Chapter One: Another day in paradise

Ever since I was a filly, I had been taught balance.

It was the strongest force that ruled over this world. Harmony and Chaos, the magical and the mundane, even something as immutable as life and death. Balance ruled all, and it ruled equally. Nothing could truly be attained without something of equal value being offered in return. And if not given willingly, it would be swiftly taken by force.

I had been taught of the terrible things that transpired in the past, of a war waged with weapons of unimaginable power. And, of course, of the devastation that they left in their wake. But I was also taught everything I would need to know to make things right once more and restore the balance. For all the chaos created, order had risen to challenge it. And for each of the horrors that we knew lurked on the surface, a hero had been prepared.

Here, in stable 75, heroes were made.

Training started from the moment we could walk. And it was a brutal regime. Our bodies were pushed to their limits time and time again. Be it in strength, endurance, or agility, there was no test we couldn't clear. And as we got older, more and more facets were added to our training. Fully transforming us into shining gems of unmatched power and ability.

Once we were big enough to hold a firearm or our horns developed enough to cast spells beyond simple telekinesis, target practice and applied magic classes joined our schedules. All in an effort to turn each and every one of us into the future saviors of the surface.

Our progress was closely monitored by our beloved grown-ups, the ‘research team’, as they called themselves. Day and night we knew that they were watching our every movement, ensuring that we were at the peak of our abilities. It was one of the stable’s mantras, after all, ‘If you aren’t the best, ponies will die’. And that was why we trained hard, to be the very best. And I was the very best. I could run faster, jump higher, and shoot better than any of my peers. My magical prowess only matched by few if any, and, of course, my above-average intelligence helped greatly to stay at the top of any and all scoreboards.

There was a slight problem, however: I still didn’t have a cutie mark.

To say that a pony as old as me still not having a cutie mark was unusual would be an understatement. My flank was infamous for continuously baffling the researchers with its vehement refusal to produce a mark. For the last year or so the research team had started to become increasingly impatient, to the point where I had been ordered to report to the medical bay daily. Hey, you never knew! Maybe I’d get a cutie mark for getting my flank poked with a glass rod.

Stable 75’s empty hallways greeted me when the door to the fillies dorm opened. It was still too early for the stable’s shift from night to day mode, so the hallway was only illuminated by an eerie blue glow. I glanced back at all the fillies who still slept peacefully in their bunks, my own bunk calling out for me to return to its warm embrace.

Come on Black Light, you need to set the example. I thought. It would do the younger fillies no good if their role model were to just ignore her orders. While not having a cutie mark prevented me from graduating, it still gave me the unique responsibility of making sure all the fillies stayed in line. This was evidenced by the fact that I had one of those fancy leg computers that the researchers loved tapping at, a PipBuck, as they called it.

While it had basically everything I could need to help me in performing my special duties, from name lists to timetables and even maps of the stable, it was rather inconvenient to use. Whoever thought that a device that required you to stop in your tracks and lift it up to your face to read it was a good idea should’ve been fired.

In any case, today’s timetable had a small section at the top that was marked as only applying to me. It read the exact same thing it had read for over a year: ‘Report to the medical bay for checkup’.

I groggily made my way through the stable’s halls, the low humming of machinery and my own echoing hoofsteps were the only sounds that could be heard. It was as if I were spelunking through the guts of some colossal metal creature. But I didn’t feel frightened by it in the slightest, for this was no monster, it was just good ol’ stable 75. I loved my stable, and I knew it loved me back. Yet while I hated the thought, I knew that eventually the day would come when I’d have to leave it behind as a graduate. All I needed was for my damned flank picture to finally show up.

Not like I don’t want to get my cutie mark! I thought as I stormed angrily through the stable. It was unfair! Had I not done everything I could to get it? I tried all sorts of different activities and my unique talent still refused to appear. Between my white coat and brown mane, my bank flank did little to remedy my ‘average’ appearance. The only unique things about me were my red eyes. Well… that and my rather curious striped coat pattern, which was so faint that sometimes I was sure that the researchers were just saying it to make me feel better.

I turned my head to look at my flank furiously and saw my pristine white coat, still void of any talent. My brooding, however, would have to stop for the time being, for I had arrived at the entrance to the clinic. Three knocks reverberated off the steel door, which were shortly answered by the gruff voice of Quick Check.

“Black Light?” He asked.

“Yes,” I answered simply. I really wanted to ask who else could be knocking at the clinic door this early in the morning, but I knew better than to speak out of line.

The door slid open, revealing the stallion in question. A yellow earth pony who wore a lab coat over his stable 75 barding, his stare was that of a pony who had just woken up and hadn’t had the chance to drink their morning coffee yet. But he still gave me a warm smile and gestured for me to walk into the clinic.

Most ponies dreaded having to be here, since it usually involved being wounded or needing to get samples taken for study, neither of which were exactly comfortable experiences. I had once dreaded it, but after having to drag myself out of bed early day after day to come here I had become rather desensitized to it. The clinic itself wasn’t much to look at either, just a medium room with half a dozen empty medical beds near the far wall, and a long row of light blue cabinets stretched to the sides of the door. In the middle of the far wall, there was an adult door, the blue line along its middle marking it as such and forbidding entry to any of the younger ponies.

“How are you feeling today?” Quick Check asked, his eyes fixed on his PipBuck screen.

“I’m doing great, no cutie mark yet,” I deadpanned.

The earth pony muttered something as he took notes on his PipBuck.

“Good to know. Would you be a dear and stand over here, please,” He said, gesturing at a dark gray tile on the floor.

I walked onto the tile and turned to face the doctor again, watching as he opened a cabinet to retrieve some tools. It was a rather funny thing how, despite being at least two decades younger, I was almost as tall as him. He wasn’t even a short stallion, I was just a very tall filly.

“Okay, let’s see,” Quick Check said, donning a pair of round glasses and walking up to my side.

The stallion lifted a hoof and pressed it against my blank flank, pulling my coat aside enough to look at the skin beneath. I couldn’t stop my rear leg from twitching at the tickling sensation.

“No irritation, coat looks normal,” The doctor said aloud, “Do you feel any tenderness or pain?”

“No, nothing,” I answered, same as I had for years.

“No tingling sensation when you use magic?” The second question came.

I lit up my horn, keeping it wrapped in my crimson magic for a moment while I focused on my flank.

“Nothing,” I repeated, letting the magic fade.

Quick Check stepped back for a moment, taking notes on his PipBuck. I noticed how he had stuck several sticky notes to his screen, as if he didn’t have enough space to write inside the thing! At least it gave his PipBuck a more unique flair, as opposed to my plain and boring one.

“What’s wrong with me, doc?” I asked, my ears drooping.

The yellow stallion looked up from his screen and gave me a warm smile.

“Nothing is wrong with you, Black Light, you can’t choose when you get your cutie mark. I was a late bloomer too,” He explained, pulling up his lab coat to reveal his own cutie mark, a glass rod and a pair of tweezers in a cross shape, “The only thing that is for certain is that it will show up,”

“Yours is pretty cool, I hope mine is too,” I said, trying to smile.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” The stallion answered.

A loud whirring noise flooded the hallway outside as the stable woke up. The dim blue night lights powered down as the much brighter ‘daytime’ lights sprang to life, making both Quick Check and I wince.

“Guess I have to go wake up the fillies,” I said with a chuckle, “See you tomorrow, doc!”

“Off you go then! I need some coffee,” The yellow stallion answered, gesturing towards the hallway.

I checked my PipBuck to make sure I was on time for my first task of the day: rooster duty.

My hoofsteps were no longer alone as I briskly made my way through the stable, the adults had woken up as well. The sounds of hoofsteps and machinery resonated from behind the many observation mirrors that lined the roof of the hallway. I took a moment to look at my own reflection, confirming that I had, in fact, not gotten a cutie mark since leaving the clinic. I shook my head and kept moving towards the filly dorm, from which several complaining voices could be heard.

“Good morning fillies!” I said, hitting the doorframe with my hoof to call attention.

