Fallout Equestria: Redemption is Magic

"Seems I possess a magic that gives me quite an important role in Equestria. Maybe they should make me an Alicorn princess." - Discord

Chrysalis stood atop a hill, looking down at a settlement, a smug grin on her face. This would be the chance she needed to regain power. Cozy and Tirek stood just behind her, waiting for her next move. Cozy, looking at Tirek, noticed that he somehow seemed different... She just couldn’t put her hoof on it. What was it?

Chrysalis looked behind her at her new support, pride swelling up within her. This was the day she’d take back what was rightfully hers. “Come,” she said, “we will descend and take back the power we deserve.”

“Do you really think they’re going to listen?” asked Tirek. “From what our new friend told us, they’re more likely to attack you with insults out of hunger.”

“Oh, please,” said Chrysalis. “You’re forgetting that I am the top of the ranks, the supreme ruler. Those who defy me will be crushed under my hooves.”

“If you say so,” retorted Tirek, following Chrysalis as she began walking towards the settlement. Cozy couldn’t help but feel like this world had more to it than just the devastation, as if there was some kind of magic here, one hidden, lurking. She couldn’t quite explain why she suspected it, but the feeling was there. Lingering in the back of her mind.

Upon approaching, Chrysalis immediately saw one of them; a changeling, or rather, what their visitor called a ‘hateling’. She quickly walked up to him and said, “Hello there. I couldn’t help but notice your little…” she looked at the pitiful shack housings before her, “...village. Tell me where your leader is so I can conquer this pitiful gathering.”

“Who the fuck are you?” The hateling asked with a sneer. “You look like a changeling walked into a sewer and came out with a sludge-colored seaweed mane.”

Uh oh. Cozy took a few steps back as Chrysalis charged up her horn with menacing green magic, firing it at the hateling and sending him skidding across the dirt before crashing into one of the shack houses.

This didn’t go unnoticed. Each hateling beginning to gather around Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy. In Cozy’s mind, she wondered if this was actually a good idea. Chrysalis charged her horn up once again, her magical aura flickering, the changeling queen’s eyes overflowing with malicious intent.

“Does anypony else want to question me?!” Chrysalis shouted. “Where is your leader?!”

One of the hatelings took a cautious step forward. “I am,” he said. “Wh-What of it?”

Chrysalis took a braver step forward towards the hateling leader. Looking down at him with judging eyes, she said, “You’re going to give your control over to me, and you’re going to obey my every command. If you don’t, I will ensure that the rest of your days are filled with misery and suffering.”

Cozy looked at the other hatelings, seeing mixed emotions. Some seemed to have expressions of fear while others had expressions of unamusement. The leader, however, was one of those who had been afraid.

He quickly nodded, then ran off, screaming with panic in his voice. Chrysalis smugly looked at the closest hateling she saw and commanded, “I want details on what this place is, and I want to know where I can find ponies, specifically, an alicorn and her annoying friends.”

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

Starlight looked through a file cabinet, her hooves not making her search for information any easier. She was too used to using her magic to do all the work. “Trixie, horn,” she said.

Trixie sighed and lifted out as many folders as she could. “You could say thank you,” said Trixie, clearly annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” said Starlight. “It’s just so annoying to not have my magic.”

“Can’t you use your hooves?” asked Trixie. “I still use my hooves all the time for magic tricks.”

“I don’t know how,” said Starlight. “I’ve used magic my whole life.”

Trixie had a smug expression on her face. “Don’t worry. The Great and Powerful Trixie shall teach you.”

Starlight sighed, blowing a few strands of her mane from her face. Looking at one of the floating documents, she said to Trixie, “This one.”

“Say please,” Trixie said, still smug.

“Please, Trixie,” said Starlight.

“Gladly,” said Trixie, opening the document for Starlight.

Reading, Starlight’s expression became more serious. “Hey, Trixie. Listen to this. ‘Stable Eighty-Three is dedicated to offering the best magic-free lifestyle to its residents. To achieve this paradise, we are well-equipped with… permanent magic disabling technology that will help rid us of the troubles that got us here in the first place. Stable Eighty-Three: We do it because we care.’”

Starlight put a hoof to her chest, her heart racing as she began to panic. “It’s permanent?!” she cried. “No! No no no no no!”

“M-Maybe we can fix it,” said Trixie. “Twilight could help! Or maybe there’s something here that reverses it!”

Starlight gulped, then nodded shakily. “Y-Yeah,” she said. “There’s gotta be a way to give it back. They wouldn’t just make a system like that unless they had a way to remove it, right?”

Trixie grinned. “I’m sure there’s something here that’ll help,” she said, trying to stay positive, even though deep down, she was also panicking.

Exploring most of the stable took hours, with Starlight and Trixie inspecting every room from top to bottom. There was, however, one room that showed promise, and it was what appeared to be a medical bay. The room was completely sterile and well-kept, even though nopony was around. It made Starlight wonder if there was something else here, keeping everything in tiptop shape.

Looking through the cabinets, Starlight found various medical tools, most of them, frighteningly, being scalpels and bone saws. Trixie didn’t have as much luck, either, scrounging through the bottom cabinets, moving aside the clutter within to look for something useful.

“Starlight, I think this place might be a dead end,” said Trixie. “Maybe in another room?”

“No,” said Starlight. “If there’s anything related to giving me my magic back, it should be here.”

“Well, obviously, there isn’t,” said Trixie, her front half-buried in a cabinet as she searched. “Plus, these cabinets are a little stuffy.”

Starlight sighed, opening a drawer on the far side of the room. Looking inside, she screamed.

Trixie jumped, hitting her head inside the cabinet she was searching before pulling herself out. “What is it?!”

Starlight stepped back, and as Trixie looked inside, her face went pale. “S-Sweet Celestia! Who would…?!”

Inside the drawer were small bags, each with a severed horn inside, a patient’s name displayed on each bag. What was even more disturbing were the dried red stains still on the broken ends.

“I’m going to faint!” shouted Trixie. “Starlight! Catch me!” she said, falling onto the ground. “I SAID CATCH ME!”

