Fallout Equestria: Recollection

Hushed Demons

Written and Edited by- Ballpoint

An Original Fallout Equestria Side Story

" With such power and strength, she could tear a stallion in half with just her voice."

"Each morning, a missionary advertise with neon sign.

He tells the native population that civ-ili-za-tion is fine.

And three educated savages holler from a bamboo tree..."

The roar grew in volume and the repetitive smacking was coming closer to the team of elite military operatives. Grain however, was not displaying the quality that she delivered in the cowered form she chose as she backed away from the open door. Napalm on the other hoof just grunted, seeing the possibly large beast as an inconvenience.

"Don't have time for this crap." She muttered looking down at the sniper, who was shaking erratically," Grain."

The smaller mare looked up with fear fresh in her eyes, words cut by the same emotion," Y-yeah?"

"Are you a solider or what?"

That did little to deter her shaking, as she didn't take the question to heart. In less time it took her to react, she was spun around and gripped tightly by the collar of her vest as Napalm glared at her with all the rage that she saved to be unleashed on the Leader of the Seared Raiders," I swear on Celestia's name if you don't get a grip I'll personally hold you for court marshal for insubordination! Do you understand?" Grain's fear faltered as she stared into the rage and fury in her officers eyes and voice. Never before had she seen such anger, such command.

She answered only a second later," Yes ma'am." Napalm sighed and let the mare go, who, upon being released, regained a straightened posture seen when they first landed. A crack shot with a weak heart, she classified the mare that had been close to a mental breakdown.

"Now," Napalm whispered, still acknowledging the ever nearing growls that seemed only one room away," shut you light off and get behind the desk, if it comes in here, we'll take the fucker by surprise. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Grain complied, her and Napalm's light was shut off and she took position behind the desk while the Commander took a favorable spot beside the entrance in a slight crouch. And they waited.

Both operatives were thinking rapidly about the probable enemy that seemed to close in on their position every passing second. As well as to what kind of beast could produce a sound that they both heard over and over again. The alicorn focused on her EFS, which had become increasingly finicky and became blurry and ultimately unusable, so she shut it off.

She was now flying blind, relying on the sounds and growls that seemed only a few feet from the entrance, her tensing. There was a steady dragging sound as a silhouette came into the room, and to her surprise was pony sized, a bit larger than a normal equine but its outline was all she had.

But there was some deformity on the head as a outline larger than its own head resided at the end of its muzzle. The deformity prevented her from firing, because it moved. It breathed. It wasn't part of the creature, it was a victim.

Three seconds had passed since the thing entered the room and Napalm acted quickly, relenting to use her gun, and tackled the thing to the ground. Achieving the desired result of freeing to captive and incapacitating the being under her body.

"Hold your fire! Secure the civilian!" She grunted between her gritted teeth, restraining the hostile. And was it strong, it jerk back and forth with the force comparable to the kickback of a .50 caliber rifle. In fact, it had dragged Napalm into the other room by only squirming pathetically. Soon it relented and Napalm was able to push off its body and get a vague look at the  creature, discovering it was far from an equine.

From what she could make out, the thing appeared to be male by its more muscular build. It had faint scars running along its head, splitting it in four sections. There seemed to be mechanical components embedded into the back of the head, its eyes had a faint green glow and its teeth were serrated, chunks of flesh were lodged in them. Holy shit...

With a sudden burst of energy and force, the beast kicked Napalm upward and , to her surprise, she slammed into the ceiling. That was five meters over head. So, she fell, hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

"Gah." She grunted, recovering quickly and on her feet in a second to fire on the creature. But it was gone, only a distant growl was heard practically miles away. Napalm to the opportunity to breath, but cringed, putting a hoof on her chest and nearly screamed in pain. She felt more carefully but couldn't properly asses the injury, the pain a bit more subtle," Ah, damn."

Then another thought arose and she retreated back into the room to find Grain looking over the civilian, acknowledging the Commander as she entered the room. The civilian was a young stallion, maybe a little over eighteen. He wore a long white lab coat, standard blue jumpsuit underneath that, the clothing in tatters, stained with blood. She felt for a pulse at his neck, and none was felt.

