1,000 years of waiting.by Silver ButcherChaptersPro-logChapter 1 - Entering the WorldChapter 2- What once wasPro-log"Listen up, and listen well, for I am about to tell you of a town older than this Nation! A town that had once been called Ponyville. Now it is a wasteland, sanctioned off on all maps as one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, The Rain that fell on the town is acidic, the air is toxic, and the ground is infertile, nothing can grow and nothing ever will again, but that is what most of Equestria is like nowadays, no living creature in the world can think of a time when Equestria wasn't like that, With the exception of myself, and a handful of other creature that is as long-lived as I am. But what makes this town the Most Dangerous? This Town has a Creature living in it. This Creature is the one and the only reason that the remains of this town are avoided by all, and any adventure brave or foolish enough to travel through to the town to challenge the creature all meet the same unforgiving end. But this town is special for it, and it alone houses the only castle still standing in all Equestria that had once belonged to one of the 5 princesses, back before we left it, back before our proud Crystal Nation had been the one and the only place in the world that was thriving, back during the time of the 5 original princesses. "To this day nopony knows how it happened, who had done it, or how it had been done. But it's happening was the day Equestria changed for the worse, the Day when Princess Celestia was murdered. Accusations broke out, The Leaders of the Races all blaming each other, paring off into 2 factions for war. In the end, The Ponies, Kirin, Dragons, Hippogriffs, and the Diamond Dogs joined together, all other races were turned on and the war started, The war lasted 3 years and a Day. And ended with the Mutagenic Nuke. In the end, No one on either side had won, and in the end, Equestria was turned into a wasteland, leaving behind thousands of dead and hundreds of mutants, the 4 remaining Princesses and the one new Princess, the respective leaders of the Dragons, the Kirin, The Diamond Dogs, and the Hippogriffs, along with the 3 surviving Elements of Harmony all abandoned their homes and their nations and joint together under one flag! And that is how the Crystal Nation came to be." with a snap Princess Starlight shut the book she had been reading. "Any Questions?" She asked. The room filled with the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as its residents all jumped out of their seats and raised their hands. it was filled with a mixture of Ponies, Kirin, Dragons, Diamond Dogs, and Hippogriffs. After a second Starlight pointed to a Young Brown Earth Pony "You my dear, what's your name?" "I...I'm Iron Heart Ma'am," She said softly, having not expected to be picked. "What is your Question Iron Heart," Starlight asked politely "Um...wha...what kind of Monster Lives in Ponyville?" She asked nervously. Starlight got up and began walking around the class as she talked. "Well, when the Bombs dropped and the Mutagen spread across the land, this Monster was made, Nopony has ever seen it and lived, but that being said it is important to note that while the creature of Ponyville is very dangerous, rumor has it that should you bring a book to ponyville and place it on the ground, the Creature will give you safe passage through the town, so long as you touch nothing. Of course, no one has ever proven this to be true," Starlight smiled as Iron Heart thanked her and sat back down, after a second of looking around she pointed to a young Diamond Dog. "What is your name?" "Jamie," The young Dog said with a yip "What is your Question, Jamie?" She asked "If the Creature is as dangerous as you say it is, why has it never left ponyville to concur other areas?" "No one knows," Starlight said as she began pacing again "But Reports have come in from miners going into the area for Resources that the Creature attacks the forest when it comes near the town, proving that it has not only been there since the beginning of the Mutagen Era but that it is the sole reason that the Everfree Forest hasn't taken over the Town, but once again, No one knows why it's protecting that particular piece of land, it could be for any number of reasons, the most likely is that it lived there before the Mutagen bomb, another is that something of extreme worth is hidden in the town and the Creature is protecting it, and of course it could just be that the creature found a good place to nest and has laid claim to the town as its territory." Jamie thanked Starlight and sat back down. "Ok, Class we have time for one more question before the belle...you. what's your name?" Starlight asked pointing to a Gray and black Kirin "My name is Angel," she responded "And what is your Question Angel?" "How is it that the Crystal Nation wasn't affected by the Mutagen bomb?" "Ah! a Wonderful question," Starlight said happily "You see, halfway through the war Ponyville was deemed a danger and I, the other Alicorns, and Discord all combined our powers and mover the Tree of Harmony to the then called Crystal Empire, and Combined it with the Power of the Crystal heart, Forming the Tree of Heart and Harmony, with their power combined it not only quadrupled the Empires Borders to 90% of Antarctica, but when the nukes fell it kept the Empire and all it's inhabitants safe and sound. And thanks to that Power I, my Sister Alicorns, and all your ancestors lived to fight another day, and while the world outside the Nation is Dangerous and full of peril, many Adventures have gone out into the world to find lost artifacts, lost bit's of ancient knowledge, and some have even managed to find Mutants that could be tamed and used to make the Nation better than ever." Starlight smiled and, on cue, the bell rang. "Alright everyone, First day so no homework, but don't expect that tomorrow." She said as her class began packing up " oh, and everyone." The Class turned to look at her "Make sure to enjoy your day," she waved them off as her class departed. Once the class was empty Starlight sighed and sat down at her desk, she leaned back in her chair for a second before straightening up and grabbing a Pen. "Alright time to work on my lesson plan" Meanwhile "That was so cool," Jamie said as she Iron Heart and Angel all walked together in the halls "When I grow up I wanna be the Miner in an Adventure group!" She squealed "Oh that'll be so fun!" "Well I wanna be the Map Keeper" Angel shot back "Being the guide to my team, keeping them on track, telling them where to go. Making them walk in circles for hours when they piss me off" She sighed "Oh yeah, That'll be fun." "Well, I wanna be the Warrior!" Iron Heart gloated "Fighting Mutants, Beating up Bandits, and maybe being the hero who challenges the Ponyville monster and End's the Victor" Iron Heart nodded "Oh yeah, that's where I'm heading in life!" Author's Note and now for a 6 year Time Skip Chapter 1 - Entering the WorldIron Heart Smiled as she looked at the Barrier, it had been a long and hard process to earn her title, but it had been worth it, she had her armor, and she had been Granted a Senior Ranked Sword. Angel was still in processing, being given the Fireproof Map, Travel bag, and a variety of other materials the Trio would need on their adventures. And Jamie was jumping up and down next to the Barrier, she had the potion bag of her own invention on her back, she was the most well know of the Trio, having Revolutionized Adventure Journey Alchemy. Inside the bag was a fully functioning Alchemy Lab, with the use of a series of spells the bag weighed almost nothing, the top had a protective barrier that prevented anyone that wasn't wearing the bag from reaching the potion's it held inside, it also had a series of pockets to store supplies in. the Bag looked small but had been proven to hold enough Items to outfit a small Malisha