Fallout: Equestria - The Spark of Life

Chapter 1: Storm Clouds Rising

“Ooh! I bet those are the clowns I ordered! Or definitely not the clowns I ordered.”

The sun rose, glaring over the plateau. Bits of green foliage could be seen here or there, indicating some measure of growth. It had taken over two hundred years, but finally the land of Equestria was beginning to heal, to grow, to live. The land no longer felt dead. It felt alive and thriving. It felt like nothing could stop it, not even the Wasteland.

I stood at the top of the plateau looking down at the settlement below. The ponies called it Hope Hollow, a place where ponies and creatures of any race or creed could come and coexist. It was a small settlement, still filled with old stone and wood buildings and none of the fancy technology of the old world. Even so, the ponies here still boasted an airship tower, although it looked rather unused at the moment. Just outside of the settlement was a set of makeshift tents, emblazoned with the symbol of the Followers of the Apocalypse, a group dedicated to making Equestria a better place through medicine and assistance to those in need.

Behind me, my friends were coming to the top of the plateau to join me. On one side was the love of my life. Violet Iris. She and I had been through it all together, thick and thin, and we had been bonded together for life. This small green unicorn had been my rock for as long as my memories had existed in this world.

Much of my journey across Equestria had been at her side. Violet’s cutie mark was a purple dragon eye wreathed in dragon fire. She had gotten it after staring down a dragon right in the face. It was weirdly abstract, but we ended up figuring out that Violet was a dragon in her own right, willing to fight to the last to protect what was special to her.

Violet brushed back her green mane with a hoof and smiled up at me. Celestia… I could get lost in those eyes of hers for days.

Focus, filly! I thought to myself. Right, focus. Where was I? Oh, right. The mission.

Violet was technically in charge of this mission as head strategist. For several days now we had been out here patrolling the area surrounding Hope Hollow for any dangers that might prevent the Followers from settling into the town’s population. The plan was to build up and expand out from here, building a true settlement with doctors and medical knowledge. The Followers often turned to us because we were the most combat capable members of our division. They knew me by name and what I had done, and sought me out because of it.

On the other side, Sunshine Sky looked out over the town. Sunshine was also a unicorn, a pink one to be precise. She had journeyed with myself and Violet for a long time now, and was settling into a role as a lead medical officer. She had knowledge of many different aspects of plant and earth based magic, and she used that knowledge to apply healing methodologies involving natural herb based magic. Thus, her cutie mark was a sun and some plants. At least that one was easy to figure out for me. She was technically the other lead of this mission, at least the scientific lead. She also wore a pair of pretty cute fancy glasses on her snout.

“Looks like things are coming together finally,” Sunshine said softly as we continued to look down at the town. “Hope Hollow is going to be a beacon of love and friendship, a place where the old can become new again. It’s all thanks to you two that we could make this happen.”

“You don’t really need to thank us, Sunshine,” I said with a shrug. “Just doing our job, after all.”

“It’s still important, Star. What we’re doing here matters. It gives ponies hope. We can begin returning to real life here in Equestria. One where it doesn’t matter who or what you are. One where anyone is accepted,” Sunshine replied.

“I think Star gets that, she’s just trying to be humble,” Violet interjected. “We appreciate the thanks, Sunshine, we really do. We’re just a little… too used to it is all.”

Sunshine smiled. “Sorry, I’m just really passionate about what we’re doing here. I was hoping that we would be ahead of schedule before Velvet Remedy arrived to check on our progress, and with your help it seems like we’ll make that goal.”

I stepped to the side as the two mares talked further. Sunshine did have a point. Our work was important and we were helping ponies and many other species of creatures by building up settlements and providing protection to them. Excitement was short lived these days however. Life felt bland and dull when there wasn’t a raider coming in to kill you and eat your entrails. I even missed their colorful language. Sure, there was the occasional mutated creature still, but for the most part… these protection gigs were performatory at best.

I felt like I shouldn’t complain too much. Life was good. I had Violet and we had a good thing going between us. Life was pretty sweet. It was just… boring. I wanted more. I needed more.

“Star?” I heard Violet say from beside me.

“Yes, my dear?” I asked, turning to realize Sunshine had left and was already going back down to the town. “Did I… did I miss something?”

“Well, you’ve been staring off into space for about five minutes, so I’d probably say yes?” Violet said with a snicker. “We’ve got at least one more job to do today. There’s an old rock quarry roughly two to three miles or so outside of town to the west. Initial reports say there’s nothing there, but Sunshine asked us to go out and scout it out to be sure. Perhaps we might even be able to start using it for the town.”

“Well it’s something at least,” I said. “Do you want to fly?”

“I was thinking maybe we could walk. Probably best in case something is there, we don’t just advertise ourselves from the sky,” Violet said.

I nodded and followed in line behind her as we made our way down from the plateau to ground level. Violet was often generally right in her plan-making skills. She was much better at a tactical level than I was at formulating these kinds of strategies. I often followed her lead on an expedition knowing that she could come up with the best way to approach any sort of situation.

We moved across the forest, still picking our way through some dead foliage amidst all the newer and greener stuff. The Wasteland wasn’t truly gone just yet. It still clung to the new world like a virus, desperate to keep itself alive. No one really knew just how extensive the magic of Gardens was and how long the death of the Wasteland would take.

