(Note: Here comes Chapter 2 with a lot more action! Apple grenades, fusion cores and power saddling. Grab your seat and your popcorn because When Friendship Calls is just getting started. Blotzfire's first quest! He even gets a Pip-Buck! Lucky ol' Overstallion.)

Chapter 2 Wrong Side of the Bed

Ravager Blitzfire

Pre-War: 16 Years Before The Megaspells

Resting my head in his mane, I held my best friend close. He was snuggled into my chest, still sniffling. Earlier he had cried like a baby, and he still hadn't said why. But I knew this was serious, and he would tell me in due time. I had to wait it out. Meanwhile, I stroked Sparky's back slowly.

He and I lay in my bed together. We'd had sleepovers before, but usually he had a sleeping bag. I was there to comfort him when he needed it though. We were close friends, and I wasn't ashamed to hold him. He would do it for me too, in front of other ponies! We had a special bond, unbreakable.

"Blitz…" he muttered into my chest fur.

"I'm still here," I smiled.

He shifted against me and looked up at me, "You stink!" he stuck his tongue out.

"Hey!" I whined, "Don't blame me, it's the middle of the night, I haven't had my morning shower." I fake pouted.

Nexus looked over at my alarm clock, "It's actually 3 in the morning."

"Always gotta be so literal." I frowned. Taking a look at my friend, I knew he was still avoiding something. "Hey, what's wrong Sparky?"

He fell back toward me, his face smashing into my chest, his horn barely missing scraping me. "Don't, you know that name sounds like a dog's name!"

"You're avoiding the question."

He lifted his chin, still resting on me, staring up into my eyes, "Fire Flower…he hurt Fire Flower…" he could barely whisper the words.

"You're stepfather?!" I straightened up, glancing at my window. Curtains!

"Mhm…"

"What did that bastard do?" I growled.

"Blitz…she…she's d-dead!" with that he burst into tears again.

"Oh Faust…" the breath escaped me. "Faust, Nex."

Suddenly it felt like I was floating there, the bed just fell out from beneath me. We were in a void, just the two of us. That poor filly. How could this happen to her? She was too young, too innocent. My friend cried for her, and I felt cold. Slowly, I lifted a hoof, putting it on his back. I hugged him, and he reached up to embrace me as well. We held each other. We held tightly until the next thing we knew we were opening our eyes the next day.

Those powerful neon green eyes were the first thing I saw when I opened mine. I sucked in a breath. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm gonna kill him," said Nexus, sitting up.

"Hey, wait now!" I sat up too. Then a yawn overcame me and I had to stretch out. "I haven't even taken my shower yet."

"I'm serious Blitzfire!" he snapped. I shot my attention toward him. "He needs to pay for what he did."

"Nexus, you're not gonna accomplish anything by killing anypony. You'll only be stooping to his level."

"I'm going home, Blitz. Is my friend coming with me?"

I couldn't let him do this. I had to push my way back into his head, make him rethink this. I knew I could get him to consider rational thought. What did my friend like above all else? What did he think about more than anything when he was in the right mindset? I closed my eyes. Never thought I'd be the one advocating for this, but…

"Nexus, why don't we go to school, take the day slow. One thing at a time before we go making plans to dig a grave." I stared firmly into his eyes.

"School…" he breathed. He glanced around like he'd been in a trance. "I…I better go make myself lunch." he looked at the door, then to me. "Um, care if I look in the fridge?"

"Go ahead, help yourself buddy," I smiled brightly. "My parents probably already left for work."

Now that that was taken care of, time for my morning shower.

Present Time: 207 Years After the Incident of Stable 14

"I'm gonna run out of these things," I spoke aloud to myself as I pulled the pin on an apple grenade with my teeth. Trust me, I knew where to get more, but oh colt would that be a long journey.

Right now all I needed to think about was surviving these raiders and getting upstairs. I knew I'd seen some up there, chasing down the wastelanders I'd seen. That meant getting through my current opposition. So I spat out the pin and tossed the grenade over the crate. It exploded and I heard some cries. Now I was being shot at.

