Chapters I'm still trying to comprehend all of this.
It all happened so fast. I'll just start from the beginning.
20 years ago, Equestria was a peaceful place, there was no war, there was no conflict, and there was sky. Then it began. On some unknown date, the legendary pony known as Fluttershy died in a freak flying accident. The entire continent mourned her death, but princess Twilight was angry about it. She thought it was Rainbow Dash's fault. Soon conflicts began, and Twilight declared war on the other races. The War lasted about six months before the pegasus surrendered, followed closely by the earth ponies. All pegasus and earth pony generals were executed, including, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. Soon the entire population of Equestria was moved to one city, the city didn't have a name, but everyone just called it Hill. Soon, construction began on more restrictions. The sky was replaced by another city, a city on top of a city. The top city is reserved for unicorns, while the bottom is where the pegasus and earth ponies live. The cities are connected by special elevators, but they are very rarely used.
Hill is a fucking disgrace of a city. Every day there are reports of rape and murder, and that's on the good days. I've seen it all, Hill at it's ugliest. Ponies killed for scraps of food, some seriously fucked up shit. Don't know how I haven't gone crazy by now. I have it pretty lucky compared to some other ponies. I have a house, a good supply of food, and two good friends. But the one thing every pegasus wants to do is fly, and any pony who takes that away deserves to die.
I stepped out into the large street, the road below me was smooth and metallic.
I began to trot southward, more and more ponies began to emerge from their houses, all of them going in some different direction. I turned and saw a house being stormed into by the AA, I heard screaming, gunfire, and radio chatter. I had to stop myself from running over, taking a weapon, and killing as many of the bastards as I could.
I kept walking, I kept trying to ignore the world around me. I just wish I didn't have to walk down the streets of my old homeland, now twisted and turned into a shadow of its former self. I looked up, only to see an AA officer standing in front of me.
"Is there a problem officer?" I asked.
The officer just stared at me with a blank expression.
I began to trot around the officer. He didn't flinch. He just kept standing there.
Be more careful idiot. I thought to myself, He could have arrested you for that. .
The AA were infamous for arresting people for no reason. Well, technically they had to have a reason, but they mainly arrested ponies because of "suspicion", yeah, suspicion my flank. Once a pony was arrested by the AA, they vanish completely. Other ponies said that the pony and all information around them were "vaporized", or simply erased. I always became anxious when the AA were around, which could get me arrested. I have tried to train myself to relax when the AA were around, but I still get nervous.
I began to think, maybe being vaporized was the answer, maybe that was the key to getting out of this place, sure they might execute me, but that is the key. Maybe when they "vaporized" you, they set you free outside of the city, maybe...
I couldn't help but laugh. I can't believe I thought that for even a second.
I finally reached the door of my hangout, I stepped inside. There were a lot of ponies here, all drinking and laughing and talking.
"Hey Astro!" I heard a voice say, "Over here!"
I looked over, and saw my two friends, Meltdown and Striker.
I trotted over and sat down.
"We already got you some cider." Meltdown said, "My treat."
"Thanks guys," I said, "You two are the best friends a pegasus could hope to have."
We all began to drink, "Hey," Striker began to say, "I heard Twilight is going to be giving a speech tomorrow in the square."
I rolled my eyes, "If we're lucky she will probably be assassinated." I replied.
I heard the bar doors open, I turned around and was surprised to see that it was a unicorn.
"Great," Meltdown said, "Like we need their scum here.".
The unicorn began to walk around the bar, it was a mare, with red fur and white hair, she was bright and took up most of the attention in the room.
I finally realized what she is doing here.
"We have to leave." I said urgently.
Meltdown and Striker looked at me, confused for a while, and then they realized what was about to happen.
"Fuck!" Striker said, "An AA agent!"
We shuffled to the door and slipped out without attracting attention.
"What about everyone else in there?" Meltdown asked.
His question was answered immediately, several AA officers ran inside, screams and gunfire could be heard all the way down the street.
"Let's go back to my house." I said, "We'll be safer there."
I wanted to turn around and run into the bar with a weapon and beat the shit out of the first thing that I saw. But my rage would have to wait.
"
"Why in the hell did that just happen?" Meltdown said as he paced back and forth "What did those ponies do?".
