Chapter 1 - The Beginning.
"Thank you, Diamond Tiara, that was... nice. I'm not sure that you understand the definition of 'tragic hero' but you certainly are... passionate."

"Silver! Wake up!" my dad yelled at me before tossing me off of my bed. I hit the ground on my right side, my purple mane falling limply over my face. My father, Chrome Lining, in all his glory. A white coat riddled with scars and burns from years in the wastes. I stood up as fast as I could.

"Yes sir!" I replied with practiced vigor, saluting him properly.

"It's your first day of work, and as such I'm giving you your issued gear. One set of barding, and one.30 caliber rifle complete with twenty rounds of ammunition. You'll find them both in your wardrobe along with a present from a dead slave." He looked me over, as though to inspect my physical condition. "Get to it boy!" he barked. And I rushed to my wardrobe. Sure enough, the gear was all there, and on top of my leather barding was a pip-buck.

Side note: a pip buck is a forehoof mounted computing machine with several useful features for organization and combat. With its automatic sorting spell I'd know exactly what I had on me, and it would display an item's value in caps. Not to mention the combat portion, also known as S.A.T.S, or Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, which should be self-explanatory, and The E.F.S. or Eyes Forward Sparkle, which acted as a means of direction as well as a target acquisition system. When I turned on the device, a stream of data went across my vision until a light blue buck gave me a smiley face to indicate the setup was finished.

Once that was all set, I put on my leather barding. It was a tight fit, but I had no doubt it would serve me well against any vermin or melee attacks. It probably wouldn't stand up too well to gunfire or magical energy weapons, but those were few and far between out here. The rifle looked brand new out of the assembly line, probably because it was. The blued steel had a slight sheen to it and the springs were still tight. That could be a good or bad thing in practice. However, being a unicorn, it would be much easier for me than an earth pony. The clip (and yes, I do mean clip) fit into the slot tightly. I pushed ten of my twenty rounds down into the magazine (see, I know what I'm talking about) and let the bolt assembly fly home. As it did, I could smell the faintest hint of lubrication oil, something I'd become all too familiar with.

I left for the main room of our home, which doubled as a kitchen, to receive my inspection from my father. "So, did I put everything on right?" I asked, in truth, I knew my barding was okay, and the rifle was flawless, but I still needed his approval to leave.

"Let me look you over." He pulled on the various straps that held the padding in place, checked my rifle over, and pulled the bolt back partway to make sure I had a round primed. "Only one thing wrong, and it's one of the most important. You left your gun's safety on." he let his hard face fall for a moment. "Overall, not bad for your first day on the job." his fatherly face flew from his face, and his leader's face resumed in its place. "Now, today your duty is simple. All you are doing is sitting in the southwest tower and watching a satyr camp that was raised a week ago. Hollow Point will be your supervisor for today, and he will be explaining what your job entails." he said.

"Yes, sir! Where am I supposed to meet him?"

"He will be at the market in four minutes. Now that you've got that fancy Pip Buck, how about you use it to get there as fast as you can?" his words were almost phrased like he was trying to play a game. Of course, I knew this was no game. If anything, this was half order and half test. I had to either make it to the marketplace in time or be left behind and punished for not attending my post.

"Thank you sir, and I'll be sure to make it with time to spare!" I yelled, racing out the door and into the Northpass streets.

The air outside smelled of charcoal burning, gunpowder, blood, and lead. A familiar smell in a settlement designed to manufacture weapons on the backs of slaves. The smoke was coming from the forge sitting on the top of the western hill, below it was the slave quarters, and to the east of those was the marketplace. All along the streets, there were shacks and homes made in an infinitely better quality than the slave quarters. Sure, it was aways, but no more than a six-minute trot from my house. I, of course, was in a full gallop, so I would probably make it in three.

Would, if I hadn't tripped over somepony who'd passed out drunk the night before. A dark green unicorn buck with a blonde mane. He groggily woke up, shook his head and started to yell at me, until he saw who he was going to be yelling at. "I'm sorry sir, please don't report me to your father." I was used to this sort of treatment, but now I was bleeding from the muzzle.