"Heh," I smirked. I cranked my new laser musket, popping my head up to aim. As soon as I saw the raider shooting at me, hiding across the main room and behind the wall to the next set of hallways, I shot at her. Nothing but a pile of red ashes.

The main room was torn apart if I had to be completely honest. The building was made primarily of wood. However, wood rots over time and with no one to maintain the building since the war, it was falling apart. Not a surprise, just an observation. There was a basement, as I noticed when I passed a caved in part of the floor. Huh, I wouldn't have been able to get over here even if the gate was unlocked. The hole was right in front of the ticket booths.

I could use the fallen wood as a sort of ramp down there, and I saw yet another gate. Shaking my head though, I decided whatever it was, I would have to worry about it later. I trotted over to the side hallways. A staircase went upward and I heard some shouts coming from the upper floor. I slid the musket onto my back, pulling my revolver. It was about to get close quarters. I'd had plenty of experience with that and I knew that a smaller weapon was always better.

Ignoring the other passages on this floor, I made my way upstairs. It felt cold up here but I didn't take pause. I had a goal, and nothing got in my way when it came to a goal. I'd walked through irradiated bunkers to find a Stable-Tech treasure. This was nothing. On the landing was an ammunition box. Eh, normally I'd open it up, but it probably belonged to the raiders and they didn't use any of the same weapons as I.

I rounded the corner, a sharp turn to the next corridor. I saw a flickering blue light, and that's where the voices drifted from. I took it one step at a time, no chances. I emerged into yet another exhibit. No raiders here, yet still the echoes of their laughing voices. I shook my head, lowering my gun. There was a hologram projected onto the wall, the source of the flickering light. It depicted Twilight and her friends, standing tall. A plaque was in the very center of the curving wall with the image. I ignored that and continued on.

The wall on the far side opposite the image had collapsed, leading to the next hall. I aimed my revolver as soon as I entered, and rightly so. I began shooting the moment I heard gunfire, and the first two raiders in my path fell. The last ducked behind a wall, dodging my shots.

Running at full speed for him I yelled as I smashed my hoof down on his gun, causing him to drop it. I aimed at his head. "Get it over with asshole," he snarled at me. I shook my head, "Don't think I enjoy it like you do, I'm not scum." then I pulled the trigger, blasting his brains across the wall. "Disgusting," I spat as I ran past the raider's body.

The next hallway diverged. To the left I could see a balcony that was directly over the entrance chambers. To the right I saw a barricade at the end of the hall. I'm sure there were more raiders hiding out in there, but I needed to find the survivors first. I ran to the balcony just in time to see more raiders heading for a stairwell for the third floor. "Hey!" I shouted but I don't think they heard me.

I shot after them, trying to catch them before they reached the survivors. I honestly don't know why I cared so much, or what I'd gotten myself into, but I couldn't let them get to those ponies. I'd gotten myself nose deep in something once again, all because I was following a map through some random town and scavenging at the wrong place. It was still yet to see if it was also at the wrong time or not.

"Open up!"

Upstairs, raiders were kicking at a door all the way across the third floor balcony. That was obviously where they ponies were hiding. Looks like I was here to save them. I rolled my eyes. You got nowhere in the wasteland by trusting other ponies, yet here I was, lending a helping hoof. I sighed as I ducked into a set of offices.

Technically, there were two separate rooms set aside here for offices. Yet, the wall separating them was completely demolished, making it one giant room. A great way to sneak up on those raiders out there if I do say so. The second door in the next room would be right outside the door they were attempting to kick down.

I slowly pushed open the door, listening for the raiders. It was only open a crack when I realized they'd given up on kicking down the door and were coming back this way. Faust! Just wait it out Blitzy, they pass, you shoot. I watched carefully, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. I took a deep breath, then burst out when their backs were to me. I shot one in the head, the next spun when he heard me and I just missed him. "Buck!" I cursed.

He pulled out a shotgun, double barrelled to be precise, and I ducked back into the offices. Outside he was making a creepy laugh. "Heheheh, come out little pony. I won't hurt ya. Too bad that is." I ducked back into the cubicles, hiding and biding time. Let him find me, I'd just put a bullet between his eyes.