Starlight bit her lower lip, a little worried. “I really want to go home,” said Starlight.

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

Wreckage, a pony who had defied the odds in order to exist, walked through the streets of Manehattan, her mind foggy as always.

As she walked on her hind legs, she could hear her guitar’s strings plucking themselves, playing a somber tune. “Yeah, yeah,” she said. “We-- I mean… I know…”

She looked up at the street sign. She was on South Mane Street, so she only needed to walk… two, maybe three miles? She could hardly tell anymore. Voices whispered back and forth in her head, telling her to do horrible acts. She knew who these voices were, and she knew she couldn’t give in, or else it’d be the same incident all over again.

One of these days, she’d buy Lucky Break a drink, but for now, she had to get back home, or else the voices would take over again. This side of her, the true side, was the side nopony would ever see, and although she could deal with that, what she couldn’t deal with was what she did over and over again, day after day, hurting others.

“Wreckage,” the stallion voice in her head whispered. “Why don’t you want us to separate?”

She ignored it, climbing a large pile of rubble in the middle of the road, quickly making it to the other side. Almost there, she thought.

“Wreeeeeckage,” the mare voice whispered. “I wanna play. Let me play. I promise I won’t--”

“Q-Quiet!” shouted Wreckage, holding her hooves to her head. “Let me be me!”

“Wreckage,” the stallion voice whispered. “It’s only us. You know us. It’s me, Tracks.”

“And me, Burnout,” whispered the mare voice.

Wreckage looked around for anything to drown out the voices. Quickly, she wrapped her hooves around a stop sign, pulling with all her strength, concrete ripping from the ground. She slammed the metal sign against a building wall. “Shut up!” she screamed.

She banged the sign against the building over and over, screaming incoherently until they finally stopped whispering to her. After draining her energy, Wreckage slumped against the wall, huddled up. In front of her was a small puddle, and in it, her forever-grinning face was looking back at her, but her eyes conveyed a different emotion, one of extreme distress.

She could remember the day she’d come into being. She wasn’t born naturally, no. She was a side effect of two minds melding together, creating a mare with no memories, with only knowledge of these two other ponies.

Alone, she could be herself. She could experience life as any other pony would, but whenever she saw another pony, her curse would begin. She’d always become one of these two ponies whose minds had created hers, either Burnout or Tracks. That was their time to shine. She had no power over them when it was time to interact with another being.

Peeking around the corner, she saw no ponies. This was good. No bloodshed tonight. She just wanted to eat for a bit and rest before the next day. At least one day without violence, that’s what she wanted. She quickly hurried down the road, hearing voices as she closed in on the corner, but these weren’t the voices in her head. She had to move elsewhere.

“I hear them,” whispered Burnout. “C’mooooooon… Just a little time to myself.”

“Not her. Me. Let me out. I’m not as violent,” whispered Tracks. “I promise to… be gentle?”

Wreckage wasn’t having it. She opened a door to one of the buildings and entered into darkness, her eyes slowly adjusting. She could see the sunset light creeping through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. Somepony must’ve used this place as a temporary place of rest. Maybe she could--

“Hey! What are you doing here?!” a voice rang from the darkness, a lantern flickering. “Git! Git! This is my place!”

Oh no…

She saw his face. It was too late.

Time passed, and it wasn’t long until she was back in control, a red mess everywhere, part of the support beams going up in flames from the broken lantern. Wreckage put her hooves to her stomach. It was a little funny… One minute, you’re just walking down the street, trying to get home, and the next, you’re in a building with a dismembered pony.

She couldn’t help but let out a giggle, one of hysteria. She just wanted to exist, to coexist with others, but no… She was too weak. She was at the mercy of the voices. All she could do was laugh, laugh because she could never cry properly. She could only laugh at her inability to stop them.

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

Celestia and Luna, along with a few new alicorn friends, landed atop a building on the edge of Manehattan. Celestia had been talking to these alicorns for a while, and even though they were capable enough to act on their own, they weren’t decent conversationalists. She looked over to her sister, Luna, who had been acting cold the entire flight. Ever since they had escaped from that strange alicorn hunter, Luna had not said a single word to her sister.

“Where did you say we were heading?” asked Celestia to her new alicorn friend, Rusty Caravan.

“Tenpony Tower,” she replied. “We need to meet a friend, one who had promised to help all of our kind.”

“Tenpony Tower, you said?” asked Celestia, pointing to a large tower near the center of the city. “Would that be it?”

“Yes,” Rusty answered. Suddenly, one of the other alicorns, a purple one, spoke up.

“Is it true that you are the real Celestia?” she asked.

“Yes?” answered Celestia. “Why do you ask?”

“Have you come to lead us to glory?” asked the alicorn.

Celestia paused, looked at Luna, who didn’t seem to be listening, then looked back at the questioning alicorn. “I’m sorry. You may have been mistaken. I’m trying to find my old student and her friends.”

“So… to glory?” the alicorn asked again.

Celestia was beginning to doubt the sanity of these other princesses, if they even were princesses. She could only assume at this point. She didn’t want to be rude, of course. It was unbefitting of somepony like herself, and every pony was special, even if they were different. This was what Celestia believed. Looking to her sister, Celestia was reminded of her painful mistake a thousand years ago. She should have treated her sister better.

“Luna, why have you been so cold towards me lately?” asked Celestia.

“That is a matter we believe to be none of your business,” answered Luna. “You should focus more on the current task at hoof.”

While Luna was right, Celestia didn’t want to drop this. “Luna, please, talk to me. I am your sister.”

“That is true,” said Luna. “But we don’t feel like talking.”

Luna was so mad that she had resorted to using the royal ‘we’. Celestia breathed a heavy sigh. “Just one moment of your time?”

Luna looked at the alicorns, then at Celestia. “This would not be the ideal time.”

Looking at the alicorns, Celestia knew that Luna was right, especially if this was a matter that needed to be dealt with in private. “Let us be on our way then, I suppose,” said Celestia.