The Gardens spell was an actively moving magic, eradicating the disease of radiation wherever it took hold. It had become enough that many of the remaining sentient ghouls had left Equestria, seeking a new home outside of its borders where the radiation still existed. Some had seen it as being forced from their homes. Others, like the Element of Laughter Ditzy Doo (I still couldn’t get over that one) had taken it as a business opportunity, providing transport services into and out of Equestria to collect irradiated water for ghouls to function off of.

I let my thoughts drift as we walked through the forest. The soft light of the sun above filtered through the trees and a nice breeze wafted across my coat. It felt… nice. There were a lot of positives about the world starting to return to normal. One of those was wind and fresh air that didn’t smell like somepony vomited all over. The one caveat to that was the fact that the area surrounding Hope Hollow seemed to have a bit wilder weather than what we were used to. Sunshine had noted this had something to do with the closest Ministry of Awesome tower being quite far away from the area and that there was still a long way to go for the pegasi who had come down from above the cloud cover.

In fact, as we walked the sky grew a bit cloudier than I had thought, and it started to rain. At least the rain didn’t sting anymore with twinges of acidic radiation. The counterpoint here was that it was wet, and I chafe when wet. Catch twenty-two. I quickly raised a small shield with my magic, extending it over Violet to keep us dry.

“How much farther?” I asked over the soft drizzling of the rain.

“Should be just over this next ridge,” Violet said. “Not seeing anything on my E.F.S., so be sharp.”

I nodded and accessed my magic, compressing it deep in my mind until it produced a glowing set of magical shards in the air next to me. The shards rearranged and further compressed upon themselves, forming a crystalline looking blade. I’d honed and used this talent for a long time, a magic known as “bladecasting” that had actually been taught to me by one of the Elements of Harmony themselves, namely Generosity. It was an elegant art that required precision skill, skill I had acquired as the magic and strength of Twilight Sparkle had worked through me. Each blade consisted of a number of crystal shards which could be broken apart at a response and directed at an enemy. It was deadly and silent, the latter of which was never my strong suit, but I was reasonable at utilizing my blade effectively.

We crested over the ridge and peered down into the rock quarry. It appeared deserted, the rain coming down across the dusty rocks creating a small fog as the dust propelled itself into the air. Several large rock crushing machines lay on their sides at the far end of the quarry. The quarry office sat at the top of the far end, accessible by a stairway carved out of the rock.

“Doesn’t look like much,” I said in a low voice. “Definitely could repurpose it somehow. Give Hope Hollow some industry.”

“As long as it’s clear,” Violet said. “I don’t see anything yet. Still nothing on my E.F.S.”

Eyes-Forward-Sparkle, or E.F.S. for short, was a function of the PipBuck that showed hostile and friendly units in a specified range. It was one of the many wondrous things that a PipBuck did.

I pulled up my own E.F.S. and scanned what I could see and got nothing back other than Violet and myself. “Maybe it’s just deserted?”

“Maybe. I don’t want to get ahead of myself though. Something doesn’t feel right,” Violet replied. “There’s something in the air. You feel it?”

I paused for a moment. Violet was right. Something was wrong here. I couldn’t put a hoof on it, but something here nagged at me.

“I feel it. What is that?”

“I don’t know, and that freaks me out just a little,” Violet said. “We’re going to have to be careful.”

“You know me, Violet. Careful is what I do,” I said with a grin.

Violet rolled her eyes. “Careful like that raider nest outside of Whinnyapolis?”

“You and I remember Whinnyapolis quite differently.”

“I remember you rushing in and nearly getting us both killed,” Violet said. “But enough about that. Focus on the task at hand.”

I grimaced and nodded. Violet was right. She was always right. She had a way with words like that. I walked closely beside her as we made our way down into the quarry. The persistent feeling like we were somehow being watched arose in the back of my mind. Something was here, and it knew we were here.

The rain didn’t help. I felt like a drowned rat, having to douse my shield in order to kill the light as much as possible. The only soft glow came from my blade, and that did nothing to keep me from getting wet. I could feel the chafing beginning already.

Still, I was tense. Not because Violet was with me, she could take care of herself easily in a fight. I was tense because if something was here, that meant it was very close to Hope Hollow and the ponies there. Letting ponies get hurt… that frightened me the most.

We moved through the abandoned quarry, seeing nothing but dust and rain. I scowled. If there was something out here, did it recognize us as enough of a threat that it opted not to show itself? Or was it busy sizing us up to figure out the best way to take us down? I hated the waiting.

A shadow slipped in my peripheral vision. I spun to my left, seeing nothing.

“Star?” Violet whispered.

“I thought I…” I said softly. “It was nothing.”

Something very large decided that moment was the best to tackle me from behind. A roar echoed throughout the quarry as the massive creature, whatever it was, slammed into me and sent me sprawling to the ground.

“Star!” Violet shouted. I heard the distinct firing of her energy rifle as I moved to get up.

“I’m okay,” I said, grimacing. “Just a little banged up.”

“Good, because I could use a little help!”

My eyes focused in the rain on the thing dodging Violet’s fire. It was quite large, with two blue eyes set on each side of its head. It opened its mouth, roaring loudly and revealing many rows of sharp teeth, almost like a shark. It was shaggy and had large claws with razor barbs tipping the ends of its hands, which seemed oversized. It’s body was disproportionate to itself, as its legs were much smaller and lighter looking.

