chapter 1- A very unlucky beginning.
“You can't do this it will kill everypony,” a determined female voice shouted.
Huh?
“Not e’rypony, Captain,” another female voice said in a thick southern accent.
“Arsenal why are you going along with this insane plan,” the first voice asked confused
Who are these ponies?! Where-wha-who- I can't see!
“Because she sees that this war is never gonna end,” a powerful female voice said. “Something you can’t see for some reason.”
“Cause unlike you, Alpha, I was taught to protect the innocent,” the first voice shouted
Wait. Something is familiar. Something's wrong!
“No pony out there is innocent they made this war, they made us, we are the future not them,” the third voice said, making me panic.
Wait!
“Then you leave me no choice I will have to kill all of you cause it seems I can't convince you not to do this,” the first voice said
NO!!!
“NO!!!”
Bang!!
I awoke gasping for air and spitting up the fluid that I accidentally breathed in when I had done so. I still couldn't see, and I reached up to rub my eyes, only to find a blindfold over my eyes. I removed the blindfold and looked over myself, and panicked when I saw a bullet wound through my gut.
“She never drew her gun,” a voice in my head whispered.
I rapidly shook my head, trying to focus before I noticed a stimpack and bandages on a table to my left. I struggled to stand up, so I crawled through the blood that covered the floor and shoved bodies aside until I made it to the table.
I struck the legs of the table causing the stimpack and the bandages to fall next to me. I reached over to the stimpack and pulled it over to me, using it immediately. The pain passed almost immediately, then I slowly sat up grabbing the bandages and wrapping them around my barrel as best I could. Standing up I looked around seeing multiple bodies littering the ground several of which I knew. Several feet away I saw somepony moving I slowly walked over to where I saw them move.
When I reached them it was a white unicorn mare with stormy grey eyes, she was bleeding badly from her chest she looked at me with pleading eyes.
“P-please. I don't want to die,” she wheezed.
I saw a tattoo of a purple alicorn on her neck, before I heard a distorted cough from my right, and turned to see a small stallion in riot gear and a parka overcoat.
“Let us die, kid,” he said through his broken helmet.
He coughed again before reaching into his coat and pushing a heavy, red accented revolver toward me.
“Flander’s Poppy,” I read off of the black barrel.
“Take up our quarrel, hero,” he grunted, clearly in pain.
I looked around and saw most of the bodies were my friends or ponies with the same green tattoo. I had questions, but I had to decide who to save. I looked at the teary-eyed mare, then the full face riot helmet the buck wore.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Please, help me,” the mare pleaded.
I noticed a yellow medical box on the wall across the room beside a bunk bed. I didn't know what to do, so I walked over and opened it only to find enough medical supplies to save one of them. I didn't want to let either of them die, but it looked like I would have to. I went to the buck and picked up the revolver, before pointing it at the buck, who nodded in what I assumed was approval, then I turned it to the mare, who seemed a bit too scared and it made me suspicious. I eventually got bored of this bullshit standoff, and shot the mare in the face, before dragging the stallion across the room and putting him on the bunk bed.
“What are you doing,” he asked, startled.
“Trying to save your life,” I said.
I didn't actually know what to do, but by gum, I would figure it out! So I thought. By the time I finished, he was dead.
“Crap,” I cursed.
I left his gun and whatever he had, before walking around the halls outside of the room. I felt light headed and I was delirious so I wandered aimlessly through the halls until I stumbled across the medical center. entering it clumsily, I immediately stumbled left slamming into the wall.
Leaning against the wall, I slowly walked along the wall until I manage to reach the drug cabinet. I heard a bang and a clatter from the hall and turned to see a soot-covered mare had fallen out of the vents.
“Fix It is that you?” I asked barely recognizing the Overmare, whose dark purple coat was more like a black color.
“Yeah, but who's asking,” she said as she rubbed her eyes.
“It's me, Lucky,” I said.
She looked over at me, and noticed all of the blood, before she asked, “Do you feel lightheaded or delirious?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Blood loss and concussion,” she muttered softly, with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Huh,” I managed, confused.
