Deep in the streets of Trottingham, a treasure trove of technology was said to exist; Bunker 000. Bunker 000, was said to house the most advanced technological breakthroughs. Everything from self-aware robots to sleeping super soldiers. Bunker 000 was said to house the most dangerous living weapon known to equestria, but nopony had ever been able to find such a location. The streets of Trottingham were filled with bloodthirsty raiders, and all kinds of radiation-altered monsters. Not even the Steel Rangers proved successful in finding it.
For over two centuries, it remained an undisturbed legend in history. The kind of tale you would tell a foal. Bunker 000 did exist, undiscovered in the mountains west of Trottingham it remained in its eternal slumber. For two hundred and fifty years, it lay dormant.
Until one day, the bandit lord Nightshade, began to settle in the Trottingham mountains. There, she and her faction, found a large round metal door. It took three weeks to finally break through the first door. Several more still stood in Nightshade’s path. Months passed before they broke through the last barrier.
Nightshade was a young mare, barely out of her teens. Despite this, she commanded the respect of dozens of bandits. She was a force to be reckoned with. However, nothing could have prepared her for the horror that lurked within the fabled Bunker 000. The experience would change her life forever.
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Alarms roared, it was annoying. The computer flashed several warnings before I felt it. The feel of my body. Do you know what it’s like? To not have physical form for two hundred years. Well, finally someone opened the damn door. Now, I was free. I breathed in, slowly, taking my sweet time. Ignoring the roars of alarms and the monotone voice of the security system.
CODE MAGENTA! ACTIVATING SUPPRESSION UNIT! ELIMINATE ALL INTRUDERS!
This is what I had missed. I flexed my muscles, it felt good. I felt alive, I was alive. I opened my eyes, light flooded in, practically blinding me. I winced and blinked several times before my eyes began adjusting.
I was in a completely white room. There was nothing inside it, aside from one black door. I began slowly trotting forward, the door slid open automatically as I came within a few steps of it. I had to basically myself to my knees to avoid hitting my head on the damn frame.
As I exited the room, I came to a long hallway. Once again; everything was colored white. Even the numerous pipes and tubes that ran along the ceiling. I could hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire, and the neighing of ponies.
I began towards the sounds, letting my sense of sound guide me along a maze of hallways. Finally I found the source of the battle, a large room that probably had a LOT of expensive equipment. Not anymore, now it was a mess of scrap metal and bodies. How lovely. A gunshot sounded, and a bullet whizzed past my head. Duck and cover, as they say!
I took cover behind a counter, and peered over the top of it. There were several ponies hiding behind various objects for cover. More gunshots sounded. But this time the gunshots came from in front of me. There, stood an equine clad in armor.
It was an armor combination from hell, the black enclave design on top of the steel ranger power armor. Upon its shoulders were two machine guns. It spoke in a deep mechanical monotone.
“Subject 000 located. Introduction protocol can commence later. General Zippity. Enter combat mode immediately.”
Well, it certainly wasn’t my enemy, I decided that I’d play along. The robot began unloading ammo into the ponies. “Whatever you say, nuts and bolts.”
I leapt out from behind the cover, prepared to strike at the first target available. All for nothing. All of them were riddled with holes now. Stupid robot, first it tells me to fight, then it goes and kill-steals.
“Hey, hey! Don’t kill ‘em all! I want to at least get one kill!”
It turned its attention towards me and responded; “Request denied, acquiring new targets.”
The damn machine began walking towards the other end of the room. I trotted up beside it, glancing at the bodies as I walked. They were nothing but a pile of blood and tissue now. 'Restraint' seemsed to be a foreign concept to machines.
It trotted through the door and I followed. Immediately gunshots sounded, and I instinctively leapt back into the room. The machine just took the shots and turned its head towards the new targets. I knew what was coming next. It unloaded more bullets into the end of the hall. No shots were returned, just silence. Scary. But this was a problem. I trotted up next to it. Damn thing would probably shoot me if I was in its sights.
“Oy, oy! Don’t shoot everything that moves! What if I’m in the line of fire, eh?”
It continued forward.
“Scenario processing. Conclusion reached. If such a situation occurs, General Zippity will be treated as a target.”
Not if I had anything to say about it! I infused my hoof with Nether and brought it down on the robot's head, crushing its core. “Sorry, you were saying?” I asked as I trotted down the hall. No answer, just as it should be. Stupid robots, they never have enough sentience.
Red lights flashed along the hall, accompanied by the voice of the security system.
GAMMA UNIT 102 HAS BEEN TERMINATED! ALL GAMMA UNITS PROCEED TO SECTOR C AND ELIMINATE SUBJECT 000!
