Fallout: Equestria - Frozen Hearts

Chapters

Cold Flames
Legion of Heart
Journey
Memory
City

Cold Flames

Author's Note

First chapter of my first story ever. Please feel free to comment, message me, give feedback or offer to preread! I appreciate everything, and special thanks to Cascadejackal for helping me start off with some cleanup on the rough draft!

Cold Flames

Chapter 1: Cold Flames
“There’s no place like home”

I sat down at my desk, lifted the pencil, and briefly considered simply screwing around and writing a load of hay. With a sigh, I decided against it, and put the pencil tip to the paper.

Once upon a time, in a land just north of the magical country of Equestria, there was a kingdom called the Crystal Empire. It was inhabited by ponies of all sorts, and led by Princess Cadence and her Shining Armor through a time of peace and prosperity.
Until the war started.
Crystal ponies were recruited to protect Equestria, as all ponies were asked, requested and drafted into the army, or the Ministries that were assembled. As years wore on, Cadence and Shining were forced to begin development of their own projects to assist in the war effort. Those projects are now buried beneath two centuries of winter, within ruins long since dead after the bombs on Equestria dropped. The conflict and hatred had fed creatures known as windigoes, who began to create a layer of ice over the already chilled Empire, but after the bombs fell in Equestria, the radiation poisoned some of them, creating much fouler and more potent beasts, who fled north to a more pleasing climate, and thus they began to work, freezing the land within merely a year. The fall of Equestria had left the spirits of the Empire broken. A legendary artifact, meant to break the curses of both evil and frost, was rendered useless by the lack of hope and joy in the people, and winter fell with an icy hammer over the land.
Beaten and hopeless though they were, the ponies of the Crystal Empire did not simply lay down and die. Many had been preparing for worst case scenarios, a company based off of the Equestrian “Stable-Tec” created bomb shelters and caches of food or other supplies around the land, and these were quickly used once winter began to settle. The rapid snowfall proved too much to survive on the surface, and groups of survivors, often entire cities, were closed off and separated. One group, from the relatively small city of Neighton, managed to get into an underground shelter, linked with tunnels to other cities (Those tunnels have long since collapsed), and survived the initial freezing. However, as the years passed, they began to force themselves to go outside, to find a food source, some way of sustaining their own lives. As such, they learned to adapt to the now frozen and mostly hostile land outside, while still using the vast caves to take shelter. Radiation poisoning in the air made water bad, but not undrinkable or entirely poisonous. Purification talismans worked, but couldn’t care for the entire population, so pure water was rationed. Food became scarce inside, so the focus turned to survival in the elements, hunting, that sort of thing. The group, now like a tribe of sorts, became adapt with weapons for hunting, though there were some that were able to use the somewhat rare weapons.
Two hundred years later, the Icehorn tribe is able to hunt with ease, experienced ponies can survive for days in the frozen wastes, and some hunters can even make the journey to other tribes. That said, often those journeys become tense, as most nearby tribes are less welcoming to the traders, scouts and hunters that are sent, and once sent an attack force back to raid the caves. The tribe defended themselves and-

I stopped writing with a sigh. This was getting boring. Yes, a short summary of the Icehorn’s history was great and all, and the history professor wanted it by tomorrow, but it wasn’t going to be useful for what I did anyways. I mean, it wouldn’t even be useful for anything anyways, it’s not like we meet ponies that don’t know our history. It’s literally impossible. With a short laugh, I gave up on the suddenly very dull draft and put in in my pack, before throwing the pack onto my back, getting up and stretching, taking a look at the clock.

“Oh hell, I’ll be late for sure!” I ran out of my room, which though messy, had a comforting feel, despite being a hollowed out wall of the massive caves we use. The rooms made of stone and concrete which were created for living quarters were long since filled, so ponies with a talent for mining carved out rooms and tunnels after the bombs fell. I supposed it was a good a thing to do as any when your previous life was pretty much gone.

Okay, let me explain a little. Firstly, my name is Krystal Clear, I am a unicorn descended from survivors of the war between ponies and zebras. The war that ended with megaspell bombs falling down over all of Equestria.

Thankfully, my tribe’s ancestors weren’t actually in Equestria. Our lands are further north, in what was called the Crystal Empire, but since the likelihood of anypony recognizing it by that name (or caring) are miniscule, we simply call it the Frozen Wastes.

The Icehorn tribe, my tribe, is led by several ponies, always at least one crystal pony and one unicorn (though if the crystal pony is a unicorn, there has to be another non-crystal unicorn as well), and a third pony. The first two are chosen to be the leader by one of two methods. The first is a vote. Crystal ponies vote for their representative, unicorns for theirs, any earth ponies and the odd pegasus vote for a third, who can be anypony in the tribe. Crystal unicorns can vote for either their crystal representative or the unicorn one, not both. It sounds unfair that unicorns and crystals can vote twice, but that is balanced out by giving the final representative greater decision power. Sort of like a veto. I never really was interested in politics, but I was at least told how our system works.

The tribe itself is nearly two hundred large, which makes calling it a “tribe” weird, but simply calling ourselves a group didn't really work. The population is divided by what they do. Ponies like me, with the knack for sciences and tech work in the labs and repair shops and whatnot. Others who are good at other things get other jobs, but only the strong and quick are able to be scouts or hunters. Those are the ponies that keep us alive by finding supplies, hunting for food and clearing the way to ruins or places untouched by scavengers for our tribe to loot.

A larger part of the ponies in the cave system use it for food. A system from before the war allows for underground growth in the largest excavated area of the caves, using several unicorns’ magic to power a fake sun, which allows food and plants to grow. With this in mind, we have plenty of vegetables and fruit like apples, lettuce, tomatoes, a few orange trees, and some berries.

In the lower levels of the cave system, tunnels have been collapsed and left alone. Upon asking, I was told that they were used by raiders a couple decades ago in an attempt to destroy us and loot the caves, and therefore were collapsed, cutting us off from any other tribe.

The original living spaces were set some 100-150 yards from the entrance, which really was still too close if a bomb were to strike, but apparently nopony actually thought the zebras would do it. I mentally facehoofed everytime I thought of how stupid they must’ve been. The rooms were set with uncomfortable, but usable beds, much like cots, a dresser and closet for storage. The cots were cannibalized and mattresses were set in each room instead, the dressers and closets were used, to my knowledge, exactly how they were meant to be used, and the rooms quickly froze in the first decades, probably claiming a few lives in the process. Then the caves became mines, of a sort.

Powerful mages among the unicorn survivors managed to create cloth and thread, apparently, as I’ve never heard of the tribe ever being short on clothes, and at some point (the history is very blurry and unsure here) able scouts began to search for other groups of survivors, food sources and anything else of interest.

As for myself, I was born eighteen years ago, I’m a pale yellow unicorn with a light pinkish-purple mane, and a tail striped with purple and the pale yellow of my coat. I grew up with my father, my mother died on a scouting trip when I was five.
I was talented at magic and fascinated with technology at a young age, and mixed with my immense curiosity, I read just about any book I could levitate. That range began to grow exponentially as I grew, practiced and learned. My father helped a lot, as he worked in the library and would let me read anything I wanted, although he might not have been expecting me to go to the Technology & Thermophysics aisle when I was seven.

My cutie mark isn’t too special, and I personally think it’s a little hard to interpret. I mean, it’s like a shiny glass ball that’s completely translucent. The story behind it is way better.

I was in the lab as a filly, watching all the science ponies and doctors working on something, and one of them had troubles with a screen. The screen had been cracked, but with a quick spell that was easily remedied, the issue was that when it turned on, it would flicker, like a burnt out horn. The stallion trying to fix it couldn’t see the problem, but for me it was clear as purified water. I trotted over and helped him, even though he was certain I wouldn’t know what to do. I found the problem in a few loosened circuits connected to the power talisman, and that the talisman itself was damaged. The stallion was embarrassed at first, but the next time he was stuck, he came to me for my opinion. Eventually, I was helping out in the lab with repairs, and sometimes even working on magic spells as well, anytime I wasn’t doing something else, which was pretty often considering I was a filly.

The breakthrough occurred when I was listening to a discussion about how to recharge generator spark batteries and fire talismans, where many unicorns were at a loss on how to effectively recharge them to last longer than eight to ten hours. They’d been going for a couple hundred years or so, and the spells and knowledge to fix them was long gone. A few ideas were thrown around, most of them debunked the moment they were suggested. Some of them were only shown to be flawed after ten minutes or so of calculating the power trade. After nearly two hours, and having seen a solution for the last hour and been working it out in my head for forty minutes, I spoke up.

Well, I wasn’t expecting too much attention for my suggestion, as I still was only ten, but when I began to suggest my idea, some stallion simply snorted and talked over me. My dad and the stallion I’d been helping told him to be quiet. My idea was to use a gem attached to a conducting element, connect it to the batteries’ positive and negative poles in a complete circle, use magic to create a current in the gem, and then feed the current in a way that amplified the power in it, and would continue to feed itself. It was a mix of magic and technology, nothing new or groundbreaking, but extremely simple. At first a few of the assembled unicorns simply smiled and shook their heads, but I insisted, and began drawing the formula and the theoretical diagram of how it would work. I was given the chance to do it, and when the results proved successful, I struggled not to dance with glee. Only afterwards did my dad point out the cutie mark I’d finally gotten.

The various rooms flashed by, most open, some with the entries covered by cloth or towels or whatever. I was headed to a testing area in the science labs, one of the pre-war rooms in the caves that I liked most. Even without my cutie mark, I found that I could easily see what I wanted or needed to do, and as such my help was often… well, helpful in the labs. Today I was testing out something I’d helped make, a device that could stave off the chill of the winter when outside. If it worked, our hunters could stay out for possibly weeks, and if it worked in the ideal way, it would keep their supplies, clothes and everything else dry and relatively warm, without a constant drain on magic. The way I’d helped was by simply watching the schematics and ideas being drawn, then taking a surplus heat talisman and reenchanting it into a bit of tech I’d wired. The concept is long and somewhat dull, but on paper it should work.

On paper. I tried not to let that thought get to me as I slid down the slope leading to the labs and finally made it in, panting a little.

“You really have to either train a bit more, or stop leaving your room at the last moment, Krys.” Doc gave me a tired sigh, then a grin as I grinned back.

“So, are we all ready? Is it set up and everything?” I was nearly bouncing with excitement. The Icehorn tribe really hadn’t made much new stuff. Sure, they made supplies, some weapons for hunting or defense, healing potions, bandages, that stuff, but no tech progress in two centuries is pretty slow. With this idea, we could go all around the Empire if we needed or wanted to, and it wasn’t exactly something hard to make. We had plenty of talismans, and a few unicorns knew how to enchant new ones, or reenchant them like me, we had plenty of extra wires and scrap metal, with some knowledge of wiring and whatnot, it’s really not that hard. Although, some electronics are needed to create an interface and program the device to not turn everything within three feet into molten slag. I ignored the direction my thoughts were going.

“You tell me, it’s your invention.” The Doc chuckled. He was a light brown coated stallion with a darker mane. His real name was something like Time Remedy or Life something, but everypony simply called him the Doc.

I picked up what was essentially a magical heating aura, but resembled a glorified heating talisman fused to scraps of some pre-war tech. Which it technically was, but I disregarded that and examined it, checking that the wires and circuits were where they were supposed to be. Satisfied, I smiled and put it onto a makeshift harness, which held it with a cannibalized armor barding, then put the barding on. I then put on one of the dozen or so Pip-Bucks. This one was the Pip-Buck 2k model, useful as all hell, but a little bulky. I linked the device to the Pip-Buck, and the settings for my personal heater were initialized and came up on screen. “Ready to go! Let’s get outside and see how well it works!”

Allow me to explain. From what I’ve read in various books, pre-war papers and documents, as well as the Pip-Buck’s user manual (I know, I know, I’m a true bookworm), a Pip-Buck is an amazingly useful piece of pre-war tech. I’d been using the Pip-Bucks we have available for something like four or five years. Not daily, but when I needed one to see if I could program something to be compatible with it, like say a heating aura generator, I would use one. The actual devices themselves were originally meant to be indestructible and nearly impossible to remove without tools, but some techy a few decades back created an omnitool that allowed much easier equipping and unequipping. The Pip-Bucks themselves have some impressive functions, most of which I rarely use. There’s a simple light and a tagging option, which allows the ability to track down anything with a compatible tag, no matter where in the world it is, a map that fills out as the wearer travels. That’s useful for scouts, but the problem with the original Pip-Bucks were that they simply couldn’t deal with cold. They’d work for an hour or two, then simply die. To restore one to full power, you’d need a spark battery, and those were pretty much useless when frozen, too. So having a heater protecting the Pip-Buck from freezing would be a symbiotic relationship between the Pip-Buck and heater.

The Pip-Buck 2k also has something labeled E.F.S. or Eyes-Forward Sparkle, which was much like a compass, overlapped the actual compass, and showed any and all life forms within range of the spell. It even colors them if they’re hostile, though I’ve never seen that before. The Pip-Bucks have an inventory sorter as well, a spell which allows you to efficiently see exactly what you have, how much of it, what it weighs, and even how much it’s worth, although all currency values are pretty much redundant now anyways. It also has a system scanner, which allows the user to view her own condition, how irradiated she is or anything that is affecting her at the time.

The last function is something I’ve never needed to test in my life, thankfully, but I know quite well what it does. The function is called S.A.T.S. short for Stable-Tech Assisted Targeting Spell. It did just that, it could be activated to all but freeze time, and would target anything you could see, and give you percentages of the likelihood of you successfully striking the target with the weapon you’re using. It even lets you target various body parts on something.

Doc chuckled as I ran out, past the ever-familiar cave walls, my hooves clopping on the worn stone floor, and I made my way towards the entrance, where three watchponies stood with two others I recognized in their well-used lab protective clothing. I skidded to a stop, and stood near the opening, feeling the chill of the wind as we all waited for Doc, a minute or so behind me.
“Well? You ready to try your device out?” Four-Eyes had a businesslike tone, which was a welcome change from the condescending one she had used when I had first voiced my opinion. With a few designs, some theoretical diagrams and more than enough equations judging the amount of magic required to power a device enough to heat a pony and their gear against the cold, as well as ways to reduce the magical cost, she came around, in her own way. Next to the green doctor I saw a friend of mine, Clever. Apparently he was named after some ancient unicorn that helped found the original Equestria, but somepony gave him the nickname “Einstein”, which was Germane for “One rock”. It was now just an inside joke among us, as he’d long since proved his smarts by creating a spell which allowed massive amounts of materials to be handled, either moving or completely changed, with the help of just three or four unicorns, if they knew the spell matrix required for it. This allowed for more effective mining or the effect of creating (or summoning, I guess it could be called) materials needed, like cloth, metals, those things. Gems weren’t possible for some reason, unfortunately.

With a nod, I grinned as the slower clop of Doc’s hooves signaled his approach. We were all here to see if I could go out without half the protective clothing of a normal scout. A couple more experienced explorers were outside waiting for me somewhere in the flurry of snow, and I was supposed to be able to find them using a tracker we’d set up, linked to my Pip-Buck’s compass and map. If anything went wrong, I had a communicator in my Pip-Buck and a flare that I could use, as well as a small firearm in case I ran into anything less pleasant.

“So, how’s everything looking? Did you make sure the third circuit doesn’t cross the inhibitor and overlaps the heating conductor to the resonating amplifier?” Clever gave me a grin.