" He was gone before he even hit the ground." Grain commented, looking over the body, shaking her head slightly," Poor bastard." The alicorn however, was extremely enraged. Both at the fact that she let that thing escape to ambush them and even more so she let a one of her citizens die in the process. Anytime something like this occurred, it ate away at her being, threatening to have her question her command over the resistance she started.

His eyes were closed but his face was contorted and stained with fear and anguish, tear lines snaked though blood plastered on it. Napalm didn't talk , just stared at the body for a solid minute, Grain getting extremely anxious but willing to stay by here CO. Sacrifice is made when you fight for a cause for a greater future. She let that quote she heard years ago, and simply turned around, activated her light source, and made sure the Parcel was secure, which it was thankfully.

" So," She sighed, facing Grain as the subordinate activated her lantern spell," we make our way up to the offices rig-"

The air was pierced by a sudden cry from behind the duo, and the goddess spun on her hoof to see the stallion alive, in incredible pain but alive.

" What!?" Grain exclaimed," he was dead for a full minute, how is he-"

The stallion had stopped shouting and was now building up the sentence that he would use to interrupt Grain," Don't open the door, don't let the demon free."

The officer made a slow walk toward him," What was that thing? What was going down here?" His face was blank, his blue eyes just stared up at the ceiling as he gave a almost robotic answer.

" Stable Dweller #212675, Cake, Cream. Donated his body to Stable-Tec Science Division approximately two weeks ago for experimental purposes." Just as he was about to continue, he stopped suddenly and held his head tightly, and rolled off the table.

Napalm reacted and sprang forward and caught the scientist, him slamming onto her back and forcing her to smack the ground, making her grunt in extreme pain from her injury. He was surprisingly heavy, he looked very thin and he barely filled out his own attire which puzzled the goddess.

Grain was quick to step in and help the colt back onto the table. Now, his eyes were closed, his body rose and fell, he slept almost peacefully. This was utter nonsense, an experiment of unimaginable power was trapped in the same Stable as them, and a stallion just rose from the dead with mortal wounds.

" Did you get a look at the thing?" Grain asked, looking over the sleeping civilian. Her morale was failing fast and Napalm new this, so she tried to go light on the details.

" Barely, and what I did see was exactly Price Blueblood."  She grunted harshly as her broken ribs caused more damage than she thought.

" Ma'am?" A wavering Grain asked, genuine concern in her tone.

" Im alright, Im-Im-" She vomited a small waterfall of crimson, the blood painting the steel floor and providing a few dots on the stable dwellers face as she revolted. Napalm heaved a few more times before she calmed, staring in a dazed fashion at the pool of blood beneath her hooves, a dozen of black stars exploding in her vision. Uh, that thing did a number on me.

Grain was hesitant to help her CO, caught between the fact that an alicorn can probably take much more than that and the urge to help out a fellow solider. Ultimately, she supported the faltering Commander, and nearly gave out under her weight but pushed her up right and held her there until she was stable.

" Thank you, Grai-" Her knees buckled and she just gave out but not fast enough for her to be caught by a navy blue mare, who, herself, nearly gave out under the goddesses weight.

" Ma'am come on, get up!" No response. Fine Grain was nearly buried under the alicorn her voice a low whisper," Get the fuck up Napalm!" With her pleas gaining no avail, she quickly dropped her into the pool of crimson. The earth pony was panting sporadically, not ready to believe what just happened.

Once she regained her breath she felt for a pulse, and breath a sigh of relief. The mighty Napalm's body rose and fell, but it wasn't the strongest breath. Still in shock she yelled over and over for her commander to rise and complete this task with her. She never got a response.

" Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" She shouted, taking a seat to think abut what she should do, pressing her hooves against her temples. She swayed back and forth, trying to come up with a legitimate game plan for her to get everyone out alive. Still, nothing spoke to her. Soon she stopped her pathetic panicking and looked at the unconscious commander and the strange colt. A plan came, just not one that she preferred.

