The Dawn of Darkness

The Dawn of Darkness

An original tale by Diiscord

Chapter 4

Jet:

        SSSsSssssss… The steam pipe burst again. I hustled over to the break and pulled a replacement section out of my satchel, tightening it into place with my magic and a wrench.

        Far off, the sound of the metal press and forge was louder than ever, since the Queen ordered mass production of the MF20 assault rifle for the looming possibility of attack by the Zebras and Griffins.

        It had been 50 some years since the cease fire treaty was signed between The Allied Zebra Nations(or the AZN) and the Federation of Equestrian States(FES). We united against the Northern Equestrian states and slowly began to engulf them. During this war against the north, though, many technical advancements came about. And one would end the Equestrian Civil War. We had harnessed the power of the atom.

        Everypony knows that the war ended with the destruction of Canterlot on the same day it started, Midsummers Eve. The atom bomb was created by 3 of the smartest scientists in the FES, one of them being my father, Doctor Jet. The Princess Celestia was forced to sign a treaty and leave with the Northern Loyalists to a small Isle named Gallopfrey in the middle of Eternity’s Crossing.

        Though, that was 32 years ago and after the end of the Civil war, the FES and the AZN broke off relations completely, citing the way the AZN treated its prisoners of war (who were ponies like me, even if they were traitors) and how bad it treated its civilians. The Premiere of the AZN immediately responded with a threat, in the form of an atomic bomb test. The bomb was successful and Queen Moon was baffled at how the Zebras had gotten the technology. It was spies. Until the theory was brought up, many ponies didn’t notice all the zebras living in the FES, but after the theory was announced, ponies grew increasingly hostile towards the zebras. The government was forced to move them to walled off camps for their “safety”, even though the conditions were worse there, and-...

        “STEAM JET!!!!” I nearly jumped out of my skin and turned to look at the viewing platform.

        “WERE YOU DAYDREAMING AGAIN?? WE’VE GOT 3 BURSTED PIPES! GET BACK TO WORK!” My boss, Mr. Flash Gauge, shouted.

        “Yes Mr. Gauge!” I hopped back to work, repairing and replacing for the rest of the day.

        On my way home, I met up with one of my friends, Moonshadow, and we headed to the downtown club.

        “How was work at the good old Macintosh firearms plant? As great as usual?” Moonshadow nudged my shoulder.

        “Sorry man, it’s just as exhausting as ever. How about you at the government building?”

        “Same, business as usual. The higher ups keep getting crazy ponies pounding on their doors because everyone is afraid of supporters of the AZN’s government. Though, in the chaos of the office today, I was able to pull some strings, and get you a new job. One that would better fit your cutie mark, I think.”

        I glanced back at my cutie mark, a red eye over a dark cloud. “I sure hope so. I’ve been trying to figure this thing out ever since it appeared on my ass.” I looked at him and smiled, “so what’s this new job you got for me?”

        “That’s for me to know and you to find out. Besides, you can wait a little longer, we’re almost to the club-” he was cut off by the roaring of archano engines in the sky. We both looked up simultaneously to the large pointed airship moving above us. One of the princesses young fleet. The symbol of the crescent moon surrounded by four stars was painted on the side of the black, steel ship. If it weren’t for the large thunderclouds holding it aloft, we might be crushed right now.

        “Well ain’t that a sight.” Moonshadow and I continued walking under the streetlamps as flocks of pegasi flew alongside the ship above. “I doubt any of those airships have been flying since the Patriotic War.”

        “Yeah, I wonder why though..” Before we knew it, we were standing outside the door of the club.

        Moonshadow and me trotted inside past a buck wearing a trench coat and a fedora. His face was hidden in the dim light though I could’ve sworn I saw stripes. But he left as soon as we walked in so I couldn’t confirm.

        “Looks like we got somewhere private to sit. See that room in the back, let’s head over there.” We trotted to the back room and sat at a table and were immediately joined by an older pony, he had a little scruff and wore some patchy suit.

        “Good evening gentlemen, I trust work was good.” the old buck spoke.

        “Um, do we kno- oof” I was cut off by moonshadow elbowing me in my side.

        “It was fine, Marx.” Marx, funny name.

        “That’s good. Ay, Gem, go watch the door for me darling.” Marx turned and a mare came out of the shadows in the back of the room. I hadn’t noticed her until now. She was young and had a grey coat with a dark purple mane. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

        As soon as the latch clicked the table we were sitting at shot up in the air and hit Moonshadow square in the jaw. I managed to lean back in time, the table barely grazing my chin. Then without warning the table launched itself forward, I quickly kicked my chair back and used my magic to flip my up after the table passed. Moonshadow wasn’t so lucky, the table caught him in the face and knocked him out.

        I turned to Marx, “What the fuck??!” I knew he must’ve been the one who launched the assault.

