Fallout Equestria: Syndicate

"...One thousand years ago King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night took over the Crystal Empire. He was ultimately overthrown, turned to shadow, and banished to the ice of the arctic north. But not before he was able to put a curse upon the Empire..."

I don't really know what I was expecting Gem City would be like. Maybe a few shacks that were close together where nopony was killing each other. I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.

We reached Gem City's main gate where more than two dozen armed ponies in old police barding were guarding the entrance. They were spead out between two towers flanking the gate and several barricades made out of scrap metal and wood. Most were earth ponies while only four were unicorns. Along with the barricades there were also several automated turrets spread out along the towers and into the city walls of the city.

The gate iteself was a large shutter type door that was three ponies tall. Just inside was a couple more barricades with more guards. As we got closer to the barricades one of the ponies (a teal mare with milky white hair) left her post and trotted towards us. She was armed with two hunting rifles strapped to her sides.

“What's your business here?” she asked upon reaching us. She didn't sound unfriendly but there was a stern note in her voice.

“We're here to enjoy the ameneties that your beautiful city provides.” Azure told her, smiling brightly. The guard mare raised an eyebrow but gestured for us to follow.

“You don't need to be a smart ass.” she said before leading us past the barricades and into the city gate. On the way inside she explained the city's rules.

“We have very simple rules here. Don't shoot anypony, don't steal anything and don't damage other ponies property. Other than that Gem City Security won't get involved.” we followed her through the gate past the inner barricades and into the city itself. “You do break the rules and we'll throw your asses in the stockade.Enjoy your stay!” she said, heading back to her post.

Well. Isn't she just a little ray of sunshine.

The gate opened into a large market that was filled with hundreds of ponies going about their business. There were a dozen or so stores that formed a circle around a large fire pit where several ponies were roasting things on sticks. The aromas coming from the fire were intoxicating.

The stores and other buildings were made of a combination of concrete, blue and pink crystal and scrap metal. The ponies had built dozens of small houses into the sides of the stadium where the seats used to be, then they constructed catwalks that connected the houses that were higher up.

“Wow...”  was all I could say. I hadn't even imagined there could be this many ponies in the world. 41 just seemed so small compared to what was before me. Just like the guards outside, most were earth ponies. With only the occasional unicorn.

“Oh! Doc look over there!” Azure pointed her foreleg to my left, where there was a stand set up with a blue flag draped across the top. The flag was adorned with a white snowflake. Sitting behind the stand and standing to either side were ponies wearing armor made out of silver. It reminded me of the armor Royal guards wore in history books, except those were gold. They wore silver helmets with plumes of hair coming out the top. Along with armor that covered their chest, back and sides, and pony shoes with added guards on the legs. There was a sign on the bottom of the stand that read;

        YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

     HELP US SAVE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!

            JOIN THE AUXILIARY TODAY!

So these ponies were the Auxiliary. They didn't seem particularly impressive but Azure looked like she was on the verge of a fangasm.

“Why don't you go talk to them?” Gareth asked, looking around the market curiously. Azure smile disapeared and she suddenly looked very nervous.

“I couldn't. I mean look at me!” she gestured to her combat barding. “I'm dressed like a damn Gunner. I'm surprised nopony's tried to shoot me yet.” now that she mentioned it, there were a quite a few ponies giving her dirty looks. Gareth shook his head and held out his talons.

“Here. Hoof over your armor and I'll hang onto it for you. I'm sure they won't mind if you just ask them some questions.” Azure looked at him skeptically for a moment before floating her assualt rifle to me then she began undoing the straps of her armor.

“Just don't scratch it or draw on it okay?” she told him sternly. Floating the chest piece and leg guards into his claws. “I'll meet you guys back here in a few hours alright?” I nodded and she trotted over to the Auxiliary stand. Gareth stowed the armor in his bags and turned to me.

“So...I never did ask why we were coming here. I mean this town is nice and all. A step above most settlements I've seen, but do you have somewhere specific in mind or are we just looking around?” I shook my head and told him about Crystal Fox.

“Sounds like a plan. If I may ask, what exactly happened to your Stable? I mean, Azure mentioned that something bad happened but she wasn't very specific.” he asked.

“Can we talk about this later?” I asked. I really didn't want to get into it right now. Especially when Gem City was making me feel happy for the first time in days. Gareth nodded politely and didn't press it further.  I chose a stall at random and went to the counter. “Excuse me, do you know where Crystal Fox lives?” the violet mare behind the counter scowled a little at the question.

“Who's asking” she asked, putting a hoof under the counter.

“I'm Silver Heart. He was an old friend of my father when he lived around here.” I didn't know if Dad had actually lived here or not but it sounded good enough. The mare's expression softened a little and she gave me directions to Crystal Fox's house. Apparently he lived up in the stands, in the largest house in town.

“It's the one made out of pink and blue crystal. No wood or anything. Real hard to miss.” she told us.

“Thanks again” I said as we left. Gareth flipped a couple bottle caps onto the counter, much to the mare's surprise. We passed by a few more interesting shops on the way to the catwalks. There was a weapons store, clothing, armor, a couple food joints and even a small spa. I was tempted to stop at each store but Dad's letter said it was important to see Crystal Fox. And I admit I had about a thousand questions to ask him about my dad. If he had known him when he was traveling the wasteland maybe he could tell me more about him.

We followed the mare's directions and found ourselves in front of a large crystal house with a rusty old mail box seemingly Wonder glued to the wall next to the door. I raised a hoof to knock but before I could the door abruptly opened. Standing in the doorway was an ancient looking earth pony stallion. He face was adorned with a very curly mustache that seemed like two mustaches glued together. His coat was gray while his mane and tail were white. At the sight of me his eyes widened.

“Damn, girl. You really look like your momma. Your pops wasn't kidding.” he smiled brightly and pulled me inside faster than I thought possible with how old he was. He pulled Gareth in a second later and slid us into a pair of chairs by a short table. The inside of the house looked far smaller than the outside. The walls were lined with shelves covered in various knick knacks and what appeared to be just plain junk. The house was lit by a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. He placed a tray of forsted cookies and a steaming cup of some brown liquid in front of Gareth and I. “I betcha ya aint ever had cookies before” Crystal Fox said, sitting on a plush chair opposite us. “Yer daddy and I have been talking for years and he always complained about that damn synthetic food paste ya'll ate.”

“No. no I haven't.” Gareth snatched a cookie off the plate while I gave the plate and cup a tenetive sniff. Well...it smelled good. It should taste good too. I floated one off the plate and took a small bite. The flavor exploded in my mouth. It was like the rainbow paste from 41 on steroids. I'd never tasted anything so good. In a flash I scooped up the rest of the cookies and shoved them in my mouth. Gareth was looking at me curiously, holding his own cookie protectively. Crystal Fox seemed surprised at first but he simply sat in his chair smiling pleasntly, patiently waiting for me to finish.

“Sorry” I said after giving a loud belch. I'd never eaten like that before and I felt embarrassed at m behavior.

“That's alright. Yer dad ate like that the first time he had my cookies too. I take it that something bad did happen then? He said you'd only come if something went bad.” his smile disapeared and he was on the edge of his seat. There was worry and concern in his eyes. How could I not tell him?

So I told him everything. The false message from Celestia. The promise of everything we'd need to survive and things we wanted. How Bounty and his thugs raided the Stable looking for my Dad and I. Crystal Fox ask any questions or try to interupt me. He just sat there and listened. Gareth stared at me in horror at some parts and appeared to be trying not to ask questions. I appreciated that he didn't. When I was finished the three of us were silent for a few minutes. Crystal Fox sat in his chair looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. Gareth was the first to speak.