when used just right. "This is awesome!" Jamie sang out as she jumped up and down "We're going outside, we're going to Equestria!" "I've heard." A Robotic Voice said behind them, the two turned and immediately saluted as the Robot General of the Chrystal Nation approached them "Relax, I command soldiers, not adventurers." Shining Armor said with a wave "Just wanted to see one of my best students head out." "Thank you, sir." Iron Heart responded respectfully "I promise I won't let you down." Shinning laughed "Please relax," He said jollily "My Daughters the Princess of War, not me "I'm just here to make sure she didn't tell you to go ballistic on everything you see or meet out there." "Um...Sir." Jamie cut in "Not to be disrespectful or anything...but isn't Equestria full of Raiders and Mutants?" "Well...yes" Shining confirmed, "There are quite a few ponies and monsters that you will end up killing, just make sure that they're actually trying to kill you first, I'm sure you know of the Mutant Cheerliee?" "well yeah," Iron Heart said with a shrug "She's the Plant Mutant right? She's the reason so many Fruits and Vegetables are grown so fast and ready for the Entire Nation." "Yes, well did you know that she use to be a Teacher?" "What'd she teach? Farming?" Iron Heart asked with a snort. "No, She was originally a Pony Teacher, Cheerliee used to live in Ponyville, Before the Great War." Iron Heart took a second to take that information in. "Wait wait wait... you're telling me that the Mutant who feeds the Nation...is 1,000 years old?" "Well she 1,054 years old now, and technically the Great was was 1,023 years ago by this point, but yes" Shining agreed "That is what I'm telling you, the same can be said for all the mutants that are used in the Empire." Shining held up his hand and counted them off "The Mutant Aloe, The Mutant Big Mac, The Mutant Carrot Top, even Sweetie Bot! they are all from Ponyville." Shining thought for a second "That being said, not all mutants that still retain sanity are from Ponyvile, the Mutant Braeburn..." "That Monkey Pony thing?" Angel asked, having just arrived in earshot "That's guy's fucking insane...makes good cider tho." "Yes," Shining continued "Mutants like him, the Mutant Maud, the Mutant Sapphire shores, and even Myself and Spitfire, none of us were in Ponyville when the nuke's when off...but here we are." He shrugged. "It's a shame you didn't make it back into the Safe Zone in time" Jamie noted, "How did that happen anyway?" "Me, Spitfire, and Sweetie Be...I mean Bot, where halfway through the protection field when we were hit with the Nuke." Shining shrugged "The field deflected the Mutagen and ended up cut all of us in half, or in my case thirds, when it hit, After about 2 months of work keeping us alive, The Princesses combined their knowledge of magic and machinery and put our souls into this" Shining pressed a button and his chest cavity opened to reveal a Glowing Blue Orb," Angel asked when she saw it "A Soul Drive," She said in awe at the orb "That things indestructible right?" "Pretty much" Shining said as he closed it, "But we're getting off-topic, I just want you three to remember one thing, and remember it well, True most mutants are mindless killing machines, but If at any point during your journey you meet a Mutant that can talk, you must drop everything and do everything in your power to bring that mutant to the Capital! Even if it fights back, even if it attacks you, if a Mutant talks, even if it's Insane and berzerk, Take it to the Princesses!" "Why?" Iron Heart asked, Jamie had pulled out a notepad and a pen and was now writing down everything Shining was saying. "I mean, even if it's sentient enough to still be who it use to be if it's a murderous berzerk monster shouldn't we..." "Do you know how Cheerliee came to live here?" Shining asked, cutting Iron Heart off "749 years ago My Wife was in Equestria, she was working on a wedding and was hoping to find a type of Flower that, back then, had been declared Extinct, as she was searching, Cheerliee showed up and tried to kill her, at First Cadence fought back, but as soon as she got a good hit on Cheerliee she started screaming random words at her, none of them having any significance or even making grammatical sense, and after a few tries Cadence found she would mimic any word said to her, it was the first time anypony has, on record, found a mutant that could speak in full and clear sentences, even if she didn't understand the words. Cadence incapacitated her and brought her back to the Nation, and after half an hour of Looking through her mind, the combined effort of all the Princesses managed to restore her original mental state. After that Cheerliee went from insane and violent to being kind, reasonable, and very apologetic to Cadence for attacking her." There was silence for a moment before Shining turned "Just remember, if they can still talk, they can still be saved, And good luck on your adventure." With a Wave, Shining walked back to the Empire as the Trio turned to the Safty Field. it Looked like nothing but Long Lychoruius grass field ahead, but they knew better and after taking a deep Breath Iron Heart walked forward and into the Icy wasteland beyond, She looked around the icy land and took a deep breath of the Frosty air around her as her two companions joined her, the stood there in silence for a few minutes, Angel stood between her companions, now in her flaming form to keep herself and her friends warm as they began their march to their first destination. "Alright," Angel said as she took out the piece of paper she'd been given along with her stuff "We Need to Head for the Teleportation Junction, we just need to follow the old Railroad and once there we can be teleported anywhere in Equestria." There was silence for a second before She turned to Iron Heart "And We are not going to Ponyville first" She added, Iron Heart when from looking like a warrior to looking like a baby "Please!" She Begged, "I Brought a Book and everything!" She said as she held up an old Textbook "I just wanna see what the town looks like, I've heard so much about it in my life, and never seen so much as a Picture of it!" "No" Angel Repeated "Ponyville is one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, The Creature that Guards it is one of the most Dangerous in Existence." "I know!" Iron Heart replied, "But It only kills you if you touch anything in the town, I have the Book for a Peace offering." She said waving the book around again. Angel looked at her hard "Say, do you remember three years ago?" Angel asked nonchalantly. "Wha..?" Iron Heart asked "It was my Birthday, and you sprayed silly string at me, you missed and instead it flew through the flame of my candles and torched all my presents and my cake." The Trio walked in silence for a few moments. "Wow." Jamie cut in "That's a low blow Angel, but I remember that day pretty well! It's too bad no one ever thinks to put an anti-burn charm on the things they buy you before they give it to you, you might have actually gotten some presents that..." "Alright!" Iron Heart cut in "Are you ever going to stop hanging that over my head?" "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what the future holds for us." Angel said with a smile. "so if you won't let me go Directly to Ponyville! then where do you want to go?" "How about Appleloosa?" Jamie asked. " I hear it use to be nice this time of year." "I heard it's a boring place this time of year" Iron Heart shot back "Come on let's go someplace action-packed!" "Actually" Angel cut in "As boring as it's been said to be, it's the best place to go for our first destination out to the world, and after that..." Angel sighed at the sound of Iron Heart grumbling. "Oh for the love of...FINE!" Angel said making her companions jump "After Appleloosa we can walk through the Deadlands and go to Ponyville" Iron Heart made a noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a sob. "Really!" She asked her voice trembling with joy. "Yes...but I swear by the name of the fallen one if you attack the fucking creature and get us all killed I'll fucking kill you before it can!" "I Promise I won't attack it!" Iron Heart said "The first time we go through anyway." she added with a smile. "Need to learn the area first, and try and get a good look at the creature before the battle so I can think of the best way to catch it." "Wait." Jaime said when she heard that "You want to catch the Creature of Ponyville? Not kill it?" "Well, my teacher just told me I'm not allowed to." She said with a shrug. "What when did he..." Jaime scratched her cheek as she pulled out her notes and began scanning through them when Angel snapped her fingers. "You think it's one of those Mutants that can talk don't you!" She said as Jamie sighed and returned the notepad to her bag. "Well yeah, I mean how else would everyone know to give it a book when it's never been seen? It must tell ponies about it from a good hiding place or something and when they don't deliver it strikes them dead, I bet it's got long-range attacks, Or maybe little minions with super poison, or maybe it's magical and it just vaporizes them with a powerful spell! Or maybe..." "I hate to interrupt your nerd out" Angel interrupted "But we're here." Iron Heart blinked and looked in front of them at the Teleportation station. It stood out in the frozen wasteland around them, it was 20 square yards long, the Station itself was a Huge Half Circle. the Portal that allowed for Teleportation was deserted, which was to be expected. Once they entered the perimeter Angel turned off her flames "Ah." she sighed "Good thing I hate cold or we would have had to buy jackets for our five-minute walk." The Trio walked to the side of the Portal and Jamie stepped forward "Alright," She said as she pressed a small button on the side of the Device, a loud revving sound rang out at the portal began turning on, to Jamie's left a small stand rouse out of the ground and displayed a holographic map of Equestria. "Oh!" Jamie said as she looked at it "This is a nice map, so Appleloosa right?" She asked as she looked for it, Angel stepped forward and poked Applelosa on the map, immediately the Map zoomed in, a small window popped up for them to confirm their selection. "Alright last chance, Appleloosa for sure?" She asked "Yeah" "Fine." "Alright then." she hit the confirm button and the three made their way to the front of the circle, it was now spinning. "Alright," Iron Heart said as she watched the Circle spark and begin to gather Magic in its center "We're going to Equestria, We've prepared our entire lives for this..." Iron Heart gave in and squealed "I'm So Excited!" "Hold hands as we go?" Jamie asked as the Magic began to pick up and the trio began to feel the power of the portal begin to start pulling them into it, "Definitely," Angel said as she took Jamie's hand and Iron Hearts. "Let's do this!" Iron Heart yelled and with that, the Trio ran forward and in a Flash, the Teleportation Station was once again deserted and began powering down. Chapter 2- What once wasA sound similar to Thunder sounded in Applelossa as the Trio appeared in the middle of the town with a flash, The town was a mess of destruction, several buildings where on their side and one set of house had fallen into each other and where now one single messy pile of a building, sounds could be heard coming from around the town, Only one building was still standing and it was down the street from the Trio, A Large Clock tower stood proud in the center of the town, the clock itself was long gone, but the tower still had an odd clicking sound occasionally emitting from it. Angel was the first to break from the awestruck group and made her way to the combined building, she picked up a small rock and tossed it at the building, the rock flew into the rubble, hitting some of the beams and landed with a small echo emanating around the building. Angel stood in silence for a short while before waking into the rubble. "Angel don't just walk..." Jamie started only for Angel to look back at her an cut her off "No Mutants responded to my Rock, and the odd's of Raiders being here a little to none "Hey, guys what mutants inhabit Applelossa again?" Iron suddenly asked getting her friends attention. "I believe it was some Scorpion Pony hybrid, classified as scorponies, why do you ask?" Jamie said as she cast Angel a quick look to make sure she wasn't drawing unwanted attention to them. "Because there's one right over there." Low and behold behind the remains of an old building was a pony, but not the same as Iron heart. No this mutant was walking around on all four of its legs with no arms to speak of. It's fur was a sandy brown but no one could tell if it was because it was from the sand around the place or if it was it's natural fur color. It's most striking feature was it's tail. It was a scorpion tail easily as long as Iron hearts sword and at the end, it had two pincers that open and closed like hinges on a door, it was about fifteen yards away. Iron pulled out her sword slowly. After all its better to be prepared in case things go south. Angel had imediatly lost interest in the building and had decided to instead pull out her notebook and began writing the encounter. "Oh this is exciting!" She exclaimed. "They are notoriously shy around ponies." "Any particular reason for that?" Jamie asked. "Well, when marking this area for a Teleportation Station location the scorponies were curious about the newcomers and often caused a lot of setbacks, so the workers captured the leader and used said leader as a sort of barrier or fence," Angel explained. "Wait wait wait are you telling me that there are mutants that are friendly?" Iron said in disbelief. "Jamie that sounds just as crazy to you as it does to me?" "Yeah, that does sound pretty loopy Angel," Jamie said while nodding her head. "Well, the leader keeps them safe from other mutants so they're typically docile unless provoked." Angel pulled out a bit of bread and started to slowly approach the scorpony. "Observe." As Angel walked her friends were dumbfounded as they watched their friend walk up to the mutant "Why aren't we stopping he?" Jamie asked. "Because she's usually right about these things, remember that time some kids threw paint bombs at Braeburn and he went batshit crazy?" Iron heart didn't put her sword up but it was put at rest. "Oh yeah, she calmed him down with cider and a cupcake." The pair went silent as Angel gave the piece of bread to the scorpony who ate the bread but was still very nervous and shown signs of agitation, it calmed down as Angel backed away from it. Angel quickly returned to her friends. "See they aren't so bad. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a teleport pad here." "How do you know so much about mutants?" Iron heart demanded as the group began moving again. "Princess Twilight published a book about some of the better-known Mutants near teleporter sport for Adventurers" Angel replied simply "oh," Iron heart said as she flattened her ears "I knew that, I was just testing you," "Sure, now let's move, the longer we stick around the more likely we are to piss the natives off," Angel said simply as she started walking to the clock tower. "Hey, do you guys hear that buzzing?" Jamie asked as they reached the tower. Iron Heart and Angel looked around and lifted their ears, hearing nothing. "Hide?" "Hide." The trio quickly made its way inside the building. Soon the other two also heard the buzzing. not to longer after the buzzing became audible there was a lot of snarling followed by the sound of explosions," "What in Luna's name was that?" Jamie whispered. Angel looks through her journal as Iron went to peak. "I think we just heard the scorponies leader," Angel said as she kept flipping through the book. "Uh, guys you might wanna see this." Iron gestured. Her two friends looked out and Jamie began writing in her notes, down the street was a gigantic dead bee twice the size of a normal pony, around it the scorponies were either eating it or were on their way to get there share. Iron watched in awe as Jamie took frantic notes, Angel carefully made her way out of the clock tower and approached the proverbial buffet. What Angel witnessed was enough to make her curiosity skyrocket. She saw a smaller purple scorpony cutting pieces of the mutant bee with its tail and hoofing them out while saying absolute nonsense every time it gave a scorpony their share. "This is so cool," Iron Heart said as she watched the Scorponies swarm their fallen foe turned food Angel watched from the sideline, her interest only rising as the small purple one made its way around the bee, stopping others from getting seconds, while it was doing this some of the larger Scorponies seemed to be tearing pieces of the bee off after eating and began carrying them towards a collection of broken building parts, as Angel watched she confirmed her suspicions as the big ones came back out without the food and headed back to the bee to repeat the process. Angel began sneaking back to her friends to relay what she had learned, unaware that as soon as she had turned her back and begun moving the eyes of the Purple one had snapped to her, It had noticed Angel a while ago but had pretended otherwise to test if she would attempt an attack or attempt to steal some of the bee. "Fear down." She muttered, the words lacking any care or emotion behind them as she watched, the smaller Purple one flicked her tail towards the mess and at once the Bigger Scorponies switched tactics and began dragging the entire bee Caracas to the pile. "Wednesday Pie" She decided as her troops b-lined back to their home, she waited till she was alone, then zipped off towards the shadows before going to the clock tower where she had watched Angel go. "This is amazing," Angel said, Iron Heart giving her her full attention while Jamie squinted at Angel in silence before opening her bag, she proceeded to start flipping through her vials of potion's and began mixing something together while muttering to herself. "Iron Heart we're going to have to delay our trip to Ponyville." Iron Heart stared at Angel for a moment. "You suck you know that?" Iron Heart responded. "No, I actually have a good reason this time." Angel responded pointing out the door "I heard one of the Scorponies talking" Iron Heart's demeanor changed in a snap. "Which one?" She demanded "It's the..." Angel stuck her head out the door and was met with the sight of an empty street. "...the Purple one leading the charge." She groaned. "It's probably in their nest or..." Angel jumped back in shock as the Purple Scorponies tale slammed down where her head had been a moment before, immediately is shot out of sight and movement sounded from all around them. "...oh my lost one..." Angel said in shock as she fell to the floor and rubbed her neck and looked at the open doorway " I almost died...all this time training, and I almost died the most embarrassing death." Angel sat dumbfounded as Iron Heart looked around, she had drawn her sword and was now in attack and defend mode, She grabbed Angel's shoulder and pulled her father into the building, Jamie was still mixing potions as Iron Heart put Angel next to her. "Hi," Jamie said numbly as she looked at one of her vials, waiting for a reaction. "Hi," Angel said, still staring at the door in shock at how close she'd been to her own death. Iron Heart looked around the room, thanks to years of training her keen hearing helped her keep the general location of their attacker in her sights, Scratching could be heard from the wall as the Scorponie climbed around the outside of the old building. "Alright, get cozy." Iron Heart said as she moved in time with the noises, making sure to take frequent glances at the door in case this was a team attack and the noise was just a distraction "We're going to be spending a fair amount of time here." Outside several Scorponies watched their leader moved around the tower, using her tail to give the impression she was high on the wall instead of walking on the ground as she looked for a good point of entry. She looked over at her followers and said loudly "Power Hammer They." At once the smaller ones moved out of the way and A rather large Scorponie moved it, it moved near the door and took a moment, its tail began glowing as it put in the doorway, Venomous spike's rocketed off its tail and filled the room. Iron Heart grabbed Angel and Jamie, who had finished what she had been doing and had just put her bag back on, and proceeded to throw both of them out of the way before covering her face with her arms as the spike's hit, her armor took most of the damage, though it still knocked the breath out off her as she hit the floor. Breathing hard Iron Heart tapped a small button on the side of her shoulder armor and a helmet Digi-structured itself on her head. Iron Heart look forward at the large Scorpony who seemed confused why something was still moving when it was full of its poison spikes, Iron Heart raised her sword and moved at full speed, the Scorpony moved just as the sword hit the ground where it had been, at once the sword moved and was swung at it again. The Scorpony attempted to move out of the way and almost did, with a slice and a screech the Scorpony ran away, now missing half of its right ear. Iron Heart turned just as the Purple one's tail clamped down on her middle and flung her up before slamming her into the ground, before raising and slamming Iron Heart back and forth, Iron Heart's sword flew from her grip and impaled itself into a wall, The Scorpony stopped after a few times and lowered Iron Heart to her eye level when a battle cry made her look back, Angel charged forward coated inflamed and charged at the Scorpony. "Bling!" The Scorpony screamed out as she lashed out in a flash and hammer's Angel into the ground with Iron Heart, before pulling her back up and repeatedly smashing Angel with Iron Heart, "Hey." A voice sounded behind it and the Creature turned, Jamie shot out of a hole in the ground and stuck a rag over the Scorponies muzzle. "Food North Do-" The Mutant managed to scream into the rag before its eyes rolled up into its head and it collapsed on the ground, with a loud thud Iron Heart landed on Angel. The Second she went down all the other Scorponies scattered. "I wish I'd thought that plan through better." Angel said with a groan "I got my shit handed to me." Iron Heart's helmet disappeared and she got up, looking dizzy and with a fair number of bruises. "That was awesome!" She cheered as she walked wobbly and extracted her sword from the wall it had been stuck in "I kinda wanna do it again." Jamie ignored her friends and pulled out a fair amount of rope. "Help me tie her up." She called to them "There's bound to be enough scrap around to build a sled or cart to pull her around on once she's secured." Iron Heart picked up its tail and after some work said tail was tied to its front legs, its leg's were all tied to each other, as they did this Angel managed to pull out a mostly intact cart from the wreckage, granted it was missing the entirety of it's front, but it could still be used. "Alright, lets-" the sound of hissing, scratching, and creaking suddenly sounded at the end of the road and the trio turned as a hoard of Scorponies began emerging from their hive, they weren't attacking yet, but that was more than likely because their leader was down, once they managed to find a temporary leader they'd probably begin pursuing the trio. "-get the fuck out of Applelossa" Jamie decided as they loaded the Mutant into the broken cart and working together pushed and pulled it as fast as they could to the old Trian station. Author's Note said mutants mentioned in this chapter all belong to Viper pit they also helped wright some of this chapter
