Chapter 1: A Night To Remember

Stalliongrad, The Frozen North, The Giant White Hellhole, The Worst Place In The Wastes. It doesn’t matter what you call the city, it will always be known as one thing; A warzone. Raiders, mercenaries, dangerous wildlife, and even the weather are things which will kill anypony dumb enough to try and come near this forsaken hellhole.

The streets of Stalliongrad lay white with never ending snow. Sunlight cannot even remotely penetrate the thick cloud layer which hangs over the city, shrouding it in darkness. The only true light comes from the buildings fortunate enough to have power, which after 195 years of weather and decay (as well as a blast from a balefire bomb), is not a lot.

But even despite the inhospitable conditions of the city, amazingly there are still bustling settlements located around the vast pre-war powerhouse of a city. Some, made from the ruins of old homes, some in the dark Metro systems. Some lay in the large buildings of downtown, some in the old factories. Every living being in those settlements can agree on one thing; Stalliongrad is a shithole. One particular settlement would be getting a rude awakening to how bad Stalliongrad could be.

Mercer was a quaint little settlement nestled in the outer suburbs of Stalliongrad. Hearthswarming lights dangled from one side of the street to another, providing a peaceful and warm atmosphere. Houses were barely damaged. Some water damaged, some had a few structural issues. But all those could be fixed easily. Mercer wasn’t heavily populated; 40 ponies at max. There was only one general store, one bar, one weapons shop and one doctor.

“Ah fuck that hurts!” A stallion yelled as a larger stallion pulled a large shard of glass out of his back.

“Well maybe if you don’t want to get hurt, don’t start a fight with Grizzly again.” The doctor said.

“Yeah, yeah. How much do I owe you this time, Gauze?”

“Twenty caps.” The doctor said as he dabbed the stallion’s back with a wet towel. “As per usual. Just give it to twig on your way out.”

“Thanks doc, whatever would I do without you?” The stallion said sarcastically.

The doctor just gave a small smirk. After a few more minutes of just cleaning and dressing the stallion’s wound, he left with a large scar on his back. The doctor turned around and grabbed a pen and his journal. In it he wrote: ‘Bottletop, stabbed by Grizzly. Again. Payment 20 caps.’ He closed the journal after writing down his quick summary of helping the stallion.

He got up and left his office and made his way down the small hallway (well, small in comparison to his large frame.) The hallway lead down to a nice little lounge. A large oak desk was placed near the front door of the building. Behind it sat a small purple batpony. A sign resting on the top of the table read: ‘Doctor Gauze’s Office’ in bold red lettering with smaller text reading: ‘please take a number and you’ll be called up accordingly.’ And in even smaller letting read: ‘PS: The receptionist can’t talk so make of that what you will.’

“Did he pay his fee?” Gauze asked. The pony behind the desk nodded. “Good. Don’t want to go running after him. Well not again, anyway.” He looked around for a bit before speaking again. “Slow day, huh? We’ll head down to Foggie’s at about 7?” He asked his receptionist who nodded in response. “I’m gonna grab a snack, you want anything?” He asked the mute pony.

Thankfully he knew him well enough to know that he wanted a bottle of soda. He opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles of Soda from the barely working machine. Gauze placed one of the bottles down on the receptionists desk. The receptionist grabbed in his hoof and took the cap off with his large snaggletooth.

“I told you to stop fucking doing that, Twig.” Gauze said unamused before he took a big swig of his drink. “I’m a doctor not a dentist. I can’t fix a tooth.” The receptionist pony just shrugged before taking a big swig of his drink.

Gauze took a seat down on an old couch which faced and even older fireplace. He turned on a radio which was sitting on the table in front of the couch. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of music. It was a welcomed change to the sound of silence which usually permeated the house when no patients were there to be treated. The music was suddenly cut off by a nervous sounding buck on the radio.

