Fallout: Equestria - Echoes of War

We’d decided to stay the night at Greenhoof and leave in the morning. Sunny had enough rooms for each of us to stay in at her house, so we stayed. Sunny began making us something to eat shortly after we arrived; she also invited Izzy to craft something if she was inspired to while we waited. While I wanted to get going, I was glad to get some time to play with the pip-buck and read through the Wasteland Survival Guide that Whitehoof had given me. I’d honestly forgotten about it until I came across It in my saddle bags. Izzy wandered around the living room looking at things, seemingly at random.

“Is there anything sentimental in here?” Izzy asked, levitating a hat off a counter, “I’d hate to use something that looks normal, only to find out that it’s important to you.”

“It’s fine, Izzy. Anything like that I keep in a safe in my room, so work on some art to your heart's content.”

Izzy continued looking around the living room, oooing, and awing at things. I gave a soft laugh before turning my attention to the survival guide. I read through the main part of the guide, learning about some of the things that could be found throughout most of the wasteland. I flipped through the pages until I found the Delamare section and began to read. On the first page I read about the Glacial Ponies which were ponies that were afflicted with some sort of plague that originated in the glowing sea and that everyone had to be careful when coming into contact with them, the guide said there wasn’t a cure or treatment and the best way to avoid contracting the plague was to minimize contact with Glacial Ponies. I didn’t know how long ago Ditzy Doo had been up here to write this guide so I hoped that somepony had discovered a way to treat or prevent catching the plague, the last thing I needed was to have to find a way to prevent it myself, I already had a goal that I needed to accomplish and It’s already taking longer than I liked.

There was a paragraph on something called a Synth, but the author suspected that it was a rumor along with something called the Institute. Apparently, this group of ponies had never been seen and were creating ponies that would replace ponies and they were used to guide the wasteland in a direction that benefitted them; sounded like something paranoid ponies would come up with to explain the unexplainable, though I was glad that they were included. I figured it would be good to be in the know of things that were nothing more than legend or rumor, like the Mothmare, which Sunny swears to have seen when she was a filly. Mothmare was a legend from my time along with some other creatures like Big Hoof, Skinwalkers the Shadow Pony, Aliens, Grogar, and the Pondigo among others that I couldn’t remember. I could remember stories I’d heard around the campfire about Skinwalkers taking over Equestria from the inside out. I barely believed in Tirec as it was so I dismissed those stories. The day I ran into a Pondigo would be the day that I ate dirt.

I knew that this guide was old when I read about how Destroyer Stadium was a newer settlement and had replaced someplace known as The Hub as the center for trade and commerce around Delamare. I was surprised to read about Craterside, however. The Arcane Legion ponies seem like a new addition to the Delamare wasteland. When the Guide was written they were only a small cult that worshiped an undetonated bale fire bome in the center of Craterside. I wasn’t surprised to see that the Star Mother was mentioned since I suspected she was a ghoul. When this was written the Prophet was a pony known as The Glowing One; aside from them there was a pony named Grahmcracker was named a young warrior everypony must avoid, lest they craved a brutal demise. There was no mention of Dogma, I guessed he must have been a more recent part of the Legion.

“Ta-da!” Izzy called out. The cute unicorn had been working diligently on something while I had my muzzle buried in a book. I looked up from the guide to see her standing next to a… something. It definitely was art; I wouldn’t argue against that, but I wasn’t the kind of pony that spent much time looking at art. I appreciated the cultural significance that art carried, but most of my life had been spent worrying about the war with the Zebras. Sometimes I wondered what my life might have been if there had been no war; I banished those thoughts, however. This wasteland was the result of the world that I’d initially been born into; it was foolish of me to fantasize about what could have been.

“Wow!” Sunny said, leaving the kitchen. “Is that a Sparkle-cola bottle?”

“Yes!” Izzy said, prancing, “It is!”

I looked at the sculpture made out of random things. It was in the shape of a Sparkle-cola bottle and was made out of various pieces of junk the unicorn had been hoarding for an occasion such as this. I didn’t have an eye for art, but I wasn’t one to ruin something other ponies enjoyed.

“That’s art?” Storm asked.
“Can we burn it? That's about all this thing is good for,” Frost said.

Shut up, both of you! I thought to them, She may not be able to hear you, but I can and I'd rather not; keep your opinions of her… art to yourselves!
“Sheesh!” Storm said.
“Fine,” Frost sighed, “but if I’m in control next time she makes something, I’ll tell her what I think!”

I sighed, rubbing my hooves over my eyes. It was going to take a lot to get used to these versions of myself. The sooner I got rid of them the better; I just had to figure out how to do that. I was already getting tired of… myself. Which was a wild thing to think about. Something had to be done about the other two ponies that shared my body.

Sunny brought out the food that she’d been making after she’d finished admiring Izzy’s sculpture thing. It couldn’t help but smile when I said what she’d prepared, It’d been about two hundred years since I’d had a hayburger. It wasn’t as good as the prewar ones I’d had, but it was somehow better; I told Sunny as much and she smiled.

“They were my Dad’s favorites! I made them for him many times so I must have perfected the recipe or something.”

“Whatever you did, they’re amazing!” I said before taking the last bite, “Got any more.”

“No, but I can make some. I guess we should use some of the stuff I have here since I’m not sure when I’ll be back here.”

I wasn’t sure what she planned to do after meeting up with her friend in Destroyer Stadium, but that wasn’t my business. When we got there I’d be busy trying to find Flask and then trying to get them to help me find my niece. I didn’t think Sunny would tag along after meeting her friend; unfortunately for me, I expected Izzy would stick with Sunny when we went our separate ways.

The rest of the evening was spent eating hamburgers and listening to Sunny and Izzy talk about their lives growing up. I wasn’t able to tell them much when they asked about my childhood, It’d been hard for me to remember stuff after being split. I guessed that my memories had been split between the three of us, but I wasn’t sure. Storm and Frost didn’t chime in while I tried to remember events from my past. All I could confidently remember was the days leading up to the apocalypse. It was unsettling to think that a lot of my life was lost to me, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to remember it.

I fiddled with my pip-buck as I lay on the bead in one of the rooms. Sunny had taken the bed in what used to be her father’s room while Izzy slept in Sunny’s room. I’d learned some things about the device, though I was sure there was more that I still needed to learn. I discovered the Radio feature and listened to a pony claiming to be DJ Pon3 play before noticing the device picked up other signals. I flipped through them and only received static until I found one that had a somewhat clear signal. This station was hosted by somepony named Rose and was meant for raiders, bandits, and others of that sort. When I tuned in I caught the last of her news broadcast warning to steer clear of the new settlement that was Harmony Lane.

“All you ponies out there lookin’ for a quick score of loot and caps best steer clear of the mare with a metal leg.” She’d said. “I’ve got word that she was able to take out a group of Hunters all by herself. Yeah, I know it sounds absurd, but the ponies that brought the news t’ me swore on their mothers that it was true. So here I am Infrmoing Y’all to be careful of this mare. Who knows if she’s actually real or not, but I guess it’s best to be on the safe side until more evidence of this: ‘Iron Hoof,’ I’ll call her is real. I’ll be sure to let y’all know if I receive word of another group getting whupped by her. Until then… raid on.”

Storm was excited to be mentioned on the radio while I was embarrassed; Frost remained silent.

“Look at that, We’re famous!” Storm thought.

“I–I don’t want to be famous, I just want to live as quiet a life as I can with Dewdrop,” I responded.

“Oh, we’ll have time to do that. Let’s enjoy the notoriety we’ve gained with these raider ponies.”
“I don’t think we…”
“Both of you shut up!” Frost shouted mentally. I flinced in the bed. “Don’t you Storm? Rose has just painted a massive target on our flank! Every raider that heard that broadcast will be out to kill us so they can claim to be the one that killed Iron Hoof. It’ll only get worse the more she talks about us. We should try to keep some sort of low profile, otherwise, we’ll have every gang in the wasteland with something to prove after us!”

