Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Date: Thursday 11/10/2287
POV: Mercury Shine
Holder

Starlight insisted they bring only who they needed, but the group wasn’t small. First was Starlight herself for diplomatic relations and Maud to guard her.

Maud had her pulse armor, but the stealth field couldn’t expand enough to encompass the entire wagon. It wouldn't even cover all the inhabitants without them making a cuddle pile. She also brought a manual for the soul recyclers that she’d gotten from Stable 11. It wasn’t typical reading for someone like Maud, but she was determined to know all she could about them.

Solar had upgraded the armor though; now anyone on the same PCB as Maud could see one another. At least they didn’t have to use leashes now. After her earlier experience, those things frightened Mercury.

Dinky wanted to come with Maud due to her promise, but Starlight insisted that she not. Starlight said Dinky was needed to help Solar with the forcefield due to her magitech knowledge, but Mercury wondered if it was so that Dinky wouldn't be there to encourage Maud not to follow questionable orders. Either way, Mercury had heard Maud promise Dinky that she wouldn’t do anything ‘shameful’, so Mercury hoped that was enough to keep her level.

They brought Crimson for her knowledge of stables 5 and 41, which they’d pass on the way. She likely hadn’t provided all the information she had, since she wouldn’t want them to be without a reason to take her. Mercury wished she wouldn’t think like that, assuming she’d be abandoned if she didn’t maximize her future usefulness at all times.

Olivia went since they’d pass through her home city of Ramble. She’d left Daydream in charge of her hive. Gloomy would go too, since Screwball would recognize him as part of Statera and would likely let him in to see them even if the others weren’t allowed.

Crimson insisted Tranquil come and Gloomy insisted on Twilight’s inclusion. Starlight allowed it since flying the wagon would speed up the trip, and Gloomy couldn’t pull it through the air 24/7. Mercury wondered if it was also because Starlight didn’t want Twilight in Holder when she wasn’t, lest she cause an uprising in her absence.

Mercury would be their field medic again, and perhaps their victim if she dared to make a mistake. If it weren’t for Twilight and Gloomy going, she might have been too frightened to go herself. She was glad Solar wouldn’t go though; at least this way one of her friends would be in less danger. Considering they were flying and the wagon was equipped with an energy turret able to scare off the Rocs or other flying predators, the biggest danger for most of the trip would be from inside the wagon.

Chrysalis was included, but refused. She claimed she didn’t want her children unprotected with Olivia away, despite Olivia’s assurances that she put Daydream in charge. It surprised Mercury that Olivia trusted Chrysalis to stay behind at all, so Mercury assumed she had a contingency to prevent Chrysalis from forcing control.

“I can’t believe I’m not getting to go,” Solar helped Mercury into the wagon, but was near tears. “I have to protect you! And flirt with cute doggies when we get to Ramble!”

“I’m sorry Solar,” Mercury hugged Solar from the wagon once there. “You need to repair the bunker reactor so it can power the forcefield when Dinky gets it operational.”

“You also need to repair the communications system,” added Starlight. “It barely worked when we contacted Stable 27 before. We’ll try to get the communication frequencies for any other stables we can, and contacting them later could come in hoofty.”

“You could at least tell me it’d be okay,” said Solar to Mercury, ignoring Starlight for the moment. “You’d usually do that at least.”

“I’ll do my best to stay safe,” said Mercury, but she felt no confidence in that regard.

“Dogs you say?” Olivia tilted her head. “If you wish to interact with male diamond dogs, there is a trading caravan that will show up before we return. Rover and Roger run it; they are twin brothers and often amiable towards mares.”

“Oh?” Solar perked her ears and tail in interest. “Well that solves that! But still I promised to protect Mercury, and that’s more important.”

“I will protect her,” Olivia smiled. “You can count on me.”

“And you are protecting me,” said Mercury. “The forcefield may save all our lives before the end, not to mention the upgrades you made to the pulse armor.”

“Yeah, that was pretty genius,” grinned Solar, restraining herself from flying into a ten-minute explanation of what she did that she’d already told them. She added to Olivia instead. “I’ll hold you to that!”

“It’s depressing you didn’t mention me as something you want to protect her from,” chuckled Crimson from within the wagon. “I haven’t become uninteresting, have I?”

“Trust me,” Olivia said. “As long as I have my grimoire, she is safe from those inside and outside our group.”