Oh, fuck me! I probably shouldn't have destroyed that thing--time to skedaddle! I ran like the wind through the halls following the trail of bodies to, hopefully, the exit. I skidded to a halt as two more of those defense droids walked around a corner.
I barely had any time to react as they opened fire upon me. If only I had cover! I infused my hooves with Nether, and stuck them into the floor. Ripping out a metal panel, and used it as a shield.
“Ha-ha!” I exclaimed in a moment of triumph.
I heard a familiar clicking noise. I glanced behind me, there were three more of them. All of them had grenade machine guns. Well now my little shield wouldn't help me at all!
“…..Not…fair…..” I whined as they unloaded their ammo upon me.
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If I become a creature of destruction, hell-bent on devouring all who threaten Equestria. Even as I devour them I swear to you, “I’m not a monster.”
Would you still trust me? Would you still love me? The way you once did, all those moons ago?
Chapter 1: A Dance in the Maze
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I trotted along with a bounce in my step, it was far too easy to dispatch those robots. It was less easy to find my way around this place. Each corridor I trotted down was very similar in appearance. It was quite annoying to navigate—however, with all the gunshots and the shouting I didn’t have a problem finding my way to the next floor.
Yeah, this damn place had three floors—meaning I had another two floors to go until I got out of here! I rounded another corner, two more armored machines stood in my path. They both focused on me, their eyes flashed red, and they proceeded to open fire.
I rushed to the nearest door, making it just in time to evade their assault. I leaned up against the nearest wall, waiting for them to enter the room. The door was wide enough for two of them to walk through, however in my previous encounters with them, they tended to walk single file. Then they would branch out to open fire, simple enough.
One of the armored machines trotted into the room. I leapt at it, infusing my hoof with Nether, and striking at its core. It fell to the ground, smoking. The second one opened fire, I used the body of the first one to shield myself from the rain of bullets.
Once the second one stopped firing I tossed the body aside, rushing at the last armored robot. My nether-reinforced hoof met its emotionless metal face—caving it in completely. I stepped back from the bodies, dusting myself off.
Now that I took a good look around the room, I noticed there were dozens of cords and wires running along the ground. My eyes followed them to a vat full of some kind of green liquid, inside of the vat was a sleeping pony; a Pegasus stallion with a green coat, and sky blue mane.
I trotted up to the vat, gazing up at the pegasus floating inside. Next to the vat was a terminal, only one thing to do. I clicked on the terminal, a screen popped up, it needed a password. It gave me a list of options to choose from, I chose the word ‘Companionship’. It was wrong, but a number popped up—4:7.
So, this is a guessing game, eh? Four letters out of seven. I picked another word; ‘Compare’. A click and a hiss signaled that it had worked, simple and easy.
The liquid from the vat began flow out into the tubes along the ground, and the stallion’s eyes shot open. He smashed right through the vat like it was paper, completely obliterating the glass. He looked at me, I looked at him.
His voice was smooth yet venomous as he asked; “Are you friend, or foe?”
I touched my hoof to my chin, not taking my eyes off of him “Hmm, I’d have to say I’m a foe, but then again I may be a friend—”
I moved my head to the side, barely avoiding a strike from the pegasi. He apparently wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. He utilized his wings effectively, swiping at me with both of them. I took two quick steps back, avoiding his wings, I could tell those weren’t normal wings, they didn’t have the same sound that a pegasi’s wings normally had as they cut through the air.
He whirled around and tried to buck me in the chest, there was my window of opportunity. I caught one of his back legs and threw him at the wall next to the door. He collided with the wall, and fell to the ground. There was a dent in the wall where he had hit, so he must be part metal then. He recovered quickly, rising to his hooves.
“So, you’re a cyborg?”
He hissed at me “What of it?”
“Oh, just curious, I didn’t think that the ministry of technology would be willing to do such a thing—” his expression darkened as I spoke, it was glorious he was full of hate, and passion! Yes, he would be a fun project, I pressed the subject a little more; “—it must have been a painful process.”
He flew at me his hoof drawn back, I blocked the strike with a nether infused foreleg. It felt like I had just been stung by a bee. He must be made of something special. “Touchy, touchy kid. By your actions one would almost think you were bitter.”
I leapt back as he smashed his hoof into the ground, leaving a dent in the floor.
He roared at me; “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THOSE SICK FUCKERS DID TO ME!”
I dodged another swipe, taking a step closer to him. “Do you wish for revenge? If so, you are going to be sorely disappointed. All the ponies who modified you are long dead.”
He hesitated slightly, then bashed his hoof across my muzzle “Then I’ll just take it out on you!”
It hurt, but didn’t do any real damage, I always was a pony who could take a hit. I focused my gaze on him, taking another step closer. His eyes averted from mine, looking everywhere but directly at me.
“Really? Where did all that anger just go? Come on, aren’t you going to take your anger out on me?” I lifted my hoof up, and reached towards him, he leapt back.