“And that was a good song. R-right? I can’t be the only one to like it. But, uh, um. News! Y-yes news. Well, uh. Kevlar Security is doing things again. Sooo. I mean, they’re probably nice ponies. There was one pony who said they weren’t. I-it wasn't me! Please don’t hurt me. But, uh, now our sponsors. Red’s ammo. When you don’t just want them dead, you, uh, want to make them red? Okay. And uhh, that’s it from me. Back to some music. Hopefully you like it.”

Gauze chuckled a bit. He knew it was wrong to chuckle at others social awkwardness, but on the other hoof he still found it ridiculous that someone with major anxiety issues would be hosting a radio show. Life was funny like that sometimes.

His attention was drawn from the radio when he heard the front door open. He got up off the couch to see a grey griffon standing in the doorway. She was holding one of her hind legs in her hand.

“Is this the doctor’s office?” She asked in an odd accent.

“Sure is, what do you need help with?” Gauze asked beckoning her further into the house.

“I cut my leg open really badly. I just need you to take a look at it.” She said, barely keeping her balance as she walked down the hall to Gauze’s office.

“Easy enough. Just take a seat over there and I’ll take a look.” Gauze said as he motioned her into an old plastic chair.

He began his examination of the griffon. She had a large cut down her leg. It had seemed to reach just shy of the bone. Gauze was impressed that she hadn’t passed out from bloodloss yet. Although with every second he didn’t help, her chances of passing out increased.

“How did you manage a cut like this, exactly?” Gauze asked while he began to work on the wound. “This is very deep.”

“I cut myself on a piece of bloody sheet metal. I had somehow missed it and walked straight into it.” The griffon said in a slightly annoyed tone. “Is it that bad?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad.” He started as he reached for a tube which was resting on his table. “Now, uh what was your name again?” He asked as he squirted out a little cream from the tube he grabbed.

“Gris, why?-” She cut herself off with loud screaming as Gauze slathered the cream on her wound. Her leg instinctively kicked out and hit Gauze in the chest knocking him over. “What the fuck did you just do?!” She yelled at the large pony which she just effortlessly kicked to the ground.

“Disinfectant.” He coughed as he pulled himself up. “You don’t want tetanus do you? Now, could you not kick me next time?”

“Sorry, force of ‘abit. Could’a warned me before you did that though.” She muttered. Gauze gave a small smile before shaking his head.

Gauze grabbed a roll of bandages from atop his desk and began to wrap it around Gris’ leg. Each time it went around it got tighter and tighter on her leg. Soon he felt a little numb below where the cut was.

The doctor passed her a healing potion. Thankfully, she already knew what to do with it. She gulped the liquid down quickly before letting out a loud belch. The room was silent for a few more minutes before Gauze slowly unwrapped the bandages on her leg. They had soaked up a lot of blood, so now instead of their usual soft, white look, they were brown, red and yellow. As well as a little wet. As the last of the bandage came off Gauze grabbed a wet towel and began to dab her leg with it, to wipe off any excess blood.

When it was over all that was left on the leg was a small mark where the cut had been. Gauze stood up and then motioned Gris to as well. She cautiously got up off the chair. The leg seemed to be holding up fine. Gris still limped a bit when she walked, but she’d most likely fully recover soon enough.

“So, how’s it feel?” Gauze asked as he threw his towel into the sink.

“Still hurts, but not in a ‘I’m going to bleed out and die way”, just in a it’s a little sore to stand on way.” She said as she tried to stretch the leg without hurting it too bad. “So.” She began. “How much do I owe you?” She asked as she dug into her jacket’s pocket.

“Tell ya, what. You get me a couple of drinks at the bar, and we’ll call it even.” Gauze said with a smirk.

Foggie’s bar was a cramped wooden building. The air inside was filled with smoke and the smell of old alcohol. At the counter stood Gauze, Gris and Twig. They were waiting on the old brown bartender to pour their drinks. Next to them a large black griffon looked them over before walking out of the bar. Soon enough the bartender came over to them and began to pour some drinks for the trio.

