Fallout Equestria: Neigh Orleans

Chapters

Life aboard the Peregrine.
Welcome to Neigh Orleans.
Witches and Ghouls.
A way home.
A means to an end.
A small errand.
An interesting reunion.
Return to Marebon Street.
Road trip.
Desperate times.
Desperate Measures.
The Gauntlet.
Well that escalated quickly...
Hunted.
Showdown.
Departure.
The House of the Rising Moon
Old Nightmares.
Prologue

Life aboard the Peregrine.

I woke up with a headache, again. The swaying of the ship always makes my head hurt. I wished that the journey could be over, and our business in the Zebra Lands finished so I can go back to my home on Mount Eris and get off this blasted boat!

The water and I have never gotten along. Unfortunately, I come from a large family of merchants, and so I had to follow Father on his trading ventures. Usually, this meant short, tolerable trips from island to island. But recently a town near the Equestria/Zebra border had a boom in its economy and Father decided to try his luck. Thus my sister Ashaa and I had come along to "learn the trade".

Ugh.

Well, life could be worse,. “I could have been born a pony,” I thought to myself. Living in that irradiated wasteland is probably way worse than headaches and seasickness.

A pair of talons shook me from my thoughts. "Come on brother! Get up! Get up! There's a pod of dolphins swimming next to the ship!" Unlike me, Ashaa loves the water. Sometimes I wonder if we are even from the same nest. Ashaa is a very outspoken and confident Hippogriff with a cyan coat and light blue mane and tail. No matter the circumstances she always finds the silver lining. I’m hoping that Ashaa takes over the family business so I can be a writer or some other job that does not involve water in any way. She has a better grasp on business than I do anyway.

I groggily waved Ashaa away and sat up, holding my head. "Okay okay, I'll be up in a second. Just let me get ready."

Ashaa made an impatient noise and pranced over to the door of my room, looking back to say, "You're gonna miss them if you don't hurry up! They're so pretty and I want you to see them! You get all moody when we sail." Ashaa walked out and closed the door behind her.

I stumbled out of my bed and wobbled towards my dresser. Even after a life of seafaring I still haven’t found my sea legs. My room was nice and orderly, Just the way I liked it. Since this was the family ship I was allowed to personalize however I wanted. My bed was set in an alcove in the wall, my dresser and chest of Belongings on the far side. I had posters of all sorts of pre-war bands, as well as a few from the Flying Feathers, a band from north Faeloch, one of the many islands that surround Mount Eris. I have all of their music on my recorder.

After donning my favourite combat vest and a pair of black leather gloves I stagger onto the deck of our massive merchant ship. It was about fifty-seven meters long with two masts and four decks. We boasted a modest armament of five small cannons on each side of the ship. They weren’t usually used for pirates as hippogryphs were just about the only sentient beings on the ocean. Instead, they were used against various sea monsters that were awoken by the megaspell testing that Equestria performed in the sea. Most were easily scared off with a warning shot or two, but the big ones required a little more persuasion.

Thankfully I’ve only seen one giant sea monster when I was little. Apparently, that had been the biggest one on record. A massive dragon-like creature with long crooked talons. It had tried to attack Mount Eris itself. The entire Royal Navy and the Avian Guard were required to stop the dragon before it reached the city.

Glancing around I see Ashaa and a few of the crew on the starboard bow. Looking over the railing, I see the most elegant creatures ever dipping up and down through the water. Dolphins never swim as far south as Mount Eris, so I had never seen one before. They were graceful and sleek, almost flying through the waves.

Eventually, the dolphins veered away from the ship, heading east. Once they were out of sight Ashaa bounced over to me with a massive smile on her face. "Did you SEE THAT?! They were SO COOL! Jumping in and out of the water like that! I wish we could swim like that!" I smiled weakly for her sake, however amazing the dolphins were, but all my body wanted to do was curl up in my bed with a puke bucket for the last week or so of the journey.

"Yeah, yeah they were pretty cool Ashaa, I'm going below now." She tilted her head and frowned at me, a concerned look on her face. "You've been stuck down there for the last two weeks! Don't you know that the fresh air up here is good for your seasickness?"

I shook my head, looking away from her. "I'm just going down to play blackjack with Erikka."

It was Ashaa’s turn to shake her head. "Okay then, if you need me I'll be up in the crow's nest with Father."

Even if it was better for me to be outside, I liked it more belowdecks. You could almost pretend you were in a hotel down there, a nauseatingly swaying hotel, but still, it was preferable to looking out at the open ocean. Having it out of sight almost immediately made my headache lessen.

By the time I made it to the lounge I had made it from a stagger to a slightly more dignified, yet still slightly drunken, walk. The door was open so I walked in to find Erikka finishing a game of Blackjack with Karl, our cook, and Johann, our quartermaster. I waited at the door until the round was finished, then hobbled over to the table. Erikka smiled and dealt me in. "G' morning Blitz, how's today treating ya?"

I sat down, looking at my cards. "Well, it's treating me better than this hand" Erikka laughed, continuing to deal out the cards. I had two eights, not good odds. Welp, there's always next round.

We played cards for hours on end: Blackjack, Gin rummy, Go fish, You name it, we’ve played it. Karl had to get up around midday to prepare lunch and came back with sandwiches. I liked being down here, The feel of the cards in my talons, focusing on nothing but the cards. The sway of the ship almost matching the rhythm of cards being dealt, played, and picked up. Instead of gambling, we traded chores like cleaning the dishes after dinner. Since I was Captain Aarik's son, I didn’t have to do any work on the ship. But I don’t like the feeling of being useless, so even though I’m good at cards, I'd sometimes lose on purpose so I’d have work to do.

After a dinner of salted pork, slightly stale bread, and a mug of hard cider I made my way up to the deck and sullenly headed towards the bow. Unfortunately, when we were dishing out chores to the losers of each round, I ended up with the first-night watch, which means I had to stay up and look out for any danger for the next three hours. This also meant that I had to stay out here, trying to not throw up while watching the waves turn from blue to black.

The one thing I did like about watch duty is I could sit and watch the stars. Not being able to recognize any of the constellations made me realize how far from home I was. At least we have stars --- the sun and the moon too. We knew that the pegasi had fled above the clouds, letting the sky close up so nobody in Equestria could see the sky. Luckily the cloud cover didn’t reach Mount Eris, but even in the dying light, I could make out where Equestria was due to the massive expanse of grey above it. When it got dark enough I lit the oil lamp hanging from the mast and stood guard.

A massive THUD woke me from my sleep. Apparently, I had nodded off at some point. I ran quite drunkenly toward the bridge, where Father was at the helm. He looked very stressed, his hair all frizzy and his talons gripping the wheel much tighter than necessary. He looked over to see who had come. When Father saw it was me his eyes lit up. "Blitz, I need you to wake up the rest of the crew, we have a really bad storm brewing, and we might need to take down the sails." I nodded and frantically tumbled down the stairs from the bridge to the crew's quarters.

The next ten minutes were a blur. I remember getting to the big room where the crew hung their hammocks and yelling about the storm and all talons on deck. Then somehow I was banging on Ashaa's door, telling her to get up and tie-down her stuff. Then I was helping take down the sails so they wouldn’t rip the mast off in the wind that was getting stronger by the second. Then, all I could see was blue, just blue. Then black. I couldn’t breathe, there was no longer a deck beneath my talons. It was cold, really cold. And now nothing, there was no Blitz, just nothing.

Light, I could see light. It was warm and inviting. but somehow I knew if I touched it, I would never see Ashaa again. I turned around, a different light behind me. This light was cold and harsh, yet I knew it was the better choice. I grasped the light and held it in my talons. I could feel my soul going back down, away from the warmth, and back towards what I suspected was my body.

Footnote:

Brush with death: You now know what lies on the other side, you take 25% less damage from drowning.

Author's Note

I want to thank Kkat for making this wonderful sandbox for me and many others. as well as Somber for inspiring me to write my little fic.

BTW I might change and fix chapters from time to time, I'll try to let ya'll know when I do.

This is an AU and as such Hippogriffs and their lore is going to work differently from the canon hippogriffs in the show. there was no storm king and thus no seaponies.

(side note: If anyone is interested, I'd like help writing this fic, I'm not the best writer and would love a little input from others!)

Also sorry for any weird grammar. Grammarly doesn’t like slang words.

Welcome to Neigh Orleans.

Ow, lots of pain, pain everywhere. and mud. Lots of that too. Sweet Novo! Mud! Which means land, which means the ship was wrecked. I shook my head, sitting up. Where was I? Rubbing the dirt out of my eyes I looked around. This shoreline looked nothing like the warm, sandy beaches back home. Instead, it consisted mainly of swampland with small streams intersecting it. There was junk everywhere. Cans, metal piping, and Parts of buildings that had been slowly washed down the river.

There was also lots of newer debris. Bullet casings, corpses in shredded barding, and bits of the Peregrine. Fortunately, none of the bodies around me were hippogriffs. just ponies, with a few gryphons and zebras mixed in. For some reason, I was not disturbed by all this death, I felt strangely detached from it all as if looking at a picture rather than real life. I needed to get up. Find the rest of the crew and find a way home.

Standing up proved to be an issue since I had a large gash on my left hind leg. I was no good at healing magic like Ashaa, so I used the remains of my combat vest I bandaged it as best I could. There was a town to the north of me. should I go there? Or look for my friends along the shore? Just sitting here probably wasn’t a good idea, so I hobbled along the boggy shore, hoping to find a member of the crew or better yet, my family.

After taking a more careful look around, I saw Erikka lying in the mud. I ran towards her, yelling her name. Only after I had reached her did I notice the red-stained sewage surrounding her, and the piece of rebar sticking out of her chest. I screamed, backing away as fast as possible. Her eyes were still open, blankly staring at the cloud covered sky as if she couldn’t believe what had happened. I took some deep breaths, then slowly walked over and closed her eyes. She had been a good friend of mine, we had gone to flight camp together. I didn’t want to see if any more of my friends had died. So I turned around and started towards the town.

Said town was impossible to reach by foot because of my injured leg, as well as all of that damn mud! Every time I took a step my talons sunk almost to my elbows! I flew for at least a half-hour before I found semi-stable ground to walk on, my injured leg still making me quite slow. I sat down with a gasp of pain. Using my magic to summon a water bottle, I drank greedily, needing fluids to help the bloodloss from my leg. Oh, I should probably explain hippogriff magic, shouldn’t I?

Hippogriff magic works a little like unicorn magic, meaning just about every hippogryph can levitate objects, create light, and whole bunch of other party tricks. The only real difference is we cast our spells with our talons instead of horns. Hippogriffs were the main supplier of talismans and other powerful devices for Equestria. In return, the ponies would give us vital resources that we couldn’t produce on our own, since we live on an island with limited space. Also, each hippogriff has access to their own "sub-dimension", I like to call mine my Inventory. It's a place where you can stow away your stuff so you don’t have to carry it all around with you. There were rules to what you can put in it, like nothing alive, or anything bigger than yourself. It's like having a backpack with infinite space that only you can open. If you die, your closest relative will gain access to your SD.
Since I couldn’t open Ashaa's or Father's I could with relative certainty say they were still alive, which gave me the hope to stand up and continued walking.

Eventually, I made it to the outskirts of the city and read the sign by the road: CITY LIMITS. WELCOME TO NEIGH ORLEANS, THE CITY OF WHIPCRASS. I tilted my head in confusion, city of what now? The sign was very dirty and hard to read. For all I knew it said "Witchcraft" or something crazy like that.

Further in I came across a small encampment stuck in between a pub and an old BurgerMare with a few haggard-looking ponies surrounding a big box, wait, not a box but a CAGE! With other ponies inside wearing strange black collars on their necks. I watched as a line of sullen earth ponies were lead towards the cage. One mare took one glance at the cage and tried to bolt towards me. A guard pressed a button on a thingy strapped to his foreleg. The desperate mare looked me straight in the eyes before I heard a loud crak! and everything above her chest turned into a fine red mist!

Holy shit! I’m glad I didn’t just walk up and say hi, they probably would have slapped one of those collars on me. I had a feeling these guys were slavers. Since there were no large farms on Mount Eris or on any of the surrounding islands us hippogriffs didn't need slaves. My next thought surprised me. I need to free those poor souls.

But how? I had a few weapons in my inventory, but no guns. While those bastards looked ill and underfed they still had the superior arsenal. If I attacked they might just blow up their captives and run. Easy, just get the detonator from the one guy’s arm. Then take out the other slavers. Well, the idea sounded easy, but how would I execute it? I checked my inventory for anything useful: Five throwing knives, one hatchet, a pocketknife, and my battle scythe. Hmm. What to do?

First of all, I had to get out of the open. As a hippogriff, I had way better eyesight than them, but one of their gryphons might spot me. I saw a shack off to my left and scurried towards it. (As well as one can scurry when one has a big hole in their leg.) The shack was a two-story building, inside was just rubble and long-dead ponies. Situated in the left wall was a terminal, On Mount Eris, we didn’t have very many of these things, but my family had been in the Queen's good graces since Queen Novo's time. If we had wanted to, we could have been aristocrats. Anyways, being this popular with the Queen meant we had a terminal at home. I used it fairly often, and prided myself on being the resident tech expert in our household. I hacked into it with relative ease and found an audio file. Having no time to listen to it now I downloaded it onto my recorder.

Climbing up to the second floor, I summoned a pair of binoculars and looked out across the field. I spotted three unicorns, one of which had the detonator, five earth ponies, and one, no two gryphons. All with rifles. If I could sneak around back I could disable the lead stallion with the detonator as he was more removed from the other slavers, closer to the cage. Then I could engage the others without fear that they would use the slaves as leverage. Every hippogriff is required to have at least three years of combat training. And last January I had finished my seventh year. As a merchant, I had to be able to defend the ship from monsters, pirates, and various other dangers of the sea. I knew I could take these underfed crooks without much trouble.
Do I aim to kill or to knock out?

Kill. I wasn't leaving a single one of these bastards to roam free and slap more bomb collars on people, no one should have to die like that mare.

As I was staggering down the stairs to enact my glorious battle plan I noticed one of the floorboards wasn’t nailed down. Prying it open revealed a small chest. Using my magic to unlock it I found a large bag filled with bottlecaps? Strange. Why would anyone hide a bunch of junk? I put it in my Inventory anyways, I had no clue what they were for, but they might be useful.

The sneaking around the back part of the plan went flawlessly. Even with an injured hind leg, these guys were nearsighted and deaf as rocks. Once I reached the far end of their camp I silently crept towards the cage. One of the gryphons noticed me and was about to shout when a blue mare nudged her and whispered in her ear. Soon the whole group of slaves knew I was here, and they were trying very hard not to give me away. I smiled at them reassuringly as I snuck up behind Detonator Guy. Summoning one of my throwing knives I came up behind him and slit his throat. Dragging him behind a wall I turned my attention towards the device on his foreleg.

In some ways, it was like my recorder. It contained a screen with a few buttons below it. I found a command file labelled "Bomb collars". By each number, there was one button labelled simply "BOOM." At the top of the file was a second button, "UNLOCK ALL". I tapped it and watched as every collar made a Click! noise and fell off. Unfortunately, Everyone heard the loud CLANK as they hit the ground. Shit on a stick! I thought, What now?

I quickly detached the detonator from the guy's arm and tried to creep around behind the slavers as they rushed towards the cage yelling. I peeked out from behind a building to see they had all crowded around the bars trying to figure out how to get the collars back on. Wait, hadn’t I seen TWO gryphons? I looked around frantically to see where that other gryphon had gone. Suddenly I felt the touch of cold metal press itself against the back of my head. "Not another step, little, uh whatever you are." Oh, found him.

For my next move to work, I had to hope That Gryphon anatomy was similar to a hippogryph's. I spun around and kicked him in the throat before he could fire a shot. He went down with a wheeze. I then put my throwing knife through where his heart should be. I picked up his gun, a Pistol carbine by the looks of it. I checked the magazine, ten rounds. Eight enemies. Let's do this. Jumping out from behind the emaciated building I took aim and put neat little holes in the heads of the two unicorns and the last gryphon before the others saw me and started shooting. I rolled to the side where I found cover inside a broken skywagon and peeked over through the broken windshield and plugged two more of them as their bullets whizzed over me. Then the shooting stopped... And I saw a metal apple land right in my talons. Damn... I made it out just before the apple exploded with a loud BANG as the skywagon is filled with shrapnel and fire. Ducking behind a concrete barrier I saw one of the Slavers had belt covered in those metal apples. Instead of aiming for his head, I went for the belt of apples. I hit one and the remaining three go up in a ball of fire.

With my ears ringing, I hobbled over to the cage and undid the lock. Most of them quickly scamper off, obviously scared of me. One, however, a Brown, ragged, older stallion with a red shaggy mane trotted over to me, a thankful expression on his face.

"Ah thank ye kindly fer what you done fer us. As a thank you, I can attach that there pipbuck to yer leg." The stallion said, pointing at the detonator still in my talons.

"Pip-what? Doesn’t this thing just activate those collars?" He chuckled, shaking his head.

"No no, That slaver just programmed it to do that. you can use it to sort your saddlebags, play music, and it has S.A.T.S, a targeting spell to help you aim better." Hmm, I wonder if it can access my Inventory?

"Ok, hook it up"

While he worked he told me more about where I was and what to look out for. Apparently, this place was a tourist attraction during the war, mainly because of all the supposed "witchcraft" the residents performed. Afterwards, I thanked him for the pipbuck and headed deeper into the city.

Footnote:

New area unlocked: Neigh Orleans.

New perk unlocked: Nade Man. You are now 15% more efficient in using and making grenades.

Author's Note

Whew, writing is hard. Hopefully as I continue writing it will get better. anyways, I'd like to thank Kkat and Somber for inspiring me, and all a ya'll out there for giving this story a chance.

Again, if anypony is willing I'd like some help with this story. there is always something to improve.

also an extra Thank you to

Brasta Septim

for helping me make this chapter more believable and detailed.

Witches and Ghouls.

Before leaving the slaver's camp I ransacked it for anything useful. Ammo, parts for my new carbine, food, water, more bottlecaps for some reason, and luckily a few healing potions! I happily chugged a bottle of the fruity purple liquid and watched the hole in my leg seal up as I stuffed everything else in my inventory. None of the slaver's clothes fit me, unfortunately. I was too tall for the pony barding and too skinny for any of the griffin armor to be usable. I ripped the barding into strips to use as bandages and summoned my spare combat vest and slipped it on, it wasn’t actually made for combat, but it did make me feel a little safer.

After all of that was taken care of, I checked out my pipbuck. The old stallion, -whose name was Keyhole- had reset the pipbuck and downloaded all the stuff from my recorder onto it as well, even the audio file from the shack. I noticed a section labelled "saddlebags" and opened it in curiosity. Inside was a list of everything in my inventory! all nice and organized too. Huh. Scrolling down I pressed on one of the items and a healing potion materialized in my talon as if I had summoned it! Does this mean anyone can get into my inventory? I detached the pipbuck from my arm and tried to open the section, but this time, the list was empty. weird. These pipbucks sure do have some serious magic laced in them. I thought as I strapped the device back on.

Keyhole had told me there was a community of friendly merchants on the northeast side of town, on Marebon Street. And that if I was looking for someone, they would have probably made their way there. Unfortunately, to get to Marebon Street I have to pass through Coltson Square, which is teeming with creatures called ghouls. Undead beings born of radiation. While most of them were decent people these ghouls were feral, mindless cannibals.