Striker looked a bit annoyed, "It's just the way the AA works, I heard they even have beating quotas.".
I too was confused as to why the AA did what they did back at the bar, but I was mainly confused as to why there was a unicorn there.
The unicorns lived above us, in a city above ours, the city that blocked the sky. Everything about the city was luxurious. The houses were elegant and well furnished, and their ships were always in the best condition. I can't help but drool in awe every time I see one. The clothing that most of the unicorns wore was always the best clothing that you could find. Comfortable, fitting, and stylish. As for us, well, we usually didn't wear clothes at all.
My mind began to ponder once again on the unicorn in the bar.
Why was she there?
Who was she?
Was she an AA agent?
"Hey guys?" Meltdown said "I've been wanting to rebel for a long time now, and, I think now is the perfect time.".
Striker and I laughed hysterically.
"This isn't a joke." Meltdown said with a scowl on his face.
"Yeah, you get right on that." I said jokingly, "You wont make it down the street talking like that.".
"No, I mean, tomorrow Twilight is going to be giving a speech right?" Meltdown asked.
"Yeah," Striker replied, "Your point?"
"What if, we got some decent weapons and try to assassinate Twilight?"
I looked at Meltdown with disapproval, "Do you know how many times this has been discussed? How many times it has been attempted?" I asked.
Meltdown looked down in sorrow, "Yes," he began "But we can't just sit and act like the world around us doesn't exist.".
"Actually, that's exactly what I try to do." I said, "Even though you have a very valid point, there is nowhere in the city that we could get that kind of gear."
Meltdown opened the door, "Let's head down to the junkyard." he said, "I think I know someone who can help us.".
He turned back to me, "Soon," he said "We will take back the sky."
"Who are you expecting to find at the junkyard?" I asked.
"Not one pony, but a group of them." Meltdown replied.
Even though the junkyard was the opposite direction from our local bar, we still went to see what had happened.
The AA had the place locked up tight. No pony was allowed in.
But one thing was off, the AA had detective teams there, they were looking for someone.
We continued to walk through the endless piles of broken steel and singed plastic. On rare occasions you could find engine parts inside to build ships with, but many more parts were needed.
Meltdown led us to the back of the junkyard, "What about the AA," I asked, "They know were here."
"Calm down Astro, they only care if you try to take things out." Meltdown replied.
He stopped.
"So, uh, where are these ponies?" Striker said.
"Here." Meltdown said. He walked over to the battered remains of a refrigerator
"Uh, Meltdown? Not sure if this is new to you but um, that's a fridge." Striker said.
Meltdown opened the battered and broken fridge, and it looked like he pressed something.
The bottom of the fridge opened to reveal a tube of some sort.
"Well," he asked, "Are you two coming?".
Meltdown jumped into the tube with a grin on his face, I was reluctant at first, but I jumped in after him.
We slid down for what seemed like ages before being spit out in a large cavern. There were obvious signs that somepony had been living here, cans of food, books, and some makeshift knives and axes.
"Now let me explain myself." Meltdown said, "This is no home, this is a station for an underground tunnel system that leads out of the city, I meet with outsiders here every week to discuss tactics and help more ponies out of the city. Now if we can-"
He didn't even have time to speak before I punched him
"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!" I screamed, "HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT A WAY OUT OF THIS DAMNED CITY?".
He was bleeding from his nose, "Because if I just sent everypony I could out of the city at once, wouldn't the AA notice the decrease of the population?" he said while wiping the blood away with his hoof.
He had a valid point, the AA notice everything, hell, they could tell what you had for breakfast, they didn't spy on you, they just knew somehow.
My mind cleared up, "Sorry about that." I said.
"It's fine." Meltdown replied, "Now we just have to wait."
"Wait for what?" Striker asked.
"For the resistance." he replied.
"Resistance?" I asked.
"Yes, they should be here either today or tomorrow, either way, we need to wait." Meltdown replied, "We should probably stay here for tonight anyway.".
"A masterpiece, isn't it?" Meltdown asked as he showed us a map, "Hundreds of tunnels, all dug by hoof, all of them connected by stations and each one leads out of the city.".
