"When all you have loved and fought for is destroyed, can you ever truly be the same?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The streets of Hoofington were dark and dreary. We coughed and pain immediately set in. We looked down, through our coughs, at the large ‘X’ in the center of our chest. The scar would never heal, nor would the damage to our body, the pink cloud ensured that. There were sharp stones and shrapnel all over the ground, these streets needed to be maintained properly.
We stopped, company was about to arrive. The beating of hooves against the broken concrete streets signaled the arrival of several ponies. All of them had crazed and desperate looks in their eyes. Their eyes were fixed on an object that we wore around our neck.
“Ye bes’ be handin’ over tha’ there necklace.”
We clutched the necklace tightly to our scarred chest. “Did you hear that? They’re trying to take Luna away from us. We can’t allow that, can we?”
We let go of the necklace, and lifted up our front leg. “Nether Scene: Bloodbath.”
The stones and the shrapnel on the ground shot out, gouging and ripping the ponies apart. Their screams of pain filled the streets. We smiled as blood was splattered upon my cloak. We began humming a little tune.
“Poor little enemies, ripped apart. I see your liver, where is your heart?”
We trotted past the bodies of the ponies. Leaving the living ones to suffer a slow death. Our objective was the tavern at the end of the road, ‘Dead Pony’s Inn.’ We knew if anypony would know about the tremors, they would be here. Even in the far north, that inn is infamous for both their dangerous customers, and being a place for exchanging information.
We groaned quietly as we entered the tavern, “Don’t draw attention to ourselves, Lust. Yeah, yeah Blood, I know.”
We could feel the stares of many ponies upon us, it made our blood boil. We trotted over to the bar and took a seat next to a rather large pony. The whole establishment was filled with noise. The bartender trotted up to us.
“Ain’t never seen ya ‘round here ‘fore stranger. I hope ya’ll won’t be causing trouble.” he warned.
We smiled though it wasn’t visible through our mask, cheerily replying. “No need to worry about us sir, we won’t cause any trouble. Unless we are threatened.”
The bartender nodded wearily, “Can I get ya anythin’ fella?”
“A Raspberry Schnapps. With a shot of cranberry flame. If you don’t have that, then just a whiskey will do.”
He nodded and began mixing our drink. (Really Blood? A cranberry flame? I am not some prissy pussy, a Raspberry Schnapps has no kick whatsoever.)
We felt a hoof on our shoulder, and a deep booming voice sounded “My boss over there doesn’t like pussies with masks. Take it off.”
We sighed, “Blood, it seems conflict is unavoidable. It seems that way, Lust.”
Our Nether infused elbow delivered a killing blow to the pony touching us. His throat was completely crushed. The bar went silent, save for the sound of stomping against the floor. We got out of our seat and turned to face our annoying enemy. He was a scar riddled earth pony with a bionic leg. He was certainly buff, but that wouldn’t save him from us.
“Ye mus’ really be lookin’ fer an early death.” He said swinging at me.
We caught the blow with our hoof, effortlessly. We caught more of the large stallion’s blows, but we outclassed him in both size and power. He was only about to our shoulder, despite him being the largest pony in the bar.
We caught another blow, and this time we counterattacked. “Nether Impact: Shatter.”
The large stallions’ arm bent in all directions. He let out an agony-filled scream. We then kicked out his knees, bending them the wrong direction. He collapse on the ground in agony, and we loved every second of it. (Luna, can we protect Equestria now? *Please let us protect them!* Please don’t let them die!)
We sat on top of the collapsed pony, grasping his throat. “Let us give you a taste of our pain. We will not tolerate any hinderance.”
Our free hoof bashed against his skull. His head began bleeding slightly. We hit him again, harder this time. Then a third, then a fourth, again and again we bashed his skull. We began laughing while we bashed his head in. We kept hitting it until his brains covered our hoof.
We stood up after we were satisfied, many of the ponies in the bar were now wore very concerned looks on their faces. Many had drawn, or had a hoof rested on their guns.
We chuckled lightly, “We won’t hurt you. Unless you threaten us.”
With that, we turned around and returned to our seat. The bar returned to its noisy state, but now there were murmurs and whispering. The bartender didn’t seem fazed by what had just happened, our drink was set in front of us.
“Sir, I should jus’ warn ya now, that was the head of the Green Scorpion faction ya jus’ took out.” He lazily informed us.
We lifted up our mask, revealing our closed eyes, and cheshire smile. “We appreciate the warning, but we aren’t concerned. We are looking for a mare.”
“A mare eh? What’s ‘er name?”
We chuckled again, “Nightshade.”
Just like that, the bar went silent. The Bartender nervously whispered: “Th-the bandit lord?”
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
*Level Up! New Perk Unlocked: Unstable
**You are mentally insane and unnerve those who you come in contact with. It doesn't hurt that you are a monster-sized pony. You gain +15% increase to your Intimidation skill.