“Thats diabolical.” Crystal Fox and I looked at him questioningly. And he explained further. “I mean. The way he got the Overmare to just open the door. It seemed like he could have just cut through the thing or maybe hack the system. But he kidnapped one of your own and planted false memories in his head. I didn't even know that was possible.” Crystal Fox nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Diabolical is the right word. Or maybe evil would be better. I just don't know why the Syndicate would be after you and your pops. That Bounty has been through town a couple times since I've lived here but I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in over twelve years.” he shook his head and his smile returned. “You really do look like your mother. You've got her eyes and her coat, I swear I thought it was Midnight coming to see how old Gray Fox was doing.”

“Gray Fox?” I asked. The old buck smiled and pointed to a picture on one of the shelves. The picture held a muscular gray buck with a minigun strapped to his side. He was smiling cockily at a yellow mare olding a spear in her mouth.

“That's the name I went by back in my younger years. Helluva a lot better than fuckin 'Crystal Fox'. I swear my parents were idiots. I'll tell ya though, I had the most dangerous adventure of my life getting that picture.” I looked at him skeptically and even gareth seemed confused at this.

“Don't you know how rare a working camera is these days?” he asked incredulously. He shook his head and waved a hoof at us. “Never mind. Damn youngin's. Now why don't ya take a swig uh that hot cocoa before it becomes cold cocoa.” I levitated the cup to my muzzle and took a drink. Just like the cookies it was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. Though this time I managed to restrain myself. Gareth calmly drank his sip by sip while Crystal Fox just kept watching us. When I was finished with my drink (it didn't take long. That stuff is fucking good!) I set the cup down.

“How did you meet my dad?” I asked. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask for more cocoa but that could wait. For now. The old buck rubbed his chin thoughtfully before hopping off his chair and digging through a box by the door. H returned to the table and dropped a stack of faded color photos in front of me.

“I met Magnus and Midnight about...” he scratched his head. “Twenty seven years ago? Yeah, that's right. Back then I was still runnin' round the Empire rasing hell and bedding mares” I blushed and he snickered. “Eyup. I was quite the swinger back in the day. 'Course back then I was still young and spry. These days the old bones just aren't up to snuff.” judging from the way he pulled Gareth and I inside he must have been lying.

“My social life aside, I met your parents by the old M.A.S. Hub near Fort Jasper. Midnight was introducing yer pops to some of her friends with the Auxiliary when they got attacked by a swarm of ferals.” he smiled cockily. “My minigun ain't ever roared the same since. Shame the left over pulp didn't have anything good on 'em. After that me and yer parents ran together for a while, course, that was when I was in my fifties. I still had enough bounce in my step to keep up with Magnus and Midnight but now...eh” He shrugged picked up his cup in his hooves. How do earth ponies do that?

“What did you do with my parents?” I asked. The old buck chuckled and pointed at the pictures.

“An easier question would be what we didn't do. We raised hell across the Crystal Wastes for almost a year before I had to retire.” he pointed at a picture of a large billboard with a pink mare on it. “Cleared out the raiders from Pinkie Land, even though more of the bastards infested the place after we left.” he shifted to one of the crystal palace. “We searched the palace before them Enclave Pegasi took it over. We were trying to find the Crystal Heart and use it to fix the Empire but that was a bust,”

“Crystal Heart?” I interupted.

“Ain't ya ever heard of the Crystal Heart?” I shook my head. “Well ain't that a thing. I guess Stable history class isn't very good. I oughtta introduce you to the Storyteller one of these days. By the time he's done talking you'll never have another question.

“The Crystal Heart was what protected the Empire before the war. Right before the megaspell went off in the west the shield protecting the city went down. Somepony took the Heart and left the city to die. Who knows what would have happened if the shield stayed up. Might have avoided the whole 'Apocalypse' thing. Personally, I think the stripes took it. But who knows?” It seemed my brain had stopped working for a second. The entire city was protected from the megaspell and from what Captain Withers' terminal said it was safe from the zebras missiles too. And somepony...took it? That's fucking stupid! What would have happened if the Crystal Empire survived? They could have helped the rest of Equestria! Hell, the whole damn country could have been rebuilt by now. When I voiced my thoughts Crystal Fox agreed. Gareth however looked skeptical.

“If the city did survive that doesn't mean they would have helped the rest of the country. The Crystal ponies hated the rest of Equestria. They saw Celestia and Luna as the ponies who conquered them after the war started. And their own royal family wouldn't stand up to them. There's a reason somepony tried to kill Luna in that orb Silver Heart.” Crystal Fox's eyes widened and he moved closer to us.

“What ya got now? An orb with the night Princess?” I nodded and pulled it out of my bags. He reached for it but hestitated. “Ya don't mind if I take a look?”

“Of course not” I said. It's not like he could even look into it anyway.

“Hot damn it's been a while!” he took it in his hooves and he pressed it to his forehead. His eyes went blank and he froze where he was.

“What!? He's an earth pony, how did he..?” Gareth shook his head and pointed at his eyes.

“Look at his eyes.” I did but I still didn't understand what he meant. Gareth facehoofed, Facetaloned? “His pupils are a different shape. He's a Crystal Pony. Not an earth pony.”

“What's the difference?” I asked.

“The difference is that we Crystal Ponies ain't earth ponies” Crystal Fox said sourly, making me jump a little. How'd he do that? “We have our own brand of magic apart from the other pony races. Kinda like thestrals, I guess. 'Cept Crystal Ponies are better in my opinion. We can access memory orbs and I've even seen a few who could grow crystals and use 'em in a fight.” Gareth's jaw dropped and Crystal Fox smirked smugly. “Eyup. I'm just glad I never pissed one of 'em off. I'd hate to get impaled by some shiny fucking rock shooting out of the ground.” No wonder Eqeustria wanted the Crystal Empire. If it's citizens can just make gemstones...

“Why isn't your coat all crystally?” Gareth asked raising an eyebrow, er...feathers. “I've seen pictures from old books and the Crystal ponies sparkled like somepony shot them with a glitter canon or something.”

“That goes back to the whole 'Crystal Heart getting swiped' , thing. Without it we ain't sparkly. And I wouldn't really mind if the mares didn't go crazy fer a stallion with some sparkle.” He looked back at a clock on the wall behind him, rolled the orb back to me and got off the chair. “I got to head to the market soon. Come with me and I'll show you to your room.”

“My room?” I said questioningly. His expression turned confused.

“Well, yeah. Yer Dad asked me to give ya a place to stay. He even asked me to put a in a good word for ya with the town clinic.”

“I appreciate it but I didn't really plan to settle down here.” I told him, trying to be as polite as possible. He'd been so nice I didn't want to offend him.

“If ya ain't gonna stay in town,” he began, sitting back down. “then what do ya plan on doing? There's not exactly a lot of options this far north as far as settlements go.”

“I want to find Bounty and find out why he was after me and Dad.” Crystal Fox looked shocked at first but after a moment his expression hardened. He turned to Gareth and looked him over. Seemingly for the first time.

“What about you, boy? Why are ya with my old friend's daughter?” He asked seriously.

“I've been hired as a guard.” he said simply. “I'm here to protect her no matter what she does.” Crystal Fox's seriousness left his expression and was replaced with a smug smile.

