Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Pandora's Box, Part 3

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“It took a bit of time for Slowtrot to explain to me what a Nightmare was as he barely seemed to know what it was himself. From what I could understand, Nightmares are some sort of special demon that haunts a ponies dreams and tries to take control of them. The most famous one among ponies being Nightmare Moon.

The Nightmare Phobetor was an even older but mostly forgotten demon who was imprisoned by a pony called Celestia. From what Slowtrot could remember and put together, Phobetor was a fake pony made of gold named Pandora, who was made by forgotten gods. Her duty was to safeguard a jar filled with all the evil in the world, but decided to just open it to curse pony kind. The action destroys her body, leaving only her golden eyes behind. Now she seeks to plunge the world into darkness by stealing all the secrets the world holds so as to turn ponies back into ignorant animals.

It all has the mark of a creation myth, old legends. Yet this world had proven to me to be too magical to simply brush his story off as a simple fairytale.” ~ Azure Dice

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I once again found myself back in the warehouse looking Victoria in the eye’s. No sound; just the stillness within the green haze of S.A.T.S.

It was hard to believe, yet I had proof of it staring me in the face, Thorn Rosland was still alive. She ruled an underwater city, likely protecting Despoines. But what was she doing there? What was she planning, and why had she not surfaced to do whatever she wanted?

I didn’t like it at all.

And now I have a location; an invitation.

Maybe I should take those twins up on their offer.

Time slowly began returning to normal. The hustle and bustle from outside once again became a constant background noise only matching the sound of my own heartbeat.

Victoria took a step back, confusion in her eyes, but she maintained a straight face. Quickly looking around, she took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, it seems that you all are busy, and I do have a few other things to do first. I’ll make an appointment later Miss Quicktrot, as we have things to... discuss.”

Turning, Victoria quickly made her exit. From the door, I could see several ponies in sunglasses waiting for her.

Once the door was closed, all eyes fell onto Quicktrot, who then returned to her paperwork at the small desk. “I, too, have things to… ponder over. You all can go.”

“Weird?” Star Charter said loudly before looking at me suspiciously. “Well, I guess we can go hang out at the Gunrunners. Slowtrot, I really got to hear your story now.”

Harp Melody looked at Star suspiciously. “Yes, I think we have a lot of stories to hear about.”

I was sure of it. Both Victoria and Quicktrot saw those memories. Mine, Thorns, and Victoria.

But did Quicktrot see Phobetor? Looking back at her, the possessed mare was going through documents one by one, comparing them. My eyes drifted to her shadow that flickered in the unsteady light. There, two golden eyes looked back at me, and like a barely existing wind, I heard her.

“Shhhhh…” Was the noise Phobetor made before closing her eyes and becoming nothing more than a shadow within Quicktrot.

That was all I needed to know. Quicktrot knew nothing, or maybe simply suspected. Still, a piece of that nightmare was in her and wanted to be free. It made things all the more complicated, though that didn’t change the fact that Quicktrot herself was evil.

Still, this was too much. I needed a break from this madness.

Looking over at Star, I recalled what Prism asked me. “Say, we should stop by the free clinic first. Hydrangea is there.”

Star looked back at me. “Who's that?”

I face hoofed. “Sorry. Wrong filly.” I lowered my hoof from my face as I focused back on Star and I clarified, “Your daughter, Bridget, is at the free clinic. Prism is out doing chores last I saw her.”

With a smile and nod, Star left. Harp followed and I stayed for a moment, looking back at Quicktrot.

A cartoon version of Quicktrot floated in my E.F.S. looking quite grumpy. “Remember, if you can convince Harp to join me, I will give you whatever. I can even help you get to that strange destination those weird twins marked in your pipbuck.”

I still didn’t trust her, but…

“I’ll think about it,” I said before leaving.

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Entering the free clinic was an odd sight to see as three fillies had a tea party with three young adult mares. Cloudy Sunrise seemed to be enjoying herself, where Live Axle looked quite nervous upon seeing us. Dead Axle, on the other hoof, looked half asleep.