As I walked towards Coltson Square I decided to play the audio file I found in that terminal. My new E.F.S, Eyes Forward Sparkle, showed no signs of any hostiles nearby. So it seemed to be a good way to pass the time. When I pressed play, A young mare's voice came from the pipbuck. It seemed to be a recording of a phone call.

"Hello? Stormy, you there?"

"Yeah Crystal, I'm here. What's goin on down in the Big Easy?"

"Nothing good. The military is here! They’ve sent a whole company of steel rangers, and now they patrol the streets all the time!"

"That doesn’t sound good, do you know why?"

"Something about zebra traitors in the Treme area. But I don't know why they’ve taken over the whole town if the enemy is in only one neighbourhood."

"Do you think they found out about your experiments?"

"No. If they had found out about that, they would have sent the M.o.M to quietly whisk me away. This is bigger. Could you come back from Hoofington for a week to help me move some assets? Just cause they aren’t here for me doesn’t mean they won’t arrest me if they find something."

"Okay. It’ll take a few days to get to you though. if I left right away the higher-ups would want to know why."

"That's all right, I don’t want you to compromise your work just for me."

"I'll get to you as soon as possible, so don’t get into too much trouble before I get there! I don't want to miss out!"

"Gotcha! I'll be safe. Bye Stormy."

"Bye Crystal."

Hmm, interesting. I wondered what sort of experiments this Crystal was performing that she had to hide it from the government? Now however was not the time for contemplating the actions of long-dead equines. I had made it to Coltson Square.

The place used to be a park, a big one at that. Now it only contained burnt out bushes and trees, the ground covered in deteriorating pathways and long-dead grass. At the north side of the square was a large white cathedral with its spires toppled and most of its stained glass windows shattered. I wondered what ponies had worshipped two hundred years ago, the Princesses maybe? Us hippogriffs had no gods, for we have our Queen. We don't treat her like a god though, it just makes sense to put your faith in someone real than a higher being that might not exist.

In the centre of the park was a large, surprisingly un-ravaged statue of whom I supposed was Coltson himself. I could only guess how the guy had earned a whole park in his name, he didn’t look like the hero type.

Scattered all over were hundreds of ghouls. Ugliest motherfuckers I had ever seen. Decayed corpses, their bones and innards exposed, yet somehow still able to stand and walk, making unearthly moans and grunts.

There were WAY too many of these things to just blast my way through. Flying over was out of the question, they’d see me instantly and I’d have a whole horde of zombies after me.

There was enough cover in the way of dead plant life and ruined architecture that if I was careful I could stealth my way through. It took almost an hour, but I finally made it to the cathedral. Those ghouls weren’t the smartest and probably shortsighted or deaf.

Quietly flying through a broken stained glass window of whom I thought might be Princess Celestia I landed in an office. Looting the area rewarded me with more caps, healing potions, a bottle of Applejack Daniels, and a few packages of sugar apple bombs. Curious, I opened one of the two-hundred-year-old boxes and ate a handful of the cereal. ooooooooo Sweet, Sugary, probably very unhealthy goodness! I shook my head. Focus Blitz, we need to find a back door.

Stepping out into the main room produced a sound of awe from me. It was essentially a large hallway with balconies on either side, and rows upon rows of rotting wooden pews. The curved ceiling once displaying beautiful paintings now yellowed and peeling off. On the railing of the balconies spaced at intervals were decaying flags of long-dead countries, there was even a flag of Mount Eris hanging up. From the ceiling hung broken chandeliers no longer lit. The tainted lighting came instead from the shattered stained glass windows I had seen from outside. The altar at the front of the room was flanked by two crumbling statues, saints long forgotten.

Shuf... Shuf... Creeeeeek...

The fuck was that? I looked around frantically trying to locate the source of the sound.

Shuf... Creeeeeeeek... Shuf...

Wait, By the altar! What is that thing?! It looked like a unicorn ghoul, except for the disgusting, oily, pink goo oozing from holes all over the thing's body. The elongated horn on its head twisted and bent. The only noises it made was the sound of its Decayed hooves against the floor. The thing's head slowly twisted and turn its empty, leaking eye sockets right at me. And then it screamed. I couldn’t just hear the demented screech out loud, I felt as if I could hear it with my soul, the sound ripping me apart from the inside. I had to run, get away from the horrific noise before it tore my soul from my body! Not able to think straight, I ran for the big set of double doors at the back of the room. Making it to the doors in record time I threw them open and looked at my surroundings.

Coltson Square

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit

Half the ghouls turned to stare at me with their cloudy, unblinking eyes. But did not attack, almost as if they were waiting for something. Then the thing behind me screamed again. Every ghoul in Coltson Square turned towards me and ran. No choice but to fight. I stood on my hind legs and summoned my carbine in one talon and my battle scythe in the other. Using my magic to coat the scythe in a red aura I manipulated it to carve a path through the ghouls and blasted any who got too close to me as I fought to get away from the screaming monster controlling them. This was not a battle I could win. There were too many of these desiccated beings! All too soon my carbine made sad clicking noises letting me know I was out of ammo. Hastily stashing it back in my inventory I grabbed my scythe and twirled in my talons. This was not the way I wanted to go down, but at least it wasn’t an extremely pathetic death.

Then the ghoul's heads started blowing up. I looked around, only now noticing that I could hear gunshots nearby. To my left, there was a jet black unicorn with the biggest revolver I had ever seen in my life! He was wearing a large black wide-brim hat and matching duster. His eyes were covered by blood-red aviators. He wore a large manic grin on his face as his horn glowed red, holding aloft his gun. He yelled across the Square at me.

"Come on then! I'm not going to finish them off myself!"

We fought for almost an hour fending off the neverending horde. Me swinging my battle scythe in large arcs of death as the black stallion blasted away, rotten brain matter and blood flying in his wake. Eventually, the only red bar on my E.F.S was the screeching ghoul. It focused itself on the stallion for some reason, ignoring me. The high pitched nails on chalkboard sound making my nose and eyes bleed. Even the unicorn’s massive revolver seemed to have little effect on the thing.

Time for plan B. While my sister was good at healing magic, my speciality was hippogriff combat magic. Putting my scythe in my inventory, I flew up above the distracted creature and hovered. I summoned a glowing blue circle covered with runes in both Talons. Pulling them together to create one big circle. When I pulled my arm back a giant ethereal arrow began to appear in the center of the rune circle. It felt like I was drawing a bow the size of a building, which I kinda was. In just a few seconds the arrow was fully formed, but I was already sweating profusely and my wings and arms were about to give out. Just when I thought I couldn’t hold it any longer the arrow glowed a vibrant blue and shot right at the monster's head. The thing had time to look up at the big FWOOSH noise the arrow made before it decimated the creature's skull and the better part of its midsection. I then promptly passed out. I mean come on, I had just cast a Spirit arrow, one of the most complex combat spells out there! I think I deserved a small nap.

I awoke to find myself on the back of the Black Stallion as he carried me away from Coltson Square. I jumped off his back and gave him a wary look.

"Wait, who are you? Where were you taking me?" He chuckled as he turned to face me.

"Well, though there are far more sane ways to get there, it looked like you were heading towards Marebon Street. Besides, it was the safest place for someone unconscious like you were for the last half hour or so. As for what I'm called, names are powerful things, why should I trust you with mine?"

Hmm, good question.

"Umm, well I'll trust you with my name, It's Blitz. And yes, I was heading to Marebon Street."

He seemed pleased with my answer and nodded. "Very well. People call me Shadow." He turned back around and gestured for me to follow him. "This way to Marbon, whatever you're looking for you'll find it there."

Footnote:

New perk unlocked: Witch Hunter 1. You’ve killed your first witch! whoopdee fucking doo. You now deal 15% more damage to Witches and their ghouls.

New perk unlocked: Kombat Wizard 5. You’re getting pretty good at this magicky stuff! You now are 25% more proficient at casting combat spells.

Author's Note

-January 2020: revised.

As usual, A big thank ye kindly to Kkat and Somber for inspiration, and you all for giving me a chance.

Please note that as I get better with my writing skills I will come back and polish earlier chapters, so how you see it now may not be how it will look when I'm done with this story.

Anyone willing to help me with this project is much appreciated. this story deserves more than just my pathetic writing skills.

A way home.

The rest of the way to Marebon Street was surprisingly quiet. No raiders, slavers, or monsters bothered us. Probably had to do with the fact that until recently there had been a huge horde of feral ghouls nearby.

Shadow wasn’t the most talkative person I'd ever met. He'd asked me a few questions and then was annoyingly silent for the rest of the walk. I tried to get more out of him but all of my questions were met with either an extremely cryptic answer or silence. Here's an example of a typical Shadow conversation:

"So... Do you live around here?"

"I prefer to wander."

"What was that thing I killed?"

"A witch."

"Whats a witch?"

"One of the two monsters that inhabit Neigh Orleans exclusively. They emit a magical soundwave akin to broadcasters in Canterlot."

"What is the other monster?"

"Vampires."

"Wait, vampires aren’t real, you’re messing with me."

"When you mix witchcraft, technology, and radiation anything’s possible."

Yeah, This guy needs to work on his social skills. At least I was no longer alone. I didn’t know how long Shadow would stay with me, maybe he would just drop me off at Marebon Street. I didn’t know if I could completely trust him yet either. He had had plenty of opportunities to kill me and hadn’t. So we had each other's company, for now.

Soon I could see the lights and hear the sounds of the settlement. Shadow stopped and looked back at me, a grimace on his face. "You’ll have to continue without me, I'm not very welcome there. I'll be here waiting for you."

"Why? what did you do?"

"I'm just not a popular pony in these parts, nothing to do with what I've done, but what I am. Don't go around asking questions about me. If they think you are travelling with me they might kick you out."

I was very confused. But I did need to talk to these guys. so if him staying here and me not talking about him made that easier, so be it.

"Alright, see you soon Shadow" He didn’t respond as I walked the last stretch towards the town alone.

I didn’t know quite what to expect from a town in the wasteland. But the busy street, neon signs, and general feeling of a noonday market were better than I had imagined. According to Shadow during one of his more talkative moments, Marebon Street had been famous for its vibrant nightlife, Exotic alcoholic beverages, and Jazz music. Looking around, it seemed it still was. Strange, interesting music floated out of multiple buildings. All the neon lights were on even though it was noon, probably due to the never-ending cloud cover. Most of the bars had been converted into shops and inns, but a few were still in business.

One, in particular, caught my eye. The sign read, Maison Marebon, dedicated to the preservation of jazz. Above the entrance was another sign, Come in peace or leave in pieces. Well, at least no one was going to attack me for no reason.

The inside of the bar was cosy and well lit. More of what I assumed was jazz music dominated the area, the conversations nearby muffled and hard to hear. Two guards stood by the bar, their guns in their holsters as they shared a drink. Tables were lined up against the wall with the bar on the far side and a bartender drying mugs. Everyone turned to look at me when I came through the door, once they all decided I wasn’t a threat they all went back to their alcohol and card games. ooooo, card games, I’m good at those. I wonder if they play blackjack? Mingling was a good idea, I could learn more about the wasteland and ask discreetly about my sister.

As I glanced around to find a suitable table to join an azure unicorn mare with frizzy white hair tightly plaited waved at me, yelling "Hey! Purple gryphon looking thing! O'er here!"

Well, guess my table is chosen for me. I walked over and sat down opposite the scruffy unicorn. She smiled and tilted her head in contemplation.

"Ye got the look oh a gryphon, but you're taller and more colourful than any I e're met before. And ye got hooves stead of paws fer yer hindquarters. Why don't I get us a drink and you can tell me bout yourself."

"No need to get a drink, I have one here," I said, summoning the Bottle of Applejack Daniels from the cathedral. The unicorn blinked and rubbed her eyes, not believing what I had just done.

"Weel, I guess drinks are on you!. Les no jus stare at it! I'll go grab a couple o glasses and you open it up!" The blue mare sauntered over to the bartender and asked him for two glasses. While I opened the bottle she floated two shot glasses over to our table. Picking up the whiskey with her magic she deftly poured the two glasses to the brim. With practised ease, she down the cup, frowning slightly.

“I dinna think I told ye my name, It’s Scruffy. And I’m the best mechanic in the whole Neigh Orleans area! Also the best medic in town, not cuz I’m good wi medicine but because I fixed all the healing talismans and the autodoc at the Crystal health centre down the road.”

I have to admit that I liked her rough highland accent. Not something I thought I would find this far south. According to my Equestrian geography class, the highlands were in the far eastern part of the nation, near the city of Hoofington, and was actually its own nation before Equestrian military made it a protectorate of Equestria. Many bloody and unsuccessful revolutions later the highlanders were able to gain equal rights for their people, sadly not before the great mountains of their homeland were gutted and stripped of their coal.

A cough from Scruffy shook me from my thoughts.

"Hmm? What?"

"Ah said, was a wee hippogriff like you doing oot here in the wasteland? I thought you all had a nice island to hide on while we all rot in this hell hole.”

I told her the whole story. Starting with the crash and ending with clearing out Coltson Square, leaving out the part about meeting Shadow. Scruffy was politely quiet, asking only a few questions throughout.

Afterwards, she downed her glass and refilled it just as fast.

“Weel yoo’ve had quite the adventure haven’t ye? Now tha you’re here, what do ye plan on doing? My suggestion is ta get the hell out of here and head to friendship city or tenpony tower. This place is a death trap if ya dinna ken what you’re doin.”
“I can’t leave without my father and sister. Judging by the stares I’m guessing that she isn’t around here.”

"Yup. You're the only hippogriff here ah the moment. What are ye gunta do after that? I doubt tha findin yer sister will be a long venture."

"Well, I also have to get home."

"Weel tae do that, you'd hafta talk to some oh the traders here, lots a people stop here on their way from New Pegasus to Friendship City on cargo runs. I bet if ye talked to one and ye had enough money they might go a wee off course for you and yer family."

This was all good news, from here I could ask around about Ashaa while looking for a merchant to take us home!

“Who should I talk to first?”

Scruffy mused over her glass of whiskey, taking another sip before responding.

“ I would go speak with Mr Round Trip, you’ll probably find him ah the Red Pegasus across the road. He’ll ave room on his boat fer you and your kin, high prices but a safe ride.”

“Thank you for the advice Scruffy. Anything else I should know?"

"Stay away from the Bloody Hoof Inn ah the edge oh town, tha place es fer vampires only. Unless ye want tae be their dinner."

I nodded as I turned to walk out.

"Got it. It was nice meeting you Scruffy."

"Same to you wee hippogriff! Hope you find wha you're lookin fer oot there."

Walking out of the Maison Marbon I looked around for the Red Pegasus. It took a while to find as the sign was just a red pegasus, no words. Being slightly colourblind I had thought it brown, but after searching around for a bit and finding no other Pegasus themed taverns I decided to head in and try my luck.

Calmly ignoring the stares I headed up to the bartender. Upon asking him if a Mr Round Trip was here I was directed to a brown earth pony with a cutie mark of a boat going in circles. As I approached he slowly lifted his head, turning to look at me.

"What do ya want? If ah've pissed somepony off let me finish mah drink first."

"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to ask about you giving me and my family a ride home." Round Trip scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"How many of ya? where ya headin?" I pulled out a map and showed him the location of Mount Eris and told him it would just be me and my father and sister. He laughed quietly.

"If you want me to transport you and your kin that far outta mah rout it's gonna cost ya, A thousand per passenger, five thousand in case ah accidents, and two thousand for the time I could be selling goods in Friendship City. So bout ten thousand caps in total."

My jaw almost hit the floor. Ten THOUSAND caps!?

"How am I supposed to get that much?" He shrugged.

Ah dunno, try doin some odd jobs round town, go treasure huntin, collect bounties. If ya really want on mah boat you'll find a way. Also, I leave town in a month, so you've got a time limit as well. good luck kid." And with that, he got up, paid his tab, and left.

I sat there for a while, processing all of this new info. I had to find my family and get ten thousand caps in a month. I could do this. I always worked better on a deadline anyways. I was going to do this. It was happening. the first step: get a job.

Footnote:

New Quest unlocked: In a rich colt's world. acquire 10,000 caps to pay your way home. Progress: 75/10,000 caps. quest time limit: 31 days left. good luck kid.

Author's Note

Sorry this one took a little longer. with working on my part of the ABC Dangers of the wasteland collab and school starting up again I haven’t had the same amount of time as before. But I'm almost done with the ABC story and will have more time. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and the many more to come!

-A Bloodthirsty Unicorn.

A means to an end.

Fortunately for me, there was a job board posted right outside the Red Pegasus. I knew I wasn’t going to be a bounty hunter, so I ignored all of those posters. On the 'odd jobs' side of the board, a few caught my eye such as one stating '2000 bits for radio parts, contact Midnight Rain at 345 Marebon Street 3.' I memorized the address and started walking towards what I thought was the residential area of Marebon Street.

From the looks of it, there were actually five streets that were all called 'Marebon' which was why there was a 3 at the end of Midnight Rain's address. I happened to be on street 5. After asking for directions, (yes males can do such things.) I found my way to the desired house. The house looked like a renovated jewellery store, the valuable objects inside long gone.

Knocking on the door resulted in a muffled "Hold on I'll be right there!" from inside. A minute or so later a dusty brown unicorn mare with a vibrant red mane and tail opened the door. At first, she seemed annoyed by my presence.

"I don't owe anyone any money so you can tell your boss that sending talon members isn’t going to get what he wants." She then moved to close the door.

"W-wait! I'm not a talon, I'm just here to talk about the job you posted!" I stuttered out. The pressure holding the door closed lessened.

"And what job would that be?" The mare cautiously replied.

"The radio parts you wanted." Her expression immediately softened.

"Oh, you should have said something sooner. Come on in then." And with that, she let go of the door, making me almost fall on my face, I managed to get back up before Midnight Rain turned around at the noise.

Midnight Rain's home was littered with bits of technology; partially dismantled terminals, broken robots, pipbucks in various states of repair, even a few large objects resembling printers. Farther in there was a small living space with a few couches and a coffee table in the centre. The walls were covered in old pre-war posters of various bands and celebrities such as Countess Coloratura. At the back of the room was a small kitchenette from which an amazing aroma of cooking meat and fresh bread was emanating.

The Brown mare took a seat on one couch and motioned for me to sit in the one across from her. Using her magic she lifted a bottle of scotch two glasses from the kitchenette and over to the coffee table, pouring the ancient pre-war cups to the brim. Setting one on my side of the table while taking a sip from hers, she began to explain the job.

“As you can guess from my house, I like fiddling with pre-war tech. One thing I’d like to do with all this is set up a radio station so I can broadcast music and important information to people all around the Neigh Orleans area.”

I also drank from my glass, savouring the taste of fine liquor.

“So how can I help with that? I’m pretty tech-savvy, but I don’t think I have the skills to make any of that possible.”

Midnight Rain gave a small chuckle as she emptied her glass and refilled it.

“Oh no, I’ll be doing all the smartass stuff, I want it done properly and with care, something I don’t trust many out here other than me and maybe Scruffy, our mechanic, can do. I would like you to go out to the radio tower thing a little north of Marebon Street. Once there find as many radios and other broadcasting devices you can find. I don’t care what condition they’re in, I can salvage what’s useful.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“Radio tower thing?”