“We can take ‘em, right Breeze?”

“Oh, Um… I don’t know about me, but you two probably can.”

“I’m not saying we won’t be able to take them on. I’m the only one of us who can get the job done after all. What I’m trying to tell you, Storm, is that we’ll have an easier time finding Dewdrop if we don’t have to worry about getting attacked by ponies around every corner. How many ponies in the wasteland do you think have a metal leg like us? We’ll be pretty easy to spot with this thing!”

Storm and Frost continued to argue, but I tried my best to ignore both of them. After all, this was my body and I didn’t want to share it with either of them

I continued to navigate the blue and black menus. I discovered that the pip-buck kept track of what was in my saddlebag and that it would help me find something inside of it if I was wearing it. S.A.T.S. was another thing I discovered. I was intrigued to see what all the Stable-tec Assisted Targeting System would be able to do, but all it did right now was slow down time; I didn’t know if it actually slowed time or increased my mental processing to make it appear that time had slowed. I probably wouldn’t ever know for sure, but I expected S.A.T.S. would be helpful for Storm and Frost next time we had to defend ourselves against other ponies.

Frost and Strom continued arguing as I stopped messing with the pip-buck and laid down to sleep.

…

I didn’t dream of dead ponies as I slept, which was a relief. When I awoke I hoped all that was behind me. Dreaming of dead ponies definitely wasn’t healthy, I was thankful that whatever my dreams were, I didn’t remember them. The last thing I needed on top of everything that’s happened to me since waking up in Stable 0 was to be able to converse with the dead while I slept. Having my conscience split in three was already more that I could deal with. I didn’t need to deal with the regrets of the dead. Even if it was one of the princesses, I had one goal; I couldn’t afford to put my efforts elsewhere.

I couldn’t remember what I actually dreamed about. When I tried to remember all I got was various things that I wasn’t able to fit into one coherent dream. Most like Strom, Frost, and myself, each had our own dream and they combined into one indecipherable amalgam. I decided it was probably for the best; I didn’t really want to know what somepony like Frost would dream about. Judging from the blood thirst I got from her just before the battle I expected the dreams wouldn’t be pretty.

Storm on the other hand was very different. Some of the dreams were of alcohol, chems, and… a mare. I flushed when a snippet of the dream became clear and I recognized the mare from Storm’s dream. I wouldn’t be able to look Izzy in the eye for the rest of the day while I was in control. Storm, however, would have her sights elsewhere…

…

“Harmony Lane is in that direction,” I told Dirty Rich, pointing in the direction that my pip-buck said Harmony Lane was in, “the ponies there would be happy to trade. Just tell them that I sent you and that you’ve decided to become part of the minute mares.”

“Now hold on. I didn’t say anything about joining them. Last I heard they’d all been wiped out along with them Regulators.”

“I’m rebuilding them. The wasteland will need a group like the Minutemares if we want things to get better. I’d appreciate it if you joined us, we’ll need a great merchant such as yourself to gather a steady inflow of caps.” I looked Dirty Rich in the eye and fluttered my eyes before giving a soft sultry chuckle. He grinned at the compliment and then said: “I’d be happy to help.”

Before the war, I’d found that a little bit of flirting could go a long way when you needed something from a stallion. Dirty Rich didn’t know that I wasn’t interested in stallions and he’d probably move on to another mare before that became an issue.

Izzy and I waited while Sunny said her goodbyes to the ponies of Greenhoof. I overheard her name a pony called Simms as the stand-in sheriff until she returned. We set out once she was finished. I noticed she was crying as we trotted away from the home that she’d grown up in. The only home she’d ever known.

“You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to,” I told Sunny.

“I know, but I’ve been meaning to make a trip to Destroyer Stadium and I figured tagging along with you would be the best time to do so. I saw how Frost handles those Arcane Legon ponies, I’ll bet we get to the stadium with little to no problems. Besides, I wasn’t to help Izzy get back home.”

“You’re going to help her get all the way back to Ponoyo? That looks pretty far north on my pip-buck. Are you sure you’re both ready for the journey? I’m still not sure what all is out there, but I’ve seen enough in the last two days to be worried about both of you traveling that far.”

“I think we’ll be able to make it. I’m friends with Hitch, the sheriff of Destroyer Stadium and he owes me a favor, I plan to cash that in for his help getting her north.”

“Ok, I’ll trust you, but I’m still going to worry about you both until I hear that you’re safe.”

“Don’t worry about it, Winter,” Izzy chimed in, with a large smile, “With a sparkle as big as Sunny’s I’m sure she’ll have a lot more important stuff to do besides getting me home.”

“Thanks.” Sunny said, ears flattening, “Not as that comes with a whole lot of pressure or anything else that comes along with this large sparkle you talk about for that matter.” Izzy giggled.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Your sparkle leads me to believe you’re going to affect a lot of ponies!” Izzy giggled some more before looking at me and adding: “You too, Winterbreeze!”

“Aren’t you worried about getting back home, Izzy? I know you said Sunny and I have large… sparkles, but how does that affect you?”

“Me?” Izzy said, pointing a hoof at herself, she stopped and sat a moment. She ran her hoof through her majestic mane while she thought. “Oh, I don’t think I’ll see my home again, or any time soon at least.”

“Are you sure you’re not a fortune teller or something?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah, I met a pony that had some sort of visions of the future when taking Party-time Mentals.”

“No, I just don’t feel like I’ll see Ponyo anytime soon. I’ve been wrong about these feelings before though. I’ve never been wrong about what I see in a somepony’s sparkle though. You’re both going to be special!” She reared up and flung her forelegs too wide with a grin. Sunny and I looked at each other for a moment before laughing.

We continued our way down the cracked road north, I’d occasionally check my pipbuck to ensure we were headed in the right direction. Foliage grew out of the cracks in the road, some of the abandoned vehicles were even covered in vines. Looking at this made me wonder how long it would take nature to cover the ruins of the world that I’d been forced to leave behind. As we trotted on I made sure to keep my eye out for the crossroad with a bus that Grandmare had warned me about; I did wonder what that warning meant if there turned out to be multiple crossroads with busses that I could come across. Was I supposed to take the Right path every time?

Eventually, we stumbled across one such intersection. I stopped, Izzy and Sunny both stopped and looked at me.

“What's up?” Sunny asked.

“We should head right,” I said, pointing to the road leading down the right side of the dilapidated bus. All of its windows had been shattered and large chunks of paint had rusted away. I could see the skeletal remains of the ponies that had been riding it when the balefire bombs fell.

“You read my mind, Winter!” Izzy announced. “You see that there?” Izzy pointed at a creature I hadn’t noticed lying in the road leading to the bus's left.

“I see it,” Sunny said, voice flat.

“Yeah, but what is it? New to the wasteland here.”

“It’s a Breezador! They’re super dangerous.”

“Almost as dangerous as a hellhound. It’s best to avoid them as much as possible. I’ve heard they’re faster than a pony.”

“Good thing we’re heading that way,” I said, pointing my hoof toward the right of the bus.

“We should still be careful,” Izzy said, ducking low. “If one’s here then there probably more. We should try to be as sneaky as possible for a while. Just to be safe.”

It saddened me to see that the Breezies hadn’t escaped the consequences of the war. Now there where a monstrosity that I’d expect to attack a pony on sight. I didn’t see them in the survival guide, but I also didn’t finish reading the Delamare section. I wondered what became of the other creatures that lived in and around Equestria; with any luck, I wouldn’t find out, but then again luck wasn’t something I was used to having.

Izzy harvested some poison glands from the Breezador before we continued off. I guess the things needed to have poison along with being big and scary as it was. The thing had grotesque yellow wings and four eyes instead of the two a normal Breezies had. The eyes were a very dark shade of crimson. The Breezador was also twice the size of its pre-war counterpart. Yep! I thought to myself… along with Frost and Storm. It definitely needed to be poisonous on top of all that.