Once they landed on top of Tenpony Tower, Celestia was greeted with an unpleasant sight. In front of her and her new alicorn friends were a group of pegasi in strange uniforms, wielding unusual-looking weapons.

Behind these ponies was a single blonde-maned white-coated pegasus mare in what looked to be a white lab coat. With bags under her eyes, she tiredly asked, “What’s your business?”

“Hello,” greeted Celestia. “My, uh, friends here said there was somepony here who could help us?”

“You’re going to have to be specific,” said the mare. “We have a lot of ponies to take care of here, and we don’t have time for a bunch of random alicorns rambling on about some savior. As if I didn’t get enough of those during my research.”

“I’m sorry about that,” said Celestia. She turned to Rusty and motioned with her wing. “You had the details, I believe?”

Rusty stepped forward, her eyes darting between each pony. She seemed to be very wary of their metal devices. “We are looking for the one they call Velvet Remedy,” she announced.

“Oh, her,” said the mare, looking annoyed. “Follow me, please. Excuse me for not introducing myself before. I am Professor Study Guide. I am the head researcher at Tenpony Tower. Please, do not do anything risky, or I won’t hesitate to have my friends deal with unwanted behavior.”

Celestia was a bit put off by this passive-aggressive threat. She had never seen a pony so uptight except for Starswirl when he was still teaching her and her sister. “Very well,” she said. She looked to her friends, hoping they’d be on their best behavior.

As they went inside, Celestia couldn’t help but notice the letters MOA on all the outfits of these ponies. “Might I ask what these letters represent?” she asked.

“The Ministry of Awesome,” answered Study Guide, sounding even more annoyed than before. She sounded like she didn’t want to be here at all. Celestia could understand being frustrated with a job at times, but to actively show it to other ponies was unprofessional in her opinion.

Celestia opened her mouth to ask a question. “And what does this ministry d--”

“I suggest you read a textbook because I am obviously not one,” interrupted Study. “I’m just here to help guide ponies around the place and to do my research.”

Celestia was a little offended. This mare was just plain rude. Hopefully, the situation would pass, and Celestia would be elsewhere besides here.

Stepping into an elevator, it was apparent that not all the alicorns could fit into one elevator. Celestia could hear Study mutter something about ‘eating too much cake’.

“Don’t worry. We’ll send the elevator back up,” said Study Guide. “For now, you, sunbutt imposter. Get in here.”

Celestia stamped her hoof before stepping in. “Be wary of who you’re speaking to,” she said. “I’ll have you know I’m a princess.”

“That’s what they all say,” said Study as she pressed the third button.

As the elevator doors closed and started going down, both mares stood in silence, elevator music playing, a mare singing over the speaker. She sounded very familiar to Celestia, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.

As they passed the fifth floor, the elevator suddenly jerked, a dent being made in the door, followed by screaming. Study Guide sighed and pushed the third button again, the elevator starting its descent again.

“What was that?” asked Celestia.

“Stalker,” said Study Guide. “Fifth floor is where we’ve been doing our research. Rest assured, it can’t reach the third floor… yet.”

“You have a stalker? My sister’s had quite a few,” said Celestia, not really wanting to think about what might’ve been behind the doors. “However, I’m not going to question it.”

As they stopped at the third floor, the door opened, the two entering a large room. It was about as big as the average room in Celestia’s abode, wide enough for hundreds of ponies to reside in. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, dimly lighting up the area and allowing them to see.

As Celestia stepped out, she felt plush carpet beneath her, which reminded her a lot like decor that a noble would have gone for. However, it looked very old, like something you’d find at an antique store. “Hm… Red rose. A nice color,” she commented. As they walked, Celestia could see other ponies.

The sight of them saddened her, as they were all wearing some form of tattered rags or jackets. Dirt and grime covered many, even the younger ones who were kept by their parents’ sides. “What exactly is this place for?” asked Celestia.

Study Guide looked at Celestia, still walking. “Currently, this is a shelter. At least, until the Enclave says otherwise.”

“I see,” said Celestia. “They’re homeless, then?” she asked, the word sounding bitter in her mouth.

“Most everyone is homeless in the wasteland,” answered Study Guide. “Hard to have a proper sanctum when all you have are broken buildings and shattered furniture.”

“I can see where that would be a problem,” Celestia replied. “Is there a plan to help them?”

Study Guide remained quiet, leading Celestia to the other end of the room, where a door was marked with the number seven. Study knocked on the door, prompting a surprised shout from behind.

The door opened, revealing a charcoal-gray unicorn mare with a white mane that was accented with red and gold streaks. Her light blue eyes looked up at Celestia, the mare smiling. “Oh, hello.”

“Hello,” said Celestia, smiling back. This one seemed to at least have some manners. Study Guide yawned and looked at the watch on her right hoof.

Celestia then heard Luna’s voice from behind herself. “Greetings.”

Celestia looked back at Luna. “Ah, sister. Where are the others?”

“One at a time,” said Study Guide. “The elevator is old. It can’t take too much stress, let alone size.”

“Can’t your friends fix the cable?” asked the charcoal-gray mare.

“With what?” asked Study Guide. “We only have so many resources. Besides, that’s not our job. We’re not repairponies, we’re researchers. Go ask Commander Airspeed.”

“No, thank you,” replied the charcoal-gray mare. “When I asked him for help with the recent shipment, he scoffed and told me it wasn’t his job, either.”

“That’s the Enclave, sweetheart,” Study Guide replied. “Get used to it or leave. Your choice.”

Celestia wanted to break this conversation so badly at this point. “I’m sorry, but we were apparently looking for a Velvet Remedy?”

“That’s me,” said the charcoal-gray mare, raising a hoof. She then extended it, smiling sincerely. “Nice to meet you!”

Celestia quite enjoyed this pony’s politeness. “Why, it’s nice to meet you as well,” Celestia replied, shaking Velvet’s hoof. “I’m glad that you were kind enough to introduce yourself properly.”

“These Enclave types can be a little mean sometimes, huh?” she asked.

“I’ve never heard of them until today, I’m afraid,” said Celestia.

