Fallout Equestria: Sundown

by Queen Sanguine Dreams

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Mystery
Length: 55826

The story of Sundown the Bat pony in the wastelands of Equestria.

The story of Sundown the Batpony, as told from her perspective as she begins recording her adventures having found a strange crystal in a cave near Hoofington. Fleeing from raiders, and narrowly avoiding slavers, she stumbles on a group of ponies bickering about the death of Stable 96.

(Yes, i understand that Batponies aren't typical characters for Fallout Equestria fanfics (Unless I've missed all the batpony fanfics) but I started this one day more out of boredom, and it quickly evolved into a project that I've enjoyed. I've decided to post the first thirteen chapters that I have done so far, to see what kind of reception it gets. If it's good, then I will continue to write for it.)

Feel free to submit art, if you're so inclined and absolutely amazing and willing to put forth the effort. Many thanks in advance!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-04-02 20:05:54 UTC

Chapter 1: Introductions

Chapter 1: Introductions!

Hello! Since you’re going to be tagging along with my mind, I’ll give you a tip. The funny sideways

scribbles are what I’m thinking, (Usually) and the normal boring scribbles are the usual stuff!

Awesome. Not a bad beginning, if I do say so… myself. Right. This is going to take some getting used to,

even for me.

Right then! Onwards to the story and everything, since that’s what books are for… At least I hope so.

Now, if you’re listening to this without some kind of Audio thinga-ma-what’s-it, then this will probably

sound like a whole bunch of squeaky nonsense! That’s because I’m a Batpony.

OOooooOOoooo, Batpony.

Yeah. Not hiding in a cave somewhere, being secluded and sleeping with my 4th cousin. Hurray for

Genetics and radiation in the wastelands, right?

Now you’re probably thinking, “Hey Sundown, I thought that couldn’t happen because only Batponies

make Batponies. That’s their whole issue, right?”

And to you I would say, “Sure! Why not! But then I wouldn’t have a story of me being a Batpony, now

would I? That would be really boring, because then I’d just be some other regular wasteland trotter that

goes around killing raiders and saving the day, like every other pony out there.”

And then you’d say a thing, and I’d say a thing, then I’d realize we’re having a conversation inside of my

head when you’re not actually here, and then I’d just get worried about if I’m supposed to be shy and

awkward around you.

Nopony wants a story like that! Unless they do, which in that case, that isn’t this story!

This is a story about a regular freak of accidental familial genetics and mutation from radiation and other

words with more than a few syllables. So, as my uncle would say, “Start from the beginning, and when

you come to the end, stop!”

We begin my story of being a Batpony… In a cave! Yeah, Cliché I know but at least most of us know what

a cave is like. Except this cave was super fancy! In that it wasn’t all that fancy, but it was my cave, and I

felt it was. Nyeh. That’s me sticking my tongue out at you, since you can’t see my expression through an

audio tape, or a book, or whatever this thing is now.

Anyway! This cave was pretty dry, (as far as caves go) and had a slightly used mattress (Blood stained,

springs poking out of the fabric, and I assure you that is definitely not my urine stain. Honestly.) A

completely intact end table with four whole legs and a little drawer. (‘Intact’ is relative. I used a lamp as

a leg repair for the thing, after using it to bash a raider’s head in. I’ll explain later.) The floor was pretty

much a bunch of rock, with some cloth strewn about to resemble a carpet. Rock gets boring to walk on

after a while.

The best part of this whole ‘Fancy cave’ deal was that it wasn’t even my cave! I was sort of borrowing it

for the night while the real owner decided his blood and brains were desperately needed as wall

decoration over in the corner, on an equally decorated sofa he had somehow managed to drag in here.

I’m sure he’ll be fine, I gave him a healing potion to hold on to at least. Besides, cave acoustics don’t

really work when you can hear a bobby pin drop at two hundred and fifty feet in a rainstorm.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Uhg. This place is about a four on the scale of ‘Not really dangerous, but really annoying anyway’ scale of

bad places to sleep for the day. At least I don’t have to worry about more than the usual since the sky felt

like vomiting its humid love all over the ground for a few hours. I could just find something to use as

earplugs, but then I wouldn’t be able to hear that raider stumbling around outside of the cave entrance.

Wait, what?

Realizing that it probably wasn’t a good idea to lay on the mattress in the middle of the cave in broad

(Cloud covered) daylight, I decided to slink to the side of the walls where there was noticeably less

daylight trying to get me killed with its whole ‘Spotlight the Batpony’ business it seems so fond of.

“Well, awesome. Mr. Raider hasn’t seen me in the cave yet, so I should be good.” I had whispered to

myself, sneaking further along the wall to creep up on the oblivious raider looking at Decorum over in

the corner. I think he was trying to take the healing potion from the late Interior Decorator.

“Huh? Who’s that squeakin’?!” the art critic bellowed at the top of his insane lungs. Or at least he

would have if he was actually yelling. I suppose to any normal wasteland pony it would sound normal

speaking volume, but my ears were just that blessed by Luna, Goddess of listening to mice fart. Also the

night, which I’m actually quite enamored.

Please don’t eat me, Moon Goddess.

At this point, I had begun my attempts to fuse myself into the wall to get away from the very loud and

angry person that was in the cave entry way. I figured he was a raider from the fact that his armor was a

hodge-podge of metal, spikes, skulls and entrails that would make a butcher blush. That, and his pinprick

sized pupils looked like he'd had one too many hits of Dash to go with his Stampede. Speaking of

Stampede, that's immediately what he did the second he spotted me being a spaz on the wall.

"HEY! YOU GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW. I'M GONNA GET ME A MUTANT TROPHY FOR MY

COLLECTION WITH YOU!" He in fact did scream at the top of his insane lungs. At this point, a battleship

performing its own rendition of the 1812 Overture would've been more graceful to my ears at this

distance, and I hurriedly flapped my leathery bat wings up and away from the loud raider to the back of

the cave, where I and my dark grey coat would blend in better.

Oh yeah that’s right! You have no idea what I look like. Should've probably said that sooner. I have a

dark grey coat of fur for my body, similarly dark grey and black wings, and dark grey hair with a stripe of

deep orange going down the middle. I tend to leave my messy hair off to one side to be easier to deal

with. My eyes, like my namesake, have the same coloration as the setting sun. Or so I'm told that’s the

color of the setting sun. I've never been able to confirm that, what with all the clouds being ever present

in the wasteland.

Anyway, back to me being chased by a very loud and bloodthirsty raider!

Since he was being so obnoxiously loud and painful to my eardrums, I decided to return the favor and

sing the song of my people. It's called a Sonic Screech, and has a tendency to liquefy organs from the

soundwaves playing havoc with cell membranes. Or something. That’s how sonic stuff works, right?

What do you mean I should know this? Just because I'm a bat doesn’t make me a bat expert! Are you a...

'You' expert? Thought not!

Right. Now that we've got that sorted out, my screech pretty much consists of me putting on my war

face and giving my best "AAAAAAHHHH!" in the general direction of whatever scares me. Yes I brush my

fangs, don't even ask.

Thankfully, this raider was within screaming distance from me frantically flying away from him, and he

caught a whole face full of my singing talent. Dropping to the floor and screaming even louder than he

was yelling, I decided that he needed the bed in the cave more than I did, took my potion and my things,

and made a hasty withdrawal for quieter pastures.

Unfortunately for me, raiders don’t usually travel alone, and I flew outside to be greeted by a whole

bunch of rusted barrels of death (More from the tetanus than the bullet, I’d think.) and equally

degraded raiders with more drugs in their system than a pharmacist can shake a Pestle at. Yes I use

metaphors a lot for describing things. It’s easier and somepony might actually learn something if they do

some research trying to figure out what my metaphors reference in the first place. Besides, it lets you

use your imagination!

"Get that mutant Pegasus and break its fancy wings!"

"Shoulda stayed up in the clouds, chicken!"

"I’m gonna fry you alive, bird!"

Oh, well. With that completely reasonable and sound argument I should throw down my arms and

submit to your fine hospitality, yes?

Nope!

At that point I banked right and followed the terrain down from the cave's entrance, doing my best to

dodge stray fire from the makeshift weaponry the raiders had gotten their hooves on. I gave them a

good few earfuls of my opinion and managed to escape with a few scrapes from going too close to the

rocks, and more than a few grazes from bullets zipping past.

About an hour after the raiders had gotten tired and given up their chase, I noticed that the sun had

finally gone down and I could begin my day. Yes I work at night. I like to switch the places of what things

are called. When I’m awake, it’s Day, when I’m asleep, its night. Even if when I’m awake is Night, and

when I’m asleep it's Day. Hey, it works for me and I don’t really expect anypony else to follow my

schedule.

So! Let’s get down to what I usually wear, since I totally forgot to even describe myself to you. Oh and

yeah, I'm a Mare, just to be completely blunt and straightforward so there’s no confusion. My clothing

usually consists of a leather tunic that I’ve painted black so I can blend in better, and a head covering for

the same purpose. I use some goggles to try and hide my eyes for when I’m in town, and my wings can

be hidden in the tunic so I don’t get attacked for being a "Pegasus" even though I doubt anypony even

knows what a Batpony is anymore. More often than not I get mistaken for a Mutant or a Pegasus

anyway, and it’s not like I can explain my position when all they hear is frequent squeaks coming from

me with funny expressions. I don’t talk to ponies much for this reason.

"Hey, You there!"

Oh crap, I've been caught thinking!

Looking up, I notice what looks like a Caravan wandering past with a very upset and roughed up guard

leveling a shotgun at my face. How did I not even notice him sneaking up on me? I must've been really

zoned out from those raiders or-

"Are you listening?"

Eep!

"Squeak?" Yes?

"Oh great." the guard groaned through the mouthpiece holding his shotgun. He shot a glance at me

promising all kinds of pain if I did so much as squeak again, and looked towards what I assume was his

employer.

"Who's the Mare?" The caravan boss called to his guard.

"Won’t say! Only squeaked at me. I think she's scared, boss!" He chuckled, and had me stand up and

shoved me toward his leader.

"Scared eh? What do you got to be scared about, little missy? Big bad wasteland got you down?"

Looking quickly to my sides, I noticed more Caravan guards that were quickly looking like not caravan

guards and more like Slavers.

"Well come on, mare. Lemme hear that voice of yours." the guard with a voice as soothing as a unicorn

scraping their horn on a chalkboard.

"Squeak, Squi skree ski skriiskurr squiike." Hi. I'd like a Mocha Latte.

"What the hell kinda voice is that? You get mutated or somethin'?"

"Ssk Skqu." Oh Yes.

Whether or not he'd ever understand a word I said wasn’t even a concern. I already figured out a long

time ago that nopony could understand me, so I smart arsed my way through almost every social

interaction just to amuse myself and calm my nerves from the fact that I’d been caught by slavers who

probably wanted to do more to me than have a somewhat pleasant conversation. I understood what he

was saying just fine, and I can speak just fine as well. There’s just the whole issue of my vocal range

being so high that I can find people in the dark with it. Does make it pretty fun to play hide and seek

though.

"Well that’s just great, boss. We got us a mute. How's one of those Fillydelphia bosses gonna order

around a slave what can’t speak? Won't know if she's being disrespectful or not, and I definitely don’t

want to hear that thing squeaking the whole way back. I say we just leave her and deal with some

other ponies." the slaver guard actually reasoned to his leader.

"Yeah we could, but wouldn’t it be fun to use her as a squeaky toy? Think of all the stress relief we

could do with her!" the Boss less reasonably suggested.

"Yeah but boss, wouldn’t that get annoying real fast? She can’t even scream I bet, let alone beg us to

stop. She’s already hurting my ears just standing here looking at us... Hey! Stop looking at us like

that!" The guard threatened by waving his shotgun around in my face.

I responded by looking at the "Boss" and setting off a storm of squeaks, pretty much agreeing with the

guard's points and recommending they get a raise, but they probably only heard a litany of squeaks that

sounded like an orgy of rats in heat.

"AUGH BY THE GODDESSES, FINE!" The boss said while falling to the ground and covering his ears with

his hooves, telling the guard to get the caravan moving while I continued my well-reasoned plans for

decorating my dream home should I ever find a freestanding structure with a reasonable mortgage rate

in a relatively raider-less neighborhood.

"Get out of here, freak!" the distraught guard menaced, I assume to save his hard bought shotgun shells

more than anything.

Happily obliging them, I galloped in the opposite direction of my unknown slaver 'friends' before coming

to a slow trot while making a mental note to be more observant in the future.

Right as I stepped on a skeleton.

Loudly.

Ow. My poor ears.

Chapter 2: Stable Stability

Chapter 2: Stable Stability

After I had managed to successfully avoid dying, I wandered around for the rest of the 'day' in the ruins

of some city. Never really bothered to learn the names of these places since they all tended to be

decrepit hives of scum and villainy anyway. This city, however, was just so awesome that it had a vault

underneath the town hall that I found by good fortune of shouting, a gunshot, and the sounds of

arguments between a few ponies. Yeah, they were really loud and I was surprised to see that nopony

else had actually heard these few in their ordeal.

Poking my head around a corner, using my hooves to cling to the side of the stable entrance to not fall

on my face, I spotted the unruly quartet of quarreling questers. An earth pony, a unicorn, and -

"TWO FREAKING PEGASUS, WHAT!?" I unwittingly squeaked out at almost a volume loud enough to

make weaponized.

The earth pony, (White coat, Blue mane and a utility jumpsuit) jolted his head upwards to look where

my head used to be, me having retreated fast as possible to hold my heart from trying to escape from

my chest in an act of self-preservation from my stupidity, around the corner of the vault door.

"What was that noise? Did anypony else just hear squeaking?" What I assume the Earth Pony stallion

had asked his companions.

"Um, Yeah? I think we have more pressing matters here than some mouse getting spooked, Gearbox."

One of the mares of the group said with an air of annoyance.

"Besides, we still gotta deal with this murderer you managed to get to tag along with us. Come on

Gearbox, she just killed an entire Stable! There’s no way she can stay with us after that!" Another of

the mares protested.

Wait, this buck sure has a lot of mares with him. Is this a Mare-em? Hah. Okay, I'll kill myself later,

promise.

"Just leave me alone! I already know I messed up and you're not making this any easier on me,

Lightswitch!" the voice of a clearly distressed and sobbing mare called out to the group. I assume that

would be the one that 'killed the stable'.

Yeesh, she was sobbing into the floor plating and I could still hear her voice vibrating my eardrums from

twenty feet away. Hold on. If we're ponies, why do we measure in feet? Shouldn't we measure in

hooves? That'd make more sense... Unless math got invented by Sand Dogs or something, which

wouldn’t be that hard to believe. They all got a bunch of those fancy robotics on them, even if they can

barely put two words together that don’t end in "Kill" and "Pony". Oh well, I guess that’s a question for

the ages. From now on, I’m just going to measure everything in Hooves. Hah, take that, scien"

HELLO?" The earth pony had politely asked directly next to my ear.

"Squeak!" I replied, holding my ears and crumpling to the floor in a flurry of hooves and more squeaks,

trying to stop my ears from ringing.

"OH, JEEZ. I'M TERRIBLY SORRY MA'AM. CAN I HELP YOU?" The earth pony said more calmly than he

should've, given the situation and being in the wastes. Honestly I was surprised I hadn't had my organs

forcibly ventilated at this point, but his speaking this closely next to me wasn’t helping matters.

I decided to take action and frantically wave my hooves and shake my head in the negative, hoping he

would get the point and not look too closely at the fact that my head wrap and goggles had flopped off

of my head in my frenzy. Oh, Crap.

The earth pony, Gearbox I think his name was, just stood there like he had seen a jelly sandwich get up

and leave his lunchbox while staring at me.

"Squeak?" What? I inquired.

"Um..." He turned away to speak to his Mare-em, (Hah! Got you again!) "I think you should see what

the squeaking was." He turned back to see me desperately getting my goggles and head wrap back on

to cover my 'exotic' features.

"I swear, Gear, if this is another of your... pranks. What?" The unicorn I assumed was named

Lightswitch said to me, then looked at Gearbox.

"Who is that?" She said, rudely pointing a hoof in my face.

"I have no idea, but she squeaked at me." He looked from his companion to the strange pony clad in

black and grey before asking, "Who are you, and why haven’t you shot at us yet? You've kind of just

been sitting there."

Using my superior intelligence and charisma, I gave a hearty shrug accompanied with an 'I dunno'

expression on my face. Perfect.

"Is she an idiot?" The unicorn I was rapidly disliking asked, while looking at me like she'd stepped in

something.

From around the corner, another of the mares poked her head through the open Stable door wearing a

nurse's cap and an odd uniform that looked either mercenary or military (I don’t know these things! It

had a bunch of pockets and it looked official, okay?)

"Is it safe?" The nurse looking Freaking Pegasus asked.

I stared at her with a look of wonder exceeding a Foal earning their cutie mark, while the downer

Unicorn just scoffed at trotted off to go badger the remaining Pegasus in the Stable.

"Well, 'it' hasn't decided to eat us at least. Some wicked looking fangs on her." Gearbox stated flatly.

Hearing fangs, I shut my mouth a bit too fast and drew blood from my lower lip, letting out a squeak of

pain and held my mouth with my hooves while sitting on my haunches.

"Aww, did somepony hurt themselves?" The nurse coo'd at me.

Coo'd at me! I’m not a foal! I've definitely lived on my own successfully enough to not die out here in

these wastelands and I was being treated like a foal for biting myself on accident. The indignity.

I did my best to growl menacingly at the nurse, but it had the same effect as a kitten getting upset with a

bowl of milk.

"Gearbox, I'm keeping her."

"But she's not a-"

"My decision is final! She is mine, and I shall call her Squeaky."

"She’s a living pony! You can’t jus-"

"I can, will, and did!"

Apparently having no say in the matter, I sat there looking between the two of them bickering.

"Swift Shot, She isn’t a pet. She's a living pony. We aren’t slavers and you can't just take her as a 'pet'

against her will!" retorted Gearbox, clearly upset and definitely too loud for my ears.

"Gearbox, she’s gotten here on her own, and I know that she's her own pony." She looked down at

me, noting the fanged smirk on my face and asked, "Now then, would you like to join us? Oh wait...

Actually, can you even speak?"

After a few moments, I realized she was serious, and began digging through my saddlebags for a piece of

charcoal and paper I had found in the Cave earlier.

"What is she doing?" called Lightswitch from inside of the stable.

After another moment, I returned to face them, lifting a page that had the words:

Yes. I can definitely speak. The only problem is that my voice is too high of a frequency for your ears to

register, so therefor you will only ever hear squeaks from me when I attempt to speak.

"Well. I'll be damned. She can actually talk, sort of." Gearbox responded after reading my message.

"See! Told you she's her own pony!" Swift happily said, trotting in place.

"So, does that mean I can keep you?" The nurse Pegasus asked me again, albeit this time more directly.

Mulling over my options and infinite possibilities, given my glorious status as a nopony without any

ability to speak properly to anyone, complete physical inability to use firearms, and lack of companions

to talk with, I decided the best course of action was to nod profusely in the affirmative until my goggles

decided they didn’t want to hold on to dear life anymore, and revealed my 'freaky' Batpony eyes.

"GAAAH!" The nurse screamed into my face, sending me sprawling on the floor covering my own ears

and screeching into the ceiling, sending dust into my face and making me squeakily sputter while trying

to get my vision un-assailed by dirt.

"What the hell happened to you!?" The nurse exclaimed, shortly after I stopped holding my ears in pain

and twitching.

I got back up, glared daggers at her loudness, and wrote down:

Stop being so loud, you're hurting my ears :c

I'm a Batpony, It comes with the genetics.

At the word 'Batpony', I saw both of their faces scrunch up with confusion and look at my sides,

expecting to see wings or something. Then I noticed I was still wearing my 'definitely not a winged pony'

tunic, and promptly shook myself out of it and the rest of my gear. Yes I was naked at this point, but we

ponies don’t normally wear clothes, in case you hadn't noticed that. I let my wings spread to their full

width, put my head up and to the side like I was posing for a patriotic poster, and gave them a fang filled

toothy grin from ear to ear while looking at them with my wide eyes. (Pupils shaped like a dragon’s, for

whatever reason. I guess that’s normal?)

"Well, damn." said Gearbox, apparently getting the message to tone it down, and he spoke in a whisper.

"Oh, if you'll excuse me, I have to be 'loud' for a moment." the Swift Shot warned. I covered my ears and

heard "Everypony! Get over here and look at this!"

Oh great, now I have to deal with the Gawking Gang.

The other two ponies came back, Lightswitch and the 'murderer' Pegasus.

"BY THE GODDESSES, WHAT IS THAT THING!?" The Pegasus belted out into my face, as I once again

tried to avoid falling over in pain from the volume.

"Shh! Her hearing is really sensitive, so stop shouting!" Gearbox harshly whispered.

"Oh really, she's 'Sensitive' is she?" The murderer Pegasus said with a wicked spark in her eyes.

This was going to hurt, but I was going to enjoy being louder than she was... Mwahaha.

"JUST HOW SENSITIVE IS HER HEARING, REALLY?" She shouted as best she could into my ear.

I responded by shouting back loud enough to send her sprawling backwards into a safety rail with a

satisfying CRACK of bone impacting stainless steel.

I then got off of the floor, used a wing to brush my shoulder off, and squeaked triumphantly.

Then I noticed that everypony else's ears probably hadn't stopped ringing yet, and I should probably get

a healing potion ready so they didn’t decide now was the best time to make me into a bonding agent.

“Owww…” was the most common reply from my new ‘friends’ after my outburst.

Gearbox was the first to get up, head held in his fore hooves trying to ease a splitting headache. He

looked at me holding a healing potion with the definition of fanged smugness on my face, and lazily

swiped at the healing potion I held in my hooves. Failing to connect, he slumped over sideways and

stared at me with his head resting on the cold stable floor, grumbling “Did you really have to go and

make all that noise?”

I looked around me with feigned innocence and surprised shock at the accusation, and pointed a wingtip

at the previously loud Pegasus that had assailed my ears with volume before I had shouted in response.

“This is just another reason we shouldn’t have this crazy pony in our group to begin with. First she kills

a stable, now she’s antagonizing mutants for the sake of fun!” Lightswitch angrily pointed out to

Gearbox.

“It wasn’t intentional, Light! Emerald here is just gonna have to play without her chemical sprayers

indoors is all.”

“Wasn’t intentional!? She killed an entire stable, Gearbox! Nopony is safe around her!”

Well. This seems like a whole lot of drama I have absolutely no context for. I wonder how this will pan

out. Oh wait! Maybe I’ll get to use my sledgehammer on somepony!

Oh yeah, I have a sledgehammer by the way. Yes it’s fairly loud when I hit somepony with it, but at least

I only have to hit them once. Usually. Most of the time.

Okay, yes it takes a few strikes to keep somepony from getting back up, but it’s better than gunfire. Even

silencers have a habit of making my ears pop with every shot. I’m not really a good shot with them

either, anyway. I wonder what happened with that nurse pony. I haven’t heard her make a sound this

whole time, and I don’t want to deal with ‘Emerald the Loud Mouth’ right now.

Leaving the two conscious ponies to bicker about whatever it is they bicker about, I found the nurse

slumped over the side of a railing. She was busy drowsily blinking and trying to figure out why she was

upside down when I pulled her back up to the safety of the cold catwalk and hoofed her a healing

potion. She didn’t seem as hardy as the others in the group, and I don’t honestly care that I may have

broken a rib of Emerald’s either. Besides, wasn’t I technically her ‘pet’ now?

After she had finished sipping about a quarter of the healing potion, she set the sparkling pink thing

aside and looked at me with what I think was… something, I guess. She didn’t look hostile or upset at all,

which was strange considering most ponies are out for my blood after I scream.

“You really can’t talk, can you?” She asked, forgetting that my hearing is sensitive. At least it wasn’t

intentional or to get on my nerves.

To reply, I simply shook my head and softly tapped her muzzle with a hoof, what I call a ‘boop’. She went

cross-eyed for a second, and was fairly confused as to why I had poked her nose. I shrugged, and sat

next to her, looking at Lightswitch and Gearbox continue their debate about morality in the wasteland.

Swift Shot (That was her name!) instead decided to study my appearance without me noticing, but not a

lot gets past me when I’m not distracted or zoning out thinking about why we even measure in feet.

“I don’t think that you’re a mutant. Everything about you is too specific for a mutation, let alone a lot

of them all being in the same theme to begin with. Were you like this since birth?” Swift questioned

out loud. With raised eyebrow, I slowly nodded at Swift and almost went back to watching the two

argue when I noticed her nurse hat was askew on her head. I pointed at it, and after an awkward second

of comprehension, she adjusted it and stared back at me. I guess it was pretty confusing for her. Imagine

going about your normal (For the wasteland) life, and suddenly a relatively friendly flying freak decides

that they’re going to agree to being your pet, even though they’re sentient and can live successfully on

their own without your help. Add on top of that, the fact they can shout so loud that you either get sent

across a room or your organs decide they don’t want to be as tightly knit as they used to be with the rest

of the gastrointestinal gang, and liquefy. Probably about as crazy as somepony hugging a Balefire

Phoenix I’d imagine, but nopony would be crazy enough to do that, right?

I was brought out of my thoughts by Swift tapping the side of my head like I had become a

malfunctioning toaster that she was trying to get working. I looked at her with a squeak of ‘Ow’ and

booped her nose in revenge, which made her more confused.

“She’s a monster, and a threat to the entire wasteland! Who knows what kind of ponies we’re going

to have to fend off when she gets a bounty on her head!” Lightswitch yelled at Gearbox.

These two were still arguing? Ponies die in the wasteland all the time, from everything to raider attacks,

starving to death, Taint exposure (Nasty stuff, taint is. I’ve heard it described as a rainbow sludge that

decides you’d look a whole lot better as a meat explosion or worse, depending on its mood.) Radiation

poisoning, slavery, rape, torture, and somepony not liking the way you looked at them or talk even.

Don’t even get me started on mutants, Alicorns, or Batponies. Those are the worst. I mean they can’t

even speak to anypony and all they do is squeak! Can’t hold a conversation for more than five minutes

and always need to make everything neat and tidy.

“Are you alright? You seem to space out a lot.” I heard Swift say next to me. I definitely didn’t get

startled and jump to my hooves.

“See, that’s what I mean. Are you sure you haven’t been hit in the head or something? You could have

a concussion.” The nurse Pegasus worried.

I thought a concussion made you dizzy and vomit a lot? I’m pretty sure I’ve slept recently too, and I don’t

think you’re supposed to do that after you get hit in the head.

“Helloooo…” The nurse was waving a hoof from side to side in front of my eyes now. Do I really zone out

that much? On the other hoof, I suppose I’d lose my mind if I was completely attentive to every little

noise and scratch that was happening around me, not to mention hearing heartbeats and breathing and

the skitter scutter of bugs crawling around and leaky pipes and venting gasses further down the stable

and—

“AAAAAH!” Well, more like ‘Squeak!’ but just assume whenever I talk, it’s a series of squeaking noises

that roughly sound like the words they’re supposed to be in the first place. Anyways, I was now covering

my ears while on the floor, keeping my eyes shut and trying to zone out again before I went nuts from

all the sounds. It’s not really as effective as it sounds though, it just muffles everything a tiny bit.

While I was busy hyperventilating and trying to contain my panic on the ground, Emerald let out a

pained groan and peeled herself off of the catwalk railing and slammed into the floor. I’m pretty sure I

heard the grinding of bone, and the nurse took off with my healing potion after casting a baffled glance

at me. Lightswitch and Gearbox had stopped arguing, and split up in a huff. Lightswitch trotting over to

me, Gearbox moving towards Swift Shot and Emerald.

Opening my eyes, I actually remembered I haven’t described her to you yet. She had a lemonade coat,

white and orange mane and eyes colored like beach sand. Her cutie mark looked to be a flash of light, so

I guess that means she’s good at… light? I mean her name is Lightswitch, so that’s a given. Oh, she’s also

a Unicorn, in case I didn’t mention that. Maybe she’s good at making electrical lighting, like an

electrician! That’d be neat to have with my dream house. I could have a generator for all the lightning

and… wait. I’m a Batpony. Why would I want lighting anyway? More often than not it just hurts my eyes.

Then I realized that she is probably looking at me on the ground, rolling my head around in thought with

my eyes dancing back and forth between sentences like an insane pony. I chanced a glance upwards.

Yep. She thinks I’m crazy.

“Come to think of it, I think you might be the more dangerous one between Emerald and yourself.”

She said with a smirk, staring down at me while I was on the floor. “What’s your name, anyway? It’s not

Merry Stew, is it?”

What the hay kind of name is Merry Stew? I looked at my cutie mark, and pointed to the sun on it, then

pointed downwards with a hoof.

“Sun…Down?” She guessed, looking at me for confirmation.

Wow, somepony actually got it on the first try! She must be a pretty smart pony compared to most I

deal with, even if I’m not the brightest myself. Oh, I should probably respond to her so she stops looking

at me like that. I nodded my head when she repeated ‘Sundown?’ again.

“I’m Lightswitch, in case you didn’t hear during our little disagreement over there. Nice to meet you.”

Then she did something crazy. She extended one of her forehooves out at me, just holding it in the air

and pointed flat at me. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and slightly open mouth, questioning her

sanity with my expression. At least I hoped it looked like that.

“Um… it’s a hoofshake? Like when you meet somepony new and want to assure them you’re a

friend?” The lemonade unicorn looked at me like I was the crazy pony here. How is holding your hoof

out supposed to make somepony like you? It just looks like they’re pointing at your chest with their

hoof. I held a hoof on the same side that she did, and pointed at her chest with it. She just looked down

at my hoof, and then back at me before covering her face in that same hoof she had pointed at me.

“I’m not pointing at you. You’re supposed to shake my hoof with your hoof.” She grumbled at me

through a covered face, looking at me like I was the idiot here. How is shaking somepony’s hoof

supposed to do anything but make it so you can’t use all your hooves if they decide to attack you? They

could also pull on your hoof and slam you into the ground! It’s just asking for trouble to let someone

grab a hold of your hoof in any situation.

I know a much better way to make friends than trying to shake their hoof. Food! So, with this in mind, I

completely ignored her protests and began digging through my saddlebags for some Sugar Apple Bombs

that I keep on me. (More because other ponies really like them than me needing them. I don’t need

sugar in my system, I’m on edge enough as it is.)

Holding the two hundred year old sugar supplement in my hooves, I offered it to Lightswitch, who

looked just as confused as I assumed I had when she tried to shake my hoof. Her look wasn’t changing

fast enough, so I took out my writing tools and wrote:

Food = Friend

Grabbing = Scary

“You’re scared of shaking my hoof? How have you even survived in the wasteland if you’re scared of a

hoofshake!” she asked nopony in particular, spinning around and trotting to her friends.

“Gearbox. She’s afraid of a hoofshake! A hoofshake! She acts like she hasn’t seen another pony in her

life, or how to properly interact with them. I can’t fathom how she’s survived this long without

anypony else. We barely make it day to day in our group, let alone with a psychopath that you insist

on keeping with us.” Yikes. They barely survive? They either don’t know how to stay quiet, which is a

given at this point I think, or they don’t know how to scavenge properly. Speaking of that, if everypony

in the stable is dead, why aren’t they looting them?

Seeking to remedy this affront to all things salvageable, I made my way past the two arguing ponies to

loot what remained of the stable before a hoof grabbed my hind leg and made me jump.

“Hold up, sensitive. You won’t survive down there, too much gas.” grumbled Emerald, the stable

murdering Pegasus with way too concerned friends.

Well if there’s a lot of gas, then I’ll just have to wear a gas mask, wont I?

While looking through my saddlebags, a hoof tapped my head and I looked up to find Gearbox with a

grim expression standing over me.

“She doesn’t mean any normal kind of gas. She has her own special mixture that eats at your skin and

makes you fuse to things if you don’t melt outright. A gasmask won’t help. It’ll more than likely just

melt onto your face than anything beneficial.”

Oh. Well that explains why they weren’t looting then. Why did I just get myself stuck with the crazy

ponies that don’t scavenge, insist on having raiders in their group, and like to be grabby?

I decided to wait patiently for the group to gather themselves, making sure my sledgehammer wasn’t in

danger of falling apart on a swing when I needed it, and that I was wearing all of my ‘definitely not a

Pegasus or a mutant’ outfit.

“I think that the only weapon you’d need is a megaphone, what with that voice of yours. What’s with

the sledgehammer?” asked Emerald after getting her ribs set and healed by Swift.

I pointed to the engraving I had done on my sledge hammer. The handle said ‘Swingy’ and the

hammering part said ‘Smashy’. Emerald didn’t seem impressed, and sat down next to me.

“You don’t look that tough. How’d you manage to survive in the wastes? You look like a strong breeze

could knock you down for the count, even If you can swing that thing with any skill.” She pointed at

my sledgehammer while giving me a light shove, making me rock sideways a bit.

