We open to Li'lpip thinking about family, about how little she had one in the Stable, not knowing her father, and her mother, well being the Stable drunk. But feeling like her friends had become one to her, and that now they were fighting with each other.
Steelhooves aghast at Li'lpip adding a Zebra to their group, the rest seeing how stupid and racists that was, the war was long over, and Xenith had nothing to do with it. Velvet's little quip about how ghouls are often seen getting lost on the newcomer, thinking it was some sort of off hoof insult at her. Calamity flying back from his over-watch and quickly welcoming her to the group, saying if Li'lpip considers her a friend, it was good enough for him. And a little quip from Velvet about her judgement recently was the last straw for Li'lpip, giving her a small breakdown as all the pain and hurt and fear of the place get the better of her, Velvet finally realizing just how badly she'd been hurt, and not just physically, while in there.
Okay, the whole internal issue thing, I like it, I do, it would be a bit odd for the whole group to just accept the new companion so easily, especially given the history between Zebra's and ponies, and that Steelhooves would be the worst, he actually fought the war, saw his friends, comrades, allies, ponies he cared for, killed fighting them. And yes he is racist, but even then there are limits to how far he'll go with that hatred, as we'll see later, and it's not something that can't be changed or isn't understandable.
They set up camp in an abandon building, Calamity showing once more how a true Kleptomaniac Hero thinks, and poking fun at a feature from the games. Any house with a few planks of wood nailed to the door being totally impenetrable, despite how little that would stop real looters.
They have a small discussion about why Redeye targeted Tenpony Tower, since he couldn't know about Li'lpip and Homage. Velvet thinking he was just going after DJ, knowing how much he extolls Li'lpip's virtues and is an ally. While Steelhooves thinks he's simply playing on Li'lpip's need to save ponies no matter what. That any direct relationship didn't matter, that it was simply a large amount of ponies in a small enough area to threaten with one bomb, even if they were all of them utter strangers to her, she would do whatever it took to save them. And, I'd say they are both right, Redeye is smart enough to kill two birds with one megaspell that way.
And thinking about Steelhooves leads to a rather intricate realization.
I looked from Steel Hooves to Calamity, again struck by the difference between them when it came to support. Calamity was loyal. Steel Hooves was… obedient.
A very good point that they are two different things, and while similar, show just how different the outlook of the two ponies are, and does perfectly sum them up. (As well as making it more obvious what Calamity will end up being.)
And they wonder just what Redeye would do with the megaspell, knowing he had to have put it in position long before Li'lpip entered Fillydelphia, so likely wasn't just for this bargain, and might simply detonate it the instant Li'lpip does the job, wanting to take out DJ-PON-3, silence any voice of opposition. Though they do point out that the threat of it is all that is keeping a VERY angry Li'lpip from gunning for him, something he really does not want, since the only reason she was captured so easily was she was alone and unarmed.
Though Li'lpip does remark how futile leveling Fillydelphia would be, that Redeye was to heavily guarded, and could escape far to fast to have much hope of getting him. Not saying that she also felt what he was doing, if not the how, was right. That Fillydelphia COULD be a future for Equestria. And realizing what Redeye represented, Corrupted Generosity, sharing his idea for a better future with the Wastes, whether they want it or not, because he believes it is right and better for them in the long term
Personally, as screwed up and evil as Redeye is. He is rather honorable, and I believe he WILL uphold any agreement he makes, that he wouldn't just blow up Tenpony once Li'lpip did what he wanted. Though he might have intended that at first, only swapping after Li'lpip showed up. OR knowing her, he knew she would show up eventually and just put it in place for when she did.
Though this leads to Steelhooves saying it could all be a bluff, wondering just how Redeye could have gotten his hooves on an undetonated balefire bomb, that the odds of finding one are......why are they all looking at him like that?
