Fallout Equestria

Chapter 21.

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A dragon? Watcher was... a dragon?

The awe and I'm-about-to-get-eaten dread was washing away, and I was surprised to find that what tip-hoofed in to replace it was anger.

"It's delightful!" proclaimed Velvet Remedy. "I didn't know a dragon's cave could be so... homey." She turned around, taking in the scattered piles of gemstones surrounding an immense circular bed sunken into the floor. "And there are so many books. You must be a collector." The walls were lined with bookshelves, many of which were full. The cave continued on into the darkness through a massive fissure in the back wall.

"They're Twilight's," Spike said almost reflexively. Then, with a touch of sadness, he corrected himself. "Were Twilight's."

"Twilight Sparkle?" I asked, seeking to confirm my suspicions. I was already sure of the answer even before the dragon nodded. I was thinking of the audio message Homage had played for me, the one Rarity had left Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle had not gone to Pinkie Pie when she ran out of room for her books. She had started storing them here.

A single terminal sat on a pedestal near the bed, an only slightly fancier model than that found everywhere in the wasteland; a cable snaked deeper into the cave from the machine's back. I had been expecting something much more like Homage's setup in the M.A.S.E.B.S.

The little pony in my head was stomping more insistently. Finally, feeling just a touch cross, I bluntly asked, "Why did I tell SteelHooves to stay outside?"

"Uh... you didn't. I did," Spike said, as if I needed to be reminded of the flow of events. "The day a Steel Ranger steps hoof into my house is the day I eat canned food!" The ominous growl in his voice made it very clear what "can" he was talking about.

Okay, Spike didn't have a problem with ghouls. He had a problem with Steel Rangers. Or was it with the Ministry of Technology in general? From someone who spent his days jumping around sprite-bots, that would be a surprising attitude.

Velvet Remedy was still looking around, expressing admiration that the dragon was just soaking up. I suspected it had been a very long time since somepony had complimented him on anything, even something as simple as how well he kept the books dusted. Leave it to Velvet Remedy to know just what to say.

Particularly since I was feeling much less diplomatic. I bit my lip; I was seething just under the surface, and I couldn't put my hoof on why. I wondered if my emotional state was some sort of delayed PTM withdrawal. Or if I was just more tired than I realized. I'd spent most of the last four weeks, ever since leaving Stable Two, in a state of physical or mental exhaustion.

But Homage had pulled me through a miraculous (and multi-orgasmic) recovery. I should be in far more control than I was suddenly feeling. I looked away from Spike, staring at his huge bed. it did look comfortable. Plush with pillows and blankets, I'd even say it looked heavenly. I blushed hotly and shivered from something not related to cold as my brain conjured up mental images of what I would do with Homage (to Homage) on a bed like that. I looked away, clearing my throat.

Spike took the sound as a call for attention. "Oh, right. The Black Opal." He stretched out a purple paw, its expanse bigger than my whole body. "If you would, please?"

Courier pony at your service, I thought bitterly as I floated out the Black Opal and set it into his palm. "Why did you want this so badly?" I asked. He was a dragon. He was no more able to view the memory than an earth pony could. And I doubted that anypony had ever made a recollector in his (current) size.

"Because," he answered simply, "It was the last time Equestria's greatest mares, and my closest friends, were together." With a sadly nostalgic tone, he added, "All of us. In the same place, at the same time. And happy."