I’ll admit, I’m not the hardiest pony. I can take a few hits but I prefer to scream at somepony and get out

rather than fight them to the death. Besides, that just causes problems for whoever lives because you

either get called a raider or run out of towns, or get a massive bounty on your head cause you killed

somepony’s mare or buckfriend. I’d rather be quick and deadly than slow and shot to pieces because I

thought I was a one pony army. Besides, I don’t want the added effort of shadow flashing my way

around a fight and being weighed down by a metric buckton of armor or weapons either. It’s just that

much more taxing to do. Oh right, Shadow Flashing. It’s like what a unicorn can do when they teleport,

except I do it between shadows, and a lot easier than a unicorn can. I try not to do it a lot, because it

makes me feel cold afterwards. I might like Luna, but I don’t want to be actually on the moon with her

just to hang out.

She’s staring at me. Did I do something wrong? Oh I know! I didn’t answer her again. I know she can’t

understand me, but I decided to answer her anyway just to annoy her with my squeaking.

“I sneak. If I can’t sneak, then I run. If I can’t run, then I smash. If I can’t smash, then I teleport. If I can’t

teleport, then I squeak. If I can’t squeak, then I cry. If I can’t do that, then I’m really screwed!” I replied

as a barrage of squeaks. Yes my normal speaking voice is that quiet. The reason everypony else’s speech

is bolded is because it’s that Loud to my ears, and I don’t want to repeat myself in saying how loud

everypony is all the time.

“Never mind, squeaky toy. Forget I asked anything.” Emerald said, trying to cover her ears while

cantering away. It was actually pretty funny seeing her try to keep her balance when also trying to cover

her ears. She probably could’ve used her wings, but I think my squeaking was making it hard for her to

think. The group was trying to be quiet to talk amongst themselves, but I could still hear them just fine

despite the distance of about forty hooves. (Take that, science!) They were discussing if ‘we are

seriously considering taking that mutant with us. Yeah I don’t look like most ponies, but come on

Gearbox, I don’t eat foals for Celestia’s sake. I’ve only got slightly reflective eyes with a pupil that looks

like a double pointed wooden spear, batwings, fangs and a really squeaky voice that can melt faces. At

least I don’t kill stables. I also tried to give Lightswitch some food after she did her weird hoof grabby

thing and was civil with a pony that had tried to burst my eardrums with her volume! I’m a pretty chill

pony.’

Well, those were the highlights of the conversation they were having. Most of them in favor of my

staying while I walked around taking great interest in the staircase leading out of the stable entrance

enclosure. Taking a seat on the steps, I decided to focus on things outside of the little cubby hole we

were in to see if anything was waiting around for us to emerge into the moonlight.

Wait, when did I sleep last? I know I was going to sleep when those raiders bugged me, then I dodged

some slavers, and I ran into this group. How long ago was that? A day? Huh… I should probably keep

track of these things. Have I eaten anything since then? I don’t remember if I did. Oop, I hear a noise!

Some clinking and clanking, hoofsteps, grumbling and mumbling and...

Caravan!

Wait, last time I thought it was a caravan it was actually slavers. I should probably tell the group that

there’s a bunch of slavers wandering around outside.

Getting up from my spot and cantering back down to the stable area, I poked my head around and

found a distinct lack of anypony.

Well, they didn’t go down into the stable, because they said there was a bunch of gas that killed

everypony. Maybe they left without me? Hmm… That’s possible but kinda rude. Maybe one of them ran

off and they had to chase them. Then they’d probably run out the other way that’s here, run across the

street and run right into-

BRRRRRRRT!!

Ow! My ears!

Ka-tink, FWOOOOSH

Wait. Fwoosh? Fwoosh means big BOOM!!

Augh! Why with the shootings and the explosions and the -- EEP!

I had turned over on my side to see a towering monstrosity of metal looming over me, pony shaped with

metal plating and spikes running down its head where the mane should be, with more bladed things

where a tail should-

“Speak or be destroyed, civilian.” The monster boomed at me with its already obnoxiously loud voice

being amplified by the armor it was in.

Chapter 3: Steel Striders

Chapter 3: Steel Striders

“You’re so loud!” I squeaked in terror back at the giant thing. I doubt he’d understand me but he did say

speak. And I assume it was a he based off of the booming voice and the fact that everypony else seemed

to be calling it a ‘Paladin Copper Wire’. Wait, was that his name? A pony!

“Hah, too frightened to respond. Scribe Hay Hen, take this one to the entrance of Stable 96. We will

gather the other stable dwellers there as well. Report when the entrance is secure.” Paladin Copper

Wire began barking out orders, but I get the sense I wasn’t supposed to hear those since they sounded

like they were echoing inside of his armor. I covered my ears to try and save them from the onslaught of

his battle saddle’s dual minigun setup as I was dragged away from the fighting by who I assume was

Scribe Hay Hen. I didn’t really resist or try to get away like I probably should have, given the

circumstances. I was too busy trying to not having permanent hearing loss and keeping everything on

my person from slipping off and revealing how much of a ‘not a mutant’ I was to the armored monoliths

that were now surrounding me.

I was finally set down in the entrance of the vault, about four more of those giants in metal were there,

with ten more lighter armed ponies carrying what looked like fancy boxes with triggers somewhere I

couldn’t really see. Two of them, scribes I’m guessing based off of how they were responding to the

orders of the paladins, pointed their fancy boxes at my face while my hooves were tied together and I

was left sitting awkwardly on the floor with a guard rail as my back rest.

Roughly ten minutes and a lot of loud noises that I couldn’t stop myself from wincing later, I saw

Gearbox, Lightswitch, Swift Shot and Emerald being dragged back by as many Paladins to the Stable

entrance and plopped next to me. I was going to give them a smile before I remembered that my fangs

would give me away, so I settled with a small squeak when Gearbox looked at me like I had done

something wrong.

“Steel Rangers! You’re with the Steel Rangers and you set us up for an ambush, didn’t you?!” Gearbox

accused directly into my ear, making me fall over trying to scramble away from the volume of his

assault.

What the hay is a Steel Ranger, anyway? Why did they think I set them up? Was it because I left while

they were talking about me, or that I was already here when they came back? I was tied up! How was I

with these Steel Rangers if I was in the same spot they were in?

“Gearbox, calm down. She’s tied up too. I doubt they would hogtie an informant of theirs.”

Lightswitch tried to reassure Gearbox, who was still glaring daggers at me.

I tried to glare back at him, but my tinted goggles only made my look like I was baring my fangs at him

like an angry bloatsprite.

“What the hell? Does that one have fangs?”

Oh no!

I once again too quickly shut my mouth, causing my fangs to dig into my lip and make me squeak in pain

while the scribe that had seen my fangs galloped off to find a Paladin. Now I was royally screwed.

There’s no way that even the average wastelander can look past fangs, let alone these types in their

super armor with a ton of weaponry won’t immediately think I’m some mutant out to drink their blood.

I still don’t know why these four next to me didn’t shoot me on sight the moment they saw me, but now

I was definitely dead.

The scribe later returned with who I assume was Paladin Copper Wire and Scribe Hay Hen.

“Waster, Scribe Steady Trot accuses you of being mutated by the wastelands. What say you?” Paladin

Copper Wire said, looming over me with a few more scribes ready to blast me with their boxes that shot

light.

Oh no, oh no, ohno-no-no-no-no-nononono I don’t want to die! They look like they’re going to kill me!

What do I do?! I took a peek up at them, and there was more than enough firepower aimed at my head

to turn me into a Balefire crater. So I did the only thing I could do in a situation like this. I flopped over

on my side, trying to wiggle away and out of my bindings while crying my eyes out in sheer terror at my

imminent and painful death.

“Don’t hurt her! She’s a Batpony! Goddess Luna smite you if you touch her!” Nurse Swift Shot blurted

out, sealing my fate for all eternity as the most unlucky of Bat ponies in existence.

I balled myself up as best I could, slamming my eyes shut and waited for my painful death. Then nothing

happened. I thought that maybe they were messing with me, so I tried to make myself even smaller

before I noticed my goggles were being pulled at. I tried to stop whoever was pulling at them, but my

hooves were bound and my wiggling was put to a stop by a very heavy and cold metal hoof stepping on

my wings, to which I squeaked out again in pain because he was pressing on me like they weren’t

supposed to be there. The goggles finally came off with small streaks of my panicked tears, and I blinked

them away to clear my vision as the Scribes set about taking off all of my equipment. Normally this

would make me feel exposed and in even greater danger, but considering that I was dead anyway, I

resigned myself to a shaky tremble and squeaky sobbing, the thought of them tearing my wings off

crossing my mind not more than a few times as the Tunic finally slipped off past my roped hooves.

“Waster, Speak now. Are these changes a result of mutation, Taint or Killing Joke? I would not think

you would be Enclave as they have a tendency to not like mutation or transformation magic to begin

with.” Paladin Copper Wire said, his tone less menacing and more of curiosity.

I tried my best to speak, honestly. But you know my voice, it only comes out as squeaks no matter what I

do.

“She can’t talk normally. Her voice is too high pitched for us to hear. Leave her alone!” Lightswitch

growled at the Steel Ranger, before a scribe gagged her with some hoof kerchief on the spot.

“Paladin Copper Wire, I have a suggestion.” Scribe Hay Hen offered.

“Go ahead, Hay Hen.”

“If she really is a Batpony, and her voice is too high to speak, we can modify a radio set to alter the

frequencies so she should be barely within our hearing range. I’d have to patch it in through your

helmet, and everypony else’s conversations would be too low for you to hear, so you’ll be effectively

deaf while speaking with the waster.” The Scribe explained.

“Make it so, Scribe Hay Hen. Set a time for one minute so I can remain updated on our status

exploring the stable.”

After I had somewhat gathered myself and it didn’t look like I was immediately going to be turned into

an ash stain on the floor in my immediate future, I was hoofed a radio to speak into to talk with Paladin

Copper Wire.

“Waster, State your purpose here.” The Paladin demanded.

“Oh, your voice isn’t loud! If you’re not going to kill me, can you thank the scribe for not making your

voice so head splittingly deafening?” I almost hugged the radio, but I figured that would get me shot for

trying to mate with equipment or something from these ponies perspective.

“Loud? I was speaking to you normally.” I assume he was giving me an annoyed glare, but with the

helmet I couldn’t be sure.

“Your normal is my deafeningly loud. My hearing is really sensitive, and I heard you all stomping around

outside a few minutes before you all tried to bring Equestria crashing down on everypony. I thought you

were slavers with all the clanking and grumbling, so I went back in here to tell these four that you were

probably the slavers I had run into earlier, but they were all gone. Then a bunch of shooting started and

you were standing over me.” I was trying to explain everything as fast as possible before my minute was

up in an effort to not get killed by annoying the Paladin.

“You heard us? Clanking and grumbling was it? And you were exactly where I found you when you heard

all of this, yes?” To my surprise, he didn’t sound like he was angry at me personally, so I clarified.

“I was over at the other entrance, the one on the right from here. Then I moved over to where you

found me. You’re not going to kill me for looking weird, right?” I risked asking.

Then my radio beeped, and his voice got to its typical loudness again.

“Hmm… I think this ‘batpony’ is telling the truth. She says that she heard us coming before our

skirmish and went looking for these other four, only to find them gone. I would think that if you’d

kept this one close by, you could have avoided us altogether.” He said with a chuckle to the group next

to me, who were all grumbling their annoyance with Gearbox.

“As for the rest of you, the next time we perform a stealth mission, I don’t want to hear from one of

our targets that you were quote ‘clanking and grumbling’ so loudly she heard you coming moments

before we arrived!” The leader of this group of Steel Rangers scolded.

Targets? Oh great. I’m still a special on the ‘death and dismemberment’ menu. Moon Goddess save me!

“Yes, Paladin!” They insisted on shouting in unison.

Then I remembered he had said something about exploring the stable, and I risked waving a hoof near

his face to get his attention. His head swiveled in my direction, and I eagerly pointed to the radio I was

holding and made talking motions, fangs be damned.

“Scribe Hay Hen, another session if you would. This had better be important, Batpony.”

Beep. Click.

“This thing is working now, right?” I asked, and received a nod from the Paladin.

“Okay, I remember the group next to me talking about how one of them had ‘killed the Stable’ with

some kind of gas that makes ponies fuse to their equipment, the walls, or just outright melt. I thought

you’d want to know in case you sent anypony down there. I don’t know if they were just saying that, but

I figured that you wouldn’t shoot me if I helped out your group. Oh I just said that out loud, didn’t I? I’m

gonna stop talking now…” I said while slowly putting down the radio from my face and trying to appear

small as possible to the giant, metal clad powerhouse of a Paladin standing over me.

“Did they say what color this gas was? I wouldn’t think pink cloud would be so far from Canterlot, let

alone in a Stable.” He inquired.

“Oh!” I fumbled and brought the radio back up to speak. “They just said that ‘It was Emerald’s special

mix’ or something like that. You could ask the white and green pony over there about it, but she’s kinda

mean.” I explained, then realized I was talking to a walking armory, and I doubted he would’ve cared

how mean somepony was when he could just as easily turn them into fertilizer by sneezing.

Beep. Click.

Whelp, here goes nothing I guess.

“You there, white and green Pegasus. Is your name ‘Emerald’?” Copper Wire asked Emerald, who was

fidgeting around on the ground, trying to get out of her binding I think.

She stopped struggling and looked up with panic, before trying to set me on fire with her eyes and

responded, “Yeah, that’s me. What’s it to you?”

She was going to get herself killed, speaking like that! I just hope those Steel Rangers have enough good

sense to not let me get hit with the crossfire when they decide she’d look better as wallpaper.

“Explain the reports of gas in the Stable we are occupying. Is this Pink Cloud?” The Paladin was now

looming over Emerald instead of me, so I squeaked a sigh of relief and slinked into a corner to try and

hide before any of the Rangers decided that I needed to get tied up again. They mostly seemed intent on

watching Copper Wire, so I think they weren’t all that attentive. The two scribes that had pointed their

weapons at me earlier were trying to get past the Stable’s console controls in the far end of the room,

and others were moving supply boxes around and patching armoring for the Paladins that had received

a few hits in the fighting. I don’t think it was from the four though, they didn’t seem to have any

weapons on them to begin with.

“Pink? Naw, my stuff is green. ‘Cause I’m Emerald, not Pink-erald. Or whatever a pink gem is.”

Emerald seemed like her ego had been bruised from the way she was sniping at the Paladin.

“Rhodonite?” a stallion unicorn scribe who was shifting boxes around had helpfully suggested, with a

pink coat, auburn and ginger mane, and a Cutiemark that was probably a Rhodonite.

“Thank you, Scribe Clear Report.” The paladin said with a groan.

The scribe responded by snapping to attention with a salute, and belted out, “Yes, Paladin Copper Wire!

I am glad to be of service to you in this operation and will endeavor to be of further assistance even if

not directly called upon, Sir!” Then resumed lifting boxes and remaining oblivious to several hoof

covered faces surrounding him. I then heard muffled grumbling from the Paladin’s armor that sounded

roughly like ‘That unicorn is going to be the death of us all.’

Abruptly clearing his throat for effect, he returned his attentions to Emerald who was sneering at him

from the floor.

“So, this gas of yours. How long until it dissipates? Can it be removed by water spray? Exactly how

long of an exposure until it is lethal? Does it attack just flesh or does it affect materials as well? Is

there any kind of protection against it?” he interrogated, moving closer to Emerald with every question

until they were face to armored helmet from each other.

“Get out of my face, tin can!” She shouted, ears flattened backwards in annoyance while she struggled

more with the ropes.

Then I saw Scribe Clear Report’s ears perk up on hearing ‘tin can’ and he raised a hoof to point out

something before he was tackled by several more Scribes nearby and gagged before he could speak.

At this point, I was busy trying to navigate myself away from the small army of heavily armed and

armored ponies so I wouldn’t get killed when the metaphorical fan was hit with the fecal matter that

was bound to come flying out of this situation.

“I don’t usually stick around long enough to nerd out about it, Tinny. All I know is that it does its job

good enough that I don’t have to worry about ponies coming back to kill me, and I know for sure that

anypony down in that Stable is toast!” she grimaced, before looking away with a pained expression.

Copper Wire stood still for a moment, before turning to a group of scribes and ordered them to find the

box with sealed environmental suits before looking to where I used to be.

“What the- Who was watching the Batpony!?” he shouted in anger to nopony in particular. From the

way every Steel Ranger in the area froze and looked at him, then between themselves in confusion, my

guess is that they all had assumed somepony else was watching me at went off to do their own thing.

Scribe Clear Report was squirming on the ground, muffling his words through the hoof kerchief in his

mouth. The Paladin moved over, and had the scribes remove the gag.

When a bulky earth pony that had been sitting on him got off, he bolted upright to attention with a

salute, and again belted out, “Paladin Copper Wire, I saw the Batpony target sneak away while your

attention was focused on the Pegasus. I saw fit to inform you before I was silenced by my ‘comrades’,

Sir.”

The glare he gave spoke volumes of annoyance that should’ve been recorded by somepony in the room,

considering they were mostly scribes, while ponies tried to shrink out of sight of the Paladin.

Copper Wire stomped a hoof on the ground, causing a loud clanging noise of powered metal against

catwalk that had me squeak in pain from the ventilation system I was attempting to crawl through. Yes I

can fit in a ventilation system! I’m flexible, but don’t get any ideas!

“There, in the ventilation ducts!” a pony near me had shouted.

Oh crap, now they’re going to turn ME into ventilation!

Sure enough, I heard a lot of clicking and electrical noises that sounded like their magic laser rifles being

loaded and pointed at my general area.

“Batpony, Get out of the vent or we will be forced to remove you from it. You have ten seconds to

climb out before we open fire.” Copper Wire mandated.

Oh no, don’t panic! Don’t panic! I can do this!

I looked down the length of the vent, and realized that it would take me a whole minute of frantic

movement to reach the end, and now there was no way I had time enough to move out the way I had

come to get into the vent. I decided to look down at the vent next to me, cover my ears, and Screech as

loud as I possibly could into the metal.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

But to the ponies in the room, I assume it sounded more like an ear splitting banshee’s wail being

repeated by the metal vibrating so fiercely that it buckled from under me as I started falling to the floor

from the shattered fragments scattering away. I fell down in what seemed like slow motion as I saw

ponies crumple to the floor holding their ears and writhing on the ground, trying to save themselves

from the sheer volume while the Paladins had swayed slightly and began shooting where I had been

moments before.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT

Zap! Zap-Za-Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT

The vent I had remained in had been cut from the ceiling, falling on top of me but not crushing me as I

had made a perfect hole for my body with my screaming, so I instead compressed myself as small as I

could to avoid stray weapons fire and general death zooming all over the place.

“-ase fire, cease fire now! I SAID HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Paladin Copper Wire bellowed out, trying to drown

out the cacophony of weapons fire with his amplified voice.

Eventually, shell casings and the sound of magic rifles powering down filled the room, amidst groaning

and complaining about ringing in the ears. Soon afterwards, I heard creaking as the vent was lifted off of

me to stare up at Paladin Copper Wire, his weapons not glowing hot like the other Paladin’s had been,

as he stared at me through that metal helmet of his.

To say I was shivering and trying to disappear into the floor would’ve been an understatement as to how

badly I did not want to be the center of so much firepower’s attention. The Paladin then finished with a

shove of the vent, it clanging behind me and rolling a bit on the backs of some shell casings before

banging into somepony’s hoof, who then yelped in pain.

He pointed at a scribe nearby, “Scribe, Radio now.” Before looking back down at me.

The scribe hurriedly floated a radio over to me, and I heard a click and beep.

“Explain yourself immediately.” He stated without hesitation.

“W-w-Weapons! Death bad! Aaah!” was the only thing I could get out before I was reduced to a sobbing

wreck on the floor, trying to crawl into the vent again but being held in the air by a few scribes joining

forces to levitate me with their cheating unicorn powers. They floated me around to be eye to eye with

Copper Wire.

“Try again. Explain yourself slowly.” Copper Wire stated calmly.

After a moment of trying to regain myself and not freak out, the radio gave a beep and a click, then was

resumed by Scribe Hay Hen a moment later.

“I… I just don’t want to die because of those idiots over there yelling at you! You’re all a walking armory

and they just keep saying stupid shit that’s going to get me killed!” I said between sputters of tears and

sobs to the unflinching behemoth before me.

“You are not allied with those four over there?” He asked flatly.

“N-no?” Then I realised I probably just got myself killed with that, and blurted out “Please don’t kill me!

You’re a nice pony and I don’t want to die! I won’t scream again I promifff”

He had stuck an armored hoof in my mouth!

Copper Wire stared at me for several moments before the radio clicked and beeped again, then turned

to the four that had somehow not caught a stray beam nor bullet that whole time, but were staring

daggers at me.

“Release the batpony, but keep her guarded this time.” He called over his shoulder, a bit of annoyance

in his voice.

I was dumped unceremoniously to the ground, and had my hooves tied to one another, then some rope

tied my wings to the ropes tying my hooves, as I sat there looking like a ball of rope with a Batpony head

sticking out.

“Yes, Paladin Copper Wire! I will keep her guarded to-“ Clear Report had managed to get out before

getting cut off with several ‘Shut the buck up!’s from nearby Scribes and even another Paladin.

Copper Wire paused for a moment, before looking down and speaking to Gearbox.

“Is this Batpony a member of your party?” he asked plainly.

“Not on my life, she aint!” Gearbox angrily retorted.

Then Copper Wire moved to the next in line, Lightswitch.

“Do you care about the life of this Batpony?” he pressed.

“I’ve only known her for less than an hour before you brutes showed up!” She scoffed

He moved to the next, Emerald.

“Would you care if this pony was killed in front of you?” he said a bit too happily, as my hopes sank

through the floor at making this out alive.

“She doesn’t talk, but she isn’t that bad! Leave her alone, she doesn’t deserve you toasters killing her

just for being who she is!” Emerald yelled at Copper, before giving me a curious glance and returning to

glare at the paladin.

“Hmm.” He said, apparently disinterested.

Then he moved to the last, Swift Shot.

“That uniform. It is Enclave, is it not?” he said, a note of detachment in his voice.

“I wouldn’t know anything about any Enclave, Ranger.” Swift stated with a poker face.

“Is that so? Then you wouldn’t mind removing that uniform to look at your cutie mark, would you?”

Cutie mark? What does that have to do with the ‘Enclave’? For that matter, what the hay is the Enclave

anyway? Aren’t they those Pegasai that left before the war so we’d all be stuck down here with no sun?

“Don’t you touch me, Ranger!” she blurted, losing her composure.

“Name, Rank and Serial Number.” Copper Wire ordered.

Swift muttered under her breath, before looking right into his face and spitting on his mask.

“Alright then. I’ll just have to take it out on the Batpony to get answers then.” He menaced before

turning about to move straight at me. I would’ve done something like panic, but I wasn’t even able to

twitch a muscle, let alone move. Screaming would just get me killed anyway, so I was royally screwed

now.

“Don’t you touch her!” Emerald and Swift Shot shouted in unison, before looking in surprise at each

other, then doing their best to bore holes in Copper Wire’s armor from behind.

“Something you’d like to say, then?” He turned around to face Swift Shot.

“Emerald Storm, Corporal, 944-312.”

“Swift Shot, Corporal, 944-313.” They both stated in a tone of resignation.

“You’re both Enclave then? That was unexpected. Of the same unit no doubt as well. Sign up

together?”

“What do you care, Toaster?” Emerald growled at the paladin.

“I want to know what two Pegasai, an earth pony and a unicorn are doing around a stable in a ruined

city, and why it’s so important that they sent you two down here disguised (Poorly, I would add) as

waste landers with suitable cover stories and unmarked as Dash-ites.” The paladin retorted.

Dash-ite?

“Why don’t you go breathe in some chemicals to find out? Theres plenty down there just waiting for

you, Paladin.” Emerald sneered.

“Oh, well I’d much rather send somepony expendable, like this Batpony here. It’s too bad we hadn’t

planned for any Bat ponies in our mission, or we would’ve brought some wing coverings for her. She’ll

just have to… Wing it, I guess.” He said without any mirth whatsoever.

This is all because I said he was ‘nice’ isn’t it? He just went full comic book villain the moment I said that

too. Are you enjoying this, Celestia? I bet you are, you great fat ball of—

Eep! Paladin Copper Wire was standing directly over me, and I hadn’t even noticed again.

“Scribe, Radio.” He barked out.

Beep. Click.

“Don’t mind the show. I’m trying to interrogate them before I move my team deeper in the Stable and

since they only reacted to your impending doom, I went with it.” Paladin Copper Wire explained.

If I was physically able, I would’ve melted with relief at me not having an impending and gruesome

death.

“So, you’re not going to make me go into a death stable and choke to death while melting?” I said like a

foal getting a present on Hearth’s Warming Eve.

“No, but for now I would ask that you play along and act very distressed as soon as the radio shuts off.

Otherwise even more ponies are going to die just trying to get the Stable open, let alone getting the

technology inside that we’re here for in the first place. Don’t make any move that would signal

agreement with me. Wait a few moments so I can radio to my fellow paladins, then scream loud, just

not enough to injure any-“

Beep. Click.

How long does he want me to wait? Oh I know, look of confusion followed by scared look, then I’ll wiggle

around like I’m trying to escape and then-

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!” I screeched less loudly than before, but just enough that it decked several scribes

nearby, while some paladins moved to carry me away while putting another of the seemingly endless

supply of hoof kerchiefs into my mouth.

They carried me far enough away that I barely made out the cries of Emerald and Swift Shot calling after

me and getting cross with Copper Wire while he did his best evil pony laugh he could muster. Later, they

set me down next to a few initiates who were caught playing poker in a store room, as they were told to

unbind me and make sure I didn’t leave the room.

The door sliding shut with a metallic clang, I shared awkward looks with the group of scribes who were

trying their best to not seem like they were staring at my outlandish-ness.

“Um, Hello. I’m Initiate Card Swipe. These are Initiates Hat Trick and Cheese Wheel. Don’t ask.” Then

he did the whole ‘Hoof Shake’ thing at me! Even these Steel Rangers insist on it! The wastes are mad, I

tell you.

He must’ve noticed my blank stare at his hoof, because he smoothly swung it up to brush back his mane,

before turning around to sit down at the makeshift table of Boxes with an awkward cough.

“Are you a mutant?” Cheese Wheel, I assumed from the wheel of cheese on his flank had asked,

hopping around like an excited foal around me.

“You look like a mutant! You got funny eyes and silly wings and oooooh, those are some pointy teeth

you have Miss Mutant! How’d you get tho—aaah!?” He was pulled aside, putting a stop to his barrage

of questions by Hat Trick, who gave Cheese Wheel a light smack across his face before setting him down

in a chair.

“Don’t mind him, He’s not all there. I’m Hat Trick, what’s your name?” The mare of the group asked.

I blinked a few times, made a squeaky noise, and then realized they can’t hear me without the fancy

radio. I pointed at my Cutie mark of a sunset, and pointed down with my hoof.

“Um sure, there’s a seat over there if you want to sit down?” Card Swipe offered.

I tried not to face hoof, then made a point of me… pointing… at the sun part of my cutie mark.

“Sun?” Cheese Wheel questioned, her voice drawn out as if searching for another word.

I nodded yes while pointing at her, then pointed down at the floor.

The three of them looked to where I was pointing, and said in unison “Grate?”

I face hoofed, fell on my haunches and let out a squeak of despair at them being so close and yet so far

away.

Hat Trick looked like she had a flash of inspiration, then hoofed me a black marker and a blank card.

I nodded with a fanged smile at her, which had the result of her shivering for some reason, before

writing Sundown the Batpony on the card. When I showed it to them, they let out a resounding

“Ooooohhhh.”

The door then abruptly wooshed open, two paladins looking in to see me holding a card in between my

fangs with a surprised and wide eyed look at them when I whipped around.

“Sundown the batpony… got it.” Then they slammed the door shut with a click this time.

“Uh, what do you think that was about?” Cheese asked.

“Maybe they didn’t get her name before they sent her down here?” Card Swipe speculated.

I shrugged and set the card down on the table with a squeaky ‘Bleh’, and took a corner to take a nap in.

Then I noticed I hadn’t eaten or used the filly’s room in about a day, and squirmed as I both held my

stomach and did my best to do the ‘Potty Dance’ to express my needs.

After a few moments of confusion at my spasmodic display, it finally clicked and they tried opening the

door to get out.

“Aw great. They locked the door!” Hat Trick complained.

“Well, we’ll just have to get it open, now wont we!” Card Swipe grinned, spreading ear to ear as he

rubbed his hooves together with glee.

Chapter 4: Rangers and Reprimands

Chapter 4: Rangers and Reprimands

Now that there is a break in the action, and having nothing better to do than hold my bladder, I’m going

to describe the three Initiates with me that have, for whatever reason, decided to help me use the filly’s

room.

Card Swipe, an earth pony stallion with a dark blue coat, green eyes and a lime mane was busy using

said cards to try and… do something with the bolt catch on the side of the door through a crack.

Cheese Wheel, a unicorn stallion with cheddar coat, Swiss mane and sand colored eyes was hopping

around the room, looking for a container or a bucket in case of worst emergency, and something to

cover up the smell of the container if I was forced to use it.

Hat Trick, a unicorn mare with white coat, light pink and silver hair and even pinker eyes was trying to

yell her way through the door for somepony to unlock it and let us out. It wasn’t helping my ears, but I

was too busy making faces that looked like I was going to explode to really care about the volume while

all this was going on.

I guess in hindsight, it doesn’t really matter if they were friends, so long as they didn’t want to be locked

in a room with the smell of my waste stinking up the place. That was good enough for me, because I

didn’t want that either.

Cheese Wheel had come up empty in his search, and had resorted to banging on the door like a pony

possessed, along with Hat Trick joining in and yelling as well.

Soon enough, the door wooshed upwards and the three fell over on their faces as I bolted up and over

the card ‘table’ made of boxes and hugged the face of the Paladin that had responded to the ruckus we

were causing.

“Bathroom, where!? Now!” I unintelligibly squeaked into his face, before he flicked me off and I flew

over the heads of the three initiates helping me.

“Initiates, explain yourselves immediately!” The decidedly not Paladin Copper Wire demanded.

“P-Paladin Overwatch!” The three stammered, and stood at attention.

“Out with it, Initiates.” He really didn’t seem to be in the mood for this.

“We were attempting to open the door for Sundown the Batpony, and then we couldn’t get it open

and we were getting worried tha-“ Cheese Wheel blurted out, before being interrupted by Paladin

Overwatch.

“Sundown, the… Batpony?” He inquired.

All three of them motioned with their heads at me, crumpled in the corner with a box of Abronco

cleaner on my head.

“Right… This is one of the targets that Paladin Copper Wire spoke of, yes?” his tone had dropped down

to a mellower one upon seeing me, as his attention returned to the Initiates.

“Yes, Paladin Overwatch! She signaled a great need for the head, sir!” Initiate Hat Trick reported.

Cheese Wheel snickered, and was smacked hastily by Card Swipe.

“Why are the four of you in this supply closet, anyway?”

The three looked amongst themselves, then glanced back at me before facing the Paladin.

“Guard Duty?”

“Prisoner Escort.”

“Card Games!” Cheese Wheel finished, receiving glares from the other two initiates.

The Paladin stood there unmoving, I imagined he was blinking the disbelief off of his face before moving

to the side and pointing down a hallway.

“Escort the prisoner to the restroom, then report back here on the double, Initiates.” He ordered in a

slight daze, before moving on to what he was doing before being interrupted.

“Whew!” The initiates let loose as they almost fell to the floor in relief.

Then Paladin Overwatch popped his head back through the doorway.

“When we get back, you all have toilet scrubbing duty for a week.” And then vanished once more.

“Damnit!” Hat Trick burst out, before covering her mouth.

They spent a few moments checking the hallway to make sure that Paladin Overwatch wasn’t lying in

wait, and ushered me through the hall down to the restrooms that were thankfully unguarded.

The initiates decided that this was the perfect time to practice their ‘Breach and Clear’ training, and

flooded into the lavatory with charged magic beam pistols and whooping from Cheese Wheel. A few

moments (And weapons fire) later, they emerged from the room proclaiming a victory over a Radroach

that had hidden underneath a trashcan. Finally being cleared to use the restroom, I flew past the three

of them and slammed a door shut, hurting my ears but not even caring as I sat down to relieve myself in

the surprisingly clean Stable restroom.

This thing has been sitting around, unused for over two hundred years and it doesn’t look the least bit

degraded! Oh wait, right. They said they had just killed the stable, so this was probably getting cleaned

by some janitor pony just yesterday. At least they did a good job!