Pro-log"Listen up, and listen well, for I am about to tell you of a town older than this Nation! A town that had once been called Ponyville. Now it is a wasteland, sanctioned off on all maps as one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, The Rain that fell on the town is acidic, the air is toxic, and the ground is infertile, nothing can grow and nothing ever will again, but that is what most of Equestria is like nowadays, no living creature in the world can think of a time when Equestria wasn't like that, With the exception of myself, and a handful of other creature that is as long-lived as I am. But what makes this town the Most Dangerous? This Town has a Creature living in it. This Creature is the one and the only reason that the remains of this town are avoided by all, and any adventure brave or foolish enough to travel through to the town to challenge the creature all meet the same unforgiving end. But this town is special for it, and it alone houses the only castle still standing in all Equestria that had once belonged to one of the 5 princesses, back before we left it, back before our proud Crystal Nation had been the one and the only place in the world that was thriving, back during the time of the 5 original princesses. "To this day nopony knows how it happened, who had done it, or how it had been done. But it's happening was the day Equestria changed for the worse, the Day when Princess Celestia was murdered. Accusations broke out, The Leaders of the Races all blaming each other, paring off into 2 factions for war. In the end, The Ponies, Kirin, Dragons, Hippogriffs, and the Diamond Dogs joined together, all other races were turned on and the war started, The war lasted 3 years and a Day. And ended with the Mutagenic Nuke. In the end, No one on either side had won, and in the end, Equestria was turned into a wasteland, leaving behind thousands of dead and hundreds of mutants, the 4 remaining Princesses and the one new Princess, the respective leaders of the Dragons, the Kirin, The Diamond Dogs, and the Hippogriffs, along with the 3 surviving Elements of Harmony all abandoned their homes and their nations and joint together under one flag! And that is how the Crystal Nation came to be." with a snap Princess Starlight shut the book she had been reading. "Any Questions?" She asked. The room filled with the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as its residents all jumped out of their seats and raised their hands. it was filled with a mixture of Ponies, Kirin, Dragons, Diamond Dogs, and Hippogriffs. After a second Starlight pointed to a Young Brown Earth Pony "You my dear, what's your name?" "I...I'm Iron Heart Ma'am," She said softly, having not expected to be picked. "What is your Question Iron Heart," Starlight asked politely "Um...wha...what kind of Monster Lives in Ponyville?" She asked nervously. Starlight got up and began walking around the class as she talked. "Well, when the Bombs dropped and the Mutagen spread across the land, this Monster was made, Nopony has ever seen it and lived, but that being said it is important to note that while the creature of Ponyville is very dangerous, rumor has it that should you bring a book to ponyville and place it on the ground, the Creature will give you safe passage through the town, so long as you touch nothing. Of course, no one has ever proven this to be true," Starlight smiled as Iron Heart thanked her and sat back down, after a second of looking around she pointed to a young Diamond Dog. "What is your name?" "Jamie," The young Dog said with a yip "What is your Question, Jamie?" She asked "If the Creature is as dangerous as you say it is, why has it never left ponyville to concur other areas?" "No one knows," Starlight said as she began pacing again "But Reports have come in from miners going into the area for Resources that the Creature attacks the forest when it comes near the town, proving that it has not only been there since the beginning of the Mutagen Era but that it is the sole reason that the Everfree Forest hasn't taken over the Town, but once again, No one knows why it's protecting that particular piece of land, it could be for any number of reasons, the most likely is that it lived there before the Mutagen bomb, another is that something of extreme worth is hidden in the town and the Creature is protecting it, and of course it could just be that the creature found a good place to nest and has laid claim to the town as its territory." Jamie thanked Starlight and sat back down. "Ok, Class we have time for one more question before the belle...you. what's your name?" Starlight asked pointing to a Gray and black Kirin "My name is Angel," she responded "And what is your Question Angel?" "How is it that the Crystal Nation wasn't affected by the Mutagen bomb?" "Ah! a Wonderful question," Starlight said happily "You see, halfway through the war Ponyville was deemed a danger and I, the other Alicorns, and Discord all combined our powers and mover the Tree of Harmony to the then called Crystal Empire, and Combined it with the Power of the Crystal heart, Forming the Tree of Heart and Harmony, with their power combined it not only quadrupled the Empires Borders to 90% of Antarctica, but when the nukes fell it kept the Empire and all it's inhabitants safe and sound. And thanks to that Power I, my Sister Alicorns, and all your ancestors lived to fight another day, and while the world outside the Nation is Dangerous and full of peril, many Adventures have gone out into the world to find lost artifacts, lost bit's of ancient knowledge, and some have even managed to find Mutants that could be tamed and used to make the Nation better than ever." Starlight smiled and, on cue, the bell rang. "Alright everyone, First day so no homework, but don't expect that tomorrow." She said as her class began packing up " oh, and everyone." The Class turned to look at her "Make sure to enjoy your day," she waved them off as her class departed. Once the class was empty Starlight sighed and sat down at her desk, she leaned back in her chair for a second before straightening up and grabbing a Pen. "Alright time to work on my lesson plan" Meanwhile "That was so cool," Jamie said as she Iron Heart and Angel all walked together in the halls "When I grow up I wanna be the Miner in an Adventure group!" She squealed "Oh that'll be so fun!" "Well I wanna be the Map Keeper" Angel shot back "Being the guide to my team, keeping them on track, telling them where to go. Making them walk in circles for hours when they piss me off" She sighed "Oh yeah, That'll be fun." "Well, I wanna be the Warrior!" Iron Heart gloated "Fighting Mutants, Beating up Bandits, and maybe being the hero who challenges the Ponyville monster and End's the Victor" Iron Heart nodded "Oh yeah, that's where I'm heading in life!" Author's Note and now for a 6 year Time Skip