The door clicked open and in came the raider. I could hear him shuffling around between the cubicles, looking for me. I backed up a step, deeper into the units. My back hoof kicked over a metal trash can. I swore under my breath as the shuffling made its way toward me. He was turning toward me and I jumped out yelling, "Come get me then!" as I fired at him. He was down in a heartbeat. Raiders were so stupid.

I went to the room the survivors hid in and knocked a couple times. "Hey, it's me, can ya let me in?"

"Depends," came that deep accent from the chocolate colored pony. "Who's "me"?"

"The guy outside you told to grab a laser musket and help out?" I shook my head. Never trust each other, a good motto.

The door opened. "Right, we heard ya out there fighting." said the chocolate colored pony. "Come in. My name's Press Peirce." he tipped his hat at me. "Behind me is Surge, over there on the couch is Mama Madmare and a couple other ponies from the city over."

I took stock of the ponies in the room. Mama, a dark violet pink mare, was a fragile old lady, wearing a knitted sweater and a beanie to match, and I believe the walker was hers as well. Surge, an olive green pony with a black mane cut into a thick mohawk, was right behind Press, tapping at a terminal relentlessly. He wore some steamer looking armor over an orange vest.

"So what's the deal?" I asked, straight to the point. "We've still got raiders in that museum you know."

"And out on the streets," grumbled Surge. He adjusted a pair of goggles he had on his head, pulling them down over his eyes. He was staring intently at the terminal. "Buck, I can't crack it!"

"What are you trying to do?" I asked him.

"Listen, any second now, we'll have more raiders here to bust down the door." said Press. He adjusted the collar of his trench coat, "But, we've got a plan."

"Did ya notice the crashed vertiherd?" said Surge.

I thought back on it, from when I first entered the museum up till now. Now that he mentioned it, I did see it! That hunk of metal protruding from the ceiling in the main room had been the front end of the flying vehicle. Not flying anymore, it probably crashed long before the megaspell that hit this area. "Right, I did see it." I nodded.

Surge took off the goggles and set them down. He looked me in the eye, "Well, there's a power saddle up there with it, used ta belong to the pilot of that vessel. Now, only problem is, it don't gotta power core."

"Right," said Press, "but I realized when making our way up here that the museum had a generator operating with a core in it, after passing the basement."

"So what's Surge been doing? Trying to crack the locked door?" I nodded to the computer.

"Smart cookie," Surge nodded, "But, trying and failing."

"Whattaya want me to do?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer to that question. This certainly wasn't my first rodeo.

Press answered, "Grab the core, reactivate the saddle, then take out the raiders in the streets. While you do that, we'll clean up in here and meet back in the main room once we're done."

"Sounds like a plan." I stated firmly, then turned to rush out the door.

"Good luck!" Press called as the door slammed behind me.

Don't need luck, I thought to myself, a determined expression on my face.

I raced down the stairs to the foyer. Yet, I knew there was trouble, and I had the laser musket drawn. But I was running out of ammo for it. Halfway down the stairs is when I came face to face with the next group of raiders. Two on the landing, and two more hiding around the corner at the bottom. "Great," I spat, "get out of my way." I rose my gun.

"Right, like you're gonna stop us," the first raider snickered. I turned him into a pile of ash the moment he opened his mouth.

"Who's next?" I snapped.

A raider came at me, balancing on two hooves because he carried a flaming club weapon, one he was pounding lightly into his opposite hoof, ignoring the fire and implying a beating with the gesture. It was something he probably threw together from scratch, but still, I had to hand it to him. "Nice try," I told him, but the joke was on me when the laser musket failed to start up with a pitiful hum and whine.

"Shit!" I tossed it to the side, and reached for my trusty revolver, something I always stocked up ammo for. But I didn't have enough time to draw it as the raider swung his club at me.

I leapt back, narrowly avoiding meeting my end by that flaming popsicle. "You've got agility," said the raider grunt. "Isn't that one of the things that makes us 'S.P.E.C.I.A.L.'? Haha!" he laughed as he swung at me again and I ducked to avoid it.

Well, now that that was out of the way I finally had a chance to raise my gun and fire. When it came to gun against club, gun won every time. As I looked down on the fallen raider, I thought just how stupid they really were. They thought they could do whatever they wanted but when somepony actually fights back they prove they can't hold their own.