What in holy Twilight’s plot is this thing? I thought. I had never seen anything like it ever, and believe me when I say I had seen some shit.

The monster ducked and weaved unnaturally, dodging each blast of Violet’s rifle. I skirted off to its side, trying to flank it. I raised my blade and mentally dispersed several shards from it to immobilize the beast.

Before the shards could stick, the creature completely vanished in a cloud of smoke, reappearing behind us. It snarled loudly as it rushed towards me.

“Shit!” I shouted as I moved to dodge.

The beast crashed into my side, scraping me with one of its clawed hands. I felt a rake of pain shoot across me as I unleashed a magical blast of energy to push myself away from the creature.

“Star! Are you alright?” Violet called out as she fired another blast at the creature. It dodged away, giving me a brief reprieve.

“Been through worse,” I said, pushing myself to my hooves. “This thing is fast. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The creature pulled another disappearing act after dodging another blast of fire. It reappeared directly behind Violet, intent on bringing its claws right down onto her back. I shouted loudly, directing my magic and my blade across the clearing. The shards of my blade compressed, sharper than diamond as they cut across the creature’s nearest arm, shearing it right off. Violet rolled out of the way as the creature tumbled backward, black misty blood spurting from the stump where its arm had been.

The thing howled as Violet used the opportunity to fire directly into its chest at near point blank. The magical energy rocked the creature back onto the ground. It lay there, unmoving.

“Is it… it is dead?” I asked hesitantly as I moved to Violet.

The creature’s chest suddenly rose and it reached out to grab Violet. I instinctively reacted, pushing her out of the way. The creature snarled and disappeared again. The rain pelted all around us, but it did not reappear. I waited several long moments before realizing it must have run off.

“It’s gone,” Violet said. Her horn lit up, wrapping the creature’s arm in her magic. “I suspect we scared it enough that it decided to flee, but it still worries me that it’s here.”

“Agreed,” I said with a grimace. “Mark it off as unsafe?”

Violet scowled. “Probably. I just wish I knew what this thing was. It was some sort of beast, but it didn’t look mutated,” she said.

I stepped over closer to her, examining the arm held aloft in her magic. It was definitely nothing like I’d ever seen before. The barbed claws were razor sharp, and I could still feel the sting of them along my side. Thankfully I had been stabbed, shot, and maimed just enough to not care too much about a few little cuts. Still, something was off. The creature seemed to be very strong, strong enough to take both of us on and still be alive. Why would it run? How intelligent was it?

A crackle of lightning took me from my thoughts as I glanced up into the rock quarry. My eyes widened.

“Vi… you might want to see this,” I said, pointing with a hoof.

Violet’s head turned and gasped softly. On the ridge of the quarry stood not one, but five more of the creatures. The one we’d fought stood in the middle, the only one missing an arm. The others though, they carried weapons. Long sleek pikes with barbed ends. This wasn’t just some creature out in the middle of nowhere.

Another crackle of lightning appeared, and beyond those creatures I began to see not just more of the creatures, but ponies and griffons. Raiders. They all wore sashes with some symbol on them. Two pointed blue lines. Behind them, what appeared to be some form of Raptor or airship floated silently in the storm.

This wasn’t a single thing. This was an army.

“We have to warn Hope Hollow,” I said.

“We’ve gotta get out of here alive first,” Violet said. “With this rain you can’t fly very easily.”

“We’d be sitting ducks anyways,” I replied. “No. Flying is definitely out of the question. But I can teleport short distances.”

A blast of gunfire erupted across the quarry, tearing into the ground in front of us. A few more feet and we’d have been swiss cheese. I growled, wishing that perhaps if I had a bigger gun I’d have fired back, but that wasn’t my way anymore. My horn flared to life as Violet and I simply disappeared into nothingness.

We reappeared in a clearing further outside of the quarry. The rain continued to pelt us as we took up running. I heard shouts from behind us and gunshots. Trees all around us took the brunt of the hits, crackling loudly through the thunder and rain.

We ran as hard as we could through the rain, dodging and weaving in and out of the trees as I used my teleportation spell to push us further away from the raiders. Finally we made it to the edge of the storm system, just outside of Hope Hollow’s perimeter. Nothing was chasing us yet, but we were definitely soaked to the bone.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I’ve been better, but we shouldn’t dilly-dally. We need to warn the town,” Violet said. She took off ahead of me.

I glanced back at the storm behind us. I just hoped we had enough time.

* * *

“Raiders? We haven’t seen actual raiders in months,” Sunshine said with a scowl. “This is problematic.”

“It’s far worse than that,” Violet said. “Those… those creatures. They’re very powerful. It took the two of us to even injure one, and I’m not even sure we managed to really do that.”

“Yes… based on your account of these things, I’m definitely concerned,” Sunshine said. “We have no real choice. We must make plans to evacuate the settlement.”

One of the other doctors at the table, the aptly named Neigh Sayer, cleared his throat to speak.

“Excuse me, Doctor Sky, but are you saying that we have to abandon this settlement? All the work we’ve put in here?” he said.

“I’m sorry, Neigh, but we don’t really have a choice. We don’t have the kind of firepower to stand against this kind of force. It upsets me too, but we can come back when we have proper New Canterlot Republic support,” Sunshine said. “Make ready preparations immediately and inform the ponies in town. I want to be ready to go as soon as possible.”

“Understood, Doctor Sky,” Neigh Sayer replied, motioning to the others.