The bar was silent, all eyes were fixed upon us. It was annoying, couldn’t they mind their own business? A pony from behind blurted out; "The guy's crazy!?" Soon all of them joined in on the shouting, the fuckers.
“He’s insane!” “You must have a death wish guy!” “What does he want with her!?”
Things along those lines. Good job Lust, look what ya did now! Don’t pin this on me, you’re the one who was interested.
The sound of a gunshot made the bar go silent. Our attention turned to the pony in the corner, he was holding a up a smoking magnum. He was a copper colored Pegasus stallion about two-thirds my size. His long white mane concealed his eyes.
He got up from his seat and put his magnum in its holster. He began trotting toward us, while saying; “Obviously, this pony knows the dangers if e’s come here. Hoofington ain’t exactly the safest place ‘member. We all saw how e’ took out Grievance, no small feat. What’s yah name stranger?” He had a Naystralian accent.
His accent is quite cute. I almost expect him to add ‘mate’ at the end of his sentence.
“Our name?”
We took a sip of our Raspberry Schnapps, and muddled over what we would be called. Had we already forgotten our own name? Who were we in the past?
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Equestria, 352 years in the past.
“Aw c’mon _______! We have to go to see the Summer Sun Celebration!” my friend shouted, practically dragging me.
I planted my hooves into the ground. NO WAY was I going to trot into a crowd where the royal guards might find me. “We went over this Tipsy, I can’t just waltz into a guard infested area.” I was a wanted criminal, my crime: extending my life through via age magic.
Tipsy huffed and crossed his arms. “You always say that! The reason you are still here is because they never could catch you, right?” that little brat!
I smiled evilly, “You really don’t get it, do you? PRINCESS CELESTIA HERSELF WILL BE THERE!”
“Well duh!”
“I can’t outmatch an alicorn princess!”
“I bet you could outrun her!”
“She has all kinds of magic at her disposal!”
“You can negate magic with your Nether!”
“Not if it’s coming from a powerhouse like Celestia!”
“You’re a jerk! Why can’t you ever take chances?”
Tipsy puffed his cheeks out, then turned around to face the wall of the alley we were hiding in. He was sulking again. He looked like a tomato when he puffed his face out like that.
“…..Fine, let’s go.” I sighed, giving into his desires. If mother was still alive, she would clobber me if she knew what I was about to do.
He immediately whipped around “REALLY!?!”
I chuckled. “Yeah, let’s go.”
“I knew you’d give in eventually ________!”
I shook my head, this would only end badly.
We arrived to the Celebration VERY early. SO DAMN EARLY THAT WE WERE IN THE FRONT ROW!!!!! I brought a cloak to keep myself inconspicuous, kinda hard to do when you’re about the same size as the princess. I wasn’t so much nervous as I was annoyed.
“Tipsy!” I hissed. “Why are we in the front row?”
He smiled gleefully, “So that I can get a good view of the Princess!” That little perv! All he cared about was seeing the Princess!
“She’s older than me by a century.” I whispered.
I could visibly see the little cogs in his head begin to turn. “….NO…WAY! SHE CAN’T BE THAT OLD!” he blurted out. Loudly I might add.
The attention of the guards was drawn to us now. I could feel their eyes burrowing into me. I clocked the brat over the head, and hissed; “Good going you idiot! Now their attention is on us!”
He rubbed the back of his head, and painfully whispered: “Sorry ______!”
I looked up, oh shit. My closed lime-green eyes met the princess’s majestic purple eyes. Her eyes narrowed for a brief second, but returned to normal. I was officially boned six ways to Las Pegasus as soon as the Sun was raised.
“Tipsy, as soon as the Sun is up, I’m booking it. Celestia knows.”
The celebration proceeded. It kinda was sad to watch, after all, Luna wasn’t there. Imagine what Celestia must be thinking each time she does this little celebration. The brilliance of the rising sun kept me around longer than I would have liked. I forgot myself for a second, but recollected my senses and booked it.
I managed to distance myself from the location of the celebration. I fled into the forest, which was the safest place for me to hide. I breathed a sigh of relief, “That could’ve gone badly, scary scary.”
“What could have gone badly, ______?” A regal voice inquired.
I let out a groan, “Celestia could have found me, all because Tipsy shouted.” Double take commencing in three…two…one…, my head shot forward. “C-C-CELESTIA!” I shouted.
I began to back away, not good, not good! “H-how are ya, Princess?” I asked nervously, oh lord I was screwed.
She took a step forward. “Why appear after all this time ______? You know you're not welcome here.” she asked calmly. If only I could be as calm as her.
“O-oh, ya know! Friend’s drag you to events that you’d much rather avoid. For reasons I’m seeing now.” I answered, backing up against a tree.
“You haven’t aged a day, ______.” She stated.
