Derecho lunged forward and grabbed the first slice of the newly arrived pizza in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape.

With great stalactites of molten cheese dangling from it, the turquoise green pegasus took a big bite. She then promptly made a muffled squealing sound, and frantically grabbed her soda. The mare took a big gulp of the ice cold liquid; after a few seconds she spoke.

“Oowwweee! Aaahh! I dink I burned my tung!”

There was a round of laughter from other occupants in the corner booth. It was Friday night at Stomper’s and Derecho, Hail Storm, and some of their closest friends were enjoying the food and the atmosphere. The place was packed as was usual for a Friday night. It was a mixed crowd of individuals from all walks of life.

Office workers looking to grab a slice and a beer after work. Parents too tired to cook on Friday night picking up whole pies for families waiting back home. High school and college students on dates or just hanging out with friends. Even the occasional service pony in uniform. Didn’t matter, if you had bits and weren’t a jerk Stomper’s welcomed all.

When Prancing Sprigs finally stopped laughing she took a bite her own slice of now cooler pizza; after chewing it for a moment the bubblegum pink unicorn spoke. “Derecho, you derp! You do this every time we get together here for pizza!” She laughed some. “Maybe one day you’ll connect the dots girl!”

Hawk Flame giggled with a slightly chirpy pitch as he snagged his own slice of pizza. The griffin grinned at Prancing Sprigs. “Then yer gonna be waitin’ fer the end of days Prancin’!” He said with a rustic twang to his voice. He then pointed his slice at Derecho. “This here cuckoo has flown inta way too many windows fer her ta figger that out by herself!”

Derecho stuck her tongue out at the griffin and then glanced over Hail Storm who was quietly devouring his second slice in a way that only teenagers could. “Hey Hail! Do me a solid and back me up here! This pigeon, ” she pointed at Hawk Flame,“Is trashin’ my awesome cred! Say somthin’ ”

Swallowing the remainder of his slice with a mighty gulp, Hail Storm stared at his roommate and casual lover for a second before replying in his usual deadpan fashion.

“I will neither confirm or deny the accusation leveled against you.” Then he reached for another slice.

The mare’s muzzle scrunched up and she swatted him on the top of his head with a paper napkin in a half-ass swing. Then she grabbed a second slice herself. “Thanks,” she muttered.

The fifth member of their group finally finished her first slice of pizza. The teenage zebra mare Miquelet wiped a bit of tomato sauce off her muzzle with a napkin then went in for another slice. Dropping it on her plate she final spoke.

“Hey Derwrecko. Did Daisy get in touch with you? I was in her store yesterday and she’s apparently scored some sick swag she wants to show you.”

This perked up the pegasus mare. “Oh! What is?! Did she say?!”

The zebra shook her head causing mohawk to sway side to side. “Nope! She just said you needed to see it. Said something about it cranking your tractor?”

Derecho giggled and squirmed a bit. Daisy Detonate, in Derecho’s and Hail’s opinion, owned the most awesome store in all of a Equestria. Daisy Detonate’s Delights and Deals. Her store sold the most eclectic, diverse, exciting, odd, and sometimes dangerous shit around.

The store was one part record/music shop, a big chunk from an army surplus depot, a hefty dose of second-hand electronics equipment from who knows where, a smidge from a police vehicle auction, and from wherever Daisy bought, found, bartered, scrounged, traded, or acquired her store’s stock. If you hadn’t been in the store in a week the inventory could’ve completely changed in the time you were gone.

Along with run this amazing store Daisy was one of the movers and shakers in the Ft. Trotterdale art and music scene. Her DJed concerts always had the most awesome energy to them, and would always filled the venue she was at.

But what Derecho and many folks loved even more were what Daisy referred to as her Pirate Performances. These were unannounced, and unauthorized concerts, that the unicorn mare would throw with at most a few hours advance notice. They were often outdoor, and could result in flash mobs of several thousand as word of them spread quickly through numerous impromptu channels.

Yeah usually the police showed up and shut the shows down, but Daisy had on occasion done what she called Roving Raves. These involved various vehicles that she’d radically modified into rolling performance stages which Daisy and her elite crew of chosen maniacs would drive around Ft. Trotterdale at night blasting out the most sick tunes, lights, and videos that she’d project on the sides of buildings downtown or on low level clouds. These performances would inevitably end up with a convoy of vehicles following her around town taking in the show and trying to run interference to prevent law enforcement from shutting down the party.

Derecho finished her current slice and reached for another. “I’ll drop by her place tomorrow after work!” She looked over at Miquelet. “So Miq, have heard anything about your college application?”

The zebra sighed. “Nothing yet. It’s still early, and I sent them the Crown documents saying my parents were still uned for, but I don’t know if the college is going to ask for additional proof before they’ll approve my financial aid request.”

Like Derecho and Hail Storm the zebra’s parents had either died or disappeared in the maelstrom that was the chaos of war. In fact Prancing Sprigs was the only one in this immediate circle of friends who still had all of her immediate family. The others had lost parents, siblings, relatives or had loved ones that were still missing or were severely injured.

The Crown tried to do what it could to help these War Orphans, but the scope of the recent war had stripped the coffers and available resources. Even 2 and a half years of recovery had not given the kingdom time to even finish up the initial clean up from the conflict.

Still, everyday things got a little bit better, and slowly the Crown found and identify bodies when possible it would first send discreet notifications to next of kin, but so many ponies had been displaced during the conflict that this was not always possible. As a result there was a website set up to list the confirmed killed, and local newspapers published regular lists as well.

And of course many ponies still hoped that lost friends and loved ones would be found or reach out for them, but everyday that dream grew weaker and weaker. There were moments of joy and reunion, but everypony seemed to have lost somepony in the war, or knew somepony that did.

But right now, this evening, this group of young individuals had each other’s friendship and camaraderie, and that was what mattered the most right now. Nopony knew what the future held, but that was something to worry about tomorrow. Tonight they were alive and they had each other.