Fallout Equestria: Redemption is Magic

Existence is a concept that mankind has struggled to make sense of since its inception. What does it mean to be “real” or “living”? Is an existence subjective? Can we justify an existence? Questions like these often come up, and they often confuse mankind.

But this isn’t a story about mankind. It’s a story of a fandom, of a family, and of ponies. And more importantly, of Fallout: Equestria.

Two-hundred long years have passed since that fateful day, the day when the megaspells dropped unleashing their unprecedented devastation. It was in this flash that the sky itself danced yellow and green, the beauty in destruction allowing the shadows to lengthen and in that innocence was well and truly lost. In a moment the old world died, and from it was birthed a new one, a cruel one where the thirsty soil was only quenched by the coppery rain of crimson. In this desiccated desolation Littlepip arose from the solitary safety of her stable and set out across the wasteland, bringing peace wherever she went. She faced the unspeakable horrors that the wasteland spawned in its foul womb; raiders, hellhounds, Enclave, and even the omnipotent power of the Goddess. The plucky mare overcoming each hurdle so that now, after a long journey, the stable dweller could finally find the reprieve of rest. The unicorn not dead, but not exactly living a life.

Now that her tale has taken a backseat, it is time for a new tale.

Twilight sat in her seat in front of the glowing cutie map, the crystalline board pulsating with rhythmic magical energies as it ticked over like a harmonic metronome. The enchanted tabletop had been sending out a massive calling for the better part of a week, one that required the help of many creatures. Gathered around the map were several notable figures; The rest of the mane six, Spike, Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, Ember, Celestia, and Luna, creating a mighty menagerie as they milled around the table for once looking rather lost. This uncertainty alien to the charismatic creatures, as a lingering loiter was not the natural state for any people present.

“What kind of friendship problem could possibly need solving right before the coronation?” asked Celestia, a bit impatient but her words as ever refined and elegant from several lifetimes in the Canterlot Court. Luna’s eyes darted over in her sister’s direction, not exactly as eager to leave the seat of state, as she had only recently carved out an arsegroove upon her throne with the regal royal posterior after her long tenure as the Mare in the Moon.

“Maybe it’s something to do with the coronation?” Implied Starlight, hoping to break the tension with a suggestion.

“If that were true, don’t you think it’d send us to Canterlot and not the badlands?” Countered Thorax, a bit wary of that location as it was a known breeding ground for Maulwurfs.

“So, is everycreature here?” Asked Twilight. It was then that the cutie map emitted a high-pitched chaotic whine, static and the gibbering white noise of multiple voices filling the room in a slurred flurry of sound. Everyone covered their ears to escape the high pitched onslaught of auditory clamour coming from the now accursed table.

After about a full minute, a sigh rang through their heads. “Really? It’s my turn? And it’s not even an episode.” The doors to the room burst open, smoke flooding through and blinding its occupants. As the smoke cleared, it was obvious to everypony who it was: Discord, the troublemaker of chaos.

“What could the spirit of chaos possibly want at a time like this?” Celestia stared at the misshapen draconequus. Although he was reformed, she could never fully trust him, even in the most recent battle. She had had too much experience with his shenanigans in the ancient past.

“What could I want…?” Discord tapped his chin. “No, it’s not what I want. It’s what your little abomination of a piece of furniture wants.”

“Is that what that sound was?” Twilight uncovered her ears and readjusted her focus. “I thought it was broken for a minute.”

Spike scratched behind one of his ears. “I guess when ya wanna call the lord of chaos, you make a chaotic noise?”

Already, Discord was getting on Ember’s nerves, and she could probably guess why. While the two had never really gotten to know each other, she could get the sense of an impending eternity of annoyance. It was the kind of annoyance that one would get from a sibling; something she knew all too well, having grown close enough to some for long enough to consider them as such.

Discord feigned a smile. “Oh? It looks like nopony wants me here. I guess that’s my cue to leave. Maybe I can go find Big Mac and we can play a round of--”

The screeching sound of gibbering voices flooded the room once again, causing everypony to drop to their knees as the noise intensified.

“Okay! Okay! You win!” Discord grumbled as he stood back up, brushing off his kneecaps. The noise finally died down the moment he admitted defeat. “I guess some tables just can’t be reasoned with!”

“The badlands is a dangerous place to be in at this time of year,” warned Luna. “It’s not known why, but there have been rumors of portals opening up and sucking wanderers in.” She couldn’t help but tense up at her own words. The thought of ending up on the moon again by mistake… She didn’t want to experience that again.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we can avoid them if we just, you know, move?”

“They’re sucking in ponies,” repeated Luna. “As if they’re grabbing you.”

“If that’s true,” countered Rainbow, “then how do you get the rumors? If the portals are grabbing ponies, would there really be anypony left to tell the rumors?”

Luna stayed silent in response, not because she couldn’t win an argument, but because she didn’t want to waste time arguing. She looked to Twilight and gave a sincere smile. “Shall we go now? I’d personally like to get this over with.”

Twilight smiled back. “Sure, Princess Luna. I’d have to agree. Everypony, let’s go!”