***

The music that poured out of PA system was becoming increasingly irritating as she clicked the console at the side of the door, shielding the now blackened silhouetted behind a heavy steel door. Grain would retrieve them later, she hoped if she would be able to retrieve them. Until then she was on her own, nothing but the cold air and even colder singing to keep her company.

Grain had a about forty five minutes left on her first dosage of Rad-X, so she would have to work fast to get to Overseers Offices. With her Pip-Buck light cast ahead, she headed out of the research wing and headed toward the elevator, hoping that it still worked. She was beyond nervous. She was actually in fear of her life.

Grain had been trained for years to be an artist with a rifle and keep her cool on the battle field, which, under virtually any battle that she did fight she had followed her training. This, this was so much more than anything she prepared for. She was fighting in the very halls she grew up in, the home she had her first love, the only place that she really understood when she first left the Stable. Now its all gone, bodies of her fellow stable dwellers lie dead, there blood on the hooves of some creature they never saw coming. Now they were only echoes, ghosts of the once grand Stable 60. I was both sad and maddening.

" Woke in a w-world with nothin' but d-dust n' bones, " She mumbled as she neared elevator," had little choice but to carry on." That old song stuck o every TiF citizen, its origin unknown but it seemed to calm Fine Grain a bit as she sighed a breath of relief as the elevator doors slid smoothly apart to let the mare through. She punched the highest button, a orange square, which lit and the elevator doors lid closed, jettisoning the mare up toward her objective.

The elevator mad some bone jarring rust friction but it was running without fail, she hoped it would stay that way. And rise from the top from here I was, a sad little peasant with nothin' but heart. Grain mentally sung the tune, reminiscent of her time in boot, shooting her first rifle, and marching along with her fellow soldiers, singing the same tune. She wished they were all still alive, she'd rather be with them then a rag tag group of spec-op guys she barely knew. War is a evil spirt, picking anyone at random, taking her whole damned company and leaving her alone with barely a breath and mind left.

The stable dweller let a silent tear be shed, then cursing herself for being so weak, so frail, and so small. There's a reason Im alive, a reason, there has to be...

With a loud thud, the doors slid apart, revealing the large lobby to the Offices, the lush red carpet was very worn from two hundred years of abuse. A oak receptionist's desk was sandwiched between two doors, on labeled by an LED sign " Offices" and the other was closed off with yellow tape, reading out of order, its sign unlit.

With a little over thirty minutes left, she swiftly rounded the way to th Offices, taking no time to secure the area. She clicked the button the side of the door to be rewarded with an electric crackle, She pressed it a few more times with no avail, so she tore of the consoles steel casing finding it had been tampered with, the thing a jumbled mess of wires.

With the precision of a her keen senses, she noticed a breaker had been flipped off, so she activated it and the door slid open. It was greatest thing Grain ever heard.

As the technician was about to enter, she heard a strange whirring sound from the edge of the hall was, and her instincts kicked, recognizing the sound reacting a second later. She quickly dove to the other side of the bullet filled gap as lead was streaming through an unseen turret, .30 caliber rounds carving into the concrete wall.

Grain checked her EFS and took a mental note that its was just one turret, crouching slightly and edging toward the door as the turret seized. She didn't know how far the hall way was so she was going to have to guess, a life saving or taking guess. She bent her knees and bolted down the hallway, letting four SATS guided shotgun pellets turn the steel turret into scrap, the chassis being blown of by the incredible placement of her shots. She skidded to a stop and did a quick three-sixty around the perimeter before giving a fragile smirk at at her small victory. Hoo-rah!

Then she took a moment to recall her memory of the Overseer's as she looked at there offices, two doors on the right and left and one where a smoldering turret resides. The one on the left was for Overmare Cherry and the opposite one was for Overstallion Brass. And the one down the middle was for High Overmare Aurum, where her "best friend" resided as the music was cycled there.

With more than enough ammunition to take down a single pony, Grain walked toward the door, her EFS not reading any hostiles. Her heart was racing as she took position beside the door counting down to when she would press the console to open the door. 3...2...1, GO!