Our arrival seemed to snap Dead Axle out of her sleepy state. She said with an exhausted sigh as she got up, “Thank Celestia you're here.”

“Mommy!” Bridget beamed with excitement as she fluttered her wings and leapt up and over the tea party and landed in Star’s hooves.

My eyes twitched as I heard that word and saw the filly. She had horns just like the fillies that called Thorn their mother.

Star held Bridget tightly, to the point that her filly began to struggle. She had to let her go. “Sorry darling. So. how was your day?”

I felt a bump on my shoulder. Finding Dead Axle with an annoyed look on her face. “Hey, can you get my sis to go home now? She's being as stubborn as a mule.”

Live Axle trotted over, staring daggers at her sister. “Am not! I just wanted to thank Slowtrot.” She looked down as she talked. “We don’t know much about medicine and treatments and such within the clan, so we never thought anything might have been wrong. That zebra elder, Jali, she wrote down a list of activities I can do to keep myself from, well, losing control of myself and magically going berserk.”

Dead Axle laughed. “Ya, and here I thought we Earth Ponies had no magic. You know, not having wings or a horn. Well, that at least answers why we earth ponies sometimes just do the impossible. It also explains how Dad was able to lift and throw one of those wrecked motor wagons at a Hell Hound during one of his moments.”

The two sisters shared a chuckle between themselves. While they did that, everypony helped pack away the tea party. Cloudy gave Harp a hug and a kiss before going home with Harp. She promised to meet her there later. The Fillies went with us. Jali still seemed to be out at the moment, and Prism was likely still running errands.

I don’t know why, but the twins also followed us. Something about really wanting to see the Smuggler.

Strangely, through the whole thing, Harp had been mostly quiet. She also looked very irritated.

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Arriving at the Gunrunners reception room, the small griffin filly, Pepperbox, fluttered over to her father yelling “Daddy” which reminded me of the gigantic armored hulk I saw in Victoria’s memory.

Star trotted over with Bridget on her back. Light Step followed her. “Hey Longslide, can you look after the girls for a bit? I need to talk with the others about adult things.”

He waited several odd seconds before patting his daughter on the head. “Alright, I’ll go take them to dad. He’s been in a good mood since we got those service rifles shipped out. He wouldn’t mind playing with his grandchildren right now.”

With that, Longslide trotted into the compound with the three fillies. Along the way, he carefully closed the door behind him.

“Good to see them all in high spirits,” Star cheered with a huge grin on her face.

She then tossed off her saddlebag. I saw a new sword hanging off its leather harness. Its buckle… its buckle had Thorn’s cutie mark on it! Opening her saddlebag, she pulled out what looked like really old, tattered, and modified stable barding. It had leather padding that was riveted with spikes. It also had streaks of red paint all over.

“Thanks to Victoria's help, I was able to get a lead on those raiders that attacked us.” Star turned the barding to show a number 24 on it with a red circle around it. “The raiders are known as the Blood Moon clan. I think this might lead us to where they might be. It seemed really important with how their chem materials were in a locker marked with the number and such.”

“So a stable. They do make great hideouts,” Dead Axle spoke up. “There's a few along route 50 that my clan found. They’re all dead, unfortunately. If we don’t keep an eye on them, they turn into some critter nests or a raider base.”

“Oh, I remember hearing about that,” Live Axle chimed in. “The war with the raider lord that grandfather fought in. The raider lord had found a half intact stable filled with food and clean water. He used it to rally all the other raider tribes under her banner. They tried to take over our territory, but were crushed when we brought out our artillery.

I raised an eyebrow at that last part. “The Desperado’s has artillery?”

Dead nodded. “Cannons, AA guns, and long range mortars. A lot of it is old early war guns our ancestors kept nice and safe. We even started making our own when Redeye was pushing into our territory, though the blacksmiths can only make 'em so fast, along with the shells.”

Star petted on the stable barding to get our attention. “Then you think they could be in a stable?”