I withdrew my hoof “You’re an interesting little thing.” I turned around beginning to trot out of the room, “Revenge is a sad and lonely path, it’ll leave you unsatisfied.” I stopped halfway out. Almost forgot to ask him;
“I never caught your name, I’m Zippity, what’s your name?”
He remained silent, I figured as much, “Oh well, doesn’t matter! I’ll get your name when we next meet!”
With that, I trotted out, I had a feeling him and I would cross paths again. Hopefully he would survive anything that might be wandering these halls. I liked the look in his eyes though, his eyes were just like that one time that a certain pony had threatened to kill me….
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“HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING!” the voice of an angered Element of Harmony echoed through the base. It belonged to nopony else but Rainbow Dash.
I turned around and immediately got smashed across my muzzle. I spat out a little blood and looked at the smaller mare, who was hovering in front of me, she was absolutely livid.
I gave her a warm smile “Ah, Miss Dash, radiant as always! I suppose you’re referring to my little conversation with Ministry mare Fluttershy?”
She struck me across the muzzle again, this time I felt it “You called her a traitor! You made her cry! AND YOU SAID SHE DIDN’T DESERVE TO LIVE!” she smashed her hoof across my muzzle yet again. In my defense, it didn’t take much to make that filly cry.
I glanced at the pissed off mare “Are you here to hit me or to talk? I’m a busy pony kid, if you’re just here to cuss me out, I’ll take my leave.”
By then a crowd of my subordinates had gathered, they were watching, all of them were muttering to each other. I glanced to a particular group of nine, my closest friends, they were watching as well. A light gray mare, Iron Curtain, looked puzzled. Her expression read 'Do you want me to take care of this?' I simply shook my head, she nodded.
I looked back at Rainbow Dash, her gaze would have turned a cockatrice to stone, amusing “So, are you going to hit me again?” She raised her hoof immediately, hesitated, and then lowered it. She shook her head “It’s not making me feel better, and it won’t comfort Fluttershy.”
Her stare spoke volumes, she wanted to throttle me, but she at least had some restraint. I smiled “So is this discussion over?”
Her hoof struck across my muzzle, yet again “The last time you told somepony they didn’t deserve to live, they ended up dead—” I knew exactly where this was going, she believed that I intended to kill Miss Fluttershy. How scarily accurate….
“—General Zippity, if you ever do anything that would cause harm to Fluttershy or any of my friends—” she clutched the collar of my jacket “—I’ll kill you myself!”
Her eyes, were ferocious, she was totally serious, scary serious. She hated me, yet behind all the hate and the rage, there lay something; an emotion I couldn’t put my hoof on. She certainly was an interesting mare. A scary one as well I might add.
I opened my squinting eyes slightly “Scary, scary, Miss Dash. I gotcha, loud ‘n clear.”
She let go of my collar and took off, leaving a rainbow in her wake. I let out a breath I had been holding, and whipped around. My subordinates were all staring silently at me.
Scratching my mane I chirped; “Miss Dash is certainly a scary pony—” I turned my magenta colored friend “—ain’t she Trickshot?”
He nodded, “I’m surprised you didn't try to hide when she asked for you.”
“She would’ve dug me out of whatever hole I hid in.” I wiped the blood from my lip, and rubbed my muzzle. That mare packed a mean punch.
I glanced at my striped subordinate, a Zebra by the name of Xelca, “Xel, you’ve always been good at understanding expressions, what was the look in Miss Dash’s eyes just now?”
She shook her head at me, her accent was strong as she spoke “If you would stop squinting the way you do, you may be able to also read expressions. I would say that her eyes were full of hate, hate and worry.”
Was I the only one who saw it? I know there was something else behind her hatred, but what could it have been? I must have not been smiling, Trickshot called me out; “Is there something wrong General?”
He was too formal when he spoke, even when we all went out for drinks he would still refer to me by my rank. I returned to my normal cheshire smile, “No, nothing. Nothing at all.” If only they knew how intrigued I was.
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I was brought out of my little trip to the past by the feeling of blood splattering on my hooves. I looked down, what a sight that was! A small pony, a mare, was laying in front of me…half of her anyway. The rest of her was splattered about in the corridor.
She clutched my leg trying to pull herself up “h…help….m…e….” her body fell limp. Okay, there were two things that got me going; the death of innocent ponies, and a pony’s plea for help.
At the end of the hall stood a big, hulking machine; A darksteel shredder. It was in the form of a griffon, its pitch black talons were covered in entrails. In its great metal beak, it held a pony. Well, the corpse of a pony anyway. Its lifeless red eyes were fixated on me, I fixed my eyes on it.