        “Let’s see what you can do..” The old buck threw off his hat and began moving far more nimbly than I ever thought possible. He tried to swipe his hoof and knock me off mine, but I jumped up and drop kicked him in the side of his neck. I’m sure glad I took those free judo lessons I won in the lottery last week!

        Moonshadow was still out cold on the far side of the room under the table. The buck caught me glancing at him and grinned, jumping across the room with a kick that surely would have killed my friend. I moved to stop him and bucked him in the side, sending him into the wall gasping for air.

        He smiled as he laid against the wall, “Very good… Very good..” He coughed a bit, wiping blood away with a handkerchief. “You might just be able to handle the job.”

“The job??! You nearly killed me and my friend!!” I yelled at him, seething with anger.

“But I didn’t. You made sure of that. And that’s how we like our ponies at the EIA.”

Wait, what? The EIA? Wasn’t that the national intelligence agency?

“Seems like you broke a few of my ribs. That was a nice buck you had there. Could you call Gem in? I’m sure your friend needs help too.”

“Sorry..” then I nodded, still baffled by the announcement that he was EIA.

I looked outside the door and the club was loud, no doubt the sound covered the noise of the fight. I turned to the side of the door and found the grey and frankly, quite cute, mare standing outside.

She noticed me, “Oh hey, you’re still alive.”

“Am I supposed to be dead?” I smiled.

“Oh, nah. I’m guessing Marx needs help.”

I nodded and we walked in, closing the door behind us. I took off my jacket and laid it on a standing chair and began to use my magic to lift the broken table and chairs off of Moonshadow, then hauling him up on my back.

“Let’s take the back door, we don’t want to draw attention.” Gem said with Marx draped across her shoulder.

I followed her and Marx out the door. A car awaited us out back.

I sat Moonshadow down then remembered I left my coat inside.

As soon as I got back into the club, I saw that the room that was a total wreck not five minutes ago, was now as clean as it was when we walked in. Though I did manage to spot my coat on a hangar in the corner of the room. I picked it up and walked out, getting into the car.

Gem was driving and she pulled out into the street. Once again, I found myself under the city lights. Manehattan was glamourous at night. Neon lights in store windows showed off the latest fashion, large posters on skyscrapers displayed everypony’s favorite Zap-cola, and even the CORE-Tec building proudly displayed its bright logo.

We passed by several other buildings on our way downtown to the EIA skyscraper I assumed. I turned my head to Marx, in the back seat with me and Moonshadow, who happened to be setting his ribs back in place, with a sickening crunch I realized that my attention was best turned elsewhere.

Like, for example, the numerous ponies protesting outside the government building. They all had signs and were chanting something about peace. This had been going on for the past week and was generating a lot of unrest in the general population. Ponies were unsure on which side to take on the matter. They felt sympathy for the pony prisoners that were still held in the AZN, but at the same time, they knew that war would end with everypony dead. In response to the threat of total war, the government began funding CORE-Tec to make large shelters to house the population in the event of war. Well, technically it is privately funded, but everypony knows that is bullshit. The government just doesn’t want to admit how bad our situation actually is, so all the payment is made ‘under the table’. And as the world’s resources begin to deplete-...

The sudden stop of the car jolted me out of my daydream, making me realize that we were at the EIA building.

“We here?” I turned to Marx, who was drinking down the last drops of a healing potion.

He finished and nodded, then got out of the car and into the driver's seat after Gem got out. “Hey, Jet. I’m going to take your friend to the hospital. I am also going to remove his memory of anything related to the EIA, so, if you could, don’t mention tonight to him. If he asks, well, he got really drunk and got into a barfight, hence the hospital.” Marx winked and pulled away.

Gem poked my shoulder as I watched him drive off. “C’mon, I’ll tell you more about the job on our way in.”

I nodded and followed her inside.

Note: Jet’s surprise encounter with the EIA has left him mentally scared. He sees them as friends, but will never fully trust the EIA.

World Note: The resource level on the planet has decreased to 4% remaining. Most of the resources, such as oil, coal, and uranium are on the remote islands of Gallopfrey and the land of the griffins. The Zebras have a hunger for oil and uranium, so they can keep their nuclear arsenal stocked. The Ponies have noticed this and plan to take the lands for themselves, soon the silence between nations will break. Where will you be?

Author’s Note: SO SO SO many notes, sorry about that. Also, sorry about all the info about the world in this chapter. I just wanted to properly introduce the global situation without sacrificing a chapter to do a total recap. I also apologise about my hiatus, I’ve just been trying to think of a way to introduce this chapter without directly referencing the Fallout series.(I actually am basing this off of a mix of one of my own books and the Cold war in real life(Yes, I mean the arms race between the USA and Russia). I’ll let y’all think about that.