“I knew it,” he declared. “I knew  ya had to much of yer parents in ya to just come and live in town. If yer Dad was still with us, he'd owe me a drink.” he shook his head. “Tell me this, girl. How exactly do ya plan on finding old Bounty and getting him to talk? I don't know if you noticed but he's not the 'let's talk over coffee and donuts' kind a guy.” that stung. But it wasn't like he was wrong. How am I going to find him? A rubbed my chin for a moment then clopped my hoof on the table.

“I'll ask the Auxiliary!” I remembered what Azure was doing and added. “Our friend is talking to them right now. I'm sure they'll be able to point us in the right direction.” the old buck burst out laughing and nearly fell off the chair. When he stopped long enough to speak he said,

“The Auxiliary ain't got time to help you track down some cutthroat. They're in a full on war with the Gunners right now,” he rubbed his chin thoughtfully then added. “But, maybe you could ask the mayor. Bounty owns one of the old storage buildings in town. She might let ya rummage around in there if you get on her good side.”

“Why bother?” Gareth asked. “Just tell us where it is and we'll break in. If nopony lives there nopony will care.”

“Sorry, bird boy. But that ain't how it works here.” Crystal Fox told him while pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “We got a system of law here. Personal rights are taken very seriously. Especially privacy. The city's protected by Gem City Security and if they see you picking locks or breaking windows they'll chuck you flanks in the brig.” he blew smoke in Gareth's direction. “It would be smarter to just ask the mayor, my boy.”

We left Crystal Fox's house a half hour later. (After I begged a few more cookies and another cup of hot cocoa from the old buck) He gave us directions to the mayor's office, which was built into one of the stadium's old locker rooms for some reason, and we would have went straight there if we didn't need to find Azure.

The market was still crowded with crystal ponies and the occasional unicorn or earth pony. It was hard at a distance but I could see the differences in their eyes when we were close. And I couldn't help checking every pony I came across to see if they were Crystal or just earth pony. Almost all of them were Crystal Ponies.

We found Azure sitting with her back against the wall of the gun shop. She was floating a leather bound book in front of her and she was chewing on a white and red striped stick. There was a radio on the counter playing a rather sad song by Sweetie Belle and an orange unicorn mare standing behind it.

“Hey, Azure” I said trotting up to her. “Whatcha reading?” She broke the stick and floated the halves into her mouth.

“It's called, Crystal Liberty” she mumbled through a mouth full of candy. “I got it from the Auxiliary ponies. Their leader, General StormWing, wrote it about a year ago. They were passing out free copies, if you want one they still got some.” she stood up, carefully placed the book in her bags and pointed to the Auxiliary stand.

“Maybe in a bit. We have to talk to the mayor.” I told her.

“Why?” she asked, stopping in mid trot.

“Apparently that bounty hunter that attacked Silver's Stable owns a place in town” Gareth told her. Azure's eyes widened almost comically as she gasped. “She wants to ask the mayor if we can take a look.”

“Dammit, Doc!” she said, facehoofing. “Don't you remember what I said? That buck is a fucking psychopath! What do you want to go digging through his stuff for?”

“To be fair, he doesn't live there anymore” Gareth said reasonably. Azure looked from Gareth to me and back again before groaning.

“Fine. But I need to stock up on ammo. Twelve bullets wouldn't be enough to kill him if he didn't have legs.” she trotted into the weapons shop and Gareth and I followed.

“Welcome to the Barrel of Guns!” the orange mare declared proudly. “We have everything from pipe pistols to balefire egg launchers all at a reasonal price! Everything hoof tooled by myself and my assistant Sugar Cake. My name is Tanergine, how can I help you?” Azure and Gareth told her what they needed while I looked around the room. There were dozens of rifles, pistols, shotguns and just about everything else. There was even a pair of missile launchers crossing each other over the door. The song on the radio ended and was replaced by a very familiar voice.

“This is DJ Pon3, and that was Sweetie Belle, singing about that one great truth of the wasteland: every pony has done something they regret. And now, my little ponies, it’s time for the news! Now you ponies remember when I told you ‘bout those two ponies who crawled themselves out of Stable Two? Well, I’ve been gettin’ reports that one of those little ponies took out the raider nest in the heart of Ponyville, and saved several pony captives -- including the beloved author of The Wasteland Survival Guide, Ditzy Doo! Hey kid, thanks!

From all of us! And now the weather: cloudy everywhere, with a chance of rain, gunfire and bloody dismemberment...” the radio hissed static loudly for a few moments before Tangerine smacked it hard with her foreleg.

“…one last thing, the other Stable Dweller was last seen out near Appleloosa. My prayers go out t’ that one. And that’s the truth of the matter. Now back to the music. Here’s Sapphire Shores singing how the sun can’t hide forever. From your lips to Celestia’s ears, Sapphire!”

“Seems like you Stable ponies really like coming out lately.” Azure said sarcastically, floating several clips into her saddlebags. “Sounds like she's a step above you though, Doc. She saved Ditzy Doo all by herself. You needed some psychotic monster to kill those raiders for you.” Tangerine looked stunned as she hoofed a couple boxes of shotgun shells to Gareth.

“Psychotic, monster... What are ya'll talking about?” She asked, sliding the caps from Gareth and Azure into a drawer behind the counter.

“We were going through that old hospital between Amore Central and Fort Scarlet and there were some raiders that weren't very thrilled with us being there.” Azure said cockilly. “we had them on the run when somepony finished them off.” Azure floated a small square of paper from her bags. “He stuck this on the wall near the bodies.” the orange mare floated the card to her eyes and they widened, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

“You two were that close to Calling Card, and he didn't kill you.” she seemed both terrified and a little impressed. “I can't believe he didn't gut you and use your blood for paint.” Azure's smile disapeared and Gareth echoed the question in my mind.

“Who's Calling Card?” The mare shook her head slowly and pointed a hoof at the wall behind us. I turned to see a tall, crudely drawn poster of an earth pony (Crystal Pony?) holding a severed head. The word 'Wanted' was printed in large black letters over the picture.

“Best steer clear of the southwest. That's the bastard's huntin grounds.” the mare said, coming out from the counter. “Ya'll better get going. I'm closing up for the day.”

We left the shop and headed straight to the mayors office. There were two security ponies at the door but they didn't stop us from entering.

The inside of the mayor's office was cluttered with several filing cabinets filled to burst with papers. The walls were covered with posters. Most were ministry posters but a few were were Zebras with bright, glowing eyes.

“Better wiped than striped, eh?” A short, plump green  crystal pony mare said from behind the large metal desk in the corner. “Never really cared much for these posters but they're somethin' to look at when the paperwork starts making my eyes droop. I'm Mayor Sugar Stalk, but you can call me Sugar.” she shook each of our hooves, and Gareth's talons. “Now, what can I do you for?”

“My name is Silver Heart, nice to meet you,” I said awkwardly. Gem City seemed to be cut from a different cloth than the rest of the Crystal Wastes. She was the second I met who hadn't tried to kill me in one day. “this is Gareth and Azure.” I pointed to each of them and they nodded. “We were wondering if you could help us something.” Her face brightened.

“Well you came to the right pony. Whatcha need?” she asked, pulling a stack of papers from her desk. “I can set you up with a housing permit, residencey test, merchant liscense, Security application..”

“Actually we need access to a warehouse in town.” Gareth interupted. Mayor Sugar returned the papers to her desk drawer and slid it shut.

“For what purpose?” she asked.

“Well you see...were trying to find the buck who owns it and we figured there'd be something inside that could tell us where he is.” I finished lamely. It was a weak plan. Now that I'd said it out loud it made sense that Azure thought it wouldn't work.