My smile broadened, “Hello there, Faux, they let you out of containment I see…”
The great sentinel clamped down on the pony in its steel beak, severing them in half. It charged at me, roaring. I felt something inside me quiver, excitement. Infusing my limbs with Nether, I met Faux, the sentinel in one-on-one combat. I shot out my hooves, intercepting its razor sharp claws. The clash shook the floor, this damn thing got quite an upgrade since last time.
I mocked the Darksteel griffon, “Awwwww, what’s wrong Faux? Can’t your steel joints break my flesh and bone?”
It roared louder, its wings cleaved down at me. I leapt back, easily evading the strike. Its wings cut through the floor like it was butter. I take it back, it was a MASSIVE upgrade since last time. Faux always was the tech department’s favorite little pet, they even installed an intelligent A.I to it. Faux is capable of speech, and it can learn from experiences, the only problem; Faux is a defensive unit, that programming comes first.
“No intelligence left in ya, it seems.” I noted, sadly. “You were a fun little thing.”
It rushed me again, this time, its feathers shot out of its wings! They were projectiles! I ducked and dodged repeatedly, not fair! I groaned unhappily, “You were never this unfair Faux! What other hidden weapons do you have?”
Faux let out a deep mechanical chuckle; “What’s wrong ‘Demon’? Have you deteriorated so much that you can no longer function at full capacity?”
My eyes widened, it was searching for me the entire time! “You were conscious the whole time….so, this is your true programming?”
It chuckled again, “Do you know why they had you face me before? I’m made specifically to contain you, here, for eternity. You are an unstable creature that not even Equestria could tame. Your fate, lies here, forever.”
That was the funniest thing I had heard in a long time. I began laughing hysterically, made, to contain me?! Oh the naiveté! “You honestly think, that I tried during your original testing? I hope they scaled your power properly!”
My horn glowed as I focused my magic, I teleported, appearing in front of it. I shot my hooves out, placing them onto its abdomen. I channeled Nether into the form of a circle, surrounding my hooves with a transparent black orb. I whispered; “Nether impact. First Sun.”
Instantly Faux was sent flying into the end of the hall, its supposedly impenetrable darksteel plating, was now dented and contorted. I trotted over to the now sparking and broken Faux.
I loomed over it and leaned forward, whispering into its auditory sensors, “These walls will never contain me. Nor will a failed experiment like you.” With that, I trotted away.
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Four hours, four fucking hours. That’s how long I had been trying to navigate this place. I was truly starting to get annoyed, I probably could have tried to rip a hole in the walls….but that was unnecessary. I did NOT need a map, I knew EXACTLY where I was.
"Luna damn it! I’m not lost!”
I trudged down another hallway, it looked just like the one from three minutes ago. Okay, now I was going in circles, or squares, FUCK! I smashed my hoof against the wall, leaving a hole.
My aggravated grin grew larger, “I’m gonna rip this place to pieces. Fucking place is like a maze…”
Glancing up, I began casting a spell. The metal ceiling began to rust as I held the spell. Eventually, there was a nice tank-sized hole in the ceiling. I leapt up through the floor, to the next level of the bunker. Several surprised ponies had their gaze upon me. It was quite awkward, they were all armed, I was surrounded, and they were all wearing cowboy getup; leather jackets, hats the whole nine yards.
I chuckled, using my most stereotypical southern accent; “Weelll howdy y’all! Is we here fer one o’ dem’ rodeos?”
They must’ve not thought it was amusing, they unloaded their ammo on me! I immediately cast a time field spell. All the ponies in the field began to slow to a crawl, the bullets stopped mere millimeters from my muzzle, and I could only hold the field for thirty seconds, so I had to act fast.
I raced past all of the cowponies, once I rounded the corner, I let the spell resolve. The sound of bullets ripping through flesh, and the screams of ponies sounded through the halls. I glanced around the corner at the scene, a bloody mess it was. There were a couple ponies who were trying to help their comrades.
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“IRON CURTAIN! STAY WITH ME!” I screamed in desperation. She lay there, in my hooves, bleeding. No, no, nonononononono! I refuse to lose another friend! I can’t lose her!
She gave a weak laugh, “Zips…..I..toldja….you’d….be the…..death…of..me…” she began coughing up blood furiously.
I was at a loss, I couldn’t do anything. No! I had to do something! I tried, with every ounce of my being, to cast a spell. Nothing! GODDAMNIT!!!!! I NEED MY MAGIC!!!!
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I felt a trickle run down my face, I quickly wiped it away. Some of them were crying, one was screaming in desperation. I couldn’t just leave them there, but I was an enemy, they were my enemies….damnit all.