“I’m sorry about that,” said Velvet. “It must be hard, being an alicorn and all.”

Celestia was very confused by the statement. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry,” replied Velvet. “The other ones were the same way. It’s not just you.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” said Celestia.

“Hm…” Velvet walked in a circle around Celestia, looking around her from all sides. “Come to think of it, you’re different from the others,” she said, a very concerned look on her face the moment she saw Celestia’s cutie mark.

“I am,” said Celestia. “I’m not from around here.”

“I can tell,” replied Velvet. Velvet looked up at Celestia with some hint of an emotion in her eye that Celestia couldn’t register properly.

“Is something wrong?” asked Celestia.

“Would your name happen to be… Celestia?” asked Velvet.

So, a Celestia did exist here, but what kind? What kind of Celestia would allow the world to have fallen to such a horrible state? “Yes,” replied Celestia. “It is.”

Study Guide rolled her eyes, then said, “Tell that to the other copycats.”

Velvet looked at Study Guide and said, “I don’t know. This is a really convincing copycat.”

“Anyone can dye their fur. It’s not exactly common, but it’s not rare, either,” replied Study. “There’ve been plenty of convincing Rainbow Dash impersonators, so why should this be any different?”

Velvet looked away for a minute, the subject obviously bothering her. Celestia smiled and said, “You don’t need to believe me, Velvet Remedy. I’m merely helping these other alicorns, and will be on my way elsewhere once I find out where my student and her friends are.”

Velvet took a single step back, then said, “I know it’s probably too good to be true, but… I can’t help but know you’re her.”

“And why is that?” asked Celestia.

“I’ve seen you,” answered Velvet, “in my stable! Posters, history books, all that!”

“Your stable?” asked Celestia.

“The stables underground?” explained Velvet, or at least, tried to explain. This only confused Celestia even further.

Celestia was a little concerned with the fact ponies might be living underground. It sounded to her like an old comic book that Luna read with mole ponies in it. She tried to think of an appropriate answer, but nothing could really come to mind. She simply said, “I see.”

“Are you the real Celestia?” asked Velvet.

Another question Celestia may have had to explain. “I’m a Celestia,” she replied.

“What does that mean?” asked Velvet.

This was going to be difficult.

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

Thorax was very unsettled. Everywhere he went, he saw ruins, and it worried him. What happened to this place, and how did it get this way? All he had to go off of were strange posters with his friends on them.

As he explored one of the buildings on the edge of the city, he saw many posters of Pinkie Pie, but something was wrong. Her mane didn’t have its usual luster, looking a little gray and worn out. At the bottom of every poster, it would say something very odd and creepy, like, ‘Remember to smile! Pinkie’s watching!’

Thorax did his best to ignore the creepy details as he walked up the stairs, but as he did, he’d hear laughing every now and then, and it sounded like Pinkie. Whenever he turned around the corner, he’d catch a glimpse of something flying out of sight, followed by her laughter.

“Pinkie?” he called out. “If that’s you, this isn’t funny.”

Walking up a few more flights, he could get the obvious feeling that somepony had been watching him the entire time. He occasionally looked behind himself, his heart racing. A clutter was then suddenly heard coming from up another flight of stairs.

He hesitated, looking up before taking the first step. Then he took another. With each step, he felt as if he was getting nearer and nearer to danger, but his own determination kept him pushing through. He’d faced Chrysalis before, hadn’t he? This was nothing.

Looking out one of the shattered windows, he could tell he was pretty high up. Of course, this wasn’t a problem for him, as he had wings. Though, he did wonder if anypony would get a fear of heights from seeing this.

“Don’t forget to smile!” he heard Pinkie say from behind. Turning around, he was met with the strangest sight. It was a floating sphere of sorts, its wings flapping furiously to keep it in the air. In front was a large speaker, and coming from it, in Pinkie’s voice, was, “Intruder alert! Oh no! Looks like you took a wrong turn!”

“What?” Thorax asked, stepping back. Suddenly, a beam of magic shot out from it, catching the carpeted floor in front of him on fire. “What the?!”

He jumped to the side as it fired again, then he fired back with his own burst of magic, knocking it back, but it appeared to be slightly resistant. As it fired again, Thorax quickly transformed himself, his size growing as he morphed into a large bear. He swiped at the bot, knocking it into the wall, the device breaking and falling onto the ground.

Thorax changed back into his normal form, still a little disturbed by what had just happened. He cautiously walked forward, poking the machine with his hoof. He jumped a little when the machine shouted in Pinkie’s voice, “P-P-Pinkie’s watching! Don’t forget to sm-sm-smile!”

Thorax shuddered and walked away into the nearest room, unexpecting the next surprise. In what appeared to be an office, there was a charred skeleton on the ground. Thorax stared with wide eyes, taking a step back. He wasn’t expecting to actually find a dead pony out here.

In his mind, Thorax couldn’t help but think back to the days before he became ruler. In the hive, there were some chances of one of them passing, but only during times of battle. He himself had never seen it happen, having been born in a slightly more peaceful era, but he had heard of some passing in battle during attacks on other kingdoms.

He wondered if this may have been the case. Seeing a body burned like this, he could only think of a dragon having been a possible foe. If it was a dragon, then this pony may have suffered a cruel death.

Looking out the shattered window in the room, he could see a tower from here, a building that was slightly taller than all the others. Perhaps, if anything there’d be ponies there. It seemed like a good place to start looking. This place was obviously abandoned, a relic of a war long passed.

As he flew out the window and made his way over, he looked down at the rubble below him. Everything was just destroyed, leaving him wondering how the world could have come to such a state.

While he was thinking, he didn’t notice someone was attacking him until something whizzed right past his ear. Looking down, he saw a few unicorns with floating metal objects. There was a loud bang, followed by another small object whizzing by him.

Thorax wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but if this world had strange machines that could shoot magical lasers, he didn’t want to stick around to find out what this was. Thorax quickly flew away, narrowly dodging the whizzing objects.