With her words, they were off to the badlands…

After a long trip by train and an hour-long walk, the group had arrived at their destination, but where the problem was, nopony really knew. All seemed fine, due to the fact that there was nopony other than them, them and the massive desert region, with sand as far as the eye could see. It seemed endless, with no hope of an oasis in sight.

Spike raised a question that seemed to be lingering on his mind since they had left the train. “Anypony know where Discord went? He didn’t even bother to poof us here. He just kinda went off on his own.”

“He said he wanted to get some things gathered for ‘the big event’ or something,” answered Trixie. “I don’t really get him sometimes, but I also really don’t care. As long as Trixie isn’t bothered, I’m happy.”

Starlight stifled her laughter, always having found Trixie a bit humorous at times. It was interesting to her, how Trixie was always able to keep herself a bit serious while also still referring to herself in the third person.

A groan of disgust filled the air. It was Rarity, trying to get the sand off the bottoms of her hooves. “It’s getting stuck like last time!”

Pinkie giggled to herself. “I also remember the last time we were here! It was really hot, and I think I made friends with a really nice buffalo named Steve!”

“Pinkie, I think ya were hallucinatin’,” said Applejack.

Pinkie snorted in laughter. “He was a nice hallucination, though!”

As the others walked and talked, Twilight stayed up in front, thinking to herself. The final battle was… interesting, to say the least. They had won, but was that really the end of it? Something didn’t feel right to her about it at all, the same feeling from when she was in one of Starlight’s alternate timelines filled her being. It also didn’t help that she was nervous about the coronation. What would happen after it was over? Would she and her friends slowly drift apart? It was a constant fear lingering in her mind, even inhabiting her dreams, turning them into nightmares. She couldn’t go through that.

“I absolutely loathe this heat. It’s messing with my mane,” complained Rarity. Applejack, walking within the center of the group, fanned herself with her hat.

“Ya know, patrollin’ the Equestrian Badlands almost makes ya wish fer a windigo winter.” As soon as Applejack made the comment, she received brief worried glances from Fluttershy.

“I don’t think we should be here. I’ve had this itching in my mane since the map called us,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight felt a sudden surge of magic flowing through her body as they passed through a small crevice. Cliffs stood proudly on both opposite sides of each other, giving only one straight path through. “You may be right, Fluttershy…”

With a blinding flash of light, Discord popped out of thin air, sitting in a floating chair and carrying a large survival backpack on his back.. “The event is about to begin. Brace yourselves, everypony!”

“Look who decided to join,” muttered Spike. “Where were you?”

“Oh, just some preparations for our trip,” Discord replied as he dug through his bag and pulled out a map.

“Wait,” said Twilight, eyeing the chaos lord. “You said an event was about to happen? What’s going on?”

“Just my inner voice telling me to prep up,” he answered. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen. Where would the fun be if I did?”

Twilight just rolled her eyes and pressed onward, but after taking a few steps, a sudden pain assaulted her head. Strange images flickered in front of her, showing depictions of dead lands and green fire, sending the mare into an illness that threatened to make her vomit. It wasn’t the fact that these images were horrifying enough to make her queasy, it was that fact that she could smell rotting corpses.

Fluttershy stepped forward in concern to place a hoof on Twilight, but as she passed a certain point, her mind was bombarded with the same images. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she was forced to witness horrible events, events that didn’t make sense to her, yet somehow still filled her with grief, as if she had lived through them before.

Applejack, seeing her friends in pain, rushed over. “Twilight?! Fluttershy?! Snap out of it!” She held onto Twilight, shaking the distressed unicorn. “Twilight, c’mon!”

“Uh, AJ?! We’ve got bigger problems!” Dash shouted. She pointed to the end of the canyon, where the empty space seemed to be distorting. “I think Luna’s rumor might be real!” Rainbow Dash quickly wrapped her forelegs around Twilight and attempted to pull her away from the warped area. Applejack followed, picking up Fluttershy to get her to safety.

Rarity, seeing an opportunity to try out her shield magic, lit up her horn, enveloping it in an aura. The aura lengthened into a beam which shot into the sky before spreading out into the form of a light blue dome magically materializing around everypony. “That should protect us from any misfit gateways!” Rarity said proudly, but she had spoken too soon.

Pinkie’s entire body twitched and jerked this way and that, the pink pony no longer so peppy. “Something’s REALLY wrong here! I can feel it!”

“No duh, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash answered.

“No! I mean--” Before Pinkie could finish, the entire field within the dome warped in on itself. Celestia and Luna both cast their own magic at the center of the corrupted space, but their beams were simply sucked in. Thorax and Ember took careful steps back to the edge of the dome, not finding the idea of ending up in an unknown location very appealing.

Starlight had even tried to close the portal on her own, but this wasn’t a typical magic. “It’s too complex!” Instead of trying again, she cast a shield around herself and Trixie.

Trixie pointed at Discord and snarled, “I blame you!” Discord simply waved away her comment.

“Really? The blame game?” He rolled his eyes. He was about to make a witty comment when, from behind him, space melted in on itself, opening into yet another portal. The being's eyes widened in surprise as he was forcibly pulled in by some unnatural force.