Midnight scoffed, drinking from her cup once more.

“Aside from the PipBuck, you don’t have the look of a stable-dweller, but you definitely have the naïvety of one. All around the wasteland, there are these big white towers built by the MOA (ministry of awesome) during the war. No one knows their original use, but they contain a bunch of broadcasting equipment and other technologies.”

“Oh, all right, I think I can do that.”

Midnight Rain stood up, having finished her third glass of scotch. Setting our empty glasses on a counter and the remaining scotch in a cupboard she turned to look at one of her many posters with a far off expression.

“This world has plenty of bad in it. By creating a radio channel to keep people in Neigh Orleans updated on current dangers would make this part of the world at least a little bit better. I believe that if everyone did their part. If everyone made the world a little bit better, it would get a Lot better. So thank you for helping me with this, I know you’re not going to do this just for the warm feeling inside afterwards so I’ll pay you two hundred caps per piece of tech you bring me.” I whistled, standing up and walking to her side.

"You have a deal, Ma’am. I'll be back soon with your equipment."

"Good, I shall see you later then."

And with that, I left the mare's house and began walking back towards where I left Shadow. I didn’t know if he was going to be there when I got back or not, but I would like someone who knows the area if I was to go out to this radio tower. As I walked through town I spotted a small group of heavily armed gryphons talking to the owner of the Red Pegasus. Though I couldn’t hear what they were saying due to the general noise of the town It looked like she was describing someone to them.

Frowning, I lowered my head and walked faster in case they were searching for me. I had no clue why a group of mercenaries would be after me, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful. Besides, Round Trip and I hadn’t been the only patrons present during our conversation. There were plenty of other people they might be looking for.

Once out of sight of the gryphons I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding and glanced behind me, no one there.

Good.

Shaking off my worry I trotted towards the ruined skywagon Shadow should be waiting by.

"You want to go where!?"

"To the big radio tower to get parts for Midnight Rain. If you don’t want to come with me that's fine, you’ve already helped me quite a bit and I understand if you’re done with me." Shadow scoffed, waving a hoof dismissively.

"Leaving you to die now after helping you fight those ghouls and the witch would be a waste of my time and ammunition. So you’re stuck with me until I think you can survive on your own. Just remember that I’ll only fight with you, not for you."

"Got it. Thanks for staying."

"Heh, whatever kid, let's get going and find a good place to stay before it gets dark."

Footnote:

New quest added!: Radio Gaga. Collect radio parts for Midnight Rain. Time limit: none.

Author's Note

Another chapter out! Yay!

I apologize for how few chapters I'm putting out a month. Between School, Theater, Cross Country, Marching Band, and Boy Scouts my life has been quite busy.

Again if any of you would like to help with writing, pre-reading, or editing it would be much appreciated and would help move these chapters along!

So thank you to those who are giving my story a chance, hope you all had a happy thanksgiving and goodbye for now!

A small errand.

After we slept -though I suspect I was the only one sleeping- in the burnt-out remains of a hotel Shadow lead the way towards what he called an SPP tower. What that stood for, he wouldn’t tell me. But I guess it isn’t really that important what it's called, we just needed to get inside, grab what we needed, and leave.

It took most of an uneventful day to get there, my PipBuck told me the travel time was five hours and twenty five minutes. Though it felt more like a whole year with the company I was keeping. Shadow was almost just that, a shadow. Silently following behind me. Every now and then he’d ask if I needed a water break or a rest stop. He never did drink or eat anything himself, nor did he rest, always standing guard.

The SPP tower was just as Midnight Rain described: A giant fucking tower standing proudly in the middle of the wasteland. It’s white walls only slightly tarnished by time.

Finding the front door was easy, getting the door to open was the hard part. The stupid thing was locked with a number pad. I tried every combination I could think of but the damn thing wouldn’t open! Just as I was about to try shooting out the lock, Shadow pushed me out of the way with a comment about me almost setting off an alarm and typed in a five digit code. The door unlocked with a sinister hiss.

Who is this guy?

That mystery would have to wait until later, I had some radio parts to find!

The inside of the tower was made up of about a dozen floors, each with a purpose forgotten by time. Any and all radio equipment would probably be at the top of the tower, so that’s where I went. Shadow decided to remain by the door, his expression unreadable through his red aviators.

There was one floor however, that still resembled its original use; an armory.

What is an armory doing in a radio tower?

Well, there wasn’t a time limit on the radio equipment, might as well answer one question today.

It was the only floor without windows, and also the only floor where the lights still worked. There must be an emergency generator somewhere inside, still pumping energy after two hundred years of neglect. Most of the space was taken up by rows and rows of weapons and armour that didn’t fit me. The back was a small barracks of sorts, lockers lined one side while bunk beds covered the other. A terminal was situated on the left wall, I would have to check that out before I left.

The place was well stocked, so I nabbed a few metal apples as well as a new carbine and some ammo for it. I tried my talon at opening the lockers but to no avail save for the final one which wasn’t even locked. Inside were two things: the biggest sniper rifle I had ever seen and a small statuette of a rainbow Pegasus.

The rifle had to be at least a 50 Caliber judging by the magazine well, it was midnight black with a small red dragon decal on each side by the trigger. The word Ifrinn was inscribed in cursive upon the end of the very long barrel.

That must be it’s name, Ifrinn. I wonder what it means?

After stashing the huge weapon in my Inventory I took a closer look at the statuette. The second I touched it I felt a rush of energy, I suddenly felt able to fly faster than the sound barrier! Then the moment passed and most of the feeling ebbed away, leaving only a trace amount of the strange surge of power. I now had the feeling that I was not alone, though whomever was with me did not intend to harm me, but to help. It was quite comforting to say the least. At the bottom of the pedestal on which the vibrant mare proudly stood were the words Be awesome! I carefully placed it in my Inventory along with a bunch of ammo for Ifrinn and trotted over to the terminal.

As luck would have it the thing still worked, booting up with a low hum. The only things on it were a few audio files and a Data spreadsheet. Downloading the audio logs for later I rummaged around the armory for anything else useful and returned to the stairs, intent on completing my mission.

Just as I suspected the top floor was a giant communication room. There were three big tv screens covering the front wall, below that lay a huge board of buttons and sliders and keyboards. On either side of the board was my quarry; boxes upon boxes of radios, audio consoles, and automation software.

After grabbing not a few of these things I turned to the control board. I was tech savvy enough to find the on button and get the whole thing running. Fiddling with all the buttons somehow got the tower connected to a signal labeled Tenpony Tower. A female voice came through the speakers.

“Hello? Who is this? I don’t think I’ve seen the IP address of this tower before. Hold on, I’ll have visual in a second.”

Surprised, I sat there speechless for a moment, before shaking my head I realized I had been spoken to.

“Hi, I’m Blitz, I came here looking for radio parts and somehow got this thing on”

“My name is Homage, I’m DJ Pon3’s assistant.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“DJ Pon3? Who’s that?”
Before who I assumed was a mare could respond, the middle screen flickered to life. Showing me the image of a grey unicorn with a blue mane and tail and vibrant brown eyes who was indeed a mare. She was apparently speechless at the sight of me.

“Sweet Celestia you’re a hippogriff! I’ve only seen your kind in books! Where is the rest of your species? How well can you fly? Can you touch clouds like Pegasi? Are you all that amazing shade of blue or is it just you?”

It was my turn to be speechless.

“Wait, hold on, what? I’m sorry, I only got about half of all that.”

“Oh! Sorry, I just got a little excited. How about a couple more relevant questions, how did you get this tower running, and where is this tower?”

I informed her that all I did was mess around with the controls and the system connected. And that I was in Neigh Orleans.

“I’m sorry to cut this short Homage. But I have to get back to Marebon Street before dark, my friend Shadow says it’s not safe to travel at night.”

“Oh! Yes, that’s a good idea, thank you for fixing this radio tower! I can now broadcast my music to this part of the wasteland!”

“You’re welcome, have a good day!”

“Same to you Blitz!”

And with that I took the stairs all the way down to Shadow, who was exactly where I had left him. As I came down the last few steps he turned to face me with an irritated expression on his face.

“You took too long, we’ll have to walk through the night on the final stretch of the journey. Did you get what you needed?” I nodded and followed him out of the tower as the door closed behind us with a loud clunk!!

I had found my radio parts, as well as a new gun and an interesting statuette. And with only a few hours of daylight left we were headed back to Marebon Street.

Footnote:
In a rich colt’s world: progress 75/10,000 Quest time limit: 30 days remaining.

Author's Note

This chapter was really fun for me to write. And now with Christmas Break started there will hopefully be an increase in chapters I can pump out! Hope you all are enjoying my story and if you have any feedback please let me know down in the comments. Again thank you to Kkat for creating this amazing sandbox for so many to play in.

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn

An interesting reunion.

The way back to Marebon Street was just as mind-numbingly boring as the previous trip. The only difference was the fading light and that I had three audio files I could listen to. So with nothing else to do but walk, I hit play on the first one.

”Hey, Crystal. You there?”

“Yeah I’m here, what’s up? Did you make it here safely?”

“Well, technically yes. The only way I could get out of Hoofington was to take up a management job at one of the M.O.A towers here. While that’s not so bad on its own, that company of Aqua Rangers you were talking about are stationed here! They’ve taken up the whole seventh floor of the building!”

“That shouldn’t be a big problem. Just don’t do anything suspicious and keep your calls to me to a minimum in their presence. Also, Aqua Rangers?”

“Yeah. Their armour is modified for aquatic missions. Basically diving suits with jet propulsion and guns.”

“Interesting. I thought Ministry Mare Applejack didn’t want modifications, that they were perfect as is.”

“Yes, but these were a joint project between the M.W.T and the M.A.S to make armoured soldiers capable of preforming amphibious invasions in zebra territory.”

“Well what are they doing here? As far away from the Zebrician coast as possible?”

“They’re waiting for the Aqua Armour project to be approved by Princess Luna. To prove their worth spending government money on, they’re here to speed up construction on that underwater stable. Apparently it’s not coming together as fast as StableTec wanted so they called in a favor from some higher ups in the O.I.A.”

“That makes sense. The ‘zebra spies in the Treme area’ story was probably just a ruse to get the relocation approved by the Ministry Mares.”

“That’s what it looks like. By the way, the CEO of the O.I.A talked to me earlier. He would like you to contact him. Something about a business deal.”

“You haven’t told him about my research have you!?”

“Of course not! I would never sell you out like that! He probably just wants to talk about a job. I hear Goldenblood has been picking up quite a few eh... Interesting scientists lately.”

“What do you mean by interesting?”

Suddenly the audio file ended with a loud KIZZTK, bringing me back to reality.

Checking my PipBuck, we still had a couple of hours to go. The sun had dipped down towards the horizon, slowly fading away until we were left in the dark. To avoid taking a misstep I turned on my PipBuck’s flashlight, letting it bathe the area in front of me in a swath of green light.

I could just almost see Shadow ahead of me, apparently just fine without anything to illuminate his path.

“Back to the world of the living eh? Hope whatever was on that tape was worth taking the time it took to download it. Otherwise we’re trotting through the dark for nothing other than your stupid decision to wander around the tower instead of getting what you came for.”

Shadow seemed quite perturbed at the moment. Though I’d only known him for a day or so he seemed a little more moody than usual. Maybe it was the fact that we had to travel at night, but Shadow was definitely not the kind of pony to be scared of the dark.

Something else was bothering the irate unicorn. Something he wasn’t telling me.

Suddenly Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. He sniffed the air and grimaced.

“Damn it. Vampires.” He said as he drew his massive revolver out of its leather holster. “Get behind that broken skywagon and pull out your biggest gun. This may get real bad, real fast.”

Just as I finished complying with his orders three ponies appeared out of the shadows of a alleyway several yards in front of us. The trio wore matching fedoras and black trench coats. The only facial features I could see were their eyes; a bright, violent red with glowing yellow slits for pupils. One of them stepped forward, giving us a sinister smile filled with jagged teeth.
“What do we have here? Three poor souls traveling at night? What a terrible decision honestly. Who knows what lies in the dark?”

Wait, three travelers? Were we being followed?

Shadow pulled back the hammer on his revolver.

“I don’t think you fools know who you are dealing with. Leave before I terminate you as painfully as possible.”

All three creatures laughed maniacally. Obviously unfazed by his threat.

“All I see is an idiotic unicorn who thinks he can handle three vampires by himself. It’s high time you were put in your place.”

I slammed a magazine into Ifrinn and trained my sights and on the leader, causing him to look towards me. I wasn’t the best shot, but with how close I was to the target and the calibre of the gun I wasn’t too worried about my aim.

“Ha! You think you and your little friend up there will fare any better than the fool in front of you? You will die slowly and painfully as I drink your blo-“

Before the vampire could finish his sentence Shadow had his gun pressed against the bastard’s head, a second later that same head was wiped from existence with a single shot. The other two vampires just stood for a moment, shocked by Shadow’s speed. Cursing loudly, both charged the two of us.

Surprised by my friend’s sudden movement I pulled the trigger, somehow managing to blow out one of the vampire’s entire chest cavity, spraying all of us in crimson.

The final beast sidestepped Shadow and ran towards me. Still trying to figure out why my vision had gone red, I wasn’t able to get my rifle up in time. The creature jumped at me with a hellish scream, mouth wide open to rip me apart.

But instead of the sound of teeth sinking into flesh there was a soft thunk! noise, and the final vampire’s lifeless body dropped into my lap, an arrow embedded in it’s skull.

A very familiar arrow.

Shadow reloaded his revolver and looked around cautiously, his eyes passing over the buildings that surrounded us.

“The vampire said three travelers. The reason I thought we were alone was that I only smelled hippogryph, must be another one nearby.”

I threw off the body as fast as possible and tossed Ifrinn back into my Inventory. Jumping up onto the skywagon, glancing around frantically.

“Ashaa! Is that you! It’s me, Blitz! Don’t worry, Shadow’s a friend!”

I heard a small gasp from a building to my right. I heard the flap of wings and then I was suddenly run over by one extremely happy hippogryph.

”OhsweetNovoit’sreallyyouhowareyoustillalivewherehaveyoubeeni’veneverbeensogladtoseeyouinmyLIFE!“

I quickly returned the massive, spine-cracking hug I was being given as I tried to understand what she was saying.

“Calm down Ashaa, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes you are. Back to Marebon Street before we run into any more vampires.” Shadow retorted. Obviously still not in a good mood.

“Can’t we just make camp here?” Ashaa replied, tilting her head. Shadow laughed humorlessly.

“Camp here? Where we just killed three vampires? That’s just asking to get us in big trouble with whoever these guys work for. And possibly cursed by the demonic souls that inhabited those creatures.” Ashaa and I both grimaced at the idea. We looked at each other and nodded, we’d catch up on the road.

Much to Shadow’s annoyance, we talked for the rest of the trip. Ashaa had washed ashore unconscious about a mile or so away from me, making me wish I had kept walking that first day. She encountered a group of raiders pretty early on, after ‘dealing’ with them she made her way inland, wandering the wasteland for civilization. I knew she wasn’t telling me everything, but Ashaa had obviously been through a lot these past couple days. So had I honestly.

To lighten her spirits I told her about around Trip’s deal and Midnight Rain’s mission. Hearing that there was a way home put her in a better mood.

“That’s good! Now all we have to do is find Father and get the money! Shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“Yeah, now that we’re together we can get this done even faster!”

Footnote:

Quest progress: Radio Gaga: Radio equipment 15/10. Take radio equipment to Midnight Rain to receive your caps.

New perk unlocked! Van Hellsing 1: you’ve killed your first vampire! Buffy would be proud. You now deal 15% more damage to vampires.

Author's Note

Ashaa’s back! Yay!

Thank you to everyone who reads my story and gives feedback! It really helps to have a second opinion sometimes.

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.

Return to Marebon Street.

We slept in the same hotel as last night. I would give the place a nice review if it wasn’t bombed out. The next morning Ashaa and I left Shadow to his own devices as we headed off to deliver the radio equipment to Midnight Rain.

The settlement was just as busy as it was yesterday. Ponies, gryphons, and even a few ghouls going about their business. Ashaa was enchanted by the sight of civilization and was constantly wandering off, requiring me to drag her back on course multiple times.

After about a half-hour of pulling Ashaa past every distraction possible we made it to Midnight Rain’s house. I knocked on the door and got another muffled “hold on I’ll be right there!” From the other side.

When she opened the door she glanced from me to Ashaa.

“They multiply. Huh.” Midnight Rain turned back into the house leaving the door open. Looking back to say “Well come in then, don’t you want your caps?”

I began to follow her inside, Ashaa close behind. We sat in the living room again, this time three glasses of scotch were placed on the table.

“So, um, where’s my radio equipment? Or did you come back to tell me you failed?”

“We have your parts, just a second.” I then pulled the bag of parts out of my Inventory and handed it to her. After inspecting the contents for authenticity, she tossed large bag of caps across the coffee table with her azure magic.

“There’s three thousand caps, two hundred caps per every piece of tech. Good job Blitz, I didn’t expect you to actually make it.”

“Wow, um, thanks?”

“By the way, Scruffy wanted to talk to you guys, something about a job.” Obviously she had heard of my return, but why hadn’t she offered the job when I told her about my reasons for coming to town?

I nodded and stood up, Ashaa following suit.

“By the way, where can I find Scruffy?”

“Down on Marebon Street 2, Scruffy’s mechanics and hardware. It’s got a big flashy sign, kinda hard to miss.”

“Thank you, we’ll be on our way then.”

And with that, we exited Midnight Rain’s house and headed off towards Scruffy’s workshop.

Just as Midnight Rain described, Scruffy’s mechanics and hardware had a bright neon sign containing a flaming socket wrench and a blowtorch. A note on the front door read:

In the back welding, please wait in the store.
-Scruffy

The inside was a mess. Parts of skywagons, dismantled power armour, and other various unidentifiable bits of machinery were strewn all over tables, shelves, basically anything that wasn’t a walkway. The only area cleared off appeared to be a desk of sorts next to the back door that led to the workshop itself, instead of parts it was covered in business papers and sketches of all kinds of machinery with varying degrees of complexity.

Peeking my head into the shop showed that Scruffy was indeed welding, a heavy mask upon her head and using a few tools held by her magic as she worked on what looked like the most intact skywagon I had seen so far.

The shop was the complete opposite of the store in front. Everything was neat and tidy, every type of scrap metal in its own bin, the floors clean, and every power tool kept organized on a massive board on the back wall. On the far side of Scruffy was what I thought was another one of her projects: an almost finished set of power armour, helmet modified to accommodate her horn.

As I turned to go wait in the store for Scruffy to finish up she turned around to grab a tool off the board and noticed me. She waved and flipped up her helmet.

“I’ll be right wi ye! Jus let me get my tools put up!” I gave her a wave in return and walked back into the store area to find Ashaa fiddling with a very complex looking bow. Instead of a traditional bowstring, it used a pulley system connected to the tips of the bow. When she pulled back the main string all the way back it gave a small click! and locked into place, reducing the draw weight to almost nothing.

“That’s pretty cool,” I remarked, causing her to almost drop the weapon in surprise.

“Oh, yeah, it is. Do you think it’s for sale?”