Chapter 1 - Entering the WorldIron Heart Smiled as she looked at the Barrier, it had been a long and hard process to earn her title, but it had been worth it, she had her armor, and she had been Granted a Senior Ranked Sword. Angel was still in processing, being given the Fireproof Map, Travel bag, and a variety of other materials the Trio would need on their adventures. And Jamie was jumping up and down next to the Barrier, she had the potion bag of her own invention on her back, she was the most well know of the Trio, having Revolutionized Adventure Journey Alchemy. Inside the bag was a fully functioning Alchemy Lab, with the use of a series of spells the bag weighed almost nothing, the top had a protective barrier that prevented anyone that wasn't wearing the bag from reaching the potion's it held inside, it also had a series of pockets to store supplies in. the Bag looked small but had been proven to hold enough Items to outfit a small Malisha when used just right. "This is awesome!" Jamie sang out as she jumped up and down "We're going outside, we're going to Equestria!" "I've heard." A Robotic Voice said behind them, the two turned and immediately saluted as the Robot General of the Chrystal Nation approached them "Relax, I command soldiers, not adventurers." Shining Armor said with a wave "Just wanted to see one of my best students head out." "Thank you, sir." Iron Heart responded respectfully "I promise I won't let you down." Shinning laughed "Please relax," He said jollily "My Daughters the Princess of War, not me "I'm just here to make sure she didn't tell you to go ballistic on everything you see or meet out there." "Um...Sir." Jamie cut in "Not to be disrespectful or anything...but isn't Equestria full of Raiders and Mutants?" "Well...yes" Shining confirmed, "There are quite a few ponies and monsters that you will end up killing, just make sure that they're actually trying to kill you first, I'm sure you know of the Mutant Cheerliee?" "well yeah," Iron Heart said with a shrug "She's the Plant Mutant right? She's the reason so many Fruits and Vegetables are grown so fast and ready for the Entire Nation." "Yes, well did you know that she use to be a Teacher?" "What'd she teach? Farming?" Iron Heart asked with a snort. "No, She was originally a Pony Teacher, Cheerliee used to live in Ponyville, Before the Great War." Iron Heart took a second to take that information in. "Wait wait wait... you're telling me that the Mutant who feeds the Nation...is 1,000 years old?" "Well she 1,054 years old now, and technically the Great was was 1,023 years ago by this point, but yes" Shining agreed "That is what I'm telling you, the same can be said for all the mutants that are used in the Empire." Shining held up his hand and counted them off "The Mutant Aloe, The Mutant Big Mac, The Mutant Carrot Top, even Sweetie Bot! they are all from Ponyville." Shining thought for a second "That being said, not all mutants that still retain sanity are from Ponyvile, the Mutant Braeburn..." "That Monkey Pony thing?" Angel asked, having just arrived in earshot "That's guy's fucking insane...makes good cider tho." "Yes," Shining continued "Mutants like him, the Mutant Maud, the Mutant Sapphire shores, and even Myself and Spitfire, none of us were in Ponyville when the nuke's when off...but here we are." He shrugged. "It's a shame you didn't make it back into the Safe Zone in time" Jamie noted, "How did that happen anyway?" "Me, Spitfire, and Sweetie Be...I mean Bot, where halfway through the protection field when we were hit with the Nuke." Shining shrugged "The field deflected the Mutagen and ended up cut all of us in half, or in my case thirds, when it hit, After about 2 months of work keeping us alive, The Princesses combined their knowledge of magic and machinery and put our souls into this" Shining pressed a button and his chest cavity opened to reveal a Glowing Blue Orb," Angel asked when she saw it "A Soul Drive," She said in awe at the orb "That things indestructible right?" "Pretty much" Shining said as he closed it, "But we're getting off-topic, I just want you three to remember one thing, and remember it well, True most mutants are mindless killing machines, but If at any point during your journey you meet a Mutant that can talk, you must drop everything and do everything in your power to bring that mutant to the Capital! Even if it fights back, even if it attacks you, if a Mutant talks, even if it's Insane and berzerk, Take it to the Princesses!" "Why?" Iron Heart asked, Jamie had pulled out a notepad and a pen and was now writing down everything Shining was saying. "I mean, even if it's sentient enough to still be who it use to be if it's a murderous berzerk monster shouldn't we..." "Do you know how Cheerliee came to live here?" Shining asked, cutting Iron Heart off "749 years ago My Wife was in Equestria, she was working on a wedding and was hoping to find a type of Flower that, back then, had been declared Extinct, as she was searching, Cheerliee showed up and tried to kill her, at First Cadence fought back, but as soon as she got a good hit on Cheerliee she started screaming random words at her, none of them having any significance or even making grammatical sense, and after a few tries Cadence found she would mimic any word said to her, it was the first time anypony has, on record, found a mutant that could speak in full and clear sentences, even if she didn't understand the words. Cadence incapacitated her and brought her back to the Nation, and after half an hour of Looking through her mind, the combined effort of all the Princesses managed to restore her original mental state. After that Cheerliee went from insane and violent to being kind, reasonable, and very apologetic to Cadence for attacking her." There was silence for a moment before Shining turned "Just remember, if they can still talk, they can still be saved, And good luck on your adventure." With a Wave, Shining walked back to the Empire as the Trio turned to the Safty Field. it Looked like nothing but Long Lychoruius grass field ahead, but they knew better and after taking a deep Breath Iron Heart walked forward and into the Icy wasteland beyond, She looked around the icy land and took a deep breath of the Frosty air around her as her two companions joined her, the stood there in silence for a few minutes, Angel stood between her companions, now in her flaming form to keep herself and her friends warm as they began their march to their first destination. "Alright," Angel said as she took out the piece of paper she'd been given along with her stuff "We Need to Head for the Teleportation Junction, we just need to follow the old Railroad and once there we can be teleported anywhere in Equestria." There was silence for a second before She turned to Iron Heart "And We are not going to Ponyville first" She added, Iron Heart when from looking like a warrior to looking like a baby "Please!" She Begged, "I Brought a Book and everything!" She said as she held up an old Textbook "I just wanna see what the town looks like, I've heard so much about it in my life, and never seen so much as a Picture of it!" "No" Angel Repeated "Ponyville is one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, The Creature that Guards it is one of the most Dangerous in Existence." "I know!" Iron Heart replied, "But It only kills you if you touch anything in the town, I have the Book for a Peace offering." She said waving the book around again. Angel looked at her hard "Say, do you remember three years ago?" Angel asked nonchalantly. "Wha..?" Iron Heart asked "It was my Birthday, and you sprayed silly string at me, you missed and instead it flew through the flame of my candles and torched all my presents and my cake." The Trio walked in silence for a few moments. "Wow." Jamie cut in "That's a low blow Angel, but I remember that day pretty well! It's too bad no one ever thinks to put an anti-burn charm on the things they buy you before they give it to you, you might have actually gotten some presents that..." "Alright!" Iron Heart cut in "Are you ever going to stop hanging that over my head?" "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what the future holds for us." Angel said with a smile. "so if you won't let me go Directly to Ponyville! then where do you want to go?" "How about Appleloosa?" Jamie asked. " I hear it use to be nice this time of year." "I heard it's a boring place this time of year" Iron Heart shot back "Come on let's go someplace action-packed!" "Actually" Angel cut in "As boring as it's been said to be, it's the best place to go for our first destination out to the world, and after that..." Angel sighed at the sound of Iron Heart grumbling. "Oh for the love of...FINE!" Angel said making her companions jump "After Appleloosa we can walk through the Deadlands and go to Ponyville" Iron Heart made a noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a sob. "Really!" She asked