The mayor rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment before rumaging through a file cabinet on her left and pulling out a piece of paper in her teeth. She looked it over twice before speaking.

“The only warehouse in town that isn't in use if owned by that Bounty Hunter fella.” she said slowly. “Why are you trying to find him? He ain't lived or even been to town in years.”

“It's private business, Mayor.” Azure said quickly, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. The Mayor's expression darkened.

“I am not about to let you three go galavanting through somepony's private property without good cause...” she turned to a file cabinet behind her and opened the middle drawer. She looked through about a dozen papers before turning back to us. She tapped her hoof on the desk a few times before she saying, “Unless...you're willing to do something for the good of the community?”

“What do you need?” I asked. Behind I thought I heard Azure groan a little and looking over my shoulder I could see a curious look on Gareth's face.

“For some time there has been a problem with the water coming in from the sewer systems. The water purifier is handling it but something in the water is putting a strain on the mechanics. It's broken down a half dozen times this month.” she said darkly. “we don't know what the stuff in the water is but if you could find out we could adjust the system or accordingly. Or if you could stop it from getting in the water that would be even better. You do that, and I'll give you the keys and you can dig around in there to your heart's content.” she crossed her hooves. Azure and Gareth looked at each other and then to me.

“Okay. We find out what's wrong with the water and you give let us in the warehouse. How about you throw in some caps so my friends have a little more incentive to help the community?” I finished smoothly, seemingly surpiring Azure and Gareth along with the mare.

“Well...I don't see why not. It is outside the walls. Alright, I'll throw in a hundred caps.” she said.

“I don't know that seems a little light for a job like this,” I stated slowly. “How about a hundred caps each?” the Mayor's face darkened a little but after a moment she nodded.

“Three hundred caps and the keys. And I ain't going any higher!” she pulled out a key and a blank piece of paper and wrote out the details. She passed me the key and the paper. “Talk to officer Teal at the main gate and show her this paper. She'll show you to the water line, you'll have to take it from there. This key will open the access door.”

“Deal.”

                           …........................

Turns out that the mare who let us in the gate was Teal. Go figure. She led us around the wall of Gem City. There were more Security guards standing in towers and makeshift barricades around the city walls. Once we reached the western wall we stopped at a large metal pipe sticking out of the side of the stadium.

“Here it is. The pipe leads underground,” she pointed at a  line painted on the ground in paint. “Follow that line. It'll lead you to the access hatch. Try not to get killed in the water pipe. It's a real pain in the ass to pull body parts out of the purifier.” with that she tureturned to her post by the front gate.

“I don't know why she's a Security guard” Gareth said as she left. “She should have been an inspirational speaker.” Azure and I laughed as we followed the red line away from Gem City. We told Crystal Fox what we were doing and he gave us a picture of a black crystal sticking out of the ground.

“Since you're heading out of the walls see if you can find one of these for me will ya? For ever one you bring back I'll make ya a full batch of them cookies” that alone would have been incentive enough for me to leave the walls.

It only took us a few minutes of navigating through the broken streets to find the access door. It was on the uncollapsed side of a half collapsed building with a sign that read:

        CRYSTAL EMPIRE WATER MAIN

I slid the key in the lock and it opened silently. Gareth went in first, checking for anything dangerous. I followed with Azure watching our backs.

There was a flight of stairs leading down into the sewers. The smell was horrible. Azure and I wrapped cloth around out muzzles while Gareth just snorted and moved ahead. He had strapped his flashlight to the end of his shotgun. I turned on my Pip-Buck lamp and Azure stuck close to me. Her rifle now had a circular magizine instead of the rectangle ones. One of the walls was covered in several pipes dripping water while the other was covered in electrical tubing. The floor was covered in about four inches of water.

Our hooves sloshing the whole way we followed the pipes down the hall. It just seemed to go on and on.

“Hold on” Gareth said raising his his claws. He pointed his flashlight towards the water and pointed out several lines of black swirling around in it.

“Shadow radiation” Azure said quietly.

“We have radaway. We'll be fine.” I said confidently striding forward. Gareth stopped me with his forleg.

“Careful. Radaway or not we should avoid as much exposure as possible. Stick close behind me, try to avoid the clouds in the water.” Gareth strode forward the water sloshing to the sides as he walked. Azure and I followed close behind and even though my Pip-Buck wasn't ticking I could see my radiation exposure level slowly rising on the screen. I floated some rad X tablets out of my bags and gave them to Gareth and Azure before taking one myself.

“Ugh” It tasted like chalk. Wait...no. Chalk tastes better. I ate a piece of chalk in school once to see if it tasted better than the Stable's paste. It did.

The farther down the hall we went the thicker the shadows seemed to get. We'd only gone a hundred yards before the water was totally black and tendrils of smoke were floating out of the water making the hall even darker. Our lights barely cut through the gloom. It was so dark that I walked straight into Gareth when he stopped.

“Sorry” I whispered. The place just seemed...sinister.

“It's okay.” he said, dismissively. “The hall splits here. Which way should we go?” Gareth asked me. Behind me I could here Azure snicker.

“It's obvious, Feathers. We follow the pipes.” It was so dark I couldn't see his face but I was sure he was scowling.

“The Mayor wants us to find the source of the contamination.” he said slowly. “That means we have to find where it's coming from and both directions are filled with the stuff.” he shined his light on us and asked, “Which way should we go?”

“Why not split up and go both ways?” Azure said immediately.

“Splitting up isn't a good idea. We don't know whats causing this.” Gareth told her reasonably.

“It's just shadow radiation bird brain. Somepony must've chucked one of those dark crystals in the water or something. All we have to do is pull it out and throw it in a raider nest and we'll be done.” Azure said confiently, crossing her forelegs across her chest. They turned their gazes to me.

“What do you think, Silver?” Gareth asked.

“What do you think, Doc?” Azure asked.

I looked from Gareth to Azure and back again a few times before finding my voice.

“Well, if it's just a crystal...there shouldn't be a problem as long as we don't go too far.” Gareth covered his eyes with his claws and shook his head while Azure looked at him smugly.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Silver and I will go right, Azure you go left.” he turned to start down the hall but Azure stopped him by biting his tail. “Ow! What?”

“You and I should go right while Silver goes left.” she told him.

“Why? We can't leave her unprotected.”

“Because you two both have flashlights and I don't. You Wonderglued yours light to your gun, so unless you want to hoof over your shotgun I'm going with you.” Gareth gripped his shotgun close to his chest and looked at me, his expression filled with guilt.

“Is that okay with you, Silver?” he asked. I'm sure if I had said 'no' he would have given his shotgun to Azure and went with me but I got the feeling that Azure wanted to talk to him alone.

“Yeah, totally.” I told them. “Were just looking for some crystals. Here,” I floated two tablets of rad X to each of them and started down the hall on the left. Azure and Gareth exchanged looks before heading down the other hall.

Azure was right, she wouldn't have been able to see a thing without our lights. Without Gareth's flashlight my Pip-Buck's lamp barely lit the hall enough to see the walls. I floated my shotgun from my bags kept it close to my side. My hooves sloshed in the black water which had turned thick enough that it felt like trotting through syrup. Not that I'd ever eaten it or even tasted it but my books said it was good.

I kept checking my Pip-Buck every few yards to see my radiation level. The rad X was helping but the meter kept rising slowly. I pulled a pack of Radaway and downed it in one gulp. It tasted surprisingly good despite it's color and consistestency. The meter dropped to the minimum and immediately started climbing again.