There was no time to even react to his disappearance, as everypony was dragged into the surreal gateways by unknown means. It was as if it was fate. To Twilight, it almost felt planned, like this was meant to happen, as if it were a long time coming. She couldn't explain her feelings on the subject.

Twilight's physical world was gone, replaced by white, but in that white were screens of events in her life that had occurred in the past and, most frighteningly, in the future. She saw herself, grown into the same physical stature as Celestia. It seemed pretty amazing at first, until she saw what had become of her best friends.

They were aging while she remained frozen in time. The screens progressed through the ages, the five mares growing older and more frail. She feared to see the end. Then she did… She saw their skin drying and decaying, revealing shriveled muscles underneath. Even those muscles decayed as well, being stripped away to lay bare the bones to Twilight's eyes.

She screamed and, to her surprise, her voice echoed and grew louder with each bounce back. It became too much for her ears, and so she covered them, eyes shut as well so that she did not have to see the horrible truth laid before her. As the screams grew, so did the brightness of the white, shrouding the screens of the future.

Twilight felt the impact of the ground, hitting her with enough force to knock the breath out of her. Very slowly, she opened her eyes, half-expecting to see those horrifying images again. Instead she was met with something almost as equally terrifying. She brought herself up to her hooves, looking around her, taking in the grim scenery.

Although she was no longer in the Badlands, the surroundings were just as dead. She was in the middle of a road, surrounded on both sides by tall, worn-down buildings. "What is this…?" Twilight asked herself, alarms ringing in her head. "Girls? Spike?"

"Don't talk so loud," complained the voice of Spike. "I have a big headache."

Twilight rushed over to a rusty stop sign, where Spike lay. "Spike! Are you okay? I don't think we're in the Badlands anymore."

Spike gave her a deadpan stare. "Gee, ya think?" He got up, holding his head. "I feel like I got hit by one of AJ's kicks."

Twilight rubbed the top of Spike's head. "I'll get you something for the pain later. Right now, we have to figure out where we are and, hopefully, find everypony."

Spike, still getting over his headache, put his claws to his head. “Where do you think they are?”

Twilight looked at the empty buildings around her and Spike. “They couldn’t have gone far. We’ve only been here a few minutes.” She paused, considering their situation. “What happened here…? All these buildings are broken down.”

"This is freaky. It's like a ghost town," said Spike as he observed the surroundings. "Maybe everypony decided to move out at the same time?"

Twilight, not really believing that answer, began walking, Spike trailing close behind. Spike didn't really believe his own answer either. As they trotted forward, Twilight would make mental notes in her head. This place reeked of something sinister, but she couldn't quite place her hoof on what it was.

"You don't think something bad happened, do you?" Spike bit his bottom lip, nervous and growing a little paranoid. "What if something came by and ate everypony?!"

Twilight, wanting to calm Spike down, decided to deliver her regular comforting words. "Spike, don't be ridiculous. Usually there's a better explanation than that. I'm sure whoever lived here is fine."

A sound similar to thunder roared through the air, making both pony and dragon go still. A voice from behind them growled playfully, "Ooh.~ An alicorn! And look! Even better, a baby dragon!"

Twilight and Spike turned around to see a strange sight: a bunch of ponies in scrap armor, each holding oddly shaped pieces of metal, some held in magic, others held in mouths. Twilight, not wanting to be rude, stepped forward. “Uhh, hello!” She looked over who appeared to be the group’s leader. The mare was a light blue, a much brighter shade than Rainbow Dash’s coat. Her hair was a neon green, making her look a bit off to Twilight, as most ponies’ coats stuck to a particular shade and hue. It was almost as if it were a foal’s drawing coming to life.

The misfit mare’s mouth grew wide into a grin, crazy in her eyes. “What’s a powerful alicorn doing out here all alone?” This caused Twilight to take a step back.

“Oh! Uh, I don’t mean to be rude, but do you know where we are?” Twilight was hopeful this stranger would help her.

Several of the ponies behind the ruffian mare chuckled to themselves. The mare stepped forward and told Twilight, “We’re near Tenpony Tower, missy, and you look well-groomed enough to have just come from there. Hand over the caps with the dragon and nopony gets hurt!”

Twilight shook her head in confusion, baffled by this sudden robbery attempt. “Um… Firstly, I don’t know what caps are. Second, you can’t have my baby dragon. Third, I don’t think you’d want to steal from me. I’m one of the princesses.”

All the ponies behind the thief roared in laughter. After the laughter died down, the mare then spoke. "Looks like she's got chems, too! Pretty good ones, I'm guessin'." She pointed one end of the metallic device at Twilight. "Hand 'em all over or we fill ya full of lead."

"Lead…?" Twilight and Spike both looked at each other with quizzical looks on their faces. "I don't think the body can digest lead."

The mare blinked a few times, smirking, confused. Then the smirk returned to a neutral position. "What?"

Twilight attempted to explain as best she could. "The body couldn't possibly digest lead. If you're threatening to make us eat it, it would most likely kill us."

The thief looked to her crew. They had the same confused expression. She then turned back to Twilight, who was looking at her with her own stumped expression.