“Well…” Harp spoke up after not addressing us since we left the warehouse. She was tapping on her pipbuck with an annoyed look on her face. After that, she clicked her tongue. “I can’t deny it would make a possible location. It is not too far from New Appaloosa from what the map shows me, and a stable can be easily defended, along with being well hidden.”

She finally looked up at us. No, at Star with a hate-filled glare. “It would also make a great place for a trap!” she growled.

Star raised an eyebrow. “The fuck are you glaring at me for? And what’s this about a trap?”

Feeling a bit confused by the sudden aggression, I tried to interject. “Harp, is there something wrong?”

Her glare drifted to me now. “Something wrong? Ya, there's something wrong.” She resumed her glaring at Star. “What wrong is that she’s a Corps Brigadier, one of Victoria's hench ponies.”

Star took a step back. “What? How do ya know about ma gang?”

“How!” Harp growled. “They raided my home, took my family, and hurt my friend!”

Harp began to shimmer with magic as though heat was raising off of her. “Your fucking gang chased me all over the islands! Because of them, I lost ponies important to me, and those important to my friends too.”

Star took a step back as Harp took a step closer to her, almost shouting.

“And, of course, the first friend I make out here is one of that bitch’s lackeys! You all are vile barbaric monsters, and Victoria is a psychotic blackhearted abomination only pretending to be a pony!” Harp said with hate and vile in her voice.

I couldn't say anything as Harp ranted at Star. I just watched as Star’s face went from surprised to scrunching up in her own anger.

Taking a step closer, Star got muzzle to muzzle to Harp. “I don’t give two fuck what you think about me bitch, but I will not have you talking shit about Victoria. She's a mare that stands above all, unlike you who is just a little lost filly who thinks you’re all hot shit! If anypony is an abomination it is you, the most crossed bread fucking thing I have ever seen.”

Poking Star in the chest, she didn’t break eye contact. “You’re accusing me an abomination? At least I’m not some mutant with vile eyes made with evil magic! Why don’t you show them those eyes of yours. Prove to us how much you're an evil monster, just like Victoria!”

A nudge came from Live Axle who looked worried. She motioned with her head, conveying that maybe somepony should do something.

That somepony, of course, was me.

“Alright, that's enough!” I said sternly.

A snake came from Star, ignoring me as she shouted. “I AM NOT EVIL!”

Harp gave a short and snobbish laugh. “Your magic distinctly feels evil.”

Then Harp poked Star again. “I should have known from the start! That you’re only pretending to be a good pony, that deep down there is only a fucking monster, just like the rest of your-”

Star sneered back at her. “You don’t know the shit I’ve dealt with, you stuck up prissy bitch!”

“I said enough!” I said louder, but they didn’t respond. They just kept staring each other down.

Pulling out my gun, Chekhov's Promise, I racked the barrel and shouted as loudly as I could. “STOP THIS BEFORE I DO SOMETHING STUPID TO MAKE YOU STOP!”

Star wiped her head around in surprise as Harp fell back. Even I shocked myself with how loud I was, but I was even more shocked by Star.

Her eyes were bleeding.

“Fuck! Are you okay? Your eyes.” I cried out as I trotted over.

Star covered her face as she turned her head away. “I’m fine. It’s… it’s just a condition.”

“The fuck it is.” Harp snarled. “She has the eyes of a-”

Stopping on the ground, I demanded, “Enough!” which shut Harp up.

Taking a deep breath, I sat in between the bickering mares, hoping it would be enough to keep them from starting up again. “Maybe you two should give an explanation that doesn't involve shouting and insults. We all already have enough problems as it is without trying to tear each other’s throats out. Okay?”

I looked over at Harp. “Maybe you should tell us, calmly, what you know about Victoria.”

Harp avoided my eye contact. She trembled for several seconds before giving a huff. “The Corpse Brigade spearheaded the invasion of the Marewaii Islands. They were lead by a pony called Carving Doll.”