Two dozen groggy eyes struggled to focus on me as the fillies stumbled out of their bunks.

“Come on, you know the drill!” I ordered, trying not to sound too harsh, “Housekeeping and then breakfast!” I added, activating my PipBuck’s timer function.

I walked into the dorm, heading towards my bunk and getting to work on making my bed. The dorm was organized from oldest to youngest, starting right next to the door with my bunk. Below me was Light Show, the second eldest filly, who had already made her bed and was sitting obediently next to it.

“All done ma’am!” She said, lifting her forehoof in a mock salute.

“Good job,” I commended the smaller unicorn, patting her on the head.

Just a few minutes later, I was standing in the doorway once again, overlooking the dorm to ensure that everything was optimal. My PipBuck buzzed to inform me that five minutes had passed, right on time.

“Well done everypony, line up now,” I directed, watching the fillies form a line from eldest to youngest behind me.

With an approving nod, I led the ponies out of the dorm and into the hallway. It was my duty to lead the youngest stable-dwellers around and make sure that they always stayed in line, that was my very own Overmare-appointed task.

The mess hall was one of the two large rooms of the stable. It was, unsurprisingly, full of large tables capable of seating the entire non-adult population of the stable at once. The walls were lined with lever-activated food and drink dispensers, flanked by racks that held metal trays and glasses. I watched as the door on the other side of the hall slid open as well, revealing the off-yellow mane and steel earring of Gamma Ray, the oldest colt. Behind him marched all the other male ponies in the stable.

“Black Light,” He said, nodding.

“Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” I teased, pointing at the clock on the wall, which showed that he had been an entire eight seconds behind schedule.

He didn’t get to reply, however, because as soon as he opened his mouth the adult door in the middle of the wall on my left opened. From the doorway came Double Helix, wearing his pristine white lab coat.

“Good morning!” The researcher said, giving us a moment to chant it back at him, “Bon appetit,” He added, finally giving us permission to enter the mess hall.

The researcher took his spot next to the adult door, watching over us as we poured into the room like a herd of hungry fillies. I took a tray and a cup from one of the racks closest to me, filling it with water from a dispenser. The tray floated under the feed dispenser and was swiftly served a portion. I let out a disappointed sigh when I saw the green chips that poured from the plastic nozzle.

“Hey, I’ll trade you half my broccolis for half your daisies,” I told the filly standing next to me when I saw the yellow chips that had poured out of their dispenser.

“What? No way!” The filly, Beaker, squeaked back, “Daisies are the best!”

I gave her a hurt look.

“Aww come on, don’t be mean!” I said, causing her resolute gaze to falter.

“Geez, okay!” She said, holding out her tray.

I gave her a grin and lit up my horn, switching half my chips for half of hers. It wasn’t my fault that the feed nozzles didn’t say what flavor they had in them on any given day!

Breakfast went by without any issues, with everypony leaving their trays in their respective cleaning racks and forming back up behind their elders. We watched as Double Helix stepped forward, stomping the ground to quiet down the children’s chatter.

“Black Light, Gamma Ray, your timetables have been updated, take a moment to read them and take your groups to where you need to go,” He said.

I lifted my foreleg and eyed my PipBuck curiously, switching to the data screen and opening the timetable. Almost immediately I saw the change, one of the fillies under my tutelage had been added to the ‘full regimen’ name list. Guess they finally got big enough to handle target practice and sparring. I turned to look at the filly in question, a tiny black unicorn.

“Good news… uh,” I glanced at my PipBuck screen quickly, “Dot Product!”

The filly’s eyes went wide with shock.

“W- what?” She squeaked.

“Today you start target practice! Give her a cheer, fillies!” I exclaimed, clapping my forehooves. The other fillies followed suit, cheering for our newly promoted friend.

The young pony could only smile widely at the shower of praise that was being hurled at her. I smiled at the memory of when I had been promoted to start target practice. The elder filly at the time, Gradient, had given me a round of applause just like the one I had given Dot Product. With any luck, she’d be as good as I was. I glanced at Gamma Ray and saw a similar celebration happening on the colt’s side, they clearly had a promoted pony too.

“Okay fillies, line up!” I ordered.

Like a well-oiled machine, we walked from the mess hall to the education wing, where several classrooms stood side by side in a wide hallway. A large door at the end of the hall had a sign above it that read ‘library’. I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the educational blocks of the timetable. Thanks to my flank’s stubborn refusal to develop a cutie mark, I was kind of… too old for several of the subjects. With only Magic theory and Mathematics still having new things for me to learn or at the very least practice. On the bad side, it was agonizingly boring to wait outside the classrooms while the other fillies took their classes. But on the bright side, it allowed me to spend my time at the library instead.

I walked into the library and took a nice look at the many bookshelves that lined the walls. giving a nod to Meridian, the stable librarian, I made my way to the only sections of the library that didn’t bore me to tears: History and magic. Ever since I could read, I had treasured the few free moments I had to learn all sorts of interesting things. My favorites being pre-war weapons manuals and the ancient history of magic. Sadly, I had already read all of the library’s limited selection, but some of the books here were just so good I could enjoy them as many times as I needed.

“Why hello beautiful~” I whispered, my eyes finally falling upon one of the best books in the library… or rather, the best magazine.

I wrapped the magazine in my magic, pulling it closer to my eyes. Anti-machine rifles: nowhere to hide now! The cover read, showing a lime green mare dressed in a military uniform lying on her side, cuddling with the magazine’s titular weapon. Oh what I would give to be that mare, just the thought of holding such a powerful weapon in my hooves made me feel a warm sensation in my chest.

Sitting on one of the reading couches that were placed between the bookshelves, I started to flip through the magazine. My imagination started going wild as I drank in all the detailed technical schematics and statistics. It was… beautiful, a brilliant confluence of power and elegance. I could almost feel it in my hooves, the impressive weight, the carefully calibrated sight… to think such a beautiful thing could exist was just incredible.

Time flew by as I shifted through the pages, with every schematic deepening my ecstasy. Expansive data sheets bombarded my eyes and imagination with the sheer might that the weapon was capable of. It must’ve felt so good to brace that stock against one’s shoulder, preparing to absorb its mighty recoil.

Just as I imagined the wonderful shock that would be sent through me if I fired one, however, a series of taps on my right shoulder brought me back to reality.

“Uhh, excuse me?” Meridian called, the mare’s purple muzzle just a short distance away from my face, “There’s a group of fillies waiting for you outside,” She added, pointing at the door.

I immediately sprung back onto my hooves, placing the magazine back in its place. Paying no mind to the librarian’s quizzical look, I marched out of the library and into a sea of fillies. A quick glance at my PipBuck allowed me to take a relaxed breath, however, we were still on schedule.

“Sorry for that! Fillies, line up!” I exclaimed, stomping on the floor. I had to work on not getting sidetracked.

Through the stable we marched, headed for the next stop in our schedule. Along the way, we found a small group of adults who were busy repairing a burst pipe in the wall. That’s been happening more often. I thought as I passed the lab coat-wearing ponies. It was understandable, of course, not even our beloved stable could stand the mighty blows of time forever.

The physical test chamber was one of the most unique rooms in the stable thanks to one distinct feature. Unlike the rest of the stable’s observation windows, the ones in this test chamber were completely transparent, and they stretched out along the middle of the room instead of being on the roof. The result was a large room that was split down the middle, with one of the halves being filled with scientific equipment and the other holding several rows of tightly-packed treadmills. Half a dozen researchers buzzed around their half of the room, with one of them walking towards the middle section of the large window.

The stallion was a light green unicorn that I had never seen before, he looked… young, very young, probably younger than me! But he still wore the white coats of the adults, so his flank probably held what mine still didn’t. Nonetheless, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that something wasn’t okay with him… probably because he was new.

“Hello, ponies!” The young stallion said, “I am Sample Array, and I will be conducting today’s physical training,” He added, his furrowed brow and careful tone betraying his memorized lines.