"Fuck it." The mare simply pulled the trigger. Pain instantly shot through Twilight's left-wing, accompanied by the same thunderous roar from earlier. The feeling made Twilight scream in agony. Spike placed his hands on Twilight's foreleg as she slumped over a little.

"Twilight! What's wrong?!" Spike asked. He then saw it, a clear hole through Twilight's left-wing. It oozed a red liquid, making a chill run up Spike's spine. He directed his gaze to the thief mare. "Why'd you do that to her?!"

"Shut up," she responded. She aimed her grim piece of metal at him. "A slave only talks when they're told to."

Suddenly, a saving grace… a shrouded figure fell from above, landing on two feet, the being wrapped in a rag cloak. This definitely got the stranger mare's attention.

From within the cloak emerged two arms, with pawed hands holding twin batons. In a flash, the savior dashed forward, closing the distance in a mere half of a second, delivering precise blows to the mare and knocking her out with a careful hit to her neck, disrupting the blood flow to her head long enough not to kill her, but to make her fall unconscious.

Before the rest of the pony gang could open fire, the figure quickly filled the gap in between them, delivering the same blows to each bandit, knocking them out successfully one by one. They all fell, not dead, but merely unconscious.

The hero then rushed over to Twilight and pulled a flask from within his cloak. He pressed the opening to Twilight's mouth, and she drank, hoping it was something to help with her pain. It did something much better. Her wound quickly closed up, making her wing like new again.

Spike, having just witnessed something that could only happen in a comic book, smiles wide, eyes full of sparkles. "Woah! How'd you do that?! You're like some vigilante!"

Twilight, her focus coming back, got a better look at her rescuer as he pulled back his cloak to reveal a black-furred, almost fluffy face with green cat-like eyes. It was an Abyssinian, much like Capper. More concerning though, was that it was a mere kid.

He smiled, looking excited. "Didn't think I'd ever save an alicorn!"

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Forever… that's how long they'd be frozen. Discord himself had said so. Where did they go wrong? Their plan was perfect.

Cozy Glow stared at the tree, unable to move her eyes. It would continue to thrive and change through the seasons while Cozy Glow remained still as a statue forever. Being unable to move could drive a filly mad. Cozy Glow was already losing it even though she had been frozen for such a short time.

Beside her were Chrysalis in an angry, outreaching pose, and Tirek in a more surprising position. Cozy was in an expression of despair, having no idea such an extreme punishment would be given to her. Tartarus was a luxury hotel compared to this. If she knew this would happen, would she have even done it?

Looking back on what she had done… she’d admit, it was a bit extreme, but it was necessary. If she was going to take over, she had to break a few eggs. Why did their plan go south? They had harnessed the power of friendship, the power of working together.

If only she could move…

And she did. Cozy felt a force tugging on the statue, pulling it backward. She couldn’t see where she was going, and this made her panic on the inside. It must have been Celestia, or Luna, or worse, Discord! But she was wrong. The statue was dragged into a warped space, being tucked away between dimensions and sent off to who-knew-where.

A white light blinded Cozy. No, wait… it wasn’t a light. Everything was white, and she could see screens, showing her past actions. More horrifically, they showed her future as well. There she was, a statue, forever frozen. The sun and moon ran across the sky in an endless chase, going faster and faster until it became a solid band of light, the days, months, seasons, years, decades, centuries, milleniums, all passing by. Everyone she had ever known was long gone, dead, their graves were forgotten as the planet reclaimed everything, turning it to soil.

But there was Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek, all frozen, unaffected by age. Even the “immortal” Celestia had long passed. There was no deity. No Twilight to take the sun alicorn’s place. It was all temporary in the grand span that was eternity. The planet… Yes, even the planet withered away, the planet eventually becoming cold and absent of light after Celestia’s beautiful sun had pathetically flickered out. It was a world of eternal darkness for the three villains.

There was no sanctuary, no refuge, no redemption. Friendship and harmony was a lie, only temporary comforts to distract them from the truth.

Cozy screamed in her mind, unable to move her mouth. She wanted to be free. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be alive. Being a statue was worse than death. It was like being undead and still, completely aware of it all.

Just then, something had happened. Her nose twitched, the stone cracking. Was she breaking?! She began to panic. What if she fell apart? Who knew what that would be like? Before she could worry about it any further, she heard a familiar voice.

”Never!”

She knew that voice. That was Chrysalis. Was Chrysalis free? Would Cozy be free? Was there a chance to escape?

Then the bug queen shouted, “I refuse to be frozen like some cheap lawn ornament!”

Cozy felt a warmth in her body. There was a magic in this place, and it was breaking the spell. She was sure of it. She tried her hardest to move, feeling her little wings stretch out. Chips of stone chipped away, revealing her feathers. She could just barely move her head, turning it to see Chrysalis, halfway free from her prison. Tirek was more than halfway liberated from his prison.

Chrysalis, with all her strength, broke free completely, making the chips of inorganic material fly away from her. “That is NOT my future! Those wretched fools will pay!”

“Yes,” said Tirek. “I agree. You can’t expect me to stay trapped forever.” He looked at his surroundings. “I recognize this magic, and I don’t like it. We’re in a portal of sorts, but to where it leads, I have no idea.”