Star perked her ears up and opened her mouth, but I shoved my hoof in her face to make her wait her turn.

“I can't forgive that bitch! She wore the armor of a pony I cared deeply about. A pony I had just lost. She snuck into my home and just started mindlessly slaughtering the ponies inside. She even killed Rototom, the sister of my friend. I had to watch as the hope was draining from her eyes, and…” Tears welled up in Harp's eyes.

After that, she glared up at Star before continuing. “I watched as they used that strang injection to rob her of her beautiful yellow eyes and gave her eyes just like yours. I had to watch Vibraphone change into something not like herself. Last I saw her… I don’t think she was even a living pony anymore. Her main had turned white, and two golden-like horns had grown out of her head. She was so... cold.”

Harp let herself slump onto the ground as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “They took so much from me, and it was all my fault! They found my home because they found me first. It was all my fault. Why was I even born?”

All the rage and hate was gone from Harp. All that was left was a small quivering pony.

“DON’T EVER SAY THAT!” Star yelled. Her voice was void of any anger, but filled with… worry?

Star took a step closer to Harp, wiping the blood from her face. “Bridget really likes you. I like you, and you keep mentioning this friend of yours. I’m sure they, like myself, would be sad if you weren’t around. So never say that. Never ever say anything like that.”

There was a quiet pause before Star continued. She avoided eye contact by looking at the ground. “I… I already know I’m not a good pony, but I’m trying. By the goddesses, I’ve been trying. I want Bridget to grow up proud of her mother, even if I am leaving her and Prism.”

“Leaving?” I asked.

Star nodded. “Victoria appeared out of the blue the other day. Hadn't seen her in over ten years, then there she was. Wants me back with her crew. She regrets letting Prism take me away and she thinks I can be her second. I can't take Prism and Bridget with me, but I can make sure they will have the caps to live.”

A smile formed on Star's face, but it didn’t look happy. “Even if I have to do bad with Victoria, I can at least do good by Bridget.”

Harp picked herself up, also avoiding eye contact. “What you're saying is… you're not actually with Victoria, just knew her from long ago.”

Star nodded and took a deep breath. “Maybe I should start from the beginning. Tell you how I met Victoria and how I became a Corps Brigadier. It’s a bit of a story, so I’ll skip over the unimportant parts.”

“So I come from a place called the Blackwater. It’s a ship. Well, it’s actually two large ships welded together. It acts as a city and supply port for the fleets, so it’s quite active as floating cities go.” Star turned her head from us, lifting the back of her mane to reveal a small tattoo on the back of her neck. It was a symbol of two bits; one with a Thorn’s cutie mark on the face, and the other having a compass. “We receive this mark from the church after completely reading the book of the Prophet on our own. That where I meant Victoria.”

She let her mane drop as she turned back to face us. “Victoria was one of the few survivors of a ship that had its crew up and disappeared. The other survivors were two other slave fillies, Puppet Strings and Carving doll, as well as the captain, who I was told had gone mad. So, when she was brought to the Blackwater, I’m told it was quite the big deal. So much so the captain of the Blackwater took her in where she was then put to work at the church on the captain’s behalf.

“At this time my mother, my real mother that is, was working in the production factory. She was selling her body to make extra pieces. Then, one day, she just disappeared. Maybe she joined a ship to get away, or simply died and was thrown overboard.” Star shrugged as though it was nothing. “It was not an uncommon thing and, like a lot of foals, I ended up living in the walls of the ship where adults can’t go. We relied on the charity of the church for our daily meal where a lot of us would get to know Victoria as she both hoofed out food and led us in song.”

Star chuckled as she looked a bit distant while she reminisced. “She was really popular aboard the ship, you see, and quickly got her own following of ponies and other creatures. It was the start of her gang, and we foals were paid in extra food to move messages around for her. It was interesting to see her talk up the adults, get them to do what she wanted, though there were always some who tried to hurt her as well. Victoria was a brutal fighter for a young mare. It even scared the adults with how well she could destroy a pony.”