That was my cue to spring into action. I walked to the first treadmill and took my spot, with the other fillies falling in behind me and organizing themselves from oldest to youngest.

I have to admit, this thing is pretty neat. I thought as I plugged my PipBuck into my treadmill. I took a quick look around the room to see the other fillies wiggling into their monitoring harnesses, the long strands of cables going up into the roof and towards the other half of the room. Several displays now lit up with the vital signs of every filly in the room. I used to dread having to put all of that stuff on, but now that I had a PipBuck, I could simply plug it in and be done with it.

“Okay, warm up will be thirty minutes for ponies older than ten, fifteen for anypony younger,” Sample Array explained, making sure that everypony was on their treadmills before lifting his foreleg and tapping his PipBuck.

The treadmills started up, slowly at first, but quickly picking up the pace until we were trotting steadily. Seconds turned to minutes as the rhythmic clattering of our hooves filled the air. Once the warm-up was done, however, the real training started. Slowly but surely, the treadmills were brought up to maximum speed, forcing us into a full gallop. My heart started pounding harder, rising to a near-deafening volume as I ran. A loud banging sound made me lose my focus for a moment as I turned to see one of the fillies behind me had been thrown off their treadmill.

Focus! Black Light! Just half an hour left! I thought, bringing my eyes back to the timer on my treadmill. Sweat started to pour from my coat, the droplets flying off my form with every impact of my hooves against the treadmill. My breathing had become ragged, but I kept going. Inside my head, the only thing that I could hear over my pounding heart was the words that were inscribed on said heart.

Be efficient, be the best. I told myself.

Under any other circumstance, I would’ve said the mantra aloud, but I knew I needed every breath I could get. Already, I was starting to notice a dark ring closing in on my view.

If you are not the best, the ponies that are counting on us will die.

Another thump came from right beside me, followed quickly by two more. I knew better than to get distracted and risk falling, however, so I paid it no mind.

And if they die, it means you’re a failure.

Being a failure was a fate worse than death. No punishment could ever hope to compare to the crushing realization that we had failed those who needed us most. The poor surface ponies needed us, they needed me. And not just me, but the absolute pinnacle of me.

“Test end!” A voice shouted. It had probably been Sample Array, but my mind was too hazy to make it out.

The treadmill under my hooves slowly started to power down, letting me regain my breath. When the pace finally slowed to trotting speed, I looked around the room to see how my peers were faring. The second and third oldest fillies were doing about as well as me, clearly tired but still maintaining form. Most of the other ponies were wheezing heavily, completely exhausted yet pressing forward.

Five of the treadmills were empty, their occupants strewn about the test chamber where they had fallen. Four of them were the youngest among us, so it was to be expected that they wouldn’t be up to par yet. But I let out a disappointed sigh when I saw one of the older fillies on the floor as well.

“Good results for the most part,” Sample Array commented, finally slowing the treadmills to walking speed and then to a complete stop, “Especially you three,” He added, pointing at me and the other two eldest fillies.

“Damn… right!” Light Show shouted with what little breath she had left.

I puffed out my chest in pride, smiling broadly. The best of the best. I thought.

The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful, with the only thing of note being that I got lucky at lunch and managed to get a full plate of Daisy chips. A few minutes into our afternoon rest, however, I finally felt it, that… soothing warmth in my chest. Today was target practice day.

It was the best day of the week, no question about it. On no other day were we allowed in the shooting range and test chamber. Not just that, but today was specifically a shoot house day. I could barely contain the burning in my body as I imagined how I would at last get to wield my pistol once again. I watched my PipBuck clock like a hawk, feeling each agonizingly long second tick away as I waited for the time to finally come. It was so close now… I couldn’t stop my legs from shaking in anticipation.

“Fillies!” I shouted, jumping to my hooves so quickly that I nearly hit my head on the roof, “Line up for target practice! Right now!”

The ponies that were authorized for the exercise got up as well, falling in line next to the door. I counted them quickly, fourteen ponies, perfect-

“Uhhhh, Dot Product?” I asked, remembering that there should be fifteen fillies in the target practice group now.

“Oh! I- I’m sorry!” The young pony said, shyly walking to her spot at the end of the line.

“Don’t worry about it, just try to do your best today!” I answered cheerfully.

“Okay Miss B- Black Light,” The filly muttered.

I took my spot at the front of the line and opened the mess hall door, leading the ponies into the hallway beyond. The first stop was back at the classrooms to drop off all the fillies who were still too young to participate in the more demanding exercises. The second stop, however, would be the shooting gallery.

My hooves echoed off the metal floors as we made our way to the gallery, skipping joyfully as I did. There was just something so deeply entertaining about shooting a gun. The loud noise and seeing targets shatter just made me happy. I am a simple mare.

If only my simple-ness showed up on my flank, I thought, souring my mood slightly as I glared back at my still-blank flank. What was taking it so long? I was already years older than the next oldest filly in the stable! If only there was some way to-

My thoughts were quite literally knocked out of my head when I walked directly into a little colt, falling face-first onto the soft and welcoming steel grate floor of the stable. Apparently, Gamma Ray’s group had been faster in getting here.

“Watch where you’re going!” I told the colt, who shrank back. He was the youngest one in his group, after all.

“Hey! Be careful!” Gamma Ray shouted, walking to the back of the colt line and placing himself between me and the younger pony. I looked down at the colt, his head barely reaching my chin.

“I uhhh…” I started to say, trying to think of an explanation, “I was just checking his reflexes, you should’ve taught them to be on their guard in case of… ambushes! Yes! When you’re on the surface you’ll never know if the bush you just passed was truly a bush, or if it hid an ‘am’ within it,” I added, smiling smugly at the colt.

“That makes no sense!” The dark green unicorn said, staring daggers at me.

“It will… when you’re older,” I said simply, patting the angry colt on the head.

Gamma Ray’s eye twitched in anger, but before he could continue complaining he was forced into silence by the opening of the shooting range door. He gave me a death stare before quickly walking back to the front of his line and standing at attention.

“Welcome, children!” Came the dulcet voice of The Overmare when the door finished sliding upward.

Her voice was like a lightning strike for the gathered ponies. Chatter died down in an instant as we all straightened our stances and focused solely on the most important pony in the stable. Overmare Number Crunch did not ask for attention, it was implied by her very presence, it was only natural.

We marched into the shooting range in absolute silence. The Overmare carefully watched our every step, making sure nopony stepped out of line. Even under her gaze, however, I still couldn’t fully contain my excitement at finally getting to shoot again.

“Black Light, steady,” The Overmare commanded when I got close enough for her to hear my rapid breathing.

“Yes, Overmare,” I said, lowering my head slightly.

The range was divided into two sections, separated by a thick pane of bulletproof glass. The section we had walked into held our lockers and weapons, but the best part was what lay beyond the glass. A large open area made up the shooting gallery, which usually held our targets for practice. But today was a special day, today we were using live ammunition.

Instead of the usual blue targets being lined up at different ranges, today the gallery was dominated by a large structure, a shoot-house. It was made up of several different modules, all holding different rooms and hallways, none of which could be distinguished from the outside. I tried to picture what could possibly be waiting for me inside, after all, building the shoot-house was one of the few tasks that the researchers performed themselves.

“Arm up, my little ponies!” Number Crunch said, taking her place next to the door in the bulletproof glass.

A shiver went up my spine at the thought of shooting live ammunition. Sure, the practice weapons we had were fun to practice with, but you couldn’t compare a low-power magic bolt with simulated recoil to a good old ten-millimeter round. I did wish we had live rifle ammunition too, but I had nothing to complain about!

I walked up to my locker, wrapping the door with my magic and throwing it open so fast that I nearly ripped it off. A wide smile cracked my face when my eyes fell on my beloved pistol. The beautiful firearm was sitting inside my locker next to my maintenance equipment, shining in all its glory. Foregoing my horn, I took the gun in my hooves, feeling its weight and admiring the gorgeous finish.

Oh Ironshod, you absolute geniuses. If I ever had the chance to travel when I became a hero, I was heading directly to their nearest factory out of sheer respect.