Ember walked down a city street, curious of the ruins surrounding her. Only dragons could cause this kind of smoldering damage in her opinion. It made her wonder if the dragon from earlier was part of the original attack.

But, then again, the more she looked at the posters and street signs, the more she began to suspect that a lot of the damage was also because of age. Rust everywhere on the metal fences, the street sign poles, and the wrecked carts made her almost certain of it now. Now she wasn’t sure what had happened.

Walking into an old shop full of records after accidentally ripping the door off its rusty hinges, Ember looked around her, seeing the names of many musicians she had never heard up. Picking up a record, she read aloud to herself, “Sweetie Belle’s Holiday Hits. Huh… These ponies sure love their music.”

Whoever this Sweetie Belle was, there were tons of records with her name on it. “Sweetie’s Blues. Sweetie’s Greatest Hits. Sweetie’s Show Tunes?” What was with all the Sweetie Belle? Were there even any other singers?

As if to answer her own question, Ember found one that caught her eye. On the record label was a picture of a yellow pony wearing a hat and playing the fiddle. “Fiddlesticks’ Homage to the Oldies.”

Ember rolled her eyes in a bit of disgust. She couldn’t really understand most pony things. She was learning, sure, but she didn’t have the full grasp of their culture just yet. Spike had been helping her, mostly.

She put the record label back and went into the back room of the shop, seeing a skeleton of a pony. This only somewhat phased her. It was unsettling to see one here, but as a dragon, she had learned to shrug off most things she saw that would normally horrify a pony.

She noticed the book on the pony’s desk, picking it up. It was just a record of deliveries, with a big red oval circling the bottom, saying, ‘MISSING SHIPMENT!’

She tossed the book back onto the desk and walked back into the main room, seeing nothing else of interest. Along the floor was a lot of rubble and broken glass, and that didn’t really seem out of the ordinary in this city. There weren’t any clues she was able to find that could tell her what had exactly happened to this place.

Behind her, she could hear a fast-paced flapping noise. Turning around, she saw what looked like a floating metal sphere with wings. Approaching it with caution, she knocked on it, a clanging coming from it.

“You don’t see me knocking on you, now do you?” it asked in an electronic voice.

Ember took a step back. “Oh, you talk.”

“Don’t see many dragons around here,” it said. “Kinda nice to see.”

“What are you?” she asked, walking around the sphere, inspecting every detail.

“Just a bystander,” it said. “This is pretty much all I’m doing these days.”

Ember kept inspecting, asking, “Well, do you have a name?”

“Watcher,” it replied. “Funny. Never thought a dragon would be polite enough to ask someone’s name.”

“I can be nice,” said Ember, a little offended. “But that doesn’t matter now.”

“What does matter?” asked Watcher.

“I’m looking for a few friends of mine,” she answered. “Have you seen a group of ponies? There’s a baby dragon with them, too. Ah, and a changeling.”

Watcher replied, “First off, I’ve never heard of a dragon besides me who’d hang out with ponies, and second, I don’t know what a changeling is.”

“You’re a dragon?” asked Ember, looking skeptical. She knocked on the metal surface. “Don’t look like one.”

“Hey, hey! Watch the hardware!” said Watcher. “These things are old. I’m somewhere else. This is just how I talk to others from my cave.”

“A cave?” asked Ember. “Where?”

“As if I’d tell you, miss nosey scales,” replied the robotic sphere.

“Don’t gotta be rude,” said Ember, folding her arms. “Can you at least tell me if you’ve seen them?”

“Ugh… I could check,” answered Watcher. “There are still some working cameras in the city, but I doubt I’ll find who you’re looking for.”

The machine made a few beeping noises before switching to playing an odd fanfare. It slowly floated off a bit, with Ember following it. “Hey, come back!” she shouted, but Watcher didn’t respond “Where are you going?” Ember followed for well over ten minutes before the machine ceased its music. Ember tilted her head, then asked, “You in there?”

“Yeah,” said Watcher. “I, uh… We need to talk.”

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

A white pegasus with a green mane stared at his monitors, a blindfold gripped tightly in his hooves. “I see. Prophecy is already fulfilling itself,” he said to himself, looking at the screen that showed Twilight Sparkle walking with an abyssinian cat named Tricks. “Not as majestic as I had imagined her,” said the pegasus, putting a hoof on the screen zooming in on Twilight’s face.

He took a sip of his green tea, a rare commodity in the wasteland, only produced in Fog City these days. He pushed a red button and spoke into a microphone sticking out from the massive terminal. “Ginger,” he called.

“Yes, Priest Hindsight?” replied a female voice.

“How long until our production is done?” asked the pegasus.

“Estimation is six months,” replied Ginger, making Hindsight swallow his green tea with slightly greater force than usual.

“Not good enough,” he said. “We need to cut it down to three. Ramp it up. I need it done before the promised time.”

The speaker was silent for a good ten seconds before Ginger replied with, “As you wish, Priest Hindsight.”

Hindsight leaned back in his leather seat, His front hooves tapping against each other as he looked at his monitors. One monitor had gone out, the terminal suggesting that a possible hacker was looking through the same camera. It was no trouble, however, as Hindsight already knew what would happen.

He put on his blindfold, then hopped out of his chair, walking out of the room, his steps helping his ears determine where he was. He couldn’t look at anypony outside. As he went down a long hallway, he could hear the whispers of ponies he passed by.

“Hey, look. It’s Priest Hindsight. Act natural.”

“Mom, look. It’s the blind pegasus.”

“Don’t stare, it’s rude.”

“Incompetent piece of shi--”

Hindsight focused immediately on that one sentence, turning his head to ‘look’ at the pony who had said that. “What was that?” asked Hindsight.

“Nothing, sir,” a voice replied. Hindsight lifted his blindfold partly, one eye looking at a balding pegasus pony in a white lab coat.

“Are you perhaps projecting onto me for your failures in the lab?” asked Hindsight. “I’m not the one who is building the machine. I merely give you the instructions.”

“I was… talking about somepony else,” replied the pegasus.