The Followers dispersed to their tasks as a brisk wind began to pick up. I grimaced, looking out on the horizon. Dark storm clouds rumbled and swirled in the sky not too far from the edge of Hope Hollow.

“We’d better move quickly. That storm is looking like it’s coming right this way,” I said.

Violet’s eyes suddenly widened. “They can’t be,” she said under her breath. “It’s not possible… unless…”

“What, Violet? What is it?”

“The storm, Star. What if they’re controlling the storm with pegasi?” Violet said, pointing at the clouds. “Remember that airship we saw? What if there’s more hiding in the storm clouds?”

I realized rather quickly that Violet was right. I turned to Sunshine. “Our timetable just moved up by a lot. How fast do you think we can get things ready to go?”

The pink unicorn grimaced, looking down at her figures. “Probably an hour at best. We have to get the townsponies onto the transports out of here, and try to salvage what we can of the medical equipment.”

“You do what you can. But if you have to leave something behind to save ponies, do it. We can’t let lives be lost here,” I said. “Violet and I will do what we do best.”

A crackle of lightning burst across the sky. I knew deep down that we would probably be too late. Ponies were going to die. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Got it, Star. I’ll get them out,” Sunshine said. “Be careful out there and come back to us.”

* * *

The clouds in the sky darkened as the storm neared closer to Hope Hollow. Violet and I stared intently at it. It hung in the sky like an omen, black and heavy. The wind began to pick up as the rain inched closer.

I glanced back at Hope Hollow. The ponies there were moving as fast as they could with Sunshine directing them as best as she was able to. It was understandable that ponies didn’t want to leave their homes or part with their possessions, but the town didn’t really have a choice. I wasn’t sure myself if we could turn the tide against these things, and that was saying something. Two ponies versus what was functionally an army? Even being composed of raiders, that was a hard sell.

We needed an angle that would give us enough time for the ponies to get on their way in the transports. While they were bulky, the transports could move quick enough onto the plains above Hope Hollow to escape. The unicorns maneuvering them were powerful enough to get them going that fast at least. We just had to give them that chance.

I looked down at Violet and we both nodded. We were in this for as long as we could stay, hoping to prove enough of a threat to draw the army’s attention away from the town. Basically, a lot of that hinged on the fact that I was an alicorn and automatically considered to be a threat.

“The storm’s getting closer,” I said aloud over the whipping wind. “It’s going to impact the ponies on the transports once it reaches the town.”

“Let’s not keep our new friends waiting then,” Violet said with a grin. On each side of her in the air hung two sleek black energy rifles, plasma rifles to be exact. Violet had jokingly named them “Des” and “Troy” because when put together, they “destroy.” I had advised her that bad puns were never to be used in weapon naming, but she didn’t listen. She engaged both weapons, firing them up. “Come on.”

I followed alongside her as we stepped right into the line of the storm and into the pelting rain. Well, I was dry at least for a little bit, I thought to myself as the rain came down hard over us. It made it hard to see, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before we would come across the first wave of the raider army. I didn’t know how exactly their pegasi were controlling this storm, but I knew if we could disable them somehow it would slow the army down immensely.

As expected, the first line of raider ponies appeared in the misty rain, their eyes widening as they saw us approaching. One enterprising pony swung out his battle saddle, murderous glee in his eyes. I grinned as Violet’s energy weapons cut him down into a pile of glowing goop.

“I think that got their attention,” I said as the raiders howled in anger. “You ready?”

“Ready, just watch my back,” Violet said, her horn glowing.

I nodded, bringing forth my own magic in a flare of brilliance that blinded two of the approaching raiders. They had been carrying pikes in their mouths, but dropped them as my magic hit them. My blade came forth into existence, swirling around as it cut their throats. Even more of the raiders, these ones unicorns, attempted to fire at either myself or Violet with their pitiful looking guns. A quick flare of a shield spell, one that I’d learned from Twilight’s memories of her brother Shining Armor, made quick work of that. Violet retorted by taking off their heads with several well placed shots.

More of the crazed raiders appeared, this time flanked by two of the black creatures. They carried razor barbed pikes that looked incredibly sharp. Violet and I took out the raiders quickly, but the two creatures ducked out of the way of our attacks. In the air in front of us, I saw the airship looming in the dark clouds, electrical energy crackling along it from the storm.

“We’ve got a problem if the airship is this close already!” I shouted, dodging backwards from an attack by one of the creatures.

Violet glanced upward. “Shit shit shit! Star, can you get up there and see if you can take out those pegasi and their ship?”

“And leave you here by yourself with these fuckers?” I called back. I brought my blade to bear, blocking and deflecting another strike by one of those wicked pikes.

“If you don’t then that airship is guaranteed to destroy the town! I’ll be fine, Star, you know me!” Violet shouted over the thunder and rain. She lifted her weapons into the air, firing in multiple directions at the creatures, clipping one on the side.

I grimaced. She was right about one thing. I needed to disable that ship somehow. I dodged another blow and slipped backwards on my hooves, nearly hitting the ground. I moved to try to get out of the way but one of the creatures was definitely capitalizing on my klutziness by moving in to try to pike me in the face.

It never made it close. A warm aura and several magical vines wrapped around the beast’s weapon, pulling it around and using it to impale the creature with its own pike. The creature slumped to the ground, unmoving.