I looked around, trying to find an escape route. “Well, when you specialize in the kinda magic I do, you tend to not age. Looking great by the way! Did you get your mane styled recently?” Smooth ______, real smooth. Maybe you should try more running and less talky.
“Your flattery is not welcome, ______!” She spat harshly. Her eyes seemed to be on the verge of glowing white. That mare is scary!
“Soooo, I’m guessing you want me to surrender peacefully?” I inquired, not caring about the answer. I was gonna leap to the tree behind her, and bolt.
“______, you will surrender peacefully. I don’t want to use force if I don’t have to.” She said with a gentle tone.
I chuckled and leapt. “Well, Tia dear! Let’s see if you can catch me this time! My mother didn’t raise a tortoise!”
There were several magical spears launched in my direction from the front. “HALT BLOODLUST _______!” came the call of several guards.
I looked back at Celestia who was now in hot pursuit. I stuck my tongue out at her. “Sorry 'Princess' Celestia, maybe next time.” I shook my flank before taking off at full throttle.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
We chuckled, what a joker we used to be. We looked at the pony in front of us. “We no longer remember our real name. You can just refer to us as Bloodlust.” was our reply.
The pegasus didn’t seem fazed by our response. “Alrighty then, Bloodlust, the name’s Topsy-Turvy. Nightshade ain’t a bandit lord no more. Two days ago her status was revoked.”
The tavern once again lit up with murmurs and whispering. We only needed to find her because she may have found Blightsteel, or Trickshot. Who was in the Trottingham area? We couldn’t remember. All we knew was that the rest of our family was now awakened. We’d have to find them, then we might finally be able to fix this hell.
“So, do you know where she might be?” We asked, taking another sip of our drink.
“Why are ya so curious about her? Are ya after her bounty?” Was his response.
We sighed, “She has knowledge that may be useful to us. We just need to find her.” What did we care about? Certainly not money. But Blood dear, what’s she worth? Not now, Lust! Money isn’t important! Sure it is, we need to have money in order to pay for our drink.
We face hoofed. “Excuse us Turvy, did that big guy have a bounty?”
He nodded, “Eyep! I think that bugger was worth 2000 caps.”
Relief washed over us. Lucky us Blood! We turned to the bartender. “Can we use the big guy to pay for our drinks?”
He mulled over our question for a second and then nodded, “Ah suppose.”
“Thanks. Makes life easier for us.” We turned our attention back to Topsy. “Do you know where she is?”
“You’re certainly hell-bent on her ain’t ya? Don’t you know nothing is free around here? Especially not information on a 30,000 cap bounty.”
“Oh, really? I’m not sure you understand what you are implying. Do you want us to beat it out of you?” We weren’t going to stand for extortion, our mission is more important than the lives of the few.
“Let’s not be hasty, I’m simply going to ask you a favor in return for the information.”
“What favor would that be?”
“Kill everypony else in this bar. Each an’ every one of them has a bounty of at least two hundred. Do that and I’ll tell ya everything I know.”
There were so many clicking sounds as soon as he said that. Everypony had their weapons fixed on him, and a couple were fixed on me. “So, all we have to do is kill them?”
“Simple as that!”
We got up from our seat. Lust, we’ll use ‘that’, that way we can kill them easily. Sure thing Blood, just make sure we don’t overexert ourselves. You know how dangerous that technique is. We shot out our hooves, our body forming a ‘T’, “Nether Scene, Demon Impact: Conquer!”
An invisible shockwave flew out from us, impacting everypony but the bartender, and Turvy. All of them slowly began to drift into unconsciousness, their will was not greater than ours it seemed. We walked to the nearest body and picked up a revolver. This is all for you. We will fulfill our promise to you. No matter what the cost.
We began to systematically execute each and every pony in the bar. Soon we were covered in their blood. Forgive us, Luna dearest. We don’t want to do this, but we must. There is no other way. We will not falter in our resolve.
Everypony besides the bartender, ourselves, and Turvy, was now dead. We turned to Turvy, our face was covered in blood. “The deed is done, now to fulfill your end of the bargain.”
He whistled, “Ain’t never seen a pony kill so automatically. Nightshade is currently in the captivity of the Trottingham branch of the Steel Rangers. Apparently, the elder of that faction is somethin’ special, captured ‘er single-hoofedly.”
We groaned, the Steel Rangers? Great Lust, now we need to infiltrate their base. Maybe not, we never did resign. Yeah, but I’m sure a few century leave of absence would label us MIA, or just dead.
Our gaze fell upon the bartender. “Sorry about the mess.” we turned back to Turvy, “We better get going then, otherwise our good friends the Steel Rangers will kill little Nightshade before we can make her useful. Wouldn’t want that.”
Turvy took a step forward, “I’m comin’ with ya mate. I want that 30,000 caps, real badly.”
We did NOT want this little thing to come with us, no way. “Do what you want.”