“See to it that you keep your thoughts inward,” said Hindsight. “It’d be a shame if the wrong person heard. I’m much more forgiving, as you would know.”

The pegasus continued walking, saying, “Yes, Priest.”

Hindsight resumed walking, straightening his blindfold. Eventually, he made his way into a large room, the sound of automatic doors whooshing open. He immediately asked, “Are the uplinks ready? This test will make or break our plans.”

A voice from a mare responded, “The D.Y.L. tag has been inputted. We should be able to lock on. If not, we can try another. We have at least six more tags.”

Hindsight had been waiting for this. He had recently been granted access to the most secret of Enclave projects, a desperate attempt by them to defeat Littlepip sometime in the future. “Keep it clear, make sure nothing is cluttering the spot.”

“We’re at eighty percent already,” said the mare. “He’s coming in.”

Hindsight lifted off his blindfold, seeing a glass dome. Within were four odd-looking antennae, sparking as they charged up. “Bring him over,” said Hindsight.

The mare pulled the lever down, the machine quickly whirring into life, the antennae sparks connecting with each other. A strange distortion of reality within the dome occurring. Hindsight eagerly awaited, almost losing his calm when he saw the figure of a pony appearing, a sandy blonde mane being its most notable feature.

The small earth pony looked at all of them, his eyes widening with surprise as he had just been transported to an unknown location. Hindsight had the most genuine sense of satisfaction within him, knowing that this machine actually worked.

“Open the dome,” said Hindsight.

“We can’t,” said the mare. “We’re losing connection.”

“What?!” Hindsight exclaimed.

The pony underneath the dome slowly faded into nothing, his mouth making the words, “Who are you?” He then vanished completely, making Hindsight growl.

“Why wasn’t the connection stable?” asked Hindsight.

“The innocence levels weren’t stable,” replied the mare. “It seems this one recently lost his.”

Hindsight knew that the machine couldn’t find ponies with even the smallest hint of corruption. This corruption would interfere with the machine’s sensors, keeping them from fully bringing anyone through.

This wasn’t good enough. “What’s the next tag?” asked Hindsight.

“The P.U.P. tag is next,” replied the mare. “It’s someone from a dimension similar to ours.”

From what Hindsight knew, this machine could access other worlds, able to pull ponies through it. The Enclave, in the desperate hope of defeating Littlepip, wanted to find either a version of her that was on their side, or find someone more capable than her to guarantee the Enclave’s success.

The dome was merely a prototype at the moment. They would need another power source that was near-infinite in supply. Hindsight sighed and said, “Alright. We’ll do another test next week. I want improvements on this.”

“We don’t know if there’s a possibility for improvement,” countered the mare. “For all we know, this is the best our technology can do.”

“I don’t want to hear excuses!” exclaimed Hindsight, his voice growing more stern and angry. “I want results!”

The mare pushed up her glasses, feeling uncomfortable. “We’ll throw away the D.Y.L. tag for now. Maybe we can repurpose it later. Most tags can’t be revisited or else we risk the chance of clashing realities entirely.”

“The Enclave sure does love making risky moves,” said Hindsight as he put his blindfold back on. “Soon, we will put this machine to better use and bring over some help. You’d better fix it, or I’ll find someone more capable.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the mare, going back to inputting information.

“I’ll be back at a later date,” said Hindsight as he left the room. He wasn’t sure how professional the Enclave were. When he had risen to power, he thought they’d be more competent, but there were many mistakes made by them.

This would only set back Hindsight slightly, as he had a higher power on his side, one that guided him through all his actions, notifying him of any possible obstacles to help him avoid catastrophe. Because of this higher power, he could no longer look at more than one pony at a time. It was an acceptable trade for certain victory.

He heard a pony run up to him, saying, “Hindsight! Hindsight! I found the documents!”

Hindsight stopped walking, replying, “Hello, sister. How’s Mother?”

“She’s fine for now,” answered the mare. “Right now, though, I need to tell you that I found the documents needed.”

“That’s good,” said Hindsight. “Perhaps we can get our work done faster now, for mother’s sake.”

“Yeah,” replied his sister quietly. “Hindsight, could you come visit mom today…?”

“T-Today?” asked Hindsight. “I could, yes. What’s wrong with her?”

“She just misses you,” his sister replied. “All cooped up in that one room, she can’t talk to anyone outside it.”

Hindsight swallowed hard. His mother had balefire poisoning, a side effect from doing her job, and had been kept bound to a hospital bed for two years. Her health, according to the doctors, was only getting worse, even with the treatment Hindsight was able to give her when he finally rose to power.

At a younger age, Hindsight had grown up in a stable with her, a special one where balefire experimentation was often done, the subject having been researched for two hundred years straight. This stable was originally meant to test how society would fare using zebra alchemy, to see if there could be anything of interest in it that could be beneficial to pony society.

Naturally, they had eventually come to the topic of balefire eggs, studying them and recreating them with different properties, making multiple versions that could produce strange and bizarre effects.

The overmare and the scientists beneath her saw the balefire eggs as a promising energy source, finding that they could power most any magical artifact, creating charges that could possibly last centuries.

Hindsight had worked with his father, studying under him as a small colt. It was on the day of their careful dissection session, performed on an experimental balefire egg, that Enclave officials had broken into the stable by an unknown means. Whether it was an inside job, or some external force used, the stable dwellers would never know.

As Enclave officials had rushed into the lab, Hindsight was startled, scared for his life, bumping into the table and causing the balefire egg to roll off, shattering onto the floor in a flammable, gaseous explosion.

His father had not survived the explosion, having quickly jumped in front of Hindsight to shield him from the blast. However, Hindsight was still harmed by the heavy radiation, his sight replaced with a new magical vision.

Whenever he looked at a pony, he could see everything they felt guilty of. This eventually led to him gaining a cult following in his teen years. With some careful planning, he was even able to gain status within the Enclave itself, earning their favor with very specific promises.

Hindsight lowered his head. “I’m sorry. I’ll go visit her. I’ve just been so busy lately. The Enclave won’t let me be.”