“Dammit.” I tore my eyes away from the screen and back to the hall. After maybe another hundred feet I could see a faint purple glow coming from up ahead. I sped up to a swift trot. As I drew nearer I began to feel strange. My eyes drooped and my thoughts started going all over the place, eventually focusing on my dad, and Astible and the Cedric. I slowed down to a slow walk by the time I reached the end of the hall. Sticking out of the black sludge were three tall black crystals.

I couldn't take my eyes off them. The insides were swirling with black, purple and...well black. The dark colors moving in a vortex.

Silver

I looked away from the crystals and around the hall but nopony was there. Or, so I thought.

“You are tresspassing on Sombra's holy ground.” I turned around. I was standing muzzle to muzzle with a tall, charcoal coated unicorn stallion. His eyes were glowing green while the centers were red. Purple smoke seemed to be leaking from the corners of his eyes. I couldn't speak or even move, I could only stand there as his eyes seemed to burn holes through me and gaze into my soul. “You are coming with me.” he said simply, rasing a metal staff over his head. He swung it at me and I felt my forehead explode in pain. I felt myself scream but I didn't hear anything. I collapsed into the sludge and passed out.

                            …......................

I don't know how long I was out but when I finally came to I was in a well lit room surrounded by a circle of dark crystals. My bags and uniform were gone, and when I tried to move it was only to find that my legs were chained to the floor. I tried to use my magic but my horn wouldn't do what I told it to. I looked at it and saw several dark shards sticking out at odd angles. I lifted my head and looked around.

There were several ponies surrounding the circle; they were wearing dark robes and their eyes were glowing bright green.

“The defiler is awake.” one said.

“Indeed. Shall we begin, Brother?” another asked.

“Do you think she is worthy of being sent to Sombra, Sister?” said the mare closest to me. “if we disapoint him he won't allow us to bask in his glory.” Sombra? I hadn't ever heard of somepony named Sombra.

“She was tresspassing on Holy ground. He will not be displeased with her sacrifice.” Wait...Sacrifice!? The ponies stepped inside the circle of gems. One held up a long serrated knife.

“In Sombra we trust.” the began to chant, holding each others hooves. “his power shall shield us from harm. We will  stand together with his children and protect one another. Together the world will fall to shadow and rise to glory once again!” the air around us seemed to shimmer and the ponies eyes seemed to glow brighter. The unicorns's horns were glowing black and purple and the blade floating above me seemed to be vibrating.

“with shadow and steel we will reclaim the Empire and all the world will be surrounded with Sombra's embrace.” their voices deepened, sounding almost demonic. “With shadow and steel will revive the Empire, and with Sombra's divine strength we shall smite the non-believers.” The blade's edge pointed straight between my eys and moved to floated closer, until it was mere inches away. I'm gonna die, I couldn't help but thinking over and over in my head. But...maybe. Would that work? They seemed pretty into this 'Sombra' of their's.

The blade lifted and shot straight down. Before it hit I yelled.

“Oh, Sombra! The dark one appears before me! I feel the embrace of the Holy Shadow!” the blade stopped half an inch from my left eye. The eyes of the ponies around me stopped glowing and I could see their normal eye colors. The unicorn floating the knife pulled his hood down and I almost burst out laughing. He was grinning so broadly that it was comical. He uppled me to my hooves and snapped the chains off faster than I thought possible.

“Brothers and Sisters!” he announded brightly. “we have found a lost soul that the Shadows have embraced! Let us celebrate!” the ponies yelled and lifted me off the floor then carried me out of the room into what looked like some kind of church. It was filled with long black benches where dozens of ponies were sitting, and a short podium in front of them. A familiar charcoal unicorn stood behind it speaking in a low respectful voice. He turned to the ponies holding me above their heads and scowled, his eyes glowing bright green.

“What is the meaning of this? You should have sacrificed the heratic by now.” the buck who unchained me trotted forward and declared,

“But Confessor Tenebris, she has seen Sombra and wants to accept him into her heart!” the charcoal stallion blinked in surprise, his eyes ceasing to glow.

“Well now. Then this is a time of celebration!” he turned to the ponies assembled before him. “Brothers and Sisters we have a mare who would like to join the Acolytes! What say you?” the ponies rose to their hooves and shouted their approval. The room echoed with “Let her join!” and “Let Sombra save her!” and “The Shadow must guide her!” Confessor Tenerbis reared up non his hindlegs and shouted, “Then let us welcome our new sister! Brother Malum, bring her to me and assmeble the Brothers and Sisters not already in attendence. Tonight we celebrate!” they put me down carefully and the charcoal uniform trotted towards me.

“Come my Child, let us begin.” he waved a hoof for me to follow as he turned back to the podium. I didn't argue...or even say anything. I didn't want my own words to betray me. When he reached the podium he stomped on the ground and a circle of dark crystal shards surrounded us.

How'd they do that so quickly? I couldn't help thinking as more than forty ponies poured back into the room carrying boxes of pre war food and bottles of Sparkle Cola. Confessor Tenebris turned to me and held a hoof to his chest.

“My Child, you have have been chosen by Sombra to spread his precious message across the wasteland that his enemies have created. If you wish to proceed you must take the oath of Shadows. Do you accept?” I nodded quickly, not trusting my voice. His face brightened immeasurably and his eyes glowed green again. But now they weren't showing any malice. It was still terrifying but not as much as when he was angry. “Excellent.” he said, his horn glowing sickly purple and green. “I shall administer the oath. Do you swear as an Acolyte of Sombra that you will spread his message to those you meet?”

“Yes, I swear” I managed to squeak out. A small beam of energy shot from his horn to mine and I instantly felt my body stiffen and my blood grow cold.

“Do you swear to stand by your Brothers and Sisters during peace and war?”

“y-y-yes. I do.” my body was shaking but I couldn't force myself to take a single step. The glow from our horns intensified my vision darkened a little.

“Do you swear to defend Sombra's holy ground with your very life if the need should arise?” He asked, his eyes glowing so bright that the room was glowing green. I looked to the assembled ponies and their eyes were glowing just as bright.

“I do...” I told him.

“Do you swear to proect the children of the Empire with all your strength, to ensure the future of His Empire?”

“Yes!” I told them. It felt like was freezing from the inside out.

“You have taken the oath, my child. Now harness the power Sombra has gifted to you. Focus on your hatred, on your fear, on your anger and strike me!” he said, the beams between our horns disapearing. He stepped back and reared up. “Use your hatred! Use the power of Sombra!!” I couldn't help but think of my Stable. All the piles of ash that used to be my friends.

Astilbe

All the bodies torn to pieces by Bounty's rifles.

Cedric.

The Overmare and Baton lying dead by Stable 41's door.

Dad...

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” I screamed and used my magic. I didn't really know what I was doing, I didn't even know what spell I was trying to do, besides telekinesis and basic healing spells I hadn't ever cast any spells. This time I was different.

My horn glowed purple and sickly green, then a beam busrt from it and struck the Confessor in the chest knocking him back a few feet.

I slumped over and almost hit the floor before the buck, I think his name was Malum, caught me. The room burst into cheers and the ponies began to dance in circles around the room. I felt physically and mentally exhausted but the ponies wouldn't let me dream of resting. They pulled me into the circles and we lock hooves and danced on our hindlegs. It felt really weird but it was almost...fun. Everypony was smiling at me brightly and congradulating me on joining them.