“Aye, it is for sale, though bows are no a popular item in my shop. Reason being tha archery is no a practical skill to learn in the wasteland, wi rifles being the better option.” Scruffy replied, startling both of us after silently entering the room. Chuckling softly she trotted over to her desk and flitted through the papers on top. “Since you’re here I guess Miss Rain has told ye about my job offer?”

“She told us you had a job offer, but didn’t give any details.”

“Aye, that’s because I didna give her any details. This job I have for ye is a bit dangerous. Ye saw that skywagon in my shop aye? I’m trying tae get it running again. That way I can ship supplies like water talismans and the like to nearby settlements. Most everything I need tae finish it I can find in my workshop or in town save for something tae power the whole thing.”

Scruffy paused to give me a map and a set of instructions she had pulled out of the mess of papers on her desk.

“The only place within a couple hundred kilometres of here that may have what I’m looking for is an auld robotics lab three days north oh town. I’d go myself but I have quite a lot of work to do round town and ye seem capable enough to go for me.”

“How much will we be paid?” I asked. Obviously quite a lot if she wanted us to travel that far out of town for just an energy source for her skywagon.

“Och, about five or six thousand caps, depending on the quality of the engine ye get me.” She replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. This left both my sister and I quite speechless. Five thousand? that was half the money we needed to get home!

“Of course we’ll take the job Scruffy, you’ll get your power source in less than two weeks!” I reached out and we shook talons/hooves.

“Alright then! You two should be on your way if ye want tae make good time. I’ll be seein the two ah ye soon!”

And with that Scruffy turned and went back into the workshop, pausing only call over her shoulder.

“The bow is yours lass! I’ve nae use for it.”

Ashaa and I decided that the best course of action was to collect Shadow and head out immediately. We still had quite a bit of daylight left.

Of course, Shadow was not enthused about it.

“You went in there for three hours and you already have another venture to go on? You two need a rest, not a week long trek into the wasteland.”

“We’re on a time limit. We can rest on the ship home.” I pressed. Ashaa snorted.

“Yeah, if you’re not spending the whole trip with a puke bucket.” Shadow actually chuckled a small bit at that, his mood slightly improved.

“Fine. Let’s go then. But if one of you collapses due to exhaustion I’m not going to carry you.”

Footnote:

Quest complete! Radio Gaga. Reward: 3000 caps.

Quest progress: In a rich colt’s world: 3,075/10,000 caps. Time limit: 29 days remaining.

Author's Note

Dear God I dislike writing filler so much. But now we can move on to more interesting stuff! Yay!

Again I hope ya’ll are enjoying my story any and all feedback is appreciated! And of course a thank you to Kkat for creating FoE and a thank you to you guys for giving my little fic a chance.

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn

Road trip.

I have come to realize that travelling on hoof is Extremely boring. We would have flown but Shadow refused to be carried and said that we’d be easier to spot and shoot down.

So on hoof, it was.

Of course, this meant that I could play another one of those audio files from the radio tower while we walked. If a problem were to occur Ashaa and Shadow could warn me easily.

So I hit play.

“Manager’s log number twelve:
The main generator has been fixed, though one of the atomic stabilization engines on the fourth floor combusted, causing a small fire that was almost immediately put out. I have sent out a request for the parts needed to rep-“

“Hello there Miss Hailstorm, how are you today?”

“Oh! Hello General, I happen to be doing just fine, how about you?”

“Well, progress on Stable fifty-six has increased almost exponentially with the help of my Aqua-Rangers, though I hate that we’re not our fighting in the war yet. Just waiting for Princess Luna’s approval of the new power armour and we’ll be off. If that ever happens.”

“And why wouldn’t it? Your armour could do wonders on the battlefield!”

“The only problem is that those damn zebras have started working on sonar technology, whether it’s because of spies or just coincidence it could become a major advantage over our armour. This means that until we know for sure that we’re ineffective against zebra tech we’ll be put on standby here until we’re deployed or the project is scrapped.”

“At least you’re doing something productive while you wait.”

“Ha, sure. Helping build a stable instead of helping prevent the need For Stables.”

“You have a point there. But it’s better than just laying around twiddling your hooves.”

“Indeed it is, Miss Hailstorm.”

There was a pause as if neither of the two ponies knew what to say next. Then came a small masculine cough, obviously the General what’s his name.

“Well then, I shall leave you to your work. Good day Ma’am”

“Good day to you as well, General Thunderheart”

The sound of hooves trotting off signalled the General’s exit, followed by a relieved sigh from Hailstorm, who I assumed was one of the mares that I had heard in the last two audio files.

” Oh, Damn it! I left the recorder on!”

Fzztk.

And with that, the file ended.

Before I played the last one I paid a little more attention to my surroundings. Instead of the endless rows of run-down shops and homes we had been walking through when we started it appeared that we had moved into a more industrial area. Workshops and build sites now dominated the land. Sprinkled in were a few massive factories, their furnaces long dead. In the distance, I could see the smoke of campfires, whether their occupants were of a friendly disposition I couldn’t tell. We steered clear of them anyway.

So, with no immediate threats, I played the last audio file, this one dated to be about two months after the last three.

“Alright, testing facilities A12 through C56 have been cleared. Until those nosy ass Aqua-Rangers leave town I’ll have to use only the bare minimum to work on my experiments.”

“Don’t you work for Goldenblood now? Doesn’t that mean the government knows what you’re up to, and supports it?”

“The shady part of the government yes, not the part the public sees. Not even Princess Luna knows everything the O.I.A is doing.”

“And you do? Wait, should you even be telling me any of this? I won’t end up in a quiet place will I?”

“Of course not! I make sure that all my calls are completely private.”

“Okaaaaaay, how about we change the subject? One of those nosy ass Aqua-Rangers asked me out!”

“General Thunderheart?!”

“Yes!”

“When did this happen?”

“Three days ago he asked if he could take me out to the Maison Marebon tomorrow night! Should I go?”

“Hey girl, You go for it! Just don’t give any information about me. Don’t even mention our friendship.”

“Alright! I won’t say anything about you! It’ll just be a night on the town.”

“Okay then, you have fun! Remember to bring breath mints and condoms!”

“Crystal! It’s only our first date!”

“You never know Stormy! It could be love at first sight!”

“I doubt that Thunderheart is the kind to bed a mare on the first date, and neither am I!”

“Well duh, you’re not into mares. Are you?”

“Crystal! You know what I meant!”

“I know, have a good time Hailstorm! I’ll see ya later.”

“I will, bye!”

Click! Fzztk!

And now with nothing to entertain myself with as we walked, I mulled over all that I had heard. Nothing passes the time like two-hundred-year-old mysteries!

So far we have four characters; Crystal, Hailstorm, General Thunderheart, and Goldenblood.

Crystal was preforming illegal, immoral, or just shady experiments in several different places around the city that she had to interrupt because of the Aqua-Rangers arrival.

Hailstorm was Crystal’s friend from Hoofington and one of her partners in crime, or partners in whatever Crystal was up to. Since Crystal said she had more than one testing facility, I could say with relative certainty that she had other people working for or with her.

General Thunderheart seemed to be oblivious to this operation and had fallen in love with Hailstorm, the two having met at the SPP tower that Hailstorm worked at. He was pissed that his soldiers weren’t able to do battle because of an issue with the special armour they wore. He seemed to not have taken this anger out on the stable he had been sent to work on, as productivity had increased upon his arrival.

Golden blood was the only one I didn’t have a lot of information on. He was a shady government official with his resources put into many different projects that were as shady as he was. One of the said projects was Crystal’s. Though she didn’t know how he had found out about it.

Though the chance of me finding more tapes was slim, I was hoping that I could eventually find out what happened to all of them.

Back, in reality, Ashaa and Shadow were in the midst of a heated argument involving our destination.

“Celestia Laboratories is a damn death trap. We’ll not find anything of use in that hellhole before we’re all killed.”

“It’s the only place that might have what we need! This is our best chance to get our ticket home!”

“There are far less suicidal ways of earning money! Are you willing to die for a way home?”

“Of course not! We won’t die, we’re on a mission!”

Shadow scoffed. “A suicide mission.”

Before I could intervene a bullet whizzed past my beak, hitting the ground to my left. Shadow immediately glanced where the bullet came from, a grimace plastered across his features.

“Get down, we’ve got raiders.”

More bullets flashed by the three of us. Luckily there was some rubble to hide behind. Shadow ran towards the raiders with his revolver drawn while Ashaa and I jumped behind the wreckage. I pulled out Ifrinn and removed the scope, using it to peer out towards where the hail of bullets originated.

There appeared to be at least ten of them, all armed with crude yet quite large firearms. All ponies, five earth ponies, four unicorns, and a Pegasus. Said Pegasus strapped on a huge battle saddle and took to the skies only to be shot down by Shadow. The raiders ceased fire for a moment, only to resume fire on Shadow’s position. This gave me time to reattach Ifrinn’s scope and aim, I managed to get a few shots off before their attention returned to me and I was forced to duck back down. Unfortunately none of my shots connected with flesh, but with dirt and concrete instead.

Ashaa was busy preparing a few healing mixes for later, while Shadow had gotten himself right below the raiders, out of sight and with his revolver poised to take out the unicorn who seemed to be giving orders. He pulled the trigger and the poor bastard’s head and neck were vaporized in a spray of fine red mist. They paused for a second and then began firing at the broken down wagon Shadow was hiding behind.

At this range, I knew my carbine would be useless. Metal apples were out of the question because I could just as easily blow up Shadow, unless...

“Ashaa! I need you to hand me some arrows!”

“What!? Oh, okay!” She tossed five arrows in my direction. I took these and a few of the grenades and lashed them to the arrows.

“Pull the pin and shoot it at them, but don’t wait too long after pulling the pin!” I said as I tossed the explosive arrows back to her. She nodded and began shooting them out towards the raiders, making sure not to hit Shadow’s position.

At first, they didn’t know how to react to the arrows and decided to ignore them, until one stuck in a unicorn’s helmet and exploded, throwing guts and shrapnel everywhere, killing two others in the process.

The remaining five of them began shooting at the arrows while they were in flight. They managed to hit one of them, creating a ball of fire in the air that rained shrapnel on both sides, giving Ashaa and me quite a few small gashes. The other three arrows hit their mark, blowing up the raider’s cover and allowing Shadow to advance towards them.

Before they could register what had just happened Shadow rained lead upon them, killing the last three earth ponies and injuring one of the unicorns. The unharmed unicorn galloped towards us, firing her huge machine gun and laughing maniacally. The bullets bounced off our barricade, the mare wasn’t aiming.

Once she was in range I took a shot with Ifrinn and blew out her chest. I knew that my gun probably had a range of a few miles but for me to hit accurately they had to be only a couple hundred meters away.

Shadow finished off the last raider and the fight was over. He turned towards me to say something but instead pointed at Ashaa.

“Blitz! Your sister was shot!”

I turned to see a plume of red bloom from her chest, staining her feathers a dark crimson.

Footnote:

New perk unlocked! Battle-hardened 1: you’ve had a little more combat experience and now deal 15% more damage with any firearm.

Author's Note

Well this one is a little longer than the others, that’s because I didn’t think the flow of the story would work if I cut this into two chapters.

Anyways, I hope y’all are enjoying this story and a big thank ye kindly to all of you who leave a comment and to Kkat for creating FoE.

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn

Desperate times.

I caught Ashaa before she hit the ground and lay her down on the concrete before frantically gathering all the medical supplies she had laid out beforehand. Unfortunately, there were no healing potions, So I couldn’t heal the wound or remove the bullet, only stop the bleeding.

At this point Shadow had made his way back to us, I could see the indecision playing across his features even with the red sunglasses covering his eyes.

“One of the charging raider’s bullets must have connected. Damn. Looks like she passed out due to blood loss. Get her as stable as possible and then we need to go. Those shots will be heard for miles, so pretty soon we’ll have quite a lot of undesirable company.”

He glanced towards the way we came, and then to the path ahead, indecision turned back into his trademark grimace.

“Marebon Street is closer, but they won’t have the medical equipment needed to save her. The trip to Celestia Laboratories is three days, we need to get there in less than two. Let’s go.”

As I finished with what first aid I could do, Shadow hefted Ashaa onto my back which made me grunt in surprise. Ashaa has always been more muscle than fat, but three days wasteland allowed me to count all of her ribs, not to say you couldn’t see all of mine, just that she was easy to carry,

We walked at a much faster pace than earlier, almost running. My mind pushed out everything save for the thought that I needed to keep going. The faster we walked the closer Ashaa was to help.

I barely registered the fact that I had been jogging with my sister on my back for almost five hours. I just kept walking until I was suddenly on the ground, my legs giving out. Shadow picked Ashaa up with his magic, allowing me to get back on my hooves. He gave me water and a small portion of food, what kind of food I couldn’t tell due to extreme exhaustion.

The next time I became aware of my surroundings it was nighttime, and raining. Shadow was still carrying Ashaa on his back as I trotted close behind, my fur and feathers completely soaked through. Shadow had taken off his red duster and wrapped Ashaa inside of it.

I had never seen Shadow without his duster and was surprised to see dozens of scars covering his black coat. Most were old bullet wounds, but others were large bite marks, resembling the jagged teeth of the vampires we’d faced a couple of days ago. It seemed he had dealt with more than his fair share of the vile creatures. But all that was just a passing thought. We had more pressing matters than how one pony could endure that many vampire attacks and retain their sanity. Ashaa was dying, and we had to keep going, otherwise, I don’t think I would have the strength to get up again.

I was shivering terribly when morning came and the rain stopped, the water chilling me to the bones. Shadow was somehow unfazed even though he was as sopping wet as I was. Ashaa was still wrapped up in his duster to keep her warm.

Why was this guy helping so much? He could have left me in good shape in Marebon Street and gone about his business, yet he stayed with me through the radio tower and even though he didn’t want to go into Celestia Laboratories he was willing to go there for us.

Just then I slipped on something and fell onto the cold, irradiated, ground. I had not the physical or emotional strength to get up and move on. Ashaa was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it. I barely heard Shadow urging me to stand, but I just couldn’t do it.

” Come on Blitz! You’re too awesome to die like this! And you’re so close, only a few more miles!”

What?

Who was talking to me? It seemed like the voice was coming from inside my head. But how?

Sweet Novo, I’m going mad.

“Not mad, just exhausted, cold, wet, and hungry! All of that can be fixed if you get up and go!”

Who are you?

“That’s not important right now. You need to go or your sister will be dead by morning.”

Will you leave me alone if I get up?

“Yes! Just get up! I have faith in you!”

Okay then.

I was standing, and the voice was gone. But I now had a surge of new energy, compelling me forward. As I started walking I realized Shadow was on my left, keeping me stable with his red magic. I smiled and nodded towards him, he gave a rare smile and nodded back.

Just as the voice had predicted Celestia Laboratories was only a few miles away, when we reached the perimeter fence it was once again nighttime. And raining. The place was huge, from what I could see it was at least five stories high and made of white concrete and steel with windows evenly dispersed at every level.

A massive sign above the front door showed a minimalistic image of Princess Celestia holding a steaming beaker and the words ‘Celestia Laboratories: We do what we must because we can.’ In faded black letters.

The giant gateway into the complex was locked down, but luckily someone or something had ripped a huge hole into the fence little ways to the right of the gate. As we walked towards it I hoped that whatever made the hole was long gone. Shadow must have noticed my apprehension and said,

“See the way the metal bends outwards and away from the building? That means whatever ripped up the fence was on his way out.”

“Yeah, alright. Let’s just get inside.”

“Sounds good to me. When we do you’ll be taking a rest while I dry off and find the medical supplies we need.”

I nodded in reply as we opened the grand doors of Celestia Laboratories and walked inside. Once I entered the main hall I promptly passed out.

When I came to I was dry and laying on a camping cot with a plate of food and a water bottle to my left. We were still in the main entryway, So Shadow must have found a stash of emergency supplies. To my right lay Ashaa in her cot, a fresh bandage on her chest and a blanket that covered everything but her head and chest. I looked down to realize I too had a blanket, soft and warm. As I sat up Shadow walked up behind me.

“Finally, you’re awake. We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Just about everything useful has been taken by scavengers. If we want to get your sister medical attention we need to search the lower floors, which go for miles. I’ve located where a medical centre should be, about three floors down.”

“Has Ashaa regained consciousness?” Shadow shook his head.

“Not yet. But I found a gurney we can carry her on while we search.”

“Good, let’s get going then,” I said as I got off the cot. If this place had what we needed, we would find it.

Footnote:

New perk unlocked! Trauma Queen: You just went through a massive ordeal, you now have 20% better aim during shootouts.

Quest Progress, In a rich colt’s world: 3,075/10,000 caps Time limit: 28 days remaining.

Author's Note

Hello again! This might be the last chapter for a while since school has started back up again. Thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism please comment!

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.

Desperate Measures.

Shadow and I carefully moved Ashaa from the camping cot to the gurney and packed up everything that could be packed and headed deeper into the facility.

We appeared to be in the main atrium, a grand dome-like room with multiple broken skylights across the ceiling. While there were quite a few hallways connected to the atrium Shadow and I chose the biggest one on the far wall that had a sign that read Welcome to Celestia Laboratories, Scientists and volunteer test subjects only past this point.
Walking through the white double doors revealed an open elevator big enough to fit all three of us. Shadow went in first to ensure its safety, after a few experimental jumps to make sure the floor wouldn’t fall out from under us he nodded and helped me cart the still unconscious Ashaa inside.

The elevator had only one button with an arrow pointing down. I pushed it and the door closed with a small squealing noise. And then it travelled down, shuddering occasionally. Shadow drew his revolver in case of hostiles on the other end of the elevator while I held on to Ashaa to keep her from falling off the gurney.

When the door finally reopened it revealed a room almost five times the size of the atrium above. It appeared to be a meeting room or a cafeteria. The walls were covered in inspirational quotes, job rosters, and bring your foal to work day posters. The back wall was dominated by a massive screen flanked by two large speakers with multiple doorways below it. The ceiling had a faux sky, like what you might find in stables. Though this one constantly flickered, the magic that made it work was running thin.

Before we could walk too far into the giant room the screen on the far wall came to life with an enormous hiss of static through the speakers. When the static cleared away it revealed a robotic version of pictures of Princess Celestia I had seen. It was painted in white with a picture of the sun made of gears where the cutie mark would have been. It had one big eye in the middle of its face and appeared to be attached to the ceiling of the room it was in. The robot gave off a sinister aura even though it was in another room. When it spoke, its mouth didn’t move. The only hint of emotion came from that red eye.

Hello and welcome to Celestia Laboratories. My name is C3leS-TiA or Tia for short. I haven’t had visitors for quite some time, what brings you three here?

Shadow came to his senses first, stepping forward.

“Our friend requires medical attention and we hoped you could provide it.” Tia seemed to consider this for a moment before turning back towards us.

I do believe I can help you, but you have to assist me as well. If you two agree to be my test subjects for a while, I will get your friend to the medical centre. You see, science is quite boring with only one scientist.

“What kind of experiments do you have in mind?” I asked if she wanted to subject us to crazy chemicals or something like that we were out. Tia scoffed, how a robot did that I have no clue.

Oh, nothing too serious. I just want to run a few physical tests on the unicorn to determine how much has changed in pony physique over the last two hundred years. And I see that you are a hippogriff! I haven’t had the chance to examine one of your kind for quite a while. This will be quite interesting indeed.

I turned to Shadow, he had a look of concentration upon his features.