“Today we will run the test in order from youngest to oldest, earth ponies and then unicorns, colts first!” The Overmare explained, touching a button on her PipBuck that made the display on her terminal light up with the day’s scoreboard.

A warm fuzzy feeling started to prick at me from within my chest, the electric buzz of the approaching exercise and of how great I would be today. The little pony in my head bounced in place excitedly, but I was forced to beat her excitement down when I recalled the order in which we would be running the house. I would, quite literally, be the last one to go.

The first colt stepped forward, the same one that I had run into outside the range. For safety, The Overmare held his weapon in her magic in front of the colt until he was inside the gallery. The magic fizzled out when the door closed, dropping the weapon onto the floor. I watched as the colt gingerly picked up the pistol and looked around, clearly confused as to what to do next.

“Test start!” The Overmare said, pressing a button on her terminal.

A loud buzzer blared inside the shooting gallery, making the colt jump and shoot blindly into the side of the house. He whipped his head around rapidly before turning to stare at Gamma Ray with a pleading look.

“Go into the house!” The older unicorn screamed, pointing at the metal door in the middle of the structure.

We stared at the colt as he complied, trying to get a glimpse at what was beyond the door. But it closed too quickly, sealing the young colt inside the structure and warding off our prying eyes before we could get a good look.

“Gamma Ray, I want you to teach that colt about firearm safety,” The Overmare commanded, not bothering to look at the unicorn in question to see his nod.

Nearly forty seconds passed before the buzzer sounded again, marking the end of the test. Judging by the muffled gunshots, there had been at least ten targets inside the house. However, given the pony’s inexperience, some of those sounds could very well be misses. The pony walked out of the house with his eyes open wide, his jaw so tight that it was a wonder how he managed to fire the weapon. The Overmare took the gun out of his mouth before fully opening the door, not commenting on his performance at all.

One by one all of the earth pony colts ran the test, I listened attentively to how many times they each fired their guns. Eight shots seemed to be the minimum. I could barely contain my excitement as I paced rapidly around the waiting area, all but salivating at the thought, nay, the need to have my turn.

“Black Light,” The Overmare warned. Nailing my hooves to the metal grate floor.

I buzzed in place, trying my damndest not to hyperventilate and upset The Overmare. It was hard, but I managed to stay in place enough to watch all of the colts run the test. Gamma Ray was the last to come out of the chamber, with a final time of twenty-one seconds.

“Beat that!” He taunted, grinning at me.

“Oh, you’ll see…” I muttered, straining to contain the burning fire in my chest.

My fillies started to run the test, with Dot Product walking towards the door. She gave me a pleading look but steeled herself and turned to face The Overmare. A thin, flickering telekinetic grasp formed around the pistol while the door closed.

“Test start!” The Overmare commanded, blasting the buzzer.

I saw Dot Product trot towards the shoot house. She looked considerably more relaxed than the youngest colt, walking up to the door and cautiously stepping inside. My memories of my very first day of target practice started to flood my mind, of just how excited I had been to try out a gun. That excitement had never truly left me, and every time there was a chance of shooting, especially with live ammunition, I was as giddy as a filly.

Almost a minute passed, with ten shots coming out of the house. Then eleven, and finally, one last shot sounded out. The buzzer went off, marking the end of the test. The door opened and Dot Product walked out of the house, her gaze cast low and a noticeable limp slowing her pace. A test failure, I realized, cringing slightly.

“Your performance is most disappointing,” The Overmare said, ripping the pistol out of the filly’s weak magic with her own.

“I- I’m sorry,” She said, her eyes welling with tears.

The Overmare walked over to the filly, a look of severity on her otherwise kind features.

“Dot Product, you don’t have to apologize to me,” She said, placing a hoof on the filly’s shoulder.

I know where this is going. I thought, a pit forming in my stomach.

“You need to apologize to them,” The Overmare finished, lifting her hoof from the sniffling filly and pointing it at the mural that was painted along the left wall of the shooting gallery.

I had seen it many times, but I couldn’t help but take another good look at it when The Overmare’s hoof pointed at it. It was rather simple, but no less inspiring. On the wall, there stood a small group of ponies, dressed in dirty rags and spiky makeshift armor. Every pony on the mural bore a terrified glance, eyes painted as if they were looking at somepony behind the viewer. Among the adults’ legs could be seen the cowering faces of fillies and colts, not much older than many of us.

“Who are those ponies, Dot Product?” The Overmare demanded.

“I- I…” The young pony sputtered.

“Who are they?” The Overmare repeated, her tone rising.

“They are t- the surface ponies,” Answered the filly, shrinking back and flattening her ears to the sides of her head.

“Stand upright when addressing me!” The Overmare ordered, making the shivering filly straighten herself, “Now, do you see how scared those surface ponies are?”

Tears started to stream down the young pony’s face, but she nodded at The Overmare nonetheless.

“Those very same ponies could have lost their beloved friends to the bandits that you were too ineffective to take out,” Said the older mare, “Do better next time,”

“Yes Miss N- Number-” Dot Product choked out.

“Yes, Overmare,” The Overmare corrected.

“Y- yes, O- Overmare,” said the filly, gaining a nod from the older mare.

“Continue the testing,” The Overmare ordered.

As one we stood back at attention, with the next filly entering the gallery. I walked up to Dot Product, who was still sniffling in a corner while the others watched the tests.

“Dot?” I asked, kneeling next to the young pony.

I got no reply, but I still placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get better with practice,” I told her, trying to make her feel better.

Two large teary eyes focused on me.

“R- really?” Dot Product asked.

“Yeah, don’t you worry,” I said, patting her tiny head.

I watched as the filly gave me a weak smile, and then we both stood back up to keep watch over the other fillies as they ran the test. I was slowly getting more and more excited as each pony entered the gallery, knowing that my turn drew ever closer.

At long last, my turn came. By this point the flames of excitement in my chest had reached critical mass, causing my entire body to shiver in anticipation. Yet despite how jittery I was, the pistol in my magic remained as steady as a surgeon’s scalpel.

The shooting gallery door closed behind me, finally allowing me to breathe as heavily as I wished without angering The Overmare. I took in several deep breaths, my breathing shaky from the emotion as my view shrunk down to encompass only the shoot house door. Everything around it seemingly fading into colored shapes.

“Test start,” Said The Overmare.

At the very instant of the buzzer’ blaring mark, I lunged forward as if I had been shot out of a cannon. The shoot house door never stood a chance when I all but phased through it like a living battering ram. Beyond the door, I was dropped into a section similar to a living room, dominated by a set of bullet-hole-riddled couches and a short coffee table.

Three light blue magical holograms were waiting for me inside, simulated to be in an idle stance. Before they had the chance to turn hostile, however, my pistol was raised and ready to bring forth my favorite song. I sent two bullets ripping through the first and second before they had a chance to get their ‘weapons’ out. The final hologram managed to produce a ghostly blue pistol and took aim at me. But it was in vain, since before it could even dream about shooting me I had already blasted half its simulated head off.

Three down, six more to go. I thought, giving the quickest of glances to my surroundings. And two ways out of here.

On instinct, I threw myself through the door on the right. I rolled on the ground before jumping back up to my hooves, gun at the ready. I saw blue and took the shot, sending my third round directly through a holographic head. I glanced around the metal crates that littered the mock warehouse and spotted a low blue shimmer coming from behind one of them. Seizing the opportunity, I bolted towards the crate and flipped around, smashing it with both my rear legs. The mighty buck sent the crate flying into another, sandwiching the hologram between them and destroying it.

That’s two more. I thought, smiling in pure bliss. Cackling like a filly with a new toy, I ran back to the door that I had entered this room through.

But I was forced to backstep into the warehouse when a series of light blue beams shot at me from the door I hadn’t opened. My mind raced to think of a plan. Of course, I could’ve just run out and gotten shot a few times by the non-lethal hologram. But the muted zapping sensation of the hologram’s “bullets” could never compare to the soul-crushing weight of The Overmare’s disappointed gaze. So I did the next best thing: I ran to the door and threw myself onto the floor.