Mercury hadn’t told Olivia about Kyo and she doubted Twilight had, but she seemed perceptive about the danger. Perhaps she suspected, though she seemed to keep a level head about it.

They were all on the PCB now at least, save for Tranquil who couldn’t connect. Those without pipbucks received one of Stable 11’s stock, with the ones the other Pies used now sitting in the Pie museum. They were reluctant to grant the Stable 11 pipbucks, but they weren’t saying no to a request from Maud.

As Gloomy hitched to the front of the wagon for the first shift, Mercury felt sick. This wasn’t like she felt when leaving Stable 27. Then she had confidence that she could do what they needed, that they’d find Tranquil fast and even head home afterward. Now she felt like she was walking into a death trap.

Though a few minutes in, Mercury wondered if she was worried for nothing. The road between Holder and Ramble was more well-kept than the roads to the west of Holder where they arrived. Since the two cities traded, there were patrols and watch stations along the way. The patrols closer to Holder were all Holder soldiers, but she assumed the ones closer to Ramble would be theirs.

They even passed the trade caravan Olivia had mentioned to Solar. Rover and Roger were rather big dogs... Solar was sure to love them.

Mercury watched the scenery as it passed. Most was the same as the rest of the wasteland, rocks and dirt. The only difference was more sand due to the desert.

The road was on either side of old train tracks, though the tracks were in no shape for a train. Much of the rail was mangled and destroyed, and not just from age. Surface tracks were an easy target for bombing runs, which was why they dug subways. These tracks had been useless since well before the mega-spells struck.

”News time, children!” Songsmith said over the radio. “I didn’t expect ‘her Majesty’ Starlight to last a week in today’s world. Not because I think she’s soft, but because… well she doesn’t have an army, does she?”

“But it looks like the Empress was like ‘no troops, no problem!’,” continued Songsmith. “She’s already taken control of Holder, Gilda’s group of underground ghouls in Railway, and Tenwhinney Tower. All thanks to some mighty fine luck. Holder’s leader conveniently died on a mission with Starlight to visit Gilda's ghouls, then Tenwhinney conveniently got attacked by ferals so Starlight could rush in and save them. News flash Empress: We weren’t born yesterday, maybe you ought to learn how far is too far.”

“And now I'm getting reports that 'Chrysalis', who claims to be the same changeling queen that started the Ceaseless Conflict, has been allowed into Holder. Former Rock Sovereign Kyo claimed there were no changelings in Holder, but I guess that's not the case now.”

“Though perhaps more baffling is that Midnight seems okay with somepony else staking a claim in her territory. In fact, Midnight has withdrawn most of her troops from the entire region and called them back to Midnight Castle, while Trinity has sent most of her troops north into the Foal Mountain range. Something big is going on, children.”

Starlight clenched her teeth, but said nothing. Mercury supposed saying anything would only increase suspicion. Maybe Mercury hadn't needed to tell Twilight.

Unfortunately, eyes were also on the others on the mission: Maud and Mercury. Olivia peered at her differently than before, and Mercury had to wonder if it occurred to her that Mercury might be complicit in an assassination. Olivia wouldn’t act without proof, but it still hurt to be seen that way, especially with it being true.

“Well, he’s half-right with your method of conquest,” Crimson chuckled. “The ferals plan was obvious, but the bit about getting rid of Kyo sounded convoluted. If we wanted to do that, I’d have done it for you in Holder. No reason to do it in the middle of a sensitive mission.”

“That’s sound logic, Crimson,” Starlight smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Do I get a bonus?” Crimson asked. “I think I deserve a bonus.”

“I have not yet murdered you,” said Maud. “That is your bonus.”

“You haven’t bucked me either,” said Crimson. “I’m weighing my options if the former includes the latter. Just kill Tranquil in front of me before you do me in, okay?”

“Um,” Tranquil looked back nervously from her corner of the wagon.

“It’s just how they flirt, Tranquil,” Mercury assured her.

“Oh, okay,” Tranquil nodded and blushed, not seeming to mind that her wife was flirting with somepony else, but Crimson had rarely stuck to one wife so it was expected. Tranquil went back to staring thoughtfully at the floor.

Mercury ignored their further flirting. Besides, the logic Crimson used wasn’t sound. Taking care of Kyo in Holder would risk the rest of her hive finding out and they would have been on the killer immediately upon losing contact with her. They had to do it when she was out-of-hive range.