“Hey, that fire was bound to happen anyways. I swear, the talisman was faulty to begin with!” Yeah, that little messup nearly cost us a lab room. Clever and Doc had managed to stop the talisman from incinerating everything before anything more than a few hairs were singed.

“Then you better be sure this one isn’t! I’d rather not have you barbecued, personally.” He came over and hugged me. I hugged back, remembering the times we worked together.

“Remember that spark battery you said ‘accidentally’ blew up in your face?” I laughed, remembering the way his hairs stuck out to the full extent they could, electricity arcing through them.

“Somepony sabotaged it! It was totally set up!” He let me go with a laugh. “But seriously, you better be completely sure this one works the way it’s supposed to.”

I nodded, more serious now, “It’s the one I tested out yesterday. I rechecked the wiring before I put it on, nothing changed whatsoever.” I knew all the ponies in the lab, and they all generally liked me, but I didn’t want to risk anypony having touched the careful wiring, as all of them would be able to cause a simple, fatal flaw, but none of them would know what they’d messed up.

I rechecked all my gear, patted my saddlebags and grinned, adjusting the heater to start, and with a soft hum and glow of the talisman within, a soft red aura surrounded me. This was already tested, now we needed a field test, I glanced at the compass in my vision, a little unused to it, and I smiled at the assembled ponies before marching into the snowstorm.

It was mild today, compared to other times, and happily, I saw that most of the snow melted before touching me, and the secondary enchantment on the talisman kept the water off of me, sliding off and onto the snow. My hooves were unfortunately still cold, but nowhere near as cold as they should be, and I started trotting out, following my compass, giddy with the thought of success.

I knew where the ponies should be, theoretically. They were over a hill, where I couldn’t see them from the caves, so I headed upwards, to get a better view as I felt snow around me, but never quite touching. Thoughts raced through my head, ideas of making portable water heaters, purifiers, anything. With this idea working, we could do just about anything! Hell, we could even offer to trade with some of the other tribes, if I could convince both sides. Well, that might take some time, but I was confident it could work.

Then I got to the top of the hill. The view was great, I hadn’t been this far out without being distracted by either being heavily laden with clothing and supplies or shaking with cold and feeling like I must have frostbite. I could see in the distance, hills and… well, actually just more snow. It wasn’t that great, but I finally felt that I could see further than my hooves, and if the scouts could see that far even while freezing, this could help them both see and go further than anypony else!

In hindsight, I should’ve looked at what was nearby rather than what was far in the distance. When I finally remembered my reason for the journey, I turned my view back towards where the marker was supposed to be, I frowned. Nothing there. I considered calling back to the caves on my Pip-Buck to ask, but I assumed they were simply under the snow, keeping safe from the freezing cold. I knew that scouts out in the weather would dig out a shelter under the snow and stay there to rest or wait if they needed to. The thermophysic theories and functions proved it made sense. Either way, I headed down, following the compass to my waypoint, and when I arrived, I saw the lumps indeed right where the marker was.

“Hello? You guys awake? The thermostatic aura works!” I smiled, and one of the lumps moved, and a shovel broke a hole in it, showing a stallion clad in the thick furs of the hunter scouts. He whistled, and all of the bumps in the ground were broken open, and he smiled at me as he rose.

“Well done, Ms. Clear. I certainly hope you have more prepared for us when we get back.” The group chuckled a little as they folded their shovels and packed them. I smiled back and watched as they were entirely focused on the shovels for a few moments, more ideas going through my head before he nudged me, signaling that we were to head back now. With a sheepish grin I turned back towards the hill, then stopped.

There was actual smoke in the air, visible despite the snowfall.

I gave a gasp, the stallion I’d talked to first turned around and the others looked up and within moments we were all running quickly up the hill. With a quick thought, I used my telekinesis to make their gear lighter, though the drain on my horn was significant, and they managed to reach the top before I could, at which point I let their gear go, and I instantly went cold, despite my heating talisman.

There was a ring of fire around the cave entrance, something was burning, and I rapidly realized somepony must have had created a fire with an oil base, as the flames spread along the melting snow water, and I slid down the hill, trying to think of a spell to quench the flames.

Then they started running out. One by one, then in waves, all the ponies from the Icehorn tribe fled out of the caves, even through the ring of flames, and I watched in horror as many of them caught on fire, rolled in the snow, only to have it spread even more on them. Some ponies I recognized, some I knew personally, and I flinched away at the sight of the singed, burning and shriveling flesh. The smell of the burning hair reached my nostrils and I knew I’d never forget it. The smells and sounds of my tribe burning alive.

All but me and whatever scouts were still outside.

I stood there for another moment before my horn glowed brightly, and I focused on what I knew of the way an oil fire could be extinguished, and I cast a spell, hoping desperately that I could stop this. A hole appeared in the wall of flames, then a line, as my spell simply blew oxygen away from the section, creating a vacuum in the middle, and I saw ponies instantly coming through the line cleared of fire. I saw their terrified eyes, and a green mare in a familiar coat run up to me.

“Krystal! What is this?!”

I could barely speak, my focus requiring everything I could muster as Four Eyes looked at me, panicky but clearly willing to help. “Oil based… Fire… Spreads with water… I’m making… a vacuum.” The last sentence was extremely difficult to get out, my horn painfully throbbing as I felt sweat drenching my face, then being wiped off by the aura still around me. An errant though went through my head about how sweating in the cold wouldn’t be lethal any longer if I survived this and could still make these devices.
Four Eyes grabbed a unicorn, my attention was off of them as I struggled with my spell. I couldn’t tell if they were able to help, or if they could understand how I was doing what I did, and I couldn’t afford to waste energy trying to tell them. I could barely stand as it was.

My magic was weak, but I kept the spell up as I saw each terrified pony running through, and I noticed something; many of the ponies coming through in the back were bleeding already, some limping. Gunshot wounds? I had to stop thinking as the strain of the spell began to take my entire focus as I forced myself to keep sucking the air away from that one little section. I faintly noticed some lab ponies trying to frantically help, some medical ponies and ponies simply good at heart attempting to help those on fire, wounded or otherwise injured. Then all my senses went black. I kept forcing my mind to continue the spell, even if I was working blind, and a second later, my mind stopped giving any conscious thoughts at all.

Footnote: Level 1
Level up
Cutie Mark Perk gained: Clarity – You’re able to see things ponies often look right past, and are able to be clear-headed even under stress! PER+1
Perk gained: Horse Sense - You are a swift learner. You gain an additional +10% whenever experience points are earned.
Trait added: Good Natured - Your Barter, Mechanics, Medicine, Science, Speech and Survival skills are all increased by +5. Your Battle Saddles, Explosives, Firearms, Magical Energy Weapons, Melee and Unarmed skills are all decreased by -5.
Trait added:Magic Knack (Unicorn only) - You have +1 effective Potency (maximum 11) in either a single spell set or a collection of up to (Versatility) thematically related spells. You must spend your first Advanced and Expert spells improving spells you possess in this set or collection (if possible) before gaining or improving other spells.

Legion of Heart

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay, I've been pretty busy, and writer's block hasn't helped me with this second chapter. As before, please comment and review if you feel there's something I did wrong, any and all feedback will help me become a better writer!

Legion of Heart

Chapter 2: Legion of Heart

“This day was going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small…”

I woke up. That was the first thing that surprised me. Then I realized I was still warm, and not laying on snow, ice or slush-water, yet I could easily feel that though the Pip-Buck was still on me, the suit with the talisman had been removed. Somepony had taken it off of me, but it hadn’t been one of the lab ponies, as they all knew how to easily remove Pip-Bucks using the omnitool. I looked around, my vision blurry at first, and my heart and stomach lurched with the memory of that dream, the burning of…

I was in a room, with a shot and singed pony that was lying unconscious. The smell of singed fur and burning bodies assaulted my nostrils, and I cringed, closing my eyes and backing up with a whimper as my vision flashed with the dying bodies of my tribe, faces I knew screaming in horror and agony as they rolled on the snow to extinguish the blaze, but only spreading it faster along their bodies.

Then I snapped out of it, my breathing heavy as I calmed myself and slowly approached the pony. He was badly hurt, but his breathing was stable. Somepony had actually managed to patch up some of his wounds, but the hasty, messy bandages indicated the medic was either untrained or in an extreme rush. Either option was quite possible.

I turned my attention to the room. It was clearly one of the cave rooms, the stone walls still familiar, but the entrance had been blocked by the bed. The mattress was on the ground, I had been left on it while unconscious. I again thought of what had happened, and realized my horn would be useless for a few days. I’d burned it out and nearly killed myself in the attempt to save anypony I could. Guilt washed over me as my fast mind began to swarm with thoughts of all the scenarios, everything I could’ve done better. I could’ve been faster, I could’ve given out instructions, I could’ve looked back at the cave when I’d first arrived at the top of the snow hill… I refused to place the blame on anypony but myself. If I’d just-

The stallion moved, turning over a little and breaking me from my endless circle of self-blame, and I saw his singed, permanently scarred face, his purple coat singed black on one side, and I noticed another bandage covering one eye. Then I really saw him.

Goddesses… It was Clever.

As much as I’d hoped, I had hardly expected him to survive after the fire, and in my restless dreams, his was one of the faces I’d seen screaming until he lay still on the snow, fire still claiming the remains of his body as I was helpless to do anything but watch.

His other eye opened.

“Krystal… Heh, should’ve guessed you’d be quick enough to break a line in the fire.” He gave a slight grin, the disfigured skin on his face clearly paining him, as he winced immediately after. “Shit. Ugh, that fire wasn’t normal. It wasn’t standard oil-based. It might’ve been something from pre-war, normal fires don’t just keep going with pure snow-water. I have no clue what that was, no chemical compound I recognize would burn like that without something else.” He started to get up, and waved a hoof at me before I even tried to stop him, “I need to feel the extent of the damage. If these fires were magic-based, I need to know how much muscle damage there might be. I’m not just good with tech, you know.” He flashed a half grin with the less scarred part of his face, hiding the wince, though I saw the pain in his eyes. Or eye.

“I’m sorry, if I’d just been faster, or stronger, I could’ve just taken out all the flames at once instead. I wasn’t thinking clearly-“

He snorted a little, “Krystal Clear. Not thinking clearly? I dread to see the day that happens. You were the fastest and smartest pony at the scene. Nopony else thought of creating a magical vacuum to clear the fire. Water just made it worse, and the gunshots behind all of us were making everypony try to decide whether they could simply hop over the line of fire. It was a deathtrap for all of us, you saved plenty more than would’ve survived otherwise.” He kept his one good eye locked on mine, and I didn’t look away, knowing I needed this, but knowing it wouldn’t fix the guilt (You can’t fix dead) in my mind.

I nodded back at him, a lock of hair falling over my left eye, and I brushed it away before glancing at the blocked entryway. “Well, we’re stuck for a while. My horn is burned out, your horn is burned. We just need to wait, I guess…” I sat in silence, looking down as Clever watched me. He was a good buck, we’d grown up playing together, finding all the hiding spots in the caves, reading books together, and eventually we were distanced as I found my cutie mark first. My new job and hobbies took me away for nearly two years, before he came over to my room as a surprise visit after I’d spent the night working on a project for a spell, and after a glance at the advanced diagram on my cave, he left a few notes for me on the wall as I snored. Those notes pointed out any and every flaw, and the next day, after fixing my equation, I saw him with a cocky grin, new lab coat put on, standing next to my working spot in the labs. He’d been more skilled at biology than I, but he’d shown his skill with magical theories and technology multiple times as well.

I hadn’t realized I’d looked back up at him until he flashed the same old cocky grin at me for a moment, “I know I still look good, but come on, I’m not a painting.” Then he chuckled. Despite the situation we were in, he was able to keep smiling. Keep going.

Then I realized he was distracting me as my nostrils caught another whiff of the burnt fur, making me yelp and flinch as screams filled my ears for a fraction of a second. My senses cleared quickly, and I noticed he’d moved almost instantly next to me, eyes widened with worry.

“I’m… I’ll be fine. Just remembering what I saw… I just, I’ll need a while to get over it.” I tried to cover up my anxiety, breathing deeply without the scent of anything burnt. He nodded solemnly, then we both looked up as we saw a glow around the bedframe blocking the door. A soft rumble and the falling of rocks from the other side proved that even if we’d just tried shoving the frame away, we would never have made it out in our condition.

A crystal pony walked inside, her armor well insulated, but not in the way a scout’s equipment was. They weren’t scouts from outside, they’d been digging. The dust on her tail showed this further, as well as the lack of moisture and my utter lack of recognition of her face. The armor was standard, but I noticed an engraving on the side, the angle bad for me to fully examine it, and my attention went from her attire to her gaze. She watched the pair of us for a moment, then spoke in a soft, but clear voice.

“You are the unicorn who created the heating device, correct?” I glanced at Clever, he looked back and shrugged.

“I am.” I had no clue where this was going, but I doubted they’d kill me. If they wanted to, they’d have done it while I was out, right?

Unless they needed to make an example… A surprisingly dark, possibly sadistic, but also eerily correct voice popped up in my head. I did my best to ignore the implications.

“Come.” The order was soft, but something in her look told me it wasn’t an optional choice. I looked at Clever again, “He stays.” The mare stated. Clever nodded slowly once and I got up, looking back at Clever as the mare led me out, sealing the doorway again.

I wasn’t entirely sure where we were, as the only clue I had was the dull stone hall I’d been looking at all my life. The rooms were all blocked off in some way or another, and I wasn’t able to get a look inside, either to see any ponies, nor orient myself. The shining crystalline mare with me seemed to know exactly where we were going, though, as she kept right to my side, stopping me with pulls of her magic if we were taking a turn. Within the next few minutes, I began noticing things. Marks from what I guessed were bullets, and the casings on the ground, and soon small patches of blood, sometimes lines indicating the injured pony’s attempt to flee while bleeding out.

It had been a massacre. But how? The questions started flooding my mind, who were these ponies, why did they do this, what did they want? I remained silent, as did the mare next to me. Her coat, now that I was looking at it, was a green hue that seemed to shimmer and sparkle due to the nature of her crystal coat.

“Here you go alone.” She stopped, and I recognized where I was. Shells and casings of bullets combined with the blood marks down the halls marked that here was where the shooting was most intense, but the mare pointed me not down the hall, but towards the exit leading to another section, one I was much less familiar with; The mines, and by extension, the tunnels.

The mining had ceased once space had grown to be able to properly accommodate an estimated 300 ponies. As such, the last places to be mined had little or no inhabitants, but the rooms were made just in case they were later needed. In addition to that, the areas this deep into the cave system had once had tunnels leading to other places. I’d heard that there was once a network of tunnels that extended all the way to Equestria, specifically one to Canterlot, even. These tunnels were supposed to be used to travel from one place to another in the event the land became irradiated, though simple mathematic formulas involving the reach of radiation show that this was a stupid idea, further showing that the ponies of the pre-war world never believed the zebras would launch their balefire strike.

These tunnels proved extremely practical, and from the records of inhabitants in the terminals by the library, many ponies headed through them from here, intent on reaching family, friends, or searching for what might be left of their homes. In particular, crystal ponies seemed to be headed for nowhere but the Capitol City, which would lead them through half a dozen other caves. The likelihood of any of them having made it there was high for about a decade. The caves deteriorated quickly, though our tribe managed to keep them in shape for usage until roughly fifteen to twenty five years ago. Traders and travelers headed through the tunnels leaving our tribe started to go missing. It seemed like there was something in the caves, and an armed escort was provided for the next group, with a Pip-Buck actively broadcasting as they went.