Cozy finally broke her head free, speaking. “You don’t think we’ll end up somewhere bad, do you?”

“Like I said,” replied Tirek, “I don’t know. We could end up anywhere, and in any time period, too, judging from those images.”

Chrysalis gave Tirek a look of skepticism. “We could end up in the past?”

Cozy then added, “Or the future?”

“Yes, but it would be too soon to say. Usually portal trips only last a few seconds. This one has lasted minutes. If this is the case, we might even end up in another universe,” Tirek explained.

Chrysalis was flabbergasted. “What?! But what about my old hive?! I must reclaim it! And what of Starlight Glimmer?! I want my revenge!”

Tirek growled. “We’ll have to make use of whatever magic there is to bring us back home.”

Cozy felt a bit odd after she removed the last of her stone coating. “Anyone else getting an odd sense of deja vu?”

“I doubt this could have happened before,” said Chrysalis.

It was then and there that they heard a familiar… scream? It echoed, becoming louder and louder.

“Twilight…?” Cozy squinted her eyes a little, confused, then realized how loud the scream was getting. The trio covered their ears to keep the noise out.

“It’s almost as annoying as Pinkie’s laughter!” Chrysalis complained.

“Look! The screens!” Cozy pointed out. Sure enough, the white shrouded up the images of past and future. Then, without warning, the white vanished, being replaced with black as all three villains hit solid ground.

Cozy slowly opened her eyes, seeing that she was on the edge of a dirt cliff. She quickly scrambled away from the edge, despite the pain. Then she realized she still had wings if she had ever fallen off, feeling a bit silly. Hearing the groans of her teammates, she turned around, noting a few odd features in the background, such as the worn-down road leading to a possibly abandoned city. It seemed they were outside it, the outside being nothing but dirt, dirt, and most importantly, more dirt, with a side of dirt.

Getting up, Chrysalis seemed to be smirking as she noticed the same features. “Well, this is a scene I could get used to. No ponies, their cities being the only thing left? A literal wasteland. For once, I feel at peace.”

Cozy walked towards the city a bit, feeling a little cautious. “What is this place?”

“I’m guessing it’s either the far future or another universe,” said Tirek.

Chrysalis lifted her head, feeling a bit interrogative. “How do you know all this stuff, Tirek?”

Tirek’s face straightened. He didn’t like talking about his past that much. “My father was very strict on education, and so Scorpan and I were taught all kinds of forbidden magic that wasn’t normally available to my kind.”

Chrysalis scoffed. “So, a father, is that it? What’s so great about a parent?”

Tirek shook his head a bit. “It gets annoying after living with them until you’re an adult. But I can’t really hate him. Because of him, I wanted to take Equestria, to prove my worth as a king.”

“Wait…” Cozy Glow scrunched up her face in confusion. “Your father is a king?”

“Yes,” answered Tirek. “He’s not well known in Equestria.”

Cozy shrugs. “I guess I’ll buy that.” For now, at least.

Tirek winced, having felt something unusual in the magical field around him. This magic wasn’t composed of positive emotions like happiness. It felt much too different. It wasn’t typical pony magic. Something malevolent was here, something that made even his beard hair stand on end. He turned to look a Chrysalis. She seemed a bit distracted as well. Perhaps she felt it, too? Then he looked at Cozy.

The young filly couldn’t sense magic like he and Chrysalis could, yet she could still hold her own. It was often a wonder that crossed his mind. He could hardly wrap his head around the idea that a small child such as Cozy Glow could have such potential for evil acts. Although they had started out as pen pals, they quickly became partners of sorts later on. He felt a small bit of pride in his influence on her, but he also felt… proud of Cozy herself? No. No more thoughts.

“I think we should find some shelter,” he quickly spat out. “Who knows how long days last in this universe, if it even is a different one?”

“Are you afraid of the dark, Tirek?” Cozy Glow asked. “If you are, I know how to deal with the fear.”

Chrysalis snickered to herself. “Lord Tirek, afraid of the dark? How delicious.”

Tirek rolled his eyes. Petty insults were nothing to him. He had taken enough of them to grow a thicker skin. “Come on. Let’s go. I think I see a cave over there.”

And so they followed, ready to face whatever danger may lurk ahead in their journey.

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Spike walked down the street with both Twilight and the new supposed hero. It had been a good thirty minutes getting Twilight back on her hooves after drinking that strange healing potion, even though the abyssinian child insisted she was fully healed. “So… your name is Tricks?”

The abyssinian child grinned. “Yeah! Cuz, well, I like magic tricks, but my favorite form of magic trick is the classic card trick!”

Twilight had a concerned look during their entire conversation as they walked. Even though he was bigger than a pony, he was still a child, and it was dangerous for him to have swooped in earlier to play the hero. She finally spoke up. “Um… Tricks? Where are your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Hm?” He looked over to Twilight and, with a casual tone, said to her, “I don’t have any.”

This shocked Twilight to her core. She had only known of one incident where a friend was an orphan, and that was Applejack. “Who takes care of you?”