We continued down the cracked road passing unusable vehicles. I would have looked into getting on to work, I didn’t know much about them, but I’d seen a hotwireing a few times, but I figured anything that worked would have been taken in the past two hundred years. I thought about that for a moment. Why hadn’t any settlement grown larger than a small town here? Ponies certainly could have done so in the time since the bombs, but yet there was nothing so far; just small towns. Destroyer Stadium sounded like it would be a larger, if not the largest settlement in the area, but that was still smaller than I expected ponies would have been able to build in two centuries. Maybe I was expecting too much from ponies, Judging from what I read in the guide ponies had a lot to deal with so that could be a reason why settlements are the size they are currently. Hopefully, the Minutemares could help in the forming of a civilization; that is if I can get enough ponies to join up.

There was a chime from my Pip-buck after we’d traveled for some time. I stopped to check it. There was a small indicator next to the radio tab. I switched to it and found that the device picked up some distress signal. Static was all I heard when I tuned to it, but I was able to make out a mare’s voice, I got a warning that the signal was weak and was only picking up about 10% of the broadcast. I stuck out my foreleg and pointed it around until I saw the percentage go up by 2%. I began to trot in that direction, Izzy and Sunny following. We were trotting into the trees as I watched the percentage continue to rise. After some time I was able to hear the distress signal in full.

“This is Willow Spark, I’m a part of maintenance in Stable 24. If any stable-tec or any stable ponies are hearing thins we’re under attack. A group of ponies has broken Into my stable and is ransacking the place. I’m not sure what they’re after, I have myself locked in the stable door control room. If anypony is listening to this, please send us help as soon as you can!”

“Message Repeats.” Said another voice before Willow Spark’s plea for help started again.

There was a new indicator by the map tag, I found the location of stable 24 was marked on the world map when I tabbed over to it.

“We don’t have time to play here!” Frost barked. “We need to find Dewdrop, we’ve already wasted enough time in Greenhoof!”

“Hold on a moment, I think we should help these ponies.” Storm countered, “For all we know that cutiemark bitch is there right now attacking another stable, kidnapping more foals!”

She’s right, I added, Stable 0 can’t be the only stable that mare has attacked. I’ll bet she’s there.

“I doubt it, but I’m not helping in the fight. You two want to go? Fine! But, I’m not going to help, it’s up to you two while we’re there. I’ll just watch and take over when you realize the mistake you’re making.”

“That’s fine! Breeze and I can handle this without help from a psychopath. Right Breeze?”

I–I think so…

“Good, let’s do this!”

Just like that, Storm was in control. She galloped off, and Sunny called out after us before Izzy and she followed. I didn’t want to lead them into a dangerous situation, but they’d heard the distress signal, they knew the trouble that I was galloping toward and they followed anyway. They were good ponies, it was a shame they didn’t get to live in a world where ponies could live happily. They didn’t deserve to spend their lives in a wasteland; the ponies of my time had failed them; I failed them.

I wouldn’t fail the ponies of Stable 24!

We galloped on, weaving through the trees and leaping over bushes. We passed by a lake that had ice forming close to the shore. It was colder today than it had the past two days. I could see our breath as we panted. At some point, it would get cold enough to snow, if it hadn’t already. My ice-blue coat wouldn’t be enough to keep me warm when that happened, which was somewhat Ironic; the mare with an ice-blue coat and white mane and was named after the winter could freeze to death. I needed to get some cold-weather clothes sooner rather than later.

We came to a clearing with a large hill, there was an opening that looked to lead to a cave where the stable entrance would be found. A few ponies were wearing armor that had seen better days. There were only three of them and they looked to be spaced out enough that Storm could be able to sneak up on each of them and take them out without alerting the others. Storm crouched, and Sunny and Izzy did the same.

“I’ll take care of them, you two wait here.” Storm said, “Oh, and look away Izzy.”

The unicorn nodded before turning to face her left. Storm crept forward slowly, the grass brushed against our belly as we remanded low. We moved around the edge of a now ancient fence. We could hear one of the raider ponies trot closer. Storm looked up and saw a blue stallion looking out at the tree line; if he looked down he’d see us. Storm ejected the blade from her hoof and slammed it into the bottom of his jaw. There was a soft grunt as the blade bit into him. Storm heaved his body over the fence before his body could go completely limp. The stallion's glazed eyes stared blankly at the sky as she pulled out the blade, she whipped the blood off his coat before retracting the blade.

She glanced over the fence to see if the other two ponies had noticed his disappearance. The two mares sat where they were, oblivious to the death of their comrade. Storm crept along, following the fence as it led her around to where a mare sat before a fire cooking something that actually smelt good. Storm carefully climbed over the fence, placing her hoofs so they wouldn’t break a twig and alert the mare of her impending doom. Storm crept slowly toward the mare before burying her hoofblade deep into the back of her head. She caught the mare after she spasmed before her body hit the ground and gently set her down so the last mare wouldn’t hear. If she looked over here, she’d think this mare had fallen asleep on the job.

There was one pony left now. The mare stood guard at the cave entrance. Storm hopped back over the fence and crept toward the hill; she climbed it and then positioned herself above the mare. Let’s have a little fun with this one. Storm thought, she kicked a rock and it rolled down and bounced off the mare's head. She turned and looked up at where we were. Her eyes widened as Storm lept off the hill, hoofblade ready. Storm buried the blade in the mare’s left eye, she gave a slight squeak after the blade made contact; she twitched for a moment before going limp. Storm pulled the blade free before cleaning it and then retracting it.

She looked over to where Sunny and Izzy hid and waved for them to come out. Storm waited for them before she made her way closer to the entrance, glancing around for anypony that might she might have missed. We passed a few fire pits that were no longer lit. The attackers must have camped out here for some time while they tried to break into the stable.

“Looks like the rest are in the stable,” Storm said to Sunny after she galloped to our side.

“I see that, but what are three ponies going to do against a group of raiders?”

“Better make that two.” Izzy chimed in. “I’d like to avoid killing anypony if I can, It hurts too much to watch their sparkle vanis and…” She breathed, “and I don’t want to be the one that causes that if I can avoid it.”

“That’s ok,” Storm said soothingly, “A pretty unicorn such as yourself should not have to worry about such barbarities.” Out of the corner of our eye, I noticed Sunny glare at us, I wasn’t sure if Storm noticed, she was focused on Izzy. I doubted Frost saw, she didn’t care about what was going on, I couldn’t feel her presence like I normally could.

“C’mon, Storm. We’ve got to help these ponies. Keep yourself in check or I’m taking control again.

Oh Yeay! I suppose you’re ready to face off against however many raiders are in that stable.

I didn’t respond.

“I’ll have your back though.” Izzy said, “I–I think I can do it if It’s in defense of me or my friends. I just don’t think I can attack anypony.” Izzy’s ears flattened as she looked down at her hooves, “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

Storm opened her mouth to say something, but Sunny spoke first.

“It’s alright Izzy, Just do what you feel comfortable doing. Nopony is going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. Do you know how to perform a healing spell?”

Izzy nodded, “I can heal a little bit, I’m not sure what I won’t be able to heal is though.”

“See, there are more ways to be helpful that don’t involve violence.”

Izzy smiled, “Thank you, Sunny, I’ll do my best to heal you both as best I can if you get hurt.”

“Come on, Winterstorm. Let’s go save these ponies!”

The three of us galloped through the cave entrance, we made our way through a narrow passageway, and our hoof falls echoed as we slowed to a trot. After a moment the passageway opened up and we found ourselves standing on a catwalk, there was a terminal that was similar to the one that I used to open my vault, it didn’t look like it was broken. One of the raiders was wearing a pip-buck, the lead was the most likely candidate to have such a useful device. Storm was convinced that it wouldn’t help them much, but I disagreed; they probably knew way more about it than we did and would be enable to use it effectively.