“You made a wise choice.” A purple unicorn mare with black hair to my left said sincerely. “most ponies just don't understand what we're about. It's our job to show them the light” she blushed a little. “So to speak, Sister.” after the dancing they sat me down at a long table that the Confessor summoned from nowhere and placed all the food and drinks they'd carried in. while the other ponies sat down The Confessor stood and lifted a Sparkle Cola.

“To our newest Sister.” he leaned close to me and asked, “What's your name?”

“Silver Heart.” I whispered. He straightened again and said,

“To our newest Sister. Silver Heart!” the others cheered loudly clinked their bottles togther.

“To Silver Heart!” they cheered. At this point I couldn't tell if this was some fucked up dream or I was just going crazy but I actually felt myself smile. I'd never really been without friends in 41 but nopony had ever cheered my name before or were this happy to just be in the room with me. Maybe if I'd joined one of the dodge ball teams but I didn't so I never got a party for just showing up.

When the celebrating was over the Confessor took me into a private room in the church; which the other ponies called “The Monolithe”. The room was filled with hundreds of books on bookshelves made out of that same dark crystal that was in the flooded maintence hall. The Confessor pulled a book off the shelf and floated it towards me. I gripped it in my magic and was startled to see the color of my magic had changed. Seeing the look on my face the Confessor smiled.

“Don't worry, my child. Sombra has touched you but you are not damaged. When you are using Sombra's gift your magic will be as it is now. But when your eyes don't glow with his power it will be it's normal color.” I raised an eyebrow and he floated a small mirror off a dresser in the corner and floated it in front of my face.

The whites of my eyes were glowing the same luminescent green as the others. And my iris's had turned blood red. Purple smoke was slowly pouring out the corner of my eyes. I shireked at the pony in the mirror and would have dropped it if I was holding it.

“It is alright, my Child. Many react with surprise or even fear at this change. But like I said, it isn't permanent. Only when you feel true hatred and anger in your heart will your power show. And after some time you will have the self control to keep it from showing even when you're hatred guides you.” he smiled warmly. Almost exactly like my father would smile when he was trying to reassure me. He turned back to the book case, set the mirror down and floated a black leather tome off the shelves.

“This is our sacred tome. The Book of Shadows, written by the the first High Confessor of Sombra nearly a century and a half ago. As an Acolyte, it is your duty to read this and spread the word of Sombra.” he floated the book to me and after a moment or two of hesitation I took it. “Many in the Wasteland see us as evil, or perhaps even mad. But we believe that Sombra will restore the Crystal Empire, and then the world, to it's former glory. You must spread this message to all those you meet after you leave here.” I blinked in suprise and asked,

“You...you mean I don't have to stay here?” he smiled and shook his head.

“No, Sister. The Monolithe is open to you as long as you wish, but you don't have to stay here. It is the mission of all of us to spread the word of Sombra. But you are tired and likely more than a little confused about the changes you have experienced. Brother Malum and Sister Blue Berry are preparing a room for you. I must insist that you stay the night and rest, for your health more than anything. You'll be able to spread the word of Sombra to the world soon enough.” his expression turned stern. “But there are rules for how we go about this.” He pointed a hoof at the wall where there were several lines of runes I didn't recoginize.

“These are the Five Tenets. They are the guidleines set by Sombra himself on how to conduct oneself as an Acolyte. Tenet One; Thou shall preotect thy Brothers and Sisters as well as the Monolithe, and any children thou may come across, with thy life. For loyalty to family is the most important thing in the mortal world save the protection of the children. The future of ponykind.

“Tenet Two; Thou shall spread the message of Sombra throughout the land, but thou musn't force anyone, pony or otherwise, to accept our beliefs. Sombra himself rose to power not through force but through his guile and charisma. He was forced to use his dark powers to protect the Crystal Empire from the Imperialists of Equestria, not to harm it, or it's people.”

“Tenet Three; Thou shall not harm anypony who is not trying to harm Thou. Sombra was a noble warrior in his mortal life who believed in the values of the Crystal Empire and it's people. Slaying a pony, or any sentient being without cause is the greatest act of cowardess, and will not be tolerated.

“Tenet Four; Thou must pity the non beleivers and attempt to sway their hearts and minds towards true enlightenment. But if they will still not see reason then you must coninue to pity them, and pray to Sombra to forgive their shortcomings and hope that before their time on the mortal world ends they will seek you out or one of your Brothers or Sisters to join us.

“Tenet Five, and this the most important one, my Child.” he said sincerely, looking straight into my eyes and I maybe even into my soul. “Thou shall never harm thy Brothers or thy Sisters. Nor nor steal from them, nor wrong them in any way. Your Brothers and Sisters are just as they seem. They are your Family. Our Family. Wronging one's family is the greatest offense that one can commit.” he pointed at the book. “I trust that you will do us proud. the Monolithe is your home as much as it is mine. Brother Malum will show you to the tunnel I discovered you in when he awakes you tomorrow” he paused and his expression turned curious. “What were you doing there, Sister?” I tried to think of a lie but my mind just wasn't cooperating so I decied to just tell the truth.

“The Mayor of Gem City sent me to check what was poinsoning the water. I was just following the water.” his expression changed to deep amusement.

“How quaint. A quest for clean water becomes one of salvation.” he rubbed his chin with his hoof. “The water isn't poisonous for us but perhaps for those in the city...” he stomped on the floor. “I will divert the water from that hall into another shaft. That shall preserve the Holy ground and fulfill your purpose in coming here. I wouldn't want any children harmed because they have not seeked enlightenment yet.” He turned back to the shelves and looked through the books for a moment before looking over his shoulder. “You must excuse me, Sister. I have some work to do. Brother Malum will be waiting for you by the alter. Your possesions are behind you by the door” I took this as an order to leave and scooped my bags onto my back before turning to leave. As I left he whispered, “Good luck, my Child.”

The Monolithe seemed to be made entirely of black stone and there were dark Crystals everywhere. Sticking out of the floor and walls and there were even chandeliers of them hanging from the ceiling. I found Brother Malum by the Alter, which was right by the podium in the main room of the church, he still had that stupid grin on his face and when I reached him he gave me an almost back breaking hug.

“We are so happy to have a new member of the family. I hope you you come to see this place as your home and us as not only your friends but your true family.” the way he said family kind of weirded me out but I couldn't help but smile. He was just so ridiculously nice. I could hardly believe he was going to stab me in the face just a few hours ago. Azure and Gareth would never...

“Oh, no!” I said loudly, drawing the attention of ponies nearby.

“What's wrong, Sister? Did you forget your tome?” he asked with genuine concern.

“No, I...” what would happen if I told them about Gareth and Azure? Would they be spared, or would they be sacrificed? “I...I thought I forgot it, but I have it here.” I pulled the book from my bags and showed it to him.

“Excellent. I too fear that I forget my copy at times. If you are ready I will show you to the room Sister Blueberry and I prepared for you, Sister.” I nodded and he trotted towards a door on the other side of the room. I followed closely behind and after we were a good distance from the Alter I risked asking him a question.

“Brother Malum?”

“Yes, Sister?”

“Was I the only new pony you've met today or have others attained enlightenment as well?” He frowned and shook his head.

“I'm afraid not, Sister. You are the only pony who has joined us today. We have not seen any outsiders here in quite some time.” I breathed a sigh of relief and when I noticed the curious look on his face I quickly said,

“That's a shame.” after a moment's silence I asked, “why were you going to execute me?” He looked a little guilty at the question and we turned a corner in the hall before he answered.