They were attacked in the tunnels, ambushed, and when the guards managed to fight them off, slaying the attackers, they proved to be ponies of a nearby tribe. They returned, and the Icehorn began setting up a defensive system involving flares and guards signaling if an attack was near, keeping the tunnels safe. Fewer began leaving the caves, only those who were not Icehorn by birth and could not be dissuaded from leaving. What happened to them was not recorded.

After mere weeks of more or less locking down passage through the tunnels, the tribe known as the Frosthoof, descendants of survivors from Neighton, struck our tribe, using the tunnels. In a defensive and valiant move, the guards sent one stallion back while they held the tunnels. The stallions all had the same message of attack, and the order was given to collapse the tunnels. They’ve been like that since well before I was born.

Now these tunnels were open. I realized that somepony in another tribe must’ve either had a great talent for mining or access to a lot of explosives. Entrances to dark tunnels were open, rocks shattered, and some supports erected that I didn’t remember seeing before. But more importantly, I saw the attacking forces, all in the same barding, emblazoned with a rugged heart form, like it was carved from a rock, on the haunches, covering where their cutie marks would be. I was familiar with some of the closer tribes’ marks, but this stone heart was unfamiliar.

My attention went from the markings to the ponies. Most seemed to be crystalline, but the normal ponies among them appeared to be lower ranking, their armor dirtier (Though admittedly it could easily have been simply the lack of sparkling from their coats that made them seem dirtier in comparison), their weapons mere pistols in comparison to the larger rifles or shotguns that many of the crystal ponies looked to be equipped with.

One pony caught my attention in particular, a pure black mare that nearly escaped my perception entirely, then seemingly disappeared into the gloom that filled this area. I didn’t look for her, knowing I was expected by… somepony, the one probably behind all this. I went down towards the main area of the mines, where the main tunnel entrances were, as well as where the miners had stopped once the population had enough room to live a century and a half ago.

Upon arrival, I was stopped by a guard in that light, heart-marked armor. His horn glowed as he kept me in place for a few moments, just watching me. I quivered, a little unsure of what he wanted, but before I could start to fear for myself, he stopped his spell.

“Unarmed. You may go.” He stepped aside, and I found myself thinking I need a spell to detect things… as I continued. My thoughts were again distracted by what I saw as I tried to figure out this group before meeting the mare in charge. I mentally braced myself as I continued, heading down a small set of stairs, then through a hallway to the largest part of the caves, second to the food production areas.

I wasn’t really expecting a stallion. Maybe a mare, hard and constantly scowling, or scarred heavily, but I really wasn’t thinking of a gentle-looking, brown-eyed and cream colored stallion sitting on a small cushion and simply watching me come in. He nodded once at a nearby guardsmare, and she set out another cushion and stepped away. He then gestured at it while looking directly at me.

Thinking it would be unwise to act foalish, especially as the area had nearly two dozen ponies of various types, all armed quite well, I accepted and sat on the offered cushion, facing him and watching his face to see if there was anything to show what he was underneath. He simply offered a pleasant smile, though his eyes seemed sad as he began the conversation after a short, tense silence.

“I’m sorry,” I blinked, absolutely not expecting this. He didn’t let me catch myself before continuing, “I was ordered to come here with this group, but I was unaware they’d been ordered to take it by force. As such, when arriving, I was not prepared for them pulling their firearms and beginning to fire. This was my fault.”

I was speechless. A part of me wanted to just scream at him, yes, yes it was all your fault, get the hell out of here, just go, you’ve done enough harm but a larger part was aware that he wasn’t done, and kept me from simply letting loose the anger I’d felt.

He waited, and once he understood I wasn’t going to reply, he resumed, “I know you must utterly hate me, but this was for purposes vital to the Crystal Empire. We need your tribe, and more importantly, the resources and technology you have here. Out of all of the tribes we’ve been finding in the Empire, this one has been doing excellently, and has some of the most technologically advanced ponies we’ve seen, as well as been the only tribe to attempt anything resembling progress in terms of engineering and spells.

“In particular, you.” He watched me, the sad look gone, his eyes now judging my reaction, though the friendly soft smile remained. I kept my face as flat as possible, despite my terrible lack of skill in poker and blackjack, I managed to feel success as he seemed to give up on getting me to react. “You created something that could keep ponies in the cold without freezing for weeks, maybe even months longer. You kept the Haylian fire from consuming your tribe with an instantly improvised spell, or was it something you had used before?” I shook my head slowly and he nodded, satisfied, “You are a very clever pony, Miss, and if there’s anything that we need, it’s clever ponies.”

He finished, and seemed to relax a little. I calmly considered my words, analyzed his, and after another, longer silence, finally replied. “You say “we”. Who are you, and the ponies you serve? What tribe do you belong to? For that matter, why would you think I would want to help you after you annihilated everything I’ve known?”

He seemed to do that same sad smile, as if in understanding. “We have not annihilated everything you’ve known. Your life can of course return to how it was, if you simply assist us. Your tribe will become part of the Legion I serve, and you and the Icehoof will help the Princess greatly. In return, you will be leaders, well respected and valued, with great positions within the Legion of the Heart.” He paused for a moment, “If you tell us what you know on that device you created, and how you were able to nullify the fire.”

I watched him, seeing through his kindness suddenly. He wanted to both enable this “Legion” to travel further, most likely not in the attempt to trade or help other tribes, and secondly he was looking for the flaw in his Haylian fire, to stop it from being exploited again. “That depends. I have my own terms.” I wanted to stall, think of a way to get my tribe off the hook. I highly doubted the Legion would be so kind as to raise the Icehoof to positions of power once they knew everything we did.

He was a bit faster in thoughts, “I’m afraid that’s not an option. Your terms are irrelevant, as we have the upper hoof. If you assist us, no harm will come to you or your tribe.” The bloodstains and scorch marks were proof of the opposite, “By my word as Legionnaire.” He put his hoof to his chest, then lowered it again. I simply remained silent, mind racing.

The silence was disturbed as a pony walked towards us. He was clad in a black cape, his mane a dark blue, nearly equally black as his solid red coat was covered in a metallic armor that seemed to shimmer as he moved, the links and rings curiously making no sound. I watched his clear, bright green eyes as he walked towards us, prompting the quick bowing of everypony in the room. His horn was a strange rust red color, different from his coat. I kept my gaze focused on him as he approached.

“This is the mare?” His voice was smooth, and I tilted my head slightly, unconsciously. The buck I had been talking to nodded, and the red stallion smiled warmly at me, though I still felt that it would be wise to keep my guard up. His walk was confident, strong; he was clearly a leader. “May I ask your name?” He stopped about two pony lengths away from me. I noticed he wasn’t visibly armed, though he could hide something under his cloak.

“Krystal Clear.”

“Interesting.” He grinned a little, “Crystal is seldom clear unless it is pure. But when a clear crystal is found, it must be kept in good care, lest the clarity become corrupted and the flawless surface marred.” He spoke as if to an old friend, or to a student. His voice seemed to double, without being overwhelming, but giving the feeling that he would be heard clearly if a dozen ponies were arguing in the room, and he simply spoke a single word calmly. It was a voice I found myself intrigued by, as I watched him speak. “My name is One-Trick, but most call me Jack.”

I kept watching, not speaking as he slowly sat down, a cushion appearing under him as he cast a spell. He seemed to be waiting for me to reply, but after some moments of silence, he spoke again.

“Do you know what we are trying to do here? Why we were forced to take your tribe with violence and fire?” the words made me want to re-ignite my fury, but his calm, cautious tone kept me from reacting violently.

I still felt myself heat up as I replied, “To steal our knowledge and technology, learn to use it for yourself and then discard us afterwards without home or belongings?” The buck from earlier glanced at me sharply before softening again. I mentally grinned in triumph at the reaction.

Then One-Trick one-upped me. “No. We are trying to help you by uniting your tribe with all tribes across the Crystal Empire.” His tone was no different, he wasn’t grinning, his eyes betrayed no sign of him setting me up for a shock, nor that he was lying in any way. I felt my eyes widen, then I frowned and my eyebrows furrowed.

“By slaughtering us? You killed so many of our number! You would’ve killed them all if I hadn’t-“

“Saved them? You saved some of those who leapt through the fire, but far from all of your tribe were jumping. Many surrendered instantly, all who attempted to strike back had to be stopped, but we were not shooting them in cold blood.” He tilted his head a little, as if shocked I’d ever think such a thing, “We were here to help, but were met with violence. Naturally, we had to defend ourselves. I wish it hadn’t come to such, but sadly, there was little I could do to prevent it.”

I had nothing to say suddenly, the regret in his eyes looked so real. I paused, then changed tactics.

“What do you want from me?”

“Your hoof in helping us unite the country.” He took no time to reply, as if knowing I’d eventually ask. The answer was stated so simply, I was caught by surprise and blinked at him. He smiled a little, then continued, “We had heard and seen your notes on the Thermostatic Aura device, and the few scientists we had were able to confirm your notes might be possible, but we were unable to create it ourselves. As such, we wanted your help. With this, we could scout and travel the Empire in search of anypony to help. We could save every tribe with this.”

I wanted to hate him. I really did, but wasn’t this idea the same I’d had when I first thought of the Aura? Simple logic told me that if force was needed to get this device, it would be worth it if it saved and connected all the tribes in the Wastes. Maybe we could even survive by travelling south, towards Equestria, perhaps finding ponies in need. It was my dream to help using my talent, but I wasn’t sure how until recently. Maybe helping these ponies would lead me to accomplishing that, and it would be worth the deaths of-

Clever’s face rushed through my mind, the smell of singed flesh again harassed my senses, and I forced myself not to flinch as they faded again, leaving me looking at Jack, no longer tempted by his offer by any means.

“I need time to prepare. I will require the assistance of my friends and co-workers, among them a stallion named Clever, he was in the same room as me when I woke up, and a mare called Four-Eyes. Then I’ll need access to my lab and materials, and I can try to recreate it. Also, I’ll need the equipment you took from me, minus the weapons, of course.” The means of escape were still being worked on, but I felt like if I could buy some time, maybe we could break out. “The Haylian fire, as you called it, I’ll have to have isolated nearby to experiment with.”

“That’s not acceptable. Your gear must remain away from you, in case you have something hidden.” The first buck began, shaking his head.

I sighed, as if trying to explain things to a foal, “Then how am I supposed to recreate the barding? It wasn’t exactly in mass-production. I need the original prototype to use as a model, and all my gear has are some tools and things for working with. If you can’t give me them back, then I’ll need a spark welder, a barding in good condition, the circuitboards of at least 3 computers, two small screens, roughly the size of a hoof, a incendiary talisman, matter adjuster, two sets of all-purpose repair tools, one set of magical tools, and an aura conductor.” He simply stared at me for a moment, and I smiled back at him, “Everything but the screens, circuitboards and the extra set of barding are all in my bags or among my gear. The rest of the supplies I can get in some of the stockpiles in the lab sections.” I looked at the red coated stallion again, “Unless you’d rather supply everything yourselves, it would just be easier.”

He smiled slightly and nodded, “That’s fine; you can have access to anything and anyone you wish. I will insist on a small team of our scientists to be present, however. I have other things to tend to in the meantime.” He then looked at the much less calm stallion, “You will send a single guard to escort her wherever she needs to go, and then come with me.” He then looked at me once more, “I bid you good day, Ms. Clear. Please be ready with the project within two hours.”

The other stallion frowned, then motioned to a mare before turning with One-Trick as the leading stallion left down a side tunnel. I think it was the general direction of the food production, which reminded me that there were possibly hundreds more ponies trapped and imprisoned here.

My plan to escape started to feel much less plausible when I added a few hundred wounded or inexperienced ponies to the party.

I took a deep breath, and then looked at the mare assigned to go with me. “How many of my tribe survived and are imprisoned here?”

She tilted her head slightly, “None.” I felt my eyebrows furrow, “The wounded are being tended to, but are only kept in rooms temporarily until they are healed. The ones who attempt to revolt are simply kept isolated to avoid unnecessary violence until they will be peaceful. We’re not monsters.”

I scowled, starting to become a little annoyed at their attempts to placate me and say they weren’t monsters. I’d smelled the smoke and burning, I knew they weren’t exactly kind.

With a sigh of barely contained frustration, I turned away, headed towards the door. I was stopped by a guard, and was about to get furious before he lightly pointed to the side, where a simple robed pony was bringing a saddlebag. My saddlebag, in fact. I calmed down, not wanting to seemingly blow up at nothing, and nodded my thanks to him before moving towards the pony. He (I think it was a he) stopped, the robe’s hood shadowing his face too much for me to see, but the small blinking light drew my attention to the collar on his neck.

“Don’t. I can see where you’re looking. If you even pull on it, the bomb blows.” The mare guard said from next to me, “Take your things and we will go to assemble what you need. The ponies you named will be found and brought to the labs, so you only need to take what supplies you require. If there are other things you need, we can send others to acquire them for you to save time.” These ponies were clearly organized, but I had finally found one more thing to prove they weren’t the righteous group they claimed to be.

I hated the very thought of slavers, slaves and slavery in general. It disgusted me that ponies existed and survived off of selling living, conscious ponies to others. Not that selling dead ponies would be better, but the point still stands. A flash of red tinted my vision for a moment as I felt my anger re-igniting from when I first saw Clever burned in the room. I kept it suppressed and levitated my bags onto my back, then took another glance around the room.

Facing away from the door, there were three tunnels straight across the room, two of which had been re-opened. On the same wall as the exit of the cave room, roughly twenty yards from the hallway and stairs, was the tunnel leading to the gardens and artificial farm. On either side of the room, two sealed tunnels were being examined by other crystal ponies, all with clothing emblazoned with that roughly-cut heart shape. They were accompanied by a small group of guards, armed with small firearms I wasn’t familiar with. They looked like submachine guns, but with my lack of firearms training, I couldn’t be sure.

I turned back, leaving the large room, trying to think of my next move, all of my plans being scrapped the moment they formed. The halls blended into each other as I walked the familiar, but no longer comforting route through the caverns, past blocked doorways I assumed other ponies were being held, and I began to notice open doors, with more ponies in hooded cloaks, these unmarked by any form of symbol. In one room, I saw one standing next to a mattress, levitating bandages as she worked on a wounded stallion. I heard her softly humming some form of lullaby, murmuring something when he groaned in pain or discomfort. I kept walking, feeling my resolve and will to retaliate waver, unsure if these ponies were the ones I should be aiming my fury at. I paused in the hallway, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, then opening them again, seeing the guardsmare next to me, looking curious.

“Is something wrong? Did you forget something?” I have to give it to her, she seemed genuinely harmless. Well, maybe that was the wrong word, but she obviously meant it when she said she was no monster. The others… I’d decide when the time came.

I shook my head, “No, I just was clearing my thoughts for a moment.” I started to walk, then paused, looking at her, “Actually… I have a couple questions I’d like to ask while we walk.” She looked unsure, but I continued walking, asking without actually letting her respond, “These roughly cut hearts your tribe wears, they’re not a symbol of any tribe I recognize, and by default not one of a tribe we’ve encountered in our history. Who exactly are you?”

She was quick to respond, “We’re a section of the Legion of the Heart.”

When she didn’t offer anything further, I followed up with, “What are your goals? I know One-Trick said the idea was to unite the Empire, but how exactly are you planning on doing so? Are the tunnels all around the Empire still functional? Have sections of the surface managed to melt or become clear of the snow?” I turned a corner, headed for the lab storage sections.