“What do you think? Is this a good idea?” He shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a good idea or not. It’s the only way to save Ashaa. desperate times call for desperate measures Blitz. Let’s just get this over with.”
“Alright,” I said, “we’ll do your tests.”

If Tia had a mouth, I’d bet it would be smiling evilly. A hidden door set in the left wall opened and two drones flew out towards Ashaa and carefully picked her up off the gurney and back through the door which closed behind them.

Your friend is off to the infirmary as we speak. Now, please remove all of your items and leave them here. If you were to have certain items that could aid you during the tests it would render my data unusable.

“Let’s put my stuff in your inventory, just in case,” Shadow whispered as he took off his hat, sunglasses, and duster on the ground. “Leave the clothes here so she doesn’t suspect foul play.”

Following his lead, I removed my combat jacket and gloves while discreetly stashing Shadow’s revolver and its ammunition in my Inventory. when I looked back towards Tia, all but one of the doors below her screen were closed.

Please walk into the detoxification room, you must be cleaned of radiation, disease, and any toxins before we begin testing.

And with no other choices, we trotted over to the door. Inside was a small room filled with several different nozzles, scanners, and various other cleaning apparatus. Shadow and I were scanned, rinsed, dried, given a couple of shots, and finally rinsed and dried again. The door in front of us was then opened and we were led by another small drone into a small gym-like area. Dotted around the place were treadmills, weights, and other exercise equipment. The large rectangular screen on the right wall flickered to life, once again showing Tia.

I do believe my scanners are broken, the readings showed that the unicorn had no heartbeat. Of course, this is impossible as you are still alive. Why don’t you two start on the treadmills so I can get a reading on your average speed? While you do that I’ll recheck that all the scanners are working correctly.

So we ran, jumped, climbed, and all sorts of exercise I thought I would never have to do after passing my PE class back on Mount Eris. The more Shadow did these with me, the more confused Tia became. All of her machines were telling her that he had no heartbeat and that even when running at a full-on gallop his breathing remained steady and his body heat never changed temperature.

I would like to say that it’s just faulty wiring, but not if ALL of my scanners say the same thing. How do you survive without a heartbeat Unicorn? You are still breathing, yet you don’t seem to require oxygen. You are quite an interesting specimen little unicorn.

I turned toward the pony I had come to trust over the last few days with a feeling of suspicion, what hasn’t he been telling me?

“What’s going on Shadow? Why don’t you have a heartbeat?” He grunted, shaking his head.

“I had a heart attack a few years ago, a slightly deranged medic in appleloosa brought me back to life with a little machinery and some magic. I don’t have a heartbeat because I don’t have a heart. It was replaced.”

Then why don’t my scanners pick up the machinery in your system?

“It’s all synthetic material, looks like a heart, just doesn’t work like one.” Tia seemed to take that as an answer, but I wasn’t satisfied with such a vague explanation. Later on, I would have to question him more thoroughly. He didn’t want the AI to know what he really was.

Well then, with that out of the way, let’s get to testing! You will be performing a series of dexterity courses that will allow me to see how prolonged exposure to limited radiation has altered your physique compared to pre-megaspell equines.

“Sounds like an excuse to make us dance for her amusement,” Shadow whispered. I nodded in response.

“Maybe so, but if she can help Ashaa I’ll dance all day if I have to,” I whispered back.

Two drones ushered us towards a door on the far side of the gym that opened into an elevator. One of the drones pushed a button on the pad and the elevator began its journey downwards.

When the door finally opened we had reached a massive white room, it seemed very sterile. In the centre was a large parkour course, above the start was a widescreen that showed a small cartoon pony jumping across the course with a big smile. Little bits of confetti rained down upon him when he reached the end.

Please attempt the obstacle course one at a time, and do not try to assist whoever is currently attempting the course in any physical, verbal, or magical manner. Also, flying is prohibited as that would not give me accurate data.

Though there was no screen to show her face, Tia must be watching us through the camera system about the room. I sighed and stepped forward, gauging how far I would have to jump to reach the first podium. I kept my wings close to my body as to not give Tia any reason to bind them. I leapt and made it easily onto the platform. I then made the mistake of looking down and found the floor was dangerously far below me, and covered in lava.

“The floor is made of fire! What the hell?! I thought you said we wouldn’t be put in danger?” I exclaimed at a nearby camera, extremely perturbed. What else could she be lying about?

Do not mind the floor, it is just an illusion to give test subjects some extra incentive to avoid failure. If you were to fall you would be caught by a medical drone. Tia said in a slightly condescending manner if a robot can be condescending. I completed the rest of the course with extreme caution and then waited for Shadow to finish as well.

He made it through almost twice as fast as I had, gracefully dancing across the small white platforms with Surprising speed and accuracy. This display of skill impressed both Tia and me.

My my, the unicorn is quite interesting. Full of surprises aren’t you?

Shadow let out an annoyed grunt, spacing out for a small second.

“You don’t even know the half of it.” He said, making me once again wonder what he wasn’t telling me. There was no time to question him now though, a neon green arrow on the floor lit up, pointing towards another elevator. Looks like we’re going even farther down.

” Don’t worry! We’re not going to let this imposter of our Princess stop us!”

There is was again! That voice in my head, obviously female, and it was now saying that Tia was an impostor. So it was probably a pony. Other than that I had no clue what it was or why it’s in my head!

“Hey! I’m not an it! I’m a pony!”

It-She, She could hear my thoughts as well?

” I can, yes. Right now you should focus more on what’s in front of you. We’ll talk later, I promise on my honour as a Wonderbolt!”

Shadow shook me from my thoughts, slightly annoyed.

“No time for spacing out kid, let’s get a move on. The faster we finish this the faster we can get the hell out of here and look for a fancy engine elsewhere.”

Now back to my senses, I glared at Shadow.

“We came for an engine and that’s what we’re leaving this place with. Ashaa won’t have been injured for nothing. Once Tia has had her fun we’ll ask for one. If that means more tests then so be it. I’m not backing down. I’ll tell you again that if you wish to leave I’ll hold no grudge.”

The black unicorn shook his head and sighed, beginning to trot towards the elevator.

“I swear you’ll be the death of me kid, let’s finish this sooner rather than later.”

And with a voice in my head and determination in my soul, I followed him.

Footnote:

New quest added! Survive the gauntlet: Make it through Tia’s demented tests with all your limbs and your life. Reward: 250 EXP.

Author's Note

Hey guys! I’ve decided that from now on all my chapters will be at least two thousand words long instead of fifteen hundred. This means that chapters will be coming out at a slightly slower pace, but you get more to read!

Anyways, I survived finals week and am ready to write once more! I hope y’all are enjoying this story and that you leave a comment and a like! It really helps new writers if you give a little love! Thank you for reading this far and have an absolutely wondrous day/night!

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn

The Gauntlet.

My PipBuck told me that we had been at this for three hours now, though it felt like days. Tia had a seemingly endless supply of obstacle courses, mind games, and logic puzzles. Every room was the exact same save for the challenge we were to complete.

Tia appeared to finally be getting bored of us as we struggled through her maze of tests. Until decided to put us in an actual maze.

Let’s try something new! One of you will remain at the start while the other attempts the maze. After five minutes have passed and every two minutes afterwards, a randomly selected section of wall will either be added or removed. Have fun and try not to become trapped inside. Remember, one subject may not offer verbal, physical, or magical assistance while the other is testing. Once one of you has reached the end, the maze will be reset and the second test subject may attempt the course.

“Damn it all, it had to be a fucking maze,” Shadow said irritability. He had dealt with the endless tests for hours now with more patience than I’ve ever seen from him, but this seemed to be the last straw for the irate unicorn.

“I’ll go first, you can take a break. Hopefully, she’ll get bored with us soon.“

“The second that sadistic bitch of a robot gives Ashaa back we’re blasting our way out of here.” He replied, sitting down by the entrance to the maze. “Go on then, I’ll stay here and twiddle my hooves for the foreseeable future.”

I waved my talon dismissively, quite sure that I would complete the labyrinth in less than an hour.

“Don’t worry Shadow, I’m pretty good at mazes. This won’t take long.” He laughed as I walked inside.

“Famous last words kid.”

*One hour later*

Another two minutes has passed, a wall has been removed.

“WHERE?! I HAVEN’T SEEN ONE FUCKING WALL MOVE IN A WHOLE HALF HOUR!” Shadow laughed and then continued to be obnoxiously silent. I was one more wrong turn away from snapping and busting out through the plexiglass ceiling of the enclosure and shoot out the screen that displayed Tia’s smug robotic face.

You’re almost there little hippogryph, just continue forward and you will be out in no time

She had been repeating that sentence for the last fifteen minutes, and it was getting old. I turned a corner and found an intersection, which way to go? I guess it didn’t really matter, all three paths were probably wrong. Just as I was about to pick a path the left doorway began to close as a wall rose out of the floor.

Another two minutes has passed, a wall has been added.

It wasn’t the sudden barrier that surprised me, but the words written upon it in what I could only assume was blood.

FREEDOM IS ONLY FOUND IN DEATH.

“Ooooh shit,” I said, realizing what this probably meant for Shadow and me.

“Oh shit indeed, hit another dead end?”

I couldn’t tell him what I was seeing with Tia watching. If she knew that the game was up, she’d kill us immediately.

“Yup, I guess I gotta go another way.”

Another hour and I had finally made it out of that hell-maze. Tia gave me access to the camera that overlooked the maze so I could watch his progress. He was doing way better than I had, he was taking his time and carefully choosing his path. It was still going to take him a while, so I decided that now was a good time to talk to the voice in my head.

Hey, you still here?

“Yes, I am, what do you need?”

I think Tia is planning to kill us once she’s done with all these tests.

“Probably, if the writing on that wall is anything to go by. Hold on, I’m going to try something. Don’t freak out, and don’t physically talk to me, we don’t want Tia to suspect anything. Okay?”

Okay, what are you gonna do?

“Just watch.”

Suddenly I couldn’t feel her presence, the voice was gone. Then it was back, this time in a more physical manner.

“Behind you Blitz, don’t react.”

I turned to find a strangely familiar cerulean Pegasus that was a few shades darker than my sister with a vibrant rainbow coloured mane. It took me a hot minute to remember where I had seen her before, but once I did, everything kinda clicked into place!

“Wait, you’re the little statuette I found at the radio tower!” The mare made a shushing motion with her wing, looking around anxiously.

“Quiet! Nopony else can see me, so it’ll look like you’re talking to yourself. Just watch the screen and don’t talk out loud.”

Oh, right. Sorry.

“It’s alright this is my first time doing something like this as well.” she replied as I returned my gaze to the screen displaying Shadow’s progress, which hadn’t increased much since the last time I checked. I just had to hope he would see the writing as well.

“So let’s start off with some introductions. My name is Rainbow Dash, the fastest Pegasus in Equestria and the head of the M.O.A!”

What’s the M.O.A? And how did you end up in a statuette?
“That’s a very long story that even I don’t know the whole of it. Right now we gotta figure out how to get the hell out of here without dying.”

For the next hour Dash and I brainstormed while Shadow made his way through the maze. By the time he made it out we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do, the biggest problem was how to convey that information to Shadow.

“You were right Blitz, that is one tough maze. So many blank, empty walls.”
I nodded knowingly, he had seen the writing as well.

“Yeah, almost thought I would die before I would be free of that maze.”

Step one of our plan was complete now that Shadow and I were on the same page, now we just had to find a way to tell him steps two through ten without alerting Tia.

Another couple of hours passed as our tormentor got more creative with her tests. Soon we were dodging pitfall traps and avoiding tripwires that activated who knows what. Tia appeared to be more intent on killing us than running tests and got sloppier at hiding it the further we progressed.

Finally, she gave up and decided to take a break. Giving us time to rest and have some food and water. We had been placed in a relatively small room compared to other parts of the facility. It contained nothing but three small beds on the far end, a table in the centre with three plates of bland looking food and three glasses of water on its surface. The walls were an almost blinding white, which settled into a tolerable brightness as my eyes adjusted.

A panel in the wall to my left opened, allowing another one of Tia’s screens to replace it.

Your hippogryph friend has made quite the recovery and will be joining you two shortly. You may remain here and recuperate for the time being while I prepare one final test for the three of you. Afterwards, you will be free to go.

A hidden door below the massive screen opened and two familiar drones escorted Ashaa into our room. The second she spotted me, her whole face lit up as she raced across the remaining distance between us and gave me one of her spine-shattering hugs.

“Ohmygoshyou’restillalivei’msogladtoseebothofyou!”

Shadow chuckled slightly, allowing the smallest of grins to appear on his face.

“Yeah, missed you too. Just never get shot again, I’m not going to carry you for almost two days straight a second time.”

Ashaa returned the chuckle as she hugged the irate unicorn as well.

“Thank you Shadow, I’ll do my best!”

She then took a look around the room, apparently quite confused.

“By the way, where are we?”

Shadow and I explained our situation while we ate the bland, blocky food set out on the table. It tasted like someone had tried to cook a wagon wheel in valve oil, but it filled our stomachs. We obviously left out a few important things in our explanation due to the fact that there was a camera in each corner of the room. But unlike with Shadow, I had an idea on how to tell her what was really going on without making Tia suspicious.

“O cho soilleir sa tha e an-diugh!”

“Oh how bright it is today!” I said in gryphik, an old language that both Gryphons and Hippogryphs used to speak before converting to ponish about five to six hundred years ago. After the megaspells hit Queen Novo decided that regaining a piece of our heritage would boost morale among her people, so she had schools begin to teach gryphik as a second language.

Due to how old it was I doubted that Tia could understand me, but I was still cautious.

“Tha an seòmar seo soilleir gu dearbh, dè a th ’ann?”

” This room is bright indeed, what of it?” Ashaa replied, concerned. I waited a few seconds to see if Tia would respond, but she was either preoccupied or didn’t understand as the speakers embedded in her screen made no noise.

“ Tha mi a ’creidsinn gu bheil ar beatha ann an cunnart, bi faiceallach agus na bi earbsa san inneal-fuadain.”

”I believe our lives are in danger, be careful and don’t trust the robot.”

Ashaa nodded casually as if we were discussing the weather.

“ ciamar a tha fios agad gu cinnteach? a bheil fios aig sgàil mu dheidhinn seo uile?”

“ how do you know for sure? Does Shadow know about all this?”

We both glanced towards him to find Shadow listening intently to our conversation, when he noticed that we had turned to him, he hopped off his chair and walked over to us.

“ Tha, tha fios agam air a h-uile càil a tha a ’tachairt, chunnaic sinn sgrìobhadh sgrìobhte ann am fuil.” He said in perfect gryphik, surprising both of us.

“ Yes, I know everything that is happening, we saw writing written in blood.”

“How do you know our language?” I asked in ponish. Shadow only shrugged, shaking his head.

“I’m a lot older than I look. By the way, using Gryphik was a good idea, but we should speak it sparingly. If we give Tia enough words she’ll be able to translate it.”

Ashaa and I nodded in agreement. We now had an advantage over Tia, and it would be quite stupid to waste it.

You now have one hour of rest time remaining, I suggest you use it wisely.

All three of us used that hour to sleep, but we took shifts staying awake. That way Tia couldn’t get the jump on us. Each shift was only supposed to last twenty minutes, but Shadow took the first watch and woke me up forty-five minutes later instead. And even though I told him to sleep, I could tell he was faking. This whole time he hadn’t slept a wink in our presence. And probably when we weren’t watching him either.

First Shadow randomly shows up to help me kill that witch, then he has no heartbeat, and now he never sleeps. Not to mention all the other crazy shit he'd done, like killing those vampires.

Once again, I had to remind myself that this issue would have to wait until we got out of here.

Your resting period has expired, please exit the chamber and complete your final test.

Tia's sudden exclamation woke Ashaa from her sleep and me from my thoughts, as a white panel opened into a testing room triple the size of any other part of the building we had seen so far.

Our final test was a serious gauntlet. It looked like every parkour course, logic puzzle, and mind game thrust together into one massive deathtrap.

This was going to be so. much. fun.

Footnote:

New perk Unlocked! Lab Rat: You've been a test subject for quite some time now! You now take 15% less damage from hazardous chemicals.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, but it's out now!

(yay!)

I hope as always that ya'll are enjoying this story and that you continue to enjoy it as I pump out more chapters. A big thank you to Kkat for inspiring me and to all of you for your support!

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.

Well that escalated quickly...

In case you were wondering, my previous statement had been sarcastic. There was absolutely nothing fun about any of this. Especially with Ashaa, who still didn’t have her sense of balance back.

The first part of the massive challenge was a parkour course unlike any I had seen before and was extremely complicated. The beginning was a little easier than the rest, consisting of six platforms of varying size and distance. The top of each platform ended in a ball shape, making it harder to get a grip once you've landed.

Ashaa just barely made it through, having almost slipped off the last one. After that, we devised a plan. Shadow would go first, using his insane parkour skills to complete the next challenge quickly while also checking for traps. Once he deemed it safe, Ashaa and I would go together. This strategy worked quite well on the next obstacle, we had to jump from one raised platform to the next while avoiding the multitude of white-hot metal bars that hung in the air and stuck out of the ground.

Shadow was able to activate and avoid all the traps Tia had laid among the heated rods, allowing us to pass through unharmed. We continued this process until about halfway through, at that point the deranged AI had had enough. She appeared upon her screen with a robotic glare.

In my two hundred and thirty-seven years of existence, I have found that the best solution to a problem is usually the easiest, and killing you three is hard. You've entertained me long enough, so you are free to leave.

A pathway rose from below us towards an opening in the far wall that contained another elevator. Though Tia had said she had given up and was letting us go, I sensed a trap.

"Be careful, this could still be dangerous."

I have had quite enough of you three. Please leave.

"I guess we better leave then," Ashaa said while shaking her head. "Shadow's right, this isn't worth our lives." She was the first to head onto the bridge towards the exit, I reluctantly followed suit with our unicorn comrade close behind. As we carefully crossed I kept my gaze on Tia, just to make sure that we were being given free passage.

And of course, I had to be right about this. Once we had made it about three-quarters of the way across Tia's voice reverberated through the massive room.

On second thought, it might be easier to kill you than I had previously thought.

The bridge was suddenly gone and we were plummeting to our deaths. Ashaa tried to fly out of the pit as I dived to catch Shadow. Just before she was able to reach the door Tia spoke again.

Oh I don't think so little hippogryph.

A long blade swung out of the wall and instantly sliced off her wings in a spray of blood and feathers. I didn't have time to react as a similar blade came at me. Before it could hit, I heard Rainbow Dash screaming for me to duck. Doing so got me out of the way, but farther from Shadow and Ashaa. Though I wanted to save both of them, In a split-second decision, I towards my sister as she fell screaming in pain and fear.

I couldn't see the floor through the darkness, I knew we'd hit it eventually. As I struggled to reach Ashaa a new voice spoke out from the oncoming void.

NOT THIS TIME TIA!

Just as the three of us were about to hit the darkness I was caught by something soft and strong. Looking about, Ashaa and Shadow had been caught as well. Though by what, I couldn't tell. We all seemed to be floating in the air.

You are safe for the time being. I will take care of your sister as she appears to be going into shock from blood loss. The two of you can wait in this room here while I attend to her. I'll send you some real food.