“We need to get you fixed up before you do anything else,” she said.
“Aw mom,” I said sarcastically as she dragged me over to a bed in the infirmary.
“You must have lost more blood than I thought you did if your making jokes,” the unicorn laughed using her magic to grab a rag and some alcohol. “Now hold still I got to see how bad your wound is.”
She removed the bandages with ease and cringed at the stinky and oozing wound.
“At least it went clean through, but this is infected somehow,” she said.
She cleaned the blood from my fur and I screamed when she cauterized the wound with a spell as well as when she applied the alcohol. She changed the bandages and gave me antibiotics, before helping me to my hooves.
“Let's see who else survived,” she said.
*
The stable was pretty small, only consisting of a ten pony living quarters, a cryogenic freezer array, a mediocre infirmary, and food storage for 400 plus years. We had finished searching within two hours and found no other survivors, and now sat on our bunks, figuring out what to do.
“What do we do now boss?” I asked, jumping off my bunk. “We can't just stay here it is no longer safe,” I added as I walked over to a locker, opened it and looked into the little mirror. I was greeted by a young mare with pink fur, lime green eyes and a messy crimson mane covered in dry blood. “I look like shit.”
“You sure do, and you need to take it easy, ” Fix It said, getting off her bed. “You were just shot so please don't reopen your wounds.”
“Yes ma’am, ” I say saluting the dark purple unicorn. “Still what do we do now? Do we leave or stay here?”
“Well there is the Crystal Empire, which is a few miles south of here,” She suggested, using her magic to pull an old map from out of my locker and unrolling it on the floor. “If things are similar above as this map that is ice so we would need winter gear to even survive the temperatures.”
“Well we should have winter gear since we're located so far north,” I said with optimism.
I looked back at Fix It and began to worry. She hadn't stopped smiling since I'd found her.
“Hey, uh, Fix? Are you ok,” I asked reluctantly.
Her smile faltered slightly, but not a word was spoken. I put a hoof on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
“It's ok Fix, you don't have to act tough for me,” I said softly.
“I know Lucky it wasn't for you it was for me, ” she answered looking down. “This just brings back bad memories.”
“What bad memories we been friends since we were little Fix It?” I ask confused by what she said.
“I’ll tell you later Lucky, ” she said as tears began to flow out of her eyes.
“Why are you crying Fix, ” I asked, hugging her.
She cried into my shoulder, and I felt despair at my inability to help her. When she stopped crying she sat and hugged me back as she sniffed.
“Thanks, Lucky,” she said quietly.
“I'm here for you Fix,” I said.
We broke apart, and resumed our search in silence, eventually finding boots, security barding, my overcoat, and a parka for Fix. We also managed to scrounge up some guns and bullets from storage, and the dead bodies that littered the stable, before making our way to the stable's entry hallway. The cold air blew in from the gaping hole where the big metal door used to be. I shivered slightly at the thought of what awaited us in the outside world. I never ventured outside before, but I knew I had to, so I kept walking until I set hoof in the snow.
The wind felt like daggers slicing through my overcoat and into my flesh, and the air was frigid, but the thing that scared me was the ash like snowflakes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at the old buildings, that made me think of amusement parks with their fading colors and festive decorations, but I was surprised to see that my thoughts weren't totally off, when I saw bumper carts, roller coasters, and a Ferris wheel.
I was startled out of my observation by a sudden low growl and turned to face a feral dog. I yelped in surprise as it jumped at me with its jaws snapping, but I quickly kicked it in the face, knocking it out cold. I sighed in relief and turned to Fix with a cocky grin, making her shake her head.
“What?” I asked as she walked away, so I ran after her, not wanting to be alone out there.
As we walked through the amusement park I felt an air of familiarity that confused me. I had never been here before, I was born in the stable so any feeling of familiarity had to have been false. So I ignored it the best I could and looked at the powdery snow, as we walked through the monument to a past long gone.