“You see, Sister. We believe that harming an innocent or anyone unjustly is abhorrent. But when a non believer tresspasses on holy ground they must be given to Sombra for judgement. It is written in the Book of Shadows that Sombra will forgive them if their intentions were noble, or if they were simply ignorant” he winked at me. “and he will return your soul to your body and heal your wounds. Thus returning you to life and showing that you're to be trusted.”

“Has that ever happened?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Not while I've been here. Confessor Tenebris told me that when he was just a colt he saw a mare who had tresspassed sacrificed and less than a minute later her body was restored and her life returned to her. But you're the first pony to tresspass in over twenty years so I haven't seen a sacrifice with either outcome.”

We entered a side hall with dozens of identical doors along the walls. There was a dark crystal above each door that gave off a ink like light.

“This is your room, Sister.” he stopped at the tenth door down and pointed at it. “Simply touch it and it will open for you. And do not worry about privacy, only you and those you allow will be able to open it.”  his eyes glowed entirely bright green for a just a second before returning to normal.

“Sorry, Sister. I'm afraid Sister Blue Berry requires my assistence. If you need anything I will be in the alter room once I'm done helping Blue Berry. Try to get some rest, Sister.” I watched him until he was out of site before reaching towards the door with a hoof. The door swung open of it's own accord and revealed a very large black and purple room. There was a massive circular bed in one corner, a large desk in another and a table surrounded by three chairs. There were several paintings of a tall gray unicorn stallion with eyes like the Acoltyes (and me) in different poses. His horn was blood red and curved and he was wearing metal armor on his neck in addition to a red cape with white trim.

Sombra

Not knowing what else to do I trotted over to the bed, dropped my bags on the floor and curled up on the bed. “Gareth and Azure will be fine. They can take care of themselves.” I told myself. But if they get near those crystals... The bed was really comfortable, within minutes I was yawning and starting to nod out. “they'll be fine....”

I was floating in the middle of an endless void. My bags and nurse's gown were gone and I was surrounded by thousands of white orbs. They were floating around aimlessly, occasionally bobbing or spinning. Some collided and became bigger before splitting in two just seconds later.

“What the...?” I reached towards one and I felt myself pulled forward. My hoof touched the light and I was sitting in a clean white room. I was curled up in a corner while three ponies in white hazmats suits with clear visors were standing around me. They were floating clipboards and ballpoint pens close to their muzzles.

                       -------oooOOOooo-------

“Subject 0178 is unresponsive.” the mare to my right said. She looked to the stallion next to her. “I don't understand. How can Phase Three affect our personel but be complely ineffective against these religious savages?”

“Sombra will cast your soul to Tarterus...” I said.

Tarterus?

“Ah, one of my Sisters knows I'm here.” I felt myself smile at the hazmat ponies. “The wrath of the Acoltyes will be upon you, and the Pretender you have created.”

“She's spouting nonsense again,” the mare on the left said, sounding annoyed. “I think we're going to have to put this one down.”

“But she's our last subject that's compatible with Phase Three.” a second mare told her urgently. “If we lose her we'll have to capture more. And you know how dangerous they are.”

“Keeping her doped up will kill her eventually anyway, and she's unresponsive.” she said dismissively. “There is no logical reason to keep 0178 alive. I'll inform Security that we require another group of subjects. Preferably like 0178 here.”

“Don't you remember how many units we lost capturing 0178 and the other two? I don't think Production is going to very happy about losing another thirty or more units.”

“Production is just going to have to suck it up. We need to find out why Phase Three effects all other subjects and our own without effecting these freaks.” she pointed a hoof at me and I felt myself smile again.

“You fools...I could tell you everything you want to know. In the beginning, there was only shadow” the mare on the left lifted a baton and struck me on the side of the head. The baton sent a charge of electricity through me and knocked me into the wall.

“Enough of your trible nonsense! I am so sick of hearing 'Sombra' this, and 'Sombra' that. Your 'God' was just some dumbass who got blown up!” she pressed her hoof against a button on the wall. “Code 1726 Sparkle Epsilon.” I felt a sharp pain in my neck and everything turned black.

                      ------oooOOOooo-------

I was back in the void and before I could even process what I experienced I flew into another orb.

                       ------oooOOOooo-------

I was standing on the top of a crumbling building in the ruins of a prewar city. The sky was covered entirely in blood red smoke that stretched for miles in every direction. There were dozens of decaying buildings surrounding the one I was standing on. Directly in front of us was a massive steel wall surrounding two thirds of the ruined city. Within it were pits covered in mesh wire surrounded by dozens of ponies in red and black armored barding. They held rifles and whips in their teeth, and every few moments they would snap the whips into the pit. The worst part was that all of this was built into the remains of an abandoned amusement park.

I was surrounded by four other ponies in black, hooded cloaks. My own hood was pulled down and there was a heavy weighted belt around my waist. I felt a single tear running down the left side of my face.

“This place is one of endless suffering.” I said. The ponies around me dropped their hoods, revealing their luminescent green eyes. “and the ones with the power to stop it only care for trinkets.” I turned my gaze towards the streets below, where a half dozen Steel Rangers were exchanging fire with the slavers. And even though  they had superior firepower and armor, the slavers outnumbered them ten to one.

“This is a place of sin, Sister.” the stallion to my right said solemnly. “We should elminate this 'Red Eye'. He is clearly not innocent in this.” the others nodded.

“It would be a trivial matter, Sister.” the mare to my left said in agreement.

“The Confessor would not allow it. Red Eye has never harmed the Acoltyes. And we will need his army when it is time to confront the 'Goddess'.” I said the word with disgust evident in every syllable.

“We don't need the Slave King's army to destroy that damnable creature and her pawns. We eliminated almost a dozen of her servants in this city alone. And then there's the ancient one, SteelHooves. He kills them regularly. The 'Goddess' is nothing.” I felt myself nod along with the others

“Yes. But we cannot act until Conessor Tenebris says we can. These ponies will have to hold on a little longer. Sombra works in mysterious ways, my Siblings.” I stepped away from the edge and turned towards a massive white tower in the distance. “The disk jockey can not see us here. Perhaps he requires our assistence...”

“Perhaps you should have stayed home!” Flying in the air around us were three dark purple Alicorns surrounded by magical shields. “You cretons shall pay for harming the children of the Goddess!” I felt myself smile before grabbing a sword in my teeth and pulling it free of it's sheath. The other did the same, either holding it in their teeth or with their levitation.

“Goodbye, Sister.” My gaze locked on the alicorn closest to me and I jumped off the building towards her. Just as the blade in my teeth bared down on the shield the world went black.

                    -------oooOOOooo-------

The void seemed endless and all of the orbs seemed to be drifting slowly towards me. When one got close enough I tried to push it away but it just entranced me like all the others.

                    -------oooOOOooo-------

Just like before I was wearing a black robe with a sword strapped to a belt at my waist and there were four other ponies with me who were similarly armed. The only differences were that this time I was a stallion, and instead of overlooking a ruined city with blood red clouds we were on the top of a steep hill with a massive fort shaped like a five pointed diamond. There were hundreds of ponies moving between the barricades, machine gun nests and lines of sand bags surrounding the fort. There were even a few dozen Pegasi in flying in formation overhead.

“Do you think they'll shoot at us?” the mare to my left asked me. I shook my head.

“These ponies may not follow Sombra but they are not against us. We have traded with them before, General Stormwing is a kind buck. We have nothing to fear.” with that we started down the hill towards a large steel and concrete bridge I hadn't noticed before. Then everything faded away, but this time I didn't return to the void I woke up.