And turns out that town Redeye gave his Stable's water talisman to, was New Appleloosa. okay a lot of people screamed RETCON, or Inconsistency here, given how dismissive of him they were when Li'lpip was there, and...no it's not. There is no reason the common ponies of the town would even know about that, or agree with him. This really just strikes me as something only Railright and maybe a few other town leaders knew about and kept from the rest. Using the bomb to stay on his good side, not caring about how it would be used, only that they got something out of it, even if only gratitude. And again, just because they are cowardly and self serving enough to do what they can to stay on Redeye's good side, doesn't mean they like or agree with him.
And Calamity gets a radio working, just in time for them to hear DJ extolling Li'lpip's latest victory to the masses, Li'lpip groaning at how only the effects were describes, as if she did something epic and heroic, not stupid and simply got lucky. With Xenith asking why only Li'lpip was mentioned, when her companions did most of that as well, and Velvet confirms that they had asked Homage not to mention them, giving Li'lpip all the credit, much to her even deeper dismay.
I like that, and, I can see why. At this point Li'lpip, to the rest of the wastes, is more then a pony, she is a symbol, a sign that one pony CAN make a difference, that you CAN fight for what is right, that here IS still hope. As much as she hates the idea, it's true, and her friends realize this, and also admit that what they do accomplish, is only because they are following her lead.
Before she can sleep, Steelhooves tries to talk to her about Xenith again, only for her and velvet to push him away, not wanting to deal with his prejudices, though as he's pushed out the door he makes his point, even disregarding his own issues with adding her to the group, does she really think the rest of the Steel Rangers would let her walk into their base and not shoot on sight? Which does get through to Li'lpip.
And she lays down her hoof, for the first time simply exerting her authority as their "leader" not as their friend, telling Steelhooves that Xenith WILL be joining them, and she will not buy her having an "Accident" or simply disappearing. He doesn't have to like her, but he will be civil and accept her. But yes he was right that bringing her into the Steel Rangers HQ was just asking for trouble.
As he leaves, Xenith comes in, holding a steaming pot she places before Li'lpip, Velvet noting the Zebra's injuries and trying to get her to lay down, but her gentle nudge sends the Zebra off, turning and kicking the medical pony away, Li'lpip frozen in shock, unsure what to do while Velvet instantly understands the issue, apologizing for touching her suddenly like that, but that she just wants to help, and Li'lpip laying down her hoof again that if Xenith want's to travel with them, she has to trust them, and includes letting Velvet care for her the way she cares for all of them, which Xenith finally agrees to.
And in return she tells Li'lpip the brew she put before her was a restorative drought, that would help her regain her magic and strength faster, also offering to make her another potion that would permanently augment her bones, making them harder and sturdier. Rebuffing Velvets uncertainty about it by saying if they want her to trust them, then they should trust her as well, Li'lpip agreeing to this.
Before bed she uses her retuning magic to view one of the two orbs she still had from inside the city, finding herself in an armored pony, though a pegasus in Enclave armor this time....(and okay confused here, I thought it was modeled on the Wonderbolt uniform and had the front of the muzzle exposed, but Li'lpip says she can tell she's in armor because of the smell from inside it, which if the muzzle was exposed, she wouldn't be able to smell what she says she does so huh?)....watching as Zecora is brought before a large group and Pinkie in particular, being accused of trying to smuggle weapon designs to the Zebras, though she denies it, Pinkie getting mad, berating, yelling at her, and finally sentencing her to Shattered Hoof, telling the ponies taking her to extract ALL her memories, and not to be to gentle, before storming off, the pony Li'lpip was in following.
And once they are in private we learn that she is in RD, and this whole thing was a setup by them, with Zecora being fully in on it, to help plant her as a double agent working for Equestria in the Zebra forces, the convoy taking her to the prison getting ambushed and her freed by 'Zebra sympathizers'. And we also get proof that what Steelhooves said about Dash's Ministry were true, they DID have secret black ops agents that no pony knew about.
Okay, the Zecora being a spy, wonderful idea, and the set up for it was great from an in verse perspective. Now some people took issue with Pinkie and RD sacrificing ponies to do this, the guards of the convoy. I don't think they did. They knew to the second when the "attack" would take place, and we don't know a single pony died, I find it far more likely they planned it out to have her freed without killing anypony.