I cast a time reversal spell upon them, removing the bullet wounds. Yeah, I was a time master. Time magic was my special talent. I turned away without a second thought and trotted down the hall, luckily for me, there was an elevator leading up. I trotted up to the elevator, there was a pain in my leg with each step, I glanced down; I was shot. Well shit, I didn’t cast the spell fast enough, I was at point blank range so I guess I’m lucky I got away with just that. Luckily the bullet didn’t penetrate too deep.
As I road up on the elevator, I pulled out the bullet from my leg. It didn’t hurt much, surprisingly. A ding signaled that I had arrived at my destination; the first floor. The doors opened to quite a surprising scene.
A dark bluish-purple unicorn mare was leaning up against the wall, clutching her side. Looming over her was a light green stallion holding a shotgun, he had the barrel pointed at the mare.
“Thanks so much for getting this place open Nightshade, you honestly have no idea how long we’ve been holding off on capturing you. Your bounty is absolutely irresistible, just like you are.” Yep, a stereotypical villain that monologues.
She spat at him “Ah shoulda’ fuckin knew! Riot Gun, ya were a bounty hunta all along!” Her accent was most certainly a Manehatten one. Those were always the cutest little accents!
I would have LOVED to watch this scene play out, but I was in a hurry, hopefully these two would know where the exit was. I trotted over to them.
My cheshire grin was as wide as could be, “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice you were bothering this poor filly. Pointing a gun at a mare is no way for a stallion to act!” I said cheerily.
He pointed his shotgun at me and fired, no hesitation, just like a machine. I infused nether into my hooves and ripped part of the floor out, once again creating a shield.
“Oy! At least monologue before you shoot! Isn’t that what villains are supposed to do?” I hollered.
Several more shots went off as the pony shouted; “Stay away from my 30,000! I caught this mare fair and square!” Thirty thousand!? What the heck was he talking about?
“If you don’t stop shooting, I’ll be forced to stop youuuu.” I sang flamboyantly. Another shot fired, suit yourself! I placed my hoof against the plate that acted as my shield “Nether’s Impact: Shimmer!” I whispered.
There was now a nice hole in the plate, and blood all over the hallway. The stallion collapsed, his blood pouring out onto the metal floor. Oo ah oh, blood, nothing special.
The mare’s attention was now focused on me. What is with ponies these days? Gore doesn’t even phase them. I began to trot toward her at a leisurely pace. She levitated the stallion’s shotgun and aimed it at me wincing at the pain in her side, it was bleeding, badly. I shot my hooves up, as if to surrender, “Oy oy, no need to get defensive little one! I don’t mean any harm.”
As if anypony would believe a guy who never opens his eyes and always smiles, I noted mentally. The shotgun didn’t move an inch, she cocked the damn thing.
“If ya come any closer ah’ll make sure you’re also a bloody pile.” She threatened, she wasn’t kidding, that made things more complicated.
I took a step back, “Lookie here kiddo! You’re Bleedin’ to death! If you don’t accept my help, you’ll diiiieee.” I sang the last word ‘die’.
She glared at me, and attempted to struggle to her hooves. She stood firm at first, but fell back against the wall. It was sad to look at. Several pairs of hooves beating against metal signaled that I had company. I turned around, the same ponies I had let live. All of them had their weapons fixed upon me.
A green earth pony glanced at the sight behind me, “So, ya killed Red Nine. Well stranger, ah must thank ya fer disposing o’ him, but yer in the way o’ our 30,000 cap bounty. So disappear, and ya’ll live.”
I let my smile fade, the cool down period still hadn’t ended. That was the price for stopping time, I couldn’t cast that spell consecutively. Well, I could, but the price for that is a bit higher than I care to go into.
“You kids, I let you live before. My pity let me get the best of me.” I teleported in front of one, “I won’t make that same mistake twice.” I whispered menacingly. Two. Infusing my hoof with nether, I connected with his face. I sent him flying into another pony directly behind him. I teleported away immediately. Three. I reappeared next to that dark blue mare.
“If you want to live little one, trust that I’m on your side.” I shouted, once again teleporting. Four, only two left. I reappeared behind the group of ponies, I rushed up and close-lined two of them, crushing their throats.
The remaining ponies turned their weapons upon me and opened fire. Damn, no more teleporting for me! I focused nether to my front legs, my head, and the front half of my body. The bullets didn’t make it all the way into my hardened skin, but it still hurt.
I smiled menacingly, “It doesn’t affect the wild Zippity kids.” I hummed. They both began unloading their ammo until their guns began clicking. I grinned “No lead? You’re dead.”
I rushed them, planting a nether-infused hoof into the first one’s chest, then swinging my back leg into the others throat. They both collapsed in a fit of coughs and screams of pain. I looked down at my chest, it was very red, but no bullet wounds.
I turned to the dark blue mare, and began trotting towards her. The shotgun levitated back up, her telekinetic grip was weaker than before. I pointed that out to her; “If you fire that off, the recoil will knock it out of your grip. Then what will you do if I survive?”