I heard creaks and squeaks from metal bending in the wind. Soon I also heard hoofsteps in the snow, I looked behind us and saw eight stallions. They were wearing black coats that were covered in frost and stood with a sag to them.
“Hi, ” I said to them, but they didn't respond.
“Did you escape the stable?” Fix It asked, again no answer.
“Fix,” I said, getting close to her. “I don't think these guys are friendly.” As soon as the words left my mouth they lunged toward us with a unified shriek.
“Run,” Fix screamed as she bolted away.
Not wanting to be left behind, I ran as well. I didn't look back but I could hear them snarling behind me, I began running faster, I saw Fix It run into a building I followed her inside. As I entered she shoved a large vending machine into the door blocking those things.
“What the hell were those things?” Fix almost screamed.
I tried to catch my breath before answering, but I forgot to breathe when I saw a mare stagger out from behind a Hayburger counter. Her eyes were lifeless, and her body had decayed, but within no time she tackled me and bit a chunk out of the foreleg I used to block my face with.
I cried out in pain as I struggled to shove it off me, but when I managed to throw the creature to the side, I bolted for the fire escape, not knowing where Fix had run to. Searing pain coursed up my foreleg, but I ignored it as I ran, scared out of my mind. More were coming out of seemingly nowhere as I limped through the large cafeteria, throwing whatever got in my way back at the monsters. I screamed in sheer terror as I tripped over a barstool that I hadn't seen. They drew nearer and I began to cry.
Is this it? Is this how I die?
I squeezed my eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable, but nothing happened. I slowly opened one eye, then the other, and I saw Fix, but no monsters.
“Fix,” I cried out as I pulled her into a hug.
I didn't care that I smeared blood and snot on her coat as I sobbed in relief. She hugged me back, shaking as she did. I was sitting next to a broom and a mop and it smelled like ammonia. We were in a janitorial closet.
“How did we get here?” I asked confused.
"I dragged you in here when you were cowering like- nevermind,” Fix answered before going quiet.
I rubbed my eyes with a hoof, and wiped my nose on my sleeve and was surprised when Fix grabbed my left foreleg and examined the wounds that started to hurt again as we both examined them. She pulled a bottle of vodka from her saddle bag and popped of the cap, before looking into my eyes with hesitation. I nodded reluctantly and she dumped about a shot worth on it.
I cried out and tried to pull my foreleg away, but Fix had a good grip as she began to bandage my foreleg. When she finished, she leaned in and kissed it, before pulling back with a slight chuckle. I stood up and attempted to hide my blush, but stumbled and fell into the shelf of cleaning supplies. Everything fell, except for a box of Abraxo Cleaner, that only tipped over and revealed a spring that triggered a mechanism that let the shelf and the wall behind it to swing out into a hallway. Fix went dead silent and I swallowed a lump in my throat. That feeling of familiarity was back.
I got back up, and took a step into the hallway, before feeling a hoof on my shoulder. I turned around and faced Fix, who avoided eye contact.
“We shouldn't go down there,” she said.
“I'd rather go down there than be eaten by another one of those monsters,” I said, shivering at the thought.
As we walked down the hall, I held a slow pace, then there was a flash of something in my head. It was the hallway, but it was full of ponies, but I couldn't make out what they looked like.
I shook my head to remove that image, I needed to be aware of what was around me as I walked down the hidden tunnel. I looked at Fix, who was biting her lip, a telltale sign that she was anxious, but before I could reassure her, there was a flash, but instead of the hallway there was a unicorn mare in an overcoat and a fedora, who was wrapped almost completely in bandages under her coat and hat. Her blue eyes seemed to glow, her presence filled me with both terror and relief.
“The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist,” she said in a strange, almost broken tone, one that you'd expect hear if one were to be imprisoned for a long time or if said pony watched everything important to them crumble.
After saying those words that started to burn into my mind, she blew away as nothing more than a cloud of dust, leaving me in silence. My vision began to clear once more, and I found I was face to face with a very worried Fix It in my face, shaking me.
“What happened? Who was that?” I asked, confused and looking around the hallway for the mare I saw.