Olivia surely recognized this, but didn't speak; accusations without evidence would accomplish little. Mercury felt bad for being the one with that evidence and fearing to share it.

Mercury kept her telesyringer in front of her loaded with an explosive gas dart. While she wouldn’t take chances with the wasteland or her own party, she’d also brought other ammo, including what she mixed while in Holder. She even loaded the killing joke bloom into a canister. She figured that could down almost anything.

Olivia’s peering eyes settled on the telesyringer for a moment, which made Mercury consider something else.

“Olivia?” Mercury asked.

“Yes, miss?” Olivia smiled. The diamond dog had sat on the side of the wagon with Mercury and Twilight in it, as if knowing the others were least trustworthy.

“What would those shifting potions do if injected?” Mercury asked. “Like if I shot one with my telesyringer.”

“I haven’t thought about that,” Olivia said, tapping her chin. “Injecting it with something like that might even bypass magical resistance, turning them into the first thing they thought of after taking it. It’s hard to say though; it wasn’t designed for use by force and could easily make things worse, so I wouldn’t advise it unless you have no other choice.”

“That would be a useful non-lethal weapon if it worked,” said Twilight. Her voice was muffled through her gas mask, wearing her full outfit so that the guards on the road didn’t panic upon seeing her. She seemed nervous about taking too many of the potions herself.

“Did you bring any?” asked Mercury.

“I did,” smiled Olivia. “But if you do not mind, I will keep them in my bag for now. I want to have them in case one or more of us needs them for something.”

“Of course,” Mercury nodded, though she was still rather curious.

“You could shoot them with it and then scream out something unexpected,” suggested Crimson. “Like ‘dragon dildo!’. They couldn’t help but think about it, then you’d be all set.”

“Why don’t you run your mouth in a more useful way, Crimson,” Starlight said.

“I didn’t know you liked me in that way,” Crimson smirked. “Though my wife will have trouble watching while pulling the wagon.”

“What I meant,” Starlight’s voice became deadly. “Go over everything you know about Stable 5 before we pass.”

“Oh I can’t wait,” Crimson snickered. She laughed every time someone so much as mentioned the stable, and that wasn’t a good sign.

“That place is cursed,” Olivia shivered.

“Why do you say that?” Starlight head-tilted at Olivia. “It seems surprising an educated lady would believe in such things as curses.”

“I mean figuratively,” explained Olivia. “Something terrible happened there. We get regular distress signals from inside, always the same pony, and have been since Ramble was built here over a hundred years ago.”

“You mean a recording?” Twilight asked.

“Definitely not,” said Olivia. “The messages are irregularly spaced and do not repeat. We got the stable door open due to an apparent error in the circuitry, and sent in a rescue squad, but the door closed behind them. Shortly after, there was a mayday that they were being attacked. It went silent, and we never heard from them again. Our leader at the time deemed it a trap and made no more attempts. The flaw that opens the door still works intermittently, but we posted guards to keep hapless explorers from attempting entry.”

“Intermittently works huh?” Crimson said. “It’s one of the earlier stables, so more likely a loose connection than a trap.”

“Can you not reply to the signal?” asked Mercury. “Get information that might help?”

“We have tried,” said Olivia. “But he does not seem to have a receiver on his end.”

“What’s his name?” Starlight tilted her head, probably wondering if it as somepony from early in the war.

“He claims to have forgotten,” said Olivia. “He says something about puppets attacking him and he often claims they keep murdering him. The messages have only gotten more deranged over time; I have to agree that it is some kind of lure.”

Maud’s ear perked with a sudden interest in the conversation.

“It’s not a lure,” Crimson snickered. “His name is Oliver Moon, I remember because I enjoyed reading about the experiment. The records at the control stables claim he was chosen because he was an outgoing and happy musician. The effects of loneliness and terror would be more pronounced and easier to measure. Classy, right?”

Mercury wanted to comment, but didn’t want to hear further explanation. Was there no end to the cruelty of ponies?

“What?” Twilight stared. “Wait, Oliver Moon? I… oh dear…”

“You know him?” asked Mercury.

“Sort of,” Twilight blushed. “In my timeline… actually in this one too I guess since I met him before the time stream split. I shouldn't talk about it.”

“Hm?” Gloomy perked an ear from where he pulled the wagon, straining as if trying to hear but not saying else..

“What was he, the first colt you bucked or something?” Crimson chuckled.

Twilight blushed harder.