Tricks raised a brow, “No one. Why?”

Twilight couldn’t let this continue. “I think it’d be best if you stuck with Spike and I.”

“Nah,” Tricks answered. “You’ll slow me down. I gotta get to the settlement before dark or I’ll run into stalkers.”

He had ponies stalking him? “Why are ponies stalking you?”

“Not ponies,” he replied. “Stalkers. If you haven’t heard of a stalker around these parts, then you’re probably not from this area."

“I’m not,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

Tricks blinked. “Oh!” His lips then turned upward into a smile. “I’m sorry!” His green eyes scanned the road ahead. “You can tag along, but… you gotta keep up, or you might get hurt.” Twilight and Spike gave each other glances of both concern and confusion.

Twilight sighed and looked into the feline's eyes. "Alright, but I'll be the one protecting you."

Tricks had the biggest smile on his face after she'd said that. Something told Twilight that this kid would be trouble.

About an hour into their journey and already they had faced at least two ponies, one who Twilight used her sleeping spell on, and the other was quickly knocked unconscious by one of Tricks's batons. Halfway into the second hour, the tall buildings seemed to get smaller in design, becoming more like a small town instead of a massive city. Perhaps they were leaving the core of the city?

Twilight couldn't help but feel like they were being watched as they made their way to the outer edges. Whenever she saw something in the corner of her eyes, she'd turn, only to see a figure quickly vanishing into the shadows.

She finally spoke up, looking behind her for a brief second before returning her gaze to the road ahead of her. "I think somepony is here…"

"Stalker," replied Tricks, not seeming very concerned. "Don't worry. They wait years before attacking. Best thing to do is to go to another town. They won't stray too far from their nests."

Spike was rather confused. "What kind of creature waits years?"

"Stalkers. I just said so," answered Tricks, trying to be as cheery as possible. Twilight could see something behind that smile, however. There was… fear.

Twilight patted Tricks’ back with a wing. "Are you okay?"

Tricks ignored her, running ahead. When Twilight looked to see where he was going, she saw what looked to be a small cul-de-sac of sorts. Putting on her brave face, she steeled herself, walking forward. She had to be on her guard. Who knew what kind of ponies dwelled here, and whether they were hostile or not?

As she walked within the circular patch of road, she looked at each house surrounding her. They looked to be in better condition than the buildings she had seen earlier. "There are definitely ponies living here…"

"I don't really get it," said Spike. "Why does everything look so old here? How long has it been? Were we out for a few centuries or something?"

"Please don't joke like that." Twilight didn't need jokes at times like these.

Spike rolled his eyes. "I wasn't joking, Twilight. I'm serious. I think we've been gone for a long time. There's no way we wouldn't know about this place if it existed." He then whispered, "Especially with that big brain of yours."

Tricks suddenly ran out of one of the houses to Twilight's left; he seemed to be a panic, and she could see why. Coming out of the house was an older mare with a frazzled mane and some sort of wooden and metal stick. The mare's magic pulled the trigger, making rounds of metal fire out the front. Luckily, it didn't seem to be a long-range weapon.

Twilight used her magic to materialize a purple shield of energy that followed behind Tricks as he ran, deflecting the metal rounds that did make it to him. "Tricks, what did you do?!"

"I blame the economy!" Tricks shouted back as he dove behind the side of the porch of another home. "What do we do?! I can't get close!"

Twilight ran, a magical shield in front of her, until she reached Tricks, taking cover behind the porch side. "Didn't you take out an entire group with those baton weapons?"

"I had the element of surprise, though!" Tricks briefly stuck his head out from behind the side of the porch. "Uh…"

Twilight raised a brow. "What?"

The end of Trick's long tail twitched, the abyssinian now cautious. "She's gone."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Spike climbed onto the porch and looked around. There was nopony in sight, and this worried Twilight most of all. She pulled Spike back with her magic and wrapped a wing around him.

Tricks, however, leaped onto the front lawn and began sprinting towards the house. Twilight called out to him, telling him to come back, but he kept going. He didn’t know why he was sprinting, nor did he know why he felt so curious. Something was drawing him towards the house. Whether it was curiosity or fate, it didn’t matter, because as he made it through the front door…

There it was…

Clutching the half-dead mare in bony claws was a stooped over emaciated figure. The shadows caressing it like a cloak, but even so the silhouette was unmistakable. It was one that was near-skeletal in nature, standing on two clawed feet, more akin to bird talons than anything else. A long, furless tail draped down behind it, waving back and forth wildly, as if warning other creatures to stay away as the whole organism made the stomach turn by how deeply unnatural it looked.

The monster hunched over, the bottom jaw of its mouth split wide in a jagged crevasse of inky black where the chin should have been, a long purple tongue emerging from the depths betwixt the two pointed jaw halves digging into the bloody eye socket of the squirming pony with a sucking squelch as it extracted the jelly-like oculus. Her mouth was gaping open in horror and pain as her brain was sliced through by the creature’s oral instrument with almost surgical precision, lobotomising her screaming into nothing but sucking gasps for breath. The fiend seemed to know exactly where to cut without killing the mare, the creature almost toying with the mare's broken body as it tested her limits before she failed and the lights faded out.