BLOOD! HOW COULD YOU!? Easily, now shut up and think. If he comes with us, he can be a useful tool for gathering information. He seems to know a lot, so what’s the harm? No equine contact for centuries, remember? Why do you think we are talking to ourselves?
We turned for the door, and trotted out. Topsy was right behind us, as expected. “So, where is their base of operations?”
“O’right! I forgot to tell ya! We may need to pay a fine to get outta ‘ere alive! There are bandit lords in this city, an’ they don’t like when ponies just waltz in an’ out as they please.”
We looked back at him and then forward again. “We will worry about that when it comes up, getting to Nightshade is top priority.”
He trotted up alongside us, dangerously close to us. “A‘right then, currently the Trottingham rangers are on the outskirts of Trottingham. Near the Rockslide Mountains, it should take us about three days if we’re cautious about getting’ outta here.”
We nodded. “Two days it is, and please keep your distance. Any accidental physical contact might cause your death.” Ever since we isolated ourselves, we couldn’t bear to be in contact with anypony.
He halted, “Two day’s mate?! We can’t jus’ trot out of Hoofington without precaution!”
He said it! He said ‘mate’! So cute! Sometimes I think you’re a girl. Shut up, I’m flamboyant okay!
We shook our head. “We care not for these bandit lords or the Steel Rangers—” we stopped, there was movement in the alleyways.
A pony leapt out at us baring a large club. We blocked the blow with our forearm and smashed our free hoof into his chest. “Nether Impact: Shimmer!”
A large hole instantly formed in his chest. “—Anything that gets in the way of our mission. Will be dealt with.”
Our mission is to find the pony who will replace us as Equestria’s guardian. No matter the cost to ourselves.
We trotted along the streets of Hoofington with little caution. Turvy was skittish, and frantically looking around. Muttering: “I just know there’s gonna be trouble! Should never o’ followed him!”
There was plenty of noise, the wind whistled through the streets. The howling noise the wind produced could possibly conceal the hoof beats of other ponies. Had there not been a slight tremor on the ground. We turned to Turvy whom appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack.
You just had to bring him along. Shut up. Don’t bring him I said, he’ll be a bother I said. But no, you just had to bring the little Aussie. I said shut up, can’t you tell? We’re being watched.
“Turvy, how far until we are out of Hoofington?” We inquired, keeping an ear open and an eye fixed.
“About another block and we’ll be ta the bridge, can’t miss it!” He responded, his voice shaky.
“And when do you suppose these ‘reapers’ you mentioned will show? I assure you, I’ll take on any threat that they could possibly pose.” Our way of trying to comfort him was a bit….ineffective, we could visibly see his heart rate increase.
“Ya don’t understand mate! These ponies aren’t normal, they’re in a league o’ their own!” there he went, trying to dissuade us from attempting to fight our way out.
Blood, just ditch him, we don’t need his help.Shut up Lust, I don’t need you telling me how to do things. But he’ll just run away! Oh well, tough shit.
We came to the bridge Turvy was talking about. Only, there were several dozen ponies blocking the path. Two of those ponies were noticeably different. One was a red stallion standing the size of a small tank. His muscles bulged, he must’ve got blessed with muscles. The other was a crazed looking magenta mare with a rifle roughly three times her length.
“Wow!” Turvy exclaimed. “That’s a war-time rifle! Just look at it! A magical anti-matter pulse rifle! It has almost no recoil when it’s fired, and my Celestia just imagine what kinda armour it would take ta stop a round o’ that!” He was practically drooling as he described that weapon. How did he know so much about wartime weapons?
We cracked our neck. “Turvy stay back, we’ll show you just what we can do.” We ordered.
He didn’t even appear to register our order, he just kept eying that rifle. Blood, I bet he’s got a boner, the way he’s gushing over that thing. Thank you for that lovely image Lusty.
We approached the group of ponies. Now that we were closer we could accurately calculate the number of enemies. Twelve in total. We got within ten meters of the group until guns clicked and we were ordered to halt.
“Teh fee is four hundred caps! Pay up or turn around!” ordered the magenta mare.
We chuckled. “We don’t feel like it!” We summoned a Nether field spanning from us to the end of the bridge.
We charged at them and we were pleasantly surprised at the speed which the mare reacted. She twirled the large rifle like a baton, fixing its sights on us. She pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. We smiled, the Nether field negated the magical properties of the rifle. We leapt at the mare only to be blindsided by the huge muscular pony. He smashed his hoof into our face, cracking our mask and sending us hurling into a building.
The impact stunned us for a second. Okay, maybe that muscle isn’t just for show. NO SHIT LUST! We shook off the pieces of glass that hadn’t imbedded themselves in us. We leapt out of the rubble. The large pony was smiling.
“He survived! Can I have him Mist? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?!” He begged the smaller mare.
She looked at me, then to him. “If things turn bad, we’re going to step in.” she replied, nodding.