“I do not know. I don’t need to know, I follow our leader, and whatever orders are given, we’ll act out. From what I know, the majority of the tunnels in the Crystal Empire are traversable, though not all of them are recommended to travel through. No surface reports have mentioned a surviving settlement above ground.” Okay, she wasn’t rude, she answered what I asked without any issues, most of this I guessed, but she also wasn’t offering more. Not that I expected her to. I was a smart talker, not a smooth one.

Running out of questions, I continued, “Those ponies that were treating the wounded, they didn’t have the heart marking. Are they also of the Legion?” the opening to the storage was just ahead, third last door on the right. I turned and tried to open the large door with my horn, then winced, my horn sparking as it angrily reminded me of its current condition. The door stubbornly remained shut, and I opened it manually with my hooves. Mentally, I noted that I could still use my horn for minor levitation, but heavy things were going to hurt.

She waited until I had finished before responding, “They’re the Frostborn Nomads. They began to journey through the Empire many years ago, and some of them devote their entire lives to helping those in need.”

I was even less certain of what I could do now than before, my plans coming apart as even fighting to freedom became a non-option. I couldn’t kill doctors, not when they were here to help.

I shoved my thoughts aside, took a deep breath and looked at the assorted junk, and I smiled, knowing each and every piece in the piles and boxes, having disassembled the machines myself for the scraps. With practiced ease, I pulled out exactly what I needed, then some extra components to experiment with and to use in case something broke. My bags were getting heavy as I finished, backing out of the storage room and closing it once again.

“You’re ready? Are there any other things you need?” The guard asked me, her almost friendly and calm expression somewhat contrasted by the very dangerous looking firearm at her side. I got the feeling that once I went in to start this, I wouldn’t have much of a chance to get anything else afterwards and I hesitated.

“I… No, nothing I need, but one thing I’d like. My dad should be somewhere around, he’s a scientist as well, and I’d like him to be there to help. Also, I have a necklace I keep in my room that I keep as a lucky charm. If, uh… if it’s not a big deal, would you let me get it?” The necklace was all I had from my mom, she was a scout and had been good at her job, having found and mapped a large area that others hadn’t managed to check in decades.

She disappeared on a mission that I knew little about. I knew she was supposed to have returned after just a week, at most, but when two weeks passed, there was little hope. Ponies could only carry so many supplies, and with the weight of the thermo suits just to stay warm, the most a single scout could hope to carry would be enough for a couple days, maybe half a week if well-rationed. The rest of the weight would be taken by a shovel to create shelter, firestarters to keep warm, and weapons for self-defense. The problem is that the extremely strong ponies that worked out consistently were not well-made for scouting; their bodies were too bulky and slow, the suits had to be adjusted to fit, and they were slowed by the snow, too heavy to avoid sinking completely down. Food was an issue, and it was a massively limiting factor to the range of our scouts. Until I began working on the thermostatic field (Though I was still working on a better name for it), which could drastically increase the distance a scout would be able to travel without cold being the barrier holding them back.

My mom came back one day with a necklace. She hadn’t found a food stash, but a jewelry store under the vast snow-covered country, and with nothing else of value to return with, she took the jewels and shared them when she returned. Some of the gems were magical and could be used, but many were so-called “dead” gems: gems without the ability to hold or channel magic unless a large current was sent through them. They were useless for much other than decoration, and my necklace was one of those gems. On the back, my mom had engraved “To the one most cherished in my heart. I love you, Krystal.” She had given a similar trinket to my father, but he kept it off most of the time, like I did, as the jewelry quickly interfered with the experiments we did.

I kept my eyes on the guard as she paused, then nodded, “Very well. Lead the way.” She was still armed, and hadn’t put her weapon away. I nodded and walked down the hallways, the clopping of hooves on stone echoing as they always had, but less familiar activity in the rooms I passed. My mind drifted to thoughts of how my tribe would recover from this. If they could recover… Everything was changed for the worse, even if this Legion group simply left us alone now, none of our tribe would ever be as welcoming to strangers again. I knew this, and I felt more than the fury of before.

I was saddened. Saddened in the way of seeing a filly learn about the harsh realities of death… I was sad for what the Legion had taken; our “innocence”, in a sense…

Lost in thought, I almost forgot the turn towards my room, and I finally stopped at the arched entry. My paper was laying on the desk, an assignment I would never turn in. My bed was still messy, and under it were old books and items I’d stored over the years, most of which I probably didn’t remember any longer. I looked at my shelves, opposite the bed on the right hoof wall, and the necklace softly shimmered back at me. I levitated it and fastened the clasp around my neck, knowing the enchantment on it would keep it from falling off unless I took it off myself. Looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed I had my own burn, a light line along the side of my face, but with the lack of pain, I figured it was simply the fur that was burnt off, no damage to the hide.

When I turned back, the guardsmare was looking around the room, as if curious. “Your room is… simple.” She decided to say, “You are young, yet I don’t see any signs of it in your furnishings.”

“Well, I probably hid anything particularly embarrassing or immature under the bed, but you’re right. I spend more time outside of my room, so I use it more for studies and work.” I glanced around, the only personal things I cherished hidden under my bed or kept on the shelves. “Don’t we need to go to the labs?” I wanted to go, I hated how my mind was racing for ways to plan an escape of some sort, and the longer I was with this mare, the less I wanted to hurt them… Not that I believed I could, all my escape ideas were coming up blank.

She nodded, and returning to my side we began the walk towards the lab area. I was becoming desperate, my usually sharp mind unable to create a likely scenario that involved the Icehorn tribe becoming free without most of them dying anyways. Even that was a short-term idea, which would prove futile when Legion reinforcements arrived. Perhaps… Perhaps it was better to simply give up, maybe take advantage of an opening someday in the future.

“Ms. Clear. I would have a word with you privately.” The smooth voice from the side of the hallway caught me off guard, and the mare next to me nearly lifted her weapon, then stopped, as did I. “I have something I’d like to share with you before the tests begin.” Jack was standing in a side room, an unused storage space just down the hall of the labs, and he looked at the guard, “You can go to the labs and keep watch while I discuss things with her.” The unicorn nodded once, then evenly walked down towards the entrance to the laboratories, her hooves quietly clopping against the stone floor.

I was already suspicious of One Trick, but with no excuse or plan I simply entered the small room without a word. Only after the stallion had closed the door did I speak.

“What do you-“

“You’re in quite a predicament, Krystal.” He simply held up a hoof, smiling slightly as he looked at me, “Your tribe is in the hooves of the Legion, and although I can understand you wanting to take action, there is nothing you can safely do without great consequences inflicted on the innocents, both on your side and the Legion’s.”

“Don’t you mean your side and mine?” I glared at him, a cold fire in my stomach igniting as he spoke. I quickly gathered that he wasn’t simply gloating, rubbing salt in fresh wounds. He spoke like a third party, one not associated or sanctioning the Legion’s actions here. “What do you want from me?”

He slowly walked back and forth, the cramped space limiting how much pacing he could do, “I want what I asked for; a functioning module for the heating system you created and a possible way to defeat the Haylian fire. Not, however, for the reasons you think.” He actually grinned a little, “I am leading a small section of the Legion, one that recently has wished to separate from the main body. This is why we attempted to take control of an area, and would very much rather keep away from bloodshed. I understand if you don’t trust me, but I offer you this: Should you keep your end of the bargain, I will not only allow you to leave however you wish, but I will allow you to leave with up to two ponies you wish to take with you, supplies for a journey, one pony I will send with you, and anything else you wish to take, within reason.”

“If you think I’m going to just let you send somepony with me to spy on us-“ I couldn’t possibly be expected to trust him, he could just as easily be playing me into a trap.

“No. I’m sending you somepony to make sure you survive the journey. Leaving the Legion isn’t something most ponies get a chance to do. If you leave, you will instantly become enemies with the main body of the Legion. However, if you do choose to accept, you will get a chance to do something about it.” He stopped pacing, smile gone, and I noticed his voice changing from smooth to rigid and clearly serious. Either he was an amazing poker player, had figured that he couldn’t sweet talk me or he was deadly serious about what he was saying.

I wasn’t sure which was more foreboding.

He continued, eyes locked on mine, keeping me from moving, “I have reports of some sort of strangeness coming from the leader of the Legion. Who that leader is, nopony seems to know, nor where they are. The Legion is breaking down in some places, but this isn’t new. However, tribes that have tried to break from the Legion before always have been dealt with heavily. Knowing this, I am going to use this place to keep the Legion from taking control here, for reasons of my own. I would send you with a pony I… trust, to an extent, but I know she can and will keep you alive if I were to give her the order. Other than that, I will have nothing more to do with your journey, but you will not be able to return here.”

I kept my eyes on his, neither of us moving after he finished, him waiting on my reaction, me judging his words and offer. “Why should I trust you? What would the point of investigating the Legion be? Why would it be worth leaving my home?”

His eyes were calm and his voice even as he replied, “Because if you don’t, we are all going to die.”

Quest perk gained: Free, at a Price – You are free from being locked to any single faction by using this perk in dialogue choices, but you may lose reputation permanently with that faction by doing so.
Reputation change: Legion – Neutral to Shunned
Reputation change: Wild Cards – Neutral to Unpredictable
Quest reward: Party – You may now recruit and manage a party of ponies to travel with. This amount is limited by various factors, including Karma, Charisma and Reputation with each character’s faction. Some characters will join you for certain periods regardless of these factors.

Journey

Author's Note

After like, two years, I'm back! I'm working hard on new chapters, editing the next one right now!

Journey

Chapter 3: Journey
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I stood in the lab, now with Four-Eyes, who was unmarked by fire except a slightly patchy mane in some places, Clever, a unicorn stallion technician named Fuse Box, and my dad on the far right. On the opposite side of the long table that had been set up for us stood three ponies to take notes for Jack and be able to recreate the process. They were all remarkably similar, all with nearly the same hue of green coat and mane, dressed in lab coats instead of the standard heart-marked cloaks from the Legion, at the insistence of myself and the others. They watched as I set the various objects on the table and looked at each pony while I prepared.

“Now then, are we all ready?” I got a nod from each pony, and took a deep breath before beginning to explain, “First, we need to go in-depth with how a heating talisman works. I’m going to assume most of you already know that, to save time, and instead explain how to re-enchant the talisman to better suit what we need it for.” I floated the round, softly glowing and warm stone in front of everypony’s faces, and talked as I started casting the spell, “You need to know the enchantment for what makes a heating talisman work. Knowing that, it’s a simple task to disenchant, then re-enchant it to both have the heating element as well as the “aura”, which allows it to create heat only within a specified radius. To adjust this radius, we also need to make it compatible with electronics.” The stone brightly glowed, a shattering sound heard as I first broke the enchantment, and then it turned white for a moment as I recast the spell, the glow fading to leave the stone a soft red color. Then I set it next to a small pile of scrapped electronics, which I lifted to show everypony, “What we have here is more or less the innards of a terminal. A circuit board, various wires, as well as all we need to make this PipBuck compatible, as well as a dock for a spark battery. However, since there are few PipBucks available around, I had some ideas that were going to be experimental for this. I’ll get back to those. Now, this gemstone is here because the talisman isn’t inherently compatible with technology. Much like how energy weapons always use gems to focus their beams.” The gemstone in question was a ruby, well-shaped for focusing energy. I set it among the scraps, and with a simple tech spell I created a modified dock for the gemstone, as well as a small section to hold the talisman connected to the ruby, then continued, creating the core of the system, which could adjust how much energy was being used by the device.

It still looked a mess, but when I finished the components for the spark battery dock, it was theoretically usable, albeit impractical and still unable to be adjusted, “Now, this is technically usable, as you can set a spark battery there and it would heat the surrounding area. However, you wouldn’t be able to change how large the area is, nor how much heat is put out. So we need a screen and a way to control it. The screen is easy enough, simply program a small chip to show what the current settings are, but the controls are slightly more difficult. I chose the easy way and made it PipBuck compatible, but I have some notes here that specify different ways a control system could be set into the actual suit itself. As for making it a bit easier to transport and keep unharmed, simply take a set of pretty much any clothing,” I took a set of used clothing, thickened to be used for work in the colder areas of the caves, but not so much for actually scouting outside, and I placed the talisman and circuit board on the chest area, “set the core of the device, and the talisman, either on the back or the chest, so that it is close to the center of the wearer, and have an external protection around, like hard plastic casing or some such.” The final step was simple, and with a short, modified, mending spell, I attached a hard cover of plastic with metal sides and shaped it around the device, catching my dad’s proud smile from the corner of my eye. “The case must be properly attached so that it cannot be removed unless the clothing is removed, which in turn can only be taken off undamaged if the user’s PipBuck is removed and disconnected properly. Trying to do so by force or carelessly can easily cause damage to the suit and wiring connecting the PipBuck and the talisman device itself.”

One of the Legion’s ponies paused for a moment before asking, “Why not just place the talisman closer to the PipBuck or reinforce the wiring?”

I raised an eyebrow and glance at my untouched suit. It was clear that while I was unconscious they had wanted to take my device off, but were wary of damaging the only usable set by not knowing what they were doing. I was glad they were at least smart enough to realize that pulling it or cutting the fabric would end with damaging the connection to the PipBuck. This also told me that they didn’t know how to remove PipBucks. Following that knowledge, I reasoned that they didn’t have anypony with PipBucks of their own. “The same problem would be an issue, but now you’d have more weight on one side, or even the entire device on your leg. This means that the center of the aura would not be the center of you, and you would have to adjust accordingly, possibly causing a higher usage of the batteries. The extra weight would also make the user unbalanced, and since the project was targeting scouts who need to move quickly and carry as many supplies as possible, the imbalance would be detrimental to the goal.” The stallion nodded and quickly scribbled more notes while I looked over the suit, checking for anything I might have missed.

I set the finished suit down, the almost-triplets across from me still writing notes quickly, pens floating and scribbling across pads of paper. I was impressed, they’d followed me without a problem the entire time. The others had nodded along and several of them knew some of the specifics of the process, although not all of it. The spells I had used were familiar ones for all of them, I’d taught or learned each one from all of them. “Any other questions?”

With no more words spoken, I continued to my second part of the deal, but before I started, the door opened. Jack walked in, looking as calm and confident as when I first met him. I met his gaze, then returned to the group, “Now, as for how I stopped the fire, I simply used the essence of what fire is. Fire can only be created and sustained when there is something to burn, oxygen and a flammable gas, hydrogen in almost all cases. Remove any of these and the fire will go out, right?” The Icehorn ponies nodded, the Legion ponies watched me as I took out a piece of cloth, “I don’t want to test with that fire that was lit outside the cave, but I can show using a normal flame as the example.” I lit the cloth with a small spell, and it soon started to burn. It was fire resistant, but that only made it burn slower, giving me time to explain, “Obviously, you can’t take away the cloth, so you need to remove one of the other elements of fire. I removed the oxygen by creating a force around the fire, not allowing fresh air to feed the flames, forcing it to choke itself to death. The spell was not planned or tried previously, so it’s not perfect or efficient, but it works.” As I spoke, my horn lit up, and the flame started to flicker, then simply went out. I saw Clever smiling and shaking his head, Four-Eyes nodded, her face ever calm and serious, Fuse Box nodded as well, typing notes into a terminal. My father again beamed at me, then glanced at the bold-colored red stallion watching from the side and sighed softly.