“Holy horse apples he was,” Crimson laughed. “Does that mean you lost your virginity as a blank flank? I guess you and me have another thing in common.”

Knowing Twilight, she probably lost it for science. Mercury wouldn’t mind hearing the story since it'd probably be more adorable than lewd, but Starlight got the conversation back on track.

“What was the experiment, Crimson?” Starlight growled. “Don’t even think about holding back.”

“Only one occupant was registered at Stable 5,” explained Crimson. “He didn’t realize that until he arrived and the door automagically locked behind him.”

“It’s a real distress signal?” Olivia head-tilted.

“What purpose is this experiment supposed to serve?” Starlight asked.

“Let me finish, silly Empress,” Crimson’s grin spread wide. “The only company he had was a large crate of puppets, like the kind from those old foal play restaurants with annoying animatronic entertainment. There were facilities to build more, which the robotic puppets could operate.”

This sounded less like an explanation and more meant to confuse them more.

“Again, what purpose,” Starlight repeated.

“A few weeks in, the puppets would become violent,” Crimson said. “Long story short, the experiment was that the puppets would kill the occupant, revive them, rinse and repeat. One purpose was that the occupant would get good at stealth and might devise useful techniques. It would also study the effects of long-term isolation and terror on a pony’s psyche.”

“What,” Starlight deadpanned. Even she found that distasteful.

“Why would they do that?” Mercury was appalled, but no longer surprised.

“Celestia’s eldritch mane…” Twilight sounded baffled.

“How could they even afford that?” Gloomy asked from up front. “A whole stable for a single-occupant experiment? Even from a villainous perspective, that doesn’t make sense.”

“Stable-Tec had a lot of funding,” shrugged Crimson. “On top of government contracts, many rich ponies had an interest in surviving the apocalypse and didn’t always know how the money was spent. Anyway, the experiment was scheduled to run until the pony successfully survived over 30 days, at which point everything would shut down, including life support, and results would go to the control stables.”

“This is absurd,” said Twilight. “Regardless of how time played out, I can’t believe they would initiate such things.”

“Unlimited money does weird things to ponies,” shrugged Crimson. “Remember the heads of Stable-Tec didn’t pay attention after they hired some psycho that would work for cheap and told them to make an experiment to keep them busy. Most barely made sense even from an evil point of view.”

“So the message of completion never arrived, I take it?” Starlight asked.

“No,” said Crimson. “But I had no way of knowing he was still at it. We didn’t get them for other experiments that would have been completed either. I assumed malfunctions occurred; that’s Stable-Tec’s special talent. Anyway, if I’d known it was still going, I’d have wanted to come here as soon as we got to Holder to meet this loon!”

“We have to save them!” Mercury said. “If that’s still running after 210 years… we can’t leave somepony to that fate!”

“That is even worse than being feral,” said Maud.

“I hate it too, can’t even imagine,” Gloomy said. “But if all attempts at rescue have failed… I mean these dogs aren't light-weights, if it was too much for them…”

“But that was a hundred years ago,” Maud said. “They would not be as advanced as they are now. More importantly… Crimson. How do they bring him back when he dies?”

“Huh?” Crimson asked. “I didn’t mention the life recycler?”

“Are you telling me that there has been one this close the entire time?” Maud sounded close to doing terrible things to Crimson. At the least, Crimson was losing precious pussy points.

“Easy now!” Crimson said. “I said life recycler, not soul recycler.”

“A life recycler?” asked Starlight. “Right… right… we got rid of the life recyclers when research on souls in the Mirror Pool led to development of the soul recycler. I guess one found its way here.”

“Even if you put a new soul gem in a life recycler,” Crimson looked at Maud. “It would only transfer the memories. Without the soul, a new soul would generate on its own, but it’s not the same person. And we both know that isn’t good enough for your sisters, Maud.” Crimson laughed. “I wonder how many separate Oliver Moon souls made it into the afterlife; that must be confusing for them. You know this all seems pretty similar to what happened with you, Empress, even if you only did it once.”

“Excuse me?” Starlight grumbled at the implication. “Brave words to the only one that can order Maud not to kill you."

“You yourself said there was no soul transfer from Trinity to you,” smirked Crimson. “I’m sure you have something rattling around in there, of course, kind of a…’New Starlight’, a sweeter formulation with less unnecessarily evil Trinity bits.”

“You sound like a Glimmer Cola commercial,” grunted Starlight. “Like when they tried that new formula… ugh.”