“They won’t let any of us be, Hindsight,” said his sister.

Hindsight rubbed the back of his neck. “Lord Bale will guide us out of this mess… eventually,” he muttered.

“Lord Bale is a voice in your head,” she replied. “I don’t want to trust a voice. I want to trust you. Gotta stop with that stuff.”

Hindsight was guided by a voice, one that had been there since the accident, one that told him the secrets of balefire. With its guidance, he was indeed able to use his gift more efficiently, able to climb the ladder of social status.

With an entire stable and an even bigger cult, he was ready to put his plans into action.

But this was more important. “Yes, sister,” he said, then walked away, heading down yet another hallway to the medical wing. His mother had supported him through the toughest times, including this one. He refused to leave her helpless, not when she had helped him throughout most of his life.

As he entered her room, he could hear the hissing of a few medical talismans as they worked their magic on his mother, but what he couldn’t ignore was the raspiness of her breath. The balefire radiation had severely affected her lungs, but soon, Lord Bale would lift the curse of this poison as promised.

Hindsight just needed to wait a little longer. He quietly prayed to himself that she would survive a little longer. “M-Mother,” he said. “You wished to see me?”

“Hindsight,” his mother replied, her voice strained. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Hindsight replied. “Mother, I am fine. Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

As he walked up to the side of his mother’s bed, she replied, “Yes, Hindsight… I’m okay. I’m just worried for you and your sister. Are those nasty Enclave mistreating you?”

“Mother, they fear me,” he replied. “I have what they want, and they know that if they ever interfere with my own plans, they’ll never get to enact theirs. We’ll have the wasteland to ourselves. They’ll have the skies. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

“I just hope we’ll have peace in the end,” she replied. “There are many ways this could go wrong, and I don’t want you hurt.”

Hindsight laid his hoof on the bed, gripping his mother’s. “I’ll be careful,” he promised. “Just try to stay alive. Please…?”

There was silence, making Hindsight tense up. Just as he was about to lift his blindfold, he heard her say, “I’ll do everything I can.”

He quietly exhaled in relief, then smiled. “I love you, mom,” he said.

“I love you, too,” she answered. “Make me proud.”

“I will,” he promised once again. “We’ll live freely.”

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

Cozy watched as Chrysalis readied the army of changelings. No, not changelings, hatelings. There was a difference, and Cozy Glow could see it. They were much more aggressive than their more docile counterparts. She wondered if Chrysalis’ changelings were like this before Thorax came along, or if the hatelings were worse.

Tirek looked down at Cozy, then looked at Chrysalis. From his point of view, things seemed to be working too well, as if it were all being set up in their favor. He couldn’t help but think that there was some grand plan at work.

Chrysalis was pleased with the organization she was able to bring to this group of misfits. Soon, she’d be ready to launch an attack on the nearest city. If this truly was a post-apocalypse, then she’d be at an advantage, able to use her advanced knowledge of tactics,

“We attack tonight,” she said, a sinister grin on her face. “If Manehattan is in ruins, then I want it seized!”

“My queen,” a small drone timidly said. “I don’t think we can take over so easily. There’s Enclave there.”

“This Enclave shall be facing me,” replied Chrysalis. “You may be weak now, but if you follow my instruction, they shall easily crumble. I want to know everything about them.”

As Chrysalis was led to a few changelings that knew more about the Enclave, Cozy looked at the other ones. They seemed to be arguing with each other constantly, something that would probably lead to their own defeat if not educated.

Putting the thought of war aside, Cozy thought about other things, like her old home.

She remembered the day before she had signed up for the School of Friendship. It had been a very long road, one that led to chaos within her life. She hardly ever talked about her parents, or what her life was like, having stayed quiet and looking to Tirek for guidance instead.

When she had first written to him, she had been hesitant about her own actions, but had quickly brushed it off, charging into the subject of wickedness. From there on, she would learn of her unique talent in manipulation, gaining her cutie mark. No longer would she go back to her old life.

Looking at Tirek, she noticed that his frail figure was slightly bigger and taller, but she hadn’t seen him feed from anyone. “Tirek, are you okay?” she asked.

Tirek raised a brow as he looked back at Cozy. “What do you mean?” he replied.

“You look a little… buffer,” she said. “Did you take any magic from anypony?”

“No, not yet,” he answered. “But I do feel something in the air… Something powerful happened here, and there’s still residual magic.”

Cozy wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that. If there was residual magic, would Tirek continue to soak it up? How big would he even get? Cozy flipped the channel of her mind to another topic. “So, is Chrysalis gonna take over Manehattan? Where do we fit in?” she asked.

Chrysalis, having just come back, answered, “You’ll get your reward. Don’t fret. After all, you did help me launch an attack on Equestria, and brought me closer to victory than I ever could have on my own.”

From Cozy’s point of view, Chrysalis sounded bitter about that last part. She wasn’t too sure with Chrysalis’ tone. “If you say so,” said Cozy, averting her gaze.

Chrysalis looked over Tirek’s form. “You seem a bit… sturdier,” she commented. “Have you been secretly feeding from my changelings?”

“No,” replied Tirek. “There’s an unknown magic here, one that seems to be naturally drawn towards me. Whatever happened here, it’s caused much pain, and that emotion is still present as magic, so I passively feed.”

“Well, keep it under control,” said Chrysalis. “I don’t want to have an ally who thinks he has a chance of overthrowing me.”

“What happened to teamwork?” asked Tirek, looking smug.

“That is still present,” replied Chrysalis. “We shall see where it goes. I’m willing to let you grow for now, but if I see any hint of a planned coup, I’ll show no mercy.”

“Don’t worry,” replied Tirek. “I’m planning on taking my own share, that’s all. You can keep your pathetic changelings and your expanding hive, but I shall have my own land as well. Do not forget, we both have goals that don’t need to conflict.”

Cozy idly kicked her hind legs as she sat on a rotten tree stump. Their teamwork seemed to be fading, and she needed to think of a way to keep it together. Soon. Soon, she’ll think of something. She just needed to think.