Another sigh came from Star. “Well, something happened between Victoria and the captain which caused the two to start fighting, like shooting guns at each other, which forced her to go into hiding. The captain began rounding up the ponies who followed Victoria and causing them to go into hiding as well. I didn’t understand why all that took place at the time, so it caught me by surprise when the captain had captured us foals who were running for Victoria.”

Star lifted up the shirt she had on and brushed up the fur on her chest which revealed a scar. “The captain then had us executed. I, unlike the others, tried and fought using a spring knife Victoria gave me. I got her in the eye, but then she stabbed me and kicked me overboard into the water.” A wicked little smile formed on her face as she let her shit drop. “Took her sword with me when I fell.”

Her smile relaxed, looking warmer. “That's when I met Prism. She saved me from the waters and patched me up. I was so confused at that time. Was I alive or dead? Did the goddess Luna save me? So many other thoughts ran through my head as well. What surprised me the most was how kind she was being and how she seemed worried about me. Other than Victoria, not many ponies worried about me.”

She pointed at her eyes with one hoof. “My survival, and the stealing of the captain's sword, gained me the right to join Victoria's crew officially. She gave me the evil eye as the mark of being part of her family. After that, I helped her in killing the captain so as to take over the Blackwater.”

Harp cocked an eyebrow. “So you were Victoria's foal soldier? She was just using you?”

Star gave a sharp laugh. “Using me? We used each other. By working with Victoria, I, and any foal with me, were guaranteed protection from most of the other ponies. The Blackwater is not a place for the weak. Foal or adult, death comes easy for all of us there. Without Victoria looking out for me or seeing me as a useful tool, I would have likely been kicked overboard long before I met Prism. I was just another abandoned foal, and Victoria was there for me.”

I could see Star’s eyes watering up. “Where my real mother pretended I didn’t exist, Victoria taught me how to read, fed me every day, and made sure I knew how to survive. She may have used me, but I needed her. She meant the world to me.”

“Then why did you leave her?” I asked.

Star became silent as she looked down at the floor. “I don’t know.”

“And why do you want to leave Prism now?” I then asked.

Her head snapped to look me in the eyes. “I don’t fucking want to leave!”

Star’s body posture slumped. She wiped the tears from her before they could escape her eyes. “I want to stay here. I want to stay with Bridget and Prism. I want to keep my family happy, and I want Victora to join my family. I want Victoria and Prism to like each other, but I know that is impossible. But at least I can make sure they're safe.”

I looked over at Harp. In doing so, I noticed that her irritation and anger finally subsiding as she listened. It was good to see everypony starting to calm down because I still had some bad news to share. I was still unsure if I should tell them or not, but the more I let it rattle in my brain, the more it was clear that if I didn’t tell anypony what I knew, I’ll never know if I was going crazy or not. Frankly, it was all madness from the start.

At least Harp believed what I had told her about Quicktrot since she had dealt with her once before.

Harp got back up. Still shimmered with magic as she lowered her head at Star. “I… I think I understand now. I’m sorry for not listening to you. I should have known better.”

Star looked down at Harp flatly for a few seconds before giving a smile that had a hint of regret. “Ya, I got a bit full of myself there, too.”

I cleared my throat. “If you two are done fighting now, I get some strange news I recently learned.” I scratched my chin as I tried to think how to start. My eyes drifted to Star before panning to the twins. “Maybe I should start from the beginning to get some context, but first.”

I looked at Harp. “You remember about how I said that one of Quicktrot’s main soul fragments is from a nightmare?”

She nodded. “Phobetor, you said.”

“Right. Well, It turns out that particular soul fragment is sentient, like some smaller version of Phobetor in a different cage,” I explained.

Harp took a step back in surprise. “Seriously!?”

This time I nodded. “Yes, and she is no different from her main form, sniffing out secrets and trying to break free. Ended seeing two of those secrets she dug out of Quicktrot and Victoria.”

Star whipped her head around to look at me, surprise clearly on her face. “Victoria's secrets? And who is this Pho pony?”