The more one inspected the abomination, the more was apparently warped about it. The creature's lower limbs were calloused and mangy, as a white bone-like exoskeleton seemed to mesh at the joints as it seemed almost grafted to diseased gray skin. The creature devoid of hair as the sickly skin seemed raw and inflamed as some debilitating condition rendered the organism completely hairless. The most worrying feature though was unnerving fact that the beast seemed to completely lack eyes, empty eye sockets taking the place of the windows of the soul as if it had seen something so horrible it had blinded itself to remove the image burned on the back of its eyes, the almost demonic sight detracting from the frail catlike ears that hung limp on the sides of the creatures head like a necrotic accessory.

Tricks was frozen with fear. He had shown such bravery when talking about the infamous stalker, but now that he was looming right in front of it, it was like facing the spectre of death himself, and no one wanted to face their end. The mare’s one good green eye darted to look at Tricks as if some part of her was still cognizant as the beast butchered her body like a swine. She released barely audible sobs, tears flowing down her bloodied cheeks. This pitiful sight was understandable, No one wanted to die; not even a heartless pony like her. Tricks stepped forward, ignoring the thumping of his heart as if bumped against his sternum, as he swallowed his fears. Maybe if he tried to help…?

THUD!

The stalker slammed its rat-like tail on the wooden floor. Although it had no eyes, it seemed to know Tricks was there, as if like the old legends the monster could smell his fear. With a quick jerk of its tongue, it pulled a chunk of the helpless mare’s brain out through her socket, its tongue retreating into its throat to deposit the portion quickly as if it was licking an ice cream cone, before flinging back out and into her head once again, repeating the process over and over as it cannibalized the gaping cranium. As each chunk was removed with ease, the mare’s body twitched and spasmed as her body received confusing signals from her rapidly weathering control center as it picked away the areas containing the self leaving the brainstem til last.

Tricks couldn’t move. He was paralyzed by the horrifying sight, his fear returning as he was unable to talk himself up as his belly turned yellow. How could a creature be so cold and uncaring, to slowly kill someone without a second thought? More importantly, how could such a monster exist?

As it scooped out the last of the brain matter, it simply dropped the lifeless pony, discarding her like a spent candy wrapper as it had gained what it wanted from her cooling cadaver. The creature ignored the twitching corpse, as it left it for worms and stepping over her shattered shape, it approached Tricks menacingly slowly. Its tongue writhed and flailed as it slowly got closer as if it was already savoring the second course that was his fresh grey matter.

Tricks just could not move. How could he? After witnessing such a horrific feeding, he was frozen with trepidation. Move… move!!!

The stalker lunged with a blood-curdling shriek, and as it was about to slice with its razor-sharp claws, a purple aura enveloped Tricks, a force pulling him out through the front door, making him land on his back in the dead grass. As the light from outside filled Tricks’ vision, he saw Twilight, looking down at him with an expression of annoyance and concern.

Twilight released a small growl, her wings outstretched in anger. "Why in Equestria would you run off like that?!"

"We've gotta run!" Tricks shouted as he scrambled to his feet, be as he looked towards the front door, there was no stalker to be found. The only trace left behind was the dead mare.

Twilight's eyes widened as she stepped into the home, unable to tear her gaze away from the victim. "Sweet Celestia… What happened?!"

Tricks was very hesitant to step inside. Instead, he took a step away from the house. "It was a stalker!"

"These things sound… horrible," whispered Twilight. She couldn't look away. The one thing that stood out to her was the one lifeless eye on the dead mare, forever open with fear. Although she and her friends had had multiple close brushes with death, it was an entirely different thing to actually see a dead body.

After about a half-hour of staring, Twilight came to her senses, reluctantly leaving the body. She'd send the Royal Guard to retrieve the poor thing when she got home. Hopefully they could give her the proper burial she deserved. Stepping outside, she found Tricks and Spike, sitting together. Spike couldn't dare to look, and so he had waited outside.

"Everypony ready to move on…?" Even Twilight could feel the hesitancy in her voice. Tricks stood up, not as shaken as before, but he was definitely on his guard now, eyes darting back and forth, scanning his surroundings. He nodded, and they headed on their way along another road to find the settlement.

. . . S t u d y G u i d e . . .

"Ahem… This is Professor Study Guide's first audio report on the stalker. I will be making more observations as time goes on. In the event that I die, my papers will be given over to the Tenpony Research Team.

"The stalker is an anomaly at first glance. However, upon further inspection, one startling thing that can be noticed is its tongue. After dissecting the subject, we can conclude that its tongue is used to detect heat in order to make up for its lack of eyes.

"When feeding, it is temporarily blind, so to compensate for that, it slams its tail while eating to create a noise which acts as a form of echolocation. I find it fascinating that a simple artificial mutation of the abyssinian could be just as perfectly implemented as a naturally occurring one.

"As we continued our research, we discovered several startling facts. The stalkers lack a stomach, and there is nowhere for the food to go, nor is there any trace of the meal. We have several theories, but as of now, none of them are solid enough to propose.