“So, who’s this lovely grif, y’got here, Gauze?” The bartender chuckled.

“This is Gris, just fixed her up. Now to repay her debt she’s gettin’ us some drinks.” Gauze replied. “Uh, Gris, this is Glass, he’s pretty much the mayor of Mercer.” The old stallion shrugged.

“I’m only the mayor because I sell everypony booze.” Gauze chuckled a little at that.

After a couple of minutes the bartender served them their drinks and they found a nice little booth in the corner of the room. The large seats weren’t that comfortable, and the table was a little too wobbly for any of their tastes, but it didn’t really matter to them. They all began to drink their drinks. Gauze had vodka and soda, Gris a nice cold bottle of beer and Twig had a piping hot cup of coffee.

“So, you’re from Trottingham or something?” Gauze asked curiously.

“Yup.” She said before taking a large drink of her beer.

“So what the hell are you doing here?” The large stallion chuckled.

“It’s, uh, complicated.” Gris said taking her eyes off the doctor. “Anyway, what’s up with your friend there? Hasn’t said anything.”

“Who, Twig?” He said as he pointed to the batpony sitting next to him. “He’s got a birth defect which won’t let him talk.” Twig just kinda shrugged. It seemed like Gris was a little skeptical about it, but she dropped the subject.

“Okay, but what is he? Is he some sort of mutant or something?” Twig gave the griffon the angriest scowl he could muster.

“He’s a batpony. His father is descended from princess Luna's guards.” Gauze explained. “Or something like that.”

“Thought they were just a myth.”

“Nah. They’re rare. Most live in secrecy up above the cloud layer. Or so I’ve been told from his dad.” Gris was still finding it hard to believe.

“If you say so.” She said with a dismissive roll of her eyes.

The bar was quiet for a few minutes before the front doors were slammed open. Everyone in the bar turned to face the source of the noise. In the doorway stood a white unicorn with a clean, black suit. After he walked in a few more, much larger stallions walked in too. The stallions who followed wore heavy armour over some bright red clothing. Large black gas masks obscured their faces. Heavy duty rifles hung by their side.

Everyone in the bar knew exactly who they were. Kevlar Security. No one dared to say a word. Some ponies in the back of the room squinted their eyes and placed their hooves on their weapons. Everypony in Stalliongrad knew Kevlar Security. They knew they were trouble. The tension in the bar was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Eventually the stallion in the suit began to speak.

“Evening.” The stallion in the suit walked up to the bar counter. “Mayor Glass Breaker, I assume?” He said to the old brown stallion standing behind the counter.

“Who wants to know?” He responded flatly.

“I represent Kevlar Security. I have been tasked to make an offer on your lovely little town here.”

“It’s not my town. Everypony here only elected me leader because I sell the beer.” The brown stallion said flatly. A few ponies in the back cheered. “If you want to take this town you need to ask everyone else. And I doubt they’ll like it.” He said with a smirk. “Everyone, if you want to hand over the town to these fuckheads, say yeah!” No response. “And if you don’t, tell them to fuck off!” Almost instantly nearly everyone in the bar yelled profanities at the Kevlar officials. “The town has spoken. Now go fuck a Stalker.” He said with a grin.

The stallion in the suit took in a deep breath. He shifted through a briefcase and pulled something out. Everyone in the bar was on edge. Some had begun to pull their weapons out as the entire thing unfolded in front of them.

“Relinquish control of the town, or face the consequences.” The stallion said flatly.

“No.” The mayor said standing upright completely.

The suited stallion grabbed the item he had in his briefcase and pressed a small little button on it. In a second the two guards shot the mayor as the suited stallion used his magic to teleport himself somewhere else.

Everyone in the bar with a weapon returned fire in a heartbeat, filling the two guards full of holes. Gauze, Gris and Twig were all in shock. They all rushed up to the lifeless corpses. Some rushed to see if their mayor was alright. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. Two shots from high calibre rifles could destroy nearly anything.