Just needed to think, that’s all…

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

Personal Terminal Name: Studious Guide

Status: Online

Enter Password: *************

File Accessed: Temporal Anomaly

Priority Six Enclave file detected in citizen terminal. Standby. Attempting to contact authorities…

Server connection interrupted.

Signal interruption found. Deleting file in 3… 2… 1…

Secondary Password: ********

Secondary Password Accepted.

Authorized. Welcome, Ms. President.

----------------------------------------

Study Guide was a simple mare. If anything was hidden from her, she wanted to know what it was. The Enclave was no exception. With a signal blocker from her brother, she was able to finally get her hooves on a single, elusive file. Her eyes scanned the document, looking over every detail.

Momentarily looking out one of the top floor windows of Tenpony Tower, Study Guide thought to herself. She was tired of being stationed here. They had assigned her here, simply because they knew she’d get in the way.

Even worse, Double Blind had to be brought along, as part of the program. And even worse than that, she had to deal with a group of alicorns today, one of which was convinced they were Celestia.

What Study Guide needed more than anything right now was alcohol, but she had gone through the last bottle earlier today, and her request for more supplies was denied, so she couldn’t make her own.

All she had to cope for today’s angst was this small victory.

As she looked through the document, she became more intrigued as she read some of the more crucial details. Everything within it detailed temporal anomalies that had happened within the past two hundred years, including several years before the war had even happened.

Megaspells, when handled correctly, might actually be capable of altering the very fabric of spacetime. When brought up in conversation, most ponies think of the megaspell as a weapon, used for pure destruction, when, in fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Originally, megaspells were meant to enhance healing spells, as explained by Ministry Mare Fluttershy during the war. However, the good intention was quickly forgotten once the balefire megaspell was launched.

Although we have very little evidence for it, one of our researchers, Decennium, keeps insisting that the first megaspell had changed something. He often referred to memory orbs he had collected from ghouls in order to back up his claim, but we know that any memories, especially after two hundred years, can be very faulty.

With the help from Arcane Vast of the Twilight Society, we were eventually able to detect an alternate timeline where changelings never existed. The process of clairvoyance itself, due to it being a rarely-researched art, took months of planning, with four days of consistently channeling magic every three hours to keep the unicorn from being significantly harmed.

Decennium continues to insist that his hypothesis is a fact because of this discovery, but many of us are still skeptical, as the zebras merely used balefire eggs and pink cloud with the megaspells. There was nothing within the megaspell that was related to time travel whatsoever.

We are still, as of yet, unable to interact with the other timeline. With some machinery, we hope to have some degree of success, but it is agreed upon by arcane researchers that we will not get far with technological science alone.

To use a megaspell to go through time would be, by Arcane Vast’s words, “suicide”, due to being unable to create our own custom megaspell. Using a megaspell that had been created by the ministries would be difficult, as we wouldn’t know how much it would strengthen the spell.

It would most likely result in jumping too far back or not back enough.

Study Guide needed a drink, and badly. “What in the fuck is this bullshit?” she asked herself. “This is nothing but a bad hypothesis.”

Her door swung wide open, startling Study Guide. She tapped the delete button, the file erasing itself. Had they found out what she did? She looked at the door and…

Double Blind stood in the doorway. “I brought food!”

Study Guide needed a drink. She had just deleted a top-secret file in the fear that the Enclave higher-ups had found out, only to find out that it was this bumbling idiot. “That’s two years gone,” she muttered.

Of course, the file was indeed two years old. It was unknown whether or not the Enclave had actually made any progress since then. She doubted it, due to Littlepip having wrecked the Enclave’s shit. Science would have been halted, and there would have probably been a cancellation of the study.

Much of what she had read was simply bad science in her opinion. A megaspell wouldn’t be capable of altering time if it wasn’t enhancing such a spell. Why did this fool, Decennium, believe the initial impact of the megaspell caused a break? And if there really was a timeline where changelings didn’t exist, then why?

“Something’s not right,” she muttered, looking up at the ceiling, thinking deeply. “I need to find this Decennium.”

“What?” asked Double Blind.

“Nothing,” replied Study Guide. “What do we have this time?”

“Not much,” he said. “It’s, uh… canned stuff.”

“It’s always canned stuff,” said Study Guide. “In fact, most canned stuff is generic. They just put different labels on it to make it seem like it’s another flavor when it’s all just the same shit.”

“Littlepip destroyed the sky crops,” muttered Double Blind.

“It was tasteless, anyway,” said Study Guide. “I don’t see why you’re upset over it.”

Double Blind opened up the can with an opener in his wing, popping off the lid to reveal a mass of goop. “Uh… It’s purple in this one.”

Study Guide poked at it with her pencil. Pulling the pencil back out, the gooey substance stretched as if trying to cling to the wooden surface of the writing utensil. “Yep,” she said. “Different color, same shit. Same flavor, too.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Dunno,” she replied. “From my guess, it’s completely processed, completely artificial.”

“Makes you wish for something more tasteful,” said Double Blind, shaking the can a little, the goop wobbling inside and making… squelching noises. He made a disgusted expression as the sounds greeted his ears.

Study Guide settled into her chair, leaning back. “I hear that, uh, Private Pettyfeather has snack cakes hidden in her locker.”

Double Blind raised his gaze up to meet Study’s. “We doin’ a raid?”

Study Guide nodded with a smirk, judging his sudden eagerness to turn on a fellow Enclave member. “I’m slowly beginning to like you.”

“Thanks,” said Double Blind.

“Slowly,” repeated Study Guide, her smirk vanishing.

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

Discord wasn’t liking this. There was chaos, sure, but this wasn’t the chaos he was used to. The chaos he was used to had whimsy to it. It had some degree of fun.

This wasn’t fun.

And the worst part of it all was that he couldn’t do a thing about it, but that would change soon, as he knew Fluttershy was near. He just needed to get to her before anything bad happened. Luckily, he knew where she’d be. He just had to get there, whether he was powerless or not. It didn’t matter what form he was in. He’d travel far through the wasteland to get to her.

He needed her help, and fast.