“It’s funny how much you learn in a matter of hours. To bad less than half of it all probably stays in your head, and who knows how to use that retain information will be.”

—-

“Olive Branch. Yeah, I’ve heard the name,” Rere had gotten in contact with us after Gold set up a portable communicator in the Overmare’s room. Turns out she wasn’t able to find me at all after entering the Stable, and after explaining what had happened she got rather angry. “Usually when somepony tells me they saw an alicorn, I would say it’s common nowadays. However, Olive Branch is a bit of a strange case.”

“What does radiomare mean?” Gold asked. The griffon didn’t believe me when I had told him about Olive, but I could see the concern on his face when Rere confirmed what I had seen. “All alicorns artificial. All work for Goddess. Olive must be one of those.”

“Then you would probably be surprised to hear that every bit of that is wrong,” Rere shot back, a slight hint of enjoyment in her voice as she one upped Gold. “Her mother was artificial, though not in the same sense as most alicorns. The poor mare was experimented on by some alicorns around one hundred and five years ago and became one herself. That’s all we know about the parents, and there would probably be more records if that mare’s daughter hadn’t destroyed it all. That said, she is the only naturally born alicorn known today.”

“She destroyed her families records?” I asked in shock. Erasing your own family, that sounds horrible.

“Anything that the Steel Rangers, Enclave, or anything else anypony had on them,” Hearing Rere say that suddenly made me realize exactly why that meany was acting like her history is a reward. “Nothing on her parents, and for the longest time nothing on her except for that game you mentioned. She has been playing it for the last sixty years of her life.”

“Any info on alicorn?” Gold asked.

“You’re gonna have me kissing the Shadow Corporation’s hooves for knowing this, but I do have some stuff,” I heard Rere walk away from the microphone for a bit after saying that. She returned a few minutes later. “Anyways, Olive Branch. Ninety years old, heritage unknown, but just from interacting with her you can tell she is not connected to the Goddess,” She explained. I could hear the sound of paper crinkling on the other side of the radio. “She’s been suspected of killing many ponies who have left Stables outside of Trauston, but her existence is not very well known. Those who do survive this game of hers says that they probably wouldn’t have made it out alive if it wasn’t for her little challenges.”

“She showed up in Trauston around five years ago. It didn’t take long till she got on the Shadow Corporation’s wanted list after killing a mare from a Stable for not completing a challenge of hers. Since then they have done their utmost to keep her from getting another pony to participate. That said, no pony has ever managed to lay a hit on her before, and that includes the best the Shadow Corporation has.”

“Wanted criminal,” Gold said in response to hearing everything. “Alicorn kills for enjoyment. Not like me. I kill to live and eat. No reason for her to make game.”

“Well, she doesn’t see it completely as enjoyment. She is more than willing to talk if she is found, and her reasoning for this was both twisted and sensible,” Rere replied. “Lucky, she is going to expect a lot out of you. She uses this to see if Stable Dwellers are prepared for the wasteland, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about this. Again, the mare is like mirage; you fire a shot at her and it just goes through her. It’s like she isn’t even there. I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll make a visit and see if there is anything I can do to help.”

“In that case, we start training now,” Gold said, searching through a bag he had brought down with him for something.

“Training?” I tilted my head in confusion. My answer was that of a small, wooden gun with a dart placed into the middle of it. I recognized it as a crossbow from the picture books my mommy read to me.

“I see you hate guns,” Gold said, guessing correctly at how much I hated them. I’ve already been on the receiving end of a gun barrel three times (or two since Olive only threatened to put that gigantic gun to my head). “Therefore, we teach range with something else. Crossbow from home. When done, it’s yours.”

—-

“Fuck!” I exclaimed as the bolt fell out of the crossbow again. “I’m starting to hate this thing too. Why can’t I just use knifey for this?”

“Only fool fights gun with knife,” Gold reminded me for what must have been the ninth time. He watched from afar as I tried to place the bolt back into the crossbow. “Lucky learns crossbow. No time for full lesson, but can learn to shoot. Shooting most important part of using firearm.”

Firing was the only easy part of the entire process in the entire thing, and the first thing that Gold showed me. That was a part I did like about the crossbow. The feeling of holding it in my mouth, as strange as it was, felt right. Pulling the trigger also felt good, and the soft sound of the bolt flying away was also better. It felt better than a normal gun did, but nowhere near as comfortable as knifey.

“Hey, Gold,” I called to him, taking the crossbows handle out of my mouth. While it did feel right in my mouth, the wood was still not entirely pleasant. “You’ve been here for a long time, what was Trauston like before this mean ponies arrived.”

“Lucky speaks of Enclave,” He asked as he cleaned off a gun he had called a shotgun, and I nodded my head in reply. “Business better. Earn more, worked more, nopony always on tail. Good life,” He turned to me, putting down the gun. “Enclave lives to complicate. Maybe Shadow Corporation does something, but probably not. Try not to interfere unless they want to.”