The tunnels were truly extraordinary, how a group of ponies managed to dig this vast cave network is beyond me.
"Well, we should set off then." Meltdown said.
"To where?" I asked.
"To the next station of course," Meltdown replied, "We're gonna get out of here.".
I couldn't help but smile. All my life I've wanted to get out of this forsaken city, to see what Equestria really looks like, to see what it's like to look up and see a blue sky. I was still a bit angry at Meltdown, why hadn't he told me about the tunnels before? Regardless, I was just happy to find a way out of the city.
"How close is the first station?" I asked.
Meltdown began to pick up some of the makeshift axes and knives that were lying around, "You mean Revolution Square?" he answered, "It's about a two hour walk. It's not very far.".
We began to walk into the tunnels, "Oh yeah, you two will need these." Meltdown said as he handed us two headlamps.
We strapped the headlamps on and kept walking. The tunnels were damp and humid, the smell didn't help either. My mind began to drift to other pressing thoughts, what would we do once we had our weapons? How big was the Resistance?.
Meltdown motioned for us to stop, "Shhh, you hear that?" he asked.
I could hear something, a scurrying of some sort.
"That's a Scorpo-Spider, a mutant of sorts," Meltdown said, "A terrifying combination of scorpion and spider, the Scorpo-Spiders were created during The War by the unicorns and used against the other armies. After The War, they were released into the wild, and were allowed to breed freely, they're everywhere down here, watch yourselves."
I looked at Striker nervously, he looked at me the same way.
We rounded a corner and a horrifying smell hit us in the face. I nearly threw up, and I think Striker actually did. We found the source of the smell, three dead ponies, they had probably been here for a few days, "Holy fuck..." I said.
Meltdown began to inspect the bodies, "This is why they were taking so long..." he stood up, "Let's keep moving, we should be there soon."
While we walked through the tunnels, I kept myself occupied by thinking, a hobby that no pony could interfere with. I don't think any of us said anything the rest of the trip, before I knew it, Meltdown stopped us again.
In front of us was a large metal door that had been made from scrap and wood. Meltdown stepped up to it.
"Free the sky!" he yelled.
The door opened.
A single pony stood there with scowl on his face, he smiled, "Welcome to Revolution Square!" he yelled.
I looked at Striker with uncertainty, something told me he felt the same way.
If I Didn't Care, Would It Be The Same?
Revolution Square is very different from how I pictured it.
I expected to find war hardened stallions, ready to face any danger that they came across.
Instead I get a bunch of fucking drunks.
The "station" was alright. It had markets and bars and restaurants, but it wasn't a place to settle down into.
The first chance I got I began to question Meltdown, "So," I said, "This is the "Resistance" you were talking about, when In reality they are just a bunch of morons in way over their heads?"
Meltdown glared at me with a frown, but he didn't respond.
I was irritated, I was promised a way out of the city, and now I have to trust these ponies with my safety? I didn't like it.
"Hey Enclave!" Meltdown said.
A white stallion trotted over to him, he had a blue mane, and was of course, a pegasus.
"Hey Meltdown! Long time no see huh?" he asked.
"Way longer than usual." Meltdown replied, "I brought some of my friends.".
"I see, could I have their names." Enclave asked.
"This is Striker, and this is Astro." Meltdown said.
Enclave looked at me longer than usual, great, now he's going to try and seduce me with some kind of romance bullshit, I could see it in his eyes.
I was never fond of romance, frankly, I hated it. You know that age that a filly goes through when all colts are "icky"? I guess I never grew out of that age. But it didn't matter. I don't think Enclave has the guts to say anything, he doesn't seem like that type of stallion.
"Hey Astro." Meltdown said, "Why don't you take Striker to a bar and grab a drink or something, I need to talk to Enclave."
"Sure." I replied.
"The bar is that way." Enclave pointed with his hoof.
Striker and I began to walk, talking as we made our way there.
"So, what do you think of Enclave?" Striker asked.
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Just wondering, calm down." he said, "Hey, he could be the one." he said while nudging me with his hoof.
I looked at him angrily. "Don't start with that crap." I said.
"Ha! I'm just messing with you Astro, it looks like we're here anyway."