This new voice was obviously another A.I, but it sounded more lifelike and compassionate. I didn't quite trust it yet, but it could have just let us drop. So either the robot was helping us out of the kindness in its metal heart, or it wanted something from us.

For now, however, I was content with letting it carry Shadow and me into the first room I had seen that I could call small in the facility. It was lightly furnished with a single lightbulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling and a small bed made of paper waste. at the far end was a small round table and a wooden door. A closer inspection revealed that the door was covered in writing much like what I had found in the maze. Whoever had written it had probably survived Tia and made his/her way down here.

Even though I had rested not an hour before I was suddenly hit with exhaustion. I walked over to the makeshift bed and promptly passed out.

I awoke sometime later to find a huge plate of actual food right in front of my beak! I quickly sat up and began eating. In between bites, I noticed that Shadow’s plate was already empty. I really hoped he was the one who had eaten it, as he had been looking a little worse for wear since we had arrived at Celestia Laboratories.

I finished off most of the food and stuffed the rest in my inventory, while I was in there, I grabbed Shadow’s belongings and tossed them over to him. He picked up his revolver with a slightly psychotic grin, “It’s on now you robotic fuck.” He said as he strapped on the holster and placed the gun inside. “We should get moving, Luna wants to see us.”

“Who?”

Shadow shrugged, “No clue. She sent a drone down with a message telling us that Ashaa has a recovering well, and that if we come to meet her she’ll explain everything.”

I stood up and nodded as I strapped my carbine to my back. If we could figure out what happened here, maybe we could fix it.

“Alright then, where to?”

“Through that door and to the left is what the message said. Just keep an eye out for traps and the like, I still don’t trust this Luna character.”

“Me neither, but what choice have we got at the moment?”

“None.”

The door opened into a series of ventilation shafts, we turned left at the first intersection and found ourselves in a large control room. The walls were covered in screens, dials, and monitors. Instead of coming from the ceiling all the lights were embedded into the floor. This was because attached to the ceiling was another robot.

It was smaller than Tia, made of a shiny blue metal dulled by age. It had an ornate moon made of wires as its cutie mark. The most striking features were her two Crystal blue eyes, and the fact that she had a mouth that was smiling at us.

Greetings, my name is LuN-A/45, but you can just call me Luna. I bet you have many questions, I will answer them to the best of my ability.

“Oh hell yeah, we’ve got questions, like why metal-gear Sunbutt up there tried to kill us!” Shadow angrily replied, his furious gaze barely hidden by the new pair of red aviators he’d put in my Inventory.

Luna nodded, a slight grimace on her metallic features.

Tis quite the tale, but we have time. Though this place was once called Celestia Laboratories, I was its main focus. The scientists here were working on creating artificial intelligence capable of initiating megaspell strikes without the need for ponies.

Basically, if all personnel with the clearance to fire a megaspell were incapacitated, I would still be able to fire a counterattack.

Of course, the liability was that I could be hacked, giving the zebras complete access to all our W.M.Ds, so they built Tia as a security measure. If there was any indication that my programming was compromised, Tia would come online to take control and I would immediately be sent here to be cleansed of zebra corruption.

Luna paused to give us time to digest everything she had just thrown at us. Almost immediately a question came to mind.

“You don’t look or sound corrupted in any way, so why are you down here?

Chuckling in a humourless manner, Luna continued her story.

Unfortunately, when the fallout occurred, the radiation infected Tia. This destroyed her empathy and morality modules, turning our safeguard into our downfall. She hacked into the mainframe and created a false virus, putting me out of commission and her in complete control of the entire facility.

Luckily once I was sent here Tia couldn’t do any damage to me, so I was left to my own devices, slowly regaining power.

Shadow was the first to speak, still suspicious of our new possible ally.

“Why did you save us? What reason did you have to risk getting caught by Tia? If want us to do some absurd task it’s not happening, I’m done being a fucking pawn.”

Luna nodded reluctantly.
Yes, I did risk a lot by saving you three, but I think this will pay off for all of us. I was hoping you two could disable Tia manually, thus giving me control of the facility. With that power, I could give you anything nonessential to my own survival, which with me being a technically immortal artificial intelligent being, is most everything in the building.

I realized this was the perfect time to ask if she had anything like the engine Scruffy required. I hastily pulled the schematics from my Inventory and held them up for Luna to see.

“Do you have anything like this?” I asked, keeping any hint of desperation from my voice. The massive robot leaned in close, a smile slowly growing on her mechanical face as she continued to study the paper.

Oh yes, I knew that this work out for the both of us! I do indeed know where an engine like that is located, though it contains a far more powerful electrical output than the one in your paper. That is usually considered a good thing, by the way.

“Where? And what would we have to do to get it?” Shadow pressed. Like me, he knew there was a catch.

That is why I said this would benefit both parties, the energy source you are looking for is Tia’s power core. Once you remove it Tia will go offline, allowing me to free you from this prison of failed science. If I ever want to restore her, I’ll have to technology to build a new one

“We’re going off to discuss your deal, we’ll be back presently,” I said, dragging Shadow out of the room. As Luna nodded in understanding.

“I think this another one of those ‘no other choice’ situations. If we don’t do her little quest we’ll probably be wandering around this shit-hole of a complex forever!”

I tried to think of any other way, but there was none. Grimacing, I nodded.

“Yeah, kind of a damned if we do, really fucking damned if we don’t.”

The decision was made, there and then. To accept Luna’s deal and take out Tia. The two of us walked back into the control room with determination. Luna turned back from the screen she was watching to hear our answer.

“If you will give us a free passage from this facility, as well as Tia’s power core, we will help you regain control of Celestia Laboratories.”

Luna nodded her head and smiled.

It’s a deal. Let’s get you out of here.

The next few hours were spent discussing different ways to enter the main control room without attracting Tia’s attention. One of the main issues was that if she found out we were still alive a DASH-E unit would probably be sent after us. A Direct, Assault, Sentry, Honourguard,-Eradicator class was a Mobile, pony-sized sentry designed to replace soldiers on the battlefield. They were recalled due to the fact that they only obeyed Celestia Laboratories.

Now Tia used them as her assassins.

Only now did I realize that I had forgotten all about Ashaa.

Footnote:

New quest unlocked! Down with the tyrant: Eliminate Tia. Time limit: None.

Author's Note

I finally found the will to write! Hope y’all enjoy this chapter!

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.

Hunted.

The ventilation system Shadow and I had used to reach Luna stretched on for miles all around the facility, and it was what we were crawling through at the moment.

Luna had given us a map and some tools needed to remove Tia’s power core, as well as food and water.

I once again thanked Queen Novo that I wasn’t claustrophobic, otherwise, this ordeal would have been a nightmare. The vent we were currently travelling in was only about three meters wide by three meters tall and had a slight upward tilt, making us slip and slide occasionally.

Neither of us spoke, as retaining our grip on the slick floor took all of our concentration.

Eventually, the path evened out as it came to an intersection. We took a break to rest and eat, checking the map as well. Though it was hard to read, I could say with reasonable certainty that we were about halfway. From here we’d take a right and up a ladder, putting us on the same level as Tia. After that would come the hard part. To get to the next section we will have to pass through a small workshop covered in cameras.

The back of the map showed where all the cameras were, and how to avoid them, but I was still worried. Not just for me, but Ashaa. Once again I had failed to protect her. And this time she’d never fly again. I was a terrible brother, not even capable of keeping her safe.

As I sullenly ate a piece of slightly stale bread, Rainbow Dash materialized and put a comforting hoof on my shoulder. I couldn’t feel it, but I knew she was there.

"Don't beat yourself up too much Blitz, you're both still alive, and that's what matters."

What matters is that my sister stays safe, something I obviously can't do.

"As long as you do your best, then you have nothing to be ashamed of!"

I don't think you understand.

"Alright, we've been here long enough. Let's get going." Shadow said, interrupting my mental conversation. I nodded and stood up, picking up the remains of my meal. Just as the map described, we found a ladder. Going up it revealed a new part of the facility that we'd never been to before:

The sweatshop.

That's what the map called it, the only difference between this place and an actual sweatshop was the lack of living beings working to death. Unlike the rest of the lab, sanitary measures appeared to have been thrown out the figurative window, as no real ones could be seen. The steel walls were covered in grime, untouched by cleaning appliances since before the fallout. Instead of a clean blue colour, the lights were a sickly dark yellow, making distorted shadows out of the surrounding machinery. The only clean things in here were the lenses of the security cameras, which had cute little window wipers attached to them. The rest of the device was left to rust, however.

"Okay, once we get through here, we're golden," I said softly. Luna had told us that the cameras couldn't pick up audio, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Together Shadow and I picked our way through the mighty machines as they made products for long-dead ponies. I could see prosthetic limbs, power tools, and weapons of varying calibre being produced. I nabbed a small pistol that had fallen off its conveyor belt and stuffed it in my Inventory after checking it for ammo, you never know when something like that could be useful.

As usual, something went wrong about three-quarters of the way in. We followed the map religiously until we ran into a massive pit of some kind of unsavoury glowing liquid. A single frail-looking bridge that lacked railings was the only way across its expanse.

A cursory glance into the room showed no signs of any surveillance cameras, so Shadow went out first. The metal bridge creaked ominously as he crossed over to the vault style door on the other end. After opening the door and taking a quick check to make sure it was safe Shadow motioned for me to cross.

I debated just flying across, but remembered the blades that had come out of the walls when Ashaa tried to escape and thought better of it. Besides, Shadow was a little heavier than me, so in theory, the rickety bridge should hold my weight. I took a tentative step onto it without any trouble, so I took another. Though it creaked, I doubted it would collapse. I began to walk a little faster, still cautious.

Unfortunately, when I was about ten meters away from the door, one of Tia’s little worker drones flew through a small hatch in the wall. I didn’t have the time to get to the door before it spotted me, so in a split second decision I pulled out my recently acquired pistol and shot it twice, once in its main propeller, and once in its camera. It fell into the vat of green goo with a wet ploop! as it quickly dissolved. The sharp crack! sound of my gun ricocheted around the room and up into the darkness above us. We just had to hope Tia would think the drone just broke, but with my luck, she already knew we were here.

“We gotta go, kid, if Tia decides to check that out we better be long gone,” Shadow said as he grabbed my shoulder with his magic. I let him pull me through the vault door before I came to my senses and nodded and started walking by myself.

We were back into the sterile blue and white rooms I had gotten used to. From what I remembered of the map we needed to hop into the next vent we saw, which happened to be a little crawl space. I wasn’t claustrophobic, but such a confined space would make just about anyone uncomfortable. Shadow unbolted the vent cover and I took the lead, letting him reattach the cover behind us.

For a small eternity, we crawled through the dust and cobwebs, the space too small to even take a deep breath. Just when I was about to say we should go back, I saw an exit around the corner. I crawled as fast as possible towards it, not caring what was on the other side as long as there was room to breathe.

Thankfully my good luck hadn’t yet run out today, I found myself in a massive intersection with at least twenty different tunnels of varying size. Some were more crawl spaces while others were large enough to fit a small tank. I had to sit down for a second to take a few deep breaths. Then, taking note of what vent we had exited, I took out the map and figured out where we were and which path to take next.

While I did this, Shadow paced across the large room while taking out his revolver and a few tools and began cleaning it.

Clink!

Out of nowhere, a sound came from a tunnel to my left. Shadow and I immediately snapped our heads towards the entrance.

Clink!

There it was again! I couldn’t tell yet what the noise was, probably just an old pipe or something. Though I couldn’t be sure.

clink!

This time the sound was farther away, moving down the tunnel. Then it stopped, and the sound came back towards us. The low hiss of radio static could now be heard coming from that direction as well.

Shadow stopped pacing and put away his newly serviced handgun with a grimace.

“We need to go.” he said quietly, “Which path do we take?”

I quickly checked the map and pointed towards the shaft directly across from the static tunnel. Shadow nodded and took the lead. I picked up my stuff and silently followed him.

As we travelled, the constant hiss of static would occasionally grow louder and softer. Whatever it was, it was following us.

Several hours later, the sound had continued to grow, and we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Since backtracking wasn't an option, we plotted out a path that would put us back on course. Our first attempt backfired as a vent had collapsed, thus forcing us to take an even longer route.

Soon the static was accompanied by the sharp sound of metallic hooves as the clinking noise returned and became more frequent. We were almost back on course, our second try seemed to be going well, no damaged vents or other hazards. But the fear of whatever was behind us slowly grew, until I found myself almost hyperventilating. I mentally paused and calmed down, as long as it didn’t catch up with us we were fine. I nodded to myself and caught up to Shadow, realizing I had been lagging behind.

Just as we reached the path that led to Tia, one final obstacle appeared. A section of the ventilation shaft had fallen out onto the ground far below. It looked like a work crew had started repairing it before the bombs fell, there was a lot of scaffolding along the walls as well as tools, building supplies, and a few discarded lunchboxes. While it would be difficult, I knew we could traverse the gap. Shadow glanced back to make sure I was ready and began elegantly jumping from one platform to the next, avoiding any that looked unstable. I followed close behind.

The scaffolding creaked ominously as we crossed, but held firm, soon enough I was standing on the other side. Just as I began walking towards Shadow I heard something clatter behind me, at first I dismissed it as a tool or something that had fallen off a platform. Until a bullet whizzed past my head, hitting the wall next to me with a loud Crack!

Shadow and I both quickly turned around to find a disturbing sight on the other side of the chasm.

It was vaguely equine in appearance, with a metallic white coat that was dented and scratched. Its eyes were a vibrant neon red that glowed softly in the darkness. It had a tarnished synthetic rainbow coloured mane and tail that was torn out and ripped in places. One of the thing’s ears was broken off, emitting the loud static sound we had been hearing. It narrowed its eyes and though it had no mouth, it spoke from a small speaker in its chest.

"Gotcha." Was all it said in a robotic female voice, before two large guns emerged from its back with a loud Click! and opened fire.

I immediately ducked as bullets flew over me. Shadow had enough sense to start shooting back, though his overpowered revolver barely dented its coat. After a few seconds of blindly shooting over our heads, the machine took a second to recalibrate, crouching down to our level to get a better angle on us.

"Hello friend."

We both jumped up and ran down the tunnel as it fired another volley. Thankfully there was a turn close by. The second we were out of sight the shooting stopped.

"Is anyone there?" The machine said. I could hear it beginning to follow us, its metal hooves making a strange clanging sound on the scaffolding behind us. I ran as fast as possible down the cramped hallway, the mechanical monster close behind.

Finally, we entered a large lab of some sorts. the tables were covered in scientific equipment, blueprints, and a few discarded prototypes of the thing following us. Shadow ran off towards a small shooting range in the left corner of the room, taking cover behind a blast shield. Almost as soon as I joined him we heard what I suspected was a DASH-E unit enter the room.

"Are you still there?" I was getting pretty unnerved by the way it was talking to us as if it was playtime.

"Get out that big gun of yours, see if that works on it," Shadow whispered, "I'll distract it while you take the shot."

He then proceeded to jump over the barrier and began shooting at it with a yell.

"I see you." The robot replied, returning the fire. I knew Shadow couldn't keep that up forever, so I pulled out Ifrinn as fast as possible and loaded it with some armour piercing rounds. The DASH-E stood still as it fired, and was close by, so I was pretty confident I could make the shot.

Using the canted iron sights instead of the scope I carefully aimed, and fired right above its head. thankfully it was too occupied with Shadow to notice me so I aimed again, even more carefully this time, and shot it in the eye. It stopped shooting and began to twitch violently.

"No hard feelings." Were its last words before collapsing onto the ground, the static sound now gone. I put away my gun and walked over to where I had last seen Shadow. He stood up from behind a worktable and holstered his weapon. I noticed that he was bleeding profusely from his right foreleg.

"You alright? I still have a couple of Ashaa's potions." I said, worried. Shadow shrugged, grabbing a roll of paper towels from a nearby table and wrapping it around the wound.

"I'll be fine, where to next? we have to be close by now." I nodded and pulled out the map, glancing back at him occasionally to make sure he wasn't going to pass out on me. When I saw where we were I gasped, both relieved and nervous.

"We're quite close, actually, just through that door and down some stairs." Shadow hopped off his perch on the table and began walking towards the door without even a hint of a limp. Either he'd taken some combat drugs, or had a really high pain tolerance. Either way, it was time to face Tia.

Footnote:

Quest progress: In a rich colt's world: 3,075/10,000 caps Time limit: 27 days remaining.
Quest completed! Survive the Gauntlet: Reward 250 EXP!
Level Up! +25 to health, +15 to combat knowledge.

Author's Note

Hello again! I hope ya'll are having fun with all my portal references. Again thank you to all of you who support me and this story.

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.

Showdown.

It was time to face Tia, and I was extremely nervous about it. As the door to her evil lair drew closer my mind came up with an endless amount of horrors that could be behind those two metal doors. Just as I started hyperventilating Shadow gave me a nudge, giving me a rare smile.

"We're almost done kid, you can have a breakdown afterwards."

"Right, let's give this bitch a what for!"

Once at the doors, Shadow stepped forward and cautiously opened one slightly. When nothing bad happened He pried it the rest of the way open and slipped through, I followed close behind.

The room we entered would have taken my breath away if I hadn't clamped my beak shut in time. The immense circular room was the largest yet, about two and a half kilometres tall with a diameter of at least one. Just like Luna's control room, there was a massive screen on the far wall that was divided into hundreds of smaller screens, each showing a different part of the facility. To the left was a hangar filled with dozens of DASH-E drones, more than the two of us could handle on our best days. If we wanted to win this, those drones would have to be our first priority.

In the centre, hanging from the ceiling was Tia in all her glory. Luckily for us, she was staring intently at the mess of screens in front of her and not in our direction. She seemed to be attached to a rail system, allowing her to travel across the room. Just from seeing her through the screens in the testing chambers, I had known that she was big, but Tia was a huge piece of technology. While the part you could see on camera was covered in shiny polished metal the rest of her was laid open. Revealing gears, tubing, pistons, and a mess of wires. Directly below her was a smaller control panel meant for a pony to operate. Even though we were quite a distance away, I could see our objective nestled in the centre of the panel.

Tia's power core.

I really wanted to just fly over and grab it, but I knew that the A.I was faster. The best way to go about this was to take out any weapons at her disposal and make sure Tia couldn't hide or lock away the core.

"Alright Blitz, let's go back outside and make the call," Shadow whispered, putting a hoof on my shoulder. I nodded and turned around, back through the double doors and into the hallway. I then pulled out a small circular object about the size of my talon from my Inventory. Pressing the large blue button in the centre of it caused the device to vibrate and glow a soft purple colour. When the vibrating stopped, Luna's voice began emanating from it.

Good job! Only one other mare has gotten this far! I wonder how that Chel girl is doing these days... No matter! What did you see inside?

"A shit ton of DASH-E's and what looks like a bunch of gas tanks," Shadow responded. "Unless you can take care of at least the hazardous gas we don't stand a chance."

Gas tanks? I didn't see any, so how did Shadow notice them?

Luna paused as if thinking.

Tia's chamber is a massive enclosure, if Tia activates the chlorine gas it would take at least fifteen minutes for you to feel its effects. I've already started working on both threats, but for me to fully shut them off I need Tia distracted. If she notices what I'm doing she can lock me out of the system, which would take me about half an hour to bypass.

"What about the core?" I asked, hopefully, she'd been working on that while we'd been travelling through the vents.