The Legion ponies were now again writing notes rapidly as I looked at everypony, keeping my eyes from locking onto any others for very long until I met Jack’s calm, cool glance. He nodded once, and I looked at the replica of the prototype of my proud device, then at the burnt piece of clothing, then at the ponies around me again. With a soft sigh, I nodded once back.

“Krystal, what’s going-“ Dad started, but with a gentle smile I shook my head and silenced him with a wave of my hoof.

“It’s okay, dad. I’ll see you afterwards, alright?” The lie stung in my mouth, but when he nodded, I promised myself I’d make sure to make up for it one day.

“Ms. Clear, if you are ready, I would like you to come now. Take your time; I will be waiting in the hall.” Jack said in his smooth tone, his composure betraying nothing of what it had been just a few minutes ago. He walked out as I looked at Clever sadly, then I checked my bags, fastened the straps and followed the red leader out. I felt the questions from Clever and Four-Eyes as much as I felt their eyes following me out into the hall, only stopping when the door shut behind me.

“I received an interesting request from a certain pony. “ Jack’s voice was no longer the stressed and intense voice I had heard earlier, but it was not the smooth voice he used in front of others now, either. He spoke calmly, evenly, no longer with an underlying intent to convince or soothe me as he pulled out a trinket from under his cape, “A pony claiming to be your father asked me to give this to you. Perhaps he knew you might be leaving.” His horn glowed softly as the small, bejeweled metal piece moved in front of me.

“See, mom? I learned how to braid my mane at Versa’s!”

“Oh, but it fell apart… Here, try putting a lock of hair through this after you braid it. Maybe I can find more for you to use next time I head out.”

I took the little band, a small circle roughly the width of the base of my horn with a thin line of metal in between, and I subconsciously moved it towards my mane, to the left side, and slipped a lock in it, remembering things long forgotten until now.

”There, now it’ll stay braided, and you’ll look even prettier now!”

”One day I’ll look as pretty as you, mom!”

The faint laughter echoing in my memory was interrupted as Jack cleared his throat, and I looked up at him to notice his faint smirk. “That’s all?” He dropped the smirk when I spoke and nodded, “Did you find her?”

Before he could reply, a yell drew both of our attentions down the hall as guards seemed to be struggling with another pony. I started running down the hall before I heard the pony yell out, “You’ll never take me alive, you bastards!” and one guard was slammed against the wall and stumbled to the ground. I got a better look and felt my horn glow as I lifted the struggling pony into the air, and she flailed for a few seconds, “A unicorn, huh? Let’s see how magical you are when I break your- Oh, hey Kryssy!” She instantly stopped, mid-rant as she saw me, and I faintly smiled.

“Hey Versa, still alive and kicking, I see. You mind relaxing a little so I can let you down without you hurting anypony?”

“I told them to leave me alone, and they were all pushy. You know how I hate pushy ponies!” The light brown mare struggled to try to orient herself into an upright position as she floated in the air, “Well, fine, I won’t fight, but I’m not doing nothing ‘til you tell me what the hay’s going on here.”

With a sigh, I rolled my eyes and set her down, right side up, and she instantly planted her rear on the ground to emphasize her unwillingness to do anything else until satisfied. She then turned her glance towards me and her light-ish green eyes met mine, an almost challenging gaze as she waited for me. “You’re coming with me. We’re leaving here, to do something in order to help our clan.” I kept my voice even, just hoping she wouldn’t argue it and simply tag along.

“Why? You helping these assholes?” Celestia help us all if Versa ever had to be the diplomat in a bad situation. Her gaze became a glare, aimed at all the ponies around us, and I wanted to facehoof. Thankfully, they seemed to ignore it, though the guns holstered on the guards still would be easily able to move faster than I could react if she went too far.

“It’s more of a favor for a favor. I can explain it better if we’re alone, Versa. Please, just get my back on this one. I promise you it’s a good reason.” There was a moment of silence where we stared at each other. I could almost feel the tension between the guards and Versa, and I hoped she would just let it go long enough for me to explain. When I noticed her left ear twitch, I almost let out a sigh of relief. She relaxed a bit, then stood up and walked over to me, each hoofstep echoing off the solid rock halls. I faintly realized I’d never get around to suggesting the walls be painted around the halls. That thought lead to how I’d never finish making half a dozen projects, or ever hang out normally with Clever or work out a new piece of tech with Four-Eyes. I stayed still, but had to hold on as I nearly cracked at the thought of what leaving meant.

“Well? Where we goin’? You made another of those heating things to let us head outside? Or are we taking the tunnels?” Versa’s distinct voice gave me the grip to hold on as I pull my mind from the rush of thoughts, and returned attention to my situation. I was supposed to lead this for now, at least. With any luck, Jack’s plan would go smoothly, the way he assured me. Despite my skepticism, he detailed well enough and I figured it had a high chance of success. If it didn’t work, well… neither of us had options that would end well for anypony.

“The tunnels the Legion came in through. We’re exiting through there. Do you need to get anything, Versa? We probably won’t be back for a good while.”

“But we are comin’ back, right?” The question hung in the air for a moment before I nodded once, and she smiled, “I got all I need in a locker down the hall here. You know the one.”

I did, actually. A bit too well for my tastes, but it didn’t bother me anymore. I walked down with her trailing me to the row of lockers. Mine was around the corner, but the one I was looking for was the closest to me. I looked at it, and nearly shivered. The symbol I hadn’t seen alive in years still was engraved on the locker’s door. My mom’s cutie mark, a simple ice crystal, was still left untouched on what once was her locker. I opened it, and inside was Versa’s saddlebags, no mark on them yet, still.

As long as I’ve known her, her flank has always been bare, which once upon a time was a symbol of shame and something she’d hide, but over time she grew proud of herself anyways, and defiantly stood against any that tried to make an issue about it. Her parents had been lost in the last attack, so she grew up an orphan, but was taken care of by help from most everypony until my mom took her in, and even trained her as a scout until she disappeared. Versa always was my friend when I needed her, and she was always around for dad and I after my mom went missing.

I took her bags and passed them to her, then noticed a picture in the locker. I picked it up as Versa opened her bag, checking the contents. I distantly noted that she still had the other prototype of my suit in her bag and was already starting to put it on, using her personal PipBuck omnitool. The picture forced me to consciously keep my breathing steady as I saw my mom, a younger Versa, me as a little filly in front, dad in a lab coat looking rushed as all our faces were smiling and laughing. A moment in time where I had a full family. Versa caught my eye, noticing what I’d gotten distracted by, and smiled a little sadly. “Take it.” She said while she tightened the straps on her bags. I let out a breath, then nodded and put it in my own bags. When I’d composed myself again, I turned towards Jack, who was watching expectantly as I nodded and he turned, the guards staying behind us, probably more focused on Versa than myself as Jack led the way down the magically lit hallways.

He led us back to the lower parts of the system, when the Legion had blown the walls open to invade, and he stopped a dozen meters or so from the hole and turned back to us. “This is where we part ways, Krystal Clear. You know what I’ve asked from you, and so long as you uphold your end, I will do the same. As for the pony I mentioned, you will cross paths before too long.”

Versa took that moment to glare at him, “You better uphold your side, ‘else I’ll be back and you won’t have Kryssy to stop me.” Her threats were cute, but less harmless than they appeared. She was probably the most stubborn and persistent pony in the clan, if not the Crystal Empire. She’d hold grudges for a long time if they weren’t absolved in some way that she thought fair, and often times she’d earn a reputation for being very uncooperative when she didn’t feel like it. I nodded once more to Jack, taking a deep breath as I mentally prepared myself. Versa stopped, then spoke again, “Hang on, we don’t have any weapons. What do we do if there’s beasties or ponies that don’t like us down there?”

I glanced at Jack, and he nodded once to a guard, who hesitantly passed over the pistol and holster he was carrying, then pulled out a small box of ammo and gave it to me. I in turn sent it to Versa, giving her a look that told her to be cool and not try shooting the ponies that were letting us go. Thankfully, she simply equipped herself and slid the ammo box into her bags without pulling the gun or anything stupid.

“Satisfied with what you have now?” Jack asked, though not with irritation. I supposed he wasn’t kidding about wanting to keep me alive. Versa nodded and we both turned to leave our home for possibly both the first and last time.

I found that one interesting thing about walking through the tunnels leaving our home was that it gave me time to think, to reflect. Versa remained quiet at first, but after a few minutes she stopped, putting a hoof down hard enough to make me look over at her. “Is something wrong?”

“You know damn well what’s wrong! We just left our home, and don’t you lie to me about us going back soon, you get a look when you’re on a mission, and another when it’s a mission that makes you feel bad. Remember the time you had to steal a PipBuck on that dare? You had this guilty look or something, and you’ve had something like that all day now! You’d better tell me what’s actually going on before I-“

“Wait!” I raised a hoof, my ears flicking to turn behind my head, “Wait, I think I heard something…” That gave Versa pause for just a moment, giving me the silence I needed to listen cautiously. Nothing. I relaxed with a soft sigh, then lowered my hoof, “Alright, now let me explain. And don’t interrupt.” I waited for her nod before continuing, “I’ll explain while we walk. I’d rather not waste what batteries we have on the light for too long.” I set off with Versa trailing as I began telling her what happened between me and Jack, leaving as much in as I could.

The talking only lasted for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, as I had to make sure I didn’t talk too fast or ramble, but it seemed like Versa understood most of it, including the reason we had to leave. “That crafty bastard… I’d like to give that Jack guy a piece of my mind. And while I’m at it, my horseshoe up his-“

“Versa, relax. You weren’t there, but I can trust him. Please, just believe in me for this. And I promise that we’ll go home as soon as we can. This ‘mission’ is more about making sure we can stay safe when we go back, so that we won’t be attacked like this again.” I had to have Versa calm and on my side for this, or I probably wasn’t going very far. As much as I like to think it, I had doubts about how calm the other tunnels and caves would be. In fact, I had entertained notions of everything being chaotic and gangs of raiders fighting wars in the tunnel systems or something like that. So far, I hadn’t found bodies apart from near the seal at home, where some ponies had died trying to get it.

Actually, I hadn’t seen much of anything. No bodies, no trace of camps, nothing. It was actually a little suspicious. Maybe I was just overthinking it-

“Fine.” The single simple word nearly made me jump. I hadn’t realized I’d been getting so tense just from my thoughts. The unknown and the lack of safety was making me edgy. I now wished I’d asked for another weapon for myself to use. Instantly I recovered and mentally facehoofed, knowing I’d be as useful with a firearm as a filly using a saw. More likely to hurt myself or allies than any sort of target. My attention refocused to Versa as she nodded, and I felt glad that thoughts ran so quickly, as well as that she had decided my reason was good enough.

“According to Jack, two or three ponies in good health won’t take too long getting through the tunnels to another post or something. The size of his group must have slowed him down considerably.” I looked forward again, the light from my headlamp casting out a good distance, but there didn’t seem to be anything but rock walls, ceiling and floor ahead.

Versa gave me a look for a moment when I stopped, as if waiting for me to continue before she did so for me, “And what’s this post supposed to be? A checkpoint? A town? Maybe a camp or some Legion outpost? What are we supposed to expect up ahead? I’m the only one armed between us, so I’d prefer knowing.” She looked forward too, though her look was of caution, a strange sight since I’ve always known her to be brash and headstrong to the point of reckless.

“He… He didn’t say. So we’re walking blind.” I got the strangest feeling of some sort of irony, but I couldn’t tell where or how it was ironic in any way. Then I flicked my light upwards, suddenly paranoid.

Nothing. Still nothing at all.

“Uh, you alright, Kryssy?” Versa was looking at me again. We’d both realized that we couldn’t look directly at each other due to the lamp strength. The lights were blinding when directly aimed at somepony’s eyes.

“Yeah. Just had a weird feeling. Thought there might have been bats around or something. Who knows, right?” I laughed it off, easing the tension again as we kept walking, Versa smiling a bit as well.

It was another couple hours of walking, only the sounds of horseshoes clopping on stone echoing from the walls as we walked, before anything changed. In fact, a couple things were noticeable suddenly. The first was that the tunnel went into two different directions, both looking the same and unmarked as to where they led. The second followed a few seconds afterward as the faintest sound came from down one of the tunnels. Some sort of talking. Versa had stopped next to me, and we glanced at each other, thinking more or less the same thing.

“Let’s go see.” Versa walked down the left way without saying anything else. Okay, so we weren’t thinking the same thing. I followed her quickly, watching for any sort of life.

It wasn’t far, just around a bend before we saw a light, coming from a portable radio, the antenna up as some sort of music played, the sound quality terrible due to static. It was then that I stopped Versa, pointing to a thin rope near the radio. Somepony was expecting others. Either the Legion set the trap on the way to the Icehoof, or someone else set it afterwards. The former meant that the Legion suspected somepony was following them, or somepony was trying to catch any returning Legion ponies off guard. I frowned and we both carefully stepped over the tripwire, our senses hyperaware as I slowly approached the radio.

“Sneaky fuckers!” I heard a yell as a pony leapt at me from a hole in the wall, and I noticed Versa drawing her gun in a panic before I got tackled. The yell suddenly set off some sort of trigger, and I saw more ponies coming around where we’d come from. The trap was meant to distract us into going down this route from the beginning! “I got the unicorn, get the other Legion bitch!”

Legion? They thought we were- The pony that tackled me hit me hard in the face, and my thoughts were purely self-defence as I kicked hard upwards, knocking the stallion off balance and giving me a moment to pause. Time seemed to slow for just a second as I scanned what I could see, and noticed that the tripwire was the trigger for a hidden box of glass bottles. A sound trap. My horn glowed as time resumed and I hit the pony on me to keep him from hitting me more. My hooves didn’t faze him, but he didn’t have time to notice my horn before a glass bottle slammed into the side of his head, shattering into his ear as well, and he immediately fell to the side with a scream. I got up, and saw Versa close to me, pinned by two strong-looking earth pony stallions. “Get off of her!”

Like they were gonna just let her go. My thoughts weren’t right, I didn’t know how to react in a situation like this, I wanted to explain, but before I could speak, one of them lifted a gun towards me, some pistol in his mouth with the barrel pointing at me, and my eyes widened in fear. I’d thought that maybe there were gangs of raiders in the tunnels, but I hadn’t planned on them being ready for us from the very start. For a moment, I was certain I was going to die, and flinched away as I expected the shot to come.

There was a bang and I yelled out, falling down onto the ground, pain stabbed through my side suddenly, and I closed my eyes tightly, hoping they’d at least end it quickly. But nothing else came, there was only my soft whimpering pants and Versa’s heavy panting, on top of the sound of my pounding heartbeat in my ears.

“Kryssy! Are you okay?! Hey, you, get away from her-“ Versa was cut off suddenly, but it didn’t sound like she’d been hurt or forced silent. Then I felt a hoof on my side.

“Krystal Clear.” The voice was definitely a mare’s, but it was dull, emotionless. It could have been the voice of a statue, for all I knew. I opened my eyes, my headlamp still on, but black was all that was in front of me for a moment, then it took a step back and I saw that the blackness was in fact the pony’s coat color. Her eyes had no pupils and were a dull grey, her mane was perfectly straight and flat, but the expression of the mare gave the idea that she couldn’t care less of her appearance. Or of anything, actually. I slowly got up, wincing at the pain in my side. “You are injured. A minor wound, not caused by the gunshot.”