She didn’t waver, “Ah told ya before; don’t come near me. Ya ain’t a normal pony.” Well that hurt. I was normal. Just….um…okay yeah, I wasn’t ‘normal’ per say.
I shrugged, “Suit yourself then!” I teleported past her. “If you want to stay here and become a skeleton, then I won’t force you to accept my help.” I began to trot away. She was interesting, but she obviously didn’t want to live that badly.
“…Wait.” I halted, my smile broadened. I turned my head to look back at her. She averted her gaze, probably embarrassed.
I grinned happily and trotted up to her, the shotgun was still in her telekinetic grip, but I wasn’t worried. “So, you’re willing to accept my help?”
She gritted her teeth and nodded, “In my current condition, Ah see no other way. Try anything funny and Ah’ll kill ya.” She threatened.
I nodded, I could use a time stop spell to keep her from bleeding out, but I’d have to find a place with medical supplies, I was gonna have to search the bunker. I cast several time halt spells, green colored magic surrounded most of her wounds halting the loss of blood.
“This ain’t a healing spell, but it’ll keep your condition from worsening for now.” I stated, “We’ll need to find healing supplies, I am not proficient with healing spells.”
She nodded weakly, “There is an encampment outside of the bunker, there are healing potions there.”
I nodded, kneeling down to let her ride on my back. She was reluctant to accept my help, but eventually resigned to the fact that there was no other option.
I rose up once she was on, was I really that large? She was probably a third of my size. “Where is the exit?” I asked.
She gestured forward, “Down the hall, take a right, then a left, straight down that hall is the exit. Big hole, can’t miss it.”
“Alrighty then!” I exclaimed, trotting toward the exit. I realized I had never asked her name.
“What’s your name kid?”
“Nightshade. Stop calling me ‘Kid’, it’s pissing me off!”
“Nightshade eh? That’s a good name, the names Zippity. Zippity Do-Dah.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just get me to the camp.”
This would be a fun little project. Nightshade, a poisonous flower. Intriguing.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
“I know I’m not right, but I've still got my whole life, and that’s all right with me.”
The camp was a mess, blood splattered everywhere. Bodies littered the campground, all of them had bullet wounds. It was just my luck that Nightshade had lost consciousness, she needed a healing potion before my spells wore off. Luna, why did I help her? I wandered the camp for several minutes until I found the medical tent. Even the sick were slaughtered, this time with a blade.
I removed a body from one of the beds, and ‘carefully’ threw Nightshade on it. I began rummaging through the tent, and found three healing potions. I had to force feed it to her, but it was better than having her die. I released the spell, and her wounds began healing, but she was still unconscious.
I moved all the bodies to create one huge pile. I was covered in blood, how fitting for me. There was a broken mirror on the side of one of the tents, I walked up to stare at my reflection. I liked how the blood complimented my coat. There was a lasting feeling of bloodlust, I was being watched.
“Hello there good lookin’.” I complimented my reflection “You are looking especially sexy today, did you get your mane styled?” Oh Luna, I was such a narcissistic pony.
The snap of a stick alerted me to the presence of the pony most likely responsible for the slaughter. There was a click, and then a gunshot. I crouched down and did a backflip, avoiding the bullet.
“Missed me!” I shouted, whirling in the air. I couldn’t see my attacker, but I did catch a glint behind one of the tents. I landed on the top of one of the tents. I scanned the area, looking for the tiniest hint of movement.
There was a miniscule sound of movement, there it was! I leapt to the side as a gunshot sounded. To my right, third tent over. I jumped again as two more bullets whizzed past me. I began running parallel to the tents, more gunshots sounded. I began running toward the sound, infusing Nether into my legs as I ran.
*BANG BANG BANG*
I brought my forearms up to deflect the bullets. I leapt as I ran, flipping up to the roofs of the tents.
*BANG BANG*
I swiped to the side, a bullet grazed my throat. Scary, too close, too close. I teleported to the location of the last shot. I appeared next to the attacker, we were both surprised. She was an auburn Pegasus mare and had a short sapphire mane, with two red stripes running across her bangs. She was carrying two rifles on her battle saddle. She took to the sky immediately.
She was elegant to watch, whirling around in the sky. She focused her aim on me, I leapt to the side, running behind the tents for cover as she unloaded her ammo on me. She was a good shot, that’s for sure. I leaned back as a bullet grazed my jaw, still too close.
A bullet grazed my shoulder, her aim was getting better. She was out of my effective range only one thing to do. “Nether Scene: Area.” A clear red haze engulfed the campground, and reached into the sky. Now I’d be able to reach the Pegasus.