Grain slammed on the button and rushed into the room to have a cool gun barrel pressed against her forehead along with the cool words," Nice ta meet 'cha lass." After that, the voice reacted faster as it pistol whipped the solider, and the world swallowing her in blackness.

***

" ...and blacks white today, and days night today..." Grain drifted back into the world of consciousness with her captor singing alone to the tune of the PA System, the captors voice rather gruff and masculine. Her head was throbbing, her vision still coming back along with her senses. Finally she was able to make out the room which was lit by a dim floodlight at the corner of the wood paneled room. There was the soft whir from computers, a wall of monitors encompassing the wall to her right, along with a circular desk, the mysterious attacker  sitting at the desk, was turned the other way. He wore a Stable 60 jumpsuit from what she could make out, that was few shades darker than his light blue coat and tattered cyan mane that had grown beyond the stallion norm, him almost looking like a mare.

But she knew this colt, but could barely believe it. Overstallion Brass...

Grain tried to move without alerting the stallion as her sung happily, but was bound by thick, rubber wire to a copper pipe. She struggled a bit more, feeling the the bands beginning to loosen. Almost free, she attempted the scope the room for a weapon but her vision was blocked by wall of steel hide. She gasped, and looked upward, to be greeted by a snarling beast, its eyes having an individual green ember. It serrated teeth salivated the blood of its recent victims, its stench making Grain gagging.

" Hm," Bras swiveled out of his chair and walked over the creature, his attitude and emotion remained strong," hey, what did I tell you about this Five. I talk and you, piss of. Go guard the door or something. Go." It growled sharply, but ultimately submitting to the hoof stretched toward the exit.

" What the," Grain barely understood what was happening," you control that thing?"

Brass shrugged before sitting across from the solider," Its a stable relationship I guess. Anyway, I have about,' he check his Pip-Buck, then silently cursing himself," ten minutes to get something off my chest."

" Ten minutes till what?" She asked, searching the room for options or routes of escape. None surface.

" Ten minutes till ya get a fatal dose of rads thats what!" He seemed demented, but her time limit was much more frightening. I was out that long?

He continued, gesturing toward the creature at the door," Or until Five gets hungry that is, but I doubt that," He noticed something on Grains vest and pointed at it," ah, you a dweller aren't cha? Well I guess I don't have to introduce my self then as you already met Five."

He got up and shouted at the monster, as if he was miles away while he was only about twelve feet," Hey five, our guest says hi." The thing labeled Five grunted, shifting its posture. The Overstallion sat back down," Well I would think you would want to introduce yourself, Miss..." This guys a lunatic

" What's been going on down here? What have you been doing?" She was amazed at how gone this stallion was as he rose to walk back over the desk and take a seat, twirling around in the leather chair.

" Well, Ms.Whatbeengoingondownhere Whathaveyoubeendoing! Its an honor to meet you!"  A pistol materialized in his magical veil, Grain recognizing it as Flechette Pistol, possibly explosive due to the orange band around the magazine that was fed at the top.

He continued," To answer you name, um," He put the pistol on the desk leaning over it, and looking side to side before saying," you promise not to tell anyone right."

She cocked her head in disbelief, both at how this stallion acted and how he managed to capture her. She opened her mouth to reply but erupted in coughing fit that last several seconds, then regained her speech to reply with a smug," Who the hay am I gunna tell?"

He shrugged," Well, maybe you might tell the the almost dead alicorn that you left downstairs." Grain shuddered, but then cursed herself for forgetting the Stables surveillance system.

" Oh and speaking of her," the Overstallion looked over to Five," Go get her boy." His voice was cold and sick, that voice making the creature disappear on his hunt for the Commander.

" Oh you mother fucker, get me the outta here so I can kick your fuckin' ass!" Grain raged, even if she began to weaken from radiation poisoning. Her voice cracked slightly and felt as if her very body was slowly burning but she held it together with a straight face.

" Whoa what's with the language lass, there's no need for that," he sunk back into his chair," I told you that I needed to get something off my chest right? And it is about the current situation so, ask away cause you got about... six more minutes."

She was filled to the brim with questions, but barely had the strength to ask them, but she made due with what she had.