I looked at my ribs. Just off to the side, I saw several gashes through my clothing, turning the crimson red of blood as I looked down. I’d landed on the shattered glass of the bottle. Between that and getting shot, I much preferred this, but I would have to use some of the limited medical supplies I’d brought to ensure it wouldn’t become infected. I returned my attention to the pony in front of me, meeting her blank gaze. “Uh, thank you. I suppose you’re the pony Jack sent to travel with us?”

“Yes. I am Darklight Star. I will guide you through the tunnels to the next stop. Whether we travel together after that is to be decided.” She didn’t even blink. I found myself curious, but extremely wary of this strange mare. I then noticed the crumpled figures of the other two stallions, both dressed in ragged clothing now that I looked closely. They smelled of dirt and sweat, laced with alcohol, but maybe they had something on them. I could see their chests moving, so I knew they were still alive, but they could wake up at any time.

“Versa, mind grabbing any gear we might be able to use?” I picked up the gun and saw the pony that had it was carrying a small pack of ammo. I put that in my bags and looked around quickly for something valuable or useful to us. Darklight stayed in place as Versa and I found some beer of some sort, as well as a loaf of bread and little else.

I glanced at the radio, and noted the frequency before lifting my PipBuck and activating the radio function. We’d used it in the caves occasionally for fun, as it could transmit as well as receive, so sometimes ponies would use them for communication if they had to work together across a large distance or in a very noisy area. I saved the frequency in my PipBuck as a radio channel, but I left it unnamed for the time being.

“Okay, I’m ready.” I nodded and Versa did as well. My cuts were now tended to, using the sanitizer and bandages as sparingly as possible. I looked at Darklight, who still hadn’t even moved, and hesitated. “Uh, so yeah. Lead on.”

“Very well. Let us proceed. Stay close.” She began walking, and I realized she might have been following us the entire time for all I knew. I had to keep my headlamp directly on her or else risk losing her in the darkness. I wondered how she managed to bring down those stallions so quickly, and what connection she had with One-Trick. All I knew was that I didn’t trust her. It didn’t seem to be important to her to gain our trust either, as she stayed completely silent the entire time as we walked. With her leading, we were less cautious, no longer walking slowly to stay aware of anything ahead; She wasn’t slowing down and we couldn’t afford to lose her.

A few hours of walking, and I lost track of the distance we’d travelled. The PipBuck’s map was showing the tunnels as we walked them, but there was no way to measure the actual distance we’d travelled. The world map showed the useless map of the Crystal Empire, and the local map couldn’t zoom out far enough. It felt like we’d at least walked 30 miles, if not more. If it hadn’t been for the PipBuck, I would’ve also easily lost track of time. When it was nearly midnight, according to my clock, I signaled a stop. “Let’s stop to rest here. I can watch for a few hours.”

Darklight stopped, but shook her head, “There is better shelter up ahead. Two minutes’ walk. An old maintenance room of some sort.” She started to walk and I sighed, making my hooves continue as well. Versa glanced at me occasionally, and I smiled at her slight concern.

The maintenance room was really just a hole in a wall, where these tunnels had connected with a room that had been made for some other purpose, but was caved in during the war and now had no entrance or exit but a hole somepony had blown or smashed. Inside were some dirty mats, empty bottles and cans, and a door leading down to another room. There was a broken exit sign over the doorway that must have led out at one point, but now the doorway only led to massive boulders. Perhaps there was ice on the other side, but I didn’t feel cold, so I assumed it only led to another tunnel, perhaps some old type of subway station.

Dark said she would stay watch in the tunnel and would be back in 6 hours, then promptly disappeared into the darkness. I blinked and she was suddenly not there. I looked at Versa and she shrugged, “If she wanted us dead, she’d have killed us ages ago. If she wanted us caught, she wouldn’t have intervened earlier. “

I guess I agreed, but I was still unsure. “Speaking of which, how are you doing after that? Did they hurt you at all?” I chose to take my mind off the topic that was going to make me paranoid. “They had two ponies ganging up on you, after all.”

“Yeah, but you know me. I’m fine, Krystal. How ‘bout you? You had some nasty looking cuts from that glass, and the gunshot was awfully close.” Versa sat down on a mat, and I looked at the other one, frowning at the dirt on it, but too tired to be picky as I laid down on it.

“I’m fine, Versa. The cuts will heal just fine. We oughta get some sleep though. Tomorrow might be another eventful day…” I sighed a little, closing my eyes and trying to drift off. Just two days ago none of this was remotely possible in my head. I tried to console myself by saying I wasn’t dead at least, but it was little comfort as I drifted into an uneasy rest.

The smell of burning and sounds of screams in my ears woke me up, the images of Clever burning as he begged me for help fading into the darkness. I calmed myself, feeling my cold sweat soaking my coat as I tried to slow my heartbeat. The sound of Versa’s soft breathing was all I could hear. I slowly stood up and lit my horn to see. I didn’t want to wake up Versa, but I needed to distract myself for a bit. The closed door from earlier drew my eye and I looked towards the hole into the tunnel. No sign of Darklight still.

I hesitated for a moment before approaching the door, my magic turning the handle and with a light pull, it swung open. I noticed that it was quiet, no rust or jamming anywhere, which surprised me. More questions went through my head, wondering if Darklight was still watching the tunnels, wondering who kept this door quiet and why, wondering what exactly Jack wanted me to do about his problems. Then a light turned on and my brain focused instantly on the terminal in front of me, my eyes swiftly looking around for anything that might be alive. I didn’t want to speak or make noise, fearing that someone was waiting to ambush me, or that I’d wake Versa. Part of me wanted to wake Versa anyways, but what would I tell her? I was afraid of the dark and a terminal? I mentally threw the thought out and cautiously walked to the terminal.

I was met with a blinking line. It was waiting for input, so I looked over my shoulder one more time and pulled out the keyboard and began to type.

exec cmd

Hello.

I stopped. I had intended to run the command program to see if it would give me a response, but I wasn’t expecting an actual reply. Before I managed to think of a response, another line popped up

Code

I thought fast, unsure if it was on a timer as I tried to guess what the code might be. I took a glance around, looking for some book, or a piece of paper or something it might be written on, but the screen changed before I could find anything plausible.

Name?

The previous lines had been erased, so now the terminal was simply asking for my name. I paused, wondering what I might be getting myself into, before I hesitantly began typing.

Krystal Clear

Location?

I frowned. The replies weren’t instantaneous, but they were fast. There was somepony communicating with me via the terminal somewhere. The fact that they were asking my location meant they couldn’t track the terminal, and they had access to terminals in various locations, not just this one. I gave the most honest answer I could, deciding to see where this conversation, if it could be called that, would lead me.

I don’t know.

Alone?

No.

How many?

Why?

I want to know if you can be trusted.

What happens if I can’t be?

This terminal explodes

I see. Three ponies.

Who do you work for?

Nopony. Who are you?

Look at the top left of the screen. What does it say?

I paused at the odd request, looking up at the appropriate corner. In the frame was an identification number. I saw what this pony was planning, but noted the number anyways.

Who are you?

Someone you can trust. I would like to know where you are so I can see if there’s a way I can help you onwards. Do you work with the Legion?

No, I don’t. I don’t work with anyone.

What is the ID #?

I waited for a moment, unsure about what to decide. I again half-wished I’d woken up Versa. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have done this anyways, but I didn’t want to make the choice on my own. The blinking input line kept blinking steadily, and I sighed softly to steel myself.

5454-1283

Received.

What now?

I waited for a response, but this time it didn’t come right away. I looked around quickly, expecting something ridiculous like a machine gun turret or gas traps or some foul beast in a cage, waiting to be let out on some visitors. I’d heard horror stories of adventures in the Empire, and despite my maturity, fear of the unknown had made me paranoid.

Verified. We need your help.

The message surprised me. I wondered how long it had been there while I was scanning the room like a guilty pony.

Help? What does this help entail?

The pony we were expecting has yet to report in. We need you to take a package to a contact. A reward will be paid upon delivery if successful.

What package? There’s nothing here

Remote access: initializing open sequence…

With a soft hiss, the panels of the terminal opened, revealing a storage space. It was probably intended to store repair kits for the terminal, but was most likely looted decades ago, at least. Now there was a plain bag of some sort, sealed up tightly as the storage opened fully. I picked it up with magic, noting it had a decent weight, and I frowned as I looked at the screen again.

The contact’s name is Weaver. Tan coat, red mane, stallion. Approach him with the code word Cadenza. Do not open the package.

I frowned a bit. I wasn’t sure if I was willing to be a delivery mare for someone who couldn’t even talk to me properly.

What is the reward, exactly?

That depends entirely on your success. Do not delay long with this task.

Before I could respond, all the message lines disappeared and were replaced with

Connection lost
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment as I considered my options, then I moved the still levitating package and placed it into my bags. My PipBuck glowed as the screen went on and I glanced at it. There was now a new notification, marking the “quest” and the information I had about it. Only then did I realize I hadn’t even gotten a location of this Weaver pony. Assuming it was, in fact, a pony. I turned away from the terminal only just in time to hear a soft clop of hooves from above.

“Kryssy?” Versa’s voice was aimed towards the open door leading to the top of the stairs and was followed by a few more hoofsteps echoing off the abandoned stones, “Hel-looooo?”

“I’m down here, Versa. Relax, it’s fine. I was just having a look around.” I heard her coming down the stairs and she looked around the room when she came in, her eyes soon focusing on the light from the terminal.

“Connection lost? Were you talking to somepony?” She looked at me with curiosity, not suspicion, “How’d you reach anyone here? Did you get to talk to the tribe, or was it Jack?” I stopped her from further questions with a shake of my head, looking around the room again. This time I noticed there was a toolbox off to the side, and an old locker, long since fallen face forward in the corner of the room.

“It was nothing. I don’t know who I was talking to, but I’ll tell you about it more when we get moving again.” I said as I lifted the locker with my magic, straining a bit from the weight before flipping it so that it was possible to open. A few books were inside, and some metallic pieces probably made for some pre-war device. I considered it for a moment before placing the parts in my bag, sorting them with my PipBuck’s inventory spell before picking up the books as well.

“Huh. What’s this for?” Versa’s voice made me glance over. She’d picked up the toolbox and inside wasn’t a wrench, pliers or any other sort of equipment for maintenance, but a pair of small data chips and a clear, glass orb. “Guess whoever was here was fond of… glass?” She lifted the data chips towards me and I took them, levitating them into my bags while I took a step over to get a better look at the orb.

“I guess. It doesn’t look like anything dangerous. But it doesn’t look all that useful to me, either. I say we can just leave it here.”

“This is what you decide to leave? You packed your bags with tons of junk ‘just in case’ you’d have to repair something, and you decide to leave a perfect orb like this behind? I’m taking it. Maybe somepony will want to buy it or something.” She started to place it in her bags.

I rolled my eyes. If we were gonna take it, I might as well be the one carrying the trading or selling goods, so I reached my magic out to take it, “Here, let me-“

Level up (Krystal Clear)
Level up (Versatile Soul)
Level up (Darklight Star)
Party update: Versatile Soul (Independent), Darklight Star (Unknown) joined the party.
Krystal:Melee skill at 10
Versa: Trait perk: Stubborn as a mule! (No offense) – You can’t change my mind. I’ll never go back on a promise or my friends, and once I’m set on something, there’s nothing that can stop me. Most of the time. Gains +1 Endurance when fighting alongside a friend. Loses 1 Charisma when in dialogue if disagreeing with the other pony.
Versa: Quest perk: Loyalty – Travelling with party members that have this perk increases the chances of special actions relevant to that character’s Loyalty.
Versa: Perk gained: Heavy hitter – Even a mare can hit like a train, though perhaps not quite as fast… Each level of this perk increases melee damage by an amount equal to +2 extra points in Strength. Melee attacks are 50% less likely to do critical hits and strike 20% slower. This penalty does not increase with additional levels.
Dark: Party status: Guest - You cannot check the stats, perks or abilities of this character, nor change their inventory. Party guests will come and go as they please.

Memory

Chapter 4: Memory
«Those aren't your memories. They're somebody else's.»

The world was gone. I was not there, nothing was. I panicked for a moment, or maybe for an eternity, then suddenly I gained my senses again, but what I saw was not what I expected.

In front of me were hundreds, maybe even a thousand ponies, all frantically getting in some sort of large metal box. I wanted to look around, but I found I wasn’t able to move on my own. Then I realized what I felt, and if I was able to move, I would have screamed at the very wrong feeling between my legs. I was starting to really get scared, but I couldn’t do anything but stay where I was as I watched. Then I heard a rumbling voice, only to realize that it was in my own throat as I heard the words.

“Everypony calm down, get on the train slowly so that as many ponies have room as possible. Take the absolute minimum necessities!” my – no, his – voice was loud and piercing, and I recognized the tingle of magic being used. It was odd, I could feel all the things he felt, but couldn’t control it myself. It was incredibly odd, but I was intrigued about what was going on. I wished I could ask questions about what was happening. The ponies didn’t seem to be calming down, but I shook my head and started walking away. Well, I didn’t but the stallion I was experiencing this through did. He went down a tunnel and opened a door. I took in the details and noticed several suspicious things, but my vision was roughly turned as a crack was heard, then a muffled boom. I looked behind, and saw first dust, then rocks falling down, as well as screams from the other side before the roof caved in, boulders crashing down in front of the door, trapping me inside. Instead of yelling or panicking, the stallion called out “If anypony can hear me, just go! I’ll be fine! Get on the trains and leave now!” No response was properly heard, but he turned away and looked around the room, then headed for a door, opening it swiftly and rushing down the stairwell behind it.

It was only then that I noticed where I was. A terminal glowed in front of me now, but the screen had much more on it than before as the stallion approached, and started typing out a series of commands, telling the computer to backup and lock all information on the systems, as well as shut down all other functions. His typing was fast, but I noticed he kept it connectable, probably to access the data remotely some other time. Then he slowly typed in the password to lock it, and I memorized it quickly.

CRYSTAL HEART
He hit enter, and the screen was wiped, resembling more how it had looked when I first entered this room. Then he turned and pulled on a panel, revealing a toolbox and a safe. The safe he opened with a code, not quite as slowed down as the terminal’s password, but I managed to mentally note it. The safe opened and inside wasn’t jewels or valuables, but pictures, and a glass orb. He pulled out the toolbox, lifted one of the pictures, showing a family of ponies smiling at the camera, and he softly kissed the photo. I felt his tears falling as he placed the picture back in the safe, locking it again after taking the orb out. He opened the toolbox, and placed several tools from it into a pouch on his work clothing. The last thing I saw was him lifting the orb towards his horn as he whispered “I’m sorry…”

I gasped as I sat up, a pair of hooves grabbing me instantly and I found myself in a hug with a pony as she was trying to speak, but I couldn’t make sense of the words at first. I couldn’t see, my vision was blocked by the pony holding me. The moment I started trying to break free, the grip was released and I fell backwards, sprawling onto the cold, hard floor as I saw the light from the head of Versa, and I finally could heard the words from her mouth.

“- is still nowhere to be found, and you weren’t responding, so I didn’t know what to do! All I knew was you had that stupid little orb thing, and wouldn’t let it go. I was this close to just shattering it, and-“

“Versa? What’s wrong? Why are you freaking out?” I started to get up, noticing the orb on the ground and I warily watched it, this time not grabbing it as I considered what had just happened.

Trompe looked at me with a look of incredulity. “You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?!” When I shook my head she started speaking quickly, “You went to grab the glass thing, and then you just dropped without a sound, holding the orb to your horn with magic, and no matter how much I yelled at you, you weren’t waking up, and I even moved you all the way up the stairs and shouted for that Darklight mare to come, but neither of you would respond and I was so alone! I was terrified that the ball was some trap or something!”