During that entire explanation I finally managed to get the bolt into the crossbow. I looked down the room we were in, Gold having stack a group of cups on a table. They haven’t moved once since he set them. He said that firing is the easiest part, but I think he was lying about that. No way would it actually be that difficult.

“How about Lucky, what was pre-war Equestria like?” Gold asked me, his question catching me off guard and causing me to miss the target. “If simple thing throws you off, you die. Firing is easy, hitting it is difficult.”

“Wish you had said earlier,” I told him angry, putting on a pouty face despite knowing he was immune to it. “Old Equestria was… not something I learned about. Other than my mommy and daddy, the only other thing that I ever talked to was my tutor. He was a griffon, looked a lot like you actually. Still, my mom and dad kept me safe from all the mean ponies in the world. Old Equestria was full of those.”

“Guess it not too different,” Gold stated, pointing the shotgun at the table and firing. He easily knocked all the cups down, though I swear he must have cheated. Those cups definitely had a forcefield or something around them. “What about stuffed animals or toys. I had toys. Then I came here and lost them all.”

“Well, I did have a teddy,” I answered, thinking back to my old teddy bear in my room. “I named him Tokyo. We did everything together, but then one day he disappeared. It was a lot more lonely at home after that, especially with my mommy and daddy always working.”

“Would you be happy for a reunion?” Gold asked. “We already looking for ma and pa. We find them, we might find Tokyo.”

“You really think he’s still out their?” I replied, the thought of seeing Tokyo again after so long exciting me. I could see a quick frown appear on Golds face as I said that, but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

“Megaspell destroy many things, but some survived just as ponies, griffons, and zebras,” Gold explained. “They say that precious things always find you. If Tokyo is precious, then we will indeed find him.”

I repeated those words in my head as he set the anti-crossbow cups back up. Precious things always find us, I’ll have to remember that for the next time someone says I’m wasting my time. Gold might talk strange and walk strange, but he was clearly smarter than I was. Not as smart as mommy and daddy, but still really smart.

“Do you think we could find some of your toys too? They must be precious to you if you remember them,” I asked Gold, though he didn’t seem to hear me. No, I’m sure he heard me, but maybe he just didn’t want to answer. “Sorry.”

“No need for sorry. Lucky has right to be curious,” Gold replied, turning to me as he set up the last cup. “As precious as toys are, I don’t want to search. Trauston surrounded by storm. Nopony leaves after entering. Some say Enclave made it, others say it was Shadow Corporation.”

“Well that’s mean, but I guess staying in one place isn’t new to me,” I said, mostly to myself. “Once I find mommy and daddy, I guess we’ll need to find a new home. Ponyville is too far away to walk.”

Gold’s response was not one I expected. He hugged me, but not in the simple way that I saw most ponies hug each other. One of his talons held my front hooves while another layed on my back, head leaning on my own. It reminded me of how mom always hugged me before going off to work, though she also would whisper to me those two wonderful words: “Be strong.”

Instead, Gold said something different. “Olive won’t touch you. Same for Enclave and Shadow Corporation. But more so, I won’t let you find yourself.”

—-

“Do you want to know how to activate it?” Rere asked me later that day, most likely talking about the orb that Gold had given me after training. It was the same one he had taken from the theater. “No magical knowledge is required; all you need is a horn.”

“If only unicorns can use it, does that mean earth ponies and pegasi can’t keep memories?” I asked. Rere had explained to me how these weird orbs worked, though none of it made any sense to me. “Seems like something only stupid ponies would do.”

“Well, considering how most unicorns viewed us pegasi and earth ponies… they probably didn’t care,” Rere told me. “It was hidden from the public eye, but a lot of tension built up between the three tribes during those last few months of the war. The ministries didn’t try to fix it, instead hiding it and using our ‘strong bonds of friendship’ as some sort of StuPiD FuC*& ProPoGanDa,” Her voice suddenly seemed to change, sounding stranger the more angry she got. “It SiCkenS Me, th0sE &*$($ UniWhOrEs. WhY cOulD’T they All JUSt DDDDDDDIIIIIIEEEE.”

“Rere,” Her voice was starting to scare me. I suddenly heard a coughing fit on the other line. “Rere, is everything okay?”

“No, nothing is okay right now Lucky. I’ve been feeling this way ever since I woke you up,” She told me. “It’s gotten worse as of late, the rampancy. I… I might need to leave the radio shack for a few days to get this check on. ”

“Rampancy?”

“I’ll explain some other time, I… I need to disconnect right now,” Rere said, and like she just disappeared. Times before I felt as if someone was their but now… nothing.

I got off the bed that I was on and rushed out the door, feeling something horribly wrong. Rere had turned really creepy and I had no idea why this ‘rampancy’ thing was involved. She hadn’t acted like that before, and even the most stupid of ponies don’t say those things in front of a little filly. I ran down the hall, trying to find Gold, hoping he could tell me something, but I quickly ran into another problem.