Just as I expected, the hologram was aiming for where my chest would be. And the fraction of a second it took for it to realign its ghostly SMG was more than enough for me to plant a bullet firmly in its forehead while I slid into the room. With a quick kick, I was back on my hooves and ran through the doorway, finding a staircase that led upwards.

Not wanting to waste a single second, I crouched and jumped up the entire flight like a white and brown missile. A hologram had been waiting to shoot into the stairwell, the keyword being had. I whirled around to face the room and stared down the final hologram through the dissipating fragments of its late friend.

A gunshot and an electric crack filled the air as one. Thanks to sheer dumb luck, the hologram missed my shoulder by such a short distance that I felt the hairs of my coat standing on end. My opponent, however, wasn’t so lucky. The light blue magic that made up the pony’s figure shattered when my bullet punched a hole straight through the middle of its expressionless face.

Where’s the last one? I thought, alarmed. There were no other doors leading out of this large living room area. Where could-

My right ear twitched. Acting on pure instinct, my pistol whipped around to face the staircase’s landing and fired blindly.

The loud buzzer blaring once more proved my suspicions correct. I turned just in time to see the last sparks of the hologram dissipating on the floor.

“Ain’t nopony tricking Black Light!” I exclaimed with pride.

With a spring in my step and a -mostly- satiated thirst for gunfire, I made my way out of the shoot house. An absolutely minuscule hint of a smile was on The Overmare’s face, more than enough to make my chest puff out in pride.

“Excellent performance,” The older unicorn commented.

I nodded and made my way back to the lockers. But I took the chance to lean into Gamma Ray as I passed him.

“Consider yourself beaten,” I said, grinning at the colt’s anger.

After we had unloaded any bullets left in our guns and stowed them away in our lockers, we made our way back to our quarters to enjoy a short break. I was sad to leave my beloved pistol behind, but it was a safety precaution, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Why can’t I just carry it freely everywhere? I thought, huffing in annoyance.

I glanced at my PipBuck, checking the last remaining activity for the day: Hoof-to-hoof combat. The fire in my chest flared up at the promise of combat. While not as fun as shooting a gun, sparring was still pretty entertaining.

“All right fillies, form up!” I ordered, watching as my ponies lined up beside me.

Gamma Ray followed suit, making the colts line up in front of him.

“See you in a bit,” I told the green unicorn, “I hope we get picked,”

“It's a date,” He replied.

I cocked my head to the side, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that’s how days work,” I said, causing Gamma Ray to facehoof.

A few minutes later we were back in our quarters, enjoying our short respite before having to head out for sparring. The youngest fillies rejoined us after their afternoon classes, their break coinciding with ours. Everypony seemed pretty happy, all save for one of the fillies, who had their face buried in their pillow. I carefully approached the sobbing filly, clearing my throat to get her attention.

“Hey Dot, what’s wrong?” I asked her, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.

The filly said nothing, instead, she stretched out her left foreleg. Several patches of her black coat had become even darker, and the smell of burnt coat left no question as to why. I remembered that she had been limping when she walked out of the shoot house, clearly, she’d been hit by one of the holograms. More like several of them. I thought when I counted five burn marks on her tiny leg.

“It hurts, a lot,” She mumbled, sniffling, “The others s- said it wouldn’t hurt,”

“That was just so you wouldn’t be so scared on your first run,” I offered, but it was clear that the filly wasn’t buying it.

She lifted her head from the pillow, boring into me with her tear-filled eyes. I noticed how two patches of fur on her face were also scorched, with one coming very close to hitting her left eye.

“The only thing I was scared of was disappointing Miss Number Crunch. B- but now I’m scared of those blue ghosts too,” She said, planting her head back into the pillow.

“The Overmare,” I corrected, “You shouldn’t worry so much, Dot. Nopony does well on their first try, you should be getting pumped for sparring!” I said, trying to pass some of my own excitement onto the filly.

“Do I have to go?” She asked.

“Well, yeah! What else would you do?” I said with a playful chuckle.

“I- I want to go see Mister Quick Check,” Dot Product whimpered, clutching her foreleg to her chest.

My heart faltered at the young pony’s sad display. She looked completely distraught. And the worst part of it all was that I really couldn’t do anything for her. Her little burns were nowhere near severe enough to justify skipping any activity, let alone her first sparring session.

“I’m sorry Dot,” I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “I can only take you to him after the sparring,”

“Will t- the sparring hurt?” The filly pleaded.

I bit my tongue, trying to think of a way to explain how the class worked.

“Not unless you’re really, really unlucky,” I told her.

“O- Okay,” She said, sniffling.

I gave her one last pat on the head before lifting my PipBuck to check on the time. Just a few more minutes left before we had to move.

“Fillies! Get your things in order, we need to get going in a bit!” I ordered.

Before my eyes, the dorm came to life with activity as fillies stowed away their few belongings and got up to form their line once more. The youngest fillies were the luckiest, since they still couldn’t participate in sparring they got to spend the rest of the day off until dinnertime. Fortunate from their perspective at least, sparring is almost as fun as shooting! I thought with a smile, but it quickly died when I glanced back over at Dot and saw that she hadn’t moved at all.

“Come on Dot, you have to come too.”

“Okay…” She muttered, dragging herself out of the bunk.

A few minutes later we arrived at the final destination for the day, the sparring room. In much the same way as the shooting exercise, today was a special occasion for sparring. Instead of the usual hoof-to-hoof combat lessons where we were taught techniques and drills, today we were fighting one-on-one.

A square ring of reinforced bulletproof glass dominated the room, surrounded by mats where the others could sit and watch. The ring in question wasn’t much to look at, just an elevated square platform with openings on two of its sides to allow the combatants inside. I glanced up and stared at the reflective glass that separated us from the researchers who were doubtlessly waiting to witness the fights. Only one researcher was present inside the room, standing to the side of the ring and looking at us.

“Hello again, fillies,” Sample Array said, welcoming us into the sparring room.

I eyed the stallion suspiciously as we took our positions on the mats to the right of the ring. I couldn’t shake the sensation that something wasn’t right with the way he looked at us. But nonetheless, we sat and waited for the eventual arrival of Gamma Ray and his colts. They arrived shortly after, sitting down on the opposite side of the room.

“Very well, now that you’re all here, we will begin with the selection,” Sample Array said, bringing up his PipBuck.

The sparring class worked very simply; since stable 75 had the same number of colts and fillies, one of each group was randomly selected and made to spar. The selection was completely random. Only one thing was guaranteed, that being that a filly would never fight another filly, in the same way as a colt would never fight another colt.

“Very well, let us begin the testing,” The researcher continued, “The rules are standardized. No directly lethal blows, matches will last one minute each. The first bout will be between Beaker and Deflection Plate, take your positions,” He concluded, gesturing to the filly and the colt respectively.

Lucky, they’re about the same age. I thought, looking on as the two ponies walked up to the openings on the side of the ring. And both earth ponies too.

“Fight!” Sample Array commanded, his PipBuck letting out a loud beep as its timer activated.

The ponies threw themselves at each other, with the sounds of hoof meeting flesh quickly filling the room. But I wasn’t worried about the fight, I knew that Beaker could put up more than enough of a fight. What I was worried about was Dot Product. I spotted the filly at the back of the room, staring with horrified eyes at the two brawling ponies inside the ring.

I scooted over to sit beside her, nudging her with my foreleg.

“Don’t worry, if you’re lucky you’ll get to spar with somepony your age,” I whispered to her.

“B- but I don’t know how to f- fight!” She said in a high-pitched voice.

“It’s not that hard, just shoot at them with magic!” I said, trying to be helpful.

Dot Product’s wide eyes focused on me for an instant before she answered, her voice barely a whisper.

“B- but Miss Black Light! I’ve never used my magic like that! I can barely move things around!” She squeaked, shaking even harder.

I bit my lip, thinking of a way to salvage this conversation before the filly became inconsolable.