That won’t matter in the end, Breeze. I’ll take care of her before she knows what hit her.

I hoped Storm was right, S.A.T.S. would be useful in a fight and we hadn’t had a chance to use it in such a scenario yet. The raider boss on the other hoof could have had their pip-buck her whole life and be adept in using it. I urged Storm to be careful anyway, she just ignored me and trotted past the terminal toward the stable entrance.

There were bodies on the floor as soon as we entered the vault. They looked like they were there to greet their new visitors. They’d been gunned down. Storm stopped and looked at them, they weren’t what any of us were expecting to find living in the stable. They weren’t ponies, they were kirin.

I’d heard of Kirin before, but I hadn’t seen one; I’d only seen pictures taken of them shortly after Applejack and Fluttershy had visited them and helped them regain their ability to speak, that was around the time that I was born. I’d heard of a couple joining the Equestrian military when the war broke out, but I didn’t see any during my service. Storm looked at the dead Kirin stallion, lying just in front of his foal. He must have lept in front of her as soon as they were fired upon, Storm thought, why did they bring foals to greet strangers?

Storm looked up from the corpse and over to the stable door control room. There she saw a kirin mare, she had a flowing blue mane and a green coat; her scales matched her mane and she had a crimson horn. She wore a stable uniform like mine, only it had the number twenty-four on the collar instead of a zero like mine. The mare took one look at us wearing our stable barding before waving us to the door. Sunny and Izzy followed as I trotted over. The mare unlocked the door, and she closed and locked it again after the three of us were inside

I wouldn’t be able to look away from the mare If I was in control of my body, shit, I could feel that Frost's presence had returned as well.

“Y-you… must be…” I stammered. Not sure when I regained control of my body

“You’re Willow Spark, the one that made the distress call?” Sunny said.

“Yes,” The Kirin said, her voice was soft, even with the current event.

“We… heard your distress a little while ago and thought we’d see if there was any way we could provide some assistance,” I said

“That’s wonderful. I wasn’t sure if Stable-tec would be listening when I put out the distress call, but I hoped for the best. I’m so glad you three have come.” She tilted her head to the side and then asked: “Is anypony else coming?”

“It’s just me and these two goofballs.” Izzy said, smiling, “But, these two should be able to help you with your pest problem.”

“Oh, well I guess you three are better than no one I guess. Are you three the only ones that Stable-tec sent?”

“As far as I know Stable-tec no longer exists.” Storm said, “I left my stable two days ago and haven't heard a thing from anypony there. My best guess is that they were all killed by the balefire bombs.”

“Oh… I see.” Willow Spark said. “So… what’s it like out there? We weren’t allowed to leave until Stable-tec opened the vault.”

“Let’s deal with the invaders first.” Storm said, “Then we can answer any questions you have about the outside world. Do you happen to have a weapon? It’d be helpful if there were four of us instead of three.”

“Oh!” Willow Spark said she floated out a revolver that was still in good condition, “I’ve got this. I’ve had some practice with it; I should be able to help you ponies take out the invaders.”

“That’ll be perfect,” Storm said, “There’s nopony left outside so we won't have to worry about an attack from behind. That’ll make our job a whole lot easier!”

“It’ll also be helpful to have somepony around that knows their way around the stable,” Sunny added.

“We’ve got this, We’ll have these invaders taken care of in no time!” Storm said.

“I’m so glad you three came, I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I thought I was going to end up dead or… or worse.”

“Don’t worry, Willow Spark.” Storm said, “We won’t let anything happen to you.” It was obvious to me that she was referring to herself, frost, and me, not Izzy and Sunny.

Izzy checked the box bearing the Ministry of Peacy logo and found some healing potions while Sunny, Willow Spark, and Storm prepared for the battle ahead.

“A large number of ponies left a while before you three arrived,” Willow Spark said, “I’m not sure why, but they made up a little more than half the number of ponies that were present when the invasion started.

“We’ll that’ll make it easier for us,” Storm said. “How many security ponies are there in the stable?”

“I’m not sure to be honest. We’ve never had much of a need for them so the amount is probably minimal. This is the first time the Stable has been opened so none of us have any combat experience. Most of the ponies that were up here to greet our visitors fled as soon as they saw the weapons.”

“Why didn’t you flee with them?” Sunny asked.

“I thought I’d be able to close the stable door again before too many of them could get in.” Willow Spark sighed, “There were still firing when I got in here, I’d have been able to close the door, but something was overriding my commands. All I could do was watch as the invaders came in. Some of them stared at me as they galloped by, I was surprised they didn’t try to get to me, but then I guessed they would when they finished in the stable; I thought I was a goner when about half of the group left, but they left me alone. I was at least able to send out the distress signal, so it was still good that I ran in here. I expect it’s the only one that’s been sent out. I guess the Overmare could have sent something to Stable-tec HQ, but that’s all the way in Fillydelphia and you said they’re most likely all gone so nopony would be around the receive the distress signal.”

“What can you tell us about the group that left? Was there a unicorn mare with cutiemarks stitched to her hide?”

“Yes. She was the first one in after the welcome party had been killed, she led the group out while before you got here, I’m surprised you didn’t see any of them. They had fancy energy weapons and better armor, I think I counted about fifteen of them.”

“Damn it!” Frost said, I flinched slightly and everypony looked at me.

“You ok, Winterbreeze?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah.” I replied, rubbing the back of my head, “Frost isn’t happy.”

“Can you hear the other versions of yourself? Can you talk to them? What's it like sharing your mind with two other versions of yourself anyway?” Izzy asked, eyes wide.

“Yes, I can hear them and communicate with them; I can see and feel everything that happens to my body when I’m not in control so I assume it works the same for them. It’s… weird to say the least, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Hang on,” Willow Spark said, “you share your body with… two other versions of yourself? How is something like that even possible?”

“Killing joke did this to me and there isn't a cure as far as I know.”

“Killing joke?”

“It’s a plant that can have a wide variety of effects when touched,” Sunny answered.

“Enough about me, let's see what we can do about your unwelcome guests. Does this stable have an armory?”

“Yes, It’s not labeled so there might be a chance that it’s gone undiscovered by the attackers. They’d need to know the password to get in, but I doubt it’d stop them since they were able to open the stable door.”

“Good, let's head there first and get some security barding for you three along with some ammo.”

Willow Spark opened the door; Sunny and I were the first out of the security office, Izzy and Willow Spark followed as we galloped through the door and into the hallways of the stable. The lights buzzed overhead as we slowed to a trot. We stopped when the hall came to a fork. I peeked down one way while Sunny peaked down the other. I could see the bodies of kirin lying on the ground, blood painted the walls. Willow Spark pointed us down the hallway that Sunny had checked. We followed her guidance until we came to a closed door. The kirin entered the password and the door opened revealing two raiders inside. They took one look at us and then started shooting.

We hid on either side of the door. I shook as I tried to ready myself to attack while Sunny fired into the room, I heard a grunt from one of the raiders, but it didn’t sound like they’d been taken out of the fight.

“Let me handle this, Breeze,” Frost said.

I thought you weren’t going to help us save the stable.

“Well, I changed my mind. Now let me handle this before you get us killed!”

I relinquished control to Frost. She looked at our pip-buck before looking into the armory and activating S.A.T.S. Time slowed as each of the raiders was given a gray border around their bodies, a percentage hovering above them. Frost lined up two shots on the raider with the higher percentage; time resumed its normal pace as two shots were fired at the pony. The first caught him in the chest and the second flew into his throat. He went down in a gurgling heap as Sunny finished off the other raider with a shot to the head.

“Hopefully the others will think all this noise was just other raiders having fun,” Sunny said. “The longer we can go without them knowing we’re here the easier it’ll be to take them out.” Frost nodded her agreement.