Harp stepped in the answer. “Phobetor; she’s the pony responsible for our teleportation here and she’s a nightmare. She had either aligned with, or had taken control over the Corps Brigaders who held me hostage. I’m not sure which, but before I had fallen into the megaspell, she was using Blackspots corps to fight my friend Vibraphone. No matter how much she shot him, he just kept getting back up.”

This time Star took a step back. “Moving corps.” she said in a worried tone. “Like… necromancery?”

There was a pause as Harp and I glanced at each other, then we both repeated. “Necromancery?”

Star’s eyes shifted a little. “It’s ahhh… it’s a magic that let you control the dead, I ahhh… I heard that harpies know such magic.”

Harp flinched. Her magic flashed with a boost of her simmering. “You mean one of those, bird-like monsters?”

“Maybe. I've never seen one before.” Star replied.

I felt a nudge on the other side of my flank as both Live and Dead Axle gave me concerned looks.

“We’re a bit lost here, Slowtrot,” Live Axle admitted to me.

“Ya. Care to tell us this secret the boss had? She is your sis, after all.” Dead Axle reminded with a smirk on her face.

Right. Time to start explaining. “Well, first off, you see, Quicktrot is, well ... she’s not my sister, or even a real pony. It all started when I won a pipbuck at a raffle.” I started my explanation. The memories from the past came out clear as day.

I skipped over the unnecessary details as well as the embarrassing one. Harp paid close attention about the R&D Stable, likely because one of her ancestors came from there, if what Qicktrot said was true. Star’s eyes went wide when I mentioned Thorn’s involvement, and everypony was dead quiet when I brought up the nightmare Phobetor and how she controls me like a puppet. Finally, I came to how Quicktrot Fragment came into existence, and how I was trapped in the void, or a time-space bubble, as Star called it.

Lastly, I explained what I saw after meeting Victoria. I elaborated on how Thorn was somehow involved with the Enclave and Stable-tec, and then about the underwater city there Thorn currently resides.

A sharp whistle came from Dead Axle. “That’s crazy stuff. I mean the wasteland can be a weird place, but all that is a bit much. Nightmares, time-traveling, and a city under the ocean. Also, the boss being some soul-eating pipbuck virus. If ya just said soul-eating monster, I’d believe it, but ya went too far with that story.”

Live Axle nodded in agreement with her sister. “Ya got some weirdness around you, but how in fuck do ya expect us to bite that lode of bramin shit?”

A chuckle came from Star. “Right. You had me going there for a moment. The prophet is still alive, living under the waters, and Victoria being a daughter of hers or something.”

A sigh came from Harp as well. “Well, I can confirm that he is from the past, but only really that.”

Right. Even I wouldn't have believed me If I had told myself all that. “Oh, and I can move through time and space, somehow.” I heard myself say.

“Ya ya. There's that too, but I might have been just delusional at the time,” I replied to myself, waving me off dismissively.

I then froze for a moment before turning my head slowly to see who just spoke. There I was across from myself, covered in mud and holding a small shovel with a shotgun slung over my back.

We all jumped back in surprise and stumbled over ourselves. Harp fell into me, and I felt a wave of… Magic?

*Splash*

Pulling myself up, I found myself in a mud puddle as a light rain fell. The sounds of explosions were all over me and the smell of death violated my nose.

I was clearly not at the Gunrunners compound but in some long and deep muddy ditch.

*Splash*

Turning to the noise in the dim light, I saw an injured zebra stallion in brown and green fatigues.

My Eyes Forwarded Sparkle marked him red, hostile.

The Zebra was staring daggers at me as he said. “Omunye wenu amaponi ama-curst, afe njengabanye!” then pulled out some sort of short spear from his side and charged me.

“Ironbuck S.A.T.S.” I yelled.

Time slowed to a crawl to the point I could see the raindrops slowly fall around me like green jewels. I was still fucking confused, but at least I had time to think, though I wish I didn’t have a Zebra charging me. Why must this day be so weird and terrifying?