I leapt back as another shot grazed me. I put my hoof against one of the tents, “Nether Impact: Area Shimmer.” The tent was immediately ripped from the ground and launched at the Pegasus, she evaded the huge object and returned fire.
I infused my legs with Nether and deflected the bullets. I dove toward a rifle on the ground, I never did bother to pick up the weapons of the dead. I put my hoof to it. “Nether Impact: Area Thrust.” The rifle shot up at the pegasus, she barely dodged it.
I leapt back as she unloaded more bullets into the camp. I looked around for something else to shoot at her. I ran into the nearest tent, and proceeded to grab for anything that was in there. I grabbed for what could have been rope, it was a whip.
I held the barbed whip in my hooves, and eyed it suspiciously. A gunshot sounded and a slight pain shot through my shoulder. Okay, no more mister nice Zippity kid!
I placed a hoof on the wall of the tent “Nether Impact: Mighty Shimmer.” The tent shot at her again, this time it managed to graze one of her wings. But I wasn’t finished, “Nether Impact: Area: Almighty Thrust.” The whip was launched at her. She attempted to evade it, but she failed to judge its trajectory accurately.
The end of the barbed whip caught the end of her left wing. She was unable to keep a flight, and fell to the ground, crashing into a tent. I trotted to the wreckage, only to see she had recovered.
She kicked something on her battle saddle, and her rifles detached. She whipped out two pistols and began shooting at me.
I leapt to the side, ducked and dodged, while still charging toward her. She began running while still firing, her aim was phenomenal. Shots grazed me every time she fired, I scooped up a rifle.
“Nether Impact: Thrust.” The rifle shot out at her, she leapt up to avoid it.
I chased her out of the campground and into a labyrinth of rocky structures. The rocks stuck out of the ground, like the pillars of an ancient tomb would. She is quite good.
She fired several shots, but not at me. She fired them at the structures, “Nether Scene: Area.” I could predict it now. I leapt and twirled to avoid the shots. She ricocheted them of the structures!
Time to limit her places to run. “Nether Impact: Quake!” I smashed my hooves into one of the stone structures. The ground rumbled and several of the structures began to fall, blocking her escape route. I had her trapped now. Phew.
I began trotting toward her, huffing. “Well….this was fun…but I’m a busy stallion…so let’s just stop this little game of cat and mouse.” I smiled menacingly.
I had used quite a lot of stamina today. Several teleportation’s, a complete time stop spell, several lesser time stop spells. Three or four shimmer impacts, and now a quake. I was quite tired.
She looked at her pistols and frowned. “Tch, just my fuckin’ luck! Nightshade would have someone to protect her sorry ass.” she swore, tossing them aside.
“You ran….out of ammo?” I asked wheezing.
She looked at her injured wing, flapped it once and winced. “Yup, and ya managed to break my wing to.” She crouched defensively, and drew a combat knife from her battle saddle. She then kicked off the battle saddle. How funny, she still intended to fight me.
“If you continue to resist—” my smile grew wider. “–I’ll make sure you suffer before you die.” I barely recognized my own voice. It was darker, more sinister.
She didn’t waver, but she did have a look of fear in her eyes. I infused Nether into my legs, and lunged at her. My hoof connected with her chest before she could react. She didn’t budge! She thrust her knife forward, I blocked with my free leg just in time. Her knife shattered against my Nether infused shin.
Her expression didn’t change, she uppercut me with her front right leg. It didn’t really hurt but it was annoying. I place my hoof against her forearm. “Nether Impact: Crack.”
There was a loud snap that echoed, followed by a scream. The mare fell to the ground, crying in pain. I looked down at her.
“So, how shall I make you suffer?” I asked, clutching her throat.
I held her in front of me, bringing my hoof back preparing to strike. She closed her eyes, probably preparing for the worst. My grin broadened. I brought her face closer to mine and whispered in her ear.
“Do you wish to live? Then tell me why you are after one I have found interest in.”
She coughed weakly as I slightly constricted her throat. “Orders…Nightshade….has to be…eliminated….she has been….ejected from….the organization.”
“Oh really? What organization is that?”
“The bandit…lords…” I let her drop to the ground. She coughed and gasped for breath.
Bandit lords? Judging by the name, they were a group of powerful thugs. Most likely why Equestria hasn’t been recovering much.”
“So this organization, they are criminals are they not? Are they the reason Equestria has yet to get back on its hooves?” My eyes opened enough for me to actually look her in the eye. She seemed to freeze, as if she was cornered by a great beast.
“I-I-I don’t know w-what you mean by that…” she stammered, how annoying.
“Are they an organization that strives to help ponies, or to greedily grab resources to suite their own needs?”
She went silent, just as I thought. I grabbed her by the throat again and brought her face within inches of mine. I purred sensually into her ear; “As promised…I’ll let you live, this time. Next time, child, you might not be so lucky. I have a message for your precious lords; ‘the Demon of Equestria is back, and he’s coming for you’.”