her voice trembling with joy. "Yes...but I swear by the name of the fallen one if you attack the fucking creature and get us all killed I'll fucking kill you before it can!" "I Promise I won't attack it!" Iron Heart said "The first time we go through anyway." she added with a smile. "Need to learn the area first, and try and get a good look at the creature before the battle so I can think of the best way to catch it." "Wait." Jaime said when she heard that "You want to catch the Creature of Ponyville? Not kill it?" "Well, my teacher just told me I'm not allowed to." She said with a shrug. "What when did he..." Jaime scratched her cheek as she pulled out her notes and began scanning through them when Angel snapped her fingers. "You think it's one of those Mutants that can talk don't you!" She said as Jamie sighed and returned the notepad to her bag. "Well yeah, I mean how else would everyone know to give it a book when it's never been seen? It must tell ponies about it from a good hiding place or something and when they don't deliver it strikes them dead, I bet it's got long-range attacks, Or maybe little minions with super poison, or maybe it's magical and it just vaporizes them with a powerful spell! Or maybe..." "I hate to interrupt your nerd out" Angel interrupted "But we're here." Iron Heart blinked and looked in front of them at the Teleportation station. It stood out in the frozen wasteland around them, it was 20 square yards long, the Station itself was a Huge Half Circle. the Portal that allowed for Teleportation was deserted, which was to be expected. Once they entered the perimeter Angel turned off her flames "Ah." she sighed "Good thing I hate cold or we would have had to buy jackets for our five-minute walk." The Trio walked to the side of the Portal and Jamie stepped forward "Alright," She said as she pressed a small button on the side of the Device, a loud revving sound rang out at the portal began turning on, to Jamie's left a small stand rouse out of the ground and displayed a holographic map of Equestria. "Oh!" Jamie said as she looked at it "This is a nice map, so Appleloosa right?" She asked as she looked for it, Angel stepped forward and poked Applelosa on the map, immediately the Map zoomed in, a small window popped up for them to confirm their selection. "Alright last chance, Appleloosa for sure?" She asked "Yeah" "Fine." "Alright then." she hit the confirm button and the three made their way to the front of the circle, it was now spinning. "Alright," Iron Heart said as she watched the Circle spark and begin to gather Magic in its center "We're going to Equestria, We've prepared our entire lives for this..." Iron Heart gave in and squealed "I'm So Excited!" "Hold hands as we go?" Jamie asked as the Magic began to pick up and the trio began to feel the power of the portal begin to start pulling them into it, "Definitely," Angel said as she took Jamie's hand and Iron Hearts. "Let's do this!" Iron Heart yelled and with that, the Trio ran forward and in a Flash, the Teleportation Station was once again deserted and began powering down.
Chapter 2- What once wasA sound similar to Thunder sounded in Applelossa as the Trio appeared in the middle of the town with a flash, The town was a mess of destruction, several buildings where on their side and one set of house had fallen into each other and where now one single messy pile of a building, sounds could be heard coming from around the town, Only one building was still standing and it was down the street from the Trio, A Large Clock tower stood proud in the center of the town, the clock itself was long gone, but the tower still had an odd clicking sound occasionally emitting from it. Angel was the first to break from the awestruck group and made her way to the combined building, she picked up a small rock and tossed it at the building, the rock flew into the rubble, hitting some of the beams and landed with a small echo emanating around the building. Angel stood in silence for a short while before waking into the rubble. "Angel don't just walk..." Jamie started only for Angel to look back at her an cut her off "No Mutants responded to my Rock, and the odd's of Raiders being here a little to none "Hey, guys what mutants inhabit Applelossa again?" Iron suddenly asked getting her friends attention. "I believe it was some Scorpion Pony hybrid, classified as scorponies, why do you ask?" Jamie said as she cast Angel a quick look to make sure she wasn't drawing unwanted attention to them. "Because there's one right over there." Low and behold behind the remains of an old building was a pony, but not the same as Iron heart. No this mutant was walking around on all four of its legs with no arms to speak of. It's fur was a sandy brown but no one could tell if it was because it was from the sand around the place or if it was it's natural fur color. It's most striking feature was it's tail. It was a scorpion tail easily as long as Iron hearts sword and at the end, it had two pincers that open and closed like hinges on a door, it was about fifteen yards away. Iron pulled out her sword slowly. After all its better to be prepared in case things go south. Angel had imediatly lost interest in the building and had decided to instead pull out her notebook and began writing the encounter. "Oh this is exciting!" She exclaimed. "They are notoriously shy around ponies." "Any particular reason for that?" Jamie asked. "Well, when marking this area for a Teleportation Station location the scorponies were curious about the newcomers and often caused a lot of setbacks, so the workers captured the leader and used said leader as a sort of barrier or fence," Angel explained. "Wait wait wait are you telling me that there are mutants that are friendly?" Iron said in disbelief. "Jamie that sounds just as crazy to you as it does to me?" "Yeah, that does sound pretty loopy Angel," Jamie said while nodding her head. "Well, the leader keeps them safe from other mutants so they're typically docile unless provoked." Angel pulled out a bit of bread and started to slowly approach the scorpony. "Observe." As Angel walked her friends were dumbfounded as they watched their friend walk up to the mutant "Why aren't we stopping he?" Jamie asked. "Because she's usually right about these things, remember that time some kids threw paint bombs at Braeburn and he went batshit crazy?" Iron heart didn't put her sword up but it was put at rest. "Oh yeah, she calmed him down with cider and a cupcake." The pair went silent as Angel gave the piece of bread to the scorpony who ate the bread but was still very nervous and shown signs of agitation, it calmed down as Angel backed away from it. Angel quickly returned to her friends. "See they aren't so bad. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a teleport pad here." "How do you know so much about mutants?" Iron heart demanded as the group began moving again. "Princess Twilight published a book about some of the better-known Mutants near teleporter sport for Adventurers" Angel replied simply "oh," Iron heart said as she flattened her ears "I knew that, I was just testing you," "Sure, now let's move, the longer we stick around the more likely we are to piss the natives off," Angel said simply as she started walking to the clock tower. "Hey, do you guys hear that buzzing?" Jamie asked as they reached the tower. Iron Heart and Angel looked around and lifted their ears, hearing nothing. "Hide?" "Hide." The trio quickly made its way inside the building. Soon the other two also heard the buzzing. not to longer after the buzzing became audible there was a lot of snarling followed by the sound of explosions," "What in Luna's name was that?" Jamie whispered. Angel looks through her journal as Iron went to peak. "I think we just heard the scorponies leader," Angel said as she kept flipping through the book. "Uh, guys you might wanna see this." Iron gestured. Her two friends looked out