“I uhh… new strategy! Listen to me, when you get in there you need to light up your horn to throw the colt off and rush them,” I explained, but Dot’s confused expression made me stop, “What?”

“What would ‘Light up your horn’ mean?” The filly asked.

“You know… like when you’re preparing to cast a spell and your horn starts glowing?” I answered, making sure that Sample Array was looking away before lighting up my horn as an example.

My magic simmered down and I gave another look at Sample Array, he hadn’t moved at all. I looked at the ring, where I saw Beaker throw her opponent into a wall with a suplex, leaving the colt to try and drag themselves back up.

“I don’t know any spells to do that with!” Dot shouted, making Sample Array’s ear twitch in our direction.

“Use telekinesis, try to wrap your own horn with it,” I offered.

The filly nodded and scrunched her face in concentration. A yellow glow enveloped her horn, shining brightly for a moment before it faded.

“Exactly! That should be enough to distract your opponent and give you time to get closer!” I said, smiling, “Just try to get on their back and wrap their neck with your forelegs,”

“O- okay, and t- then?” Dot Product asked, a more determined look on her face, even if the quiver in her voice was still apparent.

I spun in place and put both of my forehooves on the filly’s shoulders. Bringing my face close to her so I knew her eyes were focused on me and me alone. I spoke slowly and clearly.

“Then you squeeze tight and don’t let go until the other pony stops fighting.”

The filly gulped loudly and gave an uneasy nod.

“B- but what if I have to fight a larger colt?” Dot pleaded, shaking so hard that her stable suit’s zipper started to clatter.

“Do the same thing and you’ll do great, don’t worry!” I said, letting her go and returning to my sitting spot.

Once Beaker had beaten her opponent, the next five matches were rather uneventful. Only one filly had to be taken to Quick Check after getting hit in the face a little too hard. Light Show was up next, and she somehow lost despite facing off against a colt half her size. An ingenious kick was all it took to send her face-first into a swift knockout.

Where most researchers would’ve given us pointers and critiques, Sample Array simply looked on. His commentary sparse and without much weight.

I for my part tried to keep Dot calm with small talk, keeping her sight away from the more violent sparring matches. Internally, I was hoping that she would get paired with one of the younger colts. Despite my best efforts, however, I could see Dot becoming more and more tense as the matches went on.

Glancing towards the other side of the room, I saw that Gamma Ray was in a similar predicament with his own youngest pony. I hadn’t really paid much mind to Dot’s most favorable opponent until now. A tiny white earth pony colt, shorter than even the tiny unicorn that sat next to me. I smiled, Dot shouldn’t have much issue with him.

The other colts were a mixed bag, three of them -including the young white one- would be a somewhat fair fight. But the others got worse and worse as they got bigger and stronger. Her chances weren’t the best, but I wasn’t about to tell her that and ruin what little morale she had.

Four more matches went by, one of which was a brutal fight between one of the oldest fillies and the second youngest colt. I did my best to distract Dot from the beatdown by having her tell me about what they had learned that day in class.

Halfway through a riveting recount of how the ministries had been founded, a loud thud came from within the ring. The colt, battered and bruised, had collapsed under Axis’ mighty hooves just as the timeout buzzer sounded off.

“Excellent performance from you,” Sample Array commented, tilting his head towards the filly, “And you managed to stand until the end, good job,” He added gesturing towards the young colt.

I nudged Dot with a foreleg.

“See? He had to fight a much larger filly and still held out until the end!” I said, pointing at the colt that was currently being scooped up by an assistant researcher.

“She b- beat him to a pulp!” Dot replied, watching on in horror as the battered colt was taken away to the clinic.

“Because he clearly didn’t know the winning strategy!” I said quickly, trying to keep her calm.

“I- I want to… I want to go back to my room, Miss Black Light,” Dot said, hugging my leg tightly.

“I uhh-“ I started, but Sample Array’s voice cut through mine like a hot knife through butter.

“The next bout will be Dot Product-“ The stallion started, making my heart skip a beat, “- against Gamma Ray,” He finished.

Oh no.

I glanced down at Dot Product and saw that she was… laughing? Yes, the filly was giggling as she shook violently in my hooves.

“It’s a joke, right? I- It has to be a joke, haha,” She whimpered.

“Take your positions,” Sample Array ordered.

I watched as Gamma Ray uneasily made his way to the side of the ring. He didn’t seem happy with the arrangement at all.

“You have to go,” I told her, helping her stand up.

I was expecting a scream, a cry, maybe even an attempt to run away from the room. But Dot Product gave none of that. Instead, she stood shakily and made her way to the ring. Before stepping through the door, however, she gave me a determined nod.

This is going to hurt. I thought as I looked at the size difference between the fighters. The only hope was for Gamma Ray to try and be gentle.

“Fight!” Came the command, but the combatants stood in place. Neither willing to make the first move.

Sample Array opened their mouth, probably to demand that the fighting start once and for all, but Dot had already acted. She was facing away from me, but I saw the yellow glow of her magic reflecting off Gamma Ray’s confused eyes.

The filly let out a shout, causing Gamma Ray to flinch and backstep, probably expecting a magical attack. Dot Product instead launched herself at the larger colt, taking him by surprise just as I had expected. Two small black hooves wrapped around the colt’s neck as the filly squeezed with all her might.

Gamma Ray, for his part, quickly recovered from the shock and glared at the filly trying to strangle him. He crouched slightly before throwing himself back into the wall, slamming Dot against the clear glass of the ring’s wall. I watched as her tiny body was crushed under the considerable weight of Gamma Ray. A loud whooshing sound escaped the filly as her lungs deflated under the pressure. Her hooves, which had so adamantly clutched the colt’s neck, were thrown limply to the sides.

The older unicorn jumped forward, turning to look at Dot Product. The filly had collapsed onto the floor in a heap. A relieved gasp escaped my mouth when I saw that the filly was still conscious, as evidenced by her curling up into a ball and holding her head. Gamma Ray stood over her, looking down with unmistakable pity. Choked sobs started to come from the younger unicorn once she managed to get air back into her lungs.

“Continue,” Sample Array ordered.

“She’s not fighting anymore!” Gamma Ray shouted back.

“Irrelevant, continue the test,” Said the stallion.

The green colt looked down at the crying filly, his jaw clenching. He lifted a forehoof, but lowered it once again, shaking his head.

“Continue the test!” Sample Array commanded.

Gamma Ray said nothing, lowering his head.

Sample Array grumbled and tapped his PipBuck, forcing the timeout buzzer to sound off early.

“Incredibly disappointing, we expected much better from you, Gamma Ray,” The researcher said, causing the colt’s ears to droop, “What a waste, whatever, get out of the box!” He finished.

I was getting ready to console Dot Product when Sample Array announced who the next combatants would be.

“Next fight will be Black Light against Polar Coordinate,” He said.

I didn’t immediately recognize the name, which could only mean one thing…

The young white colt’s eyes were open so wide that they were hard to differentiate from his white coat. This was going to be very bad.

“Take your positions!” The researcher continued, sounding significantly more annoyed than he had previously.

I reluctantly got up, passing by a sniffling Dot who didn’t even give me a side glance. Gamma Ray stopped the white colt along the way, whispering something into his ear. I swallowed hard, trying to make the knot in my throat go away and allow me to breathe fully. I hated when this happened. Fighting somepony about my age was fun, and fighting someone a little younger was entertaining, but this? This was going to be awful.

“Remember, ponies, you never know what or who you’ll have to fight on the surface. There is no such thing as ‘testing the waters’ in a fight,” Sample Array said, his tone clearly revealing the real message behind his words: don’t hold back.

I looked down at Polar Coordinate, the colt’s glossy white coat seeming to shimmer as the pony shook. He looked so tiny that I could’ve easily missed him if I hadn’t been looking down. I need to end this as quickly as possible. I thought, trying to think of a strategy.

“Fight!” Sample Array ordered.

The buzzer went off.