Returning to the main problem at hoof, the Zebra, he was clearly hostile, even without the E.F.S. help I could see that. Checking the actions I can take while S.A.T.S. it was the same two as I remember. Where the normal pipbuck’s S.A.T.S. could do more actions, I had Tactical S.A.T.S. which was limited to two actions, but I can do more than just attack.

I didn’t have a weapon ready, so that needed to be fixed. A green holographic image of my gun then formed in front of my mouth. Parts of the Zebra were then highlighted, giving me different percentile numbers to my chance of hitting him.

All were bad. Real bad. Nothing above 25% chance to hit, and though slowly, he was still getting closer.

I only had one shot, and I didn’t trust the Zebra to go down easy, so I selected his head and initialized the actions.

As time began to move faster, Chekhov's Promise levitated out of my bag. The bit zipped into my mouth. The Zebra's eyes widened as he got closer. The spear pointed in my direction. My gun fired right as he got close enough to hit me.

As the spear cut into my cheek, the Zebra's head exploded into a bloody mess. I watched as flesh, bone, and graymatter flew through the air along with a freed eye of the zebra somehow still looking at me as it drifted off.

When time resumed to normal, the zebra and his spear fell to the ground.

“Oh thank Luna! You got that stripe. Can you help a pony out?” the voice of a stallion nearby called out in a pained voice.

Trotting over, I saw an equestrian solder laying with his back to the muddy wall with several injuries while holding a shotgun. Around him were several dead Zebras. Most of them looked like they had been shot, although one had a shovel stuck in their neck.

He also had the pipbuck 2600 attached to his foreleg. The same one I won in a raffle. The one Thorn Roseland owned.

Shaking off the bad feeling I was getting from seeing what would eventually make Quicktrot, I opened my saddlebag to put Chekhov's Promise away and pulled out some healing bandages Jali gave me to hold onto. “Just give me a moment. I’ll patch you up.”

“Again, thank Luna! You’re a fucking medic.” He sighed in relief. “The fucking stripes caught me by suprise and managed to break my healing potion. Thought I was a goner for sure.”

I bandaged his wounded to the best of my abilities and tried to help him up, but some of his legs were too torn up for him to trot on his own.

“Here, let me help you,” I offered as I Pulled him to my back before I realized I had no clue where I even was. “This might be a strange question, but where am I?”

“You're in the stormland trenches… Wait! You don’t look like a soldier. Who are you?” He asked as his eyes drifted down. “And that pipbuck, I’ve never seen one like it before.”

At this point I don’t think lying or telling the truth would matter much. It was too crazy as it was. “Names Slowtroot, and I’m a Stable-Tec courier. I kind of got caught up in a teleportation accident.”

He squinted at me, then sighed. “Seeing ghosts was bad enough, now lost civics.” The soldier then pointed down the trench. “Go that away. The commanding officer is there. I need to give her a message. Also, don’t forget the shovel. The damn thing saved me too.”

I saw the shovel in the zebra’s neck and sighed. Taking the shovel, I then trotted in the direction he had pointed.

The sound of war was all around me. An explosion happened near us which shook our bodies. There was even a Zebra that saw us from above, but got cut down by machine gunfire.

When we finally got to our destination, we were at a large dug in fortification with several soldiers manning machine gun nests and sniper positions. Several unicorns formed a shield above the area to prevent shells from landing inside.

There was a bit of an uproar when I arrived, but it turned out the soldier I saved outranked most of them, so they didn’t detain us. He then said, “I’m with the ministry’s advanced corriero division. I need to talk with Lieutenant Colonel Spitfire. I have an important message for her.”

All the soldiers straightened up, and a medic unicorn came to levitate him off of me.

“Hey Slowtrot.” The soldier I saved threw his shotgun to me and a large hard canvas pouch that had a long knife attached to it. “Hold onto the Boomstick in case of a Zebra raid and just give it to another soldier when they get an escort to send you home.”