“Yes Pinkie, the old one tasted better,” Maud said to her gem bag as she continued an angry staring contest with Crimson. “No, I do not think Twilight is comparable to the competitor Poopsy Cola’s cherry flavor. But perhaps before I kill Crimson, she could taste Twilight. She's a rare pony to survive finding out what Midnight tasted like… Indeed, Gloomy may also know. Or maybe a Twilicorn at least?“

“Uh...I’ve only tasted Twilicorns,” Gloomy said from the front. “I’m not sure they’re the same; they have a funny aftertaste compared to Twilight’s,”

Gloomy blushed when a comparison to Twilight slipped out, but it wasn’t like everyone here didn’t know. Twilight blushed harder and cleared her throat, and Gloomy turned back to watch the road intently, seeming to try to tune out the rest of the discussion.

“Pinkie says the Mirror Pool producing diet drinks justifies its destruction. Now, Crimson...” Maud said with a glare. “If you sate my curiosity, I’m less likely to sate my anger instead.”

Crimson audibly gulped, though who knew how sincerely. “Well, I suppose she has been goin’ straight too long!”

Twilight squeaked in surprise as Crimson actually went down and forcibly tasted her in places she’d rather only be in private. After the initial surprise, Twilight seemed reluctant to resist. She even reciprocated a bit, awkwardly placing her front hooves on Crimson’s head and twitching her hips as Crimson grasped them.

“S-should I stop her?” Olivia asked uncertainly.

“I-it’s fine,” Twilight’s voice was an octave higher than usual. “For Celestia’s sake… this world… what has it done to my shame.”

“I swear I need to get a shock prod to keep you all in line,” huffed Starlight, who turned to look out of the cart to avoid more of that.

Mercury wasn’t sure if Twilight cooperated because it might bring her weirdly closer to Crimson or just out of curiosity. Hopefully not because Maud was gripping Mite, since seeing this under threat of death from a third mare wasn’t on the top of her list of things Mercury wanted to see.

She looked away from the scene, knowing it’d embarrass Twilight to gawk too much, and began thinking about the conversation that led to this oddity. Mercury suspected Crimson thought the opposite of what she said: that Starlight’s hastily-copied mind was missing the necessary smart Empress bits. But with what Trinity was doing, Mercury thought perhaps the end result was the same.

After a bunch of panting and grunting, and squeaks from Twilight as she attempted not to make louder noises, Crimson seemed to pull away.

“It’s been a long time,” said Crimson, mostly to Maud. “But she tastes the same to me. Way too sweet, even her ass, though I think her bat’s been using that hole. Not a hint of cherry. Now come on, I just tongue-raped a frie-… mare for you, and who knows what a life recycler would do to Limestone. Tartarus, it might even make Pinkie sane.”

“I didn’t say no,” Twilight mumbled, not approving of the word ‘rape’.

“Hey, don’t ruin my fantasy,” Crimson grumbled back at her.

Maud only answered after a concerning amount of time. “I will spare your life for now Crimson, and not just because Twilight’s flustered orgasm face is amusing.”

“What was that?” Gloomy called from the front. He’d missed much of the conversation and all of the visuals while navigating, but seemed to catch the words ‘Twilight’s flustered orgasm face’.

“It’s okay, Gloomy,” Twilight cleared her throat.

Mercury didn't doubt Maud would have killed Crimson on the spot for hiding an actual soul recycler. Telling Crimson to do that was probably a delay so Maud could commune with the gems. Given Limestone’s issues with Starlight, Mercury was sure she’d rather stay dead than become similar.

“In the future, no murdering without my order, Maud,” Starlight said, as casually as she might advise somepony not to jaywalk, with a sigh towards the disheveled and panting Twilight.

“Um...the parts would be similar, right?” Mercury pointed out, trying to change the subject away from molestation or murder. She didn’t know the technical details, but couldn’t bear the thought of the pony remaining there.

“Well yeah, we’re both mares,” Crimson said.

“I meant the parts of the machines,” Mercury sighed.

“Yes,” said Maud, creasing her forehead in thought. “Holder may have a few parts of their own. Together, we’d at least be closer to a complete one. There’s no guarantee we’ll get a whole one from the Ministry even if we make it inside.”

“Would your guards let us in, Olivia?” asked Starlight. “Now you know it’s not a lure, would they assist?”