I made my way down the stairs, knowing my mission. I turned the corners to reach the back side of the foyer again, the gaping hole that led down to the basement. I wondered where the raiders were at this point. Perhaps I'd taken out all the ones who'd made it inside. Now all I had to do was crack this terminal.

Trotting up to it, I gave one last quick glance over my shoulder before I got to work. No harm in being cautious. Okay. I turned it on and went into its internal database. I pulled up the coding, random jumbles of symbols scrolling across the screen. Words could be seen listed between bunches of symbols. I'd done this before and managed to hack, but that didn't mean it wasn't difficult. These words represented potential passwords, but the computer would lock me out if I got it wrong four times.

The only way to do this was to figure out what options I may have. It'd be a guessing game on the first couple tries. I scrolled down and chose a word. It said one match. I glanced at the rest of my choices, wondering which one it could be. They'd have to be something with one of the letters of the word I'd already chosen. I chose another word, thinking I had it. One match. I made a low growl of frustration. So it hadn't been the letter I'd thought. But the second word lowered my choices. I chose another one. It stated two matches. That was better but really didn't help. But I now knew one letter for sure and could now guess at the other.

Careful Blitzy, I took a deep breath, scanning the last of my options. Still so many to choose from but only one would unlock the door. I had narrowed it down to three. That was a 33% chance of getting it right. I stopped it on one of the three and yelled, "Buck it!" I closed my eyes as I hit the Enter button. There was a loud Aarnt! sound and then a click as the lock turned and the door released. Oh thank Faust!

I went inside to find a generator. It was humming quietly, filled with power from the core. I glanced around, not sure what I was being wary of. Hey! At least this place had proven some fruit. As a treasure hunter, I wasn't about to leave empty hoofed. I pulled the power core from its socket. There was a click then a whir as the machine powered down. I don't know what it was powering, but I didn't care to stick around long enough to get my head blown off by some raider.

Speaking of raiders, I turned around to find one waiting for me with a cold smile. "Eh, a hero hmm? Well bub, why dontcha just hand over that there power core? It ain't yours." he held up a hoof, gesturing for me to give it up.

I glanced down at the cylinder, hugging it to my chest. "I don't think so. It's not yours either."

"Ha! Funny!" he drew a weapon.

I was quick on the draw though, tossing the core high up, drawing my pistol and firing, catching the core before it hit the ground. I smirked, but the raider dived to the side and my bullet barely grazed him. "Buck!" I cursed. I left the generator compartment, looking for the raider, but he must've found a place to hide. "Licking your wounds?" I called. I shook my head. Backing up the rampway so I could keep an eye on the basement, I made my way back up. He really wasn't worth my time, and he wouldn't stand a chance against me once I got this baby in the power saddle.

I was on the landing, the ground floor, when the raider jumped out, bullets spraying. He was armed with a automatic rifle! Just my luck. I ducked and rolled, barely avoiding my death. Well, if he wanted to play dirty, then I would too. I pulled my last apple grenade, plucking the stem with my teeth. "Hey! Why don't you take it?" I called to him. "Just don't shoot and I'll toss you the core." I glanced down at the apple. Eh, I wasn't lying.

"That's what I thought little pony. Come quiet then!" he was laughing now. We'll see who gets the last laugh.

I went to the landing, where he was visible at the bottom, waiting for me. "Here ya go then!" I tossed the grenade. He was smiling the entire time, until 5 seconds after I pulled the stem, he caught the grenade thinking it was the power core and it exploded in his face. "Hmph," I could easily always be one step ahead of these bozos.

I ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time. The roof access wasn't far off. I ran full speed at the door, reaching for the push bar and slamming it open. Up one last flight of metal stairs and I emerged onto the roof. There it was, the vertiherd, halfway in the building, its tail sticking up. The big metal beast had survived most of the impact, as its structure was mostly intact. I was surprised this thing hadn't been reduced to twisted beams and rods. But here it was, 200 years later, mostly in one piece.