“You zoned out, and you were mumbling something,” Fix answered looking at me closely.
“What was I mumbling,” I asked, worried about her answer.
“You kept saying ‘I need to stop her’,” she said before letting go of me.
“Who was I talking about?” I wondered out loud as we continued down the hall until we happened across a door marked with a winged sword with a star at the point. “what the? I know this symbol.”
I looked at Fix, whose ears lay flat against her head as she looked down at the ground.
“Are you ok Fix It?” I asked, concerned for my childhood friend.
“I'm sorry Lucky,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.
“For what Fix?” I asked in a worried tone.
“For this,” she said, before I started to feel dizzy and collapsed on the ground as unconsciousness took hold.
*
I sat at a table across from a bright unicorn mare with a blue coat and a white streaked blue mane, but what caught my attention were her very familiar blue eyes.
“and then she was like, BAM, and that striped bastard hit the ground like a ton of bricks,” she spoke excitedly over the din of the bar.
I looked down at the table, worry overtaking my thoughts. When They Sound The Last All Clear by Sweetie Belle was playing in the background, but as I tried to concentrate on it, I realized that the mare was talking to me again.
“You worried about Equestria losing Horsigan,” she asked, concerned.
“No, I don't care about those underarmed shit heads,” I said bluntly.
“There's something wrong with Arsenal and the girls, but they won't tell me anything,” I said, pained at the thought.
She put a hoof on my shoulder to comfort me and said, “Lucky, you gotta remember, they're basically your sisters and no matter what they say or do, they love you.”
“Now let's drink! Soon we'll be the victors of this shit show we call a war,” she said merrily, sliding me a double of Wild P.
“Thanks Colgate,” I said with a small smile, before taking a belt of the whiskey.
*
I awoke on the cold steel floor, half my body numb.
“What happened,” I ask myself as I got up.
I looked around and noticed Fix It was nowhere in sight.
“Fix,” I called, looking around. “where’d you go?”
I soon noticed that the door from before was open. I took a hesitant step toward it, but it slammed shut following a gust of wind I felt on my backside. I then realized that I no longer had my coat and barding.
“What the hell,” I said through chattering teeth.
I looked around as fear began to fill me like a glass.
“Fix,” I yelled.
“Don't leave me,” I screamed, nearly in tears as fear and solitude sunk in.
I heard growling and froze. Those things must have found the entrance! I mentally screamed as I ran toward the metal door.
It didn’t open like I thought it would, hell it did even budge. I looked frantically for a way to open the door until i found a bio-scanner, there is no way in hell this is gonna work, I thought as I place my hoof against the scanner. it buzzed then beeped as the door began to open but slammed shut then a message played from an unknown source.
“HOSTILES DETECTED CANNOT OPEN UNTIL THE THREAT HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED,” it said as my heart sank. I’m gonna die here alone, I thought as I sit down giving up.
“YOUR NOT GONNA DIE HERE SOLDIER!” the voice of a determined mare said in my head.
“Who said that?” I asked looking around.
“REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING AND YOU’LL BE FINE, LUCKY,” it said.
“Remember what training,” I asked confused, but the voice did not respond and the growling grew louder. “Ok remember…”
*
“Your a terrible shot, Lucky,” Colgate laughed as I missed my shot by a mile.
“Yeah I’m pretty bad compared to you and Shutter Flash,” I said, putting the riffle down. “But when it comes to close quarters combat I’m the best.”
“Yeah I know, but CQC isn't always gonna be an option,” Colgate said with a stern look.
“I know, thats why I’m trying to get good at shooting,” I said, finding the ground easier to look at. “but as you can see I'm terrible at it.”
“It’s fine you just need to practice,” Colgate said with a smile.
*
“So maybe I'm good at close quarters combat but how is that gonna help me kill these things?” I asked, confused as I heard the the creatures growling increase. “Wait a minute I can kill these things with CQC but not while they are in a group, I needed to do it one at a time, but how?”