“What the fuck just happened?!” Gris exclaimed as she looked over the bodies.

“They got Glass!”

“Fuck! What the fuck?!”

“What are we going to do now?!”

Everyone in the bar started to yell and scream at the top of their lungs. Twig was frozen in terror.

“Gauze, Gauze! You’re probably the most trusted pony in town! What are we going to do now?!” A mare in the back of the bar yelled.

“I-I don’t know!” Gauze yelled back. “I-I-I’ll think of something!”

Gris was searching the bodies of the two Guards. She grabbed the rifle off of one of them before standing up and facing the crowd.

“I’ll tell you what we’ll do; We’ll kill that fucking SOB!” She yelled at the group who all cheered.

Their cheering was cut short though, as sounds of gunshots and explosions outside brought them back to reality. They rushed outside to see a fight. No, not a fight. A massacre.

Dozens of Kevlar ponies were shooting at anything that moved. The ponies leaving the bar had become an easy target for them. They began to take potshots at the group. Some of the ponies fleeing the bar shot back with their own weapons. Most didn’t make it far from the bar. They were shot down in the middle of the cold streets.

Gauze, Gris and Twig were some of the last ones to leave the building. Instead of trying to run to the other side of the road they ducked around the side of the bar. Cracks of gunfire happened all around, the occasional explosion too.

“If we can get back to the office, we could hide in basement!” Gauze yelled over the loud sounds of gunfire not 20 feet away.

The office was on the other side of the street. They’d have to risk it. Gris shot blindly around the corner with her large gun. Suddenly there was a large explosion and everything went black.

“They got the power!” Gauze yelled. “They’ve probably got night vision or something.”

A bright light lit up the street for a brief second. Gris poked her head out of cover to see what it was. Fire. They had started to burn the houses. Everyone in the town could hear the screams from inside the burning building. Slowly they made their way down the narrow street. Burning everything they could.

“We need to leave now!” Gris yelled at the top of her lungs.

Gris flew as fast as she could to the other side of the street. She landed on a rooftop and began to take potshots at the incoming soldiers. Gauze and Twig ran as Gris provided them cover. From behind their hiding place they could see the true extent of what was happening. The town was slowly burning. There was at least sixteen Kevlar Soldiers in the middle of the street. Every so often they would shoot at the few ponies they could see. Ponies would run screaming from the buildings they burnt. They fled trying to extinguish the flames they were covered in only to be shot point blank by a group of executioners. Some pleaded for their lives, to no effect.

Gauze and Twig had made it to the other side of the street. Thankfully they weren’t really seen. Gris slid off the roof as she started to get more attention from the soldiers. Chunks of wood, shingles and snow were sent flying as they shot at her last position. They ran behind the houses. In the alley between a couple of the buildings they found a mare and her little colt.

“Get the fuck out of here ASAP!” Gauze yelled at the frightened mare.

She took off crying, clutching her child tightly as she did. The two of them didn’t make it far as a soldier walked between the gaps of two of the burning buildings and sprayed his automatic rifle at them. Thankfully the soldier didn’t notice the three others running away.

Gauze, Gris and Twig managed to make their way back to the office. They quickly broke in and searched the house for anything of value.

“Grab medical supplies! Food! Water! Anything!” Gauze yelled as he quickly stuffed bandages and healing potions into a large saddlebag.

“I’m good let's fucking go!” Gris yelled at the top of her lungs. She had managed to snatch all the food and drinks from the fridge.

Before they could leave a large trail of flames shot through the windows into the house. Everything was ablaze in a second. The group ran through the side door they used to get in just in time as another volley of flames shot into the building. Another soldier rounded the corner of the building. Gris shot at him only to hear a disappointing ‘click’. The soldier chuckled a bit before he focused his large flamethrower on the trio. Gris in a split second decision flew full force into the stallion, knocking him over. He still managed to let off a burst of flame which burnt the right half of the griffons body.