" Why'd you close the door?" Her voice was starting to become a whisper, her body on fire.

" What door?" He asked, clearly wasting time. Grain gave him the most fiery glare she could muster only to have Brass laugh out loud.

He stopped, wiping a fictional tear from his eye," Nah, I know what cha' mean and that wasn't me. It the other subject down there, the one I tried to get Fives to kill. Hm, he is tough ain't he?

" Well he was enhanced with so much cybernetic tech that it would take a balefire bomb to kill him. As long as the bomb vaporized his healing talisman." Okay, one down...

She knew she was going to die, almost certain of it as a thin stream of blood drained from her nostrils. There was little she could do, and that was to much of the stable dweller. Grain mustered up some more willpower, her condition worsening," Why did he close the door then?"

Brass sighed, fiddling with his weapon once again," Bugger wanted to stop Five before he got out. See," He straightened, setting the gun down once again," Five was meant to kill the Commander, so we made him, and was going to let him loose in the Federation. But the SR's thought the plan wasn't going fast enough so they set off the damned 'dirty' bombs all over the the Stable District and stranding us here, trying to get the faster result.

Brass checked his personal terminal," And now you down to four minutes. Wow your not a very good questioner."

Grain dismissed the comment, looking down at the floor as tiny specks of her blood dotted the floor, almost condensing into a pool," For money right?"

" No no no no no no," He sprung up from his chair, once again taking a seat in front of the dying mare," thats what you TiF's don't understand, you think you fighting for freedom but you idiots are the ones killing us. You started this was and its been killin' ponies ever since it started

" That almighty Commander of yours is a bloody idiot, she stared a war she cant finish. Sure, with the SRs ruling Trottingham, life was a bit rough but we didn't have to worry about dying over what we believe in."

With the very last of her strength, she stared down Brass," You know that isn't true. It isn't true." Her head swung down again hanging as she barely held onto to life.

" Hmm, then were is your Goddess now?"

Just then, a roar tore throughout the Stable, its origin a seemed to sign the Overstallion's death.

***

The mighty warrior must rise,

she must rise to slay the demon...

A beast of unholy power,

that is a testament to your own...

Please you must rise,

rise and liberate us from our prison...

Help us...

Alicorn of The Mighty North!

***

First Commander Napalm coughed and gagged back into the realm of reality. Her body was in all kinds of pain, mostly originating in her chest. This was good, it let her know she was still alive and kicking. Something seemed to have dried on her face, so when she came up to rise, a patch of coagulated blood filled her vision. A patch still connected to her face which she managed to peel off in manner of seconds.

As she came back, without any thought she made sure the Parcel was secure and sighed to see the black case secure in her satchel. She turned back to get practically ambushed by a lime stallion that invaded her space. His eyes were sunken, small specks of crimson dotted his face and his blue eyes were oddly full and almost glowed along with his smile. Its was a disturbing sight non the less.

" Thy savior has risen!" He exclaimed with delight, backing away and hoping up and down in pure joy that seemed out of place in the grim state they was in. It was almost animated.

" Hey," She rose and patted the stallion down, noting his tattered garbs," you took a beating, rest for a second." His was a bit jittery but he complied and took a seat, looking up at the much taller equine in admiration.

" It is such an honor to finally have you well," He took his words back in a single look at the loping Commender," um, at least you are still breathing Commander." Though the had the emotion of a Dash addict, the kid seemed alright to Napalm's pleasure.

" Thanks kid," She then shuddered, and did a complete three sixty round the room- but a sealed steel door stopped her search. She'd gone ahead. Napalm knew that Grain wasn't a deserter because of two obvious factors, the first and most direct was the door being closed and the other was there was a mile deep abyss to climb if the door was open. But another reason surfaced, one Napalm wasn't very sure of. She's one tough bitch.

She didn't know if that creature she saw earlier was gone or dead, she doubted that Grain would've killed it. She'd rather avoid contact with the thing at all costs, open the door, evac everyone to the surface, and seal that thing inside to die a slow death. Napalm quickly shook that thought out of her head, seeing the fatal flaws associated with it. Ultimately she was probably going to kill it before it got to her. If it could find her.