“I figured you two could use some assistance,” I heard somepony call out.

I glanced back as I pushed myself to my hooves and saw Sunshine Sky standing there. She grinned as her horn lit up once more, bringing to bear more vines that wrapped themselves around the creature fighting Violet. It didn’t expect to be grounded so easily that Violet’s energy weapons found purchase in its face.

“What about the town?” I said.

“They’re moving, but it’s slow. Some of the raiders have already broken through the defenses, but the other unicorns are defending well enough,” Sunshine said. She pointed at the airship. “That however, is a big fucking problem.”

“If you two can hold things down here well enough, maybe we can salvage this and I can get that airship out of commission,” I said, flaring my wings out.

“Oh, I think we can handle it,” Sunshine said. “Just don’t get yourself killed up there.”

I saluted with a grin and turned to look up at the airship. I kicked off the ground and into the rain, trying my best to fly while being pelted. Heavy rain wasn’t very optimal for flying especially with my natural bulkiness as an alicorn. I used my magic to compensate, teleporting through the rain to make it closer to the airship.

A crackle of lightning zipped past me, nearly knocking me out of the sky. I realized rather quickly that it was coming from the airship itself. They were firing at me! Those fuckers! I weaved in and out as another lightning strike arced across the sky, using my teleportation magic to stay out of its path. The airship wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to be imposing. I just needed to get onto its flight deck.

Another crackle of lightning seared past me, just barely missing one of my wings. I growled under my breath and with a final burst of magic, I appeared just above the craft, plummeting downward onto its flight deck. Several pegasus ponies decked out in what appeared to be Enclave power armor appeared on deck before me.

“Halt!” the lead pegasus shouted. “Stand down and you won’t be killed.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that?” I asked. “Sorry flyboys, but I’ve got more important things to do.”

My horn glowed softly and I disappeared, dodging out of the way of their energy weapons as I did so. My invisibility spell was not something I used too often but it was very good at deceiving ponies.

“Where is she? Find her immediately. The Master will not be pleased,” the lead pegasus ordered. The two other pegasi took to the sky and began circling the ship looking for me.

The Master? I thought. Who was this Master? How did they manage to corral together not only raiders but what looked like Enclave Remnant pegasi? None of this made much sense to me. How did a force this large go unnoticed by anypony? Where did they come from?

There were too many questions. Questions that I couldn’t answer right then. I needed to prioritize getting this airship out of the sky. To do that I needed to find the engine and disrupt it without being seen.

I stalked along the flight deck, sneaking behind the pegasi searching for me. I was thankful that the deck was pretty clear. My invisibility spell only did so much for me in terms of sound, so I had to be maximum sneaky. I quickly got the layout of the ship, realizing that the command deck was at the front and the engine was at the rear. I made my way slowly towards the rear of the ship. It was clear that the pegasi hadn’t found me just yet, and for that I was thankful. I needed every advantage I had.

I waited a few moments for the coast to be clear and slipped inside the engine room. A large crystalline powered engine sat in the middle of the space, protected by glass. Several pegasi moved to and fro tending the cloud terminals around the engine. Two of the big black creatures sat at the far end, watching over everything.

I grimaced. Were the pegasi here under duress? They didn’t seem too happy to be here. I had to try to get them out of here if I could. I had to start with the engine though, otherwise there would be no point in all of this.

One of the creatures stopped what it was doing and grunted at one of the pegasi in a language I didn’t understand. The pegasi nodded and started walking towards me and the door. I nearly shouted. There wasn’t much room and in any second they’d run right into me. I had to do something and I had to do it now.

My invisibility spell unraveled, startling the pegasi in front of me. The two creatures were taken aback as well, but quickly moved to intercept me.

“Howdy kids,” I said with a grin. “Ready for a fun ride? I promise it’ll be great.”

My horn glowed brightly, assembling my blade. Shards of the crystalline blade flew out at the glass protecting shield, piercing it and the energy gemstone behind it. The gemstone began to wink out, its glow dissipating quickly. I felt the ship lurch underneath my hooves and the two creatures running over to me faltered as they fell to the ground.

“This ship is going down, anypony who wants off of this ride is more than welcome to follow me!” I called out.

An energy blast was the retort from one of the pegasi who’d been working at the terminals. I scowled, deflecting it with my magic.

“Okay, fine, suit yourself. I’m out of here,” I said, turning to leave.

Several pegasi in Enclave power armor stood right outside the engine room door, energy rifles from their armor trained right on me. I grinned sheepishly.

“Okay, so maybe not the best plan. Parlay?” I said.

“Sir, the ship’s engine. It’s starting to fail,” one of the pegasi next to the leader said.

“See if you can get the engine back online. We’ll be set back for a while if we have to set down the ship,” the lead pegasus replied. “As for the intruder, take her to the command deck. I’m sure the Master will want a word with her before she dies.”

“What about the two fighting back on the ground?” the other asked.

“They’re a pain in the ass. Have a squad sent out and take care of them,” the leader said.

“You’d better not. My marefriend will kick your ass,” I said jokingly. “She’s a much better shot with her energy rifles than you are with yours.”

“Somepony do me a favor and shut this one up? We’ve got a schedule to keep to if we want to keep the Master happy,” the leader said. “What about the settlement?”

“They’re evacuating, sir. I’ve got squads of the raiders headed out to try to catch their transports,” the other pegasus replied.