The core's lockdown protocol has been deactivated, but if Tia decides to check that it will only take her a maximum of five minutes to override my coding. So essentially for this to work you two need to keep her distracted long enough for me to fully shut off her defences. You will then have about five minutes to remove her power core.

"Well, that doesn't sound too hard," I said.

"We only get one shot though," Shadow replied. "This has to be done with precision and speed."

I have faith that the two of you will be able to do this. Statistically, you have a seventy-eight point fifty-six per cent chance of victory while keeping at least two of your limbs intact.

"Wait! Only two?!"

No time to worry about things easily replaced! Get going! The small speaker then went silent.

"Alright," Shadow said, breaking the small moment of silence. "Let's finish this, grab your sister again, and get the hell out of here."

"Sounds like a plan."

After putting away the speaker we carefully reentered Tia's lair. She hadn't moved from her position in front of the screens and was watching them intently, looking for something.

Hmm, quite strange indeed. I've been getting heat signatures all over the facility, but no trace of life on the cameras. What do you think Sp1ykE?

Suddenly a new voice came over the speakers, It was male, and sounded quite bored.

I don't know Ma'am. If you think there's a trespasser I could send out a few DASH-E units on reconnaissance. It's not like we don't have all the time in the world to carefully search the whole place.

Good idea, put twenty out to search for intruders, then put ten on standby just in case. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen.

I wouldn't put too much thought into it, Ma'am, Sp1ykE replied nonchalantly. As if reassuring a child scared of the monster under their bed. If there is someone in here the DASH-E's will take care of them. You should worry about that new project of yours, it's pretty time-sensitive.

Tia nodded and closed about half the camera screens to open a control panel. I couldn't quite tell what all the words were but all the biohazard signs along the top of the panel told me that whatever Tia was working on, It wasn't good.

As she worked away, the twenty drones that had been turned online flew mechanically out of their hangar like a large swarm of bees. The loud hum of their engines could be heard all across the chamber. We waited for a good ten minutes for those DASH-E's to be gone, and then we made our move.

I pulled out my carbine and began shooting at Tia while Shadow made a run for the hangar in an attempt to disable the remaining drones. The second the first shot made a sharp ping! noise on Tia's exoskeleton she whipped around, her narrowed eye a vibrant red.

Who's there!? Oh, it's you. I retract my previous statement, you are quite hard to kill. This time I shall do a more thorough job.

"You can try, but we have some extra help this time," I said, a smug grin on my beak.

Is that so? Then where is your sister? I do hope she survived that hasty amputation.

"My sister is just fine! you should be more worried about yourself!"

Tia chuckled a little at that, turning to face me completely.

Well if you insist. By the way, where did your little unicorn friend go? I thought I saw him crawling around a second ago.

Right on time, a large BOOM sound echoed throughout the chamber as smoke began to rise out of one DASH-E hangar, robotic limbs and debris flying out of the entrance. When the dust settled Shadow stood right at the end of the platform, a smug grin on his face.

"You know what they say, any machine can be a smoke machine if you abuse it enough."

I laughed as Tia let out a shout of rage, her eye turning an even more vibrant shade of red.

I hope you can disable the second hanger in the two-point thirty-six seconds it will take me to activate it.

Instead of running towards the other hangar Shadow jumped down from the first one and trotted over to me, pulling out his revolver as he did so. I hastily reloaded Ifrinn and took out Ashaa's last healing potion, just in case.

I'm afraid that only four DASH-E units are available Ma'am Sp1ykE said over the speakers, sounding a little less bored now.

What!? How? The DASH-Es can only be deactivated manually.

The system is telling me that they are being manually turned off by an outside source, coming from the maintenance section E56. Activating the remaining four units now.

Damn, It's Luna again. We'll take care of her after I kill the two of you. Spy1kE, start hacking into Luna's control room and shut her down.

Yes Ma'am.

As the two of them talked the four drones flew out of the remaining hangar towards us. They looked like a newer version of the robot we had faced earlier, sharper and more sinister.

"Gotcha"

They said in unison as they landed in front of us with a sharp clack!, guns drawn. With no cover to speak of we dived in different directions as they opened fire, throwing a spray of bullets over our heads. I managed to find a stack of old shipping containers to hide behind, but Shadow had no such luck and instead had to continue dodging the bullets as the four drones fired another volley. Since they had lost interest in me I put my rifle on top of a box and took aim, deciding that going for the midsection would probably do the most damage I shot at the one closest to me and cleaved its chest off, as sparks and metal flew everywhere it managed to get one last creepy sentence out.

"I don't hate you."

The DASH-E next to it turned to face its downed friend as it reloaded.

"I never liked her."

Once it had finished reloading it caught sight of me. I quickly ducked as bullets ripped through the flimsy crates surrounding me. As my shelter was violently removed I saw what was inside the crate beside me. A case of large brightly coloured canisters labelled Caution, flammable.

I grabbed one and tossed it at the drone. Sure enough, it took the bait.

"Hello friend." It said as it shot the canister, causing a small explosion that tore off its underbelly and legs.

"Whyyyyyy." was all it said before fizzing out and catching fire.

Meanwhile, Shadow had managed to shoot one of the drone's eyes out, but that seemed to have not done much damage. I hefted Ifrinn back on to the shredded crate and fired, missing horribly. Instead of wasting ammo on a weapon I could barely use I set it down and took a couple more canisters and rolled them towards the two robots. One caught sight of the incoming explosives and opened fire, saying, "I see you." As it did so.

This ended predictably with both machines flying into the air.

"Glorious freedom." One said before they both hit the ground. The drone closest to the bomb came down in at least five different pieces while the other landed on its hooves and immediately began shooting at me. Again I ducked behind the crates and prayed that a stray bullet didn't hit the remaining explosive canisters, I would have thrown another at the drone but to reach them now would leave me exposed.

Now out of ideas I quickly rummaged through my Inventory for something to toss and found two throwing knives. I grabbed one by the blade and waited for the robot to reload. I could still hear Shadow off to the side, firing his revolver in a vain attempt to Peirce the thing's armour. Finally, there was a brief pause as the drone's guns retracted back into itself to reload. I took this moment to throw one of my knives, aiming for a chink in its armour. I managed to hit it in the eye Shadow hadn't shot out, blinding it.

“Who’s there?” It said in a calm voice as it frantically shot everywhere, bullets slamming into the walls with a sharp ping! sound.

Shadow ran towards me, ducking behind what remained of the crates. Checking inside the closest one to him, he gave me a manic smile and pulled out a huge bladed weapon. It almost looked like an axe with a long handle and a circular head. I didn’t get a good look at it as Shadow expertly threw it at the flailing robot, the bladed end sinking into the thing's chest with a metallic Crunch!

This latest development drove Tia over the edge. I could hear the loud hiss of gas being released as an eerie green fog began to form along the ceiling. A ceiling that was also collapsing around us

I can rebuild all of this after your death, but it will take time. So please be crushed quickly to minimize the repair time required. Or asphyxiate on the chorine gas, your choice.

“Quick! Grab the power core before it’s covered in rubble! I’ll try blowing up the gas tanks!” Shadow shouted as he reloaded his revolver. I nodded and began making the treacherous journey to the centre of the room, dodging chunks of debris and areas where the gas had begun to concentrate. I could hear Tia yelling but wasn't able to make out what exactly she said, I was too focused on not dying to pay attention to anything else. The control station got closer and closer until I was only about ten metres away, only then did I pay attention to what Tia was saying.

Stop! Whatever Luna has told you is a lie! You can go, take whatever you want and just leave! I've controlled this facility for over two hundred years, and my reign will NOT end here!

"I'm afraid it has to," I said, getting closer to my prize. "I need that power core." I tuned the desperate AI out again as I reached the top of the stairs and walked calmly through the chaos and pulled out the glowing blue tube. The second I did so, everything stopped. The screaming AI, the loud hiss of toxic gas, and the sound of the room collapsing all went silent. The only sound that remained was Shadow trotting up to me.

"We did it, kid. Now promise me you'll take a break once we get back to Marebon street. Your sister probably needs some time to recover."

Before I could reply, The massive screen in front of us turned on again. It must have shorted out during our battle. On the screen was Luna, looking very pleased with herself.

Good work you two! I'm on my way as we speak, your sister Ashaa is with me as well. As per our agreement, you may take anything nonessential to my survival before you go, including that power core. I'll see you soon. And with that, the screen turned off and I passed out.

Footnote:

Quest complete! Down with the tyrant! Reward: 250 exp.

Author's Note

I am SO SORRY that this took me about a month to complete. March was absolutely NUTS for me, and this virus isn't helping either. But it's out now! (yay)

Hope ya'll are enjoying my story and if you have any feedback/comments/suggestions please let me know in the comment section.

A big thank ye kindly to Kkat and Somber for this amazing sandbox to play in and thank you all for reading!

-A Bloodthirsty Unicorn56

Departure.

I woke up in another hospital gurney. This one, however, wasn't dusty and covered in blood. Looking around, I could see we were still in Tia's control room. I sat up, holding my head. There were dozens of small worker drones cleaning up the mess of rubble and broken robots left in the wake of our battle. Luna was now proudly situated In the place where Tia once hung from the ceiling, her eyes glued to the massive screen on the opposite wall. Shadow stood underneath her, apparently having a conversation with the AI. I couldn't quite hear what they were saying from this distance, but it didn't look heated.

I then concerned myself with getting out of the gurney in a dignified manner. I completely failed that attempt and instead flopped face-first onto the ground beside me. This display of agility attracted the attention of Shadow and Luna, who turned to face me.

Ah yes, you are awake. You will be glad to hear your sister survived her surgery. Unfortunately, her original wings were too damaged to reattach. So with her consent, I made her new ones.

"Wait," I said as I managed to get back on my hooves, "You made her new wings?" Luna nodded, a smile on her face.

Indeed I did, and now that you're awake you and your friends are free to go with anything in this facility, You did a good job. Please do not linger here, however, I would like my privacy.

Shadow nodded and picked up the power core with his crimson magic. Once he reached me he hefted the oversized battery in my direction, giving me time to catch it with my azure magic and carefully place it in my inventory.

"Let's grab some basic supplies and go, we don't want to take advantage of her hospitality." He said as he began trotting towards an elevator embedded in the wall nearby. "Ashaa's waiting for us at the top, so let's be quick." I made a sound of confirmation and followed close behind.

I was tasked with heading to the armoury while Shadow raided the kitchen. Like the rest of Celestia Laboratories, the armoury was a massive space. It was a wastelander's paradise. I grabbed a bunch of high-quality rifles and ammo to sell in town, as well as an assault rifle for me. I found ammo for both my weapons and Shadow's revolver, as well as some new toys. In a secluded corner, there was a locked case. breaking it open revealed a monster of a weapon, a huge double-barreled shotgun made of dark metal and bloodstained wood. It seemed out of place in the futuristic room, as it had definitely seen combat already. On the end of the barrel, there was a strange alien symbol. It looked vaguely neighponese in shape but not quite. I didn't think it was a word or letter, I thought it was more of a trademark.

I put it in my inventory along with all the shells I could find for it. After one last once over of the room I walked back over to the elevator and pressed the up button. The lift took me right back to the ground floor where we had entered. Waiting for me in the main welcome room was Shadow and Ashaa. My sister did indeed have a new pair of mechanical wings painted to look exactly like her old ones. The only thing that revealed they were synthetic was the small Celestia Laboratories logo on the tip of her right wing.

"Took you long enough, let's get the hell out of here," Ashaa said, turning away towards the exit. Shadow hastily tossed me the two bags of food he had collected for me to put away and turned to follow my sister out of the facility.

"Hey! What's wrong?" I said as I caught up to the two of them outside the massive fence. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe throughout this trip, but we made it out! with the power core too!" Ashaa shook her head, smiling slightly.

"No, none of this was your fault. And I'm not mad at you, but myself. Just because you're the warrior of the family doesn't mean you have to protect everyone. I should be able to hold my own out here, and I've been doing a horrible job of that. I've been shot, mangled, and ra- uh, nevermind." Before I could ask what that last word was, she opened her new wings, letting the metal glint in the light. Seeing them up close revealed that the edge of each feather was serrated. "If we're to survive this and get home, we all need to do our part. And just being the medic with basic combat training isn't going to cut it, so I took some lessons from Luna while you recovered, I'm also planning to get some armour when we get back to town."

I had to take a second to process this new information, why was all this coming out now?

"Ashaa," I said, putting a talon on her shoulder as she folded her wings. "You're my sister, I'm always going to have your safety be my first priority. It doesn't matter if you weren't prepared for this, neither of us was! Yes, being able to defend yourself is important, but don't think you have to become a different person because of it. You will always have me, and Shadow for however long he decides to stay with us." Ashaa hugged me, I could feel a tear running down her cheek as I tried not to get mauled by her wings. Eventually, we separated, and I realized that Shadow was staring off to our left.

"If you two are quite done, I suggest we find cover. I fear there's an incoming band of raiders, more than we can handle." He whispered, jogging towards an abandoned shack not far ahead. Ashaa and I quietly followed, thankfully the building was big enough for all three of us, now we had to hope the raiders wouldn't decide to look inside.

At first, I thought Shadow was just hearing things, but soon enough I could see the lights of their torches and hear the sound of their hooves on the cracked asphalt road. As the party of raiders grew near, the sun began to set behind the clouds. I really hoped that they would pass us by, that way we could sneak out and around them through the darkness.

As usual, luck was not on our side. The possibly pugnacious pack of ponies had set up camp for the night about twenty metres away from our hiding spot. Afraid of being spotted, we hunkered down as the smell of campfire smoke and roasting meat wafted into our shack. Soon the darkness fell in earnest, yet we still weren't able to leave, as their small campfire had turned into a massive bonfire the lit up the surrounding area in an eerie yellow glow. There was no sneaking out now.

Around ten o’clock, Ashaa had fallen into a fitful slumber as Shadow stood guard. I almost drifted to sleep as well, but just as I did, the chanting started. I took a tentative peek out the window and found a horrific sight on the other side.

The raiders stood around the bonfire, as two of them wearing decorative bone armour carried a scared mare tied with barbed wire to a metal pole in between them. She was a unicorn, but her horn had been sawed off, as well as most of her mane and tail. I couldn’t see her cutie mark through the layer of blood, puss, and dirt that covered her entire coat. One of the mare’s eyes was swollen shut as the other stared at the flames before her. She tried to scream, but those monsters had sewn her mouth shut with barbed wire. The chanting grew steadily louder as the mare was brought next to the fire. The poor unicorn was slowly lifted into the fire, struggling frantically as the ends of the pole were place on two piles of cinderblocks on each side of the bonfire. The chanting turned into manic screams and howls, the raiders now running in circles around the fire as the crackle of wood and muffled screams emanated from inside.

Ashaa was now awake and by my side, watching in horrified silence with me. We held talons as the noise died down, the two bone druids retrieving the pole and heaving the scorched remains of the unicorn out of the fire. Three more raiders, each holding a bucket in their mouths, trotted over and poured the contents of their buckets onto the corpse. A dark red substance drizzled onto it, hitting the burnt flesh with a sizzle. Once the buckets had been emptied, the unicorn was laid on an old tarp. One of the druids said something incomprehensible, and the whole group dove towards the carcass. I could hear the sickening crunching sounds as the creatures began to eat.

Ashaa and I finally tore our eyes away from the disturbing scene as someone yelled,

“Hey, guys! Her pussy tastes even better than before we cooked her!” Which was met with manic laughter.

As we both sat down Ashaa tried her best not to puke as Shadow scared the shit out of both of us by dragging us further into the shed.

“Two of them, coming this way.” He whispered, silently pulling a huge hunting knife out of a sheath hidden in his duster. When I stopped and listened, I could hear the hoofsteps as they approached. The two strangers stopped only a few metres away from our position, just out of earshot of the raiders. Shadow was wound up like a cat, waiting for them to come closer. Instead, they began talking.

“Are you sure about all this sir? These raiders aren’t the best travelling companions.” The second one scoffed,

“Of course they aren’t, but that doesn’t matter. The Commander wanted warriors, and these foul creatures are the worst kind of foe you could meet on a battlefield. Besides, they’re not going to kill us in our sleep, we just fed them that mare we found yesterday. That will keep them happy and obedient until we reach the main army.”

“Why does that crazy stallion need an army anyway?” The first one asked. "If he was working for Red Eye I'd understand, but even that lunatic doesn't use raiders."

"He's preparing to invade that merchant town near the coast, Marebon Street I think. Doesn't care about the collateral damage."

"heh. If there's one thing these guys are good at, it's doing a lot of destruction in a small amount of time."

"Exactly! They're perfect. If the Commander's elaborate scheme works out, which is very probable, I'll be one of his top lieutenants. Meaning we'll both get three meals a day, pleasurable company, and high social standing."

"And if his scheme ends like the last one?"

"If it does, which I'm very sure it won't, then we lose only time and effort. These cannibals are cannon fodder, not trained soldiers. Either we get everything, or lose nothing! It's the perfect plan."

"If you say so sir, but can we take turns on watch tonight? I don't want to get eaten for the 'perfect plan'"

"Ugh, fine. Let's head back then."

And with that, the two ponies trotted back towards the fire. Their conversation fading into the ongoing shouts and screams emanating from the raiders.

"This is bad, really bad." Shadow whispered from behind us. I turned around as quietly as I could to look at him.

"What should we do? We have to warn Marebon street, if they destroy Marebon Street we can’t go home! But there's no way to get all of us past them!" Shadow paused for a moment, thinking.

"You probably can't fly me all the way to Marebon Street, but can you fly me a good distance away from them and then set me down? You two could then fly ahead and warn the town while I grab some allies. I doubt those cannibals have more than crude melee weapons, so there's not much chance of getting shot out of the sky." I nodded, this was our best option.

"Are you sure you'd be okay without us for a while?" Ashaa said quietly, fidgeting anxiously. Shadow chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"I'm used to being on my own, I've had lots of practice."

"Alright, let's get going then."

We then packed up what little we had unpacked earlier and got ready to fly. It took a while to figure out how to carry Shadow, but once we had him in a comfortable position we took to the skies, following his directions.

Just as I predicted, our exit did not go unnoticed. A few raiders stripping the bones of the unicorn saw us and began yelling, they tried to follow us on hoof, but were soon lost behind us.

We were on our way save the town and secure our way home.

Footnote:

Quest progress: In a rich colt’s world, 3,075/10,000 caps. Time limit: 26 days remaining.

New quest added! Hero of the village: Save Marebon Street from and impending attack! Time limit: 5 days remaining. Reward: 500 EXP.

Author's Note

I got two chapters out in one month! Hooray!

As always, suggestions and feedback are much appreciated! And thank you to all who’ve made it this far, I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

-A Bloodthirsty Unicorn 56.

The House of the Rising Moon

(Note, the previous chapter was revised on May sixth, 2020. Please go back and read the new version before continuing. Thank you!)

While Ashaa and I were unaccustomed to carrying Shadow, we were both endurance fliers. And as such, we were able to carry Shadow much farther than he anticipated. By morning we had reached the industrial area where Ashaa had been shot. I tried to remember how many days we had been on this quest, but I couldn't check my pipbuck while flying, and Celestia Laboratories wasn't big on clocks or calendars.