The idea that it could’ve been a trap stopped me short. We had already encountered one small group of ponies that had attacked us. Their trap was an obvious one for me, but something like this… If I wasn’t careful, I could get us killed. But these glass balls didn’t seem to be very common, and the enchantment that had to have been used on them would be a powerful thing, meaning that only ponies with both the knowledge and power to cast the spell could set a trap like that…

But it wasn’t a trap. It was a vision. “Versa, how long was I out?” I started thinking, my mind going through all the details of what I’d seen.

“It was maybe seven or eight minutes. More than long enough for me to think you were in a coma.”

“Versa, I think you would need to wait a little longer than ten minutes to judge if somepony is in a coma.” Seven or eight minutes… The entire dream, or vision, or whatever it was has taken something like that. I couldn’t tell exactly, but if I was right, then that might have been something I was experiencing in real time. Meaning… “Versa. I think that the glass orb we found shows memories. Like, fully recorded memories, including feeling, voice, and sight. Not the thoughts, but everything else…” I frowned. There hadn’t been a record of something like this existing in any part of our archives at home. No data of any sort of spell or object that could record memories of ponies. The idea of something like that could lead to dozens of applications for it, from simply keeping mementos of things or memories of the best days of one’s life, to hiding secrets or passing messages that only could be seen by unicorns. If it was possible to copy memories, could it be possible to wipe them?

Perhaps the minds of ponies were as easily manipulated by magic as the hard drive of a terminal. The thought terrified me with its implications.

The cold, even voice of Dark made me jump. “You found a memory orb. What did you see?”

I looked around, only to find her right next to me, almost making me flinch. I looked back at the orb, then to her before I replied. “Why don’t you have a look? Or tell me what you know about these things, since you knew what it was.”

“I know of them, yes. I have not seen one before. We must continue on now.” I watched as she lifted the orb with her magic, placing it in my bag. When I had tried to lift it magically, it had sent me into a memory. There was a lot she wasn’t telling us, and I watched her blank, grey eyes, trying to get some kind of sense of emotion or recognition.

She didn’t even blink. Her eyes weren’t focused, and they didn’t even move. I found myself unable to keep my focus locked on her eyes for very long before I looked away, “First, I want to check something down at the terminal.” I looked at Versa first.

She looked back, stoic as she replied, “Only as long as I’m there with you, got it? Any more creepy stuff happens, and I better be there.” I nodded, smiling at my friend. “Alright then, let’s go.” She led the way down the stairs again, and I glanced at Darklight, who was standing by the hole leading back into the tunnels. She didn’t seem to plan on leaving us behind, but it didn’t seem like she was particularly attached to us, either. Or attached to anything, really.

I walked down the stairs, the clopping of my hooves the only sounds besides my own soft breathing. I realized that the silence of these tunnels was far more eerie than anything else, but once I was down the stairs, the soft hum of the terminal filled the silence a little.

“So, whatcha looking for, Kryssy?” Versa looked at me expectantly as I approached the terminal, my thoughts once again racing. I started typing carefully, mimicking a stallion long since dead.

CRYSTAL HEART

Verifying…
Password accepted, releasing deadlock protocol

The terminal lit up, lines of code running along the screen, then suddenly half a dozen windows popped up and closed as various executables were initialized, then I saw that a screen popped up and stayed up, but showed nothing. I frowned, then saw that the window was named CAM. This terminal was able to view the cameras in the train tunnels, then. I assumed that the usefulness of this was negligible until another window opened, a notification asking if I wished to have additional data stored externally. I paused, then pressed y.

Connect external storage.

I looked on the side of the terminal and found the slot I was looking for. I plugged my PipBuck into the terminal, and almost instantly both devices pinged, signaling the finish of the transfer.

“So what exactly are you doing, Krys?” Versa was still watching, obviously clueless as to what I was trying to do. I had to give her credit for letting me waste time like this though. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had wanted to just get out of here.

“I don’t know yet. I guess nothing much, but there’s one more thing here I want to check.” I unplugged my PipBuck and left the terminal standing idly on standby, waiting for input as I looked for a specific panel. “Which one was it…” I tapped on a few panels, before a hollow thud greeted my ears, and I started pulling it out. Behind it was the safe I’d seen, untouched in the last two centuries.

“Krystal Clear, treasure hunter!” Versa laughed. “But seriously, how did you know that was here?”

I was turning the knob to put in the safe’s code, but I hadn’t used this sort of safe before. My focus was much more focused on the safe than Versa, and I kept turning it, hearing the clicking as I turned it to one number, then the other, and so on. With a more solid click, I raised an eyebrow and tried the door handle, the safe swinging open easily. Not even rusted slightly. Somepony had made this safe to last, and succeeded with flying colors.

Inside was a small stack of pictures and a toolbox. I hesitantly lifted the top picture, and though it was faded, I recognized the smiling, happy faces of each pony, and I felt sadness, on behalf of the stallion I knew was long gone.

“Hey Kryssy, is something wrong? Your eyes are all watery.” Versa’s comment brought me back to my own senses, and my vision was a little blurry as I wiped my eyes, surprised when I felt the wetness on my leg.

“Weird.” I frowned. If a memory that wasn’t mine could cause these feelings in me, either I was far more emotionally sensitive than I ever knew, or the orbs were very influential. Either way, I slipped the few pictures into my bag, then opened the toolbox. Inside was what looked like a tiara, but with an indent at the front, perfectly round. I lifted it gently, in case it did something similar to the memory balls, but nothing happened. “Versa, what do you make of this?”

She picked it out of the air and looked it over, then put it on with a laugh, “Look, Krys, I’m a princess!” I raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed, “You have no sense of humor sometimes, you know that?” She grumbled as she took off the headpiece. “I dunno what it is, but we might as well keep it. Who knows, maybe we’ll go to a dance or something and we can wear this to look pretty.” She chuckled again, “Or at least sell it. You never know, right?”

I rolled my eyes, but now that we were done, I closed the safe again, putting the panel back into place as I turned back towards the exit. When I reached the top of the stairs, Dark still hadn’t moved, staring out into the tunnels through the wall. Now I started to wonder. There was no body here. Had the stallion unicorn managed to escape? There was no way he could’ve made the tunnels all the way to the caves on his own. I frowned a bit. I couldn’t keep getting off track with mysteries two centuries dead. “Darklight, are you alright?” Better to try to deal with the mysteries still alive in front of me first.

“Yes. Are you ready to proceed?” Her eyes were blank as always, and I found myself less willing to meet her gaze each time I saw them.

“Yeah. Uh, let’s get going. Will you lead the way?”

She nodded and Versa and I flicked on our headlamps before all three of us began to walk down more of the tunnels.

The tunnels seemed to go on endlessly. With little to talk about – partly due to the ominous silence of the empty tunnels, minus the hard clop of our hooves on uneven stone – and even less other noise that would signify life in the tunnels, I had since decided the radio didn’t really help, only made me feel less comfortable somehow. Our lights were still on, but with nothing notable to be seen, I had begun to simply walk without thinking, monotonous movement with almost no changes barring a growing soreness in my legs.

“Stop.” It was the first word that had been uttered in ages. In fact, Dark’s single word warning came out so softly and suddenly that it didn’t register to myself or Versa that she’d spoken.

As such, it was a moment longer before we realized what she’d said, and we walked right into nothing. We took a step and suddenly everything around us was dark and we started to fall, fabric that had covered the hole wrapped around the pair of us as we screamed.

The fall made an abrupt, but oddly painless stop. Before either of us could make a move, however, the darkness parted by a blinding light, and while I was still wincing, I felt hooves grabbing me and dragging me out of the trap hole swiftly.

“Only two of ‘em are here!”

“Ours still haven’t come back?”

“Nope.”

My pupils contracted enough for me to at least make out the things around me, though I still had to squint. I was being held by two ponies against the floor. They were both male, one a dusty brown color with a mane roughly the same color. The other was covered entirely but for his face. His eyes were an icy blue, and his coat was nearly pure white, mane almost matching with a tinge of blue. I recognized his gear as outside scout gear, though the clothing looked far more worn and different styled than my tribe’s gear.

They pushed my face against the stone floor, facing the hole we’d fallen into. The inside was filled with pillows or something to cushion the fall. They’d been waiting for us.

“Who are you, and who do you work for?!” The yelled question was accompanied by a painful shove against the ground, and brought my attention to the third pony I’d heard. He was a unicorn, and seemed far less bulky than the others, but there was fire in his eyes as he stared me down. “Well?”

“My name is Krystal Clear, and I don’t-” another shove cut me off, then I was pulled off the ground and brought roughly to my hooves, standing face-to-face with the stallion who seemed to be in charge.

“Crystal, huh? Where’s the rest of our boys?” He sneered at me, his menacing gaze trying to intimidate me as I was still held tightly by the two stallions.

“What boys? I don’t know who you-” this time I was cut off by a slap from the leader, the stinging pain surprising me.

“The hell you don’t, Legion bitch! But if you won’t talk, I can have some fun instead… Get the wires.” He nodded and the scout let me go and walked to open a door off to the side, swiftly coming back, long cords in his now uncovered mouth, rubber covering the wires that were visible at the cut ends. They briefly touched and a spark flew between them, making my eyes widen. “This oughta help you remember who I am. I’ll give you one last chance. Where the fuck are the scouting boys?”

“I don’t know who you are, I don’t know who you mean, and pain isn’t going to make me remember what I don’t know!” I was looking at the wires, tracing them to the back room, but I couldn’t see any further. I closed my eyes tightly, focusing on figuring out a way to at least survive this.

Then a roar was heard, and a stallion hit the wall hard with a sick crack. “Get the hell off of her!” Versa’s voice was full of pure fury, and I opened my eyes to see her, with two stallions on her as she bucked like she was insane, a broken gag on the floor and a limp pony off to the side, slumped against the wall. She caught one of the two ponies off guard with a sudden donkey-kick, both her hooves hitting his chest mercilessly, sending him crumpling to the ground.

Only then did I react, and I was still faster than the two stallions next to me. First I briefly jerked the wires upwards, both ends touching the buck holding them, making him let out a scream of pure pain. At the same time, I shoved hard against the stallion holding me, sending him off balance and tumbling, letting me go in order to catch himself. By the time he rose again, I levitated the wires in front of his face warningly.

“SHUT UP!” the leading stallion with the furious eyes. He had a gun floating next to him, aimed at me. “You, drop the fucking wires, NOW. And tell the other bitch to surrender, or I’ll shoot you both!”

I hesitated, then lowered the wires slowly. As they hit the ground, I grasped the wires as far as I could see, from inside the room next to us, and I yanked hard with my magical power, causing a wave, which moved along the wires. He never looked away from me until my horn stopped glowing, which was his mistake. The wires were out of his vision now, and the wave moved along the ground, reaching the tip, flicking both ends into his hoof at once. With a scream, the shock caused his magic field to interrupt, and the gun dropped right on top of the exposed wire ends.

It exploded, making everypony flinch as the stallion screamed with more pain than I had ever heard, even during the fire. Versa clearly wasted no time, as I heard scuffling before a thud was heard. “Kryssy? You okay?” Her words made me open my eyes. I couldn’t remember them closing, but I soon realized my vision was blinded from the flash of the explosion. Versa helped me to my hooves as my vision cleared slowly.

The stallion was down, one of his hooves a bloody mess, torn apart by the shrapnel of the gun as the electricity blew the gunpowder in the bullets, causing the pressure to blow the gun up. I gagged slightly as I looked away, finding the other stallions out cold on the ground, Darklight glancing at me with the same blank stare as always.

“I said to stop. You two walked into a trap.”

“Thank you, Darklight, we didn’t notice.” Versa’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she glared at Dark. “You coulda helped us a lot before right then, you know?”

“I was to assist you without risking any of our lives. The moment was only right when a distraction was made.” Her voice reflected no reaction to the sarcasm. I wasn’t surprised by this point.

“Is that what we were? Just a distraction?” Versa’s tone was getting angrier, but I noticed the room around us. The leader had passed out from the shock and pain, the others that had tried to restrain Versa had been knocked out by her or Darklight. The one dressed as a scout had been slammed into a wall, presumably by Darklight after I shocked him. The room was clear of our ambushers. I paused, realizing I had counted one short.

“Stop, there’s a pony that isn’t here that should be. Quick, we need to catch him before-“

“I-I surrender!” A buck’s voice came from the room where the electrical wires had come from, and his hooves stuck out from the door frame, showing him being unarmed. “I didn’t want to do this, I swear! I’ll do anything if you just don’t kill me! I-I’ll join the Legion of Hearts, I’ll take you to the city, anything!”

I slowly approached the stallion, picking up a bottle from the ground with my magic, just in case. I reached the door, and the stallion very slowly moved to show himself. He looked younger than I had first thought, perhaps younger than me. His cutie mark was of an open book, on top of his rugged brown coat as he kept his eyes on me in fear. I lowered the bottle.

“Okay, then. The first thing I want to know is some information. Come on out here. Versa, Dark, you two mind tying the others so that if they do wake up, they won’t cause problems? Oh, and make sure that stallion doesn’t bleed out or anything, if we have supplies for that.” I backed up, letting the cowering stallion stand and slowly move to join us in the room as my companions dropped their argument in favor of taking care of the other problems.

When the colt, as he looked like he had only gotten his cutie mark maybe a year before, had sat down in the room, I began my questions, with Dark and Versa finishing up the incapacitation of all the stallions, especially the unicorn. Versa took a thin metal wire and looped it around his horn, then put the end of the wire next to me with the electrified wires next to it. If he tried anything, I’d be able to force him to stay put. Not that he’d be able to do much with his wounds anyways.

“Okay, colt, first things first. What’s with the Legion of Heart thing? Why would you think we would want you to join them?” I watched the unicorn closely while Versa sat down next to him, Darklight off to the side, watching us. I could’ve sworn she didn’t blink once, but I wasn’t focused on her.

He blinked a couple times with a confused look, then slowly began to speak, “Y-you’re Legion scouts… aren’t you? We saw a large group headed through the tunnels and planned to ambush them on the way back.”

I stayed still while I felt Versa look at me, knowing she understood the same thing I had, that we’d fought a group of ponies who simply thought we were enemies, because we’d snuck up on them. I’d forgotten to check if they were even still alive.

Now, however, I needed to ask more questions. “We’re not Legion scouts. We’re… refugees from a tribe that was assaulted by the Legion. We thought you were enemies or something, and the group we ran into shot first, so we had to defend ourselves.” I looked at Dark now, who still hadn’t moved. She wasn’t even sitting down. “I apologize for the mix up… but tell me what you know about the Legion.”

“FUCK!” A loud cry from the unicorn stallion made me jump, and Versa pulled her gun. “W-what the fuck did you do to me?!” He screamed as he slightly moved his ruined leg. Versa had found a few rags among their supplies and had tied one tightly around his leg, near the knee in order to cut circulation, and a couple others had been wrapped and tied to cover his wound.

It still looked painful.

“Stop, boss! They’re not Legion-“ The young buck tried to intervene.

“You little traitorous shit! I’ll fucking kill you all!” He roared at the slightly smaller buck, causing him to cringe, then the unicorn also winced in pain, falling back onto the ground.

