Fallout Equestria | A Good Day to Die

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It means, we're going to turn the powers of the Wasteland, good or bad, against each other and start the world anew," said Night Flower.

"Right, and I'm going to grow a second pair of wings and became an object of ultimate power," I said sarcasticaly. "How in the fuck are you supposed to do that?"

"With your help," said Dead Night.

I sighed and hung my head. "I was afraid you might say that."

"Aw, come on, it's not going to be so bad!" he said, pulling me into a rough embrace with one arm.

"Yeah, well, let's just stick to escaping from this damned place first, okay?" I said, pulling out from under his leg. "How are we going to do it?"

"Simple," said Sandy, "We'll wing it. Uh, no pun intended."

I ruffled my wings. "Yeah, sure. But I'm not going to leave this place without my stuff first. Do you know where they might keep it?"

"Probably with them," said Dead Night. "They keep anything they took in a secure building. It's heavily gaurded, but shifts change, leaving about a two minute gap. If we could all get in by then, which we can, without alerting everypony within a half mile, we should be able to retrieve your things and leave."

"When does shift change?" I asked.

"In about two hours," he said.

"Right," I said, "Let's do it then."

About two hours later, we were all outside the building, safely hidden in the shadows. The building was guarded by about a dozen or so guards, with snipers positioned on the roof. The door was flanked by two ponies that I'd never encountered. They were a pegasus and a unicorn. They stood perfectly still and didn't even blink. They bore no cutie marks, which I found odd. Usually the slavers had cutie marks like knives or shackles or something equally as morbid, but these ponies had nothing.

"What are those?" I whispered to Quiethoof, who was crouched right next to me.

"Alicorns," he said. "They're like pegasi, but they can cast some seriously powerful magic. I've only heard about them, never seen them."

I looked at him. The way he shuddered made me think there was a lot more to them than he was letting on. I also noticed the slight film of sweat on his forehead, and the way he breathed through his mouth, which was slightly open. He looked slightly pale.

"First mission?" I asked him.

"How could you tell?" he asked quietly without looking at me.

"Because you look exactly like I did when I was on my first mission." I said. "You don't want to disappoint your leader, you want to prove that you can be a good operative."

"A good thief," he said very quietly.

"Well," I said, taking a breath. "You should probably start by putting the mask on."

He looked at me, then put on his face coverings. Just then, the perimeter guards started walking away. The alicorns didn't move though. They stayed, staring off into nothing. We moved in. Night Flower and Dead Night took the lead. She must have been like the senior apprentice or something. They walked up to the alicorn guards and gently caressed them as they brushed past them. Suddenly the alicorns gasped and fell to the ground.

I stared in amazement and followed them into the building. Inside was a guard. Staring right at us. Before he could even speak, I flew forward. I grabbed his head and wrenched it to the side and he fell to the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" said one of the mares, Fourleaf, as she pushed me away from the body. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Check him," I said.

She frowned, felt his neck and then perked. "He's alive. But how?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I said, clicking my tongue.

She huffed. "Not bad."

We crept through the building, scouring the whole place and taking anything and everything worth taking. I found my stuff and put it on. My bow safely rested on my back, where it belonged, along with the magic quiver. I didn't have any non-lethal tips, so I would have to use my rebar club.

I wound my way up to the roof. There were no guards, only a lone sniper. He had his face down the sight of his rifle, so I snuck up and grabbed him by the neck. A quick whip and he was out cold. I looked at the sniper. My kind of weapon, but too loud. It was different than other snipers though. The body was painted and the sight looked almost brand new. I had seen some of these types of guns everywhere. I picked it up and took it apart, deciding I would take it to Dead Night.

The others appeared right behind me.

"That all?" I asked. Dead Night nodded.

"That's it," he said, "Got your stuff back I see."

I nodded in response and he seemed to ponder something with a faraway look in his eyes. I noticed something strange that I hadn't seen before. The white of his eyes glowed slightly in the darkness. I looked away and flew off the roof to the ground. They looked down.

"Showoff," I heard one of them whisper.

"Don't get mad at me," I said. "Just a victim of chance." I flapped my wings and took off, flying low, right back to where Fleet Wing and Ginger were staying. I walked through the front door and stopped dead. They weren't there.

"Fleet Wing?" I half-shouted, puzzled. "Ginger?"

I looked around the rooms, but could't find either of them. I heard a slight muffled voice. I listened closely, closing my eyes. The closet. I walked up and opened it.

Inside was Fleet Wing, tied and gagged. I immediately drew my knife and cut her bindings.

"Are you okay!?" I asked, helping her up. "Where's Ginger?"

"They took her," she said quietly, not looking up. My eyes widened. How was I going to find her? And when I did, what method would I use to kill her captors? I knew a place where I could find out.

"What do you mean you can't help me!?" I shouted at Dead Night.

"I mean, you haven't done anything for us, in fact, we helped you when we didn't even have to," he said, his scowl deepening. I looked down.

"But there is a way we can teach you to find her," he said.

I perked. "Really!? How?"

"We were going to do it anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter," he said. "We will train you in the art of Shadowmancing. It will give a multitude of otherworldly powers, but at a cost."

"I don't care what happens to me," I said, "I just want a way to save my girlfriend."

"Very well," he said, "Follow me. Thieves! Gather round! We must perform the Ritual of Shadows."

He led me to a circular room that held no light. He led me to the center and instructed me to sit. I did and they all congregated in a circle around me. I heard the sound of cloth being moved, and I assumed they were taking off their clothes. I did nothing but sit. One by one, their eyes opened and I saw them glowing in the darkness. Suddenly, strange runes began to appear and form the vague shapes of ponies.

I deducted that everypony in the room was covered in runes, which is why they always wore the cloth. I starting to get a little freaked out, because the runes started flowing off their bodies and formed a circle around me.

Then all the runes started coming towards me. As they went onto my body, I felt an excruciating pain, one I had never experienced before. I screamed.

In the light that the runes created, I could see my coat being burned away, leaving raw skin, which also was flayed leaving nothing but muscle tissue. I screamed louder. It felt like my whole body was being ripped apart.

Layer by layer, my skin, muscle, fat, organs, and all burned away, until I was nothing but a skeleton. Then I blacked out.

I woke up on the hard ground. Everypony from the Guild was still sitting around me. I must've only been out for a few seconds. But I could see them. There was no light source in the room, but it looked clear as day. They all looked exhausted. I was covered in black runes, from my face down to my hooves.

Dead Night stood. "I guess it's time you got your wrappings, Dead Light."

"My name...is Fireflight," I said, panting.

"Not anymore it's not," he said. "In order to keep our operation small, whenever there is a new member, they take the place of an existing member. I've been at this for near a decade. It's time I retire. Goodbye Dead Light, leader of the First Faction of Thieves. "

His wrappings fell off and all of the runes covering his body flew onto mine. Then he collapsed. I blinked and he turned into a pile of bones. I felt a flood of memories, none of them mine. It must've been everything that Dead Night did when we was in the Guild. All of the others got back up.

"What are your orders, sir?" asked Sandstorm.

I raised my hoof, feeling the power of shadows surging through it. I stopped it to the ground and my shadow appeared, even though there was no light. I also noticed something. I had a second pair of wings.

"Time to take back the Wastes." I said