While exchanging some backstory we learn that there are a few scattered groups of Zebra's in Equestria, almost all of them descendants of the the Zebra's that were inside Stable 3, which Steelhooves labels as "the Get-Along Stable" Half the population was Zebra's, the other half ponies, and all Ministry of Image propaganda, all history books, everything that would color perceptions about each other based solely on the past were removed from the stuff normally sent to Stables, while leadership was shared between a Zebra and a Pony Overmare. And from the sounds of it, this Stable was a success, the Zebra's and Ponies living together in harmony, proving there is NOTHING innately evil or wrong with either side, and nothing preventing them from living together peacefully. The only reason the Stable was abandoned was it was built close enough to Canterlot, that the Pink Cloud eventually seeped in, forcing them to flee.
Again, one of the greatest hings about this story, and something that just shows how no, Equestria wasn't just darkened to fit into Fallout, the influence of the ponies also lightened some of the darkness in that 'verse, is the difference between Stables and Vaults. And Stable 3 is probably the single greatest example of that we've seen. And a total and utter success, that only "failed" due to external forces. But proved Zebra and Pony CAN live together in piece if they simply forgot things that happened long before any of them where born.
Okay and we get what does seem like a small characterization oopsie. Li'lpip asking why the group was acting like she was the leader when asking her where to go next, which okay yes she is uncomfortable and the rest trust her, yes I get the whole issue with that and like it. But this happening the morning after she told half the rest of the group "this is how thing will be, accept it or leave" and actually used her authority as leader, and then turning right around being surprised they treat her like the leader a few hours after, that just, doesn't feel right.
Though she quickly realizes this when launching on a long list of their upcoming goals. Go back to the Steel Rangers, barter the information she has for access to the Stable Tech mainframe, to try and find where the Stable Redeye came from had been located, then to Tenpony and warn them about the bomb, stopping only after a grinning Calamity points out what she's doing, and that's why they defer to her as the leader.
While waiting for another meeting with the Steel ranger Elder, she tunes into DJ, hearing that Redeye's forces were for some reason setting fire to the Everfree Forest, and also the first announcement of an army of Redeye's laying siege to Tenpony Tower, though the ponies inside thinking their goal would be to break in and capture/kill them, not knowing about the bomb. Ending with a letter "from her assistant" to Li'lpip, telling her not to worry about them, knowing she'll want to rush right back and help, but telling her to wait, not to worry and not to do anything rash, ending it with promising to see her again, and give her so many org....DJ cuts the letter off, chiding his assistant for putting that in when fillies could be listening. Li'lpip, well..
What I meant to say was “I can’t believe she just did that!” What I actually said was closer to “squeak!”
Really I love how adorably cute Li'lpip is when she's embarrassed like that.
And they find out the Elder isn't around, having been called off for some mission, Steelhooves pulling rank to get Li'lpip the information she wanted, much to the remaining Rangers objections.
In the basement with the mainframe, she lets he curiosity take over,( GASP! I know so OOC of her) investigating what seemed to be an unfinished Stable whose entrance was down there, finding a single pony skeleton, wearing a Pipbuck and with a memory orb nearby. Checking the Pipbuck for messages, we find it's Applebloom, who died from radiation exposure after Fillydelphia got hit, the Stable that would have saved her the other ponies in Stable tech not done, because they had started working it last. Though she says at least Sweetie has AB's family safe in Stable 2. And then she blames AJ for not stopping this, before apologizing, saying it's more her fault, she knows she's not suppose to think that but she's still sorry. (... and on a note, the fact that they waited to save themselves till last, it just, it shows what type of ponies the CMC became, and makes what happened in Stable 1 make even more sense.)
After this she finds the information she was looking for, Stable 101 was located in the Everfree Forest, under the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Which explains the fires, Everfree was one of the few places in Equestria completely free of radiation, no bombs or missile having been target anywhere nearer then the fringe of it, he was clearing the land of the forest to create arable farm land around his new fortress.