and Jamie began writing in her notes, down the street was a gigantic dead bee twice the size of a normal pony, around it the scorponies were either eating it or were on their way to get there share. Iron watched in awe as Jamie took frantic notes, Angel carefully made her way out of the clock tower and approached the proverbial buffet. What Angel witnessed was enough to make her curiosity skyrocket. She saw a smaller purple scorpony cutting pieces of the mutant bee with its tail and hoofing them out while saying absolute nonsense every time it gave a scorpony their share. "This is so cool," Iron Heart said as she watched the Scorponies swarm their fallen foe turned food Angel watched from the sideline, her interest only rising as the small purple one made its way around the bee, stopping others from getting seconds, while it was doing this some of the larger Scorponies seemed to be tearing pieces of the bee off after eating and began carrying them towards a collection of broken building parts, as Angel watched she confirmed her suspicions as the big ones came back out without the food and headed back to the bee to repeat the process. Angel began sneaking back to her friends to relay what she had learned, unaware that as soon as she had turned her back and begun moving the eyes of the Purple one had snapped to her, It had noticed Angel a while ago but had pretended otherwise to test if she would attempt an attack or attempt to steal some of the bee. "Fear down." She muttered, the words lacking any care or emotion behind them as she watched, the smaller Purple one flicked her tail towards the mess and at once the Bigger Scorponies switched tactics and began dragging the entire bee Caracas to the pile. "Wednesday Pie" She decided as her troops b-lined back to their home, she waited till she was alone, then zipped off towards the shadows before going to the clock tower where she had watched Angel go. "This is amazing," Angel said, Iron Heart giving her her full attention while Jamie squinted at Angel in silence before opening her bag, she proceeded to start flipping through her vials of potion's and began mixing something together while muttering to herself. "Iron Heart we're going to have to delay our trip to Ponyville." Iron Heart stared at Angel for a moment. "You suck you know that?" Iron Heart responded. "No, I actually have a good reason this time." Angel responded pointing out the door "I heard one of the Scorponies talking" Iron Heart's demeanor changed in a snap. "Which one?" She demanded "It's the..." Angel stuck her head out the door and was met with the sight of an empty street. "...the Purple one leading the charge." She groaned. "It's probably in their nest or..." Angel jumped back in shock as the Purple Scorponies tale slammed down where her head had been a moment before, immediately is shot out of sight and movement sounded from all around them. "...oh my lost one..." Angel said in shock as she fell to the floor and rubbed her neck and looked at the open doorway " I almost died...all this time training, and I almost died the most embarrassing death." Angel sat dumbfounded as Iron Heart looked around, she had drawn her sword and was now in attack and defend mode, She grabbed Angel's shoulder and pulled her father into the building, Jamie was still mixing potions as Iron Heart put Angel next to her. "Hi," Jamie said numbly as she looked at one of her vials, waiting for a reaction. "Hi," Angel said, still staring at the door in shock at how close she'd been to her own death. Iron Heart looked around the room, thanks to years of training her keen hearing helped her keep the general location of their attacker in her sights, Scratching could be heard from the wall as the Scorponie climbed around the outside of the old building. "Alright, get cozy." Iron Heart said as she moved in time with the noises, making sure to take frequent glances at the door in case this was a team attack and the noise was just a distraction "We're going to be spending a fair amount of time here." Outside several Scorponies watched their leader moved around the tower, using her tail to give the impression she was high on the wall instead of walking on the ground as she looked for a good point of entry. She looked over at her followers and said loudly "Power Hammer They." At once the smaller ones moved out of the way and A rather large Scorponie moved it, it moved near the door and took a moment, its tail began glowing as it put in the doorway, Venomous spike's rocketed off its tail and filled the room. Iron Heart grabbed Angel and Jamie, who had finished what she had been doing and had just put her bag back on, and proceeded to throw both of them out of the way before covering her face with her arms as the spike's hit, her armor took most of the damage, though it still knocked the breath out off her as she hit the floor. Breathing hard Iron Heart tapped a small button on the side of her shoulder armor and a helmet Digi-structured itself on her head. Iron Heart look forward at the large Scorpony who seemed confused why something was still moving when it was full of its poison spikes, Iron Heart raised her sword and moved at full speed, the Scorpony moved just as the sword hit the ground where it had been, at once the sword moved and was swung at it again. The Scorpony attempted to move out of the way and almost did, with a slice and a screech the Scorpony ran away, now missing half of its right ear. Iron Heart turned just as the Purple one's tail clamped down on her middle and flung her up before slamming her into the ground, before raising and slamming Iron Heart back and forth, Iron Heart's sword flew from her grip and impaled itself into a wall, The Scorpony stopped after a few times and lowered Iron Heart to her eye level when a battle cry made her look back, Angel charged forward coated inflamed and charged at the Scorpony. "Bling!" The Scorpony screamed out as she lashed out in a flash and hammer's Angel into the ground with Iron Heart, before pulling her back up and repeatedly smashing Angel with Iron Heart, "Hey." A voice sounded behind it and the Creature turned, Jamie shot out of a hole in the ground and stuck a rag over the Scorponies muzzle. "Food North Do-" The Mutant managed to scream into the rag before its eyes rolled up into its head and it collapsed on the ground, with a loud thud Iron Heart landed on Angel. The Second she went down all the other Scorponies scattered. "I wish I'd thought that plan through better." Angel said with a groan "I got my shit handed to me." Iron Heart's helmet disappeared and she got up, looking dizzy and with a fair number of bruises. "That was awesome!" She cheered as she walked wobbly and extracted her sword from the wall it had been stuck in "I kinda wanna do it again." Jamie ignored her friends and pulled out a fair amount of rope. "Help me tie her up." She called to them "There's bound to be enough scrap around to build a sled or cart to pull her around on once she's secured." Iron Heart picked up its tail and after some work said tail was tied to its front legs, its leg's were all tied to each other, as they did this Angel managed to pull out a mostly intact cart from the wreckage, granted it was missing the entirety of it's front, but it could still be used. "Alright, lets-" the sound of hissing, scratching, and creaking suddenly sounded at the end of the road and the trio turned as a hoard of Scorponies began emerging from their hive, they weren't attacking yet, but that was more than likely because their leader was down, once they managed to find a temporary leader they'd probably begin pursuing the trio. "-get the fuck out of Applelossa" Jamie decided as they loaded the Mutant into the broken cart and working together pushed and pulled it as fast as they could to the old Trian station. Author's Note said mutants mentioned in this chapter all belong to Viper pit they also helped wright some of this chapter