I looked around the area I was in, it had several large crates and was rather dark, so if I stood still they may not see me. But, given my track record it could end pretty badly if I messed this up. I was gonna look for a different approach, but the creatures were too close, so I decided to hide behind the crates.
They shuffled inside and my heart started to pound, they shuffled around the room trying to find me. I took a deep, ragged breath and froze as one walked near me and began to look at me.
“This is my chance,” I said to myself.
I grabbed it then slammed its head into the metal floor, then I brought my right hoof up and smashed its head like a grape, its blood and brain matter splattering all over my hooves and getting all over my coat with a little on my face. I quickly got away from the body and hid again. It was a good thing too as two more showed up where I just was. I looked around counting how many were there seemed there was four, three alive one dead, so since there was two where I killed that one there should be one alone.
I soon found it, after managing to climb over the containers and sneak past the two zombie ponies. It was looking through a open doorway near the tunnel entrance hallway, so I bucked it in the back, and pressed the door release button, crushing its skull and painting the floor with its iqor. I was about to hide again but it seems I was spotted by the two remaining zombie ponies.
“Shit,” I muttered as they ran at me. Thinking quickly I lowered myself to the ground.
Time to see if that voice was telling the truth.
As they got close they were turned to dust, behind them was a securitron robot that came from the other door, it's magic turret glowing red.
“Threat neutralized,” it said in its monotone voice, as it moved slowly toward me.
I stood up and made my way toward the door.
“Welcome back Lucky,” the voice of the door said after scanning me.
I was confused and said confusion was giving me a headache. Behind the door, that opened infuriatingly slowly, was what looked like an old army base it was full of a lot of pre-war tech like several large computer mainframe systems, a f’t bring ew more securitrons moving about. On one of the walls had the words The Forgotten Knights rule graffitied in fluorescent blue paint.
“The Forgotten Knights,” I mouthed silently as I stood in awe at the dusty, yet pristine, facility. “What is this place?” I asked in wonder.
“This is the Base of operations of the northern branch of the Forgotten Knights,” a sad voice answered. I turned to look at who spoke and found Fix It sitting beside the door.
“Fix how did you get here?” I asked confused.
“After I put you to sleep I thought about leaving,” She said, crying. “But we been friends for all these years I couldn’t bring myself to abandon you again.”
“Again?” I asked, both confused and hurt by her words.
“Long ago I left you to fight a monster by yourself, because I was a coward,” She said hitting herself in the head, “I’m a stupid coward, if I didn’t abandon you, this entire world wouldn't be like it is now.”
“Fix,” I said, sitting next to the unicorn. “I have no Idea what your talking about, but I know one thing I could never blame you for something that was most certainly my fault.” Fix It began to cry harder.
“Did I say something wrong,” I asked, worriedly.
“No Lucky, you said the right thing like usual,” she said wiping her face off with her sleeve, “how come you always say the right thing?”
“It’s a gift,” I said, smiling when Fix laughed.
“Yeah I bet it is,” she said standing up, sniffing, “So, Lucky you want the five bit tour of the base?”
“Sure, this place is really interesting,” I said.
*
“I can't believe this place used to have a pool,” I said.
We sat in the locker room, looking through the weird lockers one with my name on it as Fix looked through the one with the name Magicka printed on it. As I looked through it I found an old photo that had seven ponies on it, two of them were clearly Me and Fix It, the others seemed familiar too, but their names seemed to evade my attempts to remember.
“Hey Fix check out this picture I found of us with five other ponies,” I said to the unicorn, showing her the picture.
“Wow I haven't seen this picture in so long,” She said, smiling happily, “We had to retake the picture twenty times because Icy Flower kept covering her eyes.”
“Yeah she was always camera shy,” I said, almost instinctively, smiling, but I stopped and looked at Fix It, “How did I know that?”
She looked at me, a pensive look overtaking her jovial one, but soon it turned to mirthless smile that I could see through. Something was definitely creeping me out, but instead of asking outright like I usually would, I decided to make an attempt at tactics.
“You miss them don't you,” I said confidently.