But Napalm still needed to find Grain, so she turned to the odd stallion, him waiting intently and unblinking," You know how to get to the Overseer's Office's from here?"

" Yes, I do. you wish for me to lead you there Commander?" The unnecessary pleasantries were starting to get annoying, Napalm sighing slightly.

" Yeah, but this is how its going to work, you stay close, don't wander off. That thing will be any where." He nodded, shooting up from his spot and rushing toward the door and to the console beside it, waiting for her approval. She first took position next to the colt, aiming down the door and steeling her self for what might lie beyond.

" Now!" He punched the button and Napalm rushed out, making a quick sweep of the room, satisfied that it was secure, she signaled the stallion to her side and they continued on by the stallions lead, a strange bit of pep in his step.

The halls seemed to beckon with all the lost souls and echoes of her citizens, all wanting to be set free of this metal tomb. As she poked into room after room, this fact never changed and its impact never lessened in its crushing morality blows. She very much wished all this would be done with , everyday of her life she wished that this war would be over and she could set Trottingham right, under a sane ruler.

Until until that day, Napalm had to face this reality everyday. More and more of her people dropping like flies to the oppression of the Seared Raiders. And she was going to get her wish, one way or another.

Rounding another corner, they encountered the elevator after several minutes and entered it and shot up to their destination.

Napalm was a bit curious about the young stallion that she shared the metal box with, so he asked," Kid, what's your name."

" My name?" He gave a look of genuine of confusion, looking at the floor, thinking intensely.

" You have a name?" He shrugged, so Napalm simplified the question," what do ponies call you?"

He seemed to perk up at that question," Well, the ponies in white called me 'Three' a lot. Dose that count?"

" Ponies in white? What are you talking about?" This seemed a bit strange to her, and very suspicious. After all it didn't seem like, Three, knew what was going on.

Before he could answer her question the elevator shuddered and stopped- seven levels below her objective. She clicked the button a few more times, but it didn't respond, most likely the main generator had failed.

Three cowered how ever, backing up into a small corner, looking up toward the ceiling," The demon in coming for you. For us s-savior."

" How do you know that?!" Napalm shouted at him, him backing up a bit more.

" He is a testenmant to your strength Alicorn, h-he must be slain." He talked as if this was some sort of trial, she'd be damned if she didn't pass it.

First she scanned her options, there was a escape hatch at the top of the elevator, route of retreat that she'd rather not use. This small confined space was too small for a limited fight, so either she rushed him as he came in or leave and deal with him later. It was a hard decision, but Napalm never ran away from a fight. Ever.

So, she consulted Three once again," I need you to go up through he hatch and wait for me there alright?" He seemed a bit hesitant but he complied to his deity  and climbed the rugs up to the outside of the elevator into the shaft. Leaving the Commander alone to face the elevator door, rifle ready.

She glance down at her Pip-Buck for the time which she neglected to check earlier, realizing she only had three minutes until her Rad-X wore off. But she dint worry to much, as she boasted a natural resistance to radiation and could last al least another twenty minutes without another dose.

Just then, something pounded against the elevator door, denting it slightly making Napalm tense up. Come on in you sonofabicth.

The door took quite a beating but it yielded, and silence claimed the air for another minute, Napalm backing up slightly against the steel walls of the metal box. She knew that thing wouldn't give up, it wanted her blood. And Napalm was right as the thing started to pry open the doors, a tiny sliver of the elevator open  but just enough for her to recognize those glowing eyes and open fire. Lead streamed out of rifle as .375 caliber rounds pounded into the elevator doors, some hitting there mark, but it didn't seem to deter the beast. Pain seemed to register as it let out a loud roar, the doors almost open.

Napalm continued to fire, her trying to get her body as far away form the door as possible as more and more rounds slammed into the creature, blood making the things grey coat slick and sticky.