That didn't say much for the pilot. I moved past the power saddle on my way to the cockpit. There was only one skeleton in the front seat, and I wondered what happened to the copilot. It didn't really matter, but I did notice a little orb sitting in the passenger seat. A memory sphere! Who would've thought I'd see one all the way out here? This little piece of arcane memory magic condensed into one little ball.

I picked it up, feeling thoughtful. A true treasure hunter held himself high with honor, at least, that's what I had always thought. I wasn't somepony to just brush off the past. It was my past after all. I was probably up and running the day this vertiherd crashed. I don't remember hearing about it, but I'm sure it had been on the news. I was just a college colt I bet. I let the memory wash over me.

It was just a normal mission, first, fly over the city and pick out any insurgents, then scout out their camp in West Saddlebridge. That wasn't too far past Conquine. Last, report back to HQ. A vertiherd with 4 of us, two to pilot the vessel, one to control the minigun, and me. They called me Sarge. I was their staff sergeant. SSG Daily. They looked up to me and trusted me. Unfortunately, it all went horribly wrong.

"I'm not seeing anything, sir. You sure HQ was right, that there's actually a zebra camp around here?" the pilot's voice came over my power saddle's radio.

"We haven't even made it to Saddlebridge," I laughed.

"I'll be surprised if they've got a camp down there." said Flat Heart. He was busy polishing his combat knife. He always had that thing with him.

He and I were close. We had actually gone through basic training together, before I'd ever made it to squad leader. He had turned down the job, proud to let me have it. For that I was grateful. He'd always thought I was a very capable pony. I'm not sure if it was true, but he was confident in me, and I wouldn't have made it without him. Too bad I would let him down only two days after that…

"Why's that?" chuckled the copilot.

"Come on! This close to Sanctuary? They'd have been caught." Flat Heart shook his head, setting down his knife and making eye contact with me.

I smiled at him, he was always bright. No wonder he made it to Captain. He'd be squad leader if I wasn't here, but he'd always insisted he stick with me. Over his shoulder, out the door, I noticed we were approaching the Museum of Friendship. The vertiherd turned in its direction.

An alarm sounded up front, an alert for the pilot, but it alerted me as well. "What's that?" I turned to him.

He checked the dash, clicking a few buttons. "I"m not sure…some sort of energy pulse on the radar."

"It's not close enough to tell…" the copilot started, but his voice trailed off. The two pilots glanced at each other.

I moved to the front, putting my hoof on the shoulder of one of the chairs, "What, what is it?"

The pilot gave me the most grim expression I'd ever seen anypony give another. Like he was staring death in the face. "Sir, it's an EMP. From high arcana burst."

The color drained from my face and I looked to the copilot for confirmation. He nodded, "The megaspells have dropped."

"This is it. If the zebras dropped theirs, then surely Twilight dropped ours. The end of the world…" I looked over my shoulder to my friend. He was biting his lip.

"That's not the only thing," stated the copilot, turning back to his dials. "The electromagnetic activity is increasing. If it continues at this rate…"

Flat Heart stood up, staring out the window. "It's coming in from behind." he stated, his voice low. He sounded strangely at ease in this revelation. We all turned to look. The EMP wasn't just increasing, it was visible. A vast yellow cloud, billowing its way over Conquine. It was coming straight for us.

Out the front window, there was the dome atop the Museum of Friendship, the arc of its front. There were AC and generator units on the back side. The museum had a beautiful rooftop garden to the left side of the building with sprawling greens and vibrant flowers. Lastly, the roof access on the right side, a little walk the was on the side facing the cathedral with a view of the street toward the front.

I looked around at my team. A gloom had settled over us. The pilot sighed, "Sir, the EMP will reach us before we find a safe place to land. We're going down."

I stood up straighter, "Then brace yourselves."

We all grabbed onto what we could, the pilots needing it less because they wore seatbelts. Flat Heart and I grabbed onto the bars on the sides of the cargo doors. "EMP critical in 5…4…3…2…1…"

The entire vessel rocked a few alarms bleeped angrily at us, then a lot more slowly than expected, all the lights flicked off. We were a few feet from the museum. In all its glory it rose up to meet us on our descent. Then we smashed straight into it, a nose dive, our propellers digging deep into the roof. Alarms blared, yelling about the crash, but all other systems were lost and there was certainly no way it would ever fly again.