We stepped into the bar, it seemed like the kind of place you'd get mugged in. I stayed close to Striker, Striker was always strong, and could fight anything with his bare hooves, not the kind of stallion you'd want to mess with. The bar was filled with conversation and laughter, we finally made it to the counter, and we sat down.
"What would you two like? The bartender asked.
"Cider." I replied.
"Same here." Striker added.
Cider, pretty basic when you get right down to it, we didn't have any of the fancy wines that the unicorns were blessed with.
It was always here, it was always sold at every bar. Common, if nothing else.
As I drank I began to think, the only reason any of us were down here or even creating a resistance is because we wanted to, because we were dissatisfied with out current conditions. What if we didn't care, what if no one did? Would the AA still torture us, beat us, vaporize us? Would the unicorns still make us feel like shit? Would Twilight still act the same?
Wait.
FUCK!
THE SPEECH IS TODAY!
I gulped down the rest of my drink, grabbed Striker by the mane and began to walk out the door.
"Hey!" Striker said, "I wasn't finished!".
I let go of him, "Whats this about anyway?" he asked.
"Just follow me," I said, "We need to find Meltdown."
We had been walking in the tunnel for a few hours now, assault rifles at the ready.
The tunnels leading to the nest were dark and damp. A perfect place for these vile creatures to live, but what surprised me was that we hadn't seen any yet.
We managed to find traces of the creatures, corpses and some tracks, the corpses contained some loot, mainly just hadlamp batteries and ammo, but I still felt bad about looting the dead.
We finally saw the entrance to the nest, a web of some kind, spun tightly together, and very strong. Striker took out a lighter and lit some of the web on fire, causing the whole web to burn.
"Now when we get in there." I began, "We move quietly, don't make any noise whatsoever."
The web finally burned out, revealing many beady eyes staring back at us.
"Fuck." I said.
Three of them launched themselves at a time, but we brought them down with spitting gunfire.
"Run!" Striker screamed.
We ran through what seemed like hundreds of the things, shooting and screaming. We also saw what looked like eggs, scattered everywhere. It seemed that the further we got into the nest, the more eggs there were.
One of the bastards managed to tackle me, and knock my gun to the side. I wrestled with the screeching creature, kicking and punching before striker finally shot it with his pistol, I threw the corpse to the side, grabbed my assault rifle and ran.
We stepped into a large chamber, hundreds of eggs dotting the walls and ceiling. The creatures stopped at the entrance, and began to step back.
"Somethings not right here." I said.
I began to look around, the chamber was quiet and moist, until finally, I looked up.
A huge hole in the ceiling, covered in web greeted me, and I saw movement inside of it, it was the queen.
"SHIT! GET TO ONE OF THE WALLS!" I screamed.
The queen dropped into the center of the chamber, bearing huge fangs and was hissing horribly.
I unloaded all of a clip into the thing, only to make in angrier. It charged at me, ready to sink it's fangs into my skin. I dodged barely, and the queen smashed into the wall, destroying dozens of eggs in the process. We began to spray the thing while it was dazed. It seemed to have no effect on it, then I had an idea.
"Shoot at the eyes!" I said.
Striker took aim while I did the same, and we managed to take out one of the eyes.
The queen thrashed and flailed, obviously missing us by a mile. I took action. I ran up and opened my wings, flying and landing on top of the creature. I pulled out one of the makeshift knives and stabbed into the back of the creature. The queen screeched in a horrific fashion. I began to pull the knife downwards, slicing a hole in the queen's torso. I then pulled out my assault rifle, and emptied a clip into the cut.
The creature fell with a thud, thrashed a bit, and died. I pulled the knife out, and wiped the gore off of it.
Striker looked at me with an awestruck face "That was awesome!" he said.
I looked at him and smiled, "Well it's not over yet." I said, "We still have Meltdown to worry about.".
We looked around the chamber, and found a doorway covered in webbing, it was the doorway to the vaporization chambers.
We stepped through the webbed door into a small hallway.
"These are the vaporization chambers?" Striker said jokingly.
I looked at him with annoyance, "You do realize that Meltdown will probably be executed." I said, "This is no laughing matter."
Striker replaced his smile with a serious look.
At the end of the hall, there was another door. I opened it first.