"It's alright. I should have been watching where I was running." I stood up and extended a hoof. Only to be slammed to the ground and drug into an alley. The scoundrel pressed a knife to my throat and in a hushed voice.

"I know you don't know me, but you have to trust me. If you call for help, I'll have no choice but to slit your well-groomed throat." What an excellent way to inspire trust, and on such a perfect day.

"Fine. What do you want? Money? Guns? My barding?" I replied in the same hushed tone.

"I want you to come to meet our mom. You've only got three options brother. Come and lead me out the gates, have me knock you out and drag you with me through the sewers, or get your throat opened." And with that, I had so many questions.

"Only if you can answer my questions first. Deal?" I put on the most shit-eating grin anypony had ever put on.

"One question, yes, your mother, Lily is still alive."

"And I didn't even get to ask. My question was going to be, how do I know you're telling the truth?" to be fair, that was a close second. But I felt that mine was slightly more pressing. The buck passed me a scrap of paper with a picture attached. The image was of my mother and a young colt who looked quite a bit like the buck standing in front of me. The mare having aged a fair bit since the one my father kept in his room, but it was definitely one of her. The note read
"Silver Lining,

I doubt very much that you'd remember me, but I am your mother. If you'd like to learn more about the effects of slavery, and how we can end it, go with your brother Lead, and he'll lead you to me.

Love,

Mom"

In all reality, it proved nothing more than that he had a picture of my mom and that he knew her at one point. I pondered the possibilities. On one hoof, he could be a buck who'd made some lucky guesses, on the other, he might really know where my mom was, and if that was the case, then he'd be my only lead to finding her. Now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I would either be held hostage or find my mother.

Goddesses damn me, I had to know. "Fine, You're coming with me through the gate. Just keep a low profile, and say nothing to anypony. Got it Lead?" I kept the shit-eating grin going to keep up appearances. Inside, I was fucking terrified.

"Sure thing, but that won't be a problem for me." he pulled a cloak from under some rubble and trash and threw it over himself. When he pulled the hood over his head, he vanished entirely.

"I don't know what the hell that is but keep it up till we're out of range," I said, and to anypony else, it would have looked like I was talking to myself.

I calmly strode through NorthPass, now paranoid because of the knife-wielding, invisible pony following me and what could happen if he was caught and telling the truth. Anypony not privy to what was going on would assume he was an assassin here to kill me for some faction and to deliver a severe blow to morale.

'Focus Silver' I thought. If this was going to work, then I needed a clear head. Or at least not an overtly cloudy one. All I needed to do was not be seen by Hollow Point or my father. Two ponies out of a few hundred. Should be easy right?

But of course, nothing could ever be easy.

"BOY!" my father yelled from across the marketplace. And with one word, I could feel my butthole clench tighter than a radgator jaw. I faked a grimace and under my breath said "Not a goddess damn move."

"Yes sir! I know I'm late, there's a dead slave a couple of streets over that I tripped over!" I pointed to my muzzle.

As he got closer, through clenched jaws, he growled: "Get moving, NOW!" I booked it at full gallop to the main gate.

Once we were out of view of the gates and towers, Lead took off his hood and became visible again.

"So, that went well. You ready to learn the truth?" Lead reached into the pocket of his cloak and grabbed a syringe full of a clear liquid and removed the cap. "Sorry, but you're gonna need this, it's just the protocol with new members." After which he jammed it into my neck.

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End of Chapter 1
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S:5
P:5
E:5
C:7
I:5
A:5
L:8
Traits: Trigger discipline- You learned how to shoot as a young buck, with semi-automatic weapons you shoot 20% slower, but with 20% better accuracy
Heavy hooved: Your melee and unarmed attacks do more damage, but less on criticals

Tag skills: Barter, Guns, Repair

Author's Note

A big thank you to both Kkat and Somber for the inspiration to write this finally.
I should also include that this is the second version. The first was removed due to a massive writer's block and a better idea that came from it. To anyone who was emotionally invested in the first version, I'm sorry, but I may come back to it under a new title and with new names for the characters. However, that is extremely unlikely due to the fact that this one came almost purely from a writer's block from that story. I'll try to upload a new chapter once a week, but I can't make any promises due to life.
And I made a much-needed update to this. Expect more updates with some regularity.