At first, I was hesitant to make the first move, trying to think of the best way to approach this, but Polar Coordinate had other plans. The young colt gave a high-pitched scream and launched himself at me. Flailing forehooves desperately swinging to try and connect.

But my legs were longer. I jumped backward, swinging my right rear leg in a wide arc to catch the flying colt in the head. My blow struck true, sending the colt soaring into the wall. His small head crashed into the bulletproof glass, leaving a small red stain. I reluctantly went into a fighting stance, but the colt had to be knocked out.

A choked gasp escaped my mouth when I saw the small pony struggle back to their hooves. A small stream of blood started to fall from his forehead, staining his pristine white coat. I stared, dumbfounded, as the evidently not-unconscious colt stumbled towards me.

“Come on, just stay down,” I muttered, trying to keep my voice low enough for Sample Array to be unable to hear it.

Polar just glanced towards Gamma Ray and then focused his gaze back on me, giving another battle cry. I watched as the colt flung himself at me, this time keeping all his hooves on the ground. At the last second, he threw both his forehooves upward in an attempt to hit my face. While I could’ve probably just taken the hit with no issue, I had been ordered to take this fight seriously. My head moved slightly to the side, easily weaving out of the way while my own forehoof rose to strike at the colt’s temple.

Another direct hit. Polar once again was thrown to the floor, but he quickly got his hooves back underneath himself and threw a blind swipe at me. The attack missed completely, nearly causing Polar to trip and fall again. My horn flashed and discharged, firing a wave of magic toward the colt and pushing him back a considerable distance. The magical push made the colt stumble, but he managed to remain upright.

Okay, focus, Black Light, you need to end this as fast as possible. I thought, trying to think of a way to finish this poor excuse of a fight. I have to knock him out before I hurt him too badly. I decided, crouching slightly to prepare a roundhouse kick. Just jump and spin, straight to the head.

Polar had just barely finished shaking off his confusion from the push before already finding me jumping at him. I spun around in the air, my strong rear leg flying toward the colt’s head. But much to my surprise, Polar actually attempted to dodge the attack. Just as I started to unleash the kick, I saw the colt jump into the air, possibly hoping to jump over my hoof entirely.

A loud snapping sound resonated throughout the sparring room when my hoof connected with Polar’s foreleg. The blow made the smaller pony do a full spin in the air before collapsing onto the floor. As soon as his hooves connected with the floor, his right cannon bent into a right angle, almost as if it were made out of rubber. The colt gave a high-pitched squeal and collapsed completely, clutching his leg as tears streamed from his eyes.

Oh no. I thought.

I turned to look at Sample Array, who bore a mask of utmost seriousness. I watched, horrified, as the researcher pointed at the fallen colt. My gaze followed his hoof and saw that the young pony was still struggling to get back up. Clearly, I had beaten enough adrenaline into him for not even a horribly broken leg to keep the poor colt down.

Please stay down. I begged as I walked next to the small pony and lifted my forehoof. A full second passed, but Polar still tried to get up. I inhaled deeply and brought my hoof down. Hard. The colt’s head flew into the ring floor, letting out a loud thud. Immediately, the rest of his body went limp, knocked out at last.

Sample Array nodded and brought his PipBuck up to write something down. After a few moments, another researcher came into the room to retrieve the unconscious Polar. I stared as the bloodstained white colt was carried away on the stallion’s back, his broken leg flopping around like a broken doll’s.

“Excellent performance, Black Light,” Sample Array said, looking up from his screen, “As I said, you’ll never know who you’ll have to fight when on the surface,” He added, staring disappointedly at Gamma Ray.

I followed his gaze, looking at the green unicorn for the first time since I had climbed into the ring. He looked furious. Eyes cast low, jaw tight, and a throbbing vein in his neck, the colt looked absolutely irate.

“Now, the next-” Sample Array started, but to everyone’s shock, he was interrupted.

“Let me fight her,” Gamma Ray said, looking up and locking his white eyes with mine.

I was expecting Sample Array to reprimand the colt, interrupting a researcher was a horrible breach of conduct. But to my surprise, the light green stallion smiled and turned his head to look at the colt.

“I’m afraid that would be a breach of proper testing protocol,” The researcher, “But if you really want to-”

“Yes.”

“Very well then, I’ll allow it,” Sample Array confirmed, gesturing toward the ring.

Gamma Ray got up and walked to the opposite end of the ring, his eyes still boring into me with unfettered hatred. I did have to wonder why he was so angry, but it was more than likely the fact that I had gotten praised where his performance left much to be desired. Not like that was my fault! He just held back against Dot when he shouldn’t have!

“Take your positions,” Sample Array ordered, a hint of glee in his voice.

I stood tall at my end of the ring, with Gamma Ray doing the same on his side. A small heat shimmer appeared on his horn when he lit it to get warmed up. I couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect of finally fighting a powerful opponent, and my own horn lit up in a crimson glow to match his.

He was shorter than me, but just as muscular if not more. His larger frame was a lot wider than mine, but that could be used to my advantage by running around him. No, the real problem here was going to be his nigh-invisible magic. Gamma Ray had a very peculiar color of magic, a white so pale it was nearly invisible other than the heat distortion in the air whenever his magic coursed through it. This is going to be fun. I thought.

“Fight!” Came the order.

The instant the fight started, I put up a magical ward in front of me. I knew that I had made the right choice when I felt a strong magic beam colliding with it, I saw the heat shimmer of the magical attack bounce off and into the glass behind me. Before I could prepare a counterattack, however, I found my face colliding violently against a dark green hoof.

He was strong. My ears started ringing from the impact, but I managed to spot the second strike through my blurry daze fast enough to weave underneath it. I spun my neck around to headbutt the colt in the shoulder, shoving him away from me. To my shock, however, Gamma used the force of my shove to go into a roundhouse kick, hitting me in the temple just as I was intending to do with Polar Coordinate.

“Is that strong enough for you?” He demanded after landing, taking a combat stance and charging his horn again.

I shook my head and barely managed to jump out of the way of his magic beam, feeling the heat on my right side. The magic struck the glass directly, making minuscule cracks appear on the surface. A second beam fired at me before I had landed, forcing me to put up a ward once more. The magic clashed, sending me into the glass as if I had been kicked.

“Or do I have to break one of your legs too?” The colt shouted, running towards me.

Okay, he’s really angry. I realized, rolling out of the way of a stomp. I could feel my cheek swelling from the kicks, but the fire in my chest was burning brighter by the second. He may be angry about me following Sample Array’s orders, but that same anger was clouding his fighting. I need to capitalize on it.

“You were the one in the wrong for holding back! You know how sparring works!” I shouted back, jumping to my hooves.

Gamma Ray’s nostrils flared with anger as he fired another magic beam at me. This time, however, not only did I sidestep his attack, but I fired my own in return. The colt’s white eyes went wide as the crimson beam nearly hit him square in the head, his last-second dodge barely clearing the attack.

I lunged at him, trying to wrap my forehooves around his neck. The green unicorn jumped aside and brought up his right rear hoof to strike at my unprotected stomach. My lungs quickly deflated under the mighty blow. And I went flying into the glass that Gamma had damaged previously, deepening the cracks.

A beam flew at me, hitting my left foreleg. The scent of burning flesh struck my nostrils almost immediately. He’s clearly not holding back, I thought excitedly as I looked at my burnt forehoof, it wasn’t too bad at least. Another beam flew at me, which I couldn’t dodge without getting a long burn along my right shoulder. That damn invisible magic!

There wasn’t much I could do to dodge when I didn’t know what he was aiming at, and he had clearly shown it by aiming at my limbs rather than my chest and head. Well, you know what they say, the best defense is a strong offense! I thought, firing a beam of my own before he could get another one charged up. While I did miss, it was enough to keep him from letting his own beam loose.

I jumped towards the colt, managing to catch his head with one of my forehooves, but he weaved enough to minimize the impact. My forehoof came up to block a possible counterattack, but I realized that I had chosen poorly when I was sent sliding across the ring by a strong wave of magic. I suddenly found myself being tackled to the ground by the green unicorn. Two strong forehooves landed on either side of my head, pinning me in place as the colt glared at me.