What I saw was awful. Transparent cells, all filled with malnourished ponies of all kinds filled what seemed to be an endless room. You could see AA guards patrolling catwalks and hallways. This was going to be tough.
"How will we find out which cell Meltdown is in?" Striker asked.
"See that terminal over there?" I said.
"Yeah." Striker replied.
"If I can get over to it, I can hack into it and pinpoint which cell he's in." I said.
Striker said nothing, he began to creep towards the terminal.
The AA were all over the place, and I figured it would be best if we took some AA uniforms just to be safe.
"How will we explain to them that we have actual feathered wings?" Striker asked.
"We should try to avoid that, and if anyone says anything, we shoot them." I replied.
We finally made it to the terminal, the halls were nothing more than spaces between the glass cells.
"Hurry." Striker said.
"I got it! He's in cell 2187, should be down... There! You go and get him, I'll stay here." I said.
Striker ran down the hall, and disappeared around a corner.
I heard a huge rumble, and an alarm went off. I could see many AA guards running around ant asking each other what had happened. One of them ran up to me.
"Did you hear that?" the guard said, "Command is telling us that riots and resistance have begun on the surface, we need to get up there!"
"I, ummm..." I began nervously, "I can't because I have to stay and oversee a prisoner transfer.".
"Oh, alright. But when you are finished head up to the-" he trailed off.
I noticed he was looking at my head.
Oh shit.
We don't have horns!
The guard began to levitate his gun from his belt. I took a shot with a pistol, and the shot struck him on his upper head.
He slumped down in front of me. And I finally realized what I had just done.
I had just killed someone.
Striker brought Meltdown down the hall, obviously he was struggling.
"Why wont he walk?" I asked.
"They beat him pretty bad, he's not in fighting shape." Striker replied.
"Yeah, you could think that." Meltdown said as he began to stand up.
The ground rumbled beneath us again.
"They actually did it," Meltdown said, "They finally got the guts to rebel.".
He looked at me, "Don't think you need that uniform anymore," he said, "You're a little short for an AA officer anyway.".
"Come on." Meltdown said, "I know how we can get out of here."
We began to walk down the halls, I could see the tortured faces of other ponies looking at me and begging for help. I desperately wanted to save them from this place. To set them free. But if I tried to do that I would either end up dead or prisoner.
"There's a shipping area nearby," Meltdown said, "I saw it on my way in, we could hop into a box, and we'd be dropped somewhere in the city."
"But, won't they drop us behind enemy lines?" Striker asked.
"No." Meltdown replied, "We can disconnect ourselves when we want to.".
As we ran through more and more of the complex, I began to wonder why there wasn't any AA resistance. Perhaps they are too distracted by the ground battle up ahead or-
My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain on the back of my head.
I blacked out.
The space around me was cold and metallic. I couldn't see much other than my restraints and a shadowy figure in front of me.
"Astro huh?" I heard a voice say, "Names nowadays are very strange. I remember when they were related to your talent."
I couldn't speak. I tried so desperately to escape my restraints.
"You are very bold." the voice said, "Sneaking under my home and freeing the unjust.".
The voice was female, and sounded seductive in nature.
"Whats the matter Astro? Cat got your tongue?"
I finally managed to speak, "Fuck you.".
"Ouch Astro, that really hurt me on the inside, oh wait it didn't." The voice continued.
"Notice how when you said that, nothing happened, it didn't get you out of your restraints did it? Its kind of like what they are doing out there, your friends, fighting for what I wonder? Can you tell me, Astro, tell me what they are fighting for."
"The sky." I replied with anger.
"Oh, that old thing?" the voice said, "I never did like it."
The figure began to move, "Let's shed some light in here." she said.
The lights flashed on and I was blinded for a few seconds. My eyes began to focus.
I could see the figure now, purple and pinkish, with a natural horn and wings.
Twilight
I tried to break the restraints in hatred, I wanted to strangle her.
I finally see what has caused all of this madness, all of this suffering. And there is nothing I can do to stop her.
"You seem angry? Why is that?" she said with a smile.
"Go to hell."
"Oh I come from a place much worse, a place no one knows about anymore, but, I'm getting sidetracked, let's have some fun.