As I sat on my porcelain throne contemplating the irony of life, I overheard the three Initiates standing

guard and gossiping outside of the room.

“Do you think they’re gonna offer her to join the Steel Rangers?” Cheese Wheel said, their voices

noticeably less loud through the door, but I could still hear their whispers.

“Her? She’s a mutant! I don’t even think batponies exist, she’s probably just a really weird Pegasus!”

Card Swipe responded.

“Well she’s still cool! Yeah her voice is squeaky and she re-arranged all of our cards into a wall around a

box for some reason, but she’s not as bad as Combat Knife!” Cheese Wheel argued.

“Oh, by the goddesses don’t even get me started on Combat Knife. He’s such a loser!” Hat Trick’s voice

then got substantially more uptight and nasal before she continued. “I’d like to use my combat knife on

the troll for three damage!” Then she finished with a snort. The three then giggled before making more

jokes at the expense of Combat Knife.

“Oh, that’s absolutely right, that’s a good point there, ah huh.” Continued Card Swipe, nasal

impersonation included.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Then a series of slurping noises sounded along with more giggling. “There we go, I

don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my waaaaaater. HONK.” Before the three hit the floor laughing.

“Hello there, my Initiate friends!” A metallic and nasally voice called out to them, causing them to freeze

and shuffle upright as fast as equinely possible.

“Greetings, Paladin Combat Knife.” The three responded.

“Ish your patrol going well, I hope?” ended with a sniffle heard through the door.

“Yes, Paladin Combat Knife.” Hat Trick responded curtly.

“Excellent. Are you three still up for Raiders and Caravans tomorrow?” The Paladin asked, hope laced

through his voice.

The three Initiates stammered before speaking at the same time.

“Uh, um. Weapons diagnostics training!”

“Radio Calibrations and retrofitting!”

“Armor Maintenance and cleaning!”

“Very busy!”

“Toilet Scrubbing Duty!”

“Very sorry, Paladin. Perhaps next time?” Card Swipe hurriedly finished, all of them stopped their

parade of excuses not to attend.

“Naw, well that’s a shame then. Maybe next week?” Paladin Combat Knife replied, a bit deflated.

“Of course, Paladin!” they said in unison once more.

“Carry on then, Initiates.” Combat Knife then continued down the hall, his hoof steps clanging almost

sadly on the catwalk.

Waiting a few moments, of what I imagine them to be peering down the hallway, the three burst into

laughter once more after keeping a straight face through their encounter with the nerdiest Paladin I had

ever heard in my life.

“Oh Goddesses I almost lost it!” cried Card Swipe.

“Raider’s and Caravans!” agreed Hat Trick.

“I can’t believe I said ‘Weapons Diagnostics!” finished Cheese Wheel, before I finished my business and

opened the door to find them rolling around on the floor, wiping tears from their eyes.

They all looked up at me with misty eyes, before standing up and putting on the best serious face they

could manage, before it all fell apart after a short silence of them looking at each other trying to eat the

grins on their lips and bursting into laughter once more.

I gave them a signal for them to give me a card to write on after they had regained their composure, and

wrote a short message on the card before flicking it back to them. Hat Trick lifted it with her magic for all

of them to read, and they looked up at me for a quick moment before laughing all over again.

“Waaaaaater! Pffft, hahahaa!” Cheese Wheel giggled while using Hat Trick as support.

“Oh, by Celestia’s Beard I wasn’t expecting that from you of all ponies, Sundown!” Hat Trick chuckled

while trying to keep Cheese Wheel from falling over.

After a few moments, something dawned on them and Card Swipe asked after confirming with his

Initiate friends.

“Wait, Sundown. Did you hear us through a double reinforced bulkhead door? There’s no way you’d

know about that joke because we were whispering…”

I motioned to get another card to write on, and showed them my message:

I have really sensitive ears. Right now you’re all at shouting volume just speaking normally to me. Please

don’t yell to test it, I can scream louder and neither of us want that. Ask Paladin Copper Wire if you don’t

believe me.

It looked more like:

Hearing Good, Voices Loud, Ask Copper Wire.

On the other side of the blank card, I wrote:

I’d love to join the Rangers with you three.

After they had collectively finished reading my scribbles, they looked amongst themselves then back to

me with a few worried expressions.

“You heard us talking didn’t you?” Card Swipe worried.

I nodded that I had heard everything they’d said, and he immediately apologized for calling me a

mutant.

“I still don’t think you’re a ‘Batpony’ though.” Card Swipe finished.

Hat Trick turned her head sideways before her horn glowed as she looked me up and down.

Should I feel weird about this?

“Wow. That’s really interesting.” She muttered, before continuing. “The only mutation I’m seeing is in

her ears, otherwise she doesn’t have anything foreign in her body. Not that I’ve ever seen a Batpony

before, but most of this checks out as Equine, aside from the vocal chords just being completely alien

to me.” Hat Trick then finished her clinical evaluation with her horn going dim.

Well at least they didn’t have to slice me open for that, I guess.

“How would we even go about getting her recruited though? I don’t even know what Role she would

fill.” Card Swipe asked the group.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Cheese Wheel asked, and then explained when we all looked at him. “Forward Scout

duty! Her hearing is phenomenal, and they don’t get into heavy combat either!”

The other two Initiates actually look dumbfounded that Cheese Wheel had made such a brilliant

observation, and I gave my approval by booping him on the nose and smiling.

“Weird poking aside, she can fly! At least I think she should be able to with those freaky wings she

has.” Cheese Wheel finished.

“They’re not freaky…” I said with a pout on my face. Well, squeaked.

“Aw, you made her sad, Cheese!” Hat Trick scolded, while moving to my side and giving me a hug.

“Don’t you worry about him, we’ll find Paladin Copper Wire and vouch for you! You’re a neat pony,

Sundown.” Card Swipe said with cheer, while looking around to get his bearings on where the Paladin

actually was now that some time had passed.

Moving as a unit and taking up the whole hallway with the four of us being side to side, with me in the

middle squeezed between Cheese Wheel and Hat Trick, we made our way to the Stable entrance where

I had last seen Paladin Copper Wire. Upon arriving, we noticed the distinct lack of anypony being there,

and a couple shredded crates and bloodstains.

Wait, bloodstains? Shredded crates? Uh oh.

“What on the moon happened here? Where’s the Paladins!?” Card Swipe began to panic, before being

patted on the back by Cheese Wheel.

“Don’t worry about it Swipey, We’ll find ‘em!” Cheese Wheel assured.

“Hey Sundown, can you use those ears of yours to hear anything? Listen for clanking, whirring, or

weapons fire if you can. I can’t hear squat.” Hat Trick suggested.

Sure, why not. I only almost lost my mind last time I focused on it.

I nodded, closed my eyes and started to swivel my ears around like two radar dishes.

Creaking…hissing from pipes…somepony talking with some spooky voice thing… Gunfire!

My eyes popped open suddenly, startling the Initiates before I pointed a hoof in the general direction of

the gunfire. They all shared a look, shrugged, gathered some ammo and we set off to go find out what

all the commotion was about. As we all left, I noticed an intact notepad with a sharpened pencil just

lying next to a pool of blood, so I happily nabbed it.

A few minutes of exploration later, passing a few bodies of Scribes and shell casings, we came to a large

chamber with a whole lot more bodies all wearing numbered jumpsuits sprawled out on the floor, their

flesh bubbled and festering like an infection where it met with other ponies’ meaty bits. It was difficult

to not step in the gore, so I instead used my wings to hover over the nastiness, getting a few “Aww,

lucky!” remarks from the Initiates who had to slog through the devastation.

“Well, these must’ve been the Stable dwellers. They all got ‘96’ on their flanks where a cutie mark

should be because of their jumpsuits.” Card Swipe stated, sounding more official as his training

over-rode his urge to gallop away from the madness.

“I count at least four Scribes, a Paladin and two more initiates dead in this room alone. They aren’t

fused with the Dwellers so they must’ve died later. Spread out and cover this floor. Sundown, get high

as you can and listen for anything hostile.” Hat Trick ordered, becoming the leader of the group.

Can do, Miss Hat Trick! I thought, giving a mock salute before zipping off towards the ceiling.

The room was based around a large cylinder that took up most of the center, a lot of green plant life all

throughout the tube going up through the ceiling and past the floor. Maybe it was some kind of vertical

greenhouse? There were separate offices around the outskirts of the room, a stairway leading up and

away and two more rooms overlooking everything. One room had a circular window overlooking the

Green Tube (That’s what I’m calling it now.) with ‘Overmare’ above it. With how the bodies were

arranged, it looked like some kind of speech was being given. There were only a few spots not covered

by the melted flesh on the floor, mostly around the edges of the deceased crowd and next to some

catwalk platform overlooking everypony. Looking around at the windows leading to the edge rooms, I

noticed a few of them were cracked by what looked like bullet holes, or maybe just somepony bashing

as hard as they could’ve while trying to escape.

If this was the result of ‘Emerald’s special mix’ I wanted no part of being anywhere near the mare.

“Do you hear anything, Sundown?” Hat Trick called out after returning to the center of the room with

Card Swipe and Cheese Wheel.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to be hearing, not seeing.

Hovering for a bit, and ignoring the flapping of my wings, I slowly spun around the room intently

listening for anything that wasn’t dead quiet.

Louder hissing, no more weapons fire, no more creaking pipes either…

“I got nothing. “ I said, before remembering they can’t understand me. Again.

As I flew down I quickly wrote down my observations as succinctly as possible before hoofing it over to

Hat Trick.

“No more Creaky Pipes, No Guns, Louder hissing?” She listed off, giving me a weird look.

“What do you mean by the ‘Hissing is louder’?” Cheese Wheel asked.

I blinked at them, then closed my eyes while lifting a hoof up like a compass needle before slowly

spinning around in my hover. At one point I stopped, then went to the list and pointed at ‘Hissing’.

“Loud hissing is that way then, correct?” Hat Trick asked for clarification.

I nodded in the affirmative, and she readied her Magic rifle while motioning to form up.

“Alright, anypony else got any leads?”

“Well, theres a whole lot of dead folks in here, no bullet wounds on any of our ponies and a whole lot

of scratch marks all over the place.” Card Swipe reported.

“I found a Cafeteria. Most of the food there had some strange green tinge on it and looked rotten.

Most of these corpses don’t look that decayed, so they weren’t starving before whatever happened

here, happened. I think they were at an assembly of some kind, but there’s spots missing where

ponies should’ve joined this carpet of the damned.” Cheese Wheel stated.

“Really Cheese? They’re dead. Have at least some respect for the poor souls.” Hat Trick scolded,

before looking to me.

“Alright then Sundown, write your findings.” She said, giving back my Notepad and pencil.

Green tube in the center of this place looks like some kind of Green House. Maybe it was contaminated

and didn’t make their food right? The scratchy things look like they could be some kind of animal that got

loose. I don’t know how common Zoos are in a Stable, but can’t ever be too sure. I think that those

missing spots could’ve been Emerald and Swift Shot’s position, because they were arguing about how

Emerald had killed an entire stable. I’m assuming that this is the stable they were talking about.

I finished my thoughts, and gave the notepad back to them. Yes I can be serious when the situation calls

for it, nor am I a complete idiot. All the time. Mostly. Shush!

“Well if it killed the whole stable, why weren’t they affected by whatever happened? I don’t see any

dead pegasai in this heap, but I don’t think that they’d be immune because of some feathers on their

side.” Card Swipe said in response to my findings.

“Yeah, no Pegasai. Maybe it’s a chemical agent that targets specific biology?” Hat Trick offered.

“I think we should move out. We aren’t gonna get the whole story just standing here talking about it.”

Cheese Wheel stated, readying his weapon.

Hat Trick looked up and floated the notepad back into my saddlebags.

“Okay Sundown, one last check before we find out what the Hissing was.”

I did my best imitation of a radar dish once more, and noticed the sound of zappy magic weapons

toward the hissing sounds. My eyes popped open again as I quickly flew down and mimed somepony

shooting and getting hit before pointing at the sound of the Hissing and weapons fire.

“Alright, no time to lose ponies! Let’s go save who we can!” Cheese Wheel cheered, and we moved out

to face whatever was going on further up in the Stable.

Chapter 5: Skittish Scavengers

Chapter 5: Skittish Scavengers

These stairs go on FOREVER. Seriously, who designed a vault in the middle of a city where the stairs… go

up? Wait. If this whole thing is underground, I’m certain that the stairs should be going down, right?

Stable Tec is confus-CLANG!

Ooh, pretty stars.

“You okay there, Sundown? You just flew into a bulkhead.” Somepony with a fuzzy voice asked, before

I felt the world flying upwards and noticed that my vision was funny too. Then there was a brightly

glowing light and my vision flooded into clarity.

“Be more careful next time, okay?” Hat Trick patted my back, before moving with the other Initiates to

breech the door I had done my best to dent with my head while flying. I took up my planned role of

listening through the door to see if anything could be heard on the other side before I gave my signal.

Nodding for contact, shaking for clear.

Seeing my head shake, they relaxed and pushed the button that opens these thick doors before

sweeping in. I peeked my head around to see what was going on in the room before joining them.

It seemed to be some kind of science lab. There were half filled beakers and stains all over the steel

tables and floors, a discarded mop and bucket over in the corner and a lab coat or two smeared with

crimson on another table with a blood trail leading through another door. A few moments of searching

later, and all the Initiates sounded off with “Clear!” from their zone of searching while I poked around

and sat looking confused at a terminal that was still on. From the writing on the terminal, and I mean

that it was literally on the terminal’s screen, whoever had written it clearly wanted a big red button to

be pushed somewhere. I figured since it was written in blood that it was important, at least. The actual

writing on the terminal beyond the blood was talking about some kind of duplication procedure to do

with plants. Maybe clone them with magic so that one potato could feed a couple dozen ponies or

more?

“WHAT’S ON THE TERMINAL?” Cheese said next to my ear, making me jump and scowl at the

unnecessary pain. “My bad, Sunny.” He whispered with a sheepish smile. I pointed with a hoof tip at

‘Plant Cloning: Attempt 334, Series 5-6’ before opening the document on the terminal. It looked like a

scientific log that catalogued their most recent attempt.

Click.

“Attempt three thirty four, Series five through six.” An excited mare’s voice stated.

Apparently it was an audio log.

“We finally managed it! It may have taken since the dawn of the apocalypse, but we actually

managed to clone several plants and vegetables without death, contamination or injury! Everypony has

taken their own sample of what I’m calling ‘Clone Brew Stew’. I’ll think of something with more flair

later, but this is it! We don’t have to worry about overpopulation or food rationing anymore. The

Overmare is holding a celebration in the main hall later today, where the kitchen staff is going to prepare

more meals for the rest of the stable to enjoy. She voiced some concerns about the coloration of the

cloned food, but we assured her that nothing could go wrong, after all the testing we did. It didn’t even

turn the mice green like the other attempts, and we should be able to cook any cloned foodstuffs without

them exploding like they did a few days ago. I’m still finding mashed potatoes in my mane, even. With

more luck, we should be able to clone any food we come across if we ever decide it’s worth it to venture

outside the stable. I’m sure somepony survived the end of the world after all. If our own tenaciousness is

anything to go by, then I’m sure some Zebras have as well. Ooh, maybe I’ll get to meet some weird

mutant Gryphon! Oop, I gotta go now. The lead scientist is calling my name. End log!”

Click.

“Well.” Hat Trick whispered next to Cheese, Swipe and I. “That seems to be what we’re after then.”

“Um, Hat? I think the food is what killed everypony in here. It doesn’t seem like they actually tested it

that long.” Cheese pointed out.

“Then what about all the claw marks, scratches and weapons fire still going on? You don’t think this

stable had robots, do you?” Swipe added.

Or what if it turned everypony in to giant lizards with claws that shot lasers from their eyes!

I returned to reality to find the three of them giving me a blank stare as if expecting my input, so I

shrugged while hopping off of the stool and began to hearing check the next door leading further into

the stable. Finding absolutely no sounds coming from anywhere on the other side of the door, I moved

to press the open button before my hoof was brushed aside by Hat Trick.

“Wait!” She hissed in a whisper, “What did you hear?”

I blinked, then took out my writing things and wrote:

Absolutely nothing at all.

Then smiled, before realizing how odd that was for me to not hear a single thing. Hat Trick looked like

she had seen a ghost, before swinging her rifle up to point at something behind me and wordlessly

screaming with bright flashes of light coming from her rifle. I turned in confusion just in time to see a

looming abomination of pony flesh and scales, standing half again taller than a Paladin trying to squeeze

its way through the doors with what looked like claws crunching the metal like tin foil.

Why isn’t there any sound? Am I deaf all of a sudden? Oh, I should probably get out of the-

“-WAY!” Cheese shouted, knocking me to the ground with the woosh of a large claw swiping over our

heads, giving one of my ears a love tap with its passing.

“FALL BACK, GET THROUGH THE SIDE DOOR NOW!” Hat ordered, with Cheese and Swipe dragging me

back until I got to my hooves and we bolted for the door past the bloodied lab coats. As our door was

flying upwards, the beast had pried its horrid body through the shredded remains of the door, leaving

bits of itself behind without any sign of pain or sense of self-preservation. The creature was emitting a

deep green glow from around what looked like several unicorn heads arranged like flower petals around

one large eye staring right at us.

“INSIDE!” somepony yelled, before I was yanked through the doorway and it slammed shut. I

overbalanced, and began to tumble a bit down a staircase before unfolding my wings to steady myself

and hover, holding a foreleg that had been banged by a sharp edge.

“Keep moving! That door isn’t going to hold that monster and we still have to find any survivors!” Hat

ordered, and we began moving as quickly down the stairs as possible. It was easier for me, since I could

glide the way down the steps, but I stopped every few moments to see if I heard anything.

This is a pretty long staircase.

Reaching the bottom a few moments later, we came to a few more doors. Living Quarters, Security,

Overmare’s Office and Infirmary. Hat Trick looked at all the signs, then checked us all for injuries before

deciding.

“All right. We’re going to the Security room to see if they have anything with heavier firepower than

these beam weapons. Sorry Sundown, but I’d rather get out of this alive with some minor hearing loss

than get killed saving your ears. No offense.”

I nodded my head in understanding, and we proceeded to be stopped by a locked door. Of course,

because it’s a Security Station.

Maybe there was a sleepy guard that missed the celebration, and they’d have a key?

I tapped Hat on the side, and pointed at Living Quarters. She seemed confused, so I poked the security

door and swiped one of the cards I had written on earlier like a passcard, before pointing at the Living

Quarters again.

“Oh. Because guards need sleep, duh.” Card Swipe said, facehoofing.

“Definitely going to request you for our squad, Sundown.” Cheese smiled.

The door to the Living Quarters swished up easily, and we were graced with the sickening stench of rot

and sewage or worse. My ears went back so fast they tried to jump off my head and fly away, with my

face scrunching up as I tried to cover my nose with my forehooves as the others similarly gagged or held

their breath with teary eyes. A few moments passed before we became accustomed to the stench

enough to move forward, even if I still felt sick and I’m sure the others felt the same.

“Augh, I can taste it!” Swipe sputtered, trying to rid his mouth of the nastiness but only making it worse.

“Sundown, keep an ear out for noise. If you ear gurgling, that’s me trying to keep my rations down.”

Cheese grumbled, a hoof to his mouth.

The passageway was entirely too clean to be giving off this kind of smell. There was another door that

was opened further down the hall, to where I assume the smell was coming from. As we made our way

down, I noticed our hoof falls were getting quieter and signaled a stop.

“What’s up, Sun?” Hat asked, before realizing she hadn’t been whispering.

I pointed to the floor and gave it a few hard stomps with a hoof, but it sounded like a foal smacking the

floor with a toy rather than the clang it should’ve been.

“Oh crap, that thing is around here!” Swipe blurted, swinging around to watch the hallway we’d walked

through with his rifle.

We advanced cautiously down the remainder of the hall before I poked my head through the doorway.

Inside there was more of the ‘pony carpet’ with a few bodies strung over the edges of the catwalks like

they’d been trying to escape. There was a scribe’s bloody and mulched form resting with their back to a

guard rail watching our door, several cartridges littering the space around it. I say ‘It’ because the corpse

was so mangled I couldn’t actually tell who the pony had been. Most of their face was ripped off with

their tongue lolling through their jawbone onto what remained of their neck like a gruesome tie. An

exposed heart and lung were apparent with half of the ribcage torn or broken off, all the blood having

left the area a while ago and pooled underneath the poor soul.

Then I heard the muffled sound of somepony losing their rations, and turned to see Hat Trick holding

her belly while Card and Cheese held her mane back and looked out for another of those monsters. I

waved to Cheese and pointed further down the Living Quarters, and trotted in place, hopefully telling

him I was going to go scout ahead.

He nodded, but motioned to the laser pistol laying on the floor.

“Take the pistol with you, Sunny. It’s mute enough that it shouldn’t hurt your ears right now. Just bite

down on the handle and use your tongue to fire the trigger. It’s the skinny metal bit in the center. It

should fly straight to where you look, just make sure that you aim with your mouth, not your eyes. I

don’t think our weapons are going to make a dent in that monster, but you can signal where you are

with the beams. We’ll meet up with you as soon as Hat is alright.”

I smiled, and armed myself with the pistol that was thankfully far enough away from the bloody mulch

that was a scribe that it wasn’t contaminated. Then I found out that the mouth handles weren’t

designed with fangs in mind, and dropped it the floor with a clatter.

Ow. I bit too hard. What the hay did they make those mouth guards out of, Steel?

I looked down at the laser pistol, and noticed the stainless steel shine of the handle for the first time.

Yep, Steel.

Wait a minute, the weapon clattered when it hit the floor?

I stomped a few times on the steel floor paneling again, receiving a resounding clang in response.

Yay, The monster is gone!

The Initiates seemed to have noticed my antics, and with Hat Trick only dry heaving now we moved

further into the Living Quarters, checking each room that we could open because the rest were either

broken, sealed shut with pony carpet or on lockdown. Turning up empty aside from some 200 year old

preserved foodstuffs, bandages and a sensual toy, we regrouped next to a set of stairways stating:

Infirmary ->

<- Security

Living Quarters

“Well, considering the state of this place, maybe the guards got hurt? We could also go for more

medical supplies if that thing comes back for us.” Swipe began.

“There’s also a chance that whomever survived will be holed up there, so we might find our people

there too!” Cheese continued.

“Alright, we’ll scout out the Infirmary before seeing if this Security door is locked as well. Sundown,

you’ve been doing a good job keeping an ear out for us, so I’m going to agree with Cheese to get you

on our squad when we get out of this place, not if.” Hat Trick finished with a determined look amongst

us.

I gave my best salute to mimic what I had seen the Scribes in the main chamber do previously, but it was

probably really sloppy considering the chuckles from the group.

“Everypony, we’ve been doing a great job not getting ourselves killed so far. Let’s keep it that way and

get out of this mess in one piece. Move out!” Hat ordered, and we set off to the Infirmary, checking

every corner with a magic rifle or my sensitive hearing. We were only stopped a few times by sound

deciding to go on vacation, I assume from the monster being on a floor near us. Then an idea struck me.

I tapped Hat on the flank, before getting out my writing supplies.

I don’t think my screech will work against a monster that mutes sounds and I have no weapons I can use.

Fangs and normal pony guns don’t mix.

I frowned at her as she read the last of my message, worry on my face at my realized helplessness if we

ever get into combat without my sledgehammer or any of my gear. Not like a heavy weight on a stick

will do much against something that turns bulkheads into confetti with its passing, but it’s the thought

that counts.

Hat Trick rested a hoof on my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about it, Sunny. We’ll all get out of this

alive and well.”

It seemed to me like she was trying to convince herself of that more than anything, but at least they all

had my back. Being in the Steel Rangers seemed to look better and better the longer I spent with these

Initiates, and we already have been through things more terrifying than we should’ve been in the first

place. This whole situation seemed like something for a squad of paladins, not a random Batpony and

three Initiates. I nodded my head and gave a squeak that was as upbeat as I could manage with a smile,

and we set off to our objective of the Infirmary.

A few moments of travel later and my ears started twitching spasmodically. I took a seat and tried to get

them to stop with my hooves before I heard the faint sound of a minigun belching out hot death from

further down the hallway. I turned behind me to look at the Initiates, who were all holding their ears

and shouting with worried expressions between them before looking at me for an answer. I pointed a

hoof towards the sounds of minigun fire only I could hear apparently, and we dashed off.

Brrrrrrrt….

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtt.

BrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRTTTTT.

“Reload right, ready left! Firing!” The metallic voice barked out, resuming the waterfall of shell casings

on the floor, firing down another hallway.

“Targets on the right flank! Wait, EFS has them as blue! BLUE ON RIGHT FLANK, HOLD FIRE!” I heard

somepony shout as we rounded the corner. I barely ducked a magic beam as it singed my mane when I

heard the end of the Scribe’s warning. I poked my head out to find a makeshift barricade surrounded by

blood, bodies and spent ammunition littering the floor of the Infirmary Ward with two paladins

dispensing death down another hallway with Unicorns on reload duty. The scribe that had been

shouting was none other than Clear Report, who waved us over with a frantic hoof as we dove behind

the barricades.

“What fresh hell is this!? The Batpony and three Initiates come out of nowhere without a scratch on

them?” Clear Report was blabbering, and a nearby unicorn mare who was bandaging a wounded Scribe

gave him a light shove on the shoulder before returning to her attempts at saving a paladin from

bleeding out.

The sound of hissing steam was coming from the Paladin with dual miniguns, as a huge drum was

ejected from the back of the minigun and reloaded by a Scribe before he continued his barrage. The

barrels were all glowing a dangerous red as tracer rounds poured down the hallway marking where his

shots would land against what looked like a writhing mass of flesh and talons being held at bay by the

assault. One minigun was apparently kept in reserve to cool off as the other fired to prevent the

weapons from breaking as quickly, but it was clear that they’d run out of ammo before that would be an

issue.

“We were just about to fall back and call this operation a wash. We’ve lost too many ponies to this

death trap. Paladin Copper Wire and those other four targets are nowhere to be seen after heading to

the Overmare’s Office. We’re going to hold out as long as possible before withdrawing and sealing this

Stable with explosives. We can’t let these things get out into the wastes or it will be a slaughter, as

much as those wasters deserve one.” Clear Report monologued, before taking note that I was a ‘waster’

and present.

“The mutant cause you any troubles?” he asked with an uneasy glance at me.

“Negative. Saved our hides more than once. Is there enough time for us to find Paladin Copper Wire

before we extract?” Hat Trick asked.

Clear Report tapped his chin with a hoof for a moment before deciding, “You’ve got five minutes before

we pull out of here. Another ten to set up the charges in the right spots and seal the Stable door. We’ll

wait one minute before we seal it, so you had better hurry!”

We all jumped to our hooves and set off without another word to find Paladin Copper Wire; myself

following along with the Initiates because I wasn’t going to survive long in this place without them, and

neither would they survive without me in here. Besides, they were the closest thing I’d come to as far as

friends during my time in the wastes, and I wasn’t going to let them get themselves killed because I was

scared of a giant wall of eldritch horror.

Chapter 6: Paladin Protectors

Chapter 6: Paladin Protectors

“Time!” Hat Trick stated, and three beeps sounded from their gear.

“Aright, we got fifteen minutes and counting. We need to get there early incase everything goes bad,

which considering what we’re up against it most likely will.”

We were galloping down hallways, jumping over upturned tables and barricades as we made our way

through the stable during our hasty briefing by Hat Trick.

“We have ten minutes to find Paladin Copper Wire, and get back to the Stable entrance before we get

locked in here with nightmares incarnate. Any questions?” Hat Trick finished.

“Supplies?” Card Swipe said while breathing steadily. Apparently they were used to this kind of effort

and it wasn’t slowing them down all that much to gallop and talk.

“We got a few healing potions, and some more cartridges from the Infirmary. Not saying that’s

enough to waste. Make your shots count. Go for anything glowing or that looks vulnerable.” Hat Trick

responded, weaving around a corner as the group moved up a staircase to the main chamber where we

met our first monster.

“Glowing? Like in the simulations, right?” Cheese Wheel called out, taking up the rear while I flew close

overhead. The hallways in this stable were about three ponies in height, but the doorways were more of

a bother to get through as they dropped to a pony and a half. About six hooves tall, hah.

“Yes, Cheese. Just like the simulations.” Hat confirmed as we made our way to the main chamber and

the Initiates spread out while I went on ‘Hearing Duty’.

“Central, Clear!”

“Left Side, Clear!”

“Right Side, Clear!”

“Squiri Squui, Squeak!” I finished, then facehoofed.

They regrouped on me as I flew back down from the ceiling with grins.

“Good effort, Sunny.” Card Swipe said before getting serious again.

“Alright. Death monster is nowhere to be found, so let’s go down the way it came up.” Hat Trick

stated, and we made our way to the mangled and bloody remains of the doorway it had clawed its way

out of. It looked like the door had exploded into a fountain of shrapnel and gore, with bits of flesh

dangling in thin ropes from the shredded metal of the door frame. We gathered together and peered

down into the badly lit staircase, flickering lights and sparks coming off of the walls from earlier.

“Sundown, hear anything?” Cheese asked.

I stood at the top of the staircase and closed my eyes to focus on any sound that would come from

down below.

Skittering, clicking, hoofsteps, weapons fire and… screaming?

My eyes shot open and I wheeled around to the three of them and nodded eagerly that this was the

right way, pointing down frantically with both my wings and a hoof.

“How do you even manage to do that thing with your wings?” Card Swipe asked, before huffing and

asking another question. “Paladin Copper Wire?”

I shrugged, but made a loud squeaking noise in my quietest attempt at yelling. It ended up sounding like

a whistle but it got the point across.

“Good enough. Let’s go get em!” Hat motioned with a hoof, as they readied their weapons and lead the

way down the bloody and slick staircase.

“Watch your step, everypony.” Cheese warned.

The squishy sounds of our hooves trampling discarded flesh and bursting whatever pestilent boils that

had decided to grow along the floor was extremely gross to say the least, but time wasn’t on our side as

we made our way to the bottom floor of the Stable and the door opened to reveal the bottom of the

Greenhouse tube.

It looked like a giant had tried to stuff as many ponies as they possibly could into a science tube, and

didn’t care if they survived the effort. Two more paladin bodies were strewn about on the floor, one of

them ripped clean in half. Metallic inner workings of their armor mixed with the gore of their intestines

and it didn’t seem a clean death. One of them had tried crawling away from their other half before

collapsing on the body of a Scribe missing their legs. The other paladin had gashes and chunks of armor

ripped out, revealing the frame of the armor and the pony underneath.

“Paladin Copper Wire!” The initiates gasped in unison as they rushed over to their commander,

sprawled on the floor and breathing heavily in his damaged armor. One of his hooves looked like hash

browns crammed into a tomato soup can, while his helmet had half of it ripped off, revealing the

bleeding stallion beneath. His eye was hanging onto his face by a thread as he tried to move his head to

look at the Initiates.

“No… Get out of here! You’ve got to-“ He tried to warn, before everypony but myself went deaf. I

jumped into the air on reflex as the place I had been standing turned into a warped metal crater from

the monster slamming a claw where I was a moment before. The initiates realized they couldn’t hear

anything as they turned around to see the amalgamation of scribe, paladin and stable dwellers before

them. What amounted as its ‘chest’ was covered by the remains of powered armor and metal plating

ripped from the stable itself, just slammed into its chest with flesh growing around it. The flower of

unicorns around its eye had grown to a full spiked mesh running down its neck, with several more eyes

looking out with a green glow in every direction. The eye itself having split into what looked like

hundreds of insect eyes, the honeycomb lattice of it glowing like the runes of a spell. It had no mouth to

speak of, and made no noise as it lifted the structure of the doorway I had flown from, tearing it to

pieces as large chunks of rock from the stable’s foundation came pouring down on it in a chunky grey

landslide. The Initiates had been pouring on fire into everything that glowed on the beast as it

shuddered slightly with every pop of the eyes along its neck. I don’t know why they knew to shoot for

the bits that were glowing, but I wasn’t complaining that it had a weakness.

I saw Paladin Copper Wire trying to stand, but there were various red lights flashing from what

remained of the inside of his helmet as he attempted to right himself. He flicked one of his hooves, and

a minigun on his battle saddle swung over to provide support to the Initiates as he yelled in pain

towards Hat Trick at his side. From this distance it seemed that they could still hear each other, but I was

flying in erratic patterns over the head of this giant thing trying to distract it and not be turned into

paste.

“Sundown, get to the entrance now! Get backup!” I heard Hat Trick yell loud enough to just barely make

out.