“They would let us in if they knew,” said Olivia, who looked a tad shaken from things. “But I do not think they’d risk losing so many dogs to rescue a single individual. I am sorry.”

“If they are still bringing her back,” said Maud. “The device must still be functional. Olivia. Did your troops have a stealth device when they attempted a rescue?”

“They did not,” Olivia considered. “It would be a significant advantage. There’s no reason to believe this stable would have systems to detect it if Stable 11 didn’t.”

“You said the door shut behind them though,” said Twilight, seemingly recovered and trying to pretend that Crimson hadn’t just gone down on her. “Starlight, can you cast a spell to keep it open?”

“Not a spell, no,” said Starlight. “Only non-magical energy affects the orichalcum alloy in those doors, but it wouldn’t be hard to drop something heavy in the door’s way to hold it open.”

“A simple solution,” Olivia said. “Though I hope it's not too simple.”

“Well then,” said Starlight. “It looks like our first stop won’t be Ramble.”

POV: Forgot
Stable 5

He’d forgotten who he was, where he was, why he was here. Even what he was. All he knew was they were coming. They were always coming.

“Help,” Forgot whispered over the transmitter. “Please help me. I don’t know where I am… I just want help… I can’t… please... I'll do anything if you just come here and kill me forever.”

He didn’t know if anyone heard; maybe this radio was only here to taunt him. Was there even anything outside this nightmare to hear? Perhaps all around him were the personal hells of other wicked souls. He didn’t remember being wicked, but he didn’t remember being good either.

Forgot hung up the transmitter. He couldn’t broadcast for more than a few seconds or the demons might think to destroy the transmitter. Even then, he only dared to transmit right after revival. After a revival, they always gave him a few hours to hide before coming for him again.

Slipping the mask over his face, he headed into the hallway, walking less carefully than usual since they hadn’t woken back up yet. His body was covered with parts from the ones he managed to destroy, and the disguise fooled them at a distance at least.

He stepped over his own corpse on the floor as he moved. It was the one from his most recent murder. They’d killed him that time by impaling him with a sharp steel pipe, right up the plot and out his muzzle. They’d let him bleed out on the floor, and it took a long time to die, their horrifying cackles surrounding him as he faded. Did they have to do that?

They hadn’t murdered him in that fashion in a long time, though he couldn’t remember when the last time was. It wasn’t like he kept track, but figured it was at least a few dozen killings ago. They’d killed him in so many ways that it was rare for them to think of new and inventive murder methods, and even then it was probably only because he'd forgotten the earliest killings.

There was little time to think about it though. He wasn’t hungry just after reviving, but it’d be good to stuff his face before they woke. Then he wouldn’t have to do it while they actively searched for him. After that, he’d need to find a new secret hiding spot. They’d found the one he’d been using since dozens of kills ago, so it’d no longer be a safe place to sleep.

He passed by more of his own body on the way. They ranged from fairly intact to bones. He used to put his old bodies in the incinerator upon reawakening, but he’d stopped bothering with that so long ago. Now he just tore the armor off the old body to use and left it to rot.

He didn’t even notice the smell of his own rot permeating the stable anymore, but it seemed to confuse the creature's senses when they looked for him. Maybe that was a good thing. If he couldn't find a new place to hide long-term, he might have at least some luck lying on the floor with the other corpses and pretending to be dead for a few hours at a time.

The commissary was always well-stocked. It was cruel that they kept it such when he could almost never get here. It had food paste and cola, though he didn’t bother with the plates when eating in here. Instead he scarfed down food paste from the machine, as much as he could hold. He then filled up several bags full for later and choked down a few colas.

As he did so, he glanced in a mirror nearby. He'd had one in his last hiding spot and sometimes just stared into it, wondering what he was. He had a dark blue coat and black mane, which made his orange eyes stand out. There was a strange mark on his flanks, an arrangement of white rectangles in a row with some black ones between some of them and a strange design like two hooks above it. He wanted to call it a keyboard for some reason, but that didn't seem right since it didn't look like the terminal keyboards.

He often wondered why he had the mark, but it was just another thing he’d forgotten. Maybe it was just a branding to signify his damned state. Forgot tried not to think about it all as he shoveled more cola bottles into a bag and dragged it behind him with his magic.

Not that he had any idea where to take it. He’d been over every inch of this horrible place looking for hideouts. Was there any he still hadn’t found? They seemed to check all the ones he'd used before on a regular basis.