He charged at us, he was larger than us, but he was slower than molasses. Then, of course, his speed picked up and we were sent crashing back into the building.
Blood, tag out. I’m no fighter. You pansy.
We recovered instantly, dodging a swing from the large pony. We blocked another blow, and responded by punching the large pony in the throat. He didn’t seem affected by our blow, and lifted us up. He threw us out of the building, back onto the street.
We skidded against the cracked pavement. We rolled our eyes, maybe we actually had to try with this guy. Blood, let’s do that thing. Alright, two as one.
The big pony charged at us again. We closed our eyes and removed the mask, letting it fall to the ground. His blow came down at us.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
My eyes shot open, I intercepted the blow from the large pony with little effort. He seemed genuinely surprised. I grasped the enormous pony’s leg with my front two hooves and let out a grunt as I threw him into the building.
I cracked my neck, “Ahhhh, We haven’t done this in a long time. Let’s make the most of this Blood-san, Lust-san.”
The large pony recovered instantly, rushing at me. I leaned away from his swing, and smashed my hoof against his ribs, only hearing one crack. He didn’t slow down, but whipped around and bucked us. I threw my forearms up to block the blow and was sent skidding.
“And here we had you pegged as all show. Not bad….for an amateur.” I joked.
He grinned, and attempted to buck me again. I side-stepped easily avoiding it. “Did you know, there are over fifty-five different hoof-to-hoof combat arts?”
We exchanged several blows, he didn’t even flinch whenever I struck him. “Your muscles act as a protective shield it seems.”
I ducked to avoid another blow, I kept an eye fixated on the mare and her brigade of cannon fodder. She was like a hawk, keeping her eyes fixed solely on my moves, how annoying. I leapt back slightly, avoiding his blow. I had to take her little brigade out, and I knew just how to do so. I side-stepped his next swing. He didn’t even notice that I was maneuvering so that my back was facing the group of ponies.
In this position I was able to see Turvy, he was standing, mouth agape. I waved to him as the large pony’s blow connected with my chest, he managed to crack a rib and sent me flying right into the group of ponies. The mare, Mist, managed to dive out of the way while I close-lined three of the twelve ponies. Three down, nine to go, counting the big guy and Mist.
“You think yer clever!” Mist shouted accusingly.
I leapt to my hooves, smiling. I charged at the first pony in front of me, bashing my forearm against his nose. I grasped a rifle in my telekinesis and unloaded it on the rest of the ponies around me aside from the mare and the stallion.
The stallion was upon me in an instant, I let the rifle fall to the ground as I leapt back. I blocked his blow, and responded with a hoof to his muzzle. He reeled back slightly. I jumped away, wagging my aching hoof. “Yow, you really are tough. That may have hurt me more than you.”
He rubbed his muzzle with his hoof. “Mist, he’s tough. That actually hurt.” He whinnied.
She grunted, “Yer such a bitch. Fine, I’ll step in.” My head shot up at that.
“Sorry kid, I don’t fight mares.” I informed her.
Her eye twitched. “Really? Too bad fer you then!” she exclaimed, charging at me.
She was much faster that the big guy, but I still blocked the blow. It hurt like hell! She was using Nether! I ducked away from a roundhouse.
“I retract my previous statement. You’re dangerous.” I guess I wasn’t going to be playing around with this one.
She launched a barrage of Nether infused blows. I blocked them all, I refuse to let a single strike land. I infused Nether into my legs, and compressed it. My legs took on a glossy black color. She threw another nether infused hoof at me. I caught it with my hoof, and delivered a blow to her ribs. Several resounding cracks rang through the streets, followed by a loud scream. I leapt back as the large pony came barreling down at me.
He scooped up the mare, kneeling defensively. “How dare you hurt Mist!” he roared. I could see the mare’s lips move but couldn’t hear anything. The big pony’s ears folded back, and he snarled at me. “We’ll settle this later, you’re lucky.” He turned and bolted.
I grinned menacingly. “There is no ‘later’ in your future.” I stated, charging full throttle after them.
My Nether-armed hoof connected with the back of the large pony’s leg. He tripped and skidded, keeping hold of the mare. I trotted up to them, he set the mare down and took a very familiar stance.
“Severing Pony style won’t work on me.” I informed.
He didn’t put much pressure on his leg, but leapt at me. I ducked to avoid his blow, and thrust my hoof into his stomach. He coughed, and blood spilled out.
“Nether Impact: Demonic Thrust.”
A hole appeared where my hoof was touching. He reeled back, but recovered, undeterred. We began exchanging blows for almost a minute. I connected all my blows, but forsook most of my defense for my offensive, thus he landed several blows.
His hoof connected with my muzzle, my hoof connected with his chest. We were both thrown back two or three meters. He pulled something out of his saddlebags, a syringe with an odd colored liquid in it. He jammed it into his stomach. Almost immediately the wound began closing, how troublesome.