We found just enough barding for Sunny, Izzy, and Willow Spark before stocking up on ammo. Willow Spark used her magic to pick up a combat shotgun that hung on the wall. She holstered the revolver. Izzy didn’t take any new weapons; she raided the three medical boxes by the door finding four healing potions and two syringes of Med-x. When it looked like we were all ready Frost poked her head through the door and checked both ends of the hallway to see if any raiders had come to join in on the fun. She stepped through the door when she was satisfied that nopony was coming.

As soon as the four of us were out and had started down the hallway a raider came around a corner just ahead of them. The pony had fresh blood that flowed down her muzzle and dripped. Her eyes widened when she noticed us; Sunny and Frost were both caught off guard while Willow Spark pointed her new shotgun at the mare and blew a large chunk of the pony’s head away.

“Oh, my,” she said, dropping the shotgun.

“What’s wrong?” Frost asked. That was the last thing I’d expect Frost to ask another pony.

“Nothing, it’s just.” the kirin took a deep breath, held it for a bit then released, “That’s the first time I’ve ever had to kill anypony before.”

I’d felt the same way when I’d first killed a zebra; I froze up and stared at their lifeless body on the battlefield, blood leaking from a hold in their chest. I wanted to tell Willow Spark what I was told shortly after: That it needed to be done, it was them or me, that it would get easier in time, and that I should never relish the chance to take a life. I was also told that I should be a different pony when I was on the battlefield than when I was back home leading me to go by Winterstorm when deployed. That last bit of advice wouldn’t help the kirin much; she didn’t have the luxury of being able to leave the carnage behind to go home; the Stable may have been such a place, but I doubted it would be the same after it was saved. I wanted to say something to help Willow Spark, but Frost was the one in control, and I doubted she’d say anything.

“It was either him or us,” Frost said, obviously trying to add more emotion than she probably felt to her voice. “Sometimes you have to do things you’d rather not to protect the ones you care about.” Something must have been wrong with Frost, I’ve only shared this body with her for a day, but it was obvious that she was acting odd.

“Y–you’re right.” Willow Spark said, her horn glowing as she levitated the shotgun, “I have to protect everypony I care about.”

We continued our way through the stable checking each room for raiders as we passed them. We came across some rooms that some of the residents had locked themselves in; the rest of the rooms we checked were empty. The rest of the raiders were most likely together in groups or possibly one large group in a part of the stable that was large enough for them all. A scream followed by a gunshot echoed through the halls, followed by the faint sound of laughter.

“That sounded like it came from the Atrium!” Willow Spark said, “It’s not too far from here, I’ll bet the rest of the raiders are there.”

“Sunny and I will head for the Atrium.” Frost said, “You two check the rooms nearby, the last thing we need is for a couple of raiders to catch us from behind while we deal with the ones in the Atrium.” The three mares nodded before we split up.

I could hear Izzy’s and Willow Spark’s hoof steps as they went down a different hallway. Sunny and I followed the signs that pointed us in the direction of the Atrium. The smell of blood steadily grew as we trotted on, we tried our best to make as little sound as possible; even though Frost thought that the last thing the raiders were worried about was being attacked. They’ve successfully taken over this stable and are now executing prisoners. They all think they’ve won and I’ll come along and prove them wrong.

I lacked her confidence, We were outnumbered. Winning the battle would be difficult and I was worried that Sunny and the others would get hurt before the battles ended. The smell of smoke and cooking meat hit us suddenly making Frost and Sunny both cringe at the smell. Even though I wasn’t in control of the body I too could smell it. I’d never forget that smell as long as I lived. It was the smell of a pony on fire. Frost realized this too, but didn’t say anything to Sunny right away.

“What is that?” Sunny asked.

“They are cooking somepony in there.” Frost narrowed our eyes, her thought going back to the same group of ponies I was thinking about, “If I’m not mistaken, these raiders belong to a gang of cannibals called The Hunters. I’ve run into them before.”

Sunny paled, “You mean. They e–eat ponies?”

“Yes, and I’ll bet they were just dying to see what kirin tasted like. We need to get in there before they kill and cook anypony else.”

Sunny nodded and we both galloped down the hall. The smell of fire and cooked kirin grew as we followed the signs. We slowed to a trot when the open door to the atrium came into view. The smell was very strong now and we could hear ponies yelling and laughing. We silently took positions on either side of the door before we slowly glanced in to get a look at what was going on.

The atrium looked to be the heart of the stable. I didn’t remember there being one in stable 0, but I also didn’t explore it much. Some appletrees were growing from a large patch of dirt. There was a second story with a handrail that some of the hunters were leaning on. There was a small group of kirin that huddled together in a corner with a stallion pointing a gun at them. In the center of the Atrium was a large cookfire, above the cookfire was a dead kirin mare stuck on a makeshift spit that a unicorn was turning. Sunny moved down the wall away from the door before vomiting. I guess I was lucky that Frost was in control, otherwise, I’d have done the same. The smell of her flesh brought me back to the bonfire of the foal at Nipton; back to the foalkiller that I let get away.

There were eight Hunters in total. If the hunters had attacked on their own without the group led by that unicorn then they’d have lost. Even if the security kirin here hadn’t seen proper battle they’d have the numbers to withstand such an invasion. Judging from the pile of guns and barding there was nopony left in security, the kirin in the stable outnumbered the Hunters, but they had no way of knowing that the other group had left and that there was only these eight with the possibility of a few more somewhere in the stable. Hopefully, Izzy and Willow Spark could root them out and deal with them while Sunny and I handled the rest.

On the other side of the atrium from where Sunny and I were was a large oval window. I could see some kirin looking through it in fear. I noticed that one of them was bigger than the others, they looked like they were almost the same size that Princess Celestia was. She must not be as powerful otherwise the attackers wouldn’t have made it far into the stable before being stopped by her. I wondered if kirin magic was as strong as unicorn magic. They both had horns that glowed when casting magic, that was the only similarity between them that I noticed with my limited knowledge of magic. Willow Spark was the first kirin I met; so far, the only magic I’ve seen her do was levitation, which every unicorn could do. I’d have to ask about it if we survived.

Sunny returned after a moment and asked: “is there a plan?”

Frost smiled then said: “Make them beg for Celestia’s mercy.”

The earth pony was about to say something when Frost lept out of cover, activating S.A.T.S. She lined up two headshots on ponies that had a decent hit percentage. Two shots were fired when she released it; one missed, and the other blew the muzzle off a unicorn that had been licking her lips just moments ago. The muzzleless mare looked over at us in shock before collapsing on the floor. The other eight ponies began to fire on our position. Frost chuckled to herself. Sunny gave us a concerned look. Frost and Sunny shot into the Atrium when the firing had died down a bit. Frost missed her target, but Sunny was able to hit one that was on the second floor in the flank. He yelled when the bullet bit into him and accidentally staggered over the railing and landed with an audible crunch on the ground. He was dragging himself towards a doorway, leaving a small trail of his blood in his wake. Frost was going to put him out of his misery, but stopped and fired at another pony that ducked behind cover, just in time to avoid the bullet that would have ended her.

Frost peaked in again when a moment presented itself; she fired at a pony that was hiding behind the trunk of the tree the hunters had cut down to use to cook their meal. Three shots were fired, two of them missed but one struck home, tearing into the hunter's chest. The stallion stood up, he managed to fire back at Frost with his pipe-rifle thing; a bullet pinged off the metal a few inches from her head. Now this is exciting! Frost thought after the near miss. Frost and Sunny were taking cover when a metal apple bounced through the door and landed between them. Frost looked at it and froze as memories rushed back, memories that we didn’t remember, memories that we shared. We were brought out of the memory when Sunny tackled us.

“Move!” she barked, I was in control again. I did as she asked and galloped into the nearby room. Sunny closed the door just before the little metal apple exploded. “Are you all right?” She asked.