I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave my new friends to their fate, before I was slammed aside

by the wake of the abomination’s claws. I spiraled out of control towards the Greenhouse Tube before

barely leveling out and narrowly avoiding a broken neck from slamming into the side of the tube. I

bounced off of the reinforced plastic and fell down onto the ‘pony carpet’ of the floor next to the

paladin, feeling a hot liquid running down my side and leg. Looking down in a daze, I saw a deep gash

running down my right hind leg almost to the hoof, and that my wing had the membrane sliced across

the center. My ribs had mostly protected my organs from horrible death, but my vision began to blur

from the pain. I heard somepony swear before something was brought to my mouth and poured down

my throat as my vision cleared again.

“Sundown! You’ve got to get us help. We only have five minutes left before that door closes! You’re

the only one fast enough to get up and back in time.” Hat Trick shouted into my ear, chucking the

empty healing potion at the monster with her magic before opening up another volley on it. I got to my

hooves with some difficulty and tried flapping my wings. Everything was sore and still fresh, but just

barely mended enough to do what she’d asked. All of the Initiates gathered around the fallen paladin as

I swooped around the behemoth and flew upstairs to the main stable door as fast as I could.

I arrived roughly half a minute later to the sounds of charging weapons and a few yelps of surprise

before ducking below some beam fire and hiding behind a box.

“Hold fire, that’s the mutant!” Scribe Clear Report ordered before galloping over to me.

“Where’s the rest of the Initiates? With the paladin?” He asked in a rush.

I nodded yes, and wrote “Bottom Floor!” on a nearby cloth before he rallied the Minigun paladin from

earlier and a few scribes that could be spared from guarding the entrance as the last of the explosives

were set up.

“We’re making this quick! Bolt downstairs and get anypony that’s alive out of there. Move!” The

scribe belted out before we rushed back down. I heard a beep and noticed that the timer on his gear

said one minute remaining.

We were met half way by a staggering Paladin Copper Wire with Cheese Wheel on his back, Hat Trick

and Card Swipe covering the rear by firing down the hallway where the monster was last.

“Use Incendiaries!” Paladin Copper Wire called out to us, and the sounds of reloading were heard, filling

the chamber before Swipe and Hat fell back to the rest of the group, joining Copper Wire and myself.

We waited for what felt like eternity, without any sound to give an ominous approach or a bellowing

roar to announce the monster’s arrival. Flashes of light spewed forth from the Steel Rangers still

standing as the wounded were ushered upstairs and out of the battle. Unicorns from the back ranks

used their telekinetic magic to hurl steel apples with a red ring around the center at the approaching

doom coming from the hallway below before erupting into a fountain of fire.

Then it screamed.

It wasn’t a regular, pain induced cry of agony. It was the sound of hundreds of ponies gurgling and crying

in an unholy choir of torment and suffering. Several scribes stopped firing, and I found myself frozen in

place at the horrifying noise. The worst part is that it never stopped. It was a constant wail of sheer

horror that frayed the nerves and made blood run cold. The deep green glow surrounding it had been

shattered when the fire leapt at it, breaking whatever spell had been on the beast and unleashing its

tide of anguish as it barreled towards us from across the open space of the meeting hall. You might hear

it differently based on who you ask, but after that display not a single one of us stood our ground. We

made for the exit to get out of there as fast as physically possible, from the hardest veteran to the

newest recruit. Not a single pony stood in resistance to that thing as we desperately crammed through

the skinny doorway in a desperate attempt to not be dragged back down to Tartarus where that

indescribable terror had clawed its way out of.

A few more cries of pain were heard as the monster cleaved through scribes and paladins unlucky

enough to not get out of its way in time as it slammed into the doorframe with its entire body, its

screams like an endless battlecry of demons and lost souls. I regained myself only enough to make sure

more than just I would make it out of there, as I helped a few ponies to their hooves and had a wounded

earth pony draped on my back as I moved as swiftly as I dared up the stairs. Its wails could be heard

louder and louder as I got further away and broke out of the mangled hallway to the stable entrance

where Clear Report and a wounded Paladin Copper Wire were directing survivors out of the stable and

topside as swiftly as they could. I saw a medic carrying Cheese Wheel up the steps leading out of here

with Hat Trick and Card Swipe close by, only survival and their friend on their mind. I looked back at the

rest of the Steel Rangers attempting their escape as the hallway buckled and warped around the

monstrosity chasing them up the steps. They weren’t going to make it before that thing did! I spun on

my hooves and raced towards the Paladin, screaming bloody murder (Squeaking) and pointing behind

myself with a free wing that wasn’t holding my wounded baggage.

Paladin Copper Wire and Clear Report looked up to see my frantic blur racing past them as the weapons

fire drew closer and closer to the Stable door.

“Blow it! Blow it now or we’re all dead!” Paladin Copper Wire shouted to the demolition team as I

made my way up the stairway and out of the stable.

“But sir, there are still-“ Clear Report tried to argue.

“BLOW IT!” Paladin Copper Wire screamed, as the last few scribes and a paladin were cut down by the

monster as the stable door grated closed like a giant gear locking into place with the screech of grinding

metal. A pony pressed a button on a remote, and a deep boom was heard as nearby buildings shook

from the blast inside of the stable. I could still hear the monster even after the charges had gone off, but

it wasn’t beating against the door and the ground itself looked ready to cave in as cracks began

spreading from the stable outwards.

“Topside, Move it!” Copper Wire shouted to the few of us too shocked to move.

They must’ve thought it was dead because they had looks of relief written all over their faces, that it

hadn’t been them killed by the beast, that at least some of their friends had made it out of that hell

alive. When I was finally able to move, I gathered myself and the wounded stallion on my back, and

slowly made my way to the makeshift camp the Steel Rangers had set up in a nearby building. Every one

of them looked exhausted, beaten, wounded or broken entirely. Some were rocking in the corner or

curled up like foals, trying to hide underneath bloodied table cloths in the pre-war restaurant that had

become their command post.

I know I’m focusing a lot on the other ponies, and not my reactions. But that’s because the most

horrifying thing I had ever experienced in my life wasn’t over yet.

A deep boom and crack was heard from the direction of the stable, roughly a block away. Then another,

and another, and another. Rangers looked up in horror from where they lay, some moving to the

windows with looks of disbelief on their face as the booming continued, spider web cracks spreading

from the direction of the stable outwards. The ground began falling out of existence as a final

resounding Boom was heard, and a large gear with ‘96’ detailed in yellow on it soared through the air

and obliterated a nearby structure.

Coated in grey ash and dust, wailing and screaming louder than before, stood the monstrosity of

Stable 96.

Chapter 8: Elderberries

hapter 8: Elderberries

It wasn’t a bad cell, as far as underground bunker prisons go. Not that I’ve actually been in that many

underground bunker prisons in my life. If at all.

Okay, I’ve never been in this kind of situation before, but at least I have apples. That’s always a plus!

I must’ve been in here for a while, because I was already starting to get hungry again. An Initiate had

come by to take my tray, and looked all kinds of confused when he saw a pile of drained apples get

pushed at him. Something along the lines of “How the hell do you drain an apple like it’s a juice box!?”

I didn’t really know, so I just smiled at him and he ran off with the tray. I was really beginning to enjoy

the fact that the light in my cell had gone off about two hours ago, so anypony that looked too closely to

the lasers barring me from leaving would get the shock of their life when they saw my eyes reflect light

off of them, right back at them with an orange sheen. Then they would back up in shock for a second,

before slowly coming closer and I would lunge forward, say “Hello!” and smile at them, and they would

run off to go find one of their friends and tell them to “Check out that prison cell in the back.” And the

process would repeat again. I almost spooked a paladin even, but I couldn’t tell all that well with their

face hidden beneath the armoring they seem to never take off. How do they go to the bathroom?

As I was getting tired and planning on going to sleep, the lights of the cell flipped on and I heard a few

ponies enter. With a groan of annoyance I got off of my comfortable cot and walked up to the lasers to

see who it was.

“Initiate, please close the door behind us.” Elder Rasa spoke softly when it wasn’t time for official

business, and had come by once or twice to just stare at me. He’s kind of creepy when he just stands

there and looks at you. Maybe that’s why he’s been the boss for so long. Just stares at ponies until they

melt out of his offi- CLACK, CLACK, CLACK

“Aah!” I squeaked, holding my ears from the loud noise of the elder banging his fore hooves together to

get my attention.

“Good. Now that I have your attention, we can begin the interrogation.” He said flatly, motioning to a

scribe to turn on some device she was holding with her magic.

“Interr… uh oh.” I said, completely audible.

“What.”

“Much like the beast reported to have been encountered in the stable, this device is a focused audio

dampener. Normally this would render somepony’s voice or equipment out of hearing range, but for

our purposes it will allow you to speak normally when directed at you.” Elder Rasa explained with a

grin.

“Oh. Well that’s neat! Can I keep one? You have no idea how hard it is to communicate with ponies

when all they hear is squeaks and-“

He held up a hoof to silence me, before speaking.

“I want to know several things. You will only speak to answer my questions, understood?”

I nodded, before remembering I could actually speak and said, “Yes!”

“Good. First of all, how did you get to the Hoofington region?”

“Um… Hoofington? I just thought it was just some ruins like everyplace else.”

“Regardless of your knowledge of the area, how did you get into the city without being spotted?”

“Spotted? You mean there was ponies looking for me, or that I wasn’t supposed to be there?”

“Yes.”

“Wha-“

“To both of your questions, yes.”

“Oh… I just flew there after getting chased off by Raiders and Slavers from a cave I was staying in for the

daytime.”

“Where is this cave?”

“Um.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember the paths we had taken, eyes flickering underneath their

lids for a few moments as I heard the Elder grumble a bit like he was being ignored, before opening my

eyes and pointing towards the right of my cell’s door with my hoof.

“About that way.”

“You… You were blindfolded before you came here, correct?”

“Yeah, but I’m a Batpony. I don’t navigate the same way you ponies do. I remember where I’ve been and

make a mental map that I follow. I never understood the whole North East South West thing. I just kinda

went in the direction I remember it being last, relative to where I’ve been and how I got to where I am

now.”

The Elder blinked at me for a few moments, before moving on.

“How did you come into contact with the original four targets?”

“Oh, you mean Gearbox, Lightswitch, Emerald and Swift Shot?”

“Eh, yes.”

“Well, I was resting on top of a ruined building for a bit after getting chased off by slavers nearby, and I

heard a bunch of arguing and then a gunshot so I decided to investigate and see what was up.”

“You mean to attack them.”

“What? No! They didn’t sound like they were mean or anything. It just sounded like a bunch of ponies

arguing about something.”

“So you’re telling me, that a wastelander like you, wouldn’t take every possible opportunity to

backstab and steal from other ponies to survive, in a situation where they would do the same to you

in a heartbeat?”

“Um, no? That’s just mean!”

“You are a very unusual pony, Miss…?”

“Sundown!”

“Strange. A few more questions.”

“Okay.”

“Before you were captured by Paladin Copper Wire and his rangers, if was reported that you heard

them coming long before they arrived?”

“Yeah. I have very sensitive ears and I heard a bunch of clanking and grumbling so I thought that it was

the slavers from before, so I went to warn the other ponies about it but they were all gone. Then I heard

a bunch of minigun fire and a missile launcher go off, and Copper Wire was standing over me, shouting

in my face.”

“Then you were captured, and brought into the Stable, correct?”

“Yep, and then I got tied up and it was really scary. I tried to escape but they caught me in a vent before

I could get away and I would have died if I didn’t scream the vent apart.”

The Elder moved his head back, startled, before regaining his composure.

“Shouted… the vent apart?”

“Yep! I can show you if you wa-“

“No-no! No that’s alright. I believe you, no need for that.”

He gave a throat clearing cough before regaining his composure, and continuing with his questions.

“From there, Paladin Copper Wire tells me that the other four that were with you took great interest

in your safety. Why would they care for you if they had only met you for such a short period of time?”

“Well… I didn’t try to kill them or anything. I think they wanted to keep me as a pet.”

“A…pet. Don’t you mean as a slave?”

“Nope! Swift Shot said that she wanted me as a pet, probably because of my squeaking.”

“Odd.” he simply stated, and we stood there staring at each other for a while. I figured it was a staring

contest and we only continued after he blinked first a few minutes later.

“Very odd. At any rate, from that point you were willing to assist the Paladin with his interrogation,

correct?”

“He said he didn’t want anypony getting hurt, so I went along with his plan. It was kind of goofy. He was

acting like a comic book villain for a bit, but I don’t think the other four caught on.”

“A comic book villain? Like Mane-iac, yes?”

“Oh, you know her too!?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He said hurriedly, attempting to redirect the conversation from his comic book

reading leisure activities.

“From there, you were introduced to three Initiates.”

“Yep! Cheese Wheel, Hat Trick and Card Swipe. They’re pretty neat and helped me find a restroom.”

He had a stone faced expression, and only blinked a few times before continuing.

“The restroom.”

“Yep!”

“Right. After that, what had happened from your point of view?”

“Well, I overheard them making fun of somepony named Paladin Combat Knife, then I made them giggle

with a reference to what they were talking about and they got spooked that I heard them through a

‘double reinforced door’ and I told ‘em my hearing was really good! Then Hat Trick did some kind of

cheaty unicorn magic thing and I felt weird, and she said my ears were mutated. Then we went to go

find Paladin Copper Wire and there wasn’t anypony around. Only bloody rags and shredded boxes and

stuff.”

“Right. Aside from the bathroom ordeal this is consistent with what the Initiates had told me.

Continue.”

“Well, we started looking around and found a big meeting hall with a green tube in the center. And

there was a pony carpet too! Anyway, I was being the scout for the group with my ears an-“

“I’m sorry, ‘Pony-Carpet’?”

“Yeah, a bunch of ponies’ flesh fused together along with their bones like a carpet along the floor. They

didn’t tell you?”

He looked like he had found out that someone had used his morning bowl of oats as a restroom.

“Certainly not!” he shouted, before realizing he had lost himself, turned and whispered something to

the scribe next to him and faced me again.

“We will continue this at another time. I have some Rangers to speak with…” he stated with a hint of

impending doom towards said Rangers.

“Wait! How come I couldn’t hear you whispering?” I asked in a rush to speak before he left. He left the

room anyway, and the scribe walked up to me with her device.

“Dampener field, works both ways.” She said with a smug grin, before clicking the device off.

“Skree! Squ sqi… eeeee….” Wait! Can I… Awwww.

“See ya, freak.” The scribe sneered before leaving and locking the door to the cells.

Well now the lights are on, I don’t have any apples, and nopony can visit me now. This sucks hayseed.

Deciding I should try and get as much sleep as I can before my stomach makes its return with a need for

apples, I hopped onto the small cot I was given only to find there was no pillow or blanket on it. I

decided to pull the mattress off of the cot, and went over to the corner of the cell next to a sink and

propped it against the wall between the toilet and the sink, making a half tent of shade with the

mattress before laying down in my makeshift fort. I think I heard some clanking and muffled shouting

through the walls, but I was already too dozy to really care about what was going on and soon fell

asleep.

oooOOOooo

A bright object had just smacked into me as I plummeted out of the sky, unable to break free and right

myself. Somehow there wasn’t any pain, and as I tried to move, the glowing thing had me locked into it

as I fell backwards towards the rapidly approaching and unsafe looking landing site soon to become a

crater with a side of scrambled Batpony. I closed my eyes, waiting for my impending doom at the hands

of celestial space rock.

And then nothing happened. I chanced a peek and noticed that this glowing thing and I were just

hovering over the ground, slowly spinning clockwise before it set itself down with me on the top of it.

“You may free yourself, Night Guard.” A regal sounding yet kind voice told me.

After hopping down from the rock, I looked around to find a unicorn mare and a brightly colored foal

standing next to her. She wore a night blue robe adorned with gold trim that concealed her features and

a rune covered scarf around her neck. The foal next to her was also a unicorn, orange coat with red and

white accented mane.

Clack, Clack

My attention was returned to the mare in front of me, next to the large rotating orb.

“Night Guard, please report your findings.”

“I got hit with a big rock from the sky.”

“Very astute.” She said with a look of exasperation on her face, as the foal tried to hide his giggle with a

hoof.

“What is your name, Night Guard?”

The dream then unfocused and all sound came as a mumble for a few moments.

“I am Marelin. Apprentice to Princess Celestia. This is Brag, don’t mind him.”

The foal looked a little disappointed, but didn’t protest to his presence being ignored.

“I was admiring the night sky of Princess Luna’s creation and ensuring nopony was in distress when I

noticed that thing hurling itself toward me. I tried to get out of the way but I was struck by it instead. I

honestly don’t know why I’m not powder at the moment.”

“That would be partly of my own doing. I too saw the orb flying from the sky and attempted to slow it

before it could hurt anypony. Sadly you were hit directly by it. I think it would’ve brought you with it into

the ground if I hadn’t stopped its decent.”

“Do you know what this thing is?” I said, giving it a few taps of my midnight plated hoof.

The dream became blurry as I heard what sounded like shouting in the distance.

“Night guard, are you there?” I returned to the present, as the hoof of Marelin was waving in my face.

“Oh! Yes, sorry. I thought I heart somepony shouting in the distance.”

The apprentice looked at me with some confusion before her horn glowed, looking me up and down.

“Odd… you’re radiating with magical energies.” She stated with curiosity before her horn stopped

glowing.

“I think you should return to your duties, Night Guard. Be sure to file a report about this, as I will do the

same for the Princesses. I’m certain they will wish to know what has happened here tonight.”

The dream became blurry again as I felt myself falling backwards into nothingness

oooOOOooo

“-ndown, Sundown wake up already!” I heard a voice whispering harshly nearby.

I groggily stood up before bumping my head on the mattress as it fell sideways to the ground, to see the

three Initiates, Paladin Copper Wire, Clear Report and Elder Rasa standing outside of my cell.

“Wha?” I squeaked, moving closer to the deactivated door of my cell.

Clear Report moved a strange collar towards my neck suddenly, and I let out a warning screech as I

reared up at the thing.

“Calm down!” He said crossly, most of the group not in power armor having to cover their ears.

I looked worriedly at the Initiates and Copper Wire, and they nodded at me with smiles.

Well. If they’re okay with it then it can’t be that bad, right?

Click.

“Alright, now that that is over with, we can continue.” Elder Rasa stated with relief.

I put a hoof to this weird steel collar around my neck, fidgeting with it a bit before Hat Trick knocked my

hoof away in worry.

“Don’t mess with it! It’s a bomb collar, in case you try to escape again. Sorry…” She looked away

quickly after my look of betrayal had seared into her after hearing ‘bomb collar’.

The group filed out of the prison cell with me at the center, being followed at the rear by Paladin Copper

Wire with the Initiates in front of me. I was getting stares from the Steel Rangers that hadn’t been on

the Stable 96 mission and overheard gasps and grumbles of annoyance at bets being lost, concerning

what had been in the prison cell. I kept my head down and looking to the floor to avoid any looks of

disgust or anger that may have been shot my way. After all, nopony in the wastes liked Pegasai, and I

seriously doubt that they would tell the difference between a Batpony and a Pegasus even if we looked

nothing alike. Pony with wings is a pegasus to them, I guess. My posture must have caught the attention

of Copper Wire, because he sped up to walk alongside me.

“Chin up, Sundown. They were given a short briefing on Batponies before you were released. We

didn’t want a riot to happen when we got you out of the cell.” He explained, before Elder Rasa cut him

off and ordered him to ‘Stop speaking with the prisoner.’ We maneuvered our ways through the

spacious halls through the bunker, passing a few barracks, some recreational centers, a large restroom,

armory, training hall and ‘simulator room’ before coming up to the Medical Ward.

I was told to move ahead of the rest of them, and the door slammed down behind me, making me jump.

In front of me was a Unicorn mare with white coat, purple mane and red eyes.

“Hello, my name is Redundance, although everypony calls me ‘Doctor Scour’ for some reason.” She

said with a slight scowl. She had a cutie mark of a healing potion wrapped in bandages, so I guess that

was the reason for her name.

“Now, if you’ll take a seat over here, we can begin with a quick medical scan to make sure everything

is where it’s supposed to be. Don’t worry about my credentials, I spent the past few days doing

research on batponies from information we have stored in the archives.” She quickly reassured me as

she moved medical looking equipment around, gave me some kind of apron with spots all over it while

tying it behind my back and lifted me with her magic onto the bed. I had opened my mouth to speak but

she clamped my jaw shut with more of her cheating unicorn-ness.

“Nah-ah ah. Can’t have you speaking with that collar on you. If you try to screech loud enough to hurt

somepony it will make your head explode all over my medical bay, and nopony wants to clean up

crème de la batpony, do they?” She said with a fake smile, still frantically moving equipment, bandages,

potions, rad-aways and various other supplies around the room in a flurry of magic before finally setting

a stool down in front of me and taking a seat. The room looked like she was about to perform every kind

of medical procedure possible.

I thought this was a checkup?

“Now, let’s begin!” She said, way too happily for comfort. Her horn glowed again and I felt my whole

body tingle like it had fallen asleep. Moving around in the slightest set off the feeling of pins and needles

stabbing me so I did my best to sit still while she did whatever it is that medical ponies do. I started to

feel woozy and swayed for a moment before Redundance caught me, and set me down on the bed,

hooves in the air.

I can’t move!

“Now, the Autopsy can begin! Mwahahaha!” She cackled, before looking down at my frantically moving

and worried eyes.

“Oh dear, honestly. What kind of pony do you think I am?” she giggled, before moving out of my sight

and returning with a surgical mask.

“An evil one! Mwahah!” she cackled again, and I swore I heard a lightning bolt land somewhere in the

background before she flicked her mask away into the corner with her magic, and I could feel myself

able to move again.

“Just kidding. You have no idea how boring it is around here. Nopony can take a joke, I swear.” She

chucked with an air of nostalgia, before setting me upright and taking the apron thing off.

“Alright, here is what I’ve found. Your ears are certainly mutated, though I can tell it isn’t from Taint.

I’m a bit disappointed to say I have no idea what exactly caused them to mutate the way they have,

but the rest of you checks out one hundred per-cent as completely Batpony as you can be!” the Doctor

was completely ecstatic at revealing this news, as she was reared on her hind legs and flailing her

hooves about as she finished, before collecting herself and ushering me off of the bed.

“Now then, I will send my full report to the Elder as soon as I can. I will also recommend he take off

that awful collar from you. I can tell that you’re a good pony, Sundown. I have my ways.” She gave a

conspiratorial wink at me, before opening the door and giving my flank a smack on the way out.

“Toodles!” she called, with the door slamming shortly after I had left. The Initiates had their jaws on the

floor as I looked up at them with an obsidian colored blush, which quickly evaporated as I saw Elder Rasa

staring at me, his head turned from a conversation with Copper Wire.

The Initiates snapped to attention just in time as the Elder and Paladin moved to take me back to the

cell I was beginning to call home. I had a lot I wanted to say, but with Redundance’s warning I didn’t

want to risk my head turning into red mist. I turned around to face the Initiates as the cell zapped back

to life.

“Don’t worry, Sunny. We’ll get this sorted out, I promise.” Cheese Wheel said, giving me a grin that

raised my spirits a bit.

“Enough. You are no longer needed for the moment, Initiates.” Elder Rasa stated, as they gave a quick

salute and went out of the prison section. Now it was just Paladin Copper Wire, Scribe Clear Report,

Elder Rasa and myself in the prison section. I decided to sit on my mattress that was still on the floor,

not bothering to put it back on the frame as I stared at the three of them through the grid of lasers.

“Now then. Would you two like to explain to me why you didn’t report a ‘carpet of ponies’ in your

findings of Stable 96?” The elder questioned Clear Report and Copper Wire.

Both of them looked at the other, Clear Report with a look of horror and Copper Wire’s expression being

unreadable behind his helmet.

“A-a what, sir?” Clear Report asked.

“What do you mean by a ‘carpet of ponies’, Elder?” Copper Wire asked. I was getting worried, were

they trying to hide what had happened down there?

“The prisoner here states that some areas of the stable were covered in a blanket of pony flesh and

bones enough to resemble a carpet! Don’t tell me you didn’t see something like that, it would be

goddesses damned impossible to miss!” The Elder fumed at them.

“Elder Rasa… The floor had blood streaks all over it as well as some green chemical mixture that I

assumed was from one of our targets previously using to kill off the inhabitants before we arrived. I

never saw a ‘pony carpet’ as you describe.” Paladin Copper Wire stated.

Clear Report looked between Copper Wire and myself as if we were insane.

“What? Paladin, the ground was covered in plant life and dead animals. You were there! You must’ve

seen all the bodies in the Living quarters.” The scribe belted out almost in panic, like he was about to

be caught by his parents for lying.

The head of Copper Wire moved back a bit at Clear Reports statement, before looking at me.

“Sundown… are you saying you saw a ‘carpet of ponies’ littering the floor when you went into the

stable?” he asked in a worried manner. I nodded my head, my own confusion adding to the mix.

“Elder, if I may. What did the Initiates say happened in the stable?” Clear Report asked.

“All three Initiates were taken in separately to give their account of the story, as well as every

member of your team, Paladin Copper Wire. As I am realizing with you three, this isn’t a conspiracy to

hide the truth of what happened there to cover up for some failure on your parts. Everypony sent on

that mission has a different account of what occurred, what they saw, what they fought against and

how they got out as unique as their cutie marks.” Elder Rasa stated, pacing around in a circle while

speaking.

“How can that be, Elder? We were all there and we hadn’t barely said a word on the way back here!”

Clear Report was getting more disheveled by the moment.

“Barely spoke? I saw Sundown here liquefy a group of raiders that had ambushed us on our way

back!” Copper Wire was also beginning to panic.

“Enough! We won’t get anywhere with this if we all devolve into a blind frenzy of worry. Let’s

examine the facts, shall we? From the beginning. All of you nod or shake your head at the events that

I speak of so we can determine where everything deviated.”

We all nodded our head and he began.

“Alright. I had ordered your group to scour the nearby ruins for technology that would assist us in

cloning our own food so we could expand our operations. Yes?” The scribe and paladin nodded.

“You sent a small scouting team ahead of the main group to report back findings and any targets you

may have to deal with before arrival.” More nods.

“The scouts reported four ponies at the entrance to the Stable. Two Pegasai, an Earth Pony and a

Unicorn.” Nods.

“You moved the main group to intercept and encountered Sundown, who had somehow remained

undetected to you, and captured the original four targets.” They both looked at me, and we all nodded.

“Your brought them down for interrogation, discovered the Pegasai were from the Enclave, and

Sundown escaped from her bindings.” Copper Wire and I nodded, as Clear Report shook his.

“The Pegasai were shot after we had recaptured Sundown, or so I had thought…” he stated.

“Hmm… Did anypony notice the Unicorn of their group using a spell?” The Elder asked.

I waved a hoof, and pointed to my collar with a pout.

“Clear Report, if you would.” He motioned to my collar, and it came off with a snap after being set aside

by Clear Report’s magical aura. And a device clicked on, attached to the ceiling of my cell.

“Test… awesome!” I said with cheer, before continuing.

“Emerald and the Paladin were in an argument, and I had noticed that before he called out that I was

missing, she looked like she had been struck with something painful. I thought it was just because she

felt bad, but it could’ve been something else. After I was sent away I never saw any of them again, now

that I think about it.” I added to the conversation.

“Right… Now that I remember, ‘Emerald’ had said something about ‘breathing in the chemicals

downstairs’. I had assumed that they would be fairly visible if they were still active, as she had stated

that it was a green gas, but I saw nothing when I went down there.” Copper Wire said.

“I didn’t see any gas either, Elder.” Clear Report stated.

“Nope!” I helpfully added.

“Perhaps it was a neurological agent. That would explain the radically different stories. There is one

thing that hasn’t been accounted for, however. Do any of you know the name ‘Braggadocious’?” Elder

Rasa asked.

“Oh, don’t get me started with that raider. Had to run him off before he got close enough to melt

anypony with that flamer of his.” Clear Report blurted out of turn.

“Raider? I saw a malfunctioning Protect-a-pony shambling around the restaurant.” Copper Wire said

with a sideways look at Clear Report, before they all looked at me.

“Wizard.” I said plainly.

“Right…” All of them said in unison, before looking at each other in mild surprise before continuing.

“Well. As evident from Doctor Scour’s reports, you are all clear of any contaminants or agents from

the surface, so you shouldn’t have to worry about… Wizards.” Rasa said with a shake of his head at me.

“I will simply designate that stable as a hazardous zone, and we will come up with another solution to

our supply problems. Paladin Copper Wire, Scribe Clear Report. What would you say about the

character of ‘Sundown’ here? Is she a threat to this chapter of the Steel Rangers?” The elder asked

them.

“Well, before we found out that every one of us had been hallucinating the entire time, I would’ve

jumped to defend Sundown and request that she be integrated immediately. Now, however, I am

unsure if I spent any time with Sundown at all.” Paladin Copper Wire said, choosing his words carefully.

“My experiences with Sundown may have also been influenced by hallucination, but she has caused

no trouble to us while she has been here, even with a bomb collar around her neck at one point. Even

now I have no doubt she could screech until we died of blood loss from our ears at this very moment,

but she seems content to just sit there and observe. All in all, I think she’s just a bit creepy with how

silent she is, but she could be an asset to us, Elder.” Clear Report giving his namesake to the Elder.

“Very well. I shall ask the Initiates of whom she is reported to have spent the most time with about

their opinions as well, even if one of them is completely convinced they had a ‘romantic encounter’

with her.” Rasa said with a slight shudder.

Hey! I’m a batpony, not ugly!

I stuck my tongue out at the Elder as he turned away from me, calling Clear Report out of the cell with

him and dismissing Paladin Copper Wire.

“Hey, Sundown.” He seemed a lot less sure that we were on friendly terms now after the conversation.

“Hello!” I said cheerfully, despite his worried tone.

“Did you cause those hallucinations?” he asked, moving closer to the cell.

“I have no idea how I would even begin to do that, Copper. Why are you asking me?” I said with a bit of

a snap to my tone.

“I get the feeling you’re a lot smarter than you seem, so it makes me wonder what your motive is.”

“Motive? I can’t be cheerful without a sinister plot? I think you read too many comic books, Copper.” I

said while trying to hide a giggle with my hoof.

He didn’t seem convinced, and turned the lights out before standing in the doorway of the prison

entrance.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Sundown.” He said ominously.

“You too!” I called down the hall in my squeaky yet still clear voice.

Chapter 9: Misty Memories

Chapter 9: Misty Memories

oooOOOooo

My vision was extremely blurry as I felt myself flying over a forest, with the sounds of battle in the

distance. As my senses returned to me, I saw Batponies and Pegasai in hoof to hoof combat, killing each

other with sword strikes or crossbow bolts. Banking left, I narrowly avoided a similar fate as a bolt

streaked into the side of my helmet, knocking a strap loose and sending it plummeting to the ground

beneath me. I resumed my course, heading for the Castle of the Twin Sisters in the Everfree Forest.

Marelin had concluded her observations about the orb that had struck me nearly a month ago, and along

with her observations about my own state, something was about to happen that was good for nopony. I

took off as soon as I had heard in order to warn Princess Luna, who would be holding court at this hour

of the night, only to come to a full skirmish between Celestia and Luna’s guards. I landed on the balcony

leading to Luna’s chambers and was allowed passage by her guards after hearing of my need to report

Marelin’s findings.

I opened the balcony door to find the room in complete disarray. Shredded blankets and pegasai down

was littered all over the floor. It looked like somepony had attempted to assassinate the Princess in her

sleep and been defeated, by the bloodstains and shattered weaponry on the ground.

“Princess Luna?” I called out to the room, receiving no response. I quickly searched the room for any sign

of the Princess before heading deeper into the castle in search of her. Trotting down the stairs carefully, I

heard the sounds of a door being battered open with shouting as another battle started in the chaos.

That could be the Princess! I thought, rushing to the scene to ambush Celestia’s guards that were

fighting with the night watch in a corridor. Taking up a blade that had fallen to the ground, I shadow

flashed above one of the golden plated guards with a soft electrical zih-poof in time to plunge the sword

down between his shoulder blades and neck, skewering his spine, lungs and heart in one stroke. He let

out a pained gurgle as he collapsed to the ground dead, as his partner growled and leapt at me. With

another flash, I appeared behind him and bucked him to the floor. The unicorn used his magic to lift his

partner’s sword and his own from the floor, attempting to overwhelm me in a flurry of attacks. I gave

ground enough to be pushed to the floor, and as he rose both swords to finish me off in a final attack, I

flashed behind him, slicing his horn from his head. If I wasn’t so focused on informing and rescuing

Princess Luna I would have frozen in horror at the inequine sound coming from the guard’s mouth, so I

mercifully finished him off with a strike between his side plates as he was impaled through the lungs and

collapsed to the ground in a bloody thrashing mess.