I infused and compressed Nether into my hooves, causing the black gloss to cover my legs. I took up the stance of Striking Caesar. “You are going to be annoying.”
He charged at me with more vigor than last time. I let the Nether leave my hooves, I could take him down without the help of Nether. I brought my hoof back, he did the same. Our hooves met, he was trying his hardest, and sadly for him I was not. I traded blows with him once again, his mass played a big part in him eventually throwing me back. I was sent crashing through the building behind me.
I recovered only to have him bash his hoof into my muzzle, I was stunned momentarily. That was all he needed to unleash a barrage on me. He repeatedly hammered on me,
over a hundred blows in less than a minute. He drew his hoof back for what he thought would be the final blow. I infused and condensed Nether into my temple.
I didn’t budge as his hoof connected, we both stood there unmoving. He looked at me, his eyes wide. “Wh-what are you?”
“A demon, hell-bent on the destruction of those who threaten Equestria.”
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Turvy was silent, it had been four hours since we left Hoofington. Apparently, leaving the shredded and broken bodies of those ‘Reapers’ or ‘Bandit Lords’ whichever. Skewered on a lamp post for all to see was not very paragon. It was either that, or the fact that we refused to carry that enormous rifle for him.
Lust, do you think that our message was clear when we killed those two? I believe so. But we may have also sent the wrong message. Potentially, it could be seen as a challenge for power. Isn’t that what we wanted? NO! Our message was ‘This is what becomes of those who threaten our mission’. The message I wanted to send was ‘Come and get us bitches!’ You’re hopeless. Love you too.
Turvy heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe ya wouldn’t let me keep that PXNS-21….” He groaned.
“We can’t believe you know what that thing is.” We retorted.
“There are only twenty-five o’ those rifles in existence! And ya wouldn’t help me carry it. On top o’ that! Ya didn’t even give me time to take their bodies ta the collection point!” he grumbled.
“We told you, we had to send a message.” Was our reply.
“That was an expensive message, a total o’ fifteen thousand caps.” He whined.
I’m ignoring him now. OH SURE LEAVE ME TO LISTEN TO HIS WHINING! I knew you’d understand. Why me…?
The wasteland was barren for the most part. We passed by the occasional radscorpion, and Turvy dispatched any that drew too close. Now that we got a closer look at him, we noticed a long black scar running from his side to his flank. It didn’t look like any normal scar we’d seen, in fact, it was almost like the scar we possessed on our chest.
He must have noticed us staring at it, and calmly remarked; “Take a picture it’ll last longer.”
We laughed a little, our mask hid our smile. “What’s the story behind that?”
“I’d like ta ask the same o' yours?” he replied gesturing to the large ‘X’ that we bore.
We lifted up our mask, “That’s a long story, you probably wouldn’t believe us if we told it to you. Then again, sometimes we don’t believe it ourselves.”
“That sounds like a cop out ta me.” he said amusedly.
“There’s no getting past you. Maybe we should tell you the story of how we got our cutie mark.” Now THAT was a good story.
“Is that one o’ them ‘Noodle Incident’ kind o’ stories?” He inquired.
‘Noodle incident’! I love it! What’s the ‘Noodle Incident’? It’s an event in a story that’s referenced on multiple occasions, but is never actually shown or explained, and left to the imagination. Kinda like your intelligence Oh fuck off!
“If ya don’t mind me asking, what exactly is your cutie mark?” Oh yeah, we were still wearing our cloak.
We lifted part of our cloak up, revealing our cutie mark. His head turned, “A broken clock and hourglass? What is that spilling out o’ it?” he inquired curiously.
“It’s what’s left of who we were. The substance that hourglass contained was blood. I guess you didn’t know cutie marks can be altered.” We responded, somewhat solemnly.
“Now I’m curious as ta what that cutie mark story is.” He commented, implying that we should tell him.
“We asked you for the story behind that scar. How about we exchange scar stories.” Well, we put that rather bluntly.
”You first.” He agreed.
We began to tell our story. “….First some context. We’re older than you think we are. Much older.”
*0*0*0*0*
Canterlot-9:23-Pink Cloud Megaspell
“PRINCESS LUNA! PRINCESS CELESTIA! YOU MUST EVACUATE!” I ordered, not that my orders meant anything to them.
They sat there, overlooking Canterlot, Luna had raised a large shield over the city. Everypony was dead, all the guards had died before I had arrived. The air was slightly pink, it was necromancy. The deadliest necromancy I had ever encountered, and it was starting to affect me. I hacked and heaved, I could feel my lungs slowly melting away. I dug into my saddlebags and chugged a healing potion.
Celestia turned to me, exasperation on her face. “_____! I thought you were in the Bunker!”