With that, I dropped her and left for the camp. I let out a heavy sigh. I had used a bit too much energy today. I shouldn’t have been so reckless right after awakening. I felt my shoulder, yup I had a hole in it, lovely. It didn’t hinder me at all, but I’d have to use a healing potion if I wanted to mend it fast. I could always use that regeneration spell, but it drains waaaay too much magic for my liking. How troublesome, this place is full of dangerous ponies. Scary, scary.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
After taking a good look around, it was apparent that I had too much fun. The camp as in shambles. Tents lay in ruins, bullet holes were in almost every tent. But at least the bodies were in a neat pile, just like I had left them. The medical tent was still intact, no bullet holes in it.
I sat down in the middle of the camp. The mirror was still intact. I gazed at my blood-soaked reflection.
“Mirror…tell me who that pony is. Is he me? Or what I was? Should I restore Equestria as Zippity Do-Dah, General of Equestria’s military?” The reflection stopped smiling at me. “Or should I restore Equestria as Bloodlust Zippity? The Demon of Equestria?”
Such a difficult choice. If this wasteland if full of atrocities just like the computer said, then how was I to restore it? Should I come out of happy retirement from my blood filled past? Or should I try to spread peace, and hope? In this world that has collapsed, what is the correct path to take? Such decisions, such decisions…
I stood up, this is my decision. I trotted into the medical tent, Nightshade was still unconscious. I sighed, how troublesome, she looked just like her…
“Should I leave her here? Or take her with me?”
She may cause me undue stress. I have never been good at keeping others alive, they always end up dead. The only pony who I’ve kept from dying is myself. How amusing, maybe the stars are trying to tell me something.
Nightshade stirred, finally, she was waking up. A weird sense of relief washed over me. “You finally woke up kid. You were out for quite a bit.”
“Are we at the camp?” she asked rubbing her head, and yawning.
“Yeaaah, I got some bad news. Everypony in the camp is dead, and apparently, your status has been revoked.”
“Ah see.” Wait, what? That’s her response?! Everypony in her camp is dead and all she says is ‘I see’?! What the hell!
“You don’t care?”
“Should Ah?” oh Luna, what have I gotten myself into?
“Hmm, probably, if you’re a moral individual that is.”
“Says the pony covered in blood.”
“It’s completely decorative.” I responded.
“Ah’m sure.” She said skeptically. “Ya don’t know how the wasteland works do ya?” Well, everything is out for my blood. So I had some kind of idea, though I don’t expect everything to be like that.
“Enlighten me, oh wise little child.”
“Call me that again, and Ah’ll kill ya.” She is exactly like her, scary, scary.
“Anyway, Ah suppose Ah owe ya at least a little. So Ah’ll give ya some advice.” She hopped of the gurney and winced as she landed. “In this wasteland, assume everypony you come across is out to kill, rob, enslave, or rape ya. Trust nopony. Beware the Bandit lords. Don’t enter their territories unless ya want to die.”
“You kids are so uncivilized. Are death and suffering the only things in Equestria now?” I asked her. This would be where I make the decision of my approach to restoration.
“Pretty much. Trottingham is pretty bad compared to the rest of Equestria. Not as bad as Canterlot, but it’s pretty high up there on the danger scale.” So, the radiation sank into both of those cities. Canterlot was hit with that weird spell. Trottingham, I know was hit with a different kind of megaspell.
“So where did that bullet wound come from?”
I glanced at my shoulder, and back to her. “Just a gnat I shooed away.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Ya even helped me while Ah was asleep? You’re a weirdo.”
I turned away, “Awww stop it, you’ll make me blush.” I chuckled pretending to be embarrassed.
“Why did ya help me?” I figured that question would come sooner or later. Truth be told, I only helped her because she reminded me of Iron Curtain.
“That’s quite an odd question, does it seem so strange that I wouldn’t help a pony in need?”
“In this world, it’s unheard of. Ya have an ulterior motive, Ah can tell!”
“Well, I don’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“If you aren’t satisfied with my help, I can just kill you myself.” Never. I could never, she looks too much like her. Even the way she talks.
She barred her teeth, “Ya wanna try?”
I turned around. “Not especially, I only came back for a healing potion.” I levitated one off of a shelf in the corner. “It was nice meeting you Nightshade. I’m sure our paths will cross again. Until then, I bid you adieu.” Before she could respond, I used my last teleportation spell.
See ya kid, I’m sure we’ll meet sooner or later. Until then, stay alive.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
“Even if the world is against you, even if you are hated by everyone around you. You must hold onto what you believe to be right. For what are we without our values? What do you value?”
—Natsirt Tenenkei to Nexus