“The Boomstick?” I said questioningly as I held the heavy shotgun.

He shrugged. “Just its name. That gun has been passed around since early in the war. It saved and took a lot of lives, so it’s tradition to pass it to another soldier when you no longer need it.”

Looking closely at the shotgun, it clearly had been used a lot. There were plenty of nicks and scuff marks on it with a canvas binding wrapped around the neck of the stock. On the barrel was a metal grate and at the end was a lot of extra metal that looked like something fitted onto it. Then on the back end of the stock was the word “Boomstick” carved onto it. Stranger yet was that the thing was a pump-action shotgun, something that the Ministry of Wartime Technology didn’t make for the war.

With that, he was taken to an underground bunker. I slung the strap of the shotgun over me, unsure what to do with it.

Looking inside the pouch, there were a whole lot of brass shells inside, all neatly stacked together with only several empty slots.

Two soldiers trotted up to me, clearly confused by the situation. They had to be around nineteen years old, twenty at most. “Ahh, stay there until... Well, until we know what to do with you.”

I nodded and slung the shotgun further onto my back. I also continued to hold onto the shovel.

… Wait! Wasn’t I sitting like this when I reappeared in front of myself?

Like a flash, I was back at the Gunrunners, looking at myself and others.

A chuckle came from Star. “Right, you had me going there for a moment. The prophet is still being alive, living under the waters, and Victoria being a daughter of hers or something.”

A sigh came from Harp as well. “Well, I can confirm that he is from the past, but only really that.”

This was just too confusing for me to question, so I just repeated what I had said to myself before. “Oh, and I can move through time and space, somehow.” It felt odd to say that, but not wrong.

“Ya ya. There's that too, but I might have been just delusional at the time,” my past self replied to me, waving me off dismissively.

They all froze for a moment before turning my way and jumping back in shock. It happened fast, but felt slow to me. Watching Harp collide with me, her shimmer disappeared like a popped balloon. My past self’s eyes went all black before I vanished as though I was never there.

That made me feel uneasy. I would need to ask them about that later, but right now I needed to get all this mud out of me.

Live Axle trotted up to me, still looking confused, but also focused on something. “Say, did ya blow some pony up? Ya got a bunch of gore on ya.”

Looking at my right foreleg, there were indeed bits and pieces of the Zebra on me.

Nodding at her, I just said, “I need to clean that off me.”

Everything began to spin around me, and what food I had in my stomach violently came out as everything became dark. Everyponies voices also sounded muffled.

_______________________________________________________

-Unique Item Obtained-

-Rockhoof Pattern Trench Shovel-

A simple short handle shovel used in the trenches by the Equestria army. Its handle is wrapped with a coarse canvas, the metal covered in black paint, and the blade sheared to a fine edge. It also gives off the faint scent of earth, gunpowder, and blood.

“If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I don't care about all that new fangled multi-use shovel business you want to give the troops. It’s too expensive, heavy, and has weak points. They just need well-forged steel and a strong wooden handle. From there, they will make it work any job they need it for.” ~ Applejack

-Boomstick-

The trench gun was Equestria’s counter to the Zebra close-range fighters, allowing a pony to quickly slamfire five shells in a wide con. The Zebras eventually fazed out much of their close quarters troops because of it. This gun has passed through many hooves in the Stormland, never failing to fire even once, and always being hoofed over to those who need it, never retiring.

“Why do the troops keep using those dreadful looking guns? Brutish in every way, lacking in any elegance at all. I don’t care if they’re an effective gun, I absolutely will not have any soldier be photographed with a damn trench gun, and that is final. Make sure that every officer knows and enforces this rule!” ~Rarity

-Level up-

-Slowtot-

Lv5,

Small Gun is now at: 24

-Harp Melody-

Lv5,

Barter is now at: 65

Science is now at: 65

Unarmed is now at: 10

-Star Charter-

Lv5,

Explosives now at: 42

Guns now at: 55

Melee Weapons is now at: 50