“Excellent. See to it that they take the Storm Guards, they make for excellent muscle,” the lead pegasus said. “Now then. Come along.”

Several energy rifles lifted up right into my face. I grimaced, nodding silently. Fine, I thought to myself. Let’s get some answers on who this Master is first, and then after that… you’re all going to eat shit for attacking innocent ponies.

I walked behind the pegasi, feeling the ship continue to lurch beneath my hooves. I had to hope Violet and Sunshine were okay and they’d been smart and gotten away. I knew deep down that Violet would do what needed to be done, because she had done it for me so many times before, but I was still worried. I had a plan though at least. It was a stupid plan, but sofar my plan had gone off pretty well. Injure the ship, get captured, find out who the boss is, and then kill them if possible. Seemed like a smart idea. If anything I could cause the ship more damage from the command deck now that the engine was cracked.

The door opened up to the command deck. Several of what the leader pegasus had referred to as Storm Guards stood along each wall of the deck. In the center of the deck was a brazier. One of the pegasi took a bottle of something glowing and dumped it onto the brazier. Dark blue flames erupted from it. A pair of dark glowing blue eyes appeared in the smoke and haze. They were… haunting. Angry. Frightening.

“Commander Breeze,” a gravelly voice said suddenly. I realized quickly it was coming from the smoke. It must have been some sort of communication spell. “What is the situation?”

“Master, we’ve hit a bit of a snag,” Commander Breeze said. “The ship is damaged and we’re likely going to have to set down outside of Hope Hollow.”

“Damaged? I cannot afford delays, Commander,” the voice said, a hint of anger in its tone.

“I am aware, Master. We should be back up in the air in a day or so,” the Commander replied. “We caught the perpetrator. I thought you would like to see it.”

The group of pegasi pushed me next to the Commander so that the eyes in the brazier’s smoke could see me. If there was any reaction to me, I didn’t see it. There was a pause in the air. Nopony spoke. Finally the eyes flared intensely.

“Kill it,” it said.

“As you wish, Master. I will contact you again once we are back on schedule,” Commander Breeze said.

“Do not fail me again, Commander. I have killed for less,” the dark voice said. The eyes flickered into nothingness and the flames died down to mere embers inside the brazier.

“You heard the Master. Execute the prisoner at once,” Commander Breeze ordered. I felt a bunch of energy rifles train themselves on my position.

“Yeah, sorry new friends. I hate to cut and run, but you forgot one key thing about me. Alicorn, remember?” I said with a grin as I engaged Shining Armor’s shield spell.

Magical energy pummeled the shield, but it held nicely. Scratch one off for old Shining Armor, he certainly knew the best spells for shields. I needed a plan that involved making sure this ship couldn’t get back up in the air.

“Sir! We have a problem, it’s…” one of the pegasi started to shout over the firing of energy weapons.

My plans went to shit as the entire ship shuddered from an impact from below. Something massive and green crashed up through the ship and into the command deck. A massive… vine?!

The ship groaned as everypony on the command deck was thrown about, myself included. My shield spell dissipated and I quickly jumped to my hooves to deflect a bolt from an energy rifle. I growled, unleashing my blade into its source. Several shards of pure diamond magic slashed through the pegasus pony’s power armor, rendering them inert.

What the fuck is going on? I thought to myself as I teleported away from another bolt of energy.

“Star!” a familiar voice shouted from above. A twin set of magical energy beams soared over the top of me and into a pegasus who was coming up behind me. The power armor held, but I could hear the sizzling of the energy as it fell to the ground.

I looked up and smiled. Violet Iris to the rescue. My marefriend had her legs wrapped around one of the vines hanging off the massive trunk vine. Her energy rifles were floating in the air beside her.

“What the actual fuck, Violet? What happened down there?” I shouted as I deflected another bolt and sliced with my blade into another set of power armor.

“When you didn’t come back immediately, Sunshine got pretty pissed,” Violet called back. “She unleashed some sort of magical tech she’s been working on. Supposed to enhance her powers for a bit. We don’t have much time.”

“What about the army below?” I asked as Violet dropped to the ground next to me. The ship shuddered again under her added weight.

“Being held off. The unicorns from the Followers all returned to shield them off while Sunshine did her thing, backed up by a few of the alicorns who could fight. But I gotta tell you Star… only half the transports made it out,” Violet said with a grimace.

Half. Fuck! I shouted in my mind. So many ponies… dead. Innocent ponies. I hated it. It was pointless. I growled under my breath.

“The Commander was here, where’d he go? He has a lot to pay for,” I said angrily.

“He’s gone, and most of the other pegasi are fleeing the ship,” Violet said. “I don’t think this thing is flying any time soon. Sunshine’s spell fucking wrecked it.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s get back down to Sunshine. I have some bad news.”

“Probably should before this thing – Star, look out!” Violet started to say before suddenly shouting. She jumped forward, bringing her rifles to bear as something slammed right into her. It was Commander Breeze. He hit Violet directly in the face, knocking her backwards into me. She cried out in immense pain.

I reacted instinctively, using my magic as a shield that repelled the pegasus away. I growled under my breath and turned my magic into a spear that slammed into him, sending him flying away through a hole in the ship.

“Violet!” I shouted, moving to pick up my love. My eyes widened.