“Yeah,” I said, climbing to my hooves. I looked at Sunny and saw that a bullet had hit her just below the hock on her left hind leg.

“Sunny you’ve been shot!” I said before looking around the room to see if there was a medical kit on the walls. When I didn’t see one I began to scroll through inventory on my pip-buck.

“I’m fine, Winterbreeze.” Sunny said, “It’s good to have you back, though I’m surprised to see that Frost has given control back to you.”

“I am too, I can feel her and Storm, but they’re faint. I haven’t heard from Storm since we met Willow Spark. I don’t know what's going on inside my head anymore.” I eventually found what I was looking for in my inventory. “Got it, I’ve got two healing potions on me. We’ll have to make do with that until we meet up with Izzy and Willow again. That unicorn’s probably loaded with healing potions by now.” I took out one of the positions and hoofed it to Sunny.

“I hope they’re all right,” She said, before drinking the potion. “We’d better get back out there before they start to think we’re dead and leave the atrium.”

“You… you’re right.” I stammered, for once wishing that Frost or Storm were here to take control. They both had a better chance at surviving when in combat.” I shook as I followed Sunny out of the room. The floor in front of the Atrium where the grenade landed was scorched. I followed the orange mare as she crept toward the door, she kept her pistol ready in her mouth. Somepony stook their head through the door and was rewarded with a bullet between the eyes. He hit the ground with a thud, other ponies could be heard scuffling around just behind him. Three down, six to go. I thought to myself. I can do this, I can DO this!

I couldn’t do this. Sunny and I had retaken our positioning and were firing at the remaining Hunters. She had taken out another pony while the most I contributed was ruining somepony’s hair. There were five of them left now, it would almost be an even fight if Izzy and Willow were here with us. I worried about them. Surely they’d have come to us by now. I feared that they’d run into a group of Hunters and were not able to take them out. I prayed to whoever would listen, Celestial, Luna, even Tirec (if he existed) that they were safe.

I peeked into the atrium and activated S.A.T.S. I picked the pony with the highest hit percentage and set all shots that I could at their head. All missed, save for the second to last. The bullet caught the mare in the shoulder; she fell behind the log of a tree with a shriek. I ducked back, I couldn’t believe that I’d actually hit somepony, though they were still alive and would be shooting at us again, but I was proud that I’d been able to hit one of them. I was starting to believe that I actually COULD do this. I popped out again ready to finish off the mare that I’d injured. I shrieked when a bullet hit me about the fet lock on my organic leg. I collapsed behind cover, holding the limb to my chest. Sunny looked at me in concern, but I waved her to stay where she was with my cybernetic. As long as I had that I’d be able to fight.

It took me a bit before I could get back on my hooves. The pain in my leg throbbed so I used my cybernetic to get myself back into position.

“There’s about four of them left,” Sunny reported. I assumed the one I’d hit was either dead or one of the four survivors. I nodded at her just as I noticed that S.A.T.S. had replenished itself. That meant there was a good chance I could turn the four remaining Hunters into three, maybe two if I was lucky enough. I needed to keep in mind that Frost had decided to let the pony that had fallen over the balcony survive; probably so he’d suffer longer, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to shoot one of us when our guard was down.

Sunny and I peaked into the Atrium at the same time; I noticed that there was a group of kirin watching the battle as it raged on. The kirin at the front of the group had a green mane with a blue coat, opposite of Willow Spark’s coloring, however, I could no longer see the larger Kirin. They probably thought we wouldn’t be able to take out the Hunters, If Frost or Storm were here we could. With me in control I wasn’t so sure we’d survive, I’d have to rely on Sunny to take out most of the ponies. The remaining Hunters were hiding behind cover; I kept myself ready, at any moment one of them would pop out when they thought they were safe to do so and fire at us. Eventually one of them did; I activated S.A.T.S. immediately. It wasn’t fully charged, but there was enough for one shot, which I set on the pony’s head. I released it and the next moment their head became a spray of gore on the wall behind him.

Shouting came from around the corner down the hall behind where Sunny and I were followed by the sound of ponies galloping. I ducked behind the wall and fixed my gaze in the direction of the sound.

“What’s going on?” I heard Storm ask.

We’re in the middle of a battle and it sounds like reinforcements are heading this way from behind us. I thought back, glad that she’d finally returned, Where the Tartarus did you go?

“I’m not sure, the last thing I remember was seeing that fine piece of flank.”

Is sex the only thing you think about, Storm?

“No! I think about lots of stuff, ya know. For example, I think about stuff like… like that bottle of Evermare the bartender gave us and that Chem that Grandmare took. Oh, and mares, of course.”

Great. I mentally sighed, Look, Can you think about combat long enough to keep us alive?

“Sure thing! But It has been ages since we’ve bedded a mare. We need to do something about that.”

I flushed, the last thing I needed was a version of myself reminding me about my nonexistent sex life before the bombs fell.

Just deal with these ponies, that’s all you need to worry about right now.

“Sure thing, Breezy!”

Don’t call me that! I thought to the infuriating version of myself. Between Frost’s blood lust and Storm’s desire for pleasure, I was sure that I’d be dead before saving Dewdrop.

I relinquished control of my body to her.

Storm stretched our muscles as soon as we were in control. When she was ready she looked over to Sunny and said: “Hold out here, I’ll see what I can do about the ponies heading this way.”

Sunny nodded then said: “Just make sure they are enemies before you attack them, Storm. We split up a while ago, there's a good chance that Izzy and Willow Spark are being chased this way.”

“I wouldn’t dream of bringing harm to mares as gorgeous as them.”

“Just kill the enemy.” Sunny deadpaned before returning her attention to the Hunters in the Atrium.
What’s her problem? Storm asked as she stalked toward the corner where the hallway turned to the right, making sure to keep out of view of anypony in the atrium.

“Maybe she’d also tired of you lusting after mares. Can’t keep yourself under control?
There’ll be plenty of time for control when we're dead! Storm laughed

“The point is for us not to die, Storm.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just because we share this body doesn’t mean we share all the same goals. All three of us want to save Dewdrop, but as far as I can tell that’s the only common goal we have. Frost and You have different desires than I beyond that.

“I guess we’ll have to figure all that out late. For now, we need to get out of this stable alive.”

Storm stopped at the corner, pressing herself against the wall, We could hear the galloping growing louder, behind us the gunfight raged on. Storm slowly peaked around the corner and saw that two Hunters were heading for us, one of them had a sizable lead on the other while they were being chased by Sunny and Izzy; neither one of the Hunters had a gun on them. Strom grinned as she backed away, she continued to hold the pistol in her mouth as she ejected the blade from our cybernetic then positioned herself as she waited for the first pony to round the corner. When he did Storm stuck out her hoof and the blade sank deep into his throat as he galloped. His eyes widened just before Storm heaved him forward, yanking the blade from his throat. He writhed on the ground as the second Hunter came around. He stopped and stared at his friend laying in a growing pool of blood. The stallion glanced around for a way to run as Storm aimed the pistol and ended the hunter.

A moment later Izzy and Willow Spark came around the corner, panting.

“Those… were the… only two… that we found,” Willow Spark said in between breaths.

“They didn’t have any… weapons.” Izzy said, “They ran… as soon as they… saw us.”

“Good, that means there’s a good chance we’ve got the rest of the invaders locked down inside the atrium behind me.” Storm nodded in the direction of the door that led into the Atrium. “Sunny and I should be able to take out the rest. You to rest up for a bit. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to head in.” Both mares nodded before Storm turned and galloped toward the spot we had opposite Sunny.

Storm peeked into the room after and saw that there were about five Hunters left. Storm made eye contact with Sunny before nodding and charging into the Atrium dashing for cover behind an overturned table.

“What the Tartarus are you doing?” The orange mare called out as Storm ran. There were three ponies on the bottom floor and two on the top. One must have moved up there while Storm was away.