The night watch that had been fending off Celestia’s guards were beyond the door, giving me thanks for

saving them. They were new recruits and had barely been given their equipment a week ago before this

had happened, and were certain they would’ve died if I hadn’t shown up. I asked if they knew where

Princess Luna was, and they directed me to the main audience chamber. They said that Princess Celestia

was confronting Princess Luna about an ‘eternal night’ and her being a threat to all of Equestria. I

couldn’t believe that the timid Princess of the night would ever endanger her subjects, and rushed to her

defense.

Along the way I almost ran into more of Celestia’s guards. They were winning the battle on the outside of

the castle from the sounds of it, and it was only a matter of time before they breached the chamber and

were able to reinforce Celestia’s personal guard. Shadow flashing and sneaking past a few skirmishes

between Night and Day guards, I found my way to the chamber where the Princesses were at a standoff.

Celestia was adorned in shining gold armor, encrusted with gems that shone like the sun with magical

enchantment and protections. Her white coat as pure as fresh snow with her mane and tail like a nebula

as she stared down her sister, assisting her guards with magic enough to set them upright and ready to

fight. She wore several pieces of jewelry around her neck, with a star tiara on her head.

The Elements of Harmony!

Oh no, she wouldn’t use those against her own sister, would she?

I swept down from the railing that was overlooking the main audience chamber to land by Luna’s side at

the throne dominating the center of the room, along with more of her own guard that had stayed by her

side throughout the fighting. As I glanced to make sure she was unharmed, I backed away in fright. She

was not the Princess Luna I knew!

Her coat was black as Ink all across her body, wearing a sky blue armor with a shining crescent moon in

the center of her ornate chest plate. A similarly colored helmet rested on her head, a place for her horn

to come through to a menacing point that looked long enough to pierce a pony from front to end. Her

ethereal mane and tail looked like the night sky and flowed from her body like silk caught in a breeze

while clinging to her body, the stars shifting as if looking through a portal. Her once kind eyes had now

become as a dragon’s, slit pupil and turquoise in color, promising pain and retribution for the suffering

she had endured and an agonizing end to her enemies. She growled at the Sun Goddess, revealing her

teeth to a row of fangs that would tear any flesh to ribbons were she so inclined.

“Do you honestly think you can stop me with the Elements, you foal!?” she bellowed at her sister, who

wore a pained expression on her face.

“You know as well as I do that we shared the Elements of Harmony together. You cannot use them

without my help! Soon, all ponies will see the glory of the night as I do, for I will bring about night

eternal!” She boomed at Celestia, flashes of lightning and the sounds of battle punctuating her

declaration.

The Princess of the Sun looked upon her sister, and the few Night Guard that remained alive as the floor

was littered with the dead and dying of both sides. I wavered for a moment at the sudden change of

Luna’s appearance, but I swore to remain in her service until released by Luna or death itself.

“Nightmare Moon, I will give you this last chance to surrender my sister. Enough ponies have died from

your insanity.” The Goddess of the Sun spoke firmly, her eyes glowing like a barely contained inferno as

the temperature in the room began to rise, and her mane and tail became fire and caused their armor to

shine like the sun as she spread her wings and rose to hover in the air.

“You know you cannot defeat me, Celestia. That is why you have come here in your desperate attempt

to slay me before I take my rightful place as Ruler of Equestria! I will never bow to you again, Sister.”

Nightmare Moon finished with a fang filled sneer, raising on her hind legs while flapping her wings for

balance as she slammed down to the ground with bolts of lightning erupting from her horn, slamming

into the few of Celestia’s guard that remained standing, sending their blackened and charred forms

hurling into the stonework behind them and shattering the door to the courtyard, filling the room with

the sounds of mayhem and slaughter.

“Then I am sorry, sister.” She stated with sorrow, as the Elements began to emit a blinding light and

Celestia’s horn flared hot as the sun itself.

“What!? No! You cannot use the Elements without me!” Nightmare Moon shrieked.

“You have left me no choice… goodbye, Luna.” She finished with a tear steaming off of her face, as a

lance of light burst forth from her horn, encircled by a rainbow and rapidly approaching all of us, directed

at Nightmare Moon.

“Nooo!! You cannot do this! Celestia, Tia! Nooooooo” Nightmare Moon’s scream eventually faded, as a

pillar of light burst from the ground in an explosion of magical power, sending everypony but Celestia

away from the center as it shot into the night sky, hitting the grey celestial body in the center. Soon, the

moon had the image of a dark mare in armor, waiting with infinite patience.

Groaning could be heard as the surviving guards of both sides picked themselves up and got to their

hooves, unsure of what to do now that Nightmare Moon was gone. I formed up uneasily with the rest of

those from the night watch as we stood our ground, certain we were about to be executed for allying

ourselves with the corrupted goddess of the night.

oooOOOooo

“Aaaahh!” I shrieked in fright, breaking the ceiling bulb and sending a shower of glass on the top of my

mattress that I had once again been using as a fort. I bonked my head on the mattress, sending the

shards of glass into the toilet and through the beams of my cell. I was sweating from that… dream? Was

it a nightmare, or a vision? I have no idea what that was, but they’ve been getting a lot more detailed

lately. Darn wizards and their… wait, darn Stables and their brain altering chemical things.

“Sweet dreams?” I voice giggled next to me as I screeched again and whipped my head around to find

Redundance looking at me with a smirk on her face.

“You’ve been tossing and turning so much in that little corner of yours it tripped an intruder alarm on

one of the security cameras. When they saw it was just you throwing a fit, they had me check it out. I

told him it was just a dream, but I think a certain Paladin has the hots for you~” she teased, as she

dropped the cell’s laser grid and stepped in with a yellow bag decorated with pink butterflies on it,

before re-starting it with her cheaty-powers.

“One observation has made me curious though. Since you’re a batpony, why haven’t you just shadow

flashed out of your cell? It stops objects from passing through it, but not teleportation.” She said while

rooting through her medical bags.

Wait. Oh crap, I totally forgot I could do that!

Zi-Poof

Aha! Wait.

“Of course, I pointed that out to the Scribes who were maintaining your cell, and they added a few

enchanted gems to the security system to prevent such a thing from occurring. If you wanted to

know.” She said from the ceiling. But wait, my bed was on the ceiling too.

Uh oh.

I fell to the floor from the ceiling with a short screech of panic as I hit my head on the steel paneled

floor, and slumped over to the side with a resounding thud of pain as I landed on one of my wings.

“Owww.” I moaned, laying on the floor and not wanting to stand up while Redundance giggled to herself

and put a bandage on my head. Completely wrapped in its binding, not in any way useful.

“Hold that for me, would you dear?” she asked, continuing to dig through her bags, setting aside a

whole arrangement of medical equipment all around my room. I huffed from my position on the floor, in

enough pain to be content with being a shelf for the time being as I continued to wonder about that

strange dream. It was way too specific to actually be a dream, but I had this feeling like I had been

through all of what had happened before. I could ask and see if Redundance and her unicorn magic

powers of cheating could help with it, but she’d probably paralyze me again. I tried to get up to look at

her, and found out she had already made me incapable of movement as I was flooded with pins and

needles again.

“Now hold still, ‘Sunny’. This will only sting for a moment.” She said, with a large needle hovering next

to her from what I could see out of the corner of her eye as I could feel my slit pupil eyes contract in

terror. She slowly moved toward me, making it seem like eternity as bells tolled in the distance for the

impending mild discomfort I would soon experience as steel slipped its way into my rump and I

squeaked in annoyance.

“Ow.” I made a point of announcing while feeling the needle move around slightly.

“Oh, quit being such a foal. I’m already done!” the evil doctor pony chirped, before flinging the needle

directly into the laser beams of my cell as they vaporized in a brilliant blip of light.

“And now it’s decontaminated. Hurrah for science!” she said with gusto, repacking about half the

medical bay into her bag somehow.

“Wuh dith oo doo?” I mumbled, my tongue turned to a useless blob while I tasted mint.

“Oh, nothing you should be worrying about, deary. Just a bit of numbing agent to make sure you don’t

do anything rash for the next bit! Elder Rasa has ordered me to go rooting around inside of your

noggin, and I can’t have you thrashing about like you did before I came in, or somepony might get

hurt! Now, hold still.” She snickered, knowing full well I was only capable of blinking at this point. My

whole body stopped feeling like it existed entirely, as she laid down next to me with her horn glowing a

bright red.

“Now, let’s see what memories you’ve got between those tufts of fur between your head!” she said,

as my vision faded to black.

oooOOOooo

The Sun Goddess herself was slowly marching towards us, still alight with the power of the sun after her

banishment of Nightmare Moon. The marble floor left scorch marks in her wake, as more gold plated

guards stormed into the Hall. Between myself and the two recruits I had saved earlier, there were about

twenty of the night watch still left after today, all crammed and huddled next to another in the back of

the room behind the throne, as Princess Celestia conversed with officers who gave reports to her, right

until she loomed over us.

We were badly beaten as it was. Most of us were wrapped with bandages or tattered uniforms in a

desperate attempt to stop bleeding from various wounds and injuries from the battle previous. The blast

from Luna’s banishment had crumpled a few of the plates of my silver and midnight colored armor into

uselessness, and I had since tossed them aside. I stood only in the hoof guards and tunic of my uniform,

tending to another of the night watch who was in far worse condition than I was. Certainly, I was

worried about what Celestia’s punishment for us would be, but I had more pressing concerns trying to

keep the few friends in Equestria I had left in a state of living, as one of the night guard I was tending to

thrashed around, threatening to undo his bandages.

The now Lone Ruler of Equestria loomed behind me, waves of heat buffeting my back as I desperately

tried to do what I could for those dead and dying. The Sun Guard had already taken their wounded and

moved them to the opposite side of the hall, as the few of us that could stand any chance of fighting

guarded the perimeters of each side of the halls, neither side wanting to fire a shot to cause more death.

“Night Guard, whom leads you now?” Princess Celestia asked, directed to all of us. Her voice was laced

with sorrow, I assume for the loss of her sister Luna. The few of us that were conscious enough to

respond looked between us, worry and fear evident in their faces before they looked to me.

“Sundown leads us, Princess Celestia.” One of them said.

I looked up from the batpony mare I was attempting to calm, as I met the gaze of those still standing, a

sense of doom washing over me as I thought I had been thrown under the carriage. I spun around to face

the Sun Goddess, looking down at me with a tired expression as her features returned to the gentle and

motherly figure I had become accustomed to when seeing the Princess. My body tensed up in

anticipation of pain or worse, until my gaze met that of Celestia’s.

“Nightmare Moon’s reign is over, Sundown. There is no need to continue fighting.” She looked up from

me to the rest of the ponies gathered in the room, most of them having stood down their guard as the

Princess made her way across the hall.

She stood in the center of the room, just ahead of the twin thrones that dominated the hall, where

Nightmare Moon had stood before she had been banished just moments before. She looked ready to

deliver an historic speech before my vision blurred and I fell into darkness.

oooOOOooo

My head hurt. Wait, let me rephrase that. My head felt that it was on the receiving end of training a

whole den of Hellhounds. No, that’s not right. My head felt like it had been squashed by the Goddess of

the Sun herself! There we go.

“Aaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuu.” I managed to say, tongue still numb as I saw Redundance get herself upright

and stare at me with a most sincere look of shock I have ever seen.

“That… that was not a dream. That was a memory! You… what!?” Redundance blubbered, before

making a few attempts to get up and rush out of the room, turning the cell’s gate on and off so fast a

portion of her tail had been sliced off by the lasers. My body was still entirely too numb to maneuver

properly, but I could still get enough movement out of my legs to pull myself up and rest my head on my

sideways mattress as I waited out the numbing agent.

How could that have been a memory? I’ve been in the wasteland all my life, as far as I can remember!

There’s no way I lived that long ago. No goddesses flippin’ way. Even if I was, what would that mean for

me now? It’s not like I can just wave a hoof and summon Luna to fix everything in the wastelands.

Hey, if I’m going to tempt fate, I can at least make it something useful, right?

The numbing stuff was helping with my splitting headache as I went back to simply lying down on the

cold, soothing steel floor of my cell. It didn’t seem to be a very short lived numbing, because it felt like

hours had passed before anypony came to check up on me.

“Whoa! What happened to you, Sunny?” The visiting Initiates asked, not wanting to turn off the beams

to the cell for risk of getting in trouble. I flailed a drugged hoof in the direction of the medical bags that

Redundance had left behind in her rush, as I breathed heavily on the floor.

“Mmm Num.” I muttered, blinking slowly while looking at them.

“You’re… numb? Who did this to you, Sundown?” Hat Trick asked, and I did my best to point a heavy

hoof at the medical bag laying nearby, the syringe laying on the floor next to it. Hat Trick used her

Telekinesis magic to lift the syringe closer to them, before letting out a growl and dropping the device to

the floor of my cell.

“We’re going to get help, Sunny. Stay there!” Card Swipe said, all of them rushing out of the door and

leaving me alone in the cell again.

Yep, sure. No problem guys. I’ll just go get some food, oh wait! I can’t, because I’m numbed to the bone

and locked in a prison cell. Maybe I could get in trouble at the armory but wait, I CANT because I’m

locked in a prison cell, numbed to the bone! ‘Stay there’ he says.

I blew a lazy raspberry at my situation and continued to lay there, numbness being a constant

companion as more time passed. I must’ve fallen into a dreamless nap because I awoke to be floating

through the air with a red aura around my body moving away from the Medical ward. I was able to

move my head a bit now, and saw that Redundance was being trailed by Elder Rasa, who was shouting

for ponies to move aside as we made our way around the bunker. We came to a circular room with a

large map on the side wall as Paladin Copper Wire and Clear Report came through the door behind us,

locking it with pressurized gears sealing it.

I was floated over to a wooden table in the shape of a half circle in the center of the room, as my head

nudged a terminal and I was set down. Clear Report came by and set the Audio Dampener next to me

and clicked it on, before returning to his spot to whisper amongst those gathered. A few worried and

surprised glances were flashed my way as I lay there in a numb daze that was slowly dissipating.

How long have I even been here? Has it really only been a few days since the Stable? Yikes. It feels like

I’ve lived here my whole life at this point. Everything just passes by in one huge blur.

Clack.

“Auu. Mmai ebbrs.” I mumbled.

“Yep, she’s awake.” Clear Report stated.

“Ooh, looks like I used the surgical numb-er instead of the interrogation numb-er. My bad, Sundown!

It was supposed to have worn off a while ago but we’ll just have to wait it out.” Redundance said with

a hint of regret.

“Doctor Scour, pay attention please.” Elder Rasa snapped.

“I’ve told you ponies, my name is Redundance!” she snapped back.

“Doctor, please. You’re asking me to believe that this batpony here, was a member of Luna’s personal

guard? Even after reviewing your evidence and the historical archives, there’s absolutely nothing to

suggest such a thing occurred as you described. Elder Rasa seemed even more unconvinced as he

explained what was going on. “To suggest that anypony has lived that long and remained hidden is a

complete absurdity bordering on blasphemy to scientists and scholars everywhere!” The Elder finished

with a harrumph.

Oh, that’s what this is about. So good I can defend my position while laying on this table like a fish.

“Yes, granted this was just one instance of memory, but if we continue with this we can potentially

gain a wealth of knowledge on the years before Nightmare Moon was banished!” Redundance argued.

“We have complete records of everything that happened already, as well as numerous re-tellings and

even fiction about it! Who is to say that these memories are even real? They could’ve been planted

there by whomever this spy is working for.” Paladin Copper Wire said, throwing a look my way, helmet

firmly secured in his flank.

“Spy is more than harsh, Copper Wire. Sundown at best would rank as an ‘unfortunate bystander’

now, a complete far cry from any sort of spy. Besides, were she a spy she could’ve easily killed us all at

any point in the Stable, or even when we got back to the bunker.” Clear Report said, bringing the tone

of the conversation down to sane levels.

“That much is completely true. She forgot she could Shadow Flash before I told her!” Redundance said

with a bit of pride, before noticing the two were staring at her. “What? I told the Scribes to secure the

cell so she couldn’t of course. What kind of doctor do you take me for?”

“An ebil wun.” I blubbered with a raised hoof that soon flopped down on the table.

Mwahaha.

“Right.” The elder said, giving me a blank look. “Then aside from conspiracy theories or rewriting the

history books, what can be said of Sundown’s memory?”

“Well, I’m sure that in this case she either can’t remember, or had them blocked by somepony else.”

The three Steel Rangers looked amongst themselves before trotting over to me, while I laid there

attempting to move my hooves in a circle.

“Sundown, when did you start getting these memories?” Redundance asked, moving some of my mane

that had fallen near my eye away with a red glow.

I thought for a while, running through everything in the past few days before I gasped.

“Witharde!”

“Anypony else understand that?” Rasa asked.

“She said ‘Wizard’ Elder.” Clear Report…reported clearly. Duh.

The elder face hoofed and beckoned the other members of the group to him near the map on the side

of the room while I stared at the sealed door across from the desk that was now becoming my bed. I

heard whispering that I couldn’t make out, on account of the Dampener next to me making my hearing

‘normal’.

There’s probably somepony out there in the wastes that would give their cutie mark to have something

like this, if their ears were as sensitive as mine.

I let out a squeaky yawn as my eyelids fought to stay up from how long it was taking them to finish

talking, before Redundance zipped over to my side and started saying words about ‘sleeping again’ and

‘hurrying with’ something or other.

Darn wizards and their sleepy spell power…thingies…

Yaaaawwwwnnn.

Darkness.

oooOOOooo

It was the middle of the day, sun overhead and wispy clouds flowing around our chariot as I looked to my

side. Marelin, Brag and Princess Celestia were in the Pegasus driven contraption as we flew to

Canterville, soon to become Canterlot if the contractors and masons had anything to say about the new

capital of Equestria. My body still hurt from a multitude of cuts, bruises and scratches I had received in

the fighting only yesterday as Marelin explained to the Sun Goddess about her findings on the strange

orb that had fallen from the sky.

“My theory, Princess Celestia-“ Marelin began

“Please, you may call me Celestia… No need for the formality when it is just us.”

“Erm, right. Anyway, my theory is that most nights, ponies make a wish on a falling star. Most of them

burn up in the sky before they ever reach the soil, but it has been known in the past for some of those

‘wishes’ to make it to the surface. This wish in particular doesn’t seem to go away. Before you had

banished Nightmare Moon, she was wishing for an eternal night, correct?”

Celestia looked distressed, before finally answering with a simple “Yes.”

“Then it is my theory that her wish had come true. At least the ‘Eternal’ part. I have cast several small

spells at the orb, and tried to enchant gemstones with its properties. Upon using said stones, I have

noted that they do not fade with their power. Needless to say, if anypony with ill intent got their hooves

on this orb…”

“It would be a disaster for Equestria.” Princess Celestia finished.

“Pri-, Celestia… I have another theory as well. Sundown here, was struck by this ‘wish’ while she was on

patrol a month ago when the orb was first found. By all rights she should have died on impact, but when

I slowed the decent of the orb enough to study it I noticed that she was unharmed, if a bit confused.

I grumbled a bit, but realizing I was in the company of the Goddess that saw fit to spare my life, I quickly

shut up.

“At any rate, I think that she may have been hit hard enough by the wish that a bit of it has… rubbed off

on her, for lack of a better term.”

Wait, what?

“You mean I’m ‘eternal’ now?” I asked, not believing.

“It is possible. I have another theory as well, if you would permit it.” Marelin said with a look to Celestia.

“Very well, what is your-“

ZZZZAAAAPPP

The next thing I knew, I was falling rapidly through the sky past multiple clouds in a dead plummet to the

ground.

oooOOOooo

What a complete reproductive organ!

Chapter 10: Recollection Road

Chapter 10: Recollection Road

oooOOOooo

As I fell from the sky, being zapped by a bolt of lightning summoned by the most powerful unicorn mage

in Equestria, I took a moment to take stock of the events in my life up to this point.

I had become a Night Guard, I was struck by a colossal meteor from space which turned out to be the

wish of Nightmare Moon for an eternal night. Being the corrupted goddess of the moon, she was in

direct control of all things related to the night yet either had to overpower Celestia and take the throne,

or as a supposed backup plan, had to cast night itself into an eternal power source. On top of all of this, I

had become ‘Eternal’, which the rapidly approaching farmland beneath me was about to test the limits

of.

In the few remaining precious seconds of existence I was growing increasingly fond of, I realized that

despite being stuck with enough magical energy to be disintegrated, my once light grey coat had turned

a distinct charcoal color, with my hooves themselves being pitch black. I had no idea if I even had a mane

or tail to speak of, considering I was still twitching and in spasms from the amount of electricity I had

somehow survived, but I really wanted coffee at that point. What even is coffee anyway?

CRUNCH

FLOP

SNAP

THUD

Ow?

I think I hit the ground hard enough to bounce off of tilled farmland. Does that make it more bouncy than

regular land, or softer?

Wait a minute, how am I not dead after a fall from that height?

I tried to move, or do anything but breathe, but my body wasn’t cooperating. I should probably be in a

world of agony and suffering right about now, but I couldn’t even blink to get the flecks of dirt out of my

eye. Shouldn’t that be concerning me? I decided that it didn’t really matter, and a few moments later I

heard the tail end of shouting before the chariot carrying the Sun Goddess, Marelin the Evil, and Brag

floated down and landed with a thud on a patch of wheat nearby.

“Marelin, you had better be quick in explaining your actions.” I heard Princess Celestia say in a very stern

tone to my side.

“Well, I had figured that the best course of action in studying the limitations of being Eternal was to see

if that also meant physical immortality and immunity to harm. Seeing as how Sundown here wasn’t

completely disintegrated by a spell designed to do just that, I would say that my experiment was a

resounding success. However I have noticed that she isn’t breathing. I should probably be doing

something about that, shouldn’t I?” Marelin the Evil Wizard Pony of Evilness said.

I noticed myself being levitated and turned around to face the trio of ponies, and with a bright flash of

light from Marelin the Decidedly Not a Good Pony in my Opinion, I was returned to the world of pain and

agony that was life.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHHHHH” I eloquently screamed at the top of my lungs with

enough force to send their mane’s flying directly behind them like they’d been struck by a hurricane. I

think a nearby farmpony cried for his wheat field which had been flattened, but I was too busy shouting

at Marelin to really care.

“Luna sodomize me with the Moon! What is wrong with you, you sadistic witch!?” I screamed at

Marelin, after regaining enough of my breath to do so. “What evil has possessed you to even consider

that shooting a bolt of lightning into somepony is a good idea!?”

After that, Marelin released me from her telekinetic grip and I flopped onto the floor and crumpled into a

heap of batpony on the earth. Still in agony and breathing heavily, I didn’t have the energy to do more

than continue my barrage of expletives at the wizard mare. After about ten minutes of this, Celestia

deemed that the verbal abuse I was dishing out was enough, and moved me upright while setting a

pillow from the chariot underneath me. I wasn’t done, but I continued to glare daggers at Marelin the

Sadistic.

“Ahem.” Marelin the Douche cleared her throat before continuing. “Now that you’ve gotten that out of

your system, I can explain. In this case, being Eternal does not mean that you are exempt from harm,

only that death will not claim you. I would perform another test to see how long it would take for your

body to restart itself, but I think that would be in bad taste considering you just fell from the cloud layer

without more than a change in coat color. Nice eyes, by the way.” She levitated a mirror over to me, and

my once normal pony eyes had warped into something resembling the dragon-like eyes of Nightmare

Moon herself, and they were now a blazing orange color instead of their normal light blue.

“Well that’s just fantastic. You’ve struck me with magic hard enough that I have Dragon eyes. I’m not

really sure how to feel about this.” I stated with detachment, not really over the fact that I’d recently

been dead, except not dead. I moved my head to get a better look at the rest of myself, and noticed that

my teeth had grown fangs, and my hair now had a stripe of the same orange coloration as my eyes

running down the middle of my mane. Despite being a bat pony, I didn’t have features before now that

looked like they’d come straight from the corrupted moon goddess herself, space mane not included.

“Would you explain why she resembles my banished sister?” Celestia asked with a somber voice, still

emotionally tender after only recently banishing said sister to a thousand year prison sentence on the

moon.

“Without study, my guess would be that since Nightmare Moon made the wish and its eternal nature,

that some of her magic would be responsible for its creation and effects. So in short, she’s become

infected with some residual magic of Nightmare Moon.”

Nope. Too crazy. Not going to believe that my life has suddenly become that twisted, that quickly. No

way, no how. I don’t care if Celestia herself is staring at me like that, I don’t care that the guards are

unsheathing their swords and moving towards me, I don’t care that even Brag is starting to cast magic at

me. This is too insane and I’m not having any of this nonsense anymore. I am definitely not corrupted by

the fears and anger of a neglected goddess that wanted to cast all of Equestria into an eternal night just

so she could get the same recognition and love as her sun controlling sister.

And then I realized that I was pinned to the ground by two fields of magic with swords pointed at my

neck and a very concerned princess staring at me.

“I’m not evil!” I yelped, trying to struggle with about as much success as a snail escaping salt being

poured on them.

“That’s what all the evil ponies say!” Brag blurted out, clearly not helping my situation.

“I’m not evil, I swear it! I’ll bake you cookies! Evil ponies don’t bake cookies!” I desperately begged, still

squirming in a panic.

“What are your orders, Princess Celestia?” One of the Pegasus guards managed to clearly state, sword

gripped in his mouth and held against my neck.

“Definitely don’t kill the bat pony! I’m a nice pony, I wouldn’t hurt a fly! I’m not evil!” I cried out

pathetically.

“Well I don’t think we actually can kill you in the first place. That’s the whole issue with you being

eternal, isn’t it?” Marelin the Decidedly Evil Pony in this situation stated matter-of-factly.

“But I haven’t done anything evil!” I screeched.

“You killed Celestia’s guards, assisted Nightmare Moon and are currently eternal because of said threat

to Equestria. You’ve been imbued with the darkness that took hold of Princess Luna and now look like a

pony possessed.” Marelin bluntly said.

“That’s not my fault! I was confused!” I pleaded.

“You killed my brother!” The other Pegasus guard protested.

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Enough!” Princess Celestia boomed over the argument. “This is getting us all nowhere. We need a way

to make certain that Sundown is telling the truth, is not evil, and won’t have to be turned into a statue to

safeguard Equestria.”

“What is it with you and turning ponies into statues!?” I shouted, annoying the guards holding me with

my volume.

Celestia stomped her hoof on the ground, causing a minor tremor with her temper, before using her

cheaty-alicorn magic to lift me off of the ground and place me gently into the chariot. Then she used said

magic to bind me in chains and I slumped down in relief at not being turned into a statue, killed, or made

to become another test participant in Marelin the Madpony’s experiments.

“Marelin, I ask that you find the source of Nightmare Moon’s corruption within Sundown in any way

possible. We need to know if anypony else has been affected this way, and how to save them if possible.”

The Not Merciful and Benevolent Sun Goddess said.

“Nooo! She’s going to zap me with lightning again, o-or throw fire at me, or turn me into a newt!” I

protested from my spot in the chariot, now having the Pegasus guards strapping themselves in to pull it.

“Hmm, hadn’t thought of transfiguration magic yet. Good suggestion, Sundown!” Marelin chirped,

hopping next to me and throwing a hoof around my shoulder.

“We’re going to be the best of magic buddies together!” she giggled ominously.

“Marelin, no unnecessary tormenting of evil ponies. We’re supposed to set the example, remember?”

Brag said, shoving a hoof into Marelin’s snout, causing it to scrunch slightly.

“I’m not evil!” I cried, falling over in despair at being ignored and resigned to my fate as unwilling

magical target dummy.

“Shush!” everypony said in response.

Some hours later, my unending pleading long since being stopped by a hoof kerchief, we arrived at a

back entrance to the freshly constructed Canterlot Palace. How they managed to create an entire castle

not even a few days since moving to Canterlot I’ll never know for certain, but I suspect it has something

to do with an Immortal Goddess and an army of loyal unicorn subjects doing the work. Princess Celestia

had since left, going to the court to hear requests and pleas from noble ponies looking for table scraps of

acknowledgement from the sun princess, and farmers of the nearby lands reporting the supposed

upheaval of their lives from a few weeks of unending night having wilted their crops. It seemed odd,

because the farmer with the wheat field earlier had been totally fine.

I was being led by Marelin, Brag, and two unicorn guards now and heading deeper into the palace where

they supposedly had a dungeon installed for ‘special prisoners’ like myself. Passing a few of the cells, I

had noticed there were no doors and a one way window that went across the length of the cell for

guards to look in. I noticed a Minotaur that had his entire body etched in red glowing runes, an older

mage looking stallion who had lost his marbles and was casting spells in every direction of his cell in a

futile effort to do anything to it. There was also a room filled with a black smoke, and I noticed two

glowing red eyes following my own, looking at me through the supposedly one way glass.

“Creepy.” I mumbled, before being yanked to keep pace with the guards following Marelin and Brag.

We passed through two ornately decorated wooden doors that swung open with a loud bang, making

Marelin wince at the unintentionally overdramatic entrance to her lab. After giving a cursory glance to

the runes etched into the wooden doors, she motioned for the guards to leave and again slammed them

shut with a bit too much force before giving an exasperated sigh through her teeth.

“You doing okay, Marelin?” Brag asked, moving a few books around with his magic as Marelin got a

chair with leather straps reoriented to face me, and pulled down a large metal cauldron from one of the

shelves overhead and setting it down nearby with her magic.

“Yep! Completely in control and not at all worried about the expectations laid before me by the goddess

of the sun!” She belted out, moving in a panicked frenzy as objects flew around the room and set

themselves down in semi-scientific looking spots that looked like they’d do something.

Meanwhile, I had just been sitting there in my chains taking in the scene before me and been very

worried as to why a chair would need straps and a metal helmet on a swivel attached to said chair.

“Marelin, bruh. You’ll be fine! Don’t sweat it. I’m sure the Princess will give you more than enough time

to crack this evil pony’s resolve and we’ll both get rewarded and have ice-cream to celebrate!” the colt

said reassuringly to Marelin, but worryingly to my own ears.

“She’s Eternal, Brag! We don’t have all of eternity to match wills with the eternal spawn of Nightmare

Moon!” Marelin countered.

“Um, if I could share some input?” I tried, raising a hoof with a clattering sound of chains.

“No more talking, evil pony!” Marelin shouted, using her magic to fling me into the chair, removing my

chains and strapping me in with the leather bindings and moving the weird metal helmet with a bunch of

gems and copper wires coming from it onto my head.

“Bu-“

“No talky!” She interrupted, shoving yet another goddess damned hoof kerchief in my mouth. I accepted

my muffled fate and settled for a glare at Marelin, who had since ignored me and put the finishing

touches on her equipment that nearly buried the room from floor to ceiling in whirring, clanking and gear

spinning sounds. Marelin the Crazy let out a sigh of frustration, before spinning my chair clockwise a few

times before stopping me, and huffed again before moving me counter-clockwise a smidgeon.

“There! Now we can begin with the testing.” She stated, flinging off her cloak and putting on some kind

of white coat with a bunch of pockets on it, and a pair of glasses.

Finally being able to get a look at her, Marelin had a sand colored coat, White and yellow striped spikey

mane with a similar tail, sporting mahogany eyes.

“Fire!” She abruptly stated, as Brag’s horn lit up and bathed me in a jet of flames before ending a

moment later.

As the fire ended, I looked around as well as I could, what with my body and head being held firmly in

place by enchanted leather straps.

“Darn. No effect!” Marelin stated, writing it down on a clip board before going through a whole list of

every sort of magic known to pony kind for the rest of the day, each one having little to no effect on me,

aside from mild discomfort.

“No, this shouldn’t be happening! You’re eternal, not invincible!” Marelin snapped, becoming frustrated

at this turn of events.

“Maybe she’s just immune to magic?” Brag suggested, and Marelin spun around with a sparkle in her

eye as she then turned and dashed off only to return with an armory’s worth of swords, halberds, maces,

crossbows and other implements of death and pain.

“Should we try ‘em all at once!?” She shouted half crazed already by her efforts.

“No! We’re the good ponies here, remember? She’s the evil one!” Brag said with a look of disbelief.

“Oh, fine then! I’m gonna start with the spikey mace!” Marelin grinned devilishly as I squirmed and

fidgeted away from the spikey mace of imminent pain and injury floating towards me.

Then the doors burst open again, making Princess Celestia and her two Pegasus guards wince at the

unintended bang the doors gave off, only to stare at a crazed Marelin holding a Morningstar in her

magic, who equally stared at the shocked Sun Goddess while shifting her eyes frantically back and forth.

“I can explain!” Marelin blurted, dropping the weapons with a cacophony of noise to the floor.

I met Celestia’s gaze with hopefully pleading eyes as her focus shifted around the room to take in all of

the equipment Marelin had been using for some purpose or another, to the scorch marks behind my seat

and other magical after effects that still flittered about the room before finally resting on Marelin herself,

who was babbling incoherently on the floor beneath Celestia’s hooves.