Forgot jumped when a loud buzzer sounded. His first reaction was fear, thinking the demons reactivated early, but the disembodied voice after confirmed it was different.

“Forced entry detected at stable entrance,” the voice said as red lights flashed near the top of the surrounding walls.

He was certain this happened before, but couldn’t remember what it meant. Dragging his bag of food behind him, he made his way to the security center where the camera feeds were.

He felt like he should check the room with the large round door first. As he looked through the camera there, his eyes widened. The door was… opened? It’d slid out of the wall and rolled to the side. As he watched, several glowing steel beams levitated into the doorway, perhaps to keep it from closing again. It looked like a magical aura, but it was a lighter blue color than his own.

And then he saw the source of the magic. It was a creature with a horn like Forgot had. Wait… was that the same type of creature he was? And there were other creatures with it that looked similar!

Forgot scrambled at the controls at the security station. There was a way to use the intercoms from here, but he’d forgotten how. Before he could, one creature, a strange hornless one with black mesh skin, appeared to cast a spell that made them vanish from sight.

“No, don't leave me!” Forgot shouted at the top of his lungs even if he knew they couldn’t hear. He hadn’t spoken above a whisper in forever and the effort burned, leaving him in a gagging fit for several long moments.

But then he noticed something else. Several pieces of rubble shifted, and if he looked at the floor… hoof prints in the dust! They weren’t gone, they were invisible! It looked like they’d gathered near several of Forgot’s corpses as if observing them, but soon moved forward.

Forgot slammed his hooves on the console and screamed in frustration, his lungs in agony from the effort. He had to find them! He had to convince them to kill him and destroy the gem in his neck. He’d be free!

“What?” a voice spoke from a speaker next to where he slammed his hoof. “Who’s there? Are you okay? We’re here to help!”

The intercom! He hit the button while smacking the panel in frustration; he kept it pressed as he spoke.

“Please help me!” Forgot called out. “I’m in the security room!”

After a few moments of silence, the voices from the invisible creatures spoke again.

“Do you know how we can get there?” the voice asked. “Or can you get here?”

“I can!” Forgot said. “I’ll hurry. We don’t have much time before they wake up again!”

“How long?” asked the voice.

“Not long!” Forgot repeated.

“No,” said the voice. “I mean like minutes or hours?”

“W-what?” Forgot stammered. “I-I don’t know?”

“If there are no visible clocks in here,” another duller voice spoke. “He may not remember how to tell time.”

“Break’s flaming cheesecake,” swore a different voice, sounding a bit more annoyed. “If you are sure you can get here, we’ll wait for you.”

“I’ll be there!” Forgot yelled before turning to the door.

Forgot ran faster than he ever remembered running. Sure he ran from the demons, but he knew his capture was inevitable, so there wasn’t a ton of incentive to put forth 100% effort. But now he could see freedom.

It wasn’t easy to run with such a full stomach, but there wasn’t a cramp in the world that could keep him from galloping full blast. He raced towards the atrium, passing several demons as he did, but they hadn’t reactivated yet. He opened the door and went into it.

The creatures appeared upon his entering the room. There were eight in total. Most of them were shaped like him though there was one large one that stood on their hind legs. They were standing close, some riding atop others, as if their invisible enchantment had a limited range, but separated when coming back into view.

“You’re real!” Forgot could think of nothing better to say as he tore off his mask. “You’re really real!”

“Oh my Celestia,” said one wearing a strange leather outfit and mask covering her whole body. That one pulled their mask off, revealing a purple creature like him with a broken horn. “Oliver… what have they done to you?”

“Oliwhat?” Forgot asked, but the confusion didn’t stop him from embracing that one as they approached first.

“It doesn’t matter,” the purple creature said gently. “I’m Twilight. We are here to save you.” Twilight pointed to the others one at a time. “This is Crimson, Tranquil, Gloomy, Maud, Mercury, Olivia, and Starlight.”

“We still need the life recycler,” said Maud, the one with the strange black mesh skin and bland voice. “But you are correct. We should make him safe first with the guards outside.”

“Safe?” Forgot asked. That wasn’t what he wanted! “No! You have to kill me! You have to kill me right now and then destroy my gem! I can't because I die as soon as I take it out and they’ll just come and get it!”

The other creatures stared at him, stunned expressions on their faces. Did he say something weird?

“T-the life recycler?” Forgot asked, only just then having caught the phrase in his excitement.