“Focus on the two up top!” Storm shouted around the pistol in her mouth.

“All right,” Sunny replied from the opposite side of the wall, I’ll leave the other three to you!”

Storm could get herself close to two of the three ponies that were on the first floor of the atrium, The closest pony to Storm hid behind a tree that was close enough for Storm to close the distance and take her out with the blade, after that she should have a chance to reach the second mare, also hiding behind an apple tree behind and to the right of the first; That is, if she didn’t reposition her self in the meantime. The Stallion towards the back of the atrium would be a different story. He was also using an overturned table as cover and there wasn’t anything close to him that Storm could hide behind and wait for an opening to rush him. I’ll worry about him after these too, I guess.

“You should worry about him now!” I urged, “He could pick you off at any moment if he gets a clear shot.”

There’s no fun in worrying about stuff like that, Breeze. You gotta live in the moment!

“I’d settle for getting to live another day, thank you!”

Storm shook her head as she waited for a pause in the enemy’s gunfire. When it came she leaped over the table and galloped to the tree the mare was hiding behind, the Hunter peaked around the tree and gasped when she saw Storm coming at her. Storm took advantage of this, ejecting the blade and sticking it in the mare's mouth, causing the mare to twitch. Storm pulled her to the ground, pulling the blade free. The mare's head hit the ground, blood flowing from her mouth and from the back of her head. Storm pulled back and slammed her blade into the side of her head, piercing the brain. The pony squeaked at the moment of impact then fell limp.

Storm pressed herself against the tree as the remaining Hunters fired on her position. She watched as Sunny looked out and shot up at the ponies on the second floor. One of them shrieked followed by a body hitting the ground. Storm glanced around the tree, the second mare hadn’t repositioned; the stallion was hiding behind cover. On the ground was the corpse of the Hunter that Sunny had just shot. Only three left, Storm thought, easy-peasy!

Storm stalked from tree to tree at every time she felt safe to do so. It didn’t take long to get close to her second target. Storm glanced around the tree and saw that the mare had moved to a different tree, a little farther away. Storm was disappointed until she noticed that the Stallion had his attention away from her as he fired at where Sunny was. Gotcha! Storm thought, leaning out, pistol still in our mouth. She activated S.A.T.S. and lined up all shots on the stallion's head. There was only a 25% chance to hit, but Storm felt good about her chances. She released the spell and all shots but one missed; it only took the one to drop him. There were only two Hunters left now, one up top and one down here with Storm. It wouldn’t be long until there was only one left.

“Oh, shit!” The mare said she must have noticed that she was alone down here with Storm. The mare made a break for the table that the stallion had used for cover. Storm saw her and knew that she could catch her before she reached it.

“Cover me!” She shouted back at Sunny, “I’m about to do something dumb!” Storm left her cover and galloped for the fleeing mare. She screamed when she turned to look behind her.

“Please! I don’t wanna die!” The mare said moments before Storm reached her. She gave a little jump with the blade at the ready, she slammed it home in the back of the Hunter's skull. The mare collapsed while Storm was able to land on three hooves, she wiped the blood that was on the blade off on the mare’s barding before retracting it. Looking up, Storm saw the last hunter aiming down at her. A shot rang out one moment and the Hunters head was gone the next.

All the Hunters were dead.

“It’s safe to come out now!” Storm shouted back at Sunny. She sat on her haunches and took a deep breath. What a workout! Sunny, Izzy, and Willow Spark began trotting over to where Storm sat when a sharp pain bit her in the back. Storm turned to her left and found the Hunter that Frost left alive, barely able to hold the pistol in her mouth. I’d forgotten about her. Before Storm had a chance to move the mare fired a second shot that hit us in the back. The pain flashed through our body as Storm fell. Sunny began to gallop for cover.

“Fuck me,” Storm breathed as Sunny fired a shot that buried itself into the hunter’s chest. Willow Spark and Izzy rushed toward us. “They came… out of… nowhere.

The pain in our back was unbearable, Storm was somehow able to withstand the pain, but I wasn’t. I didn’t know where Frost was or if she was feeling the pain, but I didn’t care at that moment. It was too much for me and I wanted it to stop. Suddenly I felt the pain begin to dull as everything started to grow dark. I wasn’t dying, Storm was saying something to Izzy as she took out a healing potion she’d stashed in her saddlebags. She held it to Storm's mouth as she drank; for me, things continued to darken before all I saw was black.

…

I was in the Ever After again, at least that's what it felt like anyway. I found it hard to believe that the Ever After was a black void covered with stars. I’d hoped it would be more of a paradise, not this lonely place. Being here made me afraid to see what Tartars might be like. I was still sure that the past two conversations with Twister and Princess Luna had been nothing more than Dreams that were conjured up from stress. That's what I hoped anyway, the last thing I needed was the ability to converse with the dead when I slept. I just wanted to have normal dreams when I went to sleep; I wanted to wake up feeling somewhat well-rested without being troubled by what dead ponies had asked of me.

Yet, here I was in the Void again, only this time I decided to sit down and wait for myself to wake up. I didn’t want to speak with anypony. The stars seemed to watch me as I sat there, waiting for me to call out to somepony. Would somepony show up if I said their name? I wanted to try, but I also didn’t want to feed into this illusion that I could speak with the dead. It did get me going when Twister asked me to go out and save Dewdrop, but that was something that I would have done anyway; I didn’t need a dream to ask me to. The stars seemed to all stare at me like I was intruding on them.

Hoofsteps began to echo around me, soft at first but grew louder. Judging by the pace of the hoofsteps the pony wasn’t in a hurry, they just calmly made their way to me. I got up and scanned the void for anypony, but there was nothing. The hoofsteps continued to grow louder as they sounded around me. The pony should be close enough for me to see them, but I was still alone. My heart began to race as I continued searching for the pony. I turned around and found the Skeletal alicorn I’d dreamed of when I left my pod; The first time I saw her she appeared to me as nothing more than a walking alicorn skeleton, there was more to her now. The tiny purple flames in her eye sockets burrowed into me as she approached, she wore an ancient-looking black coat that was frayed and had various holes and rips. Her mane flowed the same way that Celestia and Luna’s would. The dead alicorn’s mane was black with patches of purple and red that washed through it. She was noticeably taller than what I remembered Celestia being.

“You do not belong here, mortal.” The alicorn said, “Why do you continue to tread where you’re not supposed to be?”

I shrank away from the alicorn; I didn’t bother running away, I knew catching me would be easy for her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I–I…”

“Speak up!” the alicorn barked, spreading her skeletal wings.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could the alicorn along with the stars vanished.

…

My sight came back to me as I returned to my body. Storm was following Willow Spark as she led us somewhere, Izzy and Sunny were following as well.

Welcome back, Storm thought, were did you go? You disappeared after I was shot.

“I’m not sure, I was having some nightmare and just came out of it. Is Frost back yet?”

“I’m here.”

Look at that The gang’s all here!

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Willow Spark is taking us to see the overmare. She told us she wanted to meet and thank us for saving them.

“Let me take over then.”

But I wanna do the talking

“You’ll want to do more than talking, Storm.” Frost said, “Let Breeze handle this; we don’t need you making us look like a fool.”

Fine. Storm sighed, before stopping. I felt myself gain control of my body again, I let out a soft sigh of relief.

We continued silently as Willow Spark led us to the Overmare. There was an audible click when we reached the door to the Overmare’s office before it slid open. All the kirin stared at us as we all entered, we stood there as the Overmare approached us. She wore the same stable suit that the other kirin wore, it didn’t have any markings on it, the only difference was it was larger than the other suits. The kirin had a maroon coat with a lime-green mane that matched, her horn was long with a soft curve. The large Kirin stopped before us and looked at each of us before bowing her head.

“Thank you all for assisting us with the invaders.”

Willow Spark bowed her head, and the rest of us mimicked her.