I walked up to the injured stallion, “Listen to me. You ambushed the wrong ponies. We’re fleeing from the Legion, they attacked my tribe and I had to leave. We thought you were raiders or worse. “ I looked at his wound, “We could have killed all of you in defense, but I don’t kill.” I didn’t mention Versa and her gun, and I wasn’t sure what Dark would do, nor did I want to speculate too much on her.

He was silent for a moment. I had to look back up at his face to make sure he didn’t pass out again, only to step back from the hatred and fury in his eyes as he glared at me. I glared back, though I doubted I was quite as convincing.

“Get out of here. If you’re not gonna kill me, get the fuck out. And take that cowardly fucker with you.” He shifted his glare to the stallion, who became very obviously unnerved by it, then back to me. It actually felt as if there was heat from his eyes trying to light us all on fire. If I didn’t know better, I’d be a little worried.

“Fine. We’ll leave.” I noticed Versa glancing at me oddly, “If you tell us where the nearest town is.” I knew he’d either lie or try to follow us there later, so I took out a bag of medical supplies, including a couple powerful potions and bandages, “In return, we’ll leave you with these, if you do not try to betray us. Fair?”

He paused, and the hatred diminished slightly, replaced with some suspicion, “Who are you really? Nopony in this place would give something to someone like me in this situation.”

I paused before I could reply, “We’re just travelers and refugees. Trying to find where to go next in this place.”

He frowned for a moment longer, then relaxed a little with a pained sigh, “There’s a map in the wall over there. The kid can show you it. Shows the surrounding tunnels and where the towns are. Covers the tunnels from here to the City. You guys got any fuckin’ painkillers on you?”

I started to shake my head, but Versa walked over to the bleeding unicorn and pulled out a bottle of whiskey from her bag. I raised an eyebrow.

“All we got. Better than nothing, right?” Versa chuckled and set the bottle down before standing by my side, watching the young stallion who was still looking between everyone with a slightly panicked look.
I took a moment to look at him. His face was less rough than most of the other ponies I’d seen in the tunnels, and his young brown eyes looked at me in fear as silence filled the room, only to be broken by the whiskey bottle being opened and the unicorn taking a long drink from it.
“Go, get the map and lead us out to… wherever.” I motioned to him, and he scrambled to his hooves before quickly moving towards the far wall, turning his head to glance back at us every few seconds before he picked up the map in his mouth and brought it over. Upon seeing it, my PipBuck beeped, and I checked it, finding a note saying “Map Scanned” before a multi-layered map appeared on the screen. I looked back at the buck as he offered the folded paper to me, and I nodded, taking it and stowing it in my bags. “Now let’s go.” I looked at the wounded stallion once more, “Sorry, I never meant to hurt you.” I felt like I had to say that before turning away and letting the young colt lead us out.

Level up (Krystal Clear)
Level up (Versatile Soul)
Krystal: Traps skill at 15
Versa: Medicine skill at 15

City

Chapter 5 - City

«Knowledge is power.»

We were greeted by tunnels lit with wall lamps, which let my eyes adjust to full light instead of the cone coming from my headlamp. I watched the young colt as he nervously guided us out, and I thought over what had happened. Dark had waited until I started a fight before intervening, and Versa might have started the fight herself if I hadn’t. I was only gone a couple days, yet we’ve already nearly been killed once. I had the distinct feeling that I’d been luckier than most ponies so far.

Versa spoke up, “Hey kid, what’s your name?” She trotted next to him, just ahead of myself and Dark and seemed to ignore his tension when she approached.

The young stallion hesitated before replying, “I’m called Easy Read.” He kept walking silently, looking down.

“Not much of a talker, huh? Well, I’m Versatile Soul, the smart one is Krystal, and the shady asocial one is Darklight.” Versa was more talkative than she’d been the entire trip, likely due to having had nobody to talk with until now. I listened as she continued, “Why are you so jittery? We’re not here to hurt anyone, we want to bring down the Legion!”

The colt glanced up at that, eyes locked on Versa, then glancing at myself and Darklight, “Bring it down? I, uh, I don’t think that can happen. A lot of ponies think the Legion’s doing good work, since they say they’re gonna unite the Empire again.” He paused, then stopped entirely, as if realizing he might have said more than he should have.

He looked forward again, but now I was interested. “So, that’s what the Legion says. But clearly not everypony likes them. How about you tell us a bit more about where we’re going, and what you know of the Legion and its enemies?” I stepped a bit forward, catching up to the pair of them. Hopefully he’d give me an idea of what I was heading into.

There was a moment of relative silence, only our hooves echoing in the tunnel, before he spoke, “I don’t have enough time. The city is coming up around the next corner here. The only thing you need to know is that we’re too remote to know what really goes on in the Legion, only a few reports from our resident DJ. So we don’t know what they do to ‘unite’ the land, only that they don’t seem to like it if you say no. The town here is neutral to the Legion, but some individuals are more welcoming or hostile. I don’t know if going with those bags is a great idea.” He seemed to have broken from the nervousness, and I understood why he was in the gang we were ambushed by.

“You’re good at information, aren’t you? You catch it, or notice things others don’t.” An underground gang – well, more underground than we already were – would have great use for someone who looked unassuming, but could read ponies and see how they felt, or hear what they meant behind what they said. Somepony who could easily gain information without suspicion.

He shrugged a little, “I’m told I’m good at feeling what other ponies’ mentality or emotion is. I don’t know what to do with it, so I was asked just to look for info for the others in town.” He seemed calm now, no stuttering or hesitation, and was standing straight now, the slight differences making him look older than he had moments ago.

“That leader back there, he seemed pretty hostile about it all.” Versa spoke now, not looking at either of us, but ahead, where an opening showed for the exit, though the tunnel went further still. “I guess he won’t be happy if you come back.”

Easy sighed, “He’s a hothead, really. He talks about there being stuff on the surface, but nobody wanting to go because the Legion is offering false promises. I doubt he’ll treat me very well if I come back just yet. So yeah, I’ll stick with you two for a while.” He led us around the corner to another hall, this one with a flatter surface than the previous one, worn down from decades of use.

I frowned slightly, “Two? There’s three of…” I turned my head, and Dark was nowhere to be seen. I stopped, making both Easy and Versa stop and look back as I backtracked, looking down the hall we’d just been in. No sign of the shadowy mare, despite there being no shadows to hide in. “… us. Versa, where is Darklight?”

Versa frowned as well, looking with me down the hall from the corner, “I have no idea, but I don’t mind her being away. She creeps me out with those eyes.” We both turned back to the brown stallion as he raised an eyebrow. “What? The way she looks… through you. Ugh.” She shuddered and we continued walking, Easy staying quiet about it.

So I wasn’t crazy. Dark was real, very much so, and Versa knew it too. Easy couldn’t have known that she’d be gone, so he wasn’t just joking with us, but had he really not seen her? She wasn’t even hiding after the fight.

I was interrupted from my thoughts as we reached an end to the hall, but before I could say anything, Easy pressed a spot in the wall, again worn down by much use over time, and it slid back slightly, before the wall to our left hissed and slid open. I looked slightly closer and noticed that both the door and the switch had been painted over, both on this side and on the other, to hide the entrance from one side, and the exit from the other. This place clearly wasn’t originally meant to be hidden.

I couldn’t continue with my thoughts for long as I could hear sound beginning to come from down this new tunnel. I glanced at the young stallion, who seemed at peace, and following his lead I relaxed. He seemed to expect the sound here, so I figured we were approaching the city itself.

As we walked down the bright tunnel, I noticed it growing wider and higher, opening up more. From only wide enough for perhaps four ponies side by side, now there was room for the three of us standing in a line, tall enough perhaps for twice my height if I stood on my back hooves only. It was similar to the tunnels we had taken to get this far, but now there was the sounds of life, shadows ahead standing out as ponies were moving past. We approached the final turn before arriving at the actual city, and I realized that I had no idea what to expect from these ponies.

“Wait a second. Uh, any last tips or things I should or shouldn’t do before we get into it?” I felt myself unusually warm, as if anxious about entering the city. Versa glanced over at me as she came to a stop, none of my current emotion echoed on her face. “Like, certain things that could get me into, or out of a fight?”

Easy took a second, then shrugged, “Just don’t let anyone see the Legion of Heart emblems on your bags and you should be okay for the most part. Oh, and do you have any money?” He turned fully to me, “You might want to get new bags quickly before anything goes wrong. I can’t really get you out of a fight if the wrong ponies think you’re Legion.”

I glanced at my Pipbuck, checking my inventory. I had valuables and assorted gear in my bags, but currency was rarely used among the Icehoof. If anything had to be traded without immediate compensation, then a sort of note was written as a promise to repay the favor. My Pipbuck ended up listing some gemstones, old bits from before the war, and a few loose bottle caps as potential valuables, and I showed Easy Read the results, “This is what I have of value.”

The young colt took a moment to scan the screen before shaking his head, “Why in the world would it list bottle caps as valuable..?” He sighed, “Alright, so you have trade goods, but that won’t take you very far. The exchange currency we use at this station is crystals. That might sound a bit dumb, considering crystals can be found anywhere, but certain crystals have latent magic in them, and work much like gemstones. The power of a given crystal is shown in the color of it. White crystals, the kind used for buildings and whatever, those aren’t worth anything. They’re dry, powerless. You want crystals with some hue to them.”

Considering the fact that the land was called the Crystal Empire, I wasn’t surprised that the crystals themselves contained some power. “What is the difference between crystals and gemstones, then?” I had never used a crystal as a power source, perhaps I could use one in my designs, if gemstones proved difficult to come by.

The brown colt shot my thoughts down immediately, “Gems can focus power, or even hold it if enchanted. Crystals generate power innately, as their own source. The magic they create is sealed unless tapped into using some machines, or if a unicorn knows what they’re doing, but they’ll burn themselves out if you use them too much. After that, they’re white crystals.”

I cursed mentally, but nodded, “Good to know. So how could I earn some crystals to spend?”

Versa spoke up now, pulling out a small pouch, “Well, I took some of these earlier. They looked like we could sell them, but I guess this works out better.” She opened it and showed that inside were several crystals of light green and blue hues. “How much is this worth, bud?”

Easy glanced over, then took a moment to reply, “I could probably manage to get you two bags for that much, but I can’t promise anything. As for earning more crystals, you could offer some services around the city, look for odd jobs…” he trailed off.

“Odd jobs like, what, delivering packages? Cleaning houses?” Versa seemed unimpressed by Easy’s tips, but in sarcastically replying had reminded me of something.

“Easy, do you know anyone named Weaver? Tan coat, uh, red mane?”

The brown stallion paused, then after chewing on his lip a little he nodded before speaking up. “I know a little, maybe… But I already told you guys a lot, and like you said, my main skill is picking up information. I don’t share everything unless I can get at least something back for it.”

“What? You’re gonna just go from ‘thanks for savin my ass’ to tryin’ to extort money out of us that fast?!” Anger colored Versa’s tone, making her even less formal in her speech.

“W-wait hold on a minute, that’s not what I meant!” the stallion slightly slowed in his walking speed as he almost flinched from the tone layered in my friend’s voice, “I just… Okay, so you’re going to need crystals or trade goods if you want to go any further than this place, right? I suggest that you two ask around for a little work, or find something that can get you something of value, and once you’ve earned enough for what I’d normally ask for, I’ll give you the information free, and uh, a few tips for what you should equip yourselves with, right?” I had to admit, learning what sort of skills or work is valued outside the tribe did sound like a good plan going forward, even if it was framed around the equivalent of holding an apple just out of reach.

It mostly calmed Versa, though she still grumbled, “Fine, whatever… What’s this place even called? You’ve just been sayin’ The City, as if it’s the only one still around.” That point makes her pause for a second before she follows up, “It’s… not the only city still around, right?”

With what seemed to be the entrance to the tunnel coming up, Easy slowed us down. No sign of Darklight still, despite me trying to keep my eyes peeled during the conversation. I had no idea where she was, and the whole time we’ve been traveling she’s only shown up when someone was threatening us. I gave up on the search as Easy replied, forcing my attention back so I could hear him. “It’s not, sort of. It’s a part of what used to be an underground station, which still has a few transports able to move supplies and people around. A lot of little cities have cropped up like that, all named after whatever the old station was. This is Whitewood, with only one real connection on the tracks. It’s kinda free from the Legion so far, but only so far as we don’t technically have Legion running the place. Anyone who travels along the line gets checked, so taking a train out might be hard unless the townspeople trust you, right? I can sort of help with that, but like I said before… You really need new bags. The exit here leads out to a sort of side road, which connects to the main merchant area with all the shops. You can trade the crystals you have for the bags and any other supplies you want, but after that I recommend looking for work somewhere. If you need directions or anything, I’ll be by the main road where it connects to this road, alright?”

With fascination, I noted each line of text coming up on my PipBuck. The coding in it was more advanced than anything I’d ever encountered, and it was a lot of how the Icehorn had learned to work with technology despite being so distanced from everyone else. That said, I was already learning new functions as a small map was being hazily drawn based on what was around me, then big rings were placed nearby; the indication for the general areas Easy was referring to, unfocused because I didn’t know what was out there, or maybe because the PipBuck itself hadn’t figured it out. The tunnel was fully detailed, even the uneven edges of the walls were detailed accurately as far as I could tell. A theory we’d never been able to prove hinted that the device mapped out surroundings constantly with radar pings, which were saved when encountering solid objects and returning. This unfortunately meant that the surface was often unmapped due to the constant blizzards changing landscapes at times, messing with the radar and confusing the user.

“Hello? Hell-ooo? Krys, you got all that, right?” I snapped out of it and blinked, before nodding.

“Right, side road to main road, get bags, look for work, figure things out, back to you. Right?”

Easy Read gave a nod with each step, then seemed to expect another thing. When I was at a loss for what it was, he finished for me, “And don’t try to leave on the train.”

“Well, I need to know about Weaver still.” I reminded him. He gave a slight grin before nodding again, “If that’s everything, I think we’re ready. Versa? Anything else?”

“Well… Maybe you should have a gun or something, Kryssy? For defense?” Versa glanced at my recently bound wounds, the slight pain in my side having been ignored until the reminder of the shattered glass.

A gun. I had never had interest in anything of violence and really didn’t want to learn, but if we’re already being ambushed this often, I might not always be able to rely on others to keep me protected all the time. But not a gun. Not any kind of firearm. I was terrified that with one slipup, I could cause pain to far too many people. If I was going to defend myself, I’d need to learn how some other way. “I’ll… Think about it, but I don’t want any guns.”

“Probably for the best. Firearms and energy weapons are hard to get ahold of through shops, so you’re better off using your crystals on something else. If you really need a weapon, find an sturdy piece of wood, or a metal pipe or something.” The stallion took steps forward to the exit of the tunnel, brighter lights finally in front of us, ready to greet us again. Versa and I took off our head lamps and packed them, me putting extra clothing over my saddlebags to cover the flap and more importantly, the insignia embroidered on it.

Versa stood close at my side, calmed again and standing a bit taller than me. Her presence comforted me as I nodded at Easy and took a few steps forward with Versa into the station-city of Whitewood.

Level up (Krystal Clear)

Level up (Versatile Soul)

Krystal: Traps skill at 15

Versa: Medicine skill at 15

Author's Note

So after a bunch of years on hiatus, this is what I come back with?

I know, I know, sorry, it's a short one, but it's definitely helped me get back into the groove of things.

Chapters will come out somewhat irregularly, but I'll keep things updated on my blog for this story, and I'm always on the lookout for pre-readers/editors to help me make sure that when I'm ready with a chapter that it's the best I can make of it!