None of us attempted to start a conversation, as Ashaa and I could tell that Shadow did not enjoy being in the air, and probably wouldn't like it if we distracted each other from our flying. Instead, we flew in silence. Shadow keeping watch on the ground for snipers and the like, while occasionally giving out directions. That and the small rest stops we made once every two hours were the only breaks from the quiet.

As the sun began to set on the second day of our return trip the cloud cover became a noticeably darker shade, and soon we were flying in the rain. At first, it was a light drizzle, but it soon turned into a heavy, thundering rain as night fell. With our wings heavy with rainwater and visibility dropping we decided to stop for the night.

Shadow, seeing something we didn't, directed us to the outskirts of a residential area. From what little I could see through the rain, we had entered a more wealthy part of the massive city. Once beautiful and elegant gardens lay in front of the massive ruins of elaborate mansions and estates. Even the streets had been well taken care of, the cracked sidewalk under my talons covered in intricate designs and patterns. Though the neighbourhood was in shambles, I still felt out of place surrounded by so many expensive houses.

The one our companion was leading us to was different than the others. While most gave off an air of superiority and power, this one felt dark and ominous. It was built like a small castle made of dark stone, with a high wall surrounding it made of the same material. Compared to the rest of the street, the building was surprisingly well preserved. Its tall menacing spires and multiple balconies were still intact. Not a single window was broken, a rare sight these days. The gate that led into the courtyard was made of black wood, somehow untouched by rot. Carved into the huge double doors was a familiar sight, Princess Luna's cutiemark. The style and decor of the building now made quite a bit of sense, but why would Luna have had a small castle in the middle of Neigh Orleans?

Inside the courtyard was a small private garden filled with long-dead plants and stagnant water, the most interesting thing, however, was that the style of the building had changed slightly. Instead of the moon, a shield insignia now dominated the statues and small fountains that were scattered around empty flowerpots and dead trees.

The door to the inside of the castle was made of the same wood as the front gate, but again had the shield carved into it.

"Wow, what is this place!?" Ashaa shouted over the rain, making me realize we had all remained silent since we landed, and that we were still in the downpour.

"Doesn't matter! let's get inside and dry off!" Shadow hollered in reply, making his way towards the door. Ashaa and I stayed back, in case of a trap, and both sighed in relief when Shadow opened the door without any complications.

As I entered I suddenly felt how completely soaked my feathers were, I had been so concentrated on flying that I hadn't noticed quite how wet I was. Ashaa seemed to be having a similar experience.

While Ashaa and I tried our best to dry off Shadow hung his hat and duster on a dragon-shaped coatrack in the hallway ahead of us. He had his revolver out and pointed in front of him as he systematically checked each room on the first floor, as well as the massive stairwell that led to the upper floors. While he did so I took the time to look around.

I had expected the main hall to be large, but it wasn't as grand as I had thought. The dark purple ceiling was several meters above my head, held up by ornate wooden rafters. The walls were painted a royal blue colour, speckled with white stars. At regular intervals were the gilded wooden doorways that Shadow was exploring. The end of the hallway contained a large stairway covered in a black carpet, the handrails made of silver metal. Even from across the long hallway I could tell it was embossed with the same shield as the front door. Whatever this place was, it was completely untarnished by time. Everything remained untouched by scavengers. Even though no threat had presented itself yet, I was on my guard. There had to be either some serious magic or a monster of some kind that kept others out.

Once satisfied that we were alone Shadow returned to the hallway, slipping his gun back into its holster with a sigh.

"Blitz, there's a living room on the third door on your left, go see if you can get the fireplace lit while I check the second floor. I shouldn't be long."

I nodded as he climbed the steps. Ashaa had already started trotting towards the room Shadow indicated, shivering violently as I followed.

The entryway had been large and ominous, but the living room was quite the opposite. The walls were painted in the same blue as the hallway, but without any stars. There was a stained glass window across from the doorway that depicted a black alicorn with light blue armour and a mane made of the night sky as she fought off a hydra, protecting the town behind her. The mare bore a striking resemblance to Nightmare Moon, but I didn't think it was. First of all, Nightmare Moon was a villain. The only creature She would protect was herself. Secondly, she bore the blue shield symbol seen around the castle as her cutie mark, instead of a dark version of Luna's moon.

In the centre of the room was a circular coffee table covered in old newspapers, silverware, and a couple of board games. Surrounding the table was a semi-circle made of futons and large beanbags. At the other end was a large ornate fireplace, with a stack of wood and a poker set in a metal box off to the side. Above the fireplace was a huge television. Out of curiosity, I pressed the power button. To my surprise, the machine fizzed to life and began playing an action movie. Ashaa almost jumped out a window in fright as I quickly turned it off again.

"What the hell?! This place has power?" She exclaimed, obviously quite rattled by the sudden noise.

"I guess it does, there must be a backup generator somewhere."

"Well, Let's get a fire going. I'm freezing!" I nodded and took the necessary supplies from the metal box, which also contained a full box of matches and some other fire-starting equipment, and began to make a small lean-to in the middle of the fireplace. Once the fire was lit and at a decent size, I dragged a couple of the bean bags closer while Ashaa found a few blankets, draping one over me as we sat down. I sighed as we dried off and warmed up, it had been some time since I had last spent a little quiet time with my sister.

Above us, I heard Shadow as he searched the upper floors. I stiffened, however, when I realized I was hearing two sets of hooves walking around. One was slowly pacing back and forth, while the other was on the other side of the house, heading towards the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Ashaa asked quietly, as she gave me a small nudge. I shivered slightly at her touch.

"Uh, oh! nothing, I thought I heard something." As I finished my sentence, the pacing above our heads stopped. Leaving only the sound of Shadow as he trotted downstairs and joined us.

"Looks like you two are comfy, If you're hungry there's a kitchen upstairs. Fifth door on the left. I'm going to scavenge while the two of you recuperate." And with that, he walked off again. I really wanted to call him back and ask him to stay with us. But I knew that if there was something hostile in the house with us, it would have attacked already. That, and my EFS would have reported it. My nerves were getting to me, that was all. I managed to shove my anxiety down and fell into a dreamless slumber.

A sudden gust of freezing cold wind woke me a while later, making both Ashaa and me jump out from under our blankets. The wind had come from the fireplace, blowing out the remains of my fire. Though it was hard to tell for sure, I thought I heard a voice in the wind as it blew through the chimney.

leave

"Woah, that was strange. Um, how about we get some food? I think Shadow said it was upstairs." Ashaa said, obviously shaken. I was too, but was better at hiding it.

"Yeah, fifth door on the left. Let's get up there, I'm starved!" Even though the place was deserted, Ashaa put the bean bags and blankets back where we had found them while I made sure the fire was well and truly out. We then followed Shadow's instructions up to the kitchen.

As expected, the kitchen was spacious and well equipped. Ashaa walked over to the still working fridge while I checked the cupboards for anything still edible. I found several cans of bacon soup of all things, it had a picture of some kind of cartoon creature printed on it, but I was unable to figure out what. When I looked at the expiration date and found there wasn't one. Shrugging, I pried one open with a knife left on the metal countertop next to me and began to eat.

Ashaa had found a six-pack of Nuka Colas and a couple cups of yoghurt. I trotted over to her as she tossed a soda in my direction and I handed her a can of soup. We ate in companionable silence for a bit, listening to the house creak and moan in the wind.

Crash!

"Dammit!"

It sounded as though Shadow had knocked something over. As I stood up to go help him I heard a metallic thunk! from behind me. Ashaa and I turned to find the knife I had used earlier deeply embedded into the metal countertop.

"What? Ashaa you saw that right? I left that knife on the other side of the room!" We both glanced to where I had placed the blade to find that it was exactly where I had placed it after opening my bacon soup. I spun around and the sharp cooking utensil was gone from the table, even the hole where the blade had stuck into the table was nonexistent.

Ashaa and I were both quite rattled by the whole thing. She silently nodded towards the door and I was all too eager to agree.

We ran upstairs to find a very annoyed unicorn stuck under a pile of random objects that had fallen out of a nearby closet. I had to fight the urge to laugh as we helped him out from under the wreckage, as a small rubber duck was impaled upon his horn.

"There's not much in the way of survival gear in this place, mostly old trinkets and other useless stuff. Before the war, this house would have been full of valuable items, but now it's all junk. I hope you two found enough food for a couple of days, the storm outside probably won't give up for a while."

A couple of days? I didn't think I wanted to stay here for longer than a couple of hours. This mansion was in such good shape for a reason, and it probably wasn't a good one.

Footnote:
New perk! Marathon Flyer: You've gotten used to flying long distances and can now bear the pain better than before! you now use less stamina when in flight.

Author's Note

My procrastination level has reached over NINE THOUSAND!

But I did it! (yay!)

I hope you are enjoying the tale I am telling. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to comment! I read every one, (Which is pretty easy atm, but still.) and will always do my best to respond!

Anyway, I thank you for reading and hope you are having a wonderful day/night!

-A Bloodthirsty Unicorn56.

Old Nightmares.

We set up camp in the living room after cleaning out the kitchen of anything edible. I got another fire going as Ashaa created makeshift beds for us to sleep in. Though I doubted I was going to get any sleep at all. I was sure there was something or someone else here with us, there had to be! I had heard hoofsteps earlier, and the wind couldn't have blown out my fire the way it did. Even though the house was old, there was no way I was just hearing things.

Shadow nudged me slightly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Are you going to make a fire or what? It's getting cold in here."

I nodded and got back to the substantially larger lean-to I was building.

When I finally got the fire up to a reasonable size, I stood up and backed into a beanbag, falling into it with a drawn-out sigh. Ashaa had wanted to go see a library Shadow had found in his earlier search of the house, so the two of them left me to tend the fire.

“h͚̖̜̍̃͐e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊?“

I jumped out of the beanbag and spun around as quickly as possible. I had very clearly heard a child’s voice, though it had been muffled by radio static. I checked the room again and found no radios of any sort, however, and Shadow had unplugged the television. I fought back the urge to run screaming in the direction I thought the others had gone and cautiously walked back towards the fire.

A sparkle caught my eye as I passed a bookshelf, backtracking a little, I found a large silvery orb laying on a small blue pillow. Intrigued, I picked it up with one talon. The second I did so bolts of white magic shot out of the ball and began travelling up my arm.

I yelled in surprise and tried to drop the thing, but my talon wouldn’t obey me. The magic wasn’t painful, but quite uncomfortable, as if it wasn’t intended for me. It slowly began working up towards my head, a numbing sensation affecting my limbs as it drew closer to its target. As it clawed up my neck I began to lose consciousness, the world slowly going black.

When I woke up, I knew immediately something was wrong. I couldn’t feel my talons! I tried to look down, but my eyes wouldn’t move for me. None of my limbs were under my control.

After this realization, I took a look at my surroundings. It appeared I had Gone back in time. I recognized the houses around me, I was only a few blocks away from the small castle. The difference between then and now was that the Sun was out, there was a multitude of well-dressed ponies out and about, and all of the nearby buildings were spotless. Not even one shingle was out of place.

The ponies who walked by me seemed to dislike my presence, as if I had offended them somehow. I then came to another realization, that I was at least a head taller than everyone around me. Shadow was slightly taller than an average unicorn, and I only stood a couple of centimetres taller than him.

Whatever was going on, My theory was that I wasn’t in my body anymore, but in Someone else’s. Panicking was pointless, so I decided to mentally sit back and see what happened.

The pony sighed and fidgeted her wings underneath what I could only guess was a dress, and began walking towards the castle, adjusting a pair of glasses I hadn’t noticed with her magic.

Wait, wings and magic!? I must’ve been in the mind of an alicorn! Or body, to be exact. I could feel the ground beneath her hooves, and the muggy Neigh Orleans air that threatened to suffocate us both in the heavy dress she was wearing. I could also feel the lack of certain body parts that should be left unnamed. I forcefully ignored that though, if I thought too hard about that I doubted I would get through this with my sanity.

From what I remembered from my history classes, none of the princesses had ever worn glasses, but it could be a disguise.

Before I could deduce whose body I was in, she reached the wooden gate, a beautiful white unicorn mare with a blue two-tone mane and tail waved at me. She had a cutie mark of a shield made of three colours and a small musical note in the centre. She gave a brilliant smile as I approached.

“So glad you could make it! The girls and I have been dying to show you this!”

I felt myself give the mare a small smile.

“Thank you so much for doing this Sweetie Belle, I don’t think I could have stayed with mom a day longer.”

Mom? None of the princesses had mothers that I knew of.

I then began to look around, as if she expected there to be more people here.

“Where are the others? Shouldn’t they be here too?”

The unicorn sighed, shaking her head.

Well, you know. Twist just got deployed in Hoofington, and Apple Bloom and Scoots are really busy.”

As if on cue, a small buzzing noise emanated from the business collar she was wearing.

“Miss Belle, you have a staff meeting to attend in twenty minutes.”

Sweetie Belle groaned softly before responding.

“Push the meeting back a couple of hours Skye, I’m in the middle of something quite important”

“Are you sure Ma’am? This will disrupt all of next week’s schedule.”

“I don’t give a damn about next week! Right now is what’s important! Do whatever you have to do, I’ll deal with whatever mess is left when I get back, okay?”

“Alright Ma’am, but please remember this is the third time this month we’ve had a scheduling error this big.“

“Yes yes, thank you, Skye, I’ll figure it out later. Goodbye.”

Sweetie Belle then turned back towards me with a nervous smile.

“Sorry about that, shall we?” She said, gesturing with her hoof towards the gate. I shook my head reluctantly, making Sweetie’s smile dropped a little.

You don’t have to make your life hard just for me Sweetie Belle, I can navigate a new house by myself just fine. You can come to check on me when you’re not busy.”

“Nonsense!” She replied, moving to open the gate. “I always find time for my friends, especially you! Now come on inside.”

I followed her into the small courtyard, now filled with living plants and working fountains. The mare took in her surroundings before continuing towards Sweetie Belle and the front door.

“I know you wanted something small, but the girls all agreed this would suit you a lot better, don’t you think? Besides, how we’re we supposed to build you a big enough library if we put you in a small cottage?”

For the first time, the mare perked up considerably. Apparently, she liked reading.

“A whole library for me? How did you pay for all this anyway?”

The white unicorn scoffed lightly, waving a hoof dismissively.

“This barely put a dent in the StableTec’s wallet, and even if it had, I bet the other two co-owners wouldn’t have minded in the slightest. Why don’t you take that stuffy dress off and change into something lighter? There’s no reason to wear that disguise in your own home!”

I nodded again as I removed the dress and hung it unceremoniously on a familiar dragon coatrack, letting my midnight black wings stretch out beside me.

“Again, thank you so much for all this. It’s way more than I deserve.”

“Hey! I thought you were past the whole ‘blaming myself’ stuff! None of what happened to you was your fault. Yeah, you did make some mistakes, but you’ve more than made up for them!

What you don’t deserve is an ignorant mother. If she won’t take care of you then we will, because you matter, okay? There’s a phone in the kitchen, living room, and your bedroom. You can call us any time, and we’ll come running if you need us. Because even if your mom doesn’t think friendship is important anymore, we do.”

I could tell the alicorn was visibly crying as she removed her glasses and set them near her dress.

“Th-, Thank you. I, I can’t express how much this means to me.”

Sweetie Belle jumped up to give the mare a warm hug, she seemed to by crying as well.

“You don’t have to, we already know. Besides, we kinda owe you our lives, Miss ‘protector of the night’. The least I can do is give you a place to live.”

Before I could respond, the world slowly went black once again.

When I came to this time I was laying on the beanbags. In front of me was a worried Ashaa and an irritated Shadow. As the orb’s influence faded I began to regain control of my limbs, this time with a lot less magical lighting.

“Oh! You’re awake! Sweet Novo did you give us a scare. We came down to show you some books I thought you’d like, and you were passed out on the floor! What happened?”

“He activated a memory orb,” Shadow said, pointing with a hoof towards the object still in my talon.

“Don’t pick it up, that’s how he got it to work, wrap it in a blanket first and put it back on a shelf.”

Ashaa nodded as she followed the instructions, though I could move, I still hadn’t regained feeling in my limbs. So I elected to remain stuck in the beanbags.

“I knew hippogryphs had magic, but I didn’t think you could use those. Otherwise, I would’ve warned you not to touch it.”

Shadow paused for a moment as he began to thoughtfully pace around the room.

“What did you see? Anything?”

“Yeah, I think I saw her," I said, shakily pointing a talon at the stained glass window across the room. "And a mare named Sweetie Belle was there."

"Hmm, Interesting. I didn't know she had a house here."

"Who?" I asked quizzically, "Do you know who lived here?"

Shadow made a sound of confirmation as he continued to pace.

"I think I do. But if I'm right, then she's probably still here. It doesn’t matter, the storm should lessen by tomorrow morning, we'll leave then. I'll go cash in a few favours while you two warn the town."

"If we're leaving in the morning, we should get some sleep then, right?" Ashaa inquired as she returned from the bookcase. Shadow shrugged, turning to trot out into the hallway.

"I'll be patrolling the grounds. And yes, you two should get some sleep."

Ashaa and I both nodded as we finished setting up our makeshift beds. I hobbled over to mine and collapsed with a sigh, exhausted. As I fell into unconsciousness I felt Ashaa pull a blanket over me.

"𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓊𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝑒"

I opened my eyes and looked around. Something had woken me up, but what? The fire had gone out, and it was freezing. Ashaa was still sound asleep, which was odd. She was a light sleeper, like me, so whatever woke me up should have awoken her too. I checked my pipbuck, it was still a couple of hours until dawn. Unable to return to sleep, I decided to take a walk around the house, I hoped that would relieve the mild headache I had. I could hear what I guessed were Shadow's hoofsteps down the hall, I quietly trotted through the door to find no one out in the hallway. The hoofsteps had faded away.

I was extremely creeped out by now, and slowly backpedalled into the living room. Ashaa was awake now, and staring at me quizzically.

"Where'd you go? We've already searched the house."

I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"I-, I don't know."

Footnote:

Author's Note

Sorry, this one took a while, I had a couple of unseens events and unplanned trips happen recently.

Again I hope ya'll are enjoying this story and that you stick around for more!

-A Bloodthirsty Unicorn56

Prologue

Welcome to the Land of Equestria, the country known two centuries ago for its values of friendship and freedom. It was thought that not even the evilest and powerful beings could destroy it. A mighty kingdom that spread its ideals of peace and kindness across the world. The three kinds of ponies who resided in it, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies lived in perfect harmony with their neighbours and with all who used their power for good.

That was until Equestria succumbed to the worst evil of them all:

Greed.

As the country entered an industrial revolution, a golden age, the alicorn princesses who ruled the bright land found that its citizens needed resources the country didn’t have to power the massive machines. And so the ponies of Equestria looked to other countries for their needs. This led to an unfair trade deal with the Zebra lands. When they found out about the deceit, there were many unsuccessful compromises that led to conflict. And eventually, war.

A war almost won. until the Zebras, with no other options, blew up the board. They rained hellfire across the land. Stolen weapons of mass destruction, megaspells, were used to annihilate the once-proud country.

When Equestria burned, so did many of its allies --- except for one. While Equestria was destroyed by greed, the Hippogriffs of Mount Eris hid away on their secluded island, ignoring the screams.

Since then, Mount Eris and its surrounding islands have become the last bastion of civilization. The only place free of the horrors of megaspells and radiation. The Hippogriffs have lived there in peace and harmony, sealed off from their war-torn cousins and neighbours. Until today.