“We’re just sorry we couldn’t get here sooner,” I said.

“It is most fortunate that you three came when you did. I’m curious, about how you found us.

“We picked up a distress signal that Willow Spark put out on my pip-buck, after that we came to see if we could help.”

The Overmare looked at Willow Spark and said: “If it weren’t for you then the stable would have been lost.”

Willow Spark flushed, she must not have been used to receiving praise. I heard a chuckle from one of the kirin in the office, but It seemed like I was the only one who heard it. I scanned the kirin in the office looking for whomever thought something was funny. When I didn’t find them I returned my attention to the Overmare who was still talking to Willow Spark.

“Your father would be very proud of you.” I heard the chuckle again but didn’t search them out a second time. I was sure that the kirin would turn up eventually.

“Thank you, Mother.” Willow Spark, bowing her head in respect.

I was surprised to find out that the Overmare was Willow Spark’s mother. When I looked at the tall kirin I was reminded of Celestia and Luna, neither of them had ever taken a mate; Cadence was the only alicorn that formed a family. But the overmare wasn’t either of the princesses, I wasn’t sure why she was taller than the rest either. Her body was the same as the other Kirin, only taller. I wondered if just being the leader was enough for her body to grow into this. I’d have to ask Willow Spark when I had a chance. I knew pretty much nothing about the kirin and I was anxious to learn more about them now that I’ve met one.

The Overmare finished her conversation with Willow Spark and returned her attention to Sunny, Izzy, and myself. She looked at the three of us for a moment before asking: “What are your names?” We each game her our names in turn, “It’s a pleasure to meet you three, My name is Spring Rain.” Spring Rain turned toward the other kirin in her office. “Rowan Light, will you and the rest of security make your way through the stable and let the others know that it’s safe to come out?”

“As you wish,” Said one of the kirin, I’d seen him before, he was the one with the blue coat and green mane, opposite of Willow’s colors. If I were a betting mare I’d say they were siblings. I was sure I’d find out the answer to the soon enough. Rowan Light made his way for the exit and the Security kirin filed in behind him.

“A large group of the invaders left before we arrived,” I said, Spring Rain looked at me.

“Why would they leave, they had us where they wanted us.”

“I think that group was here for something and left after getting it. I’d ask your security Kirin to check and see if anything vital is missing.” Spring Rain nodded her agreement before asking them to keep their eyes open for anything missing. Rowan Light nodded before leaving the Overmare’s office.

“You three are welcome to stay here as long as you like, I’m afraid there are now some rooms that will be vacant for some time. You’ve saved us and I want you three to know that you’ll always have a home here amongst the kirin.” The Overmare smiled down at us, before turning away and coughing. After the fit subsided she looked at us again. “I apologize for that, I’ve come down with something in the past few days. Is there anything else that you’d like to discuss, If not I’m sure Willow Spark would like to give you a proper tour of the stable.”

“There’s just one thing, I’d like to ask, If you don’t mind,” Sunny said; Spring Rain nodded for her to ask her question, “Why did you send a greeting party to meet those ponies when they opened the stable door?”

“We thought it was Stable-tec. Stable 24 was to remain closed until Stable-tec gave us the ‘all-clear’ signal. I thought that it was them coming to inform us that it was safe to leave the stable. Some of my kirin wanted to greet them and I let the first eight who volunteered to go. I fear these events will haunt us for some time. Half the kirin in the stable didn’t want the stable to be opened, I fear that after today more of my kirin will come to think that.”

“It’ll be ok, mother. The outside can’t be all bad, we were saved by outsiders, I’m sure the other kirin will see that and be willing to interact with the outside world.”

“I hope that is true, we’ve been able to make it through these past two centuries with no incidents coming from the outside.”

“It’s not the best out there,” I said not wanting to like Spring Rain and Willow, “But there are good ponies out there building settlements. I know of one settlement that’s just starting up, but I think it could grow to be something wonderful for the wasteland. I can give you the location and maybe you can start trading with them. I’m with a group called the Minutemares, we’re rebuilding our numbers and it would mean a lot of you and you’re kirin joined up. We won’t be able to rebuild unless we do it together.”

“That sounds Interesting,” Spring Rain said.

“That’s a pretty good slogan for the Minutemares you’ve got there,” Izzy said with a warm smile. “We can’t rebuild unless we do it together!” She giggled and I flushed.

Willow Spark was getting ready to give us a tour of the Stable when Rowan Light galloped through the door.

“Mother!” He said, coming to a stop before the Overmare.

“What is it, my son?”

“The water talisman, It’s gone!”

“They took the water talisman?” Spring Rain asked, her eyes wide as they burrowed into her son.

“Y–yes, it’s gone.” Rowan Light said, looking down at his hooves, “The ponies that left took it with them.”

“Winterbreeze,” Spring Rain said, now looking at me. She looked somewhat calm, but I could see the fear in her eyes. I’d seen that look in the eyes of ponies and zebra on the battlefield. “I assume the modified stable barding on you is yours, so you’re also a stable dweller. Do you know if you’re stable has any spare water talismans? That talisman those ponies took was the only one we were given.”

“I doubt that my stable still has it,” I said, somberly, “Those ponies attacked my stable some time ago, they killed my sister and foalnapped my niece while we were in cryo-pods. The rest of the stable ponies were killed so I’d assume they took the water talisman as well.”

“Damn it!” Spring Rain shouted, stomping a hoof on the floor. “ we need a new water talisman.”

“How long do we have before we run out of water?” Willow Spark asked in a shaky voice.

“I’m not sure, I’ll have to ask somekirin in maintenance to see how long the water we have will last us.”

“Why not use this as an opportunity to get some of your kirin to leave the stable?” Sunny asked. “There are plenty of settlements that will trade water for various things.”

“We’ve lived in this stable for two centuries now. Overmares in the past have refused any and all requests to allow the kirin to leave the stable. I’m more open to the thought, but I won’t force my kirin to do something against their wishes. Both of my children fall on either side of the debate. Rowan Light is adamant that we remain isolated; Willow Spark wanted us to open up and explore the land. I’m afraid that any kirin that wanted to open and leave the stable might of had a change of heart after the invasion. For now, we need to have a water talisman. Maybe my kirin will come around to leaving the stable in time, but for now, I think it’s best if we find a new water talisman or a unicorn that’s capable of creating one.”

Springrain began to pace around her office, deep in thought. The rest of us watched, I didn’t know what we could do to help besides trying to get the kirin to open up trade with nearby settlements.

“Do you know where one might be found?” I asked.

“Only stables, I’m not sure if there are other places that one might be found. Besides, we need one that’s strong enough to provide water to an entire stable. I fear that I might have to send one somekirin out to search for a solution.” Spring Rain continued to pace, “I don’t want to have to force one of the kirin to leave the stable.”

“You won’t have to.” Willow said, stepping toward her mother, “I’ll go, my opinion on opening the stable hasn’t changed. I’ll find a new water talisman and bring it back, hopefully, the other kirin will come around to opening the stable.”

Spring Rain looked over to her daughter, eyes wide. “You can’t, It’s too dangerous!”

“I have to, none of the others will want to go unless forced. I’m the only Kirin in the stable that’s willing to step hoof out there. I’m the only one that will be able to find the talisman.”

I noticed Rowan Light looking at his sister with surprise.

“I– I don’t… Willow, it’s still dangerous out there.”

“I know, but I’ll be fine.” Willow looked over to me, she smiled then returned her attention to her mother, “I’ll be fine, Mother. I’ll be with Winterbreeze and her friends. I’ll bring back a water talisman before you know it.”

Level Up:

New Perk:
Toughness - Look at that, you’ve finally been shot. Good thing it was nothing more than a flesh wound to Storm. Gain 10% damage resistance.

New companion:
Willow Spark
Special:
Strength: 4
Perception: 9
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 6
Agility: 6
Luck: 5