                   -------oooOOOooo-------

I opened my eyes and inches away from my face was the muzzle of the purple mare I'd seen earlier.

“Hello!” she said. “My name is Blue Berry. How are you feeling?” I was so startled that I didn't move. Or even breath. But she was just smiling so warmly that my discomfort began to leave me.

“I'm...feeling alright. How are you?” I added.

“I'm feeling great, dear Sister! And I'm glad you are as well. It is morning, and the Confessor wanted me to wake you. He wishes to speak with you in his study when you're ready.” she backed away and hopped off the bed. She trotted to the door and looked back at me. “Brother Tom and Sister Azlin have just finished making breakfast. I hope you like pancakes.”

“What's a pancake?”

Turns out, pancakes are amazing! I was sitting at one of the tables in a small dining room with a dozen other Acolytes. I had eaten five pancakes so far and there was still another seven on my plate. The ponies around me watched me eat with amused expressions on their faces.

“You must be absolutely famished!” Sister Azlin, a plump little mare with a pink coat and purple hair said as she placed another small bottle of syrup by my plate. “When was the last time you ate, Sister?”

“Yesterday. I've just never had something so good!” Crystal Fox's cookies were great but the pancakes won the prize for 'Best thing I've ever tasted!' “I grew up in a Stable. All we ever ate was synthetic food paste. Tasted like a whole lot a nothing flavored with nothing.”

“I grew up in a Stable,” Cinnamin said from across the table. He was a handsome, brown buck with hair that was the same shade of his coat. (And even though I felt a little guilty about it, he had some pretty nice flanks too) “we had an apple orchard. Why did you leave? Besides the food of course.” I don't really know why but I didn't feel even a little uncomfortable about telling them what happened to 41. By the time I was done explaining many of the ponies looked sorrowful. The rest looked livid, their eyes glowing entirely green and purple smoke leaking from the corners of their eyes.

“This 'Bounty' character is known to us. He is a monster.” Cinnamin said, slamming his right hoof on the table. “The only reason we do not destroy him is that the Confessor does not want to incure the wrath of the Syndicate. We are protected in Monolithe, but many of our Siblings live in and explore the Equestrian Wasteland and beyond. We are not ready for war.” I thought to what I saw in my dream...or was it a dream?

“Uh, Sister Blue Berry?” she pulled her muzzle from her plate and nodded, half a pancake still stuck to her cheek. “I had strange dreams last night...” I told her about the city, the pony I saw in the white room and the ponies near the fort She shook her head and swallowed her mouthful of pancake.

“That wasn't a dream, Sister. Nor were you sleeping. All of us are connected in the Mindscape. It is how we communicate with one another across the Wasteland. You experienced what they were.” she floated the cake off her face and swallowed it whole. “You were communicating with our Siblings throughout Equestria.”

“Does that mean any of our 'Siblings' can watch what I'm doing?” I asked, suddenly very concerned.

“No.” she told me dismissively. “We can see what your doing but not what your thinking, and not without your knowing. And if you don't want anypony to see what you're doing, you can block the connection. When you feel one of us in your mind simply push us away, and the connection will be severed.” Feeling reassured I returned to my pancakes.

“Are you ready, Sister?” Blue Berry asked onnce I cleaned my plate. I even licked the syrup off.

“Yeah...do you know what he wants?” I asked. The purple mare shook her head.

“That's between you and Confessor Tenebris. Would you like me to show you to him?” I nodded and the two of us rose from the table. I followed Blue Berry back through the alter room and towards the Confessor's room. But before I could go any further I just had to ask;

“How do you make pancakes?”

Tenebris was sitting at his desk in the corner of the room, a quill floated over several open scrolls on the desktop in front of him.

“Confessor.” he turned to us and smiled warmly.

“Ah, thank you, Sister Blue Berry. You may go.” She bowed deeply and left the room without another word. “Please sit, my Child.” I sat down on a cushion Tenebris summoned from thin air and he floated a scroll off his desk.

“Sister Blue Berry told me of what you saw this past night. I ask that you do not let it trouble you. Our Siblings are spreading the word of Sombra and even if they fail at times they are not forgotten. They are doing Sombra's holy work.” he opened the scroll and placed a pair of glasses on his muzzle.

“I expect that you have personal business to attend to back in Gem City. Brother Malum will lead you to the tunnel that led you here. He will be waiting by the alter in the main room. Once you are finished with your affairs please contact us...” he floated the scroll towards me and clopped his hooves together. “Please do not read this until you leave. The information is for your eyes only. You may go, my Child. Sombra be with you.” without another word he returned to his desk and continued writing. After nearly a minute of silence (Except for the scratching of his quill) I got to my hooves and slowly trotted out of the room.

More confused than I was the previous night I followed the hall back to the alter room where Malum was waiting for me. He waved me over and the two of us made our way down a side hall towards the room where I awoke chained to the floor  less than a day ago. Opposite the door we entered through was a metal door with a bar across it. Malum touched his horn to the door and it opened with a soft Click! Malum turned to me and suddenly wrapped me in a tight hug.

“Be careful, Sister. It's dangerous out in the Wasteland.” he smiled brightly as released me.

          “Don't worry. I'll be fine.” after a moment's thought I added, “Sombra is watching over me.” his smile broadened, amazing considering how big it was before. How does he keep his face like that? I stepped into the hall, carefully stepping over the shards and when I looked back the door it closed shut and disapeared. I reached over and touched it and the door appeared again, only to disapear when I pulled my hoof away.

I turned my Pip-Buck's lamp on and followed the hall back to the fork. I shined the light down the hall Azure and Gareth took. I suddenly felt very tired. Like I galloped ten miles in a minute without stopping. And the farther down the hall I went the more pronounced my fatigue became.

“Azure! Gareth!” I whispered. Suddenly I heard sloshing coming from in front of me and my eyes burned from the bright beam of a flashlight.

“Silver Heart, what the fuck!” Gareth said, loudly. He was covered head to foot in black sludge. “We've been looking for you for hours! Where have you been?” I looked down at my hooves and saw my reflection in the water. At least my eyes aren't glowing.

“It's a...long, er, weird story. I'll tell you when we get out of here.” I said tiredly. “Where's Azure?” I asked. Gareth pointed down the hall behind me.

“She went to go find some of those Auxiliary ponies and see if they could help. That wasn't long ago so she should be close to the door.” he looked around before adding, “let's get out of here. This place is creeping me out.” I nodded and followed him down the hall back towards the entrance. We were within sight of the door when it was kicked open and two ponies in silver armor burst in followed shortly by Azure.

“Doc, you're alive!” she yelled and jumped down the stairs, landing on me. She pulled me and Gareth into a spine cracking hug but released us quickly. “What the fuck, Doc! Where'd you go?” she turned to the Auxiliary ponies. “Sorry about this you guys.” the bucks shrugged.

“You have nothing to apologize for. You were worried about your friend and we were in the area. No harm done.” the taller of the two said.

“If there's no problem we'll be going back to our post” ths shorter buck said.

“Yeah, we're good.” Azure said. She pulled out a small bag of caps and floated it to them. “For your time”

“That isn't necessary but we thank you nonetheless.” the taller buck grabbed the bag in his teeth and dropped it in his bags. “Every cap helps.” they bowed and left without another word.

“So,” I said awkwardly. Azure and Gareth looked at me. “Let's go tell the Mayor the water problem's fixed.”

Footnote Level Up! Charisma 25

Quest Perk added: Acolyte of Sombra: Rank 1 You get plus 10% to Speech Checks.