Flat Heart and I flew forward, the force of the impact causing us to lose our grip. We smashed into the front seats, and the world blackened. The last thing I saw was the damage to the left side of the bird. I couldn't see the pilot…

I dropped the memory sphere, completely shocked at what that stallion had gone through. I hadn't let the memory finish playing, but it wasn't something I wanted to stand here and spend too much time on. It was just another taste of the horrors this wasteland had brought upon the world. The first taste of it really. I wondered then, if my mother had been near when this bird had crashed. If she'd seen it, or if she'd been far away. No! I'm sure that by then she'd been brought to a Stable, safe from the EMP, the Blackout. Safe from the drop of the megaspells, and the arcana burst. Radiation…

I shook my head, hard, clearing my thoughts of the past. I had never been one to let ghosts haunt me. I had left that behind me. If I didn't do that then I'd be lost. So instead, I turned to the power saddle and opened the casket in the back, turning the crank and letting it hiss open. Soo, it wasn't the pilots armor after all, as the memory had revealed. This armor had once belonged to SSG Daily.

I pulled out the dead battery, letting it fall the the rooftop. Next I put my fully charged power core in. There was a loud whir, and I took it as a good sign. I closed the chamber, and the armor hummed. I knew I had restored it. So I opened it and climbed inside. It closed around me, sealing me in cold protection. It powered on.

"Now overriding SSG Daily's protocols. Welcome user 14. Access granted to Overstallion Ravager Blitzfire." said a computerized mare's voice in my head.

"Wait! How—" I started.

Onscreen a HUD appeared. An Eyes Forward Sparkle! How this was possible I had no idea. The computer began speaking again, "To access Pip-Buck functions, activate with your dominate hoof. To engage S.A.T.S. focus on your target. Thank you Overstallion."

To the lower left speedometer like gauges showed, informing me of my HP and AP. A compass in the lower center screen appeared, showing many targets suddenly popping up. I had yet to figure this out but at this point I had no time. My goal was to kill the last of the raiders that sought to infiltrate the museum. I had to stop them, to save the settlers inside.

"Alright Blitzy, time to do this."

Nexus Spark

Pre-War: 16 Years Before The Megaspells

Out here, my shadow was the only one who walked beside me. Now that I'd lost my home, and my sister. But there it was, the house, where I had once lived, surrounded by police cars. From within the bushes at the end of the yard and near the woods, I viewed the cop cars surrounding the property. I was frowning deeply, lost in thought. Death surrounded this place. Death and sadness. I felt lost now after everything that had happened. That's why I knew in my heart what I wanted from returning here. I had calculated it precisely. Its what I did, what I was good at. I'm a smart cookie.

I had told Blitzy exactly what I wanted. I had come for exactly that. The police would be here for quite awhile. They were tying up loose ends. They'd been here all night and I'm not sure when they would be leaving. I knew I wanted to go inside. I also knew they wouldn't let me. It didn't matter. Everything would be under wraps soon enough.

Standing up, I moved toward the house. That's when from the side I was pummeled by a white blur. We tumbled over and over, reaching the edge of the hedges, but we did not roll into sight. "Blitzy!" I gasped. My heart raced, pounding furiously in my chest.

"Nexy, what are you doing here?" Blitz had a fire in his eyes, one befitting his name. He was always so fiery and filled with determination. He was above me, staring deep into my own. He looked back and forth between my eyes, trying to understand what I was doing here. I knew…

"I told you…" I breathed. I don't know what I was saying, what I was doing. I couldn't tear my gaze from his. I was so scared.

He shook his head, planting his hooves on either side of me. I could feel his breath moving in and out, his stomach against mine. "Please, tell me you won't do this Nexus." There were shouts from the house. My house. I closed my eyes.

"It's already done."

(How great. Nexus has killed his stepstallion. Not a happy ending for this family. Let's just hope he and his friend can figure out how to work it out. It's gonna be a bumpy road, one that sets the pair on their road in the first place. Now let's see how Blitzy takes care of business. He does still have a premonition to hear from new friends once he's through. Now that's a treasure!

Brohoof! /)