I wheezed, I had teleported much more than my limit just to arrive here. “Princess…*cough*…my place is here…..at your side….I sensed danger….*hack* and came as fast as I could.” I had nearly been uploaded into the Bunkers system, I made it just in time.
Luna had a sad look upon her face. “______” she began softly, “We must stay here. If we don’t, this cursed cloud shall reign hell upon our kingdom.”
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “YOU’LL DIE IN THIS POISON IF YOU STAY! CELESTIA—“ I turned to the older sister, but she looked away. No, no no no no NO! I summoned up a Nether field, negating the pink mist for as long as I could sustain the field.
“I WON’T LET YOU THROW YOUR LIVES AWAY!” I roared. I was going to save them if I had to break every one of their bones to do so!
I launched myself at Celestia, “This is for your own good! Nether Impact: Five Sun—“ A blast of yellow magic sent me into the wall. It burned, as if the sun itself had just struck me. Celestia loomed over me, she was a terrifying sight to behold. Those white eyes bore holes through me. I rose to my hooves.
Her eyes returned to their normal color. She stared at me with eyes that spoke truer than her next words. “______, please, just leave us.”
I opened my eyes, “If you want me to leave, you’ll have to kill me. Can you do it Celestia?” I took my stance, I wasn’t giving up on them, not while I still had life in me.
“Sister, take charge of the barrier.” We both turned our gaze to Luna, whom had risen from her seat.
Celestia nodded sadly and put up her barrier. I looked at Luna, and she glared at me. “This is not up for debate, we must keep this poison contained. If you’re going to be so stubborn….” Her eyes began to glow, I realized at that moment the monumental mistake I had just made. “...then I shall teach you the error of your ways.”
Could I do it? Could I truly take on both of them? Would they hate me for it? Most of all, would I truly be able to raise a hoof to Luna?
She didn’t give me a chance to react, didn’t hesitate one bit. I felt the icy sting of her magic as it sent me through the wall. I lay there in the hall outside of the room. That blow had only strengthened my resolve, I increased the size of the Nether field, enveloping the whole castle.
“Drop the barrier this instant and leave ______!” she ordered using her Canterlot voice as she hovered through the hole in the wall.
I grinned, “My apologies Luna, my duties to you and your sister have priority over your orders.” I rose to my hooves. I couldn’t take her on. No, I refused to take her on. She blasted me through another wall. This time, I wasn’t so sure about whether or not I should bother defending myself.
“Are you going to lower the barrier?”
“Didn’t I say you’d have to kill me?”
“Wrong answer.”
The next thing I felt was the most intense pain I had ever experienced. It felt as if my ches was literally being melted by lava. I was silent as the magic receded. I knew this would be the end. The newly formed ‘X’ on my chest was like a mark for death. I chose this death, I’d embrace it.
*0*0*0*0*
“That’s the story of our scar.”
Topsy looked absolutely appalled, we couldn’t tell if he thought we were crazy or bull-shitting him. Maybe both. “That’s quite the tale….” was all he said.
“Your turn.” We passed the proverbial story-telling torch to him.
“Ya ever hear of a griffon named Grent Razorfeathers?” he asked.
“He’s number six among the bandit lords correct?”
“Well, him and me got into a scuffle a few years back. I was young and stupid, decided his bounty was worth the risk. I managed to track him down…..” He pulled out a knife from his saddlebag and tapped the handle against his leg. There was a slight clanging noise. “….He ripped me apart. I was barely alive when, by the dumbest luck the goddess’s had ever seen, the Steel rangers found me. Probably searching for Grent. I managed to keep most o’ my limbs, but the ones I lost, were replaced. Along with several organs.”
We were puzzled, the Steel Rangers nowadays would have probably put him out of his misery. Why would they go through such lengths and waste such resources to keep him alive? “Why would the Steel Rangers aid you to such an extent? Seems out of character for them nowadays.” It honestly was a curious thing.
“I dunno, maybe they were feelin’ generous that day.” And he ended the subject there.
Odd Lust, I think he’s hiding something. Well we all are. Nopony just tells a stranger everything about them. Either way, I think we should keep an eye open when we sleep.
“Aren’t you gonna ask us any questions about our story?” We asked.
He seemed to want to avoid the subject, “Well, maybe later. Currently I’m tryin’ ta decide whether or not I should pry about that.” He replied immediately.
You know, he might be an agent for the rangers. We’ll be careful, don’t worry Lusty.
Turvy remained in a state of deep thought, or possibly daydreaming. One of those two. It only strengthened our suspicion. That, and the fact that he never wanted to collect the bounties of the bar patrons. Yes, we still remembered that.
We found a cave to settle in, luckily it was filled with scorpions. We needed the nourishment. We set up a fire and I got to roasting the giant claws of a rather large scorpion. Topsy looked at me in disgust.
“Why in Celestia’s name are ya cooking that?” he asked his nose crinkled, his expression said it all.