She began to push a small hospital cart towards me. Lying on the tray were knives and saws of all kinds.
She looked at me.
"Let's see what wee can do about those wings.".
My vision was blurry, all I could see was white light.
I finally adjusted to the usual sight of my bedroom.
I got up, the morning fog still clouding my mind, and began to walk downstairs. The sunlight was bright and blinding. I stepped into the kitchen, my hunger began creeping up on me. I opened the pantry door, nothing too good, I could always go down to the local restaurant, but I was trying to save money for a new ship.
Ships were mainly used for transportation and cargo holding, even though most of our ships had to be made from scratch considering the fact that the unicorns don't supply us with the suitable parts. Most of the time, ship parts could be scavenged from the nearby junkyard, even though you had to sneak in. The AA are cruel like that. Oh yes, about the AA. AA stands for Artificial Alicorn, when the Equestrian population was moved into Hill, some vigilante groups began to rebel, the pegasus had a huge advantage, flight. Soon after, the unicorn guards were outfitted with artificial wings. The process is extremely painful, or so I'm told. Somehow, surgeons manage to connect certain nerves to the robotic wings, allowing complete control. Pretty fucked up if you ask me.
I snapped back to reality.
I turned around and found my TV remote.
Each house in Hill was outfitted with a TV (the shittiest one possible of course) and some basic furniture and appliances, once again, the shittiest ones possible.
I turned it on, the TV was set to the first channel, which of course, was the news.
The news station in Hill was pretty basic, but it was one of the best jobs in the city, I heard that it payed well, and that the news anchors actually had a decent houses and decent furniture.
Once again, the usual reports were coming in, rape, murder, kidnapping, along with propaganda for the AA.
AA posters were put up all over the city. The posters didn't affect anyone. They were just there to remind you of the morbid and fucked up city that you live in, to remind you that you can't do anything without being persecuted for it, a reminder that you aren't allowed to fly.
I found myself gritting my teeth together in anger.
"What are you getting mad about?" I said to myself, "It's no use too get mad about it now, after all you have been dealing with this shit since you were born.".
I threw the remote in anger and began to cry. Just as soon as I started I stopped myself, "Quit acting like a fucking filly!" I screamed.
Even in my 19 years of living, I have never felt so much sadness at once.
"He's gone? What do you mean he's gone?" I asked nervously
"He and a squad went back to Hill in an attempt to assassinate Twilight." Enclave said.
I was furious. An assassination attempt was damn near suicidal, and I would not let my friend die because of Enclave's ignorance.
I had to resist the urge to kill Enclave then and there.
"He'll be back soon, don't worry." Enclave said.
I began to walk towards the giant door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Enclave asked.
"I'm going back to Hill." I said.
"No." he replied "You have to stay, the AA activity is way to high right now."
I turned around and managed to punch in in his face.
"If you think I'm just going to sit here with my hoof up my ass than you have another thing coming." I said.
Enclave stood up, wiping blood from his face, "Not a bad punch," he said, "For a mare."
"ENCLAVE!" I heard a voice say.
A battered and scratched mare ran up to Enclave.
"We failed, and they took Meltdown and the others to be vaporized!" the mare said.
My rage began to build, Striker's was to, I could see it.
I ran over to the armory and slammed a bag of bits on the counter, "Give me the best weapons you have." I said.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Enclave said.
I didn't respond, I got my guns and trotted away.
I began to inspect some of the weapons, I had two pistols, two assault rifles, and a shit ton of ammo. Striker was following me to the opposite end of the station, where the tunnels continued.
"Is there a way to get into the vaporization chambers?" I said to a blue stallion standing at the door.
"Yes, but you have to go through several sub-tunnels that are filled with those, spider things." he said.
"I don't care," I said, "Just give me a map and open the damn gate.".
He handed me a small map, and began to turn a large crank.
I noticed Enclave standing behind me.
"You must know this is suicide right?" he said.
I turned to him, "Oh, and sending Meltdown to assassinate Twilight isn't?" I asked.
He said nothing, he just looked at me with a blank expression.
I turned back around. The blackness of the tunnel greeted me.
I turned my headlamp on, and began to walk, Striker right by my side.
It was time to strike.