“Marelin, my faithful student… What the hay is going on!?” She shouted, making everypony surprised at

her sudden outburst as ears reoriented themselves forwards after recovering from the volume.

Marelin looked back at Brag for help, but the colt just shrugged and trotted over to me and started

releasing me from my binding.

“Brag, what are you doing?!” Marelin shouted, before being stopped by Celestia’s magic as she tried

running in the air, to be turned around and pointed at the face of the Sun Goddess who was giving her a

stern look.

“Explain to my why you have Sundown strapped into an execution chair, surrounded by weaponry and

the aftermath of magic spells, and why you appeared to be readying a Morningstar to strike a helpless

prisoner.” Celestia said, her stare going straight into Marelin’s soul.

“Eheh… um. Science?” She offered weakly, tapping her forehooves together with a nervous grin on her

face.

Celestia dropped Marelin from her magical grasp without ceremony as she addressed Brag.

“Braggadocious, are you able to explain this madness?” she asked, moving forward and ignoring

Marelin.

“Well your royalness, Marelin decided that since Sundown here is Eternal that she could test the effects

of whatever spells she wanted to, to see if they would be able to hurt Nightmare Moon when she comes

back from her vacation on the moon. I thought it was most un-cool, but she’s my teacher and I had to go

with it.” Brag explained, finishing his task of releasing me and I hopped out of the chair onto wobbly legs,

having been stuck there for quite a long time being blasted with everything and a kitchen sink, which lay

in broken pieces somewhere in the back room.

Marelin looked up with betrayal from her position on the floor, but before she could respond she was

silenced by a look from Celestia.

“What would you do to see if Sundown has been afflicted by Nightmare Moon?” Celestia asked.

“Well your Sunniness, I would say that Sundown already proved she isn’t evil, because she hasn’t used

any of Nightmare Moon’s abilities to annihilate us and has actually been pretty chill about all the things

we’ve done so far. Though I honestly haven’t been able to tell since we gagged her forever ago.”

Upon remembering that I still had that dreaded Hoof kerchief in my mouth, I spat it onto the ground and

growled through my teeth and fangs at Brag and Marelin.

“Well, she looks upset to me.” Celestia said matter-of-factly.

“I’ve had it with you insane ponies!” I screeched, attempting to fly out of the room before being

grabbed by Brag, Marelin and Celestia with their cheaty powers and dragged back into the room.

“I’ve come down here because I found a pony that has the uncanny ability of seeing a pony’s soul.”

Celestia calmly stated, like she hadn’t just said something completely bizarre. Though I guess that is what

my life had come to at this point. I was eternal, technically a servant of the banished Nightmare Moon,

and about to be looked up and down by somepony who claimed to see souls.

A bright pink earth pony mare, with a mane and tail like cotton candy and sky blue eyes literally bounced

into and around the room before abruptly sticking to the floor with her hooves. She wore glasses without

lenses, a giant tan nose from some creature I’ve never encountered, and a fake moustache.

“She refuses to state who she is, exactly, but I am confident in her abilities.” Celestia said, as the pink

mare moved around me with squinty eyes being offset by the ridiculousness of her headwear.

“Why is that, exactly?” Marelin asked, as I continued my staring contest with the bright pink and bubbly

mare, before I blinked and she appeared in front of Marelin.

“Spoilers, duh!” She shouted while giggling at some joke nopony else understood, as Marelin unattached

herself from a ceiling light.

“Now, for Miss Evil McEvilpony pants!” she declared, hopping right next to me and pressing her nose

against mine, causing them to scrunch up as I tried to escape this invasion of personal space.

“Nope, you’ve gotta sit still, you silly filly!” she said, throwing me into the chair I had just been released

from with an strength I wouldn’t attribute to a minotaur, let alone a pink mare with party balloons for a

cutie mark. I tried to squirm out of her grasp, but she held my hooves down with her own as she climbed

onto the chair, her hair whipping like a tail and knocking the helmet with wires out of the way as the

room’s lighting dimmed for dramatic affect.

“Look into my eyes…” She said ominously, waving her forehooves about while making ghost sounds,

while her eyes themselves became an entrancing swirl that I couldn’t not look into.

After a moment, my entire world melted away and I stood in the middle of a black abyss. No land, no

water, no sky. Only darkness with an obnoxiously pink party pony prancing around me.

“So!” She said suddenly, making me flinch. “Let’s see what’s in your head Miss Evil Pony!”

“I’m not evil!” I said, punctuating with a stomping hoof on nothing in particular as I realized there wasn’t

even a floor, and began falling with the pink pony.

“Aaah!” I yelped in surprise, as I felt the odd sensation of the ground rushing towards me again even

though the ground didn’t exist, wherever we were. We then abruptly stopped, and when I opened my

eyes we were in a completely grey version of Equestria.

“Welp, now that we’re here, we can start going through your memories to see how nasty you really are!”

she said with way more cheer than the situation could even begin to call for.

“I’m telling you, I’m not evil!” I still tried to argue, on the verge of giving up even trying at this point.

“Ooh! I know, let’s ask your subconscious what it thinks about everypony!” she said, grabbing me as we

somehow flew toward a crowd of lookalike ‘Sundowns’ in a town square. We arrived far sooner than I

would’ve expected considering the distance, but stopped just short of slamming into the crowd like a

missile.

“Oh, I get to answer first!” A Sundown with glasses said.

“No, me! I’ll convince her we’re not evil!” A Sundown in my Night Guard uniform said.

“But we aren’t evil!” A Sundown looking like I had before being Eternal said.

“Well that’s what everypony else thinks!” A Filly version of myself said.

“Screw what everypony else thinks, we have really awesome looking eyes now!” An inebriated Sundown

slurred.

“Stop yelling, please…” A Sundown with long hair whimpered in the background.

“Yes, we will convince the strange mare that we are the most not-evil pony in all of Equestria,

Mwahahaha!” somepony laughed most maliciously, before realizing that had actually come out of my

mouth.

“Oooh, this is gonna be a doozy! What should I call all you ponies?” The pink party mare asked.

“I got this!” the drunk Sundown managed. She pointed with a free, non-cider holding hoof at each of us

in turn.

“Sun-nerd, Guard-down, Normal-down, Sun-Filly, Shy-down, Spooky-Sun and myself being Drunk-down!”

she finished with a belch.

“Wait, if you’re drunk, then what part of me do you actually represent?” Spooky-Sun asked

Drunk-down.

“Well I’m *hic* obviously Sundown’s uninhibited self! Duh!” She finished with yet another hiccup.

“Then that means I’m her smart side.” Sun-nerd continued.

“I’m her sense of duty.” Guard-down proudly stated

“I’m the real Sundown!” Normal-down called out.

“I’m… um… I don’t actually know?” Filly-down said innocently.

Shy-down just squeaked.

“Well I am obviously the best Sundown!” Spooky-down declared, a hoof to her chest in a pose of pride.

“Wowee, you remind me a lot of some ponies I know!” the Pink mare declared before pulling all of us

into a large huddle, her hooves somehow defying nature and stretching out enough to grab us at the

same time in one large scoop.

“Too close!” Shy-down whimpered.

“So, which one of you is the Evil Sundown?” The mare asked, looking suspiciously at each of us, as we all

looked at another in confusion.

“I already told you, we’re not evil!” Guard-down protested.

“I think its Spooky-down!” Sun-filly accused.

“Nonsense! Everypony knows that the evil one is always the innocent filly that nopony suspects!”

Spooky-sun retorted.

“Wait, shouldn’t there be some kind of test or evidence for who is evil?” Nerd-down asked.

“I think Marelin is evil!” Normal-down yelled, hurting everypony’s ears.

“Shut up, Normal-down!” Guard-down said, giving Normal-down a bop on the head with her armored

hoof.

“I’ve got it! We’ll play tic tac hoof, and whoever loses is the evil pony!” the Pink mare said, earning

baffled stares from all Sundowns present.

“That’s stupid!” we all said in unison.

“Darn, I was hoping one of you would oust themselves as the evil pony with that, but you all said no!” the

party pony pouted.

“What does that mean?” Sun-filly asked.

“It means you’re a grumpy grump!” the mare responded, her hair slightly deflating.

“Being a grumpy pony doesn’t make us evil!” Guard-down protested.

Her hair re-inflated with a bright smile, as an idea had come across the mare’s mind.

“I know, we’ll play truth or dare, except you can only tell the truth!” She stated excitedly.

“Then wouldn’t that just be us telling the truth to your questions?” Nerd-down asked.

“Nopey Dopey! You all have to Pinkie-oop. Um, You all have to Pink Party Pony Promise not to lie, or

else!” She said, waving her hooves ominously in front of her while looking into each of our eyes.

“And how do we do…the thing?” Drunk-down asked, regaining consciousness.

“It’s easy! Repeat after me, but don’t ever break a Pink Party Pony Promise!” she warned, before reciting

the ritual and we all repeated with:

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my—Aaaahh!” we cried, sticking a suddenly

appearing cupcake into our eyes, causing us to blink pastry for a few moments before it vanished.

“Good enough for me~!” She said in a sing song voice, before having us line up.

“Okay, first pony is Nerd-down!” She said excitedly, getting into the ‘game’.

“First Question: Are you the evil pony?” She asked, leaning in with her head turned sideways to give one

eye a good look at Nerd-down.

“Um… I- I’m… Bleh!” She said, trying to make her tongue work correctly.

“Ah-ah! No lying missy!” the party pony warned, waving a hoof back and forth in front of her.

“No!” Nerd-down managed finally.

“Second Question: Have you ever hurt anypony intentionally?” her eye continuing to stare at Nerd-down.

“I wou… ne… Yes!” Nerd-down finished, finally giving up at resisting the Pink Pony Promise’s effects.

“Third Question: Would you hurt the Princesses?”

She pondered the question for a bit, before answering, “I would only hurt one Princess, that being

Celestia, if Luna ordered me to, because I’m in service to her until death take us or we are released from

her service.” She finished, stating the oath the Sundowns had taken to become a Night Guard.

“Oki doki Loki! NEXT!!” She abruptly shouted, as Nerd-down was shuffled in a half circle to re-join the

line.

Guard-down was next to be questioned, and she shifted uncomfortably in her armor.

“First Question: Have you ever hurt or killed anypony?”

Guard-down began sweating and shifting her eyes around nervously. “Yes…”

“Second Question: Have you ever tortured or made another pony miserable because you could?”

“Y…Yes.” Guard-down began to become teary eyed as she tried to hold back tears.

“Third Question: If you could take it back, would you?” The pony leaned in close enough to stare

Guard-down directly in the eyes with a burning intensity we could all feel, since we were all technically

the same pony.

“Yes!” Guard-down said, a waterfall of tears erupting from her eyes as she fell to the floor in sobs, before

the pony continued.

“Final Question: Are you the Evil Pony?”

“N-n-No!” She cried, and was whisked quickly away to bring up the next Sundown, which happened to be

Sun-filly.

“First Question: Do you like pranks?”

“Ye… Of cou… Um. When I’m the one doing them… I don’t like being pranked” Sun-filly pouted.

“Second Question: Would you steal from another pony if you could?”

“N… I wouldn… I would no… Darn it, yes!” Sun-filly said, being thwarted by the Promise.

“Third Question: Would you bully another pony?”

Taking into account her other attempts at lying, Sun-filly simply stated “Yes.” In defeat, staring at the

floor.

“I told you it’s the cute and innocent ones that are evil!” Spooky-down declared with an air of victory.

“Final question! Are. You. The Evil. Pony?” the pink Interrogator said putting emphasis on each word.

“Ye… I a…” She sighed again, before stating “No.” and being whisked away, replaced by Drunk-down.

“Oh give me a break.” Spooky-down huffed.

“First Question: If a really hot stallion wanted you to have sex with him, would you?” the Pink Pony

surprisingly said completely seriously.

“Wait, what? What does that have to do with anything? How is me liking stallions evil?” Drunk-down

asked.

“Would yooouuu?” The pony dragged out, ending in a lower tone.

“Um… well… Alright fine, I totally would. If he was saf… I mean if he didn’t ha… Damnit, Yes!”

Drunk-down finished in exasperation, her sober-ness returning rapidly.

“Second Question: Would you blame somepony else for something that was your fault?”

“I mean, not if they were my frie… Not unless it was really ba…” She sighed. “Yes.”

“Third Question: Do you talk about ponies behind their back?”

“Yes.” She stated without hesitation.

“Final Question: Are you the evil pony?”

“Nope.”

“Huh.” The party pony said, seemingly surprised, before another Sundown took the spot. It was

Shy-down.

“First Question: Do you have any friends?”

Shy-down squeaked a bit, before gathering the courage to mutter, “N…no.”

That seemed to take the wind out of the Pink Pony’s interrogation for a moment, before she resumed.

“Second Question: Do you care about anypony, including yourself?”

Shy-down looked right at the pink pony before answering, “Y…Yes. I care about not dying. I care about

ponies who help me and make me laugh. I don’t care about ponies I don’t know, though.” She said

ashamedly.

“Third Question: Would you help a stranger in need, even at cost to yourself?”

Shy-down looked up with a hurt expression before being louder than she had been before, which

amounted to a more normal speaking volume.

“Of course I would…not. Only when I’m on duty would I do that. Somepony might try and trick me to hurt

me if I didn’t look like a guard, and ponies scare me!”

“Final Question: Are you the Evil pony?”

“No…” she finished, slumping down and resting her head between her forehooves on the ground, before

being rotated out and replaced with Spooky-down.

“Well, that was a completely shameful display.” Spooky-down stated, before turning her attention to

the pink pony.

“Oh, this’ll be easy.” Guard-down said, recovering from her breakdown during the questioning.

“First Question: Would you enslave other ponies to work for you?”

“What!? Never! That is just plain horrible.” Spooky-down said, shocked at the question. “It’s because of

my features, isn’t it? That’s raci-!”

“Second Question!” the pony said, interrupting. “Would you overthrow Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna

if she wasn’t Nightmare Moon?”

“Why would I overthrow anypony? Do you know how much work that would leave on my shoulders if I

had to rule an entire kingdom? That’s entirely too much effort!” She stated, brushing off invisible dirt

from her shoulder.

“Third Question: Would you ask that ponies work against their will for the greater good of the kingdom

in order to save it from a larger threat that they don’t believe is going to be coming?”

“Well that’s specific.” She said, before thinking on her answer. “Yes, I suppose if it was for the greater

good, then I would do such a thing.”

“Aha! You just said Slavery was a bad thing, and you wouldn’t overthrow anypony, but you just agreed to

do both of those things!”

“Wait, what?”

“Having ponies work against their will, and being in a position of power to be able to have enough

influence to do that sort of thing would mean that you would need to be a ruling figure to over-ride their

rights, and force them into slavery!” the pony explained.

“But… but I’m a good pony! It’s not because I can, it’s because they don’t understand the need in order

to defeat some hypothetical foe!”

“Final Question: Are you the Evil Pony?”

“That’s Racist! Of course I’m not. Honestly, just because I LOOK like I would eat baby foals doesn’t

mean I actually do!” Spooky-down protested, before being whisked away.

The final pony was Normal-down. Everypony just looked at her like her time had come, but the Pink pony

continued her questioning.

“First Question: Why did you become a night guard?”

“To protect and ser… um. To fight for a better and…” She sighed. “For rent money.”

“Second Question: Did you care about anypony other than yourself before becoming a guard?”

“Well… I cared about my paren… darn it, thought I would be able to get that one at least. Nopony cared

about m… okay that’s not true either, My parents cared about me. Not in the traditional ‘I love you, lets

hug and get ice-cream.’ way, but the ‘Do your work and don’t be lazy, help around the house and stop

looking for any sign of affection.’ Way. I guess that was their way of caring, so in the way that they care

about if I die, then I care about if my parents die, but not about them personally.”

“Third Question: Do you blame other ponies for your own shortcomings or failures?”

After a few moments of thought, and looking between all other gathered Sundowns, she stated, “Yes.”

“Final Question: Are you the Evil Pony?”

“Isn’t that obvious? She’s the last pony and none of us are evil!” Guard-down said, before being hushed

by the pink mare.

“No… I’m not evil. I’ve just made my share of mistakes and misdeeds. I’m not out to make other ponies’

lives miserable for the sake of my own entertainment or any kind of malice to another. I try my best to

listen to the complaints and arguments of other ponies to empathize with where they’re coming from but

I don’t always get along with everypony. I’ve killed ponies, I’ve tortured ponies, and I’ve been a bully and

a thief. I have stolen and blamed others for my own wrongs and gotten away with it. I’ve thought about

being a great ruler that everypony bows down to and worships, and I’ve thought about just living a

normal life where I don’t have to have responsibility or look after anypony but myself. But I’m not an evil

pony.” Normal-down finished, looking weary and beaten as she slumped down and was whisked away to

be replaced by Nerd-Down.

“Final Question: Which one do you think is the evil pony?”

“I thought you’d already asked everypony their questions?” Nerd-down asked, surprised.

“I didn’t ask your final question until now, silly!” she chirped in response, before becoming deadly serious

again, awaiting Nerd-down’s answer.

A few minutes passed, Nerd-Down having a very animated and expressive thinking process as she mulled

over everything she had heard and witnessed over the interrogation.

“I… I honestly don’t think anypony here is evil. We’re all a part of Sundown, but none of us on our own

are really all that ‘evil’. Does that mean that we’re right, and Marelin and the Princess are crazy, or that

all of us combined are the evil pony?” Nerd-down asked, grasping at straws for any hope that they would

be cleared of ‘evilness’ by their mysterious pink interrogator.

“You get all that, Princess Celestia?” she asked, turning her head to a rapidly becoming visible Princess,

Marelin and Brag, along with the two Pegasus guards from earlier as the room flowed back into

existence and my subconscious retreated into my mind.

“I can see why you called her in here, Princess Celestia.” Marelin said with her jaw lightly hanging.

“Marelin you’re gonna catch flies, brah.” Brag said, and Marelin closed her mouth with a snap.

“Uuuhg, I don’t feel…” I said, falling over exhausted. “Mmm… I’ll just lay here, if that’s okay with you all.”

The party pony pulled out a long checklist on a clipboard as well as a pencil from her mane, going down

the list and marking things all over it before putting the pencil behind her ear, and handing the report to

the princess, somehow writing and holding the pencil with her hoof, instead of her mouth like anypony

that can’t use magic would do.

After a moment of reviewing the list, looking between the pink pony and myself, the princess held up the

report in her magic and announced the findings.

“This report, given by ‘Pink Party Pony’ states that Sundown here has a total Evilness rating of… Below

Average.” She showed us the report, which had a D in red ink as a grade.

“How is that possible? She served Nightmare Moon and killed guards! She has-“ Marelin was interrupted

by the Pink pony’s stare at her, before the pink mare’s expression exploded into a grin wide enough to

make a dentist faint.

“Oh this is just terrific! Now I can throw a ‘Sundown-totally-isnt-an-evil-meanie-pants-pony-of-evil’

party!” she rattled off, bouncing in place before coming to an abrupt halt and looked at a watch that had

sounded an alarm and appeared on her left hoof.

“Aww, darn it! I don’t have any more time. Bye bye, Everypony!” she said, waving a hoof and throwing

out confetti before vanishing in a flash of light. Everypony stayed silent for a moment just staring at

where the mare had been, before Marelin spoke up.

“Is this what you deal with on a daily basis?” Marelin asked, looking at Celestia.

“Yep.” The Sun Goddess said with a heavy sigh, before turning her attention to me.

One of the Pegasus guards threw down their helmet and transformed into an insectoid pony with fly

wings, soul-less teal eyes and a horn with holes in the side of it.

“You know what? The Queen says you can have Equestria. She isn’t dealing with this kind of crap.” The

bodysnatching and shapeshifting changeling said, before flying out of the room to leave the rest of us

once again staring in disbelief.

“Is this real life?” I asked from my position on the ground.

“Apparently.” Braggadocious replied.

oooOOOooo

Chapter 11: Reality's Return

Chapter 11: Reality’s Return

I came out of my strange-ness induced dream to the muffled sounds of alarms going off. I couldn’t open

my eyes and I couldn’t feel anything either. Actually, I couldn’t even move!

Uh oh… I know what this feels like. Did I die while I was ‘asleep’?

Well. I could always just wait and see what happens.

…

…

Nope! This is too boring. Move body! Come to li-

“Ehhhh.” I had tried to scream, but my body only had enough energy to lazily rasp and sputter. Opening

my eyes to a burning sensation, I noticed that I was laying sideways on the floor which had gotten

significantly less sterile and clean than when I was last awake. The room was nearly pitch black, save for

the deep red emergency lighting spinning around the room to signify that something had gone horribly

wrong.

Well, no dip! Of course something went wrong. I feel like a corpse!

Using all of my limited strength, I lifted my head enough to look around with a now mind splitting

headache to go along with my aching everything. More of the room was in complete tatters and there

was a large pony shaped scorch mark on the wall, probably a unicorn by the outline. Attempting to

stand proved fruitless, as my body was having enough issues telling my brain to lay down and just rest,

because it was in no condition to just get up and go right now. Resigned to my temporarily floor-ridden

status, I decided to see what I could see.

I was still in that odd circle room that was owned by Elder Rasa. The terminal on his desk looked like it

had exploded and there were reports and status updates strewn about the place like rice at a wedding.

Why do they even throw rice at a wedding? Wouldn’t it be better to eat the rice than throw it on the

ground? I mean sure, if there were birds or chickens or something nearby that could eat the rice then it

wouldn’t be so much of a waste, but as far as I knew, it was pretty much just to give everypony

something to do while the couple trotted off into the sunset or where ever they went to after a wedding.

Returning from my thoughts to reality, I heard a bit of sparking coming down a hallway with light hoof

falls. Either somepony was trying to be sneaky, or they were trying not to get killed by some sort of

hazard. I tried calling out to them, but it came as a faint screech over the alarms that were sounding.

“Who’s there?!” I heard somepony say, clearly startled from around the corner and down the hallway. It

wasn’t loud enough to hurt my ears, but I suppose that my ears had since given up after me being dead

for I don’t know how long. Add to the fact that these alarms had probably going off for as long as I’d

been out, or longer, then I wouldn’t blame them for taking a vacation.

“Hello?” I heard the voice ask again, slightly closer now but sounding worried and more cautious.

“Shh! You’re going to get us killed, Swipe!” I heard another pony hiss, sounding a lot like Hat Trick.

“Hey!” I squeaked loudly, hoping that they would remember I was the only pony they knew that

communicated this way. For a few moments I heard about as much silence as could be had in a

damaged and malfunctioning underground bunker of the Steel Rangers, but it was noticeable. The

ponies outside whom I assume had been the Initiates had stopped moving for a few minutes now, and I

was getting worried.

I once again attempted to stand up, my body protesting significantly less now that it had been given a

moment to make sure everything was actually working correctly. With shaking hooves I managed to

stand upright and sway into Rasa’s table, shifting it a bit and causing a loud screeching sound from the

Elder’s desk moving across the steel floor.

“There it is again!” I heard another pony whisper shout, sounding like Cheese Wheel.

Well at least the Initiates were alive! Now all I had to do was get over to them. Shambling around the

room, nearly falling on my face a few times from papers slipping underneath my hooves, I managed to

slam myself into the door with a lazy thud to look around the corner. Between the swirling red lights,

pitch black hallway and sparking wires, I managed to find three Initiates with magic rifles pointing my

way. Seeing as how they don’t speak high frequency bat pony, I decided to wave a hoof at them, only to

fall on my face and slump into the hallway with a halfhearted moan of injury.

“What the hay is that?!” Card swipe shouted, shakily waving his magic rifle around in my general

direction.

I tried standing again, body still being annoyingly weak from being dead, and promptly gave up my

insanity and just lazily waved a hoof at them from my increasingly comfortable position on the floor. The

Initiates inched closer to me, not taking their rifles away from my head as they got in a better position to

flick their combat helmet’s lights on, blinding me. I would’ve shielded my eyes, but I was honestly too

worn out and fatigued to do much more than let out a squeak of complaint at them while squinting.

“By the… is that Sundown?!” Cheese Wheel seemed a lot more surprised that I think he should’ve been,

but I really didn’t know how long I had been out. It seemed like a few hours at least, judging from all the

stuff laying strewn about everywhere. Maybe a Minotaur had come through the bunker and started

ripping off deck plating or something.

Ow.

Ow.

“Ow!” I screeched louder, making Card Swipe jump back and stop kicking me with his hoof. He shouted

in surprise at my screech, and leveled his magic rifle at me again.

“Sundown, if you can hear me, squeak three times!”

Thinking about what words I could use to make it sound like three squeaks, I settled for “You are dumb.”

His rifle dropped, while the other two kept theirs aiming at me as Card Swipe picked me up from the

floor onto shaking hooves and my body swaying back and forth, threatening to send me to the floor

again.

“Hat, Cheese, do we still have any apples on us?” Card Swipe asked, looking between his friends.

Apples? I haven’t been gone that long, have I? I don’t even feel-

I heard an angry growling, and my attempt to look at my own stomach nearly sent me to the steel floor

again before I was caught by Cheese Wheel and Hat Trick.

Yep, need food.

“Card, are you sure she isn’t a zombie or something?” Cheese asked, still pointing his rifle at me and

looking concerned.

“Cheese, don’t be an idiot. The only zombies are those ghouls from before the war, and they look all

dead and rotted or like burnt leather. Sundown just looks like she hasn’t had food in about two

months. Actually, come to think of it, when was the last time you ate?” Hat Trick asked me, lowering

her rifle finally.

I actually have no idea, but I can’t exactly speak with the Initiates either. Wait, when did that become a

thing for me? I could speak to everypony just fine in my memories! I blame Marelin.

I felt woozy again after my short daydream, and fell on my side again.

“I’ll take that as an ‘I don’t know’” Hat said, aiming her rifle to cover the hallway they had come

through to guard it against some unseen foe.

Cheese Wheel pulled some apples out of his saddle bag, and I would’ve pounced on him immediately

upon seeing the deliciousness he held with his magic just near me, but once again my body had more to

say about our ability to move than my apple fanaticism. I opened my mouth which had become almost

mummified from my lack of any kind of nutrients in the past… two months? Yikes. Anyway, my fangs

jutted from the rest of my teeth like small spears as I waited for Cheese to get the idea and feed me.

Feed me, Cheese Wheel. Feed me!

Cheese Wheel gulped, I assumed he was remembering the last time somepony had apples near me, and

hovered one directly into my fangs. I bit down on the apple with enough vigor to have them seriously

consider if I was a zombie again for a moment, as I felt some of my strength returning to me.

“Moooore!” I squeakily rasped, giving him a hungry look that probably convinced him that it was either

the apples or himself that I was going to eat next. He floated seven more apples in my direction,

emptying his saddle bags in a slight panic that made an apple wall between him and myself. It was close

enough that I could just move my neck around to devour the delicious fruits in a few bites or more, not

even draining the juices from them and eating them whole. Hat Trick and Card Swipe shared looks of

concern, before Card Swipe mentioned he was glad that I didn’t eat meat, which earned him a smack

from Cheese about jinxing them.

I felt substantially better after my small feast of apples, and moved all my limbs around to see if they

worked correctly this time. I didn’t feel a hundred percent, but I could definitely move on my own and

my wings were working fine. I gave them a wide smile for helping me, which just seemed to make them

shiver before I gave them a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Okay Sunny, just like the stable. See what you can hear through all of these alarms and we can get

out of here safe and sound! I just hope tha-“ Card was saying, before getting smacked across the face

by Hat Trick.

“What the frolicking fuck did Cheese Wheel just tell you about jinxing us, Card?!” Hat shouted at him,

before covering her mouth again at being so loud, and swearing for a second time that I had known her.

I looked between all of them like they were crazy, and they looked at me like I was going to eat them.

We all decided to just continue on anyway and hope for the best. I hadn’t heard about Jinxes before, but

if they were anything like a Pink Party Pony Promise then I was sure you didn’t want to mess with them.

Most of the journey out of the bunker was uneventful, save from a ceiling tile landing on my head

somewhere near the restroom area. A few rooms had the rotting corpses of Steel Rangers and some

other ponies that looked like Raiders or Slavers. I pointed out the other bodies that had been looted and

were rotting, and they mentioned something about a red eye. Sort of odd, but whatever. They said that

this bunker was a halfway point between the Hoofington area and another city called Fillydelphia. Hat

Trick explained that after I had been floated into Elder Rasa’s office, there was a massive electrical

discharge that overloaded the bunker’s generators and disintegrated Doctor Scour, whom they still

refused to call Redundance for some reason.

Wait a minute. Massive electrical discharge?

Marelin the Flashback actually hit me with magic strong enough to kill somepony even witnessing its

memory!

I continued my lucky string of getting my squeaky questions across, as they continued to bring me up to

speed about the goings on of the last few months. Apparently the skies had opened, a stable dweller

had killed some mutant self-proclaimed goddess and set off a balefire megaspell to do it, the Enclave

had come down from the sky and gone to war with a slaver lord named Red Eye over in Fillydelphia, the

Steel Rangers had a civil war over ideology and some security mare from another stable had saved

Equestria by killing a god from the stars. Oh yeah, and there’s Alicorns all over the place. Just like Luna

and Celestia. They’re from that one Mutant goddess thing.

So all in all, not that much.

…

Pfft, okay I can’t. I just can’t keep a straight face. That is so completely absurd I just can’t even

comprehend it all happened in two months. Like, seriously?! ‘Oh, not a whole lot happened, Sundown.

Just the sun coming back, two gods dying, a few wars here and there, you know how it is.’

Ponyfeathers I say. Complete and utter Ponyfeathers.

Then again, I’m also the eternal spawn of Nightmare Moon some thousand and two hundred years from

the past that just got a chunk of their memories back, having no idea how they were lost in the first

place and I am also incapable of death on a cosmic level. Give or take a couple decades. You know how it

is.

Luna, you drive me to drink.

Anyways, resuming our travels after leaving the ruined bunker, we had snuck past a few of the lingering

forces of the Slaver Lord Red Eye, whom had been killed by the Stable Dweller (also known as the ‘Light

Bringer’ for somehow bringing the sun back) and his armies destroyed and scattered by the Enclave,

before they had a huge showdown at Hoofington with some equally horrible things that blew up all their

giant warships of doom and destruction. Nopony will tell me the exact details, because all of this

information comes from the charismatic voice of some stallion DJ that can be heard in a great many

areas of the Wasteland.

At this point I had finally realized that I had absolutely no weapons or armor to speak of to defend

myself. I was just an emaciated looking eternal batpony with three surviving initiates of the Steel

Ranger’s civil war that had come back to the bunker looking for… Wait a minute, why did they even

come back to the bunker if it’s been so long?

I made a screechy noise to get all of their attentions, before I poked Hat Trick in the chest and motioned

back toward the bunker.

“You want to go back?” she asked, tired from the long march along broken streets, sickly brown grassy

knolls and so much pulverized rock and ruined city.

I shook my head, and poked each of them while giving my best ‘Huh?’ look, and pointed back at the

bunker again. It took them a few moments and some guessing, but they finally pieced together that I

was asking why they had come back. Upon realizing what I had been asking, they resumed to hushed

tones out of my earshot, which happened to be about fifty hooves away at a whisper. They had me nod

or shake my head if I could still hear them, which made them worry even more at how far away they had

to be for me to not hear them whispering. Cheese Wheel noted that their average speaking must be

deafening, to which I face hoofed, having already told them as much.

On second thought I can’t really blame them for forgetting. I was dead for over two months, and I had

only known them for what, a few days at most? Actually, if I’m eternal, why can I even die in the first

place? Do I just get knocked out and my spirit comes back to say ‘Hey body, get your lazy flank up!’?

Eventually, their conversation was interrupted by another band of Red Eye’s slavers turned to Raiders,

and we had to duck for cover inside of a bombed out brickwork building that had once been a large

industrial scale cake factory.

‘FOREVER’ A slightly destroyed and yellowed poster from before the war said, my face scrunched into it

as I was thrown into a broom closet to avoid getting hit by stray bullets and magic beams ‘For my safety’

as Hat Trick said. The closet itself was fairly nice as closets go in that it still had a few chemicals, a mop

bucket with most of a mop still there, and a sink with a mirror. I guess the janitor of this building liked to

look at their reflection. Since the sounds of chaos, mayhem and general death related injuries were still

happening outside, and the door being locked, I decided to look at my own reflection in the-

“Eee!” I squeaked in panic, before realizing that reflection was me and not some horrible monster from

a foal’s storybook come to life to eat me.

I looked like a charred skeleton of a pony, coat barely clinging to my body as most of my muscles and fat

had either burned away or simply degraded to the point of nonexistence. My face was the very

definition of gaunt, and I think that calling myself a mummy earlier was actually a good guess. Bracing

myself for a smile, I noticed that my gums had all receded and exposed more of my teeth than normal.