I was lost in this stupid stable. Every hallway looked that same, every door and room had the same stuff, and it was so quiet and dark that I everything seemed to stretch forever. I ran up and down, up and down, again and again, until I finally decided to curl up in a corner. The orb was the only glow I had, and I held it tight as if the one thing I could see was trying to get away. I was alone again, like back in Stable 71, but this time there was no one around. I hated being alone, and I hated everypony leaving me.

“I hate all you dumb ponies!” I shouted, not noticing my horn lighting up. “I hope you all die! Die terribly, gruesomely, and think about what you’ve done to me! If you don’t… I-if you don’t die on your own-”

I felt my hoof grab ahold of something sharp, and stabbed it in front of me. I thought I hit somepony else, but in the end I felt that sharp thing attack me instead. The feeling I got from it was horrible, and despite not wanting to I looked down to see what had happened. I saw knifey sticking into my leg, the same red stuff that all the bad ponies had coming out of where I stabbed. That wasn’t right, I don’t know why but seeing red wasn’t right. My horn stopped glowing, but I didn’t notice due to my eyes being stuck on that red stuff.

“B-blood?” I asked in shock, feeling betrayed by the knife in front of me. “Knifey, why did you hurt me? Aren’t we friends? If you are supposed to protect me then… why did you hurt me?”

“It seems like you’re more likely to die than all these ‘stupid, dumb ponies’ you keep mentioning,” Another voice called out. The lights suddenly turned on in the room, and I found that I was currently in the Stable’s kitchen. I looked to where the voice came from, and I saw the last pony I wanted to see: Olive Branch “And here I thought you liked blood.”

“Go away,” I pleaded, on the verge of crying. “Besides, I’m sure this is just the bad parts of me going away. Only bad ponies have blood after all.”

Olive Branch sighed. “You really do sound like that bitch of a leader,” She replied, laughing at me in my face. “You know, I was going to tell you where to find Broken Record or whatever the fuck her name is. In fact, I might know how to help her, but now-”

Upon hearing that, I rushed over to the alicorn and hugged her leg, my own still bleeding. I didn’t want to cry, because good ponies don’t do that, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was so scared, and the wound hurt so much, and I might lose a friend if I didn’t do anything. Olive Branch, though she is an ass, is my only hope, and I needed her right now.

“Please,” I begged. “Please help me. Tell me or I’ll… I’ll hurt you like knifey just hurt me!”

“Ooh, I’m shaking in my boots right now,” Olive Branch said. I smiled, knowing that I had somehow gotten an alicorn to be scared of me. “Since you asked so nicely, I guess I could help you out.”

My grip on her leg gave way as she turned around, leaving me hugging air. She bent down and gave me a kiss, a smile on her face as she did it. I hated how happy she was, being such a bad pony and mocking me. I know she was bad before, but when I’m done with her I would have to kill her now for how bad she is. Nopony mocks a good pony like me, especially when they are hurt.

“MentaBuck, open map. Authorization code one four one nine two six six” Olive Branch said. Without me doing anything, the MentaBuck’s map opened just as she told her to. “Detail complete area of map.”

“Map area restricted to Trauston, Equestria,” I was rather upset that the MentaBuck was doing what it told her to. “Current authorization is unable to remove restrictions. Please contact the Shadow Corporation CEO for-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, don’t care,” Olive Branch said. I guess ponies around me can hear the MentaBuck’s voice too. That was upsetting, seeing how I wanted it all to myself. “Set marker at twenty-five, fifty-four. Set name: robo-shack.”

“Marker set,” As the MentaBuck said those words, a little flag appeared on my map around an area away from the main city. “Warning: Unauthorized access detected, shutting down.”

Olive Branch didn’t seem too happy to hear those last few words.

“Robo-shack?” I asked, tilting my head.

“You find out when you get there,” She replied, patting me on the head. A poutted in reply, not happy that someone other than my mommy and daddy was doing such a thing. “Anyways, I’ll be taking me leave now. You got five days to figure out how to save your friend or else you’re a dead filly.”

Olive Branch started trotting off yet again, but this time I wasn’t going to let her get away. The way she acted to me, the fact that she wanted to kill a filly, everything about her made her a bad pony. Working through the pain, I ran at her screaming, but before I could poke her with knifey her hoof contacted my face, sending me flying into a nearby table. I let out another scream, this time in pain as I saw that knifey had once again stabbed me, though this time it was in the belly. I was about to cry again, looking up to Olive Branch as she disappeared into the darkness of the Stable’s hallways.

“I’ll… I’ll…” I searched for the right words to use, and after a time, I finally found them. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you like I do every other bad pony! You hear me?! I’m gonna stab you and slice you and butcher you till you’re nothing but blocks of meat!”

As my shouts continued, I heard one thing from her. “What a poor, misguided thing you are.”

Author's Note

I should just point out that this is not what I had originally expected to do with this chapter, nor had I ever thought I would return to it after so long. Yet, here I am, revisiting old stories and doing what I can to try and bring them back. Every Lie may not be the most popular of those, but it is something I've put my heart into, and with all my heart I'm gonna get as far as I can with it.