“The machine they used to bring you back to life,” Starlight, the pink horned annoyed-sounding one said. “Do you know where it is?”

“I know where it is near,” Forgot said. “I mean I always wake up in a different place, but it’s always in a certain area, near the noise wall.”

“Noise wall?” Starlight asked.

“There is a steel wall that looks different from the others,” explained Forgot. “Behind it I hear noises, like machines. There is a doorway there, but it has no handle, just a pad on one side with a hoof print on it. I tried a few of their hooves when I downed one, thinking it might be an exit, but they didn’t work. Maybe they have to be alive for it to open for them.”

“Crimson, do you think you might have the authority to open it?” Starlight asked.

“Doubtful,” Crimson shrugged. “I wasn’t planned to be Stable 27’s Overmare, so if it requires a hoof print, I wouldn’t be on this staff roster. What I can do is access the stable maneframe and pull up a blueprint to see what's back there, if it doesn’t require high access at least.”

“Do it,” Starlight told Crimson, who lifted a leg to look at a screen attached there.

“Maybe Starlight can get in?” asked Twilight.

“Oh yeah,” Crimson laughed. It made Forgot cringe; the only ones he'd ever heard laugh were the demons. “I’m sure they programmed it so that Daybreaker’s prized pupil could get into the secret experiment area they were probably hiding from Daybreaker.”

“Why do you need it?” Forgot asked. He wasn’t sure what all this meant and didn’t care. He desperately tried to explain again. “I don’t want to come back again. I want you to kill me and destroy my gem! I don’t want to come back, so you don’t need it!”

“We need it for other reasons,” Maud said. “It may be the only way to save the lives of my sisters.”

“Sisters?” Forgot ran the word over in his head to remember what it meant. Maybe someone important to them?

“Yes,” Maud said. “I swear that once you have assisted us, if you still wish, I will end your life without pain and make sure it remains ended.” Maud moved strangely and then put a hoof to her eye. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a bullet in my eye.”

“Maud!” Twilight said.

“It is his right,” Maud said. “I will not deny a miserable pony mercy.”

“Pony?” asked Forgot. That word sounded familiar too, but it still didn’t matter. He had to get them what they wanted so they’d agree to take his gem far away. “I can help. Um… I can let them kill me one last time. All you have to do is vanish. When they come to take my gem back, follow them to where they take it! They’ll sleep for a time while my body gets remade and you can get it during that time. But you must keep your promise and make it so I can never come back next time! This time if possible!”

“Sweetheart,” Mercury, who had been quiet until then, spoke gently. “Please, let us take you outside. It’s better out there, I promise. At least come look before you give up and die. You could have a happy life… compared to this.”

“Yes,” agreed Twilight. “You should at least give the outside world a chance.”

“He can do as he wishes,” Starlight said. “We’ll take you outside and show you what it’s like, then if you still want to die, we will grant that wish as painlessly as possible. But for now, you have a sound plan.”

“We can’t ask him to do that!” exclaimed Twilight. “With all he’s already been through!”

“We are not forcing him to do this,” Maud said. “He offers himself. Even if I did not desire what he can assist with, I would not dishonor him by refusing his sacrifice.”

“I hate to say this, Twilight,” said Gloomy, one with odd fleshy extensions attached to his back. “But she’s right. This stallion deserves to die with a purpose after spending so long without one.”

“I agree,” said Olivia, the one standing on two legs. “I dislike it too, but we have no right to take that from him.”

“Please,” Forgot sobbed in desperation. He would do anything if it meant they would end him forever. “I’m begging you, don’t make me stay alive.”

A loud buzzer sounded.

“That’s it!” Forgot said. “They’re waking back up! Do the vanishing thing and follow me! And remember, no matter what agony they put me through, do not come to my aid! If they see you, they might not take my gem back the way they normally do!”

“Affirmative,” Maud said.

Though many of the group looked reluctant, Maud activated her invisible magic again. Crimson hopped onto Maud’s back, while Olivia carried Mercury and Tranquil, allowing them to get close enough to hide together.

“Move slowly,” said Maud. “Our speed is limited like this.”

“It’s fine,” said Forgot. “The demons move slowly when not attacking, so you'll be able to follow them after I die.”

Forgot took a deep breath and walked out of the atrium back into the hallway. He walked towards where he remembered the nearest one resting, and for the first time felt eager to die at their claws.