Violet’s horn. Her horn was broken, the top tip of it hanging by a thread of flesh. She groaned in pain, barely conscious. My heart broke in half. I wanted so very badly to find Breeze and put him six feet under, but I had more important things to deal with at that moment. Revenge could come later. Violet came first.

“Violet, hang on, you’re going to be okay!” I shouted, wrapping her in my magic and teleporting away.

* * *

I looked back from the transport as we left Hope Hollow. The airship was broken in half, falling to the ground in shambles and the storm it carried had dissipated entirely. The army had been routed… for now. How many more were there? Who was this Master? There were too many questions. Too many injuries. Too many deaths.

Violet was resting comfortably. The doctors had been able to sedate her until we could make it to Fort Knowledge. The tip of her horn still hung off by a gross looking thread. The initial prognosis wasn’t good. I had no idea how an injury like this would affect her magic usage.

“How many ponies?” I asked Sunshine before looking back at her.

“Too many. Hundred and fifty,” she said softly. “Two hundred made it out alive and are on their way to Followers camps within the New Canterlot Republic. Still a lot of injuries. We lost two other alicorns.”

“Fuck,” I said, looking down at my hooves.

“It’s not your –” Sunshine started to say. I put a hoof up.

“I know, I know. It’s not my fault. We’ve got bigger problems to worry about. Whoever was directing this army… he was not there. The pegasus commander, somepony named Breeze, he used a communication spell of some sort,” I explained. “This isn’t over. Once the army is back up and running… who knows where they’ll head next?”

“What concerns me is that those ponies were Renmant Enclave soldiers,” Sunshine said. “Ones that were somehow working with raiders… and those things.”

“Breeze called them Storm Guards,” I said. “I don’t know much more about them than that.”

“All I know is that they’re pretty fast and scary,” Sunshine said. “We’re just lucky my magic tech worked.”

“Are you alright? I thought that a big burst of magic like that would burn you out?” I asked.

“That’s one of the nice things about the tech is that it helps with the magic output. I feel just fine,” Sunshine said with a sad smile. “I’m sorry about Violet. We’ll make sure she receives the best care once we get to Fort Knowledge.”

I looked down at my sleeping marefriend next to me. “She was just protecting me from Breeze,” I said softly. “She didn’t deserve this. We have to stop this army, Sunshine. Stop more ponies from being hurt and killed.”

“I know, Star. That’s why I sent a missive ahead via the communications array,” Sunshine said. “Velvet Remedy’s going to meet us at Fort Knowledge to discuss the situation. Your first hoof account of this thing is important. If this thing, whatever it is, can pull together Enclave Remnants and Raiders, then it’s a danger to the NCR.”

I nodded. Velvet Remedy would have some idea of what to do. I had to trust in that much at least. The transport moved silently across the land and soon we were out of view of Hope Hollow and the ponies that had perished there. I said a silent prayer for the ponies that had died there and looked ahead.

Next stop: Fort Knowledge. I slipped into sleep next to Violet, awaiting what would come next.

* * *

I rarely dream these days. A side effect of having once had the memories and dreams of another pony fill my mind. Still, when I do dream, it usually means something. I dreamed of something terrible. A fear that those eyes had instilled inside me. Whatever was behind them… it scared me. And I was rarely scared of anything.

I awoke several hours later being nudged by Sunshine. We had arrived at Fort Knowledge. Our home away from home. Fort Knowledge had arisen around several stores of books that Twilight Sparkle had secreted away, so it was full of hidden knowledge and encyclopedic stuff. Turns out, if there was a topic to be researched, Twilight had a book for that. The only problem was categorizing what was there and knowing where to find it.

We stepped off the transport and walked along to the city center where one of the largest stores of books was at. Violet was taken immediately by the doctors to the care center set up for medical treatment. I was loath to leave her side for even a moment, but I had to talk to Velvet Remedy about what was coming.

Sunshine and I passed by several large warehouses on the way to the primary center. Fort Knowledge impressively had uncovered not one, but ten different warehouses of books that Twilight had secured. The Followers here had used that knowledge to better understand medicine, science, and many other topics of understanding such as philosophy and even romance.

The primary center had been mostly indexed and had been cleaned and retrofitted to serve as a meeting center for the Followers. We walked by many of the town’s inhabitants, mostly alicorns and unicorns who had come to support the effort as we made our way to the center. Many of them waved and smiled as we passed. Violet and I had lived here for so long, and still returned when we weren’t out undertaking missions for the cause.

I found myself worrying suddenly about what would happen if that army came here. What would be lost? The ponies here were more important than any old book. I had friends here. I needed them to be safe. I needed Violet to be safe most of all. Celestia, I needed to be with her.

Sunshine opened the door for us to the center and we made our way to the central meeting room. As we walked in, a beautiful unicorn mare decked in a stunning dress stood up to greet us. Every time I have seen Velvet Remedy, I was floored. She was not only beautiful but she was inspiring to us all, giving Kindness to everypony that needed it and caring for all, enemy or friend.

“Radiant Star, Sunshine Sky. Please, sit. It seems we have a lot to discuss,” she said, her voice melodic and pure. “I heard about what happened to Violet, Star. I’m very sorry. We’ll do the best we can for her to make sure she’s okay.”

“Thank you, Velvet,” I said softly. “I wish she could be here to speak with you.”

Velvet smiled and nodded. A soft mewling sound erupted from the corner of the room behind her. Violet sighed. “Forgive me, I had to bring Pyrelight with me. It’s one of her burning weeks and well, she’s a bit melodramatic,” she said.