And of course, having found a new memory orb, she can't leave the building without checking it out.
She's in side a pony we find out to be Uncle Orange, who is talking Applebloom, trying to get her to stop worrying, apparently she was about to make a presentation to Princess Luna on something she had designed for her. Her constant stream of things she should have done better stopping only when Princess Celestia arrives, Li'lpip silently Squeeing inside her host as the royal pony praises AB's work, Luna soon coming in, the sight of both Princesses nearly overloading Li'lpip. though her being her, she still notes how cute Luna is.
The sort of cute that I would have impure thoughts about if the pony in my head wasn’t already too busy bouncing around Pinkie Pie Style and letting off a barrage of squee-ing noises.
..what!? I found it funny (Also do remember this was intended as season 1 pre-Luna Eclipsed Luna)
And Tia tells her, that she has decided since Luna wants to open a magic academy of her own, she was going to send all her students TO THE MOON!! Luna having a small freakout at that, starting to put the pieces together that Celestia couldn't be serious when AB spoils the joke, saying she meant Crescent Moon Canyon. In Littlehorn Valley, with the nearest settlements being Zebra ones...oh no, oh nononononononono...(and more pieces fall together in the tapestry of the past, and, my reaction at the time was less oh nonononono and more HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!.)
And on the trip out she finally asks Steelhooves just what happened at Littlehorn, with Xenith piping in to show how two sides will never agree on details.
The jist was, a convoy of Zebra refugees got close to the school, but being civilians for the most part, just trying to avoid the fighting, they didn't understand the ponies language, and when they didn't respond, the ponies activated their defense systems. A single Zebra warrior, who was escorting his family, managed to make it inside, setting off a gas bomb that killed every pony in the school.
And Li'lpip instantly see just how this was the turning point in the war, why Celestia stepped down after that
((Ohhh there is a topic that needs A LOT of talking about, but I'll get to that later.))
everything, though Xenith adds one new bit of information, something apparently ponies simply did not know, about why the war changed so drastically on the Zebra's end. It was becuase they thought Luna was still Nightmare Moon, and that ponies had fallen under her evil sway. Something that enrages Steelhooves and Li'lpip, neither one seeing how anypony or Zebra could possibly think that.
((And again something that, needs so much discussion I just don't have room for here.))
And the chapter ends with Li'lpip picking up a distress call from Stable 2, they were under attack. Steelhooves letting them know it was the Steel Rangers doing it, and that he tried to stop and had no idea they were actually going to do it. Both Li'lpip and Calamity telling him he might want to step out now, because once they got to Stable 2, they would be killing a whole lot of Rangers.
And I really hoped they'd do it, those fucking BASTARDS deserve it, so so so much...
Perk time-the perk from the bone enhancing brew Xenith made for her, and a note it is mutually exclusive with the cyber-augmentaion perk
Thoughts. oh holy FUCK if you didn't loathe the Steel Rangers before this, now you damn well should. I was really really cheering for Li'lpip to go full on pony-angel of vengeance on their asses. NO MERCY! Oh and to the "Li'lpip is an unrepentant killer who loves blood." group, This was her home, sure she might not have the fondest memories, but it's still her home, and everypony she knew and grew up was about to be slaughtered by a bunch of ponies that were worse then Raiders in their shear fucking horridness. They deserved everything she was going to do to them and worse.
As to the rest, well like I said so so much controversy here, Steelhooves racism, Homage's playful teasing of Li'lpip, the finding out why Celestia stepped down, that Zebra's though Luna was NMM, that Shattered Hoof was never a peace attempt, but a ploy to assassinate Luna, though ruined when Celestia showed up instead, all of it really comes down to YMMV and I really have not the room to talk about all the details of these things here. But overall all of them, while maybe stupid from an omniscient reader with perfect hindsight, and perspective, make sense when limited to just what those ponies and Zebra knew at the time, and their general overall personalities.
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