“It’s their first fight, there was no need to go that far!” He said, drops of spit falling on my face from the infuriated pony’s mouth.

The instant his horn fired up I did the only thing I could think of: I twisted my head to the right and bit down on Gamma Ray’s leg, just under his fetlock. The colt screamed and fired his magic way too high, missing me entirely. I took the flinch to quickly plant my rear hooves on his stomach and kicked upwards with all my might.

Gamma Ray landed a good distance away from me, getting up as quickly as he could manage. I rose to my hooves as well, spitting out a bit of skin that had stuck to my teeth. My heart was thundering in my ears, and my chest was so warm that I considered ripping my stable barding off to try and cool down. The burning sensation in my legs from the effort, the throbbing pain where I had been hit, and even the slippery sensation under my left hoof from the blood I had lost were just… intoxicating.

The green unicorn didn’t immediately attack, clearly trying to get air back into his lungs from the kick he had received. I noticed that he was keeping his weight off the hoof I had bitten. But even then I doubted I would be able to hit him with a magical beam. My mind raced to try and form a strategy when I finally realized that he was standing too close to me. I knew what I could do.

You may be able to dodge beams, but what about fields? I thought, my mouth cracking into a wide grin as my horn lit up.

Gamma Ray immediately jumped to the side in an effort to dodge a possible beam, but it was his turn to choose poorly. My magic wrapped around the unicorn almost instantly, encasing him in an undulating bubble of crimson telekinesis. The colt’s eyes went wide when he realized what had happened.

And then I squeezed.

I felt a strong resistance under my magic, and I stared at the colt to see that his entire body was wrapped in the heat shimmer of his magic. He was pushing back against my telekinesis with his own! Gamma Ray’s jaw clenched as he shakily stood up, staring at me through the warping and distorted air. I chuckled at the challenge and poured more magic into the spell, crashing down on the colt with all my might. I couldn’t comprehend just how good the clash felt, the more magic I channeled through my horn the more I scratched that strange itch just below it. it was like the feeling of standing under hot water in a shower.

To my surprise, the unicorn in front of me actually managed to move his forehoof forward, taking a labored step towards me. His entire body shook under the strain of my telekinesis, but he still took another step. And a third. He was halfway to me, his eyes still boring into me with righteous fury.

Sweat poured down my face and my own jaw tightened as more and more magic was funneled through my horn. But I couldn’t stop him completely. He took two more steps, leaving him within striking distance. He had the upper hoof on me, I could feel it, I couldn’t move without breaking my focus on the telekinesis… but he clearly could. Gamma Ray’s right forehoof started to rise, heading towards my horn, I could do nothing but watch with concern as it drew ever closer. I knew that even the slightest impact on it would make my concentration disappear faster than my teeth would in the ensuing seconds. His hoof was so close that I could feel it tickling the magic wrapping my horn, just a little bit more and I would be finished.

With a deafening popping sound, however, the heat shimmer around his body disappeared. My magic crashed into the colt like a tidal wave, forcing him to wheeze out any air that could’ve been hiding in his lungs. His legs, which had miraculously managed to drag him towards me, were pressed flat against his underside from the tremendous telekinetic force.

I gave a victorious shout before slamming the colt into the ring floor as hard as I could, rattling the cracked glass around us. As if in a trance, I lifted him back up and sent him flying into the left side wall, then the right… then the floor again. By the last impact he had gone completely limp, his legs flailing around in my arcane grasp. With one final heave, I threw his unconscious body into the far wall, causing it to crack with a spiderweb-esque pattern.

“That’s enough!” Sample Array ordered, his eyes wide.

I collapsed to my knees, exhausted from the excessive magic use. Yeah, I’ll be needing some bounceback. I thought when my horn gave a painful throb.

“Absolutely astonishing performance from both of you,” Sample Array exclaimed, “These results are incredible,” He added.

The adult door opened once more, from which came Double Helix to retrieve Gamma Ray.

“Wait…” I said, still winded, “Let me take him, I have to see Quick Check too,”

“You sure you can carry him?” The stallion said, cocking his head.

I tentatively wrapped my magic around Gamma Ray, but my horn gave an agonizing throb directly into my brain. As if a red-hot nail had been driven through my skull. My eyes watered while I slowly dragged the unconscious colt closer and draped him over my back.

“I guess so,” Double Helix added.

“Come on Dot, let’s get you to Quick Check too,” I said, raising my voice so the young unicorn could hear me from outside the ring. The black filly’s ears shot up in alarm as her pinprick eyes focused on me, she looked completely terrified. A nervous nod was my only response.

Moments later I was standing in the clinic, with Quick Check carefully casting a healing spell on my burnt leg. Around me were several occupied beds, two of which held the still-unconscious forms of Polar Coordinate and Gamma Ray. Next to me sat Dot Product, who was nervously eating a lollipop that Quick Check had given her. I wonder what’s gotten into her. I thought, looking at the young pony. Her gaze immediately dropped when my eyes focused on her.

“Do you want an ice pack for your face?” The doctor asked.

“Nah, I’m fine,” I answered, my face did sting a little, but I didn’t want an ice pack. I always forgot to return them anyway!

“Very well then, this would be it, then,” He said, pointing at a small plastic jar that sat on a nearby tray, “Take one now, if your horn is still bothering you tomorrow morning I’ll give you another one,” He instructed before turning around to check on Gamma Ray.

Without giving it much thought, I wrapped the jar in my magic and took one of the small pink pills from inside. Bounceback was very special, I hadn’t even known about it until I had become the eldest filly. They were incredibly useful for fighting magical overexertion. And if I was being honest, the light sweet taste gave even daisy food chips a run for their bits.

I glanced over at Dot Product. I noticed she had finished her lollipop and was busy nervously gnawing at the stick. She hadn’t been hurt too badly, just a small bruise, but she was still incredibly fidgety.

“You okay, Dot?” I asked, concerned.

“Y- yeah, Miss Black Light, all- all good!” She squeaked back.

I smiled at the filly, leaning in closer to pat her head. She flinched and flattened her ears against her head, clearly still jumpy from her fight with Gamma Ray. I ruffled her mane slightly.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get better in no time!” I reassured her.

“Yes, I- I guess… at least today wasn't so b- bad,” She stuttered in response, glancing nervously at Polar Coordinate’s leg.

I gave a hearty laugh, hugging the filly. She cringed away slightly but couldn’t do much to escape my comforting embrace.

“That’s the spirit! See you at dinner!” I told her.

And so I set off through the halls of my home, skipping along the way. Today had been a good day. And with any luck, I would get daisies for dinner.

STABLE-TEC UNIFIED OPERATING SYSTEM

COPYRIGHT 1624 - 1626 STABLE-TEC

Biographical Registry System v.147

Full name: Meridian

Classification: Earth pony mare – 47 years of age – C-01796f M-B2AC88 E-0073CF

Cutie mark: Simple depiction of an undefined map

Meridian is a gentle and quiet mare with a propensity for understanding and creating maps. She was raised from a young age as an apprentice to replace stable 75’s archive keeper and librarian. Since her cutie mark didn’t give her any advantage in other roles, she fully took the job once she became an adult, replacing Rubber Stamp. Her predecessor now spends their time in the retirement wing, dropping in to help at the archive room occasionally.

She spends most of her time in the library as opposed to the archive room proper because her calm mannerisms are better fit for dealing with the subjects directly. This gentle demeanor when dealing with the subjects directly clashes with Overmare Number Crunch and her more abrasive approach. This gives Meridian yet another excuse to spend as little time as possible in the adult section of stable 75, only heading up for food and to sleep. Her own apprentice, a stallion named Paper Stack, handles the archives while she is performing her librarian duties.

Her genes were used in the creation of Gamma Ray and Sample Array. Unfortunately, only one of the two showed the correct level of intelligence to be included in the research team.

Author's Note

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1st Edition Version