My fangs now looked like spikes that would tear somepony’s throat out if I got too close, and my eyes

were bloodshot on top of being their usual dragonly slit pupil selves.

I can totally use this to my advantage to scare the pants off of somepony! This is gonna be awesome!

I now saw my wide smile in the mirror, however horrifying it may have been to anypony else, it was

making me even more excited at the idea of breaking down the wooden door that held me in this closet

in order to leap out, wailing like a banshee and helping out the Initiates.

“Hey, check that door before we go after those steel rejects!” a gruff sounding voice yelled from

outside the door, and I saw the handle rattling.

Oh, this is just perfect, Mwahahaha!

…

I’m still not an evil pony!

The door finally gave out from the now confused and startled unicorn on the other side of the door,

covered head to hoof in shoddy metal plating attached to leather as he dropped the door on the cement

floor of the bakery. My guess was that he was not expecting a Janitor’s closet to be holding a

mummified batpony with dragon eyes, and I would be right as he decided the best course of action for

his current situation was to gallop away while wetting himself before I could even start screeching at

him.

Aw… Well at least there should be more of these raiders around! This is a whole lot better now that I

know I can’t actually die.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Cut Throat?” The gruff voice from earlier asked, I assume to the

unicorn I had run off earl—Wait a minute.

Cut Throat the Raider pony? Who the hay names their foal ‘Cut Throat’ anyway?!

Broken from my thoughts, said Cut Throat the Raider Pony of Ridiculously Lazy Parents With Poor Taste

bounded around the corner with a few more of his buddies. Despite the fact that he was shaking behind

one of the larger earth ponies, the three new raiders he had brought with him didn’t really think much

of me, which I soon fixed as I spread my batwings and gave them a good earful of sonic screech to the

face from down the hallway. Using my newfound time to think about awesome ways I could torment

these raiders, I settled for shadow flashing around and screaming directly into each of their faces until

they would either melt or run off.

I’m not evil!

With my wide, mummified and fang filled grin, I flew at the raiders that were holding their ears or trying

to pick themselves off of the ground and slammed into Cut Throat. We flew together in a jumbled mess

right into a brick wall, where he broke my fall with a very satisfying Crunch of his spine being broken and

slumping to the floor.

“Hahaha!” I chirped squeakily, getting way too much joy out of how fun it was to…

Oh great. I’m turning evil, aren’t I?

Whatever, the Initiates are outgunned and I can’t die. Might as well have fun and be evil if it means I

won’t be helpless and crawling around on the floor sobbing like last time. In the Stable. With the Steel

Rangers who were going to kill me for being in the wrong place.

You know what? Why am I even helping the Steel Rangers?

Oh yeah, they came back for me and gave me food, but they never actually told me why they came back

in the first place.

Whoof-CRACK

I was literally smashed out of my thoughts with what looked like a street post that had been ripped out

of the concrete and flung through a nearby brick wall, adding to the stress of the Factory’s structure to

remain standing with a few groans coming from whatever ghost held it standing. I was covered in a dirty

brown and red dust mixed with the grey of concrete from the makeshift mace that had hit me, as I

struggled to get myself upright.

“Shum-nny whanna tell me wuh dat fing was?” The gruff yet muffled voice from earlier asked, a bit of

worry in his voice. I assume he was the one with the big mace, since his speech was so weird.

“I think it’s a Wendigo!” somepony yelped, barely in control of themselves. His comment earned him

what sounded like a smack on the face, several ponies arguing about the possibility of wendigoes being

present when there was no frost or snow, and the fact that wendigoes look nothing like pony mares.

“Enuff, let’sh go an git em.” Gruff Guy rumbled, and was joined by a few half willing cheers from his

raider buddies as they moved to the Sundown shaped hole in the brick wall.

During this time, I had seen fit to look at my surroundings and notice I was on the factory floor. Said

factory floor had a very high ceiling, with rafters that I could hide and maneuver around while in flight. I

also noticed that the Initiates had barricaded themselves in what looked like a site manager’s office with

some upturned tables and furniture barring the door. I had already tapped a hoof on the glass window

overlooking the factory floor that was filled with long since decayed cake, nearly spooking them enough

to shoot me through the window. I had finished telling them about the hole in the wall before Gruff Guy

broke a bigger hole in the wall with his mace. I then flew up into the rafters and waited for them to pile

in.

Setting his mace down, his voice was much clearer. “Alright. Spread out in groups of two and find the

weird monster thing. Shoot those tin heads if you find ‘em as well.” Gruff Guy said, picking up his mace

and joining a raider unicorn mare that was holding two machetes in the air with her cheaty powers and

looking more than a bit drugged out of her mind.

“Come on out, Wendi-go-go-go-GET OUT HERE!” Screamed Machete (That’s what I’m calling her.)

Deciding not to go near the crazed mare for the moment, I noticed that she was erratically stabbing

cakes that were near her while biting the blade of the other machete. Yes the blade, not the handle or

anything else. Her mouth displayed a canvas of scars, I imagine from her cutting herself so many times in

a fit of rage.

Deciding that enough was enough, I gave a series of squeaks to let the Initiates know it was about time

to open fire. The raiders had gathered in groups of four with their backs to each other and looked every

direction but up. That worked out just fine for me, and I swooped down from the ceiling screeching like

a banshee over the heads of the raiders who were either holding their ears or ducking for cover from

the magic beams coming from the three Initiates above them. As I banked left to do another screaming

run, I spotted a raider pointing a shotgun at me and shadow flashed behind her. Tapping her shoulder,

she turned around to expect one of her raider buddies, only to find my ear to ear death grin to greet her

before a wall of volume forced her to fall to the ground and hold her head together from the vibrations.

The gunfire and beams zipping through the air all around me were deafeningly loud, but at some point

my ears had given up trying to register the noise and became a painful ringing. It allowed me enough

respite to focus on my new goal of stealing from Machete.

Machete was busy jumping all over the place, picking up random objects with her telekinesis and

flinging them in the direction of the Initiates. I took this as my chance to tackle her in the middle of one

of her jumps. I couldn’t hear a word she said as I slammed into her, and my own screeching added to the

confusion as her ears started bleeding. Then I tried to wrestle her off of me, but in my emaciated and

near mummified state, she had a lot more strength than I did. We both plummeted to the ground soon

after I had crashed into her, and we tumbled through several raiders and cakes before coming to a stop

at the far end of the factory wall. She grabbed a hammer, two boxes of nails and a saw with her

telekinesis as I was getting myself off of the floor. I noticed that the cardboard boxes had fallen to the

floor, as a wall of carpentry nails flew towards me. I used my wing to try and shield me from it, but the

punctures of the nails just stuck in my wing like an Iron Maiden pointing at me. I didn’t really hurt like it

should, and that was worrying me. I didn’t know if that was because of me re-discovering my Eternal

nature, or the fact that I might not have the energy left to really feel it. My ears were already out of

commission and I was running out of steam to keep up with my attacks.

Then the Iron Maiden of my wing slammed into my ribs, as Machete had run into me at a full gallop

while I was still recovering. Trying to unstick my wing actually did cause me pain before I got the nail

embedded wing out of my chest. We both looked down at my chest, and noticed there was no blood.

She just seemed to get even more upset, and I was too confused to comment.

Beams of magic started flashing our way, streaking across our vision as the Initiates were too pinned

down for accurate fire, but still tried to help me out anyway. I used the momentary distraction to see if I

really could rip out somepony’s throat with my fangs and lunged.

Turns out it’s pretty easy.

Easy and satisfying.

… I’m not evil, I’m just really hungry still!

I saw Machete crumple to the floor and attempt a last few hoof punches in my direction before I turned

my focus to the other raiders. I still had her windpipe and some of her throat in my mouth, so I decided

that I would go for scare tactics again. With the gore still in my mouth, I screeched and swooped down

on them, dropping the giblets into some raider’s lap who then freaked out and started shooting at me

wildly. The Initiates had managed to drop quite a few of them, judging from the ash piles and scattered

bodies around the factory floor. Only Gruff Guy and three of his raider buddies remained.

I heard some muffled noises, and the flashes and gunfire stopped. Looking from my perch on the ceiling,

I saw the Initiates and the raiders walking towards another, so I decided to join in.

I landed pretty roughly, but instead of making me look like a fool for almost breaking a hoof in my

exhaustion, it spooked two of the raiders that were near me. Machete’s blood was still dribbling down

my face, and my nail-impaled wing wouldn’t close correctly, so I just left both of them open. It had the

effect of me looking like I would grab somepony in my wings and eat them, so I went with it.

Everypony seemed more than a little skittish about me trotting towards them with a big bloody grin on

my face, but I supposed since I did look like something out of a horror story that I could at least seem

cheerful. My ears were still ringing from all the damage they had suffered from the noise of the fight,

but Hat Trick and Gruff Voice looked to be making a deal of some kind while shooting nervous glances in

my direction every now and again. I didn’t really know what they were saying, so I nodded randomly

when they looked at me and always kept the fleshy grin on my face. I thought about menacing one of

the raiders who was looking at me, but even looking in his direction had him pointing a gun at me. I just

let out a tiny ‘Scree’ at him, and he nearly lost himself before getting smacked upside the head by

another raider.

I slowly trotted up to the argument between Gruff Guy and Hat Trick, looking between the two with my

mummified murder grimace. I was having way too much fun right now. I chirped at the both of them,

and they looked down in unison, only to yelp and move away from me at the same time.

Way too much fun.

Oh hey, the ringing is going away!

“-nt get that thing the hell out of here, I’m not gonna be so lenient on letting you tin cans through

here!” Gruff shouted, trying to act like he had any cards to play.

“We called this parley so Sundown here would stop slaughtering all of you! There’s enough dead

ponies in the wastelands now, so we don’t need any more!” Hat trick shouted back, trying to take a

moral stance.

“You mean that thing is on your side?!” Gruff asked, baffled.

“That thing is Sundown! She’s a Batpony!” Hat answered.

“You know what? Just get you, your friends, and that monster out of here!” Gruff yelled while backing

away with what remained of his crew.

Hat Trick let the argument drop, and after the Initiates had grabbed their things and spent some time

looting the bodies of the dead raiders, we set out from the warehouse into the battle devastated ruins

of Fillydelphia. The Initiates would look back at me every now and again with fear in their eyes as I met

their looks with a stare.

They’re scared of me…

Chapter 12: Initial Insecurities

Chapter 12: Initial Insecurities

We had traveled as a group for the next few days, scavenging, sharing rations and avoiding a few more

confrontations. My strength was returning after every meal and rest, and I was beginning to look more

like my old, non-mummified self. Instead of looking like a corpse, I now resembled a starved pony that

had been given a lucky break. During the night, the Initiates had kept an eye on me almost as much as

the wasteland, and I think it was because they thought I would eat them in their sleep. No new

memories came to me as I got a few hours of rest over the nights, and ended up being entirely

dreamless.

“Alright. Our new headquarters is about half a kilotrot from here, and we’re due back tomorrow so

we shouldn’t have much issue with Elder Rasa.” Hat Trick said, looking over a brewed pot of vegetable

stew and rations that she had prepared for us. I had long since eaten all of the apples they’d had, and

although it wasn’t as tasty or nourishing as those blessed apples, it still did the job well enough of

keeping us alive. During our travels and sparse encounters with ponies that sought to trade with us, the

Initiates had kept me out of sight. Now with the base coming up, I was worried if I would have to

disguise myself or hide to get in, or if I was the entire reason they went back to their old bunker in the

first place.

“We should radio in, so they know not to mistake us for raiders and take shots at us.” Cheese said,

scooping out some of the stew with a makeshift ladle into an old army bowl. Hat Trick passed off her

spoon to Card Trick so he could keep stirring, as she went to the radio equipment and messaged our

arrival. Over the past days I had managed to get all of the nails that were embedded in my wing out, but

it was still full of holes. Cheese had tried to use some of his healing magic, but it didn’t do anything for

me and confused him enough that the subject was dropped after about half an hour of trying to figure

out why. I knew it was because of Nightmare Moon’s eternal ‘gift’ that I had been unwittingly struck by,

but I felt it wouldn’t go down so well if I had explained that. At best, they would think I was crazy. At

worst, they would just try to kill me if they knew anything about history.

After we had finished our meal and reported in, we packed up and moved out in the direction of the

Steel Ranger base over the ridge. I knew that I could revive myself if I ever died, but I didn’t want to just

magically heal myself without explanation while I was walking with the Initiates. They would probably

think that I was an infiltrator of some kind that was taking on my appearance to find their new base.

As their new stronghold came into view, I noticed some power armored rangers along the makeshift

walls, patrolling with what looked like rocket launchers and miniguns on their battle saddles. Around the

area were some Scribes and Knights here and there, (I had learned that you could either become a

Scribe or a Knight, who later became Paladins.) along with more Initiates that looked like they had been

wandering around the wastes and given a Ranger’s uniform. Maybe they were recruited?

“Halt!” One of the armored Paladins called out, and we came to a stop.

“Stand and be recognized!” the Paladin ordered.

Hat Trick walked forward, and answered the challenge. “Initiates Hat Trick, Cheese Wheel and Card

Swipe reporting. Target in addition, non-hostile.”

The paladin paused a moment before spotting me. “That’s not what my EFS is saying, Initiate.

Whatever your target is, is flashing between hostile and friendly.” He warned, training his weapons on

me as a few more Rangers came up to investigate.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t having an easy time trying to not tear him in half. I was pretty sure I could, but I also

knew that it would get me killed again and then I’d have an even harder time controlling myself. I was in

conflict between part of me wanting to cause havoc, mayhem and destruction, and another part just

wanting to lay down and rest with friends. I saw a few of the Unicorn knights’ horns light up, but the

confusion on their faces told me something had gone wrong.

“We can’t tranquilize her, our spells aren’t working!” One of them was about to panic. I think they

must’ve been new, because the Knight and Paladins weren’t looking all that phased by what was going

on. They did, however, aim their weapons at me.

“Stand down! This is our mission’s target. We’re to report to Elder Rasa only, please move aside!” Hat

Trick called out before the situation became worse. A few of them backed down, but two paladins in

powered armor came towards us as escorts to the Elder, and we were allowed inside. I wasn’t too happy

at being called a ‘target’ again, but it was better than waking up all on my own without food or help in

the wasteland. As I was getting my own memories back, I was losing the few that I did have of my life in

the wastes. I didn’t even remember why I had come to that cave in the beginning of my story, or how I

had gotten there in the first place. I don’t remember what had made me so cheery and innocent,

because after some of my memories were returned from my life before, I was fighting some instinct to

just maim and kill everypony I saw.

We were brought to a large reinforced door that soon swung open to the inside of a building made of

brick and rusted metal. The inside was decorated with a few rotting carpets and banners, along with

wooden furniture that the apocalypse had been slightly more kind to. Judging from the stacked

munitions and medical supplies around, along with some rooms holding nothing but sleeping bags, cots

and additional bedding, it seemed fairly makeshift. There were hastily constructed barricades over a few

doors and some ceilings were propped up with metal beams that were melted into place.

“These Steel Rangers are going to imprison you; experiment on you!”

What? Where the hay did that voice come from?

“They will betray you! Run, escape from here!”

The voice in my head seemed pretty convinced of my impending doom, but I was still willing to give the

Rangers a chance to prove it wrong as we were lead to Elder Rasa’s office towards the middle of the

building. The Elder’s door was even more reinforced than the front door to the building, and after

several clicks it swung open, and we were called into the room.

“Initiates, debrief.” Rasa said sharply, as the Initiates went into the room and lined up. I followed after

them, deciding to rest on a dusty couch as the two Paladins escorting us came into the room and the

door slammed shut.

“Target apprehended, Bunker completely fubar. Skirmishes with raider groups, no casualties. Target

heard us coming, but didn’t attack. We gave food to the target, and were accompanied back to base.”

Hat Trick reported, and stepped back. Card Swipe spoke next.

“Target assisted in our defense against large band of raiders. Four survivors on their side, minor

injuries on ours. Total of twenty three casualties, unknown how many were killed by the target.

Possibly saved our lives. Raiders thought the target was a wendigo.” He stated flatly, and Cheese

Wheel finished.

“Informed target of happenings within last two months. EFS was reported to switch between friendly

and hostile in regards to the target. Target was found in severely emaciated state but is rapidly

recovering to former health.” He stated with purpose, and moved back. Elder Rasa looked at me, and

clicked on a sound dampening device.

“Now then, does your version of events follow with what was described?” Elder Rasa asked, earning

confused looks between the Initiates.

“Test… yep.” Was all I said before he made a motion to the two Paladins. Before I could look over to

them and see what they were doing, they were on top of me and trying to force a collar around my

neck! I tried screaming them off of me, but the dampener just made me sound panicked as it finally

clacked on as I was held on the couch.

“I warned you…”

“What is going on?!” I yelled, trying to struggle with ponies in power armor.

“Target is hostile.” One of the paladins reported.

“You think?!” I growled, spitting on his visor.

“Bring the Dampener with you, lock her in the observation room. No visitors.” Rasa ordered, looking at

the concerned faces of the Inititates. “You’ve performed your mission perfectly. You are dismissed.”

The Initiates saluted their Elder as I was dragged kicking and yelling from the room. Soon enough, the

Paladins had gotten tired of my resistance and clobbered me with their armored hooves.

”I’ll take care of you. Just go to sleep and let go…” The voice whispered in my ear, as I felt my vision

fading to black.

oooOOOooo

I found myself waking up in a dungeon cell, hooves shackled to the wall and laying on my side in a bed of

hay. Two guards were posted outside of my holding area, muttering to each other about their distaste of

bat ponies after Nightmare Moon’s attempted uprising. One was trying to talk the other out of entering

my cell and outright killing me, though was doing poorly considering I had killed his brother. My

movement was causing my chains to rattle, and draw the attention of the guards.

“Oh, look who’s awake.” The guard intent on murdering me had stated. “Nopony is gonna care if we get

some ‘free therapy’ in, are they?” he asked the other guard.

“What do you mean? She’s Celestia’s prisoner! We can’t do anything to her, or we’ll get banished, or

worse!” the guard of the brother I murdered had responded.

“Who’s gonna say it was us that did it? There’s a bunch of other guards on this shift, and they get

rotated every so often. Nopony will know it was us.” He darkly suggested.

“Except every single guard that can see what she looks like! They’ll all know we beat her up.”

“Not if we move her to the far end of the cell, out of the light. We can tell the next guards on shift about

just who this scum is, and they can get some therapy of their own in as well. Everypony keeps their

mouth shut, and we have ourselves a nice new punching bag.”

There was a pause as a look of conspiracy went between the two guards, and my cell door creaked open.

The guards snuck inside after making sure every other door in the block was locked and closed securely. I

knew that magic couldn’t hurt me, but I was still just as vulnerable to swords, maces, hooves and any

other physical weapon as almost anypony else. These guards where there when it was revealed that I

couldn’t die, so they knew this well in advance before roughing me up a bit, and moving me to the dark

corner of the cell and re-chaining me. This section of chains was to the ceiling, and I was hung by all four

hooves upside down. I couldn’t do much more than let out muffled pleas of mercy and agony as I was

pummeled, cut, slashed, beaten and bludgeoned all over my body. I had spat up blood and vomited more

than once at the damage being done to me. I had deep gashes and cuts covering my body, but I was

unable to die from my wounds as they kept up their efforts. After an eternity of their assault, the banging

of the next shift came from a door down the hallway. Huffing and panting heavily from exertion, the

guards gathered their equipment and locked my cell before speaking with the next set of guards to

replace their shift. I heard a few voices get raised in alarm, but they were quickly hushed as I heard their

hoof falls come closer.

“See, Nopony can tell she’s even hurt. Her eyes do a nice job of reflecting from the dark, so we didn’t

touch em. I’m sure she’s killed more than a few of your buddies, and she can’t do nothing to get back at

you either. Let this be a secret between us guards, because Celestia knows that the captains give us

enough reason to ‘unwind’ after a hard day’s work.” The guard that wanted me dead had said.

“You’re sure nopony will tell?” one of the new guards, a Pegasus, had asked.

“Of ‘course not. Just say that its part of her punishment from Celestia. Not all the guards are gonna like

carrying it out, but she killed my friend’s brother.” He spat in my direction through the cell bars.

A bit more convincing from the guard later, and all four of them walked in and locked the cell, intent on

getting their revenge for anything they thought I had done wrong, and then for things others had done

to wrong them. Towards the end, it was pretty much just because they could. My body had long since

been reduced to a heap of bruises, butchered flesh and disfigured bone as I dangled from the ceiling by

my hooves. I couldn’t move a muscle or lift my head. The only thing they didn’t hit was around my eyes,

but there was enough blood coming from my body and neck that I had been blinded a while ago. I had

long since stopped trying to fight the pain and heal myself, so I had died a few hours ago. I was watching

with detachment at what they were doing to my body, but only after the next shift of guards showed up

did they notice I wasn’t alive anymore.

“What the- You said she couldn’t die! She’s not breathing and the next shift is here!” One of the guards

panicked.

The other guards looked amongst themselves with worry, as the door to the cell block burst open. They

all hurried out of my cell and locked the door as Celestia herself rounded the corner, flanked by four of

her honor guard.

“I wish to speak with the prisoner.” Celestia stated, as the guards shared nervous looks.

“Shes… down in the washroom being cleaned, Princess Celestia!” the guard of the murdered brother

said, saluting with a shaky hoof.

“I just came from there, Sword Slash.” Celestia said with suspicion.

“Well then you must’ve just missed the prisoner then!” The murderer guard offered.

“Open the cell door.” Princess Celestia ordered, as the guards went into a minor panic. They tried to

come up with a list of excuses at the same time, and Celestia’s honor guard moved them aside as she

unlocked the door and stepped through. Her horn glowed only for a few seconds before finding me

dangling as a mutilated corpse from the ceiling before its magic cut out, plunging the room into darkness

again. Her face was contorted in anger and betrayal, as she whipped around to face the guards

responsible for protecting me.

“Did you do this?” She said with a tempered and level voice, all the more terrifying from the level of

anger barely contained from behind it.

“N-no, Princess Ce-“ A guard tried, before she flung the four of them against the wall with her magic.

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” She bellowed in her Royal Canterlot voice, meant to address thousands of

gathered ponies throughout the city. Used in the small confines of the dungeon, it was loud enough to

make the foundation shake with bits of dust raining from the ceiling as torches flickered on the walls and

the guards tried to appear as small as possible covering their ears.

While this was going on, I assumed it safe enough to revive my body. I tried to breathe, but my lungs had

been shredded by repeated stabs through my broken ribs. With my throat cut out and blood seeping

from my wounds, I only managed to gurgle and jerk in pain. The sounds caused all guards present,

including the honor guard of Celestia to jump in surprise as a few let out startled shrieks. Celestia turned

her gaze to my slowly repairing body, and ordered the four guards to be locked in a cell at the other side

of the block before walking next to me.

She studied me as my body slowly repaired itself. Eventually I was able to start screaming in agony at my

mutilated body, as I convulsed and shook uncontrollably in the air. Celestia stood there, watching in

horror as my features were warped and twisted into a form that roughly resembled the bat pony I was

before. I tried to ask for help, to get me out of this dungeon, but my voice was not repaired enough for

speech. It came only as squeaks and whimpers that she couldn’t understand as I begged and pleaded

with her to be released. Her personal guard soon returned, and she turned to address them.

“Take her to the gardens. Unshackle her when you get there.” She stated completely detached from the

horror she had witnessed, as I screamed and cried out to be released, to let me go. I had done nopony

any harm since Nightmare Moon had been banished. I hadn’t raised a hoof in anger against another

pony. I deserved to be released and set free.

Later, I stood atop a stone pedestal in the hedge gardens outside of Celestia’s palace. I was surrounded

by guards of all races as Celestia came forward. She didn’t say a word, nor did anypony else that was

present. Her eyes began to glow, along with her horn, and the Alicorn goddess of the sun cast a spell that

began to entomb me in stone. She was going to turn me into a statue!

I tried to fight it, to move and resist what was happening to me. I could feel my limbs locking in place and

unable to move or free myself from the stone that was replacing my body. My wings and chest were

soon locked, having been trying to fly away before the stone took them. Before the rest of my body was

encased, I pointed a hoof accusingly at Celestia with a look of pure hatred at having me trapped in

eternity, conscious, in stone.

The last few moments before my eyes were taken, I saw regret on the face of the Sun Princess. If I was to

ever escape, I would not show mercy to anypony in Equestria for what she had done.

After all, Nopony had shown any mercy to me.

oooOOOooo

I came out of the memory, shaking my head furiously to rid it of something that had become stuck in my

mane. Only then did I notice it was somepony’s intestine. I looked around at where I was, coming out of

a blinding haze as the world flew into focus.

Bodies.

Bodies of ponies were everywhere. Ripped apart, blown to bits, shredded beyond recognition. Scribes

had been impaled with their own weapons. Paladins had been burned alive in their armor, their charred

husks propped against walls and each other. Knights and Initiates had been ground to paste and thrown

from rooftops to become heaps of broken bones. Some were still alive, screaming for help or a quick

death.

I looked down at the ground, at my hooves. They were drenched in the crimson blood of those I had

killed while inside my head. I checked myself for injury but could find only scratches and bits of my coat

torn out.

“I told you I would take care of you.” The ethereal voice in my head said. It was soft, soothing even. It

calmed me when it spoke, filling me with a sense of belonging and companionship. I had never felt love

before, so I had no way of knowing what that was like. I had never had any true friends that I could

count on to be there for me in a time of need. But this voice sounded so familiar, like somepony I used

to know closely.

Who are you? I thought.

“You don’t need to worry about things like that now. All that matters is that I am here for you, and I will

never let anything bad happen to you.” She responded. Her voice flittered between words like a gentle

breeze, reassuring me that all was well in the world even as I strode through the devastation and

slaughter of the Steel Ranger base. I had nonchalantly kicked aside the limbs of a few ponies as I walked

through the building leading to Elder Rasa’s office in a dream like haze.

There was nothing to worry about, everything was going perfectly for me. I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t tired

or worrying about… anything. Nopony was hurting me, nopony was looking for me. All was well.

I heard gurgled coughing from a room nearby, and a walked through the archway that once held a door

to find Hat Trick laying in the corner behind a couch. Her magic rifle was shaking in her grip before it fell

to the floor with a clatter and she fell over in a heap. On a desk nearby was the Dampener, still going off

and muting the sounds of the room. Something told me that the dampener was the only reason she had

survived, as the bodies of Cheese Wheel and Card Swipe lay in the room as well. They were in bloody

shreds and Cheese was missing both of his forelegs. Hat Trick was still coughing, so I walked over the

corpses of her fellow Initiates and stood over her.

She looked up at me after a coughing fit, and tried to scramble away from me in terror. I stopped her

with a hoof placed on her chest, and she froze.

“Please… please don’t kill me. I haven’t done anything to you! I didn’t hurt you, I didn’t attack you! I

didn’t want you to be taken prisoner, please!” She begged, too weak to move the hoof I was resting on

her. I simply stared at her as she struggled, her eyes were desperate and pleading for her to leave me

alone.

“She’s lying.” The voice snapped, the gentle breeze turning into an angered tempest.

“You’re lying. Tell me the truth.” I said without emotion as her panicked efforts redoubled shortly before

her wounds sent her into a pained coughing fit and she spat out blood. I pressed my hoof into her chest,

causing her body to wrench in pain.

“We were sent to gather your body!” She cried out, and I set my hoof aside so she could speak.

“Elder Rasa started talking about old mare’s tales from before the war, about a moon of nightmares.”

She sputtered out the words between hacking coughs filled with blood. “He said that if we found you,

we would get promoted to Knights! Just jump straight up the ladder because he could do that for us.

So we went out to find your body, but you weren’t dead!” She was trying her best to explain, but her

body was too busy trying to stop her from talking and getting herself killed faster. I tilted my head

sideways, finding myself more interested in how long she would take to die than what she was actually

saying. “Rasa said that you had been alive, before the war. He said that you would be able to bring the

Rangers back together. He said you knew the Elements of Harmony!”

Pfft. Yeah, I know them pretty well. They sent Nightmare Moon away.

“He said that if you knew the Ministry Mares, that you would’ve known Applejack. That you would’ve

convinced the other Elders that it was our mission to protect other Ponies, not to be keepers of

technology.” Her breathing was becoming erratic and uneven. I was sure she was in her last few

moments of living. I had never heard of these ‘Ministry Mares’, or known an Applejack. All I was certain

of, is that they had planned to use me to settle some civil war. Planned to use me for their own ends

after having locked me away. So soon after that memory, I was never going to let myself be used again. I

was never going to be at the mercy of other ponies that time and again had treated me as property.

That had used me and abused me without any regard to my own sense of self.

She was still babbling about something. Talking about some device in a mountain that was going to fix

the wasteland and make everything better. I couldn’t care less, because Equestria was doomed to fall if

it was run by ponies like these Steel Rangers. They had allowed raiders and slavers to operate freely,

endangering the few innocent citizens of Equestria. I may have been the last of the Night Guards, but I

wasn’t going to let that happen any longer.

I needed to cleanse Equestria of the rot that was keeping it from returning to its former glory, and I was

going to start with Hat Trick and the Steel Rangers.

“Stay your hoof, Sundown.” The soothing voice asked. I was about to end Hat Trick by stomping her head

into the floor, but the voice asked and I listened.

“She will be useful to you. Find her a healing potion and she will be indebted to you.” The voice swayed

my opinion almost effortlessly, as it was far more relaxing and enjoyable to follow with it than to think

for myself. In a trance, I walked out of the room and left Hat Trick in a pool of her own blood and began

searching through the boxes of medical supplies that had escaped the devastation. I found a box that

had a hole through it, but I opened it to find three purple bottles of super rejuvenation potions,

although one had shattered and was only half full. I carried the box in my mouth, and set it down in

front of Hat Trick. She looked up at me weakly, before I opened the box and held the potion to her

mouth so she could drink. After the second bottle she was able to move on her own, and carefully drank

from the jagged edges of the last rejuvenation potion.

“Why?” she asked quietly, setting down the broken potion and looking at me.

The soothing voice spoke through me, though sounding like my own voice.

“You will follow me, Hat Trick. I have saved your life, so you are in my debt.” The voice spoke.

Hat Trick looked at me suspiciously, squinting her eyes like she was trying to find something in my face.

“Who are you?” She asked finally.

“The one who has saved your life, of course.” The voice replied with a cheery tone.

When the voice was not speaking, my face held an expression devoid of all emotion. I let the voice take

control of me, because it had guided me this far and protected me when I tried to defy it. I would’ve

been a prisoner again were it not for her efforts, and the voice was filling me with calm euphoria.

“We will travel to the ruins of Fillydelphia, to see if any of the slaves there have survived the battle with

the Enclave and Red Eye’s forces. From there, we will seek out any remaining Steel Rangers.” The voice

hummed, using my body to gather supplies and saddlebags for the coming journey.

“And why is that?” Hat Trick asked, gathering food and ammo into her own saddlebags.

The voice stopped searching and walked over to Hat Trick, placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

“Because they are the first that must be removed from the wasteland, if Equestria is to become whole

once more.” The voice smiled, sending shivers through Hat Trick. The voice went back to gathering the

last few bits of supplies, and Hat Trick followed her through the devastated wreckage of the compound

outside of the building. The main gate and surrounding walls were completely toppled or obliterated,

with the burnt and exploded corpses of ponies lay scattered about. Blood and gore was everywhere,

without a single survivor calling out for help.

“Don’t worry about the Rangers, Sundown. They were going to use you for their own ends. It is better

this way.” The voice washed over my worries like the tide, and I sank deeper into the comfort she

provided. I had noticed that while the voice was speaking, she didn’t need to be near an Audio

Dampener.

“Were you just messing with us, with your squeaking?” Hat Trick asked, having noticed as well.

“No, my voice was damaged when we met. I was only recently able to heal most of the damage that was

done to it.” The voice stated calmly, making me feel at peace.

“How is that?” Hat Trick asked, moving around a large rock that had propped up the corpse of another

Initiate.

“Do not worry about things that don’t matter, Hat Trick. All that matters is that we are safe for now, and

as long as you stay with me, you will be safe as well.” The voice stated softly, glancing back at a confused

and suspicious Hat Trick before looking forward again towards our goal of Fillydelphia.

“‘We’ are safe for now? Who is we?” Hat Trick asked, growing more suspicious.

“Well, Sundown and I of course. You can be safe as well, so long as you remain with us.” The voice

responded like she was teaching a classroom of Foals.

“You mean that you’re not Sundown?” Hat Trick asked again, getting something out of her saddlebag. It

was probably a snack for the road, nothing to worry about.

“Of course I am Sundown, and Sundown is myself.” The voice replied cryptically.

“So Sundown didn’t kill everypony back there, it was you?” Hat Trick asked, a clicking noise coming

from behind us as we abruptly stopped to look back at Hat Trick. She was holding a large and menacing

looking revolver in her magic, and aiming right at our head.