“Because, we need food. These things provide nutrients. Besides, we haven’t actually eaten in four days. So we don’t know about you, but we’ll gladly take scorpion.” It was true, our stomach was groaning like a rusted old machine. Right about now, even meat sounded good.
“I suppose you’re right.” He admitted.
We grinned and did our best to imitate his accent; “SO, how ‘bout fryin’ some shrimp on the barby?” His expression told us that he wasn’t amused. We stuck our tongue out. “You’re no fun.”
“I don’t see how shrimp would taste good….” He pointed out.
Blood, we’re herbivores by nature. We shouldn’t even be eating this stuff. Well, when you see a nice plain of grass to graze in, let me know. You know what, I will! I’ll make a bet with you. Our sanity will return before you find an edible plant. I’ll take that bet! It’ll just make it all the more sweet when I win!
We picked up the largest scorpion claw and offered it to Topsy, “Want it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that it’ll taste appealin'”
“Suit yourself” we said, digging into our delicious slab of scorpion. Okay, we lied. It wasn’t delicious, but it was good, and we were thankful for the meal. Once we were done eating, we let ourselves fall onto the ground. “Ahhhhhhh, that was good. You really missed out.”
Topsy snorted and rolled over. “I’m gettin’ some shut-eye, we ain’t gonna get ta the Ranger’s base any faster.”
“Good night then Turvy-kid. Here’s to hoping you don’t slit our throats tonight.”
OF ALL THE THINGS TO SAY! YOU’RE AN ASS BLOOD! You say the sweetest things when you’re angry.
We closed our eyes. Sleep, it only meant more nightmares for us, but it was a necessity. Such a shame.
(0o0o0o0o0)
Two days prior
The red mare looked over her kingdom, Trottingham. It was an enormous city that stretched for over a kilometer. In just ten years since she had become the top dog it had been rebuilt, improved, and crafted to suit her.
“Such a lovely view, if only the Enclave would hear me out.” She sighed.
It had been a long two years. Infighting between the bandit factions, coupled with the always lovely raider band. But the annoyance of the creature known as the Goddess had always cause her the most headaches. Alicorns, IMP Alicorns were beginning to become more frequent contestants for power. Just two months ago there were three green Alicorns seeking her attention, they were dealt with. The western side of the city was largely inhabitable, creatures of all sizes roamed the radiation soaked streets. Then, just north of the city, there was the Trottingham rangers. Pests that only irritated her. If only there was some way for her to expand her reach, perhaps Hoofington, or Manehatten would be ideal locations. But where to start, her forces were already thinner than she’d like. It’s not like she had the kind of allies the late princess’s had either—
*Knock Knock*
Her thoughts were interrupted by the light tapping on her door. She didn’t bother turning around, she knew exactly who it was.
“Vertigo, you can come in. I’m not busy.”
The door creaked open. In walked a relatively large peach colored stallion. His mane and tail were a pitch black. His mane was cut short, his facial hair was groomed as a chin strap connecting to his mane.
“I suspect you know what caused the tremor.” The mare asked him, knowing the answer.
He nodded. “Indeed, Nightshade has gone beyond her orders and awakened him. The Demon is now awake.” She bit her lip, the Demon was back.
“Remind me again Vertigo, who exactly is the Demon?” she had read something about a pony with the title of ‘Demon’ in the past, but had no actual knowledge of who it was. Vertigo was the pony who cared about that part of Equestrian history.
The pony named Vertigo sighed heavily. “I wish you’d read up on that more often. We have books, that’s a luxury not many ponies have. The Demon of Equestria, or Bloodlust
Zippity whichever you prefer, was once revered as the greatest Nethermancer alive. Please tell me you’re familiar with Nether.”
She nodded and trotted to her bed. “I at least know that much! I’m not five anymore you know.” She snapped.
He chuckled, “I am at least slightly relieved. Anyway, Zippity was appointed General of the Military. Towards the end of the war, a project had taken place to enhance the bodies of ponies. Zippity along with seven other ponies took part in the project. The Rangers have been looking for the facilities that house these ponies for centuries, now that Nightshade has found one, she couldn’t resist opening it. Which seems to have set off a chain reaction. All of the facilities are now opened, and the Denizens inside are awake.”
She was slightly aggravated now. “Did you send somepony to dispatch her?”
His face held no expression. “Dispatch who?” he was joking of course.
She smiled gleefully “This is why you’re my favorite!” She was still only a young mare after all, barely fifteen. Of all her subordinates, Vertigo was the only one she cared about. “Will her head be at the end of my bed by tonight?” she hated Nightshade anyway, the mare was closest to her age, and competition for the best looking mare in the Bandit Organization. She simply had to go!
“With any luck, it’ll be by dusk mistress.” He responded, her smile made his day, he wished nothing more than to always be the only one to make her smile.
“I simply can’t wait!”
0o0o0o0o0o0