“Mhm,” Fix It managed, a nearly unperceivable frown tugging at the corners of her mouth.
I thought of the stable when I woke up after the attack and decided to take a gamble, “I especially miss Arsenal.”
That did it, Fix seemed to break like a piece of glass, breaking out into mournful sobs. I pulled her into a hug, calming her, but carefully prodding for information.
“She betrayed us! She killed everypony and-and,” she managed, before sobbing uncontrollably into my shoulder.
So what I heard WAS significant!
Another gamble, this time based on pure instinct, “It was Apha, she lost faith and dragged them down with her.”
Fix squeezed me tighter, “I'm so sorry Angel! I shouldn't have let her take you,” she cried out, still sobbing.
Something cracked in my mind, I had to stop, I squeezed her tight and hushed.
“It's ok Fix, you had no idea what she'd do, and in the end you still managed to save one of your friends, who will always be there for you,” I said in a soothing voice.
This seemed to work as the sobs died down, but I still held her as she quivered in my arms.
Was I always this fucked up?
“Thank you Lucky,” she managed, letting me go and began looking through her locker again I decided to do the same.
I manipulated my friend to get what I wanted and I felt like scum, but I kept it to myself, somehow knowing she wouldn't know, nor be able to tell what happened. I began rummaging through the locker, trying to distract myself, inside I found an old snow white parka trench coat that seemed to have armor plating woven into the fabric.
“Good I needed a jacket,” I said, taking a closer at some writing on the tag inside.
“Captain Lucky Day,” I read aloud.
I got chills down my spine as if I was stepping into another pony's horseshoes and it kinda scared me. I tried not dwell on the feeling, so I put the coat on, instantly feeling warmer.
She still sniffled as she reached into a locker and took out a box of .45-70 Govt. caliber rounds and a black revolver with magenta magical cracks in the receiver and barrel.
“Ooh, that looks cool,” I said, looking at the gun, which Fix quickly hid.
“It belonged to one of our old friends, Magicka,” Fix said, before closing Magicka’s locker.
“Who is Magicka? I can’t seem to remember her,” I said, confused.
“She was the only one of us who could have seen Alpha’s betrayal if she wasn’t moping over the loss of her stupid wings,” Fix screamed, grabbing a big piece of tile from the ground and throwing it hard against the brick wall, breaking it into pieces.
Angry tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall, but she quickly turned her back to me, flicking her tail as a signal to follow as she left. I quickly got my stuff together and ran to catch up.
*
I was glad I still had my boots, because from the wind chill alone, my face felt like a pin cushion. I sorely wished I had a mask or a full face helmet, but I trudged on, following a now calm Fix It through the blizzard in what I assumed was tartarus at this point, but then we stopped abruptly as Fix looked around, ears twitching. Her eyes grew wide and she bit the collar of my coat and dragged us into a snow drift, trying to hide us.
“Wha-” I attempted to ask, but felt a hoof press to my lips.
Armored ponies silently walked past our position and Fix quickly and quietly dragged me through the snow, avoiding the armored ponies searching for someone or something.
When we got a good distance, I finally asked, “What was that?!”
“I don't know, but I think they maybe from the same group of soldiers who attack our Stable,” Fix answered in a hushed whisper.
“Shouldn’t we kill them,” I asked in a whisper.
Fix deadpanned, “Do you see how much they out gun us.”
“Not really,” I said, nonshalontly.
She grabbed my ear in her teeth and dragged me away after they passed.
“Owowowowowowowow! That’s my ear,” I yelled, still barely above a whisper.
“Exactly,” she said, letting go.
“I’m not letting you get killed again,” she said.
“Ugh, fine,” I said.
We kept walking, seeing smoke in the distance. I didn’t know where we were going, but I just hoped it was someplace warm.
**************************
Author's Note
Yay it's finally time to make eternal shadows the way it was supposed to be. And it's thanks to my friend Oliver Hellfire who helped me write this and stay kinda close to the feel of fallout Equestria. Anyway tell me what you think in the comments below.