“We are Sundown, and Sundown is us.” The voice said with a bit of caution as she looked between the

revolver and Hat Trick. “We will cause you no harm, should you continue to-“

BLAM!

…

That definitely was a feeling that I’m sure somepony will have invent a new word for, just to adequately

describe. For now, I’ll just go with

‘Oh-my-bucking-sweet-Celestia-my-face-just-turned-into-shredded-meat-dear-goddesses-why-would-o

w-ow-ow-why’ as an apt descriptor.

Hey…

The voice is gone!

Then I fell sideways with a squishy flop, and my vision faded to black.

Chapter 13: Braggadocious Perspective

Chapter 13: Braggadocious Perspective

At some point, I am most definitely going to make this time travel spell entirely more bodacious. It takes

me a whole month just to travel a couple centuries time, and one would think that it wouldn’t be an

issue since you can just travel to any point in time, thus making the travel time completely pointless. The

only problem with that, is you’re stuck contemplating life while flying through a tunnel of eldritch

horrors and your Grandmare Butterscotch.

“Are you shure you don’t want my candies, shweety?” Grandmare Butterscotch asked with a fluctuating

voice as she gently drifted around me for the six thousandth time, offering me her endless supply of

Butterscotch Candies that nopony in their right mind would want.

“I am most fine, Grandmare Butterscotch.” I, Braggadocious, had answered.

She had since lost the appearance of an elderly mare about a millennium ago, but that didn’t stop her

from pretending that she wasn’t killed the second I discovered this spell though experimentation. Yes I

feel responsible, but she’s also been able to run a fairly extensive candy empire here in the lands

between time and space. I’m fairly certain she’s even entertained a few cosmic horrors as guests for tea.

“Are you shure you don’t want my candies, shweety?” Grandmare asked again, forgetting that we had

had this conversation countless times before. Unless this was her form of paying me back as revenge.

“Just fine, Grandma.” I huffed. The end of my journey was coming up, and It couldn’t happen fast

enough. I had just returned from informing Marelin about my encounter with Sundown in the first

Balefire War before Celestia dropped in on the conversation just as I was mentioning the ‘Entombed’

Night Guard that was afflicted with the magical corruption of Nightmare Moon. The Sun Princess had

originally planned to have Sundown preserved and protected against any harm or would be murderers

while she was frozen, but judging from the Bat pony’s expression set in stone, she wasn’t appreciative of

it.

I know that if I had been frozen in stone for over a millennium that I wouldn’t be harboring any good

feelings, especially since Celestia had forgotten that whole part about rendering the pony you’re casting

the spell on unconscious before you cast it. I was actually more surprised that Sundown hadn’t gone

completely insane while she was trapped as a statue all that time, but she didn’t seem to be all there in

the first place when I met her.

“Are you shure you don’t want my candies, shweety?” she asked again, giving me a wink this time that

almost made me explode with frustration. My exit was almost here, thank the goddesses, so I controlled

myself.

“Thank you for your time, Grandmare. See you later!” I called out to her, as my exit from the wormhole

yanked me through the portal.

BLAM!

My portal had opened to the sound of a single, loud gunshot as I tumbled through the air, contorting so I

didn’t end up impaled on something in the wasteland before I fell to the ground with concrete crunching

under-hoof. I looked up in time to see Sundown falling over with a fairly squishy flop, her blood gushing

from where her head used to be and her throat was gurgling blood.

“Whoa. Most unpredicted.” Well, it was true. I was hoping to return before somepony had killed her, but

I guess I took longer than I had thought.

“Who the fuck are you?!” A unicorn mare holding a large and dangerous looking revolver shouted at me,

voice cracking from apparent stress.

“Fear not, for I am Braggadocious. Student of Mar-“

BLAM! I cringed, and quickly checked myself.

She had shot into the air this time, thankfully.

“Who. The fuck. Are. Yooouuu!” She screamed from barred teeth, looking ready to tackle or shoot me if

I said something stupid again. I had forgotten that I was in the wastelands, not Canterlot.

“Friend! I am a friend, and I mean no harm to you!” I hastily replied, hooves upheld in surrender as I sat

down on the concrete. She was breathing heavily and straining to hold back what looked like a whole lot

of anger. I wouldn’t be wrong in saying she had just turned Sundown’s head into a new bowl, so I didn’t

like the thought of my head becoming another demonstration of her bone carving skills with a revolver.

“Do you know what the fuck just happened here? Do you know what this monster just did to everypony

I knew?! She killed them! Every single fucking one of them are dead now because of her, and she can’t

even die!” She was ranting now. Her magical hold on the revolver was aiming it erratically and I didn’t

trust that she wouldn’t shoot somepony on accident, including herself.

I looked over at the corpse of Sundown, her brains scattered on the filthy ground and her head had

become a goopy paste.

“Don’t you even dare say ‘she looks dead to me’ or I will end you!” she screamed, pointing at me with

the revolver and now a magic pistol that she had picked from in her magic.

“Do you know what the worst part of it is? She wasn’t even in control! Not the Sundown I know,

something fucking possessed her and went on a rampage! The only thing I could think of to help her,

was shooting her in the face! I don’t know if she can come back from that, but at the very least she

won’t be able to kill anypony else.” Her anger was beginning to fade, and was being replaced with

exhaustion and grief. I decided not to press her, as she was probably going to break on her own.

“I… I can’t anymore. I can’t take all of this bullshit in the wastes, not on my own. I’m not stupid enough

to ask a pony that literally drops out of the sky, especially when they look like a… wizard.” A look of

confusion spread across her face, before she asked my name again.

“I am Braggadocious…” I paused, waiting to see if she would shoot me for the full name, but she spoke

before I could continue.

“You were there, at the Stable?” She asked cautiously, still pointing a lot of death in my direction.

“Most certainly.”

“Why? Sundown said that you had blown up the stable, and healed everypony. But the only problem

with that is that nopony can remember the same stable, let alone seeing a wizard.” She was dropping

her guard. Her weapons were pointed towards the ground in front of me, so I took the opportunity to

switch the safeties on while she was distracted.

“I can’t tell you why. She is correct that I healed all of you that I could, although some of your allies were

already too badly hurt or injured for my skills to fix.” I explained with a forced calm, heart beating from

the adrenaline of having weapons pointed at me. I knew that they couldn’t kill me outright, as a gift

from Marelin saw to it that I was well protected. Not invincible, but protected. I call it ‘The Bro-ach of

Marelin’ to annoy her. They would still hurt to get shot with though.

“I’m guessing it would be too much to ask you to fix all of this?” She gestured with a magic rifle held

with her telekinesis at the carnage of the devastated Steel Ranger base. Corpses and shredded

equipment strewn everywhere like a hurricane of blood and death had leveled the place.

“I can see who I can help. Do you know who the most recent to die was, aside from Sundown?” I

lowered my forehooves and stood up, cautiously walking towards the emotionally distraught mare.

“My friends… Cheese Wheel and Card Swipe. They died next to me.” She said quietly, guns clattering to

the concrete without a care for their condition. I offered my help, and she led me through the carnage

into a small room with an Audio Dampener. The one she had pointed out to be Card Swipe was a

crunched mess of bloody ribs sticking from a caved in chest, and Cheese Wheel was missing his limbs

with a look of agony and terror frozen on his face.

“I will do what I can for them.” I promised, holding them in the air with the bright glow of my magic.

With sickening crunches and blood spurting from the effort of placing bone and limbs where they should

be, I gave my best attempt at Necromancy. Normally to any Unicorn in Equestria, the knowledge of the

Zebra’s Black Book would be kept a secret, penalty of death. I, however, was a student of Marelin and

close friend to Celestia for centuries. It pays to know the right ponies.

My usual orange and red colored aura of magic was replaced with a null black, draining the color from

the room into a greyscale shift that streaked into my horn. The bodies of the Steel Ranger’s friends were

lifted by this same void and floated into the air.

“Are you sure that you wish your friends returned?” I asked with my eyes closed, concentrating on the

next portion of the spell.

“Do it already!” she snapped back. Very well then, nopony must’ve told her to be careful what she

wished for. The bodies were bathed in a black and grey fire, a growing whirlpool of dark magic coming

from beneath them as I chanted the words necessary for the ritual to begin in earnest.

“Mittentis reditum de morte ad vitam, robur animae ad reparare, ad renovandam vitam. Integro corpore

et spiritu vivificetur et ligare.”

“Qui patitur amor, qui habitant fames esse constitit atque benignus. Et mors ultra non dicere te , et in

perpetuum exilium a falce metit.”

“Maledicens animam scilicet et amicus est tibi in ministerium eris. Contemnis malitia et ad inimicorum

odia , ne pro defectu tui tuendae poenam sempiternam.”

At this point, the room was a complete hurricane of necromantic energy, the final words of power to be

spoken to bind the souls to their master proper. All sound, all light and all movement had stopped to

witness this unnatural event. The dark light of the spell’s power had torn several cracks in the

foundation and walls of the building in which it was cast, the eyes of the Initiates friends becoming pure

white orbs, glowing and searching for their souls to return.

“Anima vestra revertetur ad reliquias ossa tenentur domino stat dum mortis data est gratia. Servabis

Donec soluti corpore tueri permaneas in eius servitio. Surgam, et factum est. Non permisit quies!”

The spell was completed with a vicious shout, as the souls of the initiates were ripped from their

enjoyment of the afterlife and dragged screaming back to their bodies, held together from the force of

the spell and sealed forever in their bones. In a final release of energy, the screams of the damned

exploded outwards from the building. The souls of those Steel Rangers recently dead and dying were

scattered to the winds in a final flash of agony before the sound, light, and natural color of the world

swam back to take the place it once held.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHGGGG!!!” the Initiates screamed, living in pain from their wounds being noticed

as they awoke from death. The Initiate that had requested her friends be returned to her had forgotten

me entirely at this point, and I had to make sure that Sundown hadn’t used this time to regenerate

herself and escape. She brushed past me, trying to console her friends and get them to calm down as I

briskly trotted out of the building in search of the tainted night guard.

The muffled sounds of the panicked and pained Initiates faded away as I determinedly marched past the

smoking wreckage of burnt out power armor and fused plating of a few Paladins as I saw Sundown’s

corpse already twitching and willing itself back to life in a spasmodic heap of twisted magic. Screeches

and high pitched yelps of agony escaped the now reforming mouth of the resurrected night guard, as I

opened another portal back to pre-war Equestria and shoved her still recuperating form into it. Giving

the surrounding devastation a last glance, I hopped into the maelstrom after her as the portal closed.

“Equitum portæ ad terram , pro duobus placer.”

Portal to Horse Land, Room for two please.

Just because it looks fancy, doesn’t mean it is.

Chapter 7: Braggadocious Balefire

Chapter 7: Braggadocious Balefire

Then the monster of Stable 96 exploded. Twice.

What in Luna’s moon!?

Getting myself off of the old restaurant’s floor, I peered through a window to the now crater of Stable

96 that had doubled in size. It had turned into a white hot bowl of glowing heat and fire, as a pony

shaped figure wearing a completely ridiculous outfit that looked like it had leapt out of the pages of

some old mare’s tale. Billowing cape, pointy wizard hat and flowing robes all with flame decals adorned

the approaching stallion. He looked like the embodiment of balefire and radiated heat from his fiery red

coat, with an orange and white mane that resembled an inferno with eyes like a campfire. In his

hoofsteps were ashen imprints of his passing. He kept his head bowed low as he approached the

wounded Steel Rangers and I managed to pick my jaw up from the floor, only to have it drop again as I

got a full look at his downright regal features.

“Greetings and salutations, my most splendid of Equines!” He announced, in a voice that resembled

surfer bronies from some old videotape of the Neighties. “I do most profusely apologize for my pets

must un-cool temper tantrum. I assure you, my metal bros and night guard, that I won’t allow this

unfortunate happenstance to occur again.” The blazing unicorn announced with a flourish.

What.

Paladin Copper Wire staggered beside me, still wounded but with his eye swollen instead of hanging

loosely from his face. After a moment of pained breaths and attempts at speech, the fire wizard spoke

again.

“Oh! Most uncool, Brah!” he said, somehow keeping his voice authoritative yet cheery with his odd

accent. “That must’ve been the work of my obliterated pet, yeah?” he pointed at Copper Wire while his

horn lit up like a miniature sun. An aura of gold and red enveloped Copper Wire as he slowly lifted from

the ground, the weight of his power armor and earth pony heft like he was an action figure to the image

of fire. “I’ll have all of you right as rain in a moment, dudes. No prob.” He said, smiling and bobbing his

head at random, his eyes flicking around like sparks from a forge as he looked over the Paladin. Then

with a bright flash, he released the paladin and he landed on the ground with a resounding

THUD-CLANG of metal and mass.

My mouth had somewhat regained its ability of speech, as I attempted to ask who this strange unicorn

of fire was, but only squeaked as usual.

“Who…?” I managed.

“Fear not, Night Guard bro-mare. I understand your confusion! I am Braggadocious, Best Student of

Marelin sixteen centuries running, and the Element of Fire, brah. When news of my latest

experiment’s escape had reached my most wonderful ears, I immediately absconded in search of him!

Imagine my most intense befuddlement that my audacious pet had traveled time to a wasteland of

death and most heinous suffering of pony kind. The Laws of Time state that I can’t intervene with your

lives, nor solve the conundrums you face, but I can most certainly fix all the mistakes that my indirect

interference has caused and set you back on the path you would’ve properly traveled!” Braggadocious

finally finished, taking a large breath as his form seem to be stoked like a fire with the intake.

“Now, if you would all congregate in an orderly manner, I’d be most willing to assist your injured and

deceased bros and mare-bros with my incredible magical skill!” He announced to the gathering group

of Steel Rangers.

Paladin Copper Wire groaned and shifted himself from the floor to stand up… completely healed!

“What… what happ- where am I?” He stammered in confusion as he looked around from the hole in his

helmet between Braggadocious, the wounded Rangers and myself.

“All will be explained in time, Metal Brosef. Gather your clan and I will save those I can. Hah, I

rhymed! I must’ve spent too long in Roam again.” The spirited fire mage cheered with a grin across his

face, trotting in place while sending up tufts of smoke from his hoof falls.

Oh crap, now my descriptions just rhymed. It’s spreading!

“Who are you?” Paladin Copper Wire asked, before being cut off by Scribe Hay Hen.

“I request you rest. Braggadocious here has offered assistance and… revival of our friends.”

Now she’s rhyming!

The paladin seemed completely over his head, so instead just huffed in confusion and walked off in a

daze to gather the wounded and dead of his Stable exploration force.

“So, most beautiful of the night guard I’ve seen in these lands, what brings you to this cloud covered

and horrific time? Seeing the sights or looking for your own lost experiment?” The element of fire said,

a bit too close for comfort as I began sweating from the heat radiating off of him.

“Um…” I squeaked, leaning away from him being invading my personal space.

“Worry not, bro-mare. I can understand you perfectly! It’s not that hard to reverse a mute-ation spell

after all, and I know the Night Guard are soft spoken when they want to be!” he chuckled, while

draping a foreleg over my shoulders and pulling me closer to the furnace that was his body. His hooves

were like stones in the desert. I began sweating and squirming even more, trying to get away from the

Element of Fire before I burst into flames, and he soon realized why I was moving around so much.

“Oh, my most sincere apologies bro-mare! I hadn’t even realized I was bleeding off so much energy

from the transportation spell.” And with a bright flash of his horn, the ethereal fire that had engulfed

his body disappeared to reveal what looked like a regular (albeit incredibly clean, for the wastelands)

unicorn stallion. He was still in his fire adorned garb, but no longer venting off heat like an erupting

volcano. “Would you be so forgiving as to give Braggadocious your name? It would do me no good to

keep calling you Bro-mare, after all.” He requested, taking one of my hooves in his own while looking at

me.

What is happening? Somepony help me what is going on!

OhmyLunawhatisgoingonimgoingtodiewhyismyheartdoingthishelp!

“Oh, bummer. I’ll see you when you wake up then, Night Guard Bro-mare!” the mage said as my vision

began to blur and I fell backwards into the dirt.

oooOOOooo

Bright green fields, night skies with white puffy clouds and a gentle breeze carried me through the air as I

soared over what looked like a small village next to a forest. Not a care in the world for the cold nipping

through my coat and freezing the silver and midnight plated armor I was wearing as I glided through the

sky at this altitude, gazing down and watching the ground for anypony in distress or need of aid as I

carried on my nightly sweep of the hamlet a mere twenty kilo trots from Canterville.

Nothing usually happened this far out, but it was still my duty to make sure that Princess Luna’s night

was as safe as her sister Princess Celestia’s day. Besides, I got to enjoy the star filled sky that Luna had so

diligently worked to create every single night for the subjects I was now watching over, even if none of

them ever did stay up long enough to enjoy it. I had heard the reports of the regular ponies insisting that

Luna’s night was full of terrors, demons and other nonsense they had convinced their foals that would

gobble them up as soon as they left the safety of their lamp-lit hovels. I can see why Princess Luna was so

hurt. After all, enough light in one area would block out the absolute beauty that she had crafted every

night for her subjects enjoyment, only to be scorned and rejected on the sheer principle that the night is

dark.

If only the villagers could appreciate the night in the same was as Luna’s Night Guard could. There would

be no more fear or misunderstanding about the night, no more arguments between Princesses Celestia

and Luna over the Princess of the night being ignored and shoved into the shadow by the older sister’s

day.

Suddenly, a bright flash appeared in the night sky, streaking across the tapestry of Luna’s creation… and

headed right for—oof!

oooOOOooo

Uhg… my head. Why did… Did I pass out? What kind of dream was that?

“Most splendid Mare of the Night! You’ve returned to the land of the conscious once more!” The

chipper fire mage blurted out, his head popping upside down and staring at me as I opened my eyes to

the blinding sun… Or his face.

“The rescue of your allies is nearly finished, as is my time in this plane of reality. Would it be true, that

I would be able to learn of your name before I depart, shy Bro-mare?” he offered one of his burning

hooves to lift me up, his spells apparently re-heating him enough that he had grown tired of dissipating

all the energy after each cast.

“My name is Sundown.” I squeaked at him, hoping he could actually hear me as I remembered he had

said before.

Braggadocious paused his spell casting for a moment to look at me curiously, before finishing with the

last of the Steel Rangers that had been mutilated by the monster of the stable… or his pet, I should say.

“That is most interesting! Night Guard Sundown… I may have to return here after all.” he finished,

muttering to himself. He might be able to understand me, but I don’t think he knew that my hearing was

as good as it is.

“Mage… Braggadocious, was it?” Paladin Copper Wire asked, completely healed and his armor repairing

itself as a scribe fed what looked like scrap metal and gems into a port on the side of his suit.

“Student of Marelin, Braggadocious, Element of Fire.” He said with an exaggerated bow and the…

The HOOFSHAKE.

Even a downright demi-god of magic does it! It’s so dangerous, does nopony realize the danger of

offering your hoof to somepony!

“I would ask if this is some kind of trap, but considering that you’ve returned nearly every one of my

brothers and sisters from even death itself… Do you need anything as payment for your-“ Paladin

Copper Wire nervously asked before he was cut off.

“Worry not, my well-armed metal-bro. I’ve almost more than I will ever need, and I’m certain you

would need any supplies you could get your hooves on in this environment. I bid you good luck, and

may the Princesses of Sun and Moon watch over you!” he announced with a final flourish, before

vaporizing in a massive flash of light that I was frantically trying to blink away for a few minutes

afterwards.

Click. Beep! Beep! Beep! Click.

“Scribe Hay Hen, Radio please.” Paladin Copper Wire asked abruptly, gathering himself before reporting

to the radio’s signal.

“Paladin Copper Wire, respond, over.” The voice on the radio demanded.

“Paladin Copper Wire responding to message, over.”

“Report status, over.”

“One Target captured, four missing and presumed dead. Casualties… minimal. Three in total.

Identification Tags were retrieved before detonation of Stable 96, upon encountering unstoppable

mutant beast…thing. Over.”

“Right… Have a report ready as soon as you report back to base for Debriefing. You stated a fifth

target, over?”

“Confirmed. Claims to be a ‘Batpony.’ Served during the fighting to assist myself and three Initiates.

Initiates request integration of target into their squad on arrival, over.”

“Report back to base, Paladin. The Elder will review your report and decide then, out.”

Click.

The paladin returned from his conversation to find myself talking with Cheese, Hat and Swipe in a corner

of the restaurant along with Clear Report and Hay Hen. Several other Steel Rangers were around us as

Hat recounted the tale of how the three initiates and myself managed to navigate our way around the

‘Death Stable’ as they had begun calling it, without a scratch or injury until the very ending scramble.

They had put a lot of praise into my hearing keeping them safe, even if I was next to useless in an actual

fight. Clear Report quickly pointed out that nopony could stop that thing even if they were the Stable

Dweller herself (Whoever that was) before they slowly went silent as they noticed Copper Wire over

them.

“Alright. Everypony ready to move out? We have another mission.” The paladin said with a flat tone.

Grumbles and murmurs of discontent went through the group before they realized the paladin was

within earshot, as they assembled in the now clear central area of the restaurant.

“Yes Paladin! All ready to move!” They announced as one to the paladin.

“Good. Our next mission is going to be a long and difficult one. Even more difficult than the ‘death

stable’ we just went through.” He deadpanned.

More murmurs and quiet voices of protest rang from the group, and a few of them had begun to sweat

that anything could’ve been worse than that stable.

“Paladin Copper Wire, where are we going sir?” Cheese Wheel asked.

The paladin paused for a moment, looking over all of them before walking nose to nose with Initiate

Cheese Wheel before he said, “Going Home, Initiate.” And burst out into laughter as even the veteran

rangers had nearly collapsed to the floor in relief at the news. Several cheers of hot meals, warm beds

and hopes of alcohol to wash their worries away from the nightmare of not even a few hours ago began

to flood their minds at the plans already being made for when they got home. I couldn’t help but smile

at the news, and was thankful that I received a few hugs and pats on the head instead of stares of anger

or disgust for my fangs and teeth gleaming in the light as I smiled wide, before Hat Trick asked, “Paladin

Copper Wire, what of Sundown? Is she going to be allowed to join us at the base?”

Steel Rangers I hadn’t even met murmured in agreement with me joining them, as Copper Wire

answered, “Yes Initiate. Sundown is going to be coming with us. Even if she is a ‘Target’ for our

mission, being grouped with those four survivors of Stable 96, she has aided us immensely in our

mission. Would any disagree?” he challenged, looking over the Rangers. To my immense glee, not one

of them did as I was floored from the cheer of the Steel Rangers.

“Alright, Alright! Enough, you’re hurting the batpony’s ears!” Card Swipe waved his hooves, getting

their attention as I was helped to my hooves by Hat Trick and Cheese Wheel.

About half an hour after we had packed our gear and moved out from the ruins of the city and our

restaurant post, the Initiates had been discussing the random appearance of Braggadocious, who had

already become something of a myth amongst the Rangers that saw him to the Rangers that were

wounded or unconscious, not believing in a tale of some unicorn of fire appearing out of nowhere to

make everything right again out of the blue. A few pointed out that they wouldn’t have thought of those

monsters in the stable before today either, but with the deaths of their friends and allies being tied with

that statement, they dropped the subject and we continued our march to wherever the Steel Ranger

base was.

As I was just about certain that my hooves were going to fall off, I switched to using my wings to hover

around and keep pace with the trotting Steel Rangers. I heard some muffled communications between

the power armored Paladins of the Steel Rangers, keeping a watch out with their EFS for any movement

or signs of hostile intent as they swept and scanned around the traveling group. A few scribes were

talking to Paladin Copper Wire about the need to blindfold me before they reached their base, because

that was standard procedure in case I was a spy, but Scribe Hay Hen questioned the validity of

blindfolding somepony that can see with sound in the dark. She also stated that I didn’t have a Pipbuck,

so it’s not like I could give anypony a map directly to their base either, but they decided to blindfold me

anyway to keep with procedure and not get in trouble for negligence after the apparent failure of their

mission. Well, they were supposed to bring some technology back with them from that stable, but that

was pretty much cut short from the giant monster and huge explosion, then Braggadocious’ entrance of

balefire to the area pretty much sending any hopes of salvage to the winds.

At least being blindfolded meant I could get off of my hooves and give my wings a rest. I was used to

traveling the wastes, sure, but I wasn’t used to traveling so long and slowly over rocky terrain when I

could just fly everywhere under cover of darkness. I was placed on the back of a Paladin somewhere

near the center of the convoy, from what I could tell by echolocation and squeaks of discomfort giving

me some idea of where I was. The paladin I was laying on didn’t seem to mind or notice me, and at least

they didn’t see fit to tie me up again. I rested my belly on his armored back while I draped my hooves

over his sides and let my wings cling to my side as I rocked around from his movement.

Bunch of rocks getting knocked around by hooves. Cl-clank, Cli-clonk. Cli-Clack, Cli-clop. Yay walking

noises! I wonder if Braggadocious is going to show up again anytime soon. Probably not, he seemed

pretty busy. Why am I thinking about Braggadocious when I’m going to an uncertain fate with Steel

Rangers? I only knew him for less than an hour, did he really make that big of an impression on me? He

only talked to me for a few moments and I outright fainted. Maybe I have a crush on him or something…

Aw, that’s just mean, brain! Giving me a crush on a buck I can’t even see again because he travels

through time on a whim.

I squeaked a huff, slightly startling somepony that sounded like Hat Trick traveling beside me.

“Oh, hey Sundown. I thought you were sleeping. You doing alright?” she asked. I was blind, so I

couldn’t read her expression. She seemed pretty calm though.

I lifted my head to nod and stared in her direction, looking where her eyes would be.

“Whoa, that’s really creepy. Can you see me with that blindfold on?”

I tilted my head at her, and shook a hoof side to side.

Sorta?

“Like, can you see normally or… I don’t even know how to ask how you can see.”

To demonstrate, I set out a series of rapid clicks ending in a short screech, and I saw her ears fold back in

fright at my sudden burst of noise as a few ponies stopped outright to question what the hay noise that

was. I tried to melt into the back of the Paladin to avoid looks, before the group started moving again. I

pointed at where I thought Hat Trick was, and let out a series of clicks and a smaller squeak to point at

where she had moved to, booping her on the nose.

“That’s really freaky, but cool at the same time! I’m guessing they blindfolded you because of

protocol?” I heard Cheese Wheel ask.

I nodded, and the group was stopped as a call to hold position was repeated down the line to those

without radios. Chirping, I noticed the rangers were taking positions to cover the side of the road we had

been traveling. Focusing, I heard whoops and cries of raiders in the distance, but they were moving

away while shooting at somepony. Probably a caravan.

Raiders and Caravans. At least the name is relevant, I guess.

Soon enough, we were on the move again as the Initiates talked with me about being a Batpony and

questioning why I was out in the wastelands, and asking why they hadn’t seen more than just me as far

as batponies went. I didn’t really have an answer to that, because as far as I knew I had always just been

on my own in the wastes. Sure I had some gaps of memory here and there, but it all seemed to fit well

enough. Even if that one dream I had was totally strange, it was still just a dream, right?

A loud roar made me jump from the conversation, as I heard a few ponies stop and look around for

whatever had made the noise. I held my stomach and fell off the back of the Paladin, rolling on the

ground in a long skree of pain.

I heard a few ponies looking at me, and asking what had happened before Cheese Wheel asked,

“Um, Sundown? When was the last time you ate?” giving me a nudge on the side with a hoof.

My expression must have spoken for me, because next thing I knew I had some apple tasting thing

shoved in my mouth and I froze.

Apples. They have APPLES!?

I bolted upright, nearly head-butting a scribe as the drained husk of the apple fell from my fangs and I

looked around in a blindfolded frenzy for more of the blissful blobs of delicious goodness. My squeaks

and screeches announcing my zealous need for more of the gift from the goddesses before I was held

down with a hoof by a paladin, as Copper Wire came back to investigate what was going on.

“Paladin Copper Wire, I don’t think Sundown has eaten… anything in the past few days. I heard her

stomach growl a few canters back! She must’ve been starving so I gave her an apple and…” I was still

squeaking so I saw the scribe raise the drained husk of the apple I had devoured the juices of bliss from

in an instant. “It was completely shriveled before she even sat upright! Batponies don’t drink blood,

right?” I swear I could feel him shivering next to me, but I only had fangs for the apples I knew he was

carrying in his saddlebags.

I had managed to eat about four or five more of his apples before I was torn in protest from his treasure

trove of delight (Saddlebags) by at least four scribes and a paladin, my screeches of anguish going

unheeded as I cried out for more apples.

I’m not one to usually brag, but I’m pretty strong. There’s a reason I used a sledgehammer as my

weapon of choice and it wasn’t for looks.

Regaining my hoofing, I managed to buck off two scribes and shake a third off before I dived back at the

apple bearer when a gunshot rang out with a very upset Paladin Copper Wire shouting.

“Sundown! Calm down immediately or we’ll be forced to tie you up!”

I fell to the ground covering my ears from the volume of the shot, using a free hind hoof to paw at the

scribe who was backing up in terror from me as I was tackled by the now annoyed scribes I had chucked

off of me. I was secured to the ground and I heard the murmurs of gossip as the scribe looked through

his saddlebags and began pulling out fruit husk after husk that I had eaten in the blink of an eye.

“Wow… At least we know what to feed you now. I was worried we’d have to go hunting or

something.” Card Swipe said with a bit of surprise in his voice, before looking at the other Initiates

staring at him. “What, don’t bats eat meat or something?”

“She’s a Batpony, Card. Fruits and vegetables, duh.” Cheese responded.

“Well jeez, mister batpony expert, So-ree.” Card snarked.

“Alright that’s enough. Sundown, Hold your hunger until we get to our base. We should have enough

to feed you, unless this was just a snack… Please may this have not been a snack.” He finished with a

quiet prayer to Celestia and Luna to cut him some slack after what happened today.

I spent the rest of the trip on the back of the Paladin, staring blindfolded at the (very worried and

smelling of sweat) holder of deliciousness that was apples. I held two hooves up to my eyes, before

pointing one of them at the Scribe of Apples, and he fainted on the spot. He later awoke right beside my

blindfolded self, smiling open mouthed with my fangs out and he yelped in surprise and tried wiggling

off of the paladin. After that it was mostly me just messing with whomever got within squeaking

distance and asking if they had any apples, vocal range be damned. Sadly, they either slowed down

enough to keep a distance from me or shook their head and trotted forward.

Eventually we came to a halt and I heard the paladin receiving commands through the radio his helmet

was muffling and I was set down, blindfold being taken off finally. After being momentarily blinded by

the light, my eyes adjusted and we walked through some very heavy looking blast doors to an

underground (Yay!) bunker. The flooring was lined with steel paneling and there were a few floor and

ceiling turrets at the main entrance as our group packed tightly together as the doors shut closed with a

loud KU-CHINK, like a massive deadbolt slamming it into place. Scribes and paladins began filing out of

the room as soon as the door opened, going to wherever it is that Steel Rangers go to after a mission, as

an older looking unicorn in a faded crimson robe came through the doorway to speak with Paladin

Copper Wire, the three Initiates and myself.

“Paladin Copper Wire, Initiates Cheese Wheel, Hat Trick and Card Swipe.” The rasping voice of whom I

assume was ‘The Elder’ stated with a slight bow of the head.

The four of them returned the bow with a salute, and parted to reveal me peeking over what used to be

the back of the Paladin, but was now open air. I meeped and looked around for another hiding spot

before I turned back and saw the Elder looking right at me, a foreleg’s distance from my face.

“You must be the ‘target’ that survived the mission, I take it?” He asked in a monotone with more

command and vigor than before. I looked at the Initiates and the paladin to save me, since I could only

squeak, but they stood at attention.

“Uh… Yes?” I skree’d at him as quietly as possible. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at me before calling

Copper Wire over.

“Is she incapable of speech?” he asked curtly.

“In a way, Elder Rasa. She claims to be a ‘Batpony’, So her voca-“ Copper Wire managed before the

elder silenced him with a raised hoof, and he fell back to his previous spot. The Elder stood for what

seemed like hours, just staring at me while I started to sweat and gave a nervous smile at him before

instantly regretting it.

“Hmm… We will have to send her to Doctor Scour to confirm her story. I’m sure that there must be

some record to compare pre-war batpony physiology with this… wastelander.” He rubbed a hoof on

his bearded chin before declaring that I be sent to the prisoner cells and given a meal while Doctor Scour

runs a physical on everypony that was on the mission before seeing me. I was going to complain about

how small the cell was before I noticed a pyramid of apples sitting on a tray in the cell, and dove straight

into it at the sight of them.

Then I heard a loud series of Zaps as I learned the prison cell was a net of magic beams for a door.

Who cares, I just got a whole fourteen apples!