In the corner behind a radiation shield, a balefire phoenix that looked like it might expire any moment appeared to be acting out some sort of strangely extended death scene from an old movie. I blinked. It definitely wasn’t the weirdest thing I had ever seen.

“She doesn’t care for the shield, but she knows that she has to have it in order to burn out. The energy she provides can power entire settlements so she helps us by collecting it,” Velvet said wistfully. “Personally I think she just enjoys the attention.”

“Madam Remedy,” Sunshine said. “Star has some important news to discuss with you.”

“Sunshine, I’ve told you a million times to call me Velvet, you know that,” Velvet replied with a giggle. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over me. “Yes, I got your message. It’s very concerning. Sit and tell me what you saw.”

We each took a seat and I began to explain what had happened, from the attack in the rock quarry to the decimation of Hope Hollow, and the thing in the smoke. When I finished, Velvet sat back and grimaced.

“I thought maybe for once we could make some progress, but the Wasteland can’t ever let go,” she said with a sigh. “This army. We don’t know where it’s going yet, but we know it’s slowed down. That means we can mobilize a response.”

“You think we have enough firepower to defend Equestria?” I asked.

“I think we have enough to scare them back into whatever hole they came from,” Velvet said, grimacing again. “I hate this fighting. It’s so pointless. But we have to protect our home. I’ll pass along this information to the NCR and my husband. They’ll do what they can on that end. But we have time. The ship you described sounded Enclave, but it wasn’t an Enclave ship. It came from somewhere else. I think that’s as good a place as any to start researching.”

“Researching what?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“If we can’t defend ourselves against this force, we’ll need something to protect us. Perhaps there’s something in one of these dusty old books that we can use. I don’t know,” Velvet replied. “Twilight Sparkle had a billion books on various subjects, including magical symbols. If you can find the symbol you saw, or the ship itself in one of those books, we might be onto something that would give us an edge against this army.”

“You want us to… do research,” I said.

Velvet chuckled softly. “Yes, I am giving you an official mission to find out more about this army. We need to know more about what we’re up against.”

“Don’t worry, Velvet. We’ll figure this one out and be back home in time for dinner,” I replied.

“Excellent. Now then, I must tend to Pyrelight before we head back. If you need anything from me, please let me know,” Velvet said with a beaming smile. “Also, please take a moment to go stop in and check on Violet before you get started. We have time for that much, at least.”

Celestia I wish I had her endless positivity, I thought to myself. And those teeth. Wow. They really are shiny.

“Star, come on. Let’s go,” Sunshine said, tugging on my barding.

“Oh, right. Yeah. Sorry,” I said as we left the room and onward to see Violet.

* * *

I sat by Violet’s side until she stirred. I had been right about one thing. The prognosis wasn’t great. The thread of the horn had to be severed off completely. The doctors still didn’t know if magical ability was possible at this point. Violet needed to wake up to find out what the next steps were, and even then she was going to need to heal up better before trying to access her magic.

Violet’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me.

“Violet?” I said softly.

“Star? What happened? Where are we?” Violet asked softly.

“We’re in Fort Knowledge,” I said. “Home. We’re home, Vi. How are you feeling?”

“My… my head hurts a little,” Violet replied, slowly pushing up into a sitting position. She groaned a bit.

“Take it easy, Violet. You got hit pretty hard,” I said with a sad tinge in my voice. “What do you remember?”

“The ship. I was trying to fire at that pegasus… and then nothing but pain,” Violet said. “What happened to me?”

“There’s no easy way to sugarcoat any of this, Vi,” I started to say. Violet put a hoof on my side.

“Please. Just tell me,” she said.

“It’s… it’s your horn,” I said with a nod. “They had to cut off a portion of it. It was broken. Goddess, Violet, I’m so sorry.”

Violet’s eyes widened slightly and she reached up to the bandages over her horn. I could tell she was piecing things together in her head. She grimaced and let herself lay back against the pillow.

“I should have been able to protect you better,” she said.

“No, no, no,” I said, moving closer so that I could rest my head against her. “You did what you thought was best. Nopony could ask for anything else from such a wonderful marefriend.”

Violet sighed and booped me on the nose with her hoof. “Please tell me that you at least fucked that pegasus up?” she said with a small grin.

I grimaced. “Not quite. He got away. We came to Fort Knowledge to get you help and to advise Velvet Remedy on the situation. That army… they’re serving something dark. And it’s coming to Equestria proper soon.”

“What does Velvet plan to do about it?”

“She’s in the process of contacting the NCR. But in the meantime, she asked us… well I guess Sunshine and I, to research something that could give us a better understanding of the enemy or a way to protect Equestria,” I said.

“I want to help too,” Violet said, shifting her weight. “When can we start?”

“Violet, you have to rest. The damage to your horn needs to properly heal and the doctors don’t even know yet if you’ll be able to access your magic,” I said, feeling utterly dejected at having to keep her here.

“Never stopped you before,” Violet said with a small grin.

“Do as I say, not as I do. Remember, I’m not the smart one here. You are,” I said, reaching in to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I promise. If we find anything, you’ll be right there with us when we go look for it. We’ll get our shot at that Breeze fucker.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Author's Note

Let's go! A new macguffin, a new bad guy, and same old Radiant Star. Looking forward to getting this going!

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