As soon as she saw the door was opened just enough to let her smaller form through, she ceased fire and charged the thing, spearing him in the chest with her horn and sending it a yard down the hall. She staggered and was going to lay down some more fire but the thing rose too fast, and nearly cover half the distance he was thrown seconds later. A few shots impacted before Napalm charged again, but this time she was knocked back into the elevator.

She smacked into the wall but managed to land on her hooves to find the beast on a quarter of a yard away, numerous bullet holes dotted his body, crimson pooling beneath it. She tried to fire but was re warded with a heart dropping click of an empty fire arm. Shit! The alicorn was bent to destroy this thing and she suddenly came up with a solution.

Son Napalm retreated back up the elevator shaft and was nearly caught by the maw of the thing as she narrowly avoided it. She faced the scared Three and said," Hold onto the cable kid!" He complied and wrapped his hooves around the thick wire.

As soon as he complied, Napalm began to pull out various rusted nails from what secured the elevator to the cable. The beast had almost made his way through the small hatch when she pulled out a small rod and the elevator plummeted.

Napalm was going to take off before it fell to far, beast pounced her, pinning her to floor, wind and rust friction drowning out his roars. She took a moment tot asses the situation and did the only thing she could do. With all the force that she could muster, jammed the small rod into the thinks eye, it thankfully peeling off her long enough to make her escape. With a sudden pump of her wings she escaped the beast as the elevator made a free fall to the depths of the Stable, the creatures howls getting more distant until they were silence by a low thud and the muffled sound of broken and now twisted metal.

She savored the victory for another second before she acceded upward to retrieve the stallion holding on for dear life.

***

Grain's vision blurred, everything seemed muffled and mute. She could barley even life her head or even express the pain that she was experiencing.

A barely audible bang registered in her mind and she could formulate what it could've been, she saw the blue splotch that as Brass disappear under something. Probably his desk, but agony was too distracting as she slowly began to slip away, darkness lurking inside her vision. No... I can't go yet...

Her head lowered slightly was the blue smudge appeared again and fired his weapon outside of his door before having a grey object lodged into what she assumed was his head. Is it...

A large blurred figure rushed into the room, and towered over her. It  was unmoving and looked powerful even with her vision failing. The Alicorn of The Mighty North. Seemed to be too late as Grain could no longer support her own head so she let it fall and her vision failed. The realm of darkness consumed her soul.

***

Bright lights, and white noise welcomed Fine Grain back into the realm of the living. she didn't move, she didn't react. All she did was start at the cracked ceiling of an unknown location. She felt someone shaking her, gently but firmly. Sound and vision returned to her senses and she made voices, relived voices.

" She's alive! Get some more antibiotics and Rad-Away ASAP!" The voice was unknown to her but she turned her head, looking at a stallion covered in white medical fatigues, looking down on her.

" Grain, you've been out for quite awhile, take it easy." The doctor coaxed, but she wanted to move, and as her senses came back, she realized she was in a makeshift bed, covered in white sheets. Monitors beeped and the gentle hum of machines filled the room. She shot up right and scanned the confines of what was an average bedroom that had been refurbished into a medical center, two other mares surrounding he bed. Each levitating medical supplies.

" Im alive." She whispered, as thought she was in a dream, looking down at her hooves.

" Yes, you were evacuated out of the Stable District a few hours ago," the doctor informed," you had severe radiation poisoning, we almost lost you."

" What happened to my squad?" Was the first question to pop into her head, now looking at the stallion who took off his googles, revealing tender purple eyes.

" They completed the mission flawlessly, zero casualties." She let out a small sigh of relief that her team had survived. Grain began to lie back, as she still was a little weak but the doctor caught her attention one more time by him pushing a small metal table toward her bed.

She perked up a bit and stared at what lie on top. A small cardboard rectangular box. There was no symbols or indications on the outside of what lie inside, so she took the both in her hooves and put out on the bed, uncovering the lid.

Secured by a velvet cast was a steel insignia. Three bars stacked on top of each other, all bent upward. It was the rank of Sergeant.

Grain held the insignia in both of her hooves, staring at it intently, with intense passion, her face unwavering however. She carefully put the metal badge back into its box, set it aside, laid back, and fell into a deep sleep.