"If there is no purpose for sustenance, then… we may have to face the possibility that it's merely out of enjoyment. Never before have we seen a creature with this mindset. This would be a major step forward in mutant psychology if this were true.

"Before dissection, we have also discovered that they have a natural fear of alicorns. This would explain their sudden surge in population growth after the fall of the Goddess. With the alicorns becoming more civilized, the stalker may not see them as much of a threat anymore.

"But that doesn't mean stalkers don't react when near an alicorn. Using a volunteer, we placed an alicorn in a room. In the middle of the room is magically enhanced plexiglass to prevent the stalker on the other side from breaking through.

"When introduced to the alicorn, it quite literally fell onto its knees, screaming, and clasped its hands together, almost as if it were begging to be spared, or praying. It's now recommended that all scouting teams be assigned one alicorn volunteer if possible to ward off stalkers.

"This is Professor Study Guide, signing off."

. . . S t u d y E n d . . .

Twilight had been walking for over two hours. She knew that, too… because she counted the seconds. There wasn't much to do except to walk and count. Tricks, however, seemed perfectly content with just walking. He looked over to Twilight, noticing her little conundrum.

Tricks pulled out a deck of cards within his cloak. “Would you like to see a magic trick?”

“Being an alicorn, I can already do magic,” Twilight stated bluntly.

Tricks scoffed. “C’mon! Just lemme show you at least one.” He stepped in front of Twilight, halting her in her tracks. “Pleeeeaase?”

Twilight’s gaze drifted to the deck of cards in Tricks’ hand, then focused on his expression. He was only a kid, and really, what could it hurt? “Alright. Maybe one trick.”

Tricks nearly squee’d in excitement as he began to shuffle the cards with the expertise of a poker player. “Alright! Get ready, Twilight! I’m about to shock and amaze you!”

Twilight nearly snorted in laughter as she fixed her vision solely on the cards.

Tricks spread out the cards into a fan and showed them to her. “Pick a card, any card!”

Twilight already knew this trick. It was one of the most basic illusory card tricks out there. Tricks had the cards facing towards him, where he could clearly see. Although it was obvious, it was a trick the mind couldn’t really wrap itself around unless explained. When presented to the participant, it’s the back of the cards that are facing them, and the front of the cards that are facing the illusionist.. However, the participant doesn’t pay attention to that detail. They pay more attention to what the illusionist said, which is “pick a card”. And so, the participant goes through the entire trick without seeing that they’re being fooled.

Twilight decided to play a trick of her own. She picked a card at random and turn it to face her.

Tricks grinned wide like a Cheshire cat, which probably was appropriate for his species. “One pay close attention to that card. Make sure you have it in your mind.”

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. She looked at the card, which was a three of hearts, then looked past Tricks. “Is that an Ursa Minor?”

Tricks looked behind himself, and Twilight cast a timed spell on the card. It would be very subtle, an illusion of her own. Tricks turned back, then took Twilight’s card, not giving anything a second thought. He shuffled, then spread them out before picking a card. He showed it to her. It was… a four of spades. “Is this your card?!”

“Nope.” Twilight had the smuggest grin on her face.

Tricks was confused. He looked at the card he had chosen. It wasn’t the three of hearts. “Wait… I didn’t pick this card.”

Twilight kept up her antics. ”Are you sure?” This made Tricks second-guess himself. Maybe he had picked the wrong card?

Twilight couldn’t stifle her laughter any longer. She laughed long and hard, which made Tricks raise an eyebrow.

Twilight had finally finished after a few good minutes of guffawing. “Oh… I’m sorry. You did pick the right card. I merely cast an illusion spell on it to change it after you had pulled it out.

“That’s not very fair,” Tricks protested. “You’re using real magic.”

Twilight flashed him a smile. “And you’re using illusions, which I find to be a little dishonest.”

Tricks went on the defensive. “But it’s for fun. What do you have again illusionists?”

Twilight, with a giggle, shook her head. “I’m just playing with you. I’m sorry. I’m just not into those. Maybe when we find Trixie? She’s an illusionist, just like you.”

Rolling his eyes, Tricks smiled and laughed. “You know, you’re really cool for someone who impersonates Twilight Sparkle. You’re really dedicated to the whole ministry mare impersonation.”

Twilight scoffed. “I assure you, I’m not impersonating anypony. I’m completely original.”

Tricks had his own little smug look now. “Sure, Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ministry Mare? I think you may have hit your head when I pulled you out of that house a while back. I’m a princess.” Twilight was beginning to wonder if Tricks was okay. She had never even heard of a Ministry Mare.

Tricks immediately corrected her. “Twilight, a princess? I think you’re the one who may have hit your head. Firstly, we haven’t had a princess in over two-hundred years. Second, she never became a princess. Only ponies who were alicorns could be qualified to be princesses, last I checked.”

Was Spike right earlier? Were they really gone for two centuries? That didn’t explain why Tricks was calling her a ministry mare. She looked at her purple dragon companion. “I don’t think we’re in our Equestria anymore…

[End of Chapter]

Author's Note

We'd like to thank Dusk Feather for this chapter's chapter art. We're hoping this project takes off, honestly. We'll be here for years to come.