onto my back and was left staring at the celling. I didn’t feel rested by a long shot, but being in the orb had been kinda refreshing. It was like I was a spark battery that still had a bit of charge left in it. The entire world suddenly being in perfect clarity was jarring after the strange orb. Except it wasn’t, why was my vision still blurry around the edges? Blinking, I felt tears drip from my eyes. At some point during the orb I had started crying.

I got to my hooves, my gaze lingering on the skeleton. There was something very wrong with that memory orb. From what I had read they were supposed to show the whole experience, every little detail as it was when the pony remembered it. That one had somehow been tampered with, specifically zeroing in on Cobalt. There was a terminal on a desk next to the wall safe. Hopefully this would hold some answers. I was slightly disappointed to learn that the terminal had never been logged off, so there was no need to hack it. I checked the log entries, starting with the most recent which was still over two hundred years old.

My tired eyes had to scan the first few lines several times before what they said sank in, and then again to prove to myself I wasn’t seeing things. “The subject known as Diamond Leaf is recommended for immediate memory modification.” I read aloud. “Diamond Leaf is an advocate against the war, following the death of her coltfriend Private Cobalt. She is growing in popularity and has been labeled a Bad Pony. Recommended action: Removal of the Private from her memories.” I looked back to the skeleton, seeing it in a new light. Diamond Leaf had oppose the war, and they sucked out her memories of the reason why?! I checked the entry again, specifically the date. My shoulders slumped, the entry had been made the day before the bombs fell. If the M.o.M agents had acted immediately than that explains why she was still tied down, after all these years. Her last moments had been filled with terror, restrained as the world blew up around her and unable to even remember the best thing in her life.

I made my slow way back to the basement, sadness mixed with exhaustion to sow my hooves. I looked at the pink posters claiming the Ministry Mares eternal vigilance. Had she known about this? Did Pinkie Pie know her own agents were violating the minds of ponies just to quell dissenting voices? And if she did, did she approve? Suddenly the smile on the posters became far more creepy than happy.

I went to push open the door leading to the basement when I noticed something, it was half open. I know my method of breaking in had left the door unable to latch, but hadn’t I at least closed it over? My eyes widened as I heard voices drifting up from the basement. I carefully pushed the door open and crept down the stairs as quietly as I could, pissing rainbows I needed that modification for this coat! Wings made sneaking so much easier!

The voices grew louder as I grew closer, my mane standing on end as I recognized the slaver mare’s voice from earlier. I poked my head around the corner enough to see. There were five ponies that looked like better armed and more hygienic raiders. Each carried an assault rifle and a set of hoofcuffs. The mare who I assumed was the leader of the group was an imperious looking unicorn who carried a vicious looking barbed whip. And laying on the ground between them was Scout, a collar clamped firmly around his neck.
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Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk, Silver Tongue: You’re a fast talker, able to convince others more easily. You gain +5 to Speech and Barter.

Author's Notes:

I realized I've neglected to thank Kkat for creating the always-awesome world of Fallout: Equestria, so I'm going to do that now! Thanks to Kkat for creating FO:E and thanks to everyone who has read my story. Comments (praise and criticism all) are greatly appreciated!