She tackled him and began to punch at the stallions exposed throat. He tried desperately to throw her off, but he couldn’t. The more she punched him in the throat, the less air he could take in. Soon he went limp. Whether he was dead or just unconscious they couldn’t tell for certain as they took off running as fast as they could into the darkness of stalliongrad.

They ran for around ten minutes before they stopped at the top of a steep incline. Below them the town burnt. It was the brightest thing for miles. Twig collapsed on the cold snowy ground and curled up into the fetal position before crying. Gauze sat down next to him and tried to comfort him. Gris fell to her haunches and rolled onto the part of the body that was burnt by the flames a few seconds later. They all stared at the town which was perfectly fine not five minutes ago. None of them said a word for the longest time.

“Now what?” Gris asked quietly.

“Well, me and Twig have just lost our homes and a few good friends, so I-I don’t know.” Gauze said trying to hold back tears.

“We should head to another settlement. They have to help us after this!” Gris said. Gauze was silent for a minute.

“The next closest settlement is Igloo. That’s at least a day's walk from here. Not to mention it goes through raider territory.” Gauze spoke softly.

“Then that’s where we’ll go, first thing in the morning.” Gauze and Twig both sadly nodded in agreement. “But first, we need to find shelter.” Gris said as she rose to her feet and started walking in the opposite direction of the burning town.

They had barely enough light to find a building in the darkness of Stalliongrad’s night. After stumbling in the dark for a few minutes they came across a building. It was old, cold and made of concrete, but it’d do.

There was no electricity, no lights at all. Gris dug around in her pockets for a lighter, or anything to illuminate the dark, cold building. Eventually she pulled out a small flip lighter and with a sigh of relief she lit a small little flame. It didn’t light up much, but it lit up enough for the group to make their way around the place.

After a couple of minutes of walking around the building they found a large room with plenty of wood to burn to make a nice fire. It took a lot of effort to ignite the large planks of wood, but eventually they did manage it. The three sat around the fire, trying to warm themselves up. Twig huddled up with Gauze to try and warm himself up a little more.

They all dug into their bags to see what resources they had grabbed in the rush. Gris had grabbed a few cans of food and a couple bottles of soda and beer. Twig took a couple dozen caps and some extra clothes. Gauze grabbed a few healing potions, some bandages, antiseptic cream. He froze. He had forgotten something important. His medication.

“Crap crap crap.” He said as he continued digging through his bag, trying in vain to find the medicine he so desperately needed. “I can’t believe I fucking forgot it!”

“What did you forget?” Gris asked the stressed stallion.

“My fucking meds! No fucking Olanzapine! Fuck!” He yelled in frustration.

“Olan what? What do you need this medication for exactly?”

“I. Just don’t worry about it, okay?” Gauze said slowly sitting back down next to Twig, who had a worried look on his face.

“Okay? Did any of you bring weapons, or ammo?”

“No. We don’t have weapons, we’re pacifists.” Gauze explained softly.

“What’s that, a type of fish?”

“What’s a fish? Y’know what, nevermind. Me and Twig are pacifists, so we don’t do anything violent. Well, not under normal circumstances anyway.”

“So you’re a bunch of pussies then?” Gris said in a joking tone.

“I became a doctor to help ponies, not hurt them.” He said angrily.

“Alright Mr Poofter.” She said placing her bag down on the ground and laying her head on it. “No need to get so defensive.”

Gauze rolled his eyes as he placed his bag down and laid down on the cold floor resting his head on the old leather bag. Twig did the same, only crawling up closer to Gauze to try and keep warm. They all tried their best to fall asleep, but the suddenness of the situation they found themselves in made sleep almost impossible.

It had been a long night, and it was only going to get longer.

Author's Note

First chapter, yay. I'm still not too confident with all my grammar and everything like that. So, y'know, criticism is welcomed.